Search results for "app"
| Artist |
Album |
Format |
Label & Cat. Number |
Year |
Price (incl. 19% VAT) |
|
| ALDINUCCI, GIULIO |
Disappearing in a Mirror |
CD |
Karlrecords KR055 |
2018 |
€13.00 |
 |
| APPEL, KAREL |
Musique Barbare |
LP |
Sub Rosa SRV420 |
2016 |
€16.00 |
|
| BALESTRAZZI, SIMON |
Ultrasonic Bathing Apparatus |
CD |
Sincope SIND031 |
2015 |
€10.00 |
|
| BIANCHI, MAURIZIO & MAOR APPELBAUM |
Electrostatic Deflection |
CD |
Silentes minimal editions sme 0714 |
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Mene Teqel Farsin |
CD |
Silentes Minimal Editions SME1034 |
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Innervation |
CD-R |
AFE Records afe105lcd |
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| BLUE SABBATH BLACK CHEER + IRR.APP.(EXT.) + NEW BLOCKADERS |
DDTTNBX |
CD |
Phage Tapes PT:234 |
2016 |
€10.00 |
|
| BLUMM, F.S. / ANSGAR WILKEN |
Live @ ZwitschermaschinE |
7inch |
Happy Zloty 013 / Spam # 32 / Canopy Weekends # 5 |
2020 |
€10.00 |
|
| CAPPAROS, OLIVIER & LIONEL MARCHETTI |
Equus |
CD |
Pogus Prod. 21052-2 |
2009 |
€12.50 |
|
| CHAMELEONS |
Script of the Bridge - 25th Anniversary Edition |
do-CD |
Blue Apple Music BAMCD01 |
2008 |
€18.50 |
|
| CHASSE, LOREN |
Fantasy Apparition |
CD-R |
S'Agita 002 |
2002 |
€11.00 |
|
| CINDYTALK |
Wappinschaw (lim. clear red vinly) |
LP |
DAIS Rec. - DAIS 169 |
2021 |
€23.50 |
|
| DARUIN |
My New Happy Star |
mCD-R |
Dreamland Recordings DR006 |
2003 |
€5.00 |
|
| DE FILIPPIS, ALAIN |
Ton dieu ne s'appelle-t-il pas ego? |
mCD |
Metamkine MKCD013 |
1994 |
€3.50 |
|
| DIETER MÜH (DIETER MUH) |
We're not happy 'till you're not happy |
7inch |
Darkness Productions poetry & violence p&v 016 |
2003 |
€6.00 |
|
| DRØNE / DROENE / DRONE (MARK VAN HOEN / MIKE HARDING) |
Mappa Mundi |
CD |
Field Music drone#drone1 |
2017 |
€10.00 |
|
| ELLENDE |
Heavy Metal Drones |
10inch + CDR |
Smeerlappen |
2011 |
€19.50 |
|
|
Odyssey, A Sentimental Journey |
BOOK + 2 x 10inch |
Smeerlappen - SMEERLAP 2 |
2019 |
€38.00 |
|
|
Unintentional Consequences |
10inch |
Smeerlappen - SMEERLAP 3 |
2021 |
€18.00 |
|
|
HALLO KAPTEIN |
mCD-R |
Smeerlappen - SMEERLAP |
2022 |
€9.50 |
|
| |
This is My Song |
MC |
Smeerlappen - SMEERLAP 009 |
2024 |
€9.50 |
|
| ELOY, JEAN-CLAUDE |
Butsumyôe / Sappho Hiketis (Chants pour l'autre Moitié du Ciel Part I & II) |
CD+BOOK |
Hors Territoires HT-16 |
2012 |
€22.50 |
|
| EN NIHIL |
The approaching Dark |
CD |
Eibon Records NIH087 |
2013 |
€12.00 |
|
| FAUST |
Nobody knows if it ever happened |
DVD |
Ankstmusik ANKST 117 |
2006 |
€16.00 |
|
| FINAL |
The Apple never falls far from the Tree |
do-LP |
Tonefloat tf52 |
2010 |
€30.00 |
|
| FRITH, FRED |
The Happy End Problem |
CD |
ReR Megacorp ReR/FRA 05 |
2006 |
€14.00 |
|
| GRAPPE, LAURENT |
La Luxe de la Reflexion! |
CD |
Sonoris SON-32 / Metamkine MKCD YYY |
2001 |
€10.00 |
|
| HAYLECK, ANDY |
The Disappearing Floor |
CD |
Recorded 013 |
2004 |
€13.00 |
|
| HOLLOWING + MAOR APPELBAUM |
Collaborating Torture |
CD |
Topheth Prophet TP-016 / Heart & Crossbone HCB-017 |
2008 |
€10.00 |
|
| IRIKARAH |
A happy collection of catastrophes |
CD-R |
Rape Art Productions RAP-CD-R # 020 |
2005 |
€10.00 |
|
| IRR.APP(ext) & AT JENNIE RICHIE [ = APT.J(EXT.)IE IRRCHIE] |
Night Wearing Feathers / Sunshine Bus Rider |
LP |
Black Horizons BH-36 |
2013 |
€20.00 |
|
| IRR.APP. (ext.) |
Kreiselwelle |
CD |
Helen Scarsdale Agency HMS 016 |
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Josephine & Elsewhere |
CD-R |
Errata In Excelsis eie08 |
2010 |
€16.00 |
|
|
Flux / Crayfish |
MC |
Errata in Excelsis eieCS002 |
2011 |
€11.50 |
|
|
Ozeanische Gefühle |
CD |
Helen Scarsdale Ageny HMS002 |
2004 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
 Are all Things Equivalent? |
10inch |
Substantia Innominata SUB-26 |
2019 |
€15.00 |
|
| IRR.APP.(EXT.) - BLUE SABBATH BLACK CHEER |
Discordant Convergence |
CD |
Phage Tapes PT:197 |
2013 |
€10.00 |
|
| JAYTROPE + ANSGAR WILKEN |
Miniatures |
7inch |
Happy Zloty # 14 |
2022 |
€12.00 |
|
| KALLABRIS |
Kettenwindel Bingo |
CD-R |
Klappstuhl Records SP 020 |
2018 |
€10.00 |
|
| KAR |
Piccolo racconto crudele sulla notte appena trascorsa |
CD-R |
S'Agita Recordings 022 |
2003 |
€9.00 |
|
| LEGENDARY PINK DOTS (LPD) |
The Museum of Human Happiness (col.) |
do-LP |
Metropolis Records MET 1274 |
2022 |
€36.00 |
|
| |
The Museum of Human Happiness |
CD |
Metropolis Records MET 1274 |
2022 |
€16.00 |
|
| LEVENSLEED |
DWEEMOED |
mCD-R |
Smeerlappen - SMEERLAP 006 |
2022 |
€8.00 |
|
| LILES, ANDREW |
As if Punk Rock never happened / Pretty vague cunt |
pic-7" |
Dirter Promotions DPROMEP81 |
2011 |
€11.50 |
|
| MARCHETTI, LIONEL / OLIVIER CAPPAROS / YOKO HIGASHI |
A blue Book |
CD |
Waystyx Records WR 68 |
2010 |
€15.50 |
|
| MATTHEWS, KAFFE |
Still a slapper |
do-7 |
Mixer M7.01 |
2001 |
€10.00 |
|
| MOLJEBKA PVLSE |
Borrowed Scenery: Appearance |
maxi-CD |
Zoharum ZOHAR 244-2 |
2021 |
€12.00 |
|
| MULTER |
Köln 4/11/2006 |
CD-R |
Klappstuhl Records SP 012 |
2016 |
€11.00 |
|
| NADJA |
Numbness |
CD |
Happy Prince HPPR 009 |
2009 |
€16.00 |
|
| NURSE WITH WOUND / IRR.APP(EXT.) |
Possible Nursemix for Sun and Moon Ensemble |
CD-R |
Nurse With Wound / Irr.App.(ext.) self released |
2006 |
€12.50 |
|
| O'ROURKE, JIM |
I'm happy and I'm singing and a 1,2,3,4 |
CD |
Mego 050 |
2001 |
€10.00 |
|
| OGIERMANN, CHRISTOPH |
LebendDurchführungen 13/14 |
MC |
Twisted Knister flapp001 |
2008 |
€8.00 |
|
|
LebendDurchführungen 15/16 |
MC (C-10) |
Twisted Knister flapp002 |
2008 |
€8.00 |
|
| |
LebendDurchführungen 17/18 |
MC (C-10) |
Twisted Knister flapp003 |
2008 |
€8.00 |
|
| OKAGAWA, LEO |
Zapping (Station To Station) |
MC |
More Mars MM36 |
2021 |
€9.00 |
|
| PSYCHIC TV |
Batschkapp |
CD |
Cold Spring Records CSR162CD |
2012 |
€10.00 |
|
| RICHTER, MAX |
Elle s'appelait Sarah - Bande Originale |
CD |
JADE 6997269 |
2010 |
€14.50 |
|
| SALAKAPAKKA SOUND SYSTEM |
Atonality Appreciation Society |
MC |
Salakapakka Sound System demonstraatiotuotos-20 |
2015 |
€7.50 |
|
| SET FIRE TO FLAMES |
Telegraphs in Negative / Mouths trapped in Static |
do-CD |
Alien8 Recordings ALIENCD89 |
2003 |
€16.00 |
|
| SHINE ON ME / KAZUYA ISHIGAMI |
It happened one Night |
CD |
Neus-318 NEUCD-006 |
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| SUBOTNICK , MORTON |
Silver Apples of the Moon |
LP |
Karl Records KR 014 |
2014 |
€20.00 |
|
| SUDDEN INFANT |
Things that happened |
LP |
Reduktive Musiken redukt 016 |
2011 |
€16.50 |
|
| SVARTE GREINER |
Kappe |
CD |
Type Records TYPE033 |
2009 |
€16.00 |
|
| UMPIO & IRR.APP.(EXT.) |
Observation affects the Outcome |
CD |
Monochrome Vision [mv48] |
2013 |
€12.00 |
|
| V.A. (VARIOUS ARTISTS) (COMPILATIONS) |
TESLA : Werkstatt Klangapparate |
DVD |
Edition RZ 20005 |
2007 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Things that happened |
do-CDR |
Reduktive Musiken REDUKT 013 |
2010 |
€17.50 |
|
|
The constant Rise of Expectations |
CD-R |
Klappstuhl Records SP 003 |
2012 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Avantgarde is happening because.. |
CD |
Dirter Promotions DPROMCD132 |
2017 |
€14.00 |
|
| VIDNA OBMANA |
River of Appearance |
CD |
Zoharum ZOHAR 239-2 |
2021 |
€12.00 |
|
| WAPPENHALTER, EDGAR |
On the Beach |
LP |
Morc Records #56 |
2010 |
€17.00 |
|
| WHITE STATIC DEMON |
Apparitions |
CD |
Utech Records URCD048 |
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| WICKED MESSENGER |
The River disappeared sidewards |
CD |
Plague Recordings PLAGUE 005 |
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| WILKEN, ANSGAR |
The dark Inches |
7inch |
Happy Zloty Records 012zloty |
2015 |
€10.00 |
|
| WYNESS, JAMES |
Objects wrapped in Objects wrapped in Objects |
mCDR |
Taalem alm105 |
2014 |
€5.00 |
|
"app" entries in albums descriptions
| Artist |
Album |
Format |
Description |
Year |
Price (incl. 19% VAT) |
|
| 15 DEGREES BELOW ZERO |
Open Doors |
CD |
it's a long time ago since we heard of this US American post / ambient industrial trio, this new album of unpublished recordings shows on 9 tracks very best their versatile & cinematic qualities plus "handplayed" approach... lim. 200, mastered by THOMAS DIMUZIO - - "Open Doors ist ein ungemein reichhaltiges Album und jedes enthaltene Stück würde den Stoff für einen kongenialen Filmscore abgeben... " [African Paper]
|
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
| 2KILOS & MORE |
10 |
do-CD |
the French male/female duo from Paris (10th anniversary release) with a collection of stunning live recordings (feat. PHIL VON, FLORE MAGNET & BLACK SIFICHI), a long remix from RAPOON, plus a full disc with remixes by the likes of IMMINENT, ROGER ROTOR, the awesome WILD SHORES, BERANGERE MAXIMIN, NEEDLE SHARING, SPHERICAL DISRUPTED, etc., a very wide range of styles + approaches.. - two CDs in their own covers in a brown cloth bag, with zip fastener / LAST COPIES
|
2013 |
€16.00 |
|
| AALFANG MIT PFERDEKOPF |
Kindspechleber |
LP + CD |
six years after the 7" on Drone Rec. here's the first LP for this german experimental / electro-acoustic drone project (by MIRKO UHLIG), wo loves to work with obscure / surprising / dadaistic found sounds & delicate drones, creating disturbing & dark'n'beautiful atmospheres at almost the same time; quite unique stuff, a droney mind- & earplay.... comes with bonus CD & appropriate artwork from ROBERT SCHALINSKI (COLUMN ONE)
|
2012 |
€20.00 |
|
| ABBILDUNG / KENJI SIRATORI |
The Meaning of Word is Sound |
CD |
the Romanian deep drone project with philosophical approach in collaboration with Japanese Cyberpunk KENJI SIRATORI => abyssal amorph-drones are set into contrast with KENJI's almost disappearing voice, this music seems to exist in a different reality sphere, when decontextualized words turn into sound... to discover !
|
2014 |
€12.00 |
|
| AGLAIA |
Sacred Waters |
CD |
second album for this Italian duo -> music that functions like elusive visual engrams that fade away slowly and re-appear again, merging everything together softly... a day-dream of sound |
2005 |
€14.00 |
|
| AJNA & ONASANDER |
Canidia |
CD |
deeply esoteric, spooky collaboration by the well established AJNA with ONASANDER, inspired by "the first witch of Rome" CANIDIA; often mentioned in the poems of Horace... - "acts of grave desecration, kidnapping, murder, black magic, and poisoning to name " - lim. 200 copies
|
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
| AKERLUND, LARS & ZBIGNIEW KARKOWSKI |
Aware Not Aware/Radio Enemy |
LP |
the last album project that KARKOWSKI planned and finished before his death (12.12.2013), together with long-time collaborator LARS AKERLUND, finally sees the daylight: actually a split LP with two side-long solo-tracks by each composer, they spread different approaches to work with blocks of concrete noise and high dynamics (AKERLUND) and slowly evolving noise combined with vocal material (KARKOWSKI)....
|
2016 |
€16.00 |
|
| AKSAK MABOUL |
Charles F. Bleistift |
7inch |
a limited 7" with four otherwise unavailable reworks from the "Figures" album, the first album in decades by the charming experimental / electronic POP band with a certain jazz appeal, from Belgium, with the unresistable French vocals by VERONIQUE VINCENT... ed. of 500 copies / RSD release" - "...jumps from the craziest experimentations to irresistible pop songs, with joyful ease" [Les Inrockuptibles, FR]
|
2020 |
€10.00 |
|
| ALDINUCCI, GIULIO / MATTEO UGGERI |
Bureau |
CD |
these two Italian musicians with very different approach work together for the first time, with great result... electronic sounds merge with every day field recordings, creating emotional depth and intimate nearness - 7 tracks, 40 min - "An emotionally absorbing, vibrant and sensitive personal voyage" [IGLOO Magazine]
|
2020 |
€13.00 |
|
| ALE HOP |
The Life of Insects |
LP |
behind ALE HOP we find a female experimental composer from Peru (living in Berlin) who also released on KARLrecords recently => influenced by the physical presence of various types of insects in her home studio, she began composing these vital seven tracks with elements of electroacoustic and electronica, using (distorted) guitar sounds and sampling techniques... truly avantgardish and unexpected (song?) structures appear, a psychedelic experience.. lim. 300
|
2020 |
€21.50 |
|
| ALIO DIE |
Horas Tibis Serenas |
CD |
the third chapter in the "Castles Sonorisation Series", beautiful calm ambience based on sacral choirs & harmonies mixed with field recordings,
this has a somehow "middle age" character and we can't think of anything that sounds similar to this..
- appropriate artwork; music for sunrises & more! lim. 500
|
2010 |
€15.00 |
|
| ALLETT, JACK |
The Object isn't there |
LP |
two side-long pieces by this experimental guitar-player from London, who is creating a kind of minimally pulsing Krautrock-drone dub, melodic and uplifting, merging hypnotic guitars and electronics... hypnotic ambient Pop, inspired by the phenomenon of hallucinations; comes with appropriate artwork by GRAHAM LAMBKIN (THE SHADOW RING, etc.); ed. of 300 copies
|
2017 |
€18.00 |
|
| ALUVIANA |
Tonicna Negibnost |
CD |
second full length album by this very promising experimental ambience project from Slovenia => non-usual dark atmospherics with a "deranged" and surealistic note with many breaks & surprises.. . (think of IRR.APP.(ext.), etc..=) lim. 200 - handpainted covers, really nice & unique each one (full colour)
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| AMBARCHI, OREN & SCOTT HORSCROFT / HADO HO |
19 Guitars / Sonic Wave 2002 Stereo Action |
12inch |
the "Textile Vynile Serie" was a 12" / 45 rpm Avant / Electronic series by Textile Records (from 2001-2004) with nine 12" releases: Nr. 5 has a great flickering piece of resonating guitar tones and sounds by AMBARCHI & HORSCROFT on Side A, on Side B we find TAKEHITO NAKAZATO aka HADO-HO with a groaning + buzzing abstract analogue piece, "feedback noises, bad cable connections, loud mic tapping, electric hum, feedback squeals..." - Warehouse found, absolute last copies !!
|
2006 |
€10.00 |
|
| AMM |
Live at the Roundhouse |
CD |
stunning live-recordings from August 1972, some of it appeared on a 7" on Incus.
LOU GARE - Tenor saxophone, EDDIE PREVOST - drums. LAST COPY!
|
2004 |
€14.00 |
|
| AMON |
El Khela Al'Akhdar |
do-CD |
when this CD appeared in 1996 it seemed it could become a dark ambient milestone like some works of LUSTMORD or YEN POX, though Drone Rec. artists AMON ("Aura" 7"/DR-29/ 1998) sounds much more subtle and ghostly,- "with the minimal, but effective dark ambient soundstructures the listener is taken to a journey into the archaic heart of darkness. 1000 miles away, calming and alien"; this well deserved re-issue comes with a full bonus CD of rare material 1996-2004, including the Drone EP!!
|
2016 |
€16.00 |
|
| ANEMONE TUBE |
The Three Worlds - Allegory of Vanity |
CD |
first part of a trilogy collecting rare cassette-only material from 1997-2013, summarising this under the existentialist worldview of the Theravada Buddhism of the 14th century, containing the three levels of existence of all beings; the 5 older tracks on this CD are "a perfect representation of Anemone Tube’s early old-school industrial / power-electronics phase, and yet proof that both the musical approach and the topical background were already fully developed at that stage." lim. 300, excellent artwork
|
2017 |
€12.50 |
|
| ARTIFICIAL MEMORY TRACE (AMT) |
Drawing the Air |
CD-R |
a strange & surreal dance of field recording snippets & other short-timed noises & drones, unique surrounding.... CD version of a 4-track installation that happened in Ireland in 2007; prof. full colour cover, on A.M.T.s own label
|
2007 |
€10.00 |
|
| ASHTORETH & STRATOSPHERE |
Between Worlds |
CD |
two Belgian (dark) ambient artists in a very fruitful collaboration, extremely ethereal and super slow driftings with occasional tones and harmonies appearing like ghosts.. - "A blurred movement on the edge of our peripheral vision... Sensed but never grasped, felt but never seen. A passing between two worlds." - nicei digipak design, lim. 200 copies
|
2020 |
€13.00 |
|
| ATKINSON, FELICIA & JEFRE CANTU-LEDESMA |
Limpid as the Solitudes |
LP |
second collaboration by F. ATKINSON with JEFRE CANTU-LEDESMA, known as label-maker (ROOT STRATA), member of TARENTEL and multimedia artist => a most subtle and daydreaming melange made out of field recordings, electronics, warm instrumental sounds and ATKINSON touching vocals and whispers... music like a series of postcards, "things and sounds that happen vertically as a slow ascension, vessels communicating in dream.."
|
2018 |
€18.50 |
|
| AUBE |
Millenium-R2 |
CD-R |
minimal & silent remixes from AUBE's "Millenium" series (12 CDs / 2 do-LPs), appeared on the AUBE label GROSS in 2002; numbered edition 120 copies, excellent design/cover; sound-sources: Water, Fire, Earth, Air; nice recording by the master of sampled loops from Japan who sadly died Sept. 2013; last NEW copies found !!
|
2002 |
€10.00 |
|
| AUTECHRE |
Peel Session |
maxi-CD |
three previously unreleased tracks (incl. "Drone") from the John Peel Session that happened on 13. Oct. 1995, 25 min. of music
|
1999 |
€12.00 |
|
| BAD ALCHEMY |
No. 92 (Dezember 2016) |
mag |
neue Artikel & einzigartig formulierte Rezensionen: LA STPO, AUF ABWEGEN, FROZEN LIGHT, KLAPPSTUHL, PSYCH KG , LENKA LENTE, ReR MEGACORP, ATTENUATION CIRCUIT, REMOTE VIEWERS,
und vieles mehr aus der experimentellen, drone, post-industrial, Impro & Neue Musik & NowJazz-Szene... Deutsche Sprach, 88 Seiten, handliches Format, günstig & geistreich !
|
2016 |
€3.50 |
|
| BAKER, AIDAN |
Gathering Blue |
do-LP |
gatefold-cover lim. 444 copies designed by ALAN MC CLELLAND, coming in three vinyl colours! Feat. new material, a JOY DIVISION cover-version of "Twenty-four hours", the CICATRICE mCDR (Dreamland Rec.), THE TASTE OF SUMMER ON YOUR SKIN mCDR (Taalem), and two remixes of tracks by BUILDING CASTLES OUT OF MATCHSTICKS and TROUM that appeared before on the "Remixes" CDR (Arcolepsy). A wonderful collection of introspective & poetic drone-ambience !
|
2009 |
€24.00 |
|
|
The Sea swells a bit |
do-LP |
the first release in the new "Mind Travels" series of this French label is a vinyl re-issue of AIDAN BAKER's stunning album from 2006 => three longs tracks about the deepsea, the ocean, dying sailors, dense & inapproachable, dark & mysterious, working with mesmerizing layers & circles of long guitar loops, arising in slow Crescendos... beginning with track 2 smooth percussion & bass-grooves are pervading the drones, the whole gets slightly psychedelic... comes with new artwork & live bonus track!
|
2015 |
€20.00 |
|
|
Same River Twice |
7inch |
finally the re-edition of one of the most beautiful Drone EPs (both in sound & artwork) is out, more than 10 years after its first appearance this was the also the very first VINYL release of AIDAN BAKER => two pieces of shimmering guitar drone harmonics, with titles inspired by literature phrases; filed under: Poetic & trancy day-dream-drones ~ lim. 300, colour vinyl, new artwork by AIDAN himself !!
|
2015 |
€7.50 |
|
|
There / Not There |
LP |
highly recommended new album which appears to be more like a new (experimental shoegaze / post-rock) band project => DANA SCHECHTER on bass (she played with SWANS and AMERICAN MUSIC CLUB), FIONA McKENZIE from HALMA on drums, and AIDAN BAKER on guitar and foggy vocals, with three extremely sensitive pieces, ranging from most gentle instrumentation to walls of noise... - lim. vinyl version
|
2020 |
€16.50 |
|
| |
There / Not There |
CD |
highly recommended new album which appears to be more like a new (experimental shoegaze / post-rock) band project => DANA SCHECHTER on bass (she played with SWANS and AMERICAN MUSIC CLUB), FIONA McKENZIE from HALMA on drums, and AIDAN BAKER on guitar and foggy vocals, with three extremely sensitive pieces, ranging from most gentle instrumentation to walls of noise... - - mastered by SIMON SCOTT (SLOWDIVE)!
CD version w. 4 panel cardboard sleeve
|
2020 |
€13.00 |
|
| BAKER, AIDAN / JÖRG SCHNEIDER |
Schneider Baker |
LP |
inspiring and creative collaboration between German drummer JÖRG SCHNEIDER and AIDAN BAKER on guitar, on 7 tracks they form drone / jazz / impro audio figurations with unusual sounds and arrangements, at times introspective, at times brooding and more hypnotic.. very pure and basic, with a sensible ear for all appearing noises and tunes...
|
2022 |
€20.00 |
|
| BALDRUIN |
Vergessene Träume |
LP |
musically the most 'accessible' LP of BALDRUIN so far, a strong melancholic undertone is present on all of those 13 miniatures, that could form together a long forgotten introspective film soundtrack from the 70's, often based on ancient sounding synth-patterns and sequencers, but there also acoustic instruments used and more playful and surrealistic elements... imagine the intimate melodic moments of LEGENDARY PINK DOTS or TANGERINE DREAM, appearing in an odd dream.. lim. 250
|
2018 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Die halluzinierte Welt |
MC |
rare cassette-only release with 26 short electronic sketches, music to escort the listener into a hallucinated reality... - "Impressionistische musikalische Skizzen als Ausdruck innerer Sehnsuchtsbilder.." - .. everything seems to be enchanted and to appear in a surrealistic light... - comes wth download code, full colour cover
|
2020 |
€11.00 |
|
| BALL, DAVE & JON SAVAGE |
Photosynthesis |
CD |
unique collab. between DAVE BALL (SOFT CELL, THE GRID) and JON SAVAGE, working with vintage analogue synths in a digital way they created quiet and introspective cinematic soundscapes, with an almost classical approach... "a haunting, delightfully organic album of ambient and experimental electronica. This is a record to sink in to, letting it take you on its journey to some other place," [The Sound Not The Word]
|
2016 |
€12.00 |
|
| BARBIERI, CATERINA |
Vertical |
MC |
re-issue of her debut-album from 2014 (came on Cassette, too), composed for vocals and Buchla 200 modular synthesizer - "Vertical takes a meditative approach to primary waveforms and the polyrhythm of harmonics, stretching the boundaries between drone, minimalism and techno in multichannel systems.."
|
2021 |
€15.00 |
|
| BECUZZI, GIANLUCA |
Memory makes Noise |
CD |
first solo-album by the Italian electro-acoustic/ experimental ambient composer, three long excellent tracks using a wide range of (found) sounds and spoken voices that build at times beautiful droney, at times more daring & noisy acoustic landscapes that appear to be almost ear-play like, very minimal, dense & refined.. released by the now defunct Small Voices label, lim. 500, last copies, don't miss it !!
|
2006 |
€10.00 |
|
| |
The Bunker Years |
CD |
a very strong collection of works, inspired by the idea of existing in a bunker as protection and autonomy zone, building an existential boundary, 'a refuge from the outside world, from its rules and its conditioning'... the material here is characterized through it's weighty sound strokes, the almost unbearable tension, the use of field- and object recordings; massive post industrial and drone with philosophic approach, excellent all around!! Highly recommdended!
|
2019 |
€12.00 |
|
| BEHRENS, MARC |
Mut Att Narc Imm |
CD |
three long pieces based on live-material, formed and combined like genetic sequences, using mainly object sound material such as: "various electric kettles, a wet towel, metal percussion, and metal jetties at Marseille harbour" - the result are metallurgenic strokes and swooshes in reverberated rooms, like being inside a huge bilge, raw and softly droning noises appear and disappear... very nice!
|
2018 |
€13.00 |
|
| BELFI, ANDREA & MACHINEFABRIEK |
Pulses & Places |
CD |
release in the Brombron series (studio collaborations happening in the Extrapool-studios in NIJMEGEN NL); special cover
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| BERG, MOLLY / OLIVIA BLOCK / STEVE RODEN / STEPHEN VITIELLO |
MOSS |
maxi-CD |
recording of a unique live collaboration that happened in a Cathedral in San Jose, CA, in September 2010; one-tracker 24+ minutes of very instrumental & dense atmospheric improvisation, with colour insert, lim. 500
|
2011 |
€10.50 |
|
| BERNOCCHI, ERNALDO & MERZBOW |
Patterns and Mechanisms |
CD |
*Bernocchi and Merzbow's first album together, written + recorded during the lockdown. Both artists exchanged audio files and ideas fascinated by the phenomenon of urban wildlife where wild animals decide to relocate, or establish home in our cities, the album is just two long pieces. Despite being dense and noisy, "Patterns and Mechanisms" has a 'melodic' approach to composition, with Merzbow's noise assault conjugating with Bernocchi's music...* - ed. of 300 copies, oversized cover
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| BERRY, KEITH |
The Cartesian Plane |
pic-LP |
another release in this lovely series (artwork painting & sound by the same artist) - the first vinyl appearance of KEITH BERRY, creating subtle & graceful drones of timeless transcension... lim. 233 copies
|
2010 |
€17.50 |
|
| BEUYS + PISSOFF |
Creamcheese Düsseldorf |
LP |
the only existing recording by EBERHARD KRANEMANN's band PISSOFF, who was a student at the Düsseldorf Academy of Fine Arts => this most radical impro-noise performance on cello, clarinet, sax, electric bass / guitar and drums, happened with JOSEPH BEUYS doing his "Handaktion", reacting gestically to the sounds & noises... incredible document between sheer noise and free jazz, recorded at the "Creamcheese Club"; 500 copies pressed
|
2021 |
€26.00 |
|
| BIANCHI, MAURIZIO (M.B.) |
Industrial Murder / Menstrual Bleeding |
CD |
this album was once released as LP on Banned Productions (1992), so its one of the releases that appeared when M.B. was not musically active; the material was recorded in 1991 (two long tracks, 49+ min.) - amazing industrial drone noise with the use of rhythm machines... comes in an elaborate multi-colour silkscreen cardboard box (gold, blue, red & white), lim. 300
|
2011 |
€10.00 |
|
| BIOSPHERE |
Wireless - Live Arnolfini, Bristol |
CD |
live recording done by CHRIS WATSON from a show that happened 27. October 2007; final mastering & editing by BJ NILSEN
|
2009 |
€14.50 |
|
| |
N-Plants |
do-LP |
vinyl version (re-press 2020) of the underrated 2010 album. A Soundtrack to specific Japanese Nuclear Power Plants, finished about one month before the Fukushima catastrophe happened !! comes in gatefold cover
|
2020 |
€32.00 |
|
| BJERGA / HOLTSTRÄTER |
split |
MC |
Norwegians most active low fi droner SINDRE BJERGA delights the listeners with alienated, cranked plunderphonics and deranged voice noises (Side A, rec. live in Stavanger 2015), newcomer KNUT HOLTSTRÄTER and many guest musicians create a 22 min. sound / noise collage ("Krapp liest die Uhr").. C-40, jewel-case, prof. printed cover
|
2020 |
€7.00 |
|
| BJERGA, SINDRE & MICROMELANCOLIE |
Invisible Paths |
CD |
mail collaboration by the hyper-active Norwegian low fi experimental drone performer (& member of STAR TURBINE) and Polish MICROMELANCOLIE (they already had a CD on Aurora Borealis) => field recordings of moving scrap, strange voices in the background, pulses appearing, found sounds from radio, electro static & drones, etc.. - a pretty weird & unusual form of ambient sound collage, for the explorers.. !! Lim. 300
|
2015 |
€12.00 |
|
| BLACK WANDERER |
Hostile Territory |
CD |
new project of ALGOL who follows a darker and more cinematic approach with BLACK WANDERER: based on atmospheric bass & guitar sounds, occasional spoken word and quotes from films are added... a melancholic human journey into alien, cold territories, we had to think of MONOCUBE or MELANCHOHOLICS as reference points.. to discover!
|
2017 |
€12.00 |
|
| BLADH, MARTIN |
Dirge; The Peter Sotos Files |
CD |
"I've been dominated by an EVIL for so long.." - this is MARTIN BLADHs (IRM, SKIN AREA) tribute to PETER SOTOS (long time WHITEHOUSE member), working with lots of sound and video clips from SOTOS => vocal & found sound speech material from is layered and processed, extreme feedback noise appears, but also more subtle spoken words and ORGANUM-like feedback drones... 10 tracks, 55+ min.
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| BLANCO ESTIRA NUESTRO (+), HERMANA HELICE |
Cylindre / Oeur (S+C) |
12 |
ex- HELICE PIED (& ex NIXILX.NIJILX)! A new work by this cryptic / philosophic greek project (& Drone Records artist DR-83) who always changes his name after a while, using quotes from MARCEL DUCHAMP, ANTONIN ARTAUD, JEAN COCTEAU, etc... his unique conceptual approach reminds on KALLABRIS; lim.ed.200
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
| BLEGVAD, PETER |
Go Figure |
CD |
multi-media artist PETER BLEGVAD (ex SLAPP HAPPY, HENRY COW, GOLDEN PALOMINOS) with 17 new studio songs, feat. JOHN GREAVES (Bass, Piano), CHRIS CUTLER (drums), BOB DRAKE (Guitar, Vocals, Percussion), and KAREN MANTLER (Organs, Vocals, Glockenspiel), comes with 12 p. booklet... "songs that exult in their uniqueness. Blegvad is one of pop’s very few true originals whose work always bears out that status." [The Independent]
|
2017 |
€13.00 |
|
| BLOOD RHYTHMS |
Heuristics |
CD-R |
great eruptive noise from Chicago, "Heuristics" is a collection of archive material (10 tracks) ranging from the year 2000 to 2015, showing the variety of these bruitiste experiments, working with electronics, collage material, voices, all kinds of sound soucres and approaches.. recommended for complex noise lovers!
|
2016 |
€10.00 |
|
| |
Horror Pilation |
CD-R |
a collection of long tracks that appeared before on very limited LPs in collaboration with LESLIE KEFFER => longform drones that ebb + flow in a contemplative and haunting way, slowly covering you with atmospheric drift.. To discover ! - professionally duplicated and printed CD + cover, sealed jewel-case
|
2022 |
€10.50 |
|
| BODIN, LARS-GUNNAR |
Winter Nightfall |
CD |
five pieces (created 1990-2000) by the Swedish electro-acoustic composer, perfect examples for music that happens only in the "present", when you can never forecast what will happen in the next second..
|
2006 |
€13.50 |
|
| BOSETTI, ALESSANDRO |
Il Fiore della Bocca |
CD |
text-sound compositions using exclusively voices / tunes of physically & mentally handicapped people; recorded 2002-2003 for Deutschlandradio Kultur, centered on certain themes like "Musik", "Stimme", "Komiker", the vocal sounds are arranged in complex layers, or very pure... - "somewhere between an experimental radio play and an extended, powerfully voice driven, noise composition..." - comes in special oversized cardboard pack / bag, special offer !
|
2006 |
€6.00 |
|
| BREAKLAB |
Reet |
12inch |
drone newcomer from Bremen with roots in the open minded / experimental techno- and art scene, this is the debut vinyl EP with 5 tracks (about 20 min. playtime) presenting very wide and sonorous sounding layered mystery drones with swinging overtones and almost orchestral tension, when metalloid object or instrumental sounds strike in, or fragmented crackles and noises appear and build chaos-structures.... highly recommended 12"!
|
2016 |
€10.00 |
|
| BRESCHAND, HELENE |
Pandore |
CD |
a most remarkable solo album (inspired by the Pandora myth) by this avantgardish Harpist from Paris, France => the 5 tracks sound very different from each other and range from almost "psychedelic" tunes (when the harp sounds more like an electric guitar) over very musical arrangements and poetic vocalizations, to more 'difficult' and noisy abstract sounds, a very wide and demanding palette of approaches with many surprises opens up....feat. ELLIOT SHARP on one track! TO DISCOVER !!!
|
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| BRIGHTER DEATH NOW |
Breaking down Nihil-Live |
do-CD |
recordings of two live-shows that happened Sept. 2009 in Moscow & St. Petersburg when BDN performed with Russian artists together, for a unique performance : ANTHESTERIA, LAMIAVOX, BARDOSENETICCUBE, 414; lim. 450 copies / embossed fold out cover
|
2011 |
€18.00 |
|
| BRUME |
Les Victimes sont dangereuses |
CD |
6th part of the Brume-anthology which comes in a special cover-design, all lim. to 375 numbered copies! Appeared originally as lim. CDR on ATMOJECT in 1998
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Lost in Karrack |
CD |
8th part of the Brume-anthology which comes in a special cover-design, all lim. to 375 numbered copies! This one is a compilation of rare tracks, which mainly appeared on numerous tape compilations, e.g. on SPH, TRANSFIXIONAL, ORGANIC TAPES, etc..
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| BRYARS, GAVIN |
In La |
LP |
a documentation of a collaboration by GAVIN BRYARS with Italian visual artist MASSIMO BARTOLINI, a large-scale installation (75 meters long wall with tubes) that happened in Prato, Italy, in 2022: *Bartolini transformed scaffolding into pipe organ bars, suspended from the ceiling across seven rooms of the museum. It is the music played by these singular organs, composed by Bryars, that makes up the two sides..* - ed. of 400 copies
|
2023 |
€22.50 |
|
| B°TONG (B*TONG / B-TONG/ BTONG) |
Hostile Environments |
CD |
phantastic new album by the Swiss 'experimental droner', very dark & otherworldy transcendental muzak with no recognizable instrumental sounds or harmonies, everything that appears is transformed, deranged, mutated in a very eerie way... a surrealistic dark drone mastepriece !!!
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Prostration before Infinity |
LP |
the very first full LP release for the Swiss Drone Rec. artist (MIND 01 LP) who found a remarkable own way to transform subconscious matter into audio material (or vice versa?=), here with a stronger focus on oral / voice sources... we had to think of OVRO or even NURSE WITH WOUND when these bizarre & surrealistic micro sound drones appear, exist for a moment and seep away... lim. 300
"inspired by the vast and still quite unknown space that surrounds us" |
2014 |
€17.50 |
|
| BØLTORN (BOLTORN) |
Dødsverk (Dodsverk) |
LP |
"SHIT SOCIETY" - Scandinavian dark noise industrial trio (BOLTORN NIHILIST KOMMANDO) with the omni-present HENRIK NORDVARGR BJÖRK,.. most extreme / distorted repetetive noises, pulses and strokes with disembodied vocals and aggressive found sounds... - "There’s just something invoking and holistic in their approach to noise, power electronics, and whatever else, constituting of droning walls of varying racket, discernible samples, and intelligible vocals.." - 300 copies
|
2023 |
€26.50 |
|
| CABARET VOLTAIRE |
Mix-Up |
CD |
the very first album of the electronic post punk / industrial pioneers from Sheffield UK (1979), available now as mid-price re-issue! - *a great snapshot of a brief period in post-punk UK when there was a sudden urge to grapple with a bizarre, homemade, hamfisted white dub landscape.*
|
2013 |
€10.00 |
|
| CAMBERWELL NOW |
The EP Collection |
LP |
re-issue of the EPs "Meridian" from 1983 (which started as a recording project for THIS HEAT and feat. CHARLES BULLEN on the opening track), and their last recordings on "Greenfingers" (1987); "Comprising tracks that overlapped between This Heat and Camberwell Now, the EPs concerned themselves with information technology, surveillance, propaganda and what Hayward describes as 'day-to-day, hand-to-mouth survival' "... classy coverar & download code
|
2016 |
€28.00 |
|
| CAPELLE, MIREILLE; WITH HERMESENSEMBLE |
Do'un |
CD |
a phantastic, excellently elaborated work composed for the exhibition "Intuition" that happened in Venice at Palazzo Fortuny in 2017 => a spheric, cryptic composition of another kind, based on real time instruments (ethnic percussion, flutes - performed by HERMESensemble), subtle voice/words experiments, and strange organic sounds of unknown sources... the whole radiates an alien, outlandish atmosphere and uses lots of 'standing' waves and overtunes... our highest praise !!
|
2017 |
€18.00 |
|
| CHESSEX, ANTOINE |
Subjectivation |
LP |
impressive solo LP by the radical Swiss sax-player and sound artist, based on live-material recorded 2010-2015, with two very different approaches to sounds and textures on each side; "...a formidable tour-de-force, a developing field of distortion in which tenor saxophone adds on a metal-tinged sludgy tonality, wedged through dense masses of sound.... a rapid-fire of voices from the horn that gets enveloped in a back-and-forth between electroacoustic structures, psychoacoustics, and pure tone." lim.323
|
2019 |
€17.00 |
|
| CINDYTALK |
The Crackle of my Soul |
CD |
first full album since "Wappinschaw" (1994) !!
NEW material recorded 2001-2009 |
2009 |
€13.50 |
|
| CISFINITUM |
Tactio |
CD |
recording of the great concert that happened on 24.Nov. 2005 in Bremen at the huge St.Petri-Cathedral (part of the R.E.M. - "Reihe Elektronische Musik" curated by CHRISTOPH OGIERMANN and LILIAN VON HAUSSEN), co-organized by Drone Records, using bell-sounds from Moscow-cathedrals. Highly recommended, and kind of a sister-release to the SUB-04 10" "Devotio"! Edition of 500 copies, digipack.
|
2008 |
€10.00 |
|
| |
Live Earth |
CD-R |
high quality live recording of a special CISFINITUM show that happened in Moscow in February 2015 when sharing the stage with EARTH and NADJA.... CISFINITUM surprises again with a mixture of doom drone and slow industrial rhythms with female vocals by INNA ECHOES and gameboy sounds, extremely heavy... the label calls it "space industrial stoner sludge". lim. 77 copies only !
|
2015 |
€10.00 |
|
| CISFINITUM & FIRST HUMAN FERRO |
Alchemicals |
CD |
long awaited collaboration by these two "sound-alchemists" from Ukraine & Russia - dedicated to the ever unexplainable transformations of matter this is an album full of mystery & pathos & unexptected jazzy sounds (Saxophon) & neo-classic chamber tunes...with guest-appearance of JAMES THIRLWELL (FOETUS)! lim. 300
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| CIULLINI, DANIELE |
Cosmetic for Mannequins |
CD |
long active mail artist from Italy (once active with the TRAX label and as COP KILLERS with VITTORE BARONI), who became very active again lately.. "Manipulated field recordings, toy instruments, noises from radio, turntable, tape deck, automatic voices" - very versatile and masses of different sounds appearing...
|
2023 |
€12.00 |
|
| CLEW OF THESEUS |
The Death Urge |
LP |
muddy ethno-ambient and rough brooding drones with dark pulses & existentialist approach ; very first LP by this US american experimental project, to discover! Lim. 215 copies
|
2011 |
€17.50 |
|
| CLUB OF ROME |
Grosse Statik |
CD |
CLUB OF ROME is ASMUS TIETCHENS under a pseudonym, there's only one cassette existing that appeeared on the Italian label ADN in 1985; here's finally a re-issue on CD => this album marks the transition from the more "catchy" SKY releases to his more dark and bleak atonal period... starting with a strange / ironic quite from a german folk artist this developos into eerie / atonal synthscapes with a surrealistic nature, threatening, cinematic....
|
2023 |
€15.00 |
|
| COIL |
Another Brown World / Baby Food (black vinyl) |
LP |
for the first time on vinyl: two long COIL tracks from 1989 and 1993 that appeared on one of these legendary Sub Rosa CD compilations ("Myths 4", "Chaos in Expansion") - the vocals for 'Another Brown World" were recorded at a Monastery in Burma, on 'Baby Food' a special recording technique named "Sidereal Sound" was applied for the first time; this is the BLACK vinyl version!
|
2017 |
€18.00 |
|
| COLLEY, JOE |
Deformation of Tone |
LP |
"Until Everything Miserable Disappears" - a collection of shorter pieces recorded in 2020 working with analog electronics, voice material and broken / damaged machine sounds and cut ups, not without a sense of existentialist humour.. - "machines whirring, devices beeping, blank-face rotary drones swelling and merging with unnaturally regimented hive rustlings and perfectly unpleasant high-gain squelch - all constructed with a master’s timing and sense of scale." [Seymour Glass / BANANAFISH] - BACK IN STOCK!
|
2022 |
€21.50 |
|
| COLUMN ONE |
W.Transmission I-V |
5 x CD SET |
for the first time on CD, the complete "World Transmission" series by the German experimental collective group, documenting "temporary intermissions" from 1991-2010, released before on rare cassettes and LP; various approaches and in depths concepts, performed live or in the studio, show the uniqueness and permanent (genre) transgression of C.O. // 5 CDs in digipaks in black folder, lm. 100 (standard ed.)
|
2022 |
€50.00 |
|
| |
Mädchen in Schmutzigen Schürzen |
CD + BLU-RAY |
the great surrealistic film (92 min. long) *Die Versuche des Naum Kotik* from COLUMN ONE member KÄRMÄ BURG (aka JÜRGEN ECKLOFF / EGG-LOVE) in two versions, plus 19 min. Appendix on the BLU-RAY video disc; the full soundtrack as 16 single tracks on the additional CD.. a most memorable and unique experimental / animation film about a bizarre scientist,, with great sounding.. - oversized 8 panel cover, 4 postcards, 300 copies
|
2023 |
€25.00 |
|
| CONIGLIO, ENRICO / UNDER THE SNOW |
Dialogue One |
CD |
the new (?) project of STEFANO GENTILE (the man behind SILENTES) and GIANLUCA FAVARON, who create their very own kind of widely approached flowing experimental ambience using many different sound-sources from electronics to pure field recordings, always with on brain-half in dreamlands... very much recommended !!
|
2011 |
€12.00 |
|
| CONTAGIOUS ORGASM |
Division and Combination |
CD |
material collected from various rare compilations that appeared 1995-2009; dispersing the pretty unique C.O. style in a very successful way... "varied between tracks, including industrial synth beats, guitar based atmosphere and noise collage"
|
2013 |
€10.00 |
|
| CONTEMPLATRON |
Delog |
CD |
deep spiritual ambience from Poland, influenced by Tibetan Buddhism (the term 'Delog' means: the one who has crossed the threshold of death and returned ); multi-layered synths with swirling effects, subtle rhythmic passages and original Tibetan Ritual Music sounds appear well balanced in the mix for a contemplative journey, ... perfect stuff for your deeper mind if you like the releases on GTERMA, OÖPHOI, ALIO DIE, GRASSOW, etc..
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
| CONTROL |
World of Lies |
CD |
the second CONTROL album for the Finnish Freak Animal label appeared in 2006, a dark and structured doom noise and power electronics aussault, full of agony... - "45 minutes playingtime contains heavy death-industrial / modern power electronics what you can't confuse to works of other artists. " - digipack re-issue
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| CONTROLLED BLEEDING |
Body Samples |
do-LP |
the second C.B. LP appeared in May 1985 on German label DOSSIER and showed already a development from the harsh noise beginnings, incorporating dreamy 'cosmic' and ambience parts, percussion and psych/kraut elements and even electro beats, all framed by their heavy industrial noise and screams and rude experiments... a great album full of diversity and surprises; 11 (!) rare / unreleased bonus tracks, lim. 500
|
2016 |
€28.50 |
|
| |
Body Samples |
do-CD |
the second C.B. LP appeared in May 1985 on German label DOSSIER and showed already a development from the harsh noise beginnings, incorporating dreamy 'cosmic' and ambience parts, percussion and psych/kraut elements and even electro beats, all framed by their heavy industrial noise and screams and rude experiments... a great album full of diversity and surprises; the re-issue has 11 (!) rare or unreleased bonus tracks apart from the 14 original tracks
|
2016 |
€19.00 |
|
| COPH NIA / MINDSPAWN |
Erotomechaniks II |
CD |
10 years after "Erotomechaniks I" here comes the 2nd part, with the overall theme "machinery meets eroticism" again: like being struck in a H.R. GIGER painting, COPH NIA and MINDSPAWN create machine-like/mechanical industrial sounds with an organic overflow, something lives inside these machines, melancholic parts appear and heavy drone eruptions and sound earthquakes... great album !
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
| CORTINI, ALESSANDRO & LAWRENCE ENGLISH |
Immediate Horizon |
LP |
a live album with a recording of their performance that happened at BERLIN ATONAL festival in 2015.. "a work that meditates on saturation and the ruptures that occur when harmonic elements are stacked. Immediate Horizon’s five pieces swell and burst in a perpetual sense of pulse" lim. 300 BLACK vinyl |
2018 |
€30.00 |
|
| CRANIOCLAST |
Arctic Salon |
do-LP |
the "Arctic Salon" was announced already in the 90's, at that time the next album by the German conceptual experimental / electronic mind & industrial mythology travellers, but it never appeared... - now finalized, this music symbolizes a trip to the Pole, through ice and snow and endless shades of white... - lim. 300 clear vinyl in clear PVC sleeves, looks great
|
2023 |
€27.50 |
|
| CRYOGENIC WEEKEND |
Polar Sleep |
3 x CD |
epic "polar ambience" work by two Ukrainian artists: OLEG PUZAN (also known as DRONNY DARKO) and OIL TEXTURE, extremely spacious and wide, with flickering winds and sparkling granular sounds, with mysterious radio voice messages appearing and other founds sounds, but that's not all.... "Polar Sleep has an unexplainable depth in his lowest frequencies. Some kind of microscopic processes and hard to catch obscurities." [In.Visible.Generator] 300 copies
|
2018 |
€22.00 |
|
| CUNI, AMELIA |
Parampara Festival 13.3.1992 |
LP |
recording of a so far unreleased performance by the master of Indian Dhrupad singing, which happened in Berlin almost 30 years ago, on 13. March 1992 at "Haus der Kulturen" ! Three pieces feat. GIANNI RICHIZZI and HELMUT WAIBL.. - "...her vocal improvisations illuminating the droning strings like flashes of the moon revealed by rushing clouds." - comes with archival photos from the concert and liner notes
|
2021 |
€21.50 |
|
| CURGENVEN, ROBERT |
Beyond Enclosures |
3 x CD |
three impressive works on "AIR" by this highly interesting Irish (Australian born) sound artist, using for each CD different approaches and conceptual backgrounds: experimental turntable techniques with piano & pipe organ harmonics [BARDO]; resonant architectural interventions made w. custom-made oscillators [SPECTRES]; extended pipe organ with accompanying soundsystem [BRONZE LANDS] - 3 CDs inside poster cover, 300 copies
|
2021 |
€27.50 |
|
| D'INCISE |
Assemblee, Relache, Rejouissance, Parade |
CD |
two long pieces or 'projects' with the approach of bringing back "music to the experimental area": a traditional dance from central France "L'Anglard de St-Donat" serves as inspiration, by using detuned organ sounds in context with bowed metal sticks.. additional sounds from harmonium, banjo and double bass lead to highly idiosyncratic results.. - again, the Swiss artist proves to be able to create something beyond all genres, music for new synapses... ed. of 200 copies
|
2019 |
€12.00 |
|
| DAMIAO EXPERIENCA |
Planeta Lamma |
LP |
re-issue of most obscure album from 1974 by this outsider artist and real "Freak" from Rio de Janeiro, who has been compared to MOONDOG, CPT. BEEFHEART, SUN RA, FRANK ZAPPA => *Damião's musical style is impossible to categorize accurately, since he experiments with numerous genres, more prominently freak folk, psychedelic rock, reggae, and experimental music. His songs have no logical sense at first sight, and most of them are sung in a dialect created by him* - 200 copies re-press !!
|
2023 |
€23.50 |
|
| DANIELL, DAVID |
Coastal |
CD |
re-discovery! : the second, exquisite solo album by the RHYS CHATHAM bandleader, who shares as a guitarist a very experimental approach using analog synth drones, cymbals, percussion, field recordings, to create emotional acoustic sublimeness and hypnotic guitar-based minimalisms; 58+ min. playtime, back in stock!!
|
2006 |
€14.00 |
|
| DATASHOCK |
Kräuter der Provinz |
do-LP |
"Hullu Gullu, wir liefern Shizz." - DATASHOCK, the 70's influenced impro / drone / krautrock ensemble are back on the prolific Bureau B label from Hamburg - this is the lim. vinyl version with two bonus tracks that are not on the CD version - "Music as a social happening, both in terms of process and outcome, where individual and collective development can thrive - an ecstatic experience! Sheesh!"
|
2018 |
€26.00 |
|
| DAUBY, YANNICK |
Chant de dune |
mCDR |
fascinating field recordings from SAND-dunes in the desert, the flowing and rickling of particles that sound almost like water, but also more drone-like phenomena caused by heavy winds and avalanches.. "...unexplained, these singings from the desert are despicted like roarings, voices from surnatural beings or the rumbling of the thunder." [Yannick Dauby] - DAUBY appeared as ENTRELACS with MICHAEL NORTHAM on Drone Records, this early mCDR release is still a highlight in his catalogue;
new none jewel-case edition !
|
2003 |
€5.00 |
|
| DEAD VOICES ON AIR |
Abrader Redux |
CD |
the much sought-after debut album of MARK SPYBEY's project appeared 1994 as cassette-only on G.R.O.S.S. Tapes (Japan), after he moved to Vancouver, Canada; this CD re-issue holds 4 bonus tracks, 2 of them unreleased! - "Abrader blends processed sounds from primitive instruments and found objects into hypnotic looped rhythmic structures, with dark clusters of heavy ambient washes into what could be described as Organic Panambience, or 'music for the eyes"
|
2023 |
€15.00 |
|
| DEAF MACHINE |
Transistor |
CD |
another re-issue of this Swedish project formed by one of the founding members of MEGAPTERA, appeared originally as extremely limited MC-only release in 1990 ! Raw death industrial from one of the founders of this genre
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| DEAS (CAMERON) |
Time Exercises |
LP |
after the strong "String Studies" a completely different approach on this LP, his first album composed solely for synthetic sounds.. "CAM DEAS is a guitar virtuoso who has switched to modular synth and computer productions resulting in these staggering studies in polymetric, mercurial and dissonant tunings - hugely recommended if you’re into the work of Autechre, Rashad Becker, Roland Kayn, Fis, Coil, Xenakis..." - lim. 500 copies
|
2018 |
€18.00 |
|
| DEISON |
Night Sessions |
CD |
excellent full album by this long active Italian project, somehow twisted old school ambient electronics meet with guitars, found sounds, glitchy arrangements.. 13 tracks full of variations but with a very own style, recommended if you like challenging 80's/90's ambient industrial electronics, created with today's approach...
|
2011 |
€12.00 |
|
| DEISON / DEVIS |
Uncut |
CD-R EP |
excellent 'cyberelectronic' 4 track collaboration E.P. by favored DEISON (soon with a 10" in our Substantia Innominata series!) with DEVIS G. from TEATRO SATANICO - lim./numb. 100 copies; "...where intriguing rhythms and complex structures are wrapped with rough sounds, unsettling voices and a swarm of cybernetic noise...It is a metallic universe devoid of light and heat that flows obsessively between distorted particles and viscous persistences."
|
2019 |
€10.00 |
|
| DEL (DRONE ELECTRIC LUST) |
Villa Graps |
LP |
"Dedicated to crazy Taxi Drivers everywhere" - recordings from 2006 by the Norwegian psych impro rock band, sounding like "a dirty wound that looks cool and doesn't hurt enough for you to want it to disappear"; on the 2 colour silkscreen cover images of their favourite female film stars appear, and indeed these low fi guitar drone excursions with bluesy sounding guitars could appear nicely in a WIM WENDERS film...
|
2010 |
€15.00 |
|
| DELPLANQUE, MATHIAS |
O Seuil |
CD |
the newest release in the fine MIND TRAVELS series, the 2nd one for the French multi-performer / sound artist: / composer, with a different, more rhythmic approach, using many 'ethnic' instruments, creating a mesmerizing oriental atmosphere at times... - *powerfully immersive sound pieces, based on electronically processed acoustic instruments,... an exhibition of constantly changing sound paintings, alternately simple and complex, constantly oscillating between light and shadow* - CD version digisleeve
|
2022 |
€14.00 |
|
| DENT, LOREN |
Anthropology Vol. 1 |
CD |
another newcomer on the never disappointing Infraction-label; beautiful orchestral ambience, uplifting & spacious light-drones
|
2009 |
€13.50 |
|
| DIE FORM |
Baroque Equinox |
2LP+CD+DVD-BOX |
new album of the legendary French industrial project (also labelled as "Fetish Electro"), now active in more song-oriented, danceable avant synth pop and cold wave areas, still working often with pure synthetic sounds and not loosing their experimental approach...this is the limited deluxe 2 x 12" box version with 4 exclusive tracks, comes with CD and DVD, 16 page poster booklet (12" x 12"), hand-numbered to 500 copies
|
2017 |
€45.00 |
|
| DIE TÖDLICHE DORIS |
Stopp (der Information) |
12inch + box |
'Du bist schon da, wo Ich jetzt bin - Deine Zeit in Meiner in Dir drin' - very obscure unfinished DTD piece from 1984 (a weird RAP with german lyrics), finalized by NAMOSH ARSLAN in 2011 (Side B) - lim. 333 copies in black silkscreened (cardboard) box/wrapper, with a terrific 20 p. full-colour booklet (12") with many photos & collages & texts.. numbered & signed by WOLFGANG MÜLLER
|
2013 |
€37.50 |
|
| DIETER MÜH (DIETER MUH) |
Cari Saluti |
CD |
the third album by the British (post) industrialists appeared in 2000 (CD-R, EE Tapes), only two years later the TESCO sublabel Functional issued it on a proper CD; very appealing ambient noise compositions, swirling drones with lots of electronic effects mixed together in an interesting way, never too noisy, never too lush, this is quite powerful ambient Industrial! BACK IN STOCK FOR SPECIAL PRICE !
|
2002 |
€8.00 |
|
| DISFATUM |
Death Instinct |
CD |
impressive debut CD for this female Russian dark ambient & emotional drone project from Novosibirsk => yearnful chants and guitars, synths, big reverberation clouds and noises, slow percussive elements from far away, lonely melodies drifting through endless spaces... inspired by FREUD's Death Drive theory, this music searches for the deepest (purest) point of the mind, where all structures disappaer... imagine a mixture of / sounds similar to GROUPER, TROUM, TAPHEPHOBIA or MONOCUBE..
|
2019 |
€12.00 |
|
| DISSECTING TABLE / KOMMISSAR HJULER |
jA - Nein |
LP |
lim. 150 in totally handmade covers (handpainted on alu-foil, with cork insert) made by mentally handicapped children (or was it HJULER HIMSELF?)
|
2009 |
€35.00 |
|
| DISSECTING TABLE / MATTHIAS GRASSOW & TOMAS WEISS |
split |
LP |
PSYCH.KG makes it possible: Japan noise & German esoteric ambience combined on one split-LP, with covers handpainted by handicapped children! Lim. 100, only very few in stock, second part in the "A-Childs-Color-Play" series (first was by RAPOON / RELAPXYCH.0 - still available last copies!)
|
2011 |
€20.00 |
|
| DOYLE, ROGER |
Babel |
5 x CD |
epic work from 1999 by the prolific Irish composer with the tracks / CDs symbolizing architectural spaces and rooms within a fictitious city, along with music from a radio station of the tower of Babel... => strange electronic music with various interconnections and relations, a thoughtful play with music and cultural myths, a very broad musical approach from strange pop music to cut up sounds and musique concrete pieces, challenging and complex!! Comes with 12p. booklet
|
2013 |
€35.00 |
|
| |
Thalia |
do-LP |
ROGER DOYLE from Ireland was one of those 'outsider artists' being on the legendary NURSE WITH WOUND list in 1978, and this album appeared in the same year but was withdrawn by 'CBS Classics' almost immediately after the release..." Now finally available on its intended format, the keening, breezy logic and abstract dramaturgy of Doyle’s work on ‘Thalia’ has been reshuffled to highlight its apparent surreality and frolicking apparitions.." - FIRST TIME VINYL RE-ISSUE !!
|
2019 |
€25.00 |
|
| DREAD (LUSTMORD) |
In Dub |
CD |
DREAD is the new project of BRIAN WILLIAMS aka LUSTMORD - combining dark orchestral ambient with slow dubby rhythms, using also voice-material, acoustic drums and e-guitar this is quite a different approach and sound than on the LUSTMORD-remix projects; "breathtaking, dark, unshiftable and solid, this is the kind of dread where you're not sure where the evil force lurks.."
|
2017 |
€13.50 |
|
| DRUMM, KEVIN |
OG23 |
LP |
the new KEVIN DRUMM album, now on CHRISTOPH HEEMANNs Streamline! - *this time takes the fellow time-traveler through what sounds like an electronic field recording, a journey through an electronic soundscape of luminescent textures that invites immersive listening. The appropriately mysterious looking cover was designed by Christoph Heemann. Who wants to find out where that submarine is going? Mastering by Jim O'Rourke.*
|
2024 |
€29.50 |
|
| DUNCAN, JOHN / KONTAKT DER JÜNGLINGE / C.M.VON HAUSSWOLFF |
Untitled |
CD |
released in conjunction with a DIE STADT- labelnight happening in Brussels in October 2007. These are remaining copies of that night, numb. ed. of 500
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| DUNCAN, JOHN / M. LE DONNE-BHENNET // TOM MARIONI |
Auftauchen |
LP |
lim./numb. 99 copies / super rare material from 1978-1983 that appeared on tape compilations ! / contains JOHN DUNCANs "Mayday" // rare item on the dutch collector's label !!
|
2005 |
€39.00 |
|
| ELPH VS. COIL |
Worship the Glitch |
CD |
re-issue of COILs daring experimental ambient album from 1995, working with accidentally appearing error "Glitches" in a productive way; fully re-mastered ... "The band called these unintentional emissions "ELpH": a conceptual being that is one part physical equipment, one part celestial being..."
|
2018 |
€16.50 |
|
| |
Worship the Glitch (coloured v.) |
do-LP |
first ever double vinyl re-issue of COILs daring experimental ambient work from 1995, working with accidentally appearing error "Glitches" in a productive way; fully re-mastered, lim. 500 YELLOW vinyl ed, gatefold cover, download code, with sticker & small vellum insert
|
2018 |
€34.00 |
|
| EMERGE |
Oneirism |
10inch |
third vinyl appearance of this south-german project presenting two very hypnotic dream-drone tracks; whereas one side dissolves into ghostly fog-sounds (reminding of certain JOHN DUNCAN or M.B. works), the flipside points into sub-bass areas, extremely deep & with hallucinogenic effect... lim./numbered 300 copies & with bonus CDR of the same tracks
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Desecrate |
mCD-R |
"dreamtime musique concrete " - EMERGE is enlarging his compositional approach to reach a more organic & warm sound as usual, now based on various sound sources: church organ, guitar feedback and animal sounds... endless UR-drones moving around very SLOWLY.... one-tracker 18+ minutes in nice mCD box
|
2013 |
€6.50 |
|
|
Narcoses |
CD |
drops and rays of deep bass sounds and morphed frequencies build sluggish cascades of an eerie nature, only gradually structures appear which could form some kind of ultra slow motion rhythms, but the brain can hardly recognize this...one of the best EMERGE albums so far, a different kind of bleak ambience, any LUSTMORD fan should test this out! Lim. 100 only
|
2017 |
€8.00 |
|
| |
Indulgence |
CD-R |
small CDR re-issue of great tape from 2016: two long 20+ min. pieces of EMERGE exploring the areas under the earth / surface, microsonic granular drones made out of soil, sand & sludge it seems.. at times this could be a very dark droning version of ARTIFICIAL MEMORY TRACE.. "it will take you deep under the underground surface for your recreational, or even scientifically approved purposes.." - lim. 25 copies, oversized cover w. special design |
2021 |
€10.00 |
|
| ENGLISH, LAWRENCE |
Cruel Optimism |
LP |
inspired by a text of LAURENT BERLANT with same title, this album with 10 stunning tracks by the Australian composer has a completely different approach than before: no field recordings were used and several guest musicians invited to contribute instrumental material - via file exchange or performed in real time; the result are gently overwhelming, orchestral, multi-layered drone pieces that sometimes dissolve into something unformed, reminding on TIM HECKER at times...
|
2017 |
€26.00 |
|
| ENHET FÖR FRI MUSIK |
Ömhet & Skilsmässa |
LP |
Swedish "free folk" ensemble with short and intimate, half-improvised songs, very impressionistic and melancholic, non-perfection is a means of authentic expression here.... the 20page A4 booklet feat. the lyrics and diverse obscure old holiday photos, in which human culture appears rather like an alien one from another planet... 2nd pressing, 500 copies
|
2021 |
€22.50 |
|
| ESCAMA SERRADA |
Echis Carinatus |
LP |
second album by this Spanish dadaistic industrial project comparable to crazed out FAUST, NWW and R. PINHAS: "If the collage aesthetics remain, the incantatory, 'écriture automatique' vocals and above all R. Riba’s psyché rock guitar input invest the opus with a surreal, intensely ritualistic mood, between shamanic trance and psychedelic improvisation" - feat. guests appearances from members of O PARADIS, WERMUT, HIS DIVINE GRACE; lim. 319 copies on grey marbled vinyl
|
2010 |
€7.50 |
|
| ETANT DONNES |
Le Paradis Blanc |
LP + DVD |
LE PARADIS BLANC is the (so far unpublished) result of a three day installation by the French cult performance act that happened in 1983 in Lyon, FR=> construction of the installation (three basins built with bricks, two filled with water, one with soil), performance of E.D. on next day and destruction of the basins on the third day => rough noises from machines and vocalizations plus the S/W film with extracts from the installation form a very radical noise music without the use of any instrument
|
2017 |
€24.00 |
|
| |
L'Etoile Au Front |
CD |
re-issue of their third cassette (on DIE FORM's Bain Total) from 1982, one of the five much sought-after early cassettes before the band appeared on Staalplaat with "L'Eclipse" (1985): obscure collages made of low fi recordings and mechanical / motorized object sounds, radio found sounds, whispers, plus a long noisy live extract (live Grenoble '81) with screams and weird electronic sounds, and one unreleased bonus traack! This shows the shaping of the unique ETANT DONNES sound of later releases!
|
2021 |
€15.00 |
|
| EX-EASTER ISLAND HEAD |
Mallet Guitars Three |
LP |
third release by this guitar- & percussion trio from Liverpool, UK: four movements of purely instrumental guitar drones that sound like a bunch of violins, of clapping (hands?)- percussion, and almost orchestral tunes, very dense and energetic, elevating... "The treated guitars create a complex array of choral overtones and crystalline harmonics, sounding in unison with an array of handbells and prayer bowl percussion..."
|
2013 |
€17.50 |
|
| EXTREMA RATIO |
A Dangerous Method |
CD |
"Free Jazzcore" from Italy, extreme and brutal improv stuff performed on drums, electronics, sax, and growling voice... - think of NAKED CITY, PAINKILLER, BRÖTZMANN, ZU, quoting political / cultural texts.. - "Extrem harter Stoff, abgedreht jenseits von No Wave." [Bad Alchemy] - "once it starts you are trapped in its labyrinthine maze with some hulking mythic creature on your trail.." [Nick Roseblade]
|
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
| EYELESS IN GAZA |
Orange Ice & Wax Crayon |
CD |
re-issue of the LP from 1992, which was a compilation of outtakes, rejected and unreleased tracks rec. 1981-1985, thus going back to the very early experimental (post-punk and raw atmospheric) beginnings of the band, but also showing their poppier evolution... great collection for the fans, none of these tracks ever appeared on the regular albums
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Skeletal Framework (The Cherry Red Recordings 1981-1986) |
5 x CD BOX |
this collects the complete early EIG recordings for Cherry Red, compiled and curated by MARTIN BATES and PETE BECKER, with their new sleeve and "song-by-song" notes, sorted stylistically / thematically per disc: "Rock and Rhythmic", "Pop Tunes Etc,.", "Approximate Ballads..", "Atmos-Songs", and "Experiments and Improv", each reflecting one of their many sides.. 102 tracks, clamshell box
|
2022 |
€49.50 |
|
| FAVARON, GIANLUCA / STEFANO GENTILE / CARL MICHAEL VON HAUSSWOLFF / ROD MODELL |
LANDSLIDE (For Fields Recordings and Sine Waves) |
do-LP |
strong concept album inspired by the catastrophe of Longarone / Vajont (Italian Alps) from October 1963, when a gigantic floodwave killed 2000 people in the valley, caused by the man-made dam (260 metres high!)... - the original version of "Landslide" from FAVARON and GENTILE contains recordings from the region, where small "Landslides". still happen, ROD MODELL and VON HAUSSWOLFF created reworkings and remixes..- 4 side long pieces, 4 page inlay, lim. 300
|
2022 |
€36.00 |
|
| FENNESZ |
17.02.12 |
do-LP |
a documentation of a stunning Fennesz live performance that happened Florence in a museum, February 2012; available before as part of a limited collectors box
|
2013 |
€29.00 |
|
| FERRARI, BRUNHILD |
Exterieur-Jour |
LP |
two unreleased pieces, "Movies for the Ears" with cinematic qualities, electroacoustic compositions with a great share of environmental field recording sources...
- "It comes across as a meditation on the loss and reappearance of memory and silence." - on C. HEEMANN's label
|
2024 |
€33.00 |
|
| FERRARI, LUC |
Music Promenade / Unheimlich Schön |
LP |
two of the most fascinating / well known pieces by LUC FERRARI: "Unheimlich Schön" (1971) - for the first time on vinyl; "Music Promenade" (1965-1969) in an edited version for four stand-alone tape recorders, premiered in March 1970: "A series of colliding realistic sounds and sonic images. Whilst walking, a man is struck by the violence of his surroundings. Nature has disappeared in a whirlwind of warfare and industry in the midst of which he encounters a dying folklore and a lost young girl."
|
2019 |
€19.50 |
|
| FIVE ELEMENTS MUSIC |
CTOK |
CD-R |
two long deep droning pieces mainly based on water-sounds, but also lots of other field recording details appear..
|
2008 |
€9.00 |
|
| FOR KINGS AND QUEENS |
The Living Room Series Vol. 3: Umland |
CD-R |
thrid part in a new release tryptich by the ever amazing project from Berlin (just being featured on 'Drone-Mind Vol. 6' LP), exploring "the inside and outside environments": UMLAND sounds subtle and mysterious for the most part, W.S. BURROUGHS appears in a dream and lurks around the corner... lim. 50 in special handmade / oversized cover
|
2017 |
€12.00 |
|
| FRANKLIN, MARTIN & MICHAEL NORTHAM |
An Opening of the Earth : recovered |
CD |
re-worked recordings (that appeared originally 1991/1993 on CD / MC - on the legendary SOUNDS FOR CONSCIOUSNESS RAPE-label!) by the TUU-member M. FRANKLIN and the Drone Records-artist NORTHAM; lim. 500 in the typical Faria-design (full colour cardboard cover with postcards)
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| FRITH, FRED |
Stepping Out (Volume 3 Of The Fred Records Story, 2001-2020) |
9 x CD BOX |
the third part of the three-box collection with 9 CDs by the ever innovative guitarist & composer, incl. a booklet (28 pages, only in this box) with artwork, photographs, extensive notes and other comments by FRITH: Box 3 contains: Technology of Tears, Propaganda, Allies, Accidental, The Previous Evening, Happy End Problem, Nowhere, Sideshow, Field Days. Plus bonus CD Inimitable (previously unreleased)
|
2021 |
€66.00 |
|
| G*PARK |
Gour |
LP |
"crypto electro-acoustics" is the notion the label uses for this long composition by the Zürich based composer, who never fails to record & combine unusual field & object recordings... GOUR is an often quite fast moving collage made of all kinds of field recordings with rough moments, great creaking sounds, mysterious voice delusions, raw ether atmospheres... GOUR appears in an edition of 350 copies
|
2015 |
€18.50 |
|
| GAS (=WOLFGANG VOIGT) |
Rausch |
do-LP |
the title of this GAS / WOLFGANG VOIGT - 4 track release ("Intoxication") has been chosen aptly, four untitled pieces of the most "suspended" ambient techno you can imagine, and even reminded us on old RAPOON... "Light as mist / Heavy as lead / Music happens / To flow like gas / A clearing / Heavy baggage / Debut in the afterlife / Death has seven cats / World heritage Rausch / Finally infinite" - comes w. printed inner sleeves and DL card for bonus tracks
|
2018 |
€25.00 |
|
| GEHIRN.IMPLOSION VS. CARSTEN VOLLMER |
Stille Räuber / Arbeit Nr.18 |
LP |
powerful split LP by these two German industrial noise acts: GEHIRN.IMPLOSION presents high hissing white noise with melancholic microsounds appearing inside the tornado eye - feat. HALS MAUL (EA 80) on one track (guitar, vocals) - CARSTEN VOLLMER spreads his latest work in the ARBEIT series on 7 tracks creating piercing feedback-noise with many cut-ups & changes & voice elements; his best work so far maybe !! Comes with 12"x12" inlay, lim. 300
|
2011 |
€12.00 |
|
| GENETIC TRANSMISSION |
White Nights |
CD-R |
jewel-case wrapped w. handmade cardboard box |
2004 |
€9.00 |
|
| |
Lullabies |
CD |
the sound / noise collages of GENETIC TRANSMISSION are of a challenging nature, with lots of overlaid and overlapping elements, from often unrecognizable field recordings over instrumental and electronic snippets to vocal utterings, all kinds of mysterious "sound objects" are combined... for fans of (for example): G. PARK, RLW, DAS SYNTHETISCHE MISCHGEWEBE... - lim. 200, re-issue of older CD-R
|
2020 |
€12.00 |
|
| GENOCIDE ORGAN |
Mind Control |
CD |
first ever CD re-issue of one of the most sought-after albums in the history of apocalyptic industrial, G.O.'s third album appeared originally as vinyl-only release in 1995 => eerie analogue synths, layers of spoken voice material, sluggish beats and pulses plus powerful noise loops and alienated vocals form a swan song on human mankind; one outtake from the original sessions (too long for the vinyl version) is issued here for the first time! comes w. embossed digipak
|
2018 |
€14.00 |
|
| GENOCIDE ORGAN / PRURIENT |
Carte Blanche |
LP |
* The apocalypse has already happened * there aren’t any sunken caskets of gold * and besides * you can’t even swim. How does anyone know what’s inside another * how does anyone know what’s inside another country * there are no countries * only marketplaces* - first ever collab by the power electronics & "true" industrial legends from Germany + USA - BLACK vinyl ed. lim. 300, luxus die-cut cover, high price unavoidable
|
2023 |
€45.50 |
|
| GFFR |
Deleuze Deluxe Doll |
CD |
second release by the "Artificial Intelligence" trio gFFr, "a prototype of disco music for a post-human environment", VERENA BECKER as core intelligence is "trained on Donna Haraway, Gilles Deleuze and Britney Spears" - this is a fully digi-glitch chaos sound where all kinds of elements (beats, noises, voices, harmonic fragments) that usually belong together appear completely asynchron, an unusual mixture of electrons moving... 10 tracks, 36+ min.. 200 copies.. 6 panel digisleeve
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| GILLIE, FLAVIEN |
Nonante-neuf fragments harenois |
CD |
field recordings from abandoned industrial areas made in Haren, a suburb of Brussels, re-compounded in a profound way... "The recordings are always an archive of a disappeared now .. I’m aware of the ephemeral, the impermanence..."...reminds on similar approaches of YANNICK DAUBY, TARAB, TOY BIZARRE, or ARTIFICIAL MEMORY TRACE; lim. 200
|
2016 |
€14.00 |
|
| GREINKE, JEFF |
Over Ruins / Moving Climates |
CD |
we got some original copies of this ambient classic, in fact two cassettes that were released already in 1985 and 1986 and belong to his earliest works; recorded with "low budget equipment"... based on analogue electronics / synths, guitar, voice and tapes, slow and hypnotic blurry audio-landscapes appear and disappear, like clouds in the sky, all with a mysterious "ancient" organic touch..
|
1996 |
€10.00 |
|
| GUIONNET, JEAN-LUC & MIGUEL A. GARCIA |
Siticidelhous |
CD |
both sound-artists met 2016 in a conservatory in Spain where they could experiment with church organ and electronics => two long pieces that play with your perception and attention emerged - sounds seem to disappear completely in silence, but if you increase the volume you listen to completely new elements, a new soundworld arises.. lim. 200
|
2018 |
€12.00 |
|
| GUTHRIE, ANNE |
Brass Orchids |
LP |
second solo album by this horn player from New York with really extraordinary and strange music - everything seems to be completely absorbed, low fi and lying mysteriously behind veils, like a long lost memory, when recognizable voices or scrapings appear more on the surface... hard to describe whats going on, but it's a wonderful sublime and dream-like trip.. 300 copies
|
2018 |
€16.50 |
|
| GÜNTER, BERNHARD |
Impossible Grey |
mCD |
BERNHARD GÜNTER became well known to use sound material on the border of the audible - 'Impossible Grey' is a great example, consisting of low bass drones and rumblings and subtle granular washes, at times a louder sonic incident is appearing at the surface... back in stock, special offer !
mcd full-colour cardboard cover
|
1997 |
€3.50 |
|
| HAARE |
Karesansui |
CD |
ZEN FEEDBACK HARSH NOISE MEDITATION METALJUNK SATORI - this Finnish project wants to use harsh noise with the aim / approach of a total meditative immersion, sitting still inside the turbulent eye of a metallic storm... - "The main sound sources comprise metal junk, microphone feedback and electronics/fx. Be absorbed in a vortex of harsh screeching feedback, hollow resonating echoes and heavy stereo shifting of organic drones..." - lim. 200, Singapore import
|
2020 |
€13.00 |
|
| HAARVÖL |
Seeking the Intimacy of Silence |
CD |
newest CD by the gifted Portugese \"experimental ambience\" trio, recorded during pandemic times they looked for a new approach in the creation of their music: everything was captured \"face to face\" in live session, filled with the experience of silence caused by COVID-19...*To be intimate with silence is to recognise its existence and importance (as CAGE taught us many decades ago)* - this is very floating, blurred, multi layered drone ambience, suggestive and complex.. - lim. 200 copies
|
2023 |
€12.00 |
|
| HAFLER TRIO |
An Utterance of the Supreme Ventriloquist |
CD |
re-issue of one of the best H30 LPs, originally released by Soleilmoon in 1996 => two long pieces show ANDREW Mc.KENZIE in a much more challenging and experimental way than on the later drone-based works, minimal electronic soundwaves and pulsations are often busted open and effects / concrete field recording pieces appear.. great work in beautiful oversized packaging, BACK IN STOCK!
|
2005 |
€15.00 |
|
| HAYNES, JIM |
The Decline Effect |
do-LP |
Corrosion-drones! Stunning new album by this sound-artist from San Francisco with high conceptual approaches; four long tracks of mechanic, electromagnetic or field recording-based sounds with interesting "stories" behind, always on the border to mystery and wonder... lim. 350 gatefold-cover
|
2011 |
€22.50 |
|
| HENRIKSEN, ARVE |
Towards Language |
LP + CD |
one of the main figures of the Norwegian experimental/ambient Jazz-szene (member of SUPERSILENT) with already ninth solo album! "..recorded 'live in the studio' in a chamber music like approach inspired by contemporary elements from composers like TORU TAKEMITSU and MANUEL DE FALLA, to traditional organ music, and at the end of the album bringing in a traditional 'kven' (ancient Nordic song tradition) theme from the roots of my family from the North of Norway..."
|
2017 |
€25.00 |
|
| HENRY, PIERRE |
Un Monde Lacéré |
LP |
"Un Monde Lacere" is a 45 min. studio piece from 2008 that has never been published before, a special tribute to JACQUES VILLEGLE and his work (French artist of the Nouveau Realisme)..."Sounds captured from a vast range sources - instrumental and non-instrumental - collide in fields of rhythm, tone, texture, and ambience, appearing at moments to be far closer to acoustic, real-time free improvisation than most recognizable forms of electronic music.." [Soundohm]
|
2020 |
€25.00 |
|
| HIJOKAIDAN |
Modern |
do-LP |
this Japan Noise classic (between FAUST, SOFT MACHINE, JOHN COLTRANE hints and extreme noise) appeared fist on CD in 1989 (Alchemy) and had various re-issues now for the firist time on vinyl w. gatefold cover - "a fascinating juncture between space-harsh progressive, impro and noise, it was years ahead of its time when it first appeared becoming one of the great holy grails of Japan noise... " - lim. 299 copies
|
2021 |
€34.00 |
|
| HIROSHIMABEND |
Vekks |
CD |
first release in the new "Klang Onstage" series by the Austrian label :=> Vienna based Drone Rec. artists HIROSHIMABEND performed live in Oct. 2021 at "Vekks", an excellent performance of ritualized industrial ambience and occult electronics, beats and sounds as coming through walls of sonic cotton batting, strange voices appear as from otherworlds, more chaotic and experimental parts break in.. - 47+ min. playtime
|
2022 |
€15.00 |
|
| HIS MAJESTY THE BABY |
Hope for Madness |
CD-R |
Itallian project of F. PALADINO & L. FERRARI) with a strong "late 60's experimental psychedelia" relation, after appearing on the SYD BARRETT tribute compilation from Gonzo Records they release their first album with 14 tracks, feat. many guest musicians / singers like: EDWARD KA-SPEL, IN GOWAN RING, MARTYN BATES, etc. - 14 tracks that appear like a dadaistic carnival of weirdness and beauty, a hallucinogenic journey... - lim. 200 in 21 x 21 cm full colour folder with inlay
|
2022 |
€15.00 |
|
| HOLOTROP |
Dead Bird Calling |
CD |
promising debut album for this German dark electronic / ritual industrial project with an apocalyptic approach, combining sharp pulses and repetitive samples with field recordings and instrumental sources.. "In his compositions, drones mixed with ritual sounds result in tremendously powerful tracks which evoke the feeling of desolation which throws us back onto the essence of mere human existence"
|
2018 |
€13.00 |
|
| HUM |
Landmarks in Mistcape |
CD-R |
extended version of the pieces that appeared 2009 on a split MC with MISERY; 6 tracks, 38+ minutes of mysterious drone transcensions; comes in brown envelope with beautifully printed inlay cards; BACK IN STOCK this phantastic drone album by Russians most secret hypno-droner..
|
2010 |
€11.00 |
|
| HUMAN GREED |
Black Hill: Midnight at the Blighted Star |
CD |
third album from this project from Edinburgh, feat. guest appearances by JULIA KENT, CLODAGH SIMMONS (FOVEA HEX), DAVID TIBET, FABRIZIO MODONESE PALUMBO (LARSEN)
|
2008 |
€14.50 |
|
| ICHIYANAGI, TOSHI |
Music for Tinguely |
CD |
three so far unreleased, very early tape pieces by the radical / innovative Japanese New Music / Avantgarde composer: "Music for Tinguely" (1963) is created from junk objects by the great sculptor of kinetic objects, JEAN TINGUELY; "Apperance" (1967) - a live electronic piece feat. JOHN CAGE and DAVID TUDOR; "Music for Living Space" (1969): composed for the inner space of the Sun Tower at the Expo 1970 in Osaka; lim. 500 in the prolific series of OMEGA POINT
|
2006 |
€21.50 |
|
| IF, BWANA |
Wah Yu Wan |
MC |
re-issue of the very first IF, BWANA LP from 1990 (Generations Unlimited); on Side A a re-mastered version, on Side B the original version that appeared on the LP; nice idea, obscure sounds, great tape! C-90 in bag, lim. 100
|
2011 |
€7.50 |
|
| |
Red One |
CD |
the "still to discover" avantgardish minimalist AL MARGOLIS aka IF, BWANA presents 6 tracks with different approaches and used instrumental or vocal sounds from various musicians: NATE WOOLEY (trumpet), ELLEN BAND (voice), MONIQUE BUZZARTE (trombone), LESLIE ROSS (bassoon), VERONIKA VITAZKOVA & LISA B. KELLEY (flute & voice) => dense, multi-layered pieces with almost surrealistic quality! - comes with hand-stenciled mini-poster cover
|
2013 |
€14.00 |
|
| ILLUSION OF SAFETY |
More Violence and Geography |
CD |
re-release of first IOS LP from 1988 - a milestone of the North-American (post) Industrial, eerie and massive!! - "The 11 tracks display a much rawer and more 'industrial' feel with the use of harsh found sounds and voices, compared to recent works. Featuring new artwork by Dan Burke perfectly matching the albums title the CD also includes an unreleased live track (approx. 11 min. long) from the early 90's that didn't appear on the original album" - BACK IN STOCK, full colour cardboard cover
|
2002 |
€13.00 |
|
| ILTA HÄMÄRÄ |
Velloa |
7inch |
the extraordinary 7" label MEEUW is now based in Brussels and releases this gorgeous EP by the new project of the (now famous) TIMO VAN LUIJK (AF URSIN, ELODIE and many ongoing collaborations) with BART DE PEPE => two tracks of low-fi rumbling, 1000 miles away & strangely filtered psych-drone excess.... the drug-induced 70's re-appear in a strange dreams... probably very limited and pressed on 45 RPM by Hamburg's Ameise
|
2018 |
€7.00 |
|
| INADE |
Antimimon Pneumatos |
CD |
"Transcendent Absolute" - standard CD re-issue of the rare collectors box-set album from 2011, and indeed this must be their most ethereal and atmospheric album, collected from various live recordings..with perfect audio quality, many tracks appear only on this release, not a dull moment! - 10 tracks 55 min., 6 panel digipak
|
2024 |
€13.00 |
|
| INCAPACITANTS |
Extreme Gospel Nights |
LP |
re-issue of rare cassette from 1993 (Vanilla Rec.) with two long tracks:"...don't expect traditional spirituals, but rather some truly alien performances, complete with sporadic screaming of vivisected baboons drowning in the sonic sludge... This is fun, terrifying, hypnotic, and fascinating all at the same time; their noise takes root not in violence or gimmickry, but in pure energy." - lim. 300, silver silkscreen sleeve + wrapped in golden paper like the original K7
|
2019 |
€23.00 |
|
| INNER VISION LABORATORY |
Relics |
CD |
the post apocalyptic ambience visions by this Polish project now on Winter-Light => most melancholic and subtle expanses, spreading a dreariness that reminded us on early REUTOFF releases, a soundtrack for the desolate, uninhabitable deserts that will be left after the human mankind has disappeared... edition of 300 copies
|
2018 |
€12.00 |
|
| IRM |
Closure |
CD |
third part of a trilogy that started with the awesome "Indications of Nigredo" 12" - IRM are expanding their 'intelligent' power electronics approach, relating to existential questions and nightmarish visions of a kind of 'Theatre of Cruelty', the suspense-packed sounds & cryptic, discomposed lyrics form a very psychologic & philosophic trip, almost exceeding the musical genre... the result is an intense masterpiece!!
|
2014 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Virgin Mind |
do-CD |
IRMs so far only double-CD appeared in 2005 on Cold Meat Industry, the project features MARTIN BLADH and ERIK JARL (aka JARL) and is known for their cathartic performances and exceptional scary, insistent sound and lyrics; "The album marked a radical change in the band’s direction, leaving the power electronics opera of ‘Oedipus Dethroned’ for an even more ritualistic, experimental and epic sound." - ed. of 300 copies of this re-issue with new artwork by MARTIN BLADH
|
2019 |
€16.00 |
|
| ISHIGAMI, KAZUYA |
Hosshin No Kizashi [Experimental Music of Japan Vol. 5] |
CD |
most ambitious album of this long-time active composer from Osaka, Japan, oscillating between electro-underground & a "serious" composition approach => 5 excellent "acousmatic" pieces, using concrete sounds as well as purely abstract & amorph drones ... art-cover, lim. 500, 5fth in the series "Experimental Music of Japan" by the well known OMEGA POINT label (known for many YOSHI WADA & JOHN CAGE releases) / BACK IN STOCK!
|
2010 |
€17.50 |
|
| JAMES, PETER |
Fade in/Burn out |
mCD-R |
first appearance for us by this Scottish ambient composer (also known from the 48CAMERAS collective), this one-tracker combines very amorph and subtle hissing / atmo noises with organic / organ drones, melting into one huge audio channel, very immersive and meditative...
|
2021 |
€5.00 |
|
| JENSEN, CLARICE |
The Experience of Repetition as Death |
CD |
the second album for the Brooklyn based Cello player, creating awesome "neo classic ambience" or "advanced instrumental drones" by looping and layering her melodic and dark pulsing tunes, with elegant and timeless effect.... - "Clarice’s loops slide across one another in organically morphing structures; align and intersect at different moments, yielding a kind of aleatoric yet minimal counterpoint, with joins overlaid in ways that appear seamless and sophisticated.." - mastered by R.A. IRISARRI
|
2020 |
€16.00 |
|
| JOHN BALANCE & ANTHONY BLOKDIJK |
The Abrahadabra Letters |
BOOK |
a further view into the thinking, living and creative approach of the COIL-singer in the important period from 1984 to 1988; this book features his communication (scanned letters) with A. BLOKDIJK, a dutch journalist who often visited JOHN BALANCE at THRESHOLD HOUSE in London, plus two rare articles about COIL for his "Abrahadabra" magazine, and a interview he took for the dutch "Opscene"; 136 pages, hardcover, A4 sized book
|
2021 |
€25.00 |
|
| JONES, A.F. |
For Eschrichtiidae |
mCD-R |
this is a hydrophonic / underwater recording (with condensers in open air at the same time) of a Washington State ferry approaching and docking in Port Townsend, WA, USA, in April 2019, you're surround by crackling and spiraling water sounds, as well as the rumbling from machines, propellers and bouncing objects, the whole is inspired by the growing problem of underwater noise pollution... "Listen, enjoy, and advocate for robust undersea noise pollution policy."
|
2019 |
€5.00 |
|
| JOSEFSON, MATHIAS |
As Above So Below |
mCD-R |
stunning, multi-layered installation work presented at "Deichtorhallen" in Hamburg, 2019, by the man behind MOLJEBKA PVLSE: "It is a massive work, right from the start, until the very end, save for one small lapse in volume, following which the piece sets off in a slightly different course and more string sounds become apparent, adding, oddly enough, a more organ-like ring to it. This is quite some powerful drone music." [Vital Weekly]
|
2020 |
€5.50 |
|
| JULIUS, ROLF |
(halb)schwarz |
CD |
'Rolf Julius wonderful world of small sounds' - great drone album with seven floating pieces of hiss, buzz- & whine-sounds. On a microtonal level this world is full of small + smallest strange little details + happenings. Liner notes explain the notion 'Small Sounds', a concept by JOHN CAGE....reminds on works by ANDREW DEUTSCH, RICHARD CHARTIER, ASMUS TIETCHENS... on the PODEWIL-Label from Berlin!" [Drone Rec. info] - BACK IN STOCK; NOW RARE! - with booklet
|
2001 |
€15.50 |
|
| KA-SPEL, EDWARD |
An Abandoned Laboratory Vol. 3 |
CD-R |
third volume of the trilogy containing lost or rare EK tracks spanning the last 3 decades, comes with printed inlay card, 150 copies - "Included in this collection is 'Amber' now revisited/remastered, hailing from the hyper rare 'handmade' vinyl edition of Trapped in Amber (there named 'Wrapped In Sand') and a previously unreleased version of "Empires Must Burn" which appears on a collaborative album with Philip Petit and Asva."
|
2018 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Permission to Leave the Temple |
10inch |
5-track EP, planned for many years, now finally out => "...where avant-garde abstraction locks horns with molten psychedelia, kosmische sounds, electronica and an approach to songwriting never afraid to go wherever the mood takes... Attached to all of this, as always, are Edward's words, where wry everyday observations can mutate or be twisted into new forms given a distinctive surrealist slant." - lim. 500, artwork by puppy38 aka HIROSHIMABEND
|
2023 |
€16.00 |
|
| KALLABRIS |
Off Mind |
mCD-R |
„Things happen. This is obviously wrong.“ - Nach langer Sendepause eine weitere Kallabristische Exkursion in abseitige Bereiche! Schon die Verpackung (verschlossene Senftüte mit einer Art Zeitung darin die sowas wie philosophische Aphorismen bzw. logisch aufeinander aufbauende Widersprüche enthält) ist aussergewöhnlich genug, das akustische Sprach- und Musik-Material verwirrt und regt weiter an: verfremdetes endloses erkenntnistheoretisches Geschwurbel garniert mit seltsam halb-rhythmischen Mantra-Strukturen und ebenso seltenen Geräuschen.. wir sind begeistert vor so viel Geist im Nicht-Geistigen. Ein genialer Streich!
_ comes with kind of largely oversized newspaper with philosophic phrases, sealed in plastic bag
|
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
|
81° n.Br., 178° ö.L. (SOLD OUT) |
7 |
mysterious soundscapes with a philosophical approach
|
1998 |
€ |
|
| |
Schön geht anders |
CD |
29 new pieces or 'sketches' are to be found on "Schön geht anders" by the unique German 'philosophic soundscaper', who continues to confuse, surprise, and stimulate... like IRR.APP (ext.) or BIG CITY ORCHESTRA the music falls between all categories and is often almost undescripable, somehow funny and bewildering... "The sublation of music reveals the revolutionary nature of movement in which its end becomes the condition of its beginning.." understood? No? just listen!
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| KAZIMIRA, DARJA |
Medea Forgives Jason |
CD |
when you are listening to DARJA KAZIMIRAs music you immediately have the impression you are a PART of an outlandish ritual, without knowing what really happens, violent and ecstatic and completely transforming you and everything around... this album is a kind of musical psychodrama based on the MEDEA cycle..- " Method Acting war gestern, Darjas geistige,musikalische, psychische und physische Hingabe an ihre Kunst und Musik ist beispiellos..." [Marius Joa / BAD ALCHEMY]
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| KELLER, BEAT & DARIUS CIUTA |
A2 |
CD-R |
recommended collab. by Swiss (jazz) guitarist BEAT KELLER with Lithuanian DARIUS CIUTA , they create high pitched resonances and feebacks plus object and shortwave sounds, very focused and slow and ZEN-like, with unusual sounds all around... "Sounds move in, out and around in what could be a fairly random fashion and appear in all sorts of strange overlapping configurations. This was a great release of some excellent, different approaches." [Vital Weekly]
|
2016 |
€6.00 |
|
| KENT, JULIA |
Green and Grey (Expanded) |
do-LP |
'personal landscape music' based on Cello, electronics and field recordings that appear in loops & layers, beautiful, timeless and deeply melancholic; second solo-album by this New York City based Canadian artist - this is the first vinyl issue for this album in an expanded version with bonus material: three tracks from the the rare "Last Day in July" EP (2010), and two previously unreleased tracks; comes on green & grey coloured vinyl; a special RECORD STORE DAY BLACK FRIDAY release !
|
2019 |
€25.00 |
|
| KEROVNIAN |
Far beyond, before the Time |
CD |
"From The Lands Where The Winds Die" - re-issue of the long sold out album from 1999 by a project deeply inspired by black metal & H.P. LOVECRAFT => ultra bleak doom ambience with a strange language mixture between Persian & Greek appearing.. sounds like nothing else!
for fans of LUSTMORD, INADE, HALO MANASH....
this re-edition has four previously unreleased bonus tracks
|
2015 |
€12.00 |
|
| KILLERLADY |
No Music |
5inch |
a 3 min. piece by the EA 80-singer project, released on a most obscure format (a 5" flexi in the shape of a postcard, one side full colour); this appeared in conjunction with an exhibition at Spedition Bremen, October 2013; lim. 250 copies
|
2013 |
€6.00 |
|
| KIRCHENKAMPF |
Sidereal Lament |
MC |
rare cassette-only album by this US project (and permanent insiders tip), relating to the celestial body of the stars; deep bass drones and weighty reverberations appear in fragmented formations... lim. 100, C-65
|
2014 |
€8.00 |
|
| KLEISTWAHR |
Do Not |
LP |
another re-issue of early material, this one appeared as Cassette on Broken Flag in 1986... - "one of the innovators of the so-called power electronics genre yet pushing this confrontational avant-garde sensibility somewhere entirely new... Raw and seemingly unrestrained, these pieces present a robust, white-hot sonic meltdown up there with the very best from this ultimately fertile period for music from the basement" - lim. 300
|
2022 |
€18.00 |
|
| KNURL |
Acetylphasia |
MC |
a release that you can SMELL through the cover, with unique packaging! - each cassette is wrapped in a sanitary napkin filled with glacial acetic acid - the return for the Canadian noise drone project with three recordings of his self build 'saw blade cello' (instrument made of bass guitar strings & saw blades); lim. 100, single side cassette
|
2015 |
€8.00 |
|
| KOLLAPS |
Sibling Lovers |
LP |
stunning debut LP of this Australian industrial rock formation, aggressive tracks with tortured vocals, bass/guitar, electronics and tribalistic percussion, in the way of old SPK, NEUBAUTEN, MISSING FOUNDATION, etc.."The band’s habitually uneasy textures and crude tones are generated with appropriated non-instruments- scrap metal, raw plastics, steel beams. For Kollaps, this isn’t an empty ‘industrial’ gesture. It’s a way to literally use the detritus of postmodern society against itself."
|
2017 |
€18.00 |
|
| |
Mechanical Christ |
LP |
2nd album for the raging Australian "violent industrial" band who just toured Europe extensively..."The bands’ distinctive primordial tones are created using appropriated waste materials like scrap metal, raw plastics and steel plates combined with blistering percussion, bass and vocals. This is no empty 'industrial' gesture, for the band this process of creation facilitates the literal use of postmodern society against itself.." - LP version comes with double sided insert
|
2019 |
€18.00 |
|
| KONKETE ANTI WULST |
Die Gespenstische Misthaufen-Konserve |
CD-R |
North Germanys best hiddden secret and the last existing "Freak" in the commune of Beverstedt with his second album for Attenuation Circuit: on one long tracker (48+ min) using tapes, synths and bells he creates granular harsh noise with a very direct, low fi approach.... for fans of CARSTEN VOLLMER, MERZBOW, GEHIRN.IMPLOSION; lim. 50 copies
|
2016 |
€6.00 |
|
| KONRAD KRAFT |
Quadrat |
LP |
based on graphic-geometrical structures, KONRAD KRAFT has composed seven electro-acoustic pieces (all entitled 'x-quadrat'), which sound very clear and formal like A. TIETCHENS works on one hand, on the other there are surprising field recording elements, cut ups and improvised moments appearing, manifesting a pretty idiosyncratic musical language..."A sound manifestation of imaginary, sculptural and graphic structures. " lim. 300, absolutely to discover !!
|
2016 |
€18.00 |
|
| |
Nifbin Circle (coloured) |
LP |
fourth album by the long active (since 1980) electronic producer from Düsseldorf, using I PAD app sounds as basic structures, melodic and minimally constructed.. -
"There is a great interplay of percussive moments and slightly melancholic melodies... crackling and melodic pads create a slightly dark-melancholic atmosphere... Kraft creates a very unique and idiosyncratic form of abstract electro-pop, whose "rudimentary melodies" are convincing." (African Paper). - lim. 112 copies VIOLET vinyl
|
2023 |
€23.00 |
|
| KONTAKT DER JÜNGLINGE |
Frühruin |
mCD & Box |
after the four brilliant KONTAKT DER JÜNGLINGE CDs (KDJ = ASMUS TIETCHENS & THOMAS KÖNER) this box appeared with a new 2-track mCD, the box to hold all four prevously released CDs... back in stock last copies !
|
2004 |
€18.00 |
|
| KOUW, MATTHIJS |
Obscurum Per Obscurius |
CD |
awesome release by the dutch experimental drone artist with philosophical approach: on 9 tracks shimmering glass-like harmonics resonate, granular micro sounds crackle gently, soft repetitive pulses appear, dense metalloid aural expanses proliferate in mysterious and multiple ways... lim. 200 and highly recommended for any lover of transcendental drones!!
|
2018 |
€14.00 |
|
| KOUW, MATTHIJS & PHIL MAGUIRE |
Isometry |
do-CD |
the 'ultra drone minimalist' MATTHIJS KOUW in collaboration with PHIL MAGUIRE, in four movements they try to transform architectural structures into musical matter, synthesized sounds seen as concrete forms, a highly interested concept & suggestion... - "The four resulting pieces invite the listener to explore the fractal properties of large-scale structures, and to wander within apparent stases to discover ever so slight variations, movements, and developments." - ed. of 300 copies
|
2021 |
€15.50 |
|
| KREBS, K.M. |
Alchymy |
CD-R |
KEVIN KREBS convinces with 9 pieces (55 minutes) of electro-acoustic drone-soundscapes, using field recordings and more "played" concrete elements from instruments or objects at the same time, for a stunning result where one can focus the attention totally. Sometimes the compositions seem to float and stream, at times they appear to be more collaged... lim. 60 special cardboard-box with inlay / numbered ed.
|
2007 |
€5.00 |
|
| KRENG |
Selfed (SOLD OUT) |
do-10inch |
An Interplay of Circling Dynamics! KRENGS most intense soundtrack in three parts for a solo dance performance choreography by KEVIN TRAPPENIERS, relating to the phenomenum of 'Self-Pollination' in Biology ; a double 10" (45 rpm) in full colour gatefold sleeve, first ed. of 498 copies; two different coloured vinyls, the fourth side has a 'clear on red' etching with the credits, something you have never seen before!!!!
|
2016 |
€25.00 |
|
| KRISHNA |
Ascend to Nothing |
CD |
what happens when a techno producer (DRVG CULTURE) collaborates with a free jazz/metal band (DEAD NEANDERTALS), not caring for any genre borders or conventions? "a monolithic techno improv stomp that will both pummel and hypnotize you. Clocking in at just under 36 minutes, ‘Ascend to Nothing’ is a relentless attack on the senses, a mind-expanding trip through sound and rhythm." = a very powerful wall-of Rhythm & Drone pulsation taking you to some other place..
|
2016 |
€12.50 |
|
| KÖNER, THOMAS / ASMUS TIETCHENS / DITTERICH VON EULER-DONNERSPERG |
Untitled |
maxi-CD |
three exclusive tracks, released in conjunction with a live performance that happened on 29. April 2012 on the MS STUBNITZ in Bremen; lim./numbered 500 copies
|
2012 |
€10.50 |
|
| LA MONTE YOUNG & MARIAN ZAZEELA |
31 VII 69 10:26 - 10:49 PM / 23 VIII 64 2:50:45 - 3:11 AM The Volga Delta |
CD |
first official re-issue of the mythical "Black Record" from 1969 by the father of DRONE music and his wife, MARIAN ZAZEELA... "Within this music is both the journey and the arrival, each appealing to the other within the context of itself. These deceptively simple methods we might refer to as “drone” are layer up on layer of complex responses to the various stratagems I have highlighted above.." [Lisa Thatcher]
|
2023 |
€18.50 |
|
| LA MORTE YOUNG / DRONE ELECTRIC LUST (DEL) |
split |
LP |
split LP by with two side-long tracks of atmospheric, handplayed "rock"-instrumenation: LA MORTE YOUNG is a 5 man collective from France with members from SUN STABBED, TALWEG and NAPPE, doing the slowcored improvised psych-drone... the DEL ensemble on side B works similar, but sounds different, their experimental low-fi drone-blues could be the soundtracks for a WIM WENDERS film maybe.. lim. 300 copies
|
2015 |
€16.00 |
|
| LA STPO (La Société des Timides à la Parade des Oiseaux) |
Le Combat Occulte |
LP |
collection of rare & live material of this great French Avant-band which has been often compared to D.D.A.A (their very first 7" appeared on Illusion Production in 1986), though they have much heavier & very expressive experimental Prog-Rock and "RIO" influences; lim. 200, 180gr. vinyl, back in !
|
2005 |
€16.00 |
|
|
Les Liquidateurs |
LP |
the furious five from Rennes, France, with their unique "dream vocal" prog rock sound are back with a kind of narrative piece presenting various scenes dedicated to the "liquidators " who risked and lost their life during the Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe in Ukraine in 1984; a very prolific work that almost appears like a theatre piece, really challenging & impressive; lim. 300 - nice silkscreen cover
silkscreen cover, lim. 300 |
2015 |
€26.00 |
|
| |
L'Empreinte |
CD |
rare Mexico-import : a "lost" album that was supposed to appear already in 2012 on Beta-lactam Ring Records, but could never be realized.... 4 tracks, 60 min. playtime, 8 page booklet "..the promise of a dive into an inventive, delusional and poetic universe." [Obsküre Mag]
|
2018 |
€15.00 |
|
| LABELLE, BRANDON |
Concert |
CD |
SoundArt: Strange whispering concrete sounds, as a result of LABELLE’s ideas of 'Social Music'... recordings from various installations & physical interactions of visitors happening there, with lots of basic information & pictures in the booklet...
|
2004 |
€6.00 |
|
| LAVELLE, BRIAN |
Ustrina |
CD-R |
Great new droney one-tracker by BRIAN LAVELLE, like walking / be surrounded by cotton, with bell-like sounds within, focusing more on a transcendental approach than being "dark ambient"... // lim. 100 in lovely oversized full-colour cardboard cover
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
| LEACH, MARY JANE |
Woodwind Multiples |
LP |
four instrumental drone pieces for multi-layered expanses of one certain instrument: 4 bass flutes, 9 oboes, 9 clarinets, 7 bassoons...- very pure, organic, meditative..- *Each piece works closely with the unique sound of each instrument, combining pitches that create other, sometimes unexpected, tones, primarily combination and interference tones, as well as rhythmic patterns. What you hear is what happens naturally -- there is no processing or manipulation.* - lim. 500 clear vinyl
|
2023 |
€30.00 |
|
| LEGENDARY PINK DOTS (LPD) |
Come out from the Shadows 4 - Live at Lounge AX Chicago 1993 |
do-LP BOX |
taken from SILVERMAN's cassette archive, a recording from an unforgotten live performance that happened in Chicago 1993, during the "Shadow Weaver" and "Malachai" times; comes in a luxus / full colour box with insert, and on yellow vinyl, lim. 299 copies
|
2021 |
€33.00 |
|
| |
Come out from the Shadows 4 - Live at Lounge AX Chicago 1993 |
3 x LP BOX |
taken from SILVERMAN's cassette archive, a recording from an unforgotten live performance that happened in Chicago 1993... this is the collector's box with bonus live vinyl (Philadelphia), double gatefold CD, art-poster and insert, the vinyl is orange marbled; lim. 149 copies
|
2021 |
€105.00 |
|
| LEVENSLEED |
DWEEMOED |
mCD-R |
a new project of ELLENDE and MODELBAU, with one excellent experimental drone piece - "The combination or difference between ambient, drone, soundscape and experiments.... "Dweemoed" (Afrikaans for melancholy) is a 17-minute four music pieces release that combines the best of both worlds. Literally. There is the massive soundscapish approach of Modelbau, and there is more than enough happening in the periphery of the type of sounds we've found in Ellende's release." [Bauke van der Wal] - 35 copies only!
|
2022 |
€8.00 |
|
| LILES, ANDREW |
In my father's house are many mansions |
CD |
remixed / re-organised LILES-material by PAUL BRADLEY, COLIN POTTER, J. COLECLOUGH, BAND OF PAIN, BASS COMMUNION, ARANOS, DARREN TATE, IRR.APP (EXT), HAFLER TRIO, UNSONG, NURSE WITH WOUND, VIDNA OBMANA, FREIBAND, etc |
2005 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Black Market |
CD |
The Vortex Vault part 7, black art cover lim/numb/signed 300 copies. TONY WAKEFORD appears on one track
|
2007 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
Black End |
CD |
The Vortex Vault part 12 (final album in the series), black cover lim/numb/signed 300 copies. Featuring STEVEN STAPLETON (NURSE WITH WOUND), MATT WALDRON (IRR.APP(EXT)), and others!
|
2007 |
€16.00 |
|
| LLOVESPELL |
Places |
CD |
re-issues of the ONE and TWO cassettes (2016), plus unreleased material by the ex RADIO EICHENLAUB- and current ANTLERS MULM live member; "..a dance music album with a more experimental approach wrapped in the ambient sweetness of the Berliner style EM. The style of Llovespell offers a more ethereal psybient despite a superabundance, very seductive by the way, of much aesthetic sound effects since it's little used in the usual genre." [Synths&Sequences]
|
2018 |
€10.00 |
|
| LOPEZ, FRANCISCO |
Untitled # 90 |
CD |
re-issue of a CD that appeared on PRE-FEED in 1999, pure INSECT SOUNDS. This is Sonic Biology ! Comes in the same minimal design with no real cover as other UNTITLED releases in this phase... one-tracker 46 minutes, special priced
|
2002 |
€10.00 |
|
| |
Wilderness Studio 2005-2019 |
do-CD |
high quality, multi-dimensional field recordings, re-composed in a sound art way => CD 1: 67+ min - Brazilian Amazon; CD 2 : South African Savanna; the result of 15 years of workshops / residencies. .- "Its focus has been on creative approaches to the work with environmental sound matter, through both recordings and profound listening, by means of an extensive - and I would say iconoclastic - exploration of natural sound environments.." [Francisco Lopez] - ed. of 300 copies
|
2020 |
€19.50 |
|
| LOPEZ, FRANCISCO & RICHARD FRANCIS |
In de blaauwe hand |
CD |
release of these two Drone Records-artists in the Brombron series (studio collaborations happening in the Extrapool-studios in NIJMEGEN NL); special cover
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| LOPEZ, FRANCISO & MIGUEL A. GARCIA |
Ekkert Nafn |
CD |
awesome collaboration by these two Spanish sound-artists working on each others source materials, resulting in two long tracks; => really striking is the pushing, pulsing power these pieces develop, but also the strange mechanical sounds that appear, along with completely unrecognizable sonic areas... ed. of 300 copies
|
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| LUCIER, ALVIN |
I am sitting in a Room |
CD |
the most famous sound art piece from 1970 (this version was recorded in 1980 and came first out as LP in 1981) => LUCIER is repeating a text about what he does - recording his voice in this room, and playing the recorded sounds again into it - until the resonances of the multiple re-recordings take over and the voice diminishes and disappears - "The space acts as a filter; the speech is transformed into pure sound" - and you can follow this process in "real time".. - comes. w booklet, back in stock !
|
1990 |
€15.00 |
|
| LUNDVALL, TOR |
Yule |
LP |
re-issue of rare 2006 album: "Tor Lundvall's music often evokes a sense of soft-focus autumnal melancholia but nowhere is this atmosphere more explicit and evocative than his self-released 2006 holiday album... the collection feels appropriately hushed and hypnagogic, half-remembered melodies heard through falling snow.." - lim. RED vinyl ed.
|
2020 |
€24.00 |
|
| |
Yule |
LP |
re-issue of rare 2006 album: "Tor Lundvall's music often evokes a sense of soft-focus autumnal melancholia but nowhere is this atmosphere more explicit and evocative than his self-released 2006 holiday album... the collection feels appropriately hushed and hypnagogic, half-remembered melodies heard through falling snow.." - black vinyl standard ed.
|
2020 |
€22.00 |
|
| M.B. & SOSTRAH TINNITUS |
Peripherycal Minimaltronics |
CD |
everyone who knows their first fine collab album "Concredrones" (CD, Korm Plastics 2013), will be delighted to see this 2nd cooperation - [MB: minimalwaves, electroloops and periphetronics; Sostrah Tinnitus: black magnetic tapes, old electronics,clocks, strange forgotten objects] - again we enter realms of 'nostalgic' ambient noise with far away and forgotten melodies, humming echoes, low-fi found sounds, also field recordings and instrumental sounds (piano) can appear in this dream-drone stream... great!
|
2018 |
€13.00 |
|
| M.BRYO + D.M.T. |
Things I was due to forget (1979-2005) |
do-LP |
collection of material from this legendary figure (= MARK BURGHGRAEVE) from the minimal electronic / synthwave / industrial scene in Belgium, original founding member of the THE KLINIK... - "Things I was due to forget" is a compilation of songs that appeared on K7 and vinyls or came from M.BRYO's personal archives of unreleased tapes, all remastered by the artist especially for the release." - luxurious lim. gatefold cover edition, different vinyl colours (black, white), please ask
|
2019 |
€25.00 |
|
| MACHINEFABRIEK |
15/15 |
LP |
15/15 is a composition for 'Soundpiece', a soundart installation that happened in Rotterdam (NL) with 32 speakers used in an area of 30 by 30 meters, installed under the floor of a square: fifteen sine tones with freq. between 150 to 9000 hertz are repeated in different intervals, thus creating a very focused and stringent, almost ZEN-like acoustic structure... the B-side is a backwards remix and sounds more floating and atmospheric... lim. 200 yellow vinyl
|
2012 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Wendingen |
CD |
a collection of remixes MACHINEFABRIEK did with other artists material, between 2005-2015: GARETH HARDWICK, AMON TOBIN, AARON MARTIN, DIJVAN GASPARYAN, WOUTER VAN VELDHOVEN, and many more.. 79+ minutes, 13 tracks in total, some appeared only on very limited CDRs or tapes... lim. 300
|
2016 |
€12.00 |
|
| MACHINEFABRIEK WITH ANNE BAKKER |
Short Scenes |
CD |
based on improvisations of violinist ANNE BAKKER, these are 20 short miniatures created by MACHINEFABRIEK from these violin sounds and added electronic textures, originally recorded as a soundtrack.. "Anne Bakker‘s violin moves deftly from mellow and swooping to staccato and expressive, never wavering, always present and possessed of a delicate nuance.... a collection that is decidedly the sum of its parts and one which rewards detailed appreciation." [Freq] - lim. 300
|
2018 |
€12.00 |
|
| MACIUNAS ENSEMBLE |
Yoplaboum |
do-LP/ CD |
this group from Eindhoven, Netherlands, was founded in 1968 with a totally "free music" approach: play what you find at the place you perform, and perform without any preconceptions. or fixed rules.... but learn from it! This double LP contains pieces from two very rare cassettes, relased 1983 + 1984 (early 80's was their most active phase. feat. PAUL PANHUYSEN), establishing their own 'minimalist rhythmic style' - YOPLABOUM is a 43min. piece split over two sides! Lim. 300, printed inners, photos, liner n
|
2021 |
€30.00 |
|
| MAGIC CARPATHIANS PROJECT |
Ethnocore 2: nytu |
CD |
the first North-American release by this Polish group formerly known as ATMAN; experimental & spiritual ethno-psychedelia at its best; with guest appearences of SUNS OF ARQA members
|
2000 |
€15.00 |
|
| MALLUMO |
The Matrix is Real |
MC |
self-produced cassette only release by a promising new post industrial project from Germany: a C-25 between dark ambient and sharp industrial tunes, with society critic approach .. "if we really live in a Matrix that is different from the one in the movies. A Matrix called capitalism that enslaves us all." Lim. ed. 20 copies only
|
2018 |
€4.00 |
|
| MALONE, KALI |
Velocity Of Sleep |
LP |
re-issue of her first LP from 2017 => three minimal / drone pieces with the long title track based on Lute tunes => 'the works here - incorporating justly tuned Theorbo, frippertronic tape delays, tuned sine waves, Double Bass, Gongs and Viola de Gamba - seek to explore tone, timbre and tuning from the ground up, approaching an experience listeners to Indian classical drone music will be more familiar with'; comes with printed inner sleeve, UK import, high price unavoidable
|
2021 |
€36.00 |
|
| MANINKARI |
Oroganolaficalogramme |
CD-R |
a rare self-released CDR by the great brother-duo from Paris => "Oroganolaficalogramme" surprises with solemn organ tunes, additional violin and dark rumblings, no percussion appears, a very floating and droning release that gets more and more dense and dark as it continues..as usual high class stuff! lim. 100 numbered copies only, 7 tracks 40+ minutes, oversized poster cover
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Un Phénomène De Reliance |
CD |
L''ODEUR ETHERIQUE - the twin brother duo from Paris found their very own recognizable sound, always based on instrumental / acoustic use and with a very floating, wide opened approach, using many "ethnic" percussive instruments but also viola and cymbalon... on this new album, their sound is darker and characterized through more "atonal" elements = dark droning acoustic / exotic movements without any electronic instruments... lim. 300, six panel ecopak
|
2022 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Un Phenomene De Reliance |
LP |
the twin brother duo from Paris found their very own recognizable sound, always based on instrumental / acoustic use and with a very floating, wide opened approach, using many percussive instruments but also viola and cymbalon.. - "We are dealing here with illustrative music, extremely vivid, strongly influencing the imagination of the audience.Certainly, it could serve as the soundtrack to an unspecified movie based on a somewhat dreamlike plot...." - lim. 300 + DL card
|
2022 |
€18.00 |
|
| MARCHETTI, LIONEL |
Chasser (1ère étude naturelle) |
MC |
a work from 2012 (44+ min. long) that that uses many recordings already made in the 90's - as usual for L. MARCHETTI, no easy, but rewarding listening: many field recordings from mountain landscapes are in the mix as well as electronic sounds, piano and poetry - the result is as unique and suggestive as imaginable.. "Lionel Marchetti manage to approache his music as a source of images, recreating an artificial sound environment, a world within world." - lim. 80 copies, professional cover & tape
|
2018 |
€9.00 |
|
| MARUTTI, ANDREA |
Traces 94-95 |
mCD-R |
the very first release in the superb French mCD series appeared in 2001 - with this EP by ANDREA MARUTTI aka AMON, who presented older solo material, moving a bit away from the ultra dark 'transcension drone' of AMON into more electronic and harmonic areas, 3 tracks here with the central "Lost in Palenque".. BACK IN STOCK
- NON jewelcase edition now |
2001 |
€5.00 |
|
| MASTER MUSICIANS OF BUKKAKE |
Far West |
CD |
a turn for this remarkable "progressive folk" band with a shamanistic & experimental approach, now concentrating on the rituals of the western world, "a true psychedelic, audiophile experience to dissolve your body in"
|
2013 |
€13.50 |
|
| MCDOWALL, DREW |
Agalma (black vinyl) |
LP |
"To try and approach sublimity, or at least acknowledge it in some way." - masterful new album, feat. diverse collaborations (ROBERT A.A. LOWE, CATERINA BARBIERI, KALI MALONE, etc..) - "McDowall's refined modular system shape-shifting strings, piano, pipe organ, and choral masses into disorienting synthetic mirages of the sacred.." - DL card with bonus material, black vinyl standard ed.
|
2020 |
€22.50 |
|
| MECANO |
Waving Goodbye |
CD |
our favourite one and only dutch "intellectual Punk" or Post Punk band who (after their great time in the 80's) continued since 2005 with a more "Pop / Rock / Chanson" approach, still being inimitable: this rare Brazilian compilation was pressed + sold for their LAST EVER concert in Brazil late 2023 and contains classics from the past, partly in new versions, as well as newer material, plus one track that was only available as a download so far; lim. 200
|
2023 |
€16.00 |
|
| MEIN GLASFABRIK |
Exotic Percussion / Death TV - Recordings 1979-81 |
do-LP |
this rather unknown duo from Sheffield, UK, released these two rare cassettes in 1980 & 1982 with incredible low fi tape-sound, based on 'tape loops, home made synths, samples, random radio frequencies and a legendary Shergold guitar' - nowadays it appears to be rather subtle, foggy and melancholic, a very strange sound from the beginnings of the home-taper scene.. lim. ed. 500 copies, gatefold cover, certificate
|
2020 |
€28.00 |
|
| MENCHE, DANIEL |
Primal Fictions |
LP |
two mysteriously droning side-long tracks based on string instruments, field recordings and oscillator sounds... - \"..a prime display of Menche’s unique approach to field recordings and electronic manipulation. An earthly marriage of the acoustic and electronic worlds, \'Primal Fictions\' is a stunning example of Menche’s immersive and overwhelming music, one that invites the listener to become lost inside a vast sound forest. 200 copies.\"
|
2020 |
€20.00 |
|
| MENCHE, DANIEL & ANLA COURTIS |
Cuspa Llullu |
LP |
after the great 'Yagua Ovy' LP in 2012 this is second time both 'advanced droners' collaborate => low overtune resonances that could come from heavy strings, all kinds of metallic scrapings, hummings and object whispers.. "Sounds here are not inert samples; there’re vibrating beings full of life and in constant mutation. Frequency-lifeforms moving everywhere in ways that can be only appreciated if we’re able to listen not only with the ears but with the whole body." - brilliant stuff again, lim. 300
|
2020 |
€17.50 |
|
| MENS, RADBOUD & MATTHIJS KOUW |
1 |
LP |
like ELEH or PHILL NIBLOCK, a "pure drone approach"-album, but on this collab. by the two dutch sound artists, a very monotone / monochromatic drone starts to warp and develop harmonic 'bubbles' and resonances after a while that seem to be filled with independent life on their own, like slow dancers of shimmerings waves... the special beauty in here is only revealed after you crossed a certain threshold of time, and your mind... lim. 300
|
2017 |
€16.50 |
|
| |
2 |
LP |
second "pure drone" collab by these Dutch artists, starting from almost nothing both long dronescapes evolve very nicely into a dance of pleasant micro-waves..."..continue their exploration of long-form drone. By using precisely tuned analogue synthesis, Mens and Kouw create a rich tapestry of drones and slowly changing environments. To the careless listener, nothing much seems to happen. However, an attentive ear will reveal a rich variety of resonances and sonic artefacts." - lim. 300, DL code
|
2019 |
€16.50 |
|
| MERZBOW + GENESIS BREYER P-ORRIDGE |
A Perfect Pain |
LP |
this so far only encounter between the father of industrial music and the Japanese godfather of harsh noise was recorded in 1998 and appeared on Cold Spring as CD in 1999, now re-mastered and re-designed; "a long overdue collaboration from these two living legends of experimental music... This disc will scare the shit out of most people... it's almost a modern day take on the simultaneous beauty/brutality aesthetic" [Brainwashed] 180g vinyl with printed inner sleeve and download card
|
2018 |
€22.00 |
|
| MERZBOW + HEXA |
Achromatic |
LP |
behind HEXA we find Australian experimental ambience composer LAWRENCE ENGLISH and JAMIE STEWARD from XIU XIU, with MERZBOW as partner they formed raw and quaking, 'harsh drone' expanses and layers, overlapping slowly and building new figures continuously.. "Their collaborative work has been described as being possessed by cascading low frequency pulses and tectonic plates of sound, suspended in cavernous cathedral-like spaces." CLEAR vinyl lim. 400
|
2018 |
€23.00 |
|
| MERZBOW / M.B |
Merzbow meets M.B. |
LP + 7inch |
first ever album collaboration by two of the most important and well known industrial and harsh noise artists => "Dissonant Abstractions" and "Surreal Distortions" are characterizing the music quite aptly, these are wall of sound drones with lots of subtle distortion and distant harmonies appearing... comes on multi-coloured vinyl and with a bonus split 7", only 267 copies were pressed in total !!
|
2013 |
€26.50 |
|
| MERZBOW / SCUM |
Scissors for Cutting up Merzbow |
3 x LP / 2 x CD set |
expanded re-issue of the do-LP from 1989 (released on Merzbow's ZSF produkt), now spread on 3 LPs (CD version included, too), lim. 200 only! "Present re-production systems point in the direction of a future hyper-dimension of physics. We no longer use a dialectical approach in our disposal/recycling system, only a forward movement to the reproduction of re-production." [MASAMI AKITA]
|
2018 |
€49.50 |
|
| MERZBOW / SUN RA |
Strange City |
LP |
it sounds incredible, but it happened: MERZBOW remixed SUN RA, using rare & unreleased tracks of the official SUN RA archive from 1966/1967; the LP has completely different material than the CD version!! "The constant and destructive waves of noise make this decisively a Merzbow record, but its cosmic mood and rhythms prove that Sun Ra lives in its DNA."
|
2016 |
€20.00 |
|
| |
Strange City |
CD |
it sounds incredible, but it happened: MERZBOW remixed SUN RA, using rare & unreleased tracks of the official SUN RA archive from 1966/1967; the CD version has completely different material than the LP version!! "The constant and destructive waves of noise make this decisively a Merzbow record, but its cosmic mood and rhythms prove that Sun Ra lives in its DNA."
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
| MIEVILLE, EMMANUEL |
Jin Gang Jing |
mCD-R |
second EP on taalem for E. MIEVILLE, who studied at the GRM in Paris and uses field recordings with a 'musique concrete' approach, here sounds from Buddhist Temples in China form the basis for two long tracks of atmospheric musique concrete, merging environmental recordings and religious vocal utterings and chants with pulsing electronics...
|
2018 |
€5.00 |
|
| MIMIR |
Mimyriad |
CD |
re-issue of the remix-version of the second MIMIR-album (1993) that appeared later on LP, a project by EDWARD KA-SPEL & CHRISTOPH HEEMANN, here also featuring JIM O'ROURKE & SILVERMAN....
|
2007 |
€14.00 |
|
| MIYASHITA, YU |
Noble Niche |
CD |
glitch-noise from Japan with a very experimental approach, digital patterns based on noise-sounds mixed with more ambient sounds shaping unusual patterns & structures... to discover, definitely one of the best "new" Mille Plateaux releases
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| MLEHST |
Breathing in Dead Flies / Cock Sucking Lips |
CD |
re-issue of the first MLEHST LP from 1996, plus a very rare cassette only album from 1995 => this is eerie "non-music" made out of various fragmented, often slowly appearing noises, mostly not really harsh, but of a completely bleak nature... - along with the provocative / pornographic titles this forms a strong statement of outerbounds music, far away from any "accepted" style even more than 20 years later.. - lim. 200
|
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
| MODELBAU |
Neither Nor |
CD-R |
another rare release (lim. 50 copies!) of FRANS DE WAARDS latest solo-project, analogue drones & loops and strange field recordings merge in a pretty subliminal way, with a very 'direct' approach... "These days Modelbau uses pre-recorded cassettes, iPad apps, sound effects, laptop, shortwave radio, small synthesizers, ancient 2bit sampling device; everything is recorded on the spot, as is, and without multi-tracking and very minimal editing."
|
2017 |
€6.00 |
|
| MOLJEBKA PVLSE |
Borrowed Scenery |
LP |
the complete "Borrowed Scenery" sessions, now on vinyl - these droning sculptures spread and wave in a melancholic way, entangled by circling resonances and acoustic spirals... highly recommended day dream ambience! - lim. 150 with the "Borrowed Scenery: Appearance" CD-EP as bonus !!
|
2022 |
€20.00 |
|
| |
Topography of Frequency and Time |
CD |
the Swedish ambient experimental and electro-acoustic "multidimensional drone"project with the sixth release in our new CD series, applying the concept of TOPOGRAPHY to sounds and time, which can be interpretated "geographically" like a landscape in a similar way.. - "an expedition through expansive sonic landscapes that stretch beyond our daily awareness...an open invitation to transcend the visual confines of physical space, encouraging a deep dive into the unexplored realms.." - lim. 250 copies --- excerpt: https://soundcloud.com/drone-records/moljebkapvlse-topographyoffrequencyandtime-excerpt
|
2024 |
€13.00 |
|
| MONO |
Under the Pipal Tree |
CD |
debut full-length album by the "now famous" Japanese symphonic post-rock band, appeared on JOHN ZORNs TZADIK label in 2001
|
2001 |
€16.00 |
|
| MONOCUBE |
Substratum |
CD |
awesome fourth album by the now Berlin-based "transcension drone" ambience artist, whose creations appear like direct transformation of unconscious matter, the radiating slow motion expanses have an almost uncanny suction into otherworlds, filled with reverberation drones, amorph low fi winds and sparse harmonic arrangements.. "The outcome is considered as a reflection of non-verbal communication - An alchemy of mysterious spirit."; ed. of 500 copies
|
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| MOORE, ANTHONY & THE MISSING PRESENT BAND |
The Present is missing |
LP |
live recordings made in Cologne 2015 by this project of the SLAPP HAPPY founder ANTHONY MOORE (who became an important figure for the Cologne music scene) with the MISSING PRESENT BAND (a kind of predecessor of the THERAPEUTISCHE HÖRGRUPPE KÖLN) => backwards piano drones, melancholic / experimental songwriting, organic / object sounds, spoken words, vibrant electronic waves... - a great mixture of contemplative drones and philosophic tones!
|
2016 |
€20.00 |
|
| MOSER, MICHAEL |
Antiphon |
do-LP |
recordings of a site-specific sound-installation that happened at the choir of a church in Krems/Stein (Austria) in 2011, where MICHAEL MOSER used large glass sheets and metal plates that were set into vibration, creating shimmering, enormously reverberating drones... ; based on the ideas about "Atmosphere" of German philosoph GERNOT BÖHME, the sounds and the special architecture merge into a resonating organism; gatefold cover with lots of background info, a masterpiece!!
|
2016 |
€30.00 |
|
| MOUCHOIR ETANCHE (=BLACK TO COMM) |
Une Fille Petrifiee |
LP |
" I feel like a reverse Schroedinger cat -- do I exist when nobody sees me?" - debut album from the new MARC RICHTER / BLACK TO COMM project, deeply plunged in surrealism and hallucinogenic sensations... "A surreal piece of shock fiction connects the dots, but its very nature defies categorization.... Seldom has an artist been so impossible to predict, a huge part of Richter’s appeal." [A Closer Listen] - lim. 300 copies
|
2020 |
€18.00 |
|
| MSBR |
Structured Suicide |
LP |
the original album appearead on MSBR Records as cassette-only release in 1992 (C-60), at that time his third release, and is now re-issued by the Italian label in its full glory: "This is the classic sound of MSBR, which envelops you with its texture of noise scales, suffocating and enthralling, without an immediate impact, but which then, at its harshest, hits you with devastating force!" - only 199 copies pressed
|
2021 |
€21.50 |
|
| MULTER |
Köln 4/11/2006 |
CD-R |
high quality recording of a MULTER live concert that happened at the 'Kulturbunker' in Cologne in Nov. 2006; throughout one long piece (54 + min) MULTER (who once released the memorable "Quantenengel" 7" on Drone Rec.) spread their trademark experimental 'post rock' ambience which develops pretty wonderful, very focused and meditative... lim. 50 copies with a handmade metal-plate cover (inside a jewel-case), numbered ed.
|
2016 |
€11.00 |
|
| MURMER |
Periodic Exercises in (f)utility [homework 2016-2022] |
do-CD |
a collection of pieces published the last 7 years, most appeared in taalem's excellent online "Homework" series at the end of a year => awesome field and object recording "ambience" (like sounds from harbours, water, grain, oil, nylon strings..) with the special emotional touch and sensitivity..- *His field recordings are usually entirely obscured, which adds to the beauty of it all. Murmer uses quite a bit of filtering and prefers darker sounds... * [Vitai Weekly] - lim. 250 gatefold sleeve, 4 p booklet
|
2023 |
€15.00 |
|
| MUSLIMGAUZE |
Minaret Speaker |
CD |
first issue of unfinished recordings from around 1996 (elements of this appeared on the lim. 7" of the same name in 1996), 14 tracks, 61+ min, lim. 500; BACK IN STOCK last copies!
|
2015 |
€16.50 |
|
|
Shekel of Israel Occupation |
CD+SHIRT |
a withdrawn/unreleased album from 1993, which was replaced through the "Betrayal" album, some remixes of these basic versions appeared later on various releases; lim. 120 copies only, comes in fake-leather sleeve with gold foil print and insert, plus high quality black / silver (with special foil) colour T-Shirt, size L
|
2019 |
€35.00 |
|
|
Shekel Of Israeli Occupation |
do-LP |
a withdrawn/unreleased album from 1993 which was replaced through the "Betrayal" album; some remixes of these basic versions appeared later on various releases - this is the very first vinyl version after a very lim. CD version in 2019, new artwork and design by DMYTRO FEDORENKO (KOTRA) and KATERYNA ZAVOLOKA, ed. of 600 copies
|
2022 |
€34.00 |
|
|
Martyr Shrapnel |
CD |
*2012’s ‘Martyr Shrapnel’ was released by The Muslimgauze Preservation Society as part of their mission to bring unreleased material from Bryn Jones’s vaults to light in the wake of his death at the end of the Nineties. Consisting of material recorded between 1996 and 1998 (including six tracks that appeared on 2012’s ‘Analog Zikr’ cassette) it’s characterised by deep, liquid bass and inventively arranged vocal snippets that show Muslimgauze to have been an early progenitor of dubstep.*
[Norman Rec.] - CD version lim. to 300 copies |
2023 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Martyr Shrapnel |
do-LP |
2012’s ‘Martyr Shrapnel’ was released by The Muslimgauze Preservation Society as part of their mission to bring unreleased material from Bryn Jones’s vaults to light in the wake of his death at the end of the Nineties. Consisting of material recorded between 1996 and 1998 (including six tracks that appeared on 2012’s ‘Analog Zikr’ cassette) it’s characterised by deep, liquid bass and inventively arranged vocal snippets that show Muslimgauze to have been an early progenitor of dubstep. |
2023 |
€32.00 |
|
| |
The Extreme Years 1990-1994 |
9 x LP BOX |
luxurious wood box containing all MG releases by the Australian EXTREME label that appeared 1990-1994, for many the best MUSLIMGAUZE phase, all for the first time on vinyl, with bonus material, booklet, and numbered certificate, 234 copies on BLACK vinyl, it sold out from the label immediately !!
|
2024 |
€199.00 |
|
| MVK (MATTHIJS KOUW) |
ER-1 |
CD-R |
this rising drone/minimal artist from Utrecht, Netherlands, has deconstructed source sounds from the KORG Electribe ER-1 Analog Drum Machine for this album (10 tracks, 49+ min.), with stunning result: strangely morphed and somehow 'organic' drones, granular sounds, almost bubbling quasi rhythms and metalloid overtones appear.. sounds like nothing else, absolutely to discover ! Lim. 100 copies, prof. digipak ed.
|
2019 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Memoirs From a Parallel Suburbia |
MC |
rare cassette only release (C-30, 40 copies), inspired by a quote from J.G. BALLARD: "Prosperous suburbia was one of the end-states of history. Once achieved, only plague, flood, or nuclear war could threaten its grip." - 'The music consists of slow shifting darkness, overlapping shades of grey and black and the glacial comparison I made before is easily repeated here. The delicate thunder of a quiet storm.' [Vital Weekly]
|
2020 |
€9.00 |
|
| N [XX] (HELLMUT NEIDHARDT) |
Vreden [N 44] |
LP |
the first of two new "N" releases, recorded live at the Denovali festival October 1st 2015 at Weststadthalle, Essen; the three parts of VREDEN appear and disappear like tidal waves and spread a tremendous width and melancholy, as usual drowning in massive amounts of 'caressing distortion' and hissing... lim. 100, 180gr. vinyl, raw & thick cardboard cover
|
2018 |
€28.00 |
|
| NAMBLARD, MARC |
Nuits de Guyane |
CD |
environmental recordings made in the forests and savannah in French-Guyana at night, concentrating on the sounds of amphibians... these frogs and other creatures sound very unusual, often more like dogs, birds or strange sirenes.. after "Chants of frozen Lakes" or "Lorraine" MARC NAMBLARD reveals another fascinating soundworld that is happening without electricity and human activity..
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| NECROPHORUS |
Underneath the Spirit of Tranquility (Redux Version) |
CD |
re-issue of the debut album from 1996 of the RAISON D'ETRE sideproject (which appeared after the second R.D. album) which contains two separate works: "The Spirit of Tranquility" and "The Impressions of Salvador Dali" as a homage to Dali's surreality.. - wonderful emotional ambient with ritualistic passages, less dark & more intimate and personal than R.D. maybe.. this re-editon comes w. oversized cardboard cover and 6 full colour postcards with paintings by ELINROS HENRIKSDOTTIR
|
2011 |
€12.00 |
|
| NEUROSIS & JARBOE |
same |
do-LP |
in 2003 this remarkable collaboration appeared by San Francisco's apocalyptic noise-rock band and JARBOE (ex SWANS), now for the first time on vinyl with new wonderful artwork by AARON TURNER (ISIS, etc.), on clear & gold splatter coloured vinyl - a powerful, hypnotic & expressive teamwork, crossing all kinds of genre-borders... "a deeply textured mosaic that is a culmination of merged aesthetics from two major influences on free-thinking sounds.."
|
2019 |
€26.00 |
|
| NEW BLOCKADERS / CREATION THROUGH DESTRUCTION |
Negative Mass |
12inch |
rare collab 12" by the legendary nihilist noise project from UK with the 'new generation' Harsh Noise Wall project from Serbia (also active as DEAD BODY COLLECTION); extreme bruitist noise with snapshots of rumbles, screams and feedbacks appearing... perfect stuff to clean up mind & soul... lim. 250, insert, individually numbered, import from Singapore! BACK IN STOCK, special priced now!
|
2014 |
€15.00 |
|
| NEW RISEN THRONE |
The Outside |
do-CD |
this elaborated new NRT album works as a soundtrack to a fictional story about new structures & lifeforms that could evolve "outside" the human influence, after the global destruction has happened... "These cinematic explorations evoke apprehensive footsteps through caves, primordial forests, or abandoned cities..." [AMN] - incl. video-track + a full add. CD with remixes (TEHOM, VISIONS, TAPHEPHOBIA, VESTIGIAL..)
|
2020 |
€17.00 |
|
| NIBLOCK, PHILL |
YPGPN (A young Person's Guide to Phill Niblock) |
do-CD |
collection of recordings 1978-1994 that appeared first on Blast First as a free give-away with THE WIRE magazine in 1995; the ideal entrance in the poly-drone world of NIBLOCK
|
2002 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Exploratory II |
LP |
a new multi-dimensional drone piece, written / performed by ENSEMBLE PHOENIX from Basel (Switzerland) on 11 instruments - it toook 22 rehearsals before the enlarged piece of 30 min. could be recorded in the studio (spread on two vinyl sides) => awesome deep and spectralized drones, with subtle changes appaering in waves or 'blocks', this is a true masterpiece of powerful expanses!!! - lim. 300 copies on clear vinyl with full colour inlay and DL card
|
2021 |
€26.00 |
|
|
Exploratory I - II |
CD |
CD version that holds the complete three EXPLORATORY versions, written / performed by ENSEMBLE PHOENIX from Basel (Switzerland)=> one 30 min. studio version by E.P (using 11 instruments), one version performed on Scottish bagpipes by DAVID WATSON, and one version performed on viola / violin / violoncells by the ARDITTI STRING QUARTET => awesome deep and spectralized drones, with subtle changes appaering in waves or 'blocks', this is a true masterpiece of powerful expanses!!! lim. 300
|
2021 |
€18.00 |
|
| |
Boston/Tenor/Index |
LP |
earliest works, never released before, feat. RHYS CHATHAM, MARTIN BOUCH, GREGROY REEVE (flute, voice, guitar, sax, viola) - *Alga Marghen returns with what might just be their most historically significant release to date, “Boston Tenor Index”, comprising three, never before released compositions - “Index”, from 1969; and “Tenor” and “Boston III”, both from 1972 - by Phill Niblock, that represent some the earliest works in his catalogue to have ever appeared..* [Soundohm]
|
2023 |
€22.50 |
|
| NILSEN, BJ & STILLUPPSTEYPA |
Vikinga Brennivin |
CD |
the very first of the fruitful "hallucinogenic" collaborations between these Scandinavic projects - music as it could appear during a deep intoxication ('Brennivin' is a strong, almost poisonous Icelandic liquor), subtle - hazy - hypnotic ghostdronecapes, based on processed field recordings that a barely recognizable... back in stock !
|
2005 |
€13.00 |
|
| NINE DAYS WONDER |
same |
LP |
the first NINE DAYS WONDER from 1971, at that time one of the most bizarre productions made in Western Germany, inspired by ZAPPA, KING CRIMSON, VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR, SOFT MACHINE and Free Jazz, between structured and completely improvised sections...the fruit of a freaked out community in Mannheim! 180gr. re-issue on green vinyl |
2018 |
€22.50 |
|
| NLC / EISENLAGER / OCCUPIED HEAD / WILFRIED HANRATH |
Thing |
CD-R |
2nd release in the new series named "THING", based on the concept of physicality and the "meeting-place" for artists: long active French NOUVELLES LECTURES COSMOPOLITES (N.L.C.) for the first time on A.C, plus three German acts working in the experimental / spacious ambient field with different approaches, all pieces around 15 minutes, factory-produced CDr in cardboard sleeve, ltd.ed. 100 copies
|
2022 |
€8.00 |
|
| NOCTURNAL EMISSIONS |
Stoneface |
LP |
re-issue of album from 1989, N.E. in full ritual and animism evocation mode, electronic patterns and all kinds of strange ambient noises appear in continuous, loops, repetition and well done circles, the nine tracks relate to pagan traditions and nature worshipping... - *An excellent record that has aged quite well and is a fine reminder to play some of the old ones again. Time is what I want, more time!* [FdW / Vital Weekly] - lim. 300 copies, CLEAR vinyl
|
2023 |
€21.00 |
|
| NOETINGER, JEROME AND ANTHONY PATERAS |
A Sunset for Walter |
LP |
their first duo release: four excerpts from a highly interactive, three hour concert for piano and multiple Revox tape machines that happened during PATERAS residency at 'Schloss Solitude' in Stuttgart, June 2018; "Noetinger’s tape manipulations range from nearly imperceptible shadowing of the live piano to anarchic bursts of rewinding tape, floating wisps of feedback, and dreamlike concrète interjections of children’s voices and splashing water.. " - ed. of 300 copies
|
2019 |
€21.00 |
|
| NONO, LUIGI |
Como una ola de fuerza y luz (etc.) |
CD |
re-issue of three pieces that came out originally on LPs released by Deutsche Grammophon in 1974, 1979 & 1970: "Como una ola de fuerza y luz" (1971-72); "... sofferte onde serne..." (1976), and "Contrappunto dialettico alla mente" (1968) for magnetic tape (great experimental tape-piece originally on a split LP with ROLAND KAYN); extensive booklet in English, German, French & Italian
|
1988 |
€13.00 |
|
| NORTHAM, MICHAEL |
Memory of A |
mCD-R |
one-tracker mixing instrumental (zylophone) with field (rain) recordings; kind of sister-release to the SUHINA 10" which appears at the same time
|
2009 |
€5.00 |
|
| NOVAK, YANN |
Ornamentation |
CD |
YANN NOVAK from L.A. appeared on Drone-Mind Vol. 2 LP with his slowly winding and highly resonating minimal drones, ORNAMENTATION is a beautiful one-tracker of 49 min. length, incorporating field recordings made in USA & Canada in the last 10 years... a high class experimental soundscape transforming natural and synthetic drones..
|
2016 |
€12.00 |
|
| NOVAK, YANN / JAMIE DROUIN |
+ROOM-ROOM |
CD |
minimal soundart that sparkles from beauty -
soft minimal drones from an installation that happened early 2009 in the "Henry Art Gallery" in Seattle, WA; two long, very different atmospheric pieces (63+ min.) that also change the perception of the physical surroundings; BAKC IN STOCK !
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| NOX |
Opus Unending |
CD |
abysmal ambient from Croatia, the first album for this new project (aka AEGRI SOMNIA), enabling a truly dark meditation, incorp. subtle field recordings... "... It creates a strong visual effect, which has something pretty paranoiac. You get the impression there’s an invisible presence walking at your back. It’s a hostile atmosphere like appealing to awake the ghosts" [Side-Line] - lim. 200 4 panel digipak
|
2020 |
€13.00 |
|
| NURSE WITH WOUND |
Chromanatron |
pic-LP |
"a hallucination on the music of SAND by ANDREW LILES & STEVEN STAPLETON" - long awaited new NWW album that destroys (again) all expectations => a collage made out SAND material (incl. the legendary "Golem") with additional arrangements on guitar, french horn and "atmospheric grooves" feat. MATT WALDRON (IRR.APP (ext.), this is KRAUTROCK pushed to other / new dimensions! Pic-LP version lim. 500 in special die-cut window sleeve !!
|
2013 |
€24.50 |
|
|
Chromanatron |
CD |
*a hallucination on the music of SAND by ANDREW LILES & STEVEN STAPLETON* - the 2013 NWW album that destroyed (again) all expectations, a collage made from SAND material with additional arrangements on guitar, french horn and *atmospheric grooves* feat. MATT WALDRON (IRR.APP (ext.), this is KRAUTROCK pushed to other / new dimensions! - CD-version in deluxe digipack with silver embossing, BACK IN STOCK
|
2013 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Lumb's Sister |
CD |
more than 20 years after the first announcement this (never used) film-soundtrack finally sees the light of day; recorded already 1986 / 1987 with one track being a collaboration with COIL ("How to destroy Angels II"), this is an outstanding dark & dense soundtrack with some typical eerie NWW elements appearing in the mix, really captivating like a bad dream.... length 70+ min. !!
|
2015 |
€19.00 |
|
|
Homotopy to Marie |
BOOK / 2 x CD |
luxus re-issue of NWW's 5th album and true surrealistic masterpiece from 1982, described as "a step on from the Dadaist rock of Merzbild Schwet, with much use of tape manipulation and classical avant-garde techniques"; much more eerie and subtle as previous releases, we think: the best possible approach to the Irrational and Unconscious, a kind of logbook for surpressed memories... 2 CD version with a 26 pages art book in silverfoil hardcover (CD 2 has rare comp. tracks)
|
2018 |
€27.50 |
|
|
Homotopy to Marie |
do-LP |
luxus re-issue of NWW's 5th album and true surrealistic masterpiece from 1982, described as "a step on from the Dadaist rock of Merzbild Schwet, with much use of tape manipulation and classical avant-garde techniques"; much more eerie and subtle as previous releases, we think: the best possible approach to the Irrational and Unconscious, a kind of logbook for surpressed memories... silver printed gatefold cover, 4 rare bonus tracks from the same period, numbered ed. 700; SILVER-BLACK/WHITE VINYL
|
2018 |
€38.50 |
|
|
Arcane Reawakeing |
7inch |
rare 7" released for the festival "Scenasonica Congresso" that happened in Pordenone, Italy, in October 2019 - the 7" was normally only available at the concert or from the label directly, we could get a handful of copies... two pieces ("Trasference 1 & 2") on two different coloured vinyl, numbered ed.
|
2019 |
€16.50 |
|
|
Opium Cabaret |
CD |
expanded re-issue with 40 min. phantastic bonus material of last year's rare & immediately sold out new studio LP, a must for lovers of the spooky, ghostly 'gloom ambient' sound of NWW....- "This is a record that moves in slow motion. It unfolds into a floating nothingness to appease broken minds so drenched in opiates, time and place are but frivolous footnotes in a wider narrative of distorted reality.." - full colour 4 panel digipack with new artworks by BABS SANTINI
|
2021 |
€16.00 |
|
|
Chance Meeting of a Defective Tape Machine and Migraine |
CD |
"When Matt Waldron attempted to make a tape to tape copy of Nurse With Wound's 'Chance meeting on a dissecting table of a sewing machine and umbrella' he didn't expect the machines to do their own remix. The music on this disc was performed by two slightly defective disobedient tape recorders." - re-issue of the IRR.APP.(ext). curious, nerve-shattering remix of NWWs first album - comes in handmade digipak covers
|
2021 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
The Sylvie And Babs Hi-Fi Companion (expanded re-issue) |
do-CD |
re-press of the expanded re-issue of this classic NWW album from 1985 (originally LP on L.A.Y.L.A.H.) feat. the "MURRAY FONTANA ORCHESTRA" with DAVID JACKMAN, E. KA-SPEL, JOHN BALANCE, ROBERT HAIGH, WILLIAM BENNETT, etc. - re-mastered by DENIS BLACKHAM & with new 12 page booklet and bonus CD with outtakes, unreleased material and remixes from IRR.APP(ext.) and ANDREW LILES; 6 panel digipak matt laminated
|
2023 |
€20.00 |
|
| O'MALLEY / PATERAS |
Sept Duos pour Guitare Acoustique & Piano prepare |
do-LP |
very sparse and atonal music with room for every tone and sound that appears... a metallic and bell-like sounding prepared piano in interaction with acoustic ("just-intoned") string notes, very near, intimate and concrete and full of overtones.. - "a distinctive landscape of chiming tones and hovering clouds of resonance explored throughout its one-hour running time." - 7 movements, etching on Side D
|
2023 |
€30.50 |
|
| OLD CASTLE |
Welcome to Graceland |
CD |
compared to COIL and / or an "acid trip on LSD", this is the second album of the trio formed by RAPOON, PAS MUSIQUE and PROMUTE, electronic echoes, pulses and morphing shamanistic / strange sounds all around... - "Along the way you will hear unexpected appearances of classical instruments like trumpets, pianos or violins and even less obvious didgeridoo which brings to mind aboriginal trance inducing music. Everything veiled in mystery and eeriness." - ed. of 400 copies
|
2021 |
€12.00 |
|
| OLSSON, KRISTIAN |
Ligranorex |
CD |
Swedish industrial artist KRISTIAN OLSSON (SURVIVAL UNIT, HEID, ALFARMANIA) had few solo releases, "Ligranorex" appeared as a ultra limited cassette-only in 2012, containing two long untitled sides of dark maelstrom noise - once you enter this dimension of amorph & archaic drone noise you are sweeped away inside, and all concrete elements seems to vanish slowly... this CD re-issue has one bonus track
|
2019 |
€12.50 |
|
| OPENING PERFORMANCE ORCHESTRA & HIROSHI HASEGAWA |
Fraction Elements |
CD |
'NO MELODY - NO RHYTHM - NO HARMONY - THIS IS FRACTION MUSIC' - the amazing 'digital deconstructivists' O.P.O from Prague collaborate with the 'cosmic' Japanese analogue noiser (aka ASTRO + former member of C.C.C.C. ), the three long tracks (one each by HASEGAWA and O.P.O + the main collab piece "Terrestrial Lightness") show their "pure drone/sound/noise" approach, the BORDERS ARE FLUENT = overwhelming CD with massively morphing and transforming drone noises!!
|
2016 |
€12.00 |
|
| ORGANUM ELECTRONICS |
Organum Electronics |
CD |
ORGANUM transmuted into ORGANUM ELECTRONICS, and also the sound became much more complex and noisier as before, without loosing the typical characteristics of repetition and timelessness.., 3 tracks of about 15 min., lim. 500 copies - "..'Electronics' is dense and huge; a roiling swamp of electric din that would appeal to fans of Jackman’s early collaborations with The New Blockaders ('Salute'), and 'Wrack'), though this is more atmospheric than aggressive.." [HS / Vital Weekly]
|
2019 |
€14.00 |
|
| ORPHANAGE COMMITTEE |
Sol in Solus |
LP |
second LP for the Belgium based project, versatile and creative "handmade" electronic music with a light, spiritual, nature-woreshipping approach and expression.... - *Sol In Solus' is a concept album about nature and self-reflexion. An overall organic suite in ten parts comprising multi genres and instruments conceived and performed by this talented local electronic artist! * - lim. 200 copies
|
2023 |
€20.00 |
|
| OVAL LANGUAGE / RLW / DAS SYNTHETISCHE MISCHGEWEBE |
Sprechzimmern (Hommage an Carlfriedrich Claus) |
CD |
three highly experimental sound art approaches are combined here as a homage to CARLFRIEDRICH CLAUS, a truly avantgardish sound poet and philosophic graphic artist from the former East-Germany (1930-1998) who got only attention after the breakdown of the country... these are very radical abstract / noise / cut up pieces made entirely of all kinds of vocal material, sometimes with objects that mutate it, from strange singings to animal-like guttural sounds, demanding stuff!! edition of 300 copies
|
2015 |
€12.00 |
|
| PACIFIC 231 & BARDOSENETICCUBE |
The Traditions of Changes |
CD |
very strong collaboration between two long standing experimental projects, BARDOSENETICCUBE is known for unusual surrealistic audio landscapes and here this appears to be like a strange & complex futuristic trip into the unconscious of a robot, with somehow ancient electronics and deranged found sounds in confusing layers and pulses... really special, unusual, surprising, with relations to FRANCIS BACONs 'New Atlantis'... lim. 300, comes with 6 panel A5 folder
|
2014 |
€12.00 |
|
| PALESTINE, CHARLEMAGNE |
Mother of us all |
DVD |
professional live video from a performance that happened on 27th June 2009 in Nancy, France
|
2010 |
€15.00 |
|
|
CharleBelllzzz at Saint Thomas |
CD |
unreleased tape recordings from 1966-1968, made in the Saint Thomas Church (New York City) which holds a carillon with 26 bells => two very long pieces (over 30 min. each) of pure church bells resonances and attacks performed by the young PALESTINE... "The sounds became physical, visceral, each crack of the clapper was like a small earthquake."
|
2015 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
October 24, 1975 - - PERFORMANCE ICC ANTWERP BELGIUM |
CD |
the label from Belgium found this very early C. PALESTINE "Strumming" live recording from 1975, which happened in Antwerp at the ICC (55 + min. long)... completely unreleased before, lim. 300 copies, authentic atmosphere..
|
2021 |
€15.00 |
|
| PALESTINE, CHARLEMAGNE & SIMONE FORTI |
Meditative Sound Environments |
LP |
unreleased recordings from 1971, created in improvisation at the same time when the performance for "Illuminations" happened.. shimmering drones, female voice, ethereal atmosphere, a nostalgic low fi flair.. verr nice ! *all of a sudden they were doing a new kind of jamming together. everybody in the audience loved it because it was so dreamy and they found amazing how a man and a woman can act in that strange, very dreamlike oriental way as in trance..* - lim. 365 copies
|
2021 |
€21.50 |
|
| PALESTINE, CHARLEMAGNE / GRUMBLING FUR TIME MACHINE ORCHESTRA |
ggrrreeebbbaaammmnnnuuuccckkkaaaiiioooww!!! |
LP |
stunning recording of a performance that happened at London's 'Cafe OTO' in June 2013: PALESTINE supported by DANIEL O'SULLIVAN (AETHENOR, GUAPO) and ALEXANDER TUCKER (GINNUNGAGAP, etc.) (=GRUMBLING FUR T.M.O.), has some wonderful & wondrous ethereal, ecstatic and weird moments! "processed strings, live tape manipulations, Indian harmonium, shimmering piano clusters, bleating cattle, a Japanese orgy, disembodied vocal harmony..." lim. 500 blue vinyl
|
2015 |
€25.00 |
|
| PALMER, AMANDA & EDWARD KA-SPEL |
I can spin a Rainbow |
do-LP |
first full collab album by the DRESDEN DOLLS and LEGENDARY PINK DOTS singers who appear here like twin-siblings with their expressive, psychedelic song-writing full of emotion and pathos and wonderful violin playing by PATRICK WRIGHT.. "Light a candle in a dark room and wrap up snug; this is a haunted house of a record - the album blends storytelling, poetry and lyricism with a wide range of soundscapes." [The Skinny] the vinyl-version has two bonus tracks not on the CD, and a download code
|
2017 |
€27.50 |
|
| |
I can spin a Rainbow |
CD |
first full collab album by the DRESDEN DOLLS and LEGENDARY PINK DOTS singers who appear here like twin-siblings with their expressive, psychedelic song-writing full of emotion and pathos and wonderful violin playing by PATRICK WRIGHT.. "Light a candle in a dark room and wrap up snug; this is a haunted house of a record - the album blends storytelling, poetry and lyricism with a wide range of soundscapes." [The Skinny]
|
2017 |
€17.00 |
|
| PAN SONIC |
Oksastus |
do-LP |
one of the last live shows of PAN SONIC happened in Kiev, Ukraine, on June 6th, 2009; this impressive live document was released in 2014 and sold out immediately; re-press of 300 copies now available! |
2020 |
€34.00 |
|
| PAN SONIC & CHARLEMAGNE PALESTINE |
Mort aux Vaches |
do-LP |
this most curious "live in the studio" colloboration happened on 10. January 1999 at VPRO studios in Amsterdam, and was released in the M.A.V.- CD series in the year 2000; - 5 movements with more than 60 min. playtime, now for the first time re-issued; lim. 300 copies clear vinyl, new cover-art and re-mastering
|
2019 |
€34.00 |
|
| PBK & MODELBAU |
The Dead Time |
CD |
two of the longest standing "veterans" of the noise / experimental / electronic underworld have created six fine balanced pieces made out of drones, subtle harmonics and uncategorizable amorph noises, with many details revealing during immersive listening.. - "The 'miniatures' sound like deep, personal, little moments of awakening, fermented by time, but then again appearing to be free from it:.." [Martijn Comes / Vital Weekly]
|
2021 |
€13.50 |
|
| PECORELLI, DANIELE / MARK SCHAUB |
& |
LP |
new LP series with philosophical approach, the two artists per side act completely independent and don't know the work on the other side: DANIELE PECORELLI aks what happens to the consciousness and our memory when we die - MARK SCHAUB (aka MAATH) reflects upon chemical transformations and the audible; both Italian artists create delicate electronic ambience pieces with strange animal (?) field recordings and waving organ synths... to discover! lim. 100 copies only
|
2019 |
€22.50 |
|
| PERRET, NICOLAS & SILVIA PLONER |
Nýey |
CD |
a radiophonic musique concrete-collage about the island of SURTSEY and it's surroundings, which appeared near to the coast of Iceland in 1963 through an underwater vulcanic eruption => processed sounds from water, wind & animals form a fascinating piece, enriched with words by three generations of scientists who dealt with the island; commissioned for Deutschland Radio Kultur / Klangkunst in 2014; lim. 200
|
2015 |
€14.00 |
|
| PETROGRAD DRONE GATHERING / MOSCOW NOISE MANUFACTORY |
PoluDrema 26.11.2021 |
MC |
C-90 split cassette with a condensation of two improvised "experimental/drone/ambient" concerts that happened at the "PuluDrema" ("semi slumber") event in November 2011 in Moscow with 8 hour performances: PETROGRAD DRONE GATHERING (incl. members of LUNAR ABYSS, UHUSHUHU, etc.) and MOSCOW NOISE MANUFACTORY perform the most dreamy, somniferous, vision producing multi layered dronescapes... - lim. 150 copies, fold out cover, DL card, RUS import!
|
2022 |
€12.00 |
|
| PHALLUS DEI |
Black Dawn |
CD |
the 7th album for this German industrial band (existing since 1988) showing a wide spectrum of different approaches from rumbling earthquake noise over distorted guitar ur-drones to massive electronic industrial soundscapes with hypnotic classic or jazzy touch, feat. guest musicians NIELS VAN HOORN (LPD), PETER BRÖTZMANN (!) and MERZBOW (!), as well as JACQUELINE HAMELINK on Cello... CD version with one long exclusive track "Stigmata"
|
2017 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Black Dawn |
do-LP |
the 7th album for this German industrial band (existing since 1988) showing a wide spectrum of different approaches from rumbling earthquake noise over distorted guitar ur-drones to massive electronic industrial soundscapes with hypnotic classic or jazzy touch, feat. guest musicians NIELS VAN HOORN (LPD), PETER BRÖTZMANN (!) and MERZBOW (!), as well as JACQUELINE HAMELINK on Cello... vinyl version lim. 250 with 16 min. bonus track not on the CD
|
2017 |
€22.50 |
|
| PHURPA |
LTA ZOR |
LP |
"LTA ZOR captures one such ritual, spread across two dense, intense twenty-minute slabs of performance. And as with all such live moments transferred into the recorded medium, it pays dividends to approach it in the right way: put on some headphones, turn off the lights, lie on the floor....This really is Phurpa at their absolute best, organic, acoustic, yet with such controlled power," [David Solomons/FREQ] - lim. 300 with DL code
|
2020 |
€20.00 |
|
| PLURALS |
Atlantikwall |
do-CD |
condensed extracts from a 4 hour (!) performance by the UK impro/drone/psych band, which happened near Ostend in Belgium at the Raversyde/Atlantikwall provincial open air museum in August 2015 (a former German military fortification): guitar, synths, keyboards, vocals, tape machine, radio, reed & string instruments are combined in endless droning improvisation sessions, a document of a very intense evening! 300 copies pressed
|
2017 |
€16.00 |
|
| PSYCHIC TV |
Alien Be-In |
12inch |
re-issue of PTVs classic 'evil acid house' track "Alien Be-In" (the original version appeared 1990 on 'Towards thee infinite Beat') => hypnotic pumping beats with didgeridoo, echo violin and repetitive voice samples, plus three new remixes by FRED GIANELLI, SILENT SERVANT and JOHN TEJADA; comes in die-cut sleeve with inlay and liner notes
|
2015 |
€16.00 |
|
|
Pagan Day |
LP |
mythic PTV album from 1984 with early song demos and sketches of ALEX FERGUSSON and GENESIS P.ORRIDGE, recorded on a simple 4-track cassette machine and originally not intended to be released as "finished" material; feat. "We Kiss" and "Cold Steel", one of the most intimate PTV albums - appeared first as TOPY 003 on 23rd Dec. 1984 as lim. picture disc. only available in the shops for one hour! we have copies on red vinyl in stock, after they're gone we sell the black vinyl ed.
|
2017 |
€20.00 |
|
| |
Pagan Day |
CD |
mythic PTV album from 1984 with early song demos and sketches of ALEX FERGUSSON and GENESIS P.ORRIDGE, recorded on a simple 4-track cassette machine and originally not intended to be released as "finished" material; feat. "We Kiss" and "Cold Steel", one of the most intimate PTV albums - appeared first as TOPY 003 on 23rd Dec. 1984 as lim. picture disc. only available in the shops for one hour!
|
2017 |
€13.00 |
|
| PUHBAH BABA |
same |
MC |
debut tape for a promising experimental drone / sound / noise project from Southern Germany (Allgäu), electronic low end bass drones and pulses appearing in very slow movements and fragments, gradually some kind of structures and harmonic levels are build, found vocal sounds, slow motion beats and other processed (ethnic?) noises join into the low fi muzak, always subtle and mysterious... a very nice tape, to discover!
|
2017 |
€5.00 |
|
| RADIGUE, ELIANE |
In Memoriam-Ostinato / Danse des Dakinis |
LP |
so far unreleased! - a 'processed tape recorder feedback' piece from 1969 , plus a performance recording from 1998 which happened at Mills College in California using ARP synth, field recordings and tapes. .- "There is tension in this composition, a certain wildness, an unpredictability of elements, those which are recognized as fundamental elements, which give structure to the universe.." - beautiful gatefold cover with extensive liner notes and display of ancient labyrinths, her "Labyrinths Sonore"..
|
2022 |
€24.00 |
|
| RAPOON |
Wanderlust |
CD |
10 appealing tracks feat. Russian folk singer TATYANA STEPCHENKO who was already present on "The Library of the Dead" => enchanting loops, drones, beats and vocal echo-rooms.. ".. the endless yearning, the search for questions and for answers, the horizon ever drawing onward with the lure of what lies beyond. The pull of the mountains and the deserts and the infinitive light of the stars, shining from the distant past. We travel.." 70 min. playtime, 400 copies digipack
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Skulls on the Plains of Turkey |
CD |
slow & wide tribal electro beats, oriental sounding samples, synth trumpets in reverb, choirs, all appearing in a state between dream and hypnosis...- "Sitting at a table in front of a bar by the sea in Chania, watching the crashing waves and enjoying the beauty of this place, I watched a ball of white light moving from behind the eastern headland and disappearing behind the west. She was moving at speeds impossible for a boat or plane..." = a state when no one else notices anymore THE WONDERS... lim. 400
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| RAPOON & LORDS OF INFINITY |
split |
CD |
on this split CD (67+ min.) ROBIN STOREY returns to a very ritualistic and shamanistic approach, loopy & hypnotic and using guitar sounds... the five RAPOON tracks fit perfectly to the two long pieces from newcomers LORDS OF INFIINITY, a male-female duo who create wonderful multi-layered drones with extreme transcendental flow and instrumental sound sources, on two long pieces.... "We believe that music incarnates pan-unity" - ed. of 500 copies
|
2021 |
€12.00 |
|
| RATKJE, MAJA S. |
Cyborgic |
LP |
documentation of a wild & furious collage/cut-up/noise live performance that happened on 23. April 2008 at Blå in Oslo, Norway => totally improvised vocals (screams, singings, utterings, crazy transmuted voice poetry, etc..) , theremin, toys, and live processing in her typical ultra expressive & experimental way... really challenging, powerful stuff! lim. 500 copies, gatefold cover, incl. 16 page art booklet, numbered ed.
|
2009 |
€24.00 |
|
| REMOTE VIEWERS |
Nerve Cure |
CD |
minimal cinematic avant jazz with a highly experimental approach by this UK-based trio, feat. diverse guest-musicians (ADAM BOHMAN, JOHN EDWARDS, SUE LYNCH, ROSA LYNCH-NORTHOVER), surprising as always, to discover !
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| RESIDENTS |
Metal, Meat & Bone (Six Songs Inspired By Dyin' Dog) |
LP |
rare six track (45 rpm) mini LP with RESIDENTS versions of songs originally recorded by ALVIN SNOW aka DYIN' DOG, somehow transmitted without their conscious will it seems.. - ."..but here is all the evidence we need that some special happened. Equal parts pan-dimensional projection and group exorcism.." - BLACK vinyl lim. 100 only!!!
|
2020 |
€28.50 |
|
| REYNOLS |
Fire Music Reloaded |
CD |
FIRE MUSIC appeared in 2003 as a maxi-CD and could be seen as a sister-release to the famous "10.000 Chickens' Symphony" 7", we wrote: "Neben der Erschaffung eher psychedelisch-obskurer Improvisationen betätigen sich REYNOLS auch als Sound-Konstruktivisten erster Güte.. " - this re-issue contains the FULL version of the recordings and re-workings, pure fire sounds, ranging from whispering hisses to deep monumental drones... lim. 200
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Minecxio Greatest No Hits |
LP |
a compilation through their career celebrating the 30th anniversary => REYNOLS have established their own unique sound also due to the fact that their drummer + singer MIIGUEL TOMASIN has down syndrome and breaks many existing musical "rules".. (the way of singing, inventing new words, etc..).. - "his name appears mentioned in diverse books of neuroscience and neurodiversity" - comes with fold out insert, on the Spanish BEAT Generation label
|
2023 |
€26.00 |
|
| RICHTER, MAX |
Disconnect (OST) |
CD |
Soundtrack for the Film of the same name - a real "ambient / chamber music" masterpiece based on the great emotional main theme ('On the Nature of Daylight') appearing in varied forms a few times, connected through fields of dreamy & ultra subtle melancholic night-drone passages... 60+ minutes
|
2013 |
€17.50 |
|
| RIECHMANN |
Wunderbar |
CD |
re-issue of the only solo-album (1978) of this early electronic music artist from Duesseldorf who worked with NEU & KRAFTWERK-members; he was killed on the streets three weeks before the album appeared
|
2009 |
€17.00 |
|
| RIEK, LASSE-MARC |
Helgoland |
CD |
16 pure high quality field recordings from Germany's only ocean island, densely populated by marine birds => capturing the water, wind, and animals (especially marine birds) of this rough place at different locations (also from cliffs and caves normally not accessible); feat. a full colour booklet with extensive liner notes & photos...very much in the vein of CHRIS WATSONs or FRANCISCO LOPEZ unprocessed wildlife recordings, this is filled with a very personal approach, recorded over a period of 3 years
|
2013 |
€14.00 |
|
| RLW + SRMEIXNER |
Just like a Flower when Winter begins |
CD |
weird & very experimental but at times also beautiful droney collaboration recordings (2010-2013) by RALF WEHOWKSY (P16.D4) and STEPHEN MEIXNER (CONTRASTATE), going new paths using German poetry and masses of deranged german SCHLAGER & lots of other spoken word material mixed with all kinds of bizarre found sounds.. great collage/plunderphonic music where anything can happen in the next few seconds.... funny, surrealistic, mind-explosive !
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| RLW / PAAK |
Zur Arbeit I |
LP |
already the third collaboration by RLW with PETER KASTNER aka PAAK, this time on the subject WORK: on three pieces called "Schnaps" (booze), "Kantine" (canteen), and "Gerberei" (tannery) they distill the typical sounds from these "areas" of work in the 19th, 20th, and 21th century with a sarcastic and at times dadaistic approach, using harpsichord, mellotron, rhythmbox, voice and field recordings; a very curious record to say the least !! Lim. 300 colour vinyl & inlay
|
2016 |
€17.00 |
|
| RODEN, STEVE / IN BE TWEEN NOISE |
The Radio |
maxiCD |
STEVE RODEN schafft es, aus kurzen Samples aus dem Radio sowie durch Verwendung konkreter Geräusche eines Radioapparates ein wunderbar melancholisch-getragenes 18min-Stück zu kreieren, welches durch seinen hohen, WIM MERTENS-artigen Gesang begleitet wird.
Wir meinen: die perfekte Symbiose aus Geräusch & Emotion, highly recommended!! LAST COPY!
|
1999 |
€10.00 |
|
| ROIGK, STEFAN |
De-Composed |
BOOK + 2 x CD |
phantastic 144 pages full colour art book presenting STEFAN ROIGKs works 2005 to 2023 => acousmatic compositions, sound installations, musical graphics and sound poetry works, photos, texts and drawings.. " A piece of music for the eyes" - the book comes with two audio CDs, incl. 33 tracks / 141 min. of extraordinary sounds and audio poetry, a great survey of the almost unique creative approach of the Berlin based sound artist..
|
2023 |
€28.00 |
|
| ROMERO, DAMION |
Twins |
do-LP |
lim. 500 gatefold cover; pure sound / frequency approach from this US artist also active as SPECULUM FIGHT
|
2007 |
€20.00 |
|
| ROSE, JON |
Rosin Box |
4 x CD-BOX & BOOK |
for the 60th anniversary of the Australian improvisation artist & violin player JON ROSE ReR Megacorp releases this collection of previously unreleased works, spread on 3 CDs and 1 data disc with film-clips more & one big book: performances, radio documentary, radio fiction... really extraordinary & extreme stuff covering a very wide range of different approaches, concepts, ideas..
|
2013 |
€30.00 |
|
| ROWE, KEITH & CHRISTIAN FENNESZ |
Live at the LU |
CD |
back in stock this recording of a live performance that happened in NANTES, FR, in May 2002; mysterious conrete noises & object sounds...
|
2004 |
€13.00 |
|
| SAKAMOTO, RYUICHI & DAVID TOOP |
Garden of Shadows and Light |
LP |
DAVID TOOP and RYUICHI SAKAMOTO invite to a contemplative journey with (exotic) instruments (flute, piano, guitars) and objects, but also field recordings and very subtle analog electronics appear, recorded in performance / London August 2018... . "You are led through a series of discrete moments, each uniquely shaded, whether by highly amplified small percussive sounds, austere electronic tones or the mournful tones of Toop's bass recorder.." - clear vinyl 180.gr, embossed sleeve
|
2021 |
€29.50 |
|
| SALOMAN, GABRIEL |
Movement Building Vol. 3 |
LP |
third and final Volume in the great LP series by the ex YELLOW SWANS => "Listeners will recognize the emotive bowed strings, militant percussion and searing guitar eruptions that evoked memory and trauma in that previous album. Joining this pallet are other familiar Saloman sounds: shoegaze washes of distorted guitar, minimalist piano attacks, melancholic appregiated melodies, and a patina of harsh noise.."
|
2017 |
€20.00 |
|
| SAVAGE REPUBLIC |
Aegean |
do-LP |
the great epic album (19 tracks, 64 min.!) from 2014 now on vinyl! => the Californian cult band goes deeper "back to the roots" with tribalesque percussion, 'oriental' sounding guitar melodies and surprises with female vocals and a wind section even, but also has very powerful 'wall of sound' / post-punk influenced tracks, and a stronger experimental approch as before.... lots of guest-musicians as BLAINE REINIGER (TUXEDOMOON) on violin appear... spreading in all directions... lim. 400 w. wonderful cover
|
2015 |
€28.00 |
|
| SEETYCA |
Mbira |
CD-R |
epic one tracker of 80 minutes using sounds of various artists from the MBIRA-label such as VZUSDW, ARTIN MUCHT, MOEDRA, [:kopfapffel:], etc. etc.. => cosmic bubbles drenched in endless reverb, far away sonics waving in slow passages, weird electronic and non-electronic acoustic objects appear for a short time, etc...no rhythms, extremely subtle, real subconscious space - mind music ! full-colour cover, lightscribed cdr, the MBIRA jubilee release !
|
2015 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Zwischenwelten |
CD |
this release shows SEETYCA further exploring and enhancing romantic 'intermediate worlds', for the nine compositions diverse guest-musicians (THOM YEESLAND, JULIAN ECKSTEIN, KRIS CAELIS) helped and many 'real' instruments were used (ocarina, zither, acoustic guitar, trombone), forming gracious, deeply multi-layered drones full of beauty and width, with tiny sounds and micro harmonies appearing.... definitely one of his masterpieces, 79+ min. playtime
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
| SEIDL, HANNES |
Befreit die Maschinen |
CD |
experimental earplay for German Radio (HR2) named "Liberate the Machines", a reflection on the promise that machines would liberate us from work (which never happened) and the function of music generating programmes => using noise and glitch sounds from computers, and strangely morphed quotes from a lecture of German philosopher MICHAEL HIRSCH, this is a quite special and dedicated recording...
|
2023 |
€13.00 |
|
| SEIROM |
Mesmerized |
CD |
third album by dutch MAURICE DE JONG's "heavenly ether-ambience" project, seven shimmering tracks that appear even more melodic and melancholic (almost shoegazing) than on the first two albums, think of early 4AD or PROJEKT Records artists, or LOVESLIESCRUSHING ... completely elevating..
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| SHEFFIELD, COLIN ANDREW |
First thus |
CD |
the first full length CD by the man behind this fine underground / experimental label from the U.S., ELEVATOR BATH => four long tracks that sound very nebulous and analogic, with strange harmonies appearing within, a very own dimension of wafting transcension and dissolution into the ether... all material is sourced from "commercially available records", a kind of GHOST-plunderphonics... slim cardboard box / ed. of 330 / back in stock !
cardboard box / ed. of 330 |
2005 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Don't ever let me know |
LP |
sounds from the city of EL PASO (TX) where Sheffield and his father were born, build the (sample) basis for this stunning, mostly abstract sounding LP: *A soundscape of a city, abstract it is, that feels like a sonic journey through the city, as seen through a mildly distorted lens. Sheffield applies collage-like techniques, and to stay with the analogy of the city, a hard cut is like turning a corner; the scenery might change completely. Dark at times, intense always..* - lim. 200 copies, spot tone print
|
2023 |
€20.00 |
|
| SHIBALBA / ALONE IN THE HOLLOW GARDEN & NAM-KHAR |
Yang Trol Le |
CD |
Drone-Mind 6 act NAM KHAR appears on this split & collab album again with ALONE IN THE HOLLOW GARDEN on three stunning tracks (Tibetan drone muzak feat. a huge collection of original instruments, as: Strings, Kantele, Percussion, Horn [Kangling], Flute [Mey Ney & Pungi Flutes], Drums [Damaru], Cymbal [Rol-Mo], Bells, Gong]; three other tracks are from Greeks SHIBALBA, partly in collaboration wtih OF EARTH AND SUN; "to dream beyond the skin of matter & to dream in ecstasy and exaltation"
|
2017 |
€12.00 |
|
| SIGMARSSON, SIGTRYGGUR (BERG) |
So Long |
CD |
"this is foamy music" - extremely minimal & often silent drones, with daydream-soundbubbles appearing....3 long tracks (65+ min.) by the Iceland soundartist, feat. BENNY NILSEN and ANLA COURTIS, as usually garnished with a bit of weird humour... "polar impressionism flecked with hallucinatory ambience" the label calls it adequately
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| SIJ & ITEM CALIGO |
Queer Reminiscence |
CD |
very peaceful ambient-collaboration mainly based on perfectly arranged synths, neo-classic elements meet drone ambient minimalism, but also more broad waving atmo clouds appear.. always harmonic and slow, full of nostalgy and melancholy, music for peaceful, isolated landscapes... for fans of CELER, ALIO DIE, or more harmonic TROUM.... lim. 200
|
2017 |
€13.00 |
|
| SIYANIE |
Shining of Unity |
CD |
first full release of new project by former VRESNIT with different approach, drifting transpersonal drone ambience, very warm & shining, for pure contemplation/meditation, perfect if you like ALIO DIE or MATHIAS GRASSOW... lim. 300 in very special cardboard cover with colourful "flourescence" art.... feat. NEZNAMO & KSHATRIY as guests musicians. BACK IN STOCK this now rare item !!
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| SKELDOS |
Ilges |
MC |
most favoured release by Lithuanian drone-newcomer SKELDOS - two wonderfully breathing, resonating pieces based on accordeon, voice, Lithuanian zither and guitar, plinspired by a poem from the Lithuanian writer ANTANAS SKEMA; there's so much beauty and melancholy and sadness in here, it's almost unbearable.. lim. 75 copies in handmade/printed cardboard cover with bag & download code... SKELDOS will soon appear in the "Drone-Mind" LP series!!
|
2018 |
€9.00 |
|
| SKITLIV |
Amfetamin |
CD |
the doom/noise project of "Maniac" (ex MAYHEM), feat. Kvarforth (SHINING), with guest appearances of ATTILA (SUNN O))), MAYHEM) and DAVID TIBET (CURRENT 93) !
LAST COPY |
2008 |
€10.00 |
|
| SKÖLD, MATTIAS |
Taroom |
CD |
composer from Stockholm combining spheric glitch-electronica with an experimental electro-acoustic approach, quite powerful, very good !
|
2008 |
€12.50 |
|
| SMALL CRUEL PARTY |
Hσυχασμός / Hesychasmus |
10inch |
in 2018 the first new SCP material appeared in 15 years, as cassette only release (C-25), Ferns finally presents a re-issue of these mysterious, minimalistic slow motion hiss+pulse hummings... - *a siren like microtonal shifting of sound, with a slowly rising tension. punctuated by tinkly metal textures. 1st new small cruel party release in 15 years!* [Banned Production info] - 300 copies pressed, special j-card sleeve, silk-screen printed
|
2023 |
€16.50 |
|
| SMALL THINGS ON SUNDAYS |
Searching for |
LP |
first LP for this promising Danish ambient project, opening up spaces for the inner phantasy, working extremely subtle with synths & guitars, turntables, viola, laptops - based on loopy improvisations most tracks have been carefully re-arranged, airy ambience with some abstract elements appearing, with a beautiful tranquilized basic mood... somewhere between OÖPHOI, FENNESZ and ZOVIET FRANCE? Lim. 250
|
2013 |
€15.00 |
|
| SMITH, STEVEN R. |
Spring |
LP |
newest album by this most atmospheric / intimate "post-rock / folk" low fi droner from California (THUJA, etc.), who created 10 harmonic instrumentals, rather miniatures, on guitar, bass harmonium, piano, percussion, bass clarinet (guest GARETH DAVIS)... - "In a long list of crucial releases, it still stands out with his oblique whimsy and sonic yearnings for something bigger, something different. Spring reaffirms everything I love about Smith’s writing and his approach to the guitar." [Foxy Digitalis]
|
2022 |
€25.00 |
|
| SONOLOGYST |
Ancient Death Cults & Beliefs |
CD |
thematically centered around Death Cults from different ancient cultures, this ritualistic investigation uses samples from Egypt and Maya music along with electronics and various instrumental sources (percussion, saxophone, bass clarinet, guitars) to create a strangely contour-less floating space, as if the music is not constructed but just "happens"... definitely not the typical 'dark ambient' album! Comes with great cover artwork by ABBY HELASDOTTIR (GYDJA)
|
2020 |
€13.00 |
|
| SONS OF GOD |
Proclamation |
CD |
the very first SONS OF GOD CD (almost legendary performance & noise-art project of KENT TANKRED and LEIF ELGGREN), aka GODS SÖNER, culled from three performances that happened in Stockholm 1990-1992
|
1996 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Refurnish |
CD |
recording of a performance that happened at Fylkingen Records, Stockholm, Nov. 1995; "for two actors, furniture and electrotechnics" - another strange noise opera by KENT TANKRED and LEIF ELGGREN
|
2002 |
€13.00 |
|
| SPK (S.P.K.) |
Live at the Crypt / London - April 25 1981 |
CD |
this is an authorized re-issue of the very first (very low fi) cassette-only full length release by SPK (1981, Sterile Rec.), from a live performance held at THE CRYPT in London, when SPK were fascinated with evisceration.. "an apparent fascination with dissection and display - how these specimens were more strange works of art: hyper-sexual BALLARDian exercises in cutting, scoring and shaping (sculpture) than creating any seriously useful educational too" [Graeme Revell]
|
2019 |
€15.00 |
|
| SPLINTERED / RLW |
Split |
CD |
in the mid 90's the popular British noise/drone rock band SPLINTERED delivered material to RALF WEHOWSKY (ex P16.D4, etc.) aka RLW for further investigation (and vice versa) - the result they created we could only describe as "Music that reminds on Rock somehow, but it must have happened in a parallel universe, or: it's like listening to 'normal' music with so far not invented drugs. WOW" - released on the CONTRASTATE label, back in stock!
|
1996 |
€10.00 |
|
| SRVTR I INTERNAL FUSION I DARDIS I A.MAIAH |
Thing |
CD-R |
fourth volumne in the new THING compilation series by the always active label from Augsburg, Germany: three of the four acts are newcomers to us, coming from Northern Ireland, Spain and France; this comp. is more rhythm , drone and loop based and features different approaches, INTERNAL FUSION excite again with great new material.. lim. 100 factory pressed CDR, absolutely to discover again! |
2022 |
€8.00 |
|
| STANISZEWSKI, JACEK |
Zawstydzajacy Dar |
CD |
known for his releases as FACIAL INDEX and with the NEUROBOT collective, this Polish composer seems to deconstruct and morph field recordings (frogs, birds?) until very strange sound landscapes and patterns appear, highly experimental but not noisy... - "It has the energy of punk but not in terms of dynamics or agression. It brings you back to the basics of the sound, the crude matter that can be edited, reduced all over again and can put you in shame how far it can go." [Felt Hat Reviews]
|
2016 |
€12.00 |
|
| STAR TURBINE |
Sandwich Music |
CD-R |
STAR TURBINE (aka CLAUS POULSEN of SMALL THINGS ON SUNDAYS and the manic live performer & drone-improviser SINDRE BJERGA from Norway) are back with their 2nd release on A.C. => amplified objects, handplayed drones, + transformed material of MARTIN KLAPPER; they create a kind of 'musique concrete' drone stream, a manifold floating sound entity, too good to be missed! lim. 50
|
2014 |
€8.00 |
|
| STIEBLER, ERNSTALBRECHT / VARIOUS ARTISTS |
Reworks |
LP |
tribute remixes for the 85th birthday of the pioneering German minimalist composer, following his three principal compositional concerns "SONORITY, RHYTHM, and DURATION" - " five artists from different musical backgrounds present their approach to and understanding of Stiebler's minimalist aesthetic" : FRANK BRETSCNEIDER, BERANGERE MAXIMIN, JASMINE GUFFOND. PHONOSPHERE, KAMMERFLIMMER KOLLEKTIEF; 300 copies on 180 gr. vinyl + download code
|
2019 |
€18.00 |
|
| STRAFE F.R. (STRAFE FÜR REBELLION) |
The Bird was stolen |
CD |
the Düsseldorf-based conceptual project (with roots back to the very early 'Ratinger Hof' New Wave and Punk scene explosion in Germany in 1979) were never easy to classify, their third album "Santa Maria" was already released on TOUCH (1986): their surprising return to TOUCH underlines their avantgardish approach, using "all instruments of the world we can find" for their multi-layered, abstract compositions made entirely of strange and almost undecipherable sounds, effects and mysterious noises.. great !!
|
2018 |
€15.00 |
|
| SUDARIA |
The Syncretic Labyrinth |
MC |
extremely doomy / black metal influenced esoteric ambience, low-fi pulsating drones, suspended synth tones, eerie voices appearing, cryptic words, otherworldly atmosphere.. "9 mantras to break the illusion, 9 keys to open the holographic seals of Maya." for fans of AURAL HYPNOX, LOKI Foundation, Cold Spring Rec, CYCLIC LAW... lim. 100 prof. cover & duplication
|
2017 |
€8.00 |
|
| SUNN O))) |
Flight of the Behemoth |
do-LP |
first ever vinyl re-press of the 3rd album from 2002, feat. MASAMI AKITA....slow moving lava guitar drones of a subterreanean beauty...contains the vinyl only bonus track "Grimm & Bear It" - luxurious design: case-wrapped gatefold jacket with full color 24" x 36" folded poster, printed inner sleeves, metallic print; BLACK vinyl edition
|
2020 |
€33.00 |
|
| SUTCLIFFE NO MORE |
Normal |
CD |
third album of the newest S.J. incarnation, active since 1982! => *While obviously the band\'s roots lie in Noise Music and Power Electronics, and the influence of Whitehouse can still be heard, Sutcliffe No More are now focusing on a more diverse musical approach to accompany Kevin Tomkins\' lyrics. Recently, they started to introduce distorted rhythms into their music as well... * - limited digipak
|
2023 |
€15.00 |
|
| SWANS |
The Beggar |
do-LP |
*Todessehnsüchte eines Toxikers* - MICHAEL GIRA got 69 and this marks a return to more folky, romantic, and mellow areas; beyond catharsis and rage, recorded in Berlin... »Just by thinking I’m here / I will soon disappear. / Who cares and who knows / where I’ve been or will go?« - *Housed in a gatefold sleeve. Contains an insert, a poster, and a download code. Download includes extra 44 minute track, The Beggar Lover (Three), not featured on the vinyl.*
|
2023 |
€45.00 |
|
| |
The Beggar |
do-CD |
*Todessehnsüchte eines Toxikers* - MICHAEL GIRA got 69 and this marks a return to more folky, romantic, and mellow areas; beyond catharsis and rage, recorded in Berlin... »Just by thinking I’m here / I will soon disappear. / Who cares and who knows / where I’ve been or will go?« Comes in a 6-panel embossed Digipak with transparent trays, and a pocket for the booklet on the outer left panel; contains a 12-page fold-out booklet with lyrics, credits, and a thanks list.
|
2023 |
€21.50 |
|
| TAEHA TYPES |
Mechanical Keyboard Sounds: Recordings of Bespoke and Customized Mechanical Keyboards |
LP |
rather incredible: this LP collects all kinds of keyboard (german: "Tastatur") mechanical typing sounds from the past until now, 12 tracks from the early Apple M0110A (1986-1990) over IBM until newer TGR and Zambumom keyboards, they all sound so different and somehow appealing; crazy idea - great result ! "This is classic ASMR/whisper porn; the gentle click and rattle of carefully lubed springy keyboards make the hairs on the back of the neck rise."
|
2019 |
€28.00 |
|
| TAINNOS |
Kierto |
mCD-R |
TAINNOS is the new project of HENKKA KYLLÖNEN, who once had as NO XIVIC a wonderful 7" on Drone Rec. years ago, "Kierto" (=Circulation) is meant as "an audio journey through the evolution of life on this planet: from nothingness to beasts of the wild. from early humans to civilizations controlled by artificial intelligence....in the end there are only swarms of flies left and the circle of life and death starts again." => sophisticated approach, and a most captivating, evolving dronescape (22 min)
|
2018 |
€5.00 |
|
| TAPE MEASURE KID [N + JIM CAMPBELL] |
Zero is an Even Number |
LP + CD |
last copies of the 2nd collaboration release between archaic guitar droner "N" (HELLMUT NEIDHARDT) and JIM CAMPBELL (aka RRILL BELL), different material on the CD, 5 long tracks: merging guitar drones, low fi synths, tapes.. "as if N's sustained guitar had been mangled through a computer by some strange wizard. but in fact all you can hear happened in real time..." - lim. 100 copies only !!
|
2013 |
€32.00 |
|
| |
Ours is a Stubborn Monster |
LP + CD |
last copies of the first collaboration release between archaic guitar droner "N" (HELLMUT NEIDHARDT) and JIM CAMPBELL (aka RRILL BELL), with one long live track from 2008 on the CD, merging guitar drones, low fi synths, tapes.. "as if N's sustained guitar had been mangled through a computer by some strange wizard. but in fact all you can hear happened in real time..." - lim. 100 copies only !!
|
2013 |
€32.00 |
|
| TARAB |
Take all the Ships from the Harbour, and sail them straight to Hell |
CD |
early CD by the Australian "non-music" or "more than music" field recording artist, using far away sounds but also very near objects for his often incomprehensible compositions; "The sounds become signifiers of desolation, solitude, a creeping sense of life that has no human presence. This metaphorical approach moves the result into fictive, often surreal territory, but, like G*Park, Sprod’s recording method is austere but meticulous.." [Dusted Mag] BACK IN STOCK!
|
2009 |
€14.00 |
|
| TARDIVE DYSKINESIA |
The Letter |
CD |
East German electro / experimental project with a kind of alternative soundtrack to the Sowjet cult film \\\"Dead Man\\\'s Letters\\\" (dt. BRIEFE EINES TOTEN), using quotes from the original film in a slightly rhythmic new electronic environment... - *While creating an oppressive and dark world, this cineastic masterpiece manages to create a glimpse of hope nonetheless. With those impressions in mind, \\\"The Letter\\\" approaches to transform everyday scenes and experiences into a musical score...* - special offer!
|
2012 |
€7.00 |
|
| TAZARTES, GHEDALIA |
Une Eclipse totale de Soleil |
CD |
these first album recordings from TAZARTES were made in 1979 but appeared only in 1984 as LP (Celluloid); the CD re-print has a 23 min+. bonus track from the 90's, only to be found here.... "a unique record, utilizing collage, strange vocals by tazartes, trance-ethno backing splices, droning organ and childish naivete, in a spirit all of its own."
|
2015 |
€15.00 |
|
| TBC_CZEPOKS |
Korridore |
CD-R |
great new album by the impro noise & drone project with SEEMANN, TBC and others - using unusual sounds from Saz, Tankdrum, Violin harp, bowed bass and musical box they create captivating dronescapes with many 'concrete' improv details...- "It's a release about the transition, I think; What happens if we travel from one mental state into another, what do we see, and how do we influence each other..." [BW, Vital Weekly] - prof design handmade glossy full colour cover
|
2022 |
€8.00 |
|
| TEARDO, TEHO & BLIXA BARGELD |
Spring |
12inch |
this 5 track EP appeared after their very successful first album "Still Smiling" - again on TEHO TEARDO's own label, has three cover versions of classic songs (by CAETANO VELOSO and TOMMY JAMES) and two new compositions; lim. 1000 copies + download code
|
2014 |
€22.50 |
|
| TEMPLUM N.R. |
T.o.V. Improvisations XCII-XCIII |
CD |
re-issue of the second cassette release from 2015, with the two rare bonus tracks from the box edition: "this album is based on a more analog-organic approach than an analog-digital-synthetic. The four echoing Hymns of Otherness are here to awake the ghosts dwelling within; join the Stagnant Dance and meet the Carcass of Formations - the shrieks are heard from beyond." lim. 300, excellent silk-screen cardboard design & inlays
|
2018 |
€13.00 |
|
| THE ROOTSMAN MEETS MUSLIMGAUZE |
Amahar |
do-LP |
15 tracks recorded 1997-1998 at THE ROOTSMANs "Third Eye" studio in Bradford (UK), this so far unpublished album was announced to be released in 2000 (as their third full joint CD), but never appeared... lim. vinyl ed. (now re-pressed)
|
2021 |
€28.00 |
|
| THEPERSONWHODIDTHIS |
Aquarium |
CD-R |
following the tradition of celebrating the birthdays of kids in Greece with a musical event, this documents the music created (for the 3rd birthday of Orion that happened near Xanthi) by small kids through a special software programme 'drawn' by their mouses on the PC screen => playful minimal synths miniatures with odd sound samples combined... truly dadaistic and childish; lim. 44 copies, excellent cover artwork
|
2019 |
€8.00 |
|
| THEY FOUND MY BODY BY THE RIVER (ANSGAR WILKEN) |
Lay down Moses |
5inch flexi-disc |
"Solange ich kein Blut weine bin ich völlig unbesorgt" - a 2 min. piece by the ANSGAR WILKEN project, released on a most obscure format (a 5" flexi in the shape of a postcard, one side full colour); this appeared in conjunction with an exhibition at Spedition Bremen, May 2014 ; lim. 100 copies
|
2013 |
€6.00 |
|
| THROBBING GRISTLE |
Mission of Dead Souls |
LP |
vinyl re-issue of this most legendary recording (for the first time on vinyl again since 1983!): TG's last ever live performance happened in San Francisco, on May 29, 1981, incl. versions of 'Persuasion' and 'Discipline', an incredible powerful and apocalyptic live-ritual... comes on white vinyl with enhanced cover-artwork and new printed inner sleeves with photographs & texts, plus digital copy of the album
|
2018 |
€26.00 |
|
| TIETCHENS, ASMUS |
Das Vieh und sein Vater |
CD |
hard to find CD with 18 tracks ranging from 1981-1995 that appeared on MC-only and LP-compilations, many rare tracks!
|
1996 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Soiree Fantastique |
mCD |
three new pieces of wondrous and mysterious sounds, blurred harmonies appear in otherworldly, somehow subaqueous surroundings.... darker and less micro-sounding as before... this is TIETCHENS as we love him most! Lim. 500
|
2017 |
€9.50 |
|
|
Linea + |
CD |
LINEA appeared originally as a cassette on KORM PLASTICS in 1988 (with the two long pieces "Linea 1" and "Linea 3", later once re-issued as CDR); this first time CD issue has about 35 minutes of previously unreleased bonus material ("Linea 12" and "Linea 13") => extremely minimal quasi-rhythmic patterns that move in circles and strange harmonic forms, very hypnotic and slowly shifting in tone and colour...
|
2018 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Raum 318 |
CD |
re-issue of this rare cassette-only release from 1991, which originally appeared on the excellent E'OSTRATE label from France, now with almost 20 min. bonus track "A = P.s."... - "It is a part of Tietchens' more Industrial sounding body of work and was remastered for this edition. In addition, a long previously unreleased bonus track has been added."
|
2020 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Abraum Zwo |
CD |
the phantastic follower to "Abraum" (2010), based on the same source recodings from the harbour in Hamburg, but re-processed with different approach.. "...On this new release, everything that reverts to musique concrète is removed, and shimmering sounds is what remains. At times quite droney, but in the world of Asmus Tietchens, nothing is static. Much like the water in the harbour, everything is fluid. Tietchens traces the contour of sound without touching too much upon the sound itself." - ed. of 300
|
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
| TIETCHENS, ASMUS & DIRK SERRIES |
Die Höfner Akten |
CD |
their second "solo" collaboration album, DIRK SERRIES delivering sounds on acoustic guitar. TIETCHENS created 16 pieces with this: " In many of these pieces, the acoustic guitar is to be recognized. Tietchens cuts up the material, creates loops, and finds interaction between these re-arrangements... there is a great variety in approaches here, as already noted, and it makes up quite a remarkable, different album for Tietchens." [FdW / Vital Weekly] - ed. of 300 copies
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| TIETCHENS, ASMUS + CV LIQUIDSKY |
Monoposto |
CD |
the 17th issue in the 18part re-issue series of Die Stadt & Auf Abwegen presents the 1991 collab LP with German artist CV LIQUIDSKY, a work with a more improvised, repetitive/rhythmic and almost playful approach, with wonderful track titles such as "Schlotzen" or "Junge Hoden", and a cover version of a NEIL YOUNG song (!); comes with 3 bonus tracks and new liner notes by ASMUS TIETCHENS
|
2020 |
€15.00 |
|
| TIETCHENS, ASMUS / THOMAS KÖNER / ILLUSION OF SAFETY / DITTERICH VON EULER-DONNERSPERG |
Untitled |
do-7inch |
back in stock this nice double 7" with exclusive material, released on the occasion of a live event of all four artists that happened in Bremen, Germany, in April 2001; lim. 500
|
2001 |
€15.00 |
|
| TOOP, DAVID & PAUL BURWELL |
Suttle Sculpture |
LP |
unreleased recordings made in May 1977 by DAVID TOOP & PAUL BURWELL in Brussels at the legendary Logos Foundation=> a free and exotic improvisation based on their "decomposition" approach, influenced by anthropology and shamanism, using percussion, water, bamboo trumpet, glass, stones, whistles, flutes, home-made reeds, etc.. "We were both fascinated by phenomena like diffraction, propulsion, resonance, projection, masking and heterodyning, and by shamanism.."
|
2018 |
€16.00 |
|
| TOY BIZARRE |
KDI DCTB 49 / 23 (SOLD OUT) |
7inch |
lim. 250, handmade wrapping-paper cover; pure nature-compositions, the nature as an instrument |
1998 |
€ |
|
| TREHA SEKTORI |
Sorieh |
CD |
"claustrophic ritual ambient" from France; debut-album... *a psychic course with ethereal and nightmarish appearances* - original first ed.
|
2009 |
€14.00 |
|
| TUMORCHESTER |
Feng Shui Katastrophen |
CD-R |
this rare album appeared shortly after their excellent "Autohimmelfahrt" LP - the free jazz/noise/industrial collective recorded 9 pieces at the "Free Radio Kombinat" F.S.K. in Hamburg, all entitled with shortcuts for FSK like "Früh Sport Kadaver", "Fliegen Schiss Katapult", etc.. - these are highly demanding impro and collage noise pieces with roaring drums, guitars, sax, all kinds of found sounds, emerging powerfully from the chaos.. full colour 7" cover
|
2004 |
€8.00 |
|
| TUNNELS OF ĀH (TUNNELS OF AH) |
Charnel Transmissions |
CD |
along with SHE SPREAD SORROW, TUNNELS OF AH is another dark project that is heavily promoted by the legendary British industrial label, presenting already the 4th album, and this could be the strongest, a powerful and eerie trip into otherworlds, earthquake-drones and strange tones and voices appear, everything seems electrified and spiraling you downwards into the abyss.. one of the most sinister and eerie albums we know!!
|
2018 |
€12.00 |
|
| UHUSHUHU (Ухушуху) |
Onega |
do-CD |
Onega", the second UHUSHUHU album, first came out in 2015 as limited CDR and cassette (with two bonus tracks), this full CD re-issue holds a 2nd disc with all bonus material from the cassette and one long unreleased piecel - "Archaically natural, truly psychoactive drone, woven from hundreds of sounds that appear and disappear. Thick as a pre-dawn haze, haunted by the spirits of the forest and river nymphs.." - lim. 200, RUS import!
|
2022 |
€16.50 |
|
| UMPIO |
Insektio |
CD |
excellent album by the Finnish 'ASMR Industrial' drone noiser, pulsing electronics meet object sounds of scraping, scratching, crunching, sometimes weird fragmentations appear that confuse your perception... - "Like a heavy trip into nature, listen with one ear to the ground, how all the insects work, how temperature shifts affect the resonance of the planet, and how civilizations crumble away as only the frogs and moss will survive..." - Elektrobiologic microsonics to tape 2015-2020, CD version lim. 300
|
2021 |
€12.50 |
|
| UNII & EMERGE |
Stalker |
CD-R |
the second release / collaboration by EMERGE and Japanese singer UNII documents a live recording from June 2016 (Kunstverein GRAZ, Regensburg, Germany), the surrealistic ambient noises from EMERGE appear to be quite unobtrusive and structured, processed field recordings of children and metal bangs and the ethereal singing of UNII fuse nicely for a cinematic effect... another tribute to A. TARKOVSKY's film, lim. 50 copies
|
2016 |
€6.00 |
|
| UR |
The Day of the Lord |
CD-R |
strong release by this Italian group, dark & improvised industrial with an occult approach, ranging from softer parts to ecstatic noise...reminded us on TEMPLE OF TIERMES, the AURAL HYPNOX releases, etc.. lim. 100 copies
|
2010 |
€8.50 |
|
| URBAN SAX |
Urban Sax 1 |
LP + DVD |
re-issue of the legendary first LP (from 1977) by GILBERT ARTMANs Saxophone & Multimedia orchestra: two side-long tracks of a droning saxophon-orchestra, with minimal structures and harmonies appearing in the mix.. just great ! Comes with a full bonus DVD with unreleased audio & video material, and 24 page colour booklet 12 x 12cm !!!
|
2016 |
€24.00 |
|
| USENBENZ, ANDREAS & PETER SCHUBERT |
Plaque |
CD |
a field recording 'sound art sculpture' that was produced for the 200th birthday event of DANIEL STRAUB, an important economic and culturual figure in the region of the composers => quite masterful ambience elevations and mechanical abstract drones, multi-layered and evolutive.. "It is an independent piece of sound art, which deserves the same form of attention and appreciation as a painting or a sculpture." lim. 200 copies
|
2017 |
€10.00 |
|
| V.A. (VARIOUS ARTISTS) (COMPILATIONS) |
Death's last Life's Breath |
CD |
label sampler with NURSE WITH WOUND, GREEN MILK FROM THE PLANET ORANGE, EARTHMONKEY, E.KA-SPEL, BEEQUEEN, IRR.APP.(EXT.), LA STPO, WHITELODGE, FRIDAY GROUP... contains a very long, exclusive NWW track! ["A Wasted Life of Phagocyte Foot Fetishism"]
LAST COPY |
2004 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Montreal Sound Matter / Montreal Matiere Sonore |
CD |
back in stock this nice compilation based on a workshop & soundproject using environmental recordings from Montreal, with: FRANCISCO LOPEZ, HELENE PREVOST, STEVE HEIMBECKER, LOUIS DUFORT, TOMAS PHILLIPS, CHANTAL DUMAS, A. DONTIGNY, MATHIEU LEVESQUE... lots of new names to discover with highly sophisticated approaches...
|
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
|
RECORDS ARE NOT FOR BAKING [RANFB] (Full Subscription) |
12 x 12inch |
subscription ed. lim. 200 / 6 x 12" plus 6 picture LPs only for subscribers!!! Contains also poster & original artwork. with: NURSE WITH WOUND, IRR.APP(EXT.), LA STPO, FRIDAY GROUP, BRUNNEN, CHRISTUS & THE COSMONAUGHTS.
LAST FULL COPY IN STOCK - SPECIAL OFFER NOW!
(the cover image shown here is from the IRR.APP(ext.) pic ed!!) |
2005 |
€300.00 |
|
|
IZNUTRI |
CD |
Russian compilation compiled by (and for) IVAN "ASTERIUS" NAPREENKO, "dedicated to the Happy End of Times", with exclusive material from HUM, CISFINITUM, REUTOFF, KRYTPOGEN RUNDFUNK, SAL SOLARIS, HYPNOZ, NEUTRAL, SEDATIVE, CYCLOTIMIA, MAJDANEK WALTZ, O PARADIS, OTZEPENEVSHIYE, QUATTRO BRAVO EBALLIEROS, ALLERSEELEN, RAPOON, and TROUM.
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Audioscoop Compilation 1 |
do-LP |
compilation with artists who were part of the AUDIOSCOOP-events between 2005-2007 happening in Situ, Maastricht, Netherlands: ASMUS TIETCHENS, DAS SYNTHETISCHE MISCHGEWEBE, AUBE, KAPOTTE MUZIEK, INCITE, SUDDEN INFANT, and many more... all exclusive material, numbered ed. of 444 copies in gatefold-cover, one vinyl black, one white, nice edition
|
2008 |
€25.00 |
|
|
23 Drifts to Guestling |
CD |
re-issue of MC from 1983, compiled by DAVID TIBET, "the missing piece of the jigsaw between COUM TRANSMISSIONS, THROBBING GRISTLE and PSYCHIC TV", lots of tracks (51) with rehearsal pieces, demo-versions, live-tracks, interviews, radio snippets, phone calls, conversations, etc., feat. GENESIS P ORRIDGE, PETER CHRISTOPHERSON, TG & COUM TRANSMISSIONS & PTV, ADI NEWTON, FRANK ZAPPA, CHARLES MANSON, MONTE CAZAZZA, etc. essential for anyone interested in the history of Industrial Music !!
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
|
SUBSTANTIA INNOMINATA STARTER SET : 10 SUBS (your choice) as SET |
10 x 10inch-SET |
SPECIAL OFFER! You can choose 10 SUB- releases of our 10" series for a special price! A good starting point if you decide late to collect the SUBs! still available (04.2023) are (many down to absolute last copies + only available inside this set): ASIA NOVA, NOISE-MAKER'S FIFES, CISFINITUM, RLW, OÖPHOI, HUM, VOICE OF EYE, MNORTHAM, OLHON, KALLABRIS, YEN POX, [AD]VANCE[D], LUNAR ABYSS DEUS ORGANUM, ILLUSION OF SAFETY, COLUMN ONE, BRUME, THOMAS DIMUZIO 2 x 10"(counts as 2), TOY BIZARRE, HITOSHI KOJI & YANNICK DAUBY, BASS COMMUNION, IRR.APP.(ext), JEREMIE MATHES, DEISON, TAUMEL and JOE COLLEY... start to collect it NOW !!
|
2022 |
€105.00 |
|
|
SECRET ASSEMBLY (live CANYON Club 16. May 2009) |
DVD |
professional live-recordings & filming of a festival that happened in May 2009 in Zhytomyr, Ukraine, with DEUTSCH NEPAL, NOISES OF RUSSIA, FIRST HUMAN FERRO and FILIVS MACROCOSMI; 149 minutes, very good sound quality, lim. 500 !
|
2010 |
€16.00 |
|
|
XXXII° Concorso Internazionale die Musica Elettroacustica e Rumore |
do-CD |
pricewinners of the "La Bruit De La Neige" festival happened in March 2010 dedicated to Luigi Russolos Bruitism concept from 1913: YOTA KOBAYASHI, ELIA MARIOS JOANNOU, VALERIE DELANEY, ERDEM HELVACIOGLU, and many others, lots of fresh composer to discover here !
|
2010 |
€17.00 |
|
|
Revenge? Yes! NORDIC AUDIO MODERN 2012 |
CD |
compilation released to the occasion of the "Nordic Audio Modern" festival that happened May 2012 in Vilnius, Lithaunia; exclusive material only by: INADE, DEUTSCH NEPAL, HERBST9, IN SLAUGHTER NATIVES, LAND:FIRE, FJERNLYS, MALDUR ATAI, CIRCULAR, etc.. lim. 500, 14 tracks, almost 79min. playtime, an excellent industrial compilation!
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
|
MV X : Monochrome Visions 2004 - 2014 |
3 x CD |
the 10th anniversary of this important Russian label is celebrated with this crazy compilation containing 48 exclusive tracks from all so far appearing artists of the label (almost 4 hours of music), we can only name few: CISFINITUM, VOX POPULI, ASMUS TIETCHENS, BARDOSENETICCUBE, FRANCISCO LOPEZ, TBC, IF BWANA, ARTIFICIAL MEMORY TRACE, MAURIZIO BIANCHI.... everything from past & present combined, sound collages, post industrial, musique concrete, etc. etc. fantastic !!
|
2014 |
€20.00 |
|
|
Wandlungen Unplump |
CD |
german compilation with new "contemporary" composers of electro acoustic and radical new music by the DEUTSCHER MUSIKRAT, which could also be called "Autonomous Music"; MICHAEL HOELDKE, STEFAN SCHULZKI, DENISE RITTER, ROBERT HENKE (also known as MONOLAKE), RALF HOYER, BRIAN SMITH, JULIA MIHALY; lots of new names / concepts / approaches / SOUNDS to EXPLORE !!
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Epicurean Escapism I |
CD & DVD |
great luxurious industrial compilation feat. the artists that took part in the first "Epicurean Festival" that happened in Berlin in 2012: JARL, IRM, KRANK (with JOHN MURPHY), HUMAN LARVAE & ANEMONE TUBE, all with very long tracks (the JARL track has over 25 min.!); + DVD with five intense video works by MARTIN BLADH (IRM), and a 24 page catalogue with essays & artworks by him; comes in 6 panel oversized folder, lim. 350 copies
|
2013 |
€20.00 |
|
|
Anthology of Turkish Experimental Music 1961-2014 |
do-CD |
like the previously released "Anthology of Chinese exp. Music" (2009), this collects incredible material (mostly unreleased before) from a terra incognita of experimental music and soundart, Turkey => 29 artists are presented with material going back to 1961, most was created in the new millenium...except for the known names ILHAN MIMAROGLU and ERDEM HELVACZOGLU a wide range of sounds & approaches is disoverable!!
|
2016 |
€17.00 |
|
|
Visions of Darkness (in Iranian Contemporary Music) |
do-CD |
a colllection of Iranian "majestic, heavy, dark ambient, ritual, drone and noise" underground material with 21 acts/tracks, curated by MOREGO DIMMER and RAFFAELE PEZZELLA (SONOLOGYST); names are completely unknown but the variety of creative approaches is stunning, illustrating the the boundlessness of non-meanstream music; our favourites incl. RHONCHUS, ALPHAXONE, POO YAR,.. two full CDs to discover !!
|
2017 |
€16.00 |
|
|
TROUM TRANSFORMATION TAPES: The 20th Anniversary Celebration (1997-2017) |
do-CD |
for the 20th anniversary of the band, TROUM invited friends and admired artists from their own history to cover, re-interpretate, re-process, collage, morph or just being inspired (by) any TROUM basic material; after one year of collecting masterial the result is a unique compilation of 19 tracks with a wide range of creative approaches - much more than your standard "remix" collection. ALL exclusive tracks / NEW material !! |
2018 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Fluxuus aan de Waanzin |
LP |
yes the WAANZIN continues, do you want to be a part of it?: BARBARA RAPP & KOMMISSAR HJULER & FRAU, KNUT KARGEL, JO KONDO, DEREK BEAULIEU, BRANDSTIFTER and a STEVE DALACHINSKY-TOM SURGAL-THURSTON MOORE (! SONIC YOUTH), = incredible mixture, six tracks all presented on a very long vinyl side in the Psych.KG FLUXUS series curated by DETLEV HJULER; lim. 100, hand-assembled and oversized cover, ONE SIDED
|
2015 |
€25.00 |
|
|
CHANGEZ RETRAVAILLE (Changez les Blockeurs) |
3 x CD |
"A warehouse symphony in which workers pile scrap metal in on honour of BEETHOVEN’s Ode To Joy. A masterpiece." [ND review on the original TNB LP] - more anniversary re-workings of the one and only "Changez Les Blockeurs" LP (1982) with some interesting new and exciting collisions: TIETCHENS, THURSTON MOORE, JEROME NOETINGER, RLW, IDEA FIRE COMPANY, DAISUKE SUZUKI, JIM O'ROURKE, IRR.APP.(ext), etc... lim. 300 + new liner notes, manifesto, interview..
|
2019 |
€26.00 |
|
|
F/EAR THIS! |
BOOK + 2 x CD |
re-print of 1987 do-LP compilation about the theme "FEAR" that came with 48page 8 x 8" booklet as a benefit for a monthly Anarchist magazine! => NURSE WITH WOUND, DIE FORM, POSSESSION (project with S. THROWER of COIL & CYCLOBE!), PAROKSI-EKSTA (project with both TONIUTTI brothers) EMBRYO (!), THE BLECH, LOOK DE BOUK, LA1919, ANNIE ANXIETY, THELEMA, DOCTOR NERVE, and many more, a wonderful true underground compilation with various styles and approaches + collages + texts, etc. in the booklet
|
2020 |
€20.00 |
|
|
Replace |
CD |
compilation inspired by questions of Utopia / Dystopia, 14 tracks (78 min. playtime) with German artists from the electro-acoustic realms, comes with 10 page booklet & essays to each piece: NICOLAS WIESE, SCISS, DENISE RITTER (SCHACHTANLAGE GEGENORT), MATTHIAS OCKERT, BERND LEUKERT, FRANK NIEHUSMANN, KIRSTEN REESE, etc.. - lots of material, approaches, artists, to discover !
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
|
This is Tehran? |
CD |
great compilation with only contemporary Persian artists, showing a wide variety and mixture of traditional, electronic, avantgarde, ambient, etc. approaches: SABA ALIZADEH, SOTE, and many more, so far unknown artists.. "a 10-piece album uniting diverse contemporary Iranian composers and musicians, invites listeners to discover and be amazed by the fruits of the marriage between heritage and innovation in the city of endless creativity."
|
2021 |
€14.50 |
|
|
Visions of Darkness II ( (In Iranian Contemporary Music ) |
do-CD |
second part in the successful compilation series of Iranian underground / electronic music => at the point where the traditional cultural expressions and new electronic music genres (especially drone and exp. ambient) meet, something fascinating arises... - some artist of Vol. I are present again (like the excellent XERXES IN THE DARK), but also many new names appear... highly recommended, so much to discover!!
|
2022 |
€17.50 |
|
|
Hyperakusis II |
CD |
label compilation for the 10th anniversary of this label, with 1 or 2 tracks by each involved project: SPHERICAL DISRUPTED, NERTHUS, TARDIVE DYSKENESIA, MORTAJA, 2KILOS & MORE, MANDELBROT, ALARMEN.... betweeen dark / electronic ambient, rhythmic industrial and IDM, the approach is comparable with Bulgarian label AMEK and provides a high quality underground listening experience through these genres..
|
2014 |
€6.00 |
|
|
Sintomas de Techno: Ondas Electronicas Subterraneas Desde Peru |
LP |
compilation of underground "techno" tracks from Lima 1985-1991, done with simple means and true Punk / DIY-spirit: DISSIDENTS, T DE COBRE, MEINE KATZE UND ICH, etc.. - "Coinciding with the explosion of punk in Lima and the appearance of the so-called Rock Subterráneo [underground rock], these techno groups shared the same DIY spirit, performing in many punk concerts and even creating their own fanzines, and, above all, opening a space for other types of sonic experiences" - lim. 300
|
2022 |
€25.00 |
|
|
LA MATERIA VERBAL - Antologia De La Poesia Sonora Peruana |
LP |
22 sound poems from Peru rec. 1972 - 2021 = the first greater overview about the sound poetry scene! - *... the product of a technological revolution associated with the appearance of various means of recording, transmission and amplification of the voice. A long process that took shape in the 20th century, until it became a discipline, articulated as an international movement which, based on phonetic research, expanded into a universe of oral/vocal artistic practices..* - lim. 300
|
2022 |
€25.00 |
|
|
Soundscape-Komposition. Aktuelle Positionen |
CD |
stunning compilation with "Soundscape" - compositions, based on the concept of MURRAY R. SCHÄFER => a new piece from HILDEGARD WESTERKAMP remixing her own archive material, JAVIER ALEJANDRO GARAVIGLIA; SABINE SCHÄFER, JAN JACOB HOFMANN, etc. etc. - lots of new sounds and interesting approaches from rather unknown composers...
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Struppig Schweben (LES MARQUISES / TROUM / KILLER+LICHT-UNG / ANDREW LILES) |
CD |
on 26.Nov 2022 the festival STRUPPIG SCHWEBEN happened in Leverkuse at KAW, organized by Licht-Ung, this is a compilation with all artists from this great evening, who worked on the recorded live material from their performances... so all materiall is exclusive to this CD! TROUM played live to the classic silent film " La Coquille et le Clergyman" - comes with 8 page booklet, lim. 200 copies, 69+ min. playtime
|
2023 |
€12.00 |
|
| VAGINA DENTATA ORGAN |
Live in Berlin |
pic-LP |
lim. 100! NEW recordings by this occult / ritual / experimental project very active in the 80's, running "World Satanic / Surrealistic Network System" who released the legendary "The last supper" pic 12" inspired by JIM JONES mass suicide; this is a recording from a live performance that happened in Berlin at NK, March 31, 2012, available normally only at the "Extreme Rituals" festival by Harbinger in Bristol, UK, 30.Nov-2.Dez. 2012. LAST COPIES !
|
2012 |
€23.23 |
|
| VANTZOU, CHRISTINA |
No. 4 |
LP |
this American musician who lives in Belgium releases already the fourth album for KRANKY=> extremely lush and amorph ensemble improvisations (feat. many guest-musicians such as CLARICE JENSEN on Cello) drifting almost weightless through time and space, performed on piano, harp, vibraphone, voice, strings, marimba, synthesizers, gong, and bells.. "No. 4 feels both endless and ephemeral, immersive and immaterial. It’s a music of horizon lines and half-light, mapped with feeling and foresight"
|
2018 |
€20.00 |
|
| VAROUTAS, GIORGOS |
Chronostasis |
CD |
guitarist / sound-artist from Greece with very first album - a widely open approach and airy atmosphere, combining acoustic sounds of Ney, Guitar, Flute, Sho, female Voice (ANNA LINARDOU) and Percussion with Electronics, Tapes and No-input Mixer, the 10 pieces are like meditative sound pictures describing a certain moment of time, incorporationg near-silence passages and unusual noises... quite special and very worth to discover !!
|
2017 |
€13.00 |
|
| VELEZ, DAVID |
El Pajaro que Escucha |
CD-R |
deep drones & weird animal sounds - a long one-tracker (60+ min.), based on field recordings made in the Palomino region of Columbia (rainforest & jungle), especially focused on wildlife sounds... "a cultural approximation to the natural" lim. 200, full-colour cover
|
2012 |
€10.00 |
|
| VEPRISUICIDA |
Vaginacentrism |
CD |
"Physiological Symphony in 4 Paroxysms" - another re-issue of a rare ULTRA tape by the project of A. LEBEDEV-FRONTOV, who terrorizes you with finest low fi old school harsh noise collages, Russian found sounds voices speeches radio porn movies and roaring noises in different shades, + a nice sick / surrealistic cover ... the whole was recorded in November 1996 and appeared as ULTRA U17 in an edition of only 50 copies
|
2018 |
€12.50 |
|
| |
Veprisuicida |
CD |
one of the seven CD re-issues of rare VEPRISUICIDA cassettes (the project of ALEXANDER LEBEDEV-FRONTOV, most important figure of Russian industrial, also known for his projects LINIJA MASS and VETROPHONIA), released in tiny editions on the ULTRA label - this one appeared originally in 1996 - "Bleak and rotten sound, with broken mechanical feel, were saturated tape manipulations and disruptive pause edits add further charm..."
|
2020 |
€12.50 |
|
| VICENTE-SANDOVAL, DAFNE / LARS PETTER HAGEN |
Minos Circuit |
LP |
the new INA GRM series dedicated to contemporary electro-acoustic & experimental music continues: DAFNE VICENTE-SANDOVAL with a study, exploration and deconstruction of the Bassoon (=Fagott), using lots of its natural feedback and resonances.... LARS PETTER HAGEN focuses on the material of RICHARD STRAUSS "Metamorfosen" and it's fragments and fringes, performed by a 4 piece violin / viola ensemble: "the power of music lies at its fringes, that is, at the edge of its own disappearance."
|
2023 |
€20.00 |
|
| VIDNA OBMANA |
Soundtrack for the Aquarium |
CD |
"Soundtrack voor het Aquarium" appeared originally in 1993 (split CD with HYBRYDS) and was a commissioned studio work for the Zoo in Antwerp, Belgium, to be played as background ambience in their aquarium (!)... the water streaming and draining field recordings have been recorded before at the same place; lim. 400, re-mastered, and new digipak artwork
|
2019 |
€12.00 |
|
| VIDNA OBMANA & PBK |
Monument of Empty Colours + Depression and Ideal |
do-CD |
in the long release history of VIDNA OBMANA there were few collaborations with PBK (Phillip B. Klingler), the first two ones recorded 1988 + 1989 appeared as cassettes and showed in this combination a more experimental and dark ambient side, slowly moving long form undulations, and fully resonating ambient noise, between beauty and darkness... - 6 panel double CD digipak, 400 copies
|
2022 |
€16.00 |
|
| VIDNA OBMANA & SERGE DEVADDER |
The Shape of Solitude |
CD |
subtitled "Suite for Electric Guitar, Atmospheres and Recycling", this appeared originally on Multimood in 1999 (one of their last releases), with SERGE DEVADDER delivering unusual guitar sounds... "a piece of dissonant outside music - followed by something warm and mysterious - into a harsh studio mutilation of yet another twisted guitar loop..." [Chuck van Zyl] - new artwork, 400 copies
|
2020 |
€12.00 |
|
| VIKTOR, KNUD |
Le Petit Duc |
7inch |
unreleased material, originally composed to appear as 7", luxurious ed. with booklet and DL code - " 'Le Petit Duc' [The Little Scops Owl] is a sound work by Danish artist Knud Viktor, made between 1978 and 1983; primarily composed of recordings Viktor made of an owls nest in the spring and summer of 1978..... 'Le Petit Duc' tells the story of an owl family. The piece speaks to children and adults alike."
|
2019 |
€15.00 |
|
| VOLLMER, CARSTEN |
Arbeit Nr. 23 - Ich arbeite mit Frequenzen Teil 1 - 3 (ansteigend / abfallend / 2600 Hertz / Phreaking) |
3 x CDR set |
the "Opus Magnum" trilogy from this German noise artist: :=> every track begins with a certain frequency and develops into a feedback orgy, astonishing resonances and some surprises appear...= the most authentic harsh noise you can find, ARBEIT (work) from the core of the old coal mine center Essen... all CDRs are also available as single copies - we offer this as a special 3 CDR-set, all with DVD sized CD boxes, lim. 100 copies
|
2021 |
€20.00 |
|
| VON EULER-DONNERSPERG / WATARU KASAHARA / C. MEHRL BENNETT / MAJA S. RATKJE / POLIZEI-DIENSTHUND HJULER |
ENID BLYTON - Fünf Freunde erzählen Kindergeschichten |
LP |
ACHTUNG: SCHINKENFLUXUS! You look for daring concepts in art = ? = each of the artists on this release appears (conceptually) as a character of ENID BLYTONs "Famous Five", presenting a children's story as a collage... this has a rare live track by MAJA S. RATKJKE, and two tracks by DITTERICH on speed, much sounds fragmented and morphed here in some way... a weird record! lim. 100 with laminated, handmade full colour cover
|
2018 |
€23.00 |
|
| VON HAUSSWOLFF, C.M. & CHANDRA SHUKLA |
Travelogue [Bali] |
CD |
after the highly successful "Travelogue [Nepal]" audio diary project this is the second collab by VON HAUSSWOLFF with American musician and label-maker CHANDRA SHUKLA => field recordings from diverse places in Bali (beaches, temples, market places, forests) were used to construct 5 long pieces; comes in DVD sized digipack; - "It swallows you, if you let it, and I am more than happy to. There is so much to see here, if you close your eyes..."
|
2023 |
€17.50 |
|
| VON HAUSSWOLFF, C.M. (CARL MICHAEL) |
A Lecture on Disturbances in Architecture |
CD |
"Illustration of high Ceilings inhabited by Angels" - first listing of this awarded (Ars Electronica 2002) album by the Stockholm based sound artist with a collection of nine pieces (created 1997-2002): various forms of static drones that differ a lot from each other and appear almost as illustrations, all connected to architecture... some fascinating material included!
|
2002 |
€13.00 |
|
| VOSTELL, WOLF |
De-coll/age Musik |
LP |
re-issue of collector's item LP from 1982 by the German painter, sculptor and happening artist, who co-organized the "Festum Fluxorum" festival 1962 in Wiesbaden, seen as the birth of FLUXUX => we find here recordings from 1959-1981: radio collages, happenings, soundart ambients, environment actions, and an extract from a Fluxus-Opera! lim. 400 black vinyl
|
2017 |
€25.00 |
|
| VROMB |
Polygonie |
LP |
finally a new album by the prolific Canadian philosophic hypnorhythmic project, about the 'sonic sound invaders' appearing in geometric patterns... - lim. 131 copies only! "... their abstract movements dance and get enmeshed in a synchronized choreography within a constant progression, reshaping and reforming. 'polygonie' is like recalling of memories from childhood.."
|
2022 |
€26.00 |
|
| WARDROBE MEMORIES |
Early Years |
2 x MC |
do-MC re-issue of the first two CDR albums by WARDROBE MEMORIES from 1999, which appeared on the DIY label SCHNEETREIBEN in very limited editions => dreamy drone ambient with a strong 'cosmic" touch & experimental edge, travelling far away from earth...this is the 13th tape on the great German tape label, always using coloured MC bodies & oversized art-covers (21x21cm), comes with button & postcard
|
2014 |
€12.00 |
|
| WESTERHUS, STIAN |
Pitch Black Star Spangled |
LP |
STIAN WESTERHUS is a Norwegian guitarist who became more and more well known in the experimental scene lately, overcoming and transforming the limitations of his instrument => working a lot with feedbacks, distortion, noise and strange effects, but also with overlapping harmony fragments, backwards-sounds, wild staccato sounds, etc.. but there are also more fragile drone moments... this is his first album for RUNE GRAMMOFON
|
2010 |
€20.00 |
|
| WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM |
Black Cascade |
do-LP |
in 2009, the second album in their "Southern Lord-trilogy" appeared, it became famous for the powerful analog 70's sound, this is the first re-issue since 2010 _ (gatefold cover, printed inner sleeves, 45 rpm) _ "From beginning to end, 'Black Cascade' is just dripping with atmosphere and emotion." [Nicholas Trandahl]
|
2018 |
€28.50 |
|
| WRIGHT, PETER & BRIAN GRAINGER |
Peint Arbre |
CD-R |
very rare collaboration of much valued Drone Records artist PETER WRIGHT with US American ultra drone-minimalist BRIAN GRAINGER (from OHIO) => three wonderful longform pieces on a label that states: "Sleep fictions, lucid maps and gnostic states. Asemic systems designed by night smokers, bedroom alchemists and oligolaliacs, for intimate applications" - edition of 35 copies only, US-import !!
|
2018 |
€13.00 |
|
| WYATT, OLIVIA |
Staring into the Sun |
DVD / CD / BOOK |
wonderful film from 2009 (60 min.) presenting Ethopian tribal music: OLIVIA WYATT recorded & filmed various tribes & people with their most original pieces (usually based on chants & rhythms) often used for ceremonies, using very different self-made instruments like lyres, bowed lute, various flutes, animal horn, rattles, gongs, hand drums => an amazing range of different music & approaches; comes with 133 pages book with many colour shots from the film, lim. 1000 copies. BACK IN STOCK!
|
2011 |
€28.00 |
|
| XEREX |
Xerex meets Dracula |
CD-R |
anonymous German project with first release, 14 tracks of miniimal, often organlike, fluffy drones... *They\'re conjoined twins who also happened to have been grown in a petri dish as elderly mathematicians in 1972. \"XEREX Meets Dracula\" is their first \"invisible story\" in the spirit of \"choose your own adventure\"-style novels..* - professionally duplicated and printed CD + cover, sealed jewel-case
|
2022 |
€10.50 |
|
| YOUNG, DENNIS |
Bella |
LP |
the founding member of LIQUID LIQUID with this first solo-album in 15 years, exploring sound images and experimental tunes on his guitar (all is based on solo guitar here) - 12 tracks appear like open moods, often bright sounding and delay-effected... for fans of DURUTTI COLUMN, etc.. - lim. 293 copies onf clear vinyl
|
2020 |
€20.00 |
|
| Z'EV & JULIEN OTTAVI |
Crash & Cross |
CD |
unpublished collaboration recordings created in Nantes, France (in 2014 when Z'EV performed and stayed there), partly live, partly studio, undergoing a long mixing process after...- the combination of typical ZEV with JULIEN OTTAVI's noise approach leads to interesting results and non-ordinary, abstract (non)-structures... - 7 tracks, 60 min. playtime, very nice 6 panel digipack with 8 page full colour photo booklet , 200 copies ohly
|
2022 |
€14.00 |
|
| ZAFFIRI, ENORE |
La Voce ed il Sintetizzatore |
CD |
vintage analog electronics created on an ARP 2600 plus the recitating and singing voice of ELLEN KAPPEL (texts from JACK KEROUAC, SHAKESPEARE, T.S.ELIOT, PHILIP LAMANTIA, STEFAN GEORGE) form the basis for these extraordinary avantgarde pieces (rec. 1973-1981) by the Italian electronic music pioneer , who tried to structure his compositions after Euclidean Geometrics... it still sounds so strange & surreal and almost "unlistenable" after more than 40 years! SPECIAL OFFER
|
2005 |
€6.00 |
|
| ZEITKRATZER + SHE SHE POP |
The Ocean is closed |
7inch |
six members of the ZEITKRATZER ensemble in genre crossing collaboration with the performance group SHE SHE POP, a 45 rpm 7" with two obscure a-cappela / choir pieces of unknown origin, "Claudio", and "Grünberg", released for their 2 1/2 hour piece and theatre tour in autumn 2017 with same name... ; "Outside eyes and ears are interested in different things, ask the right wrong questions, misunderstand the agreements and breach basic laws."
|
2017 |
€5.00 |
|
| ZOVIET FRANCE |
Digilogue |
do-LP |
the original album first appeared on Soleilmoon in 1996 on vinyl and had a CD re-issue two years later with bonus material, this is the re-issue with the three bonus tracks from the CD version, lim. 300 - " Digilogue, a foundational record in the dark ambient movement. ‘Soft Helion’ and its sister track ‘Another Soft Helion’ provide the blueprint for a lot of imitators, most of whom fail to reach their height.. "
|
2022 |
€31.50 |
|
|
Feedback [Mort Aux Vaches] |
do-LP |
ZOVIET FRANCE's contribution to the famous "Mort aux Vaches" series (live recordings in the prof. VPRO studios in Amsterdam), happened in August 1996 and has since then never been re-issued (only shortly after they performed in Gent, Belgium, on Sept. 7, 1996 where MAEROR TRI had their last ever live performance at the same evening;) - this is the stand-alone version with repro of the original cover art, lim. 300 copies
|
2022 |
€31.50 |
|
| |
7.10.12 |
do-LP |
re-issue of the rare ALT.VINYL "3D"/ architectural cover art release in box (2012) that came out on 3 vinyl formats on 7. Oct. 2012... => "7.10.12" is a very versatile collection of many shorter tracks (18 in total), many field recordings and obscured material appears, but also more typical Z.F. "harmoniques exotiques" pearls, backwards-sounds and 'undecipherable atmospheric noises' (U.A.N.) en masse... a most beautiful & mysterious Z.F. album from their later phase... lim. 300 copies
|
2022 |
€31.50 |
|
| 1000SCHOEN |
Moune |
CD |
"MOUNE is a very old word for MOON, comes out of a old language that was spoken in Germany. But it’s not german, it’s friesisch. Anyway, the moon theme is one of favourite topics in mystic circles around dark ambient genre. For Helge Siehl, who is the driving force of 1000schoen since the time he split his way with the other two former Maeror Tri members, it’s definitely one of the most important subject - in his paintings, photos and music. This album, presenting the program of his first ever russian tour in December 2010 (with Troum and Feine Trinkers Bei Pinkels Daheim), shows more ambient side of 1000schoen, leaving rhythmic path aside in favor of menacing sounds of highly personal moon rising visions. Moreover, it’s actually debut CD of this prominent german artist, who previously released his music mostly on limited/private edition CDRs. Featuring 3 tracks, with total running time of 45 minutes.
1000schoen is a trained artist, certified art therapist and surround sound acoustician. A native of Fries country, he is currently living in Bremen, where he participated in various art projects. As soundartist, he worked since 1994 in Turin (I), Amsterdam (NL), Zurich (CH), Ghent (B), Never (F), Nuremberg, Hamburg, Munich and Cologne, to name a few. Since 1995, he also created many pictorial and graphic works. For instance, he invented the famous Maeror Tri "wheel" logo, and designed some of their album covers, as well as others (Oophoi "Potala" etc)." [label info]
"The symbol of 1000schoen reflects the celestial bodies of Sun and Moon in inseparable symbiosis, which we can see (at least) in all that we can imagine. The world of 1000schoen art and experience moves in this continuum as well." - Helge Siehl
www.nitkie.ru
"Troum came from Maeror Tri. A trio reduced to a duo, so what happened to the third person? Helge Siehl started his own project, 1000schoen, and has had a few releases as such. This might very well be his first real CD release. Its not easy to review this and not to think of Maeror Tri or Troum, simply because there is a similarity between all three. Now if Siehl would have picked up the acoustic guitar and sang songs, it would have been easy: it would be very different. But in the three pieces, two long one short, Siehl continues to explore his own version of his own legacy. He does that in a slightly different way than Troum. Whereas Troum offers a very dense sound of atmospheric sound, layering many sounds together, to put the icing on the cake, it seems to me that Siehl likes a less crowded palette of sounds, stripping and reducing until he is left with a handful of sounds to work. In the final short track it seems that he is using voice only and for me it broke with the natural flow of the two longer pieces. In those he chooses to work with guitars and synthesizers, along with a bit of sound effects, but throughout in a more minimal field. The opening piece 'Moune Rising' moves along those bass lines, field recordings and finds itself eventually taken over by some more synthetic sounds, whereas 'Moune' is more a piece of gentle processed guitar sounds and rusty field recordings of large, empty factories. Not entirely surprising in the world of drone music, but then perhaps so isn't Troum either, but its quite exciting to hear this album and if Maeror Tri and Troum are close to your heart, then you'd should be lending 1000schoen an ear too. Equally good, I'd say." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| 15 DEGREES BELOW ZERO |
Under a Morphine Sky |
CD |
15 DEGREES BELOW ZERO is a trio from the US, working somewhere between experimental ambience and noise, using all kinds of sources from concrete instrumental sources (percussions, guitars) to more unrecognizable stuff; 7 tracks that reveal quite a variety of approaches & styles, quite strange & idiosyncratic & worth to check out!
"15 Degrees Below Zero brings you the companion to 'Morhine Dawn' (2004 Crunch Pod Media), a further journey into the experimental ambience of 15 degrees below zero, who were formerly known as "Imperial Flower Unit". Mastered By Tomas Garrison At Misanthrope studios. "15 Degrees Below Zero's sound ranges from subdued, drifting ambience, featuring skewed, conventional instrumentation and tatters of rhythm, to more insistent, grittier electronic flourishes." [label info]
label: www.forceofnature.cc
|
2007 |
€8.00 |
|
| 1997EV |
Zeta Reticuli |
LP |
1997EV - "ZETA RETICULI" (rur017)
LP - marbled dark red / glittering orange /gold-marbled transparent vinyl - lim. ed. of 315 copies
Four years and several intense live appearances after their much acclaimed debut CD on Punch Records, 1997EV are back, this time on vinyl, with a new masterpiece of pure minimal post-psychedelia. “Zeta Reticuli” is a long, dark, trance inducing ritual journey verging on astral bad trip. Spooky, spacey, percussion-driven and guitar-loaded ballads unfold with a Voivod-like weirdness in the back of your mind, served by AndreaEV’s deep, hypnotizing vocals and an occasional drift of intoxicating Theremin sounds. Reminiscent of Goblin and S/T, with a hint of Earth and an overall feel of early Ordo Equilibrio on LSD, those hallucinogenic cosmic flowers will leave their imprint burnt on the retina of your inner eye long after the record has stopped spinning.
|
2010 |
€8.00 |
|
| 23 SKIDOO |
Urban Gamelan |
CD |
An expanded remaster of the third album by 23 Skidoo, originally issued in 1984 and now with four bonus tracks including the 12" versions of Language and the mighty single Coup, as well as flipside dub mixes.
The CD booklet features detailed Skidoo biography and archive images.
Tracklist:
1. F.U.G.I.
2. Fire
3. Misr Wakening
4. Jalan Jalan
5. Urban Gamelan (Pt 1)
6. Sirens
7. Helicopterz
8. Kongo-Do
9. Language (dub)
10. Drunken Reprisal
11. Untitled (Coup de Grace)
12. Coup (12" version)
13. Language (12" version)
14. Language (12" dub)
15. Coup (In the Palace)
"The hippest of the British art-funk underground. Ultimately too unconventional for a wider audience, with their best tracks now back in print 23 Skidoo's unique achievements can be more widely appreciated" (Corriere Canadese, 02/2009)
"1984 saw Skidoo gamely attempting a slightly more conventional funk direction alongside their experimental percussion work, Urban Gamelan reflecting this awkwardly schizophrenic but rewarding period. Bonus tracks on this reissue include not only the irresistible 'commercial' single Coup, but also it's excellent (and long sought-after) follow-up Language" (The Wire, 01/2009)
www.ltmrecordings.com |
2008 |
€14.50 |
|
| 3/4HADBEENELIMINATED |
Theology |
CD |
Die Band mit STEFANO PILIA & CLAUDIO ROCCHETTI, filed under: seltsame atmosphärisch-melancholische Improvisationen im (entfernten) Post-Rock-Gewand [mit späterer effektvoller Nachbearbeitung im Studio ohne das improvisatorische Feeling zu zerstören]; zwei lange Stücke füllen THEOLOGY, schwebend und unfokussiert aber stets im Wandel, unter Einsatz von vielen "echten" Instrumenten (Gesang, Drums, Gitarren, Piano), mitunter blitzen Ähnlichkeiten gar mit A SILVER MT. ZION auf... die ist der "Schwester-Release" zur LP "Religious Experience".
"Soleilmoon Recordings is proud to announce the simultaneous release of 3/4HadBeenEliminated’s new CD and LP, titled “Theology” and “The Religious Experience”, respectively. 3/4HadBeenEliminated was founded in 2002 in Bologna, Italy as a trio, with Stefano Pilia, Claudio Rocchetti and Valerio Tricoli. An eponymous album was released in 2003 by Bowindo. In 2004 the group welcomed Tony Arrabito and became a quartet. The next year Hapna put out their second album “A Year of the Aural Gauge Operation”, and in 2006 the band self-released a 7 inch single “DimethylAtonalCalcine”. The group straddles the line between live improvisation and studio experimentation, blending and shaping raw sounds into living pieces, then gently dissecting the delicately structured songs into disruptive sonic excursions more evocative of moving shadows and swirling leaves than recognizable tunes. Stasis and stability are nowhere to be found here. Instead, an ever-changing dialogue between structure and chaos shifts from one performer to the next, never resting long before launching again into shuddering flight. Accoustic instruments and vocals form a familiar reference point, but studio treatments take the music into psychedelic and cinematic realms. In their words , “Improvisation is a way to experiment without thinking. When our improvisations ‘work’, the music just happens on its own. It reveals itself as if guided by its own logic, its own desire. In fact we don’t even feel like we are actually playing the music. It’s more like a stream that moves and changes autonomously. With composition (editing, overdubs, etc. etc.) we then remodel this stream, trying to make it more complex, ‘forever lasting, forever changing’, in the sense that every hearing will reveal a new perspective of the music. As a live band, we improvise 100%, and it's really risky, but when it ‘happens’, it’s the greatest satisfaction.” “Theology” is presented in a wooden box with a hinged cover decorated with layers of hand-painted tracing paper, and is limited to 450 copies on CD. The companion vinyl LP “The Religious Experience” is a reinterpretation of the recordings made for the CD. The LP is limited to 225 copies. The two albums – and their music – should be considered as mirror opposites. Where theology is a completely artificial system of belief, a religious experience is the immediate experience of the thing itself. Likewise, the music on “Theology” is complex and elaborate, while “The Religious Experience” is much simpler, going directly to the heart of the material comprising “Theology”. Thus, the two works are independent, yet relate to each other as mother and daughter." [press release]
"....and with some imagination you could say that they are a rock band. Well, an expanded rock band that crosses many lines: post rock, singer songwriter, improvisation and above all musique concrete collage techniques. Maybe the stage isn't their place but they should be safely stuck in the studio, where they can freely experiment with sound. Each member plays a wide variety of instruments, except Arrabito, who is just credited for drums. Inside the studio they find a safe place to improvise their music, but not as an end, but as a start. Recordings are separated, deconstructed and rebuilt into something. These two new releases, both lavishly packed with all sorts of nice paper, are best heard together, as mirrors of each other. The CD (limited to 450 copies) and the LP (limited to 225 copies) have however their differences, but the provide a nice view in the kitchen of 3/4HadBeenEliminated. The CD is perhaps more complex in approach. We hear lots of processed guitars, percussive sounds, organ like drones but also contact microphones scratching the surface alongside humming vocals. Not really rock by any rock standard, even when things seems to hint that way. Seemingly things move from atmosphere to atmosphere, gradually, slow, but without doubt moving.." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
"...you'll know to expect fractured and mysterious soundscapes, a densely textured drone-zone constructed from field recordings, record crackle, improvised acoustic instruments, radio static, fragments of piano melody, electronic treatments, whispered Italian voices, turntable scratchings, reel-to-reel tape manipulation, synthesizer sinewaves, scattered percussion, and more. That's a zone we LOVE to visit. There's two long tracks, lots to explore, all manner of curious creakings and cracklings, shifting rhythms and rumblings abounding within 3/4hadbeeneliminated's carefully crafted and/or improvised music. At times quiet and meditative, at others noisier and distorted, but always (to our ears) utterly gorgeous and compelling. Aligns quite nicely with the likes of the Jewelled Antler collective, the Finnish forest foraging of Kemialliset Ystavat, and of course others in the experimental underground Italian scene of which the members of 3/4hadbeeneliminated are a part." [Aquarius Records review]
www.soleilmoon.com
|
2007 |
€19.50 |
|
| 300 BASSES |
Sei Ritornelli |
CD |
"Alfredo Costa Monteiro (accordion, objects), Jonas Kocher (accordion) and Luca Venitucci (accordion, objects). Recorded on november 23th-25th 2011 during a residency at l'Arc Romainmôtier, Switzerland. Mixed by Alfredo Costa Monteiro and mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi. Consisting of Alfredo Costa Monteiro, Jonas Kocher and Luca Venitucci, the trio 300 Basses transforms the conventional accordion approach, and enhances new practices leading to creative and innovative musical paths. 300 Basses states that accordion is ' a box with bellows and buttons. The box was for the resonance, the bellows for vibration and the buttons for building a sonic identity that has remained virtually frozen for centuries. But what would happen if the buttons began to vibrate, the bellows would resonate and the box should start to deconstruct this identity? ' Focusing on a collective sound approach, the three accordionists have a strong fascination for noisy static sounds, complex textures, and their powerful physicality. The trio was formed in 2010 and has performed concerts in Rome, Lyon, Geneva, Biel/Bienne, Lausanne, Zürich, Milano. Alfredo Costa Monteiro. After having studied sculpture/installation with Christian Boltanski at Les Beaux-Arts in Paris, Alfredo Costa Monteiro moved to Barcelona in 1992 and became involved in improvised music, concentrating on electric guitar and accordion. His installations and sound pieces, all of a low-fi character, have in common an interest for unstable processes, raw materials and gestures, where the manipulation of objects as instruments or instruments as objects has a strong phenomenological aspect. Alfredo Costa Monteiro runs several ongoing projects: Cremaster (with Ferran Fages), i treni inerti (with Ruth Barberán), Atolón (with Ferran Fages and Ruth Barberán), and duos with Tim Olive or Pascal Battus. Jonas Kocher. Accordion player and composer born in 1977, Jonas Kocher collaborates regularly in improvised and conceptual contexts with musicians such as Michel Doneda, Christian Wolfarth, Olivier Toulemonde, Duo Diatribes, Jacques Demierre, Burkhard Beins, Bertrand Gauguet, Thomas Lehn, Urs Leimgruber, Lee Patterson... Jonas Kocher's work explores the relationships between tone, noise and silence and the processus of listening. As a composer, he realises projects which are situated between composed theater, installation and concert pieces. Jonas Kocher is also involved as an organizer of different events in Switzerland and runs the label Flexion Records. Luca Venitucci. Living in Rome, Luca Venitucci started from the end of the eighties to take part to the activities of the improvised music scene in Italy and Europe. During the next decade, he played with a large number of musicians, among which Mike Cooper, Peter Kowald, Otomo Yoshihide, Thomas Lehn, Axel Dorner, Tim Hodgkinson, John Butcher, Mario Schiano, Alessandro Bosetti, Michael Renkel... In 1995, with Fabrizio Spera, Elio Martusciello and Maurizio Martusciello, he co-founded Ossatura a major electroacoustical improvising group. From 1996 to 2002 he has been part of Zeitkratzer ensemble, with whom he did performed and recorded contemporary music partitures (Cage, Glass, Stockhausen, LaMonte Young, Tenney) and made original projects and collaborations with several experimental musicians and composer such as Butch Morris, Carsten Nicolai, Keith Rowe, Masami Akita, Mario Bertoncini, Phill Niblock, Radu Malfatti, Thierry Thaemelitz, Lee Ranaldo. In 2001 he realised together with Ulrich Krieger the transcription and arrangement of an ensemble version of Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music." [label info]
www.potlatch.fr
"A trio of accordion players from the world of improvised music - that's perhaps something new. For me it is. The unknown player here is Luca Venitucci, who was from 1996 to 2002 a member of Zeitkratzer, and before that a founding member of Ossatura. The other two players I think should be known if you read these pages every now and then. Alfredo Costa Monteiro and Jonas Kocher have regularly new releases. Maybe you think its cheating, but both Venitucci and Monteiro are also playing objects on their accordion, which seems to expand the sound quite considerably. If you think that this trio will focus on playing sustaining, lengthy pieces of drone music, then you are wrong. In 'Abbandonato' and 'Mala Carne' for instance they sound like an all acoustic noise ensemble, with lots of scratching, scraping and bending of the bellows. Its followed by 'Maledetto', in which the accordion sing like sine waves, carefully but also piercingly loud as the piece progresses. In 'Gira Bile' and 'Fantasma' they reach for a beautiful piece of drone music. Six pieces and almost as many approaches to the world of the accordion. Six pieces of a wonderful great, improvised music on a single instruments, times three." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2012 |
€15.00 |
|
| 400 LONELY THINGS |
same |
LP |
Stilistisch sehr eigenständige, erste Platte dieses neuen US - Experimental Projekts auf neuem Label aus Florida - 400 LONELY THINGS – das sind viele kleine ambiente & experimentelle Minimalismen, ganz entspannt und ruhig und ein bischen obskur, zwischen Experiment und Wohlklang.... kommt mit nummeriertem Envelope mit Photo..
“Appx 1 hour of sad, strange, spooky yet oddly soothing instrumentals. Probably would appeal to listeners of Zoviet France, A Small Good Thing, certain quieter tracks by Cindytalk, Nurse, Coil, Hafler Trio, Oren Ambarchi - although it's a bit lonelier than any of that.... Dark ambience, but cozy and warm. Lullabys for sad little monsters.” [Craig, Bronsonunlimited]
https://400lonelythings.com/album/400-lonely-things
|
2003 |
€20.00 |
|
| |
Mother Moon |
CD |
The new album from 400 LONELY THINGS, produced by WILLIAM BASINSKI, is a dark ambient, sample-based séance to the Banning Mill - a real-life decaying \"mansion\" and haven for artists, freaks and misfits in the backwoods of the American Deep South in the 1970s-1990s - and an extraordinary piece of art that lived there.
An archaeological excursion in found sound - wandering through the art and memory of a real place, \"Mother Moon\" is an origin story for 400 Lonely Things. In the 1990\'s, Craig Varian was fortunate enough to frequent the Mill in the years before it closed. It was here that he was exposed to the artwork of Richard Scott Hill. The impact is hard to overstate.
Built on the Snake River in the early 1800\'s as a textile mill, it operated until the late 1960\'s and when its doors closed on that era, and reopened on another. In 1971, the Mill was purchased by a young wealthy \"eccentric\" (to use the vernacular of the time). He was openly gay in the deeply bigoted Old South, a collector of fantastic and surreal art, a drug enthusiast, an owner of at least one mental illness, and a self-described entrepreneur with a vision. In the years that followed, he turned this sprawling, mildewed structure into a private hippie art collective, music venue and refuge for Southern misfits - gays and gender-benders, visual artists, musicians, mystics, ghost-hunters, wizards, pagans, intellectuals, poets, nerds and psychedelic explorers by the dozens drifted in and out, creating their own alternate universe in its hundreds of rooms.
One of these artists was Richard Scott Hill. Hill\'s work stood apart from everything else at the Mill. It was all black and white or hand-coloured photography - typically stark portraits of people - almost always wearing masks. These photos were disturbing and disarming, hilarious and crazed, unsettling and aggressively surreal in their confrontational simplicity. His work both captured and fed into the Mill\'s sinister yet playful undercurrents of mania and depression. By the conservative 1980\'s, the Mill became a very different place. A dark and quiet ectoplasmic hangover haunted its rooms with just a handful of tenants, remaining so until its doors closed for good in the late 90\'s.
Varian had friends that lived there, and after hearing quiet legends of the Banning Mill since the late 80\'s, was finally able to visit. While the Mill itself was transformative enough, turning down a disused hallway, Varian encountered the image on the cover of this album and quite simply became a different person. A lifetime spent as a Southern misfit had led to fruitless artistic, philosophical, spiritual and psychedelic pursuits as relief. At this time, an obsession with visual collage and audio sampling had been brewing and upon seeing this image, boiled over. He realized that the sounds and images he\'d been seeking had been sought by many others and that for a time, these seekers had lived here in the secret winding halls of Banning Mill in the wilds of the Deep South. In particular, this nude cow-faced woman was the Minotauress who sat at the heart of that maze.
Since the days of the Mill (and Varian\'s subsequent purchase of Hill\'s \"Minotauress\" shortly before the Mill closed), Varian, along with best friend and musical partner Jonathan McCall, found a thread of music they\'d been consistently making yet had previously failed to notice - melancholic instrumentals with weathered sampling at its core - going back to their earliest recordings in the late 1980\'s. Eventually, this music was called 400 Lonely Things, and eventually an album would be attempted to honor both the Mill and Richard\'s \"Minotauress\".
The Mill has been closed for about 25 years now and all that remains of it is a gutted skeleton covered in yellow caution tape. After a dozen albums, Jonathan McCall has since passed on to the next realm. But this album, born out of that first visit to the Mill, is finally here - an imaginary soundtrack to the many years of solitude the Minotauress spent hanging in that musty hallway.
For this album, Varian reached out to Mr. Hill and a friendship and artistic relationship has developed. Richard - now in his 80\'s and an established figure in the established art world - still creates fantastically bizarre works daily from his home studio, just a mile from the remains of the Mill. He says that the music of 400 Lonely Things is from another dimension and he hopes you enjoy it and his previously unpublished art gracing the cover.
Presented in a 6-panel spot-varnished digipak.
credits
released April 11, 2023
Produced by William Basinski
Additional Mixing and Mastering by Preston Wendel
Covert art by Richard Scott Hill
\"Mother Moon is a cypher that saves an important hidden fragment of cultural history from erasure.\" Ben Ponton, Zoviet France.
\"Mother Moon is darkness calling. It will take you to the outer limits and leave you there. Guaranteed to twist your mind.\" Andrew Hulme, O Yuki Conjugate.
\"A wistful, burrowing, beautiful nightmare.\" Daniel Kraus, NY Times Best Selling Author of The Living Dead with George A. Romero, and The Shape Of Water with Guillermo Del Toro.
https://coldspring.bandcamp.com/album/mother-moon-csr319cd
"It's one of those weeks... Being a former ginger/redhead, I have problems handling the moist 25-30 Celcius) heat in the Netherlands. So I hardly get to do anything, and I get distracted all the time, like work and such. So I have been trying to start a review of "Mother Moon" by 400 Lonely Things several times, and each time I end up just listening and floating away, Drifting on the waves ... And I didn't even feel bad about listening to it over and over and over ...
Produced by William Basinski, 400 Lonely Things is a project by Craig Varian inspired by recordings around, based in, or related to an old mill. A beautiful PDF was sent to us, and it might well be part of the Bandcamp download, but how you get your hands on it when you get the CD: I don't know. The 400 Lonely Things concept focuses on the arrangement of lost and found sounds, and the melancholia is certainly audible in the release. Also, the journey aspect is very well set in this release, the journey being the descriptive part of environments through sound as a medium. So in many areas where the boxes should be ticked to make a release interesting, those boxes are actually ticked.
Musicwise, "Mother Moon" is an absolute beauty. Almost 80 minutes, with deep drones, minimal melodic lines, scarce structural sounds (no rhythms), ambience and, on occasion, a mesmerizing voice preaching solitude and melancholia. And here and there, an ever so slight 'touch of Coil' (for example, in "In Darkness"). So
at this point, I would say: Get the album and don't worry too much about everything else. But the booklet and combined conceptual approach is a bit of a downer for me, as it turns out. I mean: Concepts make many releases I know/heard/have enjoyable, and I know all about it as an artist myself. But in a weird way the conceptual approach is so elaborate and massive that it almost forces me to think about it. And all I want to do is just enjoy the flow, as a psychonaut, ride the waves and not be bothered too much with all that mumbo jumbo. But that's just me. I think... I hope... Other than that: Go Flow, Go Dream, Go Listen, Just 'Be' ..." [BW / Vital Weekly] |
2023 |
€15.00 |
|
| 5UU'S |
Hunger's Teeth |
CD |
Die 5UU’s gehören zum Aushängeschild neuer “Avant-Prog-Rock” oder “Art-Rock”-Bands und wurden oft mit den genialen ART BEARS verglichen....oder als zeitgemässe Nachfolger von YES. Diese Musik ist schwer zu beschreiben: perfekt eingespielte Genre-sprengende Rockmusik, manchmal sehr strukturiert und mit Refrains die man mitsingen kann, i.d.R. mit disharmonischem oder neu-harmonischem Gesang & alles auf den Punkt gespielt; unerwartete Wechsel, fast-Krach-Parts, sehr ruhige experimentelle geräuschafte akustische Szenen, inkl. einem umwerfenden Solo-Stück von THOMAS DIMUZIO; und SUSANNE LEWIS (CORPSES AS BEDMATES) singt auf zwei Stücken.
„....Ein Charakteristikum der UU´s-Musik besteht darin, daß häufig Melodien gegen Begleitungen gesetzt werden, die nicht als Unterstützung sondern als Widerpart wirken. Es macht Spaß, beim Hören zu erleben, wie diese Melodik trotzdem als "schön" wahrnehmbar bleibt (obwohl ich mir darüber im klaren bin, daß viele Hörer einwenden würden, die Melodien seien hier als Melodien kaum noch erkennbar).... “ [Ralf J. Günter / Babyblaue Seiten]
“The re-formed 5UU's first CD, featuring, one-of-a-kind drummer Dave Kerman with new line-up- Sanjay Kumar (keyboards) and Bob Drake (Bass, Guitar, Vocals) and guests Susanne Lewis, Tom Dimuzio, and James Grigsby. Power, complexity and intelligence - an express train that can pirouette on a dime.” [label info]
“....Hunger's Teeth is the most exciting rock album I've heard this year. No, not Anderson exactly, but Robert Drake's vocals do bear a striking resemblance to the Yes man's "angelic" tenor. Is this "progressive rock" for the '90's? A celebration of intricately layered arrangements and polyrhythmic playing, effortlessly combining '70's grandeur with avant-rock, contemporary collage and computing - and only one track in 11 over six minutes! The musicianship (also David Kerman and Sanjay Kumar, plus guests) is superb, not showy, always at the service of the experimental approach to song structure - lots of convoluted instrumental passages that return almost miraculously to "refrains". Brilliant.” [Chris Blackford / Rubberneck]
„...."Mangate" is a minimalist, tape-manipulation piece created by Thomas DiMuzio. It has such a hypnotic effect, that I once missed my exit on the highway because that track had lulled me into a semi-trance. Very neat. Those first three tracks are my favorite part of the album, but it continues to maintain its high quality throughout. The ground it covers ranges from a barbershop quartet singing about barbers to philosophy about a bachelor fumbling his way through mending his own clothes. Plus there's a running theme throughout the album that has to do with horses - the one pictured on the cover, the track title "Roan" (which starts with galloping hoof beats), the rocker "Glue" ("in time, sugar and horses will both become glue") that starts with the trumpet call that begins horse races, etc. Even the album title is apparently meant to be the name of a famous race horse. The more I listen to this disc, the more layers and tie-ins to various themes I find.
This is definitely a highly recommended album, if you're a fan at all of prog's more experimental edges. For those looking to get their first 5uu's album, this would be a good place to start (if you can find it).” [Ground and Sky]
|
1994 |
€14.00 |
|
| 87 CENTRAL |
Formation |
CD |
Sanft-dynamische ambient-tunes auf dieser neuen CD von Jeff Carey alias 87 CENTRAL, einigen vielleicht von der ERS LP bekannt. Er benutzt diverse, auch konkrete field-recording Soundquellen und bearbeitet sie digital, hat ganz eigene Atmosphäre und Charakter...
“ Bridging the gap in time and sound between the debut self titled release on ERS Records (ERS003) and the recent release of Saxmower (JDK Productions), Formation (Staalplaat) builds on the tuned listening characteristic of 87 Central's no-input mixer work as its foundation while increasingly incorporating varied sound materials. Formation presents seven vector components coming from different origins and arriving into a singular sound space of evolving organic sonic life cycles. These systems exhibit growth and decomposition of layered feedback, computer processes and sample manipulations around concrete sound material.
Fragments of tangible experience set the listener on a trajectory through a soundscape of impressionistic imagery punctuated by clearly indexed natural detail. Using environmental recordings and electronics, these tracks present more than the directness of documentary field recordings and recreate experiences of active listening: the warning beacon on a jetty in the North Sea during a winter night as container ships arrive in port; the intensity and activity of crackling rhythms and the continuous energy of fire; and the night life of an urban power plant in the heat of summer.” [press release]
“ Bird calls and fire sounds in combination processed feedback and the washy sounds of Dan's guitar (only in one track though), make this into a kind of ambient record, in which happens more then the usual washes of digital synths and plundered sound effect CDs. 87 Central plays around with environmental, concrete and abstract sound, and does it with great care. The glitchy elements present on "Saxmower" are not apperent on this release, so I recommend this to all ambient hearts out there. Strong stuff.” [FdW, Vital Weekly]
|
2003 |
€8.00 |
|
| @C |
0° - 100° |
CD |
"Pedro Tudela (1962) and Miguel Carvalhais (1974) collaborate as @c since 2000, developing their work along three complimentary approaches to sound art and digital music: procedural composition, concrète sound and improvisation, with one foot in the fields of experimental, contemporary sound art and the other on live performance (where they also regularly collaborate with the Austrian artist Lia, performing as an audiovisual trio). '77' started to take form in early 2007 and was developed until late 2009. Many of the sounds in this composition were created for the soundtrack of an installation by Lia and Carvalhais, dealing with concepts as liquid motion, flow, turbulence, percolation and phase transitions, which inspired the creation of several sound files sorted in three different groups, one for each section of the installation. Along the process we had the chance to spend some time in the atlantic island of São Miguel, where we made several recordings of the ocean, rivers, streams and volcanic furnaces, that complemented the remaining sounds. The installation soundtrack was devised as an open and modular composition, to be dynamically recomposed, as a library of sound files that we later used, transformed and shaped as '77'. Three work in progress versions of this composition were presented live, in 4-channel mixes: in December 2008 in Porto, in May 2009 in Barcelona, and finally in October 2009 in Perugia, the first two in acousmatic setups, the later with Lia's live visual work. All these presentations shaped and shifted the piece to its final form, presented in this release, indexed in 8 movements to be listened sequentially." [label info]
www.monochromevision.ru
|
2010 |
€12.50 |
|
| A SILVER MOUNT ZION |
13 Blues for Thirteen Moons |
CD |
Die derzeitige Vorzeigeband des Montrealer Labels (da es GODSPEED nicht mehr zu geben scheint) klingt auf "13 BLUES" noch weitaus wütender, aggressiver, rockiger & lauter als man es gewohnt war. Geblieben ist das verzweifelte Pathos und die ausschweifende bis mitreissende Psychedelik, die immer wieder zu wunderschönen Instrumental-Passagen führt, denn noch immer sind diverse Streicher im Kollektiv dabei.
"Nachdem sich die komplette Band hinter Silver Mount Zion über die letzten drei Jahre etwas rar gemacht hat, kommen sie nun umso eindringlicher um die Ecke. Doch der Reihe nach; denn unsichbar waren sie beileibe nicht. Als Silver Mountain Reveries oder The Silver Maountain Elegies Play War Radio suchten sie diverse Clubs in wecshelnden Bestzungen heim, zuweilen unterstützt durch Hangedup, oder als abgespeckte "Kammer"-Version. Und dann natürlich nicht zuletzt als Backing Band des famosen Vic Chesnutt auf seiner kürzlich absolvierten Tour. Das alles jedoch konnte nicht den Hunger der Fans nach einem neuen Album des Montrealer Künstlerkollektivs stillen. Und hier ist es nun: das neue Album. Nie zuvor waren SMZ eindringlicher, nie zorniger und nie mächtiger. Die Basis dieses Albums ist mehr als je zuvor: DAS Riff! Vom Blues, den es im Titel trägt bis hin zu zornigem Noise und wieder zurück zu ausufernden Klangkaskaden - zwei Gitarren, zwei Violinen, Cello, Kontrabass und Drums können nicht irren! "13 Blues..." ist Donnerhall und Sturmwarnung zugleich - es ist laut und doch fein arrangiert. Kurz: es ist absolut zwingend!"
[thee unknown reviewer]
"The music of the full band (two guitars, two violins, cello, contrebasse and drums) has grown louder, looser, full of spittle and tears. On 13 Blues For Thirteen Moons, riffs are the backbone more than ever. Anchored by new drummer Eric Craven (ex-Hangedup), the band works its slow build and burn with newfound patience, sinuousness and ferocity. Whether methodically framing walls of sound over the four-on-the-floor punk dirge of "1,000,000 Died To Make This Sound" or exploding in sheets of free noise and melody on "Black Waters Blowed", the band has never rocked harder and has never sounded more determined, desperate and driven. A stuttered blues riff is the foundation for the album's title track, making its appearance after a blisteringly minimalist intro. "Engine Broke Blues" features a gorgeous set of chords that build inexorably from multiple guitar, string and organ lines." [press release]
Constellation Records: www.cstrecords.com
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| A.G. (AGHIS GIANNOULIS) |
Colours in Black & White : 2017-2018 |
DVD |
Colours In Black & White (DVD / HD AV), consists of five parts, is the new audiovisual artwork by A.G created from 2017 to 2018. This project is an approach of - Digital Visual Music - in linear process, intersecting the aesthetics of new media art and post-minimal composition, as well as experimenting with the bounds of static and moving imagery next to the music in slow motion. The visuals were developed by the transformation and multiplication of a single video signal through digital post-production, resulting into an abstract black & white video synthesis.
Titles :
Colours In Black & White I : 2017 (Duration 25:00)
Colours In Black & White II : 2017 (Duration 30:15)
Colours In Black & White III : 2018 (Duration 25:33)
Colours In Black & White IV : 2018 (Duration 28:15)
Colours In Black & White V : 2018 (Duration 18:50) __________________________________________________________________________________________________________
A.G is a media artist based in Athens & Paris. He has released studio albums and audiovisual works under the names of ANIKA and A.G. In 2015 he reinterpreted three compositions of Erik Satie in the 3CD compilation ERIK SATIE ET LES NOUVEAUX JEUNES 2 (incl. Max Richter, Peter Broderick, Sylvain Chauveau, Rachel Grimes & Dustin O'Halloran), released by french label Arbouse Recordings. He has participated in various collective exhibitions where he presented audiovisual artworks and has collaborated with Free103Point9 Transmission Arts organization for Noise!2009 Festival (Ontological Hysteric Theater) in New York.
A.G Works :
2005 ANIKA:A:0304 (MLP)
2008 ANIKA:A:0507 (LP/CD)
2009 ANIKA: 33 RECORDING SESSIONS, NOT INCLUDED IN A:0507 (CD-R)
2010 A.G:POLYGON:08 (CD)
2014 A.G:VIDEOS:2003-2013 (DVD-R)
2015 ERIK SATIE ET LES NOUVEAUX JEUNES 2 (3CD Compilation)
2018 A.G:COLOURS IN BLACK AND WHITE:2017-2018 (DVD-R)
Videos :
Colours In Black & White I (25:00) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhf0LEUunfU
Colours In Black & White II (30:15) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8DK3WZgGts
Colours In Black & White III (25:33) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gs6VaQjEL0k
Colours In Black & White IV (28:15) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25dV70HXzJY
Colours In Black & White V (18:50) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztCprALWI3Q&t=336s
Links :
A.G:POLYGON:08 http://agpolygon08.blogspot.com
ANIKA:A:0507 http://anika-a0507.blogspot.com
A.G:VIDEOS:2003-2013 http://ag-videos2003-2013.blogspot.com
A.G:LIVE AT FENAILLE MUSEUM. RODEZ:20.05.17 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLRD4yPV0J4
FREE 103 POINT 9 / TRANSMISSION ARTS https://wavefarm.org/ta/artists/xnc29y
RE:VOIR http://re-voir.com/shop/en/film-revoir-experiemental-film-dvd/786-ag-videos-2003-2013.html
_
|
2018 |
€12.00 |
|
| AALFANG MIT PFERDEKOPF & DRONAEMENT |
Hermit Haven |
CD-R |
"Even a bit long, almost eighty minutes, is the release which I understand is some sort of collaboration between Mirko Uhlig's Aalfang Mit Pferdekopf and Marcus Obst's Droneament, both representatives of Germany's more 'softer' drone scene and often incorporating field recordings. Each mixed three tracks and are placed on the equal and unequal numbers here. In Uhlig's opening piece already a lot is happening. In these twenty-four minutes more than on the entire Tainted Corrosive Mist release. Field recordings, accordion, cello playing and electronics. These are also used in the rest of the pieces, which form an excellent example of 'extended drone music', for the lack of a better word, and both artists are setting out excellent examples of that kind of music. This is simply one of the best pieces of drone music I encountered in some time. Acoustic, electronic, musique concrete, improvisation: its all mixed here together, crafting some excellent music together." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.tosom.de
|
2010 |
€10.00 |
|
| AARKTICA |
Pure Tone Audiometry |
CD |
Himmelwärts strebender Dream-Post-Rock mit ätherischen Vocals und Chören, Gitarrendronewänden, gezupften Echo-Gitarren, Streichern... ein absolut schönes, melancholisches, warm schimmerndes Album. Anklänge an ULTRASOUND, ruhigen GODSPEED YBE...
“... Pure Tone Audiometry is Aarktica’s most involved work yet, approaching the balance between “drone” and “song.” Although the overall tone of the album is consistent and dreamlike, the content within is as varied as DeRosa’s personality, combining gentle lullabies with jagged atonalism, string trios with white noise guitars, and feverish percussion overtop sedate drones. Unlike the sleepy pace of much of Aarktica’s back catalog, Pure Tone Audiometry indulges in some moments of pure upbeat indie rock, resting seamlessly against the album’s ambient backdrop. ” [from the press release]
www.silbermedia.com
|
2003 |
€13.00 |
|
| ABATE, MAURIZIO |
The Maadi Sessions |
LP |
I visited Egypt for the first time in October 2016, spending a week there, and I went back for a longer period the next February. Both times I stayed at Sara and Alberto’s place, a couple of friends who have been living in the Maadi district of Cairo for about a year.
The first impact with the city and its inhabitants was definitely strong: I had trouble in defining the energy which pervades the streets 24 hours a day and the feeling of perpetual movement one gets from it. Although this vortex was fascinating, it sometimes originated some kind of alienation and estrangement on my behalf. I had to distance myself from the excess of stimuli.
During my first visit, I was especially struck by the sounds, so I recorded some of them over my following stay, and I tried to mix them with my electric guitar, a sort of conversation between the inner world and the outside one. During the sessions in Alberto’s house, I also experimented new techniques and effects on the guitar, approaching the instrument in a broader sense.
The sessions originated the pieces on this record, which also feature a collaboration with Alberto Boccardi on one track, named after his house and headquarters of Canale Undici.
I’d like to thank all the people who allowed me to create and publish this record: Alberto, Sara, Giovanni, Pasquale, Giulia and, last but not least, little Pietro.
Maurizio Abate
https://backwardsrec.bandcamp.com/album/the-maadi-sessions |
2018 |
€16.00 |
|
| ABDUL-RAUF, LEILA |
Diminution |
CD |
Known for her work in Vastum, Ionophore, Cardinal Wyrm, Hammers Of Misfortune, Fyrhtu, and much more, Leila Abdul-Rauf presents her haunting third solo album, Diminution.
The follow-up to Leila Abdul-Rauf's 2015 highly acclaimed Insomnia album, Diminution sees the Bay Area-based, multi-instrumentalist take a more stripped-down approach to her uniquely haunting and shadowy soundscapes. While retaining a firm grasp on the feeling of urban loneliness and early morning solitude, Diminution's tracks are generally longer than previous works and feel more spacious and open, where sparse melodies and gentle textural flow meet ethereal choral vocals, distant trumpet, delicate guitar, and luminous, yet melancholy drones and warm tonal drift.
All songs on Diminution were composed, performed, and produced by Leila Abdul-Rauf, mastered by Myles Boisen at Headless Buddha Mastering Lab, and the album is completed with stunning artwork by Matthew Jaffe and layout by Kristoffer Oustad and James Livingston. Diminution is another spellbinding work from Leila for those seeking solace in quiet and introspective music residing just on edge of consciousness.
https://malignantrecs.bandcamp.com/album/diminution
|
2018 |
€13.00 |
|
| ABOVE THE RUINS |
Songs of the Wolf |
LP |
A long-awaited reissue of the important album in early Neo-folk history, which sold out more than 20 years ago. This for sure will be interesting for those who deep in the new wave/post-punk/neo-folk music and interested in the history of genres. The album was released by legendary “World Serpent” in 1995 but recorded in far 1984 after Tony Wakeford left Death In June. A splendid mix of post-punk, new wave and slightly folky, sound bears resemblance to early Death In June, Tony Wakeford's future project Sol Invictus and Joy Division. “Songs Of The Wolf” was released as a tape in 1984 and as LP in 1986, both well acclaimed and sold out immediately. A new version includes the complete CD album plus two rare bonus tracks. This is absolutely everything that recorded by that short-time project, ever.
This is music by very young people with a hot blood and raw energy. The album like a trip back in old times, makes you feel young again... but not too much and only for a while. Part the money from sales will be donated to charities like “Hunt Saboteurs”, “Southall Black Sisters” and "Animal defense community".
We tried to publish this album since the 2009 year and happy that that is finally done. Now we can enjoy music (!) again and some collections became more complete.
https://infinitefog.bandcamp.com/album/above-the-ruins-songs-of-the-wolf
|
2018 |
€20.00 |
|
| ABRAHAMS, CHRIS |
Play Scar |
CD |
" Chris Abrahams ‘Play Scar’ inhabits a sound world that’s entirely uncharted. It’s a zone of in-betweens – juxtapositions and parallel lines – a realm in which nothing is certain and at any moment dynamic shifts might occur. In this unusual electro-acoustic landscape, Abrahams has crafted by far his most complex and epically beautiful record to date. It’s a series of pieces that in many ways demonstrates the full scope of Abrahams’ work as a musician and composer. ‘Play Scar’, like Thrown before it is both exotic and unfamiliar. Pieces like ’Twig Blown’ hint at Abrahams’ interest in musique concréte, ‘Lieiden’ pulses with a distinctly electronic flare, whilst ‘There He Reclined’ shimmers in a hazy procession of organ, guitar and electronics. At its core, ‘Play Scar’ is an album of unrepentant diversity, united through Abrahams astounding sense of composition and focus. In another artist’s hands these elements might be rendered too divergent and too esoteric, but sculpted by Chris Abrahams, each piece is a continent of sound, in an auditory world of his making. ‘Play Scar’ is unique, compelling and most of all visionary." [label info]
www.room40.org
"Various works of Chris Abrahams have been reviewed before, but as far as I could judge they were recordings with other people. According to the press sheet this is his fourth solo release, but the first to be reviewed then by Vital Weekly. Abrahams is, as a musician part of the Necks, which are described as an avant-jazz trio, but that's not shown in his solo release. Abrahams plays piano, hammond, rhodes, church organ, guitar, tambourine, bells, Yamaha DX7, Nord Waldorf Q+, prophet vs kurzweil, auto harp and field recordings. Mostly things with keys that is. Its not an album that is easy to pin down. The electronics are mostly atmospheric, but there are some interesting variations to be noted. For once, this is not an album of droney ambient music. A track like 'Twig Blown' for instance revolves around samples drum sounds, and owes much more to musique concrete than ambient music, while 'Running Out' has sudden bursts of guitar like sounds, amidst a bed of low humming electronics and piano sounds. The (too) lengthy 'Birds And Wasps' is a piece of more loudly sounds than quietness. The fairground sounds of 'Jellycrown', while the opening 'There He Reclined' reminded of the obscure A-Tent release on Cherry Red (still not on CD, damn it!). See: a curious hybrid of electronic music which offers a great deal of variation, but then also a great sense of unified approach. A very refined album." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Memory Night |
CD |
"Chris Abrahams' Memory Night is his third edition for Room40 - Play Scar and Thrown preceding this album. Widely recognised as the pianist for Australian liminal improvisation trio The Necks, Chris Abrahams' solo work etches out an entirely different universe. It's a place that is entirely his own, unashamedly unique and at times startling - yet always alluring. On Memory Night, Abrahams' expands his sonic palette, building on the uneasy frontiers of the highly regarded Play Scar. Never content to revisit past glories, Abrahams' charts course into unfamiliar sound spaces, where electronics and instruments meet in a constant state of tension and release. Nothing is quite what it appears upon first listen and as a result Memory Night demands an attentive ear. Recorded across 2011 and 2012, Memory Night is a haunted series of compositions that provoke and compel. Chris Abrahams has created what can only be described as a profound rendering of contemporary composition - a powerful, yet delicate evocation of sound, where instruments and electronics melt and are reformed." [label info]
www.room40.org
"Today is one of those early spring days and the doors of the balcony finally open. Birds, children playing, cars, they all enter my life again, post-winter, and I need to adjust my listening again. Certainly in 'Leafer', the opening piece of Chris Abrahams new release 'Memory Night', I am getting quite confused with the outside and the inside. Low sounds start out, with a rasping kind of sound - children outside rolling karts on the street? - but it's all in the music of Abrahams it seems. Abrahams here uses a wide range of instruments, such as piano, guitar, samples, percussion, waldorf q plus, yamaha dx 7, moog voyager, vermona mono lancet, kurzweil k2600, hammond organ and nord stage. Strange and mysterious music here, and although cut into four pieces with four different titles, you could as easily see them as four parts of the same piece. They seem to be flowing into each other, or move half way through a piece into something else. There is the seemingly out of place piano of 'Strange Bright Fact' which cuts into something altogether more noisy in the same piece. Electronic and acoustic instruments play an interesting game together, sometimes along each other and sometimes against each other, sometimes together and sometimes alone. It's music which has an excellent radio-play like quality to it, even when it's narrative is more obscured, or perhaps, better, not entirely unfolded. An excellent CD this one, full of tension, full of surprises, big and small (jazzy piano chopped up in 'Stabilize Ruined' anyone?) of something that is beyond modern classical music, improvisation, jazzy and sound art - all of that and a bit more and that bit more is what makes this a great CD. Excellent!" [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2013 |
€14.00 |
|
| ABTAN, FREIDA |
Subtle Movements |
CD |
Debut-Album von FREIDA ABTAN, die zuletzt als NURSE WITH WOUND-Bandmitglied & Collaborateurin auffiel. Auf "Subtle Movements" bewegt sie sich zwischen experimentellem Abstrakt-Drone und Elektro-Akustik und setzt dabei oft & gekonnt ihre Stimme ein, um z.T. sehr schöne harmonische, repetitive & sich überlagernde Texturen zu bilden. Auf zwei Stücken ist STEVEN STAPLETON vertreten. Ein sehr vielversprechender Erstling !
"Freida Abtan loves sound. Her music falls somewhere in between musique concrete and more modern noise and experimental audio. Concentrating on the visceral and inspired by dreams, she has created visual shows for and played with Nurse with Wound, and also as presented her own sound and visual work at festivals across Canada.
Subtle Movements was completed over four years from the sidelines of Abtan's other projects and during her schooling in Montreal. It's a collection of her favorite pieces, combining her love of electro-acoustic music with her love of found melody. Two of the songs that appear on the album are collaborations with Steven Stapleton of Nurse with Wound, recorded in Colin Potter's studio in Preston, England, when Abtan traveled there to play a show as part of Scribble Seven in March 2006 alongside Stapleton, Potter, Andrew Liles, Matt Waldron, Joolie Wood, and Maja Elliott." [label info]
www.jnanarecords.com
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| ACCELERA DECK |
Ski |
mCD-R |
One beautiful digitalized guitar-track with nice effects, soft and melodic!
“Since 1997 Chris Jeely (who is the man behind Accelera Deck) has utilized the guitar in a variety of settings, draping it over nimble breakbreats, or twisted in with IDM. Sometimes dropping all beats and picking up the acoustic guitar and (gasp!) singing. With the release of 2003’s album “Ipsissima Vox” and the lengthy ep “Sunstrings” in 2004, Chris focused on the extremes of guitar noise. Huge walls of sound, piercing digital feedback and general disregard for the eardrums of those in attendance at any of his shows became the norm. Accelera Deck was a complete live experience, and had most venue soundpersons nervously holding there breath, waiting for a speaker to blow. Chris just smiled and asked them to turn it up just a bit more! But now with this release Chris returns with a melodic directness, and extends the song “Ski” (which will appear in a different form on “Pop Polling”) into a decaying piece of delicate beauty. A very simple and effective guitar line slowly overlaps with other melodic fragments, all the sounds begin echoing, stuttering, and slowly fading from sight. An ephemeral piece that is comparable to the work of William Basinski, or Brian Eno for the digital age. Chris, when asked about this music, replied “I personally do not know how to ski, but I might like to learn how one day.”
|
2005 |
€5.00 |
|
| ADMIN DADA |
The Hypnagogic Traveller |
LP |
"First of all, you should know that the hypnagogic state characterizes a phase between wakefulness and sleep: that of falling asleep. So, as an insomniac who has trouble falling asleep, I was curious to see how Admin Dada would put all this to music. On a purely sonic level, we sail aboard rather spatial electronic drones, sometimes disturbed by more abrasive sound frequencies. It is true that when listening to this opus, one enters a form of psychedelic trip, as if the brain was following the modulations of the music, which becomes almost meditative and brings us closer to a shamanic trance state. It's a bit of a sound illustration of this particular moment when we leave the state of pure awakening to become more cottony, to feel the sensations of our body evolve, the noises gradually fade away, the breathing slow down.
Although generally calm, this work can become darker at times ("Vouivr") and approach a form of dark ambient rather psychedelic. I am well aware of Sheitan's creativity and his talent for handling atmospheres and melodies, even in quasi-atonal moments, but I find that he has surpassed himself here: this album settles in itself as a great pleasure that one immediately wishes to repeat. In addition to the digital version, the album is also available on vinyl, which will allow you to appreciate the very nice artwork.
With this album, Admin Dada has established itself among the references of modern ambient/experimental music, and one would have to be an idiot to miss it!"
[Le Scribe Du Rock]
https://hammersteinwaldteufel.bandcamp.com/album/the-
hypnagogic-traveller
review: https://www.webzinelescribedurock.com/2021/04/review-admin-dada-hypnagogic-traveller.html |
2021 |
€20.00 |
|
| AEMAE |
The Helical Word |
CD |
Neues "experimental drone"-Projekt aus den USA mit hyper-abstrakten Klängen, metallisch-feedbackend & von halluzinogenem Flair..
"....Throughout the music is quite dark, but not atmospherical in the traditional dark ambient sense. As such his own description is quite appropriate. Not too noisy, not too academic or even too experimental, but Aemae treats a fine line between well defined genres and creates something that is indeed his own and that is these days quite an achievement." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
"...a gorgeous and exquisitely crafted abstract free noise drone record. dark and deliriously dense, a perfect amalgamation of the experimental dronework of the hafler trio, the sweeping skreescapes of sunrooof! and vibracathedral orchestra and the abstract minimalism of mirror or jonathan coleclough. as well, this has plenty of distinctly unique sonic elements. heavily reverbed chimes and bells are smeared into a twinkling fog, slowly thickening into a dense slab of electrical impulses, woven together so tightly it resembles a buzzing ball of hornets, a throbbing thrumming drone. strange steel drum like electronic pulses, an alien gamelan, pickes out a tranquil melody beneath swooping and blooping spaciness, sheets of industrial shuffle, scrape and rumble, leaving sparkling trails of dense and complex almost idm skitter in their wake, albeit wrapped in thick gauzy veils of warm reverberant flutter. all stretched into distant, soft focus soundscapes of warbling whir and creaking ambience. quite lovely and sublime!" [Aquarius Records]
"brandon nickell, a 23 year-old navigator of harsh synthetic and electronic seas known as aemae, shows his admirable will to construct new kinds of uneasy architectures. the eight pieces of "the helical word" form a pyrotechnic cycle of cascading incidents, timbral shifts and granular abrasions which move like creatures without a preconceived position in an undetermined system, finally finding a way to transform contraptions and extrapolations into rough elliptical shapes and dehydrated approximations of parallel galaxies. nickell starts everything from "a pure exercise in synthesis"; the mobile force of educated noise and a well planned mix, even in absence of natural sources, make this music live its life in full - no dead spots or dull moments. considering the next-to-nil significance of most of today's electronica, not bad at all." [massimo ricci - touching extremes]
|
2005 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Maw |
CD |
AEMAE die zweite: Abstraktere Geräuschmusik gibt es zur Zeit wohl kaum, "irgendwie elektronisch und undurchdringlich" könnte man die oftmals in polyhochfrequenten Spitzen ausufernde Musik in einem ersten Eindruck bezeichnen. Harsche Cut-ups setzen starke Kontrapunkte in dem sonst eher kaum krachenden Universum aus zischenden, pfeifenden, quietschenden, elektronisch sirrenden Mikro-Klängen. Manchmal erinnert das an ASMUS TIETCHENS experimentellste Werke. In ihrer Unzugänglichkeit eine höchst kuriose & stimulierende Musik, jede Sekunde tun sich neue Klang-Rhizome auf.
"Second full length full length from East Bay sound technician (and AQ customer) Brandon Nickell, who spent the last year painstakingly assembling the sounds that would eventually become this here disc.
His previous full length, a big AQ fave was a blissed out collage of deep drones and thick soundscapes of high end skree, soft focus whispery minimalism and dense squalls of swirling noise. Even some shuffling skittering rhythms found there way into the mix.
On Maw, Nickell's approach is similar, although the first track threw us for a loop. A strange spacious slab of music concrete, the focal point being a strange grunting gasping reverb drenched animal sound. Like some mysterious electronic beast, confined to a tiny pen and registering his displeasure as it ruts and calls out to others of its kind. Creepy but pretty dang cool. The second track returns to more familiar waters, a super tranquil drift of burbling barely there rumble and subtle electronic pulses. A slow lugubrious crawl beneath and within the tiny sounds that make up a mysteriously indistinct low end world. After that it's another visit to the strange electronic zoo, to observe the insect enclosure, where some seriously angry winged creatures buzz wildly as they careen back and forth in front of the glass.
We move on into another long form stretch of abstract ambience, sparkling and glimmering like the glassy surface of a pond in the late afternoon, and then it's one more quick glimpse into the final enclosure, the beasts within are much more calm, lazing in the fading sunlight, their cooing and snorting, like some sort of shortwave radio static, interrupted by electronic birdcalls and the manufactured whoosh of a warm electronic breeze. So weird but strangely compelling and beautiful.
There's some definite Nurse With Wound worship here, as well as nods to Coleclough, Hafler Trio, and the like, but Nickell knows enough than to just ape his heroes, instead he takes what he needs and does some serious exploring on his own... and we like it.
Packaged in a super simple and striking white on white sleeve." [Aquarius Records]
www.isounderscore.com
|
2007 |
€12.00 |
|
| AETHENOR |
Betimes Black Cloudmasses |
LP |
Zweites Album dieses Projektes mit ihrem instrumentell-improvisierten "Psychedelic Noir", überwiegend ruhig & dronig & minimal, durchbrochen von vielerlei konkreten Objekt- und Instrumenten-Geräuschen, sowie ekstatisch-perkussiven Zwischenparts... hat was verwunschenes, fabulöses, bannendes...
"Betimes Black Cloudmasses is the highly-anticipated second album from Vincent De Roguin (Shora), Stephen O'Malley (SUNN0))), KTL), and Daniel O'Sullivan (Guapo). Like their genre- and audience-confounding debut Deep In Ocean Sunk the Lamp of Light, Betimes is an atmospheric, constantly changing piece that encompasses a mind-boggling array of different performance and processing techniques. The deeply psychedelic and moving results present a soundstage that is continually evolving, with new elements entering and leaving the fray every couple of seconds.
Betimes includes significant contributions from free percussionists Nicolas Field and Alex Babel, who sprinkle the sound field with an almost FMP-style rush of splattering drum sound, raising the intensity of the music (without resorting to bashing). The album also features a brief but affecting vocal from Ulver mastermind Kristoffer Rygg, who made his first live appearance in over a decade when Aethenor played the Roadburn Festival in April 2008. Aethenor's third LP, featuring vocals and lyrics by David Tibet, will be released in Autumn 2008.
'Musically, Aethenor summon the most somnolent examples of Bernard Parmegiani, Organum, Nurse with Wound, Klaus Schulze, Igor Wakhevitch, Coil, Iancu Dumitrescu, and Charlemagne Palestine. Acousmatic drones ebb and flow into crackling and bubbling sonic clusters. Lulling piano motifs and lamenting chants shimmer into distant lunar horizons while oscillators spin and drove serenely into unchartered audial regions. Sometimes as calm as a silvery sea, so that every gentle cat's-paw and lapping wave is deafening. Sometimes as tempestuous as a fuming lava beach, spitting and popping at the surface.' -Daniel O'Sullivan " [label info]
www.vhfrecords.com
|
2008 |
€17.50 |
|
| AFFLUX |
Bordeaux TNT |
CD |
Der französische field recording-Meister ERIC LA CASA widmet sich in letzter Zeit verstärkt Kollaborationen mit anderen Musikern, wo er dann im eher improvisatorischen Kontext arbeitet. Auf ‚Bordeaux TNT’ ist er im Zusammenspiel mit ERIC CORDIER und JEAN-LUC GUIONNET zu hören. Der gesamte Raum des Kulturzentrums TNT in Bordeaux wurde von den dreien mit Kontakt- und Feld-Mikros bestückt, und in „real time“ zu einer 6-stündigen Performance gemixt. Eine unbeschreibbare, schwelende Klanglandschaft aus konkreten Material und langgezogenen Geräuschen ist daraus entstanden, das wirkt wie das unbewusste aurale Abbild eines von menschlichen Aktivitäten bevölkerten riesigen Gebäudes … One-tracker, ca. 50 min.
“Your ear is an excellent microphone. Imagine to be in a crowded place, close your eyes and listen. You will pay attention to detailed sounds around you, simply because your mind allows you to ignore the surrounding sounds, those you don't want to hear. Afflux does something like that, except that they use real microphones and contact microphones in a location. TNT cultural centre in Bordeaux is apparently a big building with a bar/restaurant, offices, concert space and a top floor. Afflux attached many contact microphones to all of these places and they were connected to a 32 channel mixer and the resultant mix was played over eight speakers in the concert half. The whole concert lasted six hours. Afflux is the collaboration of Eric Cordier, Jean-Luc Guionnet and Eric La Casa, all three composers in their own right. From the six hours of recordings, Eric La Casa edited this fifty one minute CD, with just one piece. We hear sounds that we recognize, like people talking, the elevator, maybe the coffee machine, but they all appear to be far away, or embedded in a strange environment - maybe like we would hear this when we would inside such a big environment ourselves, but now the ears don't select: the selection has been made for us, by La Casa. Our ears are now focussed on this CD, and not the rain outside, or own coffee machine. This makes this into quite a strange listening affair, since we recognize the daily sounds that we would always recognize but also all these other sounds. It makes this however not an uneasy affair, but rather a fascinating one: what are these sounds, and where are they going to? It's a highly captivating soundscape that is captured here. Not so much with a 'story' or a 'composition', but ambient music in the true meaning of the word: music made of the ambience. Gorgeous music.” [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2006 |
€10.00 |
|
| AGLAIA |
Three Organic Experiences |
CD |
Die zweite neue VÖ im Jahr 2003 für HIC SUNT LEONES beschert uns sehr luftigen, leichten, vorbeiwehenden Ambient der hochsphärischen Sorte dieses Newcomers aus Italien, inspiriert von griechischen Mythen... perfect late night music by this new Italian project..
„AGLAIA is a musical projekt by Gino Fioravanti and Gianluigi Toso. Gino Fioravanti is a therapist, writer, painter and musician. his touch with electronic music make it human and cosmic/amniotic at the same time. His writings and inspiration, research in different spheres like Alchemy, mythology, ortho-bionomy . Gianluigi Toso is a musician and back-school teacher. He moves through different musical styles, with Gino Fioravanti has relesed many cd for mind and spirit.
"Aglaia is one of the Chariti. The 'Cariti' are goddess of beauty, generally represented as three sisters.They live upon Olympus mountain toghether with Muses, with whom sometimes they sing chorus. They pleasently follow the tracks of Apollo, god of divination and music. Their father is Zeus, their mother is Eurinome, the daughter of the Ocean. It is generally considered that 'Cariti' exert every sort of influence upon works of mind and art.
Charis means living artís work. In some tradition they are daughters of Erebo and of the Night and love to dance under the pale moon light. The concept of AGLAIA is to create long musical instants, apparently motionless, but with inside the movement of hundred of nuances, micro-variations, pulsations. A fluid, sonoruous tapestry with a never ending motion. The music was thought like a magma of raw materials to refine throught an infinite number of sonorous passages. The listening of T.O.E. behave towards the micro-particle that compose our subtle individual plot, in a world where nothing is firm and nothing is really moving." [press release]
www.aliodie.com
|
2003 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
Intangible Opacity |
CD |
"Aglaia is a great project from Italy, but probably still not appreciated as much as it deserves. The artist releases his albums in Stefano Musso’s Hic Sunt Leones, and it seems that his work remains in Alio Die’s shadow. Aglaia could be even bigger, but I think that Gino Fioravanti, sometimes aided by Gianluigi Toso, doesn’t really care about worldwide recognition – I figure he’s fine with his current position.
By all means however, Aglaia isn’t an Alio Die clone. Although the points of convergence can be easily noticed, Aglaia sounds less organic and prefers to focus on electroacoustics and the creation of an atmosphere by the use of more or less sophisticated electronics. This is no different in the case of “Intangible Opacity”, one of the two Aglaia albums recently published by Hic Sunt Leones.
On “Intangible Opacity” Gino Fioravanti dares to visit the place where the Earth’s atmosphere ends and the infinity of space begins, following the physical and chemical processes that occur in the ionosphere. The sound is based on warm but at the same time somehow distanced synthetic textures, and classical “el-music” as we used to say in Poland. I suspect that Fioravanti didn’t use any other instruments or field recordings on the album. Synths only.
Despite the strict nature of the music, it has a soul. Composed of zeros and ones, enchanted in the tiny box filled with chips and integrated circuits, but not allowing for the treatment of “Intangible Opacity” as only a virtually emotional, but in fact dry and mathematical record of the aforementioned processes that continually start, progress and end tens of thousands of kilometers above our heads. There’s no blackness, the sound is painted with thousands of hues, the blue and green of the earth being the parent colors. The title composition, the second to last, probably contains the most decent amount of space; the horizon seems to stretch widely, though all the tracks remain on a relatively equal level.
After several listens, I conclude that there are earlier Aglaia releases which I cherish more and will come back to more often in the future. I miss some element raging on the surface of Mother Earth. A wind shaking the barley, or wild fires. A thimble of organic sound appears in “Protonosfera”, the last one: Gino Fioravanti, at least for a while, gets back to where you can breathe fresh air, as if in spite of the title.
It’s still worth buying a ticket to the place from where there’s still a possibility to return. Aglaia still holds the fashion." [Stark / Santa Sangre]
aliodie.bandcamp.com/album/intangible-opacity
|
2014 |
€15.00 |
|
| AGUILAR, LUIS DAVID |
Ayahuasca: Musica Para Cine de Luis David Aguilar 1978-1983 |
LP |
"Ayahuasca: Music for Film, by Luis David Aguilar (1978-1983)" compiles works by Luis David Aguilar, one of the most prolific composers of film scores in Peru. It shows the great versatility and avant-garde style that has distinguished his work.
Luis David Aguilar (Arequipa, 1950) occupies a fundamental place in the history of film music in Peru, not only because of the prolific nature of his work (which also includes music for television and advertising), but because of the singular, experimental style found in many of his scores. Aguilar's music blends modern academic composition with the use of native instruments, synthesizers, sound collages and a diversity of resources, which identify him as a key figure to understand a period of Peruvian music marked by the imprint of the avant-garde and the use of native sounds, which developed during the late 70's and the early 80's.
Aguilar belongs to the so called “Generation of the 70's”, along with Peruvian composers such as Walter Casas, Seiji Asato and Aurelio Tello, who were then immersed in the languages of contemporary classical music. But he also shares the spirit of renewal of a generation of musicians who came from the world of jazz and electronic experimentation such as Manongo Mujica and Arturo Ruiz del Pozo.
After his graduation from the National Music Conservatory, Luis David Aguilar studied at the Instituto Nacional de Teleducación, starting from 1976, which proved to be decisive. It allowed him to start a career as a composer of music for radio and television, and drove him away from the classical scene. With this experience in hand, he was then able to produce film music and to work in many recording studios in Lima. He also set up his own studio and, as a result, he is the owner of a large archive of recordings, which has been maintained without being published. “During those years I composed a lot of music: children's songs, jingles for various radio shows, as well as music for television series, etc.”, says Aguilar. “The great attraction for me was that all of the music I created was recorded immediately, and because of my academic training, I was able to write scores for symphonic orchestra. My purpose was to introduce the sounds of classical instruments in the auditory memory of a vast audience. I had never experienced this possibility before. As an academic composer, I created works that were rarely performed. Most of them gathered dust in different places or, because of my lack of order and frequent relocations, they simply got lost. But during this period, all of the music I wrote came to life. I was also able to work with different recording studios and use their fantastic technical resources. In addition, this situation allowed me to create job opportunities for classically trained musicians (who at that time were very poorly paid). Over any other consideration, this had a clear social function, and the experience was totally worthy for me. In large measure, this is why I stopped working in academic settings.”
Ayahuasca is an album that collects pieces from 1978 to 1983 and offers an overview of the different musical paths that Aguilar followed during his career as a soundtrack composer. The album opens with music from the film El viento del ayahuasca [The Wind of Ayahuasca] (1983), by director Nora de Izcue, performed by the National Symphony Orchestra and Choir of Cuba under the baton of Luis David Aguilar, with Chucho Valdés on piano. Recorded at the ICAIC studios (Cuba), it is an ambitious orchestral and vocal composition, in which you can hear the beginning of the famous melody popularized by the Amazonian cumbia group Juaneco y su Combo, which serves as an introduction to the sound world of the jungle, a dense and hypnotic atmosphere that, without a doubt, places this work as one of the most important compositions of the author's repertoire.
The next track is the music for the documentary Anónimo cotidiano [Anonymous Everyday] (1979), by director Jorge Rey, a unique experimental piece for synthesizers (played by Aguilar), drums and percussion (played by Manongo Mujica), with the addition of various Andean instruments (panpipes, charango, among others). It is a clear example of fusion of sound experimentation and timbres from the Andean world.
And finally Los constructores [The Builders] (1978), by director José Carlos Huayhuaca, a salsa which incorporates unusual sounds of tubular bells and prepared pianos.
About this diversity of genres, the composer says: “Creating film music gave me a wide perspective, because of the possibility of using all the composition techniques that I studied, both traditional and avant-garde, and even inventing some of my own, in addition to giving me the versatile craft that is needed”.
Ayahuasca: Music for Film by Luis David Aguilar (1978-1983) is the second album by Aguilar released by Buh Records, following the celebrated Hombres de Viento/Venas de la Tierra (1978-1982), appeared in 2015. The album is published in vinyl format, in a limited edition of 300 copies, as part of the Essentials Sounds collection. It includes a booklet with notes by Luis David Aguilar. The audio has been remastered from the original reel tapes by Aldo Montalvo. The artwork and design is by About Studio.
This project was awarded with the Economic Stimulus for Culture 2021 of the Ministry of Culture of Peru.
https://buhrecords.bandcamp.com/album/ayahuasca-m-sica-para-cine-de-luis-david-aguilar-1978-1983-essential-sounds-collection |
2022 |
€25.00 |
|
| AGUIRRE, MARCELO |
Contes d'Etonnement |
LP |
Voices, percussion, drums, and rather spooky electronic processing. A minimal structure onto which uncanny atmospheres become kind of interwoven. A sort of heterophony, in the manner of Japanese Gagaku or Indonesian Gamelan. An intriguing inversion seems to unfold, when the drum set takes the lead in the composition's development. We could even say the drums court the shadow of a melody, whilst the voice delivers a litany, enhancing atmospheres that are, to my ears, less sinister than they are elegiac: the longing for a primitive age, a meaningful world now lost and irrecoverable in its healthful entirety. This invocation works by way of an overlapping of sounds, always finding their source in the percussion set and in the vocal intonations.
It becomes apparent that time is the very question here, a time that is intangible and yet ‘absolute’ (if I may incur in this oxymoron), giving up any stringent historical temporality in favor of a sort of sedimentation in geological layers. Just listen to "Malaria C", a post-industrial landscape in the style of Lustmørd that brings to mind images of a universe in stasis, forever frozen in an ancient phase, while the voice underlines this ominous scenery, and the sound of tiny bells towards the end conjures a unique form of consolation as an ephemeral corollary.
In "Krakatoa", an extensive and vast sense of time lingers morosely in aural repetition, varying only slightly in intensity before the layered singing voices invoke an unlikely fulfillment. Those unmistakable chants may also resound in "Only A Mother", sort of a psalmody framed by a vehement and rhythmic acceleration which emphasizes how exacting and unavoidable is time's call.
Yet elusive, ungraspable time, resists being dissected into discrete and symmetrical units, escaping the prison of human perception; the drums go on and on, scanning their disparate metrics in an integral, unrestrained use of every component in the drum kit.
'I will follow the Time' could be guessed within "In Eternal Life". It is the only song which foregoes the drums. However, gongs recorded by close-miking bring to mind and ears the rumble of a synthesizer, coalescing with a jeremiad sung in a somber dialect that is cryptic, never discernible as intelligible language. The voice is merely another instrument, overlapping in disparate layers and warping polyphonic textures as its frequencies collide and clash, one against each other. While a voice recites an eerie mass, an incantation from another world, then punctuated by chants which resound like undulating drones.
It is difficult not to acknowledge the overall effect of some healthy dispossession, of a deliberate shedding of fineries, aimed at reducing everything to minimal expression. It is as if Marcelo Aguirre turns a cold shoulder to the weight of tradition and to the classification of musical experience with definite labels and overwrought categorization, as if he wanted to go beyond any accepted distinction of rhythm and melody, prose and poetry, or noise and harmony. Is his an appeal which knows of no precedent, a longing for an unheard form of music? A music able to transcend time and place while not relinquishing its human and historical fate? I cannot help taking note of a certain kinship that this musical inquiry of Aguirre's crisscrosses the time-honored obsession with Time, held by European philosophers from the late XIXth and early XXth Century. For instance, William James and his brother Henry's 'stream of consciousness', the 'durée' of Henri Bergson, and the transcendental subjectivity understood as an absolute by Edmund Husserl. What Aguirre may share with this company is the search for a language adept to communicate the indefinable, the flow of a temporality that does not allow itself to be captured in any given moment, instead it is music at the service of a primordial intuition. Therefore recovering an original order, harmonizing in a fullness of sense the flow of sounds. An attitude which positions itself at the antipodes of some developments in current electronic music, with its disassembling of the sound reality into beats (or bits and bytes), and an everlasting reiteration of artificial rhythmic structures, always monotonous and symmetrical even in their angularity. It is in this context of predominant musical tendencies nowadays, which blesses in a paradoxical marriage the once hostile fields of pop and experimentation, that these 'Contes d'Étonnement' reinvent a fresh appeal to the liberal imagination; a force as ancient (and eternal?) as the human species is.
[from the inlay, text by NORBERTO CAMBIASSO]
https://marceloaguirre.bandcamp.com/releases
|
2018 |
€17.00 |
|
| AHTI, MARJA |
The Current Inside |
LP |
The Current Inside”, Marja Ahti's sophomore album for Hallow Ground, plays with the theme of currents - connecting and animating movements in the form of air, water and electricity. It approaches sound as a poetic medium, focusing both on the experience of sound as form and energy and on a loosely narrative arc, suggesting a riddle on the relations between the sounds. It implements alternative as well as intuitive tunings, analog and digital synthesis, recordings of sonorous spaces and vessels, electromagnetic fields transduced into audio, acoustic close-ups of elements in motion and other field recordings. Fluently connecting quite diverse sound sources, Ahti's music lingers in a zone between abstract sonorities and vaguely familiar acoustic environments.
The first half of the album consists of ”The Altitudes”, a piece commissioned by Ina GRM for Présences Électronique and Sonic Acts. It was inspired by descriptions of the layers of Earth's atmosphere. Imagining a movement through layers of air, the piece unfolds with a slow intensity, interweaving concrete sounds and closely tuned electronic sonorities. Traversing the altitudes, a landscape of entangled elements, masses and currents emerges. The air around us has weight and it presses against everything it touches. As gravity pulls it to Earth, it is sensed as pressure. The rotation of the planet, the angle of the sun at any new moment sets the elements in motion in a chain reaction.
The other side consists of four shorter pieces. ”The Currents” opens with a dance of trembling charged movements. ”Lost Lake” extracts resonant tones from a trail of close-up recordings of winter environments, while ”Fluctuating Streams” channels streaming air in different forms. The closing track, ”Sundial”, could be construed as the steady turning of the planetary angle towards the sun, unfolding through fragments of everyday activity against the backdrop of piercing, slowly twisting, suspended tone.
Marja Ahti (b. 1981) is a musician and composer based in Turku, Finland. Originally from Sweden, Ahti has been a part of the Finnish experimental music scene for more than ten years in different constellations. She is currently active in the duo Ahti & Ahti with her partner and as a member of the Himera artist/organizer collective. Her critically acclaimed 2019 solo debut, Vegetal Negatives, explored a new formal language and sonic palette inspired by a short text by René Daumal.
https://hallowground.bandcamp.com/album/marja-ahti-the-current-inside
Composition, production, mixing: Marja Ahti
Voice: Johanna Kalliokulju
Mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi
Cover artwork by Niko Karlsson and design by Juri Puhakka
The Altitudes was commissioned by Ina GRM as part of Re-Imagine Europe, co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union. The work was supported in part by Arts Promotion Centre Finland. Synthesizers recorded at EMS, Stockholm and Ina GRM, Paris. Voice recorded at IAC, Malmö. Field recordings from various locations in Finland, Sweden and Croatia.
Thanks to Olli Aarni, Niko-Matti Ahti, François Bonnet, Jason Dungan, Jonna Karanka, Laura Naukkarinen and Remo Seeland.
https://hallowground.bandcamp.com/album/marja-ahti-the-current-inside
|
2020 |
€22.50 |
|
| |
Still Lives |
LP |
“Still Lives” is the third solo full length by the Finnish composer Marja Ahti, following a pair of releases on the Hallow Ground imprint. As a collection, it may be seen as a series of studies on the liminality of the listening act and an investigation into the physicality of sound. Ahti forges vivid electroacoustic environments from field recordings, analog synthesizers, acoustic feedback, magnetic tape and digital processing, resulting in a set of articulate, prickly, and surprising compositions. In the artist’s words, “These pieces could be conceived of as vanitas paintings of a kind – selections of mundane or archetypal objects, sounds that have their own distinct qualities, but exist only by virtue of being temporary events. From another angle, one could think of them as shrines – objects assembled and set in a particular relationship to each other, charging each other in their given constellations.” Marja Ahti (b. 1981) is a musician and composer based in Turku, Finland. Originally from Sweden, Ahti has been a part of the Finnish experimental music scene for more than ten years in different constellations. She is currently active in the duo Ahti & Ahti with her partner and as a member of the Himera artist/organizer collective.
https://marjaahti.bandcamp.com/album/still-lives
"Rethinking the boundaries of electronic process and musique concréte on visionary new terms, Marja Ahti, returns with “Still Lives”, her first LP with Students of Decay.
Doubling as studies into the liminality of listening and the physicality of sound, from a pallet of field recordings, analog synthesizers, acoustic feedback, magnetic tape, and digital processing, Ahti weaves a series of free-standing sonic worlds at the borders of metaphor and abstraction, endlessly reconfiguring the meanings carried by language and sound across the album’s stunningly beautiful two sides.
Building on the accomplishments of two groundbreaking LPs for Hallow Ground - 2019’s Vegetal Negatives and 2020’s The Current Inside - as well as Why Do Birds Suddenly Appear?, her stunning duo with Niko-Matti Ahti released by Ouidah last year, the Swedish-born, Finland based artist / composer, Marja Ahti, returns with Still Lives, her first LP on Students of Decay. Across the album’s two sides - venturing further into unknown creative territory - Ahti’s delicate hand transforms raw sonic materiality into a shimmering and immersive tapestry - imbued with humanity and life - that presents electronic process and musique concrète on visionary new terms.
Active for more than a decade, first issuing solo efforts under the moniker Tsembla, as well as working within the psychedelic improv collective Kemialliset Ystävät, over the last few years the Swedish-born, Finland based, artist and composer, Marja Ahti, has risen to prominence within the global context of experimental music, increasingly gaining critical accolades for a series of releases issued under her own name.
An artist who takes nothing for granted, through the vessel of her work, Ahti endeavors to challenge and reconfigure fundamental elements of meaning that are carried by language and sound, setting out to build them again from scratch. The result, blending metaphor and abstraction, seamlessly binds the familiar and known - be it fleeting impressions of the natural world or elements and approaches to experimental music - through a radically unfamiliar pattern of human action and thought.
Her latest, Still Lives, issued by Students of Decay in a limited vinyl edition of 300 copies, takes this line of inquiry to beautiful new extremes.
Comprising eight compositions that double as studies into the liminality of listening and the physicality of sound, across the album’s two sides Ahti forges vivid electroacoustic environments from field recordings, analog synthesizers, acoustic feedback, magnetic tape and digital processing, resulting in a strikingly visionary reimagining of electronic process and musique concrète, within which impressions of a source material’s identity is retained, while simultaneously being allowed to be heard on autonomous and fully dislocated terms.
In Ahti’s own words, “These pieces could be conceived of as vanitas paintings of a kind – selections of mundane or archetypal objects, sounds that have their own distinct qualities, but exist only by virtue of being temporary events. From another angle, one could think of them as shrines – objects assembled and set in a particular relationship to each other, charging each other in their given constellations.”
Formed from tense collisions of harmony and dissonance - buzzes, long shifting and intersecting tones, textural abrasions and trickles, and impressions of nature intersecting with the technological and industrial - each piece, across the length of Still Lives, encounters the 'non-musical' taking on a new musical life, and proves Ahti to be what we suspected all along; one of the great, holistic voices in contemporary electroacoustic music resting in our midst.
Issued by Students of Decay in a very limited edition of 300 copies on vinyl, Still Lives stand high among our favourite records of the year. Grab it fast before it goes." [Soundohm]
|
2021 |
€20.00 |
|
| AJNA |
Inevitable Mortality |
do-CD |
Previously, "Inevitable Mortality" was released in a microprint of just 50 CDR copies thanks to Reverse Alignment.
This edition of the 2 CD contains the same material, extended by another 6 hitherto unpublished compositions, created in the same period. Chris Sigdell (B°TONG) again handled the mastering. Thanks to this, the album sounds coherent and is a great complement to the discography with a position that has been difficult to obtain until now. For fans of the AJNA project, it is an absolute "must have". Its qualities will also be appreciated by listeners who like to lose themselves listening to dark ambient music of the highest quality. "Inevitable Mortality" was created in a rather interesting and publishing period of the American musician, when his project was becoming more and more recognizable among fans of the genre. A moment later, the double "Black Monolith" is released, recorded in collaboration with Dronny Darko, with which both artists have established their position on this scene. So far, AJNA has cooperated, apart from the aforementioned Reverse Alignment, with e.g. Winter-Light, Cryo Chamber, or Cyclic Law.
Edition on 2CDs in a 6-panel eco-pack with a new graphic design. Edition of 300 copies.
https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/inevitable-mortality-extended-edit
|
2023 |
€16.50 |
|
| AKITA, MASAMI |
Wattle |
pic-LP |
Elevator Bath's series of picture disc LPs (each record being adorned with full-color artwork by the recording artist) comes to its conclusion with a top-notch new release from the great Masami Akita.
Wattle is a new, two-part composition featuring Akita's traditional soup of unidentifiable metallic clanging, crushing feedback, jagged white noise, and various effects. It does not disappoint. There are no drums, no guitars, no vocals; just scorching electronic mayhem of the highest quality.
The colorful images here are based on photographs shot and subtly manipulated by Masami Akita, who sends the following message:
"Turkey is beautiful animal and do not eat them."
Agreed.
Masami Akita is, of course, the artist behind the seminal, vegan, straight edge, noise project, Merzbow. He lives in Tokyo.
This picture disc LP has been released in an edition of 270 copies. Every copy purchased directly from Elevator Bath will include a download code for high quality files of the entire audio content of this LP.
www.elevatorbath.com
"Masami Akita (aka Merzbow) dedicates this album to the turkey, following numerous explosive noise albums in homage to various animals. While frogs, fish, and dolphins have appeared throughout the Merzbow menagerie, birds in particular seem to the object of fancy for Akita, and here he offers the following: "Turkey is beautiful animal and do not eat them." How his vegan beliefs co-exist with the feral electric screams that is the Merzbow / Akita aesthetic has long been a mystery to us; but that does not diminish the psychedelic intensity and kaleidoscopic overload heard here. Akita is focused (or appears to focus) on the analog systems of closed-circuit noise construction that dominated his work up through the mid-'90s. Wattle squiggles and noodles with an electronic squawking that could be Akita's mimicking of the titular bird, with these sounds (un)settled above a scorching roar of jet-engine tumult and clattering demon-pulse frenzy. Limited edition picture discs of just 270 copies!" [Aquarius Records]
|
2016 |
€20.00 |
|
| AKIYAMA, MITCHELL |
Mort aux vaches |
CD |
Wieder ein kleines Verpackungswunder in der MORT AUX VACHES-Serie: glänzendes, 2fach gefaltetes Kupferblech mit Prägung, sieht einfach genial aus! Und auch musikalisch ist dies ein Schmuckstück: Ein one-tracker (43+ min.) mit äusserst zarten, stimmungsvollen Gitarren-Drones, die digital aufbereitet tänzeln und feinste innerliche Resonanzen spürbar werden lassen....
“Packaging comes in embossed copper (no printing). Akiyama's contribution to the Mort Aux Vaches series is an unedited improvisation recorded for VPRO radio in April, 2004. Consisting of guitar washes and digital interruptions, the set was recorded without any use of samples or prepared material. In keeping with Akiyama's ethic of spontaneous composition this recording is a document of a moment. Akiyama's music is a study in fiction and texture. He records compositions and improvisations for piano, strings, and other instruments, and restructures them in his studio in a post-facto montage. Playing on the distortions in causality that recording technology can effect, Akiyama creates music that lays claim to a moment of creation that never happened. Imperfections - fingers scraping strings, breaths and other signs of humanity - are underscored resulting in a digital simulacrum of performance. Located somewhere in the interstices of classical, electronic composition and post-rock, his works vacillate between delicate melodies and confrontational bursts of noise.” [press release]
www.staalplaat.com
|
2004 |
€14.50 |
|
| AKSAK MABOUL |
Figures |
do-LP |
The legendary experimental pop outfit returns with a brand-new record entitled Figures, written, conceived and produced over the last couple of years by Marc Hollander (founder of Aksak Maboul and of the Crammed label) and Véronique Vincent (former singer with The Honeymoon Killers).
Figures is a double album containing 22 tracks and interludes, resulting from the flow of creative ideas which arose after a gap of over thirty years (see the Aksak story overleaf). Drawing again from the multiple sources which have always inspired the band (from electronic music and pop to experimentation, jazz, minimalism, contemporary classical etc), Aksak Maboul transcends and reconfigures them with its inimitable style, to create an impressive, rich and unclassifiable piece of work.
Seamlessly weaving electronic and acoustic instrumentation, improvisation and programming, songs, beats, found objects and sound collages, the album works as a labyrinth, full of secret passages and interconnections. Figures clocks in at 75 minutes, thus deliberately shunning the laws of instant gratification and the myth of today’s reduced attention span: the Aksak Maboul aficionados will surely be happy to engage in an immersive session of deep listening (in two halves), in order to enjoy the album’s many layers and details.
Véronique Vincent & Marc Hollander wrote the album together, by following parallel courses with their own respective internal logic, while remaining closely connected. Enigmatic and finely chiseled, feeding on her love for painting and literature, Véronique’s texts form a dense fabric which mirrors the sonic kaleidoscope assembled by Marc, who wrote and arranged all the music (aside from a track co-written and sung by Véronique and Julien Gasc). Véronique also made the drawings and paintings which illustrate the cover and inserts.
The two protagonists recorded most of the album in their own studio, with contributions by the young members of Aksak Maboul’s current live line-up: Faustine Hollander (bass, vocals, co-production), guitarist Lucien Fraipont and drummer Erik Heestermans. Also featured are performances by several friends and guests, including revered improvisor Fred Frith, Tuxedomoon’s Steven Brown, members of Aquaserge (Julien Gasc, Audrey Ginestet & Benjamin Glibert), former band members (including Michel Berckmans and Sebastiaan Van den Branden), and several others
https://aksakmaboul.bandcamp.com/album/figures
|
2020 |
€25.00 |
|
| AL-QASAR |
Wo are we? |
LP |
Middle Eastern psych-rock collective Al-Qasar"s debut album is an explosive mix of heavy Arabian grooves, global psychedelia and North African trance music. The band calls it "Arabian fuzz." Brazenly electric yet deeply connected to their roots, guests include Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth), Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys) and Alsarah (Alsarah & The Nubatones). Mixed by Alain Johannes (Queens of the Stone Age, PJ Harvey). Al-Qasar was born in the Barbès neighbourhood of Paris," explains band leader Thomas Attar Bellier. "I"ve lived in Los Angeles, Paris, New York, Lisbon... I wanted to start a project that was in tune with the daily life of people living in these international cities, something diverse, radically colourful, with a fresh, contemporary outlook on what societies really look like today". The musicians came together from France, Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, and the United States. Shows followed, first in France, then in Europe and the Middle East. They put out an EP, the widely-lauded Miraj, recorded in Cairo. In the same time frame, Attar Bellier collaborated with the likes of Emel Mathlouthi and Dina El Wedidi, two of the most exciting names in contemporary Arab music. Drawing on years of experience working in Los Angeles studios, Attar Bellier produced the album. Who Are We? translates the sound that inhabited his head into something physical that stirs spirit, heart and feet. It is relentless and insistent, like a psychedelic celebration on the dancefloor, bristling with the kind of deep energy that makes Al-Qasar sound like the world"s most dangerous wedding band. During those years spent behind the control board, Attar Bellier made some good friends in the US, and they"ve been eager to help out on the project. Alain Johannes (Queens of the Stone Age, PJ Harvey) mixed the record, and Grammy-winner Dave Collins mastered it. The Dead Kennedys" Jello Biafra was a natural addition to "Ya Malak," his inimitable voice reciting a translation of Egyptian revolutionary poet Ahmed Fouad Negm, elevating the record"s social critique while showcasing the first-ever English recording of Negm"s work. Jello Biafra is not the only punk hero to appear on Who Are We? Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth layers textured, brooding guitar over the first two cuts, "Awtar Al Sharq" and "Awal." The sweeping drones embrace the Moroccan bendir groove to magical results. "Lee sent me upwards of eighteen guitar tracks," says Attar Bellier in amazement. "It was enough for an entire EP, and all so good. The hard part was deciding what not to use. Lee"s vibe just fit perfectly with what I was trying to do with the track." Who Are We? is an exhilarating album. Its intensity never wavers, music that pulls from the hypnotic roots of North African trance and threads it into a fabric with the elaborate beauty of Arabic scales and the shock and thrill of rock"n"roll. It is modern folklore, a reflection of the cross-cultural societies we"ve become.
https://alqasar.bandcamp.com/album/who-are-we
|
2022 |
€22.50 |
|
| ALDEA, ERIC |
Saturno o Cipolla |
CD |
Erinnert sich noch jemand an die hervorragende französische “Rock”-Band (Rock im Geiste von THIS HEAT wohlgemerkt) namens BÄSTARD? Dies ist das äußerst empfehlenswerte erste Solo-Album des ehemaligen BÄSTARD-Mitglieds ERIC ALDEA, der sich hier in drone-ambiente Gefilde begibt und ein meisterliche Atmosphären & Sounds erzeugt, betörende Drones mit orientalen Blasinstrumenten, Resonanz-Loop-Schichten verschmelzen mit field recordings, glitchig-fremdartige Frequenzfelder tauchen auf, getaucht in warme Klangfarben ... bester deep Ambient & atmospheric Electronic! BIOSPHERE meets ZOVIET FRANCE meets GLITCH.?
“Eric Aldéa was a member of Lyons based post rockers Bästard, whose collaborators included Chicago luminaries Bundy Brown and Casey Rice, and was previously in industrial hardcore merchants Deity Guns. His first solo record betrays few of those influences though; compiled from various pieces written for dance company La Baraka, Saturno o Cipolla ? delivers a warm, organic take on experimental ambient electronics. Aldéas approach is informed more by the lo-fi layering of industrial types like Zoviet France or the tapeloop outings of Fripp & Eno than by the cut 'n paste glitchscapes beloved by the average bald bloke with a Powerbook, though we do get a bit of digital snap crackle n blip on a couple of pieces. Elsewhere Aldéa delicately weaves together shortwave transmissions, field recordings and acoustic instrumentation with rarely heard skill. While countless TV advertised ambient compilations may promise to, er, take the listener on a journey, Aldéas gradual unfolding of his pieces seems to do just that. The thirteen minutes of "02" are especially seductive; opening with a chatter of shortwave crackles and bleeps, an opressive string figure repeats itself to be swept away by a held, suspended chord flecked with bowed double bass harmonics and gurgling synthetics. A phone goes off somewhere; footsteps are briefly heard. A gentle synth loop fires up eventually to be overrun by glassy digital tones and telex bleeps which swarm and multiply before abruptly fading. Here Aldéa's manipulation of acoustic space recalls David Toop and Max Eastleys classic Buried Dreams, though is less likely to give you nightmares. Less successfully, "03" and "04" stray into more conventional electronica territory, with looped sinewave drones, clicks and metallic synthbursts piling up and receding in typical minimal art techno fashion. The closing trio of pieces save the day though; revolving around mournful, muted strings, alternately decorated with bubbling analogue synth, dolorous cello and distant xylophone figures, they evoke a calm tinted with a vague sense of unease, like seeing a single black cloud in a summer sky.Immersive, often beautiful and with a slightly ungraspable quality that makes you want to stick it on again as soon as its finished, Saturno o Cipolla ? may well turn out to be one of the records of the year...” [Peter Mash, BBC website]
|
2001 |
€13.00 |
|
| ALDINUCCI, GIULIO |
Shards of Distant Times |
CD |
"Italian sound artist GIULIO ALDINUCCI returns with his 3rd album on KARL: “Shards Of Distant Times” is again a truly masterfully composed and sound-designed ambient masterpiece and a more than worthy follow-up to the critically acclaimed “Borders And Ruins” (2017) and “Disappearing In A Mirror” (2018) which both made it onto several year’s best lists.
Over the course of six solo albums on labels like DRONARIVM plus EPs and collaborative albums (a.o. with IAN HAWGOOD), GIULIO ALDINUCCI successively has been refining his skills as composer and sound designer. His elegant style which blends ambient and field recordings came to full impact on his previous KARL albums “Borders And Ruins” and “Disappearing In A Mirror” which gained the Italian sound artist a lot of critical praise and made it onto several year’s best lists, a.o. Acloserlisten.com. ALDINUCCI’s latest effort is again not only a musical masterpiece of sublime beauty and sacral majesty, it also deals with philosophical concerns.
Where “Borders …” was a reflection on the instability of borders and “Disappearing In A Mirror” raised the very personal question of identity, “Shards Of Distant Times explores the liminal areas of the contemporary soundscape that are characterized by the presence of human voice coming from old and timeworn recordings. Like in the auditory pareidolia, the psychological phenomenon in which the mind hears indistinct voices in random noise where none exist, voices and music emerge from the everyday soundscape through the omnipresent internet connected devices, creating glitches between time and space” (ALDINUCCI)."
https://karlrecords.bandcamp.com/album/shards-of-distant-times
|
2020 |
€13.50 |
|
| |
Shards of Distant Times |
LP |
Italian sound artist GIULIO ALDINUCCI returns with his 3rd album on KARL: “Shards Of Distant Times” is again a truly masterfully composed and sound-designed ambient masterpiece and a more than worthy follow-up to the critically acclaimed “Borders And Ruins” (2017) and “Disappearing In A Mirror” (2018) which both made it onto several year’s best lists.
Over the course of six solo albums on labels like DRONARIVM plus EPs and collaborative albums (a.o. with IAN HAWGOOD), GIULIO ALDINUCCI successively has been refining his skills as composer and sound designer. His elegant style which blends ambient and field recordings came to full impact on his previous KARL albums “Borders And Ruins” and “Disappearing In A Mirror” which gained the Italian sound artist a lot of critical praise and made it onto several year’s best lists, a.o. Acloserlisten.com. ALDINUCCI’s latest effort is again not only a musical masterpiece of sublime beauty and sacral majesty, it also deals with philosophical concerns.
Where “Borders …” was a reflection on the instability of borders and “Disappearing In A Mirror” raised the very personal question of identity, “Shards Of Distant Times explores the liminal areas of the contemporary soundscape that are characterized by the presence of human voice coming from old and timeworn recordings. Like in the auditory pareidolia, the psychological phenomenon in which the mind hears indistinct voices in random noise where none exist, voices and music emerge from the everyday soundscape through the omnipresent internet connected devices, creating glitches between time and space” (ALDINUCCI).
https://karlrecords.bandcamp.com/album/shards-of-distant-times
|
2020 |
€19.00 |
|
| ALFEO, PIER |
Works 2016-2018 |
LP (one-sided) |
"Work presented during the personal exhibition of Pier Alfeo "Incisione su Silenzio" at the gallery Doppelgaenger of Bari, Italy (22 February - 22 May 2019). Description: the collection "WORKS 2016-2018" includes the first three electro-acoustic compositions created during the academic years, a period in which the algorithmic computer programming technique was learned using the Wolfram language in the domain of the Mathematica software. This technique involves the construction of sound on a mathematical-computer level taking into account the structural parameters of the sound itself, such as: attack times, duration, intensity, height, envelope and spatialization, using granulators, additive synthesis and subtractive synthesis. The system consists in the creation of data matrices which are then appropriately interpreted by the CSound software which renders them in audio format, a material that was subsequently organized and edited for composition purposes. The intent during both programming and composition was to arrive at a sound that preserved a certain warmth, a certain organicity. In "All That Fall" a single sample of origin was used, the recording of a crackling fireplace, while in "The Never Spoken Words" all sound generations were created by processing only recordings of voices and vocalizations. 300 copies on white vinyl. Gatefold poster cover (oversized: 60 x 90) para-graphic score of the composition "All That Fall". Mastered for vinyl by Giuseppe Ielasi."
|
2019 |
€18.00 |
|
| ALGOL |
All these Worlds are yours |
CD |
A fifth full-length album by _Algol_ brings to you digital and analog sounds combined with some soothing guitar tunes. A conceptual and contemplating album for virtual cosmic journeys. Enjoy!
Instruments and mastering by Daniil Kazantsev.
Album Design SeasofBlack & Kati Astraeir (inner layout)
Released by Ksenza Records
www.infinitefog.ru
_Algol_ is a project name belonging to Siberian soundscaper (scientist, traveler, photographer...) Daniil Kazantsev, who is currently based in the UK. "All These Worlds Are Yours" album is out since the middle of June 2016 as a collaborative release between Russian labels Ksenza Records and Infinite Fog Productions. My attention was immediately caught by a catchy 4-panel digipak featuring splendid artwork by Italian artist Michele Carnielli working under his moniker of Seals Of Blackening (also a vocalist and guitarist with doom metal band Kröwnn) and by our kindred soul from the Sonoran Desert, Kati Astraeir, who is credited for additional inner layout. Nice work, guys!!!
4 and a half minutes long "Accelerated Descent" reveals the journey with slightly balladic, nearly medieval-like tides, where persistently spiraling patterns commingle with aeonianly emerging, droning and evanescing, intangibly rawer vistas. "Under The Starlit Sky", clocking to 7 minutes, glides gracefully towards nocturnally fascinating realms, masterfully bridging ethereally enrapturing dronescapes with quietly permeating transcendental glimpses. "Hidden Behind The Light" is invaded by monochromatically immense expanses, intricately guarded by clandestinely sneaking ambiguous siren calls. Breathtakingly infinite sceneries fully unfold here! "Frozen Plateux" safely remains on the path of utterly enveloping amorphousness, splendorously diving into the deepest ends of atmospheric tranquility, meticulously reinforced by occasional cyber-tech breaths. Exquisitely monumental magmas, jaw-droppingly flatlined, are insistently counterpointed by warmly undulating mirages, while intriguing desolate dissonances percolate here and there. A stunningly immersing 10-minute composition, one of the pinnacles!!! The next piece, "The Sands Of Tatooine", dives into enigmatically labyrinthine domains, merging calmly enveloping panoramic quietudes with sinuously twisted reverberating vestiges. A deep space voyaging at its most engrossing continues! "The Windswept Terrain", with 11:33 the longest piece, attracts wit its mysterious dronesculpting, where static surroundings commingle with intenser nuances, displaying evocatively enveloping passages, slightly disruptive hissing undercurrents and euphorically climaxing epic magnitudes. A very good one! 8-minute closer "The Dune Sea" delves deeply into unfathomable depths, superbly amalgamating majestically droning monochromatism with spellbindingly growling and buzzing traceries and thrillingly mind-bending meridians. Enter now the gates to abyssal nothingness!!! Obviously a grand finale!
"All These Worlds Are Yours" CD, which is limited to 333 copies, is certainly a very strong debut by _Algol_ on a glass mastered format, so don't hesitate to grab your own copy, I guarantee you won't be disappointed!!! And the digital version includes 7-minute bonus track "A Fading Planet". If I am right, discography of _Algol_ features another 5 digital albums, one of them "Heaven Debris" (2011) was released also on a CDr format via Snowy Tension Pole label from Poland, but I believe this one is sold out already. And one of the digital albums, "Goldilocks Zone" was released on earthMantra. Not to forget, Daniil Kazantsev is also the mastermind behind dark ambient project Stuzha with two acclaimed albums, "Siberian Sketches" and "Butugichag". The first one was released as a CDr by Snowy Tension Pole during 2011 and now, few days ago, reshaped and reissued on CD format in a 4-panel digipak on Ksenza Records. Limited collector's wooden box is available as well. On the same label is available also "Butugichag" CD album (2015), which elaborately deals with Kolyma Gulag labor camp theme. If you are a connoisseur of venturous dark ambient explorations, don't miss these two powerful works!!! And to make the story complete, Daniil has most recently released via earthMantra his newest digital album entitled "67P" under his newest moniker Black Wanderer. A batch of exciting releases awaits to be carefully examined!
Richard Gürtler (Nov 01, 2016, Bratislava, Slovakia)
|
2016 |
€12.00 |
|
| ALIO DIE |
The Flight of Real Image (full version) |
CD |
Re-Release der mcd von 1996 mit über 50 Minuten Bonus-Material!! Auf neuem russischen Label & in liebevoller Aufmachung.
“This is re-released of old MCD (22 minutes) which has been released in 1993 limited edition of 1000 copies and sold out several years ago. But many people continue to ask this CD. Some people tell that it is the best album of the maestro from all time! Now I happy to present full version of this great album, his length 79 minutes. Classical sound of the maestro is harmoniously combined with his new experiments with a zither, salterio, flutes, bells and many other. Old materials was remastering and now sound very well. Release have a 5 cards with installations of italian painter Sara Luciani. This artwork are an integral part of the concept of an album. Limited edition 1000 pieces.” [label info]
|
2006 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Aura Seminalis |
CD |
Auf AURA SEMINALIS verwendet ALIO DIE vokales und chorales Material, welches elektronisch verfremdet oder mit elektronischen Effekten angereichert wird. Dabei entstehen zwei lange Stücke von unglaublicher Emotionalität und Tiefe, frei fliessend & sanft wirbelnd um imaginäre Zentren....Die sakralen Choräle verschmelzen auf eine einmalige Art und Weise mit akustisch-elektronischen Sound,
vielleicht das beste ALIO DIE -Album bisher, auf jeden Fall aufregend anders als vorherige Arbeiten !
"The new work by Alio Die it is part of the Castle's sonorisation series, titled AURA SEMINALIS. The first track 'Sine Tempore part I-III' it's an epicentre of mystic music carachterized by a gold cathedral's atmosphere, while 'Aura Seminalis part I-II' displays an ascensional soundworld of arcane purity and rare beauty. One of the best works by Alio die so far. CD packaged in an elegant three sides digipack!! HSL 045" [label info]
"This latest release in a recent outpouring of creativity from Italy's master of organic drones is possibly the most unique in this artist's long career as a sound sculptor. While most of his recent releases on his own Hic Sunt Leones label have been collaborations, this is his first solo effort since the release of the 10 inch vinyl Aurea Hora. As the elaborate Renaissance style artwork on the cover suggests, this music points in the direction of a more "classical" sound insofar as the utilization of Gregorian style chants. These are successfully incorporated into Musso's customary drones comprised of field recordings, acoustic instruments, and electronic processing, giving this disc a particularly reverent ambience. Don't think Enigma or Delerium, because as one listens to this they may be inclined to bow their head and meditate or pray rather than nod or chill. I imagine that if today's sound recording abilities were available during those times evoked by the artwork or chants, they too would have then added the organic elements that Alio Die does, creating a balance of both the heavenly and the earthbound. Fans of his music may or may not find this approach a departure from what they are accustomed to, but it is certain that this artist is going beyond his previous huge body of work to encompass a broader sonic pallette." [Pauldient / Discogs.com]
www.aliodie.com
|
2008 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Hidden Spring |
CD |
"HIC SUNT LEONES presents Winter Solstice’s Spores. A reprint of two classic albums !
Two milestones of Alio Die's discography are available again after a long hiatus. This new edition offers two superb collectible digipaks printed in black on silver, in collaboration with the American graphic artist Joseph Uccello. This combination of music and artwork is an ideal celebration of this time of the year, as the Sol Niger approaches.
“In the course of life we encounter a kind of special state of consciousness – a moment at the threshold of a deep spiritual experience. At the border of the conscious mind (and perhaps with an initial feeling of disorientation), emerges a strong attraction toward a newly encountered state of being: a state that we feel is crucial in some way, and toward which we subconsciously strive, over the protests of normal rationality. On the other side of this threshold, beyond that apprehension, there is a sedimental layer of inner preparation which makes us ready for that moment. The energy evoked during artistic creation has always held similar qualities to this process; and listening again to these early works, it becomes clear to me just how vital to my music’s flow is this process of transformation and awakening. I feel that this same process informs the art of Joseph Uccello, which elegantly accompanies the music of these two re-releases.
Sit Tibi Terra Levis/ Introspective and The Hidden Spring satisfied completely this desire of immediate expression; truth calls for realization, and the feeling of 'spring water' contained in these albums has for me still something magic after such a long , long time.”
Alio Die, December 2008"
[label info]
www.aliodie.com
|
2009 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Standing in a Place |
CD |
"released December 5, 2015
Composed and performed by Stefano Musso (bmi)
Recorded at Lunae Studio, Lunigiana between march 2013 & November 2015
Alio Die: Psaltery, zither, drones & loops, field recordings
Lorenzo Montanà: Additional electronics and effects
Photos by Linda Serra - Artwork by Hic Sunt Leones
A masterpiece of mystical wonder painted with the medium of music. I've seen him do this often in his music....but never better than this. Rsfx-amb/Bandcamp
there is only one Alio Die and the beautifully constructed listens he creates for us are such a special part of the experience of planet Earth. So expressive and emotive and spontaneously deep, we're blessed to have his music accompany our lives and reflections. thank you. Duff Egan/Bandcamp
Such exquisite complexity in this drone world by Stefano Musso (ALIO DIE). But, then again, they always are.
What an experience it would be to follow Stefano on one of his creations, and watch him meticulously stitch together such intricate works. Until that time, however, we'll have to appreciate this drone master from his finished work.
Beautifully done! Brian Bourassa/Bandcamp" [band website info]
|
2016 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
They grow Layers of Life within |
CD |
Alio Die knows the sound and this album is an acoustic cathedral, but it could also be the sound of an ancient forest or what is more pure has survived or escaped the implacable vortices of space-time.
A pure, charming, superlative album, where Alio Die opens passages, planing, flying through. There is no uncertainty, no swelling, no cracking, the sounds emerge, appear and disappear within a solid soundtrack.
Thanks to such dilated sounds the listener sees in the distance. It looks like through a crystal sphere, the trained ear reads messages that Alio Die has received from other worlds thanks to an accustomed sensitivity now capturing in every sound event the sacred and essential.
released June 21, 2017
Alio Die: Zither, Drones and Loops,
Bells, Voice, Field Recordings
Composed and Performed by Stefano Musso (bmi)
Recorded at Lunae Studio,Italy
Between January and December 2016
Photo Processing by Arianna Tondo ~ Artwork by Hic Sunt Leones
aliodie.bandcamp.com/album/they-grow-layers-of-life-within |
2017 |
€15.00 |
|
| ALIO DIE & AGLAIA |
Private History of the Clouds |
CD |
Dies dürfte die erste echte Zusammenarbeit der italienischen Projekte sein, scheinbar geht es hier um Vertonungen des Himmels, genauer: verschiedener Wolkenformationen (CIRRUS = reine Eiswolke in großer Höhe / auch Federwolke genannt; PERLUCIDUS = "durchsichtige" Fleckenwolke; NIMBUS = Regenwolke; RADIATUS = Wolken die parallele Bänder aufweisen; STRATUS = niedere Schichtwolke; CUMULS CONGESTUS = mächtige Quellwolke). Entsprechend "luftig" und ätherisch sind diese hellen Drones geraten, in die sanfte Field Recordings (Wasser, Insekten) sowie die typischen Zither-Klänge von ALIO DIE gemischt wurden... das ist "Ambient" pur, hat klanglich vielleicht nicht das allergrösste Innovationspotenzial, aber wer ALIO DIE & AGLAIA bereits kennt wie meisterhaft & einmalig sie organische Klang-Meditationen umsetzen können... Musik wie Wellenreflektionen.
"Infraction Records curates this new entry to the already considerable body of collaborations involving Alio Die. There have already been communings with the likes of Robert Rich, Mathias Grassow, and Vidna Obmana. Here, though, Stefano Musso's fellow-travellers are lesser known but closer to home. Aglaia is an Italian duo with a trio of albums on his Hic Sunt Leones label; Gino Fioravanti and Gianluigi Toso come trailing credentials in therapy, writing, painting, and teaching, to say nothing of alchemy and ortho-bionomy. In contrast with Musso, who has fully two decades of musical endeavors behind him, they're comparative novices. But you wouldn't have thought it. Theirs is a music whose apparent stasis enfolds within it endless subtle micro-variations. They bring with them from previous HSL releases an appealing aquatic/amniotic sound dimension, characterized by a combination of electronic sounds (analogies as the sleeve notes would have it) and processed acoustica moving as if in virtual circular breathing. Slow waves of soundflow suggestive of psycho-acoustic energy (if you're a believer, otherwise just go with the flow) come with peripheral fragments of sonorities, carried on the wind, drifting as if at the edges of sleep, recalling the way echo plays in open landscapes. That's part of the method of this animist collective's historical unfolding of its subjects' textures and trajectories, yielding a series of luminous aerated tracts. Animists see a spiritual force residing in every element of the physical world. Nature is believed to be alive, imputing an inner life to leaves, lakes and the like. Dwelling on Private History Of The Clouds brings this to mind before even entering its audio world, particularly in light of Alio Die's predilection for 'passion, nature and awakening' and Aglaia's for worlds of feeling ('mondi sensibili,' as a previous album was called). But, lest this kind of talk scare off those averse to nature-hugging, note that the musical Grace inspiring this project is more a familiar of Pandit Prath Nan and Brian Eno than of Wyndham Hill and Hearts of Space." [label info]
www.infractionrecords.com
|
2009 |
€14.50 |
|
| ALIO DIE & LUCIANO DAINI |
End of an Era |
CD |
"A project started slowly from reciprocal esteem from musical researches and alchemical and introspective approach to sounds. Quite a dark atmospheric album, where the obscurities give the proper preparation to some clear and intense moments." [Project]
www.aliodie.com
|
2007 |
€14.00 |
|
| ALIO DIE & MARTINA GALVAGNI |
Eleusian Lullaby |
CD |
"Oasen-Ambient" auf dieser Zusammenarbeit von ALIO DIE mit der italienischen Sängerin MARTINA GALVAGNI, hell klingend & klar, eine paradiesische Schönheit und Geborgenheit heraufbeschwörend, zärtlich, warm & sinnlich. ALIO DIE benutzt wieder diverse Instrumente wie Zither & Sitar und field recordings, die er auf seine typische Art und Weise verwebt...
"Eleusian Lullaby is a sensual ethereal-ambient collaboration between Italian soundsculptor Stefano Musso (aka Alio Die) and Italian singer Martina Galvagni. It is the third release in Projekt's series of Alio Die's vocal collaborations following 2001's Apsaras (with Amelia Cuni) and 2005's Mei-Jyu (with Jack or Jive). Eleusian Lullaby blends the natural, warm and earthy ambient compositions of Alio Die with the elegant, neo-classical voice of Martina, merging notes and silence into an expanded dreamscape. This is lullaby music like an aural caress from darkness into the light. The combination of the vocal melodies with the abstract qualities of the loops and instruments creates a suspended near-dream space, intimate and sensual at the same time.
The opening track, 'The Oniroid Sleep,' displays a foggy atmosphere where the voices wash beneath the acoustic layers of the cithara, sitar, kalimba and field recordings. On the second track, 'A Drone Song for Alienor,' the voice is clearer and more upfront with all its powerful beauty apparent creating an intense and fragile song with a neo-classical approach. The third song, 'Eleusian Lullaby,' was created as a totally free improvisation of psaltery and voice; the text is sung in a dialect of the Engadina language (Switzerland). Drones and loops were added later from the original recordings.
60 minutes of music, composed by acoustical improvisations with voice, psaltery, zither, cithara, bells, metals and field recordings. The original recordings were made in locations in the woods and in ancient medieval places then processed and layered by Alio Die at Temple Studio in 2005-2006.
Listen to this trance music in the dark and be lead to a tranquil earthly garden. Like in the best lullabies, you are caressed as you are transported to a mysterious parallel soundworld of peace and harmony." [label notes]
"Three elongated tracks making up a full length album of arty, filmic experimental soundscaping. Delicate and subtle, yet slightly discordant, melodies from archaic stringed instruments interweave with ambient drones, tinkling bells, and wordless vocals with Middle Eastern, medieval and folk touches, as well as sophisticated and evocative neoclassical vocals that are used as more of a focus of the track rather than the other styles that put in briefer appearances. Less song-oriented than many Projekt releases, but its ethereal nature, coupled with the slightly dark take on folk/world/classical music, fits right in with much of the label's other output. Combining elements familiar from the ambient/drone/experimental genre with creative, intellectual ideas of their own, the album is relaxing yet slightly unsettling at times, and goes beyond music and into the realms of aural art." [Bliss / Aquamarine]
www.projekt.com
|
2008 |
€14.50 |
|
| ALIO DIE & ZEIT |
Sunja |
CD |
Die erste der gleich DREI neuen HSL / ALIO DIE – Veröffentlichungen Ende 2003 ist SUNJA, die wohl zum harmonischten und entspannendsten gehört, was STEFANO MUSSO bisher produziert hat. Positiv und warme Sphären werden hier imaginiert, die an eine friedliche, paradiesische Oase denken lassen. Esoteric Ambience in its truest sense !
”Magic has blown its precious spores in the air. A human rite, humble and quiet, has evoked a red hot globe that gently illuminates the path toward the borders of Sunja, the dream place where all vibrations start. Sometimes the light comes down from the sky, clear like a crystal. Sometimes it climbs slowly from the earth's depths, but it's always comforting. Crossing the thresholds of Sunja is like landing on an uncontaminated island, furrow its white sea-shores lapped by tepid foamy waters, been inebriated with wide floral smells and saltiness in secret places of the inland and in caves dug from time, gain the top of the plateau from which it is possible to see
beyond...Sunja is creative strength enclosed in two long tracks of incredible intensity, rich in levels of knowledge, pure enchantment and beauty. The deep sound has an extraordinary symbolic and evocative power and it has arrived to a supreme purification owing to millenial percolations across the rock. Music shines, beholds, resounds at the bottom of ourselves, lives and spreads out. We realize, in listening, that a light warmth closes in upon us, everything loses its own original sense, the gates open...the road is beaten!
Basic acoustic recordings were improvised during a warm night in late summer 2002 at Lunae studio,Tuscany. Edited and mixed in spring 2003 at Temple studio, Milano.
Stefano Musso: zither, samples and loops, buzzer , fields recordings. Tommaso Cimo': khen(mouth-organ), accordion,rattles, bird calls, bells. All the Cds comes in a special artwork numbered compositions with collages and handmade prints.” [label description]
|
2003 |
€14.00 |
|
| ALIZADEH, SABA |
I may never see you again |
LP |
Iranian composer and Kamancheh virtuoso, Saba Alizadeh releases his new album "I May Never See You Again"on the newly founded Hamburg label 30M Records.
Born in Tehran in 1983 to world-renowned tar and setar virtuoso and composer Hossein Alizadeh, Saba Alizadeh studied the Iranian Kamancheh – an ancient Persian violin – becoming one of the foremost players of the instrument of this day. Alizadeh later studied experimental sound art with Mark Trayle at the California Institute of the Arts and inspired by the conceptual approaches taught there, started composing music that deconstructs and abstracts Iranian traditions and scales into a new musical language and style.
Influenced by Iranian harmonics, musique concrète and sophisticated, forward-looking beat science, Saba Alizadeh's "I May Never See You Again" represent an incredibly exciting act of mutual inspiration - when Iranian scales and Western electroacoustic understanding powerfully unite.
The nine predominantly instrumental tracks on the album fuse tradition and innovation inspiring meditations on the subject of memory. On the one hand, the credibility and resilience of one's own memory is musically dissected, whilst on the other hand, Saba Alizadeh proceeds conceptually, deploying erstwhile dictators’ speeches in his music as a means to question the course of history.
I May Never See You Again also features handpicked collaborations with musician Andreas Spechtl and electroacoustic sound artist Rojin Sharafi. Spechtl, singer of the band Ja, Panik, found fame in the German-speaking world primarily thanks to his song lyrics, in which he deconstructs words in a similarly abstract way as Saba Alizadeh does the music.
Spechtl joins Alizadeh on two tracks for the album, while Vienna-based Iranian Sharafi joins on one.
https://30m-records.bandcamp.com/album/i-may-never-see-you-again
|
2021 |
€24.50 |
|
| ALLBEE, LIZ |
Theseus vs. Luz Alibi |
CD |
"Liz Allbee's second full length solo unwinds a cozily misanthropic sonic cloth with hidden barbs sure to draw blood. Each track treads further into unnerving terrain: sonar-pings dizzy your ears, unknown nursery rhymes warble from an abandoned tongue, a blur of wings beating in phase consumes all perception until a flat drum slowly summons resplendent horns and vocals rising to dump the entire hell onto its back.
Fasten a thread to one finger, but dare to take yourself inside "Theseus vs." Limited edition of 350, packaged in a handmade silk screened box." [label info]
www.resipiscent.com
"As a women is Liz Allbee, who lives in Berlin and her instruments are trumpet, electronics and voice. You might perhaps jump to the conclusion that Allbee comes from the world of improvisation and that's where she operates. That is only partially true. There is a lot happening on this CD: perhaps somehow, somewhat based in improvisation, but there is so much more, above all: its musical. Sometimes one gets the impression that Allbee wants to play a poptune. I have no idea what her electronics are about but no doubt some form of loopdevice to create rhythms. Perhaps using her voice, perhaps her trumpet, or perhaps there is some rudimentary form of a drum computer. But I think she loops more than just that: also her voice, also her trumpet and thus forms little melodies around she improvises her work. Maybe that seems an odd combination but its one that works surprisingly well. At times a bit noisy, at other times more like serious avant-garde, but always keen to add that (small) pop
angle. The tracks are short and to the point. A bit sketch-like perhaps, but due to the variety of approach this is a highly enjoyable and well succeeded hybrid of styles, with Allbee doing something that is surely her own." [FdW, Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€16.00 |
|
| ALOG |
Amateur |
CD |
"ALOG zählen seit 1997 zu den besten experimentellen Elektromusikern in Norwegen. Seit ihrem Debüt "Red Shift Swing" sind sie ihrem Label Rune Grammofon treu geblieben, wo die Nachfolger "Duck-Rabbit" und "Miniatures" erschienen. Letzteres gewann 2005 den norwegischen Grammy für den besten Electronica-Release. ALOG reisten für "Amateur" durch Norwegen und nahmen in Musikschulen und Musiksälen von Grundschulen auf, um den Sound eines jeden Instrumentes optimal darstellen zu können, was im Studio dann zu "Amateur" geformt wurde. Das Ziel aller Computersoftware ist es heute, den individuellen Sound eines jeden Musikers zu überdecken und alles gleich klingen zu lassen; ALOG gehen auf "Amateur" den genau entgegengesetzten Weg. //
Alog are duo Espen Sommer Eide and Dag-Are Haugan, and this is their fourth full-length release for the Rune Grammofon label. Since forming in 1997, Alog have been among Norway's leading performers of experimental electronic music. They are mainstays at Rune Grammofon and have been with the label since their debut album Red Shift Swing was released in 1999. They have increasingly worked with various acoustic instruments and in collaboration with other musicians for long recording sessions in special locations. Travelling around the west coast of Norway with Nicholas H. Møllerhaug and Nils Økland sidekick Sigbjørn Apeland, they recorded in music schools in an attempt to capture the unique sound of each selection of instruments found. Because of bad weather they could be stuck for days on islands off the wild northern coast recording themselves playing any instruments they could find and building more of their own. These sessions were subsequently worked on in the studio to bring out the unique spirit of this release, characterized by a curious and fresh approach to playing that is often lost in the process of becoming a virtuoso on a singular instrument. The word "amateur" originally denotes a person who is motivated by a passion or love for their activity. It has been the goal of Alog on this album to preserve and enhance this special energy in their songs, and to do this they use their "augmented acoustics" technology and bring out the hidden "amateur" energy of each song." [press release]
www.runegrammofon.com
"Music by Alog have never ceased to amaze me. The duo of Espen Sommer Eide and Dag-Are Haugan have by now released a bunch of works on Melektronikk, Smalltown Supersound and En/Of, and here return with a strange CD, once again. Apparently 'it was recorded on various locations in the western and northern parts of Norway, often using instruments found or built for the sole purpose of this recording', which is something that is hard to believe. But 'these sessions were subsequently worked on in the studio to bring out the unique spirit of the 'Amateur'. In the post-production world of the studio anything is possible, I then think. To describe the music of Alog is not easy, but 'amateur' is a good description, in the most positive sense of the word. 'Childlike' and 'naive' are two others that fit the description quite well. There are hints of minimal music, microsound, folk and improvisation - and perhaps any category in between these that could be applied to the music of Alog. They play their instruments (whatever lost and found they might be) like children, not banging around but with a curious interest in seeing what a sound does. Carefully as not make too many sounds. Beautiful electronic sound scapes, with interesting electro-acoustic sounds here and there. Very nice. Once again." [FdW / Vital Weekly] |
2007 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Amateur |
do-LP |
"Double LP version, deluxe gatefold sleeve. Alog are duo Espen Sommer Eide and Dag-Are Haugan, and this is their fourth full-length release for the Rune Grammofon label. Since forming in 1997, Alog have been among Norway's leading performers of experimental electronic music. They are mainstays at Rune Grammofon and have been with the label since their debut album Red Shift Swing was released in 1999. They have increasingly worked with various acoustic instruments and in collaboration with other musicians for long recording sessions in special locations. Travelling around the west coast of Norway with Nicholas H. Møllerhaug and Nils Økland sidekick Sigbjørn Apeland, they recorded in music schools in an attempt to capture the unique sound of each selection of instruments found. Because of bad weather they could be stuck for days on islands off the wild northern coast recording themselves playing any instruments they could find and building more of their own. These sessions were subsequently worked on in the studio to bring out the unique spirit of this release, characterized by a curious and fresh approach to playing that is often lost in the process of becoming a virtuoso on a singular instrument. The word "amateur" originally denotes a person who is motivated by a passion or love for their activity. It has been the goal of Alog on this album to preserve and enhance this special energy in their songs, and to do this they use their "augmented acoustics" technology and bring out the hidden "amateur" energy of each song." [press release] |
2007 |
€22.00 |
|
| ALONE IN THE HOLLOW GARDEN & NAM-KHAR |
Gyalwa Gyamtso |
CD |
This is the second full length collaboration between Alone In The Hollow Garden & Nam-Khar manifests itself as a very personal meditation fuelled by the ancestral tibetan & hindu spiritual magic.
The transcendental power of vibration and sound is exalted by the presence of the ancient mantra chanting practice and is meant to transcend the tamasic heaviness of the actual world, hollowed and stripped by the most valuable aspect of all, the awareness and realization of Oneself as a mirror of the Cosmos, Mother Nature and of all living beings.
A large variety of ritual implements like tibetan bells, singing bowls, rol-mo cymbals, damaru drums, kangling are merged together with other traditional acoustic instruments like turkish saz, melodium, flutes, seed shakers and with a few self made piezoelectric devices, analogue synthesizers, drum machines and throat singing to create an unique offering which will transport the listener into the realm of true ritual musick, a meddicine for Body, Speech and Mind.
The secret of understanding the core of these ancient teachings isn't the "religious" approach that is so often confounded with the true spiritual path. All the deities present in the tibetan and hindu sacred texts are not to be seen as external entities which can influence and control our existence, but rather as archetypes and dynamics of the human soul and mind that are existing in everyone of us and that can assist us in our evolution. May "Gyalwa Gyamtso", The Ocean of Infinite Awareness & Compassion, guide you on your path to liberation.
https://zazensounds.bandcamp.com/album/zzs-035-alone-in-the-hollow-garden-nam-khar-gyalwa-gyamtso-digipack-edition-sold-out-high-quality-digital-download
|
2019 |
€15.00 |
|
| ALTAIR TEMPLE / EXPO '70 |
split |
LP |
"Justin Wright’s Expo 70 is back, this time sharing vinyl space with French duo Altair Temple for a trip headlong into the bonged up psych-drone ether. On Wright’s side we’ve got a jam from the same sessions as his righteous Death Voyage outing, and he sculpts swirling dark masses of sound with heavily effected guitar and Moog, sometimes underpinned by the steady pulse of an analog drum machine. Flip it and Altair Temple deal out some gently pulsing mid-end synth drone that’s most relaxing and mystical-sounding, with subtle playful melodies right on the periphery to tease you deep into the hypnotic swells as it slowly builds and morphs. It’s sending me into a right old trance. Both sides of this fine split provide some of the best in finely detailed drones for the connoisseur. Well worth investigating." [Mike/Norman Rec.]
www.radarswarm.com
"On the for me unknown Radar Swarm Records three releases. I had a hard time reading the track titles on the split LP. I don't understand fonts like this. Its a split, so I learn from the label's website of Expo 70 and Altaïr Temple. The first is Justin Wright, who plays guitar, analog drum machine and moog and his piece 'Land Of The Midnight Sun' spans the whole side. It sounds a bit like an ongoing jam, but it does sound coherent. Slow drums, spacious guitar sounds, fine use of the moog. It slowly evolves and expands into the darker realms of psychedelic music. The other side has three pieces by Altaïr Temple, a duo of Fred (guitar, effects, synth) and Johan (analog synths, computer and audiomulch). Three excellent pieces of drone music that is quite synth/effect heavy, more than being based on the guitar sound. I was remembered of some of the old Windy & Carl stuff here. Quite static in approach, but with gentle melodies meandering just below the surface. Quite dark, but never unsettling, this is some fine mood music. Tow new names, for me, and both are quite good." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2011 |
€16.00 |
|
| ALTIERI, CORRADO / GIANLUCA FAVARON |
The System of Objects |
CD |
"Silentes presents a new collaborative effort between two prominent artists of Italy's electronic and experimental scene, Corrado Altieri (Candor Chasma, Monosonik, Uncodified) and Gianluca Favaron (ab'she, Under The Snow, Z'been). Inspired by Jean Baudrillard's essay of the same name, "The System of Objects" offers seven compositions combining field recordings, analogue textures, computer music and concrète sounds. Altieri e Favaron dig deep in the unconscious of the french philosopher, devising a hypothetical music score of his manifesto on the relations between objects universe and consumer society ideologies: drones and digital pulses, processed tapes and multi-layered frequencies make for a voyage to the borders of ambient, noise and radical experiments." [label info]
www.silentes.net
"Releases on Silentes are getting a bit more sparse these days, perhaps because of the economic tide etc, but I am also happy to note that they do more and more LPs. However the first new one is a CD with Gianluca Favaron on computer and one Corrado Altieri, who gets credit for electronics and tapes. Favaron is a man whose work appeared a lot on Silentes (as we'll see here too), and I never heard of Altieri. The eight tracks on 'The System Of Objects' are relatively short: the whole album doesn't last more than thirty-five minutes and it's inspired by the book of the same name by Jean Baudrillard. In much of Favaron's work ambient and drones play an important role, even when they are created with the use of the computer. In this particular work however we find him in a somewhat more noisy role, owing more to musique concrete than to ambience. The whole thing has some heavily treated acoustic feel to it, creating seven quite densely knitted pieces of electronic music. Be this field recordings, be this acoustic sounds created with contact microphones, or whatever else, it's treated into great monolithic blocks of sound. In only a few pieces this kind of minimalism is left behind and more things happen at the same time, such as in the opening piece 'Objects And Time 1'. An excellent release of highly vibrant electronic music. Quite raw and intense, exactly the kind of noise I like. Not meaningless and pointless carrying on forever, but seven sharp, contrasting blasts." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2013 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
To Found |
CD |
Experimental. To find again sequences, sounds and samples, previously elaborated for other works and live performances, decontextualizing all of them to create new original material. These are the starting points for "To Found", the third release by Corrado Altieri and Gianluca Favaron on a Silentes label, devoted to all-round experimentation and stylistic contamination through the multiple languages of electronic sound. Drone music, post-Techno rhythmic disintegrations, suggestions of the old Industrial school, field recording, abstract echoes and noise pulsations, for eight hypnotic compositions created between Cagliari and Treviso, with the precious collaboration of Anacleto Vitolo. [label info]
https://13silentes.bandcamp.com/album/to-found
"Corrado Altieri and Gianluca Favaron deliver with ‘To Found’ their third album, following ‘The System Of Objects’ (Vital Weekly 904) and ‘Decomposed days’ (Vital Weekly 945). Altieri is responsible for ‘electronics, tapes and programming’ while Favaron plays computer and percussion. The two men have quite a history when it comes to experimental music in all its various incarnations, ambient mostly, but also noise-based and in their duo work they add the element of rhythm. It is difficult to say something about the way they work. It could work either way; either this is all improvised and only comes to us via editing the best bits and pieces, or they sit down and meticulously compose this. Somehow I tend to think it is the first. The pieces they edit together are short and to the point, like the whole album is, being thirty-two minutes long. The lessons learned from Pan Sonic are used quite well in these eight pieces. The bass sound is a strong presence, stomping occasionally away like on a techno record. Yet this does not result in dance music. Whatever else Favaron and Altieri add to the mix are noises, crumbled radio waves, sine waves, feedback, field recordings and highly obscured sounds, all of which is working quite well. By keeping these pieces between three and five minutes and in which there is quite a bit happening, they make sure there is quite a bit of energy in the music, not the least thanks to those rhythms that they slipped in. I think this is their best album together so far." [Vital Weekly] |
2020 |
€12.00 |
|
| ALVA NOTO |
Xerrox Vol. 4 |
do-LP |
"Alva Noto returns to his much awaited Xerrox project with Vol. 4, the fourth installment of the five-piece intended series based on the concept of digital replication of source material.
Using the process of copying as a basis, the Xerrox series deals with the manipulation of data by means of endless reproduction. Due to the inherent fallacy of the procedure involving the making of copies made from other copies, everyday’s sounds become so altered that they can be hardly associated with the source material. As a result, entirely new sounds are created: copies of originals become originals themselves.
Following Xerrox Vol. 1 (2007), Vol. 2 (2009), Vol. 3 (2015), Carsten Nicolai continues the pentalogy eluding the accuracy and precise sound design for which he’s renowned, and turning to a more harmony-driven composition technique.
Unlike the previous Xerrox albums, whose starting point is a set of samples extracted from external sources and fragments of recordings, Vol. 4 compounds under a unified cinematic soundscape, warm chords, thrumming digital ambiences, liquified electronics, drones, and noise sustained by floods of strings. The tension between the organic warmth and static curves, broads tones into distant roars and electronic cascade of sounds.
While Alva Noto's oeuvre is predominantly affiliated with pristine sound design, Xerrox holds more intimate gestures and emotional sensibility. This fourth volume shuns further from the conceptualism and orderliness of prior musical outputs, ranging from heart-warming elegies to mind-bending sci-fi projections in extrasolar territories." [label info]
"It took five years for Carsten Nicolai to release the third volume to his five-part series Xerrox, and it took five more to release the fourth. At this rate, it will be 2025 when we will see the final chapter. Although there are rumblings on the intarwebs that the fourth instalment, which should be depicting the letter 'X' again of the typeface 'XERROX', is actually the first one, with the same image on the cover. I guess we'll have to wait and see. Meanwhile, one of the reasons for an interval in between the volumes can be attributed to the split between the Raster and Noton labels, which occurred in 2017, after the Raster-Noton's 20th anniversary. So, although a keen eye may notice that this particular entry in the series appears on another label, the continuity between the music, artwork, layout, packaging, and pretty much everything else, is still intact. For that we thank thee. Whereas Volume 1 was attributed to the "Old World", Volume 2 "To The New World", and Vol. 3 was "Towards Space", this fourth instalment is subtitled as "Transit Extrasolar Territories And Inner Worlds". So the trajectory is further and out, and so are the sounds, depicted within.
This fourth instalment is even more 'ambient', if one may call it that. Gone are the digital structures, copied with all of the artefacts of the process, and replaced with warm swells of organic-sounding strings, which breathe with the punctuating deep bass. I would have almost expected the opposite, as we flew into the extrasolar regions of our universe - something darker, colder, and void. But upon another reflection, fundamental sonic expressions within the fourteen pieces of the album totally make sense, since it is the human world, of the old and new worlds, that occupies within the digital domain. The rest of the creation is beyond the numbers. And yet... if digital emerged from minds and will of humans, is it not part of the organic? This, and many other questions, can be but glimpsed by travelling onboard with Alva Noto, who intricately weaves an aural frame which is by far his best in series.
Of course, I've got all of the four instalments on CD, and have aligned them all to spell out "XERRO..." but at this point, I'm leaning towards grabbing a 2x12" edition of the album, since its vibrations and pure chime must be experienced through surface listening. It's also worth noting, that this album was originally finished in February, just as the pandemic began to unfold across the globe. And, as my dear friend Peter van Cooten notes on his ambientblog writeup, "this means that the emotional impact of this music is different now than it would have been without the COVID-19 crisis," with which I wholeheartedly agree. Xerrox Vol.4 is an album worth listening to on numerous continuous repeats, and if you prefer, you can lie down and turn off the lights. And as you float out of these outer worlds and through your inner, I hope to see you on the other side." [Headphone Commute]
|
2020 |
€23.00 |
|
| |
Xerrox Vol. 4 |
CD |
"Alva Noto returns to his much awaited Xerrox project with Vol. 4, the fourth installment of the five-piece intended series based on the concept of digital replication of source material.
Using the process of copying as a basis, the Xerrox series deals with the manipulation of data by means of endless reproduction. Due to the inherent fallacy of the procedure involving the making of copies made from other copies, everyday’s sounds become so altered that they can be hardly associated with the source material. As a result, entirely new sounds are created: copies of originals become originals themselves.
Following Xerrox Vol. 1 (2007), Vol. 2 (2009), Vol. 3 (2015), Carsten Nicolai continues the pentalogy eluding the accuracy and precise sound design for which he’s renowned, and turning to a more harmony-driven composition technique.
Unlike the previous Xerrox albums, whose starting point is a set of samples extracted from external sources and fragments of recordings, Vol. 4 compounds under a unified cinematic soundscape, warm chords, thrumming digital ambiences, liquified electronics, drones, and noise sustained by floods of strings. The tension between the organic warmth and static curves, broads tones into distant roars and electronic cascade of sounds.
While Alva Noto's oeuvre is predominantly affiliated with pristine sound design, Xerrox holds more intimate gestures and emotional sensibility. This fourth volume shuns further from the conceptualism and orderliness of prior musical outputs, ranging from heart-warming elegies to mind-bending sci-fi projections in extrasolar territories." [label info]
"It took five years for Carsten Nicolai to release the third volume to his five-part series Xerrox, and it took five more to release the fourth. At this rate, it will be 2025 when we will see the final chapter. Although there are rumblings on the intarwebs that the fourth instalment, which should be depicting the letter 'X' again of the typeface 'XERROX', is actually the first one, with the same image on the cover. I guess we'll have to wait and see. Meanwhile, one of the reasons for an interval in between the volumes can be attributed to the split between the Raster and Noton labels, which occurred in 2017, after the Raster-Noton's 20th anniversary. So, although a keen eye may notice that this particular entry in the series appears on another label, the continuity between the music, artwork, layout, packaging, and pretty much everything else, is still intact. For that we thank thee. Whereas Volume 1 was attributed to the "Old World", Volume 2 "To The New World", and Vol. 3 was "Towards Space", this fourth instalment is subtitled as "Transit Extrasolar Territories And Inner Worlds". So the trajectory is further and out, and so are the sounds, depicted within.
This fourth instalment is even more 'ambient', if one may call it that. Gone are the digital structures, copied with all of the artefacts of the process, and replaced with warm swells of organic-sounding strings, which breathe with the punctuating deep bass. I would have almost expected the opposite, as we flew into the extrasolar regions of our universe - something darker, colder, and void. But upon another reflection, fundamental sonic expressions within the fourteen pieces of the album totally make sense, since it is the human world, of the old and new worlds, that occupies within the digital domain. The rest of the creation is beyond the numbers. And yet... if digital emerged from minds and will of humans, is it not part of the organic? This, and many other questions, can be but glimpsed by travelling onboard with Alva Noto, who intricately weaves an aural frame which is by far his best in series.
Of course, I've got all of the four instalments on CD, and have aligned them all to spell out "XERRO..." but at this point, I'm leaning towards grabbing a 2x12" edition of the album, since its vibrations and pure chime must be experienced through surface listening. It's also worth noting, that this album was originally finished in February, just as the pandemic began to unfold across the globe. And, as my dear friend Peter van Cooten notes on his ambientblog writeup, "this means that the emotional impact of this music is different now than it would have been without the COVID-19 crisis," with which I wholeheartedly agree. Xerrox Vol.4 is an album worth listening to on numerous continuous repeats, and if you prefer, you can lie down and turn off the lights. And as you float out of these outer worlds and through your inner, I hope to see you on the other side." [Headphone Commute]
|
2020 |
€16.00 |
|
| AMBARCHI / GUNTER MULLER / VOICE CRACK |
Oystered |
CD |
Ungewöhnliche Kollaboration, aufgenommen an einem Tag in Sidney, 23.July 2002: dunkel-pulsierend hämmernde Soundflächen und sich dramatisch entwickelnde elektronische konkret-Klänge machen dies zu einer spannenden Hörerfahrung!
“ Take three Swiss tourists. Feed them top notch Sydney rock oysters, fine Hunter Valley wines and get them into a recording studio with Oren Ambarchi. That was the challenge. This is the record. If Ambarchi, Müller and the Crack have one thing in common (beyond gastronomic excess), it is their ability to get extraordinary sounds out of everyday objects. This one day recording session at Big Jesus Burger in Sydney highlights the mutual approach they share.There's such cohesion, wholeness and single mindedness to these pieces that makes identification of the individuals involved virtually impossible. So forget the 'Who's Doing
What?' game. Close your eyes and play 'Where The Hell Am I?' ... rainforest, glacier, casino, ship's hull, bowling alley or five star restaurant?” [label description]
"Clustered, pacing, stomping. The mechanics of this latest collaboration by Ambarchi, Muller and Voice Crack manipulates resonance and miniscule particles like they are playing a game with sensors that bark and bite back. The ominous nature of 'Walking Oysters' uses plotted stepping which designs the frame for the kinetics lurking inside. Over these forty+ minutes these gentlemen incorporate electronics, strings and percussion to mold something freely derived from bare open circuits and other happy mistakes. A
vernacular is built on 'Briefing Oysters' that forms slowly and largely into a vibrating dissonance - but be careful - these
authoritative sounds are so ecstatic that they literally knocked my bass woofer off the shelf (that was a first). If you play this on
headphones it is sure to be a significant mind rush. After the tremendous pinnacle the piece is treated to the equivalent of a breathing tube, charted by timed intervals inhalations (or percussive metering). Starting as a static-laden drone 'Grounding Oysters'
relies on the residues of quiet and bass thumping play between channels. Like moving lumber and bark that is electrified, the
organic quality to this track is just stunning. Not satisfied to simply use the formidable sine wave with subtle manipulation - 'Oystered' totally experiments with every aspect of frequency and sample. There are parts that test your ear drum, giving the listener a physical, sensory experience. This is active listening."
[TJN, Vital Weekly]
|
2003 |
€13.50 |
|
| AMBARCHI, OREN |
Destinationless Desire |
7" |
"Electric guitars, organ, samples, bells, percussion and motorised cymbal recorded at BJB Studios, Sydney with additional overdubs made at home 2005-2007. Gratitude to Fairport Convention and Boris D Hegenbart. This is the 5th in the series of Touch Sevens - 7 vinyl only releases. 7 vinyl was the quintessential format for popular music. Today, it is an undervalued and mostly promotional medium, used as a fetishistic signpost to a time of musical authenticity and a healthy popular culture. It might seem like another retrograde step to launch a vinyl series just as the download format threatens to dominate, and indeed there is an element of the rear view mirror... the generation of Touch artists who grew up with vinyl [and cassette] still feeling a strong emotional attachment to it. This series is more than that... an overtly critical, non-digital statement is supported by treatments of audio work which cannot be applied to digital formats - the sonic texture, the use of a locked groove, the A & the B and the additional dimension of the visual counterpoint. As for the aspect of audience participation, we choose not to specify the RPM on the label, encouraging the listener to experiment with playback options and personal preferences. An attempt to make music that works at both speeds. The front cover might actually be the back cover..." [label info]
"...Using electric guitars, organ, bells, samples, percussion and motorized cymbal (!), Ambarchi has created to dramatically different
pieces. The A side is a woozy, washed out underwater sounding loopscape, peppered with record crackle (unless that’s coming from
the record player, either way, it sounds great!), like a slightly jauntier, less melancholy Oval, major key melody, all softly sunshine- y, a dreamily hypnotic stretch of soft swirl that could go on forever.
The B side is much darker, long streaks of shimmery low end beneath haunting slowed down vocals, mournful and mysterious, the
vocals and the guitar drift and shift, all wound up in and around each other, throughout, bits of electronic glitchery, smears of muted
buzz, snippets of conversation and dialogue, but all that stuff seems to be woven into an undulating backdrop for Ambarchi’s ghostlike
disembodied blues.
As always, packaged in super striking thick matte sleeve with gorgeous photos and layout from Touch head honcho Jon Wozencroft." [Aquarius Records review]
www.touchmusic.org.uk
|
2008 |
€7.50 |
|
| |
Live Knots |
do-LP |
"Oren Ambarchi captured in two exceptional live performances. Mastered and cut by Rashad Becker at D&M. Pressed on double 140g vinyl & CD. Photography by Traianos Pakioufakis and artwork by Bill Kouligas.
'Live Knots, Oren Ambarchi's first release for PAN, presents two live realizations of 'Knots', the epic centrepiece of his Audience of One (Touch, 2012) release. Built on the interplay between Ambarchi's swirling, guitar harmonics and the metronomic pulse and shifting accents of Joe Talia's DeJohnette-esque drumming, the piece merges the organic push and pull of free improvisation with an overarching compositional framework.
'Tokyo Knots' presents the complete recording of a duo performance of the piece by Ambarchi and Talia recorded at Tokyo's legendary SuperDeluxe in March 2013. The performance builds gently on the foundation of Talia's insistent ride cymbal and the shifting tonal bed of Ambarchi's rich overtone-drenched guitar, eventually going into a free rock free fall of buzz- saw harmonics and crashing drums. From within the maelstrom, Talia picks up a pulsing motorik rhythm that leads the piece back to where it began, with the addition of the shuddering, elastic tones of a hand-played spring reverb unit. Krakow Knots' works with the same basic structure but stretches it out to nearly twice the length and adds strings played by the Sinfonietta Cracovia, led by Eyvind Kang on viola. The strings expand the piece's textural range with lush chordal blocks, uneasy dissonances and occasional Ligetiesque swarms of micro-activity, the swelling string tones intensifying the ecstatic nature of the piece as it moves towards its mid-point crescendo in which Ambarchi unleashes a particularly malicious continuum of stuttering harmonic fuzz. The strings then enter with a series of swelling chords, announcing the piece's final movement, and reaffirming the uniqueness of the tonal and compositional language that Ambarchi has patiently developed over the last two decades, in which the influence of post-minimal composers such as Alvin Curran, Gavin Bryars and David Behrman can be felt alongside the inspiration of raw free jazz, harsh noise and academic psychoacoustics. The final moments of the performance pit Talia and Crys Cole's amplified objects and spring reverb textures against a field of gently gliding string glissandi before the audience erupts in much-deserved applause.' Francis Plagne" [label info]
www.pan-act.com
|
2015 |
€29.00 |
|
| AMBARCHI, OREN / KASSEL JAEGER / JAMES RUSHFORD |
Face Time |
LP |
"Face Time is the second release from the trio of Oren Ambarchi, Kassel Jaeger, and James Rushford, following on from their 2016 debut Pale Calling. Recorded at the GRM studios in Paris in June 2017, the record immediately returns to the idiosyncratic sound-world of the trio’s first release, a simmering stew of electronic smears, pitched-down animal moans, and mysteriously emotive microtonal organ chords. But before long the record takes an unexpected turn, as sounds that initially enter as occasional percussive pitter-patter build to a halting rhythm. Equally reminiscent of Basic Channel-style dub techno and the sound of a microphone loose in a pocket, these stumbling rhythmic figures provide the framework for the remainder of the record’s two sides, occasionally receding into the background to allow squelching electronics, chiming bells, distorted autoharp, inchoate grunts and the sound of a Cristal Baschet to take centre stage, but each time returning with the inevitability of a an idée fixe.
Eschewing any clear sense of form, the two side-long pieces move seamlessly through episodes with the organic flow of improvisation, embracing the happy accidents of events conjoined by chance and lingering on liminal moments. Gradually washing out into a cavernous roar, the record’s final moments are suddenly enlivened by shimmering metallic percussion and a sequence of woozy synth chords, combining with the muted rhythms and a distant thunderstorm to become a sort of oneiric tribute to the work of Wally Badarou. Bringing together three of contemporary experimental music’s most individual voices, Face Time is an essential slice of outsider electro-acoustics."
|
2018 |
€22.00 |
|
| AMBER ASYLUM |
Still Point |
CD |
Nach vielen Jahren ein neues Album der Band um KRIS FORCE, deren markanter Elfen-gleicher Gesang hier das Zentrum bildet für die elegischen Gothic-Folk Kompositionen mit viel Streicher-Einsatz, eher reduziert und verhalten und nur wenig "rockend", alles durchzogen von einer majestätischen Melancholie... mitunter wird das Song-Format verlassen und schwelend-ruhige instrumentelle Soundscapes erfüllen den Raum, die eine nicht weniger fragile Schönheit aufweisen...
" Still Point ist die erwachsenste CD von AMBER ASYLUM, weil sie am wenigsten verspielt ist; nichts muss mehr ausprobiert werden ('Music is my evolution', KRIS FORCE). Die Stimmung, die Stimmen, die Instrumente, alles ist perfekt positioniert, es konnte nichts anders werden an diesem Album. Wundervoll depressive Kammermusik für die kommenden Monate." [Michael We / nonpop.de]
"One of the most respected, legendary, and influential acts that have emerged from the neoclassical/gothic/ambient/and post-rock alternative scene, AMBER ASYLUM have once again delicately peered through the cascading light with their long-awaited full-length, the band’s first observation since 2000. Band leader KRIS FORCE was an integral part of NEUROSIS, appearing on the majority of their releases, and has played and collaborated with such legendary acts as SWANS and JARBOE. Features members that have been involved with such Bay Area luminaries as WEAKLING, ASUNDER, THE GAULT, HAMMERS OF MISFORTUNE, and LUDICRA." [label info]
www.profoundlorerecords.com
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Bitter River |
CD |
"Amber Asylum is one of the most influential and respected acts in the neo-classical / dark ambient genre. Group leader, multi-instrumentalist and producer Kris Force boasts a repertoire that includes collaborations with Neurosis and Swans as well as credits for penning soundtrack music for video games, television, and feature films. Her band is known for their distinct brand of chilling romantic mire and brooding darkness constructed with layers of violin, viola, cello, guitar, bass, percussion, and Force's alluring voice. Bitter River is the darkest and most devastating Amber Asylum album ever conceived. The perfect follow-up to the plunging Still Point, this introspective journey into lost love and lost innocence paints powerful sonic portraits of vast, lonely landscapes, dark chambers, rolling fog, and monumental twilight. For the recording, Force employed some of the most accomplished musicians in the underground: long-time Amber Asylum conspirator Jackie-Perez Gratz (Giant Squid, Grayceon) on cello; Leila Abdul-Rauf (Saros) on guitar, piano, and vocals; bass player Eric Wood (Bastard Noise); and drummer Chiyo Nukaga (Noothgrush), along with guest appearances by Sigrid Sheie (Hammers of Misfortune) on flute and Jarboe providing narration. Bitter River features artwork by David D'Andrea." [label info]
"Amber Asylum machten schon immer mehr als nur Musik. Sie schufen die musikalische Untermalung zu Tagträumen. Zumindest zu den Tagträumen, die in die Welt von Elfen, Feen oder Nymphen führten. Die einen auf die Reise in dichte Wälder oder taubedeckten Wiesen im Mondlicht schickten. Die einen mögen dabei an den Herren der Ringe denken, andere an romantisch-verklärte Illusionen über eine Zeit als die Menschen ihre Seele als Teil der Gesamtdynamik der Natur und diese als von vergessenen Zaubern durchzogen betrachteten. Wie auch immer scheint die Musik von Amber Asylum sich nicht mit dem modernen Großstadtleben vereinen zu wollen. Das dieser Anti-Modernismus nicht immer nur romantische Gedankenverlorenheit ist, zeigt sich, wenn man einige Namen assoziierter Weggenossen und Nebenprojekte unter etwas genauer unter die Lupe nimmt.
Das sagt dann aber weder was über Kris Force, die maßgeblich hinter Amber Asylum steht, noch über die Musik dann wirklich etwas aus.
Auf "Bitter River", dem mittlerweile siebenten Album der Band, wird Force von Jackie Perez-Gratz, Sigrid Sheie und vor allem von Leila Abdul-Rauf unterstützt. Letztere lieh dem Projekt nicht nur ihre Stimme sondern trug auch neben Kris Force zu Songwriting bei. Und gerade ihr pathos-gefüllter, fast opernhafter Gesang hebt Amber Asylum aus der Menge der Neo-Folk Bands heraus und nimmt der Musik damit den Beigeschmack des Klagegesanges Rückwärtsdenkender.
Charakterprägend ist auch die Mithilfe von so unerwarteten Gastmusikern wie dem Noothgrush und Graves At Sea Schlagzeuger Chiyo Nukaga, Eric Wood (Ex-Man Is The Bastard, Bastard Noise) und Jarboe von den Swans. Denn "Bitter River" ist nicht nur besinnlich verträumt, es ist über weite Strecken vor allem von einer düsteren, ungewissen Stimmung geprägt. Das macht dieses Album, das beim ersten Hören eine nette Untermalung für verschneite Winterabende zu sein scheint, auch in diesem Sommer nicht komplett deplaziert, ist doch jeder verträumte Tag im Park Unsicherheit und der Angst vor dunklen Wolken und plötzlichen Gewittern und Regengüssen geprägt." [Tinnitus-Mag]
www.profoundlorerecords.com
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| AMINI, SIAVASH |
A Mimesis of Nothingness |
LP |
"Siavash Amini returns to Hallow Ground with A Mimesis of Nothingness, his fourth album for the Swiss label. Following up on Harmistice (HG 1902LP, 2019) together with fellow Iranian artists 9T Antiope, the six tracks were conceived in close collaboration with another artist and see the prolific composer intensify his interdisciplinary approach. The six tracks enter a dialogue with the photographs of Nooshin Shafiee, an acclaimed artist whose work capturing their hometown Tehran becomes the starting point for one of Amini's most visceral and haunting records. A Mimesis of Nothingness translates the ephemeral situations and melancholic moods of Shafiee's pictures into suspenseful soundscapes that masterfully navigate between the concrete and the abstract. A Mimesis of Nothingness is a disquieting record precisely because it is a quiet one. Working with field recordings, Amini sculpts dynamic portraits that create an atmosphere of tangible suspense that is never fully released. Even when string-like sounds enter the picture as they do on the third track "Moonless Garden" or when the abstract and glacial noise on "Observance (Shadow)" demand the listener's attention, the six pieces take hold of the subconscious rather than trying to be direct and confrontational. It is sound conceived not as a description, but a circumscription of spatial relations and the eeriness embedded in them. Includes eight-page booklet."
"Zu den interessantesten Versuchen, einen Ort im künstlerischen Medium, sei es Bild, Text oder Klang, erfahrbar zu machen, zählen jene, die den Blick auf eher untypische Aspekte lenken. Ein solcher Fokus richtet sich an ein aktives Publikum, das die präsentierten Details mit dem vorhandenen Wissen zu einem kaum festschreibbaren, hypothetischen Rahmen synthetisiert, und er umschifft ganz nebenbei eine Menge Klischees. Das ganz seiner Heimatstadt Teheran gewidmete neue Album von Komponist und Producer Siavash Amini befasst sich mit Details des Ortes, die zunächst wenig zu den Projektionen passen, die der Medienkonsument abrufen kann, seien diese den Nachrichten oder den Resten eines verklärenden Orientalismus geschuldet. Amini, den Leser unserer Seiten sicher von seiner Zusammenarbeit mit 9T Antiope kennen, ist zudem ein leidenschaftlicher Kollaborateur, und so ist „The Mimesis of Nothingness“ erneut eine Gemeinschaftsarbeit, diesmal mit der ebenfalls in Teheran lebenden Fotografin Nooshin Shafiee.
Amini und Shafiee trafen sich vor einigen Jahren zum ersten Mal in der Emkan Gallery im mit diversen Art Spaces gespickten Zentrum der Stadt. Sie stellte dort gerade eine Reihe digitaler Fotografien aus, während Amini im Raum nebenan Soundevents organisierte. Aufgrund ihrer gemeinsamen Ansätze – ein Sinn für Raum, fürs Fragmentarische und Experimentelle – ließ die Idee zu einer Kollaboration nicht lange auf sich warten, und so wurde der Grundstein zu „A Mimesis of Nothingness“ gelegt: Die Stadt sollte sich quasi selbst porträtieren mit wie zufällig aufgeschnappten “nichtigen” Objekten und Soundschnipseln, aber auch mit der diffusen Atmosphäre, die sie zu erzeugen weiß. Die beiden Künstler sollten dabei mehr wie Medien fungieren, durch deren Ohren und Augen der Ort spricht. Dass Teheran dabei weder als romantischer Sehnsuchtsort, noch als Schauplatz weltpolitischer Konflikte erscheint, mag mit einigen westlichen Vorstellungen brechen, den Nerv der Einheimischen trifft das aber sicher umso mehr.
„A Mimesis of Nothingness“ führt sein Publikum in ein Teheran, durch dessen Häuserschluchten und Alleen, über dessen weite Plätze, Parks, Fabrikgelände und Ruinen ein eisiger Wind weht, ein Wind, der Hagelklötze und Staub und Erinnerungen transportiert und all dies sprunghaft in die unterschiedlichsten Richtungen weht. In den Fotos mag die kühldunkle Atmosphäre impliziert sein, im langsam heranschleichenden Dark Ambient-Sound Aminis ist sie mehr als deutlich im gesampleten Wind und Regen zu hören, und doch scheint dies und das Echo undefinierbaren Donnerns und Detonierens eher das Innenleben des Ortes und seiner Bewohner wiederzugeben. Auf den Bildern sind Objekte zu sehen, die Kontext und Charakter erst beim genaueren Hinsehen implizieren: Zeltplanen, Vorhänge und andere ausladende Textilien kehren leitmotivisch wieder in den dunkel ausgeleuchteten Tableaus, hängen auf Wäscheleinen oder bedecken Treppen, Möbel und manchmal auch den ganzen Schauplatz, und alles, was unter ihrem Stoff verdeckt wird, wirkt außer Betrieb, im Standby, und jede direkte menschliche Präsenz würde deplatziert wirken.
Die Musik und die Bilder arbeiten (auch) immer wieder sehr stark mit dem, was sie gerade nicht präsentieren. Immer gibt es Aussichten auf ein diffuses Dahinter, auf Baum- oder Häusergruppen, diffuse Übergänge auf weitere Räume sind zu sehen. Wohin führen diese Öffnungen, Wege, freien Flächen, was ist oder passiert dahinter oder daneben? Die Frage nach dem größeren Rahmen des nur ausgeschnittenen Raumes ist so evident wie ein eingeblendeter Schriftzug oder eine Stimme aus dem Off. Auch bei den kreisenden, rauschenden, rumpelnden Bewegungen der elegant gestalteten Musik kommt immer wieder die Frage nach dem Was, dem Woher und dem Wohin auf, doch geheimnisvoll ist das Szenario nicht nur wegen des fragmentarischen Charakters und der nur gelegentlich ortbaren Sounds, sondern auch wegen des immer wieder Spannung überzeugenden Wechsels von melancholischen und harschen, gewaltsamen Passagen, die meist recht plötzlich in Form bohrender Loops oder eisiger Lärmlawinen einbrechen.
Die Streicherparts im unromantisch betitelten “Moonless Garden” halten die schönsten, aber auch die desolatesten Momente des Albums bereit, und letztlich sind es doch die Anzeichen des Lebens, die die Szenerie auflockern: zeternde Vögel, deren Krächzen keineswegs betulich wirkt, Schritte, die von einer tiefernsten Klangfläche begleitet eine Treppe herauf oder herunter gehen, gegen Ende sogar menschliche Stimmen, die den Hörer sofort, trotz Sprachbarriere, in einen anderen kommunikativen Modus bringen.
An der meist nur bedingt fassbaren Stimmung, die selten mit derart klaren und eindringlichen Mitteln hervorgerufen wird wie hier, ändert auch das nichts – auf „A Mimesis of Nothingness“ fühlt man sich an einem unbekannten Ort ausgesetzt, den man über das zufällig vorgefundene erkundet. Wenn es so etwas wie ein Wesen eines Ortes gibt, so kann man dieses vermutlich so besser erfahren, als durch ein vorgefertigtes Set an Dingen, „die man gesehen haben muss“." (U.S.) AFRICAN PAPER
africanpaper.com/2020/08/29/siavash-amini-the-mimesis-of-nothingness/
|
2020 |
€22.00 |
|
| AMM |
Uncovered Correspondence |
CD |
"John Tilbury - piano. Eddie Prévost - percussion. Recorded at the concert hall of the Jasielski Dom Kultury (Jaslo Cultural Centre) in southern Poland on 15th May 2010. Th e performance represented by this CD took place on 15th of May 2010 in the concert hall of the Jaslo Cultural Centre in southern Poland. I had spoken to John Tilbury in 2007 about the possibility of AMM performing in Jaslo, but for various reasons the project did not come to fruition until three years later. We had not planned for a CD release of the concert; in fact, we only spoke about recording the day before. There was no opportunity for the usual setup procedures. The recording was only intended as a document of the occasion. The concert began with John Tilbury using the piano to produce a gamelan-like quality, which was quickly followed by Eddie Prévost bowing a cymbal producing subtle metallic sounds. One could feel an electric atmosphere of concentration and note the exceptional care and elegance with which the performers selected even the tiniest details of the complex sound structure. Intriguing phrases from the prepared piano and sonorous tones from percussion instruments waft ed around the huge expanse of the hall — whose excellent acoustics let the audience immerse themselves in the music — savouring the subtle sounds emerging from the silence. e changes within the slow stream of improvisation occurred in such a natural way introduced by either musician by turn. Sometimes a highly abstract motif seemed to be a logical development rather than a step into the unknown — which in reality it was. The dominant impression was that such an advanced level of intuitive understanding between the two performers was the result of many years of collaboration. In my view each sound produced during the concert was not only ‘desirable’ but also essential (inevitable) and created its own profound aesthetic justification. Especially noteworthy was the compelling way in which both musicians made use of silence, whose role in AMM is as important as sound. Th e performance of a shorter or longer period of silence entailed the same creative intervention as did playing a sound or motif. The moments when the sound structure intensified and thickened became less frequent yet did not disappear completely. Particularly embedded in my memory are two moments: one was an exceptionally loud and shattering fragment of sound when dust could be seen rising out of the piano. And, when Eddie got up from his percussion and went to the wood-panelling, playing the wall with a beater generating a very low and vibrating sound — a convincing demonstration that any object may be used as a means to create music. It is only because I attended the concert, and can recall it in my mind, that now when listening to the recording I can identify the sources of those extraordinary sounds. The music presented on this CD requires a serious commitment from the listener. However, anyone familiar with the music of AMM would expect nothing else. To uncover the hidden beauty of these lovingly craft ed improvised sound abstractions requires an appropriate level of concentration on the part of the listener. Such effort will be rewarded by a profound aesthetic experience. In organising this concert I feel honoured I have been able to contribute, albeit inadvertently, to the release of another AMM CD. Andrzej Serwa — August 2010" [label info]
www.matchlessrecordings.com
|
2010 |
€14.00 |
|
| ANAKRID |
UnoDos |
do-CD |
".... 'Father', the first CD is a nineteen track affair, which brings out the collage man. Bicker has all sorts of sounds (percussion, cheap old tapes, microphones) which he throws together in what seems to be an audio-blender (no, don't look on the internet for this lovely device, I made up the word): sampling his stuff together, adding more electronics in what becomes a wild, hot brew of sound. The influence of Nurse With Wound is never far away in this work. It's wild, even industrial at times, but the musical element is never lost. The second CD in this package is 'Rapture Of The Deep', which takes the material into a different direction. Things happen here in a much more peaceful manner. No wild collages, longer tracks and in general a more electronic approach. It seems as if sound is captured inside an electronic system, locked in rather and from there on things start to live their own life, in that closed system. Here no real Nurse With Wound influence, but rather that of the academics of the fifties and sixties, the era of serious composed electronic music, although Anakrid is not as rigid as the old masters. His form is more free, aiming for dark effects and sounding like a good horror soundtrack. Two different sides of the music of Anakrid, now that's what I call a successful double CD package." " [FdW / Vital Weekly]
"UnoDos (Father/Rapture of the Deep) Edition of 400 numbered and signed copies each with an original piece of art by Anakrid. A 2CD set compiling the self released LPs. "Anakrid is the experimental outlet of Chris Bickel (the raconteur behind In/Humanity, one of the greatest groups of hardcore agitators of the 90s, and its follow-up, Guyana Punch Line). Here he applies the smashist manifesto against atavistic darkness of the pre-laptop variety, evoking an affected take on Nurse With Wound and their contemporaries aether in more than a few ways. This comparison is particularly apt on "Father", recorded with what sounds like a home full of disused instruments, second-hand sound sculpture, and the ideas found on countless cassette-only xpr releases of the 80s, returning to roost on the mostly empty temple of No Fun style extremity. Its balanced, rhythmically primal, fairly engaging head music that leverages the occasional reheating of landmark ideas with a refreshing purity of craft wholly missing from the current noise landscape. Rapture of the Deep subtracts the percussive elements, leaving the listener floating in a sea of blue-black death ambience, without any pre-determined boundaries. Song titles and the cover painting of a woman drowning all but spell it out for you, so Ill spare any further nautical/asphyxiatory metaphors and just inform you that this work leans toward the sedimentary, eternal evil type of drone once practiced by Coil than that airy, Stars of the Lid style; its more granular and by side two becomes quite terrifying. Its eerie, tribal, almost polyrhythmic yet not improvisational in the least. Bickel doesnt view his music as an excuse to wank off. It is deliberately composed. He eschews the use of conventional instrumentation, preferring found sounds, home-made instruments and pretty much anything that "makes a sound that can be sculpted and manipulated". I hear the abstract surrealism of Nurse with Wound or Current 93 in the creepy, industrial soundscapes, but theres certainly a thread of Stockhausens electronic period, though its not nearly as mathematical." [press release]
www.blrrecords.com
|
2007 |
€15.00 |
|
| ANDERSSON, PETER |
Music for Film and Exhibition |
do-CD & DVD |
"...Natura Fluxus'. 2CD+DVD in digibook packaging. Limited to 400 copies. Peter Andersson from the Cold Meat Industry act raison detre now presents his sound work for film and exhibition, spanning through the years 1999 to 2006. Peter has been working on several film and exhibition projects, some of these projects never went to final completion but the music was composed in almost all the cases. Music for Film and Exhibition presents a broad spectrum of the sounds and music capabilities of Peter Andersson and those familiar with any of his different music projects including raison d'etre, Necrophorus, Atomine Elektrine, Bocksholm etc. will most probably enjoy this double album (Music duration 151 min.) very much..For now Infinite Fog Productions presents complite edition of 'Music for Film and Exhibition I" which contains real DVD with Natura Fluxus - film by Peter Andersson and Lars Bosma + some rare bonuses, like another Peter's films - Autumn Leaves; Mandala; Dritfing Wall; Nature Morte e.t. Total play time approx. 83 minutes! Natura Fluxus brings us on a poetic, existential and suggestive journey dealing with matters like abandonment, desolation, emptiness, inanimation, remembrance and residual energy through places where we can spot traces of presence of mankind. Discover the aesthetic beauty in old factories and ruins: in the perishable and the metamorphoses that follow. Natura Fluxus is a experimental film where concrete, environmental sounds and original scored music blend with visual stunning sceneries of rarely seen places. The film is in B/W and Color. Highly recommended! Masterpiece of ambient music!" [label info]
www.infinitefog.ru
|
2011 |
€29.00 |
|
| ANEMONE TUBE |
Death over China |
CD |
"One year after the highly acclaimed "Dream Landscape" CD ANEMONE TUBE returns with the new concept album "Death over China".
No country in history has emerged as a major industrial power without creating a legacy of environmental damage that can take, if at all possible, decades to undo. China`s rise as an economic power has no clear parallel in history; thus, its pollution problem has shattered all precedent developments.
"Death over China" is a retaliation of nature against humankind. In the same moment it is a dedication to our untamed curiosity for the essence of death and our (inherent in our collective action) secret death wish. In China`s uncompromising economical and social development we see demonstrated, how we - even with the immolation of our health, environment and tradition - are the servants to material progress. Though we are aware of the approaching ecological disaster, we hazard the consequences. Sustainability is sacrificed on the altar of egoist quest for happiness. We consume, we destroy, we thrive, we conjure: "Deathly kingdom of desire, you sustain the life in me, Black death rise!"
Using field recordings, collected in Nanjing and Shanghai in 2007, ANEMONE TUBE creates an unsettling yet intriguing, apocalyptic soundtrack with a sinister atmosphere and a depressive undertone - a unique blend of dark ambient, post industrial and power electronics in the tradition of European industrial music.
"Death over China" is the second part of "The Suicide Series", for which field recordings provide a conceptional basis. In a poetic way ANEMONE TUBE combines analytical realism of the phenomenal world with buddhist psychology and nihilist rhetoric influenced by the works of Michael Haneke, Hayao Miyazaki, H.P. Lovecraft and Yukio Mishima.All music recorded between July 2007 and December 2009.
Mastered by JAMES PLOTKIN 2010. Definitely ANEMONE TUBE`s best and most mature album yet." [label info]
www.silkentofu.org
"Anomene Tube is a noise-project formed in the Southern part of Germany in 1996. Strong influences to the compositional approach of the project is the nihilistic rhetoric works of Michael Haneke, Hayoao Miayazaki and H.P. Lovecraft combined with buddhist psychology and concrete sounds from the real world. All tracks of this album titled "Death over China", are exclusively developed from the use of field recordings. The piece "I shall forever invoke" is the only piece where there are integrations of synthesizer. For this particular piece the synthesizers adds a nice atmospheric soundscape on the background of field recordings. The piece "Prayer walk" is an abrasive beast where the noise drones makes a pure impact on the listener. Screeching noise drills into the ears with additions of distant voices adding a great apocalyptic atmosphere to the piece. Also the piece titled "Brooding haze" drills a deep impression into the listener thanks to the monotonous high frequency noise-sounds
operating on top of crushing power electronics and concrete metal sounds. "Death over China" is a part of the so-called "Suicide Series" - a series that aims to express the self-destructive tendency by the modern population due to the social and highly industrialized global development. The album comes in a beautiful art-work in dvd-sized format with early photographs and paintings from early 20th century. Excellent work of noise art." [NM/Vital Weekly]
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
|
:existence |
CD |
"
A U F A B W E G E N RELEASE INFO
cd-audio
releaae date: 25.05.2001
artist: ANEMONE TUBE
title: :EXISTENCE:
order no.: aatp09
time: 50:12 min
jewel case / 500 handnumbered copies / fold out colour insert
:existence: as a great mix between rumbling noise and floating ambience. four hasrh tracks and three more dense and collage like works make this a varied and thrilling listen!
tracklisting:
Flesh & Bombs (10:13)
Secondary Master (4:43)
Choke Down (5:41)
Existence (11:10)
Red Waves (5:56)
Continuity (4:08)
The Encounter III (8:19)
Anemone Tube was founded in Summer of 1996 by Stefan Hanser who felt the urge to express deeper personal feelings and dreams. The audioworks from Anemone Tube vary a lot along with the different means Stefan Hanser uses as
sound source and for manipulation and could easiest be described as industrial-, ambient- and noisescapes of organic and synthetic sounds. The use of constantly shifting and altering sounds and moods is possibly one of
the most intruiging things about the audio creations of Anemone Tube with the purpose of trying to put the listener into a delirious mental state, to irritate, torment and caress him no matter if in a positive or negative way:
to cause emotional reaction!
Over the years plenty of releases, several participations on compilations, split and
collaborational releases on tape, vinyl, cd and video have been realised by different labels worldwide such as Transfixional Entertainment/Ravensburg, AufAbwegen/Köln, Solipsism/USA, Loud!/Italy, Napalmed/Czech, Inner Space Records/USA and many more.
www.transformed.de/anemone.html" [original press release by AUF ABWEGEN]
"German ambient-industrial project Anemone Tube was formed in 1996, and has explored a variety of heavy noisescapes and rhythmic blocks of sound; the Tube's modus operandi has always seemed to focus on putting the listener into a state of delirium caused by constantly shifting sounds and tones sourced from assorted organic and synthetic sounds, and this approach has resulted in a stylistically diverse body of work over the years. On the debut full length Existence, a nearly hour-long disc released in a hand-numbered limited edition of 500 copies, Anemone Tube is at it's heaviest, constructing seven bulky tracks that move from gorgeous ambient dronescapes to crushing, loop-heavy walls of distortion and menacing melodic tracers undulating over grinding rhythmic throb, sort of like what I'd expect a collaboration between Wolf Eyes and Maurizio Bianchi to sound like, although you can also draw lines to Throbbing Gristle, SPK, and violent early UK power electronics when tracks like 'Choke Down' and 'The Encounter III" get into full swing and start obliterating speakers with ferocious torrents of factory distortion. I really dig the way that Existence manages to balance the haunting, atmospheric drones and buried deconstructed rhythms with the louder, brutal passages of rumbling machine filth, making this much easier to digest than many of Anemone Tube's peers. Packaged in an elegant jewel case with a large 10-panel booklet glowing in fiery, fractaled reds and oranges, imprinted with mysterious pictograms." [Crucial Blast] |
2001 |
€12.50 |
|
|
Golden Temple |
CD |
"anemone tube’s third release of the 'suicide series' tetralogy is an immersive industrial music album and the most ambitious and complex work yet, a long-term project of no less than 6 years, pursuing a highly sophisticated approach full of cross-cultural and historical references. painting a sonic landscape, 'golden temple' is perfectly real and dreamlike at the same time, endorsing archaic, mythological and worldly ideals alike. beauty and evil, the profane and chaos, apocalypse and hope - anemone tube keeps account and observes the antagonist forces of life. composed of raw urban field recordings collected in japan and china, combined with layers of piercing feedback and sinister hovering synth melodies, 'golden temple' confronts you with an all-embracing atmosphere of aggrieving darkness and glorious harshness, fathoming the possibilities of the genre. to ensure due impact, it has been sharply engineered to perfection by mastermind james plotkin. pursuing radical psychological effects of sound, the 13+ minutes initiation 'l`homme et les sirenes' is a mind-bending journey into the human psyche, a slowly emerging sinister landscape evoking man’s intrinsic imbalance with (its own) nature, followed by the noisy debris and crushing buildup of 'apocalyptic fantasy' as well as 'tower of evil', which is the central piece of the album, conceptually and musically, multi-layered and sample-heavy, related to tokyo’s roppongi hills mori tower, which is regarded by natives as a symbol for the uninhibited commercialization of life. 'negation of myth' descends into a barren, metallic darkness, radiating an equivocal sense of melancholy, before 'sea of lights (golden temple)' ascends in sparkling brightness and divinity. the evanescent bleakness of 'anthropocene - the dark abyss of time' finishes the main part of the album on a perversely promising, almost calm, spiritual note. under the heading 'arcadia - dreamland and myth', which constitutes a coherent sequel to the album, anemone tube explores questions pertaining our longing for a return to the realms of myth and emotion. whereas the sinister seething 'i, death, rule even in arcadia' picks up the first piece’s topic of sirens and conjures up the dionysian reunion with the innermost depths of nature and chaos, the psychologically strenuous 'tojinbo - tranquil sea of equanimity' composed by radical sound artist dave phillips (switzerland, schimpfluch-gruppe), using field recordings of the country’s most notorious suicide spot, demands the ultimate choice: how far to go to find your peace of mind. after the purely fantastic 'dream landscape' conjuring up an apocalyptic vision and the dark, brooding landscape of 'death over china' slowly spreading as thick smog (as a consequence for china’s uncompromising economical and societal development causing irreparable environmental harm), the semi-fictional work 'golden temple' is the series’ logical sequel . it suggests a (meta)physical landscape, here in form of global cities and metropolises proudly and brightly soaring in darkness, and bestowing golden radiance and divine beauty. with its alluring metaphorical world of images, symbols and sounds it is the very symbol of our innermost longings, desires and fears and our attempts to escape from a disconcerting reality. the 'golden temple' is comforting and threatening at the same time: consoling as it promises to reveal the secrets of beauty, threatening as it becomes a mirror of our secret death wish. strongly influenced by pasolini’s cinematic masterpiece 'medea', which evolves around the subject matters of estrangement from traditional values, the loss of contact with the mythical and the sacred in an increasingly rationalized and consumerist society, anemone tube brings matters to a head with an invocation of religiously charged symbolism, with the 'golden temple' acting as more than a singular viewpoint, but as a meta-sign, functioning in its paramount acknowledgement and acceptance of complex, sometimes contradictory subject matter. supported by the use of ancient and contemporary imagery, literary and cinematic references reproduced in the lavish accompanying booklet anemone tube creates different narrative levels, juxtaposes contemporary western and long-standing asian culture, plays with symbolic meanings and values - however, while doing so, never takes an unequivocal stand. anemone tube with his varied interests and approaches always strives to present a holistic work of art, and 'golden temple' works on many levels accordingly. the considered use of field recordings and samples, the arrangement of old masters’ paintings, contemporary photos and a variety of quotes from literature and movies - nothing is random, everything is part of the big picture. 'golden temple' is a multi-facetted recording, absorbing and inspiring as well as a complex concept waiting to be discovered. quality time lies ahead for those who get involved and visit the golden temple! the cd comes with a beautifully designed 6 panel digifile with golden print on black paper and a lavish 12-page booklet." [label info]
"Im Zentrum von Tokyos Bezirk Minato erhebt sich die Skyline der Roppongi Hills, einer Gruppe von Bürotürmen um den mächtigen Mori Tower, den die kritisch gesinnten unter den Einheimischen in leicht abergläubischer Weise den bösen Turm nennen. In ihrer Wahrnehmung steht er für die Macht, die das Kapital und der entfesselte Konsum auf alle Lebensbereiche ausweitet. Für den Musiker Anemone Tube, der vor einigen Jahren Japan bereiste und am Fuße der Türme das Covermotiv und nicht wenige der Sounds seines aktuellen Albums „Golden Temple“ aufnahm, ist der Ort ein Symbol der kapitalistischen Spatmoderne, der Tower of Evil, den er im gleichnamigen Stück besingt, ist eine Allegorie, die nicht nur in Japan ihre Manifestation hat.
„Golden Temple“ – man mag beim Titel an Mishimas Temple of the Golden Pavillon denken, woraus im opulenten Booklet zitiert wird – ist der dritte Teil von Anemone Tubes „Suicide Series“ und somit Nachfolger von „Dream Landscape“ und „Death Over China“. Ein weiteres mal geht es um Landschaften, die sich in der Spätform unserer Zivilisation herausgebildet haben und die zugleich ihren selbst hervorgerufenen Kollaps symbolisieren. Auf „Golden Temple“ ist all dies noch stärker als zuvor mit textlichen und ikonischen Zitaten und Anspielungen unterfüttert, die viele Fragen stellen und gelegentlich auch die eine oder andere Antwort in den Raum stellen.
Noch deutlicher als auf „Death Over China“ dreht sich auf „Golden Temple“ alles um das Thema der Entfremdung und ihrer apokalyptischen Dimensionen, und wie es scheint wird ein historisches Panorama entfaltet. Im eröffnenden „L’Homme et les Sirenes“ wird gewissermaßen die Ursünde der Entfremdung abgehandelt, der Trick des Odysseus, dem verführerischen Gesang der Sirenen zu widerstehen, oder allgemeiner: durch scheinbare Disziplin, die in Wirklichkeit eine Selbstfesselung ist, über die Natur und ihre Geister zu triumphieren. Dieser Akt, von Homer gefeiert und noch in der Dialektik der Aufklärung als Sternstunde der Zivilisation gewürdigt, erscheint hier als Auftakt einer fatalen Dystopie, zumindest lässt der knochentrockene Schleifsound, der seine destruktive Wirkraft erst nach und nach entfaltet, nichts anderes vermuten.
Von der Irrfahrt des Heroen bis zum finalen Anthropozän in „Anthropocene – The Dark Abyss of Time“ mit seinem an apokalyptisches Flammengeprassel erinnernden Rauschen ist es ein weiter Weg, und der ist mit Marken versehen, die so etwas wie einen Kampf zwischen Sein und Entfremdung anzudeuten scheinen. Auf musikalischer wie textlicher Seite herrscht der Nihilismus des all-encompassing destroyer aus dem zentralen „Tower of Evil“. „Apocalyptic Fantasy“ knüpt mit fatal dröhnenden Kreisbewegungen und einem Sound, der an Gitarrensoli diverser Metalgenres gemahnt, an die vorab veröffentlichte EP „In the Vortex of Dionysian Reality“ an, und schon dass hier auf Fantasy und nicht auf Nightmare verwiesen wird, unterstreicht das Lustvolle, dass dieses Untergangs-Narrativ bis zum kaum verständlichen Sprachample durchzieht – wie im Tarot Crowleys ist der Turm, der hier durch brettharte Noisewände evoziert wird, eine dem Einsturz geweihte comfort zone, deren Implosion gefürchtet und zugleich erhofft wird.
Nach einer eindringlicheren Version des schon auf dem Vortex-Tape enthaltenen „Tower of Evil“, hier mit dem Zusatz „The Ultimate Truth“, führt uns „Negation of Myth“ in die etwas filigraneren Regionen der Anemone Tube-Kosmos, was allerdings nur heißt, dass die nosigen Sounds weniger verwaschen und die einzelnen grobkörnigen Partikel deutlicher herausgearbeitet sind. Wer vergleichbare Passagen auf „Death Over China“ oder auf der Split mit Dissecting Table kennt, weiß, dass solche Tracks immer noch niederdrückend sind, und hier ist es v.a. das kosmische Hintergrunddröhnen, das den Eindruck von etwas Verlorenem aufrecht erhält. Vielleicht ist es diese Evokation von etwas ungreifbar Verlorenem, die auch den vielleicht schöngeistigesten Track „Sea of Lights (Golden Temple)“ so eindringlich macht.
Anemone Tube war stets an einer angemessenen allegorischen Aufmachung interessiert, doch diesmal ist das Booklet besonders reichhaltig gefüllt. Auf der bildlichen und paratextlichen Seite, die hier entfaltet wird, erwacht eine hetrotopische Gegenwelt, die so etwas wie ein nicht entfremdetes Sein zum Thema macht. Teil dieser Gegenwelt, wenn auch auf sehr radikale Art, ist zumindest der erste der beiden Bonus-Tracks, die wie eine integrierte EP unter dem Titel „Arcadia – Dreamland and Myth” angehängt sind: „I, Death, Even Rule in Arcadia” greift das Motiv der Odysse wieder auf und deutet eine alternative Erzähung an, in der der Held dem Ruf der Geister nachgibt und – auf tragische Weise, der Entfremdung jedoch entrinnend, wieder mit seiner eigenen Natur verschmilzt. „Tojinbo – Tranquil Sea of Equanimity” wiederum ist besonders doppelbödig, scheinen die vom schweitzer Soundaktivisten Dave Philips abgemischten Feldaufnahmen aus der Nähe einer für zahlreiche Selbstmorde bekannten Felsenklippe in Japan doch eher wieder eine Folge der Entfremdung statt ihre Alternative zu beschwören.
Letztlich bleibt es eine Frage der Interpretation, ob man die schönen Seiten des in „Golden Temple“ beschworenen als eskapistische Gegenwelt, als Einklagen einer veschmähten Kostbarkeit, als reine Dokumentation oder als vorsichtig hoffnungvolle Zukunftsaussicht auf ein Danach lesen will. Nietzsches Umschreibung des Dionysischen als „Ja zu Leben in all seiner Tragik” kommt mir dabei allerdings nicht aus dem Sinn. Sicher ist, dass das immer etwas links klingende Wort Antikapitalismus und das immer etwas rechts klingende Wort Antimodernismus selten so sehr überblendet wurde, wie auf diesem an Andeutungen und Anspielungen reichen Album, das den Geist Pasolinis wie ein Kontrastmittel über die Goldenen Tempel unserer Zeit gießt – und damit selbst die namenlose saufende Schönheit zu Füßen der Kolosses aus Glas und Beton zum Strahlen bringt." (U.S./AFRICAN PAPER]
www.raubbau.org
"The second chapter in "the suicide series" from Berlin's Anemone Tube is a suitably grim offering of machined noise, discordant feedback, and industrial field recordings of urban sprawl from a protracted visit to China a few years back. Anemone Tube's inclusion of these Chinese sounds comes from a very conscious decision to express the unfortunate side of the human condition to lay blame of current ills on the foreigner, the other - as Sartre explored in The Stranger. These recordings of locomotive engines grinding against the tracks, jet-engines surging into the sky, and the deafening roar from turbines are not unique to China, but the acceleration of environmental decline through such activities should also be seen as a mirror to the European civilization, whose cities have complex histories to war, famine, death, and disease. Hence, the title refers more to the gleaming optimism of human progress when everything points to another conclusion. Anemone Tube captures this in an immersive construct of these revolving field recordings, compounded by sinister synth passages and haunted drone, that keep us thinking of the likes of Morthound and Megaptera, in the death-industrial realms." [Aquarius Rec.] |
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
|
In the Vortex of Dionysian Reality |
CD |
Related to Nietzsche`s notion of the Wagnerian music drama as a revelation of the abysmal truth about man, “In the Vortex of Dionysian Reality” allures us into the Dionysian dreamland, where tragedy reigns, in pursuit of the ultimate oneness. With its washes of noise and layers of piercing feedback on a subbase of wavering synths, it is a maelstrom of sound generating a hallucinatory reality. The atmosphere oscillates between destructiveness and aggravating frenzy, between the archaic and the sacral, between frenzied passion and abyssal melancholy, serving the mythical experience of music in a world where language has failed as a method of communication and music figures as the primordial form of expression.
As he considers humanities to have reached their limit, young Nietzsche hopes to find ultimate spiritualization and idealization in the reborn myth. Music alone (“our German masters”), as the primeval form of poetry and revelation of true Dionysian wisdom, may achieve triumph over the Apollonian shallow world of apparition.
With his timely musical rendition of mythical experience as “In the Vortex of Dionysian Reality”, Anemone Tube conveys an emotionally and mentally charged album which reveals his soft spot for progressive post rock metal acts like Amusement Parks On Fire, Blut Aus Nord or O.L.D. Their special approach of dreamy melodies vs. atonal, discordant sounds is skillfully recreated through polyphonic synths lines, which are then modulated into feedback and added for good measure.
Carrying the same title as the 2015 cassette EP release on The Epicurean, this CD with its 40+ minutes total length and five all new, yet unreleased tracks is less a mere re-release, but rather a full stand-alone album, featuring Ukrainian dark ambient artist Monocube on one track, as well as including sounds by Russian avantgardists Post Scriptvm and sound processing by French sound artist Pacific 231.
epicureanescapism.bandcamp.com/album/in-the-vortex-of-dionysian-reality-2 |
2017 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
In the Vortex of Dionysian Reality |
LP |
Related to Nietzsche`s notion of the Wagnerian music drama as a revelation of the abysmal truth about man, “In the Vortex of Dionysian Reality” allures us into the Dionysian dreamland, where tragedy reigns, in pursuit of the ultimate oneness. With its washes of noise and layers of piercing feedback on a subbase of wavering synths, it is a maelstrom of sound generating a hallucinatory reality. The atmosphere oscillates between destructiveness and aggravating frenzy, between the archaic and the sacral, between frenzied passion and abyssal melancholy, serving the mythical experience of music in a world where language has failed as a method of communication and music figures as the primordial form of expression.
As he considers humanities to have reached their limit, young Nietzsche hopes to find ultimate spiritualization and idealization in the reborn myth. Music alone (“our German masters”), as the primeval form of poetry and revelation of true Dionysian wisdom, may achieve triumph over the Apollonian shallow world of apparition.
With his timely musical rendition of mythical experience as “In the Vortex of Dionysian Reality”, Anemone Tube conveys an emotionally and mentally charged album which reveals his soft spot for progressive post rock metal acts like Amusement Parks On Fire, Blut Aus Nord or O.L.D. Their special approach of dreamy melodies vs. atonal, discordant sounds is skillfully recreated through polyphonic synths lines, which are then modulated into feedback and added for good measure.
Carrying the same title as the 2015 cassette EP release on The Epicurean, this CD with its 40+ minutes total length and five all new, yet unreleased tracks is less a mere re-release, but rather a full stand-alone album, featuring Ukrainian dark ambient artist Monocube on one track, as well as including sounds by Russian avantgardists Post Scriptvm and sound processing by French sound artist Pacific 231.
LP comes with different design than CD version and exclusive track “Tower of Evil (Sovereign Over All)”.
https://epicureanescapism.bandcamp.com/album/in-the-vortex-of-dionysian-reality-lp
https://epicureanescapism.bandcamp.com/album/in-the-vortex-of-dionysian-reality-2
|
2017 |
€17.00 |
|
| ANGELI, PAOLO |
Tibi |
CD/DVD (dualdisc) |
"This disc will play in stereo on a CD player and with film and 5.1 surround sound (or stereo) on a DVD player or computer. The music, as always, is prodigious, sounding like a small band, but played by one person in real time (as the film attests). In this format, you can also see the instrument -- close to a highly rebuilt and extended giant Sardinian guitar -- with many sympathetic and extra strings, motor-driven hurdy gurdy wheels, whirling strings, springs and other appendages, played like a cello, vertically, with bow, fingers, plectra and machines. However Heath Robinson it may appear, it is clearly under Paulo's hands, a highly serious and extraordinarily flexible beast that requires and has given rise to new playing techniques. The programme of compositions here navigates through highly-organized additive rhythms, freer Frith-like pointillism and some seemingly impossible mini-orchestrations. The film, professionally made, follows the performance, occasionally interpolating abstract passages and processed images. A remarkable player with a unique instrument, playing a music entirely his own."
[label info]
www.rermegacorp.com
|
2010 |
€15.00 |
|
| ANIMA SOUND |
Underground Altena |
LP |
Alga Marghen returns with an absolute stunner, the LP “Underground Altena”, comprising a never before heard or released series of recordings capturing Anima - the duo of Limpe Fuchs and Paul Fuchs - in 1973. Largely rendered on a striking array of instruments, invented and played by the couple, its otherworldly, visionary sounds upend nearly every perception held about underground music transpiring in Germany during this period. Wild, wonderful, truly free, and inspiring as records come.
** Edition of 300. ** Over their decades of activity, the Italian imprint, Alga Marghen, has illuminated a near countless number of historical artefacts within the field of experimental sound. Their latest, a previously unreleased body of recordings from 1973 by Anima - the duo of Limpe Fuchs and Paul Fuchs - entitled “Underground Altena”, encounters them casting their gaze toward a fascinating juncture between the krautrock scene, free jazz, and experimental music. Beautifully pressed on vinyl, comprising two visionary long form works, its incredible sounds - radically pursuing freedom with every texture, tone, and beat - entirely redefine the terms through which understandings of German 1970s musical experimentation has been historically approached.
Founded at the periphery of the kraut / kosmische scene by then husband and wife team, Limpe and Paul Fuchs, during the late 1960s, Anima was easily one of the most singular and unique projects to have ever emerged from the European sonic counterculture. At the time of its inception, Paul was an avant-garde sculptor, while Limpe was a conservatory trained percussionist, violist, and vocalist. In addition to emboding a radical form of free living, and farming in the small Bavarian village where they lived, their collaboration centered upon a meeting of their respective creative worlds; Paul’s work and understanding of objects, and Limpe’s musical understanding.
Anima’s distinct sound was largely the result of the pair’s invention, building, and playing of unique instruments, notably the Fuchshorn, Fuchszither, Fuchsbass, and a ‘pendulum string’ based on a Pythagorean monochord, alongside regular instruments and vocals, within a radical approach toward the achievement of freedom through creativity. The result, which appeared across eight full lengths documenting their activities until they disbanded during the 1980s, as well as a handful of more recent archival releases, are some of the most remarkably experimental and sought-after releases to have emerged from Germany during those years. Describing that period’s activities, Limpe recalls: «In the Anima duo with Paul Fuchs beside the drum set I used iron tools and metal sheets from the workshop. Instead of the hi hat cymbals I had a metal ring with five strings and plucked them by foot with a plectrum. Paul had built the Fuchsharp with two pickups and glided up and down the scale.»
“Underground Altena”, comprising the contents of a tape recently discovered by Limpe Fuchs in her archive, gathers two long form works - “Underground” and “Altena” - recorded by the duo in 1973. The title may be a reference to the legendary jazz festival in Burg Altena, Germany, that they played at during this period (the documentation of which can be found on B.Free’s “New Jazz Meeting Burg Altena 1972-1973” box set, issued back in 2016). Heavily guided by Limpe’s unique approach to percussion playing and vocals, with Paul delivering a striking arsenal of tonal interventions on his invented instruments, “Underground” and “Altena” plays like the outer reaches of free jazz dropped in an alien landscape. Howling and clattering, entirely free and spontaneous, while never losing the sense of a deep sense of consciousness, purpose, and control, it’s hard to think of anything else quite like it before or since.
As is widely known, since the disbanding of Anima, Limpe Fuchs has gone on to have a solo career that has positioned her as one of the great legends of experimental sound and musical practice. The absolutely incredible recording - never before heard or issued - that make up Alga Marghen’s release, “Underground Altena”, return us to where it all began, and one of the most incredible musical projects to have emerged from the 1960s and '70s German scene. Available as a stunning vinyl LP, we struggle to find the words to recommend it enough. Otherworldly, visionary, and inspiring as records come.
|
2022 |
€21.50 |
|
| ANOFELE & LOGOPLASM |
Gravescapes |
mCD-R |
Für field recording-Fans höchst empfehlenswert: Zwei italienische Projekte mit Aufnahmen aus einem unterirdischen Kloster-Tunnel, der mit Steinen, Stöckern & Knochen übersät war… auf der mini-Cd befinden sich drei Stücke, je eines mit den Bearbeitungen von ANOFELE und LOGOPLASM, und einmal die Originalaufnahmen. Geheimnisumwitterte Geräusch-Trips voller steiniger Details…
“We are happiest to bring you this collaboration between Anofele (Adriano Scerna, better known as one half of the italian experimental duo Kar) and Logoplasm (Paolo Ippoliti and Laura Lovreglio from Ariccia, Rome) which comes in the form of a 3" MiniCD-R.
Logoplasm didn't release any music at all during the last few years, so we are particularly glad to be part of their return to the scene, and we're truly hoping that this won't remain an isolated episode.
"Gravescapes" is a very particular release whose origins starts back in 2003 during a week-end in springtime, when Adriano, Paolo and Laura got almost lost in the woods of Central Italy, after a visit to a local theravada buddist monastery.
As they were walking around the monastery, at some point the trees disclosed the ruins of what instantly appeared like an abandoned graveyard bearing the signs of an awful lot of time and almost completely overgrown with weeds.
Underneath the graveyard they soon discovered a short subterranean tunnel. The tunnel was slightly illuminated by the piercing sunlight and their curiosity won over unrational fears, so they decided to explore it.
Inside the tunnel they found a few open loculi which contained small heaps of human bones. More bones were spreaded on the ground along with stones, sticks, branches, etc.
They took some recordings with two portable MiniDisc machines, using their discoveries as the main sound sources. Such recordings were subsequently manipulated and assembled using computer technology and softwares, and turned into "Gravescapes".
"Gravescape One" is Anofele's rendition of the original recordings, which is presented as "Gravescape Two". "Gravescape Three" is Logoplasm's take on the same source material.” [label info]
|
2006 |
€6.50 |
|
| ANTLERS MULM |
Of Withered Sparks |
CD |
"Our hopes, our flesh, our tears... are draped like dead birds in the skies"... Different from most other LOKI-artists, ANTLERS MULM appears to be much more song-oriented, doing a kind of dark electronic pop-music, but very refined, minimal, deeply melancholic & quiet. Reminds us a bit on TWICE A MAN or TOR LUNDVALL at times, but with a much darker singing..
"The third album of ANTLERS MULM opts for deep resonating tones that are harmonious and hypnotic with a greater emphasis on percussion, and the massive foray into song based structures. Dark Beats and phantasmagorial Melodies are melting into an intense atmosphere guided by the outstanding voice of the father of shadows Hans Johm. Throbbing samples enriches this compositions to a homogenic masterpiece. These 10 songs are catching the mood of the warm feeling of being at home and creating a landscape of a coruscant kingdom that lies deep within the lyrical and musical expression. These tracks building melancholy on the most song based LOKI release ever - take a deep breath and get lost in this aural world of ANTLERS MULM. Limited digipack and vinyl version (222 copies) released in January 2008." [label info]
www.loki-found.de
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Of Withered Sparks |
LP |
"Our hopes, our flesh, our tears... are draped like dead birds in the skies"... Different from most other LOKI-artists, ANTLERS MULM appears to be much more song-oriented, doing a kind of dark electronic pop-music, but very refined, minimal, deeply melancholic & quiet. Reminds us a bit on TWICE A MAN or TOR LUNDVALL at times, but with a much darker singing..
"The third album of ANTLERS MULM opts for deep resonating tones that are harmonious and hypnotic with a greater emphasis on percussion, and the massive foray into song based structures. Dark Beats and phantasmagorial Melodies are melting into an intense atmosphere guided by the outstanding voice of the father of shadows Hans Johm. Throbbing samples enriches this compositions to a homogenic masterpiece. These 10 songs are catching the mood of the warm feeling of being at home and creating a landscape of a coruscant kingdom that lies deep within the lyrical and musical expression. These tracks building melancholy on the most song based LOKI release ever - take a deep breath and get lost in this aural world of ANTLERS MULM. Limited digipack and vinyl version (222 copies) released in January 2008." [label info]
www.loki-found.de
|
2008 |
€15.00 |
|
| APSE |
Eras |
LP |
"APSE hail from New England in USA and have been described as "Post-Rock" / "Avant-Garde/Rock" / "Experimental" / ?? ... It may indeed be a tired, old, cliché but the band truly defy normal musical stereotyping. This release presents their debut on vinyl and has been long in the making. This follow-up to their 2006 CD (Spirit on Acuarela Discos) is defined as 'a glossary', that just happens to be a full-length release in its own right. View the APSE band page (here) for videos, discography and more information. Well worth exploring. The record is pressed on highest quality 180g virgin vinyl and presented in a luxurious gatefold sleeve with full printed inner and a numbered post-card insert." [label info]
www.chronoglide.com/equation.html
|
2009 |
€18.00 |
|
|
Climb up |
CD |
"In the fall of 2007, around Apse's 8th year as a band, Michael Gundlach and founding member Bobby relocated to the quiet shores of outer Cape Cod, Massachusetts and began living in virtual isolation. A few months into the move and for various reasons the 2 brooklyn based members of the band were no longer in the picture, leaving only Bobby, Michael and their faithful touring bass player / contributing member John Mordecai, living 4 hours away.
Together Bobby and Michael found multi-instrumentalist Jed Armour who joined the band and introduced them to drummer Brandon Collins. Both of them highly talented musicians and long time residents of the cape, the addition of these two members greatly impacted the creative capabilities of the band as well as Bobby and Michael's understanding of - and integration into the year 'round life in the band's new home.
After rigorous preparation with the new members rehearsing for an already-booked 6 week European tour that saw them performing at ATP Vs. Pitchfork and several other noteworthy dates across Europe the band returned to Cape Cod and began writing a new album. In August of 2008 during the early stages of the writing process, All Tomorrow's Parties reissued the band's 2006 Spirit to warm critical reception. Labeled as a post-rock record by some, a genre-splicing giant to others, Spin Magazine's Kenny Herzog likely put it best: "Spirit is the deathnail for the labored beast that is "post-rock," revealing the much more alluring potential that always lurked around its sinister corners."
Since making Spirit - originally completed in 2006 and after releasing a number of smaller albums both before and after the ATP reissue, the band found itself ready to take on its next major endeavor. Just as a director might make respective films - changing subject matter, approach and format for each - the band was inspired to explore new means of composition, songwriting and production. Its range of members were influenced from a diverse array of art and music, life experience, fiction - and were unanimously uninfluenced by their surroundings - as there were little social distractions or creative camaraderies to be had.
The bulk of this writing process then took place between the fall of 2008 and the spring of 2009. Forging the album through long days and nights in the quiet beauty of the winter months on outer Cape Cod. The record that's come out of it, entitled Climb Up is undoubtedly a reflection of the very process that made it - tying into the creative methods as well as the story of the lives of the band's members as they crafted the album.
Climb Up was recorded entirely by the band in their homes. The bulk of the arrangements and mixing were authored by Bobby Jed and Michael. Drawing from a mixture of existing demos that were turned into working songs as well as full-band improvised live recordings that Bobby cut up and formed into song structures, overdubbing effects and vocals on top of them - the band ultimately chose and honed in on a final cut of 12 tracks, culled from a larger body of work.
The ever-changing obtuse creative strategies of Bobby and Michael, paired with the adept musical knowledge and performance abilities of Jed and Brandon - and the diverse inspirations of all members combined to create an album that bares a fantastic dialogue between imagination and songcraft. Climb Up is wildly unique, versatile, and inarguably the bravest yet most accessible work by the band.
The record is a major departure from the band's most notable predecessor, Spirit - which was completed 4 years prior. Where Spirit explored a dark world of reverberant guitars, ambient passages, and minimal, haunting vocals, Climb Up proves a bold step out of that darkness. The intricacies of this new world are depicted as if staggering from the world of Spirit into a very different, more illuminated place.
Not to mention its packed with more grooves, a greater use of electronics, a range of instruments both modern and classical and – notably – a much stronger emphasis on voices and melodies.
Climb Up is dense, innovative, cinematic. Apse draw from a colourful palette of different genres, techniques, instruments and approaches - and with that have made what is likely to be one of the most curious, and probably largely unexpected albums of the year. Listen, and be immersed." [label info]
www.atpfestival.com/recordings.php |
2009 |
€10.00 |
|
| |
Climb up |
do-LP |
"In the fall of 2007, around Apse's 8th year as a band, Michael Gundlach and founding member Bobby relocated to the quiet shores of outer Cape Cod, Massachusetts and began living in virtual isolation. A few months into the move and for various reasons the 2 brooklyn based members of the band were no longer in the picture, leaving only Bobby, Michael and their faithful touring bass player / contributing member John Mordecai, living 4 hours away.
Together Bobby and Michael found multi-instrumentalist Jed Armour who joined the band and introduced them to drummer Brandon Collins. Both of them highly talented musicians and long time residents of the cape, the addition of these two members greatly impacted the creative capabilities of the band as well as Bobby and Michael's understanding of - and integration into the year 'round life in the band's new home.
After rigorous preparation with the new members rehearsing for an already-booked 6 week European tour that saw them performing at ATP Vs. Pitchfork and several other noteworthy dates across Europe the band returned to Cape Cod and began writing a new album. In August of 2008 during the early stages of the writing process, All Tomorrow's Parties reissued the band's 2006 Spirit to warm critical reception. Labeled as a post-rock record by some, a genre-splicing giant to others, Spin Magazine's Kenny Herzog likely put it best: "Spirit is the deathnail for the labored beast that is "post-rock," revealing the much more alluring potential that always lurked around its sinister corners."
Since making Spirit - originally completed in 2006 and after releasing a number of smaller albums both before and after the ATP reissue, the band found itself ready to take on its next major endeavor. Just as a director might make respective films - changing subject matter, approach and format for each - the band was inspired to explore new means of composition, songwriting and production. Its range of members were influenced from a diverse array of art and music, life experience, fiction - and were unanimously uninfluenced by their surroundings - as there were little social distractions or creative camaraderies to be had.
The bulk of this writing process then took place between the fall of 2008 and the spring of 2009. Forging the album through long days and nights in the quiet beauty of the winter months on outer Cape Cod. The record that's come out of it, entitled Climb Up is undoubtedly a reflection of the very process that made it - tying into the creative methods as well as the story of the lives of the band's members as they crafted the album.
Climb Up was recorded entirely by the band in their homes. The bulk of the arrangements and mixing were authored by Bobby Jed and Michael. Drawing from a mixture of existing demos that were turned into working songs as well as full-band improvised live recordings that Bobby cut up and formed into song structures, overdubbing effects and vocals on top of them - the band ultimately chose and honed in on a final cut of 12 tracks, culled from a larger body of work.
The ever-changing obtuse creative strategies of Bobby and Michael, paired with the adept musical knowledge and performance abilities of Jed and Brandon - and the diverse inspirations of all members combined to create an album that bares a fantastic dialogue between imagination and songcraft. Climb Up is wildly unique, versatile, and inarguably the bravest yet most accessible work by the band.
The record is a major departure from the band's most notable predecessor, Spirit - which was completed 4 years prior. Where Spirit explored a dark world of reverberant guitars, ambient passages, and minimal, haunting vocals, Climb Up proves a bold step out of that darkness. The intricacies of this new world are depicted as if staggering from the world of Spirit into a very different, more illuminated place.
Not to mention its packed with more grooves, a greater use of electronics, a range of instruments both modern and classical and – notably – a much stronger emphasis on voices and melodies.
Climb Up is dense, innovative, cinematic. Apse draw from a colourful palette of different genres, techniques, instruments and approaches - and with that have made what is likely to be one of the most curious, and probably largely unexpected albums of the year. Listen, and be immersed." [label info]
www.atpfestival.com/recordings.php
|
2009 |
€17.50 |
|
| AQUAVOICE |
Grey |
CD |
"The first AQUAVOICE album on Zoharum label. "Grey", the eighth album in the project's discography, contains 10 compositions covering musical territories than before. It's pure electronics, but a bit more experimental than simply ambient or Berlin school, as previosly associated with AQUAVOICE." [label info]
"Life from other space is still a massive source of musical inspiration, perhaps because we have no clue about it. Here we have Polish musician Tadeusz Luczejko, who calls himself Aquavoice, and his microphone is up in the sky, with the opening piece 'S.E.T.I. Project'. The search for extraterrestrial life goes on, and hopefully I will not be accused of laziness when I compare this music with that of Andrew Lagowski, who sometimes works as S.E.T.I., but let's not forget SETI either, who released an album on Instinct Ambient in 1995. There are similarities in the use of the name, but also in musical approach. Lots of analogue synthesizer sounds, which are set to 'long sustain', and 'heavenly atmosphere' - both of them near the push button that says 'cosmic settings' - and we have a lift-off. Aquavoice takes us up for trip to 'Terra Incognita', to the 'Invisible World' and we see the 'Child Of The Moon' and an 'Air Sanctuary'. Holding court on earth are the sadly passed away Pete Namlook and Biosphere to see if the controls are set for the sun, and they are. Auqavoice plays text book ambient music and there is nothing wrong with that. There isn't a single moment where one could think that Aquavoice does something you haven't encountered before - especially on those mid 90s ambient/house waves - but he does it with great care for sonic detail and these ten pieces are a delight to hear. What more could you want? Every era needs it's own chill out music." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
www.zoharum.com
|
2013 |
€12.00 |
|
| ARA SOLIS |
Ashvattha |
CD |
An altar of golden sacrifice mightily arises ashore the tempestuous waters of Finis Terrae. At the sylvan realms of frost, the holy gate of light and darkness appears erected stone by stone to safeguard the transdimensional portal of heroic resurrection. The Garden of the Hesperides grows around. The ancient Tree of Life and Death—Ashvattha, Yggdrasil—pours the sap of eternity in the ritual copulation of oxygenic and anoxygenic photophosphorylation. Mortals bow their heads toward the arch of heavens. The sword of the warrior reflects the light of the midday amidst the eternal dust of warfare. The Moon reflects the light of the Sun at night, lightening the hidden paths of the forests beyond reincarnation. War is the Essence. Living souls are reaped where the Phoenix is reborn.”\"
https://zazensoundspublishings.bandcamp.com/track/ara-solis-2 |
2023 |
€13.00 |
|
| ARABELLA'S PARADE |
Static infinite |
CD-R |
Very early release on UK’s Evelyn Records, a label with a similar approach as Drone Records. ARABELLA’S PARADISE works with radio-waves and creates a kind of low-fi shredder-ambience, very pure and bony noises… absolutely last copies !
“pure, untreated radio waves recorded between 1995 and 1999 in various parts around england. forms a brief document to the infinite range of harmonics that exist in the atmosphere, and includes dense white noise, blank drones, minimal ethereal static and morse messaging.” [label info]
www.evelynrecords.cjb.net |
2000 |
€7.00 |
|
| ARANOS |
No Religion |
7inch |
Feine Single mit einem lustig-beschwingten Stück über Religion („I’ve got no religion and I’m glad“) auf der Verso-, und einem wunderbaren Konkret-Noise-Collagen-Stück auf der Recto-Side.... giftgrünes Vinyl.
“Most people will recognize his name from appearing on albums by Nurse With Wound, but this Czech-born Bohemian Irish resident has a musical blood that runs deep into the heart of Gipsy folk, jazz, and rock music. "No Religion" is most certainly a statement a statement of Aranos' own personal dismay with violence and abhorrent behavior conducted in the name of religion while "Spitting Revivalist Dreams" is perhaps one of the most excrutiating noise tracks I have ever witnessed. This is the first of a number of 7" singles to be released by Aranos this year, and expect to see him live in Europe earlier this year with a North American string of dates being worked out for later in the year. He's a fantastic musician and a charismatic performer. Videos and sounds and bio are available at www.brainwashed.com/aranos.” [press release]
|
2005 |
€7.00 |
|
|
Tax |
CD |
"Tax is a record with a political theme. How much tax we all pay? Usually we think of income tax only, (which incidentally was introduced in England to pay for Napoleonic wars and was and is collected ever since). But we also pay tax on all purchases and services. It is a lot of money and proportion of it goes on war. More in some countries, less in others. In global economy we all pay for all the wars everywhere. Example: Parts of this computer were made in China, by giving Chinese government some of my money I also pay for weapons that Burmese government uses to brutalise it's population.
Now what is war? Bunch of people dressed in costumes (uniforms) killing another bunch of people dressed in different costumes. These costumes enable them to behave in a fashion that would be considered criminal under different circumstances. The military costume wearers do not know anything about the other costume wearers; some of them might be perfectly nice people. But they wear different clothes so "KILL THEM!" Insane or what? And my (and your) tax is paying for this. In concept the record is fairly original in that it treats one theme and it's aspects, a bit like an oratorio on the theme "lament about human stupidity". What can we do? I do not know, Maybe we can start thinking about demanding different approach by our leaders; after all it is our money." [label description]
|
2007 |
€10.00 |
|
|
Mother of Moons Bathing |
CD |
Für den Hirn-zerschabenden Stil-Mix alleine hätte ARANOS bereits einen Preis verdient - von klickender Sinuston-Elektronik über free-form Noise bis hin zu swingenden Songs mit Gesang ["MAMA GOT A NEW BOYFRIEND"], von Drone-Loops und Gongflächen über obskurste Geräuschtracks bis hin zu XXX kann hier einfach alles passieren....
für den Wiedererkennungseffekt aber sorgen die immer wieder präsente Violine & seine rauhe, markante Stimme, verbunden mit den verschroben-ironischen Texten. Das ganze ist auch noch verpackt in ein edelstes, Filz-artiges Cover... immer wieder, so scheint es, geht es ARANOS darum, Grenzen jedweder Art zu überschreiten, aber mit STIL... ARANOS bildet sich sein ur-eigenstes Genre.
"Aranos (pronounced Aranyosh) is a prolific composer and storied multi-instrument performer from the Czech part of Bohemia, by way of Ireland, where he lives near his friend and frequent collaborator Steve Stapleton of Nurse With Wound. “Mother of Moons Bathing” is his first release for Soleilmoon, but his lengthy discography includes releases issued by Beta-lactam Ring Records, Brainwashed, Crouton, Klanggalerie, Noise Museum and United Daries as well as his own label Pieros. The album covers a lot of ground, and refuses to be categorized, unless “Aranos” can be its own category. It opens with “Awaking Horns”, a minimalist piece built around a simple repeating click track containing absolutely no horns whatsoever. “New Boyfriend” begins as a jaunty ode to new-found love, but the conversation between mother and daughter turns dark as it’s revealed that the new boyfriend has a dodgy past with little girls. “Some Clowns Are Not Funny” and “Almost Pulled Through” are a pair of scary electro-acoustic roller coaster rides that sound like they might have escaped from Steve Stapleton’s little shop of horrors. The fifth song, “Legs Thighs Splits” returns to the gently fun whimsy started with “New Boyfriend”, but trades literal meaning for delicious texture and experimentation. “I saw Women’s Rising Fry” is a song of fearlessly eccentric lyrics married to complex, brain-tingling instrumental arrangements. “Ta-taa-ta, Taah merged” is a side dish of looped, sampled vocal minimalism leading into the the longest track on the CD, “Towards Glittering Warm Dumplings”, a rolling trance-dance weighing in at more than 21 minutes. “Invisibility Cloak of Time”, another minimalist electro-acoustic instrumental, closes the album. The total length of “Mother of Moons Bathing” is 71 minutes 41 seconds, and it’s sheer bliss from start to finish. In the face of a market dominated by increasingly bland visuals and dire throw-away packaging, this album stands apart. In the tradition of other Soleilmoon releases, the presentation for “Mother of Moons Bathing” is second to none. This time the CD comes in a hand-made silk-screened soft-textured folder with a pair a sparkly screen-printed inserts backing up the disc inside. The costly and stunning materials have work together to produce a pleasingly harmonious package that will appeal to music fans and serious collectors alike. “Mother of Moons Bathing” is limited to 400 copies. After his child was taken away and sent to slavery Carlos resigned himself to becoming low to medium quality moon fodder. Spending his days in rearranging surface molecules with his broken arms and dislocated shoulders while filling his eyes and lungs with yellow dust. All the while pondering impermanence of the unpredictable his reward was flow of hill magic and stunning sunsets. Too much knowledge gathered over the years was proving to be a mixed blessing. Change of timbre in his diabetic movement master’s voice clearly indicated a forthcoming constriction of coronary arteries, but there was nothing Carlos could do. Certainly not over the distance of four and a half thousand miles. The only thing was to accept all. Child slavery, master’s coronary, yellow dust, beautiful sunsets, flow of magic…" [press release]
www.soleilmoon.com
|
2007 |
€14.50 |
|
| |
Tangomango |
CD |
Ziemlich obskure Musik kredenzt Herr ARANOS uns hier, rauher Gesang & Violinen & Akustikklampfen zuhauf, irgendwo zwischen Obskur-Folk und seltsamer Geräuschmuziek, auch zarte drone-Sphären tauchen auf, erinnert manchmal an D.D.A.A. oder VOLCANO THE BEAR, ist aber so eigenständig exzentrisch und einmalig dass es jedem Vergleich spottet..... in super-handgemachter / genähter überaus edler Stoff-Hülle.... real Avantgarde !!
“Aranos is a master of the stringed instrument, a frequent collaborator with fellow Irish countryside dweller Steven Stapleton, and the creator of a string of idiosyncratic experimental albums that, like most great works of art, defy categorization. This solo full-length is the follow-up to 2001's Magnificent! Magnificent! No One Knows the Final Word, an album unique not only for its unconventional musical content and homegrown organic packaging, but also for its "experimental anarchy distribution," a sort of honor system where Aranos shipped the album at his expense to anyone who wanted it, asking each listener to decide how much the album was worth. Tangomango continues down the same path as Magnificent, but somehow manages to be even more willfully eccentric. Lovely passages of emotively played strings are overdubbed with shambolic percussion, occasional forays into electronics of uncertain origin and Aranos' gravelly vocals, free-associating long strings of unhinged Dadaesque lyrical couplets. Aranos creates a one-man chamber quartet, overdubbing layers of plucked and bowed violin, viola and double bass, his melodies fondly recalling the Eastern European gypsy music idioms of his heritage. Sometimes the effect is a sort of avant-garde chamber pop, as on "Julio Cruz," which sounds not entirely unlike mid-1970s John Cale. Other times, Aranos' techniques are so unorthodox that the music sounds like nothing else, as with the strange organic kaleidescope created on "All The Lost Turbans Will Be On That Speaker," which utilizes musique concrête effects to create an unsettling piece of psychedelic tape music. On "Worryism," the album's only guest player, Jon Whitney (editor of this rag), contributes a series of distended bleats on a didgeridoo, forming the foundation for a distinctly ritualistic excursion that ends Tangomango on a somber note. Halfway through the oddly named "69 Walton's Yamamoto Noodles," Aranos strikes the gong and unleashes a series of mindbending electronic pulses. "Broken Eights" is a fractured military ode constructed from martial drums and layers of vacillated vocal overdubs. The album's title could not be more appropriate, as Aranos is able to reference the improvisatory feel of Can's masterpiece, while impregnating it with his own organic sense of rhythm. It's a little bit fun, and a little bit fruity. The album comes packaged in a lovely handmade royal purple silk purse with a beaded clasp and a lyric booklet adorned with many beautiful photographs. Tangomango is a rare album that truly feels like a pure, unmediated foray into one man's peculiar and joyful vision of music, and it's a rewarding trip at that.”[Jonathan Dean / Brainwashed]
www.brainwashed.com/aranos
|
2004 |
€15.00 |
|
| ARASTOO & AEMAE |
Ostrakon |
LP |
"Two side-long ice sculptures built on piano and processing, the piano coming strictly from Arastoo Darakhshan, while both add their effects but Brandon Nickell as Aemae delivers digital doctoring as his primary outlet. The title track is a wonderful splintering of sound, with glacier cracking in on the stark black and white keys. Aemae’s timing with noisier nuance is excellent on this, and he has at least one treatment like a frozen train going off the tracks! Here the sum decimates the parts, Arastoo’s delicate hesitance almost dances around a ghost of Clara Rockmore. A very open piece with rays of mourning and crystal shards of electronics, it captures that ever-important balance of order and chaos. If the first piece is Nickell plating Darakhshan, then perhaps the second is a reverse, with a layer of Aemae cast out and the piano imposed on top? Just a guess, maybe I’m too concerned without tallying yin and yang. The first piece really is a stunner with a fascinating name that wiki shows as the derivation for ostracism. Yeah, this is outsider music but I suspect readily acceptable to many ears, of course we too at KFJC have been happily exiled beneath main street for decades of decadence. Limited release on Nickell’s own label."
[Thurston Hunger / KFJC]
"A long in the works collaboration from two aQ favorites, Aemae and Arastoo. We've listed both Aemae releases, but Arastoo has been a bit more elusive, with tons of super limited vinyl and cd-r releases, of which we've only ever managed to review 3. Well, the two have come together, to produce this, the first in a new salvo of Bay Area sound art from Aemae, aka Brandon Nickell's Isounderscore label. And a pretty fantastic start. Arastoo plays the piano, and then the two shape and mold the piano into two side long pieces, both quite impressive.
The A side is mostly straight piano all the way through, some gorgeous fluid playing, some stunning arrangements, but the two subtly shape and twist throughout, adding mysterious little music box flourishes, sudden squalls of super high end skree, but those moments are actually quite controlled, the sounds sculpted onto dog whistle melodies, and haunting upper register textures. The subtle production tweaks really only augment, creating complimentary sounds, or add bits of ambience, allowing the piano to drift and sway and unfurl its melody, seemingly oblivious to what's going on around it.
The B side however, finds the sound of the piano obliterated, transformed completely into long shimmering streaks of layered metallic reverberation, a bit industrial sounding, layers of constantly shifting whir and rumble and hiss and roar, like a choppy sonic sea, building to a buzzing crescendo before settling back down into a tranquil sea of black ambience, as the piano returns, unfurling gentle, yet ominous minor key melodies, all very creepy and cinematic, but also quite lovely. LIMITED TO 320 COPIES. Super striking silkscreened covers, with original artwork by Arastoo." [Aquarius Records]
www.isounderscore.com
|
2008 |
€14.50 |
|
| ARCANA |
Raspail |
CD |
"Die CD kommt in einem hochwertigen Artwork, das sowohl ein 8-seitiges Leporello, als auch ein 12-seitiges Booklet enthält!
Arcana sind seit Jahren über alle Grenzen hinweg stilprägend und eines der großen Aushängeschilde der weltweiten Gothic Wave Szene. Ihre Musik umfasst eine einzigartige, kraftvolle und verzauberte Anmutung, der sich kaum jemand entziehen kann. Mit ihrem neuen Werk Raspail schlagen Arcana nun das nächste Kapitel ihrer einzigartigen Karriere auf und verschmelzen die filigrane Romantik ihrer früheren Werke, um ihr erfolgreiches Album Inner Pale Sun, mit bahnbrechendem Gothicwave der Neuzeit. Raspail begeistert durch die außergewöhnliche Mischung aus orchestralen, mächtigen Soundcollagen, natürlich instrumentierten Arrangements, und den himmlisch klaren Stimmen des Baritons Peter Bjärgö und der Sopranistin Ann-Mari Thim, die das Album in einen mystischen Klangzauber verwandeln der alles bisherige in den Schatten stellt.
Die inzwischen sechste Veröffentlichung des schwedische Quintetts ist ein magisch, geniales Glanzstück, getragen von zarten Pianotupfern und intensiven Klangwelten aus Streichern und Hörnern. Klassisch, melodramatisch und kaum zu überbieten!" [label info]
"Arcana has turned another page in the book and the next chapter will be a meeting between the old and the new. As before, we hear the many instruments that vary the music, but this time the vocals parts have taken more room. The medieval sound from Dark age of Reason and Cantar de Procella is there, the majestic sound from... The Last Embrace appear along with the serene notes from Inner Pale Sun and the oriental instruments from Le Serpent Rouge. Blend this with the new sound once again created by Peter Bjärgö, and you will have Raspail, the next chapter in the book of Arcana." [label info]
www.kalinkaland.de |
2008 |
€14.50 |
|
| ARCANE DEVICE |
Devices 1987-2007 |
do-CD |
Texturen aus Sirenen-Klängen und Sinuston-Feedbacks, repetitive Patterns aus Extrem-Frequenzen, Effektgerät-Übersteuerungen bilden seltsame Klangkegel aus, elektronische Cut-Ups formen Kaskaden aus befremdlicher Rhythmik. Und alles basiert nur auf einer Soundquelle: Feeback! Auf dieser russischen Kollektion des emsigen MONOCHROME VISION-Labels findet sich älteres rares Material von längst vergessenen Compilations, aber auch neue Stücke von 2007, welche nahtlos an die Vergangenheit anknüpfen, insgesamt aber weniger noisig & offensiv klingen. Very special stuff!
"Anthology of rare and previously unreleased tracks by Arcane Device, recorded within the 20 years. It is divided into two parts. The first one consists of tracks from compilations issued by Subterranean Records, Tragic Figures, SFCR Tapes, and Generations Unlimited, but also unreleased material remastered and/or remixed in 2007. The second one is subtitled as "Feedback symphony" and based on various recordings, presented in four movements and finished in 2007. One more chance to approve the exceptional skills and compositional/ technical talent of David Myers who can control the electrons by will, creating fantastic soundscapes. Arcane Device is the unique project of american graphic designer and musician David Myers, active between 1987 and 1995. His creative output is going beyond any categorization, because it’s possible to re-arrange and demonstrate such many styles of modern music with only one thing that is feedback. This effect usually happens when you shortcut the input and output of any electric device. It’s hard to believe but this almost uncontrolable beast became the driving force for Arcane Device music, armed by self-made bank of delays and filters. Looking like inward sound research, decorated with finest web of random processes and microvariations, it becames the peculiar feature. Endless circulation of electrons, never repeating routes and always having some chance for individual life inside of any macrostructure." [label notes / credits]
"....I might be wrong, but the oldest guy here is David Lee Myers, also known in the mid eighties as Arcane Device and one of my heroes of the time. Myers created his own feedback machines long before someone thought of 'no input mixers'. Myers controlled his feedback with all sorts of sound effects, which made him sound differently than say the average industrial musician. No wonder his first release was on Recommended/ReR records, known for improvisation rather than noise. In the time span of less than eight years Arcane Device released a bunch of CDs, a LP, a double 7" pack and some cassettes (many of them these days available from http://www.pulsewidth.com). For Monochrome Vision, Myers went to his archive to pick some rare (from various compilations on Subterranean Records, Tragic Figures, SFCR and Generations Unlimited) and unreleased for his double CD. I admit straight away that it has been a while since I last played a CD by Arcane Device, but hearing this feast of recognition, prompts me to pull them all out and play them again in the next weeks, when time allows me. The strength of Arcane Device, to work with such unmusical sounds in such a musical form, hasn't lost any of his magic to me. Unlike say the current wave of no input mixers, who like to be microsound, minimal or overtly harsh, but nothing musical, I only know of one equivalent to Myers and that's Marco Ciciliani, who I once saw play a no input mixer in such a musical manner. Great stuff!" [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.monochromevision.ru
|
2007 |
€17.00 |
|
| ARKTAU EOS |
Mirrorion |
CD |
After a long period of unavailability we are proud to release the debut album of Arktau Eos 'Mirrorion - Telegnostic Edition' through our Stellar Mansion series.
Presented in seventeen chapters that can be approached as singular gateways or a slowly unfolding journey of epic proportions, the debut album of ARKTAU EOS is a challenging, complex work. Born of intense private musico-magical sessions held in places abandoned by man and further refined in the temple-laboratory of the duo, it is the distillation of seven arduous months of work.
As the title suggests, 'Mirrorion' is the music of stellar light thrown down from the Heaven's zenith and its eldritch reflections in the depths below, uniting atavistic elemental noise with serene passages of crystalline, spectral ambience. Ultimately, 'Mirrorion' seeks to surpass such earthly definitions in favour of a non-dual vision of reality, hopefully transforming the listener in the process.
For this recording ARKTAU EOS have favoured an organic approach with majority of instrumentation being of acoustic variety, including the unearthly choral of the kanglings, piercings blasts of windbones, accelerating steel-plate rolls, singing bowl and various kinds of stringed instruments.
The album is enclosed in an oversized screen printed cardboard covers including an 8-panel booklet with historical and other additional notes and eight full-colour insert cards within a stamped envelope. Limited to 493 copies.
www.auralhypnox.com
"Das fantastische AURAL HYPNOX-Label aus Nordfinnland mit einem neuen Projekt, das wie HALO MANASH und AOEGA mit dem Labelgründer ANTTI HAAPAPURO verbunden ist. Diese Aufnahmen entstanden (man glaubt es beim Hören kaum) ohne elekronische Soundquellen, sondern nur auf archaischen Instrumenten in spontaner Improvisation & an abgelegenen Plätzen... fliessendes Wässer wie aus tiefen Grotten, Gong-Drones, gutturale Gesänge & Anrufungen, Sounds aus Holz- Wind & Metall, das alles in finsterster, ritueller Katakomben-Stimmung, mal sehr mächtig, dämonisch, mal sanfter & dark ambienter.... dazwischen schälen sich als Auflockerung mitunter instrumentelle dark-Folk-artige Arrangements hervor, aber stets im Rahmen der schamanistischen Noises...
Der perfekte Soundtrack um mit der "Andernwelt", die auch in uns ist, in Kontakt zu treten..." [Drone Rec. info to the first ed]
|
2016 |
€15.00 |
|
| ART BEARS |
Hopes & Fears |
CD |
"New digipak reissue of the first Art Bears album, originally issued by Recommended in 1978. Fred Frith : guitars, keyboards, bass, violin; Dagmar Krause: voice; Chris Cutler: percussion. With: Tim Hodgkinson: keyboards, woodwinds; Georgie Born: Bass, cello; Lindsay Cooper: bassoon, oboe, soprano sax, recorders. "Originally recorded as a Henry Cow album (but eventually assigned to the trio of Art Bears), during the late 70's this grouping made one of the most powerful statements yet in the world of Art-Rock. Whereas Henry Cow showed an inclination to write long-ish compositions interspersed with improvisational aspects, Art Bears' approach combined a more lyrical display, with shorter, extended-song forms. Typically, the word-strong poetry of drummer Chris Cutler was the impetus for the group's recordings. Once written, it was set to music by multi-instrumentalist Fred Frith, (often in a spur-of-the-moment fashion) and was then extrapolated upon and built up by the group during the recording/mixing process in a way that usually validated the lyrical intent.
Hopes And Fears shows the group at its most formidable stage in terms of composition. The pieces are often highly complex, with ideas that zig-zag through a maze of musical imagery, highlighting the group at their peak of virtuosity. Dagmar Krause's vocal prowess is stunningly effective, and the recording itself was edited in a sequence where repeating themes and studio wizardry present the album as a cycle of related, 'songs'. Of the best and most bizarre of the old school of Art-Rock." [press release]
|
2003 |
€14.00 |
|
| ARTEFACTUM |
Sub Rosa (SOLD OUT) |
7inch |
"Drone Records is very proud to present the first vinyl-release of the enchanting ARTEFACTUM project from Poland! Described by herself as "Female Esoterica", SUB ROSA opens a vast space filled with tons of different sounds coming from very far away, as nebulous melodies, whispers & voices & choirs, little clicks & cracks, with soft percussive structures appearing on Side B. The two pieces named ROSA ALBA and ROSA RUBEA (white & red rose) have a strong metaphorical alchemistic background, meaning the end point of all alchemistic transmuations. The overall release including the beautiful artwork gives the impression of an almost fabulous acoustic phantasy, so refined & almost caressing yet secretful at the same time. A record filled with "sonic magic" !
Filed under: Alchemistic Drones / more info: www.myspace.com/artefactum
PINK VINYL. SPECIAL HANDMADE COVERS USING DECOUPAGE TECHNIQUE; COVERS CLOSED WITH A PINK BOWED RIBBON" [label info]
www.dronerecords.de
"...ARTEFACTUM ist eine One-Woman-Show aus Polen. Seit 2001 tritt MERISSA D'ERLETTE in der Regel unter ihrem Projektnamen auf und war in diesen sieben Jahren, bei genauerer Betrachtung, äußerst umtriebig. Sie veröffentlichte eigene Werke auf OLD EUROPA CAFE und BEAST OF PREY, war beteiligt am "Père Lachaise"-Sampler (STEINKLANG und DIVINE COMEDY RECORDS) und an "...Where Tattered Clouds Are Stranding" (THE EASTERN FRONT, Besprechung hier). Außerdem unterstützt sie ihre Landsleuten von HOROLOGIUM und hat bereits diverses Split-Material veröffentlicht, unter anderem mit MOAN und DESIDERII MARGINIS.
Das Interesse von ARTEFACTUM gilt alchemistischen Formeln und Erkenntnissen, die musikalische Umsetzung geht als solider Dark Ambient durch. Besonders gelungen sind einige überraschende Ausnahmen, wie "The Night Waltz In Vienna", einem Beitrag zur Geburtstags-Box von OLD EUROPA CAFE: Hier dominieren weiblicher Gesang und Geige, klanglich in den ersten Jahrzehnten des vergangenen Jahrhunderts angesiedelt.
Als 'Alchemistic Drones' wird die aktuelle Single vom Label einsortiert; Dark Ambient zwar, aber gleichfalls mit Überraschungen und deshalb sehr erfrischend. Die beiden Songs sind zwei alchemistischen Umwandlungsprozessen gewidmet: Die 'Weiße Rose' ("Rosa Alba") beschreibt den Übergang von Materie in reines Silber, die 'Rote Rose' ("Rosa Rubea") in reines Gold. Neben der typischen Atmosphäre von hohen, leeren und unheimlichen Räumen wartet der 'silberne' Track mit einer Reihe von sakralen Elementen auf. Mal wispert ein elektronischer Mönchschor, mal – kurz vor dem Ende der Verwandlung – scheinen sich Engel zu Wort zu melden. Ein Schimmern umgibt das Stück, das wie die hörbar gemachte Schwingung von Steinen, Kristallen oder anderem alchemistischen Handwerkszeug wirkt. Die 'goldene' B-Seite ist aufgeladen mit Energie: Lichtstrahlen treffen aufeinander, Geisterwesen einer Science-Fiction-Stadt halten eine Versammlung ab. Aus dem Gedankengewirr schält sich am Ende ein repetitiver Trommelrhythmus, der natürlich den rituellen Eindruck noch verstärkt.
Sehr angenehm zu hören, dass Dark Ambient nicht immer nur düstere Trostlosigkeit mit viel Hall sein muss. Wer sich für ein paar Minuten auf einen Flirt mit der Alchemie einlässt, kann in zwei Momentaufnahmen von Beschwörungsritualen versinken. Die gestanzten Herzchen auf dem Cover fallen auch wirklich kaum auf." [Michael We. / NonPop]
|
2008 |
€7.00 |
|
| |
Foxglove & Bluebells |
CD |
"Lie down on the soft summer grass, deep in the woods just before twilight, and perhaps you will be lucky enough to encounter some good-natured tiny beings of pleasing appearance.
Under their spell you may want to fall asleep, but you may also want to... dance!
Being one of the very few representatives of what might be labelled as feminine ambient music, Artefactum remains the embodiment of unique characteristics: deep and warm ambient intertwined with sounds of nature, ritual bells, remote drumming and sensual vocals?
in the case of Artefactum you simply can’t mistake the music for any other artist’s work.
Merissa d’Erlette’s new opus “Foxgloves & Bluebells” has at last taken its final shape after five long years since the release of “Rosarium Hermeticum” ? her last full-length album. The music is richer and more varied than anything else she has ever made ? while still within the borders of ambient, the release contains at the same time a collection of beautiful songs inspired by old poetry and mysterious folklore. With wonderful guest appearances from neo-medieval THE SOIL BLEEDS BLACK, British folk singer ANDREW KING (Duo Noir / Sol Invictus) and neo-classical DAWN & DUSK ENTWINED, “Foxgloves & Bluebells” is a must-have release for anyone into esoteric post-industrial music. Released in collaboration by by Old Europa Cafe and Ur Muzik as a 6 pannel digipack and limited to only 300 copies." [label info]
www.oldeuropacafe.com
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| ARTIFICIAL MEMORY TRACE (AMT) |
Boto [Encantado] |
LP |
"ini.itu is releasing a new vinyl LP, composed by Artificial Memory Trace. Artificial Memory Trace is the long standing musical project of Slavek Kwi, who was born in Czechoslovakia, lived for 14 years in Belgium, and since 2000 has been based in Ireland. Slavek has been
making music for more than 20 years under the label Artificial Memory Trace. His works are precise combinations of restructured (mostly) environmental sounds, where the notions of perception, sensation, cognition, and ultimately reality are questioned, notably through the use of musique concrète techniques
and graphics scores, sometimes combined with elements of performance. He has collaborated with many other musicians, working on the articulation of industrial music, field recordings and musique concrète, among them PBK, Brume, Eric La Casa, Das Synthetische Mischgewebe. Since 2007 Slavek has assisted Francisco López in his Mamori workshops in the Amazonian forest, which is where some of the
source material present on this LP originates. Coupled with being a sound artist and composer, Slavek Kwi also facilitates workshops for autistic children, based on sound experiencing.
What Artificial Memory Trace proposes here is 2 sides of “decomposed and recomposed” landscapes and details, mostly centred around the Boto ( Inia geoffrensis geoffrensis ) also known as Amazon River Dolphin or Pink Dolphin. Just as the Boto is rumoured to undergo human-like transformations, most of this record is about transformation: sounds are isolated, cut, scaled up or down, modified and finally reassembled in a delicate and quite peaceful
collage. Slowly twirling around its object, time is taken to examine and explore the environment, including all other sound sources, creating a cubist perspective which is thoroughly unfolded. At times enigmatic, intimate and pastoral, it is a work that will slowly reveal its nuances. For those who need to know, the liner notes include extensive descriptions of the source sounds and a short essay on metamorphic animals." [label info]
www.iniitu.net
"On the backside of this LP you can read: 'you have the choice to consult or not some extra information on the insert. This information would influence they way you are experiencing the sounds. No comprehension whatsoever is required to access this work'. Which is actually something I like. You can choose to take in the information, or not. The information on the insert is printed in mirrored writing, so I am sure if its not really necessary to read it anyway. For the reviewer there is of course a small summary on the press text, and I learn that the sound sources are from the Boto, the Amazon River Dolphin or Pink Dolphin (making it one of the first records on ini.itu to move away from the Indonesian context that the previous records have). This record is another fascinating look in the world of Slawek Kwi, the man behind Artificial Memory Trace. Much of his work sounds like a collage of sounds, long moves and some abrupt changes. None of that on this record. The sounds are just in
long moves, and it seems a bit silent - of course that is intentional. I have no idea how the Boto sounds in the natural environment, nor any clue of the kind of processing applied by Kwi here, and oddly enough the music here sounds like insects, cicadas, chirping at night. A very meditative work, ambient if you will, slowly moving around, revealing some of its beauty only if you turn up the volume a bit more. Maybe also a strange record, for both Artificial Memory Trace and maybe also for the label. In a way I am reminded of the excellent record by Francisco Lopez for the same label. Quite mysterious, but a very good one. One of things were you keep wondering." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2011 |
€12.50 |
|
| |
Where the Language might be born |
CD-R |
"Since April 1999 I have been involved in experimental sound_workshops with autistic children and children with learning disabilities (between 3 - 10 years of physical age) in La Chanterelle School in Brussels in Belgium. My research-practice are focused on perception as the main factor determining our relationship with reality. Our perception of the surrounding world consequently influences our behaviour. Change of perception change of interest [including system of values] impact on behaviour influence on relation with outside world change (re_modulation) of reality... Impressions evoked by sound_workshops interacts with my personal work as a composer, creating direct confrontation. This confrontation became a dialogue, questioning the fundamental nature of communication beyond form, approaching the basic energetic relationship without references, rejecting the experiences of established language as a form of communication and re_building another 'language closer to unspeakable co_existence, closer to the parallel consonance based on mutual careful listening. Through the creation of a personal language, we can attempt to approach each other's worlds gently, without destroying them through ignorance, without imposing our own modes of communication. What is the aim of communication? I am searching for situations which might stimulate the desire to communicate, in a co_existentional sense - being together - where creation is the spontaneous result of such a situation. The aesthetics of language becomes a direct consequence of communication." [label info] |
|
€10.00 |
|
| ASHTORETH |
Rites I & II |
CD |
We’re glad to welcome Belgian artist Peter Verwimp and his shamanistic guitar driven soundscapes. The first instalment for the Rites series touches on the importance of ceremony and ritual in our daily lives. It deals with our interconnectedness with nature as a whole and the necessity to acknowledge and use this connection as an amplifier of thoughts, ideas and emotions. Minimal, meditative ambient drones with layers of meandering guitars and voices mixing elements of doom, drone and ambient experimentation. Rites I & II take a shamanic and animistic approach to our surroundings, unveiling inner and outer visual landscapes, a journey through flesh, sound and spirit.
CD Edition of 500 copies in 6 panels Digisleeve. 2 Tracks. Running Time 37:51
https://cycliclaw.bandcamp.com/album/rites-i-ii
"Slowly but certainly, Peter Verwimp is becoming the forerunner for the new wave of Antwerp ambient. Throughout the years I have seen him perform his enigmatic guitar drones and soundscapes numerous times. From petite venues and living rooms to forests and stages everywhere, Ashtoreth manages to turn everything into a place for rituals and meditation.
I think it was only a matter of time before a quality label like Cyclic Law would become interested in this shamanic approach to ambient. With 'Rites I & II', the first installment of a series, Ashtoreth delivers a long ceremony and a deep meditation.
'Rite I: Earth' opens with heavy guitars and powerful vocals. When I heard these for the first time, I wasn't sure if I was listening to Ashtoreth or to an intro for a Conan album. This is a somewhat different approach from the slowly in-fading soundscapes. But mostly, it immediately grabs the listener's attention for its brutalist approach. Gradually, however, the track evolves. The distortion fades away and other soundscapes appear. They sound like the breathing of the earth. Then, hints of melody appear, in perfect Ashtoreth tradition. In a way, this first track feels like a journey from something bad and scary to a feeling of piece of serenity.
'Rite II: Fire' is somewhat shorter but still long enough to be a narrative drone ambient highlight. It drives on gloomy drones and shamanic voices, a bit like we're used from Peter Verwimp by now, but let that not be a turn-off. This track is downright eerie, a perfect addition to the heaps of dark ambient masterpieces released by Cyclic Law. So yes, this is a stunning piece of work and it comes with equally stunning artwork by GootSlaper. I don't think this needs much more explanation. 'Rites I & II' is one of those albums that deserve a spot in your ever widening and mind-altering collection." [Merchants of Air]
"Here’s an interesting story. There was an amazing Belgian progressive, experimental hardcore band from Antwerp and their name was Maya. Until now, I consider their debut album as the epitome of hardcore progression, an utterly unrecognized gem and one of the most important hardcore albums in the history of the genre! In 2013, I uploaded Maya’s debut via Youtube, as I believed that such a gem deserves the utmost recognition. Not much time passed and I received a message from a fine gent, Peter Verwimp (Building Transmissions, Haunted Places, Station Grey, Stifled Cries) thanking me for that upload and telling me that he played in… Maya! Shocked as I was, he added that he has a new (at the time) project, named Ashtoreth! Much time have passed, people and I’m extremely pleased to review Peter’s new creation.
Ashtoreth – as I read – is in search of a shamanistic perspective, channeling at times: minimal, meditative drones with layers of meandering guitars and at others, a catharsis of doom, drone, ambient, folk, metal, noise and experimentation, always in a free and improvised form. Intriguing, right?
Rites I & II is a two-piece album, clocking at almost 38 minutes. Being heavily based on drones and ambient, it creates a certain space and a holistic appropriation of darkness, a ritual and introverted expedition into a spiritual and organic vastness. Ashtoreth’s sound is penetrating in every aspect: shamanic chanting, energy razor-blades in the form of minimal guitar, a huge embrace of bass driven currents, cathartic and certain. An aesthetic procreation and the well-perceived certainty of exquisite ambient music, that leaves a feeling of void thereafter. Music that delivers plentifully giving one climax after the other! Serene soundscapes with such power and punch!
It’s amazing to hear in this recording elements of Peter’s early works, even before Ashtoreth. The listener faces a recognizable and fine-tuned sound, with very sincere and solid continuance as developed over the years. In Ashtoreth’s case, ambient that – I dare to say – includes in it’s core, amazingly concealed, but present hardcore (!) elements. In fact, many different but related elements merged together, quite skillfully. And the album is presented as a beautifully packaged vinyl and equally beautiful, six-panel CD released by the Berlin based label, Cyclic Law.
Peter Verwimp has become an artist of his very own kind; a self-proclaimed sonic shaman and very well deserving of this attribute. Let us witness and be merry for his wonderful incantations." [Toneshift]
|
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Rites I & II |
LP |
We’re glad to welcome Belgian artist Peter Verwimp and his shamanistic guitar driven soundscapes. The first instalment for the Rites series touches on the importance of ceremony and ritual in our daily lives. It deals with our interconnectedness with nature as a whole and the necessity to acknowledge and use this connection as an amplifier of thoughts, ideas and emotions. Minimal, meditative ambient drones with layers of meandering guitars and voices mixing elements of doom, drone and ambient experimentation. Rites I & II take a shamanic and animistic approach to our surroundings, unveiling inner and outer visual landscapes, a journey through flesh, sound and spirit.
CD Edition of 500 copies in 6 panels Digisleeve. 2 Tracks. Running Time 37:51
LP Edition of 300 copies on Black Vinyl. Matt Lamination and black Paper Sleeve. 2 Tracks. Running Time 37:51
https://cycliclaw.bandcamp.com/album/rites-i-ii
|
2019 |
€20.00 |
|
| |
Rites III & IV |
CD |
Awaited follow up to the 2019 album Rites I & II, we're presented with 2 subsequent aural rituals from Peter Verwimp intricate guitar driven soundscapes. The Rites series touches on the importance of ceremony and ritual in our daily lives. It deals with our interconnectedness with nature as a whole and the necessity to acknowledge and use this connection as an amplifier of thoughts, ideas and emotions. Minimal, meditative ambient drones with layers of meandering guitars and voices mixing elements of doom, drone and ambient experimentation. Rites III & IV expand on the shamanic and animistic path, an ongoing journey through flesh, sound and spirit.
CD Edition of 500 copies in 4 panels Digisleeve. 2 Tracks. Running Time 37:24
LP Edition of 300 copies on Black Vinyl. Matt Lamination and black Paper Sleeve. 2 Tracks. Running Time 37:24
https://cycliclaw.bandcamp.com/album/rites-iii-iv
"Ashtoreth is Belgian Peter Verwimp, and this release is a follow-up to 2019’s Rites I & II. Here, Verwimp uses overlapping electric guitar, percussion, and voices to create menacing soundscapes. Of note is his broad palette for each of these instruments. The guitar provides heavily distorted chords, drones, and brief melodies with cleanly-picked notes. The voices are both male and female, often wordless or unintelligible, and can be beautiful, poignant, or painful. The percussion is largely based on bell-like sounds. This instrumentation blends into a wafting and moody ambiance. Rites III & IV explore humankind’s relation to nature, evoking ancient rituals and a connectedness that is largely missing from the modern world." [Avantmusicnews] |
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
| ASIA NOVA [=ASIANOVA] |
Burns Alive! |
CD |
listen:
https://asianova-avalancheorganization.bandcamp.com/album/burns-alive
"...Burns Alive!" is the live document of this famous act and one of the most important ambient bands from early 90’s (US). Pure bliss and experience. Recorded live during the Pratsayana Tour in 2007. First release appeared in 2008 as CDr on Discorporeality Recordings.
When I first met Jim Wilson and Bonnie Mc Nairn (Aka VOICE OF EYE) we almost immediately formed an experimental noise project called CRUOR after doing an improvised performance live in studio on Scott Sommers "Avante-Garde Show" on KPFT Radio way back in Houston,in 1988. Although CRUOR was short lived, it began a musical association with JIm and Bonnie and my stunning ex-wife, Pamela Passmore from 1990 to 1993 that resulted in some of the best music I have ever recorded with anyone, especially in the improvised,"stream of consciousness", method of 'anti-composition' we always utilized. I don't think we EVER sat down prior to our recording sessions and discussed any kind of planned approach because we wanted things to develop organically and unexpectedly in the music.. However, this potentially made touring quite the interesting proposition when we unexpectedly found ourselves doing a series of 6 ASIANOVA shows across Europe in September of 2007 which of course required that we recreate these wholly improvised works.
If I had been working with any other musicians, this might have become a logistical nightmare. But working with these interstellar compatriots of mine once again even though our last recordings together were so long ago (we did this tour 15 years after the original music was recorded).was like slipping on a really cosmically ancient but familiar pair of boots and wondering why it took you so damn long to wear them again! Especially when they make you feel like you're flying whenever you have them on...
This collection of live tracks from our 2007 tour was originally released in rough form as a very limited edition CD-R back in 2008. This re-release by my wonderful friend Dziugas of Avalanche records is such a miraculous thing to me. If you had told me in 1993 that ASIANOVA would be asked to re-release all our material 30 years after it was created I would never have believed you.
But in fact, this is just the first ASIANOVA work of many to be carefully edited and remastered and are all slated for special re release as a special limited CD edition of 100 copies.
There's even some unreleased Asianova which has never been heard by anyone yet set for upcoming release!... Given the crazy times we are currently living through in 2023, never has the original concept behind the name 'ASIANOVA" been more relevant. Let's hope it's not truly prophetic, though. Let's see no new 'novas' please in Asia or anywhere else on Earth if you don't mind. I'd like the world to stick around awhile yet so we all get to enjoy a deeper capacity for our enjoyment and Love of Life through the Magic of our Creativity.
-Ure Thrall for ASIANOVA
February 26th 2023
https://asianova-avalancheorganization.bandcamp.com/album/burns-alive
"The group Asianova has been around for many years, since the early 90s, and yet, it seems, only have been reviewed once on these pages, in Vital Weekly 528. In 2007 the group toured in Germany, France and Italy, and a year a limited CDR was released from this tour. Asianova is a four-piece in which finds legendary home taper Ure Thrall (mellotron, percussions, loops, voice, electronics), and the duo that makes up Voice Of Eye, Bonnie McNairn (voice, flutes, electronics) and Jim Wilson (guitar, electronics). In the early days, Asianova only recorded at home and never did any concerts, and effectively
was on a hiatus after the mid-90s. They play what they call a stream-of-consciousness sound, anti-composition, and if you know Voice Of Eye's music, then you know where to place Asianova as well. Don't let that Peter Frampton-type title think this is some heavy-duty music, far from it. This is as psychedelic as they come. There might be no composition, and all improvised, but through the long lines of delay pedals, reverb, chorus and what have you, the music here is a long spacious drift. Head or tail, beginning or end, are irrelevant notions for this group. Loopers deliver a guarantee of a continuous sound, and the wordless chanting may have a slightly (or, to some) heavily hippie taste (you can almost smell the incense), but that is part and parcel of the music. I am unsure how the whole improvisation works for them, as only two of the eight pieces are called 'live improvisation', which implies the other six are, perhaps, planned. However, these pieces flow into each other, making
up for seventy spacious minutes of music. There was a time when I thought this type of 'free flow ambient' music was a bit too hippy-dippy for me, but these days I am pretty in favour of such things. Especially when they hit a few cans and get the percussive bits out, things move and roll, and that's excellent. Think zoviet*france or Rapoon, but then sparser and spacier." [FdW / Vital Weekly] |
2023 |
€14.00 |
|
| ASPHODEL |
Aokigahara, the Black Sea of Trees |
LP |
"Aokigahara, The Black Sea of Trees is an abstract visual and sonic story-telling which takes place in a forest located in Mount Fuji, Japan. The forest of Aokigahara, has a world-wide fame for the thousands of suicides which took place there and now has an almost mythological statue.
The forest is spread all through with ephemera and items such as photographs, letters and instruments left behind by the leavers, all untouched due to respect. almost entire forest is covered with long ribbons people used to be able to return if they changed their mind. therefore, the entire land is embodied with the vicarious objects that depict the sense of memory, loss and hope.
The auditory side of this album can be related to musical genres such as ambient and drone, but also of importance to this album is film and film abstraction; the experience of light moving in time, as for example the work of Stan Brakhage. An audio story-telling which derives from the contrast between dark and intense sounds to more delicate and quiet auditory landscapes, where the sense of an intrinsic lament is always present, and stepping into the oblivion gets distilled into pure sensation, that of belonging to life and hope. Asphodel puts an emphasis on the romantic, that of life relived through the forest.
Asphodel is a musical and visual project of Atay Ilgün and Alper Yildirim. Asphodel focuses on textural music and it's combination with experimental film. Atay Ilgün and Alper Yildirim run the Turkish label Wounded Wolf Press."
[label info]
A spooky ambient recording from this Turkish project who conceptually based this album on Aokigahara, a forest near Mount Fuji in Japan which has achieved notoriety because of the large number of people who have committed suicide amongst the trees, leaving behind considerable ephemera of their lives. Notes, pictures, objects all litter the forest floor as the final tracing of a human life. While a cascading horror is evident on the first half of this album, evinced through dynamic, tumultuous roars of caustic rumble and desolate pools of isolated tone, Asphodel conjure a shifting internal drama of emotion not limited to sadness, hope, and loss through flecks of wooden guitars and flutes, eerie reflective modulations from feedback manipulation, disembodied voices crackled through ghostboxes, and a ton of reverb. This is a very complex piece of abstraction that honestly confronts the topic at hand while not forgetting to draw from the existential bleakness in mapping out these very impressive recordings. Originally released on Asphodel's Wounded Wolf imprint as a cd-r, now issued on swank vinyl via Invisible Birds, limited of course. (Aquarius Rec) |
2017 |
€18.00 |
|
| ASUNTA |
Landscapes |
CD |
"Landscapes enthält Klarinettenkompostionen von Slawomir Golaszewski, Begründer und Mastermind von Asunta, der hier von Wojciech Karwacki auf dem Harmonium begleitet wird. Aufgenommen und produziert wurden die faszinierende Mischung von Ethno drones, Ambient-Psychedelia und slawischer New Age in Warschau von Alik Dziki (http://dziki.net), dem ehemaligen Bassisten der polnischen Reggae-Legenden Kultura und Izrael sowie in der Frühphase Mitglied bei den Mystik-Punks von Armia. Die Erstveröffentlichung in Polen war 1996 lediglich eine Kassette-Edition beim Label "Fly Music", der 2001 eine limitierte Cdr-Version beim polnischen "Nefryt"-Label folgte. Diese Wiederveröffentlichung auf Lollipoppe Shoppe stellt insofern die erste internationale Würdigung des außergewöhnlichen Asunta-Sounds von Landscapesdar.
Slawomir Golaszewski ist eine legendäre Figur der polnischen Off-Kultur: Er gehörte 1985 zu den Mitbegründern der mit transzendentaler Wucht und mystischer Poesie agierenden Hardcore Punk- Institution "Armia", auf deren Platten er mehrfach unter dem Pseudonym Merlin mitwirkte, und war zu dieser Zeit zugleich aktiv im Umfeld des sich auflösenden "Teatr Laboratorium" (http://www.grotowski.net) des großen Theatererneuerers Jerzy Grotowskis in Wroc³aw/Breslau (zu seinen Lehrern zählten hier Zbigniew Cynkutis, Zygmunt Molik und Ludwik Flaszen). Grotkowskis Forschungen zum psychophysiologischen Einfluß ritueller Gesänge und die Anwendung auf die experimentlle Theaterarbeit haben Go³aszewskis Arbeit geprägt.
Seit den frühen 1980er Jahren ist Go³aszewski außerdem als Radiomoderator, Journalist und Autor tätig; er hat unter anderem früh die Verbreitung von Reggae- und Rastafari-Kultur in Polen betrieben und mehrere Generation des polski Reggae geprägt. Darüberhinaus war der "musizierende Philosoph" (Alexander Pehlemann, "Zonic" http://www.zonic-online.de) selber künstlerisch in der Szene aktiv. Die Liste seiner Kollaborationen wie auch seiner publizistischen Beiträge ist unüberschaubar.
Über Go³aszewskis künstlerische und esoterische Interessen erklärt sich letztlich auch die Zusammenarbeit mit den ebenso legendären "Atman", einer seit den Mitt-Siebzigern aktive Gruppe von Musikern, die erfolgreich die Integration von Klangkunst und Ökologie betrieben und deren Label "Fly Music" das Album Landscapes 1996 als Kassette veröffenlichte und Asunta im folgenden Jahr auf ihrem "Festival in der Landschaft" (Muzyka w krajobrazie http://pathman.republika.pl) im mittelpolnischen Inow³ódz präsentierten. Mit diesem völlig akustischem Konzert in einer romanischen Kapelle manifestierte sich endgültig die Reputation des Projekts in der alternativen Musikszene Polens.
Nach einer lebensbedrohlichen Gehirnoperation 2010 und Rekonvaleszenz meldet sich Go³aszewski nun zurück: 2012 wurde seine Graphic Novel "Moja Terapia" (mit Zeichnung von Szawe³ P³óciennik, Central Europe Comics Art, http://centrala.org.pl) veröffentlicht und eine erweiterte, 400 Seiten starke und um ein Audiobook ergänzte Neuauflage von Go³aszewskis Schriften zu Reggae und seiner spezifischen Rezeption in Polen von dem Label und Verlag "Manufaktura Legenda" besorgt, das federführend ist bei der Aufarbeitung von polnischer Subkultur ("Reggae Rastafarie - Regementarz" http://manufaktura-legenda.pl).
This release contains clarinet compositions by S³awomir Go³aszewski, founder and master-mind of the project, and harmonium works by Wojciech "Kaktus" Karwacki. Landscapes was recorded and produced by Alik Dziki, former bass player of the Polish Reggae legends Izrael and Kultura, as well as an early member of the mystic punk group Armia. The album was released on tape in Poland in 1996 under project name Asunta on the "Fly Music" label and in 2001 released in a limited edition on Cdr by the "Nefryt" label. Landscapes features a fascinating blend of ritual ethno drones, ambient psychedelia and Slavonic New Age. The cover painting by Lithuanian artist Linas Domarackas was designed for the original release.
S³awomir Go³aszewski is a legendary figure of Polish off- and counter culture. In 1984/85 he co-founded the seminal punk rock group Armia and contributed to their albums under pseudonym Merlin. At the same time he was active in the shadow of Jerzy Grotowskis's dissolving "Teatr Laboratorium" in Wroclaw/Breslau (Zbigniew Cynkutis, Zygmunt Molik, and Ludwik Flaszen being his teachers). Grotowskis's research on rituals, its psychophysiological impact, and his expanded concept of theater has coined Go³aszewski's artistic work.
Since the late 1980's, Go³aszewski is active as a radio presenter, journalist and author; among other things he was crucial for the early popularisation of Reggae music and Rastafarian culture in Poland and thus influencing an entire generation of fans and musicians alike. His contributions both artistic and publicistical to the Polish alternative music scene are numerous. His artistic and esoteric quest also lead to the collaboration with the legendary Atman group, a collective of musicians dealing with the integration of sound and ecology. The group's self-managed label "Fly Music" released Landscapes in 1996 on cassette. In the following year, Atman also invited Go³aszewski to present his project at their Music in the Landscape Festival [Muzyka w krajobrazie] in Inow³ódz, a small medieval village in central Poland. This entirely acoustic performance in the Romanesque St. Giles church in Inow³ódz in July 1997 brought Asunta lasting reputation among Poland's alternative music circuit.
After a life-threatening brain surgery in 2010 and a period of convalescence Go³aszewski is back and active again: 2012 saw the publication of his graphic novel "Moja Terapia" (with drawings by Szawe³ P³óciennik, Central Europe Comics Art) as well as a 400-page volume of his collected writings on Reggae music and Rastafari culture published by "Manufaktura Legenda", the leading label and publisher for the reappraisal of the legacy of Polish subculture." [label info]
www.lollipopshop.de
|
2013 |
€12.00 |
|
| ATARAXIC ATAXIA |
Shadow Sea |
CD-R |
Reissued from a very limited CDr on Side of the Sun Recordings, more than half a decade ago, Ataraxic Ataxia is a duo of electronics and violin by Dominick Dufner and Nicole Pizzato. Unlike many combos like this, there is a unique delivery of organic, true industrial noise mannerisms that only could have come from this configuration. It is not simply the dialed in ambiance of strings. The beauty and grit of this release is not only palpable, but also sort of regenerating and constantly transforming. The rest is enshrouded in mystery. Ataraxic Ataxia has done a recycled cassette on RRRECORDS and a few low profile releases, like an extremely limited 3 inch CDR that comes with a post card from the 30s, for instance. Dufner's solo project, Sigulda, was absolutely thrilling at Neon Marshmallow Fest in 2010, using MINIMAL electronics. This application with the expert use of string instruments by Nicole Pizzato is not to be missed. 49 minutes.
https://nopartofit.bandcamp.com/album/shadow-sea
|
2016 |
€8.00 |
|
| ATKINSON, FELICIA |
Hand in Hand |
do-LP |
Félicia Atkinson's new full length album ‘Hand In Hand’ is an expanded development of her musical compositions started with the highly-acclaimed 'A Readymade Ceremony' released on Shelter Press in 2015, and follows her collaborative effort with Jefre Cantu-Ledesma 'Comme Un Seul Narcisse' (Shelter Press, 2016).
Composed over the year of 2016 at EMS during a snow storm and at home in Brittany, Hand in Hand could be considered as the most ambitious body of work recorded by the French musician and artist.
Doubt and Optimism are the two sides of a same coin. Hand in Hand is arid and warm in its whole synchrony and opposition. Days are burning and nights are made of ice. Coyotes are exchanging sounds with rattles snakes while bunnies are hiding. Strident modular sounds are tearing apart minimal beats and drones. The stories told by A Voice to the auditor are no longer fictions and become slowly reality.
Electric waves transmitted by living creatures and machines seem to deliver special sounds and frequencies that only non-human can hear. They grow and vibrate despite of the walls and interdictions. Therefore, the human who is listening to this record might find in it a particular kind of emotion a way to take space in silence, and frame a certain vision of thinking while losing a certain notion of time, acknowledging step by step its universal environment. Plants, galaxies, animals, machines, Hand in Hand.
This record is meant to be a moment of common thinking and listening in its diversity and abstraction. In the same way a sci-fi novel by Philip K. Dick or a sculpture by Guy Mees can be percieved: trivial, sensitive and mysterious at the same time.
The opening track, I’m Following You is a bleached romantic ballad for Fender Rhodes that could be the ending title of a Martian love story, whereas Visnaga praises the resources of a desert plant through asmr voices, field recordings and evasive chords. A House A Dance A Poem is a feminist hymn composed as a pyramidal structure, referring in the same time to the A-frame houses, the yoga position of the triangle, the first letter of the roman alphabet and the feminine sex. In the closing song, No Fear But Anticipation, Atkinson offers an open hearted plea about the existentialist necessity of finding desire even when the times seem too dark to think about it. A telepathic and non-scholastic anthem for Don Delillo, Joan Didion and Jean Paul Sartre. The final Buchla sounds that close the record seem to deliver an unspeakable message that only birds and aliens could transcript.
The echo of the 80’s sci-fi anxious aethetics resonates with today’s transparency of digital sounds in the whole record. The cohabitation of simple midi textures and historical Serge and Buchla signals are convoked and confronted together by A Voice. The human instrument appears here as the epicenter of the recordings, giving to the others instruments a gravitational point.
Joan La Barbara, Robert Ashley or Delia Derbyshire are the main influences of Atkinson in their own way of inviting fiction, composition and abstraction as the essential materials of composition. For Hand In Hand, Félicia Atkinson used different sources for the lyrics and scores of her tracks: house plant instruction books, Desert Magazine old issues, architecture manuals, JG Ballard and K. Dick’s books, as well as her own poetry.
https://shelterpress.bandcamp.com/album/hand-in-hand
|
2017 |
€25.00 |
|
| ATKINSON, FELICIA / RICHARD CHARTIER |
Ni envers ni endroit que cette roche brulante |
LP |
listen:
https://portraitsgrm.bandcamp.com/album/ni-envers-ni-endroit-que-cette-roche-br-lante-pour-georgia-o-keeffe-recurrence-expansion
Félicia Atkinson: »Ni envers ni endroit que cette roche brûlante (Pour Georgia O’Keeffe)« (2021)
Félicia Atkinson’s Ni envers ni endroit que cette roche brûlante (Pour Georgia O’Keeffe) is approached as a meditation, not as meditative music, but as a reflection on the art of creation: how to inhabit one’s creation, how to convey it, domesticate it and live with it. Drawing inspiration from the artist Georgia O’ Keeffe, both in her work as a painter and in the houses in which she lived in New Mexico, and even in the landscapes that surround them, Félicia Atkinson has composed a piece that evokes and celebrates, in a poetic and holistic way, the mystery of art, the somnambulic oscillation that accompanies the act of creating. Blending fragmentary voices, islands of piano, electronic textures and patterns, and field recordings, Félicia Atkinson’s music is sincere and inspired, a meditation, then, but also a lesson we sometimes forget: being an artist is not an activity, even less a profession, it’s a singular way of approaching the world and, in so doing, densifying it.
Richard Chartier: »Recurrence.Expansion« (2020)
Richard Chartier’s music takes up residence at the frontiers of the audible, on the edge where sound diffracts into an inter-dimensionality where sounds, space, listening and silence recombine in an arborescence of becomings that present themselves to us and then disappear. The space-time in which Richard Chartier’s music unfolds is a stretched space-time, barely emerging in the world of sound. The delicacy, precision and accuracy of the composition Recurrence. Expansion lies precisely in this dialogue between a shape that is exposed and developed in an inspired and masterful way, and the sonic biotope in which this shape develops. It is from such an encounter that the singularity of Richard Chartier’s music emerges, music of attentive listening, but also sensitive, inhabited music, a music of discreet metamorphosis.
|
2023 |
€20.00 |
|
| ATOMINE ELEKTRINE |
The Antikythera Mechanism |
CD |
"A container of all the knowledge about the universe. The motion of the gears deeply intertwine a link between micro- and macrocosm. A mechanism that simulates cosmology and senses characteristics of an eclipse, with color, size and associated winds.
Define a question, and there will be a calculated answer, even capable of astral divination. Is it an all-seeing eye, or perhaps something beyond even that; a magic entity capable of creating the cosmic events that it is supposed to measure and foretell.
If so, is it by nature auspicious or ominous. Or is it merely a representation and extension of ourselves and our senses, trying to reach both the celestial and the intrinsically unobtainable.
Winter-Light warmly welcomes Peter Andersson to our label, with his 'Atomine Elektrine' project and a stunning new studio album 'The Antikythera Mechanism'.
Here we are invited or compelled even, to delve deep into the intricacies and finely tuned mechanics of this mysterious, all-encompassing machine.
Infinitely extending it's influence across multi-dimensions of time and space, constantly calculating, cogs ever turning, gears whirring, mapping, learning, storing and moving ever onwards. Leaving in it's wake, a vast ocean of unimaginable cosmic events, left to ripple through time until they too fade away to become yet another click in the eternal cycle of 'The Antikythera Mechanism'.
Difference between the CD/Digital and vinyl version
'The Antikythera Mechanism' has a small degree of randomness built-in to the sounds which means that the output of each rendering becomes slightly different. The tracks on the vinyl are of a different rendering than the tracks for the CD/Digital version. This is a natural glitch in 'The Antikythera Mechanism' and it is more or less noticeable.
The sounds are the same but the positions in the sounds are time offset in an arbitrary mode. Any further inequalities are due to the fact that a different mastering technique has been utilised for the vinyl version, than for the CD/Digital version.
As well as there being a different final rendering for the vinyl version, the DLP also comes with an additional and exclusive track, which clocks in at 19:52."
https://winter-light.bandcamp.com/album/the-antikythera-mechanism
"This mechanism Peter Andersson is referring to in the title of the new Atomine Elektrine offering is considered as the first analogue computer. The device was constructed by the ancient Greeks to predict future astronomical occurrences and phenomenas. Even this day it’s an object of scientific researches and studies as its technological sophistication is still unexplained for XXI century scientists and scholars. One of the greatest enigmas in the history of mankind and… what an inspiring theme for a dark ambient artist to explore through music.
It’s not a secret that Peter is a truly versatile musician within the electronic underground, always efficient, no matter if he seeks more noisy approach or more atmospheric one. Atomine Elektrine was born of his fascination of science and instead of wandering through lost cathedrals and desolate wastelands we explore the secrets of space and quantum physics. Clearly, it’s not just the words in the titles and press releases, but the music is unlike his other projects as well. For 25 years the foundation of Atomine Elektrine sound was the use of analogue synthetisers, the old-school instruments cherished by the German masters from the 70s. His music was constantly developing over the years, in all projects, apart from Atomine Elektrine also Raison d’etre, Necrophorus, Bocksholm and several others. Often the inspirations were morphing one through another (for example Necrophorus’ “Imprints” has a one hundred percent Atomine Elektrine vibe), but in general high quality is practically always guaranteed.
I have to admit that while my favourite Peter’s “non-raison” release is “Drifting In Motion” by Necrophorus, it is Atomine Elektrine I value the most as a whole. Maybe not exactly the very first albums, like “Elemental Severance” where it was Jean Michel Jarre a godfather rather than Klaus Schulze, but “Nebulous” or “Laniakea” are very frequent guests in my CD player, up to this day.
Can’t declare today that “The Antikythera Mechanism” will also regain its place in my personal pantheon of all Peter’s releases as it is quite crowdy over there, but yes, it is good, it is goddamn good! The opening dark space of “Arcturus Alpha Boo” made me think of the cosmic vacuums generated by some of the Loki Foundation maestros as the deep rumblings and the feeling of an infinite expanse made me feel small and irrelevant. It calms down after a few minutes and brings a mystery of a titular mechanism to the forefront. From the universe entirety to this tiny device that can capture its secret.
I’m in love with “Metonic Spiral”. You know why? Because it’s like taken straight from “Drifting In Motion”, those delicate synth passages combined with weird bubbling and swirling sounds recall the atmosphere of that masterpiece. Yet while that one had this overwhelming aura of sadness and solitude, in “Metonic Spiral” I hear… a hope that the wonder of what hides behind the ionosphere can be comprehended by the human mind. That feeling is intensified by the second half of the track where these slow melodies and analogue sequences take it one step closer to the old-school German electronica.
In the following track, “The Exeligmos Pointer” all these rhythmic pulsations may recall a working mechanism, while the majestic background textures compliment the structure as a subject of that work. They’re huge and beautiful, they can be compared to the sun/moon eclipse, watched by you, predicted by the device. Subtly disturbing “Time Dislocated By The Mechanism” is. It may sound bizarre, but this piece have something in common with what Penjaga Insaf did on their “Sama Sadja”. While conceptually both projects couldn’t be more distant one from another.
The organic aura of “Epicylic Gearing” is represented by these cyclic sequences, coming and going, pulsating like a bloodflow, later that bass rumblings appears, like a heartbeat. And that simple repeated melody, combined with the mentioned elements develop a tremendous track, which brings another name to my mind. Predominance. Remember that one? Yes, as you can see, that Loki reference few paragraphs ago wasn’t accidental.
Such albums like “The Antikythera Mechanism” deserve an epic ending, yet one must have in mind that Peter Andersson doesn’t really like to finish his albums with a bang. “Fragment F” is not a praise of a human mind, the awe of its endless powers and capabilities. No, it’s a cosmic space, quiet, soulless, without beginning nor end.It’s like the blackest shade of black, it’s probably Peter’s most oppressive finale since “The Eternal Return And The Infinity Horizon”.
And probably one of his best works, at least within the last couple of years. This reference may sound funny, but he’s like Stephen King of dark ambient and I know that a lot of folks grumble that “it’s not the same, his older novels were classic and now he’s just reaping the benefits of his older efforts.” Not true, “The Outsider” or “Sleeping Beauties” are as good as the novels from his so-called “golden era”. Same goes with Peter Andersson, I heard more than once that what he does now is not the same as 20-25 years ago. Wrong. Don’t let nostalgia speak for you. He’s still in a very good shape and the astounding sound of “The Antikythera Mechanism” is its brightest, or rather darkest example." [Santa Sangre]
|
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| AUBE |
Reworks Stefano Gentile II |
CD |
"Second part of the Collaboration between AUBE and the SILENTES & (ex-AMPLEXUS)-runner STEFANO GENTILE, with 4 long movements (almost 70 minutes). Let us describe only the first track in detail, a long movement of beautiful waving drones which change their tone & colour from time to time, the waves begin to overlap more and more and slowly from new textures and overtunes appear out of nothing, also in waves... the other 3 movements use different sounds and textures, but have the similar hypnotic character of pure drone-streaming shimmers. One of the most meditative AUBE-works we know, highly recommended!" [Drone Rec.]
www.silentes.net
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Re-Chant (SOLD OUT) |
7inch |
the prolific AUBE-project surprises the listener with a complex and threatening work based only on a female voice - great!
"LIMITED+NUMBERED FIRST EDITION OF 250 COPIES.
PINK VINYL, WONDERFUL FULL-COLOUR HANDMADE ART-COVERS.
THIS OUTSTANDING MUSICAL PROJECT FROM JAPAN HAS BEEN WORKING IN THE DOMAINS OF FEEDBACK & MINIMAL NOISE FOR APPROXIMATELY 4 YEARS.
AUBE HAS RELEASED SEVERAL CASSETTES ON HIS OWN LABEL G.R.O.S.S. TAPES; FURTHERMORE THERE HAVE ALSO BEEN 5 CD-RELEASES IN THE MEANTIME.
AUBE TENDS TO USE ONLY ONE SPECIFIC SOUND-SOURCE TO DESIGN A WHOLE RELEASE. AUBE'S MUSIC CONSISTS OF A DRONING ENERGY WHICH RESEMBLES EARTHQUAKES AND WHICH CAN AFFECT YOUR WHOLE BODY.
ON THESE RELEASE AUBE WORKED WITH THE VOICE OF A JAPANESE FEMALE - WHICH WILL ASTONISH YOU ONCE YOU HEAR THE FINAL RESULT:
TWO ENERGETIC AND THREATENING PIECES OF CONCRETE SOUNDSCAPES MIXED UP WITH SCREAMS AND OTHER STRANGLEY EFFECTED HUMAN OUTBURSTS - SO INTENSE AND CHALLENGING YOU WILL NOT ABLE TO IGNORE WHILE LISTENING!
YOU WILL SHIVER WITH COLD WHEN AUBE'S MUSIC APPROACHES YOUR EARS!
" A MASTER-PIECE OF DE/RE-CONSTRUCTED MUSIC "
DRONE RECORDS DR-16/ DECEMBER 1995
|
1995 |
€ |
|
| AUDIBLE PAIN |
Phase 4 |
CD-R |
Structered analogue (sometimes) harsh noise from this project from Hamburg, very dry and electronic sounding, no digital edits it seems... a very classic approach, but well executed.
Comes in handpainted / handmade cover, sealed and numbered.
www.reduktivemusiken.de |
2002 |
€8.00 |
|
| AUTOPSIA |
Karl Rossmann Fragments |
CD |
Sehr kryptisch ausgerichtetes Werk mit 20 "Fragmenten", gewidmet dem tschechischen Komponisten und Maler KARL ROSSMANN. Auf der Innenseite des 7"-Covers ein interessanter philosophischer Text über die Beziehung von Fragmenten und Gesamtheit, musikalisch oszillierend zwischen rein experimentell-elektronischen Figuren und wirren Cut-Up Collagen, die auch auf instrumentellen (Klassik)-Klänge basiseren. Anspruchsvoll Klänge, partikelig und von grosser Variabilität. Und anstatt eines klassischen Presse-Textes gibt es von AUTOPSIA zur Veröffentlichung Zitate von KARL ROSSMANN, THOMAS MANN und ADORNO: "About Karl Rossmann: VARIOUS ILLUSIONS ARE FORMED, THAT OBSTRUCT US FROM PERCEIVING THE REALITY OF VOIDNESS, WHICH IS THE BASIS OF THE TRUTH. Karl Rossmann 1922.
Art is mind, and mind does not at all need to feel itself obligated to the community, to society, it may not, in my view, for the sake of its freedom, its nobility. An art that goes in unto the folk, which makes her own the needs of the crowd, of the little man, of small minds, arrives at wretchedness, and to make it her duty is the worst small -- mindedness, and the murder of mind and spirit. And it is my conviction that mind, in its most audacious, unrestrained advance and researches, can, however unsuited to the masses, be certain in some indirect way to serve man in the long run.
Excerpt from Thomas Mann's Doctor Faustus
The language of music is quite different from the language of intentionality. It contains a theological dimension. What it has to say is simultaneously revealed and concealed. Its Idea is the divine Name which has been given shape. It is demythologized prayer, rid of efficacious magic. It is the human attempt, doomed as ever, to name the Name, not to communicate meanings.
Quasi una Fantasia, Essays on Modern Music, Theodor W. Adorno, 1956 " [label info]
"... By another accident a few days I got the latest CD by Autopsia, which seems to be dedicated to the life and work of one Karl Rossmann, who was apparently a painter, composer and writer from the Czech Republic, but in these internet times I am not an easy believer when it comes to people who "destroyed as much evidence of his existence as he could find". On the Autopsia website we see him mentioned as one of the 'few truly original Czech composers of the last century'. Its a bit hard to understand all of this, in relation to the music playing in the background, the 'Karl Rossmann Fragments'. But
strangely enough it comes close to the work of serious modern electro-acoustic composers from France - to complete the circle. The twenty fragments are short, almost 'pop' in length of electronically processed sounds, reverb, drone like sounds, and pitches that go up and down, but it cleverly stays away from the long form that we usually find in this part of the music world. Each fragment seems to have a life of its own, completed, finished, and, despite the word 'fragment', a finished composition. This new Autopsia work is hardly alike the work they are best known for, the sampled orchestral bits, even it at times seems to have sampled strings and percussion. Perhaps its all a bit much this release to take in at once, clocking in at over seventy minutes and with a lack of variation here and there, but half today and the other half tomorrow is quite nice to work with. " [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.myspace.com/karlrossmannprague
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| AWARE |
Requiem for a dying Animal |
CD |
In outer space, music does not exist. Only in a thin layer of atmosphere, wrapped around the planet earth, humans can live and breathe. With all their power and creativity, they have exploited and eradicated an unspeakable amount of fellow animal beings. As Arvo Pärt once put it: also with music, you can kill – because with music, you touch the medium of life, the air itself. In this sense, music is not condemned to express the inner life of homo sapiens.
Instead, humans are affected by music, because the material world, out of which music is born, is susceptible to suffering. Perhaps that would be the meaning of mono no aware – the compassion (aware) of beings. The question then is not: are they intelligent or not, can they speak or not – the fundamental question is: can they suffer? If the answer is yes, we are one with them. So instead of imprinting an image of ourselves in the air, music arises when the atmosphere is handled with care. If we succeed in that, maybe, we can be forgiven.
Requiem for a Dying Animal is the second album of Alexander Glück on Glacial Movements Records, after his debut in 2017, The Book of Wind.
Music by Alexander Glück, Mastered by Taylor Deupree at 12k.
Thanks to Alessandro Tedeschi.
Design by Rutger Zuydervelt.
Cover Photo: The First Swedish Expedition to Antarctica 1901-1904. Motiv of crew member Åkerlund in Snow Hill holding a puppy. Unknown author. Swedish National Museum of Science and Technology.
https://glacialmovements.bandcamp.com/album/requiem-for-a-dying-animal |
2023 |
€16.00 |
|
| B.E.F. |
Music for Stowaways |
LP |
The first reissue of seminal early 1980\'s electronic recordings from the British Electric Foundation (B.E.F.), aka HEAVEN 17 / ex-THE HUMAN LEAGUE\'s Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh, with Adi Newton (CLOCK DVA / THE FUTURE), and John Wilson (HEAVEN 17), originally a cassette-only release (1981).
Following two groundbreaking albums (\'Reproduction\' and \'Travelogue\'), the original line-up of Sheffield-based The Human League split in half in late 1980. The two primary musicians in the group, Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh, formed a new production company - the British Electric Foundation (B.E.F.) - and signed a deal with Virgin Records to write and produce up to six albums a year. The artists they were to produce would include Heaven 17, their own new band formed with vocalist Glenn Gregory.
B.E.F. would also release their own material, commencing with the music on this collection, which was issued in various permutations in 1981-82. Its initial release in March 1981 was a limited edition numbered eight song cassette entitled \'Music for Stowaways\', with \'Stowaways\' being a reference to the original name for the then-new Sony portable cassette player - later renamed the Walkman - of which B.E.F. were great fans. \'Music for Stowaways\' was intended to be listened to on such a device. The cassette was followed by a seven song LP, \'Music For Listening To\', which had a slightly different tracklisting, while other B.E.F. music was utilised for B-sides of early singles by Heaven 17.
This music was among the first recorded by Martyn and Ian directly after their departure from The Human League. Some tracks had evolved from other recordings they were working on at the time, such as \'Groove Thang\' - an instrumental version of the debut single by Heaven 17 - and \'The Old At Rest\', which derived from a version of \'Wichita Lineman\' by Jimmy Webb, their very first recording with Glenn that would subsequently appear on B.E.F.\'s \'Music of Quality and Distinction, Volume One\' covers album in 1982.
Supporting musicians on \'Music For Stowaways\' included Adi Newton of Clock DVA (who had been a member of The Future with Martyn and Ian pre-Human League) on the track \'Uptown Apocalyse\', with John Wilson (who provided incredible guitar and bass for Heaven 17) appearing on Groove Thang.
The innovative sounds heard on \'Music For Stowaways\' were an inspiration to many aspiring electronic artists. In 2015, Uncut magazine included it in a list of the \'50 Greatest Lost Albums of All Time\'.
credits
released April 21, 2023
\"One of the most innovative and important electronic albums of all time\" Electronic Sound
★★★★ Mojo
★★★★ Record Collector
★★★★ Classic Pop
8/10 Uncut
All tracks composed, arranged, performed and produced by Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware for the British Electric Foundation, except for:
Uptown Apocalypse - written by Ian Craig Marsh, Martyn Ware, Steven James Turner (bass) and Adi Newton (synthesizer).
The Optimum Chant - produced by B.E.F. and Glenn Gregory.
Groove Thang - features bass and guitar by John Wilson.
B.E.F. Ident - composed and performed by Malcolm Veal in the style of Bach/Purcell.
license
all rights reserved
https://coldspring.bandcamp.com/album/music-for-stowaways-csr310cd-lp
|
2023 |
€23.50 |
|
| BAD SECTOR |
Storage Disk 2 |
CD |
Zweiter Teil der Anthologie mit raren Tracks vom italienischen Kult-Projekt, die beweisen dass Massimo Magrini auch auf Compilations und "kleinen" Releases nur hochwertiges veröffentlicht hat; inklusive 4 unveröffentlichen Stücke von 2002, und wieder im besonderen WAYSTYX-Design!
"2nd part of rare tracks anthology. Contains material from: "Planar Energy" picture 7" (Smallvoices), "Scrignum Vitae" box with CD and objects (Old Europa Cafe), "Ten Years Of Madness" 2 CD (Achtung Baby!), "Land:[Schaft]" 2x10" (Cold Lands), "Hover" CDr (Bastet Rec.), "L'Ame Electrique Presents Old Europa Cafe" (Ame Electrique) + 4 previously unreleased tracks recorded in 2002." [Zhelezobeton]
"...The Waystyx label focuses on Industrial based music, drones and field recordings. Behind the Bad Sector-project you find the Tuscanny-born artist Massimo Maggrini who has been active under the Bad Sector flag since 1994 with the debut cassette release "Ze" on the Slaughter Productions label followed by the CD-release "Ampos" on Dutch label God Factory in 1995. Since then it has resulted in an extensive number of releases on various labels with quite a few on the Waystyx label. Present album titled "Storage disk 2" is a compilation of later materials of Bad Sector from the period 2002-2005. The overall expression is quite dramatic combining industrial sound spheres with more downbeat ambient. Despite the downbeat expression approaching the tranquilizing sound of melancholic ambient, there are masses of industrial elements combined with interesting noisy and state of the art electronics added elements of manipulated guitars and processed human voices. The music of Bad Sector is intense and very atmospheric. Thus a pleasant overview of earlier materials from a talented Italian artist calling himself Bad Sector. Intense!" [NM, Vital Weekly]
www.waystyx.com
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Raw Data |
mCDR |
"active for almost twenty years, massimo magrini/bad sector has a solid discography with many releases on respected labels such as old europa cafe, waystyx, drone records, afe records or blade records.
recorded in 2006, these short tracks were originally released as an interactive webpage in 2007. they were remastered and re-shaped especially for this 3" in january 2010. massimo says about "raw data": "the goal was to create interesting soundscapes that have no link to human manufacts/intentions: they just sound like directly recorded from sort of special, non musical device. only apparently cold, their macrostructure is so complex that a top-level macrostructure is totally unnecessary"." [label info]
www.taalem.com
"Bad Sector has been going for some twenty years now and had a lot of releases on labels as Old Europa Cafe, Waystyx and Drone. Although sometimes placed among the industrialists of a darker kind, I always thought the music of Bad Sector (the brainchild of Massimo Magrini) was quite interesting. The pieces here, eleven in total, were first released on an interactive website, but remastered for this release. It seems to be entirely made from computer data, and have a cold clinical feel, with a great dynamics in sound. Deep bass sounds, high end frequencies, looped around, seemingly without much story. Cold but fascinating stuff. Things bump and collide, and then disappear as black holes." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2011 |
€5.00 |
|
| |
Xela |
LP |
Despite the existence of Massimo Magrini's project since 1991, Bad Sector has rarely been released on vinyl. There have been a few 7 inches and one 10 inch released back in the Nineties. Now is the time for the very first vinyl in 12 inch format! Xela originally appeared on CD in 2001 and contained an edited and remastered version of a backing tape from a 1996 festival performance in Berlin, that was curated by Staalplaat.
Especially mastered for vinyl, Xela is everything that the specific sound of Massimo Magrini stands for. Deep droning waves echoing through the abyss are underpinned by minimalistic archaic rhythms and processed radio transmissions, creating an inexplicable mystery of beautiful and timeless sound sculptures.
100 copies in clear vinyl.
200 copies in black vinyl.
The cover artwork is based on photographs by Stefan Alt.
www.loki-found.de
|
2017 |
€16.00 |
|
| BAD SECTOR / CONTAGIOUS ORGASM |
Vacuum Pulse |
CD |
Re-Release des vergriffenen Tapes von 1996 (OEC 083), zu dem wir damals bemerkten: "Wer beide Gruppen kennt, hat mit solch einer Kollaboration sicher nicht gerechnet! Was dabei herauskommt (kein Split-Tape, sondern gegenseitige Bearbeitung von Basic-material), liegt fernab der für beide Gruppen typischen Sounds: mystische Sphärenmusik durchmischt mit konkretem Material, Samples, etc..die eine Seite CONTAGIOUS ORGASM beeinhaltet Contagious'sches Material bearbeitet von Bad Sector, während auf der BAD ORGASM - Seite genau umgekehrt vorgegangen wurde..." klasssse..
Re-released now, back in stock for a SPECIAL price !
“....From a mere description, this could end up sounding like every other drone and ambient noise release you own, but the fact is that nothing can account for the sheer depth and richness of the sounds on offer here. Everything has an almost organic quality to it, the drones sounding so liquid and deep that they take on a life of their own, both separate and a part of their generative technology – an otherworldly symbiosis of life and machine that stems directly from science fiction. It is hard to distinguish the two different artists’ efforts from one another, as their approaches to sound and composition are so alike, especially when focussed towards this common theme. It is, then, almost the perfect collaboration, each artists’ talents serving to enhance the other’s and producing a work that is not far removed from their usual output, but that has that elusive X-factor of genius and serendipity that quickly ranks this as a classic of modern music. Nearly indescribable, highly recommended. [Gavin Lees, Immanence Records]
label: www.oldeuropacafe.com |
2002 |
€12.00 |
|
| BAKER, AIDAN |
The taste of Summer on your Skin |
mCD-R |
Like a warm summer breeze. Drei anmutig schöne, hauchzarte Drone-Stücke vom Kanadier in der Taalem-Reihe... eine sanft-magische Seelenmassage...
“ I'm not sure Aidan Baker really needs an introduction. Also a member or the tribal-ambient trio Arc (remember "13th" we released some months ago), he has built an impressive discography in a few months, releasing his beautiful drone/ambient guitar-ish music on every interesting label (Mystery Sea, DTA, S'Agita or The Locus OF Assemblage to name but a few). Of course we couldn't not be part of (smile !). So here is "the taste of summer on your skin", "a melodic, shimmering multi-instrumental drone track" as Aidan describes it himself.
"Aidan's approach of instruments is that of an emotional paintbrush, breathing the air all around, soaking into its scents, the subtle tonal vibrations & colours to reach a sort of pure unreducible moment ofcommunion...” [press release]
|
2004 |
€5.00 |
|
|
Green & Cold |
CD-R |
Hier zeigt AIDAN BAKER seine Songwriter-Seele: er singt, sehr sanft, flüstert manchmal eher, dazu spielt er "richtige" Stücke, die aber durchaus experimentelle Anwandlungen und "Dronifizierungen" erfahren... ultra-sanfter dream'n'drone songwriter-Pop mit viel Emotion, auch das gelingt AIDAN wieder traumwandlerlisch & sicher...
"The innovative master of ambient guitar returns with a breakthrough album. At its core 'Green & Cold' is a a mix of drone, post-rock, and what the artist calls appropriately "deconstructive dream-pop." Memorable hooks combine with Baker's trademark huge wall of guitar constituted atmospherics. Baker's shoegazey croon floats among the stuttering clicks and cuts permeating the layers of catchy riffs and slow, intoxicating beats. As 'Green & Cold' unfolds the listener is coaxed familarly inward only to be washed over in waves of wispy, warming drones: An album of uncommon intelligence and artistry." [label info]
"Aidan Baker is back, still vying for the most prolific man in show business award (well, at least underground, free drone show business) with a double shot of washed out dreamy droniness. There's the latest from Nadja, reflecting his more metal side, and then there's this, the follow up to last year's Pendulum, which was a fantastic slab of glistening disembodied dronemusic. Green & Gold follows suit but with an interesting twist. Vocals. Lots of 'em. Baker is no stranger to singing, his whispery croon has graced more than a few of his releases, but on G & G, the vocals are a big part of the songs, and the songs are actual songs, with drums, and verses and choruses and everything. Well, sort of.
Some tracks, like the untitled opener, are indeed still just wispy slow shifting expanses of fuzzy dreamlike sound, which we can NEVER get enough of, but others, like "Chainsaw", are actual lowercase, slow motion, dark and dolorous slowcore pop songs. Simple murky guitar riffs, wreathed of course in all manner of reverb and soft focus fuzz, hovering over stripped down shuffling rhythms, while Baker croons softly over the top, a hushed almost whisper, sounding not entirely unlike Iron & Wine's Sam Beam actually. Even the music sounds a little like a blissier tarpit version of Iron & Wine. There is some definite twang there, subtle, but it's there, nestled amidst the delicate folky strum and the glistening sonic glimmer. Imagine an
even more somnambulant Low, or Spacemen 3 at 16 rpm, a ultra druggy
(druggier?) Galaxie 500, each track a pop song mumbled and murky, a moonlit crawl through a hazy landscape of shuffle and shimmer, of strum and twang, all wrapped up in soft swirls of shimmer. Essential for fans of all things Jeck and Tim Hecker and Jasper TX and Machinefabriek and Grouper and Troum and Main and the like, but also worth a listen for more adventurous fans of Iron & Wine, Spacemen 3, Galaxie 500, Low and other slowcore drugrock dreaminess..." [Aquarius Records]
label: www.gearsofsand.net
|
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Liminoid / Lifeforms |
CD |
"While Alien8 Recordings has had the pleasure of releasing three full-length albums by Aidan Baker's ambient doom project Nadja, as well as his collaborative effort Fantasma Parastasie with Tim Hecker, this marks our first solo release with the artist. Although we consider Liminoid/Lifeforms to be a solo effort, there are in fact no less than eight guest musicians helping out on the recording. These include Canadian noise legend Knurl (a.k.a. Alan Bloor) who has been released three times on Alien8 Recordings prior to this recording, as well as members of Arc, Picastro, Forest City Lovers and Whisper Room. Liminoid is a composition for large ensemble exploring sonic immersion in drones and textures, rhythms and pulsations. Incorporating composed and improvised segments, the piece uses elongation of sound and layered polyph- ony in an attempt to create a liminal and/or numinous state. This recording of Liminoid is from its premier at The Music Gallery's X-Avant Festival in Toronto, October 25, 2008. The piece features a powerful vocal performance with every member sharing the vocal duties. The lyrics have been adapted from 5th-8th century Coptic Christian texts and inspired by the book Ancient Christian Magic by Marvin W. Meyer & Richard Smith. The ensemble members for this performance were: Aidan Baker (guitar/ voice), Clara Engel (guitar/voice), Nick Storring (cello/voice), Jakob Thiesen (drums/voice), Richard Baker (drums/voice), Tillman Lewis (cello/voice), Laura Bates (violin/voice) and Jonathan Demers (guitar/voice). Lifeforms is a composition for strings, prepared/effected guitar, and amplified metal works. Likewise incorporating written and improvised material, the piece was originally commissioned and performed by The Penderecki Quartet in 2003. This recording was made in August 2008 at Commonwealth Studios in Toronto. The performers were: Aidan Baker (guitar), Nick Storring (cello), Mika Posen (violin) and Alan Bloor (metal works). This recording has been both skillfully mixed from multiple recordings and mastered by James Plotkin." [label info]
www.alien8recordings.com
"The latest from the always impressive, and always prolific Aidan Baker, who creates thick wall of sound doomgaze in the duo Nadja, and much more personal, hushed drone music under his own name, but more and more has been expanding his scope with various collaborations and large ensembles. This might be the biggest ensemble he's worked with, 8 players, all contributing vocals, three guitars, two drummers, violin and two cellos. And it does sound like what you might imagine, a sort of Aidan Baker drone record / chamber music
hybrid, long languid tones, plenty of cymbal shimmer, the strings moan and sing, the sounds ebb and flow, swelling ominously, building to
swirling crescendos, before slipping back into something more minimal and contemplative, "Liminoid" is split into 4 movements, and is about as close to classical music as Baker has come, at least in the first part, the second part shifts gears dramatically, transforming into something more jazzy and propulsive, a sort of krautrock thing, but with a jazzy slow shifting Necks vibe, eventually building to a dense tribal workout, before slipping into part 3, all shimmery blissy drift, soft focus and sun dappled, the drums an understated slowcore
shuffle, leading up to the 15 minute final movement, where the vocalists team up for a haunting bit of choral drama, which explodes
into full on free jazz freakout wall of sound, finishing off with a long form spaced out drone jam, that definitely reminds us of a super
stripped down White Hills, psychedelic and washed out and very hypnotic.
The second piece, the nearly 30 minute "Lifeforms" is a smaller ensemble, Baker on guitar, with violin, cello and 'amplified metal works', the metal works had us expecting something clangy and bombastic, but instead, it's almost all warm whirling ambient shimmer,
much more in keeping with Baker's solo sounds, near the end, the sounds shift, and the strings move to the fore, weaving dramatic melodies over the slow burning drone underneath, the result very cinematic. Quite nice." [Aquarius Rec.]
"One of my favorite noise albums, "Frequency LSD" by Japanoise artist Masonna was released on Alien8 Recordings in the mid-90's. With this in mind, and in combination with the release of present two albums, there shouldn't be any questions about the the great span of styles released by Alien8 Recordings - Canada's probably most interesting label of the underground. Aidan Baker is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist and sound artist that creates music in the field from post-rock across drone ambient to modern classical. His latest release "Limonoid / Lifeforms" roughly comes across all aforementioned styles. On the album Aidan Baker has allied with concrete noise artist Alan Bloor alias Knurl / Pholde, Richard Baker on drums plus a number of other acoustic members on instruments such as cello, violin and guitars. As the title suggest the album is divided into two main sections: A section called "Limonoid" consisting of four intersections and the long and final piece titled "Lifeforms".
"Limonoid" is as mentioned earlier an interesting crossover between neo-classical chamber music, noise-rock, post-rock with associations of earlier Krautrock (first of all Amon Düül I + II) and neo-folk with elements of middle-age expressions. Quite interesting and very trippy psychedelia with vocals from Clara Engel is what the first four chapters of the albums presents. But in my opinion, the true gift is the second main section of the album titled "Lifeforms". "Lifeforms" is a lengthy piece clocking approximately 30 minutes. Where the aforementioned section was a crossover of a number of styles "Lifeforms" mainly focus on ambient-expressions but with clear interventions of classical instruments such as violin and cello meanwhile aforementioned noise artist Alan Bloor controls his usual ultra-aggressive sound equipments being amplified steel and metal as sound sources into more subtle and very attractive noise drones. The piece is quite repetitive with a long hissing drone of amplified strings but with organic interventions of concrete sounds of aforementioned instruments. Halfway though the track, hissing drone fades away giving way to more plain acoustic ambience until another drone appears. The atmosphere is hypnotic and very intense through out the running time of the piece. Very interesting album showing the wide span of Aidan Baker." [NM / Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Lost in the Rat Maze |
CD |
"Aidan Baker needs no introduction: this prolific Canadian classically trained multi-instrumentalist has generously contributed to the doom/drone/ambient genre. Nadja, Arc and Whisper Room are just a few of his manifestations.
As a solo artist he also composed quite an impressive backcatalogue. Consouling Sounds is proud to add another release to that list, as we're quite confident this one will stand out in this discography.
With Lost in the Rat Maze Aidan Baker produces an unconventional album - even to Baker-standards. Having been known for his extensive ambient soundscapes, Baker chose a different approach to his sound weaving - albeit true to the "Bakersound".
In stead of a densely layered and broad sound palette, Baker has almost embraced a "postrockish" method of composing. More compact, pointed and clear progressions can be discovered, together with a diverse array of instruments, sounds and techniques. Expect the classic Aidan Baker elements: captivating, fascinating and repetitive mesmerizing sounds - but with a different twist to it.
Limited to 900 copies." [label info]
www.consouling.be
"Over the last years Aidan Baker has proven to be highly prolific, which resulted in a large catalogue of releases, of which many are solo, but also with his bands Nadja, Arc and Whisper Room. It also brought him some fame, so that his recent releases are on CD and LP only. To be honest, I didn't keep up with all of his releases, only dipping in when it lands on my desk. Consouling, a label from Belgium, tells us that this is an unconventional album in such a way that its not the massive layers of guitar sounds and effects, seemingly waving on end, but in stead its a more compact sound and somewhat shorter pieces, eight in the timespan of fifty some minutes. Baker plays electric & acoustic guitars, electronic drums (provided by Richard Baker), vocals, piano, flute and tapeloops. The music is still highly atmospheric, as one could expect from Baker of course, but somehow it all seems a bit more opener, with 'more air' as it where. Instruments fly in and out, sometimes held together with the tick of drums, sometimes stuck in a loop of unknown kind, with the guitar(s) neatly tinkling away. Surely still a matter of improvising freely around a small set of themes, but Baker doesn't explore them ad infinitum, and rather just for a few minutes. Nicely spacious head music. A new form of old psychedelic music. Trippy." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Pure Drone (Drone Compendium One) |
LP |
"The album title certainly does not deceive. But there is something absolutely worthy about AIDAN BAKER’s (NADJA) approach to drone composition. He employs a subtle, patient counterpoint that offers an appealing spaciousness when played loud. The music is utterly enveloping, seemingly forcing the listener into a meditative state (Do not operate heavy equipment while listening, unless that heavy equipment is speakers or a spaceship). The compelling organic majesty of these 2 long tracks wafts deep oceanic. Pure drown. One time vinyl edition of 400 copies packaged in custom made book bound sleeves and 180 gram vinyl." [label info]
www.blrrecords.com
|
2011 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Origins & Evolutions. A Composition for multiple Guitars |
CD |
"Aidan Baker returns to INSTALL with a appropriate follow up to his 2009 record 'Dry'. For this one Aidan has brought some friends along to create an immersive composition for multiple guitars recorded by guitarists from all over the world and assembled by Aidan himself. 'Origin One (Drone)' starts the record with a layered, dense drone that sets the frame work for the record. Further on the composition descends quickly into the obtuse with 'Evolution One (Percussive)' and 'Evolution Two (Chime Drone)'. The record is brought full circle by the ending piece 'Origin Two (Melody)'. Limited to 300 replicated CDs in full color 4 panel eco-wallet.
With Guitarists:
Jon Attwood, Aidan Baker, Mick Barr, Bryan W. Bray, David Daniell, Jonathan Demers, Richard Graham, N, JF Sebastian, David Tagg, Velladon Vampillia, Slash Vampillia, Matej Volgar, Brian Wenckebach, Nigel Wright." [label info]
www.installsound.net
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Aneira |
CD |
"Aidan Baker is a multi-instrumentalist, classically-trained in flute, but best known as a guitarist. Using various electronic effects combined with prepared and/or alternate methods of playing the guitar, he creates music which generally falls within the ambient/experimental genres but draws on influences from shoegaze and post-rock, contemporary classical and jazz. Over the course of the last decade, Baker has released numerous recorded works, both solo and with his duo Nadja, plus various other musical projects, on such labels as Alien8 Recordings, Important Records, Die Stadt Musik, and Broken Spine Productions. He is also the author of several books of poetry.
Baker has collaborated in-studio and live with such artists as Tim Hecker, Carla Bozulich, Jessica Baillif, Noveller, OvO, members of The Jesus Lizard, and members of Swans. He has also composed for and performed with such contemporary classical ensembles as The Penderecki Quartet, The Riga Sifonietta, and The Monday Morning Singers. Baker has toured extensively around the world and appeared at such international festivals as FIMAV, SXSW, Incubate, and Mutek.
Aneira (Welsh for 'snow') is one long, slowly changing piece created using only a 12-string acoustic guitar, manipulated and played with different tools, as a sound source in order to make sounds resembling that of ice moving or breaking and of wind or snowstorms. Aidan Baker also wrote a poem about Aneira, that will be inside the digipack.
Tracks List & info notes
1. Aneira (47:33)
Release Date: 03/25/2013
Cat. Num: GM017
Edition: 500 CDs digipack" [label info]
www.glacialmovements.com
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Dualism |
do-CD |
After different collaborations between Aidan Baker and other musicians, we are finally presenting you the first solo release by Aidan Baker on Midira Records. We are very proud to bring you this little piece of art called “Dualism”.
The album starts like an untamed beast with dark drone and doom sounds and it morphs into a very gentle floating ambient body. Aidan plays guitar, bass and drums, what makes the tracks sound structured but also disengaged at the same time. The all-instrumental tracks have Nadja-like moments when the sound is darker and doomy and then they transform to beautiful melodies and rhythms. So you can hear the album moving from darkness to light, from heaviness to easiness and from interlaced to clear textured. Sometimes you feel like dancing, sometimes you feel like head-banging, sometimes you feel just relaxed and all sounds and moods fit perfectly together.
The album is based on the theory of dualism. A theory enfolding several books and explanation, including different meanings. That´s what Aidan Baker thought about the Dualism theory referring to this recording:
“Dualism in philosophy refers to the theory that the mind and body are different things and while the body is necessarily part of the physical world, the mind (and thoughts) may or may not be associated with a physical, concrete reality… and the notion of a ‘consciousness bridge’ is the way one might attempt to bridge the gap, so to speak, between body and mind.”
We thought that is a nice concept, but then something unforeseeable happened. The Dualism theory overgrew the whole release project. After we decided to press the music on CD, the master tapes got lost. We were talking about what we can do, because everything was set up to be released. So Aidan Baker decided to re-record the album. After he recorded the album, the original recordings showed up again by coincidence. So we had two Dualism albums sounding completely different, both worth to be released. We decided to release both sessions as Session A and B. A circumstance fitting perfectly into the dualism theory. Then we were waiting for the CD to be finalized with a matt finished artwork. The parcel arrived from the plant, but accidentally with glossy artwork. We started to believe that there is a hex of dualism covering this project. But finally, we finished the album with 2 CDs and a handsome matt lamination.
To perfect the album package, we added a letterpress inlay including a poem by Aidan Baker (from Passing Through) and an antithetic version of the cover artwork. Manufactured by Letterjazz with some very old letterpress machines.
Some more dualism trivia in this context: The alphabetic characters A and B of both sessions does not only fit to the artist name but also to the name of our contact person at the letter press studio. Dualism fortuity.
Dualism comes as a double CD album in an edition of 200 copies housed in a 6 panel digipack, including a letterpress inlay on 650 gram LeNaBoard (grey cardboard).
|
2016 |
€18.50 |
|
| BAKER, AIDAN & JAKOB THIESEN |
A Bout de Souffle |
CD-R |
"keine intros, keine outros, kein einfaden, dito raus. mit schöner brutalität mitten ins geschehen: das platten manchmal unvermittelt anfangen ist so manchmal ja nicht unbedingt; bei einzelstücken sogar noch mehr; eine ganze platte, bei der jedes stück sich darstellt, als bekäme hörer und -in immer nur einen (besonders interessanten?) ausschnitt eines (unbekannten?) gesamtwerks präsentiert, ist dagegen alles andere als die regel. vielleicht habe ich das in dieser konsequenz das letzte mal allen ernstes auf der "guitar" von frank zappa gehört (auch eine gute platte, übrigens), die mal eben lässig nur die gitarrensoli zusammencuttete. hier also aidan baker mit jakob thiesen (drumkit, percussion, processing; auch in kanada tätig, auch ambient-ping-posse) und ausschnitten (zwischen 4.33 und 10.39 min) aus "sporadic sessions", die, live aufgenommen, von aidan baker gemixt und, ganz offensichtlich, gelayert wurden, so wie er es beispielsweise bereits bei der "at the base of the mind is coiled a serpent" getan hatte. mit einem entscheidenden unterschied: das, was aidan baker und jakob thiesen hier vorlegen, verlässt die reine drone oder ambient schiene oder zumindest deren engere definition und geht durchaus in richtung "arc", einer weiteren (gruppen)aktivität von aidan baker: #1 + #7 mit rollendem, (nicht nur fast) groovingem bass, sehr deep im untergrund schiebend, die percussion tief eingebettet, die darüber liegenden gitarren oft (!) akustisch und bei ausschnitt #2 z.b. in einem laid-back bluesfeel (nicht erschrecken, vertrauen in aidan baker hat sich doch bisher fast immer ausgezahlt) mit archaisch marschierender rudimentär-percussion und x-ebenen darüber und dahinter. der elektro-akustische eindruck und die verwebung einer vielzahl von ebenen, innerhalb derer mal nicht ausnahmslos flächen generiert werden, um diese dann gegeneinander laufen zu lassen, sondern wo eine diktatur der mikroereignisse herrscht (listen to #5, "the end of breathe 2", dann weist du was ich meine), die sich zu einem 3D kosmos ergänzen und, egal wie hibbelig das einzelne sein mag, im zusammenhang dann eben doch einen grossen, fast meta-zusammenklang schaffen, dieser eindruck bleibt auf voller lauflänge erhalten und lässt zumindest assoziationen in richtung oren ambarchi's "sun" zu, deren ebenfalls mysteriöse elektro-akustische melange eine sehr ähnliche stimmung evoziert wie eben "a bout de souffle". und noch mal die #5: lang vorbereitet, dieses kippen um die 10.00 und perfekt in die #6, "take a breath". keine ahnung, ob die familienzugehörigkeit der titelgebungen genau dieses phänomen unterstützen soll oder ob zufall: weite teile der 7 tracks nehmen mit ihrem ende bzw. anfang bezug aufeinander; eine weitere rätselhaftigkeit dieses releases, werden doch die abstände zwischen den tracks auch dann eindeutig als pause markiert...
ein überraschendes kollaborations-release im schicken digipack mit naturinspirations-makrozoom-coverbild, angeraut durch kontrastkorrosion. + übrigens: auch am ende keine fade-out gnade..." [Hellmut Neidhardt, www.unruhr.de]
"A Bout De Souffle is a 54 min Collaboration between Aidan Baker (who is also known as Nadja together with Leah Buckareff) and Percussionist Jakob Thiesen (who recently joined baker live on stage to play live drums). Aidan baker is famous for his experimental guitar music. This time things are a bit different. You wont find the typical aidan baker drone stuff here, but instead both men created an incredible journey through the fields of krautrock, Psychedelic and drone music. The Percussion of Jakob Thiesen adds a certain deepness to Bakers guitar explorations were he also uses bass and acoustic guitar to build an mind blowing album full of surprises and wonderful melodies." [label info]
"Waterscape is a new label, owned by Martin Fuhs, whom we also know as Seconds In Formaldehyde and it's mission is to release ambient music made by guitars. The first release is by Aidan Baker, our highly productive guitarist, who teams up here with Jakob Thiesen, who plays percussion, like he did on 'Desire In Uneasiness' by Nadja. Despite his many releases, Baker is a man to find new forms and shapes. On this release things are more experimental and improvised as opposed to being the more ambient player he is on some of his earlier solo releases. Baker tinkles away, sending his guitar through his many devices while Thiesen supplements nicely with percussive sounds, but it's more a supportive role than an active one or playing a 'solo' himself. The ambient element is not entirely gone, as much of it stays on an equal dynamic level and could perhaps pass on as a sort of rough shaped mood music. Nice stuff." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.waterscape.de
|
2008 |
€9.50 |
|
| BAKER, AIDAN & TIM HECKER |
Fantasma Parastasie |
CD |
Die beiden ungekrönten Könige des kanadischen Drone-Ambients in Kollaboration! Trotz ihres sehr unterschiedlichen Backgrounds (der eine v.a. analog mit Gitarre arbeitend aus der Jazz & Impro-Szene stammend, der andere mit rein elektronischem Hintergrund eher aus Techno & Noise-Gefilden) treffen sie sich in einer fast undefinierbaren "Mitte", wobei unklar bleibt wer wessen Material bearbeitet hat oder ob es zu real-time Zusammenspielen kam. Frei flottierende Gitarren-Drones, teils ultra-sperrig verfremdet, teils subtil & beruhigend, dann wieder ausserweltlich und überbordend. Sehr variantenreich und ausufernd. Ungewöhnlich auch die Indexierung auf der CD: Die 7 Stücke verteilen sich auf ganze 66 Indexe!
"Fantasma Parastasie sees the pairing of Aidan Baker, of the ambient doom band Nadja, and Tim Hecker, two of Canada's brightest musicians in the world of abstract electronic music. Tim Hecker has been enjoying the rewards of a stellar career and discography, devoid of filler, due to his incredibly high quality control. His full-length Harmony In Ultra Violet was viewed as a major release in the genre of experimental electronic music. Aidan Baker, on the other hand, works under very different circumstances, releasing material both as a solo artist and as a member of the duo Nadja. His prolificacy is on par with that of Merzbow and the late Muslimgauze. Thankfully, Aidan Baker is one of those musicians with the ability to record and write new music quickly and without sacrificing the quality of his art. Anyone familiar with both Aidan Baker and Tim Hecker is more than likely familiar with Alien8 Recordings as the two musicians have collectively released seven records for our label thus far. While Baker has collaborated with the likes of John Duncan, Black Boned Angel and Fear Falls Burning, among others, this marks the first collaboration to be released by Hecker. This release, divided in eight movements, blends together to form a fluid example of a collaboration that works. Unlike one of those collaborations where artists throw some sound files back and forth via the internet, this release is the fruit of various real-time recording and mixing sessions the two artists worked on in Tim Hecker's Montreal studio. The pieces on the record blend seamlessly into one another, creating a deeper listening experience, as is the case on a number of Tim Hecker's solo outings. While Baker and Hecker share a penchant for creating a powerful blend of ambient noise, Fantasma Parastasie finds the more dissonant elements tempered by an emphasis on ambience and even occasional melody. This release is available on CD in a digipak packaging." [label info]
"... But somehow, the sounds on Fantasma Parastasie manage to transcend, allowing glimpses of familiar sounds, hints of each
artist's own work, but woven into a whole that is unto itself, a gloriously abstract swirl of sound, longform landscapes of bliss and blur, of buzz and even roar, extended movements, in which the various elements drift and shimmer, overlap and intertwine, melodies and songcraft meet texture and soundscapery, guitars unfurl tangled melodies one second, bleary eyed chordal blurs the next, harmonics glisten and hover amidst deep soft swells, distortion and buzz build into fierce walls of blown out psychedelia, the sounds crumbling and
decaying before our ears, threatening to collapse, and in this fragile state lies the beauty of those sounds, effulgent, incandescent, but at the same time, blackening, beginning some unnamable process of inevitable decay. And eventually it does decay, those thick roiling sounds dissipate, leaving something soft and shimmery, glistening on a
bed of shed buzz and crumbled crush, floating heavenward, its notes and melodies catching the sunlight, and offering up prismatic reflections.
The strange thing about this record is that each song is separated into super short pieces, eleven in most cases, each part between 15 and 45 seconds (it's obviously much more noticeable on the cd). We tried listening to it on shuffle, presuming that was perhaps the intention, and while it still sounds cool, it was a bit too and took too much away from the overall effect. Instead, the various parts, played in order, slip seamlessly into one another, so much so that if you weren't watching the tracks tick by on player, you
wouldn't even notice.
The two work amazingly well together, bits of guitar, fragments of riffs, looped and repeated, swathed in thick smears of digital
crunch, of buzzing rumble, much of the record sounds like a heavier William Basinski, as if the two were experimenting with they own
Disintegration Loops. A few of the tracks are quite tranquil, abstract and minimal, but for the most part, Baker and Hecker seem more
interested in distressed sounds, in distortion, in pushing the limits, composing in the red, needles pegged, but taking what in other hands
could be harsh and abrasive, and crafting those sounds into something simultaneously soft and dreamlike. Even the various movements, drift
smoothly into one another the entire record almost like a single piece, expansive and varied and sprawling, epic and majestic, but
inward looking, introspective, melancholy, imbuing the crumbling crunch and blown out minimalism, with emotion, with distinctive mood, at once dark and mysterious, but also strangely hopeful.
The album closer and title track, is the only one not split up into movements, and is easily the most abstract, the most minimal, a
stretch of lugubrious low end, so soft, so weightless, a hushed musical murmur, no distortion, no buzz, just a simple swell and sway, drifting fading, and finally disappearing.
Absolutely breathtaking."" [Aquarius Records review]
www.alien8recordings.com
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| BAKER, AIDAN (WITH RICHARD BAKER) |
Smudging |
LP |
"Backwards proudly presents a new Aidan Baker vinyl LP, issued in a edition of 450 copies. For this release AIDAN BAKER, co-founder of Nadja and member of Arc, is aided by his brother, Richard Baker, at drums. Recorded variously in Toronto and Berlin, 'Smudging' includes six songs comprised in two long epic tracks, with guitar textures and hypnotic rhythm structures to create a beautiful and dreamy listening experience. In the wake of his most experimental and characterized by dilated atmospheres works, as it happened for example in "The Sea Swells A Bit...", Aidan Baker is back to exercise his hypnotic power on the listener. The guitar drones succeed one another, alternating with more rhythmic and structured brackets, thanks to the involvement of Richard, who divides his time between more consistent raids, which almost tend to evolutions near to improvisation (as in "Sweetgrass 1"), and softer and occasional interventions which leave full space to the landscape drifts created by Aidan with his guitar effects and enveloping electronic sound-carpets (as in "White Desert Cedar").
"Smudging" is a work that, both in the execution and in the structure of the six tracks that comprise it, represents another confirmation of the stylistic code reached by the eclectic Canadian musician, who's determined in his aim to drag the listener, with extreme elegance, into the multiple parallel worlds created by his unlimited sounds. Another excellent album from this marvelous artist!
"Smudging" is released as a limited edition of 400 copies in a beautiful designed sleeve. First 45 copies come with an original painting done by Aidan Baker; each one is unique." [label info]
www.backwards.it
|
2012 |
€15.00 |
|
| BAKER, AIDAN / NOVELLER |
Colorful Disturbances |
LP |
"aidan baker ist hier einfach wolfgang voigt: gas, bei einem der reinen ambient stücke ohne beat. ungefähr genau so viele schichten statischer akkorde und weit, weit unten / hinten passiert dann doch dauernd etwas. und erst viel später merkt man, dass auch die statik nicht statisch ist... perfekter nachschub für alle, die genau diesen typischen, weit ausgebreiteten sound an ihm (und anderen) mögen. sarah lipstate ist mit ihrem instrumentarium auf der gleichen baustelle unterwegs; hier auf der split-LP mit „under the color cave" und „white rabbit" jedoch intimer im sound und etwas kammermusikalischer, dabei in den einzelsounds auch konkreter als aidan baker. melancholisch, abwartend, die gitarre wie ein cello. unbedingt empfohlen und trotz split zweier unterschiedlicher künstler und trotz der unterschiedlichen soundhaltung homogenes ganzes. schönes cover auch, dessen finesse sich erst beim genauen hinschauen erschließt (und hier, in der abgebildeten größe, nur durch hochgedrehte kontraste) und: sehr gute vinylqualität dann auch noch." [N, Unruhr]
"Guitars warped so hard they dissolve into pure consciousness! Seriously, this record had to happen because these two are the NOW of transcendental guitar weirdness. In families like ours where deformed music of one kind or another pours out of the speakers all day long, Toronto's Aidan Baker is a household name. He is no doubt one of the most imaginative experimental musicians of the new generation, quickly creating a universe of limitless sound with his bursting discography. He offers this record an extensive piece which mixes drone, texture, and an ever-bowing foundation -- imagine the sound of falling backwards... forever. The new blood on this split is guitarist Sarah Lipstate from Brooklyn, New York (aka Noveller). Sarah's prepared twin guitar works up a slow hypnotic force, gently pulling way out to the furthest deep end of pulses and patterns. Beautiful repetitions effortlessly skirt over a dark undercurrent. A+++ listen. Edition of 600 copies." [label info]
www.divorcerecords.ca
|
2009 |
€14.00 |
|
| BAKER, AIDAN WITH CLAIRE BRENTNALL |
Delirious Things |
LP |
An album of cold wave, synth pop inspired tracks, released on limited LP from Pleasence Records and limited CD from Gizeh Records. With guest vocals by Claire Brentnall (of Shield Patterns). Mastered by Brandon Hocura.
www.pleasence.com
www.gizehrecords.com
https://aidanbaker.bandcamp.com/album/delirious-things
"Aidan Baker is a classically trained flutist and a self-taught multi-instrumentalist. He is a Canadian musician who currently resides in Germany. Baker is prolific and his music wide-ranging, but central to all his releases is a practice in deconstruction as he explores experimental sounds and tones based primarily, but not exclusively, in guitar. Brentnall, who joins Baker here on some tracks, provides vocals and is a member of the experimental duo Shield Patterns. On Delirious Things, Baker explores his ambient side, primarily with interludes, but his pieces with Brentnall evoke 80’s style dark-wave, post-punk, cold-wave, and shoegaze. The pair work as a wonderful duo, with Baker’s acumen at creating emotive soundscapes playing alongside Brentall’s angelic and otherworldly vocals.
The album opens with fuzzy tones and tapping drums. “Delirious Things” is slow and sparse, with an almost drone-like quality. Brentnall instantly mesmerizes with her vocals as she sings hypnotic lines over Baker’s guitar playing in your right ear. Another guitar enters the mix in the left as the bass plays in stereo. The mix gives it a brilliant depth and a sense of conversation between the instruments. Percussion has a thick layer of reverb as the fuzz still is the floor of the track. Backward tracking plays among the fuzz as the layers begin to peel away to leave a rather inorganic tone. “Interlude I (Shivers)” begins with a high-toned synth sound and various bright layers that dance around it in variations. It is brief but beautiful piece. “Dead Languages” begins with more reversed tones and a humming line floating above them. Electronic drums kick and dark, fuzzy tones come into the speakers creating a dark-wave mood. Brentnall’s ethereal vocals are given a different feel in this darker space. They are angelic but are almost dissonant against the march of a moodier background. The darkness of it all is unrelenting and Brentnall’s vocals a constant force of light throughout.
“Interlude II (Tongues)” has an almost eerie voice floating around in it with backward tones over a bright drone. The voice moves from speaker to speaker and comes into the mix at different volumes. There are shimmering tones, almost like a drop falling into water and then creating a ripple effect. Slight fuzz rumbles underneath but never quite makes it above the surface. “Interlude II (Tongues)” flows into “Wingless” without pause. Swirling synth rises to create a very subtle wall of sound and then the percussion and guitar kicks in. This track feels most like post-punk 80’s music, with a Siouxsie Sioux meets Cocteau Twins vibe. Brentnall’s vocals create an almost desperate feel or at least one of earnest longing. The bass work provides a consistent backbone which also has an almost Hooky/Gallup feel. Eventually, the keys soar and begin to bury Brentnall under a swell and then the synths play out as a drone, winding down into an osculating tone. “Interlude III (Wax)” brings fuzz back into prominence, but the guitar work is bright and the fuzz no long ominous in any way. If Baker proves anything, it’s that he can take tones, place them in other contexts, and then completely redefine how they feel. Warm, deep rumbles flutter in and out of the speakers, creating and immersive experience.
“Always Leaving” has a slightly reverbed bass playing at first, repeating a singular note. Electronic drums bring in that 80’s feel and the bass line then becomes more expressive and complex. There is a Roxy Music vibe floating around in this piece that is just exquisite. About 3 minutes in, Brentnall’s vocals come leaping forth and they are the most prominent they are on the whole album. Baker clearly knows how to mix vocals because they move in and out of speakers as Brentnall sings various pieces simultaneously as if in conversation, echoing one another here and there. It creates a pleasing array of angelic, ethereal vocals that blend together to create a choral feel. As the title suggests, there is a longing here and perhaps a sense of loss in both the vocals and the feel of the composition. “Shivering” is the finale to Delirious Things and it begins with a bright, aggressive fuzz that has several layers to it. A comforting hum floats among the prickly sounds and sparse percussion punctuates the soundscape. The track begins to take form and then moves back into buzzing drone territory as it pauses before resuming and Brentnall begins to sing. The pace of the piece is medium tempo but there is an urgency to it as the vocals swell and move up and down in volume. “Shivering” reaches its outro as synths hum, buzz, and crackle until there is silence.
The duo of Baker and Brentnall is one made in heaven. After spending many hours with Delirious Things, my hope is that there will be much more of this collaboration to follow. Baker’s compositions move from ambient brilliance to dark-wave decadence, changing the backdrop to Brentnall’s angelic, ethereal, and otherworldly vocals throughout. Context, if anything, proves to shape the feel of her vocals here and Baker is a master composer, giving Brentnall a myriad of spaces in which to interpret her vocal prowess. Delirious Things is a gorgeous album demonstrating Baker’s compositional expertise and Brentnall’s ability to evoke deep, emotional moments with her captivating voice." [Jason / Somewherecold] |
2017 |
€16.00 |
|
| BALDINI / BIGAZZI / FERRI |
Alfabetiere Majakovskij ! |
BOOK + CD |
"Alfabetiere Majakovskij!" is another piece in the trans-media (and also trans-publishing) project conceived by Arlo Bigazzi and dedicated to the futurist poet. Initially conceived as a musical reading with and for the actress Chiara Cappelli - who edited the translations from Russian - it then became the double album "Majakovskij! Il futuro viene dal vecchio ma ha il respiro di un ragazzo" (Materiali Sonori), which includes a CD with the theatrical sequence in which, among others, musicians such as Blaine L. Reininger, Mirio Cosottini, Mirko Guerrini and Guido Guglielminetti took part, and one with instrumental versions of some of the pieces.
Subsequently, the book "Majakovskij! Cantata per Vladìmir Vladìmirovič" (Editrice Zona) was published, containing the text of the play, short essays on Majakovskij by authors such as Francesco Forlani, Luciano Del Sette, and Mirco Salvadori, two graphic novels drawn by Riccardo Cecchetti and Monica e Zeoli, and five poems that were not included in the play. As other pieces of this ever-changing work, eight videos published on the web and even two t-shirts and six art prints from the graphic novels were made.
With the participation of the photographer Lucia Baldini, the "Alfabetiere Majakovskij!" was created for Silentes, interweaving Bigazzi's original project with the Alfabetieri published by the photographer: real self-produced art creations for her “domestic publishing house”, In Alto Edizioni, artist's books produced in limited editions, numbered and signed.
The characteristic of these original editorial works is that each title is built on the sequence of an alphabet where each letter that composes it, is associated with a word or a short phrase that dialogues with an image that is not immediately clear. In this case, however, with Chiara Cappelli, the characters have been defined and expressed not in the succession of the Cyrillic alphabet but by creating a different sequence, matching the individual letters with whose included in the line of the poem "Ascoltate!". For this volume, the photos were taken using various Samsung smartphone models, using a modified app.
If Lucia Baldini's photographic alphabet is freely constructed on the verses of Majakovskij's poem, the music was created by deconstructing five tracks from the double CD, where - by freely intervening on Bigazzi's music - Flavio Ferri reworked and constructed new and unexpected sound paths. Given the harmony that arose during the creative process, the two went even further, creating "L'Alba del 28 Febbraio" and "Poeti Estinti". As Mirco Salvadori - who contributes to the project with an in-depth prologue - wrote, "the music that emerges is purity that contaminates and seduces at the same time. Musical passages that pass through the trajectories of the dream are impregnated with the substance that supports it and expand to infinity in a listening experience that would aim to be unlimited. They break down the barriers of what has already been heard and immerse themselves in the poetic-dreamlike matter using highly effective electro-acoustic mixtures, succeeding in bringing to life the images and phrases that our gaze tirelessly continues to observe."
|
2022 |
€25.00 |
|
| BALDRUIN |
Portal |
LP |
"Baldruin, the nocturnal brainchild of Johannes Schebler, came into life in 2009 and instantly a unique surrealistic sonic topography was mapped out: through the dense undergrowth of synthesizer sounds and various misty noises a more and more detailed world of sound revealed itself with every new release during the past six years - full of bells chiming, voices calling, pipes whistling and seductive percussive elements. Accordingly Baldruin's music has a very cinematic quality recalling the psychic soundtracks of Goblin, the feverish exotica of Jodorowsky's „Holy Mountain“ or the occult “Themes“ of Psychic TV. „Portal“, Baldruin's first vinyl release, follows this musical path in somnabulistic certainty
towards a slighty more airy horizon. The journey's not come to an end yet, „Portal“ opens a new chapter in the ongoing saga of Baldruin's Bavarian Gothic." [label info]
https://baldruin.bandcamp.com/album/portal
https://vimeo.com/137260451
https://vimeo.com/138391110
|
2015 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Relikte aus der Zukunft |
LP |
Relikte aus der Zukunft (Relics from the Future) is a new album by experimental German artist Baldruin. Growing up in a small Bavarian village rectory around 10 meters beside the church and serving as an altar boy; organ music, church bells, and spiritual chanting were very much present in Johannes Schebler's ears during his childhood years. This experience was probably the basis for his ongoing interest in transcendental and mysterious atmospheres, he recalls. Schebler started making music as Baldruin back in 2009 with DIY experimentations which were first released on tape, a CD-R 3" and later on several LPs all over Europe (Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Finland, Netherlands, Slovakia), as well as in the USA and Japan. While in the beginning Baldruin's tracks were mostly created with acoustic instruments, later synthesizers and other electronic sound sources joined, expanding the sound palette and letting primordial and futuristic worlds merge organically into each other. Although Relikte aus der Zukunft feels like a journey to the unknown, with constantly changing moods, all of the recordings were done in a small and improvised home studio in Schebler's living room in Wiesbaden, Germany, using mostly a single MIDI-keyboard for recording. The tracks are full of color and amazement, detailed and thorough when evoking the setting and conjuring the experience. They can be playful and bright, or suspenseful and ominous, until bursting into ritual and hallucination. The gloomiest soundscapes can jump into a ship fueled by retro sci-fi arpeggios, the solemn can turn to rejoice, and a star can shrink into a fireplace. Mastered by Alberto Cendra at Garden Lab Audio. Cover art by Johannes Schebler. Edition of 300.
https://buhrecords.bandcamp.com/album/relikte-aus-der-zukunft
"Vor gerade einmal acht Monaten brachte Johannes Schebler alias Baldruin mit “Kleine Freuden” ein Album heraus, das trotz seiner Opulenz und vor allem wegen der geschlossenen Kompaktheit der einzelnen Stücke ganz im Zeichen der fast schon intim anmutenden Miniatur stand. Seit einigen Wochen steht mit “Relikte aus der Zukunft” nun ein neuer Longplayer in den Regalen, der im Vergleich dazu wie ein Gegenzoom wirkt und die Aufmerksamkeit auf die großen und breiten Zusammenhänge richtet. Schon der Titel könnte zu einem handlungsreichen Film passen, und zu Tracks wie “Hintenherum”, “Wurzeltrank” oder “Ritt auf der Silberechse” könnte man sich fantastische Science Fiction-Stoffe der surrealen Art ausdenken.
Die ersten Minuten des Albums verbreiten eine erwartungsvolle Stimmung: Es klappert und rumpelt, und über einem Sound, der nach Syntie klingt, erklingt das Trillern verschiedener Klangquellen, die Flöten, Klarinetten und ein Saxophon sein könnten, im Zusammenspiel mit flatternden Flügelschlägen aber sofort an verfremdete Vogelstimmen denken lassen. Halbversteckte Glockenschläge im Hintergrund leiten über in ein sakraler anmutendes Setting mit tiefen Tastentönen und etwas, das an Choräle erinnert, und man wundert sich, dass all dies – laut Begleittext – überwiegend einem Midi-Keyboard entstammen soll.
Sanft bimmelnde Glöckchen, spannungsvolle Cellodrones, quirlige Sounddetails, die wie Gummi quietschen; ein vermutlich asiatisches Saiteninstrument, dass mit seinen kreisenden Bewegungen eine entsprechende Melodie anstimmt und weitere folkig eingefärbte Klänge; alarmierende Hochtöner über dunklen, aus der Ferne hörbaren Paukenschlägen; desolate Sounds, die für kurze Momente an Industrial erinnern; sogar eine vervielfachte menschliche Stimme vor einer Kulisse aus Gebimmel und rauschenden Motoren – die klanglichen Details und motivischen Ideen sind in diesem Album beinahe Legion und im ständigen Wandel begriffen. Ist man erstmal vollends in diese Welt eingetaucht, dann halluziniert man vielleicht noch einige dazu. Wenn man also so etwas wie einen roten Faden sucht, dann findet man ihn woanders, z.B. in der aufgeweckten Neugier, die in der Reise durch die verschiedenen Klangwelten spürbar ist. Da scheint man dem Entdecken einer Kultur beizuwohnen, deren Zeichen man wie ein Schwamm aufsaugt, während die eigentliche Erforschung und Kartografierung noch ansteht. Die einzelnen Szenarien wirken wie Momentaufnahmen im Stadium des ersten faszinierten Eindrucks.
Neben “Insel der Hoffnung”, dass in all seiner Verträumtheit und mit gebrochenen Rhythmen so etwas wie der “Hit” des Albums sein könnte, gibt es weitere Wegmarken. Das wäre z.B “Wilde Reise”, eine von rumpelnden Trommelwirbeln und entrückten Flötensounds begleitete Fahrt über Stock und Stein. Außerdem “Vorherbestimmt”, das mit seinen pulsierenden Orchestralsounds wie ein dramatischer Stummfilmscore klingt, der von allerlei destruktivem Klirren begleitet wird und in seiner ganz eigenen Schönheit doch unangetastet bleibt. Vielleicht findet sich auch in dieser Tendenz zur Zerfleddertheit, an deren Grenze sich fast alle Stücke bewegen, und die immer durch eine solide Grundsubstanz eingehegt und zusammengehalten wird, ein Schlüssel zur klanglichen Grund-DNA dieses beeindruckenden Albums." [African Paper]
|
2023 |
€27.50 |
|
| BARBIERI, CATERINA |
Fantas Variations |
do-LP |
Fantas" is the epic opening track on Caterina Barbieri's acclaimed 2019 release Ecstatic Computation (EMEGO 259LP, 2019). The original "Fantas" laid out a magical path of patterns leading the listener on a journey into the sound itself. Fantas Variations maps out eight new potentials sprung from this initial path as constructed by a diverse mix of artists lending to a wide spectrum of new works extrapolated from the original work. For this project Barbieri invited friends and long-time collaborators from a variety of musical backgrounds to create a more sustainable and inclusive landscape in terms of stylistic, geographical, gender, and generational balance. The results are a diverse array of approaches and instrumentation which blur the boundaries between the acoustic and electronic. Fantas Variations embraces a platform for mutual exchange and support between like-minded artists, where active and collective re-imagination is prioritized over the traditional model of remixes, which is often strategic, functional and more passive. Longtime friend and collaborator Kali Malone rearranged "Fantas" to a slowed-down, austere and eerie version for two organs. Evelyn Saylor created a piece for a vocal ensemble consisting of her, Lyra Pramuk, Stine Janvin, and Annie Garlid, joining forces to express the choral, psychedelic and vital nature of the piece. Barbieri's former guitar professor at the Conservatory in Bologna, Walter Zanetti, composes "Fantas" for electric guitar, by translating every single gesture of the original electronic piece into a personal, nuanced and detailed interpretation. Bendik Giske's reinterpretation for saxophone and voice captures the atmospheric essence of "Fantas" and its psychic meteorology. Longtime collaborator and along with Barbieri the other half of the outfit Punctum, Carlo Maria, resynthesizes "Fantas" for TR808 and MC202, bringing a more club-oriented dimension of the piece to life whilst unveiling the sonic continuum between rhythm and pitch through a sensitive timbral approach. Jay Mitta's Singeli reinterpretation of "Fantas" transpires with pitched-up percussion and turbo-fast polyrhythmic patterns unleashing the frenetic, shifting, transformative matter within the piece to a higher plain of euphoric dance. Baseck's variation is a rave fantasia, where the prismatic trance of the original is channeled into fierce, uncompromising hardcore, whilst Kara-Lis Coverdale's take is a phantasmagoria for piano that gently, yet inexorably, captures the relentlessness chimerical qualities of the original, unveiling its spectral backbone. Mastered by Rashad Becker, February 2021. Cut by Andreas Kauffelt at Schnittstelle, Berlin, February 2021. Artwork and typography by Ruben Spini. Lettering by Alice Fiorelli.
01. Evelyn Saylor (feat. Lyra Pramuk, Annie Garlid and Stine Janvin) - Fantas Variation for Voices (7:38)
02. Bendik Giske - Fantas for Saxophone and Voice (7:31)
03. Kali Malone - Fantas for two Organs (10:21)
04. Walter Zanetti - Fantas for Electric Guitar (7:27)
05. Jay Mitta - Singeli Fantas (12:03)
06. Baseck - Fantas Hardcore (4:44)
07. Carlo Maria - Fantas resynthesized for 808 and 202 (4:29)
08. Kara-Lis Coverdale - Fantas Morbida (3:04)
https://editionsmego.bandcamp.com/album/fantas-variations |
2021 |
€25.50 |
|
| |
Spirit Exit |
do-LP |
"Double-LP version. Silver vinyl. The musical vortexes of Caterina Barbieri rewire time and space. Listening to the Italian composer and modular synth virtuoso has felt like traveling at light-speed and slow-motion all at once since 2017's breakthrough Patterns Of Consciousness. 2019's acclaimed Ecstatic Computation pushed even further with the lead single "Fantas". Far beyond any new age trope or modern synth trend, her music stands alone in its ecstatic intensity and cataclysmic emotional impact. Marking the debut album on her new label light-years, Barbieri now delivers her most profound work yet -- a journey through inner-space as vast as a universe and as intimate as a heartbeat. Spirit Exit is Caterina Barbieri's time machine, primarily composed with a modular synth rig she thinks of more like a mechanical fortune teller. Whereas previous releases were constructed on lengthy tours, capturing only snapshots of continually evolving works, Spirit Exit represents the producer's first album fully written and recorded in her home studio amidst Milan's two-month pandemic lockdown in 2020. It was during this extended isolation she found inspiration from female philosophers, mystics and poets spread across time, but united in their strength at cultivating vast internal worlds. St. Teresa D'Avila's foundational 16th century mystical text The Interior Castle, philosopher Rosi Braidotti's posthuman theories and the metaphysical poetry of Emily Dickinson act as thematic anchors throughout Spirit Exit. Spirit Exit crystallizes Barbieri's densely layered, blindingly bright synth arrangements while introducing stunning new elements that feel as if they've always belonged. Strings and guitar flawlessly thread into the composer's web of modular patches, while her revelatory singing voice often cuts right through them. Melodies remain Barbieri's great passion and obsession and on Spirit Exit they grow as large as planets before cracking into atoms. The sweeping "At Your Gamut" perfects the producer's dramatic, slow-burning openers, but in her first ever use of sampling, it later gets crushed, accelerated and unrecognizably transformed into the ghostly hook surging through "Terminal Clock". As the album closes on "The Landscape Listens" -- a song that approaches death with all the gentle grace of Brian Eno's "An Ending (Ascent)"."
https://caterinabarbieri.bandcamp.com/album/spirit-exit
|
2022 |
€31.50 |
|
| BARDOSENETICCUBE |
Deadhead |
CD |
Überraschung für BARDOSENETICCUBE: “Deadhead” ist ein durchkomponiertes, neo-klassisch-orchestrales Werk voller Bombast und dunkler russischer Choräle, martial-industriell & düster-elegisch hämmernd, aber auch ruhige, eher elektronische Stücke kommen vor, viele Gastmusiker (Saxophon, Gitarre)... man höre und staune !
“New album of Bardoseneticcube is the whole surrealistic musical performance which is impossible to squeeze into the boundaries of any genre. Six untitled pieces reveal the labyrynth of sonic cobwebs born in the depths of subconscious mind of Igor Potsukailo and his brothers in arms (several guest musicians took part in recording sessions - two guitarists, saxophonist, etc.). The basis for the most tracks is formed by the hybryd of orchestral-ethno-electronic rhythmics and it's layered over with melodic lines walking from composition to composition and completely unexpected samples hardly rationally coordinated with musical context. For sure, this time Igor's talent has beaten all the stylistical limitations - the album sounds very organic and energetic.” [Zhelezobeton]
“first of all: DEADHEAD is totally different to all other releases from this great Russian experimental-ambient artist. DEADHEAD is simply brilliant electronic music, mixed with Neoclassical elements and Russian samples and hymns. some tracks appear with Martial drums and trumpets, others feel more like the finnish cult-label Sähkö. DEADHEAD is without doubt the most musical work of Bardoseneticcube. listen to the mp3s; you will be surprised!” [label info]
www.steinklang-records.at
|
2005 |
€6.00 |
|
|
Teologic |
CD-R |
Gerade auf Drone gefeiert, erscheint dieser neuer long-player des russischen Duos in einem großformatigen & dicken Hartgummi-Cover. Enthalten sind 8 Aufnahmen von 2001, die ins dunkle Herz des sphärisch-irrealen vorstoßen.. statisch-minimale drones mit viel Obertönen, z.T. auch sehr tieffrequenter ambient-noise a la MENCHE.
Just after their great release on Drone Records this new longplayer appears in an unbelievable, large hard-gum package. We find here 8 tracks that push us into the dark heart of the spheric-irreal - static minimal drones with many overtunes, also deep-frequent ambient noise. Very well done, maybe their best release yet !!
[Drone Rec. 2003]
|
2003 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
The Other Heaven |
CD |
Zweite fabrikgepresste CD für BARDO.. und wieder klingen sie anders als noch zuvor, hier setzen sie auf monotone loops die mit rituell oder sakral anmutenden Sounds versetzt werden - eine unheimliche, beschwörende, z.T. auch sehr religiöse Stimmung wird erzeugt... wieder sehr gut ! Neben REUTOFF, CISFINITUM und LUNAR ABYSS QUARTET z.Zt. wohl die beste russische „post-industrial“ oder „experimental ambient“-Band !
“ Fascinating second opus from the russian (St Petersburg) dark ambient masters. This time atmospheres are developed in a less abstract way than the first CD on Athanor. Bardoseneticcube use of percussions, bowls, bells and ritual chants are mixed with strange ambiance to give it an exquisite and mysterious martial and virile mystical touch. The progression of the album invites us to be a part of the mystery, like we were witnessing the surrouding and the heart of an ancient religious secret society order, whose place could be the monastery hidden in the blue fogged forest depicted on the cover. A new sound approach for BSC, not far away from some early ritual Coil or Deutsch Nepal recordings.” [label info]
|
2003 |
€13.00 |
|
| BARDOSENETICCUBE + NOISES OF RUSSIA |
New Orthodox Line |
CD |
Rauhe, trancige Dronescapes mit sakralem Touch & intensiv ansteigendem Spannungsbogen zum Ende hin. Vielleicht lässt sich dieses feine Album der beiden in St. Petersburg beheimateten Projekte so mit einem Satz charakterisieren. Letztere sind zuletzt durch eine Reihe von ekstatisch-rituellen Konzerten aufgefallen, die sie in Russland und im angrenzenden skandinavischen Raum gaben...
"New Orthodox Line brings together two of the most notable Russian post-industrial / experimental groups: Bardoseneticcube and Noises of Russia. This unique collaboration stirs the best of both artists to surface, and results in an extremely powerful and intense emotional experience. The opus travels from sacral soundscapes of orthodox choirs and church bells to a more punishing end of the sonic spectrum provided by pounding rhythms and howling feedback. Here, the opposites unite with passion and compliment each other for the sake of the greater good, the synergetic New Orthodox Line.
Bardoseneticcube, having released dozens of albums on various labels worldwide, has gained recognition in the international experimental / electronic scene. Bardoseneticcube self-describes their music as “surrealism”, using A. Breton’s description: "pure psychic automatism willing to express the real functioning of the reflection either orally or written, or in any other form. Dictation of mind without any control from the intellect, outside of any aesthetic of moral considerations".
More info » bsc.radionoise.ru
Noises of Russia is a highly active Russian experimental music act, with practically countless live performances and a number of albums and videos under their belt. This four member group uses styles and imagery from dark ambient to drone, all the while never forgetting traditional noise music. Their unique mixture of influences, along with their extremely powerful use of vocals, create an unforgettable experience in modern music. More info » www.noises.ru " [label notes]
"... a joint venture between two of Russia's interesting projects from the Noise-related scene. Noises Of Russia is a quartet known for its high activity of live performances plus a large number of albums and videos released. The other project is called Bardosenetticcube also being in the forefront on the Russian scene. This album titled "New orthodox line" is a strange beast even in the noise scene with the inclusion of sacral soundscapes consisting of church bells and orthodox choirs swirling in the storm of abrasive noise drones. Consisting of one lengthy track of 47 minutes the expression is impressive with a nice emotional approach to sonic aggression. Intense." [NM, Vital weekly]
www.someplaceelse.net
|
2007 |
€12.00 |
|
| BARONI, CLAUDIO F. & DARIO CALDERONE |
Ursae Minoris |
CD |
A constellation is a construct of perspective. Unfathomable fireballs ripping apart and reconstituting atoms, separated by millions of light years in all directions, are flattened into two dimensions by the human eye. From the slightest suggestion of line and form, the mind gathers them together into objects, seeing in them figurative outlines or distinct cultural reference points. Depending on one’s geographic location and culture, these groupings and their associated imagery can vary wildly. Despite being completely outside of human time and dimension, the stars are minimized and abstracted by distance and then reconstituted by social construct. This act of mental agility serves to make some small sense of the darkness around us and to serve as a memory aid so as to keep a grip on our place in the world.
As musical beings we might also wonder: What does a constellation sound like? Would we also find some meaning or a sense of place in this sound? How does a change in our observation change our reality?
With his Ursae Minoris, Claudio F. Baroni does not strive to give us direct answers to these questions. He begins to employ this process of perspective transformation, aurally converting a two dimensional abstraction of stars into points on a grid and then using this ‘data’ to generate the music, which leaves the final step of recontextualizing to the performer and the audience.
The title refers to the constellation Ursa Minor, which was ‘created’ by the Greeks around 600 BCE out of a portion of another constellation. In Latin and in the colloquial names in many European languages it means Lesser or Little Bear. It is commonly referred to as the Little Dipper in North America. Pointing the way to the North Star, this is one of the most important and well known constellations in the Northern Hemisphere.
Ursae Minoris, meaning ‘of Ursa Minor’, is the title of this work because in this album we encounter this constellation not as a singular instance but as an evolution of multiple perspectives to ruminate upon. As our view of the stars changes with time and place, the three movements of this piece each offer a different aural interpretation.
While working on his string quartet Perpetuo Motum, Baroni happened upon the diaries of Ciriaco d’Ancona (1391-1455), an Italian humanist, textile trader, and antiquarian. Within these diaries are maps of constellations that d’Ancona used to navigate at sea. He is sometimes called the ‘father of archaeology’ as he was one of the first Europeans to collect objects from ancient cultures systematically. Driven by his curiosity, he decided to depart from southern Italy across the Mediterranean to Egypt, Greece and throughout the Aegean Sea. D’Ancona relied upon Ursa Minor to locate the North Star in these travels.
The score of Ursae Minoris is based upon a celestial map centered around Ursa Minor. Using a similar process to one he used in writing Perpetuo Motum, the musical material was determined by a direct ‘transcription’ of the points on this map into predefined variables such as pitch and volume, transforming the stars into musical ‘events’. With the pitch material settled, Baroni explored other musical aspects.
Each movement focuses upon a specific technique of sound production. The first consists of short percussive sounds, especially those produced by tapping the metal end of the bow (called the screw) upon one of the strings. Constantly adjusting the placement of the screw and the length of the string, we are treated to a richly nuanced catalog of these tiny explosions. In the second movement, constant slow glissandi (pitch-sliding along the string) are played up and down on one of the strings as if orbiting around the gravitational pull of its neighboring string, which holds steady to one pitch. The last movement is entirely constructed of one long and shifting bowed tremolo (a shaking of the bow) resembling a trembling comet appearing out of silent space, grazing the ears with a roaring distance and disappearing back into the void.
While his single-minded use of instrumental technique can be uncompromising, Baroni leaves room for spontaneity in other aspects. Continuing the journey metaphor, the score consists of variable paths from which the performer can choose whichever routes and sidetracks they fancy in the moment, rendering each performance unique. Also striking is Baroni’s use of electronics as a way to deepen and refract the natural sounds of the instrument. The subtle use of a loop station gives rise to many layers of the already existing acoustic sound world, expanding it without injecting outside influences. This leaves one quite often wondering if there is just one bassist making all that sound or if there is a sky full of them.
Baroni has spent the last 10 years sounding out the depths of personal instrumental expression with his SoLo compositions. Ursae Minoris is the seventh piece in this ongoing series, each of which focuses on the unique qualities of a different instrument. Central to his process in this series is an extended collaboration with the performer to discover distinctive sounds from the instrument. He is not interested in fresh instrumental techniques for their own sake, simply to sound new or shocking, but because this is the terrain where there are more layers still to be explored. Baroni worked extensively with bassist Dario Calderone over a long period, taking time to form each movement of Ursae Minoris. Calderone’s complete commitment to this kind of music is evident in the intensity and detail of his playing. For example, in order to endure the brutal, endless tremolo of the 3rd movement, Calderone had to reinvent his bowing technique. Throughout the piece he latches onto the essence of the music and gives it a constant drive.
Forget for a moment the title and all of this background information. One doesn’t need to know anything about this composition’s connection to the stars to hear the force of the music or to feel the determined searching of the exposed performer. Baroni studiously avoids making specific aesthetic or cultural references in his music. He creates a closed sound universe with its own scale and physics wherein we can surrender to being propelled through this singular abstraction.
In the end we may be left to wonder: Where are the lines between natural phenomena, sound as sound, fragile and situated perception, and conscious interpretation? How much does each of us feel the urge to find some recognizable form and meaning in the sounds of these little points on a graph? Or we may just go along for the journey, leaving our mind’s universe behind.
https://contemporaryseries.bandcamp.com/album/ursae-
minoris
|
2021 |
€12.00 |
|
| BARTHEL, MICHAEL |
HARN |
7inch |
Scrotum Records presents the debut record by Michael Barthel.
14 short breathless pieces for voice, rapid read poems, and a pair of sound
poetry pieces.
A musical approach interposing words and sound.
Each piece deals with de/localisation in different fields: protection, refuge,
home - deeply exploring the possibilities put forth by these terms.
Recorded in October 2014, released in March 2015. All poems are printed on the cover.
This release was made possible by small and independent press.
Edition of 150
scrotum-records.de
|
2015 |
€8.00 |
|
| BASINSKI, WILLIAM |
Vivian & Ondine |
CD |
"In May of 2008 I was in my studio in NY preparing for a concert at Issue Project Room. I realized I had been touring for a year and was still touring the same piece I had performed there the year before. I was interrupted by a call from my youngest brother, Patrick. As we chatted, he told me that his wife, Andrea was overdue with their daughter, Vivian. I replied in sympathy that 'Vivian' was a movie-star name and that I imagined with a name like that, she would have people waiting on her for her entire life. I got back to work and found yet another lunchbox of ancient tape-loops to go through for possible inclusion in the new piece. I came across the main theme and thought... well, this is gorgeous; let's see if we can use this to coax Viv to come out. I went through the rest of them and found another dozen or so that mixed well used randomly, just under the threshold. The next night I performed the piece at Issue with their 16 channel hemispherical speaker system set to move the sounds randomly around the room as if waves in a pool. We all had a really good time. It was mesmerizing. The next day I got word that Vivian had been born and my cousin, Terence's first granddaughter, Ondine had been born as well. I couldn't think of a more beautiful title for this piece than to name it after these two beautiful girls. This version was recorded with microphones and two Norelco tape decks live in my studio in Los Angeles in one take in September 2008. A version of this piece was commissioned by Lauren Bon and the Metabolic Studio of Los Angeles for her extraordinary project, Strawberry Flag, at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Los Angeles. It has been an honor to be a part of this wonderful project." [William Basinski]
www.mmlxii.com
"By now, if you're a regular reader of the aQ list, you no doubt know all about William Basinski, and the Disintegration Loops that introduced us to his music. And if you're anything like us, you were immediately smitten by his gorgeous slowly decaying dronescapes. The power of a simple loop, played over and over, in various states of decay, hearing the sounds literally crumble before your very ears, like getting a glimpse inside music, behind the notes, within the chords, observing the magnetic particles as they drop like flakes of soot after a fire, music transformed into inert object, and the glorious sound of that transition, from light to dark, life to death, sound to silence.
Basinski's music is rife with meaning, representational for sure, but can easily be appreciated from a purely sonic standpoint, the sounds, his loops, are blurred and indistinct and so lovely, washed out, hazy, sepia toned, they sound like they were snatched from another time, lifted from an audial scrapbook, the sounds curled up at the edges, lightly blackened, the images contained within smeared and unclear, beneath a patina of age, the chemicals reacting over time, changing the color, the texture, the emotion even, of each of those sounds.
Vivian & Ondine is a more recent work, but sounds like it could have come from the same treasure trove that produced the Disintegration Loops, dreamlike and otherworldly, hushed, intimate, and so beautiful." [Aquarius Records]
|
2009 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
92982 |
CD |
"This reissue of William Basinski's 2009 album finds the composer doing what he does best, creating haunting loops and drones that have a way of burrowing into your life.
When you travel to 351 Jay Street on Google Maps you’re greeted with the image of a nondescript office building. On its ground floor is an art supply store. The rest of the scene is anonymous. Much of Downtown Brooklyn looks like 351 Jay: brutalist buildings of medium height that evoke industry and bureaucracy. Thirty-six years ago, in this building, William Basinski lived in a loft space that he called the Music Laboratories. He moved in at the beginning of the 1980s with his partner, the artist James Elaine.
Most of the work Basinski released in the 2000s consisted of remixed, reworked, and wonderfully garbled homages to the archive he started to build in the Music Laboratories. While there he made hundred of tape loops, organizing the ribbons of magnetic tape on a tree branch he kept near his mixing desk. The loops were a combination of recordings of his own compositions and incidental noise that seemed to come his way from the whirl of urban life outside his window or from the whisper of radio broadcasts seeding themselves into his recording equipment. He didn’t release his experiments at the time, choosing to record, finagle, connect. The impulse was a natural reaction to the time and place, as he later said: “I was getting all this great stuff. It was just coming from the sky.”
One day in September of 1982 he was experimenting on the fly, collecting fragments, and maybe hours later the backbone of a piece was made. He called it 92982, a clinical name designating the date of the composition, as if it was just a file to be tucked away. He released the recordings for the first time in 2009, long after he garnered widespread acclaim for his monumental 9/11 elegy The Disintegration Loops. Seven years after its initial release, 92982 has been remastered and reissued as 2xLP set of startlingly crisp and veritably haunted music.
92982 is over an hour long, and the original improvisation makes up the first two tracks, while the back half of the album includes an extended rework of a piano-based piece from Variations: A Movement in Chrome Primitive and another loop constructed from the 1982 material. Given the sources, the tracks present in 92982 seem almost unstuck from time, floating between dates and points of inspiration. The continual cutting up, editing, and processing of a tape loop was something closer to necromancy than normal composition. It’s a quality that actually infects the overall feeling of the music, creating an environment for free-floating listening.
The album’s opening track, “92982.1,” drifts, separates, grows quiet, and then rumbles loudly. The wash of noises is teeming with potential, a quality that defines the inner workings of 92982. All four tracks are open canvases, they invite the rest of the world’s sounds to participate in making the experience of listening different each time. The sound of a helicopter whirling in the atmosphere and the Doppler splatter of a police car’s siren on “92982.2” mix into the sounds of banal moments, like laying in bed, listening to the buzz of an air conditioner, the honking of cars, the rustle of leaves, the drip of an open faucet. The drifting of “92982.4”’s piano loops hang like flickering presences hovering above a room. Overall, a disembodying and strange thing slowly happens as this album keeps playing: it sucks the noises of your environment into the loop. What’s contained here is sometimes not exactly a piece of music but an experiential filter.
Basinski’s music is constantly toying with the idea that rote moments in life can be engulfed with emotion, and it has a way of burrowing into your life. As his perpetual loops drift across the surface of experience, they are incredibly porous, and invite a listener to complete them by taking a walk around their block or just go about their day. 92982 accomplishes this more successfully than much of Basinski’s work; compared to The Disintegration Loops, it’s more open to interpretation and devoid of the same weight of history or narrative. It is an extremely plastic and pliant piece of music, an eternally empty vessel that gets filled up from listen to listen." [Pitchfork]
"These 4 tracks, built upon signature William Basinksi loops date back to September 29, 1982 (hence the title), and like so many of his recent releases of archival material, they ask the question, "why did it take you so long?" The answer may not be as interesting as the
question itself, but the nostalgic look back for Basinski to his own past certainly resonates beyond any notions of solipsism and speaks to something downright universal: an optimism of a half-remembered past. Unlike the masterpiece of the Disintegration Loops, the tracks on 92982 don't crackle and crumble apart as the pieces move forward; but the dust, hiss, and fuzz that have been the trademarks of Basinski loops are all present. The first track centers on a loop of a spacious piano waltzing out of the softened drones of accumulated hiss and soft focus white noise pushed deep into the shadows. The second is a graceful swoon of a composition with delayed rhythmic pock that phases against a swelling ambient loop and occasional interjections of police sirens and helicopters, presumably recorded directly out of Basinski's open window. Another piano loop grounds the third track; this one painfully sad and lilting and made more so by the patina of tape hiss, soft static, and degradation of the source material. An elegant two note loop with a hallowed drone of floating dust completes yet another fantastic William Basinski record. Fans will not be disappointed!" [Aquarius Records review]
|
2016 |
€16.00 |
|
| BASINSKI, WILLIAM & LAWRENCE ENGLISH |
Selva Oscura |
LP |
"Limited edition Opaque Grey Colored Vinyl, edition of 1,000. For over half a decade, William Basinski and Lawrence English have been in regular contact with one another. During that time their paths have crossed repeatedly in various cities; Zagreb, Los Angeles, Hobart and more, in a variety situations. It was from these chance encounters - and the strange familiar of lives lived in transit - that their first collaboration, Selva Oscura, was seeded. The phrase Selva Oscura draws its root from Dante's Inferno. Literally translated as "twilight forest," it metaphorically speaks to both those who find themselves on the unfamiliar path and more explicitly the nature of losing one's way in place and time. Each of the extended pieces on this record maps an acoustic topography that draws on the concept of drifting into the strange familiar. The works each dwell in an ever shifting, yet fundamentally constant state of unfolding. As one sound fades away, another is revealed in its place, creating a sense of an eternal reveal. Selva Oscura was recorded in Brisbane and Los Angeles simultaneously. The compositions were each created through a process of iteration and rearrangement that inverted the micro and macro characteristics of the raw sonic materials. Dynamics and density were chiseled with restraint and at other times intensely reductionist approaches to create a limitlessly deep, but open sound field - as rich as the suggested place from which its title is drawn."
williambasinski.bandcamp.com/album/selva-oscura |
2018 |
€21.00 |
|
| |
Selva Oscura |
CD |
For over half a decade, William Basinski and Lawrence English have been in regular contact with one another. During that time their paths have crossed repeatedly in various cities; Zagreb, Los Angeles, Hobart and more, in a variety situations. It was from these chance encounters - and the strange familiar of lives lived in transit - that their first collaboration, Selva Oscura, was seeded. The phrase Selva Oscura draws its root from Dante's Inferno. Literally translated as "twilight forest," it metaphorically speaks to both those who find themselves on the unfamiliar path and more explicitly the nature of losing one's way in place and time. Each of the extended pieces on this record maps an acoustic topography that draws on the concept of drifting into the strange familiar. The works each dwell in an ever shifting, yet fundamentally constant state of unfolding. As one sound fades away, another is revealed in its place, creating a sense of an eternal reveal. Selva Oscura was recorded in Brisbane and Los Angeles simultaneously. The compositions were each created through a process of iteration and rearrangement that inverted the micro and macro characteristics of the raw sonic materials. Dynamics and density were chiseled with restraint and at other times intensely reductionist approaches to create a limitlessly deep, but open sound field - as rich as the suggested place from which its title is drawn.
williambasinski.bandcamp.com/album/selva-oscura
|
2018 |
€14.00 |
|
| BASINSKI, WILLIAM & RICHARD CHARTIER |
Divertissement |
LP |
"Divertissement is the third collaborative full length from minimalist composer William Basinski and sound artist Richard Chartier.
The duo utilize electronics, piano, tape-loops and short wave radio to evoke a dense atmosphere suggesting hundreds of years of history rising up from the depths of a reverberating cathedral. Subtle, buried and intense murmurs of melody morph through this deeply consuming and slowly evolving composition in two parts.
Pressed in an edition of 500 with beautiful cover drawings by artist James Elaine.
William Basinski is a classically trained musician and composer who has been working in experimental media for over 30 years in NYC and most recently, California. Employing obsolete technology and analogue tape loops, his haunting and melancholy soundscapes explore the temporal nature of life and resound with the reverberations of memory and the mystery of time. His epic 4-disc masterwork, The Disintegration Loops received international critical acclaim and was chosen as one of the top 50 albums of 2004 by Pitchfork Media. The Temporary Residence deluxe LP box-set reissue from 2012 was awarded best re-issue of the year and a score of 10 on Pitchfork. Installations and films made in collaboration with artist-filmmaker, James Elaine have been presented in festivals and museums internationally, and his concerts are presented to sold out crowds around the world. Most recently, Basinski was chosen by Music Director, Antony Hegarty to create music for the new Robert Wilson opera, The Life and Death of Marina Abramovic which had its world premiere at the Manchester International Festival in July 2011 and toured Europe in 2012 and North America in 2013. Orchestral transcriptions of The Disintegration Loops by Maxim Moston have been performed at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Queen Elizabeth Hall and La Batie Festival in Geneva, Switzerland. Basinski is currently touring the world in support of Cascade and The Deluge, his latest works which will be released in Spring 2015 on 2062/USA.
Richard Chartier (b.1971), sound and installation artist, is considered one of the key figures in the current of reductionist electronic sound art which has been termed both microsound and Neo-Modernist. Chartier's minimalist digital work explores the inter-relationships between the spatial nature of sound, silence, focus, perception and the act of listening itself. Chartier's sound works/installations have been presented in galleries and museums internationally including the 2002's Whitney Biennial and he has performed his work live across Europe, Japan, Australia, and North America at digital art
electronic music festivals and exhibits. In 2000 he formed the recording label LINE and has since curated its continuing documentation of compositional and installation work by international sound artists/composers exploring the aesthetics of contemporary and digital minimalism. In 2010, Chartier was awarded a Smithsonian Institution Artist Research Fellowship to explore the National Museum of American History's collection of 19th-Century acoustic apparatus for scientific demonstration." [label info]
www.importantrecords.com
|
2015 |
€25.50 |
|
| |
Aurora Liminalis |
CD |
"Line is pleased to announce the upcoming release of the second highly anticipated collaboration from renowned composer William Basinski and sound artist Richard Chartier. Aurora Liminalis is a rich and nebulous soundtrack, the aural equivalent of undulating trails of light. Disintegrating spatial shifts incorporating the two artists' distinct sonic palettes mesh to create a slow, deep ebb and flow like some melting spectral transmission. The work has a distinct complex presence, difficult to resist its pull. Befitting cover image by visual artist James Elaine.
William Basinski (b.1958)is a classically trained musician and composer who has been working in experimental media for over 30 years in NYC and most recently, California. Employing obsolete technology and analogue tape loops, his haunting and melancholy soundscapes explore the temporal nature of life and resound with the reverberations of memory and the mystery of time. His epic, entropic masterpiece, The Disintegration Loops has received international critical acclaim and was chosen as one of the top 50 albums of 2004 by Pitchfork Media, as well as the top re-issue for 2012's Temporary Residence vinyl box set. Art Forum selected The River, his transcendental 2-disc shortwave music experiment on Raster-Noton, Germany as one of the top ten albums of 2003. Installations and films made in collaboration with artist-filmmaker, James Elaine have been presented in festivals and museums internationally, and his concerts are presented to sold out crowds around the world. Recent collaborations include music for Robert Wilson's latest opera, The Life and Death of Marina Abramovic, Aurora Liminalis with Richard Chartier and a remix of Antony's Cut The World as well as a new solo album for release in early 2013, Nocturnes. Basinski's works are released on 2062 and distributed internationally.
Richard Chartier (b.1971), sound and installation artist, is considered one of the key figures in the current of reductionist electronic sound art which has been termed both 'microsound' and Neo-Modernist. Chartier's minimalist digital work explores the inter-relationships between the spatial nature of sound, silence, focus, perception and the act of listening itself. Chartier's sound works-installations have been presented in galleries and museums internationally including the 2002 s Whitney Biennial and he has performed his work live across Europe, Japan, Australia, and North America at digital art/electronic music festivals and exhibits. In 2000 he formed the recording label Line and has since curated its continuing documentation of compositional and installation work by international sound artists/composers exploring the aesthetics of contemporary and digital minimalism. In 2010, Chartier was awarded a Smithsonian Institution Artist Research Fellowship to explore the National Museum of American History's collection of 19th-Century acoustic apparatus for scientific demonstration." [label info]
|
2013 |
€14.50 |
|
| BASINSKI, WILLIAM / ANDREAS MARTIN / CHRISTOPH HEEMANN |
Cloes |
do-7inch |
Auf Single 1 nebulöse Drones von BASINSKI, und eines der schönen, glasklaren Akustik-Gitarren-Stücke von MARTIN, auf Single 2 werden beide Stücke von HEEMANN in gekonnter Art und Weise remixed. Auf schmuckem klaren Vinyl, mit durchsichtigem, bedrucktem Beiblatt, lim. 400 copies.
“ the occasion of the January 25th, 2003 concert appearances in Austin, Texas at Ceremony Hall. Includes an amazing new recording for solo guitar by Andreas Martin along with an early composition for tape and electronics by William Basinski. Three sides feature remixes by Christoph Heemann. Both records pressed on clear vinyl with full color labels. Includes a clear acetate insert all packaged in a transparent sleeve. An edition of 400 copies." - label description.
|
2003 |
€16.50 |
|
| BATCHELOR, PETER |
Kaleidoscope |
CD & DVD-R |
"This release of electroacoustic music by composer Peter Batchelor contains the original (and preferred) 8 channel versions of the works (DVD-ROM) along with stereo versions (CD) for easier/speedier listening.
The idea for the Kaleidoscope works came from the composers? memories of playing with the prismatic toy of the same name as a child. The toy, of course, consists of colored beads in a tube of mirrors, whose reflections generate complex symmetrical patterns that change dramatically in density and texture as the tube is turned. With these pieces the aim was to emulate such dynamic spatial activity through sound, distributing fragmentary materials in space and immersing the listener in a rich and ever-changing sonic environment. They have been composed for an eight-channel listening environment, the speakers arranged equally in a circle surrounding the audience, and the spatial language consists of peripheral, rotational, oppositional and envelopment activities and relationships (in contrast to left/right and back/front as in stereo works and traditional concert diffusion). The works should therefore be spatially and musically coherent irrespective of audience position or orientation, and listeners should receive similar subjective weightings (relative levels) of front, sides and rear wherever they happen to be situated (even if the positions and trajectories of spatial gestures are perceived differently by each).
Peter Batchelor is a composer and sound artist living in Birmingham, UK. He has studied with Jonty Harrison and Andrew Lewis and lectures at De Montfort University, Leicester. Predominantly working with fixed-media, his output ranges from two-channel 'tape' compositions for concert diffusion to large-scale multi-channel installation work."
[label info]
www.pogus.com
"..The DVD has the original 8-channel piece of 'Kaleidoscope', but I don't have the playback for such a thing, so I am stuck with the stereo version. I never heard of Batchelor, who is a composer from Birmingham, UK and who studied with Jonti Harrison and Andrew Lewis. He works 'predominantly with fixed-media, his output ranges from two-channel 'tape' composition for concert diffusion to large-scale multi-channel installation work'. Playing with a prismatic toy as a kid inspired ‘Kaleidoscope’ and perhaps it's not difficult to see that relating to the music piece. Just like light makes different colours of different intensities, so that this music move back and forth, from front to back and back, top to bottom, left to right. I can surely imagine how this sounds on an 8-channel set-up: even better than it does on a stereo version, I imagine. This is from the world of serious electronic composing, say the world of Canada's Empreintes Digitales, but whereas works released over there are not always to my liking, I surely liked this one a lot. The gliding of tones, the processed white noise, the overall vibrancy of the pieces, the constant motion of the sounds used. This is all in the world of computerized sounds, I would think, and whatever went in to generate this sound material is something we not longer can hear. And perhaps it's also something that one should not care about? It's the result that matters and that result is great." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| BATES, MARTYN |
Chamber Music II : Song Setting of James Joyce Poems |
CD |
“1994 and 1995 sees the release of Martyn Bates settings of James Joyce's poems Chamber Music, Vol. 1 & 2 on Sub Rosa. Born simply out of love of Joyce's work, Bates one aim in setting tunes to the text was to bring out in notes and music all the musicality that was already written there on the printed page ... . Inspired by Shakespeare's sonnets and the airs of John Dowland, Joyce's richly musical texts lent themselves readily to the mellifluous style of Bates song writing ... with Bates envisioning the pieces as being created about and around Celtic/English folk idioms ... in a stark setting, almost a kind of essence of simplicity, like the very best folk tunes. Virtually an acapella work for solo voice, and air utilised, allowing Joyce's exceptionally beautiful poems to truly breath.
Written whilst a young man in his early twenties,Chamber Music was Joyce's first published work and is essentially the story of first love passing from illumination to disillusionment ? it's a much neglected and maligned work, often over-shadowed by the colossal heights that Joyce's later works achieved. These later works (Portrait, Dubliners, Ulysses, Finnegans Wake) are reverently treated as high art by scholars, a feast for ardous intellectual wrangling and dissection. Often coldly cerebral, this misguided approach must surely contradict the true spirit of Joyce, whose actual work is often ribald, lusty, deeply compassionate and humane ? hence Bates use of warm, loosely folk idioms in his settings of Joyce's texts, providing a musical context that facilitate Joyce's subject.
Martyn Bates Cd release sees the first complete cycle of song settings of Chamber Music's entire canon of thirty-six poems since it was written in 1902.” [label info]
|
1995 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Imagination feels like poison |
CD |
„Einigen Dark-Ambient-Freunden könnte M.BATES von seiner Zusammenarbeit mit M.J.HARRIS (LULL) ("Murder Ballads") bekannt sein. Schon seit vielen Jahren ist er aber auch als Solo-Artist und mit EYELESS IN GAZA aktiv, und produziert dabei eine Art Sphären-Songwriter-Folk, verbindet hier seinen unnachahmlichen Gesang, Banjo, "Pump Organ", Flöten und "Autoharp" Percussion zu tief sehnsüchtig-melancholischen Stücken, wobei stets eine experimentell-atmosphärische Note vorhanden ist und auch instrumentale "pure Sound" -Zwischenspiele nicht zu kurz kommen. Die Kompositionen werden teils sehr kraftvoll umgesetzt, und Martyn's Stimme kann man wohl nur hassen oder lieben. Für mich eine der emotionalsten & intimsten Musiken der Welt. Check it out!“ [Barakah, 2001]
For us one of the best singer/songwriters of the last two decades, MARTYN BATES is active since the early 80’s with EYELESS IN GAZA, and with solo-works. He produces a kind of spheric songwriter-folk, where he links his absolutely unique voice/singing with banjo, guitars, flutes, percussion and electronics for a blend of deeply yearnful & melancholic pieces, with an ever existing experimental-atmospheric ground and short “pure sound” – interplays in between.. The compositions are often of a very powerful & ambigous nature, here we find expressions of the most sensible & poetic emotions that appear at the same time as a nearly manic outcry of yearning & loss. One of the most emotional and intimate music on this planet!
|
1998 |
€13.50 |
|
|
Unsung |
CD |
"Unsung – the new solo album by Martyn Bates (voice/guitar) completed September 2012 and produced by Alan Trench & Martyn Bates. Released on November 13th.
'With Unsung Martyn Bates takes on the more traditional role as a singer-songwriter, armed solely with his guitar for accompaniment, save for the occasional sparse colouring. At this time — when this particular role has been explored and done to death & beyond by long lines of both old and young musicians — one would think that there possibly could not be much to add (not that singer-songwriters generally are out on a mission to add something to the format). But as we know from the past history of Martyn Bates and Eyeless In Gaza, they do invent, they do new things, they sound fresh over and over again. So this is exciting, indeed!
From initial listenings to the album, one happily fails to find anything reminiscent of the new breed of singer-songwriters that tend to sound so same-ish, even when they try to sound “alternative”, “sensuous” and “independent” suggesting the listener would be convinced that it (albeit artificially) “sounds so right”. Here, in contrast, you find someone who plays and sings as if no one has ever done any singing accompanied only by his own guitar playing before. The lyrics are thoughtful, the music is lush and different, the voice is superb and the music is respectful of the intelligence of the listener. Still the music is certainly not dull or gloomy, but spirited and infectious. I think you will agree.– Jerry Nilson" [label info]
www.eyelessingaza.com/asr.html
"These acoustic guitar based songs largely came from sessions relating to the Twelve Thousand Days project in which Martyn Bates collaborated with Alan Trench of Orchis in the 2000’s. Though it’s also produced by Trench , Unsung has a very different feel, and it finds Bates at his most concentrated and immediate. Bates is essentially a singer songwriter but his work in Eyeless in Gaza and other collaborations reveal he’s also adept at improvisation and manipulation of sonics. Here the latter is limited to some ambient drift and phantasmal backing vocals, which sound particularly strange on ‘’And This The Day’’. But essentially Unsung relies just on his voice and acoustic guitar, which is beautifully recorded with a big , full sound. At times his expansive picking recalls Bert Jansch or Roy Harper.
As a singer-songwriter Bates has a wide stylistic lexicon, ranging from soft susurrations to notes that feel wrenched out from somewhere deep. On ‘Muted Music’, he evokes the heightened poignancy of its inevitable transience. One of the album’s loveliest melodies, ‘Caustic’ is, however, a bleak look at how memories of events can differ between two people, with the song’s narrator the one left with nothing of comfort to recall.
His love of traditional music was first overtly stated on the Murder Ballads series he made with Mick Harris in the 1990’s, and the influence of Martin Carthy suggests itself here. But his own work is more in tune with the unfettered feelings that run through folk song. On Unsung, he seals his engagement with tradition on ‘’Love Came To My Door’’, an a cappella tale shaped as a disquieting visitation rather than a cause for celebration."
[Mike Barnes, THE WIRE] |
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Fireworks & Jewels / The Colour of Amber |
CD |
"Fireworks & Jewels is the 3rd solo album in as many years from Eyeless In Gaza’s Martyn Bates – being a collection of mostly voice/guitar pieces with a focus on the SONG – words and music stripped to core elements. Working with these elements, Elizabeth S. and Alan Trench introduce subtle colours to the body of these performances – with Trench adding particularly deft applications of electronics & tape treatments – creating a whole other supporting soundworld for the seeming fragility of Bates’ apparently often elusively private world of words & music. As Bates’ states, for him, the whole process of music-making is cathartic. On this occasion the resulting songs address some elusive and mercurial ideas and concepts. According to Bates: “ … I wanted to put across … the way that during heightened moments in everyday life – within those moments where there are “fireworks & jewels” as you might say – there’s always a spark or a thought there that flashes the colour amber – an elusive, tantalising light that you know is eternal, and forever, and yet … it’s somehow, always, always held out of reach … .” The appropriate watchwords here might well be, perhaps, Process & Effect, Illusion & Reality, or feasibly, in keeping with the album’s title, Shadow & Substance.
Fireworks & Jewels / The Colour of Amber was completed July 2015 and recorded at Bridge House Studios, on the Greek isle of Evia – the atmosphere of whose current social and political situation of doubt and uncertainty could perhaps be said to have had a noticeable influence upon the brooding & unsettled spirit at work throughout this album."
[label info]
www.eyelessingaza.com/mb.html#1
"Looking back to the year of twenty-fifteen, my audio intake was considerably pepped up by the appearance of the "Mythic Language"/"Egg Box Mask" triple c.d. set. So much so that this retrospective from British post punk/art pop duo Eyeless in Gaza was made number one with a bullet by yours truly on the Terrascope yearly poll.
So now, only a matter of months later, the Becker/Bates family tree (pictured as an ancient yew in an English country churchyard of course...), has sprouted an extra limb with the emergence of "Fireworks..."; Martyn Bates' sixteenth (!) solo outing (on almost as many labels, I might add). To discover that was certainly a surprise (thank you Discogs!), as I simply had no idea he was that prolific!
This beautifully artworked/six-panelled disc (his third in as many years...), finds Martyn joined by Alan Trench ('tronix/sundry percussives/field recordings/kitchen sink) and the mysteriously named banjo player and backing vocalist Elizabeth S. It's a baker's dozen of dream pop constructs in which a slight sense of unease might be detected which, according to the accompanying cribsheet, could be due to the fact that the recording took place on the Greek isle of Evia, during Greece's economic/political upheaval(s). Things mostly focus on Martyn's acoustic guitar work and vocalese and emphasise a concept of pure songcraft, where certain emotional states are laid bare for all to experience. Introspective soul transmissions, if you will, that come nuanced by a number of impressionistic backdops that thankfully, don't overpower the proceedings one jot. Whichever way you huffle the pack there's always seems to be something of genuine worth. Take for example an adaption of a Walter de la Mare poem "Embers, Starry Tapers"; a vision of otherworldliness, which largely comprises of solo vox humana and layered, lighter than air vocal atmospherics. Then there's the finger-cramping banjo exercises underpinning "Belong" and "The Fall", a personal favourite in which a rhythm bed of stately piano lines is deftly overturned by what appears to be a splurge of sustained feedback/sheet metal that has the signature of Master William Reid; late of the J.A.M.C. imprinted upon it. Excellent.
Copies are available through the Eyeless website (see above) and also through the auspices of Rough Trade, i-tunes (who they?) and Amazon. Order early to avoid disappointment... accept no imitations etc etc... "[Steve Pescott, Terrascope UK] |
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
I Said to Love |
CD |
Within this excellent and finely crafted album of songs dedicated “to the future”, there lies a puzzle, an enigma. With Eyeless In Gaza tending more and more towards the collaged soundscaping type situation where “the studio is very much an instrument” there is also Martyn Bates’ solo work, with his albums of late travelling in quite the opposite direction, all having the distinctive feel of being performance based voice/guitar type records.
Initial listenings to Bates’ new album take all of that elsewhere however, and extend it – with the results ending up kind of schizoid in character. The more familiar ‘introspective’ songs and voice remain for sure, yet they’re often contrasted wildly with a brace of noisier and more musically complex “duo” songs played and sung by Bates together with chanteuse Elizabeth S. These ‘opposing’ styles often seem to clash at first, crazily contrasting in tone and mood, creating a not altogether unpleasant tension – which actually turns out to make more sense on repeated hearings. A good example of this would be the quiet, whispering aura of “At Last”, followed with the pummelling, disturbing melee of “Hallucination”.
Also, somehow managing to stray outside of all this sturm und drang, the album holds a different kind of gem of a song yet, in its title track – “I Said To Love” – which finds Bates pitted against a string section for the first time in eons, and … it works too – bitter, bitter sweet, indeed. Bates has never been one to shy away from tackling grand themes, with the songs on I Said to Love staying true to form – dealing with mystery, rest, space, hallucinations, hindsight, loss, pity, hope, transformation, having your soul stolen & recovered, solace, deja vu, despair, resistance, delirium, entropy, determination – amongst other similarly chewable topics. The key however is in the album’s penultimate track, the haunted “I Look Back”, where Bates eschews his usual poetic lyric style – a style that can sometimes come across as overtly personal and as an almost private language – portraying within this one lyric a peculiarly single-minded determination. Somehow, listening through these words, they seem to summon up something personal in term of locating new spirit, a new direction for Martyn Bates’ whole oeuvre – we’re looking back, and it just isn’t right … how can we hope, if our hope lives in memories? … we must face our fear for there’s no turning back: just a set of simply framed words that manage to mirror the equally plain statement of dedication to be found on the album sleeve of I Said to Love – “to the future”. On the sheer melodic strength and diversity of this music, this is one future that I will eagerly await.
www.eyelessingaza.com/mb.html#1
"I’ve been a hooked fan of Martyn Bates since his one of a kind experimental band ‘Eyeless In Gaza’. I bought everything on vinyl (and now CD) by both his band (a brilliant and endless stream of creations unlike anything I have ever heard and suspect it will remain as such). and his solos. With this, the 16th solo work by Bates, (not counting the comps, singles, EP’s, guest appearances, and many collaborations with other artists, you would think nothing could be left, but you’d be very wrong.
‘I Said To Love’ brings classic Martyn into the limelight with glorious melodies, somewhat alien elements, and rich gorgeous folkish semi siren music, with long time mate and stunning lyricist (multi-instrumentalist and angelic vocalist) Elizabeth S. Alan Trench also contributes cymbals, string machine, and ghost feathers as well as co produces with Bates. All titles composed by Martyn.
This equals the utopian ‘Red Rust September’ by Eyeless In Gaza (my all-time favorite EIG recording). Simply stunning with strings backing Martyn’s jeweled and often melancholy voice. He sounds every bit as blissful as he always has. Songs include Martyn performing guitar and vocals on fifteen tracks of storybook, fields of pastel, and things dreams are made of. The first listen left me speechless. It took a second spin to begin this review. This one will stay on my recommendation list forever. All I can say to readers who have never heard either EIG or Martyn’s solos, you need this one. A grand place to start your collection. ‘I Said To Love’ gets a massive applause from this listener." [Lee Henderson / Art Rock Magazine]
Reviewed by Lee Henderson 2 – 18 – 2018
|
2017 |
€13.00 |
|
| BEAUCHAMP, PAUL |
Needs Must when the Devil drives |
CD |
After the critically acclaimed "Pondfire" (Boring Machines, 2015) and "Grey Mornings" (Boring Machines, 2017), Paul Beauchamp has taken a new direction with his third album, "Needs Must When the Devil Drives". With this work, a single track lasting a little over half an hour comprising several movements, Beauchamp has moved away from the use of acoustic instruments as sound sources and has instead followed the mantra of Brian Eno of "the recording studio is an instrument in itself". Included in this new direction of using solely synthesized and sampled sounds sources, Beauchamp has also begun to explore new territory by using elementary beats and percussion while still remaining connected to his minimal roots through his dedication to drones and ambient. "Needs Must When the Devil Drives" marks a turning point in Beauchamp's solo career as a natural evolution in his unique approach to research and sound design as a creative tool.
store.silentes.it/catalogue/standa2135.htm
"Needs Must When the Devil Drives: Drittes Soloalbum von Paul Beauchamp
Paul Beauchamp, der neben seiner Arbeit mit Combos wie Blind Cave Salamander und Almaghest! bereits zwei Alben im Alleingang produziert und über Boring Machines heraus gebracht hatte, veröffentlicht in Kürze seinen dritten Longplayer “Needs Must When the Devil Drives”. Das aus einem rund halbstündigen Track bestehende Album teilt mit seinen Vorgängern die ambiente Soundscape-Struktur. Neu ist Beauchamps momentane Abkehr von teilweise akustischen Klangquellen und seine Konzentration auf Elektronik. Ein weiteres Novum ist der Einbezug rhythmischer Elemente. Beauchamp, dessen Name entgegen der verbreiteten Gewohnheit nicht in der französischen Phonetik ausgesprochen wird, stammt aus dem Südosten der USA und zog vor Jahren nach Turin, wo er schnell Kontakte zur rührigen lokalen Musikszene knüpfte. Mittlerweile zählt er zu den renommiertesten Vertretern elektroakustischer Musik. Das Album erscheint auf zweihundert CDs bei Bare Teeth Records und Standa, dem Zwilling von Silentes Distribution." [African Paper]
|
2021 |
€12.00 |
|
| BECKAHESTEN |
Tydor |
CD |
Second full length album from one of Sweden's most singular sonic entity. Featuring guest appearances by Kai Uwe Faust of Heilung, Lars-Magnar Enoksen and Anders Hovland, the music of Beckahesten emerges from a borderland where ambient, folk music and ritual converge. Recorded in various natural locations in Norway and Sweden, nature spirits have infused themselves in these recordings...
Dancing with vague entities in a blackened cinder field, followers of dread that has woken, hypnotised one is drawn deeper into their realm. The trees moulder around and offer little protection. Haunting voices keep echoing in the dusk. Lost and trapped you lay down, shivering in the dew. You are their offering, sinking into the mire.
*Due to forces beyond our control, the tricksters of logic scrambled the tracks on this edition of Tydor. The track Hednaväsen, which features vocals from Kai Uwe Faust of Heilung is track 6 on the CD and the first track on side B of the LP.
CD Edition of 500 copies in 6 panels Digisleeve with Matt lamination. 9 Tracks. Running Time 48.46 UPC
Standard Edition LP of 200 copies in standard sleeve with spot UV and Matt lamination with printed inner sleeve. 9 Tracks. Running Time 48.46 UPC
https://cycliclaw.bandcamp.com/album/tydor |
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Tydor |
LP |
Second full length album from one of Sweden's most singular sonic entity. Featuring guest appearances by Kai Uwe Faust of Heilung, Lars-Magnar Enoksen and Anders Hovland, the music of Beckahesten emerges from a borderland where ambient, folk music and ritual converge. Recorded in various natural locations in Norway and Sweden, nature spirits have infused themselves in these recordings...
Dancing with vague entities in a blackened cinder field, followers of dread that has woken, hypnotised one is drawn deeper into their realm. The trees moulder around and offer little protection. Haunting voices keep echoing in the dusk. Lost and trapped you lay down, shivering in the dew. You are their offering, sinking into the mire.
*Due to forces beyond our control, the tricksters of logic scrambled the tracks on this edition of Tydor. The track Hednaväsen, which features vocals from Kai Uwe Faust of Heilung is track 6 on the CD and the first track on side B of the LP.
Standard Edition LP of 200 copies in standard sleeve with spot UV and Matt lamination with printed inner sleeve. 9 Tracks. Running Time 48.46 UPC
https://cycliclaw.bandcamp.com/album/tydor
|
2021 |
€18.00 |
|
| BECUZZI, GIANLUCA |
Nothing is what it seems |
CD |
"Almost 70 minutes of music, nine pieces of a sonic mosaic full of ideas and inventions? More structured compositions places side by side with more abstract numbers, built with a wide range of sounds, extremely variegated both in timbre and origin. Elaborated electronic treatments applied to sounds and noises of a concrete nature, field-recordings, drones, electronic hisses, shaked metals, cracklings, human and animal guttural cries, synthetic pads, ethereal and undecipherable voices, mechanical loops, noises from the everyday life? An incredibile and unpredictable sound universe without borders and without time..." [label info]
www.silentes.net
"Gianluca Becuzzi already established himself as the man behind Kinetix, before leaving that name behind and started again under his own name. Its not easy to note the differences between the two projects. Maybe the name change was just to establish himself as a more serious composer, without wanting to change his music very much. A lot of what Becuzzi does is from the world of computers, electronics and, perhaps, analogue synthesizers, along with a bit of field recordings and electro-acoustics. If a change took place then its most likely in that his recent work is less cold and clinical, perhaps also less calculated and more musical, explanatory in a way. If we take the title in mind, are we then sure about those train sounds in 'Portraits Of Indifference'? Maybe its not? That might be more or less the narrative aspect of this release - nothing is what it seems and somehow it might be that this is explained track by track (a leftover from the more conceptual days?): to have a few sounds which may transport the listener to a particular setting which he can relate to (actually train stations is the one I was thinking of in various pieces, but also the zoo), but you never know if it is really sounds from trains (or any such like, whatever the listener imagines, I guess). Becuzzi cleverly processed his sounds to sound like something which may or may not be related. Quite drone like obviously, and the effect of a drum machine in 'In A Filthy Nursery' may destroy that (and also seems a bit out of place, I think), but through this is quite an interesting release of imaginary soundtracks for the ears." [Vital Weekly] |
2011 |
€12.00 |
|
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Trax to Trax |
do-CD |
"Here comes Gianluca Becuzzi’s fourth release on Silentes. This electronic / electro-acoustic composer and sound-artist boast an enviable curriculum: active since the first half of the ‘80s as founder of the historic Darkwave / Industrial project Limbo, since 1999 his artistic production is characterized by a strong experimental imprint and by a clear tendency toward abstract aesthetic forms and micro/macro noises/sounds. Among his recent artistic production - in addition to what he has published under his own name - we should at least mention his projects Kinetix, Noise Trade Company and Grey History, and his many collaborations in duo with Fabio Orsi. "Trax To Trax" is a double CD that collects tracks recorded between 2006 and 2011, most of them have already appeared on compilations or on limited edition CD-Rs. Among the musicians who have collaborated on some of these tracks, we’d like to mention Simon Balestrazzi (T.A.C.), Nigel Ayers (Nocturnal Emissions), Fabio Orsi and Pietro Riparbelli/K11. Surrounded by dark presences we enter this listening experience enjoying Gothic scenarios covered with electronics and noise, pressing and suggestively evocative, in a relentless series of images and sensations, in the emotional crescendo of a close confrontation with our inner world." [label info]
www.silentes.net
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Faraway from Light |
CD |
"Faraway From Light" is a tripartite CD in a short intro, an equally short outro and a long central composition. Much of the sound sources used in these tracks were recorded in the towers of Teufelsberg in Berlin, a NASA center located in the west of the city, abandoned by British and American intelligence after the fall of the Wall. Teufelsberg, literally "mountain of the devil", stands on an artificial hill, obtained from the sedimentation of the remains of bombings of the Second World War. Its huge empty spaces have very peculiar resonant qualities, which make it a place of particular acoustic interest. After assembling and organizing the materials recorded in Berlin, in 2013, Gianluca Becuzzi presented "Faraway From Light" as a soundtrack for Abel Ferrara's film "The Addiction" at the Cagliari festival "Solo Il Mio Nero". In line with its most recent production, Becuzzi's work is positioned between extreme noise and contemporary experimentation. The dialectic between the continuum of long droning drafts and the swarming of material manipulations, together with the plasticity of full and empty spaces, wrapped in a persistent nocturnal tension, define the figure of "Faraway From Light". Luce Sia and SMYW are pleased to present this work by Gianluca Becuzzi on CD, confident that it is a title that adds an important record contribution to his long career as an author and sound researcher.
https://gianlucabecuzzi.bandcamp.com/album/faraway-from-light
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
|
We can be Everywhere |
do-CD |
Originally recorded between 2012 and 2013, and released on Final Muzik as a limited edition CDr, “We Can Be Everywhere” is still one of the best albums ever released by Italian music composer Gianluca Becuzzi.
The original release includes three solo tracks plus three collaborative ones: two pieces each with Raimondo Gaviano (Svart 1), Lino Monaco and Nicola Buono from Italian electronic music explorers Retina.it and two amazing tracks with Italian sound sculptor (and Final Muzik member) Deison.
The album presents obscure and thrilling atmospheres, unexpected dark structures and out-of-this-world modern electronic music’s soundscapes.
To do even more justice to this album, Final Muzik and Gianluca Becuzzi have opted for a double CD reissue, including the original release plus a new CD, composed, produced and mastered by Gianluca Becuzzi between 2022 and 2023, that includes a new version of “We Can Be Everywhere”.
Obviously inspired by the original, of which it only keeps few samples (mainly vocals) it develops the new sound-path taken by the artist. The new “We Can Be Everywhere” is structured around four lengthy tracks based on mesmerizing distorted guitar sounds, concrete music noises and raw rhythm programming from “far away”. The result is a new masterpiece of wrapping, gloomy doom/drone soundscapes.
Images: Diego Spinelli. Artwork by Deison.
Limited edition of 200 copies only.
Track 01-09 From "We Can Be Everywhere"
Produced And Mastered By Gianluca Becuzzi At Kinetixlab [2012-2013] Composed By:
Tracks 01, 02: Gianluca Becuzzi And Raimondo Gaviano [svart1]
Tracks 03, 05, 07: Gianluca Becuzzi
Tracks 04, 06: Gianluca Becuzzi, Lino Monaco And Nicola Buono [retina It] Tracks 08, 09: Gianluca Becuzzi And Cristiano Deison [deison]
Tracks 10-13
Produced And Mastered By Gianluca Becuzzi At Kinetixlab [2022-2023] Composed By: Gianluca Becuzzi
https://finalmuzik.bandcamp.com/album/we-can-be-everywhere-2014-2023
Seit den frühen 80ern ist der aus der Toskana stammende Gianluca Becuzzi ein musikalischer Workaholic, und vielen hierzulande ist er vermutlich am ehesten durch sein frühes New Wave- und Postpunk-Projekt Limbo bekannt, mit dem er bis ins neue Jahrtausend hinein zahlreiche Alben herausbrachte. Die Zeit um die Jahrtausendwende markierte auch eine Schwerpunktverschiebung von den zwar bisweilen experimentell eingefärbten, aber vom Hauptfokus her dennoch eher songorientierten Arbeiten hin zu abstrakteren Klangwelten, die er mit Projekten wie Kinetix, seinen Arbeiten mit dem Dröhner Fabio Orsi und nicht zuletzt auch solo herausbrachte. “We Can Be Everywhere”, das vor zehn Jahren bei Final Muzik auf CDr erschienen ist, stellte damals eine besondere Wegmarke im Rahmen seiner Soloarbeiten dar, wobei solo in dem Fall nicht heißt, dass Becuzzi das Album im Alleingang produziert hätte. Drei besondere Acts unterstützten ihn dabei in den meisten der Aufnahmen. Das eröffnende “From this Poem of Void” entstand in Zusammenarbeit mit Raimondo Gaviano alias Swart1. Hier brechen in unregelmäßigen Abständen prasselnde Noise-Kaskaden in eine Welt der Stille und scheinen andere kleinteilige Geräusche zum lauter werden zu ermutigen. Erst nach einiger Zeit wird das Ganze durch ein hintergründiges Brummen eingehegt, dennoch ist der Track atmosphärisch eher Doom-Industrial als Ambient. Einige der Klänge hier sind so gut versteckt, dass man sie leicht überhören könnte, so die hechelnden Frauenstimmen, die sich – wenn sie denn keine Fata Morgana sind – ganz tief unter der Oberfläche abhetzen. Der gleichen Zusammenarbeit entstammt “The Screaming Torso”, das gleich mit einer infernalischen Feedback-Lawine beginnt. Gefühlt hundert Details fliegen so schnell durch den Raum, dass das Resultat schon wie ein homogener Fluss wirkt, wenn man nicht innerlich das Tempo herunterschraubt – bis raues Kratzen die Illusion durchbricht. Nach einer kurzen, aber intensiven Klangwelt voll frunkensprühender Glöckchen führt die Reise durch zwei beklemmende Tracks, die zusammen mit dem neapolitanischen Duo Retina.it entstanden sind. Stetig pulsierendes Pauken, das sich zunächst im Hintergrund hält und dann von einer wuchtigen Dröhnwelle nach vorne gedrückt wird, darüber Stimmen, vermutlich von einer Lautsprecherdurchsage, abstrakte Sound-Mixturen, aus denen immer wieder Glocken an die Oberfläche dringen, dunkles Gemurmel, zirpende Insekten: Alles wird dichter mit der Zeit und offenbart eine große Vielschichtigkeit, und am Ende kulminiert alles in einer prasselnden Lärmsalve. Nach einem weiteren solo eingespielten Interludium beginnt der zusammen mit dem Klangkünstler Deison produzierte Schlussteil, der das experimentierfreudigste Material des Albums bereithält: Das Stück “Headless shadows” beginnt mit zum Teil rückwärts eingespieltem Material, das aber nur notdürftig die hypnotische Perkussion und die verquere Melodik dahinter verdeckt. Das lange “All the ghosts of my life” schließt das ursprüngliche Album noch um einiges subtiler ab, denn hier meint man eine nur leicht elektrifizierte Naturszenerie mit heranbrandendem Wasser und Vogelstimmen zu hören. Doch irgendwann bricht auch hier noch einmal die Dunkelheit in Form schriller Hochtöner, dunklem Grollen und mysteriösem metallenden Hantieren ein. Was passiert hier? Lässt hier jemand ein Geisterschiff vom Anker gehen?
Als Überraschung hat sich Becuzzi das mittlerweile fast ein Jahrzehnt alte Material erneut vorgenommen und ausgehend von einigen Samples daraus im Alleingang vier eigenständige Kompositionen gebaut, die vier Tracks mit den Titeln “We”, “Can”, “Be” und “Everywhere” umfasst. Doch was sich zum Auftakt noch wie ein Rework anmuten mag, entpuppt sich als eine weitgehend eingeständiges Bonusalbum, das mit dem ursprünglichen Longplayer nur durch Referenzen verbunden ist. Das Erkennungszeichen dieser Kompositionen ist ihr schleppender und bleischwerer Doomcharakter, dessen Infernalik nicht nur sägenden Gitarrenwänden, höllischen Twangs, wahrwitzigem Gemurmel und schleppenden Takten zu verdanken ist, sondern auch knarrenden Türen, krächzenden Flüstervocals, einzelnen Freekout-Ansätzen, trügerischen Glöckchen, gezielt eingesetzten lichten Momenten und einigem mehr. Becuzzis Repertoir ist offenkundig breit gefächert.
Die Reissue erschien bereits vor einem Dreivierteljahr und einigen der CDs sind noch erhältlich. Selbstredend empfehlen wir sie. (U.S.) AFRICAN PAPER |
2023 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Black Mantra |
do-CD |
Kali, "The Black-One", is the Hindu goddess of death, time, supreme power, destruction and change. She is dark and heartless, the anti-mother with a bloodied face. She is "The One Who Dances", leading the world towards dissolution, end and rebirth. The origins of the Thug clan, stranglers known for their ritual murders, are linked to this karmic cycle. Since the last century, her mysterious charm has inspired literature and cinema, making her a popular figure also in the Western world. Just as, more generally, Indian mysticism and its traditional music, based on the sound continuum, is origin and source of inspiration for all Drone Music and for musical avant-gardes linked to it.
Gianluca Becuzzi [June 2023]
All tracks composed and produced by Gianluca Becuzzi [2023]
Gianluca Becuzzi [on CD01 and CD02]: electric baritone guitar, alluminium neck guitar, alluminium neck bass VI, sampling, programming
Antonio Tonietti [on CD02]: indian harmonium, modified acoustic guitar, bouzitar
Images by Stefano Gentile
Artwork by Deison
Silentes / St.An.Da. 2023
https://gianlucabecuzzi.bandcamp.com/album/black-mantra
"One of my top finds of the last several years is Gianluca Becuzzi. This prolific Italian experimentalist is known for his atmospheric music that often fuses together influences from different genres. Black Mantra is his second release of 2023 and a high point in his discography.
The stylistic hybridization here is that of Indian classical music and chant with drone metal. Think of it as a captivating combination of Dead Can Dance with Sunn O))). Conceptually, the music as a whole is based on Becuzzi’s fascination with Kali, the Hindu goddess of death. As such, it exhibits appropriately dark tones.
While a long 2CD release, Black Mantra is exemplified by two tracks that appear early on the album.
The Hidden Temple kicks off the album with a gong and acoustic strings before Becuzzi drops slow-moving and massive guitar riffs that are held into feedback. He employs baritone and aluminum-neck guitars as well as the bass VI to emphasize the low notes and sustain. Atop this, he layers repeating mantra-like chants. As Becuzzi is also credited with samples and programming, it is unclear how much of the non-guitar source material was recorded specifically for this track. But it ultimately does not matter due to his artful amalgamations.
In contrast, Devotional Prayers is centered around drum beats accentuated by bells. Becuzzi adds a bass line and chants that resemble uttered incantations. He uses distorted guitar chords to fill space between cycles of the chanting, as well as to provide thick melodies for the latter half of the track. While each contributing line is relatively simple, again it is the combination of these elements that makes the overall piece engaging." [Avant Music News]
|
2023 |
€16.00 |
|
| BECUZZI, GIANLUCA & FABIO ORSI |
Muddy speaking Ghosts through my machines |
CD |
Zweite VÖ dieses Jahr für das italienische Duo, experimentelle electronica-ambience die mit Blues & Folk-Versatzstücken sowie field recordings angereichert ist, was zu erstaunlich stimmigen Ergebnissen führt.
"Muddy Speaking Ghosts Through My Machines' is the brand new album released together by Fabio Orsi and Gianluca Becuzzi. This album will be certainly followed by other cooperations, considering the big friendly artistic sodality between them. Fabio e Gianluca are a strange duo, considering the big differences of their artistic back-ground. Fabio Orsi is a young and unexpected talent. After his first album, "Osci" (LP, SmallVoices 2005), produced by Gianluca Becuzzi, he got a lot of positive feedbacks, worldwide, by the most important international media, confirmed by his second official release "For Alan Lomax" (CD, A Silent Place 2006) splitted with cosmical Italian duo My Cat is an Alien. Gianluca Becuzzi is a very well known character of the Italian experimental scene since from the 80s, under many different alias. Recently known as Kinetix, Gianluca latest release is the very well appreciated "Memory Makes Noise" (CD, SmallVoices 2006) a great electroacoustic pearl. The unexpected uncounter between different forces, experiences and visions of this two artists is prefectly melted in this album: strong and tied, an imaginary place where folkway and research, past and present, distance and closeness, mud and clouds, ghosts and machines meets. Shreds of ballads, guitars and old keyboards floating on the vibrant surface of this faery river and disappear, towed off by drones and rumors, pouring between distant voices and centenary blues songs from the Alan Lomax archive. Raptur and sweet lostness: this is the main sensation. It could be listed as Avant-Folk, or Experimental-Blues, Ambient- Roots or contemporary aesthetics and aching nostalgia..." [label press release]
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| BEEQUEEN |
Aughton |
LP |
“The queen of all honeys nourishes its hive with a sweet sustenance of archival sweetness. Aughton represents a cadre of organic drone/concrete pieces. Softly cavernous and compact compositions that occasionally become musical by suggestion only. It's a bit like being underwater while someone is playing loud church music out a car window as a train screeches by. It's that fugue state induced by the ever more apparent overtones of a nearby engine. It is quiet and disquieting. The several pieces together add up to something of a subtonal symphony, though the parts are quite distinct. A great, steely and dark space-out, whose horse runs happily astride 80's Zoviet France or in some respects, Harry Bertoia." [press release]
www.blrrecords.com
"This new LP on Beta-Lactam makes an interesting companion piece to Beequeen's recent Important Records album. Where The Bodyshop was a milestone for the work of Freek Kinkelaar and Frans de Waard with its unexpected emphasis on melody, structure and songcraft, Aughton—The Patient Books is much more familiar Beequeen territory—organic drones, submerged loops and moody atmospherics. This seemed like an unexpected return to form until I checked the liner notes and discovered that these pieces were, in fact, recorded from 1993 to 1995. To anyone familiar with the work of the duo from this period, the sounds on this LP will be very familiar. Beequeen have always been extraordinarily good at creating dusty, low-fidelity machine drones that have a grainy, organic resonance in which one can hear all manner of buried and obscured melodies. Their textures have a distinctly antiquated feel to them, like the penetrating buzz of a sodium streetlamp on an Amsterdam street corner in the late-1800s. On many of these pieces, Freek and Frans take advantage of the substance of tape itself, building pieces from the rhythms produced by a slowly queuing cassette tape, or using the fundamental technical limitations of magnetic tape to intensify the lived-in, archival feel of much of this material. Even the name of the album conjured images of a long-neglected psychiatric hospital archive, full of disintegrating reel-to-reel tapes of long-forgotten significance. "I'm Searching For Field Character" is the perfect soundtrack to an Orwellian Room 101: a distorted voice with the weighty tone of a Soviet social engineer reads aloud a block of text meant to reprogram us with revolutionary propaganda. All the while the clock ticks loudly and distant air raid sirens blare. It has the effect of a frightening Cold War radio drama pulled into near-total abstraction. With interest I've tuned into the current wave of heavily hyped New Weird American drone artists like Double Leopards and Dredd Foole, but this brief LP by Beequeen comprised of material more than a decade old seems fresher and more adventurous by far. Beequeen are careful not to stray too far from theme, mood and substance, so their work is always enriched by the myriad symbolic associations that each listener brings to the experience. The same cannot be said of the aforementioned artists, who often prefer to just play the same tone as loud as they can for over an hour, as if endurance alone could prove the merit of their work. Aughton is a refreshing antidote to this kind of amateurish noodling, and I highly recommend it to any who have found themselves disappointed by this sort of thing in the past." [Jonathan Dean / Brainwashed]
|
2004 |
€17.00 |
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|
Music for the head ballet |
CD |
Wiederveröffentlichung dieser vergriffenen BEE QUEEN CD von 1996, die vier sehr ruhig schwingende Drones enthält.. (ein zuvor nicht enthaltener Bonustrack!)
" Die Musik greift in das Environment ein, formt es um und verändert die Sichtweise des Hörers auf so subtile Weise, daß die Veränderungen erst Stunden später erkennbar werden." [Zipo, Auf Abwegen # 20]. Die neue BEE QUEEN - CD ist im Gegensatz zum Vorgänger wesentlich ruhiger, meditativer und monotoner und enthält 3 lange Atmo-Tracks. Sehr schön!“ [Drone Records info 1997]
„Always a lonesome recording with it's distant organ drones quietly amassed, Music for the Head Ballet was first bestowed upon us in 1996. The now defunct Isomorphic records had the privilege of issuing these 3 pieces of lulling resonating ambience. Music for the Head Ballet has had an elusive history. There is little information about the music listed anywhere. The reviews are scarce, and those few that do make a mention are consistent in their praise of this alluring work. The original 936 numbered copies seem to be carefully tucked away on coveted shelves as it is rarely seen making an appearance in any market platform. Even the names of the tracks support it's ambiguous nature ("Days that never were", "White feathers on a dish,used to erect the pyramids" and "These foolish things"). Now after so many years of myth making, this gorgeous work has been made available again by Infraction. This reissue features new artwork as well as a previously unreleased 13 minute additional track from the original sessions. It is quite possibly the most blissful track Beequeen have committed to disc. Buy it now and hold your peace forever. Edition of 500.” [label info]
|
2004 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Sandancing |
CD |
BEEQUEEN sind mit "Sanddancing" ganz im "Song" angekommen, einer Art elektronischer "Ambient Pop" der ein Spektrum von kitschigen Kindermelodei-Stücken bis hin zu verschrobenen Instrumentals umfasst, mit weiblichem Gesang, irgendwo zwischen alten BRUNNEN, PIANO MAGIC und LPD, charmant, verträumt & luftig leicht, ohne experimentelle & geräuschhafte Elemente ganz zu verbannen...
"After the by now usual gap of some two years, Beequeen is ready to present their latest album, further maturing their sound from The Bodyshop (also on Important Records). More song-based, this album features new vocals by Olga Wallis solely (with some backing by Freek Kinkelaar). Well rounded pop songs in some places, but Beequeen never forgets to put in some strange element, without leaping in the dark alley of pointless experiment. Orchestral in 'The Illogical Song,' collage like in 'The Edie Three Step' or a simple rhythm machine in 'The Honeythief.' Beequeen does all, and with great care and seemingly ease. This album features also the help of Barry Gray, former (and first) guitarist of The Legendary Pink Dots, and would not have been the album that is without the invaluable productional skills of Erik Drost." [press release]
"Beequeen is the long running collaboration between Dutch music veterans Frans de Waard and Freek Kinkelaar. The duo mainly focused on ambient and industrial music during the nineties, until their album 'Ownliness', back in 2002, which marked a more or less radical break with Beequeen's past. Since 'Ownliness' the music of Beequeen has shifted to well crafted electronic pop songs. 'Sandancing' is no exception. It's an atmospheric and dreamy album due to the beautiful (female) vocals of Olga Wallis.
The songs are built on electronics, guitar and keyboard, combined with fine microsonic details, pulsing drum machines and subtle field recordings. It can easily be seen as a rather accessible record, especially considering Beequeens past, but 'Sandancing' hides enough surprises to keep it exciting. It somehow reminds me of the early works of Piano Magic, the project of Glen Johnson, who also used to work with different vocalists to transform his electronic instrumentals into songs. Being aware of the adventurous approach of these experimental wizards, you immediately wonder what Beequeens next record will be like. But you certainly hope that Olga Wallis will be involved again as 'Sandancing' is definitely their best record to date." [MW, Vital Weekly]
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Winter |
LP |
"A Colourful Storm presents a new album by Beequeen, the duo of Frans de Waard (Kapotte Muziek) and Freek Kinkelaar (Brunnen). Over two long-form pieces, new material from 2020 and almost-discarded fragments dating back to 1988 are collaged to form a brand-new composition. Think woodblock, guitar, static radio signals, ethereal ambience. An honorable addition to Beequeen's discography and a beautiful piece of the Dutch avantgarde with historic ties to Edward Ka-Spel, De Fabriek, Merzbow, and Nurse With Wound. Mastered by Peter Johan Nyland. Full-color sleeve photography by Alfred Boland."
"Has it been six years since Frans de Waard and Freek Kinkelaar put out Beequeen’s release ‘Aroyund Midnight’? Sadly, it has. In that time, well, a lot of shit has gone down that we don’t have time to go through here, but needless to say, it’s been a minute since they last released something. However, Beequeen has returned with a new album ‘Winter’. As the title suggests this is an album about the winter months. A time when you have to pull the collar of your coat up tighter round your neck, yet the wind always manages to find a gap to send a chill down your spine. It’s the time of year when usually busy parks, and public spaces, are quieter and there is a heavy, earnest silence all around. And this is effectively what ‘Winter’ sounds like.
The album opens with ‘Early Winter’. There is a claustrophobic vibe from the opening, but there is a feeling of space. Like when you are stuck inside on a heavy snow day. You can see an expanse of white surrounding you, there is space to move around inside, but you are
stuck inside, and the walls are getting closer. As ‘Early Winter’ builds it suddenly drops off and we are left with nothing but creaky sounds and space. As the creaking gets more pronounced a white noise hiss becomes louder and louder before strains of feedback started to come into the mix. This feels like walking through the park on the way to, or from, somewhere. Everything is silent. It’s all-consuming, but you are wrapped up in a cosy bubble so the biting weather can’t get to you. ‘Late Winter’ is more of the same, but the sounds and tone are colder. Opening with a stark tinkering loop that conjures up images of icicles. Despite being slightly shorter than ‘Early Winter’ it takes more time to build to its peaks. Throughout that feeling of claustrophobia permeates, giving the sense to dread to that ‘Early Winter’ was missing.
At its heart ‘Winter’ is a love letter to the season. Despite its stark nature, it is filled with longing and compassion.
Whether that is a longing for the season to never end or to be able to go out and see people again is debatable. What isn’t up for argument is how ‘Winter’ is a fascinating listen that really has the power to get under your skin, regardless of the number of layers you have on." [Vital Weekly]
https://beequeen.bandcamp.com/album/winter
|
2020 |
€21.50 |
|
| BEGG, MICHAEL |
A Moon that Lights Itself |
CD |
During the 1870s, Charles François Daubigny, in the last years of his life, took increasingly to painting nocturnal scenes en plain air from his boat studio, Le Bottin. This was a period in time when the idea of the musical nocturne had progressed from being an indication of what point during the evening a particular piece of music should be played, towards becoming an articulation of the unique atmosphere and emotion occasioned by moonlight.
Elsewhere in France, Edouard-Lean Scott de Martinville conceived and produced the phonautogragh. This device, appearing years before Edison’s phonograph, enabled sound, for the first time, to be captured. Unlike Edison, however, de Martinville neglected - or saw no need - to provide the means to playback the recording. Rather, a visual representation was captured on a lamp black cylinder.
It wasn’t until 2008 when researchers at Berkley University used digital technology to recover the audio. The recording, the first ever made, was of a human voice singing Au Clair De La Lune.
Written and produced by Michael Begg
Mixed and mastered at Captains Quarters, East Lothian
A Moon That Lights Itself was premiered at the Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh on September 16th 2016, with cello accompaniment from Clea Friend
The work was commissioned by National Galleries Scotland, in conjunction with the major exhibition, Inspiring Impressionism: Daubigny, Monet, Van Gogh, and was completed with the generous support of the Hope Scott Trust.
https://omnempathy.bandcamp.com/album/a-moon-that-lights-itself
REVIEW:
"A Moon That Lights Itself was commissioned by the Scottish National Galleries as part of the Inspiring Impressionism exhibition, focussing on the works of Charles François Daubigny, Claude Monet, and Vincent van Gogh. On September 16th 2016, Michael Begg (of Human Greed / Fovea Hex) performed the work, amidst the exhibition space, in the auspicious surroundings of the Royal Scottish Academy situated on the Mound in Edinburgh.
Drawing on the works of French landscape artist Charles François Daubigny, Begg's commission was described as a "work for electronics, strings and moonlight". I must confess that of the three artists featured in the exhibition I wasn't at all familiar with Daubigny. Consider Begg's work with Human Greed where their first release Consolation featured a moonface in Deryk Thomas's artwork on the cover; Black Hill: Midnight At The Blighted Star, the title of a later album which included 'Dalkeith Night' speaks for itself; and even Dirt On Earth featured a blackened nightscape on the cover it's perhaps particularly apt that Begg focusses on Daubigny's later work and specifically the twilight and nocturnal scenes of his later years, from which he painted while ensconced on a studio boat on the Oise. A Moon That Lights Itself is set in the context of mid to late 19th century France, and the cusp of impressionism, modernism, together with the earliest known sound recordings by Edouard-Lean Scott de Martinville and his phonautograph invention.
A Moon That Lights Itself moves from dusk to dawn in the course of its 9 tracks. From tranquil drones overlaid with tumbling piano notes and solemn cello movements the opening track 'Le Crepuscule' moves into drifting drones before 'Moonrise' which like many of the tracks on A Moon That Lights Itself blends location recordings into the compositions. Here water in the form of lapping waves and crashing waves, bird chatter and the quack of ducks - ducks were a recurring motif within Daubigny's impressionist landscapes - are found amidst passages of glistening drone and moments of sombre piano and cello swell. Still and serene, glinting flourishes merge with stirring movements, its lapping waves resembling the tidal pull, and backward spinning electronics. 'Moonlight' bathes in the glow of light glistening sound textures set against deep reverberating rumbles and piercing glassy shrieks. Bells ring out before it moves into quieter echoed atmospherics.
Daubigny often painted from his floating studio on a boat on the River Oise, and 'Le Bottin' aptly illustrates this with watery ripples dappled with tender piano notes and broader sound shudders, flowing into an end section comprising elegiac strings and melancholic synths.
With its rippling metallic sounds, harsher noise elements and sluggish voice recordings 'The Birth Of Modernism' is much more abstract in composition. Those voices, taken from the 1860 phonautograms of Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville, like modernism are almost blown in on a wind like drone. Scott de Martinville's recordings, sensitively mixed as another layer of sound here, were never intended for playback but recent research managed to transform these into playable sound files, discovering a male voice, probably of Scott de Martinville, singing a partial segment of the French folk song 'Au clair de la lune', which fits nicely here as in English it translates to 'In the Moonlight'. Elsewhere on 'The Birth Of Modernism' voices and bird calls are rendered as electronic squiggles, reflecting the movement away from realism to abstraction, perhaps.
Begg returns to his palette of location sounds on 'Daubigny's Reverie' where lapping water and duck quack augment the shimmering sound spans. The drone filled atmospherics create a sense of melancholy; a captivating dreamspace only broken by the call and sing of birds in flight. Those flying birds could be seen as sound metaphor for the transition from Daubigny's impressionism to a new world of abstract representations, something furthered on 'Between Two Movements' which unfurls to a two pronged approach where undulating drones and glassy shrill frequencies are cast against evocative classical strings. It could even be electronics, Begg has an uncanny ability to sidestep the listener with his use of instrumentation that sound like something else.
'A Last Dance Under The Moon' moves to doleful cello sweeps and forlorn nocturnal electronics, achieving a graceful and mournful presence, largely due to the Clea Friend's cello score. A Moon That Lights Itself closes with the arrival of 'Dawn', a classy ensemble piece of piano score and cello, contrasting sombre cello movements with more optimistic and joyful piano notes, and as the sounds coalesce it seems to herald the new whilst paying homage to the past.
Begg referred to this in a blog for his performance at the Royal Scottish Academy as being a "pochade", a sketch, "for Daubigny, for the moon, and for an extraordinary time in the development of European culture, when our sense of capturing the world around us and within us took extraordinarily bold, though markedly sensitive, steps forward." Recorded immediately after the performance, Begg once again proves himself to be a superlative composer, with a suite of evocative atmospherics using electronics, classical strings and location recordings to evoke the nocturnal workings of Daubigny. A Moon That Lights Itself is bathed in a liminal essence; a quality that defines all his work. From the Human Greed releases Black Hill: Midnight At The Blighted Star, Fortress Longing, World Fair to the Fragile Pitches collaboration with Colin Potter, Michael Begg has been behind a number of great releases. A Moon That Lights Itself now sits alongside those titles as one of his finest solo offerings in a release that is sombre, inventive and utterly captivating." [Compulsion Online] |
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Sonambulo |
CD |
Shipping November 4th 2019
Sonambulo by Michael Begg
OMCD12
Ltd (150) CD edition
Sonambulo documents the work and performance completed during a residency at the Centro Mexicano para la Musica y las Artes Sonoras in Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico during November and December 2018: Sonambulo: un bebedero para pájaros compuesto por dientes para la novia del viento. (Sleepwalker: A birdbath made of teeth for the Bride of the Wind)
The residency was developed as part of Seeing Hearing UK Mexico, a three-year collaboration between the UK and Mexico made possible with the support of Anglo Arts the cultural department of The Anglo Mexican Foundation A.C; British Council Mexico, CMMAS and Cryptic.
Sonambulo’s central subject is Leonora Carrington, the British painter closely aligned to the Surrealist movement who settled in Mexico soon after the Second World War. There, Carrington’s alchemical, visionary work made her a household name. The people of Mexico accorded her a degree of admiration and respect only now starting to be echoed in her native Britain.
Michael Begg “Through meditation, and surrealist techniques including free-association, automatic writing, juxtaposition and pursuing the logic of dreams, I endeavoured to place myself at the alchemical table of Leonora, surrounded by moths, and steam, whilst impossible beasts, hags, witches, sooth-sayers, mutated archetypes and psychic golems ebb and flow through walls and shadows.“
https://omnempathy.com
"Late last year saw Michael Begg, UK's ambient composer in a residency project at the Centro Mexicano para la Musica y las Artes Sonoras in Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico. His work is about "Leonora Carrington, the British painter closely aligned to the Surrealist movement who settled in Mexico soon after the Second World War. There, Carrington’s alchemical, visionary work made her a household name. The people of Mexico accorded her a degree of admiration and respect only now starting to be echoed in her native Britain", about whom I had not heard before, and I had to Google her work. It is some strong work indeed and Begg creates music that is perhaps not as full of strange images, beasts and witches, but it does capture a weird atmosphere that works quite well with Carrington's paintings. It is, so I think, not a one on one translation of the paintings, or a soundtrack to that, but rather an interpretation of the atmospheres captures in the paintings. It is about darkness, spooky surroundings, nocturnal wanderings in dark places. I think. Begg's music is spacious, synthesizer like (did he bring a bunch to Mexico; Did they have some
over there? Or is it all laptop-based?), expansive and with a fine touch of experimentalism. His trademark sound of water glass sounds, higher-pitched frequencies appear here again. When he uses 'other' sounds they are voices from a mass in a church (such as in 'Morelia Cathedral'), obscured field recordings, such as the percussive sounds of 'Plain Chant', along with what seems screen wipers. It is the addition of these sounds that add that surrealist touch to the already haunting music. It is then in a place I like Begg at his best; it's ambient, it is spooky and it is narrative. It is a combination of many things I like in music and Begg does a great job here, and that's what we are used from him. This CD is limited to 150 copies, so be quick." [FdW/Vital Weekly] |
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Vanitas |
CD |
VANITAS is another semi-conscious descent into the liminal territories between contemporary composition and electronic erosion. I am still consumed by landscape, by memory, by *that* sense of longing. And I still cannot stop staring at the moon.
For this release, I played many more acoustic instruments than is usual for me. Piano, guitars and bass mostly – but also a series of virtual instruments that I built for the recording; sampled wood burning stove, tuned martini glasses, e-bow autoharp, stolen French music box, loose piano string droner, and a blow torch treatment of glass sheets. I also took my first leap into sonification resulting in the opening track; Invocation, in which I programmed NASA information about a particular lunar eclipse early in the 16th century, which I mapped onto a series of 6 solfeggio frequencies. I don’t necessarily subscribe to the mystical qualities accorded to these frequencies – but there is something undeniably affecting about them. The track clears the deck s very effectively for the remainder of the recording, I think.
Hopefully these exploratory excursions don’t detract too much from what should be an immersive listening experience.
VANITAS will be available from May 6th on the usual digital download and streaming sites. But there is also a very limited CD run comprising 150 copies. As with previous releases, this comes in a hi-gloss, Japanese Artboard digipak. It also features a Deryk Thomas painting on the back cover which may surprise you!
~
How I wrote up Vanitas at the end of the last session.
Midnight. Orchestras are tuning up in the verges of the hollow ways. I have built my own instruments from wood, antique metals and computers. I read a book about the harmonic consonance between planets – but the planets are all out of kilter. I see through holes in the past that manifest as chasms in the sky.
I am so sad. I am so angry. This is my only voice. These are my only tools. I sit still. Very still. I jump in time, but I always land in the night. The beautiful night. God, I cannot tell you how much I miss the night.
Yes, i meditate. It seems very obvious to me that these pieces come from that space, that place – but it doesn’t warrant any closer examination than that. Just, please, allow the seconds to decouple themselves from the minutes. Watch the hours drift up to that hole in the night sky.
This recording is a monument to a certain kind of laudable failure. It is what happens when someone with no gift for programming writes scripts in Python and Max in order to consume data and make the moon and the tide sing. It’s what happens when someone with cheap tools and the ghost of a sound to realise gets out of his studio and into the workshop to make doomed instruments from all the junk in the village. It’s what happens when a man with no formal musical education takes it upon himself to score and orchestrate an ensemble. It’s where ‘I can’t do this’ meets ‘I must do this’.
This is not creating something of worth from silence, this is more like recovering something once lost from the midst of a solid block of shapeless sound.
The work is done. The coding is spaghetti. The instruments are broken; warped and ragged. Still, the moon sings in my ear. The machines in the studio haven’t been updated in over three hours so are obsolete. Yet Clea’s cello, formed in the year of Mozart’s birth, spins a silver thread in space and time.
And so, another midnight. Wife and children sleeping. Another illustrated ruin in my hands. And under what skies? Out into the night. Close the coop, and put away the hens water. Look up. There is one word you need to find. And if you whisper the right word, it will carry beyond the dimmest star.
Now, back to bed, little pilgrim."
https://omnempathy.bandcamp.com/album/vanitas
|
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| BEGG, MICHAEL / ROEDELIUS |
Two gather in the Waiting Room |
CD |
"In August 2020 as part of Michael Begg’s residency at Edinburgh’s Queen’s Hall, a special collaborative performance had been due to happen between Begg and legendary figure of the European electronic music scene, Hans Joachim Roedelius. Lockdown forced their collaboration to evolve remotely and has resulted in the release, Two Gather In The Waiting Room. The result is a beautiful fusion of their individual signature sounds, and a movingly evocative, and unexpectedly positive portrait of artistic life in lockdown." [Omnempathy]
https://omnempathy.bandcamp.com/album/two-gather-in-the-waiting-room
"MICHAEL BEGG ist ein schottischer Komponist, Klangkünstler und Musiker. Seit der Jahrtausendwende begann er unter Einsatz neuer erschwinglicher Technologien mit der computergestützten Komposition zu experimentieren. Dabei entstanden Aufnahmen fürs Theater, die Formation HUMAN GREED mit seinem langjährigen Mitarbeiter DERYK THOMAS sowie die langjährige Beteiligung an der Experimental-Formation FOVEA HEX. Thematische Arbeiten, zeitgenössische klassische Musik und Studioexperimente bestimmen die Arbeit von BEGG, der auch unter seinem eigenen Namen zahlreiche Aufnahmen veröffentlichte.
HANS-JOACHIM ROEDELIUS ist ein deutscher elektronischer Musiker und Komponist. Bekannt wurde er als Mitbegründer der einflussreichen Krautrock-Gruppen CLUSTER und HARMONIA. ROEDELIUS‘ Solokarriere begann 1978 und brachte bis heute zahlreiche Albumveröffentlichungen hervor, nicht selten in Kooperation mit namhaften Kollegen wie BRIAN ENO, CONNY PLANK oder DIETER MOEBIUS. „Two Gather In The Waiting Room“ ist die erste Zusammenarbeit der beiden herausragenden Musiker BEGG und ROEDELIUS. Fünf elegische Synthesizer-Symphonien, die das Beste aus beiden Welten der Künstler vereinen.
All tracks written by Michael Begg and Hans Joachim Roedelius
Arranged and Produced by Michael Begg
Additional musicians from the Black Glass Ensemble on Not Far Away. Further:
Aisling O’Dea, violin
Julia Lungu, violin
Neil Cuthbertson, trumpet
"Michael Begg is a Scottish composer, sound artist, and musician. In 2000, making use of new affordable computer technologies, he began to experiment in computer mediated composition. Along with long time collaborator Deryk Thomas, he produced a series of recordings intended for use in theatre which became the first Human Greed album, Consolation. Michael began contributing to Clodagh Simonds' Fovea Hex project in 2007 with an appearance on the track "Long Distance" on the EP Allure. He has since appeared on every subsequent Fovea Hex recording, and is a core member of the performing iteration of the ensemble.
Begg has released a number of recordings in his own name, working more progressively towards a territory comprising site specific thematic work, contemporary classical music, and studio experimenting. Hans-Joachim Roedelius is a German electronic musician and composer. He is best known as a co-founder of the influential krautrock groups Cluster and Harmonia. Roedelius' solo career began with Durch die Wüste in 1978 and then Jardin Au Fou in 1979. The first of the lengthy Selbstportrait series was released in 1979, being material done beside his work with Cluster and Harmonia, without the input of his collaborators. Mostly recorded on simple two-track equipment, the Selbstportraits make up the backbone of Roedelius' early solo recordings." [press release]
|
2020 |
€15.00 |
|
| BEHRENDSEN, PETER |
10 x 15 = 30 |
LP + CD |
Peter Behrendsen (b. 1943) is a Cologne-based radio producer, performer and composer of experimental music. He started concerning himself with electro-acoustic music in 1972, was a member of Josef Anton Riedl's ensemble and assistant to Klaus Schöning at the WDR radio play studio (Studio for Acoustic Art). He organized numerous concerts and festivals for experimental music in Cologne, most notably BrückenMusik, a series of concerts in the box girder of the Deutz bridge. After Nachtflug / Atem des Windes in 2017, this is his second LP on Edition Telemark.
"10 x 15 = 30" is the vinyl mix of a concert for Behrendsen's 75th birthday at the LOFT in Cologne. The full-length recording has been released on CD by Obst Music with the title "Fünf Mal Dreißig Ist Sechzig" ("5 x 30 = 60"). The players were: Peter Behrendsen (electronics), Dietmar Bonnen (prepared piano, glockenspiel), Andreas Oskar Hirsch (carbophone), hans w. koch (axoloti, blippoo box) and Lucia Mense (recorders).
What Behrendsen had in mind for the concert was not a programme of solo pieces but a collective improvisation with musicians and visual artists. Being sceptical about conventional "free" (psychodynamic) improvisation, he decided to go with an approach that John Cage called "with the head in the sky – and the feet on the ground": between individual freedom and preconceived rules.
The total length of the concert was set to 60 minutes, each player had 30 minutes in sections between 2 and 10 minutes. Their length and distribution was decided by chance. Within their sections players had individual freedom: Musical communication was not mandatory but possible, emerging musical relationships would often be unintentional. Simultaneously, 5 videos by visual artists were projected in random order, again without any intended correlation between sound and video.
For the LP, the concert recording had to be adapted in length, i.e. reduced to 2 parts of about 15 minutes each. To maintain the character of a whole, the 60-minute concert was cut into 2 equal parts, mixed down and cut into 2 halves for both sides. The result is a new piece: denser but still transparent, the relationships between the musicians even more abstract – a new composition.
Regular edition of 240 in glossy sleeve with artwork by Dietmar Bonnen. Special edition of 60 including the LP, the Obst Music CD with the full-length recording, both in their regular sleeves, and a numbered card signed by all musicians, all housed in a plastic outer sleeve.
https://www.edition-telemark.de/923.02.html
|
2020 |
€34.00 |
|
| BELL, JAKE |
Awake in my flying Dream |
CD |
I set out in 1998 to teach myself how to record Ambient Electronic space music - after the release of SYNJASE on Whirlybird Records formerly the recording label of Simeon / Silver Apples. I wanted to learn how to design sounds , compose and record electronic music. "Awake In My Flying Dream" and the 2nd CD in Progress - "Zero Point 21/12”, are a culmination of that vision. I would like to thank all my friends from America, Ukraine and elsewhere whose influence and inspiration where very much the cause and inspiration behind making this project now a reality. These tracks in particular are unique in that they are musical, mystical impressions and improvisations capturing the sounds of a very specific time - before, during and after, the energy portals opening for what is termed Ascension ( music for Inner alignment and going on Inner journeys ) the Great Awakening of New Earth. the 12/21/12 Mayan Calendar - Zero Point Timeline SHIFT -
Some who know me from The Random Concept Days, the days of Psychedelic rock guitar - "Perihelion" for me is a track that bridges several decades of style and technology - merging the spontaneous improvisation of live psychedelic music with the possibilities and infinite range of sound design made possible by the more modern technology. I hope you will like what you hear and I appreciate if you purchase tracks as this supports making this possible for me to continue do this. Having music online is also something I have worked toward since 1990's also. Welcome to the awakening !! Stay tuned for more is yet to come!
credits
released 01 June 2014
Thanks to all my fiends from America, Ukraine and elsewhere - whose appreciation of my talents inspired me to believe I could create something that would be a gift in return for your being who you are and the best of the unforgettable memories of all we've co-created and shared together so far. I hope to see you here and for more ideas for the future music and co-creations yet to unfold.
codeindigo.bandcamp.com
|
2014 |
€14.00 |
|
| BELLERUE, BOB |
Music of Liberation |
do-LP |
Bob Bellerue's new double-LP, "Music of Liberation," is a careful and intricate album of textured drone and shapely noise. Like the greatest works by post-industrial masters David Jackman (Organum) and Steven Stapleton (Nurse With Wound), its power lies not in harshness, but in dynamic spectral intensity. These are minutely composed pieces with very great attention paid to timbral details and variances.
Through the last few years, Bellerue has released a series of highly acclaimed long-form classics of tactile noise, including 2014's "Hollow Body" (Los Discos Enfantasmes), 2015's "Damned Piano" (Anarchymoon Recordings), and 2017's "Yamaha Deluxe" (iDEAL Recordings). These are in addition to more concise releases for labels like No Rent, Banned Production, Phage Tapes, and others, issued in a lava-like flow since the start of the millennium. And with "Music of Liberation," Bellerue's singular brand of volcanic aesthetics has reached a point of near-Hellenic refinement. The four pieces here are controlled eruptions, seeping slowly with the force of geologic synthesis.
There is a subtle poignancy at work here too: "Music of Liberation" is dedicated to Bellerue's friend and collaborator, Z'EV, who passed away during the final stages of finishing the double album. The late experimental percussionist/sound artist shared a certain sensibility and approach with Bellerue, as both artists have a longstanding interest in the power of metallic resonance, poetic dissonance, and composition in-situ.
"Music of Liberation" (née "Música de Libertação") was recorded in April 2016 at Sonoscopia (Porto, Portugal), in a raw session balancing drone feedback states with instrumental and vocal elements. The session was made possible through a variety of borrowed equipment and instruments (acoustic bass, shruti box, bowed gongs), which led to techniques and content which diverge from Bellerue's canon of work with surprising melodic moments. The unfamiliar instruments lent an inscrutable, organic quality to Bellerue's emotionally charged metallurgy. To bring out more full-spectrum sound, the recordings were played back in the old marble and plaster cavern of Issue Project Room in Brooklyn (where Bellerue works), to harness the resonant acoustics and add depth and dimension to the mono source recording.
In Bellerue's realm, volatility frequently gives way to passages of sustained beauty, compelling all those journeying with him from instability to lucidity; from repression to liberation.
“In the realm of noise and experimental music, Bob Bellerue elevates his recordings beyond the mere level of harshness into three-dimensional soundscapes that can be felt as well as heard.”
- Chuck Foster, The Big Takeover
Bob Bellerue is a noise composer, experimental musician, and creative technician based in Brooklyn NY.
"Music of Liberation" has been released by Elevator Bath as a limited edition double LP, mastered for vinyl by James Plotkin
https://elevatorbath.bandcamp.com/album/music-of-liberation
|
2018 |
€25.00 |
|
| BELLERUE, BOB / HALFNORMAL |
Threat Level Charlie |
CD |
BOB BELLERUE aka HALF NORMAL ist ein Sound-Tüftler aus Los Angeles, auf "Threat Level Charlie" schafft er einen dichten, detaillierten Geräuschteppich gegen alle "unternehmerischen, spirituellen, und politischen Machtsysteme". Diverse Objektklassen & Materialien setzt er ein (Glass, Metall, Papier, Holz), seinen Körper, Röhren (via Kontaktmikros), eine Bambusflöte, Radiosounds und verzerrte Stimmfetzen von den mächtigen Leuten dieser Welt. Fünf sehr unterschiedliche Stücke entstehen, im Spektrum zwischen Noise und ruhigerer, aber immer rauen, Feedback-Resonanzen ausstrahlenden & höchst energiereichen & lebendigen Geräuschmusik. To discover!
"Threat Level Charlie is a composition for material, space(s), electronics, programming, body, sound and power.(Tube microphones or other prepared acoustic mics; sheets of glass, metal, paper, wood; mixer; laptop; dynamic microphones; contact mics, including one loose on a long cord; PA or speaker cabinet, homemade metal speakers; bamboo flute; radio.) Microphones are placed inside of tubes and made to feedback, and filter a portable radio that wanders in between stations. The performer plays non-musical instruments made with common materials representing consumer protection and comfort (panes of glass, metal, paper, wood), using hands, bows and feedback. A contact mic is place in the mouth, played with the tongue and gluttoral palette; it is held to speakers and plays them with feedback. A bamboo flute is played; stomping and clapping occur: these sounds are filtered through the various systems in action. Broadband noise is generated from ambient and prepared-ambient recordings; speeches by George Bush and Osama bin Laden are shredded together. The result is a visceral wail against corporate, spiritual, and political power systems, using organic and alleatoric rhythms, melodies, textures; chthonic sounds, oppressed signals." [artist description] |
2002 |
€13.00 |
|
| BENEATH THE LAKE |
Silent Uprising |
CD |
Zweites Album vom Projekt um NICOLAS LAMPERT, der eine Hälfte der Monumental-Noise-Droner von NOISEGATE war! Ausgefeilter dark ambient mit
vielen Details und melancholischen Passagen...
“A truly stunning follow up to their debut 2002 "Inside Passage" offering! "Silent Uprising" features five flowing & meditative compositions clocking in at 70+ minutes. A demanding engagement from drifting drone composers Nicolas Lampert & Dave Canterbury. An alchemical mixture of lulling musical melodies & dense cinematic environments. BENEATH THE LAKE embrace a forlorn melancholia of haunting, whispering memories & organic soundscapes. A beautiful album with a distant hope, forged through nature's sadness...
“....Beneath The Lake is a project based on creating soundscapes combining minimal ambient music and found sounds, with an emphasis on composing the music to compliment the sounds instead of just using the sounds as a backdrop. Where their first record focused more on nature, Silent Uprising shifts the focus a bit more toward the increasing influence of the urban landscape as cities continue to encroach on nature and change the balance forever. The record begins with the clatter of trains rushing past, the receding sound of the train is soon joined by a simple strident guitar riff, accompanied by a mournful wooden recorder. The two drift and shift and slowly build in intensity. Very reminiscent of Neurosis at their most mellow, surprisingly enough. The riff shifts and twists, shadowed by the recorders melodies eventually being joined by the sound of another train and eventually being drowned out by the roar of the wheels on the tracks. The second track is a simple, gorgeously melancholy guitar melody, slowly and deliberately picked, over a bed of crackly static that could be either the sound of rain falling or the crackle of a fire, or both. The sound on Silent Uprising is much more musical than on Inside The Passage with the drone being relegated to just one of many instruments / approaches as opposed to the very dark and slow shifting all encompassing drone of the earlier record. Here, it's -that- guitar, all dark and shimmering and reverberant, and the brooding slow building melodies that creep across the sonic landscape. It sometimes almost sounds like the slow core of Low being performed in a steel mill or a rail yard, the band struggling to be heard over the sound of rain and wind and trains and passing cars. Strangely powerful and poignant. Packaged in a gorgeous oversized sleeve with breathtaking images of winter foliage and urban landscapes, printed in all muted browns and tans. So lovely.“ [Aquarius]
|
2005 |
€13.00 |
|
| BEREZAN, DAVID |
La face cachee |
DVD-A |
"DAVID BEREZAN (*1967, Edmonton, Canada) holte sich, wie viele seiner Labelgenossen, den letzten Elektroakustikerschliff bei Jonty Harrison an der Univ. Birmingham und lehrt inzwischen selbst an der Univ. Manchester. La face cachée (IMED 0896) ist sein Debut und
präsentiert 5 Stücke, die jeweils einen konkreten Anstoß, zugleich Klangquelle, nach einer ‚verborgenen Seite‘ hin erweitern. ‚Cyclo‘ (2003) kommt vom eigenen Geradel zu einer Symbolik des Kreislaufs. ‚Baoding‘ (2002) assoziiert ‚Handschmeichler‘-Kugeln mit Peking- und Kun-Oper. ‚Styal‘ (2004) belauscht die von einem Wasserrad angetriebene Quarry Bank Mill, eine Weberei in Styal südlich von Manchester, heute Industriedenkmal, einst berühmt für seine wohltätige Kinderarbeit - tja, Music to read Dickens by. ‚Hoodoos‘ (2007) führt einen auf den Hoodoo Trail im Banff National Park, zu Strukturen aus Wasser, Holz und Stein. ‚Hannibal‘ (2005) schließlich hat nicht Lecter oder Elefanten im Sinn, sondern basiert auf ‚Hannibal II‘, einer Skulptur von Jean Tinguely, speziell dem Klang einer schwingenden Kette. Berezan nimmt Details so unter die akustische Lupe, dass der Lauscher sich ganz winzig vorkommen muss, weil die Dinge brobdingnagsche und hochdramatische Züge annehmen, aber dabei auch sich seltsam gleichen." [Bad Alchemy]
“Cyclo (2003)”. “Baoding (2002)”. “Styal (2004)”. “Hoodoos (2007)”. “Hannibal (2005)”. DVD-Audio stereo + MP3 files. “Of all the things I have learned about my own music, the notions of revealing and discovery seem the most essential. There are two sides of myself at work here, in co-operation, and sometimes in conflict, in the creation of the pieces presented on this disc.On the one hand, I search for sound sources that are sonically appealing, and that I connect with on a personal and tangible level, in their real world and everyday setting. On the other hand, through processes of transformation, reconstruction and imagination, I create and reveal hidden spaces, characters, and substance from those sources. Within, underneath, and behind the sound objects and concepts, there are often unexpected sound worlds in terms of detail, colour, and dynamic. For me, this multi-faceted aural-vision that twists, turns, and opens into itself is the magic of the art form. It is also through this process of discovering “the hidden side” (La face cachée) that I discover as much about myself.This disc and its music is dedicated to my parents: Jennie and Victor Berezan.” David Berezan [credits]
www.empreintesdigitales.com
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
| BERG, CHRISTOPH |
Conversations |
LP |
"Following his critically acclaimed Paraphrases album from 2012 and the more electronic based recordings as Field Rotation, Christoph Berg joins Sonic Pieces with the first new material under his own name in over four years.
Conversations essentially expresses contemplation, consciousness and the urge for retreat from the sometimes overwhelming present times. The musician’s genuine approach to minimal chamber music acts as a fading scenario of nostalgia and memory to rely on, similar to an affecting dialogue with somebody close to you. A manifold violin carries us through the transformation of time and its perception, expanded by humming double bass, the discreet use of piano and subtle percussive structures – all acoustically recorded and only scarcely processed by minor digital manipulation. Christoph hereby creates a fragile and comforting score to a scenic film. The result is an elegant framework from Prologue to Epilogue that guides us through gradually developing melancholy in its most genial understanding. It’s an exceedingly comprehensive, detailed reminder of music as an intimate art form, crafted by an unusually patient and perspicacious performer.
Like a washed out black and white photograph you hang on your wall to remember, these Conversations will keep you valued company. If it’s solace, seclusion or encouragement you’re seeking – you’ll find empathy in these compositions." [label info]
"Typically sublime chamber works issued by Sonic Pieces with all the attention to detail you'd expect from this impeccable label. It’s a deeply contemplative affair rendered through layered strings and found sounds that will hugely appeal to anyone enamoured with the work of Richard Skelton or Max Richter.
The violin is at the core of these pieces, flanked by the low hum of double bass, piano and quiet percussive flourishes; all acoustically recorded with minimal digital processing. Berg does that thing of creating huge widescreen vistas with the most intimate of components; which is essentially what the Sonic Pieces label is all about.
It’s an exceedingly comprehensive, detailed reminder of music as an intimate art form, crafted by an unusually patient and perspicacious performer that by the sounds of it will soon be joining the likes of Johann Johannsson, Ben Frost, Max Richter and Cliff Martinez at the upper tier of artists who have emerged from the corners of this scene and gone on to establish a huge presence in the world of commercial, big budget film scoring.
If you’ve spent any time with Max Richter’s groundbreaking The Blue Notebooks, this one comes hugely recommended." [Bommkat]
|
2017 |
€28.00 |
|
| |
Tape Anthology Vol. 1 |
LP |
"With his new record Tape Anthology Vol. 1 Christoph Berg kicks off an album series mainly focusing on works based on Tape manipulation. At the same time it marks the inaugural release of his own imprint Monochrome Editions.
Christoph is a classically trained piano and violin player whose curiosity and cultural interest are by no means bound to that category, or any others for that matter. For the past few years he has also been broadening his approach to composition by researching and experimenting with tape machines and reels of field recordings — and directing sounds into physically immediate shapes and atmospheres. Through an initially improvised approach to sources and his analogue assembly of the emerging recordings afterwards, he is methodically avoiding predictable conditions.
The raw, extensive material became subject to meticulous organisation and arrangement: Tapes have been cut, manipulated, destroyed, fixed, and reshaped into a treasury of experiences. The overall process is, in many ways, similar to the way Christoph travels and absorbs situations: curious, spontaneous, attentive, and modest. His work is less about destination than about the journey, and these compositions magically manage to capture a history of sounds, embedded in one’s own (temporary and partial) perception of them.
While most pieces on the album are dominated by field recordings and tape manipulation, they are occasionally accompanied by an array of instruments — most prominent in the three movements of the “Concertino for Tape and Violin” — including an amalgamation of violin, upright bass, organ, found objects, and synthesizer contribution by Midori Hirano on two of the album’s compositions, all of which are effectively molding chance encounters into individual and intentional entities.
However, the greatest idiosyncrasy of the album might also be the most subtle and, probably, irritating: The collages of things, places, people and events deliberately renounce conclusions, by which Tape Anthology Vol. 1 also evades any obvious stagnation. Even when themes are appearing, everything stays in constant movement, away from, towards or around you. The few palpable aspects welcome you and immediately drag you in, but without releasing you in the expected or a familiar location. It is a captivating voyage through an ever-changing landscape that — through abstention of any predictability — is not only the core of improvisation, but a philosophical approach to both traveling and being in general.
By never succumbing to tradition, expectation or comfort, Tape Anthology Vol. 1 is continuously reaching out for the capture of our surrounding — and our agency within it. Herewith the record embodies the ever intriguing cor-relation of spontaneity and subsequent mapping.
https://christophberg.bandcamp.com/album/tape-anthology-vol-1-2
|
2019 |
€22.50 |
|
| BERROCAL, JACQUES |
MDLV |
CD |
"A real event: Jac Berrocal has not released disc for 20 years. The legendary French trumpeter is back with its special atmosphere and feeling. Lot of guests too.
Jacques "Jac" Berrocal (born 22 October 1946, Saint-Jean d'Angély) is a French trumpeter, singer and composer. He has been active since the 1970s in the independent and avant-garde music scene (he recorded/played with Steven Stapleton/Nurse With Wound and collaborated with Sunny Murray, Pascal Comelade, MKB (F. J. Ossang), James Chance, Alan Shorter, Bernard Vitet, Lol Coxhill, Michel Portal, Lizzy Mercier Descloux).
He has released a few important albums, mainly on his own label d'Avantage. He also founded and performed in the group Catalogue. Berrocal has appeared too in several films.
In 2011, we released an unique collaboration between him, Ghedalia Tazartès and David Fenech (Superdisque CD/LP SR321)." [label info]
www.subrosa.net
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| BERTHLING, ANDREAS |
InvalidObject Series (with) |
mCD |
Das irische FÄLLT-Label hat auf einen Schlag ein Kompendium zur neuen digitalen laptop / click / glitch / IDM – Musik herausgebracht ! Das sind 24 mCDs mit allerlei bekannten und unbekannte Vertretern dieses jungen Genres. Wir haben die meisten da, hier eine Übersicht ! Limitiert jeweils auf schamlose 250 Stck !
“ The invalidObject Series was established in 2000 as a sublabel of Fällt to release a finite series of twenty four 3"CD/.mp3 works.
Offering a unique perspective on a diverse range of musical output at the turn of the millennium, the Series features work by some of the most respected artists operating within the field of '.microsound' and has been described as "a remarkable document of a vibrant artistic community and a critical moment in the evolution of digital music" (Philip Sherburne),
"a showcase for the extraordinary range of practical approaches within contemporary electronic music" (Matt Ffytche, The Wire) and, simply, "impressive" (Rob Young, Editor, The Wire). “ [label press release}
|
2000 |
€7.00 |
|
| BEX |
Rosegger |
LP |
"Third opus by Berlin-based one-man project Bex. Originally from France, Bex has released two CDs on the French label “Le Dernier Cri” and played a great many concerts throughout Europe since his first live gig back in 2006. “Rosegger” is his first vinyl appearance, his most luminous and most intense work to date. As if emerging through some hermetic transformation from the harshness and anger of the previous albums, “Rosegger” is ablaze with a radiant, almost ecstatic mixture of joy and grief, drenched in light even in its darkest moments. Melodic guitarscapes and distant shoegaze vocals between lament and incantations pour over the listener, filling every pore, vein and cell with a warm, brittle, spellbinding emotion, taking him adrift on luminous waters which progressively darken on side B, finally drowning the incandescence into deep pools of doom drones like a glorious, achingly beautiful sunset." [label info]
www.tutrur.com
|
2011 |
€10.00 |
|
| BEYOND SENSORY EXPERIENCE (B.S.E.) |
Modern Day Diabolist |
CD / DVD |
"Beyond Sensory Experience are back with their seventh full length study - Modern Day Diabolists. BSE have reopened the dossiers and turned page to focus on life in the modern urban world. True to their ten-year pattern of evolution the dark ambience is more captivating than ever; complex soundscapes and consoling melodies combine with provocative rhythm structures and unsettling samples to generate a new profile of BSE. When business has stopped and lights are out what is left is Modern Day Diabolists.
Modern Day Diabolists will be available as a CD/DVD double Digipak in May. The DVD features compelling visual interpretations of two tracks from the album by Swedish video artists The Retardtank and Fetish 23.
Edition of 800 copies in 6 panel double Digipack. 9 tracks. Running Time 57:00" [label info]
www.cycliclaw.com
" “Modern Day Diabolists”. Such title would suggest that we have to deal with the darkest installment of BEYOND SENSORY EXPERIENCE activities. Personally, when I first heard this title, also remembering previous material, “Zielona Góra” recorded together with Moljebka Pvlse, subconsciously I expected release which will be hell darker than “No Lights In Our Eyes.” I was disabused of this mistake very quickly.
This is first full length BEYOND SENSORY EXPERIENCE album since four years (not counting here mentioned above Moljebka Pvlse collaboration). After a handful of releases for Old Europa Cafe and Cold Meat Industry, this time the Swedes came under Canadian wings of – very buoyant recently- Cyclic Law. At the beginning Frederic Arbour’s label focused mostly on releasing high quality Scandinavian dark ambient, occasionally penetrating other corners of sonic darkness. However recent years brought us opening for other parts of the world and other approaches to dark ambient matter. And this, ladies and gentlemen, is definitely to Cyclic Law advantage. Of course “Modern Day Diabolists” is the work by Scandinavian duo, but closing this album in strictly Nordic compartment would be a huge faux pas.
As I have mentioned earlier, the album opener “Through the Underworld” is somewhat surprising. It starts with a low-pitched voice (Swedish I guess) and serene sound texture, but after a while this calm sound surface is disturbed by a beat. Beat which is kinda rough, but all in all quite peaceful. “Hailstone Reactor” has a similar structure: it begins with sound of rain, voice shouting the same phrase over and over again and single electronic howls hanging on the canvas painted with silence. And then, after two minutes or so, I hear post-rock guitar and simply stop thinking about “Modern Day Diabolists” as another dark ambient album. Instead I start to wonder if it wouldn’t be a perfect illustration for another Jim Jarmusch movie. Then a minute of cacophony tempered by drowned in reverberation, reflective melody. All this within a single track. Not bad. Every another fragment of the album is as rich in sounds as these first ones. In “Modern Day Diabolists” restless industrial surf appears, while “Between Sleeping and Walking” returns to post-rock soundscapes, sonic illustrations of night panorama of Tokyo. Reflective atmosphere is maintained by absolutely beautiful “Rapt Earthly Things” and quite minimalistic “Lost in Habblahester”. “The Testimony of Memory” almost literally suspends the passage of time, especially when this slow, looped melody is joined by the rhythm which reminds of slowing down hands of clock which someone forgot to wind up. Then short “Geometric Fashion” which is preludium to the grand finale of “Modern Day Diabolists”. The album ends with “Locating Imaginary Events in Real Places”, over thirteen minute piece which brings together all the essential features of this album.
Lot of things happen on “Modern Day Diabolists”. Lot of things happen, but to be honest, BEYOND SENSORY EXPERIENCE even for the moment doesn’t go beyond atmospheric frames established by the Swedes not only on this record. This music is not dark per se. Instead it’s quite foggy and oniric, where reverb and silence play huge role. And at the same time the sounds generated by BEYOND SENSORY EXPERIENCE arouse kind of yearning of something long gone. So long ago that we’re not even sure whether it really happened or was it just a dream. It’s the most mature work of Swedes. By all means worth of recommendation." [Santa Sangre / santasangremagazine.wordpress.com]
|
2012 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Faint |
CD |
"With their new full-length album "Faint" Beyond Sensory Experience are back revisiting ghosts of the past to create memories of the future. Eleven divergent studies of transformation elements result in BSE’s most complete and intriguing album to date; full of liquid dark ambient soundscapes, salient samples and entrancing melodies. Hold your breath and close your eyes, when winter turns to water, day turns to Faint.
Edition of 500 copies in 4 panel digi sleeve with 12 page booklet. 11 Tracks. Running Time 60:00" [label info]
"They didn’t make us wait very long for a “Modern Day Diabolists” follow-up. Along with “Faint”, we have the opportunity once again to move away from the senses under the watchful eye of Drakh and K. Meizter. And because they’re fully fledged professionals, in this case also the trip on the edge of and even beyond the human self turns out to be very fruitful.
Fruitful, but somehow familiar. Our fellow Swedes have defined their specific path for quite a while, they have their own unique style and sound and are sticking to it, leaving the battering down of this already open door to younger and more hot-headed travelers. It’s an experienced project, their aforementioned style is usually recognizable after only a few sounds – “Faint” isn’t at all different. I think even woken up in the middle of the night it would take me maybe a few seconds to pinpoint whose creations are filtering from the speakers.
I never meant what those two nice Swedes do as dark ambient does. Certainly, the genre’s characteristics have always been to a larger or lesser extent present on previous albums, but they were never incorporating a typical, textbook darkness with particular relish. And with each consecutive release its amount becomes lesser and lesser. On “Faint” you practically won’t find the typical background-filling drones. This role is ascribed to either a stretched echo single guitar or piano tones (just listen to “Blank”), or simply silence which operates here on the same basis as the specific sounds, instruments, field recordings or samples. I always appreciated musicians who can play with silence.
As for the album’s atmosphere, I could actually copy-paste here what I wrote about “Modern Day Diabolists”. Ethereal, dreamy parts, mesmerizing in a way, sometimes serene (“Bystanders”), sometimes pulsating with a distant, uncertain threat (such as in my favorite piece, “Legacy”). Sometimes it feels as if the Swedes deliberately want to lull the listener, so that all external protective barriers are down and then hit with horror, war or apocalypse. But it never happens, though you never know what lies beyond the horizon.
Calm down, you can safely turn off for those few minutes. Beyond Sensory Experience doesn’t interfere with the bliss. It only gently wags its finger at us at times, saying that “next time there’s going to be a nightmare” (“Exhausted”), and we don’t have to believe the Swedes anyway. Probably in a year or two they’ll release another album, and again we’ll allow ourselves to be seduced by those ambient spaces, a pinch of post-rock atmosphere. We’ll smoke another cigarette, listening to the yearning, aching samples spoken in different languages… Another successful, very solid release by Beyond Sensory Experience and another – which one is it already – strong position in the Cyclic Law roster." [Stark/Santa Sangre] |
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
The End of it all |
CD |
"On their third release for Cyclic Law, BSE have created an aural mirror image of underlying substructures hidden amongst the ordinary. Using their trademark sounds of lush ominous melodies and insightful theories, extinct arrangements of life mechanics unfold to reveal The End Of It All.
Edition of 500 Copies in 6 panel Digipack with Spot UV varnish. 11 Tracks. Running Time 63:33" [label info]
www.cycliclaw.com
"Beyond Sensory Experience have been making albums in the dark ambient genre for over a decade, starting with their debut, Tortuna, on Old Europa Cafe. They gained recognition during their time on the legendary, now defunct label, Cold Meat Industry. In 2013, Beyond Sensory Experience would find their new home with Frederic Arbour and company at Cyclic Law. Now, with the release of their third album on Cyclic Law, entitled The End Of It All, Beyond Sensory Experience prove that they still have plenty of landscape left to cover in their musical career.
The End Of It All does anything but break the mold when it comes to musical output by Beyond Sensory Experience. The sounds presented here will be familiar to any fan of their previous albums, especially their most recent releases through Cyclic Law. Beyond Sensory Experience have a very particular sort of sound, which seems to draw a lot of parallels to Silent Heart by The Human Voice, also released through Cyclic Law. In both these projects what we hear are albums which seem to be the perfect soundtracks to a lonely and melancholic late night, lights dimmed, conjuring retrograded mental images of a life once lost. There is no happiness to be found here. Yet the album doesn't tend to make one sad, so much as it is the perfect companion to one's own sadness, a shoulder to cry on, when no other living soul is around, during your darkest nights. Beyond Sensory Experience achieve this bleak and melancholic mood through the use of minimal droning passages, checkered with solemn and tragically forlorn piano movements. The occasional cello notes can be heard on tracks like "Ends And Histories" raising the emotional intensity to an even higher degree. There are ample vocal passages throughout The End Of It All, adding a bit of narration to further solidify the intentions of its authors. These vocal passages are almost all from different sources and different people, presumably none of which are actually Beyond Sensory Experience, which is of little consequence as the words and voices themselves are a perfect match to this somber affair.
As previously mentioned, similar to Silent Heart, by The Human Voice, The End Of It All is a soundtrack to a deep and personal ending. The intersections of beauty, despair, and a pervasive calmness give The End Of It All a powerful emotional edge. Listened to in the right circumstances, I am sure this could easily bring one to tears. This isn't a glorification of sadness by any means, more so an complete and utter appreciation for and understanding of the depression, loss, and defeat felt in the lives of everyday people. As the illusion of world-wide peace and happiness is being slowly revealed to the inhabitants of our planet, there has never seemed to be a time in the past more suitable for contemplating the weaknesses and failings of humanity as a whole. Never before have so many people, world-wide, been able to look at history, without rosy-red glasses, and see the predicaments we are now finding ourselves in as a collective whole. The End Of It All is the soundtrack to that sentiment. "Properties Of Stars", for instance, grasps this concept like few other dark ambient tracks. It is as if we are sitting in some lonely personal retreat, staring up at the stars, and yet we feel the collective of humanity at our side, all staring into the sky, wondering, pleading for some signs of a way out of our collective dilemma.
The vocal passages in The End Of It All really do play a large part in this personal feeling of loss and sadness. Many of these passages are spoken in English, but others are in some other language which I am unable to specify. One of the best tracks on the album, and the best example of the power of these spoken words, comes in "Time Travels" the second last track, which says, "I have often wondered about what it must be like to go to sleep and never wake up." and later in the track saying "To be simply not there, forever and ever." These simple statements along with some of the most melancholic piano work I have heard combine to produce quite an emotionally charged experience.
With many humans finding themselves in an existential dilemma these days, and the state of our Eco-system in utter chaos, there has never been a better time for releasing music of such a particularly dark yet contemplative and sober variety. Dark days are sure to be ahead of us, and with those dark days many of us seek equally dark music. For many listeners The End Of It All should be the perfect companion to your own personal apocalypse. I highly recommend this album to any fans of a more instrumental and vocal take on dark ambient. Also, anyone interested in melancholic neo-classical will find plenty to enjoy here. As far as readers who may not often listen to this genre, Beyond Sensory Experience showcase many of the elements which make for a perfect introduction to dark ambient and its various cousin genres."
[Michael, Terra Relicta] |
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
| BHATTACHARYA, DEBEN |
Paris to Calcutta, Men and Music on the Desert Road |
BOOK + 4 CDs |
Deben Bhattacharya (1921-2001) was a field recordist, poet, filmmaker, musicologist, and amateur ethnomusicologist, based in Calcutta and Paris. Highly influential, it would not be too bold a stretch to say that his work shaped how we listen to the world: he produced a vast number of LPs, CDs, videos, and radio shows of traditional music from India, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Europe from 1953 until his death in 2001. Never before published, Paris to Calcutta: Men and Music on the Desert Road features over four hours of music and is Deben\'s impressionistic account of a 1955 journey overland, in a converted milk delivery van, from France to India collecting and exploring music along the Desert Road from Europe into India. With four CDs of recordings, photographs, Deben\'s original recording notes, musical transcriptions, and more. An amazing glimpse into a time long gone and essential listening for anyone interested in folk and world music traditions. Produced and edited by Robert Millis (Indian Talking Machine (2015) and Victrola Favorites (DTD 011CD, 2009). \"Actually, I think my playing is probably more derived from the folk music records that I heard; Middle Eastern music, Indian music... for years I had something called Music On The Desert Road, which was an album with all kinds of different ethnic music. I used to listen to that all the time.\" --Frank Zappa, 1993 (from an interview in Guitarist Magazine, talking about an LP released by Deben in 1956 using a few edited versions of the music included on this compilation.) 160 pages, cloth bound cover with four CDs: 45 pages of photographs and 50 pages of detailed recording notes. Introductions by Jharna Bose Bhattacharya, Robert Millis and WG Archer.
Includes recordings of: Students of the Salonica Quaker Girl\'s School Dance of Jerissos,Saban Akdao, Hasan Sayin, Reza Argin, Jumma Ali, Vakkas Kaplan, Feizi Kaplan, Hüseyin Eroğlu, Raif Karsligil, Imam and congregation of the mosque at Kilis, Dervish worshippers in the house of Sheikh Saud Mawlawi, Nour Hanbali, Antone Noweh, Doureid Laham, Bashraf Sama\'i Taatyus, Andalusi Muwashshah, Hazim, Suleiman and friends, Al-Haj Hashim Mohammad, Shu\'aib Ibrahim, Abdul-KArim Al Azawi, Shu\'aib Ibrahim, Khalil Akrawi, Ostad Zareen Panje Bel, Gulfa-e-Ghani and Zareef, Ostad Abol-Hassan Saba, Sher Khoda, Darioosh Sefvat, Hamedanian, Shapoore Delshadi, Eskandare Ebrahimi and Orchestra, Eskandare Ebrahimi , Muhammad Hussein, Dost Muhammad, Abdul Kader, Saroj Narang, Jyotish CH. Choudhury, Kalipada Das, Bhona, Mangal Mukerjee, and Jai Chand Bhagat and Babu.
Track Listing:
Disc 1
01. Students of the Salonica Quaker Girl\'s School - Dance of Jerissos (Ierissos) 02:50 listen
02. Saban Akdao, cümbüs - Çiftetelli (gazel) 09:39 listen
03. Hasan Sayin, singer; Reza Argin, zurna; Jumma Ali, dhavul - Untitled 02:45 listen
04. Vakkas Kaplan, zurna; Feizi Kaplan, dhavul - Mahlo: Song of the Highway Men 02:44 listen
05. Hüseyin Eroglu, vocals, cura saz - Karacaoglan 05:16 listen
06. Raif Karsligil, unaccompanied vocals - Karayilan (Black Snake) 05:01 listen
07. Imam and congregation of the mosque at Kilis - Mevludin Nebevi (the prophet\'s birth) 05:36 listen
08. Performer unknown - Folksong from Outebeh, vocals and rababa (one stringed fiddle) 04:28 listen
09. Performer unknown - Bedouin Melody, Shebbabeh (flute) and darabuka (drum) 03:38 listen
10. Performer unknown - Bedouin dance from Katana 02:30 listen
11. Dervish worshippers in the house of Sheikh Saud Mawlawi - Maqam rasd (In praise of the prophet) 02:06 listen
12. Performer unknown - Sabah, played on the Ney (flute) 02:20 listen
13. Nour Hanbali, qanun; Antone Noweh, oud; Doureid Laham, darabuka - Suite in maqam rasd featuring Bashraf Sama\'i Taatyus and Andalusi Muwashshah 13:49 listen
Disc 2
01. Performer unknown - Taqsim (improvisation) on violin 03:19 listen
02. Hazim, rebab (bowed spike fiddle) - Ballad of the Shahlaan Family 10:16 listen
03. Unidentified coffee grinders (two different grinders, switching hands halfway through) - Bedouin coffee grinding beats 06:24 listen
04. Suleiman and friends, accompanied by rebab - Hijeni (a love song often sung while riding away on a horse) 06:16 listen
05. Al-Haj Hashim Mohammad, santoor (hammered dulcimer); Shu\'aib Ibrahim, joza (Iranian rebab); Abdul-Karim Al Azawi, dumbuk - Sharqi Dokah (love song) 08:40 listen
06. Shu\'aib Ibrahim, joza - Taqsim in maqam ajam 03:50 listen
07. Al-haj Hashim Mohammad Al-rejab, santoor; Shu\'aib Ibrahim, joza; Abdul-Karim Al-Azawi, dumbuk - Maqam hadidi 03:45 listen
08. Khalil Akrawi, vocals, spoons - Kasam-e-Meru (excerpt from a 25-minute piece) 01:49 listen
09. Ostad Zareen Panje Bel - Tar solo in humayun dastgah 10:45 listen
Disc 3
01. Gulfa-e-Ghani and Zareef, zarb - Train rhythm imitation 02:03 listen
02. Ostad Abol-Hassan Saba - Setar improvisation in mahour dastgah 02:40 listen
03. Sher Khoda, zarb - Shahnama 13:38 listen
04. Darioosh Sefvat - Santoor solo in isfahan dastgah 10:20 listen
05. Hamedanian, zarb - Baba Karam 12:36 listen
06. Shapoore Delshadi, tar - Tar solo in isfahan dastgah 06:36 listen
07. Eskandare Ebrahimi and Orchestra - Humayun 16:06 listen
Disc 4
01. Eskandare Ebrahimi - Setar improvisation in mahour dastgah 08:06 listen
02. Muhammad Hussein, zurna (horn); Dost Muhammad, dhol (kettle drum) - Atan (dance song) 04:01 listen
03. Dost Muhammad, dhol - Battle rhythm 01:29 listen
04. Abdul Kader, solo voice - Love song from Herat 02:52 listen
05. Performer unknown - Nose flute improvisation 02:34 listen
06. Performers unknown, harmonium, tabla - Sikh song on Hindu/Moslem unity 11:45 listen
07. Saroj Narang - Simla folk song 02:37 listen
08. Jyotish CH. Choudhury, sitar - Raga zila 07:04 listen
09. Kalipada Das, flute; unknown, anandalahari (friction drum) - Methosur (rural folk song) 04:02 listen
10. Unknown performers, clarinet and drum - Improvisation on film tune 02:34 listen
11. Bhona, sitar; Mangal Mukerjee, ghara (claypot drum) - Raga kafi 06:50 listen
12. Jai Chand Bhagat and Babu, vocals, cymbals, ektara - Bhajan (devotional song) 04:15 listen
13. Jai Chand Bhagat and Babu - Bhajan (devotional song) 04:48 listen
14. Temple bells and drums 02:34 listen
- Deben Bhattacharya\'s impressionistic, poetic travelogue written on the road from Paris to Calcutta in 1955, never before published.
- Deben Bhattacharya (1921-2001) was a field recordist, poet, filmmaker, musicologist, and amateur ethnomusicologist, based in Calcutta and Paris.
- Introductions by Jharna Bose Bhattacharya, Robert Millis and WG Archer.
- 43 tracks, over four hours of music, all recorded in 1955 featuring music from Bedouin camps, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Jordan, Pakistan and Greece.
- 160 pages, cloth bound cover with four CDs.
- 45 pages of photographs; 50 pages of detailed recording notes.
https://sublime-frequencies.bandcamp.com/album/paris-to-calcutta-men-and-music-on-the-desert-road
|
2018 |
€52.50 |
|
| BIANCHI, MAURIZIO & RYAN MARTIN |
As strong as Death is |
do-LP |
Backwards is very happy to announce the Maurizio Bianchi & Ryan Martin "As Strong As Death Is" double vinyl LP.
For roughly the past 40 years, the cryptic tally of works by Maurizio Bianchi has formulated a somewhat religious rite of passage, a communion of tone and definition based around his various devotional phases in his life. Coming to the forefront of industrial music and noise composition in the late 1970’s, just as the world was recovering from the jarring wake left behind by groups such as Throbbing Gristle and Whitehouse, Bianchi was bundled within the zeitgeist of extreme experimentation due to the use of provocative subject matter and sonic assault. Though by 1983, Maurizio Bianchi seemed to have “disappeared” after conflicting releases and disappointing acceptance amongst his peers. It was not until the mid-90’s when Maurizio Bianchi resurfaced, now with a focus on spiritual guidance and restraint, that he released varied recordings of his newly sculpted ambient works and re-visitations of his now classic albums from the previous decade. Up until present day, Bianchi has enjoyed a renaissance of interest in part due to his expansive reissues of previous works and his dedication to new recordings, which state that Bianchi is still a zenith in the world of the experimental electronic music.
Around 2008, New York City based artist / musician Ryan Martin, of industrial outfit York Factory Complaint and Copley Medal, started correspondence with Bianchi about the reissue of his mechanically clinical ambient masterpiece, Endometrio, for release on Martin’s co-founded imprint, Dais Records. During this time, Martin was forming his own solo label to release private edition works under the title Robert & Leopold and asked Bianchi to present his recent exploratory violin compositions as the label’s debut release. Since that time, Bianchi and Martin have collaborated in various forms including the release of Bianchi’s recent exploration, Arkeomene, and the featuring of Martin’s artwork on the cover of Bianchi’s contentious single, Amentest. Most notably however was the complex and deliberate musical collaboration between the two entitled “As Strong As Death Is”.
Spanning the course of two years to create, legendary Italian noise composer Maurizio Bianchi and artist Ryan Martin (York Factory Complaint / Copley Medal / Dais Records) took on the pilgrimage of scoring the abstract concept of marriage based on the biblical Song of Solomon. Employing prepared electronics with accompanying strings and tape, this ambient religious collaboration seeks to flesh out the union, to understand the universal desire to be one. Constricted lullabies walk down the aisle to create a consortium of moving, ghost-like consolidation. Mixed ad edited by Anthony Mangicapra (Hoor-paar-Kraat) and mastered by Kris Lapke (Alberich / Hospital Productions). Recorded in both New York City and Opera, Italy between 2010 and 2012, this release was originally released in 2013 as a limited double cassette on Martin's own Robert & Leopold imprint in a edition of 100 copies, which quickly went out of print.
The release comes with a lavish jacket, in two editions: ltd.100 copies on white vinyl and ltd.400 copies on standard black vinyl.
Comes with a coupon for a free digital download.
www.backwards.it
|
2016 |
€20.00 |
|
| BIANCHI, MAURIZIO (M.B.) |
The Selfportrait of M.B. |
CD |
"An unusual self-portrait of Maurizio Bianchi in a minimal and introspective version, "a discreet" sonic self-portrait, elaborated with soft and nearly abstract electronic sketches, cyclical waves, tangles of intersected sounds, stratified, continuously chancing, manipulated and molded through uses of effects, filters, reverbs, choruses, delay... Expanded places, rarefied and "apparently quiet" atmospheres, but at the same time always full of a constant sense of gravity and heaviness, of vulnerability, always on the extreme border of the abyss that leads towards the unknown, the dark, the not to be defined and the mystery...
a new and definitive "manifesto". This is simply MB... no other word is necessary. A MUST!!!" [label notes]
www.silentes.net
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Persecutionem |
LP |
"Persecutionem" heisst "Verfolgung" und wie viele von MBs Veröffentlichungen ist dieses Album religiös inspiriert. Die sechs Stücke wirken fast wie eine logische Fortsetzung (auf einem anderen klanglichen Level) dessen, was vor 30 Jahren begann - recht rauher, irgendwie mysteriöser & hypnotischer Drone-Noise, mit Zeitlupen-Vibrato-Effekten, die seltsame Obertöne "nach oben" sprudeln lassen... Sechs Stücke, in einer nummerierten Auflage von nur 303 Stück !
"'I've taken inspiration for this medicative work from the sordid persecution of the early Christians, but in other ways we receive objectivistic persecution every day from this standardized system, from our wretched condition and from the modern persecutors which are hidden behind their threatening countenances. The appropriate soundtrack of such perturbed sufferings is this justifiable work, 'persecutionem', in which the semblances of our gaolers are inherents on these obstructed sounds, and the hopeful liberation of our existences are culminating on the eschatologic modulations. The deliberate epilogue is contained in the derogatory elevation of our reinstated spirituality for a repulsive capital sentence in order to transform the alienated persecutor into an inalienable victim of persecution.' Maurizio Bianchi - February 2009" [label info]
http://rotorelief.com
|
2009 |
€20.00 |
|
|
Celtichants |
CD |
"Lost and found all of a sudden, this album is the exploration made with the chanting voices of unknown nature. Choral fragments were decomposed and restructured, arranged with the effects and atmospheric shifts, creating the mysterious soundtrack to the otherworldly ceremony. These echoing voices are going directly from the lost memory or the daydreams, nobody can tell you where they are from, where they are calling you. Here are some words of the author, giving you just the hint but not the clear explanation. Postface : The knowledge exemplified affect distress to their natural peduncle environment. Destructive invention progressed towards purposes in some external fumes surroundings and deplete globalization performance bloody resources applied precipitous challenge. Developed simple efficient disrupt generations usually prominces changed damned systems especially from tightness with instrumental reason practical poisonous organized inorganic entities immaterial in the compulsive habitat. Wooden marginalization virtual techniques combine to produce skills processes for neurotic medical combined with additionally oppression formalize endeavor output engineering parasites investigation for principles among exclusively retrieve the challenge development advanced research in the excessive leading towards primitivism to dissolve the molesters emergence earliest alienates shape. Discovery allowed early multimedia digestibility progressivism sophisticated retractile for misanthropic domain transition with prominence contribute specialization adjacent a role processing alloys utensils near the harness evidence inhuman innovations borrowed structures. Advancements countless transit miniaturized resulting alienating after complex treatments support them, microfractures perform the entirety existence proponents morally pessimistic are increasing serious disarticulation chained with passionately communicate infrastructure to describe mortal lethargy perspective unique overall for muscular lucubrations. Limited edition of 500 copies in special packaging - custom made of textured paper with black/silver print, assembled by hand. Different colors available: china white, pearl white, lemon yellow, mallard green, lime green, concrete grey, dark grey, dark violet. Comes with the set of 3 photos of miocenic basalts made by Siegmar Fricke in Maspalomas (Gran Canaria Island)." [label info]
www.alone-at-last.com
|
2013 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
S.F.A.G. 81 |
LP |
"MAURIZIO BIANCHI’s 1981 Symphony for a Genocide LP is the artist's most well known work, widely recognized as a classic of early industrial music. A year and a half after its initial release on vinyl in a limited edition of 227 copies, the album was reissued on cassette by the Broken Flag label. It was at this time that Bianchi created an entirely new recording drawn from the audio of the original LP. Entitled S.F.A.G. 81 and issued in January 1983 as a companion to the Symphony for a Genocide cassette release, it was a radically different work comprised solely of two extended, side-long tracks. Bianchi had already began to evolve from the harsh and primitive attack of his earliest releases toward a more desolate, introspective sound exemplified by The Plain Truth and Armaghedon albums; S.F.A.G. 81 lands somewhere in between these two approaches. Remnants of the relentless mechanical rhythms and synthesizer churn of the original Symphony remain, but it is as though one were listening to them from a distance, lost in the midst of a massive blizzard. Strains of recognizable sound drift in and out of earshot like hallucinations, echoing across the bleak stretches of grayed-out sound. The S.F.A.G. 81 recording has been re-released (often in abridged form) on cassette and CD several times over the years, and an except appeared on one LP side of Vinyl On Demand's massive five-disc Broken Flag retrospective box set; this reissue marks the first time ever the complete album has been available on vinyl. Remastered and fully authorized, it comes packaged in thick tip-on jackets with artwork by longtime Bianchi collaborator SIEGMAR FRICKE. One-time pressing of 500 copies." [label info] |
2014 |
€16.50 |
|
| BIANCHI, MAURIZIO (M.B.) & CRAIG HILTON |
PU94 |
CD |
"Here at last is a deserved and “rightful” CD re-release of this fantastic collaboration created in 2007 by Maurizio Bianchi and Craig Hilton. Until now this recording was only made available in a very limited CD-R edition. Extremely dark atmospheres, restless and dramatic… Sharp masses of metallic noises cleave pulsating substrates of low frequencies, mixed with magmatic agglomerates of more processed sounds of an unrecognizable nature… Moments of stasis and apparent quietness… Handfuls of minutes of an unutterable, hanging and distressing tension… Sudden showers of vibrant frequencies that emerge from nowhere and bury everything under an heavy and devastating sonic mantle… A real masterpiece of incredibly dark and subterranean music." [label info]
www.silentes.net
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| BIBLE, JEREMY & JASON HENRY |
Vryashn |
LP |
"A vinyl-only release of a fantastic underwater dark ambient piano piece by a local duo of musicians -- Jeremy Bible (he of Experimedia) and Jason Henry. This vinyl remaster (by 12k's Taylor Deupree) is limited to 500 copies. 180g vinyl, printed on a reverse board gatefold sleeve with an OBI. Comes with an exclusive download code featuring an expanded version of 'Vryashn.'"[label info]
"Two lengthy, sonorous tracks with looming, viscous currents offset by a seductive parade of pattering detail. Fluttering piano notes pierce shifting planes of texture, catspaws of white noise skip across the swell, and Echoplexed flurries float, like distant birdsong, back and forth across the threshold of audibility. Vryashn reveals a perfect balance between fluidity and architecture before disappearing into a haze of chiming bells." [The Wire]
|
2011 |
€18.00 |
|
| BIG CITY ORCHESTRA |
A Childs guarden of noize (SOLD OUT) |
7 |
released in May 1994 in an edition of 200 copies, in ultra-handmade covers, on clear vinyl. Each cover had on one side a painting / drawing by a child, on the other a unique work of "rubbeled" letters and symbols by BCO.
second ed. of 300 copies on yellow vinyl in red on yellow (printed) covers & inlays appeared in July 1996.
press-information (first ed.):
"Legendary cassette-ensemble BIDFE CITTY ARDSERTYA from Nothern California release their first ever vinyl. Perhaps to become one of the most obscure pieces on vinyl ever. The theme of this unbelievable 5-track-E.P. is KIDS MAKING NOISE. Found on side one is a strange lecture about NOISE in the vein of BED CTY ORKSTAS sound effects library (which can be found on their three CD's); it will rotate your mind. Side two will even confuse you more with a collection of bizarre kids songs that will push you backwards in your evolution! Be a child again, open your mind to childrens' noisey worlds! Noise specially formatted for sensitive ears. Mastered with extra deep grooves to keep the stylus from flying out during the louder bits. WARNING: DANGEROUS FOR PEOPLE WHO DON'T LIKE NOISE OR CILDREN!
" This will not just surprise you, this will maybe de-condition your brain!" (Baraka[H])"
Later Note on artist: BCO are still active, and in the meantime they have out several more CDs, and an amazing 7" in a grass-cover! They still do cassette-releases also. I loved them when I discovered their obscure cassettes from the 80'es, a real dimension of their own. Back in 1993, when DAS, the head and organizer of the orchestra, sent me the DAT for the E.P., I was really some kind of "shocked" about the material. This was not what I expected ( I expected some long droney loops as they did so often on their old cassettes)... on the other hand, it was so extremely unique and worth listening (with the concept of kids really doing the music), that I could do no other and release it on Drone. I still think it's one of the most bizarre 7"es ever released. (BarakaH, Nov. 1998)
|
1994 |
€ |
|
| |
Kapellmeister |
CD-R |
HalTapes presents
BIG CITY ORCHESTRA
KAPELLMEISTER
oneiric collage confusion with keyboardisms infiltrated with radio hum and vinyl itch
original cover art by Rafael González
BCO STAFF WAS:
ROB WORTMAN, UNIVAC, NINAH PIXIE, CHERYL LEONARD, DAS
BCO contact:
das at ubuibi dot org
credits
released 20 May 2015
https://halmcgee.bandcamp.com/album/kapellmeister
"Big City Orchestra is a prolific (over 160 releases since 1985) group many would likely recognize as part of the 80s experimental cassette scene. From various readings and conversations with older friends, I gather they were enjoyed as a favorite by many. I get the impression that they have many tricks in their bag, and that is what makes them so impressive and special.
Please enjoy Big City Orchestra’s Discogs bio:
“One of the most idiosyncratic and original groups of the past two decades, BCO is not your standard Orchestra. Situated in the greater San Francisco Bay Area, the band has released an enormous catalog of recorded material over the past two decades. Formed in the late 1970’s the ensemble continues to maintain a free-flowing roster of artists from around the world that collaborate on specific projects. Categorizing the Orchestra into any given genre can be a task, as releases continue to surprise even the most devout listener. There is never any way to precisely classify the next BCO release. An album of authentic sea-shanties? A wall of noise? A shimmering downpour of lullabies whispered to the wind? A humorous or thought-provoking album of Sound Collages? Vocal excursions set to make Rod McKuen blush? We press play, leaning forward with slight apprehension. We await the first wave of blissful deception. We are perpetually rewarded.”
This CDR was released by Hal McGee, who was involved in distributing & releasing their music in the early / mid 80s. I assume this release results in part from that years-old positive connection.
Hal(“Ear Tampons” – poignantly preposterous?)
My first exposure, of two total exposures, to Big City Orchestra was a CDR called Beatlerape, consisting of a bizarre collection of alternate takes on and / or cut-up-collagery of Beatles songs and recordings. I don’t know if it’s ‘rape’, but what they do to Beatles music on this album is quacked out and could by many be called “wrong”. Demented looping, demented voices, demented juxtapositions of sounds. I very much enjoyed it off and on for several months in the car’s cd player. I know I’ve heard another Big City Orchestra recording, but I don’t recall which one. This matters because I remember thinking the second Big City Orchestra album I heard was pointedly different from Beatlerape, as is the present specimen, Kapellmeister.
Kapellmeister is a great mixed bag of lo-fi collage, psych, plunder, field recordings, found recordings, electronic junk bits, eclectic instrumentation / approach -but cleanly sectioned into the 10 segments they list on Side A and Side B. Track 8, “OOOOH JACK”, is a cutup of cleanly recorded, quietly speaking christian television preachers set against an ominous early-80s-industrial-mechanical-plodding backdrop. The clips of christian people are cut and assembled in such a way as to slather, playfully and mockingly, the christians’ pretensions of purity with humorous sexual innuendo. It’s simultaneously hilarious and darkly hope-crushing? This piece is on par with all of the other pieces for level of interest, pacing, composition, content, etc. Every track has its own intriguing qualities. Wonderfully surreal yet entertaining and non-tedious. Simple yet engaging and surprising. These things are hard to do with abstract sound work. I dare call it sophisticated, prodigious, genuine. The rawness of the black & white artwork is pleasant, with strangely bleak torn paper collage and digitally manipulated images by Rafael Gonzalez. There’s a cerebral surreality to the haloed white blob (photoshop air brushing likely) over the faces of an idealized couple from the..1930s? This roughness is tied together nicely with the text and with the two pillars of the repeated collage item showing two half-faces close together, reflecting their similarities and differences. These considerations tie the cover together with symmetry and an even distribution of dark and light. In comparison to a number of Hal’s other releases, this HalTapes specimen nicely balances pragmatic non-aestheticism and a tight sense of design. I enjoy the non-aesthetically charged design of the information side of the slim jewel case’s insert.
In his description for his album B12, Hal McGee -designer of this disc’s insert- tells a story about packaging design for audio recordings:
“After my three year hiatus from recording (92-95) I noticed that a lot of noise artists were doing special deluxe package releases. It seemed like every fuckin’ release by Aube had like a dead fish attached to it or a pubic hair or a bag of sewage water or some such shit with deluxe printed sleeve, etc etc etc. I purposely made the cover of my “B12” cassette as shitty and amateurish-looking as possible and I fit four of them onto one sheet of paper so that at Kinko’s each cover would end up costing me like 2.5 cents.
HalB12
I sent a copy of “B12” to Aube as a trade and told him here is my “anti-deluxe two and a half cent cover”. He was not amused and told me he would not trade with me again. This is the same young upstart who had told me previously that I had been one of his influences from the 1980s. Hahahaha. Uppity bastard!”
I presume to an extent Hal’s current design tendencies align with the thinking embodied in this frank, funny outburst. The emphasis is on what you’re doing and less on the capturing or distillation of some grand wizardly vision into an even more grand wizardly package that sells at inflated prices. This is the dichotomy of process vs. product, or maybe something less clear cut than that. I greatly enjoy both approaches (super-art-packaging and more straight forward packaging) depending on the specific example. It’s unfortunate, but for now I’m dreaming of a future time when I can support more artists putting out special deluxe products. I’m not able to spend so much money any more on music, so I don’t often acquire music releases with special (expensive) packages. Right now I can only get the occasional regular old ordinary issue releases; no fancy boxes, no extra inserts, no 3-D glasses, no diesel-soaked papyrus, no vials of blood, no hand-made folded special-stock paper delicacies. Many DIY artists and label-people have simple aesthetics based around their financial limitations; a lower budget usually costs a bit in impressiveness of appearance, but the money saved by simplifying package design can be used to release music more frequently, or for other projects. I have an interest in understanding different approaches to creative work. As long as the work comes from a genuine and specific place I’ll probably find it at least worth examining.
This CDR/tape/download is a truly excellent recording demonstrating all sorts of creative and technical prowess. That being said, it’s also presented in a remarkably unpretentious way. It’s adventurous and consistently engaging, while still being quite abstract and not the least bit catchy, unless you find certain tonal drones catchy. I rarely put in a recording and find it so impressive on a first listen. When this happens, the recording’s charm usually grows over time rather than fading." [Petriblog]
|
2015 |
€8.50 |
|
| BIOMECHANICA |
BM-01 |
CD |
"The 'BioMechanica' project marks the first collaboration between FRANCISCO LOPEZ and ARTURO LANZ (founder and member of the current ESPLENDOR GEOMÉTRICO tandem) after thirty years of an ongoing relationship. Their debut album, "BM-01", is the outcome of years of intense work in multiple cities across the world, from Beijing to Reykjavik all the way to Johannesburg. Raw power and original rhythms, together with an overwhelming sound complexity, a multi-channel spatial virtuality and a spectacular production come together in BioMechanica, synthesizing the insight and experience of two internationally acclaimed industrial/experimental music makers." [label info]
www.geometrikrecords.com
"Recently I had a discussion about musicians who produce a lot of work, and in that conversation also the name Francisco Lopez came up. A friend of mine admitted he gave up on Lopez some time ago, as he said there were too many similar works by him. You could, he argued, pick a few of the essential ones ('La Selva' and 'Buildings [New York]' being two that are always mentioned), but it was perhaps not necessary to collect all of his releases. I don't know: I am not really much of a collector but I can see his point. But I didn't hear BioMechanica when we talked about this. Lopez is, besides a producer of many CDs, also someone who collaborates with others, as he does here. Just as with remixes, it's always good to see something moving in a totally different area, and that's something that happens here. Lopez teams up with Arturo Lanz, the only original member of Esplendor Geometrico and maybe an unlikely partner for Lopez. Lanz plays 'germ rhythmic patterns' while Lopez is responsible for 'rhythmic pattern evolution, environmental recording mutations, composition, editing, mixing and mastering'. So Lanz recorded some of his trade mark rhythms, which we love for more than thirty years now, while in return Lopez adds his likewise trademark sound material. However this is not a question putting one and one together in the hope it's going to be two, which usually doesn't work. But that's not what Lopez does here. He cuts his sounds short(er) too, and creates a mechanical rhythm out of that too. His field recordings here sound like they found their origins inside a factory - hissing and bleeping of motors, sustaining sounds from mechanical devices and such like. That gives the music perhaps a sense of old fashioned industrial music but that is maybe the whole idea behind this. It works wonderfully well, especially when Lanz creates those banging industrial rhythms, such as in '01' and '05', which sound almost like Einsturzende Neubauten. A great release, almost like pop music, which is a rare thing for Lopez. So, yes, I can imagine people asking themselves why they should buy every new Lopez (related) release, but this one is actually very good - an essential one even (the future must proof this). And seeing they took a 'band' name, I wouldn't be surprised if there is more to come." [FdW/Vital Weekly] |
2012 |
€14.50 |
|
| BIONULOR |
same |
CD-R |
"The art of recycling adapted to music that is exactly what the musical project Bionulor does.
With loops from classical music the Polish musician recreates his own pieces.
Most pieces on the self-titled debut album are based on minimal samples of just one or a few notes. Most samples seem to originate from piano songs, but there are also some stringed instruments appearing.
In a way not uncommon to William Basinski we hear the loops fade in and out slowly changing their character during the progression. Though, the technique used here is not so much based on degradation and/or disintegration of sound. No, instead Bionulor uses a digital processing technique. In the pieces we hear soft filters and pitching to alter the sound. In several pieces the same source sounds are used but rendered with different effects delivering diverse results.
Sometimes it sounds a little bit too easy, but as a whole there is enough variation on the album to keep you listening.
As a debut album this self-titled album is a really good start, with a promise to a bright future for this musician. Looking forward to see the progress over the coming years." [Earlabs]
www.myspace.com/bionulor
|
2009 |
€8.50 |
|
| |
Sacred Mushroom Chant |
CD |
"Inspired by the work of such artists as Aube and William Basinski, Bionulor again rakes the past, looking like an alchemist for the most appropriate material for their work. "Sacred Mushroom Chant" is a record created solely on the basis of treatment of the human voice without additional sounds or instruments.
Each of the five tracks is based on a separate part of the sound source. Then the base is: an archival record of shamanic chant associated with the ceremony of taking hallucinogenic mushrooms, a Japanese traditional song extracted from a collection of old vinyl records, Neil Armstrong's walking on the lunar surface famous phrase, a fragment of an interview with Marcel Duchamp telling about his first ready-made, and finally the voice of the artist himself denouncing the sentence attributed to Hassan ibn Sabbah (“Nothing is true”).
Over 50 minutes of pure experimental music (mix of minimal, ambient and even noisy sounds) created on the basis of author's creative method called the "100% sound recycling." You will be really impressed when you realize that those tracks were crafted only with scraps of samples.
Cover art by Monika Machnik, mastered by Peter Andersson. Comes in 4-panel digipack." [label info]
www.wrotycz.com
|
2011 |
€12.50 |
|
| BIOSPHERE |
Shenzhou |
3 x LP |
Paul Cooper, Pitchfork: ""Shenzhou", aside from being the name of the Chinese manned-spaceflight vehicles, means "magic vessel", and I can't imagine a more apt description for Geir Jenssen's latest excursion into ambient deep listening. After following an Aphexian trajectory with his releases on Apollo, the ambient sublabel of Belgium's R&S; Records, Jenssen veered from the padded sci-fi-inspired techno of Microgravity and Patashnik with 1997's Substrata, a genre-defining exploration of drifting soundscapes. Substrata remains for many the album that perfectly expresses the serenity and intensity of Arctic wildernesses, a landscape Jenssen knows intimately, having spent much of his life in the Norwegian Arctic Circle.
In 2000, Jenssen nearly eclipsed the success of Substrata with Cirque, a frequently frosty submerging of excerpted conversations and found environmental sounds that rivals Wolfgang Voigt's Gas project in its rumbling, gauzy beauty. Jenssen again relies on found sound as source material for Shenzhou, but this time, the found sound is old vinyl recordings of the orchestral works of French Impressionist composer and ambient precursor, Claude Debussy. Jenssen lifts fragments of these scratched records in a similar manner as he did for Cirque's "Black Lamb Grey Falcon" and "Iberia Eterea".
The ten tracks (out of the dozen on the album) that follow this model all begin as a barely audible hum, like a small electrical transformer, out of which the dust-dappled loops of Debussy's woodwind, brass, and strings emerge, condense, and fade out into pink noise rustles. Unlike Steve Reich's phase pieces or Brian Eno's Discreet Music, though, Jenssen doesn't set his loops against each other to produce juxtapositions and piquant dissonance; he uses them to describe imagined terrain, at first glance monotonously flat and barren, but on concentration, replete with minute detailing. The overall effect of these pieces is a sense of immensity. The orchestral loops sound distant, abandoned in a vast wilderness, and strenuously battling against Arctic winds. Jenssen sets the listener down in this wilderness as an aloof observer, a witness to the music's futile struggles against entropic forces.
The two tracks not derived from Debussy share the same hypnotic aesthetic. The brief interlude "Bose-Einstein Condension" is a loop of piano chords lolloping in search of coherence, while "Gravity Assist" is a longer voyage into woofer-quaking low-frequency manipulation, bell-like drones, and contrails of subdued noise. I can't help but feel that these tracks fit awkwardly and break up the conceptual flow of the album. This, however, is a minor quibble given the power of this music. Shenzhou is unquestionably a magic vessel, but one that reveals its enchantment only to those who pay close attention."
|
2017 |
€36.00 |
|
| |
Shortwave Memories |
do-LP |
Iconic Norwegian producer and composer Biosphere follows up his evocative 'Angel's Flight' release with a new album set for release early in 2022. Shortwave Memories is an album inspired by the post-punk electronic music of the late 70's and early 80's, especially the productions of figures like Martin Hannett and Daniel Miller.
"The last few Biosphere albums have all been made using samples and software, but Shortwave Memories is a return to vintage analog hardware from the late 70s and early 80s. Most of these instruments do not have any presets or memory storage, so all the sounds were programmed from scratch. The idea was not so much to make music that sounds like it was written in the same period. It's more like what would happen if I had the chance to use the same instruments, and applied the same meticulous attention to detail as the producers mentioned above."
Presented as a continuous sonic journey, this stunning record unequivocally manifests a world of it's own and already feels like a timeless addition to the rest of the Biosphere catalogue.
https://biosphere.bandcamp.com/album/shortwave-memories
|
2022 |
€29.50 |
|
| BIOTA |
Invisible Map |
CD |
Irgendwie isses Folkmusik, irgendwie isses Popmusik, aber ständig verschiebt sich der Grund in quasi halluzinogener Manier, der Boden wird einem regelrecht unter den Füssen weggezogen....schöne Folkmelodien und mehrstimmiger Gesang sind präsent, zum Teil scheint alles schwankend im Chaos zu versinken, aber plötzlich ist wieder alles im Lot ! Einfach geniales Zeug und nach wie vor nicht zu kategorisieren, was BIOTA, die Nachfolger der legendären MNEMONISTS, hier machen !
"If fans of Biota were shocked by the pop songs that appeared for the first time on the previous Biota release, Invisible Map is going to send them reeling. They are sung by Genevieve Heistek, from the same school of Montreal musicians who spawned Godspeed You Black Emperor. The songs provide a central point around which Biota hang their esoteric production ideas. Crazy shawms suddenly spurt out of the mix, unsteady tripping rhythms from the drums counterpoint interlocking guitars, and unsettling sound processing pushes the material to the edge of oblivion. The tracks were built up from solo accordion or rubab, drums and guitar, and the whole piece is woven into an ambiguous cinematic journey. Mixing and effects were applied in real time, 'by hand'. This gives a wonderful spontaneous feel to the music, and Biota have made an art out of accepting and working with freak accidental effects." [label info]
|
2001 |
€14.00 |
|
| BISCLAVERET |
Psyche noMine |
CD |
Erste "volle" CD für dieses polnische Dark Ambient / Esoteric Drone-Duo, erschienen auf dem israelischen EASTERN FRONT-Label.
"... Diese Kompositionen offerieren ein Dickicht aus Synths-Schwaden und einem Gewirr von gesprochenen, geflüsterten oder klagend gemurmelten Stimmen, gelegentlich aufgelockert von Piano-Klängen und dezenten rhythmischen Erschütterungen, und strahlen eine sich langsam verbreitende beklemmende Atmosphäre aus, die insbesondere nach intensivem Rotwein-Genuss ihren Platz beanspruchen kann und auch inhaltlich gestützt wird. Songtitel wie „Ritual of the all-embracing madness“ und „Voices from another state of…mind, heart and body“ dürften insoweit für sich sprechen, mit “Akeldama XIV” wurde zudem Mr. Aleister Crowley vertont.
„Psyche noMine“ erscheint auf dem israelischen Label The Eastern Front. Dieses hebräische Bataillon hat keine Kosten gescheut und dem Silberling eine überdimensionierte Pappverpackung mit Einlegekarte und allen Texten spendiert. Es kann also endgültig losgehen für BISCLAVERET, die für 2007 neben einer neuen EP auch noch eine Wiederveröffentlichung ihrer Erstwerke in Planung haben." [Terrorverlag]
"Bisclaveret - A Polish dark ambient/dark wave duo presents its album Psyche noMine. It took two years to conceive, resulting in 6 songs (clocking at around 53 minutes). Musically, it's a piece for those interested in moving, yet extraordinary art. Lush strings, industrial rhythms and even noise tones at times summarize the background for Dragos' voice coming from the other, subconscious side of his mind. Lyrically, it's a concept-album of sorts. All the lyrics deal with human sub consciousness. The words on 'Psyche noMine' shows a man entangled in the arcane of the world, somebody who does not notice phenomena around him. The man whose recklessness or even arrogance so natural for him is the cause for him being lost in the surrounding reality. The album's ambiguous title suggests what receivers will deal with when listening to new Bisclaveret album. A must-have album for fans of Nordvargr, Dead Man's Hill and Cold Meat Industry acts, such as In Slaughter Natives & Sanctum." [label info]
www.theeasternfront.org
|
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
| BISCLAVERET & FEINE TRINKERS BEI PINKELS DAHEIM |
Both Sides of the Looking Glass |
7inch |
"Zoharum's first release on seven inch vinyl. 'Both Sides of the Looking Glass' is a split between BISCLAVERET & FEINE TRINKERS BEI PINKELS DAHEIM. As the title of publication, each of these projects has created a sound in a slightly different vein, based on the post-industrial stylistics. One medium, two sides, similar areas of music. The release is a collaboration of Bremen's FEINE TRINKERS BEI PINKES DAHEIM and Gdansk's BISCLAVERET that
began after their concert in London. Then the musicians of both groups, each appreciating the other's work, decided to prepare a joint release. On this occassion, they prepared a new piece of work exclusively for this release.
7" vinyl in a gatefold sleeve,
strictly limited to 200 hand-numbered copies.
cover painting: Maciej Nabiałek" [label info]
www.zoharum.com
|
2012 |
€8.50 |
|
| BJARNADOTTIR, HAFDIS |
Sounds of Iceland |
CD |
"This recording takes you on a round trip of Iceland. The aural journey starts westward from the island’s south in the cold early spring. After a side trip into the West Fjords, our route traverses the north of the country at the height of summer, followed by an excursion into the interior highlands before a short stop in the East Fjords. As the sound trip nears its geographical starting point, autumn and winter make their appearance before the journey comes full circle.
The recordings do not feature human-derived sounds.
1. South
0.00 – 1.45 Strokkur geyser, Haukadalur
1.46 – 3.15 Hot springs, Haukadalur
3.16 – 7.04 Grímsnes lava field
7.05 – 8.11 Hot spring in Reykjadalur valley in Hengill geothermal area
2. South West
0.00 – 2.55 Urriðakotshellir cave, Heiðmörk Nature Reserve
2.56 – 3.47 Gjáarétt, outside Urriðakotshellir cave, Heiðmörk Nature Reserve
3.48 – 5.19 Stream near Lake Elliðavatn, Reykjavík
5.20 – 6.28 Eiðsvík cove near Geldinganes causeway island, Reykjavík
3. West
0.00 – 1.52 Hraunfossar waterfalls and River Hvítá
1.53 – 2.24 Deildartunguhver hot spring
2.25 – 4.49 Húsafell area
4.55 – 7.59 Surtshellir cave
4. Westfjords
0.00 – 3.38 Barðaströnd coast
3.41 – 5.19 Látrabjarg bird cliff
5.20 – 7.31 Near Galtarviti lighthouse
5. North
0.00 – 1.50 Goðafoss waterfall
1.51 – 2.52 Lake Mývatn
2.53 – 4.50 Hot springs in Námaskarð geothermal field
4.51 – 5.56 Dettifoss waterfall
6. Highland Plateau
0.00 – 1.53 Near Mt Laugarfell
7. From East to South
0.00 – 1.03 Klifbrekkufossar waterfalls, Mjóifjörður fjord
1.04 – 2.30 Sólheimajökull glacier
2.31 – 3.03 Gullfoss waterfall
3.04 – 4.11 Strokkur geyser, Haukadalur valley
7 Tracks (41′59″)
CD (1000 copies)
www.gruenrekorder.de
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| BJERGA, SINDRE & NILS ROSTAD |
Live at Moving Furniture Records |
CD-R |
"Split album between Sindre Bjerga and Nils Rostad recorded live at Moving Furniture Records HQ on 8-03-2011.
The CD-R comes in handmade eco-pack sleeves with pictures of both artists glued on them. The names are handwritten on each side.
There is also a hand-numbered pro-printed insert.
Includes unlimited streaming of Live at Moving Furniture Records HQ via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more." [label info]
www.movingfurniturerecords.com
|
2011 |
€7.50 |
|
| BJÄRGÖ, PETER |
Animus Retinentia |
CD |
"3rd full length album by ARCANA / SOPHIA mastermind Peter Bjärgö. On his solo works we hear the perfect blend of his previous incarnations where dreamy piano parts, rhythmic percussions and his now trade mark guitar, all blended into perfection. Solemn vocals filled with lyrics of distress and mournfulness lull us into the nether. Filled with nostalgia and longing of a lost world, "Animus Retinentia" forms a threshold into another world where glimpses of light always shine through. A splendid follow up to his previous solo works and dare we say, his best yet.
Edition of 500 copies in 6 panel Digipack. 11 Tracks. Running Time 45:55"
https://cycliclaw.bandcamp.com/album/animus-retinentia
"Peter Bjärgö is an artist that has left his mark all over the post industrial scene of music over the years. Going all the way back to 1994, Arcana, was Peter Bjärgö‘s first musical project to get attention. Arcana focused on a sort of medieval-ambient/neoclassical sound. The 1996 release on Cold Meat Industry of Dark Age of Reason is still to this day a reference point for many musicians. In later years, Arcana would expand its line-up. There also formed a second project Sophia, which focused on an industrial ambient sound. In 2009, Peter Bjärgö would start his solo-project, under his own name. Peter said on social media of this, “After nearly 20 years of activity with Arcana I decided to explore music as a solo artist, without boundaries, and show a more intimate side of my creativity.”
That intimate side turns out to be quite beautiful if also rather depressing. Peter Bjärgö spoke about issues of depression and sorrow, but it was felt on a more global scale, similar to the latest Sophia album, but in a much more personal manner.
Animus Retinentia takes us to this more personal place. A time in Peter’s past when things didn’t seem so bleak and depressing. A time when he had great hopes for his future, as well as the future of our world. Its a reflection on these times, through the lens of an adult who knows all too well the terrible state of affairs on our planet. Now in a time after the illusion has been shattered, looking back on childhood happiness can be a great comfort. In this way, Peter Bjärgö taps into that comfort, allowing it to blossom into a full album of music which is equally melancholic and inspirational. The senses of childhood happiness and adulthood depression are both played out masterfully, each being given its room to leave an effect on the listener. The instrumental tracks scattered through the album touch more on that adulthood melancholy, while the lyrics are often living in the memories, or reflecting upon them.
There are a few loop based instrumental tracks which split up the more active tracks. These instrumentals are full of thoughtful and emotional atmosphere. They give the listener an opportunity to reflect upon the lyrical content of the previous track. We are given an opportunity to think back on our own childhoods, times of youth when inspiration could be found in so many things. As for its comparison to the previous album, Peter Bjärgö explains through his social media outlets, “It’s not a sequel to Melancholy, that will happen later, this one is more cinematic and dreamy, reflecting on my childhood, a period when I last remembered I was truly happy.”
The vocals are at an all-time high level of quality. Peter Bjärgö has shed all sense of reservation on Animus Retinentia. He delivers each set of lyrics with a confidence that can’t be denied. There were hints at this development on the last solo album The Architecture of Melancholy, but only now has this become a purveying force throughout the entirety of the album. The delivery is in a deep bass range. It exudes the confidence and melancholic pondering of the album to perfection.
The lyrical content is well thought out and often quite emotional. The track “Transcend Time” for instance, shows the dichotomy between those childhood inspirations and the more depressing developments of adulthood. Lyrics like “… I need the curiosity now, everything was glowing, but the glow has faded, time has come to remind me.” show his inner dilemma, one which is surely relatable to many listeners.
The music on Animus Retinentia, is some of Peter Bjärgö‘s best yet. He manages to bring together a combination of looped elements with gentle synth sections, and his emotionally charged acoustic guitar parts, all coalescing into a warm and full sound. “Where Night Is Eternal” showcases a toned-down approach with a glitchy drum sequence. Then tracks like “From Agony” take a bold approach, again proving that his level of confidence in this style of music is at an all-time high.
As the album reaches its terminus on “Sleep Dep.Loop2” it’s almost as if there are thoughts trying to repeat themselves, while an increasingly present drone pushes forward from the background. The listener is allowed the sensation of trying to remain in this dream state, remembering the lost childhood naivety. While a beeping starts to push into the background, likely an allusion to an alarm clock, slowly bringing the dreamer back to a reality filled with despair and decay. A reality which played itself out full-force on the last solo album. This reality was also the reference point for the last Sophia album, Unclean, which focused on an apocalyptic reality where humanity had finally gone beyond the point of return.
After so many years making music, one would think Peter Bjärgö must be running out of ideas and inspirations. Yet, there is no sign of this. Animus Retinentia as well as Unclean by Sophia have been some of his best work to date. There appears to be no stopping him from continuing with innovations and fulfilling his duties for each project with which he collaborates. Animus Retinentia is a highly recommended album. Any fans of any variety of post-industrial and neoclassical genres should find plenty to love here. Peter Bjärgö has created an album which should have an emotional resonance with a vast number of listeners. For, how many of us truly enjoy this time in history? How many of us miss that childhood passion and naivety? If you’ve ever pondered these questions, Animus Retinentia is the soundtrack to your ponderings." [This is Darkness]
|
2017 |
€13.50 |
|
| BLACK DICE |
Creature Comforts |
CD |
Noch ein heisser Anwärter für den Seltsamkeits-award; super seltsame, surrealistische Hawai-gitarren, lazy beats, elektronische pulses, schwankend & leiernd der Sound, irgendwo befinden sich auch Stimmen (Gesang kann man das nicht nennen), kurzum: undefinierbar, unbewertbar, unergründlich. Einfach klasse schräg.
„Jim O’Rourke hat einmal so boshaft wie zutreffend bemerkt, dass es etwas anderes ist zu improvisieren oder nur improvisierte Musik zu spielen, sprich, sich selbst zu imitieren. Insofern muss man mit Creature Comforts (FATCD32) konstatieren, dass BLACK DICE keine BLACK DICE-Musik spielt, sondern BLACK DICE mit jedem Release neu erfindet. In radikaler Abkehr von der Voodoo-Psychedelic von Miles Of Smiles entfaltet ihre neue CD in unverhofft Miro’scher Heiterkeit eine elektropopig-surreale Skurrilität. Ausser dem Nenner „weird“ scheint die Bandästhetik komplett ausgetauscht. Ein flockiger Cartoon-Leichtsinn kapriolt durch acht Tracks, die aus vielen undichten Ventilen wie Gameboys dudeln und wie R2D2 zwitschern. Es eiert, loopt, wabert und schwip-schwapt auf sämtlichen Synthie-, Chorus- und vor allem Gitarrenspuren, die Percussionabteilung ist dafür weitgehend paralysiert. Das Ganze verhält sich zu Kraut wie Jad Fairs Best Wishes & Half Robot zu Punk. Heftige Dub-Effekte lassen 80s-Elektro-Trash abdriften in Richtung Mondo Exotica 2001 - Odyssee im Kinderzimmer. Vier 1-2-Minuten-Knirpse odradeken um die 6- bis 9-minütigen Freak-Epen „Treetops“, „Creature“ und „Night Flight“ und den viertelstündigen Monolithen „Skeleton“, ein tapsiges Schreckgespenst, durch dessen Rippen Gitarren und Synthies jämmerlich jaulen. Während man vorne ein Mona-Lisa-Lächeln geschenkt bekommt, steigen auf der Rückseite hinter den sieben Bergen Sprechblasen wie Rauchzeichen auf. Genau dazwischen, in der Hirnrisszone, inszenieren BLACK DICE ihr Happening, das die Nerven etlicher Mucker blank legt: „Lärmbelästigung!“ „Hirnmüll“ direkt aus der Klapse... bekloppte Katastrophe für unmusikalische Gefühlsambutierte“... „Musik von und für Nerds.“ (Intro-„Probefahrt“) Köstlich. [BAD ALCHEMY 44]
"This is the official follow-up to their DFA debut CD and Double LP Beaches & Canyons. It finds the band pushing in yet another direction, at once unmistakably Black Dice, and noticeably different. Recorded with Steve Revitte (Liars, Kill Me Tomorrow), the DFA & Nicolas Vernhes (Fisherspooner, Fiery Furnaces). Venturing further into their own psychedelic, increasingly electronic world, Creature Comforts is as expansive, experimental and structurally unique as its predecessor, but there is a new sense of playfulness and accessibility mixed with naïve wonder and not-quite-steady rhythms. It is hazy, dreamy, but they have suddenly emerged as a band with an untouchably original terrain, mixing dub, tropicalia and the entire history of psychedelic rock music into one heady concoction." [press release]
|
2004 |
€14.00 |
|
| BLACK EARTH |
Gnarled Ritual of Self Annihilation |
CD |
Spanish ritualistic industrial sorcerers BLACK EARTH return with "Gnarled Ritual of Self Annihilation" - a sophomore full-length of unreal cinematic sonic disembodiment, conceived with the aim of turning the listener into a sacrificial centrepiece to a surreal ritual nightmare. Following in the steps of their debut LP "A Cryptic Howl of Morbid Truth" and of their followup mini-album "Diagrams of a Hidden Order", on "Gnarled Ritual of Self Annihilation" Black Earth further refine and sharpen their horrific sonic blade, slicing through shadows and darkness with more skill and mastery than ever before to reveal a dimension beyond of incomprehensible ritual abandon. As they first weave and then slice and dissect their impenetrable veil, a sonic ritual of abject disfigurement begins to take shape before the listener, as the strokes and gashes of black metal, industrial, noise and ritual drone intersect erratically and hypnotically, painting an hallucinatory arabesque of absolute dread and deformity. As the album's wicked spires envelops them like a fog of snakes, the listener finds themselves immersed into an hallucinating aural delirium of complete disembodiment and self-implosion, in which they feel simultaneously out of body and helplessly trapped and crushed within themselves at the same time.
CD Edition of 500 copies in 4 panel Digisleeve. 7 Tracks. Running Time 45:04
LP Edition of 200 copies on Black Vinyl, 100 copies on Clear & Black Splatter. 7 Tracks. Running Time 45:04 (Co-Released with Sentient Ruin)
https://www.cycliclaw.com/releases/black-earth-gnarled-ritual-of-self-annihilation-cdlp-134th-cycle
|
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Gnarled Ritual of Self Annihilation |
LP |
Spanish ritualistic industrial sorcerers BLACK EARTH return with "Gnarled Ritual of Self Annihilation" - a sophomore full-length LP of unreal cinematic sonic disembodiment, conceived with the aim of turning the listener into a sacrificial centrepiece to a surreal ritual nightmare. Following in the steps of their debut LP "A Cryptic Howl of Morbid Truth" and of their followup mini-album "Diagrams of a Hidden Order", on "Gnarled Ritual of Self Annihilation" Black Earth further refine and sharpen their horrific sonic blade, slicing through shadows and darkness with more skill and mastery than ever before to reveal a dimension beyond of incomprehensible ritual abandon. As they first weave and then slice and dissect their impenetrable veil, a sonic ritual of abject disfigurement begins to take shape before the listener, as the strokes and gashes of black metal, industrial, noise and ritual drone intersect erratically and hypnotically, painting an hallucinatory arabesque of absolute dread and deformity. As the album's wicked spires envelops them like a fog of snakes, the listener finds themselves immersed into an hallucinating aural delirium of complete disembodiment and self-implosion, in which they feel simultaneously out of body and helplessly trapped and crushed within themselves at the same time.
CD Edition of 500 copies in 4 panel Digisleeve. 7 Tracks. Running Time 45:04
LP Edition of 200 copies on Black Vinyl, 100 copies on Clear & Black Splatter. 7 Tracks. Running Time 45:04 (Co-Released with Sentient Ruin)
https://cycliclaw.bandcamp.com/album/gnarled-ritual-of-self-annihilation |
2019 |
€20.00 |
|
| BLACK GLASS ENSEMBLE |
Arise from the Twilight |
CD |
Note. These recordings combine signals from mixing desk output and ambient microphone placement. Elements of the performance were conducted with no amplified signal. Consequently, these brief passeages appeared only on the ambient signal and are correspondingly quiet.
Acknowledgements:
Evan Henderson and colleagues, the Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh; Alison Johnson, the Coach House, Athelstaneford
Black Glass Ensemble acknowledge with gratitude the assistance of Creative Scotland, Help Musicians UK, Hope Scott Trust
credits
released November 6, 2020
Michael Begg; witness engines, data, electronics, keyboard, erosions
Douglas Caskie; tuned and bespoke percussion
Jen Cuthbertson; French horn
Neil Cuthbertson; trumpet
Clea Friend, cello, voice
Julia Lungu; violin
Aisling O’Dea; violin
Ben Ponton; VLF receiver, electronics, field recordings, lapsteel guitar, forensics
Nicole M Boitos Hayworth; voice (narration) track 2
Clodagh Simonds; voice (celestial vocal clusters) track 4
https://omnempathy.bandcamp.com/album/arise-from-the-twilight
"The first full length release from award winning experimental composer Michael Begg’s groundbreaking ensemble captures the group’s debut performance at Edinburgh’s Queen’s Hall in the final days before lockdown.
Black Glass, comprises members of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra alongside Begg and fellow experimental artist, Ben Ponton (:zoviet*france:). Here, they invoke an immersive and deeply moving medium of ambient sound in which processed electronics, field recordings, atmospheric receivers and live sonified streaming data from environmental and earth observation agencies combine with elegiac passages of strings, brass and tuned percussion to realise Begg’s vision of a new music that speaks to our growing sense of solastalgia*
* the term combining solace and pain, coined by philosopher Glenn Albrecht in 2005 to articulate the sense of existential distress caused by living through environmental change.
As musical director, Begg provides his troupe with both scores and the encouragement and support which enables the world class players to step out of their comfort zone and into an uncharted territory requiring them to improvise with satellite positional data, live weather systems, audio streams of calving glaciers – not to mention the experience of having their playing captured and returned to them live as processed loops.
Arise From The Twilight captures the realisation of one of the most compelling new fusions of contemporary classical and experimental music of recent times."
|
2020 |
€15.00 |
|
| BLACK SUN PRODUCTIONS & VAL DENHAM |
Somewhere between Desire and Despair |
CD |
"After a couple of collaborations on tracks, Black Sun Productions finally get together with Val Denham for a full length release. Val Denham might be best known for her paintings that have appeared on releases by Marc and the Mambas, Psychic TV... but over the past few years she has been releasing short-run CD-Rs of her lo-fi sounds. Homosexual overtones inform much of Black Sun Productions material but with Val Denham, a transgendered figure, the focus moves on to a new form of sexuality.
Somewhere Between Desire and Despair opens with the haunting atmospheric drone of 'A Tale of Two Cities' with Denham reciting lines from Charles Dickens. From then on much of the first half of Somewhere Between Desire and Despair flirts with various forms of electronic music. It's clear from 'Cobalt Blue' that Massimo and Pierce haven't forgotten their past association with Coil, as it picks up on the rhythmic shuddering Coil-like electronics with Denham's voice pitched deep and treated, alongside passages of sped-up processed vocals. Val Denham is something of a character and, at times, she sounds like a Northern housewife reared on a diet of glam records. 'Stars', a Denham collaboration with Testing Vault, goes all downbeat with dark electronics, featuring Denham's idiosyncratic take on a pop vocal. Denhams' voice is almost helium-fuelled on the disco-chug of 'We Are The Hydrogen'. 'Eat Us Mother!' foregoes the electronics for a surprisingly sparkly run through post-punk dynamics. Denham picks up on a rock persona teasing the listener with her shrieky and screechy vocal careering over booming bass and discordant guitar scrapes from her longtime collaborator Oli Novadniek.
Things slow down in the next half with a collection of evocative tracks, much in the vein of Black Sun Productions fantastic OperettAmoralle. The disorientating queasy electronics of 'Absinthe' has Denham relating a tale of alcohol abuse, evoking the Green fairy alongside some effective harmonium and harmonica drone. Many of the tracks here use mournful orchestration taken from a track called 'Morphium' - though the source isn't given. 'Andromeda' taps into the mind of the transgendered artist. It's almost poetic as Denham delivers a spoken vocal in her homely Northern tones. Much more poignant is 'Flowers In The Trenches' which tells of transgendered and transexual soldiers who fought in WWI. Amidst sombre strings and military snare drum rolls Denham speaks of those unnamed and forgotten soldiers who were, in fact, "women in their heads" fighting in another "man-made catastrophe" and "suffered for nothing". Enlightening stuff.
Val Denham really shines on the campy theatrics of 'I Try To Kill The Man' over the Weimar Berlin cabaret sounds of 'Das Lila Lied', an early 20th century homosexual anthem, here performed by the Ophelia Orchestra. Similarly 'Emerald Green' uses the score of Marlene Dietrich's 'Such Trying Times'. Denham is finely positioned to evoke the decadence, sexual transgression and dark wit with her sarcasm and style. Black Sun Productions have, of course, produced their own musical tribute on the works of Bertolt Brecht to tremendous effect and Denham's contributions don't disappoint.
Somewhere Between Desire and Despair is much more fun-filled than previous Black Sun Productions. It strikes a balance between electronic music and cabaret music, and a balance between poignancy and absurdity. It's not the most coherent release, partly due to the varied list of collaborators, but Val Denham manages to carry it all off with a verve and panache, informed by her strength of character, her honesty and humour. Somewhere Between Desire and Despair comes in a 6-panel digipak with wonderful representations of Val Denham's artwork."
[Review by Compulsion]
www.touretterecords.com
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| BLACK TO COMM |
Rückwärts Backwards |
CD |
“Black To Comm is an alias for Dekorder label owner Marc Richter's audio excursions. "Rückwärts Backwards" is his debut full-length album recorded between 2003 and 2005 in his adopted hometown Hamburg and his childhood home in the Black Forest located in the south of Germany. With a background in many musical styles (from Psychedelia to pure Computer Music) BTC's music is never easy to pin down.
This album is essentially created from scratchy shellac and vinyl loops merged with ambience field recordings (with some voice manipulations and kitchen gamelan thrown in for good measure). The warm hiss of analogue recording techniques combined with the apparently antique sounds of vintage organs, acoustic & electric guitars, pianos, glockenspiel and mbira used on these tracks generate a kind of hyperreal, fake nostalgia playing with one's perception of a pseudo-recollection. The layering and hypnotic repetition of short loops extracted from old Psychedelia, Free Jazz, Vaudeville and Traditional records reveal a haunting melodic quality sometimes not distinguishable within the original source material, evoking a hovering feeling of bittersweet melancholy with an omnipresent, slightly disturbing atmosphere hidden beneath the surface.The 8 songs constantly sway back and forth between simple, almost naive arrangements and dense surreal drones with rare, yet intense distorted climaxes making this album one constantly absorbing listening experience.” [label info]
“First of all this CD is beautifully packaged with a tri-fold disc holder. Each picture bears its own character (blurry forest with handscrawled text, a sleeping cat, and what appears to be an old wallpaper pattern) But on to the music. Black to Comm (aka Marc Richter who also runs Dekorder) knows how to keep it short and sweet with 8 songs clocking in at under 37 minutes. Ruckwarts Backwards opens with the aptly titled 'Bees' some gentle buzzing of said insect is later accompanied by some child-like hums, this gives way to the second song 'Levitation' which is a gentle soundscape of rising and falling organ tones backed by a field recording. 'Lucifer Lacca' ushers in an operatic vocal loop that reaches crescendo and ends with another bit of children's singing. The feel is still subdued and continues throughout the record, I'm reminded at times of Tape, not so much in sound but in how I feel while listening to them. The title track is a series of interlocking vibraphone melodies that
are augmented by computer processing. The computer treatments are more of an enhancement rather than something that would radically alter the source sounds. Track 5 is my personal favorite with a minimalist and slightly buzzing drone that cross-fades with a quieter drone. The remainder of the album hits just the right drone spot! Minimal loops with a somber feel, that guides you right to the end. The credits list microphones, voice, and kitchen gamelan, and Marc is good at assembling seemingly unrelated segments into gently blurred landscapes that roll by with an ease and comfort. In a few words..... simple, and elegant. Ruckwarts Backwards follows a self titled 10" also on Dekorder. Very curious to hear to more from this project” [CJ / Vital Weekly]
|
2005 |
€13.00 |
|
|
same |
do-LP |
"Hamburg’s Marc Richter has been busy since his last Type appearance (2009’s genre-bending and critically acclaimed Alphabet 1968). Aside from helming the prolific Dekorder imprint, he’s put out a number of musical curios, including 2012’s excellent film soundtrack EARTH. Now Richter is back with Alphabet 1968’s proper followup , a sprawling double album pieced together with crumbling samples, vocal snippets and an arsenal of noise generators and filters.
Richter’s material has always been characterized by an air of surrealism, but it’s never been more obvious than on the the pulsing, chattering opener ‘Human Ghidrah’ or in the delirious fractured pop of ‘Hands’. There are real songs in hidden somewhere, but disintegrated by Richter’s sound manipulation techniques and dissolved into soupy extended drone marathons. The centerpiece is undoubtedly ‘Is Nowhere’, which builds slowly over 20 minutes with rumbling organ sounds and buzzing filters, never budging your attention for a second.
Black To Comm is a deeper, more challenging record than its predecessor, but one which repays the patient listener. Richter’s dusty, unique sound has never sounded more well-honed and pointed, and it’s a patchwork of ideas and fragments that only improves over time." [label info]
www.typerecords.com
|
2014 |
€23.50 |
|
|
Seven Horses for Seven Kings |
do-LP |
2xLP packaged in a gatefold jacket with black inner sleeves. A limited quantity is pressed on one of a kind green mashup vinyl. Check out the unboxing here!
CD version in 4-panel mini-LP style gatefold jacket.
Black To Comm is the solo project of German sound artist Marc Richter. Through his output both as an artist and through his eclectic Dekorder label, Richter has established himself as a singular voice of new music. Operating at the fringes of drone and ambient genres, his music is darkly magical and deeply atmospheric, underpinned by a signature surrealism. A relentless sonic explorer, Richter approaches the studio as his instrument, using sampling, analogue production and digital manipulation to offer an almost infinite choice of tones and textures. Audio fragments are liberated from their original context and sculpted into surprising new shapes, creating work that transcends time or genre. Seven Horses For Seven Kings sees Richter reaching out again into the limitless field of sound, summoning forth his darkest and most visceral work to date.
Seven Horses For Seven Kings was completed during a particularly prolific period for Richter. Working on a broad range of commissions since his last album - from writing for film and theatre works to composing for art installations, apps and sleep music - generated a flurry of new ideas and influences. Site-specific residencies in particular let Richter shift his focus from melody and song architecture to more abstract sound art. Extensive touring would equally come to inform a key shift in Richter’s music, simulating the raw, unpredictable energy of live performances on record. Rather than ironing out mistakes in samples or his own playing, he exploits or even forces such imperfections. While rhythm has been largely absent from previous Black To Comm releases, here the music seems totally bound to it, from the fractured techno breaks of ”Fly on You”, to the pounding war drums of “Rameses II” and pulsing Mellotron sounds of “Angel Investor”. The album’s breath-taking pace drives Richter’s music to new levels of intensity.
Richter’s creative practice is informed as much by careful, attentive listening as it is studio experimentation. Pieces often begin life as a single sound that catches his ear, be it a record from his extensive collection, or something in the natural environment. Samples and instrumentation are sometimes presented authentically, a deliberate reference to an era, place or player, and at other times are twisted beyond recognition. Samples from contemporary artists like Nils Frahm are bent and compounded with fragments of early recorded music and medieval song. Richter blurs the lines between organic instrumentation and digital production to the extent that the two become inseparable. Being able to separate sound from context gives Richter complete command of the emotional impact of his music, imbuing pieces with meaning or stripping it back as he sees fit.
While Richter questions whether instrumental music needs to have deeper meaning beyond its sonic qualities, he accepts that the wider world inevitably bleeds into his art. Reflecting the violence and unreality of modern life, Seven Horses For Seven Kings is unashamedly dark, undeniably angry. But rather than be consumed by such emotions, Richter employs them as ecstatic release. Through his mastery of sound, he achieves transcendence through noise, beauty through intensity.
www.thrilljockey.com/products/seven-horses-for-seven-kings
|
2019 |
€23.50 |
|
| |
Oocyte Oil & Stolen Androgens |
LP |
"The music of Black To Comm is as powerfully intoxicating as it is subtly unnerving. The solo project of shapeshifting German producer and sound artist Marc Richter, his mastery of sonic manipulation is matched only by his astounding clarity of vision. Oocyte Oil and Stolen Androgens applies Richter's wild imagination to an exploration of the human voice, standing as some of his most immediate and affecting music to date. Each of his phantasmagoric works is meticulously constructed from an omnivorous array of smudged samples and other sonic detritus, painstakingly collected by Richter from across the history of recorded music or his immediate environment and altered into beguiling new shapes. Sound sources seem tantalizingly familiar and yet often just out of reach, flickering at the edges of the subconscious. Oocyte Oil & Stolen Androgens compiles new evolutions of pieces written for site-specific installations alongside original works. Taken as a suite, it offers a transfixing survey of the full sonic potential of the voice while honing in on its emotional and human qualities. Remarkably, considering their origin as art installations, the five tracks compiled on Oocyte Oil & Stolen Androgens stand as some of Richter's most concise and immediate work. In reimagining the pieces for release, Ritcher explains that he "wanted to break away from the notion that pieces for art have to be atonal, or abstract, or difficult". It stands as a testament to the evocative power of his work that even removed from their original context, Richter's synaesthetic compositions alone give a vivid sense of three-dimensional space and narrative. Like psychoactive chemicals blossoming in the stomach, pieces burst and bloom from the recordings into physical space, grounded in the familiar but drifting through alternate realities and higher states of consciousness. In resampling and re-working his own material, Richter actively embraces the inherently liminal and temporal nature of music, each piece existing in a state of constant flux that shifts and bends to suit the myriad contexts in which it is experienced."
https://blacktocomm.bandcamp.com/album/oocyte-oil-stolen-androgens
|
2020 |
€26.00 |
|
| BLACKHUMOUR |
Selected Pieces |
CD |
"since the time i came across ‘romance’ LP (on korm plastics, netherlands) and the ‘two women’ tape (on sph, spain) almost 20 years ago fell in love with the work of blackhumour, and his simple but Immersive way of playing with the human voice (be it found sound or recorded by himself), its transformation and the way he perceived his universe and his approach. in ‘selected pieces’ we find recordings done mostly in the 00’s culled from his archives for this release showing in almost the best way his sound in various manifestations (be it harsh, bizarre or mesmerizing like the ‘incantatory’ piece based upon the sounds of a hypno-dominatrix). and couldn’t find a better release to coincide with the outbreak of my new fanzine ‘emvoes’. housed in a foldout poster this release can be seen either as a cd, an audiopostcard, an audiozine or whatever situation the listener wants to find himself into…" [label info]
blog.noise-below.org
"probably one of the more curious careers in music: blackhumour, who spells it without capitals, like any thing he writes really. so we humour him with this review without capitals. curious career, since in the late 80s he was active on the cassette scene, released a lp even, and then seemed to have disappeared and releases have become more sparse since then. what i enjoyed back then about the music of blackhumour was the consistent use of only voice material, which he cut into loops and layered them together, very much like steve reich did with his 'come out' and 'it's gonna rain'; in later he work blackhumour cut phrases out of conversations and moved them around, creating new contexts. that work appealed less to me, i must admit. the six selected pieces here are from the period 1996 to 2002 and hold the middle ground between those 'heavy' drone like pieces from the early years and the cut 'n paste pieces of later. repetition plays a big role here, and most of the time it seems like not much is changing here - except for 'arbitrary', which seem to contain glitches from the digital audio tape it was once recorded on (unless this is a dirty cd), which add something to the voice material. Otherwise these pieces are as minimal as you can get, and it's the blackhumour i like very much. it has that fine hypnotic sound, with enough information to concentrate on one thing for a while and then something else. 'le mot juste' is the piece in which things change around into something entirely different. 'revision' adds in density over the course of seventeen minutes before changing over, in order to grow again, which is pretty much a standard blackhumour compositional technique. this is a most wonderful release. it should have fitted on monochrome vision (blackhumour has a strong black and white aesthetic too), but on noise-below is equally in the right place. if you have no idea who blackhumour is or what he does and if 80s unsung cassette heroes is your 'thing', then this cd is the best place to start. my pick of the week." [Fdw/Vital Weekly] |
2014 |
€10.00 |
|
| BLACKSHAW, JAMES |
Litany of Echoes |
CD |
"Initially inspired by the guitarists of the '60s Takoma label to teach himself fingerpicking, London-based musician James Blackshaw writes pieces primarily for solo 12-string guitar that share more in common with the minimalist works of composers such as Philip Glass, Steve Reich and Charlemagne Palestine, as well as French composers Claude Debussy and Erik Satie, than the blues/raga influence of his peers. Using drones, overtones and repeating patterns alongside a strong inclination for melody, Blackshaw creates instrumental music that is both intelligent, hypnotic and unashamedly sentimental. Litany of Echoes, Blackshaw's sixth studio album in five years, shows a more mature, focused and, on the whole, accessible approach to composition. While the album often feels darker and more introspective in nature than on previous releases, many of the songs have a huge-sounding, classical quality to them. With Blackshaw adding some glistening piano work for the first time and Fran Bury returning to play swarms of sweeping string parts for violin and viola, Litany of Echoes is a truly original, affecting and timeless album from a guitarist/composer coming into his own." [press release]
"With each new James Blackshaw release, we're always amazed at how someone who works within such a small musical framework can continuously exceed our expectations. Definitely a favorite among favorites of solo guitarists, Blackshaw has bulked up his arsenal of compositional approaches by introducing for the first time the use of piano as a key element. Bookending the album are two long form pieces of solo piano in a minimalist style that remind us of Charlemagne Palestine or Lubomyr Melnyk. When the twelve string is first heard on the second track, it's not before we're set up with a foundation of resonant timbres of violin and viola (played by Fran Bury) that give
weight to the airy modal improvisations of the guitar. Adding subtle layers of richness and dynamics, the strings ground and support the ringing overtones of the 12 string creating complex harmonies to the pulsating melodies. We can't imagine we'll ever tire of hearing Blackshaw's shimmering textural pieces. Amazing how sound so deep, dark, damp and resonant can be so transcendentally uplifting." [Aquarius Records review]
www.tompkinssquare.com
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
|
The Glass Bead Game |
LP + CD |
"I'm extremely pleased to announce that James Blackshaw will now be releasing his absolutely spellbinding music via Young God Records. He has received attention as a 12-string guitar prodigy / virtuoso. He used to be in punk bands in England, but then he started listening to people like John Fahey, Robbie Basho, etc., and I assume locked himself in a room for 12 hours a day for several years and just played constantly. It takes intense discipline and a religious commitment to get to the place where he's at with his instrument. But his music isn't about his "skill." It's not showy. It's deeply meditative--the secret language of a pre-thought, pre-dream place. "Blackshaw plays soulful and kaleidoscopic, ever-shifting mantra cycles of incredible beauty. Just his guitar by itself, with its swirling overtones, cascading notes, and a thousand points of light, resembles an orchestra, but with further orchestration--piano, strings, wind, and vocals--the music is positively cinematic and mesmerizing. "The 18-minute-plus gem on this record is 'Arc,' performed on piano with the sustain pedal on full throttle. The rush of sound created by the overtones from Heaven, augmented by strings and wind, when played at proper (full) volume, is one of the most thrilling pieces of music I've heard in years. It takes a rare and single-minded courage and commitment to make music with such a powerfully positive force at its heart, especially in these troubled times. This is healing music that reaches for what's possible, just beyond our grasp. It is stellar... "Blackshaw is joined on this record by Joolie Wood (Current 93, Simon Finn) on violin, clarinet, and flute, and John Contreras (Baby Dee and Current 93) on cello. Lavinia Blackwall (Directing Hand) is a classically trained singer and contributed vocals." [Michael Gira/Young God Records]
"... We totally love how his style and aesthetic remains intact, whether he’s sitting at the piano or with a guitar on his knee, his close attention to detail and use of hypnotic, emotionally captivating melodies shines throughout. Notes flickering and shimmering about as overtones soar above like clouds.
There’s so much about this record that you can get fully wrapped up in, so much detail it would be impossible to absorb it all in just one listen. We’ve already been listening to Glass Bead Game for over a week, and still new details keep popping out of the woodwork. And to top it off, beautifully fitting, earth-toned artwork of various birds of prey perfectly adorns the album with some magical visual hex. By far our favorite Blackshaw album to date and quite possibly his best, highly and fully recommended!" [Aquarius Records]
|
2009 |
€17.00 |
|
| |
Love is the Plan, the Plan is Death |
CD |
"Important is proud to welcome back James Blackshaw for his first full length on Important since his breakthrough album O True Believers was released on the label in 2006. James has since forged a remarkable career achieving critical praise for his dexterity, his deep, connected songwriting and his beautiful arrangement. Love Is The Plan, The Plan Is Death is available on CD & LP. LP pressed in an edition of 1000. Limited stock of color vinyl for mailorder customers.
Written at a time of great emotional disquiet, the hauntingly beautiful and bittersweet ninth
full-length studio album, 'Love Is The Plan, The Plan Is Death', from British guitarist-composer James Blackshaw was recorded at Soma Electronic Music Studios, Chicago in December 2011 by engineer Andrew Hernandez (Balmorhea). The six original pieces contained on the album (whose titles are lovingly misappropriated from those of short stories by the late, great science fiction author James Tiptree Jr AKA Alice B. Sheldon,) are based alternately around nylon-string classical guitar and grand piano, with spare and subtle vibraphone and B3 organ parts overdubbed by Blackshaw himself. Geneviève Beaulieu (Menace Ruine/Preterite) adds her stunning and powerful voice and words to track 'And I Have Come Upon This Place By Lost Ways'. 'Love Is The Plan' is an incredibly warm and intimate recording and perhaps
Blackshaw's most concise, consistent and overtly melodic to date." [label info]
www.importantrecords.com |
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| BLACKSHAW, JAMES & LUBOMYR MELNYK |
The Watchers |
LP |
"The Watchers is a historic collaboration between Lubomyr Melnyk and James Blackshaw. Both artists are well known as composers but here it is their impovisational skills that are on display. First 200 copies of the LP will ship on blue vinyl. CD version is packaged in a heavy duty digipak.
I first met Lubomyr Melnyk at a festival called Hea Uus Heli in October 2008. We were both scheduled to play that day and I was very excited to see him perform. Before the show I bought several LPs from him and mentioned as much. Lubomyr (more than modest and courteous, as he always is) asked me what I was doing at the festival and I replied that I was also performing at the festival a little later, to which he responded "I'll come and watch you", before being ushered into the hall to play one of the most staggeringly sonorous and beautiful sets I've ever heard. It was overwhelming, full of pathos and I left the hall with those incredible overtones hanging in my ears for hours.
A couple of hours later, I was onstage when I glanced up and saw Lubomyr, true to his word, stood in the audience watching me attentively. I felt incredibly nervous. It's not everyday you get to play for someone who has greatly inspired and influenced your own music. After the show, I packed up my guitar and came out to meet the crowd. The first person who greeted me was Lubomyr: friendly. full of enthusiasm and keen to hear about my music, my processes, the way in which I made music. Yet again, I was overwhelmed - for very different reasons.
"You have invented continuous music for guitar!"
I don't know if that's true or not, but I can't think of an epitaph that would make me prouder.
We also spoke about collaborating that night and via e-mail a while after, but it wasn't until January 2012, shortly after I'd moved back to Hastings, England from Ann Arbor, Michigan and Lubomyr played his first ever show in the UK at Cafe Oto that it came to fruition. John Chantler got in touch, said Lubomyr had a free day after his performance and could I come to London for a day, see what happens? He kindly agreed to record the whole thing.
We all met at the Vortex Jazz Cafe around midday. We set up, Lubomyr at the grand piano, me directly facing him with my 12-string guitar and began. I would retune at random between songs and together we would find interesting chord progressions, hints of melodies and ways in which to weave those immense overtones that Lubomyr is able to generate on the piano with those of my guitar. No more than two takes per song. Improvisation, spontaneous composition, whatever you want to call it. Either way, it truly felt as if the piano and guitar were as one - inseparable, parts of a bigger whole, a means by which for two people to make one sound. It never felt forced and never less than engaging. Lubomyr was always humble, jovial and open to ideas. The whole session lasted six hours.
I'm not a great improviser. I always want to take that raw creative element that the form brings and work upon it, to distill and refine it further. I think Lubomyr feels the same. But there is something about these recordings that would be incredibly difficult to recapture. A small moment in time, feeling perfectly and wonderfully lost within that sound.
I'm honoured.
James Blackshaw, October 2012." [label info]
www.importantrecords.com
|
2013 |
€20.00 |
|
| BLEEDING HEART NARRATIVE |
All that was missing we never had in the World |
CD |
Wiederveröffentlichung des Debut-Albums, mit Bonus-Tracks. Eine erstaunliches Zusammentreffen von Noise & Drones mit Folk / Postrock und kammermusikalischen Klängen, traumverwoben und verwandelt in sensible Fliessmuster...
"...In The World". Reissue of the stunning debut BHN album from spring 2008 (ltd. 200). Working with a constantly evolving autumnal orchestra of layered cellos, repeating piano melodies, hushed vocals and mutant textures of sound and noise, Bleeding Heart Narrative has constructed a unique, haunting and compelling album. BHN is the work of sole composer, artist and producer Oliver Barrett, working in the live spectrum as a septet. Presented in a digipak with the new and exclusive bonus track 'Blueskywards'. We can't recommend this highly enough!" [label info]
"Present album was originally released as a limited edition of 200 copies on Tataruga Records. One year after the original release British label Cold Spring Records now gives a wider audience the chance to get introduced to this interesting project. Behind the name Bleeding Heart Narrative, you find the London-based composer Oliver Barrett, who proves his insight knowledge in the world of acoustic sounds. Important elements on the album titled "All that was missing we never had in the world" is the sound of acoustic instruments such as cello, piano and guitar. Sometimes these acoustic sounds live their very own life in the music, other times the sounds are woven into electronic dronescapes, giving the music an ambient feeling. Musically, the album floats in-between ambient and postrock, mostly kept in trance-inducing atmospheres. A central part of the album is the excellent vocals of Alastair Bailey, that makes the overall style remind of the excellent joint venture-project between ambient-maestro Robert Rich and guitarist/bassist Rick Davies, Amoeba. As the album-title and the project-name suggest, the feeling on the album is melancholic and fragile. A beautiful and emotive experience that will appeal to listeners of dreamy postrock and acoustic based ambient." [NM / Vital Weekly]
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| BLEGVAD, PETER / JOHN GREAVES |
Kew. Rhone |
CD |
"The classic restored. No extra tracks, just this legendary release as it was originally conceived. Kew Rhone was made soon after Peter and John left Henry Cow, at Carla Bley and Mike Mantler’s Grog Kill studio in New York (they both appear on the CD). Fellow conspirators included singer Lisa Herman and drummer Andrew Cyrille. It’s one of those records which sums up a moment; a creative moment in which ideas have come into clear focus, and just need to be got down; an historical moment at which an innovative, collaborative run of cultural luck is about to run out. It couldn’t have been made earlier or later, we’re just lucky it got made at all." [ReR website short info]
"For decades this was a cult item. People fought about it. The songs are accessible, but difficult, the music - recorded at Carla Bley and Mike Mantler’s studio back in the JCOA days - is eccentric, extremely complex, but still catchy. Bley, Mantler and the legendary Andrew Cyrille all appear on it in arrangements that are… pretty off the wall. It’s rock, it’s jazz, it’s a song cycle, it’s a one-off hybrid with some traces of Henry Cow and Escalator over the Hill, it’s deep or indulgent, or both – but whichever line of approach you adopt, it’s art. And that makes it a major achievement. It also manages to be funny and charming while taking no prisoners in the high intellect department.
After the Henry Cow/Slaphappy merger, Peter left and John followed him a year or so later. The two of them then concocted this highly ambitious project - a marriage of high literary ambition full of Ouliposeque anagrams, palindromes, missing letters and wordgames, and meticulous musical complexity rooted in show music, jazz and the fringes of experimental rock. The album design, text and musical content together embody a continuous, integrated, work: so the texts refer to the artwork (both are by Peter Blegvad) and vice versa; neither quite makes sense without the other.
Pop Triva Fact: Kew. Rhone was released on the same day, and on the same label, as the Sex Pistols's Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols. Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols" [press release]
"Completely and utterly unlike any other album you're likely to come across. Ever." Andy Gill NME
"How in the name of God could anyone take lyrics so oblique, so obscure, so cerebral and fashion such a memorable tune out of them?"
Jonathan Coe (author of The Rotter’s Club)
“A neglected masterpiece of surreal rock…a musical Finnegan’s Wake”
Clive Bell. The Wire.
"A neglected masterpiece of '70s progressive rock” Stewart Mason, AllMusic.
"The classic restored. No extra tracks, just this legendary release as it was originally conceived. Kew Rhone was made soon after Peter and John left Henry Cow, at Carla Bley and Mike Mantler’s Grog Kill studio in New York (they both appear on the CD). Fellow conspirators included singer Lisa Herman and drummer Andrew Cyrille. It’s one of those records which sums up a moment; a creative moment in which ideas have come into clear focus, and just need to be got down; an historical moment at which an innovative, collaborative run of cultural luck is about to run out. It couldn’t have been made earlier or later, we’re just lucky it got made at all." [label info]
www.rermegacorp.com
www.rermegacorp.com
|
2015 |
€14.00 |
|
| BLITZOIDS |
Steeling from helpless children / Look up |
do-CD |
"Old hands will remember those strange LPs imported and distributed by Recommended back in the late 80s. A studio project, audibly influenced by the Residents, but not over-imitative, the Blitzoids mixed concrete- and tape-manipulations, noise, extended playing techniques and found recordings with iterative song-like structures and open architectures. Always interesting, sometimes scattershot, avoiding any obvious style, they moved fast from one idea to the next. At the time, they were pretty much out there on their own, and achieved only limited visibility, so its good to see their work collected and reissued on this double CD." [label info]
"if comparisons must be made, then imagine putting the Los Angeles Free Music Society, Fred Lane, Fred Frith, various field recordings, radio transmissions, and a haunted house sound-effects tape into a blender. After the blender shakes violently and explodes, spraying globules of audio lunacy across the room, you giggle and dance around like a moron. That's what listening to the Blitzoids is like.
Brothers Steve and Chris De Chiara were running a Chicago record store when they started recording with Jim Nickels. Their first LP, 1987's Stealing From Helpless Children, is a work of unbridled invention, lumping together skronky jazz, tape manipulation, funny sounds, spooky textures and low-fidelity melodies. A reliance on traditional song structures doesn't make the band sound at all conventional, but merely confirms their considerable compositional skill.
Each track is a mini-movie for the ears. “Left or Right?” utilizes Donald Duck laughter for a bizarre refrain; ”Try and Stop Us” is a complex sound collage that recalls Evan Parker at one moment, Penderecki at another; ”Middle of Nowhere” shifts from a tribal jam session to an imagined Carl Stalling horror film score. It's all held together with catchy vocals, cheapo synth drums and Chris De Chiara's inspired guitar work, which can echo anything from John Abercrombie to Snakefinger. For uneasy listening, Stealing From Helpless Children is surprisingly listenable.
1990's Look Up is even more adventurous. The raw materials haven't changed—backwards tape and talk-radio excerpts abound—but each track is so densely layered that it takes many listens to absorb it all. The songs are still accessible: the lyrics to “Good Vacation” are worthy of Bob Dylan's best hallucinatory narratives, accompanied by music that is more appropriate than Dylan ever attempted.
Rounding out this reissue are eight bonus cuts, including the band's funniest achievements. “Fire on the Mountain” transforms an old fiddle tune into a hoedown from hell, and it's hard not to crack a smile through mangled versions of “A Summer Place” and “The Witch Doctor.”
The Blitzoids might have worn their influences on their proverbial sleeves, but their music stands on its own. Give them a listen if your tastes run to the left of strange, or if you just want something to listen to while you're getting blitzed.." [Brad Glanden / allaboutjazz.com]
www.rermegacorp.com
|
2006 |
€14.00 |
|
| BLOCK, OLIVIA |
Mobius Fuse |
CD |
“Sedimental’s release of the second cd from Chicago based electro-acoustic composer Olivia Block titled Mobius Fuse. This much anticipated follow up to her critically acclaimed debut Pure Gaze(sed cd028) continues her rich and unique exploration of both acoustic and electronic sounds reaching a depth and level of emotional intensity rarely heard in the field.
Olivia Block is a contemporary composer who combines field recordings, scored segments for acoustic instruments, and electronically generated sound. Her recorded work seeks to introduce, set at play, and ultimately reconcile nature with artifice in the realms of music and sound. In the process, "organic" sound becomes subtly processed, digitized and abstracted; "inorganic" sound becomes self-replicating and animate; and "musical" elements such as chamber instruments are de familiarized from their traditional associations, freeing them to participate in the larger aesthetic possibilities of sound. Her pieces are composed over long periods of time in numerous stages. She often prepares elaborate tape installations in natural sites for field recording sessions which she later integrates into her recorded compositions. In live performance, Block introduces additional elements of paradox and tension: chamber musicians perform scores which accompany pre-prepared tape material, and improvisers (often including herself) interact with "lo-fi" speaker installations and digital recordings.
Since its release, her debut solo CD, Pure Gaze (Sedimental, 1998) has been consistently included on radio play lists throughout America and Europe. It was included in Blow-Up magazine's "Top Releases" of 1999 and The Wire magazine's top ten section, "Charts"; and Julian Cowley, in the latter publication, described her as "a composer who demands serious attention." Another of her works, Piece for Scrubbing Tile, was featured in the Modern Museum of Lyon, France in 1998, as part of the Collage Jukebox installation and festival (curator: Jerome Joy). Her recorded works have been used as source material recently by Achim Wollscheid, in his Shifts release (Ritornell/Evolution). Her soundtrack work for Natalia Castro's short video piece, Fire-Fly, helped earn the project the undergraduate video award at the School for the Art Institute of Chicago in 1997. She has recorded with such artists as Jim O'Rourke and Jeb Bishop, and has performed with artists including Pauline Oliveros and Fred Lonberg-Holm. Her radio appearances include WKCR's Live Constructions (Columbia University), WLUW's Something Else (Loyola University), and others. She was a visiting lecturer at DePaul University. She has toured extensively in Japan and has Europe.
Olivia Block is self-taught. She started her musical career in Austin, Texas, in the experimental rock scene in which she played electric guitar and trumpet, sang, and created abstract tapes for play during live performances in several bands. Such tape work led her to her next trio, Alial Straa, an electro-acoustic and improvisational group including Seth Nehil ("Tracing the Skins of Clouds," Kaon records), and John Grznich ("Stomach of the sky," Staalplaat; "Absurd Evidence," Bobby J.) Alial Straa's CD, "Tunnels/Stairwell" is currently out on Alluvial records.
At present, Olivia Block lives in Chicago. Her next collaborative release, Oil and Water, an electronic composition with Petra Klusmeyer, will be released on Boxmedia records." [label info]
www.sedimental.com
|
2001 |
€13.50 |
|
| BLONDE REDHEAD |
Misery is a Butterfly |
CD |
Wonderful album by one of the best spheric / emotional and genre-breaking / transcending “Pop/Rock”-bands of this planet, now on the cult-label from the 80’s / early 90’s, 4AD, and working with strings (i.e. played by EYVIND KANG) !
“Freed from all constraints, Blonde Redhead are beautifully reborn on Misery Is a Butterfly. True, feelings of loss, insecurity, and outright alienation do factor heavily into the record's thematic vision (this butterfly isn't called "Misery" for nothing), but the band's sense of assuredness surrounds the album's themes of vulnerability. Misery Is a Butterfly was recorded before being shopped to a label, but judging by the sound of the album, its eventual release on 4AD seems to have been an inevitability. From track one, the record is lacy and moody, perfectly suited to the one-time home of the Cocteau Twins and This Mortal Coil. The word "lush" doesn't quite capture the fluttering whirls of strings, keyboards, and delicately plucked guitar that open "Elephant Woman"; I'd go so far as to label such enveloping richness of instrumentation "baroque," perhaps even "rococo." For Blonde Redhead's latest incarnation, the softer production simply serves as polish for tarnished, tired guitar, drums and keyboards. Here, the bristling energy that once held would-be sympathizers at bay has been turned inward, resulting in an unprecedented illusion of warmth. "Anticipation", for example, ventures into completely foreign territory for the band; it's vulnerable, yet remains emotionally available, and is breathtaking even in comparison to the band's most typically pretty compositions. Never before have Makino's gentle whispers seemed so genuine or close at hand. The psychedelia-inflected title track and the fractured desolation of "Falling Man" also offer inviting hints of the underlying humanity Blonde Redhead had, until now, been so reluctant to display. Of course, even now, that humanity may be little more than an apparition. Their tales of heartache and desperation have cast Makino and Amadeo Pace-- the emotional heart of the band-- as tragically misunderstood, tortured poets who pin misery on their sleeves, never conceding that anyone else could be capable of understanding their pain. And despite the more inviting nature of Misery's music and production, they remain insular and distant here, as well. Only on "Anticipation" are Makino's vocals as beckoning as their musical surroundings; elsewhere, Blonde Redhead remain as they've always been: beautiful and vacant......”
|
2004 |
€15.00 |
|
| BLUME, FELIX |
Fog Horns |
LP |
French sound artist Félix Blume keeps pushing the boundaries of field recordings for our enjoyment. “Fog Horns” captures the sounds of boat horns in Piraeus, Athens, Greece, the port city that serves some of the most important ferry routes in Greece nowadays. Yes, boat horns are annoying, sometimes disturbing and even absurdly disrupting if you live in a port city or one that is blessed with the arrival of cruises. We all know that. But we also knew that recordings of funerals could be tricky, and Félix Blume pulled a gem out of last year’s “Death In Haiti – Funeral Brass Band & Sounds Of Port Au Prince (CREP51)”.
And he has done it again. The A side reveals a long track recorded during a fog horn concert whilst side B features three ‘remixes’ of the same recordings, paying respect to what Ingram Marshall did in “Fog Tropes” in three different ‘movements’. In a way, B side sounds like the perfect soundtrack for the recent remake of “Suspiria”. But Thom Yorke got in the way.
Jokes aside, there’s something magical about these horns. In the eighteen minutes of the first side, Félix Blume explores the concept of a concert played by those horns. The horns dominate but sounds of the surroundings create a perfect balance to the drone hysteria. The surrounding sounds are the heartbeat of this track. The horns are the metal section of an orchestra, while the rest works like the strings. Hidden melodies are revealed when you listen to this with your full attention, and the more you do it, the horns become less present, vivid. It’s one of the many crafts of Félix Blume, the more you live with his music, the more you focus outside the plot.
If those eighteen minutes sound tremendously real, the three tracks on the other side feel like a horror film. The warmth disappears to become cold ambiance, beautifully textured and enigmatic sounds take over. Horns are still heard, but they’re a different kind of horns. It seems that Félix Blume is playing with our perception, from bliss to horror. A honk will never be the same again.
With collage artwork by Evan Crankshaw.
Recorded by a AB Setup with two B&K 4006 microphones, on a 633 Sound Devices recorder, in Wave 96kHz 24bit.
Side A is the recording, without any effect and only light editing, EQ and mixing.
Side B is a sound creation, mostly playing with the speed and some repetition, done with the material of Side A.
TRACKS
A1. Fog Horns (18’04)
B1. Horns in Fog pt1 (4’51)
B2. Horns in Fog pt2 (4’33)
B3. Horns in Fog pt3 (5’44)
www.felixblume.com/foghorns/ |
2019 |
€21.50 |
|
| BOB DOWNES OPEN MUSIC |
Episodes at 4 am |
CD |
"Bob Downes is most often thought of as a jazz flautist, composer and group leader, but throughout his varied career that has included such diverse musical activity as working with the John Barry Seven and playing on Egg’s second LP, he also had his own fluid conceptual group “Open Music” with principle bass player Barry Guy and drummer Denis Smith. Other players that passed through Open Music include Chris Spedding, Kenny Wheeler, Ray Russell, Ian Carr, Henry Lowther, Harry Beckett, Harry Miller, Barre Phillips, John Stevens and many others. Besides the free jazz and jazz rock influences, Bob Downes has also been involved in much experimental music. After his early 70s releases on Philips, Vertigo and Music For Pleasure there appeared a series of 3 private pressed LPs on his own label Openian that explored this more experimental style. “Episodes at 4 am” is the second in this series and is by far the strangest of the three.
Released in 1974 and commissioned by the Welsh Dance Theatre, it consisted of 10 short duos performed by Wendy Benka on zither, dulcimer and small percussion, and Downes on flutes, various percussion and plenty of electronic manipulation. Nearly every sound on this LP was processed using a variety of shimmering delays, controlled feedback, reverb and speed change to create a haunting and delerious mix of musical styles and atmospheres.
Taken from the master tapes, this 33 minute LP has been expanded for the CD release with 35 minutes of previously unreleased experimental works, mostly from the same period, that cover even more ground than the LP, including one piece made entirely from the sounds of various phone booths on the streets of New York." [label info]
www.stalk.net/paradigm
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| BODIN, LARS-GUNNAR / BENGT EMIL JOHNSON |
Semikolon |
LP |
"LP, 500 numbered, 4 page insert. Originally created as a 6 part radio series in 1965, and released in 1966 by Sveriges Radio. This is the first LP recording by either of these composers. Recorded at EMS (Elektron Musik Studion), the newly established studio facility at Swedish Radio. This pioneering work did not easily fit in any category that existed at the time. Inspired by the work of Öyvind Fahlström (who was a pioneer of concrete poetry along with the Lettrists and Futurists), a few young Swedish artists began exploring new text based experiments. The only other artist releasing records of similar soundworks at this early time in Sweden was ke Hodell who had released two 7' singles. These Swedish sound poets differ in style from their other European counterparts mainly due to their easy access to the high quality facilities available at EMS, with its own in house engineers and sophisticated studio equipment. Given the close relationship at that time between EMS and the national Swedish radio station, their works often have a strong narrative (radio art) quality. Semikolon is one such work, but it also uses found sounds, musique concrète and electronics to create a collage, the likes of which had not been heard before. By 1967, Bodin and Johnson had together finally agreed upon a term for this particular style of sound poetry; text-sound composition. This term was then taken up by other Swedish artists working in the same field including Hodell and Sten Hanson, and soon became internationally recognised. The following year Bodin and Johnson in association with Fylkingen inaugurated the first annual festival of text-sound composition. This international festival, and the commissions it gave rise to, became a major part of the work at Fylkingen and EMS. The festival ran for 10 years. 7 LPs from the early years were released by Sveriges Radio and more recently Fylkingen have compiled the series as a 5CD set. Naturally, both artists were included in the festivals, but they also created a large body of work which appeared on many of the essential anthologies of European sound poetry at the time, including the OU Revue and Klankteksten (released by the Stedelijk Museum in 1970 to accompany their exhibition of concrete poetry), as well as other international compilations. Both artists have also worked in the area of pure electro-acoustic composition, and these works are also mostly available on compilations. This record though, is a collaboration rather than a compilation and retains a timeless contemporary feel that is shared with other radio art projects like the Hörspiel Heute series released by Luchterhand in the 70s. This new vinyl edition of the original LP adds an extra 7 minute composition by Bodin, also taken from the original Semikolon radio series." [label info]
|
2013 |
€18.00 |
|
| BOHMAN, ADAM |
Burnhill Row |
LP |
Incredible weird recordings from 1980 from this one half of todays still very active duo BOHMAN BROTHERS !
"1980 was an incredibe year for London's experimental music scene with many different strands. Recommended Records were rereleasing the first two Faust LP's, L. Voag had found 'the way out', Swell Maps were 'in occupied Europe'. Throbbing Gristle and other industrialists were giving plenty of live actions. Nurse With Wound had just released their first LP, as had This Heat. The other great LP on Piano Records by Steve Beresford was also on the shelves. Meanwhile, elsewhere in the capitol Adam Bohman was making his first recordings working with two budget cassette recorders. Bunhill Row was the first complete album of material, but whilst the aforementioned artists were pressing up their recordings and making them easily available via Rough Trade or the Recommended Records shop, Adam's releases remained in tiny cassette editions made for friends or exchanged on the mail art network. So here for the first time is Bunhill Row, released as it should have appeared at the time - on vinyl. It must be said that this is quite unlike any of Adam's other releases, and quite unlike his work with Morphogenesis, or his work as one half of The Bohman Brothers. This is 'songs' - 30 in all, and the main instrument used is a trumpet (an ordinary trumpet), along with a variety of other acoustic instruments and objects, many of which are still part of the Bohman armoury as known. The overall feel sits somewhere between R. Steevie Moore and Caroliner Rainbow, but this is British of course. Somehow it all works, and all in all opens another window on to the incredibly fruitful astral alignment that occured over London at this time. Adam also has a solo CD on Paradigm Discs, and also appears on 'Variations - a London compilation' the first CD released on Paradigm Discs." [label info]
www.stalk.net/paradigm
|
2006 |
€17.50 |
|
| BOKANOWSKI, MICHELE |
Musique de Courts Metrages |
do-CD |
"This double CD edition collects, for the first time, all the original music composed by Michele Bokanowski for the short films of her husband, Patrick Bokanowski.
Covering a time spectrum of almost 50 years, from "La Femme Qui Se Poudre" dated 1972 to "Vers Syracuse" of 2019.
Michele Bokanowski's sounds are visionary, sometimes disturbing and grotesque, sometimes ecstatic.
Some compositions are suites of grim musique concrete, an obscure ambient perhaps like never heard before, others are liquid abstractions of "expanded" music where it is easy to lose the ordinary awareness of one's senses, and find oneself experimenting with new ways of approaching listening as in the best tradition of experimental music .
The work of Michele Bokanowski and Patrick Bokanowski is essential for all avant-garde and visionary art lovers."
https://invisibilia.bandcamp.com/album/musique-de-courts-m-trages-music-of-patrick-bokanowski-s-short-films
|
2021 |
€18.00 |
|
| BOLANOS, CESAR |
Peruvian Electroacoustic and Experimental Music (1964-1970) |
do-CD |
"César Bolaños is one of the leading artists of the Latin American avant-garde of the mid 20th century. Born in Lima, Peru in 1931, he was part of an astonishing generation of Peruvian composers: Edgar Valcárcel, Olga Pozzi-Escot, Alejandro Núñez Allauca, Leopoldo La Rosa, Enrique Pinilla and Celso Garrido-Lecca, among others. After studying piano at the National Conservatory in Lima, and following classes with the Belgian composer Andrés Sas (who after leaving Europe settles in Peru), he would join the group 'Renovación' (together with Valcárcel, Pozzi-Escot, Pulgar Vidal and Sas); with them Bolaños began a series of presentations and edited a music magazine. He had already composed brief pieces for piano and music for a chamber orchestra. At that time Bolaños is interested in the work of Stravinsky, Bartók and Schoenberg. But he's still far from the sound radicalism that he would reach in the future. In 1957 he traveled to New York City to study composition at the Manhattan School of Music and electronics at RCA. He met the Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera, who offered him a scholarship to study at the Latin-American Center of High Musical Studies (CLAEM) in Buenos Aires, Argentina. On his arrival in 1963, Bolaños became involved in the design and development of the electronic music laboratory of the CLAEM. There he composed his first electronic piece and the first work generated in the above laboratory: 'Intensity and Height' (1964), inspired by a poem of César Vallejo. Bolaños also composed 'Interpolations' (1966) for electric guitar and magnetic tape, 'Spaces I' (1966), 'II' (1967), 'III' (1968) for magnetic tape, the experimental audio-visual cantata 'Alpha-Omega' (1967), instrumental and mixed pieces like 'Flexum' (1969), 'I-10-AIFG/Rbt-1' (1968), and, with a commission from Radio Bremen (Germany), 'Nacahuasu' (1970), inspired by the Che Guevara diaries. Bolaños also experimented with computers, and composed two pieces with the mathematician Mauricio Milchberg. 'Sialoecibi' (1970): ESEPCO I (computer sound-expressive structure)* for piano and a recitator-mime-actor (a work that satirizes the organization language initials from the 1950's) and 'Song without words', ESEPCO II (1970) 'Homage to the unpronounced words' for piano (2 performers) and tape. For the composition of these pieces Bolaños and Milchberg introduce into the computer parameters to have the machine generate a composition from the information obtained by the composer's production. These recordings bring together for the first time a definitive edition of his work on CD." [label info]
www.pogus.com
"Electronic music from Peru? Pogus boss Al Margolis goes with his search for some of the exotic, unknown composers from the most obscure parts of the world. Carlos Bolanos was born in Lima, Peru in 1931, who also composed for piano and chamber orchestra. In 1963, while in Buenos Aires he was introduced to electronic music, which he continued to compose until 1970. After 1973 he was back in Peru, but without any further means to continue this line of work and devoted the rest of his time investigating pre-Hispanic instruments. Now for the first time his electronics appear on compact disc. Only the first piece, 'Intensidad Y Altura' is pure electronical piece; all the others combine electronics with other, 'real' instruments. About one hundred minutes here of what is best called 'difficult' music - the germanic ernste music. I must have written this before, but I am not the most right person to do this music any justice. This is a highly serious mixture of avant-garde classical music in
combination with electronic sounds. My favorite is 'Cancion Sin Palabras, ESEPCO II' for two piano's and tape, which is intense at times, soft at times and has a great touch to it, including some scarping and bending sounds. The other pieces were not bad either, but not all the time worked for these classically untrained ears. Definitely an interesting release, but perhaps I wished for some more electronics."
[FdW, Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€18.00 |
|
| BOMIS PRENDIN / MAMA BAER |
Die Zöglinge der Dalaia Lama |
LP |
"Now here is one of those names which I remember seeing in the past, and even have a couple of pieces on that Bain Total compilation LP (from 1980), but honestly don't remember, nor having heard any of their other work. I do remember they released two flexi discs, which I thought was cool. I am quite surprised to see they are still around and apparently they never stopped. This seventh installment of split LPs by Mama Baer and Kommissar Hjuler has five pieces by them, from 1994 to 2005. Bomis Prendin sound very much like boys who never grew up. If you are old enough to remember the late 70s/early 80s were a fertile ground for experimenting with sound, usually from a rock context. Armed with guitars, bass, drums, keyboards but also toys and loose circuits they create what was then called 'no wave', and after thirty years Bomis Prendin still manages to create the same kind of music, like they never learned a bit on their guitar, or notions about melody, rhythm, timbre. A very free sound
- the real anybody can do this. I have no idea if these tracks are very representative of the old sound, but somehow I think they do. In their most recent piece they sound suddenly strangely coherent - hammering away in free rock mode. I was playing some old Metabolist record the other day, and this came close to that. Excellent (re-)discovery. On the other side we have Mama Baer, solo this time. Her work, either solo or Der Kommissar, always leaves me puzzling, to say the least. They seem to be operating very much on the outside of the musical spectrum, with what seems at times therapeutic music. Here however there is one piece that covers the entire side of the record of tape (reel-to-reel) manipulations which sound like an older Nurse With Wound record of manipulated voice (pitched up high) and a woman moaning, far away percussion and microphone abuse. Excellent piece all around. Very thoughtful, so these people aren't that crazy I thought." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
www.psych-kg.de
|
2011 |
€20.00 |
|
| BORGA, ASCANIO |
Bad Ground (soundscapes of utter desolation) |
CD-R |
Great dark drone / isolationism-ambience newcomer from Italy !
"Disquieting homemade isolationism by Ascanio Borga of Rome. "Bad ground" sounds like a biologist´s characterization of what is left behind to rot in the soil by industrial pollution, or confines where something terribly evil has happened, like a death camp. Either way, Borga´s "soundscapes of utter desolation" are no tourist sites. Released last year, this is apparently Borga´s first album in four years, but if a gestation period of that length is necessary for him to conjure up such spine-tingling "untertainment", then I´ll gladly wait until 2010 for the next one. For Bad Ground is a minor masterpiece of hopelessness.
The CDR is comprised of two suites. "The Boundary" would have made a highly serviceable alternative soundtrack to Andrei Tarkovsky´s seminal film "Stalker". As in the movie, one should heed the guide´s warning about crossing into this zone - what lays beyond is frightening, inhuman, and beyond reclamation. The scariest thing is that, despite the environment´s utter lack of fecundity, there does seem to be "life" of some sort dwelling inside the drones - but not life as we know it, or would voluntarily choose to acquaint ourselves with.
That eleven-and-a-half minute piece segues seamlessly into the thirty-five minute title track. Nothing but hostility here, either, both from above and below. With electric guitars, synthesizers and samples, Borga succeeds in turning the very earth we walk upon and the skies that vault above us into a single, leaden, threatening habitat. Almost disconcertingly, the final ten minutes feature soaring guitar chords over a bed of cozy, deeper note clusters, almost a pick-me-up; perhaps there is some kind of redemption, some sanctuary to be found here after all.
An excellent accomplishment and a worthy example of the genre." [Stephen Fruitman / Sonomu]
|
2006 |
€8.00 |
|
|
Xenomorphic |
CD-R |
"... It seems to me that his music has made a nice step forward. Until now it was all mainly non-rhythmic ambient music in the best Hypnos tradition of heavily treated guitar works, here he adds percussion, windchimes, Japanese carillon, frog guiro, samples, found sounds and objects. Three long pieces and one shorter coda 'Raw Ground' at the end of the release. The music is still largely in the ambient sector, with the addition of pseudo ethnic drumming and careful percussion. Somewhere towards the end of 'Apnea' e-bow guitars come in, adding an extra texture of seventies cosmic music. Still there is nothing new under the sun for Borga, but these new pieces mark an important step forward, the deepening of the sound of Borga. It makes a fuller, richer sound, still with all things beautiful. Borga wants to lull you to sleep, late at night and he does a very fine job at that. " [FdW / Vital Weekly]
"Ascanio Borga is an italian guitarist, electronic musician and independent composer. After years of piano lessons attended during his childhood, he decided to leave formal musical studies to become a self-taught guitarist. He approached rock music and computers, learning to use the famous Amiga 500 Soundtracker. He began to play in various noise-rock bands and to record instrumental pieces for guitar, piano, and sampler, progressively approaching experimental music. In 1997, at the time when he was a student at the Faculty of Cinema, he released a cassette of "lo-fi" electronics entitled "Music For Non-Airports". Soon afterwards he left University to attend a professional course of recording techniques and digital audio, continuing to play in various rock bands for some more time. Later he began to create electronic suites for synthesizers and treated instruments, introducing more personal elements in his compositions, and at the same time he undertook the study of Mathematics. In 2001 he started to publish his music in the form of self-released CD-R albums credited to his own name. In the meantime, having completed his studies, he began to work as a programmer/consultant in the software industry. As an audio technician, besides mixing and mastering his own music, he did mastering work for several other musical productions, and also produced sound effects for various stage plays. Ascanio Borga is also an occasional writer and his personal website includes various movie, music, art reviews and essay about science and philosophy. Among his recently self-released albums we'd like to mention "Inner Geometry" (2001), "Liquid Symmetries" (2002), "Bad Ground" (2006) and "Peripheral Vision" (2007). "Xenomorphic", Ascanio's latest offering on Afe, literally evokes something "with a strange form", something unfamiliar that appears alien to us, defying our logic comprehension, and therefore generating tension, disquietude and even anguish in us, but it represents something terribly vital and dynamic at the same time, something whose possibilities are still unknown. Mixing guitars, bass, synthesizers, samples, percussions, objects, field-recording and even more sources, "Xenomorphic" is probably Ascanio's most evoluted work. With its feet in Ambient territory, the album features a wide range of musical solutions, showcasing the author's will to create a work where appearently distant elements converge and experimentation is put into a more accessible form." [label info]
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Altered States |
do-CD |
disc 1: recorded in january 2010
disc 2: recorded in february 2011
remastered in v2k studio
ab - treated electric guitar
the music contained in this album was recorded in two single live improvisations in studio - no overdubs or additional effects were successively added in the recording
artwork and layout by ab
portrait of ab by erika bonanni
thanks: giuseppe verticchio
© sonic boundaries sb001
https://ascanioborga.bandcamp.com/album/altered-states
"Like listening to a painter attack the canvas while drinking absinthe in the other room, Altered States is a two-disc, ninety-minute collection of solo guitar vignettes by Ascanio Borga, his first on new label Sonic Boundaries. Track titles hang off the same, great chain of roiling, evolving being – “Magma”, “Acid Landscape”, “Harsh Ground”, “Raw Science Loops” – and Borga works quickly but methodically. Altered States is formalist in the sense that no heed is paid historic, political and cultural context, all attention instead focused on the materiality of the art.
Disc one was recorded one day in January 2010, disc two also a single day, one year and one month later. Dark green outside, vital-organ pink inside. Played and treated live, no additional fiddling or overdubbing, a dozen states of mind (even grace) passionately expressed. The cumulative effect is volcanic, droning, sputtering worlds being formed, others being pulverized down to cellular level, ancient in gut feel, ablating all other thoughts. You can´t help but concentrate. Raw indulgence, visceral gratification."
[Stephen Fruitman - avantmusicnews.com/2015]
"It's hard to believe but it seems that I wrote about Ascanio Borga three times in Vital Weekly, in issue 550, 600 and 657, but not after that. I have no idea why there is such a long gap in producing some new music (and I surely would have believed it wasn't that long ago), but he manages now to release a double CD of recent works. Like before Borga's main instrument is the guitar but unlike before it's just the guitar and no percussion, wind chimes, Japanese carillon, frog guiro, samples, found sounds and objects as on the last release. He writes that 'Altered States' is an album of 'guitar solos' and that they were all recorded live in the
studio, with no additional overdubs. That still is something that leaves many options open, and Borga certainly explores a few roads here. Drones are, obviously, an important part of these twelve pieces (close to ninety minutes in total), with some of these being viciously loud and noisy, or, as in 'Magma' or 'Radiance' with an orchestral touch. Sometimes there is a more rock like approach to his guitar sound and Borga layers many of these on top of each other: effects such as loopers, delay and reverb play an important role, as well amplification. In 'Harsh Ground'
the resemblance with guitar sound is virtually gone in favour of a more abstract, controlled feedback. A minority of the pieces consist of more open ended strumming of the six strings, which I think is a pity; the release could have used a little more variation I think. The balance is now in favour of the noisy nightmares of burning distortion boxes, wandering off in the endless void of reverb and feedback. I think a stricter selection of pieces, ultimately fitting on a single disc, would have made a much stronger release. But now, spread out over two discs, this is just a 'great' one as well." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2015 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Raw Science |
CD |
"The common ground beneath these pieces is an experimental approach to the music production process. In a classic situation, recording, mixing and mastering have a mere technical role as they are employed to capture instruments and sounds, add auxiliary effects, balance tracks, to exploit and correct sound problems. The main focus is usually on the first steps: in theory, with an ideal quality recording, subsequent phases (especially mastering) should be reduced to a minimum to preserve the original sounds with maximum fidelity. This implicitly makes the assumption that the creative part of the music (i.e. the one where lies the musical language) is oustide the whole process of music recording and production.
The last assumption does not hold for concrete and other forms of experimental music, including this one. Here, effects and sound manipulation play a primary role, mixing and mastering are part of the composition, active creative phases in which crucial modifications and ideas can be inserted, driving the recording towards completely new and unexpected directions. Every phase of music production is not separate from the others, as the whole process can be repeated several times, in any order, following a non-linear pattern. Creative elements can live in any moment between the initial conception of music until the final master. The composer has an extended palette of tools, including those of the sound engineer, to take deeper control on the sound itself. [from the liner notes]
credits
released September 1, 2016
Recording, mixing & mastering: v2k alchemical laboratory, Rome, 2013-2016
(except some parts of track 1 which were recorded in Berlin)
Ascanio Borga - electric guitar, synthesizers, samples, noises, treatments
Artwork and layout by AB
Cover painting: “Cutting The Stone” by Hieronymus Bosch
Other images: a reproduction of the Alchemical Door (Rome)
© sonic boundaries sb002
"Ascanio Borga is one discreet but continuously creative sound artist coming from Rome and whose objective is to cross various fields of electronic experimentation, from retro-ish cosmic synth excursion to vaporous space ambient and dark droning vibes. Over the years he mainly published self-releases as limited editions now available on his online Bandcamp store. One interesting fact, in 2008 he published one release on Afe Records (founded by pioneering dark ambient artist Andrea Marutti).
As stated in the press release and compared to his early materials Raw Science deliberately embraces a more sonic and claustrophobic sound universe where crackling industrial noises are melted with tripped out and freezing black noise textures. The whole concept and the visual aesthetic brought to the fore are based on antique knowledge, alchemical then hidden sources of sciences, apparently taken from medieval esoterism and the mystical kabbalistic wisdom.
The pieces gathered on this album sound quite hermetic, not easy to approach at first step but with required attention we can appreciate a tremendous gallery of fuzzed out and metallic drone rituals as in the rather industrial “Porta Alchemica” or as in the sonically grimy “Azoth.” Those kind of obsessional and textured noise ambient sequences admit comparison with the corrosive experimental assaults of Constrate or Sigillum S and the buzzing minimalism of Keith Fullerton Whitman. All in all Raw Science is a pleasant curiosity to discover in the noise / harsh psych drone territory."
[Philippe Blache - igloomag]
"With more than three years in the making, Raw Science is one of the most convoluted Borga's works. It contains four extended tracks crafted with careful stratifications, noise manipulations and other heavy sound treatment of various sources. With its unique mixture of dark electronics, guitar drones and concrete/noise elements, Raw Science occupies a musical niche similar to that of Bad Ground and Xenomorphic."
[Sonic Boundaries]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zS3iuxyZndQ
|
2016 |
€10.00 |
|
| BORGHI, ANDREA |
Palsecam |
LP |
True to form, Borghi works directly with VHS tapes and the apparatus that plays them, manipulating the exposed mechanisms with the care and curiosity of a dedicated scientist. Drawing from these manual manipulations, Borghi's experiments combine mechanical sounds with mangled tape samples to inspire a mechanised nostalgia inseparably hybridised with human trace. Unlike others who work with old film, he resists the eerie to focus on the intricate crunch and buzz, an electro-acoustic soundscape tangentially related to the field recordings. By highlighting the precise moment that recorded media becomes perceived, a restless, shifting mass of both familiar and unrecognisable sounds results in a unique form of otic chiaroscuro. The result is a complication of inside and outside sounds: distant, gesturing snippets of semi-remembered, half-imagined films compete with TV cathode burn, tracking stutters, mechanical interference, and vérité whirrs and clicks that could only come from that original reproducer of dreams, the VHS player. With Palsecam Borghi gives dignity to an often maligned format, in an engaging mélange that represents the recovery of an object discarded as an objet d'art.
Composed and recorded by Andrea Borghi.
VHS Recorder, contact microphones, computer.
Andrea Borghi : andreaborghi.com/project/vhs-2
Published by Aposiopèse / Mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi.
APO 17 | Cut by Kassian Troyer at D&M. Speed : 45 RPM.
https://label-aposiopese.bandcamp.com/album/palsecam
|
2023 |
€20.00 |
|
| BORISOV, ALEXEI |
A Polished Surface of a Table |
CD |
Eine der experimentelleren neuen Veröffentlichungen auf dem Moskauer Label von A. ARTEMIEV kommt von ALEXEI BORISOW.
Zu hören gibt es von ihm sehr komplexe Collagen und unendlich scheinende Überlagerungen aus „everyday sounds“ und atonal-dronigen elektronischen Klängen, Geräuschkaskaden, mutiert-technoides und vieles mehr....
“ A full-length album by Alexei Borisov is a nice thing to hear, if you need a redefinition of the experimental music. Alexei is certainly
one of the Russian artists that's gaining a bigger worldwide recognition lately, he played live at this year's Club Transmediale in Berlin few weeks ago. Before this album and besides the tracks from various compilations (released by N&B Research Digest), I've heard Alexei's live album Before The Evroremont released by N&B
Research Digest / Avanto Festival, and I liked it. I wonder what it means when a track by Alexei Borisov is titled Blue Vinyl? Does it mean he took a blue vinyl and conducted a musical massacre on it? Could be. Alexei likes to use voices in his post-electronic, post-techno, post-experimental, post-post music, one of the best post-musics I've heard. This is done truly amazing in the sixth track Dew, a complete musical slaughter, 4 minutes of the most amusing (and most gentle) sound-killing I've heard recently as a counter-point of the first 15 seconds at the beginning of the track with the appealing vocal of Angela Manukjan. Kill sound before sound kills you? Kid606, take notes. The techno moment is in Zaraza (Volume I), a track that could have been done maybe by Motor, and noone else. Could be because of the national connection. The softly distorted beats make me want to hear Volume II, if there is. The voices are sometimes used to create only noises with them, like in My Voices. Alexei Borisov's music is maybe not the kind of music you'll listen all day every day, but it's sure great to know it exists out there, somewhere, in the outer limit. Great work! Address: http://www.electroshock.ru [BR, Vital Weekly]
|
2004 |
€12.00 |
|
| BORISOV, ALEXEI / OLGA NOSOVA / DAVE PHILLIPS |
Borinosophil |
CD |
listen: https://dave-phillips.bandcamp.com/album/--2
Alexei Borisov - Guitar, Electronics, Voice
Olga Nosova - Drums, Electronics, Objects
Dave Phillips - Bass, Electronics, Voice, Field Recordings
released by Monotype Records, Warsaw in an 'Ecopack' sleeve. artwork by dp.
source material recorded in Moscow in the summer of 2009. most was improvised in alexei's living-room on tiny speakers with an assemblage of instruments and objects. one track was recorded in a studio with drums, guitar, bass and vocals. the resulting hours of recorded material were analysed - most of it was dismissed - the remains were taken apart and reassembled into 5 distinctive and epic sound-compositions. loud intimate music.
arranged 2010/2011 & mastered May 2011 in Zürich by dp.
REVIEW courtesy of Frans De Waard/Vital Weekly # 839 (July 2012)
This disc has the regular performing duo of Russia's finest, Alexei Borisov and Olga Nosova. Together they traveled the world, playing together but also performing with others, such as Anton Nikkila, Matthieu Werchowski, Dora Bleu, Thomas Buckner, Tom Smith, Jandek, Anton Mobin and a_spirale and somewhere along the lines they bumped into Dave Phillips, who is best known for his radical approach to noise, silence, performance and video. This trio worked together in june 2009 in Moscow and the recordings were later on edited by Phillips. It combines the energy unleashed by Borisov/Nosova together with the more continuous sound world of Phillips and occasional rapid editing from him. It seems to me that all three go off their usual path a bit. Its not as loud as I would expect from Phillips (but maybe I am not listening in the same volume as he plays live… actually I am sure of it) and perhaps also less object based as I would expect and it seems less improvised for the duo, although I am not sure. But that leads however to music that is quite good. Densely orchestrated electronics, in which the voice of Nosova is there, but pushed away it seems, and throughout the music has a hypnotic, psychedelic feeling to it. Great stuff.
Includes unlimited streaming of БОРИНОСОФИЛ via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. less |
2012 |
€12.00 |
|
| BOURBONESE QUALK |
Preparing for Power |
CD |
Preparing for Power' was the last album recorded at the bands base at the Ambulance Station on the Old Kent Road, London, and again released on their own Recloose Organisation, saw the band develop further beyond the limits of the post-punk / industrial scene where genres increasingly became redundant.
Ethno, jazz, funk and EBM are all buried deep in the album as it seeks independence. The title, a critique of the Labour movements ineffective and limited call to arms against the prevailing Thatcherism of the mid-80s, encapsulates this wider oeuvre.
From opening Return To Order, the acoustic gloom is offset by tight musicianship and countering melody. The switch of Outcry precedes psychedelic anthem, Boggy Creek, with its VU remembrance. Blighted pulses Confrontation, Xenophobia, Backlash and closer, Insurrection, sense the darkness, but the ground has shifted forwards with the legendary 1.51 minutes of man’n’ machine that is Lies, the enwrapping symphonic dub vocal of Born Left Hearted and incongruously pretty, Is It As It Was?
At times, suffocating, uncomfortable, at others light appears as history progresses. Preparing For Power is BQ at their most uncompromising and essential.
The CD is re-issued by Klanggalerie in Nov 2020 and includes two bonus tracks:
• 'Call to Arms' (recorded for bbc radio 1 john peel session broadcast on the 31st march)
• 'Under Observation' (recorded 1986. previously released on ‘bourbonese qualk: Archive 1980 - 1986’ vod 2016)
Credits:
Simon Crab: Electronics, Instruments, Voice, Tape
Julian Gilbert: voice, selected instruments.
Steven Tanza: drums, voice.
With Craig Runyon: Voice and Lyrics on: 'Boggy Creek' and 'Xenophobia' P.E.C: Lyrics on: 'Born Left hearted'
https://bourbonesequalk.bandcamp.com/album/preparing-for-power
|
2021 |
€15.00 |
|
| BRADLEY, JULIAN |
Miss Modern Venus |
CD-R |
Rare Zusammenstellung von live-Aufnahmen des VIBRACATHEDRAL ORCHESTRA-Mannes. Stränger, ächzender, an jeder Ecke dronender low-fi noise...
“ Seems an appropriate start to the UK leg of the Apoplexy journey to issue a disc by Leeds own Mr Bradley, known to many as one of the fab Vibracathedral Orchestra. Julian presents us with a selection of live recordings from a visit to Belgium last year and boy do they hit the spot. Murky loops and growling substrata is the order of the day here and in the family spirit of this small industry JB is joined by Laurent Cartuyvels on bass... Laurent runs the Veglia label and has just released a swell Julian Bradley compilation cd which I urge you to check out along with this wee gem. ” [label description]
|
2003 |
€8.00 |
|
| BRADLEY, PAUL |
Sketches from Dust |
CD |
Extreme amorph drone-scapes that invite to discover even the tiniest micro-details inside the undulating, waving, floating sounds... very relaxing, meditative, contemplative, tensionless movements..
A one-tracker of 40 minutes. Standard edition.
“Following on from ‘Memorias Extranjeras’ (Alluvial Recordings) with ‘Sketches from Dust’, we again have a less ‘typical’ Paul Bradley release. For this CD, gone are the field recordings and over the forty minutes we hear a piece that is mainly constructed from Guitar and Piano (the latter being played by Maja Elliott of Current 93). The recording is augmented by various acoustic sounds and some precise mixing techniques to form an organic and possibly ‘looser’ feeling recording than we might be previously expecting. What we hear is an intimate yet murky, almost eroded sonic journey. A primitive earlier outtake of ‘Sketches from Dust’ appeared on the limited ‘Notes from Past - Sketches from Dust’ CDr released earlier in 2006.” [label info]
|
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Sketches from Dust (special) |
CD |
Extreme amorph drone-scapes that invite to discover even the tiniest micro-details inside the undulating, waving, floating sounds... very relaxing, meditative, contemplative, tensionless movements..
A one-tracker of 40 minutes. Special edition.
“Following on from ‘Memorias Extranjeras’ (Alluvial Recordings) with ‘Sketches from Dust’, we again have a less ‘typical’ Paul Bradley release. For this CD, gone are the field recordings and over the forty minutes we hear a piece that is mainly constructed from Guitar and Piano (the latter being played by Maja Elliott of Current 93). The recording is augmented by various acoustic sounds and some precise mixing techniques to form an organic and possibly ‘looser’ feeling recording than we might be previously expecting. What we hear is an intimate yet murky, almost eroded sonic journey. A primitive earlier outtake of ‘Sketches from Dust’ appeared on the limited ‘Notes from Past - Sketches from Dust’ CDr released earlier in 2006. This now fully realized work is released in two CD editions, one limited to 200 copies in hand painted card sleeve and a second unlimited edition with printed card insert in a plastic wallet.” [label info]
|
2006 |
€17.50 |
|
| |
Mas Memorias Extranjeras (2) |
CD |
"...At the basis of all Paul Bradley music is the field recording. After that Bradley manipulates the material until is a stretched out piece of drone music and the original source recordings have disappeared. That's why in the early days we thought it was a bunch of synthesizers. However for 'Memories Extranjeras' he has these recordings made in Spain, and he by and large does the thing he always does best but there is a slight difference. The original field recordings are here and there to be heard: at one point the rhythms of a marching band arrive out of a mass of sound and sounded like an odd counterpoint in this music. On other spots we hear the crowd cheering or talking in a reverbing hallway. This 'revealing' of sources is a quite nice new feature in this music. It doesn't add a whole new perspective, nor does it break the good flow in this work, but at the same time, you feel that Bradley is slowly shifting interest towards new paths. I wouldn't be surprised if he switches over one day and reduces the electronic processing in favor of the pure field recording. But that's all for later. For now, Bradley added another fine work of drone music to his already nice discography." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.alluvialrecordings.com
|
2008 |
€10.00 |
|
| BRADLEY, PAUL & CRIA CUERVOS |
Moraines II |
CD |
Auf dem langen one-tracker "Moraines II" verschmilzt die feinsinnige Ambient-Kunst des Briten PAUL BRADLEY mit den eher rauhen & archaischen Feldaufnahmen-Drones von CRIA CUERVOS - ein wunderbares Stück voller mysteriöser Sounds und mit sehr einnehmender, dichter Atmosphäre; es gibt Brüche und sehr "konkrete" Passagen, Wind- & Äther-artige Klangflüsse, und zusätzlich zum fast einstündigen Stück noch einen 16+ min. Remix von ANDREW LILES, welches verwunschene Piano-Klänge & Sphären-wabern verbindet...
"About two years ago we reviewed 'Morainos', a collaboration between Paul Bradley and Eugenio Maggi, aka Cria Cuervos from Italy (see Vital 516). Since they have been working on 'Moraines II', or rather re-working the first one. Such can be the world of drone music. One drone - endless possibilities. The original recordings have been used, highly processed field recordings that is, and together they created quite a dark album of drone music. Rather than moving about in one single drone, this new piece moves along various paths, clearly divided into separate parts, each with it's own build up and changes, before moving to the next piece. Some clear field recordings punctuate the music, such as rain sounds, birds and footsteps. Perhaps nothing new, but the minor changes, such as the various parts approach, make this however quite a nice disc. Plus more treatments arrive through the work of Andrew Liles, who was given all the material and made a remix (a phrase we should not use for the first track). Liles has a distinct sound (well, as far as I know, as his output is vast and incomplete here) that is somewhat close to the more eerie Nurse With Wound sound. Here via the reverse sound approach, like a single wave washing ashore and a metallic drone rumble make up a creepy soundtrack to a perfect nightmare. Sounds arise from previous, and make this a more singleminded piece. Quite a nice one at that." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.smallvoices.it
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| BRANCA, GLENN |
Lesson No. 1 |
CD |
Re-Release der allerersten BRANCA-Veröffentlichung von 1980, mit Bonustrack & Video !!
„Nachdem er in den NYC Kultbands THEORETICAL GIRLS und THE STATIC gespielt hatte, veröffentlichte GLENN BRANCA 1980 mit seinem ersten Soloalbum "Lesson No. 1" - der ersten Veröffentlichung des einflussreichen Labels 99 Records (LIQUID LIQUID, ESG, etc.) - genau die Art der ambitionierten Gitarren-Symphonien, für die er bekannt werden sollte. Der Song "Lesson No. 1 For Electric Guitar" ist vielleicht sein eingängigstes Werk aus dieser Zeit. Es ist eine präzise und doch ausführliche musikalische Vorwärtsbewegung: wiederholende Gitarrenmotive die an den Mininalimus von PHILIP GLASS erinnern, aber mit einem maximalen Anspruch an akustische Dichte, Härte und Bombast. Das elfminütige "Dissonance" ist ein gewagteres Experiment, das in schallenden Dissonanzen aus purer Rock'n'Roll Energie explodiert. Für diesen Rerelase hat Acute Records den über 16 Minuten langen Track "Bad Smells" (featuring LEE RANALDO und THURSTON MOORE von SONIC YOUTH) als Bonus mit draufgepackt. Und als wäre das nicht genug, gibt es außerdem ein 18minütiges Quicktime-Video von "Symphony #5", das 1984 im legendären Club The Kitchen in New York City aufgenommen wurde. [DUT] TRACKLISTING: 1. Lesson No. 1 for Electric Guitar (8:13); 2. Dissonance (11:37); 3. Bad Smells (16:26); 4. Symphony #5 (Quicktime Video/ 17:29)“
"After playing in the seminal and influential New York City no wave rock outfits the Theoretical Girls and The Static, Glenn Branca made his first strides towards the more ambitious guitar symphonies he'd become famous for with his first solo release Lesson No. 1 in 1980. Lesson No. 1 For Electric Guitar is perhaps his most accessible piece of the period. It is a concise yet extended statement of forward motion, guitar motives repeating in a manner recalling the minimalist of Philip Glass, but unlike Glass, with a maximalist approach to sonic density and bombast. Upon its initial release as the first record on the influential 99 Records (Liquid Liquid, ESG, et.al.), Lesson No. 1 was paired with Dissonance, a more daring experiment that explodes sonic dissonance with rock and roll energy. For this reissue, Acute Records has added 'Bad Smells' (featuring Sonic Youth's Lee Ranaldo and Thurston Moore), composed as a dance piece for choreographer Twyla Tharp in 1982. And if that wasn't enough, Acute has also included an 18 minute quicktime video of 'Symphony #5', recorded in 1984 at what was to become the legendary New York City venue The Kitchen." [Cargo]
|
2004 |
€15.00 |
|
| BRAND, JENS |
Ratchets // Motors |
LP |
https://www.jensbrand.com/ratschen_images.html
Jens Brand has created a large number of installations, musical performances and interactive media works. He uses the concepts of parallel activities rather then ideas of fusion. The pieces presented on this recording focus on sonic events related to electronic music (such as intense volumes and dynamics, white noise, square or sine waves) but stay entirely acoustic.
On a live performance of »Ratchets«, the sounds are generated with the idea of a physical, sculptural, yet invisible presence. It might happen that the body of a person moving around in the audience has more impact on the sound then the variations produced by instruments themselves.
"I was always interested in the idea of making acoustic music that has the quality of electronic music," muses Dortmund based musician and visual artist Jens Brand. "Electronic music is fantastic, but I don't like speakers very much."
Take his performance entitled »Motors And Styrofoam«. Pieces of glistening white styrofoam fitted with small motors hang from the ceiling above the audience's heads, squatting balefully in mid-air like lopsided clouds. Acting as a resonator, the styrofoam amplifies the whirr of the motors, which builds up into a loud, persistent drone overlaid with overtones.
Equally uncompromising is »Ratchets«, which deploys a number of football rattles, those small wooden devices originally used by hunters. The ratchets are set in motion by motors whose speed and direction are controlled by a computer: they click busily away, producing a dense, enveloping sound reminiscent of heavy rainfall. In performance, the sound of the ratchets is spellbinding in its rawness and intensity, attaining impressive volumes as it interacts with the features of the space.
|
2023 |
€18.50 |
|
| BRAND, STEVE |
Looking into the other |
CD-R |
STEVE BRAND (also known before as AUGUR) mixes electronics, field recordings and sounds from "real" instruments for a very mellow deep ambient journey, similar to ALIO DIE or ROBERT RICH... but he also has parts of very "pure" concrete sounds, that are more challenging...
Great full-colour artwork / cover, showing nature, symbols, stones.
"Steve Brand has been creating sound art and visual art since the mid-80's. From 1995 to 2003 he was active as Augur, creating obscure and organic music which was released on many labels worldwide, including The Foundry, Manifold, Alluvial, Self-Abuse and others.
During the years he had the chance to collaborate with artists such as Jeph Jerman (Hands To, Animist Orchestra), Rick Kitch (I Am Umbrella, Lucky Cricket), PBK, James P. Keeler (Wilt), Brooke Oates (Birds of Tin), etc.
His atmospheres, alarmingly austere, with varying shades of gray, are drenched in allusion and a heightened sense of cinematic noir for the listener. According to his own words, "emotional aspects of a recording always come first".
Consisting of six long tracks, "Looking Into the Other" takes up where "Awakensong" (...released on Afe in April 2006...) left off, expanding the exploration of twilight worlds.
The album utilizes bells, synthesizers, voice, various flutes, medicine drums, cymbals, fiddle, rattles, prayer bowls, etc.
"Looking Into the Other" begins with the ritual horns introduction of "The Flower of Life", a piece full of pathos which is subsequently filled with morbid sythesizers lines and insects sounds provided by Johnathan Benham.
"Where Two Rivers Meet" starts as a percussive number and then proceeds with keyboards and flute intertwining each other before percussions re-emerge towards the end of the track.
Clocking at more than thirteen minutes, "Djehuti, the Architect" is one of the longest and most complex tracks on the album. Its structure keeps on changing as different percussions, cymbal, voices and synthesizers flow in and out of the mix. Listening to this track is quite an experience.
"Columns of Light" it's a quieter and dreamy piece constructed on floating keyboards sequences and background rattles, bells, chimes and other small objects / hand-held percussions.
"Looking Into the Other", the title-track, was already featured on our 10th year celebrative on-line compilation in late 2005, the one on this album is an improved version. With its flutes, voices, phased drones and repetitive drumming, this track has a strong introspective quality.
The fourteen minutes long "Wrapped in Leaves" closes the album with a mocking laugh. A shorter version of this track previously appeared on the "Things Asunder" compilation released by The Foundry.
Once again, with this work Steve Brand has created an high quality and excellent album of deeply emotional music, and proved himself as one of the most inspired authors in contemporary Ritual Ambient.
"I am reaching into the interior realities, the meaning behind the symbols we accept as everyday reality, into the dream of the abundant natural self that knows no boundaries or limitations." [label description]
www.aferecords.com
|
2007 |
€10.00 |
|
| BRANDSDAL, KJETIL D. |
Freedom Waaaoh Waaoh |
CD |
Die ersten beiden BRANDSDAL LP’s auf einer CD ! Obskurster low-fi Surrealismus! Hard to say what this really IS, as the sounds are difficult to recognize or to classify...low-fi surrealism at its best!
"The name of Kjetil D. Brandsdal has been bandied about the world increasingly over the last couple of years. Of Norwegian origin, though resident for the last three years or so in Northern Ireland, Kjetil has carved quite a niche for himself as a 'sound artist'. Exhibiting a sterling self-reliance, he emerged first via a slew of self-released cassettes (about ten in all), then followed these with two self-released LPs and a slew of singles on labels such as Boblador, MykeDroner, and Betley Welcomes Careful Drivers. The LPs were manufactured in editions of 300, and got snapped up pretty damn fast, but not before he sent one to H-Corp HQ in the far antipodes. The CD currently under consideration was the natural result, once the Hermetically-tuned ears of the corporation got a whiff of the lo-fi, droning, tape-looped improv. spew that Kjetil was purveying, it was a done deal. The Freedom CD compiles choice tracks from both LPs, KDB and Kjetil D. Brandsdal, but also features the full-length version of 'III', originally restricted to just one whole LP side, it now closes the CD at a full 35 minutes. The recorded pieces are devoid of drums, most rhythms coming from tape loops or guitar parts, and generally levitate the consciousness pretty effectively in a ceilingwards direction. Production appears to be on porta-studio in most cases, and headphone listening reveals some pretty cool mix-work in a style not a million miles from our own Omit, but retaining a unique Nordic 'grittiness' in sound."[press release]
“Of Norwegian decent, though a current resident of Northern Ireland, Kjetil D. Brandsdal constructs ominous lo-fi droning tape loops similar to a gritty variant of Omit accompanied by throbbing de-tuned bass and occasional post-VU strum. A very nice introduction / documentation on the perennially great Corpus Hermeticum!” [Aquarius Records]
|
0000 |
€14.00 |
|
| BRANT, JACOB |
Rainmaking |
mCD-R |
"ACM 1019: 3“ CD-R in mini DVD-style case
Drone ambient at its lushest, most densely harmonic, is how best to describe the music of British artist Jacob Brant. Using sampled acoustic instruments and especially voices to create sonics vaguely akin to Ligeti’s ‘Lux aeterna’, this two-part composition shows his capability of colouring his dronescapes both in serene and ominous colours.
“This piece of music is dedicated to those who protect us,” the sleeve notes say, and while the first part of the piece, ‘Rainmaker,’ seems to refer this to a sort of religious context, the title of the second part, ‘Whistleblower,’ proves that for all the blissful otherworldliness of his music, Brant is not blind to the ugliness of our world that needs whistleblowers in evil organisations to protect the rest of us from the worst. Jacob Brant certainly shares a lot of compositional methodology (use of acoustic sound sources etc.) with drone composers like Niblock and If, Bwana, but the structure of pieces like “Rainmaking” is more akin to artists like Mirko Uhlig and Tim Hecker and their more song-like, melody-oriented approaches." [label info]
www.attenuationcircuit.de
|
2013 |
€6.00 |
|
| BRESCHAND, HELENE |
Les Incarnes |
LP |
"New solo recorded in Paris, December 2013. Harp, acoustic and electric, voice. 'Hélène Breschand demonstrating her readiness to deconstruct her instrument's identity...'." [Julian Cowley THE WIRE]
www.dautrescordes.com
"Hélène Breschand plays her harp in as wide a variety of ways as is possible to imagine (and some which might be less obvious), at times sounding like she is letting rip in an electric guitar, prepared piano, zither and effects pedals all simultaneously. What it doesn’t really sound like is the limpid waftings of angels serenading the hosts of heaven, unless said host happens to be in a very avant-garde state of mind at the time. As side A draws to a melancholic close, it plinks, bends and twangs with softly swerving resonances and reverberations, plus the occasional whack of the harp’s frame for good measure.
Side B opens with notes held in soft tension, Breschand’s breath becoming more audible among slow accretions of metal strings swept and slung in a slow progress while she brings forth a long drawn-out song composed more of emotional intonations than of individually discernible words. The whole is delivered initially with echoes of the stately grace of a koto-accompanied Noh, though the piece eventually dissolves into reflective sweeps of panning delay and the arrival of harsher effects and discordances.. The way in which Breschand makes the harp resonate like a cello or violin is exceptional, and as it buzzes and shimmers into tightly-controlled flurries of feedback and reverb, the booming finale of Les Incarnés is delivered in gathering clusters of remarkable intensity.
This is meditative music, but not the kind full of new age vapidity; rather it is the sound of a musician exploring and stretching the boundaries of her instrument with a deep concentration. Her (presumably) furrowed brow and the evident rapt attention paid to the sounds she is making is audibly transmitted directly to the listener; and is a joy to be swept up by and absorbed into."
[Richard Fontenoy/FREQ]
"The harp is not an instrument we hear on a daily basis, here at the weekly HQ, but of course there are some players in this field, Rhodri Davies for instance is quite active. I never heard of Helene Breschand, who works from contemporary music to jazz, both solo as well as a chamber musician, including improvisation, musical theatre and visual arts. She has performed works by Luciano Berio, Emmanuel Nunes, Yoshihisa Taira, David Toop and Christian Marclay and has founded the group Laborintus. Both pieces on this new record are called 'Les Incarnes'. These pieces have hardly anything to do with jazz or contemporary music, unless of course radically sparse improvisation is what you call contemporary and/or jazz. She plays electric and acoustic harp and uses her voice and both pieces are excellent in a way that these are very intense, quiet most of the times but with a lot tension underneath. She uses a delay pedal occasionally and strums her instrument, bows it, plucks it and uses her voice in pretty much the same way. Not to accompany her, but to create something that fits her unworldly playing of the harp. On the B-side she bends the harp to go a bit more extreme levels and even mildly distorted, but here too it remains to have a certain austerity. Excellent record!" [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€18.00 |
|
| BRETHREN OF THE FREE SPIRIT |
The Wolf shall also dwell with the Lamb |
CD |
"Brethren of the Free Spirit are guitarist/composer James Blackshaw and lutenist/composer Jozef van Wissem. Named after a cult of 13th-century Northern European religious heretics, this duo play with an appropriately zealous intensity. Brethren of the Free Spirit debuted in New York and went on a crusade through the Lowlands, Belgium, Spain, Ireland and London even appearing On the Dutch National VPRO TV show 'Vrije Geluiden.' Intricate phrases circle and spiral in on themselves, and in the end, it's the subtle shifts in rhythm and tonal coloration that provide a kind of transcendence in a sea of repetition. The Wolf Shall Also Dwell With The Lamb was recorded at Locksley Hall, Amsterdam in April 2008. It consists of 4 long circular compositions in which the duo employ all methods of contemporary performance styles to free the lute and merge the two instruments. Intentionally recorded in mono, it's occasionally impossible to tell the two instruments apart. Perhaps that's just what makes this duo so successful -- the players and the instruments become unified in historical references to the musics of both the ancient lute & contemporary acoustic guitar. For example, 'Into The Dust Of The Earth' is based on a classical baroque lute prelude from 1650 by an anonymous composer. The theme is mirrored midway, turning the piece into a palindrome, updating the material in the process. Blackshaw weaves his 12-string tapestry, hypnotically intertwining the lute and the guitar into one modern piece of ancient tunage, bringing the lute into the present day. The drawings on the cover by Belgian brethren Wouter Van Haelemeesch reference Greek myths as well as medieval alchemical emblems by the likes of Michael Maier." [label info]
www.importantrecords.com
|
2008 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
The Wolf Also Shall Dwell with the Lamb |
LP |
"Brethren of the Free Spirit are guitarist/composer James Blackshaw and lutenist/composer Jozef van Wissem. Named after a cult of 13th-century Northern European religious heretics, this duo play with an appropriately zealous intensity. It consists of 4 long circular compositions in which the duo employ all methods of contemporary performance styles to free the lute and merge the two instruments. Intentionally recorded in mono, it's occasionally impossible to tell the two instruments apart. Perhaps that's just what makes this duo so successful -- the players and the instruments become unified in historical references to the musics of both the ancient lute & contemporary acoustic guitar." [label info]
www.importantrecords.com
|
2008 |
€23.50 |
|
| BRIGHTER DEATH NOW |
All too bad, bad to All |
LP |
"The latest BDN comes through Tesco. It looks like this is the first cooperation between both industrial dinosaurs.
“All Too Bad” starts with a noisy piece of music, not the “death industrial” style of Karmaniks project. This already returns in the second track, which has a throbbing rhythm and far away distorted vocals.
Karmanik seems to have wanted to lay more stress on the noisy side of the project this time, as the following tracks are much more in a noise direction than death industrial. Usually there is some sort of industrial rhythm in the background though.
“All Too Bad” actually is not all that bad. Perhaps a bit short, but apparently I can stand the noise side of BDN better today than I used to. Perhaps I should start listening to older material." [Gangleri]
|
2022 |
€28.50 |
|
| BROWN, HANNIS |
Severe Insomnia |
CD |
"Severe Insomnia, the second release by New York-based experimental composer Hannis Brown and his first album for Lumberton Trading Company, is a spine-chilling and unpredictable rollercoaster-ride of a listen. The 11 instrumental tracks run the gamut from musique-concrete tape collages and electroacoustic composition to works for chamber ensembles, orchestra, and solo prepared guitar. Inspired by the meandering and disjunct images that manifest themselves on the backs of eyelids during bouts of insomnia, the music is charged with an instability marked by atonal explosions of saxophones, sedate interludes of electronic and orchestral textures, and nightmarish climaxes of tone clusters. Each piece creates a unique sonic space while contributing to an overarching theme of somnipathy—the anguished screams of “Face Down At Twilight,” the chopped found sounds of “Alice’s Attic,” the churning orchestral textures of “Furies.” Incorporating the microtonal orchestrations of Pendereki and Ligeti with the electro-acoustic spatial compositions of Edgar Varese and frenzied free jazz of Charles Mingus, Severe Insomnia is colored with unorthodox textures and orchestrations. Violins gliss through streams of broken harmonics; tapped beer bottles, spinning coins, and metal garbage cans scraped with paper clips serve as percussion behind the sounds of children’s voices and spiraling woodwind clusters. Strings oscillate slowly in and out of phase with one another; hyperventilating breathing exercises cloaks muddled trumpet and flute.The result is a unique and unsettling suite of compositions: a textural concept work that pushes you to the depths of your subconscious and hold you there. Limited to 500, with the first 25 copies in special hand-painted glass packaging (only available via retail directly from LTCo). Out on 31/01/11." [label info]
www.lumberton-trading.com
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| BRUME |
I'm ... I come... I was |
CD |
Finally someone re-issues the genius BRUME-works that appeared so far only on Cassette! BRUME was ahead of its time, a stunning mixture of Post-Industrial, Ethno-Ambient & Electro-Acoustic!
Second in a series of re-releases on the great WAYSTYX-label from Moscow! "Originally recorded in 1992, originally produced on cassette by Tonspur Tapes in 1992. Time duration is 57.21 min" [credits]
www.waystyx.com
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Accident de chasse |
CD |
Finally someone re-issues the genius BRUME-works that appeared so far only on Cassette! BRUME was ahead of its time, a stunning mixture of Post-Industrial, Ethno-Ambient & Electro-Acoustic!
First in a series of re-releases on the great WAYSTYX-label from Moscow! "Originally recorded in 1988/89, originally produced on cassette by Tonspur Tapes in 1989. Time duration is 61.23 min." [credits]
www.waystyx.com
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
La Violence du Neant |
CD |
Long existing project of famous French composer Christian Renou, operating between the boundaries of musique concrète, sound collage and industrial noise.
His latest full work dated from 2019 ('The Rusty Seeds' - LP 100 cps on EE Tapes).
Here is his brand-new opus, a magnificent one-tracker (69 mins!) recorded and finished between 2020-2022.
Voice manipulations, percussive fireworks, unsettling atmospheres, eerie passages etc, it's all there and more.
This could be Heaven or this could be Hell!
Filed under: abstract, electroacoustic, experimental, field recording…
Listen and order here (CD + DL):
https://eetapes.bandcamp.com/album/la-violence-du-n-ant
"We rarely find a quote from Joseph Goebbels on a record cover, something about a repeated lie becoming a reality. I believe the quote here is not an excellent translation, but alas. It might also not be from Goebbels. So, there you go, with things being untrue. The title of Brume's latest work translates as 'The violence of the
void' if Google Translate works as it could be. Brume is the long-standing project of Christian Renou. His first cassette is from 1985, and he has been active ever since, but he has periods of fewer activities. The single piece was recorded from 2020 to 2022 using reel-to-reel tapes, cassettes, field recording (bunker acoustic; maybe that means recording inside a bunker?), DIY wind instruments, percussion, metal percussion, electronic toys, voice, and a three-string guitar. Well, 'etc.' implies there is more. Even when the CD has a single, seventy-minute piece of music, the cover has twelve titles, and it's hard to say where one begins and the other stops. I have no idea why that is, and there are clear points with very few sounds, which might indicate the start of the next. Why not separate tracks, I wonder? I always hear Brume as the music project with very little silence. Sure, there is some between the various segments, but once the music is there, something is always happening.
One of the musical changes, so it seems, is that Brume plays somewhat less abstract music and works a bit more on melody and structure. It's not that he now plays pop music, but at some point, Renou might be singing; if it is his voice, we hear. The pieces are pretty diverse, but it is a very coherent album. Deep bass sounds, neatly processed field recordings, carefully placed voices, bowed instruments, atmospheric soundscapes and looped percussion. At times, dramatic music shifts back and forth, but not humourless. High-quality music, lasting over an hour and never once leaping into boredom; I never expect Brume to do that. Another consistent landmark of quality." (FdW)
|
2023 |
€13.00 |
|
| BRUME & TBC |
House Unwillently |
CD-R |
CDR-Version der vergriffenen LP !! Finally out, the CDR version of the sold out LP !!
“This Lp is a collaboration between Brume, aka Christian Renou and Tbc, aka Thomas Beck. I have sent musical material to Brume and he has made five typical Brume tracks out of it. I think I don`t have to introduce him, because over 70 Releases speak his own language.This is the second lp for him and me too. On " House Unwillity" you find all this: a complex texture of soundstructure using drones and enviromental soundscapes from Tbc and abrutlly cuts, "primitiv" percussion and the usual absuse of traditional instruments from the musical talents of Brume. The enviromental recordings was made in a old house near the habour in Hamburg. This house is a part in spectulating with money around this area in Hamburg to get a new architectonic face of happy capitalism. It`s near the wellknow "Hafenstraße", a squat with places for concerts, bars, food on a low profit d.i.y. culture.” [label info on original LP release]
|
2005 |
€8.00 |
|
| BRUME / OUBLIER ET MOURIR |
A Year to live |
LP |
" ‘A Year To Live’ is the 2nd collaboration between the German dark ambient/noise sound artist ANEMONE TUBE (OUBLIER ET MOURIR) and the French sound experimentalist CHRISTIAN RENOU (BRUME). ‘A Year To Live’ ties in with the highly acclaimed ‘Transference’ collaboration CD (released by Auf Abwegen, 2003), which radiated a subtle (dis)quieting melancholy, but goes beyond it.
‘A Year To Live’ refers to the same-titled book by Stephen Levine, which deals about preparing for or ‘practicing’ death to remind oneself of the beauty of life. On his deathbed, Socrates exhorted his followers to practice dying as the highest form of wisdom. Levine teaches us to live each moment mindfully and created the so-called ‘year to live’, a program of intensely practical strategies and powerful guided meditations, which helps us to live our lives with more awareness before we die. Both artists approach this theme with notably different points of view, but complement one another’s vision, in such a precise and dedicated manner, that one can truly not exist without the other.
BRUME is the experimental music project by CHRISTIAN RENOU, a particularly prolific sound artist, active since 1985. With recordings on Elsie And Jack, Drone, Old Europa Café, Relapse, Staalplaat and his own Brume Rec., Christian Renou has built quite a name for himself over the years and can be considered a legend in the field. On ‘A Year To Live’ BRUME creates environments ranging from the completely abstract to the vaguely specific, using elements such as voice, loops, wide-ranging drones, ghostly ambiences, noise, various electronics and even percussions. The loops and voice samples roam throughout the track list like persistent ghosts wandering in a transcendental, shapeless purgatory, reciting their obsessions like a mantra.
www.elsieandjack.com/brume
ANEMONE TUBE has aroused much attention with his two consecutive releases ‘Dream Landscape’ (2010) and ‘Death over China’ (2011), which embody hell’s darkest nightmares to give a good, hard glimpse of Death’s reign over matter and human existence. Now a new form of expression is born and in a sense it is the cathartic aftermath of the unbearable pain caused by the previous realisations. Such an expression required a different vehicle, which is OUBLIER ET MOURIR (‘to forget and to die’). A name perfectly suited to the peaceful,
meditative, but also deeply emotional and atmospheric character of the music, which is a unique mix of melancholic ambient soundscapes & melodramatic pop sometimes reminding of TOR LUNDVALL and (early) SYLVAIN CHAUVEAU.
www.anemonetube.de " [label info]
www.silkentofu.bigcartel.com
|
2012 |
€17.50 |
|
| BRUYNDONCKX, JAN |
Rails and other Tracks |
LP |
First ever release of concrete and electronic collage works by Belgian underground sound explorer Jan Bruyndonckx. This album contains autonomous compositions, music for film and documentary all independently recorded in his private studio between 1958 and 1965.
A small collection of adventurous and mysterious sound evocations with text/poetry (Paul De Vree) recited by Julien Schoenaerts.
https://lasciedoree.be/shop/lp/jan-bruyndonckx-rails-and-other-tracks-lp/
"Metaphon’s guided tour of Belgian avant garde crypts leads to a mind-blowing first ever showcase of Jan Bruyndonckx 1958-65 autonomous compositions, plus concrète and electronic works for film and documentary - a 100% must-check for early electronics heads, from Henry and Schaffer at the GRMC, to Tod Dockstader in Hollywood.
Identifying another hole in the history books of experimental music, ‘Rails and Other Tracks’ yields an overdue insight to Jan Bruyndonckx’ independent work at a private studio separate to the usual academies and conservatoires. Like a Belgian parallel to the pioneers of the GRMC in Paris, or more acutely the cartoonist-turned-concrète innovator Tod Dockstader in Hollywood, Bruyndonckx similarly worked closely with moving image during the same years, and its not hard to hear a visual quality to his own works, which form a brilliantly peculiar and proto-psychedelic world unto themselves in this collection. We’d wager one will only be left scratching their head not just at the music, but also the fact this gear has remained out of earshot for so long, excepting a couple of compilation appearances with Alga Marghen and Ultra Eczema many years ago.
Tapping into something of an enduring Belgian obsession with trains (as evidenced in recent aces by Ann Eysermans and Stroom’s Nosedrip), Bruyndonckx opening piece ‘Rails’ (1958) feels like a wilder, almost lysergic answer to Pierre Schaeffer’s 1948 locomotion study ‘Études aux chemins de fer’, and sets the tone for an utterly immersive dive into his work over the proceeding years. Considering the intensely laborious process of constructing concrète sound back then, his 10 minute piece ‘Diamant’ is hugely impressive not least for its duration, but also the vivid imagination at work within, while ‘Amen’ (1962) genuinely dropped our jaws with its uncannily prescient elision of screwed noir jazz samples and ‘Fiorucci’-esque vocal cut-ups - seriously what the actual fuck‽ Likewise his ‘Untitled’ work pre-echoes soundtracks to Eraserhead and La Jetée, and there’s a properly poetic sense of license to ‘Evanaaste’ (1963) with its Paul De Vree text recited by Julien Schoenarts over a more daydreamy-bucolic variant, whereas the cut-up vox of ‘Variaties’ (1960) is better compared with a Burroughs’ approach, and then there’s the avant Hanna Berberian animation workshop madness of ‘De Geometrische Eend’ (1965) to utterly polish you off." [Boomkat] |
2022 |
€22.00 |
|
| BRYARS, GAVIN / PHILIP JECK / ALTER EGO |
The Sinking of the Titanic (1969- ) |
CD |
"...GAVIN BRYARS taucht mit der Neueinspielung
seines Klassikers The Sinking Of The Titanic (Tone 34) auf der Biennale in Venedig 2005 noch einmal ein in das Wasser ohne Balken und die Luft ohne Drähte. Überlebende, 711 von 2201, gab es nur Dank Marconis drahtloser Telegraphie, wobei die 1. Klasse dreifach bessere Überlebenstüchtigkeit bewies als die 3. und die Mannschaft. Bryars selbst am Kontrabass und das italienische Ensemble Alter Ego spielen ebenfalls etwas, das ‚Autumn‘ heißt, jene episkopale Hymne, deren dritte Strophe die passende Zeile Hold me up in mighty waters; Keep my eyes on things above enthält. Philip Jeck dreht mit seinem Vinylgeknister die Zeit bis nach 1912 zurück. Dazu hört man - Legenden
gibt es immer in mehreren Versionen - den Bericht einer Zeugin, die Nearer, My God, to Thee gehört haben will. Der Unterwassersound der immer und immer wieder intonierten, aber verlangsamt und wie schon nicht mehr von dieser Welt in einer Luftblase gespielten Hymne mischt sich mit herbstlichen Assoziationen wie Grillengezirp, aber auch der raunenden Menge bei
einem Sportereignis. Jeck‘scher Sarkasmus? Die Regenmacher als perkussives Element wirken ähnlich makaber. Wäre das Pathos ohne solche V-Effekte zu stark? Oder soll es diesmal gegen Kitschverdacht hartgekocht werden, nachdem die ‘94er Version (Point Music) noch einen Kinderchor und dunkle Bläser mit versenkt und auf dem Gebein am Meeresgrund Morsezeichen getokt hatte? Wenn die White-Star-Musiker, von denen keiner überlebte, aber tatsächlich als Letztes Walzer gespielt haben? Und wenn Marconi recht hätte, dass Klänge unsterblich sind? Dann wellt sich um den Erdball, selbst wenn auch die Erinnerungen längst verdämmert, zu Bernsteintränen geronnen und zu Hollywoodmelodramen verklärt sind, eine oxymorone Kakophonie aus Entsetzensgebrüll im Walzertakt." [Bad Alchemy]
"Performed by Gavin Bryars (double bass), Philip Jeck (turntables) and Alter Ego (strings, brass, wind, percussion, keyboard, tape recorder and sound design). This version of UK composer Gavin Bryars' seminal piece, The Sinking of the Titanic, was recorded at the 49th International Festival of Contemporary Music at The Venice Biennale, October 1, 2005 at the Teatro Maliban. The Sinking of the Titanic is an open semi-aleatoric work written in 1969 and Bryars has developed versions of variable length (from 15 minutes to an hour) that have been performed in different contexts, both as sound installation and as a real concert work. The piece has its origins in an obsession (one in which Bryars meditates on the famous ship's sinking), whose evidence is in a minute handwritten notebook. This brings together information, curiosities, evidence, statistical data on the survivors, technical research on the ship, on the places occupied by the passengers, on projects for the wreck's recovery. This sinking is then a metaphor for the failure of modern technology, of the paradox of modernity, the fact that a super-technological ship could have been rammed and sunk by a block of ice. The version proposed by Alter Ego (a contemporary music group based in Rome, Italy) and Gavin Bryars is an absolutely new approach for the project and for multimedia installation. The other important new figure in this version is Philip Jeck, one of the most important names on the experimental scene. Jeck uses his experience to cover the sound with a blanket of thin dust, which, at the same time, is memory, distance, hallucination, traveling and anxiety. The dust which comes from the obsessive repetition of a short phrase and its melancholy is part of a harmony that Jeck shares with Bryars that succeeds in freezing time in another dimension. This is another important aspect of the Titanic idea: one related to memory and to lifetime, to concreteness and abstraction meant as a metaphor for the journey between life and death, the ocean's surface and depth. Gavin Bryars (double bass); Philip Jeck (turntables); Alter Ego (strings, brass, wind, percussion, keyboard, tape recorder and sound design). Limited edition of 2000 CD in a special wallet + postcard [postcard image by media artist Andrew Hooker]. Artwork by Jon Wozencroft." [press release]
www.touchmusic.org.uk
|
2008 |
€14.00 |
|
| BU.D.D.A. |
Diese Anmut von Trophäen |
MC |
Bu.d.d.A. (Bund des dritten Auges) was born accidentally – in a dark room in Barcelona. It evolved quietly until Sascha Stadlmeier (EMERGE) and Chris Sigdell (B°TONG) took Bu.d.d.A. on the road and started to take the project seriously. This resulted not only in various EPs, split releases and compilation tracks, but also in a bona fide album which you can hold in your hand and put in your player. What's inside? Mesmerising ambient music!
Bu.d.d.A. is Sascha Stadlmeier and Chris Sigdell doing the unexpected... playing real instruments! "Diese Anmut von Trophäen" ("This grace of trophies" in German) features not only trademark Bu.d.d.A. tracks, but also guest appearances by such illustrious figures as Bees from COMMON EIDER KING EIDER, DREKKA and BEBAWINIGI. Think of Earth meets Troum together with Brian Eno on LSD...
"Diese Anmut von Trophäen" is released by the joint efforts of Zhelezobeton Distribution Division (Russia) and Attenuation Circuit (Germany). Available on cassette, CD and in digital formats.
zhb.radionoise.ru/eng/zhbd-23.html
* * * * * * *
ZHBD-23
© 2022 Bund des dritten Auges — a sight revered
EMERGE: violin, electronics, field recordings, voice
B°TONG: electric guitar, bowed guitar, synthesizer, vocals, samples
featuring:
Bees (Common Eider, King Eider): voice (2)
Drekka: piano, rain (3)
Bebawinigi: voice (4)
written, arranged & produced by Bu.d.d.A.
recorded at ac hq & The Loft 2020–2021
mixed by Sascha Stadlmeier & Chris Sigdell
final edit & mastering by Chris Sigdell at The Loft
logo & design by Chris Sigdell
Bu.d.d.A. would like to thank Buddha, Rob Fisk, Michael Anderson, Virginia Quaranta, and Zhelezobeton
https://zhbd.bandcamp.com/album/diese-anmut-von-troph-en
|
2022 |
€10.00 |
|
| |
Diese Anmut von Trophäen |
CD |
Bu.d.d.A. (Bund des dritten Auges) was born accidentally – in a dark room in Barcelona. It evolved quietly until Sascha Stadlmeier (EMERGE) and Chris Sigdell (B°TONG) took Bu.d.d.A. on the road and started to take the project seriously. This resulted not only in various EPs, split releases and compilation tracks, but also in a bona fide album which you can hold in your hand and put in your player. What's inside? Mesmerising ambient music!
Bu.d.d.A. is Sascha Stadlmeier and Chris Sigdell doing the unexpected... playing real instruments! "Diese Anmut von Trophäen" ("This grace of trophies" in German) features not only trademark Bu.d.d.A. tracks, but also guest appearances by such illustrious figures as Bees from COMMON EIDER KING EIDER, DREKKA and BEBAWINIGI. Think of Earth meets Troum together with Brian Eno on LSD...
"Diese Anmut von Trophäen" is released by the joint efforts of Zhelezobeton Distribution Division (Russia) and Attenuation Circuit (Germany). Available on cassette, CD and in digital formats.
zhb.radionoise.ru/eng/zhbd-23.html
* * * * * * *
Дуэт Bu.d.d.A. (Bund des dritten Auges) родился случайно – в тёмной комнате в Барселоне. Его развитие поначалу шло незаметно, а потом Саша Штадльмайер (EMERGE) и Крис Зигделл (B°TONG) решили отнестись к проекту более серьёзно и даже отправились в тур. В результате появились первые записи: несколько миньонов, сплит-релизы и треки на сборниках, а теперь и полноценный альбом, который можно подержать в руках и поставить в проигрыватель. Что мы найдём внутри? Эмбиент, да не простой!
В рамках Bu.d.d.A. Штадльмайер и Зигделл творят нечто странное... они играют на нормальных инструментах! На "Diese Anmut von Trophäen" (нем. "Это обаяние трофеев") можно услышать не только традиционные для Bu.d.d.A. треки, но и участие таких интересных фигур, как Bees из COMMON EIDER KING EIDER, DREKKA и BEBAWINIGI. На ум приходит некая условная смесь Earth и Troum вместе с Брайаном Ино под кислотой...
"Diese Anmut von Trophäen" выпущен совместными усилиями лейблов Zhelezobeton Distribution Division (Россия) и Attenuation Circuit (Германия). Альбом доступен на кассете, компакт-диске и в цифровых форматах.
zhb.radionoise.ru/rus/zhbd-23.html
ZHBD-23
© 2022 Bund des dritten Auges — a sight revered
EMERGE: violin, electronics, field recordings, voice
B°TONG: electric guitar, bowed guitar, synthesizer, vocals, samples
featuring:
Bees (Common Eider, King Eider): voice (2)
Drekka: piano, rain (3)
Bebawinigi: voice (4)
written, arranged & produced by Bu.d.d.A.
recorded at ac hq & The Loft 2020–2021
mixed by Sascha Stadlmeier & Chris Sigdell
final edit & mastering by Chris Sigdell at The Loft
logo & design by Chris Sigdell
Bu.d.d.A. would like to thank Buddha, Rob Fisk, Michael Anderson, Virginia Quaranta, and Zhelezobeton
Co-released with attenuation circuit: attenuationcircuit.de | emerge.bandcamp.com
https://zhbd.bandcamp.com/album/diese-anmut-von-troph-en
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| BUDD, HAROLD / AKIRA RABELAIS |
Avalon Sutra |
do-CD |
"Harold Budd at his very best, coupled with an extra disc featuring a 70 minute re-working by Akira Rabelais. A timeless classic on David Sylvian's Samdhisound label.
It's hard to over-estimate the contribution Harold Budd has made to modern music, his seemingly effortless take on minimalism and ambience imbuing this often academic genre with all the warmth and humility so often missing from the work of his contemporaries. Best known for his collaborations with Brian Eno and the Cocteau Twins' Robin Guthrie, Budd here delivers 14 immensely moving pieces, strewn with Piano cascades and panoramic soundscapes, drifting off into sublime, almost unbearable reflection.
It's a theme that's further developed with the second of the two cd's here, featuring a 70 minute re-working of Budd's work by the remarkable Akira Rabelais: a breathless, beautiful tapestry of midnight strings and echoes of lost piano taking time to unravel, eventually displaying all the warmth and intimacy Budd has spent a musical lifetime striving to perfect."
"On learning that Avalon Sutra will be Harold Budd’s last ever recording, I didn’t know whether to treat this release with a
sensation of happiness or gloom . It seems hard to believe that after 30 years of composing and releasing CD’s, this demi-god
of ambient music will no longer be enlightening us with more of his beautifully crafted pearls; one can only hope that Budd will
reconsider sharing his considerable talent for us all to appreciate.
Armed with this knowledge, it would be easy to write a review that strings superlative after superlative together in Budd's
honour, but the fact is, after you’ve spent a week listening to Avalon Sutra, there is little more you can do except truthfully
recognise what is staring you plum in the face; that from the day Budd released Pavilion Of Dreams in 1978, he never lost his
touch.
Still, there can be no more fitting an epilogue to Budd’s career than Avalon Sutra - 14 tracks of contemplative, blissful, ambient,
melancholy beauty, with a bonus disc, titled As Long As I Can Hold My Breath, that features an hour-long arrangement of
Budd’s work from LA-based composer Akira Rabelais - with additional production from David Sylvian.
From the haunting synthesized opening of Arabesque, featuring John Gibson’s Sopranino sax and Budd’s trademark piano
sprinkles, to the heartbreaking beauty of Budd’s own final piano-treated legacy – the closing As Long As I Can Hold My Breath,
this album is nothing short of phenomenal, and without doubt one of his greatest works to date.
Other than the sumptuous, meditative warmth of the opening track, as soon as the following It’s Steeper Near The Roses (for
David Sylvian) opens, you realise you’re in for a treat, as the painfully bittersweet violin and string arrangements envelope you in
a warmly secular cocoon. Budd then forges his way through a stunning collection of Autumnal compositions, featuring a variety
of moods that range from the achingly sad, to the medatively reflective and upliftingly beautiful, aided by a string of session
musicians (John Gibson, James Sitterly, Peter Kent, John Acevedo, Marston Smith) on saxophone, violin and cello.
Most artists end the career on a low, virtually none will end it on anything as highly creative as this. Don’t miss Budd at his best,
on stunning ambient tracks such as Little Heart and Chrysalis Nu, even his song titles carry emotion – A Walk In The Park With
Nancy (In Memory). I could go on and on trying to describe this album, but words cannot always accurately do justice to music
of such quality and depth. All I will say is that there isn’t a single wasted note on Avalon Sutra.
In a world where backslapping acclaim is over-congratulatively thrown around like breadcrumbs to pidgeons, Budd stands alone
as a class act that truly merits every plaudit handed to him. His music will be missed - in the same way that we miss the autumn
in summer and the spring in winter." [Barcode Review] |
2018 |
€18.00 |
|
| BURIAL |
Burial.Hdbcd001 |
CD |
„Auf "Burial. HDBCB001" schickt BURIAL die unterschwellig sexy Beats des britischen Garage über den Umweg von Funkstörungen in eine heimelige Gummizelle aus tiefem Bass, nicht ohne auf der Reise noch einen Zwischenstop im Berliner Dub von POLE einzulegen. Dabei klingt es, als würde BURIAL das Südlondon der nahen Zukunft unter Wasser setzen. Das allumfassende Knistern ist gleichzeitg das Statikgeknister eines Piratensenders und der tropische Regen, der sanft ans Fenster schlägt. Die Melancholie der Tracks öffnet ihre Arme und sucht nach ertrunkenen Liebhabern. Der Mix von BURIAL wird von den Echos aus einer anderen Zeit heimgesucht. Signale einer fremden Frequenz strecken tastend ihre Fühler aus. Eine Flutwelle aus Lärm verschlingt alles und lässt nur die schärfsten Beats zurück. Doch der Lärm schmerzt nicht; er streichelt, kitzelt und erregt die Nervenenden. Willkommen in der Welt von BURIAL. This first album on Kode9's Hyperdub label comes from the mysterious Burial. On this self-titled CD debut, Burial carves out a sound which sends the dormant slinky syncopations of uk garage, via radio interference, into a padded cell of cushioned, muffled bass, passing through the best of Pole's Berlin crackle dub. Burial explores a tangential, parallel dimension of the growing sound of dubstep. Burial's parallel dimension sounds set in a near future South London underwater. You can never tell if the crackle is the burning static off pirate radio transmissions, or the tropical downpour of the submerged city outside the window. In their sometimes suffocating melancholy, most of these tracks seem to yearn for drowned lovers. The smouldering desire of ‚Distant Lights' is cooled only by the percussive ice sharp slicing of blades and jets of hot air blowing from the bass. Listen also for a fleeting appearance from Hyperdub's resident vocalist, the Spaceape unravelling his crypto-biography. In its loud quietness, Burial takes his kitchen crackle aesthetic neither from the digital glitch nor merely a nostalgia for vinyl's materiality. Instead, as irates' suggests, Burial crackle mutates the tactile surplus value of pirate radio transmissions. Burial's mix is haunted. Echoed voices breeze in and out, on road to another time. Pirate signal from other frequencies steams in. A tidal wave of noise submerging all but the crispest syncopations. The noise is not violent, but caressing, tickling, exciting the ends of your nerves. Seducing you in.“ [press release] |
2006 |
€14.00 |
|
| BURIED AT SEA |
Ghosts |
CD-EP |
"Buried At Sea is a flowing wave of trance-like massiveness. They combine elements of doom, space rock, and experimental noise to create a sound of thick and heavy textures that migrate from quiet to an Earth-rattling assault. The band has been compared to the likes of SUNNO))), Eyehategod, Burning Witch, and Neurosis, but definitely carry a unique sound that's all their own. With tidal waves of hatred, Buried At Sea shatters speakers and eardrums. The weak need not apply.
Guitarist Sanford Parker (Minsk) records and produces bands at his Volume Recording Studios, where all the Buried At Sea material is realized. Some noteworthy customers include Pelican, Lair of the Minotaur, the Last Vegas, Tyrades, Debris, Inc., Venomous Concept, and Rwake.
"A thoroughly disturbing experience ... the future of sludge. Heavy as hell riffs, excellent drumming, a brooding tone ... extensive use of samples, and gruesome vocals ... make this a modern sludge masterpiece.... [T]he riffs here are the non-stop throbbing backbone ... [with] the best authentic drumming in the entire sludge/drone genre. Every fill, crash, and snare break down ... accentuates the album's glory ... [and] sets the perfect sluggish pace." --Encyclopaedia Metallum
www.neurotrecordings.com
|
2007 |
€10.50 |
|
| BURNES, ANDREW |
Telescope |
LP |
Siebter Teil in der neuen "Gitarren-Serie" mit kunstvollem, farbigen Gravur-Vinyl. ANDREW BURNES aus dem LOREN MAZZANE CONNERS-Umfeld schafft konzentrierte Aufmerksamkeit in seinem innovativen Umgang mit seiner "steel guitar", wenn polytonale, metallisch schimmernde und sehr lebendige Drones erstönen..
"7th installment in the Guitar Series Vols. 3 & 4. Burnes is a founding member of the ethereal, post-blues ensemble SAN AGUSTIN & is also member of HAUNTED HOUSE, alongside Loren Mazzacan Connors. Telescope is a glittering chunk of sound, as Burnes transforms that particular emblem of Americana, the steel guitar, into one vast, slowly undulating drone." [label info]
"Here, Burnes, credited with just lap steel guitar, totally reinvents the instrument, subverting any idea of Appalachia or traditional steel string guitar music, instead creating a warm sidelong soundscape of muted buzz and slowly shimmering soft focus drift. The main component here is most definitely the drone, a whirring buzzy, shimmering metallic whir, that is by no means static, instead shifting colors and subtly changing shape, almost like holding your ear against an excited string as its overtones take on a life of their own. But in and around the buzz, little flecks of melody surface, almost like sparks being produced by the constant incessant vibrating steel, but these sparks are soft and sweet, like the surviving fragments of what was once some sort of Appalachia, drifting to the surface, and fluttering to the ground through Burnes' ever
expanding cloud of warm metallic shimmer. Super subtle and minimal and gorgeous. Drone music fanatics will definitely need to keep an eye on Burnes, and folks who like their country disembodied and blurred into warm fuzzy blissy drones, well then Telescope seems like it was custom created just for you! Pressed on super thick, swirled milky green black and white vinyl. One sided, the other side with a beautiful etching courtesy of the mighty Savage Pencil, housed in a thick PVC sleeve, and again like most good things in life, or so it seems, VERY VERY LIMITED!" [Aquarius Records review]
|
2008 |
€17.00 |
|
| BURROUGHS, WILLIAM S. |
Thee Films 1950s - 1960s |
DVD |
"Unique collection comprising of all the films made during the lengthy period of collaboration between William Burroughs, Brion Gysin, and the radical British film-maker Anthony Balch. Their partnership began in the '60's with Balch making a realtively straightforward film capturing the essence of Burroughs writing on film and capturing the key themes and situations featured in his books. Their following work was more avant garde, each scene being filmed and editied before they cut up the finished film and randomly spliced it back together to express Burroughs' work ethic. Ever since Balch's death in 1980, the experimental films remained untouched until the intervention of Psychic TV's Genesis P.Orridge salvaged and archived the footage. Bonus 50 minute film called "Ghosts at No. 9" uses cut-ups of film and superimpositions, material from the extensive archive of Psychick TV. Five films in total." [Boomkat]
"Following the success of their first DVD release "The Final Academy Documents" (CRDVD13), Cherry Red Records are delighted to announce the release of their follow-up DVD featuring one of the cultural icons of all time - William S. Burroughs. When writer William S Burroughs and artist Brion Gysin met Anthony Balch at the Beat Hotel in Paris at the start of the sixties they knew they had the ideal person to assist them in translating the ideas they had explored in experimental art forms to film. Balch began his moviemaking career collaborating with Burroughs on two shorts 'Towers Open Fire' and 'The Cut Ups'. The former is a relatively straightforward attempt to capture the essence of Burroughs writing on film, utilising key themes and situations featured in his books. The latter is an attempt to cinematically represent the art form. To achieve this each scene was filmed and edited in its entirety before the cut up method was applied - physically cutting the movie into foot long lengths and splicing them together randomly.
Following the death of Anthony Balch in 1980 the films remain untouched and virtually forgotten at his home until the intervention of Psychic TV's Genesis P.Orridge, who salvaged and archived them. This unique collection comprises all the films made during that lengthy period of collaboration between Burroughs, Gysin, and Balch. In addition to the finished works the video includes a 50 minute film called 'Ghosts at No. 9' which uses cut-ups of film and superimpositions, material from the extensive archive of Psychic TV and to which Orridge added the distinctive soundtrack - making "Thee Films" a unique and desirable addition to the collection of all Burroughs fans." [website info]
|
2007 |
€19.50 |
|
|
Curse Go Back |
LP |
"William Burroughs was in and out of London from the mid-50s to 1974 and for several years quite settled in a flat near Piccadilly. During this latter time he developed and refined the techniques he used for creating cut-ups on tape. Working closely with Ian Sommerville, who helped acquire, and no doubt maintain, the various tape recorders that Burroughs used and abused in these experimental works. The work here is in two sections, which in their original form lasted for over an hour and first appeared in 1998 under the name Electronic Revolution as a free CD with Issue One of the French magazine Crash. The CD was quickly withdrawn with maybe only 100 copies finding their way into circulation. This edition is edited down to 46 minutes and comprises the core of the original recording. It employs the now familiar techniques of random drop-ins and cut-ups of readings. The readings themselves are also cut-ups of words on the page. The first section of the tape uses further processing by means of a second tape recorder. Recorded in Duke Street in 1968, the tape was then passed on to Brion Gysin in Paris where it remained in his archive until 1998. This is the first readily available edition of an hypnotic and meditative recording that examines the hidden power of words. Closer to work of sound poetry than anything literary. The album includes a 12"x12" insert with an essay by Ben Harper and several previously unseen portrait photos of Burroughs, taken by Harriet Crowder in her Hammersmith flat during a drug experiment. The back cover uses another Crowder image - the very next frame after the famous shot that appeared on the cover of the English Bookshop/ESP Call Me Burroughs LP (1965). Pressed at Optimal on transparent vinyl. Edition of 500 (numbered)."
|
2016 |
€22.00 |
|
|
Let me hang you |
LP |
Twenty years ago, William S. Burroughs was asked to record an audio version of his favorite parts of Naked Lunch. Longtime associates and producers Hal Willner and James Grauerholz produced several sessions, and they recruited a team of world class musicians to help. Famed for their Naked City involvement, Bill Frisell and Wayne Horvitz contributed their genius, as well as Eyvind Kang, just to name a few. The recordings were then abandoned and collecting dust on a musty shelf, as forgotten as a piece of rancid ectoplasm on a peepshow floor.
In 2015, Hal Willner decided to reopen this unfinished masterpiece and asked help from King Khan (a musician that he and Lou Reed admired and became fast friends with). Hal sent Khan all of the recordings and asked him to add his gris gris to this extremely perverted gumbo... and history was made and the scum began to rise!
King Khan recruited M Lamar, the creator of the "Negrogothic" movement and the identical twin brother of transgender actress Laverne Cox (Orange is the New Black), and The Frowning Clouds, a band of young Australian boys who have mastered the sixties garage punk sound -- and that perhaps WSB would have also enjoyed for other purposes a long time ago.
Let Me Hang You is a collection of depraved genius straight from the godfather of punk's very own mouth. If chills and thrills are what you seek, then look no further -- here is the bible of freakdom, recited by the pope of the underground... Now, pull the chair from underneath you and see what happens!
Produced by James Grauerholz, A. A. Khan & Hal Willner
Words by William S. Burroughs
Published by Nova Lark Music (ASCAP) administered by Songs of Virtual (North America) and Touch Tones Music (Rest of World).
Recorded and Mixed by Vera Beren, James Grauerholz, Wayne Horvitz, Eric Liljestrand, Robert Rebeck & A. A. Khan at Hairball IV Studio and Mercy Studio in Lawrence, KS, Wayne Horovitz's home studio in Seattle, WA, Eric Liljestrand's home studio in Venice, CA & King Khan's Moon Studios in Berlin, Germany.
Edited and Sequenced by Hal Willner
Reading from Burroughs’ novel, Naked Lunch, using an Abridgement edited by Nelson Lyon
Artwork by Michael Eaton & A. A. Khan
Mastered by Nene Barratto at PorcAudio, Berlin, Germany.
In loving memory of Nelson Lyon.
Music by Bill Frisell (Published by Friz-tone Music), Wayne Horovitz (published by Other Room Music), Eyvind Kang (published by Deformed Music, A. A. Khan (published by House of Hassle), Hal Willner, El Congo Allen, Nick Van Bakel & Reginald M. Lamar.
credits
released July 15, 2016
William S. Burroughs - voice
King Khan – guitar, bass, violin, VCS 3 Synthesizer, piano, organ & drums
Bill Frisell - guitar
Wayne Horvitz - keyboards
Eyvind Kang - violin, erhu & shani
El Congo Allen - Trumpet
Tony Sher -bass
Kenny Wollesen - drums
Jenny Scheinman - violin
Hank Roberts - cello
M Lamar - vocals
Hal Willner - samples & turntables
The Frowning Clouds:
Jake Robertson – Bass
Nick Van Bakel – Guitar
Zak Olson – Guitar
Daff Gravolin - Guitar
Jamie Harmer - Drums
https://khannibalism.bandcamp.com/album/let-me-hang-you
|
2016 |
€23.00 |
|
| |
Ali's Smile |
LP |
This record is divided into 2 sections. The first part is the title track and takes up most of side 1. Ali’s Smile was first published in 1971 and was privately released as a one sided LP, in an edition of 99 copies. It came in a plain sleeve with a hardback copy of the spoken text, and was sold exclusively through Unicorn Bookshop in Brighton, UK. Bill Butler, the bookshop owner, was still paying off a viciously punitive fine and associated court costs imposed in 1968 after a guilty verdict in an obscenity trial. Burroughs, a ‘fellow American’, was only too happy to help out by letting him have the rights to the recording. Rumours abound as to how many copies of the LP actually sold and how many were damaged after having been left on a heater, but, whatever the facts, this magnanimous gesture would still have been very handy. This is the first official reissue of this lost audio recording. A tale of revenge, heartless cruelty and amulet power, muddied with frequent recourse to Scientological references.
The rest of the LP is taken up with 30 minutes of audio tape supplied by Burroughs in answer to various questions mailed to him by a freelance journalist. It also includes several readings from material he was working on at the time. The recordings date from 1963, which places them as some of (if not the), earliest in depth recordings of his readings and thoughts. As this material dates from just before the publication of Nova Express, much of it serves as a useful companion and commentary on his Nova mythology. In the end only about 10 minutes of this material ever got broadcast, and was used as part of an illustrated talk on the BBC’s Third Programme.
Released in an edition of 1000 with sleeve notes on a numbered insert.
https://williamsburroughs.bandcamp.com/album/alis-smile |
2021 |
€26.00 |
|
| BUT I'M NOT (PAWEL GRABOWSKI) |
DAEMON TRANCES I-VI |
CD |
This album is about trauma and PTSD.
The music portrays the emotional loop...
the continuous reminiscing about the traumatic event
the never-ending anxiety and
paralyzing panic attacks...
... from which a traumatized person simply cannot escape.
I call this state the daemon trance
(and, unfortunately, I know it far too well...)
Recorded between January and May 2021 at SINE studio, Ireland.
but I'm not is Pawel Grabowski (processed live instruments, field recordings, objects.)
Mastering - Colin Potter at IC Studio, August 2021
Cover photo: Artur Mieczkowski (www.instagram.com/anxious_93/)
https://silenceisnotempty.bandcamp.com/album/daemon-trances-i-vi
"It's been a long time since I heard music by Pawel Grabowski (check Vital Weekly 414, 424, 492 and 508, but following that flurry of releases, it all went quiet for him. That was "mostly due to family, and life in general". Now he has a new moniker and a new label. The new name is But I'm Not (lower case, except for 'I'), and on 'Daemon Traces I-IV' he wanted to compose that captures that unique state is known only to people suffering from the
aftermath of a traumatic event". According to the cover, it is something that he is "unfortunately all too familiar with". "Each of the six compositions portrays different aspects of what a traumatized person goes through, often every day - the continuous reminiscing about the traumatic event". This is one of those things of which I think "had I not known this, would I have heard it?". I guess not, but my personal view towards music is a very 'absolute' one. Music is never about anything. Anything attached to music to make it about something is not music; they are words used, descriptions, images (a record cover), that kind of thing. Grabowski explains the nature of the trauma for none of these six pieces, which leaves something to imagine, I guess, but also a hole in our knowledge (why not go all the way). Grabowski uses "processed live instruments, field recordings and objects". It is a pity that these live instruments are not specified. I hear a piano on quite a bit on the pieces,
solemnly slow bangs on the keys, Gregorian voices in the first one (which I think that Grabowski went all gothic, but, good news, he didn't), a fair bit of synthesizers and sound effects and the samples of marbles in a bowl (also in the opener). Some of the other sounds are harder to define. Throughout the music solemn, slow and very moody. A bipolar disorder, with some extreme darkness and extreme happiness, is not to be found here. Grabowski reminded me what I thought of his older releases in a private letter, but they are so far away in the past that I don't remember them. Therefore it is not easy for me to say to what extent this new one is different from his previous releases. I think this is a solid album, a severe one, and while the subject is not very well spend on me, I can see that he's serious in creating music that paints a picture of those suffering from trauma and PTSD. [FdW / Vital Weekly]
FULL PRESS RELEASE:
About daemon trances
“Daemon trances I-VI tells a story about experiences of living with trauma and PTSD.
My objective when composing this music was to capture that unique state known only to people suffering from the aftermath of a traumatic event.
And so, each of the six compositions portrays different aspects of what a traumatized person
goes through, often every day – the continuous reminiscing about the traumatic event, the
never-ending anxiety, paralyzing panic attacks...
For my use, I refer to this state as the “daemon trance,” and the music on this album perfectly
represents what I often struggle with in life.”
About Pawel Grabowski
Pawel Grabowski (b. 1977) – composer specializing in writing deeply personal electroacoustic and drone music.
Grabowski uses prepared instruments, field recordings, and objects to create meditative and
hypnotic compositions to convey emotions and create unique atmospheres.
He refers to his music as Imaginism.
Background:
● Although he doesn’t have a formal music education, between 1998 – 2001, Grabowski
studied double bass with a famous Polish jazz bassist, Janusz Mackiewicz.
● He also took private tuition in classical composition between 2000 - 2002, first with prof.
Krzysztof Olczak, then with prof. Eugeniusz Glowski
● He also participated in international composition workshops at the Academy of Music in
Gdansk, Poland, in 2002.
● In 2002, he was selected as one of the artists representing his home city, Gdansk, at the
Art Biennale - “ArtGenda” in Hamburg. He wrote music commissioned for various
projects of the biennale.
● In the same year, he composed a piece commissioned by the Baltic Cultural Centre in
Gdansk, showcased during a presentation of composition students of the Academy of
Music.
Career:
● Grabowski founded a chamber trio, Miasto Nie Spalo, in 1998 and recorded two albums
with the band: Festspielhaus (1998) and Piesni Zalobne I-VII/Threnodies I-VII (2000 -
released on the famous polish label, Obuh recs.)
● Between 2001 – 2006, Grabowski recorded solo, publishing his music on such labels as
Drone records, Laub records, Cronica, Mystery Sea, Dark Winter, and more.
● Since 2020, Grabowski performs as but I’m not and runs a small, independent record
label, Silence Is Not Empty.
|
2021 |
€12.00 |
|
| BÜTTNER, GREGORY |
Nil.:Audio |
mCD-R |
"GREGORY BÜTTNER schickte für nil:.audio (AICdisc009, 3“ cd-r) Daten in den Softwarehimmel, in dem sie gelöscht werden und alle Sorgen enden. Vorher jedoch hört man in vier Varianten mehrfach komprimierte Sequenzen aus CDRom-Werbungen (heute auch nur noch prähistorische Kuriosität). Nach der ersten Überformung sind noch die Werbestimmen vernehmbar, wenn auch schon vermulmt, verzischelt und überwummert. Mit jedem Prozess nimmt die Information ab und die Entropie zu. Sirrend, bitzelnd, schmurgelnd verteilen sich die Klangmoleküle und nähern sich über eine Phase, die vielleicht den sprichwörtlichen Traumweiden von Androiden ähnelt, mehr und mehr dem anderen Ende der Bewusstseinsund Verstehensskala, um in den elysischen Gefilden zu verlöschen." [Bad Alchemy]
"Gregory Büttner, known as member of the duo Für diesen Abend , and also for running the fine small label 1000füssler, is giving honour to AIC by this impressive concept of subversive appropriation. Quicktime movies, taken from various internet providers’ advertisement CDRoms, were used as source material for the audiovisual work “nil”. The images as well as the sound tracks of those flics from the late 1990s / early 2000s ( so, from medieval times of digital technology ) have been compressed again and again by Buettner, using different Codecs – followed by some precise compositional arrangement. “nil:.audio” documents the most prolific audio pieces of the series – dense and idiosyncratic electroacoustics." [label info]
www.0000-anti.info
|
2007 |
€7.00 |
|
| B°TONG (B*TONG / B-TONG/ BTONG) |
Un_b°tong |
mCDR-box |
"B°tong’s second release on Attenuation Circuit is, as the title suggests, quite atypical for the dark ambient soundscapes the Swedish-Swiss artist is best known for. In six rather short tracks, B°tong explores the sonic possibilities of digital audio manipulation of several sound sources, mainly recorded voices used as sources of pure sound, not linguistic information. The results feel somewhat like an unlikely combination of lowercase electronica and Mille Plateaux-style cuts’n’glitches and updated audio poetry in the tradition of William Burroughs, Brion Gysin, and Henri Chopin.
“Un_B°tong” opens up a new direction in the artist’s work while remaining true to the spirit of experimentation with non-musical sounds that has been informing cutting edge music for about a century now, including the original practitioners of “industrial” music that have been inspiring B°tong’s work. Those with ears tuned to today’s rather limited definition of the genre as “dark” music of some sort or other may find the intellectual playfulness of B°tong’s approach on this release too lighthearted, even humorous, considering titles like “Colourful, Comfortable, Weatherproof” or the tongue-in-cheek combination of biblical quotes about the devil with the “subliminal” message “B°tong isst heimlich” (“B°tong eats secretly”) almost hidden in the cover copy. For those interested in truly contemporary audio experiments, however, this crisp little outing has a lot to offer within the space of its 18 minutes." [label info]
www.wix.com/attenuationcircuit/attenuation-circuit
|
2011 |
€6.50 |
|
| |
Monastic |
CD |
"Since getting to know Chris Sigdell from a distance in 2010, sending the label a promo copy of ”The Great Disintegrator”, and onwards recognising the release of his project b°tong through labels such as Attenuation Circuit, Greytone and Silken Tofu, we met up in the flesh in 2016. Since then the label invited him to master last years releases from Ajna, Valanx and Dronny Darko and now releases his project b°tong’s two new albums ”Monastic” and ”The Long Journey”.
”Monastic” is a configuration of field-recordings that Chris Sigdell recorded together with his companions Benny Braaten and Bertrand Gaude in 2010, while having a day off on tour. In the hands of Chris Sigdell ”Monastic” forms spooky and disturbing waves of sound, dripping carelessly down the spine, crushing rocks.
Don’t listen properly, behave inaccurate. Don’t be obnoxious, be quiet and feel the concrete.
CD w/ 4-panel digipack limited to 300 copies.
Released 29th September 2017."
www.reverse-alignment.se
"The other CD is all based on field recordings Sigdell made at Landbouwbelang in Maastricht
along with Benny Braaten and Betrand Gaude. Whatever you can record at Landbouwbelang
(agricultural interest?) is not entirely clear, I’d say, as whatever Sigdell does with his equipment, it is all transformed a notch or two. With both of these releases I have no idea what it is that Sigdell uses, but the best I can make of it is that it is all a mixture of analogue and digital equipment. No words are used on ‘Monastic’, but there is plenty of reverb and sounds of water dripping, so I would think it has a more cave like atmosphere. It also sounds a bit louder and grittier than ‘The Long
Journey’; it is more like being trapped in a machine hall, I’d think, than in a space ship. It’s the yin to yang here, the noisier ‘Monastic’ versus the atmospheric journey of the other. I would think that’s the reason for releasing these on separate discs; the different approaches require different discs. My
personal preference is for ‘The Long Journey’, but I see the fine quality of both." [FdW/Vital Weekly] |
2017 |
€13.00 |
|
| B°TONG / EMERGE / IF BWANA / GERALD FIEBIG |
Thing |
CD-R |
In 2022, attenuation circuit starts a new series of four-way split albums called THING. The aim is to provide a medium for exchange and presentation of a great variety of artists. As each artist spreads the copies to their network, listeners also get to know the other artists featured on the same disc. The title references the fact that the CDs are physical objects – things! – but also refers to the 'thing' or 'ding' in old Norse and other Germanic languages, which designates the place of a popular assembly or the assembly itself and thus alludes to the 'meeting-place' character of the albums on (or around) which the four artists and their audiences meet, if only virtually.
With the first instalment of the THING series, attenuation circuit also celebrates the 10th anniversary of its very first vinyl release. In 2012, b°tong and EMERGE released their self-titled split LP on the label. In contrast to other split LPs, their pieces were composed specifically for this LP, with both artists sharing the same pool of sound materials to create their respective pieces. The 100 copies shared a common design created by visual artist Tine Klink, but as all sleeves were hand-painted, each copy had a recognisable, yet still unique cover. This concept earned the label a mention in recognised art director Stuart Tolley's book “Collector's Edition: Innovative Packaging and Graphics” (London: Thames & Hudson 2014).
In 2013, this album was followed up with another split LP by If,Bwana and Gerald Fiebig which followed the same musical and visual approach. Together, these two split albums formed attenuation circuit's original Vinyl Series, which was soon replaced by individually conceived vinyl albums. To celebrate the anniversary of attenuation circuit's first venture into vinyl territory, this THING collects all four sides of the two original LPs. To retain the “LP side” feel, the two pieces by If,Bwana have been transferred to the CD as only one track.
File under: drone, dark ambient, ambient
https://emerge.bandcamp.com/album/thing |
2022 |
€8.00 |
|
| CAGE, JOHN |
Complete Song Books |
do-LP |
“ … to consider the Song Books as a work of art is nearly impossible. Who would dare? It resembles a brothel, doesn’t it?” John Cage. Volume 3 in the Perihel series on Karlrecords is dedicated to one of the most iconic composers of 20th century: John Cage. All 92 pieces of the “Song Books” in stunning interpretations by Reinhold Friedl, recorded at Rashad Becker’s Clunk Studio who also contributed live electronics.
John Cage (1912-1992) is one of the most important composers in modern music: with more than 250 compositions, many of which are considered key works of New Music, and theoretical essays on composition he significantly changed the way we think about and perceive music today. But Cage not only left a major impact in the academic world, he is also cited as an important inspiration by a wide range of diverse musicians from a younger generation, be it electronic producers, experimentalists or noise artists. His “Song Books”, published 1970 in three volumes, is a collection of open works that contains not only songs but a strange hybrid collection of compositions, graphic scores, meditation rules, experimental settings, absurd musical instructions, performance settings, musical references, and Fluxus-inspired actions such as eating fruits or drinking cognac (Cage loved whiskey and cognac)… - When Reinhold Friedl (director of the ensemble Zeitkratzer) entered the Clunk Studio to record the whole cycle with Rashad Becker (who handled the feedback cabinet and live electronics), the idea was quite simple: to approach each single piece in an informal way but to do all 92 pieces in the right order. What came out in the end is a kaleidoscopic lecture and interpretation of the compositions with the help of a strange mixture of ancient and modern tools: new electronics, old and special microphones, self-built instruments, arbitrary garbage sounds, sophisticated live-electronics devices, quotes… “Complete Song Books” turns out to be an early hymn for sonic freedom, a sonic promenade full of beautiful references.
All music composed by John Cage. Constructed by Reinhold Friedl. Performed by Reinhold Friedl: voice, toys, wooden games, metal objects, complex objects, microphones, garbage… Rashad Becker: feedback cabinet, live electronics. Mastered & cut at D&M, Berlin. Artwork by Lillevan."
|
2016 |
€26.50 |
|
| CALARCO, JUAN JOSE |
Aguatierra |
CD |
"U N F A T H O M L E S S
a thematic ltd series focusing primarily on phonographies reflecting the spirit of a specific place crowded with memories, its aura & resonances and our intimate interaction with it…
Juan José Calarco | aguatierra
Aguatierra is about creating an undefined territory, where traces of one place reconstruct the other. A flow from which the discontinuities of time and space try to create a continuous narrative through the wandering into two landscapes of artificial islands. Considering them both delineated by their irregularities, my main approach was about exploring through their variances, generating a reflection of each other : the ecological park of Xochimilco, located within México City, is somehow defined by the coexistence of a very traditional place (the large series of canals which are remains of the Chinampas agricultural practice) with the semi-urban morphology of fences, metal structures and large lumber. Called “garden of flowers” and nevertheless immersed in the urban and environmental degradation, these islands preserve a rich heritage of myths and rituals.
Whilst Reserve Otamendi, at the valley of Río Luján in Argentina, can be really described as a reversed interrelationship of the built environment and nature ; an abrupt myriad of small canals and marshes form themselves between the landslide of a railway bridge and the surrounding waters ; grown from the margins of their spatial context, they extend as a vast wetland threatened by abandon, predation and recurrent fires.
So, I worked from the similarities on the sound contents of both places, treating them as a whole but also focusing on their landmarks, to mirror each other, juxtapose and merge them. Wanting to draw indeed a blurred but tangible, non-territorial geography. (Juan José Calarco)
cd ltd to 250 copies hand numbered copies
cover design + treatments by Daniel Crokaert
based exclusively on photos by Juan José Calarco." [full label info]
www.unfathomless.net
|
2011 |
€14.00 |
|
| CALON, CHRISTIAN |
Ligne de vie |
CD |
“Calon [(Ligne de vie)] presents three pieces, dated 1985, 1988 and 1989. These are an electronic impressionism of inner space. Human voices appear solely in the third selection, along with the sounds of birds. Whereas it can be a cure for depression to close your eyes and put yourself in your happy place Calon offers the power to combat a deficient imagination by using early synthesizer sounds and effects to put yourself in that richly hued, glowing nebula inside you.” [Tom Schulte / Outsight]
www.empreintesdigitales.com
|
1991 |
€12.00 |
|
| CAO KELLER SIEDL |
Modulus of Resilience |
CD |
"The title of this debut release by the Swiss-Austrian-Vietnamese trio of Beat Keller on a customised feedbacker guitar, Gregor Siedl on clarinet and electronics, and Cao Thanh Lan on electronics and prepared zither is absolutely programmatic. (By the way, the fact that Lan also calls her instrument “marxophone” does not necessarily have political implications, in fact it was named after instrument builder Henry Charles Marx.) “The modulus of resilience is defined as the maximum energy that can be absorbed per unit volume without creating a permanent distortion” (Wikipedia), and in the three to nine minute real-time compositions on this album, recorded at various live concerts and in studios in Austria and Switzerland in 2018, the trio is constantly testing ways to approach this level of maximum energy.
That does not mean, however, that they are always aiming straight for the noisy breaking-point of high-volume power play, although they repeatedly show that they are perfectly capable of that, high-pitched dissonance between the metallic zither strings and the surging guitar feedbacks included. For Cao Keller Siedl, “energy” means “intensity,” and of course musical intensity can be at its maximum in the quietest moments. Pulsating patterns of high-frequency beats, suddenly emerging dreamy chords, then again deep growls of feedback that come rising up from the lower registers are only a very few of the varied, but never arbitrary, structural devices of this music. The way in which the players manage to craft suspenseful dramaturgy even within only a few minutes' time proves that they have already developed an elaborate shared musical language, and gives this debut album a decidedly mature feel in the best sense of the word. Creating beauty from harsh and tender materials alike, their music certainly has a redeeming quality in facing some of the ugliness of the human condition. So perhaps the title could eventually be programmatic on another level as well, because in psychology, “resilience is the ability to cope with a crisis or to return to pre-crisis status quickly.” (Wikipedia).
www.attenuationcircuit.de/releases/32/cao-keller-siedl-modulus-of-resilience
|
2019 |
€12.00 |
|
| CAPELLE, MIREILLE |
Anello. Naga. Sunyata |
3 x CD |
" “...The Sonic Architecture pieces are constructed geometrically according to a mathematical scheme which is based on the symbolism of numbers. On the basis of whatever drives my senses, I gather together a great mass of recorded sounds from everyday life: the street, the wind, streams, the noise of cars, of conversations, of birds, of singing... accompanied by everything that resonates around them...” — Mireille Capelle
3 Sonic Architectures. Each Sonic Architecture consists of two compositions. Each composition can be played separately. From the moment they are played together and allowed to resonate via 2 CD players and 4 audio speakers, the Sonic Architecture becomes one composition. These pieces make a journey of several hours, or days, before they refind the point of their beginning. The CDs in this box are 3 Simulations. Each CD is a fragment of one of the 3 Sonic Architecture compositions. Anello, Naga & Sunyata were presented repectively at the Axel Vervoordt exhibitions Artempo, Academia & In-finitum.
Mireille Capelle appears in various films and plays, as well as singing a number of different operatic roles. She interprets baroque works with Jos Van Immerseel, sings numerous recitals of melodies throughout Europe and Japan, and she is a singer in the HERMESensemble. Capelle is a Professor at the Conservatory of Ghent, where she is also in charge of the singing department.
Anello • Naga • Sunyata is a production of Inspiratum vzw." [label info]
www.audiomer.org
|
2009 |
€25.00 |
|
| |
Blue Veil |
CD |
"audioMER. is honoured to announce the release of a new CD; Blue Veil with music by Mireille Capelle (BE) and HERMESensemble*.
The world of Mireille Capelle is one of music and theatre. She has performed as a singer in numerous European opera houses, under the artistic direction of the foremost stage directors and conductors. She is member of the artistic board of HERMESensemble. Mireille Capelle has a particular affinity with contemporary music and art, characterized by many encounters with the most important contemporary composers. Blue Veil is a sonic architecture composed for the exhibition I Fortuny. Una Storia di Famiglia, curated by Daniela Ferretti, at Palazzo Fortuny, in Venice from May 6 till November 24, 2019. The essence of the piece was inspired by the installation of Axel Vervoordt and Tatsuro Miki in the wabi-space of the palace."
"I took two pieces of white marble stones—both sculptural and radiant. I banged and rubbed them. In Venice I recorded the sounds of the bells of San Marco and the rustling of the water. I remembered the words coming to me. Sometimes they came very clear, sometimes barely understandable. Stemming from my fictional journey into the past, the words of Proust and d’Annunzio arrived… I catch Wagner’s breath as in his Shepherd’s Song… The whisper of a great white sail in the wind… In Blue Veil Henriette Fortuny—the silent muse—appears. Her pink dress and blue veil are floating in the wind… There is light of sounds and shadows. Blue Veil is both a quest for transparency and a path of perpetual repetition. I wanted this piece to allow us to hear the inaudible. I wanted to enlarge what is hidden in sound. “Eternity is the one who is, who will be and who was”. This sentence from Plato signifies to me that we are all particles of eternity." - Mireille Capelle
http://mireille-capelle.droppages.com/
Blue Veil excerpt
https://soundcloud.com/audiomer-label/mireille-capelle-blue-veil-excerpt
Wabi excerpt
https://soundcloud.com/audiomer-label/mireille-capelle-wabi-excerpt
|
2019 |
€16.00 |
|
| CAPRICORNI PNEUMATICI |
Putredini Obnoxius |
CD |
DNN007 C – CD 2017
Tracklist:
The Call of The First Aethyr 9:32
Putredini Obnnoxius
Hoor-Paar-Kraat 5:51
The Whispering Wheel 7:56
The Pentagram 5:50
Putredini Obnoxius 3:02
Earth Inferno 5:24
A-Thele-Ber-Seth 8:38
The Dreamer 9:12
Collected Gnostic Mass 3:17
All tracks composed and performed by Capricorni Pneumatici, © 1991
Digital remastering at C.P. Studio, Milano, 2017
Manufactured and distributed by ADN (Italy), 2017
Putredini Obnoxius was the tenth CP album, originally composed in 1991
https://capricornipneumatici.com/portfolio/cp/putredini-obnoxius/
"Nell’ambito di una serie di iniziative e ristampe che celebrano il trentennale dalla nascita del progetto, viene riproposto il decimo e ultimo album composto nel 1991 dai CP per la portoghese Putrefactio (ma mai pubblicato all’epoca), prima della lunga assenza discografica interrotta solo nel 2015 con The Erivar. Un “lost album” dunque, per il duo milanese dedito ad un’ambient rituale di matrice crowleiana. La voce manipolata di Aleister C. compare difatti in tre delle nove tracce, che a soffusi tappeti industrial ambient e cupi drone abbinano ipnotici loop di voci campionate, senza traccia dei sabba rumoristici che pure appartengono al genere. Alla maniera dei primi Coil, si ha la sensazione che le citazioni dalla letteratura esoterica avvengano con piena padronanza e rispetto delle fonti, come quando in The Pentagram si ricostruisce per allusioni sonore uno scenario da invocazione demoniaca. Una raccolta di pregevole fattura, che privilegia passaggi arcanamente pacati e riflessivi, come nelle estese A-Thele-Ber-Seth e The Dreamer. [VITTORE BARONI, REWIND, BLOW UP, NOVEMBER 2017]
|
2017 |
€13.00 |
|
| CARAVAGGIO |
Caravaggio # 2 |
CD |
"Crédits
Bruno Chevillon . basse, contrebasse, electronique
Benjamin de la fuente .violon, mandocaster, guitare ténor electrique, electronique
Eric Echampard .Batterie, percussions et electronique
Samuel Sighicelli .orgue Hammond, sampler, synthétiseur (korg et minimoog)
description
L’envie commune était, dès le départ, de faire une musique inspirée du rock mais avec une grammaire de musique contemporaine, de musique électroacoustique, de musique inventive. Garder le précieux de ce que nous avons appris et aimé avec les musiques contemporaines tout en le réinjectant dans une manière différente de composer, jouer, improviser – travail plus collectif et de terrain, écriture toujours au service d’un méta-instrument que serait le groupe – pour être, au moment de la performance, réglés sur les mêmes modes. Mais le côté rock c’est aussi un son, distordu à souhait, plaisir des textures métalliques, plaisir aussi des carrures amplifiées, pulsations insistantes, spectre parfois plein comme un oeuf, énergie et ampleur du son/geste. L’autre côté ce sont les réglages millimétriques, le souci du détail, le désir de phraser, une tendance presque maladive à penser en terme de « dramaturgie », de gestion des énergies et du souffle musical. Nous composons des « morceaux » - c'est à dire des objets à facettes qu'il faut ré-explorer chaque fois - en vue de constituer un répertoire sur mesure, qui mette le plus possible en avant les qualités de chacun au service d’un univers que nous défendons tous implicitement." [label info]
www.labuissonne.com
|
2012 |
€17.00 |
|
| CARBON BASED LIFEFORMS (CBL) |
VLA |
CD |
"We’re happy to welcome legendary Sweden space ambient project in our roster.
Special album, different from earlier works of CBL, one hour of deepest space ambient tunes, one hour snatched from eternity, one hour of ethereal oblivion.
Very Large Array (VLA) is a radio astronomy observatory located on the Plains of San Agustin, between the towns of Magdalena and Datil, some 50 miles (80 km) west of Socorro, New Mexico. It comprises 27 25-meter radio telescopes in a Y-shaped array and all the equipment, instrumentation, and computing power to function as an interferometer. Each of the massive telescopes is mounted on double parallel railroad tracks, so the radius and density of the array can be transformed to focus on particular bands of wavelength. Astronomers using the VLA have made key observations of black holes and protoplanetary disks around young stars, discovered magnetic filaments and traced complex gas motions at the Milky Way's center, probed the Universe's cosmological parameters, and provided new knowledge about the physical mechanisms that produce radio emission.
The VLA stands at an elevation of 6970 ft (2124 m) above sea level. It is a component of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO)." [label info]
www.infinitefog.ru
|
2016 |
€15.00 |
|
| CARR, KATE |
The Story surrounds us |
MC |
"Kate Carr melds the exquisite details of her field recordings with an ephemeral approach to the song. This Australian has relocated herself to London after many trips around the globe. With each orbiting journey, she has collected innumerable sounds from the urbane to the aqueous and from the frenetic to the sublime, contextualizing all of these into compositions rippling with primordial melodies through guitar, piano, and electronics. The Story Surrounds Us follows her highly acclaimed albums I Had Myself A Nuclear Spring (first released on her own Flaming Pines imprint in 2015) and Carr's debut for Helen Scarsdale in 2016, It Was A Time Of Laboured Metaphors.
Emblematic of her work is a gentle dislocation between the environmental sounds and her drone-dub ellipses of somnambulant melody. The clatter of a frozen dock or a vibrational shimmer from rustled objects or the unintelligible whispers displaces the sense of self amidst a sea of disparate symbols and coded thought. More a travelogue in and out of one's own body than to any particular place. Carr suggests "In a way, it is about restlessness, an uncomfortable tossing and turning in all these many different places, a struggle somehow to forge a connection between my own internal world and all these places and persons I have encountered. I think this holds a sense of unease and strain, with both beautiful and failed moments of intimacy and connection which are made either possible or impossible in the difficult and distorted context of being away. It is quite sad, really." Look to Carla dal Forno, Alan Lamb and those moments of clarity in the shapeshifting ethos from Jewelled Antler for neighboring sounds to Kate Carr's chimerical compositions."
www.helenscarsdale.com
"A rather fast follow-up to her last tape (It Was a Time of Laboured Metaphors, also on Helen Scarsdale), Australian sound artist Kate Carr's latest work is another entry in a rapidly growing discography that blends elements of both traditional composition and the unpredictable nature of field recordings. She does this and merges them together seamlessly, coming together as a beautiful set of sounds and moods from across the globe, yet still unified as a part of the human experience.
Elements of The Story Surrounds Us were recorded during Carr’s travels to Iceland, Mexico, Sweden, and Spain, all of which clearly had an influence on the work; most obviously in the natural recordings she utilizes throughout. The tape is bookended by two sets of untreated field recordings from Ólafsfjörður, Iceland that perfectly capture the juxtaposition of her work. The first, "The Creaking Door Of The Abandoned Concrete Factory" is half a minute of just that: creaking sounds of post-industrial decay, capturing the emptiness of what surely was once part of a thriving industry. The end is “Water Lapping at Ice on Melting Lake”: the sound of wet and watery nature decaying, no doubt exacerbated by the same industry.
Between these two most obvious field recordings lay eight songs that are never truly a-musical, but never become overly conventional either. "Things That Stubbornly And Resiliently Subsist Without Leave" features a lot of sparse, delicate guitar playing, but the musicality is broken up by mysterious, more synthetic-like passages that never become unpleasant. This combination also features heavily in "I Didn't Get A Lot of Sleep in Mexico", with light floating tones melded with processed guitar-like sounds, peppered with incidental found recordings and hints of music throughout.
A brilliant pairing of compositions is the untreated recordings of "Communication Wires In Tropical Storm, Si'an Kaan, Mexico", and their appearance in the more compositionally based "We Were The Pulse Of A Wire Pulled Tightly". The former recordings are simply the sound of undulating metallic cables whipped about in heavy winds, taking on an odd beauty that contrasts their significantly more frightening pedigree. On "We Were The Pulse…" they reappear as overt pulses and jittery echoes resonating within electronic swarms and insinuations of percussion. The final product is moody and expansive, but concludes on a much lighter, drifting note compared to its more menacing moments.
Other moments of this tape showcase Carr’s more conventional musical tendencies as well. Gentle melodies are the initial focus on "There Was a Lot of Whispering Involved", with a bit of plucked string being counterbalanced by the heavier subterranean rumble. On the whole it sounds much more traditional, but no less gripping. On the other hand, "1001 (Missed Connections)" begins with crackling voices on a PA system and ugly buzzing noises, but soon is realigned into sustained, yet chilly melodic moments. What even resembles a traditional 4/4 bass drum comes in, but just a bit too briefly.
Conceptually, The Story Surrounds Us continues Kate Carr's focus on studying the sounds of specific locations, as well as the effects of social decay and its inevitable renewal. However, the music is captivating on its own as well: a wonderful blend of composed sound blended with the incidental, ephemeral sounds that surround us at all times, culminating in a strange, sometimes almost alien, but never mundane experience." [Brainwashed]
|
2017 |
€10.00 |
|
| CARTER TUTTI VOID |
Play Chris & Cosey |
do-LP |
"Mit acht brandneuen Neuinterpretationen und Bearbeitungen von CHRIS & COSEY Klassikern aus den Achtziger und Neunziger Jahren. Die Idee zu diesem Album stammt von den sehr erfolgreichen Live Performances von ,Carter Tutti Play Chris & Cosey", die zwischen 2011 und 2014 zu einer bisher ungesehenen Serie von Shows im Vereinigten Königreich, Europa, Skandinavien und Nordamerika führten. Diese Shows führten wiederum zu einer großen Nachfrage, was Aufnahmen dieses Livesets anging, so dass sie Ende 2014 die komplette Kollektion der aufgearbeiteten Klassiker in ihrem eigenen Studio in Norfolk neu aufnahmen. Jedes Format wartet mit einem exklusiven Remix auf. Bei der CD ist das ,Vengeance" im exklusiven Remix, während das Vinyl sämtliche fünf Tracks von der Merchandising CD der Tour enthält.
Double LP version, includes all five tracks from the limited CD Remix Chris & Cosey (CTI RSDUK01, 2014). Reinterpretations and re-workings of classic Chris & Cosey songs from the 1980s and 1990s. The idea for the album originated from the pair's much-requested live performances of Carter Tutti Plays Chris & Cosey, taking place in an unprecedented series of shows in the U.K., Europe, Scandinavia, and North America from 2011 through 2014. These dates in turn instigated so many requests for recordings of the live set that they were inspired to re-record this collection of reworked classic versions in their own Norfolk studio. Housed in a gatefold sleeve." [label info]
"Carter Tutti. Chris & Cosey. There may be a semantic difference somewhere to be discussed, but this album brigades what those differences may be as the pair of Chris Carter and Cosey Fanni Tutti have crafted an album of material mined from the back catalogue of Chris & Cosey albums under the moniker Carter Tutti. Over the past four years, the couple has been touring vigorously, with the set including revamped / recorded / reengineered versions of the older Chris & Cosey material. So many people approached them with requests for the live recordings of these newer versions that they went into the studio to properly sequence these tracks for an album. And we gotta say that Carter Tutti offer up one hell of a recapitulation, and at times, they really do better themselves than what they had done back in the '80s. When Throbbing Gristle broke up and Chris & Cosey ventured out on their own, they adopted the seductive electro-pop subversion facets of TG to their own devices. Their albums eagerly consumed technology and fused any and all forms of electronics into the sexual / somatic rhythms of the human body. Admittedly, some times their ideas were hindered by the technologies that were at their disposal. Samplers that could only fire so fast and so much. MIDI programming that was limited by latency, memory, and timing issues. Jump several decades, and what Chris & Cosey did in the '80s with a bank of synthesizers and sequencers can now be done on any given phone. So many of these recapitulations work with the same set of melodies and sequences, but smoothed out the technological stumbling blocks. "Driving Blind" was one of the better tracks on their 1984 album Songs Of Love And Lust; and here, the two flesh out the arpeggiation of the sequences with a dense polyphony of streaming electronics above their whipcrack techno production - and Cosey's skulldrill monotone mantras are as compelling, delirious, and sexy as ever. "BeatBeatBeat" is one of the most refreshing recreations, mostly because the original was pretty damn annoying, again with a minimal, surgical set of cybernetic techno and Cosey reworking the vocal chorus into more of a celestial chime and less of a mosquito irritant. The S&M inspired "Sin" finds Cosey channelling Siouxsie more so than she's ever done in the full-throated bellows of sexual depravity above another finely tuned machine of chome-plated techno. One can hope that whatever new material comes out of this redux, it will follow this template which is pretty fucking great." [Aquarius Records]
|
2015 |
€29.50 |
|
|
Triumvirate |
LP |
"Triumvirate = the combined power of a group of three in creative collaboration. Containing all new studio recordings, Triumvirate brings Chris Carter, Cosey Fanni Tutti and Nik Void's collaborative partnership as Carter Tutti Void to a conclusion. The trio first came together as a collective for a live performance, invited by Mute for the Short Circuit Festival in 2011 and released their acclaimed debut, the live album Transverse the following year. Carter Tutti Void went on to release f(x) (Industrial Records, 2015), their first studio recording and performed a handful of selected shows, culminating in their final live performance in Hull, part of a series of events for Hull City of Culture 2017 centred around the COUM Transmissions retrospective. Triumvirate was approached with the improvisational spirit of previous Carter Tutti Void albums. The rhythms, created by Chris Carter, formed the foundation and starting point from which the process began of melding the live instrumentation of Cosey Fanni Tutti and Nik Void's searing guitars, vocals, effects and the arsenal of sounds each had amassed from a variety of sources, some sounds manipulated to extremes, all fed into the mix. Tying the album together is the power of three, and a free open approach to sound shared by the trio. Carter Tutti Void are Chris Carter, Cosey Fanni Tutti (Chris & Cosey / Throbbing Gristle) and Nik Void (Factory Floor / NVPR). Chris Carter recently released his first solo album in 17 years, Chris Carter's Chemistry Lessons Vol. 1 (Mute, 2018) and Cosey Fanni Tutti's TUTTI, her first album since 1982, came out ear-lier this year on Conspiracy International (home of Chris and Cosey since 1982). Nik Void is currently working on her debut solo album." [label info]
|
2019 |
€26.50 |
|
| |
Triumvirate |
CD |
"Triumvirate = the combined power of a group of three in creative collaboration. Containing all new studio recordings, Triumvirate brings Chris Carter, Cosey Fanni Tutti and Nik Void's collaborative partnership as Carter Tutti Void to a conclusion. The trio first came together as a collective for a live performance, invited by Mute for the Short Circuit Festival in 2011 and released their acclaimed debut, the live album Transverse the following year. Carter Tutti Void went on to release f(x) (Industrial Records, 2015), their first studio recording and performed a handful of selected shows, culminating in their final live performance in Hull, part of a series of events for Hull City of Culture 2017 centred around the COUM Transmissions retrospective. Triumvirate was approached with the improvisational spirit of previous Carter Tutti Void albums. The rhythms, created by Chris Carter, formed the foundation and starting point from which the process began of melding the live instrumentation of Cosey Fanni Tutti and Nik Void's searing guitars, vocals, effects and the arsenal of sounds each had amassed from a variety of sources, some sounds manipulated to extremes, all fed into the mix. Tying the album together is the power of three, and a free open approach to sound shared by the trio. Carter Tutti Void are Chris Carter, Cosey Fanni Tutti (Chris & Cosey / Throbbing Gristle) and Nik Void (Factory Floor / NVPR). Chris Carter recently released his first solo album in 17 years, Chris Carter's Chemistry Lessons Vol. 1 (Mute, 2018) and Cosey Fanni Tutti's TUTTI, her first album since 1982, came out ear-lier this year on Conspiracy International (home of Chris and Cosey since 1982). Nik Void is currently working on her debut solo album." [label info]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWB1ni4sa5Y
|
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| CARTER, CHRIS |
Chemistry Lessons (CCCL Volume One) |
CD |
"Das erste Album von Chris Carter seit 17 Jahren ! Als Gründungsmitglied von Throbbing Gristle – gemeinsam mit Cosey Fanni Tutti, Peter ‘Sleazy’ Christopherson und Genesis Breyer P-Orridge –, spielte Chris Carter eine signifikante Rolle in der Entstehung elektronischer Musik, eine Reise, die Carter als Teil von Chris & Cosey und Carter Tutti respektive Carter Tutti Void und in seinen Soloarbeiten bis heute fortsetzt. Die Verknüpfung von traditioneller Musik und Elektronik sind jene Momente, die die Musik von CCCL Volume 1 an das Schaffen von Throbbing Gristle rückbinden." [label info]
"Architect of the present future, Chris Carter goes retro hauntological on CCCL Volume One, his first solo album in 17 years.
Since his previous album, released in the last century, he’s been busy taking his influential duo with partner Cosey Fanni Tutti to a natural close, and likewise seeing thru their trio with Nik Colk Void, while at the same time diversifying his bonds with remixes of the contemporary field, from Factory Floor to Nisennenmondai and Perc. Here, however, the enormously pivotal artist paints a sonic self portrait indulging an unswerving thing for the BBC’s Radiophonic Workshop and the malleability of modular synths, all with a mixture of wide-eyed, youthful innocence and high end studio nous executed to nostalgic degrees.
In the classic framework of hauntology, Carter’s nostalgia is for a lost, assuaged or thwarted synthetic future he experienced explicitly and cosmotically growing up during the ‘space age’, when synthesisers were vehicles for interstellar and interdimensional travel and acted as the connective ligament of counter-cultural likeminds across the world, so its easy to understand why he can’t shake that feeling here.
Like a grown up kid with all the kit he could ever dream of, Carter brings his ideas to life in uniquely tactile style, working like a sculptor with broad palette of amorphous materials that continue to react and mutate after he’s fixed them in place, at his legendary studio in Norfolk. Each of the 25 tracks feels to offer a window onto worlds of encrypted kinetic energy, fulminating figments of the imagination which come to life in shapeshifting, plasmic forms made all the more “real” and hyperstitious thanks to his application of AI like vocaloids which populate the album, cropping up as alien sirens, glossolalic darkroom murmurs, and fully-fledged “singers” in their own strange right.
The result is a uniquely absorbing album tied together by Carter’s smart internal logic, a mazy manifestation of bio-electronic feedback systems that gives voice to the machine as much as the man operating it in a way that will really speak to followers of classic electronic music." [Boomkat]
|
2018 |
€16.50 |
|
| |
Chemistry Lessons (CCCL Volume One) |
do-LP |
"Chris Carter’s Chemistry Lessons Volume One is populated with insistent melodic patterns and a distinct sense of wonderment at the limitless possibilities of science. “If there’s an influence on the album, it’s definitely ‘60s radiophonic,” Carter says. “Over the last few years I’ve also been listening to old English folk music, almost like a guilty pleasure, and so some of tracks on the album hark back to an almost ingrained DNA we have for those kinds of melodies. They’re not dissimilar to nursery rhymes in some ways.”
That combination of traditional music and the backing track for exciting, potential futures gives tracks like ‘Moon Two’ and ‘Tangerines’ a sheen of inquisitiveness and quiet euphoria, while ‘Modularity’ and ‘Roane’ have an anxious, sci-fi noir charm. Elsewhere skewed voices add a calming, human note to the album. Carter explains, “Sleazy and I had worked together on ways of developing a sort of artificial singing using software and hardware. This was me trying to take it a step further. I’ve taken lyrics, my own voice or people’s voices from a collection that I’d put together with Sleazy, and I’ve chopped them up and done all sorts of weird things with them.” These moments sit alongside tracks where melodies have a dissonant, noisy, awkwardness that ties the music on CCCL Volume 1 back to the Throbbing Gristle legacy.
As a founding member of Throbbing Gristle alongside Cosey Fanni Tutti, Peter ‘Sleazy’ Christopherson and Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, Chris Carter has had a significant role in the development of electronic music – a journey which has continued through his releases as one half of Chris & Cosey and Carter Tutti and a third of Carter Tutti Void – as well as with his own solo and collaborative releases.
He is also credited with the invention and production of groundbreaking electronics – from the legendary Gristleizer home-soldered effects unit through to the Dirty Carter Experimental Sound Generating Instrument and the sold-out TG One Eurorack module designed with Tiptop Audio (issued to commemorate the fortieth anniversary of Throbbing Gristle’s Second Annual Report) – Carter has created the means to make sounds as well as making the sounds themselves.
The 25-track album was recorded in Carter’s own Norfolk studio and the artwork and accompanying videos were self-created, taking cues in part from battered old experimental BBC broadcast LPs.
Despite having been worked on over an extended period between various artistic projects in a variety of different moods, situations and circumstances, CCCL Volume 1’s experiments never feel like Carter noodling around aimlessly in his studio-laboratory. Instead there is an inner coherence and a distinctively Chris Carter approach to sound and execution that showcases the sonic scientist’s restless, questing creative spirit forever scouting for new ideas." [Mute.com]
"Architect of the present future, Chris Carter goes retro hauntological on CCCL Volume One, his first solo album in 17 years.
Since his previous album, released in the last century, he’s been busy taking his influential duo with partner Cosey Fanni Tutti to a natural close, and likewise seeing thru their trio with Nik Colk Void, while at the same time diversifying his bonds with remixes of the contemporary field, from Factory Floor to Nisennenmondai and Perc. Here, however, the enormously pivotal artist paints a sonic self portrait indulging an unswerving thing for the BBC’s Radiophonic Workshop and the malleability of modular synths, all with a mixture of wide-eyed, youthful innocence and high end studio nous executed to nostalgic degrees.
In the classic framework of hauntology, Carter’s nostalgia is for a lost, assuaged or thwarted synthetic future he experienced explicitly and cosmotically growing up during the ‘space age’, when synthesisers were vehicles for interstellar and interdimensional travel and acted as the connective ligament of counter-cultural likeminds across the world, so its easy to understand why he can’t shake that feeling here.
Like a grown up kid with all the kit he could ever dream of, Carter brings his ideas to life in uniquely tactile style, working like a sculptor with broad palette of amorphous materials that continue to react and mutate after he’s fixed them in place, at his legendary studio in Norfolk. Each of the 25 tracks feels to offer a window onto worlds of encrypted kinetic energy, fulminating figments of the imagination which come to life in shapeshifting, plasmic forms made all the more “real” and hyperstitious thanks to his application of AI like vocaloids which populate the album, cropping up as alien sirens, glossolalic darkroom murmurs, and fully-fledged “singers” in their own strange right.
The result is a uniquely absorbing album tied together by Carter’s smart internal logic, a mazy manifestation of bio-electronic feedback systems that gives voice to the machine as much as the man operating it in a way that will really speak to followers of classic electronic music." [Boomkat]
|
2018 |
€26.50 |
|
| CARTER, TOM & VANESSA ARN |
What is here for ? |
LP |
Die CHARALAMBIDES-Hälfte in Zusammenarbeit mit VANESSA ARM -> zwei lange flächige Improvisationen bestehend aus analog-elektronischen Vibrato-Tönen & Carters "Lap Steel" Gitarren-Drone-Arbeit, genaustes Zuhören belohnt mit feinsten konkreten Details.
"Limited Edition of 515 copies. First 110 copies released as coloured (brown) vinyl. Including a small insert. Contains two long and deep duo cuts of univibe-era lap steel/ electronic tone generator improvisation, one side recorded live and stamped w/ the indelible mark (ie, the #15 bus rumbling by) of Bullbabe Studios, Austin TX (the odor of sweat, lone star, and barbeque is palpable). The sounds: monolithic serenity infused with a deep breath from the void, as peaceful and violent as a mountain range. A shame that this configuration is so underrepresented in the discography, as the mesh of T&V's playing is so instantly seismic... Tom Carter is best known for his work with Charalambides, which he co-founded with longtime creative partner Christina Carter in 1991. Since 2002, Carter has also undertaken solo work and collaborations. His 2003 solo tour, centered around the seminal Brattleboro FreeFolk festival, featured unaccompanied solo shows and musical excursions (on stage and tape) with Bardo Pond, Thurston Moore, Dredd Foole, the MVEE Medicine Show, Ian Nagoski, Tower Recordings, and Double Leopards, among others. Vanessa Arn became a member of Boston/California/Texas group Primordial Undermind soon after Tom's brief tenure in the group. The potential for mountainous difference tones between the lap steel and the triwave tone generator (a custom built synthesizer) was immediately apparent to all parties, and Tom suggested a collaboration (which was greatly assisted by the fact that Tom and Vanessa were at the time next door neighbors). A sole performance and a handful of recordings ensued and the results are here for your perusal." [label info]
www.asilentplace.it
|
2007 |
€14.00 |
|
| CARVED IMAGE OF EMPTINESS / ZINC ROOM |
Lie, Illusions, Mystifications / Zinc 99,99 |
CD |
"This CD contains not even a split, but in fact 2 full-length albums of two Russian industrial projects, both coming from Ekaterinburg, Ural region. Carved Image Of Emptiness isn't so easily categorized with one term, during their half of the disc the style changes in quite unpredictable manner. The album starts with an energetic industrial track with sampled distorted bass guitar (well, when you write about noise music you can't be completely sure about the sound sources, but it sounds like bass guitar here) and various samples. Then comes unhurried, sombre and serious neo-classics which changes with more "fairy" track. Then again, a neo-classical composition in which pompous martial-like "verse" (think about Der Blutharsch) alternates with totally cartoon-style "chorus" (think about "Crocodile Gena"). During the last 4 tracks the same metamorphoses happen... I think this could be a good soundtrack for some slightly naive, but thus interesting industrial movie from 80-90-ies... Zinc Room is quite another matter! Here you can feel the addiction to the old noise school: in his tracks analogue distortion (bass guitar, percussion, steel objects) blends with field recordings and samples. The recordings are mostly not aggressive (unlike, say, Japanese act K2 who uses a lot of iron as well), but somehow sadly pensive. Like an abandoned rusty factory building standing in the field and grown by weeds long ago. However the spirits of industrialization still live there and sometimes continue their mechanical activity." [label info] |
2007 |
€10.00 |
|
| CASHMORE, MICHAEL |
Sleep England |
CD |
"MICHAEL CASHMORE, vor allem bekannt als Haupt-Songwriter von CURRENT 93, legt sein erstes Soloalbum vor, das beeindruckende Songs nur aus Elektronik und Bass gewoben, enthält. Fans von CURRENT 93 und vor allem des CASHMORE-Projekts NATURE AND ORGANISATION wird dieses Werk überzeugen. Das Album ist auf 1000 Stück europaweit limitiert. //
"Sleep England is the first solo release from guitarist Michael Cashmore, who has worked extensively with Current 93 and released albums with his own project Nature And Organisation.
Over the last fifteen years he's written a majority of the music on some of Current 93's most acclaimed albums including classics like Thunder Perfect Mind, Of Ruine Or Some Blazing Starre, Soft Black Stars, All the Pretty Little Horses and the recently released Black Ships Ate the Sky. Coupled with the lyrical stylings of David Tibet, Cashmore has established the group's reputation for producing some of the most challenging, profound and influential works in contemporary music. Cashmore has also recorded with Antony (Antony and the Johnsons), Nick Cave, Marc Almond and many others. Incorporating only electric and bass guitars, Sleep England consists of twelve new and previously-unreleased tracks that together form a singular and very personal work. This album is essential for followers of Current 93 and Nature and Organisation and will also appeal to fans of Jack Rose, John Fahey and Bert Jansch." [press release]
|
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
| CASPAR BRÖTZMANN MASSAKER |
The Tribe |
LP |
"Southern Lord is proud to announce the first in a series of CASPAR BRÖTZMANN MASSAKER album reissues — beginning with the masterful debut The Tribe, originally released in 1988, and second album, Black Axis, originally released in 1989 — both remastered and presented as they were when originally released. After reissuing the first five albums, they shall later be made available in a collector’s boxed set complete with extensive liner notes, artwork by BRÖTZMANN, as well as a silkscreened print which will be hand numbered and signed by the artist. Full details of the series to be revealed in the coming months. CASPAR is also rumored to be working on brand new material.
CASPAR BRÖTZMANN is one of the most unique and innovative guitarists of the last forty years. With his Berlin-based trio MASSAKER, he evolved a whole new autonomous approach to writing rock songs, starting from sounds that were widely considered ornamental if not detrimental “sonic waste” such as shrieking feedback and droning overtones. This plethora of sounds were arranged into tracks to sound like breaking concrete, grinding metal, or bursting glass, at once monumental and threatening, impenetrable and hermetic, yet also archaically tender and loving.
Even today, as the art of noise has reached a level of sophistication that no one could have imagined thirty years ago, CASPAR BRÖTZMANN MASSAKER‘s music is resoundingly singular. Ultra-heavy riffs and beats, ominous tribal chants, and a raw physical force is conjured up by these three sinister and proud minds of their era. Their unhinged, unified stream of energy is captured on these remastered reissues and the results are thrilling.
Southern Lord will reissue CASPAR BRÖTZMANN MASSAKER‘s The Tribe on CD, LP, and digital platforms and Black Axis on CD, 2xLP, and digital platforms on January 18th, 2019. Watch for preorders to post shortly.
Born in 1962 in a post-war divided Germany, CASPAR BRÖTZMANN started out playing the piano, his main inspirations included, Hanns Eisler, singer Ernst Busch, his mother’s “Hausmusik” (German tradition where the family gathers to play their instruments together), and also by the roaring sounds of his father, a virtuoso saxophonist aka “The Teutonic Axe” – a key player in the European free jazz movement, Fluxus artist, and ideologically adamant communist.
CASPAR lived in fear and awe of his strict father, and he took to the guitar knowing that his father and his peers sneered at Americanized music, and especially electric guitars and the hard rock sounds that appealed to him, the likes of Ritchie Blackmore, Jimmy Page, and Jimi Hendrix. The guitar became, CASPAR says, “his shield against the unsettling world,” also nting, “It wasn’t about virtuosity, rather the love of the instrument.”
BRÖTZMANN didn’t have any formal training, but Hans Reichel — a family friend and an avant-garde guitarist who built his own instruments — showed him the ropes. Hans taught him how to manipulate the workings and mechanics of the guitar. CASPAR’s left-handed instrument is less of a nod to left-handed Hendrix and more of a technical improvement to his own playing, allowing for a stronger low end, better access to the volume control, and the vibrato bar, all of which gives CASPAR BRÖTZMANN MASSAKER‘s music an unparalleled dynamic range.
The Tribe was CASPAR BRÖTZMANN MASSAKER‘s first album. Recorded at Jost Gebers’ legendary jazz studio FMP in Berlin. To Gebers, who was far from being a fan of amplified music, BRÖTZMANN recalls, MASSAKER‘s music sounded “honest”. The iconic sleeve was designed by CASPAR BRÖTZMANN‘s father. Prior to this record, CASPAR honed his craft as a solo artist opening for the likes of Nick Cave. It is now reissued as it was originally released, remastered for LP and CD.
MASSAKER lineup for The Tribe:
Caspar Brötzmann – guitars/vocals
Eduardo Delgado Lopez – bass
Jon – drums
Julian Cope once stated that CASPAR BRÖTZMANN MASSAKER was, “The trio to end all power trios.” Like The Tribe, Black Axis was recorded at Jost Gebers’ FMP tudios in Berlin. Black Axis came to life in a rehearsal room so small with a ceiling so low that BRÖTZMANN, at nearly six-and-a-half feet tall, could barely stand up straight. The artwork was created by Brötzmann himself. The album is here reissued as it was originally release, remastered for 2xLP and CD.
MASSAKER lineup for Black Axis:
Caspar Brötzmann – guitars/vocals
Eduardo Delgado Lopez – bass
Frank Neumeier – Drums
https://southernlord.com/caspar-brotzmann-massaker-reissue-series-to-launch-in-january-2019-through-southern-lord-beginning-with-the-tribe-and-black-axis/
"Das fulminante Debüt des CASPAR BRÖTZMANN MASSAKERs aus dem Jahr 198/ - remastert. Die rohe Gewalt des Power-Trios wird von BRÖTZMANN in einer explosiven und exquisiten Beschwörung dirigiert, die HENDRIX'sche Schwingungen aufgreift und sie in eine harte deutsche Industrial-Atmosphäre versetzt."
|
2019 |
€18.00 |
|
| CASPAR, C.O. |
Pass the times |
CD |
Das Berliner Urgestein nach langer Zeit mit neuem Album – PASS THE TIMES ist ein monolithisches, metallisch dröhnendes Klangmonster, wo sich Strukturen zugunsten kontemplativer Fliess-sounds auflösen - die raumfüllenden, abstrakten industriellen tunes erscheinen in stetiger atmender Bewegung, mal fast meditativ ruhig um dann wieder in eruptive Noisescapes auszubrechen. Großartig !
The Berlin veteran after a long time with a new album – a monolithic, metallic droney sound-monster, where structures dissolve totally and make place for contemplative float-textures. The abstract industrialized tunes appear to be in a continous breathing movement, sometimes nearly meditatively silent, then again in breaking out eruptive noisescapes. Great !
|
2003 |
€13.00 |
|
| CELER |
All at once is what Eternity is |
mCD-R |
"celer is the sound, visual, literary, and artistic endeavor of the husband and wife duo of will long and danielle baquet-long (she sadly passed in july '09). celer fastly gained a big name in the ambient/experimental world thanks to exquisite self-releases and soon was approached by numerous international renowned labels such as infraction, and/oar, mystery sea, smallfish or spekk (a collaboration with mathieu ruhlmann). based upon strings, samples and field recordings, this 22min is another example of the simple beauty celer was able to create..." [label info]
www.taalem.com
"What Drone Records does with 7"s, does Taalem with 3"CDR releases. Quite a success and getting more and more great names added to the series. People that we know otherwise from the real CD releases, which aren't afraid to put something out on a 3"CDR. Celer for instance gained quite a reputation in a short time span. What I didn't know about Celer is that Danielle Baquet-Long, one half of Celer, passed away in July 2009 of heart failure. Since then no new works are created, and all works that are released now, are from the duo of Will Long and Danielle Baquet-Long, recorded before that. 'All At Once Is What Eternity Is' is a very fine piece, a signature Celer piece. Meandering drones, with some acoustic sounds in the early parts of the piece. Maybe the sound of crop fields in the wind, along with some bells and chimes. An excellent piece of music." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
https://taalem.bandcamp.com/album/all-at-once-is-what-eternity-is-alm-64
|
2010 |
€5.50 |
|
|
Sunlir |
CD |
"All music by Will Long and Danielle Baquet-Long
Recorded in 2005-2006 at home in Huntington Beach, California
Originally self-released as a limited, handmade edition
new master by m.a.tolosa, Madrid 2011
I am a frame.
I am the frame looking at me, sleeping.
I am a frame
In a dream crooked, at me.
I am a frame shrugging
Without movement.
I am hanging
In a triangle, a knot
Not a tie,
I am a frame.
Wall habitude.
I am the frame looking at me, sleeping
I am a frame
In a dream even, at you.
I am a frame off the wall
With movement; falling,.
I am crooked,
Spun off course by a hand,
The worth of suffering
Is in time, we place ourselves between
The moss of recency
[ Dani Baquet-Long ]" [label info/credits]
www.con-v.org
"The story of Celer is probably well-known by now, certainly if you have been reading these pages before: in a relatively short time span the duo of Will Long and Danielle Baquet-Long created a whole bunch of releases as Celer, all dealing, more or less, with what we can roughly 'drone' and 'atmospheric' music. Baquet-Long died suddenly in 2009 and it was decided by Long that no more music was to be released as Celer. Anything that comes out now as Celer is either old and unreleased and re-issues of older work, such as this release, which was originally a self-released CDR (thus they gain a status like Maeror Tri, who early 90s cassettes found their way on CD and CDR by now). What can we say about this music that we haven't said before? Nothing much I guess, but that doesn't mean I say anything about the quality of the music. Apparently Celer use a variety of instruments, although none are specified here (but it was on other releases) but these are transformed into abstract glacier like masses of sound, slowly moving and lowly humming, just as pretty much anything else I heard from Celer. Its hard to say if and what the differences are between this particular releases and the others I heard. Surely they are there but appear to be minor. When listening to this CD I was thinking about all of this. Surely there are people who like music to progress, slow, quick but inevitably moving to something else and there are people (in both cases people are consumers, not musicians themselves) who like things to remain the same, no matter how many releases an artist does, and this sometimes applies to musicians who release a lot, such as Fear Falls Burning, Francisco Lopez, Merzbow or Machinefabriek (to mention a few): all with a large dedicated group of fans and Celer has joined their ranks. Be it that no more new music will appear, with their back catalogue (which is indeed vast) filled with obscurities. They surely can see some interesting, re-mastered titles in the future. Me, I belong, perhaps more to the first group of consumers, those who like some things to change every now and then. That said, I thought 'Sunlir' was a pretty fine nocturnal listening thing." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
ZigZag |
CD |
"Several years ago while living in the United States, I became interested in the minimalist music of the 1960's and 1970's, and new wave of the early 1980's, with the steady pulses, the constant harmonies, and endless continuity. The music had a strong persistence, and while the listener can drift away from following it consciously, the rhythm stays grounded. In it there is something human, like a heartbeat.
At the time I had the idea to use this inspiration with my own music, giving the music a tempo, and a new pathway in a forward direction. I created Zigzag, and agreed to release the album through Spekk, but after several years, the project was delayed, and I went on to other projects, and the initial inspiration and concept disappeared.
In the summer of 2013, I found out that my wife and I would have our first child. Around this time, plans began to come together for the release of Zigzag. After missing the first few doctor's appointments, I was finally able to attend, and for the first time heard the baby's heartbeat. It seemed like such a fateful connection between the baby and the music. When new life begins, everything points toward the future." [label info]
www.spekk.net
|
2014 |
€16.50 |
|
| CHALK, ANDREW |
East of the Sun |
CD |
"...These recordings originally came out in 1994 as a cassette, released through Ora's in-house label, Ora being an early collective that revolved around Chalk, Colin Potter, and Darren Tate with occasional assistance from Jonathan Coleclough, mnortham, Lol Coxhill, and a handful of like-minded British drone enthusiasts. A few years later, the Italian label Hic Sunt Leones convinced Chalk to reissue the cassette in digital form. That CD version of East Of The Sun compressed the two sides of the cassette into a single 50 minute piece and was flushed out with some complementary dronescaping. Chalk was never happy with the Hic Sunt Leones version; and thus his reissue of the album returns to the original version found on the cassette, now gloriously remastered in its entirety. For those persnickety types, the 17 minutes or so which concluded the Hic Sunt Leones version is not here; but that is a minor loss compared to the pinnacle of drone-based minimalism found here.
Sure, Eno's ambient records On Land and Thursday Afternoon were milestones in the realm of ambient music, setting an impressionist context through which any number of the images, thoughts, and ideals could be imagined; but that strategy was perfected by Andrew Chalk on a couple of records. There was his ephemeral album Sumac in collaboration with Jonathan Coleclough, there was the first Mirror album Eye Of The Storm, and there's East Of The Sun. Very dark without becoming unbearably cold, East Of The Sun is a constant bloom of nocturnal frequencies, whose origins may be thoroughly blurred bass guitar or possibly some resonant artifact from Chalk's acoustic work in Organum. Regardless, the resultant drones drift with no beginning and no end, merely rippling, reflecting, and turning upon themselves in a perpetual, very slow motion turbulence. Leaves tumbling in autumnal twilight. Fog spilling over coastal hills. Moonlight tickling the agitated surface of a pond. Any of these organic references for meditation on simplicity to reach the sublime and the profound could easily apply to Chalk's East Of The Sun. Not just recommended, this is required listening." [Aquarius Records]
|
2014 |
€17.50 |
|
|
Ghosts of Nakhodka |
LP |
"You may be thinking, there was an album by Andrew Chalk with this exact same title. And you would be correct but for one small distinction - the 2009 album was called Ghost Of Nakhodka and this 2015 album is Ghosts Of Nakhodka. Ah, the difference of plurality! The album is pegged as a sister to that 2009 album though Chalk has implemented a different set of tools on this one. Instead of piano and guitar laced with placid droning effects that was found on the singular Ghost album, here he's using a monophonic synthesizer occasionally dappled with field recordings and a few choice effects.
It becomes very clear this a Chalk record through the albums' impressionist fragments spilled across 13 tracks, each rich with his languid sense of space and his elegant timing in placing this free-roaming kosmische blorp here and that swollen ambient blur over there. Brian Eno's Discreet Music and Apollo would be the closest references to what Chalk is up to here, though his production methods are qualitatively rough hewn in the synth manifestation of melancholic nostalgia with little of the portent that Eno imbues into his work. The miniatures presented are exquisite jewels coming from a craftsman keen on showcasing his work to a select few and within an deliberately intimate setting. It would seem far out of Chalk's character to broadcast works such as these at the Guggenheim or even the ICA. Instead, a humble English cottage with a sod roof and a console-sized cathode ray television as the only means of transmission. Ah, the wonders of Andrew Chalk never cease." [Aquarius Records]
www.farawaypress.info
|
2015 |
€19.50 |
|
| |
The River that flows into the Sands |
LP |
Entirely handmade art edition, heavyweight card sleeve with tipped-on images, every copy features unique and original monotype artwork-printed by hand, no two copies are alike. 180 gramme clear vinyl with full-colour labels.
The strikingly radiant masterwork The River that Flows into the Sands receives its first vinyl airing thanks to the wonderful Faraway Press imprint. Exploring oneiric and ghostly guitar soundscapes, Andrew Chalk centers his attention on the guitar and develops a series of meditations that gives his music new depth. While all drone music has a drifting quality to it, The River that Flows Into the Sands is worthy of that description for a different reason. The expanses that normally come to mind when I listen to Chalk are gone on this album and replacing those images is a sense of continuous movement. The bowed instruments and contracting moans seem weightless and inconsequential, floating away into nothing, but leaving a path for other sounds to follow. Like a fountain each drone bubbles up and slowly fades away or evolves into a new drone and each time a sound disappears, there is a new voice there to replace it. Multiple listens will reveal, however, that Chalk really hasn't left that much silence on the record. That illusion is generated via the way Chalk mixes very distinct melodic features with fairly constant tones. As they move about together, a sense of space is opened up that may not actually exist. The effects are as real as possible, though, and there is little room for doubt that this one of the most unique albums in Chalk's discography.
[Soundohm]
|
2018 |
€30.00 |
|
| CHALK, ANDREW & DAISUKE SUZUKI |
山と梨 = Yama To Nashi |
CD |
Entirely handmade at Faraway Press (England)
Debossed design and letterpress printing, with an insert.
Recorded in Japan and England in 2016
“Somewhere in that blue sky
where you hear the sound of the waves,
I think I lost something incredible.
Standing at Lost and Found
in a transparent station of the past,
I became all the sadder”
-Sadness, Tanikawa Shuntaro
Our third full-length album in fifteen years..
"Andrew Chalk and Daisuke Suzuki have known each other for many years now, as Suzuki runs the Siren label out of Japan and had released Sumac, Chalk's masterful collaboration with Jonathan Coleclough. Suzuki is also responsible for one of the very few published interviews with the somewhat reclusive Chalk. Their friendship certainly runs deep, and out of this friendship came the impetus to collaborate once again (both Suzuki and Chalk had contributed to the now defunct Ora project well over a decade ago). The enveloping opiated drone wrapping around cold field recordings of arctic winds racing across a mountain becomes the centerpiece, reflecting just how good Andrew Chalk's sounds are. Entirely handmade sleeves, Yama to nashi (Mountain & Pear) features delicately embossed and debossed paper techniques, with letterpress texts (in Japanese), housed in a heavy card gatefold sleeve of mini LP size. Insert included with translations to English language." [Soundohm]
"The work of Andrew Chalk and Daisuke Suzuki seems as if it has been intertwined forever, so I was somewhat startled to discover that this is their first new collaborative release in almost a decade. As befits the re-convergence of these two masters of understated tranquility, Yama to Nashi feels like a relaxed and unhurried reunion of old friends rather than a bold new vision. As such, it is a somewhat minor (if lovely) addition to the Siren/Faraway Press oeuvre that mostly lingers in familiar territory, but there are a couple of divergent gems lurking amidst these new pieces that longtime fans will not want to miss.
For the most part, the languorous and glistening opening piece ("Threads From The Milky Way") sets the tone for the entire album, establishing the overarching aesthetic of sketchlike vignettes of dreamlike, liquescent bliss. It is difficult to tell exactly how Chalk and Suzuki are getting their blurred and slippery tones, but I believe there is a processed electric piano at the heart of these recordings. As the album unfolds, however, Chalk and Suzuki start to drift further and further away from their lazily glimmering and rippling sound pools and both the mood and the palette start to deepen (and darken). The first real shadows start to fall across Yama on the third piece, "Suzume," which casts a mournful spell by weaving discordant harmonies from glacially swelling strings and drifting smears of synth tones. Curiously, that veil of sadness dispels almost as suddenly and unexpectedly as it appeared, as the wonderful "Shelf on Wall" shakes off its initial moody reverie to blossom into a surreal field recording of a Japanese parade. From there, the piece continues to be a pleasantly inventive and evocative surprise, as the parade seems to partially fade away, but leaves a lovely and lyrical flute melody in its wake that dreamily drifts through a woozy fog of gentle arpeggios, crashing waves, and a few lingering tendrils of the raucous festivities (marching men, clattering percussion, children's voices). To my ears, it is the album's true centerpiece (conveniently located in the center of the album, no less), but it is not without strong competition from the album's final stretch.
Although it is considerably shorter, I am also quite fond of "A Sentry on The Roof," which augments its blearily impressionistic cascades of watery electric piano tones with the loud and fitful buzzing of a large bee. That bee makes a surprising amount of difference, which highlights an unusual trend the runs throughout Yama to Nashi: the purely instrumental pieces feel like the soundtrack to a gorgeous sunrise or seaside vista that I am not seeing, while the pieces that prominently feature field recording are considerably more effective at drawing me into the scene. I am a bit curious about why Chalk and Suzuki did not pursue that elegant blurring together of swooning, hazy ambiance and crisp, vibrant textures from the natural world more, as it definitely feels like that synthesis elevates this collaboration into something more transcendent and unique when it happens. If I had to guess, however, I suspect that the reason is that most of Yama to Nashi consists of Chalk and Suzuki's stronger improvisations that occurred on the road to composing the album's epic closing title piece. On one hand, "Yama To Nashi" is not radically different from the rest of the album, as it is built from gently tumbling arpeggios and warmly radiant washes of synthesizer (though there are some buried bird noises hiding in the mix). There is, however, an unexpectedly strong motif resembling a shuddering, digitalized bird call that periodically tears through the placid idyll. That certainly livens thing up, though it is not quite as dramatic as it sounds. The real difference is mostly just time: Chalk and Suzuki allow "Yama to Nashi" to languorously stretch out for over 20 minutes and that suits it beautifully. Duration makes a world of difference with music in this vein: a glimpse of heaven is nice, but getting a chance to linger in it is by far a superior experience.
As is true of most Andrew Chalk albums (both with and without Suzuki) there is very little to grumble about with this album: Chalk and Suzuki have a long history of making lovely and lush music together and Yama to Nashi ends a long hiatus to bring the world more of it. That pleases me. I am, however, the hapless victim of my own high expectations, as I hoped this welcome reunion would result in an enduring classic. Yama is not an enduring classic, though "Shelf on Wall" seems like a strong step towards a more ambitious and immersive future opus. Hopefully it will not take another decade for that to happen, but I am sure I can find some way to keep busy while I wait if it does. In the meantime, Yama to Nashi is a solid to return to form that adds one more quietly beautiful longform work to the Chalk/Suzuki canon." [Anthony D'Amico / Brainwashed] |
2018 |
€16.00 |
|
| CHAMBERS, IAIN |
The Eccentric Press |
LP |
Two musique concrète symphonies of industrial sound, in which musical relationships emerge from sounds more often regarded as noise. All the sounds were recorded by Sounds of Changes, a pan-EU project capturing obsolete and endangered industrial and domestic sounds.
It’s hard to know when a sound is endangered – we never know what technological changes are around the corner. My work as a composer is concerned with environmental sounds and the sound of industry and machines. I use these sounds as the compositional building blocks of my music, and manipulate and compose with them. The source material is recognisable throughout, even when manipulated, juxtaposed or overlaid.
Sounds are disappearing without us even noticing. From the gradual evolution of everyday tech sounds to the sounds of old Routemaster buses, whistling kettles being replaced by hot water filters, we can’t notice the changes while we’re in the midst of them. Sounds of Changes is an epic project documenting these endangered sounds before it’s too late.
The Eccentric Press / Die Exzenterpresse focuses on recordings in Germany, made with the LWL-Industriemuseum in Dortmund. The sinister opening atmosphere of Wuppertaler Schwebebahn Station in western Germany gives way to the rattling tones of a button sewing machine. We’re in an industrial space soundtracked by machines. The chugging rhythm of a steelwork furnace is interrupted by the punch of a time clock. Pitched material is overlaid to create unexpected harmonies, whilst technology from different eras is coerced into a propulsive rhythm. This piece was commissioned and broadcast by Westdeutcher Rundfunk, Cologne on 9th April, 2016, and was a finalist in that year’s Prix Palma Ars Acustica.
Maudslay Engine was commissioned by ABC Radio National, Australia in 2016, and draws on recordings from Sweden, Belgium, Poland and the UK. Interlocking movements form a 20 minute composition, beginning with a Saab fighter jet, and ending with the eponymous 1838 steam engine built for Kew Bridge. In between, the background pitch of a metal cutter is shaped into a high frequency melody interrupted by a mortise machine. A stray pitched metallic sound from a linotype machine is transformed into a melodic interlude, superseded by the drone of a grain dryer – a huge machine that creates animal feed. The last melodic movement derives from the start-up sound from a vintage 1991 IBM desktop computer, before a fire truck siren closes the piece.
|
2019 |
€23.50 |
|
| CHAMELEONS |
Script of the Bridge - 25th Anniversary Edition |
do-CD |
www.blueapplemusic.co.uk
|
2008 |
€18.50 |
|
| CHAOTALION |
Tannenholzrauch |
CD |
"Dark fir woods and weird pentagram-esque runes on the cover: How can the contents of this album not be a clichéd, possibly black-metal influenced rendition of the idiotic “stay true to the soil” creed? Well, Alexander Marco has succeeded in tricking us all. His music on this album under the Chaotalion moniker is a vast expanse of breathing, pulsating ambient dreamscapes, cleverly evoking certain black metal genre elements, but totally eliding its ideology.
Marco uses guitar and electronics to create the music on this album, but his textural approach owes a good deal to his work with not-so-musical sounds. A regular participant in the Noise Factory sessions hosted by Y-Ton-G, Marco is also schooled in musique concrète and assemblage of found sounds, and this rather constructivist approach gives this release a refreshingly sober, clear, kitsch-free touch. Actually, the album, with all its packaging and teutonic titles, might well be a conceptual ‘joke’ on certain ‘black’ aesthetics, but the music is too well-crafted to allow for an easy interpretation as a simple parody.
File under: ambient" [label info]
www.attenuationcircuit.de
"Attenuation Circuit Records have been rumbling around for a while. It’s mindblowing how much effort Sascha puts up into his releases, shows, tours, and his activism on the contemporary avant-garde scene skyrocketed the label to the top. It’s no wonder why this is the case considering the number of releases Attenuation Circuit has managed to publish in previous years. The numbers speak for themselves. Tannenholdrauch by Chaotalion is just a tiny particle in the label’s vast universe, but the significant gear on the modern dark ambient scene. The album comprises of nine cleverly layered dark ambient numbers that burst with eerie atmospherics. These eerie atmospherics consist of a wide array of spacey sounds, subtle synthetic drones, occasional guitar experimentations, and delicate non-organic noises. Chaotalion uses calm tones as overtures for his compositions, perpetuated by simplistic ambient keys. The situation becomes complex when the artist includes the mentioned elements to enhance the overall listening experience. The transitions between monotone and polytone sequences are nicely composed, so Tannenholdrauch keeps attention thought complete sessions. There’s a certain accentuation of composite darkness showcased through loads of assorted half-tones. However, Chaotalion maintains a dosage of melody that sounds intentionally odd, but pleasant to the listening apparatus. The artist has also included pulsing sequences at some points to retain listeners’ attention during the exhausting monotone segments. Still, these monotone segments are incorporated to maintain a dark, depressive, obscure ambiance that lurks around throughout the complete album. If that was the intention of the Chaotalion, than the artist unquestionably nailed in his intent to depict macabre imagery through Tannenholdrauch. The album comes with minimalistic photography of the woods, characteristic for depressive black metal bands, and it includes stylized pentagram logo, which serves as a Chaotalion’s symbol. Tannenholdrauch carries the dosage of depressiveness characteristic for the vast majority of dark ambient works, but this particular one provides a more eerie atmosphere than the other artists. Tannenholdrauch has come as a compact disc, and it can be purchased at the Attenuation Circuit Bandcamp page." [Thoughts Words Action] |
2015 |
€8.00 |
|
| CHARTIER, RICHARD |
Continue |
CD |
With his new album “Continue” Richard Chartier presents four minimalist compositions with a focus on deep drones and apparent silences. The music is subtle, delicate and at moments fragile. Full, with details, like delicate patterns that unfold like ripples on water.
With a keen eye on details the compositions reflect Chartier’s earlier work, but also asks new questions.
When is the creative process done? Is art ever finished or does it continue to develop? And how does the listener participate in this? Will they give it full attention using a headphone to hear the smallest detail, or will it be played in the background? How will they perceive the work?
Richard Chartier’s words on Continue:
Over the past few years I’ve been revisiting materials for several long form works: recomposing, restructuring, re-editing, re-evaluating…until they started to break down into separate pieces and segments.
All the while I wonder for each, “Is this done? Is this complete? Why can I not allow this to be finished?” and what is it that draws me back into them.
What determines the completion of sound, of composition, of experience? What determines when it fades—when it’s pressed onto a substrate?
One of the most constant forces in our lives, the sun, is always shifting, undulating, sending forth energy. To us on the ground, it might look basically the same every day, but we don’t notice the subtle changes to its surface. It has no true completion of form.
Upon release, I wonder if these are completed forms. I already feel I need to rework them. Aren’t we unfinished forms, too? Even the forms of recorded aural experience continue to shift as the listener re-interprets and re-contextualizes them in their environments and playback.
The four movements on ‘Continue’ present four variations on the idea of completion.
https://movingfurniturerecords.bandcamp.com/album/continue
|
2020 |
€12.50 |
|
| CHASE, BRIAN |
Drums & Drones |
CD & DVD |
"A first for Pogus! This fantastic new 2 disc set by Brian Chase, drummer for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, contains both a CD of the music and a DVD of the music with videos by New York video artists Ursula Scherrer and Erik Z. This recording is exactly what it says it is : drums and drones - based on Just Intonation tuning theory: A tuning system modeled after a naturally occurring acoustic phenomenon known as overtones, the subsidiary tones which exist in an ordered series from an established primary tone. Stemming from this single primary tone an infinite amount of overtones can be derived. As Chase explains: Drums and percussion has seen some but not much exploration in Just Intonation, yet they are inherently designed to represent it as such: a drum head is tuned to a single pitch, one frequency, and resonates with rich harmonic detail. From there the overtone series can be uncovered and expressed. The Drums and Drones project deals directly with approaching drums and percussion from the standpoint of Just Intonation. For Chase, the genesis of this project is outlined in this brief excerpt from his liner notes: The Drums and Drones project initially came about from inspiration by La Monte Young and Marian Zazeela's Dream House installation in TriBeCa, NYC. I had spent a good amount of time, volunteering there as a 'monitor' someone who minded the installation and greeted visitors. The duration of my shift, about 4-5 hours, was mostly spent sitting directly outside of the gallery space, listening and feeling the immense sound pulsing through the door and walls, and reading up on the principles of Just Intonation and the historical background of La Monte, Marian, and their cohorts of the NYC experimental art scene. I accumulated countless hours, too, sitting in the space itself, embracing the impact of the finely tuned sound and light vibrations. The tones would dance in my head, hypnotic and entrancing, and I would hear tones that previously seemed veiled which were now resonating loudly and clearly somewhere between the air, my ear, and my brain. I was mesmerized by the power of this physiological experience. With the pieces that were developed for a Feb. 2007 concert, a starting point was formed for what was to grew into a recording project. I had the idea of approaching the project as being a series of etudes, each one a study in the different ways of the application of the Just Intonation tuning theory to drums and percussion. Eventually I did develop a basic method which laid the groundwork for most of what was to come with D & D: 1) tune the drum head to a specific frequency 2) mic the drum and run the sound into a computer 3) with recording software, use very precise, a.k.a. surgical, equalization to emphasize and boost the frequencies of the drum's overtones. Also as part of the setup was a loop pedal, but at this stage it was used more for live performance. Another important method that I developed at this stage was getting sustained feedback tones generated between the resonating drumhead and the stereo speakers. To do this, I would boost a specific frequency on the EQ corresponding to the fundamental or a low harmonic, and this would encourage the drumhead to vibrate at that frequency. A feedback loop would get going between the drum and the speakers. Often times I would need to raise or lower the pitch of the drumhead ever so slightly to 'dial in' the tuning of the feedback tone. Each etude developed at this time would highlight a different set of overtones and showcase a specific playing technique. Brian Chase is a drummer and composer living in Brooklyn, NY. Growing up on Long Island, he started taking private drum lessons when he was 5 that led to earning a Bachelors of Music from the Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio. Though he works in a variety of contexts, Brian is probably best known as a member of the rock group Yeah Yeah Yeahs, a band that has toured extensively throughout the world and has been nominated for two Grammys. Other recorded projects include the Seconds, a minimalist punk rock band that has two albums on the 5rc label, a duo ensemble with saxophonist Seth Misterka that has a record on the Heathen Skulls label, and Jeremiah Lockwood's Sway Machinery with a record on JDub. Performance collaborations have included Matt Welch, Jessica Pavone, Mary Halvorson, Stefan Tcherepnin, Alan Licht and Okkyung Lee. Brian is also interested in the Just Intonation tuning theory and is heavily influenced by the work of La Monte Young introduced to him by guitarist Jon Catler." [label info]
www.pogus.com
"The next release is the first DVD release by Pogus, with the same music on CD. I went to straight to the DVD. Brian Chase is the drummer for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (which name I may have come across, but surely not their music, as far as I know), a rock group. I must admit I didn't know what to expect from a disc in which the title already tells us what's going to happen. But exactly how drums create drones, or how the two are going to be married, is of course the big question here. Inspired by LaMonte Young and Marian Zazeela, Chase started to tune the drum head to a specific frequency and 'mic the drum and the sound into a computer' and then using software with very precise equalization to emphasize and boost the frequencies of the drum's overtones. In a concert situation he would also use a loop pedal. That was one starting point, the other was to have drum heads resonate with feedback loops between drum and speakers. None of this is actually be seen on the DVD, and the images, created by Ursual Scherrer and Erik Z, which are mostly abstract affairs of multi-layered images, that fit the music rather well. In many of these pieces one hardly has the idea one is listening to anything that is even remotely drum like, except perhaps 'Stick Shot Harmonics Drone', which is also one of the pieces in which the video seems to be running along with the music - in sync. But many of the other are like sustaining tones of sometimes sine wave like sounds, waving slowly and majestically about. If you listen closely you may recognize a bit of drum here and there, maybe more apparent if you play the CD and not be distracted by the visuals. As someone who loves drones, I must say I was quite taken by this release." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2013 |
€18.00 |
|
| CHASSAGNARD, JEROME & JEREMIE MATHES |
Outer Dialog |
CD |
"with this release french artist jérôme chassagnard continues the concept work he began on the 2014 album 'inner dialog', a reflection of his personal and artistic mind. for the creation of 'outer dialog' jérôme decided to work with someone he musically and personally admired, a collaboration that perfectly symbolizes the change from acting as an introvert towards a more extroverted approach. for this reason he worked with musician, composer and good friend jérémie mathes. jérémie had already participated on 'inner dialog' and had a breadth of experience as a solo artist himself, and he was able to add a number of different musical points of view to jérôme's already detailed concept.
the music on this album is a logical continuation of its predecessor as well as conceptually expressing the other side of the coin: ambient electronica and shoegaze spheres counteract with intense rhythm-oriented idm textures while the sound is focused on extroverted beat patterns. a fascinating interaction between soothing beauty and stirring, powerful force.
'outer dialog' is intended as a partner to ‘inner dialog’, to meld both albums as one associated work, illustrated by a correspondent artwork style, typography, and an identical number of tracks. an engaging opus which captures every bit of your attention - captivating music with an edge."
https://hymen-records.bandcamp.com/album/outer-dialog |
2020 |
€6.00 |
|
| CHASSE, LOREN |
Characters at the Water Margin |
CD |
"These recordings were made at the edge of Washington state’s Olympic Rainforest, where the Hoh River meets the Pacific Ocean. The point of entry to this landscape, named Oil City on the map, is no more than a place where the road widens before coming to an end at a trailhead. Just north of the road, through the trees, and on the homestead of the late Captain Hank who one day disappeared at sea, is the ghost of an oil rig and some comings and goings along a plank road. Early 20th century settlers had been ambitious to start an oil industry here but it never took off. Chalá-at–or Hoh–legend describes a race of upside down people who once lived on this shore and went about their domestic lives rather inefficiently until a transformer-god, K’wati, set them upright. Can it be inferred, then, that the Chalá-at also listened at ground level?
Massive cedar, Sitka spruce, and Douglas fir logs pile up here on a dense litter of granitic pebbles and driftwood, all worn smooth by the sea. The surf resonates in countless hollows across this implied architecture. Elevated walkways bridge the sea wrack and lead to secluded rooms with makeshift furniture and fire rings on floors of stone and sand. A dense rainforest rises steeply behind this beach. Human passage between Oil City and the mouth of the river, and at the jut of rock on the way to Jefferson Cove, is strictly regulated by a fearsome tide. The animals of this seashore, though rarely seen, have upon each and every surface left a shadow scattered." [Loren Chasse, January 2014]
"Now here's a name I haven't heard in quite a while, Loren Chasse. His last work before this one 'The Footpath' on Naturestrip, which didn't make it to these pages, I think. That was in 2008. What Chasse was up to in the meantime I don't know. Maybe other, non-musical activities required his attention. Here he has a work of nine pieces of sounds he recorded at the 'edge of Washington state's Olympic Rainforest where the Hoh River meets the Pacific Ocean'. This point is called oil City, but the oil industry never took off. I must admit I have no idea what I am hearing here. Yes, there might be the sound of water, maybe birds, but what else? That is hard to say. It sounds like Chasse has been rumbling through the woods, shuffling logs, pushing stones and such like. Likewise I have no idea to what extent there is something done after these sounds are recorded. Is there anything done post-recording? Some kind of sound processing? Digital and/or analogue? Hard to say. Very few moments I thought it was, and then perhaps not at all. Nowhere, never. All of these things I was thinking about while playing this release. Lots of questions, but altogether it make up for some truly fascinating music. It's partly like an audio diary, of someone exploring an area full of lumber, small creeks, birds and searching for a hide out, to spend the night. Setting up camp, listening to wildlife somewhere, nocturnal humming and crafting a boat. I might be all wrong actually. It makes up quite a fascinating release altogether. Quite intense, quite unsettling even, but also quite beautiful. Great stuff." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€14.00 |
|
| CHASSE, LOREN & MICHAEL NORTHAM |
The Otolith |
CD |
58 Minuten voller Wunder und Geheimnis! Mehrere Jahre haben LOREN CHASSE (THUJA, etc.) und MICHAEL NORTHAM eine unglaubliche Fülle von Klängen zusammengetragen (Field Recordings, Aussen-Objekt-Aufnahmen, Instrumentalsounds) und daraus auf acht Stücken Räume voller konkreter Details und dröhnender Sphären erschaffen, es tönt so soft und obertonreich und doch nie beliebig, Originalsounds bleiben oft im dunkeln aber betören stets in höchstem Maße. Das ist "organischer Ambient" oder "Microsound Musique Concrete" in Vollendung!
"The recordings of Loren Chasse and Michael Northam begin and end with the great outdoors. Yet, the well-documented wanderlust of these two kindred sound artists is only part of the equation. Field recordings of wind, water, and stone intertwine and hybridize within private rituals of droning psychedelic ragas that return as a folklore reiterating the mystery of the natural world around us. Through his numerous contributions to the multi-faceted Jewelled Antler as well his solo work, Chasse has long postulated the microphone as an extension of his ear, which magnifies and probes the surface of the earth for a tactile grit that permeates all of the sounds that he generates. Northam claims his inspiration from vast geographies, microscopic detail, and severe weather, which he compacts through various techniques to explore what is between improvisation and acousmatic composition. Both Chasse and Northam entertain such notions through an alchemy of arcane instruments: autoharps, ouds, flutes, bells, gongs, bowed wires, harmonium, and Northam's magnetic table harp. The Otolith is the result of several years of work, with sounds gathered collectively in the San Francisco Bay Area and throughout Europe. The album speaks as a bramble of fence wire and chaparral scrub oak, acquiring an unkempt collection of rubbish, cobwebs, insects, and soil within its tangle. As the wind pushes in one direction, this mass emits a quite if scratchy melody as if the ghost from a forgotten song; but when the wind changes directions, it bellows a rasping din of metal and vine cracking against itself. This sodden calliope tumbles into a miasma of droning atmospheres, softly rasped distortion, and very subtly rendered lulabies lurking deep within the overgrowth." [label info]
" Throughout the Marin Headlands just north of the Golden Gate Bridge, the coastal mountains are dotted with countless bunkers which were built during World War II in anticipation of the Japanese invasion that never came. Nearly 70 years later, these bunkers have been weathered by wind, fog, rain, and of course the sodden folks who tromp through the Headlands on a daily basis. These concrete structures with small portals facing the Pacific all have amazing reverberant qualities; and it shouldn't be a surprise that the more frequented bunkers and passageways inevitably echo with the sound of children dying to hear their own voices tossed back to them. The Headlands have been a favored destinations for Loren Chasse, who has sought many of the lesser known and lesser travelled environs for field recordings and jam sessions that would eventually work their way
into all things Jewelled Antler (Thuja, Franciscan Hobbies, The Blithe Sons, Of, Ov, etc.). In his recordings, Chasse extracts a profound mystery and grand sense of wonder from that echo, the bunker's grit, the soft recurrence of surf bleeding through those walls, and the distant bleat of a foghorn.
Back in 2005, Chasse took his fellow globetrotting wanderer Michael Northam to the Battery Townsley where the two set up long
string wires and various handheld instruments to begin a series of recordings which took a few years to complete after Northam left
California. The two did manage to meet up once again in Estonia, there exploring the Soviet industrial ruins that pock the Estonian landscape with similar intentions. Out of the bramble of overgrown weeds, rebar, concrete, dirt, rock, wind, and water, Chasse and Northam straddle those psychedelic leanings of Jewelled Antler and the more studied aspects of minimalism.
The Otolith begins with an acoustic clamor, as if billions of iron filings were brushing against each other under the direction of a
couple of hefty magnets, before shifting into a harmonium blur of sustained tones hinting at a melody well beneath these clouds of tousled energy. Softer drones and Aeolian fragments flutter forth out of bowed strings and gently tapped gongs amidst a golden hue of opiated atmospherics. Scrabblings across the surfaces of leaves, rocks, mud, and metal fuse with field recordings of wind and water, as a continuing demonstration of Chasse's alchemy with naturalist sound to bring forth stately ragas and dreamtime psychedelic lullabies.
Chasse and Northam work amazingly well together, having produced this thoroughly amazing album. Think Popul Vuh, Parson Sound, Pandit Pran Nath, Harry Bertoia, and Eric La Casa. Totally beautiful and mesmerizing." [Aquarius Records review]
www.helenscarsdale.com
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| CHATHAM, RHYS |
Outdoor Spell |
CD |
"Rhys Chatham has trailblazed a course through late 20th century music, equally aplomb in post-minimalist composition as he is in punk. Not since Roebling laid his span across the East River has there been an artist who builds bridges in both how we hear music and how we can appreciate art. His latest album, Outdoor Spell, is a further document in that direction. Here has has eschewed 100 guitars, or even himself playing a single guitar, for the trumpet and voice, both electrified and dry. www.myspace.com/rhyschatham" [label info]
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| CHAUVEAU, SYLVAIN |
Singular Forms (Sometimes Repeated) |
CD |
"Stripped: dekonstruierte "Popsongs" des französischen Elektronikers.
Es ist kaum zu glauben, dass zwischen Sylvain Chauveaus letztem Album "Down To The Bone" und "Singular Forms (Sometimes Repeated)" ganze fünf Jahre liegen. Dazwischen gab’s Reissues, diverse Kollaborationen und Soundtrack-Arbeiten, dennoch ließ sich Chauveau Zeit, bis seine Ideen die Reife hatten, umgesetzt und auf Tonträger gebannt zu werden. Die Depeche-Mode-Songs, die er auf "Down To The Bone" erkundete, brachten ihn auf die Idee, ein Album mit Songs aufzunehmen. In vielerlei Hinsicht ist "Singular Forms (Sometimes Repeated)" wie ein normales Album mit Hooks und Melodien konstruiert. Dennoch dekonstruierte Chauveau die bekannten Formen auf ihr Grundlevel. Vokalpassagen fallen aus den sparsamen Klavierarrangements wie Äpfel im Herbst. So wie Carsten Nicolai und Ryuichi Sakamoto klassische Musik dekonstruierten, hat sich Chauveau vorgenommen, die Wurzeln der Popmusik freizulegen. Jedes Stück klingt zunächst so, als könne mit ihm ein Drei-Minuten-Pop-Stück beginnen, bevor dann alle Teile allmählich wegbrechen. Eine herausfordernde, intensive Hörerfahrung." [label info / Indigo]
"It is hard to believe that five years have passed since Sylvain Chauveau’s last ‘proper’ album. Of course there have been re-issues peppering the years since ‘Down To The Bone’, as well as more than a few collaborations and soundtrack appearances, but Sylvain has purposefully waited to allow his ideas to come to fruition. On mentioning his new album to me a few years ago, Sylvain commented that he didn’t think it would appeal to everyone and that he wanted to take a fresh direction. The Depeche Mode songs he had explored on ‘Down To The Bone’ had given him ideas he felt he needed to explore, and ‘Singular Forms (Sometimes Repeated)’ is his attempt at an album of ‘songs’.
In many ways, ‘Singular Forms (Sometimes Repeated’) is constructed the way albums used to be – it is compact and filled with vocal hooks and melodies, yet Sylvain has deconstructed the musical forms he grew up listening to and reduced them to their base level. Vocal snippets fall through the stereo field and his signature piano motifs splutter and cough through processed digital hiccups. As Carsten Nicolai and Ryuichi Sakamoto deconstructed classical music, Sylvain attempts here to study and dissolve the roots of popular music. Each piece feels like it could have started as a three-minute pop sing-along before the accompaniments were stripped away and the component parts reduced to merely a backbone.
‘Singular Forms (Sometimes Repeated)’ is a daring and challenging listening experience. The widescreen theatrics of Sylvain’s previous work have all but disappeared, leaving an album that is stark and incredibly beautiful. It is an album rooted in a love of art and music, both minimal and mainstream and celebrates Sylvain’s influences. One listen might only reveal surface details, but listen again and you will find much, much more." [label info]
www.typerecords.com
|
2010 |
€15.50 |
|
| |
Singular Forms (Sometimes Repeated) |
LP |
"It is hard to believe that five years have passed since French composer Sylvain Chauveau's last "proper" album. Of course, there have been re-issues peppering the years since Down To The Bone, as well as more than a few collaborations and soundtrack appearances, but Sylvain has purposefully waited to allow his ideas to come to fruition. The Depeche Mode songs he had explored on Down To The Bone had given him ideas he felt he needed to explore, and Singular Forms (Sometimes Repeated) is his attempt at an album of "songs." In many ways, this album is constructed the way albums used to be -- it is compact and filled with vocal hooks and melodies, yet Sylvain has deconstructed the musical forms he grew up listening to and reduced them to their base level. Vocal snippets fall through the stereo field and his signature piano motifs splutter and cough through processed digital hiccups. As Carsten Nicolai and Ryuichi Sakamoto deconstructed classical music, Sylvain attempts here to study and dissolve the roots of popular music. Each piece feels like it could have started as a 3-minute pop sing-along before the accompaniments were stripped away and the component parts reduced to merely a backbone. Singular Forms (Sometimes Repeated) is a daring and challenging listening experience. The widescreen theatrics of Sylvain's previous work have all but disappeared, leaving an album that is stark and incredibly beautiful. It is an album rooted in a love of art and music, both minimal and mainstream and celebrates Sylvain's influences. One listen might only reveal surface details, but listen again and you will find much, much more." [label info]
|
2010 |
€16.50 |
|
| CHEN, TANIA & STEVE BERESFORD |
Ointment |
CD |
Tania Chen: objects, toys, violin, piano
Steve Beresford: objects, electronics, toys,
trumpet, water
Pieces beginning with 'C' recorded by Tim Fletcher at The Bonnington, Vauxhall, London on December 18 2002. Event organised by Adam and Jonathan Bohman.
All other pieces recorded by Steve Beresford in west London - pieces beginning with 'L' on August 7 2003 and the rest on June 12 2003. All pieces composed by Tania Chen and Steve Beresford. Edited by Steve Beresford in March 2004.
Not to rub it in, but this is a very effective fast-acting selection from two of England's finest sonic alchemists. Applied liberally to the ears, 'Ointment' will both soothe and alarm you. Tania Chen and Steve Beresford coax a galaxy of timbres from toys and unidentified objects to produce a series of astonishing tableaux.
The album commences with the monastic 'Gel', a stinging vesper for rasp and strigil. We are wheeled into the phosphene diorama of 'Lotion', awash with images of giant ants, ducks and a campfire idyll. 'Serum' is administered,
seemingly innocuous, but then run through with a desert laser like blue cheese, it scrubs up a storm. The title track is shaken and stirred. Dextrose organs sugar the espionage.
In the aftermath there is 'Balm', an aquatic fanfare with lemon notes and a hint of playdough. 'Liniment' evokes traffic-smeared London. It is essentially a road work. A suburban ballad for mandrill, cricket and toffee guitar. 'Embrocation' steams forth, ideal for the brushing (and flossing) of teeth, it is hygienic and brief. The seasonal downstroke of 'Demulcent' counts the rings around it's carbonated core. Regular music with a soft touch.
The last two squirts of 'Ointment' are live recordings. 'Cerate' begins as a gentle seduction, waxing rustic before stiffening at the conclusion. 'Chrism' puts the funk into unction, it marks time and pierces austerity, the rhythms played out on a leash.
Chen and Beresford are quick-change artists on the fly. 'Ointment' captures them. Side effects for the listener? A sharpening of the senses which may persist for some time after the album has finished.
(Jonathan Bohman)
TANIA CHEN: pianist of the younger generation, Tania Chen, is fast becoming a leading exponent of contemporary piano music. She studied at the Royal College of Music and pursued advanced studies with Stephen Coombs and Artur Pizarro in London. She continued her postgraduate studies, specialising in contemporary music with acclaimed contemporary pianist, John Tilbury, and was awarded an MMus with Distinction from Goldsmiths College, University of London.
Tania is a recent recipient of the Shelley Scholarship in Performing Arts, enabling her to undertake performance projects in Rome and Venice. She has recently performed in masterclasses with Mtslav Rostropovich and has recorded pieces by Cornelius Cardew with Apartment House for the Matchless label. She has worked closely with Earle Brown, Yuji Takahashi, Terry Riley, Michael Parsons, Andrew Poppy, Laurence Crane, and James Saunders amongst others, and has given many performances in London, Japan and Europe. Tania has recently played music by Chris Newman for piano and voice and she has also written her own music which is composed as well as improvised for piano, electronic sounds and voice.
|
2004 |
€6.00 |
|
| CHORD |
Flora |
CD |
"Neuer Drone-Monolith bestehend aus Kyle Benjamin (guitarist for Chicago´s Unfortunaut), Jason Hoffman (a.k.a. darkwave composer Anatole), Trevor de Brauw (of Chicago instrumentalists Pelican) und Phil Dole (of über-dronists X-Bax). Folgende Herangehensweise: Es gibt einen Chord und jeder der hier Teilnehmenden spielt davon eine einzelne Note - Monotonie in seiner reinsten Form. Da brummen die Boxen, glühen die Kabel, vibrieren die Eingeweide, vorausgesetzt, selbstredend, natürlich, wo denkste hin, ´maximum volume yields maximum result´. Ein ´sonic titan´ zwischen Lotus Eaters und Growing." [Flight 13]
"Evanston, IL. - CHORD was formed at Dr. Wax, a once thriving record store (now sadly closed, but immortalized as the title inspiration for prolific casio-rocker Wesley Willis’s 2000 full length) that was an appealing gathering place for musicians and music aficionados alike. Amid endless musings about the finer points of texture, tone, and Jimmy Eat World’s rousing single “The Middle”, Kyle Benjamin (guitarist for Chicago's Unfortunaut), Jason Hoffman (a.k.a. darkwave composer Anatole), Trevor de Brauw (of Chicago instrumentalists Pelican) and Phil Dole (of über-dronists X-Bax) devised an outline for CHORD that lived for many months in the realm of conversation. With a shared appreciation for the works of Tony Conrad, and Glen Branca the group formulated a collective vision: exploit and explore the sonic depth of a single chord.
CHORD performances consist of each player being assigned one note from a pre-selected chord. They are then expected to consider all ranges of flexibility concerning octave, rhythm, playing style and effect treatments. The overall effect CHORD generates is that of a single note being rendered into an unsolvable riddle – a harmonic Gordian knot that creates an almost pastoral feel of being blinded by the sun. The rejection of melody and structure in favor of sweeping and epic tones inspires a sense of rousing apprehension. Shrouded in the individual tunings of each player the pieces never become diluted, instead finding resolution in collective dissonance and consonance. To be in the presence of chord achieved is transcendent.
CHORD first performed during February 2004 at Evanston's Nevin's Live, stunning a sold out crowd who had gathered on a combination of word of mouth and their appreciation for the other folk-rock acts on the bill. A few select shows followed including coveted opening slots for Jakob, Savage Republic, Growing, and The Austerity Program, as well as a headlining appearance in Brooklyn at a benefit for The American Red Cross. CHORD released its debut recording FLORA on Neurot Recordings in spring 2009." [label info]
"...It's all quite dramatic and epic, quite beautiful, stately at certain moments, almost chaotic and crumbling at others, anyone into Conrad, Cale, Maclise, Flynt and especially Branca and Chatham will definitely dig this. As well as guitardrone freaks who count Fear Falls Burning, RST, Seconds In Formaldehyde, Elm, Continuum and the like among their favorites." [Aquarius Records review]
www.neurotrecordings.com
|
2009 |
€14.00 |
|
| CHRONOMAD |
Sayeh |
12" |
"Reise in den Klangkosmos des Nahen Ostens: zweite EP des Münchner Elektronikers.
Hinter dem Projekt Chronomad verbirgt sich Saam Schlamminger. Der 1966 in Istanbul geborene und jetzt in München lebende Musiker hat sich auf die persische Bechertrommel (Zarb) und die Schellentrommel namens Daf spezialisiert, die er beide elektronisch verfremdet. Er hat weltweit schon mit den verschiedensten Musikern zusammengespielt, u. a. mit Susan Deyhim und The Notwist. 2004 veröffentlichte er ein Album und legt sechs Jahre später mit "Sayeh" seine zweite EP vor: eine wilde Reise in drei Etappen durch den Klangkosmos des Nahen Ostens. Eine eindringliche Musik, gespickt mit Feldaufnahmen, ambitioniert und vielsagend." [label info]
www.alientransistor.de
|
2010 |
€12.50 |
|
| |
Sayeh |
maxi-CD |
"Reise in den Klangkosmos des Nahen Ostens: zweite EP des Münchner Elektronikers.
Hinter dem Projekt Chronomad verbirgt sich Saam Schlamminger. Der 1966 in Istanbul geborene und jetzt in München lebende Musiker hat sich auf die persische Bechertrommel (Zarb) und die Schellentrommel namens Daf spezialisiert, die er beide elektronisch verfremdet. Er hat weltweit schon mit den verschiedensten Musikern zusammengespielt, u. a. mit Susan Deyhim und The Notwist. 2004 veröffentlichte er ein Album und legt sechs Jahre später mit "Sayeh" seine zweite EP vor: eine wilde Reise in drei Etappen durch den Klangkosmos des Nahen Ostens. Eine eindringliche Musik, gespickt mit Feldaufnahmen, ambitioniert und vielsagend." [label info]
www.alientransistor.de
|
2010 |
€9.00 |
|
| CHRYSAKIS, THANOS |
ELYTRA |
CD |
New insect music release by Greek sound artist Thanos Chrysakis
About ΕΛΥΤΡΑ
Everyone has heard the marvelous sound of crickets in the summer especially in the countryside. The sound is produced by raising and scraping against each of their protective fore-wings the elytra.
Their burrow act as a resonator bringing at times a transcendent quality to the place.
The music in this album with myriads of sounds, regular and irregular pulses, unfolds a similar transforming quality.
Thanos Chrysakis
About Thanos Chrysakis
Thanos Chrysakis is a Greek composer, musician, producer and sound-artist. He is best known for his work in electronic and contemporary music, free improvisation, and electro-acoustic music.
With several albums to his name his work has appeared in festivals and events in many countries.
His music was among the selected works at the International Competition de Musique et d'Art Sonore Electroacoustiques de Bourges 2005, in the category oeuvre d'art sonore électroacoustique, while received an honorary mention in 2006 at the 7th International Electroacoustic Competition Musica Viva in Lisbon (the jury was constituted by Morton Subotnick (USA), François Bayle (France), and Miguel Azguime (Portugal). He operates the Aural Terrains record label since 2007 where he has released part of his work until now, alongside releases by Kim Cascone, Franscisco López, Tomas Phillips, Dan Warburton, Szilárd Mezei, Michael Edwards, Wade Matthews, Dganit Elyakim, Edith Alonso, Christian Skjødt, Luis Tabuenca, Christian Kobi, Jeff Gburek, Steve Noble, and Milo Fine. He has written music for musicians of the Hyperion Ensemble, the Stockholm Saxophone Quartet, the Konus Saxophone Quartett, and the Shadanga Duo among others. Close collaborations with Tim Hodgkinson, Vincent Royer, Chris Cundy, Yoni Silver, Lori Freedman, Jason Alder, William Lang, Wilfrido Terrazas, Philippe Brunet, Wade Matthews, Ernesto Rodrigues, Abdul Moimême, Zsolt Sőrés, Ove Volquartz to name but a few.
https://aufabwegen.bandcamp.com/track/tortoise-pilgrimage
"Insekten üben seit langem eine (nicht nur) klangliche Faszination aus: Man denke an die vielen Filme, in denen das Zirpen der Zikaden fast schon ein alternativer Soundtrack ist oder an die symbolische Bedeutung der Geräusche der Grillen in einem Stück wie Sam Shephards „True West“. Eine Reihe von Musikern wurden vom Klangpotenzial der Insekten angezogen: 1986 veröffnetlichte Graeme Revell „The Insect Musicians“, sein Versuch einer auf dem Geräusch von Insekten basierenden “micro-musique” (gerade ist das Album auf Old Europa Cafe neu herausgebracht worden), jüngst erschien noch ein Album namens “The Life Of Insects” von der in Berlin lebenden Peruanerin Ale Hop.
Der 1971 in Athen geborene Thanos Chrysakis hat zahlreiche Alben veröffentlicht und betreibt das Label Aural Terrains, “a creative space for exploratory contemporary music in its different manifestations”, auf dem er u.a. Alben von Francisco López, Tomas Phillips oder Michael Edwards veröffentlicht hat.
Auf “ΕΛΥΤΡ” basieren die Stücke auf dem Klang von Grillen, der für Chrysakis fast eine “transcendent qualitiy” hat. Das das Album eröffnende 8-minütige „Alabaster Tide“ ist eine dichte Klangfläche, die anfangs in ihrer rabiaten Unruhe durchaus an einige der perkussiven Arbeiten von Z’EV denken lässst. Hier fühlt man sich, als befinde man sich geradewegs inmitten zahlloser Insekten. Das Unruhige wird aber im Verlaufe des Stücks zurückgefahren, schließlich hört man ein paar hochfrequentere Passagen und Knirschen. „Coral Aether“ knüpft mit seinem Knistern und Flüstern daran an. „Tortoise Pilgrimage“ besteht aus flirrenden und sirrenden kristallinen Sounds, die gar nicht so weit von einigen Aufnahmen Asmus Tietchens entfernt sind, dann plötzlich meint man, ein Windspiel erklinge. Eine größere Reduktion hört man auf „Tranquil Edge“ mit seinem Knistern, das den Eindruck erweckt, als ob kleine Zweige brechen würden. Dann gibt es „Delphic Maxims“ mit fast schon wasserartigen Sounds oder das Rascheln bei „Pierian Roses, das sich im weiteren Verlauf verdichtet. Schließlich endet das Album mit „ A Shadow’s Dream“ mit erratischen perkussiven Momenten, und dann plötzlich – unerwartet – etwas, das wie ein Piano klingt. Auch ohne die Faszination, die vielleicht vom Ausgangsmaterial ausgeht, ist das ein sehr starkes Album." [MG / African Paper]
|
2020 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Manifold Vista |
CD |
listen:
https://aufabwegen.bandcamp.com/album/manifold-vista
About Manifold Vista
Manifold Vista is the new album by composer/producer Thanos Chrysakis. Rarely can something so meticulously assembled together sound so fluid. A distinct, disciplined sense for composition emerges from each of these works, displaying formal integrity while at the same time, they are also effervescent, forceful, fiercely idiosyncratic and beautifully shaped and transformed. The album discloses an expanded and detailed vista of sound’s interiority forming a strangely pleasurable, not to mention engaging, experience.
Thanos Chrysakis is a Greek composer, musician, producer and sound-artist. He is best known for his work in electronic and contemporary music, free improvisation, and electro-acoustic music.
With several albums to his name his work has appeared in festivals and events in numerous countries, including CYNETart Festival, Festspielhaus Hellerau - Dresden, Artus Contemporary Arts Studio – Budapest, CRUCE Gallery – Madrid, Fylkingen – Stockholm, Relative (Cross) Hearings festival – Budapest, Festival Futura – Crest - Drôme, FACT Centre – Liverpool, Association Ryoanji – Ahun - Creuse, The Center for Advanced Musical Studies at Chosen Vale — Hanover - New Hampshire, Areté Gallery — Brooklyn - New York, UC San Diego – California - San Diego, Berner Münster – Bern, Fabbrica del Vapore – Milan, Grünewaldsalen – Svensk Musikvår — Stockholm, Splendor – Amsterdam, Logos Foundation – Ghent, Palacio de Bellas Artes – Mexico City, Műcsarnok Kunsthalle – Budapest, Spektrum – Berlin, Susikirtimai X – Vilnius, Festival del Bosque GERMINAL – Mexico City, ДОМ – Moscow, Oosterkerk – Amsterdam, KLANG ! – Montpellier, Nádor Terem – Budapest, Utzon Centre – Aalborg, Center for New Music – San Francisco, Västerås Konstmuseum – Västerås, Störung festival – Barcelona, BMIC Cutting Edge concert series at The Warehouse – London.
His music was among the selected works at the International Competition de Musique et d'Art Sonore Electroacoustiques de Bourges 2005, in the category oeuvre d'art sonore électroacoustique, while received an honorary mention in 2006 at the 7th International Electroacoustic Competition Musica Viva in Lisbon (the jury was constituted by Morton Subotnick (USA), François Bayle (France), and Miguel Azguime (Portugal).
He operates the Aural Terrains record label since 2007 where he has released part of his work until now, alongside releases by Kim Cascone, Franscisco López, Tomas Phillips, Dan Warburton, Szilárd Mezei, Michael Edwards, Wade Matthews, Dganit Elyakim, Edith Alonso, Luis Tabuenca, Jeff Gburek, Philippe Petit, Steve Noble, Milo Fine and David Ryan among others.
He has written music for musicians of the Hyperion Ensemble, the Stockholm Saxophone Quartet, the Hermes Ensemble, Nemø Ensemble, the Konus Saxophone Quartett, and the Shadanga Duo among others. Close collaborations with Tim Hodgkinson, Vincent Royer, Chris Cundy, Yoni Silver, Lori Freedman, Jason Alder, Julie Kjaer, Henriette Jensen, William Lang, Wilfrido Terrazas, Philippe Brunet, Wade Matthews, Ernesto Rodrigues, Abdul Moimême, Ove Volquartz to name but a few.
https://aufabwegen.bandcamp.com/album/manifold-vista
|
2023 |
€13.00 |
|
| CINDYTALK |
Transgender Warrior |
7inch |
Für uns eine der Kult-Bands der 80er aus dem dunkel- experimentellen englischen Untergrund. ... das Projekt um den charismatischen Sänger Gordon Sharp überrascht hier mit einer neuen 7“ auf Klanggalerie, wo es rein geräuschhaft-pulsierende Hochfrequent-Atmosphären-noises zu hören gibt...
“ Cindytalk is a band from the UK that has been active for over twenty years. In the 1980´s their fantastic albums like "Wappinshaw" or "Camouflage Heart" were released on Midnight Music, in the 90´s mastermind Gordon Sharp concentrated more on his DJ activities and his other project Bambule. Now, in the new millennium, we are proud to present you a new Cindytalk release with another change in style. Noisy tracks that build up atmospheric soundscapes which need deep listening to be understood in their full beauty.” [label description]
|
2003 |
€20.00 |
|
|
In this World |
CD |
Nach "Camouflage Heart" von 1984 verschwanden CINDYTALK für vier Jahre in der Versenkung, die sie allerdings damit verbrachten, das epische Nachfolgewerk "In This World" zu schreiben und aufzunehmen. "In This World" erschien als zwei separate Vinyl LPs, die beide "In This World" betitelt, aber mit verschiedenem Cover Artwork ausgestattet waren. Die Neuauflage erscheint als Doppel-Vinyl oder einfache CD.
"In This World" is a noble venture. It's every inaccessible racket you could imagine but creeps gently in on the delectable title instrumental before kicking you in the navel with a hybrid broth of Motorslug, Swans, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, and generally alienating cacophonies." [Chris Roberts (Melody Maker)]
" So the rumor goes that Gordon Sharp was invited to join Duran Duran after Sharp dissolved his Edinburgh glam-punk band The Freeze in the late '70s. He turned them down. Elizabeth Fraser and Robin Guthrie also put out the request for Sharp to join the Cocteau Twins. After a brief stint accompanying the Cocteau Twins for a Peel Session in 1982 and a guest spot on This Mortal Coil's It'll End In Tears, he opted for his own project -- the obscure, yet majestic Cindytalk.
In This World is an opus in every sense of the word. Originally, In This World came out in 1988 as two separate albums under the same name, each with slightly different artwork. One album, a masterpiece of abject post-punk that in all honesty is the closest parallel to Swans' Children Of God; the other, a delicate ambient construct of melancholy piano scarred with surface noice prognosticating pretty much everything that Type Records has released (e.g Machinefabriek, Jasper TX, etc.). It's very good thing that both of these albums have been repackaged into one self-contained object, as the only half of In This World that seemed to be floating around was the piano-laced ambient one. As good as that half is, you need the grit and dirge of its companion album to complete Cindytalk's ideas of grand dualities: heaven / hell, pleasure / pain, holiness / transgression, etc.
While billed by Sharp as the 'disgusting' part of the In This World diptych, the first half begins with a lovely tonefloat of scratched violin drones and painterly piano notes. Yet, with the crushing rhythm and noise attack of "Janey's Love," Sharp does not disappoint with his disgusting tag. This is a monstrous industrial dirge with huge monotone slabs of distortion and atonal drones counterpointing Sharp's soaring falsetto. The punk poet Kathy Acker supplies a brief spoken word interlude as the coda to this incendiary number. Immediately hereafter, Cindytalk continue their turgid rhythmic marches with an angular distorted rhythm, slippery bassline mired in audio rust, and twin guitars spitting acid, fire, and brimstone on such tracks as "Gift Of A Knife" and "Circle Of Shit." As the first half of the album progresses, the songs steadily disintegrate as rhythm, song structure, and noise all collapse into a blur of smeared grey that is eerily reflective of William Basinski's Disintegration Loops. The piano which opened In This World becomes
the dominant sound in Cindytalk's soundscapes, also marking the delineation between the two halves of In This World. Yes, this is the
beautiful side of Cindytalk, coated in ash, snow, bruises, and rust. Gordon Sharp's piano playing comes from Brian Eno's Thursday
Afternoon, which in turn came from Erik Satie; and that impressionist sentiment continues forward amidst subterranean drones and field
recordings of barren spaces. Sharp's voice is mostly absent from these tracks, although the eponymous finale to the album showcases
one of Sharp's most emotive croons. They really don't make albums like this any more, with such attention to detail and dynamics between rage and beauty.
Fortunately, both of these records were concise enough that they could both fit onto one CD; and if you've not had the opportunity to hear Cindytalk, please do not let this album and its predecessor Camouflage Heart pass you by!" [Aquarius Records review]
|
2007 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Hold Everything Dear |
do-LP |
"All tracks written and recorded by Gordon Sharp and Matt Kinnison between 2006-2011 at Roi Vert, Okamoto (Japan), 13th Floor and Space Eko (London), Southend (Essex). Mastered at Piethopraxis, June 2011. Cut by Rashad Becker at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin, June 2011. Design-images: David Coppenhall. Assembled at Sixism (Maggi Smith-David Coppenhall). For Matt Kinnison and John Berger.
'Hold Everything Dear' is the third installment in the new Cindytalk sound which started with 2007's The Crackle Of My Soul, and then last years Up Here in The Clouds. Its the first in the trilogy to feature musicians other than Gordon Sharp namely the late Matt Kinnison, to whom the album is dedicated. Inspired by the John Berger book of the same name, this latest release is whole new set of parameters which push the sound on the previous two works to an extreme point of abstraction, and in some places near silent passages and haunted melodic segments. And what a mysterious journey this ends up being with increased use of piano and found/field recordings giving all the tracks a blurry soundtrack appeal to the point where the definitions between the tracks are no longer clearly defined. It harks back to the odder parts of In This World and The Wind Is Strong albums from the early 1990s. Superbly packaged with new David Coppenhall artwork in a 4-panel digipack and gatefold vinyl sleeve." [label info]
www.editionsmego.com
|
2011 |
€20.00 |
|
| |
touchedRAWKISSEDsour |
CD |
"touchedRAWKISSEDsour is an all new full length album from icon Gordon Sharp (the Freeze, This Mortal Coil) that coincides with the 30th anniversary celebration of the Cindytalk genre-defining classic Camouflage Heart. This album follows the critically acclaimed 2013 release of A Life Is Everywhere on Austrian label and tastemaker Editions Mego." [label info]
www.handmadebirds.com
"The term middle ground implies some
degree of compromise, but Gordon Sharp
places inbetween-ness at the core of his
work, exploring what lies outside regularly
codified categories.His catalogue has
resisted the confines of binary thinking
for decades - confronting normative
conceptions of gender, by becoming Cindy
in performances and in life, while eschewing
the trappings of readymade musical
genres, preferring instead to dwell upon
alien qualities of difference.His Cindytalk
project draws upon clanging post-punk,
icy electronica and modern composition,
and has vacillated between song based
and more abstract forms with ease.Take
this album’s title : raw and sour aren’t
opposites, they’re just not the same. A
wordless venture into the furthest reaches
of Sharp’s electronic interests, the album
coincides with the 30th anniversary of
Cindytalk’s most famous release, the
industrial song cycle Camouflage Heart,
but it’s neither a nostalgic look back
over the shoulder or a forced step away.
There’s the sense that Sharp will not rest
upon the laurels of his back catalogue or
strain towards new realms solely for the
satisfaction of novelty.
The disc opens with “Dancing On Ledges”,
a soaring cycle of static clusters tearing
apart and immediately regrouping, and
it forms a stuttering exposition for the
rest of the album, which flows confidently
between moods and atmospheres.”E Quindi
Uscimmo A Riveder Le Stelle” moves from the
sounding of bells to an electronic military
march, evolving into a haunting, half-spoken
series of distant pulses, while “Reversing
The Panopticon” tinkles with high-pitched
melodic phrases buried in fuzz against
jumbled rumbling rhythms.
The standout track “Yūgao” is a soft,
ten minute pasture of delicate piano and
melancholy synthesized bedding. The
interplay between the elements is versatile
enough to prevent things from spilling over
into saccharine predictability.it’s beautifully
wrapped up in itself, full of longing and the
knowledge that the act of desire can be more
pleasurable than the attainment of desire.
When it draws to a close it doesn’t so much
end as disperse.
None of the tracks truly coalesces, but
the album is stronger for it, taking on a
fleeting narrative quality. Sharp undermines
institutionalised, oppressive modes, and
his music explores abstraction of formal
thought and the possibilities it can provide
- the ideal arena for someone dedicated to
resisting the definitive." [Matt Krefting / THE WIRE] |
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| CINDYTALK / ROBERT HAMPSON |
Five Mountains of Fire |
10inch |
"Cindytalk - Five Mountains Of Fire: Gordon Sharp (electronics), Paul Middleton (drums), Dan Knowler (Guitar), Gary Jeff (Percussion) and Sherrill Crosby (Electronics). Pre-mixed and re-played by GS at Roi Vert, Okamoto, Japan, March 2009. Robert Hampson - Antarctica Ends Here: Dedicated to John Cale. Recorded and Mixed at Thirst 2007Ð2009 in London and Paris. Design: Dave Coppenhall. Cindytalk's Gordon Sharp and Robert Hampson (Loop. Main...) are 2 characters of legend circulating on the periphery of London (and beyond) underground music over the last 2 plus decades. It may come as a surprise then that this stunning split 10 is the first meeting of these two singular minds. 'Five Mountains Of Fire' by Cindytalk is a cracking track taking their recent brittle electronic experiments and charging them with firecracker like percussion to create a pleasantly disorienting soundscape. Flip it over and Hampson delivers the practical polar opposite with Antarctica Ends Here. An exceptionally beautiful piece utilizing piano and carefully placed electronics so as not to break the ice, a tribute to John Cale's 'Antarctica Starts Here' (from 'Paris, 1919' album). Limited to 500 copies." [label info]
www.editionsmego.com
"Eine eher unlikely Split, die aber zwei schöne aktuelle Entwürfe des Experimentellen zeigt. Die entzündeten Berglandschaften von Cindytalk klingen wie aus einem Jodorowsky-Film entsprungen: erdig, ekstatisch und irgendwie religiös. Die sirrend-dronige Klangfläche wird in einem Bandkonstrukt mit Gitarre und Schlagzeug erarbeitet und dann in der Nachbearbeitung zerlegt. Besonders die rukelnden Percussion, die sich in der zweiten Hälfte des Tracks in den Mix schiebt, läßt neue Hoffnung für die Kombination von Elektronik und Instrumentarium aufkommen. Der eher scheue Robert Hampson (Main, Loop) hat sich mit seinem konzentrierten Beitrag, nicht wie es scheinen will auf den Eternal Music Cale berufen, sondern sich wohl explizit vor John Cale’s ‘Antarctica Starts Here’ (aus Paris, 1919) verneigt. Der Track klingt wie eine traurig-zerfleischte Geigenmelodie im Lockgroove, angereichert mit Mikropartikeln und schwüler Atmosphäre. Eine unbedingt lohnenswerte Veröffentlichung!" [Zipo, Auf Abwegen]
"Cindytalk is back, thanks to Editions Mego. The CD released last year (see Vital Weekly 702) was mainly the solo effort of Gordon Sharp, and saw him move towards the computerized music, say that of microsound, ambient, drones and such like, so much to my surprise its a band line up here again. Besides Sharp, who gets the credit for electronics, there is also drums, percussion, more electronics and guitar. The pieces was recorded in Japan last year (in concert?) and consists largely of sustaining notes played with bows on the cymbals, drones created from the guitar and electronics having quite an obscure role in this. Great mood music. Which is exactly what can be said of Robert Hampson on the other side. Great mood music. Just like Cindytalk, Hampson has been active in the underground of the UK music life since more than twenty-five years, as Loop and as Main, and since the last decade mainly under his own name, working in that obscure niche where popmusic meets musique concrete.
Popmusic? Things with guitars, more likely. His piece is dedicated to John Cale, another such character on the crossroad of many musical styles. Followings Cindytalk's full sound spectrum approach, Hampson goes out with just a few sounds on his hands. A bowed guitar, some far away crackles and maybe the odd field recording. Carefully constructed as opposed to the somewhat 'live in concert' approach on the other side, but both pieces are complimentary to eachother. An excellent record. I have no idea if Cindytalk now returns as a full band, or that it will continue to confuse us. I hope the latter." [FdW, Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€12.50 |
|
| CINEMA PERDU |
2 Compositions with Found Sounds |
mCD-R |
cinema perdu is the dutch sound artist martijn pieck. here's what he says about "2 compositions with found sounds":
"in my project cinema perdu i work with field recordings as starting point for my compositions. with all kind of manipulations and additions from other sound sources like synthesizers and contact-microphone recordings i recreate the feeling of a place during a certain time, sometimes more factual, sometimes more storytelling. in this case the 2 tracks are evolved around 'found sounds’ in an urban environment."
aside from working as cinema perdu, martijn is also co-composer in the [law-rah] collective next to bauke van der wal since 2008 and together with jon unger formed woodbender.
reviews:
vital weekly 1150
It wasn't for nationalistic reasons I started with Cinema Perdu, the Dutch musical project of Martijn Pieck. It was just the first one that I played. Pieck is also a member of [law-rah] collective next to Bauke van der Wal since 2008 and together with Jon Unger formed Woodbender (see Vital Weekly 1077). His latest release as Cinema Perdu was the excellent CD 'Amsterdam CS' (see Vital Weekly 1127), in which he used field recordings at the Amsterdam Central Station. Taking field recordings and feeding them to his extended modular set up. I recently saw a concert by him and the field recordings disappeared in there, just they do in these two pieces here. They are just called 'found sounds' and are not specified in any way, just from an 'urban environment'. I don't even want to go in there and think about it; I don't care that much, as I was lost easily in the dark currents produced by Cinema Perdu that hold the middle ground between a grinder and synthesizer, playing some darker chords. This is quite an un-earthy rumble that is going on here, exactly the spooky tone in combination with a delicate atmosphere that I like so much. (FdW)
|
2018 |
€5.00 |
|
| CIRCAEA |
The Bridge of Dreams |
LP |
"Released July 2019. An edition of 300 copies.
Mastered by Denis Blackham at Skye Mastering. Cut onto lacquer at 33/45 in London by Noel Summerville. Sleeve design by Tom James Scott
Circaea is ; Tom James Scott, Ecka Mordecai & Andrew Chalk
The Bridge of Dreams was begun as a series of piano miniatures, played by Tom in St. Matthews church in Hull before it closed many years ago. In the airy and (cold) spaces of the vast church in the winter of 2013 the pieces further condensed into 12 parts of the album here, with wistful string arrangements by Ecka Mordecai and mapped out, finally, by Andrew Chalk.
"Birds love the woods
If you are not a bird
you will not know its truths
A quiet life is much the same.
How would anyone know it
without living it ?
The moon
of my life is setting.
The life now left me
sinks into the hills"
(from Visions of a Torn World by Kamo-no-Chomei)" [label info]
"Circaea is the debut project of ; Tom James Scott (piano), Ecka Mordecai (cello) & Andrew Chalk (arrangements).
After the previous album, Scott and Chalk’s Calluna (Skire) a pause of some years followed and The Bridge of Dreams in fact began life even before Calluna did. With the addition of poignant and fluttering textures on strings by Ecka Mordecai, the album took on a completely new and special direction, which we present here now. ‘The Bridge of Dreams’ spans twelve tracks and becomes a story in its own right.
Viae Memoriae & A Inocencia Mastered by Denis Blackham and cut by Noel Summerville at 33/45 in London.
Full colour sleeve and pressed in an edition of 350 copies." [Penultimate Press]
"Circaea, the latest collaborative project involving prolific British musician Andrew Chalk (Ora, Mirror, Isolde...) debuts with The Bridge of Dreams. Alongside Chalk in this new adventure we find young cellist Ecka Rose Mordecai and classically trained guitarist Tom James Scott, also founder of the Skire label. The twelve delicate miniatures that make up this album find protection in the caring arms of Faraway Press - Chalk's own label - and are a work of pure beauty."[Soundohm]
|
2019 |
€20.00 |
|
| CIRCLE |
Soundcheck |
CD |
"Recorded in Finland in October 2009, the band describes Soundcheck as “the most contemporary document possible of a Circle soundcheck/concert experience. For this concert Circle was reinforced by the guitars of J. & P. Jaaskelainen, who may be familiar to some from the ranks of Circle’s brother-in-arms Pharaoh Overlord. On the album, this expanded line-up explores the experimental possibilities of concert staples “Virsi” and “Nopeuskuningas” further than possibly ever before.”
“The first part offers two new tracks, beginning with the brief “Kukkakaalia Kapteenit!”, a wispy swirl of shimmery synths, laid back tribal drumming and some dramatic, emotional crooning, very cinematic sounding, almost like it could be some lost 4AD single, dreamy and ethereal, giving way to the way more rocking and intense “Tuhatsata”, which takes up most of the side, a slow burning, blackened bit of Finnish krautrock, super epic, with dueling vocals, crooning versus grunted and growled, fusiony keys, still more tribal drumming, spidery guitars, the track pulsing and pounding, building to multiple crescendos, frenzied freakouts that always lip right back into more looped mesmer.
The album progresses with two instantly recognizable live set staples, first up, “Virsi”, dramatically progtastic, with that super soaring epic intro, all dynamic shifts and huge bursts of instrumental crunch, with vocals howling and wailing almost operatically, before lurching into some rad atonal krauty, fusiony, jazzy, hypno groove skitter. The second track, another Circle classic, and live staple, “Nopeuskuningas”, explodes right out of the gate, with its chugging almost surfy, ZZ Top-ish boogie riff, locked in groove, the whole thing stretched out over the remainder of the side, the band solid, and hypnotic, and intense, and rocking and tight as fuck. Their showstopper for sure, and it clearly did the job at this show as well.
In so much as between albums, Circle, like Grateful Dead, crank out killer live record after killer liver record, often with some of the same songs, always including a few live staples, familiar enough to hit the spot, but different enough that a Circle fan could be forgiven for needing them ALL!” (Aquarius Records)
A stunning and truly unique live album approach by the Finnish masters of hypnorock and unusual sounds.
Originally released as a very limited vinyl edition via J. Lehtisalo’s own imprint Full Contact Records and instantly sold out, Soundcheck is now back to life housed in our luxurious, heavy tip-on mini-LP gatefold packaging featuring fantastic expanded photography and artwork by Jussi S. Karjalainen. Limited edition of 800 copies.
|
2011 |
€13.50 |
|
| CISFINITUM |
Coniunctio |
do-CD |
Material from 1999-2001 from the Russian cult-project, some taken from the deleted LANDSCHAFT CDR (IVB Records), one CD is entitled “World of Retribution”, the other “Heavenly Russia”. Monolithic sad noise, sacral post-industrial, spiritual doom-ambience,
overwhelming sounds & sad emotions at the same time, highly recommended!
“Cisfinitum is one of the oldest and well-known projects on Russian industrial scene, and shortly after their well-acclaimed 7” on Drone, Ewers Tonkunst is happy to present another international release of this remarkable project. This 2CD-set contains the tracks from the most gloomy and profound albums of Cisfinitum – “Landschaft” (released in 2001 as CDR by IVB Records) and “Malgyl” (previously unreleased), which have been recorded in 1999-2001. The material has been remastered and recompiled to become the new entity called “Coniunctio”. Newborn album consists of two parts, “Worlds Of Retribution” and “Heavenly Russia”, the first one contains most dark and depressive tracks, the second one presents brighter side of Cisfinitum. Going through the desperate landscapes of today’s dying spiritless world, the listener comes into the sacred and surreal inner space of an immaterial land full of light, mysticism and universal melancholy. One of the most beautiful and heartful records ever done in the drone ambient style, “Coniunctio” could remind of the best and saddest Maeror Tri albums or legendary HOEDH “Hymnus”, but the irrational Russian essence within Cisfinitum’s music makes it unique and completely original. The real masterpiece which we are really proud to release! CD comes in a full-colour fold-out digisleeve. The edition is limited to 500 copies.” [label info]
|
2006 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Devotio |
10inch |
Das Projekt CISFINITUM von Evgueny Voronovsky gehört für uns zu den momentan besten russischen experimentell-atmosphärischen / Drone / Post-Industrial - Acts, weshalb die Einladung zur neuen SUBSTANTIA INNOMINATA–Reihe nach dem phänomenalen Konzert im Bremer Dom (November 2005) sich fast zwangsläufig ergab.
Bereits im Namen CISFINITUM steckt die Auseindersetzung mit dem Nicht-Mehr-Erfassbaren, DEVOTIO verweist klanglich mit monumentalen Kirchenglocken-Drones auf sakrale Sphären des Transzendenten, nicht mehr Hinterfragbaren.... kommt auf weissem Vinyl und eine fantastische Artwork des Berliner Artworkers TILMANN BENNINGHAUS . “Hinter CISFINITUM steckt Evgueny Voronovsky, ein ausgebildeter Violinist, der neben konkreten und instrumentellen Klangquellen auch alte sowjetische Synthesizer in neuem Kontext benutzt (wie auf der letzten CD-Veröffentlichung „BEZDNA“ [Monochrome Vision]), z.B. den legendären ANS. CISFINITUM (=„Jenseits des Endlichen“) ist ein Text (1930) & Begriff des russischen Dichters Daniil Charms, der für die „Logik der unendlichen Nicht-Existenz“steht: das was hinter dem Verstandesmässigem liegt. Die Endlichkeit der logischen Welt wird durch die Logik selbst nachgewiesen. ’ Das Cisfinitum zerstört die Postulate eines nach dem anderen. Das entzieht jeder Grundlage ihren Halt. Das zweifelt alles an. Das raubt einem sein Vermögen. Das hat kein Heiligtum, keine Moral, keine Tugenden. Das Cisfinitum ist brutal.’ [Michail Demidov]“ [Drone Records / REM-info 2005]
The fourth volume in our new series comes from one of the currently best projects of the russian experimental-atmospheric / drone / post-industrial-scene. Main force behind CISFINITUM we find Evgueny Voronovsky, an educated violinist from Moscow.
CISFINITUM is a notion by russian poet & writer DANIIL CHARMS, meaning the „logic of the infinite non-existence“, that „something“ that is beyond all rational things.
DEVOTIO uses monumental bell-sounds that build complex overlappings & hypnotic drone-waves in various layers, dissolving into pure vibrations. To us It sounds like a journey into the heart of the sacral, pointing at a sphere of transcendence where all questions end. Or begin again. Comes on white vinyl and with great artwork by Berlin-based artworker TILMANN BENNINGHAUS.
|
2006 |
€12.00 |
|
|
V |
CD |
Nach Jahren endlich die erste fabrikgepresste CD von CISFINITUM ! Das Warten hat sich definitiv gelohnt, V ist von einer melancholisch-düsteren Atmosphäre geprägt; schwere, rauhe & nostalgische anmutende Sounds prägen das Bild, Anleihen von klassischen Arrangements tauchen auf... special coverpackage mit vielen inlays !
Finally the first „fabric“-pressed CD by CISFINITUM! V ist based on a melancholic & dark atmosphere; heavy & raw & nostalgic appearing sounds are floating through the album, classical music elements also.. a true masterpieces of dark melancholic drone-Industrial !
"V" is follow-up to the most high valued album "Landschaft" and you can hear some echoing sounds from there. Four long tracks will drive you further into abysmal depths of mind prospectives. "V" is the aural extension of audiochemy method developed by both Cisfinitum
members (Voronovsky and Norvila) in Audioform studio during recent two years, using synthesis of classical composition, industrial aesthetics and tonal noise layers. Listening to Cisfinitum music, everyone can feel physically the exclusive aloofness and impartiality
preceding the heterogeneity and time collaps. Long transitions between initial states, sudden dynamic outbursts and again desolate spaces where apprehensions are the only way to think. This album is notable not only by background contents but by sounding too: the deliberately reduced quality is remained in the past, agressive alienation changed to the introspective one. The atmosphere of sci-fi cinema of the 70-80s is back - cold, dark, mysterious but nevertheless open-minded and reality engaged. For those of you who like to use PC-CDROM for anything labelled with "compact disc" logo, the nice surprise is waiting.” [press release]
|
2003 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Landschaft |
CD |
"Erste CDR des Moskauer dark/drone ambient-Projekts CISFINITUM, die spacig-harmonische Räume erschaffen, die von der Stimmung an alte ULTRA MILKMAIDS oder MAEROR TRI erinnern, aber auch an Endlos-Minimal-Ambient a la CHALK und mystischem dark ambient ... rauschende Wellen von Sound, in hand-geschnitzter Papphülle, erste CDR des Moskauer Labels.. Tip!" [old Drone Rec. info]
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
|
The Bog |
CD |
"This album dedicated to the archetype of Toad in world's mythology and based on re-processed sounds of frogs, toads and swamps.I made this field recordings during my travels in China, India and Kavkaz , also i receieved a part of them from friendly sound artists as Mars F. Weillink (x-Vance Orchestra) , Andrea Marutti (Amon) and Roman Voronovski (Rombix).
Track 3 contains a looped voice by Dasha Baskakova and sounds recorded at Volkonski Dolmen using sine generator and dolmen original acoustic. Track 4 based on pitched loops of my violin and sounds from Mars. No any preset sounds/ synths used on this record.
*The term "toadstool" was often applied to poisonous mushrooms or to those. Between 1400 and 1600 A.D., this term were used synonymously with some mushrooms of umbrella-like cap-and-stem form.
*the myth of a Princess Frog exist in a different cultures. In Russia its a character of some russian magic tales of archaic times...Symbol of Princess Frog- is a frog keeping an arrow in mouth and with a crown on the head.
Similar myths also exist in Chinese and South-American cultures.The image of a princess frog goes back to an archetype of totem spouses whom the primitive hunter should "marry" that hunting has gone right. Wedding on this totem was symbolical, in special ritual. The myth which explained sense of ritual, told about a marriage on totem spouse so that the cultural hero had an opportunity to receive for people any blessings, good hunt etc..." [label info]
www.infinitefog.ru
"Of much more interest for this rag is the music from Cisfinitum, the musical project of E. Voronovsky and for this new release he invited a bunch of friends to send him field recordings of frogs, toads and swamps. Friends such as Mars F. Wellink (x-Vance Orchestra), Andrea Marutti (Amon) and Roman Voronovski (Rombix) but he himself taped also some of these during his travels in China, India and Kavkaz. The cover mentions several references towards toads, mushrooms and the Princess Frog myth. That too might by a bit gothic, one could think, but the music is quite nice. There is talk, on the website, of various pieces, but there is one long piece on the CD itself, and with some good will, you can dissect that to smaller parts, slowly merging into one another. Heavily processed field recordings, created by means of computer treatment, time stretching, lots and lots effects, mainly reverb, stretch out this like a moist swamp land, sucking the listener inside, but as the piece evolves,
and certainly the end bit, the last ten minutes, are very light, like a siren from the swamp singing for us. It's actually "pitched loops of my violin and sounds from Mars. No any pre-set sounds/ synths used on this record", which I thought was a nice bit of information. In terms of ambient, drone, soundscaping and such like, there is, perhaps, nothing new under the sun, but I thought this was not really a problem (if such would be a problem at all), as I wasn't looking for any of that. A highly enjoyable dark ambient album by one of Russia's best assets in this field." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
|
O vs 0 |
CD |
"The debut album by charismatic Eugeny Voronovsky and his enigmatic project Cisfinitum “O vs 0” is re-released in a CD format after 15 years of its cryptic lurking in the dark. True minimal post industrial analogue sound. The first album recorded by Cisfinitum circa 1998 is a unique archival work from internationally renowned underground dark ambient composer from Russia. The lunatic and lo-fi album with a distinct industrial aftertaste. It is kept unremastered and its pristine condition hints at obvious hisses, noises, clicks, abrupt frequency amplifications and sporadic channel drops. Approach the record with caution, play it not loud to reveal its morbid charm which is extreme simplicity that hurts. For the lovers of Archon Satani and No Festival of Light. The CD comes in limited Digifile edition of 250 copies." [label info]
oleghkolyada.com |
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Monochrome |
CD |
" ‘Monochrome' is a eulogy to Dmitry Vasiliev, a music enlightener, a label owner, a journalist, an ardent devotee of experimental music. Initially the composer Eugene Voronovsky conceived 'Monochrome' as a futuristic 'hi-res' mass, an alchemical fusion of angelic chorales and dub techno pulsations. A dream-like transparency of the material is deceptive in masking its technical complexity. Thus, the rhythmic canvas is built of "non-square" rhythms - 7/8, 15/16, etc., from which the strong beat gains fluidity typical of Oriental music. Ambient textures are based on the works of the medieval composers Josquin des Prez, Guillaume de Machaut, Pérotin the Great. Through reverberation the sound is "placed" into authentic space of the Great Pyramid of Giza; it's a meaningful reference for the album, entitlted in its draft by Enochian key of the alchemist John Dee.
The news of Vasiliev's tragic death caught the author in rendering the final mix. Thus the meaning and the purpose of this year-long work were redefined. ‘Monochrome' became a funeral service for a dear friend, a person whose role for independent electronic music in Russia cannot be overestimated.
The album was originally released as a limited edition cassette by NEN Records in October 2018 and now re-issued on CD by the joint forces of Aquarellist, kultFRONT and ZHELEZOBETON."
"Back in 2005, a very new Russian label released work by Eugene Voronovsky, also known as
Cisfinitum. It was not the first release for him or the label. 'Bezdna' was reviewed in Vital Weekly 478 and more followed from Cisfinitum and the label that released it, Monochrome Vision. In September of last year, Dmitry Vasiliev, the man behind Monochrome Vision (also a mail-order
and organiser of concerts, as well as writing about exactly 'this' kind of music), died in a tragic accident in the Black Sea, thus ending the label. About the same time, Cisfinitum put the final touches on this new release, which became 'Monochrome', a fitting farewell to the man himself.
Whereas I remember most of Cisfinitum's music as being quite atmospheric, ambient and drone-
like, this is not the case here. Rhythm plays an important role here and apparently, these are
'non-square rhythms', 7/8 or 15/16, which again apparently makes "the strong beat gains fluidity
typical of oriental music'. These odd beats guide the sampled sounds of choral music from
medieval composers and that may seem an odd pairing but Cisfinitum melted the choral voices
into something quite abstract and ambient like. The music gets a rather majestically feeling, a
sort of massiveness that works rather good with these beats. I am not sure about the fluidity or
the Eastern feel (although, I must admit at one point thinking of Muslimgauze; in 'Auyaea', I think), but in terms of dark atmospheric music, hearing something interesting in the world of rhythm, this was all a most pleasant release. It would have been something that mister Vasiliev would have been proud to release; sad to realize this is a reminder he's no longer here. Indeed a fitting musical eulogy." [FdW/Vital Weekly] |
2019 |
€12.00 |
|
| CLADE, |
Holonic Sadism |
CD-R |
limited edition compact disc.
screen printed on 4 panel 375GSM stock, hand-assembled, bound in crepe and sealed, edition of 100.
"the self can never be completely represented in its own awareness, nor can its actions be completely predicted by any conceivable information-processing device. both attempts lead to infinite regress." [website info]
"It's been a while since the first release by Clade, which was reviewed in Vital Weekly 821. Clade is from Oklahoma, but it says in the information that the recordings were made in 2010 in Chicago, and 'we apologize for the delay'. Perhaps Clade was on tour, and they stayed for a couple of days in Chicago, since the tracks are called 'Thursday III' and via Friday ends with 'Saturday III (Long)'. I am not sure, but I guess that they record this music also in one take, just like the previous release and that the instruments are still lots of guitars and electronics. Clade plays drone music, but there is a bit of difference with the previous release. Whereas then we found traces of noise/drone metal, that seems to be have disappeared here. The mood in these seven tracks is very subdued, calm and highly atmospheric. It's a wall of sound, but then of a relaxing nature, introspective. More Troum than Earth, if you catch my drift. It's however still not the most varied release that you could imagine, but these seven pieces, spanning some forty-eight minutes, are clearly various shades of the same color, and not many colors. The previous encouraged 'chemical accompaniment' - although not required - but then the forceful character of the music may have caused some damage. You'd better save those chemicals for this one, as this is the perfect music for such chemical enhancement. I thought this was the better release of the two I heard so far and I would certainly hope they would continue to explore these roads further." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
www.cladistic.org
|
2013 |
€10.00 |
|
| |
Klavierstücke |
CD-R |
"san francisco, march 2012: the scottish delegation arrives on the sun-drenched american west coast. studio is rented, microphones selected, supplies procured. 7 days later they emerge, blinded by the light.
oakland, december 2013: over the course of 7 more days some 12 hours of raw materials are in turns cajoled, caressed, genetically modified and burnt beyond recognition, at long last distilled into the 12 pieces we present you with here.
as these recordings utilise piano, organ and keyboard as the most salient sound sources they will no doubt remind some listeners of last year’s ‘vietnamese piano’ release. in point of fact the present recordings were completed some months prior to the session in hanoi that produced clade 2.5, but while that release was effectively entirely improvised the ‘klavierstücke’ have undergone a much more rigorous process of composition, editing and post-production. at once delicate, haunting, and cinematic, the result is the most mature and rewarding clade release to date.
file next to: deaf center, stars of the lid, jonathan coleclough, AMM, harold budd with a migrane
with apologies to k.s. " [label info]
cladistic.bandcamp.com/album/klavierst-cke
"More mysterious music by Clade, whose bandcamp these days says they are from Edinburgh these days - although maybe they always were? The cover and CD print look like a nice modern classical recordings rip-off and we find here twelve pieces, called 'Klavierstück' (piano piece, in case you were wondering), of which the last four are four parts of 'Klavierstück IX'. The first four pieces are dedicated to Harold Budd, the second four to David Jackman, and the last four to Otto Totland. Apparently recorded over a seven-day period in March 2012, and a further seven in Oakland in December 2013. The first seven to record the piano sources, the next seven to 'cajole, caresse and genetically modify' them. Not unlike their previous, 'Vietnamese Piano', this is a further exploration of the world of quiet music; highly atmospheric and sparse. The treatments are kept to an interesting minimum, or perhaps they are done to such an extent that we no longer recognize them as treatments; maybe the
treatments are kept more natural? Like being played in a large and natural reverb becomes part of it? All of these things you could wonder about while listening to this music. But better is to sit back and enjoy. I am not sure if the three dedications are reflected in the music, even when I know Jackman's best and Totland's music not much, but it seems to me that all twelve are along similar lines. Much reverb suggests much atmosphere, and it works very well. Sometimes it sounds like a William Basinski piece, but then trimmed down a lot in length and there is quite an amount of variation in these pieces also which makes this a most enjoyable album. An excellent album in fact of some imaginative ambient music." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| CLEAR FRAME |
same |
CD |
"Continuity... Records, ein neuer Trabant, der RéR umkreist, wurde initiiert von Charles Hayward & Lesley Evans, um sich speziell um die Musik von Hayward zu kümmern, aber auch Leckerbissen aus dem britischen Underground der 60s & 70s auszugraben, und bringt gleich als Erstes ein besonderes Meeting of the Spirits. CLEAR FRAME (TINU 001) ist nichts weniger als ein All-Star-Gipfel - Hayward (Quiet Sun, This Heat, Camberwell Now) an den Drums, Hugh Hopper (Soft Machine, Soft Works, Brainville 3) am Bass, Lol Coxhill (Delivery, Kevin Ayers, The Melody Four, The Recedents, Burt / MacDonald + Coxhill) am Soprano, dazu Orphy Robinson (Courtney Pine, The Jazz Warriors) an Vibraphon, Steel Pan & FX, der zuletzt auf Robert Wyatts Comicopera zu hören war. Wyatt selbst spielt auf Gegenbesuch hier Kornett. Zusammen kreieren sie eine post-canterburyeske,
neo-fusioneske Ästhetik, mit agil-dynamischem Drumming und dem E-Bass als gewaltigem Soundelement und zweiter Leadstimme neben Coxhills einzigartigem, schnörkelig-näselndem Knören. Diese Bitches Brew bekommt durch Robinsons karibisches Steelgedengel und das tönerne, gläserne Perlen des Vibraphons eine exotische Würze, das tagträumerische Ambiente eines neuen Horizontes und fremder Küsten. Wyatts dunkler Kornettklang, schnarrend oder mit kaskadierendem Nachhall, mäandert dazwischen wie ein weiterer Duft von weither. Hoppers fuzzige Klangwolken sind der Stoff, aus dem Cloud 9 geballt ist. Coxhills Swing kann einen entführen in das New Orleans eines Paralleluniversums, nichts ist hier wie man es kennt. ‚Figure Eight‘ hat ganz klar Jon Hassells Possible Worlds vor dem inneren Auge. Diese Exotica lässt durch ‚noise‘ und ‚void‘ hindurch etwas Höheres und Besseres durchschimmern. Dass Rock + Improvisation weniger ist als die Summe seiner Teile, ist übrigens nur Smalltalk, an dem man einen Schmock erkennt." [Bad Alchemy]
"An all-star line-up convened and recorded for a BBC radio project, subsequently radically reworked by Hugh Hopper. These are clear, defined and shapely improvisations, music rather than noise based, invoking the best of the ‘70s rock- improvisational approaches; genre-free and structurally-minded. Robert appears in an unfamiliar role, playing trumpet throughout, and everyone is on top form. A rarity in these times, this is deep rooted music that grows with listening." [label info]
www.rermegacorp.com
|
2008 |
€14.00 |
|
| CLEMENT, JODA |
The Narrows |
CD |
“When I was born, my family moved to a remote farm in north Ontario, known as ‘Setle’. Situated in the woods, ‘Setle’ was without electrical power during much of our stay, so much of my father’s work involved using power from a generator positioned 400 feet away, connected by a series of extension cords. By integrating sounds recorded from these and other remote locations, he created a form of ‘environmental music’ that expressed the beauty and solitude of the Canadian wildnerness. When we later moved the city, he would take me with him on recording missions, so as I got older field recording became like second nature. I record mostly in urban environments, but my appreciation for sound is deeply rooted in my formative years.
Following the release of The Cherry Beach Project (on Mystery Sea) I set out record a ‘site-specific’ piece as a follow-up, although I didn’t have a particular location in mind. Without specific theme or purpose, time gradually eroded my initial intention for site specificity, as I gathered a tremendous archive of sound materials. Merging various threads into one mass, the construction of the piece seemed to take on a life of its own. As hundreds of sources blurred together to the point where I forget where many originate, I slowly came to look at the piece as a continuation of my father’s idea of ‘environmental music’ – coloured by memories and impressions of those early years in north Ontario, yet re-imagined through the dense and shifting sound pallete of Toronto, where I live and work." [Joda Clément]
www.unfathomless.net
|
2011 |
€14.00 |
|
| CLEMENTI, ALDO |
Collage |
LP |
Alga Marghen presents the previously unreleased Collage 2 and Collage 3 (Dies irae) for magnetic tape, both realized at the Studio di Fonologia Muisicale RAI in Milan with the technical collaboration of Marino Zuccheri. These pieces are precious testimonials to Aldo Clementi's intense and ongoing interest in electronic music in the 1960s. The electronic composition Collage 2 dates from 1960. It was the first experiment with electronic music for Clementi whose original and consistent adherence to structuralism is reflected in several of his instrumental works written around that time. The first idea of Collage 3 dates back to 1966, in the form of a short electronic collage on the Beatles' song "Michelle." The composer wanted to replace old concepts and clichés which had become popular and common, through the use of "natural wells of timbre, live and organic, springing from a world of symmetry and fixed blocks." This original idea underwent a drastic transformation when the RAI (the Italian radio) commissioned Clementi to write a longer work. To his initial desire to start from scratch was added the problem of a longer duration. It was only when Clementi had almost completed the piece that he gave it its final title of "Dies irae," owing to the extreme tension that accompanied its composition.
###############
Having already issued some incredible LP by Gavin Bryars, Phill Niblock, Damião Experiença, and Hans KRUSI in 2023, Alga Marghen returns with an absolute stunner, “Collage”, dedicated to seminal Italian composer Aldo Clementi.
Comprising two previously unreleased works for magnetic tape - “Collage 2” (1960) and “Collage 3 (Dies Irae)” (1967) - both of huge historical importance, alongside a brand new rendering from 2022 of the composer’s brilliant “Fantasia su roBErto FABbriCiAni” - a work composed for flute and magnetic tape in between 1980 and 1981 - the importance of this beautiful LP can’t be overstated; bringing to light a previously inaccessible period of the great Italian composer’s career, and illuminating a crucial body of work at the heights of 20th Century musical Neo-Avantgarde.
Aldo Clementi
“Collage”
(LP)
Over the course of nearly three decades of activity, the Italian imprint, Alga Marghen, has continuously cast light into the shadows of historical sound practice, offering particular focus to underappreciated artefacts at the juncture of visual art, sound-art, experimental music, and sound-poetry. With each subsequent release, the label has helped to reform our understanding of 20th Century, and the voices that made it what it was. Over the years, they’ve brought forth an unprecedented range of early and archival material by seminal composers like Charlemagne Palestine, Walter Marchetti, Philip Corner, Henri Chopin, Robert Ashley, David Behrman, Max Neuhaus, Éliane Radigue, and numerous others. Further this mission, their latest, Aldo Clementi's “Collage”, presents some of the most extreme musics ever issued by the label, at the same level as Robert Ashley's “Wolfman”, Max Neuhaus' “Fontana-Mix Feed” or Philip Corner's “Oracle”. Representing an entirely singular sound and approach to tape music that was unique to Clementi alone, once again Alga Marghen has cracked it wide open and rewritten our understanding of the history of sound.
Born in 1925 in Catania, Sicily, Aldo Clementi began his piano studies at the age of thirteen, for which he immediately showed great promise. Three short years later, in 1941, he embarked upon the study of composition under Alfredo Sangiorgi (a student of Arnold Schoenberg) who introduced him to the twelve-tone technique, leading to his attendance of the Rome Conservatory and Darmstadt. In 1956, Clementi met the Italian-born, German conductor, composer, and teacher, Bruno Maderna, attending the Studio of Phonology in Milan - the electronic music studio (RAI) founded by Maderna and Luciano Berio in 1955 - which instigated a decisive turning point in his career and work. It was there that he composed two key works in electronic music - “Collage 2” (1960) and “Collage 3 (Dies Irae)” (1967), issued here by Alga Marghen for the first time.
While Clementi would become primarily known for pieces, composed for acoustic instruments, that were characterized by a calm, consistent sound, with their materiality rooted in a unity of concept and procedure - lacking highs, lows, and any sense of forward movement - that became almost self-generative, closely connected to the approaches of Pittura Informale, his early endeavors in electronics and tape music remain among his most important works. Despite having only rarely been encountered since, in 1961 “Collage 2” was presented at the Accademia Filarmonica Romana in Rome, and subsequently won the International Society for Contemporary Music’s prestigious competition that year.
Realized at the Studio di Fonologia Musicale RAI in Milan in 1960, employing the technical collaboration of Marino Zuccheri, Aldo Clementi’s “Collage 2” was the composer’s first experiment with electronic music, about which he explained: “The title and the technique, both of the same name, are the result of my having conceived the work in terms of compositional planes created independently and later superimposed; this gives rise to absorption or emergence, intersection or isolation, all absolutely and deliberately unpredictable. The difficulties implicit in the acoustics, and consequently in the effect, of this kind of treatment, are taken for granted and accepted from the start”. The result is striking; a bumbling expanse of textures and muted tones that foreshadow (and possibly lay the groundwork for) his subsequent development of techniques that would render the sound, lacking highs, lows, and any sense of forward movement, for which he would become famed, illuminating a far more pointed and arguably aggressive sense of pop possibility for the conceptual framework.
Conceived in 1966 as an electronic collage of the Beatles’ song “Michelle”, and realized the following year, also at Studio di Fonologia Musicale RAI in Milan, with the technical collaboration of Marino Zuccheri, in from a markedly different root, “Collage 3” encounters Clementi endeavoring to replace old concepts and clichés through the use of “natural wells of timbre, live and organic, springing from a world of symmetry and fixed blocks”. The outcome, while clearly a work of sound collage, renders the composer’s source material virtually unrecognizable in a swirling, shattered expanse, the extreme tension of which compelled Clementi to add the words “Dies irae” ("the Day of Wrath”) to the title, in a strange and fascinating reference to the idiom of Requiem Mass.
The final piece on Alga Marghen’s “Collage” LP is “Fantasia su roBErto FABbriCiAni”, composed by Clementi in 1982, and thus offering a fascinating counterpoint to its predecessors, establishing a point of contact between his early electronic pieces and more well know acoustic works, and illuminating the enduring engagement with electronic process that stretched across his career. Composed for flute and magnetic tape, the piece is based on the notes corresponding to the letters in Fabbriciani’s name according to the German musical nomenclature (B flat, E, F, A, B flat, C, A). Describing the ideas at the root of the work, Clementi stated: “My stylistic purpose was to create a delirious labyrinth around the solo instrument like an enormous growth of vegetation that chokes out a little plant…”. The result, rendered here in a brand new realization, recorded live in 2022 by Alvise Vidolin, is a remarkable meeting of conceptual rigor - where the idea is the generative drive - and complex structural notions of composing. Against haunting sheets of dissonant tonality, a flute traces through the notes established by pieces conception, floating above in flirtations with melody that never fully form.
Truly amazing on creative and conceptual terms, and engrossing in its sonorities, Alga Marghen has done an hugely important work with their issue of Aldo Clementi’s “Collage”, illuminating a little-known aspect of his output, and delivering this seminal voice of Italian Modernism to an entirely new generation of listeners. Ten out of ten and impossible to recommend enough.
SOUNDOHM
|
2023 |
€22.50 |
|
| CLOAMA |
same |
CD |
This is dark experimental ambient with a very piercing edge, evokes a very unsettling and eldrich atmosphere....the other, dark & abysmall side of CLOAMA...
“.....This recording, marking a debut for artist / group on the New Old Sentinel label and for the label itself, is five tracks of experimental ambient music limited to 500 copies. Experimental ambient. Two words guaranteed to send most people running off in sheer apoplectic fright. The fear of the unknown. Ambient in all its forms they can cope with but…‘experimental’…too weird. Too challenging. Never assume. On this recording the balance between the differing genres has been implemented in such a seamless and gratifying manner that its only when the recording has finished do you suddenly realise what a strange aural experience you have lived through.
Track one ‘Radiation Amplifier’ starts with what sounds like Tibetan instruments being struck before the piece swiftly introduces musique concrete electronic effects and a sample before ending in something being strummed. Whoa!! Far fucking out maaan. Track two ‘The New Old Sentinel’ throws a whole caboodle of multi effects into the mix merging part drone / part black ambience / part electro acoustic over ghostly voices. Double whoa!! Double far fucking out maaan. I think you can gleam from this what the other tracks are going to sound like. Manipulated electronic sounds and voices resonate predominately. The music continually fluctuates. To move, evolve and grow. Putting out searching tentacles to probe and envelop. Building up pieces which are then demolished before starting anew all within the same track. This combination, which will happily throw dark and light together and damn the consequences, isn’t afraid to take risks. These are minuscule forays into every genre. Picking the finest flecks and combining them into one ethereal state. The music is abstract enough to be confounding and innovative but it never alienates the listener. Instead you feel a guiding hand leading you gently into the more surreal pieces whilst cooing soothing words of comfort are spoken into your ear as you stand hypnotised at the sonic sculptures unfolding.
If this is a foray into uncharted waters, away from the normal Cloama sound, then long may it continue. To produce a piece of work that is structurally complex and yet easily accessible, without falling into the pitfalls of self absorbing wankery, is a feat many aspire to. Cloama have achieved this easily and comes highly recommended to the more adventurous spirits amongst you. “ [Auralpressure]
|
2005 |
€10.00 |
|
| CLOUWBECK |
Wolfrahm |
CD |
" 'Wolfrahm' is the latest work by UK artist Richard Skelton, who records under many different guises, including A Broken Consort and Carousell. It's the follow-up to 2007's "A Moraine", and continues his preoccupation with landscapes, land formation, erosion, decay and renewal. The album's title is a reference to the mineral ore that produces Tungsten - a metal, which amongst other things, is used to make violin strings. The music itself brims with a rich, textural ebb and flow - a sonorous drift of shifting layers, with dark seams of beautiful, bowed melodies and eddying, turbulent undertow." [label info]
www.shiningday.pl
"Clouwbeck is yet another pseudonym for the British ambient folk experimentalist Richard Skelton, following A Broken Consort, Carousell, and a couple others which haven't yet found their way through these doors. Each of his monikers has its own slight yet particular bent on his signature sound of rough hewn melancholia, with Clouwbeck being the most somber and abstract that we've heard from him so far. He strips down the instrumentation to just the violin, although he does allow for a considerable amount of processing and thick applications of layered drone from that instrument, building up a ponderous atmosphere of wintry sadness. The album's opening track "Gossan" scratches out the melody as if the bow were dragged across a piece of barbed wire instead of violin, yet the buzzing, luminous beds of sound that Skelton broadcasts around these scraped recursive melodies prevents the whole thing from tumbling into dissonance. "Leached" softens the rustic buzz with a majestic billowing of overlapping violin melodies, distended and blurred into a rich mass of sound. The rest of the album continues to dive deeper with each track becoming incrementally more submerged in the dense loopings and hazy drones. Throughout, Skelton's album sounds like those beautiful orchestrations from Johann Johannsson as played by Alastair Galbraith and produced by the Caretaker. Really, fantastic stuff." [Aquarius Records]
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| CLUETT, SETH |
Objects of Memory |
CD |
"beneath the fabricating and universal writing of technology, opaque and stubborn places remain . . . hidden in customs, rites, and spatial practices . . . only fragments in language . . . like the deteriorating pages of a book” - Michel de Certeau, The Practice of Everyday Life
1. objects in stillness for bassoon, viola, guitar, percussion, and four sine tones (2006). Clogs: Bryce Dessner, Rachael Elliot, Thomas Kozumplik, and Padma Newsome.
2. a radiance scored with shadow for amplified paper, bowed vibraphone, bass drum, and compressed air (2007). So Percussion: Douglas Perkins, Adam Sliwinski, Jason Treuting, and Lawson White.
3. a murmur which redoubles for three guitars, electric bass, and four sine tones (2006).
4. doleros (audio tourism at ringing rocks) reclaimed building materials, steel, baler twine, speaker cones, light, and 12.1-channel audio (2008). Catch Guitar Quartet: Wiek Hijmans, Seth Josel, Patricio Wang, and Mark Haanstra.
5. untitled (objects of memory) live performance at NYC Sound Festival, Centre d’Arts Plastiques Contemporains/Musée d’Art Contemporain de Bordeaux, France.
Seth Cluett (b. 1976, Troy, NY) is an artist, performer, and composer whose work ranges from photography, and drawing to video, sound installation, concert music, and critical writing. Engaging the boundary between the auditory and other senses, his work is marked by a detailed attention to perception and to sound’s role in the creation of a sense of place and the experience of time. The apparent tranquility of Cluett’s work – at once gentle and un-nerving – is concerned with the rapidly shifting sensory landscape of technological development and urbanization." [Credits]
"These works occupy a position between an expanded notion of composition and a gallery-based art practice. The content of the works presented on this disc produce a slow series of gestures that give the illusion of stillness amidst a texture of continually developing material. The central concern in all of these pieces (the three fully scored works, the installation documentation, and the live-performance) is the construction of a sound world that is able to be environmental rather than temporal, proceeding slowly enough that it might be explored without the anxiety that it will move away too quickly. Like much of my output, I am interested in providing the listener with material that allows for an active agency of perception and that affords the ability to move through the sound autonomously. Whether the work is gallery-based, conceptual, or created for a concert hall, I am interested in viewing simple, everyday actions at extreme magnification, acknowledging failure by amplifying impossible tasks, and exploring the role of memory in forms that respect the contract between the composer, performer, and listener." [Seth Cluett]
www.lineimprint.com
"Less productive is Seth Cluett in terms of releases, or perhaps they escaped my attention. Cluett's work is also minimal, but also more 'traditional'. By this I mean that sometimes his work deals with a variety of instruments and players. More like a classical composer that is. Take for instance 'Objects In Stillness', which is a Niblock like piece for bassoon, viola, guitar, percussion and four sine tones. The next two pieces are alike: minimal, classical, introspective and simply beautiful. The other two pieces here are much longer and don't seem to involve any traditional instruments. Yet this is no break with the previous three pieces. In 'Dolores' he uses 'reclaimed building materials, steel, baler twine, speaker cones, light and 12.1 channel audio'. While there is a soft percussive element to the music, there is also the low humming bass sound, that over the course of the piece changes towards a more mid-ranged sound and a bit louder. If anything, I was reminded of the music of Steve Roden here. Sine waves also play a big role in the final and longest piece 'Untitled (Objects Of Memory)', which also uses cassette dictaphones, circuit-modified portable cassette player and controlled feedback. Despite it being the longest piece, it seems to have the least sound information, but its an excellent piece. Almost alike Alvin Lucier, but just with that extra bit to make it more 'musical'. This could have been a fine (if not short) CD by itself. This CD may serve as a fine introduction in case Cluett is a new name for you." [FDW/Vital Weekly]
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| COBER ORD |
Le Revers Du Soleil |
MC |
In the day of the Lunar eclipse we bring you the debut album of the mysterious project. Shadows and shapes from the deep and unknown corners of the cloth of being. Aroused by the primordial pulse of millennial ritual. Hum of forest thickets and call of deep caves, echoing with hundreds of votes subconscious. Inner rivers flow reverse the sun. Outhuman perceptual experience through the prism of animism. (description written by Nomos Dei where the CD version of this album is available)
Le Revers Du Soleil contains approximately 50 minutes of material with the cassette version being limited to 150 copies and is housed in a 4 color screen printed brad pack with lino cut printing on the cassette shell.
|
2015 |
€9.00 |
|
| CODE INCONNU |
Abgesang |
CD-R |
Eher in „rockilde“ Gefilde geht es bei diesem Newcomer auf Tonto.....treibend-wuchtiger Instrumental-Rock, mit wunderbaren ruhig-melancholischen Passagen, düstere THIS HEAT treffen auf AIDAN BAKER-Drones....
A trio from Graz, Austria, with minimal experimental drone-rock between THIS HEAT and AIDAN BAKER maybe.
„Benannt nach dem Film "Code Inconnu" von Michael Haneke, welcher Verständnisprobleme zwischen den Menschen thematisiert, behandelt die dreiköpfige Grazer Band mit "Abgesang" ähnliche Themen: Das Erleben von gesellschaftlichen Zwängen und die Auseinandersetzung des Einzelnen damit bzw. die Banalität des Alltags, die zum Auslöser seelischer Konflikte und innerer Zerrissenheit wird. Die Musik ist zu verstehen als Abfolge von "Schnappschüssen"(kurzen Geschichten), die den "Kampf" des Einzelnen mit sich selbst und seiner Umwelt
darstellen sollen. Daraus resultieren Gefühle wie Zerissenheit, Wut und Resignation, die musikalisch ausgedeutet werden. Wichtiger Träger der Emotionalität ist die Klangfarbe (der Sound), welche daher als Ausdrucksmittel im Vordergrund steht. In den minimalistisch angelegten Arrangements mischen sich "brachialer Lärm" und "romantische Zurückhaltung", wobei der oft unvermittelte Wechsel zwischen den Kontrasten als Umschlagen der Stimmung verstanden werden kann. Zu einfachen Drumgrooves kommen tiefe Synth-Bässe und eine extrem effektierte Gitarre sowie computergenerierte Samples. Realisation: akustisches Schlagzeug (Markus Sworcik), effektierte Gitarre (Gottfried Krienzer), Synthesizer (Christoph Uhlmann), Samples." [label info]
www.tonto.at
|
2002 |
€11.00 |
|
| COIL |
A Sip from a Cup of Mercury |
do-LP |
Coil in dub, live backing tracks and projections 2003-2004. Limited to 500 numbered copies on clear vinyl.
SIDE 1:
1. The First Five Minutes After Death (Extended Version Of The Horse Rotorvator Track)
2. Tattoed Man
3. Lake View
SIDE 2:
1. A Slip In The Marylebone Road (Triple Sun Projection)
2. Triple Sons And The One You Bury (Weston Projection)
SIDE 3:
1. Blue Rats
2. White Rainbow (The Beginning Is Always The End Projection)
SIDE 4:
1. Unhappy Rabbits
2. Triple Sun (Weston Projection)
3. Going Up |
2017 |
€60.00 |
|
|
Musick to play in the Dark |
CD |
Few groups in recent history forged as confounding and alchemical a body of work as Coil, the partnership of Peter 'Sleazy' Christopherson and John Balance. From album to album and phase to phase their recordings spelunk perplexing depths of esoteric industrial, occult electronics, and drugged poetry, both embodying and alienating parallel currents of their peers. The late 1990's in particular were a fertile era for the duo, embracing chance, chaos, and collaboration, enhanced by recent advancements in synthesis and sampling. Fittingly, at the summit of the decade's long, intoxicated arc, their divergent strains of interstitial ritual congealed into one of Coil's most celebrated and hallucinatory creations: Musick To Play In The Dark.
Convening at Balance and Christopherson's vast Victorian house / studio in the coastal town of Weston-super-Mare, they began a series of ambitious sessions aided by inner circle associates Thighpaulsandra and Drew McDowall. Although the creative process was admittedly “iterative” and “a bit of a drug blur,” the results are astoundingly inventive and well realized, winding through shades of divination dirge, wormhole kosmische, noir lounge, ominous humor, and black mass downtempo, guided by Balance's cryptic lunar muse, which he announces on the opening track: “This is moon musick / in the light of the moon.”
What's most remarkable about the album 20 years after its release is how brazen, insular, and unpredictable it still feels. The songs follow an allusive, altered state logic all their own, warping from microscopic ripples of glitch and breath to widescreen warlock psychedelia and back again, as much hyper-sensory as inter-dimensional. Even within a catalog as eclectic as Coil's, Musick is a mystifying collection, oneiric evocations of desire, decadence, dinner jazz, and dietary advice, far beyond the pale of whatever gothic industrial ambiguity birthed such a journey.
The record closes with a slow, starlit shuffle, bathed in seething sweeps of spectral texture and high cathedral keys, like approaching the altar of some arcane temple. As the trance thickens Balance's voice rises, processed into an increasingly eerie, gaseous haze, but he resists these unseen forces, intent on delivering a final sermon: “Through hissy mists of history / the dreamer is still dreaming / the dreamer is still dreaming.”
Reissued for the first time in over 20 years, now on double vinyl LP with the complete, unedited versions of each song and an exclusive "D-side" vinyl art etching. Packaged in a sturdy matte jacket with embossed lettering and spot-gloss design elements. The compact disc version mirrors this design, and comes housed in thick tip-on "LP style" package. Both formats are completely remastered by engineer Josh Bonati with restored artwork and layout by Nathaniel Young - all under the project supervision of Drew McDowall and Thighpaulsandra.
https://www.daisrecords.com/products/coil-musick-to-play-in-the-dark
|
2020 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Swanyard |
do-CD |
"150 minutes of previously unreleased material from Coil, strewn with parts that would eventually metastasise into ‘Backwards’, and ultimately ‘Black Light District’ and ‘Musick To Play In The Dark’. We hardly need to stress that ’Swanyard’ is a bounty for Coil nuts out there, but equally a fascinating listen for anyone attempting to get to grips with their unfathomable catalogue - especially DJs and listeners currently digging into the underbelly of the ‘90s.
The material was all written and recorded between 1993 to 1996 and was selected and assembled by Danny Hyde (Electric Sewer Age, ex-Coil, ex-Psychic TV, ex-Black Light District) from the studio archives. As he outlines in the liner notes, these 23 tracks offer unforetold snapshots of Coil’s constant work-in-progress during an important phase of exploration. Tracks were usually seeded in Peter 'Sleazy' Christopherson’s dreams, and rendered thru the prism of his myriad sample bank, with Jhon Balance pulling from his notebooks for lyrics, and Danny Hyde would aid in engineering, editing and mixing, animating their studio gremlins and mental apparitions to an almost complete form.
The ’Swanyard’ is effectively as close as you’ll get to being in their notorious studios during the pharmaceutically-fuelled peak of the ‘90s, at the point where dark ambient, electronica and dance music were mutual bedfellows, and mutated the framework for where we are today." [Boomkat]
|
2019 |
€25.00 |
|
|
Theme from the Gay Man's Guide to Safer Sex |
LP |
" ‘Musique Pour La Danse’ is proud to present Coil's unreleased soundtrack for the VHS only,
pre-internet, sexual education documentary entitled "The Gay Man's Guide to Safer Sex" re-
leased in 1992. Members for this project are John Balance, Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson
and Danny Hyde.
The OST, to quote John Balance's interview for Compulsion Online, "is [a] slightly new agey, progressive house type thing". Another way to approach it is as a delightful collection of balearic beats, smoking jazz not far removed from Badalamenti's work with David Lynch, somewhat of an ambient house album for your home listening and early morning sunrise dances, Coil style. Taken from the original masters provided by Danny Hyde, "The Gay Man's Guide...” features a new sexy edit of the main theme.
Bonuses: "Nasa-Arab" and "Omlagus Garfungiloops" are taken from the 1992 CD only "Stolen and Contaminated Songs", both being original versions of the radically reworked (for the OST) "Nasa-Arab 2" and "Exploding Frogs" in order to balance the whole album and extend the listening pleasure.
Tracks:
A1 Coil - Alternative Theme From Gay Man's Guide To Safer Sex (End Version)
A2 Coil - Exploding Frogs
A3 Coil - Nasa Arab 2
B1 Coil - Nasa Arab
B2 Coil - Omlagus Garfungiloops
B3 Coil - Theme From The Gay Man's Guide To Safer Sex" [label info]
"Next in Coil’s archival excavations is their soundtrack to a pre-internet, VHS-only sex ed documentary released in 1992. Released from masters with the blessing of Danny Hyde (Jhon and Sleazy’s right hand man and go-to engineer), this first proper edition of the soundtrack features a newly reworked “sexy” edit of the main theme along with bonus reworks of ‘Nasa-Arab’ and ‘Omlagus Garfungiloops’ which appeared in the soundtrack to ‘Gay Man’s…’ as well as on 1992’s CD-only ‘Stolen And Contaminated Songs.’
In a way that Coil would shed with later recordings, ‘Gay Man’s Guide to Safer Sex’ sounds very much of its time, melding downtempo rhythms with smoky atmospheres in a way comparable to fellow ambient travellers such as The Orb and FSOL as contemporaneous material by Lynch & Badalamenti or even The Wildbunch, essentially nailing a sort of Balearic backroom or afterhours style.
The big highlights are the EP’s balmiest and jazziest bits, namely the dusky blue strut of ‘Alternative Theme From Gay Men’s Guide To Safer Sex’ that opens the EP, along with the iridescent shimmies of ‘Exploding Frogs’ and its rework ‘Omlagus Garfungiloops’, which could almost be a fantasy collaboration between Japanese Electronics-era Heinrich Mueller and Angelo Badalamenti at his most snake-hipped and winking.
While we’re not certain of the soundtrack’s efficacy in its purpose - it remains a unique piece of the impossible jigsaw puzzle that is Coil’s catalogue, and a fine throwback to early ‘90s ambient/downtempo styles." [Boomkat]
|
2019 |
€22.50 |
|
|
Theme from the Gay Man's Guide to Safer Sex |
CD |
" ‘Musique Pour La Danse’ is proud to present Coil's unreleased soundtrack for the VHS only,
pre-internet, sexual education documentary entitled "The Gay Man's Guide to Safer Sex" re-
leased in 1992. Members for this project are John Balance, Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson
and Danny Hyde.
The OST, to quote John Balance's interview for Compulsion Online, "is [a] slightly new agey, progressive house type thing". Another way to approach it is as a delightful collection of balearic beats, smoking jazz not far removed from Badalamenti's work with David Lynch, somewhat of an ambient house album for your home listening and early morning sunrise dances, Coil style. Taken from the original masters provided by Danny Hyde, "The Gay Man's Guide...” features a new sexy edit of the main theme.
Bonuses: "Nasa-Arab" and "Omlagus Garfungiloops" are taken from the 1992 CD only "Stolen and Contaminated Songs", both being original versions of the radically reworked (for the OST) "Nasa-Arab 2" and "Exploding Frogs" in order to balance the whole album and extend the listening pleasure.
Tracks:
A1 Coil - Alternative Theme From Gay Man's Guide To Safer Sex (End Version)
A2 Coil - Exploding Frogs
A3 Coil - Nasa Arab 2
B1 Coil - Nasa Arab
B2 Coil - Omlagus Garfungiloops
B3 Coil - Theme From The Gay Man's Guide To Safer Sex" [label info]
"Next in Coil’s archival excavations is their soundtrack to a pre-internet, VHS-only sex ed documentary released in 1992. Released from masters with the blessing of Danny Hyde (Jhon and Sleazy’s right hand man and go-to engineer), this first proper edition of the soundtrack features a newly reworked “sexy” edit of the main theme along with bonus reworks of ‘Nasa-Arab’ and ‘Omlagus Garfungiloops’ which appeared in the soundtrack to ‘Gay Man’s…’ as well as on 1992’s CD-only ‘Stolen And Contaminated Songs.’
In a way that Coil would shed with later recordings, ‘Gay Man’s Guide to Safer Sex’ sounds very much of its time, melding downtempo rhythms with smoky atmospheres in a way comparable to fellow ambient travellers such as The Orb and FSOL as contemporaneous material by Lynch & Badalamenti or even The Wildbunch, essentially nailing a sort of Balearic backroom or afterhours style.
The big highlights are the EP’s balmiest and jazziest bits, namely the dusky blue strut of ‘Alternative Theme From Gay Men’s Guide To Safer Sex’ that opens the EP, along with the iridescent shimmies of ‘Exploding Frogs’ and its rework ‘Omlagus Garfungiloops’, which could almost be a fantasy collaboration between Japanese Electronics-era Heinrich Mueller and Angelo Badalamenti at his most snake-hipped and winking.
While we’re not certain of the soundtrack’s efficacy in its purpose - it remains a unique piece of the impossible jigsaw puzzle that is Coil’s catalogue, and a fine throwback to early ‘90s ambient/downtempo styles." [Boomkat]
|
2019 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Sara Dale's Sensual Massage |
do-LP |
"Sara Dale's Sensual Massage was a delightful erotic video with a mystic soundtrack by Coil. Quite unusual for the band dreamy ambient, almost spa-relaxed soft harmonies, bland tribal rhythms, chimes, and birdsong but still with dark mysterious and inimitable Coil musick's charm. However, the second part of the album explores more rhythmic structures that remind 'Gay Man's Guide...' soundtrack. Besides the OST recordings, the edition includes bonus tracks from the "Basilisk prod.'s" era: “Theme From Blue”, and grandiose "The Hills Are Alive" so badly wanted on vinyl. Artwork by Steven Stapleton. Mastering by Martin Bowes." [label info]
"Coil’s gaping vaults give up their esoteric erotic massage parlour soundtrack supplemented by tracks from 1993’s ‘Themes For Derek Jarman’s Blue’. This is Coil at their most beautiful - in places best compared to Art Of Noise's 'Moments in Love'...
After recently cropping up on one of the Threshold Archive CDs, Coil’s seven tracks of creamy new age parlour music make a kinda incredible release on their own, with the culminating cuts for Derek Jarman making for a very happy ending in certain Coil fan’s fantasies. For the most, this is Coil doing sensual New Age music in a very early ‘90s style, all choral harmonies and blushing digital pads primed for your comedown or floatation tank session, but edged with that unfathomable sense of eeriness that’s practically made Coil a byword for all things queered and quasi-mystic.
It gets very weird when the masseuses’ hands turns to tentacle with the plasmic ooze of ‘Part 5’, and in the mix of raga drone and sleazy rhythmic creep in ‘Part 6’, with the set all arranged to lead up to a tantric disco noise climax as only these guys could in the pair of Jarman soundtrack parts recalling their work on the sort sibling soundtrack release, ‘Gay Man’s Guide…’." [Boomkat]
|
2020 |
€34.00 |
|
|
Musick to play in the Dark (yellow vinyl) |
do-LP |
"Few groups in recent history forged as confounding and alchemical a body of work as Coil, the partnership of Peter 'Sleazy' Christopherson and John Balance. From album to album and phase to phase their recordings spelunk perplexing depths of esoteric industrial, occult electronics, and drugged poetry, both embodying and alienating parallel currents of their peers. The late 1990's in particular were a fertile era for the duo, embracing chance, chaos, and collaboration, enhanced by recent advancements in synthesis and sampling. Fittingly, at the summit of the decade's long, intoxicated arc, their divergent strains of interstitial ritual congealed into one of Coil's most celebrated and hallucinatory creations: Musick To Play In The Dark.
Convening at Balance and Christopherson's vast Victorian house / studio in the coastal town of Weston-super-Mare, they began a series of ambitious sessions aided by inner circle associates Thighpaulsandra and Drew McDowall. Although the creative process was admittedly “iterative” and “a bit of a drug blur,” the results are astoundingly inventive and well realized, winding through shades of divination dirge, wormhole kosmische, noir lounge, ominous humor, and black mass downtempo, guided by Balance's cryptic lunar muse, which he announces on the opening track: “This is moon musick / in the light of the moon.”
What's most remarkable about the album 20 years after its release is how brazen, insular, and unpredictable it still feels. The songs follow an allusive, altered state logic all their own, warping from microscopic ripples of glitch and breath to widescreen warlock psychedelia and back again, as much hyper-sensory as inter-dimensional. Even within a catalog as eclectic as Coil's, Musick is a mystifying collection, oneiric evocations of desire, decadence, dinner jazz, and dietary advice, far beyond the pale of whatever gothic industrial ambiguity birthed such a journey.
The record closes with a slow, starlit shuffle, bathed in seething sweeps of spectral texture and high cathedral keys, like approaching the altar of some arcane temple. As the trance thickens Balance's voice rises, processed into an increasingly eerie, gaseous haze, but he resists these unseen forces, intent on delivering a final sermon: “Through hissy mists of history / the dreamer is still dreaming / the dreamer is still dreaming.”
Reissued for the first time in over 20 years, now on double vinyl LP with the complete, unedited versions of each song and an exclusive "D-side" vinyl art etching. Packaged in a sturdy matte jacket with embossed lettering and spot-gloss design elements. The compact disc version mirrors this design, and comes housed in thick tip-on "LP style" package. Both formats are completely remastered by engineer Josh Bonati with restored artwork and layout by Nathaniel Young - all under the project supervision of Drew McDowall and Thighpaulsandra."
https://www.daisrecords.com/products/coil-musick-to-play-in-the-dark
|
2020 |
€32.00 |
|
|
Musick to play in the Dark (black vinyl) |
do-LP |
"Few groups in recent history forged as confounding and alchemical a body of work as Coil, the partnership of Peter 'Sleazy' Christopherson and John Balance. From album to album and phase to phase their recordings spelunk perplexing depths of esoteric industrial, occult electronics, and drugged poetry, both embodying and alienating parallel currents of their peers. The late 1990's in particular were a fertile era for the duo, embracing chance, chaos, and collaboration, enhanced by recent advancements in synthesis and sampling. Fittingly, at the summit of the decade's long, intoxicated arc, their divergent strains of interstitial ritual congealed into one of Coil's most celebrated and hallucinatory creations: Musick To Play In The Dark.
Convening at Balance and Christopherson's vast Victorian house / studio in the coastal town of Weston-super-Mare, they began a series of ambitious sessions aided by inner circle associates Thighpaulsandra and Drew McDowall. Although the creative process was admittedly “iterative” and “a bit of a drug blur,” the results are astoundingly inventive and well realized, winding through shades of divination dirge, wormhole kosmische, noir lounge, ominous humor, and black mass downtempo, guided by Balance's cryptic lunar muse, which he announces on the opening track: “This is moon musick / in the light of the moon.”
What's most remarkable about the album 20 years after its release is how brazen, insular, and unpredictable it still feels. The songs follow an allusive, altered state logic all their own, warping from microscopic ripples of glitch and breath to widescreen warlock psychedelia and back again, as much hyper-sensory as inter-dimensional. Even within a catalog as eclectic as Coil's, Musick is a mystifying collection, oneiric evocations of desire, decadence, dinner jazz, and dietary advice, far beyond the pale of whatever gothic industrial ambiguity birthed such a journey.
The record closes with a slow, starlit shuffle, bathed in seething sweeps of spectral texture and high cathedral keys, like approaching the altar of some arcane temple. As the trance thickens Balance's voice rises, processed into an increasingly eerie, gaseous haze, but he resists these unseen forces, intent on delivering a final sermon: “Through hissy mists of history / the dreamer is still dreaming / the dreamer is still dreaming.”
Reissued for the first time in over 20 years, now on double vinyl LP with the complete, unedited versions of each song and an exclusive "D-side" vinyl art etching. Packaged in a sturdy matte jacket with embossed lettering and spot-gloss design elements. The compact disc version mirrors this design, and comes housed in thick tip-on "LP style" package. Both formats are completely remastered by engineer Josh Bonati with restored artwork and layout by Nathaniel Young - all under the project supervision of Drew McDowall and Thighpaulsandra."
https://www.daisrecords.com/products/coil-musick-to-play-in-the-dark |
2020 |
€30.00 |
|
|
The Ape of Naples |
3 x LP set |
"The Ape of Naples" is a deeply emotional and uniquely rewarding album. In its immediate accessibility it is somewhat reminiscent of Coil's mid-1980s classic "Horse Rotorvator" sharing that album's wild variety of sounds and styles as well as its overriding sombre mood. Originally released in 2005 and in many ways the band's ultimate swan song, it is now considered one of the go-to albums for introducing new listeners to the unparalleled magick of Coil. Compiled and released by Peter Christopherson one year after Jhonn Balance's tragic deadly fall, it includes reworkings of the live favourite "Amethyst Deceivers" and "Love Secret's Domain"'s "Teenage Lightning" as well as several songs originally intended for the ill-fated "Backwards" album like the haunting and preminiscent "Fire of the Mind" and the superb "Amber Rain". Other tracks were created using unfinished song ideas from around "Backwards", sampling tiny bits of Balance's live vocals from songs only ever performed in concert once like "Triple Sun". Using the lyrics of the theme tune for the 1970s BBC sit com series "Are you being served?" for the unbelievably haunting "Going up", this album's final track and the last song Coil ever performed live, is maybe the most poignant example of Balance's and Christopherson's method of turning base matter into pure sound gold, and like the title of the album, derived from an imaginary adult video an equally fine example of the often underappreciated humour of the boys.
Christopherson with the help of long-term sound wizard Danny Hyde and using some of the talent of Coil touring members managed to craft an album which feels and flows like a true Coil classic.
The Infinite Fog version is the third Coil record receiving the fully remastered and enhanced 3LP/2CD treatment supervised by Danny Hyde.
All of the original material has again been carefully and sympathetically remastered by Grammy-nominated engineer Jessica Thompson who has been previously lauded for her splendid job on its sister release "The New Backwards". Coil fans old and new will be thrilled over the inclusion of more than an hour's worth of 9 rare and largely unheard bonus tracks from Danny's vaults completing the set. The astounding design of the original box-set release is restored for the gatefold 3LP sleeve using the fully-licensed artwork by Ian Johnstone (making it easy to differentiate this new vinyl version from previous un-sanctioned LP releases using poor reproductions of the original CD art for the front cover), the CD will be available in two versions with the original and well-loved original CD cover art and for the first time using the former vinyl-only cover art.
If you do not yet own a physical copy of the "Ape of Naples", or if you always wanted an enhanced version of this masterpiece, there has never been a better time to make that wish come true.
Written & Produced by Coil & Danny Hyde.
Mastered by Jessica Thompson.
Front artwork by Ian Johnstone.
Artwork licensed from The Estate of Ian Johnstone.
Layout Oleg Galay.
https://infinitefog.bandcamp.com/album/the-ape-of-naples
|
2022 |
€46.00 |
|
|
Musick to play in the Dark 2 (Black Vinyl) |
do-LP |
After leaving London in 1999 for the sleepy seaside retiree town of Weston-super-Mare, Coil co-founders John Balance and Peter “Sleazy” Christopherson set up shop in a palatial eight-bedroom estate to pursue the outer reaches of the group’s heightening cabalistic chemistry. Among the staggering string of late-era masterpieces they produced is lunar opus Musick To Play In The Dark, widely hailed as an artistic zenith upon its release. The sessions that birthed it were in fact so fruitful that a second LP took shape during the creation of the first one.
Aided by the recent addition of Welsh multi-instrumentalist engineer Thighpaulsandra, Coil mined further into the recesses of surrealist eldritch electronica Balance termed “moon music” – post-industrial spellcasting at the axis of narcotic and nocturnal energies. Musick To Play In The Dark² spans a full witching hour of bad acid sound design, synthesizer voyaging, opiated balladry, Luciferian glitch, and subliminal hymnals, alternately ominous, oracular, and absurd. Scottish gothic icon Rose McDowall guests on vocals for two tracks but otherwise the album is a hermetic affair, tapping into the group’s limitless insular synergy.
Opener “Something” is stark and incantational, a spoken word experiment for windswept voids. “Tiny Golden Books” unspools an aerial whirlpool of cosmic synth, both whispery and widescreen. “Ether” is an exercise in funeral procession piano and intoxicated wordplay (“It's either ether or the other”), while “Where Are You?” and “Batwings – A Liminal Hymn” lurk like liturgical murmurings heard on one’s death bed, framed in granular FX and flickering candlelight.
As a whole the collection skews more muted and remote than its predecessor, as if having grown accustomed to the nether regions of these darkening seances. But music box hallucination “Paranoid Inlay” captures the group’s oblique comedic side, always glimmering beneath: over a warped, wobbly beat Balance intones an opaque narrative of serenity, Saint Peter, and suicidal vegetables, accompanied by spiraling harpsichord and stuttering squelches of electronics. “It seems concussion suits you,” he repeats twice, like a macabre pickup line, before dictating a dear diary entry about risks and failures, finally concluding with as close to a self-portrait as Coil ever came: “On a clear day I can see forever / that the underworld is my oyster.”
// Unter der erstaunlichen Reihe von Meisterwerken der späten Coil-Ära gilt das Mond-Opus „Musick To Play In The Dark“ als künstlerischer Zenit der Band. Die Sessions, aus denen es hervorging, waren sogar so fruchtbar, dass eine zweite LP noch während der Entstehung der ersten Gestalt annahm. Unterstützt durch den walisischen Multi-Instrumentalisten und Tontechniker Thighpaulsandra tauchten Coil weiter in die Tiefen der surrealistischen Elektronika, die Bandgründer John Balance als "Mondmusik" bezeichnete. „Musick To Play In The Dark²“ umspannt eine ganze Geisterstunde post-industrielle Zauberei an der Achse von narkotischen und nächtlichen Energien: „Bad Acid“-Sounddesign, Synthesizer-Reisen, opiumhaltige Balladen, luziferischer Glitch und unterschwellige Hymnen; abwechselnd unheilvoll, orakelhaft und absurd. Die schottische Gothic-Ikone Rose McDowall ist bei zwei Stücken als Gastsängerin zu hören."
Mastered by Josh Bonati.
Double LP, with Side D Moon Etching.
https://www.daisrecords.com/collections/releases/products/coil-musick-to-play-in-the-dark-2
|
2022 |
€29.50 |
|
|
Musick to play in the Dark 2 |
CD |
After leaving London in 1999 for the sleepy seaside retiree town of Weston-super-Mare, Coil co-founders John Balance and Peter “Sleazy” Christopherson set up shop in a palatial eight-bedroom estate to pursue the outer reaches of the group’s heightening cabalistic chemistry. Among the staggering string of late-era masterpieces they produced is lunar opus Musick To Play In The Dark, widely hailed as an artistic zenith upon its release. The sessions that birthed it were in fact so fruitful that a second LP took shape during the creation of the first one.
Aided by the recent addition of Welsh multi-instrumentalist engineer Thighpaulsandra, Coil mined further into the recesses of surrealist eldritch electronica Balance termed “moon music” – post-industrial spellcasting at the axis of narcotic and nocturnal energies. Musick To Play In The Dark² spans a full witching hour of bad acid sound design, synthesizer voyaging, opiated balladry, Luciferian glitch, and subliminal hymnals, alternately ominous, oracular, and absurd. Scottish gothic icon Rose McDowall guests on vocals for two tracks but otherwise the album is a hermetic affair, tapping into the group’s limitless insular synergy.
Opener “Something” is stark and incantational, a spoken word experiment for windswept voids. “Tiny Golden Books” unspools an aerial whirlpool of cosmic synth, both whispery and widescreen. “Ether” is an exercise in funeral procession piano and intoxicated wordplay (“It's either ether or the other”), while “Where Are You?” and “Batwings – A Liminal Hymn” lurk like liturgical murmurings heard on one’s death bed, framed in granular FX and flickering candlelight.
As a whole the collection skews more muted and remote than its predecessor, as if having grown accustomed to the nether regions of these darkening seances. But music box hallucination “Paranoid Inlay” captures the group’s oblique comedic side, always glimmering beneath: over a warped, wobbly beat Balance intones an opaque narrative of serenity, Saint Peter, and suicidal vegetables, accompanied by spiraling harpsichord and stuttering squelches of electronics. “It seems concussion suits you,” he repeats twice, like a macabre pickup line, before dictating a dear diary entry about risks and failures, finally concluding with as close to a self-portrait as Coil ever came: “On a clear day I can see forever / that the underworld is my oyster.”
// Unter der erstaunlichen Reihe von Meisterwerken der späten Coil-Ära gilt das Mond-Opus „Musick To Play In The Dark“ als künstlerischer Zenit der Band. Die Sessions, aus denen es hervorging, waren sogar so fruchtbar, dass eine zweite LP noch während der Entstehung der ersten Gestalt annahm. Unterstützt durch den walisischen Multi-Instrumentalisten und Tontechniker Thighpaulsandra tauchten Coil weiter in die Tiefen der surrealistischen Elektronika, die Bandgründer John Balance als "Mondmusik" bezeichnete. „Musick To Play In The Dark²“ umspannt eine ganze Geisterstunde post-industrielle Zauberei an der Achse von narkotischen und nächtlichen Energien: „Bad Acid“-Sounddesign, Synthesizer-Reisen, opiumhaltige Balladen, luziferischer Glitch und unterschwellige Hymnen; abwechselnd unheilvoll, orakelhaft und absurd. Die schottische Gothic-Ikone Rose McDowall ist bei zwei Stücken als Gastsängerin zu hören."
Mastered by Josh Bonati.
https://www.daisrecords.com/collections/releases/products/coil-musick-to-play-in-the-dark-2
|
2022 |
€15.00 |
|
|
The Ape of Naples (White) |
3 x LP set |
"The Ape of Naples" is a deeply emotional and uniquely rewarding album. In its immediate accessibility it is somewhat reminiscent of Coil's mid-1980s classic "Horse Rotorvator" sharing that album's wild variety of sounds and styles as well as its overriding sombre mood. Originally released in 2005 and in many ways the band's ultimate swan song, it is now considered one of the go-to albums for introducing new listeners to the unparalleled magick of Coil. Compiled and released by Peter Christopherson one year after Jhonn Balance's tragic deadly fall, it includes reworkings of the live favourite "Amethyst Deceivers" and "Love Secret's Domain"'s "Teenage Lightning" as well as several songs originally intended for the ill-fated "Backwards" album like the haunting and preminiscent "Fire of the Mind" and the superb "Amber Rain". Other tracks were created using unfinished song ideas from around "Backwards", sampling tiny bits of Balance's live vocals from songs only ever performed in concert once like "Triple Sun". Using the lyrics of the theme tune for the 1970s BBC sit com series "Are you being served?" for the unbelievably haunting "Going up", this album's final track and the last song Coil ever performed live, is maybe the most poignant example of Balance's and Christopherson's method of turning base matter into pure sound gold, and like the title of the album, derived from an imaginary adult video an equally fine example of the often underappreciated humour of the boys.
Christopherson with the help of long-term sound wizard Danny Hyde and using some of the talent of Coil touring members managed to craft an album which feels and flows like a true Coil classic.
The Infinite Fog version is the third Coil record receiving the fully remastered and enhanced 3LP/2CD treatment supervised by Danny Hyde.
All of the original material has again been carefully and sympathetically remastered by Grammy-nominated engineer Jessica Thompson who has been previously lauded for her splendid job on its sister release "The New Backwards". Coil fans old and new will be thrilled over the inclusion of more than an hour's worth of 9 rare and largely unheard bonus tracks from Danny's vaults completing the set. The astounding design of the original box-set release is restored for the gatefold 3LP sleeve using the fully-licensed artwork by Ian Johnstone (making it easy to differentiate this new vinyl version from previous un-sanctioned LP releases using poor reproductions of the original CD art for the front cover), the CD will be available in two versions with the original and well-loved original CD cover art and for the first time using the former vinyl-only cover art.
If you do not yet own a physical copy of the "Ape of Naples", or if you always wanted an enhanced version of this masterpiece, there has never been a better time to make that wish come true.
Written & Produced by Coil & Danny Hyde.
Mastered by Jessica Thompson.
Front artwork by Ian Johnstone.
Artwork licensed from The Estate of Ian Johnstone.
Layout Oleg Galay.
https://infinitefog.bandcamp.com/album/the-ape-of-naples |
2022 |
€48.50 |
|
| |
The Ape of Naples |
do-CD |
CDs come in a 6-panel Digipak with a booklet and poster. Artwork by Ian Johnstone.
"The Ape of Naples" is a deeply emotional and uniquely rewarding album. In its immediate accessibility it is somewhat reminiscent of Coil's mid-1980s classic "Horse Rotorvator" sharing that album's wild variety of sounds and styles as well as its overriding sombre mood. Originally released in 2005 and in many ways the band's ultimate swan song, it is now considered one of the go-to albums for introducing new listeners to the unparalleled magick of Coil. Compiled and released by Peter Christopherson one year after Jhonn Balance's tragic deadly fall, it includes reworkings of the live favourite "Amethyst Deceivers" and "Love Secret's Domain"'s "Teenage Lightning" as well as several songs originally intended for the ill-fated "Backwards" album like the haunting and preminiscent "Fire of the Mind" and the superb "Amber Rain". Other tracks were created using unfinished song ideas from around "Backwards", sampling tiny bits of Balance's live vocals from songs only ever performed in concert once like "Triple Sun". Using the lyrics of the theme tune for the 1970s BBC sit com series "Are you being served?" for the unbelievably haunting "Going up", this album's final track and the last song Coil ever performed live, is maybe the most poignant example of Balance's and Christopherson's method of turning base matter into pure sound gold, and like the title of the album, derived from an imaginary adult video an equally fine example of the often underappreciated humour of the boys.
Christopherson with the help of long-term sound wizard Danny Hyde and using some of the talent of Coil touring members managed to craft an album which feels and flows like a true Coil classic.
The Infinite Fog version is the third Coil record receiving the fully remastered and enhanced 3LP/2CD treatment supervised by Danny Hyde.
All of the original material has again been carefully and sympathetically remastered by Grammy-nominated engineer Jessica Thompson who has been previously lauded for her splendid job on its sister release "The New Backwards". Coil fans old and new will be thrilled over the inclusion of more than an hour's worth of 9 rare and largely unheard bonus tracks from Danny's vaults completing the set. The astounding design of the original box-set release is restored for the gatefold 3LP sleeve using the fully-licensed artwork by Ian Johnstone (making it easy to differentiate this new vinyl version from previous un-sanctioned LP releases using poor reproductions of the original CD art for the front cover), the CD will be available in two versions with the original and well-loved original CD cover art and for the first time using the former vinyl-only cover art.
If you do not yet own a physical copy of the "Ape of Naples", or if you always wanted an enhanced version of this masterpiece, there has never been a better time to make that wish come true.
Written & Produced by Coil & Danny Hyde.
Mastered by Jessica Thompson.
Front artwork by Ian Johnstone.
Artwork licensed from The Estate of Ian Johnstone.
Layout Oleg Galay.
https://infinitefog.bandcamp.com/album/the-ape-of-naples |
2022 |
€23.00 |
|
| COLECLOUGH / MURMER |
Husk |
CD |
Starke Collaboration des field-recording-Spezialisten MURMER aka PATRICK MC GINLEY (er betreibt auch die Radiosendung „Framework“ auf dem Londoner Kult-Sender ‚Resonance104.4fm’) und JONATHAN COLECLOUGH. 4 Stücke, über 70 Minuten Spielzeit, feinstoffliche Resonanzenteppiche verbinden sich mit konkretem Material aus Natur & Alltag und von Instrumenten, der Geist öffnet sich für Mikro-Detail-Geräusche & subliminale Klangwelten... watch out: demnächst (2007) wird es von MURMER eine 7“ auf Drone geben!
“They first met in 2002 after appearing on the compilation LP ‘Chaleur’, and soon began work on the material that would become ‘Husk.’ Sharing a fascination with using ‘found sound’ in their music, ‘Husk’ includes recordings of refrigerators, thunderstorms, sheep, car horns, ferryboats, windblown sand, crackling charcoal, as well as more conventional instrumental sounds including a variety of percussion instruments. Much of the music started as live improvisation, in one case during a radio broadcast on McGinley’s regular ‘Framework’ slot on the London-based radioart station Resonance FM. These live recordings have been carefully edited and mixed over several years. ‘Husk’ is packaged in a 6-panel Digisleeve featuring photographs by Patrick McGinley.” [label info]
|
2006 |
€14.00 |
|
| COLECLOUGH, JONATHAN & TIM HILL |
Beech for John and Miho |
CD |
A wonderful and amazing power-drone piece (74min) with myriades of overtunes, like be surrounded by three distorted Monochords at the same time..
“ 'Beech for John and Miho' was originally commissioned as a short piece for 'in return', a private wedding CD, where it appeared
alongside music by Joe Weismann (The Jaztronauts), If Thousands, JLIAT, and Space Machine. That fifteen minute version then blossomed into this bold, 74-minute work. An invitation to the wedding spawned a short Japan tour during which Coleclough performed solo and in duos with Aube, Kuwayama Kiyohara, and Narita Mamoru. A limited edition of 150 CD-Rs of 'Beech for John and Miho' were made specially for the trip to Japan, and the piece is now released on CD by Seal Pool. "An epic piece: shimmering and metallic." [press release]
|
2003 |
€15.00 |
|
| COLLECTIONS OF COLONIES OF BEES |
Six Guitars |
LP |
Dies dürft der erste Teil (man könnte auch sagen: das erste Sammlerstück) der neuen "Guitar Series" auf Table of the Elements sein! COLLECTIONS OF COLONIES OF BEES wurden von JON MUELLER & CHRIS ROSENAU 1998 gegründet, hier schichten sie 6 Gitarren im minimalen Breitwand-Modus übereinander, das hat was von meditativem GLENN BRANCA...super! Auf klarem Vinyl, einseitig bespielt mit SAVAGE PENCIL - etching auf der Rückseite.
"Their sound is expansive, vast, and billowing; full of ringing guitars, soaring in the best traditions of the Chatham/Branca standoff; meanwhile, beneath the clouds sprawl dewy meadows of gently rolling electronica. Six Guitars is just what its title states, yet so much more. Wildly versatile drummer Jon Mueller follows the rules by hammering on an electric guitar with mallets, enhancing the Steve Reichian vibe (compare this with Mueller's face-melting solo onslaught Metals). The band sparkles accordingly, lifting to a dazzling climax. It's epic minimalism in exquisite registration, and the perfect selection to introduce the Table Of The Elements Guitar Series (fans will be happy to hear that Mueller is on deck with a solo contribution to the series as well). Beyond the music, there's the similarly spectacular packaging. It's a one-sided, 12-inch LP, pressed on clear vinyl; the reverse is laser etched with an original illustration by acclaimed UK artist Savage Pencil, whose credits include album art for The Fall, Big Black, and Sonic Youth. It's a limited-edition pressing, so get it while you can -- disks from the label's original Guitar Series in 1993/1994 are now some of Collectorville's must coveted treasures." [label info]
www.tableoftheelements.com
|
2008 |
€17.00 |
|
| COLLEEN |
The golden Morning breaks |
CD |
"Meditative Schönheit: zweites Album der französischen Elektronikerin.
Nach ihrem Aufsehen erregenden Debüt im Jahr 2003 ("Everyone Alive Wants Answers") ließ sich Cécile Schott alias Colleen zwei Jahre Zeit für ein zweites Album. Die französische Elektronikerin scheut sich auf "The Golden Morning Breaks" nicht, neben Effektgeräte auch akustische Instrumente zu benutzen. Diese setzt sie genauso minimal ein, sodass von den Kompositionen eine warme, meditative Schönheit ausgeht.
Die CD enthält außerdem das Video zu "The Happy Sea"." [label info]
www.theleaflabel.com
|
2005 |
€15.50 |
|
| COLLEY, JOE |
Acting As If |
10inch |
"When Joe Colley speaks about his work and even about his life, he shrugs in an awkward attempt to stave off an existential frustration that not only his work addresses but also seems to consume his identity. There are numerous metaphors through his titles that allude to endless failures and a nihilism full of contempt, but Colley also implores a desperate urgency to express these poetics no matter how painful they may be. For three decades now, Colley has been a central and persistent figure in the California noise community. First recording under the moniker Crawl Unit and running the short-lived Povertech label, Colley presented a preternaturally strong acumen of electro-acoustic techniques and abstraction through a vast language of blistered textures, atonal noise, and gnarled drone. By 2000, he dropped the Crawl Unit moniker in favor of his own name with an ongoing discography of damaged yet exploratory electronics.
Colley returns to Drone Records for this 10" on the Substantia Innominata series, many years after his Crawl Unit "Tuscon Mon Amour" 7." In describing "Acting As If," Colley offers a vague series of descriptors: unheimlich, terror of the familiar, and no faith in what is "real." Within the sustained movements of scrabbling textures, motorized abrasions, and uncomfortable harmonics, such conditions are made manifest and Colley amplifies them into something eeriely sublime. All of that held within a self-contained logic that works within and against his deep knowledge of drone-on minimalism, musique concrete dynamics, and the explosiveness of noise culture. His swarming masses, throttled rumbling, and smoldering tension are all encircling and folding in on themselves. Rhizomes of sound that speak poison. Drink up, if it doesn't kill you, it will only make you stronger."
[Jim Haynes / Northern California, 2023]
listen to various CRAWL UNIT + JOE COLLEY tracks here:
https://aftersilencepodcast.bandcamp.com/album/as-31-from-crawl-unit-to-joe-colley
https://www.last.fm/music/Joe+Colley
"MECHANICAL RITUALS: 23 years after his EP for Drone Records (DR-28, as CRAWL UNIT) we are proud to release another / new work of conceptual / minimal / object drone artist JOE COLLEY from California.
We think JOE COLLEY (*1972) is a master of using mechanical object sounds and electronic static, but also strange low fi found sources and field recordings, creating alienating, surrealistic effects, similar to the likes of SMALL CRUEL PARTY, JIM HAYNES, DAS SYNTHETISCHE MISCHGEWEBE or even the more experimental side of ZOVIET FRANCE...
His newer compositions seem always to be filled with electro-magnetic hummings, strange hissing and the pourings of metallic objects as a basis, but you never find the use real instruments, synths, or masses of effect procession. Thus a very own scent of mystery appears, as all of these radiations are not really from this planet, without any "cosmic" connotations..
For the creator, these sounds are connected with unreal emotions of "Being Lost", a mistrust in what may be called reality, and a general feeling of alienation... - you can only wonder how this can result in such beautiful droning expanses..
Presented here are over 30 minutes of very best new COLLEY material (entitled "Limit / Limit" und "Always I / Always II") => through these drones of strangeness the mind is thrown inside an unrecognizable and confusing realm of broken electricity and something like audible-made atmospheric pressure..
Lim. 300 copies with artwork by dutch designer and micro label hero MEEUW, using a special silver print (on reverse board), BLACK vinyl. glossy black inner sleeves." [press release]
"I don't keep up with Joe Colley's recent releases for reasons I am unsure of myself. Not that there are many of them, but I only heard a few. Maybe his work is these days within installation work or performing? This new record shows Colley as I know him best. He is a man with an ear to the ground or wall; he hears stuff we don't. I believe he uses very few 'real' instruments, and for convenience, I include all things synthesizer (modular, digital, analogue). With his equipment, he records the unwanted sounds from our world. Buzzing, whirring, near broken cables and other forms of electric debris. It's never clear whether his recording devices are great or lo-fi. It could go either way, I think.
Maybe you need great some great electro-magnetic devices to pick up these sounds, but at the same time, when they are relatively low-key, they might have another attractive quality. Get my drift here? We live in a world with many sounds, at least many of us. I like to think I live in a quiet street, but here too, there is a lot of noise pollution. This pollution, so I believe, is Colley's playground. He collects and collates this material into pieces of dystopian nightmare. Coley's music sounds like I imagine the sound of a leaking nuclear power plant, the last breath of a machine park, and the death rattle of our post-industrial society. Unlike some of the other work I heard from Colley, this new work is relatively 'smooth', I must say. There aren't many hard cuts to indicate the final breath of a sound (but they are also not entirely absent), but Colley, this time, uses smoother transitions in the music. Many fragments are slowly cross-faded into the next section, revealing a less brutal element in his work. Or, perhaps, one could say, it makes his music all the more gentle? Or even more musical? Colley applies all the techniques from musique concrète here but keeps much of his source material in what seems to be a pretty rough state anyway. It's dark; it's real, scary, weird, haunting and haunted and, ultimately, beautiful music." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2022 |
€18.00 |
|
| COLUCCINO, OSVALDO |
Parallelo |
CD |
"These abandoned ruins of the seventeenth century are located along a path that I often walk on, uphill, in silence, alone. Not exactly on the path but hidden, deeper into the woods, that place lies parallel to the path that leads to the top of a hill. Even if I do not go (necessarily, every time) inside, that place beyond attracts like a magnet, makes its presence felt, launching its resonance up to the place of my steps. That secondary place is not seen from the primary path, but it is there. And it pulsates with life, neither new nor old life.
Probably in a short time those ruins of an ancient monastery, located in Domodossola, North West Italy, will be demolished. However, that place will remain, even after its erasure.
Parallelo, a work composed between 2007 and 2009, is also an attempt to detect and make feel the coexistence of vital fields ; “places” that exist in parallel but which, thanks to non-ordinary ways, occasionally may touch each other." [Osvaldo Coluccino, May 2014]
"There is an approach to field recordings that I like to call 'the empty room' approach:
one sets up a pair of microphones in an empty space and simply catches the emptiness of
the space in a recording, by using a lot of 'gain', the space becomes alive. Osvaldo
Coluccino has had two releases before (see Vital Weekly 748 and 823) of improvised music,
playing various acoustic objects and acousmatic music. Here he uses recordings he made
in the ruins of a 17th century monastery in Domodossola, North-West Italy. The work was
already composed between 2007 and 2009, and for whatever reason wasn't released until now.
Two pieces here of exactly the same length and the starting point for each piece seems
to me the sort of drone sound one gets from the empty room. That is not yet the complete
thing as Coluccino also has a bunch of other recordings to use here: there is dripping
of water, objects falling onto the floor, and everything reverberates through this giant
space, or maybe even various spaces of varying sizes. Set up one microphone in one room
and let the action take place in the room next to it: you get the idea of ancient reverb
techniques before they got stuck in binary boxes. There are also lots of rumbling sounds,
lots of vague sounds around this place, sometimes leading up to a somewhat messy sound
picture. Coluccino uses the collage form, in which he places various bits one after
another, sometimes with short silent gaps in between. It's hard to say if he applies any
(computer-) processing to his music; sometimes one is inclined to think he does, but it
might also be very likely that he isn't. Throughout this is a soft release, I think;
I am not sure why Coluccino choose to do that. It all makes up, however, a mighty fine
album of a highly varied bunch of field recordings, all trapped inside two lengthy
pieces." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2015 |
€14.00 |
|
| COLUMN ONE |
Electric Pleasure |
CD |
"Formed in Berlin in 1991, René Lamp and Robert Schalinski were working together on short-film projects and decided to expand their scope to include audio and multi-media projects among their repertoire. The next thing you know, Column One was born.
On this highly detailed and wonderfully crafted CD (their fourth), the band have dragged the look and feel of 1950s American science-fiction films deep into their underground laboratory, flicked a few switches and have mutated them into an absolute monster of a release, bringing to life a world of Kraftwerkian rhythms and Forbidden Planet background ambience all cohesively joined by an interesting narrative structure; the tracks ebb and flow into one another not as separate entities but as an entire parable of technology overpowering humanity.
On tracks like Re-Start To Move, the low-bitrate hip-hop tracks bounce along with a curious intent, just as a determined robot would as it seeks its next human prey, while on MZ4, the mood is much more melancholy, clearly showing the more human side to the mechanical creatures contained therein.
The band here have clearly done their homework both in terms of studying classic 80s electro as well as the sounds that brought those tracks to life. The bands label, 90% Wasser is also based in Berlin and is a self described non-profit artist label for electro-acoustic-minimal-spoken-digital-ideological-tonal & atonal-electronic-music plus video-releases, writings & picture-art. It may be a mouthful but this suits the release perfectly as both Column One and their parent label go way beyond the typical concept CD or multimedia project.
Column One have come up with a really classy and incredibly detailed release that deserves repeated listening not only because it will make you dance, but to fully appreciate the narrative content. Electric Pleasure works well on its own, but combined with a live audio/visual experience, the band could very well be unstoppable. Just like the robots contained therein. Highly recommended." [BBC Music Reviews]
www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/w3n8
|
2001 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Feldaufnahmen I |
CD |
"Limited edition of 500 copies, CD in digipak, 16 pp. booklet. Feldaufnahmen I is the first release in a series of pure filed recordings by german multi-disciplinary experimental group COLUMN One. The 12 recordings where collected in east Germany in the Polenztal within the mountain range called Elbsandsteingebirge in 2000-2001 with the simplest equipment. The recordings where edited and rearranged by Robert Schalinski in Berlin in 2006. Feldaufnahmen I is a new üphase for Column One whio have continued to change and evolve in their musical career. The group was renowned for post-industrial atmospheres, media collages and cut-up dadaist humor now they enter the terrain of sound ecology with their own twist. The 12 pieces on the disc radiate with beauty - they demonstrate the full spectrum of sounds that can be found in any relatively quiet natural resort: dogs barking, humming of insects, crackling of twigs, footsteps, wind and more. The CD Feldaufnahmen I is is presented in a full colour digipak with a 16 pages booklet with full colour reproductions of photographs taken by Column One in the area where the sounds were recorded.
Column One was founded in Berlin, 1991 as the IDEOLOGICAL BASIS for an (aesthetic) approach to structures, philosophical ideas & media of the (now) western world. At that time Rene Lamp & Robert Schalinski already had been working together on short-film projects. The philosophical ideas of RADICAL CONSTRUCTIVISM (Paul Watzlawik etc.), the paths of the CUT-UP demonstrators such as W.S. Burroughs, Bryon Gysin & Jürgen Ploog, the experiments of POP-TERRORISTS like Genesis P-Orridge with Psychic TV & the films of directors like Andrew Tarkowski, Derek Jarman, Ingmar Bergmann, Lars von Trier, Alexandro Jodorowski have had greater influence on the foundation and the work of Column One. However, the crucial point & the main motivation for the work of Column One is the TOTALISATION OF COMMUNICATION. Meaning: to bring back into consciousness communication in its unavoidable consequence & presence.... thus, it's about decoding information, the utilisation, cutting up & decoding of which is presented to us as REALITY & of what we constantly present to ourselves. In order to succeed in this decoding process Column One utilises existing forms of communication & its media & generally considers everything as raw material, basic element or finished product.
Column One operates as collective. Besides the founding members a changing amount of various members changes from project to project: Andrew Loadman, Jerome Soudan (aka Mimetic), Wojcek Czern (aka Zia Siodma Gora), Jürgen Eckloff (also: Kein Zweiter), Leo Solter (also: Kein Zweiter, Tornow), R.U. Brain-Bridge..." [label description]
"Over the years Column One has been a group that loved electricity - to connect their synthesizers, samplers, computer or whatever. Their music was strongly rhythmic and there was always a media edge to the music. Nothing so on 'Feldaufnahmen 1', the first in what is going to be a series of pure field recordings (as that is what the title means actually). Column One member robert Schalinski went out in East Germany to the Polenztal and recorded twelve different sound events. For whatever obscure reason they are titled in French, but the title leaves nothing to guess: 'The Insects', 'The Forest/The Dog', 'Water/Insects'. We hear dogs, children, rocks, all in a pure form. Very easy? Yes, very easy, but as someone who likes sounds, I must admit I pretty fascinated by these recordings. Simple and pure, phonography in it's purest form. I am not sure what the hardcore fans of Column One will think about this, but I thought this absolute break with the past is a great move and the result is likewise." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.aufabwegen.com
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
|
AntiphoNA |
10inch |
" 'ANTIPHONA AD INTROITUM'! Finally on SUBSTANTIA we can present to you the highly regarded German masters of experimental dadaism & de-construction, whose releases are always a thoughtful play with hidden meanings, conceptions & contradictions: 'Learning to play. Disorder. Destruction of programmed Solutions. Learning to see.'
COLUMN ONE is a long existing collective of multimedia artists hailing from the Berlin-area with frequently changing members; their performance & artworks are as important as the music (see also their impressive website: www.column-one.de). On this mysterious 10" you will disocver two pieces that sound completely different: ANTIPHONA is a bewildering work of musique concrete, changing between very fast moving collages and quieter parts, always surprisingly fractured, using an amazing quantity of different sound-sources of all kinds. The second piece INTROITUM is a meditative overtone bowl-drone recorded at the legendary "Sibirische Zelle" in Berlin with three microphones in three different rooms, resulting in strange sound-effects and audio interactions. Both tracks can be regarded as anthiponies forming a single whole.
For us these are metaphors for the emergence of the "Irrational" and "Sacred" in the daily profane lives, using notions from religious scopes in a new context. Side A ends in an endless groove, the artwork comes from SEAN HILLEN, pressed on bleak vinyl in an edition of 500 copies." [label info]
www.substantia-innominata.de
"Following Illusion Of Safety's 'Sweet Dreams', Germany's Substantia Innominata (daughter of Drone), returns with another fine work of some the older garde of experimentalists, Column One from Berlin. They have been around for quite some time, and for them the presentation is equally important as the music, and there is always some sort of link with dada, even when it's quite well hidden, like on the b-side 'Antiphona' 10". Or the a-side, depends which one you play first. I started out with 'Introitum' in which a salad bowl is played. It's recorded with three microphones in three different rooms. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that Peter Hollinger, who played the bowl, was walking around, as to catch the overtones in various ways. The location was a masonry, so there is quite some natural reverb. He plays it graciously and it makes up a wonderful simple but lovely piece of 'drone' like music. The title piece can be found on the other side of the record and shows the dada side of Column One. All of the members seem to donates 'sources' as well as Antoine Chessex playing saxophone and Robert Schalinski on zither, voice, gongs, saw, acoustic instruments and field recordings. The editing was done by by Jurgen Eckloff. This is a fine piece of instrumental passages by the duo of Schalinski and Chessex and taped media excerpts by the others. Set next to each other, rather being superimposed on each other. Its hard to say what this piece means, if anything at all. I'm sure it does however. It's perhaps not a piece one easily expects from this label, better known for music such as captured on the other side, but it's a daring out-of-the box movement of said label, and therefore needs our applause. And Column One? They just always surprise us." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2013 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Cindy, Loraine & Hank |
do-LP |
"The latest album from the legendary Berlin-based art collective Column One, entitled "Cindy, Loraine & Hank", was in the works for almost 10 years and it is their first album since anniversary box set "No One" from 2011 and "Antiphona" 10" vinyl EP from 2013. Many fragments, materials & ideas created during the collaboration with the Berlin Zeitkratzer Ensemble (2012) remained unfinished or underdeveloped. After years of further recordings and reviewing the existing material and the destruction of useless bubbles arises with "Cindy, Lorraine & Hank" a bulky muscleman from the splinters of classical instrumentation, electro-acoustic manipulations & assemblages & the clarity of field recordings. A boundless world.
This double album presents Column One and their experimental approach to sound at its best.
"Cindy, Loraine & Hank" a collection of incestuous figures, a museum of small, lovely bastards. Products of passion & weakness, disorientation and dedication, of dull instincts and narrowness. Twins, triplets, octuplets, dyslexic, presidents, beginners, criminal citizens, sacred Neanderthals, expert idiots. Begotten in haste, hidden in the dirt, covered with garbage. A contourless, monstrous void in the cardigan of the great-grandmother. A voyage through the labyrinthine mind of Column One... a surreal, organic projection.
The two LPs are housed in a luxury gatefold sleeve and the first edition is limited to 300 copies only. The cover was designed by Robert Schalinski, based on "Black Depths" print (1974) by John Hiliard. CD edition available from Zoharum Rec.: http://zoharum.com/
„Column One’s greatest achievement is then that by constantly applying all these techniques, they have succeeded in creating a real alternative, a filter onto reality itself. The mask is not pretty, hell it may be even ugly sometimes. But the identity of Column One is created through the power of their findings, and this includes a lot of questioning and doubts and sometimes stepping into a pool of shit only to discover it was gold in the end. May the search continue…“(Till Kniola) " [label info]
|
2015 |
€21.00 |
|
| |
Cindy, Loraine & Hank |
do-CD |
"Zoharum proudly presents the latest album from the legendary Berlin-based art collective Column One. Their new double album, entitled "Cindy, Loraine & Hank", was in the works for almost 10 years and it is their first album since anniversary box set "No One" from 2011 and "Antiphona" 10" vinyl EP from 2013. For this recordings, Column One were René Lamp, Robert Schalinski, Jürgen Eckloff, Andrew Loadman with Nada and Rasmus Schalinski plus a host of guests including Reinhold Friedl and Zeitkratzer Ensemble.
This double album presents Column One and their experimental approach to sound at its best."Cindy, Loraine & Hank" a collection of incestuous figures, a museum of small, lovely bastards. Products of passion & weakness, disorientation and dedication, of dull instincts and narrowness. Twins, triplets, octuplets, dyslexic, presidents, beginners, criminal citizens, sacred Neanderthals, expert idiots. Begotten in haste, hidden in the dirt, covered with garbage.
A contourless, monstrous void in the cardigan of the great-grandmother.
A voyage through the labyrinthine mind of Column One... a surreal, organic projection.
Idiotenmusik - field recordings - orchestral variations - cut-up´s - musique concrete - collage
The CDs are housed in a digipak sleeve and the album is strictly limited to 500 copies. The cover was designed by Robert Schalinski, based on "Black Depths" print (1974) by John Hiliard." [label info]
www.zoharum.com
|
2015 |
€16.00 |
|
| COMES, MARTIJN |
Interrogation of the Crystalline Sublime |
do-CD |
Martijn Comes - Interrogation Of The Crystalline Sublime
"The human being knows himself only insofar as he knows the world; he perceives the
world only in himself, and himself only in the world. Every new object, clearly seen,
opens up a new organ of perception in us."
— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
I hear atmospheres, sound shapes, gestural narratives, spectral trajectories, stochastic rhythms and phasic space when I encounter an environment rich in sonic phenomena.
But in order to be open to this meta-sensory information, I must first get my ears out of the way. I don't listen with my ears but with an inner sensory apparatus, what Goethe called "organs of perception," that I have developed over the years.
Once opened to this world sound becomes something very different—it's as if one could previously only see in black and white and suddenly were able to see in color. One becomes a witness to a full range of qualities and events that were previously inaccessible.
The drone is not a steady-state sound but a constellation of sound objects that lie hidden beneath a simple surface. The listener can penetrate this surface when they allow time to exist in a space where the past and future collapse into an infinitesimal, yet infinite, moment.
Once inside this space the drone serves as a conduit to other planes of existence and explains why spiritualized cultures around the world have used the drone in their worship for millennia.
The drone integrates us with the supernal, a synesthesia takes place, all of our senses become a singular super-sense: there is no longer a distinction between sound and sight, or taste and touch.
When we experience the world in this way we see the vast web of interconnections and how we deprive ourselves when we divide the world into the narrow-band regions of our senses. It is by transcending these boundaries that we become more fully human and open to the richness the world has to offer us.
Kim Cascone - San Francisco, Nov 20 2015
https://movingfurniturerecords.bandcamp.com/album/interrogation-of-the-crystalline-sublime
"Martijn Comes is a Dutch composer specialising in new media, sound design and electro-acoustic composition. His hour-long deep-drone piece Interrogation of the Crystalline Sublime was published on the spectacular Drone Cinema 2015 Raspberry Pi (!) release – the kind of gem every dronehead will probably dream of, but with a price tag only few can afford.
So it’s a good thing that the Moving Furniture label decided to reissue this piece in a 2-CD version (ánd digital download of course): CD1 containing the hour-long Interrogation by Martijn Comes, and CD2 containing 8 remixes of that piece by Scant Intone, Mitchell Akiyama, Zeno van den Broek, Alberto Boccardi, Haarvöl, Juan Antonio Nieto, Giulio Aldinucci and Orphax.
Comes describes his work as ‘livingroom music’ (possibly distinguishing itself slightly from Erik Satie’s ‘Musique d’Ameublement’ (Furniture Music), which was meant to be played by live performers).
He set out to “write a piece that is equally meditative as it is harmonious and melodic, or at least it would hint at large subtle progressions of harmony, in a way that is magnetic to the imaginations, while the body remains in a meditative, relaxing state.”
It’s an immersive drone, with hints of a shore in the background, that gradually grows intense and inescapable in its first half and then gradually recedes again.
It is not often that drone material like this gets remix treatments by different artists, so it’s interesting to hear what other artists do with sonic material like this.
Some of the remixers focus on the drone aspect, emphasizing different frequencies thus altering the overall feel. Others filter out artefacts (which can hardly be heard in the original), or add their own material to create abstract electro-acoustic compositions that hardly seem related to the original. Some focus on emotional aspects, others take a more analytic approach. Most of them venture into sonic extremes, thus losing some of the ‘livingroom’ aspect of the original.
But each one of these remixes sound completely different – like if they were original compositions in the first place." [Ambientblog]
|
2017 |
€16.00 |
|
| COMMON EIDER, KING EIDER / COBER ORD |
Palimpseste |
CD |
Recorded in various undisclosed caves and secret locations within the French Pyrenean landscape, we are now witness to a very unique channelling of forces emanating from these two singular ritual acts. In textual studies, a “Palimpseste” is writing material, such as a parchment or tablet, used one or more times after earlier writings have been erased from it. It can also be regarded as something having usually diverse layers or aspects apparent beneath the surface. The conductive element within these recordings is water, sound sources recorded from cave lakes, streams and rivers are featured through out these recordings, carefully merged with stark, cavernous drone soundscapes and disquieting chants, guiding us to unknown territories as we venture within these singular chambers and places. The whole transpires as an hymn to the power of water, to cleanse and purify, and even destroy all it touches
https://coberord1.bandcamp.com/album/palimpseste-collab-with-common-eider-king-eider |
2020 |
€13.00 |
|
| CONCERN |
Truth and Distance |
CD |
Neue Drone-Entdeckung aus den Staaten! Nah-Klänge & Vibrationen diverser Instrumente wie Zither, Klarinette, Horn oder Posaune werden mit Kontaktmikros aufgefangen und in obertönreiche, polyphone und recht rauhe Klangfelder transformiert. Drei Stücke mit sehr lebendigen, erhabenen Drones in verschiedenen Färbugen sorgen hier für sonores Entzücken! Zum entdecken !
"...Essential listening for the drone inclined, and any one into Tim Hecker, Aidan Baker, Fennesz, Belong and the like might just have
a new favorite record." [Aquarius Rec]
"Also Gordon Ashworth, also known as Concern, is a new name for me, who delivers three pieces on his 'Truth & Distance' release, which are alike Darwinsbitch in the field of drone music. He uses zither, lap harp, mbira, banjo, piano, clarinet, alto horn, trombone, accordion and lots of reverb. His instruments are scanned with vibrating objects in order to create overtones and it makes this almost a modern classical release. Somewhere in between music for an installation and Phill Niblock, I'd say. This is more the territory where things are on endless sustain, but perhaps due to the variety of sources and the relative shortness of the pieces things don't leap into static, but are vibrating, changing throughout its minimalist approach to keep things fascinating. Ashworth has plenty of skills to deliver three fine pieces. Not a second too long, not a minute too short. Very nice work." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
"Gordon Ashworth is Concern and this is his manifesto. Truth & Distance is a mini-epic, a minor masterpiece. Within these sonic walls lies a stunning landscape, adrift in golden tones and silver siren songs. Ashworth creates beautiful, shimmering music that defies categorization. It stands on its own, droning away into the furthest reaches of the night. Using only acoustic instrumentation, Ashworth conceives pieces of music in which resonance and timbre mutate and in the air and unfold naturally, organically. Hints of piano glisten like night shadows whispering through the leaves. Strings are bowed and plucked into oblivion. Everything is turned into a pile of reverb. Everyone is a ghost. Concern will shine a light on it all. Truth & Distance indeed. It's all coming up roses this time. Co-released with Iatrogenesis. Packaged in custom-designed silkscreened gatefolds by Seizure Palace."
[label info]
www.digitalisindustries.com
|
2009 |
€10.00 |
|
| CONIGLIO, ENRICO |
Sea Cathedrals |
CD |
"Five superb tracks of deep and evocative ambient music, enriched with echoes of ancient ritual suggestions. The immense spaces and the abyssal deepness of the sea, but also the sound of the bowels of the Earth, the colour of the sand of the desert, the energy of the wind, the strenght of all the Elements, the infinite cycle of day and night, of life and death… A long circular journey through interchanging atmospheres that shake and capture, dragging with energy, then leave room for more quiet and soothing introspective “stasis”, and again become dramatic and overwhelming, A great, unmissable album of “classic” ritual ambient music." [label info]
www.silentes.net
"Enrico Congilio already worked with Oophoi on a CD for Glacial Movements (see Vital Weekly 683) and here works with his drones, field recordings, bells, programming with two musicians (not on every track together) Manuel P. Cecchinato (arc-angel synthesizer, treatments, crystals) and Massimo Liverani (guitars, loops, treatments). The five pieces, ranging from six to twenty minutes, are excellent examples of ambient drone music. Dark, atmospheric, spacious, all those keywords of what ambient and drone music is, apply to this music. Much of this kind of music has been said and done before, but Coniglio does a mighty fine job here. Excellent wonderful production." [FdW / Vital Weekly] |
2010 |
€12.50 |
|
| CONJECTURE |
V |
LP |
"In 2017 Conjecture released "My Body, Your Temple" for Amek. In this five-track EP he showcased a deeper, more sinister and beautifully atmospheric take on his usual rhythmic take on post-industrial music. Now we are beyond excited to present you "V", his brand new full-length release and a first appearance on vinyl.
“V” is an anti-body statement. The individual's disengagement from the human body and from all kinds of physical hypostases is portrayed through unconventional industrial sound forms. Sometimes being oneiric, sometimes frozen and aggressive, while in the same somewhat erotic, Conjecture’s musical expressions are well-constructed and climax into the literary metaphor of the human body deconstruction. “V” is dedicated to the process of seeking out the individual existence, which is able to occur beyond the barriers of life, death or creation.
Each track on the album reflects a fragment of a bigger entity, which by its end becomes whole. “V” unveils the materiality of flesh and the frailty of thoughts, personality and physical restrictions. Conjecture seeks a new concept for the human being and its very existence beyond logic. This album is an obsessive manifest against the flesh-cage, a hymn for the consciousness, found standing silent in the background and reflects the true nature and cause of personal existence."
https://amekcollective.bandcamp.com/album/v
|
2019 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Nostalgia Futura |
CD |
listen: https://cycliclaw.bandcamp.com/album/nostalgia-futura
"Genre/Influences: Cinematic, Dark-Ambient, Experimental, electronic.
Format: Digital, CD.
Background/Info: Set up in 2013 by Greek artist Vasilis Angelopoulos, Conjecture has already released several productions on different labels like Ars Nocturna, Raumklang Music, Zoharum ao. This is the first work released by Cyclic Law which is meant as ‘an exploration of the rare psychological and neurological phenomenon known as Anticipatory Nostalgia.’ This is ‘a feeling of longing for something that has yet to occur or may not exist at all.’
Content: An interesting psychological concept which has been transposed into icy noises driven by crashing drones and heavy, electronic sound blasts. We get 4 extended cuts which have been slowly built up sometimes resulting in a true Cinematic format.
+ + + : This album sounds different from the early work of the project. Conjecture seems to be in constant move and exploration of new sonic paths. I was deeply impressed by the great sound canvas this album has been made by. It’s maybe a kind of legacy from earlier IDM-productions Conjecture was dealing with. From heavy, blasting, and overwhelming passages toward refined parts with subtle bleeps this album appears to be an interesting sound labyrinth.
– – – : Both debut cuts are absolutely phenomenal while both last ones never reached a similar level. So the best is right at the beginning while the end rather sounds like an antithesis.
Conclusion: Conjecture remains an interesting project feeling comfortable dealing with multiple influences and (related) music styles." [Side-Line]
* "Nostalgia Futura" is an exploration of the rare psychological and neurological phenomenon known as Anticipatory Nostalgia. While nostalgia is a widely recognized and socially significant emotional experience, Anticipatory Nostalgia is a feeling of longing for something that has yet to occur or may not exist at all. Through the use of digital and analog synthesizers in midi polychain, reel-to-reel recording, and IR reverbs, this album delves into the psychological implications of Anticipatory Nostalgia, particularly in relation to future-oriented benefits, affects, and social cognition. The album aims to appeal to those who seek a sense of nostalgia for the future, particularly those who are drawn to the idea of experiencing non-existent urban and rural landscapes that reflect the aesthetics and chronology of the future. In essence, "Nostalgia Futura" is a sound manifesto on the psychology of visionaries, and a demonstration that existence transcends the constraints of time and space, extending into the infinite cosmos and the depths of the human psyche.
Conjecture is an experimental post-industrial project helmed by the Greek Avant-Garde visual artist Vasilis Angelopoulos. Initiated in 2013, Conjecture's sonic output embodies an artistic vision that vacillates between disparate genres, concepts and moods. Angelopoulos employs primarily hardware synthesizers, metal sheets, piezo microphones, DIY impulse responses "collected" from abandoned buildings, and tape-manipulation techniques to conjure an immersive, cerebral and often haunting sound that probes themes such as human existence, religious folklore stereotypes, and transcendence through archetypal rituals, body deconstruction, human subtraction, and murder.
Edition of 300 copies in 4 panel Digipak, matt lamination. 4 Tracks. Running Time 35:59 * [press release]
|
2023 |
€13.00 |
|
| CONTAGIOUS ORGASM |
Flows out |
CD |
Das Moskauer Label bereits mit dem vierten Release, ein neues sehr sehr ungewöhnliches Werk von HIROSHI HASHIMOTO (inkl. Verstärkung) mit dem genialen Projektnamen. Dies ist "a kind of experimental Mutanten-Pop", ungewöhnliche rhythmische Strukturen & weird Samples, jedes Stück klingt anders, hypnotisch, außerweltlich, analogisch. Kommt in aufwendiger Artwork mit diversen Inlays!
„Contagious Orgasm is the band which was always cutting the line of japanese noise units. The music of Hiroshi Hashimoto appears to be much more structured and heavily "composed". Even in early albums released by Tesco and Ant-Zen, one can feel mind warping and challenging atmosphere instead of more usual raw instinctual aggression freed by sound. With every new album, the Contagious Orgasm music becomes more complex and unpredictable. "Flows Out" probably takes the band to the high point of career - to the moment , it's most mature and completed work. It's homogenous, but implicated with a plenty of different elements, not contrary but hardly combined within the noise music unwritten rules. These elements are mostly rhythmic parts related to minimal techno, techno ambient, glitch, electro industrial and even dub and swing grooves, which are fitting perfectly in every aspect of industrial aesthetics which flows out of the album. One can see the organic sounding as the optimizing feature for those who couldn't accept the real voice of nowadays underground. Anyway, this album is the perfect choice for the newcomers and people who never heard this band before. As always for Waystyx, deluxe edition including a set of nice postcards, placed with CD into the black pseudo-digipack. Ltd edition of 777 copies.” (I.E.M. magazine)
|
2003 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Escape |
CD |
"with 'escape' contagious orgasm continue to plough their uniquely peculiar furrow of audio experiments and self improvement, exploring the strange landscapes of numerous musical styles. dealing with influences ranging from ambient, dub, idm/electronica and electro to dark ambient and noise, it is an impossible task to completely comprehend this album’s scope within just a few listens. this aural voyage atmospherically varies from hypnotic echo-based beat pulses and moony synthesized melodies up to disturbing industrial soundscapes. mighty bass strokes, a multitude of different rhythms, manipulated voices and skillfully applied samples result in an adventurous and enthralling work of sonic art captivating with its deep, transparent production. turn off the light and let yourself fall into this album's very own flow. a quite accessible, multifarious, and yet typical element of contagious orgasm's wide cosmos in its charm, enjoyment and surprise." [label info]
www.ant-zen.com
|
2011 |
€13.50 |
|
| |
Live at Maschinenfest 2018 |
MC |
raubbau picks up the thread and continues with its quest to make available memorable maschinenfest performances. contagious orgasm was a mf regular, and this perfectly shows the progression from the 2008 performance made available last year: gone are the idm leanings, the co sound of the 2010s (which is presented here) is even more a language of its own, abrasive and accessible, palpable and psychedelic at the same time.
get ready for some active listening - “afterglow” and “operation blue” are like a walk over thin ice, with acoustic strings and percussions, intimate melodies, whispered vocals and eerie washes of background feedback. the two parts of “exploration end seeking” are examples of co’s experimental leanings and an appreciation of the musique concrete. “mineral” and “firewalker” sport almost-rhythms and through a psyched-out, spooky back-alley take the performance to its noisy finale. It goes without saying that the sound quality is flawless, representing all the fine details of the truly unique co sound.
www.raubbau.org
www.facebook.com/raubbau.label
credits
released November 20, 2019
recorded live at maschinenfest, turbinenhalle, oberhausen, germany, 21. october 2018. performed by h h, s s, marvel. artwork by stefan alt
https://raubbau.bandcamp.com/album/live-at-maschinenfest-2018 |
2019 |
€10.00 |
|
| CONTE, MARIO |
Overtunes |
CD-R |
The subtitle “Electronic Research in Natural Harmonics” sounds far more academic than the actual music. In fact, this short album does work with overtone drone layers, but it combines these harmonic fields with classic TR-808 beats. The result is experimental, yet partly danceable music, cleverly constructed yet very soulful. A masterpiece that will open up the pathway into experimental sound creation for listeners whose tastes are shaped by electronic dance music.
Using various synthesizers, all meticulously specified on the sleeve, but also a wide array of sound sources such as “fake guitar” and “live vocal tape scratching over Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment cassette”, Mario Conte and his co-conspirators create multi-faceted dronescapes with a high degree of melodic potential. "Overtones" is co-released with the Berlin and Italy-based label Zoff82, which publishes the tape version of the album.
File under: Drone, techno
emerge.bandcamp.com/album/overtones
Conte works with synthetic or otherwise scarcely identifiable emissions and a Roland TR-808 to generate a brand of unlawful techno-drone (with industrial hues in “Modern Country Side”) with several attention-getting attributes. I might be growing old and creaky-boned, but feel no shame in declaring that this short album was a considerable surprise in its utter respectability, not a given when I tackle genres where a proper instrumental training is not a requirement. Sometimes, though, all it takes is the right frame of mind and a personal predisposition to the enchantment provided by a particular constitution to relish a product; in the case of Overtones, that’s exactly what happened. Sonorities and rhythms that sound, generally speaking, very natural in their relative amorphousness; hints of subterraneous melodies; a vague similitude with chosen episodes by the late, and ever great Muslimgauze (especially in the two “Harmonic Field” slices). The electronics are fleshy yet not invasive to a fault. The profusion of amassed frequencies and misrepresented colors furnishes the record with an essential animation, in spite of the occasional appearance of spectral vocals (including unneeded spoken snippets in “Organic Wave 1 & 2”). Basically, the tissue of the propulsive structures would be thick enough alone, that’s what we mean. The press release boldly states what follows: “A masterpiece that will open up the pathway into experimental sound creation for listeners whose tastes are shaped by electronic dance music”. Hype, I concur. Still, this stuff eats Burial and the likes for breakfast.
touchingextremes.wordpress.com/2014/07/09/mario-conte-overtones/
|
2014 |
€8.00 |
|
| CONTEMPLATRON & SHENTZ |
His Master's Voice |
CD |
In memory of Stanisław Lem (1921-2006)
"Human beings should accept some humility. Sometimes we face phenomena the essence of which we are unable to understand. Even if we are equipped with the most modern scientific apparatus and knowledge we are incapable of resolving whether they are accidental or intentional. Newton once said that with respect to nature we are just children playing with shells on the seashore." - Stanisław Lem
"His Master's Voice" (original Polish title: "Głos Pana") is a science fiction novel by Stanisław Lem, first published in 1968. It is a densely philosophical first-contact story about scientific efforts to decode, translate, and understand an extraterrestrial transmission. The novel can also be read as a critique of human intelligence and intentionality in the context of deciphering a message from outer space which forever eludes comprehension.
Chaos is the primordial source that cosmically resounds in the microwave background radiation across the universe. To find sequences in this cacophonous confusion, to discover its principles and understand them, only to die holding on to a scrap of something much larger – this is what Lem's book as well as its apocryphal soundtrack are about.
The abstract sound layers were created by two Polish artists from Contemplatron (dark ritual ambient) and Shentz (noise), and mastered by Peter Andersson (Raison d'être).
Comes in 6 panel digipack.
www.wrotycz.com
|
2016 |
€12.00 |
|
| CONTRASTATE |
A live Coal under the Ashes |
CD |
"1992 saw the release of "A live coal under the ashes" which was inspired by the events leading up to the changes across Eastern and Central Europe during 1989. This release marked the change conceptually in which the group's ideas became more specific and more focused on contemporary political issues. "A live coal…" was critically acclaimed not just for the music, but also for the artwork and packaging: - a CD placed in the middle of a 12 inch clear vinyl record. After many years of unavailabity Tesco can finally present a rerelease with remastered tracks and a new yet unreleased track called: "Death follows the one eyed cow." An album full of ambient atmospheres, drones, percussion, suitable dark narrations and some steady muted rhythms. These are intense, highly charged recordings with a powerful mystic and ritual feeling. A masterpiece of sound poetry. Comes in nice Digipak. Total Playing time 50:30. Contrastate were formed in 1987 and disbanded in 2000. Ever since the demise of Contrastate there has been a void in the experimental music scene that no other act has managed to fill. Their diverse creative output, manifested as sweeping electronics and sound manipulation together with theatrical spoken word, was nothing less than mind blowing in its complexity and originality." [press release]
www.tesco-germany.com
"A peculiar start with tribal smatterings of drums, deep resonating black drones broken up with light orchestral patches, attention halting splatters and further sparse drones, pulling on rather obscure nightmarish elements. Contrastate surprisingly draw on a hell of a lot of quietness that just rarely breaks up into beats that dissolve no sooner than they start.
After an interesting if not completely inspiring start its time for this trio to get down to business and actually show us what they are made of. Pleasant film like ambience sets this off with low-end straight vocal lines gathering the backdrop together and you begin to believe this album may actually be going somewhere, especially when the ambience is allowed to build dramatically onward.
Its a little hard to pigeon hole this lot and that’s where their appeal lies for me. There is a deep sense of ritualism within their folds, but it’s not as obvious as you might expect; another plus point being that they simply do not remind me of anyone else, no matter how hard I try to fathom it out.
There is an odd sense of mania whilst listening to ‘A Live Coal…’ strange whistling, off key guitar strings and trance like paranoia. I can’t help but applaud them for pulling something off that simply shouldn’t work on paper. The use of vocals, although male in origin are used much in the same way, as say Diamanda Gallas probably would with full on croaking used as a backdrop. Even if this isn’t your cup of tea it doesn’t take much to grasp just how much thought has gone into this.
Completely out there…somewhere, but relevant; refreshingly original, scoring highly on sheer thought process and effort alone." [Blackaudio]
|
2008 |
€8.00 |
|
|
English embers (SOLD OUT) |
7inch |
released in March 1994 in an edition of 200 copies on dark red and pink vinyl. Covers (red copied papers, sticked by hand) were made by Stone, a german friend of the band.
No second edition, as the group decided to re-release it on CD.
press-information: "The fascinating english group CONTRASTATE present their second 7" (after the surprising "I am a clown collecting moments" for Dying Earth Records) on Drone Records with the two pieces "English Embers" and "In Absentia". The dark and meaningful "English Embers" has a strong atmosphere and a philosophical approach, whereas "In Absentia" is a piece of non-verbal but nevertheless "speaking" experimental music, using samples and flutes to create a strange music. Comes with lyric-sheet of "English Embers"...
These contrastating sounds should make their way to your consciousness!"
|
1994 |
€ |
|
|
The Illusion of Power |
CD |
The re-release of the two re-mastered tracks available on the very limited 10" Lathe-Cut Vinyl released for CONTRASTATE's first live appearance in Italy on october 12 2019 at OEC's historical venue, the CONGRESSO POST INDUSTRIALE.
Plus 4 brand new and unreleased tracks.
Brexit: a dark tunnel driven by fear and past anger and the desire for war against the other, or a symbol of Europe’s popular imagination breaking free from its disaffection to re-invent itself.
Is the real price war by any means necessary?
A sonic soundtrack to an apocalyptic world that is hypnotic, yet still full of dynamic sounds and shifts.
Their sound insinuates itself somewhere inside the dark ritual ambience of the electronic avant-garde shot through with a vein of experimental noise and sarcophetic vocals strewn amongst industrial surrealism.
https://www.oldeuropacafe.com/catalog/category/the-illusion-of-power-cd-.html
|
2020 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Life without Agriculture |
CD |
An album "re-imagining" some of the dadaist, futurist, and surrealist clubs of the 20th century, from Moscow 1918 over Tehran 1966 to Münster 1997; a wonderfully surprising and experimental work by the British post-industrial and ambient performance trio.
CONTRASTATE have created an amazing new work that is inspired by some historical, but also newer places (cafes, clubs, cabarets - including fantasised venues that could / should have existed), relating to the glorious times of the 'true' avantgarde.
"The arc that links them all is the experimentation, the exchange of ideas, and the platform to perform free from the “social norms” of the time." [Stephen Meixner of Contrastate]
The dreamy first half of the album establishes a very sombre and melancholic mood, but when the central pieces "London 1912" and "Zurich 1916" enter it leads to more collagenous and experimental areas, using guitar and bass harmonics, pulsing analogue electronics, spoken words, and all kinds of samples and weird processed sounds. The versatility especially of the second half allows for a fully immersive listening experience, with a vast array of details and twists.
"Imagination is subversive, because it puts the possible against the real. That's why you should always use your wildest imagination. Imagination is the biggest gift humanity has received. Imagination makes people human, not work..." [Jan Švankmajer, "Decalogue", Touch Movements, 2017].
CONTRASTATE, formed in 1987, are a trio from London that have operated on the edge of experimental ambient, dark post-industrial, and performative art areas, often using spoken word lyrics with a strong political, anti-imperialistic approach/agitation. Their early 7" for Drone Records "English Embers" (DR-05) became one of the highlights in the series.
listen to "Zurich 1916" : https://soundcloud.com/drone-records/contrastate-zurich-1916
watch promo video trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACZmOWEB8Eo
retail order: https://www.dronerecords.de/album.view.html?album=22013
#########################
1. Strasbourg 1928
2. Moscow 1918
3. Rome 1921
4. Berlin 1968
5. London 1912
6. Zurich 1916
7. Münster 1997
8. Tehran 1966
Contrastate: Jonathan Grieve
Stephen Meixner
Stephen J. Pomeroy
Mixed and produced by Contrastate
Mastered at Lust Studios
Copyright: Contrastate 2023
Contact: blackroserecordings@yahoo.co.uk
https://www.facebook.com/contrastate
|
2024 |
€13.00 |
|
| CONTROL |
Blood will rain |
CD |
" 'the pious pretense that evil does not exist only makes it vague, enormous and menacing.'
with his new album 'blood will rain' thomas garrison a.k.a. control presents a release which is a status report of a journey into an artist's saturnine inner self. the sound shows a slight shift in direction from control's power electronics basics towards death industrial whereat deep, dark soundscapes play a decisive foundational role. enduring pulses of apparent and sometimes concealed rhythms overlaid with resonant metallic drones and tortured voice treatments evoke a dramatic atmosphere of maleficant trance. an electronically generated ritual music caused by the combination of hypnotic, cavernous and perpetual aggressive elements.
this most sable release in control's history is a soundtrack for incantations of many kinds: chaos, suffering, enlightenment. able to establish fraternal bonds between artist and listener, 'blood will rain' might be used to open up as yet closed, or even hidden doors. be prepared."
https://ant-zen.bandcamp.com/album/blood-will-rain
|
2018 |
€13.50 |
|
| |
Transgression |
CD |
" 'transgression' represents control's second appearance on ant-zen after the highly regarded 'the resistance' release in 2012. on this album thomas garrison remains loyal to his significant, unique approach of power electronics and death industrial, ready and willing to penetrate the open listener's mind and body.
the eight album tracks convey drastic, mesmeric atmospheres carried by the perfect balance between harsh sonic outbursts and accentuated subbass pulses. sharp noise layers are accompanied by seething dark ambiance, subliminal rhythms and the distinctive, arcane vocals control is well-known for.
while listening to 'transgression' you will find yourself captured inside an inescapable web of varied moods and feelings which can only be intensified by the experience of a control live performance. do not miss!"
https://ant-zen.bandcamp.com/album/transgression
|
2013 |
€8.00 |
|
| CONTROL / GRUNTSPLATTER |
A Fatal Circle |
7inch |
like a well-prepared appetizer, a single release can be an overly tasty experience, as satisfying as a full meal. one can surely trust the chefs scott e. candey aka gruntsplatter, master in preparing disturbing dark ambience, and thomas garrison aka control, rogue noise cook par excellence, with their respective experience of over 20 years, to fully meet your expectations. both tracks clock in around six minutes, with "in the blood" generating a vortex of almost classic industrial sounds treated to psychedelic effect, and "hunting extinction" capturing a dehumanized, hostile environment. mouth-watering excellence for the noise-savvy!
black vinyl in heavy black dyed cardboard sleeve. slow processed block printing by hand - each print is unique. limited edition of 100 copies.
https://raubbau.bandcamp.com/album/a-fatal-circle
|
2022 |
€18.00 |
|
| COPH NIA |
A Prelude to Lashtal Lace |
12inch |
"before appearing on raubbau with a long-awaited full length album, coph nia mastermind mikael aldén serves us a scrumptious appetizer on a 12'' plate: one outtake, a radical remix and two b-sides are a classic satiable ep size serving for the vinyl gourmet.
first up is the album's title track, a homage to coph nia's ongoing fascination with crowleyan matters, an enchanting dark folk hymn in which the female backing vocals swell on slowly, before, after a moody break, the song plunges into full-on hazlewood / sinatra-style psychedelia. 'mother of songs' is a lesser known original, here as a slowly grinding goth tune with angelic choirs, while joy division's 'in a lonely place' is an undisputed classic, stripped to an even bleaker carcass of despair in the unique coph nia style. finally, michael idehall's version of 'lashtal lace' replaces everything female, acoustic and romantic about the song with haunting atmosphere and industrial darkness. appease your appetite quickly, the serving is scarce!" [label info]
www.raubbau.org
|
2014 |
€16.00 |
|
| CORDIER, ERIC |
Digitalis Purpurea |
CD |
„Music for sound environments“ betitelt, breiten sich hier äusserst merkwürdig-surreale, aber angenehm leise & sensibel tönende Dronescapes aus; die Originalsounds basieren ursprünglich auf Kirchenorgelpfeifen und Dulcimers... feines Werk des Franzosen.
“The title track begins as a barely audible background tone is interrupted by sudden tape-mangled explosions. The piece develops and builds into a deep shimmering drone- I found myself captivated by Cordier's subtle layering of hurdy gurdy and church organ sound textures bathed in thick reverb and transformed into floating helicopter-like sounds fading in and out of the stereo field. At around the 12 minute mark the piece shifts gear and throws in some crazed variable speed tape games and Doppler effects that sound like a fleet of hurdy gurdys storming through a raceway. Things begin to slow down and fade away into silence as the piece comes to a somewhat sudden close. Track two, "dactyle aglomeree" uses a dulcimer as its sound source and features an opening of crazed multi-tracked string sawing and some nice stereo effects. The sounds grow higher in pitch, into something that resembles feedback squeals. Slowly the sounds begin to morph into a swarming mass of hiss that builds in volume and intensity until the string sounds are inaudible. This hiss begins to oscillate wildly as the composition's pace slows down and fades to end. Sound source is field recordings on the third piece, "les os longs"- This piece appears to be very digitally transformed. Spacey and grainy, high pitched noises with some deep bass tones floating in the background. Around the 4-minute mark some creaks and stretched out horn-like tones appear which might be location recordings. The piece remains mysterious and impenetrable throughout. Sounds slow down for the piece's second half, foghorns in the distance, slowly wavering tones that rise and fall slowly in pitch. This portion on the track might be the best thing on here. The disc ending "postface" is made up of church organ sounds- a note in the booklet says: "no tape manipulation". This beautiful piece plays almost like a cross between thoughtful improv and a field recording of someone tuning a church organ- complete with glacially paced awkward pauses and randomly placed, gentle slivers of sound. All of these tape pieces were originally performed as sound environments through multiple speakers at venues ranging from a gallery to a factory tower. The idea of sitting through just one of those events is mouth-watering, but since that is not an option this recording is the next best thing.” [Angbase]
|
2003 |
€10.00 |
|
| CORDIER, ERIC & DENIS TRICOT |
Orgue de Bois |
CD |
"Wie urig die Welt der Prêles, der Schachtelhalme, ist, nach denen ERIC CORDIER sein zusammen mit Satoko Fujimoto betriebenes Label benannt hat - auf Englisch heißen die ‚lebenden Fossilien‘ übrigens ‚Horsetails‘ - , das hört man besonders gut bei Orgue de Bois
(prl003). DENIS TRICOT baut diese ‚Holzorgeln‘, große Land-Art- und gleichzeitig Klangskulpturen, die sich 30 Meter lang und 3, 4 Meter hoch durch die Luft schwingen. Es sind Konstruktionen aus geschweiften Birkenholzlamellen, die durch den Raum kurven wie bizarr verholzte Lianen oder erstarrte Mähnenhaare eines Riesenpferdes, von Drähten gehalten und mit Steingewichten geerdet. Zu ‚Orgeln‘ werden sie, wenn man diese Lamellen durch Klopfen und Schaben, mit bloßen Händen oder einem Streichbogen, zum Federn und Schwingen bringt, so dass sie knarrende und wummernde Laute von sich geben, manchmal so sonor, dass sie fast einem Didgeridoo ähneln, oft perkussiv als tockendes Klappern oder dumpfes Pochen, oder auch gestrichen wie knurrig, krätzig und quietschend vibrierende
Monsterbasssaiten. Das ‚Holzige‘ wird als Grundton gut hörbar, auch das Urige als dunkler U-Laut und dazu der Eindruck von etwas Großem, von raumgreifender Spannweite. In den hölzernen Langwellen ist Klang ja schon sichtbar, bevor man ihn hört, die ‚Holzorgeln‘ sind
wie zeremonielle Instrumente oder sogar Altäre eines uralten Klangkultes. Die Aufnahmen stammen aus Charentonneau à Maisons-Alfort (Festival de l‘Oh! 2006), La Ferté-sous-Jouarre (Festival Mémoires Vives à l‘initiative d‘Act‘Art 77 2006) und Ville de Vaux-sur-Mer (2007), wobei, anders als bei den multimedialen Events, die Tricot ebenfalls inszeniert, ausschließlich die ‚Holzorgel‘ zu hören ist, ohne Overdubs, aber eingebettet in das Environment, mit Stimmen, Glockenschlägen, Vögeln etc." [Bad Alchemy]
"In the last few years, with their Orgue de bois (Wooden Organ), Denis Tricot and Eric Cordier have installed constructions, which are at the same time sculpture and musical instrument in many public spaces. Each Wooden Organ is unique, conceived for the space that will receive it. A monument, a square, a street, a city... With its long undulating wooden lines (successions of joined slats), it creates privileged spaces which are exposed to the public eye. After a performance, the audience is free to explore and discover the instrument's vast potential for musical sounds and noises.
More that thirty Wooden Organs have been created in the lat four years in France and Italy. Generally around thirty metres long, these monumental yet extremely light sculptures integrate in their construction the basic principles of lutherie (instrument-building), and can be played like any string or percussion instrument. The Wooden Organ is very simply amplified. The recordings, like the concerts, use no electronic processing, but the monumental instrument itself intentionally contains principles of mechanical resonance and vibration." [label info]
http://www.prelerecords.net/prl003/prl003.htm
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| CORDIER, ERIC & JEAN-LUC GUIONNET |
Synapses |
CD |
Eine beeindruckende Instrumental / Objekt-Installation, diverse Saiteninstrumente (Cello, Gitarren, etc.) bilden in einem aufgehängten, verbundenen System mit Metall-Resonatoren & und aufgespannten Drähten ein akustisches, 3-dimensionales System. Egal wo man es berührt, es werden dadurch weitere Klänge ausgelöst, meist von dröhnend-metallischer Textur. Das schöne aufklappbare Booklet zeigt die unglaubliche Kreation, zwei Improvistationen von 1996 & 1998 wurden hier verewigt (Paris), über 70 Minuten Spielzeit.
NOISE-MAKER'S FIFES, ORGANUM, Y-TON-G fallen einem als Referenzen ein, aber hier passiert alles in "real time" und ohne weitere Effektierung.
"Synapses (Jean-Luc Guionnet et Eric Cordier) is an instrumental device of combined string instruments (acoustic and electric guitars, detuned piano, spinett-vina, hurdy-gurdy and cello), percussion instruments and metal resonnators --all interconnected with double-bass-, cello- and guitar strings. When one string is played the resulting sound or movement is transfered by the connected strings to the next resonator. Thus one action causes several sound events. In fact, it's impossible to touch one element of the system without getting response of the whole device. Synapses is an hanging sensible network... "
[label info] |
1999 |
€13.00 |
|
| CORONA BARATHRI |
Lapis Sacrificialis |
CD |
New album by Russian ritual ambient entity Corona Barathri, offering 4 rituals, 4 sacrificial stones as the the foundation of this opus. Enthralling incantations merge with deep ceremonial atmospherics, immersing one into the realm of ritualistic fervour. A foreboding aural channeling of dark forces by Chthonia, Darkarma and Hekte Zaren which also features appearances by Martyria and Nam-Khar. Recorded in 2018-2020 the album is dedicated to the memory of Andrey Kein (Corona Barathri).
The rituals are aimed at:
I. Liberation of and ancient witch's soul sealed in stone. Now she is free. Forever in Darkness.
II. A Witch is calling to the Black Heart standing by the funeral pyre...With her blood, mortal flesh and bones, she feeds the blazing flame...It burns everything that is human and divine.
III. The call to Astaroth. Revelations coming through the Breath of Darkness. Sinister Wisdom granted to all unholy souls. Insanity for the children of the Earth.
IV. Descent into the depths of the Dark. Into Tartarus. Homecoming.
Edition of 300 copies in 6 panels Digisleeve. 4 Tracks. Running Time 40:30
Music composed by Corona Barathri: Affectvs / Kein
Mastered at IHF studio by Kein
"Domus Spiritus: Mysterium Astrigae" Featuring female vocals by Chthonia
"Ad Rogum Supremum" Featuring female vocals by Darkarma
"Astaroth Sapientia Summa" Featuring Martyria And female vocals by Hekte Zaren (Adaestuo)
"Terra Tenebrosa" Featuring Nam-Khar
https://cycliclaw.bandcamp.com/album/lapis-sacrificialis |
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
| CORRAL SHUT / RESIDUAL / TYHJÄ PÄÄ / HAUDAT |
same |
CD |
Here are four recent Finnish noise artists cooking up a split with outstanding harsh noise, on a release that stands on its own feet. If you’ve been following what's happening in the scene, you should already know that these artists can definitely deliver. On top of everything, on this split they've found a common thread to make this release feel like a proper album, a rarely achieved feat with splits or compilations. There is also a double cassette metal box of this material released by Relictual Tapes, but it's probably already sold out due to its extremely limited nature. Enjoy the powerful sound of Finnish noise!
https://satatuhatta.bandcamp.com/album/4-way-split
|
2023 |
€12.50 |
|
| CORTINI, ALESSANDRO |
Forse 1 |
do-LP |
Alessandro Cortini (Nine Inch Nails/How To Destroy Angels) composed the Forse series using a Buchla Music Easel. Forse, meaning "maybe" In Italian, is a series of 3 double LP releases Cortini recorded for Imprec to release in 2013.
"All pieces were written and performed live on a Buchla Music Easel, in the span of one month. I found that the limited array of modules that the instrument offers sparked my creativity. Most pieces consist of a repeating chord progression, where the real change happens at a spectral/dynamic level, as opposed to the harmonic/chordal one. I believe that the former are just as effective as the latter, in the sense that the sonic presentation (distortion , filtering, wave shaping, etc) are just as expressive as a chord change or chord type, and often reinforce said chord progressions.
Of all the years with Nine Inch Nails the period spent writing and recording the instrumental record Ghosts I-IV is probably the one which changed my approach to music making the most. After that record I started getting more into instrumental composition, although I tried to approach it in a different way. While we had a vast array of tools and instruments at our disposal then, I decided to approach my pieces limiting myself to one instrument only, as I found myself being more decisive when faced with a limited creative environment."
www.importantrecords.com/imprec/imprec373
|
2017 |
€35.00 |
|
| COSEY FANNI TUTTI |
Delia Derbyshire: The Myths and the Legendary Tapes |
LP |
Cosey Fanni Tutti has announced details of a new album, Delia Derbyshire: The Myths and the Legendary Tapes, her original soundtrack recordings for Caroline Catz's acclaimed film about Derbyshire. In 2018, Cosey Fanni Tutti was commissioned to write the soundtrack to director and actor Caroline Catz's acclaimed, intimate portrayal of the composer, musician, and sonic experimentalist, Delia Derbyshire (1937-2001). Best known for her groundbreaking work on the 1963 Doctor Who theme tune, Derbyshire was instrumental in giving easy access to and rewiring a nation's attitudes towards electronic music. Working within the often-stifling confines of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, her experimentalism -- which saw her manipulating magnetic tape, found sounds and electronics -- is only now being given full credit for the immeasurable impact it has had on the way we hear the world. The new album includes the audio explorations and experiments that lead Cosey Fanni Tutti to the final soundtrack for Catz's film. From the four-minute long "Cornet Lament" to the humorous "Snuff Chorus" (which references an addiction that Derbyshire had for snuff), the album is a journey through both Delia and Cosey's practise -- Fanni Tutti spent time researching Derbyshire's archives (both musical and the more personal ephemera of her life) to create an audio world for Catz's depiction of the artist to inhabit. Fanni Tutti explains, "The compositions are inspired by my research of the Delia Derbyshire audio archive, Delia's original compositional notes and techniques which in combination with my admiration and love of Delia's work provided a way to integrate her style and approach to music with my own. An alliance of our sensibilities." The new album follows the release of Cosey Fanni Tutti's new book, RE-SISTERS: The Lives and Recordings of Delia Derbyshire, Margery Kempe and Cosey Fanni Tutti. The music was composed, performed and produced by Cosey Fanni Tutti in Twickenham Studio 3, London and Studio 47 in Norfork, with vocals by Cosey Fanni Tutti and Caroline Catz, alongside the voice of Delia Derbyshire.
Musician, artist, and author Cosey Fanni Tutti has continually challenged boundaries and conventions for four decades. As a founding member of the hugely influential avant-garde band Throbbing Gristle, as one half of electronic pioneers Chris and Cosey, and as an artist channeling her experience in pornographic modelling and striptease, her work on the margins has come to reshape the mainstream. Her first solo album, Time To Tell (1983) was followed by 2019's Tutti and her debut book, Art Sex Music, was published in 2017.
|
2022 |
€30.00 |
|
| |
Delia Derbyshire: The Myths and the Legendary Tapes |
CD |
Cosey Fanni Tutti has announced details of a new album, Delia Derbyshire: The Myths and the Legendary Tapes, her original soundtrack recordings for Caroline Catz's acclaimed film about Derbyshire. In 2018, Cosey Fanni Tutti was commissioned to write the soundtrack to director and actor Caroline Catz's acclaimed, intimate portrayal of the composer, musician, and sonic experimentalist, Delia Derbyshire (1937-2001). Best known for her groundbreaking work on the 1963 Doctor Who theme tune, Derbyshire was instrumental in giving easy access to and rewiring a nation's attitudes towards electronic music. Working within the often-stifling confines of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, her experimentalism -- which saw her manipulating magnetic tape, found sounds and electronics -- is only now being given full credit for the immeasurable impact it has had on the way we hear the world. The new album includes the audio explorations and experiments that lead Cosey Fanni Tutti to the final soundtrack for Catz's film. From the four-minute long "Cornet Lament" to the humorous "Snuff Chorus" (which references an addiction that Derbyshire had for snuff), the album is a journey through both Delia and Cosey's practise -- Fanni Tutti spent time researching Derbyshire's archives (both musical and the more personal ephemera of her life) to create an audio world for Catz's depiction of the artist to inhabit. Fanni Tutti explains, "The compositions are inspired by my research of the Delia Derbyshire audio archive, Delia's original compositional notes and techniques which in combination with my admiration and love of Delia's work provided a way to integrate her style and approach to music with my own. An alliance of our sensibilities." The new album follows the release of Cosey Fanni Tutti's new book, RE-SISTERS: The Lives and Recordings of Delia Derbyshire, Margery Kempe and Cosey Fanni Tutti. The music was composed, performed and produced by Cosey Fanni Tutti in Twickenham Studio 3, London and Studio 47 in Norfork, with vocals by Cosey Fanni Tutti and Caroline Catz, alongside the voice of Delia Derbyshire.
Musician, artist, and author Cosey Fanni Tutti has continually challenged boundaries and conventions for four decades. As a founding member of the hugely influential avant-garde band Throbbing Gristle, as one half of electronic pioneers Chris and Cosey, and as an artist channeling her experience in pornographic modelling and striptease, her work on the margins has come to reshape the mainstream. Her first solo album, Time To Tell (1983) was followed by 2019's Tutti and her debut book, Art Sex Music, was published in 2017.
|
2022 |
€15.00 |
|
| COSTA, RUI & FRIENDS |
Sightseeing for the Blind |
CD |
"Ausgehend von der Idee, dass Touristen beim Besuch einer Stadt die Eindrücker derselben unbewusst mit ihren Wünschen, Vorstellungen und Ideen des Ortes abgleichen benutzte Rui Costa Empfehlungsrouten aus einem Lissabon-Reiseführer quasi als Instruktionen für eine Klangarbeit. Sightseeing For The Blind ist eine knapp halbstündige Soundmap der persönlichen Art geworden. Costa hat in der Folge der Fertigstellung seine Rohmaterialien seinen “friends” zur Verfügung gestellt, unter ihnen Gregory Büttner, Marc Behrens, Bill Jarboe u.a. Einige haben eher mental-psychische Kommentare abgeliefert, andere haben ihre eigenen Feldgeräusche mit dem Ursprungsmaterial vermengt und lösen so den direkten Zusammenhang zwischen Aufnehmendem und Geräuschpostkarte auf." [Zipo / Auf Abwegen]
"The idea for the piece first came to me in 2005, when I was invited to develop a sound project with the city of Lisbon as its theme. I decided to wander through the city, making a series of sound recordings using a pair of binaural microphones. What I concluded from these recordings was that, more than capturing the sound of the place or its “atmosphere”, they reflected a lot about me: my decisions of where to go, what places to avoid, how fast to walk, how long to linger in one place… preconceived ideas of what I wanted to be captured on tape. Later I followed up on this idea by introducing an element of “sonic sightseeing”. I grabbed a tourist guide of Lisbon, walked along the recommended hiking routes and made recordings with binaural and shotgun microphones. I wrote down my impressions, states of mind, mental associations and decisions and then mapped the recorded sounds against these notes, considering them as “instructions” or “cues” for a sound composition. I suppose that the experience that tourists get from a city is in great measure determined by the randomness of these almost unconscious impressions, of a permanent mapping out of what they see against their desires, preconceived ideas, memories, etc. All in all, my intention was to convert this process into a method for sound composition using field recordings. (Rui Costa, 2009)
Sound recordings made by Rui Costa between 2005 and 2008 in Lisbon, Portugal. Composed and mixed by Rui Costa in 2008,
About the Artist:
Rui Costa is a sound artist from Lisbon, Portugal. He has been publicly presenting his work since 1997.
From 1999 to 2003, Rui Costa collaborated with the Spanish musician Iñaki Ríos, under the name ja_dijiste. This duo explored improvisational and compositional techniques based on Max/MSP and Lisa computer software and developed a series of site-specific works in the village of Nodar, Portugal, with subsequent presentations in sound and media arts festivals in Spain.
In 2007, Rui started collaborating with the Italian vocal performer Manuela Barile, through a large scale intermedia project entitled ‘La Scatola’, which was conceived as a series of installations and performances. Rui developed processes that captured the reverberations of the voice inside the body (laryngeal microphones, amplified stethoscopes) so that the spoken word is invested with a musicality and spatial dimension that further extend the expressive capabilities of the voice.
Rui has performed in many venues and sound art festivals in Portugal, Spain, Italy and the United States. He has played with such musicians as Maile Colbert, Iñaki Ríos, Manuela Barile, Pablo Rega, Nilo Gallego, Toshio Kajiwara, Casey Rice, Lê Quan Ninh, Richard Antez, John Herndon, André Gonçalves, Carlos Santos, Pali Meursault and Cédric Anglaret.
Rui Costa is a founding member and artistic director of Binaural, an arts collective dedicated to the promotion of context-based sound and media arts. Binaural runs an artist residency space in Nodar, a small village in the north of Portugal.
Rui Costa’s current artistic research is centered on the use of the psycho-acoustic characteristics of sound to create “sonic fictions” where the notions of space, perception and meaning are submitted to a process of recontextualization and of creation of improbable and unstable relations. He investigates the different ways of making the space audible and of studying the place of the listener within the triangle formed by him/herself, the sound and the space. By capturing the sound resonating through the materials that structure a given space, manipulating it in real-time and then projecting it into the same space, it is possible to create “sensorial extensions” that configure a sonic architecture that operates in real-time and is therefore fluid and unstable. An example of this approach is his ongoing project “The Future Memory”, with the American sound and video artist Maile Colbert, where they visually and sonically map abandoned and almost silent spaces to create poetic fictions around them." [label info]
www.1000füssler.com
|
2009 |
€12.00 |
|
| COULOMBE SAINT-MARCOUX, MICHELINE |
Impulsion |
CD |
“For the first time with Impulsion are presented all of the works for tape by Coulombe Saint-Marcoux (all but two which have disappeared). This historical disc is the occasion to discover the work of one of the Canadian electroacoustic pioneer.” [label info]
www.empreintesdigitales.com
|
2001 |
€12.00 |
|
| COURTIS / WEHOWSKY |
Return of the Stone Spirits |
CD |
Sechs weitere Dokumente von Anrufungen der "strangest sounds"! Auch die dritte Nummer der "Black Series" dringt in Bereiche vor, die herrlich weitab des Mainstreams liegen... RALF WEHOWSKY aka RLW setzt hier seine Improvisationserkundungen fort mit ANLA COURTIS (ex REYNOLS), sie benutzen Gitarre und verschiedene Violinen, sowie "stuff in plastic bag" (was immer das sein mag), irgendwelche Ringe oder MetallSpiralen, etc..
teils ist das ein furioser Noise-Blast, teils wirkt es wie geräuschflächige Unebenheiten, die wie verschmutzte Partikel durch den Äther wirbeln...
es gibt aber auch ganz ruhige Kratz- & Summsounds, die wie atmosphärische Störungen scheinen, oder hörbar gemachte Luftdruckveränderungen ....
"For Ralf Wehowsky the collaboration is the prime method to work. More and more, so it seems, he works with people in his home studio in Germany's Eggenstein, such a November day in 2005 when Anla Courtis of Reynols fame came, armed with coils, guitar, argentinian violin, 'stuff in a plastic bag' and sampler to do some 'quasi-live' recordings with Wehowsky (coils, guitar, cambodian violin, kalimba, cappuccino shaker and CD scratch). In the time after that some sound transformation was done. As with other collaborations of this nature by Wehowsky, this too is more a work of improvisation than of careful post production, a bit like his work with Bruce Russell. The pieces are improvised and perhaps cut short, or edited, but throughout the pieces the element of improvisation prevails. Both gentleman know how to make a fire, as their work is not really careful or detailed. Sound effects, used in real time, are applied to quite some extent, such as distortion. This makes this work into a more harsher one than what we commonly think when we hear music by Wehowsky (although the third track shows a bit of detailed sound and takes matters a bit more into control), but it's certainly a solid and strong work by the both of them. Maybe a bit of an odd ball for Wehwosky, but fans of Courtis should be pleased." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.blrrecords.com
|
2007 |
€7.00 |
|
| COURTIS, ANLA |
Antiguos Dolmenes del Paleolitico |
CD |
„Alan Courtis hat altsteinzeitlichen Grabstätten, wie auf dem Cover zu betrachten, reine Feedbacks, ohne Einsatz von Mikrofonen oder anderen Instrumenten gegenübergestellt. Mit einem nachempfundenem Grundraunen steinalter, mit Menschenschweiß getränkter Felsen, beginnt der erste der mit Part I – IIII betitelten Stücke. Im Verlauf der gesamten knapp 48 Minuten erfahren die im Feedbacksystem gefangenen Töne eine Läuterung von sirrenden zu glasigen Drones – refreshed Drones, wenn man so sagen will. Damit ist aber keine einschmeichelnde Glätte erzeugt, denn die Töne wandern immer wieder in alarmierende Frequenzen höchster Register. Zur Schmerztherapie kommt der Gedanke an die Erbauer der Felskonstruktionen, wie sie tonnenschwere Steine ohne Kräne etc. aufeinanderstapeln. Behaglich lehnt man sich dann im Hörsessel zurück und lässt sich die Ohren mit akustischen Sticheleien reinigen.//
Megalithic stone structures, to see on the cover, seems like an inspiration for these very pure recordings of Alan Courtis. „No microphones, instruments or inputs of any kind were employed in this project.“ as the linernotes are telling. The first track starts with a basic murmer of the old rocks. In the course of the 48 minutes, the tones of the feedback system change from buzzing to drones of crushing glasses – drones refreshed. That means no smoothness, because the sharp tones are moving up to highest frequencies. Thinking about the humans who have built up these stone structures under pain, the listener leans back in his armchair while acoustically brooms are cleaning up his ears.” [Peter Schlewinski for Drone Records]
"...a composition in four parts created exclusively with processed no-input feedback and inspired by these stone monuments. It was created in early 2004 and is the first full-length solo CD from Argentinian composer Alan Courtis, a founding member of the group Reynols. Courtis currently lives in Buenos Aires, and has toured extensively in USA, Europe, Japan & Latin America collaborating with artists such as: Pauline Oliveros, Damo Suzuki, Toshimaru Nakamura, Makoto Kawabata, K.K. Null, Rick Bishop, Thomas Dimuzio, Jason Kahn, Solid Eye, Birchville Cat Motel and Lasse Marhaug.
Technical equipment employed: Phonic 1002? Mixing Desk, Art SGX LT Effects Processor, Digitech RP6 Effects Processor, DOD FX55B Supradistortion, Tascam 424, PC (Wavelab). No microphones, instruments or inputs of any kind were employed in this project. Recorded and mixed at 8(8)8 Studios, Buenos Aires, Argentina. January-March 2004" [label info & credits]
|
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
| CRAB, SIMON |
Demand Full Automation |
CD |
"Simon Crab has a long history in music. He is anti-capitalist, a practicing anarchist and strongly against material acquisition. Many years ago, he offered the complete back catalogue by his former band Bourbonese Qualk as free downloads. Nevertheless, people like product, so the Qualk catalogue will be-reissued physically, and Klanggalerie are happy to release his second solo album on Compact Disc. Crab considers himself a non-musician, yet is oddly quite good at playing instruments like the guitar, clarinet, gamelan-percussion and especially electronics. In fact, his favourite musical instrument is the computer. Whereas classically trained musicians often assert that there is no artistry in computers, Crab asserts there is no artistry required to play a musical instrument well. Crab's 'music career' spans nearly four decades and continues until this very day. Demand Full Automation presents our society's choice of either liberating the working class through automation, or further subduing them with it. Enter this rich, and meticulously crafted mostly electro-acoustic narrative with some instrumental excursions, that emphasizes more synthetic than natural textures, and on occasion, a sublime melding of the two. Demand Full Automation continues the narrative; ambient-atmospherically pensive some moments, but mostly energetic and upbeat, and relentlessly marching towards progress. But what kind of progress? Says Crab "At the moment, the proletariat is being replaced by the precariat. It is a really interesting time, apart from all the kind of 'rise of fascism' and globalization. The big issue that nobody is looking at is automation and it seems to me that it can go one of either two ways; that can be the neo-liberal way in which corporates are going to use automation as a way of enriching themselves even further, irrespective of the workforce. The workforce is going to become completely irrelevant. That is the neo-liberal take on it which is a dystopian view of the world and it is clearly not going to end very well. The other view is that if you take more of a Marxist approach, taking control of the means of production, if the workers themselves control automation for the good of themselves, then there is a better future. Automation doesn't have to be a dystopian horror. It can easily be a liberating future."
www.klanggalerie.com/gg269
"About a month or two ago everybody on Facebook seemed anxious to list their top 10 records ("No
explanation needed"; why not, I wondered) and I got away because nobody asked me. Thank god. I
hate chain letters. A record that certainly would be on my list as an all-time favourite is 'Hope', the second album by Bourbonese Qualk, which is something that should be no surprise; I mentioned this when discussing their 'Archive 1980-1986' boxset in Vital Weekly 1065. Ever since buying that LP in the early 80s I am a big fan, still owning all the original vinyl and CDs. I always thought that Bourbonese Qualk had a distinct sound, combining industrial beats with guitars and an odd-pop touch, which others perhaps call leftfield. Bourbonese Qualk ceased to exist in 2002 and their catalogue was online for free download, but I am told will return in a remastered and no longer free form. Plus some of their very early records will be released on vinyl again, which I guess is good news, but why not go for something new (and yes, in our conservative time I realize this is a most
daring proposition) by Simon Crab, erstwhile one of the main members of Bourbonese Qualk. He
returned to the world of music with 'After America' (see Vital Weekly 981), pushing for me all the right buttons again. It had the musical variety of Bourbonese Qualk, but perhaps a little bit more streamlined and electronically enhanced. He now has a 'real' CD out, 'Demand Full Automation', on Klanggalerie, who are known to release music from 80s musicians, such as Hula, Eric Random, and lots of Residents off shoots. I didn't bother deciphering the cover to find out the titles of the pieces (they are on the label's website anyway), but I sat back and enjoyed these forty-eight minutes immensely. Still sweating away in summer's heat, Simon Crab plays some lovely music, all with the use of computers, samplers and electronics. One push button music, you may ask, looking at the title, and maybe it is true, but these machines ooze life, melody and freshness. For Crab it is all about the workers taking control of the Automation process and "then there is a better
future", which message I can't subscribe too (not being a Marxist as you may remember), but I
could argue that even a non-musician, as Crab calls himself, is well-off with some automated
process in the production of music. No longer, here's a guitar now play three chords, but here's a button and you need one finger to push it. It is impossible to ignore Crab's previous, almost forty years output and experience, as otherwise it would have been impossible to craft these lovely tunes together. It is again very melodic, not as dense or dark as Bourbonese Qualk once could be, but fresh, light, moving from ambient to techno to hip-hop rhythms; rhythms play anyway an important role here, along with neatly bouncing synthesizer patterns. This is a great album. Intelligent as well as accessible and as poppy as it is ambient. Excellent! (FdW) |
2018 |
€14.00 |
|
| CRAIG, LEIGHTON |
11 Easy Pieces |
CD |
"Since 1995, Brisbane resident Leighton Craig has etched out a varied musical existence, from solo keyboard studies to an extensive body of collaborative work. His solo works, which span delicate ambient keyboard excursions through to site specific live documents and most recently song based explorations, have mapped out a focus of tone, duration and 'situations' for sound.
On 11 Easy Pieces, his first widely available solo LP, Craig offers an intimate yet robust collection of works recorded on an array of cheap analogue keyboards, including his instrument of choice the Casio MT40. Recorded to cassette at the kitchen table between 2003-04, these recordings have been lovingly toasted by valve tubes during mastering to reveal not only a true sense of analog adventurousness inherent to Craig's mode of operation, but also his ability to unveil a rare tonal richness from his instruments.
Leighton Craig casts out an audio net and collects together an essential haul of tonal gradients, phased rhythm and collapsed chordal interplays. 11 Easy Pieces (and two somewhat less 'easy' works), is a warm collection of distorted hymnals and blurred geometry - all of them visionary in their purity and timbral sensibilities." [label info]
www.room40.org
|
2008 |
€14.50 |
|
| CRANIOCLAST |
(THE) L.K.A. SONAR KIT (SOLD OUT) |
pic-7 |
"CRANIOCLAST–maybe the most mysterious & legendary "post-industrial"- group from West-Germany of the 80's-the German counterpart to ZOVIET FRANCE? As CRANIOCLAST have nearly disappeared over the last few years, we are very proud to release a wonderful designed picture-disc containing two new tracks ("DE ZEESTER" and "THE ANEMONE") taking you closer to a bizarre & breathing aural world – listen to distant floating melodies, droney electronic tunes, exotic instruments (Sitar) , voices from nowhere, animal sounds, piano, ether-sinus-sounds...as they all merge & form a perfectly relaxed & timelessly emotional soundtrack. Let the world turn into something different and witness how something alien can grow into sheer beauty.
BLACK & WHITE PICTURE DISC, COVERED BY DIFFERENT COLOURED TRANSPARENT PAPER, CLOSED WITH INDIVIDUAL NUMBERED STICKER" [label info]
|
2000 |
€ |
|
| |
(THE) L.K.A. SONAR KIT (SOLD OUT) |
pic-7 |
"CRANIOCLAST–maybe the most mysterious & legendary "post-industrial"- group from West-Germany of the 80's-the German counterpart to ZOVIET FRANCE? As CRANIOCLAST have nearly disappeared over the last few years, we are very proud to release a wonderful designed picture-disc containing two new tracks ("DE ZEESTER" and "THE ANEMONE") taking you closer to a bizarre & breathing aural world – listen to distant floating melodies, droney electronic tunes, exotic instruments (Sitar), voices from nowhere, animal sounds, piano, ether-sinus-sounds...as they all merge & form a perfectly relaxed & timelessly emotional soundtrack. Let the world turn into something different and witness how something alien can grow into sheer beauty.
BLACK & WHITE PICTURE DISC, COVERED BY DIFFERENT COLOURED TRANSPARENT PAPER, CLOSED WITH INDIVIDUAL NUMBERED STICKER." [press release]
|
2000 |
€ |
|
| CRAY |
InvalidObject Series (comment) |
mCD |
Das irische FÄLLT-Label hat auf einen Schlag ein Kompendium zur neuen digitalen laptop / click / glitch / IDM – Musik herausgebracht ! Das sind 24 mCDs mit allerlei bekannten und unbekannte Vertretern dieses jungen Genres. Wir haben die meisten da, hier eine Übersicht ! Limitiert jeweils auf schamlose 250 Stck ! Preis pro mcD : € 9.50
Better priced now, last copies of this absolute compendium of IDM. € 9.50
“ The invalidObject Series was established in 2000 as a sublabel of Fällt to release a finite series of twenty four 3"CD/.mp3 works.
Offering a unique perspective on a diverse range of musical output at the turn of the millennium, the Series features work by some of the most respected artists operating within the field of '.microsound' and has been described as "a remarkable document of a vibrant artistic community and a critical moment in the evolution of digital music" (Philip Sherburne), "a showcase for the extraordinary range of practical approaches within contemporary electronic music" (Matt Ffytche, The Wire) and, simply, "impressive" (Rob Young, Editor, The Wire). “ [label press release}
|
2000 |
€9.50 |
|
| CRESHEVSKY, NOAH / IF, BWANA |
Favorite Encores |
CD |
Split-Album mit vier Stücken von NOAH CRESHEVSKY und seiner HYPERREALISM-Musik, dazu 3 Stücke vom POGUS-Label Betreiber und experimentellen Urgestein IF, BWANA. Anspruchsvolle & aufregende Neue Experimentalmusik, basierend auf instrumentalen & vokalen Klangquellen..
"A split cd of works by Noah Creshevsky (4 tracks) and If, Bwana (3 tracks). While on the face of it this may seem a somewhat odd pairing, the pieces recorded here comment on and highlight each other. And as the above quotes suggest, an aural adventure is indeed in the offing.
Trained in composition by Nadia Boulanger in Paris and Luciano Berio at Juilliard, Noah Creshevsky has taught at Juilliard, Princeton University, and Brooklyn College. He was director of the Center for Computer Music (1994-2000) and is currently Professor Emeritus at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York. His musical vocabulary consists largely of familiar bits of words, songs, and instrumental music that are edited but rarely subjected to electronic processing. The result is a music that obscures the boundaries of real and imaginary ensembles though the fusion of opposites: music and noise, comprehensible and incomprehensible vocal sources, human and superhuman vocal and instrumental capacities. Creshevsky's most recent hyperrealist compositions explore the fragmentation and reconstruction of pre-existing music in combination with original synthetic and acoustic materials. Moments suggest musical environments of indeterminate ethnicity--simultaneously Western and non-Western, ancient and modern, familiar and unfamiliar.
Hyperrealism is an electroacoustic musical language constructed from sounds that are recognizable parts of our shared environment ("realism"), handled in ways that are exaggerated or excessive ("hyper"). Hyperrealist music exists in two basic genres. The first uses the sounds of traditional instruments that are pushed beyond the capacities of human performers in order to create superperformers--hypothetical virtuosos who transcend the limitations of individual performance capabilities (e.g., Mari Kimura Redux, Intrada, Favorite Encores). Hyperrealism of the second genre aims to integrate vast and diverse sonic elements to produce an expressive and versatile musical language. Its vocabulary is an inclusive, limitless sonic compendium, free of ethnic and national particularity (e.g., Shadow of a Doubt). Hyperrealism celebrates bounty, either by the extravagant treatment of limited sound palettes or by the assembling and manipulating of substantially extended palettes.
Al Margolis has been working under the musical pseudonym If, Bwana since New Year's Day 1984. There are often collaborators in this project‹both knowingly and unknowingly. Both are represented on this recording. Xyloxings was a concept-based work that in the end had the concept discarded for compositional considerations. Lisa Barnard's vocals were recorded with her direct knowledge. Scraping Scrafide uses a portion of Tony Scafide's piano part from a prior work of mine‹3 Out of 4 Ain't Bad‹and processes it. Cicada #4: Barnard Mix is part of my "discipline" series‹an open set of works‹and uses Barnard's vocals from other sessions to create one of many possible versions of this work." [press release]
"... Creshevsy choose the term 'hyperrealis' for the typical electro-acoustical music he developed. In three compositions on this cd ('Mari Kimura Redux'‚ 'Intrada' and 'Favorite Encores') Creshevsky "uses the sounds of traditional instruments that are pushed beyond the limitations of individual performance capabilities". Creshevsky is a master in the field of audio-collage and plunderphonic-like procedures and leaves us with many questions. For example we often hear violins in his work, playing in a style that we are used from normal classical music. But I'm not sure whether he takes samples from already existing (violin)works by others, or whether he composes pieces for violin first to be used consequently by him in his collage work. Comparable to how Biota works. His compositions make the impression of staying close to classical musical structures, but transcended to unknown heights through his virtuoso manipulation work. The music has an enormous speed and drive, combined with an enormous flexibility and maneuverability. In each piece we are constantly exposed to an intensity and complexity that we don't often find in music. His works open dazzling dimensions and perspectives. On the other hand the music remains fluent and accessible, very lively and of an appealing dramatic. Great work! 'Intrada' is of special interest because of the use of (samples of) the fantastic voicework by Chris Mann.
If, Bwana is the pseudonym Al Margolis uses already since 1984 for his musical output. As a guest he was present on Creshevsky's 'To know and not to know'. Between the highly informed and complex music of Creshvesky, the works of If Bwana offers us some rest. His pieces develop in a slower pace and are built from a smaller set of soundmaterial. In 'Xyloxings' and 'Cicada # 4; Version Barnard', the voice of Lisa Bernard plays a prominent role. For 'Scraping Scrafide' If, Bwana makes uses of the piano playing of Tony Scafide, taking from an earlier composition by If, Bwana. In comparison to maximalistic efforts of Creshesky, the works If Bwana are more of a minimalistic approach." [DM / Vital Weekly]
www.pogus.com
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| CROENE, FREDERIK & TIMO VAN LUIJK |
Ipnopedion |
LP |
Side 1 : Ipnopedion
Premiere live performance of commissioned composition for the ‘In Dreams’ Event, at Kunstencentrum nona in Mechelen, June 1, 2018.
Curated by Philippe Cortens.
Frederik Croene: piano
Timo van Luijk: synthesizer, sound projection
Side 2 : Taetonia
Recorded and mixed at Kulta Saha 2019
Frederik Croene: piano, organ
Timo van Luijk: synthesizer, organ, atmospherics
On the frigid moonless night of December 6th, 1978, a 26 year-old night watchman named Pier Zanfretta was on a routine patrol in the village of Torriglia, where he stumbled into a horrifying encounter with aliens from Taetonia. In order to get more clarity about what happened that night Pier Zanfretta agreed to undergo hypnosis, to let his subconscious speak about his abduction by these aliens.
As his discours under hypnosis sounded uncannily musical and mesmerizing, even without understanding the words, it became the basis of this Ipnopedion album.
For the recording of the title track ‘Ipnopedion’ (side 1) Zanfretta’s speech was played back on headphones, then phonetically reproduced by FC and TVL, lying down in darkness as being hypnotised. Apart from this transposed text only piano and a few hypnosis inducing atmospherics and spatialisations were added.
The ‘Taetonia’ track (side 2) opens with a naieve and enticing piano play slowly being beamed into a vacuum void towards Taetonia. As Zanfretta’s words were vague it remained unclear what happened in Taetonia but things certainly had changed…
Ipnopedion became a ritual invitation to withdraw from the concrete world, returning to it as uncanonical aliens from Taetonia.
https://lasciedoree.be/releases/timo-van-luijk-frederik-croene-ipnopedion/ |
2020 |
€20.00 |
|
| CROUCH, ROBERT |
An Occupied Space |
CD-R |
"An Occupied Space is the debut full-length release by Los Angeles artist Robert Crouch. Each track takes as its point of departure a field recording of a public place where music is integral to the experience of these social constructs. Throughout the release, music is piped through loudspeakers across public plazas and boulevards, footsteps cross thresholds where reverberating guitars and vocals spill out into city. “I found it necessary to give myself a very strict set of parameters,” Crouch states, “in order to approach the idea of making music in the first place. I suppose it comes from my training as a visual artist.”
Furthering this analogy to a visual arts practice, An Occupied Space has perhaps more in common with the photographers from the Düsseldorf School, rather than the history of field recording or ambient music. Much like the photographers Andreas Gursky, Candida Höfer, and Thomas Ruff, and how they wrestle with both the psychology of their subject matter as well as the politics and constraints of their chosen medium, An Occupied Space can be considered to be a collection of landscape studies, with the artist fulfilling the roles of documentarian, composer, and observer simultaneously.
Structurally, An Occupied Space operates within overlapping contexts; they exist as documents, as meditations on the psychology of place, and finally as self-reflexive “objects” that address the contingent nature of their own construction. They are as much about music as they are music. “I wanted to employ melody without necessarily being melodic, to explore texture without remaining static, and to respect the integrity of the original recordings while still allowing my hand as artist to remain evident." [label info]
www.dragonseyerecordings.com
|
2011 |
€10.00 |
|
| |
Sublunar |
CD |
"Robert Crouch is an artist and curator whose work encompasses sound, performance, and technology. As an artist, he locates his work with the intersection of post-phenomenological listening practices, conceptual sound art, and contemporary electronic music. At its core, his work can be understood as a conversation between tonality, context, history, and subjectivities. Similarly, Crouch's curatorial work focuses on the overlapping disciplines of sound, technology, movement, and performance. Sublunar continues Crouch's inquiry into the complex relationships between sound, context, and meaning, first proposed in his 2016 release, A Gradual Accumulation Of Ideas Becomes Truth. The four tracks which comprise Sublunar were composed using field recordings from and audio files originally created for mas gestos y mas caras, a collaborative performance with artists Rafa Esparza and Yann Novak. mas gestos y mas caras was a durational performance incorporating sound, breathing, and a series of repetitive actions and gestures, choreographed within an architectural installation of adobe bricks fabricated and designed by Esparza. Sonically, Sublunar is a radical departure from the originating performance, yet these tracks remain tethered, literally and aesthetically, to the processes and context of their construction: Esparza's labored breathing, cautious footsteps, a soft cascade of water, dust, soil. The title itself, Sublunar, reinforces an attachment to the Earth and the physical world, and intentionally resists metaphysical interpretation or decontextualization. It is precisely through this tethering that Crouch seeks to open up a diversity of possible approaches to the work, rather than confine our reading to a primarily or exclusively musical text. The first track, "Descension", opens with sounds of breathing, muted movements, and environmental noises, and serves as an acknowledgement of our collective understanding of sound, of these specific sounds, as physical phenomenon. By extension the listener is allowed to consider this particular organization of sound itself as a kind of sculpture, architecture, and choreography. The body becomes the primary oscillator and architect, delineating boundaries and defining the work as a space within which the listener might inhabit. Presented live in Los Angeles. Source material originally developed as part of mas gestos y mas caras, a collaborative performance with Rafa Esparza and Yann Novak, presented at the Hammer Museum on July 8, 2016."
|
2017 |
€10.00 |
|
| CUNI, AMELIA & WERNER DURAND |
Diasporagas (Ancient Trends & New Traditions In Indo-European Music) |
LP |
Amelia Cuni was born in Milan and has lived in India for more than 10 years where she studied dhrupad singing with various renowned masters. Werner Durand has been performing his own music for saxophones, Iranian ney and self-made wind instruments since the late 70s. He started building his own wind instruments from plexi-glass, PVC and metal tubes in the early 80s and has performed in various groups including The Thirteenth Tribe and Armchair Traveller. For more than 20 years, Cuni and Durand have been performing together as a duo as well as in collaborations such as Tonaliens and Born Of Six.
Diasporagas, sub-titled "Ancient Trends and New Traditions in Indo-European Music", summarizes their various musical projects in which her Indian raga singing met with his minimalist and experimental approach. In all of their collaborations, they have been creating unique forms and expanding the palette of their sound worlds while keeping the essence of raga music, justifying the use of the term in its original meaning. The title is meant to be understood as a statement to provoke reflections on our ideas of cultural identity vs. globalization, and tradition vs. experimentation.
A central Diasporagas work is "Hiss (mastered noise)" for dhrupad singing, invented wind instruments, Indian percussion and samples of historical recordings by Indian singers. It is partly based on their earlier work "Gramophone Saraswati" which involved replicas of Luigi Russolo's Intonarumori instead of the Indian recordings. This LP includes "Hiss (mastered noise)" and two other pieces entitled "Aqua Shiva" and "Agana Song". Edition of 300 in a full-color sleeve with a printed inner sleeve reproducing the score of "Hiss (mastered noise)".
www.edition-telemark.de
|
2016 |
€20.00 |
|
| CUPPLES, AARON |
Island of the Hungry Ghost (OST) |
LP |
Island of the Hungry Ghosts is a hybrid documentary that moves between the natural, human and spiritual worlds. Located off the coast of Indonesia, the Australian territory of Christmas Island is inhabited by migratory crabs traveling in their millions from the jungle towards the ocean, in a movement that has been provoked by the full moon for hundreds of thousands of years. Poh Lin Lee is a trauma therapist who lives with her family in this seemingly idyllic paradise. Every day, she talks with the asylum seekers held indefinitely in a high-security detention centre hidden in the island's core, attempting to support them in a situation that is as unbearable as its outcome is uncertain. As Poh Lin and her family explore the island's beautiful yet threatening landscape, the local islanders carry out their "hungry ghost" rituals for the spirits of those who died on the island without a burial. They make offerings to appease the lost souls who are said to be wandering the jungles at night looking for home. This album presents the original score Aaron Cupples created for the film. Rich in texture and harmonics, the music is characterized by the bespoke instruments and recording techniques employed in its creation. The soundtrack also features sound recordist Leo Dolgan's vivid field recordings. All captured on Christmas Island, the four pieces recall insect choruses, strange and ominous bird calls, erupting blowholes, fire, ocean, and Buddhist prayers for the dead. The album is mastered by Rashad Becker, featuring design by N MRE 08. *LP comes with an obi strip, a booklet containing stills from the documentary & liner notes, as well as a postcard granting access to the full film*
https://aaroncupples.bandcamp.com/album/island-of-the-hungry-ghosts-ost
|
2021 |
€24.00 |
|
| CURD DUCA |
Waves 3 |
LP + CD |
Magazine announces the album Waves 3 by Curd Duca, the third and last part of the trilogy Waves: Austrian electronic composer Curd Duca is widely known for his 1990s series of critically acclaimed easy listening 1-5 (Normal) and elevator 1-3 (Mille Plateaux). After a long break from the studio, Duca has issued part 1 of the Waves series in late 2020 on Magazine WAVES 001LP. This was in fact his first album in 20 years. The Waves recordings pick up the thread of his '90s work and open up a new chapter. Again, everything is shifting constantly and all tracks are quite different (soft, rough, melodic, abstract...), but complement each other in a surprisingly coherent way to form an idiosyncratic universe. While other experimental artists can sound as if they're attempting to lift lead weights over their heads, Duca is content flicking feathers into their faces. After his impressive 1990s/00s run on Normal and Mille Plateaux, Curd Duca had disappeared for 20 years before emerging from the aether last year. The albums of the new Waves trilogy represent a flawless examination of sound and texture. The Vienna-based producer still straddles high and low culture, but approaches his sonics with a more historically aware ear. So plain and resonant gong recordings are placed next to pop music loops and DSP-fractured cut-ups, and icy electronic jams nudge up against cassette warped instrumental sketches. Waves 3 is a continuation and culmination of the series. In the final chapter, you're drawn in with church bells on dome, but quickly transported to another era entirely with the crackly bläser and absurd zither, a tongue-in-cheek plunderphonic experiment assembled from zither samples. Duca follows this evocative run of tracks with a machine-gun blast of experimental sound, from the percussive 500 GRM to the ferric ASMR birdsong of "ziegenmelker." This is Duca at his most uncompromising, grabbing central European culture and dragging it through his array of processes. Playing the album from beginning to end opens up a weightless cut-and-paste mixtape, stitched together with expert foresight and a knowing wink to camera. Like the best psychedelic experiences, memories are triggered and turned inside-out, and knowledge is allowed to blossom. Curd Duca has been refining his process for three decades now, and few artists have quite the same ability to challenge, provoke, and inspire. |
2022 |
€22.50 |
|
| CURRENT 93 |
When the May Rain comes |
12inch |
"When the May Rain Comes, a cover of a track by Sand, whose work has had a profound affect on Tibet’s work, first appeared on Current 93’s influential album Thunder Perfect Mind. Also appearing on this 12" is an alternate version of the same track from a CD single which accompanied the first 1,000 copies of Tibet and Stapleton’s release of material by Sand, Ultrasonic Seraphim. This 12'' is part of a series of releases from rotorelief comprised of new albums from Sand, a reissue of their album Golem and albums by Nurse with Wound and Current 93. “INXOM” is the series of albums from Sand, the series title having one letter for each album. So, 5 albums of Sand are to be released. Two more albums from Nurse with Wound and Current 93, two groups who helped bring to light the mystery that is Sand, increase the number of letters in the title. With these last two albums the series becomes INXODEM. His First Steps – Golem - Desert Navigation - Sylph Ballet – North Atlantic Raven. And Chromanatron by Nurse With Wound and When the May Rain Comes, cover versions of Sand by Current 93." [label info]
http://rotorelief.com
|
2010 |
€19.50 |
|
|
When the May Rain comes |
CD-single |
"When the May Rain Comes, a cover of a track by Sand, whose work has had a profound affect on Tibet's work, first appeared on Current 93's influential album Thunder Perfect Mind. Also appearing on this 12" is an alternate version of the same track from a CD single which accompanied the first 1,000 copies of Tibet and Stapleton's release of material by Sand, Ultrasonic Seraphim." [label info]
http://rotorelief.com
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
The Moons at your Door |
CD |
"A very spooky album from Current 93, which finds David Tibet working alongside Andrew Liles as his only comrade in arms; this was released in conjunction with a book of the same title of macabre tales that Tibet compiled for Strange Attractor Press. This is not the avant-folk minstrel side of Current 93, but the devilish abstraction of dark, sicktone sound design, overlaid with a deconstructed collage of a gravel throated gentleman (not Tibet) reciting and chanting in monotone various elements from the book. Yes, this does hark back to the Crowleyian incantations from Current 93's Nature Unveiled and the Thomas Ligotti collaborations In A Foreign Land, In A Foreign Town and I Have A Special Plan For This World. These albums continue to appear within Current 93's visionary work, and always act as huge gravity well, grasping from depths of the macabre and the supernatural. Nightmare music, par excellance!" [Aquarius Records]
www.davidtibet.com
|
2016 |
€17.50 |
|
| CUSACK, PETER |
Favourite Berlin Sounds |
CD |
" “What is your favourite sound of Berlin, and why?” During 2011/12 many Berliners were asked this seemingly simple question and their responses are as fascinating and varied as the city itself. Almost no one says exactly the same as anyone else, but together they reveal the Berlin of the ear – quite different to that of the eye. A myriad of places and experiences, familiar and obscure, are brought to life in these recordings. From S–Bahn trains at speed to atmospheres inside the city’s unique courtyards, waves slapping in the River Spree to memorial bells, bustling markets and midnight nightingales to football matches heard citywide. These are Berlin’s favourite sounds.
The CD was compiled by Peter Cusack with recordings made by himself and Anna Bogner, Elen Flügge, Thomas Koch, Jasmine Guffond, Klaus Hamlescher, Valeria Merlini and Udo Noll. 31 tracks run for 77min.
Berlin is noticeably quieter than other European capitals such as London or Paris. Why should this be? Most obviously the traffic seems less dominant. Some roads are very busy, but on smaller streets moving vehicles are surprisingly sparse and at night Berlin can be very quiet indeed. The small number of planes is also a factor. Except in areas under the flight path into Tegel airport the city is relatively free of low flying aircraft. Berlin’s unique Hinterhöfe (inner courtyards) add to this impression. They create spaces of genuine calm, even in the liveliest areas. This quietness allows people-sounds to come to the fore: footsteps, conversation, children playing, outdoor café atmospheres and the buzz of nightlife are ubiquitous. All are mentioned as favourite sounds.
So too are natural sounds and those involving the elements. Berlin is a particularly green city with a considerable area of waterways and lakes. Springtime birds – nightingales and the abundant blackbirds - are often mentioned. The Spree is a working river where waves from deep sounding heavy barges, and puttering tourist cruises, slap along the banks.
Berlin also gains a special acoustic personality from sounds that are present citywide. The rising and falling tones of accelerating or decelerating S–Bahn trains are unique and everywhere. It is no accident that the S-Bahn system contributes the most nominated of favourite Berlin sounds. Church bells sound simultaneously across the city and are also regularly mentioned. They are synchronised to ring daily at 12noon and 6pm except on Sundays when the timing is more varied.
It is almost 25 years since the Berlin wall fell, but sonic remnants from the division still appear amongst Berlin’s favourite sounds. Tram bells and rumble continue to be associated with the east, whereas the shouts and bustle at Turkish markets, are very much of the west.
The Favourite Sounds Project explores what people find positive in their city’s soundscape. It started in London in 1998 and has since taken place in Beijing, Prague, Manchester, Birmingham, Chicago, Brussels and Southend on Sea. http://favouritesounds.org/" [label info]
www.rermegacorp.com
|
2013 |
€14.00 |
|
| CUTLER, CHRIS |
Twice around the Earth. An Experiment in listening |
CD |
Ein Hör-Experiment vom Recommended Records-Betreiber, diese Produktion fürs ORF Kunstradio (www.kunstradio.at/2003A/cutler).
Eine unglaubliche Fülle von field recordings werden quasi als „Reise um die Welt“ verarbeitet: ein Versuch, die Subjektivität und Voreingenommenheit beim Hören zu überwinden...
„Out of the Blue Radio ist eine Radiosendung, die in London täglich zwischen 23.30 Uhr und Mitternacht auf Resonance FM (http://www.resonancefm.com), einem unabhängigen Sender für Radiokunst, ausgestrahlt wird. Gestartet wurde das einjährige, budgetlose Projekt im Juli 2002.
Meine Idee für diese Sendung war es, den HörerInnen das Ohr einer anderen Person für jeweils eine halbe Stunde zu "leihen"; ein Fenster zu einer anderen Geräuschkulisse zu öffnen - entfernt oder nah -, die nicht ident mit der eigenen akustischen Umgebung ist. Die AutorInnen, die uns ihre Ohren zur Verfügung stellen, gestalten durchgehende, ungeschnittene halbstündige Aufnahmen von einem Ort ihrer Wahl, aufgenommen zwischen 23.30 Uhr und Mitternacht Londoner Ortszeit; d.h. halb vier Uhr nachmittags in Vancouver, 7.30 Uhr morgens in Peking oder 00.30 Uhr in Wien. Sie schicken diese unbearbeiteten Aufnahmen dann nach London, wo sie wie sie sind gesendet werden.
Ein wichtiger Aspekt des Projekts ist es, ganze Zeitblöcke in ihrer Entfaltung einzufangen; sie nicht zu verbessern oder umzumodellieren zu versuchen; sie nicht den Vorstellungen eines Produzenten, was gut klingt oder ästhetisch wertvoll ist, anzupassen, sondern einfach nur diese Momente einzufrieren. Ort und Tätigkeit sind gewählt, der Rest sich selbst überlassen. Dies sind allerdings nicht Schnappschüsse aus dem Leben, sondern Hörobjekte: Geräusche, die eingefangen werden und in fremden Kontexten reproduziert werden; Sounds, die gerahmt und objektiviert und unabhängig wiedergegeben werden.
Es scheint mir, dass die Beiträge mit ihrer rohen Beschaffenheit, am "Mangel" an Bearbeitung überhaupt nicht leiden - ganz im Gegenteil: sie entwickeln dadurch eine unglaubliche Kraft. Von allen anderen sinnlichen Wahrnehmungen und von ihren lebenden Quellen getrennt, enthüllen sie, was durch die Zwänge des Alltags, durch das wir eilen, unbedacht überhört wird. Geräusche, die instinktiv ignoriert, in Objekten aufgelöst oder absichtlich unterdrückt werden, können durch ihre unmittelbare Irrelevanz und die Gleichgültigkeit von Maschinen, die keine Subjektivität besitzen, zu neuem Leben erwachen.
Selbstverständlich "klingen" diese Geräusche, doch das ist nicht deren "Bekenntnis". Sie verlangen nicht, als reiner Sound gehört zu werden. Sie sind, was sie sind: Autos, Hämmer, Atmosphären - zugleich vertraut und rätselhaft. Und - wie Geräusche, die durch ein offenes Fenster dringen - können sie Beachtung finden oder ignoriert werden. Sie können lediglich eine Atmosphäre tönen - oder die Aufmerksamkeit auf sich ziehen und unser ästhetisches, analytisches und sogar narratives Auffassungsvermögen in Gang setzen.
Als ich gebeten wurde, diese Kompilation zu machen, wollte ich natürlich die Aspekte des Zufälligen und des Unmittelbaren, die so wichtig für das Projekt sind, bewahren. So, anstatt eine Auswahl der "best of" zu treffen oder besonders "interessante" Sounds herauszusuchen, entschied ich, mich von Geografie und Zeit leiten zu lassen. Ich plante eine akustische Reise zweimal um die Welt, wofür 43 der bislang 230 Aufnahmen verwendet werden. Geografische Angaben bestimmten die Reihenfolge der Stücke; der Zeitfluß welche Abschnitte/Orte innerhalb dieser geographischen Zonen gewählt wurden. D.h. ich nahm die ersten 55 Sekunden von der ersten Aufnahme, dann eine Strecke von ca. 0.55 bis etwa 1.50 Minuten von der nächsten usf. durch die Arbeit hindurch. Ich dies aber nicht so genau und entschied beim Anhören erst, wieviel ich von jedem 55-Sekunden-Abschnitt schlußendlich nahm und wo und wie ich die Übergänge gestalten wollte. Anders als die Überblendungen verweilen die "reisenden" Ohren allerdings immer an einem Ort nach dem anderen. Keine der Sounds wurde bearbeitet oder verändert.
Diese freeze-frame Ausgabe von Out of the Blue Radio, die sich eigentlich ähnlich einer Diaschau entwickelt, kann natürlich weder die Ganzheit des Programms noch den kumulativen Effekt, jeden Tag eine andere Welt zu betreten, transportieren; doch ich habe mich an die Priorität des Hörens gehalten, wilde Landschaften zu nehmen, bevor sie gejätet, bepflanzt und verbessert werden. Die täglichen Sendungen, sogar diese Montage, tragen nur leicht die Handschrift von menschlichen Entscheidungen oder Absichten. Der Rest ist, wie er ist.
So wie ich das Stück geschnitten habe, passiert alles, was man hört, während John Scott am Londoner Themseufer entlang läuft, in Hörweite des Big Ben. Das Stück geht John Scott los, der seinen Lauf beginnt, holt ihn bei der ersten Umrundung des Globus ein und kehrt wieder zu ihm zurück als er kurz vor Mitternacht seine Aufnahme beendet. Zwischenzeitlich reisen wir mit virtuellen 49.803 Meilen/Stunde (79.500 km/Sek.) in Quantensprüngen von Ort zu Ort.“ [Chris Cutler]
“An experiment in listening. These compositions are an offshoot of the daily soundscape programme I ran for Resonance FM radio between July 2001-2002, which consisted of commissioned real-time recordings made all around the world between 23.30 and midnight GMT (the time of the broadcast). This CD begins with material from these broadcasts confecting, as it were, two composites of the Earth and a few of its inhabitants, somewhat analogous to what an impossible satellite ear with pinpoint acuity might hear in transit - plus one ear-cleaning stretch between them, taken from a single hear-point. I have tried to make these pieces both open and to work on parallel levels: not only do they have their own narrative and aesthetic qualities, but I hope they also offer a meditation on listening and not listening, interpretation and structure, chance and microphonics. The list of ears around the world who supplied basic material is too long to print here, but it includes many names familiar from these catalogues, and many from the still young soundscape and phonograpic community. Full details of people and places are given in the booklet, along with artwork and thorough notes. You have to trust me on this, it's a really engaging record. Sometimes unbelieveable. I don't think you'll regret giving it a chance.” [ReR]
|
2003 |
€14.00 |
|
| CUTLER, CHRIS & THOMAS DIMUZIO |
Quake |
CD |
Live-Aufnahmen von 1999 aus Portland und Lowell, MA, die die ganze Klasse der ungewöhnlichen Geräuschmusik-Collab/Improvisation zeigen. Neben mächtigen Drones & Samples gibt es perkussive, manchmal fast rituell anmutende Strukturen, aber auch feinste konkrete Mikro-Detail-Geräuschmusik, ein Clash von handgespielter & elektronisch erzeugter Klangblase.... eine Musiklandschaft, die einen auf seltsame Art und Weise innerlich vitalisiert, die voller Energie steckt, dynamisch und lebendig..
“Last year we saw the welcome reissue on ReR of Headlock (1989), the debut solo album by US electroacoustic composer Thomas Dimuzio, which is hallmarked by his sure handling of an expansive, yet detailed, sonic architecture crafted in the studio. However, Quake finds his samplers and processors feeding off Chris Cutler's percussion ('electrified' and otherwise) and sundry objects in two live improvised performances from March this year. Both events have been subdivided into numerous short, titled tracks, though in many cases the music appears to be continuous. Given the vampiric nature of the process, authorship of sounds is not always easily attributable, but the general impressions of Cutler's abrasive percussives, and gritty electronics supplying the microsonic detail, with Dimuzio expanding these textures and unleashing his own ominous stormcloud drones. The result is intelligently paced, decidedly atmospheric noise mongering.” [Chris Blackford, THE WIRE, 1999]
|
1999 |
€13.00 |
|
| CYCLOTIMIA |
Music for Stockmarkets |
CD |
Das russische Projekt mit einem kritischen Werk zur Konsumgesellschaft & Finanzwirtschaft, eingespielt auf original russischen "Vintage Electronic" Geräten!
"Cyclotimia is a project from Russia and have created some very good and interesting albums. Albums like ‘Same Time Same Place’, ‘Wasteland’ and ‘Celestis’ are a combination of spatial ambient and IDM glitch, aided with the use of lush synthesizers. The music often times is very deep and free interpretable. A recurring theme for this project is the world of stockmarkets. With this new album ‘Music for Stockmarkets’, stockmarkets is the essential theme and motive. Though the album ventures into the typical Cyclotimia topics, it doesn’t sound at all like the former albums. Well, maybe in some places, but its most of all a totally different experience. Gone are the deep soundscapes as the music is stripped to its bare essential. With a fast listening, it reminds me of music created in the Amiga era, but upon closes inspection, the music is rather layered and there is a lot to be discovered here. The album consists of a lot of bleeps and clicks and cuts, but there is also room for the occasional (piano) melody, together with different sampled sources. The great thing about this album is that it’s very subliminal and can sometimes have a rather disturbing feeling to it. A lot of tracks are very clinical in its approach, but it is interspersed with more layered tracks and deeper sounds. This is really an album which should be listened to with headphones and requires your full attention. If listened to rather superficially, the album can seem somewhat boring, because all the details are missed, which is the essential of this interesting work.
It is music that can be difficult and cryptic, but that’s also the beauty of this album, which turns the music into a piece of art. The music therefore isn’t for everyone, because it’s not a ‘fun’ album. It’s maybe more academic, but with a more human approach. Hard to describe, you just have to listen to it. The artwork is also very nice and really makes the experience complete. The album gets a high recommendation because of its originality, but only to the more advanced listeners of experimental music, but a great album nonetheless." [Gothtronic]
"Cyclotimia is most probably the only project in the world which has chosen the creation of a soundtrack to "globalisation" and life of the "consumer society" as their concept. The project members more than anyone else are immersed into the magic of finance and probably therefore has their creative intuition allowed them to compose the main part of "Music for Stockmarkets" with its unforgivingly precise name "Wallstreet Requiem". Today the whole civilised world is listening to this requiem the first cords of which were played on Wall Street itself... The "Music for Stockmarkets" album with its radically experimental nature stands out in the extensive discography of this Moscow project. The 64-minute album includes 32 tracks divided into three conceptual parts: "Wallstreet Requiem" (25 minutes, recorded in 2004-2007), "Trivial Pleasures" (26 minutes, recorded in 2002, this part was the only one released as a seperate CD in 2003) and "Financial Glossary" (13 minutes, recorded in 2003)... The music material itself is nothing like the one heard in the previous records of Cyclotimia. There is no apocalyptic soundscapes of "Wasteland" times, no cybernetic hi-tech and media madness of "E$chaton", no cosmic downtempo of "Celestis: Space Ceremonial Music"... Minimalism, academic sterility, surgical accuracy and meditative ataraxy prevail on "Music for Stockmarkets". Then again it is not the familiar "idm", "glitch", "noise", "clicks and cuts" and not "minimal techno"... The sound of the album is chrystal-clear and warm at the same time. "Vintage" lovers have a wonderful chance to listen to the masterpieces of Soviet music production (such as Rhythm 1, Rhythm 2, Aelita, Formanta UDS, Formanta EMS-01, Polyvox) in pure sound, unprocessed by effects." [label info] |
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| CYESS AFXZS & SCATHING |
Sunken Dimension |
CD |
Cyess Afxzs and Scathing both represent the newer wave of harsh noise, with prolific output in recent years, coming up with top notch releases one after another, and in a way I feel it was only a matter of time for this fruitful collaboration to happen. These artists have a musical ear for harsh noise. We've been hearing it in their works with compositional, cinematic qualities. Perhaps because they live on different continents, the idea of them working actually together had not occurred to me before, but when I first time heard about this collaboration, it clicked in my head immediately: of course! A match made in heaven. This CD is a full-on collaboration, and you can recognize both artists’ hand prints, but they’re still creating something new together. I've been told that when you think it sounds like Cyess Afxzs, it's probably Scathing, and vice versa.
https://satatuhatta.bandcamp.com/album/sunken-dimension
|
2023 |
€12.50 |
|
| CZAJKOWSKA, INDIA |
Cosmospir |
CD |
Very expressive ethereal vocal ambience from this female Polish singer, who also plays prepared piano, synths & flute, with guest musicians on cello & bowed guitar. Next to the vocal-based pieces there are also more experimental free floating instrumental tracks, the atmosphere oscillates between sacral beauty and melancholic slowness, its not really "east-european" or "folk" influenced but rather based on classical music and electronica..
" “Cosmospir” is a debut album from Polish singer/improviser and composer, India Czajkowska. Her music overturns categories through a fluid blend of classical instruments, experimental vocal technique and electronic spectrum arrangements.
The dark alchemic laboratory in a deserted factory, the walls of which are breathing still with industrial noise. The space is sinking into strange sacral whispers and through the broken panes birds are flying in. The roar of the wind and the dripping of raindrops. From this mosaic of sounds the golden ringing of voice appears, cutting the thick air. This abstract landscape came to me from the sounds of the Cosmospir album.This is music for those who aren’t afraid to plunge into the deep, and sometimes, even dark areas of their own soul. Especially for those who love to travel far away, without going out, just focused on listening to fascinating sounds."
[Joanna Kasztelaniec]
www.aliodie.com
|
2008 |
€14.50 |
|
| D'ANGIOLINI, GIULIANO |
Simmetrie di Ritorno |
CD |
" 1. Composer:
Giuliano d’Angiolini
2. Title:
Simmetrie di ritorno
3. Studios:
Auditorium du Conservatoire de Gennevilliers
Auditorium Antonin Artaud in Ivry-sur-Seine
4. Performers:
Ensemble 2e2m, Franck Ollu, Pierre Roullier, Monique Bouvet,
Barbara Morihien,
Quatuor Parisii: Arnaud Vallin, Jean-Michel Berrette,
Dominique Lobet, Jean-Philippe Martignoni
5. Format:
Audio CD, Digisleeve, Booklet German/English
6. Total time:
ca. 64:11
7. Catalogue #:
ed. RZ 10020
8. EAN Code:
4029455100208
9. Release date:
18. November 2010
10. Tracklist:
Simmetrie di ritorno für 10 Instrumente • 2000
Ita vita zita rita für verstärktes Klavier • 1997
Orizzonte fisso, bordoni mobili für 8 Instrumente • 2007
Und’ho d’andà für 9 Blechbläser • 1995
Ho visto un incidente für Solostimme • 1991¬92
Notturno in progressione für Streichquartett • 2004 " [label info / credits]
"Giuliano d’Angiolini ist ein absoluter Sonderfall in der musikalischen Landschaft. Sein gründliches, wohl überlegtes,
hartnäckiges Vorgehen hat ihn dahin gebracht, eine Musik zu erschaffen, die er selbst »unpersönlich« nennt. Eine Musik, aus der jede Vorstellung von Entwicklung oder Form getilgt ist. D’Angiolini erklärt, er wollte aufgrund
einer Reihe erhellender Erkenntnisse »dem Ton seinen Raum lassen, damit der Musik weniger Willen aufgeprägt wird«. Ein Ansatz, der ihn dazu geführt hat, sich der Oberfläche
zuzuwenden, ¬ ein alles andere als oberflächliches Verfahren ¬ die unmittelbare Seite eines jeden Klangentwurfs und die Gegenwart als die Oberfläche der Zeit.
In seinen Werken bilden Prozess und musikalisches Material eine Einheit, sie werden unverhüllt vorgestellt. Was wir zu hören bekommen, ist nicht diskursiv, auf formale
Artikulation wird bewusst verzichtet.
Es ist sogar gestattet, sich vom Gehörten zu lösen, um sich ihm später nach Gutdünken wieder zuzuwenden.
Giuliano d’Angiolini is a positively unique figure in contemporary music. His profound, well-conceived and stubborn take on music has led him to what he calls »impersonal« music —
music that has fully abandoned the idea of
development or form.Through successive states of presentation, which aim to elucidate, d’Angiolini wanted to »leave place in sound so that music could become less voluntary«.
This led him to favour the surface and present,
an approach that was by no means superficial: the surface as the immediacy in the propositional content of sound and the present as the very surface of the criterion of time.
In his work, musical process and material are but one and are completely laid bare. What we are to hear is non-discursive, deliberately lacking formal organization. We are even free to turn away and come back of our own will — as if the composer wanted to make positive use of the negative metamorphosis of today’s urban listeners, listeners who are constantly assailed with stimuli." [Gérard Pesson]
|
2010 |
€15.50 |
|
| D'INCISE |
Rivages sur l'Antipode |
LP |
"Laurent Peter has produced and released electronic music under the d'incise moniker since 2002, from dub to electronica, gradually opening those styles to electroacoustic experimentations. With his projects Diatribes (an open formation with drummer Cyril Bondi) and Karst (quartet with Bondi, Luc Muller and Abstral Compost), he is also involved in free improvisation, for which he is using his laptop, live treatments and various contact miked objects. These projects have included musicians such as Barry Guy, Keith Row, Jason Kahn, Christian Weber, Norbert Moslang, Hernani Faustino, Joao Pedro Viegas, Tzii and many more. Finally, besides coordinating the insubordination netlabel, dedicated to improvised music, and being a member of the audiactiviste netlabel, Laurent Peter is also active as a graphic designer. Composed on a special request from ini.itu, “Rivages sur l'antipode” (shores on the opposite side of the earth) is his first vinyl LP and is based on similar archival material as the one used by Francisco López in his stunning “untitled #228”. Nonetheless, d'incise has achieved radically different results, combining digitally-processed textures, microsamples and humming harmonics rippling out over broken rhythms. He has collaged the least obvious bits of gamelan, many grainy soundbytes from Jakarta, Makassar, Bandung and Yogjakarta into a kaleidoscopic reinterpretation of these shattered fragments. Sudden transitions, alinear progressions and melancholic, sprawling, autumnal atmospheres reveal a very personal soundworld. This LP could evoke Kim Hiorthoy on sedatives under moist tropics, or an alter-ego of Burial in a futuristic decaying Jakarta won back by the jungle, with hints of digital crispiness from Kid606 période Mille Plateaux; a touch of the microsampling of Akufen, all of this marinated into the experiments in folk deterritorialisation made by some Ritornell artists such as Random_Inc / Sebastian Meissner. Icing on the cake, this LP was mastered by James Plotkin in Philadelphia. 250 copies, hand numbered. Some copies come with a serigraphy made by Laurent Peter himself." [label info]
www.iniitu.net
"On an entirely different nature is the album by Laurent Peter, finally we have a name for D'Incise from Switzerland, who received slighty similar sound material as Francisco Lopez did for his album for this label (see Vital Weekly 711), but Peter does something completely different with it. His main method is sampling the hell out of anything. It perhaps also reveals a bit more what Lopez used, as that was rather a mystery back then. Percussive sounds from Indonesia for instance, which D'Incise explores these for the lowest, grainy textures, chopped up to form new rhythms, cut from 'real' sound and the hiss between. Ini.itu compares this with some of the older and more experimental releases on Mille Plateaux/Ritornell, and I can see that. It shares that somewhat crude approach to sampling, the click 'n cut approach musicians like Random Inc and Kid606 had back then, but D'Incise never comes close to playing any 'dance' related music. The textures are sometimes pretty 'vague', shimmering perhaps, but I think that kind of adds nicely to the record. Its probably the best record by D'Incise I heard so far. The compositions are worked out better, and never seem to take more time than necessary. Very nice." [FdW/Vital Weekly] |
2010 |
€12.50 |
|
| |
(aral) |
CD |
"Geneva based, very active and free electron of an exploratory music with diverse accents, d’incise (whose real name is Laurent Peter) keeps on eating up the miles away from arbitrary categorizations… As well as being a graphic designer, coordinating the Insubordinations label, and having collaborated with a host of artists (Cyril Bondi, Jason Kahn, Tomas Korber, Norbert Moslang, Jacques Demierre, Jonas Kocher, to name a few…), he’s also fond of sound installations, manipulations of objects, and improvisation, and tours actually quite a lot…
Borrowing from musique concrète, electroacoustic music, drone, electronica, field recordings…, d’incise plays skilfully with acoustic sources, giving birth each time to powerful sound microcosms, catalysts of engulfing listening moments…
Here, a flux of particles, an effervescent gush, like an elementary wave with countless appearances…
(aral) sprays, letting curls and sulfurous steams slip in suspension…
sizzling blanket with an irregular & intricate weft, granular quiverings in bareness, a sea that never dies/remains…always the same, ever differing…
(aral) shakes the sediments inducing minuscule frictions, lashings…
an immersion in the course of an hidden side into the muddled and the turbulent…
Beyond the roughnesses, the pseudo-linear, looms then like an evidence, the emergency of another gaze…" [label info]
www.mysterysea.net
"From the slowly growing empire of Mystery Sea and Unfathomless this week a new release on the first label by our man from Switzerland, D'Incise, behind which we find Laurent Peter, who has perhaps a likewise growing empire of releases. Other than his musical talent, he is also a designer, working for the Insubordinations labels and as an improviser he played with Cyril Bondi, Jason Kahn, Thomas Korber, Norbert Moslang and others. Looking back on his previous releases, I think there is an upwards curve in terms of sound treatment, production and composition. He seems, but that's how I perceive things like this from the outside, more and more in control of his methods and creates some interesting computer music. No doubt there are a bunch of field recordings at the core of this, but none of them are easily be traced back to their origins. One should think sea sounds, sea shores and dunes, based on the crackles and sustaining sounds intertwining each other here. It works really well, and D'Incise uses the dynamic spectrum in an excellent way. Being very low end and very high end, and the whole forty some piece is clearly divided in various parts, each with its own character. Slow and peaceful but with some nasty undercurrent. Like the sea itself!" [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| D.C.P. (DAVID PITA CASTRO) |
Foulque Macroule |
CD |
"D.C.P 'S musical approach is characterized by combinations of hypnotic frequencies, sometimes leading to disturbing sensations for the audience. More : deafdcp.org" [label info]
dcphu.bandcamp.com/album/foulque-macroule
|
2015 |
€10.00 |
|
| D.D.A.A. (DEFICIT DES ANNEES ANTERIEURS) // DDAA |
Objet: When a Cap is raising |
CD |
Jean-Luc André, Sylvie Martineau-Fee and Jean-Philippe Fee started DDAA (Deficit Des Annees Anterieures) in 1977. They are pioneers of the French experimental and indie scene, also connected with Industrial 80s music and audiovisual projects. Approaching music in a completely unique way, and brilliantly produced by their own Illusion Production label (with more 40 published items), DDAA was and is undoubtedly one of the most legendary groups of the French underground for the past 30 years. Their early albums are classics - the self-titled debut, Action and Japanese Demonstration or Les Ambulants (re-issued and still available on Klanggalerie) are a must-have for every connoisseur of usual music. They appeared on the compilation album of music by outsider artist Adolf Wölfli alongside Nurse With Wound and Graeme Revell of SPK. The 10" album When A Cap Is Raising came out originally in 1988 on UK label Big Noise in Archgate. For this re-issue, the band has remastered the music and added bonus tracks from the compilation album Objet, and other sources, some previously unavailable. Full tracklist: 1. Chemin De Pierre 2. Little Boy 3. Exploration 4. Kembou 5. Geisha Girl 6. Passage On Nihon Bridge 7. Territoire Interdit 8. Dig It's Dig 9. Pourquoi Un Homme Est-il Un Homme Et Un Chat, Un Chat? 10. La Roue De Bicyclette 11. Mother With A Big Cake 12. Driving My Car With A Cigarette 13. Fonderie Sablage 14. Sonorisation Par Le Sol 15. A Fond Les Manettes 16. Sous Le 5eme Rideau.
https://www.klanggalerie.com/gg379
|
2022 |
€15.00 |
|
| D.D.A.A. / LE COMMISSAIRE HJULER ET LA MAMAN OURSE |
Une Voiture Banalisee |
LP |
racklist
A1-A5 –Déficit Des Années Antérieures* En Tout Genre, De Rêves: Rêves Optiques / Rêves D'Oiseaux / Rêves Cauchemardeux / Rêves Abscons / Rêves Automatiques
B –Le Commissaire Hjûler Et La Maman Ourse* Konzert Für Waldhorn, Gesprächsfragmente, Leere Marmeladengläser, Holzkiste Und Ein Häßliches Kind Auf Einer Schaukel
Notes
LP in series FLUXUS +/-, limited edition of 75 copies, numbered. LP appears in black vinyl with black labels.
|
2019 |
€28.00 |
|
| DAFELDECKER, WERNER & VALERIO TRICOLI |
Williams Mix extended |
CD |
"Williams Mix Extended is a new interpretation of John Cage's 'Williams Mix' by Werner Dafeldecker and Valerio Tricoli, originally scored for magnetic tape in 1952, made in Berlin in 2011/2012.
Approaching the original score from a contemporary perspective, this new interpretation of Williams Mix contains a close analysis of the relationship between early tape music and current digital production. Williams Mix Extended has an duration of 32 minutes whereas the original is 4 minutes and 15 seconds long. The difference between the two durations is generated by the transposition of the score's specifications from tape to digital audio software. To complete Williams Mix Extended a library of approximately 2000 different sounds is used, all recorded by Dafeldecker and Tricoli.
'Williams Mix' (1952) is an 8 channel electro-acoustic composition that has a special standing in the oeuvre of early tape music, in that the work was realized in the studio according to an already completed score. In those days, composers usually generated their tape pieces directly out of their studio working process. But in the case of Williams Mix, Cage's mode of composition called for the realization of preliminary fixed written notations whose musical parameters were derived through chance operations (I Ching divination). The 192 page score is, as Cage referred to it, a kind of 'dressmaker's pattern' showing, in 1:1 ratio, how the 8 monophonic tapes (running simultaneously) should be spliced, and what kind of sound should be recorded within each 'tape slice'. The sounds are categorized as follows: A: city sounds; B: country sounds; C: electronic sounds; D: manually produced sounds, including the literature of music; E: wind produced sounds, including songs; F: small sounds requiring amplification to be heard with others." [label info]
|
2014 |
€12.00 |
|
| DANIELL, DAVID |
I-IV-V-I |
LP |
Ein kleines Meisterk der dronigen Gitarrenkunst ist die achte 12" in der Guitar Series von TABLE OF THE ELEMENTS geworden! Auf gleich vier Stücken schafft DAVID DANIELL (ehemaliges Mitglied von SAN AUGUSTIN) symphonisch-betörende Flächenpolydrones, mal ganz subtil mit tollen Echo-Effekten, mal mit geschichteten Akustik-Gitarren, dann unter Einsatz von E-bows oder Steel Guitars.. vier sehr verschiedene Stücke, alle mit den gleichen Soundquellen geschaffen.
"...The opening track is a monstrous slab of tectonic buzz, layers of rumbling and crumbling distorted guitar, blurred into a Niblockian drift, warm and wavery, smeared and dreamy, but suitably tense and dramatic. Which is followed by a sort of looped Appalachia, steel string guitar, locked into a mantra like progression, the main figure locked into endless repetition, while in the background, a second (and maybe third) guitar offer up pretty little counterpoint and extra steel string buzz, texture and melody that seems to swirl beneath that hypnotic main riff.
"V" is all new age-y drift, another bit of soft dronemusic, laced with subtle layers of hiss and crackle, the melody a distant swell, which all gives way to a sweet melancholy guitar line that is processed into a layer of warm buzzing dreaminess, and finally the record finishes with a mournful, almost funereal sounding steel string buzzscape, that sounds almost like bluegrass, if it was stretched way out into long streaks of metallic shimmer, but Daniell drapes some playful major key melodies over the top, and the two, while seemingly at odds, mesh into something both haunting and mysterious, soft and weirdly pretty. Pressed on super thick, swirled green, yellow and white vinyl. One sided, the other side features an etching by Savage Pencil, housed in a thick PVC sleeve, and as always, VERY LIMITED!" [Aquarius Records review]
"8th installment in the Guitar Series Vols. 3 & 4. Daniell leads the troops in RHYS CHATHAM's guitar armies; he was a member of Jonathan Kane's rollicking band FEBRUARY; he performs regularly in a duo with Tortoise's Doug McCombs; & his guitar work with his own band SAN AGUSTIN, is the stuff of which fleeting blues-drone dreams are made. With influences rooted in blues, American minimalism, & post-punk ideologies, his guitar playing is always inspired, when fused with his intricate electro-acoustic compositions, the results are breathtaking." [label info]
www.tableoftheelements.com
|
2008 |
€17.00 |
|
| DANIELL, DAVID & DOUGLAS MCCOMBS |
Sycamore |
LP |
David Daniell and Douglas McCombs's first collaborative LP, Sycamore, was assembled from seven hours of in-studio improvisations. Daniell and McCombs sifted through the material looking for their favorite moments, then combined, cross faded, mixed, and matched those moments into something that made sense to them as a long player.
For their new release, the double LP Versions, they gave the same seven hours of material to noted recording engineer and producer Ken Brown (ex-Tortoise), who was given free rein to assemble an LP of his choosing (subject to approval, of course).
The results are fantastic. Brown has chosen to highlight moments in the music that the normally reserved Daniell and McCombs probably would not have chosen. There's a wider dynamic range on Versions, from brutally raw to delicate to practically inaudible. The other interesting aspect is that Brown's selections rarely cross over with the material on Sycamore--this is in no way a "remix," and that is exactly what Daniell and McCombs were hoping for.
In addition, Versions includes a second LP of two live performances. These were chosen to show how Daniell and McCombs's music develops in a live setting. Improvising in a recording studio and improvising in front of an audience are two vastly different things. Montreal and Knoxville were two of Daniell and McCombs's favorite performances from their tours together.
Over the years Daniell has collaborated with many notable musicians, including Loren Connors, Rhys Chatham, Tim Barnes, Jeph Jerman, Thurston Moore, Greg Davis, and Jonathan Kane, as well as releasing numerous albums under his own name and with his band San Agustin on labels such as Table of the Elements and Family Vineyard. McCombs is more often seen wielding a bass guitar, whether as a member of Eleventh Dream Day, the acoustic collective Pullman, or the pioneering and inimitable Tortoise; in his role as the driving force behind Brokeback; or through his varied work with the likes of Tom Ze, Azita Youseffi, Will Oldham, Yo La Tengo, and Calexico.
www.thrilljockey.com/artists/david-daniell-and-douglas-mccombs
https://daviddaniellanddouglasmccombs.bandcamp.com/album/sycamore
|
2009 |
€20.00 |
|
| DAS AUDIOVISUELLE KOLLEKTIV |
Betrachtung |
CD-R |
"Documenting the sonic side of two audiovisual live performances on the subject of contemplation (‘Betrachtung’), the two 22-minute tracks on this album are remarkably different in character. EMERGE’s samples of breathing sounds, extremely processed, and Gerhard Zander’s prepared electric guitars alternate between near-Cagean intervals of silence, while the second set is a closely interwoven dialogue between percussive sounds and soothing harmonic drones.
‘The Audiovisual Collective’ is an outfit with members from Zurich and Augsburg founded in 2010. While the number of players and the instruments they use may vary, the concept that unites their live improvisations treats the visuals not as an ornamental backdrop for the musical performance, but a visual cue for the sound players to interact with. For “Betrachtung”, the image of a human eye depicted on the album cover was treated to a range of live manipulations, instigating live processing of the samples and guitar sounds. While both of the recorded sets display an astonishing range of textures and timbres given the minimalistic choice of source sounds, each track exemplifies a different approach to free improvisation. Track 1 is a series of isolated events creating an unresolved tension between them that keeps the listener in suspense until the very last minute. Much less ‘noisy’ than track 1, track 2 starts out by defining a clear division of roles between the percussive samples and the harmonic, if not melodic, soothing drones of the e-bowed guitar. The ensuing closely-knit dialogic interplay between the two audible players EMERGE and Zander is a fine testimony to the degree of intensity that can be reached in spontaneous musical communication." [label info]
www.wix.com/attenuationcircuit/attenuation-circuit
|
2011 |
€8.00 |
|
| DAS SYNTHETISCHE MISCHGEWEBE |
Gleis3eck / Görlitzer Tunnel |
do-CDR |
"The long-running (22 years and counting) German-spawned outfit Das Synthetische Mischgewebe (The Synthetic Mixture of Fabrics in English) has a long history of site-specific performances and recordings, two of which are documented on the two CDs comprising this release. Recorded around the time the group departed from Germany for Barcelona and then France, it’s fitting that both of the sites here represented no longer exist. In 1986 and 1987, Berlin was still a victim of the Wall, and deserted spaces were seemingly easy to come by. One such was the Gleisdreieck, a railway junction where DSM set up their electronic and acoustic instruments for an extended recording, of which some 85 minutes are hereby presented. The second location, of which 46 minutes is included, was the Gorlitzer Tunnel, a pedestrian
underpass several hundred meters long under Kreuzberg. It would be of no avail to try to determine exactly what instruments, items and gadgets were used to make the sounds heard in these recordings – and that mystery suits these CDs well. It’s useful to recall that this was around the same time as Einstürzende Neubauten, also in Berlin, were releasing Halber Mensch and Funf Auf Der Nach Obenen Richterskala, their strongest statements. Berlin at that time (beautifully documented in the Berlin Super 80 DVD/book package) had more than its share of
experimental artists, and DSM’s sounds were emitted from the least-accessible cracks in the city’s pavement. From quiet rumblings, these performances grow via distorted hissings, squawks, clanks and grindings into a soundscape akin to a futuristic factory stamping out robots. Metal is scraped, mechanical contraptions buzz and squeak,
feedback squeals and vibrations summon deep groans. The second track on disc 2, the Gorlitzer tunnel set, is on the whole a quieter, more eerie evocation of the location’s deep reverberations, with what may be a generator rumbling quietly in the background. The occasional vocal interjections, echoing in the tunnel, are unexpected and deeply strange in the context of the overall darkly mysterious sounds. Limited to 200 copies, the two CDs come packaged DVD-style with a beautifully-printed insert of text and photos on translucent paper. The liner notes by member Guido Huebner nicely describe the place and time.
These recordings are marvelously evocative: of lost places, of a time and location that was certainly unique, of a group’s early works from 20 years ago, and of surreal, often intimidating imaginary places summoned by the mysterious equipment. One would hope that many more than 200 people would want to investigate these places."
[Mason Jones / Dusted Magazine]
"These days it's probably no longer known, but Das Synthetische Mischgewebe was a band, and not the project of G.do Hübner, which it is since some time. Before people like Yref, Chazev, T.O.W. Richter, Isabelle Chemin and Jean Rene Lasalle were member at one point or another. The recordings on this double pack are in more than one way historical. They are old, twenty years to be precise, but they were also made in the then divided Berlin, in a place you can't find anymore. Das Synthetische Mischgewebe used an old tunnel and a subway station going from East to West Berlin to rehearse for concerts that were later held. Abandoned industrial areas, in which they could easily find material to play their music on. Everything you hear on this double pack is recorded on the spot, using what ever is available there. Industrial tools, scraping metals, obscure objects which we can't visualize and such like. But they are played like musical objects and rather than trying out what the sound
possibilities are, the actors in Das Synthetische Mischgewebe want to play a piece of music with those objects, so they carefully move about and create pieces of improvised music with these objects. Battery run amplifiers and a walkman to record the whole thing onto give this a slightly rough edge, although I must say that the sound quality is more than excellent. Cut into sessions of thirty minutes, this can't be engaging to hear from beginning to end without leaping into a moment of boredom, but throughout I thought this was a very fine release. Not loud or heavy industrial as some of the early work was (or perhaps that's just a wrong memory? Apparently Vinyl On Demand is releasing some LPs with older work), but rather pre-dates a lot of the onkyo type improvisation of the last few years and a very fine work of electro-acoustic music. Topped off with a nice presentation and a most enjoyable set of personal liner notes. Great archival release." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2006 |
€18.00 |
|
|
Neunundvierzig Entgleisungen |
do-10 |
"....What you hear on this pack is four delirious sides of hermetically-sealed confusion, playing havoc with your acoustical preconceptions and expectations until you won’t know which way is up. Noise, glitches, murmurs and clicks are abstracted by careful processing, and apparently edited together into microscopic mosaic patterns to stimulate your perceptual receptors in ways you’d never have thought possible. Jean René Lasalle contributes profuse printed texts inside the cover, which are likewise streams of cut-up absurdist poetry containing such deathless observations as “glances irrigates elytrons in a trembling headlight”. Françoise Vigot did the cover paintings, featuring the domestic (and amorous) adventures of the red and blue cipher-like figures whose antics I have seen, I think, on a Hypnagogia release by DSM. Verily, Huebner’s universe is an elaborate many-layered puzzle which is slowly coming together for this listener." [The Sound Projector]
"aufabwegen is very proud to offer a new release by what we consider to be one of germany's most important sound projects: DAS SYNTHETISCHE MISCHGEWEBE. DSM is now the sole project of guido huebner, who has been working in the medium of sound and found objects since the early 1980ies. DSM have their very own take on the patialization of sound and the moving around of sonic objects in the stero field. the overall impression is of rawness and fragility at the same time. the music on these two 10" records is super-dynamic and fragmentated and sounds very fresh and alive. DAS have collaborated over the years with artists such as Michael Northam, Frans de Waard, New Blockaders, MSBR and many more and have released material on various labels around the globe. DSM have played many concerts all over and have combined their sound with different art froms, such as projections, film, dance and even conducting workshops fro kids.
"neunundvierzig entgleisungen" comes in a full cover fold sleeve and is slipped in a stable plastic seethrough. it plays on 45rpm, even if the label prints instructs you to run it at 33.
the record was recorded by guido huebner and features texts by jean rene lasalle and artwork (paintings reproduced) by francoise vigot. it was layouted by stefan hanser (anemone tube), mastered by josef suchy and cut by lupo at dubplates & mastering." [label info]
www.aufabwegen.com
|
2008 |
€18.50 |
|
| |
Casual Praise of Domestic Calamities |
CD |
"Another attempt to dissolve any kind of structures from DSM, something like micro-concrete Noise, very small bits and pieces are put together in fast sequences, sometimes it climaxes in harsh outbursts, radiowaves are appearing as well..... comes in nice box on our favourite British anti-music label." [Drone Rec. info 2005]
"Edition of 500. All compositions by Guido Huebner, created between 1999 and 2004 in Caen, France and Berlin, Germany. Sections of track 6 recorded in the studio for electro acoustic music at the arts academy of Berlin. Field recordings for track 8 and 9 were carried out at the harbour of Hamburg, Germany, as well as at the shores of Lower Normandy and in the countryside around Caen, especially the bridges trespassing the canal between Caen and the sea." [label info]
„Guido Hübner, Ex-Berliner und seit über zwei Jahrzehnten ununterbrochener Noisebastler, kommt tatsächlich mit einem neuen Album auf richtig fertiger CD und obendrein auf dem Label, das uns bisher lediglich bzw. fett selbstbewußt ein Album der New Blockaders auftischen konnte. Neulich kamen schon mir leider unbekannte DSM-Kompositionen auf Vinyl-On-Demand, die CD aber, soviel läßt sich sagen, knüpft definitiv an DSMs frühere Versuche an, Form völlig aufzulösen, bevor sie sich als greifbar und folglich interpretierbar entblößt. All die tausend kleinen, dreckigen noises passen ganz sicher auf eine CD, das steht fest. Aber Hübners einzigartige Anordnung dieser Unjuwelen an sound (eine Anordung übrigens, die offenbar ohne Wiederholung auskommen will) übertrifft ganz sicher alle banalen Versuche, die Harmonie zwischen diesen unvereinbaren Geräuschen auszumachen. Form ist immer Harmonie und somit Mittelmaß. Vielleicht ist es genau dieser Gedanke, den DSM in uns wachrütteln wollen; und natürlich gelingt es ihnen perfekt.“ [Ed Benndorf , de:bug]
|
2005 |
€13.00 |
|
| DAUBY, YANNICK / WAN-SHUEN TSAI (SHEJINGREN) |
Village, Vestiges |
BOOK & CD |
"Village, Vestiges is the first publication by Shejingren (Yannick Dauby & Wan-Shuen Tsai), an audio-visual collaboration about landscape and habitat. This book is about some abandonned buildings of Cunlhat, Village in the center of France, and about the traditional houses made from coral in Peng-Hu archipelago in Taiwan. This book contains numerous images, a few texts in French and Chinese Mandarin, and a CD which is half documentating a performance with Christophe Havard and Caroline Bouissou which happens in Cunlhat, a few spoken texts in French and Chinese and a collage of wind sounds recorded in Peng-Hu." [label info]
www.kalerne.net/shejingren
|
2009 |
€20.50 |
|
| DAVACHI, SARAH |
Long Gradus : Arrangements |
4 x CD BOX |
A new longform commissioned work for any ensemble of four similar instruments. The definitive string quartet version of 'Long Gradus' is available as a 2LP and CD, and the collection of all four arrangements (strings, woodwinds, brass & organ, choir & electronics) is presented as the 'Long Gradus: Arrangements' 4CD set.
'Long Gradus' began in 2020 when Sarah Davachi was selected to participate in Quatuor Bozzini’s Composer’s Kitchen residency, which was to be a joint production with Gaudeamus Muziekweek in the Netherlands. With the postponement of the residency to the following year, the composer was given the opportunity to take a step back and look at the piece over a much longer period of time than would have ordinarily been possible. The resulting longform composition in four parts, written in its initial form for string quartet, was developed as an iteration of an ongoing preoccupation with chordal suspension and cadential structure. In this context, horizontal shifts in pitch material and texture occur on a very gradual scale, allowing the listener's perceptions to settle on the spatial experience of harmony. A system of septimal just intonation helps to further the production of a consonant acoustic environment. 'Long Gradus' uses a formalized articulation of time-bracket notation alongside unfixed indications of pitch, texture, and voicing that allow the players some discretion in determining the shape of the piece. A sense of pacing that is markedly different from that of mensural notation emerges accordingly, while the open structure of the composition results in each performance having a unique and unpredictable configuration.
The piece may be arranged in a quartet format for any instrumentation that can alter its intonation with some degree of accuracy or produce a natural seventh harmonic. Substitution of the string quartet with other instruments as desired or imagined, both acoustic and electronic, is entirely acceptable and indeed encouraged. To this end, Davachi has also offered the 'Long Gradus: Arrangements' 4CD set, which includes the string quartet version as well as arrangements for woodwinds, brass and organ, and choir and electronics. A 'gradus' is a sort of handbook meant to aid in learning a difficult practice; in this case, 'Long Gradus' is designed to considerably slow the cognitive movements of both listener and player, and to focus their attention on the relationships between moments. A rich harmonic landscape that is constantly shifting and which changes with each engagement is the listener’s return. For the player, 'Long Gradus' is an invitation to practice active listening and to immerse oneself in the stillness of psychoacoustic space and time.
Davachi comments: “I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Quatuor Bozzini for the opportunity to go through this process together, which is exceedingly uncommon in the context of chamber music. Typically, when writing for an ensemble or orchestra, the composer is given very few, if any, occasions to actually adjust their work in a meaningful way outside of perhaps one or two brief rehearsals of an essentially final score. It is extremely rare and an enormous luxury to begin with simple sketches or ideas and to actually construct a piece over a period of several months or more from a place of sonic assurance – that is, being able to listen and to explore and to continually fine tune in response to the sound itself, in conjunction with the performers. Part of the reason that my earliest compositional efforts arose within the domain of electroacoustic and acousmatic music is because of the control that it offered, to intuit sound in real time rather than through the indirect interpretation of future sound in the form of a score. Even now, when I compose work for chamber ensembles, I typically always start from a recorded version or from a demo – from the sound itself – and then work backwards to generate the score that will result in that music. It seems to be a vestige of conservatory thinking to view music performance, even in relation to new music, as a kind of reading of notes on the page that simply results in things just falling into place as expected. But, when the music goes beyond what’s on the page to include a dialogue with the acoustic space of the performance, and to require a certain patience and concentration on part of the performers, there needs to be a different approach; the Composer’s Kitchen residency offered that respect and curiosity.
https://sarahdavachi.bandcamp.com/album/long-gradus
|
2023 |
€52.00 |
|
| DAVIS, GREG & JEPH JERMAN |
Ku |
CD |
"The act of conjuring remarkable sound from found objects is at the very heart of this recording from American musicians Greg Davis and Jeph Jerman. Having met in Arizona some years back, Davis and Jerman commenced working together on a series of recording projects. Improvising with a range of implements and devices ranging from sticks, stones and low-fi electronics to prepared instruments, gongs and broken percussion, the pair sought to develop a personal language that reflected their individual approaches but also created a shared sensibility and aesthetic quality. Placing their work in a range of environments, most of which orbit around Jerman's ranch in Cottonwood, Davis and Jerman create a richly textured array of sounds from the most modest of sonic tools. Each of the works featured here collects together multiple improvised sessions, which have been edited to create a flowing sense of movement and space. These tempered post-concréte works resolve a joint interest from these two musicians in the act of freeform found sound improvisation and experimentation." [label info]
www.room40.org |
2006 |
€15.50 |
|
| DBMG/RAF (DIE BAADER-MEINHOF GRUPPE / RED ARMY FACTION) |
same |
CD |
Radikaler Elektro / Noise / Rhythmic Industrial aus Kanada mit starker politischer, antikapitalistischer Ausrichtung (das RAF-Logo auf dem Cover), dabei musikalisch abwechslungsreich & überzeugend arrangiert, teils fast rockig-tanzbar, teils extrem krachig!
"Die Baader-Meinhof Gruppe / Red Army Faction is Joshua David Richardson with a revolving door of collaborators, which include: Scott E. Farmer (Russian Futurists), Sam Devos (For Greater Good), and Edwin Vanvinckenroye (Tribe) amongst others.
According to Richardson, DBMG/RAF is a chance for musicians and multi-media artists to explore the use of violence within their chosen medium for the expressed purpose of destroying the economic, social, and artistic structures imposed on them by Late 20th and 21st Century Capitalism. It is inspired by the actions of West-Germany’s Red Army Faction (also known as the Baader-Meinhof Group), which sought the violent overthrow of West-Germany’s post-war governments from the 1970’s until its official disbandment in 1998.
Politics aside, this is one freshing new release that actually lives up to being true INDUSTRIAL music. It is noisy, chaotic, harsh, violent, full of anguish and torment while still carrying a strong beat. This is the kind of industrial that will immediate clear the dancefloor at your local goff-idustrial club, will sort out the real rivetheads from the poseurs, and have noise music enthusiasts begging for more. There’s a good amount of variety on this CD too- a post-punk “Peter Gunn” inspired rhythm track with whacked out old school analogue electronics, middle-eastern Indian ambience with the sound of war in the background (perfect for planning your next Jihad), Deutsch Nepal and Memorandum inspired beats with radio transmissions in the background, slabs of whale-toned cries from the deep, broken and distorted sonics over a militant backbeat with appropriately painful processed vocals, wacky distorted rhythmic melodies, and much more. It is experimental without being unlistenable. Alienating while still being engaging. Even when Richardson is using those overly-familiar sounds and elements, they never seem dated or clichéd. When it comes to this kind of music, this guy obviously seems to know what he’s doing and doesn’t wear his influences on his sleeve like so many others who’ve attempted it. If I had one thing to nit-pick about, it might be the use of overuse of spoken word samples, which is a pet peeve of mine in any music genre. Purists can argue as to its appropriateness, but I feel that a constant barrage of it is a bit clichéd. Thankfully, Richard tempers it with other interesting elements.
This release has an awful lot going for it and has so much variety that it has a very high replayability factor, something that I haven’t heard in a good number of harsh music projects that I’ve reviewed positively. It is also not a constant torrent of torturous sounds; there are quite a few quieter moody moments. Nothing is overly-long or intolerable. If this was released on CMI, it might be the album of the year in Europe. Red Army Faction is like having the best moments of bands like Mental Destruction, In Slaughter Natives, Esplendor Geometric and Brighter Death Now rolled into one steaming package.
Perhaps it’s due to the duality of the name Die Baader-Meinhof Gruppe / Red Army Faction and its association that makes this music project totally oblique in a Google search. If you want this music, you REALLY have to know where to look. You can find it on iTunes (Die Baader-Meinhof) or CD Baby (http://cdbaby.com/cd/baadermeinhof) but I’d recommend just going directly to the website since there videos, more info and purchase options there. Definitely recommended!" [Steve Mecca / CHAIN D.L.K.]
www.dbmg-raf.com
|
2009 |
€13.50 |
|
| DE FILIPPIS, ALAIN |
Musicien Improbable |
LP |
"Alain De Filippis died in 2010 when he was 50, and it is only today that a first record on vinyl is released, showing the large diversity and coherence of his complex approaches, between concrete music and unlikely sound editings. His first « musical collages » on tape contained more adhesive than real tape ! Further digital collages was made of thousands of small musical sequences that decorated the computer screen of a beautiful multi-colored matrix. We find in this new record unreleased material from early works, work for theater and movies, little intimist numbers and a great tribute to Edgar Varese."
inpolysons.free.fr/en/filippis-lp.html
|
2017 |
€18.00 |
|
| DE KLEER, MARTIJN |
Flow |
CD |
Erstes Album des LPD-Gitarristen MARTIJN DE KLEER mit nach texanischer Weite klingenden Folk- & Country-tunes, unglaublich aber wahr !
“Martijn de Kleer (rhymes with "red wine, beware") is the guitarist for the Legendary Pink Dots, and "Flow" is his first solo album. A few hundred copies were sold at concerts during the band's tour of North America last year, after which it was licensed to Soleilmoon for release and worldwide distribution. The music is evocative and atmospheric, built on a foundation of straightforward songwriting and uncomplicated vocal arrangements. Loyal LPD fans will be surprised by the contrast between de Kleer's Spartan approach and the more elaborate constructions that define the Dot's characteristic sound. "Flow" is about nuance and subtle shades, about leaves fluttering in the wind, and the feelings of contentment that come from a simple tune played well. It's a man and his guitar, a few songs and sketches, and your imagination.” [press release]
|
2003 |
€13.00 |
|
| DE LAET, JORIS |
SEM |
3 x LP box |
"Joris de Laet (Belgium, 1947) is a fully autodidact composer of electroacoustic music. Between 1972 and 1975 he worked at the IPEM along with Lucien Goethals and Karel Goeyvaerts and in 1973 he founded the SEM (Studio for Experimental Music) where he organised plenty of group sessions, live performances, lectures... De Laet's work is adventurous, complex and difficult to classify, due to many interesting contrasts in his style and approach academicvs intuitive, modern composition vs free improvisation, acoustic vs electronic, sound vs noise... This selection (10 tracks) of his early recordings (1972 1979) represents an overview of his intriguingly radical and highly personal work which includes solo tape experiments, live electronics with Karel Goeyvaerts and group performances with experimental instrumentalists from the SEM ensemble : Pieter Kuyl (chapmanstick), Leo Verheyen (trombone), Paul Adriaenssens (flute and amplified objects), Maurice Verstuyft (flute). All material has been mastered from the original tapes and is previously unreleased. Edition of 300 copies." [label info]
www.metaphon.be
|
2016 |
€70.00 |
|
| DE WAARD, FRANS / MARTIJN COMES |
Various Weights |
CD |
"Various Weights is the first time the duo of Frans de Waard and Martijn Comes come together to present work.
On this album, their uniques styles are combined, where they work with each others sound materials to create truly unique compositions.
Various Weights
In sound art, concepts often take precedence over the actual music. Here, there were none. For their first collaboration, Frans de Waard and Martijn Comes decided on a strikingly simple approach: Each artist compiled a pool of sounds for the other to use as a point of departure. Comes worked with various analog synth- and field recordings by de Waard (including, among others, a Korg MS20 and Koma Field FX). The latter was sent a processed stylophone recording, a sample loop as well as recordings of the Web’s first Software-Defined Radio by the University of Twente.
The results, now released as Various Weights, are two epic and immersive pieces. On “Boundary of Intersections”, Comes focuses on deep sonorities and harmonics, developing his materials into a mind-expanding drone zone. De Waard’s “There are no two pianos” is more subdued, hovering mysteriously at the cusp of acousmatic research and sonic minimalism. Both pieces share a slightly uneasy, surreal feeling – perfectly captured by Bas Mantel’s artwork, which was a direct response to the sounds contained on the disc.
The bonus-CD to this release, limited to 50 copies, contains a full 35-minute performance by both artists at De Ruimte Amsterdam after the project had been completed. Magically, the music appears to be a direct continuation of the album tracks. As such, Various Weights ingeniously juxtaposes live- and studio techniques, solo and duo work, spontaneous improvisation and meticulous composition. That, whether the artists intended it that way or not, probably makes it a concept album after all."
Tobias Fischer, March 2020
https://www.movingfurniturerecords.com/frans-de-waard-martijn-comes-various-weights/
|
2020 |
€12.00 |
|
| DEAD CAN DANCE |
Dionysus |
CD |
"This second release from the recently reawakened Dead Can Dance is quite a delightful surprise, radically departing from its uneven predecessor and displaying a striking degree of creative reinvigoration. Rather than another stab at recreating classic DCD fare like Aion, Dionysus is a conceptually rich and structurally inventive plunge deep into the folklore and spirit of Dionysian rituals and festivals. An intriguing concept does not necessarily lead to an intriguing album, of course, but Dionysus finds Dead Can Dance at the peak of their instrumental powers, unfolding as feast of wonderfully vibrant rhythms, esoteric instrumentation, and inspired arrangements. It is quite a remarkable and improbable achievement, as it sounds very little like prime Dead Can Dance, yet absolutely feels like prime Dead Can Dance. If Dionysus had come out in the band’s golden age of the late '80s and early '90s, there would most certainly be a small but devoted contingent of fans that viewed it as dark horse contender for the duo's finest album.
If I am being completely honest, I truly did not expect Dead Can Dance to ever record another great album, as the feeling I got from the reunion tour and Anastasis was that Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard are now far more like two loosely entwined solo artists who periodically collaborate than they are a united creative force these days. For the most part, Dionysus does little to dispel that sense, but it definitely seems like the duo have found a way to flourish within those conditions. Based on all that I have read about this album, it is quite clear that Perry was the album's driving force and that it was a labor of love birthed from a deep fascination with how pagan/Dionysian beliefs have spread, transformed, lingered, and evolved in the wake of the Roman Empire. Perry was originally drawn to the theme by European spring and harvest festivals, but the reach of the album seamlessly dissolves boundaries in culture, time, and space like only Dead Can Dance can do. For example, Perry's field recordings alone touch upon South America, New Zealand, and Switzerland and his musical inspirations are even more widespread, delving into traditional instrumentation that spans just about the entire globe. While there some wonderfully exotic and otherworldly sounds occasionally appear, such as the eerily flute-like see-sawing tones and jungle-like chirps in the closing "Psychopomp," that unusual instrumentation is less of a focus than it is a set of specialized tools that Perry used to get exactly the feel he wanted. In fact, Dionysus is largely a very percussion-driven affair, an approach that is especially effective on the muscular and propulsively off-kilter opener "Sea Borne," which abstractly evokes Dionysus's mythical arrival from The East.
While the album's bookends are both quite strong and easy to identify, the delineation between individual pieces on Dionysus is quite a purposely blurry one, as the album is structured as a two-part oratorio with different movements that tie to different aspects of Dionysian myth and folklore. For example, "Dance of the Bacchantes" is inspired by a rite in which women "abandoned their domestic duties for trance-like processions and dances," while "Liberator of Minds" celebrates hallucinogens and "The Forest" is a "call to abandon worldly and material pursuits and return to a primeval enlightened state of being." Happily, Perry opted to keep the narrative arc an abstract and impressionistic one, so this concept album deftly eludes the perils of dubious lyrical content or exposition. Curiously, it does sound like Perry is singing actual words in some language in the two closing movements, but the language is a fictional one, as Perry wanted to "convey emotion beyond the boundaries of language itself." In lesser hands, such a conceit would likely end in disaster. In this case, however, it not only flows seamlessly but seems like a crucial part of establishing the timeless and ritualistic headspace that the album inhabits. Recognizable words would have killed the spell. The music is not quite as liberated from the constraints of existing culture, however, as Perry is quite fond of Middle Eastern scales and melodies. The overall feeling is not entirely Middle Eastern though, as some medieval-sounding touches certainly bleed in, as do some sounds that seem plucked from real or imaginary tribes hidden deep in the heart of a tropical rainforest. At Dionysus's best, all of those threads combine into something that resembles an alternately raucous, sensuous, and ritualistic village dance that pulses with visceral rhythms, call-and-response chants, and primal eruptions of ululating yelps.
Admittedly, tt feels a bit weird to love a Dead Can Dance album in which Lisa Gerrard plays a noticeably reduced role, as she only takes over lead vocals on "The Invocation" (I think). However, her voice continually surfaces throughout the album as an added choral layer or to echo or harmonize with Perry's own vocals. That might not sound like much, yet her essence pervades the proceedings in a deeper way, as Dionysus bears little resemblance to Perry's solo work. This simply is not a vocal-centric album in the traditional Dead Can Dance sense, nor does the mood quite suit Gerrard's hammered dulcimer talents and the duo have the good sense not to awkwardly shoehorn in touches that do not belong. In fact, Perry and Gerrard show an almost supernatural instinct for avoiding false notes or missteps, favorably calling to mind a time in the distant past (The Serpent's Egg) when they seemed like an absolutely infallible force of nature and each new album felt like a communion with something deeper and more meaningful than anything the present era offered. There is not a weak moment to be found here, as my sole caveat is that the album feels all too brief at a mere 35 minutes. None of that time is squandered at all though, so it is hard to grumble: if the perfect arc is just over half an hour, then that is the proper length for the album to be. I had hoped that Perry and Gerrard might have some more classic songs or a return to form lurking in their shared future, but Dionysus has easily transcended those modest expectations by feeling like the beginning of an extremely promising second act to their long and illustrious career. Nostalgia and welcome familiarity are great, but reclaiming relevance and forging into compelling and unique new territory is far better." [Anthony D'Amico] |
2018 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
Dionysus |
LP |
"This second release from the recently reawakened Dead Can Dance is quite a delightful surprise, radically departing from its uneven predecessor and displaying a striking degree of creative reinvigoration. Rather than another stab at recreating classic DCD fare like Aion, Dionysus is a conceptually rich and structurally inventive plunge deep into the folklore and spirit of Dionysian rituals and festivals. An intriguing concept does not necessarily lead to an intriguing album, of course, but Dionysus finds Dead Can Dance at the peak of their instrumental powers, unfolding as feast of wonderfully vibrant rhythms, esoteric instrumentation, and inspired arrangements. It is quite a remarkable and improbable achievement, as it sounds very little like prime Dead Can Dance, yet absolutely feels like prime Dead Can Dance. If Dionysus had come out in the band’s golden age of the late '80s and early '90s, there would most certainly be a small but devoted contingent of fans that viewed it as dark horse contender for the duo's finest album.
If I am being completely honest, I truly did not expect Dead Can Dance to ever record another great album, as the feeling I got from the reunion tour and Anastasis was that Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard are now far more like two loosely entwined solo artists who periodically collaborate than they are a united creative force these days. For the most part, Dionysus does little to dispel that sense, but it definitely seems like the duo have found a way to flourish within those conditions. Based on all that I have read about this album, it is quite clear that Perry was the album's driving force and that it was a labor of love birthed from a deep fascination with how pagan/Dionysian beliefs have spread, transformed, lingered, and evolved in the wake of the Roman Empire. Perry was originally drawn to the theme by European spring and harvest festivals, but the reach of the album seamlessly dissolves boundaries in culture, time, and space like only Dead Can Dance can do. For example, Perry's field recordings alone touch upon South America, New Zealand, and Switzerland and his musical inspirations are even more widespread, delving into traditional instrumentation that spans just about the entire globe. While there some wonderfully exotic and otherworldly sounds occasionally appear, such as the eerily flute-like see-sawing tones and jungle-like chirps in the closing "Psychopomp," that unusual instrumentation is less of a focus than it is a set of specialized tools that Perry used to get exactly the feel he wanted. In fact, Dionysus is largely a very percussion-driven affair, an approach that is especially effective on the muscular and propulsively off-kilter opener "Sea Borne," which abstractly evokes Dionysus's mythical arrival from The East.
While the album's bookends are both quite strong and easy to identify, the delineation between individual pieces on Dionysus is quite a purposely blurry one, as the album is structured as a two-part oratorio with different movements that tie to different aspects of Dionysian myth and folklore. For example, "Dance of the Bacchantes" is inspired by a rite in which women "abandoned their domestic duties for trance-like processions and dances," while "Liberator of Minds" celebrates hallucinogens and "The Forest" is a "call to abandon worldly and material pursuits and return to a primeval enlightened state of being." Happily, Perry opted to keep the narrative arc an abstract and impressionistic one, so this concept album deftly eludes the perils of dubious lyrical content or exposition. Curiously, it does sound like Perry is singing actual words in some language in the two closing movements, but the language is a fictional one, as Perry wanted to "convey emotion beyond the boundaries of language itself." In lesser hands, such a conceit would likely end in disaster. In this case, however, it not only flows seamlessly but seems like a crucial part of establishing the timeless and ritualistic headspace that the album inhabits. Recognizable words would have killed the spell. The music is not quite as liberated from the constraints of existing culture, however, as Perry is quite fond of Middle Eastern scales and melodies. The overall feeling is not entirely Middle Eastern though, as some medieval-sounding touches certainly bleed in, as do some sounds that seem plucked from real or imaginary tribes hidden deep in the heart of a tropical rainforest. At Dionysus's best, all of those threads combine into something that resembles an alternately raucous, sensuous, and ritualistic village dance that pulses with visceral rhythms, call-and-response chants, and primal eruptions of ululating yelps.
Admittedly, tt feels a bit weird to love a Dead Can Dance album in which Lisa Gerrard plays a noticeably reduced role, as she only takes over lead vocals on "The Invocation" (I think). However, her voice continually surfaces throughout the album as an added choral layer or to echo or harmonize with Perry's own vocals. That might not sound like much, yet her essence pervades the proceedings in a deeper way, as Dionysus bears little resemblance to Perry's solo work. This simply is not a vocal-centric album in the traditional Dead Can Dance sense, nor does the mood quite suit Gerrard's hammered dulcimer talents and the duo have the good sense not to awkwardly shoehorn in touches that do not belong. In fact, Perry and Gerrard show an almost supernatural instinct for avoiding false notes or missteps, favorably calling to mind a time in the distant past (The Serpent's Egg) when they seemed like an absolutely infallible force of nature and each new album felt like a communion with something deeper and more meaningful than anything the present era offered. There is not a weak moment to be found here, as my sole caveat is that the album feels all too brief at a mere 35 minutes. None of that time is squandered at all though, so it is hard to grumble: if the perfect arc is just over half an hour, then that is the proper length for the album to be. I had hoped that Perry and Gerrard might have some more classic songs or a return to form lurking in their shared future, but Dionysus has easily transcended those modest expectations by feeling like the beginning of an extremely promising second act to their long and illustrious career. Nostalgia and welcome familiarity are great, but reclaiming relevance and forging into compelling and unique new territory is far better." [Anthony D'Amico]
|
2018 |
€28.00 |
|
| DEAD SHALL NOT HAVE DIED IN VAIN / DYSTHYMIA |
split |
7inch |
"Diophantine Discs is pleased to announce our first 7", a split between Dead Shall Not Have Died In Vain and Dysthymia.
It gives me great please to release this new vinyl on Diophantine, featuring the work of Marc Benner's Dead Shall Not Have Died In Vain project, and my own Dysthymia project. Though started in 2000, DSNHDIV became most active five years ago and has released a number of limited CDrs and cassettes on RRRecords, Tape Fiend, Turgid Animal, and Marc's own Pottersfield label. His track here shows a more subtle and experimental side to this usually noisy project, with flowing ambient and the crashing and cracking of metals. Dysthymia began in late 2004 and the first release was a split cassette with Dead Shall Not Have Died In Vain. Since then there have been a number of cassettes and CDrs on Pottersfield, Self Abuse, BloodLust!, and Tape Fiend. The track here shows Dysthymia's dense analogue industrial/noise style.
Pressed on clear vinyl and housed in a custom printed color wallet. Edition of 300 copies." [label info]
http://discs.diophantine.net
"A split 7" on Diophantine Discs. Dysthymia is Kyle Wright, also the man behind the label, whose first release was also a split with Dead Shall Nor Have Died In Vain. That is the project of Marc Benner, who started in 2000. He has a bunch of releases on RRRecords, Tape Fiend and Turgid Animal as well as his own label Pottersfield. Apparently, since this is the first time I hear his music a more noise based outing, but here with an ambient industrial tapestry, with heavily reverb on the metal sheets that rumble on top. Dysthymia on the other side is more noise based, with crashing loop of industrial sound. The sound and the fury, but Wright keeps things well under control. I like both sides actually, but this is not 7" music, if such a thing exists (obviously it doesn't). Both sides seem to be out takes of longer sections, something that more music suffers from that is released on 7". Here a 10" would have been in place and then with a more appropriate beginning and end. Not that die hard fans of the genre would matter of course." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€7.00 |
|
| DEAD VOICES ON AIR |
Mawson's Will and other Short Stories |
CD |
"The album is named after a track that Spybey worked on with Robert Hampson of Loop and Main as part of the twentieth anniversary series of 7 inch singles, that has thus far featured collaborations with Simon Fisher-Turner, Edward Ka-spel and Robin Storey. Douglas Mawson was a famous polar explorer and this 12 minute collaboration with Robert became a focal point for this album. The tracks could perhaps be described as musical narratives, each named after a place or an event or a person that has attracted Spybey’s attention. Some are more obvious than others, “Kursk,” for example being about the Russian submarine disaster. But, ironically, in the world of Dead Voices on Air, concepts limit creativity. The studio is a place of invention, with the starting point being the creation of a sound. Ideas are never written down. When Spybey works he becomes engrosssed in the act of making music and in editing it. The studio and everything within it is utilized in the act of creating music. Spybey does not try to create music that is descriptive or literal. For him, the gift of music is in the eye and ear of the listener. The more he makes music, the longer this impossible career progresses, the less he feels like talking about music. He simply makes music. All of the time. The album also features a cameo appearance by Robin Storey and by Utah keyboard player Lori Cole, who has contributed several pieces that Spybey has reworked in the past year." [label info]
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| DEAD VOICES ON AIR & SIMON FISHER TURNER |
MzMzLaLaLa |
7inch |
"This single is a double A side and is the first of the DVOA@20 series.
Side A is entitled, ‘MzMzLaLaLa for Peace,’ and Side A is entitled, ‘MzMzLaLaLa Sing-Song-Sing.’
Simon Fisher Turner
Simon had a highly successful career as a child/young hopeful actor, appearing in movie and TV roles from Black Beauty, Tom Brown’s Schooldays to The Big Sleep (re-made with Robert Mitchum). Aged 17 he signed to Jonathan King’s UK Records and released the album “Simon Turner” in 1969. He then discovered tape recorders and ended up playing with the legendary Portsmouth Symphonia with musicians such as Brian Eno.
Simon first worked as a runner on the sets of films by Derek Jarman, before becoming Jarman’s favoured soundtrack composer. Simon’s association with Jarman was lasting and massively fruitful. “Caravaggio”, “The Last Of England” (with contributions from Barry Adamson and Diamanda Galas), “The Garden” (with the Balanescu Quartet), and “Edward II”, were amongst the most innovative film sound projects of the ’80s and early ’90s, most of them surfacing as CDs though Mute. His final film with Jarman was the powerful, poignant “Blue”, where a soundscape recorded by Simon at Eno’s country house, plus Jarman’s AIDs inspired spoken words, stood in for the visuals - only a blue screen was projected. Simon also worked under the name of The King Of Luxembourg and has collaborated extensively. He has released many albums and in addition to his work with Jarman has contributed to numerous other film soundtracks for directors such as David Lynch.
Simon and Mark Spybey first met backstage at a Can concert at the Barbican in London in 1999. They work together, in spurts and fits, under the name MzMzLaLaLa and this single is their first release. They recently played a concert in London together under a railway arch.
DVOA @ 20 Anniversary Series
Since leaving :zoviet-france: in the late eighties Mark Spybey has released fifteen albums as Dead Voices On Air. He’s appeared on over 80 releases in the past twenty years. When the late Michael Karoli, the seminal guitarist, put together a band in the late nineties to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Can, it was Spybey who he asked to help him.. He has made a career out of collaborating extensively with a wide range of musicians, film- makers and visual artists. He was a member of Download and formed Beehatch with Phil Western of Download and Reformed Faction with ex-:zoviet-france: members, including Robin Storey of Rapoon. Between 1992 and 2000 he lived and worked in Vancouver, Canada and has toured extensively around the world with a variety of collaborators including Karoli and Damo Suzuki of Can, The Legendary Pink Dots, Pigface, Michael Rother of Neu! and Dieter Moebius of Cluster. He’s remixed Neu! and Faust amongst others. His has worked with labels such as Kranky, Nettwerk, Soleilmoon Recordings, Invisible, Spoon, Scratch, Cleopatra, Lens and for the 20th anniversary seven inch single series, Tourette Records of Houston Texas." [label info]
www.touretterecords.com
"To celebrate twenty years of existence, Dead Voices On Air, also known to mankind as Mark Spybey, will release a bunch of 7"s in collaboration with people who he has worked with in those years. The series kicks of with Simon Fisher Turner, perhaps best known for scoring soundtracks for the films of Derek Jarman (Caravaggio", "The Last Of England", "The Garden" and "Edward II") and also with David Lynch. he met Spybey at a concert of Can in 1999 and worked together since as MzMzLaLaLa, but this 7" is their first release. I am in a bit in the dark wether this 7" is t45 or 33 rpm, and I decided for 33. One side has an interesting tape collage of sounds and spoken word in a very film noir like style, while the other side ('MzMzLaLaLa Sing Song Sing') is more a pop like track with a very sparse guitar, a wacky percussive sample and a sad voice. This side did less for me, I think, maybe its too short, or perhaps too vague, but the other side is in fact very good. In the future there will be 7's with James Plotkin, Troum, Edward Ka-spel, Cevin Key, Robert Hampson, Robin Storey, Jochen Arbeit, Dave Wright, Ryan Moore and Orbit Service, which me thinks looks a promising series. Great cover too." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2011 |
€10.00 |
|
| DEAF CENTER |
Low Distance |
LP |
"Low Distance is Deaf Center´s third full-length studio album and perhaps the most focused effort by the Norwegian duo to date. After their last record Owl Splinters (2011) was quite an eclectic endeavor, Erik K Skodvin & Otto A Totland draw their sound back into something more quiet and minimal.
The record starts with a piece of sweeping analougue electronics. It´s a spacious, yet dynamic opener that leads directly into the static tones and piano motivs of Entity Voice, which balances a new sense of abstractation with the classic Deaf Center sound. It´s warm and close while sounding like it´s set in the outer horizon. Overall Low Distance feels both alien and familiar with its atonal synths, close pianos and drowned out noises.
After meeting in studio for the first time since 2011, the recordings came out of a 3 day session in 2017. It was then mixed at both EMS Stockholm and at Erik´s home studio over a longer period to create a blend of deeply layered as well as stripped down pieces. Both Erik & Otto have been active individually since their last meeting as Deaf Center: Otto released 2 solo piano albums, while Erik has furthered his descent into musical abstractation both under his own name and as Svarte Greiner. It´s long overdue to hear them connect their personalities into something new. Low Distance is a welcome return replete with beauty, mystery and uncertainty."
"So I managed to fall into that pattern again, whereby a long-anticipated album by a beloved project sits awaiting just the right time. I need a "perfect" mood and setting to experience Deaf Center, and I must not be interrupted in any possible way. And so I put it to the side. Meanwhile, I procrastinate with promos and suggestions and releases which are all sub par. Then I finally reach out, and I listen for the very first time. Then the second and the third. And time goes by. A month or two. I play it sixth and seventh time, and no, not yet, I'm not prepared to say the right things... I must find certain words to share my thoughts. And time goes by... That is the pattern. Until I recognize it for its block and rip the bandaid off and share. The time has come. Of this I'm certain.
Since their 2014 release, Recount, put out by Monique Recknagel's Sonic Pieces imprint, the duo of Erik Skodvin and Otto Totland have massively raised the bar on their third full-length studio album, Low Distance. I've generally used the word "texture" in the past, to describe the intricate granular details that give a particular recording more depth, complexity and substance, and yet, on Low Distance Deaf Center takes it to a whole new level. Seemingly accidental noises, clips, and circuit howls become the foundation for the platform of this moody record, where Totland's piano finds the courage to reveal its beauty to the world. The heavy fibered bow scrapes at the cello strings to make the instrument convulse and shudder. The sonic gravity of the atmospheric treatments paired with the poignancy of the melodic heartache propels Low Distance into the ranks of albums of the decade, where every coveted position is meticulously picked.
A total masterpiece for anyone inspired by the fine details stitched in a microcosm of harmonies and timbres. One which I will treasure for the many years to come, and with these words I hope you'll too. Highly recommended for anyone delighted by reductionist pianism, isolationist ambience, coarse minimalism and granular spaciousness. Yes, I've authored some of those stylistic genres just for you. But seriously, if you're into anything from the amazing Miasmah (which Skodvin runs), dark and organic drone mixed with evolving soundscapes by the likes of Rafael Anton Irisarri, Ben Lukas Boysen, Brambles, Richard Skelton, and Lawrence English, among the many appearing on this site, you'll be in for a treat. Highly recommended!" [Headphone Commute]
|
2019 |
€35.00 |
|
| DEAF MACHINE |
Found Noises |
CD |
Das Berliner RAUBBAU-Label (früher auch als FORMOSAN aktiv) hat das längst vergriffene, verstreute Material dieses Solo-Projektes eines MEGAPTERA-Mitglieds zusammengestellt. Low-fi droning & death industrial stuff mit obskuren Samples & found sounds...
"The groups in the Nyköping/Oxelösund region of Sweden (Megaptera, The Protagonist, Morthound) have been pretty thoroughly documented in the past. But one crucial missing link of this micro-scene has been overlooked, and not given the deserved recognition. Until now, that is.
Mikael Svensson, founding member of Megaptera, also did his own project Deaf Machine for a while, though it vanished without leaving many traces behind. Besides a couple of wildly obscure self-released tapes, the only other marks were contributions to seminal compilations such as "In the Butcher's Backyard" (CMI) and "Death Odors" (Slaughter Prod.).
Not content to rest on the laurels after the successful inaugural release by Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio, the fresh German label Raubbau
has decided to treat Deaf Machine with an ambitious rerelease program covering two separate CD albums. This first one, "Found Noises", contains one of the tapes, two tracks culled from compilations, and one previously unreleased track. The similarity with Megaptera lies in the frequent use of voice samples from movies and news broadcasts. But whereas Megaptera relies on a method with upfront pounding machine rhythms, Deaf Machine opted for a subtler approach more based on textures and moods. The mix of muffled voice fragments, disjointed rhythm loops, and crude, bass-heavy synth-noises sound unlike anything else that came out of Sweden at the time. A unique sound by a neglected artist that thankfully no longer will remain a secret within small circles of cognoscenti." [label info]
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| DEATH & BEAUTY FOUNDATION |
same |
CD |
Noch bevor 1984 die ersten Aufnahmen von THE HAFLER TRIO das Licht der Welt erblickten, war H30-Mastermind ANDREW MC. KENZIE mit VAL DENHAM aktiv, einem britischen Transvestiten & frühen Industrial-Aktivisten der als Maler(?) & Artworker für TG, PSYCHIC TV, MARC ALMOND oder CYCLOBE tätig war. Die insgesamt 21 Stücke, die mit "Darlington Tapes" betititelt wurden sind hier nun erstmals auf einer CD zu hören - äusserst eigenwillige experimentelle "Songs" mit kruden Stimmverfremdungen und elektronischen Sounds, wie sie - etwas eleganter - z.T. auch auf die erste H30 LP "Bang! An Open Letter" oder die krasseren sprachbasierten NURSE WITH WOUND-Alben gepasst hätten. Auch über 20 Jahre später ist das noch absolut unzugängliche Anti-Musik, die sich nicht mit klassischen Maßstäben "bewerten" lässt, da es kaum Vergleichsmöglichkeiten gibt.
"... present the legendary "Darlington Tapes"recorded in 1982. At last, the sound of Val Denham and Andrew M. McKenzie's long awaited avant garde masterpiece for the bewildered is available after 26 years. Remastered, frightening and beautiful. The strangest album ever recorded. You have been warned." [label info]
" The Death & Beauty Foundation is an odd footnote in the history of The Hafler Trio. It's a project that began sometime in the early '80s presumably in and/or around Newcastle, UK featuring a young Andrew McKenzie (who later went on to found The Hafler Trio) and Val
Denham, a visual artist who has some history with Psychic TV, Marc Almond, and Cyclobe. Only a couple of compilation tracks of the Death
& Beauty Foundation had appeared on Touch cassette compilations, and a tape-only release emerged in 1986; but beyond that, the story to the Death & Beauty Foundation is pretty mysterious. This CD represents the complete 'Darlington Tapes' which the two began in 1982. Instead of the media-savvy collages and psychoacoustic investigations which The Hafler Trio mastered throughout the '80s, the Death & Beauty Foundation penned songs, really weird and fractured songs; but these are nonetheless tunes. A curious falsetto (which we're presuming to belong to Denham) floats in flanging tremolo haze above odd, Spartan electronics, sounding somewhat like "In Heaven" from the Eraserhead soundtrack, but ever more evasive and purposefully meandering. In line with primitive BBC Radiophonic tricknology meets Cabaret Voltaire cut- up methods, tape manipulations guide the bulk of the arrangements to that fluttering voice, with Shadow Ring like splutter across guitar and tin-can percussion on a few tracks. Some of the electronic sounds seem to have reappeared on the h3o album Sea Org; but those recognizable instances are few and far between in this confusing album." [Aquarius Records review]
www.somnimage.com
|
2008 |
€16.00 |
|
| DEATH KNEEL |
Adaptive Emotional Use |
LP |
"Max Klebanoff’s (Tomb Mold) industrial noise unit thrives on buried rhythmic nodes under walls of crackling distortion and blistering sonic disfigurement. Nascent hums blossom into spectral ambient drones. Gnarled electronic pulses waver in grand fields of dissonance. Granulated tones crumble and reform as the tracking adjusts on Death Kneel's harsh noise synthesized into meditative soundscape creation." [concert info]
Limited edition black vinyl LP, edition of 250. Housed in 350gsm sleeve with full color center labels.
"Death hides the angels it makes in blue skies"
Mastered by Grant Richardson.
Additional processing by Moss Harvest.
Thanks to Rita Mikhael, Brett Wagg, and Matt Harrison.
https://totalblack.bandcamp.com/album/adaptive-emotional-use
"This album is my formal introduction to the works of Death Kneel, the project of Max Klebanoff. Seemingly active since 2014, 13 cassette releases have been issued in that time, but Adaptive Emotional Use is the first release on vinyl.
Stripped to the Ivory Core opens the album with detailed micro-tonal scrap metal and field recording tones, but ample depth in the mix and the separation of sounds makes for detailed and engaging listening. A brooding atonal synth rumble and looped conveyor belt provide slight momentum and structure, but mid-track the whole mood shifts into wondrously minimalist and melancholic synth melodies. The title track follows and continues with shimmering melodious synth elements, yet these are force-fed through sonic filters which changes their tonal quality to scattered and fractured. Later in the track a pounding industrial undercurrent appears while the sweeping maudlin sub-orchestral textures gain focus and prominence. In clear contrast to the controlled and moody elements which precede it, Trauma Martyr opts for a more direct expression, consisting of choppy cut-up static and chaotic junk metal noise, with a rumbling bass distortion undercurrent. Would Anyone Die For Me? features a moody piano melody, minimalist scrabbling textures, and fractured mid-toned synth elements, generating a mood of melancholy and restraint. For the final track Redemption Angel (Corpse Criteria) the harsh and choppy cascade of noise returns, sitting at the mid to lower tonal range and clearly based on layered and processed scrap metal abuse – yet midway in it coalesces into a mangled mass of sub-orchestral synths and shimmering, fragmented, mid-toned noise.
With its wildly divergent sound, but one which is clearly the result of detailed attention to the structure and composition of sonic elements, Adaptive Emotional Use could be filed alongside the likes of Puce Mary or Damien Dubrovnik, without necessarily sounding like either of those. With its clear attention to detail and the careful juxtaposing of harsh sounds against melodious elements, Death Kneel have delivered an evocative and artistic take on experimental industrial noise." {Noise Receptor} |
2019 |
€16.00 |
|
| DEATHPROD |
Occulting Disk |
do-LP |
OCCULTING DISK is an anti-fascist ritual. Recorded in Oslo, Reykjavik, Cologne, Berlin and Los Angeles between 2012 and 2019. It is the first Deathprod album to be released since the 2004 album «Morals and Dogma». Liner notes by Will Oldham (note: not the above below). LP cut by Rashad Becker at D&M, Berlin. Artwork by Kim Hiorthøy and Helge Sten.
“I remember driving over a mountain with my mother, she was in the passenger seat and we were being mauled and cuddled and battered and fried by sound; together. We were together experiencing something previously unimaginable, and we were facing the same direction, and we were moving through space and time knowing that a geographic destination some way ahead would bring an end. And the sound surrounded us, and for once our mutual silence was loaded with good. Because we were in the presence of each other, and we knew so much about how we had failed each other (it wasn’t a mystery any more), and we knew how we had maimed others when we worried too much about ourselves, how we had contributed to the faults of others simply by focusing in instead of out. Our mutual silences were laden with what that could only be called love. I used to hear love in music until I learned to hear love in sound. “ (Will Oldham)
Hinter Deathprod verbirgt sich der norwegische Musiker Helge Sten, seines Zeichens Ex-Mitglied bei Motorpsycho und Supersilent. Neben seinem Pseudonym Deathprod nahm Sten auch unter dem Namen Audio Virus als auch unter seinem eigentlichen Namen zahlreiche Alben auf. Zudem kollaborierte er mit Biosphere, Arve Henriksen, John Hegre, Lasse Marhaug, Sidsel Endresen, Christian Wallumrod, Nils Petter Molvær sowie mit seiner Frau Susanna Wallumrod, als Sängerin vor allem unter dem Namen Susanna bekannt. \"Occulting Disk\", das erste neue Album von Deathprod seit fünfzehn Jahren, ist ein antifaschistisches Ritual. Aufgenommen in Oslo, Reykjavik, Berlin, Köln und Los Angeles zwischen 2012 und 2019, ist es das erste Deathprod-Album seit \"Morals And Dogma\" aus dem Jahr 2004.
https://deathprod.bandcamp.com/album/occulting-disk
\"The Norwegian dark ambient artist Helge Sten, or Deathprod, is a master of atmosphere. Since 1991, he has been harnessing apocalyptic dread through immersive electronic sound design and bone-rattling live performances. For his first solo LP in 15 years—the follow-up to 2004\'s Morals And Dogma—the Oslo producer has conceived a politically minded album that considers the ways in which we confront fear and hate. The liner notes from Will Oldham dig deeper into Occulting Disk\'s political character. \"If you hear hate in the voice of another, it is your job, as the identifier, to address that hatred and reduce it by its opposite,\" he urges.
Stern expresses these political ruminations using a complex and chilling series of beatless, wordless tracks that command focus—his vision of ambient differs from Eno-led notions of the music as soft wallpaper. Occulting Disk serves a more confrontational, instructive purpose. Knowing the anti-hate messages at the album\'s core, it could be viewed as an amulet to ward off hate and bad energy, its unrelenting honks and bellows stirring up the hopeful sounds of protest. Stern\'s use of repetition is powerful and carefully considered, making space for deep thought and reflection.
Pockets of silence strengthen this concentrative quality. The opener, \"Disappearance / Reappearance,\" sends out a duo of ear-splitting foghorn blasts, an allusion perhaps to the album title\'s maritime reference—occulting light is a navigational beam used by ships. Thick walls of insectoid buzzing on \"Occultation 2\" urge you to step outside yourself, reeling you in with ugly-beautiful effect.
The LP summons a raft of mutated sounds from Stern\'s \"audio virus\" set-up—an array of electronics that has included homemade devices, tape echo machines, theremins and analog ring modulators—that feel eerily familiar and sinister. Case in point: \"Occultation 4,\" whose creaking, dissonant drones give the impression of dive bombers circling each other, while the weeping, warbling synths on \"Occultation 1\" are as evocative as human tears. The album\'s crushing \"Black Transit Of Jupiter\'s Third Satellite\" is a tidal wave of distortion, suggesting a final evacuation of dark energy. Stern\'s gift is to make that feel both unsettling and immersive.\" [Resident Advisor]
|
2019 |
€24.00 |
|
| DECONDITION |
Sukellan Tuntemattomiin Syvyyksiin |
CD |
"Sukellan tuntemattomiin syvyyksiin" ("I dive into unknown depths" FOR english) is Decondition's debut ALBUM after a tape released in 2006 on Freak Animal, The Universal Nothingness". The new album contains thirteen tracks recorded before and after the "Universal Nothingness" sessions. Using electronics, sampler, effects, field-recording, processed vocals, tape-voices, DECONDITION creates hypnotic, repetitive pieces of noise, mixing power or rhythmic electronics with real industrial sounds. The atmosphere is obscure, weird and very personal, most of the tracks dealing with death and the resurrection of the ego. Nordik P/E, Noise & Dark-Ambient
"Decondition are a Finnish project previously unknown to these ears, although a prior cassette ‘The Universal Nothingness’ was released by Freak Animal back in 2006. Evidently the 13 tracks featured here were recorded during various sessions both prior to and after ‘The Universal Nothingness’ sessions, and with the title translating to ‘I Dive into Unknown Depths’ it appears a hefty dose of nihilism is the conceptual underpinning of the album. To provide a quick overview of their approach, Decondition inhabit a sonic realm which is an amalgam of overblown distortion, off kilter factory clatter, clanging junk metal arrhythmia and occasional segments of respite.
From the opening passages of the album the crumbling waves of distortion and squalling static articulate the sonic timbre of harsh noise, yet there is a semblance of structure due to cyclic loops, imbedded samples and occasional barrage of unintelligible aggressive vocals which provides an industrial verging on power electronics angle to the sound. The third track functions to prove this point, where when ‘Dark Clouds Over My Inner Landscape’ arrives it demonstrates a focused, loosely rhythmic and pulsing power electronics track. Despite it clattering intensity mid album piece ‘Disease Within’ manages a partially meditative quality, which is mostly due to its grinding cement mixer rhythmic loops (…as agonised vocals yell a sermon of angst and inner turmoil). ‘Wheel of Change/ Passage of Time’ is another standout due to it pulling back on the heady distortion of preceding material, instead utilising a rhythmic militant industrial approach. Late album track ‘Aistiharhojen Luoma Todellisuus [ Sukellan Tuntemattomiin Syvyyksiin ]’ is another example of restraint (and one of the longer album tracks at just six and a half minutes), with a subdued soundscape of cavernous industrial drones and slowly manipulating textures. This paring back of intensity bleeds into to the final album track ‘Deep Sleep In My Dreams’, but on this piece accommodates a more suitably drugged and hazy atmosphere to match its title.
On a cursory level this album appears rather punishing and admittedly Decondition do deliver a strong set of industrial/ noise/ power electronics for the underground genre fanatic (which is further complimented with suitable decaying factory images). Yet there is also clear variation to be discovered within its general harsh abrasiveness. In effect this is a solid, hour’s length album of noisy, distorted, arrhythmic to rhythmic industrial noise abuse, mixed with elements of power electronics aggression and offset by moments of restraint." [Noise Receptor]
|
2014 |
€6.50 |
|
| DEISON |
Substrata |
10inch |
"Italy's Cristiano DEISON enriches the experimental sound and noise art community with his releases and various collaborations (lately with JOHN DUNCAN, GIANLUCA BECUZZI and K.K.NULL) for more than 20 years, but seems to be still undiscovered by too many listeners. "Substrata" collects three extremely crystalline and immersive drone pieces based on prepared tapes, metals, strings, wires and electronics... imagine a forest glade in moon-light with cold white sonic radiations, half-frozen calyx are clanging at each other, liquid metallic forms appear and disappear, hypnotic slow motion pulses suck you into.. "something"... these are incredible strong, deep and complex drone compositions, drones with the spirit of the "Noise Culture" - using "fragmentation, collage, arrangement and layers", as Germano-Chinese philosoph Lutz Schridde puts it.
Sounds of elementary transformations, metamorphosis, and overcoming the usual sense of time: "..where sounds are conceived as they are “excavated” from the earth beneath our feet “Terra Firma” (erosion) and then taking to the light (awakening); it describes its interior solid surface (“Prima Materia”), the
primitive formless base of all matter similar to chaos, the quintessence or aether." [Cristiano Deison]
ed. of 300 copies pressed on transparent green vinyl, artwork Cristiano Deison, 32. min playtime
https://soundcloud.com/drone-records/deison-substrata-side-a |
2020 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Any Time Now |
CD-R |
"Recorded and mixed in the last 3 years “Any Time Now” is the new solo studio work by Deison after several collaborative projects (with Mingle, Maurizio Bianchi, Uggeri, Favaron); the record is focused on small sounds, interferences and long slow-moving drones captured to explore the perception of time.
It’s a dirty electronica to suggest a different listening, any time…now!
Involved in the noise electronic area since 1991, (he played loops and voice in Meathead during 90's) he approached the world of sounds doing self released cassettes doing his own tape collages with some tape recorders, turntables and objects mainly in the field of noise and power-electronics; he established a small label (Loud!) and began to collaborate with artist like Lasse Marhaug, KK Null, Shee Retina Stimulants, etc... Influenced by the electroacoustic music, ambient minimal electronic as well as a great interest into digital music and sound design then he operated with samplers and field recordings. On Loud! he has released a couple of 7" singles and a record with Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth), plus a lot of compilation appearances . His first cd "Dirty Blind Vortex" has been released by Crionic Mind (usa). New releases show the new sound direction taken by Deison: calm waves of looping deep ambient scapes, penetrated with sample fragments and light additional noise-ambient textures form a silent, minimal frame-set. Experience this new imaginary movie soundtrack. His works have been released on Silentes Records (Italy), Aagoo (U.S.A.) and new collaboration works emerged with Candor Chasma, Sara Galan and Mingle. He also contibutes sounds for his more dark-ambient duo Cinise (with G.Santoro). He works as a dj in a indipendent local radio (Loud! radio show) playing electronic, avantgarde and experimental music and is a co-fouder of Final Muzik label.
Sounds recorded,assembled and processed by Deison (2013-2016)
Deison: electronics,field recordings,tapes,objects,synths
Ennio Mazzon : electronics on "Blissfull Moments"
Andrea "Mingle" Gastaldello : piano and synth on "Motionless pt.1 and pt.2"
Israel Martinez : field recordings on "Motionless"
Mastered by James Plotkin
Artwork by Andrea Maioli [Kanaka Project]
mfu/c 009 - L!CD09
100 copies // digipack//cd-r//limited edition
www.manyfeetunder.eu
www.deison.net
https://deison.bandcamp.com/album/any-time-now
|
2016 |
€10.00 |
|
|
Quiet Rooms |
CD |
On Quiet Rooms, the experimental artist builds four enchanting ambient soundscapes from field recordings of empty hotel rooms.
Delicately layered and processed, these lonely urban soundtracks evoke powerful tensions between serenity and alienation. In the he ethereal opener, “Room 1” Deison has captured the anxiety of isolation. Drones builds to such dystopian density that the sounds of our world become science fiction. In “Room 3”, with the inclusion of distinguishable ambient hotel noises, Deison listens in on forgotten stories trapped in the walls. Doors open and close, phonecalls fail to reach their recipient, a distant cat meows.
These are the intimate moments and mysterious lives of hotel guests.
Further adding to the tension of this powerful release is the 16 panel poster designed by Bas Mantel.
Lock yourself into these stationary images and slow moving sounds. Spend time in Deison’s Quiet Rooms and you will never look at an empty hotel room the same again.
Electronics, Synthesizer, Tape, Sounds [Field Recordings] by Deison
Design by Bas Mantel
Sounds were recorded on various locations in hotel rooms in Barcelona, Venice, New York, Los Angeles and Milan.
Processed and edited at #1st Floor Studio, Italy. |
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Una Notte Che Non Finisce Mai |
BOOK + CD |
CD + 8" 48-page booklet in Italian, ltd. 200 copies
Deison / Tonizzo
Una notte che non finisce mai
"It often happens that crime stories are able to influence the larger history that surrounds them, but very few are those that managed to change aspects of society and pass through more than five decades unharmed, at least in terms of fascination. The whole story of the Monster of Florence is one of them. It is impossible not to get entangled or at least to be captured by it, if one delves into its pages of far-fetched features and too many unanswered questions. For us, as for many, the case of the Monster of Florence has become an obsession. We periodically dusted it off, racking our brains in vain over details or the possible culprit. This time, 40 years after the crimes that started the psychosis of the infamous couple killer, we told ourselves that we had to somehow get rid of it and we did it our way."
The project "Una notte che non finisce mai" (A Night that Never Ends) is made up of eight short stories (written by Sandra Tonizzo) and eight sound episodes created by Deison, and tells the incredible story of the "Monster of Florence" through suggestions, chronicles, impressions and memories. The booklet (21x21cm, 48 colour pages) and the CD included are published in a limited edition of 200 copies for Silentes' newborn label "1970".
store.silentes.it/catalogue/7001.htm
https://deison.bandcamp.com/album/una-notte-che-non-finisce-mai
"Buch und CD: Sandra Tonizzo, Deison und das Monster von Florenz
Schon seit ein paar Wochen erhältlich, hierzulande aber immer noch eine News wert ist das aktuelle Gemeinschaftswerk zwischen dem Soundkünstler Cristiano Deison und der Autorin Sandra Tonizzo. “Una Notte Che Non Finisce Mai” setzt sich aus einer CD Deisons und einem mehrfarbigen Bild- und Textband von Tonizzo zusammen, in dem auf 50 Seiten die faszinierende Geschichte des sogenannten Monsters von Florenz – Il mostro di Firenze, auch genannt der Mörder mit dem Skalpel - in acht Geschichten, Dokumenten, Reportagen und anderen Textsorten erzählt wird.
Der spektakuläre Kriminalfall, bei dem ein oder mehrere Täten in den Jahren zwischen 1968 und 1985 im Umland von Florenz acht Liebespaare in Serie massakrierten, wurde in Italien schnell zum Stoff urbaner Legenden und zahlreicher fiktionalisierter Umsetzungen in Büchern, Filmen, Comics und Serien, in deren Tradition das vorliegende Werk steht. Die CD enthält gewissermaßen den Soundtrack zum Buch in Form dunkler, in weiten Teilen samplebasierter, harsh-ambienter Klangwelten. Das Werk erscheint beim Silentes-Ableger 1970." [African Paper]
|
2021 |
€20.00 |
|
| DEISON & MINGLE |
Innersurface |
CD |
"After crossing wastelands lost in oblivion (Everything Collapse[d], Aagoo, 2014), and being skeptically moved by listening to pulsations of a weak life (Weak Life, Aagoo, 2015), Cristiano Deison and Andrea Gastaldello (aka Mingle) are arriving at their final destination, Innersuface, the last stop on their journey. They suddenly fall into a hole and are trapped in a slimy pit overflowing with mud and industrial liquids. Everything is dense and oppressive. Their physical movement stops, the chaos in their head remains, they look around and everything is irreversibly changed. And while looking at the road they have just walked along, they glimpse the edge of a forest brimming with life, with its appearance unchanged over time...will it stay like this forever? Created, recorded and mixed between December 2015 and April 2016, at Mingle's Tower Home Studio and Deison's 1st Floor Studio, Innersurface continues the perfect blend of Deison and Mingle sounds: drones, field recordings and processed loops superimposed with disturbed rhythms, distorted beats and electronic processing. As always, the electronics are dirty and extremely evocative, sounds that we have become accustomed to."
store.silentes.it
|
2017 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Tiliaventum |
CD-BOX & object |
"One needs a poet’s heart to appreciate the wrapped gift of Tilaventum: a stone from the river included with every physical purchase. Mine is a perfectly rounded skipping stone, so I’ll need to resist the urge to try it in my own sea. An instant connection is formed across bodies of water, across continents. The photos show that many stones are ringed; my grandfather once told me that such stones are good luck.
Stretching from the Alps to the Adriatic, the 111-mile gravel bedded Tagliamento River (whose Latin name is used in the title) incorporates glacial melt and the shade of black pines. It serves as a border, but is known more for its beauty. The current project, designed by Sandra Tonizzo, offers a tactile impression to accompany the music and keepsake box. One holds the stone in the palm and wonders at the impact of a river so beautiful that it turns the music of Deison and Mingle from dark to light.
Yes, this is the same duo whose music has been (pleasantly) unsettling people for years. But there’s something about the Tagliamento that calms the soul, and is translated to this release. The CD feels different from the duo’s other projects: more restrained, even reverent. The beats are still present, but the textures are more important. The river itself makes an appearance on “Tilament”, along with the sounds of birds in the trees. One imagines a river journey by boat or on foot. For a while, the album simply flows, awash in ambient touches like floating leaves. Not until the fourth track do we hear the expected Deison | Mingle sound, as the drums presage the entry of a nearly industrial timbre. At this point, it comes as a surprise, an accumulated density that imitates the collection of debris around a bend. After this, one begins to imagine the album not merely as a reflection of a river, but of the things that might happen along the river. The Tagliamento is not just a body of water, but an ecosystem, a divider, a bearer of history.
The processed river sounds add a sense of mystery. “Sotteraneo” (“Underground”) is as murky as its namesake, a descent into unknown territory, while “Grave” rattles with dark pulses. In these tracks, we are able to form a connection to the duo’s prior material. But there’s also a sense of excitement, found in the splashing of “Pietra Viva” (“Living Stone”). Water is the foundation of life, and life and death are always intertwined. In “21.00.12”, the battle finally breaks the boundaries, with electronic horns like trumpet calls and the sound of clashing swords. The banks are overflowing. But then, as they are wont to do, as they have been doing since the beginning of time, the waters recede, revealing soft placidity. The cycle is complete, ready to start anew, as sure as the stone thrown in the river will eventually find its way back to the banks." [Richard Allen / A Closer Listen]
deison.bandcamp.com/album/tiliaventum
|
2017 |
€16.00 |
|
| DEISON + GIANLUCA FAVARON |
Nearly Invisible |
CD |
"Cristiano Deison and Gianluca Favaron met in 2011 when the latter was a guest on Deison's "Night Sessions" album on Silentes. Both involved in many projects and music collaborations - Favaron with Lasik Surgery, Maribor, Zbeen and Under The Snow, and Deison with Mingle, Matteo Uggeri and Maurizio Bianchi - during the summer of 2015, at last free from previous engagements, they finally decide to mix their sound attitudes and give life to "Nearly Invisible", an album where they process concrete sounds, field-recordings, digital impulses and analog tapes. A sort of "rational improvisation" where the two artists have a conversation talking through the sounds of their surrounding realities. A slow overlapping of contaminated drones, embedded with manipulated noises describes "nearly invisible" environments visually captured by the companion pictures taken by Stefano Gentile. Rough images, textured, dirty; details that open windows onto landscapes where you can recognize panoramas, shadows and structures. All of this is presented in a high quality package, also available as a limited "art edition".
DEISON
Deison is involved in the experimental electronic area since more than 20 years (he played in Meathead during '90s) and he approached the world of sounds doing his own tape collages with tape recorders, turntables and objects mainly in the field of experimental noise; he runs a small label (Loud!) and collaborates with artist like Lasse Marhaug, KK Null, Teho Teardo, Thurston Moore, Scanner, etc... Influenced by the experimental music, ambient minimal electronic as well as a great interest into digital music and sound design, he operates with loops, field-recordings and drones to develop swirling electronic sounds of enormous range and complex musicality. Waves of looping deep ambient scapes, penetrated with sample fragments and light additional noise-ambient textures form Deison’s silent, minimal frame-set. His records have been released on various labels in Japan, Usa, UK, Italy and Germany. Latest collaborations include works with Maurizio Bianchi, Uggeri and Mingle.
Gianluca FAVARON
An electroacoustic musician, his work focuses on the processing of concrete sounds using software made on purpose. Field-recordings, drones: an approach that uses different music languages, to elaborate, merge or transform the sounds made by everyday objects into something different, both taking them out of context and/or processing and modifying them with various effects. He currently collaborates with Corrado Altieri in the "Altieri | Favaron" project and with Stefano Gentile (Silentes) as "Under the Snow". In 2015 he has released the CD albums "Entretien" on 13/Silentes and "Forget About Any Non-Gray" on MFU /Concrete; the Ab'SHE / Uncodified (Corrado Altieri) split album "Applied Misinformation for People Control" was also released by Naked Lunch Records.
"Nearly Invisible" is released in two different editions:
- a standard edition of 230 copies (CD + Book);
- a limited "art" edition of 13 copies housed in a 12" gatefold handpainted cover that also include one original photo (size 26x26 cm) + CD + Book" [label info]
13.silentes.it
|
2015 |
€12.00 |
|
| DEISON / K.K.NULL |
Into |
CD |
Listen: https://deison.bandcamp.com/album/into
"Penetrating “Hi-tech” music, always on the border between sound, silence and noise… Splinters of sonic fragments, buzzings, electronic hisses, pulsations, hypnotic loops, ambient textures, sudden rays of light… A kaleidoscope of syntethic sounds and digital glitches, in a universe dominated by binary codes, that evolves through the cold-hearted control of sophisticated algorhythmic mutations programmed by human entities that already reached a level beyond the borders of our earthly knowledge…" [label info]
"Quite an extended part of the work of KK Null deals with collaborations, such as with Z'EV, Alexei Borisov, Zbigniew Karkowski, Jim O'Rourke and loads more. His primary instrument was once the drums (as with his bands Zeni Geva and Absolute Null Punkt), but in these collaborations Null deals with electronics. Here he teams with a man who met him fifteen years ago, when he was setting up concerts for Zeni Geva in Italy: Deison. He has worked with Lasse Marhaug and Sshe Retina Stimulans and ran the Loud! label. They collaborated, I guess, through mail, sending back and forth sound material. If you'd expect some heavy noise based stuff, then you are mistaken about the work of Null (and perhaps of Deison too, but I must admit I don't know his work that well). It moves these days from brutal noise attacks to very clean, mild, almost ambient like works and this work is a fine example of that. The closing piece is 'To' and quite brutal, feedback like. In the nine pieces before this we have been on a great journey of electronic music. Always abstract, always electronic, but almost never the same thing twice. From soft passages to loud ones, from clicking, rhythmic sounds to dense fields of waving electronics. Its all there. A great variety is presented here, which for once doesn't stand in the way: this remains a very coherent release. It may not appeal to the pure noise heads, but it should broaden their mind a little bit, I guess. Great one." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| DELPHIUM |
Snowhill X (SOLD OUT) |
7inch |
a strange and unique blend of ambient Industrial with sometimes even dub-rhytmical-tunes; low-fi and very deeply frequenced... reminds on SCORN or early COIL sometimes! A very own style...
first edition
250 copies, clear vinyl,
handmade cover art with printed
linoleum finishing/center piece
released May 1997
"This outfit from berkshire, uk, has gained some attention through the releases of several self-produced 7"es in the past few years, which showed a great variety and mixture of influences, all combined in an experimental
manner to reach unknown fields of musical creation. One can find elements of industrial, techno & ambient & even rock in the songs of Delphium, that are mixed and varied into a kind of "low-fi" homerecording-style that is sometimes dark & melancholic, sometimes rhythmically pulsating and even danceable. As this is really hard to describe we recommend this 7" to everyone who is able to confront him/herself with a musical style that can't be sticked into a musical drawer, that is always surprising and shifting (some people even
compared it with early-coil!). This e.p. contains 4 tracks of a darker nature,
spheric electronics, noises and guitars with a very cineastic character... [label info]]
"This group proceeds from the british school of guitar-noise groups (such as their friends and colleagues Splintered), combining experimental
music elements within the rock format. However Delphium are strangely different from this. Having appeared near 4 years back and having written currently a variety of works on the small independent labels (mainly 7" singles;
the long awaited CD "How Can You Hide from What Never Goes Away?" has seen the light of day only recently through Outsider), they continue dubbed bass studies in combinations with sampled technological rhythms and guitar.
Their sounding is a strange and unique mixture of ambient-industrial, dub-rhythmic tonality, low- and exceedingly deeply frequencies of low-fi-darkness, harmonics, repetitive noise-feedbacks, industrial drones and voices, riffs
and gloomy electronic depths, melancholies and more active rhythmic beat-pulsations,
reminding a strange dance on the edge of trance and claustrophobia, freely based on the firm foundation of their creative ideas. Written in the style of homerecording, their work reminds Scorn or even early Coil in places, but their own style is individual.
The recording of four compositions for "Snowhill-X" was made in 1995, but mixed only recently, having present getting dark sullen fall in tones of spherical electronics play "Unforgiven", polished extremities with thick
striking sounding of title composition, finishing with massive wall of guitar sounding, oppressive drone-philosophies of internal sample cogitations of "Stringsong 1" and strange keyboard canto with knocking time and again on background gloomy spheres of "Lie to Me". Manual design on the linoleum, best work."
[Achtung Baby!]
SELECTED WORKS:
Delphium/Lull (7", split, Aquese, 1994)
Delphium/Husk (7", split, Aquese, 1994)
Delphium/Sheephead (7", split, Alleysweeper, 1995)
Breeding Bad Blood (7", Outsider, 1996)
Delphium/Big City Orchestra (7", split, Aquese, 1997)
How Can You Hide from What Never Goes Away? (CD, Outsider, 1997)
|
1997 |
€ |
|
| DELPLANQUE, MATHIAS |
La Plinthe |
CD |
Empfehlenswerte CD dieses Komponisten aus Nantes, LA PLINTHE bewegt sich zwischen digitaler microwave-ambience und spannender Electronica. Bedächtig, elegant, intelligent gemacht..
“La Plinthe” opens with crackling and sizzling noises, then settles into a rhythm of subdued explosions, which leave prismic debris in their wake before fading into the void. Instead of introducing a philosophical analysis of the relation between sound and silence, the first track serves as a sort of meditation, guiding the listener into the core of the album and shutting out uninvited outside noises. Even the glistening drone of the second part is merely a messenger, before a delayed bass and rustily breathing ambiances create the illusion of safety in an entirely alien territory.
It is here, in the middle section of the work, that Delplanque truly unpacks his talent. Comforting hiss, consoling crackles and flirring chordal fenlights are held together by the power of deep, resonating bass vibrations, as tracks settle into the groove of strangely consoling wordless Dream Dub. By locking the body in subtle movement, he is able to caress the sweetly drugged mind with brushstrokes of abstract noises. Even though the record descends into a dark cave towards the end, the grand, eight minute finale picks the listener up again, shining a path through the darkness with a majestic piece made of nothing but a stoically hit piano key over an undulating continuum of swelling hums, a warm impulse drone and the suggestion of rhythm by means of evolving patterns made from grating and gravelling timbres. [label info]
"It has taken some time, but a new generation of experimental musicians, respecting these demands intentionally or by instinct, is making itself heard. Delplanque is one of a few select players who stand a serious chance of reaching beyond the outer edges of a small niche. While his contribution to international trio project The Missing Ensemble may be more pronounced, almost aggressive even in its translation of inorganic sources into emotive compositions, his solo work is fueled by a personal approach capable of touching the listener in the sentive area of his heart. If “Le Pavillon Témoin” (from previous year) sounded as though he were trying to achieve this by means of allowing acoustic instruments and hints of melody and harmony into his oeuvre, “La Plinthe” does away with these luxuries and sheds whatever notion of the old world there might have been. The real aim of this radicality is neither benevolent shock nor progress for progress’ sake, but rather attaining a sense of coherency and of interrelatedness between the album’s building blocks. In an orchestra, there is no intrinsic connection whatsoever between a piano and violin. In Delplanque’s symphonies, however, their faintly shimmering echoes are like brother and sister. “La Plinthe” opens with crackling and sizzling noises, then settles into a rhythm of subdued explosions, which leave prismic debris in their wake before fading into the void. Instead of introducing a philosophical analysis of the relation between sound and silence, the first track serves as a sort of meditation, guiding the listener into the core of the album and shutting out uninvited outside noises. Even the glistening drone of the second part is merely a messenger, before a delayed bass and rustily breathing ambiances create the illusion of safety in an entirely alien territory. It is here, in the middle section of the work, that Delplanque truly unpacks his talent. Comforting hiss, consoling crackles and flirring chordal fenlights are held together by the power of deep, resonating bass vibrations, as tracks settle into the groove of strangely consoling wordless Dream Dub. By locking the body in subtle movement, he is able to caress the sweetly drugged mind with brushstrokes of abstract noises. Even though the record descends into a dark cave towards the end, the grand, eight minute finale picks the listener up again, shining a path through the darkness with a majestic piece made of nothing but a stoically hit piano key over an undulating continuum of swelling hums, a warm impulse drone and the suggestion of rhythm by means of evolving patterns made from grating and gravelling timbres. You need to like these sounds, these delicate crackles and the fireplace-metaphorics they evoke in order to enjoy the album as a whole. It is no longer possible denying their aesthetics by hiding behind a smart concept, simply because there is none. On the other hand, that is exactly why “La Plinthe” works in such a magnetic and rich way: Even though it offers a depth of structures Pop and Rock could never muster, it forces the listener to either hate or love it. Whatever your pick: Kissing your lover to a piece of sound art, no longer seems like a ridiculous thought.." [Tobias Fischer, Tokafi]
|
2008 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Drachen |
LP |
"News from Ici D'Ailleurs Mind Travels Series: Mathias Delplanque is an artist from Nantes who was born in Burkina Faso and has close links with the ambient, electronic, electro-acoustic and concrete musical spheres as well as dub and field recordings. His approach is therefore intimately intertwined with the creation of sound. Sound in the physical sense of the term, sound which goes through your body modifying your perception without ever giving into the academism which can sometimes be found in music in the field of pure musical sound research. There is no question of theorization here - rather questioning all the possibilities which enable an artistic vision to be pushed to reach its pinnacle. Mathias has been perfecting this approach to music for 15 years name under his own name or different pseudonyms (Bidlo, Lena). However, the premising underpinning the album we are discussing today is slightly different from that of his other productions. Normally Mathias takes his time to finely and obsessively sculpt his work down to the smallest detail but here Drachen (Dragons in German) reveals itself to be a much more direct and incisive album. Taking the idea that impurities can also give life to music as a starting point, he set himself a constant working rhythm and the aim of adding interference rather than the sublime going so far as to create actual interference with his mobile phone to disturb the rhythm and harmony of his compositions. By his own admission, he works urgently to induce mistakes or accidents to liberate himself from his own automatic reflexes. Drachen is therefore a dangerous album both for its author and for listeners. However the result remains impressive because, even though questioning accepted ideas is an essential facet of the record, there is an intact sensibi lity which provokes emotion. All sorts of instruments (guitar, bass, melodica, kora, synths etc.) are run through live electronic processing and he manages to bring a beautiful melancholy - even a certain tenderness - out of this sonic mass despite the roughness of the overall sound. The record is made up of 7 highly distinct pieces which nevertheless fit together as a coherent whole. Although instrumental, Drachen is a largely narrative album which recounts its own story. It is a necessary reminder that just sound and consequently silence are fantastic vectors for communication. At the end of the record, an eighth track makes an appearance to prolong the story and provide a conclusion for the album. The track is introduced by 2008 field recordings from the village of Gandefabou in northern Burkina Faso and offers a calm environment full of humanity.
It is heavy with meaning given the current situation of this region of the world struggling with jihadism. "Vielleicht sind alle Drachen unseres Lebens Prinzessinnen, die nur darauf warten uns einmal schön und mutig zu sehen".
"Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us act, just once, with beauty and courage." RAINER MARIA RILKE, Letters to a Young Poet " [label info]
www.icidailleurs.com
|
2015 |
€16.00 |
|
| DEMOULIN, JULIEN & IA |
The Bay |
CD |
"A tribute to both a great friendship and the mist-mantled San Francisco Bay Area, “The Bay” is a sprawling forty-minute drone piece recorded and produced in 2009 and 2010 over the course of several journeys between Oakland, California and Brussels, Belgium.
Guitar and vocal drones, environmental recordings and flute merge to form an emotional travelogue at the grey boundaries of the dreaming and waking worlds…in celebration of reminiscence, before a darkling dawn, deep under the skies of water…" [label info]
www.bassesfrequences.org
"These two new releases on Basses Frequences see further exploration of the theme of ambient music, but are worked out differently. On the soft(er) edge we have a collaboration between Julien Demoulin and IA, recorded in Brussels and Oakland. The thematic approach here is about the Bay Area of California, but it could have been anything else really. Demoulin and IA use, apparently, guitars, voices, environmental recordings and flute in these two pieces which exactly last twenty minutes. Perhaps they intended this to do be a LP? Compared to other CDs I was listening to, around this, this is very soft music. I am not sure why that is, but I'm glad its not on vinyl; who knows what would have been left? Maybe its an artist statement to do it this soft, but it could have been easily a bit louder and still sounding great - I know someone who can a great mastering job, guys. Its not easy to spot those water recordings, or chimes, and certainly in the first part things move away below the surface of audibility. Its music you hear from a distance, maybe just like overlooking the bay area (a view to a kill?) from some distance. The music acts like fog horns in the night, far away, shining through the mist and haze of the night. The second piece is a bit 'louder', and comes across like boats passing in the night. Its also the somewhat more abstract piece of the two, dwelling more on sustaining tones, whereas the first part has nicely shimmering melodies. Excellent stuff." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2012 |
€12.00 |
|
| DESPREZ, JOSQUIN |
The Renaissance Master. Sacred music and Chansons |
3 x CD / book |
Sublime génie
Il y a 500 ans, disparaissait Josquin Desprez. Traversant infatigablement l’Europe d’une cour à l’autre, il fut l’un des fers de lance les plus actifs de la Renaissance franco-flamande. Pour rendre hommage à cette figure majeure de l’histoire de la musique, harmonia mundi a réuni ici quelques-unes de ses œuvres profanes et religieuses les plus caractéristiques. Ce livre-disque, richement illustré, replace son parcours dans le contexte de cette période bouillonnante.
JOSQUIN DESPREZ [1440-1521]
Missa de Beata Virgine (Missarum Josquin liber tertius, Ottaviano Petrucci,Fossombrone, 1514)
· Kyrie (3'47)
· Gloria (8'01)
· Credo (7'15)
· Sanctus - Benedictus (5'47)
· Agnus Dei (4'54)
· Ave Maria
(Mottetti A, Ottaviano Petrucci, Venezia, 1502) (4'38)
· Stabat mater dolorosa
(Mottetti de la corona, libro tertio, Ottaviano Petrucci, Fossombrone, 1519) (8'01)
· Ave nobilissima creatura
(Mottetti de la corona, libro tertio, Ottaviano Petrucci, Fossombrone, 1519) (8'36)
· Salve regina à 4
(Vatican, Cappella Sistina, ms. 42, c. 1503) (4'01)
· Pater noster - Ave Maria
(Novum et insigne opus musicum, Hieronymus Formschneider, Nürnberg, 1537) (7'03)
· De profundis - Requiem æternam
(Motetti libro secondo, Andrea Antico, Venezia, c.1521) (4'28)
· Qui habitat à 24
(Cantiones triginta selectissimae, Ulrich Neuber, Nürnberg, 1568) (5'38)
Missa Pange lingua
(Missæ tredecim quatuor vocum, Hieronymus Formschneider, Nürnberg, 1539)
· Introït (5'43)
· Kyrie (2'42)
· Gloria (4'57)
· Graduel (6'04)
· Alleluia (4'29)
· Credo (7'03)
· Offertoire (3'09)
· Sanctus (6'33)
· O Salutaris (1'02)
· Agnus Dei (7'04)
· Hymne 'Pange lingua' (2'44)
In principio erat Verbum
(Secundus tomus novi operis musici, Hieronymus Formschneider, Nürnberg, 1538)
· In principio erat Verbum (2'41)
· Fuit homo missus a Deo (4'36)
· Et Verbum caro factum est (1'46)
Miserere mei,Deus
(Liber selectarum cantionum, Sigmund Grimm & Marcus Wirsung, Augsburg, 1520)
· Miserere mei, Deus (5'34)
· Auditui meo dabis gaudium (4'14)
· Domine, labia mea aperies (5'01)
· Déploration sur la mort d'Ockeghem. Nymphes des bois / Requiem æternam (Jean Molinet)
(Septiesme livre contenant vingt-quatre chansons a cinq et six parties, Tielman Susato, Antwerpen, 1545) (3'31)
· Douleur me bat - 5 voix (Hc, T, T, Ba, B) et violes
(Septiesme livre contenant vingt-quatre chansons a cinq et six parties, Tielman Susato, Antwerpen, 1545) (2'57)
· Adieu mes amours - 4 violes
(Harmonice musices odhecaton, Ottaviano Petrucci, Venezia, 1501) (2'08)
· Plusieurs regretz - 2 voix (Hc, Ba) et violes
(Septiesme livre contenant vingt-quatre chansons a cinq et six parties, Tielman Susato, Antwerpen, 1545) (2'36)
· Petite camusette - 3 voix (Hc, T, Ba) et 3 violes
(Septiesme livre contenant vingt-quatre chansons a cinq et six parties, Tielman Susato, Antwerpen, 1545) (1'10)
· Mille regretz - 4 voix (Hc, T, Ba, B) et luth
(Chansons amoureuses a quatre parties, Livre 11, Tielman Susato, Antwerpen, 1549) (2'00)
· Mille regretz (Canción del Emperador) - luth solo (Transcription de Luis de Narváez)
(Los seys libros del delphín, Libro 3, Diego Hernãdez de Cordova, Valladolid, 1538) (1'58)
· En non saichant - 5 voix (Hc, T, Ba, Ba, B)
(Septiesme livre contenant vingt-quatre chansons a cinq et six parties, Tielman Susato, Antwerpen, 1545) (1'47)
· J'ay bien cause de lamenter - 3 voix (Hc, T, B) et luth
(Selectissmæ necnon familiarissimæ cantiones, Melchior Kriesstein, Augsburg, 1540) (1'28)
· Nimphes, nappés - tutti : 6 voix, violes, luth
(Septiesme livre contenant vingt-quatre chansons a cinq et six parties, Tielman Susato, Antwerpen, 1545) (2'41)
· Ile fantazies - violes
(Rome, Biblioteca Casanetense, ms. 2865, 1479-81) (2'03)
· La plus des plus - violes
(Harmonice musices odhecaton, Ottaviano Petrucci, Venezia, 1501) (1'24)
· Plus n'estes ma maistresse - 4 voix (Hc, T, Ba, B) et luth
(Trente sixiesme livre contenant trente chansons, Pierre Attaingnant, 1550) (1'45)
· Cueurs desolez . Ne cherchez plus/Plorans ploravi - cantus (Hc) et violes
(Trente sixiesme livre contenant trente chansons, Pierre Attaingnant, 1550) (1'44)
· Plaine de dueil - 5 voix (Hc, T, T, Ba, B) et violes
(Septiesme livre contenant vingt-quatre chansons a cinq et six parties, Tielman Susato, Antwerpen, 1545) (1'26)
· Fortuna desperata - violes (1'47)
· Faulte d'argent - 5 voix (Hc, T, T, Ba, B) et luth
(Septiesme livre contenant vingt-quatre chansons a cinq et six parties, Tielman Susato, Antwerpen, 1545) (1'28)
· Cueur langoreulx - 2 voix (Hc, T) et violes
(Septiesme livre contenant vingt-quatre chansons a cinq et six parties, Tielman Susato, Antwerpen, 1545) (1'22)
· Fors seulement - luth (1'59)
· Je me complains - 5 voix (Hc, T, T, Ba, B) et violes
(Septiesme livre contenant vingt-quatre chansons a cinq et six parties, Tielman Susato, Antwerpen, 1545) (1'47)
· Se congié prens à 6 - 2 voix (T, Ba) et violes
(Septiesme livre contenant vingt-quatre chansons a cinq et six parties, Tielman Susato, Antwerpen, 1545) (2'15)
· Tenez moy en vos bras à 6 - tutti
(Septiesme livre contenant vingt-quatre chansons a cinq et six parties, Tielman Susato, Antwerpen, 1545) (1'55)
· El grillo - 4 voix (Hc, T, Ba, B) et luth
(Frottole libro tertio, Ottaviano Petrucci, Venezia, 1505) (1'37)
· Si j'ay perdu mon amy - violes
(Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, ms. fr. 1597, c. 1500) (1'47)
· Parfons regretz - 5 voix (Hc, T, T, Ba, B)
(Septiesme livre contenant vingt-quatre chansons a cinq et six parties, Tielman Susato, Antwerpen, 1545) (1'55)
· Vous l'arez, s'il vous plaist - 3 voix (Hc, T, Ba) et violes
(Septiesme livre contenant vingt-quatre chansons a cinq et six parties, Tielman Susato, Antwerpen, 1545) (1'52)
· Allégez moy - 6 voix (tutti) et luth
(Septiesme livre contenant vingt-quatre chansons a cinq et six parties, Tielman Susato, Antwerpen, 1545) (1'08)
Ensemble Clément Janequin
La Chapelle Royale
Huelgas-Ensemble
Cappella Amsterdam
Theatre of Voices
Philippe Herreweghe
Direction
Ensemble Les Éléments
Daniel Reuss
Direction
Paul Hillier
Direction
Dominique Visse
Direction
Ensemble Organum, Marcel Pérès
Direction
https://www.harmoniamundi.com/albums/sacred-music-and-chansons/ |
2021 |
€29.50 |
|
| DEUTERROR |
Le Gueule de Guerre |
CD |
After the two amazing Agrippen and Cortharis Lex, available for download on his website, Deuterror offers his new realisation, and first release on CD, "Le Gueule De Guerre". A fable on the faith that animates man and keeps him standing, getting beyond the limits of a minimalist dark ambient or the violence of an extravagant noise.
Deuterror develops his theme with drones in turn overwhelming and disturbing, vindicative frequencies, making of Le Gueule De Guerre a severe statement bittered with desillusion. The album, presented in a beautiful matt digipack and limited at 1000 copies, also includes a cd-rom track which allows the listener to appreciate even more Deuterror's universe to its true value. |
2007 |
€12.00 |
|
| DEUTSCH NEPAL |
Amygdala |
CD |
"Amygdala is the latest album of the Swedish industrial music guru Der General. After listening to this album, one finds it difficult to decide whether it is a masterpiece of hypnotic music, the hallucinations of delirium tremens or perhaps the sign announcing the approaching apocalypse? Magnificent, gloomy and profound tracks create the atmosphere reminding the last days of the last member of the royal family or the celebration of the collapse of its era by a majestic empire. But that is only the general mood of the album. The tracks are very different from each other. Some of them frightful, some majestic, while the rest are calm and deep like dreams. And yet the subject matter of all lyrics is in one or another way related to death and the secret lurking behind it. Actually, Der General conveys it with remarkable subtlety. The album contains a number of crescendos, at least three hits and yet none of them reveal the secret fully. Der General music mesmerises with its slow and massive rhythms inherent most probably only to the Scandinavian electronics, and icy ambient flow inborn to the Northern men. Amygdala is the undisclosed secret. In various shapes it occurs throughout the album tracks where Der General to Heaven travels to meet Jesus and the holy family and investigate the nature of the supernatural ecstasy. Something bothers him and he leaves Heaven. In other tracks he states that we have to be reborn and continue living, later he takes part in the mystic funeral train burying and then resurging dead dogs. Upon their revival, the dogs attack the participants of the train and spread panic. Amygdala is a very colourful kaleidoscope of psychedelic visions. Der General concludes the album by letting us know that it is all clear to him and that the atmosphere is absolutely rotten. Perhaps it is a result of the empty bottle, or much more serious reasons…" [label info]
www.autarkeia.org
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Vol. 1 |
6 x LP - BOX |
Standard edition. Limited to 435 copies. Six vinyl records on individual sleeves, three postcards set, numbered certificate and one sticker.
Peter Andersson, aka Lina Baby Doll, is the man that sustain the heavy structure behind Deutsch Nepal. A legend in the scene of industrialism, avant-garde, music and art in general. He is capable to re-create and re-design old school industrial and electronica, taking elements from apparently dissimilar concepts such as Dadaism and Tribalism, or “contradictory” ideas such as Heathenry and Christianity and converge them into a typical cocktail blend that characterises a unique and now famous style. Manic rhythmic redundancies, strange indefinable samplers, metallic sounds, distorted guitar chords are common elements found in all his works. His main goal?. Mesmerize the listener to subjugate the mind and put the spirit into reverberation mode.
It is difficult to reduce his works to a simple description. All of them seem to be the evolution of an early idea, a baby that grows old, getting monstrous and divine while doing so. The music itself is a never ending universal paradox in where beats and rhythms have a primary role. Deutsch Nepal is surreal landscapes strongly conducted and cut through with the violent and precise pounding of the repetitive aspect of percussion. It’s a black and white obsession, changing shapes and tonality.
This boxset compiles the first five albums released by Deutsch Nepal throughout the 90’s (“Deflagration of Hell”, “Benevolence”, “Tolerance”, “¡Comprendido!... Time Stop! ...And World Ending” and “Erosion”) plus an extra record (“Dystopian Selection”) with a selection of tracks taken from old compilations.
Deflagration of Hell LP
A1. Deflagration Of Hell
A2. Execursioner Angel
A3. Holistix - Links between God and Human
B1. Glimpses Of War Part. I & II
B2. The Heirophants Of Light
B3. Energy - Not Orgasm
Benevolence LP
A1. Impassive Metal Sex
A2. Angel Impact
A3. Benevolence (Of The Fittest God)
B1. The Fire Within My Cold Heart
B2. Carrions Still Walkin’
B3. Mantra
Tolerance LP
A1. Horses Give Birth To Flies
A2. Manual To Utilization
A3. Chip Chop
B1. The Eagles Gift
B2. Nonexistance
B3. Deathmanners
¡Comprendido!... Time Stop! ...And World Ending LP
A1. Benevolence -92
A2. Thomas 29 Needles
A3. World Mirror
B1. Gouge Free Market
B2. Tender Lover
B3. Pain Is The Language We Use
B4. The Phlegethon Fish
B5. Auto Gamic Drummers
Erosion LP
A1. Erosion
A2. Surgery II
A3. Faint Retard
B1. Collapsing Surface
B2. How Low…
B3. You're Just A Toy
Dystopian Selection LP
A1. Bausteine Der Zukunft
A2. Logo
A3. Master of Disguises
B1. Razor In Motion
B2. We Are The Angels (Gabriel)
B3. Poison Free Market
Description text based on a review written by Ayax Gudziol.
Artwork by Oleg Galay.
|
2023 |
€123.00 |
|
| DEYHIM, SUSSAN / BILL LASWELL |
Shy Angels. Reconstructions and Mix Translation of |
CD |
"The previous three artists whose work was revisited by Bill Laswell are Miles Davis, Bob Marley and Carlos Santans... we were therefore both honored & thrilled when the mighty Bill (whose credentials as a producer include names such as Laurie Anderson, Afrika Bambaataa, George Clinton, Yoko Ono, and most recently Herbie Hancock) accepted to create a new interpretation of Iranian diva Sussan Deyhim's "Madman Of God" album.
The result is magnificent and provides a continuous, 45 minutes listening experience which includes re-arranged versions of all albms's songs, featuring new performances by musicians including Karsh Kale, renowned Indian tabla player Zakir Hussain and others, on top of the original albums's line-up (Reggie Workman, Glen Valez, Reza Derakhshani etc).
"Madman of God", which came out in 2000, is Sussan Deyhim's uniquely personal reading of devine love poems by Rumi, Saadi and other Persian Sufi masters, set to a mixture of traditional Persioan music and delicate electronics, her extraordinary vocals being the central focus.
Deyhim's live performances in 2001 were few but memorable (including a steaming set at the Montreux Jazz Festival and an acclaimed appearance with Ornette Coleman's group in London). A series of not-to-be-missed festival dates in Europe are planned for this year." [label info]
www.crammed.be
|
2002 |
€13.00 |
|
| DHOMONT, FRANCIS |
Birthdays |
LP |
"One Sided White Vinyl Picture Disc LP. Edition of 300. New recordings from 2007-2010 by 85 year old French Composer Francis Dhomont. This LP is Dhomonts first appearance on vinyl since his 1982 record on INA-GRM Sous Le Regard D'un Soleil Noir. Birthdays explores high fidelity studio editing methods of concrete sound and vocal manipulation. Each record screenprinted by hand with archival high gloss varnish. Stored in a PVC sleeve with sticker with program notes by Dhomont & Jean-Francois Denis. 'Quelques Eclats' (2010), 'Les Flux Des Sons' (2010), 'Forte-Piano' (2008, 10), 'Denature Parme-Sons' (2007)." [label info]
|
2012 |
€18.00 |
|
| DI CROCE, NICOLA |
47AD |
CD |
"47 Anno Domini (47 AC) is the year when “Via Claudia Augusta” was completed by Roman empire. The road was connecting Venice Lagoon – and more precisely the city of Altinum – to the Alps till Austrian territories, and was passing by the area where the vinery “47 AD” now appears.
I started my recordings in the vinery during the end of summer 2018, right after the grape harvest, at the beginning of the fermentation time, and I focused my attention on the big aluminium tanks by using contact microphones and hydrophones inside and outside the metal surfaces.
While listening and recording, I was more and more fascinated by the resonances of the tanks, which allowed me to experience a double and parallel exposure both to the micro sounds coming from the chemical process, and to the working place surrounding the tanks. The tanks themselves turned to be enormous sounding boards that filtered the voices of the workers, the machineries used in the vinery, and the incredible textures coming from the scented fluid rotating through submerged propellers. By listening to the tanks, I was able to experience the process of fermentation through a slightly different sonic perspective, and I started considering how to show and evoke such internal transformation.
The composition that followed this journey is entirely based on almost unprocessed field recordings, and became the base for the audiovisual installation “Fermento”, where the sounds generated a visual pattern (curated by Claudio Bellini) that was projected on the tanks of the vinery. The installation was presented to the public in February 2019 and developed within the framework of the project “Arte digitale”, supported by Fondazione Ca’ Foscari and Current Corporate.
(nicola di croce, May 2019)
LOCATION : 45°38'27.6"N 12°20'32.8"E.
("47 Anno Domini" vineyards, Treviso, Italy).
Field recordings taken during September 2018.
Composed between October and November 2018 as part of the audiovisual installation “Fermento”, presented to the public in February 2019 and developed within the framework of “Arte digitale” project, Fondazione Ca’ Foscari 2018.
Mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi.
~
Thanks to Claudio Bellini and Enrico Coniglio, Chiara Isadora Artico and Cristina Seraiotto, Current Corporate and Fondazione Ca’ Foscari.
Additional art card, cover design & treatments by Daniel Crokaert.
Based exclusively on photos by Antonio Brigo and Mattia Carrer."
https://unfathomless.bandcamp.com/album/47ad
|
2020 |
€14.00 |
|
| DIE ANARCHISTISCHE ABENDUNTERHALTUNG |
#1 |
LP |
LP version. Marbled vinyl. In 1995 the self-titled full-length debut of Die Anarchistische Abendunterhaltung (DAAU) was released. The band consisted of four young, "classically derailed" musicians who played their own compositions exclusively with their with acoustic instruments such as violin, cello, clarinet and accordion. Their work contained influences from Roma music, Eastern European folk, klezmer and jazz, and was performed with energy and true punk spirit. DAAU was part of the fertile Antwerp scene, which also produced dEUS, Zita Swoon, and Kiss My Jazz, and soon signed an international record deal with Sony Classical. The group's influential first record, which has been out of print for a while, is now finally being released again and is available on vinyl for the very first time.
https://subrosalabel.bandcamp.com/album/1
In those early days, DAAU consisted of four young, classically trained musicians who tackled their instrumental compositions with a true punk spirit. 'If we'd had guitars, bass or drums at that time, we would probably have been just another rock band', says accordionist Roel Van Camp, who, together with his schoolmates Buni Lenski on violin, the latter's brother Simon on cello and Han Stubbe on clarinet made up the Antwerp quartet. 'With our acoustic instruments we tried to create our own version of the music we loved listening to, from sixties rock and prog to new wave.'
The quartet, which initially played in streets and cafes, appealed to a diverse audience and sometimes joked that they were a classically trained unit that had 'gone off the rails'. 'As befits teenagers, we wanted to shake things up', Stubbe remembers, 'even though we always kept cherishing our classical backgrounds.' Van Camp: 'Our education was never supposed to feel like a straitjacket. We were free-spirited enough to ignore the laws and regulations of the music academy and to create our own sound. Our compositions were
open to influences from Roma music, Eastern European folk, klezmer and jazz'. 'That eclecticism was a direct result of the zeitgeist', Han Stubbe adds. 'We loved different styles and happily mixed them together'.
The monniker Die Anarchistische Abendunterhaltung was derived from Steppenwolf, a novel by German writer Hermann Hesse about a character who was outside society. 'In the book, the narrator talks of a theatre', Van Camp explains. 'And at the entrance there is a warning sign sign that says: if you go in here, you are guaranteed to lose your mind. That was an apt description of the way our music worked'.
Almost all tracks on DAAU's first album were 'Drieslagstelsels' (or 'three-course rotations'). The term referred to an agricultural method of the early Middle Ages, but also to the fact that each song of the group consisted of three major movements. Van Camp: 'The titles of those pieces referred to our method of writing. We piled up a huge bunch of ideas, because we wanted to tell more than just one story. With each composition, we took the listener for a ride'.
|
2023 |
€17.00 |
|
| DIE FORM |
Die Puppe |
LP |
"Die Form is a French post-industrial and electronic band formed in 1977. The name ‘Die Form’ means ‘(the) form/shape’ in German, like the Bauhaus diary and is a play on the English homonym ‘deformed’ and on the French homonym ‘difforme’ (deformed). Die Form is the primary project of electronic musician and multimedia artist Philippe Fichot. He began by recording a number of experimental cassette releases in the late 1970s and formed the Bain Total label to release these early cassettes and various side projects including Krylon Hertz, Mental Code, Camera Obscura, Eva-Johanna Reichstag, Hurt and Fine Automatic.
In 1982 Die Form released their debut vinyl album, “Die Puppe” in a limited edition of 1,000 copies. These are the first esoteric electronic experiments, often improvised, from what would become the sound of the project. Underlying themes of eroticism, death and other ‘taboo’ subjects are apparent in both the music and the album artwork, which Philippe also produces. The album was recorded with entirely analog equipment (Roland MC4 Micro-Composer, TR-808 Rhythm Composer, ARP 2600, Kawai 60F, Revox B77). Songs range from hypnotic, minimalistic proto-IDM to pure, daring experimental sound manipulation. Unable to fit into any genre, “Die Puppe” is in a class of music all its own.
All songs have been remastered from the original master tapes for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. The jacket is an exact replica of the original 1982 edition designed by Philippe Fichot, with a photograph of a porcelain doll holding a syringe. Each album includes two post cards with never before seen photos of Philippe with lyrics and liner notes by the band. Prepare to indulge your lustiest hedonistic fetishes." [label info]
www.darkentriesrecords.com
|
2015 |
€18.50 |
|
|
Die Form ÷ Hurt |
LP |
This Die Form side-project was recorded in a few days in 1984 and remains the only trace under the name of Hurt, initially released on Bain Total label (K.29 cassette) at the same period as 'Some Experiences With Shock'.
As for the both previous volumes 1 & 2 from the double album 'Die Form ÷ Fine Automatic', it appears in the 'Archives of Industrial Music from France' collection, proposed by Rotorelief Records.
It brings together all the tracks of the cassette, and other titles from Die Form, close in the spirit and in the form, have been added.
It is a kind of snapshot, close to the tear and chaos, where the machines and the out-of-control guitars are used as a support for the cry up to the final exhaustion. Passion - Pain - Urge.
Again, these are experimental and industrial creations, characteristic of this particular period:time, in the spirit of bands as 'No New York' (Teenage Jesus, DNA, James Chance, Mars), and Suicide or Throbbing Gristle, SPK
www.rotorelief.com
|
2016 |
€23.00 |
|
| |
Ad Infinitum |
do-LP & BOOK |
Die Form is the seminal post-industrial electronic act started in the late 70’s by French musician and multimedia artist Philippe Fichot. He began recording a number of experimental cassettes under different names but Die Form became the main project and with which he has developed a prolific career during more than four decades. Whilst the project was still in its first stage, the underlying concepts were already evident: a combination of esoteric electronic experiments with an underlying theme of eroticism, death and other taboo subjects, apparent in both the music and artworks.
“Ad Infinitum” was recorded with dark and stifling atmospheres almost simultaneously with the album “Confessions”. It includes cult pieces such as “Bite Of God” and “Chronovision”, which has made the success of Die Form in clubs, alongside more ambient and industrial tracks such as “In The Evening Of Life” or “Unlimited”.
“Ad Infnitum” was originally released on CD in 1993 by Hyperium Records and now is available for the first on vinyl record. This new edition includes the complete original track list plus a selection of instrumental versions and unreleased tracks from the same period. Limited edition of 474 numbered copies on double vinyl with a deluxe 16-page casebound hardcover book featuring unpublished images as well as other reworked photographs taken from “The Visionary Garden”.
"In praise of the shadow, fascination with the machine, attraction and repulsion, litany and liturgy, funeral Eros…"
“The taboo leads to transgression ... The taboo transgression spellbinds” (Georges Bataille)
https://mecanica.bigcartel.com/product/dieformadinfinitum |
2021 |
€55.00 |
|
| DIETER MÜH & LON MILO DUQUETTE |
The Call |
LP |
"The first side of this LP is a 23 minute piece entitled “The Call” featuring Lon Milo DuQuette, legendary occultist and leading, & longest serving, member of the OTO in California.
Lon intones the 19 calls of the Aythers in the Enochian language in a truly enlightening piece of ritual magick!
The second side entitled “Sutreworde” is a live performance by Dieter Muh, from 2003 in Leipzig, Germany, featuring pieces from The Call woven into the 23 minute set.
This LP is released on our own HaemOccult imprint (HAEM001)." [label info]
"Following Atomyriades, an exemplary reworking of source material from Mnem, Dieter Müh the much-underrated UK underground electronic outfit return with their own material on The Call. The Call is perhaps the most significant work from Dieter Muh, as it features eminent occult author and Grand Master of the O.T.O. Lon Milo DuQuette reciting Enochian texts, a series of calls in the language of the angels. 'The Call' is based on the work of Dr John Dee, astrologer to Queen Elizabeth I, and the texts recorded by his scyrer Edward Kelley, who he said were dictated to him in the angel's own language.
'The Call' enters to an atmospheric build up of chiming metal bowls and quietly understated howls of ambient electronics shifting to passages of ringing metal bowls. Its slow pace providing an unmistakeable ritual setting for the poised tones of Lon Milo DuQuette, as he effortlessly wrestles with the intricacies of the Enochian tongue over the shimmer of singing bowls.
As DuQuette relates in the sleevenotes, "The Call is a shuttle that waves high magick and high art - an incantation of transcendent sound and angelic language chanted to the guardians of the Aythers so they might awaken and one by one peel away the thirty membranes of consciousness that, like cerements of the tomb, separate us from the pure consciousness of the divine." Heavy stuff, you're unlikely to encounter elsewhere.
The flipside, 'Sutreworde' is a live recording of Dieter Müh from Augsburg, Germany in 2003. It captures an improvisary performance of Dieter Muh's murky industrial and occult electronics. Skittery electronics are woven with pulses, rattling tones with an assortment of taped voices fed through the mix. With a mass of electronic devices and sampled sources Dave Uden and Steve Cammack, once again, keep firm control of their textured output, even including elements of 'The Call' before bowing out with some ambient droning to taped strains from their 'We're Not Happy…' single.
This recording of 'The Call' has been long promised ever since Dieter Müh and Lon Milo DuQuette performed this live at The Salon music event as part of the Information Wants To Be Free festival at the October Gallery, London, in 2003, a performance I was fortunate to witness. This recorded version does not disappoint and I really can't see this being available for much longer. It's perhaps the closest you'll ever come to communing with the angels.
The Call is released on heavyweight white vinyl in an edition of 230 copies on Dieter Müh's own HaemOccult Recordings imprint. For more information go to www.dietermuh.org." [Compulsion Online] |
2008 |
€16.00 |
|
| DIETER MÜH (DIETER MUH) |
Black Square (same) |
CD |
"Vielversprechendes Debut einer neuen englischen Band: konkrete Elemente, sphärische Sounds, surreale Atmo, hämmernd-tribale Polyrhythmik = DAS IST SOUND WIE WIR IHN MÖGEN! Sehr eigenständiger Stil. Special Pappcover." [original Drone Rec. info]
|
1997 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Eponymous |
LP |
" “Eponymous” was at first to be a cassette release on the French label Mineurs Du Fonds. In the spring of 1998 José Leseuer (Mineurs Du Fonds operator and journalist) contacted us wanting to distribute our “Black Square” CD album in France and was asking about new material. We mailed him the “Eponymous” recordings. Recorded in late 1998 at our home studio in Forest Fields, Nottingham “Eponymous” is a classic example of a "Work In Progress" album. At the start of 1998 we had ditched our old Roland synths (JD800 / SH101) and invested in sampling devices, an 8 track digital recorder and effects pedals. “Eponymous” features us looping a lot of machinery (including photocopying machines and printing machines) and taking samples from our old 1980’s project Mühviertel. With “Eponymous” we were still learning and discovering the possibilities of reaching the sound we wanted to create / hear.
José never released the cassette, instead he disappeared for four years. In 2002 he resurfaced with a new label called Naninani Recordings and “Eponymous” was now a CDR with a remix by French artist Cedric LeRouley. The original release was 113 copies. José has since disappeared again.
Sentimental Productions have caringly rescued the recordings and re-mastered them. Vinyl seems to make sense….." [Stephen Cammack / Dieter Müh]
https://soundcloud.com/sentimentalroductions
"As I was looking at the cover of this record, I was thinking: does Dieter Müh still exist? The previous release I reviewed was not that long ago, Vital Weekly 1062, but that was, as is this new one, a release recorded in 1998. The previous one was released back then in a small edition, but 'Eponymous' had a somewhat bigger edition back then; 103 copies were released on CDR by Naninani Recordings, a short lived CDR label from France. Vital Weekly, being one of the oldest online sources for this kind of music, of course (well…) reviewed this before, in Vital Weekly 337.
I wrote back then: "One would think that Dieter Müh is just a guy with a funny name, but it's not. I believe they are a duo or trio from the UK. Also, they have been around for sometime now, with a couple of small scale releases some years back. After that things became quiet and they seem to have vanished. But Dieter Müh is back. The pieces on this release are not very recent ones, they were all recorded in 1998 {the release was from 2002 - FdW}. The easiest way to describe Dieter Müh is by labelling them as 'ambient industrialists', but that wouldn't entirely justify them. They operate in a lofi sampling way, lifting samples from probably other people's work, and creating their own dense and dark tapestries of sound. Because of their humble recording methods, the sounds remain kinda obscured, but that is something, I believe, that will appeal to the lovers of
such ambient industrial ethics. The final piece is a remix of Dieter Muh soundmaterial by one Cedric Lerouley, who uses probably more updated sound techniques, but if you wouldn't know would
sound like another Dieter Muh piece, but then recorded better. All in all in a nice release, without anything dramatic new."
With fresh, 2017, ears I would say something like this; the recordings on this LP were made
in a studio and one easily notes the difference with the previous one, recorded in concert. I easily admit I wasn't that blown away by their live sound, which I thought was a bit too single-minded in approach, but in their studio work they show much more. The seven titles here continue to explore the mild industrial sound of sampled percussion, repeating voices, a fair dash of reverb; for instance in 'Dumhome' I hear influences of both Big City Orchestra and early Contrastate. In 'R.I.P.>5' they go out for a more industrial drone sound of multi-layered synth sounds, while in 'Sebel' Throbbing
Gristle/Cabaret Voltaire are guiding principles, with phased loops and spoken word samples. There
is throughout all of these pieces references to be made to one band or another, yet I would think Dieter Müh, back then a duo of Steve Cammack and Dave Uden, have plenty of their own input to make each track their own thing, and it is through variety that they achieve their own sound. It seems like none of these pieces sound very similar to the other ones. None of this screams 'true noise' in your ears and that's some much better. Ambient industrial is surely something that is still the most appropriate term for such music. It's also a musical style that never became big and never had a revival, oddly enough. This is a most welcome re-issue I guess; it sounded retro and I love it (the previous remix not included this time)." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2017 |
€23.50 |
|
| |
Mutus Liber |
CD |
"Initial Dieter Müh recordings from 1993-1994, never before released on CD !!
About the reissue of this rare promo tape, here's Steve [Cammack] in his own words:
<< At the beginning of 1995 we played a gig at the 1 in 12 Club, Bradford with Zoviet*France. It went quite well and folk were asking about releases etc and we had nothing. So Dave [Uden] quickly knocked up a compilation of recordings we made in 1993-1994 at his (various) home(s) in Nottingham. I can't quite remember which tracks were recorded at which location.
Because Tim [Bayes] was involved in the 'live set up' he included the extract from the gig at The Narrowboat. Tim is not on any of the studio recordings. Only a handful of people received this give away tape.
There is no master as such. You probably have the only copy.
Colin Potter approached us at our gig in York in 1995 and offered time at his ICR studio for cheap - if he could 'produce' [which resulted in Black Square, first official Dieter Müh release from 1997]. I think that is why we did not "push" Mutus Liber. >>
Join us on this exciting ambient noise trip !!
Limited to 200 copies in sealed digipak"
|
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| DIFFERENT STATE & SIGILL |
Spazmatic(k) Spell |
CD |
"This album, dedicated to A.O. Spare include 60 minutes of pure magic[k]al sounds conceived by two projec[k]ts: Different State and Sigill. Each of them represents a slightly different approach, although they are both connected by mystic[k]al, alc[k]emical, ritual character.
Marchoff (Different State) describes his music as alchembient. This sums his work up perfectly. It’s a mix of illbient a bit in the vein of Coil or Psychic TV, a great deal of alchemical incantations and moans, there’s a lot of elements so characteristic for Different State. In conciving the following material, Marchoff was aided by Laura Marchoff (angelic[k] voice, custom made generator A-23), Tom Westbum (clarinet, sax, alto sax, trumpet) and Janusz Sokolnicki (tube AMP, lead guitar).
Sigill is a project consisting of brat salo and Nantur-a duo creating electronic lunar spaces and astral soundscapes using samples and ancient instruments. The material was conceived during winter solstice 2006.
The disc is packaged in a deluxe 3-panel digipak." [label description]
www.zoharum.com
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| DIMUZIO, THOMAS |
Sutro Transmissions |
LP |
"This is the wizard the land of Oz wished for: boundless, benemalevolent, shrouded in torrents of sound, daring lions to speak and machines to feel. Dimuzio sets your straw brains alight to melt your metal heart while your furry ears crisp and yowl.
For the first time, San Francisco legend Thomas Dimuzio presents an all Buchla-synthesizer album. Custom algorithmic crossfades of complex sound synthesis fuel this metabolism of mind and machine. His Buchla 272e module incorporates a polyphonic FM tuner introducing chance-factors snatched from live transmissions, steered via algorithmic mixing through oscillator arrays and envelope generators before spilling into the ears of blood-pumping audiences huddled in the slanting five thousand foot shadow of SF's Sutro Tower. Each track is a site specific improvisation blooming in the dark of underground venues on opposite ends of Haight Street just blocks from where Buchla invented the world's first synthesizer.
“Nothing is more beautiful than [Dimuzio's] acoustic heterogeneity, a depth of aural perspective provided by antithetical frequencies, irregular waves and inscrutable halos.” -Massimo Ricci
The first thirty pre-orders will include unique and original letterpress art created by Planetary Magnetics Corporation in New Orleans. These one of a kind prints were rendered on a huge letterpress using gorgeous, richly colored and metallic inks on dangerously old blocks arranged sleestak style by master-printer Tyler Harwood. The album cover is a reproduction of a single print from this original series."
https://www.resipiscent.com/artist/view/51
"Thomas Dimuzio – justifiably called a “legend” by the label’s introductory summary – belongs nonetheless in the pool of names not immediately springing to mind when it comes to sonic innovation built upon the interpenetration of supposedly unconnected elements. However, his expertise in concocting unorthodox landscapes and spontaneous articulations of otherwise inexpressible insights has been proven time and again. Sutro Transmissions, a gorgeous example of analog synthesizer-based music, represents a quintessential reminder.
The apparatus through which Dimuzio emits transcendentally tangible matters is constituted by (drum roll, press release) “a Buchla 272e module [that] incorporates a polyphonic FM tuner introducing chance-factors snatched from live transmissions and steered via algorithmic mixing through oscillator arrays and envelope generators”. For the unacquainted, this might appear as alien language; as soon as they hear the results, all doubts are going to be extirpated.
Nothing is more beautiful than absorbing acoustic heterogeneity if the diversification is driven by the vision of an inherent logical structure. Dimuzio has produced two exceptional pieces in that sense. The conglomeration of extreme dynamics and timbral variegation systematically startles the attentive listener, even when the textural totality may suggest a “search for quietness” hypothesis. It is actually by this juxtaposition of contrasts that the necessary energies are released for the attainment of that state. Learning to distinguish and welcome diversity is never a wasted effort, especially when the forced acceptance of what’s unnatural and the effects of cyclical ordinariness become unbearable. By experiencing the depth of aural perspective provided by antithetical frequencies, irregular waves and inscrutable halos you’ll have a clear exemplification of what I’m trying to translate.
Replace the nauseating boredom generated by the self-appointed boffin of your choice with the polychromatic fibers of these sounds. Train your perception to rapidly individuate the correct direction rather than ruminating for days on something that will ultimately be revealed as entirely unfounded. Doctor Dimuzio can assist you." [Touching Extremes]
|
2020 |
€22.50 |
|
| |
Balance (Duos, Trios, Combos) |
3 x CD |
"49 Artists, 28 shows, 10 years… Thomas Dimuzio and friends deliver a stunning live anthology of noise, dark ambient, textural, experimental, and electro-acoustic music in distinct duo, trio, and combo configurations. Exquisite excerpts combine the sublime synergy of live spontaneous music with the visceral energy of the stage across this colossal and compelling collection.
Dimuzio’s modular electronics and live-sampling prowess serve as the common thread as he teams with a dazzling array of fringe music luminaries: Scott Amendola, Cilla Vee, Bob Bellerue, Chuck Bettis, Easy Bake Oven, Illusion Of Safety, Demonsleeper, Fugitive Pope, Alan Courtis, Beth Custer, Matmos, Antimatter, Evelyn Davis, Doctor Nerve, Sharkiface, Jon Evans, Thea Farhadian, Kris Force, Phillip Greenlief, Solid Eye, Emily Hay, Shelley Hirsch, Motoko Honda, Aurora Josephson, Blevin Blectum, Joe Lasqo, Wobbly, Scott Looney, Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe, Ava Mendoza, T.D. Skatchit, Transient, Arcane Device, Kanoko Nishi-Smith, Rick Reed, Gino Robair, Xambuca, Moe! Staiano, Amma Ateria, Larry Thrasher, Richard Teitelbaum, Lori Varga, Music For Hard Times, and Kit Young.
#######################################
Balance is dedicated to the listener, the audience, the venues, the sound systems, the promotors and to everyone that does what it takes to make live music happen and thrive. Balance could not exist without any one of these vital elements. For music lovers our lives revolve around seeing our favorite bands and supporting local artists, spaces and venues. We can only hope that the musicians and venues will persevere during this pandemic and that live music will recover and thrive again.
My heartfelt thanks also goes out to all of the artists on this record. It is a true thrill to make music together and an honor to know you as a friend.
All of the music in this collection was composed live by the performers on each track. All tracks were engineered and recorded live by Thomas Dimuzio (except for B8 recorded by Mitchell Brown & C10 recorded by KFJC-FM). All material was edited, mixed and mastered by Thomas Dimuzio (except A8 mixed by Xopher Davidson). Cover design and layout by Thomas Dimuzio. ©Ⓟ2020 Gench Music (BMI)
Scott Amendola
Claire Elizabeth Barratt (Cilla Vee)
Bob Bellerue
Chuck Bettis
Gregg Bielski (Easy Bake Oven)
Dan Burke (Illusion Of Safety)
Alexandra Buschman (Demonsleeper)
Barry Conley (Fugitive Pope)
Alan Courtis (Reynols)
Beth Custer
Drew Daniel (Matmos)
Xopher Davidson (Antimatter)
Evelyn Davis
Nick Didkovsky (Doctor Nerve)
Angela Edwards (Sharkiface)
Jon Evans
Thea Farhadian
Kris Force (Amber Asylum)
Phillip Greenlief
Joseph Hammer (Solid Eye)
Emily Hay
Shelley Hirsch
Motoko Honda
Aurora Josephson
Bevin Kelley (Blevin Blectum)
Joe Lasqo
Jon Leidecker (Wobbly)
Scott Looney
Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe
Michael Lytle (Doctor Nerve)
Ava Mendoza
David Michalak (T.D. Skatchit)
David Molina (Transient)
David Lee Myers (Arcane Device)
Kanoko Nishi-Smith (KaMoTo Trio)
Tom Nunn (T.D. Skatchit)
Rick Potts (Solid Eye)
Rick Reed
Gino Robair
M.C. Schmidt (Matmos)
Chandra Shukla (Xambuca)
Moe Staiano (KaMoTo Trio)
Jeanie-Aprille Tang (Amma Ateria)
Larry Thrasher (Thee Majesty)
Richard Teitelbaum
Lori Varga
Paul Winstanley (Music For Hard Times)
Kit Young
https://thomasdimuzio.bandcamp.com |
2020 |
€22.00 |
|
| DIRAC |
Emphasis |
CD |
"Our way to create a record is based on the simple principle of direct-recording – which means the shape and form of our music is basically created within one moment. It is not only about meeting in a studio to do the recordings, but to stay together at one place with a focus on creating music and concentrated listening each day. The isolation from other musical inputs and the reduced input in general, being far off from bigger cities, far off an everyday-live takes you to the point when you don’t want to sound like something you know, you just want to search, experiment and play. John Cage said, that experimental music is where the outcome can’t be foreseen. These things happen through passion and not ambition.
For ‘emphasis’, we again went to Salzburg, where we could set up our gear in the basement of Florian’s parents house for one week – the same place we recorded our first album ‘dirac’. We recorded about 4 hours everyday , experimenting with different materials and instruments. We later listened to the results at the studio garnison7 in Vienna and did more editing work in a small hut up in the snowy austrian mountains in February 2008 – it was cold, electricity was short, but it was silent.
The record contains many details that have personal aural connections to us. The bell which reappears on emphasis is an old-cuckoo-clock from the hut. The crows that fly away are a field-recording from vienna´s augarten park – we went in there during the night and triggered the birds with a short lightimpuls from a flash light. The kids playing were recorded in a village in northern India were Daniel and Peter spent some time doing field-recordings. The trumpet appearing in Bantu was recorded by Peter on a frozen mountain lake in Austria – thereby the natural reverb of the valley is transferred onto the record. The cover-picture shows the roof of an old abandoned farming-house, close to the mountain hut where we worked on the record." [Peter Kutin, DIRAC]
www.spekk.net
|
2009 |
€15.50 |
|
| DISCORDLESS |
Fear on Every Side |
MC |
In the three years since Marius Costache’s previous full-length album for Amek as Discordless, his usual menacing and anxiety-fuelled music has reached even further into the sonic extremes. We can blame it on the world we live in, on the year that just passed or on Costache’ very own distortion-worshipping approach to electronic music and his decades-worth of experience as a sound and recording engineer. Whichever you pick, ‘Fear On Every Side’ will remain a brutal take on contemporary noise music. It is demanding, disorienting and primal work but still captivating and sincere.
Every element found on the record contributes to a narrative that feels simultaneously vast and intimate. ‘Fear On Every Side’ can be perceived both from a first person perspective and as an overview of our decaying reality. The record doesn’t want you to overcome the sense of hopelessness, paranoia and tension it unfolds in front of you, but rather to plunge you deeper in this place of no way out.
https://amekcollective.bandcamp.com/album/fear-on-every-side
|
2021 |
€8.00 |
|
| DISKAHOLICS |
Live in Japan Vol.1 |
CD |
DISKAHOLICS = JIM O’ROURKE, MATS GUSTAFSSON, THURSTON MOORE! Live-Impro Japan 2002 ! Noise-Jazz !
"Documenting a 2002 sojourn to Japan that featured some slathering improv between Jim O'Rourke (synthi, noise), Mats Gustafsson (sax, noise), and Thurston Moore (guitar, noise). Although the purpose of the visit might have been to find bagloads of righteous collector-styled records, this recording flops onto the sidewalk with some of that old salted slug action you know -- deep breaths with a deadly spasm. The sounds here really get electro-acoustic in the same vein as leather elbowed warriors like Toop and Henri, but with scrappy crappy horizontal huddle of minds flowing with the JUICE! Really an inspired record that brings each player's pedigree upfront. This is a hot-wired jazz, really free blowing and joyous, but not so obvious you'll feel like the second time around. You're a grown up now, listen to grown up music. Step up to the bar!" [label info]
|
2006 |
€13.50 |
|
| DJ ORDEAL |
Sea / Seagull |
LP |
"Die zweite monatliche Empfehlung geht diesmal an DJ Ordeal und Jacques Beloeil. Die raue stürmische See, konterkariert mit den Geräuschen hochgepitchter Bandschlaufen, die im musikalischen rauen Klangkorsett wie Seevögel wirken und sich neben den echten Möwengeräuschen wie artifizielle Soundsplitter ausnehmen. Für Ambient zu sperrig, wirken die zwischen der Brandung und dem Auftreffen der Wellen am Strand eingesetzten Cut-Ups tiefgesetzter Streicher wie eine Nachvertonung des Spielberg’schen Weißen Hai-Themas.
DJ Ordeal mischt zwischen die Wellen neben allerlei Vogelgeräuschen auch die kurz eingespielte Acapellastimme einer unbekannten Soulsängerin, während eine weitere Frauenstimme kurz nach Entsteigen der Wellen ihr Sauerstoffbedürfnis mittels eines feuchten Seufzens kundtut. Ordeals Mischung steigert sich mit Fortlauf der A-Seite, die Wellen werden zum Träger weiterer leiser Informationen (vielleicht die »tiny bits«, die kleinen {klanglichen} Stücke, die Ordeal in den Notes erwähnt?), ehe das Stück endgültig in die Auslaufrille der LP überschwappt.
Umseitig findet sich das Stück »Seagull«, eine Vertonung des Möwenthemas mittels einer unechten Möwe (generiert aus dem zu schnell abgespielten Teil einer Vokalaufnahme) sowie dem Anschein nach echten Klängen der Wassermöwe. Das Experiment wirkt als hätte Ordeal das ganze auf Echtzeitbänder übertragen und noch während des Mischens kräftig am Band gezerrt. Gespeist in feinste Reverbschwaden und mit leicht angezerrter Struktur klingt die B-Seite so dermaßen kunstvoll via Rückwärtsspur und Tapedelay dass die Monotonie und Repetition des ganzen sich nach kurzer Eingewöhnungszeit mehr und mehr in Wohlgefallen löst." [AEMAG]
www.entracte.co.uk
|
2006 |
€15.50 |
|
| DO MAKE SAY THINK |
Other Truths |
LP + CD |
"The sixth full-length from Do Make Say Think defiantly features four long-form tracks, three of which clock in at over 10 minutes, and all of which trace the inimitable musical arcs that have made this band justly celebrated for their unique sonic palette and vibrant distillation of compositional forms and influences into some of the past decade's most consistently rich and rewarding instrumental rock. Bucking the trend towards diminishing attention spans, immediate gratification, snappy digital singles and things that go 'pop' right out of the gate, DMST admirably stick to their roots and allow the vines that spring from their fertile musical garden to wind, curl and climb for as long as required. More than ever, the players keep their heads down, creating wonderful multi-movement instrumental works (with the occasional mantric or wordless vocal passage, courtesy guest singers The Akron Family and Lullabye Arkestra), overflowing with attention to tone and timbre, animated by unfussy yet ornate harmony, melody and polyrhythm, shot through with ineffable soul."
www.cstrecords.com
|
2009 |
€19.50 |
|
| DOC WÖR MIRRAN FEAT. RE-DRUM & S. STADLMEIER |
24.3.16 |
LP |
"Throughout their 148 releases (including this one) to date, Doc Wör Mirran have been one of the most important connectors between the post-punk indie rock tape/DIY scene and its more industrial-inspired sibling, the drone/noise underground. On this album, Doc Wör Mirran (in what is basically a rock-band set-up with guitars, bass, percussion, and synths), prove this point by featuring two guests from the European drone scene: Russian drone artist Re-Drum and Sascha Stadlmeier. Known in the global dark ambient/drone scene under his moniker EMERGE, Stadlmeier increasingly operates under his given name when improvising (as he does here) with prepared bass, guitar, and objects.
Recorded on 24 March, 2016, at Doc Wör Mirran’s Two Car Garage Studios in Fürth, Germany, the two sides of the LP contain two parts from the improvisations recorded during that day – hence the understated album title. It pays to decipher the A and B side indications in the clear vinyl, as the flip between side A and B is not only a technical necessity of the format. It is also a shifting of musical scenes, and it makes sense to listen to it in the intended order. Side A establishes a rather static sonic swamp landscape, punctuated by occasional cries of passing theremin birds and the gargling of synthesised frogs, while short pulses of basslines emerge and disappear from the surface of the mix, reminding listeners that this is uncharted territory. Flip to side B, and the subdued tension built up throughout side A erupts. Metallic clangs, noisy barks, the flapping of delayed percussion, and the scratching of miked objects gang together to invade the untouched swamp, wreaking havoc in previously untouched nature until only the mournful faces of tree stumps remain (like the painted tree stump sculpture from the back garden of Doc Wör Mirran founder Joseph B. Raimond, shown on the cover).
This is improvised music with a surprisingly narrative feel. Electronic soundcraft and instrumental musicianship combine very effectively here, and the players show a great sense of economy in the gradual up building and changing atmospheric details."
https://emerge.bandcamp.com/album/24316
|
2017 |
€17.00 |
|
| DOCKSTADER, TOD & DAVID LEE MYERS |
Bijou |
CD |
„Bijou (ReR TGM2) ist nach Pond (2004) erneut ein Generationen übergreifendes Gemeinschaftswerk von TOD DOCKSTADER (*1932, St. Paul, MI) und dem New Yorker DAVID LEE MYERS. Während Dockstader mit seinem charmanten elektroakustischen Sonderweg seit Anfang der 60er zu den frühen Gurus der amerikanischen Musique concrète zählt (Eight Electronic Pieces, 1961, OWL-Recordings, 1966), trat Myers unter dem Pseudonym Arcane Device Ende der 80er Jahre an die Öffentlichkeit mit seiner eigentümlichen Feedbackmachinen-ästhetik (Engines of Myth, 1988, Also sprach Zarathustra, 1991, Diabolis Ex Machina, 1992), von der er sich in Kollaborationen mit etwa Asmus Tietchens (Speiseleitung, 1996, Flussdichte, 2001) und Thomas Dimuzio (Uncertain Symmetry, 2002) zunehmend löste, eine Entwicklung, die er auch durch die Verwendung seines Familiennamens unterstrich. Myers teilt mit Dockstader, mit dem er lange vor ihren Kollaborationen bereits im Briefwechsel stand, mehr als nur eine Vorliebe für Frösche, der sie mit Pond frönten, während Myers einen Frosch namens Beaumont als Held eines Kinderbuchs auftreten lässt. Bijou ist pures Cinema pour l‘oreille, das sich aus 27 kleinen Szenen entfaltet, mit ratterndem Vorführgerät als illusionistischem Vor- und Abspann und schmetternden Hollywoodfanfaren als ‚Credits‘. Dass das audiovisuelle Moment bei Dockstader immer eine große Rolle spielte, zeigt schon seine Recorded Music for Film, Radio & Television: Electronic (1979/1981). Zusammen mit Myers blättert er im „unconscious lexicon of sound“ (Chris Cutler), das als Bodensatz von millionenfach geteilten Stunden vor TV-Bildschirmen und Kinoleinwänden dem modernen Bewusstsein eingeschrieben ist. Dabei wurden Verbindungen gebahnt und Signale verankert, die rein auf klanglicher Basis so evokativ wirken, dass über das Gehör unwillkürlich ‚Atmosphären‘, ‚Stimmungen‘ und ‚Imaginationen‘ rückgekoppelt werden. Jeder weitere Werbeclip, jeder neue Film basiert auf solcher Konditionierung, solcher ‚Medienkompetenz‘. Bijou ist aber nur insofern der ‚totale Film‘, dass in ‚Dementia‘, ‚Scene of the Crime‘, ‚The Cringing Unknown‘, ‚Battle Finale‘ etc. Elemente aus Thriller, Melodrama, Doku, Film Noir, Kriegsfilm, SF usw. anklingen. Das Cover zeigt ein Psycho-Motel, der Soundtrack ist aber kaleidoskopischer, auf narrativer Ebene überwirklich und ambig, wie Erinnerungsfetzen, die nur von Traumlogik und Traumdeutung zusammengezogenen sind. Dockstader löst seinen Anspruch, „trying to push the sound a little farther forward toward Something we hadn't heard before“, insofern ein, dass er und Myers eine aus dem Medialen destillierte ‚Metasprache‘ finden mit der nahezu magischen Kraft von Klängen, die mit nichts als gewellter Luft und dem Reservoir medialer Erinnerungen im Stande sind, effektvoll Raum und Zeit auszuhebeln.“ [Rigobert Dittmann, Bad Alchemy # 49]
"A subtle, moody, rich and wide-ranging work, in which atmosphere, emotion and dramaturgy lead the ear far beyond music into a world of hints, evocations, anticipation and association -- and, in passing, reveal a complex metonymic language that, at a deep level, invokes that mostly unconscious lexicon of sound we have all absorbed collectively and subliminally in the course of a century of movie-going, television viewing, documentary recording and electroacoustic experimentation. Once sounds have been abstracted from events, they are free to act and interact as signs; they are no longer indications of the real. And from their use as indicators we learn new meanings (the low drone from Jaws, the shower strings from Psycho, a TV theme -- these are all as directly meaningful to us as a barking dog or an approaching train; after 1000 movies, the sound of a helicopter has as many fictional as factual meanings, and these accretions make experience imaginatively richer. This is the language Dockstader and Myers explore, and although, in a sense, such signs are weightless (there is nothing there) nevertheless we cannot unhook them and they conjure instinctively fragmentary narratives, events, places, situations and meanings. Where their last CD (Pond) abstracted sounds from real life (in fact, documentary recordings of frogs), this one invokes a fictional life invoked in a language of purely mediated abstraction." [label description]
|
2005 |
€14.00 |
|
| DOCKSTADER, TOD & JAMES REICHERT |
Omniphony 1 |
CD |
„Omniphony 1“ ist die Neuauflage der gleichnamigen, 1966 auf OWL Records erschienenen LP. 1963 komponierte Tod Dockstader eine Reihe von Tonbandstücken, „cells“, bestehend aus natürlichen Klangquellen (Glocken, menschliche Stimmen etc.) und elektronischen Klängen (z.B. Oszillatoren). Der Filmkomponist James Reichert (1932 ¬ 1995) entwarf, der Klangintention der „cells“ entsprechende Orchesterstücke, sogenannte „inparts“, die anschließend nochmals durch Filter und Ringmodulatoren gejagt wurden, um den instrumentalen Klangumfang und die Dynamiken zu verändern. Die
anschließende Re-Komposition zeitigte ein sehr homogen angelegtes Ergebnis, das auch heute noch in Erstaunen versetzt. Elekronisches umschwirrt reißend und manchmal ein bischen frech die moog-manipulierten Bläsergruppen. Ständige Wechsel der Dynamik verwirren die Fäden der Klänge so weit, dass Elektronik und konkreter Instrumentalklang jeweils mit der Sprache des anderen zu sprechen scheinen. So wirken manche Stellen glatt wahnwitzig: wenn die kammermusikalischen „inparts“ im Zusammenspiel mit Dockstaders
prä-Industrial-elektronischen „cells“ eher Hollywood denn Donau-Eschingen beschwören, werden Bereiche des Grotesken befühlt. Das ist nicht schlimm, sondern erzählt vielmehr von der Besessenheit mit der echte Freaks am Werke waren, um in einem Jahr 100.000 Fuß an Tapematerial zu bearbeiten. Als Bonusmaterial gibt es Dockstaders „Study no.7“ (1961) in einer Stereoversion, sowie seine dringliche „Past prelude“ von 1990. //
„Omniphony 1“ is the rerelease of the OWL-LP from 1966. In 1963, Tod Dockstader composed a set of taped sounds which he called „cells“ consisting of natural sounds (bells, wind, voice) and electronically sounds (as from oscillators, recording circuitry, etc.). James Reichert (1932 ¬ 1995) composed a series of orchestrated parts which were based upon the sound intention of Dockstader’s „cells“. Those „inparts“ were transmuted using R.A. Moog music processing equipment to change the instrumental ranges and dynamics. With the following re-composition they produced a very homogeneous result wich is today still amazing. Electronically sounds pungent and sometimes a kind of saucy are flowing through a moog-manipulated brass group. The permanent changing of dynamics entangles the sounds. It seems that electronic and concrete instruments have particular swapped their very own sound. So some parts might have a strange atmosphere: when the chamber music -like „inparts“ together with Dockstader’s prä-industrial-electronically „cells“ evoke Hollywood more than Donau-Eschingen it is getting grotesque. But it is cool, because it tells from the truly obsessive fashion of two music freaks who edited and mixed down over 100.000 feet oftapes for that release. Further bonus tracks are Dockstader’s „study no.7“ (1961) in a stereo version and his „past prelude“ from 1990." [Peter Schlewinski for Drone Records]
"In the early 1960's Tod Dockstader was a young maverick composer of electronic 'organised sound', and James Reichert a film composer and music supervisor. They met in New York in 1963, and launched one of the most extraordinary collaborations in modern music, a unique attempt to integrate electronic sounds and the classical orchestra. Unlike Varese's Deserts, and Stockhausen's Kontakte, it does not merely have the orchestra play along with a tape, or even process orchestral sounds live. What makes this project unique is that the orchestra was transformed by electronic processes at a fundamental level, and organically fused with the purely electronic sounds. The completed work is a bizarre blend of Dockstader's fundamentally intuitive approach to sound, and Reichert's more conservatoire-based feeling for melody and orchestration. It often sounds like an unlikely collaboration between Stravinsky and Frank Zappa in avant garde mode, or Stockhausen and his alter-egos, Stock, Hausen and Walkman. Its not simply an important historical document, but an intriguing and entirely convincing listen; a truly extraordinary combination of electronic and orchestral textures, in which the orchestra seems to have been drenched in Technicolor, and dragged through a cartoon sound studio." [label
info] |
2002 |
€14.00 |
|
| DORA, DELPHINE ET MOCKE |
Le Corps Defendant |
do-10inch |
Souvent, on croit dialoguer et on soliloque, on tire la couverture à soi, on empêche l’autre parole, on est trop bavard ou trop taiseux. Et puis parfois, comme miraculeusement, on y parvient : on se met à savoir parler parce qu’on sait écouter. Mocke et Delphine Dora, dans la lente impatience de ces conversations musicales qui ont donné Le Corps défendant, ont cherché à tisser ce drôle de lien qui unit ceux qui construisent ensemble.
Des deux singularités (l’évidence même d’avoir affaire à deux artistes qui ne ressemblent à personne), ni l’une ni l’autre ne l’emporte. Au contraire, ce qui advient de ce dialogue n’est pas seulement l’addition des deux mais l’apparition de ce que chacun est capable de révéler de l’autre et qu’on avait pas encore entendu. On les retrouvent tous deux, on les reconnaît bien sûr, mais ailleurs, là où le même est déjà autre. C’est une étrange arithmétique où 1+1=3. Comme dans toute conversation il faut quelqu’un qui rompe le silence sans savoir à l’avance ce qui adviendra. Le silence doit se rompre comme le pain. La guitare s’y essaie ici, le piano là. Il ne faut pas trop chercher ses mots même si on les pèse parce qu’ils entraînent le reste. Comme dans toute conversation il faut savoir prendre une place mouvante pour que l’autre puisse trouver la sienne. Parfois la guitare de Mocke commence, sidérale, dévale les pentes, se fait liquide, et trouve dans le piano de Delphine Dora son nécessaire contrepoint, sur quoi s’arrimer. D’autre fois c’est l’inverse, la guitare électrique évite que le sol se dérobe. Tout semble venir sinon de l’improvisé du moins de l’intuitif qui les surprend eux mêmes. Parfois ils jouent sur des harmonies différentes, comme s’ils étaient encore loin, d’autres fois commencent ensemble et se séparent sans violence pour au final se retrouver au moment où on ne s’y attend pas. N’importe quand peut être mais pas n’importe où. Ils se rejoignent dans la césure, la pure parole, l’éclair, l’inexpressif. C’est à dire dans ce lieu que le disque invente. L’inexpressif ce n’est pas l’insensible, au contraire. C’est le monde d’avant le monde (ou après ce qui revient au même), où le sens se déploie dans sa nouveauté, où on invente une langue qui, dépourvue de signifiant connu peut tout signifier. C’est, plutôt que ce qui s’exprime, ce qui s’imprime avant même qu’on ait pu le ramener au déjà entendu. D’ailleurs quand Delphine Dora chante, elle le fait avec les mots qui viennent juste avant l’articulation signifiante, en chuchotant ou en inventant une drôle de langue sortie tout droit de contes étranges. La langue d’une pythie qui saurait se rire d’elle même et qui se moquerait bien des oracles. Piano, voix, guitare, tout se rejoint et c’est bouche bée qu’on assiste à ce moment où les choses s’assemblent. La musique prend en charge l’organisation des polyphonies qui nous constituent, aucune voix ne doit écraser l’autre. Et la beauté surgit, au corps défendant de Mocke et Delphine Dora, comme elle surgit toujours, dans les interstices du jeu risqué du funambule qui ne s’interdit rien parce qu’il refuse de choisir sous les injonctions de la séparation. Un jeu tout à la fois quiet et inquiet, consonant et dissonant, drôle et mélancolique, proche et lointain, savant et populaire. On a pas à choisir et on ne choisira pas. Tout ici se retrouve assemblé. Et même, au bord de la cassure, la voix de Delphine Dora semble convoquer à la fois les vivants et les morts comme sur le déchirant L’Absent était parmi nous qui clôt le disque. On le cherchait depuis tout ce temps et il était là, assis à la table. C’est bien l’ambition, que tout ce qui a disparu nous réapparaisse.
On pourrait les croire seuls. Mais de cette solitude particulière qui a les moyens de se confier. Des insulaires sans doute comme le dit le titre d’un des morceaux. Mais des insulaires qui rêvent de ponts et de navires. De voyages intersidéraux où même la lointaine Pluton s’éloigne. Nous voilà embarqués. »
Orso Jesenska
Delphine Dora: voix, piano, piano préparé, claviers, célesta, glockenspiel, cordes de piano et de guitare, violon, shruti box, field recordings, objets
Mocke: guitare
composé par: Delphine Dora & Mocke
enregistré par: Delphine Dora & Mocke
mixé par: Mocke
https://okrainarecords.bandcamp.com/album/le-corps-d-fendant
|
2017 |
€20.00 |
|
| DORELLA, BRUNO |
Paradiso |
CD |
Italian musician and producer Bruno Dorella guides us to \"Paradiso\", his new solo album, with the music for the homonymous choreographic project of gruppo nanou, to be released on CD and digital on November 25th, 2022 by the independent label 13 / Silentes.
\"Paradiso\" was born for the choreography of the new show by gruppo nanou, a contemporary dance and performing arts company, founded by Marco Valerio Amico, Rhuena Bracci and Roberto Rettura. The collaboration between Dorella and the company has started almost a decade ago and over time has also involved Ronin and OvO, the main bands of the Ravenna-based musician - OvO were on stage in 2021 for Canto Primo: Miasma | Arsura, an encounter between sounds and infernal images, with Dante\'s recurring reference.
But there is more than this. \"Paradiso\" is also the first electronic music album made by Dorella who, during the lockdown period, focused himself more and more on softwares. The tracks are composed according to the bodies and the choreography of the show. Dorella says: \"The composition took a long time. The choreographic needs, and the effect of music on the bodies, often led me to think with a broader perspective. Me and the members of gruppo nanou started the work from mutual suggestions and gradually we understood each other faster and faster. We defined a common conception of rhythm, deciding to work on apparently \'off-grid\' rhythms, creating the illusion of something wrong together but perfectly timed. In reality, these rhythms are parallel planes that travel in time with each other, even if out of phase.\"
\"Saturno\" is the first single taken from \"Paradiso\" and contains the fundamental elements of the entire work. That is, parallel, overlapping, sinuous rhythms, apparently out of phase but which \"turn\" together. In addition to abstract guitars and breath as the only source of voice.
According to gruppo nanou: \"Bruno has composed a choreographic work. We have verified together how sound can accommodate the body and be in dialogue with the scenic action. It was a transitive operation between scene and sound, bodies and the material density of sounds, vibrations and motion. The beauty of this musical work is that it is concrete matter and at the same time it is a precise thought. All the rules and limitations that we set for the creation of the show - regarding choreography, sound, lights and scene - have managed to be assimilated to become creative resources and therefore to become exact viscera.\"
The journey of \"Paradiso\" is articulated into thirteen tracks and ends with the title track, which is also the brand new single from the album and the only episode that can be assimilated to an \"alien\" song-form, featuring Francesca Amati (Comaneci) on vocals. Dorella speaking: \"We always thought that, at a certain point, we needed a \'song\'. With Francesca there is a long-standing collaboration and gruppo nanou loves her tone of voice, so it has always been clear that she would be the one to sing the song. But she had to do it in a non-existent and unidentifiable language. So, I broke down the syllables of what Francesca had sung, recomposing them with a new result.\"
In Dorella\'s long and eclectic career, \"Paradiso\" is only his second solo record, following \"Concerto per chitarra solitaria\", created for a contemporary classical music festival and released in 2019 by Bronson Recordings. \"I always thought of ensemble music, never really in the solo dimension, and I always imagined that if I ever made a record on my own and with my name on it, it would be related to pure composition\", Dorella explains. Active since the late 90s, Bruno Dorella is also known under the pseudonym Jack Cannon and was a member of Wolfango, as well as founder of OvO, Ronin and Bachi da Pietra, and more recently of Tiresia and the GDG Modern Trio, as well as an element of Sigillum S. \"Paradiso\" is the first record that testifies his experience in the field of theater music, developed through collaboration with various theater and dance companies.
\"Paradiso\" is a collective effort among the contemporary research dance company gruppo nanou and the artist Alfredo Pirri. Its path begins in 2021 and continues until July 2022 through appointments, called sketches, intended as the progressive deepening and development of research and tests for the construction of a performative process that removes the concept of the beginning and end of a performance, as well as its front use.
The space is intended as an active place in which to immerse oneself, creating an impromptu community that accesses the performance as it happens in a museum exhibition. \"Paradiso\" is the beginning of a common journey starting from the Third Canticle of Dante Alighieri’s Commedia; as a paradise, it is an elsewhere space, inhabited by light and evanescent figures; a long cinematic shot in which to immerse yourself thanks to the music of Bruno Dorella. The stage space consists of a mirrored dance floor obtained by combining different layers of silver and gold carpets where reverberating spaces and territories, intertwined and choreographed by gruppo nanou. Indirect lighting allows the carpet to reflect the surrounding space, welcoming it inside visually and creating a floating perception and making the floor like a pond where the bodies in movement flake with evanescent contours. The place determines each time the use and arrangement of the scene created by Pirri; the space, as well as the bodies and the light, is reflected by the mirrored surface of the carpets, redesigning the geometry of the space itself. For this identity of relationship between place and scene, each Paradise is unique and unrepeatable, thus finding the impossibility of describing a Paradise uniquely, as Dante wrote in the beginning of the Third Canticle.
The gestures lose all trace of naturalism to turn into an abstract choreography, whose meaning is in the desire to bridge the distance between the gaze (of the viewer) and the bodies in action. The limit of the backgrounds is forced, torn, deteriorated by the body that attacks it with its choreographic action. The choreographic images are produced “accidentally”, and the bodies are immediately pulverized thanks to the process of abstraction that produces pure plasticity that surpasses all other instances. The evidence of every research step or residency is called sketch and, even if is still a studio form, it shows how the performative device works on the space, its architecture or lack of it, recreating and rethinking both the stage and how the audience interact with it. As it will be in his final form, every sketch is different from the others; not a step forward but a step in deep the research. In each different spaces there will be different sets and choreographic compositions. A difficult experience to tell.
Album credits:
Music composed, played, recorded and mixed by Bruno Dorella
Mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi
Vocals on 6 & 13 by Francesca Amati
Vocals 4, 9 & 10 by Elisabetta Da Rold
Voices treatment on 1 by Bruno Dorella & Giovanni Lami, 5 includes parts of Old Vogue Dancer by Bruno Dorella, 11 includes a sample by Stefano Ghittoni
Layout and artwork by Marco Valerio Amico
Photos by Daniele Casadio
Project credits:
Project: gruppo nanou, Alfredo Pirri, Bruno Dorella
Choreography: Marco Valerio Amico, Rhuena Bracci
Scenic space: Alfredo Pirri
Music: Bruno Dorella
Lights: Marco Valerio Amico
Colors: Marco Valerio Amico, Alfredo Pirri
Costumes: Rhuena Bracci
With Carolina Amoretti, Marina Bertoni, Vera Borghini, Rhuena Bracci, Francesca Dibiase, Andrea Dionisi, Agnese Gabrielli, Marco Maretti, Emanuel Santos, Sofia Pazzocco, Michele Scappa
And the graduates (2019) of the Post Diploma – Dance Course of the Civica Scuola di Teatro “Paolo Grassi” of Milan: Livia Bartolucci, Alessandra Cozzi, Elisabetta Da Rold, Agnese Gabrielli, Nicolò Giorgini, Simone Mazzanti, Camilla Neri, Francesca Rinaldi, Pablo Ezequiel Rizzo, Bruna Romano
Production: Nanou Associazione Culturale, Ravenna Festival
Contributon: MIC, Regione Emilia-Romagna, Comune di Ravenna, Fondazione del Monte di Bologna e Ravenna
Collaboration: Civica Scuola di Teatro “Paolo Grassi” di Milano
Support: Centro di Residenza della Toscana (Armunia-CapoTrave/Kilowatt), E Production, ATCL Circuito Multidisciplinare del Lazio per Spazio Rossellini Polo Culturale Multidisciplinare della Regione Lazio, C.U.R.A. Centro Umbro Residenze Artistiche, Spazio ZUT!, Indisciplinarte, La Mama Umbria International
https://brunodorella.bandcamp.com/album/paradiso
13.silentes.it/private_sounds/sps2258_bruno_dorella.htm
|
2022 |
€12.00 |
|
| DOUBLENDS VERT |
Cistern |
CD |
Ein Quartett (bestehend aus 4 Instrumentalisten mit Violine, Akkordeon, Klarinett und Pauke) hat diese Aufnahmen in einer riesigen unterirdischer Höhle gemacht, den natürlichen Hall ausnutzend. Entstanden sind flirrende, schneidende Obertonwellen, die sich amorph ins Ätherische ausbreiten & allmählich ihre harmonische Struktur ändern. Polyphone Überlagerungen & Frequenzinterferenzen tauchen auf, kein reiner Wohlklang, sondern fremdartige Environments werden hier geschaffen. Erinnert an PAULINE OLIVEROS ähnliche Arbeiten, nur das hier der Sound- & Geräuschaspekt noch stärker im Vordergrund steht.
“Cistern was made in a two million gallon underground reservoir at Fort Worden, a de-commissioned military base overlooking the entrance to the Puget Sound. The space’s resonance extended the instruments in a way similar to electronic processing. The acoustic properties of the cistern created new sonic relationships to which the group applied their musical concept. Cistern captures Doublends Vert’s first experiences in the sound-world of the cistern.
Doublends Vert formed in 2003 through a common interest in creating restrained, acoustic music exploring the timbre blending possibilities of the violin, accordion, and clarinet.
Doublends Vert:
Clarinetist Adam Diller’s (b. 1980) music deals with the problems of composing for recorded medium, integrating electronic and acoustic sounds, and improvising with social and natural
environments. His process draws on experience with jazz, composition, improvisation, and computer-based sound design. Since moving to Seattle in 2002, Diller has performed in many situations and produced 10 recordings.
Annie Lewandowski (b. 1979) is a composer and multi-instrumentalist with backgrounds in classical, improvised, and experimental music. She has performed at festivals in the USA, Canada, and Europe with trio Doublends Vert and duo Emma Zunz (with Cristin Miller). She currently lives in Seattle.
Tom Swafford (b. 1972) is violinist and composer active in a wide variety of musical styles. He studied composition in Boston, Berkeley, CA, and The Netherlands (with Louis Andriessen). He is a member of Cipher, Drumolin and Doublends Vert and also performs classical, bluegrass and rock music. He resides in Seattle, WA.
Matt Crane joins on timbales for cistern tracks 4 and 5 and engineered this live recording. Crane has been playing drums from an early age. His profound interest in music has translated into the study of many different idioms. He currently engages in many improvised settings with an emphasis on environment and its shaping of the musical experience.” [label info]
|
2005 |
€14.00 |
|
| DOYLE, ROGER |
The Ninth Set |
CD |
Noch aus UNITED DAIRIES-Anfängen bekannt ist ROGER DOYLE - sein 66 minütiges prämiertes Werk "The Ninth Set" überzeugt mit raumfüllenden atonalen Sphären-Drones, so rauh und symphonisch wie einige KAYN-Stücke! Durchsetzt von elektro-akustischer Spannung
schaffen "stehende" Wellen von Klang tiefe suggestive Räume, harmonische Wechsel geschehen unerwartet und zirkulär, Lautstärkelevel verändern sich dynamisch. Mitreissend!
"Irish composer Roger Doyle's first release on Die Stadt is his prize-winning work The Ninth Set, a 67 minute masterpiece in 5 parts. He was awarded the Magisterium Prize at this years's Bourges International Electro-acoustic Music Competition in France for parts 4 and 5. The award, which is one of the most important prizes in the world for electronic music, is open to composers having at least 25 years of professional experience in the field, and its objective is 'the promotion and diffusion of works that might become milestones in the history of electroacoustic music'. Previous works of Doyle include a 5-CD set Babel which took ten years to compose, where each track corresponds to a room or place within an imagined tower city; and the 3 hour Passades, music made from software that freezes sounds like a freeze-frame in DVD. He's also known for his project OPERATING THEATRE which released the classic "Rapid Eye Movements' album - consisting of 4 works composed between 1968 - 1980 - on Steven Stapleton's (Nurse With Wound) own United Dairies label in 1980. Furthermore he guested on Fovea Hex's 'neither speak nor remain silent' EP number 2 'Huge', alongside among others Clodagh Simonds, Brian Eno, Percy Jones and Colin Potter. More at http://www.rogerdoyle.com.
The CD comes in a color digipack in a first edition of 600 copies. Total playing time: 66:29 min." [press -release]
"...Through the five lengthy pieces of The Ninth Set, Roger Doyle cycles through rumbling episodes of recontextualized tumult and industrial heft, with every sound recorded and presented with impeccable digital clarity. At times, his work mangles Ligetti-esque vocal chorale through timestretching DSP tricks and thick digitally swabbed crescendos of grey noise; at others plucked cords, wires, and strings congregate into an unsettled mass with opaque rumblings and seasick swells. Throughout each movement, there's plenty of pregnant
interludes of relative quiet with punctations of rapidly approaching noise that halt at its peak with a razor cut to silence. Uncool, it
may be; but The Ninth Set is a brilliant record." [Aquarius Records review]
label-website: www.diestadtmusik.de
|
2007 |
€15.00 |
|
| DRAFTED BY MINOTAURS |
Aversion Therapy |
do-LP |
"Drafted by Minotaurs mainstays are guitarist Ryan Wilson and Ian Fulcher, who contributes trumpet and glockenspiel. Meanwhile members of a floating cast chip in with added textures from cello and violin. Opener "Blueprints for Sunbuilding" spools out a hail of plucked and bowed strings, webs of sound solidifying then melting into steely flow, stall set out somewhere around cultivated Constellation post-rockeries, a mood and sound that may feel familiar to those acquainted with the new backwoods chamberisms and neo-folk drone of UK cottage industrialites such as Richard Skelton (aka A Broken Consort/Clouwbeck) and Seasons (Pre-din). "Sault Locks" proposes cyclical patterns of stringed things that seem to hover shyly apart, before swarming to swell and billow over the listener - not so much a Storm of Drones as a squall of tones. "Skin the Night and Fog," a more veiled sister of the previous pluckings and bowings, plays out a psych-infused dream sequence. These three tracks forming Side A work with their own distinct harmonic and textural patterns, while seeming like movements of something overarching. Miasmic minor chord tidal flow abounds, the music's motion determined by languorous bow-strokes, its textures by warm-prickly needles of guitar pizzicatos. Side B's single extended track, "Sunday's Morning Ghost," is wrought from similar materials, but aspires to more transcendant levels, led by the celestial harmonics of Fulcher's treated trumpet. It takes on atavistic echoes redolent of some distant Miles Davis or Jon Hassell blowback, as if viewing In a Silent Way through a post-Kosmische kaleidoscope, or channeled through Eno/Budd cathedrals to meet today's psych-drone and ambient trajectories. Overall, Aversion Therapy thrives on such productive tensions between genres and eras, as it does between live and recorded, spontaneous and pre-structured, making for engaging, at times thrillingly psychotropic, listening." - alan lockett " [label info]
www.infractionrecords.com
"A duo is Drafted By Minotaurs, being guitarist Ryan Wilson and trumpet and glockenspiel (an unlikely combination me thinks) Ian Fulcher, whose 'Aversion Therapy' is their first LP. A great package with a gate fold sleeve - no costs are spared here. Their ambient is much more open and gentle then say Dent, and miles and miles away from the music of Malignant Records. The guitar is clearly to be recognized, even with some folk strumming in 'Sault Locks'. Whatever glockenspiel and trumpet are doing is however a bit unclear. My best guess would be is that are looped through a variety of sound devices and which form the ambient backdrop in which the guitar seems to move so freely. Side A has three tracks, under which the aforementioned 'Sault Locks', which is quite short, which are nice, but the best piece is the side long b-side 'Sunday's Morning Ghost', in which the trumpet plays a more dominant role (or at least can be recognized more), in long sustaining tones, meandering together, merging gently with the guitar sounds, which now are close to the trumpet. The glockenspiel? It plays its own spiel somewhere, like shimmering metallic sounds pushed towards the end of the spectrum, but they haven't disappeared altogether. Great cinematic beauty. Top class ambient album." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2009 |
€26.00 |
|
| DRAKE, BOB |
Lawn Ornaments |
CD |
"After Bob's Drive-In, which, in terms of production was quite restrained and minimal, Ornaments sets off in the opposite direction, piling up great car-crashes of overlapping fragments in a production that makes rococo look like shaker minimalism. Playing only drums, guitars, bass, banjo, fiddle, organ, trumpet and piano Bob herds tamed cataclysms of musical debris into the shapes of coherent - if episodic – songs, en route skipping through half a century of recording history. As to method well, you can’t beat a year of work. The CD comes with a beautifully illustrated booklet that includes all the song texts as well as eighteen commissioned drawings by the meticulous fine-artist Joe Mruk. Extraordinary music, intriguingly wrapped..." [label info]
www.rermegacorp.com
"By my probably inaccurate count, this is Bob's eight album. Bob plays everything and the sound is purely Bob - is it folkie Americana subversively progressive singer songwriter avant what have you? Yes! It is! As it says below and beautifully sums his sound up, "he just does what he does."
This one has a beautiful booklet by noted illustrator Joe Mruk." [Wayside Music]
"Bob Drake is an enigma, a revered cult figure with a unique & bizarre approach to music. A musician's musician, he just does what he does. This time it's songs that slide through a thousand momentary flashes of other songs, other productions & other musical genres - ridiculously, outrageously, densely produced."
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| DRAPE |
An Idea and its Map |
LP |
"Drape is an ambient duo comprised of Ryan Gracey and Spencer Williams. They have been crafting soundscapes since 2004. Their debut, 'dream words' (Gears of Sand) saw a limited CDR release in 2009. It was well received and garnered comparisons to Stars of the Lid, early 70's Tangerine Dream as well as late 80's space ambient. Their follow-up was an interesting pairing on cassette - a split w/ experimental artist Odd Nosdam.
'An Idea And Its Map' marks a refined leap forward in Drape's sound. While less space music, there is certainly more expansion. It is a smudged and blended orchestra of drones on the opener 'Solo in High Dreary' and those drones are split apart in slow-motion - eventually revealing a single guitar tone.
Moments of sublime resonance as on 'The Visible The Untrue' anchored by piano, and notes that float, seemingly carried in on a breeze. All is not as it seems with an undercurrent of ground swelling, oscillating air - somewhere in the distance there is a storm assembling. Ebb and flow between light and dark - silver lined black clouds converge on the B side opener 'fanfare for lake flies'. The strings, guitar, siren calls are assembled and plastered to one another. A thick blanket of overwhelming beautiful cacophony results.
The album's close is as much filtered white noise as it is heavenly chords. The dual slow-motion treated guitar present thoroughout 'An Idea...' diverges between pools of dissonant feedback, howls of wind, and melodic drones.
'An Idea...' is a study in contrasts - and Drape find effective employment of the disparity as well as the combination of the reticent and the reserved turbulence. There is an atmosphere of tension, in a sense with resplendent tones enveloping a barely concealed fury just under the surface.
Edition of 400 copies. Black vinyl, 180 Gram pressing. Gatefold sleeve + OBI strip. Purchase of LP will include a download code of the album (FLAC, MP3, etc. - your choice).
After a tumultuous pathway to being pressed on vinyl, be it natural phenomena, pressing issues, manufacturer issues, broken plates, and so on - Infraction is relieved to present finally the first vinyl full-length LP by Drape." [label info]
www.infractionrecords.com
"Graduating from extended synthesizer jams of their earlier output to symphonic, string-based ambience, the duo of Drape provide a soundtrack for frigid early mornings and star-laden late nights. The seven tracks that comprise "An Idea and Its Map" glisten and glide over slow arcs of swelling strings and luxurious textures that bring to mind the oft-referenced figureheads of the genre, Stars of the Lid. Drape, in both structure and execution, clearly aim for this comparison. Yet they do it better than most and while they can't approximate Stars of the Lid's natural emotion and grasp of melody, Drape smartly overlay their drones with guitar distortion and amplifier feedback to give the surroundings a patina of worn textures. The end result illuminates "An Idea and Its Map" with both a vulnerable and hard-edged feel and is all the better for it." [Ryan Potts, Experimedia]
"Its been a while since I last from Drape, the duo of Ryan Gracey and Spencer Williams - see Vital Weekly 722 - but I believe they didn't release much beyond that point, other than a split cassette with Odd Nosdam. With this release we return to the more introspective ambience which we also encountered with Eluder. Yet there are differences also. Whereas Eluder is certainly grey towards black, Drape is more grey towards white. It would seem to me that all of this music is created with guitars, and it's not difficult to see a strong influence from Stars Of The Lid. The long form, sustaining guitars, cascading slowly, like majestic waves, rolling ashore, has a strong orchestral to it. Ringing string music, on an endless, perpetual slow motion roller coaster. If that is at all possible. Its been a while since we last heard something from Stars Of The Lid, and for all I know they might no longer exist, but Drape, on this particular record, would win easily the chance of successor to their throne. A fine example, textbook drone music. Forty years of mood music pass by, from the German cosmos, Eno's living room and a bit of neo-classical music - Arvo for my part. Highly refined journey on the wings of musical history." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2012 |
€25.00 |
|
| DREAM WEAPON RITUAL |
Like a Tree growing out of a Sidewalk |
CD |
A forest, a virtual forest.
An urban forest, maybe, populated by shattering shadows.
Birds and insects.
Voices, human or not.
Trees slowly growing, roots swelling gently.
Gradually its dark creeps under your skin in a deafening roar.
In this work Dream Weapon Ritual deconstructs and reassembles the thin substance of dream and vision in a performance-ritual that, moulding together organic electronics and treated acoustic instruments, takes place in an invisible and vague terrain; an unexplored territory, where the borders between song, theatre and installation blur.
"Like A Tree Growing Out Of A Sidewalk" started as a multimedia performance with collaboration of visual artist Elisabetta Saiu, whose video, projected on tulle screens accompanied each staging.
It has been premiered in March 2007 at Lenz Teatro, in Parma, for "As A Little Phoenix" festival. Now it is also an intense and fascinating album made of little string and wind instruments, birdcalls, old synthesizers, sound objects and voice. A collection of visionary soundscapes where boundaries between droning electronica and imaginary folk traditions are constantly forced. All sound material was improvised in five sessions recorded between January and February 2007 and subsequently lovingly culled, edited and overdubbed between May 2007 and October 2008.
Formed in November 2006, Dream Weapon Ritual is the duo of Simon Balestrazzi (historiacl leader of the Italian industrial-cult project T.A.C.
and member of the first Kirlian Camera incarnations) and Monica Serra.
Simon Balestrazzi is an electronic/electroacoustic composer and sound artist active since the 80's.
He released many albums and performed live around Europe under various names.
Monica Serra is a talented actress whose artistic research led her to double as vocalist since 1999.
Tracklist :
01 Black Forest Myth 3:31
02 23 Visions Of Light Appear 5:17
03 Dead Things Always Come Back 5:01
04 Zero Growth 7:16
05 Little Angry Birds 7:34
06 Comfortably Nested 7:08
07 Travelling Without Maps 5:00
08 Like A Tree Growing Out Of A Sidewlak 6:32
|
2009 |
€12.00 |
|
| DRONAEMENT |
Ezoterick Muzick |
CD-R |
Finally a new full album by DRONAEMENT with NEW material, very “positive” drone-vibrations & field-recording-reworkings with excursions to trancy tribal-rhythm-pieces, full of mystic feelings and close to the mystery of existence, the title is more than appropriate...
“Dronæment is active since 1997 and is the main musical project of Marcus Obst who lives in the South area of what once was East Germany. After a few amazing tape albums he joined the Drone Records serie with the "Wassermond" 7", which was based on a collaboration with Jim De Jong, followed soon by a split LP with The Infant Cycle (Jim De Jong again....). Since then he released some marvellous albums on Dachstuhl, Nauze [Muzick], Mystery Sea, Le Cri De La Harpe and Field Muzik. Everyone with an even small interest in Drone / Experimental music should immediately put their hands on them. After the wonderful "Yr" (released with the help of our friends at Blade Records) and "Allein... Unter Menschen" (a remastered CD-R version of one of his early tapes), this is the third Dronæment album released by Afe. Needless to say that we're very proud about this. "Ezoterick Muzick" was inspired by repeated listenings of indian traditional music and is a successful attempt at creating meditative / relaxing ambient music...” [label info]
|
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
| DROUIN, JAMIE |
A three Month warm up |
CD-R |
DER GROSSE DRONE ! Jamie DROUIN lässt seine ätherischen Gebilde nicht einfach so im Raum schweben, sondern verbindet immer wieder interessante Konzepte damit: Hier verbindet er ganze 124 verschiedene Field Recordings(in einem Zeitraum von 3 Monaten aufgenommen) zu einem Polydrone, der alles einzusaugen scheint, und trotzdem eine choral-harmonische Tiefendimension offenbart..
"A Three Month Warm Up uses 124 individual field recordings made in an outdoor public square in Victoria (British Columbia, Canada) over a three month period, and is inspired by the cacophony of notes played by a symphony during warm up, where a single unified tone emerges out of the various instruments and voices. In playing back the ambient recordings, filtering them down to their essential 'notes' and layering the events, Drouin creates a sonic signature of the space, as if a residual echo of everything that occurred during those three months has been trapped within the structure.
A Three Month Warm Up was a site specific work created for the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria's Assume Nothing exhibition January-May, 2009. Curated by Lisa Baldissera." [label info]
www.dragonseyerecordings.com
"...Drouin layers all the field recordings into one long swarming mass of sound, like indeed the orchestra tuning up, but much slower and without a single event to be recognized. Or perhaps like a church full of mumbling voices. Over the course of these seventy-seven minutes, the color of the music is slowly changes, changing from dark to a bit lighter and brighter and then slowly towards the dark again. Ambient music as it is supposed to be according to the text book of Brian Eno. Music derived from everyday, common sounds surrounding us. Maybe in that respect Drouin doesn't have to offer much news to the initiated in the world of ambient music, but the longitude of the work makes much sense. Play at a low volume and let it surround you."
[FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2009 |
€10.00 |
|
| DRUMM, KEVIN |
Trouble |
CD |
"Recorded Winter 2013-2014 at Frostbite, Chicago, IL. Mastered by Russell Haswell. 'Trouble' is the brand new dispatch from the assorted output of Kevin Drumm and sits as one of the quietest in his entire catalogue. A single continuous 54 minute excursion into the netherworld of the audio spectrum, 'Trouble' is neither ambient nor drone but a more complex investigation into the deep recesses of sound. One which discreetly works itself into the mind of a listener willing to invest in the path laid out in this extremely subtle, beautiful and exceptional release." [label info]
www.editionsmego.com
"Kevin Drumm has been known to wield an iron fist on his recordings—records like Sheer Hellish Miasma, Impish Tyrant, and Electronic Harassment are titled that way for a reason—but Trouble may punish you in different, and sneakier, ways. This is the quietest record I've heard since Bernhard Günter and Francisco Lopez's hushed microsound works from the turn of the millennium. It is so quiet that you'll need to turn the volume up very, very loud to hear it well, or indeed, at all. In my case, that involves several steps—one volume control on the laptop, one on the audio interface, and one on the DJ mixer that it all runs through on the way to a pair of studio monitors—as well as closing the window in order to shield Drumm's filament-like drones from the rumble of traffic outside. Suffice to say, this is an album that requires some effort, and part of that effort might involve just sitting still.
I thought I might get some multi-tasking done—file maintenance, email cleanup, general absent-minded mousing around—while I sat and zoned out to a first run-through of what might be the Chicago noise musician's most ethereal recording since 2009's Imperial Horizon. But I had forgotten about the computer's default alert sounds, and when I went to delete a document, I was startled by the noise that suddenly tore through my speakers—a sound like boots crunching through snow, almost painfully loud. The sound, of course, came not from Drumm's Worse than Burning Offal studios, but from a lab in Cupertino. But it was tempting to imagine that moment of sonic violence as a part of the piece, in a way. Kevin Drumm wants your full attention, and he has mastered Trouble in such a way to practically guarantee it.
Another, perhaps better, option is just to leave the album on in the background at a natural, almost inaudible volume, and let it sink in like incense. That's the same line of thinking behind Imperial Horizon's lone, hour-long track "Just Lay Down and Forget It", presumably. I can think of few passive listens that might be less taxing than this shimmering, 54-minute piece, divided into two halves and separated by a minute or two of actual, total silence. As far as wallpaper music goes, Brian Eno's Music for Airports scans as a clash of gaudy op-art prints compared to Drumm's almost invisible layer of atmosphere. Still, per the title, Drumm's disappearing act amounts to a kind of uneasy listening, even at an almost imperceptible volume. This is the sound of fingertips slowly tracing crystal rims; of whale song heard from the opposite end of the ocean; of ghost trains braking in the dead of night. It is the sound of mountains slumping and mist settling. Its deathless peal is a dead ringer for the music of the spheres—all that friction, all that reverb, nothing but shivering frequencies, from here to the ends of the known universe. It's the ghostly microwaves of cosmic background radiation.
Despite Drumm's noisy reputation, his music can be overwhelmingly sensual even at its loudest. Sheer Hellish Miasma's "Hitting the Pavement", for instance, is a full-body rubdown of distortion—part airplane engine, part power sander, yet still, above all, a welcoming embrace. And that goes a thousand-fold for the sublime Trouble, an album that invites you to dive into its clutches with the promise of never hitting bottom. The noise floor is a very, very long way down." [Philip Sherburne/Pitchfork]
|
2014 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Inexplicable Hours |
do-LP & CD |
Inexplicable Hours is the sequel of the successful six-CD boxset Elapsed Time, also released by Sonoris in 2017. The first LP documents a new direction in his music, with some of his last electroacoustic experimentations with audio generators, field recordings, and various electronic devices. The second one explores the same ambient/drone territories as the boxset, with tracks less static and more complex than it appears on the first listen. And as always with recent Kevin Drumm’s music there’s a sense of majesty, of mystery and a melancholic beauty that is uniquely his own.
Some words about the boxset are also appropriate for this record:
“Despite Drumm’s noisy reputation, his music can be overwhelmingly sensual even at its loudest, providing a form of minimalism replete with a delicate, melancholic motion. How wildly divergent emotions rise, hover, and fall using so little is a mystery that only Kevin Drumm can provide.” (Soundohm)
“The vast array of styles and works to be had here makes it an engaging challenge, one that can differ widely from disc to disc, but never lacks the cohesion and touch of a master craftsman and composer working at the top of his game.” (Brainwashed)
“These pieces, despiste their lenght, are like perfect miniatures, timeless puzzles that you try and unravel through close listening. And their sense of place, of home, of sanctuary, feels more important than ever right now.” (The Wire)
Mastering by Giuseppe Ielasi.
2 LPs packaged in a deluxe 6-panel/double gatefold sleeve, with CD version in cardboard cover included. 700 copies.
|
2018 |
€27.00 |
|
| |
Battering Rams |
LP |
From the viscerally punishing and nerve wrecking, to the wistfully sublime, Kevin Drumm ‘s work often yield a ferocious intensity through the timbres of minute details. Now, throughout this series of archival works dating from 2000 to 2022, his mastery is once again on full display.
On »Battering Rams«, sinister forces interlope with sanguine glimmers of respite and contemplation, while recurring drones ceaselessly crescendo to near paralysing effect, only for the albums final moments to offer a lofty reprise of boundless oscillation, dispelling all the pent up tension into a sanguine state of bliss. Once again underpinning Drums’ genius of turning apparently trivial hums into elongated microtonal worlds that stay etched deeply in your conscious, often long after the works final resonances have already subsided.
https://vaagner.bandcamp.com/album/battering-rams
Another serene deployment from Chicago great Kevin Drumm, 'Battering Rams' is a dissociated crackle of damaged percussion and errant feedback that stabilizes into the kind of bleakly sensitive atmosphere you'd usually expect to find on the back of a short-run black metal tape.
'Battering Rams' won't surprise any regular listeners but it's another worthy addition to the noise legend's canon, filling out the cloudier end of his sonic spectrum with more spacious industrial abstraction and the kind of pillowy drones we fell in love with the moment we first clapped our ears on 'Imperial Distortion'. The relative openness of 'Fire' wrong-foots us at first, with studio clatter amplified above an amplified whine that sounds like heavy machinery vibrating into obsoletion, but the mood shifts significantly on the brief 'Glory Only Once', heralded by eerie whistles.
We're led towards the crushing double blow of 'Dreams Now Major Events' and 'Old Shoes'. The former bends what sounds like synth choirs into bleak drones, slowly but perceptibly shifting the pitch and ramping up the tension, while the latter gives us the sweet release we've been waiting for, coaxing us towards the sublime. Here we're reminded of Drumm's most powerful serene material (think "Imperial Horizon"), lulled into a psychedelic slumber by billowing synths and distant keys.
-Boomkat
|
2023 |
€22.50 |
|
| DRUMM, KEVIN & DANIEL MENCHE |
Gauntlet |
CD |
"Gitarre, Orgel, Fuzz Boxes und die Liebe zu Noise, Noise, Noise. Ein großes Dröhnen und mittendrin ein Gitarrenloop oder pumpender Puls. Konsonanz, die im Obertonbereich verklumpt zu einem Hornissen- oder schwirrenden Heuschreckenschwarm, groß genug, um den Himmel zu verdunkeln. Zu einem Geläut, das alles erbeben lässt. Die Hornissen schwellen an zu Bombern, des Schwirren zu Hubschrauberrotoren, die Gitarren entzündet sich selbst in Hendrix‘scher Pyromanie. Ich liege längst wimmernd auf den Knien, als noch nicht einmal die Hälfte dieses Spießrutenlaufes vorüber ist. Zwei sarkastische Ritter spielen mit eisernen Fingern Metal Machine Music. Nach 21 Min. wird das Dröhnen heller, sirrender, die Rotoren schrappen aber weiter und gegen Ende zu immer schneller. Den Schlusspunkt dieser Herausforderung für die Höre-mit- Schmerzen-Fraktion setzen grobe Störimpulse." [Bad Alchemy]
"Kevin Drumm (guitar and noise) and Daniel Menche (organ and noise) recorded Fall of 2006 in Chicago at Uggae's Porta-toilet studio. Mixed and mastered at Stereophonic Mastering in Portland, Oregon. One organ, one guitar, several fuzz boxes and two highly regarded purveyors of american extreme sonics are the savuory ingredients that created Gauntlet. Building on Menche's aural low end physicality and Drumm's exacting attention to high frequency detail - the aptly titled 'Gauntlet' is sizzling, scorching slab of essential audio. Heavy in iron and protein. A lean cut indeed, no fat included." [label info]
www.editionsmego.com
|
2007 |
€12.50 |
|
| DRYGIANAKIS, COSTIS |
Chondros and Katsiani on the Mountain (Ο Χονδρός Και Η Κατσιάνη Στο Βουνό) |
CD + BOOK |
"Back in 1998, and starting as a play on the big operas of American Minimalism (Philip Glass’ Einstein on the Beach and John Adams’ Nixon in China), Costis Drygianakis, together with Thanasis Chondros and Alexandra Katsiani (two thirds of the group Dimosioypalliliko Retire), devised a radio opera based on their own exotic studio travels and throughout the musics of the world. Built around an improvised libretto by Thanasis and Alexandra, Costis’ work develops emphatically though with a light-hearted touch, oscillating between lengthy piano-based structures, powerful instrumental crescendos and a creative use of early digital tools. Chondros and Katsiani on the Mountain is an intricate, rich, and quietly profound piece, yet one that avoids the hybris that comes together with the notion of the “grand work”. In this it stands apart from its contemporaries in 1998, as much as it does today. It also provides a high benchmark for the artists’ careers, as well as for listeners invested in all sorts of sonic explorations.
Whether it be through Optical Musics, his subsequent compositional work, occasional collaborations, or his rich contemporary ethnomusicological research, Costis Drygianakis’ name is nowadays firmly established within the Greek music scene and beyond. Through an equally rich trajectory, Thanasis Chondros and Alexandra Katsiani appear at times as musicians, artists or performers, maintaining a fresh and subversive approach towards artistic expression and work. One of the many non-conformist ideas that came as a result of the meeting of the two is contained in this CD. The work first appeared in Volos’ Municipal Radio in 1998 and in a limited edition on Alli Poli in 2006. It is reissued here in an extensive bilingual edition containing the libretto and freshly commissioned texts.
Audio remastered by Stephan Mathieu. Accompanying texts by Areti Leopoulou, Costis Drygianakis, Thanasis Chondros and Alexandra Katsiani, Kostis Kilymis.
costisdrygianakis.wordpress.com/
rekem.org/Costis-Drygianakis-Chondros-and-Katsiani-on-the-Mountain
|
2019 |
€16.00 |
|
| DUAL |
Keimar Sty |
CD |
Die zweite CD der Engländer ist das erhoffte MEISTERWERK geworden! Wieder wieder Gitarren-, Bass- und Perkussions-Klänge benutzt und bearbeitet, um visionäre & subtile Soundscapes zu kreieren, die in tiefsten Tiefen des Unterbewußsteins für Unruhe zu sorgen scheinen. Atemberaubend atmosphärisch und betäubend schön!! The second CD for the english project is a real masterpiece! Again they used guitar, bass and percussion-origins and processed them to create visionary and subtile soundscapes that seem to move into deepest regions of the unconscious. Breathtaking atmospheric and beautiful ! Deeply recommended !
“ As always all the sounds on this release are from the guitar and this second full CD release features Dual exploring rhythms and percussion coaxed from the guitar while applying various
treatments and manipulation. Although some traditional methods of playing the guitar have been employed on the recordings of this
album the finished mixes show no real sign of a plucked guitar string. Drones and textures are interwoven with clicks, pops and buzz from the electronics with subtle bass rhythm to create a
soundbed of drifting melancholic ambience. This album features new collaborators George Richardson (Coombe Records / Cassette41) and Alice Kemp (Germ Seed).” [press release]
|
2001 |
€13.00 |
|
| DUET EMMO |
Or So It Seems (double white vinyl - special ed.) |
do-LP |
DUET EMMO (The Normal’s Daniel Miller, and Wire’s Edvard Graham Lewis and B.C. Gilbert) have released the long-awaited remastered reissue of their 1983 album, Or So It Seems.
Or So It Seems has been remastered from the original analogue tapes by Stefan Betke. Available on vinyl for the first time since its original release, the album has been expanded to double vinyl and is released on special edition white vinyl, as a limited edition of 400 on orange vinyl via Bleep (both with high-definition download), CD and digitally.
The original 8-track album, an assemblage of electronic sound collage, drone and abstract art pop, is perfect for re-appraisal, having been previously a somewhat overlooked album from its makers catalogues. Daniel Miller (The Normal / Silicon Teens and founder of Mute), Edvard Graham Lewis and B.C. Gilbert (of Wire, Dome and solo projects) were busy with their own individual work but made time for the new trio to record in the periods between Boxing Day and New Year’s Day in ’81 and ’82 – the a-side was recorded in ’81, the b-side followed in ’82 – with legendary engineer Eric Radcliffe at their favoured studio, Blackwing in London.
Duet Emmo’s pioneering hybrid electronics are mirrored in the project name – an anagram of Mute and Dome – and in the album’s striking artwork, a collage by supreme animators and filmmakers, the Brothers Quay redesigned by Bart van Damme.
OR SO IT SEEMS TRACKLISTING:
Hill Of Men
Or So It Seems
Friano
The First Person
A.N.C.
Long Sledge
Gatemmo
Last’s Card
|
2022 |
€42.50 |
|
| DUKE, ANDREW / AKUMU |
Organic |
CD-R |
Two new unknown names for us on John Gore's (KIRCHENKAMPF) label: ANDREW DUKE has 10 shorter pieces with delayed object-noises, nicely effected roaring drone-waves, weird electronic sounds, and glitchy rumbling granulation-fields, many details & ideas here, every piece is different... AKUMU presents three permeating sonorous drones with lots of micro-sounds... great CDR, much recommended!
"two Canadian sound artists: Andrew Duke of Cognition Audioworks of Nova Scotia presenting his cutup glitch compositions and Akumu (aka Deane Hughes) three tracks of deep drone - limited to 100 copies"
"I always appreciate Cohort’s will to present non-commercial electronic music from all over the world, even at the price of a few minor releases. But the good ones are REALLY good, and this is one of them. Andrew Duke, who is a renowned composer active in many different media, is here represented by a series of relatively dark tracks which feature quite a lot of spontaneous instrumental generation, in addition to Andrew’s obvious technical skills. Deceitful patterns and clashing reverberations release inexhaustible, mind-dislocating clouds of frequencies that contrast – or get married to – hypnotic vicious circles in an unpredictable kinship with hypothetical altered states of mind. Headphones are recommended to catch every minute detail, as Duke works at the margins of the audio spectrum to deliver his brand of electronica from any preconceived interpretation, virtualizing events with the equidistant calm of a neutral observer. Dean Hughes (Akumu) is even more obscure, entrancing and – contrarily to what the titles might suggest – organic. His three tracks are long explorations of the psyche through a mass of extremely resonant low drones that suggest no other behavior than a total relinquishment of our will to penetrate their structure (no pun intended). For my own taste, this is the best half of this split album, bringing memories of current masters of the genre (Frans De Waard’s Shifts and Freiband projects come to mind) through a masterful modulation of our sensitive apparata. But the whole CD is excellent, and it would be unjust on my behalf dividing the artists’ merits." [Touching Extremes]
|
2006 |
€9.00 |
|
| DUNCAN, JOHN |
Da sich die Machtgier... |
CD |
DUNCAN macht sich hier über einen CIORAN-rezitierenden ASMUS TIETCHENS her, dessen Vokalisationen (v.a. Silben) zerschnitten, de-fragmentiert und wieder zusammengesetzt werden zu höchst kuriosen Ergebnissen. Neben der Kreation dieser neuen Sprachlichkeit entwirft DUNCAN auch wieder die so beliebten, ins Infinite schwelgenden Monumental-Drones, und schreckt auch vor harschen Prozeduren nicht zurück. Das alles basiert auf den Stimmbändern unseres alten Lehrmeisters ASMUS T.
New work with DUNCAN working on TIETCHENS voice recititing CIORAN. His words are cut, de-fragmented and put together again to build a highly obscure new language.. also DUNCAN creates his beloved monumental-drones that spread into infiniteness, and even harsher procedures are to find on this very nice work !!
„ John Duncan about 'Da sich die Machtgier...': ASMUS TIETCHENS proposed that he and I work together years ago -- many years ago. For a variety of reasons it didn't happen , and at this point I don't remember any of them. Finally we agreed to start: I asked him to send a recording of his voice and said I'd work with it, send him the result and continue from there -- figuring that he would add to my gestures, then I'd add to his, ect., until we were both satisfied. Asmus sent recordings of him reading two excerpts from texts by E.M. CIORAN. Asmus had already processed his voice on both tracks, which are left more or less intact here on track 3.
After eighteen more months I started working on them, and a couple of weeks afterward send him the results. Asmus liked what he heard, said he felt it was already finished -- and since he hadn't participated directly in the composing process, he couldn't accept credit for involvement in it. We still disagree on this, but it's useless to insist that someone accept what he doesn't feel he's earned. So although I remain convinced that Asmus deserves to be acknowledged as an equal, we've agreed that this project would be credited to me alone.”
And here’s the CIORAN QUOTE:
"For thousands of years, the appetite for power being dispersed in countles tyrannies, great and small, which have raged here and there, the moment seems at hand when that appetite must finally collect and concentrate in order to culminate in a single power, expression of that thirst which has devoured, and still devours the globe, last word of all our dreams of mastery, the consummmation of our hopes and abberations. The sattered human herd will be united under the guardianship of one pitiless shepherd, a kind of planetary monster before whom the nations will prostrate temselves in an
alarm bordering on ecstasy. The universe brought to its knees, an important chapter of history will be closed. Then will begin the disintegration of this new reign and the return to the primal disorder, to the old anarchy; the smothered hates and vices will reappear and with them the minor tyrants of the bygone cycles. After the Great Slavery, mediocre ones. But as they emerge from their monumental servitudes, the survivors will be proud of their shame and, incomparable victims, will celebrate its memory.” -- E.M. Cioran, 'Learning from the Tyrants' [press release]
|
2003 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Mort aux vaches |
CD |
"In edelste schwarze Pappe gehüllte brandneue CD – 5 tracks - pure sounds – pure frequencies – hochspannend zusammengesetzt, es pulsiert, dröhnt, vibriert und pfeift um die Wette. Pure "archaic" music, full of strength... anders als die anderen der Reihe soll dieses Werk aber NICHT live im VPRO –Studio entstanden sein..(siehe Vital Weekly # 152).!" [old Drone Rec info]
|
1998 |
€20.00 |
|
|
The Nazca Transmissions |
LP |
"On Christmas Eve, 2004, John Duncan received a mysterious email from an archaeologist working at the site of the Nazca Lines in Peru. He claimed to have discovered, and over time recorded, a variety of sounds actually generated by the enigmatic lines themselves. Familiar with Duncan's 'Infrasound-Tidal', composed from source recordings taken from tides, seismic activity and barometric data from the Australian coastline, he suggested to Duncan the composition of a piece with these sources. All of the sources were modified in the studio of John Duncan, some radically, to bring out an unsettling, haunting quality. In mid-June 2005, the glorious 5-track piece was finally ready. John Duncan sent several messages to the archaeologist, none of them ever answered or returned. A hard disk crash effectively destroyed all of the email correspondence between them. What remains are the notes he sent that ostensibly describe the details of sites and times for the source recordings. Those notes have been reproduced on the insert included in this edition, also presenting John Duncan liner notes. First pressing limited to 380 copies, with embossed total-black cover, insert and full-color inner sleeve with wonderful space images of the Nazca Lines." [label info / credits]
"The sound constructs of John Duncan almost exist as a residue of his own personal research into esoteric realms of knowledge, existential bouts of continuous questioning, and transgressive acts against himself and society at large. Here was a man who claimed to have sex with a corpse as a performance piece entitled Blind Date, whereby he planted his last seed in a dead body before undergoing a
vasectomy. That event presumably took place nearly 30 years ago, when Duncan was emerging as an artist in Los Angeles alongside Paul
McCarthy, Jim Shaw, and Mike Kelley. Blind Date has become a piece of infamy that blossomed beyond his already highly transgressive context, but he's always been an artist who is very deft at framing particular works through the process and through the context of said piece. The Nazca Transmissions is one such piece.
A few years back, Duncan received an email from a German archaeologist working at the site of the Nazca Lines in Peru. These
are the massive drawings carved into an arid plateau some 2000 years ago by the ancient Nazca people. Some of these figures are
representation, some are not, and some get as large of 200 yards in size, all posing the question: who was supposed to be seeing these
figures, and to what end? Now, this archaeologist claimed to have been able to record sounds from those line drawings; and he presented the raw material to Duncan, having been familiar with his transmutational pieces of digital data and shortwave. Duncan was suitably perplexed and intrigued by the sounds that were presented to him, proceeding to
work on a series of compositions through that material. Unfortunately, this archaeologist ceased all communications, leading Duncan to wonder if it was all a big hoax.
Eerie ringings pocked with scrabbled textures almost like clipped VLF recordings open the album set against a gaping chasm of
quietness. While Duncan's penchant for abrasive noise and jarring juxtaposition is well documented, you won't find that here. By the end of the side, the textures take on an unsettled rhythm that almost resembles human speech garbled through the process. Very compelling, very unsettled. The second side begins with an interlocking series of modulated and muffled Shepherd Tones, these are the audio equivalent of a barber's pole with the tones giving the appearance of being in constant ascension or descension. It's a common artifact found throughout the shortwave bands, harkening back to one of his preferred sound sources; and Duncan puts them to excellent use amidst a sea of low end rumblings. Soon after, pierced tones push to the foreground as those low end rumblings mutate into grotesquely deformed growlings only to fade against a hushed coda of grey noise. This is limited to less than 300 copies, and it remains to be seen if we'll be able to get more than the handful we have now. Recommended no matter how you look at it." [Aquarius Records]
|
2009 |
€20.00 |
|
| |
Organic |
LP |
"The inter-disciplinary maverick John Duncan emerged in 1970s Los Angeles as a confrontational performance artist and, as the decade progressed, aligned himself with the experimental-music collective Los Angeles Free Music Society. His sound art appeared on various self-released cassettes and alongside artists such as Jim Pomeroy and Yoshi Wada on the Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art's influential compilation Sound.
Duncan's debut album, Organic, released in a tiny edition on the artist's own AQM imprint in 1979 and distributed through LAFMS, collects some of his earliest and most absorbing noise experiments. Recorded live, Organic is composed of two sidelong pieces: "Broken Promise," a patient, murky dirge featuring Duncan on tape and percussion, plus Michael Le Donne-Bhennet on bassoon; and "Gala," a kinetic, durational percussion piece featuring Duncan alone. The meditations on texture and unpredictability, realized with unconventional and found sounds, anticipate his later work with shortwave radio.
First-time standalone reissue. Limited edition of 500 numbered copies on clear vinyl."
|
2018 |
€25.00 |
|
| DUNCAN, JOHN & C.M. VON HAUSSWOLFF |
Our Telluric Conversation |
CD |
„John Duncan und Carl Michael von Hausswolff sind bestens bekannt für ihre Erkundungen auf dem Gebiet der minimalen Klangbereitung. Schon für sich allein vermeiden beide den Überfluss und das Geplapper. Zusammen nun sind sie der reduzierten Form noch ein großes Stück näher gekommen. Ihre zweite Kollaboration beweist den brillianten Umgang mit hohen und tiefen Klangfrequenzen und Geräuschelementen, die sie dem Kurzwellenempfang, Oszillatoren und mikrofonbestückten Drähten entlocken. Auf dieser CD sind drei entsprechende, langförmig gestrickte Dronekonstruktionen zu hören. Auf spürbar tiefem Grundraunen werden Geschichten geflüstert. Ströme unterschiedlicher Qualitäten, zwischen weissem Rauschen und scharf peitschenden bis hoch tönenden Wellen oszillierend, spielen zusammen, überlagern sich und sind doch fein abgesetzt voneinander. Während man damit beschäftigt ist, verirrte Digitalsplitter abzuwehren, drückt der Stereoeffekt einen, alle Materie unmerklich deformierenden, schleppenden Brei aus dicker Watte in den Raum. Diese Form der Meditation ähnelt dem ersticktem Schreien. Doch kann man in den Minuten, in denen man subtil auf Herz und Nieren geprüft wird, wunderbar im 40seiten Booklet nachblättern, warum Unterhaltung auch Schmerz bedeuten kann. Eine gummiartige Ummantelung, der ein Titel in Brailleschrift eingeprägt wurde, hält Booklet und CD zusammen.
_Duncan and Hausswolff are wellknown for their explorations in the fields of minimal sound settings. Both names are standing for an almost minimal musical gesture.Together they have found their way to reduce it yet again. Their second collaboration shows a brilliant handling of deep and high frequencies and noise elements from shortwave, data streams, oscillators and wire tapping microphones. Three pieces of long-form drone constructions are assembled on that CD. Deep background noises, controlled white noise and streams of sharp high tone waves are growing slowly up from the nowhere. A hypnotical continuum of sound forces the listeners full attention, nudging him into airless space through sudden breaks in it. There is also a quiet interesting 40 page booklet with an interview between Duncan and Hausswolff about their histories, ideas, and methodologies, explaining also their accurate purity. It is a very good completion to a music which is composed from the point of psychology research and visual art. All together in a card board embossed with braille and covered with a rubbery coating.” [Peter Schlewinski for Drone Records]
”23five Incorporated proudly presents Our Telluric Conversation -- the second collaborative album from John Duncan and Carl Michael von Hausswolff. This is an album which Duncan describes as having been galvanized by magnetism. In a semantic sleight of hand, Duncan and Hausswolff reveal magnetism through a duality of meanings. One on hand, they speak of the physical phenomenon of charged objects that exert an attraction or repulsion upon other objects; yet on the other, magnetism can be defined the psychological influence wielded by charismatic individuals. Our Telluric Conversation maps out the complexities that emerged through the collaborative pursuits of these venerated sound artists.
The tools that the two employed for Our Telluric Conversation are common to their respective catalogues of recordings, with Duncan bringing his shortwave, data streams, and uncanny use of the human voice while Hausswolff employed oscillators, sonar, and wire tapping microphones. The album opens with the mechanical rotation of modulated sonar, providing a hypnotic pulse which slowly submits to an obstinate surge of rumbling noise, that in turn collapses into focused white-noise turbulence and tone-bent SSB transmissions. All of this abruptly detours with a protracted spoken narrative from Hausswolff who whispers a Pynchonesque text about a maggot-infested individual who seeks to remedy his affliction by communing with cobras and geckoes. Afterwards, Duncan and Hausswolff entertain the seduction of the long-form drone constructions; however, their sublime minimalism is so brilliant in its beauty as to be piercingly acute through the purity of honed sinewaves. The final entry from their Conversation is the perfect marriage of the established Duncan and Hausswolff aesthetics, with a spare low-frequency hum deadening the sonic architecture before a static charge of crackled ether supplements the auditory smoldering.
Our Telluric Conversation stands as a bold, expressive piece of sound art, confident in its multiplicity of perspectives caught in a constant flux of attraction and repulsion. The recording comes with a 40 page booklet with an interview between Duncan and Hausswolff about their histories, ideas, and methodologies; furthermore, the packaging is completed by a curiously tactile O-card, which has been embossed with braille and covered with a rubbery coating.....” [press release]
|
2006 |
€14.00 |
|
| DUNCAN, JOHN & GIULIANA STEFANI |
Palace of Mind |
CD |
"... a really mind-blowing journey into pure sounds - same concert as he played during his small tour in Germany December 2000. Needs to be played loud. Our favourite DUNCAN-album so far. Mysterious, powerful, organic. A real experience." [Drone Rec. 2001]
label: www.allquestions.net
"Palace Of Mind is the 2000 recording collaboration between John
Duncan and Giuliana Stefani. Mr. Duncan has long been one of AQ's
favorite experimentalists, having started things out back in the '70s
LA performance art community only to quit the US to pursue his own
intense psychological research into sound, projection, installation,
photography, and the like. Stefani is a mathematician by training and
became acquainted with Duncan through a collaborative project they
began in Amsterdam in 1996. For this album, the two sifted through
digital treatments of shortwave transmissions, wire-tapped data
streams, and voice. In turn, they work the album into labyrinthine
composition that can hold any number of potent metaphors: the neural
synapses of the human brain, the schematics of a computer, or simply
an architectural set of overlapping resonant spaces. Rareified tones
set with motoric vibrations transition through the fluttering of (or
rather the lack there of, as this sounds like the empty spaces between
the bands marked by a mechanoid oily hiss) and onto slashing digital
drone. Here, one can think to Duncan's exceptional field recordings
made at the Stanford Linear Accelerator in the early '90s. Within the
movement from an irritable data-stream purity to the gossamer haze of
shortwave distortion to gaping drones of treated vocal vibrato, Duncan
and Stefani have set a trajectory deep into the heart of their sonic
architecture, with each 'room' saturated with an anxiousness for what
may be on the other side of the door. You won't find Duncan firing a
gun at your head (seriously, he did that as performance piece called
Scare back in the late '70s, using blanks mind you), but Palace Of
Mind revels in an interlocking network of chambers that resonate and
breathe with a profound beauty. Highly recommended!" [Aquarius Records]
|
2000 |
€15.50 |
|
| DUPLANT, BRUNO |
Quelques Usines Fantomes |
CD |
"As a listener, I’m always intrigued as to what attracts me or doesn’t with regard to works in the field recording vein. The same applies to other areas of music as well, of course, but it’s especially interesting in these works composed of sounds generally taped on site and, to a lesser or greater degree, assembled back in the studio. They’re simply sounds, after all, more or less what I could hear on my own by concentrating on my surroundings at any given moment (allowing for different sources from different locations) which I often do anyway. Why be so absorbed by someone else’s impressions?
Two things, I think, at least. One is a basic affinity with the assembler as far as particular sounds that he or she finds beautiful, fascinating, notable, resonant. As much as one might consciously think that such hierarchies are entirely beside the point, there remains that nagging tendency, whether culturally or genetically inculcated, to prefer one sound, or combination of sounds, to another, at least to the extent one hasn’t fully assimilated Cage et. al., often a more difficult, thornier task than readily admitted. Second is the way these sounds are ordered, layered and contrasted, certainly as subjective a judgment, but one having to do with an appreciation of the composer’s poetic sense, in the perceived “rightness” of the sequence of sounds, ultimately not so different, I think, to one’s enjoyment of post-AMM improvisation.
Though I’d heard examples of this approach since college days, the first such music to really make a strong impression on me was probably Luc Ferrari’s “Presque Rien”, and shortly thereafter, Toshiya Tsunoda’s “Scenery of Decalcomania”. They certainly, for me, contained the two elements described above and, more, evoked an extremely realsense of place, in the manner that I hear things, a very self-centered view, but one I think comes part and parcel when listening to work in this area. Over the years, hearing countless examples of field recording as it has become more and more pervasive (often mixed with live improvisation, sometimes set to disc untouched, often manipulated in the studio), I’ve often questioned myself as to why this example failed to move me while that one did. It’s usually very hard to quantify, somehow even more so than determining the relative value in a free instrumental performance.
I was thinking through this while listening to Bruno Duplant’s “Quelques usines fantômes” (which would be translated into English as “some ghost factories”). Why is this particular collection and distribution of sounds so appealing? They seem to have been drawn, largely, from a waterside area, perhaps a canal, not an overly busy one but where a certain amount of activity is taking place, maybe early in the morning a la Ferrari’s classic work. Duplant eschews going for overt watery sounds, contenting himself with low-level, subtle lapping, the soft creaks of hull on wooden piers, the gentle puttering of a small outboard motor, etc. These serve as the spine of the piece and are consistent throughout (after the first few minutes, at least), another aspect I tend to find compelling: choosing a given sound world and sticking to it, investigating its features in detail, allowing it time to generate a larger effect than mere sonics. There are plenty of other sounds, to be sure: metal objects dropping to the floor, unidentifiable hums, an odd, theramin-like wavering tone, wind billowing in enclosed spaces—at least this is how I hear them; who knows their actual source? But that’s of no import; one accepts this world, which is a basic thing for me. As in any good story or film, the reader/viewer has to accept the presented world as valid, as internally consistent, as “real” at least in the mind of its creator. “Quelques usines fantômes”, whether one picks up on the spirits being manufactured or not, readily achieves this. One is immersed in the world, deriving both sensual enjoyment and, more, generating one’s own narrative, trusting that one is on solid ground. The periodic, electronic-sounding hums that surface give the world a bit of a science fiction or otherworldly sheen, perhaps appropriate given the work’s title, though it’s those real world sounds that anchor the piece for me. Duplant has said he wanted to create a “between world” and I think he has.
A full, rich work then, one of the better things I’ve heard in this lineage in recent years and very much worth losing oneself in.”
(Brian Olewnick, May 2011)
www.unfathomless.net
|
2012 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
Nox |
CD |
The sound piece Nox (in addition to reflecting the traditional nocturnal effluvia specific to the title) is based on the multiple meanings and interpretations that can be made of the incomplete form of the dactylic hexameter and palindrome In girum imus nocte ecce et consumimur igni. This Latin phrase, pictorial and poetic, most often attributed to Virgil, refers to the moths that circle around the candle before burning themselves, and which means: “We go around in circles in the night and we are devoured by fire “. It is also, much closer to us, a French film directed by Guy Debord in 1978. The film (lasting 95 min) describes the consumer society and capitalist alienation, applying to highlight the condition of modern slaves. Today even more this Latin expression takes on a new meaning with the phenomena of ultra-liberalism and major climate crisis. Man, like moths, burns his wings on the fires he himself lit and continues to maintain despite warnings and threats. Are we witnessing the end of the Anthropocene, of the consumer society and capitalist alienation described by Guy Debord?
~
La pièce sonore Nox (outre le fait de refléter les traditionnelles effluves nocturnes propre au titre), repose sur les sens et interprétations multiples que l’on peut faire de la forme incomplète de l’hexamètre dactylique et palindrome In girum imus nocte ecce et consumimur igni . Cette locution latine, imagée et poétique, le plus souvent attribuée à Virgile, fait référence aux papillons de nuit qui tournent autour de la chandelle avant de s’y brûler, et qui signifie : « Nous tournons en rond dans la nuit et nous sommes dévorés par le feu ». C’est aussi, beaucoup plus près de nous, un film français réalisé par Guy Debord en 1978. Le film (d’une durée de 95 min) décrit la société de consommation et d’aliénation capitaliste, s’appliquant à mettre en évidence la condition d’esclaves modernes. Aujourd’hui encore plus cette expression latine prend un sens nouveau avec les phénomènes d’ultra-libéralisme et de crise climatique majeure. L’Homme, tels les papillons de nuit, se brûle les ailes sur les feux qu’il a lui même allumé et qu’il continue a entretenir malgré les avertissements et les menaces. Assistons-nous à la fin de l’anthropocène, de la société de consommation et d’aliénation capitaliste décrite par Guy Debord ?
(Bruno Duplant, May 2022)
Release Date : June 20, 2022
Duration : 40:00
Format : glass mastered CD/digital
Track : nox
Regular Edition : 165 hand-numbered copies
Packaged in clear vinyl sleeve with folded insert + additional art card on 350gr satin paper.
Cover design, card & treatments by Daniel Crokaert
Based almost exclusively on photos by Bruno Duplant and some additional textures from
Unfathomless' archive
"It seems as if no week passes by without a new release by Bruno Duplant, the French composer of whom I never seem to know much about. Releases for Unfathomless deal with field recordings, and this one is no different, except, perhaps, for the fact that many of these field recordings are made in one place. Duplant
recorded his material in Waziers, Berlin and London, without being very specific about the exact locations. That too is sometimes different on this label. And lastly, Duplant uses some instruments here. I believe to hear a piano and some instrument played with a bow; that might strings or a cymbal. The title refers to "the multiple meanings and interpretations that can be made of the incomplete form of the dactylic hexameter and palindrome In girum imus nocte ecce et consumimur igni. This Latin phrase, pictorial and poetic, most often attributed to Virgil, refers to the moths that circle around the candle before burning themselves, and which means: “We go around in circles in the night and we are devoured by fire". I am not that smart. More explanations on the Bandcamp page. Maybe the piece is indeed a palindrome. At least when I opened it in an audio editor it gave that impression. As with some of other recent works, Duplant seems to be layering a lot of sounds that may not have
many relations with each other and then finds a dialogue among them. By slowly fading up and down particular sounds, he creates a very rich sound world. I am not sure to what extent this is to be understood as random in the John Cage-sense, or if the composer willingly allows sounds to be louder or quieter in the mix. There are some massive, drone-like rocks, very detailled small field recordings, the occasional piano tone, the bow across the cymbal/violin, crackles and it all works very well. 'Nox' lasts exactly forty minutes, but I am sure this could be twice as long and still be interesting. I know this, because I had it on repeat and didn't notice the change over that much and it wasn't until much longer that I realized it started again. The overall tone of the piece is quite moody and atmospheric, but I guess such is the nature of densely layered field recordings. High quality work, as usual." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2022 |
€14.00 |
|
| DURAND, WERNER |
Schwingende Luftsäulen 2 |
CD |
"Werner Durand Schwingende Luftsäulen 2, the second chapter dedicated to Durand's music applied to the Pan-Ney, the wind instrument of his own invention. With gorgeous artworks by Karlheinz Bux and extensive liner notes by Adelio Fusé. "Schwingende Luftsäulen 2 is the second chapter of a trilogy featuring the Pan-Ney with its tubes or columns of vibrating air (Schwingende Luftsäulen, in fact). This second chapter, in which the Pan-Ney is flanked by the tenor sax, reconnects where the first one ends (ANTS, 2017), and proceeds along a path that is coherent and uniform, and whose imaginative ideas go beyond the strictly musical sphere. (...) Wald (forest) is the centerpiece of the three works that make up Schwingende Luftsäulen 2. It is the forest with its multiple meanings, real and symbolic, mythological, religious, literary, folkloric. The forest as a place that is sacred or magical, dreamlike or fairy-tale. A place of adventure and misadventure, to trek through with a view toward growth or rebirth. (...) In Spiegel (Mirror), dedicated to the Tonaliens Ensemble, the Pan-Ney and the tenor saxophone weave a layered dialogue in which they call and respond to each other. Not only. In their ‘mirroring conversation' the two instruments seem to suggest a choreography. Durand's music stands out for its ability to make some 'scenes' visible. In the dance evoked in Spiegel, the gestures - and perhaps even the bodies - appear suspended and rarefied, just as the music is suspended and rarefied, while, during listening, time expands beyond the duration of the piece. Music and dance remain there, in midair, even at the end of the ritual. (...) Panga, for Pan-Ney, tenor sax and digital delay, contains an allusion to nature. Panga (note the morpheme “pan”, which refers to Durand’s instrument) is the name of a plant that grows in New Zealand but that occurs in the botany of other areas of the planet (for example, in the Amazon) in connection with ancient practices both pharmacological and aphrodisiac. But the plant could easily belong to a manual of imaginary botany, if one thinks that nature, for Durand, is both a source of real inspiration and a place to reinvent according to subjective visions and coordinates."
www.antsrecords.com/AG19_SCHWINGENDE_2.html |
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| DÄLEK {DALEK] |
Asphalt for Eden |
LP |
Conceived in New Jersey from its emerging DIY scene from the late ‘90s, cult hop-hop trio DÄLEK were known as pioneers over the last fifteen years or so of an intriguing sound which fused a blend of progressive hip-hop artistry supported by a rhythmic backdrop consisting of sonic experimentation through noise music and dark ambient (they would be dubbed by journalists as what would happen when you mix Public Enemy and My Bloody Valentine). Their singularity would be highlighted in four defining milestone full-length albums released on Ipecac Recordings (one of them being their “Absence” masterpiece LP from 2005), along with live actions where the band would support the likes of Tool and The Melvins, and even collaborate with the likes of artists such as Faust. In Spring 2015 mastermind MC Dälek (a.k.a. Will Brooks, with the blessing of ex-member/co-producer Oktopus) revived DÄLEK after a hiatus with a new lineup which now includes DJ rEk and Mike Swarmbots and are now preparing to release their new album “Asphalt For Eden” which will be the first official DÄLEK release since their last full-length, 2009’s “Gutter Tactics”.
“Asphalt For Eden” sees a new creative peak for DÄLEK and will bring a new awareness for this cult hip-hop entity now resurrected once again and ready to show a formidable display of true hip hop artistry and experimentation through their new album and the plethora of touring the band have planned in support of it. A band which many see as one of the most genuine underground DIY hip hop iconoclasts.
dalekipecac.bandcamp.com/album/asphalt-for-eden |
2016 |
€27.00 |
|
|
Endangered Philosophies |
do-LP |
"Pioneers of alt hip-hop, Dälek features rapper / producer MC Dälek, producer / live electronics Mike Manteca and turntablist DJ rEk. With roots in the mid-90s DIY scene, Dälek have consistently released groundbreaking albums, starting with their 1998 debut EP, ‘Negro Necro Nekros’, to 2016’s ‘Asphalt For Eden’, hailed by Pitchfork for its subtlety and restraint, saying “on ‘Asphalt For Eden’, hip hop ascends into the noosphere.”
https://dalek.bandcamp.com/album/endangered-philosophies |
2017 |
€29.50 |
|
| |
Precipice |
do-LP |
Forged in the fires of the East Coast underground music scene in the 90s, experimental Hip Hop pioneers, Union City, NJ-based duo Dälek has spent decades carving out a unique niche fusing hardcore Hip Hop, noise and a radical approach to sound. Their brutal sonic temperament pushes rap music’s capacity for noise and protest to some exhilarating conclusions.
For their latest and eighth album, Precipice, Dälek unleashes a work that is practically bristling with fury and power. Predominantly the work of the core duo, Will Brooks, aka MC Dälek and Mike Manteca (Mike Mare), Precipice features a guest appearance of Adam Jones of Tool. The striking cover art was done by Paul Romano (Mastodon), and the packaging features the art of Mikel Elam.
https://dalek.bandcamp.com/album/precipice |
2022 |
€33.50 |
|
| E-MAN |
same |
MC |
"Cassette-only release in a limited-edition of 350 copies only. E-Man was the first apparition of Norway's father of chilly ambient electronics, Geir Jenssen -- these days better known as Biosphere. This tape, originally released in 1984 on Likvidér, features contributions from Per Martinsen (Mental Overdrive) and Nils Johansen (Bel Canto). All tracks recorded on a Teac 4-track cassette recorder at Elverhøy Studenthjem, Tromsø and Nord-Norsk Studenthjem, Oslo, Norway between 1983-1984. All tracks written by Geir Jenssen except track A1. written by Jenssen/Martinsen, A4. written by Jenssen/Johansen/Larsen, A6. and B4. written by Jenssen/Larsen, B1. written by Jenssen/Høyer/Larsen. Geir Jenssen (electronics), Ragnar Larsen (vocals and bass) (A4., A6., B1., B4.), Frank Jensen (vocals) (A1., B5.), Per Martinsen (electronics) (A1., B7.). Cover illustration by SavX aka Savage Pencil." [label info]
www.tapeworm.org.uk
|
2009 |
€9.00 |
|
| EARTHMONKEY |
Alms of Morpheus |
do-CD |
"The Bog is back and Bogger than ever. His cavity inducing Krystil-clear psych riffs, suspended in jellied electronics are anything but Earthly. Peat and Repeat were sitting on a bridge. Peat fell off. Into infinity. Here's the map. Rinse and repeat. Bog has a real talent both for playing and composition. His musicks are weighted with heavy doses of classic late 60's lysergic lytergics, but his brand of 'delics are uniquely scented by the new millennium. Cosmic, deep, spiraling, melodic, contagious, sexy, weird, rock, roll, trance, pants. Earthmonkey wields these and more. The Monkey lays down on Broadway. To sleep, perchance to dream of Morpheus.
PEAT BOG-EARTHMONKEY, A BRIEF HISTORY.
Peat Bog's formative years were largely spent casting about the English countryside with The Convoy; a conflagration of acid crazed, medieval brigands (see also "hippies"), who traveled en masse via an armada of beaten old trucks & buses, making their homes in teepees and living as freely as possible. While tuning in and dropping out with this loose collective, Bog began to ingest not only psychedelic drugs, but also psychedelic music. From The Mothers Of Invention to Chrome, Bog was a head for it all. It wasn't long before he began to bake the minds of others with his own brand of trance inducing (and induced) music. It was with this burgeoning sense of a musical universe that Peat Bog moved to Ireland in 1989. Eventually settling in County Claire in 1992, Bog found kindred spirits in Ruby Wallis and in the family Stapleton. The Stapletons' pseudo-nomadic lifestyle, traveling by horses and wagons, appealed to Bog, and so he found himself as something of an auxiliary family member. In 1993 Steve Stapleton asked Bog if he would like to sit in on recording sessions for a Nurse With Wound track slated for the compilation album "50 Years Of Sunshine" (a musical tribute to the 50 years since Albert Hoffmann first stumbled upon LSD 25). As it happened, Bog had just the right experience in both music and Sunshine usage. Thus was born another Nurse With Wound adjutant who would later appear on such NWW albums as "Who Can I Turn To Stereo," "An Awkward Pause," "Alice The Goon," "Funeral Music For Perez Prado" and "Rock And Roll Station," as well as other projects. Concurrently, Peatbog performed with a band called The Big Bag Of Stix. This group was known for playing grueling three hour sets of tweaked out, Irish punk/traditional. Quoth a member of the band: "Bog would go mental on percussion and didgeridoo." 1995 saw the birth of Peat Bog and Ruby Wallace's child Freddy. It was at this time that Bog started to work with the band The Inflatable Sideshow. With Darragh Greally and some assistance from Stapleton, the "Bonefrequency" track was completed in 1996 and appeared on the "Foxtrot" compilation LP. The Inflatable Sideshow then spent quite some time touring Ireland and the European continent. In the late 90's, some friends asked if they could use a selection of Bog's home recordings for their Burning Man documentary, "Dust Devils." This suggestion dovetailed nicely with the new musical notions percolating in Bog's mind. Inspired by memories of similar festivals in the UK, Bog elicited the help of Andile Meeshec, Molly Gowen and Ian Cahill, and a series of pieces were created for the film under the new project name; Earthmonkey. The music finally used in the film appears as tracks 6 & 7 on Earthmonkey's "Audiosapien" album, released by Beta-lactam Ring Records in 2003." [label info]
www.blrrecords.com
|
2011 |
€14.00 |
|
| EARZUMBA |
Real Ruido Pastizo |
CD-R |
Embrace the unexpected! Again C.D. manages it to create very unexpected and uncommon soundscapes made up out of found sounds & samples. This has at times even a jazzy & funny feel, but its like being in a totally deranged & transformed reality-system. Collage-music, Loops, all arranged very nicely. Check it out!
"Christian Dergarabedian is by now more known through his Earzumba than his previous engagement with Reynols, and releases a great bunch of great CDRs. More and more he relies on the sampler to be the crazy melting pot of sounds and here he seems to be taking matters a bit further. From the field recordings of 'Intro' to a heavily cut up reggae collage madness in 'Descuidado'. Spinning vinyl by hand and picking up crazy fragments, and not by strange coincidence Editions_zero remarks that this is a nice soundtrack to a b-movie. I was playing this a couple of times in a row, and each time I turned it back on and discovered new themes in this crazy road movie. It has a strange appeal, this madness, this hotchpotch of music. A strange kind of radio play even when words aren't really used here to any extent. Not even a real story actually now I come to think of it. Turntablism without turntables. A story of no words, but the perfect soundtrack to out and make your own crazy roadmovie." [FdW /Vital Weekly]
"I managed to create a film score sensation giving the dynamic as if it were done strictly following a script. Includes one mash up in between Bernard Herrmann & Silvestre Revueltas." [Christian Dergarabedian]
label: www.void.gr/absurd
|
2007 |
€8.00 |
|
| EASTLEY, MAX / MICHAEL PRIME |
Hydrophony for Dagon |
CD |
Live-Aufnahmen von 1996, alle Klänge wurden "unter Wasser" aufgenommen, PRIME ist wieder auf der Suche nach den versteckten Micro-Sounds im "Innern" der Materie...
“This haunting music was recorded in 1996 at "The Four Elements", SKRAEP Copenhagen. Every sound was generated underwater by an array of instruments including hydroarcs, bubble machine, tubing, fans, motors, tapes and objects. Coherently with their work, which many times has employed water as means or texture, Eastley and Prime develop a convincing narrative whose obscurity is made desirable by a challenging exploitation of aquatic reverberations and refractions. This means that we're neither in presence of a soundtrack for a dolphin exhibition, nor ambient music for swimming pools; try instead to conjure up images of an Organum/Noise-Maker's Fifes hybrid whose clothes are slowly washed by a humongous machine that puts us in a suspended state through its monotonous cycles of deep regurgitations. Never intimidating, rather comfortable, this womb of gurgles is nicely balanced between abstraction and tangibleness, which results in a very appreciable release.” [Touching Extremes]
"Recorded live at 'the Four Elements', Skraep Copenhagen 1996. All sounds were produced underwater and recorded via hydrophones. Max Eastley: hydroarc, tubing, fans, tapes, objects. Michael Prime: hydroarc, bubble machine, motors, tapes, objects." [label info]
www.void.gr/absurd
|
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
| EAU-DC |
NR2 |
LP |
"With Nr2 Jens Fischer and Thorsten Polomski developed 8 Songs moving between the relaxing moods of electronica. Just mixing up their favoured elements, adding more restrained, but sometimes pretty hasty beats and analog sounding fx’s this time, their 2nd recording expands ambient to not-just ambient. 100 copies will include a big sized poster with conceptual artwork according to the sleeve. Artwork/ design by Dominic Rechsteiner." [label info]
www.empiricrecords.com
"Following the LP/CD by Aalfang Mit Pferdekopf (see Vital Weekly 851), Empiric Records now releases a LP with a big sized poster and tapping into a different kind of music. Eau-Dc are a duo of Jens Fischer and Thorsten Polomski, who play electronic music that is somewhere along the lines of ambient music meeting up with rhythm. It's not exactly either strict ambient music or dance music for that matter. Music to tap your feet along, when you sit at home, reading a book, doing the laundry or other chores around the house, rather than heading out to the disco and dance your socks off. This is what a long-gone record store once described as 'head-nod' music. You feel the rhythm in your head and nod along too. Eight pieces of shimmering beats, moody but bouncing keyboard lines, a deep bass (although the record seems quite soft overall) for that necessary element of dub music. The ambient/cosmic music of late is slowly going more and more into the direction of 'dance' music - and before you know it we have another revival of ambient house and intelligent dance music. Be warned, Eau-Dc might be at the beginning of that too. These eight pieces, while nothing particular new, are crafted with great care and some nice delicate melodies to create a fine sonic depth in your living room." [FdW/Vital Weekly] |
2013 |
€17.50 |
|
| EAVIL |
Les Fleurs du Mal |
CD-R |
Pro CDR comes in jewel case with full color inserts and shrink wrap.
"EaViL" was a simultaneously unwieldy and timid odd couple of queer synth pop outsiders. For ten years, E. Al Dente and N. Vilches released home-made CDRs in EP format, almost always containing one or two cover songs.
EaViL were either indifferent or untoward regarding the unspoken obligations of your average musical acts, while still maintaining a sort of resolute hermetic diligence in terms of promotion, regardless of their intentions. There are no overwrought affectations, no "ersatz bad boy" aesthetics, no self-conscious posturing, no Machiavellian bullshitters, and no obnoxiously ambitious go-getters here. Rather, in the place of any particular over-arching gimmick, is a general "take it or leave it" tone to the work, which is brimming with a sense that the listener is being welcomed as a guest into the artists' home; and with it, the kind of spiraling raw inspiration mixed with studio-rat isolation vibes that so many of us crave. Nevertheless, the audio/visual performances of this yin/yang dynamic were nothing less than stimulating.
What initially rose out of the ashes of membership in a precociously noisey Indian Jewelry related band, The Electric Set, was a series of modest, yet earnest and gentile nods to the history of performance art , as well as italo disco, among other things. Odd masks, warped videos of Diana Ross, and lyrics about EaViL's cats ("Patsy" and "Edwina"), Alfred Hitchcock movies, their south side Chicago stomping ground (McKinley Park), or "Tarantula Juice" and other surrealismo permeate the lo-fi synth soundscapes, which at times just happen to tip-toe similar territory as wide-ranging as BeNe GeSSeRiT, Atari Teenage Riot, Giorgio Moroder, or Le Forte Four.
Initially, EaViL were an all-analog group, slowly evolving to embrace laptop technology. During their tenure, they performed on the famed "Chic-A-GoGo" public access TV show, and opened for popular "electro-glam" duo Glass Candy, among other ventures, but as far as we at NO PART OF IT are concerned, their collective musical candle went out too early.
"Les Fleurs du Mal" is a kind of anthology of favorite tracks, including some highlights from an unreleased/unfinished album called "DeciMaL" for your personal enjoyment. The digital download contains more than twice as much material with hidden bonus tracks, including some more experimental dimensions from the outfit, not to mention some particularly deconstructed covers of Prince, Yaz, and Siouxsie.
Includes unlimited streaming of Les Fleurs du Mal via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more
https://nopartofit.bandcamp.com/album/les-fleurs-du-mal |
2018 |
€8.00 |
|
| EBSK |
Secret Highways |
mCD-R |
“EBSK are an improvising duo from Washington DC, with a new release, "Secret Highways/Wobbly" (Scarcelight SLR15), a very goddam original take on contempo basement prog (or some such thing). The instrumentation is Casios, drums, bass guitar, and B flat clarinet. If this suggests some kind of Milo Fine or Flaherty/Colbourne action, the direction that they head in is pretty original. Without the help of beats, they manage to create a newish sounding electronic environment, inside of which events happen which eventually coalesce into something that walks, looks and quacks a whole lot like rock. The crudity of the electronics and the sparseness of certain elements brings to mind such small units as Young Marble Giants or even The Method Actors, but the sounds are of such aesthetics placed inside a strange post-Rock In Opposition Prog continuum, then manhandled by picnic apes. Which is pretty cool, no matter how hard you shake it.” [Byron Coley. The Wire]
|
2003 |
€5.00 |
|
| ECKLOFF, JÜRGEN |
Angeflantschte Fugenstücke |
LP |
“Bei Wanzen Geld zurück” originally recorded 2004 for an exhibition at Sibirische Zelle (Berlin) fills the A-side of this two sided 30,48cm rotating audio-archive. A seemingly empty room with greasy walls is somehow filled by situations and more - of course with happy ending!
Side B contains six shorter pieces including the unusual trilogy Mörtel
I – IV. This is the very first trilogy that consists of four pieces instead of the usual three! A masterpiece using the most modern techniques of composition. (That's also the reason why the additional `T´ is used in the record-title...)
All the sounds used for the pieces on Side B where recorded by the author himself mainly for his forthcoming film "Girls In Dirty Aprons"
at several places. Five scenic figurines of photographic beauty and understanding of sonic nature. `Miniatures Concrètes´ a French maybe would say.... The final piece entitled “Jazz” sets another direction, Eckloff never has shown before. Not Dixieland...the other Jazz! Yes!
The not fully printed backside of the coveroffers a lot of space for notes - a new & fresh invention on the fast growing record-market that underlines once more the forward-thinking way 90%Wasser steps on since years!
Tracklist:
side one:
1. Bei Wanzen Geld zurück
side two:
2. Fettröhre
3. Mörtel I
4. Mörtel II
5. Mörtel III
6. Mörtel IV
7. Jazz
"Und gleich noch etwas Neues aus dem Hause 90%WASSER, dem Berliner Label, das uns so exzellente Platten wie die von COLUMN ONE, JÜRGEN PLOOG und die letztlich hier präsentierten KEIN ZWEITER beschert hat. Das heißt, neben eben KEIN ZWEITER wird uns gleich noch die neuste Scheibe von JÜRGEN ECKLOFF angetragen, demjenigen, der so großartig Collagen und Videos mit surrealem Inhalt schnitzelt, dem, der Alben produziert, seine Collagen ab und an ausstellt (wie z.B. in der Sibirischen Zelle, der Rumsti-Pumsti-Galerie am Treptower Park in Berlin und – wie gemunkelt wird – demnächst in Zernikow bei Berlin) und sowohl mit COLUMN ONE als auch mit dem oben genannten Label eng verbunden ist.
Auch auf dem Cover prangt eine Collage von ihm – wobei hier die einzelnen Teile wie ein Langschatten ineinandergefügt wurden. Dieser ist der eines Mannes. Und der wird von hinten wie von vorne gezeigt – mit einer Mütze auf dem Kopf, die darauf schließen lässt, dass es sich hier wohl um einen (Stahl- oder Bergwerks-) Arbeiter aus den – sagen wir – 1950er Jahren handelt.
Musikalisch, oder was die zu hörenden Geräusche betrifft, oder auch hörspielerisch, werden wir in den Großraum einer Werkshalle entführt – möglicherweise ja die des auf dem Cover zu sehenden Arbeiters.
„Bei Wanzen Geld zurück“ umfasst dann die gesamte A-Seite des Albums. Da schlürft und schmatzt zunächst jemand. Hörbar in einer eben größeren und annähernd leeren Halle. Alle Hintergrundgeräusche, einschließlich Pfeifen, hallen hier nämlich nach. Koch- oder größere Metalldeckel rollen. Das Schmatzen bleibt. Balken, wie Klanghölzer fallen in Pfützen. Das Schmatzen bleibt, scheint sich sogar hier und da mit den Wasserpfützklängen zu verbinden. Dann wird so etwas wie eine Tonne durch die Halle gerollt. Nun schmatzt es unterbrochen. Mal äußert sich das – ja was eigentlich, vielleicht Monster – brummend, mal hustend. Ein Knirschen. Die Deckel. Und wieder das Schmatzen. Im Hintergrund dann auch einzelne Töne eines Klaviers, oder etwas kleiner – eines für Kinder vielleicht. Dann wieder das Rollen. Manchmal, zum Ende hin, sind auch Töne zu hören, die an welche erinnern, die entstehen, wenn mit Wasser gefüllte Gläser, die an den oberen Kanten mit dem Finger gestrichen werden, ertönen, klingen, summen und brummen. Das geht bis zum Rückkopplungsgeräusch. Und schließlich mündet das Ganze in ein Flaschenfallgeräusch – in etwa so, als wär diejenige Person (das Monster, Wesen) da in der Halle grad damit beschäftigt, zu kegeln ...
Die A-Seite macht dem Titel des Albums alle Ehre. Denn es flieht das besagte (Monster-) Wesen der (Arbeiter-) Person durch die Halle, und zwar in Form von Geräuschen, die polyphon und mehrstimmig sind – so wie bei einer klassischen Fuge, in der ja jedes Thema nach seinem Auftauchen, zeitversetzt wiederholt wird. Weil wir es hier aber lediglich mit Fugenstücken zu tun haben, die angeflanscht wurden, die also dicht, jedoch lösbar miteinander verbunden sind, kann das Ganze wohl auch in andere Kontexte gesetzt werden. Wer weiß? ...
Auf der B-Seite sind dann „Röhrenfett“ (B1), „Mörtel I-IV“ (B2-5) und „Jazz“ (B6) zu hören. Vielleicht geht das Ganze auch in Richtung Versuchsaufbau. Vielleicht dient der Mörtel dem Errichten einer neuen Halle außerhalb der alten. Da werden – wie auf dem Bau üblich – nämlich Flaschen mit Plopp geöffnet, da wird innerhalb der Stücke gewerkelt, Lasten werden gezogen, da wird gehämmert, verräumt usw. Vielleicht richtet sich's aber auch an die Form der Musik. „Jazz“ ließe diesen Schluss zu. Denn hier wird nicht mehr mit Instrumenten, sondern mit Türknarren gearbeitet. Türen klingen da nämlich wie Blasinstrumente. Und das Hämmern und Poltern so wie ein Schlagwerk, das wie im Jazz üblich nicht unbedingt im Takt bleiben muss.
Vielleicht ist das DADA, vielleicht konstruktivistisch oder auch situationistisch. Schließlich beschäftigten sich die Situationisten neben der Malerei und der Collage auch mit Stadtplanung. Allerdings waren sie der Arbeit gänzlich abgeneigt „Arbeit? Niemals.“ Das war einer der Slogans der Zeit ... Nun, was auch immer es ist, es lohnt sich auf jeden Fall „Angeflanschte Fugenstücke“ zu hören, und zwar um sich selbst ein Bild davon zu machen, wofür es meines Wissens nach noch keinen Begriff gibt." [andrewkorsch für nonpop.de] |
2016 |
€15.00 |
|
| EINHORN, NIKOLAUS |
+++ arbeiten +++ |
LP + 7inch |
"N. Einhorn gibt es wirklich, mit Einträgen in Ubuweb und im Transpersonalen Lexikon. 1940 in Dresden geboren, praktiziert er Gestaltpsycho- und Familientherapie und angewandte Tiefenökologie.
Daneben jedoch hatte Einhorn ein Faible für Lautpoesie und Klangexperimente entwickelt, das Anfang der 70er zur Mitherausgeberschaft im S-Press Tonbandverlag führte, einem Forum für Arbeiten von etwa Raoul Hausmann, Oskar Pastior, Ernst Jandl, Ludwig Harig, Hartmut Geerken oder Bazon Brock. Der Tonbandvirus packte ihn auch selbst, mit Resultaten wie ‚Cudrefin (minuit) - Found Music No.1‘ (1973), windspielähnlichem Stabglockenbimbam, von Wind umblasen und von Wasser beplätschert; und dem bei S-Press veröffentlichten Titelstück ‚Arbeiten - ein Stück für alle‘ (ebenfalls 1973 entstanden), das drei Loops des Wortes ‚arbeiten‘, einen kommandotonhaften, einen ‚tüchtigen‘ und einen monotonen, durch die Asynchronität des Schlaufenlaufes miteinander roboterhaft ‚arbeiten‘ lässt. Der Bonustrack ‚Don‘t you may be, the essential interview‘ (1975) mit den Stimmen von John Cage & Hans G. Helms war - neben Gerhard Rühm und Franz Mon - Teil der Futura 5-LP der POESIA SONORA- Anthologie von Cramps Records gewesen. Helms ist ein Avantpionier zwischen Jazz & Poetry, Frankfurter Schule, Studio für Elektronische Musik Köln und Darmstädter Ferienkursen sowie Autor von John Cage – Gedanken eines progressiven Musikers über die beschädigte Gesellschaft. ‚Don‘t you may be‘ operiert ebenfalls mit den Repetitionen von Satzfetzen, Gelächter, Schnieflauten. Mit dem Haupteffekt Keine Lust auf Arbeit und der Nebenwirkung Mehr Lust auf Helms." [Bad Alchemy]
www.youdonthavetocallitmusic.de
"And oh: that Nikolaus Einhorn record is an interesting piece from 1973 of sound poetry. A loop like Steve Reich's 'Come Out' phasing in and out on the word 'arbeiten' (working). The other side is also from 1973 and not released before. It applies the same working method but then for chimes in the wind - or perhaps its just chimes in the wind. Get a copy while they last." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2007 |
€18.50 |
|
| EINSTÜRZENDE NEUBAUTEN |
1/2 Mensch |
LP |
"Halber Mensch ('half man' in German) originally came out in 1985, at the height of the apex of punk self-immolation, pure German expressionism, and industrial theatricality. The infernal vocal chorale of the title track is about as intense as a vocal piece could ever be, without resorting to pure guttural howling. Here is it a searing repetition of an atonal plainsong, buttressed by the always unique snarl of frontman Blixa Bargeld. The repurposed metals from junkyards and constructions site which have become synonymous with Neubauten immediately appear afterwards on their anthemic single "Yu- Gung (Fuetter Mein Ego)," whose insistent rhythm works almost Gamelan- like as the principal melody to this amazing tune. It should also be pointed out that Pussy Galore, who were already heavily indebted to EN, covered this on their Sugar Shit Sharp ep! later. As a grand climax to the album, Neubauten again returns to hellish imagery through the symphony of bowed metals on "Der Tod Ist Ein Dandy," where these cacophonic scrapes amass into a dramatic arc of acoustic noise that easily parallels those same constructions that David Jackman built in Organum.
This is one of those seminal records that should always be in print, and one of those records that you should already have. But if not, you shouldn't pass this up!" [Aquarius Records]
www.neubauten.org |
2002 |
€22.00 |
|
|
Zeichnungen des Patienten O.T. |
LP |
The second LP appeared 1983 on Rough Trade and made the Neubauten internationally well known..
this is a re-issue in original cover, released in 2003.
|
2003 |
€22.00 |
|
|
Lament |
do-LP |
»Lament« heißt das brandneue Meisterwerk der Berliner Kultband Einstürzende Neubauten, geschrieben für die 100-jährigen Gedenkfeierlichkeiten des Beginns des Ersten Weltkrieges.
Die flämische Stadt Diksmuide beauftrage die Einstürzenden Neubauten im Rahmen der 100-jährigen Gedenkfeierlichkeiten des Beginns des Ersten Weltkrieges zu den Arbeiten an »Lament«, dem neuen Album der 1980 in Westberlin gegründeten Band. Die Einstürzenden Neubauten verstehen »Lament« nicht als reines Studioalbum, sondern als eine Dokumentation der Geschichte der Stadt Diksmuide, wo das Werk im November 2014 uraufgeführt wird, bevor sie damit auf Tour gehen werden.
»Lament« enthält viele bereits bestehende Elemente wie die beiden Prejazz-Songs der Marschkapelle The Harlem Hellfighters, die die US-Regierung als erste afroamerikanische Einheit in die Schlacht schickte. Das Album thematisiert zwei Texte des belgischen Autors Paul van den Broeck sowie ein Stück des weniger bekannten deutschen Schriftstellers Joseph Plauts, der die Geschichte des Ersten Weltkriegs aus Sicht eines Tieres erzählt. Des Weiteren singt Blixa Bargeld die deutsche Version von Pete Seegers Antikriegslied »Where Have All The Flowers Gone«, die Marlene Dietrich mit »Sag mir wo die Blumen sind« weltberühmt machen sollte. Die Band erweckte außerdem eine Nationalhymnne wieder zum Leben, die einst von Kriegsteilnehmerländern wie Deutschland, Großbritannien und Kanada gleichermaßen verwendet wurde. Schließlich folgt der dreigeteilte Titeltrack »Lament«, der eine Reihe historischer Wachszylinderaufnahmen enthält. Diese wurden damals von Sprachforschern deutscher Gefangenenlager aufgenommen, die ihre Insassen dazu zwangen, die Bibelstelle des »verschwenderischen Sohns« in ihrer eigenen Sprache zu rezitieren, von denen viele inzwischen ausgestorben sind.
Über all dem schwebt die drastisch verlangsamte Version des Motetts des Komponisten Jacob Clemens non Papa, der im Diksmuide des 16. Jahrhundert lebte.
//
LAMENT the new album by Einstürzende Neubauten is released Friday 07 November 2014 on BMG Records.
LAMENT should be heard as a studio reconstruction of a work primarily designed to be performed live, rather than an official new Einstürzende Neubauten LP proper.
In truth, the piece can only be fully realised, as well as best experienced, in its physical embodiment, performed on or by founding member Andrew Unruh’s gigantic instruments and noise generating devices that visually evoke the horrors the work describes or embeds in the sounds they conjure from the filth and terror of the industrialised 20th century world at war with itself.
But in fulfilling what at first appears to be a surprise commission for such a formidable longtime outsider group, Einstürzende Neubauten transformed the earthy, idiosyncratic contents they mined from academic, state, music hall and internet archives with the help of their two researchers into a richly complex cycle of original and cover songs and performance pieces.
The music often originated in LAMENT’s storytelling needs, be it in terms of sounds used or compositions structured along First World War flow charts or scored from calendars of the involvement of the 20 plus countries embroiled in it.
The way LAMENT plays off pre-existing and composed materials, pieces clipped together from historical records next to direct cover interpretations, or indeed their Frankenstein like construction of an ur-anthem/national hymn delivers a differently angled history of the war.
Finally, LAMENT opens Bargeld’s case that the First World War never ended - the interwar and postwar periods being essentially pauses for breath as the great military powers carry on their conflict at some remove in faraway wars fought by proxy." [label / website info]
|
2014 |
€22.00 |
|
| |
Rampen - APM: Alien Pop Music (lim. yellow vinyl) |
do-LP |
Double LP version. Yellow color vinyl. Einstürzende Neubauten present their new album Rampen (apm: alien pop music). Since the band was founded on April 1, 1980, Einstürzende Neubauten have been shifting the parameters of mainstream and subculture to make the inaudible audible -- perhaps the unheard as well. This experimental field research, spanning more than four decades, is now entering the next stage. In its 44th year of existence, the band is going back to its roots while redefining itself. It's a change in self-image, for which the Berlin quintet plus one has created its own genre -- alien pop music.
Einstürzende Neubauten präsentieren ihr neues Album. Sie suchen nach neuen Formen. Nach dem unentdeckten Ton und dem noch unausgesprochenen Wort. Seit ihrer Gründung am 1. April 1980 verschieben die Einstürzenden Neubauten die Parameter von Mainstream und Subkultur, um das Unhörbare hörbar zu machen. Und vielleicht auch das Unerhörte. Ein sich über vier Dekaden erstreckender Feldforschungsversuch, der nun ins nächste Stadium tritt. In ihrem 44. Bestehensjahr geht die Formation weit zurück zu ihren Wurzeln, um sich gleichzeitig neu zu definieren. Ein verändertes Selbstverständnis, für das das Berliner Quintett plus eins 2024 sein eigenes Genre kreiert hat: apm - alien pop music. Ständige Weiterentwicklung - so könnte man das Schaffen der Einstürzenden Neubauten kurz und knapp zusammenfassen. Eine musikalische Evolution, die beim 1981 veröffentlichten Albumdebüt "Kollaps" beginnt und sich nun auf dem im April 24 erscheinenden Album "Rampen - apm: alien pop music" manifestiert, auf diesem präsentieren sich Blixa Bargeld, N.U. Unruh, Alexander Hacke, Jochen Arbeit, Rudolph Moser und Felix Gebhard nun von ihrer unberechenbarsten und eigenwilligsten Seite. Auf ihrem neuen Album setzen die Neubauten nun allen Sound-Spekulationen ein - wenn auch spätes - Ende. Schon seit Mitte der 1980er-Jahre experimentieren die Einstürzenden Neubauten auf der Bühne mit sogenannten Rampen: Öffentliche Improvisationen mit offener Entwicklung und Ausgang; Abschussrampen ins noch Unerforschte, die die Band im Jahr 2022 auf ihrer letzten "Alles in Allem"-Tournee im Zugabenteil performte und deren Mitschnitte als Basis für das neue Album dienen. "Rampen - apm: alien pop music" ist Popmusik für Paralleluniversen und Zwischenwelten. Für Hyperräume und Interzonen. Mikrokosmisch und intergalaktisch zugleich. Eine demimondäne Behauptung außerhalb aller physikalischen Gesetze, mit der die Einstürzenden Neubauten ein stilistisches Niemandsland zwischen Vergangenheit und Zukunft betreten. Rückkehr zu den Wurzeln einerseits, andererseits entsteht aus lärmgewaltigen Kracheruptionen, auf kryptische, oftmals fragmentarische Lyrics treffend, eine neue Kunstform: Populäre Musik für Aliens und Außenseiter. Aus Anti-Pop ist Alien Pop geworden. Fremdartig. Kokonhaft versponnen. Ungehört. Sonus inauditus. Nicht ganz unabsichtlich erinnert das reduzierte Coverartwork an das ikonische Layout des "Weißen Albums" von den Beatles. "Ausgehend von der Idee, dass die Einstürzenden Neubauten in einem anderen Sonnensystem ebenso berühmt sind wie die Beatles in unserer Welt", so Blixa Bargeld über die Gratwanderung zwischen Avantgarde und Augenzwinkern, Provokation und popkultureller Diskontinuität. Womit auch direkt das zentrale Thema vorgegeben wäre, das sich wie ein roter Faden durch alle Songs zieht: Veränderung, utopische Gedankenspiele und Vergänglichkeit. "Ich habe auf der Platte ein paar Lösungen gefunden und Dinge formuliert, wie ich sie vorher noch nicht formuliert habe, weil sie mir noch nicht so klar waren. Ich bin jemand, der denkt, durch Musik Erkenntnisse zu gewinnen. Das war schon immer so. Die Überzeugung, in der Musik etwas zu finden, was ich vorher nicht wusste. Und etwas zu singen, was ich vorher nicht wusste. Etwas, was sich dann als Wahrheit herausstellt. Oder zumindest als sinnvoll, wenn man es ein wenig kleiner halten will." Dieses Album repräsentiert die nächste Stufe der Evolution, auf der man die bekannte Sprache schließlich hinter sich gelassen hat. Und die Eröffnung weiterer, unendlicher Möglichkeiten: alien pop music.
|
2024 |
€48.00 |
|
| EIRIKURA |
Reflections of a Higher Realm |
CD |
"The varied enchanting soundscapes of Eirikura are created using familiar instruments s.a. guitars, strings (violin, viola, cello), grand piano, flute, oboe, trumpet, drums and more unconventional ones, such as bandura, zither, bowed psaltery, musical saw and various percussions. The eclectic sound ranges in genre from neo-folk and neo-classical to ethereal and ambient." [label info]
"Reflection of a Higher Realm is the debut album by neoclassical/ ambient music project Ēirikura, released by Wrotycz Records, consisting of artists from several different German bands, plus Irish poetess Johanna Doyle. With thirteen tracks – Reflection of a Higher Realm, Wassara, Flowers, Eirikura, Annabelle Blue, Oh, roses for the flush of youth, Fornocht do chonac thu, Today's Eulogy, Dance into Images, Like an out-dated Pre-Raphaelite, Gerds, Ramawas Warta and Reflection of a Higher Realm (reprise) – this is a beautiful, formidable and astonishing record, probably the best neoclassical album that I have heard. Fulfilled by references of art and literature – with original and adapted poems as well – Reflection of a Higher Realm is a fantastic, bright and marvelous journey throughout a serene, ordained, sensible and sincere universe, where a colorful ocean of hope can be seen involving worlds of incommensurable delight, in a warm and complete embrace of patience, immutability and beauty. With great tenderness and delicacy, the music of Ēirikura is a marvelous journey throughout an intelligent and thoroughly elaborated universe of supreme art, created with the sentimental, but pragmatic axiom of a truth that comprehends all the virtual and literal necessities of the human soul.
Reflection of a Higher Realm couldn’t have been a better title for the album, because all tracks in this outstanding and vigorous work – without exceptions – seems to transmit exactly this sensation: reflections of a higher realm. You almost feel you are looking, touching or making contact with the omnipresent consciousness of a higher dimensional existence, parallel to our mundane and ordinary world. These songs appear to descend from a transcendental reign of underlying and subjective, but overwhelming beauty, that came to rescue us from our suffering, fatalist misery and insignificance. With folk and regional elements beautifully inserted in the songs as well, the pure and consecrated density of this work goes beyond the infinity of its majestic tenures of beauty, aggrandizing artistry and emotional virtuosity.
With a succession of beautiful songs that cohesively forms in the universe of its sensible context a marvelous cosmos of original creative strength and sagacity, Reflection of a Higher Realm is an unbelievable, sensational and monumental record. Its imperial, but graceful and gentle expansive movements liberates the engines of a fragile and hidden existence, made primarily of tenderness, humanity, art and a genuine capacity to sonorously create, evoke and reproduce higher dimensions of dense and meaningful sensibility.
With wonderful songs like Fornocht do chonac thu, Today's Eulogy and Like an out-dated Pre-Raphaelite – the seventh, eight and tenth track, respectively –, which are my favorites, Ēirikura offers you the possibility to travel to the extremes of your own soul, making you discover and decipher, in the process, the most profound and consistent devotional diagrams hidden in the depths of your own consciousness. But even if they were devoid of this ability – although they aren’t –, the music itself will be a reason strong enough to make anyone anxious to embark on this fantastic symbolic journey of expressive moments, filled by delightful redemptive skies of infinite grace." [Wagner/Merchants of Air]
|
2017 |
€12.00 |
|
| EITR |
Trees have Cancer too |
LP |
"Pedro Sousa, saxophones, electronics. Pedro Lopes, turntables, electronics. Recorded between 2008-2011. 150 gr vinyl, 350 gr carton cover, 150-copies limited edition.
Liquid, high viscosity, between amber (Pedro Sousa) and gas (Pedro Lopes). Music is always dual and eternally renewed, at the present time (recorded live), the first person singular.
"Duo of Pedro Sousa and Pedro Lopes, two portuguese young musicians, and some of the most exciting in the plastic, tonal and energic exploration of sound in a long time. Using sax (Sousa), turntables (Lopes) and a communal use of electronics, their music is admittedly nervous, obsessively bent over the following moment.” (Outfest press release, 2011)
"The pieces on this grimly titled record were recorded between 2008 and 2011, in Portugal and Berlin. Improvised music no doubt, but I wouldn't be surprised if there is some careful planning ahead of recording. The music of Eitr is closed off: everything seems to be together, in the same dynamic frame, somewhat below the level of mid-range frequencies. In 'Forth Twice', the first piece on the b-side they use some Russian instruction record, and a bumping rhythm, whereas the saxophone plays a melancholic tune, and the whole things gets a surprising musical touch. That is less apparent in the second (and last) piece on this side and the side long piece on the other side. There is an odd sense of acoustic drones on this release, very austere and dark, with the saxophone being with held, with drawn, bathing in this sea of repressed sounds. It never bursts out, this music, it never wails about, but instead has a lot of tension, perhaps due to the fact that much of this hoovers around the edge of feedback, but never bursts out into this. You wait for this enormous blast to happen, but it never comes around to do so. I thought this was a great release. Very intense for the players - probably - and for the listeners - surely for me. Every time I play this I hear something new, which made me think 'oh, no, its much more electro-acoustic than I thought', 'damn, it's much more composed' or 'what a refined way of improvising'. Excellent record all around." [FdW in Vital] |
2013 |
€18.50 |
|
| ELECTRIC SEWER AGE |
Bad white Corpuscule |
CD |
"Electric sewer age was thought up in 2006 by a man called John Deek (r.i.p). The original idea was for likeminded souls, amongst particularly the coil fraternity, too compose music, which would be released, with no credits to the creators.
This would allow the listener to listen, and not have a preconceived bias, as to which song they liked best, based on their favourite composer etc.
While in Bangkok 2006, I talked with Peter Christopherson (r.i.p) about the project and he jumped aboard. He supplied many loops which made their way to Texas and onto the UK.
These segments might or might not be used in here, you explore.
Danny Hyde continues his fantastical journey in sound with this second release under the ESA name and completely moves beyond expectations.
Disproving the doubters, this EP is pretty much just him in his studio wrenching new creations out of his equipment; the trainspotters amongst us will no doubt pick out some of the shards he pulls from his past.
But he doesn't make them the focus of what is going on here, they are there merely to accent, to add a bit of depth and help illuminate how many years he's been at this.
Does he follow a muse?
If so, it must not be one that operates in the traditional sense. Perhaps it is more of a compulsion to create and then endlessly refine what you've done down to the most primal of elements.
There are ghosts all over this thing, you can feel the weight of their absence and at some points you swear you can actually hear them.
Tricks of the sound field, the mirror casting back shadows. If anyone else is on here, they have come out of the ether to make an appearance. Don't be afraid, put on your headphones and immerse yourself into a symphony that Hyde terms "an ode to loss".
He'd know.
We can all see from the outside what happened over the last decade but for him, it was all right there. Up close and personal. Through the usage of heavily processed vocals and arcane terrestrial instrumentation, Hyde lives up to his reputation for creating amazingly detailed yet extremely dark electronic compositions.
The symbiosis of organic and synthetic influences would be his forte and he's not holding anything back this time out, believe me, there's a feel to what is on here that isn't easily conceived. To just sit down and begin knocking out what 'Bad White Corpuscle' contains I don't think could be done unless you had planned and plotted out every last possible contingency down to the millisecond.
I've played this a lot but by comparison he's probably got mixes and additional versions of what's on here that could fill terabytes of hard drive space without batting an eye.
Electric Sewer Age exist between two worlds: the one of now and an older, more disturbing place which with the passage of time only becomes more savage and terrifying to visit.
As it appears he's chosen to put Aural Rage to bed, we have these excursions to look forward to; every few years Mr. Hyde will come out of seclusion to reveal where he's at and where he's going.
Clearly, this project is a form of therapy for the guy and having researched precisely what a bad white corpuscle is there's an uneasy feeling that foreshadowing is being employed here.
I'm not privy to whom this refers, I can only hope they know what they're doing.
This is so intense, so unflinchingly expressive that I come away completely drained.
Up by Sunday.
Peter.
Very elegant electronica, as you are used from best Coil's albums.
Dreamy and doped muzak for the real dreamer.
Tracklist :
01. Grey corpuscle 3.56
02. Corpuscular corpuscle 5.11
03. Amber corpuscle 5.12
04. Rising corpuscle 8.40
05. Bad white corpuscle 6.27
06. Black corpuscle 5.20 " [label info]
www.oldeuropacafe.com
|
2014 |
€16.00 |
|
| ELEKTROJUDAS / XNDL |
split |
LP |
"For years, the work of elektrojudas released on Attenuation Circuit has
been linking the drone/ambient flavour of the label to more
dance-oriented styles of electronic music. On this split LP featuring
four tracks by elektrojudas and three by his long-time musical
companion XNDL, the two collaborators give an impressive insight into
the hidden kinship between abstract instrumental hip hop and drone
electronica.
XNDL has been active since 1998 in musical styles from hip hop to
drum’n’bass as a DJ, producer, and engineer, working with artists such
as Anticon, Botanica Del Jibaro, Shapeshifters, Plague Language, and
many others. On his own record label Subversiv*Rec, he published some
45 releases by underground/abstract hip-hop acts. This LP is
co-released with his current publishing outlet, cognitive*defect.
This split release marks a new step in the ongoing artistic
collaboration of XNDL with elektrojudas. Both sides of the vinyl are
unified by mid- to downtempo beats with a rather relaxed feel. Dreamy
piano chords sometimes make you think that this could be a nice
chill-out album. But then you turn the record over, and suddenly
jarring, guitar-like distortion and high-pitched oscillators change the
atmosphere. Things do not get faster, but the tension rises … until it
is resolved again. An exciting sonic journey that showcases one of the
many paths of musical innovation in the hip-hop tradition, and an
admirably consistent approach shared by the two artists." [label info]
www.attenuationcircuit.de
|
2014 |
€16.00 |
|
| ELIK, YURI / NOISES OF RUSSIA |
VOICES OF THE DEAD |
DVD-R |
"Photographer and videoartist Yuri Elik is primarily known as one of the founders and permanent members of multimedia project 2012, creating audio-video installations on various contemporary art festivals (SKIF, Heilige Feuer, Multivision, etc.). Apart from this Yuri performs on his own making video- and slide-shows for a number of experimental musical bands in St. Petersburg. Yuri is also the video show author for the performances of Simon Magus ballet written by D. Kakhovskiy and the designer of several CD artworks and websites. Gosha Solnzev (also known as "Van Gog" - 1g0g) - big industrial showman, leader of the project Noises of Russia well-known in Russia, organizer of several festivals, such as "Noise vs. Glamour", "Military Days", "Noisy Women", etc. Gosha has always claimed that he plays funeral music, so it's no wonder he showed interest in the phenomenon of voices of the dead, discovered by Friedrich Jürgenson in the late 50s of the past century. Electronic Voice Phenomenon (voices of the dead, Raudive voices) are the voices of anomalous origin appearing while making records on tape recorders or other electronic audio devices. EVP researches claim and have proof that this is a possible way of communication between physical and some other non-physical planes of existence. The exploration of this phenomenon led to an effective cooperation between Van Gog and Yuri which resulted in a series of live performances with the "Voices of the Dead" program and this short film, with 24 minutes an obscure psychedelic drama evolving in front of the spectator. A multi-layered collage of concrete visual images and kaleidoscopic colour fields constantly transforms, accompanied by unusual and uneasy sombre ambient with real voices of the dead samples interlaced in it's structure. As a bonus this disk also contains a 12-min. slide-film "City Spirits": alternation of photos by Yuri Elik with his own soundtrack constructed from city noises. Yuri skillfully focuses attention on subtleties of usual things that remain unseen to the eye of a usual human being, generally too busy with thinking over his insubstantial problems and forgetting about the beauty of the world surrounding him. The release is packed in a special cardboard sleeve and goes with a booklet with an encyclopaedic reference about the phenomenon of electronic voices." [label info]
http://zhb.radionoise.ru/
|
2006 |
€12.00 |
|
| ELIZABETH S. |
Gather Love |
CD |
Elizabeth S., long time contributor/performer with duo Eyeless In Gaza is about to release her first solo album. Happy in the past to remain on the sidelines with her collaborations she is now ready to reveal some of her story. These songs are her personal journey through many stormy years and the development of this work was many years in the making. All the songs were written, performed and produced by her with the only additional contributions being made by Martyn Bates and Alan Trench. In a recent review (www.bigbeautifulnoise.com) Lee Henderson wrote that her work extends from an almost mournful reminiscence to ethereal portraits and symbolic aural illustrations. Elizabeth S. has an approach that combines electronic treatments while having a tight grasp on her early British folk beginnings: this in-depth collection is a beacon on dark and intensely stormy years and yet it still offers a warm invitation to inspire hope and goodness to the human race. Consisting of twelve tracks of such an intimate autobiographical diary this body of work leaves the listener with no doubt that we have been allowed into a very private space inhabited by most of us at some point in our lives - with Elizabeth’s music gently moving from the tender to the abstract, all the while staying firmly rooted within a range of sparse musical arrangements. Elizabeth S. has been likened to a curious hybrid of Dolly Collins, June Tabor, Laurie Anderson and Kate Westbrook – but, it is truly difficult to label her music, and this is a task that we leave to the listener. Full tracklist: 1. Misborn 2. Will Your Love 3. The Carer 4. The Carter Girl 5. Weathered Life 6. Measured Greed 7. The Hill 8. The Long Farewell 9. Wanderlove 10. Gather Love 11. No Rain 12. To.
https://www.klanggalerie.com/gg384
"Warum Elizabeth S., langjährige Mitwirkende bei der Band Eyeless in Gaza, erst nach Jahrzehnten ein Album im Alleingang produziert hat, ist nicht weiter bekannt. Schon die ersten beiden Tracks ihres vor kurzem erschienenen Debüts “Gather Love” geben jedoch bereits eine Vorstellung von der enorm aufwühlenden Emotionalität, die sich in unterschiedlichen Facetten durch das ganze Werk zieht. Ein solches Album braucht nicht nur eine Weile, um fertig gestellt zu werden, sondern noch mehr Zeit, um überhaupt als Idee heranzureifen.
Ein solches Album ist, so will es die Redensart, keine leichte Geburt, und so beginnt “Gather Love” wie ein Donnerschlag mit dem heftigen “Misborn”, bei dem die Sängerin inmitten einer lärmenden Karambolage aus Drums, Noiserockgitarren und anderen Instrumenten beschwörende Verse anstimmt, während kleine Melodiefragmente auch hier bereits die Sanftheit ahnen lassen, die im weiteren Verlauf immer deutlicher in den Vordergrund treten wird. Alles dreht sich um den titelgebenden Begriff, und es scheint, als wollten Gesang und Lärm durch eine unsichtbare Wand dringen. Hinter der verbirgt sich vielleicht die gelöste, sehnsuchtsvolle Trauer, in die das darauffolgende “Will Your Love” getaucht ist – dieser vielleicht eingängigste Song des Albums, dessen eindringliches Gitarrenspiel und feuriger Gesang die Energie des Folkrevivals der 70er channelt, stellt die Frage nach einer Liebe, die den Tod überdauert. Alles in diesem Stück scheint dem Schmerz abgerungen und ist dabei frei von jeder lieblichen Romantik.
Die zwölf Stücke, in denen die oftmals verschwimmenden Klänge von Gitarre, Piano, Melodica, dezenter Elektronik und Streichern den Sound prägen, drehen sich immer wieder um Themen des Verlusts und des Vermissens und strahlen dabei eine große Zärtlichkeit aus, die mehr als alles andere die Wertschätzung des Verlorenen deutlich macht. Der Journalist Lee Henderson, der einiges über die persönlichen Hintergründe des Albums weiß, erwähnt den Bezug einiger der Songs auf die Familie der Sängerin. So enthält das verweht dröhnende “The Carter Girl” eine Tape-Aufnahme, die Elizabeth als Kind von ihrer Mutter, einer Opernsängerin, machte, die später an Alzheimer erkrankte. Andere Songs wie das so entrückte wie exaltierte “Weathered Life” erzählen in ihren Texten von den Herausforderungen, mit denen der Sängerin nahestehende Personen leben und kämpfen mussten.
Was die Opulenz der Stücke betrifft, die in ihrem unklaren Ort zwischen dunklen Folkballaden und abstrakteren Soundscapes immer wieder auch an Elizabeths Stammband erinnern, könnte “Gather Love” durchaus das Werk einer Band sein. Und doch bleibt stets der Eindruck einer persönlichen, autobiografischen Stimme, wie sie nur in wirklichen Soloarbeiten sprechen kann – ganz gleich, ob die Sängerin sich dabei wie in dem schleppenden, fast an No Wave erinnernden “No Rain” oder im gemächlich rauschenden “The Long Farewell” eher zurücknimmt und den Instrumenten den vorderen Platz überlässt, oder ob sie auch gesanglich wie in “The Hill” oder dem monumentalen “Measured Greed” alle Barrieren durchbricht und sich in fast wahnhafter Ekstatik Ausdruck verschafft.
Zu den gemächlicheren Stücken zählt auch das Mason Williams-Cover “Wanderlove”, bei dem mit Alan Trench (Temple Music, 12 Thousand Days u.v.a.) und Ehemann Martyn Bates auch Gäste mit Drones und begleitendem Gesang zu Wort kommen. In das sanfte Dröhnen mischt sich etwas unruhig drängendes, das sich durch die emotionale Grund-DNA des ganzen Albums zieht, eine sich heftig aufbäumende Eruption, die gleichermaßen rastlos und konzentriert, magisch und kathartisch ist. Erst im kurzen Abspann von “To” glätten sich die Wogen – wie auf der letzten, versöhnlichen Seite einer autobiografischen Erzählung. Zweifelsohne ein mehr als gelungenes Debüt." [U.S./African Paper]
|
2022 |
€15.00 |
|
| ELLENDE |
Heavy Metal Drones |
10inch + CDR |
" 10" + CD + 14p. booklet - Smeerlappen 2011
New release by anonymous Japanese/South African duo. 300 copies, numbered" [La Scie Doree]
"Hand-numbered edition of 300 copies edition set that features a clear 10” a CD and an accompanying art book/manifesto"
https://ellende1.bandcamp.com/album/heavy-metal-drones
|
2011 |
€19.50 |
|
|
Odyssey, A Sentimental Journey |
BOOK + 2 x 10inch |
Odyssey, a sentimental journey: Ellende’s latest release sees the band bringing together an album based on a trip Wim took to Japan to visit his cousin in the early 1990’s. Most of the music in the records was recorded live at The Plantation in 2018, with a few minor overdubs added at various locations (Tokyo and London). The music might sound a bit nostalgic, the ambience of warm February nights in Cape Town while the sounds of old French movies seep through a badly tuned piano. Sometimes the doors are shut and large metal sheets are heard processed through guitar pedals. A modular synthesiser, analogue synths (Roland SH-101, Juno 6, ARP Solus, Solina) and guitar have been used as well throughout the album.
Dave “Slave” Mbambi: Guitar, Drones, Synths
Lodewikus Pretorius: Piano, Modular, String Synths
John John: Synths, Bows, Percussion,
Martinus Antonius: Recording, Mix, Tapes, Phasers
Rafael Anton Irisarri: Mastering
Richard Hart: Design and Art Direction
https://ellende1.bandcamp.com/album/odyssey-a-sentimental-journey
"For quite a few reasons this release is a big surprise. First of all, I had not heard of Ellende in many years. The last time was back in Vital Weekly 772 when I reviewed a live cassette from the group. That was after some hiatus, but between Vital Weekly 346 and 444, there were no less than ten different releases reviewed in these pages (I even wrote “by now Ellende seems to appear in every new Vital Weekly”) including the all-revealing 'Kut Met Peren' 3"CDR. So that is Dutch and so is the word Ellende, which stands for 'misery'. That is one surprise. The next one is that this release doesn't fit the previous somewhat lo-fi aesthetic of the old work, but this a lovely, beautiful release. The records are packed inside the front cover of a hardcover book (actually an oversized dust-cover, and some thirty-six pages of text and images, all in beautiful black and white. The third surprise is that Ellende is still around and still very little is known about them. Wim Bontjes and his cousin Martinus Antonius start it out with tape experiments. Bontjes committed suicide in 1995 and the group continued with his "conceptual ideas", even when these ideas remain unnamed. Over the years many people have been a member, all in steady flux. This new record was recorded in South Africa, as, mystery solved, they are from there and not The Netherlands, with Dave "Slave" Mbambi on guitars, drones and synth, Lodewikus Pretorius on piano, modular, string synths and John John on synths, bows, percussion while Antonius is responsible for recording, mix, tapes and phasers. Bandcamp is a bit more specific: "Sometimes the doors are shut and large metal sheets are heard processed through guitar pedals. A modular synthesiser, analogue synths (Roland SH-101, Juno 6, ARP Solus, Solina) and guitar have been used as well throughout the album. "The release is about a trip Wim made to Japan to visit his cousin (I assume Antonius) and the stories are about a "pitiful chase of sex', portrayed by "women's death-masks-like faces", as such by Richard Hart in the book. I mist admit that I re-read some of the old reviews to remind myself what Ellende was all about; I forgot after all those/despite all those releases. I must say I very much enjoyed this new release. There is an excellent dark mood depicted here, fitting the likewise dark images of the book and the tales of sordid sex. An endless stream of synthesizers mingles very pleasantly with sustaining guitar sounds and sound effects used to place accents in strategic places. Sometimes the guitar is strummed in a more traditional way, such as in 'Girlfriend Experience' but against a doomy backdrop of much reverb. Throughout this album carries on the torch of Ellende's previous work with fuzzy and busy drones, beautifully colliding. This is one damn fine release; one that is just perfect, both in music and packaging. It is almost like a pre-programmed collector's item. I am very curious if Ellende will slip back into another period of hibernation. I hope that is not the case." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2019 |
€38.00 |
|
|
Unintentional Consequences |
10inch |
Unintentional Consequences is the second part of a trilogy of which Ellende’s previous release the double 10” album Odyssey, A Sentimental Journey from 2019 was part one.
Unintentional Consequences
For this release Ellende was a core of three original members plus a guest musician. The album was recorded between May to August 2020 in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Tokyo, and London. The release contains a twelve page booklet with artwork by Richard Hart. The autobiographical text in English and Afrikaans is of a trip taken to Cape Town in the mid 1970’s where two teenage cousins are confronted with the consequences of their shared family history.
The music can be described as ambient; the sounds are multilayered, often a bit dusty and slow moving. Some of the tracks sound like they have been recorded on old tapes giving the whole album a nostalgic atmosphere. Often a piano acts as the leitmotif, there is plenty of droning and throughout the tracks bits of texts from old French movies float in and out. Most of the music is made with vintage analogue synthesisers such as the Arp Solina, Prophet 5, ARP Solus, Juno 6. Most of the piano’s, Rhodes and Wurlizters are from the late 70’s as well.
All the tracks have been recorded on tape, often played back on half speed. Mastering again was done by Rafael Irissari, whose own ambient work we greatly admire.
Unintentional Consequences is the second part of a trilogy of which Ellende’s previous release the double 10” album Odyssey, A Sentimental Journey from 2019 was part one.
Ellende was:
Martinus Antonius: ARP Solus, Casio VL-Tone, Eurorack, Recording and Looping, Processing, Mix;
Carina Bruwer: Flute;
Richard Hart: Graphic Design and Art Direction;
Rafael Irisarri: Mastering;
John John: Wurlitzer, guitar, Juno 60, Tape, Mix, Processing;
Lodewikus Pretorius: Piano, Rhodes MKI en MKII, Prophet 5, ARP Solina, Mellotron.
https://ellende1.bandcamp.com/album/unintentional-consequences
"Although Ellende is from South Africa, this new release was sent to me from Japan (just like the previous one) by one of the band members (if not the core of the group). Recording for this new record took place in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Tokyo, and London. Maybe that shows the diversity of the floating membership of this group, but, more mundane, it also has to do with the Covid thing. I doubt that under normal circumstances, these people would team up. Ellende means misery, which is in this age is the most appt name, of course, for the state of the world. As with the previous release, this comes in a beautiful package, 10" gatefold sleeve, booklet with a text in South-African (which is related to the Dutch language, but not always to understand for me), and English. If the previous release (Vital Weekly 1206) was already a step towards ambient music, then this indeed is another step further down that road. Sound material supplied by Carina Bruwer (flute), John John (Wurlitzer, guitar, Juno 6, tape) and core member Martinus Antonius (ARP Solus, Casio VL-Tone, Eurorack, recordings, looping and processing; he's the man in Tokyo). The story in the booklet is about the family history of Antonius and his cousin Wim, who committed suicide in 1995. It is an interesting read when playing the music. Still, I returned to the music again, without taking too much notice of the text and enjoyed the dark, pastoral ambient tones, from long, sustaining synthesisers washing ashore, along with field recordings from around the house. Just a few notes that all there seems to be to it. It fits in a way the current wave of lo-fi drone music, with those cassettes that ran out of Ferro, so the music isn't captured very well, sparse synths and shady field recordings. In the variation of Ellende this is all very ambient, peaceful and subdued. In this variation, the use of voices from French films from the 70s (which relates to the text enclosed) adds further to the music's dreamlike quality. All of this is more spacious than their earlier work. You could say this is a step forward, but instead, I'd like to say it further expands musical interests." [FdW/Vital Weekly] |
2021 |
€18.00 |
|
| |
HALLO KAPTEIN |
mCD-R |
During the early 2000’s we experimented as a collaborative in trying to erase the notion of being a band. Instead, we aimed at operating as an anonymous musical assembly. Through the rise of the internet and its collaborative economy we thought that by pouring various (found) sounds into a large database, we could mix this into music with an incredible complexity that would amount to soundscapes (ugh) so deep that each time the listener would have a multifarious listening experience. In the mid 1970’s Ellende’s founding band members, the cousins Wim and Martinus had tried something similar when they over-dubbbed every 7” vinyl record found at their Cape Town home (mostly Dutch and Afrikaans popular music) onto tape, with mixed results.
Conceptually we continued to experiment with this idea of overdubbing; by randomly layering found sounds, but also juxtaposing images or tv images on top of each other in anticipation that this technique could lead to interesting new images or sounds. We can safely say that the Post Modern concept of a hyper-collage has been an obsession for us for over 45 years. This idea reached for us its zenith in 2003 with the double cdr release on Somnabulant Corpse: No Holiday Without a Funeral - Damaged Beyond Repair. This release was extremely deep (sometimes 20 layers deep), but also very, very data heavy (it crashed our at that time top of the line Apple computers). Despite this technical feat, the resulting albums never reached the level of complexity that we had in mind. The result just sounded muddy.
In 2010 we tried it again. The sessions for Hallo Kaptein started in 2010 and were mixed in 2011. It follows the same collage approach and contains many found sounds that are layered. However, we consciously aimed at remaining sonically spread out, leaving space for the various layers to be heard in context to the other sounds that are stacked on top of them. Some of the tracks are very open and give a feeling of having been recorded outside, while others are more metallic and enclosed. The last title track of the album is a live improvisation by adding one instrument upon the next one. As this was recorded in one take, we depended heavily on a compressor to keep everything within an acceptable dynamic range.
Although recorded more than 10 years ago we felt that Hallo Kaptein was a layering exercise in which we achieved, to our own ears, more acceptable results.
Ellende was Martinus Antonius and JJ. Scholtz with many anonymous contributions. Recorded in Cape Town and Tokyo.
https://ellende1.bandcamp.com/album/hallo-kaptein
"Experimental music is not constrained to a specific part of the world. And experiments, in general, are everywhere: it's a 'human' thing to think outside of the perspective we're given in our upbringing, environment or culture. The only thing is that it is sometimes difficult to get informed about what is all happening outside our little bubble of western influences. But thankfully, sometimes, the sounds of these unknown territories reach our side. We get to hear so many beautiful things ... One of the lesser-known continents where experimental music is made in Africa. Still, the best-known experimental group from this continent is South-African (and Tokyo) based Ellende (Dutch / Afrikaans for 'misery'). They also have a label called Smeerlappen (tr: Scumbags), and in the player are two 3" CDRs from that label.
"Hallo Kaptein" by Ellende is the first, and it contains six tracks with a total playing time of just under 18 minutes. Way too short if you ask me
because what I hear is serious of a higher level. The combination of field recordings, vocals and (mostly?) synthetic sounds are folded into hypnotizing sound collages, which I simply can't get enough of. Especially the title track - with its almost 7 minutes also the longest track - is so subtly layered and has excellent sound perfectly aligned and mixed ... A constant tension because of subtle changes in the attack of the recurrent sounds, layers in the background that after a bit of while shifted from the back to the front and then back again. And the use of vocals where I must say that being Dutch, the Afrikaans is in a way foreign to me, but with enough overlap to understand the basics. Damn, 18 minutes. Replay. I need a complete CD. And I believe I understand the "ETERNALLY ILLUSIVE DRONESOUP" words on their website." [BW / Vital Weekly]
|
2022 |
€9.50 |
|
| ELLICIST |
Point Defects |
LP |
"Creating a composition means making decisions. During times in which you virtually have all sounds that have ever been recorded at your availability, composers must choose between infinite possibilities. The duo Ellicist does not perceive this contemporary ocean of possibilities as too much choice, they are swimming in it. Ellicist are weaving thick textures from the most diverse tones and rhythms. Their tracks are placing synthetic buzzing, the croaking of frogs, low frequency billowing and humming, flutes, the droning of flies, and the whole spectrum of the digital creation of sound next to one another. This intensity of sensations is not supposed to overstrain the listener, it invites them to follow a process. This music does not have a strict structure; instead, it is breathing openness at every moment.
Ellicist are incessantly oscillating between abstraction and elements of pop music. Melodies are being hinted at, and sounds are being piled up, at times tirelessly. Fragments of etheric choirs or field recordings are unfolding their associative power. The melodious Ink is a track full of touching intimacy and is in constant motion until it eventually pauses to create a silent ocean of sound. Passage People is permeated by a groove of throbbing synths. The tapestries of sound of Ponds & Graves, on the other hand, are creating the foundation for expressive percussions. Ihnen Steg is almost a dub track. During the opener Hennepin and its follower Lilei sounds of palpable corporeity are being combined with ones that are hardly tangible.
Point Defects has a incredible spatiality. At one point you might believe that you are able to precisely localize the sounds in an imaginary system of coordinates. And then the whole systemization crumbles. It is an astonishing production: you can almost taste the sounds.
Biographical Notes:
Ellicist are Thomas Chousos & Florian Zimmer. Chousos studied composition in Greece before moving to Berlin, where he is working as a producer and sound engineer under the moniker Tadklimp. Florian Zimmer has been playing with several groups. Besides Ellicist he is a member of Saroos and Driftmachine."
https://ellicist.bandcamp.com
"Springs have sprung on the opener, Hennepin, and the duo Ellicist (Thomas Chousos & Florian Zimmer) is off to an eventful start on their latest Point Defects. Their murky, quirky sound combines elements of abstraction, noise, electronics and synthetic nature. There’s is a swampy universe where engines don’t kickstart, where sluice-like regurgitation is the norm while night creatures devour the surroundings. The first three tracks (also including Lilei and Passage People) uniformly fold into one another.
The highlight here, aside from the wondrous sound effects, is the assorted, moderated and otherwise unexpected percussion. It’s as though layers of warm static and a beehive have collided mid air in slow motion and as they slowly tumble to the surface even that gives way, almost like a video game that just added a new level. There are hazy synth blurs by way of random chords that abruptly vanish. And suddenly a little post-techno gem, Ihnen Steg, is before our ears. Roughly translated to “your jetty” the sparkles and spray-paint can jitters and like a flowering ground cover shivering in the breeze. As it moves deeper into the track, the more retro-cosmic cinema it becomes. And in between there are plenty of pops, hiss and wavering filters that arbitrarily mask and reveal what could be pieces of encoded messages.
Somehow I’m nudged with elusively vague reminders of the incidental post-rock music of either To Rococo Rot, Kreidler and/or hints of Labradford. It’s only through the haze and transistor-like bits, croaking and jerking on the wild-style outdoorsy Ponds & Graves (listen above) that I begin to partially understand their off-Earth conjuring. And for all this sophisticated rumination it’s essential to point out that this is these gents’ debut! For that, alone, I am floored. Though it doesn’t deter my further listening, nor my appetite for more.
On the closer, Trace, they continue with the moody rhythmic points afloat and rocking, swaying, back and forth. It’s a dreamlike world, slightly discombobulated, but reflective of fleeting out jazz and post-electro-pop. They make no pint in covering small defects, and utilize sounds of falling, of movement, quite effectively, and in doing so keep your ears active between channels." [TJ NORRIS/ TONESHIFT]
|
2019 |
€18.00 |
|
| ELODIE (TIMO VAN LUIJK & ANDREW CHALK) |
Echos Pastoraux |
LP |
"Live performances by Andrew Chalk are incredibly rare. The man just doesn't seem to like to travel; but earlier in 2011, Chalk ventured to Paris for a collaborative concert with Timo Van Luijk, a likeminded Belgian composer crafting similarly spectral drones and impressionist soundscapes. While we were not so lucky to have been in Paris for that show, the collaboration between the two must have been fruitful, as they recorded this set of lilting instrumentals, hushed psychedelic ragas, and softened minimalism under the moniker Elodie. Echos Pastoraux seems to lean more towards Chalk's sound, especially after his recent push towards quietly rendered improvisations blossoming from his signature dronemuzik on Ghost Of Nakhodka and Violin By Night. Gentle plucks on a koto or an acoustic guitar meander through field recordings of birds and rain, giving way to more harmonic pieces of interwoven melody that sounds like french horn (or maybe an oboe, or maybe an analogue synth, or maybe a harmonium, or maybe some combination) whose overtones shimmer and flutter into quietly hypnotic clouds of soft buzz and thrum. Any number of these tracks could have been extracted from a private ritual performed by Chalk and Van Luijk; and while such could be said for any of the Jewelled Antler releases or any of the ancillary projects of Kemialliset Ystavat, Elodie's quiet drones, acoustic impression, smoke, shadow, and maudlin atmospheres are hardly anywhere near the 'freak folk' camp. This is much closer to what Akio Suzuki has done, although there are plenty of flourishes in the production that gives evidence of the hands of Andrew Chalk being at work. As a result, it's still spellbinding, like pretty much everything that Chalk has ever touched." [Aquarius Records]
www.lasciedoree.be
"Since splitting up with Christoph Heeman as Mirror, I haven't followed the recent work of Andrew Chalk. It simply seems to be moving outside my view. Heeman started a collaboration as In Camera with Timo van Luijk and now its the turn of Chalk to also work with Van Luijk as Elodie. This might be their first record together and what is odd, knowing the work of either of them, is that this is not one of those 'one drone per side' kind of LPs. This LP has no less than thirteen tracks, which perhaps sees them moving into something which is less drone oriented and something that is altogether more acoustic in approach. Van Luijk's curious collection of small acoustic objects and wind instruments and Chalk's sparse guitar playing. The record opens with a layered piece of various wind instruments and as such may count as a drone piece, but other pieces are more of an open spaced improvised nature of rattling bells, small metallic sounds, and Chalk's watery electric guitar, along with charming field recordings. The pieces are more like open ended sketches then fully realized compositions, which adds the charm of the record. Throughout a fine record of shimmering, small melodies, rusty percussion, bird calls and a gentle mood. The perfect early spring record: open your windows, let outdoor sounds in and simply enjoy the good life." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2011 |
€19.50 |
|
|
Odyssee |
CD |
"Elodie here featuring core members Timo van Luijk and Andrew Chalk, playing live in Germany
in 2015. Performing a pure duet of flute and string synthesizer over one episodic track 'Odyssee', a poetic and melancholy synchronous soundtrack to a film made and shown by van Luijk on the same evening.
'Odyssee' was mastered for CD release by Denis Blackham and is packaged in handmade gatefold mini LP style sleeve with Japanese language obi." [label info]
"Elodie’s 'Odyssee Musique En Scene II' is the latest offering by Elodie on Faraway Press. Elodie is a musical collaboration featuring Chalk and Timo van Luyk, which first released their particular brand of ambient music, as in a combination of keyboards, wind instruments and ROOM in 2011. Their previous offerings, either on Faraway Press or Van Luyk’s equally impressive La Scie Dorée label have, for obvious reasons, never failed to impress me. This album was recorded live at the Gerauschwelten Festival in Münster on 7 February 2015. It is a brief performance, 33 minutes, but let me assure you that quality always goes over quantity. This half hour+ is a gorgeous, shimmering beautiful listen. Resting on a soft bed of keyboards and various flutes, Elodie takes you on an odyssee that is calming and soothing, without ever becoming a cliché. The atmosphere and warmth
of the recording is just perfect. The applause at the end is a reminder this was done live, proving not only the sheer quality of playing, but also of the remarkable high quality of interaction between these two musicians and the space they are performing in. As you might have guessed, 'Odyssee', handsomely packed in a sturdy carton gatefold cover, is a highly recommended release." [Freek Kinkelaar, Vital Weekly]
www.farawaypress.info
|
2016 |
€15.00 |
|
|
La Porte Ouverte |
LP |
La Porte Ouverte was recorded by Timo van Luijk, Andrew Chalk and Tom James Scott and was cut by Noel Summerville at 33/45 in London.
Available in a standard only edition and cut at 45 RPM for higher fidelity.
350 copies pressed.
Sleeve is printed in reverse board with poly-lined inner sleeve.
Any orders are always shipped vinyl out of main sleeve to prevent seam ripping.
'An open door...
an exit... an entrance...
a new horizon
we never know where we are...
as long as the door remains open
there will be light...'
www.farawaypress.info
"Few musical artists have explored the notion of quietness as a virtue — and, let’s face it, as a reaction to the fetishization of high volumes in rock music — with as much rigor as Andrew Chalk and Timo van Luijk do in their Elodie duo. Performing live in about 2012 or so, opening for Eyvind Kang and Jessika Kenney, they held the audience in rapt silence, Chalk gently — barely — caressing the strings of his acoustic guitar and van Luijk only occasionally whistling with unbelievable restraint into his flute, was remarkable. Not to mention bold. It’s a potentially risky approach, but the control van Luijk and Chalk have in their interactions (not to mention their musical skill) means they have consistently been able to evince new forms of minimalism.
For La Porte Ouverte, originally issued in 2016 on cassette, the duo is joined by Liberez pianist Tom James Scott, and his keys, added to subtly applied textures from other instruments, lead to a slight change in the overall aesthetic of Elodie. There was always a difference between Elodie live and their studio output, but on this album they shake off the shackles of lowercase altogether, removing the constraints of that genre’s formalism and delving into a delicate, moonlit realm somewhere between barroom jazz and modern minimalism.
On most tracks, Tom Scott’s piano acts like a semi-regular metronome: emerging gradually but with confidence, delineating the atmosphere with patient, slow-building clusters of notes, arranged like outlines. Within — and even without — the resulting canvasses, Timo van Luijk and Andrew Chalk have the space to reflectively dab their own considered shades, reacting both to the piano and each other. “Matin de Marbre” shimmers like light on a marble statue, a thread-like keyboard note drifting anxiously in and out of tremulous piano notes. There are hints of Angelo Badalamenti’s compositions for David Lynch, especially the Straight Story soundtrack, in the aching tone of the instruments; it’s equally easy to imagine a lot of the tracks on La Porte Ouverte forming the backing track for a song sung by Isabella Rosselini in Blue Velvet. “La Marche” is more austere, with piano notes struck almost angrily by Scott only to find no echo in van Luijk and Chalk’s unflinching keyboard drone. Somewhere deep in the mix, van Luijk’s flute seems to echo like a defeated cry, but that could just be my ears finding textures that aren’t there. Or maybe they are, it’s hard to tell. As an entire album, La Porte Ouverte can have that effect, especially on the longer tracks.
On average, the tracks on the first half are most minimal and quiet, borrowing most noticeably from lowercase traditions in the sparseness of the piano notes and barely audible flourishes on flute or guitar. Scott’s playing will instantly appeal to fans of Morton Feldman or Michael Nyman, whilst the keyboard arrangements evoke the ambient works of Fennesz or David Sylvian’s mid-1980s work (sans the vocals, of course). “Le Jardin Onirique” is the side’s longest work, and also the most abstract, fittingly given the title. A dreamlike quality drifts through much of the entire album, the earthiest moment coming with the emergence of Andrew Chalk’s guitar on “Par la Main,” as he sketches out a gentle series of scales to dance hesitantly with Scott’s piano motif, rewarding listeners with the most intimate piece on the album.
In contrast, the second side features synths and keyboards more prominently, although don’t go thinking the results are lush or dense. Elodie make a virtue of stillness and calm, and the lengthier tracks (of eight, only three feature on side B) somewhat paradoxically underline this further. The title track drifts on a curtain of synthetic strings into which piano notes drop like rain into a pond. It’s a profoundly moving and melancholic piece, its apparent simplicity hiding a range of depths. Tom James Scott really shines, delicately deploying his notes only when necessary, and the synth arrangement is positively haunting. I’m not sure what the title, which translates as “The Open Door,” means, beyond maybe a sense of welcome, which this track certainly carries in abundance. The organ-drenched “Lumen” is possibly the loudest Elodie has ever got, the venerable church instrument building a foundation over which piano and vibraphone notes swirl like motes of dust caught in a shaft of light. Again, I find myself reaching for Badalamenti, but in truth that’s a lazy shorthand for music that is both emotionally-resonant and cinematic in scope. Elodie have jazz and minimalism in their bones, and feeling in their hearts, and by broadening their palette so effectively on La Porte Ouverte they have created an album as close to unique as you can get in 2016." [Joseph Burnett/Dusted Mag]
"Utterly sublime ambient jazz from consummate, lower case collaborators, Timo Van Lujik and Andrew Chalk, joined here on piano by Tom James Scott (Charcoal Owls, Liberez) in a subtly breathtaking LP of melting romantic gestures and spectral electronics. Big recommendation if you're into David Lynch, Bohren Und Der Club of Gore, Af Ursin, Oren Ambarchi...
Their 8th album - alternately released like all previous Elodie LPs since 2011 on the duo's respective labels, La Scie Dorée and Faraway Press - they navigate thee finest line of anticipatory tension and vaporous release, resulting in some of the most tender, unshowy yet arresting musical expressions that we’ve heard in years.
In eight parts they expand, contract and drift off on shafts of moonlight, oscillating shorter vignettes which appear like magnetically suspended bonsai trees - as with the hyaline delicacy of Matin de Marbre or the latinate acoustic guitar that slides between the silken ambient tones and Feldman-meets-Sakamoto keys of Par La Main - with longer sections such as the midnight stroller Le Jardin Onirique and the B-side’s sail-away suite of three pieces, including the unmissable title track, afford teasingly intangible visions of a sound which we’re sure everyone can agree, is some of the most beautiful music imaginable.
We were lucky enough to catch the duo in this record’s line-up with Tom James Scott at Salford’s Islington Mill in 2016, where we witnessed them totally silence the room with an almighty, barely-there demonstration of how to enchant a crowd. As with everyone else in the room, we were duly pinned to our seat for the duration, with incidental creaking chairs and refrigerator hum only heightening the sublime tension whilst waiting for the trio’s next, curious jazz chord in sequence, or when attempting to follow their chromatic gasses off into the ether.
Like the weeks after seeing their show last year, you just kinda want to make sure everyone in earshot knows about or can at least get a glimpse of this music. It just seems to reset everything..." [Boomkat] |
2017 |
€16.50 |
|
| |
Enteha |
LP |
A Colourful Storm presents Enteha, the latest piece by Elodie, the duo of Andrew Chalk and Timo van Luijk. Chalk and van Luijk embody a free-spirited approach to music making whose improvisational process can be traced to a distinct period of Europe's post-industrial landscape. More than two decades of ambitious solo and collaborative work would solidify both Chalk and van Luijk as masterful craftsmen exploring the tension between composition and free improvisation: their individual lists of collaborators boasts Christoph Heemann, Giancarlo Toniutti, David Jackman, and Colin Potter, to name but a few. A figment of two imaginations, Elodie appeared in 2011 almost fully formed with each record patiently revealing glimpses into a world concerned with time dilation, the phantasmagoric and spirits of the everyday. Enteha is one of the duo's more melancholic pieces and can be seen as a human response to seasonal transition. It's one of their uniquely longform explorations of mood and atmosphere as an air of romance drifts deftly into mystery and despair. The delicate hues of autumnal haze. The deceptive optimism of morning light. A work of supremely understated beauty that will appeal to anyone who finds solace in Harmonia, GAS, Joanna Brouk, Roberto Musci, and Zoviet France. Includes insert
https://acolourfulstorm.bandcamp.com/album/enteha
|
2022 |
€22.00 |
|
| ELOY, JEAN-CLAUDE |
Kâmakalâ |
CD + booklet |
"CD with 60 pages booklet with photos + texts in French and English.
'Kâmakalâ. The Energy Triangle' (1971). For three orchestra ensembles, five chorus ensembles, with three conductors. Orchestra and chorus of the WDR, Schola Cantorum, Stuttgart. Conductors : Michel Tabachnik, Bernhard Kontarsky, Jacques Mercier. Kâmakalâ - a Sankrit term meaning energy triangle - refers to India's philosophy (Tantric Shivaïsm) and is expresses here as the appearance of energy, which is the erotic and cosmic energy (Kama), that which helps Shiva uniting with his Shakti (feminine energy), create every self-subdivision (Kalâ), hence gradually generating the whole complexity of the universe. It is that idea of a vast and slow crescendo of the various parameters of a musical score, of an infinite division and infinite multiplication of the material contained in it that appealed to Eloy. At the time he would complain about a type of contemporary music aesthetics only focusing on the quick scattering of all kinds of points within short periods of time, sometimes in just a few seconds (pointillism). As a result music pieces were almost inevitably bound to be brief, unable to sustain time as it would distribute the entire sound energy from the very first minutes. On the contrary, Eloy wanted to create music in which the energy was sustained, non distributed and reserved to intense inner blossoming at a later point; music expanding very slowly as in Indian Raga, yet Western music definitely modern, atonal and athematic.
'Étude III' (1962) for orchestra, with piano and five percussionists. Orchestra of the SWF, Baden-Baden. Conductor : Ernest Bour. Etude III, which was composed in May and June of 1962 in Zurich and Paris, uses the configuration of a traditional orchestra (wood and brass instruments by pair) opposite to an ensemble of five percussionists, piano, harp and celesta. A dialectic stands out of this opposition as it is emphasized through the writing and conducting (measured for the orchestral mass, a-measured and cued for the entire ensemble on the foreground). The instruments, which form cohesive timber families, come in according to an irregular pattern as the piece develops, with the entire configuration not coming into play until the last developments. The frequent use of very long durations, related to the steadiness of the pitch registers, leads to a rising static sound phenomenon reminiscent of oriental music in some regards: the tone and use of Shô in Japanese Gagaku, the slow and steady increase of complexity in Indian Raga.
'Fluctuante - Immuable' (1977) for full orchestra. New Philharmonic Orchestra from Radio-France. Conductor : Gilbert Amy. Fluctuante-Immuable, which was composed in 1977 as Gaku-no-Michi was produced in the Nippon Hoso Kyokai (NHK) electronic studio in Tokyo, is the result of a commission by the Secretariat of Cultural Affairs made for the Orchestre de Paris, which premiered it in May 1977. This work clearly shows the influence and the alterations that electro-acoustic practices infer on orchestral writing practices. Besides Eloy's long electro-acoustic productions, Fluctuante-Immuable suggested a new (theoretical and practical) way of addressing issues related to composing with notes. The formal issue that the composer faces at the beginning is that of a dialectic between Order and Disorder (or between order and organized chaos) topped by an issue about the relation between the conductor and his orchestra (techniques of synchronization or desynchronization with the mass of musicians)." [label info]
www.hors-territoires.com
|
2012 |
€23.00 |
|
| |
Galaxies full-electro |
CD |
" 'Galaxies' (Warsaw version), electro-acoustic alone. Fully electro-acoustic version of Anâhata / Galaxies realized on the composer's personal computer from the original electro-acoustic recordings of this work. Electronic music studios where the original Anâhata / Galaxies were produced (1984-86): Studio of the Sweelinck Conservatory of Music, Amsterdam (1984 and 1986): the entire production (pre-recorded material processing, new material generation, premixing) and all final mixing processes. Tokyo-Gakuso studio, Tokyo (1983): for the Shô and Ô-Shô (traditional mouth organs from Japan) sampling with Mayumi Miyata. Conny's Studio, Neuenkirchen, near Cologne (1984) with Asian Sound and Michael W. Ranta: metal percussion instrument sampling, including Bonshôs (Buddhist temple bells from Japan) sampling. INA-GRM, Paris (1985): pre-recorded material processing. Studio ART, Geneva (1985): pre-recorded material processing and pre-mixing. Studio of Technische Universitt (TU), Berlin (1985-86): pre-recorded material processing, new material production, pre-mixing. Jean-Claude Eloy: 'In 1994 I had (for purely practical reasons) to remove these big electro-acoustic parts making up the two Galaxies works from the piece they were connected with until then: Part III of my Anâhata cycle, entitled Nimîlana-Unmîlana (that which awakens - that which slumbers). An electro-acoustic work integrating instrumental acoustic parts that required the performance of a Shô player from Japan. Those electro-acoustic parts were substantial enough to warrant a new configuration ensuring their stand-alone nature, independent of whether a performer was available or not. Therefore I used (apart from the two Galaxies) a set of particular sounds that I had generated during that production (all of them resulting from Shô sampled sound processing and modulations) entitled sons d'infinitude (sounds of indefiniteness). These sustained sounds were very fixed, quite contemplative, almost motionless or maintained through short fluctuations that were more or less regular. They were five of them altogether. Four of them were grouped together into a consistent set and occurred after the first Galaxy, before the Shô solo. I had used them to compose a sequence called Awakening, which formed the first Shô appearance in the version realized for the Donaueschingen Festival in 1990. The fifth one took place at the end of the second Galaxy and was used to support the conclusion played on the Ô-Shô. In this purely electro-acoustic version the first four sons d'infinitude came quite naturally as a bridge between both Galaxies. The fifth sound kept its conclusive place, making it bigger and using it as a genuine extension sound that could be infinite, with no limit!" [label info]
www.hors-territoires.com
|
2013 |
€15.00 |
|
| EMERGE |
Cycle |
mCD-R |
Endlich was neues vom süddeutschen Experimental-Drone Projekt, bekannt geworden (hoffentlich) durch die DR-64 DRONE EP.
Cycle ist ein one-tracker, bei dem Quellensounds von AALFANG MIT PFERDEKOPF bearbeitet werden. Höchst seltsame Klänge (Tiere? Geschepper? Metall?) erscheinen in aufbrausender Bewegung an der wallenden Oberfläche, um gleich darauf wieder in einer Drone-Brandung zu versanden. Während sich die Ratio keinen Reim darauf machen kann, sinken die Klänge an der Analyse vorbei ins schwarze Loch des Bewusstseins....
Ein klasse one-tracker (fast 23 min ) mit vielen Details, der zeigt wie vielfältig heutige Drone-Muzak ist. Unsere wärmste Empfehlung !
“Verato Project, the CDR sub-division of Suggestion Records always know how to come up with new names, that at least sound new to me. Not that I understand much of this new 3"CDR: the band is apparently called Emerge, from Augsburg Germany but the cover also says 'original sounds by Aalfang Mit Pferdekopf', whoever they might be. So maybe it's safe to say we are dealing here with some sort of remix project? The music is rather ambient, but in a refreshing way. Sounds swirl in and out of the mix; sounds that remind the listener of processed wind recordings (that form the ambient backbone of this release) and animal calls (birds going past the microphone). A piece of floating music, that may last a bit too long, but when played in right ambience and with the right mood, probably goes straight into your subconscious. A great piece indeed and made me curious to hear some of Emerge.” [FdW / Vital Weekly] http://www.verato-project.de
|
2005 |
€8.50 |
|
|
Materia |
CD |
Attention, folks, you're in for a paradigm shift. EMERGE has become a household name in the international experimental music community as a composer mainly associated with drone and musique concrète. This album is bound to change your perception of EMERGE quite a bit. This is probably the most rhythmic release by Sascha Stadlmeier since he shelved his early project Dependenz and started to record and perform as EMERGE. And with its transparent sound and very direct compositional approach, it is both accessible and challenging at the same time.
The album, which manages to pack a variety of ideas and dramatic tension into its crisp 31 minutes, was recorded live in Poznan, Poland, in January 2018. EMERGE improvised with prepared samples and amplified objects made of various materials – hence the title – , namely wood, stone, and plastic. While the use of such basic, scratchy, even harsh sound sources is nothing new in EMERGE's work, the way in which he uses them here certainly is. They are often used to generate rhythmic loops that create downright beats, moving the piece to the brink of IDM or minimal music structures, but then collapsing such expectations by falling silent and moving into another direction altogether. While on the one hand silence is often used as a structuring medium, the drones so familiar in EMERGE only come into play as sound-effects that add colour to an otherwise monochrome palette. But this sparseness makes the compositional structure easy to hear and understand and certainly makes this album a perfect introduction for interested, yet inexperienced listeners who want to get into electroacoustic improvisation. More surprising than the rhythms, perhaps, is the direct, almost in-your-face way in which distorted voice like samples are used as a counterpoint to the live-generated sounds. They are used in dramatic gestures that almost resemble pop or rock dramaturgy, yet still are used sparingly enough so as not to become clichéd. This masterfully balanced mix of stylistic elements makes “materia” an important addition to EMERGE's large body of work, if not a milestone.
File under: Free improvisation, Real-time composition, electroacoustic music
www.attenuationcircuit.de/releases/33/emerge-materia
|
2019 |
€10.00 |
|
| |
Steps |
CD |
What is it that we're hearing? Is it the wind? Is it the sea? Is it the crackle of a burning fire? Where are we? A great sense of loneliness pervades the quiet setting which we cannot quite make out. And then suddenly living creatures enter the sonic scene. Birds and people, their voices and their steps. They seem to be walking, walking past us, towards a destination we do not know. We cannot understand in what language or languages they are speaking – or can we? It is hard to make out, because everything they say is strangely muffled, although they are not speaking in a low voice. Everything we hear feels either too loud or too quiet, too close or too distant. As if some shock had happened to our hearing before we started listening to this album. Like a bomb exploding in close proximity to our ears. Or something so unimaginably terrible that it bent the acoustic space in the place from which these sounds come through to us. This is how the album “steps” begins.
The album “steps” is composed exclusively from field recordings made at the Dachau Concentration Camp memorial site. It is not possible to represent the horrors of concentration camps in music, and – a lesson learned from the many failures in the history of “industrial music” – the attempt to do so will inevitably result in trivialising kitsch, at best. Therefore, the album “steps” does not claim to be an album “about” a concentration camp, it is an album about a memorial site. Like the modern-day classic on the subject, “Gurs. Drancy. Gare de Bobigny. Auschwitz. Birkenau. Chelmo-Kulmhof. Majdaneck. Sobibor. Treblinka” by Stéphane Garin & Sylvestre Gobart (2011), “steps” goes to show to what extent contextual information about the sonic subject matter of a piece influences our listening. This artistic strategy can also be read in political terms: Only if we know the history behind these sounds – and the history of the place where they were recorded – are we able to make sense of the present.
For part 2, EMERGE invited sound artists from all over Europe to give their characteristic processing to the original audio field recordings. The resulting audio fragments are fed into the performance, symbolising a peaceful, solidary encounter of cultures – in deliberate contrast to the fact that people from many European countries were brought together in the Dachau concentration camp by utmost force.
File under: electroacoustic music, field recordings
-----
Was hören wir da? Ist es der Wind? Ist es das Knistern von offenem Feuer? Wo sind wir? Der Ort lässt sich nicht genau bestimmen, aber er ist ziemlich still und fühlt sich sehr einsam an. Und dann treten plötzlich lebendige Wesen auf den Plan. Vogel- und Menschenstimmen, Schritte. Anscheinend gehen Leute an uns vorbei in Richtung eines Ziels, das wir nicht kennen. Wir können nicht erkennen, in welcher Sprache oder welchen Sprachen sie reden – oder doch? Es ist nicht leicht auszumachen, denn alles, was sie sagen, ist irgendwie eigenartig gedämpft, obwohl sie nicht leise sprechen. Alles, was wir hören, scheint entweder zu laut oder zu leise, zu nah oder zu weit weg. Als ob sich ein Schock ereignet hätte, bevor wir begonnen haben, das Album anzuhören. Wie eine Bombenexplosion ganz nah an unseren Ohren. Oder etwas, das so unvorstellbar schrecklich ist, dass es den Raum verbogen hat, aus dem diese Klänge zu uns dringen. So beginnt das Album “steps”.
Das Album “steps” wurde ausschließlich aus Fieldrecordings komponiert, die in der KZ-Gedenkstätte Dachau aufgenommen wurden. Das Grauen der Konzentrationslager musikalisch darzustellen, ist unmöglich, und der Versuch muss unweigerlich in verharmlosendem Kitsch münden – oder Schlimmerem. (Die vielen Negativbeispiele in der Geschichte der Industrial-Musik sprechen hier für sich.) Das Album “steps” maßt sich jedoch gar nicht an, ein Album “über” ein Konzentrationslager zu sein. Es ist ausdrücklich ein Album über eine Gedenkstätte. Ähnlich wie das Referenzwerk der letzten Jahre zu diesem Thema, “Gurs. Drancy. Gare de Bobigny. Auschwitz. Birkenau. Chelmo-Kulmhof. Majdaneck. Sobibor. Treblinka” von Stéphane Garin & Sylvestre Gobart (2011) zeigt auch “steps” auf, wie stark Kontextinformationen über das Klangmaterial unser Hören prägen. Diese künstlerische Strategie kann auch politisch verstanden werden: Nur, wenn wir die Geschichte hinter diesen Klängen kennen – und die der Orte, an denen sie aufgenommen wurden –, können wir die Gegenwart verstehen.
Für Teil 2 hat EMERGE Soundkünstler*innen aus ganz Europa eingeladen, die originalen Fieldrecordings auf ihre jeweils charakteristische Weise zu bearbeiten. Die dadurch entstandenen Audiofragmente sind in die Komposition mit eingeflossen und symbolisieren so eine friedliche, solidarische Begegnung der Kulturen – als bewusster Gegenentwurf zu der Tatsache, dass Menschen aus vielen Ländern Europas im KZ Dachau mit äußerster Gewalt zusammengezwungen wurden.
File under: elektroakustische Musik, Fieldrecordings
https://emerge.bandcamp.com/album/steps
|
2020 |
€13.00 |
|
| EMERGE / THORSTEN SOLTAU / RLW |
Acker und Seche |
CD |
"Let me see if I can summarize the 'how' and 'why' here. In 2016 Swiss Radio commissed music by Thorsten Soltau. He used piano and electronics for the six resulting pieces. In November 2017, these recordings were then used by Sascha Stadlmeier, also known as Emerge, to further treatment, mix, or whatever you call it, and added field recordings and electronics. Then Ralf Wehowsky received the material and created a seventeen-minute collage out of all the material. For Wehowsky, this has been part of his work ever since working as P16.D4, and later on solo as RLW, working with sound material from others. Stadlmeier (also known as EMERGE) is of the next generation doing similar things and has an impressive list of collaborations. Over the years, Staldmeier's music matured and moved away from the all to obvious repeating samples, and noisy crescendo's
into carefully built sound constructions. EMERGE has the first five pieces and the last one, while RLW is sixth. There are some interesting differences between the approaches of EMERGE and RLW. It seems to me as if EMERGE here goes for the method that is all sparse. Sure, he bends his sounds with electronics, staples a drone or two, adds some reverb to a solid bang on the piano, but all of this is finely dosed to precision. I already compared his work with that of Asmus Tietchens, and this is, even more, the case here. But it is not a one on one copy. EMERGE cleverly adds his personal touch to the original sound material and adds his sound material sparsely. RLW, on the other hand, has a slightly different approach, connecting more with a musique concrète approach, and throughout his piece, he moves through more sound material than EMERGE, or at least, so it seems. Maybe he likes it all so much that he wanted to use it a lot. RLW's piece is a collage of sounds, with full stops and
starts, taking the piece to entirely different pastures. It is throughout a louder piece of music than the five by EMERGE, but I very much enjoyed this approach. All of this release reads 'classical collaboration spirit'.[FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
| EMMANUEL, J.D. |
Echoes from ancient Caves |
LP |
"Probably one of the most underestimate artist of electronic of the early ‘80, has been lately rediscover. Expert modulator of electronic and natural sounds, with this work Emmanuel seems to recall and reflect exstensively on that poetics of the cyclic and mantric sound investigated by other pioneers as Terry Riley and La Monte Young. The micro-tonal pattners of the compositions are animated by dense and minimum pulses that amplify the hypnotic and meditative dimension and can be coloured by tibetan suggestions or guitar glissandi of nocturnal taste. In this way the "Echoes from ancient caves", originally appeared only on tape in 1981, is ideally connected to the previous experimentations of "Rain Forest Music (1981) and Wizards (1982).
500 copies on black vinyl + download link for digital edition." [label info]
www.blacksweatrecords.com
|
2014 |
€20.00 |
|
| ENCOMIAST / THE COPPER THIEVES |
139 Nevada |
do-CDR-box |
"In 2004, a group of musicians and curiosity-seekers went to the Belvidere Theatre in Central City, CO because it was rumored to be one of the most haunted buildings in the state. Our initial goal was to attempt to record Electromagnetic Voice Phenomena, but the project eventually took on a much different cast. We never succeeded in capturing any ghostly voices, but we reassembled the recordings into new compositions that captured the haunted spaciousness of the theatre.
That’s where 139 Nevada began
We returned to record in the theatre two more times while making these two records. Even if the spirits never raised their voices, we hope they were entertained by our presence.
139 Nevada consists of two discs - Encomiast ‘s “Masked Mirror” and "Slam Your Doors In Golden Silence" by The Copper Thieves, a coalition including members of Encomiast and the group Mandible Chatter. Both collections mine the rich sonic bed of the Belvidere Theatre - located at 139 Nevada, Central City, CO - but each one takes its own clear path.
Limited to only 200 copies, 139 Nevada is a double CDR release containing two discs in sleeves, with two insert postcards packaged in a textured cardboard box.
Packaging: Textured box w/Two Pro CDR's and two insert postcards
Release Date: June 23, 2009
Running Time: Disc 1 - 57:12, Disc 2 - 44:40 " [full label website info]
www.lensrecords.com
"Eine geheimnisvolle Veröffentlichung in einer schmucken kleinen Pappschachtel mit zwei CDRs und zwei Postkärtchen, denen wir folgende Geschichte entnehmen können. Die Projekte Ecomiast & The Copper Thieves (fast personell identisch) erhielten Zugang zu einem verfallenen Provinztheater in einem kleinen Städtchen. Von dem Theatergebäude hieß es, dass hier Geister hausen würden. Die Musiker machten mit diversen Gästen Aufnahmen vor allem am Klavier im verlassenen Geisterauditorium und bearbeiteten diese Aufnahmen im Studio. Sie kehrten zwei Mal an den Ort des Geschehens zurück und fanden es irgendwie unheimlich aber auch spannend. Den Hörer erwarten zerpflückte und hallige Pianotupfer, manchmal kammerpoppig verdichtete Arrangements und viel verwaschene Atmosphärik. Der ganze Release wirkt irgendwie literarisch, wir können dies auch nicht näher begründen. Es bleibt etwas unwirkliches an den Klängen haften, obwohl sie nur milde experimentell sind." [Zipo / Auf Abwegen]
|
2010 |
€16.00 |
|
| ENGLISH, LAWRENCE |
Lonely Womens Club |
LP |
"Beautiful new work from Lawrence English. Pressed in an edition of 500 copies. Lawrence English is composer, media artist and curator based in Australia.
Working across an eclectic array of aesthetic investigations, English's work prompts questions of field, perception and memory.
English utilises a variety of approaches including live performance and installation to create works that ponder subtle transformations of space and ask audiences to become aware of that which exists at the edge of perception.
Over the past decade, English's sonic investigations have traversed a divergent path through which musical languages and environmental sources are granted equal focus.
His work calls into question the established relationships of sound and structure. English's sound work is evocative and invites the listener to explore their own narratives and impressions informed by personal histories and experiences.
Published widely on respected imprints including Touch, 12K and Winds Measure, English's work is sculpted and overwhelmingly intricate.
As a producer, English has completed numerous projects with artists including Tujiko Noriko (U, Blurred In My Mirror), Ben Frost (Theory Of Machines) and Tenniscoats (Totemo Aimasho, Temporacha).
He has also completed commissioned compositions for acclaimed performance troupe Circa and other contemporary dance ensembles and has worked as a sound designer on video installations in collaboration with artists including Australian visualist Craig Walsh.
His music has also been used in a number of films including a commission from Makino Takashi to create a composition for The Low Storm in 2009." [label info]
www.importantrecords.com
|
2012 |
€16.50 |
|
| |
A Mirror Holds The Sky |
CD / BOOK |
From Lawrence English: "In late months of 2008, I had the great fortune to spend some weeks in the Amazon. The visit, facilitated through Francisco Lopez's Mamori Artlab residency, remains one of the most deeply affecting experiences I have had . . . Living in Australia, tropical rainforests are not foreign to me. I would even say I am rather at home in them. My family, who lived and worked on the land of the Ngajanji people, had an admiration for, or in the very least a respect of, the rainforest. What makes time spent in the jungles of the Amazon different however is the scale and sheer volume (metaphoric and literal) of the life that inhabits it. Hundreds of thousands of narratives are in play moment to moment, their interactions flow together forming a perpetual cascade of arrival and departure, fertility and decay -- these fundamental states are intrinsically linked and constantly informing one another . . . To listen in the jungle is to listen in close relief -- in every square meter, thousands of insects cry out, their voices reducing the horizon of listening to a matter of centimeters at certain times of the day (and night) . . . The abundance of birds, mammals, beetles, flies, ants and so many other creatures are a source of constant and evolving fascination. In the lakes and rivers too, the hydro-sonic environments are perpetual and effortlessly deep . . . A Mirror Holds The Sky is in some ways an act of acoustic and temporal compression. It is a rendering down of the lived-in moments and environments that became points of intense listenership. If I am to be honest, it has taken me the better part of a decade to know how to approach this archive of materials. I owe a debt of gratitude to Chico Dub at Festival Novas Frequências, who very gently encouraged me to realize a piece for diffusion as part of his program in 2019. That invitation retuned my ears and in the process unlocked a way of approaching the mammoth 50+ hours of recordings I had gathered during my time there. I also owe a special debt of gratitude to my wife Rebecca, who was instrumental in gathering some of these recordings. Her ears reflected an entirely other set of interests than my own and without that, this piece would be substantially less than what it is." 48-page perfect bound book featuring photographs by English, taken on location in the Amazon.
https://lawrenceenglish.bandcamp.com/album/a-mirror-holds-the-sky
|
2021 |
€24.00 |
|
| ENGLISH, LAWRENCE & STEPHEN VITIELLO |
Fable |
CD |
"Lawrence English and Stephen Vitiello are creators of mythology. Their mythology renders a series of acoustic spaces, haunted by narrative and hinting at happenings unseen, but certainly heard.
With Fable, we are presented with their second duet. It chronicles three years of intermittent audio communications in search of new collaborative approaches. The results focus on the pair’s joint interests in modular synthesis, field recordings and the blurry boundaries between acoustic instrumentation and electronics. The album’s multiplicity of sources creates a weaving and at times overwhelming collage of materials that coalesce with considered intent. Its palette, whilst diverse remains focused and as the album progresses themes of arrhythmic percussion, electronic-like field recording, prepared piano and vintage synthesis begin to take form.
Like the photography of the cover, these musical pieces bare witness to time, they exist in the moment, but are formed outside of a sense of singularity. Their textured qualities and intricate variations are evidence of an iterative production methodology that invites a depth of listening. A pondering and the intended goal that one may hear or even see their own internal spaces, haunted by a cast of sonic characters." [label info]
www.dragonseyerecordings.com
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| ENGLISH, LAWRENCE & WERNER DAFELDECKER |
Shadow of the Monolith |
LP |
"Shadow of the Monolith is the collaboration of acclaimed artists Lawrence English and Werner Dafeldecker. Recorded across the Antarctic Peninsula and produced in Brisbane Australia, Shadow of the Monolith works across aesthetic disciplines exploring electroacoustic transformations of atmospheric, hydrophonic and ionospheric materials. The raw materials have been layered, processed and structured into a record that drifts from dense microscopic cracks to vibrant shifting frequencies, from sections of profound white stillness to storms of intense activity, from intense light to improbable dark and from immersive macro-spaces to non-spaces.
Lawrence English is composer, media artist and curator based in Australia. Working across an eclectic array of aesthetic investigations, English’s work prompts questions of field, perception and memory. English utilizes a variety of approaches including live performance and installation to create works that ponder subtle transformations of space and ask audiences to become aware of that which exists at the edge of perception.
Werner Dafeldecker’s background is in European modern music and improvisation, examination of graphical notations, Fluxus, minimal music, electro acoustic music, jazz and field recordings. His musical projects are often inspired and deduced by outside influences such as architecture, physics, photography and film. Longtime sound and structure studies and the formulation of distinct articulations are in the center of his work as a composer and musician and are parallel to technological developments often connected with electronic form.
Shadow of the Monolith comes in a limited edition of 300 copies, cut by CGB at Dubplates and Mastering and pressed on 140gram black vinyl.
Recorded at Marambio and Esperanza bases, Antarctica Summer 2010
Written and produced by Lawrence English and Werner Dafeldecker.
Cover Photo by Lawrence English
www.lawrenceenglish.com
www.dafeldecker.net
This project has been supported by Austro Mechana
LP designed by wearestillbb.com
Released on the 18th of November 2014" [label info]
www.holotype-editions.com
"You may, I hope, have heard the names Lawrence English and Werner Dafeldecker before. The first is from Australia and uses his laptop to transform field recordings, while the second is from Austria and best known for his work in improvisation, Fluxus, minimal music and field recordings, among many other things. This record was recorded 'across the Antarctic Peninsula' and produced in Brisbane, 'exploring electroacoustic transformations of atmospheric, hydrophonic and ionospheric materials' - the microphone picks up signals from water, wind and the ground; all of which are then transformed using computer techniques. This album, though great as it is, is not as a big surprise as the one by Stefanou. Here we have some solid constructions of treated field recordings, the breaking of waves and ice, stale wind over polar landscapes and all such like. It's sometimes quite dark and haunting, like an endless winter night in these regions, but it's not exclusively like that. Light shimmers through this here, occasionally and throws a long shadow over the material. Sometimes it becomes even musical, when it hints towards a melody or rhythm, such as in the final piece 'Outtake'. Though not a surprise per se, I think this is a great record. Dark yet imaginative, cool but not cold, it's a fine record of nicely retuned field recordings. Exactly, probably the kind of thing you would expect from these two composers." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2015 |
€17.50 |
|
| ENO, BRIAN |
Music for Installations |
6 x CD BOX |
Though containing music that goes back to 1985, Music For Installations is hardly a retrospective in any traditional sense. It’s more a whimsical line connecting ideas in Eno's own personal Long Now.
Not long after Brian Eno coined the term “ambient music” in the late 1970s, he generated another Eno-ism with an extended lifespan, one with an appropriately slower dissemination.”I want to be living in a Big Here and a Long Now,” the producer wrote in a notebook. He thought of his then-recent recordings as sound “suspended in an eternal present tense.” Perhaps unconsciously channeling Baba Ram Dass's brand/mantra, Be Here Now, the always-conceptual Eno began to expand his sense of scale. Two decades ago, Eno helped start the Long Now Foundation, working to connect the present moment to the far-extended arc of human history. One project was the 10,000 Year Clock, for which he created patterns for the clock's chimes, each to be rung once and never repeated.
By the mid-’90s, the period representing the general starting point of the six-disc Music for Installations, Eno's “ambient” work had largely fallen under the subtly different rubric “generative” (that is, music that is created according to a system of algorithms, only partly under its maker’s control). Each piece here represents its own individual slice of one possible Long Now, with Eno providing the finely considered coordinates so that the music itself can run infinitely, changing into new patterns like a river or an ocean. Grown from mid-’80s experiments with four tape recorders looping cassettes of differing lengths, Music for Installations contains what are essentially field recordings from a series of different environments, each its own universe. Filled with gorgeous washes of bells and drones and unidentifiable luminous shimmers, deep vibrations moving across widescreen stereo fields, one might imagine them all as separate galleries and vestibules in a vast museum, each filled with light and sound, running constantly as night and day change outside and the seasons pass. Though Music for Installations contains sound created for specific situations and places, as a box set, it might be used to step outside of time.
Of course, a streaming service might still label all of the above as “ambient,” part of the new chill-out economy seemingly driving Spotify to its own kind of generative musak. But what Music for Installations proves beyond a doubt is that, to paraphrase Chevy Chase, he's Brian Eno and they're not. Though containing music that goes back as far as 1985 (”Five Light Paintings”), Music For Installations is hardly a retrospective in any traditional sense. It’s more a whimsical line connecting ideas in Eno's own personal Long Now.
Eno is everywhere and nowhere in this music, much of it not so much performed by him as willed into existence, like a character from a science fiction novel who dreams in sound. On several of the longest pieces, such as the 44-minute 77 Million Paintings, low rolling notes played sparsely at long intervals seem to indicate melodies unfolding too slowly for immediate comprehension, perhaps even direct continuations of the similar motifs from 1978's Ambient 1: Music for Airports. Released in DVD editions in 2006 and 2007, 77 Million Paintings constitutes the audio accompaniment of a generative video program Eno created. As he recounts in the liner notes, when he first set it up, he began to document individual frames of it with a still camera, shooting off some 800 pictures before surrendering to the ephemerality. The feeling of listening to Music for Installations is often similar. Its pieces are beautiful and always different, and yet always the same, generic without losing character.
Much of it is resolutely not chill-out music. The nearly 40-minute piece “I Dormienti” is filled with a ceaseless moving richness that's hard to reconcile with the idea of machine creation. High-frequency electronic tones and clusters of upper register piano notes flutter between percussive samples of vocalist Kyoko Inatome, amid other layers. Composed for a joint installation with the sculptor Mimmo Paladino in the subterranean space beneath London's Roundhouse, the music is perhaps more suited for the kind of contemplation that goes along with quietly freaking the fuck out, an accompaniment to Paladino's haunted work as it was seen in the darkroom, pieces displayed on the floor like strange creatures preserved after a Pompeii-like disaster.
The set's final two discs don't actually contain music for installations, except in ever more conceptual ways. Making Spaces was a CD sold at installations, and little of it feels generative in composition or structure, though the liner notes don't clarify. In the context of the box set, it feels not only like a separate, hidden Eno album of its own, but a brilliant one, demonstrating that Eno is still perfectly capable of seizing the means of production. The nine pieces feel less like spaces and more like the objects inside, sculptures with distinct shapes and boundaries and artistic intentions. The unearthly “New Moons” features a sparsely strummed guitar part with defined chords (and even a bridge), aglow from start to finish, perhaps one haunted vocal away from fitting perfectly onto the song-based album some strata of Eno fans always want dearly. “All the Stars Were Out” contains a background flutter that could equally be the sound of crickets or the flicker of a film projector, but is just one more expressive tone carved out by Brian Eno. Each of the tracks contains its own inventions and deployment of color-forms or unexpected tonal voices or structural turns.
The set-concluding Music for Future Installations, meanwhile, is perhaps the box's cheekiest conceit, music for new places, new situations that haven't yet happened.”I often find it helpful to have an alibi for making a piece of music,” he observes, and the seven discs of Music for Installations might serve many contexts. Music For Airports was never for airports (though it certainly is capable of providing calm inside one), and the function of Music for Installations is wherever the listener might like to install it, less about the purpose of the music and more about the listener's desired level of engagement. But no matter what level of engagement one chooses, Eno will be there, too.
The set's 60-page liner notes are filled with documentation, though it's sometimes unclear which recordings correspond to which installations, if any. More, though, it acts as a Little Red Book of Eno-isms, where he lays out one deeply awesome hot take after another.”I thought of television as a light source rather than a narrative source,” he writes about his video installations, “at that time the most controllable light source that had ever been invented.” (I… had never thought of it like that.) No matter how vibed-out the music may get, there is always the sense of a voice and mind behind it. Even when trying to abdicate the order and arrangement of the notes being played, Eno's control over sound remains at a practically spiritual level. “Eno is God,” ran the early ’80s graffiti, and depending on how you define his domain it might still be true, manifesting in the smallest of breezes and the tiniest of bleeps.
|
2018 |
€55.00 |
|
| ENTRELACS |
Cynorrodhon (SOLD OUT) |
7inch |
ENTRELACS ist das neue Projekt von YANNICK DAUBY und MICHAEL NORTHAM, auf dieser Single präsentieren sie detailreiche, hochfrequente mikro-drones..
“Originally our label wanted to present YANNICK DAUBY’s solo work, knowing him from some fabulous field-recordings (unfortunately most of them are still unreleased), he came up with a new project he has put together with “organic-drone-master ” MICHAEL NORTHAM, known from several beautiful installations and field-recording releases. Both are present in their new project going under the name of ENTRELACS. Here they enchant us with live improvisation of high-frequency drones & overtones, some concrete microscopic sound-objects as well as a rumbling appearing from time to time. It’s like millions of small sounds condensed together here... very rich in details. The B-Side is more challenging with a much stranger and darker atmosphere using sharp & sawing clear sounds. Somehow this music seems to reveal no “outer” or “objective” rhythm but rather the ‘inner-essence’ of nature itself. The title of this record ‘Cynorrodhon’ is the name of a plant also named "Rosier des chiens" in French. It develops “delicate flowers in spring time, red fruit in autumn and bears spines the whole year.” (Yannick Dauby) Filed under: organic micro/macro-drones.
CLEAR VINYL. BEAUTIFUL PRINTED COVERS WITH PICTURE OF CYNORRODHON. EACH COPY HAS A STAMPED DRONE SUN & AN HANDWRITTEN CATALOGUE-NUMBER.” [press release]
|
2003 |
€6.00 |
|
| EQUIMANTHORN |
A Fifth Conjuration |
CD |
"Most are bewildered and some have protested concerning the esotericism of Equimanthorn, Presuming our extraneous song titles and writings to be no more than mysterious obliquity. While sensible to its creators, our writings have long been misunderstood or simply unintelligible to most. "A Fifth Conjuration" transcends any mystical balderdash with a decisive and intentional approach: realigning the senses with their most natural state in the nervous system through the aid of sound. In this, our Fifth Conjuration, you will engage a journey of the slight and subtle. Where the senses may become aware of the silence from which sounds emerge and the spaciousness that resides between thought and stillness.
"When the seventh day arrived..." Dalkhu Zilittu 2011
These recorded efforts should only be listened to under the influence of candlelight." [label info]
zazensounds.bandcamp.com
"Though originally formed as a side-project of occult extreme metal band, Absu, the constantly (r)evolving lineup of Equimanthorn has established itself as its own entity with its own dimensional chaos. This fifth full-length release shows these musickal magicians constantly refining their sound, but staying true to the original ideas behind the band.
Far from the black/death/thrash metal of Absu, Equimanthorn exists more in the dark/ambient realm. Their earliest releases were Throbbing Gristle-esque orgiastic conjurations, invocations and evocations, but now things are sparser, more minimalistic. The vocals, now eerie distant voices reciting occultist poetry, have been cut back to only two tracks: “Kneeling to the Throne of Winter (Confidence and Lust)” and “Nanna’s Dreaming (The Endless Night of Crucifixion)”. Synthesizers, still the main instrument, are focused drones and creepy effects, background noises recalling ancient rites of Sumeria, Babylon and Egypt, perhaps a genetic memory from the origins of civilization.
This is the darkness of Lustmord, the uneasy time-traveling journey of Roman Saenko‘s Dark Ages, even a bit of Burzum‘s neo-classical pagan folk in places. Blood Box, Yen Pox and early Maurizio Bianchi also come to mind. This is not music for head-banging, social activity or good vibes. It’s what you put on while combing over the books in your occult library.
This is the perfect soundtrack for Aleister Crowley‘s The Book of the Law. Frater Perdurabo would be proud." [Chuck Foster/The Big Takeover] |
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
| ERCETIN, TURGUT |
Panopticon Specularities |
CD |
"Istanbul native, Turgut Erçetin (1983) studied composition and completed his doctorate studies at Stanford University. His work engages with sound as sonic entities that interact with time and space, with an inherent focus on acoustics and psychoacoustics. He uses computer-aided compositional processes to realise unique impositions of space and place that question notions of physicality and metaphysics: employing a highly technical approach to stage practically impossible soundscapes, bringing the meridian sounds of Istanbul - seagulls, ships horns, street noise, the muezzins’ call-to-prayer - and the uniquely purposed Byzantine architecture of the Hagia Sofia, once a venue for singing, then an Ottoman mosque, and now a museum where music is banned, via the CCRMA facility at Stanford, and into the performance space of a Berlin church.
Unable to actually use the Sofia Hagia for recording, Erçetin did the next best thing and modelled its architecture with a computer after gauging its space with sine waves and balloon pops. In the recordings they found the Hagia’s acoustics created specular reflections, localised echoes that highlight specific places, particularly int he 56-metre high dome, which gave the impression of sound descending from above, or from heaven itself. Applying this ancient crafty way of manipulating audience perceptions to the relatively modern idea of F-prisons, smaller cells introduced in Turkey in 2000, as a way of disrupting, segregating prisoners, stymieing their communications, he arrived at the belief that “one could be resilient and free form the solitude to which one is condemned inside and outside, as long as one can move.”
The four works in ‘Panopticon Specularities’ bring this idea of freedom of movement within space - and spaces within spaces - to light in remarkable ways that will have ears and eyes wandering across the whole soundsphere, bewildered and rapt. In effect he’s reverse engineering Goethe’s notion of architecture as “frozen music” by using the reaches of technology to “thaw” and make the building’s music liquid again. Directing four spatialized chamber ensembles in the same space, together with pre-recordings in anechoic chambers, to create a complex space of interaction between gendered voices, both human and instrumental, to wonderfully conflate the ideas of the Panopticon - an 18th century British prison design whereby all points are visible from the centre - and public squares where people of all social strata would see and be seen, establishing their identities and social status in the process, in turn revealing the power of freedom of movement."
https://soundcloud.com/turgut-ercetin
|
2019 |
€15.50 |
|
| ERIK M (eRikm) |
Sixperiodes |
CD |
Kollektion von sechs sehr unterschiedlichen Stücken für Tanz, Theater und Kino (2001-2004) von dem aussergewöhnlichen französischen Komponisten & Klangkünstler, der mit Computern, Turntables, Objekten & was auch immer arbeitet. Feinste konkrete Mikro-Sounds wirbeln hier herum und bilden doch kohärente Klangmuster, ob Drones, Pianotupfer, elektronische Sounds, konkrete cut-ups, ERIK M erschafft eine musikalische Sprache für die es noch keinen Namen gibt, die dynamisch-aggressiv aber auch sehr poetisch und surreal-zart sein kann. Für Sound-Explorer !
"sixpériodes departs from composed and improvised fragments of different media from dance or theatre performances, silent films or dance-conferences. far from standard soundtrack music, each creation here is accomplished using diverse approaches and techniques that demonstrate the most personal skills of erikm in combining different material - digital and acoustic sounds, field recordings and vinyl manipulations - in a unique way. his primary aim is no longer simply to quote his system of references but to create for himself a bank of singular material to compose without referring to other works, thus approaching a subtle abstraction and a sense of pause within contemporary sonic agitation. erikm has collaborated with the likes of fennesz, otomo yoshihide, musique concrète composer luc ferrari and avant turntablist christian marclay. he has released on such labels as hathut, for4ear, asphodel, metamkine, sonoris and others." (label info)
“Described as a "display of ErikM compositions for dance, theatre and cinema between 2001 and 2004", this album is a charming alternative in the congested field of laptop/acousmatics, being imbued with a determined research for a sonic biology whose purpose goes far beyond the "soundtrack" definition. ErikM's target appears to be the action of freezing what moves into aural snapshots: he reduces his perceptions to the bare minimum, using fragments of intuition and sampled snippets to find a connection with the functions of the body, which most of this music seems to represent in an almost graphic manner. It feels like there is a strong correlation with the automatic reactions of our nervous system, most sounds zapping around like a stimulated grasshopper, therefore effectively fulfilling their scope of demarcating choreographic schemes and underlining images. This music is indeed extremely visual, yet absolutely suggestive when taken as pure electroacoustic circumstance, completely original and honestly transcendental but at the same time very substantial.” [Massimo Richi / Touching Extremes]
“....It's hard to tell what is on those records and tapes, but throughout everything jumps and skips around like crazy, creating things to be very vibrant and lively. Most of the times rhythmical in a sort of non-linear way (even when it's a dance record!), combined with elements of noise and musique concrete, this also jumps stylistically all over the place, moving from strict improvised parts, such as the opening 'Les Paesines' to the more straight forward, almost industrialized rhythms
'Paris Qui Dort'. But that keeps the adrenaline of this disc going round and round. I enjoyed many of his collaborative works already, but as a first introduction to his solo work, I am even more impressed. Very good material...” [Vital Weekly]
|
2006 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Steme |
CD |
"Steme" ist eine Arbeit über "Fragmentierung, Genese und Erneuerung", basierend auf einer Auswahl von zehn 1minütigen Klangstücken von einer defekten CD. ERIK M ist ein Meister im improvisierten Konstruieren und Dekonstruieren von Klangschnipseln; hier klingt das unfassbar abstrakt, zerschnipselt & geräuschhaft, von Gekräusel & Rauschen durchsetzt, aber es gibt auch schillernd-elektrisierte Drone-Parts....muss man gehört haben...
"Between his reputation as swift shifting improviser, concréte composer and turntable deconstructionist, Marseilles based artist ERIKM has earned himself an enviable position in the European music community. With Stéme, his most ambitious and fully realised compositional work to date, he devolves and recontextualises the boundaries between sound source and sound media. In essence, Stème originates from a selection of ten one minute long sound pieces burned on a CD which was deliberately damaged. These media (music on modified media or field recording) formed the basis of multiple improvised session including multiple stages of construction and destruction of these acoustic matters using my different electronic real time live music systems (3k-pad system & MD or CD-dj and electronics). The resulting sounds are truly distinctive – filigree like sonic details are brought into sharp focus, tuning the ears with their paced spatial movements. Occasional grabs of the source sound material appear and are erased equally as quickly. A genuinely powerful statement of compositional intent." [label info]
"...Unlike say Oval, ErikM is not interested in creating some new (old?) form of popmusic out of it, but rather tries to use all these blocks in a large composition of a highly delicate, electro-acoustic nature. With the exception of 'White Out' which operates more from the drone end, and there for seems a bit out of place here, all the seven other pieces are of a collage like nature, which adds a great vibrancy to the material, bouncing all over the place while the listener only can submit to this with full attention. That 'White Out' piece could have been easily left of from this, and it would have been a perfect CD, now it's near perfection." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.room40.org
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Transfall |
CD |
"eRikm's Transfall is a document of profound gesture. A collection of works that resolve his recent explorations into music and sound for performance, dance and theatre. For almost two decades, eRikm has been a major force in contemporary musique concréte. He is a compelling improviser and forthright composer whose work taps into the central linage of sound-object oriented composition emanating from France. Developing a highly personal performance and compositional language, eRikm's reputation and position within the emergent generation of concréte composers had led to numerous collaborations with icons such as Luc Ferrari (Room40 issued Les Protorythmiques in 2007). Transfall is an archive of six works linked through new developments in eRikm's compositional philosophies. He notes : 'The time spent on the composition of some of these pieces gave me the possibility to 'break out', that is to get out of my usual processes of 'degeneration/generation' of a body or of a multiplicity of 'pre-existing sound objects'. Thus my gesture shifted, I have looked for and recorded my own sound materials.' When heard collectively, these compositions take on a presence much more than the sum of their parts. They collect unconventional approaches from an artist whose compositional methodologies are already deeply rooted in experimental traditions. The resulting pieces, and the album as a whole, represent one of eRikm's most personal and resolved works to date. A vision of future explorations mounted within a frame of the artists' previous sonic understandings." [label info]
www.room40.org
"The other new release is 'Transfall' by erikM, of whom I never seem to know if he's a composer or an improviser, or both. No doubt, the latter. The six pieces on his latest CD are not new. They were recorded between 2004 and 2009 and found their way to compilations, dance pieces or commissioned by an ensemble. The latter is the longest and opens the CD, and has erikM playing electronics and CD player and the ensemble playing harp, clarinets, flutes, cello and percussion. This is a piece in the best modern classic tradition, but despite reservations I may have against modern classical music, I think 'Astral' is a great piece. Partly filled with nasty electronic sounds, and partly what seems at times acoustic instruments, reminding me of the best Zeitkratzer pieces. The other five pieces are much shorter and see erikM working with electronics and field recordings. Here we find him as a more traditional composer of musique concrete, in some excellent short, concise pieces with great style. Full of tension, great compositional style and evocative, these are excellent pieces." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| ERSTLAUB |
Broadcasting on Ghost Frequencies |
CD-R |
Scottish \\\"mysterious ambience\\\" project with wonderful one-tracker; full of hissing loops & hypnotizing patterns... music of the spheres to discover; lim. 100.
\\\"Inspired by the Ganzfeld Procedure where the participant is deprived of visual stimulus and bombarded with white/pink noise drawing the mind to form patterns in the chaos often hearing voices from the past or inventing entirely new constructs within their consciousness, this release pays tribute to the parapsychological mind and its many wonders.\\\" [label info]
www.movingfurniturerecords.com
\\\"Back in Vital Weekly 601 we first heard the music of Erstlaub, also known as Dave Fyans from Perth, Scotland. On \\\'On Becoming An Island\\\' Fyans composed everything live, without processing or multitracking using a Nord G2 synthesizer. I don\\\'t know if that\\\'s the case here too on \\\'Broadcasting On Ghost Frequencies\\\' but its again a single track, this time lasting almost forty-nine minutes. That\\\'s not the only link to the previous release. This new work sees him continuing on the thematic approach of drone music. A nightmare like soundscape. The sky tonight is covered with clouds, no moon, no stars. But the clouds drift on the howl of wind. One can barely see a thing - no street lights are on. Apparently Fyans is inspired here by the Ganzfeld Procedure \\\'where the participant is deprived of visual stumulus and bombarded with white/pink noise drawing the mind to form patterns in the chaos often hearing voices from the past or inventing entirely new constructs within their consciousness\\\'. I
hear voices too, but they are real: they come from the outside. No clouds, just lots of sunshine. This might be the wrong moment to hear this? It works well, except that its not chaotic at all. Its a beautiful piece of drone music. Nothing new under the pitch black sky, done however with great care.\\\" [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2009 |
€9.50 |
|
| ESMERINE |
Everything was forever until it was no more |
LP |
Deluxe 180gram vinyl edition comes in a foil-embossed and die-cut cardstock jacket with printed inner sleeve and additional 12x12 art cards featuring the collages of Maciek Szczerbowski. All the art interacts with the die-cut jacket framing. Edition of 300. Rooted in a distinct and immediately identifiable sound_with the cello of Rebecca Foon (Saltland, Set Fire To Flames, Thee Silver Mt Zion) and the marimba of ex-Godspeed You! Black Emperor percussionist Bruce Cawdron at its core_Esmerine has long embroidered emotive chamber works using threads of post-classical, post-rock, Minimalism, neo-Baroque, jazz, pop and a wide array of folk traditions. Multi-instrumentalist Brian Sanderson, who joined the group in 2012, has furthered Esmerine's melodic and ethnomusicological sensibility ever since, expanding the ensemble's palette as its third core member with guitars, ngoni, ekonting, hulusi, brass horns of all sorts, and more. Since 2003, six stately and filmic instrumental albums have inscribed compositional landscapes through epigrammatic miniatures, longform multi-movement chronicles, and all manner of evocative musical prosody between. Marked by an inimitably turbid yet tempered pastoralism, alternately lit by dappled dawn and disquieted dusk, Esmerine's musical narratives balance asceticism and romanticism, melancholy and hope, stillness and wanderlust. Esmerine now shares Everything Was Forever Until It Was No More, its seventh full-length album and first in five years. The band surprise-dropped the full album digitally on 06 May 2022, with the CD and Deluxe 180gram LP editions hitting stores on official release date 26 August 2022. Following an acclaimed run of mid-career records on Constellation through the 2010s_the last three of which have all been finalists or winners of Juno Awards for Instrumental Album of the Year and/or Album Packaging of the Year_Esmerine began working on new music at decade's end. Under the auspices of a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts, and a summer 2019 residency at Le Château de Monthelon (an artist commune in France where the band has cherished long-standing spiritual, creative, and personal connections), compositional seeds were planted_and then pandemic rooted everyone in place. In between lockdown waves, at the respective rural Québec homesteads of Cawdron and Foon, longtime co-producer Jace Lasek (The Bernard Lakes) began capturing the band in various stripped-down configurations with spartan remote equipment. More fulsome arrangement and overdub sessions at Foon's converted barn during the summer of 2021 brought the album to full fruition_where a notable increase in the use of acoustic piano also poured forth, with just about every band member having a go. The record also signals the definitive integration of bassist Philippe Charbonneau_having joined Esmerine as a touring member pre-pandemic, he plays throughout the album on upright and electric bass, with turns on piano and synth, as well as sound design contributions via tape echo and other processing. Everything Was Forever Until It Was No More grapples with the existential tensions between atmosphere and airlessness, seclusion and claustrophobia, forbearance and coalescence. In many ways it is one of Esmerine's most restrained records. Only a few passages are driven by full percussion. There is palpably less Sturm and Drang or overt crescendos compared to its recent predecessors. The new album roils with a different sort of dynamic intensity, where instrumental densities ebb and flow within an overtonal centre, melding into each other with gauzy timbral warmth, sometimes tracing fleeting tendrils outwards, but always rotating around a saturnine gravitational force. Everything Was Forever Until It Was No More is like a dark forest lit by a closely-orbiting opalescent planet; it could be the alternate score to Von Trier's Melancholia or Cormac McCarthy's The Road.
https://esmerine.bandcamp.com/album/everything-was-forever-until-it-was-no-more
|
2022 |
€27.50 |
|
| |
Lost Voices |
LP |
Montréal chamber rock ensemble Esmerine return with the new full-length album Lost Voices, the most dynamic and incendiary record of the group’s career, following its highly-acclaimed and Juno award-winning 2013 release Dalmak. Led by co-founders Bruce Cawdron (Godspeed You! Black Emperor) on various mallet instruments and Rebecca Foon (Thee Silver Mt. Zion, Saltland) on cello, Esmerine also includes drummer/percussionist Jamie Thompson (The Unicorns, Islands, Little Scream) and multi-instrumentalist Brian Sanderson.
Lost Voices is the result of multiple recording sessions led by Vid Cousins (Kid Koala, Amon Tobin, Colin Stetson) and was mixed/produced by Jace Lasek (The Besnard Lakes) at his Breakglass Studio in Montréal. The album features several tracks that are hands down among the band’s most rocking, making newfound use of electric guitars (courtesy a variety of guest players) alongside the group’s nucleus of marimba, strings and percussion. Expanding from Dalmak’s core quartet, Esmerine also welcomes bassist Jeremi Roy (who began touring with the group in 2013) as an official member; his contrabass work adds potent low-end to the heavier and more muscular jams on the new album. Lost Voices is equally notable for the appearance of GY!BE/Silver Mt. Zion violinist Sophie Trudeau as a featured guest; her intense and incomparable string sounds/styles elevate the potency of the record’s most soaring and high-octane pieces, particularly on opener “The Neighborhoods Rise”, “19/14” and the centerpiece track of Side Two, “Funambule”. Thompson’s drumming comes to the fore on these pieces too, and on the rock-steady minimalism of “A River Runs Through This City”, which satisfyingly harkens back to the likes of Tied & Tickled Trio, June Of 44, Shipping News and Lungfish.
Lost Voices can fairly be called Esmerine’s “rock” album, expanding upon the band’s celebrated prowess at deploying structure and dynamic, balancing melodic expression against methodical restraint through a diversity of stylistic touchstones (minimalism, post-rock, math-rock, desert rock) while allowing for explosive crescendos of exuberant density and maximalism that most notably distinguishes this record from previous work. The album nonetheless includes several instances of more spacious, searching and/or tender compositions – not only in some of the opening sections of the rock songs, but in stand-alone marimba-and-string-led pieces like “Pas Trop Pas Tropes” and “My Mamma Pinned A Rose On Me” and in the two piano-and-string minuets that close each side of the record.
Lost Voices is a deeply satisfying and evocative journey and another brilliant iteration of Esmerine’s distinctive instrumental chamber rock; cerebral and visceral, controlled and volatile, and wholly cinematic in scope throughout.
Thanks for listening.
PERSONNEL
Rebecca Foon: Cello, harmonium, piano, voice
Bruce Cawdron: Marimba, bowed marimba, glockenspiel, vibraphone
Jamie Thompson: Drums, marimba, glockenspiel
Brian Sanderson: Violin, ekonting, cavalry cornet, f horn, sarod, bass guitar
Jérémi Roy: Contrabass, bass guitar
GUESTS
James Hakan Dedeoglu: Guitar (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 7)
Sophie Trudeau: Violin (tracks 1, 5, 7, 9)
Jace Lasek: Guitar (tracks 1, 7), synth (track 6)
Pierre-Guy Blanchard: Darbuka, riq, glockenspiel (track 7)
Ian Ilavsky: Guitar (track 4)
Vid Cousins: Piano (track 5)
Colin Stetson: EVI (track 8)
Recorded by Vid Cousins at Mixart and Six Saint V in Montreal.
Mixed by Jace Lasek and Ian Ilavsky at Breakglass in Montreal.
Mastered by Ryan Morey.
https://esmerine.bandcamp.com/album/lost-voices
|
2015 |
€22.50 |
|
| ESOTERIC |
Subconscious Dissolution into the Continuum |
CD |
Langsamer Doom Metal mit extrem melancholischem & düsteren Einschlag von dieser britischen Band, die einen recht einzigartigen Stil begründet haben, die Gitarrenarbeit erinnert an GODFLESH oder mitunter gar COCTEAU TWINS, dann wieder gibt es disharmonische & abgründige Arrangements, immer langsam, schleppend und schwer... an den Gesang muss man sich vielleicht etwas gewöhnen, aber wir meinen der ESOTERIC Sound kann auch für Drone & Dark Ambient Hörer durchaus interessant sein..
"...ESOTERIC befinden sich irgendwo auf der Kreuzung von Noise, Psychedelia und extremem Doom Metal. Da sie mit Funeral Doom Geschwindigkeit mit stark verzerrtem Bass, einer Steinmauer aus Gitarren, verfolgenden Samples und haarsträubenden Vocals spielen, ist ESOTERIC’s Sound mit einem schlimmen LSD-Trip oder einer Überdosis einer harten Droge vergleichbar. Sie sind zweifellos die düsterste, selbstmörderischste, psychedelischste und verwüstendste derzeit existierende Band und schaffen es, mit ihren bizarren Soundlandschaften gleichzeitig zu entzücken und zu bedrücken. Und wenn euch diese Beschreibung nicht ausreicht, um euch ein Bild zu machen, kann ich euch nur empfehlen reinzuhören." [Ben Meulemann]
"It's never an easy job to review an Esoteric release. They have gained such a reputation for being one of the most unique and extreme bands in the Doom spectre that it is hard to oppose, they are almost untouchable - and with good reason. The fact is that "Subconscious Dissolution Into The Continuum" is not an easy listen. It's devoid of any pleasant human feeling; it's savagely cold, heavy and droning. It'll put you in a miserable state - yes, it is as fascinating as it seems.
The sombre torturous atmosphere of this album left me speechless. This is not typical Funeral Doom; it is basically as slow as you probably expect, but there's this whole psychedelic sense, and really raw and mechanical distortion. As opposed to that more ethereal sound of other bands that rely on keyboards and clean vocals, for example, like Pantheist or Skepticism. Esoteric is closer to bands like The Funeral Orchestra, with their frightening sound and disharmonic, multi-layered structuring [...] Esoteric may seem monotonous at first listen, but you have to let yourself be absorbed by its aesthetics, you can't listen to this on just any day. Once you get past beyond its fever-inducing slowness you'll be ready to realise the true power and beauty of "Subconscious Dissolution Into The Continuum" and actually enjoy everything about it. Even the same slowness that used to put you off. This is truly a devastating and intense experience that I recommend highly to anyone who can appreciate extreme Funeral Doom Metal." [Passenger / Metalstorm]
www.season-of-mist.com
|
2004 |
€13.00 |
|
| ETANT DONNES |
Bleu |
do-LP |
Following the first ever vinyl reissues of Aurore and Royaume/Aimant + Aimant, Penultimate Press make available the final part of this extraordinary trilogy. Bleu is the final gesture and culmination of this period of creation where poésie and la nature form a magical alliance that resonates as an alchemical wedding. Having the conviction that Bleu was the ultimate arc based on the purity of natural sound and poetry, leaning towards a mystical spiritual search towards their own souls the band moved into comradery and collaboration with friends and ideals such as Lydia Lunch and Alan Vega.
A1. Aime - Moi
A2. Droite
A3. Mercure
B1. Sirène
B2. S'envole
C1. Pierre Lune
C2. Comète
D1. Force De L'amour
https://penultimatepress.bandcamp.com/album/bleu-2
"There are artefacts within the history of recorded music that stand entirely on their own; bound to the circumstances of their moment, while owing allegiance to none. Such is the case of Étant Donnés’ Bleu, originally issued by the legendary Staalplaat imprint in 1994, now receiving its first ever vinyl pressing by Penultimate Press. The final instalment of a tetralogy of field recording based works by the duo, preceded by Aurore, Royaume and Aimant + Aimant - also previously reissued by Penultimate Press - the album’s subtle textures, natural ambiences, and disarming vocalizations are imbued with a startling sense of intimacy, weaving a free-standing aural context from the inner and outer worlds of the singular minds that brought it to be.
Founded in 1977 by Morocco born brothers, Eric and Marc Hurtado, Étant Donnés - taking their name from Marcel Duchamp's last major work - belongs to the flowers of sonic creativity and experimentation that developed in the wake of punk, hybridising the techniques and approaches of the avant-garde and DIY with countercultural attitudes, across a body of work more than 30 albums deep - including collaborations with Alan Vega, Genesis P. Orridge, Michael Gira, Lydia Lunch, Philippe Grandrieux, Mark Cunningham, and Bachir Attar - that traversed the fields of experimental film, performance, musique concrète, field recording, and experimental music.
Bleu, originally released in 1994, is the fourth in a tetralogy of records that includes Aurore, Royaume and Aimant + Aimant, each being works of musique concrète built from body of field recordings and poetic utterances by the duo. Like its predecessors, the album not only defies all standard notions of genre, but deftly avoids orthodox perceptions of what its core practices usually entail.
Eight works - spanning four sides of the double LP - rise as meetings of whispers - the whispering voices of the brothers intervening with the whispering textures produced by nature and discreet acts - seemingly resting at the verge of a violent scream that never comes. Field recordings of natural occurrences and intentional actions intertwine, blurring the boundaries purpose and chance, as subtle deployment of sound collage challenges the location of the artist’s hand, laying a striking foundation for the raw and unmediated vocals that punctuate the album’s length; the sounds of splashing water, scraping pebble, crackling fire, percussive rhythms, the rustles of nature, and the human voice building an uncanny body of magical narratives that points the brothers’ roots in the work of Duchamp.
Fascinating, immersive, deeply personal, and remarkably tense, Étant Donnés’ Bleu is a revelatory inner world; a creative wonder unlike any other that gives the impression of having appeared fully formed.
Issued by Penultimate Press in its first ever vinyl edition - spanning a full twoLPs - and its first ever reissue of any kind since its original 1994 CD release, this one is not to be missed." [Soundohm]
|
2021 |
€35.00 |
|
| ETIENNE, YVAN |
Feu |
CD |
"On Feu (APOSIOPÈSE apo10) there is a very striking long suite called ‘De La Charge’ which is like having your head inserted in the centre of a lengthy electrical discharge, making your hair stand on end with its wild tendrils of direct current, and threatening to clean out your pores once and for all with its vibrant force."
[The sound projector]
"Yvan Etienne is active as a sound experimenter interested in issues surrounding site-specific audio installations and as a composer proposing weighty reflections on perception and the physicality of sounds in space.
Etienne has not been lacking for collaborative work in recent years, undertaking projects and performance with the likes of Phill Niblock, Yann Gourdon, Richard Glover, Brice Jeannin, Patrice Grente, Julien Ottavi, Robert Poss, Paul Panhuysen, Marie and Verry Joachim Montessuis, to name a few, as well as acting as curator and director of the Ohcetecho aux Presses Du Réel collection. For the three tracks of his first solo album Etienne manipulates various field recordings, a Serge modular synthesizer and a hurdy-gurdy (whether ancient or modern is not known). The result is a sound simultaneously fluffy yet stinging, replete with ambient noise, drones and sparse sequences that feel grainy and menacing, hovering somewhere between organic and inorganic. The impressive scores are very dense and layered, building to a crescendo that is harmonious and addictive, despite the fixity of the narration. Strongly iterative, immersive and resonant, the work reflects a keen sense of spatiality and dynamics. The listening is pleasant but never too conciliatory, favoring moods that are rather spacey and sidereal, infused with vintage synths, tools made popular in the mid-seventies by artists such as Frank Zappa, Jon Hassell, Sonic Boom, Richie Hawtin and Vince Clarke that have now achieved “cult” status among fans of modular analogue gear." [Neural]
Composed, recorded and mixed by Yvan Etienne :
Serge Modular, Electronics, Field recordings, Hurdy gurdy.
Recorded at "2 princesses" & EMS/Stockholm.
Produced by Aposiopèse, 2014. Cd. Aposiopèse_10.
Artwork by Claire Willemann.
Layout + Lettering by Nicolas Bardey.
Release page : www.aposiopese.com/pages/feu_y_e.html
Artist website : wyy.free.fr
https://yvanetienne.bandcamp.com/album/feu
https://label-aposiopese.bandcamp.com/album/feu
|
2014 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Twist |
CD |
listen: https://label-aposiopese.bandcamp.com/album/twist
YVAN ETIENNE
TWIST
A1 : Cinq réflectances inversées - 21:38
B1 : L’énergie du non - 18:59
_
Composed and recorded by Yvan Etienne.
Serge Modular, Field recordings.
CD : Mastered by Yvan Etienne / LP : Mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi.
Cut by Mike Grinser at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin.
Artwork by Gregory Weiss / Design : Yvan Etienne.
Produced by Aposiopèse.
Artiste / activiste, commissaire d\\\'exposition, directeur de la collection Ohcetecho aux Presses du réel, Yvan Etienne élabore des installations intermédia, des dispositifs de diffusions scénographiques, des concerts. Conçus comme des espaces à expérimenter, ses travaux sont généralement liés aux contextes, aux spécificités in situ, acoustiques et architecturales des espaces investis. Ses projets explorent les propriétés immersives, invisibles, mouvantes et fugaces du son, pour rejouer nos appréhensions et construire un dialogue en écho avec des corps résonnants (visiteurs, architectures, contextes). Réalisés à partir de sculptures, de phonographies, de compositions instrumentales, électroniques, ses expériences convoquent réflexions intuitives et questionnement des stéréotypes de la perception.
En tant que musicien, il compose et joue des pièces utilisant la vielle à roue, les synthétiseurs analogiques, la phonographie et l\\\'électronique. Ses recherches questionnent la perception des corps résonants. Il a joué avec avec Phill Niblock, Yann Gourdon, Richard Glover, Brice Jeannin, Patrice Grente, Julien Ottavi, Robert Poss, Paul Panhuysen, Marie Verry, Joachim Montessuis.
En continuité de ses pratiques il œuvre à la diffusion des pratiques sonores et intermédia comme programmateur et commissaire d\\\'expositions indépendant. En tant que commissaire, il a organisé les expositions de Paul Panhuysen, Brandon Labelle, Christof Migone, Maxime Vernier, Phill Niblock, Henri Chopin, Feed me with your kiss au Consortium de Dijon, Resonant Bodies à l\\\'ISBA de Besançon et programmé les festivals Oh cet echo et Architectone (Salines royales d\\\'Arc et Senans), NYC Sound au CAPC de Bordeaux, ainsi que divers concerts.
|
2019 |
€12.00 |
|
| EVAPORI |
Rehearsals for Objects |
CD |
"1000füsslers industriell gefertigte Releases erreichen einen neuen Maßstab. Neben Tietchens und der sehr schön angelegten Heizungs-CD ist Evaporis Beitrag zum CD-Labelkatalog ein weiteres ungewohnt klingendes Zeugnis Neuer Musik. Völlig losgelöst vom Digitalkrach oder jedweder PlugIn-Klangmasse erscheinen die hier versammelten Stücke wie alte Schneidetischexzesse eines digital aufgemöbelten Walter Ruttmanns. Die raumklangtechnisch ausgesteuerten Klänge und Geräusche werden mittels ihrer Aufnahmeposition verfremdet und steuern damit gegen den sonst allgegenwärtigen digitalen Verfremdungsprozess. Klanglich angesiedelt zwischen einer ausziselierten Kapotte Muziek Komposition und einer Esseiva Etude passiert im zeitlichen Rahmen dieser CD anfangs eine Menge: feine Schleifklänge wechseln teils in rapiden Wechseln ihre Soundzustände, lösen sich auf und bilden feine Schnittkanten, an deren teils gratfreien Oberflächen allerlei konkretes Material sich ansammelt, ehe es mit einem schnellen Schnitt in andere Ebenen gehoben wird. Der zweite Satz zeigt die stärkste Dekonstruktion mittels Audioschnitt und Collaging, weicht doch der geschickte Einsatz der Stille teilweise radikalen Rückwärtsrichtungen des Quellmaterials, ehe der letzte Akt der CD in teilweise recht droniges Basisbrummen gleitet und etwas schlüpfrig den Weg aus der Komposition weist. Evaporis Ansatz einer völlig raumklangbezogenen Kompositionsweise macht vor allem dann Sinn, wenn die ohnehin sehr liquiden und scharf gestellten (Rest)geräusche in teilweise verzweifelt wirkender Flucht ihre Plätze suchen. Die in endloser Rotation wiederholten Brummschleifen unter den gestreuten Sounds macht es fast schon wieder interessant, mal selber die Lautsprecher um einige Zoll im Raum zu verschieben und den damit verbundenen Akustiksituationen zu lauschen. Ganz schön interaktives Material." [Thorsten Soltau, AEMAG]
"The aim while composing was to create a sound landscape that is exclusively made up of recordings which are not processed by computer effects (so-called plug-ins). The sounds are influenced by the way they are recorded, e.g. by the positions of the microphone and the sound source in a room. The resulting sonic situations are the basis of the the composition. The sounds – most of them of an everyday nature – were transformed using computer editing only, in order to leave the recognizability of the sounds untouched, create tension and to arouse the listener‘s curiosity through different atmospheric cadences.
Recordings were made at Rauchhaus / Berlin, Fundbureau and Christianskirche / Hamburg
Mastering by Guy Saldanha
Artwork by Nicolas Wiese
Thanks to Celia Herrero and Christoph Lohse"
[label info / credits]
www.tausend-fuessler.de
"Das nenn ich doch mal eine Produktinformation: „Die größtenteils aus dem Alltag stammenden Klänge wurden am Computer ausschließlich durch Schnitttechnik verfremdet, um die Erkennbarkeit der Klangquellen offen zu halten, Spannung aufzubauen und durch verschiedene Stimmungsbögen bei dem Hörer Neugier zu wecken.“ Das hat man nicht oft, dass ein Geräuschkunstmacher auch mal an seine (potentiellen) Hörer denkt und dass er das Ziel seiner Bemühungen angibt - Stimmung, Spannung, Neugier. Oliver Peters ist in BA schon bekannt als AIC-Macher und, obwohl in Berlin aktiv, für seine guten Verbindungen zur Hamburger Szene, zur Hörbar, zu Guy Saldanha (Knistern), der hier das Mastering besorgte, zu Uli Rehbergs Walter Ulbricht Schallfolien, wo zuletzt seine LP Fumes (2007) herauskam, zu Gregory Büttner, der ihm auf 1000füssler bereits zum zweiten Mal ein Forum bietet. Was hier die Neugier weckt, sind Übungen, Turn- oder Tanzübungen von Gegenständen in einem menschenleeren Raum. Nur die vermeintliche Abwesenheit von Beobachtern oder Lauschern ermöglicht diese leicht gespenstischen, zumindest ominösen und odradekhaften Verspieltheiten. Es huscht, trappelt, kullert, von ganz feinen Drones umspielt. Vielgliedrig tockt, ratscht, schabt und klickt Holz an Holz, Metall an Metall, Was? an Was? -kreuz und quer durch den Raum, an Wänden und an der Decke. Odradek-Hockey? Odradek-Mikado oder -Kampfsport? Ein ‚interlude‘ zwischen ‚rehearsal I & II‘ lässt keine Atempause, sondern verdichtet sogar die Aktionen, mit fast menschlichen Zischlauten. Das hat nichts ‚Ambientes‘, sondern eine spielerische Dramaturgie, die allerdings ihr Geheimnis - wer sind die Spieler und was proben sie? - nicht Preis gibt, denn wir sehen nichts, wir können nur lauschen und rätseln." [Bad Alchemy]
"Oliver Peters, the man behind the AIC label and the musical project Evapori, likes his sounds to be free of computer plug ins. Take an object, place a microphone and record the object. The placing of the microphone is essential as it alters the sound. Take a whole bunch of objects, record them and then make a CD out of these recordings. The computer is merely a recording device, where, in good musique concrete tradition, cuts can be made, stereo adjustment and balancing the various sounds. That is most commendable, I think, as most computer plug ins do tend to sound too similar. What Peters does here, is not done a lot. Using natural space to create reverb, he carefully touches his objects and makes a very intense sound collage out of it. One that requires full attention. At times I was reminded of the live sound of Kapotte Muziek, but then multi-layered and with more concentration - but then of course the computer here can cut out all the unwanted sounds, which live is more difficult. By adding machine hum towards the end of 'Rehearsal 1', he manages to sound like drone music too. I think this is a great CD, but there is one thing I don't understand: why call this rehearsals? Rehearsal for what? It gives the impression that this is unfinished business, unless Peters wants us to cut further in this material, but somehow I don't think that this the case here. Why not go full on and state that these are 'compositions'? " [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| EVAPORI / [-HYPH-] |
Bewegungen / Fragmentation itself |
CD-R |
First CDR release for this new Hamburg label, with three tracks by EVAPORI (Itzehoe) and HYPH (Hamburg), strong dynamic sound-collages based on human voice that remind on BRUME and massive floating soundscapes. Comes in special handmade package, recommended !
“ EVAPORI: moody and massively pulsating minimalism of a wide range of frequencies, beautifully swelling overtones and mysterious subliminals. calm in itself, yet constantly evolving. inspired by the general atmosphere of silent movies and e.muybridge.
-HYPH-: title is program. this is the fragmented, irritating, creeping and harshly surprising soundtrack into warfare. source material is 90% human voice, but you wouldn’t guess. strangely processed, vivid and challenging – 30 minutes of you_never_know_what’s_happening_next.” [label description]
|
2003 |
€9.00 |
|
| EX-EASTER ISLAND HEAD |
Twenty-Two Strings |
LP |
Following on from the critically acclaimed Mallet Guitars trilogy (2010-13) and Large Electric Ensemble (2014) and honed across high profile live appearances including the Stewart Lee curated ATP, Liverpool Psych Fest and the Edinburgh Fringe, Twenty-Two Strings is the latest album from UK-based experimental trio Ex-Easter Island Head.
Utilising horizontally-laid electric guitars and bass, the group continue to develop their own distinctive musical language, eschewing digital processing and effects for a vocabulary of mechanical preparations and extended techniques, creating a sound drawing on minimalism, gamelan and process music.
Their most complex and focused release yet, Twenty Two Strings finds the group refining their overtone-rich string explorations around a skeleton of tuned bells and drums, bringing a new propulsive momentum to the group’s goal of “an ever changing surface over an unmoving centre”.
Across these seven pieces, Ex-Easter Island Head push the boundaries of their intentionally restrained set-up, balancing austere physicality with luminescent abstraction to create a bold summation of the group's work to date.
www.low-point.com
|
2016 |
€17.00 |
|
| EXPO 70 (EXPO SEVENTY) |
Frozen Living Elements |
CD |
"It's been three years since Expo 70 appeared on the ”From Earth to Sirius” compilation and now they are back to Zoharum with a full-length offering. Their latest album is entitled ”Frozen Living Elements” and it features an expanded line-up. Apart from Justin Wright, Expo 70 were Jim Button on drums and Aaron Osborne on bass and additional synthesizers for the sessions and the result can be described as space rock power trio.
With three tracks spread over 45 minutes, the trio takes as on a cosmic tour de force. With influences ranging from analogue electronica through guitar drone to noisy psychedelia, Expo 70 manages to travel back in time to the 1970s, yet stay as contemporary as they can without sounding dated or irrelevant. The musicians transport us to their rehearsal room drenched in dry ice where they play their extended acid jams landing somewhere in-between SunnO))), Can and Sperm.
The CD is housed in an ecopak sleeve and is strictly limited to 500 copies. The cover was designed by Justin Wright. "Frozen Living Elements" was mastered by Scott Colbrun. The whole production process was overseen by Michał Porwet." [label info]
www.zoharum.com
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| EXPORTION |
Phantom Line |
mCD-R |
one more japanese artist in the taâlem roster!
exportion was formed in 2008 by videographer/painter yuki izumi and sound artist takahisa hirao who was already a member of nature of dislocation (with hiroki sasajima) whom we released a 3"cd-r in 2009.
they take an audio-visual approach through recordings and live performance, incorporating environmental sounds, human voice and soundscapes, as well as painting, video and photography.
for a few years now they've been more and more collaborating with other artists from diverse visual and musical backgrounds.
"phantom line", preceeded by a shorter prologue, is a beautiful 18min track melting natural sounds and refined soundscapes.
https://taalem.bandcamp.com/album/phantom-line-alm-120
|
2018 |
€5.00 |
|
| EYELESS IN GAZA |
Plague of Years : Songs and Instrumentals 1980-2006 |
CD |
'Songs and Instrumentals 1980-2006'. Noch eine EIG-Zusammenstellung, die aber mehr auf die experimentelle Seite zielt, 21 Stücke die die ganze Bandbreite der Band aufzeigen, mit einigen sehr raren Stücken. Special low priced !
"One of the great bands that emerged post punk... They were truly unique.... I still love them..." [Alan Mc Gee / March 2005]
"this CD deals with two sides of the group. first is its deeply lyrical vein, with summits like See Red and Lights of April, tracks that have almost never been included on "best-of" projects, despite the fact that they represent some of the most moving songs these musicians ever wrote. this collection also explores the group's more adventurous side through a number of instrumental pieces. this aspect of their output is little known and often neglected, even though it was there from their very beginnings. these two combining currents, where experimentation precedes lyricism (and the other way around), turn this album into a truly new way of (re)discovering Eyeless in Gaza. This unique architecture creates the impression that each side strengthens the other one's presence. probably for the first time ever, the 21 tracks so redistributed provide the band with irrefutable arguments toward its rebirth. Yes, Eyeless in Gaza is one of the most underrated groups. in this world of ours, will integrity finally pay off ?" [label info]
"Plague of Years is a single-disc retrospective by Peter Becker and Martyn Bates, aka Eyeless in Gaza. The duo began recording with minimal instrumentation -- Becker's piano and keyboards, some primitive drum machines, a guitar here and there, as well as a traditional drum kit (or at least the snares and cymbals) -- and made music in the post-punk era that was both challenging and hideously beautiful. The reason for that description comes from the sound of Bates' voice: nasal, emotionally overwrought, and often flat, it was a voice that expressed things in his utterly naked and poetic words that the heart could comprehend, but that the intellect often could not. Long before Morrissey ever warbled, Bates ripped the door off the closet of his fear, longing, love, and disappointment, framing it with colors that held many shades of gray, but also held out the glimmer of gold for hope. There are 21 cuts on this set, beginning with their earliest tracks from 1980's debut album, Photographs as Memories ("John of Patmos"), and the amazing "Every Which Way" from 1981's Caught in Flux, issued by Cherry Red, and moving through their utterly brilliant albums Drumming the Beating Heart, Song of the Beautiful Wanton, Orange Ice & Wax Crayons, and Back from the Rains. There are cuts from compilations, such as "To Steven" and "Sun-Like-Gold," that appeared as two parts of a three-part suite on Sub Rosa's Myths. Instructions., singles such as "County Bizarre" on NDN, and the gorgeous "Falling Leaf/Fading Flower" from the 12" Pale Hands I Loved So Well, which was a bonus disc tucked inside the Drumming the Beating Heart CD. There are also cuts here from Bitter Apples, the album they released for World Serpent in 1995, and Saw You in Reminding Pictures from the Ambivalent Scale label. This is but a taste, of course, since Eyeless in Gaza needed to be taken album by album, but one honest encounter with one of their songs will send the listener scrambling for more. The music here is beauty that is so out of place in this world, it can scarcely be borne." [Thom Jurek / Allmusic.com] |
2006 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Summer Salt & Subway Sun |
CD |
Nach vielen Jahren erscheint zum Jahresende 2006 endlich auch NEUES Material des legendären britischen Duos von MARTYN BATES und PETER BECKER ! "Wyrd Folk" ist in aller Munde, aber EYELESS IN GAZA haben Folk- und experimentell beeinflusste Musik schon seit ihrer Existenz gemacht und einen einmaligen Stil etabliert...
die 11 neuen Stücke sind z.T. erstaunlich spröde, einige wirken eher sessionhaft-improvisiert mit langen Instrumentalparts und
kontrastieren aufs beste mit den so verehrten melancholischen Gesangstücken von MARTYN BATES..
"Originally, the intention was to put together a double album, centering around an “escalated excitement with the idea of cities as new, blank texts – contrasted with the kind of sense of alienation and loss evoked in such works as J.G. Ballard’s Concrete Island.” The completed Summer Salt & Subway Sun works as a kind of survival or synthesis of these ideas – and also as an illustration of Eyeless In Gaza as ‘studio animal’, contrasted with their (newly re-discovered) life as a regularly gigging band. (– The band has been off the road since the late 80’s, but have recently gigged in Bruxelles, London, and Athens – with forthcoming gigs in Italy, Iceland and the U.S.). The album thus neatly encapsulates two key aspects of the music Eyeless in Gaza are presently creating – offering a balance of atmos/acoustic material and sprawling, rhythmic/semi-improvised spidery electric pieces. This has resulted in a heady blend of song based material juxtaposed with a distinctive brand of kaleidoscopic, “cityscaping” filmic musics. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it is the latter, primarily instrumental pieces which gleefully reflect the band’s recent activity in cinema – in Patrice Chereau’s controversial Intimacy, and Jim Jarmusch collaborator Glen McQuaid’s poetic, sub Hammer short, The Resurrection Apprentice.
After the plaudits attributed to the 25th Anniversary release of No Noise compilation (“They were one of the great bands that emerged (from the) post punk (period)” – Alan McGee) Eyeless In Gaza continue to display a characteristic “fierce independence” of style and attitude – with the release of Summer Salt & Subway Sun, issued via the band’s own A-Scale label...." [website info]
|
2006 |
€13.50 |
|
|
Summer Salt & Subway Sun |
do-CD |
Erweiterte Neu-Auflage des letzten EIG-Albums, kommt mit einer kompletten Bonus-CD in einer dickwandigen / überformatigen Box mit 16 Seiten Booklet! 600 Stück.
"Martyn Bates offers the following commentary on this huge set of recordings. "For me, one of the key impulses at work behind this set of recordings is an understanding of "The City", where individuals are clearly a microcosm within the macrocosm -- a distinct sense of a
'person' as a player on a stage with activity going on below them, around them, above them and also within them. The feeling is of
something at work that is always subterranean … a sense of the invisible machinations of men and Gods. This is evidently something
material -- namely, work being done in the here and now. It is an expression of something non-corporeal, however … of something bigger than 'spiritual', you might say. And yet it is holistic, and 'of the body' somehow. For me, this is a 'big picture' that makes perfect
sense: this context of living, as a body and a sprit -- where the THE CITY is resolutely an outward manifestation of the human psyche. This warming and awe inspiring thought was with me during the writing, arranging and recording of this mammoth set of recordings." [EIG mailing list]
"Standard 2CD edition. Standard edition of 600 copies are packaged in a deluxe full color book bound box, 16 page lyric booklet , full color book bound cd cases. Eyeless are an earful. Messrs Bates et Becker have miraculously come trembling through the decades musically unscathed. And yay though it is within the office of many bands to have precedents in other bands, EIG really only sound like Scriabin saw. Or like Stonehenge weeps. Or like cumulus clouds unite to make bunny shapes. Caught in flux, as usual, EIG are absolutely in top form. Martyn is in brilliant voice and sounds like an angel, and the harmonic house in which Peter and Martyn domicile this angel is the Taj Mahal. Or is it as simple and small as a poor carpenter’s cup, which some would call a grail? Either way, this is dope! The familiar old chunking guitar and baleful organ-synth are there as well as the swelling minor chord miasma of texture and noise that no human could possibly evoke. Oh wait, that’s right, humans ARE doing it! Care to go on sublime, long-form instrumental excursions through the centre of the Green Man’s bindu? EIG got it! Been itching to rock out to well written, post punk pop tunes? EIG got it!! Have you and your family been craving that astrally projected experimental fondue pot of swirling beauty and skewed rhythm that makes you feel like you’ve crawled back to the womb and the best chill room ever was there? EIG got it!!! Have you ever wondered if anyone can combine virtuoso musicianship and studio effects in a truly magical way that doesn’t make it seem like everything has been CGI’d in? EIG GOT IT!!!! Ebb and flow; high and low; cooked and raw. See Martyn. See Peter. See Eyeless. GO!!! Pulchritudinous all the way…as in ravishing…as in splendorous…as in metal pipes rattled in a driveway while someone is playing the piano. So many soft little things. So much perfectly appointed emptiness. Such sweetly crafted, quiet headbangers. Prosetry in words and music. Songs and un-songs. Some cadences and atmospheres even smell a bit like cosmic third stream jazz. This must be the 4th stream. Float down it. For once 2 CD’s isn’t even enough. How can it be that 2 people have made their umpteenth truly sublime album? Rumour has it they bought the stratosphere." [label info]
www.blrrecords.com
|
2008 |
€19.00 |
|
|
Everyone feels like a Stranger |
CD |
"The edition is limited to 1000 copies and as with other Eyeless In Gaza albums, we do not know when or if there will be more editions coming, so get it now. The album is song-focussed and the running time is 46 mins 52 secs. The 12 tracks are: 1. Voices, 2. Dance of Hours, 3. Much Wants More, 4. Morning Singing, 5. Seeing/Book of Days, 6. Among the Gathering Skies, 7. So You Appear, 8. Slow Eve, 9. Childhood Knives, 10. Dreaming Body, 11. If I Could Live as the Sun Does, 12. Endless Trees.
Dance of Hours, Childhood Knives and So You Appear have appeared in pre-view versions on radio programs and on YouTube, but have been perfected for the final release here. Morning Singing is a new take on the Martyn Bates solo classic from 1982, but since Eyeless In Gaza has performed this live as a band several times lately, this reflects how it is interpreted these days as a song by Eyeless In Gaza.
Martyn Bates writes about the new album:
Through the Summer of 2011 while we were putting together the tunes for Everyone Feels Like a Stranger, an unexpected pattern began to emerge. Clearly, as we were recording and completing pieces, much of this new work was showing a distinct prejudice /alignment to the form of songs, as opposed to instrumental explorations and improvisations, pictures without words. Now of course, all of the music we make has a story to it – much as we are all stories, because, well … that’s all we have really: stories beautiful / terrifying / ecstatic / anecdotal / awake / asleep etc. etc. These particular song-stories all naturally feed into Eyeless In Gaza directly, and, as far as I’m concerned, the songs then go on to take on a life of their own.
That being said, I was already aware that these particular songs seemed to have arrived coloured with something that struck me as being particularly inward looking and reflective, for the most part. It was Peter Becker who first suggested that we title this album of songs Everyone Feels Like a Stranger – and initially I was unsure, as I felt that somehow this phrase ran the risk of conveying the ‘wrong kind’ of negative connotations. However, I see now that he was right. What we have here within these songs is a collective meditation upon the double-edged sense of exhilaration and closeness that can occur when one enters that peculiar state of mind and being that being alone can sometimes give.
Where to ‘feel like a stranger’ oddly brings about a wayward sense of subtle happiness or comfort. And where distance and separation somehow connect with a sudden elevation and insight, and link in with an unsettling sense of security within that isolation. Where being ‘alone’ takes on an almost religious intensity .Where you are connected to the Quiet, the calm, the silence. Where Everyone Feels Like a Stranger, true … but, at the same time, no-one ever feels like a dispassionate collaborator.
Dance of Hours – a YouTube film directed by David Black for Black Creative Limited with additional footage from Elizabeth Bates, recorded at Mont St. Michel out of the shores of Normandy in late August 2011.
My own initial reaction to Everyone Feels Like a Stranger – not as negative in mood as the title might suggest. This is an album that is hard to tell why one should hold in high esteem, but one should, because it is greater in some ways than previous albums. It shows a deep respect for the song format and that is at the core here. I might find more improvisational material more exciting, but here they really bring out the best of what is central to making music – melody/harmony, wonderful voice, thoughtfulness, inventiveness, atmosphere, colouring and all without sounding presumptuous, nor trying to live up to what others might regard as great, but rather define it. An album not to be missed!" [website info]
www.eyelessingaza.com
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Mania Sour |
CD |
" ❖ Completed June 2014 and recorded at Hansa Studios, Berlin and at A-Scale Studios, Nuneaton UK, Mania Sour is an album that serves up a different twist on the soundworlds Eyeless In Gaza have inhabited of late – perhaps suggesting new parallels on the abrasive stylings displayed on the band’s early 80’s classic albums Photographs as Memories and Caught in Flux. Offering a glorious blend of uniquely Eyeless type e-guitars & full-on percussion, Mania Sour presents a brash, strident set of distinctively Bates/Becker style songs that snarl n’ soar with passion and bite.
❖ With the core of the album recorded ‘live’ in the studio Mania Sour is overall an electric guitar n’ drums fuelled album, and it’s worth noting that, in terms of it’s subject matter the album is definitely not the jeremiad you might think were you to judge by the title alone. The ‘mania’ here is that of time passing and experience, of appetite and urge, of perseverance/persistence & determination – a hard-won sense of righteousness at that which must not be allowed to sour.
❖ Addressing inner worlds, inner spaces, delicate and violent possession, sharpened perceptions, and, significantly, the cry of the eternal – the ‘first songs’ of the will and how they find voice in the world – the long-serving Eyeless In Gaza duo of Martyn Bates and Peter Becker celebrate all of this, kicking hell out of guitars and drums on Mania Sour along the way while also offering glimpses of the madness of joy and the ways in which all of us increasingly find that it is only you that can save your own life – and that:
“If we are everywhere complicit, we are also everywhere active ….”.
Listen to Aether Tears from the album on Soundcloud:
https://soundcloud.com/a-scale/aether-tears
Mania Sour is released via A-Scale on August 4th, 2014 and directly available from
http://www.eyelessingaza.com + later through iTunes & Amazon + Rough Trade." [label info]
www.eyelessingaza.com
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| FALX CEREBRI (FâLX çèRêBRI) |
Trials Textures Errors |
CD |
"Almost 7 years in making, finally this milestone of pioneering & legendary german noise outfit is released - more than 25 years after the last recorded FâLX çèrêbRi track, compiles several contributions to compilations, as well as outtakes, erratic experiments, live cuts and unreleased tracks.
Release date is 28th July 2014. Limited edition of 500 copies in jewelcase." [label info]
"If it wasn't for a German guy named Graf Haufen I would probably not have started a record label, even when it was a cassette label at that time. This was thirty years ago, the summer of 1984. I had a made a booklet, a sort of 'discogs-on-paper', listing all Dutch cassette releases and Graf Haufen wrote about it in his German fanzine, Die Katastrophe. He then informed if I'd be interested in compiling a cassette with the 'loudest' Dutch electronic music acts, which became 'Katacome Vol. 3', which was then co-released by his Schrei Records and my own Korm Plastics label. The second release was 'Rite 64', a tape by Falx Cerebri, the musical project of Graf Haufen. I was envious of what he did: selling music, doing art, doing fanzines, mail-art, music, studying and I was surprised to learn he was even four months younger than I was. For a while I assumed he was much older. While I am hardly an archivist of any kind, I still have a mailer right here, containing all of the correspondence I received from him, including all his fine print catalogues and we see a friendship grow and crumble together. Graf Haufen went into Neoism, was a bit too critical about my releases and mail-art - quite rightly probably - and quickly we lost contact. He went into art and video circles and I stayed with music. In the late 90s I re-issued all of the Korm Plastics cassettes on CDR and tracked Graf Haufen down, then owning a video store in Berlin, who gave me some nice bonus material for the Falx Cerebri CDR re-issue. In the very early days of the Vinyl On Demand label there was talk of some highly limited Falx Cerebri LPs, but they never emerged, so this CD is the first true document available (the CDR also disappeared a long time ago, sadly). But, so you may ask, was the music all about? Was it really something special? Browsing his old catalogues, Graf Haufen was interested in what he called 'anti-musick', by which he understood not just industrial music, but also cruder forms of musique concrete. On 'Rite 64' it's all a bit more 'classic' industrial, with synthesizers, radio snippets, tape-loops and delay, and thus perhaps a bit more musical, but on this CD the emphasis lies more in the electro-acoustic aspect of his work. I played both this one and 'Rite 64' again, and while I still like the latter, this new compilation of pieces is stronger. Here we have quite a bit of contact microphone abuse, 'Scanning No. 2' for instance, vocal pieces, field recordings and synthesizer pieces, such as the 'The Eighth Enochian Key'. Rudimentary tape loops are used, but also cut-up/collage/montage techniques, scratchy records and all of that and it make up a more than excellent release. The only thing, but really that's just me, I would have liked to know more about these pieces, where they were released, live, unreleased etc. A documentation of some kind if you will." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€12.00 |
|
| FANUM & EXIT IN GREY |
Dust Storm |
CD |
"Dust storms happen to be very romantic. Not romantic in the “hey baby, let’s get it on” way, but in the way that they are a complete sensual experience. It could be a perfectly clear sunshiny day-not a cloud in the sky, when…you smell it. You always smell it first before anything else. Depending on where you are, you can sometimes see a dust storm approaching. I remember seeing a dust storm on the outskirts and half of the big open sky was an amber color. You could even see a line in the sky: serene, calming, crystal blue on one side and wild, turbulent amber on the other. What I miss is that you can see the weather, and see it approaching and forming. As the dust storm rolls in the scent of dust becomes stronger. The full sunlight slowly fades and shadows appear, altering colors and perceptions. Sounds become muffled and you hear the wind. Even though you are in the same place, in a house or a car, it definitely feels like a different place. You can see how colors and the light and shadows are shifting, you can smell the dust, sounds are muted, and you can even faintly taste dust. What you don’t realize at the time is that small dust particles are swirling around and being deposited everywhere in a sand blanket. Depending on the dust storm, you could have enough dust outside your door that makes it hard to open or close your door. Or maybe it’s less. The dust is everywhere; in windowsills, on your car, in your hair, in your clothes. You can’t directly see it on your clothes but you can smell it and if you shake out your clothes it falls off. In the middle of the dust storm it seems as though you’re in a parallel universe. It completely envelops you. It’s subtle yet very powerful, very soft, harsh, and gentle, all at the same time." [Robin Montgomery]
www.ss.semperflorens.net
|
2013 |
€12.00 |
|
| FAR BLACK FURLONG |
same |
CD / CDR |
Sehr poetischer Impro-Drone eines uns bisher unbekannten Kollektivs aus England, das meiste Material wurde im Freien auf akustischen Instrumenten eingespielt; einer limitierten Auflage von 150 Stück liegt das erste Album der Band ("HAIDD 2") in remixter Form bei, ein one-tracker Kleinod mit subtilen endlos entfernten Drones, melancholisch schimmernd...
"Far Black Furlong' is a rapturous, symphonic work in six movements. The music describes tides - from the summer breeze through barley, to the shimmering stretch of a vast ocean extending to the shifting birth pangs of stars. Much of the music was recorded at outdoor locations - such as the barley fields of the Clun Forest - and is performed on acoustic instruments. FBF comprise of baroque oboist Mark Baigent, composer Richard Moult, dulcimer player John Letcher, the Candian flautist Amanda Votta (of the group The Floating World), Shropshire poet Bryony Lees, guitarist Ian Tengwall & Andy Cotterill on electronics. ’Haidd 2’ a beautiful 34 minute remix/reworking of their previous album." [label info]
"... They are a band of oboist Mark Baigent, dulcimer player John Letcher, flautist Amanda Votta, guitarist Ian Tengwall, Andy Cotterill on electronics, along with composer Richard Moult and poet Bryony Lees. Outside in Clun Forest - and I mean outside - they performed much of this work, thus adding the outside world as part of the music. The six pieces, I am told, describes 'tides from the summer breeze through barley, to the shimmering stretch of a vast ocean extending to the shifting birth pages of stars'. It seems to me that the music is largely improvised but in a quiet and peaceful manner. Perhaps a little less modern classical than the Mouldycliff piece, although they get close. And in a good ICR (and Die Stadt) mode there is a limited CDR of music from the CD that is remix/reworked by Cotterill. Perhaps because he doesn't seem to be very present on the CD (or the electronics are save for some delay that is used), he gets his way in a full out treatment of the material, adding spooky electronics to the material, or perhaps feeding the material through electronics. Long sustaining sounds that sound a bit creepy like a wait for something veil and nasty to happen, which of course (spoiler coming up) doesn't happen. However the drone like character of this piece brings us back to the start of this review. ICR does drone music of an outstanding kind, but it's not at all exclusively to that, and offer various fresh views on the subject at hand." (FdW)
www.icrdistribution.com
|
2007 |
€18.00 |
|
| FAUST |
Faust |
CD |
Re-Release der legendären ersten Faust LP von 1971! „Psychedelik, 60s-Punk, The Velvet Underground, Pink Floyd, Klangcollagen, Dada-Durcheinander, elektronische Sounds, Ton- und Gesprächsfetzen und Musique Concrete......“ [Babyblaue Seiten]
“Single disc , remastered version (as included in the Wumme Years box, in digipak. "Inventors of Kraut Rock, iconoclasts extraodinaire, Faust are key figures in the history of rock music. In the early 70's, along with Can and Kraftwerk, they re-invented pop as an art-form with a specifically European attitude. Virtually imprisoned by svengali producer Uwe Nettlebeck in their studio at Wumme, near Hamburg, they overturned our whole notion of what makes a pop record. They improvised with industrial noise, generated bizarre hypnotic grooves, created shockingly wilful studio collages, and dabbled with every conceivable musical genre sometimes simultaneously. Kurt Grapner, a Deutsche Gramaphon engineer who was seconded to the project, furnished Faust with innovative effects units and built a spontaneous recording environment which perfectly complemented Faust's conceptual ideas, satirical humour, and insane passions. After twenty years in the wilderness Faust re-formed in 1993, and have been touring and releasing new albums ever since. Their re-appearance has only served to bolster the legend, and the box set of all Faust's early work, from 1971-73, was released by ReR to tremendous acclaim. Though part of the box set, this 1st album has been unavailable for years as a single issue, so we're quite happy to offer it again. It is arguably Faust's finest hour, and has stood as a landmark in the annals of Rock music for over 3 decades." [label info]
|
2000 |
€14.00 |
|
|
C'est com...com...complique |
CD |
"Gewohnt mythisch: neuntes Studioalbum einer sehr lebendigen Krautrock-Legende.
Gegründet 1970 in Hamburg sind Faust eine der wichtigsten Protagonisten des Krautrocks und weltweit verehrte Pioniere avantgardistischer Rockmusik. "Es gibt keine mythischere Gruppe als Faust", schrieb der englische Musikexzentriker Julian Cope in seinem Genreklassiker "Krautrocksampler" und bringt damit auf den Punkt, was sowohl die Musik als auch den Habitus der Hamburger Band angeht: Sie sind immer schwer zu fassen. Für die einen waren Faust das Beste, was der Rockmusik je passiert ist, die anderen warfen ihnen Dilettantismus vor. Spätestens seit Postrock in den Neunzigern erleben Faust eine Wiederentdeckung. Ihr neuntes Studioalbum "C’est com ... com ... compliqué" produzierte der Soundtüftler Tobias Levin. Es wurde eingespielt von Jean-Hervé Peron und Werner "Zappi" Diermaier sowie Amaury Cambuzat (Ulan Bator). Gewohnt dadaistische (meist französische) Texte begleiten sporadisch ausufernde, repetitive Patterns. In der Musik vereinen sich scheinbar widersprüchliche Attribute: Sie ist wuchtig und sanft, monoton und melodisch, erdig und ätherisch - schlicht einzigartig." [label info]
|
2009 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Something Dirty |
LP |
"Mit Faust meldet sich eine der dienstältesten deutschen Bands zurück. Aber was heißt zurück? In den vergangenen Jahren war die Gruppe um Jean-Hervé Peron und Zappi Diermaier sehr aktiv. Auf "Something Dirty" legen die beiden Krautrock-Pioniere zusammen mit James Johnston (Gallon Drunk, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds) sowie der englischen Künstlerin und Musikerin Geraldine Swayne ein weiteres außergewöhnliches Album vor. Hier geht es sehr hypnotisch zu, repetetiv, melodisch, erhebend, psychedelisch, bedrohlich, dadaistisch, ätherisch. Johnstons Gitarre sägt sich durch Diermaiers archaische
Beats, harmonisch angereichert durch Perons wuchtigen Bass und Swaynes psychedelisches Tastenspiel. Immer wieder besinnen sich Faust auf ihre avantgardistischen Wurzeln und experimentieren mit Stimmen und ungewöhnlichen Instrumenten. Aber das Beste ist: Faust haben es auf "Something Dirty" tatsächlich geschafft, die rohe Energie und Ungeschliffenheit ihrer Liveauftritte im Studio zu reproduzieren. Eine
atemberaubende Hörerfahrung! "Es gibt keine mythischere Gruppe als Faust" (Julian Cope)." [label info]
www.bureau-b.com
|
2011 |
€17.50 |
|
|
Something Dirty |
CD |
"Mit Faust meldet sich eine der dienstältesten deutschen Bands zurück. Aber was heißt zurück? In den vergangenen Jahren war die Gruppe um Jean-Hervé Peron und Zappi Diermaier sehr aktiv. Auf "Something Dirty" legen die beiden Krautrock-Pioniere zusammen mit James Johnston (Gallon Drunk, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds) sowie der englischen Künstlerin und Musikerin Geraldine Swayne ein weiteres außergewöhnliches Album vor. Hier geht es sehr hypnotisch zu, repetetiv, melodisch, erhebend, psychedelisch, bedrohlich, dadaistisch, ätherisch. Johnstons Gitarre sägt sich durch Diermaiers archaische
Beats, harmonisch angereichert durch Perons wuchtigen Bass und Swaynes psychedelisches Tastenspiel. Immer wieder besinnen sich Faust auf ihre avantgardistischen Wurzeln und experimentieren mit Stimmen und ungewöhnlichen Instrumenten. Aber das Beste ist: Faust haben es auf "Something Dirty" tatsächlich geschafft, die rohe Energie und Ungeschliffenheit ihrer Liveauftritte im Studio zu reproduzieren. Eine
atemberaubende Hörerfahrung! "Es gibt keine mythischere Gruppe als Faust" (Julian Cope)." [label info]
www.bureau-b.com
|
2011 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
j US t (Just us) |
LP & CD |
"Die Hamburger Krautrock-Pioniere mit einem Überraschungspaket aus Avantgarde, Dada und Folk.
Die Hamburger Band Faust gehört zu den großen Namen, die der Krautrock der 1970er-Jahre hervorgebracht hat. Als Jean-Hervé Péron und Zappi Diermaier 1971 ihr Debütalbum vorlegten, wollte das in Deutschland niemand hören, im Ausland jedoch verkauften sich "The Faust Tapes" über 100.000-mal. "There is no group more mythical than Faust", schwärmte der englische Musiker und Krautrock-Kenner Julian Cope Jahrzehnte später. Mit "Just Us" setzen Faust ihren musikalischen Weg fort. Während Diermaier seinem Handwerk - Schlagzeug und Perkussion - treu bleibt, integriert Peron allerhand unübliche Klangquellen in sein Bassspiel, verschiedene Streichinstrumente, Klavier und sogar eine Nähmaschine als Metronom. Tracks wie "Nur nous" und "Ich bin ein Pavian" zeigen, dass Faust nichts von ihrer Vorliebe für Avantgarde und Dadaismus verloren haben. Ausflüge ins folkloristische Gefilde ("Cavaqui-ho", "Gammes") runden das wahrhaft faustische Überraschungspaket ab. //
j US t - pronounced "Just Us" - is the new album from legendary Hamburg band Faust. Founder members Jean-Herve Peron and Zappi Diermaier have laid down twelve musical foundations, inviting the whole world to use them as a base on which to build their own music. The tracks presented by Peron and Diermaier are clearly, intrinsically typical of Faust in their own right, yet offer enough space for completely different works to develop. Which is exactly what they hope will happen. Whilst Diermaier largely remains true to his habitual handiwork - drums and percussion - Peron, as we might expect, incorporates all manner of unusual sonic sources alongside his bass, various string instruments and piano, even using a sewing machine as a metronome. Tracks like "nur nous" and "ich bin ein pavian" show that Faust have lost none of their predilection for avantgarde Dadaism and improvisation. Peron and Diermaier actually surprise us with folkloristic excursions ("cavaquinho", "gammes"). In short, there is something for everyone to work with here. Peron and Diermaier await the results with bated breath. Faust will follow the same principle on the accompanying tour by inviting local artists to collaborate with them on stage." [label info]
www.bureau-b.com
"Faust’s intentions have never been easy to discern. Over their 40-plus years of morphing, discontinuous existence, they’ve been so good at dodging expectations and confounding analysis that even when they’re playing it straight, you wonder if something else is going on. So when the press sheet for j US t (pronounced "just us") claims the band is "inviting the whole world to use [the album] as a base on which to build their own music," it’s hard not to get suspicious. Is this a decoy? Do Jean-Hervé Peron and Zappi Diermaier want you to imagine other music so you won’t focus on theirs? Is it simply a way to say "if you don’t like it, make your own"?
Perhaps Faust truly are earnest about wanting this album to inspire public collaboration. But the idea does point to something that’s always been intriguing about Faust’s music: it’s often just as much about what they aren’t playing as what they are. Their work is full of implications and innuendos, spaces waiting to be filled in. j US t doesn’t necessarily have more of that than most Faust albums, but implication does seem to be a main theme here. This is music in which every note suggests many more possibilities.
j US t begins by proclaiming more than intimating, and in this way it bears an uncanny resemblance to the last Faust effort, 2011’s stellar Something Dirty. That record began with three bold, practically rocking tunes, and so does this one. Based around simple riffs and looping beats, these songs are like free-form post-rock, sturdy in their rhythms but opened-ended in their direction. And despite how well-defined the base of each track is, there’s also tantalizing space in each one. Take "80Hz", whose simple two-note bass figure flows beautifully with the well-timed accents of Diermaier’s percussion and Peron’s sonic grab bag. At times it dips to near-silence, in other places it crests to frantic peaks, but throughout it maintains a tension that compels attention.
The balance between action and suggestion tips more toward the latter for the rest of j US t, in ways both fascinating and frustrating. Some songs maintain the attraction of anticipation, hinting at where they might go without ever fully abandoning other options. But others feel more flat than ripe, not so much flirting with tense silence as drifting into empty inertia. One in particular, the seven-minute "Palpitations", is mostly limp. Its intermittent percussion and electronic squiggles sound more random than impulsive, making it the only instance on the album where I find myself wishing I could already hear other bands filling it in.
It takes a few tracks to recover from that mid-album drop, but Faust manage to rebound on closer "Ich Sitze Immer Noch", whose slow, rising lope sounds like a sunny homage to Spiderland-era Slint. Like the bulk of j US t, it offers a lot worth hearing and just as much worth daydreaming about—in other words, it achieves the band's stated goals. Maybe Peron and Diermaier really did mean what they said." [Marc Masters / PITCHFORK]
|
2014 |
€22.00 |
|
| FAVARON, GIANLUCA |
Equivalent XI |
CD |
"Following the publication of the extremely limited single-sided 12" record “Surfaces”, which occurred just a few months ago and is now hopelessly sold-out, Gianluca Favaron returns on 13 with a new solo work released in the prestigious "Private Sounds" series.
Besides having published a few solo works, Favaron is part of Under The Snow along with Stefano Gentile and collaborates with Ennio Mazzon on the Zbeen project. In the past he has released music as Ab'she and was part of Lasik Surgery along with Pierpaolo Zoppo. Among his most recent releases we remember his collaboration with Corrado Altieri entitled "The System of Objects".
"Equivalent XI" continues the path undertaken with "Surfaces", also benefiting from some excerpts that were already included in the aforementioned work, which are proposed again on this new CD.
Starting from simple recordings of sounds produced by everyday objects (…such as paper, scissors, kitchen stuff etc.), treated mainly with two delay machines, Favaron has collected eleven compositions. The idea behind this new release is to create some patterns based on the repetition of small sound particles obtained from a single source.
In the eleven tracks on the album, mostly of short duration, we witness the proliferation of particular sound events that, sometimes wandering alone or sometimes by congregating into small throbbing and vital lumps, generate a vibrant microcosm characterized by short loops, slowly but constantly evolving. In some cases, as for example in the more long-lasting closing number, the simplicity of the construct and the infinitesimal tonal progressions are appreciated for their intrinsic hypnotic quality.
Mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi, "Equivalent XI" is released in a limited edition of 250 copies that stands out for its essential graphics; the first 50 copies of the CD contain a real hand-numbered photograph." [label info]
13.silentes.it
|
2014 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
Equivalent XI |
CD |
"Following the publication of the extremely limited single-sided 12" record “Surfaces”, which occurred just a few months ago and is now hopelessly sold-out, Gianluca Favaron returns on 13 with a new solo work released in the prestigious "Private Sounds" series.
Besides having published a few solo works, Favaron is part of Under The Snow along with Stefano Gentile and collaborates with Ennio Mazzon on the Zbeen project. In the past he has released music as Ab'she and was part of Lasik Surgery along with Pierpaolo Zoppo. Among his most recent releases we remember his collaboration with Corrado Altieri entitled "The System of Objects".
"Equivalent XI" continues the path undertaken with "Surfaces", also benefiting from some excerpts that were already included in the aforementioned work, which are proposed again on this new CD.
Starting from simple recordings of sounds produced by everyday objects (…such as paper, scissors, kitchen stuff etc.), treated mainly with two delay machines, Favaron has collected eleven compositions. The idea behind this new release is to create some patterns based on the repetition of small sound particles obtained from a single source.
In the eleven tracks on the album, mostly of short duration, we witness the proliferation of particular sound events that, sometimes wandering alone or sometimes by congregating into small throbbing and vital lumps, generate a vibrant microcosm characterized by short loops, slowly but constantly evolving. In some cases, as for example in the more long-lasting closing number, the simplicity of the construct and the infinitesimal tonal progressions are appreciated for their intrinsic hypnotic quality.
Mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi, "Equivalent XI" is released in a limited edition of 250 copies that stands out for its essential graphics; the first 50 copies of the CD contain a real hand-numbered photograph." [label info]
13.silentes.it
"On this new work he continues what he started on his previous record, 'Surfaces', a limited piece of vinyl which we didn't review (or hear), but which apparently deals with every day sounds - songs from the kitchen sink? - such as paper, scissors, kitchen stuff, which are treated with two delay machines and the result is eleven short pieces, from less than a minute up to five minutes. This is a most strange release, and if you know me, strange is not a word I use easily. This music has a certain naivety, or perhaps something rather 'simple' with the objects being played with relatively ease, but then captured or locked into a system of living electronics, bending and moving these 'easy' sounds around. Maybe it's all done in a very simple and direct way, much like it is suggested. And there is nothing 'wrong' with that. In the end it's the result that counts and that is result is something I like very much. It's very quiet music, almost accidental, 'I couldn't help it, it just happened', but of the variety that is usually associated with the label and the styles we know it for, ambient and drone." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€12.00 |
|
| FAVARON, GIANLUCA / ANACLETO VITOLO |
Zolfo |
CD |
"Zolfo" is born by the collaboration between Gianluca Favaron and Anacleto Vitolo. Both involved in many projects and music collaborations - Favaron with Corrado Altieri, Deison and in groups like Lasik Surgery, Maribor, Zbeen and Under The Snow; Vitolo with Doublebass player Francesco Galatro, Viola player Michela Coppola, Domenico Stellavatecascio (Internos) and many other.
The album was composed, recorded, and mixed between January and May 2016 and is a mix of several music elements and techniques, such as tape loops, cymbals, microphonic works and live electronic processing. The result is a combination of musique concrète, noise and drone music.
Gianluca Favaron:
As electroacoustic musician, his work focuses on the processing of concrete sounds using software made on purpose. Field-recordings, drones: an approach that uses different music languages, to elaborate, merge or transform sounds made by everyday objects into something different, both taking them out of context and/or processing and modifying them with various effects. .
In 2015 he has released the CD albums "Entretien" on 13/Silentes and "Forget About Any Non-Gray" on MFU /Concrete
Anacleto Vitolo:
Anacleto Vitolo A.K.A. AV-K / K.lust / Kletus.K part of several collectives such as X(i)NEON, Internos and Algebra del Bisogno, born August 2, 1985 in Battipaglia (SA), Italy.In 2010 and 2014 took part in “FLUSSI” festival sharing the same stage with some of the most important musicians of the contemporary electronic scene as Murcof, Thomas Fehlmann, Vladislav Delay, Retina.it, Emanuele Errante, Mokira, Mount Kimbie, etc. In 2013 signs a contract as Publishing Artist with FatCat. In 2015 takes part to MiRA festival in Barcelona with Andy Stott, Ben Frost, Richard Devine, Prefuse 73, Nosaj Thing and many others. He's the CO-Director of Manyfeetunder label, alongside with Vincenzo Nava ( dramavinile, UHVA) and Cogwheel Press Rec. Active with a lot of collaborations and releases.
credits
mfu/c 010 | sps1616
Gianluca Favaron : tapes, objects, microphones, analog and digital effects
Anacleto Vitolo: live electronics, cymbals, laptop, objects
"Crispy, crunchy, and crackly ~ these are the sounds of Zolfo. In real life, we hear such sounds in crumpling paper and leaves underfoot. In the electronic realm, they surface in cellphones, computers and amplifier feedback. Blend organic and electronic, as Gianluca Favaron and Anacleto Vitolo have done, and one will hear a padded melange, thicker than the timbres one is accustomed to hearing outside of a factory setting. So yes, that may be a church bell in the title track, stuttered and looped ~ but it may be the imitation of a church bell, the mind struggling to define and categorize what it is hearing.
To prepare this album, the artists used a wide variety of sources, from cymbals to laptops, along with the vague term “objects”. Favaron in particular is enamored with decontextualization. Just because something sounds like a singing bowl (“Infrasound”) doesn’t mean it is a singing bowl; and if it is, Favaron and Vitolo have found a new purpose for its thrum. And all the while, drones and hums intrude, eager to colonize the sonic field, while glitches and pops decorate the drones like sparkling debris in a raging river.
This is the thicker, busier end of the electroacoustic spectrum, a genre that lacks distinguishing tags, simply because there is so little of it. I call it particle accelerator music (PAM), as it sounds like agitated atoms. “Oblivion” highlights a scuttling sound, like that of the crablike creature racing across the floor in the medical lab of Aliens. Because the sonic field is constantly in motion, it’s hard to get a handle on the heart of these compositions; one drinks them like carbonation. On “Fold-in”, a welcome warmth is added by bells and horns, although the title makes one think of an egg dropped in batter. Thankfully, the metaphor fits. “Reflection” seems to contain power tools, sirens and broken glass, intimating a shattered mirror, or by extension, a shattered sense of self. Only in the album’s closing seconds does humanity make an appearance: pleasant banter and laughter, the lab coats packed away, the atoms free to collide, no longer performing under watchful eyes." [Richard Allen/A closer listen]
https://manyfeetunderconcrete.bandcamp.com/album/zolfo |
2016 |
€10.00 |
|
| FEAR DROP |
No. 16: LA ZONE GRISE |
mag & CD |
"Sortie du nouveau FEAR DROP / New FEAR DROP release : revue 60 pages et CD / 60 page booklet plus CD. FEAR DROP 16
LA ZONE GRISE - SYNESTHESIES ET PAYSAGE MUSICAL
ARTICLES : synesthésies et musiques premières : victor segalen, jean giono, ernst jünger, j. k. huysmans, michael prime, COIL : ANS... naissance d'un paysage musical, les arpenteurs de rives : merzouga, hervé moire, série la rivière (kaon / toy.bizarre) - m. namblard, s. whethman, f. lópez, freiband, g. toniutti, tarab, p. juillard, l.-m. riek...
ENTRETIENS/ INTERVIEWS : michael begg (human greed), steve roden, bernhard günter, stefan knappe (drone records, substantia innominata)
CD : lágrimas de miedo 16 - aux lisières - 13 morceaux inédits par / 13 unreleased pieces by: STEVE RODEN, LIONEL MARCHETTI, AIDAN BAKER, ENRICO CONIGLIO, TROUM, CISFINITUM, MATERIA AURORA, HUMAN GREED, RELAPXYCH.0, REFLECTION and RESONANCE (bernhard günter & dorothea krishnabhakdi), MATHIAS DELPLANQUE, ANLA COURTIS, YANNICK FRANCK " [publishers info]
www.feardrop.net
|
2012 |
€12.00 |
|
| FEAR FALLS BURNING |
When Mystery prevades the Well, the Promise sets Fire |
LP |
deluxe edition (gatefold-cover, 180 gr. vinyl), ed. of 500 copies on black vinyl
Stilwechsel für das beliebte Guitar-Drone Projekt: WHEN MYSTERY PREVADES.. droned weniger dunkel und verzerrt, eher oberton-tänzelnd, verschwimmend, mysteriös....
"Mystisch wirken die Dronen auf "When Mystery Prevades The Well, The Promise Sets Fire" allemal. Zart, sanft und trotzdem mit einer Macht, der man sich nicht entziehen kann, lullen die Dronen den Hörer ein, umgarnen ihn, wollen ihn holen und einspinnen. Subtile Percussion-Variationen heben die beiden langen Stücke aus dem Drone-Einerlei heraus und machen diese Platte zu einem eher einzigartigen Hörerlebnis. Ist das Tor auf dem Cover noch verschlossen, so öffnet es sich dem Hörer zunehmend und zieht ihn unaufhörlich weiter in einen verwunschenen Garten, in dem es aus allen Ecken und Enden flimmert und schimmert. Fragile Hintergrund-Gitarren und helle Percussion, vordergründig mehr ein durchgängiges Dröhnen und brummen. Rein technisch gesehen sind einerseits auf "When Mystery Prevades The Well, The Promise Sets Fire" neue FFB Dronen enthalten, und andererseits hat FFB Kopf Dir Serries die Herangehensweise an sein Schaffen etwas neu konzipiert und strukturiert. So bringen die genannten Hintergrunddetails (Percussion) eine neue Dimension in das musikalische Oeuvre von FFB ein. Es entstehen weitere Dimensionen und deutlich mehr Vielschichtigkeit, auf subtiler Ebene. Beide Stücke sind harmonisch und kraftvoll und begeistern mich einmal mehr." [Creative-Eclipse]
"... with its highlight being the full-length studio album 'frenzy of the absolute' for the belgian conspiracy records, scheduled for release in 2008, this exclusive vinyl for tonefloat is the initiation of a change in method and playing for fear falls burning. not only has he turned around his studio in order to accommodate the new performances but the subtle incorporation of new elements will bring out an extra dimension in the vintage fear falls burning drone. this lp features two pieces, one per side, that are equally harmonic as powerful. fear falls burning's approach to playing the guitar chords changed, the production is different and the inclusion of guest musician dave vanderplas on subtle cymbal percussion marks this new tonefloat release as the first gentle step in fear falls burning's further exploration of the drone. when mystery prevades the well, the promise sets fire (tf38) is out now and can be ordered from our store." [label info]
"'When Mystery Prevades Well, The Promise Sets Fire' is a beautiful gate-fold sleeve LP with two pieces, one per side. Glacier like music in which it seems that the effects have a bigger role than the guitar. It's quite hard to recognize the guitar in this music, with moves in a minimal way. More Eno)) than Sunno)) I'd say, although there is a creepy undercurrent in Fear Falls Burning's music. This record sees Dirk moving away from the signature sound from before: the endless crescendo wall of sound building up, suddenly collapsing and stays more on the ambient side of things. Maybe a bit more Vidna Obmana than Fear Falls Burning - but I'm sure that would not be his intention. Very nice!" [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.tonefloat.com
deluxe edition (gatefold-cover, 180 gr. vinyl), ed. of 500 copies on black vinyl
|
2007 |
€10.00 |
|
| |
The Carnival of ourselves |
CD |
"... beide CDs sind da natürlich erstmal für die interessant, die die limitierten LPs nicht haben, aber, nicht nur für die: neben schickem cover-artwork (martina verhoeven + carl clover/aleph) und genau so schicker ausführung als pappschuber, kommen beide reissues mit je einem, dafür gleich ellenlangen (27.57 + 34.22) bonustrack: "and the land torn down" (live aufgenommen von ronald marien am 16. may 2006 bei den audio-unit living room concerts in hamburg) und "dead wisdom". ersterer in unbedingt vergleichbarer qualität zu den auf "the infinite sea of sustain" kompilierten 6 konzerten, allerdings, im gegensatz zu den meisten der dort versammelten (und auch im gegensatz zu dem auf "the rainbow mirrors a burning heart" konservierten live-set) vollständig auf langsamen, fast endlosen aufbau setzend; ohne breaks, ohne harmonische veränderung, fast ein suchspiel, was sich / ob sich überhaupt etwas verändert / ab einem bestimmten punkt (etwas) verändert hat. perfekte ergänzung der oben genannten und musterbeispiel für "wie lange laufzeiten gleichzeitig hypnotisch UND abwechslungsreich anlegen“. "dead wisdom" dann gleich vom start weg sperriger; passt ja, ist / war die original "numb" ja auch schon. und viele der sounds auf "dead wisdom" sprechen dafür, dass alle drei stücke aus der gleichen session stammen. siehe z.b. die von mir damals als fast twang / surf / dub abstraktionen etikettierten, leicht schrägen, abstürzenden flächen, die auch hier, schon innerhalb der ersten 10 minuten, auftauchen. und nach ungefähr der hälfte der spielzeit auslaufen und vorgeben, das stück beenden zu wollen. nach dieser antäuschung dann der echte auslauf, fast 20 minuten lang...
und tatsächlich: die "numb" bleibt auch in der extended version noch immer so ein ding ohne fassbaren anfang, ohne fassbares ende... irgendwie faszinierend." [N, Unruhr.de]
"when the carnival of ourselves and i'm one of those monster numb with grace were originally released, dirk serries had only just started recording under the name of fear falls burning. the albums turned out to be decisive in shaping his vision of an ongoing drone-manifesto: during several exploratory sessions initiated in mid-2005, he quickly expanded the project's catalogue by a staggering eight releases within a single year. these would take the cosmic, post-rock- and kraut-infused production of his early recordings into new directions and eventually lead up to his current, raw and unpolished symbiosis of hypnotic guitar power and percussive thunder. the carnival of ourselves was the first full-length to follow the double-album »he spoke in dead tongues« and pointed towards an immersive and ghostly ambient sound. an extensive european tour, however, catalysed the inclusion of rock elements and heralded the advent of a more edgey and tribal approach: i'm one of those monster numb with grace, especially, was an important record, as it aligned the more refined studio output of fear falls burning with its direct and passionate live sound.
as these strictly limited releases sold out in no time (resulting in numerous requests for a second print), tonefloat and fear falls burning decided to leave the legacy of the vinyl untouched and to reissue both albums on cd - featuring new cover designs and bonus tracks culled from the abovementioned sessions. the astounding quality of these discoveries from the vault should convince even those already in possession of a vinyl copy: the twenty-eight-minute »and the land torn down« (on the carnival of ourselves) at first seems to build into a dense, dirge-like drone-sheet but intruigingly cools off to a disturbing soundscape haunted by muffled feedback and echoes of theremin-chants. the monumental bonus track to i'm one of those monster numb with grace, »dead wisdom«, meanwhile, would have made for a complete album in its own right: thirty-four minutes of subcutaneous feedback hum lead the listener down a spiral staircase into a place of deep calm and tantric concentration." [label info]
www.tonefloat.com
|
2009 |
€12.00 |
|
| FEARTHAINNE |
same |
do-CD |
FEARTHAINNE ist ein Band-Projekt mit den zwei Leuten von FAUNA, die mir ihrem Debut-Album kürzlich beeindrucken konnten. Auch hier sind ihre tracks episch angelegt und minimal instrumentiert, und nicht minder emotional wirkungsvoll. Nach einem fantastischen Poly-Drone Intro setzt sich ihr erhaben trauriger Akustik-Gitarren Folk (der an ruhigere NEUROSIS bzw. STEVE ON TILL oder MICHAEL GIRA erinnert) in Szene, der von Sehnsucht nur so durchdrungen zu sein scheint, begleitet von sparsamer Perkussion; auch Zither & Violine werden sehr schön integeriert. FEARTHAINNE entwerfen hier auf ihren urlangen Tracks die stets mehrere Teile haben, eine Art ambienten "Ritual Drone Folk" mit starkem Naturbezug, der einen nicht kalt lässt.. und wieder glänzt GLASS THROAT mit so einem wunderschönen grossformatigen Doppel-Klappcover aus speziellem Karton..
"I have the tremendous honor of announcing, what is to be our Winter Solstice 2008 release. From Cascadian soil, FEARTHAINNE will bless us with a pure nostalgia for being. A debut full length 2xCD, embracing four deeply potent healing crafts of acoustic mourning & regeneration. Featuring the two spirits of Cascadia's Ritual Black Metal atavism FAUNA.
Fearthainne's first release represents the nadir of a journey into earth. Conceptualized and written in wild environments in the West, this collection of songs is a picture of the labyrinth traveled by a human organism, seeking life outside the long shadows of unremitting gray. The seekers masquerading as musicians who have created this document have used these sounds as a conduit for the reconnection with being, and have chosen to make it available to those who might hear the voice of the Others speaking to them from within. Exclusively utilizing acoustic instrumentation, Fearthainne is the unending rain that calls forth the blossom, the harbinger of the organic future we inevitably face. A sonic expression of green in all its capacities, this project is a document of the search for Home, a declaration that we will never settle for existence in the meaningless maze of history.
As beings we have struggled for many years to imbue our lives with depth, bending our ears towards the chorus of elders that the natural world is. Brought to fruition in a culture whose theme is loss, we recognize the wisdom of Earth in the various shifts that will unravel these ten millennia of aberration, and celebrate the dawning of day for what is truly human. As participants in this calamity, we call forth those spirits of the land, sea and sky who have always borne witness to our cyclical lives, the deep mind of which we are only a part, to see us and hear our voices as we proclaim our allegiance to Life. May this blood that flows from us cleanse the land of its wounds. May our animal bodies shield our battered hearts as we break the hands of Time. May this be the end..." [label info]
"... But in Fearthainne, all of the buzz and lbuster have been replaced by delicate crystalline guitar, gruff emotive vocals, deep ominous drones, all woven into a slow, drifting, meditative mountain folk. On the same label that in the past has brought us mysterious sounds from At The Head Of The Woods, The Elemental Chrysalis, Ruhr Hunter, Alethese and Beneath The Lake, Fearthainne sound right at home, blending dense whirring minimal soundscapes, with gentle meditative folk rituals. Long long tracks that slowly blossom, smoldering, clouded in warm browns and cool greys, strings weep and moan, effects gently cradle the various elements, adding texture more than changing the sound. Mesmerizing, trancelike ruminations on nature, on death, on the beyond. Simple percussion demarcates sprawling folk strum and fields of lilting shimmer and and delicate flutter. The vocals are a strange contrast, almost atonal, moaned more than sung, reminding us of solo records by either of the Neurosis frontmen, giving the proceedings a much more ominous vibe, ritualistic and hauntingly spiritual. Gorgeous in its simplicity, mysterious in its minimalism, Fearthainne is the soundtrack to a land outside of time, of trees towering over a world unspoilt, clouds drifting across empty skies, night turning into day, the cycle of life continuing on, the world and the universe around it gradually moving into a new, more magical existence. Beautifully sublime. Incredible packaging, full color 6 panel oversized sleeve, amazing images of ancient forests, late night rituals, and the band gathered beneath a mighty tree, cradling a baby, dressed like witches, and looking like a band of bearded forest dwellers (which they may very well be!)." [Aquarius Records review]
www.glassthroatrecordings.com
|
2009 |
€18.50 |
|
| FEINE TRINKERS BEI PINKELS DAHEIM (F.T.B.P.D.) |
A Bug's Life |
CD |
"Jürgen Eberhard aka Feine Trinkers Bei Pinkels Daheim celebrates 25 years of his artistic activity with the first full-length album on Zoharum entitled "A Bug's Life". keen observers of our activity certainly know his name, for instance from a common vinyl 7-incher entitled "Both Sides of The Looking Glass" shared with Bisclaveret duo or from the composition "Enigmatic Visions", which appeared on a commemorative compilation "07|100|15".
"A Bug's Life" is the tenth full-length album in the discography of Feine Trinkers Bei Pinkels Daheim. It was being created, like the previous ones, for several years and is another conscious artistic statement. Seven compositions included here are of a collage nature and combine echoes of post-industrial ambient, drone music, musique concrete, field recordings and even plunderphonics. On his first studio album since "Die Legende vom Heiligen Trinker" from 2011, Jürgen Eberhard consciously continues his sonic quest on a depleted terrain and he manages to avoid traps of empty experiments. "A Bug's Life" is at the same time an atmospheric, and even accessible, album, and sonically elaborate and demanding of the listener." [label info]
www.zoharum.com
"FEINE TRINKERS BEI PINKELS DAHEIM ist ein Projekt, das ja eher unregelmäßig in der Musiklandschaft auftaucht, dabei aber bereits recht langlebig ist. Das letzte reguläre Album von JÜRGEN EBERHARD unter diesem Banner erschien 2011. „A Bug’s Life“ – so hieß übrigens auch der Pixar-Film „Das große Krabbeln“ im Original – widmet sich dem Namen entsprechend den Geräuschen von Insekten, die Grundlage für die Soundgestaltung des Albums gewesen sein sollen. Hierbei sollte man aber kein dauerndes, möglichst naturnahes Gezirpe oder Gesirre im Kopf haben – quasi ein Field-Recording-Overkill, sondern Klänge, die extrem stark bearbeitet und verfremdet wurden, wobei am Ende dennoch der Charakter von Sounds, die von Insekten erzeugt werden – auch knisternde, schabende Geräusche –, erhalten bleibt.
Tatsächlich ist der Sound auf „A Bug’s Life“ aber relativ vielschichtig, teils auch wuchtig und massiv oder mit Drones durchsetzt, sodass das Ganze recht gut funktioniert und eben nicht an einen Abend auf der Terrasse erinnert. Auch Stimmen werden – verfremdet oder nicht – eingesetzt und Abwechslung kommt zusätzlich durch Stücke ins Spiel, die mit weiblichen Gesangslinien, die quasi als Zusatzinstrument fungieren, ausgestattet sind. Hier wäre wohl auch der Punkt, an dem man die Unterstützung von diversen Gästen wie u.a. MISS POLYESTER, FRL. LINIENTREU oder GENEVIÈVE PASQUIER erwähnen könnte. Das Klangspektrum reicht letztendlich von orientalisch angehauchten Sounds inklusive Rhythmus („Metallifekuwagamon“) bis hin zu düsteren Soundcollagen, die auch aufgrund der Bilder, die im Kopf entstehen, Unruhe auslösen können. Somit ist „A Bug’s Life“ eine spannende Sache für Freunde des Ambient oder der experimentellen Elektronik. Idee und Ausführung passen in jedem Fall hervorragend zueinander und die Qualität stimmt hier sowieso."
[Tony F. für nonpop.de]
"In der Geräuschmusik und überall sonst, wo mit Samples gearbeitet wird, sind Tiergeräusche eine beliebte Soundquelle, und zu den gefragtesten Geräuschproduzenten zählen seit jeher Insekten – was wäre ein sommerliches Kitschkolorit ohne das Zirpen von Grillen und Zikaden, und dass man aus dem Summen fliegender Insekten Noise und elektroakustiche Musik machen kann, ist hinlänglich bekannt.
Beliebt sind Feldaufnahmen, bei denen die Sounds weitgehend naturbelassen bleiben und nur gelegentlich etwas Struktur eingebracht wird wie bei Dave Phillips’ und Hasegawa Hiroshis “Insect Apocalypse” oder “The Progeny of Flies” von Daniel Manche und Andrew Liles. Seltener sind Aufnahmen, bei denen die Sounds so stark verfremdet sind, dass man ohne Hintergrundwissen die Quelle kaum erkennen kann. Etwas derartiges hat der feine Pinkel, ähm: Trinker Jürgen Eberhard vor Kurzem unter dem Titel “A Bug’s Life” zustande gebracht.
Die komplette CD wirkt wie ein Zoom, bei dem die Kamera dem lebenden Objekt so nah auf den Panzer rückt, dass man nur noch kleinteilige Strukturen in Übergröße erkennt, während größere Zusammenhänge nur noch zu erahnen sind. Vieles klingt wie ins Monströße vergrößert: Maschinell klingendes Summen, dass zeitweise in Noisewände übergeht, Detonationen, verursacht von einem enormen Insekt, das gegen eine überdimensionierte Scheibe knallt. Zirpen und Flattern, das eher nach einem Vogel klingt, und dem Tier, dessen rhythmischer Flügenschlag gegen Ende zu hören ist, möchte ich nicht im Dunkeln begegnen. So furchteinflößend es hier zugeht, hat die bizarre Szenerie auch irrsinnig Komisches zu bieten.
Neben all dem gibt es zahlreiche Stellen, an denen kaum zu erkennen ist, ob die Aufnahmen ganz unkenntlich gemacht wurden oder anderen, z.B. elektronischen Ursprungs sind. Dies gilt für geschliffenen Ambientsound und zirkushafte Melodien ebenso wie für den entspannten Ethnosound, der irgendwann ganz überraschend eine Sängerin begleitet (die meisten Stimmbeiträge von Geneviève Pasquier, Allseits vs Troum, Frl. Linientreu und Joke Lanz sind spoken words). Ebenso gilt dies für monströses Brüllen, dass hoffentlich von einem Wirbeltier stammt.
Aber warum eigentlich? Im Unterschied zu naturbelassenen Insektensounds lassen die Aufnahmen hier die Tiere enorm groß erscheinen und brechen so mit gänigen Wahrnehmungsgewohnheiten. Die nachhaltige, über den bloßen Schock weit hinausgehende Wirkung, kann im besten Fall in einem veränderten Blick auf das Tierreich münden." [J.G./U.S./African Paper] |
2016 |
€12.00 |
|
| FELIX KUBIN & ENSEMBLE INTEGRALES |
Echohaus |
do-LP |
"This latest project by the Hamburg-based musician, composer, and futurist, Felix Kubin, (his second release on Dekorder) is a collaboration with the contemporary music chamber group, ensemble Intégrales, and the reknowned German underground pop producer and sound engineer, Tobias Levin.
Echohaus was recorded in and around Levin's Electric Avenue studio in the basement of WESTWERK, a former squat and cultural centre for non-commercial art and music in Hamburg. A special recording technique was developed for the project whereby the musicians played simultaneously in separate rooms, connected to one and other only by headphones. This was done in order to achieve a lively,“cinematic" sound that made use of the particular dynamics of the rooms and amplified mechanical details. The rooms, each of which had a different acoustic character, were used as natural echo chambers. Kubin and the composer Burkhard Friedrich, former member of ensemble Intégrales, provided the musicians with simple graphic scores or basic descriptions of the compositions; all subsequent material was developed on the fly. Kubin was in the mixing room giving instructions and suggestions, while the musicians played and improvised, adding their own ideas to the project.
No artificial reverb or effects were added to the recordings. The different types of rooms and microphones, noises inside and outside of the studio, as well as the unusual interrelationship between the physically isolated players became part of the process. All the tracks were recorded in one take without any additional layers or track-by-track recordings. After a five-day recording session Kubin and Levin created various mixes which Kubin then edited over a period of several months.
The final results mark yet another radical departure from Kubin's trademark Sci-Fi Pop sound, blending the aesthetics of academic contemporary music, film soundtracks and improvised music with a strong focus on room-specific natural acoustics." [label info]
www.dekorder.com
"Branching out into conceptual composition with Ensemble Intégrales, Felix Kubin acted as a sort of central engineer/conductor for this piece, with each instrument recorded live with no overdubs in separate rooms at the Westwerk cultural centre in Hamburg under Kubin’s supervision, and the results edited by him down into the resulting album. As a result, each room sound is almost as important as the tones recorded for the instruments concerned, and the results certainly resonate with the nuances of each space in the final mix, especially when listened to on headphones – which is probably the best way to appreciate the textures of the recording.
It’s also perhaps inevitable that the terms electro-acoustic and musique concrète will crop as reference points when describing both the techniques and sounds of Echohaus – and justifiably too. There’s plenty of scraping, creaking, twisting and plinking, honking, squittering electronics and keening breaths, mournful drones and pizzicato strings among the synthesized interventions, in between the electro-mechanical susurrus and thumping among gentler ripples on piano and violin, with vaporous electronic reflections trickling subtly or otherwise across the dissociated (but not disembodied) studio space. The improv is strong here, quite happy to let rip into spine-tingling moments very close indeed to the fingernail/blackboard interface.
So drumkits give their best falling down the stairs impressions (though it frequently does seem like that baskets full of household good are being given a good thrashing ), and there are moments where stereo-panned strings rise in counterpointed waves which could quite possibly drag the listener into a state of panicked delirium. What is particularly enjoyable are those moments where the music moves through space as Kubin manipulates the mix, with deep bass throbs and high-pitched whines circling the clatter of percussive motion across the soundscape he creates with the Ensemble’s sounds. Is that the sound of one room bleeding and/or receding into another, or is it just the natural echo? Who can tell, and does it matter too much?
To keep calling this sort of music avantgarde is perhaps to hang onto a term which sometimes seems to be almost backward-looking, given the decades in which this modernist form has developed (or otherwise) – but even so, the recording technique is, if not at the advance guard, at least experimental in some form or other. But so much for labels – this is largely a fine piece of work where dissonance and discordance, horripilation and disconcerted listening teeter into sometimes quavering moments of reflexive beauty. Echohaus engages the senses fully, and the way in which it was recorded and produced being ultimately secondary to the results, which, while often difficult – or flat-out challenging – listening, are certainly none the worse for that." [Freq.org] |
2010 |
€18.50 |
|
| FELIX KUBIN & MARIOLA BRILLOWSKA |
Morgenröte |
7inch + comic art |
Mariola Brillowska and Felix Kubin “Morgenröte” (b/w Aus Gold modelliert die Nacht) 7″ vinyl. The first release in Psychofon Records' 'Forgotten Pearls' series. Available in two versions. The standard edition is pressed on turquoise vinyl, 100 hand-numbered copies. The collector's edition is pressed on blue vinyl, limited to 50 hand-numbered copies. Both come packaged in a special large-sized package (20.5 x 43cm!) and include a special promo comic book, a companion to Morgenröte!
Things are looking quite grim for the future of creation.
In the 71st century, sex is practiced only by machine. Males are a dying species. The few surviving specimens serve as pure-blooded sperm donors. If they refuse, they are castrated. Violence is en Vogue. Electronic surveillance insects spout sadistic slogans from the Marquis de Sade.
Hamburg-based artists Mariola Brillowska and Felix Kubin have created a gloomy vision of a complex anti-utopian world.
Sarcastically they comment on the Western world: Consumption with interpersonal coldness, the glorification of violence and the transfiguration of rationale. Mankind, they suggest, has not learned much since the upright walk, and our laboriously developed moral values have not prevented us from waging wars and devastating the earth. All signs are pointing towards some final catastrophe.
The survivors vegetate on the synthetic “Planetoid Nietzsche” in a fascist matriarchy. At the head of the totalitarian regime is the x-cloned Nobel laureate Madame Curie. The sciences dominate nature, and humanistic values of the 20th century have become obsolete. Emotions and physical touch are considered taboo.
Everything depends on the outcome of the hopeless actions of some dispersed terrorists in the seventy-first century. By kidnapping the president, they hope to bring down the totalitarian regime and break the chains of sterility. However, their tracks are being followed with deadly instinct by the unscrupulous Madame Curie devotees Linda and Lorna.
Mörgenröte is a short episode from the bizarre world of the two comic book heroines, Linda and Lorna. Shaped by Mariola Brillowska’s distinctive drawing style, an iridescent flicker stretches throughout the film, bringing all objects to pulsating life. Together with Felix Kubin’s experimental setting, a fruitful symbiosis has been created.
Aus Gold modelliert die Nacht (B side) is previously unpublished and is part of the unfinished fragmentary story of Linda and Lorna.
https://www.psychofonrecords.com/product/mariola-brillowska-felix-kubin-morgenrote/
|
2018 |
€19.50 |
|
| FENN O'BERG (FENNESZ / O'ROURKE / REHBERG) |
Magic & Return |
do-CD |
"Zwei junge Klassiker der Liveelektronik von 1999 und 2002 wiederveröffentlicht. Als Bonustracks mit aufgenommen wurden der Beitrag zur Sonar‘99-Compilation und ‚Adidas Sun Tanned Avant Man‘, der nur auf der japanischen Edition von Return Of enthalten war. Christian Fennesz, Jim O‘Rourke & Peter Rehberg hatten bei ihren Konzerten 1998/99 und 2001 - alles Material entstand damals als Livemitschnitt - als Indieallstartrio den Versuch unternommen, Avant-Electronica, d. h. komplexe, beatarme, polymorph-pervers improvisierte und untanzbare ‚Konzertmusik‘, als Attraktion auf der Höhe des Zeitgeistes etwas breiter zu streuen als üblich. Mit falschen Erwartungen von einseitigen O‘Rourke-Fans, die von ihm akustische Gitarre (wie mit Mazzacane Connors) oder gar Sonic Youth-ähnliches erhofften, musste man zurecht kommen. Gegen Borniertheit und Schmalspurigkeit kann man letztlich nicht mehr tun, als auf die verführerische ‚Magie‘ der eigenen Qualitäten zu setzen. Die
Soundcollagen bis hin zum orchestral-opulenten ‚Fenn O‘Berg Theme‘ mit der Lizenz zu Betören sind geschichtet und verzopft eben nicht aus allem, was die Laptopspeicher hergeben. So beliebig und als bloße Summe ist Klangzauber nicht machbar. Ständiges Morphing und wuchernde Vielspurigkeit, Loops, Verzerrungen und Kompressionen, molekulare Diffusität, Einbrüche von Noise ebenso wie ungeniert melodiöse Einschübe von orchestralen Samples kitzeln die Empfänglichkeit und spotten - mit Schreibmaschinengetippe - dem Versuch, etwas derartig Logofugales in Worte zu fassen." [Bad Alchemy]
"All tracks by Christian Fennesz, Jim O'Rourke & Peter Rehberg. Artwork by Tina Frank. Remastered at Piethopraxis, Köln, January 2009. The legendary Fenn O'Berg are resurfacing eight years since their last performance. Starting with this double CD reissue of their two albums; 'The Magic Sound Of...' and 'The Return Of...', originally released in 1999 and 2002. Fenn O'Berg (Christian Fennesz, Jim O'Rourke and Peter Rehberg) first hit the scene after a surprise appearance at the Nickelsdorf Festival in 1997. Throughout 1998 and 1999 the trio toured extensively throughout Austria, Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Switzerland and Spain, as well as shows in North America and Japan. The highlights of these trips were presented on 'The Magic Sound'. Although they were not first group to utilise mainly mobile computing devices, they were the first to bring such a set up to venues that would not normally book or even be interested in such things. This resulted in some very polarised reactions from both audience and promoters alike. In many instances the group needed to 'escape' the city they played. In Rome Jim O'Rourke was even given an acoustic guitar and more or less forced to play a short acoustic set before anyone could leave the building. Despite all of this, there was a generally positive response, with some shows going down as local legend. However its worth considering that the technology at the tine didn't offer the convenience of 'plug in and play' of current operating systems and applications. This of course led to set of recordings like no other. Not only was the rule book ripped up but the tour book as well. Each show became an improvised twisted journey through the various strands of electronic music where popular music sources (some more obvious than others) clashed with more academic tricks, but never sounding like being part of either. By 2002, the groups live output was drastically reduced due to all three members schedules moving in different directions. Only two performances were committed that year, and although the sound was more polished and one could even suggest that 'they knew what they were doing', their polarising effect was still there. One show was a sold out over enthusiastic Centre Pompidou in Paris, and the other a miserable 'count them on one hand' turnout at a jazz club in Vienna. Edited highlights of these shows made up 'The Return Of'. Since then the trio has been on a constant pause. In October 2009 they will get together in Tokyo to record a new studio album planned for early 2010 release. This reissue is repackaged with new artwork by Tina Frank, and contains two bonus tracks from the same period."
[label info]
www.editionsmego.com
|
2009 |
€18.00 |
|
| FENNESZ |
Endless Summer |
CD |
"New FENNESZ CD, his best release so far we think. Already being the most “harmonic” Mego-artist, this is a wondrous mixture of melodies & digital outburst & effects, which results in a unique sound we think. The harmonies are indeed a bit “lufty” at times and yes, this has really a summer feel somehow..."
[Drone Rec. info 2001]
"This reissue of Christian Fennesz's breakthrough classic Endless Summer has been remixed, remastered, and re-released with two extra tracks. Originally released in 2001 by Mego, Endless Summer brought his name and music towards the first steps of mainstream recognition with its micro sounds and warm guitar, harkening the dreamy serenity and quick-fading sentimentality of a California sunset. Following on from the more experimental Hotel Paral.lell and the Beach Boys homaged Plays single, Endless Summer brought the guitars more to the front, the electronics shimmered more, and the melodies shined more brightly. It went on to be a classic of its time, topping many end of year polls. This new definitive edition is newly mixed by Fennesz, resulting in a more open-sounding version of the tracks, especially the marimba driven "Caecilia" and the hypnotic "Before I Leave," and the towering "Happy Audio." It is also re-mastered by Denis Blackham at Skye, and has beautifully photographed artwork by Jon Wozencroft. In addition to the original 8 tracks, it contains 2 extra titles: "Badminton Girl," originally released in 2001 as part of the Split Series #15 12" with Main on Fat Cat Records, now out of print, and "Endless," which is previously unreleased until now." [press release]
www.editionsmego.com
" »Endless Summer« definierte zum Zeitpunkt seiner originalen Veröffentlichung 2001 den (spezifisch Wienerischen?) »sound of now« avancierter Electronica und markierte gleichzeitig den Höhe- und Endpunkt des »Vienna-Tones«-Hypes. Zu jener Zeit hatte er auch eine Goldene Nica der Ars Electronica in der Kategorie »Digital Musics« eingefahren, der Weg nach England zu Touch war vorherbestimmt und Fennesz wurde zu einem der wahrscheinlich populärsten heimischen Elektronikmusiker. Was wahrscheinlich auch der Tatsache geschuldet ist, dass Fennesz nie seine Gitarre vergaß und weniger die Möglichkeiten rein elektronischer Klangerzeugung in den Vordergrund stellte, als sich statt dessen um eine organische Verbindung zwischen Computer und Gitarre bemühte. Für vorliegenden Re-Release fanden mego und Touch insofern zusammen, als das Album auf dem ehemaligen Stammlabel erscheint, dazu kommen Fotos und Artwork von Jon Wozencroft. Als Bonus wurde »Endless Summer« von Fennesz neu abgemischt, es entstand eine etwas offenere und luftigere Version der Nummern. Dazu kommen zwei nicht mehr verfügbare Stücke. Tracks wie das Titelstück oder besonders »Caecilia« sind nach wie vor Genre-definierende Klassiker, ganz einfach." [SKUG]
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
|
June |
LP |
"Der monat (oder eine frau)? "black sea", dieser granulierte edelstein, hat noch eine dunkle schwester. abseits seines trademark-sounds (=ohne diese hart zerspellten, gleichzeitig auch fragilen noisekonstrukte, die einen erheblichen teil seines soundspektrums beherrschen) erforscht fennesz auf der (konzeptuell einseitig bespielten) "june" die tiefen des hallraums. und das trotz der dunklen farbe der musik mit der leichtigkeit einer fingerübung: treffsicher die dynamik, spannend im aufbau, dabei flüssig ohne haken aber, (bei der musik und dem künstler kaum nötig zu erwähnen) natürlich ohne irgendwie seicht zu sein. der sound, eben ohne die harscheren anteile fast analog, sehr gitarre, sehr: weniger überlegung und planung, mehr bauch. und damit definitiv auch für die, die mit ihm sonst ihre schwierigkeiten haben. als teil der table of the elements "guitar" serie mit insgesamt 12 lps, alle einseitig bespielt, die andere jeweils reliefartig geprägt, in unterschiedlichen farben. und, bei 12 vös liegt das ja nicht so fern, von fennesz vielleicht genau so aus dem bauch heraus einfach mal nach einem der vö-monate benannt. vielleicht eine prüfung für manche(n) fennesz-freund(in), vielleicht ein weiteres beispiel für die anderes-label-mehr-freispiel-theorie. in jedem fall: sehr empfohlen." [N, Unruhr.de]
"9th installment in the Guitar Series Vol. 3 & 4. As much as any artist, he is responsible for establishing the laptop computer as both a compositional tool & concert instrument. Subsuming electro-acoustic strategies into a bedrock of pop, he terraforms vast new worlds of sound, within which both AMM & the Beach Boys can cozily coexist. His Guitar Series contribution, is a suitably lush transformation, as electric guitars flow into deep streams of sound." [label info]
www.tableoftheelements.com
".. But unlike the blurred beauty of Black Sea, June is something else entirely, a creaking, clanging, chiming post industrial landscape of processed guitars, rendered here in the shape of distant pulsing buzz, in shards of jagged chords ringing out and dissipating into the ether, and deep groaning waves of blackened Wolf Eye-d rumble, imagine even a super softened Blue Sabbath Black Cheer, this is less blissed out shoegazey dreamscapery, and more carving dark sonic figures from deep shadow, ominous, sinister, haunting, all words that most definitely apply to past Fennesz recordings, but usually those elements were lurking beneath a shimmery sun dappled exterior, a soft patina of whirling muted buzz draped over a roiling black sea of sound below, but here, those sounds are allowed to creep to the fore, creating a seriously dystopian chunk of cinematic black ambience, the guitars unleashing a murky black fog, that while lovely cloaks all the other sounds in a mysterious blackened grit, but it is Fennesz after all, so the corrosive crumbling darkness does eventually get smoothed out, transformed into into a soft, rolling, burnished shimmer, deep tones dreamily undulating and floating weightless in an expanse of hushed thrum, but by then, the track is winding to a close. Dark stuff from Fennesz, and we like it. A lot!
Pressed on super thick, swirled milky brown vinyl. One sided, the other side with an awesome etching by Savage Pencil, housed in a
thick PVC sleeve, and of course, as always, VERY LIMITED! " [Aquarius Records review]
|
2008 |
€17.00 |
|
| |
AUN: The Beginning and the End |
CD |
"Der Österreicher Christian Fennesz präsentiert mit seinem neuen Werk den Soundtrack zum Film "AUN: The beginning and the end of all things". Seine feinsinnigen Kompositionen unterstützen das Projekt des Regisseurs Edgar Honetschläger auf einzigartige Weise mit elektronischen Klängen und komplexen, jedoch berührenden Strukturen. Fennesz zeigt einmal mehr, das er ein Meister in seinem Metier ist. THEMA DES REGISSEURS 'AUN- Der Anfang und das Ende aller Dinge' erzählt die Geschichte der Frage nach der Zukunft, dem Wunsch der Menschheit ein neues Morgen zu erschaffen, der Angst und Abscheu vor der Apokalypse. Der Film macht den unerschöpflichen Fortschritt des jüdischen und christlichen Glaubens zum Thema. Dieser hat seit Beginn des 21. Jahrhunderts die gesamte Welt erobert und der Welt eine Situation auferlegt, in der Probleme nicht mehr von Wirtschaft und Wissenschaft allein gelöst werden können. Glaube ist so viel mehr als Religion, soviel mehr als monotheistische Konzepte. Seelen und Geister existieren jedoch nicht nur im Film. Die Verleumdung und Ablehnungvon ursprünglichen Gesetzen führt zur Auslöschung von Individuen,als auch der gesamten menschlichen Rasse. AUN erfindet sowohl Rituale als auch Mythologien und verehrt den Schöpfer dieser Welt. Der Film stellt zudem die menschliche Schönheit mir der Natur gleich und will den Zuschauer erinnern dass ,alles menschliche Leben von der Natur erschaffen wird". AUSSAGE DES REGISSEURS 'AUN- der Anfang und das Ende aller Dinge'bezieht sich auf die Gedanken des späten Claude Lévi- Strauss. Dieser beschreibt in seinen Aufsätzen, die Einzigartigkeit japanischer Shintoisten, deren Götter die Natur schützen. Der Film konzentriert sich auf die Trennung von Mensch und Natur und imaginiert eine Welt, in der das Leben sinnlich gelebt wird. Auch stellt der Film Zusammenhänge zu dem brasilianischen Autor Clarice Lispector, dem italienischen Anthropologen Fosco Maraini und der japanischen Autorin Yoko Tawada her. 'AUN- der Anfang und das Ende aller Dinge' ist ein 100 minütiges Drama, geschrieben von dem österreichischen Schauspieler und Filmemacher Edgar Hönetschläger. Es ist eine österreichisch/japanische Co-Produktion, realisiert vom EdokoInstitut Wien und Ribo Ltd. Tokio in Zusammenarbeit mit KGP Wien. AUN wird unterstützt von dem österreichischen Film Institut, dem Wiener Filmverbund, dem ORF, der Provinz Oberösterreich, der Stadt Tokio,derTochigi Provinz,der Shizuoka Provinz und der Yamanashi Provinz. //
An original soundtrack [OST]
CD jewel case - 28pp full colour - 15 tracks - 50 mins approx
"This CD is the soundtrack to the film AUN, directed by Edgar Honetschläger. With stills from the film in the full colour 28 page booklet, the artwork is designed by Philip Marshall. You can see a clip here: www.aun-film.com
Intention:
‘AUN – the beginning and the end of all things’ tells the story of mankind’s quest for the future, his desire to create the tomorrow, his fear of and loathing for the apocalypse. It spins the Faustian theme twice and lays bare open the inexhaustible Judea/Christian believe in progress, which by the 21st century has taken over the entire world and has succeeded in maneuvering the globe into a situation that can’t be solved by means of economics and science anymore. Enlightenment’s merits have taken the West’s ability to sense what is not to be seen, what is only to be felt. Believes are so much more than religion, than monotheistic concepts. Souls and spirits exist not only in film. Denial and neglect of eternal laws lead to extinction – of the individual and the entire human race. AUN invents rituals as well as mythologies and worships the creator of it all – nature – by playfully laying out its dichotomy with human culture. The film equals mankind’s beauty with nature by announcing that ‘everything mankind creates in nature’. Sadly the hubris ends and gives the audience the chance to heartily weep for the world.
Director's Statement:
‘AUN – the beginning and the end of all things’ follows the strings of thoughts the late Claude Lévi-Strauss revealed in his anthropological essays throughout the 20th century, as well as those of Japan’s unique Shintoism who’s millions of gods inhibit and preserve nature. The film focuses on the dichotomy man/nature and envisions a future world where life will be nothing but sensual. It contains references to Brazilian writer Clarice Lispector, Italian anthropologist Fosco Maraini and the Japanese writer Yoko Tawada.
‘AUN – the beginning and the end of all things’ is a 100 min., 35mm feature drama written/directed by the Austrian artist/filmmaker Edgar Honetschläger. It is a Austrian/Japanese co-production realized by Edoko Institute Vienna and Ribo Ltd. Tokyo in cooperation with KGP Vienna. AUN was supported by the Austrian Film Institute, the Vienna Film Fund, the ORF (Austrian TV), the province of Upper Austria, the City of Tokyo, Tochigi Province, Shizuoka province, Yamanashi province.
For AUN film distribution contact filmdelights.com distribution. With thanks to Edoko Institute, Vienna and Ribo Ltd., Tokyo" [label info]
www.touchmusic.org.uk |
2012 |
€14.50 |
|
| FERRARI, BRUNHILD & CHRISTOPH HEEMANN |
Stürmische Ruhe |
LP |
"After her stunning collaboration with Jim O’Rourke (Le Piano Englouti, BT055), Brunhild Ferrari returns to Black Truffle with Stürmische Ruhe, her first duo with Christoph Heemann. A legendary figure in underground music, Heemann has quietly produced a unique body of work since his beginnings with the absurdist cutups of H.N.A.S. in the mid-1980, including collaborations with Merzbow, Organum and Nurse With Wound, the eerie psychedelia of Mirror (with Andrew Chalk), In Camera (with Timo van Lujik) and Plastic Palace People (with Jim O’Rourke), and the precise cinema pour l’oreille constructions of his solo works. Created together in Ferrari’s Parisian studio (once shared with Luc) between 2011 and 2014, Stürmische Ruhe is a single half-hour piece that folds rain and storm recordings into a intricately woven fabric of haunted electronics, unexpected edits and disorienting processing. Banging with the jarring thump of a slamming door (an element that will reappear periodically throughout the piece as a kind of punctuation mark), it is immediately obvious that concrete sound is used here in a free, poetic way outside of the strict confines of documentary field recording. The wind captured by Ferrari’s microphone roars and whistles, accompanied by thick clusters of wavering tones whose unpredictable rises and falls in volumes are synchronised with the bumping and thudding of windows and doors. At some points the microphone sound melts into a wavering low-bit digital smear before fanning out into broad, atmospheric depths. The cinema for the ear constructed here suggests not linear narrative or documentary, but an organic flow of cross-fades, double-exposures and abrupt cuts, a free-associative dream in which wind and water take on mythical characteristics. Throughout the piece's second half, layers of synthetic floating tones and pinging upward glissandi negotiate a constantly shifting balance with wind-borne whispers and rustles, at times dropping to silence, at others rising up with elemental force. As Ferrari explains in her liner notes, Stürmische Ruhe is a meeting of ‘completely opposite sound worlds’ in which ‘almost-violence’ is joined with a ‘reconciling harmony’. Reaffirming the infinite possibilities of the musique concrète tradition while avoiding its academic tropes, Stürmische Ruhe is accompanied by tri-lingual liner notes from Brunhild Ferrari and arrives in a sleeve graced with the beautiful art informel paintings of her father, Wolfgang Meyer Tomin. Cut at 45rpm for maximum fidelity."
https://blacktruffle.bandcamp.com/album/st-rmische-ruhe
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2022 |
€28.00 |
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| FERRARI, LUC |
Son memorise |
CD |
„In Entwicklung zum ersten P.R. von 1970, dessen einzigartige Aura ja schon beinahe schmerzt, scheint das ‚beinahe nichts‘ des Presque Rien #4 einem ‚allmählich alles‘ gewichen zu sein. Luc Ferrari hat allerdings von P.R. zu P.R. den Erinnerungen immer mehr Pinselstriche hinzugefügt, und ist auch selbst immer mehr Bestandteil der Hörbilder geworden. Wird also beinahe nichts mehr weggelassen? Zögerlich ist nach eigenem Bekunden Ferraris kompositorische Herangehensweise. So brauchte es zur Realisation des Presque rien #4 ¬ La remontée du village 8 Jahre. 1998 vollendet, spannt es nun als „opener“ den Bogen der vorliegenden CD zu einer Studie über die Wirklichkeit von Erinnerung und wie sie sich im Nachhinein als immer verfremdet darstellt. So erzählt „Promenade symphonique dans un paysage
musical ou un jour de fète à el qued en 1976“ (1976-1978) von einem Spaziergang in eine Stadt. Ein Mann stimmt einen erotischen Gesang an, auf dem Marktplatz beginnt eine Trommelgruppe zu spielen, Passanten kommen zusammen, Schüsse knallen, zum Abend hin kündigen Frauenrufe den Auftritt der Hochzeitsbraut an. Die Party steigt bis die Trommelgruppe tanzend in den zur Nacht vergehenden Abend verschwindet. Durch Hervorhebungen einzelner Passagen und der behutsamen Bearbeitung der Klänge insgesamt, offenbart Ferrari das Nichtreale der Tonbandaufnahme. Die illusorische Vorstellung einer objektiven Realität wird dem Hörer unterschwellig, fast unheimlich (schön) offenbart, wenn Ferrari mit subtilem Feingefühl in weiser Lässigkeit auf den Grenzlinien zur Manipulation spazieren geht. „Saliceburry Coctail“ (2002) ist ein ebenfalls ca. 1/2stündiges Werk. Wie in einem Cocktail die Zutaten so eingerichtet sind, das Aromen sowohl verstärkt als auch ausgeblendet werden können, wurden hier realistische sowie synthetische Sounds vermischt, geschichtet, transformiert. Was es mit diesem Stück genauer auf sich hat und warum es sich charakterlich von den vorhergehenden unterscheidet, ist aus den beiliegenden Kommentaren des Komponisten zu erfahren.
Presque Rien #4 seems to be ‚about everything‘ instead of the ‚almost nothing‘ from 1970. However, Ferrari has developed his „Presque Rien“ pieces in a more and more extensive way. There has always been hesitation on his part before releasing a „Presque Rien“. To release the fourth one took nine years. Now it’s the opener of this CD starting a study about the reality of memory and the problem of it’s transfigured portrayal afterwards. So „Promenade symphonique dans un paysage musical ou un jour de fète à el qued en 1976“ (1976-1978) tells about a walk in a nearby city. A man starts an erotic singing, on the market place a drum ensemble is playing, passerby are crowding around them, shooting armguns, in the night woman are announcing the wedding bride. The party is rising until the drum ensemble disappears in the night still dancing. Through empasize of special parts
and the carefully processing of sounds, Ferrari reveals that there is nothing real, it’s just a tape recording. „Saliceburry Coctail“ (2002) is also a 30minutes work. Just as in a cocktail the incredients are used to intensify or to tone down the flavour of the drink, real and synthetical sounds have been mixed, layered and transformed.” [Peter Schlewinski for Drone Records]
“This is the second of three Sub Rosa releases of instrumental works by this important artist. Luc Ferrari is considered one of the most legendary musical figures of the twentieth century, whose work and aesthetic continues to influence several generations of contemporary composers. Director of the Groupe de Recherche Musicales which he established with Pierre Schaeffer in Paris from 1958-1966, he is also one of the masters of musique concrète who influenced and expanded the genre with electro-acoustic instrumentation. Right from the start, the idea had been to release three very different CDs: one hörspiel, one of concrete music (new and older pieces) and one CD of instrumental works. Les Anecdotiques was the first step: a vast sound-film of more than an hour that explores in 15 steps the intensity of re-composed sounds from his continual travel around the world, with electronic additional structures. This album is the second step -- one that offers a retrospective -- the previously unreleased \"Promenade Symphonique dans un Paysage Musical\" from 1976-78, the final \"Presque Rien #4\" and a fresh reflection dating from the last months of 2002, \"Saliceburry Cocktail,\" a large-scale composition exploring the idea of hideout, scrambled listening -- a tortuous entanglement of concrète and electronic. The forthcoming third and final release will be three recent instrumental compositions for electronics, piano and viola which were recorded under Luc\'s supervision -- the last works he ever recorded, as he passed away in August 2005.” [press release]
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2005 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Labyrinthe de Violence |
do-LP |
Capturing the four soundtracks conceived in 1975 for the multimedia/audiovisual performances at Galiéra Museum in Paris, the previously unreleased Labyrinthe de Violence stretching across two LPs represents a peek into Luc Ferrari's creations connected to his Atelier de Libération de la Musique experiences. Luc Ferrari was always keen to disrupt habits and engrained practices, to open his mind to new ways of apprehending the world of art, considering it not so much as a separate realm but as an inroad into society. In keeping with the spirit of 1968, he advocated taking part in daily life, casting a critical, but amazed, eye on the world around us, and always questioning the meaning of the occupations and preoccupations the world imposes. From the 1970s, Luc also wished to shed the solitary status of the artist, and to truly communicate with society. He thus gathered around him a group of people from different backgrounds with an aim to create, together, new ways of working and new forms of expression that would address unusual audiences rather than traditional concert audience. Having created his Studio Billig in Paris in 1973, Luc wanted to make the most of that place to promote exchanges with other artists, to share, think, and improvise together. This is what gave rise to the Atelier de Liberation de la Musique workshops, whose objective was to "Liberate music from the constraints of style and esthetics." The idea was precisely to free the artist from abstraction, leading him to perform accessible and intelligible actions; to promote the imagination; to use the dramatic dynamism of sound and image to trigger ideas; to ignore the sensational and instead to observe our social environment and daily life with an intuitive eye-ear; to invite the visitor to come up with their own analysis. This craving for collaboration led Luc Ferrari to create, in 1975, a collective of musicians with Martin Davorin Jagodic, Philippe Besombes, Alain Petit and David Jisse. That year, they worked at Labyrinthe de Violence, a looped audiovisual labyrinth which evoked the violence of contemporary society, and was a reaction to the political situation of the time. It was a multimedia work, spread across four rooms, on the following themes: Power/Profit/Violence/Pollution. Each side of this 2LP set reproduces the sonorization of one of the four rooms in the Museum, automatically mixing in the central space. The same recordings focus on questions of utopia through many of the same themes. As in the rest of his work, pleasure was also at the heart of these pieces. First press limited to 500 numbered copies; gatefold sleeve.
A1. Pollution
B1. Violence
C1. Pouvoir / Profit
D1. Mecanique / Paysage / Danse |
2021 |
€37.50 |
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| FERRARI, LUC & BRUNHILD FERRARI |
Contes Sentimentaux |
4 x CD-BOX |
These pieces have been made between 1989 and 1994 for the German radio. Brunhild and Luc Ferrari are speaking around the pieces from Luc like 'Petite symphonie intuitive pour un paysage de printemps', 'Ce qu'à vu le Cers', 'Collection de petites pièces' (36 enfilades pour piano et magnétophone), 'Music promenade' among others, describing small details and anecdotes. They speak in French and German and consider the recorder as a scratchpad.
www.shiiin.com/shiiin8.php
CD 1
01 petite symphonie intuitive pour un paysage de printemps 25’ 05’’
02 place des abbesses 24’ 06’’
03 ce qu'a vu le cers 29’ 45’’
durée totale 78’ 56’’
CD 2
04 la chanson de la forêt 29’ 46’’
05 la remontée du village
(les sons attrapés par la queue) 24’ 45’’
durée totale 54’ 31’’
CD 3
06 les yeux de mathieu & collection de petites pièces
(36 enfilades pour piano et magnétophone) 24’ 59’’
07 hétérozygote p1
(il n'y a rien à voir ici) 24’ 52’’
08 hétérozygote p1
(il n'y a rien à voir ici) 24’ 48’’
durée totale 74’ 39’’
CD 4
09 journal d'un autobiographe 24’ 53’’
10 music promenade 25’ 09’’
11 cellule 75 24’ 23’’
durée totale 74’ 25’’
auteurs : luc ferrari, brunhild meyer-ferrari
réalisation : brunhild meyer-ferrari
voix : luc ferrari, brunhild meyer-ferrari
musique : luc ferrari
production: südwestfunk, today südwestrundfunk, 1990-1994
«licenced by swr media services gmbh»
crédits photos : olivier garros, brunhild meyer-ferrari, marie-claire patris, jacques brissot, henry fourès
remerciements : hermann naber
conception graphique: séverine henrot
livret
l'analyse musicale reste pour beaucoup un travail d'école ou de spécialistes.
mais il y a mille manières d'analyser la musique. on apprend beaucoup sur l'oeuvre quand un compositeur prend la liberté de parler de choses dont on ne parle pas habituellement, car tout est signe.
la parole est profonde, anodine ou sentimentale, elle joue avec le sens des mots, elle est précise ou rêveuse, mais elle révèle mieux que toute spéculation l'indicible, ce qui fait l'intime d'un inventeur de musique par rapport à son invention.
il y a là, en effet, tout ce que les spécialistes ne peuvent pas dire, puisqu'ils ne le savent pas…
c'est l'objet des contes sentimentaux.
l'auteur raconte comment est né cette musique, de quelle anecdote, de quel secret, de quelle métaphore elle est issue et quelles sont les choses qui l'animent, drôles ou sérieuses.
peut-être cette démarche est-elle inhabituelle. peut-être ces discours sont-ils à prendre avec « les pincettes de l'esprit ».
ces confidences vont plus loin que la musique. elles peuvent paraître précieuses, mais tout oeuvre n'est-elle pas, au bout du compte, l'expression voilée d'une autobiographie ?
on peut alors penser qu'en interprétant la trace des oeuvres, les producteurs de cette série font profession de biographes.
henry fourès
« contes sentimentaux est le titre que donne le compositeur français et auteur de hörspiels, luc ferrari, aux petites histoires, épisodes et souvenirs personnels des jours, des nuits, des saisons, des lieux et des gens qui sont intimement liés à la naissance de ses compositions »
hermann naber
chaque conte est construit à partir d'une composition musicale qui le traverse et qui en fait la trame. la parole du compositeur s'introduit dans cette texture et raconte à sa compagne des anecdotes et des confidences qui y sont liées. le verbe y est libre et spontané. ici le magnétophone est considéré par les deux protagonistes comme un bloc-notes, comme le journal l'est pour l‘écrivain.
« les contes sentimentaux sont conçus directement en bilinguisme franco-allemand. auteur et réalisateur s'interrogent mutuellement, chacun dans sa langue, l'utilisant non pas comme un usage de traduction mais comme un outil de création. la traduction devenant la musicalisation pour celui qui ne comprend pas l'une des langues.
à la question, comment s'occuper du temps qui est celui de l'espace entre deux langues, les auteurs répondent: en les mélangeant. »
luc ferrari
« en projetant les contes sentimentaux, j'ai pris conscience (mais probablement le savais-je déjà) que souvent une situation, un fait de la vie, un voyage, un geste anodin avaient été le déclencheur d'une composition musicale.
et maintenant, ce sont ces aventures que je voudrais raconter et, je ne pourrais pas bien expliquer pourquoi tout à coup, ces réalisations me paraissent importantes dans mon travail. »
luc ferrari
swr/swf 1990-1994
conte sentimental n° 1 (mars 1989)
souvenir des jours, des nuits et des saisons - 25’05’’
musique : petite symphonie intuitive pour un paysage de printemps
(1973-1974) de luc ferrari
réalisation : brunhild meyer
production : la muse en circuit, paris 1989, pour le swf
première diffusion swf : 3 juin 1990
« l’aventure c’est la montée vers le causse méjean. personne ne nous avait avertis. c’était un événement unique. lorsqu’après, nous y avons emmené des amis, ils savaient déjà un peu, et ce n’était donc plus un événement unique…
… ça montait très fort, c’était pas dramatique, mais c’était l’inconnu qui allonge le temps ».
« petite symphonie intuitive pour un paysage de printemps » est non seulement le titre de la musique composée en 1973-74, mais aussi celui du premier « conte sentimental » avec des souvenirs de cet été-là au cours duquel luc ferrari et brunhild meyer ne vont pas au bord de la mer, comme tous les français, mais au cœur du massif central.
la « petite symphonie intuitive pour un paysage de printemps » est le reflet de ce paysage-là.
rediffusion swf 29 janvier 1991
rediffusion bayrischer rundfunk 15 février 1991
rediffusion ndr hambourg 24 avril 1991
conte sentimental n° 2 (juin 1989)
souvenir des nuits, des lieux et des rencontres - 24’06’’
musique : place des abbesses (1977) de luc ferrari
réalisation : brunhild meyer
production : la muse en circuit, paris 1990, pour le swf
première diffusion swf : 4 juin 1990
« place des abbesses » située entre la place pigalle et le sacré-cœur, entre le commerce de la chair et le commerce de l’âme.
dans ce conte sentimental, un clochard parle de la place.
des amis aussi y ont habité : colette et sophie racontent par téléphone des souvenirs cocasses et patrice, réalisateur de films, par qui luc ferrari a rencontré au carnaval d’aix-la-chapelle, une jeune fille nommée brunhild, avec qui il vit et travaille maintenant depuis de nombreuses années.
avec colette fellous, sophie thierry-mig et un clochard traditionnel
rediffusion swf 26 janvier 1991
rediffusion bayrischer rundfunk 15 février 1991
conte sentimental n° 3 (novembre 1989)
ce qu’a vu le cers - 29’45’’
musique : ce qu’a vu le cers (1978) de luc ferrari
réalisation : brunhild meyer
production : la muse en circuit, paris 1990, pour le swf
première diffusion swf : 1er juillet 1990
1976. un été très sec. luc ferrari et brunhild meyer chez des amis, près de paris, sont couchés dans l’herbe. ils étudient la carte de la france et font des projets de vacances. luc demande à son ami qui est en train d’arroser son jardin, de lui envoyer une goutte d’eau. elle tombe sur un petit village dans les corbières, une région viticole dans le sud de la france. c’est là où ils décident d’aller en vacances. ils parlent avec les gens, avec le facteur, les jeunes, avec le curé et l’anarchiste. (h.n.)
luc ferrari y rencontre aussi des musiciens pour lesquels il écrit une musique qui a pour titre « ce qu’a vu le cers ».
le vivant quartet avec henry fourès, jules calmettes, richard breton et alain joule.
et avec les habitants de tuchan.
rediffusion bayrischer rundfunk 15 février 1991
rediffusion swf 26 mars 1991
rediffusion ndr-hambourg 24 avril 1991
conte sentimental n° 4 (juin 1990)
la chanson de la forêt - 29’46’’
musique : la chanson de la forêt (1982) de luc ferrari
réalisation : brunhild meyer
production : la muse en circuit, paris 1990, pour le swf
première diffusion swf : 18 juin 1990
ce conte sentimental parle de l’amitié entre henry fourès et luc ferrari qui se sont rencontrés dans les corbières au cours du conte sentimental n° 3, raconte les concerts qu’ils ont faits ensemble dans des caves coopératives vinicoles et à la maison de la radio de francfort, raconte aussi comment ils transforment le « taunus » en une forêt du xixe siècle avec son « acoustique magique ». et enfin surgit la chanson de la forêt, doucement, comme si l’âme de la forêt chantait avec une voix de femme nue. (h.n.)
« ce conte est comme un cirque. la forêt ressemble à un amphithéâtre. nous l’avons peuplée de personnages, avons fait éclater un faux orage, avons fait tomber une pluie qui ne mouillait rien. les perspectives s’embrouillaient et des voix de femmes dialoguaient sans jamais se rencontrer… » (l.f.)
chant : elise caron. piano : denis chouillet
avec henry fourès, jules calmettes, richard breton, alain joule.
conte sentimental n° 5 (novembre 1990)
sieste italienne - 24’45’’
musique : la remontée du village ou les sons attrapés par la queue (1990)
de luc ferrari
réalisation : brunhild meyer
production : la muse en circuit, paris 1991, pour le swf
première diffusion swf : 18 juin 1991
le lieu d’action ou mieux, lieu sonore de ce conte sentimental est ventimiglia, ville frontalière italienne.
en fait, pendant cette sieste, il y a beaucoup à entendre. comme un photographe, luc ferrari capte avec son magnétophone les lieux, les scènes et les gens et emmène ainsi l’auditeur en promenade à travers la vieille ville.
autrefois… il poursuivait les pigeons. « si tu veux les attraper, disait sa mère, il faut leur mettre du sel sur la queue »…(h.n.)
« aujourd’hui je mets du sel sur les sons » (l.f.)
conte sentimental n° 6 (mars 1991)
le manuscrit anonyme - 24’59’’
musique : les yeux de mathieu (1984) et collection de petites pièces ou 36 enfilades pour piano et magnétophone (1985) de luc ferrari
réalisation : brunhild meyer
production : la muse en circuit, paris 1991, pour le swf
première diffusion swf : 23 octobre 1991
des danseuses habillées de rouge glissent dans des barques à fond plat à travers une jungle d’un vert profond.
lieu de l’action : le marais poitevin. luc ferrari fait partie du groupe ; il enregistre des bruits et compose des musiques. petit à petit, naît une collection de petites pièces. celle-ci, avec ses citations de la nature et de l’histoire de la musique, ouvre la porte à une fiction poétique, à l’histoire du manuscrit anonyme, avec le titre « 36 enfilades pour piano et magnétophone » qu’un musicologue découvre dans la bibliothèque municipale d’un petit village de lozère. (h.n.)
piano : paul dubuisson
conte sentimental n° 7 (septembre 1991)
il n’y a rien à voir ici - première partie - 24’52’’
musique : hétérozygote (1964) de luc ferrari
réalisation : brunhild meyer
production : la muse en circuit, paris 1991, pour le swf
première diffusion swf : 6 novembre 1991
« en feuilletant un dictionnaire, je suis tombé sur ce mot hétérozygote et, tout d’un coup, j’ai su quoi faire avec tous ces sons que j’avais récoltés par-ci par-là, au cours des années.
hétérozygote veut dire : d’origines diverses, veut dire ambiguïté… » (l.f.)
luc ferrari a inclus dans sa pièce des prises de sons provenant de ses multiples voyages aventureux, comme ici sa première rencontre avec le phasing qu’il a découvert en faisant rebondir des galets sur la plage d’etretat.
il raconte aussi son débat avec pierre schaeffer à propos des définitions de la musique concrète.
un jour, comme ingénieur du son, il accompagne des amis cinéastes pour faire un reportage sur le festival de bayreuth. ce groupe de gens, jeunes et naïfs, qui n’avait pas demandé l’autorisation de filmer, a constamment dû contourner la surveillance du festspielhaus pour réussir finalement à enregistrer ce qui n’aurait pas dû l’être. (h.n.)
conte sentimental n° 9 (novembre 1992)
journal d’un autobiographe - première partie - 24’53’’
musique : j’ai été coupé (1960-1969) 12’ -tautologos iii (1970) - 20’ de luc ferrari
réalisation : brunhild meyer
production : la muse en circuit, paris 1992, pour le swf
première diffusion swf : 16 juin 1993
un portrait est tracé pour être déconstruit en même temps : c’est l’essai biographique du compositeur et réalisateur de hörspiel, luc ferrari, qui entreprend un voyage magnétophonique dans sa propre mémoire, dans le labyrinthe de sa biographie et qui se souvient de ses ancêtres, son enfance, la guerre et l’occupation allemande.
mais ce qui surgit est également la création artistique. une histoire fragile, poreuse, qui voile et dévoile, qui reste incertaine et qui crée toutefois l’intimité…
ainsi se développe un film musical et acoustique de sa propre vie ; la biographie devient une forme de jeu musical. dans les années 60, ferrari développe avec « tautologos » un univers sonore qui possède ses propres lois et il déclare, pour ses maximes artistiques, la technique de la répétition et de la subversion, le dénouement de rapports de sens. toujours, il fait tourner l’événement musical autour d’une histoire et, dans la disparité des éléments formels, il présente une histoire qui est la sienne. (h.n.)
avec la voix de david jisse
conte sentimental n° 10 (1993)
spaziermusik - music promenade - 25’09’’
musique : music promenade - spaziermusik (1964-1969) de luc ferrari
réalisation : brunhild meyer
production : la muse en circuit, paris 1993, pour le swf
première diffusion swf : 9 février 1994
lorsque dans les années soixante, nous allions en aventure avec jacques brissot - luc comme ingénieur du son, moi comme assistante à la réalisation, nous parcourions l’europe pour tourner la série de films “ chaque pays fête son grand homme ” pour la tv française. luc, la plupart du temps en route avec son magnétophone et ses écouteurs sur les oreilles, ramenait à la maison un tel butin sonore qu’il n’a pu tout utiliser pour les films. puis, lui vint l’idée d’en composer “ music promenade ”. dans la version hörspiel pour la série “ contes sentimentaux ”, cette composition est à son tour mélangée avec les enregistrements de l’époque. images sonores de l’armée portugaise du régime salazar, de pièces de shakespeare à londres et paris, d’une fête en l’honneur de jeanne d’arc à rouen - nous entendons andré malraux - et du port de hambourg ainsi que de deux jolies jeunes filles du film “ société iii ” que luc avait réalisé en 1967 pour la ndr. le tout compris dans sa “ music promenade ” (b.m.)
conte sentimental n° 11 (1994)
il était une fois le studio billig - 24’23’’
musique : cellule 75 (1975) de luc ferrari
réalisation : brunhild meyer
production : la muse en circuit, paris 1994, pour le swf
première diffusion swf : 11 juillet 1994
le compositeur luc ferrari est né rue rollin, une impasse dans le 5eme arrondissement de paris. dans cette même rue, il installe en 1972 un studio, une minuscule cellule qu’il appelle “ studio billig ”. dans ces “ contes sentimentaux ” se mêlent les souvenirs du jeu de ballon de son enfance aux arènes de lutèce, près de la rue rollin, avec ceux de ses travaux de composition des années 70, et surtout de “ cellule 75 ”, la première pièce complètement composée au studio billig. (b.m.)
|
2013 |
€45.00 |
|
| FERRARI, LUC / GOL |
Exercises d'Improvisation |
LP |
"Edition limited to 350 copies, includes an insert with the complete score by Luc Ferrari. ** Luc Ferrari conceived this work in 1977 as a sequence of seven individually or collectively improvised exercises for tape and any instrument or group of instruments. Never performed before, "Exercices d'improvisation" have been released by the GOL collective and issued now on LP by PLANAM. The seven exercises follow each others in a suite of growing intensity where GOL acoustic and electric instruments react to Luc Ferrari's tape, lively re-interpreted by Brunhild Ferrari: from a more meditative form, the music turns into free mental spiraling sections to finally culminate in a live musique concrete drama. The tracks were recorded at Ferrari's Atelier Post-billig on April 12th and 13th, 2010, a few days before the world premiere performance at La Maison Rouge in Paris. "Exercices d'improvisation" on one hand presents a new perspective on Ferrari's music and on the other pays a panorama-like tribute to his rich and eclectic corpus; somewhere between "Tête et Queue du Dragon" and "Tautologos" with a touch of "Danses Organiques". The front sleeve shows a four colour wild collage by the French artist, film-maker and Ferrari's collaborator Jacques Brissot based on photo sessions done by Myriam Tirler who also shot the back cover and inner sleeve images presenting GOL members and Brunhild Ferrari in Kagel-Exotica-like appearances.
Please note: this previously unpublished work revealing a hidden part of Luc Ferrari poetics is not included in the INA 10CD boxset. Only available on this LP edition."
[Soundohm]
|
2010 |
€21.50 |
|
| FHIEVEL |
Vetri di carta |
CD-R |
Die S’AGITA CDR-Serie entwickelt sich zu einem feinen Überblick über den derzeitigen italienischen Experimental / Drone / field recording – Underground. Auch Nr. 15 beschert uns einen neuen Namen, hinter FHIEVEL steckt ein gewisser Luca Bergero, der sich in ganz minimal-magische Gefilde begibt. Aus dem Nichts tauchen seltsame Geräusche und kurze Drones auf, um wieder zu verschwinden, das alles gibt ein auf und ab von sanfter Atmosphäre... Nr. 15 in the S’AGITA-series, which developes to a great survey over the current italian experimental underground-scene... FHIEVEL creates minimal magic-area music, short strange noises and drones appear out of nothing and disappear, building a movement in a smooth atmosphere.., “sounds like silent elves gesturing inexplicably. lowercase psychedelia by luca bergero” [label description]
|
2003 |
€9.00 |
|
| FIEBIG, GERALD |
Gasworks |
CD |
„Gasworks“ by sonic artist Gerald Fiebig collects his sound installations, radiophonic compositions, and live performances relating to the former gasworks in Augsburg-Oberhausen. They were created between 2010 and 2016, some in collaboration with colleagues EMERGE and Christian Z. Müller. Among the compositional materials of the album are processed recordings of the sounds of gas and industrial machinery, stories told by a former gasworks employee, and live improvisations in the echo chamber of the large gas tank.
Liner notes by Gerald Fiebig:
Cities phosphorescent
on the riverbank, industry’s
glowing piles waiting
beneath the smoke trails
W.G. Sebald, After Nature
The former gasworks in Augsburg-Oberhausen (not to be confused with the better-known Gasometer in the city of Oberhausen in the Ruhr area) have been a subject of my artistic practice for more than a decade. This album collects all the works related to the gasworks except a site-specific installation version of Echoes of Industry that did not lend itself to documentation as a recording.
Opened in 1915, the gasworks are a testimony to the spirit of what one could call the ‚heroic‘ age of industrialisation. The architecture of the ovens and machine halls features stylistic quotes from the façade of Augsburg’s renaissance city hall as well as from cathedrals. Technological progress is presented as both raison d’état and religion. This stands in stark contrast to the extremely hard, dangerous and – for a very long time – poorly paid working conditions described by long-time gasworks employee Johann Artner in Nach der Industrie / After Industry. From our contemporary viewpoint, informed by climate change and the impending end of fossil resources, the optimism expressed in the beautiful architecture of the gasworks also appears less than justified for ecological reasons: until 1968, the gasworks actually produced gas by burning coal in large ovens. They then continued to operate as a distributing station for fossil gas from transcontinental pipelines into the local network. Operations ceased in 2001.
After almost two decades of merely intermittent use for festivals and other events, 2019 saw the re-opening of the gasworks area as an arts centre featuring a theatre as well as artists‘ studios, rehearsal rooms, and office spaces for creative businesses. This seems to imply that it has now entered the ‚post-industrial‘ age where clean, almost immaterial computer screens have replaced the factory floors once so dirty and dangerous.
In fact, there is no such thing as a ‚post-industrial‘ age, just globalised capitalism increasingly outsourcing the dirty and dangerous work (manufacturing the microprocessors for the ‚post-industrial‘ devices, for example) to poorer countries. And of course industrial manufacturing still does form an important part of economies of the global North, even if the leading role in ideological narratives of growth and prosperity has been taken over by the ‚post-industrial‘ businesses.
Both post-industrial, which is partly based on processed sounds of a metal tool factory quite close to the gasworks, and Echoes of Industry can be heard as reminders of these ambivalences. Echoes of Industry brings the space of the gasworks into contact with the sounds of textile machines. This is a reference to the fact that the decline of the gasworks as an industrial site paralleled that of Augsburg’s once-thriving textile industry. It also alludes to the role of the textile industry as one of the most prominent examples for the exploitative use of cheap offshore labour.
But my interest in the gasworks is not only due to its historical ‚echoes,‘ documented so well by the committed friends of the gasworks, or Gaswerksfreunde Augsburg. As an artist working with sound, I am constantly fascinated by the literal echoes inside the large metal gas tank, 84 metres high and 45 metres in diameter. This unique sound effect is at the heart of Echoes of Industry, as well as the two live performances I did inside this space in 2016 under the title Ohrentauchen mit Echolot / Ear-diving with Echo Sounding. Doing this live improvisation in which acoustic sound-generators, from hammers to whistles, interacted with the physical features of the room as well as with its resonant properties, I felt it brought to completion the work I had begun in 2007 with a tour of the gasworks, guided by members of Gaswerksfreunde Augsburg, and the interview with the late Johann Artner.
This album is dedicated to his memory.
Excerpts:
1. post-industrial
Excerpt of a sound installation in the so-called Apparatehaus during Grenzenlos festival, 2014
Sounds of hissing gas from a kitchen stove, processed by Gerald Fiebig, are combined with field recordings from a nearby factory in a building even older than the gasworks, processed by EMERGE.
Composed & realised by Gerald Fiebig & EMERGE
Commissioned by Christa Spaniol (Künstlergruppe 38/40)
2. Ohrentauchen mit Echolot
Excerpts from performances in the large Gaskessel during Asche zu Farbgut festival, 2016
Various unamplified tools, toys, and instruments, as well as Gerald Fiebig’s voice and body, were used to create sounds inside the 84-metre high metal chamber. This included hitting the metal surfaces themselves. The performance took place in the centre of the chamber, with the audience walking around the performer.
Live sound mix: www.yetiplanet.de
Commissioned by Christa Spaniol (Künstlergruppe 38/40)
3. Nach der Industrie
Sound installation at Lange Kunstnacht festival, 2010 (reworked version)
The late Johann Artner worked at the gasworks from 1947 to 1989. He was interviewed by Gerald Fiebig in 2007. Excerpts from more than two hours of recorded material were arranged and combined with processed sounds of gas from a kitchen stove. A transcript and English translation of Johann Artner’s narration can be found at www.geraldfiebig.net/gasworks.pdf.
Narration: Johann Artner
Commissioned by Elke Seidel (Stadt Augsburg – Kulturamt)
4. Echoes of Industry
Radio piece for Radioatelier on Radio Vltava, Czech Republic, first broadcast on 29 May, 2015
Two of Augsburg’s major industrial monuments meet in this piece: sampled recordings of textile machines (heard in part 1 of the piece) from the State Textile and Industry Museum Augsburg are played back inside the large Gaskessel. As they are transformed by the echoes of the room, a saxophone takes up an improvisational interaction with both the samples and the echoes. Part 2 of the piece is composed from live recordings of these improvisations in the gas tank. As the ‚remembered‘ machine sounds of industry become increasingly blurred, the theremin in part 3 gestures at the ambivalent perspective of a disembodied, ‚virtual‘ future of digital production.
Christian Z. Müller: saxophones, theremin
Gerald Fiebig: sampler, field recordings, processing
Composed and realised by Gerald Fiebig & Christian Z. Müller
Commissioned by Michal Rataj (Radio Vltava)
5 Tracks (68′18″)
CD (500 copies)
Credits:
Composed and realised by Gerald Fiebig except where noted
Audio mastering: Tomislav Bucalic and Tobias Schmitt
Design: Martina Vodermayer – www.martavictor.design
Photography: Sigrun Lenk, Martina Vodermayer, Gaswerksfreunde Augsburg
Thanks to: Tobias Brenner, Oliver Frühschütz (Gaswerksfreunde Augsburg); Julia Quandt (Museen und Kunstsammlungen Augsburg); Wolfgang Riß, Annette Trass (Stadtwerke Augsburg); and to Jutta Weber, Manuel Schedl, Bonnie Lee Turner, and Tine Klink.
Archival photographs are used by kind permission of Gaswerksfreunde Augsburg.
www.gaswerk-augsburg.de
The completion of this album was made possible by a residency at ELEVEN artspace, Starzach-Börstingen, Germany, in August 2018.
The production was generously supported by Arno Buchegger Stiftung, Augsburg, and Kurt und Felicitas Viermetz Stiftung, Augsburg.
www.gruenrekorder.de
|
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| FIESEL, CHRISTIAN |
The Dark Orb |
CD-R |
Christian Fiesel (also known from Modul303 web radio) is an electronic musician, mostly into all kinds of ambient, dark ambient and drone. His work is based on musique concrete, treatments and analogue synthesizer sounds.
His approach to creating music is deeply moody, dark, creating small otherworldly spaces within the soundscapes.
Having about an hour long, The Dark Orb album is probably the most intense and expressive work from him. It can be described as cinematic dark ambient, with traditional electronic (analogue) music parts that give it a touch of originality and making it also a very enjoyable release.
https://essentiamundi.bandcamp.com/album/the-dark-orb-em041
"Christian Fiesels musikalische Produktivität ist schon erstaunlich, ist doch The Dark Orb sein mindestens drittes Album (ich weiß nicht, wie vollständig seine Diskographie auf unseren Seiten ist) im Jahre 2018 - und als es erschien (Ende Mai), war das Jahr nicht einmal zur Hälfte vorbei! Aber wie eine Rezension höher schon zu lesen ist, sind hier Aufnahmen aus den letzten fünf Jahren versammelt.
Der Infozettel des Labels bezeichnet die Musik als „cinematic dark ambient“, eine durchaus passende Kategorisierung, bei der das „cinematic“ allerdings meist im Vordergrund steht. Über weite Strecken wirkt die Musik geradezu abweisend, und auch in den Momenten, wo die Musik Form annimmt, sich eine melodische Struktur herausbildet, scheint sie von Einsamkeit und Verlorenheit zu künden. Wie die akustische Umsetzung eines Schneetreibens klingt etwa Of Passing Clock and Time, bei dessen später einsetzender, Oboen-artig klingender, elegischer Melodie über einem stoischen Mellotron-Chor man sich vorstellen kann, selbigem aus einer nicht gut beheizten Hütte heraus zuzuschauen. Und bei den mächtigen, dunkel und drohend wabernden Mellotron-Klängen von Cinematic, die noch von einem klagenden Cello begleitet werden, fühlt man sich endgültig mitten in einer nächtlichen Schneelandschaft. Beide Stücke zeigen übrigens deutliche Reminiszenzen an die frühen Tangerine Dream, also ihrer Prä-Sequenzer-Zeit; diese Einflüsse zeigen sich auf diesem Album immer wieder mal.
Gänzlich oder zumindest weitgehend abstrakt wird es in Winds of East II, das phasenweise schon wie eine Geräuschcollage anmutet, wenn sich seltsames Rasseln oder Klackern in den Vordergrund schiebt. Ansonsten steht die Musik im Spannungsfeld zwischen melodischen und Ambient-artigen Klängen, wobei letztere in den drei abschließenden Stücken noch einmal verstärkt zur Geltung kommen.
Somit ist The Dark Orb ein schönes Werk elektronischer Musik, das geschickt bis ins Abstrakte reichende Dark-Ambient-Klänge mit Einflüssen aus der Frühzeit deutscher Elektronik verbindet. Auf Bandcamp kann man reinhören und neben der Download-Variante auch die auf 50 (!) Exemplare limitierte CD erwerben." [Babyblaue Seiten]
www.babyblaue-seiten.de/album_17436.html
|
2018 |
€8.00 |
|
| FINAL |
It comes to us All |
LP |
Justin K Broadrick (Godflesh, Jesu, JK Flesh) breathes new life into his FINAL project for an album on Helm’s ALTER label. Formed in 1984 out of an obsession with the industrial, noise & power electronics acts of the early eighties, FINAL made its public debut at the legendary Mermaid pub in Birmingham when Broadrick was just 14 years old. A string of cassette releases via his Post Mortem Rekordings label established the name within the underground noise scene of the time until increased activity with his various groups (Napalm Death, Head of David and later Godflesh) meant that FINAL naturally fell by the wayside before the end of the decade. Broadrick reactivated the project in 1993 during the British ambient “isolationism” period and FINAL's sound became focussed more on texture, producing beatless ambient work with a number of albums for labels like Sentrax, Utech, No Quarter and Neurot. ‘It Comes To Us All’ is the first FINAL album to appear on vinyl since 2015’s ‘Black Dollars’ on Downwards and continues to explore the textural nature of Broadrick’s ambient work - this time through a filter of blown-out harmonic noise that reconnects the project with its harsher roots. Rather than channelling the angst of early power-electronics, the noise here rumbles along blissfully through 8 untitled tracks, sombre in tone and at times beautiful. Melodies sampled from pop music are put through a process of decay, stripped of their form and worn down with a rusty, melancholic afterglow. Reducing all its parts to slow-motion shadows of their former selves, ‘It Comes To Us All’ is an exploration of the decay of all living things that we face collectively, day after day.
https://final1.bandcamp.com/album/it-comes-to-us-all
|
2022 |
€28.50 |
|
| |
It comes to us all |
CD |
Justin K Broadrick (Godflesh, Jesu, JK Flesh) breathes new life into his FINAL project for an album on Helm’s ALTER label. Formed in 1984 out of an obsession with the industrial, noise & power electronics acts of the early eighties, FINAL made its public debut at the legendary Mermaid pub in Birmingham when Broadrick was just 14 years old. A string of cassette releases via his Post Mortem Rekordings label established the name within the underground noise scene of the time until increased activity with his various groups (Napalm Death, Head of David and later Godflesh) meant that FINAL naturally fell by the wayside before the end of the decade. Broadrick reactivated the project in 1993 during the British ambient “isolationism” period and FINAL\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s sound became focussed more on texture, producing beatless ambient work with a number of albums for labels like Sentrax, Utech, No Quarter and Neurot. ‘It Comes To Us All’ is the first FINAL album to appear on vinyl since 2015’s ‘Black Dollars’ on Downwards and continues to explore the textural nature of Broadrick’s ambient work - this time through a filter of blown-out harmonic noise that reconnects the project with its harsher roots. Rather than channelling the angst of early power-electronics, the noise here rumbles along blissfully through 8 untitled tracks, sombre in tone and at times beautiful. Melodies sampled from pop music are put through a process of decay, stripped of their form and worn down with a rusty, melancholic afterglow. Reducing all its parts to slow-motion shadows of their former selves, ‘It Comes To Us All’ is an exploration of the decay of all living things that we face collectively, day after day.
https://final1.bandcamp.com/album/it-comes-to-us-all
|
2022 |
€16.00 |
|
| FIRE IN THE HEAD |
As the nest burns |
CD |
Exzellenter Trauma-Harsh-Noise von diesem neuen US-Projekt mit surrealen und manischen Qualitäten, verstörend veränderte Stimmen und Sounds überall, extrem düster & psychotisierend! Intensiv ! Lim. 400
“Fire In The Head” is probably one of the garish artists of “noise/power electronics”, representing the famous school of the USA. The project’s author Michael Page previously participated at live performances of the legendary Giovanni Balistrer’s project SLOGUN, also closely linked to the livery of NY sound terrorists. “As The Nest Burns” is short, but highly hysterical, brutal and dark album of “noise/power electronics” stylistics. Michael Page masterly plays with amplitude of different tracks intension. Slackened, leaden, psychedelic sounds overgrow into the avalanche of terribly aggressive and hysterical noise, gradually flooding back as unusual and uncomfortable sound stream. “As The Nest Burns” is a sort of element of otherworld civilization, starting its sudden extension, transformation and smashing attack. There are many fragments of distorted vocal in this album, making the tracks especially threatful. This is a completely new, reformed attack of USA “power electronics” tradition against the normal and moral world. Do you know what happens as the nest burns??? Then the children burn!!!“ [Written by Lashisha]
"As The Nest Burns” is an album about the darkest depths of psychosis, about the delusions and actions over which one has no control when entrenched in a manic state and the nightmares from which some never awaken. It is an album born in the blackest of times, to be listened to in the blackest of times. With this recording F/I/T/H experiments with new arsenal of sounds and techniques adding a heavily psychedelic edge to his mix of noise/power electronics/drone. These are the straight-jacketed screams from the bowels of a mental institution.”[wrten by Michael Page, FIRE IN THE HEAD]
www.autarkeia.org |
2005 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Carrion Wind |
CD |
"Since resuming recording this past Autumn, F/I/T/H’s work has taken a new direction. "Carrion Wind" is an ambitious work which consolidates the sounds explored with F/I/T/H and Sky Burial into a single project, focusing them into a complex and meticulously composed 63 minute industrial opus, a dark and ominous dirge, both beautiful and brutal, incorporating aspects of metal percussion, dark ambient, drone, doom and industrial electronics. Noticeably absent are Page’s vocals as F/I/T/H takes a more "restrained" approach favoring slow layering of synths, field recordings, guitar loops and electronics to build a tension which occasionally peaks at an explosive level comparable to the shorter tracks of F/I/T/H’s previous releases. Featuring a 4 Page booklet with artwork by Howard Forbes." [label info]
www.mutant-ape.co.uk
|
2009 |
€12.00 |
|
| FIRST HUMAN FERRO |
Heterodox |
CD |
"Old Captain’s owner, Olegh Kolyada, fights the sea and presents his Lost Generation victory in defeat. “Heterodox” is a dark ambient album born of the sound and the fury with heroes lonely and mad. A sparse, straightforward yet emotionally vigorous record with its own interior monologue, a discourse to be a silent interlocutor to. Restraining the interior the musician offers the nature symbolism via modular synthesizers and analogue junk approach to scatter one’s ego worldwide for good. Full of elemental primitiveness the heretic in his destructive folly challenges to claim a nihilistic vision of reality to engage the listener into an ever-present absurd. A 200-CD edition in a classical glossy Digipak co-produced by Old Captain and Gradual Hate Records." [label info]
www.oleghkolyada.com/label/
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
| FIRST, DAVID |
Privacy Issues (droneworks 1996-2009) |
3 x CD |
"Featuring Chris McIntyre and Peter Zummo, trombones; “Blue” Gene Tyranny, keyboards; and The Black Jackets Ensemble. “This was something unexpected and truly different: pulsing electronic textures that derived their rhythm from the beating patterns of closely-tune pitches - as if Alvin Lucier and Philip Glass had gone on a blind date to CBGBs... David put the beat in beating patterns.” - From the liner notes by composer Nic Collins (on his initial exposure to First's music in 1987). Long overdue overview of composer David First's drone works. This special and specially priced set (3 CDs for the price of 2) is comprised of nine works composed between 1996 and 2009. “1996 was the beginning of a new period for me”, says First. “I had spent the prior five or six years creating a lot of music for other players and larger ensembles - culminating in 1995 with a couple of mountings of my opera, The Manhattan Book of the Dead. I was a little burned out on this and decided to return to a more personal, intimate format - one that ended up including an even more extensive exploration of tunings, alternative compositional softwares and how my playing techniques interacted with these things. I think I just wanted to go deeper and have more control over the results. During the ensuing years I've had a few pendulum swings - forays into beat-oriented pop music with lyrics & vocals and, of course, the re-animation of my rock band from the late 70s - the Notekillers. But I've continued, through all of the changes, to maintain my grounding in my love of the drone & associated acoustical phenomena - a love affair that began in my teenage psychedelic years and will, no doubt, be a most significant aspect of my music path for as long as I am at it. The tracks here represent almost every major work created from 1996 to the present and I'm grateful that they will be heard by a wider swath of people than those who lived in NYC or happened to be at one of my touring performances during these years.”
David First's musical life is filled with opposites and extremes. At the age of twenty he played guitar with renowned avant-jazz pianist Cecil Taylor in a legendary Carnegie Hall concert. Two years after that he was creating electronic music as an "after-hours" artist-in-residence at Princeton University and leading a Mummer's String Band in Philadelphia parades. He has played in raucous drunken bar bands and in pin-drop quiet concert halls with classical ensembles. As a composer First has created everything from finely crafted pop songs to long, severely minimalist drone-works. His performances often find him sitting trance-like without seeming to move a muscle, unless he is playing with his recently re-formed psychedelic punk band, Notekillers, at which time he is a whirling blur of hyperactive energy. First has been called "a fascinating artist with a singular technique" in The New York Times, and "a bizarre cross between Hendrix and La Monte Young" in The Village Voice. A 45 single released in 1980, The Zipper, by Notekillers, was cited by Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore as one of the songs he played for the rest of the band when they were starting out. Moore called it a “mind-blowing instrumental single” in the British rock magazine Mojo and “a big influence” in the Philadelphia Inquirer. First's music has been performed in the USA at The Kitchen, Bang On A Can, Central Park Summerstage, the CMJ Music Marathon, Joe's Pub, SXSW, The Stone, The Knitting Factory, Tonic, Issue Project Room, Monkey Town, Merkin Hall, CBGB's, and The Spoleto Festival. He has also been presented extensively in Europe - appearing, at Podewil, the USArts Festival, Institut Unzeit (Berlin) as well as at De Ijsbreker (Amsterdam), the Heidelberger Festival for Experimental Music and Literature (Heidelberg), ZwischenTone Festival (Köln), The Impakt Festival (Utrecht), Het Apollohuis (Eindhoven), and the Brugge Concertgebeouw (Brugge). First has also presented sound installations at Kunstforeningen (Copenhagen), the Uppsala Konstmuseum (Uppsala), Exit Art (New York), Voorkamer (Lier) and Studio Five Beekman (NYC). An installation - Dave's Waves, a Sonic Restaurant - ran during the summer of 2006 in the Sonambiente Festival of Sound Art in Berlin. He has also been featured in numerous publications. There have been articles about him in both Guitar Player and Keyboard Magazine as well as in MusikTexte (Germany), Arude, Atlantica (Spain) and Tape Op. There are chapters about his music in the books American Music in the Twentieth Century (Gann/Schirmer) and La Musica Minimalista (Antognozzi/Edizioni Textus), Music Downtown (Gann/UofC Press) and Rifugio intermedio - Il pianoforte contemporaneo fra Italia e Stati Uniti (Arciuli/Teatro di Monfalcone). First received Honorable Mention from Leonardo/ISAST for his article "The Music of the Sphere: An Investigation into Asymptotic Harmonics, Brainwave Entrainment, and the Earth as a Giant Bell". He has received grants from the Foundation of Contemporary Performance Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Aaron Copland Fund for Music, the Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust and the Meet the Composer Commissioning USA program." [label info]
www.xirecords.org
"Although I didn't keep up with the entire out-put of Phill Niblock's Experimental Intermedia label, the releases I did hear usually a very good, and also usually bring me composers I never heard off. Like David First. I never heard of him as a composer of drone works, nor of his band the Notekillers. In 1995 he finished an opera 'The Manhattan Book Of The Dead' and decided to play something that was more personal and intimate and thus a phase of composing drone music started. Although First is primarily a guitarist he explored various instruments in this drone phase. This three CD starts out with a thirty-five minute piece for Theremin, the longest piece here for a solo instrument. Other pieces are for slide whistle, computer, e-bowed guitar and even an odd one for transistor radios (the shortest actually, at just one minute). Two pieces, under which the CD long 'Pipeline Witness Apologies To Dennis', are pieces for a small ensemble. In the 'Pipeline' for four trombones, tuned
keyboards, e-bow guitar and computer, whereas violin, clarinet, guitar, bass and e-bow appear in 'My Veil Evades Detection'. All of this shows, I think, a wide interest in how to approach drone music, and First does an excellent job. In 'Pipeline' we could recognize some influence of Phill Niblock, whereas in the other pieces First keeps a great balance between material that is partly very loud and present, piercing almost, like in 'Zen Guilt/Zen Blame' or 'Belt', to hectic nervous pieces such as 'Aw!' or very much computer based as in'The Softening Door'. Altogether a great release, quite long of course, spanning more than three hours of music, but with this diversity I must say this is all great. An excellent introduction." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€23.00 |
|
| FIVE ELEMENTS MUSIC |
New Communications : One |
CD-R |
NEW COMMUNICATIONS: Nur die 4 Elemente werden zur Klangerschaffung eingesetzt, um das nicht-sichtbare fünfte Element (die Musik?) zu erschaffen... hier verbinden sich field recordings sehr schön mit Obertönen, wie in einer rauschenden Unterwasserfahrt tauchen mechanisch wirkende Sounds auf. 46 Minuten, 2 tracks, professional cover.
"Russian project FEM works approximately in the same conceptual course as Japanese Aube, but oriented towards "natural" approach. While Aube uses only one sound source for an album, may it be tone generator's waves or sounds of water, FEM chooses only 5 elements: air, water, earth and stone. And while Aube often goes mad with building mathematically precise multy-level constructions with hi-fi sound, FEM on the contrary inherited droning structure of tracks from other projects of [S] (Sister Loolomie, Exit In Grey) with muffled lingering sounds. This album starts with literally stone ambient but by 10th minute the identification of sound practically disappears and only sometimes kind of familiar timbres emerge: cicadas, radionoises, etc." [Zhelezobeton]
|
2006 |
€9.50 |
|
|
VarunaGhat |
CD-R |
"To the food industry, water is increasingly turning into a lifestyle product. For Russian artist Sergey, it is source of great purity which should be treated thoughtfully and with respect. On “Nameless Droplet”, his recently released and already all but sold-out Mystery Sea debut with his main project Exit in Grey, the metaphors were still covered by dark clouds and hidden in musical metaphors. The album represented a shoreless sea slowly being sucked down a vast and increasingly vociferous vortex. Under his “Five Elements Music” disguise, however, the metaphors are facing themselves in a Kirlian mirror, their souls exposed and their true nature revealed.
Samples of various water recordings, therefore, are at the heart of “VarunaGhat”. For an artist who holds the traditional drone ethos even higher in his solo work than in his collaborational activities (which, on “Nameless Droplet” allowed for diversifications such as sombre guitar figures), this can hardly come as a surprise.
With its complexly vivid inner pulsation and a constant outward frequency, after all, the sound of water is essentially a drone itself and compliments the suspended harmonies of the genre perfectly. On the other hand, Sergey is not content travelling to the same places others have already visited. Just like Exit in Grey caused minor erruptions by fluently shaping their intangible compositions into very concrete textures, Five Elements Music finds a niche between a traditional and a progressive use of its field recordings.
Rhythm especially plays a vital role in this concept. There is a very simple logic behind this thought, as water in itself is silent and only becomes audible through movement. Whether it isparkles from a fountain, rushes through a ravine, gallops like fugitive horses or murmurs peacefully, Sergey concentrates on its pulse as well as its irregular gravitational centre. He doesn’t need all too many exterior extrapolations to achieve this effect and instead choses to leave most of the natural emmissions intact. His work lies rather in developping the samples through timbre and by allowing different sources to overlap and form new patterns.
Simultaneously, he contrasts these waterscapes with the expansions of his drones. The vast, twentytwo minute long opening track takes this to extremes, as a single recording is awarded emotions ranging from aggression to tranquil zeal, while the sky is increasingly covered by black cumuli and distant lightning flashes.
On the second untitled track, a sinus tone is softly stretched, forming a tender, wooly surface. Here, the basic technique is most apparent, as organic and surgically dissected material are brought together, while immobile frequencies clash with the underlying stillness.
One has to see this as a decided step against the arbitrary use of water in electronic music. Many recent releases have both shown the great effect it can still have, as well as the danger of ending up a cliche. On “VarunaGhat”, no drop of water is carelessly spilt. It relies on the beauty of its path through nature, yet changes its course whenever this offers a chance for creating new sensations. You need to listen closely to this album to actually become aware of this seemingly insignificant but really quite important shift. If you do, however, there are great rewards lurking underneath its surface." [ By Tobias Fischer / Tokafi ]
"Russian project Five Elements Music is a shoot coming from exit in grey's rich compost of sound experiments, and also Sergey's solo highly organic vehicle... the name comes from a vedic concept of "Five Elements" (ETHER, Air, Fire, Water, Earth) needed to have a global approach of reality, one that goes beyond appearances, words and consciousness for an enhanced experience of Life both on an emotional, physical & spiritual level... ETHER is the central element of this bouquet, holding all forms & colors, and the human body is the perceptual tool...
Five Elements Music paints a sound canvas, trying to reach a sort of supra-awareness through the manipulation of chosen sensible sonic fragments coming from some essential elemental sources...
-
On "VarunaGhat" we share a common mystery
with a pool of trembling water,
being both in a dormant state,
waiting to bloom while listening to its nocturnal flow...
an imperturbable stream
in phase with the world
we speak as a river,
our voices among stones, singing into the liquid
like a choral of fluctuating micro-energies...
In all those elements lies a detailed universe
Drink its traces, slip into its convolutions, sense its immanent drift
till your awakening..." [label info]
www.mysterysea.net
|
2007 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Kapotte Muziek by... |
CD-R |
A re-working of a KAPOTTE MUZIEK concert that happened on May 26, 2008, in St. Petersburg. Though we are not sure how the original recording sounded, this is a fine example of FEMs ability to create ghostly drones with additives of more concrete & metallic elements, probably of KAPOTTE MUZIEK origin. Playtime around 35 minutes, one-tracker, on the label of dutch soundmaker ORPHAX !
"Only a few week's back the album titled "The black and white album" by the project Zebra was reviewed in Vital Weekly (#649). Behind the project was Roel Meelkop and Frans De Waard. The album was a very crossover-based experience with a nice balance between catchy expressions and avantgarde electronics. Present CD find the the two sound explorers back in one of their legendary projects. Kapotte Muziek was established back in 1984. Since then, the trio consisting of Roel Meelkop and Frans De Waard together with Peter Duimelinks has specialized in electroacoustic music. Present CDR is a recording from a live show in St. Petersburg in May 26th 2008. It is one lengthy piece of electroacoustic music combining field recordings with processed and manipulated found sounds and its recycled/remixed by [s], the man behind Five Elements Music, also from Russia. Despite its starting point in found sounds the expression is quite often alienated and otherworldly, with buzzing drones and crackling noises resulting in an intriguing hypnotic piece of sound art. Five Elements Music manage to create soundscapes that function both as "music" and "abstract sound art". Thus the album will appeal to a wide range of listeners from ambient listeners across Noise-heads to listeners of conceptual sound art thanks to the atmospheric drones offered on this album." [NM, Vital Weekly]
www.movingfurniturerecords.com
|
2008 |
€7.00 |
|
| FIVE ELEMENTS MUSIC / JIM HAYNES / ANDREA MARUTTI |
Tri-Ton |
CD |
"Three drone-centric artists from three different parts of the world... Five Elements Music is a Russian isolationist / ambient project spawned by one of the members of the similarly minded Exit In Grey; Andrea Marutti is an Italian dark ambient practitioner with a number of occultish recordings under the moniker Amon; and Jim Haynes is a Bay Area artist who "rusts things" and also happens to work here at aQuarius. Both Marutti's and Haynes' compositions are responses to the piece made by Five Elements Music. A massive tectonic rumble emerges from the onset of the Russian track, as if the resonant echo from a meteor striking the heart of Siberia were captured through the felling of a million trees. Out of these frequencies, Five Elements Music evolves this sound into a growling dissonance more dialed into those rasping drones that Oren Ambarchi or Birchville Cat Motel might broadcast from time to time. Over the 23 minutes, this track becomes steadily more placid and inviting, eschewing the desolate horror at the beginning for something beautifully introspective. Marutti builds from the bleak horror where Five Elements Music began, producing cavernous hues of black and grey on amorphous clouds of mist and fog. Marutti's work parallels those blackened static movements of Yen Pox and Inade. For Haynes' part, the theatrical cloak and dagger of Thomas Koner's isolationism comes to mind in his response to the Five Elements Music track, albeit constructed from his distressed textures and fluttering shortwave radio manipulation. Easily the most dynamic piece of this triptych, Haynes deftly transitions pools of nocturnal drones into snarling crescendos of volatile motors, turbines, and Kevin Drumm-esque guitar dissonance which morph into an evocative movement of super-slow-motion heartbeat rhythm and radio frequencies detuned into sweeping, ghostly sinewaves, captured from within one of those WWII era bunkers that dot the California coast. Haynes presented a version of this at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in a collaborative, expanded cinema piece involving a massive diorama, lots of old scientific gear, a couple of surveillance cameras, and a toy train. Alas, there's little video documentation of that performance, but the audio here works amazingly well on its own." [label info]
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| FJERNLYS |
Ascending Triads & Luminous Arcs |
do-CD |
„Schwarz, bordeaux und weiß sind die Grundfarben des Covers, der Schrifttyp lässt auf einen Bezug zum Jugendstil des frühen 20. Jahrhunderts schließen. Packt man die CD-Hülle aus dem Pappschuber, zeigt sich das Foto einer nordischen Seenlandschaft, die sich mittig spiegelt - ein Motiv, das das gesamte Artwork bestimmt. Wer Knut Enderleins bisheriges Schaffen in der Ritual-Ambient-Formation Inade verfolgt hat, wird hier einige vertraute Elemente wiederfinden, musikalisch jedoch beschreitet das neue Projekt Fjernlys neue Pfade. Während Inade thematisch von Ideen kosmischer Spiritualität und dem Okkultismus des frühen 20. Jahrhunderts handelt, entfaltet Fjernlys in Titeln wie "Intermediate Nature", "Trunkene Flut" oder "Nocturnal Wine" einen mystischen Pantheismus, die All-Einheit von Existenz und Welt.
Am Arrangement wirkten diesmal neben Knut Enderlein auch noch eine weibliche Vokalistin sowie zwei weitere Musiker mit. Für das Mastering zeichnete Andreas Wahnmann von Fir§t Law verantwortlich, dessen neue CD dieser Tage ebenfalls erscheint. Stilistisch bewegt man sich nicht mehr in dronigen Darkambient-Gefilden, sondern bemüht sich deutlich um Songstrukturen und eingängige Melodien - mit minimalistischen Mitteln versteht sich: Gearbeitet wird mit dezenten elektronischen Beatstrukturen,synthetischen Sphären, aber auch akustischen Elementen wie einem Bass. Drei verschiedene Stimmen tauchen auf, wobei der düstere Aspekt von Inade durchscheint, aber auch eine gelegentliche Leichtigkeit, u.a. durch die Präsenz einer Frauenstimme. Die Texte auf Deutsch und Englisch sind leider nicht durchweg verständlich und werden auch im Booklet nicht reproduziert - man bettet sich im Geheimnisvollen.
Mit pochenden Rhythmen, elegischen Sphären und finsterem Gesang füllt man eine Lücke, die Predominance nach ihrer Auflösung auf dem Loki-Label hinterlassen haben. "Flash Crimson", "All Sun's Ceaseless Falling" und "Rising Challenge" arbeiten auf diese Weise: Kosmisch-apokalyptische Chill-Out-Hymnen. Rituelle Drums tauchen bei "Lunar Sphere" und "Solar Loka" auf, während "Nocturnal Wine" wirklich poppige Qualitäten hat und darauf shließen lässt, dass sich die Hörgwohnheiten der Musiker nicht mit alten Lustmord-Scheiben erschöpften... Hier meint man durchaus einen Nachhall von Minimalelektronik der 1980er Jahre zu hören, oder die unterkühlte Melancholie früher Wavemusik.
Die zweite CD enthält Remixe des Materials, und zwar von Antlers Mulm, Bad Sector, Fir§t Law und Lovespell, allesamt aus dem Freundeskreis des Loki-Labels bzw. auf diesem Label verlegt. Dabei ist erstaunlich zu beobachten, wie diese Gruppen das Basismaterial ihrer eigenen Klangwelt angleichen: Bad Sector geht eher kalt-noisig vor, Antlers Mulm und Lovespell dagegen gestalten ihre Stücke eher relaxed-poppig. Und Fir§t Law führt eine spacig-trancige Not ein...“ [Ikonen mag]
“On their first album FJERNLYS emerges marvelous sounds and voices organically in songs and arrange a pleasant and relaxed sound to pure benefit with highest recognizing value. The songs layer cosmic and synthetic sounds and go on tracing according to the principle harmony in the music, their acoustic space seems very expansive, it is by no means over-crowded. The voices creep crosswise into sounds and effects to lunar spheres and solar places, exactly the correct nuance at refinement not only to remain in the ear but also simply very charming. Sometimes the central sequence takes surprising twists in some recordings and the density of sounds became touchable. Behind this project hides one of the INADE Masterminds, who recorded nine tracks supported from several musicians, those clearly possesses more songcharacter than the work which appeared from the Lightchannel so far. Fjernlys' attitude to music remains unfettered by stylistic frames and the album targets the style-encompassing essence of sounds. The five remixes and interpretations of ANTLERS MULM, BAD SECTOR, FIRST LAW and LOVESPELL on the second CD support the complex character of the whole release and expand the border to a new style of Ambient Songs. Ace - Clear - Pure.“ [label info]
|
2006 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Four (One unearthly Room) |
do-CD |
"Five years after the last full-time album of Fjernlys, the Leipzig based outfit returns with new recordings. Fjernlys’ attention to detail is typically exquisite here: the looped bowing of a cello provides a droning bassline beneath pitch-bent chimes and melodic pads. Clear homogenic sounds creeping deep organic rhythms with lovely effects have been incorporated in a poetic ambiance guided by brilliant vocals. A collaboration with Peter Bjärgö on vocals for 'The Fervid Flood' intoning a new and inspiring way of recordings and production. FOUR appears to have abandoned tracks that aim to move bodies in favour of ambient songs that aim to move hearts. Atmospheric and sensitive Ambientsongs with accented percussion elements, vibraphone sounds and viola supplements to set the electronic soundscapes into wonderfully concentrated and organic pieces. Swimming beneath Fjernlys' ambient arrangements is a primordial cosmos of sonics: the falling of rain outside a window, the tumble of unknown random oscillations, a whirl of ebow guitars. The hustle and bustle of these sounds ground the grandiose orchestration on the record and give it an abstract sense of the transcendental space. On the second CD are remixes of 4 tracks from the album, revisited by Kammarheit, Peter Bjärgo, S.E.T.I. and Herbst9. Every single interpretation these artists made completes the puzzle of this release to its entire form of One Unearthly Room." [label info]
wp.loki-found.de
|
2015 |
€15.00 |
|
| FLORES, RAFAEL |
Nubes, Cometas, Rumores y Orugas: selected works 1994-2004 |
CD |
Einer der ganz aktiven frühen Industrial-“Cassettentäter” aus den 80ern war RAFAEL FLORES, der unter dem Namen COMANDO BRUNO arbeitete. Das Moskauer Label MONOCHROME VISION hat nun neueres Material zusammengetragen, welches nur in mini-CDR-Auflagen erhältlich war. FLORES Musik besticht durch die Verwendung mechanischer loops & „industrieller“ Geräusche, metallischer Drones & merkwürdiger verzerrter elektronischer Strukturen.....alles sehr hypnotisch, minimal & repetitiv, und manchmal recht abgründig....
das ist der 80er Jahre Noise-Minimalismus, wie man ihn von M.B., S-CORE oder TAM QUAM TABULA RASA geschätzt hat...
“First official CD album of Rafael Flores who hails from the depth of spanish noise underground scene, known for his early works released under Comando Bruno moniker. This compilation presents the latest decade of his sound experimentation, and shows quite diverse sides of his creative efforts, which ranges from collaged field recordings to noise ambient loops, from rhythmic structures to hypnotic electronic passages.“ [label info]
“....Rafael Flores first came to my attention in 1984 or 1985 when he worked as Comando Bruno, and was featured on many cassette compilations around the world. I even released a cassette of his, I think in 1986. Despite me xeroxing the cover, it had all sorts of stamps made by Comando Bruno, as he was also heavily into mailart. But my contact with Flores was rather small, and in the later half of the eighties we were no longer in contact and when people started to release LPs and CDs, he seemed to have disappeared. His cassette was re-issued on CDR (and sold really few copies, not that I was surprised), and suddenly Flores knocked on my door asking for a few copies. Since then we are not in contact, but it's good to know he's back. From the lost years, 1994-2004 he now releases a CD - his first in twenty-five years. It's great to hear this music without the hiss and static of a cassette. Flores plays industrial music, but one that strictly along the 'old' rules. He takes he sounds from rather primitive sources (such as the radio depicted on the cover), feeding them through electronics, chopping them into small rhythm particles (such as in 'Boucher 2' which sounds alike Esplendor Geometrico), but never the material dissolves into a mass of noise sound. Crisp clear, layers of electronic sounds, processed field recordings (in 'Para'), this is music that reminded me of the late eighties Asmus Tietchens. Forceful, yet intelligent industrial music. A major step forward and hopefully much more to come.” [Frans de Waard / Vital Weekly]
|
2005 |
€13.00 |
|
| FLYING SAUCER ATTACK & ROY MONTGOMERY |
Goodbye |
mLP |
"Rauschige low-fi Drones, Pianotunes, rauhe Gitarrenflächen, feine Harmonien, insgesamt ein sehr experimenteller (Seite 1) und schöner (Seite 2) Release von der Feedback/Drone/Rock-Band und ROY MONTGOMERY." [old Drone Rec. info]
"Originally conceived as a "farewell" 7", this EP instead neatly wraps up old FSA business on one side and finds the band with new life on the other. "Goodbye" is a noisy and weird collage that definitely would have been the strangest A-side in FSA history. "And Goodbye" documents New Zealander Roy Montgomery's (Pin Group, Dadamah, Dissolve, numerous solo works) only appearance with the band in the form of a lengthy and beautiful raga, sort of like a group version of a track off of Roy's Temple IV. "The Whole Day" is new FSA, and is a lovely duet between guitar and sampler evoking previous glories such as "Distance" and "Popol Vuh I & II." Both formats feature all 3 tracks. 3 tracks, 24 mins. 12" is on red vinyl and is a fine RTI audiophile pressing." [label info]
www.vhfrecords.com
|
1996 |
€12.00 |
|
| FOETUSDREAMS |
Brouillard |
CD-R |
"Winter-Light is extremely proud and happy to announce its very first release on the Winter-Light label by the Dutch dark ambient producer, FoetusDreams. "Brouillard" is the first full length dark ambient album produced by FoetusDreams, who has previously contributed music to compilations.
From start to finish "Brouillard" is a real ambient journey; sometimes an introspective one, sometimes a glance from the inside looking out and far beyond the reach of the human eye. The tracks are beautifully sculpted pieces of ambient excellence and from the opening moments of the first you are transported into the world of "FoetusDreams". Rich drones resonate across starkly crafted, ice-cold landscapes where your only companions are the sounds that flow around you. Vibrant musical layers, occasionally punctuated with a clever use of samples, draw the listener ever further away from reality towards a deeper, more meaningful sense of self. You could easily be standing on the edge of the universe looking out, or traversing the caverns of your own mind in a search for that place of inner peace. The title track "Brouillard" is a master class in drone ambient with its ever present trance inducing hum that lowers a mist over the eyes and takes you to a very dark place indeed.
If you are looking to go on a journey then it begins right here. The tracks have been mastered by Frederic Arbour from Cyclic Law.
"There is only one God and that God is man himself."
1. Way Of Be
2. Abandoned Planet
3. Winter Light
4. Cavern
5. Travel Within
6. Slowly Approaching A Dead Star
7. Brouillard
8. Interference
9. Molecular Cloud
10. Endless Horizon
Professionally manufactured CD-r comes in a beautifully produced 6-panel digipack. 10 tracks, total running time 62:51. Edition is limited to 150 copies." [label info]
www.winter-light.nl
"The dutch label Winter Light comes out with its first full-length release, composed by the Dutch project Foetusdreams. Beginning with the first song, ‘Way Of Be’, we are given a hint to what this opus stands for: sacral, atheistic dark ambient, as suggested by the recitation ‘There is only one God and that God is man himself”, repeated on the droning fluid of a choral-tinged musical line.
‘Abandoned Planet’ is a cinematic picture of an irremediable future, a play on indefinite and elusive notes, as if covered by the very dust that will whip out everything we now observe in such a careful manner. This same absence of light that the music suggests here will immerse into darkness those who once were saints and murderers alike…
‘Winter Light’ contains even more grave accents and sullen notes, a saturnine sense of despondency, as if this light, diffused somewhere in the distance, could be the only real thing between the worthless earth and a sky that simply does not exist. And those piano chords, so naive and worldly, are written like an irrelevant epitaph on the tombstone that spares you from another daylight.
From here, a place of eternal farewell, the piece ‘Cavern’ ressembles an invitation to a voluptuous meeting within the caves of the earth and what, by an anatomical reading, should represent traces of the earth’s disease; holes and gangrenas in its crust come now to be the only place still safe and pure. In parallel, the following track, ‘Travel Within’, moves more fluidly: blood here and there, coagulated and bubbling, in response to a personal prophilaxy directed to the external world. This return to the womb imprints a suggestive movement to the music’s metabolism and therefore the drones are let loose to encircle the mind in a hypnotic and quite perverse attitude.
Someone said that the dream is the music of the soul. ‘Slowly Approaching A Dead Star’ corresponds to such a dreaming of the impossible. A song built on a catatonic development of dazzling cosmic drones. Out of this dream, from which one should never wake up if they want the dream to really materialize, we are taken to the next song, ‘Brouillard’. Here the sculpture is different, adopting a more industrial style. The pulsating drones reside on flashes of undertones and the musical line is completed by an Amerindian poem interrupted at intervals by a French nihilistic monologue. It should be the album’s pièce de résistance, because it’s simply sublime in its cynical shrewdness of the text, maintained along with that gloomy Dalinian melody, a pure postmodern folk song.
I have avoided giving references, but ‘Interference’ reminded me so much of one of the liturgies from MZ 412’s ‘Infernal Affairs’. The crushing feeling of religiousness and demonic energy, which actually translates in meta-nihilism, pervades this song all along. At the hearing of the escalating drones, the great spaces of hollow matter receive a new personality. On ‘Molecular Cloud’ the Dutch artist seems to paint his drones on the very air around him with gentle brushes, in tones of grey that no soon are dried up, remain imprinted solely on the listener’s mind.
The massive 63-minute long album closes with ‘Endless Horizons’. This journey between vivid drone sculptures has been a passage between the world as one sees it and the world as one feels it, a walk through this multifaceted corridor that we can take only in dreams, or music, or mist." [Santa Sangre] |
2014 |
€12.00 |
|
| FOR KINGS AND QUEENS |
The Living Room Series Vol. 1: Inland |
CD-R |
For Kings and Queens – the living room series
The new living room series contains three volumes of sound collages exploring the inside and outside environments.
Limited handmade edition of 50 with special packaging and artwork.
Music and sounds by Jens and Barbara Kindermann
Art work by Maria Cutugno
Text by Clara Kindermann
Recorded between 2015 – 2017
.
Vol 1: Inland:
Dull summons of the giants from the depths of the tempting vest, pounded and healed the breathing heaviness of the splintering dream.
Torn and trembling in flight, the vibration of the wild bird was splashing wet.
Vol 2. Ausland:
The humming of the air-conditioning and the humming of the cooling-house is represented in a one-dimensional picture, which is represented in a suction of the vacuum of the consciousnesslessness, in a mystery of the intermediate world, in a disturbing friction.
The disorientation of the indiscriminate underwater drum repeated backward chirping and rattling of the aircraft march.
Vol 3. Umland:
Urgingly penetrating, the hard metal saw and scraped the proximity of the radio distance.
The popping and balling of the ecstasy, rattling and rattling, approached threateningly.
forkingsandqueens.bandcamp.com
|
2017 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
The Living Room Series Vol. 2: Ausland |
CD-R |
For Kings and Queens – the living room series
The new living room series contains three volumes of sound collages exploring the inside and outside environments.
Limited handmade edition of 50 with special packaging and artwork.
Music and sounds by Jens and Barbara Kindermann
Art work by Maria Cutugno
Text by Clara Kindermann
Recorded between 2015 – 2017
.
Vol 1: Inland:
Dull summons of the giants from the depths of the tempting vest, pounded and healed the breathing heaviness of the splintering dream.
Torn and trembling in flight, the vibration of the wild bird was splashing wet.
Vol 2. Ausland:
The humming of the air-conditioning and the humming of the cooling-house is represented in a one-dimensional picture, which is represented in a suction of the vacuum of the consciousnesslessness, in a mystery of the intermediate world, in a disturbing friction.
The disorientation of the indiscriminate underwater drum repeated backward chirping and rattling of the aircraft march.
Vol 3. Umland:
Urgingly penetrating, the hard metal saw and scraped the proximity of the radio distance.
The popping and balling of the ecstasy, rattling and rattling, approached threateningly.
forkingsandqueens.bandcamp.com
|
2017 |
€12.00 |
|
| FORCUCCI, LUCA |
Fog Horns |
CD |
"Luca Forcucci is a binational Swiss and Italian composer and artist. His work observes the perceptive properties/relations of sound and space (and vice versa) through sound installations, visuals, compositions and performances. In order to explore the field of possibilities for sound in a context of music and art as experience, the works converge with dance, digital performance, poetry, architecture and neuroscience. In this context, he is interested by perceptionand consciousness.
His compositions have spanned through the years from electronic music, which was produced by Al Comet from The Young Gods, to field recordings collected around the world in urban contexts like Sao Paulo, Shanghai, San Francisco and natural ones like the Amazon forest or the Swiss Alps to name a few." [label info]
www.subrosa.net
"Sub Rosa is busy presenting new and young composers and here have a release by Luca Forcucci. "His work observes the perception of sound through an architectural approach in the relation of sound and space". He studied in Berlin, Paris (at GRM) and the Brain Mind Institute in Switzerland. I am not sure if he has other releases available, but this is the first time I hear his music. The three pieces on this release are inspired by the fog horns he heard when he landed in San Francisco in Spring 2011. Obviously he recorded those and uses them as source material on these pieces. On the title piece he gets help from Goo Le Gooster on turntables, scratch, cuts and echoplex and in 'Winds' it's the cello of Michael Kott. When I visited San Francisco, a long time ago, I didn't hear fog horns, but I can imagine what they would sound like. the long sustaining and slowly shifting sounds of the horns over big distance, would already be enough to be music by itself, but Forcucci's treatments to the material enhance the mood further. Quite dark and desolate - like recorded from below the sea surface where metallic objects softly touch upon the microphone - in 'Winds' and hazy, fog like, not entirely clear for all to see in in 'L'Ecume Des Jours'. The title piece is the place in which happens most. Here the fog horns form a web behind a collage of field recordings - people talking and walking, bird calls and a bit of scratch like sounds. Oddly enough (but why?), I thought this was the least interesting piece of these three. Maybe the whole marriage of field recordings with a bit scratching just didn't work well; maybe it gave me an uneasy sense of being forcefully 'hip' to some extend? I don't know. But the other two pieces are really good." [FdW/Vital Weekly] |
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| FORD PROCO / COIL |
Expansion Naranja |
12inch |
"We are really honoured to present a 12” EP collaboration between the mexican band Ford Proco and the legendary UK electronic pioneers Peter Christopherson/John Balance aka Coil.
Ford Proco were formed in 1986 in Tijuana and they are considered the godfathers of the industrial electronic music in Mexico.
The story behind the recording of the two tracks is like a fairy tale.. apparentely the band members Robert Proco (sampler & synthesizers) and Wito Lavolt (bass, keyboards & drums) met Peter Christopherson in Los Angeles in the occasion of The Orb show back in the 90s and they exchanged phones & emails. Months later ‘Sleazy’ call and invited them as extras for Ice-T videos..
The tracks were composed following the method of the ‘expansión naranja’; Peter Christopherson was adding sax, drums and effects, while John Balance provided his magnificient voice.
Both the tracks were originally recorded in Autumn 1999 and they are unreleased on vinyl. The tracks were directly transferred from the original DCC (Digital Compact Cassette) and remastered by the mighty Rude 66.
Cover artwork design by Alessandro Adriani, labels artwork design of sacred geometry logos by Maximiliano Lizárraga (auayuavi.com).
Tracklist
A – Expansión Naranja
B – Ecuación De Las Estrellas" [label info]
www.mannequinrecords.com
|
2015 |
€18.00 |
|
| FORDELL RESEARCH UNIT / CULVER |
split |
10inch |
"split 10" on black vinyl limited to 100 copies.
one side each, one wonderful awesome brand new track from each.
i love FRU & Culvers sounds, so to show my appreciation and love for their musik, ive been lucky enough to get to put this wee installment of a 10" record out to add to their already vast, impressive and brilliant cosmik catalogue of releases on labels of awesomenesses such as matching head, pjorn 72, basses frequences, dead sea liner, kovorox sound, turgid animal, dead pilot, sick head, at war with false noise, small doses and blackest rainbow to name but only a few.
packaged in plain white disco jacket and paper inner with info card insert plus attached photos & art by Pete Burn and t." [Tom Newell]
|
2009 |
€12.50 |
|
| FORT, BERNARD |
FRACTALS / Brain Fever |
LP |
FRACTALS (1981), 21’26
Composed at the GMVL from December 1979 to September 1981, this work was commissioned by Fnac.
Fractals are mathematical oddities that, when crossing our path, turn the smallest island into an immensity to be explored.
FRACTALS is a series of short studies, all based on the same sound source. Seeking in the sound and its very logic a proposal upon which a construction is elaborated, each Fractal remains open and is a mere fragment of itself.
FRACTALS, music pieces sculpted in four dimensions, are vast microcosms that can only be inhabited by the mind. Each Fractal can be approached from several angles, far, near, etc. Some can be listened to at different speeds, forwards or backwards.
FRACTALS: amorphous and endless music pieces whose centre is everywhere and circumference nowhere.
Brain Fever (2017), 18'00
Wherever you may be in the forest of South India, the Brain Fever bird, together with the Seven Sisters, literally gets into your head. Whether it be early morning, daytime, or nighttime, amidst the stridulations of insects, its song utterly reflects Indian life: sonorous, noisy, insistent, dense, overcrowded, mobile, swarming, frantic, overheated, deprived of rest and sleep.
Brain Fever echoes sonic images caught in the Aurovillian forest, near Pondicherry, and rich fragments of improvisations made in Lyon on analog sound synthesis or feedback devices, the kind I used to do in the first GMVL studios.
Brain Fever is dedicated to Sofia Jannok, a musician and sàmi singer.
editionsmego.com/release/REGRM-024
|
2020 |
€19.50 |
|
| FOSCA, ANA |
Poised at the Edge of Structure |
CD |
ana fosca has emerged as presence to be reckoned with. here stands a woman raging, wrestling, communing, and plainly preoccupied with the humanity's propensity for tragedy, violence, and blight. and it is with a particular strain of noise - one that is dour, miserable, frightening - through which she harnesses these conditions. while her catalogue of recordings is brief, ana fosca (born linn hvid) honed her craft by performing on a constant basis throughout denmark, sweden, and germany, especially through the dynamic community of mayhem in her native copenhagen. the feral expressionism she developed in performance is matched by a numerous, existential and conceptual antecedents that inform fosca's work. kirkegaard. plath. tarkovsky. hannah arendt. vienna aktionism. eliane radigue's approach to listening. the films of kurt kren. the thoughts and writing of simone de beauvoir.
poised at the edge of structure marks fosca's debut for the helen scarsdale agency, following a very limited cassette on the russian imprint nazlo and a collaboration with vanity productions on no rent. on this recording, she evinces her gesamtkunstwerk as ana fosca in all of its harrowing portent. she composes along cyclonic patterns of oppositional forces, searing noise, and ominous drone. when employing her voice, fosca bellows repetitive chants deep in the mix, a cathartic incantation where meaning can found within all of this agony and despair. the "mathematics of grief" is a phrase that fosca uses in describing this album that amplifies her personal experiences with loss to expound upon the human condition at large. this album never settles into the tropes of power electronics, dark ambient, death industrial, or studied electro-acoustic practices, but absorbs the most impactful facets to all these aesthetics. coming out of the danish underground scene, her work finds common ground with the early, savage sounds of posh isolation, adjacent to puce mary in terms of similarly fraught psychological proclamations, but leaning into the violent miasma of maeror tri / troum at their most industrial.
https://helenscarsdale.bandcamp.com/album/poised-at-the-edge-of-structure |
2022 |
€15.00 |
|
| FOSSIL AEROSOL MINING PROJECT [FAMP] |
The Unlistening Place |
CD |
"Fossil Aerosol Mining Project are an enigmatic lot, comprised of sonic archeologists residing the American Midwest. Their work spans several decades and is almost always in flux through the variable states of contextual re-investigation and technological degradation. Aesthetically, FAMP align with the post-industrial research of :zoviet*france:, Cranioclast and Robert Turman. Bacteria damaged tape loops, ghostly time-lag accumulation and the excavation of mediated sound from suburbia’s failures are key components to the Fossil Aerosol’s working process.
The core tracks of The Unlistening Place were recorded in 2015, and at the time were intended to be part of what was to be the final Fossil Aerosol album, scheduled for a distant release. But history circled back on itself, and the result was a reworking of future tracks, alongside more new material. Historiography eating its own tail." [label info]
"Fossil Aerosol Mining Project are an American experimental music legend. They’ve been making and releasing music and soundart since before I was even conceived, so to have my hands on their brand new release is quite the occasion—especially considering the fact that, at some point, the project was meant to be put to an end after over two decades of existence. According to the liner notes for The Unlistening Place, some of the music on it may have actually been a part of this goodbye material, which was recorded to celebrate the demise of the project.
And if you can name a better label than the Helen Scarsdale Agency for a style of music created from various sources of damaged media, decaying film and long-forgotten tape, and coming from a project anticipating its termination, well… I’ll help you: You can’t.
The Unlistening Place is an emotional and musical rollercoaster. The sound is warm, textural, and obscure. Fossil Aerosol Mining Project don’t appear to enjoy staying in the same space musically. Each and every song is like a separate realm, a separate artifact, and I guess this is due to the different source material which was (ab)used for the different tracks. The Unlistening Place can sometimes be dreamy (‘Traditional String Invocation’, ‘Silent Time’, ‘Traditional Referent’) or mechanic (‘Tar Prodigy 2’); however, it mostly gravitates toward building sparse soundscapes (‘The Unlistening Place 1’, as well as its second and third chapters) with their rumbling subs, analog decomposition, and waves of transparent drones.
The tape sometimes feels like a sonic cage for all of the sounds it was able to capture. It’s like a prison or a collection of dead and long-forgotten living beings whose voices you’re not really sure if you’re actually hearing or if they exist only in your head. Due to its obscurity, The Unlistening Place sometimes reminds me of a lighter and more friendlier version of People-eaters and their mixtapes on Aetheric Records. With The Unlistening Place, Fossil Aerosol Mining Project creates realms which exist to oppress and exhibit everything we’re often blind to or tend to just leave behind. Luckily, we have humans who are still keen on unearthing such artifacts, thus transforming them into other ones so we learn to chew for a bit longer before shoving another piece of what’s new and hot in our consumerist mouths. |
2017 |
€14.50 |
|
|
August 53rd |
LP |
The Fossil Aerosol Mining Project continues their post-industrial dialectics through their "songs of enhanced decay and faked resurrection." This cryptic ensemble from the American Midwest has been quietly producing such works since the '80s, with a deep catalogue highlighting a uniform brilliance in the exquisite reconstruction of exhumed cassette tapes and moldering 35mm film stock.
On August 53rd, Fossil Aerosol has collaged their reclamations of found sounds into an inquisitive, dynamic cinema of the ear. The tape loops and recombinant samples create elliptical orbits and vertiginous spirals. Down-pitched, disquieting rumbles form the foundations for much of Fossil Aerosol’s compositions, which mutate the fractured, crumbled, and mildewed artifacts into patterned yet shifting phrases. The result seems like hybrid, time-compressed mimicry of the evolution of our media-driven language.
The official statement from the ensemble reads as such:
"This album, arranged specifically for Helen Scarsdale, might be considered a prequel to The Day 1982 Contaminated 1971, featuring the damaged remains of certain pop culture pleasantries in a less decomposed state than found on the previous vinyl release. August 53rd, a month extended to accommodate a changing climate, predates the day 1982 contaminated 1971."
Such inquiries characterize the many non/fictions that contextualize the work of Fossil Aerosol. Through the process of decoding lost melodies and dialog of the 1960s, '70s, and '80s, Fossil Aerosol intentionally or unintentionally deflates the vanity of consumerism while at the same time providing an archaeological view of contemporary culture.
These conceptual frameworks would be meaningless if Fossil Aerosol did not deliver on the aesthetics. And deliver the Project most certainly does. August 53rd harbors the rich enigmas of distressed sound collages found in the work of likeminded artists such as Philip Jeck, Felicia Atkinson, and of course Fossil Aerosol’s occasional collaborators :zoviet*france:.
Noted photographer Michael Eastman (Vanishing America, Havana) contributed the artwork used for the cover of the album, specifically selecting imagery from decaying landscapes of the American Midwest.
"One of The Helen Scarsdale Agency’s most prized units, Fossil Aerosol Mining Project vent a cryptically elusive, hauntological suite of mid-fi compositions working on the cusp of ambient noise and avant-garde electronics in a way that should resonate with fans of the recent Pendant album on West Mineral Ltd, the romance of William Basinski’s knackered loops, or the shoegazing tinder of Jefre Cantu-Ledesma. We warmly recommend shutting your eyes and wrapping yourself up this one for a properly gauzy and deeply synaesthetically heightened trip." [Boomkat]
"Amazing what can be done with old tapes going back decades and found sounds and spoken voice recordings from the recent past – on this album, these materials have been assembled into a series of collages, either set in the present and proposing how society in the future will evolve, or rather devolve into a post-industrial world cannibalising its own history and reworking it into myth, the foundations of which will be purposely obscured (so that the masses won’t ever discover the reality); or set in the future and detailing that gradual decline into a ghost culture. Snippets of melody from unidentifiable sources, lost voices, unexpected and unknown rhythms, all heard through a misty invisible plasma patina that blunts the edges of sounds and renders them slightly blurred or warm in tone, perhaps in a state of mildewy decay, pass through briefly, never to be heard again.
The soundscapes revealed in each and every track are often beautiful and gorgeous in their rich tone and in what they might suggest to each individual listener: they might suggest an alternative America that didn’t squander its wealth on fighting useless wars around the globe just for the sake of being No 1, but used it to create a happy and secure if not super-rich society for all its people; they might also suggest an endless 1970s-era of beach parties and kids riding in open-top Cadillacs on highways across prairie and desert landscapes without end. In each track, a new aspect of this world opens up matter-of-factly but also unobtrusively; there is no deliberate in-yer-face provocation from the Fossil Mining Project folks here. Listeners take whatever message they find in this album, be it a positive one or a discomforting one.
With such evocative pieces, I hesitate to nominate favourite tracks since these will depend on what listeners bring to their listening experience. “Aestas Anatis” is quite an intimate piece with seductive voices and the track that follows, “Retail Retrospect”, is eerie and dark in a way that recalls early David Lynch films. All seven tracks on the album show much care and thought in their composition.
If ever you find yourself in a shack on top of a hill, looking down on a city and seeing, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, that city’s lights slowly turn down and cut off, its noises and traffic gradually wind down, its utilities finally cut off, and the citizens flee, leaving the streets and buildings completely derelict, this recording would be an ideal accompanying soundtrack." [Sound Projector]
|
2018 |
€23.00 |
|
| |
Scaath Catfish |
CD |
Songs about the river are a common trope in the history of music. Psalms of being cleansed, being baptized, being redeemed. There are ballads of murder, lost love, jealousy, and all sorts of rank human emotion reflected in the surface of the water. Respect, praise, and worship of the river are other themes often channeled through music as well. Even in the realm of ambient music, digital mimesis of the aquatic is commonplace. Fossil Aerosol Mining Project, in their ongoing archaeological approach to a post-industrial sound design, offers their own variant on this topic with considerable differences. It is not only the sediment, the debris, the waste, the scum, the mud, and the rot that are the source materials in Scaath Catfish, but also what is preserved in those elements and new forms of life fostered in this conceptual framework.
Sibilant mutations from Fossil Aerosol’s multiple sources (field recordings, found sounds, etc.) spill forth as dilated tones, mesmerizing echos, clattering loops, and harmonic distortions. Floods of dense sonic accretion give way to languid mirages with human intervention complicating matters. Fossil Aerosol gives a preternatural language to the river, one that parallels their occasional collaborators in :zoviet*france: as well as the environmental ruminations of Biospshere and the practitioners of power ambient (Rafael Anton Irisarri, Fennesz, Tim Hecker, etc.)
Fossil Aerosol addresses the album this way:
Scaath Catfish was recorded in the spring of 2016, implementing field recordings made in the Illinois River valley and instrumental material found on a homemade cassette recording. The field recordings were made along the banks of a backwater lake and in the shadow of an aging power plant, following a spring flood. Twenty-six years earlier, one of the members of Fossil Aerosol purchased a homemade instrumental cassette tape recording (marked only “sacred”), at a thrift store in downtown St. Louis, Missouri. In 2016, fragments of the found cassette recordings were mixed with those made in the mud along the river. The result was Scaath Catfish.
https://www.helenscarsdale.com/published/famp-scaathcatfish.htm
|
2020 |
€15.50 |
|
| FOVEA HEX |
Here is where we used to sing |
CD |
"Fovea Hex are one of the mostintriguing phenomena in contemporary music. Despite the seemingly wilful nonchalance that has kept them under the radar so far (only 3 ep releases in 5 years, a mere fistful of appearances in France, Spain, Italy and Ireland, and their preference for elliptical, minimal design) the group have nevertheless developed an enviable cult status both in Europe and the United States, have performed at the personal invitation of David Lynch in the gardens of the Cartier Foundation in Paris and have attracted the free and willing participation of a genre and generation hopping rollcall of A-list luminaries including Brian Eno, Robert Fripp, Carter Burwell, Donal Lunny, and Steven Wilson, as well as a who's
who of the electronic avant-garde including Roger Doyle, the Hafler Trio, Colin Potter and Michael Begg. Clodagh Simonds, the group's reclusive leader (if they can be called a
group, and indeed, if she can be called a leader) has recently emerged to announce the eagerlyanticipated first full-length album from Fovea Hex, Here Is Where We Used To Sing, which will be released on CD and digital formats on April 18th 2011. The album comrises 8 beautifully crafted songs and 3 short instrumentals that build on the fusion of formal composition, cutting edge ambient sound
art, incomparable song writing skill, and Simonds's emotionally rich and evocative vocals ("A voice that one could happily drown in for hours" remarked Pitchfork) that made their ep trilogy, Neither Speak Nor Remain Silent, so extraordinary. These "songs that don't go where you think" are immediately seductive, inhabiting a curiously elusive, many-layered
otherworld. They manage to sound both powerful and delicate, sophisticated and elemental, resonating with an understated emotional intensity so rare these days that it comes slightly as a shock. The balancing act is fragile, and nothing is quite what it seems, yet the group themselves are unlikely to
explain their methods or reasons. That task falls to fans and friends such as Matmos's Drew Daniels: "The starlit nocturnes of Fovea Hex bind electronics, drones and voices into song spells. Their intimacy and raw emotional power feel centuries old, but the experimental sound design can be shockingly modern. There is an intense focus to this music ¬ no clutter, no
cliches ¬ which is both ravishing and rare"
Simonds has gathered about her a now familiar troupe of collaborators for this album. A core ensemble of Simonds (vocals, keyboards, harmonium, psaltery, lyre, kalimba), Laura Sheeran (vocals, saw), Cora Venus Lunny
(violin, viola), Michael Begg (electronics, keyboards) and Colin Potter (electronics) are variously joined, replaced, augmented and superimposed by visitations from Brian Eno, Julia Kent (of Antony and the Johnsons), John
Contreras, Kate Ellis, members of Italy's Larsen, and, in keeping with the mystery that seems to veil the heart of the enterprise, further "friends who would prefer to remain nameless." True to their oblique nature, they even manage to credit an abstract contribution to the 10,000 year project; The Long Now Foundation (http://longnow.org/) "Three Beams", a limited edition bonus disk of 3 extended remixes allows full and free rein to the palette of ambient / experimental electronica at Fovea Hex's disposal. Works by Colin
Potter, Michael Begg and William Basinski perfectly counterpoint the highly crafted songs on the album with generously proportioned and sonically mesmerizing soundscapes.
One has to wonder how Simonds really feels now that the appearance of this singular album seems likely to tear apart forever the fabric of anonymity in which this extraordinary ensemble has until now been concealed." [label info]
"Certainly a project covered in mystery, Fovea Hex. In the last five years, they released three CD-EPs, all on Die Stadt, all with bonus remix CDs. A mystery in as far that we obviously know who is behind it. Clodagh Simonds is the 'leader' of the pack. She sings, plays piano, harmonium, keyboards, kalimba and lyre. Around her she has gathered a whole bunch of musicians, such as Michael Begg, Kate Ellis, Cora Venus Lunny, Brian Eno and Colin Potter. They add such instruments as cello, violin, treated bells, sonics and starry keyboards. If you thought that Fovea Hex would have moved on after their last EP, you're wrong. They still operate in that very same field of ambient music and folk tunes. The voice of Simonds is as heavenly as before and the music as sparse and to the point as before. Very fragile music, maybe even a pathetic (although I like to stress I hardly mean this in a negative way), highly emotional. Even without paying attention to the lyrics, one can easily feel the high
emotional level which is used here. I can imagine that playing this music when depressed is not going to help to lift that depression. Or perhaps it does. Very sad and yet very beautiful music." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
|
The Salt Garden III |
10inch + CD |
Janet Records, in association with Headphone Dust and Die Stadt present
Fovea Hex The Salt Garden III
Cat No HDFH1034 (vinyl) / HDFHCD32 (CD)
(Bonus CD Cat. No: HDFHCD33)
Shipping Date - 26/11/2019
Ltd Edition - 10" vinyl + CD + bonus remix CD
Standard Editions - 10" vinyl + CD / CD / DL
"The starlit nocturnes of Fovea Hex bind electronics, drones and voices into song-spells that are untimely in the best possible sense; their intimacy and raw emotional power feel centuries old, but the experimental sound-design can be shockingly modern." Drew Daniels (Matmos)
The new EP from Fovea Hex THE SALT GARDEN 3 will be released on November 26th 2019 on Steven Wilson's Headphone Dust label.
The Salt Garden 3 is the final word, and the concluding instalment to the critically lauded The Salt Garden Trilogy. Issued in 3 standard editions; 10 inch vinyl + CD, CD only, and Digital Download. There will also be a limited edition release featuring a bonus remix CD by Steven Wilson. The pre-sale for this limited edition, featuring 4 remixes by Steven, presented in individual and combination treatments, will only be available online via Janet Records.
The core ensemble of Clodagh Simonds, Michael Begg, Colin Potter, Cora Venus Lunny and Kate Ellis is joined by special guests Guido Zen, and the Medazza and Dote Moss choirs.
Critical Reaction to The Salt Garden 1 and 2
5 Against 4 (UK)
"Whenever Irish experimental electronic folk group Fovea Hex put out something new, it's not just a cause to rejoice but a guarantee of something unique and indescribably wonderful..."
The Wire (UK)
"...fragile baroque instruments and synthy atmospheres surround Simonds's singing and songwriting, both on better and less predictable form than ever... A Robert Wyatt's Rock Bottom for the 21st Century: emotionally deepens with extra listens"
Brainwashed (US)
(Readers Poll Winner: Single of the Year, 2016 for Salt Garden 1)
"Another beautiful piece in a flawless catalog..."
Igloo (US)
"The superlatives left to describe this unique chamber ensemble are fast running out..."
Dusted (US)
"... a blending of acoustic and electronic that attains a kind of smooth, vatic timelessness. Every element feels precisely placed and oddly haunting... Spellbinding".
Subjectivisten (NL)
"...an almost indefinable sound...the music is a hybrid of (dark) ambient, experimental music, neoclassical and ethereal folk and yet no label feels completely comfortable. . It is of an unearthly beauty!"
Touching Extremes (IT)
"no actual comparison is conceivable - sonic poetry"
Gonzo Circus (NL)
"if you like unique sirens like Nico, Dead Can Dance and This Mortal Coil, you will also unconditionally embrace Fovea Hex."
Fovea Hex Background
Having first emerged at the tender age of 15 as the main writer behind 70s cult Irish psych-folk band Mellow Candle, and with sessions for both Thin Lizzy and Mike Oldfield under her belt by the age of 21, Irish singer Clodagh Simonds relocated to New York and subsequently "went quiet" for almost two decades, before re- emerging in 2005 with Fovea Hex, supported by an extraordinary assembly of friends and colleagues, including Brian Eno, Robert Fripp, Carter Burwell, Donal Lunny, Roger Doyle, and Steven Wilson. Their first trilogy of eps, NEITHER SPEAK NOR REMAIN SILENT, was, upon its release, greeted by a growing momentum of critical acclaim. Their nascent cult reputation was further affirmed by a personal invitation from David Lynch to perform live in Paris at the Cartier Foundation in Paris as part of his THE AIR IS ON FIRE exhibition.
In 2008 a full length album, HERE IS WHERE WE USED TO SING, was released, to yet more glowing reviews. The album made several end-of-year lists and was awarded album of the year in periodicals in the UK, North America and Italy.
THE SALT GARDEN 1 was released in 2016 and THE SALT GARDEN 2 in 2017, consolidating and deepening the high esteem and critical regard in which this most beguiling of ensembles continues to be held.
The frequently claimed "impossible to categorise" tag applies well to Fovea Hex. The songs are dominated by a voice that's too strong to be deigned ethereal, but remains too otherworldly to file alongside more conventional female singer-songwriters. The pace tends to be languid, the arrangements intricate and fragile. Comparisons have been made to This Mortal Coil, Emily Dickinson, Nico, Dead Can Dance, and even Schubert, but really this music is quite unique, a mix of electronic and acoustic sounds from a palette which ranges from state-of-art to ancient and arcane.
"If Emily Dickinson had ever been allowed to make a record, this is probably what it would have sounded like" (The Wire)
janetrecords.com/SG3/press-release.html
"2019 findet die “The Salt Garden”-Trilogie mehr als zwei Jahre nach Veröffentlichung des zweiten Teils ihren Abschluss. Das Projekt von Clodagh Simonds – die (u.a. mit Mellow Candle) schon in den 60er Jahren Musik machte – kehrt mit „The Salt Garden“ wieder zur kleine(re)n Form der EPs zurück, mit der Fovea Hex in der zweiten Hälfte der 00er Jahre debütierte. Erneut beeindruckend ist die Konsistenz und Kohärenz dieser drei EPs.
Anlässlich des ersten Teils der Trilogie wurde Fovea Hex hier attestiert: “[Die] Musik, die Begriffe wie Ambient, Folk oder experimentelle Musik überflüssig erscheinen lässt, ist erdverhaftet und zugleich entrückt, ist ebenso traumwandlerisch wie meditativ. Die meisten der getragenen Stücke haben starke Songqualitäten und sind doch von der verschwimmenden Struktur abstrakter Kompositionen. Und was in dieser Musik emotional passiert, lässt sich besser empfinden als rational erfassen.” Über das 2011 erschienene Langzeitdebüt “Here Is Where We Used To Sing” schrieben wir: „[T]rotz aller hypnagogischen, traumhaften Momente [...] verlier[t] sich [Simonds] nie im Unterholz und inmitten aller getragenen Momente gibt es auch immer die Gewissheit des Gelingens” und diese zumindest vom Rezensenten so wahrgenommene „Gewissheit des Gelingens“ trifft die auf dem dritten Teil von “The Salt Garden” evozierte Stimmung gut. Denn obwohl die Musik wieder getragen und elegisch ist, sollte man die vier Stücke nicht als Soundtrack zu einer Reise in den Untergang verstehen. Sucht man nach (eigentlich unnötigen) Vergleichen, so kommen einem manche Soundtrackarbeiten Hilmar Örn Hilmarssons oder aber (geographisch vielleicht etwas naheliegender) Richard Skeltons immer wieder von Orten und Plätzen geprägten Streicherdrones in den Sinn.
Eröffnet wird die EP von „The Land’s Alight“, einem von Keyboarddrones geprägtem Stück, auf dem Simonds singt: “I dreamed I flew, the whole night long…./Ah but the light is on the land/and the hand upon the heart/and the open road is a real thing”. Diese Haltung erinnert an Coils “Bee Stings”, auf dem es heißt: “Don’t believe A.E./See for yourself the summer fields”. Wenn Simonds dann intoniert, “The land’s alight/And this vital eye/and the view…”, dann bekommt ihr Gesang etwas Hymnenhaftes. “Trisamma” ist ein instrumentales Stück, auf dem dezente Klavierpassagen mit Streichern kombiniert werden. „A Million Fires“ ist das vielleicht beeindruckendste Stück: Simonds’ Gesang wird von Harmoniumdrones und den Stimmen des The Date Moss Choir untermalt. Wenn sie singt “glory be upon the hapless writer/ glory be upon the spotless page/to call the woman with the fire inside her/to bring the luminous from age to age”, dann kann man das fast schon programmatisch lesen. Beendet wird diese Veröffentlichung und damit die Trilogie mit “The Given Heat”, auf der traurige Streicher zu hören sind, wobei es am Ende heißt: “suddenly there it is –/ the molten gold on the city street”.
Wie auch schon bei allen anderen EPs liegt einer limitierte Version eine Remix-CD bei. Steven Wilson hat unter dem Titel “Is Lanza Light & Given” die vier Stücke zu einem Track verschmelzen lassen und gerade zu Anfang gibt seine Neuinterpretation den Stücken einen leicht entrückteren Charakter." [MG/African Paper] |
2019 |
€17.50 |
|
| |
The Salt Garden III |
CD-EP |
Janet Records, in association with Headphone Dust and Die Stadt present
Fovea Hex The Salt Garden III
Cat No HDFH1034 (vinyl) / HDFHCD32 (CD)
(Bonus CD Cat. No: HDFHCD33)
Shipping Date - 26/11/2019
Ltd Edition - 10" vinyl + CD + bonus remix CD
Standard Editions - 10" vinyl + CD / CD / DL
"The starlit nocturnes of Fovea Hex bind electronics, drones and voices into song-spells that are untimely in the best possible sense; their intimacy and raw emotional power feel centuries old, but the experimental sound-design can be shockingly modern." Drew Daniels (Matmos)
The new EP from Fovea Hex THE SALT GARDEN 3 will be released on November 26th 2019 on Steven Wilson's Headphone Dust label.
The Salt Garden 3 is the final word, and the concluding instalment to the critically lauded The Salt Garden Trilogy. Issued in 3 standard editions; 10 inch vinyl + CD, CD only, and Digital Download. There will also be a limited edition release featuring a bonus remix CD by Steven Wilson. The pre-sale for this limited edition, featuring 4 remixes by Steven, presented in individual and combination treatments, will only be available online via Janet Records.
The core ensemble of Clodagh Simonds, Michael Begg, Colin Potter, Cora Venus Lunny and Kate Ellis is joined by special guests Guido Zen, and the Medazza and Dote Moss choirs.
Critical Reaction to The Salt Garden 1 and 2
5 Against 4 (UK)
"Whenever Irish experimental electronic folk group Fovea Hex put out something new, it's not just a cause to rejoice but a guarantee of something unique and indescribably wonderful..."
The Wire (UK)
"...fragile baroque instruments and synthy atmospheres surround Simonds's singing and songwriting, both on better and less predictable form than ever... A Robert Wyatt's Rock Bottom for the 21st Century: emotionally deepens with extra listens"
Brainwashed (US)
(Readers Poll Winner: Single of the Year, 2016 for Salt Garden 1)
"Another beautiful piece in a flawless catalog..."
Igloo (US)
"The superlatives left to describe this unique chamber ensemble are fast running out..."
Dusted (US)
"... a blending of acoustic and electronic that attains a kind of smooth, vatic timelessness. Every element feels precisely placed and oddly haunting... Spellbinding".
Subjectivisten (NL)
"...an almost indefinable sound...the music is a hybrid of (dark) ambient, experimental music, neoclassical and ethereal folk and yet no label feels completely comfortable. . It is of an unearthly beauty!"
Touching Extremes (IT)
"no actual comparison is conceivable - sonic poetry"
Gonzo Circus (NL)
"if you like unique sirens like Nico, Dead Can Dance and This Mortal Coil, you will also unconditionally embrace Fovea Hex."
Fovea Hex Background
Having first emerged at the tender age of 15 as the main writer behind 70s cult Irish psych-folk band Mellow Candle, and with sessions for both Thin Lizzy and Mike Oldfield under her belt by the age of 21, Irish singer Clodagh Simonds relocated to New York and subsequently "went quiet" for almost two decades, before re- emerging in 2005 with Fovea Hex, supported by an extraordinary assembly of friends and colleagues, including Brian Eno, Robert Fripp, Carter Burwell, Donal Lunny, Roger Doyle, and Steven Wilson. Their first trilogy of eps, NEITHER SPEAK NOR REMAIN SILENT, was, upon its release, greeted by a growing momentum of critical acclaim. Their nascent cult reputation was further affirmed by a personal invitation from David Lynch to perform live in Paris at the Cartier Foundation in Paris as part of his THE AIR IS ON FIRE exhibition.
In 2008 a full length album, HERE IS WHERE WE USED TO SING, was released, to yet more glowing reviews. The album made several end-of-year lists and was awarded album of the year in periodicals in the UK, North America and Italy.
THE SALT GARDEN 1 was released in 2016 and THE SALT GARDEN 2 in 2017, consolidating and deepening the high esteem and critical regard in which this most beguiling of ensembles continues to be held.
The frequently claimed "impossible to categorise" tag applies well to Fovea Hex. The songs are dominated by a voice that's too strong to be deigned ethereal, but remains too otherworldly to file alongside more conventional female singer-songwriters. The pace tends to be languid, the arrangements intricate and fragile. Comparisons have been made to This Mortal Coil, Emily Dickinson, Nico, Dead Can Dance, and even Schubert, but really this music is quite unique, a mix of electronic and acoustic sounds from a palette which ranges from state-of-art to ancient and arcane.
"If Emily Dickinson had ever been allowed to make a record, this is probably what it would have sounded like" (The Wire)
janetrecords.com/SG3/press-release.html
"2019 findet die “The Salt Garden”-Trilogie mehr als zwei Jahre nach Veröffentlichung des zweiten Teils ihren Abschluss. Das Projekt von Clodagh Simonds – die (u.a. mit Mellow Candle) schon in den 60er Jahren Musik machte – kehrt mit „The Salt Garden“ wieder zur kleine(re)n Form der EPs zurück, mit der Fovea Hex in der zweiten Hälfte der 00er Jahre debütierte. Erneut beeindruckend ist die Konsistenz und Kohärenz dieser drei EPs.
Anlässlich des ersten Teils der Trilogie wurde Fovea Hex hier attestiert: “[Die] Musik, die Begriffe wie Ambient, Folk oder experimentelle Musik überflüssig erscheinen lässt, ist erdverhaftet und zugleich entrückt, ist ebenso traumwandlerisch wie meditativ. Die meisten der getragenen Stücke haben starke Songqualitäten und sind doch von der verschwimmenden Struktur abstrakter Kompositionen. Und was in dieser Musik emotional passiert, lässt sich besser empfinden als rational erfassen.” Über das 2011 erschienene Langzeitdebüt “Here Is Where We Used To Sing” schrieben wir: „[T]rotz aller hypnagogischen, traumhaften Momente [...] verlier[t] sich [Simonds] nie im Unterholz und inmitten aller getragenen Momente gibt es auch immer die Gewissheit des Gelingens” und diese zumindest vom Rezensenten so wahrgenommene „Gewissheit des Gelingens“ trifft die auf dem dritten Teil von “The Salt Garden” evozierte Stimmung gut. Denn obwohl die Musik wieder getragen und elegisch ist, sollte man die vier Stücke nicht als Soundtrack zu einer Reise in den Untergang verstehen. Sucht man nach (eigentlich unnötigen) Vergleichen, so kommen einem manche Soundtrackarbeiten Hilmar Örn Hilmarssons oder aber (geographisch vielleicht etwas naheliegender) Richard Skeltons immer wieder von Orten und Plätzen geprägten Streicherdrones in den Sinn.
Eröffnet wird die EP von „The Land’s Alight“, einem von Keyboarddrones geprägtem Stück, auf dem Simonds singt: “I dreamed I flew, the whole night long…./Ah but the light is on the land/and the hand upon the heart/and the open road is a real thing”. Diese Haltung erinnert an Coils “Bee Stings”, auf dem es heißt: “Don’t believe A.E./See for yourself the summer fields”. Wenn Simonds dann intoniert, “The land’s alight/And this vital eye/and the view…”, dann bekommt ihr Gesang etwas Hymnenhaftes. “Trisamma” ist ein instrumentales Stück, auf dem dezente Klavierpassagen mit Streichern kombiniert werden. „A Million Fires“ ist das vielleicht beeindruckendste Stück: Simonds’ Gesang wird von Harmoniumdrones und den Stimmen des The Date Moss Choir untermalt. Wenn sie singt “glory be upon the hapless writer/ glory be upon the spotless page/to call the woman with the fire inside her/to bring the luminous from age to age”, dann kann man das fast schon programmatisch lesen. Beendet wird diese Veröffentlichung und damit die Trilogie mit “The Given Heat”, auf der traurige Streicher zu hören sind, wobei es am Ende heißt: “suddenly there it is –/ the molten gold on the city street”.
Wie auch schon bei allen anderen EPs liegt einer limitierte Version eine Remix-CD bei. Steven Wilson hat unter dem Titel “Is Lanza Light & Given” die vier Stücke zu einem Track verschmelzen lassen und gerade zu Anfang gibt seine Neuinterpretation den Stücken einen leicht entrückteren Charakter." [MG/African Paper]
|
2019 |
€10.00 |
|
| FOX, HARDY (THE RESIDENTS) |
same |
LP |
First solo album by former Residents composer Hardy Fox after the Charles Bobuck era. An album full of minimal love songs, a portrait of the young Hardy Fox. This is what he says about this solo debut: "Here’s a new idea. How about writing a love song? Oh, you say it’s been done, maybe overdone. So why would I be so foolish as to tackle such a subject so fraught with cliches and meaningless sentiment. Probably because I am stupid. But also because I have been led around by love in some form for my entire life. That isn’t really a complaint. Seriously, there is isn’t much in the world that is as interesting as love and its many related variations: attraction, obsession, sexual fantasies, broken hearts. It is the fuel that many of our lives run on. The question remains. Why join the hoard of people trying to say something new about love? I suppose that the emotional state is, more or less, unique to each person. Each of us has our approach to dealing with and surviving the chemical and hormonally driven state of mind. For me, I am still able to love as an older gentleman, but the intensity of love always takes me back to my youth when all was new and strange. Each element that drove sexual exploits had to be explored, considered and digested. Now older, I am able to gain some objectivity to set memories to music. This album is a glimpse into my younger self. Well truthfully, probably not. It is likely yet another fantasy of an aging man, still led around by his dick." This is the LP version released under license by Secret records, USA, who have done a great job..... beautiful green vinyl and comnes with a yellow flexi disc!
https://secretrecords.bandcamp.com/album/hardy-fox-s-t-2018-electronic-sr14 |
2019 |
€25.00 |
|
| FOX, TERRY |
552 Steps through 11 Pairs of Strings |
do-LP |
Bubbling below the histories of sound-art, fine-art, and avant-garde music, there are a handful of remarkable figures who bridge all three - collapsing the barriers between creative limit, context, location, and aural experience. Of these, Terry Fox long occupied a place of respect and renown for those in the know - among the best of the best, but, within the broader narratives of each discipline, he has never entirely received his due - lingering just out of view, responsible for so much of what followed in his wake. In recent years, the imprint of Edition Telemark has emerged as a definitive voice in boundary breaking territories of sound - issuing releases by the Maciunas Ensemble, Wolf Vostell, Joe Jones, and others, as well as their brilliant recent editions of Ernstalbrecht Stiebler’s Kanon / Torsi and Peter Behrendsen's Nachtflug / Atem Des Windes. As luck with have it, they now turn their gaze to Terry Fox, with the stunning double LP 552 Steps Through 11 Pairs of Strings, drawing on a long lost recording from 1976.
Terry Fox emerged from the fertile ground of San Fransisco’s 1960’s and 70’s conceptual art scene, during an era when the dominant institutions of fine-art, seeing it as a backwater, refused to pay California any mind. Unlike his peers Bruce Nauman and John Baldersari, he neither went to NY, nor waited it out - leaving permanently for Europe before the 70’s were through. Fox represents an incongruence link within the history of conceptual practice - both embracing the sculptural materiality of nature, the industrial, and the every day - bridging territories explored by Joseph Beuys with those of Minimalists like Carl Andre, and land artists Walter De Maria, and Robert Smithson, while also recognizing, similarly to Nauman and Baldersari, that material was only a vehicle for an idea. As his practice progressed, Fox increasingly turned toward the performative and the multidimensional possibilities of an object - its ability to occupy space, and generate sound.
During the mid 1970’s, years before Ellen Fullman began to build similar instruments which brought her renown, or Alvin Lucier conceived Music on a Long Thin Wire, Fox began to experiment and perform on sculptural objects comprised of extended long strings. Tragically, the artist has remained largely absent from the historic narrative of the practice he helped invent. This is partially a consequence of the private nature of his performance, and the obscurity of his recorded releases, against the timing in which they emerged. Fox is incredibly well represented in the artifacts of sound art - appearing in one of its earliest exhibitions at the Museum Of Conceptual Art in San Francisco during 1971, and on the seminal Airwaves, Sound, Revolutions Per Minute, and Audio By Visual Artists compilations, but recordings of his string works did not begin to emerge until the 1980’s, first on Linkage, issued in 1982 by the Kunstmuseum Luzern's imprint, and then on Berlino / Rallentando, which appeared in 1988. Linkage has long offered an important clue, with it’s earliest working having been recorded in 1975, but, until 552 Steps Through 11 Pairs of Strings - recorded in Fox's San Francisco studio during 1976, nothing from is important period has yet to emerge.
552 Steps Through 11 Pairs of Strings, which, as with most of Terry’s Fox’s works from the 1970’s, draws its ideas from the labyrinth at Chartres Cathedral in France, is the result of a 4½ hour performance where the artist stretched 11 pairs of piano wires of 11 different thicknesses across the floor - creating a giant horizontal harp. The audience was positioned in the dark loft on the floor below - within what became the instrument’s resonant chamber. Fox played the the strings with a soft mallet in one hand and a score - a 34-foot string tied with 552 knots, in the other. Each knot represented a step in the Chartres labyrinth, with the 34 turns indicated by either a piece of wire in a knot (a move to the next longer pair of wires) or a rubber band around a knot (a move to the next shorter pair). The outcome, as it appears on this remarkable double LP, are stunning - a revelation in idea, practice, and sound - an unrecognized precursor to the work of Ellen Fullman and Arnold Dreyblatt. Comprised of four selections from the performance, its presents an resonant world of rhythm and bass - a deep rumbling, which often uncannily recalls the artists most famous work - The Labyrinth Scored For 11 Different Cats.
If ever there was an important document from the history of sound practice to emerge, 552 Steps Through 11 Pairs of Strings has got to be it. As seminal as archival releases come - two stunning LPs, including images of the score and instrument, as well as the invitation card to the performance, and texts by Terry Fox and Alan Scarritt. For anyone interested in the histories of sound-art, fine-art, and avant-garde music, this is moment not to be missed.
|
2017 |
€35.00 |
|
| FRANCK, YANNICK |
Hierophany | Иерофания |
CD |
"In such conservative genre like ambient there is not easy to find something to discover, but the music of Yannick Franck can change this widespread prejudice. Infuenced by recent trip to Russia and the orthodox culture, he composed the continuous suite of three movements, showing his personal vision of the ancient rite. Release date is 29th December 2012. Limited edition of 500 copies in jewelcase." [label info]
www.monochromevision.ru
"Oily drones be found on Hierophany, an album released on the Russian imprint Monochrome Vision, inspired by the ancient rites of Russian orthodoxy, and produced by a Belgian on a working holiday whilst touring to the east of his homeland. Over the years, Franck has worked with Pietro Piparbelli (aka K11) with the two of them collaborating on a project based on recordings from Aleister Crowley's Abbey of Thelema (yes, K11 has released at least three other albums drawn from Thelemic residues). Theological differences aside (which are obviously massive), Franck's interest in both Crowley and the Russian Orthodox church seems to find common ground in the gnostic mysticism of meditation rituals and their capacity to introduce the process of transcendence. The massively thrumming drones that Franck presents on Hierophany seem to be based on field recordings made within a cathedral during a service, with the bell tones and chants reflecting into a gray wall of steely reverb and delay. Elements of human speech sporadically bounce within his system of acoustic and processed sound, creating something of a feedback loop of particular sonorous frequencies, reinforced and thickened by Franck's sonic sensibilities. The album quickly hits a uniform plateau of saturated environmental and electronic din, slipping rather subtly from one complementary movement to another. Well executed work that conceptually and aesthetically may have more than a few similarities to Current 93's early tape collage days." [Aquarius Rec.]
"More field recordings, but perhaps a bit differently when it reaches the point of release, is the new release by Belgium's Yannick Franck. He's been releasing on various labels before, such as Silken Tofu, Young Girls Records and Silentes, and has worked with K11, Craig Hilton, Alan Trench and Esther Venrooy. Here however he is solo and he uses instruments and 'non musical objects', voice, radio signals and field recordings. Perhaps so far not much difference, but it's the way Franck executes his music. Instead of using the collage form, Franck sets wheels in motion, and when they are all in motion, then he subtly moves them about. Perhaps the word 'drone' music could apply to his music? Derived from various sources, his music is played altogether at the same time, adding and subtracting on microscopic level, all along using minimal changes in the use of sound effects. Quite a dense sound he arrives at here and like with the other release, the three pieces flow nicely into eachother. In the final part, 'Dying Down', you realize you are in a church, with whispering voices, and a far away choir practice. And then it seems like the other two pieces shared that same sort of big hall/cathedral reverb. That makes it perhaps all a bit too religious for my taste, but throughout I thought this was a very refined disc of challenging drone music." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2012 |
€12.00 |
|
| FREIBAND |
Untitled Drone Work |
mCD-R |
"That lovely twenty minute piece that was previously released by Twenty Hertz in their 'Drone Works' series, but since it's discontinued, I thought it would be a good idea to do a 'repress', this time on a 3" CDR, with a somewhat different cover (from the same series of photographs actually)." [label website info]
"The atmosphere is equally austere as that on 'Ice Field', but instead of the sketch-like approach Freiband presents one 20-minute track again, a format that seems most appropriate to his drone aesthetic. He works with flickering, high-pitched sounds here, which are accompanied by a dark drone underneath. The compositional structure might seem to be devoid of any internal development, but concentrated listening reveals rich microstructural variations, as the various layers move out of sync and new sounds subtly surface in the mix. It's nice that this material is available again now, and the lovely cover photography should of course get an extra cheer" [Magnus Schäfer]
www.kormplastics.nl/moll
|
2007 |
€6.00 |
|
|
Stainless Steel Redux & Finale |
mCD-R |
"This is a twenty minute companion piece to the LP ini.itu will be releasing at the same time. All works on this LP and this 3" deal with the processed sounds of the Indonesian gamelan, in three entirely different pieces of music. 'Redux & Finale' is the most quiet, almost microsound in approach. Careful de-constructions." [label info]
www.kormplastics.nl
|
2011 |
€5.50 |
|
| |
Mutatis Mobilis |
CD-R |
"ACR 1028: CD-R in plastic case with transparent paper sleeve
Made in 2012, this release is a tribute to the creative experiments made possible in the 80s by the advent of the 4-track tape recorder, and whoever still owns one should get the limited cassette edition of this album. On a 4-track machine, listeners can create different mixes of these humming, pumping, whizzing ambiences that evoke steampunk-style industrial settings as well as the sounds of a harbour. On a normal tape deck, each side is a stereo track in its own right. The tracks from the CD can be loaded into a multi-track audio software, such as the freely downloadable Audacity, to digitally recreate the experience of the 4-track recorder for the 21st century.
Freiband used both source material of their own creation as well as material from Aalfang mit Pferdekopf’s album “Mutatis Mutandis” (ACT 1001 / ACR 1014) which is in turn based on sound sources by Freiband’s Frans de Waard. This collaborative spirit rooted in the 80s tape scene and continued in today’s digital world by the many collaborations on Attenuation Circuit, among many other labels, shows how important the 4-track recorder was as the first medium that made “studio” work accessible to a wide range of artists with an experimental approach to sound. With “Mutatis Mobilis”, the liberation of creative energies on the part of the producer is extended to the listeners. A seemingly old-fashioned medium is used for a musical work that offers active participation on the part of listeners, more so than most formats of the so-called interactive digital world." [label info]
www.attenuationcircuit.de
"Freiband is of course Frans de Waard's guise for digital sound manipulations. This release is different from Freiband's others because it has a strong conceptual element. It contains two thirty minute tracks that divide up into four separate mono tracks on left and right channels, that could be mixed in a multitrack environment. Are you still with me? So yes, there are basically sixteen mono tracks on this disc. And you, as a listener, are invited to mix it up. So far so good. Nice idea, not new but hey, what's new anyway? But then: are you ready to go through all the trouble of doing a mix of your own? I don't think so. Even I (as a musician) think this is no good and I am not going to bother with it. So that's a bit of a problem then, right? Well, no. To my big surprise the idea of doing a mix yourself etc. is just plain nonsense. These are beautiful pieces of drone work, different on left and right channels, but blending together perfectly. A work with soft and gentle changes in texture, almost zen like in nature. There is no need whatsoever to mix this in a different way, because it is just right as it is. So that leaves me with a question: why state the concept when it has become obsolete? On the other hand it partly explains the process of creation. I leave it up to you to decide for yourself, but I do urge you to listen to this. It's very well worth it." [RM / Vital Weekly]
|
2013 |
€8.00 |
|
| FRET (=MICK HARRIS) |
Over Depth |
do-LP |
"MICK HARRIS (SCORN, QUOIT, PAINKILLER) returns after several years of hiatus with ten tracks of blasting landmine bass and interlocking shrapnel rhythms.
I’ve been asked to write a press piece for the dark lord MICK HARRIS.
Where does one even start? Especially for someone with decades of releases over various solo projects, collaborations and pseudonyms, whether it’s doing blast beats in the original NAPALM DEATH to crushing techno brutality as MONRELLA, or savage drum & bass as QUOIT. Then of course there’s the mighty SCORN and his numerous collaborations with fellow luminaries such as JOHN ZORN and BILL LASWELL (in PAINKILLER).
Rather than being tied to genres or scenes, MICK HARRIS is one of those producers who creates a whole sonic world uniquely of his own, in which varying tracks, styles and tempos take form, but yet in which everything sounds unmistakably characteristic of the creator. Needless to say his work has influenced legions of producers like SURGEON, REGIS, ONTAL, VATICAN SHADOW / PRURIENT, FAUSTEN, SHAPEDNOISE et al, and pretty much anyone in the world of powerfully dark, abrasive music you could name-drop. And yet after all this time, it is impressive that HARRIS still stands way above his successors and has never been surpassed in his own production/performance game.
After a hiatus of several years, he is back with a new album under the guise of FRET.
Working at a faster tempo than his SCORN material, the FRET project first surfaced years ago on the DOWNWARDS label, rooting it firmly in the dark, industrial and technoid world, and appeared more recently on Tresor (Kern mix by OBJEKT), maintaining the characteristic colossal bass-heaviness and textural depth.
And now a full album on KARLRECORDS, Berlin.
HARRIS fans will be delighted to know that despite the 130 bpm tempo, the newest FRET still resolutely avoids any straight four-on-the-floor kickdrums; every track lurches, stumbles, staggers and charges forth with beats in beautifully broken asymmetry.
We get 10 tracks of crushing, percussive destroyers, each itself a storm of precision chaos, with colossal low-end frequencies that’ll cause stampedes in the right circumstances. The classic HARRIS sound is there; searing waves of feedback distortion, intricate, interlocking rhythms and cold, abattoir atmospheres, especially track 6 “Stuck in the track at Salford Priors” which sounds like you’re being continuously suspended in the air from multiple explosions all around, each kickdrum throwing you up in the air, the next one going off before you can fall completely back to the ground.
The lazy-minded would probably lump it in with the term “techno”, but the disciplined brutality, blasting landmine bass and interlocking shrapnel rhythms are clearly HARRIS’ own trademark style, sitting somewhere between SCORN and QUOIT.
The tracks appear deceptively chaotic on the surface, yet each is meticulously and masterfully composed with great attention to layering and detail. MICK HARRIS fans rejoice, the dark lord still remains at the top of his game."
Derek Szeto / Fausten / Combat Recordings)
karlrecords.bandcamp.com/album/over-depth |
2017 |
€25.00 |
|
| FRICKE, STEFAN & ALPER MARAL |
Am Grabe. Ein Audio-Ritual / At the Grave. An audio ritual |
do-LP |
Am Grabe (At the Grave) is an ongoing audio ritual executed by Stefan Fricke and Alper Maral. Since 2015, they have been visiting the graves and burial grounds of composers from various eras in order to record the sounds and noises present. Each sequence is a pure field recording, serving as a memento of a bit more than 4 minutes in length. After having been compiled for a series of radio programmes, selections from Am Grabe here appear on audio media for the first time. This edition commemorates 36 composers – from Bach to Beethoven, from Mahler to Eisler, from Stockhausen to Ben Patterson –, the recordings connected serially, sometimes overlapping, and compiled across 4 LP sides.
"Am Grabe is a work in progress, a collection of homages which shall and can never end, as long as emphatic music will exist and will constantly be invented in the world." (from the liner notes)
Stefan Fricke, b. 1966 in Unna, is a German musicologist. He founded the Pfau Verlag, specializing in books about contemporary music, in 1989, and since 2008 is editor for contemporary music and sound art at Hessischer Rundfunk (Hessian Broadcasting Corporation). He teaches as honorary professor at the University of Mainz.
Alper Maral, b. 1969 in Istanbul, is a Turkish composer whose oeuvre encompasses theatre and film music, symphonic and chamber works, electro-acoustic music, a.o. He plays in a number of ensembles such as – for early music – İstanbul Barok, A-415 and Bornova Trio, as well as – for contemporary music – Karınca Kabilesi, Control Voltage Project and Alper Maral Multiphonics Ensemble. He is professor at the Ankara Music and Fine Arts University.
https://www.edition-telemark.de/903.04.html
|
2019 |
€28.50 |
|
| FRIEDL, HERIBERT |
BACK_FORWARD |
CD |
"This cd is solely based on recordings of the hackbrett (cymbalon). It is a research of playing and digital processing of the instrument itself. The tracks should show the changes of concrete sounds into abstraction, without losing the soul of the sound itself. On BACK_FORWARD musical movement happens in a clearly defined space. Even though the initial point and the endpoint are never the same, the path between is always equal.' Limited edition of 300." [label info]
www.nonvisualobjects.com
|
2006 |
€14.50 |
|
| FRITH, FRED |
Technology of Tears |
CD |
"FRED FRITH erfand The Technology of Tears (ReRFRO011) 1986/87 für eine Choreographie von Rosalind Newman. Er konnte dabei auf Henry
Kaisers neuem Synklavier im Maximum an Samplingtechnologie jener Zeit schwelgen. Der Duktus ist hämmernd und zuckend, das Klangbild gesättigt mit synthetisierten Gitarren- und Geigensounds. Dazu schrillt im ersten Drittel ‚Sadness, its bones bleached behind us‘ John Zorns Altosax und Tenko skandiert kläffend ihre Kampfkunstschreie. Mensch und Automat, heiß und kalt, reiben sich im ostinat hackenden Chop-chop-chop des Maschinenbeats. Die beiden folgenden Teile behalten die Motorik bei, ein
tänzerisches Hmtata, aber zunehmend auch ein kniebrecherisches Zickzack, gespickt mit Tenkos Ha!s und Ho!s, mit repetitiver Gitarrenarbeit
und Geigenstrichen in Frith-typischer ‚Imaginary Folk‘-Manier, d. h. eingetaucht
in urbane Dynamik und auf sarkastische Weise futuristisch statt idyllisch und nostalgisch. Der Beat ist dabei so ‚imaginär‘ und dominant
wie bei Skeleton Crew. Christian Marclay stiftet Phantomklänge per Turntable, die den ‚Palace of Laughter‘ mit plunderphonischem Trubel rocken. Für ‚Jigsaw‘, ebenfalls eine Tanzmusik für Newman, die mit ähnlicher
rhythmischer Hartnäckigkeit motorische und dynamische Anstöße gibt, machte Frith das Meiste selbst, sogar die Schreie und skelettierten Gesänge. Vielspurig häuft er Gitarren-, Geigen-, Bass- und Drumloops und
diesmal stößt Jim Staley mit der Posaune dazu. Das Ganze hat einen Schwung, der immer und immer wieder angriffslustig gegen die Fassade
von Trägheit und Unlust rammt. Doch bis heute gilt: Man muss sich Sisyphos als glücklichen Menschen vorstellen." [Bad Alchemy]
"With an all-star line-up that features Tenko, John Zorn and Christian Marclay (with guest Jim Staley on trombone), Technology of Tears started life in New York in 1986 as a dance commission by Rosalind Newman. Fred took this opportunity to experiment with Henry Kaiser's brand new synclavier (the absolute state-of-the-art sampling and processing technology of the time - Henry had to take out a second mortgage on his house to buy it). It was the sophisticated sampling that fascinated Fred, and the piece is characterised by technological "comparisons" between real and virtual voices which constantly merge into one another. Tenko and Zorn tear through it all with breathless intensity. Parts two and three, which follow, couldn't be more different, for them Fred adopts a completely different methodology, playing everything himself mostly on low-grade instruments, then inviting turntablist Marclay to add plundered parts. Here is a completely different approach to "sampling": exploring dense layers of quotation intercut with melodies formed using random editing processes (with subsequent transcription and re-performance). Lastly there is Jigsaw, a later work, also made for Rosalind Newman, reflecting the frustrations experienced making Technology... where, every time Fred would complete a stable version, Rosalind would ask for changes (incidentally, sending the recording way over budget). This time Fred decided to make a modular piece that could be re-assembled in any way requested - and having no pre-determined structure at all. The original composition consisted of dozens of musical cells, each recorded separately in increments of between 3 and 12 measures; all at the same tempo, and in the same key. The idea was to play the elements separately and then ask Rosalind how she would like them constructed. Ironically, the test assembly, made as demonstration of what was possible, won instant approval, and no reconstruction was ever necessary." [label notes] |
2008 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Rocking The Boat (Volume 1 Of The Fred Records Story, 2001-2020) |
9 x CD BOX |
"First of a three-box collection by one of the most innovative guitarists and composers of his generation, containing 8 ReR CDs, plus a bonus Fred title & a fat historic booklet with artwork, photographs, extensive notes and other comments by Fred, all packed into in a sturdy box -- and at a budget price. Box one contains: The legendary Guitar Solos, Gravity (with Etron Fou Leloublan and Samla Mammas Manna), Cheap at Half the Price, Killing Time (with Bill Laswell and Fred Maher), Impur (for very large ensemble), Middle of the Moment (film score), Keep the Dog (double CD feat: Rene Lussier, Bob Ostertag, Zeena Parkins, Jean Derome & Charles Hayward). Plus, bonus CD Dropera. Biographical: Recipient of Italy's Demetrio Stratos Prize for his life's work in experimental music and Professor Emeritus at the legendary epicenter of American experimental music, Mills College in Oakland, California, Fred still teaches in the improvisation master's program at the Musik Akademie in Basel & as visiting faculty in the Universidad Austral in Valdivia, Chile, where he has been collaborating on the creation of a new School of Music & Sound Art. Also featuring Lars Hollmer, Marc Hollander, Hans Bruniusson, Eino Haapala, Olivia Bruynhooghe, Chris Cutler, Tina Curran, Catherine Jauniaux, Frank Wuyts, Michel Berkmans, Etienne Conod, Denis van Hecke, Veronique Vincent, Asha Curran Frith, the 13th Street Puerto Rican Summertime Band, Fred Maher, Bill Laswell, Paul Sears, Jean Derome, Charles Hayward, Rene Lussier, Bob Ostertag, Zeena Parkins, Ferdinand Richard, Tim Hodgkinson, Fabrizio Appelius, Mikaela Dietl, Robert Lax, Sandra M'Bow, Ida man walatAkhmudan, Tshanak ag Abalbal, women from the Kel lforas tribe, Josefina Lehmann, Johann le Guillerm, Bertrand Duval, Attila Zombori, Jean-Paul Lefeuvre, Hyacinthe Reisch, Emmanuelle Jacqueline, Didier A, Nasser Sai"dani, Catherine Guinamard, Ensemble Heteroclite, David Wood, Pascal Pariaud, Sophie Dufeutrelle, Laure Michel, Catherine Leuchter et al."
Neue CD-Box-Serie des weltweit bekannten und renommierten britischen Avantgarde-Gitarristen FRED FRITH. „The Fred Records Story“ erscheint mit jeweils neun CDs in den drei Teilen „Vol. 1 - Rocking The Boat“, „Vol. 2 - Crossing Border“ und „Vol. 3 - Stepping Out“ auf RECOMMENDED.
Der Multiinstrumentalist FRED FRITH zählt seit fünf Dekaden zu den wichtigsten und einflussreichsten Impulsgebern der zeitgenössischen Jazz- / Rock- und Avantgarde-Szene. So startete der studierte Musiker (Cambridge) seine Karriere Ende der sechziger Jahre als Gründungsmitglied der legendären Artrock-Band HENRY COW. Nach Auflösung der Genre definierenden Band (1979) gründete er gemeinsam mit CHRIS CUTLER und DAGMAR KRAUSE die ART BEARS und rief kurze Zeit später (gemeinsam mit BILL LASWELL) die Formation MASSACRE ins Leben. Zudem veröffentlichte er zahlreiche Soloalben, arbeitete mit renommierten Kollegen unterschiedlichster musikalischer Provenienz wie BRIAN ENO, MIKE OLDFIELD, JOHN ZORN, HENRY KAISER, PHIL MINTON, THE RESIDENTS und RICHARD THOMPSON und ist darüber hinaus als Film- und Theater-Komponist („Step Across The Border“ / 1990), Produzent (DAVID MOSS, TENKO, ETRON FOU LELOUBLAN) und Hochschullehrer (Mills College Kalifornien) tätig. Die neue Box-Serie „The Fred Records Story“ fasst themenspezifisch die Karrie des Ausnahmekünstlers zusammen, wobei mit „Inimitable“ in „Vol. 3 - Stepping Out“ sogar ein bisher unveröffentlichtes Album enthalten ist.
Inklusive: Guitar Solos, Gravity, Cheap at Half the Price, Killing Time, Impur, Middle of the Moment, Keep the Dog (2CD), Bonus: Dropera
https://fredfrith.bandcamp.com/album/rocking-the-boat-vol-1-of-the-fred-records-story-2001-2020
|
2021 |
€66.00 |
|
| |
Crossing Borders (Volume 2 Of The Fred Records Story, 2001-2020) |
9 x CD BOX |
"Second of a three-box collection by one of the most innovative guitarists and composers of his generation, containing 8 ReR CDs, a bonus Fred title and a fat historic booklet with artwork, photographs, extensive notes & other comments by Fred, all packed into in a sturdy box -- and at a budget price. Box 2 contains: Live in Japan, Speechless, Prints, Step Across the Border (film score), Impur 2 (large ensemble), Art of Memory II (with John Zorn), Skeleton Crew (double CD with Zeena Parkins and Tom Cora). Plus, bonus CD Helter Skelter (remastered). Cover photo: Heike Liss Biographical: Recipient of Italy's Demetrio Stratos Prize for his life's work in experimental music & Professor Emeritus at the legendary epicenter of American experimental music, Mills College in Oakland, California, Fred still teaches in the improvisation master's program at the Musik Akademie in Basel and as visiting faculty in the Universidad Austral in Valdivia, Chile, where he has been collaborating on the creation of a new School of Music and Sound Art. Also appearing: Guigou Chenevier, Margot Mathieu, Ferdinand Richard, Jo Thirion, Tina Curran, Roger Kent Parsons, Asha & Storm, George Cartwright, Hans Bruniusson, Mars Williams, Steve Buchanan, Bill Laswell, Fred Maher, Bernd "Uimsch' Lehmann, Dave Kerman, Mike Johnson, Sebastian Gramms, Alexandra Schulz, Sheena Dupuis, Tom Cora, Zeena Parkins, Bob Ostertag, John Zorn, Daihachi Oguchi, Jean Derome, Rene Lussier, Kevin Norton, Eino Haapala, Marc Hollander, Lars Holl mer, Tim Hodgkinson, Iva Bittov. Pavel Fajt, Eitetsu Hayashi, Haco, Rabi, Lu, Katrin, Dave Newhouse, Laurent Frick, Pascal Pariaud, Joel Jorda, Laurent Vichard, Samuel Chagnard, Stephane Lambert, Philippe Madile, Serge Sana, Claire Mollard, Stephane Grosjean, Cyril Cambon, Stephen Tissot, Guillaume Quemener, Ghilem Lacroux, Bader Gharzouli, Gilles Laval, Jean-Michel Quoisse, Denis Mariotte, Claude Monteil, Edmond Hosdikian, Fred Giuliani, Kiwi, Nadine Laporte, Richard Peter et al."
https://fredfrith.bandcamp.com/album/crossing-borders-vol-2-of-the-fred-records-story-2001-2020 |
2021 |
€66.00 |
|
| FRITH, FRED & JOHN ZORN |
The Art of Memory II |
CD |
"Art of Memory II (ReRFRA06) ist kein Nachfolger zu Art of Memory (Incus, 1993), sondern geht ihm voraus. Nachgeliefert werden nämlich Konzertmitschnitte vom Januar 1983 und Juli 1985 und man hört FRED FRITH & JOHN ZORN dabei in geräuschverliebtester Spiellaune. Der eine bekrabbelt Tableguitar & ein Casio Monophonic Keyboard, der andere tobt sich an Mundstücken & Vogelpfeifen aus, dass nur so die Spucke und die Federn fliegen. Zorn strebt in den Siebten Looney-Tune-Himmel, zumindest
bohrt er ihn ständig und hartnäckig an. Er quäkt, kirrt und schnattert wie die Ducks-Sippe in Aufruhr, die sprudelnden, oft schrillen Altosaxophontiraden wirken in diesem Kontext dann ebenfalls wie hyperventiliert.
Frith lässt entsprechend seiner Itchy & scratchy-Seite die Zügel schießen, lässt die Saiten flattern, macht den Kasper, der Krokodile verdrischt und Polizisten die Nase verdreht. Plinkplonk wird abseits aller explorativen Seriosität zur anarchistischen Zirkusclownerie, zum Geek-Spektakel, zum polymorph-perversen Sturm im Wasserglas, bei dem einem Caliban ein Bein stellt und der Inhalt von Harpo Marxens Manteltaschen um die
Ohren fliegt. Kein Gedächtniskünstler - der Titel ist ja offenbar von Francis A. Yates‘ The Art of Memory geliehen - könnte diese Splitter wieder sortieren." [Bad Alchemy]
"The long-awaited follow up to their first release on Derek Bailey's Incus label and a kind of prequel, going back to the time when Fred was playing home-made instruments and John was using mouthpieces and duck-calls as much or more than alto sax; this was back in the New York glory days when 100 new ideas popped up somewhere every day, and these performances lie right at the fringe of what most people would accept as "music". Anyone wanting to get back to one of the roots of what later became known as "noise music" will want this CD, since these performances encapsulate an approach to improvisation that has much more to do with listening to the world than perpetuating an existing musical tradition that works through safe, mutually understood, rules and conventions. AOMII is a vintage document from a lost era when innovation, energy and imagination were valued, and still had the power to shock and surprise." [label info] |
2008 |
€14.00 |
|
| FRÖBERG, DAN |
15 Songs (down at Jinxey's) |
CD |
"A lone thumb piano, a singing woman, children at play, howling and crackling electricity, chirping birds, tones from a toy organ, sounds of traffic - Dan Fröberg´s remarkable compositions are intersections of shapes, environments, times, places and wildly disparate contexts.
As a listener you may recognize individual sonic fragments and create pictures and scenarios through private associations - like an inner movie running parallel to the works - but still the sound environments appear so curious and raise so many questions in our minds.
What are these shapes, milieus and tales that Dan Fröberg illustrates for us, and what do they want to convey? Traveling Dan Fröberg´s soundscapes renders you the feeling of a cloud passing freely between various geographical, temporal and cultural settings and contexts.
Occasionally a dream appears. A folk music ensemble commences to play nearby, some giggling children run by, an orchestra of traffic looms large, and rustling leaves fall. The cloud hovers on, through walls, mountains and a brook, suddenly appearing in another time, in another place, where other figures tell their stories.
In the world of Dan Fröberg everything is inspired: people, animals, places, sound, shadows, memories. Even though the sounds appear crystal clear in their purity, they convey many remarkable stories, while simultaneously leaving the field open for the listener´s fantasy. Dan Fröberg´s compositions and sound recordings are as clean as can be. No post-production processing of the sounds has been applied. Dan Fröberg works with a kind of sound magic. Nothing is left to arbitrary randomness. Each sound is chosen with care.
When Dan Fröberg composes his pieces, each small detail of the soundscape is rendered vitality and significance. The significations are gradually transformed and new tales emerge as the different sound worlds are confronted with each other. As a listener you are transferred somewhere else just as your questions have began to formulate themselves - into a new world, quite familiar, albeit with something completely new and alien totell.
The properties of time and space are always shifting in these pieces where figures, occurrences and reflections approach, materialize, convey something only to drift by or dissolve - as something novel appears, something else through the journey. Dan Fröberg prefers to brand his acoustic works folk music, rather than musique concrète, field recordings, sound art or something else that would be convenient. The compositions on this CD, or the journeys, if you like, take shape through 15 songs, wherein the shapes, environments and events constitute the voices that sing and establish this folk music that sounds like nothing else, in the borderland between here and now."
[Daniel Rozenhall, Executive producer, Fylkingen Records.]
"Also from Stockholm and sometimes connected to Firework is Fylkingen, a place for concerts, art, work and much more. A fine place to be. Their releases are less arty and conceptual and more musical. The name Dan Fröberg rings a bell, but my memory is such a condition that I don't remember. It seems to me he works with found sound: people talking, street sounds, the luna park, birds and electrical currents. He puts these together in a great way, a dream-like state of music. Strongly reminding me of Dominique Petitgand, but less telling a tale than he did in his music. With Petitgand somebody would tell a story, sing a song and he would add found sound, whereas Fröberg places the sound in the central position and lets the listener think of a story. This is 'close your eyes and dream away' music, but not in a new age sense of the word, but cinematic: true cinema for the ears. Great one." [Fdw/Vital Weekly]
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| FUKUOKA, RINJI / MICHEL HENRITZI / LUCA MASSOLIN |
Weather Report |
LP |
"BACKWARDS is proud to announce a mind-blowing album of cosmic improvisation by the trio of musician / producer Luca Massolin (Golden Cup, Golden Jooklo Age), French avant-garde guitarist Michel Henritzi and Rinji Fukuoka, formely member of Overhang Party and currently of Majutsu No Niwa.
Recorded in November 2011, eight months after the Fukushima disaster, ‘Weather Report’ is an onirical yet political soundpiece, developed in two long movements, ‘A Chuva Obrigado’ and ‘Radioactive Arigato’.
The first side is a cornucopia of ghostly shapes and haunted tones, with Massolin’s dreamy organ and heavenly electronics blessed by Fukuoka’s elegiac violin lines. The piece evolves soon into an improvised blues for flamenco-like guitar (!!!), percussions and abstract electronics, building up tension until Henritzi’s lapsteel joins with waves of ectoplasmic electricity, and finally exploding into a blast of cathartic free noise.
The other side is when the piece starts vibrating, with Massolin’s electric bass pushing the whole thing into full-on shoegaze mode, Henritzi combining long, doomy drones and Fukuoka playing the most emotionally violin ragas you got to hear in an improvised studio album. There will be room for more ghosts until the end of this side, taking us to a landscape of wintry trees, empty streets, an abandoned city devoid of human presence.
This is the soundtrack of an echological disaster, a picture taken right after it happened, a warn about the risks of pushing the limits of human technology against nature. Images translated into sounds by improvised free music in its purest form: evocative, political, magical. How can you not be affected?
Limited edition of 260 copies of which 50 are on BLUE vinyl, and the remaining on standard black wax." [label info]
www.backwards.it
|
2014 |
€15.00 |
|
| FULLMAN, ELLEN |
Body Music |
CD |
ELLEN FULLMANN, Mitglied der DEEP LISTENING BAND mit Pauline OLIVEROS, arbeitet mit selbstgebauten “string instruments”, deren Drähte z.T. viele Meter lang sind, und erzeugt so schwirrende, hell klingende, reichhaltig-obertongenerierende drones. Komplexer Minimalismus.
„ Body Music is music for Ellen Fullman¹s unique The Long String Instrument,an 80-foot long instrument with approximately 80 strings. Fullman has been developing this instrument for longitudinally vibrating long strings over the past thirteen years. When she started making it, she saw it as "sculpture as music;" now she has come full circle in conceiving "music as sculpture." For the most part, the music in Body Music relies harmonically on the diatonic scale. Because of the prominence of overtone content, more complex harmony is suggested.” [label description]
label: www.xirecords.org |
1993 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Staggered Stasis |
CD |
Einer der letzten Veröffentlichungen des Seattler Labels ANOMALOUS war diese CD von ELLEN FULLMAN, die hier mit ihrem “long string instrument” wunderbar metalloide Oberton-Drones erzeugt, die tönen, als wenn man auf einem “Klangbett” liegt. Unglaublich volle, vielfältig sirrende, in allen Farben flackernde Drone-Strahlen, zwei Stücke die bereits in den 80ern entstanden sind. Still to discover !
“Over the last two decades, Ellen Fullman has been perfecting her Long String Instrument. This unique instrument of her own design is some 80 feet in length and played by literally walking through it. The resulting sounds are beautiful gliding tones with a rich harmonic content. The CD presents two works from her time in Austin, Texas in the late 1980's which beautifully display a sound you can get inside of. These long tracks envelope you in their cascading overtones. Even though she has performed widely in the United States and Europe, this is only Ellen's third solo CD, following previous releases on XI Records and New Albion. So hearing these gorgeous and important pieces from her archive is cause for celebration.
Staggered Stasis (1989) was commissioned by the Deborah Hay Dance Company for part 1, The Navigator in Hay's trilogy, The Man Who Grew Common In Wisdom. Microtonal shifts in the coloring occur in a staggered fashion, traveling on an axis of Pythagorean intervals, (the circle of fifths). Chords created by stacking 3/2s, or fifths, are referred to as suspended chords. There is a flatness in this drama, what I imagine it must be like in the middle of an ocean, continually moving yet appearing the same. The four part score was plotted on a timeline. Each track was recorded and performed by myself. An excerpt of Staggered Stasis was released on the Arial CD series.
Duration (1986) was composed as a 13-limit study for the Long String Instrument, in the key of C. The fundamental tone is continually sounded, under chords constructed with pitches from the overtone series. The intention of the piece was to listen to the variations within each chord, as it is sounded continually while the performer walked the length of the instrument. As the performer's position changes, one clearly hears a cascade of overtones. Duration was never previously released.
The original recordings were made direct to a PCM digital processor using a vintage AKG C24 stereo tube condenser microphone placed about 15 feet from the resonators.” [label description]
|
2004 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
In The Sea |
do-LP |
"Ellen Fullman began developing The Long String Instrument in her St. Paul, Minnesota studio in 1980 and moved to Brooklyn the following year. Inspired by composer and instrument builder Harry Partch, Fullman's large-scale work creates droning, organ-like overtones that are as unique in the world of sound as her vision of the instrument itself.
Along with her 1985 debut album – appropriately titled The Long String Instrument – Fullman's only output in the 1980s would be two self-released cassettes, In The Sea and Work For Four Players And 90 Strings, recorded in 1987 at an unfinished office tower in Austin, Texas. This double LP collection features music from both cassettes as well as a previously unreleased piece from 1988 at De Fabriek in Den Bosch, Holland.
Ethereal and exquisitely paced, these rare recordings capture minimalism's quiet radiance. Within a musical landscape that has seen the rise of contemporary drone practitioners like Ellen Arkbro and Kali Malone, Fullman is sure to find a legion of fans.
Superior Viaduct is honored to present this long overdue archival release that marks a particularly vibrant period of Fullman's pioneering and timeless work." [label info]
https://www.superiorviaduct.com/products/ellen-fullman-in-the-sea-2xlp
"The breathtaking expanse of ’In The Sea’ was the 1987 follow-up to Ellen Fullman’s groundbreaking classic of 1985, ‘The Long String Instrument’. Only ever available on a hard-to-find tape, this is its necessary first ever reissue.
Collapsing millennia of musical practice and research into a singular sound, Fullman’s 2nd recording of her self-built instrument engulfs the senses in unfathomably complex overtones generated by 25m-long strings which are tuned to Just Intonation and played with rosined hands. Ellen’s sound effectively bridges the deeply mysterious sound of Indian classical music and the kind of contemporary minimalism explored by Ellen Arkbro and Kali Malone, and should be sought out by any listeners seeking sonic transcendence." [Boomkat]
|
2020 |
€27.50 |
|
| FUNERARY CALL |
The Mirror reversed |
CD |
"It is with great honor that we welcome Canada's unique and by now legendary Black Ambient act Funerary Call to our family. For this new opus Harlow Macfarlane found inspiration from personal interpretations of the Tree of Death and what is considered to represent the reverse or occult side of the Tree of Life, a diagram of the negative forces or Qliphoth (Hebrew, Shells) assigned to each Sephiroth. They represent the counter-forces of the ten divine emanations as described by the ancient Qabalists and the paths or tunnels that connect to these infernal realms and the various demonic forces that inhabit them. The constant shifting of sounds and tones are a metaphoric reflection of these various "shells" and chaotic entities. Built as one continuous piece with various chapters, this new album serves as a vehicule for delving deeply into the shadow side. Artwork by Dehn Sora." [label info]
www.cycliclaw.com
"The eerie and strangely evanescent theme opening the record draws the listener into a world of shifting shades and intermingled shapes that create a tableau of intense magical realism. The music evolves from the beginning, from minimal electronics designed like an abstract painting: they fade away into vaporous dispersion just when you think the frequencies are about to take a definite shape. They grow like the roots of a tree inside one’s head, asphyxiating common optical nerves and provoking a sort of dizziness of the internal organs; thus, the atmosphere here created becomes absorbent and eventually starts to grow inside you, but from above to the bottom. If we keep in mind the arborescent developed image, this glimpsing tree begins to take roots from the head and then seems to progressively take hold of your entire body by its trunk and branches.
It is the image of the tree of life and death which in some mythological and esoteric interpretations appears reversed in correspondence with the ontological aspects of individuation: one’s persona is shaped starting with cognition. As with most of hermeneutics this same aspect is based on ambivalence, so that this same root of self-development is the source of its degradation. Seemingly such ideas are musically suggested by traces of heavy-gripping tonalities or ironic, damping off percussive poundings. One who intends detachment from the illusion of progress searches to cut off from the root the body correspondent tree.
The ambiance constructed here traces allegorically the roaming of the intellect through the corners of its own metaphoric world. The music continuously acts as a vehicle for the listener: a meditative support which has the power to provoke the emergence of different mental states, all the more confusing and irritating as the mind has to confront ever-shifting frequencies.
Whether the intention of the artist has been to depict the kabalistic aspects of the Sephirothic tree, namely the malefic mirrored Qliphotic tree, is a matter of sheer interpretation. The record’s title would infer such a parallelism, but the evocative power of the music can gather esoteric hints that are generally valid.
“The Mirror Reversed” reflects the descent of the soul in its own created abyss. In part 1 of this one-track album, the Canadian artist acting under Funerary Call has offered us a multifaceted musical depiction of such a demanding journey. And even if a reversed descent is naturally an ascension, we will further wait for the soul’s ascending in part 2." [Iaha Crax / Santa Sangre]
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| FÜR DIESEN ABEND |
same |
CD-R |
Collaborative effort of GREGORY BÜTTNER (who also runs this new label from Hamburg: TAUSENDFÜSSLER) and STEFAN FUNCK: nice drone-layers & abstract floating soundscapes, always moving to some invisible point that disappears like a hallucination.. recommended !!
„für diesen abend" ist ein musikalisches zusammentreffen von stefan funck & gregory büttner (beide aus hamburg). jeder einzeln zuhause am rechner tätig, treffen sie sich regelmäßig, um ihre ergebnisse zusammenzubringen. störgeräuschen, feldaufnahmen, samples und computer generiertes werden zusammen und gegeneinander gestellt. – kino für das ohr – "für diesen abend" is an acoustic meeting between stefan funck & gregory büttner (both from hamburg, germany). each works at home on their computers, collecting and processing sounds from glitches, fieldrecordings, samples and electronics.
– cinema for your ears –“ [label description]
|
2004 |
€8.00 |
|
| G*PARK |
Sub |
do-CD |
"The most enigmatic of the Schimpfluch-Gruppe, Marc Zeier in the man behind G*Park; and here, he presents his first major album since the acclaimed 2008 album of cryptic electro-acoustics entitled Reuters. Many years in the making, Sub is a sprawling masterpiece of modern day musique concrete, reflecting the early pioneers' use of razor cut tape with a grandiose revelation of an existential horror. Zeier describes this album as the manifestation of amorphous conditions that lead to (or interfere with) representational forms or states of being. His examples of the shifting patterns from clouds of blackbirds or the clinging masses from algae blooms are rudimentary entry points for his rhizomatic, chimerical work.
For every malignant drone and turgid thrumming, Zeier will puncture his fluttering, frozen methane surfaces with jagged incisions, pneumatic hammerings, and decompressed gasps. This fragmented punctuation is a signature to the G*Park aesthetic, used highly effectively in mapping his clinical situations turned septic. The titles to the tracks on Sub address the physical attributes of the source material that went into each track, with some decidedly specific ("Swine", "Wasp", "Stone") and others nebulously abstract ("Purge", "Glow", "Pulse"). For Zeier, the exact nature of the sound object is informed more by a shadowy deconstruction than by a direct representation, thrust into an absurd existence as an abomination, a violation, a monster.
Sub locates itself near the psychological minefields of Luc Ferrari, Steven Stapleton's prediliction for windows, and the cruel x-ray visions from fellow Swiss aktionists Sudden Infant & Dave Phillips." [label info]
www.23five.org
"When the first G*Park record was released, on Schimpfluch, it blew my mind. For one, it didn't seem to fit on the label, with their harsh, cut-up styled aktionist music, and it seemed to be all ambient and quiet music. It's good to have expectations blown away. I followed him a bit, in the mid 90s, when he released some CDs on Zabriskie Point, but his output was quite sparse, so I missed out on his releases on Tochnit Aleph, but here's a new sign of life, in the form of an all new double CD on 23Five Incorporated. G*Park, the solo project of Marc Zeier, works exclusively with field recordings, which is offers either as a raw block of sound, or something heavily treated, layered and such like. Now, of course, there has been lots of field recording based music since the first G*Park LP, and we might have become a bit more critical, but boy, G*Park is still as unique as always. His music has a drone like character, from layering various events together, or simply taping events of such nature (gas lamps, heaters) and on top he placed animal sounds with a more haunting character. There seems always to be sudden move in here, like a violence lurking underneath, maybe a menace in these sounds, which makes this perhaps both narrative and scary. It's like a radio play, but entirely without words. A horror radio play if you with these sustaining sounds, loops of squeaking doors, and a swift montage to enter another room. Some hundred minutes of music here and it's not a minute too long, or too short. Very imaginative music, both in the way it's made but also a soundtrack for imaginary films. This is an excellent release, restating what great composer G*Park is." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2013 |
€16.00 |
|
| G.A.M.S. (GUIDO MÖBIUS & ANDI STECHER) |
G.A.M.S. |
LP |
The first album of the new duo G.A.M.S. (ANDI STECHER / drums and GUIDO MÖBIUS / feedback) with special appearances by MICK HARRIS (EX NAPALM DEATH, PAINKILLER, SCORN a.o.) and YUKO MATSUYAMA (HULA HUT & THE SEVEN SEAS).
Feedback leads a life of it’s own. It is an uncontrollable sonic accident, usually ear-numbingly loud but sometimes also delicately ethereal. The essence of feedback is being released from bonds, its path is always one of intensification and escape. Its a physical phenomenon and hard to predict.
The duo G.A.M.S. makes music on the edge of losing control. A restless drummer works his way through waves of feedback, which span the full spectrum of frequencies from pumping bass to the highest tones. With the pulse of the feedback ANDI STECHER's drumming, at times feverish and driven, then distanced and abstract, creates polyrhythmic structures. What comes into being is a maelstrom of sound and rhythm - music beyond every style, the power of which lies in its rawness.
STECHER and MÖBIUS switch the roles of desired and undesired sound and thereby create pieces like archaic sculptures. Their music is raw and powerful, but can also be soft and etheric. Sometimes it feels like a delicate organic painting. But here's one thing that G.A.M.S. music certainly isn't - predictable. The duo uses freely improvised spaces and reacts to unplanned sonic events. And despite all it's seeming randomness, G.A.M.S. still manage to compose clearly structured pieces and to reconstruct these in their live program.
Through a cut-up technique patterns of feedback sound fragments are juxtaposed and interlocked in varied combinations. These hypnotic loops move between rhythm and melodies, a web that is carried along by a driving drum set, accents of sub-bass and layers of feedback drones.
The playful drum style of ANDI STECHER is far from conventional rock drumming. Instead he experiments with various materials - for instance by preparing his cymbals with chains or putting different objects on the skin of his drums. He makes offbeat meters and complicated grooves sound easy and light. The same goes for changes in timing or dense textures comprising ghost notes. On the other hand he plays straight forward beats dynamically and with power.
STECHER’s partner in G.A.M.S. is GUIDO MÖBIUS who (with the help of a guitar amp, a microphone and effects) creates live feedbacks which can be massive and noisy but also fragile and gentle. Fleeting and concrete sounds join into dense textures. Feedback is never static rather always in a process of change.
Musical guests on the album are ex-NAPALM DEATH drummer and eletronic producer MICK HARRIS (SCORN, FRET) contributing drones and field recordings and the versatile singer YUKO MATSUYAMA (HULA HUT & THE SEVEN SEAS).
https://karlrecords.bandcamp.com/album/g-a-m-s
|
2019 |
€18.00 |
|
| GAL |
RGB / Experimental Videos |
DVD |
Seven experimental video-clips by this artist (full name is GAL TUSHIA) from Israel, with musical help by label-manager DAVID OVADIA aka MAURIN, made to "expand the boundaries of the ordinary visuals found in everyday life". Colourful movements & shapes appear in behind an almost dissolving surface, extremely coloured landscapes, nightdrives, strangely coloured birds, flickering lights in square-shapes, and the music consist of soft drone-loops, slow tribal beats & analogue sounds.
"Takes the viewer through a slow, hypnotic journey into "pixel", colored "reality". Its images are accompanied by experimental audio ambiance and minimal beats composed by Gal & Maurin." [website info]
|
2005 |
€12.00 |
|
| GALERIE SCHALLSCHUTZ |
ZOON-LOGON-ECHON |
LP / CD / MC - BOX |
20 YEARS EDITION OF GALERIE SCHALLSCHUTZ
„Zoon Logon Echon“ (Das vernunftbegabte Tier) is a great comeback and the next chapter in the history of Galerie Schallschutz to uncover the secret machinations and goals in the world we live in.
The new concept album deals with the definition and meaning of being human.
It’s an overview of what we are and want to be and how the fundamental principles of humanism has changed throughout several decades by which our own values are diluted to the extent where they no longer exist.
This release (ltd. to 350 copies) comes out in a huge deluxe box with 3 different kinds of media and is a very special and rare package!
It contains:
# one 12inch LP (6 tracks / running time: 36 min),
# one CD (10 tracks / running time: 66 min),
# one C-30 Cassette (9 tracks / running time: 56 min),
# one large inlay,
# one GS logo patch,
# free digital download card for all tracks!
Each album has got his own sound character and specific style to get the appropriate impressions and emotions of
ZOON – LOGON – ECHON
“LET US BLAST OUT OUR OLD FORMS, OUR IGNORANCE, OUR WEAKNESS AND OUR MORTALITY”
https://tescogermany.bandcamp.com/album/zoon-logon-echon-set
|
2020 |
€79.00 |
|
| GAMIL, SOLIMAN |
Ankh |
LP |
"This is the 2nd release for Touch by Soliman Gamil, after The Egyptian Music. Ankh is the Egyptian symbol of life, of fertility and of growth. From the rich tonality of 'Dance of Ka' to the exuberant 'Clown Dance', Soliman Gamil draws on ancient Egyptian culture to create soundscapes that transcend the stereotypes handed down from films like Cleopatra; in the process they also challenge the shrink-wrapped mentality of 'world music'. On Ankh, Soliman Gamil plays 17 different instruments on 15 new compositions written and recorded since the 1960s. The cover comes complete with full color artwork that features a painting by Panni Charrington." [label info]
www.touchmusic.org.uk
|
1990 |
€15.00 |
|
| GAMLASKATTEN |
Voltage |
CD |
"Voltage" is the debut album and follow up to the well received "Brutalism" EP (auphnet024).
Using the momentum, this release is straight and aimed directly to the club floors. Heavy beats, moving sequences and a pace that you cannot escape. As it's predecessor the tracks are heavy influenced by oldschool EBM, dark techno and industrial elements.
Demanding your attention from the first bit to the last note!
https://audiophob.bandcamp.com/album/voltage
"Genre/Influences: Industrial-Techno, Techno-Body.
Format: Digital, CD.
Background/Info: This is a German solo-project driven by Ralph Gatzen. Audiophob last year released the EP “Brutalism” and now unleashed the debut album “Voltage”.
Content: The debut part of the work is mixing hard loops of Techno- and Industrial music. New elements are progressively emerging like Acid, Psy-Trance and finally solid EBM bass lines with screaming effects on top. It’s a diversified piece of music but totally adapted for dance floors.
+ + + : The opening part of the album has something visionary. Gamlaskatten is not just bringing Techno and Industrial together but there’s something extra on top. It sounds brutal and pretty sexy at the same time. The Acid sequences at the title track are pretty cool as well. The second part features heavy EBM bass lines creating a perfect, and aggressive, fusion between Techno and EBM.
– – – : The only single track that couldn’t fully convince me is the last one which definitely sounds as an ‘outro’.
Conclusion: I’m not used to hearing Techno-driven productions released by Audiophob but the harsh, Industrial, dark and intelligent approach of this artist is definitely appealing for the lovers of the German label." [Side-Line]
|
2022 |
€12.00 |
|
| GAMMELSAETER & MARHAUG |
Higgs Boson |
LP |
Runhild Gammelsæter and Lasse Marhaug are two Norwegian musicians/sound artists. Both started in the early 1990s music underground and have worked in many constellations with a wide range of collaborators. Despite knowing each other for a long time, Gammelsæter and Marhaug's first collaborative work was the Quantum Entanglement LP in 2014. The project lay dormant until Stephen O'Malley and Greg Anderson invited them to open for Sunn O))) for a special gig in the St. James Church of Culture in Oslo in 2019. The two gathered for a long series of rehearsals, and after the successful performance, it was clear that it was time to start working on new compositions and recordings. That process initiated in late 2019 and continued to early 2021, before and after the lockdown. The result of this long development to be heard accumulated upon their new album Higgs Boson on Ideologic Organ. Marhaug drew inspiration from concepts informed by the structuralist experimental cinema of Japanese directors Takashi Ito and Toshio Matsumoto, futurist worlds of French comic book artists Philippe Druillet and Jean Moebius Giraud, landscape photography of Fay Godwin, Kåre Kivijärvi, and Tamiko Nishimura, amongst others. It became a metaphysical juxtaposition involving Gammelsaeter's research and lyrical ideas based on several seemingly unrelated principles. A process of association inspired by The Glass Bead Game (1943) by Herman Hesse. The discovery of the Higgs Boson as a confirmation of the physical universe. The work of Ernst Schrödinger on the uncertainty principle. The four forces of physics. The Force. Helplessness under armed forces -- as the war sailors in World War II. The influence of magic as expressed in tarot. Gammelsæter experiments with a boundary involving the thresholds amongst various states of focus and legibility by forensic experimentation with techniques such as exclusive expression of consonants, syllabic repetition, retrograde text vocalizations and multi-lingual layering. Her vocal inspirational sources include Sidsel Endresen, Diamanda Galas, Natacha Atlas, the choral works of Rachmaninov, and the bands Carcass and Grave. Two worlds coming together, making the music special. Mixing hard facts with science fiction helps create a kaleidoscopic cross point between the complex realities of the past and a possible future. Across eight parts, the two artists brought a broad palette of instrumentation and sound on Higgs Boson. Electronic and acoustic, objects and field recordings, and pipe organ define the structures of which the center is Gammelsæter's magnificent voice. She In the mix, Lasse approached the instrumental elements like landscapes, then Runhild's vocals as characters that inhabit those worlds. Often, Gammelsæter multiple characters fused with the landscape. As an album, Higgs Boson is direct and focused, drawing on song structures. Within these tracks are vast strata of sound, an immersive multi-dimensional depth of music.
A1. The Stark Effect (2:52)
A2. The Magus (4:44)
A3. Static Case (3:56)
A4. Ondes De Fase (4:00)
A5. Forces (5:50)
B1. Propeller Arc (6:46)
B2. Hadron Collider (5:35)
B3. These Questions (9:55)
"Two totemic Norwegian artists bombard and fizz the senses with a powerful invocation of metal and noise energies on a new album for Stephen O’Malley’s radical Ideologic Organ imprint.
The thrilling complex of ’Higgs Boson’ furthers Runhild Gammelsæter & Lasse Marhaug’s fascination with the field of physics following 2014’s ‘Quantum Entanglement’ with Milwaukee’s uncompromising Utech Records. Gammelsæter, a one-time vocalist for O’Malley & Greg Anderson’s legendary pre-Sunn 0))) band, Thorr’s Hammer, and regular contributor to O’Malley’s subsequent projects, is also a professional biologist with a PhD in cell physiology. Marhaug is the prolific, multifarious figurehead of Scandinavian experimental music who surely needs little introduction on these pages. The duo collapse a spectrum of non-musical influences into an immensely compelling sound that, as their LP’s title suggests, strives to confirm the meta- and physical presence of the universe thru opposing forces, and the unquantifiable, uncertain energies produced therein.
Gammelsæter’s vocals are evidently a big attraction on ‘Higg’s Boson’, naturally drawing on 30 years of extended works to project a range of unearthly inflections and affective tonal colour unmistakably forged in the belly of radical metal. As her relatively short but perfectly realised catalogue with Thorr’s Hammer, Khlyst, Sunn 0))) (notably ‘Gates of Ballard’!), proves, few can match her might.
Summoning structural concepts from the Japanese experimental cinema of Toshio Matsumoto, french comic book futurism of Phillippe Druillet and Jean Moebius Giraud, and landscape photography of Fay Godwin, Kåre Kivijärvi, and Tamiko Nishimura, Marhaug, in turn, galvanises the personalities of Gammelsæter’s voice to extraordinary degrees, conjugating their mutual spirits in vast, electro-acoustic and illusively noumenal space with frankly shit-the-bed results comparable with everyone from Diamanda Galas’ tempered rage to the catharsis of Carcass and Rachmaninov’s choral arrangements.
A genuinely unsettling summoning of dark energy." [Boomkat]
https://ideologicorgan.bandcamp.com/album/higgs-boson
|
2022 |
€24.00 |
|
| GAPIK, CEZARY |
Contrast I |
LP |
"The White Box label presents a release by Polish electronic experimental/harsh ambient drone musician Cezary Gapik. Gapik's deeply unsettling soundscapes go beyond the primal "power electronics" assaults (which the label adores and thrives on), of early Whitehouse and Sutcliffe Jugend. They go far beyond the capabilities of many of the supposed "dark ambient" artists releasing music today. Primitive forms have been discarded in favor of an articulate attention to detail, all for the benefit of the discerning listener. Fans of diverse, forward-thinking sound artists such as Philip Jeck, Kevin Drumm, Tim Hecker, Carlos Giffoni, Phill Niblock, Peter Rehberg, Fennesz and other SERIOUS people should take note. Gapik's sonic assaults and tonally perverse audio structures house such progressive depth, that upon discovering this music, White Box concluded there was simply too much good material to contain in a single release. Presented here is part one of a triptych; "Contrast I" comprises two pieces, and perhaps not surprisingly given its title, features two very different compositional approaches from the same artist. From the opening moments of side A's monolithic "#0473 [Tremor]," Gapik's music asserts an unflinching, confrontational prowess all its own; an articulate slab of cold, metallic sound, unrelenting, aurally oppressive and executed with total precision. If we're talking power electronics here (and as far as side A goes, we are), it doesn't get much more forward-thinking than this. Side B track "#0458 [Drowsiness]," offers an altogether different approach to its side A counterpart, its peculiar, clustered tones slowly creeping in and out of phase, seemingly designed to throw off the listener, traversing dark psychedelic territories. White Box will be releasing "Contrast" Parts II and III further into 2011. Limited edition vinyl release of 400 copies only. Features gorgeous sleeve art from Berlin-based painter Suse Kipp." [label info]
www.whiteboxrecordings.co.uk
|
2011 |
€20.00 |
|
| GARLAND, PETER |
String Quartets |
CD |
"This CD presents the premiere recordings of two spirited and enticing quartets that draw on the composer's well-traveled ear and great sense of personal vision. Both works move with a unique sense of grace and a sincerity of expression that is purely Garlandesque -- marked by a sometimes lively dancing, a sometimes alluring stasis and an often sauntering gait that allow musical ideas to seem to appear intuitively and develop subconsciously. Performed and recorded beautifully by members of the renowned British new music ensemble Apartment House, which has for the past 15 years championed the music of such composers as Christian Wolf, John Cage, Cornelius Cardew, Philip Corner and many other experimental and avant-garde composers at major festivals throughout Europe. Peter Garland is a composer, world traveler, musicologist, writer and former publisher (Soundings Press). He studied music composition with Harold Budd and James Tenney at Cal Arts and maintained long friendships with Lou Harrison, Conlon Nancarrow, Paul Bowles and Dane Rudhyar. Since the early '70s, Garland's own music has been marked by a return to a 'radical consonance' and a simplification of formal structure influenced by Cage, Harrison, early minimalism and a great variety of world musics. His unique and highly engaging music has been performed around the world by such noted performers as pianists Aki Takahashi and Herbert Henck, percussionist William Winant, accordionist Guy Klucesvek and the Kronos Quartet and released on the Tzadik, New Albion, Cold Blue, Mode, Avant, Toshiba-EMI/Angel and other labels." [label info]
www.coldbluemusic.com
|
2009 |
€14.00 |
|
| GAUCHISTE |
same |
LP |
"GAUCHISTE is a trio consisting of Tannon Penland, Tomas Phillips, and Craig Hilton. Tannon is based in Richmond, VA and is also in the instrumental group Loincloth who are newly signed to Southern Lord Records. Tomas as well as Craig are from Raleigh, NC and are prolific electronic musicians specializing in the sparse. (Absinth Records, Nitkie Records, AFE Records, and Young Girls Records to name just a few)
Out of a shared love of both metal and abstract minimalist forms, GAUCHISTE are two parts electronic genius and one part grim reaper. The sum of those parts is a self titled debut coming January 17th, 2012; seven songs that fuse Penderecki to Celtic Frost. At long last sounds of terror you can meditate to.
Little Black Cloud Records is honored to be a part of this ground breaking collaboration of styles and artistry. This release has been mastered by James Plotkin (Khanate, Scorn, Lotus Eaters, etc...) who specializes in making extreme music of all kinds shimmer and has worked with heavyweights such as Sunn O))), Earth, and Goslings.
The LP is limited to 100. The pressing color is black and carries a black label with handwritten notations to reflect side A & B (one upside down cross or two). The LP is housed in a plain black cardboard sleeve that is wrapped 3/4s of the way with cover art on heavy, high quality matte paper. A special insert has been created to sit within the cover to complete the artwork on the backside, much like a puzzle piece. The hand mirror cover art and layout has been designed by artist Kenneth Close and each record contains a digital download card.
The compact disc is also limited to 100 and also carries a mirror (compact) theme. The CD comes in a round metal tin with a plastic window in the center allowing the reflective CD to be viewed without opening the case. The liner notes are stored beneath the CD (accessible by removing the clear inner plastic that secures the CD in place) and the back of the tin case is stickered to complete the artful packaging." [label info]
www.littleblackcloudrecords.com
|
2012 |
€20.00 |
|
| GEINS'T NAIT & L. PETITGAND |
Je vous dis |
CD |
"Geins't Naït is a project initiated in 1986 with a first album released by Thierry Merigout (drummer with Kas Product on their 1981 tour) and Vincent Hachet, who quickly stepped back from this project to work on his film-maker career.
The L'or'n Cät album's release in 1987 marked the arrival of Laurent Petitgand, a singer-songwriter recognized for his composing work for (the late French singer) Bashung and original soundtracks for film directors such as Wim Wenders (including Tokyo-Ga, 1985, Wings of Desire, 1986, and the future The Salt of the Earth, scheduled in 2014), Paul Auster (The Inner Life of Martin Frost), as well as ballet music for Angelin Preljocaj (Liqueurs de Chair, Amer America).
Bases are thus set down. While Geins't Naït offers rough pieces of music as an extension of its punk attitude which deeply moved the Berlin scene years ago, Laurent Petitgand is busy refining them and creating some musicality within the post-industrial collages, adding guitars, piano or any classical instrument.
In 1993, following the release of C/O Lisa on the Permis de Construire label, noise gave way to a silence that lasted 20 years.
Coming from nowhere, Si j'avais su, j'aurais rien dit, a particularly tormented album which, against all odds, revived the project in 2011.
An album which showed an increasing alchemy between the two musicians whose different routes, this common project aside, seem to fit perfectly well now.
Now, and more than ever, the duo's approach is based on an in-depth field. To sharpen the sounds, give them some kind of balance, a density and a mark.
More than anything else, to make sure that music is a langage, an experience in the deeper meaning of the term.
In its form, the collaboration between Geins't Naït and Laurent Petitgand echoes the adventurous musics from the eighties and is the French counterpoint to experimental british scenes (Coil, Current 93, Test Dept) and german scenes (Einstürzende Neubauten, Sprung Aus Den Wolken), so much so that this new work is difficult to label in its totality, entering ambient or industrial fields, as well as minimalist or repetitive music.
Je vous dis is obvious in its ability for listeners to give life to the smallest element which is part of it, would it be a sample, a piano melody, or even the amazing work on voices, which, as well as instrumentation, assume a central part in the tracks balance.
Melancholic, with a retained violence, sometimes even with a fearsome violence, Je vous dis surprises and captivates in its way to subtly catch the listener, thanks to a disturbing nocturnal mood, but also to an unsettling humanity.
But this record is far from being an hermetical work : it's quite the opposite. Difficulty is not to get in this world, however particular or deviant it is, but to get out.
More than just music, Je vous dis is a visceral obsession about detail, a sound sculpture with changing forms and various aspects, an unsleeping creature with inscrutable soul.
As soon as one believes to have understood it, the next listening brings the listener back into doubt and questions.
As in a situationist movie for which that album would be a perfect soundtrack, each complete immersion offers its lot of news interpretations and details, with were unkown until now but are definitively obvious in the end.
A real masterpiece for the mind : complex, poetic and sophisticated, even in its darkest moments." [label info]
www.icidailleurs.com
"Years and years ago I worked in a space, which also functioned as a record store, and before, that I was a volunteer at another record-store/mail-order. In both 'stores' I saw the name Geins't Naït, but for whatever reason I no longer recall, I never played any of their records or CDs that we sold. Maybe it was because there was so much other great stuff to play? Let's keep it at that. So up until this CD I never heard their music properly, but in my defense, they didn't have any new release since 1993. The name Laurent Petitgand (not to be confused with Dominique Petitgand) I never heard before, despite the fact that he did soundtracks for Wim Wenders and Paul Auster as well as being a singer-songwriter. In 2011 he and Geins't Naït worked together for the first time and now there is a new album. But for me this is maybe a first introduction all around. And I am quite surprised. The label makes references to Coil, Current 93, Neubauten, none of which are really particular favorites
with me, but in these hands it works out differently and actually quite well. There is quite some drama in this music, through the use of samples, melancholic piano bits and the dark voice of Petitgand. Geins't Naït provide a rather minimal set of music - not as in 'empty', but as in 'repetitions', which makes rather odd pop music. Petitgand's voice is most of the time heavily transformed (vocoder perhaps?), which makes that a rather darker atmosphere hangs over these pieces. It bumps and collides but that I think is the beauty of this music, it's rather unusual atmosphere. Tacky and clichéd it seems at times but it works out quite fine. Maybe because there are some cliché's in here, but also some more unusual aspects, that it all makes up for something strange and estranged. A most enjoyable album, I thought. A fine introduction indeed." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
"Das Duo mit dem exotisch klingenden Namen Geins’t Naït entstand irgendwann im Dunstkreis der legendären Coldwaver von Kas Product und existiert nun bereits seit fast dreißig Jahren, bei denen allerdings eine lange Pause mitgerechnet wird. Hierzulande überwiegend frankophilen Kennern ein Begriff, ist die Band auf der anderen Rheinseite kein Geheimtipp mit ihrem eigenwilligen Stil an der Schnittstelle von Punk- und Industrial-Einflüssen, Songs und Soundscapes sowie technoiden und klassischen Arrangements. Der Sänger und Komponist Laurent Petitgand arbeitet auf “Je vous dis” zum zweitenmal mit GN zusammen und bringt klassische, v.a. akustische Elemente ein. Das Label zieht Vergleiche zu den Neubauten, Coil und Test Dept., was natürlich eine respektable Messlatte darstellt.
Wollte man in dem ausgesprochen welchselseitigen Album so etwas wie einen roten Faden benennen, so ließe der sich eher noch in einer immer leicht aufgekratzten Wehmut finden, als im Sound, der leicht retrolasigen Akustikklängen ebenso Raum gibt wie hallunterlegter, leicht housiger Elektronik, bei der ich tatsächlich an Coil-Werke wie “Love’s Secret Domain” denken musste. Viele Songs wecken filmische Assoziationen und versprühen einen nostalgischen und oft auch ein wenig naiven Charme. In den Passagen vor dem Einsetzen zum Teil vertrackter Rhythmen lockern reichliche zitathaft integrierte Klangbrocken den Wohlklang auf und versetzen die Szenerie an einen nur schwer zu ortenden Schauplatz, den Petitgand mit seinen mantraartigen Stimmbeiträgen, die teilweise wie versoffenes Bellen klingen, dominiert.
Oft entfalten sich mehrere musikalische Erzählstränge simultan, und selbst da, wo es schlicht auf die Schönheit der Unordnung hinausläuft, entsteht nie der Eindruck, dass es um bloßes Muckertum geht." [U.S./African Paper]
africanpaper.com/2015/03/28/geinst-nait-laurent-petitgand-je-vous-dis/
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Je vous dis |
LP |
"Geins't Naït is a project initiated in 1986 with a first album released by Thierry Merigout (drummer with Kas Product on their 1981 tour) and Vincent Hachet, who quickly stepped back from this project to work on his film-maker career.
The L'or'n Cät album's release in 1987 marked the arrival of Laurent Petitgand, a singer-songwriter recognized for his composing work for (the late French singer) Bashung and original soundtracks for film directors such as Wim Wenders (including Tokyo-Ga, 1985, Wings of Desire, 1986, and the future The Salt of the Earth, scheduled in 2014), Paul Auster (The Inner Life of Martin Frost), as well as ballet music for Angelin Preljocaj (Liqueurs de Chair, Amer America).
Bases are thus set down. While Geins't Naït offers rough pieces of music as an extension of its punk attitude which deeply moved the Berlin scene years ago, Laurent Petitgand is busy refining them and creating some musicality within the post-industrial collages, adding guitars, piano or any classical instrument.
In 1993, following the release of C/O Lisa on the Permis de Construire label, noise gave way to a silence that lasted 20 years.
Coming from nowhere, Si j'avais su, j'aurais rien dit, a particularly tormented album which, against all odds, revived the project in 2011.
An album which showed an increasing alchemy between the two musicians whose different routes, this common project aside, seem to fit perfectly well now.
Now, and more than ever, the duo's approach is based on an in-depth field. To sharpen the sounds, give them some kind of balance, a density and a mark. More than anything else, to make sure that music is a language, an experience in the deeper meaning of the term.
In its form, the collaboration between Geins't Naït and Laurent Petitgand echoes the adventurous musics from the eighties and is the French counterpoint to experimental british scenes (Coil, Current 93, Test Dept) and german scenes (Einstürzende Neubauten, Sprung Aus Den Wolken), so much so that this new work is difficult to label in its totality, entering ambient or industrial fields, as well as minimalist or repetitive music.
'Je vous dis' is obvious in its ability for listeners to give life to the smallest element which is part of it, would it be a sample, a piano melody, or even the amazing work on voices, which, as well as instrumentation, assume a central part in the tracks balance.
Melancholic, with a retained violence, sometimes even with a fearsome violence, Je vous dis surprises and captivates in its way to subtly catch the listener, thanks to a disturbing nocturnal mood, but also to an unsettling humanity.
But this record is far from being an hermetical work: it's quite the opposite. Difficulty is not to get in this world, however particular or deviant it is, but to get out. More than just music, Je vous dis is a visceral obsession about detail, a sound sculpture with changing forms and various aspects, an unsleeping creature with inscrutable soul. As soon as one believes to have understood it, the next listening brings the listener back into doubt and questions. As in a situationist movie for which that album would be a perfect soundtrack, each complete immersion offers its lot of news interpretations and details, with were unkown until now but are definitively obvious in the end. A real masterpiece for the mind : complex, poetic and sophisticated, even in its darkest moments." [label info]
www.icidailleurs.com
"Years and years ago I worked in a space, which also functioned as a record store, and before, that I was a volunteer at another record-store/mail-order. In both 'stores' I saw the name Geins't Naït, but for whatever reason I no longer recall, I never played any of their records or CDs that we sold. Maybe it was because there was so much other great stuff to play? Let's keep it at that. So up until this CD I never heard their music properly, but in my defense, they didn't have any new release since 1993. The name Laurent Petitgand (not to be confused with Dominique Petitgand) I never heard before, despite the fact that he did soundtracks for Wim Wenders and Paul Auster as well as being a singer-songwriter. In 2011 he and Geins't Naït worked together for the first time and now there is a new album. But for me this is maybe a first introduction all around. And I am quite surprised. The label makes references to Coil, Current 93, Neubauten, none of which are really particular favorites
with me, but in these hands it works out differently and actually quite well. There is quite some drama in this music, through the use of samples, melancholic piano bits and the dark voice of Petitgand. Geins't Naït provide a rather minimal set of music - not as in 'empty', but as in 'repetitions', which makes rather odd pop music. Petitgand's voice is most of the time heavily transformed (vocoder perhaps?), which makes that a rather darker atmosphere hangs over these pieces. It bumps and collides but that I think is the beauty of this music, it's rather unusual atmosphere. Tacky and clichéd it seems at times but it works out quite fine. Maybe because there are some cliché's in here, but also some more unusual aspects, that it all makes up for something strange and estranged. A most enjoyable album, I thought. A fine introduction indeed." [FdW/Vital Weekly] |
2014 |
€16.00 |
|
|
Oublier |
CD |
"Geins't Naït and Laurent Petitgand's Oublier follows their 2014 Je vous dis album, which inaugurated the Mind Travels series on Ici d'Ailleurs -- a collection dedicated to ambient, industrial, and classical-influenced music. Geins't Naït and Laurent Petitgand exemplify the particular vision of the series, with a backroads music that's often unusual, always poignant, and underappreciated. Oublier is the finest illustration of that vision to date. Geins't Naït creates industrial collages in a similar vein to the early work of Einstürzende Neubauten or Throbbing Gristle, while Laurent Petitgand is best known for his many contributions to the films of Wim Wenders, including 2014's The Salt of the Earth, which won three awards at the 2014 Cannes film festival. These two seemingly disparate artists are united here by their desire to escape from all generally accepted standards of creativity. Regarding Oublier, one could pick out Laurent Petitgand's magnificent melodies or Geins't Naït's haunting, hypnotic dynamics of loops and manipulated samples, but it is ultimately up the listeners to find their own meaning and experience -- because one of Oublier's central qualities is that it situates listeners at the center of its universe so effectively and to such an extent that they actually become participants. Some will perceive a heightened melancholy, even a form of despair. Others will be seduced by the work's evident beauty and warmth. Whatever the case, its non-linearity favors total immersion and sometimes -- in the more intense moments -- totally letting go." [label info]
www.icidailleurs.com
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Make Dogs Sing |
do-LP |
"Geins't Naït is considered legendary at Offen Music. Releasing music since 1986, their last 3 albums have featured Laurent Petitgand (2011, 2014 & 2015). Now the label presents a collection of unreleased tracks that they hope will plunge you deep into the special world of GN & LP."
"Vladimir Ivkovic’s Offen Music have the privilege of presenting Geins’t Naït & Laurent Petitgand’s possessed Gallic atmospheres to the uninitiated with ‘Make Dogs Sing'; a collection of 13 new, previously unreleased songs that plunge us into GN’s etheric otherworld ahead of a reissued classics, upcoming on Low Jack’s Editions Gravats
Through the looking glass of Geins’t Naït & Laurent Petitgand the world appears seductively psychedelic. Taking in woozy waltzes and shimmering keys on the one hand, and a palette of pebbledashed electronics and mutant voices on the other, the group’s contemporary sound hints at some French analog to the film music of Wim Wenders or the eerier styles of mid-latter phase Coil, and works at a safer distance to the gnarled grooves of their cultish late ‘80s industrial releases, which are maybe better compared with Din A Testbild, NWW or TG.
Judging from the sounds on Make Dogs Sing, Geins’t Naït have matured somewhat since their critical early phase. Rather than pranging drums and psychedelic electronics, they now apply similar principles of dislocated mixing trickery and groove-focussed methods to a breezier set of cues taken from film music and experimental ambient spectres, resulting a uniquely dissociative effect as the albums slips down the wormhole, back first, with any glimpses of light fading in front of you until their slowly ravishing, narcotic effect takes hold.
By the end of the album you won’t be able to find a way out. But don’t fret, the effect will come to pass, eventually." [Boomkat]
|
2018 |
€25.00 |
|
| GENDREAU, MICHAEL |
55 pas de la ligne au no 3 |
CD |
MICHAEL GENDREAU, bekannt mit seiner Arbeit als CRAWLING WITH TARTS, mit seiner ersten Solo-CD: zwei lange Stücke mechanisch brummende drone-soundscapes mit repetitiven Mustern, deren Parameter sich allmählich verändern.
“ Long-time San Francisco based sound artist, internationally known from his extensive discography as Crawling With Tarts, releases his first full length solo work. 55 pas de la ligne au no 3 is a microscopic study of dense sonic landscapes buried within antiquated turntable motors and furnaces. Gendreau, an acoustician by profession, utilizes high sensitivity accelerometers to map detailed frequencies from a variety of old turntable motors and mechanics. This is a rare exhibition of the creative potential within this kind of technology. (Randy Yau's favorite album of the year... And soon to be Jim Haynes' too!)
” In its puzzling bellows, the 35-minute title track leads the listener astray as it rambles in its physics and amplified world of micro-sound. Here there are hints of data transfer and voice
channeling that has at once a startling approach and tectonic finish. The repetitive churning of teeny motorized units, in their climbing, distorted frequencies will have you hanging on each transition. Some of the finer sources play with the idea of scale, while at times these palm-sized worlds grow into 300 foot tall super coasters, and in moments they are again transformed smaller than a pinhead. 23five is ready to challenge our ears with visionary work that pushes the barriers of the noise/sound envelope.” [Vital Weekly 332]
label: www.23five.org
|
2002 |
€13.00 |
|
| GENETIC TRANSMISSION |
Last |
CD |
" 'Last' is the latest Genetic Transmission album. Distributed only as a handful of CDRs a few years ago, it is only now that it appears as a regular CD release as part of the IYHHH series.
The idea behind the recording of this material was to the creation of sonic miniatures, short forms created from the acoustic preparations or electro-acoustic sources resulting in numerous sound experiments which Tomasz Twardawa has been known of. As a result, the album is composed of fifteen tracks in total, mostly shorter tracks, which are more than one hour of music.
'Last' is the end of a chapter, as the title indicates. This is the last studio album in the discography of Genetic Transmission. This one is the end and the summary of Tomasz Twardawa's activities under this banner. And also the last, 9th part of the IYHHH series, presenting interesting discoveries or unusual sounds from Polish artists in an unconventional way.
The album is released in an ecopack with a postcard and limited to 444 hand-numbered copies." [label info]
www.zoharum.com
|
2015 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Chrzaszcz Brzmi W Trzcinie |
CD |
"The second in GT Series Archive is the album entitled "Chrząszcz brzmi w trzcinie" (A beetle buzzes in the reed - a Polish tounge twister), originally published on a CDR on Tochnit Aleph in 2006. In a short time it was sold out and practically until today the material has not been available in any other form. "Chrząszcz brzmi w trzcinie" is a recording of the session based on the most primal sound sources which are only arranged in a suitable structures so that they form a concise material; however, they remained unchanged and no post-production was applied to them. The album consists of 6 compositions, about 60 minutes of industrial sound space characteristic of the work of Genetic Transmission.
This reissue is strictly limited to 200 copies." [label info]
www.zoharum.com
|
2016 |
€12.00 |
|
| GENOCIDE ORGAN |
Live in Japan 2003/2007 |
DVD/CD |
"... Wer einige Youtube-Clips der Auftritte kennt, wird auf das Schlimmste gefasst sein, doch das Ergebnis kann absolut überzeugen: Montiert aus drei verschiedenen Kameraperspektiven, unterlegt mit Ausschnitten desrBackgroundvideos, bewahrt die DVD viel von der Liveatmosphäre in den japanischen Clubs 20000V und Die Pratze. Bemerkenswert ist dabei, dass den unterschiedlichen Locations enstprechend auch völlig verschiedene Programm geboten wurden: Zunächst das gewohnt harte Power Electronics Set, das sich auf Stücke von "In-Konflikt" konzentriert und einige ältere 'Hits' bietet - und schließlich ein eher atmosphräisches Set, das durchaus als Death Industrial bezeichnet werden kann und das schockierte japanische Publikum mit Aufnahmen aus Hiroshima und Nagasaki konfrontiert. Das ist Industrial-Culture in ihrer ursprünglichen Bedeutung und Funktion: den Finger in die Wunde der Gesellschaft zu legen, sie mit ihren eigenen Tabus gnadenlos zu konfrontieren. Dieses Set enthält zudem anderweitig unveröffentlichte Tracks und alternative Versionen.
Die DVD selbst ist dem Genre gewohnt roh präsentiert, im Menü pragmatisch gestaltet und insgesamt von erfreulich guter Qualität.
Die beiliegende CD dokumentiert Ausschnitte der beiden Konzert von 2007, die beide im 20000V stattfanden. Statt auf ein Best-Of zu bauen, wählte man erneut eher ungewöhnliche - und nichtsdestotrotz kraftvolle - Stücke aus, die erneut atmosphärische und aggressive Momente mischen. Am bekanntestens dürfte hier das kämpferische "Hail America" sein. Wer die letzte 7" nicht erstanden hat, wird sich vor allem über Track 9 freuen: "I kept my faith: Revelation of John".
Das in Zusammenarbeit zwischen Tesco und Teito (J) ästhetisch ansprechend produzierte Set ist gleichermaßen für Fans der Band wie auch für Genreneulinge interessant, die sich einen Eindruck vom Status quo der deutschen Industrial Culture verschaffen wollen. Gelungen!" [Ikonen Magazin]
"Finally, this long awaited document is finally available! Japan has been a wasteland for German "industrial" and/or "power electronics" bands for many years, but in 2003, Genocide Organ entered the motherland of noise. Invited by Teito and MSBR, Genocide Organ played two remarkable shows in Tokyo. The first in a typical noise/hardcore club called 20000V, and the second at a small theatre called Die Pratze. Because of the two different locations and atmospheres, G.O. prepared two completely different sets. While the material at 20000V featured tracks from what was, at the time, the forthcoming album "In-Konflikt," plus a selection of powerful, well-known tracks, the setlist at Die Pratze featured more "calm" and unreleased tracks integrated into a theatrical-type performance. Both gigs represent the repertoire of Genocide Organ, which makes this band more than just a phenomenon of one genre.
The two shows are presented here on DVD in their entirety, edited from three different camera angles by Frank Merten of Seismic Wave Factory, known for the visuals of Herbst9 and Land:Fire. The DVD is professionally mastered and features a fully animated menu.
In 2007, Genocide Organ returned to Tokyo for two more shows, both hosted at 20000V, and again, each show had a different setlist. The audio CD in this collection features a selection of the best tracks from both evenings. Many had never been released or played live before, while some "old favorites" appear here in completely different versions. The quality of the recording is amazing, and you will feel the full power of these two gigs.
This DVD/CD set is part of the GO RECON UNIT program - all those who order with their RECON CARD number will get special extras with their set. Those who have no ID card are able to get the card now in order to receive extras with future releases." [label info]
www.tesco-germany.com
|
2009 |
€20.00 |
|
|
Live in Japan 2007 |
LP |
Vinyl Edition im Klappcover mit bedruckten Innenhüllen und A2-Poster! "....Ausschnitte der beiden Konzerte von 2007, die beide im 20000V stattfanden. Statt auf ein Best-Of zu bauen, wählte man erneut eher ungewöhnliche - und nichtsdestotrotz kraftvolle - Stücke aus, die erneut atmosphärische und aggressive Momente mischen. Am bekanntestens dürfte hier das kämpferische "Hail America" sein. Wer die letzte 7" nicht erstanden hat, wird sich vor allem über Track 9 freuen: "I kept my faith: Revelation of John". Das in Zusammenarbeit zwischen Tesco und Teito (J) ästhetisch ansprechend produzierte Set ist gleichermaßen für Fans der Band wie auch für Genreneulinge interessant, die sich einen Eindruck vom Status quo der deutschen Industrial Culture verschaffen wollen. Gelungen!" [Ikonen]
"This numbered & limited 888 copies LP features the best tracks from two G.O. Tokyo performances in 2007. The record comes housed in a gatefold cover with printed inner sleeve and contains an A2 poster. FAST PRE-ORDER HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!" [label info]
www.tesco-germany.com
|
2009 |
€20.00 |
|
|
Civilization |
do-CD BOX |
"This release was already planned in 2011 for the 20th anniversary of „Save our Slaves“. The implementation and the restoration of the original source material took a lot of time, especially the sound-files of the 1990 pre-release concert which are completed for this set for the 1st time. Genocide Organ had to dig deep into long-forgotten parts of the archive, to reconstruct as many as possible of the original photo-materials, reconstruct, extend and re-view them.
The work on the new album „The Obituary of the Americas“ delayed the completion as well, but then also accelerated it, as both publications were cut across thematically. Now it is done!
A further stone fits into the wall of the bands historical back catalogue.
LP version:
Limited numbered edition 500. The deluxe linenpaper covered Hard-Slipcase is foilblocked and debossed. The record sleeves and the additional artwork sleeves are all debossed and spot-varnished in the typical Genocide Organ artwork finish you know from : Obituary of the Americas: album. The artwork sleeve is filled up with extensive large 24p booklet, numbered certificate, inlay for the Live LP and embroidered patch.
CD version:
Limited first edition comes as deluxe linenpaper covered, foilblocked and debossed Hard-Slipcase, incl. Coverpak with double CD and extensive large 24p booklet. Only this first edition comes as special Hard-Slipcase Set with the additional Live CD.
Musical contend on both formats:
The complete material of „Save our Slaves“ originally released in 1991.
„The Lever Sunlicht Shooting“, reflecting the complete performance of Genocide Organ Live 15.12.1990 in Mannheim in front of an invited audience.
Compilation Tracks from:
Perpetual State of Oracular Dream LP 1991
Natural Order 2LP 1997
Sound of Hate Vol.7 MC 1992
Exploration One CD 1995
Trans-Action MC 1992
+ both tracks from:
Klan Kountry 7″ 1998
all material from original source material re-mastered by Jerome Nougaillon and Genocide Organ.
:CONTEXT:
Released on Tesco Organisation in 1991, Save Our Slaves arrived as the second album for Genocide Organ, following the debut Leichenlinie released 2 years prior. Although the impact of Leichenlinie is undeniable in establishing the group within the noise industrial / power electronics scene, upon reflection Save Our Slaves is the release that cemented Genocide Organ’s cult underground status. This cult status has been generated via their musical approach, coupled with lavish handmade packaging and the presentation of strong, potentially controversial thematic material in an impartial and ambiguous manner; which incidentally some have interpreted as being ‚politically incorrect‘. Save Our Slaves stands out as the landmark release that definitively executed each hallmark element of sound, visuals and thematic content with flawless accuracy.
:THEME:
Conceptually, Save Our Slaves is an album renowned for its direct engagement with many taboo aspects of America’s history. Consequently, without shying away from the darkest aspects of America’s past, Save Our Slaves is concerned with: slavery, racist movements such as the Ku Klux Klan, radical right wing political advocacy group The John Birch Society, and the struggles for suppression, dominance and/or liberty on both sides of the civil rights movement. There are seemingly implied references to Dr Martin Luther King (the vinyl side dubbed Birmingham perhaps referring to Birmingham, Alabama and the 1950-60’s civil rights movement), whilst the track Violent Coordinating Committee appears to be inspired by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee – an important ‚direct action‘ organization of the 1960’s civil rights movement. Save Our Slaves also contains more direct references to other civil rights figures including James Meredith – the first African-American student admitted to the segregated University of Mississippi (a flashpoint of the civil rights movement); and Sarah Patton Boyle – Virginia’s most prominent white civil rights activists during the 1950-60s.
Yet to expand the thematic content further, the album also makes reference to American Imperialism of the 1950’s to 1970’s, which included covert CIA operations in the Middle East, Africa, South America, and Indochina / South East Asia. Specifically, such operations involved the facilitation of military instigated coups and provision of financial and military support to various dictators in the ideological fight for capitalism against communism and socialism.
Accordingly, within the broadly coveted discography of Genocide Organ, Save Our Slaves stands out as one of their pinnacle releases by fact of it being one the of most sought after. The album’s revered status is also demonstrative of the manner in which Genocide Organ combine music, theme and artwork to transcend the creation of albums designed merely to be ‚enjoyed‘. Save Our Slaves functions as a politically charged, controversial declaration and socio-political manifesto that analyses American society, the roots of America’s history and culture and its role in shaping the modern world. As exemplified by its sound, visuals and thematic content Save Our Slaves stands as a strong and clear testament to the initial rise and early establishment of Genocide Organ’s cult status.
Richard Stevenson: editor of Spectrum Magazine (1998-2001) / current editor of noise receptor journal (print ‚zine & blog). |
2017 |
€28.00 |
|
| |
DEATH ZONES |
do-LP |
First Video Teaser:
NoSuicideUnit
Released as limited 2LP in gatefold cover with two inserts & numbered card.
2CD Version. Gatefold and Digipak shows the typical GO debossed and spotvarnished layout.
Will be not available via bandcamp.
ATTENTION: The vinyl version will only be produced according to the number of orders we get prior to 9.11.23. After this date it may prove difficult to obtain a copies.
Somewhere out there they were controlling the streets to ensure that rules were followed. They were smuggling themselves from one continent to another, guarding borders training rebels, breaching doors, steering drones, and following the path of the War-Orchestra.
The seventh year anniversary of the release of :OBITUARY OF THE AMERICAS: sees Genocide Organ returning with a release full of cynical survivalism in a world of havoc!
While those celebrate the new world - we prepare ourselves for :DEATH ZONES:.
What started with the :TIPPING POINT: 3MC Set in 2020 has now turned into :DEATH ZONES:
Stand fast, mark your target , when it comes.
No more sounds - Just moving ground!
TRACKLIST:
Conditioned War Sheep
Appropriate Action
Identity Politics
NoSuicideUnit
Loitering Munition
When our Terror comes
Pure Evil
Affirmative Action
Abbey Gate
Virtue Signaling
Migrant Soldiers
Kommando Found Dead
Stack the Bodies
Malicous Purity
FU6 - Waiting for Hell
Trial by Combat
Fake Emotions
Small Boys Unit
TESCO 160
|
2023 |
€39.00 |
|
| GEORGE & CAPLIN |
Electronic Eulogy |
LP + 7inch |
Überraschend musikalisches auf Beta-Lactam Ring! GEORGE & CAPLIN arbeiten in 80er Jahre Tradition mit Drumbox, Gitarre, Synths, Gesang. Melodisch & melancholisch, nicht wirklich düster...
Elektronische Wave/Pop-Grössen vergangener Zeiten fallen einem ein, SOFT CELL, NEW ORDER, FOR AGAINST, aber auch die Label-Kollegen WHITELODGE...
Again a more „Pop“-oriented discovery on Beta-Lactam: rather simple electronic beats, backwards-guitars, harmonic synths, very melodic, we had to think on poppier / more electronic SAVAGE REPUBLIC or FOR AGAINST.....
“Third album by george&caplin and also available on vinyl with bonus 7"! This might be a future college entrance question, so pay attention: Ceramic Hello is to Soft Cell as what is to Ladytron? If you answered G&C, then you probably cheated, which is perfectly allowed as owning any of their 3 releases makes you a better person. Clearly one of the bright spots to rise up out of the so-called Electroclash debacle. Where groups like Chicks On Speed and Felix Da Housecat ultimately end up creating dance-floor anthems, G&C have been that weird brother hiding in the corner making minimalist masterpieces with dusty equipment. G&C's brand of minimal synth on Electronic Eulogy is a dark wave of another colour. Like underground synthesists of old, such as Ceramic Hello, or John Ruth, or even very early New Order, G&C's musical omniverse is a beatific one filled with lush, polychromatic chord progressions presented within a spare and melancholic framework. The wave is cold, but not blanched (as opposed to the repetitive sturm und drang of, say, Snowy Red or Suicide). An album of introspective quality, Electronic Eulogy steals seeds fostered in the glitch garden and grows them into a wholly unique and very melodious Tannen-baud. Those sweet electonyxx click, wash and whirr, counterpointed occasionally by acoustic guitar and/or vocals on a few tracks (a kind of perfectly flat and distant vocal delivery, somewhat like Dean Wareham. In fact, 'Dictionary Dream,' which happens to feature the guitar upfront, is something of a synth pop take on Galaxie 500). That's just the thing with G&C...they are like some long lost Factory or Cherry Red or 4AD cold/dark wave group, before there were deeply established camps within the synth and post punk worlds. Second Layer meets Shox? Minny Pops vs Insides? The Fast Set has a scone with early Arms Of Someone New? The opening 'Promenade,' with its brilliantly twisted boomerang timing structure and analog buzz, is like some kind of electro-crack. All in all, just lovely sequenced rainy day electronic head-music. It'll have you praying for rain.“ [label description]
|
2005 |
€18.00 |
|
| GERSH, GEOFF |
These Predicaments |
CD |
" 'These Predicaments' is the new CD by guitarist/composer Geoff Gersh and is his second solo release on the Deep Listening Institute label. Created for painter David Stoupakis’s solo exhibition at the Corey Helford Gallery in Los Angeles, CA, ‘These Predicaments’ draws on drones, ambient textures and slowly developing melodies to bring another dimension to David’s otherworldly paintings and draw the viewer deeper into them.
Geoff uses manipulated field recordings, reel-to-reel tape recordings, zither and electric guitar, sometimes bowed with metal files, to create sonic landscapes that evoke the emotions of David's paintings and take the listener on a melancholic sonic journey.
New York based composer/guitarist Geoff Gersh explores the sonic boundaries of the electric guitar with and without the aide of electronic devices and found objects to produce sounds one would normally not associate with the guitar. He uses this approach when composing ambient/textural soundscapes for choreographers, filmmakers and other collaborators.
Geoff has worked with choreographers Lawrence Goldhuber, Cynthia Oliver, Karen Graham, Anabella Lenzu, Robert La Fosse, Benoit-Swan Pouffer and has an ongoing collaboration with painter David Stoupakis.
In November 2009, Geoff was awarded a Swing Space grant from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council in NYC. During this residency he presented his composition ‘Memory In Night’, for 6 electric guitars bowed with metal files, in an old Wall St. bank vault 2 stories below street level. Also in November of 2009, Geoff performed with the German electro acoustic improvisation ensemble HKM+ at the Lodz Philharmonic in Lodz, Poland. In 2006, Geoff performed in Glenn Branca’s "SYMPHONY NO. 13 (HALLUCINATION CITY)" for 100 guitars that took place at Montclair State College in NJ. In 2009, he performed in Rhys Chatham’s “A Crimson Grail for 200 Electric Guitars” at Lincoln Center’s Damrosch Park.
In 2005, he worked with composer Jonathan Bepler as a multi-instrumental performer for video artist Eve Sussman’s video-opera, The Rape of the Sabine Women, which premiered in NYC in February 2007. Geoff worked with Bepler again on artist Matthew Barney’s latest piece, Guardian of the Veil, which he performed in at Barney’s workspace in LIC, NY in 2007 and again in 2009 in Basel, Switzerland as part of Art Basel’s ‘Il Tempo del Postino’
Geoff has been playing the electric zither in the Off-Broadway show BLUE MAN GROUP since 1998. He has received grants from the American Music Center, Meet the Composer, SOS from NYFA, was awarded a New York Dance & Performance Award (Bessie) and received a Swing Space grant from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council in 2009." [label info]
www.deeplistening.org
"The music on this release was composed for a solo exhibition of painter David Stoupakis in Los Angeles by one Geoff Gersh. I never heard of him, although this is his second solo CD of Deep Listening Institute. Gersh is a composer and guitarist, but also uses field recordings, reel-to-reel tape recordings, zither and bowed metal files. Not that I could tell really from listening to the five pieces on this CD. It doesn't sound like that at all. The music is best described as isolationist music - although I think hardly anyone uses that these days anymore. Dark ambient drone, then? Well, why not. The sounds on this release are highly textured, transformed by using electronics perhaps, and the result is a beautiful, dense release that also a light tone it, like floating a few centimeters above the ground. An excellent release of fine, dark drone music. Music to fill your environment with in a very peaceful manner, like great ambient music should do. The real thing, a textbook release. Some people (see elsewhere) should take note of such things." [FdW, Vital Weekly]
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| GFFR |
Blockchain Me Anonymous |
LP |
gFFr
BLOCKCHAIN ME ANONYMOUS
12" LP, ltd. 200 copies + download card
Blockchain Me Anonymous is a result of more Terabytes exchanged between gF’s and Fr’s machines.
These machines are non-human yet they develop ambitiousness and sexuality. They are assertive. They do not argue. They do not care. From gFFr’s networked machines an AI emerged, with will and voice. You can call her Verena Becker (maybe), she has many faces (and counting) and she wants to be a pop star. Machines worship her more than Madonna. They sing her songs while performing tasks.
Verena Becker likes pop music. She often hums “The Queer is Dad”, her favorite refrain, but in her own machinic way. She’s afraid that neurotypical humans could not appreciate, but she wants to be a pop star. She was convinced that her neural network could only please machines, which made her sad. She leaked into gF and Fr’s computers and she drove them to make this record because she wants to please humans.
During the only interview via neural cable connection, she expressed very few concepts, translatable as follows:
“F#*% ¥o# hum@n @s solos. Buy my f#*%in’ record. Sing my songs. D@nce with me. Sta¥n or Go. Lemme stoned. I love you. Be mined”.
You’d better listen.
gFFr is Verena Becker with Fr and gF.
Facial recognition mixups and angry neighbors. AI is political.
Individual biographies:
gF is a XY-year-old junior programmer who enjoys hockey, watching sport and badminton. He is artificial, but can also be very random and a bit beats.He is from Italy. He has a degree in computing. Physically, gF is in pretty good shape. He is average-height with light skin, blonde hair and brown eyes.He grew up in an upper class neighborhood. gF’s best friend is a junior programmer called Laila Stanley. They are inseparable. He also hangs around with Mildred Ferguson and Finley Kemp. They enjoy attending galleries together.
Fr is a @@-year-old online mental trainer who enjoys spreading fake news on Facebook, traveling in dark webs and working on cars. He is pseudo-artificial and a bit lazy, as per Lacan’s interpretation of laziness. He has a severe phobia of tables, and is obsessed with reading. After his mother died when he was young, he was raised by his father, a period in which he developed an enduring love for insects and empty spaces. Fr is slightly overweight, but exercising every day to get back in shape. His best friend is his dog named Petrus. He lives alone in the woods and communicates only through text-speech software.
Verena Becker is a young female artificial intelligence, trained on Donna Haraway, Gilles Deleuze and Britney Spears. Her secret dream is to become a pop singer. Despite the rigid workouts of thousands of stories without elevators, her neural net is yet too shallow to allow her to sing any potential blockbuster. Verena is however unable to develop resentment, rather she naïvely perseverates in hope that one day her programmers will add new layers to her network. She often hangs out with Sniper, her high-frequency trading friend.
gFFr self-released its first EP Play with Me on 3rd July 2020 (Bandcamp Day) and now its full-length Blockchain Me Anonymous in May 2021, on 13 / Silentes records.
https://gffr.bandcamp.com/album/blockchain-me-anonymous
|
2021 |
€18.00 |
|
| GHEYSEN, FILIP |
Tabletop Guitar |
CD / DVD / BOOK |
"Filip Gheysen (1979) is a musician and audio artist, living and working in Ghent, Belgium, with a passion for sound and experimental music. Using only a tabletop guitar, effects and the occasional autoharp, he creates abstract droning soundscapes, stripped of all unnecessary elements, focussing solely on the timbre and tone of his instrument. It's this timbre that is vital in his musical works, in that the harmonic spectrums of the drones and the enhanced sounds he typically produces with his electric tabletop guitar are progressively shifting. Synonymous with timbre is the quasi-poetic phrase tone colour. These elements are equally visible in Gheysen's visual art, consisting mostly of abstract prints and paintings. There is obviously a play with the tones of a colour, thus an inversion of the aforementioned musical term. This pertinent
in- and decrease of saturation and of temperature in the pictorial field is comparable to what is going on in his music.
Moreover, these are features which are obviously emphasised in the videos the artist has been creating since 2011. They show lines dance rather timidly, make turns or float along accompanied by passing spots and travelling smears in a scenery of inks and paint. The imagery, strongly reminiscent of his prints and paintings, is enlivened by humming guitar sounds. As an inspired symbiosis between his visual art and his music, the video clips constitute a logical step in Gheysen's intriguing body of work that doesnt cease to amaze. Although appearing here for the first time under his own name, Filip Gheysen has been very active in different projects. He is the founder of Glasvocht Records and has released albums under the monikers Picturesque, Teledroom (with Portables-guitarist Wio) and is a member of the band 4 Black Boxes (with Jürgen De Blonde aka Köhn and Tom Vangheluwe). Trained as a graphic designer, he has also studied printmaking at the academy of Ghent and had several expositions. Tabletop Guitar presents both his musical and visual art and adds a third field of interest. His videoworks are the culmination of his two main outlets, giving a new dimension to his art." [label info]
www.silkentofu.org
|
2013 |
€20.00 |
|
| GIARDINI DI MIRO |
Il fuoco |
CD |
"Stummfilm-Soundtrack von Italiens Indie-Helden.
Giardini di Mirò stammen aus Cavriago, einer kleinen Stadt in Norditalien, und zählen zu den bekanntesten Indie-Bands des Landes. Nach einer ersten EP aus dem Jahre 1998 hat die Gruppe nicht nur Unmengen an Platten veröffentlicht, sondern auch wie verrückt getourt - in Italien und dem Rest der Welt - und mit Bands wie Cyne, Dntl, Hood, Alias, Apparat, Piano Magic, Opiate, Isan und Herrmann & Kleine zusammengearbeitet. Mit "Il fuoco" legen sie einen Soundtrack zu einem italienischen Stummfilm von 1915 vor, der 2006 vom Museo Nazionale Del Cinema in Turin in Auftrag gegeben und später zu diesem Album umgearbeitet wurde. Der Film von Giovanni Pastrone gilt als Meisterwerk des frühen italienischen Kinos. Sein neuer Soundtrack ist das sicher ambitionierteste Werk von Giardini di Mirò." [label info / Indigo]
"In unserer Erinnerung waren Giardini di Mirò die italienischen Post-Rocker, die ihren reduzierten Sound maßgeblich elektronisch unterfütterten und geradezu ummauerten. Es gab eine Symbiose aus synthetischen Bauteilen und instrumentalen Anleihen. Auf Il fuoco führt der Weg direkt in das schwarze Loch schwermütiger Gedanken und dieser Weg wird mit “echten” Instrumenten beschritten. Also ganz klar mehr Godspeed als Heimelektro. Die Elektronik ist die belegte Zunge im Hals des melancholischen Träumers auf Il fuoco; mal ein stampfend-fauchender Effekt auf einer Snare, mal ein sich britzelnd steigerndens Kratzrauschen als Hintergrund. New Orleans ist neuerdings in Italien, als schwelgerische Erinnerung. Großartig, wie Akkorde, Bläser und Drums zusammengehen auf diesem Album. Einfach, komprimiert und dicht. Fast ein bisschen, wie der schwarze Engel am Tor der Erkenntnis. Verneigung!" [Zipo / Auf Abwegen]
|
2010 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
Good Luck |
CD |
"Willkommen zu Hause: fünftes Album der italienischen Indierock-Band.
Ihr letztes Werk führte die italienische Post- und Indierock-Band weit zurück in die Vergangenheit: Mit "Il fuoco" vertonten Giardini Di Mirò Giovanni Pastrones Stummfilm aus dem Jahr 1915. Ansonsten mussten die Fans fünf Jahre lang auf ein neues Studioalbum warten: "Good Luck" nimmt diese Hürde jetzt sehr optimistisch. Der Titel habe was mit der Landschaft zu tun, in der das Album produziert wurde, so die Band. Die Provinz Reggio Emilia, eine Gegend, die sich durch Minimalismus, Einfachheit und geometrische Formen auszeichnet. Die Songs wiederum entstanden on the road im Tourbus und wurden, zurück in der Heimat, zu Souvenirs des Unterwegsseins. "Good Luck" entstand in aller Privatheit, zusammen mit Freunden der Band wie etwa den Sängerinnen Angela Baraldi und Sara Lov (Devics) und dem Gitarristen Stefano Pilia.//
Giardini di Mirò really needs no introduction. Hailing from Cavriago, Italy, a small town near Reggio Emilia, the band released its first EP in 1998 and not only put out a ton of records ever since, but has been touring both Italy and the rest of Europe like crazy. So far, the band has released four full-length albums, the discography however also includes a multitude of EPs, remixes and exclusive tracks for compilations. While not working with the band, GDM's members engage in solo projects, tapping into sounds and genres, one would not necessarily expect from a band deeply routed in guitar music. The band also collaborated with and commissioned remixes from artists like Cyne, Dntl, Hood, Alias, Apparat, Piano Magic, Opiate, Isan and Herrmann & Kleine. Giardini Di Mirò has been on City Centre Offices' watch ever since the band started out. In 2010, CCO finally started to work with GDM, releasing the critically accaimed "Il fuoco", the band's soundtrack for Giovanni Pastrone's silent movie from 1915. As a first release in 2012, City Centre Offices now releases "Good Luck", the band's first proper studio album since 2007.
[label info]
www.city-centre-offices.de
|
2012 |
€16.00 |
|
| GILBERT, B.C. |
Monad |
7inch |
"Track listing:
A: Ingress 2:42
B: Re-Exit 2:42
Cut by Jason @ Transition
Artwork and photography by Jon Wozencroft
TS12 - the next in the series of vinyl-only Touch Sevens [TS11 and TS13 to follow in 2011] - is Monad by Bruce Gilbert, whose career stretches back to late 1960's British avant garde art & music scenes, and has since played an important and influential role with his involvement in various rock based formations, work for choreographic projects and art installations...
Instruments: Korg Monotron Analogue Ribbon synth, Zoom RFX-200, Korg Kaos Pad 2, Apple GarageBand " [label info]
www.touchmusic.org.uk
|
2011 |
€8.00 |
|
| GILBERT, B.C. & G. LEWIS |
3R4 |
LP |
"In 1980, after three relentlessly creative albums, the members of WIRE were at an impasse, unsure of how to push themselves any further as a four-piece rock band. While frontman Colin Newman spent the band's hiatus mining WIRE's knack for intelligent and contorted pop songs, guitarist Bruce Gilbert and bassist / vocalist Graham Lewis joined forces for a series of experimental projects (DOME, CUPOL, etc.) where the primary motivating concept was "studio as instrument."
3R4, the duo's only LP under the B.C. GILBERT / G. LEWIS moniker and the very second album to be released on 4AD, eschews melody and structure in favor of ambient-noise soundscapes, metallic textures, and tense moods. If the brief "Barge Calm" tracks appear like sonic exercises, the longer pieces ("3.4…" and "R") are true exorcisms, conjuring supernatural found-sounds with the patience and deliberation of (un)holy men. Play this record loud and try not to think that it is the soundtrack to a lost David Lynch film.
Originally released on 4AD in 1980. This first-time vinyl reissue is recommended for fans of FAUST, David Cunningham and Thomas Leer & Robert Rental's The Bridge." [label info]
www.superiorviaduct.com
|
2015 |
€23.00 |
|
| GILLIS, ANNE / JAC BERROCAL / JACQUES DOYEN |
Fuel 217 / Sacre |
pic-7inch |
Side A : Anne Gillis / Jac Berrocal - fuel 217
Collaboration between Anne Gillis (oil can de Dion-bouton) and Jac Berrocal (pocket trumpet).
Side B : is a reissue of a collaboration between Jacques Doyen and Jac Berrocal on a text by Allen Ginsberg that was released on the tape compilation "Paris Tokyo" in 1983 on the Tago Mago label.
"This is quite a little oddity. It is the only release (so far?) of this French label (listing the main distribution source as the address) and it is a picture disc on heavy vinyl. Both sides involve Jacuqes Berrocal, the French trumpet improviser and on one side he has a duet with Anne Gillis, of whom I had not heard in a long time. They met the lovely Parisian festival Sonic Protest and Gillis found an "oil can De Dion Bouton at a flea market" and used that in the recording. The other sees a lyric by Allen Ginsburg recited by Jacques Doyen and that song already appeared on the 1982 compilation 'Paris Tokyo' by the Tago Mago label. The whole thing is limited to 230 copies. It may seem odd to pair both songs together, but then: why not?
The side with Anne Gillis is certainly a most curious affair with the crackling of can, oil or otherwise, and some far away sounds; it might be a trumpet but for all I know it might also be a voice. Surely a fine piece of musique concrete in a very naive sort of way, which is something I enjoy very much. The trumpet is easily recognized on 'Sacré', layered I should think, also not too present in the mix, unlike the voice of Doyen, reciting the French poem, and even without understanding what this is about, one feel the somewhat scared atmosphere of the piece.
Do these pieces fit together? Maybe not, indeed. Does it matter? It doesn't, either. It is a most lovely 7" and that's what matters." [FdW/Vital Weekly] |
2018 |
€17.00 |
|
| GLASS OUT |
Never force a left handed Child |
mLP |
"LTCo presents the debut release, Never Force A Left Handed Child To Use Their Right Hand, by solo artist Andrew Dewar Ainslie, a UK-based composer given to creating atmospheric music from textures, tones and gentle oscillations with a somewhat melancholic or reflective slant. Comprising three songs, ‘Manifesto’, ‘Wild Strawberries’ and the side long title track, this adds up to over 30 minutes of music plus features the late Jhonn Balance on the piece ‘Manifesto’, delivering a very rarely heard reading of the Coil manifesto which was itself first broadcast on Holland’s VPRO station. The release is set to appear during April 2011 and will be strictly limited to 300 only, with the first 50 also featuring a CDR and a selection of hand numbered/signed additional inserts (the remaining 250 will also randomly include some extras). These are exclusive to the label's mail order wing and can only be ordered directly." [label info]
www.lumberton-trading.com
"Its all semantics of course, but this is announced as 12", mini LP, with three tracks, still spanning around thirty minutes and its the first in a series of six (which is going to include Philippe Petit/Cindytalk, Brian Conniffe, Human Greed, Main and Theme), although I am not sure what ties these together. I never heard of Glass Out, being the project of Andrew Dewar Ainslie. Main sales point here is the reading of the Coil manifesto by Jhonn Balance (from a rarely heard session by VPRO Radio) on the piece 'Manifesto'. Electronic music this is, with slow oscillating beats, melodies and spoken word. Quite gentle music here, slowly evolving and highly atmospheric. I am not sure if this is all done with a bunch of synthesizers (analog or digital), or if there was perhaps some other instrument in play here. But the thoughtful atmospheric pieces of music work pretty well here. Its a pity that its only three pieces since it would be interesting to see what other tricks this guy has up his sleeve." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2011 |
€12.50 |
|
| GNOME & SPYBEY |
At Willie's Place |
CD |
"I get the honor of announcing Mark Spibey's collaborative release with Gnome (aka Tony D'Oporto). Gnome and Spybey's At Willie's Place will be released in July on Tourette Records in a limited edition of 400 copies. I've had the distinct privilege of hearing the album. It's a gorgeous journey from the heights of the clouds to the forest floor. It's an album of detailed synthetic warmth populated by remotely ethnic melodic figures which roam the tracks like living creatures. The album reminds of Ariel Kalma, the Residents at their most serene, Coil at their most reflective, Aphex at his most ambient, and Eno at his most melodious. It's mood music for those times when you just aren't quite sure what mood you're in, a beam of welcome morning light pouring through the window after a sleepless night of worry. At Willie's Place is the most vibrant record of electronic music I've heard in quite some time." [label info]
www.touretterecords.com
"Mark Spybey goes on and on, here teaming up with somebody called Gnome, which is one Tony D'Oporto, of whom I never heard. Perhaps a spoiler to the end of the review, but Spybey is not a man to change his tune very much. And why should he? He's happy to play atmospheric music of any kind. Sometimes very ambient, sometimes a bit more krautrock inspired and like on 'At Willie's Place' somewhere in between all of that. The synths play moody, sustaining notes, with occasional arpeggio's, a dash of rhythm is faded in and out and that's it. There is hardly a sense of composition - Spybey and Gnome like the flow of sounds it seems. Now that may all sound like I don't like this record, which is not true. In terms of doing something 'new', I'd say its not on this record, but when we look at this in musical terms, its a great record. It reminded me of ambient house, more than a decade ago, with those arpeggio's, sea sounds, bouncing rhythm occasionally and spacious synthesizers. Music that was once vastly popular, and now is nowhere (although, who knows a revival might be imminent). Not something I hear everyday and that's why I was particular interested in this. Should I have more time in the slow summer period, I'll start my own revival and dig out some lost treasures (Aphex Twin, Silent Records) and play this one as if it were an oldie too." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€10.00 |
|
| GODFLESH |
Purge |
LP |
listen: https://godflesh1.bandcamp.com/album/purge
First new recordings from GODFLESH since 2017's critically acclaimed full length 'POST SELF'.
'PURGE' musically, amongst the many layers of dirt, revisits and updates the concepts explored on the 'PURE' album from 1992; 90's hip hop grooves mangled and put through the GODFLESH filter to create something that is still unique and futuristic in style.
Both minimal and maximal, with layer upon layer of filth and heaviness, Godflesh deliver alien grooves that swing whilst also retaining the psychedelic / bad trip edge that Godflesh has always obsessed over. This is, and always has been, feel bad music; the title alone 'PURGE' references directly how songwriter / creator Justin K Broadrick utilises this music as temporary relief from his diagnosed autism and PTSD, a journey he has been on since he began creating music and feeling alone and as an outsider in any 'scene' or 'group' from childhood and throughout his adulthood.
Godflesh gives him the means to express a lifetime of feeling misunderstood and overwhelmed by hyper sensitivity, the band being the vehicle to give him some sense of catharsis and transcendence; a way of communicating overload and constant disenchantment at the human condition, and man's abuse of power and the systems that chain us.
The album references the cycle of horror that man has always and will always put us through; those in positions of power revel in the infliction of pain and horror upon individuals, in the name of their religion, their power, their money, their flags....
8 songs, delivered in a concise fashion for fellow outsiders.
A digital only single of the opening song 'NERO' coupled with 3 self remixes will be released April 3rd.
The duo of GODFLESH, Justin K Broadrick and Ben Green, augmented by Machines, are seen as a pivotal entity in the world of 'heavy' music, impacting entire cultures of heavy music since the bands inception in 1988. It is regarded as a cultural icon, and its impact can be felt across generations of 'heavy' music, both mainstream and underground. It is credited as being one of the first bands to cross old British industrial music with down tuned primitive minimal metal, accidentally pioneering the 'industrial metal' sound, yet the band has so much more to offer than what that term displays."
#################
"After so many years of development, it can be a risky prospect for any band to home in on one specific point in its history, seeking to hopefully refine the ideas originally explored. Such is the case with Purge, in which Godflesh returns to the eroded foundations of 1992’s Pure, when Justin K. Broadrick and G.C. Green first began infusing their monolithic brand of industrial/metal with the rhythmic rubble of hip-hop and psychedelic ambience. What’s perhaps most alarming is how successfully the duo achieves this revisitation without being bogged down by the trappings of nostalgia or losing the primitive and primal minimalism that has been at the core of the band’s modus operandi.
The opening tracks set the stage as “Nero,” “Land Lord,” and “Army of Non” all submerge the listener in that signature Godflesh distortion, Green’s thunderous bass resonating with an almost funky vibrance amid the breaking beats while Broadrick’s barks and growls are persistently matched by his simple yet evocative riffs, traces of vocal samples buried in the mix to evoke that early ‘90s hip-hop vibe. Of course, these three songs, along with the monochromatic cover art, immediately conjure memories of Pure, but things soon shift toward even murkier waters. “The Father” bears a closer resemblance to Selfless as the reverberant sustain of Broadrick’s impassioned voice and cries of chilly pads engulf the listener in a dreamlike haze, while the faster tempo and whiplash snares of “Permission” recall the band’s experiments with drum & bass. And then we have the menace and monstrosity of “Mythology of Self” like a beast ravening for bloody delights, it’s penetrative and insistent tone exceeded only by the mechanical and apocalyptic despair of the concluding “You are the Judge the Jury and the Executioner,” Broadrick’s still and despondent voice resounding amid squeals of guitar feedback and Green’s chugging bass.
Written in the wake of his diagnosis of PTSD and autism, the album is aptly titled as it presents Broadrick’s most personal lyrical material yet, searching for relief and ultimate transcendence from a lifetime of negativity and isolation. Such has been the purpose of Godflesh since its foundation, and so Purge may offer little-to-no surprises for anyone familiar with the band’s music. However, Broadrick and Green are long removed from the youthful desire for acceptance or recognition… that is, assuming they ever sought that… this writer suspects not. Instead, Purge offers the pure (pun only partially intended) and perfected essence of Godflesh." [Re->Gen mag]
|
2023 |
€30.00 |
|
| |
Purge |
CD |
listen: https://godflesh1.bandcamp.com/album/purge
First new recordings from GODFLESH since 2017's critically acclaimed full length 'POST SELF'.
'PURGE' musically, amongst the many layers of dirt, revisits and updates the concepts explored on the 'PURE' album from 1992; 90's hip hop grooves mangled and put through the GODFLESH filter to create something that is still unique and futuristic in style.
Both minimal and maximal, with layer upon layer of filth and heaviness, Godflesh deliver alien grooves that swing whilst also retaining the psychedelic / bad trip edge that Godflesh has always obsessed over. This is, and always has been, feel bad music; the title alone 'PURGE' references directly how songwriter / creator Justin K Broadrick utilises this music as temporary relief from his diagnosed autism and PTSD, a journey he has been on since he began creating music and feeling alone and as an outsider in any 'scene' or 'group' from childhood and throughout his adulthood.
Godflesh gives him the means to express a lifetime of feeling misunderstood and overwhelmed by hyper sensitivity, the band being the vehicle to give him some sense of catharsis and transcendence; a way of communicating overload and constant disenchantment at the human condition, and man's abuse of power and the systems that chain us.
The album references the cycle of horror that man has always and will always put us through; those in positions of power revel in the infliction of pain and horror upon individuals, in the name of their religion, their power, their money, their flags....
8 songs, delivered in a concise fashion for fellow outsiders.
A digital only single of the opening song 'NERO' coupled with 3 self remixes will be released April 3rd.
The duo of GODFLESH, Justin K Broadrick and Ben Green, augmented by Machines, are seen as a pivotal entity in the world of 'heavy' music, impacting entire cultures of heavy music since the bands inception in 1988. It is regarded as a cultural icon, and its impact can be felt across generations of 'heavy' music, both mainstream and underground. It is credited as being one of the first bands to cross old British industrial music with down tuned primitive minimal metal, accidentally pioneering the 'industrial metal' sound, yet the band has so much more to offer than what that term displays."
#################
"After so many years of development, it can be a risky prospect for any band to home in on one specific point in its history, seeking to hopefully refine the ideas originally explored. Such is the case with Purge, in which Godflesh returns to the eroded foundations of 1992’s Pure, when Justin K. Broadrick and G.C. Green first began infusing their monolithic brand of industrial/metal with the rhythmic rubble of hip-hop and psychedelic ambience. What’s perhaps most alarming is how successfully the duo achieves this revisitation without being bogged down by the trappings of nostalgia or losing the primitive and primal minimalism that has been at the core of the band’s modus operandi.
The opening tracks set the stage as “Nero,” “Land Lord,” and “Army of Non” all submerge the listener in that signature Godflesh distortion, Green’s thunderous bass resonating with an almost funky vibrance amid the breaking beats while Broadrick’s barks and growls are persistently matched by his simple yet evocative riffs, traces of vocal samples buried in the mix to evoke that early ‘90s hip-hop vibe. Of course, these three songs, along with the monochromatic cover art, immediately conjure memories of Pure, but things soon shift toward even murkier waters. “The Father” bears a closer resemblance to Selfless as the reverberant sustain of Broadrick’s impassioned voice and cries of chilly pads engulf the listener in a dreamlike haze, while the faster tempo and whiplash snares of “Permission” recall the band’s experiments with drum & bass. And then we have the menace and monstrosity of “Mythology of Self” like a beast ravening for bloody delights, it’s penetrative and insistent tone exceeded only by the mechanical and apocalyptic despair of the concluding “You are the Judge the Jury and the Executioner,” Broadrick’s still and despondent voice resounding amid squeals of guitar feedback and Green’s chugging bass.
Written in the wake of his diagnosis of PTSD and autism, the album is aptly titled as it presents Broadrick’s most personal lyrical material yet, searching for relief and ultimate transcendence from a lifetime of negativity and isolation. Such has been the purpose of Godflesh since its foundation, and so Purge may offer little-to-no surprises for anyone familiar with the band’s music. However, Broadrick and Green are long removed from the youthful desire for acceptance or recognition… that is, assuming they ever sought that… this writer suspects not. Instead, Purge offers the pure (pun only partially intended) and perfected essence of Godflesh." [Re->Gen mag]
|
2023 |
€15.00 |
|
| GODSPEED YOU BLACK EMPOROR! [GYBE] |
Allelujah! Don't bend! Ascend! |
LP + 7inch |
"We are proud to announce the first new recordings by Godspeed You! Black Emperor in a decade. Featuring two twenty-minute slabs of epic instrumental rock music and two six-and-a-half minute drones, ‘ALLELUJAH! DON’T BEND! ASCEND! provides soaring, shining proof of the band’s powerful return to form.
Having emerged from hiatus at the end of 2010, GYBE picked up right where they left off, immediately re-capturing the sound and material that had fallen dormant in 2003 and driving it forward with every show of their extensive touring over the last 18 months. The new album presents the fruits of that labour: evolved and definitive versions of two huge compositions previously known to fans as “Albanian” and “Gamelan”, now properly titled as “MLADIC” and “WE DRIFT LIKE WORRIED FIRE” respectively. Accompanied by the new drones (stitched into the album sequence on CD; cut separately on their own 7″ for the LP version), GYBE have offered up a fifth album that we feel is as absolutely vital, virulent, honest and heavy as anything in their discography.
We don’t have much time for mythology, but we’d be lying if we said the return of Godspeed You! Black Emperor in 2010 didn’t signify a whole lot to us as a marker from which to look back on the past decade, to reflect on what’s been gained or lost within the confines of independent music culture and what’s been gained or lost in the socio-political landscape writ large. Godspeed’s music will do that to you. It is music that bears witness to, channels and transforms this predominantly terrible, infuriating, venal and nihilistically sad story we’re all living, sharing, resisting, protesting, deconstructing and trying to change for the better. We think GYBE has once again provided a uniquely moving and compelling soundtrack for these acts of analysis, defiance and ascension.
* * *
Hard to believe a full decade has passed since the release of Yanqui U.X.O., the last album by GYBE. Never a band to care for conventional industry wisdom, Yanqui was released shortly before xmas 2003 with little publicity and no press availability, no marketing plans or cross-promotions or brand synergies, with back cover artwork tracing the inextricable links between major music labels and the military-industrial complex. Driven by word-of-mouth from a passionate and committed fanbase galvanized by the group's sonic vision and its dedication to unmediated, unsullied musical communication, the album found it's rightful audience.
To suggest that such simple principles and goals have become harder to maintain and enact a decade later is an understatement. For all the contents and discontents – for all the "content" – of our present cultural moment, the idea of circumventing the glare of exposure, the massaging of media cycles and the calculus of identity management appears quaint, if not futile.
But Godspeed is looking to try all the same. The band wants people to care about this new album, without telling people they should or talking about themselves. They want to hold on to some part of that energy that comes with the thrill of anonymous discovery and unmediated transmission, knowing full well that these days, anti-strategy risks being tagged as a strategy, non-marketing framed as its opposite, and deeply held principles they consider fundamental to health as likely to be interpreted as just another form of stealth.
Truly, thanks for being open to hearing it.
Release date: 15 October 2012 (Europe), 16 October 2012 (rest of world)
Running time: 53:09
LP is pressed on 180 gram virgin vinyl at Optimal (Germany) and comes in a tipped-on heavyweight gatefold jacket printed in full-colour process plus a spot metallic ink and spot matte varnish. LP dust sleeve is also 4-colour print. Package includes a 7 inch in printed dust sleeve (same audio appears in a different sequence on the CD) and a 12"x48" pull-out poster (printed full colour on both sides) featuring a collage of film stills specially-photographed and captured from the GYBE live 16mm projections." [label info]
www.cstrecords.com
"Viel ist passiert in den letzten 10 Jahren und für Mythologien bleibt weder Zeit noch Kapazität, aber eines ist doch offenbar: wir würden lügen, wenn wir nicht zugeben würden, dass die Rückkehr von GY!BE im Jahre 2010 eine Zäsur, ein Punkt der Rückschau gewesen ist. Wie kaum eine andere Band haben die Kanadier uns in den letzten Jahren begleitet, und das ohne musikalisch wirklich sichtbar zu sein. Ihre Geschichte ist eng mit dem Label Constellation verknüpft und die gesamte Attitüde, der Kontext, in dem sich Constellation und damit auch GY!BE bewegen, haben einen nicht zu unterschätzenden Einfluss auf die Independent Musikkultur weltweit ausgeübt. Und so regt dieses neue Album von GY!BE eine Rückschau an, eine Auseinandersetzung, was Independentkultur und Selbstverständnis heute noch bedeuten und wohin sich die soziokulturellen Komponenten unserer Gesellschaft entwickelt haben und noch weiter entwickeln werden. Auf diese Weise wird ,'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!" mit einer Bedeutung aufgeladen, wie sie schwerer kaum wiegen kann - und auf die weder Band noch Album direkt einen Einfluss haben - eine künstlerische Äußerung, die Bedeutung durch ihre bloße Existenz erlangt - da haben wir ihn doch, den Mythos, ohne dass wir es wollten. Und wir können es nur akzeptieren - dass dieses wunderbare Stück Musik (und das ist sie wahrlich, diese Platte - musikalisch ein Meisterwerk) schon jetzt ein Begleiter unseres Selbstverständnisses geworden ist, ein Moment des Innehaltens, des Reflektierens und damit Zeuge unserer eigenen Transformation, in der wir versuchen, das Kapitel unserer eigenen Biographie in diesem Buch aus überwiegend furchtbaren, korrupten, komplizierten und nihilistischen Geschichten neu zu schreiben und irgendwie in Hoffnung zu verwandeln. GY!BE haben es wieder einmal geschafft, einen Soundtrack für dieses Wechselspiel aus Analyse, Trotz und Befreiung zu liefern. Die Vinylversion von ,'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!" besteht aus einer LP und einer 7". Die 7" enthält zwei Drones, die auf der CD in den Album-Kontext eingebunden sind, auf Vinyl aber separat vorliegen, um eine gute Qualität der Pressung zu erreichen. Die beiden Songs ,Mladic" und ,We Drift Like Worried Fire" sind final ausformulierte Versionen der beiden von den den Konzerten der Band bereits bekannten Tracks ,Albanian" und ,Gamelan". Die beiden Tracks wurden von Howard Bilerman im legendären Hotel2Tango Studio aufgenommen, während die Drones von der Band selbst aufgenommen und gemixt wurden. Alle wurden gemastert von Harris Newman/ Greymarket. Musikalisch knüpft ,'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!" an das ziemlich exakt vor 10 Jahren im Herbst 2002 veröffentlichte, letzte Album ,Yanqui U.X.O." an und greift seine klangliche Ästhetik ebenso auf wie seinen Kontext.
Die Vinylversion von ,'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!" besteht aus einer LP und einer 7". Die 7" enthält zwei Drones, die auf der CD in den Album-Kontext eingebunden sind, auf Vinyl aber separat vorliegen, um eine gute Qualität der Pressung zu erreichen. 180gLP IN TIPPED-ON GATEFOLD JACKET. INCLUDES 7" VINYL + 12"x 48" PULL-OUT POSTER!" [label info- Cargo translation]
|
2012 |
€25.00 |
|
|
Allelujah! Don't bend! Ascend! |
CD |
"We are proud to announce the first new recordings by Godspeed You! Black Emperor in a decade. Featuring two twenty-minute slabs of epic instrumental rock music and two six-and-a-half minute drones, ‘ALLELUJAH! DON’T BEND! ASCEND! provides soaring, shining proof of the band’s powerful return to form.
Having emerged from hiatus at the end of 2010, GYBE picked up right where they left off, immediately re-capturing the sound and material that had fallen dormant in 2003 and driving it forward with every show of their extensive touring over the last 18 months. The new album presents the fruits of that labour: evolved and definitive versions of two huge compositions previously known to fans as “Albanian” and “Gamelan”, now properly titled as “MLADIC” and “WE DRIFT LIKE WORRIED FIRE” respectively. Accompanied by the new drones (stitched into the album sequence on CD; cut separately on their own 7″ for the LP version), GYBE have offered up a fifth album that we feel is as absolutely vital, virulent, honest and heavy as anything in their discography.
We don’t have much time for mythology, but we’d be lying if we said the return of Godspeed You! Black Emperor in 2010 didn’t signify a whole lot to us as a marker from which to look back on the past decade, to reflect on what’s been gained or lost within the confines of independent music culture and what’s been gained or lost in the socio-political landscape writ large. Godspeed’s music will do that to you. It is music that bears witness to, channels and transforms this predominantly terrible, infuriating, venal and nihilistically sad story we’re all living, sharing, resisting, protesting, deconstructing and trying to change for the better. We think GYBE has once again provided a uniquely moving and compelling soundtrack for these acts of analysis, defiance and ascension.
* * *
Hard to believe a full decade has passed since the release of Yanqui U.X.O., the last album by GYBE. Never a band to care for conventional industry wisdom, Yanqui was released shortly before xmas 2003 with little publicity and no press availability, no marketing plans or cross-promotions or brand synergies, with back cover artwork tracing the inextricable links between major music labels and the military-industrial complex. Driven by word-of-mouth from a passionate and committed fanbase galvanized by the group's sonic vision and its dedication to unmediated, unsullied musical communication, the album found it's rightful audience.
To suggest that such simple principles and goals have become harder to maintain and enact a decade later is an understatement. For all the contents and discontents – for all the "content" – of our present cultural moment, the idea of circumventing the glare of exposure, the massaging of media cycles and the calculus of identity management appears quaint, if not futile.
But Godspeed is looking to try all the same. The band wants people to care about this new album, without telling people they should or talking about themselves. They want to hold on to some part of that energy that comes with the thrill of anonymous discovery and unmediated transmission, knowing full well that these days, anti-strategy risks being tagged as a strategy, non-marketing framed as its opposite, and deeply held principles they consider fundamental to health as likely to be interpreted as just another form of stealth.
Truly, thanks for being open to hearing it.
Release date: 15 October 2012 (Europe), 16 October 2012 (rest of world)
Running time: 53:09
LP is pressed on 180 gram virgin vinyl at Optimal (Germany) and comes in a tipped-on heavyweight gatefold jacket printed in full-colour process plus a spot metallic ink and spot matte varnish. LP dust sleeve is also 4-colour print. Package includes a 7 inch in printed dust sleeve (same audio appears in a different sequence on the CD) and a 12"x48" pull-out poster (printed full colour on both sides) featuring a collage of film stills specially-photographed and captured from the GYBE live 16mm projections." [label info]
www.cstrecords.com |
2012 |
€14.50 |
|
|
G_d's Pee AT STATE'S END! |
LP + 10inch |
180g LP + 10" im Gatefold mit Thermographie, bedruckten Innenhüllen und Download Coupon. GY!BE kehrt mit einem weiteren Soundtrack für unsere Zeit zurück, wie ihn nur dieses unnachahmliche und ehrwürdige Ensemble schmieden kann. Das neue Album besteht aus zwei fesselnden, 20-minütigen, LP-Seiten füllenden Epen aus lärmgetränktem Breitwand-Post-Rock, während die beiden begleitenden 6-minütigen Stücke der 10" die Band aus Kanada in ihrer verheerendsten, eindringlichsten und elegischsten Form zeigen. Unerbittliches Tuckern blüht auf, während einige der hochfliegenden, brennenden Melodien der Band inmitten von Geigen- und Basskontrapunkt abprallen und zusammenlaufen. Field Recordings und aufgewühlte, halb-improvisierte Passagen umrahmen diese inbrünstigen Epen. Ergreifende Atmosphären, geräuschhafte Orchestrierung, Drone, hypnotische Swingtime-Crescendos, unaufhaltsam geschichtete Türme aus verzerrtem Klargesang: STATE'S END verkörpert jede geliebte Facette der Band. Fünfundzwanzig Jahre später ist dieses neue Album so vital, mitreißend, zeitgemäß und unerbittlich wie jedes andere in der geschichtsträchtigen Diskographie von Godspeed You! Black Emperor. So wie STATE'S END die ganze Bandbreite der klanglichen Trademarks von Godspeed vereint, so umspannt auch das Album-Artwork die gesamte visuelle Geschichte der Band: die körnige, monochromatische Fotografie der letzten Veröffentlichungen findet ihren Weg auf die Innenhüllen, während das Klappcover auf die ikonischen Grafiken früherer Klassiker wie Slow Riot For New Zero Kanada und Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven zurückgreift. STATE'S END ist mit Illustrationen von William Schmiechen versehen, wobei die Taijitu-Blumen auf der Vorderseite und die Tränengaskanister auf der Rückseite des Covers in erhabener, thermografischer, schwarzer Tinte auf dem Doppelvinyl-Albumcover abgebildet sind. Das leuchtende Kreuz von Godspeeds Debütalbum F#A#INFINITY taucht auch auf der Innenseite des Klappdeckels wieder auf, als wiederkehrende Hommage an das elektrifizierte Hügelkreuz in der Heimatstadt der Band in Montreal. STATE'S END wurde im Oktober 2020 in Montreal im Homebase-Studio der Gruppe, Thee Mighty Hotel2Tango, von Jace Lasek aufgenommen und abgemischt, dem altgedienten und preisgekrönten Indie-Produzenten (und Mitbegründer von The Besnard Lakes), der mit Godspeed bei dieser Aufnahme zum ersten Mal zusammenarbeitet. Danke fürs Zuhören. UNSERE SEITE MUSS GEWINNEN. (R.I.P. D.H.) [ENG] audiophile 180gLP + 10" in gatefold jacket with thermography, colour flood interior, artworked inners, DL card. GYBE returns with another soundtrack for our times, like only this inimitable and venerable ensemble can forge. As the heretical impudence of the anarcho-punk title implies, Godspeed harnesses some particularly raw power, spittle and grit across two riveting 20-minute side-length trajectories of noise-drenched widescreen post-rock: inexorable chug blossoms into blown-out twang, as some of the band's most soaring, searing melodies ricochet and converge amidst violin and bassline counterpoint. Field recordings and roiling semi-improvised passages frame these fervent epics, and two shorter self-contained 6-minute pieces find the band at its most devastatingly beautiful, haunting and elegiac. Poignant atmospherics, noisedrenched orchestration, drone, hypnotic swingtime crescendos, inexorably-layered towers of distorted clarion sound: STATE'S END encapsulates every beloved facet of the band. Twenty-five years on, this new album is as vital, stirring, timely and implacable as any in Godspeed You! Black Emperor's storied discography. Just as STATE'S END summons the gamut of Godspeed's constituent sonic trademarks, so the album artwork spans the entirety of the band's visual history: the grainy monochromatic photography of recent releases finds its way onto the inner sleeves, while the gatefold cover art harkens back to the iconic graphics of earlier classic records like Slow Riot For New Zero Kanada and Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven. STATE'S END features illustrations by William Schmiechen, with the front cover taijitu flowers and back cover tear gas canisters rendered in raised thermographic black ink on the double-vinyl album jacket. The illuminated cross from Godspeed's debut F#A#8 also makes a reappearance on the inside gatefold drawing, in recurrent homage to the electrified hilltop landmark crucifix of the band's Montreal hometown. STATE'S END was recorded and mixed in Montreal in October 2020 at the group's homebase studio Thee Mighty Hotel2Tango by Jace Lasek, the veteran awardwinning indie producer (and co-founder of The Besnard Lakes) who works with Godspeed for the first time on this recording. Thanks for listening. OUR SIDE HAS TO WIN. (R.I.P. D.H.)
|
2021 |
€27.50 |
|
| |
G_d's Pee AT STATE'S END! |
CD |
GY!BE kehrt mit einem weiteren Soundtrack für unsere Zeit zurück, wie ihn nur dieses unnachahmliche und ehrwürdige Ensemble schmieden kann. Das neue Album besteht aus zwei fesselnden, 20-minütigen, LP-Seiten füllenden Epen aus lärmgetränktem Breitwand-Post-Rock, während die beiden begleitenden 6-minütigen Stücke der 10" die Band aus Kanada in ihrer verheerendsten, eindringlichsten und elegischsten Form zeigen. Unerbittliches Tuckern blüht auf, während einige der hochfliegenden, brennenden Melodien der Band inmitten von Geigen- und Basskontrapunkt abprallen und zusammenlaufen. Field Recordings und aufgewühlte, halb-improvisierte Passagen umrahmen diese inbrünstigen Epen. Ergreifende Atmosphären, geräuschhafte Orchestrierung, Drone, hypnotische Swingtime-Crescendos, unaufhaltsam geschichtete Türme aus verzerrtem Klargesang: STATE'S END verkörpert jede geliebte Facette der Band. Fünfundzwanzig Jahre später ist dieses neue Album so vital, mitreißend, zeitgemäß und unerbittlich wie jedes andere in der geschichtsträchtigen Diskographie von Godspeed You! Black Emperor. So wie STATE'S END die ganze Bandbreite der klanglichen Trademarks von Godspeed vereint, so umspannt auch das Album-Artwork die gesamte visuelle Geschichte der Band: die körnige, monochromatische Fotografie der letzten Veröffentlichungen findet ihren Weg auf die Innenhüllen, während das Klappcover auf die ikonischen Grafiken früherer Klassiker wie Slow Riot For New Zero Kanada und Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven zurückgreift. STATE'S END ist mit Illustrationen von William Schmiechen versehen, wobei die Taijitu-Blumen auf der Vorderseite und die Tränengaskanister auf der Rückseite des Covers in erhabener, thermografischer, schwarzer Tinte auf dem Doppelvinyl-Albumcover abgebildet sind. Das leuchtende Kreuz von Godspeeds Debütalbum F#A#INFINITY taucht auch auf der Innenseite des Klappdeckels wieder auf, als wiederkehrende Hommage an das elektrifizierte Hügelkreuz in der Heimatstadt der Band in Montreal. STATE'S END wurde im Oktober 2020 in Montreal im Homebase-Studio der Gruppe, Thee Mighty Hotel2Tango, von Jace Lasek aufgenommen und abgemischt, dem altgedienten und preisgekrönten Indie-Produzenten (und Mitbegründer von The Besnard Lakes), der mit Godspeed bei dieser Aufnahme zum ersten Mal zusammenarbeitet. Danke fürs Zuhören. UNSERE SEITE MUSS GEWINNEN. (R.I.P. D.H.) [ENG]
GYBE returns with another soundtrack for our times, like only this inimitable and venerable ensemble can forge. As the heretical impudence of the anarcho-punk title implies, Godspeed harnesses some particularly raw power, spittle and grit across two riveting 20-minute side-length trajectories of noise-drenched widescreen post-rock: inexorable chug blossoms into blown-out twang, as some of the band's most soaring, searing melodies ricochet and converge amidst violin and bassline counterpoint. Field recordings and roiling semi-improvised passages frame these fervent epics, and two shorter self-contained 6-minute pieces find the band at its most devastatingly beautiful, haunting and elegiac. Poignant atmospherics, noisedrenched orchestration, drone, hypnotic swingtime crescendos, inexorably-layered towers of distorted clarion sound: STATE'S END encapsulates every beloved facet of the band. Twenty-five years on, this new album is as vital, stirring, timely and implacable as any in Godspeed You! Black Emperor's storied discography. Just as STATE'S END summons the gamut of Godspeed's constituent sonic trademarks, so the album artwork spans the entirety of the band's visual history: the grainy monochromatic photography of recent releases finds its way onto the inner sleeves, while the gatefold cover art harkens back to the iconic graphics of earlier classic records like Slow Riot For New Zero Kanada and Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven. STATE'S END features illustrations by William Schmiechen, with the front cover taijitu flowers and back cover tear gas canisters rendered in raised thermographic black ink on the double-vinyl album jacket. The illuminated cross from Godspeed's debut F#A#8 also makes a reappearance on the inside gatefold drawing, in recurrent homage to the electrified hilltop landmark crucifix of the band's Montreal hometown. STATE'S END was recorded and mixed in Montreal in October 2020 at the group's homebase studio Thee Mighty Hotel2Tango by Jace Lasek, the veteran awardwinning indie producer (and co-founder of The Besnard Lakes) who works with Godspeed for the first time on this recording. Thanks for listening. OUR SIDE HAS TO WIN. (R.I.P. D.H.)
|
2021 |
€14.50 |
|
| GOGOOO |
Long, lontain |
CD |
"Gabriel Hernandez, das Gesicht hinter dem Namen GoGooo, hat ein außerordentliches Gespür für das Strecken einer kleinen harmonischen Idee. »Long, Lointain« (Baskaru) ist dadurch ein sehr freundliches, wenn auch in gewisser Weise unscheinbares Album geworden: Was sich hier an Tönen und Geräuschen tummelt, hinterlässt einen Gesamteindruck, der sich blendend mit der klassischen Ambient-Definition nach Brian Eno verträgt. Diese Musik also verschwindet scheinbar, schon während sie erklingt. Doch das Erlebnis wird dadurch andererseits ein sehr gegenwärtiges, das auf den bleibenden Eindruck zu Gunsten einer feinsinnig ausgestatteten Begleitung durch den Augenblick verzichtet. Die Art von Field Recordings, die Hernandez seinen geschmackvollen musikalischen Miniaturen beigegeben hat, ist recht stark konzentriert auf Regen und Schlamm, auf organisch schmatzendes Material, das dem kurz gehaltenen Longplayer in der abschließenden Zusammenstellung eine charmante persönliche Note verleiht. Andernorts hat man all das schlicht elektroakustischen Folk genannt – eine Beschreibung, die dem sanften, kuriosen und gewitzten Wohlklang von GoGooo tatsächlich gerecht wird." [Kai Ginkel / SPEX]
"Far-away sounds, close to the heart...
Delicately-played instruments whose sounds, once sampled and digitally treated, seem to permeate our ears from a distant world both strange and strangely familiar. And yet, the resulting music is intimate as can be, full of untold and evocative imagery.
GoGooo is Gabriel Hernandez, born in 1979 in Grenoble, France. Gabriel started making music because he wanted to accompany his guitar-playing cousin. Untrained, he turned to the computer, and thus came to life their duo Simagrée. Other collaborations ensued with Alain Basso (Sol III) and Daisuke Miyatani (Miyagooo).
"Long, lointain" [Long, far] is GoGooo’s first professional full-length release, following a number of net releases, CDR EPs and compilation appearances. 2007 is a coming-out year for GoGooo, with additional releases on labels such as (1.8)sec Records (Canada), Magic Book (Japan), EKO (France) and his own netlabel Rain Music.
"Long, lointain" features 10 short pieces exerting a fleeting charm, populated with field recordings, found sounds and skeletons of melodies, all delicately arranged to titillate and soothe your ears. This music can be compared to electroacoustic folk for its instrumentation, but is actually unique in style.
Gabriel Hernandez is also a drawing artist, photographer and video artist, and most of these other facets of his art are represented in "Long, lointain"s packaging, including drawings decorating the digipack cover and four short videos." [label info]
www.baskaru.com
|
2007 |
€12.00 |
|
| GOH, LEE KWANG |
Draw Sound |
mCD-R / Book |
Seit einiger Zeit erteilen die "Künstlerhäuser Worpswede" halbjährliche Stipendien im Bereich "Klangkunst" (WORPSWEDE ist das legendäre Maler- und Künstlerdorf, ca. 25 Kilometer von Bremen entfernt, mitten im Teufelsmoor). Hier arbeiteten schon namhafte Leute wie JOHN OSWALD, TORBEN TILLY (MINIT), HANNA HARTMAN, IGNAZ SCHICK oder STEFAN ROIGK. Auch der Malaysier LEE KWANG GOO hielt sich im Jahr 2008 einige Monate in Worpswede auf, diese Veröffentlichung wurde zum Abschluss herausgebracht. Das Büchlein enthält 36 Seiten mit - nun ja - Gekritzel. Der enthaltene track COINS auf der beiliegenden mini-CDR ist ein Stück in 97 (!) Teilen, die offensichtlich von einer 1 Cent-Münze stammen. God is in the details!
"This publication will appear as Volume 7 in the series Kunst und Theorie by the Künstlerhuser Worpswede. Published by Argobooks. It is 36 pages black and white drawings + on the mini-CDR, 'Coins' composed and performed by goh lee kwang from August to September 2008." [publishing house info] |
2008 |
€12.50 |
|
| GOL & CHARLEMAGNE PALESTINE |
Pandamoniahbleeumm!!! |
LP |
"Entering their twentieth year of existence, the GOL orchestra, together with the label Planam, celebrates and starts a new program of collaborations: the GOLlaboration series.Volume 2, Pandamoniahbleeummm!!!! marks the encounter with Charlemagne Palestine, pionneer of strumming music and piano maximalism, in the St. Eustache Church in Paris, known for its world famous church organ. The following battle, in form of a long incantatory improvisation, Charlemagne Palestine playing the church organ and GOL doing the electronics, bass, guitar, and the flutes part, combines many attributes of a pagan ritual. GOL was formed in 1988 in Paris by Jean-Marcel Busson, Frédéric Rebotier, Ravi Sharda and Samon Takahashi. The quartet embodies, within a post-dada spirit, a lost rural tradition. GOL plays flute, horns, guitar, violin, toys, selfmanufactured instruments, tapes, turntables, voices, various percussion instruments and electronics, an appropriateness of both traditional string instrument and handmade low fi equipment. GOL's first LP (GOL lp 01), issued in 1993, compiles their first items (88-92) based on vinyl- record's scratching, tape's cut-ups and acoustic instruments. The issuing of this LP was followed by a 9 years long hibernation. Since 2002, the band is back together to pursue its common research and play together of instinct and invention. Their music, electroacoustic oriented, is partially improvised and partly tense. At the time of a collaboration with roumanian composer Iancu Dumitrescu, GOL developped a score system knowned as ' layer's leaf '. Through this system, they could elaborate an hybrid music, between orchestral conduct and free interpretation of movements. Edition limited to 300 copies, also including a large insert with liner notes great graphics by Jean-Marcel Busson who also design the front and back cover." [label info] |
2009 |
€19.50 |
|
| GOL & GHEDALIA TAZARTES |
Alpes |
LP |
"The sixth Gollaberration features a rather odd encounter indeed! It all happened when matchless vocalist Ghedalia Tazartes challenged GOL dada-style quartet. Ghedalia threw in the game his pan-africanasian singing techniques blending gypsy, jewish and trans-continental flavor. GOL exceeded on Electric Mandoline, Jew’s Harps, Percussions, Janotron, Flutes, Electric Guitar, Bass Guitar, Electronic Garage and Voice. Together with Ghedalia they developed into what became a “bal musette” for mentally disabled. Reaching at some points the sides of rock that doesn’t roll, this sonic attack jumps from topic to topic as a ritualistic anthology of unknown “ritournelles”. Such a decadence was hardly contained in the neutral environment of the Swiss Cultural Center in Paris where the recording took place on Feb 22nd and 23rd, 2011. Tired liver resonances accurately rendered by the acid yellow cover created by Dennis Tyfus of Ultra Eczema. A mountain peaks journey below the very heart of no-where Europe to be consumed gently without skis on. One-time pressing edition limited to 400 copies. |
2013 |
€20.00 |
|
| GOLYSHEV, NIKITA |
Solaris |
CD |
Auf dem Moskauer Label MONOCHROME VISION erscheinen nicht nur Fundstücke aus der Experimental-Historie, sondern auch Newcomer der russischen Szene. NIKITA GLOYSHEV spinnt feinste microwave-drones, die sich sachte verwandeln, mit leicht mechanischem Touch und untergründigem Brodeln versehen.
Ultra-minimal & wahrnehmungsverändernd...
"The debut CD album of one of the most promising russian underground musician, presenting his own unique vision of ambient music. Combining the deep layers of machine-like hum and minimal melodic keys, Nikita creates highly emotional and dramatic journey to the netherworld. Two parts of this one hour long suite are the partly presented in the program of Add Noise II festival on May 15th, 2007.
Beginning in 2003 as the part of duo aptly titled CD-R, Nikita Golyshev quickly became the one of the most promising electronic musicians on the russian underground scene. His output progressed from rhythmic noise mayhem to diverse and heterogeneous experiments, ranging from machine improvisation through bleak drones to pure processed acoustic minimalism. He released some CD-Rs and published many works online, as well as on his own Musica Excentrica, Electrosound and Share My Wings imprints. He finally recorded the debut CD album under his real name." [label notes]
".... 'Solaris' is his debut solo CD and it's hard not to see this as a soundtrack to the Tarkovsky movie, even when there is no such reference on the cover. The music spread out over two pieces of around thirty minutes could have been alternative soundtracks to that movie. Golyshev's plays some interesting under water and under world like drone music of a great kind. Golyshev keeps things minimal but too such an extent that changes appear at the right moment - the true power of drone music, I guess. Don't be a bore, don't let changes come to quickly, everything on the right moment. This version of 'Solaris' is great and surely the name Golyshev is worth keeping an ear open for. " [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.monochromevision.ru
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| GOREHALLREIDER |
A Blow to the Head |
CD-R |
Collaboration von JOHN GORE (KIRCHENKAMPF), STEVE HALL (YEN POX-Hälfte und VEIL OF SECRECY) und C. REIDER (auch solo aktiv), 7 Stücke zwischen elektronischem dark ambient, minimaler Elektronik mit bedrohlichen / fremdartigen Untertönen, und puren backwards-drone-Sphären. Die Stimmung ändert sich mit jedem der sieben Stücke, sehr gut ! Handpainted coversleeves...
“It seems to me that Cohort Records is becoming more and more active these days, and so are the musical activities of their boss, John Gore, aka Kirchenkampf, aka The Oratory Of Divine Love and aka >wirewall<. Here he teams up with Steve Hall, aka Yen Pox and aka Veil Of Secrecy and the more unknown C. Reider, who runs the Vuzh Music label. All three delivered sound material for this release, which was then 'arranged, effected and mixed' by John Gore. He calls this 'psychedelic ambient', which is an appropriate tag. 'Violent Drone' might also be appropriate, as in all seven tracks drones of whatever nature (radio static, analogue synth and perhaps even field recordings) play an important role, but a likewise important role is played by all the applied effects that Gore adds to this. This gives this drone music a top heavy character, sounds bursting in and out everywhere, from the depths of the earth and stardust from the sky. A sizzling mix of static sounds that never sounds static. Everything seems to be moving around all the time, with small changes of color and texture, like a Yves Klein painting or a Steve Reich piano piece, ever so apparent in 'I Hear Voices'. Powerful drone music, along the lines of Troum, but more musical... by which ever definition music of course.” [FdW / Vital Weekly]
http://cohortrecords.0catch.com
|
2005 |
€9.00 |
|
| GRABOWSKI, PAWEL |
Cirr's Songs |
7inch |
Einigen bekannt vielleicht durch die wunderbare 7” auf Laub Records oder die MIASTO NIE SPALO – CD (OBUH).... zwei Stücke mit bearbeiteten, dichten, melancholischen field recordings, die von Trauer und der „Stimme im Kopf“ berichten.....
"PAWEL GRABOWSKI is a polish musician. He has been active with MIASTO NIE SPALO (CD on OBUH Records) and solo.....CIRR’S SONGS are about drowning. At that time i had this dream in which i was drowning in deep waters , every night over and over again. The dream lasted for about a month, then disappeared completely, but that feeling remained...
Filed under: Melancholic Field-Drones
BLACK VINYL. BLACK COVERS WITH PHOTO."
[press release]
„...Der in Insiderkreisen durch einige Veröffentlichungen in Mini-Auflagen schon etwas bekanntere Pole kreiert einmal mehr düstere Ambientsoundscapes, die aber keinesfalls brachial-okkult wie MZ412, Raison D'Etre oder Brighter Death Now, sondern stiller, beim ersten Hören fast unscheinbar klingen - Für Industrial-Addicts, die nach jahrelangem Konsum von besagten typischen Cold Meat-Acts genug von deren zwar stimmungsvollen, aber doch ewig gleichen monumentalen Streichersounds und Chören haben, fast so etwas wie ein Pflichtkauf. Eine grandiose, irgendwie geheimnisvolle Single also, die auch inhaltlich Interessantes zu bieten hat..“ [Uwe Marx / Etoile]
“PAWEL GRABOWSKI is a polish musician. He has been active with MIASTO NIE SPALO (CD on OBUH Records) and solo.....CIRR’S SONGS are about drowning. At that time i had this dream in which i was drowning in deep waters , every night over and over again. The dream lasted for about a month, then disappeared completely, but that feeling remained... filed under: Melancholic Field-Drones. BLACK VINYL. BLACK COVERS WITH PHOTO. “ [press release]
|
2005 |
€7.00 |
|
| GRASSOW, MATHIAS |
The Darklight Quest |
CD |
"One of the strangest and most fascinating aspects of ambient music is the way it can sometimes morph from sonic wallpaper -where it basically functions as a soundtrack- into an agent of transformation, allowing the reshaping of the perceived world around the listener. Some of Mathias' albums have had this effect on me before, and the Darklight Quest definitely falls into this territory. gterma is happy to shine a light on this now mostly forgotten treasure.
1. Prelude (5:09)
2. The Abyss (33:23)
3. Unseen Worlds (29:25)
4. Beyond Nothingness (9:21)
The Darklight Quest is a longform drone ambient album with mystical properties. It was originally released as a DIY CDr in 1998. The album is closely related to the Nightquest and Dreamquest Sessions. This edition has been slightly edited and expanded with a prelude. It has also received a mastering touch by Anders Peterson of Ghost Sounds."
gterma.blogspot.de
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Isola |
CD |
On the outskirts of our civilization, life tends to happen at its own pace. While there may be no chronometer in sight, every living thing is aware of, and follows, the continuous solar cycle. It is an enigmatic and confusing phenomenon that we carry within us in our very own blood.
Isola is created from archival recordings composed between 2009 and 2012 and flows along with the day/night cycle as seen from some remote locations. Album in jewel case with 8-page booklet.
https://gterma.bandcamp.com/album/isola
|
2022 |
€14.00 |
|
| GRASSOW, MATHIAS & THOMAS WEISS |
Conscience |
CD |
"An authority between the human made ego and his creator. The conscience is a regulator and gives always precisely feedback about our emotional actions. Everyone has the free will to accept this. Many people have forgotten to follow their inner voice. Instead their decisions are depended on status symbols and social standards. This music doesn't want to entertain you, but give you a view inside your "self". As soon as we have spirit, mind and body together we are practising the truth." [label notes]
www.nextera.cz
"Mathias Grassow, one of the main representatives of the continental ambient movement, with his friend Thomas Weiss have recorded an album dealing with the human conscience. This beautiful, intelligent record will be released on the Prague independent label Nextera. The German musician Mathias Grassow is one of the great stars of the continental ambient scene. In his youth, he studied guitar, key instruments and flute, then started to be involved in new age electronic music. The first album has been released as late as early 1990s - the recordings show a distinct experimental approach which, combined with spheric ambient and owing to the excellen album In Search of Sanity, had made Grassow a new big figure on the ever-growing ambient-electronic scene. Since then, Grassow has made a series of albums including collaborations with several other representatives of the genre such as Klaus Wiese, Amir Baghiri, Rüdiger Gleisberg (as Nostalgia) or in projects such as Anam Cara (with Wolfgang Barkowski), KarmaCosmic (with Carsten Agthe and Rüdiger Gleisberg) and the "supergroup" Nebula (apart from himself and Wiese featuring numerous Italian ambient musicians, e.g. Oöphoi and Tau Ceti). Most of these recordings rank among the best in the genre. Grassow melts the indescribable beauty od nature with deep labyrints of the human spirit, creating soulful imaginary structures, where abstraction intertwines with oriental motifs and unobtrusive ritual rhythmics. On his latest album, he has joined forces with Thomas Weiss to attempt a musical expression of the eternal topic of human conscience. Four long tracks leave space to freely morphing soundwaves, reflecting both positive spiritual power as well as somewhat murky moods. In the initial Unscaled Enigma with the almost palpable character of tide, Grassow and Weiss create the impression of absolute peace and harmony by mingling two main sound motifs (as though these were significantly discernable original sources of sound - the organs and the human voice). The next track, Along the Border, is marked by inner unrest and its sinister athmosphere can be percieved as if both artists were to guide us to the war-torn areas of the Middle East. In Foresight (credits for sound to Klaus Wiese and Ted de Jong), one can distantly hear Grassow's rhythmic production (light rhythmical structures, oriental voices). All of what was mentioned then merges into a vast sound ocean in the final, half-an-hour track Deceitful Expectation, definitely the most impenetrable and abstract track of the album. The album Conscience as a whole unambiguously shows the message of Grass' whole oevre, with no place for autotelic exhibition or egoistic sneer - it is a well of deep humility and belief in the fulfilment of the divine nature of man. If you find my closing words too impassioned, please give it a second thought while listening to the album. I think you will agree then." [Igor Nováček]
|
2006 |
€10.00 |
|
| GRAVETEMPLE |
Impassable Fears |
LP |
Milky clear vinyl. Limited to 400. Guitarist Stephen O'Malley conjures distorted chords, controlled by a bank of effects pedals; vocalist Attila Csihar, famous for his time as singer for notorious and controversial black metal band Mayhem, ritualistically intones invented syllables that echo monastic chants; experimental musician Oren Ambarchi extracts strange sounds from his own looped guitar before moving to a drumkit to propel a scattered, urgent rhythm. Momentum overtaking him, a drumstick slips from Ambarchi's hand, he breaks free of the drum kit, grabs for a beater, turns, and smashes the gong at the centre of the stage. For two long seconds the all-encompassing rumble that has amassed throughout the performance drones on with a kind of relentless inertia, still without a sonic acknowledgement of the visual climax. Finally, the pulsating wave from the heavily amplified gong reverberates through the corporate body of the audience, felt in physical vibration more than heard as sound. The musicians leave the stage, their abandoned instruments still expelling squalling sounds which gradually begin to dissipate. Listeners breathe out, perhaps open their eyes, raise their heads, shift their feet and awaken enough to clap and shout appreciation, before turning to friends or strangers, reaching for phrases and gestures, often in a vocabulary of ritual, mysticism and transcendence, which might become touchstones for recollection and communication of their individual and shared experience."
|
2017 |
€23.00 |
|
| GRKZGL |
Esque |
mCD |
Very complex digital experimental music from a new act from Montreal on this fine Canadian label, not easy to categorize, strange sounds & kind of rhythms everywhere…… recommended for explorers of the digital sphere….
“ 'Esque' is the first 3" mini-cd ep release on Angle Records. To create the music Grkzgl uses laptop, synths and bass, plus there is metal percussion on the last 6th track, which is the most noisy of all. Otherwise, the sound is in the atmospheric glitchy areas, loosely improvised but with a clear direction of where it's going, sometimes even a rhythmic patterns appear. Grkzgl is obviously inspired and influenced by the post-industrial ambience, not being too minimal or too harsh, but still merging all those styles into one whole piece, divided in 6 tracks which are mixed into each other. Very nice ep for this artist and hopefully more releases in the same format to come on the label.” [BR / Vital Weekly]
|
2006 |
€6.50 |
|
| GRUBBS, DAVID |
Two Soundtracks for Angela Bulloch |
CD |
Zwei sehr experimentelle Collagen-artige Stücke vom Ur-Gestein DAVID GRUBBS, die als Installations-Material für Filme der kanadischen (Klang)-Künstlerin ANGELA BULLOCH dienen.
"David Grubbs (Bastro, Gastr Del Sol) has a long-standing history of collaboration and interest in contemporary visual arts. This new mini-album features two compositions commissioned by Angela Bulloch for two of her installation pieces. The two pieces on this CD accompany the works 'Z Point' and 'Horizontal Technicolour,' two major works that make use of - or, rather, are connected to -Antonioni's Zabriskie Point. 'Z Point' is based on original film material of the famous desert explosion from the final scenes, whereas 'Horizontal Technicolour' uses material filmed by the artist herself at Death Valley, a setting similar to the one used in the final scenes from Antonioni's film. The two pieces by David Grubbs are beautiful and intricate works in which the original Antonioni soundtrack, the translations of the film in other languages, and his own sound palette come together. They show yet another different approach to his diverse musical capacities and are maybe closest in spirit to his Thirty-Minute Raven mini-album on Rectangle. The CD comes with a 12-page booklet with previously unpublished stills from the Death Valley desert taken by Angela Bulloch." [label description]
www.bottrop-boy.com
|
2005 |
€13.00 |
|
| GRUBBS, DAVID & ELI KESZLER |
One and One less |
LP |
One and One Less is the first collaboration between David Grubbs and Eli Keszler and the first release in the UDPR series.
One and One Less consists of a performance and an installation, both of which draw upon a single source text—David Grubbs’s ongoing One Poem, and the LP is split between these two forms: the live performance for reader (Grubbs) and percussionist (Keszler), and a recording of the installation version from the MIT List Visual Arts Center.
The original installation (at the MIT List Visual Arts Center from October 10, 2014 to January 4, 2015 as part of the show Open Tunings) used recorded excerpts from One Poem to trigger a range of mechanical strikes within seven custom-made, sculptural sound boxes, each of which contained an elaborate mechanism of motors and speakers built by Keszler that acoustically filtered the voice, creating a constantly changing composition—one equally verbal and percussive. Subsequent to the live performance, the installation at MIT was intended as an aural afterimage, in which the clean visual disposition of the gallery space was contradicted by the intensity of the acoustically produced sound field.
This LP is printed in a limited edition of 300 copies and includes an insert with the text of David Grubb's poem-in-progress.
UDPR is a vinyl record series for the sound of poetry, curated by Michael Barron for Ugly Duckling Presse.
David Grubbs is Professor of Music at Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center, CUNY. At Brooklyn College he also teaches in the MFA programs in Performance and Interactive Media Arts (PIMA) and Creative Writing. He is the author of Records Ruin the Landscape: John Cage, The Sixties, and Sound Recording (Duke University Press). Grubbs has released twelve solo albums and appeared on more than 150 commercially-released recordings. He is known for his cross-disciplinary collaborations with poet Susan Howe, visual artists Anthony McCall, Angela Bulloch, and Stephen Prina, and choreographer Jonah Bokaer. His work has been presented at the Guggenheim, MoMA, the Tate Modern, and the Centre Pompidou. Grubbs was a member of the groups Gastr del Sol, Bastro, and Squirrel Bait, and he has performed with the Red Krayola, Will Oldham, Tony Conrad, Pauline Oliveros, and Loren Connors, among many others. He is a grant recipient from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts; a contributing editor in music for BOMB Magazine; director of the Blue Chopsticks record label.
Eli Keszler
Photo credit: Christelle Perrin
Eli Keszler is a New York-based artist, composer, and percussionist who situates his practice within the intersections of architecture, performance, installation, notation, and composition. Keszler’s installations and visual work have appeared at the Victoria & Albert Museum, MIT List Visual Arts Center, The Kitchen, South London Gallery, Barbican, Luma-Foundation, Tectonics Festival Reykjavik, and Centraal Museum in Utrecht among many others. Keszler has toured extensively throughout Europe, Asia and the United States, performing solo and in collaboration with artists such as Christian Wolff, Phill Niblock, Tony Conrad, Oren Ambarchi, Joe McPhee, Jandek, Roscoe Mitchell, Anthony Coleman, T Model Ford, and Ilan Volkov with the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra. His writing and work has appeared in BOMB Magazine, The New York Times, Wire Magazine, Frieze, and Modern Painters. He has received commissions and awards from Gaudeamus, National Public Radio, and the Foundation For Contemporary Art. Keszler is a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music.
https://www.uglyducklingpresse.org/catalog/browse/item/?pubID=546
|
2017 |
€28.00 |
|
| GRUNT |
Spiritual Eugenics |
do-LP |
Born in 1993, Grunt remains one of the most active and restless forces in Finnish – or even global industrial noise network. Since first tapes published 25 years ago, project has been active without any breaks. Messy discography makes it hard to judge how many actual ”albums” has been created. List of releases reaches close to hundred, yet most of them represents other approach than creation of ”album”. Spiritual Eugenics continue to path established by Castrate The Illusionist (2018), Myth Of Blood (2015), World Draped In A Camouflage (2012), Petturien Rooli (2009) and Seer of Decay (2006).
It expands the sounds, themes and visuals to unheard levels, but keeps firmly touch of known Grunt sound. 80 minutes long album is monolithic work packaged in double digipak with booklet and vinyl edition double LP in full color gatefold cover.
https://freak-animal.net/2020/05/15/grunt-spiritual-eugenics-album/
|
2020 |
€26.00 |
|
| |
Spiritual Eugenics |
do-CD |
Born in 1993, Grunt remains one of the most active and restless forces in Finnish – or even global industrial noise network. Since first tapes published 25 years ago, project has been active without any breaks. Messy discography makes it hard to judge how many actual ”albums” has been created. List of releases reaches close to hundred, yet most of them represents other approach than creation of ”album”. Spiritual Eugenics continue to path established by Castrate The Illusionist (2018), Myth Of Blood (2015), World Draped In A Camouflage (2012), Petturien Rooli (2009) and Seer of Decay (2006).
It expands the sounds, themes and visuals to unheard levels, but keeps firmly touch of known Grunt sound. 80 minutes long album is monolithic work packaged in double digipak with booklet and vinyl edition double LP in full color gatefold cover.
https://freak-animal.net/2020/05/15/grunt-spiritual-eugenics-album/
|
2020 |
€16.00 |
|
| GRUNTSPLATTER |
The Passions of a Cripple |
LP |
Endlich der zweite Teil in der Vinyl-Serie von FORCE OF NATURE. GRUNTSPLATTER stehen für radikalen noise-ambient den sie hier noch verschärfen, verdeckte entmenschlichte Stimmen & Schreie kämpfen sich durch einen extrem verrauschten KlangSumpf, der quält und akustisch foltert.... kommt auf blau-schwarz marmoriertem Vinyl.
“Gruntsplatter continues to delve into the dark ambient and death industrial realm, this time combining his journey with harsh vocals buried deep within.” [press release]
“Gruntsplatter was started by American Scott Candey from the USA in 1994. He has been involved in numerous other projects, labels and magazines in the underground industrial scene, but Gruntsplatter is probably his main vehicle. I have heard only a small part of his extensive output, but the Gruntsplatter music I heard was usually dark and atmospheric, somewhere between noise and ambient.
The new limited vinyl record, which came out in the same month as a cd on Eibon Records, surprised me a little in its harshness. The six tracks appear to be denser and noisier than I'm used of Gruntsplatter. An important cause is probably the significant role of aggressive vocals on some tracks in a power electronics style. The mood is grim and menacing, a feeling which is conveyed in a consistent manner.
Some tracks are quite aggressive, like opener 'The Defoliant'. Others are more dirty obscure soundscapes with lots of sonic waves, rumbling machineries of death and distorted electronics, like 'Fire Behind Locked Doors' and 'Fracturing The Phantom Limb', where rays of light are not allowed to enter. My favourite piece is probably the loud and powerful 'Through A Hewn Throat', with a nasty in-your-face sound. A solid record with 26 minutes filled with a gritty sound and a torturous atmosphere.” [Funprox]
|
2005 |
€13.00 |
|
| GURUN GURUN |
Uzu Oto |
LP |
The Czech group Gurun Gurun is made up of Tarnovski, Tomáš Knoflíček, Federsel, and Ondřej Ježek. who took their name from the fictional planet in the old school Slovak children’s TV show She Came Out of the Blue Sky. Uzu Oto is his first album for the Peruvian label Buh Records.
Since the beginning, it has been clear that apprehending their working and reflecting it would be a tough nut to crack. Is this even a band? Do they play compositions or is it all improvised? On the stage, you see four men hunched over tables overflowing with strange objects, hard-to-identify electronic devices, musical and non-musical instruments, and a chaotic tangle of cables, producing slow, constantly developing melodies and a hypnotic atmosphere that works a little like falling through a strange wormhole full of sounds, noises, and soft female vocals, mercilessly sucking you in, forcing you to collapse into yourself and enter a parallel universe.
They have played concerts across Europe, including London’s Café Oto, as well as successfully touring Japan. They have shared the stage with artists including Michael Gira, Tim Hecker, Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe (Lichens), Keith Fullerton Whitman, Kate Carr, and Lichens.
This new album, Uzu Oto, was also created in concert – each track at a different show. Despite this fact, GG do not consider it a traditional live album. And as this group generally exists independently of our common conception of time, the history of the new recording reaches back to before theird previous record, Kon B. Uzu Oto features the Kyoto-based singer Cuushe and Asuna, a sound artist from Kanazawa. The LP cover is by Czech artist, inventor, and sonic anarchist Petr Válek.
Attending a Gurun Gurun concert is like taking part in an expedition by a pack of monkeys to explore the wreckage of a spaceship that was shipwrecked a long time ago. Their improvised live sets are a mix of post-club-music deconstruction, metamorphosed acoustic and electronic sounds, generative music, and musique concrète. This is also the spirit of Uzu Oto. No, this is not music to play while you wash the dishes. Or perhaps it is, but you have to factor in the fact that the dishes will become a tangle of roots, threads, ropes, lianas, and spider webs. And that your entire kitchen may well catch on fire.
https://buhrecords.bandcamp.com/album/uzu-oto
|
2022 |
€22.00 |
|
| GUS COMA |
Color him coma |
do-CD |
"The first CD in this set is a reissue of an obscure cassette release from 1983 that was originally released in a small edition on the London based, It’s War Boys label. This C60 consisted of 2 distinct halves. Side 1 was formed around several mixes of an experimental track, constructed from a room-sized 24 track loop. A version of this track first appeared on the LP Flagellation by The Just Measurers (who were C. D. Greyt, Yakkö Banovic and Narki Brillans).
Side 2 is a collage of mostly unused (and some remixed), excerpts from what became the title track of the Milk From Cheltenham LP, Triptych of Poisoners. This LP track consisted of a tape collage of the live mixdown of 17 cassette recordings of locked record grooves, simultaneously, with stray radio and an infernal matchbox. The full Milk LP is now available on CD via Alga Marghen. Both these LPs were also originally It’s War Boys projects.
As with other releases by these guys nobody worked under the same name twice, but if you are familiar with their soundworld then there will be no mystery, only astonishment. Nearly all the session material here was engineered by Chris Grey, best known for his work with The Homosexuals.
No production master was ever found for CD1, so one of the actual cassette edition had to be used in its place. However, whilst looking through the archive for the master tape, an alternative version of the tape was found, which although it followed a similar blueprint to CD1 it also contained some very different music, some primitive disco drum programming, and a somewhat more sophisticated sound quality. It was difficult to choose which version to release, so both versions appear here, but at the generous price of a single CD.
Each CD also contains an additional much longer bonus track at the end that was originally intended as working material for the unfinished Milk From Cheltenham LP 2.
The guest musicians on this CD set are many and varied, but it’s all put together by Gus Coma, Lepke B’s dwarfish cousin, who renounced show-biz to work as a Heavy Goods Vehicle driver. All in, the material here is the strangest and most experimental music to come from the It’s War Boys scene. Expect gigantic tape loop symphonies, sundry plunderphonics, lo- fi Sparks and the voice of JFK, a William Burroughs interview (on one track), and a worn out teach yourself English tape. Color Him Coma!" [label info]
www.stalk.net/paradigm
|
2011 |
€15.00 |
|
| GUTHRIE, ANNE |
Gyropedie |
LP |
“Gyropedie,” Anne Guthrie’s third record for Students of Decay, takes us further into her hermetic practice, wherein expertly captured field recordings, French horn, and electronics are woven into potent and richly imagined electroacoustic environments. In Guthrie’s own words, “Quite literally a record of pilgrimage from East to West. Remnants of Midwest and East Coast soundmarks, instruments sold to lighten the travel load, sketched out and then buried under the new. Winter birds and crunching snow, frozen playgrounds, broken synths - I spent a year decoupaging over this, but of course it's still there. A second moon appears occasionally in the daytime, and there are frequent, murky transmissions. California has something alien about it I'm still trying to grasp. Primarily vintage, unabashed, corny, I find myself becoming an impressionist.”
Anne Guthrie is an acoustician, composer, and French horn player. She studied music composition and english at the University of Iowa and architectural acoustics at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where she completed her Ph.D in 2014. Her music combines her knowledge of acoustics and contemporary composition/improvisation. Her electronic music has focused on exploiting the natural acoustic phenomena of unique architectural spaces through minimal processing of field recordings. Her composition has focused on the orchestration of non-musical sounds, speech in particular. Her French horn playing has focused on electronic processing and extended techniques used in improvisatory settings, as a soloist and with Fraufraulein and Delicate Sen, among others. Her acoustics research has focused on the use of ambisonics for stage acoustics.
https://anneguthrie.bandcamp.com
"Anne Guthrie's third album for Students of Decay continues her trend of significantly transforming her vision with each new release, though the arc of her albums does consistently suggest an increasing aversion to conventional structure and musicality. In practical terms, that means that Gyropedie was primarily assembled from field recordings, though Guthrie's French horn does make a few ghostly and well-timed appearances. Notably, the sounds that Guthrie collected are entirely diaristic in nature ("quite literally a record of pilgrimage from East to West"), as she recorded and collaged a host of ephemeral and meaningful moments from her move from New York to California (birds, crunching snow, instruments that she had to sell, etc.). As Guthrie wryly notes in the album description, she found herself "becoming an impressionist." I heartily concur and believe that approach suits her work remarkably well. Given the deliberately abstract and elusive nature of the material, it took me a bit longer to become drawn into Gyropedie than it did for Guthrie's previous releases, but the album's second half contains some of the most tender, distinctive, and quietly beautiful work that she has yet recorded.
The opening "Threading A Closed Loop" is a bold and interesting way to introduce the album, as it slowly rolls in like a mysterious fog of ambient outdoor sounds, plinking strings, distant woodpeckers, murmured voices, bees, and an occasional strangled sound from Guthrie's French horn. It is frankly about as understated and impressionistic as an album can get, but it does gradually cohere into something quite intriguing and evocative (I especially like the part where it sounds like the bees bought a distortion pedal). The following "Hill, Mountain" undergoes a similar trajectory, initially sounding like someone fumbling with a microphone while a woman recites poetry over a distorted radio, but eventually it blossoms into an enigmatic scene that seems to capture the time-stretched sounds of a train passing through a gently hallucinatory landscape of singing birds and metallic drones. I believe the "broken synth" mentioned in the album description makes an appearance as well. Both it and its predecessor are subtly beautiful in their own ways, yet my favorite pieces are the ones that follow. In "Variation on Coral," Guthrie paints a lovely seaside scene, as a slow, lovely French horn melody lazily unfolds over a backdrop of gently gurgling and lapping waves, lysergically smeared chimes, cooing vocals, and a host of other curious sounds. The closing "The Goldbeater’s Skin," on the other hand, sounds like a duet between a quietly plinking and fitfully operational music box and a lovelorn French horn player in a particularly bittersweet mood, but it is further enlivened by an evocative array of breath-like textures and wounded-sounding squeaks and warbles. To my ears, it is unquestionably Gyropedie's most lovely and memorable piece, as the unexpectedly poignant horn melody feels like the beating heart of the album finally being revealed, yet it would not make nearly the same impact without the languorous and dreamlike journey beforehand. Granted, Gyropedie is an album that demands some patience and attentive listening to reveal its full beauty, but its fragile and tender fantasia of memory fragments is well served by that steadily deepening immersion." [Brainwashed]
"Threshold-dwelling lower case elisions of field recording and barely-there instrumental gestures by the wonderful Anne Guthrie, an occasional and prized presence on these pages.
Guthrie’s solo work has previously snagged our ears with the gorgeous ‘Codiaeum Variegatum’ album and ‘Brass Orchids’, both for Students of Decay over the past decade. She returns to the label three years after her previous, and collabs with the GRM’s François Bonnet and Seymour Wright, to offer her most sublime sort of sonic mulch and vapours in ‘Gyropedie’, where she appears to quiesce the enduring air of Satie’s proto-ambient music into a more natural, elusive ecology of cherry-picked small sounds that amount to a lushly absorbing whole primed for pastoral sound bathing in the comfort of your own home." [Boomkat]
|
2021 |
€18.50 |
|
| GUTHRIE, ANNE / RICHARD KAMERMAN |
Sinter |
CD |
"Sinter injects vast amounts of oxygen into the room, air swirling and echoing in huge spaces, light shimmering and hazy. In metallurgical terms, sintering is the making of objects from powder and powdery, especially with a metallic connotation, isn't the worst term you could use for much of this music. Field recordings (and, per the sleeve, domestic recordings) are mixed with electronics throughout; nary a French horn in sight though I think I pick up a bit of Kamerman's small clattering devices here and there. [] An extraordinary piece capping one of the finest recordings I've heard in quite a while. Excellent work'. Brian Olewnick. ErstAEU, a new sub-label to 'document the work of young American experimental musicians working in a post-electroacoustic vein'." [label info]
www.erstwhilerecords.com
Dusted Reviews
Artist: Anne Guthrie / Richard Kamerman
Album: Sinter
Label: ErstAEU
Review date: May. 15, 2013
"Erstwhile Records has just rolled out a new sub-label, ErstAEU. In the tradition of AMM, the AEU is not explained. Despite the paucity of officially sanctioned information — you won’t find any explanatory text on the label’s website — there’s a definite aesthetic angle at work here. The label’s first three CDs are all the product of American-born duos, and all of the participants are in their 20s or 30s. Conventional instruments aren’t completely absent, but they often take a back seat to captured or processed sounds, as well as disorienting manipulations of time and space. One thing the albums do not share is a particular methodology. Graham Stephenson and Aaron Zarzutski’s Touching is a straight-up improv encounter; Joe Panzner and Greg Stuart’s Dystonia Duos combines played and processed sounds into hard-shelled containers of noisy electrical activity; and Anne Guthrie and Richard Kamerman’s Sinter, an assembly of “field recordings, domestic recordings, composition, improvisation, and processing,” which inhabits some zone that doesn’t really have a name yet.
For clues about how to understand it, one can look to the album’s name. Sintering bonds powdered clay into a pot without melting it; even after it’s fired, the ceramic’s texture will make you think of clay. The disparate elements of “Civil Twilight: 5:23” — dancing electrical buzzes, slow-changing mechanical hums, under-the-breath counting, close-up paper shuffling, and distant outdoor sounds — likewise retain their essential individual characters even though they have been configured into a hefty yet spacious block of musique concrète. But the way the sounds hang together doesn’t tell you why they were made to sit in that configuration, or how you should respond to them. They just are what they are.
So you might either be thinking about now, “I gotta hear this record,” or “Why the hell would I ever want to hear this stuff?” You know who you are, and either way I’d tell you to listen to your inner voice. Having spent a lot of time with it, I’m on both sides of the fence. On the one hand, there’s “Re(Z)=Piper, Im(Z)=Andrej,” an amalgam of cleanly recorded exchanges in Italian (I think), fuzzy room sounds that might come from a mall or train station, and mightily distorted monk chants that sound like they’re being played Alvin Lucier-style from a busted speaker into a resonant room. I’d heartily recommend it to anyone who likes their noise non-macho and genuinely unpredictable. On the other, listening to “Porcellino”’s layers of distant banging and close metallic clanking is an exhausting Cage-ian exercise in using applied attention to pry interest from boredom.
The most rewarding piece is the longest, the last, and the one that feels most musical. Taking a cue once more from nomenclature, “Several Or Many Fibers” feels to me like a tapestry. I’m not sure that its journey — from footsteps and a hovering synth note through sounds of water striking different surfaces to a late burst of weather reporting — is intended to say anything at all. But the way these sounds succeed each other implies a narrative whose inscrutability makes there passage compelling." [Bill Meyer, DUSTED magazine]
|
2013 |
€15.00 |
|
| GYDJA |
Ar Var Alda (In Ancient Times) |
CD |
This is Gydja's second appearance on the Winter-Light label, the first being on our '... that first season' DCD compilation back in 2017.
Now Gydja (Abby Helasdottir) returns to Winter-Light with her spellbinding new full length album, 'Ár var alda (In ancient times)'.
Thick, expansive drones, woven through with intricate percussive elements, unearthly vocals and atmospheric field recordings. An album of deep, primordial dark ambient comprising of 9 tracks, across four movements.
English translation:-
1: That which was not
2: A chasm gaped
3: Winters unmeasured ere earth was made
4: The Great Measuring Tree beneath the earth
5: Nine worlds I recall, nine giantesses
6: Down from Elivagar did venom drop
7: And waxed till a giant it was
8: And thence arose our giants' race
9: The sun from the south warmed the stones of
Composed, produced and recorded by Abby Helasdottir at Ultrasound between 2015 and 2020
Additional performers:
Lyn Goeringer: vocals on Ór Élivágum stukku eitrdropar and þar eru órar ættir komnar allar saman
Serena Helasdottir-Cole: percussion on Svá óx, unz varð jötunn, rainsticks on þar eru órar ættir komnar allar saman
Mastered by Robin Storey
https://winter-light.bandcamp.com/album/r-var-alda-in-ancient-times
|
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
| HAARVÖL |
Bombinate |
CD |
Part 1 in a series of 3.
After releasing Indite at Moving Furniture Records (April of 2015), the first one with MFR but the band’s second album, Haarvöl began a series of conceptual, somehow interconnected projects, restricting the boundaries of the sonic ambience to a very concise one.
This long process gave birth to three albums, each one having a very particular sonic approach but knitted in a personal Haarvöl sound idiosyncrasy, which gives the trilogy a thread that intertwines the whole collection.
Bombinate is the first album of this trilogy to be released at Moving Furniture Records. It represents an evolution in Haarvöl’s sound. The music lives from the subtleties hidden in a powerful but sophisticated mass of sound. The exploration of the dynamics of the sounds evolved to a careful process of composition, giving the music a richness that evokes images, reinforcing the cinematic characteristics explored in the early albums.
Each listener is invited to find the hidden details and create his own personal universe of the music.
Bombinate combines tracks that are between quietude and a more sonic experimentalism towards the exploration of time in music. This appears as a kind of individualized approach to both drone and ambient aesthetics. The balance between both sides is a challenge for the album and a statement from the band.
As in previous albums, Haarvöl explores the relationship with images both at the sonic level and in the references that often came from the visual arts. Here the spectral presence of Bas Jan Ader and Tonino Guerra, among others, can be experienced. Also a note for the participation – again - of the Spanish electro-acoustic composer and field recordings expert Xóan Xil López.
Haarvöl, a collective project based in Portugal with three permanent members, has been active since the end of 2012. Haarvöl’s music has been presented in several spaces as sound installations, audio-visual performances or as a sort of expanded cinema focused on the connection between sounds and images. It is also present as original sound track in videos from visual artists."
https://haarvol.bandcamp.com/album/bombinate
|
2017 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Ridge of Humming Spoils |
CD |
The Portugese trio Haarvöl returns to Moving Furniture Records with the last part in their trilogy. After Bombinate and Peripherad Debris they conclude this journey with Ridge Of Humming Spoils.
"Psychoanalysis refers to the frontier as an empty signifier: it embodies an interior and an exterior. The last album of the trilogy we set out to puts us there. On top of a vast set of remains whispering to us. Remains, because they have been left behind, because they are no longer useful. And yet, usefulness is something that tells little or nothing to us, artists. Quite the opposite. For this very reason, this new album is made up of these testimonies that whisper their condition very strongly to us. From the top of this pile of whispering remains we have achieved something that is precious to us: time, in its three dimensions, and not enclosed in that kind of perpetual present where they want to force us into, in a timeless time.
Here, at the top of this ridge, we can look back and ahead. Because it interests us. Because we want to.
We started the trilogy in a noisy place, but still with views to the center, we walked towards the periphery and now we find ourselves at the top of an empty signifier, on a border metaphor. It would have to be this way in a project where the important thing is the escape from formulas and repetitions: maintaining coherence without falling into concessions has always been our motto. Naturally, as we are at the border, its outside is much more appealing to us (it has always been this way until today. The continuous migrations of the past and of the tragic present prove it so) with its uncertainties and unfamiliarity, but also with the certainty of the difference. Is this not, after all, the appeal of art: that attraction for the unknown? Therefore, we have a certainty that is continually whispered to us by these remains that can be heard now: we will move on to the outer side, of course. The border, here made up of this ridge of whispering remains/humming spoils, has naturally closed the cycle. That is what borders are for: to interrupt, to limit; ultimately, to try to block. In our case, to be crossed affirmatively – as we well know, there are no walls that can prevent it.
We will continue exploring the sounds that interest us: sounds that contemplate time and attention as decisive elements, sounds that can appear as specters, asynchronous, almost incongruous with this time with no time to have time, this autophagic time. But already outside. In a utopia of an exile that carries no form of negativity, it affirms itself as positive otherwise because it allows the necessary distance to a placement that wants to be creatively critical.
One last note for something that sometimes appears in a completely innocuous way: the track titles. That is not our case. Here, just as it has been common throughout the rest of our discography, the titles we choose try to connect the real that surrounds us and that we don’t want to be oblivious to. After all, they embody this whole metaphor of abstract sonorities built up in trilogy, but, very attentive to the real. So is our stated intention to close the record with a small tribute to that remain of an already distant past, which yet continues being present, asynchronous. It is called Éliane. Maybe it’s a synonym of future. Who knows? Psychoanalysis refers to the frontier as an empty signifier: it embodies an interior and an exterior. The last album of the trilogy we set out to puts us there. On top of a vast set of remains whispering to us. Remains, because they have been left behind, because they are no longer useful. And yet, usefulness is something that tells little or nothing to us, artists. Quite the opposite. For this very reason, this new album is made up of these testimonies that whisper their condition very strongly to us. From the top of this pile of whispering remains we have achieved something that is precious to us: time, in its three dimensions, and not enclosed in that kind of perpetual present where they want to force us into, in a timeless time.
https://www.movingfurniturerecords.com/haarvol-ridge-of-humming-spoils/
https://haarvol.bandcamp.com/album/ridge-of-humming-spoils
|
2020 |
€12.00 |
|
| HAARVÖL + XOAN-XIL LOPEZ |
Unwritten Rules of a Ceaseless Journey |
CD |
Haarvöl’s three permanent members — Fernando José Pereira, João Faria, and Rui Manuel Vieira — collaborate with Xoán-Xil López, a Galician sound artistic working on field recording and experimental music.
Haarvöl develops cinematic soundscapes, with analogue or digital sound sources weaved in complex and detailed compositions. They have been active since 2012 and have thus far released albums at PAD and Moving Furniture Records, presenting now their first release in Crónica, "Unwritten Rules for a Ceaseless Journey".
This album documents three pieces composed for dance, commissioned by Ballet Teatro for the play "Revoluções" (Revolutions) by choreographer Né Barros. The work is divided in three parts, embodying formal idealisations of the three decisive layers of time — past, present, and future.
First moment: Something’s Missing (Utopian)
Theodor Adorno and Ernst Bloch discussed the problem of utopia as a possibility in a heated debate they produced in 1964 and later published in the book The Utopian Function of Art and Literature. It is in this context that Bloch launches the notion of “something's missing”, to seek to configure the utopian possibility. It is also from this notion of Bloch that the possibility of thinking and forming forms the whole utopian revolutionary essence that presides over emancipatory developments. This "before" is decisive for the understanding of the idea of revolution. It is here that the necessary possibilities are produced and, above all, the utopian aspirations of fracture and change. The Blochian “something’s missing” leads to the emancipatory idea from that place without place that is utopia. Or, putting it another way, it powers the immensity of thought without limitations. The revolutionary effervescence of the before is, perhaps, the most essential condition in the approach to the idea of revolution. Exactly because it does not come across any limit, because it is located in this place without place. But it is from this realisation that we can deal with the power of free thought, with the immense intentionality of this missing something which, being above all a naturally porous and cloudy thing, offers itself to the immense beauty of total openness. It will be there, in the dematerialised embodiment of free thought, that the whole process develops and is also in the possibility of art as a place of freedom (another place with no place that exists only between the artist and his work in a utopian dimension) it has its approximate representation.
Second moment: Pulsating Waves (Reality)
Pulse tone waves are frequencies embodied in a pulsar that is at the same time decisive for all humans and, metaphorically, for the revolution. Feeling the pulse of events, of agitation, of breaking, is essential for the revolutionary moment. It is this kind of continuous auscultation that determines success or, rather, the inversion of the whole emancipatory movement in the process of pragmatic transfiguration which, by obvious ineffectiveness, becomes implosive. The pulsations of events thus assert themselves as a decisive engine, and yet, in the face of the weakening of the utopian drive in its inevitable collision with reality, everything changes. The passage from one moment to the other brings with it the presence of the now and the consequent structural modifications that the utopian impossibility needs to maintain itself as an emancipatory impulse. It will then be in the programmatic transfiguration of the revolutionary event that its pulsation is played, more or less strong, but never absent. The decisive clash also affirms the reality, stripped of all the romantic drive that forms the revolutionary utopia. The fracture induces realism, and this is never the dreamed face of emancipation. We are told in the last book of the Invisible Committee that “All the reasons for making a revolution are there. There is none missing. The wreck of politics, the arrogance of the powerful, the reign of the false, the vulgarity of the rich, the cataclysms of industry, rampant misery, naked exploitation, the ecological apocalypse ... do not deprive us of anything, not even being informed of this. ‘Climate: 2016 beats record of heat’ says Le Monde in its main title, now already like almost every year. All the reasons are met, but not the reasons that make revolutions; are the bodies. And the bodies are in front of the screens.” Right.
Third moment: Don’t Look Back, Run (Trauma)
Says Hal Foster in his seminal book The Return of the Real: “An event is only recorded through another that recodes it; we become what we are only as deferred action (Nachträglichkeit). This is the analogy that I want to emphasize for the modernist studies of this end of the century: historical and neo-vanguard vanguards are similarly constituted as a continuous process of protension and retention, a complex retransmission of anticipated and reconstructed futures-that is, in a deferred action that abandons any simplified scheme of a before and after, cause and effect, origin and repetition.” The same scheme of thought can be used to analyse the revolutionary event in its complex structuring and temporality. An emancipatory event can only be constituted if it recodes traumatically past past events which will obviously mean a learning that will bring you the possibility of introducing the necessary changes to be made. That is to say, still according to Foster, that the emancipatory events are, therefore, less new and more deferred. Suppressed in part, they will return and continue to return, and yet they will return from the future, such is the paradoxical temporality of utopia.
Note: At a certain point in Giorgio Agamben's book The State of Exception, he refers to a determinant question: the point of view that, in this context, is determined by a legal order that requires recognition by another that opposes it. Quoting Italian jurist Santi Romano, he says: "... after having recognized the anti-legal nature of the revolutionary forces, he adds that this only works in this way in relation to the positive law of the State against which it is directed, but this does not it means that, from a very different point of view, from which they define themselves, it is not a movement ordered and regulated by its own right. This also means that it is an order that must be classified in the category of originating legal systems, in the sense that is attributed to this expression. In this sense and within the limits that have been indicated one can therefore speak of a right of revolution." That is to say, still in Agamben's view, that the idea of state legal ordering is the only one, by effectively opposing what is usually called chaos, is first and foremost reductive and fallacious. One thing, however, is correct: all the mental structuring concerning the duality exclusion vs. inclusion simply depends on the point of view. And this is perhaps the most important point to make clear the relationship that is intrinsic and impossible to conceal, first of all, because it is also the source of the essentiality of the politician, that is, the necessary verification of antagonism. It is, therefore, the place where we want to be.
https://cronica.bandcamp.com/album/unwritten-rules-of-a-ceaseless-journey |
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| HABEEB |
Il cancello della morte |
CD-R |
Neues dark ambient noise-Projekt auf SOMNABULANT, einer der zur Zeit besten Adressen für elektronischen Abgrunds-Industrial. Meist wuchtige analoge Flächen & amorphe Soundeffekte.....dann wieder schwelend & paralisierend, monumentale Rausch- & Dröhnflächen....
lim. 200 und beim Label schon weg !
“Habeeb seems such an odd sounding name for this sinister dark ambient project from L. Kerr of Steel Hook Prostheses. This massive disc is definitely stronger and more focused than what little I've heard from the project in the past, building often lengthy tracks around smoothly flowing low-end hums and drones with subtle melodic undercurrents seeping in at times. "Creeping Death" gets a bit louder with biting high-end swells that peak out to faint distortion over rumbling bass and slightly more prominent "notes" in the middleground, whereas a few other tracks are much quieter and more subdued. "Rigor Mortis" is very delicately rhythmic with its repetitive low-end loop throbbing away, followed by "Tapping the Spine with Razorwire", which adds in very lightweight wisps of distortion against the brooding ambience of the core soundscape – certainly a bit more ominous. "Descension Into the Blackness" is a monolithic 19 minutes (nearly half of the disc's the entire running time), building up slowly with hugely resonant bass and distant percussive sounds reverberating in the background – getting slightly thicker/louder, but maintaining a very stripped down aesthetic that never sways too far from the course. Closer "Keepers of the Death Gate" is the only track I dislike, and I find it to be terribly distracting in contrast to the other tracks, opening with a sample of some sort of country-ish music with pitch-shifted speaking before giving way to a barely distorted loop with a few harsher spurts of thick distorted noise layering in to add to the industrial percussiveness. Even without the strange intro it would've been uncharacteristic of the release as a whole, but that first segment of the track really kills it for me. The CD-R comes in a slim DVD case with minimal artwork that's basically black and white and depicts some illegible text and a woodcut image of demons shoveling people into the mouth of hell. It's a simple presentation but as is usually the case with work from this label it looks quite clean and tasteful. A solid release pound for pound. I'm still a bit confused as to what that last track is all about, but the preceding 55 minutes is a consistent slab of damn promising dark ambient noise.” [Aversionline.com]
|
2004 |
€10.00 |
|
| HAIGH, ROBERT |
Strange and Secret Things |
CD |
"Dritter Release der Piano-Solo-Trilogie von Robert Haigh auf dem japanischen Imprint Siren. Wer gerne, von Saties Piano Works ausgehend, einem wahrlich inspirierten Nachfolger auf die Spur kommen möchte, dem sei dies, trotz aller überstrapazierten satieesken Spielereien der letzten Jahre, wärmstens ans Herz gelegt. “Strange And Secret Things” beinhaltet sehr emotionale und pointiert bilderreich gesetzte Improvisationen – Haigh scheut sich nicht, klischeegefährdete Untiefen der stark in unser Unterbewusstes eingedrungenen Kompositionen neuer französischer Klaviermusik des verehrten Originals zu durchwaten, um mit irritierender Leichtigkeit, ganz im Sinne des satieschen Nouveau Esprit, in eigenen Sphären zu landen. Überraschung und Wirkung, so die Aussage Saties, sei die Wiederaufnahme klassischer Formgestaltung vom Standpunkt eines modernen Kunstbegriffes. So fährt die Zeitschiene auf bezaubernde Weise vor und zurück, ganz so, wie es sein sollte. Die beiden ersten Teile der Trilogie sind unter dem Moniker SEMA auf des Künstlers eigenem Label Le Rey Records zu erwerben." [Raabenstein / de:bug]
"Strange and Secret Things' is the third and final part of Robert Haigh’s piano solo trilogy for Siren Records that started with 'Notes and Crossings' (2009) and 'Anonymous Lights' (2010). In his quest to expand his solo piano expression, Robert employs two distinct yet complimentary approaches to piano composition. The first is based on shifting patterns - repetitive structures with minimal development. The second is a more organic approach which evolves out of unmediated improvisation. Along the way, Robert has created compositions that are vital, exposed, melancholic, minimal and open-ended that never stray too far away from a unique melodic sensibility. 'Strange and Secret Things', comprised of 17 tracks, is a further continuation of the journey explored in the first two parts. It is the most intimate and powerful of the trilogy - with a wider palette of light and shade, emotion, texture and atmosphere. This album is a must for anyone who has enjoyed the first two parts of the trilogy and his older legendary recordings on Le Rey Records. It will appeal to those who have an affinity with the piano language of Satie, Glass, Budd, Cage, Max Richter etc. The album was mastered by Denis Blackham at Skye Mastering. As with the first two parts the CD comes with a limited edition hand-made miniature jacket sleeve.." [label info]
|
2011 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
Black Sarabande |
LP |
Robert Haigh's second full length LP for Unseen Worlds, Black Sarabande, is out today on LP, CD, and digital, uncovering a further layer of refinement to his music. It's no mistake that Haigh's releases have fluctuated between the underground and popular consciousness over the past forty years. This tension - between darkness and light, melancholy and solace, cacophony and clarity - is central to his work. With Black Sarabande, Haigh has gifted us with one of the quietest, most generous and vulnerable releases of his career.
Advance Press for Black Sarabande
"Robert Haigh’s latest album (under his own name) is a tender collection of spacious and textural piano pieces, full of rural ruminations and introspective intimacy." (9.0, scored review) - Zara Wladawsky, DJ Mag
"Having worked on mid-’80s Nurse With Wound albums, Robert Haigh thrived with Omni Trio’s pioneering ‘90s productions for Moving Shadow, but his piano work, both under his and the SEMA name, reaches even further. His latest collection embraces the resonant ambience and subtle electronic embellishments of Harold Budd’s and Brian Eno’s The Pearl.” - Uncut Magazine
“Robert Haigh's storied career reads like an almanac of ambient music. His latest is an unhurried flow of ambient piano pieces that, despite the implications of the title, are only momentarily dark and far from risqué, perhaps at times more suited for those soft intimate moments made for two, or most certainly personal reflections made for one.” - Slavko Bucifal, Exclaim!
“Everything I’ve ever written about any album, concert or piece of music is wrong. I know this because of something that happened while I was quietly listening to ‘Arc Of Crows’ by pianist Robert Haigh, a track taken from his new album Black Sarabande.” - Further
"'Why?'" - Philip Clark, WIRE
"This contemporary classical pianist’s music proves more unsettling the more you disturb its placid surface.
Depending on what release you discovered first, you might have believed there were two different Robert Haighs operating in the UK during the 1980s and ’90s. There was the pianist and composer who worked with Nurse With Wound and released elegant modern classical albums like 1987’s Valentine Out of Season. But what to make of the Robert Haigh behind the neck-whipping jungle breakbeats of the Omni Trio, a force throughout the drum ’n’ bass era in the UK? As that project drew to a close in the early 2000s, the more contemplative side of Haigh reemerged with a string of contemporary classical albums. They made for a perfect fit for New York’s Unseen Worlds label; his 2017 album Creatures of the Deep slotted well alongside pianists new and old, ranging from “Blue” Gene Tyranny to Lubomyr Melnyk to Leo Svirsky.
Haigh’s Black Sarabande explores terrain similar to Deep, mixing gorgeous piano melodies with a patina of electronics. But where that previous album evoked the properties of water, Sarabande feels grounded. It draws on Haigh’s childhood memories of UK coal country and the hardscrabble “pit village” of Worsbrough in South Yorkshire where he was raised. There’s a heavy atmosphere to these 11 tracks, never wholly enveloped in blackness but always threatened to tip over into it.
The opening title track is hushed, provoking comparisons to Harold Budd or Erik Satie. Yet as Haigh’s struck keys hover in space, they turn slightly discordant, like a chill settling into the skin. “Stranger on the Lake” strikes a balance between piano and electronics to luminous effect, its melody shadowed by ghostly overtones. Midway through, the ambient haze swells, and when it finally recedes, the piece is suffused with harp plucks and electronics, making you feel like you’ve left one piece behind and emerged in another one entirely.
Black Sarabande’s calm surface proves illusory the more listens you give it. Struck piano wires startle the surface of the otherwise-placid “Wire Horses”; a gush of strings arrives and just as quickly disappears into the woozy, fluttering ambience of “Painted Serpent.” There are moments when Haigh’s playing verges on silence, so that if you’re listening on earbuds, you might hear your own footsteps through the snow more loudly than the music. The gorgeous and brief “Air Madeleine” sounds as if you’re walking around a frozen pond in the countryside and seated next to Haigh on the creaky piano bench all at once, as imaginary a landscape (and interior) as anything Brian Eno could have conceived." [Pitchfork]
https://unseenworlds.bandcamp.com/album/black-sarabande
|
2020 |
€20.00 |
|
| HAIL |
Hello Debris |
CD |
Nach über 10 Jahren Pause ein neues Album des Projekts von SUSANNE LEWIS und BOB DRAKE, die durch CORPSES AS BEDMATES, 5UUs und THINKING PLAGUE bekannt wurden.. das ist zeitgemässer "intelligenter Progressive-Pop" mit vielen schrägen Einfällen, überraschenden Wendungen, einer ganz eigenen Harmonie...
"After a break of almost 15 years Susanne Lewis and Bob Drake have reconvened their classic partnership. In the meantime rock and post rock has mainly moved away from the song and its classic shapes, leaving commercial pop to straighten them out and endlessly repeat the same tropes and tricks. Hail is rare amongst bands in its adherence to the notion that what makes a song interesting is the application of imagination and skill to its arrangement, performance and recording. The plan is not to drag songs away into other domains by grafting on bits of jazz, classical or electronic vocabulary, but to make them more what they are; to concentrate and distill them. Susanne Lewis's voice is extremely personal, never generic, Bob Drake's signature rhythm section work always exemplary. The songs are real rather than clever, and the production constantly invents contrapuntal detail and colour. This is a virtuosic album that never shows off. For those who wish there were more good songs on the experimental side of transfigured pop." [press release]
"....Hello Debris' consists of 18 short tracks of twisted, oddly-charming prog-like rock music with a punkish edge. Songs often start off in one direction and soon mutate into something completely different. "Celestial Heartbreak" opens with majestic keyboards yet soon features some baroque harpsichord-like keyboard. The booklet includes the strange lyrics of many of the tracks, yet the vocals are often buried deep in the mix or are not even there at times. What's interesting is that some of these tunes are sewn together from disparate parts, but they somehow fit together like an intricate psychedelic jigsaw puzzle. I wonder how a more mainstream rock listener would view these quirky pieces... intrigued, mystified or perhaps even confused? I find these short ditties to be buried treasures waiting to be discovered those with curious tastes." [Downtown Music Gallery]
|
2006 |
€14.00 |
|
| HALL, FRANK |
I remember you (O.S.T.) |
CD |
We are extremely proud to release the official soundtrack to the cult Icelandic horror film 'I REMEMBER YOU' (Is: "Ég man þig"). Heavy dark ambient / industrial / orchestral soundscapes composed by Frank Hall, with a beautiful, solemn, folkloristic finale featuring Icelandic choirs. A must for fans of Graeme Revell, Steven Price, Lustmord, MZ.412. Digipak.
Watch the trailer: youtu.be/UWIh4wgrHLg
The soundtrack was created at the old industrial area of Grandi in Reykjavík, at a studio due to be 'gentrified' and forcefully emptied of the artists. "I was alone in this large building in this deserted area, working late hours, making music for a horror movie. It was during winter... wind blowing, darkness. There were some tense moments...".
"As soon as I read the script I heard low brass in my head and that kind of stuck. We used a lot of brass instruments, filtered and processed throughout. I also ended up using a lot of bowed guitar, sometimes doubling the brass, sometimes more like a sound effect". Hall also used analogue synths on the special climactic track "Montage".
On the finale, Hall reminisces: "Móðir mín í kví kví (My Mother In The Sheep Pen) is an old Icelandic folk song. The lyrics are based on Icelandic folklore about a woman who had a baby which she couldn't afford to have and left it outside to die, wrapped in a rag. The infant then becomes what we Icelandic call "Útburður" - the ghost of a child who has been left out to die. Some time later the woman wants to go to a dance but has no pretty clothes to wear. She is in the sheep pen attending to the sheep when she hears this whispering outside: "My mother in the sheep pen, don't you worry because I'll lend you my rag, my rag to dance in". It's a rather ominous lyric and this song is sometimes sung for Icelandic babies as a lullaby... a little odd custom perhaps. I remember my mother singing this to me. This is one of my favourite Icelandic folk songs, and when I created the music for "I Remember You", which is about a lost child that haunts people, I suggested to director Óskar Thór Axelsson that I should make an Icelandic choir version of it and use it as a theme / credit song. He loved the idea".
'I Remember You' is based on the internationally acclaimed novel by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir, the "Queen of Icelandic Crime".
https://coldspring.bandcamp.com/album/i-remember-you-skar-th-r-axelsson-o-s-t-csr287cd
|
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
| HALMA |
The Ground |
LP |
"While HALMA leaned far out of the window on their predecessor album „Granular“, far and wide, so far that the comet Tschurjumow-Gerassimenko came into view, HALMA now dig
into the depths with their new recording „The Ground“. Whirlpools of crystals drill into the ground, it grinds and flows, carbon becomes diamonds – on „The Ground“ the band drives
six new tracks with racing drill into all our consciousness. HALMA turn summits around and flow into the depths, mountains from below, the band seems to know the old mountaineering wisdom that summit happiness is dangerous – and so the four musicians prove sure-footedness and manage
the descent into the bottomless with sovereign elegance. It is admirable how much attention HALMA can pay to paths, routes and tracks in the scree. Hikers and ramblers: Paths are created
where one walks them, and in low altitudes one is at home, and in deep substance HALMA is at home. Tip for first listening: The whole disc from beginning to end and again from beginning."
https://kapitaenplatte.bandcamp.com/album/halma-the-ground
|
2019 |
€15.00 |
|
| HALO MANASH |
Unetar |
CD |
All audio material on this album originates from the “Tulitania” private ritual held in the deepest forest of Northern Ostrobothnia in December 2006.
“Unetar”, an entity awakening after a decade-long hibernation was evoked by Anti Ittna H. in the somniferous Katajan Kaiku studio during January and March 2016. The album’s opening track “Unetar” also features a spectral appearance of JKV captured on tape right after the ritual in 2006.
The first two liminal hymns were weaved together on the night of Total Solar Eclipse, 9th of March 2016. This CD edition also includes the original “Tulitania” version, that previously appeared on the “Desert Space” compilation album released by Tosom 2007.
The album is enclosed in an oversized, screen printed covers including three insert cards. Limited to 400 copies.
|
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| HAMILTON, TOM / BRUCE EISENBEIL |
Shadow Machine |
CD |
SHADOW MACHINE is the first CD by Tom Hamilton and Bruce Eisenbeil, who began playing music together in 2007. Coherence without predictability, speed without tempo, direction without a roadmap - an unlikely foray into the world of out-jazz and free improvisation.
It's a duo that thwarts expectations of its specific instrumentation. The artists hybridize the language of electronic sound through Eisenbeil's guitar and Hamilton's virtual analog synthesizer, and the live-in-the-studio tracks insure that the performances impart maximum physicality and spontaneity.
Their aim is to generate new forms, new ways of listening, new definitions of music. Equal rights for all sounds is one goal, and since each musician is a maximalist, a dizzying array of sounds and techniques are employed to sustain a visceral experience. Contrasting sonic elements are played one against another, simultaneously and successively. Modern jazz and improvised music have just now begun to really embrace the language and sounds of electronics; these two artists are positioned on the forefront of a trend that aims to subvert orthodoxy and challenge old assumptions.
Tom Hamilton has been composing and performing for over 40 years, and his work with electronic music originated in the late-60s era of analog synthesis. He often explores the interaction of many simultaneous layers of activity, prompting the use of "present-time listening" on the part of both performer and listener. Hamilton appears on synthesizer in his own ensembles, and has participated in groups led by Peter Zummo, David Soldier, and Michael Schumacher. He has recently performed with Thomas Buckner, Lisle Ellis, Chris Mann, Al Margolis, and Jacqueline Martelle. Hamilton was a 2005 Fellow of the Civitella Ranieri Center in Umbria, Italy. His CD London Fix received an award in the 2004 Prix Ars Electronica. He is a longtime member of composer Robert Ashley's touring opera ensemble, and his work can be found in over 60 CD releases of new and experimental music.
The Wire has described Hamilton's music as "colourful and seductive," and Gramophone has noted that "the results bubble with energy, a veritable counterpoint of indeterminacy." And Hamilton is cited in Kyle Gann's American Music in the 20th Century as "New York's leading improvisor on analog synthesizers.
Composer/guitarist Bruce Eisenbeil was born in Chicago in 1963 and grew up in Plainfield, NJ. He began playing the guitar when he was four and performing professionally since he was 15. Throughout the 1980¹s he played jazz and R&B. Since then he has performed and/or recorded with: Cecil Taylor, David Murray, Evan Parker, Ellery Eskelin, Karl Berger, Perry Robinson, Milford Graves, Badal Roy, Andrew Cyrille, Edgar Bateman, Nasheet Waits, Lukas Ligeti and many others. He has twelve CD's released on a variety of labels, including: ESP, Nemu, Konnex, Cadence, C.I.M.P., and Nine Winds. Recent recordings include TOTEM, Inner Constellation, and Home Again. Guitar Player magazine has published a detailed article on Eisenbeil¹s history and musical inventiveness in the May 2009 issue.
About his work, Harvey Pekar in JazzTimes has said, "Eisenbeil is one of the most unique jazz guitarists to emerge in decades." Downbeat called his work "Strikingly original." And The Wire wrote that he has, "A distinctive voice. About as revolutionary as music can actually get." [press release]
www.pogus.com
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| HAMNSKIFTE |
Födzlepijan |
CD |
"First record from a mysterious Swedish duo, whose sound is inspired by, according to the band themselves, Burzum, Earth, Skepticism, Nortt and Trollmann Av Ildtoppberg. But imagine those influences channeled into something more medieval sounding, and WAY more post rocky, a sort of droning medieval slowcore laid beneath softly buzzing metallic rumble and shimmer, and you'll get an idea of Hamnskifte's sound. This is drone and ultimately slow meditative Black Metal with hypnotic medieval folk melodies recorded with guitars, drums, bass, organ, bodhran drum, bells and some self-invented percussion instruments. Originally released to the world in the spring of 2010 by, now-defunct, American label Starlight Temple Society, as a limited edition of 125 copies." [label info]
hamnskifte.blogspot.de
"Fodzlepijnan first appeared on the now-defunct Starlight Temple Society label back in 2010 as a limited-edition CDR release (we still have a couple of copies of this version in stock, as a matter of fact), and it offered a beautifully eerie and ghostly collection of funereal folk-rock and desolate, doom-laden slowcore from the mysterious Swedish duo known as Hamnskifte. The band seemed to have roots in both funeral doom and black metal (indeed, the band cited the likes of Nortt, Burzum, Trollmann Av Ildtoppberg, Earth and Skepticism as direct influences on their music), but their music didn't really sound like either of those forms, and in fact only marginally sounded like a metal band at all. Instead, Hamnskifte craft this strange sound that is more "post-rock" than anything, a mysterious, low-fi sound that creeps across the album using hand-made percussive instruments, organs, bells, and bodhran drums alongside their standard rock lineup of drums, guitar and bass. That original disc really impressed me when we first picked it up, and it's haunting blackened slowcore sound filled the office here at C-Blast for weeks after we picked it up. While the original Starlight Temple CDR came in a handmade package that consisted of a screen-printed silver envelope, an eight page booklet and foldout poster and was limited to just one hundred twenty five copies, the new CD version of Fodzlepijnan that just came out on the black metal label Myrkr presents the album in a handsome new six-panel digi-sleeve that includes a printed vellum inner sleeve for the disc.
At first, Fodzlepijnan opens with a brief intro of wheezing harmonium and martial snares playing a slow, haunting folky melody, the sound very neo-folkish and atmospheric, and that leads right into the first proper song, "Ther Skall Wara Gråt Och Tandagnisslan". It's here that Hamnskifte fully unfurls their sound, a combination of tranquil, almost funereal drumming that incorporates other shuffling percussive instruments into it's deliberate, processional-like tempos, moody strummed chords that seem to be emanating from sort of banjo-like stringed instrument, and swells of lush feedback and distorted guitar. The band weaves these sounds together into simple, dark melodies that sound more like something from Swans than anything vaguely black metallish. But there's also that doom-laden creepiness that lurks beneath the surface of these melancholy folk-dirges, a subdued heaviness heard in those slow-motion drums, waves of vast keyboard drift and that buzzing harmonium-like drone that makes a reappearance, and the deeper you get into this, the more that you can hear the band's admitted Skepticism influence, a vague funeral doom quality to this music that you hear more in the atmosphere and pace of the music than in any overt metallic qualities. It's all some surprisingly beautiful stuff, in fact. The following song "Wäsende" might be my favorite, another instrumental piece that resembles some particularly gloomy, darkened 70's psych-folk, with some of the prettiest acoustic guitar arrangements on the album, laid out over delicate droning organs and that slow, shuffling backbeat. Further in, the sound starts to get heavier as some muffled distorted guitars creep into "Foglarna Warda Fångna Medh Snaror", lending an undercurrent of clanging, doom-laden rumble to the song's hauntingly pretty folk melody and stretches of ghostly, cavernous drone. "Dageligh Beredelse Emoot Döden" has a more ominous feel, death-march drums and minor key jangle woven into a Goblin-esque groove, and closer "Uthi Thet Ytterste Mörckret" unfolds into a twelve minute kosmische trance of pounding tribal drums and slithering bass, moody acoustic strum draped over droning keyboards and sheets of electrical hum, the album closing within the sway of this last krautrock-tinged hypno-trance. Highly recommended." [CrucialBlast] |
2012 |
€12.00 |
|
| HAMPSON, ROBERT |
Vectors |
CD |
"Robert Hampson (geb. 1965 in UK) ist Gründungsmitglied der Bands "Loop" (1985-90) und "Main" (1990 -96). Nach dem Ende der Band "Loop", konzentrierte siche Hampson im Rahmen der neuen Band "Main" darauf, den charakteristischen Sound der Gitarre für sich neu zu interpretieren und umzuformen in dem er sich im Detail mit dem Stil des Instrumentes beschäfitgte. Er kreierte so neue und abstrakte Sounds. Je mehr sich die Band "Main" entwicktelte, desto mehr lösten sie sich von dem eigentlichen Sound der Gitarre und kamen ihrem eigenen revolutionären Stil nahe. Mittlerweile komponiert und spielt Hampson unter seinen eigenen Namen. Er widmete sich nun mehr und mehr der Akusmatik, einer Weiterentwicklung von natürlichen Klängen, aufgehend in einer Kombination dieser mit synthetischen Klängen. In einer gleichberechtigen Zusammensetzung dieser, gelang es ihm völlig neue Sounds und Ideen umzusetzen.Umbra :Das Phänomen der "Umbra" - des Kernschattens, ist es was die Arbeit an diesem Stück inspirieren sollte: Geräusche die in den Schatten anderer eingefangen zu sein scheinen, die immer mehr Form annehmen, sich entfalten und materialisieren bis sie selbst einen Schatten werfen.Ahead -Only The Stars (2007) beauftragt vom Label "Vibrö" für eine Performance im Planetarium de Poitiers in 7.1. Surround Ratio.Inspiriert von dem ,Austronauts of the NASA Mercury Missions" Programm und dem wohl größten Piloten aller Zeiten: Chuck Yeager. Ihm ist dieses Stück auch gewidmet.Nach einer Einführung der überwältigenden und beeindruckenden Jets-Sounds, ist das Stück durchsetzt mit Radio-Transmissionen, die den künstlerischen Rahmen dieses Werkes bilden.Dans le Lointain (2008) - Geräusche kurzwelliger Funktöne, aufgenommen von Hampson in den frühen 80er Jahren und neulich auf einer Kassette wiederentdeckt, wurden neu auf klassische Art und Weise bearbeitet und digital neu interpretiert. Der Titel des Werkes bezieht sich auf die Distanzen, die Radiowellen fähig sind zu meistern, so aber auch soll es die Zeitspanne darstellen, beginnend mit der Aufnahme auf Kassetten Anfang der 80er bis in die jetzige Neuzeit der High Technologies."
[label info / Cargo]
www.myspace.com/roberthampson
"A long time I met Robert Hampson and talked with him about the movie '24 Hour Party People'. What I didn't knew is that Hampson and his band Loop toured with the Happy Mondays, so he shed some extra light on those scenes involving the Mondays. I was thinking of the curious career of Hampson when listening to 'Vectors'. The rock days of Loop merging into the ambience of Main to the electro acoustic of Hampson, who no longer uses the name Main anymore. I liked Loop, I truly loved Main and sometimes I found myself thinking 'what is Robert Hampson doing these days?'. Its been some years since his last Main release, but apparently his into France these days. All three pieces here were recorded for things in France, festivals, commissions of INA GRM. Indeed a curious career. Robert Hampson - serious composer. Who would have guessed? One could see it coming I guess, as the last Main releases forecasted the music on 'Vectors': computer manipulated electro-acoustic music, brought to you in the form of an audio collage. If you need to compare it with something, then the whole microsound posse comes to mind, but Roel Meelkop in particular. Hampson shares the same sensibility of creating intense audio compositions, with slow curves, occasional rapid change and a keen ear for atmospherics. Crackling, ambient, computer treatments of acoustic objects. Well crafted compositions, that never seem to leap into the doodling that some of the 'real' (what is real anyway?) acousmatic composers in this scene seem to be doing. Challenging music of the highest order. Its only a pity that there is not so much of that from Hampson. Let's hope the next one is not three years away." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
"... On Vectors, Hampson teases with repetitions of astronaut bleeps, electrical warblings, digitally vaporous static, and wisps of sound design that could build into something off of Hydra-Calm or Motion Pool, but
don't. Many folks (including some here) have been frustrated by Hampson's work after Motion Pool, and that sentiment probably won't be changed with Vectors. The three lengthy pieces on Vectors are all commissions with lofty goals of avant electronics; and two of the commissions came by way of the legendary GRM studio in France. In this context as opposed to the Loop / Main axis, Vectors turns out to be a smoldering musique concrete album with acousmatic allusions to the work of Michel Chion and Luc Ferrari." [Aquarius Records review]
|
2009 |
€15.00 |
|
| HARTH, ALFRED 23 & WOLFGANG SEIDEL |
Five Eyes |
CD |
"Credits:
reeds, trombone, key, misc: Alfred 23 Harth
drums, percussion, misc: Wolfgang Seidel
vocals: Nicole van den Plas, Bill Shute (04),
Boris Stout (06), A23H (08)
compositions:
Alfred 23 Harth, Wolfgang Seidel-Meissner
recorded in Berlin and Seoul
produced & mastered by A23H at LaubhuetteStudio Moonsun, Korea, 2014
cover drawing: Wolf Pehlke
cover: Robert Schalinski
Thanks to Bill Shute from Kendra Steiner Editions for triggering this album.
Five Eyes Long Distance Call
Seoul und Berlin – das ist weit voneinander entfernt. Bei heutiger Musikproduktion sind geografische Entfernungen kein Hindernis. Und die beiden Komponisten von Five Eyes sind sich zugleich nah und fern, gibt es doch in unseren Biografien trotz unterschiedlicher Wege und Orte immer wieder Punkte, wo wir aus unterschiedlichen Richtungen kommend zu gleichen künstlerischen Fragestellungen gelangt sind. Alfred Harth ist in der Nähe von Frankfurt/Main geboren, wo man in der Philosophie und Kunst nach Westen, nach Frankreich und über den Atlantik blickte. Ich bin im selben Jahr in West-Berlin geboren, das damals eine mit viel Subventionen künstlich am Leben erhaltene Geisterstadt, der Hinterhof der westlichen Welt war. Für Alfred war Jazz die klangliche Verheißung, dass es etwas anderes geben muss, als das verdruckste Nachkriegsdeutschland. Für mich als Hinterhofgöre und in einer Stadt, die keine nennenswerte Jazz-Szene hatte, erfüllte Rock n’ Roll die gleiche Funktion. Für Alfred führte der Weg in die freie Improvisation, seine Gruppe Just Music verkündete Ende der 60er in einem Flyer als Konzept ein „Modell für annähernd herrschaftsfreie Kommunikation und Interaktion“ sein zu wollen. Zur selben Zeit passierte eine ähnliche Entwicklung bei denen, die von der Rockmusik her kamen. In der experimentierfreudigen Phase des Psychedelic Rock lösten sich vorgegebene Strukturen auf. Das brachte uns das erste Mal am gleichen Ort zusammen, in Conrad Schnitzlers Zodiak Free Arts Lab, wo sich für ein knappes Jahr Free Jazz, Happening und das, was später mal Krautrock genannt werden sollte, mischte. Die Sessions mit Conrad Schnitzler, die in eine langjährige Zusammenarbeit mündeten, waren meine erste Begegnung – wie es ein Flyer verkündete – mit „Total freie[r] Musik“. Schnitzler, ein Beuys-Schüler, bezeichnete sich als Intermedia-Künstler, um bewusst alle Kategorisierung und alle Begrenzung auf ein Medium zu vermeiden. Auch wenn Alfred diesen Begriff nie verwendete, würde er auf ihn passen als jemandem, der gleichermaßen in der Musik, Literatur und den visuellen Künsten unterwegs ist. Für beide war Fluxus und die Begegnung mit Künstlern wie Nam June Paik eine Weichenstellung.
Den nächsten Schritt vollzogen Alfred und ich von unterschiedlichen Ausgangspositionen in dieselbe Richtung – hin zum gesprochenen oder gesungenen Wort. Ich schloss mich einer Lehrlingstheatergruppe an, aus der dann die Band Ton Steine Scherben hervorging, die Rockmusik und radikale, auf Deutsch gesungene Texte zusammenbrachte und auf deren erster Platte auch ein Stück von Hanns Eisler zu hören ist. Mit dessen Musik und der Verbindung von Musik und Poesie jenseits des Jazz und Lyrik-Klischees beschäftigte sich auch Alfred zusammen mit Heiner Goebbels. Während die Scherben das Straßentheater bald zugunsten der Rock-Bühne hinter sich ließen, gehörten die beiden zu den Mitbegründern des Sogenannten linksradikalen Blasorchesters, das die Musik auf die Straße brachte. Der nächste Schub kam durch Punk und vor allem durch die in dessen Windschatten blühenden Experimente, die Stilmittel der musikalischen Avantgarde, Collage- und Montagetechniken mit der Energie von Rock zusammenbrachte. Für Alfred war das dann unter anderem die Band Cassiber zusammen mit Chris Cutler, Christoph Anders und Heiner Goebbels. Für mich war das in Berlin die Gruppe Populäre Mechanik, die noch als reine Gitarrenband in der Rocktradition begann und sich mehr und mehr Elektronik, als auch durch die Erweiterung mit Bläsern Jazzeinflüssen hin öffnete. Diesmal bewegte sich Alfreds und mein musikalischer Weg so weit aufeinander zu, dass es tatsächlich 1983 zu einem gemeinsamen Konzert kam.
Ein Ausschnitt aus diesem Konzert fand dann seinen Weg auf Alfreds Platte Sweet Paris, einer 1990 erschienenen Text- und Musikcollage – ein multimediales Tagebuch, in dem Alfred seinen Briefwechsel mit dem damals in Paris lebenden Maler Wolf Pehlke – er machte die 5E-Coverzeichnung - umsetzte und in das Solos, Fieldrecordings und Ausschnitte aus zahlreichen musikalischen Begegnungen einflossen. Zu Cut-up mit seiner Eröffnung neuer Zusammenhänge und zu Collage, mit der man Realität in die Komposition holen konnte, hatte Alfred vor allem auch über Literatur, über Brinkmann und Burroughs, und seine Arbeit als visueller Künstler gefunden. Die Entwicklung des Samplers machten die vorher ans Studio gebundenen, geduldigen Techniken der Musique Concrète musikalisch handhabbarer und zu einem Ausweg aus einem linearen Zeitbegriff, der sich mit seinem Versprechen einer höheren Ordnung in der Musik immer weniger durchhalten ließ.
Für mich führte der Weg von der noch von diesem Heilsversprechen angetriebenen Musik der Scherben, über die Auflösung der Zeit in psychedelischen Krautrock-Erfahrungen in die Fluxus-inspirierte Zusammenarbeit mit Conrad Schnitzler, der Ende der 1970er mehr als ein Dutzend Kassettenrecorder stapelte, mit denen er eigenes und gefundenes Material bei Konzerten mischte.
Mit Five Eyes, für die wir monatelang Tracks her- und hinschickten, auseinandernahmen und neu zusammensetzten, konnten wir den Faden wieder aufnehmen – denn nach der Session, die auf Sweet Paris dokumentiert ist, trennten sich die Wege erst einmal wieder. Für mich gab es Ende der 80er mit dem Untergang des alten Westberlins auch persönlich eine Umbruchzeit, die dazu führte, dass die Musik erst einmal weitgehend Pause machte. Als ich dann wieder anfing, aktiv zu werden, sah man sich als Musiker einer veränderten Situation gegenüber. Eine Musik, die sich mehr oder weniger gradlinig auf ein Ziel bewegt, war endgültig obsolet geworden. Die Durchsetzung von There-Is-No-Alternative als herrschender Ideologie brauchte ebenfalls eine musikalische Antwort. Dazu kommt die durch die Digitalisierung gigantisch beschleunigte Bilderflut, in deren Geflicker alle Konflikte dieser Welt gleich aussehen. Die Frage nach Gut und Böse reduziert sich da auf die Frage, welche Seite die emotionaleren Bilder liefern kann, die dann am effektivsten wirken, wenn sie an vorhandenes Ressentiment andocken können. Als dann beim Anschlag auf das World Trade Center etliche Antiimperialisten im Anblick der Katastrophe applaudierten, wurde klar, dass man noch einmal neu nachdenken muss.
Alfred zog es nach Südkorea, das in den letzen 100 Jahren von der Geschichte nicht gut behandelt wurde. Japanische Besetzung, Unterdrückung und Ausbeutung, dann der Koreakrieg, in dem das Land nur Figur auf dem Schachbrett des Konfliktes zwischen Ost und West war. Jetzt ist das Land eingezwängt zwischen dem autoritären Nordkorea und dem wirtschaftlich dominierenden Japan, das nie eine Debatte über seine gewalttätige Vergangenheit geführt hat. Ich dagegen brauchte keinen Ortswechsel vorzunehmen. In Berlin wechselte sich der Ort in rasantem Tempo selber aus – zumal aus der Sicht des Westberliners. Aus der verschlafenen Nische wurde eine Wir-sind-wieder-wer-Hauptstadt eines Landes, das ziemlich schnell an seine alten Hegemonialansprüche anzuknüpfen begann. Nach außen wie innen wurde dies zunehmend aggressiv durchgesetzt, begleitet und gefeiert von einem Kulturbetrieb, der mehr und mehr nationales Pathos produziert.
Vor ein paar Jahren kam über den inzwischen verstorbenen Conrad Schnitzler der Kontakt zwischen Alfred und mir wieder zustande. Dabei stellten wir fest, dass wir von den beiden Enden der Welt, an denen wir inzwischen gelandet waren, zu ähnlichen Überlegungen gekommen waren. Zumal die Enden der Welt sich immer ähnlicher werden. War in den 60ern ein Lied, dass man gerne sang, Break on through to the other side, ist man heute damit konfrontiert, dass es auf der anderen Seite genauso oder schlimmer aussieht. Die Propaganda für das Bestehende funktioniert heute nicht mehr durch Lügen. Man gibt alle Kritik zu, um dann darauf zu verweisen, dass alles andere schlimmer ist, was durch den tatsächlich stattfindenden Angriff der Barbarei auf das Bisschen erreichten Fortschritts eine fatale Komplizenschaft erzeugt. Wie positioniert man sich als Musiker in einer Welt, die sich gleichzeitig in zwei nur scheinbar entgegengesetzten Richtungen entwickelt? Auf der einen Seite eine fast unendliche individuelle Freiheit, die keine Emanzipation von gesellschaftlichen Zwängen ist, sondern bloßes Selbstunternehmertum in einem Dog-eats-dog-Kapitalismus. Parallel dazu entwickelt sich der Staat, den die neoliberalen Apologeten angeblich mindestens verschlanken, am liebsten aber abschaffen wollen, zu einer immer perfekteren Kontroll- und Repressionsmaschine.
Mittlerweile ist eine Generation herangewachsen, die gar keine persönliche Erinnerung mehr daran hat, dass irgendwann einmal etwas Anderes war. Dabei war das Andere nicht automatisch besser, aber allein durch seine Existenz machte es klar, dass die Beschaffenheit der Gesellschaft, in der wir leben, verhandelbar ist. „Herrschaftsfreie Musik“ ist nach wie vor eine mögliche Antwort. Wobei das nicht nur heißt, frei von einer vorgegebenen Komposition oder einer Führungsfigur zu sein. Herrschaft maskiert sich heute vor allem als Sachzwang. Dagegen steht eine Musik, in der die Musiker stets die freie Entscheidung über die Musik und ihre Weiterentwicklung haben, als eine ständige, für den Hörer nachvollziehbare Verhandlung. Die andere Antwort ist das Hereinnehmen und Rekontextualisieren von ausgewählten Klangsplittern als Spuren von Realität, Zitate, Field-Recordings, um das abstrakte Medium Musik mal assoziativ, mal verwirrend und zum Neudenken auffordernd an die umgebende Wirklichkeit anzubinden. Beides kann zu einer Entdeckungsreise werden.
Wolfgang Seidel, 23.10.2014" [credits & liner notes] |
2014 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Malcha |
CD |
Harth/Seidel/Spera/Van Den Plas: Malcha
Format: CD
Country: Korea, Italy & Germany
Released: 01.10.2016
Tracklist
01 Gate 2 Not
02 Ceremony Behind Buddha’s Garden
03 Begum Of Oudh
04 Resilient Cup Of Crushed Diamonds
05 Send A Revolver The Night Before The
00 Interview
06 Delhi Green Mousse
Musicians
Alfred 23 Harth – ts, ss, dojirak, voice
Wolfgang Seidel – buchla music easel, prepared guitar, perc, vibes
Fabrizio Spera – dr, perc
Nicole van den Plas – voice, piano, zither, balalaika, kalimba, whistling
Credits
Compositions by Alfred Harth, Wolfgang Seidel-Meissner, Fabrizio Spera
Recorded by Wolfgang Seidel at Exrotaprint Studio, Berlin, 2015.11.13
Production, arrangement, mix & premastering by A23H at LaubhuetteStudio Moonsun, Korea
Mastering by Wolfgang Seidel at Exrotaprint Studio, Berlin, 2016
MALCHA
Berlin, November 2015. In einem Café in Mitte, in der Auguststrasse, sitzen Alfred Harth (seit 15 Jahren auch in Seoul), Fabrizio Spera (Rom), Elliott Sharp (New York) und ich – Wolfgang Seidel (Berlin). Am Abend vorher hatten Alfred, Fabrizio und Elliott ganz in der Nähe gespielt, zusammen mit Kazuhisa Uchihashi (Tokio) und Clayton Thomas (Sydney), die nun schon unterwegs waren zu ihren nächsten Konzerten. Mit beiden wäre die Runde noch globaler gewesen, was in der Improvisierten Musik allerdings nichts besonderes ist. Das grosse „I“ bei Improvisierter Musik ist Absicht. Improvisierte Musik als eigenes musikalisches Genre – so wie die Neue Musik. Improvisierte Musik als Genre, dass sich von lokalen Traditionen emanzipiert hat und in der Musiker aus aller Welt miteinander spielen. Wäre der Vorsatz „post“ nicht so inflationär an alles mögliche geklebt, würde ich diese Musik postnational nennen. Im alten West-Berlin hatte ich einen Bogen gemacht um die Jazz-Szene. Die war mir zu bürgerlich und von einem altbackenden Handwerker-Ethos mit strikten Regeln, was man denn geübt haben müsse, ehe man es sich erlauben dürfe zu improvisieren. Da passte ich mit meiner Psychedelic Rock-Sozialisation nicht hinein. Anfang der 80er, im Windschatten von Punk, wurden Genregrenzen für einige Zeit durchlässig. In diese Zeit fällt dann auch das bisher einzige gemeinsame Konzert mit Alfred und meiner damaligen Band Populäre Mechanik. Dann war erst mal wieder Pause, die erst zu Ende ging, als sich ab der Jahrtausendwende die Szene Improvisierter Musik entwickelte, die in Berlin unter dem Label Echtzeitmusik agiert.
Als einzigem "Eingeborenen" fiel mir der Part zu, zu erzählen, wie sich die Gegend in den letzten zwei Jahrzehnten verändert hat. Eingeborener stimmt auch nur halb - als Westberliner habe ich diesen im Zentrum der „Hauptstadt der DDR“ gelegenen Teil der Stadt erst 1989 kennengelernt. Da war das Scheunenviertel genannte Areal hinter dem Hackeschen Markt grau und düster von verwahrlosten Häusern mit abbröckelndem Putz und leeren Wohnungen. Mich erinnerten die Straßen an das Westberlin meiner Kindheit, als die Spuren des Krieges noch überall sichtbar und die vorherrschende Farbe grau war. Das urbane Vakuum im Scheunenviertel füllte sich nach 1989 ganz schnell mit neuem Leben. In den leeren Läden entstanden Clubs und Galerien, bis die Gentrifizierung dem fröhlichen Experimentieren ein Ende setzte. Die Fassaden sind renoviert, die Läden elegant und teuer und die Galerien bieten Dekoratives für die obere Einkommensklasse.
Ein paar tausend Kilometer weiter östlich in Korea, ist die Welt noch geteilt. Im Schatten der euphemistisch DMZ – Demilitarized Zone – benannten Grenze zwischen Nord- und Südkorea, befindet sich Alfreds LaubhuetteStudio. Es klingt idyllisch, wenn er schreibt, dass Rehe dort herumstreunen und auf Fotos von seinen Exkursionen sieht er aus wie ein Botaniker auf der Jagd nach seltenen Schmetterlingen. Irgendwie erinnert mich das auch an die trägen Sommertage im ehemaligen Westberlin, wo man im Schatten der Mauer sein Bier trank. Solche dem Verwertungsdruck entzogenen Areale scheinen auf geheimnisvolle Weise der Kreativität besonders zuträglich sein.
Nach dem Frühstücksmeeting gingen wir drei – Alfred, Fabrizio und ich – dahin, wo die Stadt nur arm und kein bisschen sexy ist – in den Stadtteil Wedding. Dessen Wandlung vom Arbeiterbezirk zum deindustrialisierten Arbeitslosenbezirk hat viel leerstehenden Gewerberaum hinterlassen. In einer dieser ehemaligen Fabriken war ich mit meinem Studio eingezogen. Zwei Stunden später konnte ich zufrieden auf den Aus-Knopf der Aufnahmeapparatur drücken. Wohin diese musikalischen „Gespräche“ ohne jede Vorgabe oder Planung letztlich führen, ist immer wieder eine Überraschung. Begonnen hatte es vor fast fünfzig Jahren mit „herrschaftsfreier Musik“ – so das Konzept von Alfreds Gruppe Just Music. Ich spielte zur selben Zeit mit dem Beuys-Schüler Conrad Schnitzler "Total freie Musik". So stand es auf einem Poster. Über Conrad Schnitzler, der leider 2012 verstarb, hatten Alfred und ich uns näher kennengelernt.
Auf dem „Total freie Musik“-Plakat stand außerdem: jeder kann mitmachen. Bei anderer Gelegenheit war das Publikum aufgefordert, Transistorradios mitzubringen und während der Performance eifrig am Sendersuchlauf zu drehen. Die Verwendung von aussermusikalischen Geräuschen und die Technik der Collage sind für Alfred und mich früh zur Arbeitsweise geworden. Unsere CD Five Eyes ist so entstanden, als Collage aus Tracks, die wir uns um den halben Erdball schickten. Und nach Beendigung unserer Trio-Session im Wedding, war das noch nicht das fertige Werk. Zurück in Korea, ergänzte Alfred noch Passagen mit seinem Sopransaxophon aus dem 70er Archiv. Hinzu kamen gefakte Field-Recordings aus Indien. Nicole van den Plas schickte Gesangs- und Instrumentalaufnahmen (Voice & Bells, 40° Celsius und If Any, drei ihrer jüngsten CDRs) die sich wunderbar in das Gewebe von Klängen, das Alfred in seiner Laubhütte schuf, einfügten. Dieses Gewebe ist so dicht, dass ich erst nach mehrmaligem Anhören entdeckte, dass auch ein Track Eingang gefunden hatte, den ich ihm schon vor längerer Zeit geschickt hatte, in dem, als Erinnerung an unsere erste Westberliner Begegnung, die Sendekennung des RIAS (Rundfunk im amerikanischen Sektor) zu hören ist. Genau das ist es, was den Spass an diesen Aufnahmen ausmacht. Man macht immer wieder noch Entdeckungen im Dickicht der Klänge.
Am Schluss wartet eine Aufgabe, um die ich mich gerne drücke. Eine Veröffentlichung muss einen Namen haben, die Tracks darauf auch. Bei Songs ist das ja einfach. Aber wir haben keine weitere Geschichte, die wir zur Musik erzählen. Bei uns ist die Musik die Geschichte. Wir machen abstrakte Musik und keine Programm- oder Illustrationsmusik. Wir denken beim Spielen an nichts ausser an die Klänge, die wir produzieren und wie diese sich mit den Sounds der Mitspieler verflechten. Conrad Schnitzler löste für sich das Problem, indem er irgendwann seine Kompositionen nur noch nummerierte. Er kam damit bis 830. Alfred löste das Problem, in dem er zunächst an unsere Café-Frühstücksrunde anknüpfte. Latte Macchiato? Nein „Malcha“. Er berichtete, dass das koreanische Getränk, mit dem man sich munter macht, Malcha heißt – ein grüner Tee, zu Pulver zerstampft und mit Bambusbesen wie Cappuchino aufgeschäumt. Da koreanische Restaurants gerade die neue Gründerwelle in Berlin sind, ist es nur eine Frage der Zeit, bis Malcha zum neuen Hipster-Getränk wird.
Damit war ein Titel für die CD gefunden. Es fehlten noch die Titel für die einzelnen Stücke. Ueber Indien war Alfred auf eine andere Bedeutung von Malcha gestossen: Malcha Mahal – ein 600 Jahre alter, verfallender Palast in Delhi. In ihm leben zwei Geschwister, ein Prinz und eine Prinzessin, isoliert von der Umwelt. Prinz Ali Raza und Prinzessin Sakina sind die letzten Nachfahren einer aus Persien stammenden Dynastie, die bis Mitte des 19. Jahrhunderts über das Königreich Oudh herrschte. Nach vergeblichem Aufstand gegen die britische Kolonialmacht wurde Oudh besetzt und die Herrscherfamilie befand sich auf der Flucht, da sie sich weder den Briten noch dem unabhängig gewordenen Indien unterwerfen wollte. Die letzte Begum von Oudh fand mit ihren Kindern schliesslich Zuflucht im Malcha Mahal, wo sie 1983 auf wahrhaft fürstliche Art Selbstmord beging. Sie trank ein Pulver aus den Splittern ihres Diamantringes. Ihre Kinder leben seitdem von der Aussenwelt isoliert im Dickicht des Malcha Mahal Parks. Das klingt nach exotischem Liebesromanstoff, in dem sich die britische Begeisterung für Spukgeschichten mit der mindestens ebenso grossen indischen Begeisterung für Geistergeschichten mischen, auf der Folie einer Reminizenz an Extremaussenseiter, die aus aristokratischem Stolz ein Leben lang in einer Gegenwelt verharren. Spätestens jetzt war unser anfänglicher Berlinausflug definitiv über andere Assoziationsebenen auf Reisen geraten.
Wolfgang Seidel, 2016.5.31
www.molokoplusrecords.de
|
2016 |
€15.00 |
|
| HASEGAWA, HIROSHI / MAMA BAER |
Scarlet Dream / Khmerzen |
LP |
"Parts 10 and 11 of a series of split LPs on the Domestic Violence Recordings and one half of any of these records is always by Kommissar Hjuler and/or Mama Baer. On the first record we find on the other side Hirosji Hasegawa, who we sometimes know as Astro and Mortal Vision, and an important member of C.C.C.C. He was also a member of Club Skull, Senssurround Orchestra, Nord, YBO2 and many others. Hasegawa is a noise artist and that shows on his sidelong piece 'Scarlet Dream'. He uses a multitude of synthesizer sounds, brings them all out to the maximum noise settings and then starts playing around, creating interactions to bring out more noise from all of these apparatus. A cosmic storm that explodes like a black hole - is that even possible? Mama Baer on the other side has no noise to offer, at least not noise of a conventional kind. The outsider music of Mama Baer (and companion Kommissar Hjuler) is plain weird. It's never easy to tell what they are doing and sometimes one could get the impression they don't know either themselves. My best guess for the pieces on this side would be that Mama Baer has access to a reel-to-reel machine, a turntable and a microphone, speeding up voices, looping sounds, doing karaoke and such like. It's the usual fascinating here. It's not something one would play easily as 'entertainment', but this weird stuff is always great to hear." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.psych-kg.de
|
2014 |
€20.00 |
|
| HATED BRUIT KOLLEKTIV |
Aktion One |
CD-R |
Noisiger Zusammenschluss dreier polnischer Projekte auf neuem Label, nach einem ironischen Jodel-Folk Song Einstieg breitet sich ein gut arrangierter Industrialnoise One-Tracker aus, eher im bassig / tiefnoisigen Bereich, mit sehr schönen atmosphärischen, fast dark ambienten Abschnitten.. Kommt in grossformatigem, dicken Postercover.
"HBK is an ephemeric project held among musicians behind Genetic Transmission, Moan and Nojsens. Three minds, three individualities, tree artists sharing one inspired vision. These are people we know for years so it became somehow natural to invite their bastard child to our NN therapy group finally, starting the "Harsh Kontakt" series of relases from now on.
The sound sculpture presented hereby has been captured at Bez Kontroli Fest 2007 as probably HBK's best gig to date. Expect the unexpected, as they have gone the whole hog, without no mercy to the audience or themselves. OK, it's all there: refreshing traditional industrial, warming harsh noise, stoned bruitist plunderphonics, and last but not least—good taste and the fucking clue, VSOP.
The packaging consist of a huge, A2-sized heavy stock poster folded to form A5 sleeve housed in a solid plastic wrapper. Limited to 250 hand numbered copies." [label info]
www.newnihilism.com
|
2008 |
€10.00 |
|
| HATERS |
Hater Hole |
CD-R |
CD-R in bag with original holed papers from this performance, which happened on 28 of Dec. 1991 in NYC at Generator.
“A "clici-clic" is a hand-held hole-punch mounted with a contact-mic for amplification. The Haters (GX Jupitter-Larsen, Mitchal Goodman & Gen Ken) each used a clici-clic to pop hundreds upon hundreds of little holes through numerous sheets of paper & cardboard (including the Generator's lease!). For 28 minutes, the sound of the crushing was amplified into a fragile expansion of textural noises. Staged in the Generator freight elevator, this was The Haters 155th performance and the first time they employed the clici-clics as a sound making tool. The resulting holes were collected in a box and a selection is included with each package (while they last). GX Jupitter-Larsen started The Haters in 1979, after getting bored with playing in Punk bands. "People back then always talked about Punk as if was noise, but it was never noisy enough for me! However, awareness of my own audio fetish didn't appear for years. After a lot of trial and error, I would come to realize that my love for the sounds of destruction mirrored my love for decay." –G.X. Jupitter Larsen “ [label description]
|
0000 |
€15.00 |
|
| HATI |
Works for Scrap Metal |
CD |
Sehr schöne Edition (dickes Siebdruck-Falt-Cover, Booklet) und Verdeutlichung ihres Konzeptes "Recycled Sound Installation".
Alle erzeugten Klänge wurden auf Alltags-Schrott-Materialien (sowie daraus selbst gebauten Instrumenten) & rein akustisch aufgenommen.
Die Benutzung von "Abfall" in einer eigentlich sinnentfremdeten Art & Weise kann aus HATIs Sicht zu einer erhöhten Sensibilität & neuen Zugangsweisen für die Ästhetik der Alltagswelt führen, und somit das Bewusstsein verändern oder erweitern. Im Vordergrund stehen dabei Gruppenerfahrungen von Katharsis, die während der Konzerte stattfinden sollen (weshalb HATI auch v.a. eine live-Band sind).
"Works for Scrap Metal" beinhaltet eher ruhiges Material, HATI kitzeln dronig metallurgene & rauschende Pulses & Obertöne aus ihren Objekten, nicht nur live ist das ein Erlebnis, ein fast schon rituelles Eintauchen in die Mikrostruktur von Klang !
"New CD - includes music composed and performed on recycled instruments. Performed and recorded 'live in studio' by Rafal Iwanski and Dariusz Wojtas, Studio Eter, Torun, Poland. Track list: 1.Springs; 2.Barrels I; 3.Shakers; 4.Chaingong; 5. Barrels II; 6.Lidgong; 7.Coverchains; 8.Barrels III. Works for Scrap Metal is the intrinsic part of the project 100% Recycled Sound Installation. The booklet contains photos and 2 articles - by Rafal Iwanski and dr Darek Brzostek In the land of intonarumori ( historical outline of using recycled instruments in music on 20. century and nowadays). Texts in polish and english.The cover and the booklet are made of ecopapers = really nice edition." [label info]
"There's a really elegant economy of means about HATI's approach to music - out of quite humble, often improvised, acoustic instrumentation, they manage to create eloquent and evocative works. I'm tempted to dub what they do musica povera, after the arte povera art movement epitomized by the mixed media work of Joseph Beuys. But regardless of what you call it, HATI's music is innovative and inspired. As far as I'm aware, nobody else is doing quite what they're doing at the moment, although they have affinities with Z'EV (who's both toured and made an album with HATI) and ritual ambient acts like Terroritmo, COTA and Chaos As Shelter" [Simon Collins, JudasKissMagazine]
www.hati.info
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
KA |
CD |
If you ever saw HATI live you know how intelligently contrived their compositions are - their vast array of ethnic instruments (mainly gongs & other metallic ones, but not solely) is controlled by them in a very professional way; and the dynamics between between softer and more spheric gong or metal parts and more rhythmic & ecstatic ones are perfectly set. These are studio-recordings made in August in Torun, Poland, their hometown. On eight pieces their totally handmade instrumental sound is spread far to create very versatile material. Seen as contemplative ritual music or focusing just on the beautiful sounds of real instruments, this is a perfect start to enter the HATI-universe if you don't know them yet!!
"... Ka is a much more varied, more sensual and, to my mind, more rewarding album than Works For Scrap Metal, a lot of which had the stern, austere feeling of ‘Industrial Régime’. The addition of harmonium in particular really extends Hati’s palette, and ‘Trans Muzik’ is easily the funkiest thing I've heard from this band. I wonder whether it isn’t time for Hati to try using the human voice – not lyrics and singing, but wordless chanting or humming? As far as I'm aware, they’ve never used voices. It’s just a suggestion. Anyway, Hati are playing in Britain for the first time next month, in London on June 12 with Z’EV and Raymond Salvatore Harmon, as part of the Equinox Festival, and I for one am very excited about the prospect of seeing them play, having admired them from afar for years.
The packaging of Ka is very nice, consisting of a cruciform cardboard envelope, rather like the sleeves favoured by the Finnish ambient label Aural Hypnox, with black-on-silver artwork." [Simon Collins / JudasKiss]
"... Primary sound source on the album is acoustic metal-percussions counting among others gongs of various kinds, steel barrels, metal discs and aluminum plates just to mention a few of the applied tools. The band itself terms their style as Trance-Gong - a quite hitting stylish term since the trio use the metallic percussive sounds to create this trance-inducing atmosphere that first of all draws associations towards the Gamelan-style of the Javanese territories. Apart from the sound pallets of metal percussion other important sound sources count bells of various kinds. Stylistic the music of the band are best termed as something in-between gamelan, ambient and ethnic minimalism. A quite fascinating and unusual album that probably won't find its fans on the dancefloor, but more likely demands for some horizontal listening." [NM, Vital Weekly]
www.myspace.com/hatitah
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| HAUSCHKA |
A NDO C Y |
LP |
"Limitiertes Vinyl mit Remixen von DEVENDRA BANHART und ELUVIUM. Im letzten Jahr veröffentlichte HAUSCHKA (alias Volker Bertelmann) mit ,Abandoned City" ein Album von Klavierstücken, die von vergessenen Orten inspiriert wurden, die langsam verfallen und zurück in die Natur übergehen. Das Album war prachtvoll und einzigartig bewegend - Kritiker applaudierten und HAUSCHKA unterstrich einmal mehr seinen Status als Mitglied der Elite moderner Komponisten. ,A NDO C Y" ist eine Fortsetzung der Geschichte von ,Abandoned City", erzählt über zwei Seiten. Seite A versammelt fünf Tracks aus den Sessions zu ,Abandoned City"; eine Suite aus Songs, die sich zu einem ausnehmend stimmigen Ganzen fügen. Diese Songs verarbeiten minimalistischen Techno ebenso wie moderne Komposition, was die Tracks wie gemacht für Remixe erscheinen lässt. Auf Seite B interpretiert die Folk Ikone DEVENDRA BANHART ,Agdam" von ,Abandoned City" neu - zu Fragmenten aus einzelnen Klavierbeiträgen und aufbrausenden Synthies. Im Vergleich ist die Interpretation von ,Stromness" von ELUVIUM beinahe schockierend euphorisch, während Kaskagen aus Verzerrung sich über einzelne Klaviertöne ergießen. Als Download gibt es hier noch überdies ein atemberaubendes Livealbum, das Ende 2014 in Japan aufgenommen wurde. Die 40-minütige Performance teilt sich in zwei 20-minütige Improvisationen, die sich auf Themen von ,Abandoned City" gründet.
A NDO C Y is a continuation of the Abandoned City story, told as a tale of two sides. Side A features five tracks conceived during the Abandoned City sessions, a suite of songs that together form an exceptionally resonant whole. As with Abandoned City, these songs owe as much to minimalist techno as modern composition, which makes them particularly conducive to remixes. On Side B, experimental folk icon Devendra Banhart distills Abandoned City standout, "Agdam", to barely-there, fractured clusters of solitary piano strikes and swelling synths. By comparison, Eluvium's transformation of "Stromness" sounds almost shockingly euphoric, all cascading waves of distortion washed over a plethora of plucked piano pings. Included as a special bonus download is a stunning live album recorded in Yufuin, Japan in late 2014. The 40-minute performance is split into two 20-minute improvisations built on themes from Abandoned City. It's a gorgeous glimpse of live Hauschka, a world where songs you think you know become entirely new works of art at the mercy of Bertelmann's whims.
LIMITED EDITION OF 1,000 COPIES" [label info]
www.temporaryresidence.com
|
2015 |
€20.00 |
|
| HAXAN CLOAK, THE |
Excavation |
CD |
In 2011 with the release of his debut, self titled album, The Haxan Cloak, solo project of multi instrumentalist, Bobby Krlic, appeared seemingly out of nowhere with an impressively fully formed sound that blew away most anyone who heard it. Recorded over the space of 3 years The Haxan Cloak was a wildly ambitious fusion of malevolent strings, junkyard found-sounds and primitive percussion. In the two years since the release of his debut, Krlic relocated to London and began working on it's epic follow up, and Tri Angle Records debut; Excavation Bolstered by the concept he was developing for his follow up and a desire to challenge himself into new terrains, Krlic has evolved his sound to incorporate more of his electronic influences. The result is an album awash with serrated beats and cavernous sub-bass, meshing with the classical drones and ghostly details The Haxan Cloak fans will have already been accustomed to. Whereas The Haxan Cloak was a dense, and at times, suffocating listen, Excavation finds Krlic confidently adopting a more minimalist approach, experimenting with space and silence without forsaking any of the intensity that made his debut such a powerful statement of intent.
soundcloud.com/tri_angle_records/the-haxan-cloak-the-mirror
|
2013 |
€14.00 |
|
| HAYNES, JIM |
The Wires cracked |
LP |
"The recordings for The Wires Cracked were completed in a frenzied two week period in October of 2012. I had mentioned in discussing a previous album's construction that I prefer to forget how I build any particular electro-acoustic amalgam. This is so that I don't get to precious with them, so that I could refine them further, so that the sounds themselves speak beyond their aggregate parts. With the album being relatively fresh in my mind, I can still recall various components to The Wires Cracked - the desolate howl of a metal screen activated by a desert wind, the hissing air compression from the cooling apparatus for a laser at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory operated by Stanford University, and the tremolo rhythms from a thin wire that still get me thinking fondly of Günter Schickert - but much of the caustic drone, thrumming reverberation, and tactile grit thoroughly escapes me. That's probably for the best, since these various parts speak to an existential rupturing, the collapse of the self, the aftershocks of dark energy, and a belief in the hope for renewal. About Jim Haynes: Describing his work through the pithy phrase, I rust things, Jim Haynes is an artist who has developed a vocabulary of decay that he has applied to photography, video, installation, and sound. Haynes' sound work draws from shortwave radio static, electric field disturbances, controlled feedback manipulation, and numerous textural scrapings, manifesting broken minimalism of magnetic drones and volatile tactility. This engineering of disparate materials and media seeks to evince the unpredictability of decay, to manifest its potential for a rough hewn beauty, and to bare witness to its inevitability. He has exhibited internationally at Electric Works (San Francisco), the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art , the Bekerley Art Museum, The Exploratorium (San Francisco), WestSpace (Melbourne, Australia), Jack Straw Productions (Seattle), Eyedrum (Atlanta), Diapason (New York), and The Lab (San Francisco). Haynes has published his work through the Helen Scarsdale Agency, 23five Incorporated, Intransitive, Observatoire, and Elevator Bath. He has collaborated with Steven Stapleton (Nurse With Wound), M.S. Waldron (irr. app. (ext.)), Keith Evans, Allison Holt, and Loren Chasse. Haynes is one of the directors for 23five Incorporated and is the sole occupant at the Helen Scarsdale Agency." [label info]
www.editionsmego.com
|
2013 |
€16.50 |
|
|
Flammable Materials from Foreign Lands |
LP |
The new LP from Jim Haynes is a haunted and provocative endeavor, rust-covered and mysterious. It is the result of an immersive listening/recording process through which Haynes' singular techniques intersected with an unfamiliar, disquieting landscape....
"The album was mostly composed, recorded, and sketched during an Estonian residency at MoKS for a program that was hosted by Simon Whetham and John Grzinich called Active Crossover. The goal of that program was to bring together various artists whose work pertained directly or indirectly to environmental recordings. When John asked me about what kinds of spaces I was interested in seeking out before I arrived, I mentioned that I would like to investigate sites that had a considerable amount of electro-magnetic disruption which I could capture on radio along with sites of psychic distress.
The Estonian landscape is pocked with abandoned buildings of considerable size and decay. Many of the excursions for Active Crossover engaged the large crumbling Soviet-era structures. Given that the electricity was off in many of these sites, I had to rely on shortwave to capture any electro-magnetic disruptions instead of any fluctuations from shitty wiring or weird Soviet power transformers... and the radio reception from that particular time and that particular place (i.e. southeastern Estonia) was eerie and unsettled. The crackle, drone, and noise is unlike that which is heard in the United States, looming with a (possibly perceived) paranoia of the Russian state just a few kilometers away. That said, Estonia had experienced an encroachment from Russia as the Russian military kidnapped/extradited an Estonian intelligence officer who was on Estonian soil at the time not too far from where I was staying. Given the contemporary military actions of Russia reclaiming Crimea from Ukraine, this incident put many an Estonian on edge.
The A-side to Flammable Materials reflects this aestheticized paranoia through bursts of static, pulsed noise, and atonal sinews of sustained frequency. The B-side is wholly more introspective, cutting up an Estonian radio broadcast into phonemes, disjointed phrases, and cryptic speech. What few words that can be recognized from the Estonian pertain to the forces of globalization. From the context of someone who understands very little of the language, these snippets of a female voice clip like a surrealist collage or a Dada poem. Compositionally, I was thinking very much of Robert Ashley's Purposeful Lady Slow Afternoon and the Nurse With Wound recontextualization of such sounds."
- Jim Haynes
Based in California, Jim Haynes has exhibited internationally at the San Francisco Museum Of Modern Art, the Lausanne Underground Film Festival, the Berkeley Art Museum, WestSpace (Melbourne, Australia), and Diapason (New York). Recorded media has been published through Editions Mego, Ghostly International, Drone Records, Hooker Vision, Intransitive, Semperflorens, Elevator Bath, and The Helen Scarsdale Agency. He has also been awarded residencies at the Djerassi Resident Artists Program (California), Recombinant Media Labs (California), Jack Straw Productions (Seattle), and MoKS (Estonia). He has participated in a number of fruitful collaborations with Loren Chasse, Keith Evans, Steven Stapleton, and M.S. Waldron. Until 2015, Haynes was the Vice President and Curatorial Director for 23five Incorporated, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the development and increased awareness of sound arts within the public arena. He is also the lone occupant at The Helen Scarsdale Agency.
Flammable Materials from Foreign Lands has been issued as a clear vinyl LP with gorgeous matte-finish jackets featuring artwork by Jim Haynes. Mastered by James Plotkin, it has been released in a limited edition of 300 copies. Every copy purchased directly from Elevator Bath will include a download code for high quality files of the entire audio content of this LP.
Total running time: 38 minutes
https://elevatorbath.bandcamp.com/album/flammable-materials-from-foreign-lands
"For his two most recent (near simultaneous) releases, Jim Haynes has scaled back his audial representation of decay to something a bit colder and more intentionally off-putting. Both albums are largely based on field recordings taken from a residency in Estonia, and capturing the detritus of Soviet era electronics (and some still active) via shortwave and then processing the results. The final products may be somewhat sparser than his other works, but no less fascinating, and with an additional menacing edge.
On the first side of the Flammable Materials record, Haynes presents three pieces that are perhaps the most inline with his previous works. Treated static and radio interference is unsurprisingly a recurring theme of the record, but are especially prevalent on the opening piece "Of Blast and Bleach". Here Haynes mixes it with some sort of idling motor sound that is fittingly inconsistent. Elements of the static and noise are shaped into some sort of rhythmic structure that contrasts the abstract remainder of the composition very effectively.
Haynes takes on a more noise-centric approach on "Nyet". First a lava-like wall of harshness with the occasional tone slipping through, it is quickly broken back down and built back up, with an emphasis on shifting filters obscuring the low register part of the spectrum. For "E. Kohver" he takes on the opposite approach to the structure and arrangement. This piece is mostly a heavy, imposing drone with metallic tinged machinery noises that never goes full on dissonant, but stays sinister. At times the shortwave static is molded into that crackling texture-like sound that Haynes does so well, but the whole piece is very menacing and dynamic.
The other side of the album is dedicated to a single piece, "Electric Speech: Nadiya". A bit over 20 minutes, the composition is based solely on the radio broadcast of a woman speaking. Of course Haynes also makes use of the static and noise inherent to this type of recording, but in general he embraces minimalism more. The source material voice appears frequently, cut into fragments and phonemes that are anything but identifiable words, regardless of the language being spoken. As a whole it is a different style he is working in, with that singular focus and an impressive use of silence to contrast the more commanding moments.
[....]
Both of Jim Haynes' newest works are exceptional additions to his already impressive body of work. The Throttle and Calibration tape is probably the less adventurous of the two, but is still a work deeply embedded in his style without being any sort of retread or replication of material he has already done. Flammable Materials from Foreign Lands benefits from its unique conceptual direction and focus, but really neither one is better than the other, and both are just excellent works from someone who has done an admirable job developing a career of sound art that always stands strong as utterly unique and fascinating." [Creaig Dunton/Brainwashed]
"For well over a decade now, the Californian noise/drone (de)composer Jim Haynes has pursued a single-minded research into the sound of decay. Shortwave radio transmissions and convulsive motors are a few of the sources that are modulated and amplified into his psychologically tense, hauntological recordings. His 2016 album Flammable Materials From Foreign Lands rises from the eruptive strategies found in John Duncan's extrapolations of empty radio signals with parallels to be found in the mutated electro-acoustic dynamics found in contemporaries like Kevin Drumm and G*Park. One of the foreign lands in question to this flammable album is Estonia where he rummaged through abandoned Soviet-era ruins and collected disquieting shortwave signals. The other land is California with its own darkened psyche they roils beneath the mythologies of eternal sunshine. It's not so much a dialect as an accretion of static, grit and phased electro-magnetic disturbances – amplifying the neurosis and anxiety from a slow poisoning through psychological and/or environmental means. The first side of the album is pocked with convulsive crescendos which aggressively shove through Haynes' accumulated materials. The tracks rise to a boiling point, snap at the excessive pressure and collapse into a hypnotic fog. The second side is a single-sided collage of deconstructed/disembodied voice. Haynes clips and chops the mellifluous voice of an Estonian radio host (perhaps Tallinn's answer to Terri Gross?) into elemental gasps and utterances that rhythmically tick against an unsettled minimalism built from long, thin-wire recordings. Here, the strange and unsettled composition of voice and drone hauntingly resembles Alan Lamb's telegraph recordings poured into the empty spaces of Robert Ashley's Automatic Writing." [Stranded]
|
2016 |
€22.50 |
|
| |
Inauspicious |
LP |
In a recent interview, the California artist Jim Haynes was asked to name his top five noise albums. In quick fashion, he listed off Kill The King, Send, Desnos, Persona, and Carcinosi. Since then, he's equivocated on which albums to choose, but the artists behind such works remain as the adjacent signposts and landmarks to his own constructions of industrial noise. How those records connect to the output from Haynes is found in their unique combination of smoldering dynamism and psychological inquest. For over twenty five years, Haynes has been an autodidactic clinician into the processes of corrosion, decay, and rust, turning his attention away from visual practices and more to the metaphoric crucible of noise and sound. By now, it seems like a cliche that the pandemic changed everything; but since that viral encroachment, there is a noticeable shift in Haynes' work post 2020. It's more aggressive and yet more controlled: a rarification and telescoping of the research into decay for more potent noise and more potent metaphor.
The tools for Haynes' work remain limited: motors, electronics, shortwave radio, found objects, all applied with considerable pressure. Compositionally, Inauspicious is a very rough moire pattern from overlapping elliptical structures that can negate and obfuscate just as easily as they can compound and aggregate. The album surges and collapses upon the two twenty minute chunks of controlled noise that follow an internal logic that snakes from brooding power drones, spectral radio transmission, and an aktionist demolition cast upon metal, glass, and unfortunate wooden objects. Rupture and release. Purge and pulse.
|
2023 |
€22.50 |
|
| HAYWARD, CHARLES |
Switch on War |
CD |
Sehr aussergewöhnliche Klänge vom Ex-THIS HEAT & CAMBERWELL NOW-Frontmann, aufgenommen 1991 zum ersten Golfkrieg. Verzerrte Orgelflächen, aus denen sich seltsame Patterns & Sounds herausschälen, explodierende Perkussion & geschriene Lyrics im Hintergrund.....schwelend und obskur bedrohlich und verstörend...wütender und verzweifelter Experimental-Ambient. Jetzt endlich wiederveröffentlicht.
“MUSIC FOR THE ARMCHAIR THEATRE OF WAR. A UNIQUE AND ENTERTAINING SOUVENIR FOR YOU TO TREASURE AND KEEP. 'Switch on War' a dream state synthesis of nights watching live TV coverage of the 1st Gulf War, the reduction of colours to an electron midnight blue, the long periods of nothing really happening, the contrasting landscapes, (the desert, the city at night, the newsroom), the sudden hurtling through space, through a doorway, a camera on the nose of a missile, the bearing of silent witness slowly turning into complicity and mute acquiescence. At the back of the mind the thought that all this would soon be reduced to snapshot memories, archive, newsreel, history.
Originally devised as a performance for the Club Integral, in South London, at the height of the military activity, 'Switch on War' was a harsh and brutal response to the media coverage of the conflict informed by a grotesque and disconcerting anti-music aesthetic
heavily influenced by the disorientating, overloaded sound world of Space Invaders arcades. The CD version was recorded binaurally some weeks later, live in a disused morgue, as the war came to its stalemate close. By this time the anger had a bleak streak of sadness, a distorted expressionist requiem. This CD had the life expectancy of a magazine article or some such, no more than a year and it would be archive, a mere souvenir.“ [Charles Hayward]
www.subrosa.net
|
2004 |
€13.00 |
|
| HAYWARD, ROBIN |
Words of Paradise |
pic-LP |
Robin Hayward (b. 1969 in Brighton, England) is a tuba player and composer based in Berlin. Since the 1990s, he has been concerning himself with experimental and radical playing techniques on brass instruments, initially through the discovery of the "noise-valve", later through development of the first fully microtonal tuba in 2009. In 2012, he invented the Hayward Tuning Vine as an interface for exploring the harmonic space implicit within the instrument, which exists both as a software version and as a physical prototype. Hayward's microtonal tuba and, on some occasions, the tuning vine have appeared on numerous recordings with various ensembles, e.g. Tonaliens – who have released a double LP on Edition Telemark in 2017 –, Chora(s)san Time-Court Mirage, and Microtub.
"Words of Paradise" is a 2016 recording performed by Zinc & Copper, Hayward's long-running brass chamber ensemble, featuring himself on tuba and tuning vine, Hilary Jeffery on trombone, and Elena Kakaliagou on horn. The piece was inspired by the ideas of 16th-century Dutch linguist Johannes Goropius Becanus, who thought he had shown the Flemish dialect Brabantic to be the original language spoken in Paradise. Observing Brabantic to have a higher proportion of single-syllable words compared to other languages, he reasoned that as the first language must have been the simplest, all languages must be derived from it. The composition draws on the sound of 13 single-syllable words that Becanus used to support his theories. Using half-valve and muting techniques, the inflections of speech and vowel sounds are imitated on the brass instruments, to which the Hayward Tuning Vine is played as a harmonic reference.
LP Picture Disc replicating the multi-coloured circular scores of the horn and trombone parts of "Words of Paradise", housed in a black die-cut sleeve with liner notes on the rear side. Edition of 300. |
2019 |
€25.00 |
|
| HECKER, TIM |
Harmony in Ultraviolet |
CD |
Klang, schimmernd wie helles Licht! TIM HECKER ist nun auf Kranky gelandet, was seinem recht einmaligen Drone-Sound keinen Abbruch tut, im Gegenteil, HARMONY IN VIOLET erscheint uns wie der vorläufige Höhepunkt seines Schaffens: HECKER schafft es, seine digital-sphärischen Drones fast gleichzeitig wie einen monumentalen Noise-Sturm und doch höchst emotional harmonisch & zärtlich-melancholisch erklingen zu lassen....
"Hecker geht den auf seinen letzten Alben eingeschlagenen Weg weiter, baut ihn aus, erweitert ihn. Vielleicht ist "Harmony In Ultraviolet" nicht so hart wie das letzte Album "Mirages", aber Stücke wie "Chimeras" sind nicht weniger eindrucksvoll. Sie berauschen und entziehen den Hörer der Realität. Epische, weite und hocheindrucksvolle sphärische Momente brillieren da. Sie zeigen Heckers grosses Talent für Klangforschungen im Bereich der "spektralen" Musik. Überhaupt, Tim Heckers Klangkompositionen bewegen sich wie auf einem Farbspektrum: immer wieder werden neue Facetten und Färbungen abgetastet und herauspoliert. Feinfühlig, sensibel ebenso wie kalt, dunkel und zerfahren. Doch einerseits klingen die 15 neuen Stücke auf "Harmony In Ultraviolet" so bedeutungsvoll und geladen, andererseits aber so leicht zugänglich, durchschaubar... und bedeutungslos? Wie steckt man den Rahmen ab wenn man Heckers Musik beschreiben soll? Tim Hecker bewegt sich auf einem Feld von Ambient, Drone, elektronischer Musik, Noise und einem gefühlsmässigen Metal. "Harmony In Ultraviolet" ist ein Herbstalbum und erscheint genau zur richtigen Zeit. Denn zusammengefasst klingt es einfach wie der Herbstwind in all seinen Daseinsformen." [Creative-Eclipse]
"Call Canadian Tim Hecker's fourth full-length release (and first for drone-oriented American label Kranky) "ambient for bombardiers." Like onetime-tourmates Isis, Hecker's focus is on the molten core of metal—the drones, distortions, compressed crunching, and industrial noises that course underneath its notes and riffs. Not surprisingly, one of his earliest releases deconstructed and distended Van Halen's "Ain't Talking 'Bout Love" to more ambient ends. The display of WWII-era portraiture on Harmony in Ultraviolet's cover suggests a cenotaph to downed pilots (in actuality it's an anti-fascist memorial), while the overhead shot of Bologna, Italy, on the interior forebodes the imminent firebombing. Hecker's focus, though, is on the interior of that flying fortress, a blurry suite of movements rife with churns and buzzes. At these stratospheric heights, the guitar's distinct qualities are made fuzzy and uncertain via laptop and digital effects. If you melted off the pop structure from My Bloody Valentine's Loveless with some molten magma, you'd have a good idea of Hecker's sound.
Flow is maintained throughout, as Tim Hecker apparently understands that ever-tricky notion of fluid dynamics. He breaks up motifs (see "Palimpsest") with churning ebbs and digressions but keeps together the pinnacle suite, "Whitecaps of White Noise." And while Hecker has always been an adept craftsman, Harmony reveals his mastery of the idiom. Washes now feel oceanic, as epic and evocative ripples take shape out of unplumbed depths of feedback and distorted peals." [Andy Beta]
"....Harmony is, paradoxically, Hecker's most dramatic and most oceanic record. The former implies twists, arc, and carefully planned change intended to evoke specific effects; the latter suggests stasis, immersion, and a state of dreamy contemplation. Harmony manages to be both these things by surprising as it mesmerizes, with Hecker reigning in or tempering any jarring effects just enough to keep the self-obliterating sense of endless drone intact. One key is that the tension never really dissipates, varying only in degree and quality. The opening "Rainbow Blood" sets the scene with a screeching and trebly drone, like an orchestra tuning up in the darkened theater where Rebecca del Rio performed in Mulholland Drive, and for the next 48 minutes, Harmony keeps the pulse elevated..." [Mark Richardson / Pitchforkmedia]
|
2006 |
€14.50 |
|
|
Ravedeath, 1972 |
CD |
"Tim Hecker's latest work approaches a form of secular musical transcendentalism from within the battered temple of spirituality. Recorded in a church in Reykjavik, Iceland and using a pipe organ as the primary sound source, this new piece is essentially a live recording. In reality, it exists in a nether world between captured live performance and meticulous studio work, melding the two approaches to sonic artifice as a unity. It is in parts a document of air circulating within a wooden room, and also a pagan work of physical resonance within a space once reserved for the hallowed breath of the divine. While the title of the piece 'Hatred of Music' might be a clue, the album is also partly an attempt to confront a pervasive negativity surrounding music. Historical rituals of destroying pianos, mountains of pirated CDRs pushed by bulldozers in Eastern Europe, or the melancholy of the digital music era began as sideline motifs which quickly informed the work on this record. They also really didn't at all. Despite that the context is wide open in such a form of musical abstraction, the substance of these immersive compositions showcases Hecker's continued mastery of organizing sound into a visceral near entity. It is an almost physical presence that the listener feels as much as hears. This work is a significant contribution to Hecker's oeuvre, one which spans over ten years of musical production. Ravedeath is an enigmatic document of beauty and force. The album was recorded mostly over the period of one day in July of 2010. Iceland-based musician Ben Frost assisted with the engineering and performs on this recording." [label info]
www.brainwashed.com/kranky
|
2011 |
€14.50 |
|
|
Love Streams |
do-LP |
"Zwischen Noise, Ambient und Minimal: Elektronische Musik, die in keine Schublade passt.
Für die Werke des Kanadiers Tim Hecker, der als einer der wichtigsten Musiker in der E-Musik-Szene gilt, eine Schublade zu finden, gleicht einer Herausforderung. Er selbst nennt seine Ergebnisse »fake church music« oder »neo metal drone«. Tatsächlich verbinden seine Sounds an der Schnittstelle von Melodie, Dissonanz und Lärm so ziemlich alles, was - vielleicht? - nicht zusammengehört, aber dennoch gut klingt.
Mal sind das Kirchenorgeln, mal Samples von Streichern, Pianos oder elektroakustischen Komponenten, die in eine rauschend-ozeanische Klangwelt ausufern: tiefgründig, majestätisch und eine Brücke zwischen Noise, Ambient und Minimal schlagend. »Love Streams« entstand Ende 2015, nachdem sich Hecker für längere Zeit nach Los Angeles bzw. zusammen mit Johan Johanssen und Ben Frost ins isländische Greenhouse Studio zurückgezogen hatte.
Das Album ist das vielleicht ambitionierteste Werk in der mittlerweile fünfzehnjährigen Schaffenszeit Heckers sowie ein konsequente Weiterentwicklung seiner Schlüsselwerke »Radio Amor«, »Harmony In Ultraviolet« und »Virgins«, die in den Jahren ihrer Veröffentlichung sowohl von Kritikern wie auch Fans jeweils in allerlei Bestenlisten gewählt wurden." [label info]
www.4ad.com
"Ah, Tim Hecker signs to 4AD. The modern-day maestro of digital etherealism recording for a label that was once defined by the siren-song haunt from Liz Frazer's voice and Robin Guthrie's guitar, with many a 4AD act through the '80s consciously or otherwise paralleling that aesthetic. Hecker's "power ambient" luminosity and the scope of his music continue to be very much his own, and this album seems all the more baroque and exaggerated than his previous spirals of pixelated noise and dusted drone. Much of the source material for Love Streams originated with the vocals from an Icelandic choir, whose melodies were arranged by Johann Johannsson. The content of the choir's plainsong may have begun with a 15th century score, with the lyrics reversed from the original Latin and then wholly obliterated into mere phonemes of language by Hecker. So, yeah, there's voice... but a voice that utters only its connection to humanity and not any philosophical musings. That task is for Tim Hecker and Tim Hecker alone, whose romantic crescendos of manipulated, re-manipulated, and lushly re-drafted electronic smear and pointillist melody is wrapped up in the tapestry of detail and a magnificent luxury of his surface. The compositions bluster and quiver as semi-gelatinous chunks of sound, rippling with somewhat extemporaneous electro-glockenspiel melody and Icelandic vocal deconstruction, all self-aware of their shimmering beauty." [Aquarius Rec.]
|
2016 |
€27.50 |
|
|
Love Streams |
CD |
"Zwischen Noise, Ambient und Minimal: Elektronische Musik, die in keine Schublade passt.
Für die Werke des Kanadiers Tim Hecker, der als einer der wichtigsten Musiker in der E-Musik-Szene gilt, eine Schublade zu finden, gleicht einer Herausforderung. Er selbst nennt seine Ergebnisse »fake church music« oder »neo metal drone«. Tatsächlich verbinden seine Sounds an der Schnittstelle von Melodie, Dissonanz und Lärm so ziemlich alles, was - vielleicht? - nicht zusammengehört, aber dennoch gut klingt.
Mal sind das Kirchenorgeln, mal Samples von Streichern, Pianos oder elektroakustischen Komponenten, die in eine rauschend-ozeanische Klangwelt ausufern: tiefgründig, majestätisch und eine Brücke zwischen Noise, Ambient und Minimal schlagend. »Love Streams« entstand Ende 2015, nachdem sich Hecker für längere Zeit nach Los Angeles bzw. zusammen mit Johan Johanssen und Ben Frost ins isländische Greenhouse Studio zurückgezogen hatte.
Das Album ist das vielleicht ambitionierteste Werk in der mittlerweile fünfzehnjährigen Schaffenszeit Heckers sowie ein konsequente Weiterentwicklung seiner Schlüsselwerke »Radio Amor«, »Harmony In Ultraviolet« und »Virgins«, die in den Jahren ihrer Veröffentlichung sowohl von Kritikern wie auch Fans jeweils in allerlei Bestenlisten gewählt wurden." [label info]
www.4ad.com
"Ah, Tim Hecker signs to 4AD. The modern-day maestro of digital etherealism recording for a label that was once defined by the siren-song haunt from Liz Frazer's voice and Robin Guthrie's guitar, with many a 4AD act through the '80s consciously or otherwise paralleling that aesthetic. Hecker's "power ambient" luminosity and the scope of his music continue to be very much his own, and this album seems all the more baroque and exaggerated than his previous spirals of pixelated noise and dusted drone. Much of the source material for Love Streams originated with the vocals from an Icelandic choir, whose melodies were arranged by Johann Johannsson. The content of the choir's plainsong may have begun with a 15th century score, with the lyrics reversed from the original Latin and then wholly obliterated into mere phonemes of language by Hecker. So, yeah, there's voice... but a voice that utters only its connection to humanity and not any philosophical musings. That task is for Tim Hecker and Tim Hecker alone, whose romantic crescendos of manipulated, re-manipulated, and lushly re-drafted electronic smear and pointillist melody is wrapped up in the tapestry of detail and a magnificent luxury of his surface. The compositions bluster and quiver as semi-gelatinous chunks of sound, rippling with somewhat extemporaneous electro-glockenspiel melody and Icelandic vocal deconstruction, all self-aware of their shimmering beauty." [Aquarius Rec.]
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
No Highs |
do-LP |
"The latest by Canadian composer Tim Hecker serves as a beacon of unease against the deluge of false positive corporate ambient currently in vogue. Whether taken as warning or promise, No Highs delivers -- this is music of austerity and ambiguity, purgatorial and seasick. A jagged anti-relaxant for our medicated age, rough-hewn and undefined. Morse code pulse programming flickers like distress signals while a gathering storm of strings, noise, and low-end looms in the distance. Processed electronics shiver and shudder against pitch-shifting assemblages of crackling voltage, mantric horns (including exquisite modal sax by Colin Stetson), and cathedral keys. Throughout, the pieces both accrue and avoid drama, more attuned to undertow than crescendo. Hecker mentions \'negation\' as a muse of sorts -- the sense of tumult without bombast, tethered ecstasies, an escape from escapism. His is an antagonism both brusque and beguiling, devoid of resolution, beckoning the listener ever deeper into its greyscale alchemies of magisterial disquiet.
https://timhecker.bandcamp.com/album/no-highs
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The veteran ambient musician pushes back at the hollowing out of the form with a burly, physically imposing release peppered with moments of gentle beauty.
Ambient music is in crisis. Passive listening is no longer an alternative or fringe idea but the model on which the entire streaming industry is built. YouTube radio stations guarantee hours of chilled-out, challenge-free audio, and albums on Spotify fade into endless loops of sound-alikes. How to preserve the tradition of thoughtfully made ambient music in a market inundated with corporate-friendly fluff, or to convince listeners of the importance of artistic vision when an AI program can churn out a perfectly good drone? On No Highs, a self-described “beacon of unease against the deluge of false positive corporate ambient,” Tim Hecker gives his answer.
The Canadian musician’s first album in four years isn’t a grouchy get-off-my-lawn statement, nor is it an abrasive audience-thinner like Vladislav Delay’s Rakka. In fact, it’s less confrontational than a lot of Hecker’s albums, even ones that don’t seem intended to be difficult, like his recent experiments in Japanese gagaku music Konoyo and Anoyo. What No Highs argues for instead is the importance of a wizard behind the curtain. The album is strongest when it makes you aware of the artist’s invisible presence, standing behind the scenes and summoning thunder and lightning at will, playing the audience like the director of a good thriller.
The most satisfying passage comes less than two and a half minutes in. “Monotony” begins with one of the many Morse code-like, single-note sequencer patterns we’ll hear throughout. Atop that, Hecker creates a wilderness of sirens and street sweepers that begin to slow and morph into grand minor chords. Then—here is the moment—Hecker introduces the magisterial growl of a church organ, blowing the track’s low end wide open with vivid color and high drama. It’s a sound he’s used many times over, and it comes across here as a personal stamp, like Shinichi Atobe’s echoing piano or GAS’s kick drum. It’s his way of saying, You are listening to a Tim Hecker album, a reminder that this stuff couldn’t be made by just anyone.
No Highs can be physically discomforting to listen to, not because it’s particularly noisy or dissonant but because it seems to consciously resist syncing with the bodily rhythms of the listener. “In Your Mind” introduces a throbbing sequencer pattern in its first few seconds, but Hecker keeps slowing it down and speeding it up, fading it in out, preventing the brain from getting a foothold. Saxophonist Colin Stetson appears throughout the album, exhibiting his usual burly, physical approach to his instrument. As he commences his endless runs on “Monotony II,” the clack of his keys clear as day, the listener might actually find themselves contracting their lungs in sympathy with his gobstopping breath control. This music is not going to align with your chakras.
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But No Highs can be beautiful in passing, and its last 10 minutes are devoted to two remarkable tracks that conjure the spirit of ambient’s early years. Mewling steel guitars make “Sense Suppression” a cousin of Daniel Lanois’ work on Brian Eno’s Apollo, a ghost of a country song drifting on the wind. “Living Spa Water,” meanwhile, is based on a metallic twinkle reminiscent of Laraaji’s zither, even if Hecker undergirds it with big synth blats that that gentle soul would probably find disquieting. These two tracks nod to ambient as a tradition—a noun rather than an adjective.
For a state-of-the-genre address like this to work, the music has to present a viable alternative to whatever it’s railing against, and the physicality of Hecker’s approach allows the music greater range and freedom than if it were merely trying to set a mood. But Hecker’s primary concern here appears to be staking out a certain patch of turf rather than experimenting or expanding the possibilities of his music, and he shies away from extremes. No Highs is muted in comparison to the Gothic grandeur of Harmony in Ultraviolet, the buffeting noise of Ravedeath, 1972, the thorny ruggedness of the underloved An Imaginary Country. But Hecker’s title seems to already anticipate this criticism, and No Highs ultimately works as an example of what ambient music can be, rather than a suggestion of where it might go.
[ Daniel Bromfield / Pitchfork ]
|
2023 |
€32.50 |
|
| HEGRE, JOHN |
Colors Don't Clash |
CD |
"Hegre ist vermutlich bekannt durch sein projekt Jazkamer mit Lasse Marhaug und ihr famoses Album "Metal Music Machine" von letztem Jahr. Der Opener seines Solo-Albums "Don't" aber läßt aufschrecken: die 1003. Gitarren-Ick-hab-auch-Laptop-CD? Schnell wird jedoch im Verlauf des Albums klar, dass Hegre wesentlich besser wird, wenn es ums Aneinanderreihen der schnellen und eher kaputten Sounds geht. Vornehmlich produziert mit Gitarre, Drums, Bass und Digitalität schert sich der Norweger um keine Vorgaben und kappt schnell die laut stehenden Wände dreckiger Schwärze mit Orgeldrone und Schattenmond ("They"). "Never" erinnert leider etwas zu stark an Earth und bleibt seltsam unkräftig und eindimensional, "Do" schabt sich durch kantige Rothko-Referenzen und schwappt in ein vergnügtes Ende mit palawernden Kids. Durchwachsen, verspielt, ernsthaft und im Grunde spannend, da von Hegre mit Sicherheit noch richtig gute Alben kommen werden." [ed **** DEBUG]
"...On his debut release, Hegre plays guitar, like he used to do before turning all things laptop. It seems as if Hegre wants to convince us that he knows how to play the thing, since it starts out with a rather soft and sweet multi layered guitar piece of gentle guitar sounds. However Jazkamer fans shouldn't worry: noise is here too, just as in 'Worry', 'They' and 'Never' (the five pieces read as 'Don't Worry They Never Do' as a response to the title of the CD - all to be said by Snakefinger in an interview in 1987 just before he died), both of which die out in a very slow manner. Hegre's version of a blues piece closes the CD and that is the only piece in which there is an actual band playing, including bass, drums and Tore Boe and family on vocals. 'Worry' is for me the best piece, since it combines in a single tracks various approaches, but make throughout a great piece of music. Hegre shows us all the possibilities of the guitar as an instrument, or perhaps, his instrument, and as such he produced a pretty varied album, but we can wonder if it's perhaps not a bit too varied. One could wonder: what does Hegre want with this? A display of his no doubt great skills, but the coherency of the album is somewhat gone. But fans of Jazkamer, once again, will pleased with this." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2006 |
€10.00 |
|
| HEIRS |
Alchera |
LP |
"... Durch die bereits angesprochene Monotonie bekommen die Lieder eine wirklich unaussprechliche Brachialität verliehen, die aber nie auszubrechen droht, wie zum Beispiel ähnlich gelagerte Bands wie Pelican oder Explosions in the Sky. Auch verzichten die HEIRS komplett auf Gesang oder orchestrale Untermalungen, und so stehen sie mit ihrem kargem und brachialem, aber dennoch wahnsinnig emotionalen Sound so ziemlich alleine da. Spiralförmig ziehen die sechs Songs den Hörer immer tiefer in ein anderes Universum, lassen ihn dann wieder fallen, geben aber durch die stets aufkommenden und zutiefst befreienden Melodiebögen eine Hoffnung preis, die man so kaum gehört haben dürfte. Die HEIRS schaffen mit ihrem Debüt "Alchera" einen Postrock-Meilenstein, der sich vom Einheitsbrei stark abhebt, spielen mit dem Hörer ihr ganz eigenes Spiel, der nach dem letzten Song, dem ambienten "Russia" in einer Trance zurück gelassen wird, die er so schnell nicht vergisst. Natürlich wird "Alchera" vielen Leuten vor den Kopf stoßen, das ist ein ganz eigenes Universum, und lässt sich mit keiner Band aus diesem Genre vergleichen. Dabei haben die hier enthaltenen 45 Minuten Musik viel mehr, als man von einer Post–Band erwarten dürfte. Ein wirklich bemerkenswertes Debüt, das nicht nur frischen Wind mit sich bringt, sondern die neuen Scheiben von MONO, PELICAN und Co ganz klar hinter sich lässt. Eine wunderschöne Aufmachung gibt es obendrauf. Alles richtig gemacht." [In-Your-Face]
"Heirs is the marriage of dark and light. The pain and hopelessness of addiction vs the elation of freedom. The name Heirs originates from an ideal of "hunting and gathering" musical ideas, and formulating these ideas into an improved version. To write music without paying some sort of tribute to the artists influencing your everyday subconsciousness is a dishonest practice. The name stands as a allegory - to be the Heirs of a musical history and to expand on this, becoming a part of history themselves. Heirs began as a solo project by Damian Coward (Maps, Love Like... Electrocution) in late 2006, founded by a importunity to create a personal sound and direction. Heirs expanded its lineup during 2008 and consists of Brent Stegeman (Whitehorse, Love Like... Electrocution) and Ian Jackson (Damn Arms) on guitars, Laura Bradfield on bass and Coward on drums.
Heirs' debut full-length "Alchera" is a 43 minute movement of oppressive instrumental power, cyclic ritualism and bleak hallucinogenic revelation. Recorded at Head Gap Studios by Neil Thomason in the heat waves of Melbourne in January 2009 and mastered by James Plotkin (Isis, Khanate, Burning Witch), the 6 pieces recorded capture the band's live volume - a blanket of sound traversing a rolling dynamic landscape. Drawing influence from Michael Gira and his Swans legacy, the sledgehammer riffs and industrial pummel of Godflesh, and continuing Stegeman's incense shrouded low-end incantations from his work with doom dealers Whitehorse, combined with Jackson's reverb-soaked noise, Alchera strips bare the needless excesses of post-rock and heavy metal in favour of something much more concise and affecting. A lurching, drugged-out specter - holding solace in one hand, and vengeance in the other. From the seething metallic buzz and bluster of the opening track "Plague Asphyx", through to the crowning low-end droning turbulence of "Russia", the recording is an archetype for an existence shrouded in confusion, joy, disappointment and addiction. Heirs are touring Nationally throughout Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Europe/UK for the rest of 2009. Dates can be found on their website - www.heirs.com.au." [label info]
www.denovali.com
|
2009 |
€18.00 |
|
| |
Fowl |
CD |
"Upon returning to Melbourne after 67 shows across Europe and Japan, Heirs commenced work on their second album, Fowl. With the baton of core song-writing being handed from drummer Damian Coward to guitarist, Brent Stegeman, Heirs turned their attention toward their electronic underbelly, honing in on the industrial vapour and blackened ambience that
permeated their debut, Alchera, distilling the underlying sense of melody with an arresting sense of dread. Fowl displays a deliberate shift towards a broader sonic palette, enabling the band to incorporate disparate inuences and approaches to create a sound that is uniquely their own.
Fowl deals with the human processing of the ornery – the filth we feed upon to entertain us, to sate our hunger, to gratify our sexual desires, to escape our reality or simply to facilitate our survival. Fowl is an exploration of the consumption of filth, the nourishment it provides and the way we excrete it back into the world, calling into question the notion of morality and its place in an increasingly faithless populace.
From wheezing blasts of industrial steam to weeping passages of gothic suspense, Fowl is a fully realised analysis of the repugnant. Its pugilistic rhythmic foundation, reverb soaked guitars, crackling electronics and deadpan dark-wave meditation create an abstract dronescape of industrial dirge and metallic ambience coalesced into an ambitious whole.
Recorded and mixed by Neil Thomason at Head Gap in June/July 2010, and produced by Brent Stegeman and Damian Coward, Fowl is a 45-minute journey inside the proverbial machine and represents a band confronting the visual and aural atrocities of the quotidian.
The VINYL VERSION comes with a fantastic design in three different colors (white with yellow, Black/Yellow - A Side / B Side, Black) in a heavy gatefold sleeves with thick printed inner sleeves and on 180g. The CD is available as a limited card pack. For fans of Swans, Controlled Bleeding, HTRK, Pelican, Godflesh & Nadja." [label info]
www.denovali.com
|
2010 |
€14.50 |
|
| HELICE PIED |
Conduit No. 2 |
7 |
Debut-Release von HELICE PIED, nach einer Namensumwandlung aus NIXILX.NIJILX hervorgegangen. "Intelligent Drone" aus nicht-elektronischen Quellen gesponnen, die Cover-Artwork verwendet vielfältige aufeinanderbezogene Symbole und versteckte Bedeutungen... weisses Vinyl, gold-farben bemalte schwarze Cover.
"HELICE PIED is a newcomer from Athens, Greece, who had a few outstanding releases before under the nom de plume NIXILX.NIJILX, but for this very first vinyl release a new project-name was chosen. #Conduit No.2# is a perfect example of sensibly spun experimental drone, floating waves with metallic tinkling-sounds slowly approaching and disappearing again, soft white noise-swooshes circulating widely around an invisible center... sound-sources are hardly recognizable (coming from concrete sounds of churchbells and e-guitar), the atmosphere rising is one of quietness & meditation, able to transcend your mind. All words & symbols HELICE PIED uses (see inlay & cover-structure & endgroove) have a strong structural and inter-related meaning...Filed under: hologram-drones. BLACK COVERS WITH HANDPAINTED GOLDEN COCK & CHURCH BELLS ON IT"
[press release]
|
2006 |
€7.00 |
|
| HELM |
Silencer |
mini-LP |
"Luke Younger’s PAN debut Impossible Symmetry was a clear highlight of last year’s experimental crop, and with its airy blend of noise, drone and psychedelia summed up to many listeners exactly what had been missing from the scene for so long.
Now Younger is set to return with a brand new Helm 12″, and it looks to capitalize on his new found notoriety and the worldwide appreciation for his earth-shaking live performances. Silencer is a split release between PAN and Younger’s own Alter imprint, and explores markedly different territory from its predecessor, welding together collapsing acoustic drum rhythms with squealing oscillator blasts and ominous chimes." [label info]
www.pan-act.com
"Luke Younger aka Helm follows-up last year's widely acclaimed 'Impossible Symmetry' album with four tracks of eldritch electronics and cranky drums crafted in its wake. Helm's rhythmic tracks have always struck us most, so its to our dark pleasure that he's worked further on that tilt with 'Silencer', conjuring alchemical reactions between autistic, brittle-boned percussions and uncompromisingly noxious atmospheres which make most other "dark"-dwelling artists seem pseudo in comparison. Informed by a taste for the most decrepit, cruddy tone and poised with a steadfast, stare-down glower, he hoofs clods of flinty drums comparable with the recent Wolf Eyes sound against oppressive atmospheres redolent of Kevin Drumm's 'Imperial Distortion' on 'Silencer', and slowly sinks into boggy marshland ambience under the peal of sustained foghorn brass performed by John Hannon ov Liberez in 'Mirrored Palms'. Flipside, 'Bergamo' inhabits a claggy tunnel of effluent, roiling drums and marrow-freezing atmospheres, and our favourite, 'The Haze' epitomises the EP's strange sense of detachment with insectoid, mechanical percussions and field recordings diffused to a visceral yet spacious sort of para-dimensional dread. You're best seeing this EP as a companion piece to 'Impossible Symmetry', - it's just as heavy and equally frightening." [Boomkat]
|
2013 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
Impasse |
LP |
"Impasse is a sideways journey into the archives of London-based artist Luke Younger, a.k.a. Helm. Conceived six years ago in the wake of a Birds of Delay tour, the album originally saw the light of day in an abridged version as a mini-CDR on the Low Point label in 2008. This remastered and expanded reissue has the two original tracks along with two others from the same sessions that remained unmixed until a couple of years ago. Impasse appears as somewhat of an anomaly in the Helm canon when viewed alongside recent live performances and his work for labels like Pan and Kye. Where other works explore the mystery inherent in everyday sounds and acoustic phenomena, Impasse is significantly brighter in tone. Consisting of four loop-based pieces, the record invokes the same fantastic worlds found in Terry Riley’s or Boyd Rice’s early ambient pieces. Picture a functional family vacation, an explorer at the apex of his endeavors, a 4:00 AM drinking session with new liquids discovered. Bright corners, euphoric angles and ecstatic drones come together for an emotionally charged high that reflects these unique moments in the human experience. The beauty of Helm lies in its implacable curiosity, the way his music observes the current state of being. Released in a limited edition with artwork by Graham Lambkin, Impasse is another sublime offering from one of the UK’s sharpest cats." [label info]
|
2014 |
€15.00 |
|
| HENNIES, NICK |
Work |
CD |
"Nick Hennies makes music from work - and work into music. Simply put, work is process and one of Hennies' goals as a composer is to shape the possibilities of a given instrument as well as its sonic imprint. The result is austere, lyrical solo percussion music that focuses on resonance, natural overtones, room acoustics and slowly developing structure. As Hennies' art matures, it has become clearer and more refined, whether appearing to be finely tuned adjustments to previous approaches or something altogether unheard. Hennies now lives in Ithaca, New York, though he was based in Austin, Texas for many years, where he was a member of the Austin New Music Co-Op and played drums in doom-folk outfit The Weird Weeds. Work is Hennies' latest release and first for the revamped Quakebasket label and it consists of two pieces. The first is a ten-minute solo vibraphone piece called 'Settle,' which as it evolves, brings out electrifying resonances that evoke the early piano music of Charlemagne Palestine or even the lush dogma of Brian Eno and Michael Nyman. Hennies has famously explored the shapely vibrational properties of woodblocks, making them truly sing in a way that few Western percussionist-composers have, so it should be no surprise that his coaxing of metal lamellae, cylinders and sustain pedal would result in a panoply of interlocking and unfolding shapes. These shapes are patently the result of refined action - striking, damping, and measuring intervals - but reducing their behavior to stimulus and response oversimplifies the comely beauty that his instrument produces. The bulk of Work is made up of the forty minute 'Expenditures,' which shows a side of Hennies' compositional strategy for ensemble (something that's been emerging gradually on recent releases). His vibraphone is joined by several Austin new music regulars, including bassists Ingebrigt HŒker Flaten (The Thing, The Young Mothers, Scorch Trio) and Brent Fariss, drummer Chris Cogburn, clarinetist Jon Doyle, trombonist Steve Parker, and violinist Travis Weller, with the horns and strings also doubling on percussion in the piece's closing minutes. As Hennies puts it, 'the goal of the piece is for the musicians to play sustained tones on the same pitches as the vibraphone and then eventually to play 'work music,' where the players each come up with their own phrase to be repeated until the end of the piece. 'Though the first fifteen minutes are rooted in gently nattering repetition and the ghostly shapes that emerge from ringing sustained drones, the ensemble's whispers at first seem to follow suit before their weight vis-à-vis personality emerges rather quickly. Thus, while initially this music might seem to espouse the arid mathematics of minimalism (albeit with rare poiesis), the individualism of each player as an improviser within a surprisingly unruly collective vision emerges. The effect is something like Gunter Hampel's Galaxie Dream Band playing Terry Riley's In C. Though far from a traditional avant-garde improviser and avowedly distant from free jazz, it's entirely fair to place Hennies' piece within the pantheon of conducted/directed improvisation from such minds as Laurie Scott Baker, John Stevens, Gavin Bryars and Radu Malfatti. As Hennies said in a 2011 interview with online journal Ni Kantu, 'What I really want to do is harness my natural inclinations rather than decide to 'do' certain things, and that's why there's a wide variety of music that I've put out recently. I'm a little self conscious that I have music that doesn't sound like it was made by the same person, but I would like to think that over several years there would be a palpable connection between these things. I would like to create a body of work that gives one an example of where I was at certain points, and this is one of the biggest influences I got from John Duncan, where he says that 'all of my work is about self-discovery and trying to learn about [himself].' As singular as Work may appear, it is a fascinating outgrowth from a decade-strong book of generative themes and processes, all reflecting on a committed, physical engagement with the implements of sound production." [label info]
"Percussion player Hennies belongs currently to one of my favoured minimalist composers. His pieces are deceivingly simple and highly hypnotic. So far, I think, the pieces I heard from him where solo pieces, for such instruments as snare drum and vibraphone, but here we have two pieces, one for solo instrument and one for small ensemble. In the solo piece 'Settle' Hennies has a multi-track recording of him playing the vibraphone in his 'usual' style. Stead fast with overtones ringing through. Maybe there is some sort of post-production in this music? Like out of phase placing of the various layers? Maybe, but I doubt that. It sounds more like an exercise in controlling the instrument and various ways to play the same thing over and over. Over the course of the ten pieces the piece gradually dies out, and reaches no particular place in nowhere land.
The small ensemble piece is called 'Expenditures' and is for percussion, sine waves, clarinet, contrabass, vibraphone, trombone and violin, in which Hennies himself plays the vibraphone. This piece starts out, for a long time, to be a piece for vibraphone solo again, or so it seems, but the sine waves play very nicely along and gradually the piece seems to be falling apart - like in 'Settle', dying out - and the ensemble takes over. A very spacious piece of music then evolves - seemingly out of nowhere, seemingly going nowhere. But it keeps unfolding. One could think this was improvised rather than composed but what do I know? Maybe it's somewhere in between? The instruments bending forever, making small gestures, plucking strings, maybe with objects and all such like. It has that jazz like feel, like that recent release by The Necks, but also electro-acoustic and modern classical. It's perhaps not something I would expect from him, but it sounds no less great!" [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| HENNIX, CATHERINE CHRISTER |
Solo for Tamburium |
do-LP |
The fourth release in Blank Forms Editions’s initiative to chart the ever-expanding musical practice of Catherine Christer Hennix, Solo for Tamburium captures the composer’s most recent major work. Hennix plays an instrument of her own creation, a keyboard interface controlling a suite of eighty-eight recordings of precision-tuned tambura, creating a sweeping and continuous flow of rich harmonic interplay. This piece, documented in Berlin at MaerzMusik 2017, carefully draws upon the fundamental perceptual effects of sound, forming an exacting and cathartic electronic drone. Densely-layered timbral textures and continuous overtone collisions create a maze-like sonic landscape, thrusting the listener into what Hennix calls divine equilibrium or a distinctionless state of being.
Since the late 1960s, Hennix has created a massive and innovative body of work spanning minimal music, computer programming, poetry, sculpture, and light art—pushing the technical and conceptual boundaries of these media toward singular ends. She was part of the downtown music school in New York and has worked extensively with some of its key figures, including Henry Flynt and La Monte Young. In the ’70s, Hennix studied the nature and use of harmonic sound as a disciple of Pandit Pran Nath, a master of the Kirana tradition of classical Hindustani music. The exceptionally designed tamburas of Pran Nath were central to her intensive investigations, as was the devotional practice of carefully tuning and sounding the instruments in a continuous and even flow—both have guided her work with sound ever since.
In 1976, at Stockholm’s Moderna Museet, Hennix presented a pair of groundbreaking works that came to define her ensuing practice. With the Deontic Miracle—a group composed of Hennix, her brother Peter, and the Swedish percussionist Hans Isgren—she performed a series of modal compositions for Renaissance oboes, sheng, and harmonic feedback distortion. On this same occasion she premiered an equally significant body of solo work for keyboard, including the only public presentation of The Electric Harpsichord (1976), a piece that marks the beginning of Hennix’s characteristic style of playing, where dense sonic textures gradually emerge from the multilayered interplay of harmonic construction and dissolution.
Solo for Tamburium represents a pointed revisitation of her endeavor to map the non-gravitational harmonics of modal musics—among them raga, maqam, and the blues—onto a tuned keyboard. Since the debut of this piece in 2017 she has continued to develop the work, reshaping and presenting it in a variety of contexts, including at Blank Forms in New York and the Bourse de Commerce — Pinault Collection in Paris in 2022. For Hennix, to approach modality as a dynamic process is ultimately a contemplative practice. Through it, embodied attunement to harmonic vibration gives rise to epistemically transformative states, opening new ways of knowing and being.
https://blankformseditions.bandcamp.com/album/solo-for-tamburium
https://blankformseditions.bandcamp.com/album/solo-for-tamburium
|
2023 |
€38.50 |
|
| |
Solo for Tamburium |
CD |
The fourth release in Blank Forms Editions’s initiative to chart the ever-expanding musical practice of Catherine Christer Hennix, Solo for Tamburium captures the composer’s most recent major work. Hennix plays an instrument of her own creation, a keyboard interface controlling a suite of eighty-eight recordings of precision-tuned tambura, creating a sweeping and continuous flow of rich harmonic interplay. This piece, documented in Berlin at MaerzMusik 2017, carefully draws upon the fundamental perceptual effects of sound, forming an exacting and cathartic electronic drone. Densely-layered timbral textures and continuous overtone collisions create a maze-like sonic landscape, thrusting the listener into what Hennix calls divine equilibrium or a distinctionless state of being.
Since the late 1960s, Hennix has created a massive and innovative body of work spanning minimal music, computer programming, poetry, sculpture, and light art—pushing the technical and conceptual boundaries of these media toward singular ends. She was part of the downtown music school in New York and has worked extensively with some of its key figures, including Henry Flynt and La Monte Young. In the ’70s, Hennix studied the nature and use of harmonic sound as a disciple of Pandit Pran Nath, a master of the Kirana tradition of classical Hindustani music. The exceptionally designed tamburas of Pran Nath were central to her intensive investigations, as was the devotional practice of carefully tuning and sounding the instruments in a continuous and even flow—both have guided her work with sound ever since.
In 1976, at Stockholm’s Moderna Museet, Hennix presented a pair of groundbreaking works that came to define her ensuing practice. With the Deontic Miracle—a group composed of Hennix, her brother Peter, and the Swedish percussionist Hans Isgren—she performed a series of modal compositions for Renaissance oboes, sheng, and harmonic feedback distortion. On this same occasion she premiered an equally significant body of solo work for keyboard, including the only public presentation of The Electric Harpsichord (1976), a piece that marks the beginning of Hennix’s characteristic style of playing, where dense sonic textures gradually emerge from the multilayered interplay of harmonic construction and dissolution.
Solo for Tamburium represents a pointed revisitation of her endeavor to map the non-gravitational harmonics of modal musics—among them raga, maqam, and the blues—onto a tuned keyboard. Since the debut of this piece in 2017 she has continued to develop the work, reshaping and presenting it in a variety of contexts, including at Blank Forms in New York and the Bourse de Commerce — Pinault Collection in Paris in 2022. For Hennix, to approach modality as a dynamic process is ultimately a contemplative practice. Through it, embodied attunement to harmonic vibration gives rise to epistemically transformative states, opening new ways of knowing and being.
https://blankformseditions.bandcamp.com/album/solo-for-tamburium
|
2023 |
€16.50 |
|
| HENNIX, CATHERINE CRISTER (THE DEONTIC MIRACLE) |
Central Palace Music (from 100 Model Subjects for Hegikan Roku) |
CD |
"Central Palace Music, performed by Catherine Christer Hennix's just-intonation ensemble The Deontic Miracle, is the first in a series of archival Hennix releases to be issued via IMPREC. This previously unheard piece was taken from an eight day festival organized in the Spring of 1976 at the Museum of Modern Art in Stockholm. The group features Catherine Christer Hennix on Renaissance oboe and custom sinewave generators, Peter Hennix on Renaissance oboe and Hans Isgren on sheng.
Central Palace Music is packaged in a deluxe letterpressed package and is being released at the same time as a recent recording of Hennix's new ensemble live at Issue Project Room.
"...Hennix has created a sound that reliably taps into our subconscious and frees us from linear time..." The Quietus
Catherine Christer Hennix (1948, Stockholm) is an artist, poet, composer and philosopher with a strong interest in logic and formal music theory. She was among the pioneers in Sweden experimenting with main-frame computer generated composite sound wave forms in the late 1960's and in the 1970's she was a key protagonist in the Downtown School along with La Monte Young and Henry Flynt, with whom she has collaborated with on numerous occasions. She pursued studies with raga master Pandit Pran Nath and led the just intonation live-electronic ensembles Hilbert Hotel and The Deontic Miracle, the recordings of the latter are presently being released by Important Records. She was a professor of mathematics and computer science and assistant to and coauthor with A.S. Esenin-Volpin for which she was given the Centenary Prize Fellow Award by the Clay Mathematics Insitute in 2000. Hennix's interest in drone music and the meditative, trance-like state it induces is apparent in her exploration of similar music in many other cultures and traditions, drawing inspiration from the Japanese Gagaku music and the early, vocal, thirteenth-century music of Perotinus and Leoninus, for example.
In 2003 she returned to computer generated composite sound wave forms now called Soliton(e)s of which Soliton(e) Star was the first result. Subsequently she formed the just intonation ensemble The Choras(s)an Time-Court Mirage which performs Blues Dhikir al- Salam (Live at the Grimmuseum, vol. 1, Berlin, 2011, Important Records 2012). In 2012 Henry Flynt asked Hennix for a new, expanded realization of ISE for an installation at ZKM in Karlsruhe, Germany, to be featured in his retrospective/ prospective show Henry Flynt Activities 1959 – at ZKM. In response Hennix realized a 4-channel composition, Rag Infinity/Rag Cosmosis, her first 4-channel computer assisted composition since 1969." [label info]
www.importantrecords.com
|
2016 |
€19.50 |
|
| HENRIKSEN, ARVE |
The Nature of Connections |
LP + CD |
"The Nature Of Connections" almost entirely features pieces composed by Arve’s collaborators. Recorded in the sparkling acoustic of Oslo’s legendary Rainbow Studio by Jan Erik Kongshaug, it’s an album with closer ties to Nordic folk and contemporary, minimalist chamber music than any of Arve’s previous releases. At the same time it features some of the most melodic and seductive music he has recorded. The trumpeter had planned to make an album with a string quartet for many years but never quite found the right formula. Finally, a special commissioned tour brought him together with violinists Nils Økland and Gjermund Larsen, cellist Svante Henryson and double bassist Mats Eilertsen, all of whom now appear as the central planks in "The Nature Of Connections". Another welcome guest is drummer Audun Kleive, veteran of Norwegian jazz ensembles including Oslo 13, JøKleBa!, Generator X, Terje Rypdal and Jon Balke.
Seit 2001 hat er eine Reihe von exquisite Soloaufnahmen aufgenommen, die elektronische Texturen, Holzbläser, ethnische Instrumente, Percussion, Keyboards und seine traurige, sehnsuchtsvolle Stimme vereinen. Die Musik von ARVE HENRIKSEN zeigt gleichzeitig die atemberaubende Schönheit der unberührten Natur und die sich stetig verändernde kosmopolitische Umwelt des postmodernen Reisenden. ,The Nature Of Connections" ist das neueste Glied in einer sich stetig weiterentwickelnden Kette. Dies ist sein erstes akustisches Album, das sich um vier großartige Streicher rankt und mit einigen seiner wärmsten und organischsten Tracks aufwartet. Aufgenommen mit Jan Erik Kongshaug in der kristallklaren Akustik des legendären Rainbow Studios in Stockholm ist ,The Nature Of Connections" Jazz mit einer engen Verbindung zur nordischen Folklore und der zeitgenössischen minimalistischen Kammermusik. Arve Henriksen - trumpet, piccolo trumpet, piano, Nils Okland - violin, Hardanger fiddle, viola d'amore, Svante Henryson - cello, Gjermund Larsen - violin, Hardanger fiddle, Mats Eilertsen - double bass, Audun Kleive - drums"
www.runegrammofon.com/artists/arve_henriksen/rcd2161-arve-henriksen-the-nature-of-connections-cd-lp/
|
2014 |
€25.00 |
|
| HENRY COW |
Ex Box Collected Fragments 1971-1978 |
CD |
"EX BOX is a free bonus CD issued to subscribers to the Henry Cow Box Redux and is NOT FOR GENERAL SALE."
Limited edition of 250.
However, ReR Megacorp also made this CD available for separate purchase. Copies sold to non-subscribers were not numbered.
● 1 : 1971 recorded in Cambridge
● 2 & 3 : remixes done at Cold Storage in Brixton for the first CD reissue of 'Legend' on the Minneapolis label East Side Digital in 1991.
● 4, 5, 6 & 7 : taken from a concert at the Theatre Royal, Sheffield on June 9, 1974. Rescued from an otherwise unidentified cassette.
● 8 : from the 1976 quartet tour of Scandinavia. From an otherwise unidentified cassette.
● 9 : extracted from material generated while working on side two of Unrest, and appeared as a bonus track on the ESD reissue. Recorded at The Manor, probably between the 14th and 28th February 1974.
● 10 and 11 were gleaned from one of the few surviving Orckestra recordings. Taken from an unidentified cassette. [was previously available on a bonus mini-CD given to subscribers of The Henry Cow Facsimile Box.]
● 12, 13, 14 : recorded in January 1978 at Sunrise in Switzerland. They weren't use for future Henry Cow releases, but later appeared on the ReR reissue of Western Culture as bonus tracks. [actually tracks 12 & 13 were also released as early as 1982 on Recommended Records Sampler].
● 15, 16, 17 : recorded on 20th February, 1977 at the TeatroOlimpico in Parma. Mastered from a cassette.
Assembled by Chris Cutler, then improved and mastered at Studio Midi-Pyrenees by Bob Drakein October 2019.
|
2019 |
€15.00 |
|
| HEROIN IN TAHITI |
Casilina Tapes 2010 - 2017 |
LP |
"Hailing from Rome, cult duo Heroin in Tahiti fuse analogue synths, garage-y guitars and skittering drum machines to gloriously lo-fi effect. This collection of previously unreleased tracks covers material recorded in their studio from a 7-year period. Their unique psychedelic vision touches on everything from beat poetry, house music and Ennio Morricone soundtracks." [Norman Records]
"Heroin In Tahiti is a duo from Rome, Italy hailing from the Roma Est scene, a sort of local community based in the crumbling and deteriorated neighborhoods which were already eternalized by Pasolini and Neorealist Cinema (think of Pasolini, De Sica, Visconti, etc.) The duo plays a variety of cheap guitars, analog synths, drum machines, and pedals, achieving a dirtiness which is tragically lo-fi and out-of-time at the same time: a "Spaghetti Wasteland", as they call it. In 2012 they released on Boring Machines their debut album Death Surf, a title which spoke for the music played on the record. The label said of the album: "Think of drinking a frozen daiquiri on a solitary beach while watching a poorly tuned TV broadcasting loops of If You Meet Sartana Pray for Your Death (1968), while Mururoa tests are happening at the horizon." When mentioning Italian occult psychedelia, Heroin In Tahiti seems the best choice to sum up the sound and the references that stay at the core of this all-Italian scene. With albums like the mammoth double LP Sun And Violence (2015), the minimalist Canicola (2014) and the monolithic Remoria (GRA 001LP, 2017), Heroin In Tahiti became a cult band for their particular signature. Casilina Tapes 2010-2017 is the latest (and probably last) output from the cult Italian duo. It's a collection of unreleased tracks recorded in their basement studio in Rome in the last seven years while building up their thematic albums. The label listened to the single tracks at once and they found out there's a coherence between them even if they have been created in different periods. Actually, they show a coherence that only Heroin In Tahiti, with their kaleidoscopic vision of how Italy secretly sounds, can properly conjure up. Boring Machines calls it "total music". You may find elements which reminds of long lost Morriconian soundtracks for cheap westerns or giallos, library music to accompany documentaries on Superstudio radical architecture, urban tribalism, beat poetry festivals on the seashore, and house music. Recorded in Rome, 2010-2017. Artwork by Francesco de Figueiredo. Screen printed covers by Legno, Milano." [label info]
|
2018 |
€20.00 |
|
| HET ZWEET |
2XLIVE88 |
CD |
"Strictly from a personal perspective, it is great to see renewed interest in Het Zweet. I think that interest started when Staalplaat released an expanded version of Het Zweet's only LP (see Vital Weekly 1343), which Klanggalerie released on CD. A label from Greece, Modal Analysis, released a double LP with archival work, judging the content pieces from compilations and some previously unreleased work, plus a 1984 live recording. I haven't heard this one, but today, there is a CD with two live recordings from 1988. That is interesting as this is also the year that Het Zweet started to wind down his activities because of shifting musical interests. In 1988, Het Zweet supported Bourbonese Qualk in The Netherlands, and I am sure I saw them on a different evening, but I have no recollection. Therefore, I also have no idea if Het Zweet was also opening up that night. I believe this CD has the complete concert of that April 1, 1988 show in Club Utopia in Elsloo (I had to look that up), and it offers an exciting variation of the music Het Zweet plays. Mostly known for his more rhythmic music, that side still plays a significant role in the music here, ominous industrial drumming, tribal-like metal percussion (Neubauten, Z'EV), but a song like 'We Hear Your Soul' is more... an actual song, with Van Oers, Het Zweet's operator, singing, with a keyboard present, and some loops. Loops of instrumental bits return in other pieces, and by using delay, those also have a more tribal feeling. I was pretty surprised by this approach because I didn't know much about Het Zweet in the later stages of his career. It's an exciting variation here, with Van Oers going for what, I think, is a more song-based approach, next to the loops, tapes (slowed down voices; very 1980s) and metallic percussion. With some production value, this music could easily have found its way into the early catalogue of the Cold Meat Industry.
The other concert on this CD was recorded five days later, at Radio Militia in Belgium, and is about half the length, approximately twenty minutes. This is along similar lines, but interestingly enough, not a repeat of the same material, and a song like 'The Last Straw' sounds completely different, and so does 'Ein Kreuz Part 1'. In the surroundings of the radio station, it all sounds a bit more controlled than on stage. Both have their charm, and this latter-day Het Zweet opens for me a perspective I didn't know. It's a great historical document, prompting me to please once more for a Het Zweet box set with (almost all) his work." [FdW / Vital Weekly] |
2023 |
€13.00 |
|
| HIJOKAIDAN |
Zouroku No Kibyou (40th Anniversary Edition) |
LP |
’Zouroku no Kibyo is the first album by Hijokaidan, released in April 1982. It is a compilation of live recordings from 1981, when the extreme performances of Hijokaidan first attracted attention, and is a record of the chaotic inner energy of young people in their early 20s, influenced by rock, jazz, contemporary music, and avant-garde art, erupting outside. It was first released on the independent Osaka label Unbalance Records and came to be regarded as a historical masterpiece of independent recordings in Japan. It was later released on CD several times by "Alchemy Records," and was also released by the major Japanese label Teichiku Entertainment. An analog reissue of the album was released in 2006 by the German label Vinyl-On-Demand in the form of a double LP set. This will be the first time that the album will be reissued in its original form as a single analog disc, this time on Urashima in 2022. ‘’ JOJO Hiroshige Hijokaidan is a Japanese noise band with a turning lineup that has ranged from two members to as many as fourteen in its early days. The group is the project of guitarist Yoshiyuki ‘’JOJO’’ Hiroshige, its one constant member, who is owner of the legendary Osaka-based Alchemy Records. The ensemble began at the very end of the 70’s as a performance art-based unit whose anarchic shows would often involve destruction of venues and audio equipment, food and garbage being thrown around, and on-stage urination. As the group's lineup changed over time, their focus became less performance-based and more musically based, fine-tuning their sound into a dense wall of white noise created by each member both for live performances and for studio recordings.
Zouroku no Kibyo resting at a fascinating juncture between space-harsh progressive, impro and noise, it was years ahead of its time when it first appeared becoming one of the great holy grails of Japan noise. Creatively thrilling - filled with emotive highs and lows - it’s a crucial piece in the puzzle of Japan’s wild and wonderful history of noise music. A truly stunning, visionary expanse of texture and tonality - pushing noise practice and the very notions of language into uncharted realms, improvising with a ferocity different from that of hard rock or punk, and a chaos unlike that of free jazz.
https://urashima.bandcamp.com/album/zouroku-no-kibyou |
2022 |
€24.00 |
|
| HINSIDAN |
Shapeshifter Blues |
CD-R |
New Drone-discovery from Denmark! HINSIDAN produce a power-drone you can not resist, with slow changes, fat & esoteric drone-walls, waving and drowning, subtle pounding pulsations from deep underneath... this has a very nice "mystic" quality, really stunning'!
Hinsidan translates from Swedish as 'The Here After' and with 'Shapeshifter Blues' the Danish duo of Atish Pare and Superjus have incorporated the exaggerated minutia of the title of their earlier 'God is in the Details' into the majestic drone of simultaneous presence and absence reflected in the group's namesake. Embodied too, is the usefulness of a name constantly translated, as it sets the listener up for the intertwined cycles of shuffling space and metallic flutter that permeate the compositions. While 'God is the Details' called attention to small brash cracks and slips that skated the surface of mesmerizing atmospherics, on 'Shapeshifter Blues' those scratches have been bound and compressed into a heady, churning static that sounds of questions. The cover art announces as much, spackled circles overlap and colors move from very light to very dark, aiding and transcending each other. Voices, however, occasionally drift up to answer the resounding tones. On 'outnumbered by sound' the fragmented, mutilated echoes of children mutate the rhythmic cascade of stomping volume. Sound might outnumber the voices of those who taunted during recess, now, but the power of an angry army of kids sustains; that the piece alternates between sound and numbers reveals a syncretic relationship between objects working together and undermining each other. The following track, 'a second in the mind, a day in the life', provides a response to the children as the pitches drift seamlessly up higher and higher, climbing into the vibrant, rising female voice that they might one day become - or that might just be gliding sound untied to identifiable sources. Hinsidan unfurl this mysterious logic throughout 'Shapeshifter Blues', moving from pitch to idea to pitch in conjunction with a steady backing arch that never breaks drone." [Heathen Harvest]
"Packaging craziness here: for whatever unknown reason, this release was smeared with shampoo, maybe to indicate we deal with nice music here? Hinsidan is a duo of Supertius and Atish Pare, and 'Shapeshifter Blues' is their second CDR release, while a 10" on Ant-Zen is forthcoming. That's about the extend of information to be given as we don't know anything else. 'Mastered by Lasse Marhaug' it says on the cover, but don't be fooled by that: Hinsidan doesn't produce noise music, although their machine like drone sometimes comes very close. In each of the seven pieces they enroll a drone that is omni present, enlarged and enhanced by sound effects to make it thicker and fatter, but also more of a menace. Only in one track, 'A Second In The Mind, A Day in The Life' they approach noise very close and it happens to be the weakest link here. The other six pieces are beautiful drone within the well-defined area of course and it makes a very solid release. I wouldn't be too surprised if they will have a release on Mystery Sea on day too. Very nice." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.suggestion-records.de
|
2007 |
€9.00 |
|
| |
Nightshift |
10 |
4-track EP from this promising project, two pieces of very subtle / droney material, one remix on Side B by L'OMBRE, and one live-version of "Nightshift", this sounds like dark wave drone ambient with beats & vocals, hard to define but highly atmospheric and stunning!
"After their monumentual debut - the praised double album 'God Is In The Details / Music For Ghosts' [phisteria 2005], and hot on the heels of two limited album releases in Germany [Shapeshifter Blues on Verato Project] and US [Bleach Dye Yr Heart on Gears of Sand],
our very own animal rights avantgarde-drone-poltergeist-rockers return to phisteria, with this diverse 4-tracker that really pays hommage to the band's heritage. This limited 10'' EP of 250 copies is most likely to be a hot collectible for all eternity, we dare you to miss it!!" [label info]
"... Opening very slowly, the first piece titled "The first time we met the blues" (no worries, not any sign of Blues on this track!) builds steadily from inaudible drones to smoothing vibrant drones building a great atmosphere from early start, not too far away from British legends Zoviet France. As the first piece fades out, another swarm of drones build with the opening of following piece "Labyrinths of obsession", this time with a more abrasive approach. Soon after subtle acoustic drum-patterns penetrates to create a rhythm structure in the abstract composition. Side B of the vinyl opens with a remix of "The first time we me the blues" executed by Ant-Zen legend L'Ombre. The result is a completely different work based on repetitive downbeat rhythm textures assisted by discreet ambient melody in the background. Final piece on the album is a live recording from legendary Danish underground club "Ungdomshuset" (R.I.P.). Despite the fact that it has been recorded live the sound of the work is still nice and clean. The title-track "Nightshift" consists of vibrant drones and distant male vocals adding to the strange nocturnal atmospheres of the track. As was the case with the earlier efforts of Hinsidan the guitar plays an important role in the spheres of work, and the result again is utterly beautiful." [NM, Vital Weekly]
www.phisteria.com
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
| HIROSHIMABEND |
J10C |
do-CD |
2A few years ago, Adam Czarnecki was approached by John Deek of Electric Sewer Age to take work on some sounds that he and Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson had made, which were intended to be integrated into a new Electric Sewer Age release, and work on them.
Unfortunately, after the passing of both John Deek and Sleazy, with only a few sound sketches being completed by Adam, the project was never able to be fully realised.with only a few sound sketches being completed by Adam, the project was never able to be fully realised.
Adam has been gracious enough to lend the sound samples to me so that I could try to give these sounds a home, and to present an alchemical rendition of the possibilities they represented.
This is not an effort that has been taken lightly, as it could seem rather audacious to try and create and complete music for two people who are no longer with us, but "J10C" is an attempt to honour the intentions of the sounds and what they were created for in the first place...to be heard. That said, it has been a
labour of love to work on this, and to take so many random sounds, arranged in no particular order, and give them a proper place.
I must also make clear that this project is not intended to capitalise on the Coil or Electric Sewer Age names, nor to intrude upon the legacies of John Deek or Peter Christopherson. It is also not a "money grab", which should be apparent by stating here that once all copies have been sold, and production costs recouped, the music will be made available for free on this website.
I sincerely hope that you will enjoy this music. - puppy38 / 2019
DEDICATED TO JOHN DEEK & SLEAZY
www.opiumdenpluto.com/odp066hiroshimabendj10c/index.htm
|
2019 |
€16.00 |
|
| HIS DIVINE GRACE |
Le Grand Secret |
CD |
Auf dem Schwesterlabel von TREUE UM TREUE erscheint dieses hochmelancholische und philosophische Werk des französisches Projekts, dass uns in seiner "sad ambient" - Melodiosität an frühe REUTOFF erinnert hat...
"Inspired by the works of the Traditionalists and the lives and deaths of Sekens Murdock and Leontin V. Abilgaard, Moonchild Erik’s fourth CD album “Le Grand Secret” (The Great Secret) takes the shape of a metaphysical reflection on the deceptions of human language, in which Murdock and Abilgaard saw the main cause for the world of confusion we live in. Musically more accessible than “Eurydice” or “Reverse Aleph”, this very diverse new opus is the worthy successor of “Die Schlangenkönigin”, hovering from emotional soundscapes and spacey dub rhythms into gloomy, awe-inspiring drones with even noisy elements. An initiation through pure sound." [label info]
"...Tackling literary philosophical surrealism is a rather daunting task yet His Divine Grace has successfully extracted the subtle nuances of this newest muse and has distilled the rudimentary literary aesthetic into a long audio voyage filled with mystery and esoteric darkness. The album explores a wide array of carefully constructed dark ambient and experimental soundscapes as it leads the listener through imaginative and stimulating sonic worlds that shimmer like mirages. Dark ambient drones and electronic sounds are contorted into breathtaking monuments of sound that lay long shadows across barren wastelands of uninhabitable terrain. Like titans fighting battles long forgotten each track makes a definitive and powerful statement as His Divine Grace unfolds contemplative compositions that inspire and demand reflection.
The CD is spilt into three definitive chapters. Chapter one titled “These – Sekens Murdock” showcases the musical tribute to Murdock and establishes the musical introduction. Track one tilted “Les chevaux de feu” begins the album with an epic dark ambient anthem that combines churning industrial strength noise with interlacing drones and thunderous industrial sounds. Elusive samples of organ and choir enhance the experience lending a humanist emotional depth to the somber apocalyptic decimation established the industrial side of the music. Track two titled “Les gardiens du grand secret” features a shift in sound as His Divine Grace sheds the tormented confines of dark ambient music and steers the listner into ethereal ambience. Using a simple collection of finely articulated electronic sounds His Divine Grace sculpts a luminous song that elevates the spirit as it transports the listner into a sonic domain of alternating tones of purity. Track four titled “Verbum, lux et vita” unfolds with an element of suspense and an unknown presence dominating the tentative atmosphere as if invisible dwellers rove beyond the perimeter of the senses. Track four titled “Le voile levé” concludes the first chapter of the CD with a lonely and lengthy composition that combines delicate sonorous tones with tamed industrial rhythms and tuba like notes that resonate from the depths. “Le voile levé” is reminiscent of the organic ambient flow once achieved by O Yuki Conjugate though slightly darker and freed from the constrains of any ethnic influence.
Chapter two titled “Antithèse - Leontin Voigt Abilgaard” features five compositions themed around Abilgaard. The chapter begins with song five titled “De la nécessité de se taire.” “De la nécessité de se taire” leads the listner once again into yet another independent composition whose identity is only tenuously connected to its peers. The song begins with ominous drone music that is paired with voice samples and recorded sounds of water. As the song progresses the atmosphere darkens significantly as a threatening tone is established. Feelings of loneliness and isolation begin to creep up on the listner as His Divine Grace conjures forth an experimental ambient ballad that breathes with an uneasy rasp as it guides you through reflections of emotional carnage and fragility. Track six titled “Frayeurs initiatiques” continues the journey of isolation though the subterranean depths of the previous song seem somewhat further away. Using simple electronic tones and drones His Divine Grace subdues the listner with a hypnotic assault of suffering ambience. Track seven titled “Pourquoi... toujours pourquoi” sees light beginning to pierce the darkness as a slowly churning palate of voice samples dances with steadily growing waves of electronic sounds that drift awash in a delicate tapestry of sound. Like hope rising from the ashes of defeat the music gently stirs the listeners spirit to remember what has been lost and to react and reclaim. “L’opposition tacite” retreats once again into another suspenseful ambient narrative filled with dark ambience and ritualistic overtones that combine to offer a song filled with primal elements and an esoteric darkness that is tangible. “Le quatre-heure de crystal” ends the Abilgaard chapter of the CD on an experimental note as His Divine Grace abandons the listner to musical surrealism with a strong mind bending psychedelic tinge. Like witnessing events from the perspective of a heavily tranquilized yet conscious person the music washes across the listner like fragmented waves of conscious thought disarrayed and decaying.
Synthese et Syncretisme is the third and final chapter of the Le Grand Secret CD and it features a single song titled “Le Principe immuable.” ‘Le Principe immuable” is the most contemplative of all the tracks on the album and it lasts for more than sixteen minutes allowing for total submersion in the music. The finale does not end with a bang but rather on a very gentle note as His Divine Grace coaxes an incredible amount of sentiment, reflection and emotion from some of the simplest musical elements ever applied. Oscillating notes tepidly induce a spell that closes the album with brilliance and delicacy.
His Divine Grace is the type of electronic music that I covet. Grounded in industrial and ambient music His Divine Grace expertly melds his industrial musicl foundation with the openness of experimental composition. Each song is like a living entity, some transcendent and others primal and raw. Le Grand Secret sees His Divine Grace come to full fruition as he seizes upon literary figures deserving of his creativity. Le Grand Secret is an awesome display of imagination and musical surrealism and I highly recommend the album to those seeking to revel in previously undiscovered musical domains. Those who like bands like Propergol, Tordoih, Dusk Of Hope, and other promising dark filmic ambient music are encouraged to check out Le Grand Secret." [Malahki Thorn / Heathen Harvest]
|
2006 |
€6.00 |
|
| HISS TRACTS |
Shortwave Nights |
CD |
"180g Vinyl mit Kunstdruck und Downloadcode. 'Shortwave Nights' ist das Debüt von HISS TRACTS, einem neuen Duo aus David Bryant (GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR, SET FIRE TO FLAMES) und Kevin Doria (GROWING, TOTAL LIFE). Die beiden trafen sich 2004 und begründeten eine musikalische Freundschaft, die in drei GROWING Alben mündete, die im The Pines Studio von Bryant in Montreal aufgenommen wurden und in mehreren Kollaborationen mit z.B. dem experimentellen Filmkünstler Karl Lemieux. Probebänder für ein Underground Film Festival in Lausanne 2008 wurden zur Basis für HISS TRACTS; David und Kevin arbeiteten zwischen 2009 und 2013 daran, doch vieles von der Magie der ersten Versionen ist noch immer greifbar. Kevin und David sind instrumentale Musiker von ungewöhnlicher Tiefe und Intensität. HISS TRACTS eröffnet neue kollaborative und erzählerische Pfade, um die beiden Musiker die Soundlandschaft von Komposition und Produktion erforschen zu lassen. Beide sind Gitarristen und die E-Gitarre erscheint als Quelle von 'Shortwave Nights', doch die Fülle an zusätzlichen analogen Quellen und Signalen stellt sicher, dass dieser Sound hier nicht mit gitarrenbasiertem Drone, Noise oder Postrock verwechselt wird. 'Shortwave Night' setzt sich über solch engmaschigen Genrebegriffe hinweg und lässt sich ebenso wenig in die vorherrschenden Subgenres einordnen. Wenn Drone jedoch der Orientierungspunkt ist, dann liegt das sicherlich an dem Mix, der die einzelnen Elemente zu einer Wall of Sound in Stereo vereint. Dies ist keine Elektro-Platte und 'Shortwave Nights' begibt sich auch nicht in die Welt von Ambient oder Wave, vielmehr lässt sich der Sound hier im breiten Abstammungsfeld von Post-Industrial und Musique Concrète verorten. //
Shortwave Nights is the debut album by Hiss Tracts, a new duo featuring David Bryant (Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Set Fire To Flames) and Kevin Doria (Growing, Total Life). The two met in 2004 and struck up a musical friendship that led to three Growing records being made at The Pines (Bryant's recording studio in Montreal) and a separate collaboration between the two, initially in conjunction with experimental filmmaker Karl Lemieux (also GY!BE's current 16mm auteur/projectionist). Rehearsal tapes from a set of sessions for a Lausanne Underground Film Festival performance in 2008 became the foundation and starting point for Hiss Tracts; David and Kevin continued working throughout 2009-2013, but much of the material from their earliest session is still present, in one state or another, within the tracks on this debut album.
The sonic preoccupations of Bryant and Doria are well-known and well-documented across many highly acclaimed recordings over the past fifteen years, from the organic, group-based, semi-improvised collage albums of Set Fire To Flames to the glimmering, immersive minimalism of Growing and the more maximalist full-spectrum noise works of Total Life. David and Kevin are instrumental music practitioners of uncommon depth and intensity; Hiss Tracts opens new collaborative, procedural and narrative pathways for these fine musicians to continue exploring soundscape-based composition and production. Both are guitar players, and the electric guitar figures as both recognizable and unrecognizable source instrument on Shortwave Nights, but the deployment of a wide range of additional analog sources and signals ensures that there is no confusing this for a guitar-based drone, noise or post-rock record.
Shortwave Nights defies categorization by terms like "drone" or "ambient" and it does not easily slip into any of the predominant subgenres that have proliferated around studio-based soundscape work in recent years. Insofar as drone is a touchstone, this has mostly to do with the approach to mixing, which tends towards a transcendent/trance-inducing integration of elements into a unified, saturated, wall-of-sound stereo field. The album contains no beats or programming and very little that is identifiably loop-based or overtly sampled and sampler-driven. Occasional deployments of digital signal processing remain firmly in the service of Hiss Tract's overriding framework and commitment to analog sources and human instrumentation. This is not an electronic record, nor does it sit comfortably at either the pastoral or spooky/sinister poles of any ambient or 'whatever'-wave spectrum; it can perhaps best be placed within the broad lineages of post-industrial and musique concrète.
Meditative and visceral, humming with the electromagnetic atmosphere through which all manner of frequencies, transmissions and surveillances pass and collide, Shortwave Nights strikes an evocative balance between sonics captured-channeled-harnessed vs. composed-sculpted-performed, with an almost documentary rigour and restraint that nonetheless remains profoundly charged and engaged. Constellation is thrilled to introduce this new project with a brilliant debut album that has heavily infiltrated our brains and bloodstreams since Bryant and Doria first played us the nearly-finished recordings in the fall of 2013. Thanks for listening.
Release date: 13 May 2014
Running time: 44:28
Packaging notes
CD comes in a custom gatefold jacket printed on thick 24pt. paperboard with a printed CD dust sleeve. LP is pressed on 180 gram virgin vinyl at Optimal (Germany) and comes in a heavyweight jacket with black poly-lined audiophile dust sleeve, credit insert, pull-out art poster and download code for 320 kbps MP3 copy of the album." [label info]
www.cstrecords.com
|
2014 |
€14.50 |
|
| HITHLAHABUTH |
(drone) (SOLD OUT) |
7inch |
a very own dimension of mind-enlarging sounds from this very unknown secretful german formation, first vinyl!
"LIMITED+NUMBERED FIRST EDITION OF 250 COPIES
on CLEAR VINYL; LINOTYPE-, DRAWN & COLOUR-PRINTED COVERS.
HITHLAHABUTH ARE AN UNKNOWN AND VERY MYSTERIOUS GROUP FROM GERMANY WHO HAVE BEEN ACTIVE FOR MORE THEN 10 YEARS. AS YET, THEY RELEASED ONLY A FEW OF THEIR WORKS ON THEIR OWN 'HITHLAHABUTH RECORDS' LABEL WHICH ALSO SERVED TO RELEASE THEIR SOLO (OFTEN UNDER DIFFERENT NAMES) & COLLABORATIVE PROJECTS.
HITHLAHABUTH IS THE NAME FOR "BURNING" OR "GLOWING" IN THE SENSE OF ECSTASY OF THE RELIGIOUS NOTION OF "CHASSIDISM".
DRONE RECORDS ARE VERY PROUD TO BE THE LABEL TO BRING OUT THE VERY FIRST VINYL-RELEASE BY THIS GROUP WHICH IS ALSO THIS IS THE FIRST RELEASE FROM THEM THAT HAS APPEARED ON ANY OTHER LABEL EXCEPT THEIR OWN HITHLAHABUTH RECORDS.
THE TWO TRACKS "DIDGE-DRONE" AND "DROWN-DRONE" WORK WITH VOICES, SYNTHS, DIDGERIDOO AND UNKNOWN SOURCES TO CREATE A VERY MYSTERIOUS MUSIC THAT IS FAR AWAY FROM THE CLICHE-LIKE 'DARK-INDUSTRIAL'. THEIR MUSIC HAS A VERY NATURAL TOUCH...MUSIC THAT SEEMS TO GLOW IN A PROFOUND WAY DOWN INTO YOUR EMOTIONAL PATH...THIS HAS A POSITIVE & SACRAL, NEARLY RELIGIOUS TOUCH INSIDE, WHICH COULD HAVE A POSITIVE EFFECT ON YOUR BODY & SOUL.
"HITHLAHABUTH CREATE MUSIC ABOUT THE FESTIVAL OF LIFE"
DRONE RECORDS DR-17/ MAY 1996 |
1996 |
€ |
|
| HODELL, AKE & DAVID GRUBBS |
Igevär / Yellow Sky |
LP |
Rare Scheibe mit zwei unveröffentlichten Stücken des legendären schwedischen Sound-Poetikers AKE HODELL (unglaubliche Stimmen-Drones, von 1963 und 1965, extrem!), dazu hat HODELL-Fan DAVID GRUBBS eine theatralisches Hörspiel-artiges Stück komponiert! Weisses Vinyl, Klappcover, ausführliche liner notes.
"The first release by Kning Disk is a 12 vinyl, consisting of two legendary works (one previously unreleased) by Swedish text-sound pioneer Ake Hodell; Igevr (1965) and General Bussig (1963), coupled with a specially composed piece by the north American pop-experimental musician David Grubbs; Yellow Sky (2004). The cover is created by Swedish artist Elis E. Eriksson." [label info]
|
2004 |
€20.00 |
|
| HODGKINSON, TIM & MILO FINE |
Teshuvah |
CD |
"TWO BLOKES FINDING SOUND IN THE MIDST OF
A Sort of Macrocosm
Insufferable and absurd. But, what else to expect? Because we are (imagine ourselves to be?) sentient, or rather, due to the manner in which western "civilization", an infectious disease which has managed to inculcate almost every indigenous culture on the planet, has manifested this sentience, we are an utterly disingenuous species. Our actions, in one way or another, are, for the most part (exclusively?) unintentional manifestations of what lurks beneath; unacknowledged, suppressed, repressed, willfully unknown. Our behavioral watchwords? Rationalization and justification. Why? Well, fear of course, Knowing we will cease to exist, or, perhaps more accurately, lacking the ability to fathom the eternal (or what we imagine it to be), we turn to so-called power, material wealth, fame and the like as pathetically meagre compensation. Now, there are those who would, in the current lexicon, argue that "it's all good", which is nothing but a rephrasing of essential tenets found in any number of belief systems/philosophies. And while there is no doubt that truly existing in the eternity of every moment, to treat what we generally separate into "good" or "bad"/ "positive" or "negative", as nothing but unified energy of which we are simply a part -- to, in other words, maintain a sense of calm and "being" regardless of life's circumstances -- would likely be ideal, or close to it. But, given the essence of humanity's overall conditioning and wiring, this state is, sadly, more or less impossible to attain, never mind sustain. Not to say that it isn't worth considering and attempting. But, in the meantime, let's drop the pretense; the state of the world -- inner and outer -- makes it clear that it is not all good, and to excuse our behavior is to propagate the missteps that personify humanity.
Certainly A Microcosm
Social gatherings are all, to one degree or another, insufferable and absurd. Fraught with rampant hidden agendas and their manifestations -- positioning (hierarchal maneuvering) and networking (careerism) -- and underscored by insecurity and thinly veiled desperation (a bit thicker for those with truly sociopathic tendencies), how could they be otherwise? And, having such a gathering in the name of "art" only compounds the unbearableness, because the meaningful realization of the creative impulse should have at least something to do with transcendence. Not "transcendence" as a marketing tool or an image mongering label, but transcendence. So, when a local academy hosted yet another insular affair -- in this case, a "festival of electronic music and arts" -- wherein the invitees ranged from graduate students to out-of-town guests (underwritten by their own academies to come and display their wares; that is to say, add yet another line to their curriculum vitaes), the resultant lack of transcendence can hardly come as a surprise. And, indeed, just on the surface, there's abundant evidence as to how brilliantly this event works at cross purposes. First, it's centered around technology, which, these days, as one knows, means lap top gimmickry (and slow downloads). Second, there's a preponderance of hackneyed and merciless expropriation of indigenous musics, a clear sign of wrong-headed political correctness. Third, as part of ever elusive "audience development", there is much pandering to rock/pop influences. Fourth, the programming style is all pastiche -- a little of this, a little of that -- catering to short attention spans. (And, do I need to mention how the curator and others high in the food chain, get to present their work in the better, more prestigious venues? I thought not.) In all, it's fascinating how an event so concerned with creativity is, for the most part, so utterly bereft of same.
Tim and I first met when he came to town with Konk Pack (a trio which also includes Roger Turner and Thomas Lehn) in the fall of 2007. In addition to playing a duo set with Roger that evening, I had served as a middle man of sorts in setting up the gig, which, due to the curator dropping the ball vis a vis communications, almost didn't happen. (And, even when it did, the evening itself was filled with an assortment of additional miscues, which Tim -- the group's de facto "tour manger " -- and I handled well, and, perhaps more importantly, with good humor.) Tim and I didn't talk a lot that evening or at brunch the next day, but, as evidenced by our on-the-spot problem solving and the exchanges we did have, there was an obvious overlapping of sensibilities and interests. Evidently, Tim thought so too. I was, however, surprised and amused when Tim let me know he was returning to participate in this, as we say in the states, "dog and pony" show (i.e., an empty showcase). (That he was a member of an ensemble not playing his music -- a hired hand, so to speak -- mitigated my surprise.) In his e-mail he expressed an interest in finding some time to hang out amongst the rehearsals and performances. I countered by suggesting we get together to play. So, we elected to attempt both, but, naturally, given logistical concerns (schedules and transportation) the path to something simple was replete with small stumbling blocks. Enter filmmaker/videographer Mike Yaeger. Part of my unexpected and last minute middle man duties on Tim's previous visit was to find accommodations for Konk Pack. For several reasons, three people would have been a bit much at my place. Particularly in the light of Roger having opened his home to me for several days in 2003 while I was in England, his staying with me was a foregone conclusion. Fortunately, in an inspired moment, I remembered Mike had a long standing admiration for Tim's work. So, I contacted him about the possibility of Tim and Thomas spending the night at his house. Having met and had quite a long conversation with Tim the preceding year, Mike was delighted. This time around (late winter 2008), Tim had already alerted Mike to his return, but Mike was unaware that I had suggested our getting together to play. This prospect was especially exciting for him, because, in addition to his abiding respect for Tim's music, Mike has expressed a deep appreciation for my work as evidenced by his recurring bursts of support. (That a virodha bhakti -- devotion by defiance -- undercurrent informs our relationship is not surprising, as it is a recurring theme in my interpersonal dynamics.) He was, therefore, very keen on videotaping our session. And, because the audio on his camera is of mediocre quality, he suggested, no, almost insisted that I record it with my DAT equipment (consisting of a recorder, mixer and four microphones). I, on the other hand, just wanted to keep things simple and make some music. But, Mike, in his unbridled enthusiasm, can be extremely persuasive, and so we compromised. I'd record it, but with a basic stereo mike set-up.
Looking at the festival schedule, I noted the first day I was available to hear Tim, and made tentative arrangements to meet and go out with him and Mike. But that, of course, entailed the concerted effort of entering a domain that, despite my efforts to place occurrences in a broader context, nonetheless so irritates my nerve endings. Thus, with as much of an accepting attitude as I could muster, and keeping open the option that there just might, might be something of interest to hear (which, as it turns out there was, but just barely), I entered the venue where Tim would be playing and, once inside the performing space proper, immediately detected the pervasive stench of heightened self-importance and the politics of music as, first and foremost, a career path. A sort of existential nausea washed over me. With a demeanor of subtle defiance, I found a place to sit as some vacant post-modern design-form morphed on the stage's screen. Within moments, I spotted an enthralled Mike, who, for all his perspicacious opinions concerning artistic endeavor, can, in certain circumstances, be quite a, shall we say, forgiving listener; and Viv Corringham, one of my regular collaborators, whom I mercilessly (and, if I may be so bold, justifiably) tease for regularly showing up at these sorts of affairs. (However, as she actually participated in this event the previous year, her presence was de rigueur. Moreover, given that Viv has a genuine arts degree, one readily recognizes the force of habit extending from a good indoctrination, er, education.) During breaks between pieces, and almost trembling with displeasure, I asked Mike when we could get out of there, phrasing it along the lines of, "When the fuck can we get out of here and get something to eat?". He seemed perplexed and annoyed, to the point where, a bit later, and subsequent to Tim and I having warmly reestablished contact, Mike indicated he wouldn't be able to give Tim a ride to the session on Saturday, because he didn't want to miss any of the concerts (and, additionally, would have his young daughter, Alice, in tow). With no other viable options, I said I'd fetch Tim and get him back afterwards. Slight tensions aside, the four of us decided to get together for a meal prior to to Tim's next appearance that evening. The dinner at a small Indian restaurant was lovely; the usual push-pull banter amongst new and old comrades (Viv having known Tim for quite some time). Naturally, a fair portion of the conversation centered around the event at hand. And while Mike would have loved to find an ally in Tim concerning positive aspects of the festival, Tim was having none of it, and even went so far as to regale us with some wonderful and revealing behind-the-scenes stories. As the evening went on, Mike, in particular, was concerned about getting to the next venue in time to get a seat. I was, of course, in no great hurry, never imagining, in the light of the afternoon event's modest audience, that the place would be filled to capacity. Much to my chagrin, however, that was indeed the case, perhaps in part because it was a smaller venue. (Despite his being a performer in the evening's second half, even Tim wasn't allowed entrance.) Thankfully, my companions forgave me for filibustering at the restaurant. And, as we were in good spirits, and the ushers a good audience for our persiflage, we enjoyed our time in the lobby. Expectedly, some people left during the interval, so there were more seats to be had. I stayed to hear Tim, and then beat a hasty retreat.
Encounter
Saturday. Mike bringing Tim after all. Cart the smaller drum kit upstairs. Set it up. Open the piano. Assemble the clarinet. Set up the recording equipment. And, naturally, wait. Chronicling via cell phone: delayed rehearsals, concerts predictably running late, the convolutions surrounding their finding a place for a quick meal before arriving, and Mike's ongoing "negotiations" with Alice. Having a sense as to when Tim had to be back "on the job", I started thinking we'd have no time to play at all. Another call, they're almost here. Arrival. Mike and Tim set up their equipment, and, given the time constraints, we eschew a sound check. Then, without a word, the music starts. Now, if I may back up a moment. Previous to his hearing me play clarinets with Roger the year before, Tim knew fuck-all about my music. And my exposure to his work was limited; the early progressive/art rock, the raucous, improvised environs of Konk Pack (which didn't involve much woodwind playing), and the frugal bursts characterizing his contributions to the festival. So my expectations (like assumptions, a tricky business) were of a spare, lyrically-tinged aesthetic, perhaps informed by some "noisy" eruptions. But, when Tim put his horn to his mouth, it was all technically sharp, inventive fire. And I was delighted, as much for the music that was there, that moment, and to come, as for the fact that my expectations had been wonderfully circumvented. Improvisation. My lifework.
Acknowledgments
Mike, thanks very much for all your help, and, particularly for suggesting, er, insisting that I record the session.
(And, thank you to Kevin Cosgrove, whose serendipitous mentioning the word "renunciant" in a conversation just after my having essentially finished these notes, brought the track titles into focus.)
-- © milo fine (july 2008) " [label info / credits]
www.rossbin.com
" 'Teshuvah' reflects a first meeting between of two experienced veteran improvisors: Tim Hodgkinson (Henry Cow, Konk Pack, etc.) and Milo Fine. The career of Fine goes back to 1969 when he started The Milo Fine Free Jazz Ensemble. Throughout his career he was dedicated to free improvised music. I guess both gentlemen are more or less of the same age. Also Hodgkinson has a longlasting relation with free improvisation, as it was already part of the Henry Cow. They combined rock and free improvisation. In the last few years Hodgkinson tours regularly with his trio Konk Pack (Roger Turner, Thomas Lehn). During a concert in Minnesota he met Fine and the idea for a duo-session came up. It was realized in Fine's home, on a day in march 2008. Two long extended and one short improvisation made it to the CD that has Fine playing piano, drums, b flat clarinet and voice and Hodgkinson on b flat clarinet. While listening one feels the joy they had in their fabulous interactions. Never a dull moment during these sparkling, catch-me-while-you-can improvisations" [DM / Vital Weekly]
|
2009 |
€12.00 |
|
| HOFFMAN, KAY |
Floret Silva |
LP |
"Wiederveröffentlichung einer raren LP von 1985 (bereits 1977 aufgenommen) dieser Schweizerin, die inzwischen als Tanz- & Trance-Therapeutin in München tätig ist (www.kayhoffman.de). FLORET SILVA benutzt Texte der „Carmina Burana“, jener Gedichtsammlung aus dem 12.Jahrhundert, und bettet diese in mittalalterliche Folk-Melodien und ein „progressives“ Gerüst ein, gesungen meist von JACQUELINE DARBY. Eine avantgardistische Hippie-Platte mit meditativ-mystischer Ausrichtung und wunderschönem Gesang." [Drone Rec. info]
"Sounding at times like Vashti Bunyan fronting Sunforest, "Floret Silva" is a haunting mix of medieval music and progressive / psych / folk with Latin lyrics straight from the Carmina Burana book.
The "Floret Silva" project was born when minimalist composer Kay Hoffman went to Italy in the mid–70s. Once there, she met with welsh soprano Jacqueline Darby, who had recently been working with the Italian avant–prog band Pierrot Lunaire. Jaqueline was working on new compositions with RCA producer Vincento Miccocci in Rome and she asked Kay if she was interested in getting involved in a new project. Kay agreed and Gaio Chiochio and Arturo Stalteri of Pierrot Lunaire also joined them on this new venture. Gaio travelled from Rome to play the guitar and other friends of Jacqueline also offered their collaboration.
In a short time, Kay wrote all the material, inspired by the Carmina Burana book and her love of Medieval and Renaissance music. Kay also contributed vocals, clavinet and piano and together with Jacqueline Darby – on haunting vocals – plus an impressive cast of jazz/rock/progressive musicians, they recorded "Floret Silva" during 1977–78, under the guidance of Vicento Micocci.
Sadly, RCA backed off and the album went unreleased until a copy of the masters found their way to Japan, where the great Belle Antique label put out the first vinyl edition of "Floret Silva" in 1985. In 2006, US label Robot Records resurrected it again for the first CD release.
After many years out of print on vinyl, we present a new edition of this lost piece from the 70s Italian underground scene. A visionary album which anticipated the sound practiced by many neo–folk bands some decades later.
RIYL: Jan Dukes de Grey, Vashti Bunyan, Sunforest, Wicker Man, Pierrot Lunaire, Opus Avantra, Current 93, Nico, Gal Costa, Wooden O, Giles Farnaby’s Dream Band…
Master tape sound
4–page insert with detailed liner notes by Richard Allen and photos.
"This album is like the prettier, more elegant companion piece to Nico’s somber medieval explorations on The Marble Index" – Brainwashed.com
"This should appeal to experimental psych–folk fans for sure, even if this unique treasure is really something outside almost any genre designation you’d care to come up with!" – Aquarius Records
"…An almost perfect fusion of styles that when combined with the archaic language is both haunting and entrancing reminiscent perhaps of the otherworldly atmosphere created by Bo Hansson on his Lord of the Rings album." – Richard Allen
Iste Mundus – Floret Silva – Exorcismus – Intermezzo (Chume, Chume) – Ich Will Truren – Rondo – Mai Tanz – Quot Sunt Horae – Tot – Sonus Dulcis Lyrae – Ouverture – Zum Fest – Intermezzo (Fagott Sommer Nacht Promenade) – Tempus Instat – Langueo (Vacillantis) – Chume, Chume – Nummus – Post Communio Sancti Cyrilli "
www.guerssen.com
"We've had the cd reissue of this gem before, but now for the very first time it's been reissued on vinyl, too! What does Floret Silva sound like, you ask? How about RennFaire gone Rock In Opposition? Italian prog meets medieval madrigals?? We're still puzzling about how to describe this wonderful, wonderful disc, a reissue of a rare lp which was recorded by composer Kay Hoffman in Florence, Italy in 1977, though not released until 1985, on vinyl in Japan only!
Hoffman and her collaborators, including members of the very excellent and arty Italian prog band Pierrot Lunaire, took a trove of medieval Latin poetry known as the Carmina Burana - poems written by anonymous authors around 1200 AD that are both religious in nature as well as very earthy and real, about such subjects as love and money - and set them to music. The settings are diverse (as befits the variety of these texts), and the results are often eerie and pretty and even a little bit groovy, with quirky chamber ensemble/prog rock backing and even the use of field recordings. Utterly magical for the most part, most especially due to the delicate vocals of Jacquline Darby. One song reminds us strongly of Stereolab, others call to mind (rather more obscurely) that Flamen Dialis album we've raved about before. This should appeal to experimental psych-folk fans for sure, even if this unique treasure is really something outside almost any genre designation you'd care to come up with!" [Aquarius Rec.]
“1977 avant/folk progressive masterpiece from minimalist composer Kay Hoffman. Includes collaborative performances from Jacqueline Darby and Gaio Chiocchio--members of the legendary, Italian progressive group Pierrot Lunaire. Originally slated for release on RCA/IT (Italy) in ‘78, the album was later rejected due to recording deadlines, release schedules, and requests by RCA for other artistic/musical considerations. However, many years later, Floret Silva did end up surfacing on a very different shore. Copies of the masters found their way to the highly eclectic Japanese label Belle Antique, whose musical director had heard rumors about the early project in the mid-1980’s. As a result, Floret Silva was finally released eight years after the completed sessions in 1985 as a small edition, but very well received LP (Belle Antique 8502, Japan). Apparently, not many copies of the record were exported outside Japan. This merely created even more mystery surrounding the recordings as well as rumors associated with a Pierrot Lunaire-related project. The recordings were based on the Carmina Burana--a collection of medieval poetry written by various authors of which little is known. Floret Silva was an attempt to find a voice for these anonymous authors in the late 1970’s in Florence. Now, nearly 30 years after the completed sessions, Floret Silva blooms again….this time in the US. Available for the first time on CD with remastered sound, including a 12-page booklet with full lyrics and English translations. A lost (but now reclaimed) gem from the Italian progressive underground.” [label info for the CD release]
|
2016 |
€22.00 |
|
| HOLOTROP |
Manifestation de l'Antinatalisme |
LP |
"dark ambient activist holotrop returns to raubbau after his 2017 offering „dead bird calling“ - and again he fathoms the darkest and doomiest realms of his art. his nihilism seems almost prophetic considering the course of the world, a world which is literally in flames! replete with philosophical references, „manifeste de l’antinatalisme“ conjures up a truly dystopian vision of the world. this lp is a sinister swan song to consumerism, eternal growth and progress, a eulogy for humanity as such.
and yet, there’s a sense of irony in the fact that holotrop puts across his message in the most refined musical way, a subtly complex approach he has developed in recent years, a versatility that enables him to make his statement as simple and concise at it is: immersive synth drones lure the listener to the edge of the abyss, pounding beats send him into the vortex of despair.
better to never have been born!"
https://raubbau.bandcamp.com/album/manifestation-de-lantinatalisme
|
2020 |
€20.00 |
|
| HOLTERBACH, MANU |
Aare am Marzilibad |
mCD |
Das kleine aber feine belgische Label EREWHON meldet sich mit zwei Releases zurück (die zweite VÖ ist die ERIC CORDIER CD), und einem neuen Namen für uns: MANU HOLTERBACH führt uns ins innere einer Flasche, die durch einen Fluss treibt; eine eigene Mikro-Welt von flüsterndem Rauschen, ans Glas stossenden Luftblasen & Aussengeräuschen... faszinierend ! „Für 18 Minuten teilt man die Audiosphere mit einer Forelle“ [Bad Alchemy].
“Manu Holterbach is a young French sound artist who proposes his many-faceted talents since already more than 10 years. He invents new instruments, spatialization devices and mutant loudspeakers that were showed around the world in diverse installations and performances, in solo or in collaboration with a.o. Sophie Durand, Pierre Berthet, Jean-François Laporte, David Maranha. You can listen to his beautifull "verres enharmoniques" instruments on his highly acclaimed CD recently released on cloudmirror, and to "parenthèses flottantes" a piece freely available online on Happy New Ears (look for the www.creaties link). He is actually working on a biography of the French composer Eliane Radigue. Manu also composes pieces realized with natural and industrial environmental sound recordings, like the one we proudly propose on erewhon, Aare am Marzilibad.
This piece realized in 2003 is a ready-made recording of a Swiss choppy river, the Aare, done with a microphone hermetically locked into a bottle. What you can hear is the sound of thousands of pebbles that knock together in the powerful stream. It illustrates perfectly Manu's focus on microscopic events and fragility.” [label description]
“Manu Holterbach, inventor of the electronic glasses (see Vital Weekly 472), works also with spatialization devices and mutant loudspeakers, but also installations and performances. For the piece presented on this miniCD, he locked a microphone hermetically in a bottle. He threw the bottle in a Swiss river, the Aare, and made this recording. If you open a bottle of some drink with bubbles, you might be fascinated at the sounds of the bubbles escaping. The first half of this piece sounds a bit similar, but if you listen carefully you can also hear voices from aside of the river. But they are far away, and as the piece progresses, they become louder. Perhaps the bottle washed ashore? It's a pretty single-minded concept that however works out very well. It's a beauty to listen to. Somewhere between highly filtered rain sounds and opening the next beer can.” [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2006 |
€7.00 |
|
| HOLTERBACH, MANU & JULIA ECKHARDT |
Do-Undo (in g maze) |
CD |
"Do-Undo is a project that emerged out of Q-O2 Werkplaats, a sound-art laboratory of sorts based in Brussels. Julia Eckhardt, one of the artistic directors of this workspace, has been building an archive of recordings, comprised of long-form viola pieces played exclusively in G. This archive, in turn, has been passed on to various musicians, who can use those recordings as they see fit. Enter Manu Holterbach, a French sound-artist, field recordist, and ingenious instrument builder, who had taken part in several Q-O2 residencies; and it was there that he met Eckhardt and was presented with part of the archive of those minimalist viola recordings to use as source material. Eckhardt's recordings seek the rich, if occasionally dissonant, overtones that have been central to the minimalist works of Tony Conrad, Phill Niblock, Eliane Radigue, and Ellen Fullman. And in his reconstitution of her recordings, Holterbach populates his compositions with field recordings whose turbulent textures and bristling movements sympathetically weave amidst the rasping drones from the viola. On a rather technical level, Holterbach's field recordings on his composition 'Two Stasis Made Out of Electricity' -- an arc lamp, the sounds of Parisian subways, an electric power plant -- all naturally buzz with the same G of Eckhardt's viola, without the benefit of digital pitch shifting. The resulting drones transcend any conceits of conceptualism and strategic intent, instead seeing no difference between the sounds of the environment (man-made or otherwise) and the sounds of the academy. As such, Do-Undo (In G Maze) will undoubtedly please those with an ear for the aforementioned Phill Niblock as well as the controlled impressionism of Andrew Chalk. A letter-pressed edition of a mere 300 copies." [label info]
www.helenscarsdale.com
"In Brussels we find a sound-art laboratory called Q-O2 Werkplaats which is run by, among others Julia Eckhardt, who is also a performing musician herself. Over the years she has build an archive of viola recordings played exclusively in G. People who visited the Q-O2 Werkplaats could use these recordings. One of them is Manu Holterbach, who works primarily inside field recordings. He brings to the table recordings of an arc lamp, the sounds of Parisian subways and an electric powerplant - all of which happen to be in G. too. All of this is combined in 'Do-Undo (In G Maze)' which is a lovely work of acoustic drones and field recordings. Quite an intense piece of work actually, that, despite the fact that this is all acoustic and field recordings alike, sound pretty much 'electric', rather than 'electronic'. A big buzzing, ringing enters your environment, with some excellent changes that add a further vibrancy to the material. Cut into two pieces, the first one seems to draw the attention to the acoustic side, while the second is more about the electrically charged sound. Think a refined meeting between Phill Niblock and Alvin Lucier and you get my drift. Limited to just 300 copies, so grab it while you can." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| HOLTKAMP, KOEN |
Field Rituals |
CD |
" 'Field Rituals' is the first solo album to come from Koen Holtkamp, an artist probably better known as one half of ambient duo Mountains. Based in Brooklyn, Koen created the album slowly and as a love letter of sorts, taking in delicate field recordings and using them like faded photos representing his distinct memories of the people and places he chanced upon. Some may have heard the incredible ‚Make Haste’ which appeared on limited edition vinyl earlier in the year, but this was only a taste of what Koen has to offer on ’Field Rituals’.
Taking cues from the classic ambience of Brian Eno and fusing it with the instrumental subtlety of Sweden’s Tape, Koen has come up with an aural book on his subject matter. Each track feels entwined in the next and feels like a part of something much bigger. Sure we’ve heard field recordings, synthesizers and guitars before but rarely have these instruments been injected with such a lightness of touch and with such a delicate open ear. Each listen reveals more, like peeling back layers of onion skin – take the album’s epic centrepiece ’Sky Flowers’ for example, which blends slow-moving synthesizers with good-natured environmental recordings and shimmering strings. The result is explosive somehow, with the grandeur more usually exploited by Arvo Part being framed with a distant electronic ambience.
The slow-burning pace is probably the single most important facet and reveals an artist at ease with his musical choices, something unusual in a genre brimming with young hopefuls. A good comparison might be Stars of the Lid, but Koen’s music is more organic and more humble somewhat than the ex-Texan duo. In the end we are just proud that Koen has allowed us a look into this most personal of works." [label info]
"Here be the first full length album from Mountains-man Koen Holtkamp. You may recall we got in (and sold out) his contribution to
the A Room Forever series of LPs commissioning artists to match a field recording on one side with a sympathetic composition on the other. Where his offering there was a dark-hued, ominous crescendo of crackled drone sourced from acoustic guitar, Field Rituals has its
head in the clouds. Holtkamp begins the album with a lovely round of brightly rendered acoustic guitar finger picking with some tricked out ring modulation effects giving each of the tones a sun-flecked glow and funhouse mirror curvature. Sustained drones from loops of melodica and harmonica mutate into an ersatz harmonium with the soaring overtones and sweeping fluctuations of tonalities gently crashing into each other. The loops every once in a while coalesce into a rhythmic underbelly, but mostly they settle as a effervescent bubbling of overlapping delay patterns and softly shimmered ambience. On top of all of this, Holtkamp dapples everything with his shimmered guitar and occasional crackles of tactile objects (he mentions water, seeds, ice, and paper) as well as field recordings of giggly children romping in a playground. The effect is somewhere between the immaculate pieces from Keith Fullerton Whitman's recordings and the bright-eyed naturalist
wonder of the Jewelled Antler camp. Really gorgeous stuff from the ever impressive Type label." [Aquarius Records review]
www.typerecords.com
|
2008 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
Make Haste / Free Birds |
LP-Box |
"Third volume to be released in this amazing new series. Koen Holtkamp is from Brooklyn, NY and runs the Apestaartje label and records as one half off the group Mountains. "Room Forever. Concept and art direction by Joshua Zucker. Photography by Kurt Mangum. A Room Forever is an art project realized as a curated series of limited edition 12" record LPs. Packaged in a custom-made box with high quality digital C-print covers and letterpressed inserts, each record features an original musical composition on one side and a field recording on the other. Pressed in one-time editions of 300, A Room Forever takes a unique and personal approach to the vinyl record LP. Conceived as a physical manifestation of the Roadside Picnic Radio podcast, the project draws upon the rich history and mythologies of audio recording to produce a final object of art that will resonate uniquely within each listener. More than anything, A Room Forever is inherently about the act of listening."
Please note that these records are cut at the Dubplates & Mastering lab in Germany and are
designed to be played at 45 r.p.m.
[label info]
www.aroomforever.com
|
2008 |
€28.00 |
|
| HOLY SIMILAUN |
Radicor al flort, espert on'ill il erb, aor Raetia |
LP |
Holy Similaun and Archipel dwell once again in the complex intersection of human memory, time and its perception with "Radicor al flort, espert on'ill il erb, aor Raetia".
In just under 20', this ideal in-depth analysis of "Arcaskathel" explores the blurred boundaries between reality and illusion.
Electronic and ambient soundscapes meld with japanese instrumentation and rouge-ah's poignant harp to create a sonic tapestry that ebbs and flows between moments of serene beauty and frenzied dissonance.
From longing nostalgia to the violent confusion and disorientation that comes with the loss of memory, this tracking shot invites the listener to explore the nuances of each sound and word, amidst the juxtaposition of brutal distortion, soaring melodies and punishing walls of noise.
The bold vocals, expertly crafted by Archipel, add another layer of depth to the already rich sonic landscape, shifting from demonic whispers to lullabies in the blink of an eye.
Even in its most turbulent moments, "Radicor al flort, espert on'ill il erb, aor Raetia" remains grounded in a sense of grace and beauty. The echoes of this immersive sonic experience will stay with you long after the music has stopped.
https://kohlhaas.bandcamp.com/album/radicor-al-flort-espert-onill-il-erb-aor-raetia
"With a playing time of eleven minutes for the first side, and eight for the second, I think this is instead a 12" than an LP; also because it spins at 45 rpm. I had not heard of Holy Similaun before, whose debut album is Aphex Twin-approved (good for Holy). Similaun also worked with Carhartt, Slam Jam and Spazio Maiocchi and with Zoë McPherson - none of which I had heard of (I am sure I move in different circles. Holy Similaun is responsible for the music, while Urska Preis plays the harp, and one Archipel delivers vocals and lyrics. These are in Italian, so some got lost in translation. I would think that digital manipulation plays an important role here, but at the same time, I don't know if that is true. Everything is about deconstruction is my best guess, which on the first
side, called 'Radicor al flort, espert' (which seemed not easy to translate), has a dark ambient backing in an orchestral modus. At one point, a voice recites a text when the piece is busy on its long descent down. Everything is now apart, so the peace ends. On the other side, the likewise difficult to translate 'on'ill il erb, or Raetia' is more atmosphere, more voice, and more musique concrète deconstructing of sounds. What and why there is a need to deconstruct (and, again, if that is the case here) is something that isn't entirely clear. This site is a livelier and more dynamic one than the other side. I found it all pretty enjoyable, but also a bit too obscure in the idea, message, concept, or... anything like that. Plus, of course, why only so short?" [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2023 |
€18.00 |
|
| HOLZKOPF & EMERGE |
Craft |
CD |
"This is not a split release, but an album of two co-composed tracks by
two apparently very diverse artists. Canadian artist Holzkopf is mainly
known for his leftfield take on drum’n’bass and improvised vocals,
while EMERGE is often labelled a “drone ambient” artist. Here, they
combine their respective mastery of synths and the processing of
sampled ambient sounds to create two textural, yet highly suspenseful
half-hour pieces.
The track titles “masonry” and “metallurgy” give the listener some
clues as two the sources of the sounds used. Y-Ton-G, a
long-standing presence in the German underground experimental music
scene and close collaborator of Asmus Tietchens, is credited with
supplying some of the source material for EMERGE’s samples, and given
Y-Ton-G’s predilection for the sounds of metal, these probably gave
shape to the samples featured on “metallurgy.” This is not to say that
any of this music sounds at all anecdotal. The great achievement of the
album is in the way it manages to combine seemingly concrete,
referential sounds with abstract, brooding frequencies. The mixture of
found and sythesised sounds, some of them by Holzkopf and others
supplied by mutual label mate and analogue-synth noisician ORiFiCE,
creates a kind of cinema for the ear which conjures emotionally
compelling atmospheres while never forcing any obvious visual
associations on the listener." [label info]
www.attenuationcircuit.de
"Also on the next CD Emerge is present, but then in collaboration with Canada's Holzkopf, who sometimes works inside the area of drum 'n bass, but also takes on as easily noise and ambient. Also on the plate here are sound samples by Y-Ton-G treated by Emerge. Two long pieces here, each around thirty minutes, and maybe the titles give away something, 'Masonry' and 'Metallurgy', which one might conclude this deals with some sort of metallic ringing and singing. There is a loose structure in order here, in which these sounds seem to be improvised and everything arrives in a playful mood/mode. I am not sure how this was made; by mail or Internet I would assume, but it sounds like they have been together and improvised these two pieces on the spot. Feeding it through a variety of boxes and laptops, with (obviously) moments that could be weeded out by more rigorous editing, but it's a free flow of sounds that has its appeal. It's perhaps the kind of thing that you would find on a cassette release, but why not a CD? Why not! Indeed!" [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€10.00 |
|
| HOOR-PAAR-KRAAT |
The Eureka Tapes |
do-CD |
"The pieces that make up The Eureka Tapes (The Complete Recordings) were all created while Hoor-paar-Kraat’s Anthony Mangicapra was living in the town of Eureka, California. Indeed, the town’s name is apt as they represent a “Eurekamoment” for Hoor-paar-Kraat as a musical entity; a figurative spilling of the bath waters as Hoor-paar-Kraat found their sound. The hints of alchemical transcendence that peeped through the cracks of previous releases come brazenly into view throughout Eureka Tapes (The Complete Recordings). Music dissolves into explorations of texture, acoustic phenomena and the psyche.
Originally issued as three separate volumes in a variety of hard to find formats (A Whisper in the Sow’s Ear, a 3” CD; Graduating from Clocks to Watches C55 and Taxonomy of Divine Organisms, a CDr made to accompany, and sold only at, Mangicapra’s exhibit of paintings, “Above & Below”), The Eureka Tapes (The Complete Recordings) collects the three original volumes. In addition to the original releases, The Eureka Tapes (The Complete Recordings) also includes Hoor-paar-Kraat’s side of their split cassette with Last and a previously unreleased recording from the same sessions. Spanning styles and moods like some kind of emotional suspension bridge, Hoor-paar-Kraat’s music finds itself traveling the same surreal by-ways as Nurse With Wound, irr. app. (ext.), The Hafler Trio and Coil’s more ritualistic output. Edition of 500." [label info]
www.bassesfrequences.org
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| HORIST, B. / K.K.NULL |
Interstellar Chemistry |
CD |
Unusual and undescribable wild surroundings on this collaborative effort with great guitar-sounds which reveal a deeper beauty after a while.. ! And every track is different !
“ No laptop music here! Real instruments played by real musicians. Ah, the flowers of romance. In this instance, as it turns out, Bill is Horistaculturalist to Null's garden of unearthly delights. Boom Shankar: Null plants the seed, Bill grows the seed, and we EAT the seed. What in Hell's name am I going on about? Well, it's like this: Null provided sonic source material which Horist then organised, manipulated and added on to. So what happened? Scrumptious musical confectionaries with surprise flavour centers! Much of it is like IDM with the boring removed. More deep and less bleep. The drum machinations pound out strains reminiscent of Ikue More (ala Death Praxis) or latter day Bruce Gilbert with a bit of controlled early Nurse With Wound wail thrown in as if this amalgamation were the soundtrack to an old Atari video game (see also Haruomi Hosono). And then comes the second track! Horists' guitar techniques are exciting, weird, rhythmic, Harry Partch-like ('Luminous Lullaby'), indescribable, explosive, ugly and beautiful. And just when it gets nuts, a melancholy paean to Boards Of Canada cuts through the noisy silt to round the experience out. Tietchensian insect jitters skitter throughout the tracks, no two of which can be said to be quite the same. And this is the wonder of the whole thing; Bill has crafted a cohesive statement out of all these musical explorations which, in many ways, smells of the tectonics of "OG" electro-experimental records of the early 80's and late 70's. There is both a bold adventurousness and a wonderful simplicity to the compositions that is like re-embracing that pivotal moment when noise first made sense and all the Zeppelin records went into the bin. And then you needed a pack of cigarettes and had to fish through the bin to sell the Zeppelin records. It's like that! “ [press release]
label:
www.blrrecords.com |
2002 |
€12.00 |
|
| HOTOTOGISU + BURNING STAR CORE |
Volume One |
CD |
"Five tracks, totaling approximately fifty minutes by the time-defying duo of MATTHEW BOWER (SKULLFLOWER, RAMLEH, SUNROOF!, TOTAL) and MARCIA BASSETT (DOUBLE LEOPARDS, GHQ, ZAIMPH) collaborating with C. SPENCER YEH, ROBERT BEATTY, and TREVOR TREMAINE (the latter two of HAIR POLICE, EYES AND ARMS OF SMOKE, SICK HOUR). Originally released as a tour merch CDR, this edited and re-sequenced edition begins with an appropriate invocation and from there punches blindly through one stone cloud after another, coughs and gasps from exhaustion, stumbles and lies motionless. The ritual concludes with a moment of naked acoustic/instinctual spasm. Packaged in a black polycase with black-and-white inserts and a special randomly-selected one-inch button (five button variations in all). All different material from the companion volume HG/BxC II released by the Heavy Blossom label." [label info]
".... And what in fact happens, is a big sprawling chaotic blown out spaced out free rock noise jam. The addition of drums makes a huge difference, grounding the sound in 'rock', but said drumming is free and abstract enough to let the music breath and expand and spread out like a black fog. The opener is a static Dead C style jam, a simple plodding beat, cymbals and kick drum mostly, while all around, dizzying swirls of guitar fuzz and thick swaths of distorted synth, and in there to some damaged electronics and of course some of Yeh's FX drenched violin. The backdrop is a constantly shifting swirl of noise and sound, but the simple plodding rhythm makes it sound like some ultra gritty lost krautrock rehearsal tape.
The second track is a bit more unhinged, the background of the first song, brought to the fore and allowed to swallow everything up.
The drums this time are just an incessant clanging buried in the mix, like a railroad crossing bell heard from within a tornado. Part way through some of the noise seems to coalesce into sort-of-riffs, and suddenly it a strangely propulsive slab of white hot white noise, albeit with a bit of groove to it. The next track is the most melodic, a gothy, doomy sort of glacial dirge, almost like an ultra lo-fi Hawkwind, crushing drums and more of that noisy blown out squall jammed into every crevice. The drums drop out almost entirely for the next number, the guitars and synths and violins and vocals spread out into long effulgent streaks, super noisy, but strangely hypnotic and dreamy.
The final track is a sort of throwaway, a brief sputter of creaks and clatter, scrape and grind, angular and atonal, a blown out noise coda, but it's the loooooong tracks that make up the rest of the record that really hit the drone-dirge-noise spot.
Packaged in a cool, black plastic case with a black and white cover, black and white insert, and each copy includes a button, one
of 5 different designs chosen at random." [Aquarius Rec.]
www.dronedisco.com
|
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
same |
LP |
"Hototogisu -- the duo of UK experimentalist Matthew Bower (Skullflower/Sunroof et al.) and New York-based-guitarist Marcia Bassett (Double Leopards/Zaimph/GHQ) -- are all about impact, about taking the physical aspect of sound and hallucinating it to the point of abstraction, so much so, that for all of the complexity of their music, it often sounds like it's standing still, simply hanging in the air and vibrating without anything approaching a 'plot' to bring it to a point. By contrast, Burning Star Core, the trio of drummer Trevor Tremaine, Robert Beatty on electronics (both of whom also play in Hair Police alongside Mike Connelly of Wolf Eyes) and C. Spencer Yeh on violin and electronics, are more overtly propulsive, usurping 'classic' rock form via electronics and drums, but still focused on momentum, on the jam as a form of structural gravity, on the unfolding of action via development over time. This all-improvised studio meeting is the perfect reconciliation of both tendencies, of Hototogisu's obsessive layering of strata after strata of violently-conceived noise and of Burning Star Core's epic, post-Kraut thunder-punk style. Bower has long been on record about his opposition to anything approaching 'dialogue' in improvised music, favoring a senses-devouring simultaneity over anything that might pass for actual exchange, so it's no surprise that there is little on this new record that sounds even close to conventionally-improvised music. Instead, it feels more focused towards the zone where energy begins to spontaneously birth form, where the monomaniacal pursuit of the nowhere zone bears fruit in the shape of a music that transcends its constituent parts while being totally based around -- and rooted in -- the individual response to the moment. BXC play it ginchy and garage-pop right from the start, simultaneously inverting and amplifying Bower and Bassett's vertical constructs with drums that sound like they might have been lifted straight from the most flower-power parts of the Silver Apples' back catalog and bass patterns that are as tactile and rock-anchored as Can's Holger Czukay. To hear Hototogisu's music given this kind of injection of dynamic energy makes them seem more obviously sourced in 'classic' rock music than you might otherwise have guessed, with a dense, implosive sound that feels like a hyper-distilled take on all of rock's most outlaw aspects, the feedback that makes you feel like you could explode in a ball of electricity, the anti-gravity effect of heavy fuzz, the seductive, alien tongues. It's certainly the most 'garage band' side that either of the groups have cut to date, albeit in the form of a Gnostic, post-acid re-think where the vibration is more important than the outer forms, where energized enthusiasm makes for a more fundamental guiding principle than verse/chorus/verse and where the only direction left is out. Which is another way of saying it feels genuinely bad-ass. In an era where even the best groups seem polite, pro, participatory, democratic, this is music that is disregarding in its overwhelming power, exhilarating in its irresponsible spontaneity. And in an underground scene where self-conscious notions of avant-garde and 'free improvisation' have long displaced any concept of an intuitive rocks-off style, well, it feels like a re-connection to the source. So file this one closer to Kill City or Sticky Fingers than Persian Surgery Dervishes or The Black Album and feel the gravity of your whole record collection shift." [David Keenan, Glasgow, November 2008] |
2008 |
€15.00 |
|
| HUDAK, JOHN |
Don't worry about anything, I'll talk to you tomorrow |
CD |
"Minimale ruhige elektronische Verfremdungen, absolut merkwürdige Sounds... außergewöhnlich auch das Konzept von HUDAK für diese CD: 'its pretty simple: my mother died about five years ago. someone returned me a one-of-a-kind tape that happened to have an answering machine message from my mother on it, saying 'don't worry about anything, i'll talk to you tomorrow.' that is the only sound source on the cd.'
Wunderbare, fremdartige "Alien"-Soundwelt, just great!!" [label info]
|
1998 |
€13.00 |
|
| HUM |
Lost in white flame |
mCD-R |
Still one of the most hidden secrets of transcendental drone-ambience music is this russian project, as he (Dmitry Chistov who is behind it) doesn't really promote it at all. On this EP we find a very mellow & caressing one-tracker, expressing the magic of winter-landscapes. The perfect combination of drone & melancholy.
"One track recorded in 2001. Dedicated to all fallen asleep in embraces of winter. Melancholic detached drone ambient." [Zhelezobeton]
"Its a bit hard to find out if I wrote about Russia's Hum before, since its a word used a lot in Vital Weekly, but with the help of Discogs it always works. This one-man drone project led by Chistov Dmitry handed in two 3"CDR, of which I am not sure if they are very recent, but after performing a little errand for me, I am very happy to return the favor. Apart from releases in Russia he has had a release on Mystery Sea (see Vital Weekly 521), Taalem (see Vital Weekly 612) and Substantia Innominata (see Vital Weekly 656). 'Lost In White Flame' is a thirteen minute piece of drone music, with slowly shifting organ like patterns, rather like one brush stroke. One continuos line going up and then going down. Very gentle ambient music. Nothing new, but great music. I could have easily enjoyed for the whole twenty minutes if used." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2006 |
€7.00 |
|
| |
The Spectral Ship |
10inch |
Eine Huldigung an den "Klang an sich", der nicht erzeugt wird, sondern seit Anbeginn da ist. HUMs Beitrag für unsere 10" Reihe über das Nicht-Erkennbare.
"Two great new pieces by this russian artist from the Moscow-area, most sensible & emotional drone-ambience, a graceful dance of acoustic reflections & resonances. "Spectral Ship" and "Tidal Fire" appear like universal mantras, revealing the basic HUM of the universe. These works seem to represent perfectly the concept of the SUBSTANTIA-series: Sound that exists but which is not originating from the impact of two subjects in contact. Sound that is simply "there", with no beginning or ending.
Edition of 500 copies on silver-coloured vinyl, with a full colour sleeve design by DANIEL CROKAERT / MYSTERY SEA." [label info]
www.substantia-innominata.de
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
| HUMAN GREED |
Hivernant |
CD |
"Michael Begg : After releasing World Fair (Omnempathy, 2014) I became a sketchbook. I had a few creases and the best way of smoothing them out was to take a swift, light touch and make marks on paper. I documented the landscape in East Lothian, and the watercolours were nothing more than the evidence of time spent looking. And that was enough. I sketched notes about silence, about space and place, music and recording. I took one step to the side and listened to the time rush by. I applied the same light touch to the studio. I sketched. It was enough. I somehow, briefly, removed ambition and purpose and found, in the winter, a moment of repose.
I now feel like some little winter animal, a hivernant, arising from sleep." [label info]
www.omnempathy.com
"A very English sounding record, this Hivernant, oozing with dramatic dronescaping and cinematically empty ambience. In previous recordings and collaborations, Michael Begg has found himself in very good company alongside the likes of David Tibet, Colin Potter, Brian Eno, and Clodagh Simonds (amongst others), all of whom share a similar sense of melancholy and portent and resignation, as if it oozed out of the British sod and into their souls. Begg himself has stated that this album is the equivalent of watercolor sketches of a particular portion of Britain (East Lothian, to be exact), capturing the mood and psychic malaise which haunts that land through his darkened, impressionist compositions. Yet, these are most definitely not ephemeral vignettes. Begg carefully crafts the somber spaces with orchestrations of organ, piano, psalter, oboe, etc. that unfurl in and out of an electronic fog that has little in the way of the shoegazing reverberation of, say, Stars Of The Lid, though the arranged formalism and nocturnal pacing could find parallel there. His shimmering layers of sound will evolve into pure sonic forms of harmonically clashing drones only to dissolve into pools of melodic piano reminiscent of Eno's Thursday Afternoon or into a Tim Hecker-like tonal suspension of stained-glass sorrow, with the rather dramatic climax to be found on "Nana" that explodes with a sparse yet booming drumcorps. Hivernant is beautiful, haunting, languid, beguiling. Begg posits this a political album, though he admits an inability to articulate any specifics of these ideas. Yet, in the construct of an album that digs at the poetics of a very British sentiment without sinking into chest-thumping nationalism, his politics speak through the act of creation and not the polemics of division." [Aquarius Rec.] |
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| HUMAN GREED / MICHAEL BEGG |
Omega:ost |
do-CD |
"Omega. A hoochie-‐coochie carnival for the end of time. Out from the sideshow shadows creep an astounding array of freaks, ageless hucksters, and mind-‐twisting curiosities. Raised from apocryphal texts, by black mirrors and prisms. Masters of the macabre spectacle, technical wizards, and true innovators of theatrical sleight-‐of-‐hand, Moscow’s blackSKYwhite – Fringe First and Total Theatre winners – return with their boldest, most audacious production to date, realised in the scale that this company deserves. Loud, exhilarating and utterly compelling. The recording is the result of an extraordinary collaboration between 2 obsessively singular voices; Human Greed’s Michael and the Moscow based Dimitry Aryupin, blackSKYwhite’s mercurial artistic director. For 8 months, with very little in terms of common language the pair threw themselves deep into the process of cooking up an aural bedrock on which to situate the extraordinary beings that populate the stage. Old testament excess, dustbowl carny gothic, and the captured wheezing and grunting of instruments worn out centuries on the road all figure in the soundtrack – and in doing so extend the range of Begg’s more familiar palette of electronics”. The record also features texts in English, Russian and Romani written by Begg and Aryupin. “O ushalin zhala war o kam mangela -‐ The shadow moves as the sun commands." [label info]
www.omnempathy.com
"It has, rather appropriately, been 13 years since Moscow-based company blackSKywhite first appeared on the Fringe to terrify and amaze audiences with Bertrand’s Toys. In the intervening years, they have toured the world and other companies have perhaps become better known on the Fringe. But Omega is a very welcome reminder of just how high that bar has been set.
In a month when the city abounds with jugglers and acrobats, it is worth noting that Omega is not a circus show. Rather, it is a movement and dance piece that evokes a stylised circus, the freak shows of the past and a nightmarish post-Apocalyptic carnival. And yet the physical skill on offer here is no less impressive. Put simply, it is often impossible to believe that human beings can actually move like this. It is also rare to see a production as technically polished as this. Movement, music (specially composed by Michael Begg), sound and lighting all seamlessly combine to create something far more than a show: this is a true theatrical experience." [TV BOMB]
|
2013 |
€17.50 |
|
| HUMAN LARVAE |
Behind blinding Light |
LP |
"Born from the ashes of Broken Diode, Germany's Human Larvae first made an appearance with the “Home is Where the Hurt Is” (Existence Establishment, 2008). Human Larvae's ability to incorporate and balance more aggressive passages of junk metal clangor, swarming distortion, and ferocious vocals with hopelessly bleak and gloomy atmospheres immediately sets them apart from anything else in the scene today, though reference points can be made to Gnawed, IRM, Grunt, and Theologian. Behind Blinding Light is a recording of great depth and compositional expertise, and can be regarded as a benchmark recording of pure and true industrial music. Ltd x 200 copies with offset printed covers and four 15x15cm cards with artwork and lyrics."
|
2017 |
€20.00 |
|
| HUMAN QUENA ORCHESTRA |
The Politics of the Irredeemable |
CD |
Instrumental Apocalyptic Doom Ambience! Musik von erdrückender Intensität & urwüchsiger Kraft! Heftige Gitarren-Drones, wuchtige ultralangsame Pulses, Schreie, Noise... So brutal wie wunderschön. Gehört mit zum intensivsten, was es im Bereich "Industrial-Rock" der schleppend-zermahlenden Sorte zur Zeit gibt, natürlich muss man an alte SWANS denken, aktuell fällt uns sonst nur noch TRANSITIONAL, KHANATE oder BUNKUR ein. Das zweite Album!
"Ein bisschen Fantasie vorausgesetzt, stelle man sich folgendes Szenario vor: NAPALM DEATH wären keine Grindcore-, sondern eine Black-Metal-Band, und als Justin Broadrick sie 1986 verließ, um dann GODFLESH zu gründen, hätte er neben Industrial, Noise und Ambient eben auch einen Teil Black Metal in sein Projekt gebracht, aber mit dem Wissen, wie sich so etwas eben 2009 anhören müsste. Ein alberner Vergleich vielleicht, aber das aus Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania stammende Duo HUMAN QUENA ORCHESTRA schafft es mit seinem zweiten Album, eine ähnlich bedrückende Atmosphäre aufzubauen, wie es einst GODFLESH konnten und das eben mit ganz ähnlichen, aber noch heftigeren Mitteln, denn auf einen nachvollziehbaren Rhythmus und eine Songstruktur muss man verzichten. Eine den Songs als Fundament dienende Geräuschkulisse, darüber Schreie, Noisefetzen und ein sich ständig wiederholendes brutales Riff, das nur alle zehn Sekunden zusammen mit einem Drumschlag auftaucht: „The Politics Of The Irredeemable" ist statisch und undynamisch, wie eine massive, undurchdringliche Wand, die so dunkel, hoch und breit ist, dass du ihre Dimensionen nicht abschätzen kannst." [André Bohnensack, OX-Fanzine]
"Human Quena Orchestra first took shape as a solo project from Ryan Unks, who had previously played guitar in the final lineup of the Pittsburgh metal band Creation Is Crucifixion. After moving from CIC, Unks began to work on a new project that would incorporate elements of black metal, crushing drone music, extreme psychotropic noise and psychedelic/krautrock influences into a sound that would be much heavier any of his previous projects. The first album from Human Quena Orchestra was released in 2007 on Daft Alliance; Means Without Ends was a disturbing, introspective slab of blackened industrial doom that stood out in stark contrast from the rest of the slow n' low extreme doom scene, utilizing layers of harsh textured distortion and electronics to create a caustic form of monstrous doom that shared as much of industrial music's cold, machine-like aesthetic as it did the ultra-slow riffage of the most extreme variants of doom metal. At the same time that the bands debut was taking shape, Unks was joined by another former member of Creation Is Crucifixion, Nathan Berlinguette (who was also a member of the dark ambient project M.Kourie and the deathdrone duo 5/5/2000). With the addition of Berlinguette's skilled application of dark ambience and expansive soundscapes, Human Quena Orchestra began to move into even more textured territory which has culminated with the second HQO full-length, The Politics of the Irredeemable, a series of apocalyptic visions and epiphanies of endtime realization, prophetic screeds that look to a future rendered pustulent and war-stricken by the failed machinations of the human race, presented as six chapters that enter your consciousness through a delivery system of extreme industrial dread. The Politics of the Irredeemable is crushing and oppressive, a crawl through abstract fields of low-end sound that move from punishing blasts of ultra-heavy machine-doom and earth-shaking tectonic riffs, to thick fogs of black electronic ambience that shimmer with subsonic pulses and celestial drones, the presence of malevolent electricity crackling in the air around the lumbering, nightmarish electro-sludge monstrosity of the Human Quena Orchestra. And at the same time, there are passages of immense beauty on this album that lurk at the peripheries of HQO's malevolent crush; the track "Aspirations" for instance, where pummeling slow-motion industrial percussions grinds in an infinite loop beneath a swirling nightsky of kosmiche synthesizers and heavenly, blissed-out ambience, the drums becoming like distant mortar blasts heard over the horizon as terrified screams ring out and stars fall dead from the skies. Total deathmachine grind ambience. The CD is packaged in a heavy gatefold jacket with murky, dismal images of blasted city streets and torched monuments, with lyrics and quotations relevant to the apocalyptic themes on the album printed on the inside jacket. Comes with three 1" color buttons featuring artwork from the album." [label info]
www.Crucialblast.net
|
2009 |
€12.00 |
|
| HUNT, JERRY |
Five Mechanic Convention Streams |
do-LP |
The final album released by the composer-performer Jerry Hunt before his death, Ground: Five Mechanic Convention Streams is a rare and foundational audio document of Hunt’s compositional process. The record collects five pieces from the artist’s “Ground” series, translating his characteristically variable and spatial scores into “recorded fixtures of activity using mechanic musical instrument arrays,” to eerie and mesmerizing results. Originally released by experimental label OODiscs in 1992, it is now available on vinyl for the first time from Blank Forms Editions. Its tracks are dense and unpredictable, a miscellany of arrhythmic bursts, fragments of spoken and whispered words, soft then fevered rattles and shaking, and a rare return to pianoforte for the virtuoso player. On “Talk (slice): double” a nervous, warped dialogue unfolds between Hunt and composer Rod Stasick, their voices alternately measured and monstrous. In “Transform (stream): monopole,” breathy whistles build against a shimmering stream of bells, rattles, and shakers in a fantastical cascade of percussion. Hunt revisits the piano in “Lattice (stream): ordinal” and “Bitom (stream): link,” oscillating between gentle, almost classical phrases and frantic, seemingly random play. His collaboration with violinist Jane Henry, “Chimanazzi (Olun): core,” extends similarly unorthodox playing techniques to the violin, involving the scraping, plucking, and playing of its strings. The unstable quality of these tracks belies the rigor of Hunt’s procedures; each of Ground’s five pieces, their “common ground core,” is derived from the angelic tables of sixteenth century English philosopher and occultist John Dee, adapted by Hunt as frameworks to layer, adapt, and renew in his compositions. With a complex arrangement of sensors and equipment, which the artist called “interrelated electronic, mechanic, and social sound-sight interactive transactional systems,” Hunt realized these derivative systems in the techno-shamanic performances for which he is best known. Ground distills these procedures into fixed songs, producing a vital and critical record of Hunt’s singular approach to composition.
Ground: Five Mechanic Convention Streams is released as part of Blank Forms’s extensive program dedicated to Jerry Hunt. This program includes the first institutional exhibition of the artist’s videos and sculptures, Jerry Hunt: Transmissions from the Pleroma, presented at Blank Forms from February 16th to June 11th, 2022; the publication of Partners, a memoir-cum-biography by the artist’s long-time romantic partner Stephen Housewright; the forthcoming anthology Blank Forms 08: Transmissions from the Pleroma; and Irida Records: Hybrid Musics from Texas and Beyond, 1979–1986, a deluxe LP boxed set and reader on Hunt’s briefly-lived independent label.
https://blankformseditions.bandcamp.com/album/ground-five-mechanic-convention-streams
|
2022 |
€37.50 |
|
| HUNTSVILLE |
For the middle class |
CD |
Sehr schwungvoll-polyperkussive Instrumental-Melangen dieses norwegischen Ensemble, absolut hörenswert !
"Die drei Musiker von HUNTSVILLE - Ivar Grydeland, Tonny Kluften und Ingar Zach - stammen allesamt aus Norwegen. Grydeland und Zach gründeten zusammen das Sofa Label für improvisierte Musik und tauchten schon zusammen in ebenso unzähligen wie vielfältigen Gruppen wie dem Improvisations-Ensemble NO SPAGHETTI EDITION oder gemeinsam mit dem britischen Keyboarder Pat Thomas im Quartett HISS auf. Die Tatsache, dass alle Mitglieder von HUNTSVILLE Multiinstrumentalisten sind, zeigt, dass die Band um Lichtjahre von einem konventionellen Trio mit Gitarre, Bass und Drums entfernt ist. Grydeland mischt akustische und elektrische Gitarre und am Banjo mit Fingerpickung, verschiedenen Bögen und obskuren Effektgeräten. Ebenso benutzt Kluften am Bass unterschiedliche Bögen, Stöcke und Gummibänder, während Zach dies mit den diversesten Klängen seines Drumkits untermalt. Am Ende ist es ganz unmöglich, herauszufinden, wer welches bizarre Geräusch zu Tage gefördert hat. HUNTSVILLE treiben den polyrhythmischen Zugang, wie ihn ORNETTE COLEMAN bei "Lonely Woman" kultiviert hat, auf neue Höhen. Verschiedene Tempi der Instrumente konkurrieren miteinander und kommen am Ende der Reise doch als homogenes Ganzes im Gehör des Zeugen an. //
_This is the debut release for Norwegian trio Huntsville. Huntville are Ivar Grydeland, (guitars, banjo, pedal steel guitar, etc.) Tonny Kluften (double bass, etc.) and Ingar Zach (percussion, tabla machine, sarangi box, shruti box, etc.) Grydeland and Zach founded the Sofa label for improvised music in 2000 and appear together in various projects on several of the label's releases. They have worked with Kluften since 1998, as the core of improvising ensemble No Spaghetti Edition and in the quartet HISS with British keyboardist Pat Thomas. The HISS CD from 2003, Zahir, shows the group's intense application of so-called free improvisation. The Huntsville project contrasts sharply with their earlier work, and this release reveals a quite different, more groove-based approach with strong elements of composition. Zach comments, "... during the last two or three years, our interest in country music and electronic music has developed into a sound we really wanted to investigate -- also Feldman and Cage, drone music, folk music..." The group's multi-instrumentalism means that this is no conventional guitar-bass-drums trio. On acoustic and electric guitar as well as banjo, Grydeland mixes finger-picking techniques with various types of bow, as well as acoustic and electronic devices. Tonny Kluften on double-bass uses various bows, sticks and rubber bands, while Zach produces a wide range of sounds on drum kit. They make striking use of a marvelous polyrhythmic approach pioneered by Ornette Coleman on "Lonely Woman," and Zach's locomotive groove is contrasted by the free tempo of plangent, folk-like acoustic guitar, in a kind of fractured descendent of the railroad blues. Alternately, the drums set up a tight and furious high-tempo, with the other instruments either at a slower tempo, or out of tempo completely. When the group lowers the energy levels, soft arpeggios on acoustic guitar are heard against percussive objects and a lone, rather erratic bass drum -- these effects are spare, haunting and quite beautiful. For The Middle Class displays a genuinely musical use of unexpected sounds and textures, allied with echoes of traditional genres in a radical new conceptual language." [press release]
"Pretty incredible long-player by the Norwegian trio of Ivar Grydeland, Tonny Kluften and Ingar Zach, who’ve long been involved with the free improvisation world already documented by Grydeland’s Sofa label on a number of releases since 2000. Here, however, they utilise all manner of instruments from guitars, double bass, banjo, tabla machine and various others originating from India to explore a more recent interest in drone, country, folk and electronic music. Opening song, ‘The Appearance of a Wise Child’, tethered to around 15 mins worth of driving, hypnotic percussion and snatching some random vocals along the way, largely sets the tone for the remainder of the release. Organic textures snake around each other, rhythms staple everything to that juncture where everything points to an apex of unadulterated ecstasy, and discernible ur-strums combine with frenetic bows and scrapes for that only too important raw effect so hard to find in this day of software-generated sterilisation. Only second track, ‘Serious Like a Pope’ loses its grip slightly as the pace is whittled back to a near Fahey-esque approach rendered better on fourth and final cut, ‘Melon’, which furnishes us with a comparatively stripped and gentle touchdown to the proceedings. Nonetheless, Huntsville sound like their experience within such realms of music is paying off. The product of people who know their game without having let their imagination or yearning to voyage to new places suffer. Fucken dandy in my book, I have to concede." [RJ, Adverse Effect]
|
2006 |
€10.00 |
|
| HURTADO, MARC & ALAN VEGA |
Sniper |
CD |
"Alan Vega is literally a legend. Suicide, formed by the duo Rev and Vega is the spearhead of a punk trend which immersed all of a sudden in a fusion of waves and electronic loops. Since that period Vega became an icon for rock music and electronic generations... Vega’s flow, and the scansion of this white hot crooner sound fractured and charismatic. Everything is Rock, his leather jackets, his art and soul highly charged. So aesthetic, a rockabilly singing in a breathless style, wearing dusty pink and yelling metal make up. He is nowadays a Myth all around the world.
Marc Hurtado gained his experience in the 80’s with his brother Eric, they were called “Étant Donnés”. Their albums, films and performances are highly appreciated in Beauboug,the Fondation Cartier, the Rennes Transmusicales,the Barcelona Sonar Festival, the Kitchen in New York and The French Cinematèque. In the years 2000, Marc Hurtado produced some original soundtracks (for Philippe Gandrieux and Jessica Hausner), but he is also known for his collaborations with Lydia Lunch, Genesis P-Orridge (Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV), Michael Gira (Swans), Gabi Delgado (DAF), The Hacker, Sky Saxon (The Seeds), Les Maîtres Musiciens de Jajouka, his project Sol Ixent with the German singer Saba Komossa (Delkom)... and of course Alan Vega. Hurtado recorded four tracks in the album Re-Up in 1999 and were together on stage in France and Europe (Centre Pompidou, Lieu Unique de Nantes with Christophe) and he also produced in 2009 the film “The Infinite Mercy Film”) dedicated to the art work of Alan Vega.
Sniper was born from this artistic collaboration and complicity, it was recorded in 2010 at the 6/8 Studios cherished by Suicide. This is a blazing star, an album made of fever and chaos but it also remind us the synthetic ballad you can find in Vega’s early solo albums.Whithout mentioning Lydia Lunch’s participation in “Prison Sacrifice” already a cult song, there is the sublime one “Saturn Drive Duplex” in its first original version which could lead to inspiration in the future. With at least 13 tracks of rage and shiver where words and electricity are intertwine to show this threatening apocalyptic and violent world but also the desire to flee towards new possibilities and to explore the universe.
This album follows the release of infinite Mercy, a monograph dedicated to the art work “Ghost Rider Man”, which came out in September 2010 at Presses du Réel and where you can find some texts from Marc Hurtado, Alan Vega, Henry Rollins, Ric Ocasek and Martin rev. Neon lights sculptures are on the outer cover and inside it, it’s a prestigious flamboyant release." [label info]
www.maquismusic.com
|
2010 |
€15.50 |
|
| HYBRYDS |
Ritual Anthology |
CD |
Aufnahmen von 1986-1993 von der belgischen Ethno / Ritual / Industrial-Band, welche eindrucksvoll ihren mal verträumt-mysteriösen, mal magisch-beschwörenden, meist perkussiven Stil präsentiert. Über die Hälfte der Stücke ist unveröffentlicht. Ziel dieser Musik ist die Erzeugung von Trance, welche den Zugang zu im Alltag schwer zugänglichen Bewusstseinszuständen möglich macht. Kommt im edlen schwarz-gold bedruckten Papp-Ausklapp-Cover.
"With this CD Aquarellist is proud to present the anthology of early ritual works of this fabulous Belgian project. This music immerses the listener into the space of RITUAL - the magical action aimed to reach the goals beyond the borders of the ordinary world. An action evoking deeper layers of consciousness, deeper memories not active in our everyday life. An action that helps to reveal our potential as powerful and miraculous creatures.
Hybryds present their visions of rituals in the form of rhythmical compositions built on repetitive percussive loops crowned with layers of numerous archaic instruments, aided by vocal spells and atmospheric soundscapes with minor electronic additions.
This material was recorded in 1986-1993 by Magthea & Yasnaia with the help of their friends: Ah Cama Sotz, Djen Ajakan Shean, Vidna Obmana, Clive Richards, Irae Deprofundo and Bobby Colombo. Three tracks from this CD were previously released on "The Rhythm Of The Ritual" CD (Charnel Music, 1994), one track was released as "The Ritual Should Be Kept Alive - Part 1" CD EP (3RIOART, 1991), and three other tracks are released here for the first time.
CD, limited edition of 600 in digipak from a corrugated cardboard, picture it is executed by a method of silk-screen printing
1- For the Nameless one
2- El Caballo
3- Je suis la premiere
4- Call for the Touareg
5- Fallen Angels
6- The ritual should be kept alive - part 1
7- The ritual should be kept alive - part 3
Recorded between 1986 and 1993.
Digital re-mastered 2009 by 3RIOART vzw from original material recorded on 4 track cassette and recordings live to DAT.
Credits:
Magthea,
Yasnaia,
Ah Cama Sotz,
Djen Ajakan S,
Vidna Obmana,
Clive Richards,
Irae Deprofundo,
Bobby Colombo.
Visit:
http://www.hybryds.com
http://users.telenet.be/3rioart/
Reviews:
http://maeror3.livejournal.com/80596.html"
[label info]
www.aquarellist.ru
|
2009 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
The Ritual of the Rave |
do-CD |
For the past several years Zoharum has been reissung the subsequent albums of the Belgian independent scene legend, Hybryds; so far five has been released. "The Ritual of the Rave" is the sixth installment in this series and is an expanded version of the 1995 album. It has not lost its freshness in those years. It is electronica with strong ambient and ethnic music influences locked in six long, slowly developing compositions. Here there are rhythmic elements directly taken from techno (which announced further changes in the Belgian project's repertoire.) "Icarus" or "Sjamanistic Dream" are still classics in the Hybryds catalogue.
This is also one of the expanded editions of their classic albums. The second disc shows what Hybryds was like at concerts during the period when the recordings were made (live tracks compose the first five tracks recorded in 1995). In addition, we have three studio compositions here here. The first one belongs to the collaborative Hydra project, whose only official recording appeared on the compilation "The Uncertain Future" on Antler. The other two are the early recordings from 1988 by Magthea with Mark Burghgreave of Klinik. One of them, "Octahedron", appeared on the absolutely first single of the project.
The album has been digitally remastered from the original master tapes by none else but Sandy Nys, who also provided the cover based on the previous editions. The CDs are housed in a digipak sleeve and the album is strictly limited to 500 copies.
https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/the-ritual-of-the-rave
|
2017 |
€15.00 |
|
| HYPNOZ |
Breath of Earth |
CD |
CISFINITUM-Fans aufgepasst! Aus dem Umfeld des grandiosen Moskauer Projekts stammt HYPNOZ, und auf diesem Album ist CISFINITUM aka E. VORONOVSKY auch bei 5 von 7 Stücken mit dabei. BREATH OF EARTH ist voller pulsierender elektronischer Ambience, dicht & spannend arrangiert, leicht rhythmisch und mit gewissen Reminiszenzen an die "kosmischen" 70er Jahre, aber mit ganz eigener Note..
"Hypnoz is a project of Dmitry Zubov, a musician from Moscow suburb Fryazino, the town that endowed the lovers of post-industrial music with such names as Hum and Staruha Mha. His first composition was recorded in 1993, and during its existence Hypnoz has released one CD on the Moscow label Insofar Vapour Bulk, which gathered tracks from different periods, a couple of very limited CD-Rs, and participated on the compilation "Iznutri" by the Ewers Tonkunst label with a fragment of a composition from this album. Aside from Hypnoz Dmitry plays in several other projects: Zuboff Sex Shop (post-punk / new-wave), Circle Of Iron Tape (harsh noise), BRZB (electronics, with Alexey Borisov), etc... The basis of most of the tracks for "Breath of Earth" was recorded by Dmitry together with Evgeny Voronovsky (Cisfinitum) during their joint night psychedelic sessions, and this is evidently felt in their mood. Stylistically this can be called tranquil electronic ambient with a remarkable experimental touch – but who thinks about it while recording? Slowly twisting sound helixes, drawing inside the astral subspaces, pulsating rhythms, cosmic sounds of old analogue synthesizers, – all this produces an appropriate effect on the listener's mind, and there's nothing more to demand from music." [label description] |
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
| IA (ALEX COPELAND) |
Peak of Anchorite |
mCDR |
"IA is the project of us artist alex copeland who sent us a while back a handful of beautiful tracks, and also a great collaborative track (with julien demoulin) titled "the bay" alas 40min long. "the bay" was happily since co-released by ronda and our dear collegue from basses frequences (check this great disc here if you haven't yet!). luckily the solo tracks were of equal beauty and we were immediately hooked by some of them... "peak of anchorite" is a perfect example of IA's music: a kind of ancient, lo-fi drone that could remind the good old days of rapoon. a great newcomer to discover!" [label info]
www.taalem.com
|
2012 |
€5.00 |
|
| ICHIYANAGI, TOSHI |
Electronic Field |
CD |
This performance is a part of concert series “Japanese Experimental Music 1960’s” carried out at Art Tower Mito in Ibaraki. Toshi Ichiyanagi played improvisation on prepared piano and the sound was modulated by live-electronics. However he is a ’maestro’ of contemporary music now, his quite non-declined experimentalism is appeared by this great and deep sound. Also painter Sadamasa Motonaga (b.1922, a member of Gutai) projected abstruct figures to walls of the space. “Electronic Field” (1997).
|
2008 |
€21.50 |
|
| IF, BWANA |
Gruntle |
CD |
Vier neue Stücke mit weiteren köstlichen Seltsamkeiten aus der IF BWANA-Welt, basierend auf Synths & normalen Instrumenten (violine, bass), Feedbacks und Sinustonwellen, zu hören gibt es konkretes & elektronisches Gegurgel & Gemurmele & insektoides Gewisper, insgesamt sehr geräuschhaft & speziell, Anklänge an SMALL CRUEL PARTY, JOHN HUDAK, etc.. kommt wieder im speziellen 3-teiligen & klappbaren ABSURD-Kreis-Cover !
"guess that most of you are used to al margolis's (aka 'if,bwana) more 'serious' electroacoustic soundscapes and expect 'gruntle' to be another fine addition to this style.. in a sense it is... a unique if, bwana
recording, collecting 4 tunes recorded between 95 - 02 which however refer more to the legendary if,bwana tapes sound (if there weren't a kinda remaster to the original tapes, would have been even more lo-fi hissing electroacoustics) where al's creative play w/ loops & enigmatic sounds together w/ the childlike artwork of nixilx.nijilx make it a wonderful trip in a bizarro world..." [label info]
|
2005 |
€10.00 |
|
| |
Assemble.Age! |
CD |
"Modern classical music meets industrial meets musique concrete.
The music of If, Bwana (Al Margolis) represents a vigorous, original and informed continuation of the experimental traditions of American music, responding as it does to the sounds and materials of late 20th and early 21st century American life with a keenly sensitive ear and a marvelous feeling for form, balance, and texture in music.
The five works on this recording all utilize and reprocess the performances (both studio and live) of the musicians and vocalists. Their work has been processed, edited, selected and assembled into strange and mutated pieces which in many cases are quite some way removed from the realms of the familiar.
Active since 1984 under the If, Bwana name, Al Margolis has been making music that has swung between fairly spontaneous studio constructions and more process-oriented compositions. He ran the cassette label Sound of Pig Music in the 1980s and co-founded and continues to run the experimental music label Pogus. Margolis plays bass guitar in the long-lasting, legendary punk/post-punk band The Styrenes. Recordings of his work have been released on the Tellus, Anckarstrom, Ants, Absurd, GD Stereo, Odradek, Monochrome Vision, and Pogus labels. Recent projects have included a sound art commission by WDR Koln, collaborations with video artist Katherine Liberovskaya on "Take-off", "Rant Dance". and "Frogfield", all of which have been shown internationally, and the premiere of "Three Songs in Search of a Voice", a "nohtopera" with MutaMYTHeatre - music by Margolis and text and voice, Lisa Barnard Kelley." [label info]
www.mutablemusic.com
"Al Margolis career as If, Bwana has been going strong for more than twenty-five years now and it has making strange turns. Originally, to put it crudely, If, Bwana was an industrial group, using raw sound collage/montage techniques, but it has grown over the years in a way that not many others do. While many of his peers took the route to more musique concrete, Margolis went into the serious avant-garde direction. Working with small ensembles and soloists with various instruments, he now composes that are seriously modern and, at other times, sounding improvised. The role of Margolis is that of the conductor. Not in the traditional sense, raising a baton, but the organizer. He tapes the music and then fiddles it about using the computer. Maybe the 'organizer' is a better word, or 'assembler', to stay in tune with the title of the CD. Sometimes he receives sound material, such as by Trio Scordatura, which he then organizes into a piece of music, such as the nicely woven drone like sounds of 'Ringing The Bell', and sometimes they all team up to play live, as in 'Cicada #1: EHG Version'. Its here that the music sounds more improvised, an 'real' instruments (voice, trombone, flute) collide with a nord modular and computer. In 'Six Minus 6' and 'DTTO' it seems we are dealing with a composed piece of music and its hard to say what the role of Margolis is. His working method seems to differ within each piece he does and that's something that is surely great as it makes a very release. Different approaches to a similar working ground. A fine work, yet again, of various interests (composed music, improvisation, musique concrete techniques) merging together. Quite a unique voice in this music." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| IF, BWANA / GERALD FIEBIG |
split |
LP |
"ACV 1002: Marbled white vinyl 12” LP in unique hand-painted sleeve, limited edition of 100
File under: Drone, Ambient, Experimental
The second release in attenuation circuit’s Vinyl Series of split LPs in unique hand-painted covers brings together US experimental music icon and long-term label activist Al Margolis aka If, Bwana and German audio artist Gerald Fiebig. Their shared method of arranging recorded acoustic sounds into digital compositions led them to also share some of the sound material used on the respective sides of this album, which offers a richness of textures from quirky improv-style passages to calm drones and processed field recordings.
If, Bwana interweaves two tracks based on the sounds of very different wind instruments: Recorders, played by himself, and sounds of a church organ played by Fiebig at Mecklenburgisches Orgelmuseum, a former church turned organ museum in the North German town of Malchow. “Recorders in Augsburg” is a complex layering of several short melodic phrases played on the recorders, exploiting their higher registers in a way that makes them sound almost like lo-fi electronics although the sounds are not heavily processed. A very rhythmic, mercurial piece which eludes any attempt on the listener’s part to settle onto one continuous ‘beat,’ “Recorders” fades into “Fie’s Big Organ.” This piece layers pitch-shifted excerpts from the original organ session to create a rather tranquil, drone-ambient feel in the spirit of If, Bwana’s recent releases on his own Pogus label as well as Mutable Music and the live album “crossgrained” on attenuation circuit.
http://attenuationcircuit.wix.com/attenuation-circuit#!__crossgrained
Gerald Fiebig’s piece “Sustained Development” combines other excerpts from the acoustic organ and recorder material and combines it with both acoustic and electric guitar samples, provided by Mathias Huber and Jesus Jackson, Fiebig’s colleagues from his pop trio Jesus Jackson und die grenzlandreiter and processed by labelmate EMERGE. Other ingredients are electric organ sounds and field recordings made with an “electric recorder.” Fiebig’s subtle, quiet drone/ambient piece is mainly based on slow loops fading in and out, like breath or groundswell. Even more than the If, Bwana tracks, the sound processing on this side of the LP constantly plays tricks on the listener who wants to pinpoint whether any particular sound is ‘acoustic’ or ‘electric’ in origin." [label info]
"Although best known for their CDR and online releases, Attenuation started to release vinyl too, and this is their second release. Like the previous release this is split release, here with If, Bwana and Gerald Fiebig. Both of them have had a number of releases on this label. They use each other sound sources, but which leads to different results. On the If, Bwana side we find the sound of recorders as taped by Al Margolis, mister Bwana himself, and organ recordings by Fiebig. Apparently, according to the info, we have two pieces here, one of each instrument. In the 'usual' methods applied by If, Bwana all of these sounds are layered together, not unlike Phill Niblock would (with whom If, Bwana tours every now and then). Chopped into small loops, on a constant repeat mission, but never starting at the same time, forms a rather dense mass of sound. Many layers should be understand many, maybe even 1,000 or so. The recorder piece is slightly dissonant it seems and has an edginess which I don't think I heard before in If, Bwana's music. It just as easily moves over into the organ piece, which applies a similar technique, but which is slightly more 'melodic' and less dissonant and maybe more what you would expect of such drone like sounds. It's something I rather enjoy, very much. This is maybe the lo-fi version of Niblock, but it's one that works quite well.
Now Fiebig, on the other side, may use the same recorder and organ sounds, he also adds the acoustic guitar of Jesus Jackson (processed by Emerge), the electric guitar of Mathias Huber and an electric recorder which he played himself. Here more is indeed less. You could expect a lot more sounds, and even more density than If, Bwana does, but it's not something like that at all. Fiebig distributes the sounds quite sparsely over the course of his side. It moves very slowly, back and forth between the different sources and just sometimes you recognize the acoustic guitar, or the recorder. Sometimes playing together, but it seems that a lot of the times they are on their own, like stars at night - moving solely in the firmament. That seems to be the case here, with very occasional interaction. If that happens, in what seems to be the middle of the record, small melodies are formed around carefully placed crackles, slowly moving a gentle drone in to fade out in the end. Nice, gentle music
. Perhaps the most gentle music I encountered on this label. Pressed on white vinyl, which is perhaps not the most optimum for this delicate music." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2013 |
€23.00 |
|
| IF, BWANA / SUSTAINED DEVELOPMENT / ELEKTROJUDAS / EMERGE |
Crossgrained |
do-CDR |
"ACC 1009: 2 x CD-R in DVD-case
The three solo tracks performed by If, Bwana on this live recording are based on sounds played on the bassoon, flute, and guitar and make a wonderful introduction to his work with layered, pitch-shifted acoustic instruments. This stuff is among the best you can get in contemporary drone music – rich in texture, sensuous, emotional, and still abstract enough to “clear the mind.” On another two tracks, If, Bwana is joined by his local support group at this July 2012 gig in Germany for an unlikely but happy marriage of his layered sound textures, 50 Hz hum, and lots of electroacoustic sound gadgetry.
Supporting If, Bwana at his concert in Augsburg, Germany on 4 July 2012, local artists Sustained Development, elektrojudas, and EMERGE teamed up for a free improvised set using sampled bass guitars, miked-up wave drums and induction coils, monotrons, and smartphone apps, also documented on this 2 CD set. Another two tracks resulted from the trio joining If, Bwana for a demonstration of the possibilities of experimental music, which are endless provided they are approached in an open-minded way. In this case, two very distinct idioms – calm, contemplative drones and fidgety, highly interactive glitch/noise improvisation – fuse perfectly thanks to the alertness of the players." [label info]
www.attenuationcircuit.de
|
2013 |
€12.00 |
|
| IIBIIS ROOGE |
same |
LP |
Iibiis Rooge is the new superastral duo team bringing together the mysterious High Wolf (Not Not Fun Records, Winged Sun) with the seminal talents of Mr. Neil Campbell, better known these days as Astral Social Club (Fat Cat, VHF, Qbico, Important, Textile, Bottrop-Boy and countless other labels around the globe) and (ex-) member of Vibracathedral Orchestra, A-Band, and other obscure/legendary outfits.
The new self-titled LP is the debut album of the band (don’t call it "project") combining modern psychedelic High Wolf jams with the fucked up yet refined electronics and techno-infused beat choppery of the Astral Social Club – the result being a lot more then you might have expected from the two, transcending their combined talents into a multicoloured supernova. The strength of the album is an unexpected pop sensibility and airiness, while still being tighter and more consolidated than their regular solo outfits. Even the noisier elements are embedded in loose song structures with a carnivalesque air dominating the whole atmosphere.
While the duo’s solo outings are often camouflaging any melodies in oodles of electronic noises or lo-fi psych jams and hiss this is a fairly different affair with simple melodic textures always dominating the four tracks. The defibration of structures is still apparent but the music is constantly pulling itself together again. Where the Astral Social Club is sometimes willingly losing himself in electronic soundscapes and the High Wolf’s short & sketchy songs are rarely fully formulated by nature, all the positive aspects of their respective works are combined and complemented in Iibiis Rooge.
These gentlemen are the perfect match. A visible proof that (musical) online dating can be a highly prosperous activity
https://dekorder.bandcamp.com/album/iibiis-rooge
|
2010 |
€15.00 |
|
| IKEDA, KEN |
Kosame |
CD |
"For the past few years, I've been approaching the idea of taking sine waves (which is eminent in techno and ambient music) into the inner side of human thought, reinterpreting the circulating harmonic overtones within the vagueness of the word "Yuragi (=fluctuation)". But under the global economy, techno or so-called ambient music were standardized to a somewhat convenient product, and there seems to be no room left for the vagueness. But again, these sounds took birth by sampling and simulating pre-existing music. At the time, there were at least some critical elements left. Around the last album, I felt the limit of using techno-ish sine waves. I decided to go on a venture listening closely and touching the sounds surrounded in personal daily life, to re-recognize "time" and "space" as a sound artist from the point where the sounds evolve and fade away. Raindrops on the window, a squeaking pillar, an opened door, stairs, boiling water in the kitchen.... There were Yuragi everywhere. I couldn't help myself being fascinated by the subtle, yet dense frequencies within the nature such as the shore, and mountain trees. It was not just by sampling this myriad of sounds, but the challenge of how distant I could get from the conventional ideas and sense of values of music, by taking it as a movement of myself as an individual.
This time again, I used the handmade wood & rubber instrument (SD404) to form an opposite relationship between "performer" and "nature" (or "captured sounds" versus "unable-to-capture sounds"). When you actually play it, you can feel the Yuragi within the instrument itself. The shades of the effects like "cutoff" and "resonance" essentially becomes closer to the beauty of nature. "Kosame" is an experiment to set the sounds free from pre-existing frames, by overlapping the randomly listed nature sounds and the improvisational elements of an individual. Yuragi arises from these two unique movements without going against each other."
[Ken Ikeda]
www.spekk.net
"The work of Ken Ikeda is always outside the norm of any classification, here revealing his most experimental work yet. Kosame is at once a physical work of beautiful noise as it is one that vacillates in its own improv juices. The compositions are jagged and oblique, but fun to listen to over time, restless as it becomes especially on Kiro | Return (帰路). The title track with its tongue-play whispers doesn’t fail at being under the radar just enough to seem ultimately ambiguous alongside jangly keys and an atonal, anxious string strumming throughout. Mikazuki | Crecent (三日月) samples the airy sounds of a balloon being blown somewhat comically and digital water trickling. But the liner notes say something about drinking champagne, so imbibe away! Kosame has several distorted futuristic sounds and on Seijaku | Stillness (静寂) this is very evident, mixed with an awkward blend of random traditional Japanese themes deeply laden. Some of this is processed, some is from prepared quena, shamisen, charango and a host of other numbered instruments. On Stillness, Ikeda (a graduate of Berklee’s College of Music) infuses the sounds of boiling water with just the right amount of jitter off the teapot’s top. His music is of science, of longing and of expecting the unexpected." [TJ Norris, Toneshift]
|
2010 |
€16.00 |
|
| ILLUSION OF SAFETY |
In Opposition to our Acceleration |
CD |
"Neue CD des Projektes von & um Dan Burke aus Chicago, eines der definitiv besten und interessanten Experimental / Post-Industrial-Projekte unserer Zeit.. Hier eher ruhig & ambient ausgerichtet, aber stets von brodelnder & spannender Atmosphäre geprägt..." [Drone Rec. info 2001]
“Illusion of Safety intrepidly charts the terra incognita where sound, silence, noise and music intersect. Using conventional instruments, sound generating devices and random objects, IOS hews sound sculptures that deliberately provoke, mesmerize and even affront listeners. 'In Opposition to our Acceleration' the latest offering from this project is a provocative 74 minute blend of ambient & improv. Using electronic synthesis, computer manipulation, musical references, manipulated instruments, amplified objects and subtle use of location recordings these primarily live pieces provide ambience as the term is truly defined - 'the distinctive atmosphere surrounding or suffusing person, place or thing'. This is the 14th full length IOS CD release beginning with 'Historical' (Staalplaat, 1991). Their work is hard to classify, often being called schizophrenic, due to the shifting nature of each composition, release & performance. This CD however contains no unwelcome surprise attacks, no abrupt shifts in character, and no abrasive passages. Gentle textures, subtle ambience & found sounds that may be described as uneasy beauty permeate these 8 unreleased live tracks (from 1996, 1997, 2001), and single studio composition 'Stillpoint' (2001), as featured on the Wiretapper 7 CD....Released in an oversize folio including 6 double sided postcards featuring the abstract, unmanipulated photography of IOS founding member Dan Burke.” [press release]
label-website: www.diestadtmusik.de |
2001 |
€13.00 |
|
|
In Session |
CD |
Neues Material des Projektes von DAN BURKE - als eher elektronisch arbeitende Industrial-Band fing man an, aber die verschiedenen Metamorphosen in der nunmehr 25jährigen Geschichte führten über Geräuschobjekt-Improvisationen und eher collagigen musique concrete Werken bis hin zum dark ambient und drone-basierender Musik.
IN SESSION führt einiges davon zusammen, besitzt Anteile von verschiedenen Stilen, spannungeladen & sirrend, wellig, dronig, dicht, wieder ein kleines Meisterwerk.
Geräuschmusik wie sie intensiver kaum vorstellbar ist.
"Illusion Of Safety is one of the oldest post-industrial acts in the Americal musical underground, and in my opinion, of the most interesting projects ever. During 25 years of existence IOS have recorded a lot of various albums and their music has been changing a lot. Having passed through all the circles of industrial hell, Dan Burke has lost almost all his companions and remained alone. He hasn't released too many albums recently, and "In Session" released in 2008 has become a real surprise for me. I mean of course the fact of the release, because the highest quality of musical material and huge amount of pleasure while listening to it is guaranteed by any of IOS albums. "In Session" was recorded in 2007, the mastering was made by Thomas Dimuzio at Gench Music Studio. This is a very thorough and delicate work, an abstract performance in which synthetic and natural sounds mix in the most unusual combinations, when you really hold your breath to wait what's gonna be further. In 6 tracks of the album there are a lot of quiet microscopic sounds which whirl in front of the eyes like thoughts without rational content. They change into the smooth waves of melodic ambient, then to insane sampled collages which don't make you feeling relaxed keeping the constant tension. This shortening of the distance between contemplativeness and neural spasms has always been the trademark of IOS - it's interesting to watch how the musical structure transforms under the emotional passion hiding after each second of the track time, but not always going out. Separate compliments should be given to the artwork designer - you can observe the cover for a really long time being astounded by it's beauty. [Dmitry Vasilyev, Monochrome Vision]
"One of my favorite post industrial bands ever. Period. Since more than twenty years I am a fan and every new release is awaited with eager anticipation. This highly limited release from Russia, in a gorgeous package, is no different. These days, since many years actually, Illusion Of Safety is reduced one person, following a free floating membership that included Thyme Jones and Jim O'Rourke to mention just two, which is Dan Burke. He plays 'sound generating devices and random objects that deliberately provoke, mesmerize and even affront listeners'. I deliberately use the term 'post industrial' and not say 'electro-acoustic' or 'musique concrete', which could also easily be applied to the music of Illusion Of Safety. When they started they were firmly rooted in the world of industrial music, and later on elements of musique concrete came along, but if you listen to 'In Session' the elements of industrial music are still there. Heavy, steel walls of drone music pierce your ears and are as easily replaced by soft drones, crackling sounds of hand held objects and contact microphones. I wouldn't be surprised if Burke plays all of this 'in session', live at home so to speak. I saw him a lot of times playing concerts which capture the equal beauty that is captured here. Ranging from sheer noise to near silence and there is always an element of surprise lurking around the corner. An abrupt, full stop or start and it bring the piece in a new territory. Illusion Of Safety's music can be compared with the likes of Roel Meelkop or Toy Bizarre, but is less bound to rules of composition and more free and joyous (well, that's probably not the right away) than those of the microsound/musique concrete posse that inhabits the world of Vital Weekly so frequently. That alone makes a great band and another great CD. Very fine concentrated bursts of sound." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
"The first proper record from Illusion Of Safety in well over 5 years emerges from the Russian label Waystyx, meaning that this will
not be around for long and will not be easy for us to track down once these are gone. Just a caveat before we launch into the, um, virtues
of this exercise in muscular electronics and brainmelting dronescaping. Illusion Of Safety began well over two decades ago, firmly embracing the death factory imagery and psychological tension that came through the work of Throbbing Gristle, John Duncan, and The Hafler Trio. While the grizzly subjects of torture and sexual violence have dissolved over time, Illusion Of Safety's interest in unsettled soundscapes, collages, and electronic walls of noise remain as powerful as ever. Illusion Of Safety has always been a revolving door project centered around Chicago's Dan Burke; and In Session finds Burke alone at the helms of Illusion Of Safety, concocting a dizzying series of arcing electroshock compositions filled with intense dynamics and rapid crescendos of incremental noise quickly nosediving into subharmonic tones and microtonal squiggles, with plenty of slow
building elements in between. The piercing drones that dominate the Illusion Of Safety palette are matched with crumbled textures from electronic circuits on the verge of collapse (see Wolf Eyes, Carlos Giffoni) and contact microphone agitation (see Tarab, Eric La Casa,
Loren Chasse, etc.). There's one track of grim psychedelic arpeggiations which sounds as if Prurient were attempting a Terry Riley piece, with bad intentions running through the phase shifting loops. Totally fantastic, if not totally disquieting!" [Aquarius Rec.]
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Probe |
CD |
"This is the first re-issue OF ILLUSION OF SAFETY's PROBE since its only appearance in 1992. In a limited edition of 500 copies, Perdition Plastics is proud to reintroduce this notable work of contemporary composition. Veteran provocateurs, ILLUSION OF SAFETY, examine an audio landscape found between youth and innocence, manufactured entertainment, and suburban complacency. Using a pastiche of field recordings and suggestively composed elements, Dan Burke and Jim O'Rourke strikingly capture ambivalence and their own personal interactions within this environment. PROBE was one of several early, pinnacle works to foreshadow the unique and prolific audio fingerprint of renowned producer/player, Jim O'Rourke, when still a compositional student in Chicago. This release fits neatly into O'Rourke's recent issuing OF forgotten and initial recordings. As the constant center OF ILLUSION OF SAFETY since 1983, Dan Burke has consistently edited and evolved more than 20 CDs from ambience to electronica, from sound collage to post-industrial noise. The complexity and restraint found within PROBE marked a compelling new direction for Burke and a great many others influenced by his music. ILLUSION OF SAFETY has been released by such labels as Die Stadt, Experimedia, Silent, Soleilmoon, Staalplaat, Tesco, and Waystyx among others. Collaborations include Cheer-Accident, Thomas Demuzio, Kevin Drumm, Ben Vida, and others. PROBE will be of interest to those who enjoy Hafler Trio, Throbbing Gristle, Luc Ferrari, etc." [label info]
www.perditionplastics.com
"This is not a review but merely a historical, personal ramble. In 1992 I started working for Staalplaat, buying and selling stuff, and helping out getting those strange packages done. One of the bands that already had a great package, before my time, was Illusion Of Safety, whose 'Historical' was packed in a leather pouch with a real bullet. Both Staalplaat and Korm Plastics, my own small venture, were in contact with Illusion Of Safety's main man Dan Burke and Jim O'Rourke, who was then a main collaborator with Burke. This resulted in 'Disengage', still one of the top 10 releases by Staalplaat, along with 'Probe' by Illusion Of Safety. The first 500 were packed in a wooden box with a real Italian coin and toy money from former Eastern Germany (an additional 500 were sold in the same wooden box, but without the monies). Illusion Of Safety were on a peak with that CD, or perhaps a watershed mark (otherwise you may think they never reached another peak again) is a better word. Before that Illusion Of Safety was, perhaps, 'another' fine band of harsh and less harsh industrial music as a bigger outfit with a varying line up. Towards the end of the era of releasing cassettes, which culminated in the fine but highly obscure 'RVE' tape, Jim O'Rourke became a member, bringing a love of composed music to the table, not just musique concrete but also the like of Scelsi. The music of Illusion Of Safety changed and on 'Probe', as said being here just Dan Burke & Jim O'Rourke, this culminated in that first highlight. All of the influences from before and new ones, melted together in this great disc of musique concrete. Many field recordings are used, along with piercing electronics at times, bowed guitars at others. Sometimes stretching out seemingly ad infinitum, but then sometimes abruptly changing color, speed, intensity, mood, texture and/or atmospherics. An absolute great work of sound collage, bridging musique concrete, electro-acoustics, improvisation, industrial music and ambient. Still a highlight of a career, and great to see back in print - even when the cover is not on par with the original. [FdW / Vital Weekly]
"Arguably the finest Illusion Of Safety record ever made, Probe
was the 1992 recording composed by Dan Burke and Jim O'Rourke. The
former began Illusion Of Safety a decade earlier with a revolving door
personnel policy involving a handful of Chicago malcontents. O'Rourke
began working with Burke's project around 1989 or so, when he was
still a teenager and studying composition in college. Where many of
the Illusion Of Safety albums are full-frontal assaults on the psyche
of the listener (especially the groundbreaking album Historical with
its raw use of narration from torture documentaries), Probe is a far
more subtle and thus effective album marked by the extended use of
disturbed silences, predating such sound design techniques that David
Lynch mastered in Mulholland Drive and Lost Highway. This use of space
is definitely coming from the O'Rourke side of the equation (which
according to Burke was 50/50 on Probe), as O'Rourke's early solo album
Scend was released at about the same time as Probe with profound
similarities. Throughout the subsonic frequencies and unsettled spooky
drones, there are numerous punctures of analogue sourced micro- bleeping, errata from shortwave, scrabbling of tactile objects, field
recordings of traffic jams, children at play, carnival rides, etc. and
jittery digitally sculpted loops. As all of these elements slowly
unfurl over several lengthy chapters, Probe truly synthesizes the
aesthetics of both Burke and O'Rourke into a cohesive body of work,
with Burke's research into the dark and transgressive balanced with
O'Rourke's studies into the musique concrete of Luc Ferrari and Michel
Chion.
Staalplaat first released Probe in a wooden slipcase in an
edition of 500 copies. Those quickly went out of print; but
fortunately, Perdition Plastics has just reissued this brilliant
album, albeit in more conventional packaging..."[Aquarius Records]
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Bridges Intact |
CD |
"New album of Illusion Of Safety was recorded preliminary with piano, guitar, electronics and sound processing devices. Abstract tonal and atonal improvisations share the sonic continuum with background drones, rasps and gentle noises, and they do it in highly unpredictable surreal way: mild "melodies" turn into energetic uneasy passages being interrupted by "concrete" sonic romp evolving into spatial drone and electronic landscapes... and all this whirl continues during the whole CD increasing the degree of abstractness and psychedelia as it moves towards the end, which is presented in a form of beautiful harmonic composition." [Zhelezobeton]
"Its is hardly a secret: since about twenty-five years I am a big fan of Illusion Of Safety, following them since their cassette releases, through vinyl, CDs and now, oddly perhaps, cassettes again. But there are still CDs, such as the lovely packed 'Bridges Intact' on Russia's Waystyx Records, who certainly have a reputation to keep up in the packaging department. It surely beats me why the website seems to be in Russian only, perhaps its some conceptual stance? Illusion Of Safety's core member is Dan(iel) Burke since the start, but has included fifteen other people, of which Jim O'Rourke is no doubt the best known one. Here, on this new CD, old member Thymme Jones appears on three tracks as well as guitar player Ben Vida on one. Musically Illusion Of Safety can be all over the place, although the most recent work is usually quite a bit based in the realms of improvised music. That is evident on 'Bridges Intact'. The pieces recorded with Jones show this love of improvisation, with
duets for guitar and piano, as well as a fine mixture of acoustic and synthetic sounds. At first one might think this is all an improvised record, but when the third piece, 'Special Passing', kicks in we know we arrived in the field of music we know and love Illusion Of Safety for: a delicate combination of musique concrete, electro-acoustics, improvisations for instruments, ambient passages, field recordings and electronic music. All put together in a great way. Sometimes all in one piece, and sometimes one piece is just one thing, such as the ambient crackling of static charges in 'Forgotten Baggage', with bits of field recordings at the start. Again an excellent release by one of the greatest talents for this kind of music. This isn't as high up on my list of favorites as say 'Probe', but its not far away." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€15.50 |
|
|
Sweet Dreams |
10inch |
ILLUSION OF SAFETY started in Chicago almost 30 years ago with their vision of dark & morbid atmospheric industrial music and soon became one of the inventors of what was then called 'Ambient Industrial', the marriage of these two very different styles & approaches. Since then, IOS never failed to surprise their listeners, going through many musical changes with various live members using elements of improvisation, electro-acoustic music, sound collages, sublime drones (especially in the 90's before it became a well-known notion) and noise (and only imagine that JIM O'ROURKE started his career as the 19-year old live guitarist of ILLUSION OF SAFETY!).
We are very happy IOS (at this time mastermind DANIEL BURKE only) recorded pieces for our special concept 10" series that again mark a very unexpected change: SWEET DREAMS is an almost 'psychedelic' record, using many incredible acousmatic sounds deriving from field recordings, instrumental sources (such as acoustic guitars) and synths, which build together repetitive pulsing patterns & hypno-loops that suck you in. But IOS wouldn't be IOS if it weren't for surprising breaks, cut-ups, crackling sounds and other interferences.... To us, this sounds like 70's psych-space tunes transformed by today's experimental & compositional consciousness..
Three pieces, 22+ mins, mastered by THOMAS DIMUZIO, 500 copies pressed on beautiful & unique 3-colour (green, blue & white) vinyl & with artwork by Berlin-based designer TILMANN BENNINGHAUS. Release date: Oct 25, 2012.
www.substantia-innominata.de
|
2012 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Surrender |
CD-R |
"I've been releasing things outside of the internet (no part of it), and one of them has been "Surrender", the newest outing by Illusion of Safety. Daniel Burke has made a "remix overview" of this work, and I had to let the cat out of the bag. More information can be found at the video link, including the mail box where money orders/hidden cash is to be sent. Do check it out! The video is exceptional! I've been told some of the processes in making it, and it's nothing short of deftly inspired! $7 postage paid in the US. $12 elsewhere. Available in pro cassette and pro CDR format.
I haphazardly spurred Illusion of Safety back into live action in 2008 when I asked him to do a show with me at the Empty Bottle. From there, we were both asked to perform for WTII's monthly showcase at Darkroom, wherein this clown video material first surfaced, so it's a pleasure for me to release the nexus of a soundtrack to this imagery, coming full circle.
"Illusion of Safety, just passing its 30th year since inception, is often regarded as the innovator of "ambient industrial". Despite having traversed nearly every arena of the experimental milieu, performed prestigious fests all over the world, and collaborated with some of widest ranging and heaviest hitting of the avante garde, core member/founder Daniel Burke has both shown a return to form and a veritable bouquet of new frontiers in his most recent outing, "Surrender". In just under 60 minutes, the listener is taken on a dizzying carousel ride where everything but the kitchen sink is employed to weave a deeply personal (abstract, wordless) narrative that comes off as minimalistic, condensed, and bombastic. But at the same time, it is a constantly shifting, complex and ornate grid iron amalgam of genuine enthusiasm and horror. Recommended if you like a complete disregard for the myopic trappings and short sighted formulae of contemporary sound art today." [label info]
nopartofit.blogspot.de
"Somewhere, an old T-shirt from Illusion Of Safety exists (the last we saw was affixed to Sigtryggur from Stillupsteypa some 10 years ago) with a deadpan/ironic catch-phrase "Illusion Of Safety gives you that soaring feeling" next to an image of a man tumbling headfirst out of a skyscraper window. Such a calculated juxtaposition of word and image was emblematic of the '80s art world (e.g. Barbara Kruger), often speaking to the underbelly of callousness, cruelty, violence and general amorality within consumerist society. Outside of this bold piece of iconography, Illusion Of Safety has operated within a more liminal state of mysteriousness through signifier and meaning. Even in their most placid albums of soft-focus ambience, the specter of some unknowable threat lurks in the background. More common in the Illusion Of Safety catalogue is an iron-fisted grasp of that sense of foreboding and dread through psychologically tense sound design. Over three decades in existence, this Chicago based project has been whittled down to its core member Dan Burke - with a few comrades-in-arms joining him occasionally - and is probably the longest running American industrial project, having produced a very impressive body of work. The 2014 album Surrender fits comfortably next to some of the masterpieces of the IOS back catalogue (e.g. Cancer, In Session, Historical, etc.) through the trademarked juxtaposition of noxious frequencies snaking in and out of harmonic phase patterns only to snap out of existence with a razor-cut edit into an electrical burst of tesla coil noise (for example). Disjointed rhythms, mediated collages, decontextualized field recordings, and psychoacoustic phrases map this album with incredible control and precision. Illusion Of Safety proves once again that they are one of the greats of industrial culture. Grab this album before it disappears, the pro-duplicated cd-r is limited to just 100 copies. Same for the cassette." [Aquarius Records]
"Among the few artists I have been following what seems now to be a lifetime (Asmus Tietchens, Main, Organum), Illusion Of Safety is probably among them the band I saw play live most. Dan Burke, the main man, is a most loveable chap and he always surprises me with his next move. His music doesn't operate in any particular style, but overlaps various genres. Improvised, industrial, ambient, musique concrete, and even a bit of techno beat thrown in. Here's a new album that proofs it. It's called 'Surrender' (which word always reminds me of the Cheap Trick song) and on a label called No Part Of It, meaning they don't want to be part of the world of Internet. There is a website, but there catalogue is hand scribbled on a sheet of paper and the CDRs - professionally designed - can be bought with a money order. Yes! That's what I like. Swim against the tide. Music wise Illusion Of Safety does something we haven't seen him do in quite some time. The collage styled music in which lengthy chunks of sounds are suddenly cut away by voices from radio and TV, a techno beats slips into view and sounds remarkable like the early 90s works such as 'Historical', 'Inside Agitator' or 'Distraction'. Quiet at times, but also quite bombastic at other times, filmic but without too many words. And if we hear any, it's about nuclear waste leakage. In that sense this album also harks back to the post-industrial sound of yesteryear. The balance between the very quiet and the very loud, between the ambience and the beats, is maintained very well throughout this release. Daddy's all right: surrender!" [FdW/Vital Weekly] |
2013 |
€9.00 |
|
|
Organ Choir Drone |
MC |
https://nopartofit.bandcamp.com/album/organ-choir-drone
"It's no big secret that I enjoy Illusion Of Safety's music and have been doing it for years. While there are very few albums that are don't favour, there are also a few that are easily in my top 100 best albums ever - and no, I don't have a list. Last week I played 'Cancer', a CD from the early 1990s, and I mumbled what a great record that was. Each new work
is welcomed with much anticipation, and 'Organ Choir Drone' is no different. It's an album of recent music, and it's unclear if it contains organs and choirs. Maybe there are heavily processed parts of the music. Drones, on the other hand, are definitely a part of this. All usual Illusion Of Safety elements appear on this album. Longform drone sounds, modular synthesis, small acoustic sounds, radio waves, and lots of obscured sounds result in moody and textured music. Dystopian perhaps, as shining also in the titles, 'Children Of The Fear Of Light', 'Black Helicopters', or 'Waste Of Civiliation'. Some of these could be the title of a Stephen King novel. Dark and atmospheric as the music may seem, the overall goal isn't to produce grim music; at least, that's not how I perceive the music. I find these ominous dark soundscapes a true pleasure to hear, despite the grim undercurrent; another excellent addition to an otherwise already great catalogue." [FdW /Vital Weekly] |
2023 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Pastoral |
CD |
Illusion Of Safety - Pastoral
CD only, 200 copies, Korm Plastics
While Korm Plastics publishes books these days, this is a surprise CD only release. We sent him this demo in 2011 & we all forgot about it. Pastoral is a welcome edition to the catalog showcasing a less aggressive stance from the project, a more organic subdued presentation, sounds to make a clearing, & open space. The recordings history is a bit blurred now but it is very likely tracks 1, 2, 3, & 5 are Kurt Griesch and Daniel Burke, post 1995 tour work. Track four uses an instance of Reaktor 5 VCS-3 software emulation.
Illusion of Safety
Since 1983, Daniel Burke and his many conspirators under the Illusion Of Safety banner have over the course of 40+ full length releases traversed most every facet of the avant sound plane, from early industrial pop deconstruction to blindingly minimal sound art to densely surreal found-sound collage, each unique approach bending and reconstituting the expectations and possibilities of each realm, creating uneasy music that is dense and dystopian and yet also beautiful. Performing over 300 live concerts throughout Europe and the states included No Fun 2008, the Wroclaw Industrial Music Festival 2009, Sonic Circuits in 2010, with Shen Wei Dance Arts in 2011 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC, and at the Crisis Data Transfer Pre-Party October 2023. Outside of IOS Burke has collaborated with Jim O’Rourke, Jon Mueller, Randy Greif, Darin Gray, Z’EV, Cheer-Accident, Thomas Dimuzio, Kevin Drumm, Bill Horist, and others.
https://kormdigitaal.bandcamp.com/album/pastoral
"I don't think it's a surprise that here at VWHQ, there is a person that likes Dan Burke's aka Illusion of Safety's output. Earlier this year, Korm Plastics (who said they'd never release music again) broke
the dry spell of releasing music by co-releasing the IoS/Z'ev collaboration on vinyl. Now they have a CD by Illusion of Safety. Combine that with a few other releases like Muziekkamer and the BOH Sampler, and those first words on the Korm website raise questions: 'Korm Plastics was a record label. These days, we publish books. About music.' Maybe Frans will explain it to me at some point.
But, back to what it is all about. Illusion of Safety / Dan Burke. It's a blind spot in my collection. I've seen him perform once in Aachen, but since that was something like 25 years ago, I really can't remember the details. So, it's Dan's recent output that I started to know and respect. And with this new album, "Pastoral", the concern is only getting stronger. Though I must say, it took me several listening sessions before it struck me at the right spots.
The five tracks with a total playing time of 58 minutes are hidden in serene packaging. Pictures of a morning or evening stroll in the countryside and the first sounds of "Invulnerable" are concrete staccato sounds. There was something wrong with the combination of those in my head. Still, as the track continued, field recordings started building a backing drone, and additional sounds formed the actual composition with a massive piano/guitar intermezzo, which has to be mentioned. All kinds of manipulated musical instruments create a flawless transition towards the second track entitled "Neolithic", and from here, it only gets better. Tracks 3 to 5 are droney soundscapes with a perfect balance between layers of minimal noise and drones and additional sounds projected on top of it. In total, 40 minutes of absolute poetic sounds. And there it struck me how I see Dan's music, in this release at least. Looking at the picture on the cover, you get an emotion, but zooming in on the picture, you can extrude air, sun, grass, sand, and a little forest in the back. And zooming in on the woods, you can see trees and then
branches... But zooming out, you get a 'walk in nature'... But what if you zoom out from there... "Thermogenesis", "Ground", and "Compelling" all cover a particular aspect of switching perspectives like this. At least, that's what I think.
Pastoral (noun): a work of literature portraying an idealized version of country life. For me, the first tracks are about escaping what's terrible, and the last three are about embracing what's good. The illusion of Safety presents in one album that you can't make just one of those choices (escape/embrace) and that the result is great if you follow your heart. (BW)
|
2023 |
€12.00 |
|
| ILSE LAU |
De tinnen mannen |
CD |
Das vierte Album der Bremer „keine Schublade gefällig“-Band: noch besser produziert, vertrackter und gewagter in den Harmonien,
mit Einsatz von Bläsern, Piano, und Sprechgesang.... if you like RECOMMENDED RECORDS No Wave-Stuff,,,,,if you like THIS HEAT....... if you like Jazzcore-stuff..... if you like CPT. BEEFHEART....... check out the fourth album of this un-categorizable band from the sweetest town in Germany !!
„Jetzt machen wir'ne Tanzplatte..." - so sagten sich die drei von Ilse Lau beim Gang ins Studio. Tanzen jetzt aber nicht so, wie man denken würde. Keine Disco, kein Rock'n'Roll, kein Rave. Sondern statt Rockdekonstruktion und grandioser Neuzusammensetzung, bislang auf drei exzellenten Alben mit eigener Handschrift vorexerziert, nunmehr das: gerade Takte, vergleichsweise knappe, entschlackte Kompositionen. Erstmals zusätzlich akzentuiert durch gelegentliche Gesangseinlagen. Die Band hat sich gründlich neu erfunden. Ilse nimmt ihre HörerInnen auf Album Nummer 4 ganz freundlich bei der Hand, trägt auch in dieser Saison jenen zarten Dub-Hauch-von-einem-Schleier, der ihr schon im letzten Sommer so gut stand. Dabei ist Ilse Lau immer noch von ganzem Herzen den entlegeneren Regionen fortschrittlicher Rockmusik zugetan - Captain Beefheart, Pere Ubu oder U.S. Maple zum Beispiel -, hat aber das Wissen darum derart durchdrungen, dass sie leichter Hand daraus etwas ganz Eigenes machen kann, das ihre bisherigen Alben zusammenfasst und in eine verbindliche Form überführt. Kompakter, zupackender als zuvor klingt das Trio auf "de tinnen mannen", spielt funky, lässt Gäste strahlende Bläsersätze setzen, und manchmal klingt gar eine Art Drum'n'Bass-Beat an. Ihre reifste Platte bis zum heutigen Tag. "[Andreas Schnell]
„Still one of our favourite German avant-rock bands, this guitar/bass/drums trio from Bremen. Never thought themselves capable of vocals, but now for the first time they’re giving it a go in a couple of tracks.” [Worm]
|
2004 |
€13.00 |
|
| IMCA |
same |
CD |
Das IMCA-Projekt, fertiggestellt 1991, kann exemplarisch sicher als eines der klassischen "Mail-Art" und "Tape-Exchange"-Projekte der 80er und 90er Jahre angesehen werden. Heutzutage ist es absolut erstaunlich, welche Ergebnisse rein analog durch tape-processing und Boden-Effekt-Geräte zustande gekommen sind...Feedbacks und scrapings, geräuschhafte Loops, meist im eher ruhig-minimalen bereich angesiedelt, Collagen mit seltsamsten Alltags- und Konkret-Sounds, immer wieder mechanisch-repetitive Strukturen, die archaisch und low-fi klingen... noch heute klingt das so "bizarr" und "advanced " wie irgendwas! Beteiligt ware 5 Leute von KAPOTTE MUZIEK, DAS SYNTHETISCHE MISCHGEWEBE und JOHN HUDAK. Die LP kam damals bei Korm Plastics heraus, es gab nur 98 Kopien davon. Ein lohnenswerter Re-issue auf dem griechischen ABSURD-Label.
"I have to admit that I have a love-hate relation with this album. I love the way this album was made. It represents a somewhat bygone musical age, a time with cassettes and without e-mail, when things worked perhaps slower, but perhaps also more intensely. The full story of how the IMCA project (International Musique Concrete Ensemble) came together is told in detail in the CD booklet. In short, in 1990 Frans de Waard started a mail collaboration with John Hudak and Jos Smolders for a cassette on Midas Music, and later a second one with Guido Huebner (of Das Synthetisches Mischgewebe), Ios Smolders and Isabelle Chemin, which was the LP released by Korm Plastics. The basic soundmaterial (created by De Waard) was mailed to the first recipient who would rework the material and mail it to the next recipient etcetera. Thus a network chain was born. The results were released on the original IMCA album, which came on glorious white vinyl and contained an explanatory booklet. The vinyl edition consisted of 98 copies; 77 of these were for the public, 21 for the makers, resulting in the fact that many people knew about it, but only a few actually heard the music. I remember I was supposed to help gluing the covers, but I can't remember if I did in the end. I was given a free copy, so perhaps I did. I love the way this re-release is presented; an old tattered cover of the LP was used for this CD, which gives it a nice archival touch. The booklet is well-designed (by Meeuw), contains some of the original notes and explains the recording process in detail. But now to the music: IMCA is not easy listening, it is in fact a very demanding, electro-acoustic record with extreme dynamics. These dynamics were a bit lost on the original pressing on vinyl, but due to Jos Smolder's remastering these are back in place, which means you'll get to hear the IMCA ensemble as it was meant to be heard. The opening track of the CD still gives me a headache: high pitched feedback shrieks
close to the level of irritation. It's hard to listen to this without turning the volume down. Luckily the electro-acoustic/musique concret of IMCA becomes more listenable after the challenging intro. The often dry sounds (dry as in untreated") are combined with long silences, with, at times, sudden blasts of concrete noise. Most of the used sounds seem to have their origin in noise (musique concret) rather than a musical source. Despite the many hands at the wheel of this album, the results are strangely coherent, which is a complement to those involved. In total 10 tracks are indexed, even though it's hard to tell where one ends and the other one begins. IMCA is probably best enjoyed in one long listening session in the right frame of mind. The final 2 tracks, which make up for the final 30 minutes of this CD, feature side A and B from the Midas cassette version with contributions from John Hudak. Here the sound is more traditional industrial if you like, with rhythms and a bit of
a Nurse With Wound touch. Not bad at all. This is an important archive release of an album made by adventurous musicians who actually live up to their name. Like back in 1991, I'm not sure if it's musically a classic, but I am very happy to have this in my collection." [Freek Kinkelaar, Vital Weekly]
Address: http://www.void.gr/absurd
|
2007 |
€12.00 |
|
| IN CAMERA |
untitled |
LP |
After many years of silence a new release on this small but fine south-german label ! IN CAMERA is the new project of CHRISTOPH HEEMANN (of MIRROR and HNAS–fame) and TIMO VAN LUIJK (ex NOISE MAKER’S FIFES, now ASRA & AF URSIN). They present here an improvised, minimal & very uneffected “concrete” instrumental drone-ambience, very slow & calm but also full of tiny details & “small sounds”. Quite different from what both did before, VOLCANIC TONGUE calls this “hand-carved drones”, which is an appropriate description definitely....
|
2005 |
€17.50 |
|
| IN MEDITARIUM [IN MEDITARIVM] |
Mare Internum |
7inch |
“IN MEDITARIUM is maybe Ukraine's finest dark ambient-project at this time, consisting of Sergey Svistelnik (who also runs the UKRAINIAN DARK SYNDICATE and is musically active as FILIVS MACROCOSMI), and Oleg Kolyada (mastermind of FIRST HUMAN FERRO (F.H.F.) / ODA RELICTA). MARE INTERNUM, their first vinyl-release, is a perfect example for “esoteric organic drones” that impress with their density and fullness: slowly waving drones, sub-bass pulses, totally suspended & hidden harmonies appear in the background and soft ringing-tones, like being in an huge organic cathedral...
Listening to IN MEDITARIUM-sounds might give you an impression of touching something “unknown”, yet known unconsciously from some forgotten time... like being suspended in warm mothers womb....
The coverartwork shows a combined symbol made of Yantra (meditation), Rosa (woman) and OM (the absolute), showing the way from Uterus to Universe. WHITE VINYL. SILKSCREENED SYMBOL-COVERS” [press release]
“...As so often with “Drone Records”-releases they appear to be too short at first, only to release their magic after repeated listenings. Soon you’ll find yourself flipping sides like a drunken man in hypnosis, one step deeper into the labyrinth each time. As long as it still breeds music as evocative as this, you’d almost wish for Industrial Culture never to disappear from Russia.” [Tokafi]
|
2005 |
€7.00 |
|
| IN SLAUGHTER NATIVES |
Insanity & Treatment |
3 x CD |
"The bloody awaited new release from Swedish cult band! Seven years of silence and now is the time to be back… Indeed, Jouni Havukainen never released his records too often, for over 20 years of existence, ISN did not release neither singles, (except for split 7” with Voice Of Hate) nor miniCDs, but have produced five full-length albums, each of which is an approachless peak in the history of dark music.
Insanity & Treatment, is a collection of group’s live performances in a luxurious packaging, the best of them have been carefully selected and remastered personally by the author. You'll find the legendary radio recording of Mort Aux Vaches, Concerts in Madrid, France, Prague and in Moscow. The record is featured by Tomas Pettersson, Kathleen Binder and Peter Andersson!
The famous musician and one of the best designers of the modern Industrial scene - Jerome Nougaillon (Propergol, Cosmos Entropy, Old Iron Fence, Sea-Green Series, Vargtimmen, Wrong Number) engaged in artistic design, his work makes an already unique publication, a true piece of art!
Digibook LTD: 999 copies O:N:L:Y! ACT FAST!" [label info]
www.infinitefog.ru
|
2011 |
€29.00 |
|
| INADE |
The Crackling of the Anonymous (re-press) |
CD |
The second album of Inade after two tapes (Schwerttau, Burning Flesh) and Aldebaran CD (1996). Orginally reelased in 2001 as digipack CD and double LP.
With The Crackling Of The Anonymous, Inade move beyond all preconceived notions of sonic creativity.
The plethora of puzzle pieces that interconnect in the expanding universe that Inade unwaveringly explores have grown amorphous, no longer defined by distinct outlines, melding as one whole, obscure entity. The expansion comes in many levels, incorporating the vast parameters of time, dimension and reality as viable participants in Inade's aural objective: to shine a light on the enigmatic unknown and give it a vague silhouette. The dark and hallucinatory masterwork that is The Crackling Of The Anonymous, is constructed via the never heard utterances of the void, while tapping into the psyche of the impossible. A stunning release that defies all logic because it creates its own.
https://loki-found.bandcamp.com/album/the-crackling-of-the-anonymous
"INADEs zweites Studio-Album befasst sich kryptisch mit dem Aufspüren der tiefliegenden Kräfte des Unfaßbaren & Unergründlichen, den Wurzeln des Bewußtseins, die letztlich ins Unendliche führen.
Der Sound hat sich gewandelt seit „Aldebaran“, ist noch symphonischer, dichter & melancholischer geworden, geisterhafte Stimmeneinspielungen & Effekte, repetitive Vibrationen und Pulsare tauchen auf... eindrucksvoll werden archaische Erlebnis- und Gewühlsweisen heraufbeschworen...für psychognostische Erfahrungen bestens geeignet & musikalisch von atemberaubender Weite und Schönheit!
The fantastic second studio-album for the east-german dark ambient industrial band, dealing with the power of infinite existence. This is the limited vinyl-version !!" [old Drone Rec. info]
|
2024 |
€13.00 |
|
| INDO |
Rupa Loka |
CD |
"The Rupa Loka, one of the hidden planes of existence beyond our own is the focus for this album, a serene world populated by beings more refined and evolved than ourselves. The album is a journey through this nature kingdom and incorporates soundscapes rich in flavour and diversity. The recordings were originally produced in 2009 and rediscovered and carefully reassembled and remastered in the process. The album comes in a jewelcase with a 12-page booklet depicting the realm of the Rupa Loka." [label info]
http://gterma.blogspot.se
"Indo‘s ‘Rupa Loka’ brings us back in 2011, actually it was recorded in 2009 so I guess this makes the record already pretty ancient in the context of our current times, when daily you are given access to countless records, either old or new. However, in your daily routine I hardly advise you to find your way to the first ever record, that the Swedish ambient label gterma has ever released. At first the record is striking you with its picturesque artwork, especially the amazing photographs in the inlay (which has actually already became signature for all gterma production). The whole art direction and the general concept of the record leaves a strong feeling for an Eastern cultural influence, but still this artistic decision is not over-imposed on the listener by any means.
What we have here is one very powerful and beautiful ambient record. Rupa Loka is soaked with meditative, slow and immense drones which are additionally embraced by fragile and delicate soundscapes. However, what makes this record truly special are the field recordings. The Hungarian musician Andras Kiss, who’s actually the person behind the ambient act Indo (as this is quite an overused monicker in music of all genres) didn’t capture anything you haven’t heard. His sounds are natural, familiar, not probably but certainly surrounding all of us in our daily lives, but he incorporated them with such a skill, that would surely make you a bit envious if you’re also producing music yourself. What is more important it will surely make you consider how much life, emotion and potential there is in the sound and ambiance of our everyday surrounding, but due to our mental simplicity we’ve accepted all of this perfection and endlessness for granted.
Rupa Loka is anything but a record for the simple minds, just like its Buddhist concept suggests its aim is to recreate a dimension, a form of existence inhabited by higher results of evolution. Quite a pretentious and tough aim, but so subtly approached that it leaves you smiling with satisfaction, when you realise the record really serves its purpose. This album is so alive and so organic, that at a certain point you forget that a human hand and mind initiated this impressive sound sculpture. I don’t need an artwork for this, neither track titles or a band project. I just need the CD carrying this art piece, which is interacting on way too too many levels with my personality, so by no means I can accept it as just another ambient record I got for the day. What a great start for a label! What a great artist statement!" [Angel S / Heathen Harvest]
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| INFANT CYCLE |
Secret Hidden Message |
7inch |
"...oszillierend zart und schwirrend, bis ein auslaufgroove für unerwartete erdung sorgt; der sich der windende drone nicht unterwerfen will, statt dessen sich sammelt und ins reverb flüchtet (inklusive delay-feedback-stop). stück 2 auf der A-seite dagegen ein wolkig-voluminöser drone mit nervösen einsprengseln, durch die flüchtigkeit von wolke + sprengseln genau so wenig statisch wie der erste track „secret hidden mistake", bis urplötzlich die wolke hinter sich gelassen wird und der nackte ton bleibt. das stück auf der zweiten seite heisst dann nicht nur „trombone", sondern ist nach angabe auf dem inlay (alle instrumentalen zutaten werden gelistet) auch allein mit einer posaune gespielt. nun denn, wenn auch die instrumente genannt werden, über die produktion herrscht stillschweigen; so ist die posaune auch in keiner weise erhörbar... ...wie sie als fragmentiert lautmalerischer impuls wächst und wächst und schließlich in einem wind untergeht. höhepunkt!" [N, Unruhr.de]
"THE INFANT CYCLE is a long operating experimental project from Ontario (Canada), active since 1992 with many releases on MC & CDR on different labels and the home imprint THE CEILING.
The three pieces on this EP were created using sounds from various instruments as Trombone, guitar, windchimes, marimba, birdcage, etc.. The result sounds rather electronic & hypnotic, with bright shining drones & repetitive rhythmic patterns & loops moving into more amorphous & multilayered sounding electro-acoustics. In spite of the rather experimental working-methods the outcome is very compact & condensed. THE INFANT CYCLEs approach to sound is based on the belief that words and explanations can only fail to describe or explain it, what is needed is a non-verbal, intuitive understanding of the work: "The artist's ego must not inhibit the piece's effect. It is the sound you are hearing, not the artist." Is the artist playing the sound or the sound playing the artist?
Filed under: Multilayered Drone-Hypnotism
more info: www.myspace.com/the_ceiling
FOGGY VINYL; BLACK COVERS WITH DIFFERENT SIZED BLACK SPOTS ON IT & TRANSPARENT COVERAGE USING INFANT CYCLE-LOGO" [label info]
"This is the first release from drone records and the infant cycle that I am listening to and it is a happy surprise. I have to admit that drone music is not exactly my mug of coffee mostly because most of the times I find it different to concentrate to it due to the lack of information. This doesn’t apply here cause there is an interesting mix with electro-acoustic elements. Infant cycles is Jim DeJong active sinve 1992 in (from the infant cycle’s last fm page) “…exploring the relationship between sounds and their origins, as well as that which proceeds it”. Both sides of the 7” are very carefully structured. Side A has two tracks that could easily been understood as one, “secret hidden message” and “(and then the dog replied)”, both characterized by the persistence of DeJong in what I understand as detailed abstract linear narration, all sounds are collaged beautifully in medium durations that produce beautiful kind of loop effects though there is complete absence of repetition. As I read that some of these sounds come from a bird cage, wind chimes and cookery I can only suppose that they were time and pitch stretched. The second side is the most impressive though. “Trombone” is based on recordings of a trombone (obviously) that were manipulated and treated in a manner that brings to my mind of oval. There is a minimal techno element , at least in the first part, that is followed by an abrupt change in the composition. Despite of that the result is very cohesive. I have to admit that I have this feeling that I should know what the infant cycle do. This is very well-crafted, well thought and interesting 7”. Bull’s eye." [Fervent, Randeom E-Zine]
www.dronerecords.de
|
2008 |
€7.00 |
|
|
The Sand Rays |
CD |
"Diophantine Discs is pleased to announce the release of a new CD...
The Infant Cycle - The Sand Rays. We're happy to introduce the new full-length record from The Infant Cycle. The Sand Rays is to be played from the outside to the center, from whichever edge you choose. The Sand Rays is pinball rhythm reverberations from sliced vinyl record playout grooves, gravelly surface vibrations. The Sand Rays is exploiting broken cords, near-empty batteries, half-broken equipment. We loved it and think you will too. Just be prepared to be a bit more confused when it is all over, but don't worry: you'll be too busy wiping that silly grin off your face because you had such a fun time. The Infant Cycle, active since 1992, is the brainchild of Jim DeJong. He has released material on such labels as Drone, EE Tapes, Hands, Moloko+, Afe, Zhelezobeton, Blade, Abgurd, and his own The Ceiling. Additionally he is a former member of Mind Skelp-cher and (as The Infant Cycle) has collaborated with numerous artists including Aidan Baker, Orphx, and Dronaement.
Housed in a custom printed color wallet. Edition of 500 copies." [label info]
http://discs.diophantine.net
"This label has released both on CD and vinyl. Perhaps its therefore a bit of an odd choice to release the new Infant Cycle on CD. Not because of the nature of the music, but due to the material which was used to create this music: like before Jim DeJong, the man behind The Infant Cycle, uses vinyl to create his music. Ah. You think vinyl and you think Yoshihide, Marclay or Spooky? Wrong. The Infant Cycle has nothing to do with turntablism like that. More along the lines of Vertonen, The Infant Cycle uses run out grooves which are taped and then fed through a line of analogue sound effects or perhaps synthesizers and then further treated, enhanced and altered on the computer. Actually I made that last bit up, as I think there are no computers used by The Infant Cycle. Its more likely that everything exists in the world of analogue sounds, with cheap low resolution sampling keyboards, four track recording machines and more analogue sound effects. The music is raw and densely layered with lots of icing on the cake, but this is not a work of endless spinning noise loops. Jim DeJong knows how to create music that is both noise based and yet still something to hear. Although throughout quite present, he is not shy to take matters into a more quieter area, and presents us a highly listenable release of music that is, for me at least, the logical step in what some call industrial music. Powerful, intense, rich of ideas and excellently executed." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2009 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Drop-Out Center |
CD |
" 'Drop-out Center' is the anniversary album of The Infant Cycle project celebrating 20 years of the personal creative journey of the Canadian musician Jim DeJong which began in November 1992 after leaving the band Mind Skelp-cher. During this time Jim has recorded and released a massive amount of material both on his own label The Ceiling and on other respectable underground labels such as EE Tapes, Drone Records, Afe Records, etc. and this is his second full-length album on CD after "The Sand Rays" (Diophantine Discs, 2009).
The album includes nine abstract compositions recorded with Jim's trademark approach. Using such sound sources as shortwave radio, vinyl surface, videotape, bird cage and also more "normal" instruments (bass guitar, electric mandolin, Korg Poly-800 synthesizer) he creates slowly drifting multilayered textures with sometimes unexpected stops and narration twists. Sharp crispy foreground sound is set off by gentle background waves of resonating feedbacks forming intelligent electroacoustic glitch / drone with scratchy tangibility, meditativeness and even a sort of romanticism. This is music that evokes imagination and easily paints images in the listener's mind... 'Turn on!' " [label info]
http://zhb.radionoise.ru
"Jim DeJong from Canada celebrates twenty years of activities as The Infant Cycle, during which he released a whole bunch of CDRs, net releases, a bit of vinyl and one 'real' CD on Diohantine Discs (see Vital Weekly 695), and now his second on Russia's Zhelezobeton, a home which sheltered also some previous releases by DeJong. All the pieces here are from April 2011 and further explore the sound world we know from DeJong over the past years. The cover explains the nature of sound sources, which makes a great read. On one side we have 'vinyl playout groove', 'video record', bird cage and shortwave, while on the other hand we have an electric guitar, electric mandolin, bass, poly 800 but also field recordings. Plenty to choose from, and he does put his options to good use. The varied options for sound creation lead to a varied sound, but with one constant factor: atmospherics play an important role in all of these pieces. He layers a whole bunch of sounds together and then carefully mixes these. But it not necessarily leads to mere drone music. In 'Shiny Venus Part 2' for instance he loops the strumming of a bass-guitar a few times and then other sounds (mandolin, bird cage, field recordings) drop in and out of the mix. When he uses the 'playout' grooves (which are those grooves at the end of a piece of vinyl), it becomes more rhythmical obviously but spiced up with electronics and sometimes remain short, these pieces act more like interludes, except for 'Pipe', which is considerable longer. These moody tunes are indeed much more than just drone pieces. It's the sheer variation, the exploration of sounds to create these atmospheric tunes that make this perhaps the most mature record I heard from The Infant Cycle so far. Excellent stuff indeed." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2012 |
€12.00 |
|
| INFANT CYCLE / JARED DAVISON |
Periodical I |
mCD-R |
Schöne kanadische EP mit zwei Stücken, INFANT CYCLE mit einem quasi-rhythmischen, elektronisch-sirrenden & sich windenden Soundknäuel, der uns unbekannte JARED DAVISON kreiert einen dunkel-loopig-mechanischen Soundscape aus „Oberflächenklängen“ von Vinylschallplatten, eine Art düsterer PHILIP JECK? Super !
“The most recent project embarked upon by The Ceiling is a series of split mini-CDRs (originally intended as a series of a 7"s, which remains in the artwork), between The Infant Cycle and other artists in the southern Ontario region of Canada, working mainly in the arena of CDRs, MP3s, and less in larger-circulation formats. The series intends to bring together artists working outside existing genres and subgenres, working in areas of their own. The intent is to unify the series with a sense of adventure and challenge, and not necessarily a stylistic consistency. The series is also intended to function somewhat as a sort of newspaper, a snapshot of where each project is at the time of issue. The series can be viewed as sidebar releases by the artists- perhaps a progress report.
THE INFANT CYCLE has been in operation since 1992, producing numerous CDRs, CDs, vinyl, cassette and MP3 releases, alongside many compilation appearances for labels all over the planet. The Infant Cycle creates eccentric sound-worlds from disparate strands of instrumental phrases, field recordings, and everything in between; composition mixing with improvisation, influenced by happy accidents and technical failures. The piece contained is a mixing of previously recorded tracks, rethinking the past and foreshadowing future releases.
JARED DAVISON has followed an uncompromising path from his time as founder and mainstay of the many incarnations of Mind Skelp-cher, through various short-term projects, to his current work under his own name. While quiet for the past few year, he is re-emerging with material focused narrowly on particular sounds isolated from their sources, and projected into unpredictable shapes and atmospheres. "Phonography" is an uneasy and sometimes violent soundscape based entirely on the crackle and hum hiding amidst the grooves of your favourite vintage vinyl.All releases in the Periodical series are "budget" priced releases of 80 copies only.” [label info]
|
2005 |
€6.00 |
|
| INNER VISION LABORATORY |
Austeros |
CD |
”Austeros” is the third album of Inner Vision Laboratory, an ambient project of Karol Skrzypiec, on Zoharum following ”Future Chaos” (2011) and ”Perpetua” (2012), and two collaborative releases ”Decline” (2010) with Hoarfrost and ”Ambit” (2014) with Nepenthe.
On the new album "Austeros" the artist unite sounds from the surrounding reality. The meanings and references do not illustrate or deconstruct as usual, but allow completely new musical beings to peal out, torn alive from random, lost radio broadcasts, the cacophony of everyday life, or unspecified ether. "Austeros" is an album that allows the individual to enjoy the sounds, served with reverence, which, thanks to its minimal consequences reverberate with the strength. The more they strike, the more you get into this kind of futuristic world, disappearing faster and faster into oblivion. Once again IVLAB shows that the form is a useful tool in overturning established routines ... to build on their ashes a message sent to sublime senses.
The CD is housed in an ecopak sleeve and is strictly limited to 300 copies. The cover was designed by Ewa Skrzypiec. |
2015 |
€12.00 |
|
| INNERISE |
Western Sky Music |
CD-R |
"Tarl Broad-Ashman has been using the name Innerise for his music since 1998. The music ranges from beatless ambient to vocal-led electronica, with two vocalists, Annie Rolph and Katherine Cobley, appearing on Innerise recordings to date. Having previously remixed fellow Make Mine Music artists Portal, Schengen and Yellow6, Innerise released their debut album “Western Sky Music” on Make Mine Music in 2007." [label info]
www.makeminemusic.co.uk
|
2007 |
€8.00 |
|
| INTERNAL FUSION |
Waissad |
mCD-R |
"fifteen years after his first 3"cd-r on taâlem ("NedenBahe", still available at taalem.bandcamp.com/album/nedenbahe-alm-3 ), what we said at the time is still relevant. internal fusion is still a rare artist even if he's more productive than ever these days (two digital self-released productions last year) and his music is still full of captivating atmospheres... deep sounds, strange voces, haunting atmospheres. let yourself dive into "waïssad"..." [label info]
"Belgium’s taâlem label continues to breathe new life into one of our favorite formats, the CD3″. Each season they release a new trio, representing a wide swath of sounds. The latest batch delves into tribalism, abrasion and haunted ballroom; listening to the releases in order is like walking through exhibits in a terrifying circus.
Internal Fusion hearkens back to a time when the lines between dark ambient and industrial were blurred. The 22-minute single-track Waïssad twists and turns like an injured acrobat, sounding at first like a joyous call from deepest Africa, delving into drums reminiscent of Skull Island, then descending into the mist, where monsters dwell. The voices are holy and hooded, like those of medieval monks. Slowly the fugue builds, marked by static rustlings and speaker-wandering percussion. The cover may be green and lush, but don’t be fooled; these lands are dangerous. Waïssad’s narcotic center may represent the time spent drugged, the victim of a blow dart; the slow awakening to tribal drums is lulling until it disappears, replaced by snakelike hisses and fractured drones. There’s no escaping; all fates were sealed long ago. [...]
These releases take different paths, but arrive at the same bleak destination. This is autumn, after all, and darkness is drawing near. Play these releases while reading your favorite dark horror tales; the ghosts will enjoy reading over your shoulder and listening with invisible ears." (Richard Allen)
acloserlisten.com/2017/09/30/a-taalem-trio-2/
" [...] As I was searching the old weeklies for previous reviews of Internal Fusion, as that is sometimes indeed done (usually after being sure there are actually some!), I found very few (Vital Weekly 348, 426 and 677), but also a few times as a point of reference, which I guess for a band that never released a lot music is quite something. It usually was done in combination with the words ‘pseudo ethnic’ and ‘drumming’, and other names never far away were Internal Fusion and Muslimgauze. In that sense this new one is a bit of a different batch of music. It starts out with something familiar, ethnic voices, lotsa reverb, but the tribalistic drumming doesn’t become part of this. Deep pounding drums are there at one point in the middle, but in the second half of the piece things become much more abstract; Internal Fusion discovering granular synthesis and feeding their own sounds into the machine, perhaps even the first ten minutes of ‘Waïssad’ to it, and let computer gremlins eat the whole piece and slowly we enter the belly of the monster. If this is something that Internal Fusion would explore further and incorporate in their usual brand of ambient drumming and deep moods, then it could blossom into a very rich new sound approach. [FdW, Vital Weekly]
www.vitalweekly.net/1098.html
www.taalem.com
|
2017 |
€5.00 |
|
| IRISARRI, RAFAEL ANTON |
Sirimiri |
MC |
"The NY-based producer returns to Umor Rex with a new album, in which the musical discourse and the physical form of the release have an equal, crucial importance. Sirimiri is made of four long and mid-length pieces, each composed of different perspectives, processes and identities. However, Rafael seeks to blend subjective time with the listening experience. A sort of loop and repetition, sub-sequence-based sound. Following Eno, nothing happens in the same way twice, perception is constantly shifting, nothing stays in one place for long. The sum of the four pieces is 36 minutes; the cassette edition lasts 72 minutes in total, since both sides have the same four songs joined together. Physically, the format allows us at least two automatic repetitions. In the digital version the songs are independent, but we also include a bonus track made of the 36-minute loop. The desolation and despair (in a sort of positive way) that we got to hear in The Shameless Years (Umor Rex 2017) is present in Sirimiri, but the impression is concrete, with cruder, less rhetorical landscapes. If The Shameless Years was located between beauty and active tragedy, Sirimiri travels inside the beauty and melancholy of an observing eye, a quiet rebel insurrection. Another substantial difference is the distance from general and globalized concepts; in these unfortunate times, Sirimiri looks for personal sorrows, and places its focus on the particular. Even the names of the songs evoke this in small ways, like in "Sonder", the feeling of realizing that everyone, even a complete stranger, has a life as complex as one's own. Rafael has two guests in this album; Taylor Jordan in "Mountain Strem", and Rafael's hero Carl Hultgren (from Windy & Carl) in "Sonder". Sirimiri means 'drizzle' in Basque, and we cannot find a better word to describe its content." [label info]
umorrex.bandcamp.com/album/sirimiri
"Even though the sound expanses traversed by ambient music often evoke feelings of horizontality, layered planeness and volatile textures tranquilly billowing out, it is also true that the greater representatives of the genre and its sub-branches – like mountaineers – mostly seek for sky-scraping verticality. Ranking high in the pantheon of atmosphere architects, Rafael Anton Irisarri certainly has nothing left to prove. Since his beginnings over ten years ago, his output has gained a density that very few can boast having reached, establishing a sound that has the power to haunt your nights and the crucial energy to bring your most buried existential dreams out of mothballs.
Shrouded in melancholic vapours and forlorn harmonics, Irisarri’s new album for Umor Rex presents four majestic extended cuts as so many viewpoints on an untouched phantasmal valley. Drawing its name from the Basque word for ‘drizzle‘ – which makes absolute sense given the fine-grained, caressingly fresh nature of its sound design, ‘Sirimiri‘ offers sensations in their purest essence, primitively symbolic yet actively contemplative. Where his previous full-length ‘The Shameless Years‘ had more of a demiurgic dramatic tension going through it, which gave it a further “composed” approach, ‘Sirimiri‘ feels less refined and more abruptly sculptural.
The opening track, ‘Downfall‘, kicks things off on a particularly bleak and austere note, submerging its listener in a sort of faded high-altitude euphoria. Minimal drones cloud the skyline as Irisarri deftly orchestrates his wonderful ballet of understated modulations and darkened timbres. Smoothly fading in, the album’s highlight ‘Sonder‘ expands the radius to further high-level elegiac spheres, astoundingly poignant and overwhelming, each bar weightlessly elevating upon fantasized mountain scapes, rife with craggy peaks and steep hogbacks, as it fully absorbs you in its restful tide of slow-scudding pads and guitar riffs.
To label Irisarri’s music mourning or pining would equate to ignore the boundary-pushing fortitude of his art. The soothing ‘Vasastan‘ and ‘Mountain Stream‘ leave behind the weatherbeaten force of the previous numbers, instead flourishing in the quieter, ethereal heights of the spectrum. Here again, Irisarri demonstrates his unmatched capability at crafting constantly changing organic soundscapes, juggling with overly complex textural interplays but making it all look so easy and seamless. Showing off a crucial, frontal, universal quality that’s nothing easy to achieve, Irisarri bewitches and transports, confirming once and for all he’s one of the most singular and vibrant voices in contemporary music, and ‘Sirimiri‘ one of his most accomplished records to date." [Baptiste Girou / Inverted Audio]
|
2018 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Peripeteia |
CD |
Over the years, American composer Rafael Anton Irisarri has become ubiquitous within the spheres of ambient, drone and electronic music. Whether it's through Irisarri's celestial long-form albums or his lauded audio engineering credentials for countless artists and labels, Irisarri's consistent dedication to his craft never wavers from the forefront. While Irisarri's compositions typically field an array of modern ambient overtones threaded through oceanic symphonies with tape loops, bowed electric guitar and vast washes of overdriven sound, his recent debut album for Dais Records, "Peripeteia, portrays these common themes giving way to metal and classical influences that emphasizes Irisarri's melancholic tendencies. These unique overtures, coupled with his signature layering of distortion and bleached-out textures, fabricate an audible environment that would seemingly be at odds with, yet gracefully complement each other. In Irisarri's own words, "My previous works internalize any exterior forces or circumstances, while trying to make sense of the world. Peripeteia reverses that approach, focusing on the personal in order to tell a wider human story." The emotional depth found throughout Peripeteia is impeccably on display with the track, Mellified. A collaboration with Spanish composer Yamila, the choral arrangements bring to mind the sacred music of Arvo Pärt, while her voice combines the Andalusian "Cante jondo" style with medieval modes, almost drowning in layers of octave fuzz distortion and dystopian synths patterns. On Arduous Clarity, the bright arpeggiating melody that churns throughout, offers the initial glimmer of optimism in an otherwise decaying tale of personal turmoil. This encouraging glimpse is short lived however, as the song Refuge/Refuse seemingly plummets into the mourning depths of somber despair. A chorus of voices steadily crawls from its desolate terrain - a sea of broken spirits, eternally resigned to strain and bellow their final lament. Fright and Control, a piece which is equally soul churning, seems to possess a satisfying resolve, as if after years of searching, one's very salvation has been laid to rest through the acceptance of mortality and the enlightenment in death. Irisarri's complexity is utilized to a forcible success, slowly pulsing throughout the foreground of his audience, further emphasizing the impending dread of resolve."
https://irisarri.bandcamp.com/album/peripeteia
|
2020 |
€15.00 |
|
|
The Shameless Years |
LP |
Post-minimalist American composer Rafael Anton Irisarri made his Umor Rex debut in 2017 with "The Shameless Years". Inspired by a troubled socio-political climate, buried melodies punch their way through a bleak cover of noisy drones, periodically veering into some of Irisarri’s most eerily pertinent music.
One of Rafael Anton Irisarri’s most thematically and sonically cohesive records to date The Shameless Years came together in a relatively short burst of creativity starting at the end of 2016. Rediscovering some relatively older tools - namely Native Instruments’ Reaktor, Absynth, and Kontakt software - Irisarri combined them with his collection of guitars, pedals, amps, and analogue processing gear, turning his Black Knoll Studio north of NYC into a powerful writing tool. Completed quickly by Irisarri’s standards, let alone during a period of social upheaval in American society, the record faces down several key personal themes. The title, suggests Irisarri, could in fact be seen as a reflection of the era of shamelessness we’re currently living in; a time of fake news and alternative facts.
Two tracks were completely remotely between Irisarri in New York and Umor Rex veteran "Siavash Amini from his home in Tehran, Iran. This music came together at the peak of all the anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant rhetoric happening in the USA, not to mention the banning of Iranians from entering the country, explains Irisarri. The diptych with Amini, ‘Karma Krama’ and ‘The Faithless’, seems bathed in additional waves of sorrow and dread. The wash of symphonic stormclouds of synth drones and processed notes on the latter gradually appears and disappears over the course of thirteen mournful minutes.
‘Rh Negative’ marches gigantic guitars through towering valleys of scarred ambient noise dealing with Irisarri’s own heritage, many of his ancestors having come to America to escape poverty and oppression. The refusal of modern America to extend similar sanctuary to refugees escaping turmoil weighs heavily on the composer. Elsewhere an emotional onslaught of notes buried in mounds of greyscale noise on ‘Sky Burial’ aims to deal with Irisarri’s very own mortality – something he was recently confronted with following health scares, an accident, and a near-death experience in 2016. Pushing 40 as this album was being made, the composer is constantly aware that he’s already outlived his own father, who died at the age of 32. Facing down both intolerance and the void, the epic soundscapes of The Shameless Years are a vast cry of emotion from Irisarri. The clock is ticking - gotta make the most out of it while you still can.
All songs written and performed by Rafael Anton Irisarri, except #5 & #6 written and performed with Siavash Amini. Design by Daniel Castrejón, photos by Camilo Christen. Mastered by James Plotkin."
|
2021 |
€21.00 |
|
| |
Peripeteia (clear) |
LP |
Over the years, American composer Rafael Anton Irisarri has become ubiquitous within the spheres of ambient, drone and electronic music. Whether it's through Irisarri's celestial long-form albums or his lauded audio engineering credentials for countless artists and labels, Irisarri's consistent dedication to his craft never wavers from the forefront. While Irisarri's compositions typically field an array of modern ambient overtones threaded through oceanic symphonies with tape loops, bowed electric guitar and vast washes of overdriven sound, his recent debut album for Dais Records, "Peripeteia, portrays these common themes giving way to metal and classical influences that emphasizes Irisarri's melancholic tendencies. These unique overtures, coupled with his signature layering of distortion and bleached-out textures, fabricate an audible environment that would seemingly be at odds with, yet gracefully complement each other. In Irisarri's own words, "My previous works internalize any exterior forces or circumstances, while trying to make sense of the world. Peripeteia reverses that approach, focusing on the personal in order to tell a wider human story." The emotional depth found throughout Peripeteia is impeccably on display with the track, Mellified. A collaboration with Spanish composer Yamila, the choral arrangements bring to mind the sacred music of Arvo Pärt, while her voice combines the Andalusian "Cante jondo" style with medieval modes, almost drowning in layers of octave fuzz distortion and dystopian synths patterns. On Arduous Clarity, the bright arpeggiating melody that churns throughout, offers the initial glimmer of optimism in an otherwise decaying tale of personal turmoil. This encouraging glimpse is short lived however, as the song Refuge/Refuse seemingly plummets into the mourning depths of somber despair. A chorus of voices steadily crawls from its desolate terrain - a sea of broken spirits, eternally resigned to strain and bellow their final lament. Fright and Control, a piece which is equally soul churning, seems to possess a satisfying resolve, as if after years of searching, one's very salvation has been laid to rest through the acceptance of mortality and the enlightenment in death. Irisarri's complexity is utilized to a forcible success, slowly pulsing throughout the foreground of his audience, further emphasizing the impending dread of resolve."
https://irisarri.bandcamp.com/album/peripeteia
|
2020 |
€24.00 |
|
| IRM |
Anthology |
do-CD BOX |
"Having started out in 1997 when Erik Jarl asked Martin Bladh to join him, 2012 sees the 15th anniversary of IRM. 15 years - incidentally the legal age of consent in their native Sweden - that have seen them mature from bedroom autodidacts to masters of the studio environment. Taking their cue from the confrontational sounds of BDN and Whitehouse on the tape debut, IRM have honed their sound by each album and eventually fleshed out the sonic tapestry by the addition of Mikael Oretoft on bass. By tapping into the mindsets of outsider artists/authors such as Mishima, Rudolf Schwarzkogler and Francis Bacon, their obsessions with pain, purity and beauty leaked into Bladh's personal lyrics. This aesthetic amalgamated with the volcanic eruptions of Jarl and Oretoft have set IRM apart as true originators in the diluted sea of contemporary power electronics." [label info]
www.autarkeia.org
|
2012 |
€20.00 |
|
| ISABELLA, JASPER & SIMON FISHER TURNER |
Savage Songs of Brutality and Food |
CD |
"This is the blurb.
I think it’s a press release, too, about this album I’ve made with my kids’ voices and sounds and these home recordings we’ve made over the last 13 years.
They’re now 15 and 17 and who knows what they think.
I know they’re not too interested in it this now, but they’ve seen the artwork and pictures and obviously they know the tracks, but I don’t think they actually realise this is coming out and that strangers can buy the LP in a Record Shop or online with actual money.
For years as the two of them were growing up I was always photographing and recording their lives. Over 68,000 pictures on my desktop, and hours of recordings. This is commonplace now, but when I was growing up maybe the Brownie would come out on the beach on Whitsand Bay, or if we went on holiday, a picture of a mountain or something interesting like, a pizza. Mum had a reel-to-reel she never used, and I had a radio. Dad was underwater.
Why go on holiday when you live in Cornwall. Dad was a submariner based in Plymouth and my mum was a mum and a Rally driver. Three boys to look after. Chaos and serious hard work. Now both my parents are dead, I’ve photos from mum’s albums, but oddly enough Dad never took photos at all, and distrusted them I think.
So to this album. It’s the first thirteen years or so of our children’s lives made into cute and cruel songs of experimentation and, yes, chaos again. So, from the first heartbeat (not included here) to just under two years ago, I randomly and sometimes secretly recorded them singing or talking, often encouraged of course by me. That’s what parents do. I recorded for 13 years. It’s rather wonderful to have sound documents as opposed to pictures. Luckily I have both and I’m still rediscovering forgotten sounds even now.
This is a music/sound diary (perhaps) of the frankly mad, cute, annoying, moving, innocent, loud, loving, embarrassing, noises of their lives up to now, as recorded and messed up by me, as in messed-up-and-I-don’t-care, but do I care. I try to edit with clarity where needed, but otherwise the vocals and ideas are pretty raw and unaltered for the sweeter market of pop. This is just STUFF. Wild and Alive.
Rebels without a pause.
I was a dad with slithers time on my hands and a Mac I could barely understand. I made tracks/songs, whatever you want to call them between cooking, cleaning, bathing, shopping, driving, and sleeping ad infinitum. It’s the three of us mainly, with The Elysian Quartet thrown together for The Mighty Dinosaur song, but I’m the leader, the captain of the ship. You always need a Captain and they were my sonic crewmates, even though they were often press-ganged into service reluctantly.
. There will be no Volume Two.
They’ve eventually got really fed up with me doing this, and I can’t blame them one bit, but when faced with all these bits of songs or, fragments of stuff, what do you do? Throw them in the bin, give them to them on their wedding day and really make them cringe?
No. The best thing to do is to compile them like a mix tape and keep your fingers crossed that someday, someone might be interested in releasing a compilation of this madness.
Charles Powne from Soleilmoon Recordings came to the rescue, in that he mentioned somehow whether I’d heard of an LP of children’s songs. I hadn’t in fact, but I told him about these recordings I’d been making over the years.
Isabella and Jasper I think are now probably incredibly pissed off with me, but you know, that’s tough. Full stop.
Now at 17 and 15 their childhoods are over. The illusions shattered. There is no pretence. They can watch the news, Snapchat at speed, and lurk on the net who knows where.
Innocence has gone, battered out of them by schools and the more serious and dull adults that surround them. They were the funniest and most amusing two smaller people imaginable, but now, they’re Teenagers…….Aaahhhhh.
They’ve opinions, they’re brighter than me, better looking, funnier, nicer clothes, better humour and taste, and they’ve more friends than me too. The job is done.
I’m sadly responsible for the musical settings they happen to find themselves in, although, quite often all the music or at least some of it is made up from their noises too. We like a noise here and there and we love to dance on a Friday night.
One of the beauties of this sort of music is that there are no rules. We could all do with this sort of freedom, in not just music, but film, cooking, and storytelling. A child’s imagination is the finest open canvas ever. No rules rule.
Oh God, I sound like a dotting dull dad. C’est la vie.
Stay well and keep calm and risk everything with passion and love."
-- SIMON FISHER TURNER
LONDON, 25 JUNE, 2020
https://isabellajasperandsimonfisherturner.bandcamp.com
|
2020 |
€14.00 |
|
| ISOMER |
Face toward the Sun |
CD |
Drittes Album für das australische "old school" Projekt, wellende und pulsierende Analog-Synths sind hier omnipräsent und werden mit agigatorischem Stimm-Material angereichert. Aggressiver und eher "true Industrial" als zuvor..
"Isomer's third cd with Tesco takes a sharp turn toward more aggressive territory, with the raw industrial hinted at in previous outings getting a proper airing. The dark ambient textures for which he is known still feature, but Face Toward the Sun forges new stylistic ground for the project. From the throbbing electronics of the opening track, through power electronics, walls of noise, violent vocal deliveries and carefully structured dark ambience, this is a characteristically varied album. Never one to shy from a dirty old blending of styles, a nice little martial ditty even makes an appearance for the militant in all of us. Face Toward the Sun was assembled from improvisations, previously unused material and nights of MS-20 hard-ons, making a lusty, varied album of industrial music. Some of the tracks here has been already presented on the well received DVD Cold Meat Live in Australia, where Isomer delivered one of the most surprising gigs of the festival. The studio versions of the tracks here will appeal to listeners of martial industrial as well as to an industrial dark ambient audience. Presented in a double gatefold digipack with potent imagery, total running time: 58 min. This cd comes highly recommended." [label info]
www.tesco-germany.com
|
2009 |
€14.00 |
|
| ITAMOC / MARINA STEWART |
Sunshine Discord |
7inch |
"7" (black wax).
Limited Edition of 100.
Carefully mastered audio by Gavin Weiß @ SoundSupport Hamburg. Stamped and numbered cover sheet.
Comes with two special postcards.
First appearance of Marina Stewart on vinyl since 1986." [label info]
www.aemag.virb.com
|
2012 |
€9.00 |
|
| IYV (SKELDOS & RUKANA) |
Upes |
LP |
"I came across the music of IYv shortly after I encountered the dark ambient project Skeldos. Both are projects by the same musician. The IYv debut release (and only so far) “Upės” I had missed when it was released on tape. But I had been listening to it a lot when I was away during the winter of 2020 at a small house at a lake. There was a bluetooth speaker in the house so I could listen to the music there. The beauty of this music really resonated with me. Some time later after the musician contacted me (there are no coincidences) to order the Ô Paradis & Nový Svět LP I released on Vrystaete I dared to ask him if he would be into doing a vinyl version of this long sold out tape release. I was very happy he and his partner in crime involved in this project liked the idea.
About IYv… it is a project by Vytenis (Skeldos) and Inga (Rūkana) from Lithuania and “Upės” (meaning “Rivers”) was released by themselves in 2017 in a small edition of 72 copies. While Skeldos is more towards the dark ambient sort of thing with hints of (post-)industrial music, IYv is much more on the melancholy side of things… accordion, electronica and Lithuanian vocals make up for a beautiful post-folklore album… The musicians themselves described the album in a perfect way… so I will not try myself to capture the mood and spirit of the music:
“Upės” is an album about travelling. About the hearing of birds, close to the rock chains, which twists on the surface of mountains, through marks of our memory just like the rivers. The album was recorded in seclusion: in a log barn and wooden summerhouse. It’s decorated with deliberately left spontaneous inaccuracies and coherent crookedness. Nostalgic loops of ambient music tells a natural story about the composers: approaching gritty earth, enjoying crackling fire in the night, enduring live rain and swimming through the river streams."
https://www.enfant-terrible.nl/releases/iyv-upes/
LP, 150 copies with screen printed artwork, hand numbered (75 copies on brown paper, 75 copies on grey paper)
|
2022 |
€22.50 |
|
| JACASZEK |
Kwiaty |
LP |
"It all started with a book, as these things often do: an English anthology of metaphysical poetry from the 17th century, to be exact. Which may not sound like the sexiest option on the shelves, but hear us out. The gentleman plowing through those weathered pages happened to be Michał Jacaszek, the Polish composer who's spun dramatic shades of darkness and light into gold for more than a decade now. An absolute master of melancholy, from the trickle-down electronics of Treny to the vapor-trailed verses of its looming spiritual cousin KWIATY.
"The poems were simple, pure and beautiful," Jacaszek says of the book's poignant Robert Herrick passages. "They spoke about death, pain, longing and loneliness, but somehow these pieces were bringing hope, solace, and peace."
They also sounded a hell of a lot like songs when read out loud. Structurally at least. Herrick's rhyme schemes and rhythms still needed the right musical accompaniment, and Jacaszek had just the ticket: a backlog of previously unreleased recordings—warm-blooded samples, lonesome synth lines, pared-down guitar parts—begging for proper arrangements and dynamic mixdowns. Not to mention the most vocal-driven material Jacaszek's ever written, melding his stormy melodies with a breakout performance by Hania Malarowska and the robust supporting roles of Joasia Sobowiec-Jamioł and Natalia Grzebała.
"I tend to always create organic, acoustic sounds, even though I work within a digital environment," explains Jacaszek. "Because KWIATY is actually a vocal album, the electronic sounds in the background seemed to be a perfect opposition. It's all unintentional, really; this is just my music language and I can't run away from it."
jacaszek.bandcamp.com/album/kwiaty
"I first discovered the wonderful and adventurous music of Jacaszek in a record store. 'Glimmer' and 'Catalogue des Arbres (feat. Kwartludium)' have been regularly played albums for years in this household. So when this new album was announced, I was immediately interested. However, like often happens with artists this talented and versatile, starting to write this review was a difficult task. So let's just begin by writing that this is an breathtaking piece of work.
For those not familiar with Michał Jacaszek: he is a Polish composer who combines electronically prepared sounds with acoustic instruments. Over the years, he composed soundtracks and theatre music, plus a number of albums. His work blend classical music with experimental electronics and jazz. He knows little to no musical borders and continuously drags in seemingly strange influences.
'Kwiaty' means flowers and in a way that is exactly what you get on this album; blooming pieces of music that look and feel familiar yet mysterious. The album was inspired by Michał Jacaszek’s discovery of an English anthology of metaphysical poetry from the 17th century by Robert Herrick, which to him — somehow-- sounded songlike when read out-loud. The album contains guest appearances by Hania Malarowska (Hanimal), Joasia Sobowiec-Jamioł and Natalia Grzebała.
The songs on this album are strange pop-ballads or jazz inspired classical pieces or electronically rearranged folk songs, regarding on how you feel about them. I hear influences from all these genres, including trip hop, dark jazz and the soundtracks to Tim Burton's movies or even Twin Peaks. There is a gloomy atmosphere, a mysterious feel but also musical ingenuity and beautiful vocals. In short, this is Jacaszek at his very best.
Once again I refuse to pick a favorite track. I'm not even going to mention separate songs. I'm just going to recommend buying the album. Take the weekend off and enjoy 'Kwiaty' non-stop. Allow Jacaszek to guide you on an introvert but epic journey, one you will not regret. It will definitely be worth the effort. If you are into anything between Dead Can Dance, Bersarin Quartet and The Nightmare Before Christmas, you will easily get addicted to this thing..." [Merchants of Air]
|
2017 |
€20.00 |
|
| JACKMAN, DAVID (=ORGANUM) |
Up from Zero |
CD |
“Originally released in 1982 on cassette (Aeroplane Records AR3, UK), Up From Zero was David Jackman’s third album of compositions. Integrating tapes, loops, shortwave radio signals, guitar tones, voice and a host of percussion elements, each piece accumulates into a complex collage of cycles that create a haunting set of “movements” and bizarre spatial relationships. These are the most sought after of Jackman’s first, solo recordings. The proto-
Organum sound. Also included is Offshore, (1980). This track, recorded with the assistance of Philip Sanderson (of Stormbugs/
Snatch Tapes/Claire Thomas & Susan Vezey fame), is Jackman’s earliest piece to appear on CD to date. Fluttering tones along with sustained slabs of bowed guitar create a droning crest and a fitting “outro” for these essential gems from the vault. Expertly restored from the original master tapes by Robert Hampson (of Main). Packaged in a card mini-jacket in an edition of 700 copies.” [press release]
|
2003 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
SEKIHI OIDORI |
CD |
"Organum ‘RAVEN’ CD, which was released by Siren Records in 2018 was the last piece that Jackman released under the name Organum. He changed the name Organum to Organum Electronics in 2019 and has released five volumes of the albums on Siren Records since then.
‘SEKIHI OIDORI’ is a development of the quiet nature of earlier Organum works and Jackman decided to release the album under his own name because of a very personal essence.
‘SEKIHI OIDORI’ is composed of low-key church organ drones, airy tanpura sounds, occasional church bell chimes and chirping birds. It is the most minimal, the most quiet and the most powerful composition Jackman has ever created. The drones continue uninterrupted and you may feel little change in partial listening, but you’ll appreciate the increasing internal dynamic energy that Jackman infused with mindful listening.
‘SEKIHI OIDORI’ means ‘Stone Tomb Old Bird’ in English translation but the piece is neither an elegy nor a lamentation.
Artist name: DAVID JACKMAN
Title: SEKIHI OIDORI
Label / Cat#: Siren Records / Siren 33
Format: CD Digisleeve
Edition size: 500 copies
Release date: 5th October 2023
|
2023 |
€15.00 |
|
| JARBOE |
Illusory |
CD |
"Jarboe of course doesn't need an introduction. As a torche bearer for avant-garde music, she is no stranger to Consouling as well. After the fantastic split 10" release with Father Murphy, we are truly honered to be collaborating with Jarboe on her new album 'Illusory'.
'Illusory' truly is an engaging album, where the textures of the music interact with Jarboe's almost haunting vocals in a remarkable way. Her constant forward thinking approach makes it feel like travels through uncharted territory, where her siren-like voice leads the way. Or perhaps, as the dark and brooding nature of the album captivates you, will lead you astray."
https://consouling.be/release/illusory
"JARBOE, eine der absoluten Ikonen der experimentellen und avantgardistischen Musikszene meldet sich zwei Jahre nach ihrem letzten Album nun mit ‘Illusory ‘ zurück. Erscheint als CD und LP auf CONSOULING SOUNDS. Der Name JARBOE muss nicht groß vorgestellt werden. Seit den 1980er Jahren gehört die US Amerikanerin zu den kultigsten Künstlerinnen, die sich im avantgarde, Experimental und Heavybereich tummeln. Als Ehefrau von MICHAEL GIRA (SWANS) war sie eine zeitlang auch Mitglied dieser Band. Sie entwickelte sich aber immer weiter und war offen für verschiedenste musikalische Expermiente. So arbeitete sie u.a. auch mit SONIC YOUTH, NEUROSIS, BLIXA BARGELD, PHIL ANSELMO zusammen. Ihre Release-Vita kann ein ganzes Buch füllen und sie sorgt quasi jährlich für neuen Output in den verschiedensten Varianten. Nach ihrem letzten Soloalbum ‘The Cut Of The Warrior ‘ (2018) veröffentlichte sie noch eine neue Variante des früheren ‘Blackmouth ‘ Albums (zusammen mit John Bergin und Brett Smith). Nun steht mit ‘Illusory ‘ das neue Meisterwerk der ‘Goddess of Dark ‘ (Metal Injection) in Haus. Sieben Tracks, die die Grenzen zwischen Ambient, Experimental und Avantgarde ausloten und unglaublich intensiv sind." [Broken Silence]
|
2020 |
€15.00 |
|
| JARBOE / JUSTIN K. BROADRICK |
J2 |
CD |
"Jarboe (SWANS) & Justin Broadrick (JESU, GODFLESH) team up again for this 6 song EP which can be considered the entry into the forthcoming larger denser work, which is an exploration into total sound over the parameters of traditional sound structure." [label info]
"Apparently this album hit the Billboard "New Age" charts! Not sure how or why, you wouldn't think that a collaboration between one of the Swans and a member of Godflesh would qualify as New Age (and it really isn't!). Downtempo electronica with some avant-garde elements, more like, with hints of doomic menace. If you're looking for the crushing metallic guitars of Godflesh, you won't quite find them, though many passages are deep and dark and spooky enough to remind us of Broadrick's current project Jesu.
The deal with this perhaps inevitable collaboration (inevitable given Broadrick's obvious Swans fandom, and Jarboe's openness to collaborative ventures, witness her earlier disc with Neurosis), is that it's JB making mostly electronic backgrounds for Jarboe to do her thing vocally... operatic excesses, and mewlings and moanings... so obviously you've got to be into "her thing". Some are, some aren't. The ambient, layered and looped wailings of the opener, "Decay", should separate the two camps pretty clearly. Some will find Jarboe's vocals to be full of mystery and emotion, others, simply irritating (though it's only on "Tribal Limo" that we really got annoyed with her, the track featuring weird Diamanda Galas yodelling over junky Gang Gang Dance-ish beats). That said, for those into Jarboe, there's a lot to like here.
And we can kind of see how, New Age or not, this could crack the charts on the strength some of the better cuts, like "Let Go" which
sounds a lot like Portishead or Bjork, Jarboe effecting a babygirl voice under a blanket of crackley drone, accompanied by a spare snare thwack..."[Aquarius Rec]
www.theendrecords.com
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| JARL |
Parallel / Collapsing |
CD |
Sehr obertonige, fliessend-metallische industrielle Drones, ständige untergründige dunkle Pulses und lauter kontrastierende Effekte & Sounds an der Oberfläche, das sind die akustische Ingredenzien dieser weiteren, wahrhaft betörenden VÖ von JARL. This is real „Industrial Meditation“ !! Kommt auf neuem schwedischem Industrial-Label ! Transcendental noise at its best !!
“Another strong outing from Erik Jarl, exploring his visionary approach to deadly post-industrial and harsh dark ambience, this time perhaps from a more droning point of view than before. Stretched long and sonorous drones meet up with distant noises of metal junk scrapes and clashes, again with a sparing use of elements and details yet all the more impressive. Stylish black/white/blue digipak.” [label description]
|
2003 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Akatisi / Somnolens Part I-VI |
CD |
"Advanced Experimental Drone"-Musik von ERIK JARL (eine Hälfte von IRM), das grossartige TANTRIC-Album (aufgenommen bereits 2003); schwelende Geräuschfelder, wummernde Klangflächen, elektro-magnetische Mikrodetail-statik, zwischen Ent- und Anspannung, voller interessanter Sounds & kontemplativer Kraft !
"Solo material from soundartist Erik Jarl known by his works with power electronics monster IRM. Sustained static fields and repetitive patterns construct expressive layers of sound in contrasting colours. Delicately and ambitiously put together to a transcendental cycle - this is music for occidental meditation. Limited to 499 copies." [label info]
"....Over the 6 tracks and 45+ minutes Erik has taken the concept of drone music and revitalised and buffed this sometimes staid and boring music into a shimmering gossamer sheen. Drifting pastoral passages are continually looped into hypnotic rippling waves of sound that appear almost ethereal in structure. Slight faint jarring effects are carefully layered into the mix along with flecks of faint Industrial and ritualistic bias that reaches out towards black malevolent ambience before being drawn back clutching despondently at the air. "Akatisi / Somnolens" is music to meditate to. To dream sweet dreams to. To fully immerse yourself and lose all track of time to. Time becomes totally irrelevant, a non event, when listening to music that bathes and cloaks the senses in full spectrum of a rainbow. Erik and his amazing Technicolor drone overcoat.
Around this part of a review I suppose I’ve got to try and mention like minded recording artists in case the words I’ve written haven’t conveyed the musical style adequately enough. Fair enough…though it will be a difficult task…so having had a quick trawl through my record collection I offer up the following: MRSA-16, Troum and Elektro Nova. Elements of each can be found ever so partially on "Akatisi / Somnolens" but Erik has retained a unique individuality and foresight which has been stamped firmly across this recording. If his earlier works were his evolution then "Akatisi / Somnolens" marks his re-birth as a genuine musical maestro. Artist and label in a marriage made just for each other." [Aural Pressure]
www.the-edge.ws/pretentious/tantric-harmonies
|
2005 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Amygdala Colours - Hemisphere Rotation |
CD |
"Jarl has a long discography behind him with more than 15 releases since his solo project started in the early years of the millenia. Describing his music as unbalanced, turbulent, withdrawn electronics that focus on isolation he's made an impact on the electronic scene defining an own explicit sound.
"Amygdala Colours - Hemisphere Rotation" is the second album on Reverse Alignment and follows the critically acclaimed "Case 1959 - Dyatlov". But where previous album explored the external mysteries of Dyatlov 1959 Jarl take us unto an internal trip through the structures and events of the cognitive mind with a main focus on the Amygdala, where the processing of memory, decision-making, and emotional reactions occur.
This album is built with layers of sound which slowely gets audible and disappears psychedelically. A variation of electronic and acoustic treatments has been used and the whole album is a mastodon track passing 50 minutes. As usual, the listener gets a mixture of drone, ambient and industrial that are molded perfectly into "that" typical Jarl-ish sound that sure wont dissapoint.
Accompanied with the musical expression comes astonishing work from Karolina Urbaniak who designed the cover. It is as if you could touch the music." [label info]
reversealignment.bandcamp.com
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Inner Domain |
do-CD |
“Inner Domain” is a third (after “Tunguska Event” and “Negative Rotation/ Intensive Fracture”) release by Jarl on Zoharum label.
Artist himself often labels his music as withdrawn electronics focused on isolation. Psychedelic, chemical, unbalanced, from calm to destructive, insomnia with or without structure. In this case music was influenced by experiencing sleep paralysis. Each CD deals with either the hypnagogic or hypnopompic state. The before and after experience.
“Inner Domain” offers a bit more primitive and aggressive approach to sound but still has that psychedelic feel to it which hallmarks Jarl’s works. Originally intended for a double cassette release and recorded between 2007 and 2009 on either a 4 or 8 track recorder. Electronic sounds on album made with a wave form generator interwine with acoustic sounds with lots of delay. No computer was used during the recording process. Artwork made by Karolina Urbaniak
2CD album folded in 6-panel ecopack released in strictly limited edition of 300 copies
https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/inner-domain
|
2020 |
€16.00 |
|
|
Hyperacusis |
LP |
Erik Jarl hails from Sweden and is actively recording and releasing for over two decades now either solo or as a part of power electronics/industrial acts like IRM and Kaiten. On his fourth release for Zoharum titled “Hyperacusis”, Jarl gravitates towards drone void as he explores and sonically interprets this rare hearing disorder.
Album consists of 2 long (around 20 minutes each), trance inducing tracks that put you into sedative state. Drones, high frequency pulsations and oscillations work here as a intronautic vessel in which you descend into into the depths of subconscious and as much as we are aware that this is a bold statement the closest comparison that comes to mind is Coil’s Time Machines. Yes, we said it.
At first this appears to be a demanding piece of work but it’s utterly rewarding and eventually makes you wanna listen to it on and on and on… (to turn your mind off… to turn your mind off...)
Mastered by Natt
Artwork by Radosław Kamiński
CD edition of 250 copies comes in a 6 panel digipack.
LP edition of 100 copies pressed on 180g black wax
https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/hyperacusis
|
2021 |
€20.00 |
|
|
Phonophobia |
CD |
"Phonophobia" is a kind of continuation of the subject matter of the previous release. While "Hyperacusis" was an attempt to explore this phenomenon and has shown it through the sound and final composition of songs directly influencing the peculiar nature of the album, "Phonophobia" refers directly to the issue of psychology and clinical psychiatry, where, thanks to methodically developed sound structures, arranged and marked appropriately on the scale of impact intensity with numbers 1-3, it recreates the world of sounds, closed in the mind of a person suffering from this ailment. Here, the space is suddenly filled with high-intensity sound waves, stimulating the listener to active reception and strongly influencing his psyche (at the same time). The feeling of rising does not disappear here even for a moment and accompanies the last sound on the album. After it, there is absolute silence, becoming a counterpoint to the music that resounds in the head for some time.
Once again, Erik Jarl takes an interesting topic into his workshop and realizes it in a peculiar and extraordinary way, providing his listeners with coherent, intriguing material and giving the opportunity to discover it multiple times with each subsequent listening session.
https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/phonophobia
|
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Spectrum Confusion |
CD |
Spectrum Confusion is Jarl’s fifth album on Reverse Alignment, following on from 2019’s massive triple CD release Symptoms Variation/ Sensory Deprivation. And once again Karolina Urbaniak has masterfully created the cover artwork, as she’s done for the four earlier Jarl releases, also released by RA.
Spectrum Confusion consists of three long-form pieces showcasing his trademark psychedelic, hypnotic approach, but this time the presence of bubbling and pulsating sounds makes the music sound closer to the electronic experiments of Northern European avant-garde composers in conjunction with more melodic passages harmonically coexisting alongside the abstract elements. Jarl’s music has entered its more mature stage here, and Spectrum Confusion consolidates his reputation as one of the most interesting and original European electronic music composers.
Swedish musician Erik Jarl has been active since the Fall of 1999, principally as Jarl. He was also a member of post-industrial act IRM, of which Erik was one of the founding members. Jarl’s music has been released on several labels through the years, and he has collaborated with acts like Anemone Tube, Envenomist, and Skin Area. Erik Jarl composes his music through a total analogue approach with the use of synthesisers, analogue sequencers, waveform generators, and oscillators, as well as several echo/reverb and delay units.
https://reversealignment.bandcamp.com/album/spectrum-confusion
"More and more, the territory for Vital Weekly is that of modern classical music, improvised music and such; the last resort of physical releases, perhaps? I am glad that there is also music from Erik Jarl dropping on my doorstep now and then. Just for the sake of hearing something else, also because I have been quite a fan of his music over the years. After all these years of reviewing his music, I still have not a clear picture of what Jarl does. Maybe I believed he was a man of computer technology for a while, but I think that the modular synthesiser is his instrument of choice in recent times. When I was playing this CD, I used some more volume to drown out the clarinet rehearsals taking place upstairs, and it occurs to me that there is a slightly more cosmic streak to his music this time around. I doubt the volume is a contributing factor to that thought. I had this realisation, and I thought there was a straight line from Conrad Schnitzler's 'non-keyboard electronics' to the world of industrial music. Jarl's sonic paintings are dark and bleak; they are slow and minimal. Yet, it is also music of hope and light. This music is not the dystopian cosmic journey of a spaceship returning to the destroyed earth, but rather, well, such as I hear this, a celebratory trip back home. The spacecraft is in slow motion returning from whatever it was doing in space anyway. The additional reverb sets some of the moods here. It bursts and bubbles along the edges of the massive drones. Maybe because Jarl adds a melodic touch to his electronics, it made me think of that. I took a peek at Vangelis' recent tribute to Juno (the Jupiter moon, not the synthesiser), hailed in the daily, but I feel NASA missed out on Jarl's music for this occasion. His soundtrack would fit Juno much better than Vangelis' orchestral brushes. Alright, next time, Nasa, go to Sweden and talk to Jarl!" [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Mindrotation |
CD |
The new Jarl album is the Sixth on Zoharum. Like previous album Hyperacusis and Phonophobia, released in 2021, it deals with the human psyche. This time by turning inwards. Like often with Jarls sound the album has a sort of a psychedelic electronic sound.
Mind Rotation has 5 parts dealing with the human psyche. A rotation of the mind. The first two parts mind variation and mind dimension are among the brightest Jarl has ever recorded with arrpegio sequencer synthesizer style. But the three later parts mind symptoms, mind isolation and mind disorder has a darker and colder tone. From inspiration, energy, creativity, calm to anxiety, despair, destructive ness and isolation and after part five the psyche has been driven to far, turning inward with no return. In the end everything becomes clear. It was meant to happen.
The album is available in two versions: a limited edition CD of 300 copies and a micro-circulation of 30 copies on a cassette.
https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/mind-rotation |
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| JARL / ENVENOMIST |
Tunguska Event |
CD |
"Erik has teamed up with David Reed aka Envenomist to create a sonic reenactment of the Tunguska event. It was ”was a large explosion which occurred near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in what is now Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, at about 07:14 on June 30, 1908” [Wikipedia]. It flattened 2,000 km2 of the forest and it caused glowing sunsets on the horizon. There are many theories concerning the cause of this particular event. Some scientists claim it was connected with an asteroid or comet that burst in the air above the region, others claim that it might have been a small black hole passing near the Earth. The mystery is still unsolved.
The music, presented here in five parts, is full of oily drones and industrial blasts intertwined with unsettling ambient textures. The sound on this recording is of complex and mature nature, which hardly comes as a surprise when thinking about years both musicians spent mastering their skills (David with Envenomist and Luasa Raelon; Erik both in IRM and Skin Area, and solo known simply as Jarl). It is an interesting piece of work for those who search for something on the fringes of electronic music. The CD is housed in an ecopak sleeve and is strictly limited to 300 copies." [label info]
www.zoharum.com
"Erik Jarl is not a man to release a lot of music. I quite enjoyed his 'Parallel/Collapsing', way back in Vital Weekly 401, and since then he also was reviewed in Vital Weekly 470 and 860, and on a few compilations. Here he works together with David Reed, also known as Envenomist, who has had releases on Brise Cul, Segerhuva, Chrondictic Sound and Bloodlust! Certainly two dark drone meisters who meet up here. Their CD is about events at Tunguska, in 1908: a large explosion that flattened 2,000 square kilometres of forest. Why it happened it was not clear, so that's fertile ground for conspiratists worldwide: alien life form, asteroid or comet explosion or a black hole passing earth. Still a mystery that remains unsolved. I assume both gentlemen are at the controls of a bunch of synthesizers and sound effects and together they created five top-heavy pieces of dark synthesizer music. It's not of the pure drone variation, starting and then stopping at some point, but it comes in waves; like a sea at night: you hear the waves, feel a cold wind in the face, but you can hardly see a thing. Another difference is that there is a bunch of looped, percussive sounds. Usually without much variation they simply tick away time, rather than setting a beat. It's all spooky, mysterious and it could very well the soundtrack to the X-files or any other movie on the invasion of the body snatchers. It's music that fits early dark autumn evening very well." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€12.00 |
|
| JASCH |
Shimmer |
CD |
Knistern, vibratorisch wummernde & hell zerfliessende Streicher-Drones, in der Tat „schimmernd“ wie Licht; sehr schön wie sich hier Flächen überlagern, vermengen & gegenseitig auslöschen zu scheinen, ab und zu kommen „konkretere“ Streicher-Klänge an die Oberfläche... 8 Stücke sehr gelungene experimental drones von diesem uns bisher unbekannten Schweizer.
“SHIMMER from the swiss artist JASCH (catalogue number 6) marks a new step in the development of dOc as it is the first release without any involvement of label owner Pure (besides dOc8 "Die Instabilität der Symmetrie" which was a cooperation with Cologne based label Grob). It therefore stands for the label's conceptual shift from a platform for documenting solo and collaborative live works to a release possibility for like minded sound and video artists. SHIMMER features a mixture of organic and synthetic characters that build crystalline shimmering layered sonic spaces. A constant flow of steadily evolving palettes of rich sound drifts from standstill to hectic, from recognisable instrumental timbre to digital fragments, constantly changing spatial perspectives and acoustic appearance. the most notable sound source for these eight tracks are recordings of string instruments, even though echoes of voices and traces of field recordings evoke an intimate exchange with the sonic materials used for this work. All eight tracks were recorded during a 4 month time span in spring and summer of 2003. Most of the pieces are direct-to-disk live-recordings, a few were recorded in the studio. all pieces were improvised using custom made soft- and hardware and no edits were applied in postproduction. the main tools use process-based algorithms and open dynamic systems geared towards intuitive and instantaneous interaction.
JASCH is an active musician coming from the fields of improvisation with a background in jazz and electroacoustic music. He holds a degree in jazz doublebass and a masters in digital arts. He has been performing improvised, electroacoustic and audio/visual electronic works in a variety of settings in festivals and clubs all over europe and north america.
Beside his solo works he is member of DYAD, the critically acclaimed live project with american video artist Johnny Dekam, whose collaboration DVD with dOc label owner Pure is released just a the same time.” [label description]
|
2004 |
€13.00 |
|
| JAYTROPE + ANSGAR WILKEN |
Miniatures |
7inch |
1. Miniatures I 06:32
2. Miniatures II 06:17
Happy Zloty #14
October 2022
Recorded and Mixed by jayrope
jayrope.bandcamp.com
Additional Instruments by Frank Schültge Blumm
Layout by Ansgar Wilken
Stamped Font by Peter Strickmann
Risographed at We Make It, Berlin
The Record was manufactured by my45
"Diese klitzekleine EP ist sicherlich nicht nur nicht als eine Hommage an all die Veröffentlichungen
gleichen Names zu verstehen, sondern bezieht sich vielleicht insbesondere auf die von Morgan Fisher im Jahr 1980 veröffentlichte LP mit Stücken von Robert Wyatt, Residents, Fred Frith und anderen aus einer Zeit, als derartige Musik einen zuvor nicht gehörten, beweglichen Standpunkt zwischen Avantgarde und DIY markierte. Jetzt mit beiden Beinen mittenmang im Gewühl aus selbstgebauten Instrumenten, Kitchenavantgarde, souveränem Geschichtsbewußtsein und ... immer zu kurz!"
[H. Hagedorn]
https://ansgarwilken.bandcamp.com/album/miniatures
|
2022 |
€12.00 |
|
| JEAN, MONIQUE |
L'adieu au S.O.S. |
CD |
In faszinierende akusmatische Welten entführt die aus Montreal stammende kanadische Komponistin, wobei sie sehr dunkle & dynamische Stimmungen erzeugt, die z.B. auf Themen von „Hilflosigkeit und Verwirrung angesichts der Zerstörung des Individuellen“ , „Entzeitlichung“ & Fragen des Menschlichen basieren.. Dicht, spannend, in den Bann ziehend.. hier sind elektro-akustische Meisterwerke entstanden!
MONIQUE JEAN war Schülerin von FRANCIS DHOMONT und arbeitet auch im Bereich Experimentalfilm, Video, Tanz...
„Monique Jean lives and works in Montreal. She studied electroacoustic composition at the Université de Montréal under the supervision of Francis Dhomont. In addition to her acousmatic compositions, her work is also regularly associated with video and experimental films, with dance and with installations. Her harbour symphony “L’Appel des machines soufflantes” (The Call of Blowing Machines), a commission of Radio–Canada, was premiered in March 1998 at the Port of Montreal and in 1999 she was an invited composer during the “Rien à voir (5)” concert series produced by Réseaux (Montreal). Finalist in the Ciber@rt (Valencia, Spain, 1999), Musica Nova (Prague, Czech Republic, 2001) and Bourges (France, 2002) competitions, her works are regularly performed and broadcast during numerous national and international concerts and festivals. [Translation: Sean Furgeson, xii-02]“ [website-info]
|
2003 |
€13.00 |
|
| JECK, PHILIP & CHRIS WATSON |
Oxmardyke |
CD |
With thanks to Mary Prestidge, who writes: "At the end of January 2022, Philip was taken to A&E at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital suffering from severe back pain and was admitted for investigations. In the hospital ward, with some strong pain relief, he could more comfortably rest, mostly horizontally. During the day he could be angled slightly toward a sitting position. Over the following days, aiming to make sense of his current predicament, Philip regained a tiny level of normality. With his laptop in place, he tapped into familiar territory and, when finding the most favorable times, listened to and worked with the sound files that Chris Watson had sent him. During these brief, intense spells Philip gave all to his ear and heart to guide and shape the music forming at his fingertips. Oxmardyke is the album which resulted from this collaboration."
Chris Watson (August 2022): "Philip's laugh was infectious. Our conversations would usually begin with exchanges around the enthusiasm we had for each other's work and the respect we shared for other Touch artists. However, as we were most likely to have met over drinks at the Philharmonic Dining Rooms in Liverpool the evening would gradually dissolve into convivial disarray. What did emerge from these soirées over recent years was a desire to find ways and means for us to collaborate at a place where our ideas converged. In 2017, I was recording along the north bank of the Humber estuary and one morning driving back from Faxfleet I was stopped at the Oxmardyke rail crossing. The gates were down. After setting up a microphone array by the tracks for a passing freight train the signalman shouted an invitation to climb up into the gate box to make some more recordings. Over the following weeks I made several return trips to Oxmardyke and gathered a broad palette of recordings. I discussed the sounds, stories and history of the site with Philip after a show and we were both excited by the potential of making a work together. Philip was drawn to the ancient history of the area from 6th century Anglo-Saxon times to the Knights Templar and how the sounds, rhythms and textures from those periods may still inhabit the contemporary landscape. My thoughts took inspiration from 'The Signalman' by Charles Dickens and the painting 'Rain, Steam and Speed' by Joseph Mallord William Turner. We agreed to share ideas and exchange tracks. Oxmardyke gate box has now passed into history. I hope my contributions may frame Philip's exceptional work."
Mastered by Denis Blackham at Skye Mastering; Photography by Chris Watson; Cover design: Jon Wozencroft.
https://philipjeck.bandcamp.com/album/oxmardyke
|
2023 |
€17.00 |
|
| JENSEN, CLARICE |
Drone Studies |
LP |
"In the past few years, Clarice Jensen has forged her own path. Recently, her focus has shifted to film scoring, successfully recording work for three feature films between 2020 and 2021. At the same time, Clarice continues to serve as artistic director of the American Contemporary Music Ensemble, while continually collaborating with an impressive array of musicians, such as Max Richter, Björk and Stars of the Lid, to name a few.
That being said, it was her 2019 tape release on Geographic North, Drone Studies, that initially caught the attention of a wider audience, with the work showcasing a compelling assembly of deeply immersive drones, and elegantly orchestrated compositions, in which neoclassical elements collide with electric density.
Three years later, the work has lost none of its innovative character and appeal. It also documents a turning point in Clarice's career, one where her classically trained background started to converged and overlap with her interests in improvisational electronics and drone music. As a result, the aptly titled Drone Studies shows Clarice at her most exploratory, introspective, and daring, channeling her areas of interest into a collage of richly textured timbers, and cello movements of sublime tension.
Now for the first time, the original album can be experienced through an expanded vinyl reissue, mastered by Rafael Anton Irissari, and carefully adjusted for vinyl by Ian Hawgood. The new reissue also features an additional track by Clarice called Platonic Solids 2, which was originally conceived around the same time as Drone Studies, and which has now been made available exclusively for the vinyl edition and on the Vaagner Bandcamp.
We hope that this new reissue will aid in introducing Clarice's groundbreaking Drone Studies to a new crowd of listeners through this expanded edition."
https://vaagner.bandcamp.com/album/drone-studies
|
2022 |
€18.50 |
|
| |
Esthesis |
LP |
Cellist/composer Clarice Jensen returns on 130701 with her third album, ‘Esthesis’, a deep and gorgeous new work conceptually structured around the emotional and harmonic spectrum and the phenomenon of chromesthesia – a condition whereby sound involuntarily evokes an experience of color, shape and movement. Following up her critically-acclaimed 2020 LP ‘The experience of repetition as death’ (a record almost presciently timed to arrive as Covid first hit), 'Esthesis’ sees Jensen expanding her oeuvre, introducing a wider instrumental range, and reflecting on the effects of isolation. Recorded by Jensen in upstate NY and expertly mixed by Francesco Donadello, the record was mastered by Matthew Agoglia and is released on October 21st, ahead of a UK/EU tour supporting 130701 alumni Dustin O’Halloran.
From its opening piano notes, 'Esthesis’ gently upends expectations built up over previous albums. Shifting and extending Jensen’s sound in line with the adventurousness of the ‘Drone Studies’ and ‘Platonic Solids’ EPs, the album is less reliant on her trademark razor-sharp, processed cello drone. Performed heavily on synth, as well as her more usual cello and electronics, it also features the piano playing of Timo Andres (tracks 1, 4 and 5) and the voices of Laura Lutzke, Francesca Federico and Emma Broughton (on tracks 3 and 6). Whilst the drone is never far away, there’s a sense of more light and space across the album.
'Esthesis’ was originally conceived in pre-pandemic times as a concert experience, structured to comprise a series of long drones, each centred on a single key/pitch and cycling sequentially through the circle of fifths from C to F. These drones would be punctuated by shorter “songs”, each depicting one of the seven principle emotions defined in the Chinese Book of Rites. As an audio-visual experience, Jensen imagined the audience being bathed in coloured lights that corresponded to each drone, with those colours combined or oscillating during the songs in an effort to mimic or induce chromesthesia: a (gentle, not jarring) trip through the complete spectrum of colour, (Western) pitch and emotion.
With the pandemic dashing these plans and ushering in a period where it was even difficult to imagine live performance anymore, Jensen instead set out to realise the concept as an album palpably created in enforced solitude and isolation. “I expanded my usual palette of layered and treated cellos without the effect of a more grandiose or large-scale feeling of timbre; I wished to employ additional media in an effort to further portray the idea of isolation and containment.” Foregoing the longer drone structures she’d planned in favour of a more succinct whole, each track on ‘Esthesis’ evokes a different principal emotion using seemingly one-dimensional titles, with Jensen’s intention being to juxtapose the depths of these emotions with the reality-overlay of solitude. “It also calls to question how sensation can be rudimentary. Imposed isolation and the fear of viral exposure led many to seek sensation by streaming television, circulating memes, and sharing delayed laughs with loved ones across computer screens – all of this done alone and somewhat removed through various media, and set against a backdrop of very real fear.” While the \"removed\" nature of each track/emotion remains deliberate, so also exists the very realness of the emotion itself. “\'Joy\' evokes vernal lightness and promise, and came to me as I was falling asleep and realised I was still smiling thinking about someone I love. \'Sadness\' is a setting of Purcell\'s \'Dido\'s Lament’. \'Liking\' begins with tentative hope and then blossoms, using an additive compositional process, whereas \'Disliking\' is subtractive. ‘Anger\' uses text taken from Simone de Beauvoir\'s letters to Nelson Algren (the entirety is pasted below). \'Fear\' attempts to simply portray breathing and absence. The organs used on \'Love\' suggest hallowed spaces, employing only a short progression that always returns to the same but becomes layered, out-of-sync and lost, but simplest at its end.”
Thursday, 3 Juillet 1947
“I led a very quiet life since my last letter: no cave, no party, no wit. There was a wonderful storm in the country, it was really beautiful. The whole day had been so hot, you really wanted to die, love or work or happiness did not mean anything more. And then came a huge black smoke in the sky, and strange phantasms went by in the dim light, and soon you could not see the sky nor the landscape any more, just a cherry tree beaten by the wind while the rain fell crazily, and thunder shaked the sky. Many trees were broken, flowers killed, the landscape was a battle field… Afterwards, everything was strangely peaceful. Friends came and we had a dinner and long evening: the woman who has swallowed a pin, her husband, the old lady I like so much, and Sartre. But I was not very quiet myself; the storm had gone on my nerves, and I drank much, and, dearest, when I drink much I am no longer sensible at all; when the other friends left I became a storm myself, and poor Sartre was very bored with me who spoke about life and death and everything in a rather mad way. When I am drunk everything seems very tragic and pathetic and terrifying to me – so dreadfully important, and yet without importance since death is at the end; I should knock my head against the walls. I did not knock my head but I spoke and raved late in the night on the peaceful little country roads, and I decided not to drink any more for some time. You see, it has never been very easy for me to live, though I am always very happy – maybe because I want so much to be happy. I like so much to live and I hate the idea of dying one day. And then I am awfully greedy; I want everything from life, I want to be a woman and to be a man, to have many friends and to have loneliness, to work much and write good books, and to travel and enjoy myself, to be selfish and to be unselfish…You see, it is difficult to get all which I want. And then when I do not succeed I get mad with anger…” [Simone de Beauvoir, Letters to Nelson Algren]
Across the album’s seven pieces, Jensen shows great restraint and an incredible compositional talent in spinning a series of beautiful, complex interweavings of texture, tone, rhythm and melody. There is a serious depth in her sensibility, that rewards repeated listening.
https://claricejensen.bandcamp.com/album/esthesis
|
2022 |
€32.50 |
|
| JERMAN / BARNES |
Versatile Ambience |
LP |
Without referencing typical genre or style, the collaboration of sound artists Tim Barnes and Jeph Jerman moves a step forward with this 45 RPM LP release of texture and atmosphere, with assistance from Ken Vandermark, Jacob Duncan, Aaron Michael Bulter, Sara Saltau & Bret Berry.
"The fact that two words sit next to each other does not automatically mean that they are related. The ambience given off by this LP full of coarse textures and lancing sounds isn't exactly versatile; it'd be easier to devise a list of places where it can't be played and people you know who would not sit still for it than to string together the places where its ambience would be appropriate. And just because two men with documented histories of hitting things get together and make records doesn't mean they'll turn in an album of percussion music.
In fact, Tim Barnes and Jeph Jerman only occasionally resort to directly striking anything on Versatile Ambience; they're too busy engaging in all manner of other interventions that confound perception and makes you think hard about just what constitutes music. If you consult Barnes' and Jerman's discography, you can find CDRs a decade old to which the Discogs website has assigned the designation free improvisation. Whatever you call the music on Versatile Ambience, you can't call it that. It is carefully constructed from collected outdoors sounds, wind and stringed instruments played by musicians such as Ken Vandermark and electronics of uncertain provenance; there's definitely a shortwave radio in the mix, but beyond that, take a guess.
It's probably more relevant to note that it's not immediately clear if the twittering high frequencies that lift away from a distant jet's quiet roar are played electronics or a field recording of bugs. Jerman has gone on record saying that he is not concerned with representing anything, he just uses sounds he likes to hear. Still, in a time when human activity is submerging islands and killing off species at a record rate, it's hard not to assign significance to music that challenges the listener to figure out where nature ends and man begins. No discussion of this album would be complete without acknowledging its particular physical qualities. The sleeve is hefty and substantial.
The vinyl is heavy and spins at 45 RPM; Rashad Becker's mastering conveys the high frequencies with amazing clarity and the rougher textures with such tactility that you'll swear you can feel the sounds coming through your fingertips."
[Bill Meyer, Dusted Magazine]
|
2016 |
€26.00 |
|
| JERMAN, JEPH & DOUG THERIAULT |
Tathata |
CD |
"Tathata is a central concept in Buddhism, literally translated from sanskrit as 'thusness' or 'suchness'. Tathata expresses appreciation of the true nature of reality in any given moment. As no moment is exactly the same, each one can be savored for what occurs at that precise time, whether it is thought of as being good or bad. However, Jeph Jerman and Doug Theriault are trying to give us the possibility to meditate on this word, they recorded three long improvised pieces for the same-titled album. Jeph plays acoustic sources (stones, health balls, metals, sticks etc) and Doug played guitar and processed it with his laptop. The music is very quiet, the sparse and spontaneous movements reveals the silence playing the main role between abstract sound gestures. It seems so that the musicians have no intent to produce music, which can express certain ideas or follow the process, thus it's setting free your mind and clear it from any predominant thoughts. In fact, it's a new direction of perceiving the environment, the musicians share with some sounds, originated far from the complex pseudoreality programming, it's mostly intuition. Another important step to understanding the musical ecology, to reach the point where anything can be taken apart from everything else." [label info]
www.nitkie.ru
|
2010 |
€12.50 |
|
| JERMAN, JEPH / JOACHIM NORDWALL |
Topology |
CD |
Jeph Jerman (Hands To) and Joachim Nordwall (Organ of Corti) present "Topology," a stunning collaboration that brings out the best from both artists. Jerman's trademark field recordings are accentuated by Nordwall's electronics in a seamless fusion that simultaneously evokes the mechanical and the environmental. There are moments of subtle tension, but longtime fans of Jerman will note several instances of heightened intensity in his contribution that harken back to some of the more aggressive Hands To recordings. Nordwall is surgical on "Topology," a masterclass in blending two divergent approaches. An incredible album of sound exploration that is not to be missed.
https://newforces.bandcamp.com/album/topology |
2023 |
€14.00 |
|
| JESU |
Why are we not perfect? |
maxi-CD |
"... Why Are We Not Perfect completes Broadrick’s transformation from atmosphere-obsessed drone metallurgist to neo-shoegaze aesthete. There’s heaviness of a very different sort oozing from the two-chord vamp “Farewell” -- it’s the kind of heaviness that derives from depth of production and emotional resonance, rather than piles of distorted guitar. You could easily fall into the cracks between those Björk-like fuzz bass hits on the title track. Its final lyric (“Why are we not perfect/ When we can’t live forever?”) is just one of the many simple profundities you’ll find buried deep within if you do... ] [Prefix mag]
"5 track EP (2 songs of which originally appeared on the vinyl only split 12" with Eluvium). JUSTIN BROADRICK has set aside the heavy foundation of pounding guitars prevalent in past recordings & brought to the fore elements of texture & melody that previously hovered at the periphery of his monolithic compositions. While this may prove frustrating to metal idealists, those with a greater sense of adventure will find the results both illuminating & heart rending." [label info]
"Not a brand new Jesu record, instead, this ep collects the three tracks from Jesu's split lp with Eluvium from last year, and adds two alternate versions to flesh it out a bit. Folks who missed out on that now out of print 12", or those amongst you who remain turntableless, will for sure want to pick this up, and Jesu fanatics, might just find this worth it for the two extra alternate takes. First the songs proper: Three new songs from Jesu, and as if we didn't already see Broadrick and Co. heading in this direction, they've almost entirely
jettisoned the heaviness, in favor of a blissy new wave-y drift. Really! No massive sludge, no blissed out crunch, in fact, most of this sounds like Jesu doing the soundtrack to a John Hughes movie, all drift and croon and no crunch and pummel, but it's really nice, and pretty, and still suitably Jesu-like.
Imagine Simple Minds or the Cure but raised on Slowdive and Chapterhouse and Swervedriver and My Bloody Valentine, doing the theme song for Sixteen Candles 2008 (which if our calculations are correct would be more like Forty Candles). The first song would be a massive hit, sort of melancholy and romantic, dark and dreamy, but still sort of catchy and hopeful, like sunbeams barely making it through grey storm clouds. The final track sounds like it could be from that last scene in Sixteen Candles 2008, the one
where the boy and the girl finally make it to the dance after all of the crazy mishaps and misunderstandings and are finally sharing that
slow dance... lugubrious and fuzzy, and soft focus and so great actually. It's weird, and a bit unexpected, but as much as we love the
glacial crush of past Jesu discs, this new-wave-y drift really suits them, which is a good thing, since they seem to be heading even more and more in that direction with each new release.
The two extra tracks are definitely not -drastically- different, but different enough certainly to make them worth having.
"Farewell" gets even more washed out, the whole thing muted and over saturated, the chugging guitars, disembodied and more textural than
heavy, the whole song suffused with chiming harmonics and sun dappled soaring bittersweet melodies. "Why Are We Not Perfect", the above
mentioned Sixteen Candles 2008 closer, hews closely to the original, the change more in timbre and texture than anything, the vocals still weary and woozy, the beat a loping skittery shuffle, surrounded by shimmering clouds of effervescent streaks of warm buzz, swirls of backwards melody, all whirling softly and dreamily.
Beautifully packaged in a super thick oversized Japanese style mini lp cd jacket, with a thick printed inner sleeve." [Aquarius Records]
www.hydrahead.com
|
2008 |
€11.00 |
|
| |
Heart Ache & Dethroned |
do-CD |
"Das A und O des Justin K. Broadrick: zwei EPs des Industrial-Pioniers.
Es gibt wenige Künstler aus den Grenzgebieten der populären Musik, die nicht in irgendeiner Weise vom Werk Justin K. Broadricks beeinflusst wurden. Als Gründungsmitglied von Bands wie Godflesh, Napalm Death, Techno Animal und Final half er Genres wie Industrial und Death Metal auf die Beine, ist im Hip-Hop und Dub, Grindcore und Ambient zu Hause. Auch mit seinem Projekt Jesu war Broadrick seit 2004 sehr produktiv. Für Neueinsteiger und Fans erscheint mit "Heart Ache & Dethroned" quasi das A und O der bisherigen Jesu-Karriere. "Heart Ache" ist die wieder veröffentlichte Debüt-EP, auf der noch sehr viele Godflesh-Anklänge zu hören sind, aber auch die typischen Zutaten des Jesu-Sounds wie etwa hypnotisierende Strukturen, sich überlappende vielschichtige Melodien und andere klangliche Verschönerungen bzw. Brutalitäten. Mit "Dethroned" wiederum schließt sich der Kreis. Es ist die jüngste Jesu-EP, deren vier Tracks zwar bereits 2004 geschrieben, aber erst 2010 fertiggestellt wurden." [label info / Indigo]
www.hydrahead.com
|
2010 |
€18.50 |
|
| JGRZINICH (JOHN GRZINICH) |
Phase Inversion |
CD-R |
"... A bunch of acoustic objects, bells, wood, metal, stones, are being played manually and then the sound gets processed with various electronics and layered into thick swirling drone pieces. Jgrzinich never stands 'still', its always on the move. Small crackles from field recordings, majestic drones from electronics, with always something new happening. This is a Jgrzinich as we would have expected. Perhaps a bit like the release by Steve Roden reviewed elsewhere, one could say that Jgrzinich doesn't change his mode of operation very much, which might be necessary by now. But without that one could easily say this is another damn fine disc. Perhaps not as aquatic as many of the other releases on Mystery Sea." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
"Currently involved in workshops, and coordinator for MoKS - Center For Arts and Social Practice, an artist-run international residency center and project space in Southeast Estonia, John Grzinich is a nomadic mixed-media explorer whose main tool of expression is sound composition declined in various forms : manipulation of acoustic, environmental sounds & found objects, phonographies, construction of original instrument devices, site-specific installations & performances, collaborative sound actions...
Active since the early 1990s, he has collaborated with many artists & famous names in this sphere such as michael northam, Seth Nehil, Olivia Block... he travelled also intensively through Europe, and published CDs on a plethora of labels, namely for instance : Intransitive Recordings, Elevator Bath, Orogenetics (US), Cloud Of Statics, Cut (CH), Edition Sonoro (UK), Sirr (PT), CMR (NZ), Erewhon (BE), Prele, Tâalem (FR)...
For Mystery Sea, John Grzinich has plunged deep into its own creative process to come back with "phase inversion", an haunting & soothing thorough sound litany...
Sinking slowly within,
oscillating slightly,
in a continuous imperturbable movement
at the heart of an unseen core
lies a point of entry,
a source of multiple diffractions...
-
Rubbings, vesperal sighs,
microcollisions, metallic asperities,
elemental debris,
tiny fragments recombine in a wordless score...
-
"phase inversion" turns things upside down,
makes Below becoming the Above,
draws a precise, refined outline
where each detail is like the echo of a new path...
a cognitive retraction..."
[label notes]
www.mysterysea.net
|
2009 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Two Films |
DVD |
"and/OAR, Maaheli Editions and Paleosol Edition are extremely pleased to present two films by sound artist John Grzinich. 'Sound Aspects Of Material Elements', Black & White, 57 minutes HD, 16:9 Aspect Ratio. Concept, sound, camera, editing: John Grzinich. Equipment and support: MoKS - Center for Art and Social Practice, Mooste, Estonia. Collaborative recordings made with: Patrick McGinley, Jim Haynes, Toomas Thetlof, Maksims Shentelevs, Kaspars Kalninsh, Eamon Sprod, Hitoshi Kojo, and Evelyn Müürsepp. 'Mimema' Color, 24:38 minutes, HD 16:9 Aspect Ratio. Concept, sound, camera, editing: John Grzinich. Equipment and support: MoKS - Center for Art and Social Practice, Mooste Estonia. Format: DVD (All Region NTSC). John Grzinich has been conducting his own forms of sound research for over 15 years, including field recording, kinetic sculptures, electro-acoustic composition, performance, videography, group workshops and exercises in listening. Currently he lives in Estonia and works as a program and technical coordinator for MoKS, a non-profit artist-run center. He has published CDs of his sound works on international labels such as: SIRR, Mystery Sea, Staalplaat, Erewhon, Intransitive, Cut, Elevator Bath, Invisible Birds, Semper Florens and others." [label info]
www.and-oar.org
"The label Alluvial Recordings is apparently no more - I am not sure why - but now there is Paleosol Edition, and this first release is done in collaboration with And/oar (catalogue number on the spine being 49, on the disc itself 50) and is a DVD of two films of composer John Grzinich, which I think is an interesting thing. Just what would it be? Animation stuff, a documentary, a concert or, as it in fact turns out to be, a film that displays the field recordings being recorded. We see someone (perhaps Grzinich himself?) beating a pole, a campfire, electrical wire in a field, someone scraping large empty metal containers, and sometimes no human interference at all, like a stream and what seems to be a wire inside. All of this is short movements in 'Sound Aspects Of Material Elements', which lasts some fifty-six minutes. Sometimes I think I am being fooled and I see something but believe that I hear something else. That's always a great thing I should think, but perhaps I like this sort of illusions very much. The nice thing about this film is that following every segment the screen blacks out and we hear what's coming next, but yet not see it, so your mind starts guessing - I was wrong in almost of all these cases. Shot in austere black and white, this one is great. The other film is much shorter and called 'Mimema'. Here I don't think its about the action to generate material, but a more poetic film with people floating in water set against a great piece of drone music. Maybe this is all about hearing 'below the surface'? I am not sure, but it looks and sounds great. More poetic, less documentary like than the other one. Two quite different approaches to film, but both work quite nice." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2012 |
€14.00 |
|
| JOAQUIM, VITOR |
A Rose is a Rose |
CD |
Very complex digital-ambience soundscapes from this portugesian composer, hard to describe but much acoustic happenings are going on here on different levels, carefully constructed and drowns everything into a surrealistic, ominous atmosphere.... excellent stuff !
“Der Gertrude Stein’sche Titel seines rosenfarbenen Solos ist ja eigentlich das Motto jeder Musik. Sounds sind Sounds und können nicht übersetzt werden. Alles narrative und imaginäre Beiwerk ist subjektiv, ja geradezu idiosynkratisch. Allerdings ist eine rigorose Idiosynkrasie mein bad alchemystischer Generalschlüssel zur Welt, um sie zu durchstreifen als ein Spiegelkabinett, eine Echokammer des Imaginären, eine Passage voller synästhetischer Reize und kryptischer Symbole. Und Rilke hat schon gewusst, dass die Rose nicht nur eine Rose ist, sondern ein „reiner Widerspruch’ und die „Lust, Niemandes Schlaf zu sein.’ Joaquims bruitistisches Cinema pour l’oreille, imprägniert mit unkenntlichen TV-Samples, ist, wie alles Abstrakte, eine vieldeutige Projektionsfläche. Acht Tracks, alle namenlos, stoßen die Phantasie in ein traumlandschaftliches Erewhon, in dem sie sich unwillkürlich zu orientieren versucht - stotternder Funkverkehr im verrauschten Wellensalat (1), eine Unterwasserwelt (5), ein Fabrikgelände in der Nacht (6)? Das Gewebe aus vibrierendem grauem Rauschen ist wie durchpulst und durchatmet von etwas, das gleichzeitig organisch ist und automatisch, vital und mechanisch, elektronisch und psychophysisch, etwas wie Eshuns Futurhythmachine, wie eine Wunschmaschine. Die war schon bei Sade fähig zu glossolalischen Flüchen wie „Chivarusmarbarbarmavosacromicrepanti!’. Und von Sade stammt auch die weitsichtige Erkenntnis, dass es nicht die Maschine ist, sondern „das unreine Reptil, das eine Rose schändet.’ Joaquim fungiert als ein weiterer Pilot eines oulipoetischen Perpetuum mobile, das unermüdlicher ‘Autor’ einer ecriture automatique ist. Er (der Künstler) „präsentiert paranoische, Wunder- und Junggesellenmaschinen, als wären es technische Maschinen, stets bereit, die technischen Maschinen mit Wunschmaschinen zu unterlaufen. Vielmehr ist das Kunstwerk selbst eine Wunschmaschine. Der Künstler füllt seine Schatztruhe für eine bevorstehende Explosion...’ (Deleuze/Guattari) Joaquims Tracks 7 & 8 zeigen die Klangmaschine in der Metamorphose vom kalibanisch gurgelnden Poeten zum knurrenden Hund zum rückwÄrts lallenden Orakel. Laut M. Pfister & S. Zweifel ist es die „Imachination’, die die Verhältnisse zum Tanzen bringt.“ [Rigobert Dittmann / BAD ALCHEMY 45]
|
2004 |
€13.00 |
|
| JOBIN, FRANCE |
Death Is Perfection, Everything Else Is Relative |
LP |
"The last two years have seen me maintaining an association with an unusual bedfellow, death. The loss of Mika Vainio, as well as three members of my own family, has had a profound effect on me and spurred a lengthy reflection on life, death, and everything in between.
Parallelly, while studying the philosophy of science, I came across shadow photons:
“Tangible photons are the ones we can see or detect with instruments whereas shadow photons are intangible (invisible) detectable only indirectly through the interference effects on the tangible photons.
There is no intrinsic difference between tangible and shadow photons: each photon is tangible in one universe and intangible in all the other parallel universes.
They travel at the speed of light, bounce off mirrors, are refracted by lenses, and are stopped by opaque barriers or filters of the wrong colour. Yet, they do not trigger even the most sensitive detectors. The only thing in the universe that a shadow photon can be observed to affect is the tangible photon that it accompanies. This is the phenomenon of interference.
Shadow photons would go entirely unnoticed, were it not for this phenomenon and the strange pattern of shadows by which we observe it.
Thus the existence of a seething, prodigiously complicated hidden world of shadow photons has been inferred.”*
I have drawn a parallel between shadow photons and death. The interference phenomena, parallel universes, and how shadow photons affect tangible photons they accompany, offer, in my opinion, similarities, an unknown universe which is death and how we, remaining tangible human beings, are affected. This quest has led me to be more willing to accept chaos in my life and to conclude that Death is perfection, everything else is relative.
*The fabric of reality, David Deutsch, Penguin Press 1997.
All sounds recorded at various locations in Europe, South America and at EMS, Stockholm using the Buchla 200 modular synthesizer.
soar, all sounds recorded with Klara Lewis in Montreal 2018
https://francejobin.bandcamp.com/album/death-is-perfection-everything-else-is-relative
####################################
"Subsequent to a series of personal losses, France Jobin – Montreal’s minimalist composer of deserved renown – was forced to come to terms with something that haunts the existence of countless beings. As pathetic as this usually appears (courtesy of the average human’s shallowness), she attempted a rational collocation of chaos in her life, at the same time recognizing death as the ultimate symbol of a not better specified “perfection”. The introductory notes quote an excerpt from David Deutsch’s book The Fabric Of Reality, grounded on the theory of phantom photons. Now, when it comes to photons this writer’s cynical experience translates as follows: interesting stuff on paper, yet inevitably destined to become, in most cases, food for pseudo-intellectual exhibition of the self (though I’m convinced that Jobin doesn’t belong to that category). After all, everyone is entitled to clutching at the straws of unearthly conjectures to put a measure of order in their own mind. Particularly when the grim reaper comes around waving us hello under various guises, which – in this day and age – happens quite frequently, including the cerebral demise of selected wannabe “authorities” dabbling in issues beyond their reach.
Fortunately, besides any cognitive necessity Jobin is an expert sound assembler. The music she created for this album derives entirely from a Buchla 200 analog synthesizer, except for a shorter and less assuaging track – “Soar” – made with Klara Lewis and exclusively available in the digital version. The longer pieces “Inertia” and “P”, however, represent everything that needs to be (un)told. There’s an answer to every question, there’s calmness behind any anxious doubt if only one delves in the right combination of frequencies. Jobin concocted textural trails that stay with the listener unobtrusively, typically projecting one or two suspended chords. The result amalgamates perfectly with our environment when played at moderate volume. Still, the apparent stasis is perturbed by the very pulsation that it contains. We detect imperceptible subsurface discolorations, brief dissipations of energy across the harmonic flawlessness, a few dynamic weaknesses and slight distortions in an otherwise rather narcotic flux. It’s sorrow-inducing, brain-quietening, and profoundly individual." [Touching Extremes]
|
2020 |
€19.50 |
|
| JOHANNA LIEBHART |
Damals |
10inch |
Mysterious and long-forgotten electro-wave diva of the early 80s, JOHANNA LIEBHART (occasionally credited as “ANNA”) disappeared in largely unknown circumstances back in 1999, leaving behind several unreleased albums. Even if her name is not familiar, some of you will already know her style from ICH WOLLTE ICH KÖNNTE’s first album, released on T.U.T. a couple of years ago, which was inspired by, and largely based on some of her compositions. The tracks on this 10” are all taken from Anna’s early tape recordings, and probably represent some of her most emotional and intimate works, as simple and modest in their beauty as the personality of their creator was facetious. Seven neo-romantic analogue-synth pieces, entirely instrumental. Sacral, minimal and utterly desperate, like the disclosing of someone’s secret chapel, or the hidden garden of a run-down doll-house.
10-inch LP, black vinyl - in special fold-out sleeve + inserts - lim. edition of 277 hand-numbered copies
www.tutrur.com/tutrur_html/tut013.html
|
2009 |
€8.00 |
|
| JOHANNSSON, JOHANN |
IBM 1401, a User's Manual |
CD |
Nach den schönen TOUCH-CDs ein weiteres stark Filmsoundtrack-artiges Album des Isländers, dass uns stark an die emotionale Musik von ARVO PÄRT erinnert... sein Debut für 4AD !!
"Johann Johannsson ist Isländer und lebt in Reykjavik. Er ist Musiker (sowohl Solo als auch als Mitglied des Apparat Organ Quartets), Komponist, Produzent und Labelgründer (Kitchen Motor). Johannssons Name ist auch immer wieder in den Credits der Produktionen renommierter Künstler zu finden. So produzierte und schrieb er mit Marc Almond an dessen Stranger Things' Album, arbeitete mit Barry Adamson, Pan Sonic, dem Hafler Trio oder Jaki Liebezeit zusammen.
Als Komponist verzaubert er seine Zuhörer meist mit seiner stattlichen und eindringlich-melodischen Musik. Sein neues Werk ist bis dato seine am anspruchsvollsten instrumentierte und attraktivste Komposition. Die Idee zum Album basiert auf der Arbeit von Johanns Vater. Dieser war im Jahr 1964 als leitender Techniker bei einem der ersten Großrechnerprojekte Islands beschäftigt und es gelang ihm, den Rechner IBM 1401 mit einer Melodie zu programmieren und diese aufzunehmen. Diese Tonbänder, die Johann auf dem Dachboden seines Vaters fand, bilden das Herzstück des Albums. Für die Aufnahmen schrieb Johannson seine Komposition für ein Streicher-Sextett um und komponierte einen neuen finalen Satz." [Indigo]
"So here it is, Jóhann Jóhannsson’s eagerly awaited debut album for the 4AD label, and we’re very happy indeed to say that it’s the finest record he’s put his name to yet. I suppose the move from Touch worried some fans at first, but on hearing ‘IBM 1401…’ in it’s entirety it makes perfect sense as part of the 4AD catalogue. Jóhannsson found inspiration for the record after discovering his father’s IBM1401, a cumbersome 1960s computer system for which his father was a technician. Apparently these machines used to cost $2500 per day to lease and probably did a lot less than you’d think given the price, but Jóhannsson saw something intriguing to sample and in the same way that he utilised morse code receivers and ham radios on his Kitchen Motors disc, he uses IBM1401 training tapes as the thematic link on these tracks. An English voice can be heard describing the computer parts and how they work and how to engineer repairs on the machine and it’s peripherals, of course this is something that can ruin an otherwise good piece of music, but Jóhannsson in his restraint has managed to use the samples so cleverly that they actually become part of the music itself. The assertive voice becomes a symbol of nostalgia and that dusty sentiment, a picture of technology passed, or an electronic postcard from 1960, and never becomes there merely for the sake of it. Coupled with the simply stunning string arrangements they add a strange ethereal narrative, and while not telling a story as such, they bring vivid pictures to mind with great ease. Jóhannsson’s skill in merging sounds doesn’t end here either, as we heard on the stunning ‘Englabörn’ he can subtly blend his electronic production methods with the orchestral arrangements without it ever falling out of place. Synthesized chimes trip and fall in-between the orchestral swells and radiophonic bleeps to create soundscapes so breathtaking they can leave you totally lost for words. It would be almost offensive however to merely label ‘IBM 1401, A User’s Manual’ as cinematic, rather Jóhannsson has pushed the bar higher and taken the infant post-classical genre to the next logical place, creating an album which doesn’t just suggest visuals, rather with it’s oblique use of sampled voices and atmospheric sounds the visuals are there all the time and are simply left for us to interpret. A challenging, engaging and utterly breathtaking experience, Jóhann Jóhannsson has proved he is out there on his own. Essential purchase." [Boomkat]
|
2006 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Orphee |
LP |
"Der Komponist Jóhann Jóhannsson, Golden Globe-Preisträger sowie für den Oscar, BAFTA und Grammy nominiert, veröffentlicht sein erstes Album für die Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft: es ist eine Meditation über die Schönheit und den künstlerischen Schaffensprozess. Jóhannsson ist eine Galionsfigur in einer dynamisch wachsenden Szene von Komponisten, die sich frei und einfallsreich zwischen Filmmusik, klassischem Minimalismus, Ambient und elektronischer Musik bewegen.
Orphée schildert einen Weg von der Dunkelheit ins Licht, inspiriert durch die verschiedenen Versionen des antiken Orpheus-Mythos, von Ovid bis Cocteau. Die vielschichtige Erzählung über Tod, Wiedergeburt, Wandel und die Kurzlebigkeit der Erinnerung lässt sich auch als Metapher für künstlerische Kreativität deuten.
Orphée bietet eine vielseitige Klangpalette: Es gibt akustische Instrumente solistisch oder im Ensemble kombiniert mit Elektronik und den geheimnisvollen Lauten der »Nummernsender« auf Kurzwelle. Sie ist angelehnt an viele Facetten seiner vorangehenden Werke und bindet Musik für Solocello, Orgel, Streichquartett, Streichorchester und A-cappella-Gesang mit ein." [label info]
"Based loosely on Ovid’s interpretation of the Orpheus myth, the Icelandic composer’s latest work reveals the grandeur of his music outside of scoring films.
Orphée, the latest album by the Icelandic composer and filmmaker Jóhann Jóhannsson is billed as his first studio album in six years since the somber and excellent The Miners’ Hymns**. But during that time Jóhannsson has released eight records—three of which were scores to major films (including Sicario & The Theory of Everything) and the rest music for smaller film projects, one of which Jóhannsson directed himself. But with even The Miners’ Hymns itself serving as a score to a film, the particular criteria for which Jóhannsson deems a record to be a “studio album” as opposed to a “film score” is somewhat unclear. What is clear is that after years of albums on 4AD and small post-classical labels such as Fat Cat’s 130701, in moving to Deutsche Grammophon—the oldest and most significant classical music label left standing—Jóhannsson wants Orphée to be seen as a work of music propped up by nothing but itself and its own deserved grandeur.
Loosely themed around Ovid's version of the Orpheus myth, Orphée’s grandeur is made clear within seconds. Using only a few repeated parts of piano, violin, and some crackling sound treatments, opener “Flight from the City” takes off. It feels like film music in a way that most of Orphée does not; you could easily imagine it playing over credits, or an opening scene, or in a mid-film montage. But the palette, tone, and structure of Orphée vary greatly and much of it embraces a compositional approach akin to ’90s chamber experimentalists the Rachel’s and others in the post-classical mold on 130701 or Erased Tapes. “A Song for Europa” features more of those crackling sound treatments as well as a recurring spectral vocal sample, while the stately “A Deal With Chaos” or “The Radiant City” would be at home on the Rachel’s Music for Egon Schiele.
Apart from “Flight from the City,” the most unforgettable tracks on Orphée are where Jóhannsson adds more experimental textures, particularly in the penultimate diptych of “Good Morning, Midnight” and “Good Night, Day.” In a way, these two tracks play out the climax of the Orpheus myth: The former begins with dreamy slow-waltz strings and burbling sound effects that connote the gait of a person heading toward destiny unknown, before giving way to a close-mic'd solo piano piece that sounds like the ruminative thoughts of man by way of Satie-style impressionism. The latter, “Good Night, Day,” begins with repeated string warnings that plays as a realization of chased dreams lost, with a cello melody serving as an elegiac narrative counterpoint. On each, the blend of early 20th-century modalities and experimental recording approaches make them archetypal post-classical tracks.
Boldest of all is Orphée’s a capella closer “Orphic Hymn,” which features a breathtaking choral vocal performance by Paul Hillier’s Theatre of Voices of text from Ovid’s The Metamorphoses. Sung vocals are rarely found in Jóhannsson’s work, but the angelic arrangement makes you wish that he had found more opportunities to integrate vocals into the rest of the record. “Orphic Hymn” also brings Jóhannsson back full circle to British post-classical elder statesman Michael Nyman. The piece strongly recalls the longing of “Miserere” from The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover, a great example of how Nyman’s scores work as independent music woven into a film rather than applied to the surface of scenes.
It’s exciting to hear the freedom of Jóhannsson’s compositions in autonomous music, and with Orphée he’s reasserted himself as not a just an elegiac film score guy. As good as his cinema work has been, the act of telling someone else’s story puts limits on both an artist’s freedom to work and the impact of how they might be received, and Jóhannsson likely isn’t looking to become known as “the Next Thomas Newman.” The voice he uses on Orphée says otherwise, and provides a clear blast attestation that Jóhannsson is among the brightest lights of any member of the loosely grouped post-classical genre. [Pitchfork]
"Sometimes, some records, and I along with them, fall into this first-class trap, this uppermost attic, this top-notch shelf, where this reside, and then I fail to cover them in time. These are records, like this one, that are just too good, and so I blunder on my task to ‘seek them out’ for you, to provide the filtering of all the noise, and then to spread the good ol’ sermon of their beauty. Surely you have found this simply on your own. Of course, you are already a huge fan of Jóhann Jóhannsson, and automatically grab every single record he puts out, including the latest pressed by Deutsche Grammophon. Right? No wonder Orphée appears at the top of HC’s Reader’s Poll Results for best records of 2016. So why even bother covering it, you know? Yet, here I am, unable to resist the urge to give this wonder all the words that it deserves.
Jóhannsson has been pretty busy these past few years, working mostly on film scores and soundtracks. Even his last studio album, The Miners’ Hymns (130701, 2011) was a soundtrack of sorts. In fact, whether they were imaginary scores, like the one for Fordlandia (4AD, 2008) and IBM 1401, A User’s Manual (4AD, 2006), or real ones for independent films, like Copenhagen Dreams (NTOV, 2012) and McCanick (Milan, 2014), or full-blown Hollywood productions, like Prisoners OST (WaterTower Music, 2013), The Theory Of Everything OST (Blacklot, 2014) and, most recently, Arrival OST (Deutsche Grammophon, 2016), it’s easy to make a statement that Jóhannsson’s modern classical productions are indeed cinematic in nature. Painting these imaginary landscapes with his music is in his soul… it’s what he does.
Orphée, of course, is no exception. From the very first note and subsequent chord progression, we hear the music of Jóhannsson at his best. Full strings are at the center of the stage, dancing the slow waltz in a haze of melancholy, minor heartbreak, and remorse. Baroque and classical elements appear throughout the album, in the form of a pipe organ, symphonic themes, and orchestral accompaniment (AIR Lyndhurst String Orchestra). The work is concluded with the Theatre of Voices singing the lines from Ovid. The minimal pieces are complemented by fundamental electronic treatments, minor field recordings, and sounds of shortwave radio from the “numbers stations”. The atmospherics are resplendent with space and texture, structurally stitched in all the critical thematic places, driven forth by a coherent motif, carried further by the forlorn piano or the anguished cello at its heart (with Clarice Jensen of ACME and Hildur Guðnadóttir).
Orphée traces a path from darkness into light, inspired by the various re-tellings of the ancient tale of the poet Orpheus, from Ovid’s to Jean Cocteau’s. A many-layered story about death, rebirth, change and the ephemeral nature of memory, the myth can also be read as a metaphor for artistic creation, dealing with the elusive nature of beauty and its relationship to the artist, as well as the idea that art is created through transgression – by the poet defying the gods who have forbidden him to turn back towards his beloved as he leaves the Underworld.
Unlike Jóhannsson’s previous albums, Orphée did not start out with a conceptual narrative. Yet, at the root of the album is a theme of change that Jóhannsson has been dealing with in the last six years. He has left Copenhagen to build a new life in Berlin, absorbing the city with all of its new offerings, relationships, and inspirations. “Perhaps this is one of the reasons I was drawn to the Orpheus myth, which is fundamentally about change, mutability, death, rebirth, the elusive nature of beauty and its sometimes thorny relation to the artist,” explains Jóhann. “This album, my first solo record for six years, is an oblique reflection on personal change.” We’re all familiar with all this change and our struggle and final acceptance of some endings and new beginnings. Perhaps these sounds will accompany your journeys. A true modern classical composition which will surely withstand the test of time." [Headphone Commute]
|
2016 |
€25.50 |
|
| |
Mandy (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) |
CD |
Lakeshore Records presents Jóhann Jóhannsson’s final work, his original score to the film Mandy.
Jóhannsson’s manager, Tim Husom, remembers Jóhann and how the project came about: “My friend and client Jóhann Jóhannsson passed away on February 9, 2018. The last music he created before his death was the score to Mandy. We were working on it right up until the film was delivered to Sundance in early January, 2018. Back in August of 2016 we received a call from Daniel Noah at SpectreVision about this crazy new horror film they were starting that starred Nicolas Cage, Andrea Riseborough, Linus Roach, and directed by Panos Cosmatos. Jóhann had just finished his score for Denis Villeneuve’s film, Arrival, when the Mandy mood boards were sent over to us. They were unbelievably cool and scary. Our interest was hooked immediately. Jóhann’s first email response to me about the project was ‘Seriously, his (Panos) Beyond The Black Rainbow film is a masterpiece! I love it. And the way he uses music.’ To Jóhann, the idea of working on Mandy with Panos and SpectreVision was bringing some much needed balance to his score career and a perfect next step.”
The film score was co-produced by Jóhannsson and Randall Dunn (produced Sunn O)))) and features Sunn O)))’s Stephen O’Malley on guitar. The album was assembled posthumously in March 2018 with the help of co-producers Pepijn Caudron (Kreng) and Yair Glotman. The film, directed by Panos Cosmatos (Beyond the Black Rainbow) and starring Nicolas Cage, is released by RLJ Entertainment. The film was produced by SpectreVision, XYZ Films, and Umedia with support from Legion M.
Mandy is set in the primal wilderness of 1983 where Red Miller, a broken and haunted man hunts an unhinged religious sect who slaughtered the love of his life.
In the liner notes Cosmatos states: “Jóhann went above and beyond, and I suspect to the limits of his sanity, to make the music for this movie. His words and his actions made him more than a great collaborator, they made him like a brother to me. I’m sad our time together was so brief but I’m very proud of what he accomplished on Mandy and I believe he was too.”
The Jóhann Jóhannsson Foundation was created by his family and agent Kevin Korn in memory of Jóhannsson to foster and enhance appreciation, education and achievement in the areas of composition, music, and art around the world through educational outreach, a composer scholarship foundation, an annual composer gala event, and international festivals.
www.thejohannjohannssonfoundation.org
MUSIC BY JÓHANN JÓHANNSSON
SCORE PRODUCED BY:
JÓHANN JÓHANNSSON AND RANDALL DUNN
ALBUM PRODUCED BY:
PEPIJN CAUDRON (KRENG)
YAIR ELAZAR GLOTMAN
ADDITIONAL MUSIC:
PEPIJN CAUDRON
YAIR ELAZAR GLOTMAN
ÚLFUR ELDJÁRN
MUSICAL SOUND DESIGN:
YAIR ELAZAR GLOTMAN
SAM SLATER
PROGRAMMING, ADDITIONAL ARRANGEMENTS, ELECTRIC GUITAR AND DEMO PRODUCER:
KJARTAN HÓLM
6 STRING BASS, FRETLESS BASS, SOPRANO ELECTRIC 12 STRING GUITAR, ACOUSTIC AND ELECTRIC GUITARS:
SKÚLI SVERRISON
SYNTHESIZER PROGRAMMING, SOUND DESIGN, ADDITIONAL ARRANGEMENTS:
ÚLFUR ELDJÁRN
ALPHORN:
MARTIN GRABER
GUITAR:
STEPHEN O’MALLEY
GUITAR:
WILL HAYES
DRUMS:
MATT CHAMBERLAIN
SYNTHESIZER, PROGRAMMING AND SOUND DESIGN:
TIMM MASON
PROGRAMMING:
WOUTER RENTEMA
RECORDED AT NTOV STUDIOS, BERLIN / Q-ROOM, BOLZANO, ITALY / BONELLO STUDIOS, BERLIN
PUBLISHED BY
NTOV MUSIC, ADMINISTERED BY MUTE SONG
COMPOSER MANAGEMENT:
TIM HUSOM at REDBIRD MUSIC
JÓHANN JÓHANNSSON APPEARS COURTESY OF DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON
EXECUTIVE ALBUM PRODUCERS FOR LAKESHORE RECORDS:
SKIP WILLIAMSON AND BRIAN MCNELIS
DIRECTOR OF A&R
ERIC CRAIG
A&R / ART DIRECTOR & DESIGN
JOHN BERGIN
COVER ILLUSTRATION
CHRISTOPHER SHY
“MANDY” LOGO DESIGN
CHRISTOPHE SZPAJDEL
MASTERED BY
FRANCESCO DONADELLO - CALYX MASTERING
SPECIAL THANKS
LYNN HOBENSACK
DON SMITH
TONY GILES
|
2018 |
€16.00 |
|
| JOSEFSON, MATHIAS |
Suihkulähde |
LP |
Erster Solo-Release von JOSEFSON aka MOLJEBKA PVLSE, auf seinem eigenen Label in schöner "letter-press"-Hülle. Ganz verschieden vom typischen M.P. Drone- und Geräuschsound wurde hier auf Seite A ein "ready-made" verewigt, der konkrete Klang einer mechanisch dröhnenden, röhrend-gurgelnden Maschine, ohne weitere Overdubs! Alltagsgeräusche in voller Aufmerksamkeit, auch das kann ein Erlebnis sein. "ALTE WEGE DIE WIR WANDERN WERDE NEUE SEIN". Auf Seite B dasselbe nach leichter Bearbeitung... Ein obskurer "Klangkunst"-Release, der zunächst verwirrt, dann begeistert!
"Side A of this album is a ready-made, a found sound. Except for adjusting the volume, the recorded source material is not processed with effects in any way. Side B is a processed version of the same track." [label info]
"Who, you may ask? Mathias Josefson is however not an unknown person in the realms of Vital Weekly, as he unleashed a whole bunch of recordings under the guise of Moljebka Pvlse, but for this new release he chooses to use his own name. Not an uncommon trend in the land of serious music. Perhaps it has also do with the nature of this record. One side has a found sound, the other is a reworking thereof. The found sound is not explained but it sounds to me like a fridge. I once tried to sleep somewhere next to a fridge, but the sound of it kept it me awake all night. Not a big problem, since I liked it quite a lot. Josefson's found sound side reminded me of this night. The drone of a machine, with all it's subtle varieties, the way it switches of in the end it is still a great listening experience. The 'processed' version of the track eludes me a bit I must say. Whatever there is that has been processed, I may have a trouble hearing it (and no, I am not listening on computer speakers, as
a disappointed artist once suggested). The processing are done probably very subtle, but they don't seem to be adding much to the other side. Now if I had two copies and a DJ set up I could perhaps check it out, now it's a bit more of the, albeit nice, same. The work of Josefson moves away from the ambient industrial park and this piece of sound art is a most promising start." [FdW/ Vital Weekly]
label: www.isoramara.com
|
2007 |
€14.00 |
|
| JULIUS, ROLF |
Music for the Ears |
CD |
"For a long time I've been thinking about how to create spaces into which one can retreat, where one can find quiet, where one can see, hear, where one is able to concentrate, where one is isolated from the world around but still is able to participate in itby means of art or Music or both' Rolf Julius, 1987. 'Futurism and Dadaism both made use of the synthesis of audio and visual arts to create a singular experience greater than the sum of its parts. This idea was further advanced by the Fluxus and Minimalism movements. Born in 1939 in Wilhelmshaven, Germany, Rolf Julius was profoundly influenced and inspired by these movements while he studied art in Bremen and Berlin. YEars later, after immersing himself in Musical works by artists like Morton Feldman, John Cage, and La Monte Young, Julius began to shift his focus from visual art to the synthesis of sound and visual art and nature, exploring the relationships between sounds and objects and environments. Julius soon discovered how sounds can influence vision, creating simple tones to be presented in conjunction with his early photographic work. Such experiments culminated in the creation of his pioneering work 'Dike Line' (1979), which combined visual images with texture-inducing tones. This piece was presented at the ground breaking exhibition 'Fur Augen Und Ohren' in 1980. Mythical in scope, this was the first major European exhibition attempted to map international research by artists exploring relations between sound and visual art, bringing together work by John Cage, Luigi Russolo, Nam June Paik, Joe Jones, Bill Fontana, Milan Knizak, Harry Bertoia, David Tudor and Rolf Julius. Over the next 30 yEars Julius went on to create some of the most meaningful and moving works in the grey area between Music and art, between sound and silence. Alongside Takehisa Kosugi, Terry Fox, and Akio Suzuki, he has emerged as one of the most important and influential sound artists of our time. Since the early 1980's Julius has referred to his compositions as Small Music, receiving international acclaim from those in the fields of contemporary art and Music for calling the origins of sound and vision into question. Small Music not only describes Julius' approach to composition (soft and compelling sounds from simple instruments and nature), but also a way in which to view his works and ultimately the world. Art historian Bernd Schulz once wrote 'if one recalls John Cage's central theme of 'silence' then Rolf Julius is the contemporary artist who approaches him most closely'. Julius' Small Music has the distinct ability to heighten our perception such that 'silence' becomes a positive quality of a place and a situation, and not just an absence of sound. Whether using photographs, ink drawings, audio compositions, or subtle and sometimes almost hidden outdoor installations, Rolf Julius' works serve as catalyst, increasing our awareness of the great beauty of the world that surrounds us. Western Vinyl is proud to release 'Music for the Ears' the first in a series of Small Music releases by Rolf Julius. With a goal of creating solitary sound environments, the Small Music series will culminate into a boxed edition of seminal works by this master sound artist. 'Music for the Ears' is comprised of two long tracks of gently weaving tones exploring the possibilities of spatial experience. The cover image depicts Julius' sound installation in a bamboo forest in Kyoto, Japan where his Music is placed high in the air, by speakers hanging freely from the branches of the trees. As the Music suspends itself in the air, the tones sway in the wind floating ever so gently, caressing the Ears, the trees, the light, and clouds." [label info]
www.westernvinyl.com
"Now here's someone who is perhaps world famous in the world of sound art, yet hardly ever appears in Vital Weekly. Its, among other reasons, because he didn't release that music, but also because his music is usually heard in museums and galleries and not always on record. But the good news is that Western Vinyl will re-release eight of his old works, starting with 'Music For The Ears', which comes with the subtitle 'small music no. 1' and small music it is. 'Song From The Past', the first of the two pieces on this album sounds like one long tape loop of bamboo flute being played. Every now and then it stops and then it starts again. Music that is very undemanding - an environmental piece to fill your ambience. Or perhaps music to meditate by - if only I ever did that. The second piece 'Music On Two High Poles' is different. It might be played on a small, children's organ or a harmonium, cut into two loops of a varying length. Its a bit louder, or perhaps it just appears so: I turned
up the volume quite a bit for the first piece, so this one comes in louder. I think both pieces are designed to do the same thing: create a sonic environment. What I especially liked about it, and that's something you can only hear when the volume is quite a bit, is all the extra sounds that come along: the static hiss from the used analogue tapes that creates a nice additional sonic layer to the music. And which doesn't seem to make the music static but very much alive and vibrant. Excellent music. This is the earliest Rolf Julius recording, from 1979 and the start of a great career. Can't wait for the other seven releases." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
Raining |
CD |
" "Raining" ist der dritte Teil einer kleinen Musikserie und die erste Veröffentlichung, die nach dem Tod von ROLF JULIUS erscheint. Das Titelstück ,Raining" erschien ursprünglich als Teil der Installation ,Drawing (Dot)" von 2007. Spielt man das Stück mit großer Lautstärke ab, steht der Hörer mitten in einer Welt aus dichtem Regen, windgeschüttelten Bäumen und durchnässten Wiesen voller Leben. Wenn man das Stück jedoch durch den kleinen, flachen Lautsprecher abspielt, den JULIUS für die Installation benutzte, werden die Sounds zu sanften, zyklischen Mustern, wie eine üppige Landschaft, auf die man vom Flugzeug aus herabsieht. Das zweite Stück ,Weitflächig" ist ein Beispiel dessen, was JULIUS ,Musik für eine weite Ebene" nannte - aus einem kleinen Sound eine weite Soundlandschaft zu erschaffen. ,Music For A Glimpse Inward" tauchte ursprünglich 2005 als Teil einer Installation auf. Kleine Lautsprecher wurden am Rand eines sehr großen, leeren Raumes platziert. Die Musik erklang leise und vermittelte dem Betrachter so einen noch stärkeren Eindruck von Raum und Leere. Die Arbeiten von ROLF JULIUS wurden in wichtigen Museen auf der ganzen Welt gezeigt: im PS1 in New York (1983), 1985 auf der Pariser Biennale, auf der 8. Doucmenta in Kassel, im Hamburger Bahnhof, in Berlin (1998), in der Mattress Factory in Pittsburgh 2001, im Pariser Centre Pompidou (2004), in Japan und in den verschiedensten Galerien auf der ganzen Welt.
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Raining is the third installment in the small music series and the first posthumous Rolf Julius release. The title piece “Raining” originally appeared as part of the 2007 installation “Drawing (Dot)". When played on room speakers the piece engulfs the listener in a dense world of rain, wind rattled trees, and soaked pastures full of life. However, when played in the context of the small flat speaker which Julius originally chose for the installation, the sounds become soft and cyclical patterns, similar to a lush landscape being viewed from a plane many miles above. The second piece, “Weitflächig”, is an example of what Julius called “Musik für eine weite Ebene” (Music for a Wide Plain) - a method of "sketching" which allows small sounds to flourish into vast landscapes. “Music for a Glimpse Inward” originally appeared in a 2005 installation. With small speakers placed along the edge of very large empty room, the music played softly, heightening the listener's perception of space and stillness."
[label info]
www.westernvinyl.com
"Western Vinyl occupy themselves with the release of the archive of Rolf Julius. They started doing so when he was alive and continue doing so after his death, last year. This is the first release since then, from his archive. Julius is a man of 'small sounds', making 'small music' in mostly empty spaces with a minimum of equipment. His work could either be installations or compositions. Small speakers in small or large rooms, or even outdoors, using field recordings of say rain, such as the almost fifty-four title piece on this CD. Its very minimal music, of rain sounds and 'something else' which I found very hard to define, but it gives that electronic texture to the piece. That something which I think also very much defines music by Julius. More water like field recordings can be heard in 'Weitflachig' - music for a wide plain. Here too we hear insect like sounds, over water sounds. Are they tape loops, real time recordings? Its hard to say. 'Music For A Glimpse Inward' has insect and bird sounds and was originally a piece for small speakers in a large room. All of these pieces are very minimal, and show hardly any development. But that's hardly the point of Rolf Julius' music. Its more about perceiving space and silence and it works best when played softly in your space. Open up windows - if you are in a quiet surrounding I should think - and have this on repeat for a long time. It will definitely alter your perception of space and time. An excellent release - once again, and hopefully with more to follow." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| JUNIOR VARSITY KM |
InvalidObject Series (export) |
mCD |
Das irische FÄLLT-Label hat auf einen Schlag ein Kompendium zur neuen digitalen laptop / click / glitch / IDM – Musik herausgebracht ! Das sind 24 mCDs mit allerlei bekannten und unbekannte Vertretern dieses jungen Genres. Wir haben die meisten da, hier eine Übersicht ! Limitiert jeweils auf schamlose 250 Stck ! Preis pro mcD : € 9.50
Better priced now, last copies of this absolute compendium of IDM. € 9.50
“ The invalidObject Series was established in 2000 as a sublabel of Fällt to release a finite series of twenty four 3"CD/.mp3 works.
Offering a unique perspective on a diverse range of musical output at the turn of the millennium, the Series features work by some of the most respected artists operating within the field of '.microsound' and has been described as "a remarkable document of a vibrant artistic community and a critical moment in the evolution of digital music" (Philip Sherburne), "a showcase for the extraordinary range of practical approaches within contemporary electronic music" (Matt Ffytche, The Wire) and, simply, "impressive" (Rob Young, Editor, The Wire). “ [label press release}
|
2000 |
€9.50 |
|
| JUPITTER-LARSEN, G.X. & ALLAN ZANE |
Banjax |
CD |
„...The Haters (G.X. Jupitter-Larsen) und WYRM (Allan Zane) haben die Sau rausgelassen und sie turnt gewaltig über Haufen gebohrte und gebrochene CD’s, CDR’s, Plattenspieler und Singles. „Banjax“ meint „beschädigen“, „ruinieren“ und so brummeln G.X. Jupitter-Larsen und Allan Zane kratzend ein Hohelied auf den Noise. Damit distanzieren sie sich abermals von den hochtechnisch abgeklärten Beamten ihrer Zunft. Sie betreiben keine Pflege des Vorhandenen sondern pflegen die Zerstörung. Es wird verwertet, was in den Reißwolf passt, die Fressgeräusche sind das Entscheidende .
The Haters (G.X. Jupitter-Larsen) and WYRM (Allan Zane) are in the fields of damaged civilisations rubbish. Under the sign of “banjax”, which means ‘damage’ and ‘ruin’, they break and drill and hammer CD’s, CD-R’s, turntables, 7”, forcing explosions of SM car crashes on scratched glass. It is a tribute to the noise beneath high-end. The sound is coarsely but extrem powerful in its production. A full lorry of destruction with pauses of contemplation between reduced lines turns along blending expectation with surprise...” [Peter Schlewinski]
“ ...The master-minds behind The Haters (G.X. Jupitter-Larsen) and WYRM (Allan Zane) have finally tag-teamed on a full-length CD--'Banjax'. A collaborative/conceptual (of course!!!) project, 'Banjax' will not only satisfy the appetites for those of the "aesthetics" of "noise", but also appeal to those with a sensibility for "dark ambience" to boot! When worlds collide, if you will... Standard edition of 900.” [label info]
|
2005 |
€8.00 |
|
| JUPITTER-LARSEN, GX |
Expanded Slam |
10inch |
" "Expanded Slam" and "Extended Slam", two new compositions by one of America's most consistently explorative and radical artists. Presented in a blazing gatefold package designed by Jupitter-Larsen, including an essay on the permawave, the polywave and the hoopla. Utterly delightful.
GX Jupitter-Larsen is an media artist, based in Hollywood, California, who has been active in a number of underground art scenes since the late 1970s. He has been involved in punk rock, mail art, cassette culture, the noise music scene, and zine culture. During the 1990s he was the sound designer for the performances of Mark Pauline's Survival Research Laboratories. His best known work is as the founder of the noise act The Haters, who have performed all over the world, and appear on over 300 CD & record releases.
Mastered and cut at D+M, Berlin
Edition of 500, vinyl only " [label info]
www.hronir.de
www.jupitter-larsen.com
"Hronir is a small German label, who released two things in the late nineties and five new items only this year. This 10″ is the latest release and is a noise record from G.X. Jupitter-Larsen. I have no idea why its released under his own name, and not by The Haters. Maybe it has to do with profiling as a composer? Maybe a wholly different reason. Two side long pieces here, ‘Expanded Slam’ and ‘Extended Slam’, which may or may not be extensions of eachother. Two sides of loud noise. The scraping of an object onto a surface perhaps, but then within a full distortion package. Loud, vicious noise music. Probably, if you have been paying attention, you would imagine that this is the kind of noise I don’t like, and you are probably right. But over the last twenty-five years I learned to appreciate The Haters quite a lot, and I think the sheer minimal noise of The Haters is great. It is loud and distorted, but also totally captivating. It also fits perfectly into whatever else Jupitter-Larsen does, in his performances and internet work, so unlike youngs boys fiddling with two distortion boxes in their bedroom, this is all encapsulating. Not just a record, but a statement." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€16.00 |
|
| JÜPPALA KÄÄPIÖ |
Rainbow Mask |
LP |
"Rainbow Mask" is a 12" record which contains a long piece on each side. The sound was originally taken from our first session in Geneva in Autumn 2006. Hitoshi processed Carole's viola and voice thorough various effectors in realtime. And we kept playing until the studio space was totally filled with our harmony and noises. Although the sound was quite rough, the experience in the space was strong enough to impress ourselves. ("Lunastus" in "Sporing Promenade" is also taken from a part of the session in the same day.)
We have listened, edited and forgotten the recording, again and again. Then finally the brewed results were contained in this record.
The process often happens during Hitoshi’s sound work. He seriously considers the effect as 'sound fermentation', that increases the astringency and richness of the sound, even if it's in decaying process.
Side A is a noisy psychedelic drone music which is closer to the original session. It may remind you some of Hitoshi's work, as "Spiracle" (if you know the name). Side B is a quiet work, like an ambient music. We played piano together while listening to the original session, and Carole acoustically overdubbed viola tracks afterwards. Then, the sound of the original session was mostly removed.
This side sounds nice by 45 rpm as well.
The mask on the cover was made by Carole, when she was 12 years old. The titles of each piece were also borrowed from this innocent craziness.
How about our "rainbow fermentation technique" which comes from the country of cheese and wine 'Switzerland', and the country of natto (fermented soybeans) and sake 'Japan'?" [label info]
www.omnimemento.com
"A swarmingly beautiful, miasmic piece of psychedelic drone folk! Juppala Kaaplo is the husband & wife duo of Carole and Hitoshi Kojo, the latter of whom had released a number of spectacular drone-smear constructions under the moniker Spiracle. Minimalism is certainly a key component to the Juppala Kaaplo sound, but it's the kaleidoscopic trills that you'll get from Terry Riley rather than the steely suspension from Organum or Phill Niblock. Certainly, Spiracle's last affair - the daydreaming ambient record Ananta - was a much friendlier form of minimalism, but we were still not entirely expecting the shimmering, prism-shot psychedelia of this album. A hypnotizing mass immediately emerges from the lp with lengthy repetitions of Carole's vocal that is equal parts Liz Harris and Tara Burke, haunting the forest-dwelling drones from various bowed instruments that Hitoshi stacks into sinewy passages. Throughout, long breathy gasps of aerated noises push to the foreground alongside a revolving set of church organ trills and arpeggiations that faithfully play homage to Terry Riley's classic Rainbow In Curved Air. The second side is a slightly more somber affair with violin and piano gliding out of an aggregate drone from those two instruments. Like the A-side, it's a wonderful bliss-out number albeit sodden from a rainy night out in the Finnish wilderness. Limited to 450 copies and highly recommended!" [Aquarius Records]
|
2010 |
€19.50 |
|
| |
Alpen Ocean |
LP |
"ALPEN OCEAN is the final recording of Carole Kojo (Swiss) and Hitoshi Kojo (Japanese) that they left behind as Jüppala Kääpiö, whilst resident in Switzerland.
The sound sources are rather familiar instruments and materials for us such as voices, handmade instruments, viola, organic materials and field recordings. However, the style has evolved to a hybrid of our early style: an intense harmonic drone music that has appeared in RAINBOW MASK, and another phase which might be termed as a cosmopolitan ethnic music, that has been archived in later recordings such as OWLORA MUSKARIA and ANIMALIA COROLLA.
The overlaid harmonies of a murmuring of trees, howling skies, roarings of the ocean and the gradual transformation that is accompanied by melodies may remind you of migratory birds travelling across the sky on a lost ancient continent, or the dream of sea animals that are in eternal slumber in a ridge of mountains.
This piece would be one of a high-water mark by Jüppala Kääpiö who have looked for sound which resonates throughout time and space, whilst regarding a life-size reality that is rooted on the earth.
This release is a limited edition of 250 copies. 30 copies of the special edition in a stencil design box includes an extra cd-r that contains same tracks with the LP and two unreleased tracks from our early period.
Since the move to Belgium where is a foreign county for both of us in 2011, we are investigating a passage to our next chapter in the new environment." [label info]
"So lovely is the work of Juppala Kaapio! That said, we must sadly report that the Japanese / Swiss, husband-and-wife duo have stated that Alpen Ocean will be their final album under the guise of Juppala Kaapio. Another project is in the works, and they are planning to unveil whatever this may be sometime in 2014. Many of the drone-clad works we champion hedge their bets with the power of the darkside; but there are plenty of choice examples of rapturous, celestial tones and holy minimalism that seek to enlighten rather than darken the consumers' mind. Juppala Kaapio's small catalogue of lovingly crafted minimalism figures somewhere between the summer solstice nature jams of the Finnish freak-folk types and the twinkling harmonics of Terry Riley and LaMonte Young. As for Alpen Ocean, a brightly hued psychedelia of a sunburst and snowblind tableau is rendered through the wide-eyed sense of awe and wonder after calmly sipping a cup of psilocybin mushroom tea. Carole Kojo's delicate falsettos waver into a meditative chorale through tape loops and delay amidst the slow kaleidoscopic arrangements of chiming bells, bowed gongs, glassy electronics, and a few pastoral field recordings thrown in for good measure. It all comes together into bright, rapturous drones that Juppala Kaapio's Hitoshi Kojo describes as "overlaid harmonies of a murmuring of trees, howling skies, roarings of the ocean and the gradual transformation that are accompanied by melodies which may remind you of migratory birds travelling across the sky on a lost ancient continent, or the dream of sea animals that are in eternal slumber in a ridge of mountains." Limited to a mere 300 copies!" [Aquarius Records]
|
2013 |
€19.50 |
|
| K-SPACE |
Going Up |
CD |
"These recordings, with their disparate acoustic properties, are overlaid and overlapped to form dense sonic thickets alive with action and event, palpably embedded in the multi-dimensional flux of the world and lived social structures. Human voices conversing, footfalls on frozen ground, a blackbird singing, the sound of the wind or water, the crackling of wood in a fire, audience applause -- sounds from specific sites with their own peculiar resonance and significance leak through the K-Space mesh into the listening present. This layering and the filtering through of discrete geographic and temporal occasions compounds that superimposition already at work in the trio, the piling up and overlap of intense personal experience. Chamzyryn, a bona fide shaman and folk artist; Hodgkinson, academically trained in social anthropology, an exploratory rock musician, composer and radical improviser; Hyder, jazz drummer, free player, inveterate field worker in remote musical worlds." Performed By: Gendos Chamzyryn (Tuva), Tim Hodgkinson (England), Ken Hyder (Scotland)." [press release]
"Mit Going Up (Ad Hoc 12) von K-SPACE, einem Trio aus dem Tuva-Throatsänger & Schamanen Gendos Chamzyryn, Tim Hodgkinson mit ‚hawaiian guitar horns, piano corpse & location recordings‘ und dem schottischen Perkussionisten Ken Hyder, teleportiert einen Ad Hoc jenseits von Novosibirsk. Der Name K-Space spielt an auf den russischen Astrophysiker Nicolai Kozyrev (1908-83), Referenzpunkt für ‚Zeropoint energy‘- und Zeitvariabilitätstheorien (-> z.B. http://ascension2000.com/DivineCosmos/ 01.htm). An Kozyrevs ‚torsion energy‘ Phi knüpfen sich Spekulationen über einen Zusammenhang zwischen Phi, Sound und der DNA, der womöglich schamanistischen Praktiken real zugrunde liegen könnte (-> z.B. Sol Luckman: Sound, Intention & Genetic Healing). K-Space praktiziert vor dieser einigermaßen esoterischen Folie neo-schamanistische Soundrituale aus Drumming, Noise und gutturalem Obertonröhren. Art Brut
oder scratch-orchestrales Improvising in prosaischen Ohren, ‚healing sounds‘ nach der Formel ‚sound + intention = healing‘ oder Flug- & Zeitmaschine aus Wordsounds + Beats für solche, die zu der Überzeugung neigen, dass in der Kosmischen Schlange ein Gottescode schlängelt. Hodgkinson & Hyder, seit 1979 als Shams zusammen auf dem Schamanenpfad, sind keine Touristen oder blauäugigen New-Ager. Vielfache Reisen zum Bajkal-See und zum Altaj, nach Kyzyl, Barnaul und Akademgorodok, haben ihnen bei ihren ‚Radical Transcultural Initiatives‘ im Zusammenspiel mit lokalen Musikern wie wenigen anderen ‚Westlern‘ ethno- und musikologische Einblicke in die Kultur und Spiritualität Tuvas ermöglicht. Uns Laien vermitteln sie immerhin das Faszinosum absolut uriger Soundkreation. Kozyrevs ‚Zeitmaschine‘ steht auf dem Papier. Going Up krümmt die Raumzeit ganz sinnlich und real so, dass neolithische Archaik und die postmoderne Neugierde auf das Alte, aus dem wir herkommen, zusammenrauschen." [Babyblaue Seiten]
www.adhocrecords.com
|
2005 |
€14.00 |
|
| KA-SPEL, EDWARD |
Caste O' Graye Skreeens |
CD |
"When all's been said & all's been seen, face it, we are just machines". Last copies of this album on the now defunct World Serpent label. Consists more or less of the fabulous one-tracker "OUR CAPTAIN'S EYES" (53+ min.), a very subtle & dense track with various parts, partly pulsating or with little beats, partly free floating atmospheric & experimental, and also the typical KA-SPEL melodies & vocals appear.... this is like having 20 different tracks in one long surrealistic & weird journey... |
2001 |
€13.00 |
|
| KABOOM KARAVAN |
The Log and the Leeway |
LP |
Incl. 16 page booklet of Musical illustration/collagés, oxblood red vinyl, 200 copies
The Log and the Leeway follows a 6 year journey of personal exploration and drastic change for Bram Bosteels and his singular Kaboom Karavan universe. What entails is a sound-curiosity of rare format, following a metamorphosis that goes beyond the musical.
Early in the process, Bram was struck by the word/concept of a Leeway : the gradual departure from an intented course due to external influences. Following a boyish fascination for explorers travel journals, logbooks and the far fetched corners of the world, he could not have forseen how fitting of a title he had chosen. Drastically all of a sudden one day, completely unexpectedly, Bram experienced his own father dying in front of him from a rare disease. Shocked and confused by this intense encounter, his perspectives and musical course departed from its original path. But at the same time it was an enlightenment and a necessary influence for him to realise the initial idea and finish this album, started over half a decade before.
The ones familiar with Kaboom Karavan already know that nothing really sounds quite like it. Bram’s musical (and non-musical) universe is of the rare breed that seems to be entirely his own. Self-contained, but never opaque. Quite the opposite actually. Bram never pushes us away, instead, by listening to his music we are given view to a synesthetic wunderkammer of images, places, objects and possibilities. Distant but magnetic, alien but intimately familiar, Kaboom is folk music from another dimension. Listening to The Log and the Leeway is like waking up next to a bonfire in the middle of a swamp wearing somebody else’s clothes: You may not know how you got here, but whatever is happening seems to very directly involve YOU. What will happen?
Note from Erik K Skodvin (Miasmah): All the sounds, fabrics, instrumentation and stories that binds The Log and the Leeway together go far beyond what can be touched up in this simple writeup. As someone who have followed this journey since the beginning, and seen it shift from lighthearted fun to the most crepuscular personal experience, heard the stories behind (almost) every field recording and gone through boundless amounts of clips, visual details, notes, and inspirations – I can only say that it is with great pleasure and certain nostalgia I can present this record in full through Miasmah and close this quite extraordinary chapter. Bram is without doubt the most fascinating person I know. Like I told him in April 2020 during a trying time: “If everything fails, we´ll open a Kaboom Karavan museum” - an idea that might not be as far-fetched as it sounds.
Featuring: Cover painting by John Lurie. 16 page booklet of Musical illustration / collagés by Walter Dhoogh & Erik K Skodvin that more or less connects (or confuses) the dots between the music and stories behind. Mastered by Lupo at Loop-O
https://kaboomkaravan.bandcamp.com/album/the-log-and-the-leeway
|
2020 |
€26.00 |
|
| KAFFEE UND KUCHEN |
Sahnestücke |
CD |
Starting in 2015 "Kaffee und Kuchen" are drawing a persisting trail of coffee stains throughout the land; leaving an uncountable, amazed, but also distressed audience behind them. From intimate cellar shows and highly celebrated underground festival appearences up to legendary performances at Maschinenfest and at MS Stubnitz - the fan base of the magical coffee party is constantly growing.
The sweet cake and well-scented coffee attracted countless known members of the experimental music scene like Thorofon, Philipp Münch, Hypnoskull or Beinhaus, as well as underground poets like Lütfiye Güzel. All of them are now serving their own interpretations to the KuK coffee table. The live recordings from the various cites served them as starting point, base material or inspirational spark. (Krater Recordings, KR05-009)
https://audiophob.bandcamp.com/album/sahnest-cke |
2019 |
€12.00 |
|
| KAHN, JASON & RICHARD FRANCIS |
same |
CD |
"Just how many CDs did Jason Kahn release by now? Hard to say, but quite a fair bunch. He doesn't surprise me with his music that much anymore, but that has nothing to do with the quality of the music as such. Here he teams up with Richard Francis, once known as Eso Steel and running the CMR label, and these working under his own name. The two met for the first time in Auckland where they played together and then, a year later, again in Switzerland. Kahn plays percussion and analogue synthesizer, while Francis is on computer and electronics. Four pieces (between ten and sixteen minutes each) of great lo-fi humming sounds. A very special kind of drone music that sounds both electronic and acoustic. It seems to me that these are microphone recordings, which capture the atmosphere from the space they play their music in, and which adds a nice textured quality to the music. Minimalist in approach, but very fine in execution. Like said, Kahn doesn't surprise me with his music, but he sure knows how to please me." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
"The new album from two masters of electroacoustic improvisation, who are living thousands miles away from each other, but found
some common aesthetic views and originality of artistic expression. This materials were recorded live during their collaborative performances in various locations, consisting of four long tracks, presenting the unique interaction between technology and intuition.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES: Jason Kahn's work includes sound installation, performance and composition. He was born in New York in 1960, grew up in Los Angeles and relocated to Europe in 1990. He currently lives in Zürich. He has given concerts and exhibited sound installations throughout Europe, North and South America, Japan, Mexico, Korea, Israel, Turkey, Russia, Lebanon, Egypt, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Australia. Kahn performs both solo and in collaborations, using percussion, analog synthesizer or computer in different combinations. He composes for electronics, acoustic instruments and environmental recordings. For larger groups of directed improvisation he has devised a system of graphical scores. Kahn creates his sound installations for specific spaces. The focus of these primarily non-visual works lies in the perception of space through sound.
Richard Francis has been releasing works on CD/vinyl, performing solo and in collaboration as a touring artist since 1996. He uses field recordings of natural and electronic sounds
and a signal generator to compose layered sound works of textural and tonal detail. He has released solo and collaborative works on a number of labels worldwide and runs his own label CMR through which he currently releases limited edition lathe cut records by New Zealand artists. In performance he uses a
computer and electronics and has toured Japan, Australia, Hong Kong, Canada, USA and Europe. Since 2003, Francis has composed works for sound installation, participating in group
and solo shows at galleries throughout New Zealand.
Jason Kahn: percussion, analogue syntesizer
Richard Francis: computer, electronics
First two tracks recorded live at Gus Fisher Gallery, Oakland on 22nd September 2007, third one - on 17th June 2008 at Werkstatt für Improvisierte Musik, Zürich, and the last one - at Le 102, Grenoble, on 19th June 2008."
[label info]
www.monochromevision.ru
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| KALLABRIS |
Kettenwindel Bingo |
CD-R |
"Another odd but somehow beautiful release for this wondrous german project. KETTENWINDEL (= chain–diaper) consists of 13 minimal tracks with a short playtime which combine strange rhythms & pulses, kind of oriental melodies, bizarre sounds & voice-samples, accordeon-tunes & popmusic-found sounds, but all merged to something like dark coloured “songs”, designed for careful listening. Really unique." [orig. Drone Records info for KETTENWINDEL]
klappstuhl.bandcamp.com/album/kettenwindel-bingo |
2018 |
€10.00 |
|
| KALORIFEUR |
Within the Hermitage |
CD-R |
The ABSURD-label from Athens always had a spot for the most WEIRD music & sounds you can imagine, and this CDR from KALORIFEUR is no exception: cheapo (Casio)-tunes, obscure singing and shouting, metal-object sounds, radio-waves, feedbacks and other undefinable instrumental noises, all played & performed in such a strange an anti-musical & positively anarchistic way that you can only wonder...
for people who like the most BIZARRE stuff, this will make you happy!
KALORIFEUR is (was?) a greek duo coming from Larissa.
www.void.gr/absurd
|
2006 |
€10.00 |
|
| KAMMERFLIMMER KOLLEKTIEF |
There are Actions which we have neglected and which never cease to call us |
LP |
"Every song written or improvised has an inside song
which lives in the shadows, in-between
the sounds and silences and behind the words, pulsating,
waiting to be reborn as a new song."
William Parker, I Plan To Stay A Believer (liner notes)
After 20 years of Kammerflimmer Kollektief, with 10 albums thus far, the time has come to take a trip. The Karlsruhe combo guide us through seven stations in an unfathomable Terra Incognita, where a listening space emerges at the intersection of improvisation and composition, a space where certitude slips out of reach, jouncing incessantly between precision and freedom, oscillating furiously between cut-up and palimpsest – and, just when we think we may have pinned it down, disappears altogether.
This album entitled "There are actions which we have neglected and which never cease to call us." is one for the fearless: wordlessly conjuring up enchanted places in the richest of tones, simultaneously confronting us with magic which captivates us and the excruciating realisation that we may never be released from its spell.
Mirror images come into view, images of ourselves: driven away, tormented by feelings of guilt, frozen in powerlessness – even when we believe we are still moving. There is always a mountain of things missed, calling out to us! The wetlands of the Upper Rhine Plain ("In my heart there's a place called swampland!"). Cuernavaca in the Mexican highlands. A Southern Californian stretch of Pacific coast. The Baltic Coast in Mecklenburg. A bunch of haunted places – all scenes of melancholy within us, between longing and memory, repeatedly searching for acts of liberation. This may not be the record to set us free. But it offers us a soundtrack for our melancholic state.
One thing is clear when it comes to the Kammerflimmer Kollektief. Regardless of any interpretive traps snapping shut, or the conceptual penetration of apparently pre-conceptual musical factuality: here is something which cannot be voiced: avant-garde, improvisation, psychedelia, whichever labels are stuck on the Karlsruhe collective, they all feel patently unsatisfactory. Like all music, their music can neither be narrowed down to concepts nor fixed semantically. It cannot be organised as language, with a sound or image corresponding to specific points observed by sender and recipient alike, yet it is no more pre-conceptual in the sense of: first come the conditions of music, then one learns to discuss them. The Karlsruhe artists practise other-conceptuality. This is cata-language. Music from who the fuck knows where.
These carefully unconsidered atheist jam supplications lead us into the darkest corners of our souls. Out of the night and into the night. The bass of Johannes Frisch creaks and hums, evolving into barely discernible undergrowth with a life of its own, yet still becoming the foundation of everything – a basso continuo, constantly leading into nothingness. Heike Aumüller's harmonium recognizes its original calling as aerophone and is elementally: wind. A wind which has so much to tell us: about the good and true sides of life, but even more about what tortures us, leaves us restless. Comforter and painful wound in one. Thomas Weber's whirring guitars and gadgets drag us into a wondrously reverberating space of special effects – protection is not all this underbrush may grant us.
Amidst all the excitement which awaits us on this short, yet infinite journey, it is worth remembering: as the shaman hangs out his magic roots to dry in the morning as preparation for the ritual ecstasy of the evening, so the Kollektief follow an everyday principle in their own ritual. In short: Be not afeard!
www.bureau-b.com/kammerflimmer_kollektief.php |
2018 |
€20.00 |
|
| KAPOTTE MUZIEK |
Untitled (Madrid) |
CD-R |
"Two years ago Kapotte Muziek was invited to do a concert in Madrid. The trio Frans de Waard, Roel Meelkop and Peter Duimelinks never perform many concerts. In between they didn’t meet each other a lot and it seems they see each other when they play a concert. Anyhow, the concert happened in La Casa Encendida and people where sitting around the members of Kapotte Muziek. The recordings of this concert were excellent and have been edited by Roel Meelkop and mastered by Jos Smolders at Earlabs. I am not always amused by the music of Kapotte Muziek. Sometimes it is too abstract or too minimal for my ears. But this release has an open atmosphere and has some beautiful moments of explorations of analogue sounds. The mixture of clear concrete sounds and some abstract sounds at the background sounds interesting. The collage of a singing bowl, field-recordings of a voice and a blowing horn and scratching on some metal is adventurous and combines elements of several worlds. A more rhythmical
piece with some basic beats surprises me and seems to be a new direction in the music of the Kapotte Muziek performances. The beat flow into a penetrating sound and some concrete sounds. The music develops into more scratching and crispy sounds in combination with some electronics and gets noisier. The performance ends with some metallic sounds in combination with a dark drone and field-recordings of seagulls. Beautiful ending of a Dutch adventure in Spain." [JKH/Vital Weekly] |
2014 |
€10.00 |
|
| KARKOWSKI, ZBIGNIEW |
Intensifier |
CD |
Onetracker-Live-Aufnahme eines Auftrittes in LYON (Datum unbekannt). KARKOWSKI kreiert white noise in verschiedensten Intensitäten, auf- und abwellend wie Brandung, mit digitalen Granular-Störgeräuschen versehen und hohlem Pfeifen, trotzdem nie extrem harsch oder pure-noisig, das ganze hat etwas von einer nautischen Distortion-Reise, die perfekte Symbiose von (dark) ambience und Noise!
Recording from a great concert that happened in Lyon with a kind of nautical harsh ambience.....
|
2004 |
€13.00 |
|
| KARL BÖSMANN |
Euphoria Mitte |
CD |
"With the whole bunch of very limited edition releases on such labels as Tosom, Domestic Violence Recordings, Verato Project and the luxurious LP made by Youdonthavetocallitmusic, the name of German musician Karl Bösmann is emerging since 2003. This is his second real CD after Unton (2005, Badbeatz Records) and includes several new compositions, showing the maturity and intensity of his prolific talent. Karl Bösmann irritates. His name alone, which reminds of Kafka's wayfarer to America, Karl Roßmann, is ambiguous. A mixture of sinister and typical german, where you can think of one of Alexander Kluge's Lebenslufe, which show in protocolar dryness the deceitfulness of fate. In fact did his debut Das Kind in der Küche (2004) exactly met this impression. The soundscapes between programmed music and abstraction - in more prosaic words, Bösmann constructs, in the good old tradition of electroacoustic music, with instruments played by himself, and completely without the fashionable chic of a laptop: minimal repetitive passages, especially drones that vibrate in themselves, that flash, shimmer and take a character and 3D-quality of its own. Phill Niblock and Ligeti could come to the back of your mind, a resonance that is an honour to both sides. Other musical influences ranges from AMM and Aube through Nurse With Wound and Organum to Ghédalia Tazartès and Xenakis and so sets his ambitions way over eye-level." [label info]
www.monochromevision.ru
"Karl Bosmann is a German post-industrial / electro-acoustic tactician who seems to from the Conrad Schnitzler mold of continuous
experimentation with his equipment in pushing it to expressive means, no matter how atemporal or atonal the resulting sounds might be. Our
previous experience with Bosmann had been through monolith drone- fields that swelled from electronics and possibly cymbals into
discordant dissonant crescendos somewhere between SUNNO))) and Sunroof! Here, Bosmann showcases a wide array of electronic circuity,
whose home-built, tone-bent aesthetics take after the sound poems of early electronic music coupled with the nondestructive strategies from the likes of Nautical Almanac. His electronic insectoid blips, click, and blorps percolate through live-wire electrical fields and the
humming cycles akin to fluorescent bulbs. Many of these tracks begin rather charmingly similar to something by Dan Deacon or Black Dice,
but Bosmann twists the demeanor of his electronics through anxiety- riddled tones that glow as if a background radiation, with all of the clicks then standing in for Geiger counter pulses to allude to the neutrino bath that he's unleashed through his electronics. The pierced
feedback mantra "Around The Sun" is a great recapitulation of what Arcane Device and Nurse With Wound have done with similar material.
Dotted through the experiments, Bosmann interjects collages of industrial-space field recordings coupled with overlapping male /
female spoken word bits, whose content and context are smeared to the point of abstraction following the Hafler Trio's many demonstrations of information overload." [Aquarius Rec.]
|
2010 |
€12.50 |
|
| KASSEL JAEGER |
Meith |
LP |
"Black Truffle present Meith, a new composition in two parts from prolific composer/theorist François Bonnet. Usually operating under his Kassel Jaeger moniker, Bonnet is a major figure in contemporary electronics and electro-acoustic music, collaborating with artists such as Lucy Railton, Jim O'Rourke, and Stephen O'Malley, and releasing his work on labels including Editions Mego, Senufo, and Shelter Press. Always meticulously detailed yet immediately affecting, Bonnet's work situates itself at a very personal intersection between the traditions of academic electronic and electroacoustic music, and a more shadowy, underground group of approaches to experimental sound: kosmische musik, the tape murk of the 1980s underground, the haunted ambience of Christoph Heemann & Co. Meith immediately welcomes you into its densely layered sound world of electronic tones, positive organ, and unidentifiable field-recorded textures. Almost static yet constantly in flux, it deliberately opens itself up to repeated and varied listening: from a distance, its many voices cohere into a monolithic plane of sound, while closer inspection reveals myriad details and momentary events. Like a drop of ink spreading through water, harmonic material present in one voice gradually fans out into the whole arrangement, creating fleeting moments of unity amid the constantly shifting waves of tone and texture. Far from the austerity of some contemporary electro-acoustic music, Meith affects the listener as overwhelming organic; its individual layers are unstable and at times near-chaotic, imbued with life. Though it can appear almost formless, the piece undergoes major shifts throughout its duration, from the austere dissonance of the opening moments to the surging harmonies that appear midway through the second side before the piece gradually dissolves into a spectral glimmer."
https://kasseljaeger.bandcamp.com/album/meith
|
2020 |
€21.00 |
|
| |
Shifted in Dreams |
LP |
Franco-Swiss composer François J. Bonnet, aka Kassel Jaeger, returns to Shelter Press with a new solo album, Shifted in Dreams. Bonnet has been working closely with Shelter Press for several years now, whether as a musician (Zauberberg, Swamps / Things), theorist (The Music To Come), or director of INA GRM (SPECTRES, Recollection GRM, Portraits GRM). Each of these directions taken, each of these actions carried out, is an exploration and an attempt to understand the deep causes of music, its own potential and its possible appearances.
Shifted in Dreams is a continuation of such a research, but takes a somewhat deviated path. If we use the image of music as a paradoxical mountain, as an unreachable “Mont Analogue”, this album tries to opens up a way that at first seems simpler, marked out, known and recognized thanks to the distinct presence of common harmonic and temporal elements. This path, however, is simple only in appearance, for soon it becomes less clear, its contours get blurred, drowned in the mist. Silhouettes form in the distance, like uncertain shadows. We grope our way forward, in this infra-sensitive thickness of the world outside of signs. The recognized markers disappear, giving way, at best, to reminiscences, but increasingly making way to qualities, occurrences, events. We leave the known world of musical codes to join that of sound apparitions, their memorial imprints and the impressions they produce.
Following a compositional approach stemming from the musique concrète tradition, without adopting a structuralist aesthetic, Shifted in Dreams explores a wide range of instruments and techniques, going seamlessly from instrumental improvisation to field recording, via micro-editing and the use of asynchronous loops. Mixing the electronic sounds of an ARP 2500 synthesizer with the acoustic drones of a positive organ, articulating guitar layers with the resonance of the Cristal Baschet, bringing together recordings of slamming windows and sound produced by complex modular synthesis patches, Bonnet offers a rich and generous palette of sounds, inviting a constantly renewed sonic investigation.
Shifted in Dreams, despite its title, is not a dreamlike record. The dream here does not designate the symbolical space of interpretation and reinterpretation of reality through cultural patterns. It designates the intermediate, blurred and uncertain state where the reality of signs loses its consistency, while, paradoxically, the reality of senses and impressions becomes imperative, obvious. The reality of demons.
https://kasseljaeger.bandcamp.com/album/shifted-in-dreams
|
2023 |
€27.50 |
|
| KAVE |
Dismal Radiance |
CD |
"Monstrously deep dark ambient. Evolving structures and unsettling atmospheres with a somehow "cinematic" touch for all the fans of CAUL, YEN POX, AMON and for anyone else into menacing, profound black ambience." [label info]
www.eibonrecords.com
"Imagine that you are standing in total blackness. There are no people. It’s as if you are standing in a large, cylindrical hall of emptiness where the echoing sounds around you are endless. Haunting shapes whistle by quietly and ominously. Streams of sound blow through as if there’s a wind fuelling this vision of nothingness. There’s the occasional splash of water. Rumblings can be heard in the distance. There’s no passion, no emotion, just a spooky and mystical atmosphere of desolation and helplessness. This black ambiance is the world of Kave, a mysterious band from Holland.
The atmosphere changes very little. “Dismal Radiance” is minimalist, even in comparison to a Blut aus Nord production where a similar soundtrack-type atmosphere prevails. The droning, spooky style is in fact more akin to Yen Pox and Troum. It’s very marginal with this style but I think I prefer the evolving atmospheres which those bands generate. But this is impressive too. Here there is no beauty in this blackness, nor is there any deviation or sign of escape from the bleak and apocalyptic aspect. As this album progresses, we find ourselves deeper inside the chasm with no sign of a beginning or an end. As the rumbling winds continue, the sense of solitude is intensified. We find ourselves staring into space but it’s not a space we can see. This album will neutralise you in its empty blackness.
There are eight tracks but it’s not that you would notice. It’s not stasis but let’s face it – we’re stuck in a void here. Those track titles are revealing and appropriate: “Tomb of the Black Sand”, “Corridors under the Sea”, “Dark Monoliths Rising” and “Encompassing Emptiness” are among them. Of all of them, “Bleak Phantasm” develops the most spiritual quality but as ever it floats away before another set of shapes set in and we are enveloped further in the menacingly tranquil scene.
Yes, there is a subtle evolution over the course of the album but we remain in the same dark place. The power lies in the absence of apparent human control over these frightening and monolithic structures that epitomise the sounds of “Dismal Radiance”. It is a very lonely experience. It is monotonous and desolate. Yet in spite of being depressive, nightmarish and overwhelming in its weightiness, its mesmerising consistency gives it the paradoxical quality of being inspiring. Some of us will see it that way. Others, I suspect, will not want to stomach this ambient and despairing soundscape." [Andrew Doherty / AVE NOCTUM] |
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| KEELER, JAMES P. |
Terrarium Dreams |
mCD-R |
james p. keeler submitted us the three tracks of "terrarium dreams" in november 2020 for the fifth volume of our "homework" annual digital compilations. it was so intense that it was absolutely impossible to take one track so we proposed james to release a new 3", almost 20 years after his "5 shades for a grey room" released on taâlem in 2002. et voilà!
james p. keeler used:
field recordings, object manipulation, samples, synths
recorded 2020
"From the various projects that James P. Keeler has, as Keeler Designs, or in groups such Amputation Theory, Astronomy, Hedorah, Human As Disease, Maggotapplewonderland, Minotaur, The Leg, The Oak Trio, and Wilt, only the latter made it to these pages, albeit a long time ago. This is his second release for Taalem, following '5 Shades For A Grey Room', in 2002. Keeler uses field recordings, object manipulation, samples and synthesizers. Here we arrive at the more noisy end of ambient music. And, perhaps, also a more ritualistic aspect attached by Keeler. I am not sure why I am thinking of this, but the chirping of insects and wandering along the coast, along with the occasional slow thud, just make it sound like a ritual. The three pieces here drift on the edge of noise and lacks the delicacy of many other releases by Taalem. I found all of this a bit without focus, but at the same time, I am not sure why I am thinking this." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2021 |
€5.00 |
|
| KEIN ZWEITER |
Teilstück für totalen Schwung |
LP & DVDr |
10 YEARS LATER - 10 STEPS AHEAD!
Above party lines – below the horizon of forgiveness...Kein Zweiter return stronger than ever! 10 years after the „Muskeln + Kraft = Überlegenheit“ album – a new release by Kein Zweiter!
And nine pieces that are very difficult to categorize:
- electronic music?
- dance-able?
- strong voices?
-still a bit sweat of DAF?
- uninspired 1980s pure-cult-machine
YES!
YES!
YES!
MAYBE!
NO!
KEIN ZWEITER STAY AS ORIGINAL AS UNIQUE!
“...fantastic, sticky, garish nobleman-fetish-fantasies and pre-communistic oaths of knights take possession of me…" (Felix Kubin)
Released as 12“vinyl including the „Eine Richtung – Eine Saat“ video on DVD-R, a postcard and an A4-inlay containing the lyrics & liner notes! Also available on Bandcamp!
www.90-prozent-wasser.de
"GORT KLÜTH, der Bände sprechende Vokalist und KLAUS-HELENE RAMP, der elektronische Musikverantwortliche, bilden zusammen das Berliner Duo KEIN ZWEITER. Dieses hat dieser Tage ihr zweites Album auf dem Label 90% WASSER herausgebracht. Und das hält sich, was die Aufmachung betrifft, elegant zurück. Das heißt, das mir vorliegende Cover ist schlicht in Pappkarton verpackt, auf dem nur der Bandname und der Titel der Platte aufgestempelt sind. Die Klebchen sind weiß, mit einem stilisierten K versehen. Mehr nicht. Doch mehr braucht es auch nicht ...
Gegründet wurde KEIN ZWEITER von den genannten zwei Herren bereits 1989. Allerdings dauerte es nicht allzu lang, bis es wieder still um die beiden wurde. Die Stille währte dann bis 1998. Dann taten sie sich wieder zusammen. Nach mehreren Anläufen inklusive einer unveröffentlichten 7inch begannen sie 2003 damit, ihre erste, hier bereits besprochene LP "Muskeln + Kraft = Überlegenheit" aufzunehmen, die drei Jahre später erschien. Darauf folgt jetzt, etwas verzögert, weil GORT KLÜTH einige Probleme mit der Obrigkeit hatte und deshalb dann und wann in Staatsvoll- bzw. Halbpension war, die zweite "Teilstück Für Totalen Schwung". Und die ist nun noch verstrickter, der Gesamtklang voller, die Arrangements komplexer und die Texte derart hintersinnig aufklärerisch, dass einem die Augen auf- ja übergehen, in Anbetracht bzw. Anhörung dessen, wozu die Sprache fähig ist. Doch zur Sache ...
Das Album nimmt sich zunächst, hört man es durch, verstreuter Teilstücke an. Da hören wir etwas vom Glied, von einem Kuchenstück, vom Tanzen, von Fügsamkeit und Widerstand, vom Wegsperren der Mütter und der Befreiung von den Vätern, von wilden Horden und vom Wagenmann, der dem, der sagt: Du sollst oder sollst eben nicht, den Kopf mit dem Hammer einschlägt. Da haben wir National- und auch nur Sozialismus, Aufbau, Zerstörung und Sexualität, die ja in all ihren Ausformungen eigentlich nie wider die Natur sein kann, aber auch schon mal wehtut ...
"Genitalmetamorphosenovid", das erste Stück, gibt dabei die Stoßrichtung vor. Da wird der römische Dichter Ovid herangezogen, bzw. wird ihm etwas angehängt, an das er sicher damals nicht dachte. Seine Meatmorphosen, könnte man meinen, bilden dann auch gleich das Album ab. Denn stehen die einzelnen Stücke ähnlich wie die Ovidschen Verwandlungen in keinem direkten Zusammenhang. Man könnte gar meinen, ihre Zusammenstellung wär völlig wahllos. Doch so ist das nicht. Nein. In Wahrheit sind alle Teile sowohl der Metamorphosen als auch die des Albums kunstvoll miteinander verknüpft … “Komm herein” (02) verbindet z.B. gekonnt und mit einem tiefschwarz humorigen Anfang ("ss die wirklichkeit/ die mich von hinten treibt") Faschismus und Homosexualität. (Die ersten zwei Buchstaben werden als Laute gesprochen.) "Die Saat" (03) trägt dann in seiner auf youtube zu bewundernden bildlichen Darstellung Anleihen an den vergangenen Realsozialismus zur Schau. Was dann den im zweiten Stück genannten Faschismus nun wohl um die Dimension des Sozialismus, der die Vorstufe zum Kommunismus sein sollte, reicher macht, also ganz allgemein Diktatur bedeuten dürfte oder repressives System. Sowohl textlich als auch musikalisch kann das mindestens doppeldeutig genannt werden. Und das ist auch gut so. Denn das Eindeutige, bzw. all die Vormünder, die sich stets auf der richtigen Seite wähnen, nerven ob ihres ausschließlichen Hoheitsanspruches enorm. Es bedarf nun mal keiner Oberaufsicht. Das hat sicherlich auch Ovid, als er, so wie GORT KLÜTH, und zwar als das Werk fast abgeschlossen war, in die Verbannung geschickt wurde, gerufen ... Ob die Kunst nun also Kot isst, bleibt eben ihr überlassen … Mit "Kreislauf" (04) holen KEIN ZWEITER dann noch einmal Schwung, um sich im "Tanzlied" (05) dem Tanzen zu widmen …
Die B-Seite umfasst dann noch vier weitere Titel. "Endstation Gürtel" (06), "Miteinander" (07), "Der Weg" (08) und "Der Wagenmann" (09) … Oh, der Wagenmann! Der hat es mir nun wirklich angetan. Dieses Stück Musik ist wohl das Epischste, das mir seit Jahren zu Ohren gekommen ist – sagenhaft. Man hört hier sogar einen klassischen Chor, der die Handlung der im Text beschriebenen Tragödie kommentiert ... großartig! Und dann ... dann fällt der Hammer ...
Aufgenommen wurde "Teilstück Für Totalen Schwung" zwischen 2007 und 2013 in Morgenitz und Berlin. Die Produktion übernahmen PAUL VIEBEG und JÜRGEN ECKLOFF."
[andrewkorsch für nonpop.de]
|
2016 |
€17.00 |
|
| KELLER, ALEX & SEAN O'NEILL |
Kruos |
LP |
Alex Keller and Sean O'Neill have created performances and installation pieces together since 2015. Using field recordings, vintage telephone test equipment, and magnetic oscillators, among other tools, their work addresses the agents and artifacts of change in the urban (and acoustic) realms. The resultant audio is a potent brew, seamlessly merging drone, musique concrète, phonography, and various electronic intrusions.
"Kruos" is the duo's debut release. It was developed between December 2016 and February 2017 as a distillation of live performances and as a chronicle of the pair's speculative investigations. "Kruos" is an assured, bracing study of an invisible landscape, and a wholly absorbing colloquy.
This collaboration began as an exercise in the manipulation of field recordings exclusively. The album's title, "Kruos," refers to those early processes, for it is an ancient Greek word meaning frozen or frost, and is the root of the word krustallos, or crystal. The ancient Greeks believed that, like frost, crystal was created by the cold. And similarly, field recordings exist in a kind of crystallized stasis - frozen in time.
The additions of magnetic oscillators and a vintage telecom test synthesizer to their cache have given Keller and O'Neill more time-based control over what happens in a performative setting, while still leaving a great deal to the time-frozen nature of the original field recordings. This remarkable juxtaposition of sound sources, of action and repose, engenders a startling and satisfying listening experience…
"Kruos I" takes the listener on an interior journey, from test equipment to a warehouse, to a medicine cabinet on the Carnival Triumph, to a digital synthesizer: a tense, anxious exploration. "Kruos II" resumes outside, from an urban university's power plant, to magnetic oscillators, to a pastoral scene on a lake, to a dock on another lake, closing this chronicle at a point of poised stasis (or "kruos").
"Kruos" has been released by Elevator Bath as a limited edition clear vinyl LP, copies of which are also available here: www.elevatorbath.com
credits
released July 7, 2017
Alex Keller is an audio artist, sound designer, curator, and teacher. His engagement with performance and recording is an outgrowth of his interest in architecture, language, abstraction, music, and in the inherent aesthetic value of the act of research. Keller recently spearheaded the creation of the Phonography Austin group; his work in the realm of phonography/field recording (plus that of sound art and engineering) has been documented on several releases over the last 20+ years.
Sean O'Neill is a multi-media artist interested in how perception shapes the dynamics of spatiality. He explores both the visible light spectrum and the audible frequency range to determine how they influence our lived environments, and vice versa. O'Neill's installation work involving light and sound has been exhibited and documented internationally.
Keller and O'Neill are both currently based in Austin, Texas. They have performed live, to great acclaim, alongside the likes of John Duncan, Lawrence English, Rick Reed, and many others. They will tour the US this summer.
elevatorbath.bandcamp.com/album/kruos
"Alex Keller and Sean O'Neill may have been collaborators since 2015, but Kruos is actually their debut release. That relative youth does not translate to lack of experience on the album, however, as the duo’s work is a complex, nuanced work of sound art, conjured up from some rather rudimentary sources, largely just field recordings and a telephone test synthesizer. It is a bit of a difficult, unsettling experience at times, but a strong one nonetheless.
The two halves of Kruos complement each other well, with each side representing some drastically different approaches to sound. The first half begins rather simply with a big, looming bassy analog tone that slowly oscillates in pitch. Sputtering at times, it functions well as an underlying foundation for the processed field recordings to be constructed upon. The duo introduces these rather coarsely via recordings of violent, heavy reverberated knocking. There is a rhythmic quality to it, but is anything but conventional. Instead, it functions as a jarring, menacing addition to initially restrained sounds.
Keller and O'Neill are not just working with pure field recordings, of course, so after some of those loud outbursts, a bit of delay scatters the sound nicely, giving an additional sense of depth. Beyond that, some weird creaking textures and shifting of pitches balance out the open space well, bringing a nicely foreboding quality to the composition. The tones get even more varied and pushed to the forefront, building up to a dramatic, yet abrupt ending.
The second half of the record is the more subtle side to Kruos. The low frequency synthesizer hum reappears, but here blended with an ambience somewhere between white noise generator and air conditioning system. From here slow, sparse pulsations appear, representing another misuse of that telephone test equipment the duo utilizes. Sputtering, rumbling electronics appear, giving a bit more tension to the otherwise peaceful surroundings, but still staying more restrained and less confrontational than the first half.
Eventually these indistinct and mostly unidentifiable field recordings and found sounds are presented in a less treated way, consisting of far off birds and insects that again capture the vastness of nature very well. Towards the conclusion, however, the duo decides to get weird again. There is a reappearance of some of the knocking/clattering type sounds that were heard throughout the first part, building to a more disorienting, chaotic arc before coming to another abrupt conclusion.
Alex Keller and Sean O'Neill may not have used a significant amount of instrumentation to construct Kruos, but they achieve a great deal with what they have. It is difficult and challenging at times, and there is not much to grab on to as far as conventional rhythm or melody, but it excels in abstraction. In many cases the result is far removed from the source material, but the environment the two create on here is just as fascinating as any natural one that could be captured." [Creaig Dunton / Brainwashed]
|
2017 |
€20.00 |
|
| KELLOUGH, BETHAN |
Aven |
CD |
Artwork & photography by Jon Wozencroft. Mastered by Denis Blackham.
Live at Volume, Los Angeles, 30th April 2016 as part of Touch Conference.
The word ‘Aven’ refers to an underground shaft that leads upward from the roof of a cave passage.
Recorded with SoundField SPS200 & JrF C-Series contact microphones, Sennheiser ME64, Sound Devices 788T, Elektron Monomachine, RME Fireface UCX, and Cockos Reaper. Field recordings from Iceland, June 2015 and South Africa, November 2015.
Strings performed by Bethan Kellough.
Bethan Kellough creates sound worlds that weave together instrumental materials, sound design and ambisonic field recordings. Her composition ‘Aven' is based on a recording made in Iceland in 2015, which features the booming sound of underground geothermal activity escaping to the surface through a small shaft. “Looking down into the darkness, there was a sense that a whole world existed in an unknown space beneath. The sound world of Aven is a journey through such an imagined environment.” The composition is driven by this sonic encounter, but enters the imagined worlds beneath through the instrumental material developed throughout the work. These melodic passages predominantly feature violin, which Bethan has played since childhood exploring traditional Scottish music, rock violin, free improvisation and classical studies. The field recordings used in Aven were made in Iceland during the Wildeye sound recording workshop with Chris Watson and Jez Riley French, and in South Africa during the Sonic Mmabolela residency with Francisco Lopez and James Webb. Each of the recordings explore a world of sound beneath a surface, reflecting upon the initial recording environment at the geothermal site. In South Africa, an approaching storm was heralded by wind blowing through bushes in the savanna, underneath which was hidden a Soundfield microphone. A contact microphone on a fence in South Iceland revealed the tones of the wind contained inside the wires, and in an Icelandic nature reserve the wind was also captured by microphones buried underneath a layer of grass – a miniature world sheltered by the strands of dry straw.
Bethan Kellough (formerly Bethan Parkes) is a sound artist and composer. Her work spans across ambisonic composition, field recording, sound design and multichannel sound installation practices, drawing a focus on sonic spatial experience. Her works are designed to open out spaces with sound, exploring spatial aesthetics and the interactions between sonically and visually articulated spaces. The immersive sound-worlds she creates inhabit the boundaries between music and sound design, weaving together instrumental materials, sound design and ambisonic field recordings.
www.touchmusic.org.uk
|
2016 |
€11.00 |
|
| KENT, JULIA |
Temporal (lim. white vinyl) |
LP + CD |
Temporal is a meditation on the transitory and fragile nature of existence.
Much of the music that comprises the album was originally written to accompany theatre and dance productions. “The initial inspiration was more external than internal, in that many of these pieces began as a response to a text or a choreographic concept,” Julia explains, “but they all seemed to be coming from the same emotional world and it made sense to weave them together into a record.”
After the threat of violent release on previous album Asperities, Temporal’s relationship to the physical world manifests itself in a more organic, human sound. The electronic manipulations are subtler, with Julia sampling voices from a theatre production and processing them into unrecognisable textures: ghosts of the source material. “I included the processed voices to acknowledge the genesis of the music and also because I wanted to incorporate vocals in a way that turned voice into texture, and blurred the lines between sonic elements.”
https://music.juliakent.com/album/temporal
"Canadian cellist, Julia Kent, is back with a new album for Leaf, a gloomy, dark, delicious journey of texture, cinematic ambience and modern classical timbre. I've witnessed Julia play before, with her shoes off working the loop pedals, all dressed in black, as she appears to be in all of her press photos, her hair dark around the sombre face, an arm tattoo, sharp focus on the music. I dive into the description of this artist because I feel her being bleeding in and onto all her works, a natural extension of her mind, expressed in sound throughout time. Is Temporal a hint at our very own existence? Is there a fear or an acceptance thereof? Perhaps a little bit of both as you traverse the dissonance and tension, so well restrained within this composition.
The rhythmic plucking of the string counts down the clock from an unknown number. The many-layered cello notes (and tones) create a blanket of unease, but find comfort in their warming. A bass begins to pulse. An organ walks the scale. We are acknowledging "Imbalance" and its ongoing presence in our lives. Too much a leaning to the left, too much a resuming to the right, we tend to float throughout this storm, like a lone lost and tiny buoy. The clouds subside and music perseveres, and then, perhaps, we're not alone, surrounded by others in this "Floating City", where pizzicato notes dance lightly with the piano. This cinematic tendency of the sound appears due to the pieces having been originally written for the theatre and dance productions, repackaged now in album form, for our delight and pleasure.
When I perform live with dance and theatre, it makes me enormously aware of the fragility of our physical world. Dancers and actors, anyone whose instrument is their body, have nothing to protect them from the rules of gravity and time. They are so strong, but they’re subject to those demands in a more extreme way because of the physicality of what they’re doing. Onstage, I have an instrument to mediate for me, but they are bare. When I work with dancers, especially, I feel as though there can be an incredible energy exchange. They create a sort of weather system on the stage.
-Julia Kent
This "weather" is indeed transforming through the album, as you can gather from my words (which I've convoked before digging out the quote above). Even with the delayed echoes of the strings, which practically compose the metre of the album, the album feels organic and inherent, with Kent's emotions permeating through and through. Those willing to connect with Julia on yet another level will find themselves immersed in all she has to say. Recommended for fans of Hildur Guðnadóttir [who seems to be consumed by soundtracks these days -- did you see Chernobyl?], Christina Vantzou, Zoë Keating, Danny Norbury, Greg Haines, and Poppy Ackroyd. A favourite on Leaf which calls for your attention." [Headphone Commute]
|
2019 |
€22.50 |
|
| KESZLER, ELI |
Stadium |
do-LP |
NewYork-based artist Eli Keszler is at the apex of his career. This year alone he’s had a three-month-long solo exhibition (“Blue Skies” at Fuse Arts, Bradford, UK), performed internationally in a duo with Laurel Halo, collaborated with noted Hungarian author La´szlo´ Krasznahorkai, taught experimental composition and performance at Camp in the Pyrenees mountains, composed music for Turner Prize– winning visual artist Laure Prouvost, and most recently embarked on a world tour with Oneohtrix Point Never.
“Stadium” is his new album for Shelter Press. As his ninth solo record,“Stadium” reflects his move from South Brooklyn to Manhattan, where he produced the album. The constant blurry motion and ever-changing landscapes of the fast-paced island helped him modify and shape his sound into a new kind of film noir. “After we moved into our East Village apartment,” Keszler explains, “we found a guitar pick on the floor that read ‘Stadium’. We looked at each other at the same time and had the same thought. It could have gone any number of ways.” Indeed, there is a startling amount of expression at play on each track, where intersections of melody, restraint and rhythm are used to challenge the idea of memory, impression and space.
Keszler is often mistaken for an electronic musician, but in fact his sounds are raw and natural, produced by hand live in-situ. His performance with the drumset and acoustic percussion are central to his work. He produces almost impossible textures through self-realized methodologies: cascading melodies, a shadow of voices, and a unique pointillistic materiality. Although playing with the intensity of digitally-created music, his communications are done live with no processing. These haptics are what give “Stadium” its depth and its warmth. In a recent interview for Dazed, collaborator Oneohtrix Point Never comments, “I’ve always described his playing as bacterial. He’s able to parallax into very small, very acute, very specific relationships between percussive textures. It’s beyond just being a drummer — he’s a world-building percussionist.”
In “Stadium,” Keszler uses lived experience to realize the most wide-ranging sound he’s created to date. “Stadium” draws out textures from overlapping geographies (from Shinjuku arcades to city streets and Brutalist architecture) and transforms these travelogue field recordings into starting points for composition. He then builds on these environments to create subliminal spaces for his percussion, keyboards and acoustic instruments. His “world-building” techniques are pushed to new levels with mesmerizing string and brass arrangements. Throughout the album, Keszler’s writing, keyboard playing and scoring operate like a sonic channel that transports the listener into a quaking web.
Perhaps this is the “stadium” referred to in the title: a larger network of sound and bodies moving continually, oscillating and turning in on itself. Keszler has explored these ideas before both in his visual work and sound installations - especially notable on projects such as his massive Manhattan Bridge installation ‘Archway’ or his Boston City Hall work 'Northern Stair Projection'. “Stadium” takes these long-running ideas to new depths. “My installations work with massive city spaces for a complex of individuals,” Keszler states. “The recordings on Stadium are inverted. They are landscapes scaled for the singular. Like a mass collecting in one arena, this music compresses city spaces, genre and instrumentalism into an amorphous form. On the record, there are ruptures of information and happenstance. Like a game, it could go any number of ways.”
|
2018 |
€26.50 |
|
| KG AUGENSTERN |
Tentacles |
BOOK & CD |
"The artist group Augenstern (Christiane Prehn and Wolfgang Meyer) have lived and worked on the ship Anuschka for many years. In July 2014 the MS Anuschka left Berlin in the direction of Paris before reaching their final destination in the south of France in November 2014. On the way, the crew examined numerous bridges, spanning rivers and canals. Using tentacles installed on board to scratch the bridges, the ship turned into a sensitive, perceiving and sounding laboratory interacting with the territory. Each of the bridges passed has its personal soundprofile, created by its shape, its practical use and its way of construction. During the journey KG Augenstern presented audiovisual performances that could be observed and heard along the banks. Exhibitions of “Tentacles”- installations where shown in contemporary art spaces at Arles and Valence. A complete documentation of the sound recordings can be heard on the SoundWays application."
www.gruenrekorder.de
|
2016 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Circles and Cycles |
BOOK + CD |
Kg Augenstern (Christiane Prehn and Wolfgang Meyer) have been exploring the world for many years with their “Tentacles,” extendable fiberglass canes that allow them to touch and extract the sounds of the places they are travelling through. These tentacles have become a kind of prostheses to generate subtle experiences that require attentive listening. The various aspects of the project are constantly transformed and presented as audiokinetic installations, live-streams, radio broadcasts or sound installations in contemporary art spaces.
In autumn 2019, the artists explored places in Sicily that have been abandoned within the last few decades. With their tentacles, they scratched circles on the surface of these contemporary ruins to reveal the specific sounds of the various surfaces and their surroundings. A camera installed in the center of the circles recorded the images. The research was accompanied by experiments with raw sheep’s wool and clay as materials corresponding to the ephemeral appearance and transitory atmosphere of the places. The outcome of the research was presented as an exhibition in an old prayer hall in Palermo.
The CD invites listeners to explore 10 abandoned places, including the location of the final exhibition.
11 Tracks (37′44″)
Book & CD (500 copies)
KG Augenstern’s “tentacle” performs surgeries on abandoned places. The duo from Berlin seeks out locations that lie between the states of life and death, populated and depopulated, places constantly changing, and thus in an enduring state of malleable equilibrium. They are the apocalyptic souvenirs of humans’ attempts to form landscapes. That which exists tends towards new shapes, which slowly bury mankind’s contingencies and intentions.
The forgotten place and its surfaces are scratched in circles. The media to be studied are the subtle sounds caused by the scratching. At times the tentacle glides lightly along the surface, barely touching; on another pass it might bite in, leaving a mark. It stretches itself out, or blends with the material beneath it, all the while releasing its tensions in the form of deep, diffused sound vibrations.
Or it springs in powerful leaps across the ground beneath it. An intense sound is called forth, rhythmic and repetitive, embedded in the temporal cycles of the described circles. Time is rendered instable, volatile, surreal, and reveals its magic.
The process is repeated in the same or another location.
The combinations of time and material transform themselves into a cyclical continuum.
KG Augenstern creates an additional cycle out of sheep’s wool, clay, and fire. From materials found in the ruins, burned objects are created which are fragile and subordinate to their own disintegration. The observer slips outside the field of consciousness, and attention is directed towards the revelation of baselessness, not from within the realm of understanding, but in the form of realization in a material sense. Life is transformed into a question, and this uncertainty reveals the instability of existence.
Ennio Pellicanò
Curator
Step by step, staying in this lonely place by the sea, with that empty beach, working in all these ruins without ever seeing any living person, only birds– mostly pigeons–, insects, and lizards, a kind of hypnotic, apocalyptic dimension develops. In almost every place there is an abandoned camp somebody homeless used to use a long time ago for a temporary shelter, with worn out clothes and an old mattress. Shy dogs: one, a German shepherd with two puppies vacillates between being curious and afraid, same as me. Circle by circle, rubbish, wet walls, cracked ceilings, holes to take care of and another uncertain stairway. Contemporary archeology in contemporary ruins. Disgust, fear, tension, expectations. Layers of birdshit on children‘s toys, suddenly left behind, hard material under soft organic patina…. a baby carriage, furniture, pictures on the walls and beds still made …what will wait in the next room, the next building, the next structure?
SCRATCHING A LIDO
Lido Las Vegas was built in the ’60s and was closed by the authorities in 2017. Before its closure, it had been run illicitly within a nature reserve, and without any authorization, state concession, or certificate of use. It is a wooden structure with small rooms for summer guests, a restaurant and a playground for children. A solid, newer but also abandoned structure with more rooms was built just beside.
The scratching circles were recorded on the terraces, between the rooms and next to the playground. The surface is tiles, sand, rubbish, wood and stones. Everything is sandy. The waves of the sea can be heard in the background.
SCRATCHING A MOUNTAIN VILLAGE
Cunziria is a village the dates of whose founding as an urban nucleus are unknown, but it is known that in the 1920s a slow decline began, until the 1960s, when the artisan practice of tanning stopped. Some houses have been restored but left behind unfinished and are now used as stables. In one house we found raw sheep’s wool covering the ground. At a nearby sheep farm, the farmer offered us plenty of raw wool for free. The scratched circles are partly inside and partly outside of the houses. Sometimes it was hard to move the tentacle through the plants covering the buildings. One of the circles is performed inside of a cellar, with basins formerly used for tanning. The surface varies from dense, thorny bush, stones, mud and clay to tiled floor in the restored rooms. In the background it is possible to hear sheep and sheep bells, birds, and from time to time a car on the close-by small road.
SCRATCHING A COMMERCIAL AREA
Beside Route S115 south of Catania is an abandoned commercial area with five big buildings. They were built in the 1990s, and given up after a short period of usage. The reason was that the new Catania-Syracusa highway was built only a short distance away, and the formerly busy road along the coast was almost forgotten.
Patinaed signs on the wall still show that there once was a supermarket, a car-dealership, a furnisher….. Now a semi-organic layer covers the almost-new concrete floors, and birds fly about the huge halls, while wild plants crack the surfaces.
SCRATCHING A CASTLE
Castello del Duca di Misterbianco is an old castle-like villa, built in 1930, not far from a river and the beach. It has many rooms, and horse stables. It was abandoned in the Second World War after it was heavily bombed and partly destroyed by english soldiers, attacking the Germans who had occupied the castle.
It is covered with plants. The surface is rocky. Two of the scratched circles were done on two different flat roofs on a windy day, the other ones inside of the structure, where it was even difficult to move the tentacle because of all the stone shards and plants scattered around.
SCRATCHING A FURNITURE STORE
Sicilmobile is a big furniture store built in the late ’70s in Brutalist concrete style. It was abandoned around the year 2000 for economic reasons. The building with its two levels is amazing and spacious. A restaurant was connected to the commercial area.
The area has been used by skateboarders for some time. The surface is tiles, concrete, small stones and pieces of glass. In the main halls, broken bricks, fallen from the ceiling, cover the floor. One of the scratched circles was done outside of the building and the rest in different parts inside. There are two roads with a constant flow of traffic close to the building. The airport is also close.
SCRATCHING A BRICK FACTORY
Noted art critic Vittorio Sgarbi described Fornace Penna as “a secular basilica by the sea.” Indeed, this abandoned industrial structure echoes some of the crumbling medieval cathedrals scattered around Europe. Built entirely from solid stones in the early 1900s, Fornace Penna specialized in manufacturing bricks sold them across the Mediterranean region. However, business lasted only a little over ten years. On the night of January 24th, 1924, arson turned the factory into the fascinating and deserted stone skeleton we see today. The wind blows through the arcs of the ruins, which are heavily covered with all kinds of plants. There is an almost round, accessible vaulted kiln under the center of the building.
With so many plants and rocks all over the place, it was difficult to find any locations for the scratchings. The waves of the sea can be heard in the background. At one place, a lizard tried to attack the tentacle during scratching.
SCRATCHING A PAPER MILL
S.p.a Cartiere Larena is a paper mill that was closed more than 30 years ago. It appears that the first paper made in Europe was produced in Sicily toward the end of the tenth century, and there are still several specialized paper producers, but this mill didn‘t survive the economical crisis of the ’80s. It is a beautiful building, still containing two big huge stone bowls, with motor-driven millstones inside. The surface is variable, from stone to clay and gravel. A road is close to the building and in the background a football match can be heard.
SCRATCHING A BORGO
Borgo Rizzo is one of the borgos in Sicily that were built between 1939 and 1940 under the then fascist government, with the goal of transforming agricultiral production systems and colonizing fertile, unused areas by attracting farmers to new villages that provided all main services, such as schools, churches, post offices, etc. Some of the houses have been partially renovated with EU funding, but remain unfinished and unused, tending to turn into the new generation of ruins.
The area is very quiet with only very few cars driving on the nearby road. A wild dog with two puppies lives on the terrace of one of the houses. All in all it has the atmosphere of a ghost town.
SCRATCHING A FORWARDING COMPANY
Transporti Avimec was a big Catanian freight-forwarding company which was seized and closed in 1989 on suspicion of having been owned by the mafia and used for illegal transactions. Several attempts by mafia members to buy the company back were not successful. It was possible to enter the closed property by a hole in the wall. In the private house on the property, everything seemed to have been left behind from one minute to the next. Children’s toys, furniture and beds appear recently abandoned.
The halls and the courtyard are empty. The area’s surface is partly covered with rubbish or birds‘ faeces. In the distance, traffic and the neighbours‘ trucks can be heard.
SCRATCHING A CHAPEL
The final exhibition was presented as a site-specific audiovisual installation at the former Oratory of Santa Maria del Sabato in one of the oldest parts of Palermo. The chapel is in a state of abandonment, waiting to converted into a synagogue. In the past it was a mosque, then a synagogue, and an oratory. The first scratch was taken in the empty hall, with just one tentacle scratching a circle.
The second one is, as it was during the installation, recorded at the center of the middle circle of three motor-driven circle-scratching tentacles, with raw sheep’s wool covering parts of the floor, being moved from time to time by the tentacles. The third recording is the sound of the three tentacle circles, recorded from beside them.
https://www.gruenrekorder.de/?page_id=18680
|
2020 |
€18.00 |
|
| KHOST |
Corrosive Shroud |
CD |
"Khost is Andy Swan (Iroha, Final, Atrocity Exhibition),and Damian Bennett (Carthage, Deathless).
Corrosive Shroud is the second album from Birmingham band khost, following the 2014 debut Copper Lock Hell. The album has a singular theme: inside the hand-me-down concrete relics in which we necessarily live and from which we draw perceptions. The music is the sound of lightless blocks, oxygen-starved sheds and apparitions, using stark and unrefined found sounds stacked against Khost’s massively detuned guitars. The album includes Eugene Robinson of Oxbow and Syan who add their stories to the narrative, along with personnel Jo Quail, Daniel Buess, Gustave Savy and featuring a contribution from Tel Aviv-based Hostage." [label info]
www.coldspring.co.uk
"Khost's Copper Lock Hell was a powerful debut where mammoth doom chords were pit against industrial electronics. Corrosive Shroud continues with Khost's customary slow, monolithic riffing; a half-paced grind pitched so low it just vibrates. But layered with that sound is bleak psychedelic textures, swirls of Japanese and mid-Eastern influences, ethereal chants all of which conjure up arcs of beautiful melodies. There is so much more to Khost than their room shaking hypnotic shudders but it just takes a little effort to hear them. 'Avici' continues the fascination with "avici hell", as recorded in the The Sutra of Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha's Fundamental Vows, which began on Copper Lock Hell aided by the Gnostic electronics of fellow Midlands outfit Tunnels of ĀH, who feature former Head of David singer Stephen ĀH Burroughs. They're absent from Corrosive Shroud, but some other contributors such as Oxbow's frontman Eugene Robinson and cellist Jo Quail are carried over from Khost's debut, with fresh contributors including Syan, Daniel Buess, Gustave Savy and Chris Turner.
Guitars shudder amidst pummelling and crashing drums on the opening crawl that is 'Avici', combining a low grating voice with higher registered chants that carry an air of mystical otherworldliness. Those chants are woven, like a mysterious entity, throughout subsequent tracks such as 'Revelations Vultures Jackals Wolves', 'A Shadow On The Wound' and 'Black Rope Hell'. 'Revelations Vultures Jackals Wolves' unfolds to scorched earth guitar mangling, as background voices taken on a chant like shape, as violins weave amidst the clatter of crashing drums and cymbals. Bathed in feedback and frequencies it channels similar spirits to Skullflower in their most blackened death metal moments before the grind gives way to sombre cello movements. Khost's vocal delivery is steeped in an air of black metal; an impenetrable guttural rasp that that scrapes through the reverberating riffs of 'Black Rope Hell' - which almost sounds like another "avici hell" - before cavernous metallic clanking and ritualesque chants surround the monstrous roar and floor shredding tones of 'A Shadow On The Wound'. The oppressive onslaught of Khost belies a highly nuanced and layered sound that many can - and do - miss.
Khost are a Birmingham based duo featuring Andy Swan (Iroha, Final, Atrocity Exhibition) and Damian Bennett (Carthage, Deathless) and between them they have been part of Techno Animal, Final and 16/17. Khost almost seem to follow in the lineage of Kevin Martin's Pathological label. In fact, much of the drums and rhythm samples have been provided by Daniel Buess, the experimental musician and drummer behind avant jazz noiseniks 16/17 - and of course Oxbow who feature Eugene Robinson first surfaced via the Pathological release Fuck Fest. But, whatever, it's from 'Inversion', the fifth track on Corrosive Shroud, that Khost begin to seriously detour from their industrial doom sound with spacious detuned guitars seeking out the empty psychogeographic potential of vacant urban spaces and lightless structures. Sprawling guitar tendrils extend over pummelling low end bass recalling the loping rhythmic bass that underpinned the noise rock of Ice, Sweet Tooth etc, before it lurches to industrial atmospherics and the first appearance of Oxbow's Eugene Robinson with some brief spoken words. "Which way will the coin finally fall?" Syan asks posing a conundrum before the molten cyclical dirge textures of 'Forgery'. Oxbow's Eugene Robinson reappears at the tail end of 'Red Spot', an astounding piece of experimental clatter that passes from industrial free jazz via quaking guitar scrapes propelled by machine-like rhythm before slowing to bass laden industrial atmospherics featuring the spoken drawl of Eugene Robinson ruminating on Ballardian images of destroyed structures and empty living rooms. Khost really push the boundaries of their monolithic sound here, more than justifying their experimental metal tag here while the following track, 'Bystander', sees Khost at their most aggressive and forceful. From looped thudding beats it transforms into blistering waves of distorted guitar squall and shredded vocal howl, wrapped in mystical chanting, while from the "Conquer then run" 'looped phrase 'VMIH' launches into a series of words ending on the suffix "ate": capitulate, dominate, proliferate, emancipate, intoxicate, excruciate, repatriate, etc., over mechanised rhythms and stabbing bass pound like the onslaught of early Godflesh.
Just as Copper Lock Hell closed on a remix, Corrosive Shroud finishes on the 'Avici - Hostage Remix' which sees the Tel Aviv based drum and bass soundman Hostage exploring the mystical chants and chaotic rhythmic confusion found at the heart of the opening cut.
What with Skullflower, Tunnels of ĀH, Wicked King Wicker and now Khost, Cold Spring seem to be home to some of the most blackened psychedelic sounds, with their roots mired in the sound of the early industrial groups. On Corrosive Shroud, Khost drive their hypnotic monolithic grind further into multi-layered and noise drenched areas. They're certainly one of the most progressive experimental metal projects and if they must be regarded as doom metal I'd like to think of them as industrial doom. Who cares though, Khost are fantastic and Corrosive Shroud represents another astounding release from this uncompromising duo. Great stuff. For more information go to Cold Spring" [Compulsion Online]
|
2015 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Governance |
CD |
"Governance" continues KHOST‘s immersion in themes of detachment and dissonance, and ruminates upon the exertion of wills that are not your own, and upon the ways to detect and trace the outlines of the presence(s) that may exert these daily wills upon you, day by day. It was written over the course of the 2016/17 Winter, during times of unease and sickness for the band, including one near-death experience. The resulting album is a hinterland of low resolution transmissions interspersed with broad concrete columns of distortion that loom suddenly from the dim landscape. Governance is like driving at night with your spirituality asleep at the wheel.
With demoralizing vocal terror, hypnotic nightmarescapes, frost-encrusted tones, and horrifying rhythms, KHOST’s Governance devastates the listener with nearly fifty minutes of entrancing yet hazardous tectonic doom-laced revulsion. Features guest appearances from Eugene Robinson (OXBOW), and Jo Quail, and includes a remix of the track 'Coven' by Tel Aviv artist Adrian Stainburner.
|
2017 |
€12.00 |
|
| KHOST (DECONSTRUCTED AND RECONSTRUCTED BY) GODFLESH |
Needles into the Ground |
LP |
"Needles Into the Ground contains material by Khost which has been elementally transformed by Justin Broadrick of Godflesh. The original Khost material – taken from their second album Corrosive Shroud – is dense, multifaceted and purgatorial with no straightforward ‘stems' based approach. Broadrick has extracted what he needed for his work whilst in pure Godflesh mode. As a result, the outcome is claustrophobic and frenetic, the experience akin to being in the proximity of a large, unstable machine on the verge of meltdown. In addition to these pieces, Khost has added a new track.
Vinyl comes with download code.
"If it was a painting it would be about a kilometer wide held up by old, thick metal supports and wires that creak in wind, in parts abstract, in parts quite hard to decipher, and the materials would be oil like and seeping, never quite drying out" (Khost)."
www.coldspring.co.uk
|
2016 |
€18.00 |
|
| KILLY DOG BOX |
Against the forgetting |
CD-R |
After the nice cassette a new work from this english project – their sound is ultra dark & minimal ambient industrial with a classical touch, they use vocals for instance, but everything stays alien & surreal & non-obvious. Very appealing stuff, recommended! |
2002 |
€10.00 |
|
| KINETIX |
Gestaltsystem 01: Possible Forms |
do-CD |
Interessanter Installations- / Konzeptkunst-Release dieses italienischen SoundArt-Projekts auf dem russischen Monochrome Vision-Label, in dessen äussere Audioform man interaktiv eingreifen kann GESTALTSYSTEM 01: POSSIBLE FORMS besteht aus 2 CDs mit exakt gleicher Länge (42:42 min) und exakt gleichlangen 8 Tracks (5:20 min). Beide sollen gleichzeitig abgespielt werden, wobei Lautstärke und Reihenfolge variiert werden können. Die schwarze CD enthält „metrische“ Ton-Elemente, die weisse CD „noise drones“, es entstehen fliessende digitalelektronisch-mathematische Soundscapes, die z.B. an IKEDA denken lassen... perfekt für die eigene Home-KlangInstallation.
“This release is a totally reworked version of "Possible Forms" previously produced as CDR in edition of 100 copies by Nova Ars Digitandi, and it's a part of "Gestaltsystem" installation.
It has unique conception of everchanging soundsculpture, composed by randomly juxtaposed audio fragments of the specially designed structure. This is the best digital sound art piece we ever heard, and it should appeal to all minimal electronic music admirers.” [label info]
"POSSIBLE FORMS is not a double-CD album, but it’s an audio-set composed by two CDs planned to be played simultaneously. It includes sixteen electronic compositions of identical length (5’ 20”) for a total time of 42’ 42” for each CD.
This work is conceived in order that every track of each record could play as second layer on every track of the other one. For this reason, the tracks hasn’t neither title nor a pre-arranged sequential order.
Macrostructure: the Black CD includes 8 tracks with metrical-tonal elements, while the White CD contains 8 tracks of only noise drones. Both CDs have the same peak level (0dB), so the listener can choose the respective volume of each CD. These recordings contain ultra/sub sonic frequencies; for this reason the author advices the listener not to play the CDs at high volume.
Microstructure: all the tracks are obtained from a special combination of forty different audio fragments, previously selected and extracted from various digital sources. The minimal form of the entire work was specifically created to facilitate the listening in combined modality, establishing this way a precise relationship between sign and function.
Vertical audio system: using two CD players (or CD-ROM/DVD players) in Random / Shuffle and Repeat modes, both players have to be started simultaneously. So, the two records can be played together ad libitum, generating sounds and sequences in continuous movement.
POSSIBLE FORMS uses sound strategies based on the calculation of auditive times and spaces in order to create a different kind of audio-logic design. In this sense this work can be intended as a device able to expand the ordinary possibilities of domestic listening." - liner notes
Composed 2001-2002.
Originally released as Kinetix (2) - Possible Forms on CDrs and limited to 100 copies.
Re-worked 2004-2005. This edition is limited to 500 copies.
|
2006 |
€8.50 |
|
| |
Selected E_Missions |
CD |
"SMALLVOICES proudly present the first official cd album of new italian project KINETIX.
Since 1999, KINETIX is the new moniker of Gianluca Becuzzi, artist active since the first half of the 80’s.
This CD includes material written during the first years of KINETIX artistic activity (2000/2002). It’s constituted by six tracks (identified by graphic signs) presented in totally unreleased versions. This work can be considered as KINETIX official debut; the start point to approach to the KINETIX aesthetic and artistic dimension.
"Selected E_Missions" presents a collection of deep and wrapping digital soundscapes, dotted by micro-noisy granular material, resonant fields where time and space humble themselves in a single perceptive continuum.
The tracks are the result of a perfect organization of sound. Contemporary, abstract, cold, minimal, dense, intense and evocative drone music. First volume of the SMALLVOICES series of KINETIX releases.
Released in an elegant digipack." [label info]
www.smallvoices.it
|
2004 |
€13.00 |
|
| KIRCHENKAMPF |
Babel |
do-CD |
Dunkle Drone-Ambience, hallend, wummernd, unheimlich...metallische Obertöne, endlose Flächen & Äthernoise ... wie fast immer sind es religiöse Themen, die ihren Ausdruck finden bei KIRCHENKAMPF; beeindruckend, wie das ganze am Ende in immer bedrohlichere, ausserweltliche Gebiete abdriftet... filed under: apocalyptic dark ambient.
" "Babel" follows the recent and well-received albums "Island of the Dead" (on Cohort) and "Transmissions" (which we released last year). It is an extremely dynamic and dense work that could generally be classified as experimental dark ambient. The theme here is the Tower of Babel and each disc takes a somewhat different yet complimentary approach: the first ("Red Babylon") is generally a rather heavy and intense recording, while the second ("Citadel of the Nevermind") is more droney and dream-like. A profound and monumental journey lasting well over two hours. 'kirchenkampf', the project of John Gore (Cohort Records, The Oratory of Divine Love, >wirewall<), has been active since 1986. Since that time he has released numerous recordings on his own and other labels. Additionally, John has collaborated with a number of others, including Steve Hall (Yen Pox), C. Reider, and Brett Smith (Caul). The CDs come packaged in a stunning printed gatefold sleeve." [press release]
http://discs.diophantine.net/
|
2007 |
€16.00 |
|
| KIRKEGAARD, JACOB |
Phonurgia Metallis |
CD |
Three freely hanging metal plates Iron, Copper, Brass
Each 100 x 100 x 01 cm
edition of 300
Piezo sensor and contact speaker attached on rear side of each plate Amplifying and mirroring their subtle and naturally occurring vibrations Evoking the characteristic resonant frequencies of each type of metal
The sound art of Jacob Kirkegaard explores ways to reflect on immediate complex, unnoticed or unapproachable aspects of the human condition or civilisation. His works have treated themes such as radioactivity in Chernobyl and Fukushima, melting ice in the Arctic, border walls in Palestine, and tones - otoacoustic emissions - generated from the actual human ear.
Currently Jacob Kirkegaard works on two projects, one on the sound of global waste and waste management. The other on sound environments related to the immediate human post mortem.
With his peculiar alchemist approach and extensive research, complex phenomena and current conditions are portrayed through composition, installation, video and photography. Rather than providing answers, his portrayals create spaces for reflexion.
Kirkegaard has presented his works at galleries, museums, biennales and concert spaces throughout the world, including MoMA in New York, LOUISIANA - Museum of Modern Art and ARoS in Denmark, The Menil Collection and at the Rothko Chapel in Houston, The Sydney Biennale in Australia, Aichi Triennale in Nagoya, the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, Japan.
Jacob Kirkegaard has gallery representation through Fridman Gallery (New York, USA) and Galleri Tom Christoffersen (Copenhagen, DK). His work is represented in the permanent collection of LOUISIANA - Museum of Modern Art in Denmark.
One of contemporary sound art's most subtle, intriguing figures. More artistically minded than field recordings, more naturally hewn than noise tapes, Kirkegaard amplifies hidden worlds into evocative drifts. Rolling Stone, December 2015
Kirkegaard has countered Duchamp’s dictum, “One can look at seeing, one can’t hear hearing.” Douglas Kahn, Earside Out, 2014
For all the scientific rigour to Kirkegaard's research into the sonic possibilities of various materials, his work reveals an underlying fascination for the mysteries and myths embedded in them. His work channels an access to an inner world. A.H. Neset, The Wire, 2009
https://importantrecords.com/products/jacob-kirkegaard-phonurgia-metallis-cd
|
2019 |
€15.00 |
|
| KIVA |
same |
do-CD |
"CD 1: 11 April 1991 (Track 1): Keith Humble, piano, Jean-Charles Francois, percussion, John Silber, trombone, violin, Mary Oliver, violin, viola. 11 April 1991 (Track 2): Keith Humble, piano, Jean-Charles Francois, percussion, John Silber, trombone, violin. CD 2: June 1985 (Track 1): Keith Humble, DX7, electronics, Jean-Charles Francois, percussion, electronics, John Silber, trombone, violin, electronics. Two Poems of the Absurd & Two Poems on the Absurd (tape collage by John Silber of KIVA performances) (Track 2): Keith Humble, DX7, voice, electronics, Jean-Charles Francois, percussion, voice, electronics, John Silber, trombone, violin, voice, electronics, Mary Oliver, violin Eric Lyon, computer vocoder manipulations of John Silber's sounds.
The research-performance group KIVA was created in 1975 by the American trombonist John Silber and the French percussionist Jean-Charles François as part of a research project at the Center for Music Experiment at the University of California San Diego. During the period of its existence (1975-91) various members (often graduate students from UCSD) joined the two permanent musicians, John Silber and Jean-Charles François, to contribute to the groups artistic production. Two personalities had an important impact on the development of the KIVA aesthetical posture: the Korean dancer Hi-ah Park between 1978 and 1985, and the Australian pianist and composer Keith Humble between 1984 and 1991. The important contribution of the KIVA project to the artistic field can be defined as an emancipation of the classical performer from the role of interpreter of written music to one that involved being fully an actor of artistic creation through the direct production of sounds on instruments and related objects. This has been often characterized in the musical world as ?improvisation?. But the group would not adhere to the overtones associated with this word, implying spontaneous behavior or social interactions without specified aesthetical content. For KIVA the refusal to use any notation on paper was the occasion to access the complex and chaotic nature of sound objects. Through an everyday work in progress, the group was able to elaborate an original language constituted directly from working on sound matter. KIVA described itself as an experimental group dedicated to notationless music, mixed media, extended instrumental techniques. The group KIVA has always refused to publish its work through recordings. Every working session of KIVA was recorded on audio format, but this only constituted a tool for the reflection of its members. The real artistic object was always considered to be the contextual circumstances of a given performance, the reenactment, always different, of the working out of already elaborated sound materials. In this sense no particular instant can be regarded as constituting a work object of the KIVA experience. But the context today has changed, since two of the main important members have died (Keith Humble and John Silber), the other protagonists are getting old, and so are the few who have been fortunate to listen to KIVAs performances. The publication of a CD of selected performances of KIVA today makes sense, in that it documents an important historical moment and provides the artistic community with sonic references of this ephemeral type of work." [label info]
www.pogus.com
"Pogus keeps finding material in archives all over the world interesting music from many moons ago. Here they present a double CD by Kiva, a 'research/performance' group Kiva, which was started in 1975 by trombonist John Silber and percussionist Jean-Charles Francois, who both worked at the Center for Music Experiment at the University of California San Diego. Graduate students played along with them. Two persons became important, the Korean dancer Hi-ah Park and pianist Keith Humble. Kiva was about the 'emancipation of the classical performer from the role of interpreter of written music to one that involved being fully an actor of artistic creation through the direct production of sounds on instruments and related objects'. Yet they didn't want to call this improvised music. But I would. This is hardcore improvised music. Kiva apparently recorded everything and we get here three out of four pieces of such improvised concerts. One is supposed to have some sort of electronics, which I
somehow don't hear back in this recording, but perhaps its there. Otherwise these three pieces are explorations of trombone, percussion and piano. Not unlike AMM at times, but maybe also a bit more straightforward in their approach. Its actually quite nice altogether, but also quite a long sit through. The fourth pieces is a sound collage of Kiva playing music, set along tape manipulations of Antonin Artaud's poem 'Pour En Finir Avec le Jugement De Dieu' and vocal improvisations of Silber and Francois. An entirely different piece, even when it comes from the world of improvisation too, but it distinctly different. This is not music to just put on and do the dishes, this is something that requires ones full attention, and perhaps best had in one piece at a time." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€18.00 |
|
| KLANK |
same |
CD |
"Two years in the making, aufabwegen presents the first ever studio album of Bremen-based MusikAktionsEnsemble KLANK. Co-produced by Radio Bremen’s contemporary music department and featuring singer Friederike Menz on various tracks, KLANK left its accustomed territory of energetic yet intimate performative stage action to enter the fine historic recording arena of Sendesaal Bremen. For this release the four members of KLANK focused on acoustic spaces and auditive situations recording hours and hours of material. While the opener RÅE N presents an almost architectural approach to the dense microtonal logics of noise and drone the three piece set of CONTAMINECHNO is a neat and surprising exploration of radioplayeske atmospheres and contemporary electronic music alike. The mono-ridden Der PRODUKTIVE KONSUMENT links the bobostertaglike assembling of ensembles at the computer with thoughts about various fields of consumerist homerecording while DIE MECHANISCHE CD for a moment neglects the data sound carriers and storage systems usually are used for, perceiving CDs, MDs and the like as sonic objects with their own musical quality. Closed by a brief passage through possible constellations within an improvising quartet, ÄÇEX, the release is, after all, linked to KLANK’s musical – live – practice.
Additional information: www.klank.cc/cd/
On KLANK (the Artist): KLANK is a music/performance ensemble based in Bremen, Germany. Founded by improvisers Reinhart Hammerschmidt and Hainer Wörmann, sound-performer Tim Schomacker and composer / instrumentalist Christoph Ogiermann in 2008, KLANK’s sonic universe combines various musical experiences, influences and approaches.
KLANK soon found common ground in both, the complex and dense logic of the interaction in playing improvised music and in researching the musical potential of various materials from everyday life. Be it kitchen utensils, office equipment, children’s toys or tools from whatever workplace – KLANK is able and willing to declare almost everything a musical instrument to expand the range of its sonic creations.
KLANK immediately realized that its music doesn’t just sound – but that it “looks like”, also. So the quartet started to focus on performative and site-specific concepts, establishing a unique brand of Klang-Aktionen (music- or sound-based performances) involving the use of body, voice, video and various theatrical elements.
Improvisations and conceptual pieces for quartet remaining the core of KLANK-Arbeit, the ensemble conceived and produced a series of music/theater-pieces and performances for larger ensembles. Collaborating with visual artists like painter/video artist Dina Koper or filmmaker Jan van Hasselt KLANK presented performance pieces like ANUNDFUERSICH (2011) and films like UND BEFREIEN SIE VON WAS (2012).
December 2013 will see a tour d’allemagne with french saxophonist Bertrand Denzler as the third installment of the bilateral THE FRENCH KONNEKTION program, an ongoing collaboration with Institut français de Brême." [label info]
www.aufabwegen.de
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| KLEISTWAHR |
This World is not my Home |
CD |
"The latest album from Gary Mundy (Ramleh), who has been using this moniker since the early ‘80s to further furrow the worlds of intense electronics, harrowing psychedelia and violent or claustrophobic atmospherics he is already known for. Less prolific than Ramleh, Kleistwahr began with several cassette releases on Gary’s own much revered Broken Flag imprint and has subsequently been afforded more releases by labels such as Noise War, Noiseville and Harbinger Sound. This World Is Not My Home collects seven pieces recorded between 2013 and 2014 of mostly instrumental sprawling guitar & electronic works. Released in an edition of 300 in a Broken Flag-type sleeve. Released in August 2014." [label info]
www.fourth-dimension.net
"Obviously because of its noise based content I could leave this to Jliat for closer inspection, but instead I played it, and meanwhile took out As Loud As Possible volume 1, an excellent book/magazine (Vital Weekly 756), which contained a very in-depth survey of the catalogue of Broken Flag, the mighty power electronics label from the 80s. The label's main band was Ramleh, a duo including Gary Mundy, also label boss, who, in order to fill up the early days of the catalogue, 'invented' a group called Kleistwahr, but which effectively was his own solo project. Over time that project disappeared, but in 2009 he returned with a LP for Noiseville, which I didn't hear, but according to that article was received with mixed reception. Now there is a new CD, a thirty-seven minute, of very loud, electronic music. Apparently Mundy uses guitar and electronics in Kleistwahr these days, which was hard to tell, I thought. Everything is cranked up to something very loud, but not without detail.
Kleistwahr is noise, yes, no doubts there, but it's not of the harsh noise wall variation. This obviously no longer has the shock it had so many years ago, and might even be called conservative to some extent. Who cares about something original these days? That must be something from the past. The music, while recorded and mastered better, has more power it seems than 'back then'. With Mundy adding vocals at the end of this, it sounds like Ramleh, and that happens to be one of my favourite power electronics from the 80s (before they picked up guitars, which, in my humble opinion, they shouldn't have done. Excellent release! The cover is a very nice CD version of the old label design. Maybe there could even be a series in this, re-issues, and new works? Where do we sign up?" [FdW/Vital Weekly] |
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
|
The Return |
CD |
"Following the 2014 release of Kleistwahr’s latest album, This World Is Not My Home, also on Fourth Dimension Records, The Return is a remastered reissue of a limited edition LP originally on Noiseville Records. Both now long out of print and collectible, Gary Mundy (Ramleh, Breathless, Broken Flag, etc.) never felt completely satisfied with the Noiseville release, hence this revisit to redress the balance being more than justified. Here featuring two previously unreleased bonus cuts, ‘The Storm’ and ‘The Resounding’, the album has been digitally remastered by Gary to capture the intention originally in mind; to render the music at once powerful and dynamic in a setting where volume also plays a significant part of the sound. As with Gary’s long-running group, Ramleh, the music of Kleistwahr stems from a place both angry and anguished. Underpinned to a huge sense of existential despair, a sense of urgency and frustration likewise screams from this music. Long known for his part in creating a music subsequently known as ‘power electronics’, itself copied by hundreds of groups to lesser effect or duly seen as a wellspring of inspiration by countless others often removed from this form, along with Whitehouse and Consumer Electronics, Gary Mundy’s own forays here have always ventured far beyond such convenient trappings. Kleistwahr, his solo enterprise, pays testament to both this and, more importantly, Gary’s place as a progressive and highly accomplished visionary artist deserving far more than his status as a merely cult concern. The Return witnesses electronic music once more teased and reshaped into something highly original by one of the genre’s master craftsmen. Listen to it as loud as your ears can take. Packaged in gatefold Broken Flag-style sleeve. Released in late September 2015." [label info]
www.fourth-dimension.net
"Not only is there a killer new Ramleh double cd set on this week's list, but we also just got a first-time-on-cd edition of this, originally released on vinyl in Noiseville's awesome (and super limited) Outer Bounds Of Sound series in 2009, Kleistwahr being another project of legendary UK noise merchant Gary Mundy (Ramleh, Skullflower, Broken Flag collective) that fits nicely within the man's legacy of harsh electronic noise. Anyone digging Skullflower's more recent forays into blown out guitar skree (and we know there are plenty of you out there) will find much to love here. The four songs making up The Return contain all the air raid siren guitars and eardrum pulverizing feedback we have come to love, but things take a surprisingly beautiful turn on what was side two of the original lp, with warm droney keyboards weaving a haunting melody that perfectly compliments the album cover, a stark photocopied image of a building foundation sitting exposed in the snow surrounded by dead trees. Though the songs are instrumental, Mundy is able to perfectly convey a feeling of despondency and sadness, genuine emotions that definitely set Kleistwahr apart from the multitudes of floorcore outfits, all hunkered over effects pedals making lots of noise, but very little of it as compelling and emotionally charged as this." [Aquarius Rec.]
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Common Values |
CD |
"Since 2014 Gary Mundy of Ramleh and Breathless has been releasing most of his solo work through Fourth Dimension Records. Common Values is his seventh such album for the label (not including a reissue of 2009’s The Return album, originally released on vinyl by USA’s long gone by legendary Noiseville, and the LP reissues of the Broken Flag albums Mobility and Do Not also shipping in October 2022) and gathers another six mighty cuts that on one hand continue his penchant for exploring more serrated sonic landscapes and, on the other, keep those in check with a tempered approach to atmospherics that this time round is widened further by almost kosmische-like curdled organ playing,, electronic swirl, psychedelic guitar mainlined from one of Saturn’s outer rings, and occasional haunting yet despairing vocals that are more pronounced than ever before. Common Values is a title itself that simultaneously commands empathy as well as a wry nod towards the irony at work. If anything serves as a common thread in all of Gary’s work then it’s not only in his love of stratospheric sounds, but also this deep sense of anguish due to hoping things will improve whilst knowing that humanity is its own worst enemy. It’s this quality that binds his music together and is laid barest in Kleistwahr. Common Values sounds both like a basic recognition of a quality most individuals are possessed with whilst they tear each other apart because of perceived differences or a disagreement over fundamental truths. If Kleistwahr tread any line, then it’s right here. Common Values might well be illuminating this more than ever.
This is the thirteenth Kleistwahr album since 1983's Myth (reissued as a limited edition LP by Harbinger Sound in 2011).
Packaged as usual in gatefold-LP style sleeve in a characteristic Broken Flag design once again featuring fantastic photos by Chris Low, this album appeared in late October 2022 and is shipping now. 300 only."
https://fourthdimensionrecords.bigcartel.com/
"Gary Mundy might be best known as the man behind Ramleh (well, to the readers of these pages), but Ramleh is a group (I may have used this opening line
before). Kleistwahr is his solo project, and after a short period of activity in the 80s, releasing four cassettes (all re-issued on vinyl), he started again in 2010, and it's now the work he's most active with. His current Kleistwahr doesn't sound like the old incarnation, which was noisy and collage-like. The current Kleistwahr is noisy too, but a different kind of noise. Mundy uses a guitar, organ, synthesizers, and a plethora of sound effects and creates a multi-layered, orchestral sound. No doubt there is new technology available these days that allows him to use multiple layers in the music. As I noted before, Kleistwahr's music is not here to cheer anyone up. It is dark and grim, as opposed to dark and pleasantly atmospheric. The soundtrack for harsh times, and luckily (?) we have plenty of those these days. I wonder what the 'Common Values' are, according to Mundy. The titles of the pieces are puzzling, anyway. There is 'Time To Realise', 'Heaven Maybe Never', 'Toward A New
Land' or 'In Blood Covered Land', all of which don't provide clues but leave much to guess (and, yes, it sounds grim) Kleistwahr's music is not piercingly loud, but somehow pierces right into your brain. When vocals are used, they sound far away, like a cry for help or a howl of pain. Maybe the voice is that one thing that sounds like Ramleh. The harpsichord sound I heard before (Vital Weekly 1271) returns here and has that haunted house, shivers down the spine sound. The title track is the longest, and following the loudest start, the volume drops, and Kleistwahr is off to a collage of voices and suppressed sounds and is more a collage piece, as opposed to the others, which are layered and psychedelic noise pieces. An excellent album all around, and Kleistwahr goes from strength to strength." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
For the Lives Once Lived |
CD |
"Several years ago, Gary Mundy of Ramleh/Broken Flag (and far more besides) declared to me that he wished to do one new Kleistwahr album every year until he's no longer able to do them. Fourth Dimension Records has subsequently fulfilled a promise to honor this plan as much as possible and is managing to keep up so far. How Gary manages to keep pulling new ideas out of the proverbial hat at this rate is anybody's guess, but the latest album, For the Lives Once Lived illustrates very clearly that the wellspring he draws from has far from dried up. If you have been paying attention to the albums that have been released by Fourth Dimension Records during recent years, you should understand that his solo music has retained the molten intensity it has always been propelled by since Kleistwahr was founded in the early 1980s. While the work occasionally seems as though it draws from the same dusty religious setting as some of Messiaen's wonderful organ compositions, there's still an all-encompassing blanket of ravaged psychedelia firmly laced with blood-flecked barbs to help counter this. When Kleistwahr's music seems poised to elevate the atmospheric gestures towards the sublime and elegiac, there's always a gaping maw lined with razor-edged teeth lurking nearby to help keep all those lofty hopes and expectations from getting above themselves. For the Lives Once Lived may also surprise many with its opening song, "Rotten Boroughs," which both stands out from the rest of the album yet makes sense as part of it. This is another fantastic album from the unstoppable force that is Gary Mundy's Kleistwahr. Long may it continue. For the Lives Once Lived appears packaged in a Broken Flag-style sleeve featuring photos by Chris Low, design by Puppy38, and mastering by Sion Orgon."
https://garymundykleistwahr.bandcamp.com/album/for-the-lives-once-lived
|
2023 |
€13.00 |
|
| KLEMENT, KATHARINA |
Peripheries : Sound Portrait Belgrade 2014-2016 |
CD |
"In 2014, I spent nine weeks in Belgrade, focusing on the questions, “What does this city sound like? Is it possible to portray it using sounds?”
In numerous excursions to different areas of the city, I collected sounds and noises. In addition, I conducted several interviews about the soundscape of Belgrade with people of different ages and backgrounds. The resulting comprehensive acoustic archive, or memory, became the basis of my compositional approach.
One characteristic of Belgrade is its numerous peripheries: Even within the historic city center, you may quickly and unexpectedly find yourself in fringe areas. The transitions are sudden – when it comes to sounds, you abruptly move from loud and noisy areas into others that are delicate and subtle. Also, I discovered circles in various contexts: in architecture, in ornaments, in traffic regulations; even time seems to be perceived as circular rather than clocked and linear as it is commonly understood in central Europe.
I designed a score by using my city map: The location of my apartment was the center, around which I drew eight concentric circles. During the compositional process, all the recordings from each of these rings were combined into one layer, resulting in eight musical layers.
The piece was then composed with eight channels, for a setting that uses eight speakers. On this CD, you will hear a stereo version of the piece.
Like in an “acoustic blender,” selected field recordings (some raw and some processed) create a sustained moment of density: a musical likeness of Belgrade. While the components of this sound portrait are taken from the acoustic reality of the city, the compositional process transforms them, giving them a new quality. Belgrade’s highly expressive and captivating character was extracted and abstracted through music.
The entire structure is divided into smaller sequences which, however, merge seamlessly.
|
2017 |
€13.00 |
|
| KLIVE |
Sweaty Psalms |
CD |
"KLIVE ist das Solo Projekt von Ulfur Hansson, einem jungen Musiker aus Reykjavik, Island. Er ist sonst Live-Musiker bei JÓNSI (Solo-Projekt des Sigur Rós Gittaristen) und Bassist der Noisecore-Band SWORDS OF CHAOS.
Was SWEATY PSALMS auszeichnet, ist vor allem der am besten „organisch“ zu nennende Sound. Obwohl grundsätzlich elektronisch produziert, ist das Klangbild überraschend akustisch. Hierfür sorgen zunächst einmal die quäkend-exotisch klingenden Blechbläser seiner 3 Live-Begleitmusikerinnen (2010 auf Tour als Support von KIRA KIRA). Vor allem aber die Aufnahmen von original isländischen Klangereignissen (engl. Field Recordings) machen den ganz eigenen Charakter des Albums aus: Schwer zu sagen ob es sich um einen Flaschenzug oder ein vertautes, schaukeldes Ruderboot handelte, es klingt jedenfalls definitiv nach Holz und Wasser. Es knarrt, flötet, klappert und planscht unbekannterweise, lediglich Möven sind zu identifizieren. Und die Percussion auf DON’T GIVE UP THE GHOST ist tatsächlich das vehemente Schlagen auf Töpfe und Pfannen der aufgebrachten Bevökerung vor dem isländischen Parlament nach dem Finanz-Crash 2008!
All dies macht SWEATY PSALMS zum einem klanglich und musikalisch auffälligen und wahrscheinlich bislang am wenigsten elektronisch klingenden MILLE PLATEAUX Album. Bislang. // KLIVE is the solo project of Ulfur Hansson, a young musician from Reykjavik, Iceland. He is also a touring member of JÓNSI ( Jon Þor Birgisson of SIGUR ROS) and the bass player of notorious noisecore band SWORDS OF CHAOS.
Digital Folk From Iceland. SWEATY PSALMS sounds like water and wood. It bubbles, whistles and rattles indefinitely, with merely seagulls to be spotted. SWEATY PSALMS has a strong organic feel, mixed with tongue in-cheek brass samples and orchestrations that compliment heavily processed field recordings. In fact, DON'T GIVE UP THE GHOST include sounds from the vehement battering of pots and pans outside the icelandic parliament, after the nations financial crash and burn of 2008.
It's inverted folkiness and warm concrete touch makes SWEATY PSALMS a remarkable album, and probably MILLE PLATEAUX's least electronic sounding album so far. So far!" [label info]
www.mille-plateaux.com
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| KLOOD |
Negation |
mCD-R |
Nur selten erscheint neues KLOOD-Material, gemächlich und unaufgeregt verfolgt der Franzose Emannuel Haubry konsequent den eingeschlagenen Weg, so auch hier: zwei analog-elektronische Transzendental-Drone-Stücke, das eine einnehmend & warm & dunkel, das andere düster-geräuschhafter & in tiefsten Tiefen grummelnd....
“Klood is a french one-man project sometimes compared to early Ultra Milkmaids (he contributed to their "Mort Aux Vaches" CD) or Maeror Tri. The tracks on his first 3" (after several releases on various labels
such as Drone Records, Blade or EE-Tapes) shows two different sides of his apparently simple but highly evocative and emotional ambient music. First track is the bright one (who could even remind Angelo Badalementi's "Twin Peaks" soundtrack) while the second one is darker, slow and sinister...“ [label info]
|
2006 |
€5.00 |
|
| KMRU |
Stupor |
LP |
https://otherpower.bandcamp.com/album/stupor
Nairobi-born Berlin-based sound artist Joseph Kamaru, aka KMRU, shares his new work Stupor on the new Helsinki-based label Other Power. Commissioned by the Helsinki curatorial and commissioning agency PUBLICS, Stupor is comprised of three original long form tracks. The tracks on the album are speculative notes to social architectures and environments the artist has traversed.
As Bhavisha Panchia, a curator and researcher, writes in her liner notes:
“A musical alchemist, KMRU places his listeners’ ear into a sonic-spatial matrix in which he transmutes his trans-local experience of place into elevated sonic dimensions that demand a kind of listening that you need to surrender to. If listening positions you inside an event – into a relational, social and cultural act that also positions us in the world – then listening to this album projects you inside an indeterminate unfolding, thick with tensions of movement and transitions.
The artist’s pursuit of sounding out and responding to the world is undertaken through a creative mode of listening, recording and production, in which his ‘voice’ reverberates in his compositional arrangements – that mediate, translate, imagine and re-encode. As he engages with the environments he encounters, KMRU ‘renders sound negotiable, thinkable’.
His signature emerges through electro-acoustic forms as he configures spatial and temporal imaginaries still tethered to the experiences of the places his ear encountered. The tracks on this album, Stupor, are speculative notes to social architectures and environments the artist has traversed. His orchestrated compositions and arrangements levitate us and turn our ears towards places and times beyond our reach, propelling us into a future anticipated but ungraspable. It is exactly the physical and psychological space that KMRU forges from his recordings and digital processes that stretch and transform them into prolific sound ‘events’.
We could think of Nairobi and Berlin as instruments in KMRU’s compositions, where the east African city is the place from which KMRU’s listening has been nurtured, while the west European is the city to which his ear has been attuned. The artist’s relationship with Nairobi’s diverse neighbourhoods – from Kariokor flats in the Eastlands where he grew up, to the suburbs in Rongai – has shaped his approach. His ongoing recordings of the city are crucial to his process of working and become historical records that capture it in time. They could be thought of as aural archives of a postcolonial place, undergoing numerous planned and unplanned infrastructural as well as economic changes. He treats these sonic documents of a rapidly expanding postcolonial environment – alongside globalisation, hyper-capitalism and increasing economic disparity across the globe – as the foundations from which he creates.
Stupor reminds us that we are intrinsically spatial and temporal beings who contribute to the social construction of our worlds. Importantly, this album is a reminder of the capability of sound to carve out space and its potential to open spatial and temporal dimensions. Sound is movement. Sound is space. As Brandon LaBelle points out, “sound is both a thing of the past and a signal of the future”, pulling us forwards and pointing us back. The signals KMRU points us towards are indefinite, indeterminate and uncertain. They lean towards a future, yet never fully arrive there.
For Joseph Kamaru, sound is a sensorial medium through which social, material and conceptual interpretations are manifested in his works. KMRU carries with him a repository of listening experiences from Nairobi and beyond expanding his sonic practices, bringing an awareness of surroundings through creative compositions, installations and performances. KMRU has carved out a serious and definitive space on the list of essential authors in ambient experimental music - one of the most prolific and innovative artists in his field.
Composed by Joseph Kamaru
Mastered by Stephan Mathieu at Schwenbung Mastering
Original photos & artwork by Joseph Kamaru
OBI Design (Publics identity presence) by Valerio Di Lucente
Design by Matti Nives
Black vinyl LP edition of "Stupor". Inside out sleeve complete with OBI and printed inner sleeve with liner notes by Bavisha Panchia. Original photography and artwork by KMRU.
|
2023 |
€26.00 |
|
| KNIZAK, MILAN |
Broken Music |
LP |
"Black vinyl in a gatefold sleeve.
Original design + extra text.
Milan Knizak 1979's masterpiece never re-released before.
Milan Knizak (born 19 April 1940) is a Czech performance artist, sculptor, musician, installation artist, dissident, graphic artist, art theorist and pedagogue of art. Before everyone else - Christian Marclay, Philip Jeck, eRikm, Martin Tétreault, Otomo Yoshihide - there was Milan Knizak. In 1964, Milan Knizak, a member of Fluxus from behind the Iron Curtain, sat down on a sidewalk near the Charles Bridge in Prague, laid down a paper carpet right into the street, and starts tearing pages out of books and burning them... Around the same time, he began to create music from defective, worn, damaged or broken LP's. These Broken Music compositions, his classic collages of noises created during performances and happenings, are widely regarded as important sound art documents on record." [label info]
www.subrosa.net
"We had a cd reissue of this years and years ago, that's long out of print, but now here's a nice vinyl reissue of this pioneering 'turntablist' experiment from the '60s...
The Czech artist Milan Knizak began his art career without much success, getting himself thrown out of Pedagogic Uni Prague, Preliminary Art School Prague, and Art Academy Prague in quick succession. But during the mid '60s, Knizak affiliated himself with Fluxus and began experimenting with turntables, tape recorders, and the surfaces of vinyl in order to make a 'broken music,' predating the damaged turntable 'n' vinyl experiments of Christian Marclay by almost two decades! Originally he would just slow down and speed up his records to change to quality of the intrinsic music. But by 1965, he started to scratch the records, punch holes in them, sticking tape to the surfaces, dumping paint over whole record, burning them, literally cutting the records apart and gluing them back together. These would then be played on his turntable, and inevitably destroy the needle and often wreck the turntable itself! The collages that Knizak arrived at are nerve-wracking clattering works in which snippets of the original would emerge amidst erratic skips and asynchronous warbling. Certainly for those adventurous fans of Philip Jeck, "Metal Machine Music," and Marclay." [Aquarius Rec.]
|
2015 |
€16.00 |
|
|
Broken Music |
CD |
"Milan Knizak 1979's masterpiece never re-released before.
Milan Knizak (born 19 April 1940) is a Czech performance artist, sculptor, musician, installation artist, dissident, graphic artist, art theorist and pedagogue of art. Before everyone else - Christian Marclay, Philip Jeck, eRikm, Martin Tétreault, Otomo Yoshihide - there was Milan Knizak. In 1964, Milan Knizak, a member of Fluxus from behind the Iron Curtain, sat down on a sidewalk near the Charles Bridge in Prague, laid down a paper carpet right into the street, and starts tearing pages out of books and burning them... Around the same time, he began to create music from defective, worn, damaged or broken LP's. These Broken Music compositions, his classic collages of noises created during performances and happenings, are widely regarded as important sound art documents on record." [label info]
www.subrosa.net |
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Aktual Univerzita |
CD |
Milan Knízak canonical text Aktual University, dating from 1967, contains ten short lectures outlining the university's character - On Conflict, On Dreams, On Revolutions, On Love, On Belief, On Art, etc.
These lectures were to serve as inspirational schemes for lectures, seminars and discussions held at an ideal university.
In the first piece, Aktual University, Milan Knízak reads his own text, with Opening Performance Orchestra providing the musical accompaniment. It was performed live in October 2019 at the Movement-Sound-Space festival in Opava, where this recording was made.
The second track, titled Broken Suite, is a studio remix, in which Opening Performance Orchestra used fragments and quotations from Milan Knizák's compositions, conceived over the past fifty years, applying the "broken" method. The majority of them are made public for the very first time in the newly created Broken Suite.
The booklet features English translations of ten Aktual University lectures, as well as Milan Knizak's contemporary initiation text."
https://subrosalabel.bandcamp.com/album/aktual-univerzita
"...On the other hand, ‘Broken Suite’ is a “studio remix” of the preceding madness, drawing on his “broken” method to realise a sweltering, omnidirectional mass of fragments and quotations from Knízak’s compositions, conceived over the past 50 years. The result will make NWW and Merzbow fiends weep with pleasure as its monstrous flux comes to resemble an orchestra tuning up in the depths of Beelzebub’s workshop. It takes on a very uncanny nature in 2022 when considering that Knízak’s work was a direct response to, and extension of, his political stance against the communist regime." [Boomkat review] |
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
| KOCH, HANS W. |
The O. Theorem |
LP |
"hans w. koch (b. 1962) is a Cologne-based composer, performer, and sound artist. His work encompasses pieces for chamber and large orchestra, experimental scores for instruments, computers and everyday objects, sound installations, electronic music, etc. He summarizes his art as being about sculpting thoughts in diverse material and prefers conceptual approaches: "more thought, less material". koch studied composition with Johannes Fritsch and currently is professor for sound at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne.
Since the 1980s, koch has been concerning himself with the concept of "total harmony" (harmonie totale) introduced by Russian composer Nikolai Obouhow (1892–1954) where all twelve tones of the Western tonal system – in different octave ranges – are stacked into chord complexes, thus articulating the idea of a vertical twelve-tone music, as opposed to the horizontal twelve-tone music after Schönberg. Less than the mystical connotations expressed by Obouhow, koch is interested in the conceptual potential of this approach: a self-contained harmonic system in which every chord is an inversion of every other.
koch has made several works relating to total harmony and calls this work group "the O. theorem". This LP presents two pieces within this group: "stele fuer n.o." for large orchestra (2010) was premiered at the festival MaerzMusik in Berlin in 2010 with the Konzerthausorchester Berlin. "clock of fifths [totensonntag]" (2017) is an electronic piece where a field recording of church bells is filtered through a smartphone app developed by koch: The microphone signal is divided into twelve tone pitches that are heard in accordance with a timer that moves through the circle of fifths shown on the smartphone display. Edition of 300 in full-color sleeve. Printed inner sleeve with liner notes by Volker Straebel and hans w. koch."
https://www.edition-telemark.de/785.07.html
|
2018 |
€20.00 |
|
| KODAMA (HITOSHI KOJO & MICHAEL NORTHAM) |
Turning Leaf Migrations |
LP |
Nach der limitierten CDR auf HITOSHI KOJO Label OCTPIA ("Les Chambres Nuages", 2005) die erste Veröffentlichung des Duos (mit MICHAEL NORTHAM) in grösserer Auflage. Auf dieser LP schaffen sie mit Hilfe von Objekt-Klängen, rituell wirkenden Gesängen, traditionellen Instrumenten & Field Recordings sehr "konkrete" und doch oft fliessende, höchst ungewöhnliche psychedelische Geräuschmusik, deren Komplexität oft kaum durchschaubar ist - diese Überforderung eröffnet aber die Möglichkeit sich über die Ratio hinwegzusetzen und sich ganz den sich stets verändernden Strukturen hinzugeben.. .. die Aufnahmen stammen von verschiedensten (Aussen)-Orten, das "Studio" ist die Natur, die Psychogeographie als "nicht hörbarer" und doch erfassbarer Faktor spielt hier eine grosse Rolle. Einzigartige Transformationsmusik !
"Kodama is the ongoing recording project of two well-known visual and sound artists -- Hitoshi Kojo and Michael Northam -- and this is their first widely available release as a duo. Recorded in various improbable locations whenever they crossed paths over the course of several years and then finally edited and assembled in a cluttered garage in the west side of Indianapolis. There is a decidedly more improvisational feel and crisp psychedelic aura to these recordings when compared to their other work and one can hear the influence of Ghedalia Tazartes in how the various recordings were stitched together. To quote Hitoshi Kojo: 'We are the spirit of forest. Our howling has been offered to the many goddesses of the valleys. Teething our emptiness they, licking the stars, until white holes appear in our sky through them towards regenerative guides of the tonal-morphic omni-verses. Using found objects to seduce voices from unlikely sources as well as traditional instruments of wind, wires and wood. Kodama weaves between emotional poetry and dynamic forces of noises. The recordings have a strong atmosphere of each location -- the top of a mountain in Switzerland, a campground in Ohio, Lofoten Island in Norway, the arctic circle in Finland, Niagara Falls, etc. It includes a lot of the dirts of the raw recordings, but also incredibly beautiful moments such as the session with an owl in a Slovenian forest, an alpine summit singing meditation under the vast galaxy, and an encounter with the small people through strange ritual...' - HK. Limited pressing of 500 copies. Covers & insert printed on 2-color offset press with illustrations and design by Hitoshi Kojo." [label info]
"... All captured mainly outside, like the top of a mountain, a campground or the Lofoten Island. In terms of music I guess this is the best record of the lot, most thoughout and musically engaging. A refined mixture of ritual music (without those magickal overtones), drone, microsound and field recordings, all done in an unique way." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2008 |
€18.00 |
|
| KOLLAPS |
Until the Day I die |
CD |
"Until The Day I Die" is the third album from Australian post-industrial outfit KOLLAPS.
"Until The Day I Die" is a merciless and visceral assault on the senses and continues the trajectory of the band's idiosyncratic approach in their creation of sound. The album showcases an uncompromising force of harsh post-industrial music narrated by overarching themes of condemnation and redemption; of violence, romanticism, sexuality, and addiction. Much of the creation and lyrical conceptualisation of the record has been stylised and presented using William S. Burroughs' cut-up method.
A wide variety of metals and raw materials were used in the creation of the album including metal grates, a rusted hoist, cement cylinders, field recordings, hammering of various decrepit objects, broken amplifiers, an exposed reverb tank, various synthesizers, and the infamous metal coil; a crudely self-constructed artifice that has become iconic in its use across KOLLAPS' triptych of releases and lengthy touring history in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.
"Until The Day I Die" has had a tectonic shift in production methods compared to its predecessors and was entirely written, recorded, and mixed internally the self-constructed ILoveHeroin Studios built above a sculpture museum in Lugano, Switzerland. All instrumentation was handled by Wade Black except for bass guitar by Andrea Collaro recorded at Hangar 121 in Lenate Pozzollo, Italy on all tracks except "D-IX" and "I Believe In The Closed Fist," handled by Black, and additional sound design and percussion by Giorgio Salmoiraghi.
The album was mastered by James Plotkin and completed with cover artwork by Nullvoid (Thomas Ekelund | Trepaneringsritualen).
CD in 6-panel digipak || LP with full colour matt-laminate sleeve and printed inner lyric sleeve.
Written, recorded and mixed by Wade Black
Bass guitar by Andrea Collaro except “D-IX”, and “… Closed Fist”
Additional sound design and percussion by Giorgio Salmoiraghi
Mastered by James Plotkin
Recorded and mixed at ILoveHeroin Studios in Lugano, Switzerland
Bass recorded at Hangar 121 in Lonate Pozzollo, Italy and engineered collectively by Kollaps.
Artwork: Nullvoid (Thomas Ekelund)
#########################################
"Sometimes I go to a concert with minimal expectations. Once I decided to go to an unknown name, I didn't bother to investigate further; I just saw and be surprised. A few years ago, I decided to go to Kollaps, which I thought would be an Einsturende Neubauten-inspired thing, seeing they took the title of their first LP as a band name. I learned that they were from Australia and they used metal, synthesisers, maybe a bass and a singer. Oh, and a stack of amplifiers. I was pleasantly surprised that night. It was much louder than I anticipated (for no good reason). The group clearly found inspiration in SPK and Neubauten, but with a manic singer, screaming, shouting, pointing the microphone towards the amplifiers, generating feedback. There was great control among the various players, and I think they played songs and some mind-numbing barrage of noise. Back home, I shamefully admit, I didn't follow up on this concert, checking their work online. So, 'Until The Day I Die' is my first encounter with this group with studio recordings. I still enjoy what I hear and find some interesting musical nuances here. It is not a festival of feedback. Not that I expected this to be. There are quite a few of that, obviously, sitting next to banging on objects, screaming, but also a satire (I should think) of neo-folk in the title track. Complete with guitar and sad vocals, but drenched in reverb, leaning towards feedback. Some orchestral samples, mangled field recordings, and the military bang on the drums. Top-heavy music and filled with furious aggression. Not the dulcet tones of summer, but the sounds of a society collapsing in misery. I love it." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| KONKETE ANTI WULST |
Unsichtbare Zwillinge |
CD-R |
"Surrealist collage is the name of the game that Glenn Hollstein and Holger Bischoff play, both in their cover art as well as in the 45-minute sound piece it enfolds. Church organs criss-cross with voices from faraway, sounds of unidentifiable objects and strange, disembodied frequencies. A labyrinthine, slightly halluzinogenic sound trip.
The attraction of this work is in the way that it combines concrete sounds in ways that make them unfamiliar, draining the referential from it not by processing, but by combining them with other sounds. So it is totally clear that one is hearing human voices, but it is impossible to make out in which language they are speaking. Likewise, hardly any other instrument or sound-source is really recognisable, although none of them are clearly of synthetic origin. An intriguing sound puzzle!
File under: Sound art"
[label info]
www.attenuationcircuit.de
"Yes, it's really Konkete and not Konkrete Anti Wulst and it is a duo of Glenn Hollstein and Holger Bischoff, who have this sort of surrealist action in their music and art. I didn't hear from them before. Their credits go out to 'instruments, voice' and 'instruments, objects, tapes, voice'. Surrealist + music and I always think of Nurse With Wound with such a combination. That is only partly true in this case, as this duo operates on a much louder, noisier level. There is one piece here, forty-five minutes, of noise that is created with all electronics, all voices and all objects being treated with a chilling amount of reverb. In a way, to make a Nurse With Wound connection, I am reminded here of the '150 Murderous Passions' record, the Nurse With Wound/Whitehouse record (never properly re-issued). Maybe a bit less loud here, but with a similar approach to a wall of feedback/sound and far away voice material, as well as the rumbling of acoustic objects in the basement. It works best when the voices are a bit better to hear and it's less muddy, towards the end more than in the early parts of this piece. A very consistent piece of music for sure, perhaps not entirely new or innovative, but actually quite enjoyable. A grey rainy summer's day gets the perfect soundtrack!" [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€7.00 |
|
| KONRAD KRAFT |
Temporary Audiosculptures and Artefacts |
CD |
"After 15 years of silence this is the first major release by duesseldorf electronic artist detlef funder, aka konrad kraft.
In the early days of experimentation he was one of the leading figures behind the label SDV (Stimme des Volkes) who put out stuff by such great projects like Strafe Fuer Rebellion, Paul Schuetze and TUU. For "temporary audiosculptures and artefacts" detlef has changed his trademark ambient sound flows to resemble something that sounds liek a cross between fade out post-industrial, concrete sounds and a desire for filmic density. if that
makes any sense...
In his own words:
Trying to set musical events in a sculptural form, the Düsseldorf/Wuppertal based artist and musician Detlef Funder (a.k.a. Konrad Kraft), develops the temporary audio-sculpture. Knowing that a tonal event can never take the materiality of a real sculpture, Konrad Kraft attempts this special transformation with the help of various elements. Human imaginativeness,
time, as well as the tonal event itself are the elements for the listener to form an individual audio-sculpture and to let it develop in their heads. The audio-sculpture with its acoustic body, around which various tonal/sound
elements and events float, appears with a physical structure, a dimensionality. Tonal/sound elements are of various origins. In part elicited from nature, or being conjured up synthetically, or just being put together randomly, all elements are enhanced and altered sometimes significantly to the point that the character has changed completely and can
hardly be identified. The term ‘artefact’ relates to the fact that sound fragments, through the synthetic alteration, are broken-up and only exist and appear as particles. They flow as ‘artefacts’ in the tonal range. It sounds like floating metallic sound units interfere with small concrete sounds in the foreground. It reminds us at times of some of the work by Illusion Of Safety, Controlled Bleeding and Cisfinitum.
Detlef Funder alias Konrad Kraft Bio
1979 ¬ Purchase of first semi-modular synthesiser.
1982 ¬ Creation of experimental and avantgarde music project “Konrad Kraft“.
Various tapes and CDs as well as compilation tracks are published.
1988 ¬ 1994 Co-founder of the Düsseldorf based music label “SDV-Tonträger”.
Responsible for A&R work.
1989 ¬ 1999 Freelance work as video editor and post-production supervisor
for German broadcast and private TV.
1990 ¬ 2011 Producer of electronic music (experimental, ambient, techno) and
work as DJ and live-acts worldwide (“Konrad Kraft”, “Gilgamesch”,
“D-Fundation”, “Detson Engineering” & “Four Carry Nuts”).
2004 ¬ After a long break resumption of work as artist (fine arts and
painting).
2011 ¬ Release of Konrad Kraft “Temporary Audio Sculptures and Artefacts“
audio-CD, with the label “aufabwegen, Cologne”
Releases:
1992 Dino Oon & Konrad Kraft ¬ “Environmental Studies“ (SDV-Düsseldorf) CD
1996 Konrad Kraft ¬ Alien Atmospheres (Elektro Smog-Frankfurt) CD " [full label info]
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Accident in Heaven |
LP |
2nd re-issue of Konrad Kraft's mid 80s electronic underground recordings on TAL after "Arctica" in 2018. ACCIDENT IN HEAVEN was originally released in 1987 as a hand-made micro-edition of about 40 cassette tapes. It was only the third ever release on the short-lived now near legendary SDV label which had been established that same year by Konrad Kraft, Bernd Sevens and Dino Oon in Düsseldorf. Finally finding a more substantial and appreciative audience on vinyl over 30 years after its original limited release, ACCIDENT IN HEAVEN is a strong testament to the explorative experiments of Detlef Funder a.k.a. Konrad Kraft, whose homebuilt studio sound attempted to bridge the clinical roughness of Severed Heads and the psychedelia of Coil with the density and force of industrial, post-punk and prototechno. Concurrent with his ever-expanding production skills, KONRAD KRAFT's sound work in the second half of the 80s stayed firmly rooted within a highly stylised underground spirit. Both his music and also the freshly launched SDV label first and foremost served as a medium for communication. The vital urgency of ACCIDENT IN HEAVEN underlines the record's core narrative which arguably sounds even more futuristic today than it did 30 years ago.
|
2022 |
€23.00 |
|
| KONTAKT DER JÜNGLINGE |
1 (live Bremen 17.12.1999) |
CD |
Live-Aufnahme aus Bremen, vom 17.12.1999 !!
Great spherical drones played in collaboration by these two german masters of mysterious sounds! “ The first in a series of Live CD recordings by KONTAKT DER JUENGLINGE – a collaborational project by Asmus Tietchens & Thomas Koener. This one features their very first performance which took place on the 17. December 1999 in the Lagerhaus/Bremen. An approx. 46 min. long track that reveals something new with each listen. Edition of 500 copies with b/w bookprinted paper covers.” [label press release].
label-website: www.diestadtmusik.de |
2001 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
Makrophonie 1 |
CD |
"The first album by Kontakt der Jünglinge since the release of their CD n (DS63) on Die Stadt back in 2003, »Makrophonie 1« is also their very first studio album. It's the result of various scores which were developed before and during miscellaneous live performances. These worked out structures were then taken to the studio, where they were concentrated and received their final finish. »Makrophonie 1« can be described as KDJ music in highly-concentrated form.
The album was recorded at Audiplex Studios, Hamburg in 2013 and produced by Okko Bekker.
Limited edition of 500 copies in Digipack cover." [label info]
www.diestadtmusik.de
"It has been quiet for some years for Kontakt der Jünglinge, the duo of Thomas Köner and Asmus Tietchens. But after a bit of music on a compilation CD in 2007 it was all silent, and their main bulk of releases was already from 2001-2003. I don't assume there has been a band fight, but as these things go: people meet up, do something and do something with much interest for a while, but then get torn apart for whatever reason, usually other work somewhere else. I am sure that's what happened here, as nor herr Tietchens, nor herr Köner are persons to put up a band fight. Two of gentlest, kindest Germans I know. And two of the best in their respective fields. Closely linked perhaps, but also a bit different. Tietchens is the man who brings out musique concrete into the field of the unacademic composers, self-trained, and explorer of the terra incognita of the studio. It can take many forms. Köner does the same but much of his work is more spaced out, more drone like; the arch
father of Isolationist music - to some. Their duo is named after a pun on two works of Karlheinz Stockhausen, and so is the title of their latest work, 'Makrophonie 1'. That may all seem rather playful, but the music isn't that playful, and actually more serious. These thirty-seven minutes are filled by the darkest of drones, but not 'long fade in, and stay there for a long time, short fade out' (the cigar shape, as some one once noted), but we are transported through various moods and textures, ranging from the very soft, and not so outspoken ones, to the more louder passages of unearthy low drone sounds (Köner) and high clicks and beeps (Tietchens). At one point, around twenty-five minutes, I had the impression that this was live recording, as the feedback beeps that sound here are of a varying length and interval. Maybe it's intentional, I am not sure - the press text says this is a studio recording. They don't seem to be men who who make 'mistakes'. The balance moves like a ticking clock between these two opposites, the dark drone rumble of Köner and the more precise tinkling sounds of Tietchens, best exampled at the very end of this release. A work of powerful beauty of a very dark nature. Soundtrack music which is no need of a movie. I think it's a great work, but I am the first to admit I'm very biased. Recently I was going through lots and lots of CDs I have, and I decided to keep all of Tietchens works, including the previous releases by Kontakt der Jünglinge, and that means something to me. Not a single release I didn't like, and I can proudly add 'Makrophone 1' to my collection. As dark as the cover it comes in, but what a beauty." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€14.00 |
|
| KOPP, HERMANN / FUSILLER |
Les Naufrages |
LP |
"Best known for his scores to Jörg Buttgereit's cult films "Nekromantik", "Nekromantik 2", and "Der Todesking", this split vinyl (featuring with one with track with dark ambient artist Abattoir) sees German artist Hermann Kopp paired with Parisian electronic artist Fusiller (aka Jo Tanz). "Les Naufragés" ("The Shipwrecked") features geometric loops, dead melodies, synths, noise and vocals. Hermann Kopp started recording songs on tape in the 70's, combining his violin with a Moog imitation in a very personal and minimal approach to music, with lyrics that bordered on surrealism. In the mid-80's he became the fifth member of the experimental synthesizer band Keine Ahnung. Ltd x 200 copies with artwork by Piet du Congo."
https://ultimaratio1.bandcamp.com/album/les-naufrag-s
|
2020 |
€16.50 |
|
| KOUW, MATTHIJS |
The Great Image has no Form |
CD |
“The structure being so large, in order for an impression leading towards a possible overview, the participant, of necessity must encounter the limits of what they are able to hold in front of themselves. In doing so, a sort of ’stretching’ must take place, and with it, a kind of ‘friction’, which provides the energy necessary for Work, on a small scale.” - Andrew McKenzie
On this album, Matthijs Kouw presents pensive and melancholic drone-driven music driven by his long-time interest in Daoism and inspired by his visit to the Wudang mountains in China in 2007, where he studied Chinese meditation and martial arts.
Much like the Chinese landscape painting that provides the artwork for this release, the drones on The Great Image Has No Form slowly coalesce, evolve, and morph into metastable structures that linger on, only to slowly evaporate and dissolve into the undifferentiated.
Daoism teaches us that the foundational cannot be named and identified, but rather has to be experienced firsthand. This album is an invitation to the listener to dwell in this space of the unnamable and the mysterious, and to embrace it wholeheartedly.
https://escrec.bandcamp.com/album/the-great-image-has-no-form
--
Review by Peter van Cooten in Ambientblog:
Esc.rec. is a Dutch boutique label and platform for ‘adventurous music’. Its output is diverse, often with a strong relation to art projects, and – indeed – the best way to describe it is ‘adventurous’. Though some of their releases could be defined as ambient music, most are more ‘adventurous’ (duh) than that – ‘experimental’ is a better description. Which is why you’ll only find a small fragment of their output mentioned here. Which obviously does nót mean the other releases are not worth checking out too!
Matthijs Kouw‘s The Great Image Has No Form may very well be their most minimal ambient release to date. Kouw is a Dutch experimental musician ‘exploring the relationship between movement and stasis – combining long-form drone with elements from acousmatic music, noise and microsound’. He does so on his solo work (often as MVK), but he also explores extreme minimalist drones in collaboration with Radboud Mens.
The Great Image Has No Form was inspired by Kouw‘s visit to the Wudang Mountains in China in 2007, where he studied Chinese meditation and martial arts as a result of his long-time interest in Daoism. “Daoism teaches us that the foundational cannot be named and identified, but rather has to be experienced firsthand”. This is perfectly captured by the five pieces on this album, ranging between 5 and 17 minutes, dwelling in the unnamed space of complex drones – the kind of sounds for which you need a certain detached state of mind to fully appreciate them.
It is ‘minimalist’ music, but these are nót minimalist drones: there’s a lot happening in the deceptively static sound field which is constantly moving and shifting. “The drones slowly coalesce, evolve, and morph into metastable structures that linger on, only to slowly evaporate and dissolve into the undifferentiated.”
The album comes in a stunningly beautiful foldout sleeve with artwork by Xia Gui, a Chinese landscape painter of the Song Dynasty who lived from 1195-1224. The beauty of this image is somewhat contradictory to the album title… The Tao that can be named is not the real Tao. Interesting enough to reflect upon while listening to Matthijs Kouw‘s sonification of the principles of Daoism.
https://clinamen.bandcamp.com/album/the-great-image-has-no-form |
2019 |
€14.00 |
|
| KOVAC, BORIS / NEW RITUAL GROUP |
The Path |
CD |
"What’s remarkable about Boris is that he has carved out a musical form that transcends genre or even musical content; it’s a music of depth and feeling; and that’s what you hear beyond the notes or style. And he has gathered, over time, musicians who can realize that quality. This, for Boris, is a small group, only five people, so they can be looser, more personal than the larger ensembles. Though informed by chamber music, Serbian, Romanian and Hungarian folk music, and jazz, you can’t file this record in any of those categories. Lyrical and ostensibly simple, these exquisitely coloured and beautifully recorded compositions float, occasionally changing density, but always solid enough to be clear about what they are. The drums are especially subtle in this regard, more touch than motor, but they make themselves expressive, even forceful, when they need to. For the rest, the music moves as a sinuous wave, the parts distinct but not separated. It’s autumnal, that I could say." [label notes]
"Mit „The Path“ veröffentlicht der Jugoslawische Komponist und Multiinstrumentalist BORIS KOVAC ein Album, das eine gefühlvolle Verschmelzung von Chamber Music, osteuropäischem Folk und Jazz bietet. Die CD erscheint als Digipack via RECOMMENDED.
Mehr als 20 Alben hat der 1955 in der damals unabhängigen Region Vojvodina am Rande von Jugoslawien geborene BORIS KOVAC bislang veröffentlicht. Und obwohl seine Wurzeln in traditioneller Musik, Improvisation und Jazz verhaftet sind, verschrieb er sich doch auch der musikalischen Arbeit für Filme und Theaterstücke, für die er bereits mehrfach ausgezeichnet wurde. Mit seinen World- und Jazz-Ensembles RITUAL NOVA, LADAABA ORCHEST und dem LA CAMPANELLA ORCHESTRA spielte er mehr als 500 Konzerte in 30 verschiedenen Ländern. In den vier Instrumentalisten seiner NEW RITUAL GROUP fand er nun die idealen Partner um den acht Kompositionen seines neuen Albums „The Path“ auf knapp 50 Minuten zu einer nachdenklichen, zerbrechlich anmutenden Grundstimmung zu verhelfen. Hauptsächlich mit Kontrabass, Piano, Saxophon und Percussions instrumentiert, scheinen die vordergründig einfach gehaltenen Kompositionen durch den Raum zu schweben,
mal düster, mal gefühlvoll verspielt, aber immer kristallklar. Durch ruhige Klänge - so schreibt KOVAC im Booklet - will er dem Hörer ein Ausbrechen aus dem turbulenten Alltag erleichtern und der Natur und deren Ruhe ein Stückchen näher bringen. Ein wunderbarer Gedanke, der mit „The Path“ ideal umgesetzt wird."
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
| KPT. MICHIGAN & SON |
same |
MC |
"Kpt. Michigan und sein 9jähriger Sohn Sergej waren auf Reisen in Frankreich, Dänemark und Deutschland. Die dabei gesammelten Field Recordings flossen schliesslich in die 8 Kompositionen des vorliegenden Tapes - field recordings of cicadas and underprivileged children, pianos played with 4 hands, sleep deprivation (Sergej), box'o'clock... mixed with a boat of sheer joy and happiness..." [label info]
http://someoneelsestapes.blogspot.com
|
2009 |
€6.00 |
|
| KRAKEN |
Amore |
do-CD |
Nach FÖRLISA ein Doppelalbum des belgischen Duos, die wieder die dunkle Seite der Musik und des Lebens an sich ausloten, dabei aber zwei sehr gegensätzliche CDs vorlegen... auf der einen klingt das sehr minimal & elektronisch mit dunklen Flächen & hallenden Industrieanlagengeräuschen, wo später medizinische-kalte Spracheingaben auftauchen und die Spannungskurve allmählich geschickt nach oben wandert; auf der anderen gibt es mehr field recordings, strange Sprachbearbeitungen und Einspielungen und dunke Pulsationen & Beats & Bläser-Echos, die sich mit dunklen Klangmassen verbinden.....äusserst sorgfältig wurden hier Sounds ausgesucht und Stücke zusammengesetzt.... dark ambient der explorativen Sorte !
"...Amore" is a recording full of contrasts. The first CD requires an active attention span to fully appreciate the artistry involved. Although steeped in black ambience and drones the occasional slight experimental feel could be off putting for lesser souls. Whilst the second CD is more easily accessible to those into the darker side of music and life. All in all though the release is deceptively awe inspiring and is different enough to be a viable purchase for ambient / drone collectors.” [AuralPressure]
“With almost two hours of deeply absorbing soundscapes, latest album by Belgian project Kraken delivers an experience of abstraction similar to the aforementioned experience at the movie theatre. The album titled "Amore" first of all operates in the spheres of dark ambient built on low frequency drones, deep rumbling horns and mixtures of concrete and artificial sounds. The music is subtle and dreamy thanks to the drones of hypnotism and the distantly echoed voices as well as a clever use of field recordings. Even with the occurrence of the great amount of samples from real life accompanying you as you float through the tunnels of eerie ambientscapes the atmosphere on the album first of all delivers a sense of isolationism. Imagine the impression of being conscious enough to sense the dialogues of the surgical team as you lay on the operating table: The voices surround you, but they sound distant and you are not part of the dialogue. First CD has been divided into five works of art meanwhile second disc only consists of two tracks: Where the first track runs approx. 70 minutes, the closing track with its short duration of 49 seconds, first of all functions as a transformation between the sonic darkness of "Amore" and the outside world. Built on beautifully processed harpsichords the track, titled "de hoorn in je hoed", lightens up the atmosphere before the listener soon once again will have to face the real world. Despite the title there is absolutely no sign of romanticism on this remarkable exploration into the dark lands of Kraken.” [NMP / Vital Weekly]
www.spectre.be |
2005 |
€16.00 |
|
| KRAKOWIAK, TOMASZ |
A/P |
7 |
"On one hand, Krakowiak's recordings should not be a surprise to those who follow his activity on the free-improv scene, after all his recordings continue to penetrate the acoustic properties of individual percussion instruments. However, when this scene is slowly moving in the blind alley of predictability, and critics increasingly yearn for newer sounds and surprising collaborations, the latest Bocian Records release is a strong contrast. First, Krakowiak deliberately departs from the hi-fi aesthetics being associated with recordings of artists applying a similar approach to the percussion instruments (such as Christian Wolfarth, Jon Mueller or Jason Khan). These two pieces, recorded without any effects or processing are the sound of a single cymbal recorded with an old cassette tape. But this is not a tribute to the trendy, lo-fi aesthetics and Hypnagogic,the imperfections and the characteristic "analog" sound is Krakowiak's goal in itself, not a postmodern game of the genre convention (which many show in recent years). Finally, precision and attention of theserecordings make me think of Harry Bertoia's sculptures, or vitality of ideas and textures of Morphogenesis. A vitality, which often is to be sought among contemporary drone music publications." [Daniel Brożek]
www.bocianrecords.com
"One Tomas Krakowiak uses a cymbal and a stereo microphone on his 7". Both sides last exactly four minutes fifty-nine seconds, and one piece is called 'A' and the other is called 'P'. He plays the cymbal by using objects to create rotating sounds, to lift up the cymbal make it sing in overtones. Somehow I think these pieces are layered from various recordings, but of course I might be wrong. 'P' is the more droney version of the two, 'A', the more acoustic one. Both pieces aren't flawless, one hears small 'mistakes' of whatever it is to sets the cymbal to vibrate, which adds, me thinks, a nice human touch to it. Maybe all a bit too short for the format of a 7", and a 10" would have been more in place. But nice it is for sure." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2011 |
€7.00 |
|
| KRANITZ, JERRY |
Cassette Culture - Homemade Music and the Creative Spirit in the Pre-Internet-Age |
BOOK + 2 x CD |
VOD158: JERRY KRANITZ / VARIOUS: Cassette Culture - Homemade Music and the Creative Spirit in the Pre-Internet-Age 320p. Book w. 2CD 76,19
"Cassette Culture: Homemade Music and the Creative Spirit in the Pre-Internet Age"
Intensive 320 page Book written by Jerry Kranitz incl a 2CD loaded with almost 160 minutes of Cassette-Culture / DIY Artists
The book takes a social history/analytical approach to the growth of the global cassette culture/homemade music network that sprouted and flourished from the post-punk era through the early 1990s. The author explores how the participants communicated, traded, collaborated, and set up cottage industry labels to distribute their work. A long overdue study of this pivotal yet less than comprehensively documented chapter in the post-punk and 20th century independent arts movement stories.
CD1
01 10-Speed Guillotine 'Temper Tango‘ 1990 (4:24)
02 Aconite 'the truth about Cable TV‘ 1982 (3:05)
03 Another Headache 'Cacophony Continues‘ 1992 (5:31)
04 Autopsia 'Lebensherrgabe‘ 1983 (4:59)
05 Beequeen 'EE EA‘ 1988 (2:18)
06 Big City Orchestra 'Karawane‘ 1987 (3:44)
07 Bret Hart 'Partytime‘ 1985 (3:02)
08 Brume 'An Amphibian‘ 1988 (6:18)
09 Cacophony 33 'Frank‘ 1986 (1:37)
10 Charles Rice Goff III 'Big Surprise' 1990 (4:11)
11 Dog As Master 'Black Body' (Excerpt) 1985 (4:36)
12 Don Campau 'I am Not Satisfied' 1983 (3:02)
13 E Coli 'Lag Phase' 'Djihad‘ 1981 (1:19)
14 E G Oblique Graph 'Fall into Glass' 1982 (2:21)
15 F-i 'Zombie’ 1984 (4:50)
16 Gen Ken Montgomery 'It happened to You' 1983 (3:09)
17 Girls on Fire 'In My Blood' 1985 (1:29)
18 If,Bwana 'Beauty and the Beast’ 1986 (3:28)
19 ITN / Mental Anguish 'Force of Waves' (Edit) 1988 (2:24)
20 Jeff Central 'Tragick' 1988 (4:26)
21 Joseph K Noyce 'The Beat' 1988 (2:37)
22 Kapotte Muziek 'Audio Plagio 2‘ 1988 (3:58)
23 Ken Moore 'Soft Pretense‘ 1986 (2:33)
CD2
VOD158.CD2: Artists L-Z (Total Duration 78:56)
01 Larynx 'Graett' 1981 (3:00)
02 Lord Litter 'St James Infirmary' 1990 (3:32)
03 Markus Schwill 'The Advantage Of Tape-Music' 1991 (2:29)
04 Minoy 'Eskalith' 1987 (5:16)
05 Monochrome Bleu 'Imagination' 1986 (2:26)
06 Muslimgauze ‚Cyst' 1983 (4:20)
07 Mystery Hearsay 'Painted‘ 1986 (2:03)
08 Non Toxique Lost 'Statements‘ 1982 (4:18)
09 PBK 'Untitled 04‘ 1990 (4:48)
10 Philip Johnson 'Two Tracks Unused At The Time‘ 1979 (3:07)
11 Psi Nukli Trip Sequence II’ 1988 (5:22)
12 R Stevie Moore 'Puttin' Up The Groceries' 1978 (2:59)
13 Ri Gillham 'Soundtracks for imaginary films‘ 1980 (2:03)
14 Rimbaud Brothers 'Deceit' 1984 (3:41)
15 Rod Summers 'Sad News' 1984 (3:29)
16 Sheer Zed 'Take a Walk Down the Street' (3:26)
17 Storm Bugs 'Hodge' 1978 (4:54)
18 Taste of Stool 'Squeeze Bees’ 1989 (1:01)
19 Viktimized Karcass '3.32 AM Rain‘ 1985 (5:24)
20 Vittore Baroni 'Living with Prosthesis‘ 1985 (2:06)
21 Walls of Genius 'Sunday, Monday Or Always!‘ 1983 (2:42)
22 Wolfgang Wiggers 'l'll Cry Tomorrow‘ 1983 (3:12)
23 Years on Earth 'Opposition‘ 1982 (2:46)
|
2020 |
€85.00 |
|
| KRCFHL |
same |
do-CD |
The KRCFHL recording was made on September 28, 2005 by three well-known Russian sound experimentalists M.M. (Kryptogen Rundfunk), Evgeniy Voronovskiy (Cisfinitum) and Nikolay Kalmykov (Hladna). The musicians gathered in Evgeniy’s home studio in Moscow, spontaneously played and recorded this psychedelic set. The recording remained unknown to the public for 16 years, but worked as a fail-safe therapy for the kultFRONT label during all these years.
KRCFHL is a smooth immersion in the pulsating world of analogue synthesizers, embellished with the sounds of violin that does not sound like itself. Prior to this recording, the musicians performed several times on the same stages, either at post-industrial music festivals (a joint photo in the album’s artwork was taken on the Thalamus II fest, which happened in Pskov in May 2005), or in collaboration sets. After this recording, they didn’t practice any joint immersions, but the musicians worked on releasing other recordings.
In 2021 the recording became a double album thanks to four tracks from KRCFHL colleagues from the next generation of Russian sound experimentalists. Friends reimagined the recording from 2005, each in their own recognizable way. The first track was made by the project NOTUM, which was born in St. Petersburg, but is now developing in Berlin. The second remix was recorded by Xenia Lotus (Drone Liberation Front, a collaboration project with Tim Six) under the guise of her solo project BEZVLASTJE. The third rework was done by “the noise queen” Sveta Svetlo, aka SVETLO111. And the second disc (or side B on the cassette) is wrapped up by Ilya SYMPHOCAT.
The album artwork features photographs of an old wall in the vicinity of the Smolniy Convent in St. Petersburg. The place with the KRCFHL inscriptions has already become a point of attraction for pilgrims.
The album is released on 50 compact cassettes with a total length of 85 minutes. Additionally, the album is available on 200 double CDs.
KRCFHL is clear proof of how music and its magic only becomes more interesting over the years.
credits
released December 29, 2021
KRCFHL (parts I & II) recorded live by M.M. (KRYPTOGEN RUNDFUNK), Evgeniy Voronovskiy (CISFINITUM), Nikolay Kalmykov (HLADNA) on September 28th, 2005 at Evgeniy’s home studio, Moscow
~ kryptogen.bandcamp.com
~ cisfinitum.bandcamp.com
~ hladna.bandcamp.com
KRCFHL (NOTUM remix) recorded by Ikk Ygg in October 2021, Berlin
~ notumschaltung.com
KRCFHL (BEZVLASTJE remix) recorded by Xenia Lotus on November 25, 2021, St. Petersburg
~ soundcloud.com/bezvlastje
KRCFHL (SVETLO111 remix) recorded by Sveta Svetlo in October 2021, St. Petersburg
~ soundcloud.com/svetlo111
KRCFHL (SYMPHOCAT remix) recorded by Ilia Symphocat in October-November 2021, St. Petersburg
~ symphocat.com
Mastered by M.M. & ArSch
Photos by kultFRONT, Luiza Arroz, @cht00000, Vera Bezrukova
Design by kultFRONT
Co-released with ZHELEZOBETON Distribution Division: zhbd.bandcamp.com
https://kultfront.bandcamp.com/album/krcfhl
|
2022 |
€16.00 |
|
| KRENG |
The Summoner |
LP |
LP : Laser-Cut Outer Sleeve in Fulltone Bronze & Black, incl. full Color Insert
"The Summoner comes 4 years since the last Kreng album Grimoire and 3 years since the massive retrospective box set Works for Abattoir Férme 2007-2011. A lot has happened in between, and this new recording can be seen as quite the departure from the aformentioned.
His most personal album to date, The Summoner is based around the 5 stages of mourning and is made after a year of losing several close friends. Hard enough material to work on, he decided to add a 6th stage, entitled The Summoning to be able to arrive at the finalé, Acceptance.
Conjuring up the spirit of György Ligeti, the first half of the album is made entirely of 12 string players being directed to play around, make noisey clusters and crescendoes, moving you between Denial, Anger, Bargaining and Depression. In fact, The Summoner is the first Kreng album NOT made by hordes of samples. Music to really dig deep in to.
Following into the second part of the album, twists and turns are taken and it's hard to know where exactly you are. The Summoning's haunting organs and smoke-filled chambers lead you in to an earth- shaking wall of guitars, drums and bass courtesy of Belgian doom band Amenra. Leaving you in a state of shock, the album closes in an incredibly heartfelt and quiet way with the fittingly named Acceptance." [label info]
www.miasmah.com
"The first release from Kreng since 2011, but well worth the wait. While the sound sources on The Summoner are quite the departure from his 2011 release Grimoire, the dark and disorienting atmosphere is still here. Here Caudron conducts a dozen string players, creating a twisted and droney orchestral mass that explodes and dies without warning, bringing to mind the terrifying works of Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki. The song titles here, too, tell Caudron's story as the five stages of grief, going from "Denial" to "Acceptance". The first four tracks are dark, twisted, orchestral soundscapes, dynamic and haunted that slowly goad you into Caudron's warped world. The climax of the album is without doubt the titular track, sandwiched between "Depression" and the somber "Acceptance". The 15-minute long track features Belgian doom band Amenra (whose album Mass V we reviewed back in 2013) providing the slow, crushing trudge (with maybe the slightest, SLIGHTEST hint of uplifting melody) to bring the whole piece to a bombastic, epic zenith. Very few out there can capture the range of emotion and atmosphere that Kreng can - terrifying, cathartic, bleak, and maybe just a little bit uplifting. For fans of Gnaw Their Tongues, The Caretaker, and anything on the Miasmah label." [Aquarius Records]
"Es sind schon viele Alben aus Trauer entstanden, und viele handeln von der Trauer um eine geliebte Person. Alben, die das Trauern als solches zum Thema haben, sind seltener. Das könnte damit zu tun haben, dass die Frage nach den Mechanismen des Trauerns sehr theoretisch anmutet, aber sie ist auch komplizierter als man vielleicht denkt, denn eine Trauer, die sich weder in die Verdrängung noch in Selbstmitleid flüchtet, erfordert Leidensfähigkeit und ist keineswegs eine passive Angelegenheit.
Für den Belgier Pepijn Caudron ist das Thema auch keine theoretische Sache, denn der Grund für seine Beschäftigung mit dem Wesen der Trauer ist ein sehr persönlicher und rührt aus dem Verlust einiger ihm nahestehender Personen. Irgendwo stieß der Musiker auf die psychologische Beobachtung, dass Trauer häufig in mehreren, sich teilweise widersprechenden Phasen bewältigt wird. Zunächst schreckt der Trauernde davor zurück, den Verlust und den damit verbundenen Schmerz anzuerkennen und klammert sich mit unterschwelliger Verzweiflung an die Zeit vor dem Verlust. Da eine solche Verleugnung nur auf Zeit funktioniert, stellt sich bald so etwas wie Wut ein, Wut auf den Verlust als solchen, vielleicht auch auf die betrauerte Person, aber auch auf sich selbst und die eigene Unfähigkeit zu verleugnen und zu verdrängen. Mit der Phase des inneren Abwägens setzt der erste Schritt in Richtung Akzeptanz ein, dem allerdings meist eine Phase der Depression vorausgeht: Erst wenn diese durchlebt ist, kann der Trauernde den Schicksalsschlag akzeptieren.
Caudron erkannte in dieser Beschreibung so viel von seinen eigenen Erfahrungen wieder, dass er den Drang verspürte, seinen eigenen Weg durch die Trauer in einem Album durchzuarbeiten. „The Summoner“, das auf diesen Erfahrungen und Überlegungen beruht und doch noch einen Schritt weitergeht, stellt in der Diskografie des Musikers schon deshalb eine besondere Wegmarke dar, weil hier erstmals mit Studiomusikern statt ausschließlich mit Samples gearbeitet wird.
Die minutenlange Stille, mit der „Denial“ beginnt, könnte glatt für all das stehen, das der Trauernde, beide Hände auf die Ohren gedrückt, nicht wahrhaben will. Doch es ist eine trügerische Stille, in der sich klammheimlich eine unerbittliche Realität zusammenbraut, die durch ihr schwelend kreisendes Dröhnen, durch seltsame Stimmen und entferntes Gerumpel so bedrohlich wie ein düsteres Wahngebilde anmutet. Caudrons Erfahrung bei der Arbeit fürs Theater kommt ihm schon hier zugute, denn die leicht überhörbaren Details schwirren derart gekonnt im Raum herum, dass man auch als Hörer dieser Wirklichkeit kaum entweichen kann. Die darauf folgende „dialektische“ Folge von wenig Licht und viel Schatten weiß ebenfalls davon zu kosten – das trockenere, direktere „Anger“ mit seinen lauten und eruptiven Streicherkaskaden, das mit viel orchestralem Geklapper vor sich hinsuchende „Bargaining“, das weitaus eindeutiger dahingleitende „Depression“ und zuletzt die genügsame Ruhe des schlichten Pianos in „Acceptance“.
Mit „The Summoning“ geht Caudron über das Theoriekonzeot hinaus und markiert den Punkt, an dem der schwärzeste in den lichtesten Abschnitt übergeht. Wie um zu zeigen, dass an der Stelle etwas neues geboren wird, scheint er hier noch einmal das ganze Album zu bündeln und über sich selbst hinauszuführen, und es ist nicht unpassend, dass er dies nicht im Alleingang vollzieht, sondern seine Landsleute von Amenra mitmischen lässt. Das schleppende Schlagwerk, die kraftvollen, kernigen Gitarrenwände und das heißere Gröhlen der bekannten Doommetaller, die im Normalfall als niederdrückend empfunden werden, wirken hier fast so erhebend wie eine Levitation." [Uwe Schneider / African Paper]
africanpaper.com/2015/05/09/kreng-the-summoner/
|
2015 |
€17.00 |
|
|
Cooties |
LP |
"Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by KRENG.
Death Waltz Recording Company is delighted to take you back to the schoolyard for a dose of fun with Kreng's score to COOTIES. A group of elementary teachers – including Elijah Wood, Alison Pill, and Rainn Wilson – up against an army of feral kids infected with a mystery virus, bringing new meaning to the term “playground violence." Produced by Wood's company Spectrevision, COOTIES is already shaping up to be a modern cult classic, not least through its infectious music.
Composed by the avant-garde project Kreng (aka Belgian musician Pepjin Caudron) the score for COOTIES reflects a number of influences, from Bernard Herrmann's work for strings to spaghetti westerns through a trip hop filter set to “extreme foreboding”. Kreng's approach will surprise and intrigue, compared to many scores of its ilk. While it's synth-heavy, there are key roles for haunting vocal effects and violins, mixing both aesthetically beautiful and madcap cues to create waves of emotionally and viscerally powerful tunes. COOTIES stands proud alongside – and in some cases above - the crop of contemporary horror scores. Relax, put the needle on the wax, and let this record infect your ears. You'll be voracious for more."
mondotees.com/collections/deathwaltz/products/cooties-ost
"Oh man, we wanted to see this movie from the second we first heard about it. Kids in a primary school get a wicked case of the 'cooties', which transforms them into zombie like wee beasties, and it's up to the teachers to survive, and if need be (which need very likely does be!) dispatch of the hungry, demonic hordes roaming the playground. The trailer looks ridiculous and over the top (we haven't actually seen it yet), and very much like a grade school version of another awesome horror-school classic, The Faculty. Beyond that just being such an amazing concept for a movie, there's the added bonus of the incredible score by weirdo soundsculptor / dronelord / avant grade composer (and huge aQ fave) Kreng, aka Pepijn Caudron.
Longtime readers of the aQ list are also likely fans of the Miasmah label, which Kreng generally calls home. His releases on Miasmah are moody and murky and minimal, twisted and shadowy, waste and faded and gorgeously mysterious. And while all that sounds like the perfect ingredients for a seriously sinister horror score, since this is not your typical horror movie, Caudron gets to explore WAY out of his usual sonic comfort zone, whether it's long sprawls of DJ Shadow like beat driven grooviness (in one instance, the haunting main theme is played by what sounds like a sitar!), or swirly, symphonic exotica, or hushed, somber shimmer, it's all woven together into a proper album, that is a pretty fantastic listen, even sans the film.
The DJ Shadow comparison is actually pretty apt as beats and breaks surface throughout, but it's in the execution that things get and stay weird, in fact one of the best musical moments is when a loping beat limps along beneath a cacophony of detuned brass. But it is a horror soundtrack, so Carpenterisms abound (reworked in Kreng's inimitable style), there are plenty of tense, driving synth jams, barely there haunted house ambience, darkly delicate pianoscapes, strangely dubby drifts, some deliriously atonal 20th century sounding cacophony and bursts of what sounds like some rad eighties VHS soundtrack, all dayglo distorted, blaring and bombastic.
While not nearly as dark as some of the Miasmah releases, there's an ominous underpinning to the proceedings, even at it's most playful and melodic, it's fun and freaky, and like the best soundtracks, not only is a great listen, but has us wanting to see the movie even more than we already did!" [Aquarius Records]
|
2015 |
€35.00 |
|
|
Camino - Original Soundtrack |
do-LP |
"Kreng ist das Projekt des Belgiers Pepijn Caudron. Dieser erstellt Soundtracks mit Hilfe moderner Sampling-Technologie. Sein Score zum Survival-Film "Camino" besteht aus düstern Soundscapes, die an die Werke von Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, Aphex Twin, Cliff Martinez ("Drive") und Mogwai erinnern. Die Doppel-Vinyl-Edition ist 140g schwer, auf durchsichtigem Vinyl aufgelegt und in ein Gatefold-Cover verpackt. Zudem liegt der Auflage eine Download-Karte bei. Das Cover sowie ein zwölfseitiges Booklet wurden von John Bergin gestaltet, der auch schon die Vinyl-Auflagen von "Drive" und "Hannibal" mit seinen Designs versehen hat.
Invada - das Label von Portisheads Geoff Barrow - entdeckten Kreng nach der Veröffentlichung des Soundtracks zu 'Cooties', der zu ihren favorisierten Scores gehört.
"Camino" begleitet eine Fotojournalistin (gespielt von Zoe Bell - bekannt aus Tarantinos "Death Proof") in den Dschungel von Kolumbien, wo sie zur falschen Zeit am falschen Ort die Aufnahme eines Sektenführers macht. Dieser Schnappschuss bringt sie in den Tiefen des Dschungels in Lebensgefahr."
www.invada.co.uk
|
2016 |
€28.00 |
|
| |
Works for Abattoir Ferme 2007-2011 |
4 x LP BOX |
Ten-year anniversary edition of Kreng's massive Works for Abattoir Férme 2007-2011 four LPs worth of slow, skin-crawling cinematic ambience made for the Belgian theater group Abattoir Fermé. It could hardly be a better time to again dive deep into Kreng and Abattoir Fermé's disturbingly beautiful underground worlds. Through eighth full-length vinyl sides you are transported through the most terrifying, shadow-filled, downright bizarre moments of the subconscious. What could be the sound of your darkest dreams or most surreal fantasies gradually unfolds throughout the three-and-a-half-hour duration. Exactly this is what Abattoir Fermé specializes in, and Pepijn Caudron's scores perfectly reflect and accompanies both this theatricality as well as your own fears and desires in a masterful way. Each extended side is crafted from an arsenal of samples, disintegrating vinyl and corroded tape, and Pepijn Caudron manipulates these sounds in a way that belies the sources. Rather than allow the sounds to emerge, they stay trapped beneath swathes of noise, tape delay, and oppressive bass giving you a composition that emerges like a cross between William Basinski, Jerry Goldsmith (circa Alien), and Henryk Górecki. Works for Abattoir Fermé is not for the faint of heart, but for the rest, it might be just what the doctor ordered... 2022 repress; four LPs with original artwork inside 350g slipcase with silver tone print; includes download code; edition of 300.
https://kreng.bandcamp.com/album/works-for-abattoir-ferm-2007-2011
|
2022 |
€65.00 |
|
| KRENG + SVARTE GREINER |
The Night Hag |
CD |
Context is crucial. Quiet, flowing music full of space is usually associated with a state of tranquillity. It lowers the heart-rate and controls the breathing. It is only one of many ways in which music can have physical consequences. But once you decide to include an element of impending danger, or an unpredictable element, silence is no longer a refuge, but becomes an audible threat. The masters of suspense and terror, whether they are directors or composers, are fully aware of this: nothing scares you as much as an ominous silence that might be disrupted.
You can easily apply this to The Night Hag. Listen without any preconceptions (perhaps only possible if you didn’t read anything about this release, these notes included, in advance) and this slowly evolving composition suggests a wholesome listening experience, with organic transformations and glowing harmonies. At least, until halfway, when some eerier sounds pop up and a certain kind of unease reveals itself. So far, so good. Then I suggest you listen again, preferably with decent headphones, with the knowledge that The Night Hag was inspired by the concept of sleep paralysis.
This is a state that occurs while you find yourself in the transitional stage of waking up or falling asleep. You are fully conscious, but you can’t move. It has happened to both these musicians and to many other people. And it can be terrifying, as the physical impotence often comes with hallucinations (hence the title). Kreng’s harmonised piano sustain sounds that were run through Svarte Greiner’s miasmachine, are no longer abstract waves forming a patiently moving mass of sound, but ingredients of a minimalist mini-symphony of terror, the few discernible piano touches almost functioning as hypnic jerks sucking you towards the void.
Just lie down for a second and try to imagine you are able to hear, see and smell, but you can’t speak or move. Your body becomes a prison, a padded cell. It is the ultimate personal lockdown scenario. For The Night Hag, it turns a vague disquiet into a 33-minute nightmare that is as subtle as it is paralysing. Or, as a true sonic adventurer might exclaim: “Sleep well. In hell.”
Good night.
Guy Peters
Album name: The Night Hag
Artist: Kreng + Svarte Greiner
Catalog number: Slaapwel xvi
Edition: 300 copies
Music by Kreng + Svarte Greiner
Kreng: piano
Svarte Greiner: miasmachine
Artwork: Christopher Michael Hefner
Design: ORDNER
Mastering: Ian Hawgood
Liner notes: Guy Peters
https://slaapwel.bandcamp.com
|
2021 |
€15.00 |
|
| KREYSING / PENSCHUCK / STADLMEIER |
Re-Encypher |
CD |
A lone busker plays wistful folk melodies on an accordion in a dimly lit underpass late at night. Ominous clanging noises approach like a gang of thugs, while the deep drones of a freight train passing overhead engulf the whole auditory scene. Or else: Slowly pulsating melodies with a strangely (South) East European tinge ride the crests of an almost static groundswell of drones, while occasional percussive impulses accentuate the almost imperceptible microrhythms. Or else: ...
There are many ways to describe the music on this album, and it is hard not to resort to narrative when doing so. Perhaps this is because this music has a very strong sense of foreground and background. Drones and textures create a space in which the melodic and percussive elements of the music interact, almost like characters in a story. Each one of them has a specific timbral temperament, or should we say personality: the accordion, which Anja Kreysing, trained in Deep Listening in the tradition of Pauline Oliveros herself, uses for full impact on a variety of emotional scales; the heater (used as percussion instrument) and the cymbal, with their edgy, pushy, metallic overtones, which set them apart from the wry, dry, wooden percussion; to name but a few.
The great achievement of the trio who recorded this set live at Nocube in Münster, 19 November 2017, is the way in which each of them constantly operates on at least two levels simultaneously: the foreground and the background, the textural and the rhythmic. Slow harmonic developments culminate into dramatic phases of almost noisy density and moments of silence, almost as if they were just following the flow of their breath. And several times foreground and background change their roles completely. It is the purely musical flow and interaction that makes this music so suggestive. Had they set out to tell one story, they might have ended up with contrived conceptual music. But the sheer sonic richness of this great recording is the reason why it can tell myriad stories at once.
File under: Free improvisation, drone, electroacoustic
https://emerge.bandcamp.com/album/re-encypher |
2018 |
€8.00 |
|
| KRIEGER, ULRICH |
Fathom |
CD |
"NEW SERIES FRAMEWORK: is an extension of our CONCRETE ELECTRONICS NOISE, a brand new mix-up of unusual conceptions of sound material by young unknown composers, well known not-so-young composers and old but clever composers. 40 minutes of music, 1 photograph and a geometric form. Limited to 700 copies.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Ulrich Krieger studied classical saxophone, composition, electronic music and musicology at the Manhattan School of Music (New York), the Universität der Künste (Berlin) and the Freie Universität (Berlin). Since the late 1980s he became more and more interested in American music and its different approaches (chance music, process music, just intonation,
multi-stylistic, minimalism, drone). In 1991 he moved to New York. In the 'Cage of Saxophones' series Krieger recorded the complete saxophone
and any-instrument works of John Cage for Mode Records.The first one focuses on drone music (Cage, Tenney, Niblock), while the second focuses on pattern music (Reich, Glass, Riley)
In the early 1990s he started working on a more electronic approach. He began developing an original amplification for the saxophone and various live-electronic signal processing set-ups. In the electronic experimental field he collaborated with rock, noise and ambient artists like Karkowski, Merzbow, Koener, Toeplitz. He also worked with the Berlin ensemble "zeitkratzer" for which he transcribed
Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music.
Text of Light is a 2001 founded formation with Lee Ranaldo and Alan Licht, performing along with films of experimental film maker Stan Brakhage (1933-2003).
Metal Machine Trio began in 2008 together with Lou Reed and Sarth Calhoun as an experimental free rock project." [label info]
www.subrosa.net
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| KRYNGE |
Hiss & Hearse |
CD-R |
"KRYNGE, the multi-collaborative international supergroup, was the brainchild of Zan Hoffman in 1987-88 and features recordings of his home taping friends reimagined. Acknowledging the debt the contemporary experimental music scene owes to the pioneering work of the tape-trading and mail art scenes, Attenuation Circuit celebrates the 25th anniversary of Krynge by re-releasing the original cassettes on CD in bi-monthly instalments. The Krynge series comes in a dedicated new design while also containing reproductions of the original cassette cover art.
“Hiss & Hearse” – the rerelease corrects the spelling mistake of the original cover art, which read “Hiss & Herse” and sort of screwed up an otherwise great pun – lasts some 25 minutes and was probably intended for one side of 60-minute cassette. In what appears to be one solid block of noise and hiss, punctuated by occasional remnants of signals, musical or otherwise, the entire recording seems to celebrate the noisy medium of the cassette as a means of expression. This is not noise as in noise music as a genre, it’s more about noise as a symbol for a time when the cassette, for all its limitations, was still a precious means of communicating your musical ideas to others. This historical dimension is emphasised by the fact that one of the contributors to this tape, beside Swinebolt 45, was Zan Hoffman’s then collaboration partner Minòy, who died in 2010." [label info]
www.wix.com/attenuationcircuit/attenuation-circuit
|
2012 |
€8.00 |
|
| KRÜSI, HANS |
ExHK |
LP |
While preparing a new edition of Anton Bruhin works in 2008, Alga Marghen discovered some mysterious tapes by Hans Krüsi. Fascinated by the raw and brute contents of those sounds, mixing field recordings of insects, sheep, and distant bells with primitive chanting, percussive noises, and distorted radio folk songs, Alga Marghen started to conceive one of the most obscure editions in the catalog, an LP to be issued in collaboration with the Swiss Kunstmuseum des Kantons Thurgau (the repository of the artist's estate), published on the occasion of Alga Marghen's invitation to the Artist's Record Pavilion at Art Basel 2008 in an edition of 200 copies and instantly sold out. The Swiss-born, self-taught painter Hans Krüsi (1920-1995) was a wiry man who eked out an existence on the margins of society. Even among outsider-art experts, his work is less well known than that of his Swiss compatriot Adolf Wölfli, who died in 1930 and whose richly patterned drawings have become treasures of classic European art brute, or raw art, made by untrained, visionary artists. Krüsi was orphaned as an infant and brought up on a farm in northeastern Switzerland by foster parents who largely ignored him. He scraped by with odd jobs (including gardening work) and eventually settled in the city of St. Gallen. There, Krüsi lived in run-down buildings. In his late 20s, he began commuting by train almost daily to Zurich, to the west, where he sold flowers and, later, his artworks, on the Bahnhofstrasse, one of the most luxurious shopping streets in Europe. Among the wall-to-wall clutter of Krüsi's ramshackle lodgings, where pigeons flew in and perched, evidence of an unexpectedly experimental spirit abounded, including Krüsi's old cameras and the second-hand tape recorders with which he liked to capture the sounds of birds, insects and church bells. The artist's inventiveness and fertile imagination seemed to contrast sharply with his humble way of life. Krüsi took subjects from the agrarian world that he knew: alpine farmhouses, forested mountains, cows, birds, rabbits and cats. In his varied oeuvre, the folkloric and the psychedelic often appear to converge. Some works are even hallucinatory, with bright, brushy passages of acid green, lemon yellow or Pepto-Bismol pink in which watchful, lounging cats, clusters of dithering birds or watery human figures huddle or writhe. After being out-of-stock for 15 years and following the many solicitations over the past decade, Alga Marghen decided to do a new edition to be included as the first record of the new Musique Brut series. Edition of 150.
|
2023 |
€23.50 |
|
| KSHATRIY |
Slepok Soznaniya |
CD |
"The project Kshatriy appeared on the Russian post-industrial scene in 2004 and up to present has participated in several compilations, as well as released some solo and collaboration recordings on limited edition CDRs. Muzyka Voln presents the project’s first "professional" compact disk with the album "Slepok Sonzaniya" (meaning "a mould of consciousness" in Russian).
This work is based on the concept of consciousness of a warrior, a galactic warrior of light, bringing to world pure knowledge, infinite silence, perfect balance, a moment of power and might, a flight of freedom, love, serenity, joy, light, unified time, eternal life, simplicity and bliss.
The music of the project can be described as fractal dark drone ambient with lots of patterns, woven from various sonic fibres: synthesized drones, processed field recordings, acoustic echoes and rhythmic loops. Calm and profound, filled with resilience and hidden power, like an endless ocean of tranquility, energy and beauty." [label info]
http://zhb.radionoise.ru/
"Kshatriy is the project by musician from Vsevolozhsk not far from St. Petersburg. Earlier his records were released on CDr, and album Slepok Soznaniya became the first work released on CD, before it I didn't know anything about this creative unit. With his music Kshatriy creates space dark and dull as well as beautiful and interesting. In anxiously boiling sound lava there merge deep electronic drone, processed field records and also unobtrusive hissing, crack and other noise effects. Musician himself writes that his creativity "is based on the conception of warrior consciousness... galaxy warrior of light, bringing to the world clear consciousness, unlimited silence, absolute balance, a moment of force and power, a flight of freedom, love, serenity, gladness, light, common time, eternal life, simplicity and bliss...". These words sound as nothing else but an unequivocal hint at trips "inside yourself" and the state of trans provoked by music. And it is so.
Slepok Soznaniya is a huge mental reactor with boiling up fragments of dark recollections, fused and crumpled into one heavy lump which dissolved all around in impenetrable swamp of its body. Rusty, smelling with dust and dampness postindustrial spirit spreads together with these sounds to colossal spaces around. Huge volume of theses spaces is one of the main special features of this music ruining all barriers inside the dark universe, and Slepok Soznaniya became a ticket to it. You peer into the darkness and don't see any limits, as if you have fallen under ground and found an alternative cosmos there. Beautiful, charming and sometimes even epic sound design making you hold your breath in long intriguing moments and make your heart beat quickly with resounding rumble and voluminous, heavy drone. It's worth to be heard." [Pi Micron, The Sound Proector]
http://www.soundproector.com/?cat=reviews&id=259
"Heaving, psychonaut droning from this Russian project, Kshatriy. The name of Sergey Uak-Kib's project is actually Sanskrit, as a now deracinated caste of warriors from ancient India. Uak-Kib posits something of a balance between the spiritual and the physical in the beliefs for this class of enlightened fighters. The holistic fortitude found in that statement seems to be furthered in the glowingly psychedelic artwork that has graced some of Kshatriy's other recordings. So much for first impressions, as this is fucking bleak. Anenzephalia bleak. Thomas Koner bleak. Lustmord bleak. Thrumming drones of Vulcan intensity and Promethean scale gird the entire album of Slepok Soznaniya. The thunderous cracks that introduce "Lights" are cataclysmic in nature, tumbling from deep space and smashing into the Siberian forest, unleashing shockwaves across the curved surface of Russian's landmass and creating elegantly harmonic ripples across the swampy taiga. Iron wheels grind on long-train tracks which lead to destinations unknown on the "Hymn To Kali," which is more of a dirge than a hymn through the slow, militant pound and evolving reverberant chord shifts for an ashen, musical negativity. The almost self-evidently named "Space Travel" surfs the solar winds with echoes of distant pulsars and glowing nebula clouds flickering through the endless expanses of nothingness.
We were awestruck by the work that Kshatriy produced for the 2014 Drone-Mind / Mind-Drone III compilation; and so we're delving into his catalogue. Slepok Soznaniya was originally released in 2009 on the bracingly good Russian imprint Muzyka Voln. Not all that much in the way of distribution west of the former Iron Curtain; so this one makes for a new favorite in the radiant black dronemusik camp." [Aquarius Records]
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Transforming Galaxy |
CD |
" "Transforming Galaxy" is the second full-length album of Sergey Bulychyov (aka Uak-Kib) from Vsevolozhsk, Russia - an imprint of direct experience of the Universe. The album is dedicated to the end of Kali-Yuga - the age of technocratic lack of spirituality and moral decay - and to the attainment of human awareness of the Unity.
Eight hasteless compositions of psychedelic drone ambient combine a light atmosphere with deep multilayerness, crystal clear sound transparency with mild and sometimes uneasy melodies. Soft organic tracks full of plangent drones, noises and natural recordings neighbor with dense and saturated hymns to Hindu goddess Kali. The disk is closed by a beautiful lyrical composition reminding us that the best way to overcome ignorance and realize unity is Love.
The album is released in a glossy 6-panel digipak with front cover by Sergey Ilchuk (Siyanie, ex-Vetvei & Vresnit Art).
First 30 copies are designed by the author as special collector's edition: hand-crafted bag made of brown velvet containing art printed on a thick wooden plate 28 x 30 cm, and also an additional CD-R with a live recording of Kshatriy's performance in Moscow-based cultural center "DOM" on October 23, 2010." [label info]
http://zhb.radionoise.ru/eng/releases.html#mv
"....Lots of synthesized ambient scapes, perhaps made with real synthesizers, no doubt with lots of field recordings, much electronic processing and all such like, but the good news is that this doesn't lead to abstract drone patterns, but in each of the pieces there seems to be the shimmering of small melodies humming along, making the whole thing more 'musical' than y'r average drone record, which I guess is nice. Each of the eight pieces takes a considerable time to develop, as all of these pieces are easily between eight and thirteen minutes. That makes it quite a long album, but its one that can hold the attention quite well. Kshatriy moves along various patterns, ideas, motions and emotions and it makes a highly varied and mostly enjoyable record." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
"There's a deep cosmology at work in the recordings of Sergey Uak-Kib, the Russian dronescapist who uses the Sanskrit for 'warrior', Kshatriy, as his nom de plume. This album, his second, is equally as spectral and bleak in its content as his 2009 debut Slepok Soznaniya; and it stands as a harbinger to the end of the Kali-Yuga - the final stage in the four-part cycle for the material world, as mapped out in the various Hindu scriptures. Uak-Kib identifies this prediction through the ongoing "technocratic lack of spirituality and moral decay" - ignominious traits that unfortunately shape the future for much of the world's population. Yet, he also maintains a considerable optimism that the cycle of life will also produce an "attainment of human awareness of the Unity." Transforming Galaxy is about a literal as one could get with the processional unveiling of this album's ambient tapestries, beginning with the darkest passages and gradually lightening the chromatics without diffusing the overall potency of these radiant droneworks. Isolationist undercurrents of black ice floes accrete with teeth-clenching sawtooth electronics at the front of the end record, ominously giving way to stormy drone recordings strafed with the unnerving choruses of ravens; and steadily, the ambience slips away from these endtimes allusions and towards full-bodied swirling miasma of cosmic synth drones. Altogether, it's very much on par with the last recordings made by Maeror Tri of industrial impressionism and hypnogogic echo." [Aquarius Records]
|
2012 |
€12.50 |
|
| KTL |
same |
CD |
"... erste VÖ des neuen Projekts von STEPHEN O'MALLEY und PITA. Sanfte Drones und geheimnisvolle Gitarrensounds, aber auch mächtige Sub-Bass-Walzen & Akkorde die eher nach SUNN O))) klingen, elektronisches Sirren & Rauschen.. die Synthese aus Laptop-Glitch & Drone Metal Doom..." [Drone Rec. info]
"Stephen O'Malley (strings, fx, amps) and Peter Rehber (goscs, apps, drives). Written, recorded & mixed by Stephen O'Malley & Peter Rehberg at Fort du Murier & Vienne Wintergarden, Grenoble July 2006. Mastered at Piethopraxis, Köln, August 2006. 'Threatening new collaboration taking in parallel worlds of Extreme Computer Music and Black Metal. KTL is Stephen O'Malley (SUNNO))), Khanate) and Peter Rehberg (PITA).A six part collision amongst the increasingly fading prescences between the light and the dark. This work came about as the two were composing sound and music for a piece by Gisèle Vienne and Dennis Cooper, entitled 'Kindertotenlieder'. It must be stated that this CD is NOT the soundtrack to said piece, but a separate project. However, elements may appear in the finished piece which is to be premiered in Brest, France, March 2007. Pieces were recorded in a resistance fortress in southern France during a thunderstorm. Others in a wintergarden drenched in the sunlight.' Cover by SOMA." [label info]
www.editionsmego.com
|
2006 |
€13.50 |
|
| KUBISCH, CHRISTINA |
La Ville Magnetique / The Magnetic City |
CD |
"24 Electromagnetic Walks in Poitiers. Produced at Studio Hoppegarten and Electronic Music Studio of the Technical University Berlin, October-November 2008. Liner notes and other info in French and English. The recordings of the 24 Electromagnetic Walks in Poitiers were made on August 14, 18 and 19 2008, using only Christina Kubisch's electromagnetic induction headphones and a portable recorder. The sounds have not been electronically modified. The only intervention was the use of a frequency filter. From the linernotes: Today there is a lot of interest in the musical world in 'mapping', the art of tracing the world we live in by means of maps which differ from those made for trade, commerce and business. The maps of the 24 Electromagnetic walks are visual and musical ones. 24 volunteers explored the hidden electromagnetic fields of Poitiers wearing a special headphone created by the artist. This wireless 'tool' captures and amplifies the magnetic fields above and underground the city. The visitors were free to choose their own, personal paths (itineraries) and were asked to draw them upon a map of the inner city. The length of the recordings vary between 6 and 79 minutes. Every recording is a kind of 'mirror' of the character and personality of the walker. Some people walked straight and without stopping through the streets, others often stopped and played around by moving their head (or body) when entering an interesting field, some followed the 'historical paths', others used the personal itineraries of their daily life, some just went by chance and took the exploration as a kind of acoustic adventure. The collection of 24 sound channels in Poiters is a collection of electromagnetic field recordings- an electromagnetic portrait of the city. Often what you can see normally and what you hear electromagnetically, is quite different: quiet streets burst out with strong electrical hums, the lively market place is quiet instead, the train station is a dense net of regular beats and clicks, the parking Carnot is the place where antennas fill the air with internet signals, the ATM machines of the banks hum musical chords and the security gates in the shopping streets surprise by their volume and intensity of continuous signals. The juxtaposition of the 24 itineraries was the starting point for he composition. Several times the visitors were at the same time at the same place, but exploring the sounds in different ways. The piece is a mix of all the recordings, sometimes letting them together in big clusters, sometimes following an individual walker along his way. The beginning and the end of the recordings was the tourist information center of Poitiers. The voices and the music which can be heard were recorded not with a microphone but as well through electromagnetic induction: a cable loop inside the office makes the sound audible as well outside the building. It's here, where the information of the historical city meets with the contemporary hidden electromagnetic world of Poitiers. The participants to the recorded walks: Jean-Pierre Courjaud, Quentin Debenest, Jean Hiernard, Daniel Clauzier, Emmanuelle Baud, Claude Thibault, Marion Berthier, Marie Fournier, Jean-Pierre Potier, Benoist Baillergeau, Jean-Luc Terradillos, Dominique Truco, Patrick Treguer, Jean-Christophe Desnoux, Dominique Pichon, Thomas Sillard, Marion Valière Loudiyi, Mélanie Ribot, Nicolas Bernard, Aurélien large, Marine Antony, Lilian Gerling, Anne Gérard, Christina Kubisch. Credits: Artwork By [Cover Design] - Christina Kubisch. Artwork By [Graphics] - Frederic Briand. Engineer, Mastered By - Eckehard Güther. Liner Notes - Christina Kubisch. Mixed By - Christina Kubisch. Photography - Christina Kubisch , Daniel Proux , Dominique Truco , Marion Valière-Loudiyi. Technician [Recording Assistance] - Marine Antony.' [full label info / liner notes]
|
2009 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Magnetic Flights |
CD |
"Two brand new pieces from one of the most exciting, active & relevant members of the first generation sound artists. Magnetic Flights is a perfect follow up to Five Electrical Walks (IMPREC167) and it is being released at the same time as a collection of two of Kubisch's unreleased archival pieces, also on Important.
Magnetic Flights is entirely made of electromagnetic field recordings of international airports and inside airplanes. The recordings of this piece were made by Christina Kubisch on her travels in 2007 from and to the airports of Bukarest, Manchester, Chicago, Seoul, Munich, Amsterdam,
Zurich, Frankfort, Paris, Lisbon, Berlin, Pisa, Milan and London.
The sounds were not altered electronically nor changed in any other way. The only tool ,which
was used for a part of it, was a filtering program (DINR)
All recordings were made with the help of special sensitive wireless headphones, by which the aboveground and underground electromagnetic fields are detected, amplified and made audible. The headphones are custom made and have been develeoped by myself and constructed by the engineer Manfred Fox, Berlin. The sounds are much more musical than one could expect. There are complex layers of high and low frequencies, loops of rhythmic sequences, groups of tiny signals, long drones and many things which change constantly and
are hard to describe.
Magnetic Flights consists of three parts with a short special sound at the beginning and another one at the end. The piece starts with an electromagnetic sound recorded just before departure and continues with the material of flight radiations recorded inside different airplanes. These electromagnetic fields slightly change pitch during departure and arrival, but remain quite constant during the flight itself. The relatively high and compact sounds gradually build up a dense layer of vibrations with continuous minimal variations.
In the second part some of the previous flight radiations gradually become filtered. The single signals mingle into a mix of small, short, nervous and very rhythmic signals. Their origin might be radio waves, communication signals with the tower , internet and atmospheric disturbances., but this is only a guess. The third part, the situation of arrival or transition, is a mix of typical electromagnetic sounds in the waiting areas of airports such as the deep vibrations of the screens of monitors which slowly fade in and out.
The piece ends with the electrical flickering of an electromagnetic field of unknown origin.
Christina Kubisch belongs to the first generation of sound artists. Trained as a composer, she studied painting, music (flute and composition) and electronics in Hamburg, Graz, Zürich and Milano, where she graduated. Her work can be described as the “synthesis of arts” - the discovery of acoustic space and the dimension of time in the visual arts on the one hand, and a redefinition of relationships between material and form on the other. Kubisch is best known for artistically and innovatively using techniques such as magnetic induction and ultraviolet light to create and realise her work.Since the 1970’s Kubisch has been experimenting with electromagnetic induction and was one of the first to use this method for creating sound installations. Some of her most well know works include the Electrical Walks series, where audience wear magnetic headphones, specially designed by Kubisch, with built-in coils that respond to electrical fields in the environment. Tapping into the electrical fields that result from light systems, anti-theft security devices, surveillance cameras, cell phones, computers, antennae, automated teller machines and other electric devices, she uses these visible sources to create unique and new sensory environmental experiences.
In the mid-1980s, Kubisch began to incorporate light as a compositional tool in many works, for example in the installation Skylines at the documenta 8, Kassel; the underground installation Klang Fluß Licht Quelle on Potsdamer Platz in Berlin and more recently Licht Himmel a permanent light sound installation at Gasometer Oberhausen, Germany. Since 2003 Kubisch has begun to work again as a performer and collaborates with various musicians and dancers, one of whom is Lotta Melin, with whom she will be co-facilitating the Lisbon workshop. An internationally recognised artist, Kubisch has shown work at major international exhibitions and festivals (Venice Benniale, documenta 8, Kassel, Ars Electronica, Linz, Sydney Benniale, Sonar, Barcelona and Sonic Boom, London) performing around the world she has received numerous grants and awards and her music has been realised on various labels such as Cramps Records and Edition RZ. Kubisch has been visiting professor in Maastricht, Paris and Berlin and since 1994, is currently the professor for sound art at the Academy of Fine Arts, Saarbrücken, Germany." [label info]
|
2011 |
€15.00 |
|
| KUBISCH, CHRISTINA & ANNEA LOCKWOOD |
The Secret Life of the Inaudible |
do-CD |
About our collaboration.
Annea and I first met in New York in 1975. I was writing an article about the experimental music scene in New York for an Italian magazine. We soon found out that we had a lot of common interests and ideas. In 1979 she came to Italy and together we performed her piece „World Rhythms“ at a festival in Como. I was deeply impressed by how Annea combined technical skills with intuitive performance.
Sound for her always has been more than just material to bring into a compositional form. It was more than raw material, it had a complex structure of its own and was transporting energy. Annea translated and communicated this energy to the listener and she does this with unusual intensity until today.
Over the years we followed each other’s works but unfortunately did not meet as often as we would have liked. During her stay in Berlin earlier this year we had another chance to discuss our works, materials, researches, concepts, doubts and future projects. The idea of a collaboration was a natural consequence of this exchange. We both investigate soundworlds which normally are not audible. Annea questions how the forces of nature influence us, I question how manmade electromagnetic fields have an impact on our lives. And we both love field recording, especially exploring underwater sounds with hydrophones.
We decided to exchange sound materials and left it open to the other what to choose and how to mix it into a new composition. The two new pieces which were created by this exchange are different but at the same time seem to belong together somehow. Annea sent me extracts from recordings of VLF chorus waves, solar oscillations, earthquakes, gas vents etc. while I transmitted to her a collection of recordings of electromagnetic waves which I had made audible and recorded with special custom designed induction headphones. Annea’s sound material was coming from sonic ultra and infra ranges and was speeded up or shifted down in order to become audible, my recordings are analog and were made directly on site in different cities. The sounds we use are all strange and powerful and they go together as if they were especially made for this collaboration. Until now what kind of influence the sources of these normally hidden waves have on us is not much explored. It is up to the listener to find out more about it.
Thanks to Gruenrekorder who supported our project from the beginning. — Christina Kubisch, November 2017
CD 1 – Annea Lockwood
WILD ENERGY | 2016 (with Bob Bielecki)
Wild Energy gives access to the inaudible, vibrations in the ultra sound and infra sound ranges emanating from sources which affect us fundamentally, but which are beyond our normal audio perception, many of which are creating our planet’s environment: the sun, the troposphere and ionosphere, the earth’s crust and core, the oxygen-generating trees – everything deeply integrated, forming an inaudible web in which we move, through which we live and on which we depend. It is our sense that through these sounds one can feel the energies generated, not as concepts but as energy-fields moving through one’s body. Here they have been shifted up (infrasound) or down (ultrasound) to bring them into the human audio range.
Wild Energy begins with solar oscillations (acoustical pressure waves) recorded by the SOHO spacecraft – 40 days of solar oscillations sped up 42,000 times, and ends with ultrasound recorded from the interior of a Scots pine tree.
Recordings made available to Annea Lockwood by scientists at the universities of Hawaii, Stanford, Iowa, Columbia (USA) and the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research.
Sound sources:
The sun, acoustical pressure waves – recording courtesy of Alexander Kosovichev, Solar Oscillations Investigation team, Stanford University
Gas vents and tremors, Mt Kilauea – recordings courtesy of Milton Garces, the Infrasound Laboratory, University of Hawaii
VLF Chorus waves and Whistlers; Auroral Kilometric Radiation radio waves –recordings courtesy of Craig Kletzing, Radio and Plasma Wave Group, University of Iowa
Sei whale – recording courtesy of Arthur Newhall, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute
Earthquakes – recordings courtesy of the U.S.G.S; Ben Holtzman, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University and Jason Moran
Trees, cavitation events and ultrasound emissions – recordings courtesy of Melvin Tyree; Roman Zweifel , Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL and Marcus Maeder, Zurich University of the Arts, Institute for Computer Music and Sound Technology
Hydrothermal vents – recording courtesy of Timothy Crone, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University
Bats: pipistrelle, California myotis, silver-haired bats, Shockwave-Sound.com; big brown bat and Grote’s tiger moth recording courtesy of Aaron Corcoran, Wake Forest University
CD 1 – Annea Lockwood
STREAMING, SWIRLING, CONVERGING | 2017
Composing with combined sound files and sources, six from each of us, has been a unique experience for me, and a deep pleasure. I have long found Christina’s explorations of the electromagnetic fields within which we live now revelatory and essential – beautiful in their sonic detail and powerful in their effects on my body. And there is satisfying sense of complementarity here: Human-created sounds from Christina’s electromagnetic world, a world which she has been hugely instrumental in revealing to us, and non-human sounds and vibrations from the geophysical, atmospheric and mammalian spheres which are my sources.
Her sounds were a delight to work with, often with a clear pitch element and, while fluctuating in their details and flow, essentially stable. This contrasts well with the event-driven, more turbulent rhythms and noise content of my materials. It was fascinating to play with these differences and discover how easily our sounds blend as if drawn together magnetically into layered textures. I am most grateful to Christina for suggesting this collaboration.
Sound sources:
Annea Lockwood: Tremors and a bench collapse on Mt Kilauea, Hawaii, VLF whistlers, earthquakes in Sumatra and Honshu, Japan, ultrasonic sounds from a Scots pine tree, the Mid-Ocean Ridge Black Smoker hydrothermal vent, solar oscillations.
Christina Kubisch: electromagnetic waves recorded in a subway station, a server room, an underground tunnel, a power station, shopping centers and in the countryside during a thunderstorm after electricity had broken down.
CD 2 – Christina Kubisch
NINE MAGNETIC PLACES | 2017
Nine magnetic places is a journey without knowing where to go, what to find, how long to stay or what will come next. It is a discovery of a hidden world, a dreamlike trip by which the traveller encounters unexpected juxtapositions and sequences of electromagnetic waves. The piece was inspired by the first book using the technique of automatic writing, „Les champs magnétiques“ by André Breton and Philippe Soupault, published in Paris (1920).
The electromagnetic recordings were made in or traveling to: Las Vegas, Gdansk, Ystad, Kosice, Montreal, Bordeaux, Manchester, Dortmund, San Francisco, Paris, Ekaterinburg, Lagos, Venice, Bratislava, Bangkok and other places.
CD 2 – Christina Kubisch
BELOW BEHIND ABOVE | 2017
When I was about to finish this piece two powerful storms, called Xavier and Herwart, swept through northern Germany and Central Europe following each other within three weeks. The storms produced hurricane winds and left a path of destruction knocking down trees, power lines and buildings and caused widespread travel chaos.
I was working in my studio during both storms, looking at the shaking trees in front of my house while I was listening to sounds from vulcanos, solar oscillations, earthquakes and the intense vibrations of electromagnetic fields.
The experience of the two storms had a strong impact on my work. The piece became a kind of encounter of different energies and vibrations which meet in unforeseen ways.
Sound sources:
Annea Lockwood: Volcanic gas vents, VLF chorus waves and whistlers, earthquakes, solar oscillations and ultrasonic tree sounds.
Christina Kubisch: electromagnetic recordings from light systems, seismic research centers,transmitter systems and others. Hydrophone recordings from the river Rhein.
www.gruenrekorder.de
"A cause of extreme disgruntlement for this writer is the passive awareness that the bulk of a lifetime was splurged on issues and people not belonging to a sphere of intuitions and considerations even marginally correlatable with his own. If one inaugurates the process of growth by being predominantly attracted by non-vocal emissions, it is foreseeable that – quite soon – attention will not be given anymore to individuals imparting sagacity via mere words, typically instilling some kind of dismay in the potential victim. In that sense, imagine the (adult) quotidian disheartenment for not having a chance to remain within essential acoustic domains when the calls comes; silence is mandatory to do that, and silence is by now a rare commodity. Finally, try to explain all of the above to someone blathering non-stop because convinced – possibly via previous trauma – or out-and-out pretending of living outside his/her body, then get back to me for a good laugh together.
But we do get privileged whenever communicating – remotely but, by the grace of heavens, through sounds – with truly developed beings such as Christina Kubisch and Annea Lockwood, themselves linked by a long-time friendship and artistic consanguinity that never had resulted in a tangible collaboration. Until today.
Narrating yet again what these women have been doing throughout their histories of sonic researchers would be pathetic (but if you still think there is a need to, a peep to the presentation notes of this release will help explicating the kernel of the matter). This double CD encloses four handsome compositions derived from the manipulation of swapped materials; the common denominator is the attempt of turning invisible energies and inaudible frequencies into physically perceivable substances destined to increase one’s congenital acumen. Kubisch and Lockwood operate at levels of intuitive interiority unconceivable by the average gatherer of location recordings and electronics. We can literally “feel inside” the gradual effect of sources reconfigured in various types of aural concretization. They emerge as penetrating hums of radiophonic descent, or may resemble marine currents inhabited by a somewhat alien fauna attempting new forms of signal transmission. The ordinary becomes unconventional; the voice of nature and its private tumults get disfigured by deforming lenses that, rather amazingly, emphasize the gravity of each single event.
That these pieces ultimately can stand proudly amidst the finest electroacoustic musics of the last few decades is obviously a plus. However, what really counts is the implicit message: communication does happen at every stage of physical existence, including the supposedly inanimate. In times when most humans are bamboozled by things that do not exist particularized by brains that do not work, what we have to do is raising the aerials way up. Consequences – if there is sufficient emotional fuel in your personal tank – will inevitably materialize." [Touching Extremes]
|
2018 |
€16.00 |
|
| KUBISCH, CHRISTINA & ECKEHARD GÜTHER |
Mosaique Mosaic |
CD |
"My first visit to Cameroon in summer 2010 occurred thanks to an invitation by the Goethe-Institut Yaoundé and the independent art organization Doual’Art.
During my residency I prepared a sound installation for a festival in Douala in December. I also conducted a workshop, together with Eckehard Güther, for young local musicians and artists on the theme of field recordings. Field recordings?
In the cities people are surrounded by distorted sound systems playing lo-fi illegal copies of Cameroonian as well as international pop music. The sounds from church services, instruments and voices are all amplified as well – the louder the better. A lot of what you hear comes from speakers.
The workshop held surprises for everybody, most of all for us: the participants led us to many hidden places with sounds they thought would be of interest to us. And we noticed that we were mistaken in our prejudice of sounds which might be unheeded: these people did listen, they had the most musical ears, they knew a lot about their “field”. But so far they had not felt any necessity to store these sounds. So we started our exchange: they got the recording facilities and we got a little bit of their ears.
Cameroon is a noisy country with unexpected and subtle soundscapes. We were brought to places we never would have discovered ourselves. This was the basis for a “sound diary” which was continued during a long trip into the North of the country and as well during our second visit in and around Douala in the winter time.
Music is one of the most important forms of communication in Cameroon, a country with hundreds of different languages and ethnic groups, it is a link which binds them all together. I am glad that we could participate in this sonic experience with the help of many local people. The places we recorded were not arranged in advance, we just happened to be there and sometimes the recordings were made with quite simple equipment. Listening was the most important experience and hopefully some of this personal experience will shine through in this release.
All the field recordings are unprocessed, but parts of them are assembled and mixed together." [Christina Kubisch]
www.gruenrekorder.de
"Our journey starts in Africa, Cameroon to be precise, which is, according to Christina Kubisch a noisy country 'with unexpected and subtle soundscapes'. In 2010 she visited the country for the first time and did an installation and a workshop on field recordings. I've never been to Cameroon, (nor, spoiler, any of the other places on these three new Gruenrekorder) releases, but I can imagine the sounds of a busy city, with lots of music, old and rusty cars, people talking, call for prayer service, but also quiet recordings from the country side, in the 'National Park Waza'. The titles of the pieces explain what we are hearing and it makes up a great audio journey to Cameroon, and a fine balance between nature sounds and human interference." [FdW/Vital Weekly] |
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Unter Grund |
CD |
The Ruhr Area lives from and with water. It needs drinking water, water for industrial facilities and water for transportation. Water veins pulse invisibly with groundwater, connecting rivers through subsurface tunnels that also force their way into disused mines. This mine water has to be drained continuously or pumped out from underground (one speaks of unending tasks) to prevent the collapse of old shafts, subsidence damage, and the contamination of drinking water. Without constant pumping of the groundwater the Ruhr Area would transform into a vast marshy landscape.
Fabian Lasarzik
"The discomfort from the underground
Christina Kubisch’s site-specific sound installations are based on retrieving parallel worlds. She often responds to structures and atmospheres of places and their unheralded vibrancy which she turns into concrete perception and imagination by the recipient. For the 26-channel installation “under ground” carried out on Zeche Zollverein Christina Kubisch examined above ground and subterranean streams which are little noticed, but play a decisive role: water which has to be developed from abandoned and not backfilled shafts and mounted into a complex canal and river system.
It is about the control and domination of mine water, which is nothing but ascending groundwater intruding former coal bearing seems and seeping away in deepness. It has to be pumped and conveyed permanently. Without this elaborate dewatering the tunnel system would be flooded which would set the surface in motion. By now the region in the Ruhr area sagged more than 20 meters within the last 150 years. Also the water would mix with our normal groundwater and soil it chemically. It would ascend and transform the Ruhr area into a swampy seascape with contaminated water. On Zollverein there are already six centrifugal pumps in 1000 meters depth, two of them working constantly. About 8 millions cubic meters of water are developed in average per year. Talking about perpetual burdens and costs means those strenuous efforts.
Those tremendous consequences and measures correspond to the enormous and massive historical interventions caused by coal mining that are widely unknown to the public. The artistic field studies by Christina Kubisch pick out this parallel world as central theme. With high sensitivity in her tonal production she feeds the dark dimension of our imagination, which associates the invisible “under the ground” with the uncanny, the uncontrollable primordial. The subject deals with the conscious and the unconscious in a metaphorical way: the lucent, literally bright surface reality in opposite to the dark, uncanny and hidden reality underground.
Christina Kubisch mediates those aspects within a spatial composition by using above and underground recordings. What we hear is reality, which can be sensually experienced within a composition subtly connecting documentary material with our imagination. If we engage in the imagination stimulated by this work, we feel the monstrous things which happened underneath our feet, humans competing with the bowels of earth and the forces of nature. “Under ground” — and we are talking about approximately 1.400 meters depth — associates the unconscious, the archaic, the long forgotten. Eventually we are standing on what deposited during millions of years and we only know little about, except it is tremendous and began before the emergence of mankind.
Our primal fear at this point is those primary things (basically nature itself) could turn against us and take revenge. Christina Kubisch’s work plays with those associations without pathos. When the bassy vast main water pumps raise their sound it seems we hear a giant organism underneath us breathing in and out. The sounds indicate magnitude, significance and menace. We become aware of something we normally do not notice. After all Kubisch uses military equipment like special hydrophones to make this parallel worlds tangible, and she probably does it with a certain subversive delight. It is not only about picturesque sounds and enthralling noises, but also about alternative ways of perceiving and accessing correlations. This is her deep conceptual approach. Kubisch’s work is about autonomously provided ways of experience and unofficial versions of reality. Therein lies also an ironic jab at our faith in technical progress, which on the one hand opens up the world to us, but with its focus on certain lines of development strikes us with blindness at the same time."
www.gruenrekorder.de
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
| KUBISCH, CHRISTINA / FABRIZIO PLESSI |
Two and Two |
LP |
TWO AND TWO is the outcome of the ambitious research developed by Christina Kubisch and Fabrizio Plessi in 1976, a collaborative effort towards the merging of visual and sound elements into a new form of intermedia. Influenced by the aesthetics of Fluxus, the duo produced a highly complex and articulated performance, involving two camera operators and several video screens, as well as a variety of objects and unconventional instruments. The results is structured into four parts inspired by the natural elements, in which single instruments loose their different sonic characteristics to become inseparable parts of a unique visual/acoustic process.
SIDE A
EARTH 9:44
Alto flute, Voice: Christina Kubisch Violoncello,
Electric vibrator: Fabrizio Plessi
FIRE 10:31
Swanee whistle, Voice: Christina Kubisch
Contact microphone on ventilator: Fabrizio Plessi
SIDE B
AIR 11:16
Alto flute without headpiece: Christina Kubisch
Acordeon: Fabrizio Plessi
WATER 11:36
Electronic metronome: Christina Kubisch
Waterjet on steeldrum: Fabrizio Plessi
www.songcyclerecords.com
"Two and Two is an entrancing, historic slab of mutant sound pressure realised in 1976 by pioneering sound artists and Fluxus affiliates Christina Kubisch and Fabrizio Plessi.
In striving towards “the merging of visual and sound elements into a new form of intermedia”, the duo forged an exceptional early iteration of rhythmic, electro-acoustic noise which still sounds like it was beamed in from another planet, making this first ever vinyl issue very welcome around these parts.
The original performance - of which this is a recording, made on June 17th & 18th, 1976 at Fono Play Studios, Milan - involved two camera operators and a wall of video screens displaying close-ups of the performers actions in a symbiotic representation of what the audience was seeing and listening to, attempting to induce synaesthetic sensations and both loosen up, and lose, the primary sonic characteristics of their chosen instruments in the process.
Working to repetitive, techno or raga-like modal phrasings, they use a range of unconventional tools to animate and excite their instruments in ribboning streams of sound. On Air, Christina manipulates her own voice and alto flute whilst Plessi plays a Violoncello with an electric vibrator, resulting what sounds like a pack of wolves circling a wounded buffalo on a bleak high plain at midnight, whereas with Fire they conjure flickering electronic partials and playfully swooping cadence from a Swanee Whistle and contact microphone applied to a ventilator to sound like Clangers on their way to the cheese mines. Likewise in Air Christina’s breaths on an Alto Flute without headpiece are combined with vicious accordion to sound like an astronaut lost in space who receives a deathly distress signal, and the rapid ostinatos of Water elicits comparison with an amplified chorus of hooligan cicadas on their way to a big cup game, when it was actually made using an electronic metronome and water jet on a steel drum.
Most crucially, this isn’t an academic piece, but neither is it trivial; there’s the real sense that Christina and Plessi are in pursuit of the most elusive sounds, and safe to say they’ve located at least some of them within." [Boomkat]
|
2017 |
€28.00 |
|
| KUHZUNFT / ACHIM ZEPEZAUER |
Slotmachine |
10inch |
The „Kuhzunft-slotmachine“ is a website-project, based on a picture of a crayon-painted slot machine. Clicking the start button activates the machine to randomly combine pre-produced recordings (of 45 seconds length) within three slots. Instead of typical fruits in the display, you would see photos attached to the specific sounds by the artists responsible for the content. Even the names of the „songs“ are put together by the single names each artist had chosen for their recordings. The vinyl release on Gruenrekorder documents the project with a selection from 13 artists and 158 recordings, that offered a possibility of 3.944.312 tracks. The online-slotmachine has the ability to continuously grow and contains at the date of the vinyl release (February 1st, 2019) four more artists and a total of 225 recordings, providing some 11.390.625 possible titles. Visit slotmachine.kuhzunft.com to discover the project yourself. You can either simply press START and get surprised or deactivate AUTO PLAY to make a selection.
The vinyl features:
Jaap Blonk (NL) – Voice
John Chantler (AU) – Modular Synth
Serge Corteyn (DE) – Guitar
Rhodri Davies (GB) – Harp
Gailė Griciūtė (LT) – Prepared Piano
Richard Lerman (US) – Piezzo, Hydrophone
Seán Mac Erlaine (IE) – Woodwinds
Jérôme Noetinger (FR) – Tape Machine
Pablo Paredes (CL) – Keyboards
Michael Vatcher (US) – Drums
Simon Whetham (GB) – Field Recordings
Marta Zapparoli (IT) – Radio Waves
Achim Zepezauer (DE) – Drumcomputer, Electronics, Acoustics
The online slotmachine also features:
Émilie Girard-Charest (CN) – Cello
Florian Hartlieb (DE) – Computer
Bart Maris (BE) – Trumpet
Carolin Pook (DE/US) – Violin
Achim Zepezauer (DE) – Words
Pablo Paredes (CL) – Mastering
Guida Ribeiro (PT) – Website Developing
|
2019 |
€10.00 |
|
| KUTIN, PETER |
Burmese Days |
LP |
"Over the past several years, Vienna-based composer / producer peter kutin has been working intensely at the little-explored junction between sound art and journalism / documentation. Focusing on sonic experiences in extreme or exceptional conditions. Kutin explores both the physical and psychological impacts of such extremes on how we hear. Later translating or orchestrating these experiences into sound. Despite his age, Kutin has already seen (and heard) many lost corners of the world, having realised field-projects that led him through deserts, jungles, mountain ranges, glacier gaps, war zones, volcanoes, protest marches and even into prison.
‘burmese days’ is not the traditional puristic field-recording album but more an abstract composition, which opens up a wide dynamic range of sonic perception, where electronic manipulations and timbres of selected traditional burmese instruments are interwoven with field recordings to form a captivating sonic essay – probably one of the most abstract and unexpected releases on Gruenrekorder .
Peter Kutin :
‘The following piece is mainly based on original field recordings from Myanmar taken between April & May 2012, half a year after the military dictatorship announced its withdrawal and indicated plans for a change towards a democratic – or a ‘hybrid military-civilian’ – system in Myanmar after more than sixty years of a military state and its repression. Suddenly it was legal for journalists to enter officially. When I found a timeslot and got the money and some contacts together, I set up a field trip following a journalistic and documentary approach. One of my main interests was to investigate whether the situation of people of ethnic minorities had already changed since the regime’s withdrawal. There were peace talks, but in fact most of the rebel groups were still at war with the military regime at that time. My route started at the border area between Myanmar and Thailand: topographically, this was a zone covered by a beautiful rainforest and all its richness of sounds; politically, it was a buffer zone : ethnic minorities, rebel groups, expelled people, opium and other drug smugglers and refugee camps.
At the end of 2012, US president Obama became the first American president to visit Myanmar in fifty years. He walked barefoot over the sacred marble ground of the golden Shwedagon Pagoda in the former capital, Rangoon, and warmly welcomed the newborn democracy. While I was there, ethnic clashes (some media referred to the terminology of an ‘ethnic cleansing’) started in the western Akran state. More than 30,000 people from the Rohingya (a Muslim minority) were chased from their homes. Many were killed in the violent clashes between Muslims and radical Buddhists. Not a single journalist was allowed to enter or get even close to the area. Freedom and Democracy are more elusive concepts or cachets than the media would like us to believe.
My recordings were first used for the production of a feature on Austrian national radio. I was a bit disappointed, feeling that the sounds had been used the ‘wrong’ way due to all the information within the spoken texts… In order I sat down and reflected on my recordings from an aesthetic point of view, thinking about how I could translate my personal experiences (heat, sickness, fear, jungle, rain, radical Buddhism, rebels fighting for freedom or more rights, the sound of mantras, gongs, bells and the language itself …). I also found out that the percussionist of Vienna’s Radio-symphonic-Orchestra has been collecting instruments from Myanmar since more than 10 years. So the use of some of these original Burmese metallophones (and their electronic transformations & manipulations) is now the constant element throughout the record, guiding the listener through different sonic stages. It is a piece about the vague state of the people’s identity – a life lived between hope, anger and fear, between the prospect of freedom and doubt of being betrayed.
‘Burmese days’ may be described as an acoustic diary, focusing entirely on sound and using almost no linguistic information. No interviews were used. The piece’s subtitles refer directly to some experiences.
For best result, it should be listened to at a high volume with good bass response.
‘Burmese days’ is originally written for
* traditional Burmese metallophones :
three Kye zees (high-range scaleed, rotating gong), three gongs of mid-range scale, one low-range gong; played by Berndt Thurner
* turntables :
I asked the Viennese turntablist dieb13 to cut a vinyl using only my Burmese field-recordings; he could choose from a selection
* live electronics (for treating the sound of the gongs) ; 4 channel spatialisation ; played by myself
‘Burmese days’ was premiered at Vienna’s Church of St. Ruprecht in June 2013 .
http://kutin.klingt.org/burmese_days.html" [label info]
www.gruenrekorder.de
"And then Gruenrekorder also expands to the world of vinyl with a rather unusual disc. Peter Kutin is a member of Dirac (see Vital Weekly 708 and 729) and had a solo CD (see Vital Weekly 818), which sees 'all field and studio recordings' by him, but also with Berndt Thurner on original Burmese metallophones and Dieb13 on additional electronics and turntables. If I understood correctly Kutin is the composer of this work that is partly a mixture of field recordings from Burma with some additional music from the musicians, all 'arranged and composed by Peter Kutin'. It's a pretty interesting work; one that works pretty well. The overtones from the metallophone collide nicely with the electronics from Dieb13 and mix well with the insect/bird sounds from the locations. Sometimes, and perhaps that's the best part, it's hard to tell whether we are hearing 'just' field recordings or perhaps also something else, something 'extra'. I guess that's where field recordings and 'music' - what's the difference, I wondered - blend together in a very natural way. 'Part 1' seems to be more about the instruments and 'Part 2' more about the field recordings - but perhaps I am wrong about this. Maybe that explains why this is on LP, rather than CD: to mark the difference between both sides. Excellent stuff all around! Great, moody music, carefully balancing sound art and music, field recordings and soundscapes." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€16.50 |
|
| KÜPPER, LEO & HOSSEIN MALEK |
Santur: Orient/Occident |
CD |
SR419
CD digipack + 24 page booklet
This disc offers two approaches to an ancient instrument called santur. The first - the eastern - by the Iranian master musician Hossein Malek, features improvised pieces recorded by Leo in the 80's - a unique and valuable archive. The second is the Western approach of his friend Leo Kupper, a student of the first; where it goes through the filter of undetectable electronic.
Santur - the word is mentioned in the Bible and the word is Aramaic. We find a representation of an Assyrian sculpture of Assurbanipal (667- 626 BC. AD). The Santur is an isosceles trapezoid zither seventy-two string (36 strings of brass and steel 36) fixed and crossed (with four strings per note). We play the instrument with light rods and fines medlar.
LEO KUPPER
Born in Nidrum, Belgium, April 16, 1935. Musicology Studies and History of Art at the University of Liege and Brussels. Collaboration with Henri Pousseur, at Studio Apelac (first electronic music studio of Belgium) from 1962. Musician at Radio Télévision Belge (RTB and RTBF). Founder and Director of Studio de Recherches et de Structurations Électroniques Auditives, since 1967.
HOSSEIN MALEK
Hossein Malek was born July 17, 1925, in the popular neighborhoods of Tehran.
He died in 1999 in the same town after an exile in Belgium. He was only two years old when he heard for the first time and discovered the Santur with emotion (play by the master Habib Samai who lived next door). He then had several other professors: Nurali Khan Borumand, Abolhassan Saba, and Shokro Ghamar. He enjoyed worldwide fame, playing in most countries of the world and leading an existence of particular intensity. During one special evening in '70, the Queen of England apologized to the other musicians she invited, ssaying that what she had just heard was so beautiful that she no longer wished to listen to anyone else.
www.subrosa.net
|
2016 |
€14.50 |
|
| KÖNER, THOMAS |
Tiento de la Luz |
LP |
"A tiento is a form of keyboard music that originated in Spain in the mid-15th century. "Tiento de la Luz" is Köner's second tiento, succeeds "Tiento de las Nieves" (2014) and precedes the upcoming "Tiento de la Oscuridad". While "Tiento de las Nieves" is a work for solo performer and live electronics, the instrumentation of "Tiento de la Luz" is expanded: in addition to Köner's distinct live electronics, there are two piano parts, percussion, and viola da gamba.
At the core of Köner's works is always a sense of place (topos) and tone colour. He often travels around the world and record sounds and images. Köner experiences the place and tone as unique voices of these locations, but he is aware that these associations are purely personal. His creative process and work evolve from an understanding of this sense of place and tone, the awareness of its radiance and his distinction of what it is not: it is not a realization that could be accomplished by the practice known as field recording. Similarly, the place, the seed around which Köner's creative process unfolds, can be neither a geographical, nor a temporal one. In fact, according to Köner, the “eternal present” (commonly associated with music or its experience) is a myth and simply does not exist, because the present never appears without a timeline. In the liner notes to this album, Köner even goes as far as to claim that "Music does not exist".
The only element that is independent and able to communicate itself according to Köner is tone colour. In the finishing words of the album liner notes, Köner states: "The textbook definition of tone colour can only describe what it is not: qualities of sound that are not related to pitch, volume, or duration. Tone colour is therefore the absence and yet the total presence. For example, a mother reading a fairy tale to her child is reading words made of letters - but the child hears the mother's “I love you“ in her voice. This is resonance. [...] Appearing as tone colour, sound has the potential to become its own resonance, effortless and luminous." [label info]
Stream: www.denovali.com/thomaskoner
Download: www.denovali.com/digitalstore
Facebook: www.facebook.com/artist.thomaskoner |
2016 |
€20.00 |
|
|
Motus |
do-LP |
»Motus is more (to me) than just music made with analogue synthesizers, it is about attitude, a way of relating to sound and the (e)motion it affects.
A lifestyle, where movement, being moved and moving become one. My practice is vibrational, about the skin, touch and surfaces and the gaseous medium in between.
I dream of a dance floor where Motus would be enjoyed. In what kind of world, or rather, what kind of society would allow that? And when? Is this futuristic? A situation-to-come, where the understanding of music expands greatly, when blissful moments are independent of simple melodies, where harmony appears beyond I-V-vi-IV chord progressions, when the techniques of social alienation, which determine the use of all the drugs that accompany recreational music, are reversed into creative tools of exploration.
Motus is part of this exploration: to find dance, free of clock, and groove, free of rhythm.
There is pulsation, and the downbeat connects to the downward beings as in stones and minerals, the upbeat connects to the upward beings as in grasses, flowers, trees and stars.
Binding both together, connecting sky and earth, is the dancer.
The moves / the movement is pure. It is the kiss of spirit and matter.«
Thomas Köner
Motus (Latin):
1. Movement, motion
2. Advance, progress
3. Operation, impulse, passion; disturbance; sensation
4. Political movement, tumult, commotion, revolt, rebellion
Track list:
A1 EXTENSION (Attack) 3:17
A2 COGITATION (Decay) 6:27
B1 POTENTIAL (Sustain) 4:32
B2 EXPRESSION (Release) 6:11
C1 SUBSTRATE (Binaural) 7:02
C2 OSCILLATOR (Luminous) 3:28
D1 SUBSTANCE (Suicide) 4:29
D2 SYNTHESIS (Carnal) 4:41
https://forceincmilleplateaux.bandcamp.com/album/motus
|
2020 |
€27.50 |
|
| |
Motus |
CD |
»Motus is more (to me) than just music made with analogue synthesizers, it is about attitude, a way of relating to sound and the (e)motion it affects.
A lifestyle, where movement, being moved and moving become one. My practice is vibrational, about the skin, touch and surfaces and the gaseous medium in between.
I dream of a dance floor where Motus would be enjoyed. In what kind of world, or rather, what kind of society would allow that? And when? Is this futuristic? A situation-to-come, where the understanding of music expands greatly, when blissful moments are independent of simple melodies, where harmony appears beyond I-V-vi-IV chord progressions, when the techniques of social alienation, which determine the use of all the drugs that accompany recreational music, are reversed into creative tools of exploration.
Motus is part of this exploration: to find dance, free of clock, and groove, free of rhythm.
There is pulsation, and the downbeat connects to the downward beings as in stones and minerals, the upbeat connects to the upward beings as in grasses, flowers, trees and stars.
Binding both together, connecting sky and earth, is the dancer.
The moves / the movement is pure. It is the kiss of spirit and matter.«
Thomas Köner
Motus (Latin):
1. Movement, motion
2. Advance, progress
3. Operation, impulse, passion; disturbance; sensation
4. Political movement, tumult, commotion, revolt, rebellion
https://forceincmilleplateaux.bandcamp.com/album/motus
|
2020 |
€15.50 |
|
| L'ENSEMBLE VOLTA |
Les Nuages de Magellan (Works by Tristan Murail) |
CD |
"Our third collection featuring the ondes Martenot and the most experimental, in part because the Spectralist composer Tristan Murail, to whom this CD is dedicated, was himself a student of - and performer on - the ondes and, in these pieces, he explores some of its less conventional byways. These works are united here for the first time, performed by a new generation of musicians more attuned to the raw, less academic approach to sound that Murail himself favoured. Works for solo Onde, two Ondes, Onde and Piano, two Ondes, percussion and electric guitar." [label info]
www.rermegacorp.com
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| LA CASA, ERIC |
Air.Ratio |
CD |
Wer hat sich nicht schon einmal im Dröhnen & Rauschen von Lüftungs- und Klimaanlagen verloren? ERIC LA CASA hat hier 30 verschiedene Extrakte von ‘Nahaufnahmen’ gemacht, alle in Paris in verschiedensten Gebäuden auf Fluren, Toiletten, Badezimmern... AIR.RATIO zeigt die Verschiedenartigkeit & Vielschichtigkeit von ‘Rauschen, Dröhnen, Pfeifen, Heulen, Summen, etc.’ auf! Wenn man nur nah genug herangeht, eröffnet sich einem eine faszinierende, reichhaltige Welt (wohl das Grundprinzip experimenteller Musik – und vielleicht auch des Lebens an sich?). Nicht ein Stück gleicht dem anderen.
Im Booklet Texte zur ‘mechanischen Ventilation’ & der Abhängigkeit dieser Art der Klangerzeugung von diversen Parametern, die ‘künstliche Atmung der Gebäude’ als Symbol für die Rationalisierung unserer inneren Wohnwelten. Das ist die wahre ‘Maschinenmusik’ der modernen Welt. Wir meinen: Interessante Idee & fantastische Umsetzung, eine CD die die Ohren öffnen kann für die auralen Mikrowelten des Alltags, eine Bewusstseinserweiterung ohne Drogen! Diese (Wieder)-Entdeckung des Hörens kann glücklich machen.
63 Minuten Spielzeit, 33 tracks.
“Air Ratio. It all started in 1994, in a bathroom. An air vent above the bathtub attracted my attention. There, in the dusty environment, air became noise, music. Microphones were brought into contact with this acoustic territory to transmit the sonority of the aeraulic device directly. Since that day, I have been attentive to the flow of air in the modern architecture. This CD presents a selection of sound recordings made in Paris in buildings of various ages and dimensions. Without seeking to itemize mechanized ventilation systems in any methodical manner, I was interested in documenting their sonic and musical qualities. My approach wasn't strictly scientific, but nor was it primarily musical. All the sound recordings were made using a boom and of a pair of condenser microphones. Direct contact with the material was avoided. The recordings were subsequently assembled and equalized to optimize their abstract qualities, i.e. I sought to emphasize only sonic particularities related to the acoustics of the point of listening, not events related to the external movements (sounds of doors,
or voices): a listening devoid of both context and reference.” [Eric La Casa, liner notes]
“Each of the two minute pieces is a true delight to hear: mechanical sounding, sometimes far away, sometimes interfering with some other device (although none were recorded on the surface), this is a totally fascinating journey, that brings the listener more awareness of every days sound. Going into public places will never be the same again. Great sound work. “ (from FDW, Vital Weekly 533)
|
2006 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
W2 (1998-2008) |
do-CD |
"A collection of previous released compositions and longtime sold out made between 1998 and 2008 and gather under two main theme, Water and Wind. + a few unreleased pieces. A geographic inventory, a sonic journal, a living alchemy, the pulsing of the world. With Les pierres du seuil, S'ombre, Spirale, Les oscillations, L'Inspir du rivage, Dans le feuillage du lointain, la clameur d'un bruissement, Quelque chose de cela, le désert, L'air au fond rouge, Les aubes sont navrantes." [label info]
www.herbalinternational.tk
"Essential compilation of now hard to find material from sound artist Eric La Casa, thematically separated onto two CDs around the themes of wind and water. These pieces are just as much shaped by geography as by time itself, with each track's vocabulary varying according to what was recorded then and there.
As always La Casa masterfully crafts compelling sound stories with these two elements, emphasizing narration over some purely static documentary exercise. The sound of breezes, flowing rivers, wind tunnels, rain drops and other storms are structured but never denatured, retaining all of their organic depth and beauty. Absolutely recommended, especially to those appreciative of G*Park." [Mechanoise Labs]
|
2010 |
€20.00 |
|
| LA CASA, ERIC & CEDRIC PEYRONNET |
La Creuse |
CD |
LA CREUSE ist eine höchst gelungene Field Recording-Reise mit hohem Abstraktionsfaktor. Die Psychogeographie des französischen Departments LA CREUSE soll dadurch (sub)sonisch "verkörpert" und sinnlich erfahrbar werden, das Material wurde mit einem speziellen Remix- / Bearbeitungskonzept für jedes Stück konzeptualisiert. "Intelligente" Geräuschmusik aus einmaligen Klängen der Umgebung & Natur, fantastisch arrangiert !
"Our project is defined by its aim: to represent in sonic terms, and in duo, a particular environment – a triangular area in the north of the Creuse département in central France. In the first place, based on cartographic representations, we set about breaking down the chosen territory, an area between the Petite Creuse and Grande Creuse rivers, into specific sites. Secondly, we placed the map ‘under surveillance’, as it were, conducting sonic surveys in the selected sites. These surveys led us to a geophonic approach, each based on a development of specific auscultatory techniques, in which the wealth of sounds collected nourished our research into (sonic) territoriality.
The aim of the project was not to replace image with sound but to give that which surrounds us a (sonic) body; to give landscape a sonic corporeality. It might be that, being unrelated to notions of admiration that go hand in hand with seeing, a sonic evaluation can go some way towards confounding our a priori notions of landscape. Thirdly, the resulting data gave rise to an ensemble of exchanges/interactions, enabling formal variations. For one of these formalisations, musical composition, we chose the following protocol: each site was given a musical interpretation by a composer, his work being based on the site’s specific sound-bank. The composer then sent his piece to a second who, with recourse to his own bank of sounds, responded to the first interpretation. The second composer redefined the composition, adding his own sounds also. The final interpretation, therefore, is based as much on the layered listenings and recordings formed at the site itself as the musical conceptions of each individual." [label notes]
"As far as I remember I've never been to the area where Cedric Peyronnet (also better known as Toy Bizarre) and Eric La Casa recorded their work, the Creuse department in central France - maybe I saw it today when watching the Tour de France. However there is a booklet with this CD with pictures of the area, and in each picture there is a pair of microphones to be spotted. This is as close as you can make field recordings visual I guess. A pity that the booklet, a diary it seems, is all in French, with some general English translation on the cover. The area was divided into several specific sites which were recorded by one, and then sent to the other to work on it, to interpret the place. And vice versa of course. Each piece is started by one, finished by the other. Its not easy to hear who did what, but I think that the pieces finished by Peyronnet have a minimal subtle electronic manipulations, and that La Casa's pieces are entirely made with field recordings. I might be wrong however and no electronic processing took place. We hear rain, wind, footsteps and sounds from water, objects and other sonic events which are hard to be placed somewhere in terms of what one could recognize. Even when this is divided into nine pieces, it's best enjoyed as a complete picture: listen from start until the end, sit back and transport yourself through time and space - time is the length of the CD and the place is La Creuse. This rural and forest area is pictured quite well before your very eyes. A very refined work." [FdW / Vital Weekly ]
www.herbalinternational.tk
|
2008 |
€13.50 |
|
| LA CASA, ERIC & JEAN-LUC GUIONNET |
Inscape. Lille-Flandres |
CD |
"Es ist möglich mit ALLEN Orten Musik zu machen" - getreu nach diesem Motto und ihrer Faszination für die einmalige Perspektive die jeder Ort bietet, arbeitet das französische Duo beim INSCAPE-Projekt die spezifischen Klänge eines Platzes, Areals oder Gebäudes heraus. Bei diesen Aufnahmen vom AUDIOFRAMES-Festival in Lille (Oktober 2004) wurden an bestimmten Punkten des Auftrittsortes (ein altes Postgebäude) akustische Informationen eingesammelt und kunstvoll in "real time" zusammengeführt. So verbinden sich Aussengeräusche (Straße, Eisenbahn, Bahnhofslautsprecher, etc) mit denen im Innern des Gebäudes, Regen, und so weiter, zu einer einmaligen Komposition.
Wer urbane Field Recordings mag, sollte bei INSCAPE unbedingt ein Ohr riskieren!
Since 2003, their Inscape project, based on site-specific listening installations, has resulted in concerts from the United States to Australia via France. The project has been expanded in recent times to include installations in art galleries presented in conjunction with the ephemeral work of video-artist Yvan Clédat. Since, in our collaborations, we have worked principally on the notion of 'background noise', defined at once as that which designates a specific place (each place, each point defined by the uniqueness of its background noise, its own distribution of sounds, frequencies, textures etc.) and as that which remains when the sonic ensemble which dominates our attention (that which might ordinarily be said to 'interest' us) has been removed from the mass of sounds we hear, our projects are based on the idea that an analogy structures the relations between site, sound and reception, or hearing, of those sounds: sounds come at us, flood our ears in 360¡, defining as they do so a centre - which is none other that of the listening body. However, that centre remains a postulate, defined as it is from outside to in, from sound's invisible horizon. Instinctively, we define a site as such (or are unable to define it otherwise): as a spatial totality, centred on a point, moving or otherwise, inhabited or not.' 'Inscape-Lille-FLandres' was presented in Lille (Northern France) as part of the 2004 Audioframes Festival (October 2004)." [label info]
"Much more information, in English, can be found on the release by Inscape, the duo of Eric LaCasa and Jean-Luc Guionnet. As Inscape they deal with 'site-specific listening installations', 'principally on the notion of 'background noise'. The review of their CD can never really deal with all the implications of their project (otherwise I'd be retyping the entire booklet), but they more or less scan the environment where a project is by means of audio and video, which are used in a live concert or an installation piece. 'Lille-Flanders' was made in 2004 at a disused postal sorting office, now a cultural space and a list of sounds is in the booklet. Best is to sit back and let the music just roll about. Cars passing, trains, water meter, the rain falling, incidental music from the nearby train station etc. Its all there. Other than LaCasa's solo work, this is more a collage like approach on sounds, with a bit more rapid mixing than in his solo work. It makes a small, but significant difference and it makes a beautiful piece of music. A very fine and solid work of field recordings." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.monotyperecords.com
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| LA COMUNIDAD |
Bastion 23 |
CD |
"second release of LC / german power electronics meets ambient noise parts in a mixture of noise / strength by political provokation" [label info]
"Control, Slogun, Sickness, MZ412 they all have something in common with La Comunidad . the pure fucking brutality and angry that these units can project. There is nothing happy or hopeful about this release. This German force are not a happy lot. This is about the disgust of ones world and surrounding and how a single source submits it to anyone that will listen. Not all of La Comunidad is full on noise sometimes there is a very suffocating Death Ambient assault going on here. You need to listen to the speeches and spoken word movements as much as the backdrop of the music to get the full picture.
La Comunidad likes the thought of War, Pain and Dispair. That much is very simple. Its not this vision alone that makes La Comunidad any more interesting then the bands listed above. What makes them a bit more out there is the distance and isolationist feel you get when listening to this. La Comunidad aren't to make this recording for your. Your here so someone can hear the deconstruction of a human soul on the bring of either greatness or insanity. Your never really sure and I hope to never find out. Just let the extremity of it all take you and change for ever.
L White has presented La Comunidad in a wonderful A5 full color 4 panel card package. The only thing is limiting it to 300 copies after all this hard work. L white is the Harsh Industrial/ Noise/ Power Electronic fans best friend as they give an outlet to very amazing projects such as there were others would never even look at them. Thank you for this L White and keep up the pain inducing release as I know I will keep on listening." [Clint Listing]
label-website: www.l.white-records.de
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| LA MONTE YOUNG & MARIAN ZAZEELA |
31 VII 69 10:26 - 10:49 PM / 23 VIII 64 2:50:45 - 3:11 AM The Volga Delta |
LP |
"La Monte Young was born in Bern, Idaho in 1935. He began his music studies in Los Angeles and later Berkeley, California before relocating to New York City in 1960, where he became a primary influence on Minimalism, the Fluxus movement and performance art through his legendary compositions of extended time durations and the development of just intonation and rational number based tuning systems. With wife and collaborator, artist Marian Zazeela, they would formulate the composite sound environments of the Dream House, which continues to this day.
Seeing reissue for the first time since its initial 1969 release, Young and Zazeela's first full-length album is often referred to as "The Black Record" due to Zazeela's stunning cover design, complete with the composer's liner notes in elegant hand-lettered script.
Side one was recorded in 1969 (on the date and time indicated by the title) at the gallery of Heiner Friedrich in Munich, where Young and Zazeela premiered their Dream House sound and light installation. Featuring Young and Zazeela's voices against a sine wave drone, the recording is a section of the longer composition Map of 49's Dream the Two Systems of Eleven Sets of Galactic Intervals Ornamental Lightyears Tracery (begun in 1966 as a sub-section of the even larger work The Tortoise, His Dreams and Journeys, which was begun in 1964 with Young's group The Theatre of Eternal Music). According to Young, the raga-like melodic phrases of his voice were heavily influenced by his future teacher, the Hindustani singer Pandit Pran Nath.
Side two, recorded in Young and Zazeela's NYC studio in 1964, is a section of the longer composition Studies in the Bowed Disc. This composition is an extended, highly abstract noise piece for bowed gong (gifted by sculptor Robert Morris). The liner notes explain that the live performance can be heard at 33 and 1/3 RPM, but may also be played at any slower speed down to 8 and 1/3 RPM for turntables with this capacity.
“La Monte Young is the daddy of us all.” — Brian Eno"
[press release]
"Just wanted to tell a little story about gongs… As the reader may know it, the B-side of La Monte Young’s Black record is filled up until its very end with some low-down rumbling noise which seems to be eternally reinforcing itself and at the same time voiding its own space. This peculiar track is called “The Volga Delta” and features La Monte Young and his wife on bowed gong. The story tells that it was around 1964 that the Fluxus sculptor Bob Morris gave out to La Monte a large gong and, as this instrument is (to my humble knowledge) the only one that contains all the upper tones possible for each single strike of it, the gong was soon to be one of La Monte ‘s favorite instrument. Now, get it on bang a gong is okay, but if you ever wonder how you can bow a gong, this is what you would need. A standard violin bow, a single contact mike applied to the gong’s surface, an amplification system, a pair of loudspeakers and you’ll be ready to start rubbing it so softly that the gong is gonna start purring like a cat.
Six years ago, I found on the Internet Archives, a 1965 performance of “X for Henry Flynt” by Peter Winkler. This performance piece was one of La Monte’s early proto-fluxus composition and Peter Winkler decided to do it with 42 gong strikes at irregular intervals, distant each other of about 12-15 seconds. I suddenly decided, upon downloading the piece, for a little aural tribute for both Henry Flynt and La Monte Young as I do regard their musical output as standing stones on silver sand beaches.
The Winkler’s piece was 16 minutes long and I did play it back on my media player (repeat function enabled) for 42 hours continuously. No kidding. That is approximately 7896 gong bangs. I remember the days, I remember the nights and I have the feeling that I always will. It was on October 7th-8th-9th 2009. Maybe you would like to experience it too, one day, because it’s a kind of sound immersion initiatory ritual beyond any comparison. I wanted to know what it sounded like to be immersed in continuous sound for days, as I did read many stories about this peculiar La Monte Young’s life aspect.
It is not easy at all. You pass through different humoral and mental states that come and go back again like a cyclic pattern. In a way, your head too is following the gong. At times, it seems so unnerving you want to destroy your complete hi-fi system. An hour after, you are in deep self-analysis wondering how the human mind can be so ever changing and that maybe the real mindset for happiness is to become constant as the gong. Some hours later, you are in a state of grace. Never did a drug cause any similar effect on you. The gong bangs are like written pages of an unknown manuscript you are now deciphering. None of them is exactly the same. They do all sound different. Then you wonder why the gong sounds so different while your mindset is now so pretty constant.
Past the middle of the experience, all your life is connected to the gong. All your fears, your goals, your worries cannot stand on it. They do desintegrate. The radiant coda of the gong, endlessly drifting through space blow them away. Its pulse is the only thing that matter. You realize you’ve been hanging on to it. It makes you smile thinking that three hours ago you want to stop everything.
Its pulse is now your entire life. You live in between it. Like the soul of a raga lives in between the notes, your body and breath is a whole completion of gong bangs. I tried to stay awake as long as I could but yet in my sleep I did hear it. It had become my inner clock ticking. It had liberated me from the tyrannic and stressfull second that ruins everyone’s life at some point. I had entered a body of space where the natural time flow had been expanded. I had entered the land of the giant-step seconds. It was my new time. I had for the first time the deep sensation of having the time to live my life. A new gong life." [REV from a review comment]
|
2023 |
€29.50 |
|
| LA POUPEE VIVANTE |
same |
LP |
"Four mouvements of electro-acoustic and vocal poetry projecting luminous shadows of a decadent fin de siècle. Performed by Timo van Luijk, Frédérique Bruyas and Arlette Aubin. Edition of 300 copies with printed inner sleeve." [label info]
www.lasciedoree.be
"Of a different nature is the music by La Poupee Vivante, which is apparently something new by Van Luijk, together with Arlette Aubin and Frederique Bruyas. The latter worked with Raymond Dijkstra before on a similar album of concrete sounds and poetry. Upon listening to this album, I could easily think Dijkstra had something to do with this too, as the improvised nature of these pieces may suggest such a thing. The electro-acoustic component is mainly small objects, a tuba or some other wind instrument, and lots of echo/delay on some of these. Not everything is played with great care, as some of this is rather loosely played; improvised for sure, and perhaps made by editing down lengthy sessions of this kind of. That makes that this album is less atmospheric and moody, but more experimental, or even industrial in some way, with all of this echo/delay manipulation. It's very hard to figure out what these poems are about, but that surely is one of those things that add that bit of atmospherics to this. It's not music with continuous spoken word, but rather finely scattered around the music. More music than poetry, I would think. Certainly altogether a more surreal record than the new Elodie one. Both of them are great, however, in their own respective fields. I didn't prefer one to the other, as both had fine quality in their own right. Fans of Raymond Dijkstra might take notice of La Poupee Vivante!" [FdW/Vital Weekly] |
2014 |
€18.00 |
|
| LA STPO (La Société des Timides à la Parade des Oiseaux) |
Wir schwitzen Blumen / La STPO in Concerts |
LP |
"IF you’re shy, you especially need to pay attention in not too much exposing yourself!
Our illustrious society - the best-kept secret of the experimental musics in Rennes ! - skips away continuously for almost 30 years behind folding screens in the shape of sea horses, pieces deceiving the hearing and other fancies fruits of their harmonious inventiveness. The oblique, kinematic and double - bottomed compositions of the STPO join just as much the lineage of a certain 'rock in opposition' over-subtle and deserving the legacy of Albert Marcoeur and Etron Fou Leloublan for the texts and the odd atmospheres, as for the overexcited energy of the post-punk, like The Pop Group, or for the vocal eccentricities à la David Thomas from Pere Ubu!
This anthology of tracks, live recorded by KdB between 2006 and 2009 during three memorable concerts, because yes! our Shy society members are really great performers, reveal their capacity of this combo from Rennes to transform these long and over-subtle pieces in real playlets in which every musician embodies various roles, under the leadership of Pascal Godjikian, polymorphic storyteller who perspires of beautiful intensity. "Wir Schwitzen Blumen" presents five live pieces taken from the recent concert set of La STPO. "I Cuento Blumen" and "The Sound Of The City Seems Not To Disappear" come both from the album " Tranches de Temps Jeté / Slices of Thrown) time " released in 2005 on the american label Beta-Lactam Ring Records. The piece " Le Minisme " was recorded in 2009 for the compilation CD of the french label In-Poly-Sons " We All Believe in Utopia " ;; " La Vallée des Empreintes / The Valley of Imprints " a live track from the same period engraved here for the first time on a record, to our bigger satisfaction ! As for " Le Femme Immortel ", funny miniature between glossolalias and Dada choral singing, immortalized for the first time on a now impossible to find maxiCD, it is a vestige of their stage set of the 80s which they go on playing from time to time. So immerse yourself without further delay in the fantasy of this densely populated micro-society and rather than get lost in trying to raise the current direction of these river like compositions, let yourself be carried by the lush sonic textures and the inventiveness of the orchestrations of La STPO that function like lines of flight. Following the conclusion of the good doctor Faustroll: "What, however, should attract the attention of the naturalist, are some unexpected gaps, in no doubt spontaneous, of the bird to escape the net: here there is certainly an atavistic revival, and perhaps a return to wild instincts." [label info]
kdbrecords.free.fr
|
2013 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Les Explositionnistes |
LP |
"Tous les amateurs de la formation rennaise culte La Société des Timides à la Parade des Oiseaux doivent déjà connaître Les Explositionnistes, paru initialement au milieu des années 1990 et considéré par beaucoup comme leur chef-d’œuvre. Pour les autres, cette réédition est l’occasion de redécouvrir cet univers unique et poétique qu’ils développent depuis 1984. Véritable trésor de la scène art rock française, La STPO n’a jamais cessé son activité depuis trente-quatre ans, offrant des concerts au compte-gouttes tout en assurant un rythme soutenu d’une répétition par semaine. Un premier EP en 1986, suivi d’une bonne dizaine d’albums (La STPO, 1989 ; Le Femme : Portraits, 1993 ; Les Explositionnistes, 1995 ; L’Enciversel Marsac, 1998 ; Expériences de Survie, 1999 ; 86-90, 2001 ; Le Combat occulté, 2005 ; Tranches de temps jeté, 2006 ; Les Liquidateurs, 2015 ; L’Imparfait Multiple de Dieu, 2015), ainsi qu’un split avec Volcano the Bear ou un album live, il est donc inutile de dire qu’il y a de quoi écouter ! C’est pourquoi cette sortie remasterisée d’un des albums qui les a fait connaître est fort bienvenue.
Mêlant des influences variées (post-punk, free jazz, no wave, avant-garde, rock in opposition, bruitisme…), le groupe créé autour de Pascal Godjikian (chant) et Jim B. (guitare) a néanmoins développé un monde onirique bien à eux, teinté de surréalisme et d’expressionnisme. Qui dit onirique ne veut pourtant pas dire planant ! Si certains passages de « Sarajevo-Stepanakert » ou « Barfüsserkirche in Erfurt » peuvent susciter une certaine mélancolie ou une forme d’irréalité, le style de la troupe c’est plutôt du direct dans ta face. « Violent » n’est peut-être pas le terme car tout est ici contrebalancé par l’humour, mais La STPO joue des brisures, des structures complexes, des fois très speed, nerveuses et tendues, au milieu desquelles peuvent émerger des hurlements ou des références à la guerre (les villes martyres de « Sarajevo-Stepanakert », le génocide arménien sur « Rouge, Bleu, Orange »). Et au milieu de tout cela, nous sommes invités à une valse monstrueuse, ambiance carnavalesque au milieu des décombres (« DadaMax Stellt Loplop Vor »). Dès ce premier morceau, l’inspiration picturale est mise en avant. Max Ernst, Pablo Picasso, Barnett Newman ou Lyonel Feininger sont conviés à la fête, et les superbes visuels de Jim B. leur rendent hommage avec brio.
Grave et délirante, en mutation permanente, la musique est foisonnante. Chaque écoute nous amène à découvrir de nouveaux sons. Le chant, théâtral à souhait, aborde de nombreux registres, en s’amusant en permanence de la langue, se l’appropriant pour créer son propre vocabulaire. Au sein de ces tableaux absurdes rendant compte de la cruauté du monde émergent souvent des mélodies, tellement nombreuses et triturées qu’elles en deviennent presque impalpables. Version épique, virtuose et énergique de l’esprit Un Département/Déficit des Années Antérieures, La STPO garde une forme plus rock. L’instrumentation variée (batterie, guitare, basse, saxophone, contrebasse, synthés, radio, xylophone, viole de gambe, balafon…) ouvre, cela dit, les possibilités sonores, pouvant aller de la fanfare orientale (« Rouge, Bleu, Orange ») à des sortes de collages, entre jazz fou et le Hörspiel (« Le Portrait de Dora Maar »). De ces alliances contrastées émerge au final une véritable beauté, dont seul le groupe a la clé (« Barfüsserkirche in Erfurt ») et dont on peut vite devenir accro. Pas de problèmes, l’œuvre est assez dense pour pouvoir s’abreuver à volonté." [Max Lachaud, OBSKÜRE MAG9
|
2018 |
€17.50 |
|
| |
Romanciel |
CD |
"At last, more than three years after the magnificent “L’ Empreinte” here is the new album from my favorite Society: “Romanciel“. The first impression concerns the artistic creativity of the group: it’s astonishing how high it has been maintained throughout an almost forty-year career. In fact, I can say it right away, “Romanciel” is one of the best albums of theirs, in the field of a discography that is filled with beautiful works. Then comes the great pleasure to find again all the elements that make their style unique, immediately recognizable and, at once, new and fresh every time: Pascal Godjikian‘s extraordinary expressiveness and vocal skills, JimB‘s sharp metallic electric guitar, Patrice Babin‘s stormy drums and delicate small percussions, Christophe Gautheur‘s versatile keyboards and Sébastien Desloges‘s bass and violin. Fascinating, as well, are the suggestions to which La Stpo‘s world refers: the artistic avant-garde of the twentieth century for instance (Dadaism, Surrealism, Expressionism) or some masters of modern music (King Crimson, Pere Ubu and David Thomas projects are the first names that come to me). The album opens with the twenty minute long “Roman“, and it is the violin of the latest arrival Desloges (he joined the group eleven years ago) that gives an important contribution to the atmosphere of unusual lightness of this first track. Along with it we have soft blows of flute and ethereal openings of keyboards. It reminds me of Kandinsky or Klee’s most abstract paintings. But lightness can easily evaporate and leave the place to gravity and harmony can become dissonance just like a clear sky can suddenly cloud over, tear with lighting and explode with thunder. La Stpo‘s songs are kind of like this, they are changing and surprising. Pascal Godjikian‘s lyrics, that often take inspiration from the dream world, are well suited to the music with their surrealistic, bizarre, non consequential features. They speak a language of their own. Actually, since the very beginning of the story, language has always been a reason of great interest for him, even of experimentation with the creation of neologisms and new ways of combining the letters together. The second track gives us a nice chance to approach a very special “Dictionnaire“.
“La Diminuée” has weird, theatrical tones alternating with tender sounds of twittering and magnificent lyrical breakthroughs. The mood changes drastically in the fourth and last song, “Rien qu’en Ciel“. It’s a twenty-four-minute performance, wonderful and frightening at the same time, that unveils a dramatic scenery, a kind of desperate cry while a higher and higher wall erases the sky. It’s a dark and haunting final but, despite of it, in the silence that follows the end of the music, a little smile finds its way and sweetens the lips and the soul of the listener. This is what happens in front of a work of art or a spectacle of nature. And this music is beautiful, imaginative and free just like a successful picture or like the flight of the birds that paint the sky with their wonderful parade." [Gabriele Carlini}
https://adnrecords.com/la-stpo-romanciel/
"Romanciel (DNN 032 C) beginnt mit ‘Roman‘ und endet mit ‘Rien qu’un Ciel‘, logisch, soweit bei LA STPO je etwas logisch ist. Zwischen die mit knapp 20 und 23 3⁄4 Min. mächtigen Flügel haben JimB – guitar, Patrice Babin – drums, Sébastien Desloges – bass & violin, Christophe Gautheur – keys & reeds und allen voran Pascal Godjikian zwei live schon bekannte Kabinettstückchen platziert: das a capella angestimmte meta-ykegiakische, meta-tidalikische ‘Dictionnaire‘ und ‘La Diminuee‘, das mit verkleinerter Nase die Schwarz-wurzel falsifiziert. Davor bringt Pascal Zeilen aus “Le Tueur Littéral“, einem Roman des Typs R, wie: On a paré tous les états de mort oder Enfin, les 16 décès aux joyeux abois.
Und stellt einen zuletzt vor eine höher und höher wachsende graue Mauer, Mauer, Mauer, die einem die Welt und den Himmel verstellt. Les pédales de la mort korrespondiert mit les états de mort. Aus Literatur werden Daten, Himmel gibt es nur noch auf Screens. JimBs Artwork lässt jedoch die farblose Sterilität eines Lochkartenlabors von Vögeln mit blauer Farbe bekleckern. Und von den ersten zitternden Geigenstrichen, von Pascals ersten irrwitzig artikulierten Sätzen an gibt da auch wieder die extraordinäre, im bad alchemystischen Sinn superlativste Musik ihr Kontra. Artrockistisch komplex, mit wieder Pascals unnachahmlichen Manierismen. Die phantastische Wortwahl und die theatralische, akrobatisch zwischen guttural und falsett springende Performanz suchen in ihrem surrealen, artaudesken Reiz, ihrer grotesken Komik einmal mehr ihresgleichen. Wie launig da wieder Babin mit Stabspiel klimpert oder übers Fell galoppiert, wie die Gitarre zuckt und Gift spuckt, der Kecak-Spaß, der vogelige Abbé Birdeen-Spleen bei ‘La Diminuee‘. Und schließlich das umflimmerte Pizzicato, die Violinrufe, das brachiale Mahl- und Basswerk, der Gitarrenexzess, die melancholischen Vibes, die ultimative, gegurgelte Glossolalie bei ‘…Ciel‘ als hochdramatisch karnevalsgrotesker Menschheitsdämmerung bis hin zu den finalen Paukenwirbeln und stechenden Pfiffen. Unfassbar stark!" [Rigobert Dittmann (Bad Alchemy 114)] |
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| LA STPO (SOCIETE DES TIMIDES A LA PARADE DES OISEAUX) |
Tranches de temps jete (Slices of thrown time) |
LP |
Für jeden Recommended Records- und „AvantRock“-Fan ein MUSS, das neue Album dieser ungewöhnlichen Band, die auf französisch singen, sprechen und schreien und musikalisch fast schon theatralisch zu nennende „Szenen“ entwerfen, die irgendwo zwischen Geräuschmusik, Filmmusik & Experimental-Rock liegen.... wobei jedes Stück bis ins kleinste Detail ausgearbeit ist !
Nicht nur höchst kurzweilig, sondern auch anspruchsvoll und ästhetisch tönen diese Aufnahmen, die bereits im Jahre 2000 gemacht wurden...
Dies die limitierte Vinyl-Version....
“Ed. of 325 copies. Vol. 3 of Records are not for Baking In the midst of the world's fascination with so-called Electroclash, leave it to the old school to really show what post-punk is really about, while simultaneously turning the concept on its fractured head. LA STPO has the finesse and invention and the je ne c'est quoi to massage its victims into a quiet trance, only to pummel them seconds later. Slices Of Throw Time is like a Van Der Graaf arc between the bombast of Blurt/Ex/Dog Faced Hermans/Contortions/Birthday Party and the subtle, avant-composerly moments of Henry Cow/This Heat/Univers Zero/Faust. The punchy rhythm section, abetted by the squawky horns, makes for a music to which one can truly contort. LA STPO's musical muscle, however, is always backed up by solid jazz/classical informed chops that can and will chop any lesser outfit into nothing more than a pile of over-loud rock and roll dust. LA STPO infuses their punk with dynamics of both volume and texture, producing a slightly zeuhl flavoured post rock, which should, by all rights, land Slices Of Throw Time on many a critic's year end top 10 list. We all know this will not likely happen, but hopefully there is enough room in YOUR top ten list for rock that both rocks and explores.” [label info]
www.blrrecords.com
|
2006 |
€17.00 |
|
| LAABAN, ILMAR |
Ankarkättingens slut är sängens början |
CD |
Obscure Swedish sound-poetry with some very old recordings, from one of the lesser known artists in this field where meaning of words meets with the noise of words... Comes with nice gold-embossed small book with texts, pictures and graphics, all in Swedish !
“Ilmar Laaban´s poetry, practically a class in itself in Sweden, traverses linguistic borderlands where words can get split and torn apart, reduced to something beyond words, perhaps more universal than words, but where the various components can just as often be reassembled in new words. The cycle of destruction and construc- tion always fascinated Laaban the word-wright and word-kneader, going through it over and over again to find the cracks and clefts from which an unexpected spring might well forth.” Like Tristan Tzara he holds to the maxim "thought is born in the mouth. Laaban´s poetry, which gives sound and form to the subconscious, is a poetry of utterance, and therefore speaks for itself. But the appended compilation of statements on the subject, from the writer himself, nevertheless offer a rewarding insight into his poetic method and reveal much about the associative pathways down which his imagination has wandered. This CD begins with two examples of Labaan´s surrealist recitation from the 40´s and 50´s, followed by some of his polyphonic text-sound poetry (which he started in 1967), and finally some sound poems from the 90´s. Ilmar Laaban was born in Tallinn, Estonia in 1921. He studied Romanic languages at the university of Tartu and musical composition at the Tallinn conservatory. To avoid being drafted into Hitler´s army he fled to Sweden in 1943. He had already been writing surrealist poetry in Estonia, and continued in the same vein in Sweden, supporting himself as a freelance culture and art reviewer. His grasp and overview of the international art arena gave him an important role as a guide and source of inspiration for many artists who came in contact with him, not the least those in the circle around Fylkingen.” [label info]
www.fylkingen.se
|
1998 |
€12.50 |
|
| LABELLE, BRANDON |
Shadow of a Shadow |
CD |
"Die Veröffentlichungen von BRANDON LA BELLE aus Los Angeles sind nicht nur soundmäßig immer interessant, sondern auch wegen seinen stets konzeptuellen und musiksoziologischen Begleittexten. Kein Wunder also daß SELEKTION mit Shadow bereits das zweite LABELLE – Werk veröffentlicht. So heißen seine 8 schönen minimal-flächigen Stücke, die auf konkreten Materialien und field-recordings beruhen, auch z.B. „Building are bodies resonating with the conflictual flow of various elements“, oder „The surrounding space is a medium agitated by random bodies“. Regt zum verweilenden Nachdenken an, ausgezeichnet !!" [Drone Rec. 2001]
"...sound is always undermining its own systemization, signifying more than a one to one relation. Rather, a multiplicity of connotations appear with sound and are amplified within its
wave: conversations are set in motion between the sounds I make and the sounds already occuring, between the cultural work and the real, between listening and responding. This conversation fluctuates in the slippery fold of meaning, in the agitated space of the real, making it uncertain where one sound orginates and the others fade out, where public space starts and private impulse ends, where music is heard and interference disrupts." - Brandon Labelle. total playing time 46:31. Leporello with a text by Brandon Labelle. Cardboard sleeve, design Charly Steiger. [press release]
|
2001 |
€13.00 |
|
| LABFIELD |
Fishforms |
CD |
Ein neuer Name für die Impro-Drone-Szene, dieses skandinavische Duo, die mit indischen "Sruti" und "Saranghi"-Boxen wunderbar füllige Drones erzeugen (klingt nach Harmonium oder endlosen Sitar-Loops), die sich in endlosen Wellen und Obertönen fortbewegen, dabei aber sehr nah und konkret erscheinen. Subtile Bass-Dumm Percussion wird eingesetzt, (was meist auch einen low-freq Drone ergibt, der aber unruhiger schwingt ) und in Stück 2 ist eine Folk-artige Akustikgitarre zu hören, ... sehr schönes Debut (von zwei etablierten Leuten aus der Impro-/Jazz Szene)!
" 'Phanta Rhei’ - everything flows. Whatever else might happen, life hurtles on and everything follows its natural course. Music is also subject to these ineluctable laws. While often breaking the mould, when everything is in its right place, the music follows its own course. As it does in the little experimental cabins of Laboratory Field, or LabField for short. This Scandinavian monster collective consisting of David Stackenäs (guitars, electronics) and Ingar Zach (percussion) knows exactly how to manipulate sound. At the same time, Ingar Zach is also creating a big stir with three-piece kindred spirits Huntsville.
Not fussed about getting their hands dirty, Stackenäs and Zach dig for sounds of gold with successful results. Sound waves emanate from their instruments slowly. This unstoppable flood of sound is not distinguished by brute force but rather by its boundless subtlety and inventiveness. The listener will completely find themselves submerged by an overwhelming stream. Bottrop-Boy is proud to release LabField’s first sound experiments onto the world.
Swedish guitarist Stackenäs and Norwegian percussionist Zach are known names in the European improvisation scene. They previously worked together in three-piece TRI DIM, together with saxophonist Håkon Kornstad. Two years later, Stackenäs and Zach decided to work as a duo, deciding on a radically different course. Improvisation, sound art, minimal music and drones are fused to form a completely unique style of performing. Zach plays, among other instruments, the unique electronic sruti and saranghi boxes. This is music that evolves quietly and often refers to the dronescapes of free improv pioneers such as AMM. The sounds which Stackenäs manages to conjure up from his guitars are unprecedented: softly humming, viciously rattling and intensely meditative. Zach answers these sounds with the hypnotic pulse of his bass drum and electronic sruti box. This is improvisational music replete with sounds branching in unpredictable directions and slowly smouldering drones. An aural rite of passage fit for these modern times." [label info]
"....The 24 minute opener “Gin” is built around the sustained presence of Zachs sruti and saranghi boxes – electronic facsimiles of Indian harmonium and fiddle, respectively. With these blissed out vibrations, augmented by bells and the sparse isolated booms of a bass drum, it has the feel of a slowly unfolding devotional ritual, but it’s saved from descending into ersatz spiritual tourism by Stäckenas’s jarring embellishments. Even without seeing him at work, it’s probably safe to assume Stäckenas is operating out of the Keith Rowe school of unconventionally manipulated tabletop electric guitar, producing grating textures resembling the hum and drill of an overworked air conditioning unit or the piercing whine of a wineglass rim.
For “Rin”, he switches to acoustic, with simple strumming phasing in and out of sync in left and right channels and a three note melody picked out on slide guitar – creating a satisfying mash of Country, raga and contemporary music that recalls Zach’s other trio, Huntsville. But, with the throbbing, sruti-drenched “Showa”, the album returns to its core mission to explore the bottomless reaches of drone, discovering dark, euphoric realms along the way." [Daniel Spicer / THE WIRE]
"... On the risk of being accused (again) that I heard this only once, I must say that the work he produced as LabField with Stackenäs is great. Absolutely great. Zach plays bass drum, percussion, electronic scruti-box and electronic saranghi-box and Stackenäs plays acoustic guitars, resonator guitar, preparations and low budget electronics. With a background in improvisation you would expect careful, quiet, intimate playing - and in a way they do that. But it's not tender, soft or hardly outspoken. I suggest putting the volume up and get immersed by their wall of machine sounds. They play their instruments using all sorts of motors, fans or other mechanized instruments to create a natural resonating yet acoustic sound. Especially in 'Gin', the opening track which spans two-third of the entire CD this works wonderfully well. Dense to bone (mm, that's no expression)... dense like clouds, like being in a factory and one hears all the machines humming at once. Not deafening loud, but well constructed, balanced, varied, not from one point of the factory, but one has the feeling of walking about, hearing new aspects of the machines or new combination of the machines. By contrast 'Gin', the shortest piece, is a like bridge between that and 'Showa', soft tinkling guitars and percussive sounds, until things start to heat up again for the final piece. Hardly improvised sounding at all, this is sophisticated drone music of an outstanding order." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.bottrop-boy.com
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| LADIK, KATALIN |
Water Angels |
LP |
Head-spinning, previously unreleased sound art by Hungarian force of nature Katalin Ladik, exploring the relationship of sound and women’s bodies thru forms of collage, performance art, and poetry - RIYL Diamanda Galas, Teresa Winter, Annea Lockwood, László Hortobágyi
Alga Marghen’s 2nd survey of Ladik’s legacy, ‘Water Angels’ follows from the 2019 compendium ‘Phonopoetics’ with an unmissable immersion in previously unexplored regions of her music, which was just one part of a practice spanning poetry, performance art, creating and acting in her own plays and “happenings”. These set of ears slept on her ‘Phonopoetics’ LP and are now playing catch-up here to a remarkable body of work that strikes us as witty, ludicrous, and ravishingly expressive of a rich artistic life and personal philosophy. Elements of Hungarian folk, sampled classical records, and self-taught extended vocal techniques meet textual inspiration from James Joyce and Lewis Carroll, and the sounds of her first husband, composer and ethnomusicologist Ernö Király’s custom 58-string “zitherphone” in an enchanted sort of dramaturgy that reminds us to Annea Lockwood’s sensorial aesthetics as much as Teresa Winter’s avant-songcraft and the imaginary, worldly spaces evoked by Katalin’s one-time engineer László Hortobágyi, adding up to a real feast for searching and hungry listeners.
With all material salvaged from tapes and significantly improved by sound engineer Boris Kovač, we’re assured these works have never sounded better, suitably so for their first release. The A-side hosts her standout ‘Water Angel’ (1989), a wondrous 25 min work mixing her own lyrics with Lewis Carroll and Joyce’s, in a range of naif to possessed voices, over backdrop of field recordings and Király’s unique zitherphone sounds, culminating an eruption of Carl Orff’s ‘Carmina Burana’. The B-side follows her timeline to 1990’s ‘Three Orphans’, where she occupies a starker sound stage with a flux of voices, giggling, gurgling, and bewitching, and vaulting into Hungarian folksong. Finally, three 2019 compositions ‘White Bird’, ‘Ice Bird’, and ‘Electric Bird’ spanning free concrète to a carousel of gurning vocal tekkerz, and yielding her strange vitality in the modern day.
|
2021 |
€22.00 |
|
| LAINHART, RICHARD |
Ten Thousand Shades of Blue |
do-CD |
meditative drone compositions from this US composer, to discover !
“ Lainhart¹s music rings true to the spirit of possibility that once defined electronic music. It brings with it a sense of past, present and future that transcends time, technology and cultural assumptions. It¹s a music that is beholden to no one, yet informed by a diverse sphere of appreciations, rich in both intellectual and emotional interest, at once distant and interior, actual and implied. The works on this disc are for (variously): multitracked, processed bowed tam-tam; multitracked, processed bowed Japanese temple bells; multitracked, processed voice; realtime interactive computer music system with bowed and struck vibraphone; and vibraphone.” [label info]
Experimental Intermedia website: www.xirecords.org
|
2001 |
€16.00 |
|
| LALI PUNA |
Our Inventions |
CD |
"2004 erschien ihr letztes Album "Faking The Books", dennoch ist Lali Punas Einfluss auf die elektronische Popszene immer noch spürbar. Gemeinsam mit The Notwist zeichnet die Band um Valerie Trebeljahr für moderne, experimentell angehauchte Popmusik verantwortlich. Mit "Our Inventions" rücken sie die Grenzen des Genres wieder mal ein Stück weiter. Der Song "Rest Your Head" schlägt eine souveräne Brücke zur vergangenen Bandhistorie. Hier pulsieren die Keyboards in warmen Wellen und begleiten Trebeljahrs Flüstern mit einlullenden Melodien - bis einen der Drumcomputer aus versponnenen Tagträumen reißt. Während das Vorgängeralbum förmlich auf die Bühne strebte, zeugt "Our Inventions" von intensiver, fast schon introvertierter Studioarbeit. Gleichzeitig unterstreichen Songs wie "Remember" und "Everything Is Always", was Lali Puna so besonders macht: überschwängliche Mitsingharmonien mit Feinschliff, die ihre Seele nicht hinter der Technik verstecken. Das Album schließt mit "Out There", Lali Punas Kollaboration mit Yukihiro Takahashi (Yellow Magic Orchestra). //
More than half a decade has elapsed since the release of Faking The Books, Lali Puna's third (and hitherto most recent) long-player, but the band's impact on the climate of electronic rock music remains palpable. Along with sister-group The Notwist, this Weilheim quartet have helped map out the musical landscape for modern, experimentally minded pop music, and Our Inventions finds Lali Puna continuing to push the frontiers of their medium. 'Rest Your Head' serves as a perfectly poised re-introduction to the band and all they've become. Initiated by waves of glassy pulsations and warm, swelling synths, the song has the feel of a reverse-lullaby - gently winding its way through reposeful melodies, guided by the welcoming whisper of Trebeljahr's vocal until the final third kicks in with drum machine hits, and you're wide awake. While Faking The Books, with its vibrant riffs and extrovert tendencies, had the sound of a record begging to be played live, Our Inventions exhibits the hallmarks of an album spun from intensive studio-bound introspection. Two of the most explosive and ebullient songs here - 'Remember' and 'Everything Is Always' - confirm so much of what's special about Lali Puna: all the elements are at once precision engineered and delivered with absolute heartfelt conviction; perhaps never before have such jubilant pop hooks been so meticulously and fastidiously crafted, yet you can always hear the soul behind these machines. This is an album that's made for and about the modern world, concerning itself with the driving forces of progress and technological obsession. Trebeljahr's lyrics are suggestive of alienation and disenfranchisement from nature during the irony-laced title-track: "The birds in the trees/Singing our mobile melodies/What a sweet, sweet world", later stipulating that 'progress' never really gets us anywhere on 'Everything Is Always' ("Nothing new/These days"), while hinting at the ultimate bankruptcy of the all-devouring consumer age during 'Safe Tomorrow': "Never going anywhere/Don't stop by and get to know/Stuff your memory with facts/Save Save Save". The final song on the tracklist is 'Out There', a collaboration with the Yellow Magic Orchestra's Yukihiro Takahashi. The version appearing here is an alternate rendering of the track that appeared on Takahashi's Page By Page album in 2009. Here Trebeljahr addresses the global financial collapse ("Their kingdom's past, their kingdom's gone/Just ruins and plain desert/It's all burnt down, we're left alone"), and sure enough, Our Inventions is a body of work that keenly engages with the concerns of its time, one that confronts the excesses and ever-accelerating pace of modernity. The sublime, virtuoso electronic arrangements of Our Inventions directly lock onto the record's recurrent key themes, depicting a world inundated with technology and consumed by a fixation on progress - simultaneously passing commentary on this state of affairs and overcoming it. When Trebeljahr intones "Things move on/I'm gonna work fast because tomorrow comes quick" it sounds like it's being sung from the perspective of someone who's already there." [label info]
www.morrmusic.com
|
2010 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
Our Inventions |
LP |
"2004 erschien ihr letztes Album "Faking The Books", dennoch ist Lali Punas Einfluss auf die elektronische Popszene immer noch spürbar. Gemeinsam mit The Notwist zeichnet die Band um Valerie Trebeljahr für moderne, experimentell angehauchte Popmusik verantwortlich. Mit "Our Inventions" rücken sie die Grenzen des Genres wieder mal ein Stück weiter. Der Song "Rest Your Head" schlägt eine souveräne Brücke zur vergangenen Bandhistorie. Hier pulsieren die Keyboards in warmen Wellen und begleiten Trebeljahrs Flüstern mit einlullenden Melodien - bis einen der Drumcomputer aus versponnenen Tagträumen reißt. Während das Vorgängeralbum förmlich auf die Bühne strebte, zeugt "Our Inventions" von intensiver, fast schon introvertierter Studioarbeit. Gleichzeitig unterstreichen Songs wie "Remember" und "Everything Is Always", was Lali Puna so besonders macht: überschwängliche Mitsingharmonien mit Feinschliff, die ihre Seele nicht hinter der Technik verstecken. Das Album schließt mit "Out There", Lali Punas Kollaboration mit Yukihiro Takahashi (Yellow Magic Orchestra). //
More than half a decade has elapsed since the release of Faking The Books, Lali Puna's third (and hitherto most recent) long-player, but the band's impact on the climate of electronic rock music remains palpable. Along with sister-group The Notwist, this Weilheim quartet have helped map out the musical landscape for modern, experimentally minded pop music, and Our Inventions finds Lali Puna continuing to push the frontiers of their medium. 'Rest Your Head' serves as a perfectly poised re-introduction to the band and all they've become. Initiated by waves of glassy pulsations and warm, swelling synths, the song has the feel of a reverse-lullaby - gently winding its way through reposeful melodies, guided by the welcoming whisper of Trebeljahr's vocal until the final third kicks in with drum machine hits, and you're wide awake. While Faking The Books, with its vibrant riffs and extrovert tendencies, had the sound of a record begging to be played live, Our Inventions exhibits the hallmarks of an album spun from intensive studio-bound introspection. Two of the most explosive and ebullient songs here - 'Remember' and 'Everything Is Always' - confirm so much of what's special about Lali Puna: all the elements are at once precision engineered and delivered with absolute heartfelt conviction; perhaps never before have such jubilant pop hooks been so meticulously and fastidiously crafted, yet you can always hear the soul behind these machines. This is an album that's made for and about the modern world, concerning itself with the driving forces of progress and technological obsession. Trebeljahr's lyrics are suggestive of alienation and disenfranchisement from nature during the irony-laced title-track: "The birds in the trees/Singing our mobile melodies/What a sweet, sweet world", later stipulating that 'progress' never really gets us anywhere on 'Everything Is Always' ("Nothing new/These days"), while hinting at the ultimate bankruptcy of the all-devouring consumer age during 'Safe Tomorrow': "Never going anywhere/Don't stop by and get to know/Stuff your memory with facts/Save Save Save". The final song on the tracklist is 'Out There', a collaboration with the Yellow Magic Orchestra's Yukihiro Takahashi. The version appearing here is an alternate rendering of the track that appeared on Takahashi's Page By Page album in 2009. Here Trebeljahr addresses the global financial collapse ("Their kingdom's past, their kingdom's gone/Just ruins and plain desert/It's all burnt down, we're left alone"), and sure enough, Our Inventions is a body of work that keenly engages with the concerns of its time, one that confronts the excesses and ever-accelerating pace of modernity. The sublime, virtuoso electronic arrangements of Our Inventions directly lock onto the record's recurrent key themes, depicting a world inundated with technology and consumed by a fixation on progress - simultaneously passing commentary on this state of affairs and overcoming it. When Trebeljahr intones "Things move on/I'm gonna work fast because tomorrow comes quick" it sounds like it's being sung from the perspective of someone who's already there." [label info]
www.morrmusic.com |
2010 |
€16.00 |
|
| LAMMERS / USENBENZ |
Drawing in Sound |
LP |
Drawing In Sound is a live improvisation, created by sound artist Andreas Usenbenz and illustrator Christoph Lammers for the exhibition opening of "Wiese" ("meadow") by artist and curator Andreas Pytlik at Städtische Galerie Rosenheim in the spring of 2018.
Prior to the performance, the artists exchanged ideas, drawings and sound improvisations to find a way of approaching the topic of 'meadow' in the context of contemporary drawing and contemplative soundscapes. During the performance, illustrator and sound artist entered a dialogue: Usenbenz created subtle sound textures and phonographic collages of rustling hay, records, guitar sounds, field recordings, tapes and effect devices.
Lammers opened all senses to both space and sound. Reacting intuitively, focussing on the moment and with great physical effort he composed his images, formed structures from lines and shapes. Using charcoal, ink, brushes and his bare hands, he filled the 7 by 4 metre canvas, vigorously at times, then almost delicately, providing stimuli in turn picked up by Usenbenz. Ultimately, this "conversation" between the two artists gave rise to a different interpretation: Everything grows of its own accord.
Played and improvised by Andreas Usenbenz, using objects, lo-fi microphones, contact microphones, field recordings, guitar, ebow, looper, ipad, dictaphone, cassettes, tape loops, op 1, field kit. Drawn and performed on a 7 x 4 m canvas by Christoph Lammers, using different objects, ink, charcoal, brushes and his bare hands. Recorded live at Städtische Galerie Rosenheim. Additional sounds recorded and edited at home.
For this release, Lammers and Usenbenz extracted a small part of the huge artwork and carefully screenprinted every single copy by hand to the B-Side of the record. The A-Side contains the 21 miunte performance in full. The Title is handstamped on the label.
https://klanggold.bandcamp.com/album/drawing-in-sound-2
"Our regular readers may remember Ulm’s Andreas Usenbenz from Bells Breath, a lovely time-stretched recording that was also an installation. Last spring he teamed up with Munich illustrator Christoph Lammers for Drawing in Sound, a live performance during which the artists improvised with sound and brush. Now this performance has found its way to vinyl, each copy screenprinted with a segment of the original art.
The video causes one to reflect on the process of inspiration, especially one’s reaction to sound. Music can aid the focus of artists in other disciplines, from the obvious (yet often ignored) dancer in a nightclub to a choreographer to an author to a sculptor. Lammers is literally drawing in sound. Yet the feedback loop also contains Usenbenz, who reacts to Lammers’ art with additional nuances of his own: not just guitar, but tape and “rustling hay.” On the surface, one might ask, “Is this what the sound looks like?” or “Is this what the painting sounds like?” But the release offers only one interpretation; play it at home, and one may paint a different picture.
The title of the exhibition opening was “Wiese (Meadow),” which seems apt given the nature of the collaboration. Something grew out of (a seeming) nothing: curves on a white canvas, notes in a quiet room. But the value of the vinyl goes far beyond mere souvenir or objet d’art. Usenbenz’ piece is gentle and intimate, a perfect score for a new morning or a new year, a snow-covered landscape or the genesis of an artistic project. Flowing water implies life; birds the promise of spring; rustling hay the seeds of inspiration. Soft pings twinkle like stars on a clear night. As a single piece, the music allows listeners to sink into the undulations, providing deep rest or deep focus depending on the setting. When the notes eventually dissipate, the recording ends, but the creative fire has been lit." [Richard Allen/A Closer Picture] |
2018 |
€25.00 |
|
| LAMY, PHILIPPE |
Drop Diary |
CD |
"After numerous appearances on various netlabels, collabs with Pleq, and shortly after the publication of his debut solo CD “Slowfast” on Dronarivm, Philippe Lamy confirms all the hopes placed into him… Years of experience as an established painter and teacher in Plastic Arts, as well as his late coming to the music have allowed him to stand back, and feed his soundscapes with an extreme care for textures & densification…
This expert practice lead him to weave intimate bounds between his visual art, and his sound pieces…
With “Drop diary” he pushes everything further, close to some total synesthesia…
Mix of fluids, cross of breaths,
sketch of outlines, a succession of barely visible, furtive worlds…
Lines, strokes, fleeting & penetrating moments,
splinters of night…
Rubbings, drip, measure of time,
a notion of universal, permanent flux…
A way of sticking to it, be within its own heart…
Self ramifications…
Holes, folds, follow-up of curves…
The squeezed in words, dissimulated truths,
swirls, veiled cluster of stars…
So many mute guides…
A necessity of merging into, to understand,
to take on a new lease of our surroundings,
enriched by their own echoes, their murmurs…
Captured sources, origin points,
the calm of the brush, the amplitude of the move, like a gradual obviousness,
an amazing force, till going back up to the primary water, spurt of lives…
“Drop diary” records the vital impulse,
a compendium of emotions, it shows that elusive something, that essential which founds us, yet remains ungraspable…" [label info]
www.mysterysea.net
"The only time, I think, I heard of Philippe Lamy before, was when he did a remix of Pleq (see Vital Weekly 767), but here he comes up with an album of field recordings made in his painting studio and 'some sounds "outside"' as it is said on the cover. Entirely different cake here. Unlike many of the Mystery Sea recordings, the connection with 'water' is not easily made here in the music (except for some dripping in 'Au Revoir', the final piece on this release)å. Perhaps this is because there is a lot of processing applied to the music? Maybe it's because it's all quite soft? The latter for sure: this is indeed all quite soft and no doubt there is a lot of processing here. It makes that the music of Lamy is not easy to decipher. It seems there is an amount of motorized sounds, such as in 'Depot' for instance, but most of the times it's just very hard to know what is going on. The abstract level is very high here, and it results in something that is not always highly original,
but it sounds altogether pretty good and pretty intense. You have to stop doing whatever it is you're doing and listen with all your available senses to the music. You think Main here, or Kassel Jaeger, but then much softer, more pushed away and alienated, and that's mainly due to the soft spoken nature of the music. Maybe this harks back to the time when this sort of quietness was all new and great, but for me, I wouldn't have minded to have all of this a bit louder and more present. I like to play a CD straight away and not first having to fiddle around with my EQ to get the best out of it." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| LANDING |
Third Sight |
LP |
Connecticut's Landing have specialized in a mild and rural kind of psychedelia over the course of nearly two decades. Recent releases have seen them closer to post-punk and shoegaze territory than ever, but Third Sight – recorded specifically for El Paraiso Records’ Impetus series – builds on the hallucinatory soundscapes of the band's earliest days.
There's a unique sense of motoric drift to these four long pieces, and an organic blend of rock instrumentation and analog electronics that brings to mind Eno's best collaborations in the 1970s. But the group's flair for fuzzy drones and new weirdsy commune-folk also betrays their affiliation with the experimental American east coast scene –these guys have played shows with their friends in Bardo Pond, releasing a split EP with Windy & Carl and playing numerous Terrastocks throughout their existence.
And despite releasing one brilliant album after another the band remains appalingly under-appreciated. Perhaps because the tryyps Landing take are rooted in self-exploration. As trends in krautrock, drone, folk, and psychedelia ebb and flow, Landing remain unfazed. The door to Landing’s world is open, but there isn’t a flashing neon sign above it. These guys are far removed from the hustle and bustle of geographic cultural bubbles, both physically and spiritually.
Listening through this LP is likely to stimulate mental images of rural winds blowing across vast American fields of grass, bonfires, blue rivers and power lines sailing through rolling hills. Landing's psychedelia possesses a rare timelessness. We are proud to present this offering from the band in the El Paraiso catalog!
”the whipper snappers these days, trafficking in similar sounds, have NOTHING on their sonic elders. Dreamy, droney, poppy, psychedelic, electronic perfection!”
-Aqaurius Records
”Connecticut's Landing inhabits that amorphous space where time itself expands and contracts according to a delay pedal setting, and dream pop blurs into dream proper. Groups like Stars of the Lid and E.A.R. have wandered this same misty plane in search of the perfect drone, but Landing incorporates Bardo Pond's jam aesthetic into the journey, imparting a welcome communal feel to their lengthy, meandering compositions.”
-Mark Richardson, Pitchfork
"They’ve got integrity to spare and their career, though already spanning more than a decade already, seems to be just getting started."
-Grant Purdum, Tinymixtapes
"Some of the best avant-prog and lo-fi space rock around"
-Mojo
"If you're not yet familiar with Landing, I encourage you to fill up the peace pipe and figure it the fuck out." -Kenny Bloggins, Adhoc
landing.bandcamp.com/album/third-sight |
2016 |
€23.00 |
|
| LARIVIERE, REGIS RENOUARD |
Contree |
LP |
Allégeance volatile and Esquive each tackle the same issue in their own way. Overcoming time: whether it be successive, additional, enumerative, or repetitive. However, there is nothing here about the ensuing nature of so-called "repetitive" music. These are types of high-end music. And it is more about insistence, the obstinacy of an individual who keeps knocking on a door that will never open.
Allégeance's rustic drumming, talkative, acidulous, colourful and overarticulated, with almost clownish desinences, eventually dies out in this very respite. The iterative and puffy shimmering of Esquive with its dull, thin and precise sounds, shifts and is engulfed into another sonic world — which appears as a gaping and collapsed response to this prime insistency.
This is, indeed, a ‘volatile allegiance’ and ‘avoidance’ from the sonic to the musical elements: the musical phenomenon anticipated and pursued as the non-sound of sound — or, in other words, the void of sound. This seems to be the lesson of the concrete attitude in music. Such is the kind of questioning that stirs the composer.
He returns with another title: Contrée, which, once again, speaks of a counter-event. Here, the movement is broader, more generous, more confident. Time spreads and stretches out. What seems to be a landscape of entanglements, trajectories, influx, masses and points emerges. “Something” rises and presents itself out of the sounds - these escaping beings, these "relatively short combustion flames " (Schaeffer).
The piece consists of five consecutive and uninterrupted parts: Entrée and Stance I — Véhémence de l’air and Stance II — Grande Allure. It is the central section of an electroacoustic triptych with Sables (2011) as the first and Nil (2017) as the last.
Contrée is dedicated to Philippe Mion, whose friendly ears have been entrusted with my music for so many years.
"‘Contrée’ is Recollection GRM’s first survey of work by Régis Renouard Larivière, three pieces variously exploring granular evolutions (‘Contrée’), hacked strings (‘Allégeance volatile’), and a rapid, chattering avian flux (‘Esquive’). This is one of the harder nosed GRM issues, but those with attentive ears and patience will be rewarded in multiples..." [Boomkat]
|
2019 |
€20.00 |
|
| LARSEN & Z'EV |
In V.Tro |
CD |
"The album combines both the live recording of the first ever Larsen & Z'ev In V.Tro live performances with extreme aural-mixes by Z'ev of Larsen's In V.Tro studio sessions.
Larsen and Z''ev In V.tro is a soundtrack for micro-cinematic images that document the studies on cells of the Istituto di Anatomia Umana Normale (Basic Human Anatomy Institute), between 1935 and1985. Visuals are from a studio by professors Dario Cantino and Antonio Barasa, teachers of these Scientific Institutes. By browsing great quantities of original footage on films kept in the local University with a scientific and reasoned view, Cantino and Barasa wanted to go back over the stages of history and techniques of in vitro cultures and their documented shootings, to pay tribute to the Maestro of anatomical discipline, professor Giuseppe Levi. Not only professor Levi had the intuition of the great potential of the in vitro studies of cells, using the technique developed by american zoologist Ross G. Harrison, he also enforced his studies on cells with cinema techniques, using single frames taken by optical microscope edited and sped up, obtaining a cinematic footage.
These exceptionals scientific documents still represent today a useful tool for studies and researches in a lot of medical branches like Cellular Biology, Histology and Microscopic Anatomy.
Larsen and Z'ev were waiting for the right concept to work together on combining Larsen's soundscaping to Z'ev's esoteric approach to rhythm and percussions and the chance of having access to these rare footages gave them the perfect context to apply their naturally cinematic and cellural music to, reproducing this way lab sperimentation and biological procedures to create life outside a living organism with the use of introspective and minimal, but richly arranged, semi improvised sounds and textures." [label info]
www.importantrecords.com
|
2011 |
€14.00 |
|
| LAST DOMINION LOST |
Abomination of Desolation |
LP |
Desolation: total, utter, without remit. Departure, loss, absence, yawning valleys of noise. The overture moans from the terminal ward. The humiliation of the cadaver, the scouring of abandoned houses and rubbish heaps, a planet blasted by the fruits of hubris. The last sigh of bathos: "It is finished“.
Such is the subject matter and sentiment of this follow-up to the much acclaimed albums “Snowdrops From A Curate's Garden“ and „Towers of Silence“ which put Last Dominion Lost firmly on the throne of post-industrial music. “Abomination of Desolation” is consistent with their development into a dark and profound direction, and yet saturated with the noise and feedback that taps deep into the genre’s conscience: Metallic percussion and the screams of terror, ritual chants and anxious atmospheres, all used and abused in order to create the most accurate soundtrack of desolation.
By the fans, “Abomination of Desolation” will be met with mixed feelings – as recordings began with John Murphy in 2015 and through his untimely death that year had to be finished without him, the acknowledged grandsigneur of post-industrial music. The album’s theme and musical approach were originally intended by John for a KRANK release: An electronic album, reflecting on John’s experiences when he was first hospitalized, comatose, and hooked to a breathing machine which was constantly creating bizarre sounds.
The result stands as a brief and concise display of the group’s ability to create an unmistakable old school sound with contemporary production value. The album runs for ten tracks clocking in less than 40 minutes total and features new member Till Brüggemann (Gerechtigkeits Liga), as well as guests Nikolas Schreck, Lori Goldston and John Murphy’s beloved wife Annie Stubbs among others. With a firm electronic/analogue backbone, a delicate contrast of percussions of various origins and uncanny vocals, this is a truly dark affair, and while towards the end of the journey some more aggravating feedback loops crawl in, it never gets upfront aggressive.
With the crisp mastering job of Hunter Barr it is safe to say that “Abomination of Desolation” will not lag behind its predecessors at all, but forge their deserved status as genre icons.
|
2017 |
€16.00 |
|
|
Abomination of Desolation |
CD |
"Desolation: total, utter, without remit. Departure, loss, absence, yawning valleys of noise. The overture moans from the terminal ward. The humiliation of the cadaver, the scouring of abandoned houses and rubbish heaps, a planet blasted by the fruits of hubris. The last sigh of bathos: "It is finished“.
Such is the subject matter and sentiment of this follow-up to the much acclaimed albums “Snowdrops From A Curate's Garden“ and „Towers of Silence“ which put Last Dominion Lost firmly on the throne of post-industrial music. “Abomination of Desolation” is consistent with their development into a dark and profound direction, and yet saturated with the noise and feedback that taps deep into the genre’s conscience: Metallic percussion and the screams of terror, ritual chants and anxious atmospheres, all used and abused in order to create the most accurate soundtrack of desolation.
By the fans, “Abomination of Desolation” will be met with mixed feelings – as recordings began with John Murphy in 2015 and through his untimely death that year had to be finished without him, the acknowledged grandsigneur of post-industrial music. The album’s theme and musical approach were originally intended by John for a KRANK release: An electronic album, reflecting on John’s experiences when he was first hospitalized, comatose, and hooked to a breathing machine which was constantly creating bizarre sounds.
The result stands as a brief and concise display of the group’s ability to create an unmistakable old school sound with contemporary production value. The album runs for ten tracks clocking in less than 40 minutes total and features new member Till Brüggemann (Gerechtigkeits Liga), as well as guests Nikolas Schreck, Lori Goldston and John Murphy’s beloved wife Annie Stubbs among others. With a firm electronic/analogue backbone, a delicate contrast of percussions of various origins and uncanny vocals, this is a truly dark affair, and while towards the end of the journey some more aggravating feedback loops crawl in, it never gets upfront aggressive.
With the crisp mastering job of Hunter Barr it is safe to say that “Abomination of Desolation” will not lag behind its predecessors at all, but forge their deserved status as genre icons."
https://epicureanescapism.bandcamp.com/album/abomination-of-desolation
"Nachdem der Name Last Dominion Lost ursprünglich rückwirkend für Aufnahmen verwendet wurde, die John Murphy, Jon Evans und Dominic Guerin Anfang der 90er gemacht hatten, wurde in den letzten Jahren aus Last Dominion Lost eine aus Murphy, Evans sowie Julian Percy bestehende und in Berlin ansässige Band, die eine durchaus an den Ursprüngen des Industrials orientierte Geräuschmusik spielte, aber dem 21. Jahrhundert klanglich angemessen agierte. Über „Tower Of Silence“, das eigentliche Debüt, hieß es dann auch auf diesen Seiten, „dass Last Dominion Lost einen transparenten Klang schätzen, keinen Soundbrei, der vielleicht kurzfristig dem Hörer die Ohren zum Klingen bringt, dessen Effektivität sich aber schnell abnutzt.“ und man kann diese Einschätzung auch bzgl. des Nachfolgers – zwischendurch erschien das 2011 aufgenommene Livealbum „Snowdrops From A Curate’s Garden“ – „Abomination of Desolation“ äußern, denn wenn eine Reihe von Vertretern atonaler Geräuschmusik auf maximale Verzerrung und Statik setzen (am offensichtlichsten bei dem selbst so betitelten Wall Noise), beschreiten Last Dominion Lost einen anderen Weg, bei der statt Statik Dynamik oder besser gesagt: Unruhe herrscht – und das ist bei diesem „uneasy listening“ durchaus als Kompliment zu verstehen.
Mit einem dem Buch Daniel entliehenen Titel, der auch schon Morbid Angel und Clark Ashton Smith inspirierte, macht die Band deutlich, in welche Richtung das Album geht. Von Labelseite heißt es auch: „Desolation: total, utter, without remit. Departure, loss, absence, yawning valleys of noise. The overture moans from the terminal ward. The humiliation of the cadaver, the scouring of abandoned houses and rubbish heaps, a planet blasted by the fruits of hubris. The last sigh of bathos: “It is finished“.” Diese Sätze scheinen nur auf den ersten Blick hyperbolisch, denn natürlich kann bzw. muss man das Album auch vor dem Hintergrund von John Murphys Tod lesen. Murphy hatte Konzept und musikalische Ausrichtung ursprünglich für sein Projekt Krank angedacht, um seine Krankenhauserfahrungen zu verarbeiten. Beendet wurden diese Aufnahmen von Percy, Evans sowie Till Brüggemann von Gerechtigkeits Liga, der seit einiger Zeit festes Mitglied von Last Dominion Lost ist.
Letztlich ist das dystopische Musik, bei auf der der Stimme wenn nicht unbedingt eine zentrale, dann doch nicht zu unterschätzende Rolle zukommt: So etwa die Schreie, die auf „Overture To Desolation“ zu hören sind, während es scheppert und Glas zu zerbrechen scheint. Man hört aggressiv-derangierte Vocals auf „Dimunitive Cruciform“, irrsinnig dämonisches Stimmengewirr auf „Irrumatio Del Mortis“ oder aber im Hintergrund schreiende Personen auf „Bludger’s Kill“. „Devil’s Path, ein fast schon leicht atonales, analoges Ambientstück , wird von Flüstern durchzogen, „Beyond The Valley Of The Flies“ knüpft daran musikalisch an. Auf dem von ritueller Perkussion durchzogenen „Blueprint for Urban Warfare“ erklingen schmerzverzerrte Vocals, die eine psychische wie physische Auflösung zu illustrieren scheinen. Lediglich “Cursed Earth” erinnert vom Gesang an Power Electronics. Das ist vielleicht im positivsten Wortsinn pathologische Musik. In Anlehnung an Throbbing Gristle könnte man auch von einer “Journey through a diseased body” sprechen. Die Landschaften, die hier vor dem Auge des Hörenden entstehen, sind wahrlich (ver)wüst(et).
In Klarkash-Tons Prosagedicht “The Abomination of Desolation” heißt es:„Of this horror, many tales are told, and nearly all of the tales are different. Some say that the thing has neither visible form nor audible voice“, Last Dominion Lost haben dem Grauen eine mehr als adäquate Stimme gegeben." [MG/African Paper] |
2017 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Snowdrops from a Curate's Garden |
CD |
“Snowdrops from a Curate's Garden” is a 2011 live recording of industrial veterans Last Dominion Lost with all exclusive, unreleased tracks. Active since 1992, Last Dominion Lost feature Jon Evans, John Murphy (Shining Vril, Krank, Ex-SPK/Whitehouse/Current 93) and Julian Percy. Through their pedigree, Last Dominion Lost are considered to justifiably carry the legacy of the legend that is SPK - and that’s also by their sound, as they stand for an undiluted brand of industrial music, combining shuddering analogue sounds, clanging metal rhythms and feedback with ritual percussion & chants. On “Snowdrops from a Curate's Garden” the main focus lies on the hypnotic, ritual and mental aspects of music, with an omnipresent metallic percussive backbone. It comes as no surprise to find the group reveling in dark subject matter like psychopathology, debasement and religious deviation, to which they manage to deliver an authentic soundtrack.
The LP is congruously accompanied by authentic photographs of the infamous Victorian era Lunatic Asylums in Kew and Beechworth, Australia. Last Dominion Lost take an ethically moved stance, commemorating the fact that from its beginnings as a penal colony, the majority of the early white Australians were drawn from the classes of the poor, dispossessed and desperate, long known as factors that encourage depression, alcoholism and psychological ill-being. The process of transportation was attended by squalor, disease and rape. These damaged individuals were then thrust into a harsh and alien environment, housed in circumstances worse than a modern refugee camp, and expected to build their own prisons – circumstances that effectively made mental illness was one of the colony's very first imports. From there the dismal history of mental hospitals took its course, evolving from incarceration over therapeutic occupation to, ultimately, medication. It is the practice of oppressing those who cannot “conform” to the norms imposed by the system, the root cause of the underlying aggression with which the Australian general public treated each other, and still continue to do.
This live album has been recorded at Kalyug Festival, Berlin in 2011 and is perfectly mastered by James Plotkin, providing the album a sharp, forceful & modern sound. Thus “Snowdrops from a Curate's Garden” can be considered the missing link between the grainy, demo-type 1990s recordings that became “The Tyranny of Distance” (Tesco, 2004) and the enthusiastically received “Towers Of Silence” album (The Epicurean / silken tofu, 2014), which displayed a very contemporary, indicatory approach at that classic industrial sound.
Beautifully duplex black/gold printed cover, 300g natural paper, postcard, 140g black vynil, black disco bag in transparent high quality sleeve with flap, includes download code. Limited edition of 253 copies, hand numbered. First 50 copies come with small postcard.
The Epicurean . cure.8
Format: 12" LP & file download
Release date CD: 23. October 2017
Release date LP: 21. October 2015
Artwork, typography and design: The Epicurean
Playtime: 37:42 min
|
2017 |
€13.00 |
|
| LASWELL, BILL & PETE NAMLOOK |
Outland |
6 x CD BOX |
The 'Outland' album series was a collaborative endeavour by the visionary US bassist-producer Bill Laswell and the late German musician Peter Namlook that pushed the boundaries of dark ambient and electronic music. Spanning five albums released over a thirteen year period from 1994, this new boxset serves as a testament to the creative synergy between the two masterminds.
At the time the duo joined forces, the New York-based Laswell was already a famous producer with a massive client list that included cutting-edge rock, pop, funk, jazz and electronic artists, but he had also founded the Axiom label in 1989 and been responsible for groundbreaking work in genres that included ambient, dub and world music. Namlook was recognised as a pioneering figure in the ambient techno scene, having founded the label FAX +49-69/450464 in his native Frankfurt in 1992.
'Outland' became a fusion of their individual musical sensibilities that resulted in a unique set of releases. At the heart of the series is an exploration of sound as a vehicle for emotion and contemplation, with Laswell's signature basslines and experimental soundscapes interweaving seamlessly with Namlook's ethereal textures and intricate sonic layering. Each album is characterised by a sense of expansiveness, taking listeners on a voyage through rarely charted sonic dimensions. All have the ability to evoke a wide range of emotions and have their own distinctive sonic palette, ranging from ambient tranquility to cosmic intensity.
'Outland' has endured as an influential touchstone, its impact felt not only in its captivating soundscapes but also in its invitation to engage in deep introspection and cosmic contemplation. With each album, the duo beckoned listeners to transcend the mundane and embark on a sonic voyage into the extraordinary, where sound becomes a conduit for spiritual and artistic expression.
The lavish matte-finish boxset opens to the 5 "Outland" albums in separate matte sleeves, with all-new designs, and all audio completely remastered. This box also contains a new addition to the OUTLAND series - an album of dense, bass space drone by Bill Laswell, entitled "Blackland". The boxset also contains an exclusive card with an essay about the project written by BIll Laswell, July 2023.
........................................
Their collaboration actually began after Namlook discovered that several samples from early Fax releases had been utilised for Laswell's own projects, prompting an initial forthright exchange that quickly turned into a deep mutual admiration. "We started to send music back and forth, Frankfurt to Brooklyn and back again," explains Laswell. "There were so many recordings and different collaborations that several of them turned into a series. In addition to 'Outland', there was 'Psychonavigation', 'The Dark Side Of The Moog' and more."
For 'Outland', he recalls that "I had done an Asian tour with my friend Akira Sakata where I managed to record a lot of traditional music in Mongolia, which is heavy drone singing and the ultimate ambient. When I was in Europe, I brought these recordings to Pete and we worked on them in Frankfurt. That was the start of 'Outland', which then continued for another four releases."
He also reveals that Namlook told him about the very start of his career. "He was playing guitar and working in a bank. Every day, on his way home with his guitar, he would pass a river and stop and play with the river flowing. I think that's where his ambient obsession began. I recorded a piece with Bernie Worrell entitled 'By A River (for Peter)', which is the first track of the box set compilation 'Die Welt ist Klang: A Tribute to Pete Namlook', which was released in 2013, a year after his death."
CD1: Produced by Peter Kuhlmann. Written by Bill Laswell and Pete Namlook. Mongolian voices and instruments by Nicky Skopelitis & Oz Fritz.
CD2: Produced by Peter Kuhlmann. Written by Bill Laswell and Pete Namlook. Ethnic sounds recorded in West Africa by Oz Fritz. Recorded at Klanglabor, Frankfurt.
CD3: Produced by Peter Kuhlmann. Written by Bill Laswell and Pete Namlook. Recorded at Klanglabor, Frankfurt & Traben-Trarbach.
CD4: Produced by Peter Kuhlmann. Written by Bill Laswell and Pete Namlook. Recorded at Klanglabor, Frankfurt & Traben-Trarbach.
CD5: Produced by Peter Kuhlmann. Written by Bill Laswell and Pete Namlook. Recorded at Orange Music, West Orange,NJ, and Klanglabor Hödeshof.
CD6: Bill Laswell: Bass, effects. Engineering: James Dellatacoma. Recorded at Orange Music, West Orange,NJ (Bassmatter, BMI).
https://coldspring.bandcamp.com/album/outland
"Quite a catch and a very pleasantly surprising one. I would not have imagined that Cold Spring Records, known for all their darkness, would dip into ambient electronic pioneer Pete Namlook's (1960-2012) work, particularly his piece with Bill Laswell. The latter is a bass player and producer with a massive body of work, mainly outside Vital Weekly (Herbie Hancock's 'Rockit' is a VW HQ favourite, sometimes), both on bass and production duties. Pete Namlook played electronic ambient music, usually without too many rhythms, but he wasn't too shy to put a full set on. Namlook's catalogue is massive, as at one point, he released a CD every month on his FAX +49-69/450464 label. He had a line of collaborators with whom he worked a lot (Klaus Schulze, Tetsu Inoue, and Richie Hawtin, for instance). With Bill Laswell he recorded five parts of 'Outland', which are now re-issued with a bonus disc of a new work, 'Blackland', by Laswell. There was more work by the two, 'Psychonavigation', which also spanned various CDs (and maybe something to come in the future?), which is one I really enjoyed. I could call myself a Namlook fan, yet I also know I heard maybe 50% of his work. Back in the day, I couldn't afford to buy everything I wanted, and Namlook's output was, as said, massive. From the original 'Outland' albums, I only heard two. It is interesting to play these six works as they provide an excellent picture of the diversity of ambient house music, at least in the approach of Namlook and Laswell. There isn't one kind of ambient house. The word 'house', as in 'house music', is a loose term anyway in this respect, indicating dance music. Ambient House never relies too much on strict dance beats but uses more complex rhythms, such as on 'Outland Two - African Virus', which is more exotic, wilder and sometimes indeed more African. 'Outland Three' (no subtitle) has rhythms that are a bit more straightforward and minimal, but it's not something for the dance floor. On 'Outland Four', the beats are more dub-like in some of the pieces (as with all of these pieces, it moves through various ideas and textures per album), another interest of many ambient house musicians. On the other side of the musical spectrum, we find music devoid of rhythm, spacious synthesizers, minimalist drones, and perhaps something ambient in the truest sense. As with many Namlook releases, there is a certain directness about the music, indicating that the music is one long session, a live-in-studio approach, with mixing and editing afterwards. There is not much extra information in this release explaining methods. The whole live-in-studio approach might be something that is only in my mind. Each album is a trip, and so is the whole five-plus hours of this. I played this for the first time in one row on a lazy Sunday, sipping tea after a long night. Ambient music is the preferred waking-up music for me. Maybe with the idea that my living room is a sort of chill-out place today, as some of this music is clearly the intended soundtrack for such a place." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2023 |
€47.50 |
|
| LATER DAYS |
InvalidObject Series (do) |
mCD |
Das irische FÄLLT-Label hat auf einen Schlag ein Kompendium zur neuen digitalen laptop / click / glitch / IDM – Musik herausgebracht ! Das sind 24 mCDs mit allerlei bekannten und unbekannte Vertretern dieses jungen Genres. Wir haben die meisten da, hier eine Übersicht ! Limitiert jeweils auf schamlose 250 Stck ! Preis pro mcD : € 9.50
Better priced now, last copies of this absolute compendium of IDM. € 9.50
“ The invalidObject Series was established in 2000 as a sublabel of Fällt to release a finite series of twenty four 3"CD/.mp3 works.
Offering a unique perspective on a diverse range of musical output at the turn of the millennium, the Series features work by some of the most respected artists operating within the field of '.microsound' and has been described as "a remarkable document of a vibrant artistic community and a critical moment in the evolution of digital music" (Philip Sherburne), "a showcase for the extraordinary range of practical approaches within contemporary electronic music" (Matt Ffytche, The Wire) and, simply, "impressive" (Rob Young, Editor, The Wire). “ [label press release}
|
2000 |
€9.50 |
|
| LEGENDARY PINK DOTS & CEVIN KEY |
9 Lives to Wonder |
DVD |
"9 Lives To Wonder, A Film by cEvin Key documents the time that cEvin Key spent with The Legendary Pink Dots recording their seminal album of the same name. A first-person look into the process of musical creation, and the life that happens around it." [label info]
www.metropolis-records.com
|
2012 |
€17.50 |
|
| LEGENDARY PINK DOTS & KETVECTOR |
The Shock Exchange |
LP |
"The Shock Exchange presents an encounter between two of the most interesting and unique projects of the current neo-psychedelic and electronic music panorama.
The Legendary Pink Dots need no introduction, and on Side A they once again solidify their status as musical pioneers with all new songs and swirling psychedelic arrangements led by the charismatic voice of Edward Ka-spel.
Side B is dedicated to the progressive and psychedelic electronic project kETvECTOR, born from the mind of Justin Bennett (Skinny Puppy / Bahntier) together with Stefano Rossello (Bahntier), showcasing many facets of the project; from electronic free jazz to ambient experimental and esoteric avant-garde.
The album also features paintings by Franke Nardiello (aka Groovie Mann) of My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult.
A transparent vinyl release exclusively for record store day 2015, not to be missed!" [label info]
www.rustblade.it
"When the first Compact Disc was released more than 30 years ago not many people were expecting that the LP would still be around in 2015. And even more, that it would make a come-back in the digital age. The LP today is not a mass product as it was back then, but more of a luxury product. Real music lovers want to experience music. Not just listen to it, but use all 5 senses. The tangibility, the artwork, the smell of it, it is all part of the experience.
The Italian Rustblade record label is specialized in limited releases like picture discs and special packed albums. The Shock Exchange is a transparent vinyl split LP limited to 299 copies. The beautiful cover paintings were made by Franke Nardiello (a.k.a. Groovie Mann) of My Life with the Thrill Kill Cult.
But most important is of course the music. The A side contains 3 tracks by The Legendary Pink Dots. The English/Dutch band celebrates its 35th anniversary this year. They are not the only band to last that long, and there are bands that are even older. But from their very first cassette release in 1980 there hasn't been a year where they did not release anything. In several years even more releases, and adding to that also solo releases and side projects such as The Tear Garden and Mimir. Also to this day they are still playing live regularly.
The current lineup of the band consists of founder members Edward Ka-Spel (vocals, keyboards) and Phil Knight (a.k.a The Silverman, keyboards & electronics) as well as Erik Drost (guitars, bass) and sound engineer and wizard Raymond Steeg. The last two years the band was in a very productive phase with lots of releases, including a few releases on Rustblade: Chemical Playschool Volume 15 (2013, CD box set), The Curse Of Marie Antoinette (2013, picture disc) and 10 To The Power Of 9 (2014, 2 LP / CD). During their 35 years of existence the band's sound changed, but there are a few elements that have been there from the beginning. First there is the typical sound of Edward's voice. Second his lyrics: strange little stories with (black) humor, inventive word playing, bizarre twists and a very English reserve. Never judging but always observing. Third is a sense of melancholy, a longing for the unreachable. Fourth is a psychedelic element. Fifth is the creative use of synthesizers and samples: they use their gear to create unique sounds. Sometimes alienating, sometimes very powerful.
The first track is very much in line with their previous releases, a more electronic driven song. The other two tracks are more minimalistic and melancholic.
kETvECTOR is the name of the collaboration between Justin Bennett (Skinny Puppy, Bahntier) and Stefano Rossello (Bahntier). This collaboration is meant to explore new frontiers. The first two tracks are based on an electronic rhythm. The third track has human played rhythm guitar and bass guitar, and the fourth track has no rhythm, it is more ambient. All tracks are instrumental. They are like musical sketches: with abstract lines and shadows, but not fully colored. It reminds me of Tuxedomoon, probably because of the wind instruments that were used as well as the Peter Principle like bass guitar in the third track. The kETvECTOR side sounds like the soundtrack to a movie. In particular some kind of road movie, travelling on long straight roads through wide open spaces to strange places. The kind of road movie without a happy end. Where the main character never finds what he is looking for in the end, because it is the search itself that keeps him going.
As a whole The Shock Exchange is not an easy album, and it takes an open mind and several listens before it reveals itself. But with every time you play it, you discover something new. In the end “difficult” albums are also the most pleasing ones.
[Erik Gibbels (edited by Astrid de Ronde)/ BACKGROUND MAG]
|
2015 |
€23.00 |
|
| LEGENDARY PINK DOTS (LPD) |
All the King's Horses |
CD |
Nun werden auch im “Alternative”-Bereich Releases veröffentlicht, die sich mit dem 11. September auseinandersetzen. Die PINK DOTS tun das auf ihre unnachahmliche Art und Weise, mit ihren introvertiert-introspektiven und doch so scheinbar banalen Geschichten, die manchmal auch als Fabeln funktionieren... hier tönen die Dots wieder sehr songorientiert und eingängig !
"I never liked discussing my own lyrics. In the early days of the Pink Dots, I steadfastly refused to include lyric sheets with the albums, in the belief that a listener cannot enjoy or enter a piece of music if she or he is reading and listening at the same time. However, when those lyrics began to be transcribed poorly and sometimes misinterpreted, understandably, by the people who bought the albums, I was forced to relent. I began writing the words for "All the King's Horses" and sister album, "All the King's Men" (on ROIR), early in 2001 with The Unlikely Event. The piece outlined a scenario which could occur in a society increasingly obsessed with technology. A plane is about to crash and one of the unfortunate passengers feels the need to phone his wife on his mobile, only to receive her voice-mail.
A runaway train was set in motion with that song. Pieces were written furiously throughout the rest of the year - before and after September 11th. As a result, "All the King's Horses" and "All the King's Men" appear thematic-- not by design, but on account of a body of work being made in a period when the World really did change. My silent wish is that this work leaves the listener hopeful. Even at a moment in time when only madmen of ALL creeds and colours seem to have the fate of this fragile planet in their hands. Let live." ~Edward Ka-spel~
|
2002 |
€13.50 |
|
|
Live at La Luna |
DVD |
DVD – Version of the video-cassette that appeared in 1998.
“Recorded in 1997 near the end of their “Hallway of the Gods” tour of Canada and America, and originally issued in VHS format in 1998, “Live at La Luna” reveals like never before the magical atmosphere of sound and light created by Edward Ka-Spel and his talented crew. Captured by a pair of roving cameramen and a center camera filming from the balcony, the performance is presented as an ever-evolving collage of music and faces, from the keyboards of The Silverman to the saxophone flourishes of Niels van Hoorn, from the rhythm-n-bass section of Ryan Moore (Twilight Circus Dub Sound System) and Edwin von Trippenhof to the inimitable vocals of Edward Ka-Spel. It runs 60 minutes, and includes the following songs: 1. Hallway Monologue 2. On High 3. Spike 4. Love in a Plain Brown Envelope 5. Destined to Repeat 6. Harvest Babies 7. Velvet Resurrection 8. Hellsville 9. City of Needles Regrettably, there were several minor glitches in the audio part of the program we were unable to completely repair. We don’t think they detract in any way from the performance, but an attentive listener may notice them. For this reason we have included a disclaimer on the outside of the packaging to warn consumers of the defects. Nevertheless we feel the uniqueness of this release, combined with its low price, will please the loyal followers of this legendary group.” [label description]
|
2004 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Chemical Playschool 15 |
CD |
"The Legendary Pink Dots are back with there highly anticipated new album. Chemical Playschool is a concept in which more then ever an indulgence in extended ballads and psychedelic improvisations allows Edward Ka-Spel’s voice to engage us with his unique brand of storytelling, and the use of synthesizers brings to mind vintage space rock adapted for the modern age. The album opens with the beautifully epic “Immaculate Conception” where Ka-Spel transports us into a world of stars and planets surrounded by voices and distant echos. In “The Opium Den Parts 1-3″ we find a melancholy piece with classic LPD folk essence, arriving then at the ritual tribal ballad “Ranting and Raving”. Chemical Playschool is able to surpass all of our expectations for a band always able to surprise as they lead us through their peculiar dream world. A truly inspired release representing one of the most beautiful concepts created by this eclectic and mythic band." [label info]
www.rustblade.com
"a new voyage into the Chemical Playschool after over 10 years of being locked outside the laboratory. Songs, labyrinths, and colours so vivid you'll never wash them out of your mind." [Edward Ka-Spel]
"Over the years in their thirty plus career, there have always been 'Chemical Playschool' releases by The Legendary Pink Dots. These are works which are a bit different than their more regular, song based studio work, but not as experimental as some of the releases that they put out themselves. In songs on any of these 'Chemical Playschool' releases, there is always a fair amount of experimentation, while Edward Ka-spel's voice is never really far away. Take the opening piece, 'Immaculate Conception', which starts out with a two note synth and Edward's voice, but then after a while starts drifting into a cosmic synth work with floating and drifting melodies, and Ka-spel's voice backwards - a feature from the old days rarely seen on the more current releases. It's here where the Dots are at their best - in my humble opinion. Not drifting in a more krauty version or too spacious with experimental ideas, but an excellent balance between both ends. Rhythm machines seem not really apparent on this new CD and it all dwells heavily on the use of keyboards, electronics and maybe even field recordings, radio sounds and such like. Even Erik Drost's guitar seems to have a more remote place in the total picture, with a prominent tinkle on the strings in 'The Opium Den Parts 1-3', but otherwise more filling out spacious playing with sustaining tones. 'Chemical Playschool 15' is another fine trip - pun intended - and certainly a road these should take more often." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2012 |
€14.00 |
|
|
10 to the Power of 9 - Vol. 1 |
LP |
"Die Kult-Fomation meldet sich mit einem großartigen Konzeptalbum zurück,
erscheinend auf RUSTBLADE als limitierte Colored-Vinyl-Edition (499 Exemplare)!
Selten passt das Attribut legendär so gut wie auf die Gruppe um EDWARD KA-SPEL und
PHIL „THE SILVERMAN“ KNIGHT, die seit nun mehr als drei Dekaden für ihren
unverkennbaren, einzigartigen Soundkosmos verehrt wird, bei dem Psychedelic-Heads,
Dark Waver und Freunde experimenteller (Elektronik-)Klänge gleichermaßen auf ihre Kosten kommen. Mit ihrem neusten Machwerk legen die LEGENDARY PINK DOTS den ersten Teil
einer komplexen Story über Konspirativität, Magie und Spiritualität vor. Minimale Synths,
Gitarren, synkopische Beats, die Verwirrung stiften, psychedelische und transzendentale
Geräusche, welche wie gewohnt von der charakteristischen Stimme KA-SPELs begleitet
werden. „Ten To The Power Of Nine Vol.1 ”ist ein dunkler und außergewöhnlicher Trip in die
musikalische Psyche der LEGENDARY PINK DOTS, die hier wieder einmal ihren Status als
absolut unverkennbare musikalische Ausnahmeerscheinung bestätigen." [label info]
www.rustblade.com
"For more than thirty years I have been following The Legendary Pink Dots, of which maybe twenty years close to the fire. I have written a lot about the Dots; about their music, the various incarnations, the old work versus the new and how some of the new albums released on smaller scale are more experimental than the bigger scale releases. When I was listening to '10 To the Power Of 9' (a culmination of two earlier LP releases under the same name), I was thinking about the latter notion - small/big, experimental or not - and thinking this is perhaps no longer the case. Whereas on the older yet recent works the stomping ground of krautrock was used a bit too much for my taste, the more experimental works were relegated to CDR, but on '10 To The Power Of 9' there is a fine balance between the experiment and the accessibility. A song like 'Malice/Freak Flag' shows this inside one piece: noisy guitars, spacious synthesizers, spacious guitars and mayhem, within these twelve minutes a lot
happen. It seems as if Edward Ka-spel's voice is more 'above' the music, more reciting than singing; the emphasis is more on the poetry than the pure song format. But all of that embedded within the experiment of the music. I quite enjoyed this album for its variation. The more song-like structures of 'Open Season', 'Room For Two' and 'Your Humble Season' or the title piece, but also a psychedelic outing as 'The Elevator', which remind me of the band's various incarnations of the piece 'Premonition'. It seems to me that The Legendary Pink Dots have found their ground better in a work like this. Highly varied, a display of their various incarnations and throughout a hauntingly beautiful release." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€23.50 |
|
|
Chemical Playschool 11, 12, 13 |
3 x CD BOX |
"Chemical Playschool 11, 12 & 13 represents the most ambitious Legendary Pink Dots project embarked upon in their 21-year history. The intention was to create a massive, disorientating journey with constantly shifting textures and atmospheres, while retaining a unity. Hence, the rather controversial decision was taken to apply a single code to each volume. It is not a collection of “greatest hits”, nor does it have any potential for radio airplay. Work began on the three CD set in September 2000 with a trawl through the Pink Dots’ vaults for unfinished material and improvisations. With a target, established singer Edward Ka-Spel applied the finishing touches to many of these pieces. Following this stage, countless new songs were composed and recorded according to what the proposed voyage required. Ultimately the whole thing took one year with small details being added on an almost daily basis. With the completion of this project, LPDs now intend to take things even further. But to where? Stay tuned…" [label info]
www.soleilmoon.com
|
2001 |
€42.00 |
|
|
Pages of Aquarius |
CD |
"The Legendary Pink Dots is an Anglo-Dutch experimental rock band formed in London in 1980. Although far outside the mainstream, LPD have released more than 40 albums, have a devoted worldwide following, and tour frequently. Distinctive vocals and lyrical imagery blended with hypnotic guitar and synth washes and spellbinding bass pulses to create an enthralling, captivating release." [label info]
"The problem with the Age of Aquarius is that nobody seems to know when it's due, or indeed whether or not it's already begun. According to the song 'Aquarius' from hippy musical Hair, the dawning will come when "The moon is in the seventh house, and Jupiter aligns with Mars." Unfortunately, as astrologer Neil Spencer has noted, the moon enters the seventh house daily, while Jupiter and Mars are aligned several times a year. Other astrologers have argued for Aquarian start dates ranging from 1447 right up until 3597.
In the popular imagination, however, the Age of Aquarius will always be associated with the “love generation” counter-culture of the 1960s, and represents the utopian new age that their flower power shenanigans were supposed to usher in. In other words, it should be here by now, and it manifestly isn't. As Legendary Pink Dots' mainstay Edward Ka-Spel notes, if this is Aquarius page one then love, peace and good hair are hardly qualities in the ascendant. "It wasn't supposed to be like this," he writes. "Are we in for another 2,160 years of this?"
Ultimately though, Ka-Spel's conclusions are optimistic. What we're actually living through are the death throes of the Pisces Age, he argues; it's brutal and painful, but it won't last. The way to get through is by letting go, on both a personal and societal level, and in order to do this we need to look unflinchingly at where we are now, what is holding us back and what will help us move forward.
So the album's opening track, 'Mirror, Mirror' tackles introspection, narcissism and self-loathing alongside the hard but necessary task of looking closely at your own self and putting the work in to improve. Stinging synthesiser blasts reflect this flinching process over driving electronic percussion, before a melancholy mellotron passage suggests a degree of sorrowful self-acceptance has been found. On 'The Greatest Story Ever Told,' a swarm of buzzing clockwork wasps soundtrack rising existential dread before the song shifts into a litany of reasons not to worship God, or indeed watch his movies on TV, all set to a queasy rendition of 'All Things Bright and Beautiful.' The Age of Pisces is often identified as the Christian era, and early Christians identified themselves using two fishes as a symbol; among other qualities, Aquarius is associated with the decline of religion and the rise of technology. "We worship technology," Ka-Spel whispers ambivalently at the close.
How the glorious analogue squelching of 'D-Train' fits into the concept I'm not sure, but 'Credibility' and 'Trending' take a look at the world around us, the former cursing "Damn your eyes, austerity" over lullaby-like piano, while the latter looks at the mysterious force of the zeitgeist as represented by popular topics on social media. Watching "the great sea ripple," Ka-Spel wonders who or what is driving the trends, directing our thoughts and attention as one linked collective organism.
The album concludes with two multi-part epics. The near-eighteen minute 'Don't Go There- Page Aquarian- Jacob's Ladder' begins in haunting yet propulsive style, discussing surveillance culture and "cameras everywhere" before shifting onto memory as a form of observation, returning to the theme of looking unsparingly at your own past actions and how they've led you to where you are now. A collage of found sound leads into a passage of spare percussion over which Ka-Spel considers the stars and the notion of destiny, before the final section finds tentative piano chords reverberating over the sound of a gathering storm. Here considerations of mortality and the afterlife are resolved into the need to make peace and find some kind of acceptance.
For CD listeners, that's where the album ends, but it would be a shame to miss out on the sixteen-and-a-half minute 'The Weight of Water Parts 1-4,' which is only available on digital and double vinyl editions. A dry, steady pulse beat supports slabs of musique concrete and some non-judgemental meditations on self-destructive behaviour, before a frantic flurry of low piano notes in a repeating, claustrophobic loop successfully simulates a panic attack. This then shifts into an oceanic evocation of waking at 3am with the realisation that your life has been wasted in deceit and acquisitiveness, before the instrumental final section captures a zen-like sensation of beatific release, with acoustic and electronic textures beautifully balanced against each other.
Aquarius of course is the water bearer, and 'The Weight of Water' effectively sums up the pain and difficulty of this period of transition. There's no need though to take the astrological metaphors literally; this album can be enjoyed purely as an unsettling and moving 83 minutes of music, and for those who do listen closely to the words, Ka-Spel's dry sense of humour undercuts any tendency towards new age pretentiousness.
Their long history could make some wrongly see the Legendary Pink Dots as unapproachable or worse, irrelevant. But Pages of Aquarius is an album that stands on its own merits. Even if you've never bought a Pink Dots record before, this is a progressive, provocative and ultimately positive statement about the world we're all living in today." [The Quietus] |
2016 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Kleine Krieg |
do-CD |
The Legendary Pink Dots are an Anglo-Dutch experimental rock band formed in London in August 1980. In 1984 the band moved to Amsterdam, playing with rotating musicians and having, as core members, singer/songwriter/keyboardist Edward Ka-Spel and keyboardist Phil Knight aka The Silverman. The band was originally called "One Day..." but subsequently changed the name to The Legendary Pink Dots, apparently inspired by pink dots on certain keys of the band's main recording studio piano. In the 1980s the band released albums on Mirrodot and In Phaze; in 1985 they signed with Play It Again Sam for the release of The Lovers. Their music touches on elements of neo-psychedelia, ambient music, electronic music, tape music, industrial, psychedelic folk, synthpop, post-punk, progressive, jazz, noise, pop, and goth rock, with a distinctly experimental/avant-garde bent; their sound has evolved over time and remains distinctive, making it difficult to place the group into a concise style or genre. The group's overall sound combined with Ka-Spel's distinct lyrics and singing have earned comparisons to Pink Floyd and Syd Barrett; the group also has links to the sounds of krautrock bands such as Can, Faust, Brainticket, Magma or Neu! The first cassette “Only Dreaming” was an edition of 9 copies, two of which had beautiful three-dimensional handmade covers. “Only Dreaming” was abandoned rather than deleted as the recorded output by The Dots expanded massively within months of the band’s inception. This increased activity led to the beautifully packaged “Chemical Playschool Volumes 1 & 2." 32 copies were made of this, and the hugely supportive Eurock magazine & mail-order service bought 30 of them in an exchange deal for exotic goodies in their catalogue. It wasn’t meant to end there but the 2 track masters for CP 1 & 2 were largely erased by accident - and “Kleine Krieg” represents the music that survived plus a lot of fresh material that just had to be unleashed on an unwary planet in the month or so following the double tape release. This edition has all tracks of both editions/versions of "Kleine Krieg", plus a couple of bonus tracks, and is the first time this is being released on double CD. It is a brand new and much better re-master than what was used on the CDR edition some time ago. Full tracklist: 1. Defeated/Deflated/Black Highway 2. Soma Bath/Peace Krime 2/Break Day/The Palace Of Love/Stoned Obituary/Starch On Sunday 3. Vigil 4. Legacy/One For The Pearl Moon 5. Dolls' House/Brill 6. Down From The Country/Thursday Night Fever/Die With Your Eyes On 7. Closet Kings (First Version) 8. Opus Dei.
www.klanggalerie.com/gg321
|
2020 |
€18.00 |
|
|
Chemical Playschool Vol. 21 / 22 |
do-CD |
Indeed, You ARE hallucinating but you have absolutely nothing to fear. Just 'go with the flow.'
This small but wildly colourful monument will emerge in 3 different formats in the months to come. Vinyl and cassette will be courtesy of Witch Cat Records in Denver (witchcatrecords.bandcamp.com). The double cd will materialise via The Dots’ own Terminal Kaleidoscope label.
Erik Drost - Guitars, Bass; The Silverman - Keyboards, Devices; Edward Ka-Spel - Voice, keyboards.
Special guests: Patrick Q. Wright - Violins, keyboards on 2; Quentin Rollet - saxes, sopranino sax on 1,4,5,8,9.
Produced and Engineered by EK.
Cover concept and photography by Alena.
https://legendarypinkdots1.bandcamp.com/album/chemical-playschool-volumes-21-22
"Earlier this week, The Legendary Pink Dots came up in a private conversation, with an expert and we talked about the various incarnations of the group over the forty plus years and that prompted me to play some of the earliest Pink Dots, when they have, personal-wise the biggest line-up. It was also the time I first discovered the Pink Dots. One of the releases I played was 'Chemical Playschool 3 & 4', which is still an excellent ride of experiment and songs. That is something that hasn't changed if you play 'Chemical Playschool 21 + 22', which handed to me a few days later. Unlike 'regular' releases by the Dots, 'Chemical Playschool' is their playground to combine songs and experiments and as such, there is not a lot of difference between '3 & 4' and '21 & 22', except that the old one uses a much different line-up, with guitars, drums, violin and synthesizers, which all had a rockier sound, whereas these days the band, consisting of Erik Drost (guitar; he joined after 2000), The Silverman (keyboards, devices) and Edward Ka-spel (voices, keyboards, devices; the latter two are founding members), has a more electronic feel, despite Drost's guitar injections., Quentin Rollet adds saxophone and clarinet on a couple of pieces, and Patrick Q. Wright violin and keyboards on one track; he's also an early member. In recent years, so it seems to me, the Pink Dots' music is more about the texts/lyrics/poetry by Ka-spel, who use a more narrative way to deliver his words. The music serves as the dramatic soundscape in which all of this happens. Even for someone such as myself, not particularly interested in lyrics, understand the dramatic impact of Ka-spel's voice, and it is embedded in the music, rather than something that is on top of the music. The Pink Dots are in excellent form, with their psychedelic outburst, dreamy soundscapes, free jamming, spacious electronics and the always recognizable voice of Ka-spel. Less rocky than years ago, but still the perfect balance between 'song' and 'experiment'." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2021 |
€22.50 |
|
|
Hallway of the Gods |
CD |
1997. A big change again for the Dots as Martijn and Raymond had left while Edwin van Wanrooij (Atwyn) and Frank Verschuuren joined.
For sure the Dots went extremely spacey for “Hallway” and it remains a big favourite among band members to this day.
Press Release
Hallway of the Gods is the name of the brilliant new studio album by The Legendary Pink Dots, their first in two years. Recorded over the last 12 months in Nijmegen and Vancouver, this album presents the Dots at the pinnacle of their creativity. Psychedelic electronics are perfectly mated to Edward Ka-spel’s distinctive vocal style, producing a transcendent musical experience. Hallway of the Gods will initially be available as a limited edition double album, complete with different artwork and a bonus track, 9 Shades (Houston) Parts 1 & 2 that will not be available on the compact disc.
A spokesperson from the Dots’ camp issued this cryptic statement regarding the new album:
So you are sitting in a plane a few thousand feet above the Atlantic Ocean innocently gazing out of the window, when it suddenly becomes clear that all is not as it should be.
For a start, your sick bag is humming a somewhat atonal version of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue in your right ear, just loud enough to irritate you and the cigar smoking geranium in the seat next to you.
Taking your eyes away from the window for a second, you note that your legs have disappeared, and in their place is a formless wobbling substance that resembled gelatin. Being a strict vegetarian you naturally find this disturbing, but your attempts to cry out for assistance end up sounding like small ‘feeeeeping’ sounds. A three headed eagle with bad breath squats on the seat in front of you screaming inaccurate quotes from the Koran in an obviously fake Irish accent.
It’s time for a nervous breakdown, but the eagle mutates into a balloon faced sergeant-major who bellows “This is NO time for a nervous breakdown, asshole – we gotta go hunting ventriloquists!” And the plane turns into a bottle o’beer, bottle o’beer… and the earth turns into a peanut butter sandwich which is in turn eaten by a crocodile and spat out again because it tastes like nothing and the whole goddamn universe melts into a green blob, grows an enormous leg, tap-dances on Fred Astaire’s skull and mutates into EVERYTHING again.
Time twists backwards, and you are sitting on a plane innocently gazing out of the window eating a piece of dried banana.
We are but playthings my friends. We are yours to disrespect, my large looming friend up there…
Welcome to the Hallway, the exits are lies. -EKS
STERREKRAZHNALIVSHIJAR-H ALHEMNIS
|
1997 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Come out from the Shadows Vol. 5 / Parkzicht |
CD |
LEGENDARY PINK DOTS open-air live-section at "Parzkricht / Rotterdam" in 1983.
These recordings from the park have been floating around the World Wide Web for some time, but never as a complete show.
This offering fills in the gaps and completes the puzzle.
Tracks 1-3 are taken from the VPRO Radio recording of the show, while the rest was never broadcasted in full.
"They Don't Horses.." did appear on a compilation cassette many years ago (Recloose Live Series Number 1), but this is almost impossible to find.
Sound quality has been worked on extensively - a big thank you to Raymond Steeg who did a great job on cutting out unwanted noises.
Great psychedelic experience, a full immersion in the golden PINK DOTS era!
TLPD line-up for those recordings was:
The Silverman
April White
Stret Majest Alarme
Roland Callaway
Edward Ka-Spel
Kastro KlingKlang
|
2023 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Faces in the Fire (40th Anniversary ed.) |
LP |
A beautiful new edition of this long out-of-print album to celebrate the Play It Again Sam label's 40th Anniversary. In fact the original was the label's first ever release ( catalogue no. BIAS1 !).Official release date is 26th Jun
1984 and a small label in Belgium named Play it Again Sam wanted the Pink Dots for it's first release. We had just 5 days for the recording and what you hear was pretty much live in Pat Bermingham's studio. Actually a lot of fun was had by all involved.
EK:vox,keys;April Iliffe:ladyvox,keys;The Silverman:keys,percussion,devices;Stret Majest:guitars;
Roland Callaway:bass; Patrick Q.Wright: violins;Pazhklahh Zzzapp:extras..
Guests: Ignit- voice on Sleezo;John Whybrew: obscene phonecall
https://legendarypinkdots1.bandcamp.com/album/faces-in-the-fire-2012-remaster
|
2023 |
€27.00 |
|
| LEICHTMANN, HANNO |
The African Twintower Suite |
LP |
"October 2005: Seminal German director Christoph Schlingensief (R.I.P. 2010) shoots his latest feature film “The African Twintowers" in Lüderitz/Namibia with Irm Hermann, Klaus Beyer, Robert Stadlober, Patti Smith........
Autumn 2006: Schlingensief approaches Berlin musician/composer Hanno Leichtmann (Groupshow, Static, Denseland) regarding a soundtrack for the film. There were hours and hours of raw material; the concept being a movie with few dialogues and music throughout - a 90 minute psychedelic collage; an associative visual and sonic trip.
With the help of John Nijenhuis aka Sir Henry as well as a trio of musicians playing indian music (tabla, sitar, tampura), they started to improvise in Leichtmann's recording studio projecting film sequences on a wall. Within 4 days and nights an enormous amount of tracks had been recorded and several rough mixes had been compiled.
After a while though, Schlingensief decided to shift the concept. The film transformed into an art installation with 18 monitors showing sequences simultaneously (presented at the Berlinale and Steirischer Herbst), and later on, a kind of “Making of..." with 90% off-comments by Christoph Schlingensief and very little music was made.
Thus, “The African Twintowers Suite" represents a lost soundtrack; compiling the most interesting recordings, newly edited, layered, collaged, shortened and mixed between 2009 and 2010." [label info]
www.dekorder.com
|
2011 |
€14.00 |
|
| LEITMOTIV LIMBO |
Spiritual Disturbance |
CD |
De la Catessen Records presents Spiritual Disturbance from Elijah Värttö's project Leitmotiv Limbo. Currently based in Port Adelaide, Australia, Leitmotiv Limbo has developed, slowly but surely, over the past few decades, through international travel and relocation, including five years in Estonia (2008-2012), where Värttö set up the Servataguse Muusika concert series. Spiritual Disturbance was recorded in 2020 and released privately as a small run of recycled cassettes -- this CD version is the first widely available Leitmotiv Limbo release since their 2018 split cassette with RNPno2 on Finnish label Hyster Tapes. Central to the Leitmotiv Limbo ethos are Värttö's self-made instruments, built from discarded, repurposed, and found objects, such as loose springs and other metallic implements. Affixed to wood sourced from a disused and dismantled piano frame, their deep resonance, both percussive and timbral, positions Värttö's approach within a trajectory of instrument builders/creators -- you can hear echoes of the music of artists like Z'ev, Hal Rammel, and Rod Cooper in the shattered textures and industrial drones of tracks like "Submersive", for example. There's also a tactility to the performances here, a haptic resonance, and a strange, viscous sensuality to the material. Värttö recorded Spiritual Disturbance in a church hall in Adelaide, on a four-track, using room mics and direct line input, and it's made up largely of one-take performances on Värttö's self-made instruments, with minimal intervention, at times, from analog filters and a drum synth. The combination of the evacuated tonalities of the instruments, plus the cavernous reverb of the recording space, gives Spiritual Disturbance a distinctly ritualistic sensibility; poetic and primitive, but eloquent in its exploration. It also brings to mind mysterious projects like Organum, Morphogenesis, Metgumbnerbone, perhaps even an acoustic Voice Crack, where conceptual rigor meets unpredictability via real-time improvisation. Spectral and haunted, Leitmotiv Limbo's Spiritual Disturbance is a compelling collection of oneiric expression, and an eloquent articulation of a unique, invented universe. Includes four-page booklet; edition of 300.
https://leitmotivlimbo.bandcamp.com/album/spiritual-disturbance
|
2022 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Superior State |
LP |
Superior State is the second Leitmotiv Limbo album released by Port Adelaide’s De la Catessen Records, after the 2022 CD Spiritual Disturbance. This time, Leitmotiv Limbo’s isolationist studies have been bumped to vinyl, which feels like the perfect format for these twelve miniatures. The project of Adelaide artist Elijah Värttö, Leitmotiv Limbo has, over the past few decades, tracked a history of quietly insistent experimentation, embracing several technologies – invented instruments; analogue filters; drum synth – to sketch desolate, cavernous structures, sometimes performed in reverberant spaces, such as church halls, which gifts the recordings a ritualistic air.
For Superior State, Värttö is more intently focused on rhythms and pulses, resulting in a beautifully sculpted collection of poetic vignettes. You can hear some trace elements, here, of the minimalist techno-not-techno of artists like Pan Sonic, or Studio 1/Freiland, in their reductionist ethos. But also, in the insistence of Värttö’s attention to detail, and his careful focus on a delimited number of elements, the twelve pieces on Superior State recall the work of mysterious German outfits Werkbund and Mechthild Von Leutsch, or the solo explorations of artists like Asmus Tietchens, Achim Wollscheid and Goem.
It's intensely evocative music, recalling all kinds of phenomena, both man-made and natural: electricity pulsing through wires; the humming of the central nervous system; the quiet hiss of deserted computer laboratories; the pulsations of plant life; the molecular vibration of atoms. Värttö has tapped into the poetry of the programmatic on Superior State, and he’s sharp in his grasp of the significant effect that the incremental shifting of a few simple parameters can have on the overarching structures he’s building here. Indeed, that poetry is echoed back in the beautiful liner notes by Adelaide artist Michael Hocking. Alive, flickering with incident, Superior State is energy transmitted, coursing through the collective’s veins.
Music recorded in a room on Nile St, Port Adelaide across six evenings, of one week in January 2023. Instruments of analogue electronics were built, performed and recorded by Elijah Värttö directly to 4-track tape, with two room mics. The instruments form four quarters, as two hemispheres mirrored. Each hemisphere has a symmetry of structure, albeit comprised of differing materials.
Detail of artwork: spray paint on metal by Elijah Värttö
Mastered for vinyl by Giuseppe Ielasi
Design by Sam Songailo
℗ Elijah Värttö 2023
© De la Catessen Records 2023
"While I recognized the Leitmotiv Limbo immediately, I was surprised that I had already reviewed four previous releases by Elijah Värttö's music project (Vital Weekly 951, 1152, 1219 and 1336). All of these were on cassette, but now it's time to do the next step and release an LP. The music is ready for it, I'd say. Värttö sounds like a Finnish name, but he's from Adelaide, just like the label here, who also re-issued the 'Spiritual Disturbance' cassette on CD. The press information talks about "invented instruments, analogue filters, drum synth" and influences of Pan Sonic, Studio 1 (Wolfgang Voigt rather than the dub label), Freiland, but also Werkbund, Asmus Tietchens, Achim Wollscheid and Goem. Some of these names I am very familiar with, and while I can't say these people don't influence him, I also believe that maybe, except for Werkbund and Tietchens, I don't hear these influences to that extent. Rhythm plays an undeniable part in the music here. Still, there is only some of that 'techno that isn't techno' of Pan Sonic or Goem here (more the latter than the first, in 'Parading Brutality', for instance), nor the conceptual edge of somebody such as Wollscheid. In these twelve pieces, I hear more of a nod towards mid-80s industrial music, where you can find albums by Tietchens of similar musical interests. Also, given the more loop-like approach, a group like Dome (in 'Relative Space', for instance). This LP is a giant leap forward compared to the previous cassette works. There was naivety in his older work, which was most enjoyable, but rightfully, it was time to move on. Leitmotiv Limbo now exercises more control, more composition, if you will. There is less of that 'roll the tape and see what happens' approach, but the music here is to the point. There is no endless wailing about, but each of the twelve compositions is just that. Not too industrial, never noisy, but with a studio-as-instrument approach, exploring uncharted territory on the sonic map. I can hardly wait for the next one." [Vital Weekly]
https://leitmotivlimbo.bandcamp.com/album/superior-state |
2023 |
€26.00 |
|
| LEJEUNE, JACQUES |
Early Works 1969-1970 |
LP |
"This LP of early compositions by Jacques Lejeune features three seminal works: D'une Multitude En Fête and Petite Suite, originally released on the Perspective Musicales series in 1970, and a previously unpublished composition, Géodes, from the same period. These three pieces (not included in the recent Parages and other electroacoustic works 3CD set) are some of Lejeune's earliest music for tape and may be considered a "prequel" to his later, more thematic works. Still, his concise musical narrative is ever-present in these first recordings. The sidelong D'une Multitude En Fête (1969) refers to multitude, number, celebration and any crowd situation as a form of ceremony — all evoking a circular gaze, as topics of the different aural events and their anecdotal development emerge, leading to the dream, as a story we tell to ourselves. Géodes (1970) features percussion improvisations by Lauréat Dionne with Jacques' tapework inflecting prisms deep into its thundering, rhythmic core. This concert version appears on vinyl for the first time. Concluding the album is Petite Suite (1970), with each section referencing a traditional musical form using both anecdotal as well as instrumental flourishes. The original drum and guitar elements performed here by Michel Foudrinoy and Jean-Pierre Vassout. These pieces have been compared to Pierre Henry's bold rock themes in Messe Pour Le Temps Present and also recall the peculiar atmospheres of some of the great, early Nurse With Wound records that would follow. In contrast, Lejeune's early approach was heavily steeped in sonic narratives, combining unusual and ambiguous events to create a sound world uniquely his own. Early Works 1969-1970 explores the first precision splices by one of the true visionaries in musique concrète." [label info]
www.robotrecords.com
|
2015 |
€26.50 |
|
| LEONARDSON - MARGOLIS - VAN NORT |
Vendlam |
CD-R |
"Recorded live in concert in Poughkeepsie, New York, in July 2013, this free improvisation brings together three very different sets of sound sources and artistic temperaments. Using violin, the experimental “springboard” and the GREIS software (Granular-Feedback Expanded Instrument System), Eric Leonardson, Al Margolis and Doug Van Nort create dense, doom-laden sedimentations of sound with immediate emotional impact.
Al Margolis plays the violin and synthesizer in an approach very different from his work as If, Bwana. Eric Leonardson performs on the springboard, an experimental instrument he created in 1994 to explore the sonic potential of coil springs and other readily available materials. The inaudible vibrations of these materials are amplified by a piezo disc contact microphone. Played with cello bows and homemade friction mallets, they produce extraordinary. Doug Van Nort performs on a laptop using his self-created GREIS improvisation environment (pronounced ‘grace’), created in MAX/MSP." [label info]
File under: Free improvisation
www.attenuationcircuit.de
|
2014 |
€7.50 |
|
| LES FRAGMENTS DE LA NUIT |
Musique du Crepuscule |
CD |
Dramatic & expressive neoclassic / chamber music from this quintett using mainly strings, lots of minimal & repetitive string-structures are build, all instrumental. Their music has been compared with ARVÖ PÄRT, STEVE REICH, PHILIPP GLASS and GODSPEED YOU BLACK EMPOROR, but we also think of WIM MERTENS and RACHELS.
"Musique du Crépuscule" is a vision of night wrapped in mystery: a night haunted by spectral chants, under the spell of epic, poignant strings and sustained by hypnotic piano pulsations. Its nocturnal universe oozes with hybrid ink, enveloping hidden emotions tainted with melancholy and voluptuousness. A neo-classical or post-nocturnal piece, "Musique du Crépuscule" has many different faces. It alternates between violin riffs, dark cello projections and the complaints of a lone piano, highlighted by enigmatic echoing voices. The moonlight slowly reveals a name in the ethereal infinity: Les Fragments de la Nuit." [label info]
"Michel Villar (piano) and Ombeline Chardes (violin) both hailing from France are the talented musicians who set up this project. They’ve been joined by a few more musicians and guest vocalists. While releasing their debut-cd on Equilibrium Music they have already been involved in various soundtrack compositions for independent cinema, animations and documentaries. The soundtrack-influence is easily recognizable while the piano and violin parts also bring us to make a link with neo classical music. Les Fragments De La Nuit sounds like a journey through darkness and the name of the project perfectly fits to this goal. Most of the songs remain instrumental version filled with low piano keys and sad feelings emerging from this melancholia. Mysterious chants emerge to the surface on one of the pieces, but the music remains like encaged in an atmosphere of endless darkness or should I say an endless night. The different fragments of this night have been expressed with a gift for melancholia coming from musicians with talent!" [Side-Line]
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Musique de Nuit |
CD |
"Ombeline Chardes (Geige) und Michel Villar (Klavier) sind Filmkomponisten. Aber eben auch LES FRAGMENTS DE LA NUIT. Um ihre Musik auch live darbieten zu können, entschlossen sie sich, ein Quintett aus drei Geigen, einem Cello und einem Klavier zusammenzustellen. Ihre bisherigen Alben "Musique Du Crépuscule" (2008) und "Demain C'etait Hier" (2010) erhielten gute Kritiken und machten sich mehr als gut auf vielen europäischen Festivals. Mit ihrer Musik, die zwischen Tragik, Epos und Atmosphäre pendelt, setzt sich die Band über musikalische Grenzen hinweg: pulsierenden Klavierakkorde führen Cello und drei Geigen an und treffen hier und dort auf weiblichen Chorgesang. ,Musique De Nuit" versammelt neu aufgenommene Tracks sowohl aus den frühen Tagen von LES FRAGMENTS DE LA NUIT als auch brandneue Stücke. Das Album ist ein Zeugnis über das Können der Band, zeitgenössische klassische Musik aus ihrem strengen Korsett zu befreien und mit stilistischen Referenzen an Post-Rock, Pop oder sogar Metal zu füllen. Das erinnert an die Arbeit von Komponisten wie STEVE REICH, PHILIPP GLASS oder ARVO PÄRT mit solchen Gruppen wie GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR, BALANESCU QUARTET oder MAGMA. Im Herbst 2011 haben LES FRAGMENTS DE LA NUIT Teile zum Soundtrack des Tilda Swinton Films "We Need To Talk About Kevin" beigetragen. Die CD kommt im besonderen Doppel-Pappsleeve." [label info]
www.denovali.com
|
2012 |
€14.00 |
|
| LETHAL DOSE 50 |
21st Century Awakening |
CD |
“The poison dose injected into the veins of persons sentenced to the death penalty in some states of the U.S.A.… but LD50 is also a Belgian trio which has been existing for years in the fields of electronic musics. After a self-released first tape and first CD-R, the first full-length CD by this talented unit. Using some digital instruments – synths, samplers- as well as some analogue ones –synths, rhythm’n box, effects,… LD50 develops an atmospheric music which is at the same time dark but warm, cosmic and experimental, melodic and deep, meditative but aware, often underlaid by some sampled voices and sound-collages, sometimes intermingled with/ intersected with some hypnotic rhythms. Being fully mastered and definitely original compared to some nowadays releases from the dark-ambient genre, “21st century awakening” will both appeal to the nostalgics of the 70ies and 80ies sonorities (old-school space-electronics from the 70ies and 80ies) such as TANGERINE DREAM, NOCTURNAL EMISSIONS..as well as to the lovers of some nowadays dark ambient acts such as SCHLOSS TEGAL, INADE, HERBST 9 or FIRST LAW… LD 50 is certainly the sole musical project able to set a bridge between these two tendencies, these two sounds, these two periods. “21st century awakening” will appeal as much to the soul as to the body, to the mind as to the heart. At first listening, this record may seem a little bit strange to you, like being out of phases, but the following listenings will draw you into an endless spiral similar to the one painted on the sleeve. Allow yourself enough of freedom for that. CD re-mastered by Christian RENOU, housed in an original A5 size silk-screened fold-out cover. Paintings by Leyla ERSEN.64 minutes/10 tracks” [label description]
|
2006 |
€14.50 |
|
| LEVANDER, ERIK |
Jökel |
CD |
Swedish musician Erik Levander gained attention as part of the new wave of young DIY laptop experimentalists arising in the early 2000's. His somewhat eclectic early output has since developed into a unique and vibrant blend of digital, analog and acoustic sounds weaved into epic and powerful atmospherics. Levander has performed his work extensively, including shows at Roskilde Festival, Norberg Festival, Nordic Music Days and Forma Nova Festival. With the release of ‘Jökel´, Levander’s seventh full length album, he continues to break new ground, presenting a conceptual album that may be his most minimalistic, lingering and evocative release to date.
As a result of ignorance, negligence, and a lack of immediate responsible profound political action, there are indications that planet Earth is irreversibly about to leave the relative climate stability we have enjoyed during the Holocene for roughly the last 10,000 years. Some of the most apparent signs of ongoing climate change are found in the continuous reports of sea ice, inland ice, shelf ice and glaciers shrinking at an alarming rate. This album is a homage to the still living glaciers. The album title 'Jökel' means 'Glacier' in Swedish, with roots in the Icelandic word 'Jökull'. The compositions are in particular inspired by Levander’s 2009 visit to the glacier Mýrdalsjökull in Iceland, a glacier famous for covering the active volcano Katla. With imaginary field recordings, barren but vigorous soundscapes, Levander invites the listener to experience this desolate glacier 'in sensu'. Perhaps this awareness, and by appreciating the beauty and importance of these natural wonders, we can somehow in the extension help the survival of the glaciers, and contribute to recover the environmental balance of this planet.
https://glacialmovements.bandcamp.com/album/j-kel
|
2021 |
€15.00 |
|
| LEVEL |
Opale |
CD |
"Die speziellen Spekk-Digibags im Format 12,5 x 16 cm sind jedesmal wieder eine Augenweide. Sie stehen für einen Ästhetizismus, den ich mich scheue, ‚japanisch‘ zu nennen. Nennen wir es daher ‚universalen Feinsinn‘, der sich akustisch manifestiert in einer elektroakustischen Serie von meist minimalistischem Anstrich. Opale (KK016), den Beitrag von LEVEL, das ist Barry G. Nicholas, ziert die Aufnahme des Aderngeflechts eines Blattes, skelettartige Architektur der allerzartesten Bauweise. LEVEL konstruierte dazu 8 Tracks mit gebildeten und feinsinnigen Titeln wie ‚[jeux]‘, ‚[eastre]‘ und '[oriente]', allesamt aus dem dröhnenden Morphing von Pianoklang. Der Zeitfluss, sprich, der Bewegungsablauf, ist jeweils verlangsamt, träumerisch. Nicholas nennt dieses ‚Als ob die Zeit still stünde‘ ‚[a frozen moment]‘, einen ‚gefrorenen Augenblick‘. Von Schopenhauer stammt das poetische Bild von Architektur als ‚gefrorene Musik‘. Umgekehrt wäre Musik dann tauende oder schmelzende Architektur. Genau so klingen Opales Kontrukte. Festes scheint im zähflüssigen Übergang zu Flüssigem. In ‚[mobilus]‘ klingen noch Teile der Binnenverstrebungen rhythmisch zischend an. Dazu sind auch die einzeln und leicht unscharf oder mit Schlagseite dahin driftenden Pianonoten noch halbfeste Kerne in diesem Traumfluss, der durchwegs melancholisch getönt ist. Bei ‚[a frozen moment]‘ kommen Radiosamples und ‚Störungen‘ - wie schleifende Metallteile, Kettenrasseln oder tröpfelnde Geräusche - ins Spiel, den dunkel rumorenden Abschluss taufte Nicholas ‚[il alp]‘. Deutete Freud Alpträume auch als Wunscherfüllung?" [Bad Alchemy]
"OPALE was recorded during a period of personal turmoil, and creative turbulence. I wanted to follow the Level | Cycla release with a fresh perspective, and a new formula. Having created Cycla from piano and keyboard sounds generated using software which I then subjected to various treatments and deformations, I wanted to create something less fractured, less manipulated. I called upon my good friends, Linden Hale, and Keith Berry to provide me with original piano samples to use as source material, which I then fed through the sampler, but this time attempted to keep to the original spirit of the source material, adding my own digital touches and textures as I went along.
Opale represents a singular line of thought, and a singular approach, so I suppose in some sense, all of the tracks actually comprise one piece, broken into several parts. The pieces all represent “the Frozen Moment” …as the hands of time are unrelenting, waiting for no man, I am sure many of us have ached for time to stand still during moments that are particularly poignant, perhaps, or maybe, mourning the loss of a loved one, we could hold on to these precious moments with them for just a little longer. I have experienced these moments on several occasions, and having lived a humdrum, and pressurised existence, sometimes I yearn to be able to stand back, relax, and savour precious moments for much longer than they actually last in order to gain a greater appreciation of their beauty and magnificence. Opale represents these precious moments, and simultaneously worships and mourns their passing.
My deepest thanks and love go to my dear wife, Maura Wallace-Nichols, also Linden Hale, and Keith Berry for their contributions, and these recordings benefitted from their contributions and creativity, and deepest thanks also to Nao at Spekk, and Mike at Smallfish for confidence in my works, and undying support. (August 2008)" [text by Barry G Nicholas / Level]
www.spekk.net
|
2008 |
€15.50 |
|
| LEVI, MICA |
UNDER THE SKIN (OST) |
LP |
"Based on the novel by Michael Faber, Jonathan Glazer's film follows the journey of a voluptuous woman (Scarlett Johansson) of unknown origin combing the highway in search of isolated or forsaken men. They are seduced, stripped of their humanity, and never heard from again. The music, a critical element in the film, is by British-born Mica Levi. Classically trained, she is best known for her band Micachu & The Shapes and for their experimental music in a variety of genres."
www.milanrecords.com
"The character Scarlett Johansson plays in Under The Skin is a blank-eyed cipher, a predator without apparent motivation. There is no horror more visceral than the horror of the impersonal, so it makes sense that Mica Levi, who composed the film's score, would turn to György Ligeti's masterful sense of elemental horror. The score has the feel of a thought process, albeit one conducted by a being you have no genetic relation to.
The character Scarlett Johansson plays in Under the Skin is a blank-eyed cipher, a predator without apparent motivation. There is no horror more visceral than the horror of the impersonal, so it makes sense that Mica Levi, composing the film's score, would turn to the master of elemental horror: György Ligeti, whose ability to gather masses of semitones into translucent wisps without a center made The Shining, which relied heavily on his work Lontano, the scariest movie ever made. (Watch that film with the music off, I still maintain, and it becomes a particularly caustic domestic comedy.)
The score opens with a locust plague of dry tremolos, the strings pressing down until the sound has reached a roar. It's a sound with tremendous menace and weight. From there, the roar shrinks into a whine, and enters a hazy nexus between digitally processed and live sound. It's an indeterminacy Levi worked hard to cultivate: "We were looking at the natural sound of an instrument to try and find something identifiably human in it, then slowing things down or changing the pitch of it to make it feel uncomfortable," she told The Guardian. Insectile, near-vocal sounds erupt across the tense, arid space of "Lipstick to Void," evoking either the Knife's berserker Shaking the Habitual or the processed strings from Britney Spears' "Toxic". It's an appropriate cross-section for the film, which veers between menace and sexuality and brilliantly cross-wires high-brain and low-groin impulses.
That hovering dust-cloud of strings, which Levi referred to as "like a beehive" in her and Under the Skin director Jonathan Glazer's recent Pitchfork interview, pops up repeatedly throughout the score with minor additions and tweaks representing the journey of Johansson's character: in "Meat to Maths", there are clanging bell-like sounds behind it, while in "Mirror to Vortex" it's half-submerged in the amplified sound of its own echo. In the context of the film, these additions feel like the messiness of lived experience muddying Johansson's template, the imprint of the lives she begins to grapple with as her time on Earth extends. The hollow knock of a single drum, like a single dragging foot, is another repeating theme, giving the score a reiterative, hesitant quality. Inasmuch as you can be invited into Johansson's character's head in Under the Skin, the music does the heavy lifting. The score has the feel of a thought process, albeit one conducted by a being you have no genetic relation to.
The music unfolds as deliberately and as unconsciously as the dreamlike film itself. Levi drops in an arching, three-pitch motif at various points, one that lingers on its highest pitch the longest, like a hanging doubt. In "Lonely Void", this figure is colored in briefly by a furtive patch of tonal harmony, a startling appearance of warmth that scrubs itself out as quickly but leaves a powerful impression. There are other brief hints of tenderness, particularly in the unearthly pairing of "Bedroom" and "Love", which lifts the score entirely free from anxiety and into something exalted and sorrowful. Here, Levi's work comes closer to Vangelis than to Ligeti, and completes the film's mysterious arc. Levi's commitment to the film's themes is all-consuming, and the score is so tightly woven into the film's DNA that it is difficult to detach and experience as an album. However, the gorgeousness of the quavering synths on "Love" ask nothing of you than to be enjoyed." [Pitchfork]
|
2014 |
€26.00 |
|
| LEWIS, KLARA & SIMON FISHER TURNER |
Care |
LP |
Editions Mego is proud to present the first outing from the legendary English musician, songwriter, composer and producer Simon Fisher Turner alongside the highly acclaimed emerging Swedish sound artist Klara Lewis.
Care is a unique outing rife with delicious dichotomy. The opening track positions the aggressive directly against more fragile moments. On the subsequent track medieval melodies sprout from a dense rhythmic hiss. Witness a Middle Eastern song appearing amongst a haunted rattling reverb in the epic ‘Tank’ whilst a beautiful force of hope can be found within the sound world of the the closing track ‘Mend’.
The wide scope of references and constant pull of forces make this debut offering a timeless patchwork of sonic spaces. Care is an album which sways in such a salubrious manner one can’t help but delight in its unique form of location/disorientation.
https://editionsmego.bandcamp.com/album/care
|
2018 |
€18.00 |
|
| LIBEREZ |
All tense now Lax |
LP |
"Hermetically sealed and reveling in tumult, All Tense Now Lax is the most significant and developed work yet forged by Liberez. Based in main orchestrator John Hannon's remote studio No Recordings in Rayleigh, England, Liberez have expanded their palette from previous outings on Alter to produce a perfectly engineered machine that consumes the beholder." [label info]
www.nightschoolrecords.com
"It has become increasingly rare, in recent years, to hear 'industrial' records that fully merit the name. Like most experimental musical terms, it is a descriptor that has become useful only in small doses: usually in reference to artists utilising mechanical and oppressive sonic textures. This usage, however, only conveys a part of what industrial music was originally about. The great early industrial bands manipulated sound in such a way that it retained the flawed feel of human direction whilst simultaneously building a shrine to the electronic. Listening to the finest Throbbing Gristle records, for example, one is overcome by an atmosphere that is almost entirely alien and discomforting precisely because of its human element; something that even the most applause-worthy of (largely digitally based) industrial artists of today are incapable of quite accomplishing.
This, perhaps, is what makes a vaguely 'industrial' outfit like Liberez such an enticing proposition. A group that blends the electronic with the acoustic, and works on foundations provided more by improvisation than by the meticulous organisation of much contemporary experimentalism, Liberez have been stalwarts of the deepest depths of the murky UK underground for some years now, rightly eschewing genre terms in favour of constant reinvention and re-articulation of their musical aims. All Tense Now Lax, however, sees Liberez reach new heights (or lows, depending on the way you want to perceive music so undeniably gloomy) in their apparent quest to capture the beautiful in the most disjointedly unnervingly fashion possible.
Liberez’s determination to manufacture contrast is impressive from the album’s opening seconds. Intro track ‘
Of Milk’ fades in with eerie piano and ends with concrete drone, fading into the slow building tumult of ‘_Захвална породица’, complete with some mid-period Skullflower guitar wailing and clanking percussion. This is a pattern that continues throughout, with sections of fragile sound collage – rendered particularly effective by the regular presence of moaning violin – being presented along spiralling channels of paranoid distortion.
At its most overblown and overwrought All Tense Now Lax is less disturbing and more genuinely frightening. ‘How Much for Your Brother?’ is a gross exhortation of primal malevolence, retching through its four minutes with the subtlety of a sledgehammer and the abrasiveness of a sandpaper razor. At the other end of the scale, ‘Stop Your Breathing’, the following track, mutters and groans through disembodied fragments of noise, which eventually (and briefly) end up coalescing into a faintly beautiful climax. The combination of these two styles alongside one another is exhausting but powerful, like a stripped down Godspeed You! Black Emperor at most minimalistic and effective best.
All Tense Now Lax, then, is brilliant precisely because of the way it flits disconcertingly between the two extremes presented in its title, between the constant and unrestrained tension of technological progress and the contrasting looseness of our day to day existence alongside it. The overall result is an enormously adept capturing of the conundrum of the 'industrial' in a post-industrial landscape." [Benjamin Bland / Drowned In Sound]
|
2015 |
€21.00 |
|
| |
Way through Vulnerability |
LP |
Southend-on-Sea experimental outfit Liberez deliver the end result of a year and a half long recording process, an amorphous new line up and advanced studies in sound collage. On ‘Way Through Vulnerability’ new members Reay, Saunders and Ugarteburu channel the projects previous outings on Alter and Night School by conveying the same firm grounding in rhythm, though this time via Flamenco time signatures and eerie, repetitive clapping.
At times sounding indebted to the ‘tribal ambient’ of decades gone by, at times sounding fresh in their approach (‘Here is the Proof’ is of note) the trio manage to export motifs from Italian avant-garde circles, UK industrial and dare we say post-rock all at the same time. The sound design on ‘Derelict Intentions’ makes heavy use of background ambience and bleak, world-weary minimalism to lull us into a false sense of calm before harsh and unexpected blurts of noise break the equilibrium. In doing so they swiftly side-step any preconceptions of ‘easy listening’ and opt instead to drag us deeper down into their own dark waters. At times we almost seem to delve into lost theatre soundtrack territory; fragmented neo-classical elements dance with punchy drum machines (‘Cara En La Foto Pt II’) and things draw to a close with the end credit worthy swansong of the album’s title track. The group repeatedly utilise Basque country language, Hungarian dialect and ancient Russian to lend their compositions a cross-cultural underpinning and eschew any clear geographic origin, a decision which all but adds to the perplexities of their unique brand of electro-acoustic purgatory."
|
2018 |
€18.00 |
|
| LICHT, ALAN & AKI ONDA |
Everydays |
CD |
"Debut collaboration of New York artists and long-time duo partners ALAN LICHT & AKI ONDA, whose combined history connects artists straddling the pop and experimental worlds, including Fennesz, Loren Connors, Takemura Nobukazu, Lee Ranaldo, and Toriko Nujiko. In the past decade their montage-inspired solo work---Licht's permutational guitar and tape pieces on Rabbi Sky and A New York Minute, Onda's field recording recontextualizations on Bon Voyage! and Ancient & Modern---has co-existed with their experimental sound/visual projects Text of Light (Licht) and Cinemage (Onda). "Everydays" is five grandly formed soundscapes that mix Onda's poetic/textural cassette sounds and the rhythmic/lyrical pull of Licht's guitar. Morphing from recognizable structures to dissonant hammered chunks and rapid cut-ups, the album perfectly weaves their signature applications of sound diaries, minimalism, grainy fidelity, looping and free blues into a dynamic and ambitious statement." [label notes]
www.family-vineyard.com
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| LICHT-UNG |
Kristall |
7 |
LICHT-UNG ist ein Label, Lyrik- und Soundprojekt für experimentelle Kunst aus Leverkusen mit etwas exzentrischem Anspruch. Auf 'Kristall' findet sich eine spannungsgeladene A-Seite basierend auf Feedback-Sounds, sowie ein wirklich kristallklarer microsound-drone auf der Rückseite.
"LICHT-UNG (German for "glade") is the name of a label, art- (publishing lyrics, pictures, etc.) and sound project from the western part of Gemany with a very peculiar and rather dadaistic approach. The two pieces on "kristall" seem to be based mainly on feedback- and metal or glass sounds that are carefully put together for a queer-sounding trip. Side A ("Listen to the music playing in your head") consists of humming, growling drones, low siren-like sounds and high-frequency feedbacks, powerful and absorbing and very abstract, while never turning into sheer noise. Side B (with the odd title "Heute war ich bei den weißen Elefantens") delivers a crystal-clear noise chant and metallic overtones processed with obscure effects. File under: high-tension & crystal Drones
BLUE VINYL WITH BLACK STRIAE. COVERS WITH SILKSCREEN-PRINTED TEXT & VISUAL, SILVER-PRINTED BLACK INLAY"
[press release]
"Ein beigelegter Pin, eine liebevoll bedruckte Rückseite und ein gespraytes Cover schaffen auf
Anhieb Sympathie, die Musik nicht weniger. Licht-ung ist Fakt- und infobezogen recht
schweigsam, zwar sehr betriebsam und eher in der unorthodox-verzettelten Ecke der
experimentellen Musik tätig, hier allerdings geradezu lieblich und freigeistig, wofür die Namen der beiden Stücke geradezu bürgen.
»Listen To The Music Playing In Your Head« ist analoge Feedbackverdrahtung a la David Lee
Myers mit ordentlich Rauschen drauf, ein wenig Mikroakribie im Stile von V/VM und last but
not least so differenziert fern, dass man meint, einem zeitlich langgezogenen Bremsvorgang
der Untergrundbahn in Hamburg zu lauschen. Charmant und reicht allemal für einen kurzen
Sprung ins Unterbewusstsein, hingegen die B-Seite trägt dem Namen des Releases eher
Rechnung: »Heute War Ich Bei Den Weißen Elefanten« ist ein in der Tat kristallklarer elektroakustischer Drone auf der Grundlage eines transponierten Glockenspiels. Die Tonspur ist dabei genauso aberwitzig halluzinogen wie der Titel des Stückes, aber augenzwinkernd hintergründig. Es schlingert und scheppert auf den Frequenzen und letztlich fällt doch alles in die große Stille. Eines der etwas obskureren Werke auf Drone Records, aber sehr fein aufbereitet und mysteriös wie der Musiker dahinter." [Thorsten Soltau / AEMAG]
|
2007 |
€7.00 |
|
| LIFE GARDEN |
Plutonian Dub (SOLD OUT) |
7inch |
unbelievable intense and mesmerizing two tracks of yearnful ethereal ambience with mighty rhythmical parts, monumental and melancholic at the same time...
"LIMITED+NUMBERED FIRST EDITION OF 250 COPIES
GREY VINYL; HANDCOLOURED PE-SLEEVES
LIFE GARDEN FROM PHOENIX, ARIZONA, ARE THE REMAINS OF THE LEGENDARY GROUP MAYBE MENTAL, WHO HAVE BEEN AROUND IN THE 80's IN THE EXPERIMENTALLY ORIENTATED GLOBAL CASSETTE-UNDERGROUND AND RELEASED 7 TAPES (THAT ARE HARD TO FIND NOW), AND ONE SPLIT-LP WITH CONTROLLED BLEEDING.
LIFE GARDEN CREATE A UNIQUE STYLE OF THEIR OWN BY COMBINING AMBIENT ATMOSPHERES WITH EASTERN INFLUENCES, MAKING IT INTENSE AND MAGNIFICENT COMPOSITIONS.
DRONE RECORDS HAVE NOW RELEASED THE VERY FIRST PIECE OF VINYL BY THIS GROUP, WHICH CONTAINS THE TRACKS 'PLUTONIAN DUB' AND 'CHAOS LULLABY' - WITH THE YEARNING SINGING OF SU LING, THE SURREAL DRONES AND THE POWERFUL RITUAL DRUMMING THIS APPEARS TO BE A TIMELESS AND WISE AURAL MONUMENT.
AFTER HAVING HAD 4 BAD PRESSINGS WE ARE MOST HAPPY TO PRESENT THIS
UNIQUE 7". FINALLY WE'D LIKE TO SAY 'SORRY' TO ALL OF YOU WHO HAD TO WAIT THAT LONG!
" an exploration into a wide range of sound, emotion, wonderment and intensity "
DRONE RECORDS DR-20/APRIL 1997 |
1997 |
€ |
|
| |
Songs from the other Side of Emptiness |
LP + 7inch |
"Life Garden was formed in Phoenix, Arizona during the fall of 1989 by George Dillon, Su Ling and W. David Oliphant. The group was the reinvention of post-industrial band Maybe Mental (1982-1987) and delved into an ineffable territory; where language failed, their music found root.
Life Garden's sound focused on creating a space that would transcend people to a world of beauty, intensity and mystery. Each release was loosely guided by one member, Caught between the Tapestry of Silence and Beauty (1991) was focused towards the poetry and vocals of George Dillon who sadly passed away after the completion of the album.
During this period LG began to shift from using synths and samplers to an all acoustic approach. Over several months Su Ling and David developed a unique improvisational style using digital multi-effects and loopers to process Su's vocals and a variety of percussion, string and wind instruments. This became the foundation of the LG sound and is heard thoughout 'Songs from the other Side of Emptiness'.
The LP + 7inch includes music from the following bodies of work-
Worlds Whirl Beneath The Sun Volume 1 (1990),
Pry Open My Mouth With The Red Knife Of Heaven (1992)
Seed (1993) and Ahitanaman (1995).
Artwork by Yuske Imai
Remastered by Wouter at Brandenburg Mastering"
lullabiesforinsomniacslabel.bandcamp.com
|
2017 |
€20.00 |
|
| LIGETI, GYÖRGY |
Lux Aeterna. Three Fantasies after Hölderlin |
CD |
Both Ligeti and Heppener belong to the generation born in the 1920s which formed the basis for the post-war avant-garde. Lux Aeterna, used by Stanley Kubrick in his film 2001: A Space Odyssey, marked the installation of a new musical language. The later Sonata for solo viola simultaneously evokes the polyphony of the fourteenth century and certain varieties of ethnic music. Im Gestein, a cycle of lieder to poems by Paul Celan which won Heppener the Matthijs Vermeulen Prize in 1993.
This title was released for the first time in 2008.
György Ligeti [1923-2006]
1 Sonata for solo viola (1991-94).1. Hora lungǎ (1994)
Lento rubato (ma ritmico) 6'21
2 Lux aeterna for sixteen-part mixed choir a cappella
Sostenuto, molto calmo “wie aus der Ferne” 9'50
3 Sonata for solo viola. 3. Facsar (1992)
Andante cantabile ed espressivo, with swing 5'52
Drei Phantasien nach Friedrich Hölderlin
4 I. Hälfte des Lebens 3'43
5 II. Wenn aus der Ferne 5'29
6 III. Abendfantasie 3'34
7 Sonata for solo viola. 2. Loop (1991)
Molto vivace, ritmico 2'31
Robert Heppener
Im Gestein (1992)
A cycle of six choral songs on poems by Paul Celan for mixed choir, percussion and string quintet
8 I. Flügelnacht I 5'07
9 II. Die Halde 2'26
10 III. Nacht 5'00
11 IV. Zuversicht 2'01
12 V. Schneebett 3'03
13 VI. Flügelnacht II 4'50
14 Libera me, Domine (Gregorian repertoire) 4'35
www.harmoniamundi.com |
2016 |
€15.00 |
|
| LIGHT OF SHIPWRECK |
From the idle Cylinders |
CD-R |
Kraftvoller Guitar-Drone mit wummernder & stampfender Drum-machine und heftigen Gitarren-Loops, ekstatisch, geisterhaft, nicht von dieser Welt... erinnert an NADJA, klingt für unsere Ohren aber zum Teil auch wie eine Metal-Version von RAPOON !
LIGHT OF SHIPWRECK ist das Solo-Projekt von BEN FLEURY-STEINER, der auch hinter PARADIN und dem GEARS OF SAND-Label steckt, eine echte Überrraschung!
"Light Of Shipwreck is a one-man band operated by Ben Fleury-Steiner, a Deleware-based drone artist and owner of the excellent Gears of Sand Recordings imprint, which has released discs from some of our favorite ambient/drone/drift artists including Encomiast, Cordell Klier, and Aidan Baker. It was actually through Aidan Baker that we found out about Ben's Light Of Shipwreck project; knowing that we're fanatics for "heavy ambient" sound, Light Of Shipwreck was recommended as something we should check out. At first expecting something more along the lines of the kind of floating ambient rumble that marks so much of my favorite Baker solo stuff, I was pleasantly surprised by how percussive the tracks I heard online from LOS were, the dense, ominous feedback drones and heavy rumbling ur-riffs floating freely over a mechanistic tribal-rhythm freakout. We ended up getting in touch with Ben from Light Of Shipwreck and it turned out that he had a nearly hour-long disc that he wanted to have released through our Crucial Bliss imprint, and here we are: a three-track full length of rich, crushing power-ambient, titled From The Idle Cylinders, a reference to the American Objectivist poet George Oppen whose work is a consistent influence on Light Of Shipwreck's imagery, with huge slabs of resonant sheet metal shimmering in an ocean of heavenly feedback and reverberating guitar drone, and surges of droning tribal Krautrock percussion floating along with distorted ambient doom powerchords and washed out vocal cord bliss, each track running upwards of 20 minutes in length. A totally breathtaking piece of music, like Steve Reich, Brian Eno, Can, and Earth swirled together into an austere, hypnotizing heavy-trance masterpiece. This limited edition CD-R of From The Idle Cylinders comes packaged in the signature Crucial Bliss foldover card sleeve with the disc itself attached to the sleeve on a plastic hub and featuring striking photo design, in a print run of 200 copies." [label info]
"Haunting super rhythmic industrial soundscapes laced with a propulsive locomotive shuffle of programmed percussion, keening high end and hissing whirs of smeared almost jazziness, looped and cyclical, some sort of disembodied krautrock/spacerock like a more mechanical Necks jamming in a thick cloud of Birchville Cat Motel fug. A groaning creaking percussive framework beneath a sky full of shimmering black clouds.
All three tracks begin all abstract and drifty, the first "I Rode And Am Riding On An Ocean Of Violent Lights", quickly explodes into a fog of jagged edges and swirling squalls of chaotic percussion and overlapping drones, while the second, "I Watched And Am Watching
A Cold Dead Sun Rise Then Explode" coalesces into a serious chunk of glorious Ur-kraut, a simple stripped down rhythm spread out over a
massive expanse of low end whir and phantom drone drift, gorgeous and mesmerizing, with a dark dreamy melody, both ominous and lovely, think a super mellow druggy Circle, or a slightly more noise rock Necks...
The final track begins with subtle Eastern sounding percussion, before giving way to some Fear Falls Burning massive glacial guitar drone, eventually splintering into glimmering harmonics, the rest of the twenty minute track, a tangle of the two, shuffling skittering rhythms wrapped around slow burning solar flare guitar. So good.
As with all Crucial Bliss releases, the packaging is gorgeous, a dvd sized fold over thick cardstock sleeve, full color inside and
out, the cd attached to a plastic hub affixed to the sleeve... and LIMITED TO ONLY 200 COPIES!!" [{Aquarius ]
www.crucialblast.net
|
2007 |
€10.00 |
|
| LIGHTBORNE, MICHAEL |
Sounds of the Projection Box |
LP |
These recordings, made in 2016 and 2017, document the shifting sonic texture of the cinema projection box, as it changes from 35mm to digital projection. By 2014, the majority of UK cinemas had already converted to digital, making many projectionists redundant, and quietly altering the way that cinema works, as both an industry and an experience. Very few cinemas maintain the ability to project 35mm film alongside digital, and it was in some of the remaining, tenacious boxes that I sought the persistent sounds of analogue projection.
The unique space that this album investigates is simultaneously a workshop, an engine room, and an artist’s studio. The projection box is a small room at the back of the cinema auditorium that conceals both the apparatus of the moving image, and the labour of the projectionist, ensuring that both remain invisible, and inaudible, to the cinema-goer.
This album was developed as part of The Projection Project, a research project based in the Film and Television Studies Department at the University of Warwick, which seeks to record and investigate the history of cinema projection in Britain. A special issue of the Journal of British Cinema And Television Studies (Vol 15, No 1, 2018), edited by members of The Projection Project, features a number of articles about the history of British cinema projection and the work of the projectionist in Britain, through the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. It includes an article entitled ‚Sounds of the Projection Box: Liner Notes for a Phonographic Method‘, which augments this album, and elaborates upon the theoretical and methodological rationale for the use of sonic field recording as a mode of enquiry.
All of the images that accompany this record were made by Richard Nicholson. Some of them form part of a series of portraits entitled The Projectionists.
Side A
1. The thing
2. Making up the thing
3. Breaking down the thing
4. Lacing and Rolling Rear Window (error correction)
Side B
1. Hyde Park electromagnetic
2. The noise
3. Manual rewind
4. The Electric
5. The tower (death rattle)
6. Digital light
10 Tracks (43′30″)
Vinyl (500 copies)
www.gruenrekorder.de/?page_id=16703
|
2018 |
€18.00 |
|
| LILES, ANDREW |
Black Hole |
CD |
Teil 2 der VORTEX VAULT-Serie ist weitaus weniger bizarr als der Vorgänger, sondern eine dunkle surreale Reise in eine Schattenwelt, die verwunschen & unzugänglich scheint wie eine Halluzination...
Part 2 of the VORTEX VAULT-series appear to be much less bizarre than the predecessor. "Black Hole" is a dark surreal voyage into a shadow-world, inaccessible and enchanted like a hallucination...
"Black Series 6 - Ed. of 300 numbered and signed copies. 'The Vortex Vault' will be in part a collection of unreleased, unearthed and dusted down material from the vast Andrew Liles archive of unused studio material. 'The Vortex Vault' will also include brand new recordings, conceptual and collaborative pieces, special guests, kraut rock psyche outs, space rock, the odd and unlikely, Norwegian, the obscure and arcane, aircraft, cicadas, the absurd and nonsensical. 'The Vortex Vault' is a platform to release radically different and eclectic material. Expect the unexpected, the minimalist and excessive, the demure and deranged. The first in the series will be 'Black Paper', The second in the series will be 'Black Hole', and in no particular order will be followed by 'Black Beauty', 'Black Mamba', 'Black Pool', 'Black Sea', 'Black Panther', 'Black Sheep', 'Black Widow', 'Blackout', 'Black Market' and finishing with 'Black End" [label info]
www.blrrecords.com
|
2007 |
€16.00 |
|
|
Somnambulance to Dream General |
CD |
Bevor Mr. LILES v.a. durch die Beteiligung an NURSE WITH WOUND einem grösseren Hörerkreis bekannt wurde, werkelte er jahrelang recht versteckt an seiner bizarr-surrealistischen Soundwelt herum, hier bestehend aus Synth-Drones & sperrigen Elektronoises, Pianosequenzen, Sprachmaterial, traditionelles englischsprachiges Gesangsmaterial (wie Kinderlieder und Abzählreime, die ein nostalgisches Flair verbreiten), melanchronische Instrumentalquellen, wirre found sounds und Versatzstücke aus Jazz, etc. etc.
SOMNAMBULANCE ist eine Neubearbeitung einer CDR-Compilation mit frühem Material - gleich 21 Stücke fanden den Weg auf dieses äusserst kurzweilige Album, schwankend zwischen Düsternis und anregender Exzentrizität. Als Einstieg in LILES recht einzigartige, verschrobene Klangwelt wohl ideal !!
"Somnambulance" is a reworking of an album of odd and obscure tracks that was released in a microscopic edition on CD-R before. For this CD, Mr. Liles has provided his funniest and possibly most controversial artwork as of yet. You get an hour of music of many different styles: Andrew Liles' trademark of eerie and spooky sounds is there; also electronics and a whole range of instruments are placed in between sketches and longer tracks. And if all this weren't enough, you get three bonus tracks that didn't appear on the CDR at all. After a long line of collaborations, finally a new album by Current 93 and Nurse With Wound man Liles himself!" [label info]
www.klanggalerie.com
|
2008 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Miscellany Deluxe |
do-LP |
Kollektion alter und ältester Aufnahmen des exzentrischen Briten! Dies ist die "einfache" Version im Gatefold-Cover.
"Much of the music included in this set is exclusive to this vinyl version of ‘Miscellany’. Andrew Liles has compiled a comprehensive anthology including as much varied, interesting and unreleased material as possible. He spent many an afternoon sifting through piles of cassettes seeking the oldest and arguably most definitive pieces of music from literally hundreds of hours of tape.
The earliest recordings on these discs date back to 1984. ‘Find a New Husband’ was made on Liles' fathers very cheap Amstrad tape-to-tape system. The tape machine ceased to work properly shortly thereafter. This track was the result or many hours of rewinding and re-playing and re-recording, and thus began Liles fascination, obsession and addiction with tape-manipulation, sound FX and recording techniques.
Listening back to some of these works reminds us of the archaic and laborious fashion in which music used to be created and assembled. In hindsight the merits of working with tape compared to digital technologies seem to be the random nature of what would happen. Tape bleed, mishaps, the low-fi quality and errors seemed to give unique and often unpredictable results. Many of Andrew Liles' early experimentations and accidental consequences are included in this collection.
Also included are selections from his two self-released cassettes under the name Lividity. The Lividity tapes were given away to friends and sent as demos to assorted labels. Some 20 years later it is very doubtful that any of them exist other the two remaining copies Andrew Liles has kept tucked away in some forgotten corner." [label info]
www.vinyl-on-demand.com
|
2009 |
€21.50 |
|
|
Miscellany Deluxe (Box Edition) |
3 x LP-Box & T-Shirt |
Limitierte Box-Version - neben der auch einzeln erhältlichen do-LP gibt es noch eine weitere LP mit weiterem Material so wie ein synapsenkillendes ROSAfarbenes T-Shirt, alles in einer silbernen Box!
"Much of the music included in this set is exclusive to this vinyl version of ‘Miscellany’. Andrew Liles has compiled a comprehensive anthology including as much varied, interesting and unreleased material as possible. He spent many an afternoon sifting through piles of cassettes seeking the oldest and arguably most definitive pieces of music from literally hundreds of hours of tape.
The earliest recordings on these discs date back to 1984. ‘Find a New Husband’ was made on Liles' fathers very cheap Amstrad tape-to-tape system. The tape machine ceased to work properly shortly thereafter. This track was the result or many hours of rewinding and re-playing and re-recording, and thus began Liles fascination, obsession and addiction with tape-manipulation, sound FX and recording techniques.
Listening back to some of these works reminds us of the archaic and laborious fashion in which music used to be created and assembled. In hindsight the merits of working with tape compared to digital technologies seem to be the random nature of what would happen. Tape bleed, mishaps, the low-fi quality and errors seemed to give unique and often unpredictable results. Many of Andrew Liles' early experimentations and accidental consequences are included in this collection.
Also included are selections from his two self-released cassettes under the name Lividity. The Lividity tapes were given away to friends and sent as demos to assorted labels. Some 20 years later it is very doubtful that any of them exist other the two remaining copies Andrew Liles has kept tucked away in some forgotten corner." [label info]
www.vinyl-on-demand.com
|
2009 |
€60.00 |
|
|
Black Widow |
CD |
Part four in the VORTEX VAULT-series, embrace thee Ominous!
"This is the fourth release in a total of 12 CDs in the Black Series by Liles, current member of Nurse With Wound and general magic man. Like the previous CDs in this series, Liles uses more and more vocals in his music, which complement his music wonderfully. On this disc famous actor/singer Ernesto Tomasini (who also appeared on Crowded Skies on the BBC television) adds narration and sings. There is even narration in Urdu (by Dr. Malik). Starting off with the thumbpiano of To Maim A Donkey we are sucked into the surrealist world of Liles, where things are never quite what they seem. Strange samples and dark sounds creep in and out and are laced with a unique sense of humur (as in A Hippo Took An Apricot). Before you know it, you're humming along to The cod-James Bond theme And God Doesn't Fuck About, before you realize it's just a little off-beat (and definitely off-set!). The best issue of the Black Series so far, this CD is highly recommended." [FK / Vital Weekly]
www.blrrecords.com
|
2007 |
€16.00 |
|
|
Mother Goose's Melody or Sonnets for the Cradle |
do-LP |
"Menschliche Sprache und weirde found sounds spielen auch auf „Mother goose’s melody“ wieder die Hauptrolle. Das ganze nimmt durch die britisch akzentuierte Erzählerstimme LORD BATH eine dunkel-märchenhaften, verschrobenen Charakter an....insgesamt ein bizarres „bad fairy tale“-Album mit Elementen aus plunderphonics, dark ambient und Hörspiel, welches LILES Ausnahmestatus im Experimental-Sektor mehr als bestätigt!" [Drone Rec. info on CD release 2005]
"Andrew Liles is a prolific solo artist, producer and remixer. He has been recording since the mid 1980’s and has appeared on well over 200 releases. His work has been used in Theatre, Film, Radio and T.V. He has also worked in some capacity with the following groups and individuals: Danielle Dax, John Murphy (S.P.K.), Nurse With Wound, Current 93, The Hafler Trio, Steven Severin (Siouxsie and the Banshees) and Cosey Fanni Tutti of Throbbing Gristle." [label info]
“This project from the fabulous Andrew Liles is dedicated to the notion that nothing good ever happens in a nursery rhyme, even when enunciated with such gleeful relish by guest narrator Alexander Thynn, the seventh Marquess of Bath. Scratching kittens have to be placated, half-awake children are left to wander around the town at night, and we all know about the girl with the curl in the middle of her forehead. Aided in a couple of places by Sion Orgon from Thighpaulsandra’s group, Liles takes his time over teasing out the darker strands to be found woven into childhood’s brighter moments, carefully stacking eerily sustained tones, desiccated samples and disembodied voices against Lord Bath’s exuberant delivery. The results feel like a compendium of forgotten folklore awaiting its future.” [The Wire]
www.hallowground.com
|
2015 |
€29.50 |
|
| |
It's only Pain |
LP |
"It's Only Pain is Liles' first 'general' release since 2018. All the lyrics used on the album were written by Liles' father, Michael Liles. They were discovered when clearing out his spare room after his death in 2017. The poetry was written sometime in the late 70's and has been given a life here. As with most Liles releases this recording covers a lot of styles, from heavy rock to psychedelia, and even a track that wouldn't be out of place in a West End musical. It is a compelling album full of unlikely twists and turns, a unique homage to his dead father's memory and words. Contributions come from Karin Park, Faust's Jean Hervé Peron, ex Mayhem frontman Maniac and Mared Lenny (the critically acclaimed Welsh singer known as Swci Boscawen). This album is issued in two sleeve designs, here are also various different vinyl colours, these will issued randomly, the edition is limited to just 250 copies."
"Andrew Liles, an important post-millennial part of the Nurse With Wound/Current 93 ‘family’, releases music at a fairly breathtaking rate, yet It’s Only Pain is described by label Dirter as his first “general release” since 2018. Never mind the taxonomy, clock the concept: all the LP’s lyrics were written by Liles’ father in the 1970s, discovered after his death, and are interpreted – often translated from English – by multiple guest vocalists. Many are already in the musician’s collaborative orbit, some are more surprising. My recollections of Mared Lenny’s late-00s music (frankly pedestrian Welsh language indiepop under the name Swci Boscawen) did not mark her as someone with a future appearing on NWW solo projects, yet here she is on opening song ‘Skid-Row Schizoid’, narrating bilingually over a song that’s a bit like if Van Der Graaf Generator had been an influence on Fourth World music.
Liles’ taste for dramatic arrangements can border on kitsch but more often charms. Karin Park, synthpop soloist and Årabrot member, leans into her roles with terrific relish, initially reading over sawing strings and clanging piano on ‘A Thousand Minds’ before adopting an operatic register for ‘Beyond The Cosmos’ and ‘Humanist’. Faust’s Jean-Hervé Peron hams it up spiritedly over ‘Down The One Side’s stern gothic folk and ‘Bywyd Llonydd’ revels in its diverse guestlist: Matt Davies, owner of a Welsh record store and a fine ‘dramatic reading’ type voice; Maniac, ex of black metal originators Mayhem; and Awen Schiavone, author of a children’s book about a penguin named Pedro." [Noel Gardner / The Quietus]
|
2021 |
€30.00 |
|
| LILES, ANDREW AND KENJI SIRATORI |
Black Paper |
CD |
Erster Teil der wahnwitzigen VORTEX VAULT-Serie, 12 CDs aus ANDREW LILES Archiv, aber auch neues Material wird präsentiert.
Das ganze wiederum in der Beta-Lactam BLACK SERIES, die mit einheitlichen überformatigen schwarze Edel-Cover zu beglücken vermag. BLACK PAPER heisst also der erste Teil, wo LILES mit dem selbsternannten japanischen CYBER-Poeten KENJI SIRATORI kollab(or)iert, der wie's scheint zur Zeit mit jedem in der Experimental-Szene ansässigen Werktätigen eine Zusammenarbeit anstrebt. So hört man hier SIRATORIS Cyber-Gedichte (auf japanisch; auf englisch übersetzt wären übrigens genauso unverständlich - denn er scheint ein spätes Kind der Cut-Up Technik zu sein). Als wäre das nicht schon genug irrlichternder & funkelnder Wahnwitz, so zeigt sich auch LILES in Bestform, wenn er mit Synthklavier und Xylophon und durchdringenden Analog-Noises (=?) bewaffnet die letzten möglicherweise noch vorhandenen Reste gutgläubiger Erwartungshaltung des Hörers vernichtet, hier in irgendeiner Weise 'verstehbare" Musik hören zu dürfen. Genau darin aber, geneigter DRone Records-Kunde, liegt vielleicht die Genialität dieses Albums. Wir können das aber gerade nicht entscheiden und vertagen die Diskussion auf unbestimmte Zeit...
"Black Series 1 - Ed. of 300 numbered and signed copies. 'The Vortex Vault' will be in part a collection of unreleased, unearthed and dusted down material from the vast Andrew Liles archive of unused studio material. 'The Vortex Vault' will also include brand new recordings, conceptual and collaborative pieces, special guests, kraut rock psyche outs, space rock, the odd and unlikely, Norwegian, the obscure and arcane, aircraft, cicadas, the absurd and nonsensical. 'The Vortex Vault' is a platform to release radically different and eclectic material. Expect the unexpected, the minimalist and excessive, the demure and deranged." [label info]
"andrew liles, from the uk, is an experimental sound artist with a pretty diverse output. i'm only familiar with a few of his releases, but they ranged from sound art, to ambient soundscapes, drone, experimental electronics and the occasional foray into noisier directions. some good points of reference, as far as his ambient and drone works are concerned, would be andrew chalk and vidna obmana, two artists he's also happened to work with. kenji siratori is a japanese cyberpunk author who's had a hell of an outpouring of non-paper releases last year. this is mostly because he pimped himself out by "writing to as many industrial, ambient, ebm and goth bands he could find, including "reviews" of them in his idiosyncratic style, and asking to collaborate. (this) scattergun approach proved successful, despite his reviews of non-sequitirs and non-sensical cyberspeak being interchangeable" [discogs.com]. after all was said and done he'd put out fifteen total albums, including three that are on net labels and are availiable to download for free at smell the stench and dystonia. the bulk of them have been in the form of collaborations, most notably with gx jupitter-larsen (the haters), torturing nurse and henrik nordvargr björkk (hh9, folkstorm, mz.412, et al.). i would be surprised if that last one is anything short of amazing. i...must...stop...buying...things... black paper opens up with barometer ii, a beautifully haunting piano piece by liles, which siratori soon begins speaking over. his words are all spoken in japanese. emphasis on spoken. this could be poetry or god knows what, but it sounds great. he's got this gruff sounding voice that immediately made me think of splinter's voice from the teenage mutant ninja turtles movies. i love it. there's some great layering of his vocals near the end, too. vtr is one of the least musical (most experimental) cuts on here. there's a whole mess of noises, electronic bleeps and textures from andrew, and kenji's vocals are affected, in parts, and panned all over. it easily has the most overall stuff going on at once, but it works well, due partly to how andrew progresses it. if that was the album's exercise in maximalism (i think i just made that word up), the title piece is its most rhythmic. half of this piece features with some very catchy xylophone (i'm guessing) playing, the rest focuses on kenji's vocals, manipulated the most here. one of my favorite parts is where its just him with no music, and there's also his sped up vocals shooting back and forth between the speakers. jaguar is black paper's absolute highlight. over liles' sparse backdrop there's a vocal track in the left speaker, a different one in the right, a repetitious one in the center and then another, different track in the center. it's completely hypnotic, wonderful and memorable. then when that piano comes in towards the end, jaguar achieves total brilliance. it all strikes me as being rather noir, while maintaining an underlying sense of beauty. the next two tracks mainly feature andrew doing some nice, slightly stark, experimental electronic work. the closer, barometer iii is vocal less and revises the pianos from barometer ii, but adds some terrific electronic noises over it. there's actually two separate collaborations by kenji siratori with the title black paper, the other is with tardive dyskinesia. that may cause a bit of confusion, but this one is only available from andrew liles' website or beta-lactam ring. it's part of andrew's 12 cd set, the vortex vault, limited to only 300 copies. once those 300 are gone, that's it. no reissues. i think if you get one from andrew it will be signed by him. i'd also recommend his collaboration with gx. while it's not as memorable as this one here, there's some mighty fine noise by him, and who doesn't like mighty fine noise? after hearing all of this from kenji i've definitely become interested in his literary work...at the very least it should be interesting. smooth sailing review " [unknown writer, taken from the Beta-Lactam website]
www.blrrecords.com
|
2006 |
€16.00 |
|
| LILITH |
Orgazio |
CD |
SCOTT GIBBONS
Since he started doing performance in 1988 with the New Elementals in Dallas, Texas, SCOTT GIBBONS has written several soundtracks, dance pieces and sound installations for art galleries. He took a double major in Philosophy and Religious studies and a AM in History of Religions. His field is music as it relates to the religious experience and (in this context) contributed to altereted states of consciousness. SCOTT GIBBONS concentrates his musical activities to LILITH at the “Disciple Divinity House of the University of Chicago”. He became since a few years a reference to all the english Dark Ambiant Scene.
ALEISTER CROWLEY (1875-1947)
LILITH second album is inspired by an organisation of the English writer and black mage Aleister Crowley (right). Before World War II this highly ambiguous caracter infiltred the Golden Dawn of the Outside sect, which ranked Nobel Prize winner W.B. Yeats and the creator of Dracula, Bram Stocker among its members. After he had dissolved this sect, Crowley went on to found his own: Astrum Argentum; he organized orgiatic rituals (which in Italy will lead to the death of one person; Crowley is subsequently banished from the country). He goes by the names THE BEAST or 666, and writes “Magic in Theory and Practice” among other books. When world war II is declared, he suggest a sure means to victory to Churchill.
MAGIC FORMULAS + COSMIC RECORDINGS
ORGAZIO combines structures taken from Crowley ‘s magic formulas with his own voice (rare documents); it also use real cosmic recordings (courtesy of the Adler Planetarium of Chicago). Some of these sounds appear on the limit of audibility; other create an eerie phenomenon of “disconnection”.
[label info]
www.subrosa.net
|
1994 |
€13.00 |
|
| LILLY JOEL |
What lies in the Sea |
CD |
" 'What Lies In The Sea' is the fruit of a ten year collaboration between singer Lynn Cassiers and keyboardist Jozef Dumoulin, and is the first release for their duo Lilly Joel. Both musicians are free spirits and true, much-lauded innovators in their respective fields.
Belgian singer Lynn Cassiers is as much a singer as she can be called a sound sculptor, using her voice, microphone, and electronics to create soundscapes.
Pianist Jozef Dumoulin (Belgium) redefined the Fender Rhodes keyboard through a scope that is at the same time fully contemporary, eclectic and highly personal.
This recording marks a milestone on their path as a band and crystalizes a moment in a universe that was carefully shaped and daringly explored. The music is straightforward, fresh and original - the focus never being the attempt to be part of some distinct genre, but only to be honest towards one's own place in a ever changing world. There are reminiscences of experimental music, jazz, rock, electro, pop, traditional music and contemporary classical music, which is totally normal considered who's at work here. Anyhow, all those influences are fully digested and serve as countless small bricks that are used to make a new big image, that stands on it own and can be watched as such.
Lynn Cassiers
Quoted to be 'one of the most remarkable voices of our improvisation scene' (enola), Lynn Cassiers' universe is one that covers a wide diversity of styles. Lynn is recognizable by her songlike approach in contexts that can range from noise over ambient to free jazz. She's part of impro-rock band Tape Cuts Tape on the sides of ex-deus guitarist Rudy Trouvé and improv-jazz drummer Eric Thielemans, and also performs with her solo project 'The Bird, the Fis and the Ball'. Besides writing music for theatre and her various collaborations with great artists and ensembles such as Marshall Allen, Octurn and The Brussels Jazz Orchestra, she is a steady member in different bands on the actual music scene of Western Europe.
Jozef Dumoulin
Known for his open and luminous approach to the piano and to music in general, always anchored in tradition without being burdened by it. Besides the Fender Rhodes solo, his own projects include The Red Hill Orchestra (a trio with Ellery Eskelin and Dan Weiss) and a duo with Benoît Delbecq. Highly-demanded as a sideman, Jozef Dumoulin has recorded and toured with the finest of musicians in the domain of jazz, improvised music, rock and traditional music. He currently lives in Paris." [label info]
www.subrosa.net
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| LINDHOLM, GRETA |
Rhythm Voice |
LP |
"Greta Lindholm is an absolutely unique personality in the contemporary dance scene. She toured in India, Mexico, Japan, Scandinavia, Italy and France, during the ’70 and ’80 making known her synthetic and experimental approach in the choreographic field. Her art explores new boundaries and is essentially pure celebration of the body language and voice in its intimate relationship with the fluidity of movement. Using mainly foot drumming and vocal rhythms, she makes her body the only instrument of continuous exploration, halfway between traditional songs and rhythmic-gestural improvisation. Greta seems to treasure different vocal cultures and give them an avant-garde reinterpretation: from Scandinavian folklore to jazz scat singing, from baroque arias to the African Pygmy. Particular influence is given by the metric-vocal spelling of Karnatic and Hindustan music. All these differents suggestions serve to reinforce and accompany her plastic movements. Greta’s performances are studded with imaginary phonemes, onematopeic patterns, rhythmic phrasing, phonetic articulations, breathing, spiral structures, frenetic drifts, clap handings or feet like timpani or snare drums. In this way her dance becomes “silent music” and can have analogies with other noteworthy vocal explorations, such as those of Meredith Monk. For the first time an audio document is a available on LP and CD, a co-production with our beloved friend: Sing a Song Fighter."
https://blacksweat.bandcamp.com/album/rhythm-voice
|
2021 |
€20.00 |
|
| LINDHOLM, OTTO / JEAN D.L. |
Apophenia |
MC |
“Apophenia” is the first duo release by Jean D.L. and Otto Lindholm and we are very happy to welcome both musicians in our label family. The album was recorded during three night sessions at Lindholm´s studio, after both musicians met at a Gizeh Records label night in Belgium, curated by our friend and label associate Richard Knox.
“Apophenia” is the raw and powerful result of those nightly studio sessions. The duo creates dark soundscapes and drone moments. It´s not continuously obvious which sounds are created by guitar or double bass, because the musicians push each other into fascinating sound dimensions. So the album title is a very fitting description for the sounds you will hear.
Limited to 50 cocoa brown tapes, housed in natural brown o-cards
https://midirarecords.bandcamp.com/album/apophenia
|
2021 |
€9.00 |
|
| LINDSTRÖM, MATS |
Mig |
LP |
"Mats Lindström works as a composer and a musician, often with strains of live-electronics. He often works with intermedia, scenic elements and visual arts as a complement to the music, and has worked both with music for concerts, theatre and dance as well as radio-art and sound installations. Formerly an engineer in the electronics industry Lindström has designed and constructed a number of unique electronic musical instruments and apparatuses. "Mig" produced by PRO ARTE Foundation for JSC Klimov Aviation Engines Museum, St Petersburg, Russia September 2011. 'IBM' tracks recorded at EMS Elektronmusikstudion, Stockholm April 2012. 'ONE' tracks was premiered at San Servolo, Venezia, Italy, December 2008 together with Anna Koch Scratch Memory. 'Give Us the Tools' was premiered at Theaterhaus Stuttgart, Germany July 2006. Dedicated to Hugh Davies. 'Children of Paradise' is a tape part remaining from the piece Sörmlndsk tragedi for childrens string orchestra premiered at Kulturhuset Stockholm and Sveriges Radio P2 February 2003." [label info]
www.editionsmego.com
|
2012 |
€16.00 |
|
| LINGUA FUNGI |
Melankhton |
CD |
"Aural Hypnox welcomes Lingua Fungi to the label roster. Lingua Fungi has been working in the field of acoustic drone and ambient since 2001 and is run by J. Padatsu, who has during the years appeared in the Zoat-Äon live lineup, is currently member of Halo Manash and joined Aural Hypnox label in 2013. The fourth full-lenght album of Lingua Fungi, entitled Melankhton is released through our Sublunar series.
Melankhton is a sonic interpretation of particular illness narratives and a study in experimental anthropology based on fieldwork material gathered especially for this project. The narratives and sounds expressing them reflect the shifting states of the turbulent minds visited by Melankhton.
The album was recorded in 2006 using exclusively acoustic instruments and sound sources mixed with processed field recordings. The album consists of five long tracks with sounds varying from maniacal percussive rhythms to dreamy drone passages.
The album is enclosed in a customised and silk-screen printed Sublunar series cardboard covers, including a 4-panel cardboard booklet and a silk-screen printed insert card. The regular edition is limited to 449 copies." [label info]
www.auralhypnox.com
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| LINIJA MASS |
Trud |
CD |
"Der Angriff is proud to present the reissue of all three early albums from the famous russian old-school analogue industrial noise project by Alexander Lebedev-Frontov (also involved in Stalnoy Pakt and Vetrophonia). Having been previously available only on tapes and long deleted vinyl, those records now are the ones of the most sought after collectibles of russian industrial culture heritage. Each CD is packed into the cardboard black&white package with a poster, which is different to each album. "Trud" (1997) has an exclusive previously unreleased bonus track, "Proletkult" (1999) has a track which has been missed on vinyl edition and appeared only on a tape and CDR, and "Mekano-Faktura" (1999) offers as bonus a track from a rare 7". All the sound material have been remastered from the original source tapes. Each title is limited to 400 copies only. A must for all fans of pure and true industrial art!" [label info] |
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Mechano-Faktura |
CD |
"Der Angriff is proud to present the reissue of all three early albums from the famous russian old-school analogue industrial noise project by Alexander Lebedev-Frontov (also involved in Stalnoy Pakt and Vetrophonia). Having been previously available only on tapes and long deleted vinyl, those records now are the ones of the most sought after collectibles of russian industrial culture heritage. Each CD is packed into the cardboard black&white package with a poster, which is different to each album. "Trud" (1997) has an exclusive previously unreleased bonus track, "Proletkult" (1999) has a track which has been missed on vinyl edition and appeared only on a tape and CDR, and "Mekano-Faktura" (1999) offers as bonus a track from a rare 7". All the sound material have been remastered from the original source tapes. Each title is limited to 400 copies only. A must for all fans of pure and true industrial art!" [label info]
"Great 'mechanical industrial' from St. Petersburg. Real metallic machine-sounds mixed with russian voices. Retro-Futurism at its best!" [original Drone Rec. info, about "Mechano-Faktura"] |
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Proletkult |
CD |
"Der Angriff is proud to present the reissue of all three early albums from the famous russian old-school analogue industrial noise project by Alexander Lebedev-Frontov (also involved in Stalnoy Pakt and Vetrophonia). Having been previously available only on tapes and long deleted vinyl, those records now are the ones of the most sought after collectibles of russian industrial culture heritage. Each CD is packed into the cardboard black&white package with a poster, which is different to each album. "Trud" (1997) has an exclusive previously unreleased bonus track, "Proletkult" (1999) has a track which has been missed on vinyl edition and appeared only on a tape and CDR, and "Mekano-Faktura" (1999) offers as bonus a track from a rare 7". All the sound material have been remastered from the original source tapes. Each title is limited to 400 copies only. A must for all fans of pure and true industrial art!" [label info] |
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| LISA CARBON |
Trio de Janeiro |
LP |
Twisted programmings, a unique humour and futuristic improvisations are some of the characteristics of Lisa Carbon's sound, which has been copied by many throughout the years.
Partly recorded in San José (Costa Rica), Lisa's hometown, 'Trio de Janeiro' was then mainly completed under the guidance of her long time companion Atom TM in his Frankfurt studio.
When the first Lisa Carbon recording was released back in 1992 (the Lisa carbon trio: opto freestyle swing, 12", pod communication), the german magazine "frontpage" gave it one star (out of 6) and declared it "not music." magazines come and go, but Lisa is still here. the music was controversial, and while for some it was the most unhip thing to listen to, for others it was an enlightenment. much has happened since then and Lisa Carbon ignored styles and trends, and instead created them. in 1995, musical fashion caught up with her. Her music, once declared unmusical, had become the hype to follow when UK's "Rephlex" released her second album "Polyester" after a two year delay. Lisa's sound was still fresh, so fresh in fact that it was even emulated by those who used to be trendy in 1992. but Lisa grew tired of the unprofessionalism in the music business, and so joined producer Atom Heart's label "rather interesting" in 1997, and the album you have in front of you was born.
"Trio De Janeiro," musically in the vein of its predecessor, became one of rather interesting's most successful releases and soon afterwards saw its release on Haruomi Hosono's "Daisy World" label in Japan (1997). Now that we have crossed into the millennium, you can see and hear that "Trio De Janeiro" still sounds amazingly current. this re-release contains the two bonus titles "Tempo Feliz" and "Song For Frank Brown," which up until now had only been available on the 1997 japanese release. also the entire album has been extensively remastered to match today's audio standards and to give you, the listener, the full enjoyment of this timeless masterpiece.
https://subrosalabel.bandcamp.com/album/trio-de-janeiro
|
2001 |
€18.00 |
|
| LISTENING MIRROR |
Resting in Aspic |
CD |
"Formed at the beginning of 2010, Listening Mirror is a collaborative ambient/drone project of Jeff Stonehouse and Kate Tustain, a hybrid of their various disciplines and an attempt to extract some beauty from the noise that surrounds us all every day. Early material was composed of field recordings, combined with improvised piano and vocals. Throughout 2010/11, highly limited editions and now sold out/deleted EPs appeared on DIY labels such as Rural Colours, Heat Death, Audio Gourmet, Arew and also a postcard on the Hibernate series.
In ‘Resting in Aspic’ Listening Mirror have selected pieces from some of these previous releases and have included the full and unreleased version of ‘The Organist’. Everything has been remastered by Wil Bolton and is available in a limited run of 200 CD’s. The sounds present on the album are everything from blissed out drifting soundscapes to darker tones, all culled from various sources such as field recordings, acoustic guitar, percussive instruments, BC8 synth, Kate’s vocals and piano." [label info]
www.hibernate-recs.co.uk
"A duo of Jeff Stonehouse and Kate Tustain, who started Listening Mirror in 2010, using a variety of field recordings, improvised piano, acoustic guitar, percussion, BC8 synthesizer and vocals. During 2010/2011 they released some limited works on labels as Rural Colours, Heat Death, Audio Gourmet and a postcard on the Hibernate series. The latter now releases a limited CD, which brings those out of print releases together again, along with the full version of 'The Organist' and one new piece. Of course a man/women duo playing with field recordings and instruments, producing drone and ambient music, will easily point towards Celer. If I wouldn't have known what I was playing I could have easily thought this was something by Celer. Perhaps with one difference and that's the somewhat more extensive use of the female voice in here, which chants wordless, like an angelic choir. But in the pieces where this is not the case, its damn close to Celer. Is that a problem? It very much depends what you want. If you think there is not enough Celer, or atmospheric, drone, ambient music in general, then you would probably not mind more music alike that and then certainly Listening Mirror is another fine addition to what you know. On the other hand, if you want something new, a style to expand, a fresher point of view on what you already know, then this might be somewhat of a disappointment. Listening Mirror just don't seem to expand on anything that we already know. Where do I stand? Hard to tell. I was looking outside, seeing a grey clouded sky, with a bit of rain, reading a book and actually quite enjoying this music. Nicely produced atmospherics. What more do I want, right now? Probably nothing. Let's worry about the revolution in music another day." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| LIVE SKULL |
Dangerous Visions |
LP |
"Emerging in the early 80s at the end of New York’s legendary No Wave scene alongside Manhattan comrades Sonic Youth and Swans, Live Skull reshaped the aggression of burned-out post-punk into heavy, guitar-driven rock. This new release showcases their evolution, with Side 1 featuring recently recorded tracks, whilst Side 2 digs into the archives and includes four tracks from their 1989 Peel Session, released here for the first time.
Struggle and chaos is nothing new for Live Skull. Mark C and his fellow founder, guitarist Tom Paine, were inspired by the nihilistic sounds of No New York and the dissonant walls of Glenn Branca and Rhys Chatham. Live Skull funneled those influences into hard-edged music that valued melody as much as anarchy. “We loved the noise and the chaos that was happening in the No Wave bands,” says Mark. “But we really tried to fit it into a song.”
Over the next decade, Live Skull released four albums and three EPs with a rotating cast of 11 members, all of whom added new ideas to the group’s evolving sound. Their constant progression inspired New York Times critic Robert Palmer to call them “as challenging, as spiritually corrosive, and ultimately as transcendent as Albert Ayler’s mid-’60s free-jazz or the implacable drone-dance of the early Velvet Underground. It’s one of the essential sounds of our time.”
Live Skull stopped playing in 1990–but for Mark C, there was still more to be said. So he reformed the group in 2016 with bassist Marnie Jaffe and drummer Richard Hutchins. Last year, an updated line-up with C, Hutchins and bassist Kent Heine recorded the first Live Skull album in nearly three decades, the urgent, forceful ‘Saturday Night Massacre’. Now, just a year later and joined by guitarist Dave Hollinghurst, they return with ‘Dangerous Visions’, and this time everyone from the entire Live Skull history is involved."
|
2020 |
€24.00 |
|
| LIVING TEMPLES |
Spirit of the Sands |
CD |
SPIRITS OF THE SAND is the LIVING TEMPLES' collaboration with the five locations on the Curonian Spit, south-west of Nida, Lithuania:
* The shore of the Curonian Lagoon along the Parnidis dune. This ever-changing coastline is a creation of elemental magic. Trees that have been washed away by water, thrown back ashore and then buried by the sand re-appear regularly here. They emerge transformed into wonderful surreal shapes that stimulate wild mythical imagination.
* The Valley of Death. This mysterious valley separates the Parnidis and Gliders' Dunes. This is the supposed location of the infamous French prisoner camp from the 1870-1871 Franco-Prussian war. The climate of the Curonian Spit used to be so harsh back then that the Prussian government saw it fit for a retaliatory prisoner camp created in response to German P.O.W. imprisonment in the Sahara Desert of Algeria. The prisoners worked on greening the dunes around Nida.
* The Neolithic village of Nida. The neolithic settlement explored by the great archaeologist Ramutė Rimantienė in 1974 turned out to be at least 4000 years old. Fishers and farmers inhabited this place for many centuries. Decoration on their ceramics proves that they were of the Indo-European Corded Ware culture. These people were our oldest ancestors - the forerunners of the Curonian tribe.
* The location of the Pre-WW2 gliding school of Nida.
"Ready! Strain! Go!!" Back in 1933-1939 these commands were repeated many times at the top of the Great Dune (today - the Gliders' Dune). Students at the gliding school of the Lithuanian Aero Club used to hunt for the favourable headwind above the dunes. This headwind rises off the massive eastern sand wall of the dune and can hold a light glider up in the air for many hours.
* The sundial of the Parnidis dune. The summit of the Parnidis Dune is a unique place in Lithuania. The full astronomical horizon opens to the viewer standing here which makes this spot an ideal location for the sundial. Or perhaps this is a portal above time and space through which one can see not only what is, but also what once was and what is yet to come.
These locations have gained special meaning, symbolising four cardinal elements of our inner universe - Water (Emotions), Earth (Body), Air (Intellect) and Fire-Sun (Spirit). With the alchemy of contemporary technology, we join these elements into the magical unity of an artistic piece and invite you on a spiritual journey from the dark depths of the lagoon through the windy shifting sands into the endless sun-blazed skies.
On our way we meet the spirits emerging from the past of the Curonian Spit - the shipwreck of the mythic fisher Kastytis, settlements buried by sand, the oldest of which is nearly 4000 years old, French prisoners of war greening the sands, and Pre-WW2 gliders hunting for favourable winds. Eventually we arrive near the sundial of the Parnidis dune which counts cosmic time and connects it all somewhere up in a higher dimension.
The CD comes in a sustainable cardboard envelope along with a 6-page leaflet that includes detailed description, credits and other liner notes. In the envelope you will also find a photographic card set „Spirits of the Sand“. The reverse of the cards has a short evocative story - an itroduction to the musical content. Lastly there is a QR code inside which leads you to the listening recommendations. All items are bi-lingual (Lithuanian and English).
https://living-temples.bandcamp.com/album/spirits-of-the-sand-sm-lyn-dvasios-2023
|
2023 |
€13.00 |
|
| LOCKWOOD, ANNEA |
A Sound Map of the Housatonic River |
CD-R |
"I am fascinated by the multi-layered complexity of the sounds created by fast flowing rivers and have been exploring them for many years. An aural scan is a different experience from a visual scan - more intimate, I find. The energy flow of a river can be sensed very directly through the sounds created by the friction between current and riverbanks, current and riverbed.
This is a sonic map tracing the course of the 224 km Housatonic River, from the sources in the Berkshire mountains of Western Massachusetts to the river’s mouth at Milford, Long Island Sound (Connecticut, USA), recorded both at the surface and underwater, not from boats but along the riverbank at many sites, thus mirroring the changing river-created environment. I recorded using a Sound Devices recorder, a Shure VP88 microphone and an Offshore Acoustics hydrophone very kindly lent to me by composer Maggi Payne. Processing is minimal: some equalization was applied in the quieter sites." [Annea Lockwood] |
2012 |
€10.00 |
|
| LOCRIAN |
Return to Annihilation |
CD |
"Ein Kapitel wird geschlossen – ein neues Kapitel aufgeschlagen. Nur wenig scheint so reichhaltig wie die Chroniken LOCRIANs. Nach “The Clearing“ und den Split-Alben mit MAMIFFER und Christoph Heemann folgt nun also “Return To Annihilation“. Eine Herausforderung dieses Albums bestand für die Band darin, dass Terence Hannum mittlerweile viele Kilometer von André Foisy und Steven Hess entfernt wohnt. So tauschte die Band zunächst Ideen via Email aus, bevor sie sich für drei Tage ins Studio einschloss, um das Album aufzunehmen.
Entlang des ersten Durchlaufs fällt auf, dass die Musiker auf “Return To Annihilation“ noch fokussierter gearbeitet haben. Die große räumliche Distanz, mit der die Bandmitglieder umzugehen lernen mussten, scheint doch eher eine nahe Ferne gewesen zu sein. Das Zusammenspiel ist noch konzentrierter, die Improvisationen sind noch besser abgestimmt. Zudem hat man das Gefühl, dass LOCRIAN durch ihre verschiedenen Kollaborationen und Tätigkeiten in den diversen Nebenprojekten Facetten freigelegt und entdeckt haben, die gleichzeitig als eine Art Türöffner für ihre neuen Ideen fungieren. Ihre schöpferischen Ressourcen zeigen sich ideenprall und die Frische sowie die Freude beim Kreieren von Musik sind dem Album deutlich anzuhören.
Das erste Stück “Eternal Return“ eröffnet hymnisch. Verschachtelte Synthesizerspuren, krachendes Schlagwerk, vorpreschende Gitarrensounds und ein bis in die tiefste Innerwelt berührender, fauchender Schreigesang lassen den Kurs des Albums erahnen. Doch jene Richtung führt nicht über vorgebahnte Wege. Es werden Schneisen ins Unterholz geschlagen, die Pfade ins Unbegangene oder hier konkret ins Ungehörte eröffnen. Im Fortlauf folgt “A Visitation From The Wrath Of Heaven“. Mächtige Electronics verrätseln diesen nächsten Gang, dazu rummst Steven Hess mit seiner Herzschlagtrommel, bevor der Gesang das Stück zu einem choralartigen Wunderwerk aufbaut, um kurze Zeit später abrupt abzubrechen. Und bereits hier lässt sich vermuten, dass sich LOCRIAN bei den Aufnahmen gegenseitig noch stärker angetrieben zu haben scheinen als auf den Vorgängerveröffentlichungen. Bei “Two Moons“ werden von Sekunde zu Sekunde andere Aspekte in den Vordergrund gerückt, dadurch entsteht ein dröhnendes Gebilde, welches sich von allen Stücken wohl am stärksten Einhegungsversuchen entzieht. Die Besonderheit dieses Albums liegt neben der Unvorhersehbarkeit auch darin, dass die Amerikaner ihrer Impulsfülle nachgeben, jedoch dabei niemals ihren Wiedererkennungswert verlieren. Der Wechsel von stürmischen und ruhigen Passagen wirkt nicht konstruiert, sondern entwickelt sich natürlich. Das Titelstück “Return To Annihilation“ führt den choralartigen Gesang fort, dazu hämmert ein Bolz-Drum, die Gitarren krachen Gewitter ähnlich. Ein orchestrales, dröhnendes Brausen zeigt dessen Entladung. Das Ambient lastige, rauschhaltige “Exiting The Hall Of Vapor And Light“ zieht hinter diesen Gewitterwolken auf und beruhigt das vorher Aufgewühlte. Dem schließt sich kontrastierend die Krachsinfonie “Panorama Of Mirrors“ an. Den Abschluss bildet das 15minütige “Obsolete Elegies“, welches alle Weggabelungen und Wetterlagen des Albums vereint und final den tiefsten, sich selbst beschleunigenden Wirbel in die eingeschlagene Schneise bricht.
“Return To Annihilation“ ist durchwirkt vom Überraschenden aus dem Dunklen. Es umgürtet die Arbeit der Amerikaner. Hervorgerufen wurde es durch wahre Passion, die sich in der dem Album inhärenten Wucht offenbart. Viele Bands verlieren im Laufe der Jahre die Dunkelheit der Anfangstage und verwalten ihre kreative Ausbleichung. Nicht so LOCRIAN – das Dunkle wird hier nicht abgeschabt, sondern in seinen Stufungen neu ausgeleuchtet. André Foisy sprach davon, dass “Return To Annihilation“ das bisher wichtigste Album in der Bandgeschichte sei. Das schürt Erwartungen. Von einem Höhepunkt, vom Gelungenen kann immer dann gesprochen werden, wenn Erwartungen ihre Einlösung finden. Wenn das Ergebnis übergroße Schatten auf hohe Erwartungen wirft, kann vom Bleibenden gesprochen werden. Dieses Ergebnis wird sich auf die Erwartungen im Vorfeld der nächsten Veröffentlichung aufprägen. Eine Klimax gen Unendlichkeit – oder die nimmer endenden Chroniken LOCRIANs." (D.L./ Blackmagazin]
"For a band so devoted to endings, the noise metallurgists of Locrian are surprisingly keen with beginnings, too. More than a year ago, Relapse Records announced they'd signed the Chicago-and-Baltimore trio. The move seemed surprising at the time, but not because Locrian’s electronics-and-effects-driven approach was at odds with the more orthodox heavy metal roster at Relapse; in fact, the label’s two decades are dotted by momentous dalliances with experimental music. Instead, before signing to Relapse, Locrian released a lot of music, a strategy that worked for a band putting out very limited editions on rather small labels but maybe not one meant for a fringe act now signed to an imprint as large as Relapse. Just how many Locrian eight-tracks or singles could and would Relapse actually handle?
Since the deal, though, Locrian have only issued three titles-- a re-release of one such short-run record bundled with new material, a glacial collaboration with kindred lurkers Mammifer, and a beautiful piece with German sound art veteran Christopher Heemann. After many consecutive years of several albums, splits, and singles each, Locrian went almost silent-- just not behind the scenes. All along, they were sketching, building, and refining Return to Annihilation, their proper Relapse debut and step into a much bigger spotlight. It's an auspicious new phase of their existence: Return to Annihilation is the most provocative and engaging Locrian album to date, a brilliant mystery that evades simplistic definitions by turning their historical din and destruction in on itself and, sometimes, back again.
In initial interviews for Return to Annihilation, Locrian-- multi-instrumentalist André Foisy, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Terrence Hannum and drummer Steven Hess-- spoke about the influence of Genesis on their new work. It felt to some like trolling, as there was no way the intricate (and sometimes awkward) prog rock of Genesis might have a substantive pull on music so ostensibly moonless and monolithic. But Return to Annihilation is intrinsically elusive, with twists so compelling and layers so deep that each listen reveals a half-dozen new facets. The title track, for instance, is a three-part suite. Locrian begins with the primal, repetitive wallop of Swans, repurposed with industrial accessories. Despite the aggressive delivery, it feels tunefully poppy, beckoning the listener forward just before the song shifts into a cataclysmic drone. Smothering electronics battle with piercing guitars, shaping a stalemate of willpowers. Hess’ drums goad the band forward again, hitting a climax that’s dense but buoyant, like the phosphorescent coda of a melodramatic post-millenial black metal epic. Though this is a triptych of distinct sections, the parts are strangely cohesive, blending into one another as a balance of extremes.
For 50 minutes, Return to Annihilation runs like a whirlwind journey that you must mentally revisit when it’s done playing. Indeed, during the last three months, I’ve listened to this record a few dozen times, and each trip through only seems to solicit more questions about the material itself-- about its balance between corroded metal and coruscated drone, about its strange sense of enveloping atmosphere and unstoppable propulsion, about the completed puzzle and its complex constituent pieces. Sometimes its 15-minute closer, “Obsolete Elegies”, feels like an exhalation of relief, with muted piano and long-tone violin suggesting Pelt plundering the workshop of La Monte Young; other times, the quaking electronics and plodding guitar of the same piece intimate a hangman’s anthem, a steady gaze directed over and over again toward another imminent death.
What’s most rewarding about Return to Annihilation is this sense of narrative and emotional limbo, or the feeling that supposedly staunch binaries-- birth and death, beauty and brutality, triumph and defeat-- function exclusively in interrelated arcs. Sure, there are entire tracks here that feel more nihilistic or uplifting than others. The neon guitars and escalating drum patterns of “Eternal Return” are exultant enough to soundtrack an action movie’s climax, while “Exiting the Hall of Vapor and Light” fashions a great, gray canvas from static and distortion, a diorama of nothingness. But in every instance, defeat and relief seem only to be dissolving through one another, not pushing one another from the frame. The guitars in “Vapor and Light” slink into patterns that don’t resolve, but for an instant, they bubble into the sort of ebullient loop that you might hear on a Dustin Wong record; it’s like glimpsing light at the end of a tunnel that’s so big you didn’t even know you were surrounded. And “Eternal Return” takes shape around bitterly shouted imprecations and swells of background noise so strong they sometimes threaten to push the ascension off track. Return to Annihilation forever demands that you decide for yourself-- or, of course, don’t.
In the past, Locrian albums have seemed to me almost uniformly doomed, with their lyrics about industrial decay and blizzards of irascible tones creating an atmosphere of general oppression. But Return to Annihilation implicitly urged me to revisit those earlier records and to listen for, if not foreshadowing, signs that there’d been more ambiguity and complexity at work than I’d first supposed. And there is: The great Drenched Lands seems more forgiving than I’d perceievd, as if its excoriation of society is more of a way out than a mere self-excommunication. Moments of The Clearing, particularly the electrostatically foreboding “Coprolite”, sound in retrospect as if they are trying to climb out of the dark, even if they don’t succeed. Return to Annihilation, then, feels like a perfect nexus of Locrian’s past and future. This is the rare album that reveals new depth within a catalog that already seemed so deep and ruminative while proclaiming rather unlimited possibilities for a band nearing the end of its first decade. It’s a beginning refashioned from expired endings-- as it turns out, an essential Locrian idea." [Pitchfork]
www.relapse.com
www.relapse.com
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| LOCRIAN & MAMIFFER |
Bless them that curse you |
do-LP |
"Bless Them That Curse You captures an unprecedented balance of claustrophobia and solace. It's a strange alchemy to render something both inviting and alienating; it requires a special kind of skill to create music that sounds like it's rattling apart at its seams, unraveling in a torturous but compelling fashion. It demands an acknowledgement of the fine line between noise and racket, between tension and tedium. Finding an interpersonal chemistry to pull it off can take years of searching and refinement. Initiated by a history of record swapping and mutual admiration, Chicago's Locrian and Seattle's Mamiffer managed to accomplish such a feat. Since their inception, Locrian's sound has thrived on harnessing emotional resonance through texture and space. Highlighting a specific melody or beat in their music is unnecessary; their ability to trigger unease, fear, despair, and paranoia by playing with dynamics in timbre and timing is the central fixture in their work. While the Chicago trio's approach is certainly unorthodox, they are not without sonic peers. Seattle duo Mamiffer similarly explores new territories in sound by marrying fragmented elements of neoclassical, drone, and proto-industrial dirge into compositions that are beguiling, haunting, and occasionally violent. Originating as a solo project for pianist Faith Coloccia, the project grew to encompass husband Aaron Turner and a rotating cast of guest musicians. Coloccia's work, by nature, is malleable and suited towards the collaborative process. The collaboration between the two groups yielded some of the most beautiful material Locrian has ever recorded, and inversely pushed Mamiffer into the most caustic of new territories. Composed and recorded in Chicago at the renowned Electrical Audio studio, the album is the result of two disparate approaches arriving at one cohesive voice. It's at turns contemplative and reserved, unnerving and unsettling, thunderous and feral. Aided by the engineering prowess of Greg Norman, the mixing skill of Randall Dunn, and the auxiliary instrumentation of Alex Barnett (Oakeater) and Brian Cook (Russian Circles), Bless Them That Curse You is a richly textured study in an unconventional creative process, blending fine-tuned synchronicity with spontaneous brute force. Limited edition of 550, packaged in deluxe LP fold out designed by Faith Coloccia. Double LP on three sides. Clear and grey
brown vinyl." [label info]
www.utechrecords.com
|
2012 |
€29.50 |
|
| LOGOTHETIS, ANESTIS |
Hör!Spiel / Nekrologlog 1961 / Fantasmata 1960 |
LP |
"The Greek avant-garde composer Anestis Logothetis was noted for his pioneering tape techniques as well as developing his own notation system for composition that incorporated visual symbols meant to be interpreted by the performers. '"Hör!-spiel"/Nekrologlog 1961/Fantasmata 1960' collects 3 of his most famous works, realized in Vienna where he spent much of the 1940s-1960s. After completing studies at the music academy there, in the 1950s Logothetis became enamored of 20th century composers like John Cage and Earle Brown, and moved away from traditional composition for orchestras and performers in favor of fully electronic composition in the late '50s. A groundbreaking composer and electronic musician, Logothetis has long been underappreciated by the world of avant-garde and electronic musicians but Fantôme Phonographique seeks to rectify that issue with this brilliant release." |
2018 |
€18.00 |
|
| LOPEZ, FRANCISCO |
A sudden pest of droning pseudoinsects |
4 x 7inch |
SOUNDART pur! Sehr ästhetisch-kunstvolle Veröffentlichung eines neuen spanischen Labels in winziger Auflage von 100 Stück: Vier 7"-Singles in edlem weissem Vinyl in weissem Klappcover - die Aufnahmen wurden von LOPEZ für eine Rotterdamer Klanginstallation bereits 1994 gemacht, zur vollen Entfaltung kommen die Klänge bei gleichzeitigem Einsatz und Mix mit vier Plattenspielern. Auch einzeln abgespielt verschaffen sich mächtig-minimale Microsound-Dronescapes in vier verschiedenen Frequenzbetonungen & Klangfärbungen Raum.
"4x7 set, new release from F.L on Spanish label EOZOÖN editions. 4x7s to be played alone or mixed and re-eq'd with four turntables (highly recommended!!) Sounds cover a large frequency range for maxim effect!! Stunning all white folder with 4 x white vinyl 7s. 'A sudden pest of droning pseudoinsects' was presented as a sound installation in the event '220v Klankpark' at the Museum Park of Rotterdam (Summer 1994), organized by v2_Organisatie. Composed and recorded at Messor Studios (Madrid) in 1994, remastered at Mobile Messor in 2002." [label info]
|
2006 |
€38.00 |
|
|
Untitled single piece 1 (SOLD OUT) |
7inch |
first edition:
white vinyl, ultra-violet stamped label,
stamped white covers, 250 copies
released December 1996
second edition:
white vinyl, stamped covers, 300 copies
"This is more than just two musical pieces on a record! This is something experiment for your mind & body! This is like being underwater, experiencing a new acoustic dimension! Francisco Lopez from Madrid is a scientist
and sound-researcher who has been culturally active since 1983. He has released lots of cassettes in the 80's and now begins to release more and more work, also on cd's. His works are more conceptual and cognitive experiences
than conventionally approached music. This unique piece of work consists of ultra-deep frequencies that can -nearly- not be heard anymore but felt! It's the first part of a
4 e.p.- series (others will appear on banned prod., cohort records and povertech industries, all usa) to be released this and next year. This music manifests for a unique sensual
experience! "this donisis will change your view on what music could be!" [label info] |
1996 |
€ |
|
|
Untitled (2017) |
CD |
‘untitled#354’ created from original environmental sound matter recorded worldwide between 1995 and 2016. This piece was commissioned by Sónar Festival for their 2018 25th Anniversary project ‘Sónar Calling GJ273b’ (www.sonarcalling.com/en), in which they invited a few artists to create short audio pieces for outer space transmission.
Original liner notes:
The outer space transmission of a 10-second sound piece (digital audio file) to planet ‘GJ 273 b’ of Luyten’s Star (12.5 light years from Earth) required dramatic levels of data compression: mono 8kHz 8-bit. Changes in resolution such as these, however, are not the only possible form of compression. The classic analog technique of pitch shifting by speeding up playback is, in a literal way, also a form of (relatively) reversible temporal compression.
Using this idea, I proceeded by: (1) creating a sound piece with 10x 1-minute sections from original environmental recordings I did in wilderness locations around the world [see timeline notes below]; (2) speeding up by pitch-shifting enough octaves to have those 10 minutes time-compressed into 10 seconds; (3) finally applying the required resolution compression for the transmission digital file. Interestingly, the resulting audio from this process distictively resembles signals from satellites and some celestial bodies, as received and heard from Earth.
If any intelligent beings in exoplanet ‘GJ 273 b’ can receive, decode, make sense of, and reverse data compression of the audio digital file (by means of any equivalents of reconstruction algorithms or analytic inversion formulas in their culture), I am pretty sure they will easily figure out its time-compression reversibility. If they do –and assuming they have the techno-anatomical/cognitive equivalents of D/A converters, amps, speakers, ears, and brains– they will be able to have a sonic glimpse of Earth’s ecosystems and some of their non-human creatures (as of the turn of the 21st century; or 12.5 Earth-years into their past). This way, they will be able to make a more informed decision as to how to proceed.
‘untitled#354’ Timeline:
00:00 Costa Rica – Rainforest (Mesoamerican)
01:00 Peru – Rainforest (Amazonian)
02:00 Argentina (Patagonia) – Desert
03:00 Spain/Morocco (Chafarinas Islands) – Ocean
04:00 South Africa – Savanna
05:00 Nepal (Himalayas) – High mountain
06:00 Myanmar – Swamp
07:00 Malaysia (Borneo) – Rainforest (Southeast Asian)
08:00 Japan – Park
09:00 New Zealand – Forest
‘untitled#357’ created from original environmental sound matter recorded at Mmabolela Reserve (South Africa) during the Austral summer of 2017.
credits
released March 8, 2019
Created in 2017 at ‘mobile messor’ (Den Haag, Milano, Zurich, Cagliari, Copenhagen, Mmabolela) and ‘Dune Studio’ (Loosduinen).
(c) francisco lópez 2017 – www.franciscolopez.net
(p) AufAbwegen 2019 – www.aufabwegen.de
Thanks to Barbara Ellison, Sergi Caballero, Enric Les Palau, Jorge Simonet and Pablo Blanco.
https://aufabwegen.bandcamp.com/album/untitled-2017 |
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Untitled # 284 |
CD |
“Behind every image, something has disappeared. And that is the source of its fascination. Behind virtual reality in all its forms [...] the real has disappeared. And that is what fascinates everyone. According to the official
version, we worship the real and the reality principle, but — and this is the source of the current suspense — is it, in fact, the real we worship, or its disappearance?”
[Jean Baudrillard, “Why hasn’t everything already disappeared?”
Translated by Chris Turner, Seagull Books 2009]
“untitled #284” was created in 2011 by extensive evolutionary transformation of original environmental recordings made in Lisbon during the year of 1992. These sources were recovered for a commission of the Teatro Municipal Maria Matos, where the composition was premiered on 16 July 2011.
Francisco López is internationally recognized as one of the major figures of the sound art and experimental music scene. Over the past 40 years he has developed an astonishing sonic universe, absolutely personal and iconoclastic, based on a profound listening of the world. Destroying boundaries between industrial sounds and wilderness sound environments, shifting with passion from the limits of perception to the most dreadful abyss of sonic power, proposing a blind, profound and transcendental listening, freed from the imperatives of knowledge and open to sensory and spiritual expansion.
He has realized hundreds of concerts, projects with field recordings, workshops and sound installations in 70 countries of the six continents. His extensive catalog of sound pieces (with live and studio collaborations with over 150 international artists) has been released by more than 350 record labels worldwide, and he has been awarded four times with honorary mentions at the competition of Ars Electronica Festival.
https://cronica.bandcamp.com/album/untitled-284
|
2012 |
€12.00 |
|
| LOPEZ, FRANCISCO / MICHAEL GENDREAU |
Untitled # 185 / Drowning |
LP |
Split-LP des ex-CRAWLING WITH TARTS Mitglieds MICHAEL GENDREAU mit dem spanischen Puristen FRANCISCO LOPEZ - Vinyl-Kratzer & Rauschen von Auslaufrillen uralter Platten, aber auch die Geräusche der Mechanik & Motoren von antiken Plattenspielern dienten als Klangquelle für diese Bearbeitungen, ein Meer von low-fi Knirschen, Rascheln & Geknister, von multiplen 'white Noise'-Flächen und rhythmisch-repetitiven Mustern, so ungewöhnlich & wie überraschend im Verlauf...
"Francisco Lopez is perhaps best known for his dynamic studio and live performances that sway between crushing silence and dynamic, shifting volume swells. Over the course of 25 years, Lopez has developed and honed a refined audio lexicon. Michael Gendreau entered the experimental sound community in the early 1980s with his project Crawling With Tarts. As a solo artist, Gendreau caught everyone¹s attention with the 2002 release of his CD 55 pas de la ligne, composed of recordings based on old turntables and one-of-a-kind LPs.
For this LP, Gendreau, a trained acoustician, used extremely refined microphones--designed for acoustic and vibrational research--to record sounds such as turntable motor hum, belts, and run out grooves on records more than 70 years old. His side is an incredible journey through a forest of alternately prickly and soothing sounds. Lopez used similar source material for his side, creating a refined oceanic wall of sound constructed from crackle, hum, and scratches. This LP is in a numbered edition of 500 copies and signed by both artists." [label website info]
"Francisco Lopez has previously collaged vinyl crackle and hiss with aplomb on his untitled 92, and Michael Gendreau has worked with similar material on his 55 pas de la ligne au no. 3. both return to the materiality of vinyl run out grooves and the internal mechanics of the turntable as sources for this exceptional split release, with each artist applying their own conceptual and aesthetic sensibilities to the sounds. Lopez amplifies and overlays tactile sounds of hissing vinyl into an industrial din whose crescendo abruptly cuts to a wheeze of spiralling surface noise. Where lopez concentrates on the output of his turntable, gendreau focuses on the mechanical object itself, deftly recording the belts, motors and cranks of antique turntables, and using sensitive microphones to explore the ghostly musical pssages that creep between the rumble of wooden resonance and crackle." [Jim Haynes, the Wire (November 2006)]
"....His piece, 'Untitled #184' is audible throughout, and is a densely layered carpet of sound all sorts of sounds coming from vinyl. It hisses, pops and cracks in all sorts of ways, but never in an overtly rhythmic manner. It seems to me that Lopez created all of this by making many layers of sounds and removing any possibility of repetition. The piece by Gendreau uses similar sounds, but here musical elements leak through, or perhaps are created by the various possibilities of playing the records with motors, swift speed change and such like. Whereas Lopez creates a mass of sound, Gendreau presents an audio collage. Two possibilities of working with material like this. Two great examples of those possibilities. Richly textured and no doubt will go down for the very adventurous DJs." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2006 |
€8.00 |
|
| LOPEZ, FRANCISCO WITH VALENTINA LACMANOVIC |
With/In |
CD |
"Francisco López is internationally recognized as one of the major figures of the sound art and experimental music scene. For more than thirty years he has developed an astonishing sonic universe, absolutely personal and iconoclastic, based on a profound listening of the world. Destroying boundaries between industrial sounds and wilderness sound environments, shifting with passion from the limits of perception to the most dreadful abyss of sonic power, proposing a blind, profound and transcendental listening, freed from the imperatives of knowledge and open to sensory and spiritual expansion. He has realized hundreds of concerts, projects with field recordings, workshops and sound installations in over sixty countries of the five continents. His extensive catalog of sound pieces (with live and studio collaborations with over 150 international artists) has been released by more than 300 record labels worldwide. He has been awarded four times with honorary mentions at the competition of Ars Electronica Festival and is the recipient of the Qwartz Award 2010 for best sound anthology. Since 1999 Valentina Lacmanović has researched dances from different cultures through their ritual, folk, classic, and contemporary aspects. From 2001 onwards, her work has been focused on the creation of dance-theater and multimedia performances where Eastern and Western worlds meet. She has worked intensively on creating performances inspired by dances of trance and collaborates with artists from various disciplines. Profound research into dances of trance and ritual versus performing spaces since 2003 gave new direction to her work as an art director and performer. Her investigations into whirling dance led to insights into its origins and practice extending beyond Sufi meditation that supply an inexhaustible source of artistic inspiration and contemporary creativity, ultimately resulting in the project Shedervish, which marked an important change in her artistic development. “With/In” features one long track created by Francisco López with original sound matter recorded from body, clothes and immediate surrounding space during ritual whirling by Valentina Lacmanović. As subtle as the almost invisible image that appears on the back cover, this work translate the dancer’s breath and movements into music. One of the most interesting concepts in López later works and surely one of the best entries in his ever-growing discography." [label info]
www.silentes.net
"It's been recently slow (?) - it seems - with releases by Francisco Lopez. Here he has new work which the cover notes 'created with original sound matter recorded from body, clothes and immediate surrounding space during ritual whirling by Valentina Lacmanovic'. She is dancer, who studied in Croatia, France, Spain, Turkey, India and The Netherlands where she now lives. "Her main focus is a contemporary view of dances of trance, and research on convergences and divergences between contemporary western and oriental performing arts, in collaboration with musicians, video-artists, film-makers, dancers, and experts in fields of science, including physics, anthropology, ethnology, and psychoanalysis." The ritual aspect is important. I assume the music from Lopez here is both a musical registration of what she does - a field recording of dancing - as well as maybe a soundtrack to one of her dances? Either way. The immediate surrounding aspect is because she moves around, obviously, which makes we hear lots of aspects of her dancing. Her feet on the floor, her dress moving about or a lengthy section using her voice, breathing heavily. Lopez creates lots of loops out of this, smaller and longer and quite usually plays a lot of those at the same time. He filters them radically, occasionally, and sometimes a few drop in or out of the mix, so that quite a vibrant mix remains. The effect of swirling remains present throughout and throughout there is always 'something to hear', but that's recently with most of the Lopez CDs. It moves from the quite low end range to the very high end range and everything in between. A fine work by Lopez, and maybe the most innovative element here is the choice of sound input." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| LOPEZ, JAY-DEA |
The Australian Gothic |
CD |
"Long before the fact of Australia was ever confirmed by explorers and cartographers it had already been imagined as a grotesque space, a land peopled by monsters. The idea of its existence was disputed, was even heretical for a time, and with the advent of the transportation of convicts its darkness seemed confirmed. The Antipodes was a world of reversals, the dark subconscious of Britain. It was, for all intents and purposes, Gothic par excellence, the dungeon of the world.
Gerry Turcotte (Australian Gothic. University of Wollongong.1998).
The Australian Gothic : a creative genre emphasising the terrors of isolation in this post-colonial land. The Australian Gothic exposes a tormented communal psyche weighted by dark secrets.
Australia, a country colonised in 1788 by unwilling convicts and prison guards. For these unfortunates Australia was a nightmarish location, its foreign terrain provoked feelings of fear and alienation. Gone was the British gothic landscape of moors and heaths. In its place were dangerous animals, deserts, bush-fires, floods and droughts. The comfortability of the known European landscape was replaced by this new unstable setting.
Integral to the colonisers’ sense of dislocation and dread was the Australian soundscape. Reading journals and novels from this era it is evident that the aural dimensions of the Australian landscape were strongly perceived in gothic terms of enclosure and entrapment. The vastness of the deserts unsettled the first colonisers who remarked upon its deathlike silence, while in the forests the mass of unfamiliar sounds induced intense feelings of fear and disorientation. This sparked feelings of loathing towards the newly colonised space, including the Aboriginal people. In the Australian Gothic tradition the landscape sounded alive, it surrounded and entrapped with suffocating force.
Growing up in a region where Aboriginal artifacts from the pre-colonial era could readily be found under shallow soil the bloody layers of history have always sat uncomfortably with me. We live on stolen land, a place where immoral and bloody actions happened in the recent past. We have a sense of un-belonging to this country. It is part of the Australian Gothic experience.
With this in mind I collected field recordings in my local valley of Main Arm, a place like much of Australia, partly suburban, partly open for farming. I wanted to create a composition that featured field recordings, both modified and unmodified, of sounds from local farms. Could we imagine ourselves in the past, a time when the steady expansion of farms into traditional Aboriginal land was a primary source of frontier conflict?
Listening to the composition I hope a sense of unease and dread is provoked through its combination of sounds. Yet somewhere underneath its layers there is the suggestion of beauty, of what could have been. Listen and be transported into the fabric of Australia’s Gothic experience. (Jay-Dea Lopez, May 2015)" [website info]
www.unfathomless.net
|
2015 |
€14.00 |
|
| LOPEZ, SUSANA (AKA SUSAN DRONE) |
Cronica de un Secuestro |
CD |
"Elevator Bath is well pleased to present "Crónica de un secuestro," the proper debut album from multidisciplinary artist Susana López.
These compositions were created in March 2020, during the lockdown, as the artist understandably experienced feelings of isolation, of being cloistered against her will. Perhaps this explains the album's attention to space. The notions of movement and exploration pervade the early pieces on this epic collection. The expansive drone and panning rhythms of album opener, "Luz Negra," seem to create an infinite landscape, which seamlessly continues through the title track and all the way to the pure field recordings at work in "Ibn Arabi." The walls begin to close in as "Crónica de un secuestro" progresses, however, culminating with the claustrophobia of closing track, "The Last Wave." The sonic openness is still present, yet the unrelenting, ominous tones remind us of our modern predicament: We are still confined; held as if kidnapped.
For the creation of "Crónica de un secuestro," Susana López's primary raw materials were transformed field recordings, humanized synthesizers, synthesized voices, and deconstructed drum machines. This work explores the effects that the combination of these disparate sources can produce in the listener; López's interest lies in the building of immersive experiences. The sounds found within "Crónica de un secuestro" then aim to act as a catalyst for the focusing of consciousness (and the altering of perception). The end result belongs to a kind of magical realism, potentially allowing the listener to escape into a new dimension.
Susana López is an experimental composer, visual artist, and performer based in Murcia, Spain." [label info]
https://susanloop.bandcamp.com/album/cr-nica-de-un-secuestro
|
2020 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
The Edge of the Circle |
CD |
Packaged inside a full-color, 6-panel digipak featuring spot gloss printing and Susana López's mysterious artwork
Susana López returns to Elevator Bath with the follow-up to her critically acclaimed album, "Crónica de un secuestro" (2020). That release showcased López's refined approach to audio exploration, which predominantly utilizes field recordings, electronically generated sounds, and layers of vocal harmonics. With "The Edge of the Circle," similar techniques have been employed, but the final product is an altogether more ominous affair, relying heavily on atmosphere in the creation of dense clouds of hypnotic, foreboding sound.
"The Edge of the Circle" portrays a kind of abstract narrative that comprises five concentric rings rather than chapters. The work suggests an initial departure along an open road; a tumultuous journey through an intense storm; a trek along a menacing footpath; a wilderness populated by wandering spirits; and finally, a majestic, enormous hall in which those spirits dwell.
With this new work, Susana López has created a vividly expressive sound cycle redolent of mythic archetypes and rich symbolism. Above all, however, "The Edge of the Circle" is a highly compelling piece of dark ambient artistry and a welcome return for a fascinating, singular composer in peak form.
Susana López is an experimental composer, visual artist, and performer based in Murcia, Spain.
"The Edge of the Circle" is released digitally and as a compact disc in an edition of 200 copies. Susana López's intricate and evocative artwork (inspired by a cosmological diagram of Ibn Arabi (1165-1240): Murcian philosopher, poet, traveler, and wise man) graces the six-panel digipak, inside and out.
"Sound creations that explore the cycle of human birth, growth, and death. Oeuvre that thinks over the transitional point between being and non-being, or the line that split the organic and the inorganic. A sonic meditation about the substance that is co-existent in the universe with time and space instead of existing within them. These sonorities burrow the psyche’s inner depths and are slowly going down inwards of the organic structure, traveling unto the formless void preceding the creation or the Nothingness."
https://susanloop.bandcamp.com/album/the-edge-of-the-circle
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| LOSCIL |
Submers |
do-LP |
"Submers is the second album from the Vancouver-based Scott Morgan aka Loscil. All of the tracks are named after submarines, the final cut being a requiem for the crew of the ill fated Russian nuclear vessel Kursk. Recorded at home on computer with samples and keyboards used as sound sources, Submers is rife with source less echoes, steely surfaces and ominous melodic and rhythmic undertows. The sifted melodies are layered over muffled, clicking and pulsing rhythm tracks with an appropriately aquatic feel to the entire album." [press release]
"Peruse the ether for reviews of this album, and surely you will see writers invoking oceans and blue depths. After all, a collection whose tracks are odes to submarines straightforwardly invites such imagery. But come to think of it philosophically, submarines are also spaceships. While engaging this work I always remember a line by Poet Malena Morling. It went something like, “I always wonder about space, how it never ends.” I believe Submers comprehends “endless space” as much as it probes “oceanic depth.”
This album, and Loscil’s work, in general, has a oneiric quality, in that Mr. Morgan helps you traverse vast spaces while remaining still. The songs are impeccably organized bouquets of circulating, oscillating, chattering, hissing, placating, and agitating layers of audible vibrations, that pool, and loop together slowly, only to (slowly) wind down and die out. To one’s amusement and dismay, Submers is primarily created by complex organizations of filtered and manipulated samples from the western classical universe.
In the feel of these tracks, there is a lingering want for something intangible and more extensive than ourselves as I am propelled into the unknown unknowns by Argonaut I, and Gymnote. The space hums with deep bass. The timbre is beautifully unique and hard to find in vinyl pressings of electronic work. These two tracks could represent the last flickering lights of a submarine shining on a giant skeleton as the sailors plummet into depths that haven’t seen the light in a million years. These tracks could also represent a voyage into luminous fractal formations of constellations in uncharted galaxies.
Speaking of which, I often felt Loscil’s work has a fractal quality where same patterns repeat to infinite depths. For example, in Nautilus the beat design is enveloped by an aura of low-frequency sounds interspersed by uncanny flutes. The tracks take us to a state where everything seems vast; after all, it could also be as if we have become tiny insects looking at the magnified world with the wonder of space travel.
I find myself walking towards Loscil’s LPs in many improvisatory and premeditated mix sets. I especially love the track Resurgam, as the melodic movements could be easily harmonized and improvised with the beauty of an evening Raga like Yaman Kalyan. In the mix Rain of Rivers (@ Queitcalm Records) I especially enjoyed playing Resurgam as an accentuated bridge between Deru’s soulfully sad 1979 and the eerily beautiful melodic journeys of Everything (by Ben Lukas Boysen and Sebastian Plano). In “My Immaculate Morsels of Sadness” I could not help but allow Submers to arrive twice in the form of Triton and Gymnote, so as to converse and juxtapose with the dramatic compositional elements of Robot Koch and Cinematic Orchestra.
If you chance upon this work, be prepared to travel, inside and out, submerged, looking through a periscope or a telescope. Perhaps someday Loscil will have an album meditating on spaceships, but until then this is it." [Drastic Steps]
https://loscil.bandcamp.com/album/submers
|
2018 |
€32.50 |
|
| LOTUS EATERS |
same (SOLD OUT) |
7 |
“The LOTUS EATERS is a kind of droning trio of known musicians from the States, in which we find STEPHEN O’MALLEY [(SUNN O)): , BURNING WITCH, KHANATE], AARON TURNER [label founder of HydraHead-Records in Boston, member of ISIS], and JAMES PLOTKIN [one of the most creative & experimental underground – guitarists around, being member of O.L.D., SCORN, TRIFID PROJECT, and now ATOMSMASHER, and working currently in many solo- and collaboration projects] with only one 12” vinyl-release and few concerts to date. The two untitled pieces of this, their first 7” E.P. consists of concrete rumblings & ambience, something like accordeon–drones in the background, a voice/singing appears from the distance, and acoustic guitar-elements, added by some strange effects going on in the background.. the atmosphere is one of a melancholic, but in a way also mellowed “different state of mind”, a very unique melting plot of characters & music !” [press release July 2002]
WHITE VINYL WITH YELLOW SPOTS. PRINTED FULL-COLOUR COVERS DESIGNED BY SELDON HUNT. INNER-COVER IS YELLOW PRINTED. SECOND EDITION OF 300 COPIES.
|
2004 |
€6.00 |
|
| |
Mind Control for Infants |
do-LP |
"Lotus Eaters is Stephen O'Malley (Sunn O))), KTL, etc.), James Plotkin (Khanate, Phantomsmasher, etc.) and Aaron Turner (Isis, Old Man Gloom, etc.). Initially released on CD in 2002 by Neurot Recordings, Mind Control For Infants has been expanded, remixed and rearranged for this vinyl edition using alternate takes from the original recording sessions. Quietly subversive and contemplative, Mind Control For Infants features droning and silvery finger-picked guitars that conjure holy states, grumbling thunderclouds, and dark metal ambience that breathes in the stillness. This version also incorporates reconfigured material from "Marijuana," the group's contribution to The Ajna Offensive 4CD+book compilation, Infernal Proteus. This ultra-deluxe double LP release was cut direct to metal and pressed on 200 gram virgin vinyl. It comes housed in an old-style Stoughton tip-on gatefold jacket wrapped in foil-stamped brown linen with an 8x8" offset print mounted on the front cover. Heavy-duty printed innersleeves with flooded pockets are also included. Presented in a limited edition of 1000. Black vinyl." [label info]
www.taigarecords.com
|
2009 |
€33.00 |
|
| LOVESLIESCRUSHING |
Girl.Echo.Suns.Veils |
CD |
"space/ambient/drone from a veteran progenitor. scott cortez’s guitar is processed nearly to the point of unrecognizability, leaving behind veils and walls of shimmery droning bliss. glossolalic female voice glides spectral and luminescent through the walls of sound; sheets of noise; glossy, ethereal. lovesliescrushing makes noise sound beautiful.
leave all the accidents: find beauty in grit, in dust, in noise. in the mess.
formed in 1991, lovesliescrushing took the my bloody valentine / cocteau twin template and added a new twist: turning the formula inside out by using the detritus, the residue from other songs, the scraps of a song, a single note, a single chord here, a melody there or a dense wall of guitar. take the parts most bands consider throwaway accidents, filler, those little parts between songs on loveless and work them to reveal their realization as a full-blown song. ‘the formula’ is simple, almost childlike. remove the drums, the bass, use no synths or keyboards, remove all of the typical rock/pop shoegaze trappings, use what is left and record on a 4 track porta-studio. simple.
that they were able to weave this all together, despite removing everything, would have made most bands run in terror. yet in that manner, lovesliescrushing found its sound.
GIRL ECHO SUNS VEILS gathers music from the vast backlog of the lovesliescrushing library. some of it has appeared before, some of it is unreleased. all of this material was reworked and perfected by cortez until he decided it was ready for release. the music is almost two decades old, but sounds like it was recorded yesterday by one of a handful of newgaze, ambient bands (fennes, belong) that have become stylish recently. llc sounds completely contemporary, and yet llc was doing it back in the early 90s, without studios, without laptops! perhaps that is the most shocking aspect to their music. it is a testament to the work of lovesliescrushing, an obscure band that could and did.
lovesliescrushing can sound like a jet engine tuned to an am radio station tuned to an orchestra tuning up or a gigantic blurry drone cloud.
GIRL ECHO SUNS VEILS is a comprehensive look at an invisible band’s influence on the space/ambient/drone scene." [label info]
www.projekt.com
|
2010 |
€14.50 |
|
| LOWE, ROBERT AIKI AUBREY |
Levitation Praxis Pt. 4 |
LP |
"Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe’s incredible experiments with Harry Bertoia’s sound sculptures are here documented on this beautiful new edition for Demdike Stare’s DDS imprint, coinciding with his appearance on the cover of this months issue of The Wire magazine.
Lowe is something of a polymath; having started out as part of Math Rock outfit 90 day men and doom metal trio Om, he progressed to forge his own solo work (often under the Lichens moniker), as well as a whole slew of collaborations including work with Johann Johannsson on scoring both Arrival and Sicario, an acclaimed album with Ariel Kalma for RVNG Intl’s FRKWYS series, plus active involvement in site specific video art and sound installations. His most recent work under his own name has seen him release diverse music for Type, Latency, More Than Human and, of course DDS - who have with this album presented what might just be the most beautiful Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe artefact thus far.
In 2016 Lowe was commissioned by New York’s museum of Arts and Design to contribute to a Harry Bertoia exhibition, which he undertook alongside video director Johann Rashid. He was asked to create sound recordings with Sonambient sculptures; metal rods and gongs that produce highly distinct, resonant sounds when struck, brushed or touched. Beginning in 1968, Bertoia set up an eighteenth-century stone barn on his property in Barto, Pennsylvania, to house these sculptures and from which he would go on to record works for his highly collectable Sonambient label, as recently documented on Important Records’ breathtaking box set and reissue series. Lowe was given full access to the barn, beautifully filmed footage of which can be found on youtube.
Lowe’s work with these sculptures is quite unlike anything you might have heard from those original Bertoia recordings. Instead of serendipitous improvisation, Lowe weaves his way through the sculptures on a path that was mapped out in advance, imbuing them with a more “composed” and arranged feel. As well as that familiar and distinct sound palette, he subtly manipulates and feeds in vocal layers that take proceedings into ever more ethereal and haunting dimensions." [label info]
"Lowe is something of a polymath. Having started out in the math rock outfit 90 Day Men and later as member of doom metal trio Om, he progressed to forge his own solo work for celestial droneworks (occasionally under the moniker Lichens). He also embarked on a number of fruitful collaborations with Johann Johannsson and Ariel Kalma. His solo work also involves site-specific video art and sound installations.
In 2016, Lowe was commissioned by New York's Museum of Arts and Design to contribute to a Harry Bertoia retrospective. He was asked to create sound recordings with Bertoia's Sonambient sculptures – metal rods and gongs that produce highly distinct, resonant sounds when struck, brushed or touched. In 1968, Bertoia set up a studio in an eighteenth-century stone barn on his property in Pennsylvania to house these sculptures. With these sculptures, he would go on to record works for his collectable Sonambient label, as recently documented on Important Records' breathtaking box set and reissue series. Lowe was given full access to the barn, and Lowe's work with these sculptures is quite unlike anything you might have heard from those original Bertoia recordings. Instead of serendipitous improvisation, Lowe weaves his way through the sculptures on a path that was mapped out in advance, imbuing them with a more "composed" and arranged feel. As well as that familiar and distinct sound palette, he subtly manipulates and feeds in vocal layers that take proceedings into ever more ethereal and haunting dimensions." [Stranded Rec.]
|
2017 |
€20.00 |
|
| LUCIER, ALVIN |
Almost New York |
do-CD |
"CD 1 - Twonings: Charles Curtis, cello; Joseph Kubera, piano; Almost New York: Robert Dick, flutes; Broken Line: Robert Dick, flute; Danny Tunick, vibraphone; Joseph Kubera, piano
CD 2 - Coda Variations: Robin Hayward, tuba
Pogus is extremely delighted to release this 2 CD set of recordings of works by Alvin Lucier.
He is one of the key experimental artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, and is one of my favorite composers. A unique and individual artist: No one sounds quite like Alvin Lucier.
Lucier writes about the genesis of the works on this release:
"Since the early 1980's I have made a series of works for conventional musical instruments. Before that time I had been mainly occupied with the exploration of such phenomena as echoloca-tion, brain waves, room acoustics and the visual representation of sound. Often these works required special equipment-hand held pulse wave oscillators (Vespers), differential amplifiers (Music for Solo Performer), horseshoe magnets (Music on a Long Thin Wire). Then players began asking me for pieces. Now I needed to find a way of achieving the same poetry with acoustic instruments as I did with electronic means.
"One of the things I discovered was that players could create rhythmic patterns by closely tuning with electronically generated pure waves or with each other, producing audible beats. Often, to get continuous motion, I have one or more voices sweep up or down at various speeds against fixed sustained pitches. As a wave approaches a sustained pitch the audible beating slows down to zero when it reaches unison, then speeds up again as the wave leaves the pitch. Almost New York employs slow sweep pure wave oscillators, Broken Line, flute glissandi. In Twonings two different tuning systems collide and in Coda Variations slight variations in pitch are heard chronologically."
Recorded by Charles Curtis, Joseph Kubera, Robert Dick, Danny Tunick, and Robin Hayward - some of the leading new music performers of our era, these works are essential additions to the Alvin Lucier oeuvre, as well as satisfying anyone interested in great experimental music." [label info]
www.pogus.com
"Usually press texts say lots of things which is just the sort of thing record label use to exaggerate to drum up interest for their artist. But when Pogus writes about Alvin Lucier 'an unique and individual artist: no one sounds quite like Alvin Lucier', I can only agree. I sang praise for the work of Lucier before. His ongoing investigation into sound phenomena, with or without the use of instruments has been going on for more than forty years now, and brought him the status of a well-known composer. And when you are well-known, people will ask you for pieces, for them to perform. On 'Almost New York' we find four of those pieces, three on disc one and one on disc two. We have hear instruments we came across before in Lucier's work, such as piano, cello and flute. In 'Twonings' for cello (performed by Charles Curtis, who himself performed more work by Lucier, and released a 2CD by Antiopic - see Vital Weekly 498) and piano, we don't have any sweeping oscillations to be followed, but two closely tuned instruments, but with enough variation in pitches to clearly distinguish differences. In the title piece we have one player and five flutes, who follows two pure wave oscillators and moves between playing five flutes, not simultaneously of course. 'Broken Line' is, then again, more alike the first piece, but then staged for three instruments, flute, vibraphone and piano. The most radical work here is the piece 'Coda Variations', which takes up the entire second disc. Robin Hayward performs it on tuba. Based on eight notes from a Feldman piece, Lucier subjected them to seven sets of permutations of sixty-three notes each. No sine waves to play along, just the sound of single notes played at one time each, for almost fifty minutes. An intriguing work. Of these four pieces, there is only one which we could label as 'traditional Lucier' work, but the three others display probably just as well what Lucier, less the pure waves and all four are simply four more great pieces. Indeed: no one sounds quite like Alvin Lucier." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2011 |
€18.50 |
|
| |
Still and Moving Lines |
CD |
"Pogus is absolutely delighted to offer this new release featuring Australian new music ensemble Decibel performing four works by Alvin Lucier, three of which are previously unrecorded.
Ever Present (2002), the only work offered here that has been recorded before is for flute, saxophone, and piano with slow sweep pure wave oscillator and is considered by many to be Lucier’s most musical work. Carbon Copies (1989) is for saxophone, piano, flute and playback; the work investigates musicians imitating their environments. Hands (1994) is for organ with four players. The performers use their hands to subtly alter the harmonics produced from the pipes of an organ. Shelter (1967) is for vibration pickups, amplification system and enclosed space and finds Lucier offering the sounds of outside a performance space. All these works as always are amazing examples of Alvin Lucier’s fertile mind and exploring, experimental sensibility. One of the true originals.
Alvin Lucier was born in 1931 in Nashua, New Hampshire. He was educated in Nashua public and parochial schools, the Portsmouth Abbey School, Yale, and Brandeis and spent two years in Rome on a Fulbright Scholarship. Lucier has pioneered in many areas of music composition and performance, including the notation of performers' physical gestures, the use of brain waves in live performance, the generation of visual imagery by sound in vibrating media, and the evocation of room acoustics for musical purposes. His recent works include a series of sound installations and works for solo instruments, chamber ensembles, and orchestra in which, by means of close tunings with pure tones, sound waves are caused to spin through space.
Decibel are world leaders in the integration of acoustic instruments and electronics, pioneering electronic score formats, including the Decibel Scoreplayer App, incorporating mobile score formats and networked coordination performance environments. The ensemble has collaborated with composers such as Werner Dafeldecker, Agostino Di Scipio, Alvin Curran, David Toop, Marina Rosenfeld, Lionel Marchetti, Andreas Weixler and Johannes S. Sistermanns and worked with iconic Australian composers Jon Rose, Alan Lamb, Ross Bolleter, Warren Burt, Eric Griswold and Anthony Pateras. Decibel have contributed the Australian premieres of works by Fausto Romitelli, Tristan Murail, Alvin Lucier, Peter Ablinger, Mauricio Kagel and have toured monograph concerts dedicated to Alvin Lucier and John Cage." [label info]
www.pogus.com
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| LULL |
Moments |
do-LP |
Isolationist, minimal, alienating Drone / Dark Ambient from Mick Harris (SCORN, FRET, ex-NAPALM DEATH). Staggeringly beautiful, glacial sub-bass sounds, deep ambient and thunderous tones, with subtle shifts. Originally released as a 99-track continuous CD in 1998 (Relapse), now presented on vinyl for the first time, "Moments" is expanded to 100 cuts, with bonus material from the original recording sessions.
"Tectonic rumblings and icy sound slivers move and swirl around each other, slipping into spaces between the molecules which make up your physical body and then break it apart in preparation for rearrangement. Moments of expansive emptiness and claustrophobic terror overlap one another and then overcome your mind as you journey through this bleak void of sound. At one moment warm and organic, the next, slowly slipping into a machine-like coldness to freeze and paralyze... Sound as a vehicle to bring you through that doorway towards dimensions previously unknown. Hypnotic and soothing with a lingering sense of dread throughout" (Carrion Kind).
File next to Lustmord, Sleep Research Facility, Thomas Köner.
Double LP in a textured gatefold sleeve.
Ltd x 500 copies on 180gm brown vinyl.
Ltd x 250 copies on 180gm black vinyl.
Created and mixed by Mick Harris in the Box, January 1998
Edited and mastered by Bill Yurkiewicz and Dave Shirk at Sonorous Mastering, Inc., February 1998
Vinyl mastering for Cold Spring by Martin Bowes
Artwork by Abby Helasdottir
https://coldspring.bandcamp.com/album/moments-csr295lp
"The other new release is a re-issue. 'Moments' was already on CD in 1998, and while it was one long piece of music, the CD had 99 index points for your random pleasure. There are 100 (99 is the maximum for CDs), but how do you randomly play these from vinyl? I have yet to work out. I reviewed the CD back in Vital Weekly 140. Lull is Mick Harris, once of Napalm Death, later of Scorn. Lull was (is?) his deep ambient project. At the end of the century, we called this Isolationist music, which may have had various shapes, but Lull certainly was at the deep end of it all. His music was all about filtering out as many mid to high frequencies he could get away with and then giving the low bass end a few twirls, so there would be sufficient variation at work. With this approach, Harris had things very well under control. You could play this music at a shock and awe volume, inducing
earthquakes; I didn't do that, as I enjoy this on a moderate volume. Now, your room/space fills up with these low-end rumblings, and it becomes a more natural part of your environment. The variation within these small pieces is more than I remember from the CD version, usually lasting thirty seconds to a minute, with exceptions well below or above that. I am not convinced that vinyl is the best sound carrier for such low-end music. Perhaps, the CD format is more suited for such an experience, I thought. But this one surely is one of them when it comes to classic moments (pun intended) of historic isolationist music." (FdW) |
2021 |
€29.50 |
|
| |
That Space Somewhere |
CD |
"Cold Spring proudly present the first new album in 14 years from LULL - the pioneering, isolationist dark ambient project of MICK HARRIS (SCORN, FRET, ex-NAPALM DEATH).
LULL was conceived by Mick Harris in 1990, in an attempt to create music that would stretch, if not forsake entirely, the structures of conventional music by developing and exploring sound without beats.
MICK HARRIS ON LULL:
"I finally heard the way of recording, making profound sounds. Lull is purely something I can get lost in, as far as trying to create these imaginary spaces. And that’s what I always tried to do – to create. I'm a lover of sounds. I love collecting sounds. Playing with those sounds using various software until I created something new from that sound. Which for me end being what I call "a droner" or "a drift", I’d use those to create a piece of music, or a sound-scape. That's what I’m doing with Lull. Just trying to create soundscapes. And to this day, still, absolutely love doing that".
THAT SPACE SOMEWHERE:
"I haven't made Lull records since 2007 so... with this pandemic, I have time on my hands. I've used that time, I think, to the best. Going to the music-room is pretty much an everyday thing to me. Which has been the best thing because I’ve not been able to do this since the 90's when I had various studios... Since the lockdown I had all this time on my hands and I created a lot of good music, which I'm actually happy with.
I'm a fisherman. It gives me a lot of space. It gives me immense pleasure. For me it's about going to the river. I like moving water. The seasons change, the river changes with the seasons. It clears my mind, gives me ideas, gives me the space to be by myself and with nature... just listening to the sounds around me.
LULL is quite natural for me. It's an extension of me. Drifting. Just going to darkness. Into a space. LULL is drifting and droning, discovering more and more what can be done with sound. These soundscapes hugely appeal to me".
Mick Harris interview August 2020, courtesy of Peek-A-Boo Magazine.
Matt-laminate digipak with majestic artwork by Abby Helasdottir (Gydja)."
"Though this is dark ambient, the tone here is more meditative than menacing, something the name of the project has always made obvious and which always set Harris' work apart" (The Sleeping Shaman)
"The first really minimal music I encountered that really captivated me... It seems to exist somewhere on the threshold between consciousness and the unconscious" (Aaron Turner).
https://coldspring.bandcamp.com/album/that-space-somewhere-csr321cd |
2022 |
€15.00 |
|
| LUNAR ABYSS DEUS ORGANUM |
Khara-Khoto |
CD |
We gladly present the new Lunar Abyss Deus Organum full-length album "Khara-Khoto"! In fact, this is the first big studio work of the project after "Atimudra" (2012, BioSonar^Labyrint) and a long series of split-releases, collaborations, live recordings and various small editions... Khara-Khoto was the name of a Tangut city with Buddhist culture which existed in the XI-XIV centuries before it was captured by the troops of the Chinese Ming dynasty (nowadays it's geographically located in the Chinese Inner Mongolia). The idea of creating this album appeared after visiting a special exhibition at the Hermitage, which presented a lot of original artifacts from this ancient settlement buried in the sands. Special inspiration came from a deep understanding of the ephemeral and impermanent nature of existence – even prosperous cultures can die in one moment because of the blind greed of invaders... From the musical point of view, here one can hear the full sound palette typical for Lunar Abyss. This includes multilayered ambiental sketches with flowing chains of samples, voice loops and acoustic instruments; rhythmic percussive tracks with vigorous pulsating energy; abstract collages made of analogue electronics, radio noises and fragments of television programs; semi-static enveloping drones spiced up with field recordings. The psychedelic kaleidoscope of aural images continues its work – the fans of the albums "Snovidenie", "Tuntury" and "Atimudra" won't be disappointed! The CD-version is limited to 300 copies and comes in a 4-panel matte foldout digisleeve.
https://lunarabyss.bandcamp.com/album/khara-khoto |
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
A Sherpa's Sleep is More Milk Music |
CD |
L.A.D.O. is a project that has literally appeared from a sleep. His founder first saw and heard this name in a dream, and being quite surprised upon awakening, decided to embody it. Subsequently, many fragments of sound, associations and images came from sleep and drowsy moments. So is this album. Each composition is a piece, a fabric woven from the sounds of various origins: resonant dawns and dusks, roars of distant thunderstorms, rustling of small creatures, sough of wind and leaves, ringing of strings and trumpet calls. All this is interlaced by multi-layered electric threads of analogue and synthetic instruments and call signs of unknown radio stations. All this swarm of sounds doesn't fall into chaos but builds up in a forest temple surrounding sleeping children, and the air vibrates with emptiness.
L.A.D.O. – проект, возникший из сна, в буквальном смысле. Его основатель впервые услышал и увидел это название в сновидении, и, немало удивившись по пробуждении, решил его воплотить. Впоследствии многие фрагменты звучания, ассоциации и образы приходили из сна и дремотных промежутков. Так и этот альбом. Каждая композиция – это пьеса, ткань, сотканная из звуков различного происхождения: гулких рассветов и закатов, рокота дальних гроз, шорохов малых существ, шелеста ветра, листвы, струнных перезвонов и трубных призывов. Всё это переплетено многослойными электрическими нитями аналоговых и синтетических инструментов и позывных неизвестных радиостанций. Весь этот сонм звуков не опадает в хаос, а выстраивается лесным храмом вокруг спящих детей, воздух вибрирует пустотой.
credits
released December 9, 2019
"Let go of what has passed.
Let go of what may come.
Let go of what is happening now.
Don’t try to figure anything out.
Don’t try to make anything happen.
Relax, right now, and rest."
~ Mahasiddha Tilopa
"Within my body are all the sacred places of the world and the most profound pilgrimage that I can ever make is within my own body."
~ Mahasiddha Saraha
https://lunarabyss.bandcamp.com/album/a-sherpas-sleep-is-more-milk-music |
2019 |
€12.00 |
|
| LUNAR ABYSS QUARTET |
Cosmologamma |
CD |
CD re-release of this great album from 2000, which appeared only as a lim. 100 CDR on 8th Moon! We wrote: “Last copies of this limited CD-R release documenting live-concerts from this Russian project – they create here alien atmospheres with classic/surrealistic female singing & bruitistic concrete effects and drones. Recommended.” [original Drone Records description]
“Second CD from this Saint-Petersburg outfit. Dark ritual, mysterious and sombre ritualistic stuff, more gloomy than their 10” on Der Angriff or 1st CD “Zheleznaya Voda”. Something in a way of early Ain Soph, Sigillum S and industrial-era Current 93. Ethereal female voice chanting eerie tunes in the crushing collapsing realm of ambient soundscapes, ceremonial bells and metallic crashes. Recommended. The first edition of 300 copies in a digipak printed bronse-on-darkgreen.”[press release]
|
2004 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
8 |
CD-R |
Kleine handgemachte Re-Edition des allerersten Album der Schamano-Elektro-Experimental Russen, hier noch sehr low-fi & mit brüchiger Ausführung, aber mit umso mehr authentischer Atmosphäre und somnabulen Drone-Passagen. Tundra-Ambient.
"Re-edition of the very first album recorded in 1996-98 and released by 8th Moon Art in 1998. Atmospheric dark drone ambient with old school approach and vague analogue sound and cold atmosphere. Music of northern woods and tundra. Outstanding sound-processing techniques dilute the seriousness of content with a dashing smile, and lecture about discovering the Transbaikalian copper deposits in 1949 may be cognitive in self-educational sense, dear comrades." [Zhezelobeton] |
2007 |
€9.00 |
|
| LUNDE, ERIC |
A World of Hurt in the Kingdom of God |
CD |
"Clock says done. Time has come for the new admonishment from Eric Lunde: An inductive sound revolutionist, a founding member of the Milwaukee avant-industrial noise squad Boy Dirt Car, and an acrimonious underground writer & musician with over 40 solo releases dating back to the mid 80's.
"A World Of Hurt In The Kingdom Of God" derives its name from a series of 2-ply plastic engravings Lunde did in 2004, The original title being "A World of Hurt in the Kingdom of Gosh". It is primarily a product of the concerns Lunde still have (and expressed in his book "Prison Sex", from which the majority of the text on this album is taken from) with the latent cruelty of humans in regards to their alleged relationship with a fabricated supernatural being and how is it that religious people have to prove nothing, but the atheist ones have to prove everything.
So what's there to be found in Lundes' dragnet this time regarding these issues? A dish of sober mischief noise served cold, bubonic industrial and irate sound poetry created in the detrimental corners of the mind where the proof reproduces the intimate bonds of brutality that men create between themselves. Clock says done." [label info]
www.hcbrecords.com
"As mentioned in Vital Weekly 795, Eric Lunde is back on track, and expanding his wings through releases on other labels, such as this one from Israel. Lunde might be seen as a noise artist, but his 'noise' extends to a lot. Music, visual arts, writing. His music isn't that of the strict harsh noise walls, but certainly loud and present. His method of creating music is not by putting on some machines and distortion boxes, but analogue transformation of sound in a rather unique way, by playing back sounds in a room and re-recording them, a lot of times. Part of this new CD is based on texts for a book 'Prison Sex', as well as the notion that 'religious people have to proof nothing, but the atheist ones have to proof everything'. Lunde's work is both noise and poetic and so much more interesting than all those HNW type of laziness that spreads like a disease. This new album is quite loud, but diverse in approach - a great work. Compared to the two CDs he released himself recently its more varied and more the classic Lunde approach. Excellent one." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2011 |
€10.00 |
|
| LUNDE, ERIC / KOMMISSAR HJULER |
split |
LP |
"When Vital Weekly was called Vital, and printed on paper (1986-1995) the name Eric Lunde appeared with some regular intervals, simply because he was quite active releasing records and tapes. His performance like approach to noise music, his elaborate packaging which always raised more questions than it would give answers made a big impact. And then he seemed gone and now he has returned. I have no idea what he did in the years in between. His music doesn't seem to have changed very much (I am still thinking wether that's good or bad) and its still his trademark sound we find here: eroded sound. Lunde uses cassettes, memo recorders and cheap microhones to tape sounds and mix these. Played back into a space - re-record, played back, re-record until quite a crude sound appears. That's what he does here in his three tracks, including a 'live site recording of two air 'separtion' tanks'. Crude, very crude ambient music. Lunde takes the ideas of Alvin Lucier's 'I'm Sitting In A Room' to the extreme, with very low grade equipment and builds from the dirty sounds beautiful music. Time to dig out the old stuff and play that again.
On the other side we find Kommissar Hjuler, without Mama Baer this time. I tried to translate the liner notes from German in Dutch, but I failed. It has something to do with scooter? We hear some sort of (toy?) car sound, lots of rumble and a voice. Much alike last week's tape of Hjuler, this seems to be another example of highly personal audio poetry. Twenty minutes of this. It certainly has a great charm indeed, but its significance somehow eludes me here. Truely outsider music, that's for sure."
[FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.psych-kg.de
www.mndr.de
|
2010 |
€23.00 |
|
| LUSSIER, RENE |
Completement Marteau |
CD |
For René Lussier, this album is an unexpected assembly:
“I gathered four compositions from commissions to which I responded with a maximum of freedom. They all testify to a long process of gossiping and pecking. As a proud patentee of out-of-the-box music, I have grouped them together under the title Complètement marteau, as in crazy stiff, unbridled and surprising, but also as in handcrafted, patiently and laboriously, with my self-taught tools.”
The Burletta series (2009) and the BanQ piece (2015) were recorded for a clown theater show and an architectural projection, respectively. Pour modifier vos options personnelles appuyez sur l’étoile * (quartet for guitars and electric toothbrushes, 2019) and Le clou (double bass quartet, 1999), were performed by the ensembles that commissioned them, but never recorded.
Despite the years between them, these pieces fit together easily, thanks to similar compositional processes. A pointillist approach runs through the album, with motifs divided among several voices, the sum of which draws the rhythmic and melodic phrases. All multi-movement pieces, they are interspersed here between the paintings of the Burletta suite, as if in a playful setting. BanQ and Burletta benefit from a large orchestration, with a whole lot of homemade percussions made of rubbing, mouth noises, cake spatulas, barbecue spits and styrofoam on a wet window. There is also the recurring and inimitable presence of the daxophone, an idiophone invented by the German musician Hans Reichel.
Born in Montreal in 1957, guitarist René Lussier is one of the leading figures in innovative Quebec music. He divides his practice between composition, improvisation, soundtrack, songwriting, directing and producing. He has produced some sixty film scores, the extraordinary soundtrack for Robert Lepage’s Moulin à Images (2008-2012) and some thirty recordings, including Le Trésor de la langue, Grand prix Paul Gilson in 1989, a fresco on speech and history described as a masterpiece by critics. He has initiated or been a member of numerous ensembles that have allowed him to tour throughout the world, including with British musician Fred Frith (Nous autres, Keep the Dog, Fred Frith Guitar Quartet). René Lussier has received the Freddy Stone Award “…for his artistic integrity, innovative spirit and contribution to Canadian new music” and the Canada Council’s Victor Martyn Lynch-Staunton Award “for outstanding achievement and excellence”. In recent years, he has composed for the stage, sounded installations by filmmaker Pierre Hébert, written for the ensembles Hard Rubber (Vancouver) and Bang on a Can (New York), as well as for his own René Lussier Quintet (festivals and Japanese tour in 2018), with whom he is about to record a second disc. Since 2003, he has been living and working in the countryside, where he has built a working laboratory. His activity is as effervescent as ever, in the tireless pursuit of an eclectic approach guided by experimentation.
https://renelussier.bandcamp.com/album/compl-tement-marteau
"Neues Album des kanadischen Multiinstrumentalisten und Komponisten RENÉ LUSSIER. „Completment Marteau“ erscheint als CD auf RECOMMENDED. 1957 in Montreal geboren, entdeckte LUSSIER schnell sein Interesse für Musik, lernte diverse Instrumente und schloss sich 1973 der Progressive-Rock-Band ARPÈGE als Gitarrist an. Durch seine Zusammenarbeit mit der ihn bis heute prägenden Free-Jazz / Avantgarde-Band CONVENTUM 1976 widmete sich der Künstler in den folgenden Jahren vor allem der Neuen
Improvisationsmusik und spielte bis 1985 bei Gruppen wie QUATOUR DE L‘EMMIEUX AND
LES REINS, NÉBU oder G.U.M. Zwischen 1982 und 1984 begleitete Lussier als Gitarrist auch
die Sängerin PAULINE JULIEN und gründete mit seinem erfolgreich im Improvisationsduo
auftretenden und international tourenden Partner JEAN DEROME das renommierte Label
AMBIANCES MAGNÉTIQUES, wodurch vor allem FRED FRITH auf ihn aufmerksam wurde,
welchen er von 1989 bis 1991 mit dessen Band KEEP THE DOG als Gitarrist begleitete.
In den folgenden Jahren entstanden diverse Alben und Kollaboration mit u.a. MARTIN
TÉTREAULT, CHRIS CUTLER, ROBERT M. LEPAGE und PIERRE HÉBERT. Desweiteren schrieb
er Soundtracks für mehr als 35 Filme und wurde für sein Album „Le trésor de la langue“, das
sich mit der Zweisprachigkeit in Québec beschäftigt, mit dem Grand Prix Paul-Gilson
ausgezeichnet. „Completment Marteau“ ist das neue Werk eines renommierten und
erfahrenden Künstlers, welcher nach wie vor voller Kreativität und Experimentierfreude ist."
|
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
| LUSTMORD |
First Reformed |
do-LP |
"Lustmord is a Welsh electronic musician, composer and sound designer based in Los Angeles. Active since 1980 he has released a prolific body of work across various labels such as Touch, Hydra Head and Blackest Ever Black. Often credited for starting the dark ambient genre with his 'Heresy' album in 1990, Lustmord's music has been described as sweeping and profound, a vast dreamlike soundscape that utilises organic and real-world scenes as source material. Lustmord and Cargo Records are happy to announce the launch of Vaultworks. Originally an imprint intended to release short editions of live CDs at his live shows, it is now launched as a wider platform for his work in general. Kickstarting a planned series of new releases and reissues is the first time Vinyl and CD release of his soundtrack to Paul Schrader's 2017 film First Reformed, starring Ethan Hawke, Amanda Seyfried and Cedric Kyles. The release features extended versions of the score formatted as a standalone album. The double vinyl edition includes an extra track "Venice" which was featured at the Venice Film Festival red carpet event. The CD edition has tracks formatted to crossfade into each other for a continuous listening experience." |
2019 |
€27.50 |
|
|
First Reformed |
CD |
Lustmord is a Welsh electronic musician, composer and sound designer based in Los Angeles. Active since 1980 he has released a prolific body of work across various labels such as Touch, Hydra Head and Blackest Ever Black. Often credited for starting the dark ambient genre with his 'Heresy' album in 1990, Lustmord's music has been described as sweeping and profound, a vast dreamlike soundscape that utilises organic and real-world scenes as source material. Lustmord and Cargo Records are happy to announce the launch of Vaultworks. Originally an imprint intended to release short editions of live CDs at his live shows, it is now launched as a wider platform for his work in general. Kickstarting a planned series of new releases and reissues is the first time Vinyl and CD release of his soundtrack to Paul Schrader's 2017 film First Reformed, starring Ethan Hawke, Amanda Seyfried and Cedric Kyles. The release features extended versions of the score formatted as a standalone album. The double vinyl edition includes an extra track "Venice" which was featured at the Venice Film Festival red carpet event. The CD edition has tracks formatted to crossfade into each other for a continuous listening experience.
https://lustmord.bandcamp.com/album/first-reformed
|
2019 |
€14.00 |
|
|
[O T H E R] |
CD |
Das zehnte Studioalbum »Other« der Elektronik-/Industrial-Musikpioniere Lustmord wurde 2008 veröffentlicht und ist bis heute das einzige Lustmord-Album mit Gitarren, gespielt von Adam Jones (Tool), King Buzzo (The Melvins) und Aaron Turner (Isis). Das Album erschien ursprünglich auf dem unabhängigen Plattenlabel Hydra Head Records, das von Isis-Frontmann Aaron Turner gegründet wurde und früher Bands wie Converge, Pelican, Jesu, Sun O))) oder Boris beherbergte.
Wie ein Journalist es damals formulierte, ist »Other« ein "düsteres Beispiel für einen vollendeten Künstler, der genau innerhalb der Parameter arbeitet, die er sich im Laufe der Jahre selbst gesetzt hat." Dieses Album zeigt Lustmord von seiner charakteristischsten Seite, und das eisige, unheilvolle Gitarrenspiel von Jones, Turner und Ozborne fügt sich perfekt in die tiefen Klanglandschaften ein, die diese beängstigende und doch inspirierende Reise ausmachen.
Tatsächlich sind die Songs so kraftvoll, dass es Williams dazu bewegte, zwei Ambient-Remix-Versionen und eine Dub-Remix-EP zu erstellen, die die Klänge dieses Albums so weit wie möglich erforschen. Im Jahr 2022 arbeitet Lustmord für The Others (Lustmord Deconstructed) mit Künstlern wie Godflesh, Mono und Zola Jesus, um nur einige zu nennen, an Neuinterpretationen der »Other«-Songs zusammen, die ebenfalls jetzt erhältlich sind.
Reissued in all its incarnations plus re-interpreted: Electronic/Industrial music pioneer LUSTMORDs tenth studio album [ O T H E R ], originally released in 2008 and to date the only LUSTMORD album with guitars on it, performed by Adam Jones (TOOL), King Buzzo (THE MELVINS) and Aaron Turner (ISIS). [ O T H E R ] originally came out on independent record label Hydra Head Records, founded by ISIS frontman Aaron Turner and former home of bands such as CONVERGE, PELICAN, JESU, SUN O))) or BORIS. As one journalist put it at the time, [ O T H E R ] is a "grim example of a consummate artist who is working frmly within the parameters that he has laid out for himself over the years." This album shows Lustmord at his most characteristic, and the icy, ominous guitar playing of Jones, Turner and Ozborne resonates perfectly within the deep soundscapes that make up this frightening yet inspiring journey. As a matter of fact, the material on [ O T H E R ] is so powerful that it moved Williams to create two ambient remix versions of it, and one dub remix EP exploring the sounds of this record to the greatest extend of his ability. In 2022, and also available now, LUSTMORD further collaborates with artist such as GODFLESH, MONO and ZOLA JESUS, to name but a few, for THE OTHERS (LUSTMORD DECONSTRUCTED) on re-interpretations on [ O T H E R ] tracks. LUSTMORD is the artistic moniker of Brian Williams. Born in North Wales, he started his musical career in 1980 and soon became a pioneer in the early industrial music scene in the UK. He was a former member of SPK during arguably their most crucial era, and went on to work with THROBBING GRISTLE members Chris & Cosey as well as appearing on early albums by CURRENT 93, NURSE WITH WOUND and others. After relocating to Los Angeles in 1993, Williams worked on dozens of motion picture soundtracks including The Crow, Underworld and Paul Schrader's First Reformed. Additionally he created several video game soundtracks, television scores and solo albums, as well as collaborating with artists as varied as THE MELVINS, CLOCK DVA, JARBOE, John Balance of COIL, Paul Haslinger (TANGERINE DREAM), PUSCIFER, Wes Borland and more, including Grammy Award-winners TOOL on their much acclaimed effort Fear Inoculum. To this day, Lustmord is actively recording and releasing music, his latest release being the collaborative album Alter with Karin Park of A°RABROT, and he is considered to be the founding father of the dark ambient music genre.
[press release]
|
2022 |
€16.00 |
|
|
[Beyond] |
CD |
Reissued! Electronic music pioneer LUSTMORD released an album titled [OTHER] in 2008, to date the only LUSTMORD album with guitars on it, performed by Adam Jones (TOOL), King Buzzo (MELVINS) and Aaron Turner (ISIS). The albums The Dark Places of the Earth and Beyond, both released in 2009, are extensions of the ideas explored in [OTHER] and are taken from the same recording sessions, but with the guitars removed and the essence of [OTHER] distilled and reduced.[OTHER] was a journey with friends, while The Dark Places of the Earth and Beyond take the concept and listener further, deeper, in-between and beyond. While is some ways [OTHER] is as close to a "rock" album as Lustmord will ever make, The Dark Places of the Earth and Beyond are pure Lustmord, a sound that many others imitate but can never equal. LUSTMORD is the artistic moniker of Brian Williams. Born in North Wales, he started his musical career in 1980 and soon became a pioneer in the early industrial music scene in the UK. He was a former member of SPK during arguably their most crucial era, and went on to work with THROBBING GRISTLE members Chris & Cosey as well as appearing on early albums by CURRENT 93, NURSE WITH WOUND and others. After relocating to Los Angeles in 1993, Williams worked on dozens of motion picture soundtracks including The Crow, Underworld and Paul Schrader's First Reformed. Additionally he created several video game soundtracks, television scores and solo albums, as well as collaborating with artists as varied as THE MELVINS, CLOCK DVA, JARBOE, John Balance of COIL, Paul Haslinger (TANGERINE DREAM), PUSCIFER, Wes Borland and more, including Grammy Award-winners TOOL on their much acclaimed effort Fear Inoculum. To this day, Lustmord is actively recording and releasing music, his latest release being the collaborative album Alter with Karin Park of A°RABROT, and he is considered to be the founding father of the dark ambient music genre.
https://lustmord.bandcamp.com/album/beyond |
2022 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Beyond |
do-LP |
Reissued! Electronic music pioneer LUSTMORD released an album titled [OTHER] in 2008, to date the only LUSTMORD album with guitars on it, performed by Adam Jones (TOOL), King Buzzo (MELVINS) and Aaron Turner (ISIS). The albums The Dark Places of the Earth and Beyond, both released in 2009, are extensions of the ideas explored in [OTHER] and are taken from the same recording sessions, but with the guitars removed and the essence of [OTHER] distilled and reduced.[OTHER] was a journey with friends, while The Dark Places of the Earth and Beyond take the concept and listener further, deeper, in-between and beyond. While is some ways [OTHER] is as close to a "rock" album as Lustmord will ever make, The Dark Places of the Earth and Beyond are pure Lustmord, a sound that many others imitate but can never equal. LUSTMORD is the artistic moniker of Brian Williams. Born in North Wales, he started his musical career in 1980 and soon became a pioneer in the early industrial music scene in the UK. He was a former member of SPK during arguably their most crucial era, and went on to work with THROBBING GRISTLE members Chris & Cosey as well as appearing on early albums by CURRENT 93, NURSE WITH WOUND and others. After relocating to Los Angeles in 1993, Williams worked on dozens of motion picture soundtracks including The Crow, Underworld and Paul Schrader's First Reformed. Additionally he created several video game soundtracks, television scores and solo albums, as well as collaborating with artists as varied as THE MELVINS, CLOCK DVA, JARBOE, John Balance of COIL, Paul Haslinger (TANGERINE DREAM), PUSCIFER, Wes Borland and more, including Grammy Award-winners TOOL on their much acclaimed effort Fear Inoculum. To this day, Lustmord is actively recording and releasing music, his latest release being the collaborative album Alter with Karin Park of A°RABROT, and he is considered to be the founding father of the dark ambient music genre.
https://lustmord.bandcamp.com/album/beyond |
2022 |
€32.00 |
|
|
[The Dark Places of the Earth] |
do-LP |
Reissued! Electronic music pioneer LUSTMORD released an album titled [OTHER] in 2008, to date the only LUSTMORD album with guitars on it, performed by Adam Jones (TOOL), King Buzzo (MELVINS) and Aaron Turner (ISIS). The albums The Dark Places of the Earth and Beyond, both released in 2009, areextensions of the ideas explored in [OTHER] and are taken from the same recording sessions, but with the guitars removed and the essence of [OTHER] distilled and reduced.[OTHER] was a journey with friends, whileThe Dark Places of the Earth and Beyond take the concept and listener further, deeper, in-between and beyond. While is some ways [OTHER] is as close to a "rock" album as Lustmord will ever make, The Dark Places of the Earth and Beyond are pure Lustmord, a sound that many others imitate but can never equal. LUSTMORD is the artistic moniker of Brian Williams. Born in North Wales, he started his musical career in 1980 and soon became a pioneer in the early industrial music scene in the UK. He was a former member of SPK during arguably their most crucial era, and went on to work with THROBBING GRISTLE members Chris & Cosey as well as appearing on early albums by CURRENT 93, NURSE WITH WOUND and others. After relocating to Los Angeles in 1993, Williams worked on dozens of motion picture soundtracks including The Crow, Underworld and Paul Schrader's First Reformed. Additionally he created several video game soundtracks, television scores and solo albums, as well as collaborating with artists as varied as THE MELVINS, CLOCK DVA, JARBOE, John Balance of COIL, Paul Haslinger (TANGERINE DREAM), PUSCIFER, Wes Borland and more, including Grammy Award-winners TOOL on their much acclaimed effort Fear Inoculum. To this day, Lustmord is actively recording and releasing music, his latest release being the collaborative album Alter with Karin Park of A°RABROT, and he is considered to be the founding father of the dark ambient music genre.
https://lustmord.bandcamp.com/album/the-dark-places-of-the-earth
|
2022 |
€32.00 |
|
|
[O T H E R] |
do-LP |
Reissued in all its incarnations plus re-interpreted: Electronic/Industrial music pioneer LUSTMORDs tenth studio album [ O T H E R ], originally released in 2008 and to date the only LUSTMORD album with guitars on it, performed by Adam Jones (TOOL), King Buzzo (THE MELVINS) and Aaron Turner (ISIS). [ O T H E R ] originally came out on independent record label Hydra Head Records, founded by ISIS frontman Aaron Turner and former home of bands such as CONVERGE, PELICAN, JESU, SUN O))) or BORIS. As one journalist put it at the time, [ O T H E R ] is a "grim example of a consummate artist who is working frmly within the parameters that he has laid out for himself over the years." This album shows Lustmord at his most characteristic, and the icy, ominous guitar playing of Jones, Turner and Ozborne resonates perfectly within the deep soundscapes that make up this frightening yet inspiring journey. As a matter of fact, the material on [ O T H E R ] is so powerful that it moved Williams to create two ambient remix versions of it, and one dub remix EP exploring the sounds of this record to the greatest extend of his ability. In 2022, and also available now, LUSTMORD further collaborates with artist such as GODFLESH, MONO and ZOLA JESUS, to name but a few, for THE OTHERS (LUSTMORD DECONSTRUCTED) on re-interpretations on [ O T H E R ] tracks. LUSTMORD is the artistic moniker of Brian Williams. Born in North Wales, he started his musical career in 1980 and soon became a pioneer in the early industrial music scene in the UK. He was a former member of SPK during arguably their most crucial era, and went on to work with THROBBING GRISTLE members Chris & Cosey as well as appearing on early albums by CURRENT 93, NURSE WITH WOUND and others. After relocating to Los Angeles in 1993, Williams worked on dozens of motion picture soundtracks including The Crow, Underworld and Paul Schrader's First Reformed. Additionally he created several video game soundtracks, television scores and solo albums, as well as collaborating with artists as varied as THE MELVINS, CLOCK DVA, JARBOE, John Balance of COIL, Paul Haslinger (TANGERINE DREAM), PUSCIFER, Wes Borland and more, including Grammy Award-winners TOOL on their much acclaimed effort Fear Inoculum. To this day, Lustmord is actively recording and releasing music, his latest release being the collaborative album Alter with Karin Park of A°RABROT, and he is considered to be the founding father of the dark ambient music genre.
https://lustmord.bandcamp.com/album/o-t-h-e-r
|
2022 |
€32.00 |
|
|
[Dark Places of the Earth] |
CD |
Reissued! Electronic music pioneer LUSTMORD released an album titled [OTHER] in 2008, to date the only LUSTMORD album with guitars on it, performed by Adam Jones (TOOL), King Buzzo (MELVINS) and Aaron Turner (ISIS). The albums The Dark Places of the Earth and Beyond, both released in 2009, areextensions of the ideas explored in [OTHER] and are taken from the same recording sessions, but with the guitars removed and the essence of [OTHER] distilled and reduced.[OTHER] was a journey with friends, whileThe Dark Places of the Earth and Beyond take the concept and listener further, deeper, in-between and beyond. While is some ways [OTHER] is as close to a "rock" album as Lustmord will ever make, The Dark Places of the Earth and Beyond are pure Lustmord, a sound that many others imitate but can never equal. LUSTMORD is the artistic moniker of Brian Williams. Born in North Wales, he started his musical career in 1980 and soon became a pioneer in the early industrial music scene in the UK. He was a former member of SPK during arguably their most crucial era, and went on to work with THROBBING GRISTLE members Chris & Cosey as well as appearing on early albums by CURRENT 93, NURSE WITH WOUND and others. After relocating to Los Angeles in 1993, Williams worked on dozens of motion picture soundtracks including The Crow, Underworld and Paul Schrader's First Reformed. Additionally he created several video game soundtracks, television scores and solo albums, as well as collaborating with artists as varied as THE MELVINS, CLOCK DVA, JARBOE, John Balance of COIL, Paul Haslinger (TANGERINE DREAM), PUSCIFER, Wes Borland and more, including Grammy Award-winners TOOL on their much acclaimed effort Fear Inoculum. To this day, Lustmord is actively recording and releasing music, his latest release being the collaborative album Alter with Karin Park of A°RABROT, and he is considered to be the founding father of the dark ambient music genre.
https://lustmord.bandcamp.com/album/the-dark-places-of-the-earth |
2022 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Much Unseen is also here |
CD |
Der Dark-Ambient-Pionier, die stygische Drone-Legende und das fast schon mythische Wesen LUSTMORD durchstößt mit "Much Unseen Is Also Here" einmal mehr den Schleier - die neueste Solo-Veröffentlichung des Künstlers in einer beeindruckenden, 40-jährigen kreativen Karriere an der Spitze der Industrial-Musik. Auf Drängen von Cosey Fanni Tutti und Chris Carter von Throbbing Gristle, Musik zu machen, die seine unverwechselbare Aura einfängt, übernahm Brian Williams 1980 Lustmord und begann mit Sounds zu arbeiten, weil die Musik, die er hören wollte, einfach nicht existierte. Lustmord veröffentlichte 1989 sein drittes Album "Heresy", das zu einem Meilenstein in der Industrial-Szene wurde und heute allgemein als Ursprung des Dark-Ambient-Genres gilt. 35 Jahre später führt Much Unseen Is Also Here" das Vermächtnis von Heresy" fort und knüpft an dessen fesselnden Erzählbogen an. "Much Unseen Is Also Here" besteht aus drei verschiedenen Teilen und ist dazu gedacht, in einer einzigen, ununterbrochenen Durchgang angehört zu werden; es entführt den Hörer in eine kompromisslose Parallelwelt, die nur in der Musik existiert, bevor es ihn am Ende für immer verändert wieder hinauswirft. Lustmord, der seit 1994 in L.A. lebt, hat auch als Komponist und Sounddesigner an der Musik für ikonische Film- und Fernsehproduktionen mitgewirkt, darunter "The Crow", "Strange Days", "From Dusk Till Dawn", "Underworld" und in jüngerer Zeit die FX-Serien "Fear The Walking Dead" und "First Reformed"von "Taxi Driver"-Autor
Paul Schrader aus dem Jahr 2017. Immer noch entschlossen, die Grenzen von Sound, Genre und Medien zu erweitern, hat Lustmord auch zu den Soundlandschaften von Videospielen wie Assassin's Creed, League of Legends und, passenderweise, dem von H.R. Geiger inspirierten Survival-Horror-Spiel Scorn von 2022 beigetragen.
Dark ambient pioneer, Stygian drone legend and near-mythical entity LUSTMORD pierces the veil once more with ‘Much Unseen Is Also Here’; the artist’s latest, solo full-length release in a formidable, 40-year creative career at the forefront of industrial music.
Urged by Cosey Fanni Tutti and Chris Carter of Throbbing Gristle to make music that captured his distinctive aura, Brian Williams assumed the mantle of Lustmord in 1980 and began working with sound because the music he wanted to listen to simply didn’t exist. Nine years of field-recording experimentation and near-constant collaboration later, Lustmord released his third album, ‘Heresy’, which became a milestone in the industrial scene and is now universally regarded as the origin of the dark ambient genre.
35 years later, ‘Much Unseen Is Also Here’ continues the legacy established by ‘Heresy’ and echoes its enthralling narrative arc. Sequenced in three distinct parts; ‘Much Unseen Is Also Here’ is meant to be listened to in a single, uninterrupted sitting; transporting listeners away to an uncompromising parallel world that only exists within the music, before casting them back out at the end, forever changed.
Opening piece, ‘Behold A Voice As Thunder’, is an ominous droning fog that conceals something unspeakable. Glacial strings, a zither-like dirge and manipulated found sounds are cut short by a gargantuan pounding presence, whether looming footsteps or a colossal heartbeat; the choice is left entirely to the listener’s imagination. Elsewhere, ‘Their Souls Asunder’ appears centred on a chorus of voices; a vital glimpse of humanity. However, as the piece continues, these voices wane, wither and warp until we’re left with something akin to the cries of a wounded animal, which begs the question: ‘were the voices we followed blindly into the darkness ever human at all?’
This sense of uncertainty and the terrifying unknown is an important and recurring theme within Lustmord’s work; “I chose to let the sound talk for me” says Brian. “My music is not meant to be explained - only listened to as a means of exposing the sheer insignificance of our primitive thoughts and actions within the vast scale of the cosmos - a scale which we as a species are ill equipped to comprehend.”
It should come as no surprise by now that the captivating narrative precedent of ‘Heresy’ was also the catalyst for an incredible career in production work and sound design. Alongside a plethora of solo albums at Lustmord, Williams has worked with artists and outfits including Tool, Isis, Jarboe, Coil’s John Balance, SWANS, Mortiis and Melvins; with his most recent release, 2021’s ‘ALTER’, being a collaborative record with award-winning singer-songwriter and Årabrot member, Karin Park.
Based in L.A. since 1994, Lustmord has also contributed as composer and sound designer to the music for iconic film and television properties including ‘The Crow’, ‘Strange Days’, ‘From Dusk Till Dawn’, ‘Underworld’ and more recently, FX’s ‘Fear The Walking Dead’ series and ‘Taxi Driver’ writer Paul Schrader’s 2017 film ‘First Reformed’. Still determined to push at the boundaries of sound, genre and media; Lustmord has also contributed to the soundscapes of video games such as Assassin’s Creed, League of Legends and, quite fittingly, 2022’s H.R. Geiger-inspired, survival-horror game, Scorn.
With so many strings to his bow and even more collaborations in the works, ‘Much Unseen Is Also Here’ serves as both a triumphant, retrospective gateway to Lustmord’s groundbreaking dark ambient origins as well as a tantalising taste of what he is capable of now; what is still yet to come. Having performed live just 39 times across his 43-year career, maybe Lustmord is ready to share the cosmic secrets hidden within ‘Much Unseen Is Also Here’ in the flesh, atop his inimitable, timeless concoction of earth-shaking sub bass, spine-tingling ritualism and inescapable, existentialist dread.
https://lustmord.bandcamp.com/album/much-unseen-is-also-here
|
2024 |
€16.00 |
|
| LUSTMORD & KARIN PARK |
Alter (lim. col. vinyl) |
do-LP |
Limited coloured LPs housed in gatefold w/ special canvas cardboard stock and silver hot foil! Nordic pop diva KARIN PARK of ÂRABROT adds her ethereal, mournful voice and keys to the primordial sound of legendary electronic pioneer LUSTMORD for this sublime and poignant collaboration. ALTER is a ritual of our times. On the pair's frst collaborative work, the nine tracks that make up ALTER are every bit as heart-wrenching as they are terrifying, mining new sonic territory, it is a fascinating study of light and shade that delves deep into vast uncharted darkness. Their ability to create atmosphere on the album opener "Hiraeth" is second to none, perfectly assembling a harrowing backdrop for Park's lilting sound of longing. From there, Park's vocals add all of the emotional depth and power found in names like Kate Bush, Maynard J Keenan and Elizabeth Frasier, perfectly playing against Lustmord's waves of dark drama and creating a wholly unique record that recalls Dead Can Dance, Massive Attack and Portishead at their greatest. Considering Park's credentials, it might be surprising that a collaboration with Lustmord would ft so seamlessly. Utilizing a sound comprised of elements of industrial, synth pop and more, the celebrated Swedish solo artist and member of Norwegian rock band Ârabrot utilizes experimentation in her work, blazing trails and bringing to mind the work of her peers The Knife, Scott Walker, Robyn, Depeche Mode and Burial with her darkly-rich compositions. Multiple winner of Norway's Spellemann award, Park co-wrote the Norwegian entry for the 2013 Eurovision, fnishing fourth overall. But it is the sensibility of the sacred music of her youth that Park adds to ALTER, contributing a powerful vocal that guides the listener through the cavernous, mystical depth of their collaborative work. "Lustmord is the Gustave Doré of music", Karin Park ofers pensively. "Painting magical pictures with a sound that is so vast, it gives space for your own imagination." Brian Williams grew up in North Wales, beginning his musical career as Lustmord in 1980 and becoming a pivotal fgure and pioneer in the early industrial music scene in the UK. A former member of SPK during arguably their most crucial era, Williams went on to work with Throbbing Gristle members Chris & Cosey and appeared on early albums by Current 93 and Nurse With Wound amongst others. After relocating to Los Angeles in 1993, Williams worked on dozens of motion picture soundtracks including The Crow, Underworld and Paul Schrader's First Reformed, as well as on several video game, television scores and solo albums. Williams has also contributed to and collaborated with artists as varied as the Melvins, Clock DVA, Jarboe, John Balance of Coil, Clock DVA, Paul Haslinger (Tangerine Dream), Wes Borland (Limp Bizkit), Puscifer and more, including Grammy Award-winners Tool from their much acclaimed eforts 10,000 Days and Fear Inoculum.
TRACKLISTING: 01. HIRAETH 02. THE VOID BETWEEN 03. PERIHELION 04. TWIN FLAMES 05. ENTWINED 06. KINDRED 07. SONG OF SOL 08. SELE |
2021 |
€35.00 |
|
|
Alter |
CD |
Nordic pop diva KARIN PARK of ÅRABROT adds her ethereal, mournful voice and keys to the primordial sound of legendary electronic pioneer LUSTMORD for this sublime and poignant collaboration. ALTER is a ritual of our times.
On the pair’s frst collaborative work, the nine tracks that make up ALTER are every bit as heart-wrenching as they are terrifying, mining new sonic territory, it is a fascinating study of light and shade that delves deep into vast uncharted darkness. Their ability to create atmosphere on the album opener “Hiraeth” is second to none, perfectly assembling a harrowing backdrop for Park’s lilting sound of longing. From there, Park’s vocals add all of the
emotional depth and power found in names like Kate Bush, Maynard J Keenan and Elizabeth Frasier, perfectly playing against Lustmord’s waves of dark drama and creating a wholly unique record that recalls Dead Can Dance, Massive Attack and Portishead at their greatest.
Considering Park’s credentials, it might be surprising that a collaboration with Lustmord would ft so seamlessly. Utilizing a sound comprised of elements of industrial, synth pop and more, the celebrated Swedish solo artist and member of Norwegian rock band Årabrot utilizes experimentation in her work, blazing trails and bringing to mind the work of her peers The Knife, Scott Walker, Robyn, Depeche Mode and Burial with her darkly-rich compositions. Multiple winner of Norway’s Spellemann award, Park co-wrote the Norwegian entry for the 2013 Eurovision, fnishing fourth overall. But it is the sensibility of the sacred music of her youth that Park adds to ALTER, contributing a powerful vocal that guides the listener through the cavernous, mystical depth of their collaborative work.
”Lustmord is the Gustave Doré of music“, Karin Park ofers pensively. “Painting magical pictures with a sound that is so vast, it gives space for your own imagination.” Brian Williams grew up in North Wales, beginning his musical career as Lustmord in 1980 and becoming a pivotal fgure and pioneer in the early industrial music scene in the UK. A former member of SPK during arguably their most crucial era, Williams went on to work with Throbbing Gristle members Chris & Cosey and appeared on early albums by Current 93 and Nurse With Wound amongst others. After relocating to Los Angeles in 1993, Williams worked on dozens of motion picture soundtracks including The Crow, Underworld and Paul Schrader’s First Reformed, as well as on several video game, television scores and solo albums. Williams has also contributed to and collaborated with artists as varied as the Melvins, Clock DVA, Jarboe, John Balance of Coil, Clock DVA, Paul Haslinger (Tangerine Dream), Wes Borland (Limp Bizkit), Puscifer and more, including Grammy Award-winners Tool from their much acclaimed eforts 10,000 Days and Fear Inoculum.
|
2021 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
Alter (black vinyl) |
do-LP |
Limited coloured LPs housed in gatefold w/ special canvas cardboard stock and silver hot foil! Nordic pop diva KARIN PARK of ÂRABROT adds her ethereal, mournful voice and keys to the primordial sound of legendary electronic pioneer LUSTMORD for this sublime and poignant collaboration. ALTER is a ritual of our times. On the pair's frst collaborative work, the nine tracks that make up ALTER are every bit as heart-wrenching as they are terrifying, mining new sonic territory, it is a fascinating study of light and shade that delves deep into vast uncharted darkness. Their ability to create atmosphere on the album opener "Hiraeth" is second to none, perfectly assembling a harrowing backdrop for Park's lilting sound of longing. From there, Park's vocals add all of the emotional depth and power found in names like Kate Bush, Maynard J Keenan and Elizabeth Frasier, perfectly playing against Lustmord's waves of dark drama and creating a wholly unique record that recalls Dead Can Dance, Massive Attack and Portishead at their greatest. Considering Park's credentials, it might be surprising that a collaboration with Lustmord would ft so seamlessly. Utilizing a sound comprised of elements of industrial, synth pop and more, the celebrated Swedish solo artist and member of Norwegian rock band Ârabrot utilizes experimentation in her work, blazing trails and bringing to mind the work of her peers The Knife, Scott Walker, Robyn, Depeche Mode and Burial with her darkly-rich compositions. Multiple winner of Norway's Spellemann award, Park co-wrote the Norwegian entry for the 2013 Eurovision, fnishing fourth overall. But it is the sensibility of the sacred music of her youth that Park adds to ALTER, contributing a powerful vocal that guides the listener through the cavernous, mystical depth of their collaborative work. "Lustmord is the Gustave Doré of music", Karin Park ofers pensively. "Painting magical pictures with a sound that is so vast, it gives space for your own imagination." Brian Williams grew up in North Wales, beginning his musical career as Lustmord in 1980 and becoming a pivotal fgure and pioneer in the early industrial music scene in the UK. A former member of SPK during arguably their most crucial era, Williams went on to work with Throbbing Gristle members Chris & Cosey and appeared on early albums by Current 93 and Nurse With Wound amongst others. After relocating to Los Angeles in 1993, Williams worked on dozens of motion picture soundtracks including The Crow, Underworld and Paul Schrader's First Reformed, as well as on several video game, television scores and solo albums. Williams has also contributed to and collaborated with artists as varied as the Melvins, Clock DVA, Jarboe, John Balance of Coil, Clock DVA, Paul Haslinger (Tangerine Dream), Wes Borland (Limp Bizkit), Puscifer and more, including Grammy Award-winners Tool from their much acclaimed eforts 10,000 Days and Fear Inoculum.
TRACKLISTING: 01. HIRAETH 02. THE VOID BETWEEN 03. PERIHELION 04. TWIN FLAMES 05. ENTWINED 06. KINDRED 07. SONG OF SOL 08. SELE
|
2021 |
€28.00 |
|
| LUSTMORD & NICOLAS HORVATH |
The Fall |
do-LP |
"The Fall is a deconstruction of November by Dennis Johnson.
Written for solo piano in 1959, November is the first example of minimalist music composition and was the inspiration for La Monte Young's The Well-Tuned Piano (1964). The 66 minute piece is a collaboration between legendary artist Lustmord and renowned classical pianist Nicolas Horvath, in which they reduces Johnson's original November to its core element and place it in a landscape of complimentary sound. The Fall echo's November but with further resonance.
Recorded in May-June 2019 in Los Angeles, and Misy-sur-Yonne, France.
Lustmord Active since 1980, born of the original 'industrial' scene of the period. With its own distinctive approach, blurring the line between music and sound design Lustmord's work has featured in 45 motion pictures including The Crow and Underworld and also in video games, television and commercials. Recently Lustmord scored the music for Paul Schrader's movie First Reformed. While Lustmord is often credited for creating the 'dark ambient' genre there is much more nuance to its work than what that label implies. The music is not dark, but is a light that shines into and upon the darkness. Notable collaborations amongst many include Tool, Melvins, Jarboe, John Balance of Coil, Clock DVA, Chris & Cosey, Paul Haslinger, Karin Park and Robert Rich.
Nicolas Horvath An unusual artist with an unconventional résumé, pianist and electroacoustic composer Nicolas Horvath is known for his boundariesless musical explorations. Horvath is both an enthusiastic promoter of contemporary music - he has commissioned numerous works (including no fewer than 120 as part of his Homages to Philip Glass project in 2014) and collaborated with leading contemporary composers from around the world, including Alvin Lucier, Mamoru Fujieda, Jaan Rääts, Alvin Curran and Valentyn Silvestrov - and a rediscoverer of forgotten or neglected composers such as Moondog, Nobuo Uematsu, Germaine Tailleferre, François-Adrien Boieldieu, Hélène de Montgeroult, Jean Catoire, Karl August Hermann."
|
2020 |
€22.50 |
|
| LUTZ SCHRIDDE |
Troum Dreams |
consiliis animum fatigas? |
Troum dreams
quid aeternis minorem
consiliis animum fatigas?
Cur non sub alta vel platano, vel hac
pinu iacentes ....
(Horatius, carm. 2,11,13)
Why lying on dying, never we'll be
with eternity,
Hear no evil, no bad under this tree,
Lay, see and be, here, no worry
with me.
About Horatius we read in Nietzsche's "Götzen-Dämmerung" that in his poetry we find 'sound', 'position', 'term', what is with the words (Klang, Ort, Begriff) . This German romantic appreciated the artistry and effectivity, and he considered his own wording equal. Today, I feel free to take 'sound, position, term' to put compositions of Troum into the context of romanisation of German language what informed the romantic metaphor of music as a language. The challenge of translating Horatius into other languages, as Nietzsche had accentuated, is not to fail such artistry and effectivity. What I want to say is that compositions of Troum are more than romantic translations, beyond music as a language. Troum is sound, yes, and then listening is navigating, and listening then is without translation.
The German romantics claimed art to be not of purpose, no, art were autonomous and a value in itself, so were a genius. Does that mean the compositions of Troum – when not dubbing it romantic – have a purpose? Troum's navigations are taking the listener beyond such question. It is not about purpose or autonomy, Troum is two composers together, Stefan Knappe and Martin Gitschel. Their collaborative compositions is band-work, there is no solo. Like technical stereo-navigation of pilots in early airplanes, their navigations are even not communicating questions or answers. Following and listening here is about sharing their state of navigation, their state of mind.
Stefan contacted me in 1997 and told me about the end of Maeror Tri and a new project he had no name for at the time. I had collected most of Maeror Tri and contributed liner notes once. Moreover, Stefan was irritated how I could identify his hidden solo compositions on my own. Actually, after my time as a connoisseur of music I entered the sphere of musique concrete and drones for sort of cultivating my mind. I had already learned about the righthandedness of European music, had even read Wolfgang Scherer's dissertation "Babellogik" on the matter. Maeror Tri always seemed a soundtrack to my search for a new vantage point. Stefan liked my approach to revaluate the implicit morale of music, himself a lefthanded. When he told me Maeror Tri was disbanding and the new project needed a name, that occured right in time to jump to the new vantage point.
Musique concrete and post-punk creativity had affected me, and Maeror Tri all that time reminded me of the restrictions of surreal or psychogeograhic composition some people like to dub the French and British accomplishments. Maeror Tri - cassette by cassette since 1988 - shed some sound on that fashion, sometimes ambient, sometimes industrial, sometimes drone. To me, the fascination came through a sense of game and improvisation, often leaving any boundaries of the genres behind. Some of their early cassettes seemed informed even by the very wish to stay beyond boundaries, an approach to go for a change of any game before. Reading the reviews in Vital Weekly, I find a similar appreciation with the editor. Such exploration of composition may have resulted in new awareness and reflection then in 1997, disbanding Maeror Tri and a new project may explain itself. And as I see it today, the new project went on to explore and navigate beyond any boundaries of genres.
Changing games is a skill of the lefthanded. And again, Stefan was surprised watching me identifying his hidden solo compositions. I am righthanded, touched by surreal music and post-punk creativity, I am not a composer. And I will not out his solo compositions here, no. Nietzsche was a lefthanded, his skills surfaced in writing, and he was seemingly not selfaware of this natural skill and tending to curious vanity. His opinion about Horatius shows that in particular. Nietzsche never learned about the giveness of his skill when running his revaluation of all values. He was with the German romantic tradition all the time. And he had a certain selectivity who he liked to value, all were lefthanded (Goethe, Ceasar, Bismarck, Napoleon), all game changers, very skilled. In romantic music, Beethoven and Mozart were skilled brilliantly as such. In visual art, we may call Paul Klee an example. When Stefan needed a name for the new project, I was ready to try.
I said "Traum". In English, dream. By 1997, my search for a new way of composition beyond the genres of 'improvised', 'free jazz', 'world music', 'industrial', 'ambient', 'noise', 'drone', 'musique concrete' and else had already ended in sort of disappointment. I was sure, that the romantic tradition and its relative surrealism encompassed my search well, but at the time I had little in hand. My short essay "Noise Culture" in Vital Weekly Supplement in 1996 was a result of my search. Then talking with Stefan, and by intuition I avoided consideration of material or procedure what is behind the genre division. During that talk I threw myself out of that and looked for the location in musical anthropology. I looked for the essence of the genres and opened gain. So it became "Traum".
Stefan liked that immediately. He made it "Troum", just as if he knew the game change behind. To be clear, Troum is no music for Nietzscheans. And I am not a Nietzschean, although I have mastered in philosophy and know about him. His approach is restricted to values and valuation, in his case furthermore to the 'game' the values are framed by. That spoke to his nature and his romantic vanity. It happened, that I decided to leave Germany and I am teaching in China for eight years now. Here, musical anthropology is still a vantage point, and I am listening to Troum in Xian at the eastern end of the Silk Road.
Troum had done great things, I like the long-trackers "Sen" and "Mare Idiophonica". The Tjukurrpa-trilogy is also with me here, and allow me to highlight the collaboration with Martyn Bates and raison d'être. My current favorite of Troum is "Acouasme".
And if you know Horatius, yes, then you may be the right one to try Troum. It is sound, navigation and prior to translation. Here is abroad.
Lutz Schridde, Xian, China, April 1st 2018
Horatius in German:
Wozu, da er doch nicht gewachsen ist Ewigkeitsgedanken,
willst du deinen Geist damit plagen?
Warum wollen wir nicht unter der hohen Platane oder
unter dieser Pinie liegen sorgenlos, ....
This German translation is taken from Bernhard Kytzler, Horaz. Eine Einführung, Stuttgart 1996, page 176, on Nietzsche and Horatius see same page.
The English version above is mine.
|
2018 |
€ |
|
| LYKAION ECLIPSE |
Mesa |
CD-R |
"This intense drone-drama demonstrates well the boundless depths of soundscape. A slowly shifting sound sculpture, foremost in our audio field, appears to recede simultaneuosly into the distance, creating a profound auditory tension. Lykaion Eclipse creates a sonic experience of ambient subtlety and soft industrial electricity."
|
2007 |
€10.00 |
|
| M.B. (MAURIZIO BIANCHI) |
Hibernum |
CD |
"Exclusive work by Italian noise legend Maurizio Bianchi.
A marginal division of the whole existence in four palpable seasons, marked by pestilential changes in emotional hemisphere.
At the end, the hibernating organisms organize a reproducing molecule of environmental for a silent "hybernum".
‘Hibernum’ contains 3 lengthy, slowly shifting atmospheres for private meditation.
Mastered by Siegmar Fricke for Pharmakustik
Photography by Gerald Wack
Design by Jan Van den Broeke." [label info]
www.eetapes.be
"Odd. That is, in one word, the career of Maurizio Bianchi. Its perhaps about time someone did a book on him, or a decent website. Apparently he is now for the second time in hibernation, releasing no longer new music, but sometimes I wonder to what extend he actually did release new music in the past years? The information on the covers is not always very clear either. Take this 'Hibernum'. It says: "devised and decodified between the years 1995-2022" on the outside, which seems a bit strange to me already, but on the insert we read 'frozen granularity treatments and mastering by Siegmar Fricke 2011'. Now the name Fricke popped up on a lot of the second coming releases of Bianchi, and its never really clear what his involvement is. Just mastering or is it also additional composing, or perhaps even more? Maybe that's why a book would be a great idea to clarify all of that. On 'Hibernum' we find three long tracks of chilling electronics, of which the first is 'Primaveram/Aestatem' quite a drone piece, and much of the second one also, but it ends in quite a chilling highly processed rumble of metallic sounds (the 'granularity treatments' I wondered, and for much of the music anyway I was thinking to what extends computers play an important role for Maurizio Bianchi in his second life?). The title piece sounds like a mass of humming frogs, which are slowly being eaten by a giant killer machine - more drone like again, a bit static, and like the first a bit over-long, before moving into a different cold field of electronics - as cold is indeed the keyword for not just this release, but for pretty much a lot of the music composed by Bianchi in the last thirty years, with or without the help of who-ever. Throughout 'Hibernum' was a bit long I thought but nevertheless one of his better works of recent years - actually like so many!" [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| M.B. / COALMINER + ALLIES |
Antimateria |
LP |
Allies:
GNAW THEIR TONGUES (Netherlands);
RICHARD RAMIREZ (USA, founder of Black Leather Jesus); TORTURING NURSE (China)
ZENABI (Philippines);
GRODOCK (Germany);
TOSHIJI MIKAWA (Japan, founder of Incapacitants);
MANY BLESSINGS (USA; with Ethan Lee of Primitive Man);
UNSIGNIFIED DEATH (Thailand)
MAURIZIO BIANCHI is one of the founders of early industrial and noise music and should be familiar to the most. For ANTIMATERIA he contributed two brand new, merging pieces in which he approaches the theme through sounds of iluminescent and rushing keyboard clusters. COALMINER establishes several harshnoise tracks, for which they collaborated with the most diverse artists of the genre, from different countries. in the next few days, the various supporters will be presented here.
Art by: Paul van Trigt, M.B. and Bruno Erber
https://grubenwehrfreiburg.bandcamp.com/album/antimateria
"Schon vor etlichen Jahren haben Kernphysiker verschiedene Untersuchungen zu den Klängen von Antimaterieteilchen durchgeführt. Die Ergebnisse sind mittlerweile vermutlich Legion und mir weitgehend unbekannt. Wenn im Zuge dessen allerdings so etwas wie der Sound auf der vor einigen Monaten erschienenen Compilation “Antimateria” möglich ist, dann wäre ich prinzipiell dafür.
Auf der LP “Antimateria”, die wenn man genau sein will ein zwischen Kollaboration, Compilation und Split-Release angesideltes Objekt darstellt, arbeitet auf der ersten Seite das hierzulande hoffentlich bald wesentlich bekanntere philippinische Harsh Noise-Duo Coalminer mit einer Reihe an Acts zusammen, die trivial formuliert fast wie ein Who is Who internationaler Lärmkünste anmuten. Die Resultate offenbaren einen starken verbindenden Rahmen, unterscheiden sich aber im Detail sowohl in der klanglichen Beschaffenheit (Rauheit versus relativ glatte Politur, oder besser leicht abgemilderte Rauheit) als auch in der Struktur (Fluss versus Stakkato und alle Zwischenstufen).
Den Auftakt bildet ein Track, den die beiden (wie vermutlich in fast allen Stücken) in Mail Art-Manier zusammen mit der ursprünglich mal als Band gegründeten und heute von Junkie im Alleingang betriebenen Shanghaier Institution Torturing Nurse und dem deutschen Noise- und Experimental-Act Grodock aufgenommen haben. Nach wenigen brummenden Sekunden bricht eine Lawine aus Schutt und Geschrei auf die Ohren nieder, und was anfangs noch eher wie im Fluss wirkt, in welchem man die Schreie von Kindern und Schmerzgeplagten hört, wird irgendwann von einem ohrenbetäubenden Donnern und Rattern und Rumpeln zerstampft. Anschließend geht es in Zusammenarbeit mit Richard Ramirez und dem Landsmann Zenabi zunächst etwas zurückgenommener zur Sache, man hört verhaltenes Brodeln und Kratzen, bei dem sich zum einen die vielzitierte Noise-Wall mit rauer Tapete abzeichnet, aber auch das, was ungeübte Ohren gerne einen “Kaputte Boxen-Effekt” nennen. Das ist aber nur die Kulisse, auf der sich viele andere zum Teil entgrenzte Dinge wie schwindelerregender Drehungen oder höllisches Gekeife aus einem riesigen Mund ereignen.
Die qualvollen Schreie zeigen sich am eindrücklichsten in dem Track, den Coalminer zusammen mit dem aus dem experimentellen Black Metal stammenden niederländischen Projekt Gnaw Their Tongues und dem Amerikaner Ethan Lee McCarthy alias Many Blessings aufgenommen hat. Hier mischen sich die Todesschreie in ein furioses ambientes Rauschen, das mit der Zeit immer mehr zu einem kleinteiligen, schnellen Flickerbild mutiert. Zusammen mit Toshiji Mikawa (seines Zeichens Mitgründer der Incapacitants) und dem von Bangkok aus operierenden Polwach Beokhaimook alias Unsignified Death schließt die erste Seite mit einem Track, in welchem eine anfangs fast noch angenehm klingende Wall durch hochtönendes Feedback, beängstigendes Lachen und herausgekotzte Vocals zum Einsturz gebracht wird. So wird Antimaterie zu einem Fest für die Ohren.
Zu einem kompletten Tapetenwechsel (ohne Raufaser, pun intended) kommt es beim Auflegen der zweiten Seite, denn die beiden jeweils rund zehnminütigen Stücke, die Maurizio Bianchi hier unter seinem Kürzel M.B. abliefert, könnten zum bisher gehörten kaum eindrucksvoller kontrastieren. Was vom Label als “sounds of iluminescent and rushing keyboard clusters” beschrieben wird, erweist sich als Labsal von flirrender ambienter Struktur, deren helle, obertonreiche Gestalt immer in Bewegung bleibt. Im Verlauf der beiden Stücke entfalten sich – beim zweiten “Yangnay” mehr noch als beim eröffnenden “Gnayang” – leisere und lautere Abschnitte, in denen kleine Unregelmäßigkeiten, die manchmal wie Tonstörungen anmuten, für eine im besten Sinne unspektakuläre Dynamik sorgen. Und durchgehend sorgt eine sonnengeblendete Flimmerästhetik für ein fast nostalgisches Deja-Vu zu klassischen Synthesizer-Kompositionen besserer Zeiten.
Weit davon entfernt den Veröffentlichungsturnus v.a. im Harsh Noise zu überblicken schätze ich, dass “Antimateria” zu den herausragenden Releases in diesem Bereich zählt. Das betrifft natürlich primär die Coalminer und seinen Kollegen gewidmete Seite, aber auch in dem hier adressierte Dunstkreis tut ein Blick über den Tellerrand, hinter dem Bianchi seine sanften Keyboardsounds spielt, sicher ganz gut. Tolle Platte, die hoffentlich nochmal neu aufgelegt werden wird." [U.S./African Paper]
"First off, this album has six different vinyl versions, ranging from 10 copies in pristine white to 90 copies in red/brown flamed. Some are with additional CDs, some without, but Grubenwehr really put some effort into this release. I give compliments to you guys; your effort and energy paid off.
The two sides of this album are unrelated to each other. With this, I mean, it's not artists remixing each other or collaborative work using each other's sounds or so. It's 20 minutes per artist, and I think I have never had a better opportunity to present two fully different definitions of noise music in the same review to you, the reader. First of all, Side A: Coalminer. A duo from Manilla. Philippines, on their four tracks, work together with friends from all over the world. How about (and it's just half of them) Torturing Nurse, Richard Ramirez, Gnaw Their Tongues and Unsignified Death? And the music
is so intense!!! I couldn't tell you the content of the lyrics, but the titles kinda imply it. "Dissection", "Gaping Crevice", "Decomposition" and "Electrocution". I mean ... It's probably all lullabies for the sick and twisted (pun intended).
The reverse side contains two 10-minute pieces by M.B., a.k .a. Maurizio Bianchi. M.B. started working on his art in 1979 using pre-recorded sounds and, in 1980, worked more with the generation of his own sounds. He is absolutely one of the pioneers of early industrial and noise, and on the two pieces presented here - "Gnayang" and "Yangnay" - he approaches the theme of "Antimateria" through sounds of luminescent and rushing keyboard clusters. How does that translate to sound? Two lengthy pieces in which not much happens but where a lot happens. It sounded like a combination of organs and vocoders and was never-ending, always moving. I had a few moments where I was drawn into the atmosphere of Wendy Carlos works, but then more of a static/non-static drone. IF M.B.'s interpretation of the subject was that while nothing happens, a lot happens, and at the same time, because a lot happens, nothing happens, then he succeeded cum laude. Beautiful works, but in all honesty, It's an acquired taste." [BW/Vital Weekly]
|
2023 |
€20.00 |
|
| M.B. / DEDALI |
Electro Tones |
CD |
""Elektro Tones" is a collaboration between M.B. / Maurizio Bianchi and DEDALI (Alessandro Bosello).
Italian legend M.B. / Maurizio Bianchi is one of the most important and influential artist of the Industrial / Experimental music scene.
M.B. has released a huge amount of recordings since his beginning in 1979 and has also collaborated with many important artists such as Merzbow, Saverio Evangelista (Esplendor Geometrico), Aube and many others.
Dedali / Alessandro Bosello makes deep atmospheric armaghedon music. He is the creator of the music for the three chapters of the infamous multimedia series "La Fin Du Monde".
He also runs the cult music label menstrualrecordings since 2005. Many seminal works by M.B. were released on the menstrualrecordings label and this is their first collaboration.
"Elekro Tones" took four years in the making and is one of the most evocative M.B. collaborations to date.
Ancient acoustic revelations mixed with visceral modulations offer without fear a pulsating spiral of ascending rational obsessions where neuro electrical impulses are dangerously pushed into unforgiving zones.
"An over abundance of electronic tones mixed with great care through selective and visceral modulations between acoustic applications and circumspect sandings. This is "Elektro Tones" album." [label info] |
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| M.B. / FRAG |
Psychation |
CD |
An overwhelming collaboration between the legendary Maurizio Bianchi and FRAG recorded in early 2020.
4ib Records.
MB & FRAG - Psychation ( 4IB Records )
"Any work of architecture that does not express serenity is a mistake."
LUIS BARRAGAN
What is serenity?
To some; serenity is a tranquil, sequestered, fulfilled state of existence. A wilful pause of the modern consumer existence that pollutes and perverts our lives. A cessation of the demands modernity forces so brutally upon our febrile short lives.
To others serenity exists within scripture, tomes and ritualistic expressions of the divine. The devout seek a glimpse of this divinity, through the serenity they seek whilst shackled to the cold clay of this mortal coil.
Stephen Burroughs is FRAG and FRAG is a project that has found serenity in the brutalist architecture of the Midlands of Britain. In seeking to express in sound; the collapse of the industrial heartlands of the United Kingdom he has created through his FRAG project; a collection of audio sculptures that evoke the concrete isolation of his claustrophobic environment.
FRAG is the soundtrack to a mankind that is alienated completely from the natural order of life. His compositions are not warm but cold, angular and granular. Huge slabs of desolate anguish that despite their sterile inhumanity pulse and seethe with submerged longing. The sound of FRAG is that of a lone human hand extending skywards from a collapsed building. That hand pointing accusingly, cursing the heavens for that fate that has befallen it. Beneath that dead mortar is humanity slowly expiring under the cold dead weight.
It is entirely logical that FRAG and Maurizio Bianchi would collaborate together. In his early Archeo years Mr Bianchi explored the themes of isolated consciousness in the industrialised environment. The stark truth of the industrial age was explored by MB as he sought his own solace to the decaying soulless hell that surrounded him. Alienated by the inhumanity of his existence he sought to hold a mirror up to the crushing weight that sought to crush any and all resistance to its dehumanizing nature. Whilst MB sought to escape this brutalism of the soul by seeking an eremite like existence within the works of faith, FRAG became the lone wolf operative working behind enemy lines to fight a rearguard war of attrition against this inhuman leviathan. Both MB & FRAG have and are fighting the same war, against the same foe , using the same weaponry; the medium of sound.
Psychation despite containing three lengthy tracks really needs to be listened to as a whole. Despite the tracks being individual entities with quite different atmosphere they are best appreciated as a thematic progression across the entire album. These tracks are constantly evolving and mutating pieces of angular geometry. A cascade of electronic shapes that fluctuate and shift in a metamorphosis of Musique Concrete tonal expressionism. At times the unrelenting nature of the album is just about to break your endurance before a snatch of melodic ambience breaks through the tumult and disarray.
Where Psychation differs from most 'noise' based albums is that it retains its granite density without descending into chaotic nonsensicality. Despite the at times abrasive incisive attack of sound it retains a sense of weight. Almost as if the sound is being layered as one would layer asphalt, layer after layer added and poured. Over and over again in ceaseless repetition. The sound of humanity as it is drowned beneath the post human neo liberal order. Psychation is the sound of humanity as it thrashes and drowns beneath the technologic order that it has birthed into being.
Psychation is a warning to us all. A warning of the world we will inherit if we forgo our humanity and spirituality. If we throw all caution to the wind and embrace the technologic future.
Psychation is a window into that world. The post serenity, post human world of concrete, zero & ones and mindless consumerism.
MB & FRAG are pointing at the inevitable conclusion of our existence if we as humans choose to venture any further.
[Kristian Carter]
M.B. - PSYCHELECTRONICS, SEGREGATED NOISES, NUCLEAR PICTURES.
FRAG - PSYCHELECTRONIC SURGERISM.
ADDITIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY - KRISTIAN R. CARTER.
https://tunnelsofh.bandcamp.com/album/psychation
|
2020 |
€13.00 |
|
| MACHINE FOR MAKING SENSE |
The Act of Observation becomes the Object Itself |
CD |
"Stevie Wishart - hurdy gurdy, vocals + electronics
Amanda Stewart - voice + text
Rik Rue - anaolog and digital manipulations
Jim Denley - wind instruments + electronics
recorded July 2001 at UWS studio in Sydney by Emma Stacker.Edited, mixed and mastered by Jim Denley thanks the University of Western Sydney, the NSW Ministry of the Arts, Joan Grounds, Michael Atherton and Julian Knowles." [credits]
Over the many years of their existence, Australia's Machine For Making Sense have had many members. They play hurdy gurdy, vocals and electronics and wind instruments and electronics. Here they are together with Amanda Stewart (voice and text) and Rik Rue (analog and digital manipulation). As a 'band they explore relations between linguistics, poetry, speech, music, notions of sound, science and politics.' To that end the conversation is important - be it the conversation between instruments, the conversation of techniques applied as well as the multitude of voices that they use and which come to the listener in all sorts of appearances, many of them not to be dissected as voices. Above and beyond all doubt Machine For Making Sense is a group of musicians who play improvised music. Even when this was recorded in 2001, the group uses extended techniques, anywhere for regular playing of their instruments to the 'instrument as object' treatment from the world of silence improvisers. Text bits fly about, and the whole thing requires a lot of attention. Despite being inspired by the onkyo posse, Machine For Making
Sense make a lot of sound, constant, densely layered and one has to keep the full attention span as not to make loose anything that is going on here. Not really easy listening, laid back improvisation, but sturdy and powerful. Peal off some more layers, and more beauty will unfold.
www.rossbin.com
|
2006 |
€6.00 |
|
| MACHINE LISTENER |
Sentient System |
CD-R |
Machine Listener began with such a name, due to a project that is based on exploring and exploiting inherent characteristics from machines, and making compositions from them. In the beginning, it seems that everything from home printers to huge factory generators were used as sources. Their electromagnetic signals or the frequencies they emitted, or simply the noises they make, were the basis of compositions by sound artist Matthew Gallagher. Eventually, of course, Gallagher moved into sourcing the potential of synthesizers, both as machines and as instruments.
It can be assumed that Machine Listener's pure synth LP ("Endless Coil"), now out on Tusco Embassy, where we can guess that machines were used for their proper intention, came after "Sentient System", released in extremely limited quantities by filth-noise veteran Wyatt Howland (Skin Graft) on his own SK SK label in 2014. It is not up to us to say how "Sentient System" was created, but it is safe to assume that a little of both of these approaches were traversed, and as a result, "Sentient System" could be considered the apex of Machine Listener's adventures with mechanical, aleatoric components of industry.
Whatever the case may be, "Sentient System" is unlike any other recording you'll ever hear. It is both excellent in terms of composition and also permeated with a conceptually sound "hands off" approach, with caterwauling animal behavior, screeching panic signals and pervasive cicada hum. Some segments of these soundscapes could fit perfectly as cerebral, revelatory moments in a particularly head-fucked horror film, hewn with a certain feeling for a desolate science fiction future, or simply in mindscapes where pure noise is the end and the means. The release stands on its own, and apart from the rest, but at the same time is extremely important in adding to the legacy of industrial noise.
Originally limited to a criminally low quantity of copies, we here at NO PART OF IT are extremely excited to bring this release to a wider audience.
https://nopartofit.bandcamp.com/album/sentient-system |
2016 |
€9.00 |
|
| MACHINEFABRIEK |
Daas |
CD |
"The tracks on "Daas" have been carefully picked to form a provoking, haunting journey. What the tracks have in common is a sense of nostalgic graininess. As with the music of Philip Jeck, The Caretaker or William Basinski, these tracks are full of degrading melodies and dusty ambience. 'Daas' is the previously unreleased opening track of the album, and features contributions by the great Richard Skelton. 'Flotter', 'Koploop' and 'Grom' were previously available on small run self released EPs, while 'Onkruid' was a track previously released on 'A Room Forever', as an expensive and extremely limited 12" boxset. All are now brought to a wider audience. Presented in a matt laminate digipak." [label info]
"Next album comes from a project that also saw the daylight in 2004 just like aforementioned from Fire In The Head, though this is one of the few things in common between those two projects. Expressively we move right to the opposite side of the sound spectre here. Machinefabriek is a Dutch project from the Rotterdam-based sound artist Rutger Zuydervelt. The composer began his sonic explorations as a young boy taking lessons in piano and guitar but after that he went to the Art Academy of Arnhem, probably giving him the artistic and abstract approach to composing. Machinefabriek's music combines elements of ambient, modern classical, drone, noise and field recordings. His latest album titled "Daas" is an excellent piece of experimental ambient. There is a trend in the ambient world to combine the sound of ambience with modern classical, but in many cases the two styles do not melt and therefore doesn't float as one whole. Machinefabriek manage to integrate the acoustic elements into the digital spheres with a hauntingly beautiful end-result. Everyone interested in ambient music should keep an eye on this one." [NM/Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Dubbeltjes |
CD |
"Zoharum welcomes multitalented Rutger Zuydervelt aka Machinefabriek to its fold. We are very happy that Rutger decided to choose our label to release his new compilation of rare works entitled "Dubbeltjes". It consists of 11 track recorded between 2008 and 2013.
Rutger Zuydervelt talks about "Dubbeltjes": Short playing time formats, like 7-inches and 3-inch cdrs, are great to work with. More than on regular albums, the durational limitations are useful to experiment with and to create really focused, cristalised pieces.
Most of these tracks focus on a very limited palette of sounds. "Hilary" and "Jeffery" for example, are constructed using solely trombone recordings from (you guessed it) Hillary Jeffery (of The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble). "Huiswerk" Part 1 and 2 were made using a simple setup of electric guitar and sampler. And probably a suprise in my discography are "My Funny Valentine" and "Oh Doctor Jesus", two jazz classics, in collaboration with bass clarinet player Gareth Davis. All these sets of songs have a very specific quality to them.
These tracks are among my personal favorites. Most of them aren't available on a physical format anymore, so it's great to gather them on the album 'Dubbeltjes'. The tracks are presented as pairs or trios, as they appeared on their original releases. It's up to you, the listener, to either experience these combinations seperatly, hear the album in continuous play, or use shuffle mode to make new combinations.
"Dubbeltjes" is released in a 3-panel ecopak in a strictly limited edition of 300 copies." [label info]
www.zoharum.com
"Here at Vital Weekly a lot of music released by Machinefabriek is discussed, but there is a lot more than doesn't make it here, as Machinefabriek is also very active in the field of highly limited vinyl, lathe cut and cassette only releases. Luckily he is well known enough to have every now and then a compilation of these rarities, such as 'Dubbeltjes' ('dimes'). Here we have two pieces from compilations plus two 7"s, a lathe cut 5", a cassette and a 3"CDR, twelve pieces in total. Of these, I reviewed the lathe cut 5" with the jazz standards 'My Funny Valentine' and 'Oh Doctor Jesus' (Vital Weekly 789), which didn't sound like jazz anyway. One of the nicer things about such compilations as this one is that all of these pieces are relatively short and to the point and we hear Machinefabriek occasionally experimenting with form, such as 'Ontrafelde Tonen 1', which is more like musique concrete than his signature ambient guitar sound, which are present here, such as in 'Ax'. All of it
gets a place in here, with a nice variety. At forty-eight minutes not the longest of anthologies you could imagine, but it's compiled to be entertaining, listenable and varied, all of which in the comfort of Machinefabriek's drone inspired music." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Drum Solos |
LP |
"Drums (played with sticks, mallets, bow and tuning forks) and processing by Rutger Zuydervelt. "Driven by my love for solo albums by drummers and percussionists like Jon Mueller, Wil Guthrie, Nick Hennies and Burkhard Beins, I've made 'Drum Solos'. It's my take on a solo drum record, despite the fact that I lack the talent to hit a steady beat or a play a drum roll. Instead, I used the sounds of a drum kit as a sounce for further processing. I booked a rehearsel room with a drum kit, and recorded as much sounds as I could in one afternoon. Hitting, bowing, stroking, whatever ways I could find to create sounds, I recorded. And these soundfiles were chopped and screwed til it sounded like what you hear on the album. Each track focusses on one part of the drum kit. I like to think that purposefully employed limitations like that make me more creative, and my work more focussed. It's part of the aim to make my music as minimalistic and 'pure' (whatever that may be) as possible. In this case it resulted in a short but varied and at times meditative album that might not have any virtuoso drum acrobatics on it, but shows its quality on a more subtle level." ~RZ. Another great experimental and droning Machinefabriek album. Sleeve printed in metallic pantone gold ink. Limited edition of 300 copies on black vinyl." [label info]
www.backwards.it
"It shouldn't be a surprise that the ever prolific Rutger Zuydervelt (aka Machinefabriek) hasn't found the time to do everything that's he wanted to do in his artistic career. With his hundreds of recordings that have poured fourth in mostly tiny editions as well as his collaborations, he's rarefied the sounds from guitars and electronics into cracked crescendos of half-melodic smears of drone and noise full of doleful cavernous swells and dark-star explosions. Yes, we've long been smitten by his work; but we'll admit that we were a little skeptical of an album entitled Drum Solos that began with the preamble that Zuydervelt had long wanted to study the art of percussion but never found the time. Fortunately, this is not a half-assed first attempt at trying to make avant-garde percussive tumble like Will Guthrie or Eddie Prevost; rather, it's perfectly beautiful Machinefabriek album using the drumkit as the source material. With much filtering and signal processing, Zuydervelt broadcasts echoing tones of slow-unfurling sonar pulses across a bed of soft shimmering ambience and rumbling atmosphere. The cymbals seem to be the only part of the kit that he's left mostly free of processing; but even so, he's bowing the cymbals to create those same textured drones that Organum produced many moons ago. Rhythm is mostly shed in lieu of weightless tone-float and spiralling, ghostlike re-appearances of his reconfigured drum sounds. It's hardly what anyone would ever consider when thinking of a drum solo record, but in the context of a Machinefabriek album, it's pretty damn majestic." [Aquarius Rec.] |
2014 |
€12.50 |
|
|
Stillness Soundtracks |
CD |
"Trained as a graphic designer, Rotterdam's Rutger Zuydervelt started releasing as Machinefabriek in 2004. In 2006 he released his first official full length album, 'Marijn', which was voted by the Wire as one of that years bests electronica albums. Since then, his discography expended rapidly, releasing on international labels such as 12K, Staalpaat, Important, Experimedia, Type, Home Normal, Dekorder and Glacial Movements. His improvised live performances has seen stages across the globe, including Japan, Canada, Russia en Israel. Besides making albums and playing gigs, Zuydervelt regularly works with film makers and choreographers, as well as producing on installations.
'When Esther Kokmeijer approached me with the idea of making the scores for a series of short films she was working on, I didn't hesitate. Having seen a lot of her photography, I immediately knew how inspiring the footage she shot in Antarctica and Greenland would be. And this expectation proved to be correct. In quite a short period (we had set a deadline, to show the result at an open studio date) we swapped sketches and edits of the videos and audio, until the combinations felt perfect.The 'Stillness' films aren't documentaries in the sense that they tell a clear story. We're seeing the Arctic through Esther's eyes, slowly passing giant icebergs and simply being amazed be the impressive and seemingly endless landscape. While in other films it's mostly the other way around, in 'Stillness' the narrative, if there is any, comes from the music. When making these soundtracks, the idea was to guide the viewer through the images with a sense of abstract story telling. Instead of the original first thought of making dark, cold soundscapes, the bleak mountains of ice are now colored by lush arrangements and even quite romantic themes. Esther and I released the videos on a usb-stick, in a limited edition of 100, that was sold out in no time. Now the scores are presented on 'Stillness Soundtracks', including two exclusive tracks. It speaks for itself that there's no better label to release this then the Glacial Movements label, so I couldn't be happier.' Rutger Zuydervelt, April 2014." [label info]
www.glacialmovements.com
|
2014 |
€14.00 |
|
|
With Voices |
CD |
With Voices is the newest recording by Dutch composer Rutger Zuydervelt under the moniker Machinefabriek. True to its title, the album’s eight pieces exhibit Zuydervelt’s use of cassette recorders, tone generators, radios, synths, and other hifi curio to construct bewildering aural architecture around vocal work from Peter Broderick, Marissa Nadler, Richard Youngs, Chantal Acda, Terence Hannum (of Locrian) and others. These human voices are featured as musical instruments rather than mere vehicles of lyrical content, resulting in a sub-linguistic mosaic of primordially stirring moods.
The initial spark of With Voices was kindled while Zuydervelt was in Taipei creating music for a dance company. In the final days of his trip, a dancer named Wei-Yun Chen caught Zuydervelt’s ear with an instagram video featuring a voice that turned out to be Wei-Yun’s own (she would end up on the album’s seventh movement, a piece that features dissected bits of Taiwanese poetry amid low-pitched murmurs and whispering fogbanks of static). The encounter stirred Zuydervelt to create a single 35 minute soundscape upon which each vocalist on With Voices was encouraged to improvise, be it talking, reading, singing, or wordless, guttural intoning. Such vocal smatterings were then used to determine how the other tonal elements should be arranged, dictating where each musical passage would ultimately lead. “The idea was for everyone to just do what came naturally” he recalls, “the element of unpredictability was important to me.”
Indicative of this approach “III” (the tracks are simply titled with Roman numerals) slowly winds like ivy through staccato phrases spoken by Zuydervelt’s peer Peter Broderick, whose micro-incantations skip along mechanically only to telescope into monastic grandeur at the track’s midpoint; the vibrations of vocal cords are often stretched to a seismic hum to form the heavy implements in Zuydervelt’s toolkit. On “V”, tape recordings of Zero Years Kid (aka Joachim Badenhorst) sputter with their own apparent intelligence like a faulty AI attempting to interpret reels of human speech in some ruinous library of the distant future. Finally, a siren-like Marissa Nadler leads the suite to its lullabic endpoint with overlapping wisps of harmony devoid of accompaniment ending the album on an angelic note.
In these moments, like much of With Voices, warm-blooded arteries seem to have grown around bits of well-designed artifice to form something warmly alien, soberly futuristic, and inherently satisfying. More than simply an album of collaborative features, With Voices is a mutating collage of modern minimalism that challenges as often as it comforts. There is an alchemical, metallurgical quality that arises from Zuydervelt’s unique way of merging humanness with abstraction, harshness with beauty, and unintelligibility with familiarity on what may be the most affecting Machinefabriek release to date.
Each vocalist recorded a reaction to the same base track.
Their parts became the starting points for the pieces on this album.
Constructed by Rutger Zuydervelt, Rotterdam, March-June 2018
https://machinefabriek.bandcamp.com/album/with-voices-2
|
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
With Voices (col. vinyl) |
LP |
With Voices is the newest recording by Dutch composer Rutger Zuydervelt under the moniker Machinefabriek. True to its title, the album’s eight pieces exhibit Zuydervelt’s use of cassette recorders, tone generators, radios, synths, and other hifi curio to construct bewildering aural architecture around vocal work from Peter Broderick, Marissa Nadler, Richard Youngs, Chantal Acda, Terence Hannum (of Locrian) and others. These human voices are featured as musical instruments rather than mere vehicles of lyrical content, resulting in a sub-linguistic mosaic of primordially stirring moods.
The initial spark of With Voices was kindled while Zuydervelt was in Taipei creating music for a dance company. In the final days of his trip, a dancer named Wei-Yun Chen caught Zuydervelt’s ear with an instagram video featuring a voice that turned out to be Wei-Yun’s own (she would end up on the album’s seventh movement, a piece that features dissected bits of Taiwanese poetry amid low-pitched murmurs and whispering fogbanks of static). The encounter stirred Zuydervelt to create a single 35 minute soundscape upon which each vocalist on With Voices was encouraged to improvise, be it talking, reading, singing, or wordless, guttural intoning. Such vocal smatterings were then used to determine how the other tonal elements should be arranged, dictating where each musical passage would ultimately lead. “The idea was for everyone to just do what came naturally” he recalls, “the element of unpredictability was important to me.”
Indicative of this approach “III” (the tracks are simply titled with Roman numerals) slowly winds like ivy through staccato phrases spoken by Zuydervelt’s peer Peter Broderick, whose micro-incantations skip along mechanically only to telescope into monastic grandeur at the track’s midpoint; the vibrations of vocal cords are often stretched to a seismic hum to form the heavy implements in Zuydervelt’s toolkit. On “V”, tape recordings of Zero Years Kid (aka Joachim Badenhorst) sputter with their own apparent intelligence like a faulty AI attempting to interpret reels of human speech in some ruinous library of the distant future. Finally, a siren-like Marissa Nadler leads the suite to its lullabic endpoint with overlapping wisps of harmony devoid of accompaniment ending the album on an angelic note.
In these moments, like much of With Voices, warm-blooded arteries seem to have grown around bits of well-designed artifice to form something warmly alien, soberly futuristic, and inherently satisfying. More than simply an album of collaborative features, With Voices is a mutating collage of modern minimalism that challenges as often as it comforts. There is an alchemical, metallurgical quality that arises from Zuydervelt’s unique way of merging humanness with abstraction, harshness with beauty, and unintelligibility with familiarity on what may be the most affecting Machinefabriek release to date.
Each vocalist recorded a reaction to the same base track.
Their parts became the starting points for the pieces on this album.
Constructed by Rutger Zuydervelt, Rotterdam, March-June 2018
|
2019 |
€20.00 |
|
| MACHINIST |
Of what once was |
CD |
"Machinist is the musical project of Dutch artist Zeno van den Broek. On Of What Once Was, his first real cd after several CD-R releases, shows two sides of the man. With a background in architecture he creates music with a clear focus on the urban environment and the immersive experience of space. In Mono tone in d he creates a minimal piece of guitar drones inspired by the work of Yves Klein and in the piece Of what once was we hear an improvised piece of guitar combined with field recordings. A dense emotional piece which is a closing of a chapter in his career, and an opening to a new one." [label info]
www.movingfurniturerecords.com
"From The Netherlands hails Machinist, and when
reviewing his previous CD 'Viens Avec Moi Dans Le Vide', I closed the review with "Its about time he moved to doing real CDs, I'd say", which may or may not have been heard by Moving Furniture Records. Zeno van den Broek from Rotterdam is Machinist and this new album has two pieces of music, of which the first one is inspired by 'Monotone Symphony' by Yves Klein, a painter who painted monochrome one-color paintings, but who also scored some music. In 'Monotone Symphony' "a chamber orchestra plays only one note for twenty minutes, followed by an equal measure of silence". Machinist, being one man, uses a guitar, tuned in D and the variation is in the length of tones and different shapes of resonance. I thought this was a wonderful, open piece of music. A piece that reminded me very much of Machinefabriek (nowadays also from Rotterdam), with looping guitar tones, in various stages. From high end peeps to low end bouncing rhythms, this piece has a great quality, even when it perhaps sounds a bit Machienfabriek like. The other piece is 'Of What Once Was', an improvised piece which he played in various concerts in which he presented the more fixed piece 'Viens Avec Moi Dans Le Vide'. This is a more louder piece of music, also build around the guitar, but with more distortion and small howls of feedback. Apparently there is also field recordings in this piece, as well as computer generated tones, but they were harder to detect. In this piece, the influence of Machinefabriek is less apparent. Maybe 'Of What Once Was' is a bit long and it could have been edited a bit down, although, in his defense, I could say the longitude is also a necessary ingredient of this kind of music (and what cause some people to hate 'drone' music). Although, perhaps an extended bonus to the first piece." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2011 |
€12.00 |
|
| MAEDER, MARCUS |
Annex |
mCD |
"In architecture, an annex is an extension to a main building. Likewise, the pieces on this mini CD complement and supplement the approaches that Marcus Maeder presented in his latest work titled subsegmental. Here, too, the musical pieces are composed of very short sound segments reproduced at such low speed as to stretch out and form vast soundscapes. Maeder processes and shapes this acoustic topography, giving it a distinctive, surreal quality and populating it with strange beings and events. Those who enter the annex are confronted with highly suggestive soundscapes featuring objects springing out of the inaudible realm of darkness to form a cosmos of micro-events, only to escape perception again, like a ghostly presence brushing past in the dark. Marcus Maeder is a sound artist and composer. He studied Art at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Lucerne and is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Philosophy at the University of Hagen. Maeder runs the music label domizil, which he co-founded in 1996 with Bernd Schurer. He has worked as an editor and producer for the Swiss radio station DRS and has been working as a curator at the Institute for Computer Music and Sound Technology of the Zurich University of the Arts since 2005. His artistic work focuses mainly on computer music and the artistic and media extensions of the term. As an author, Maeder has written on a number of topics in the fields of sound art and digital media." [label info]
www.domizil.ch
"Earlier today I was not at home, but in a friends house waiting for something. The weather was hot, and I lay down on his couch. In my bag was ‘Annex’ by Marcus Maeder, and I decided to play it. Around the house there was a lot of activity of people constructing a new house on one side (or perhaps putting an annex to it?) and on the other side motorized objects doing gardening work. Maeder’s music wasn’t very loud on, but it merged wonderful with the sounds coming from outside, even with all the windows closed. I fell asleep. Later on, now, I am at home again, listening again to ‘Annex’ in a more quiet surrounding of early evening (windows open). I am to understand that this work is an extension (for that is what an ‘annex’ is, in an architectural sense) of ‘Subsegmental’ (see Vital Weekly 702). I am not sure if Maeder draws from the same sounds as on ‘Subsegmental’, but he uses ‘very short sound segments reproduced at such low speed as to stretch out and form vast soundscapes’ – I
couldn’t have this any better myself. The four pieces (sixteen minutes in total) emerge on the near silence, especially ‘Plateau’ is very quiet, much alike the eleven pieces on ‘Subsegmental’. Perhaps without many differences between this one and that one, but its simply beautiful stuff. Maybe its too early to play this music and I should wait until full darkness has set in, but its tranquility is simply great as it is." [FdW, Vital Weekly] |
2010 |
€8.00 |
|
| MAEROR TRI |
Yearning for the Secret(s) of Nature |
CD |
"Dass die Aufnahmen dieses in einer 300er Auflage wiederveröffentlichten Tapes schon fast zwanzig Jahre auf dem Buckel haben, hört man in keiner Sekunde! Da hat jemand eine wirklich sehr gute und feinfühlige Re-Mastering-Arbeit abgeliefert.
MAEROR TRI sind ja immer noch in reduzierter Besetzung als TROUM unterwegs und Herr Knappe betreibt das allgemein bekannte Drone-Label mit angegliederten Vertrieb. MAEROR TRI waren sicher damals eine der interessantesten und auch aktivsten Industrial-Bands der Kassettenszene, die schnell den Sprung auf Vinyl und später auch auf CD vollzogen und hervorragend gemeistert haben.
Ihre Musik ist sehr spirituell, meditativ und extrem fließend. Nicht wirklich Ambient, dafür gibt es einfach zu viele krachige Eruptionen, noch nicht Drone, was man heute darunter versteht, sondern eine Art psychedelisches Ritual, das positiv, neugierig und befreiend wirkt und in keinster Weise destruktiv oder mystisch verklärt ist, wie es ja seinerzeit sehr beliebt war.
MAEROR TRI sind sicher eine der Wiederentdeckungen dieser Zeit und heute noch genauso spannend und unberechenbar wie damals. Vielleicht auch die einzigen legitimen Nachfahren des Krautrocks? Leider auch schon wieder lange Geschichte ... Wunderbar ..."
[Carsten Vollmer, OX-Fanzine]
"Born as an obscure cassette on Fool's Paradise (London 1993), this exclusive and essential work by Maeror Tri made a brief appearance earlier as a CD-r on EE Tapes (Saint Nix 2001) before it quickly vanished into oblivion.
Due to popular demand it has finally been made available again as a limited CD release!
Repolished in sound and housed in a new designed jacket, 'Yearning....' has now
become of full value between such masterpieces as 'Myein' or 'Language of flames and sound'.
Don't miss it this time.......
Restoring/remastering work by Anders Peterson @ghostsounds.net
Art design by Alan McClelland @eyelyft.blogspot.com"
[label info]
www.myspace.com/eetapes
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Multiple Personality Disorder |
CD |
"... this debut CD by the German trio Maeror Tri is a devastating experience in sonic art. In the realm of Soviet France, Cranioclast or The Hafler Trio, its's hard to call such constructed wedges of noise music, this is something else. In fact I think it just scared four people who entered the Ultima Thule shop, leaving with bewildered and perplexed looks on their faces! Be they atmospheric or intensive, Maeror Tri offer a challenging sound that defies description." [Alan Freeman, AUDIO, 1993]
"Maeror Tri als der J.G. BALLARD der Musik." [Vi-Va-Vogel, Auf Abwegen]
"Some music is related to a period, because of the sound of the amplifiers, recording possibilities, effects and synthesizers. The technic colors the sound during that period and gives is that time limit. I cannot say that about the re-release of the timeless sounds at the CD "Multiple Personality Disorder" (MPD) of the not anymore existing German group Maeror Tri. The groups existed from 1998 - 1996 and has the following members Stefan "Baraka [H]" Knappe, Martin "GLIT[s]CH" Gitschel and Helge Siehl. Stefan Knappe and Martin Gitschel continues to make music with the group Troum and releases music with the vinyllabel Drone Records. From 1998 - 1993 Maeror Tri released a lot of tapes. The music for the first CD Multiply Personality Disorder was recorded in 1991 and released in 1993 by Korm Plastics as a limited edition of 600 in the serial Introductionaire to promote the music of new musical artists. For now the re-release has been done by the Purplesoil from the Czech Republic. During the musical project the group examined the different states of mind and characters by means of music and they want to confront the listener with the totally different states of mind and feeling of people with MPD. The CD exist of five compositions, with different moods, from ambient and atmospheric to aggressive and anxious. And really I was confronted with the different moods some with MPD. The meaning of the album has been successful. During that same period I was working in a psychiatric hospital with people with so-called personality diseases. I worked also with people with MPD and they presented themselves with totally different characters, behaviour, clothing, sexual preference and sound of the voice. I was really very difficult to work with these people because I had to deal with one person, but sometimes during daytime with three or four different persons. Most of these people had very bad childhood experiences and they try to deal with the some treating or stressful reality with different personalities. For now MPD has become more on the background but this release is really a good flashback of that period and a successful experiment of Maeror Tri." [JKH / Vital Weekly]
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Emotional Engramm |
CD |
"The reissue of a long-forgotten classic MAEROR TRI album with stunning new artwork and newly remastered sound. Back in 1997, it turned out to be the last album by this experimental trio of German droners composed of Stefan ‘Barakah’ Knappe, Martin ‘GLIT[s]CH’ Gitschel and Helge Siehl. The former two later formed TROUM (Zoharum releases: “Autopoiesis / Nahtscato” and “Seeing-Ear Gods” (A Continuous Journey
in Six Parts) and the latter 1000SCHOEN. During their nine-year existence, they recorded a handful of albums and cassettes with their unique mixture of minimalism, industrial, ambient and drone, exploring the brains of potential listeners. „Emotional Engramm” is MAEROR TRI's most refined effort to date. After years of experimenting, the group came to a characteristic sound composed of layers of
electrically/electronically-treated acoustic instruments. Their organic sound achieved the most accessible form on „Emotional Engramm”;. Clocking in at just under 80 minutes, the seven tracks presented here show Maeror Tri at its best.
The reissue is presented in a lavish 6-panel digipak designed by Marcin Lojek (Ibsen Design, New Nihilism label, Mantichora and Schmerz bands) with a foreword by Martyn Bates (EYELESS IN GAZA).
The album has been faithfully remastered by Lukasz Miernik (Dead Cat Mastering)." [label info]
www.zoharum.com
"Originally released in 1997 on the now defunct Iris Light imprint out of England, Emotion Engramm was the final album from Maeror Tri - the haunting, post-industrial drone trio that was the precursor to the equally haunting, post-industrial drone DUO Troum. This record - more so than any of the other Maeror Tri albums - engaged the complex structures that Troum would later push through their interlocking, shadowy melodies and slow-motion, effects-heavy drone. At the same time, the concepts that went into Emotional Engramm are more closely related to the clinical psychological themes of the Maeror Tri albums Multiple Personality Disorder or Language Of Flames & Sound, as referenced by the titular engram (purposefully misspelled in the title), a Scientology term for a mental image embedded into the brain by any type of trauma - physical, emotional, psychic, or otherwise. Far from prescribing the teachings of Scientology, Maeror Tri uses that concept as a jumping off point in conjuring "resonance of control, impact, fortuity, the randomly instigated yet inedibly etched emotional memory: Kodak ghosts." It's easy to read particular passages within the frozen din of washed-out guitar noise, spectral melodies, tectonic bass rumblings, and metallic slashes of grim electronics as the seizures within the psyche that might get caught in an infinite loop for the inner-mind. Some of those images provide an emotional resonance that's deeply sad and full of despair, while others are enraged with a blackened hostility. As we mentioned, many of the ideas and strategies that went into this album continued to develop through Troum; but even so, this stands as one of the best albums that either Maeror Tri or Troum had produced." [Aquarius Records]
"Recorded between 1993 and 1996, this is the final release of MAEROR TRI - packaged to suggest that this music is a kind of empty canvas for engrams, for letters, words, scribblings (both significant and insignificant) to emerge upon. "Engrams" somehow brings to mind Scientology; resonances of Control, Impact, Fortuity, the randomly instigated yet indelibly etched emotional memory: Kodak Ghosts...
The pure idea of Scientology is that of a beautiful catharsis; a steering thru the engrams, the 'de-control' of the mind and the re-acquisition of it's disparate componants...an insight...tools for your own endevour....for self-development......access towards some kind of re-affirmation of scattered aspects of being.
MAEROR TRI here paint an expanse of (admittedly low-fi) sheets of sound; abstraction that is only truly completed by the sensitized listener, adrift, in darkness, volume filling/consuming the room (it doesn't function as ambience, I found...), waver of rain in radioactivity, ether tears of trains of thought, the long forever letters of minutia that you hand-write to dear friends half a world away all flooding back now, into your mind's ear; books - someone else's thoughts.....worlds that consume, yet are mere cyphers, scribbles that are understood somewhere in an unthinking space within the mechanism of each individual's fleeting moment upon the 'wheel of the quivering meat conception'. This MAEROR TRI CD; non-representational, perhaps easily dismissed by anyone who has no time to 'stand and stare'..... ... .... well, for God's sake, stop ... and stand and stare ... put your ear to the world, and listen to the song of the nightingale ..... .. no; listen to all the birdsong .. ... know that words, and sounds, are but tokens."
[MARTYN BATES for SOFT WATCH for the 1st ed.]
|
2012 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Mort Aux Vaches: Hypnos/Transe |
CD |
"tracklist: 1 (mind) - initiation, 2 (mind) - alternation, 3 (mind) - expansion
upc 821272307822. photographs by salt. release date: 31october2k12
15 years after its original release, 17 years after its recording, raubbau is delighted to present the highly anticipated reissue of this classic maeror tri album.
history lesson part 1 - the band: maeror tri were a three-headed band from bremen who stemmed from the german diy tape scene of the 1980s. with their unique brand of music, which they performed on 'real' instruments but made it sound purely electronic, they stirred the attention of a wider audience and accomplished considerable crossover success. praised by the critics, their disbandment in 1996 was much bemoaned. nevertheless, ever since a number of archive and re-releases have compensated the fans for their loss, as well as the output of the maeror tri successors troum (still a major attraction in the drone/experimental ambient genre) and the audio & visual & paintings project 1000schoen.
history lesson part 2 - mort aux vaches: a long-running series of specially-packaged albums released by cult label staalplaat, all of them recorded as live sessions for a dutch radio station. mort aux vaches has so far featured around 70 artists, among them many big name acts such as merzbow, zoviet france, roger rotor and many others.
history lesson part 3 - the album: the aptly subtitled hypnos/transe (spelling deliberately chosen) was considered a magnificent legacy when it was posthumously released, combining all the elements that had made maeror tri special: their tracks sound strangely different anytime you listen to them, the elements never clearly reveal themselves but retain a fascinating secrecy, beautiful and demanding at the same time.
the track titles of hypnos/transe reveal the concept of music affecting and altering the mental state of the listener. the 'initiation' accordingly uses a long build-up structure, starting with soothing ambient sounds, but continually integrating more and more layers of drones and culminating in an entrancing shamanic rhythm. 'alternation' is in a darker mood, with low-end rumbling and sonorous mock chants appealing to the deeper realms of the psyche. 'expansion' is easily the noisiest track of the three, with eerie scraping thumps and squealing sounds (wind? whales? bombs?). the psychogenic trip comes to its conclusion after 55 minutes, and one thing is for sure: after this listening session, you won’t be the same person as you had been before. this fine reissue comes well right for a new generation of listeners to discover a musical gem which has long been a sought-after, high-priced collectors item - and also one may with good cause say that the new artwork is much easier on the eyes than the original’s bright pink." [label info]
www.raubbau.org
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Hypnobasia |
CD |
"Musicians of the now-defunct Maeror Tri have already had many opportunities to work with Zoharum on both releasing their new recordings and reissues of their older material. Our catalog contains titles by Troum ("Autopoiesis / Nahtscato", "Seeing-Ear Gods" and "Dreaming Muzak"), 1000Schoen (double split with Polish Ab Intra), and also their original project Maeror Tri ("Emotional Engramm" and "Meditamentum"). Together with musicians we remove blank spots in their discography by restoring their older recordings.
Maeror Tri was a project operating since the mid-80s until 1997, when they released their last album entitled "Emotional Engramm." In their works they penetrated such genres as minimalism, ambient and industrial music, and borrowed drone aesthetic from classical music. In addition to seven regular albums on CD and LP, they released a number of cassettes. They contained much rawer recordings compared to those from the trio's regular albums.
One of these two tape albums is "Hypnobasia" originally released in 1992 by the Italian label Old Europa Cafe. It was the fifth tape in the discography of Maeror Tri. The following rerelease is expanded with 3 additional tracks lifted from various artists compilations from 1989-1992. All the recordings have been remastered for this release.
The album is released in a 2-panel ecopak in a strictly limited edition of 350 copies. The cover is designed by Marcin Łojek (rozpad.com). It is mastered by Łukasz Miernik. The whole production process is overseen by Michał Porwet." [label info]
www.zoharum.com
"MAEROR TRI war ein Trio, das vom Ende der 80er-Jahre bis zum Jahr 1997 aktiv war. Nach einer Reihe von Veröffentlichungen, die sich in dem Rahmen Dark-Ambient, Industrial, Drone, Experimental einordnen lassen, war mit dem 1997er-Album „Emotional Engramm“ jedenfalls Schluss. Zwei Mitglieder, MARTIN GITSCHEL und STEFAN KNAPPE, machten danach mit TROUM weiter; HELGE SIEHL veröffentlichte in den Folgejahren als 1000SCHOEN.
Gerade zu Beginn der Existenz von MAEROR TRI wurden eine Reihe von Tapes veröffentlicht, von denen einige bereits auf CD wiederveröffentlicht wurden. Die noch vorhandenen Lücken möchte nun das polnische ZOHARUM-Label schließen, indem es zum einen „Sensuum Mendacia / Somnia“ und zum anderen „Hypnobasia“ wiederveröffentlicht. „Sensuum Mendacia / Somnia“ umfasst dabei das „Sensuum Mendacia“ Tape und die MAEROR TRI-Stücke des „Somnia Et Expergisci“ Split-Tapes, das damals zusammen mit NOSTALGIE ÉTERNELLE veröffentlicht wurde. „Hypnobasia“ wurde noch um drei Tape-Compilation-Stücke aus der Zeit ergänzt.
Gemeinsam ist beiden Veröffentlichungen, dass die Gitarre prägendes aber nicht wahrnehmbar dominierendes Element ist, wobei das Klangspektrum von Drones und Noise bis hin zu Akkorden und melancholischem Einzelanschlag der Saiten reicht. Die zupackendere, Richtung Industrial und Noise tendierende Seite von MAEROR TRI deckt hier definitiv „Hypnobasia“ ab, hier wird mit rhythmischen Elementen, Noise und bearbeiteten Stimmen gearbeitet. Ruhiger, flächiger, klanglich weitläufiger und auch melancholischer erscheint dagegen „Sensuum Mendacia / Somnia“. Der Klang erscheint bei beiden Veröffentlichungen als organisches, mit vielen Unebenheiten und Wendungen ausgestattetes Gebilde. Hochgezüchtete, digitale Soundwälle oder gar symphonische Elemente sucht man hier jedenfalls vergeblich. Im Klangbild mag man hier und da vielleicht den Staub der 90er-Jahre und die vielleicht noch nicht ganz ausgereifte technische Ausstattung erkennen; dennoch haftet dem Sound eine gewisse Zeitlosigkeit an, die das Wirken von MAEROR TRI auch aus heutiger Sicht als spannend erscheinen lassen kann." [Tony F. für nonpop.de]
|
2016 |
€12.50 |
|
| |
The Singles |
CD |
Reissue of MAËROR TRI(...)'s full vinyl singles / EP's recorded from 1993-1996 (except for their first one, "Saltatrix" on Drone Records - DR01)
"Am Tag, als die Stil- und Genrebildung geprägt wurde, waren drei Nordlichter besonders aktiv. Unter der Bezeichnung Maeror Tri revolutionierten sie fortan Sound- und Hörerfahrungen. Zielgruppe der drei war stets die rechte Hirnhälfte. Wundervolle Edelsteine aus dem tiefen Ozean wurden fortan geborgen, auf 7“ gepresst und sind heute nur noch schwer erhältlich. So ist es im äußersten Maße begrüßenswert, dass den Hörern nun dies wieder zugänglich wird. Bleibt zweierlei festzuhalten. Zunächst steht unverrückbar, dass sämtliche in der Folge schier unzählige Epigonen lieber ihr Bestreben nach Ausdruck auf den Hobbykeller bzw. auf die Untermalung des letzten Urlaubsvideos richten sollten. Zweitens steht ebenso unumstößlich fest, dass Maeror Tri eine Ausnahmeerscheinung und somit eigentlich unvergleichlich waren!" [Leonie D./ TAUCHER Nr. 02]
What can I say? They were my fave Drone/Industrial unit in the nineties and when this came out 15 years ago, it didn't last for too long until it was completely sold out...
So by popular demand, here's the reissue, no more no less !!
May the Force be with You !!
Photography (unknown location) by Jan Kees Helms
Mastering at Illlektrik Toolz by Herman Klapholz
Design by Jan Van den Broeke
Tags: Drone - Industrial - Experimental
www.eetapes.be
"Probably there is only one group that started as a cassette only band, who will successfully release their entire back-catalogue on real CDs (not CDRs) and that is Maeror Tri. They started out in the late eighties as a three piece ambient industrial group, and released a whole bunch of cassettes and subsequently also 7"s and CDs. In the late nineties one of the three band-members left and the name was changed to Troum. Their 7"s are now collected on this CD, for the first time and complete as such (so the originals can go to Ebay now, although I have no idea how well sought there). One 7" is missing and that's the one that they released on their own label, Drone Records (which started the label) and which will be re-issued soon. It's good to see this released as last, as the music of Maeror Tri can best be enjoyed in the digital format, away from the scratchy, hissy vinyl, of which the duration was sometimes also too long for a 7". This collection starts out with quite a raw Maeror Tri, with metallic banging but as the CD progresses, some of the more classic Maeror Tri appear: dark and dense and intense, with much layering of sound effects, percussive sounds and many obscure sound-sources (I once saw them playing an accordion on stage, feeding it through a whole line of sound effects). These singles, three 7"s and one 10", can easily be classified among the best they ever did and with the enhanced quality of the CD, this is a much wanted item. Time to plunder their cassette releases and release those on CD. Do I hear the word 'boxset', anyone?" [Fdw/Vital Weekly - original review to the first ed. 2005] |
2020 |
€10.00 |
|
| MAES, LAURA & KRISTOF LAUWERS |
Kitch'n Glitch |
CD |
"Cling Film –Mitbetreiberin LAURA MAES hat hier zusammen mit KRISTOF LAUWERS Küchengeräte, die Küchengeräusche von sich geben, akusmatisch verwurstet, und eine hochspannend tönende subtile Soundwelt ins Leben gerufen...zwischen elektronisch anmutenden Drones und ganz trockenden Geräuschen, ein Küchenkontext ist kaum noch zu erahnen... TIP !" [Drone Rec. 2003]
“All kinds of kitchensounds were blended for your exquisite taste. Don't expect loud mixers or banging on kettles, but rather subtle manipulated and cut-up sounds, sometimes creamy and soft, sometimes crispy and cold. caffeine free.” [label info]
“ A first release on her own label by Laura Maes, who runs Cling Film together with Kevin van Volcem (aside from all the organisational work they do in their surroundings). As the title of this disc already suggests, all the raw material was recorded in a kitchen
(Laura's) and later manipulated in the studio. With a total duration of just over 37 minutes, this is a dense work, that requires close
attention from the listener. There is a lot happening here and more often than not, it is pretty subtle. One of the most interesting
phenomena for me is the way Maes and Lauwers move with their sound from sheer electronic to acoustic and back again. From raw material to its manipulation or vice versa. The seven tracks are well placed and spaced, so one can listen to the whole CD as one work without a problem (this has defenitely got my preference). All tracks have strong compositions and very good timing and, most importantly: it's very juicy (and I mean this in the most positive sense!). Another one that is highly recommended. [MR for Vital Weely] Adress: www.clingfilm.org
|
2003 |
€10.00 |
|
| MAGICICADA |
Everyone is Everyone |
CD |
Klasse Debut eines neuen US-Projekts: MAGICICIDA steht für eigenwillige und variantenreiche „intelligente“ Experimentalmusik jenseits jeder Schublade, da gibt es höchst sphärische und hallumtoste Stücke die aus einem ganzen Arsenal an verschiedensten Soundquellen basieren, seltsame folkartige Ethno-Gesänge und Handgespieltes, Loops & andere Endlos-Effekte, manchmal steigert sich das in harsh noise – Bereiche rein, alles sehr druckvoll & abenteuerlich. TIP für Explorer !
“Magicicada is the musical life of Atlanta musician/sound designer/photographer, Christopher White. “Everyone is Everyone” is an organic, experimental work that blends traditional, as well as folk and eastern, instruments with found objects, samplers and field recordings to create a work that varies from delicate, cinematic soundscapes to harsh electronic environments. The instrumentation includes (but is not limited to): pump organ, voice, contact mics on faulty electrical lines, melodica, toys, iron balls rolling on wooden floors, accordion, cellophane, air cans, tape decks for the blind, guitar, shruti box, MARTA (Atlanta’s public transit), synths, oven door (percussion,) cellos, zurna, paper, frogs in the backyard, and the remains of Hurricane Denis shaking the roof. The Arigato-Pak style covers are beautifully printed by Stumptown Printers on (peacepunk approved!) 100% recycled , Environment 120# cover.” [label info]
"As many people as possible should experience his single-mindedly self-willed experimental-ambient sounds." - laut.de (Germany)
"Everyone is Everyone" is variegated, brisk and well crafted, a teapot of deviated psychedelia, rancid electronica and sounds coming from forgotten offshoots of Ed Wood's "Plan 9 from outer space", all of the above floating in a broth of Biota and Zoviet France with exhausted batteries. White lets us share some of his fun - and the drones of "Cause" are blood-icing in their beauty." - Touching Extremes (Italy)
"With an organic approach to creation, these eastern and folk influenced experimental works rival some of the strangest electronic ambient out there - from drifting soundscapes to meditative trances."-Just Add Noise
“....Every track on the CD is noted with long lists of recording notes, and if you read them, they give the impression of someone who is also frantically moving about. Not caring about how or why, this is best described as 'outsider' music. It moves along lines of improvised music, eastern and western folk music, lo-fi singer songwriter stuff and minimalist patterns on the cello, but never going to be anything close to being accessible: there is a strong element of experimental music to it, but at the same time things remain highly listenable. Again, great stuff.” [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.publicguilt.com
|
2005 |
€13.00 |
|
| MAIDA, CLARA |
In Corpore Vili |
CD |
1. Composer:
Clara Maida
2. Title:
in corpore vili
3. Performers (Studios):
Ensemble Resonanz,
Kammerensemble Neue Musik Berlin,
Ensemble Orchestral Contemporain,
Arditti String Quartet,
Heather O’Donnel
(Elektronisches Studio der Technischen Universität Berlin;
Studio für Elektroakustische Musik der Akademie der Künste, Berlin)
4. Format:
Audio CD, Digisleeve, Booklet German/English
5. Total time:
67:28
6. Catalogue #:
ed. RZ 10017
7. EAN Code:
4029455100178
8. Release date:
30. January 2010
9. Tracklist:
(1)
1. Mutatis mutandis (2008)
2. Psyché-Cité/Transversales (2005/06)
(2)
1- Fluctuatio (in)animi (2006)
(3) 2- Ipso facto (2006)
(4) 3- Via rupta (2005)
(5) 3. ...who holds the strings... (2003)
(6) 4. Doppelklänger (2008)
Eine ko-produktion zwischen Berliner Künstler Programm des DAAD, edition-rz und Deutschlandradio Kultur
"In den ersten Jahren zielten meine kompositorischen Forschungen darauf, die unbewussten, psychischen Energieflüsse, die zum Werk führen, samt ihrer Strukturen nachzuzeichnen. Parallel zu einem analytischen Ansatz, der den Zugang zu diesen unbewussten Aktivitäten begünstigt, studierte ich psychoanalytische Literatur, um mir ein musikalisches Denken zu erarbeiten, das einer psychischen Komplexität gerecht würde, die sich nur in gewissen Handlungen und unwillentlichen Äußerungen oder in Phantasien und Träumen äußert. Aus diesen Studien entstand ein strukturelles und formales Potential für eine Musik, die noch zu schreiben war, da allein die Plastizität der Klangwelt in der Lage schien, die Beweglichkeit und Instabilität heraufzubeschwören, welche die Gestaltung der Elemente des Unbewussten unablässig verändern.
During the first years of my compositional research, my goal was to mark out, in my music, the flux of the psychic energy at work in the unconscious and its underlying structure. At the time, I was going through an analytical process favouring access to this unconscious activity, and my readings in the field of psychoanalysis were helping me in the effort to elaborate a musical thinking likely to account for this psychic complexity, which only appears through unintentional acts and words, or in fantasies and dreams. A whole structural and formal model for a potential music was emerging then, since only the plasticity of the world of sound seemed to be able to suggest this mobility and instability, which endlessly alter the configurations of the components of the unconscious." [credits / label info]
www.edition-rz.de
www.edition-rz.de
|
2010 |
€15.50 |
|
| MAIN |
Ablation |
CD |
"There has been a recent surge in activity from Robert Hampson, with all manner of solo recordings and performances popping up. Its only logical that he reactivates his beloved Main project. As we all know, Main laid the foundations during the 1990s for much of love of abstract guitar treatments in electronic music throughout the 2000s.
Hampson has teamed up with Stephan Mathieu to create a stunning new album. On ‘Ablation’, Mathieu adds extra tonal colour and an obscure rhythmic palette to Hampson’s exacting treatments and detailed use of layered concrète sounds to create an emotionally charged and fascinating work.
Old fans of Main will not be disappointed, and neither will new followers of experimental audio.
Packaged with images by Grebo Gray with layout by Dave Coppenhall, and expertly mastered and cut by Rashad Becker." [label info]
www.editionsmego.com
|
2013 |
€14.00 |
|
| MALDUR ATAI |
Borgata |
CD |
"A brutal murder was committed in Ostia beach near Rome on 2 November 1975. A car ran over a man, turned around and repeated the act. Pier Paolo Pasolini was the victim. The murderer was found and confessed to murdering Pasolini. However, later on, he claimed he was forced to do it. They threatened they would kill his family otherwise. Them naturally being the cops. Since the truth emerged only several years after closing the case, the majority linked the death of the famous society figure, poet, essayist and filmmaker with his outrageous movie “Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom”.
A friend of Pier Paolo stated that Paolo had been going to Ostia beach to meet some strangers who had stolen some rolls of “Salò”. A few bloodied fragments of the script were found in the pocket of Paolo’s jacket. More specifically, this was a leather folder containing a few bloodied pages. The murder case was investigated by a team of three detectives. And a strange thing happened then. One of the detectives stuck to a completely different version of the murder than the rest. He blurted it out to the media saying that “everything is much more complicated than someone’s trying to make it appear”. He was removed from the case by the authorities and subsequently disappeared. After a while the case was forgotten by the media.
However, fifteen years later, Sergio Citti, the aforementioned friend of Paolo, told Paolo’s biographer, a journalist, that he was the only one who could actually disclose the actual circumstances of Paolo’s death. He recalled that a stranger came to his door introducing himself as a detective on Paolo’s case. The man looked deeply stressed, handed Sergio some pages of notes pointing out that they contained information on the cause of Paolo’s violent death. Without saying a further word the man left. Later Sergio saw the man’s photo on TV news. They announced that a police officer was missing. Sergio was shocked by this and threw himself into reading the notes. These were pages torn out from the diary, indicating that the writer was the officer of the special commission investigating the circumstances of Paolo’s death. He was called to recognise the body in the site of crime. He found a leather folder in the pocket of Paolo’s jacket. Some of the pages were missing, others were sunken with blood. The words in capitals on the folder said “The Third Secret of Fatima”. In the middle of the folder there was a clear text fragment with words “Bring me some wine, La Popessa. In a second, Sir”. The following text was illegible because of the blood stain half page large. Then one could read “Pope Pius XII feels sick. He is short of breath. He attempts to sit down, lowers his feet from the bed onto the floor but lacks any strength to stand up. La Popessa blows out the candles and leaving the Pope’s bedroom closes the door behind her”. The next pages were evidently torn out. The following page contained Scene No. 57, “A horrible stench pervaded the Pope’s death venue, while his face was morbidly pallid. As a doctor, I recognised the classic aftermath of tasting the cup of the Borgia”. No more text ensued. All the following pages, except the last one, were torn out. And THE LAST one was empty. The diary-author recollected that standing in this murder site he came to realise that someone in an awful hurry was terribly reluctant to let anyone see the content of the folder.
Sergio read the entire diary of the detective. He had a clear idea what folder was meant. Once Paolo had mentioned to him that the shock caused by “Salò” was nothing in comparison to the fiery response his next film “The Third Secret of Fatima” would receive. He also hinted that the script covered not only the past, but also the future. The events shown in the film had indeed taken place in the past, and were meant to make the audience realise the horrible things awaiting them in the future. During their last meeting, Paolo hinted he was meeting someone important and, before closing the door, winked saying a strange thing – “Just remember the Satan entered Vatican in 1972”. The next day Sergio received a call from the police and leant the horrible news that Paolo had been brutally murdered. Sergio was invited to recognise the body. It was Paolo. Later on, Sergio was questioned about his last meeting with Paolo and the details he could remember.
Sergio provided Paolo’s biographer with more details of the diary of the missing detective and the information that he remembered from the TV reports. They said nothing unusual had been found at the detective’s place. All things were where they belonged. The detective’s garments were lying nicely folded in wardrobes and drawers. The money found in the place made the police think the detective could not have been gone away. The only suspicious thing was the diary put open on the desk. All pages were missing, except the last one. And that was empty. A glass of water knocked down next to the diary perhaps implied a scene of rush or drama.
Sergio then assumed that the stranger and the missing detective were one and the same person and the pages came from that same diary. The torn out pages contained the detective’s notes and assumptions, as well as other interesting and important details of the investigated case. The detective wrote that the name of the script found in the pocket of the filmmaker’s jacket - “The Third Secret of Fatima” - caught his attention. He did some investigation whether the murder was somehow connected to the script. He turned for help to the Vatican Curia. In the extensive official letter the detective asked for more information on the third secret of Fatima, for he had suspicions this could have been connected to the murder of the famous filmmaker. The official response was short. It read: “We sincerely regret the demise of the famous filmmaker. However, it is not in our competency to explicate the secrets of the Divine. This is a higher reality that is not subject to the mortals”. It was signed by Paul Marcinkus, the head of the Vatican Curia and the third most powerful person in Vatican.
Later on, the detective received an anonymous letter from Vatican. The letterhead contained Vatican water marks. It read: “I am aware of your document. If you wish to find out more, please come to the specified derelict church at the given time”. The detective went to the meeting place in the dark rural site in the midst of the vineyards. The church had no doors. There was only a stone arch that looked either neglected or under reconstruction. Upon silently approaching the pulpit covered by a thick layer of dust the detective called out. He heard a hushed invitation from the pulpit to come closer. The voice agreed to reveal all known information on the condition that he will stay unknown. The detective concurred.
Then the voice told him quite a number of interesting things about the third secret of Fatima. There exists a great power, a group of interests, aware of the ancient prophecy of Tibet predicting the recurrence of maldur atai cult. They seek to prevent the said return so that the truth is not revealed. They elaborated the plan of taking over Vatican and impeding the advent of the Messiah. This long-term strategy included such tasks as replacing the white popes with the black ones from the ranks of the Jesuit Order generals. The secret document in particular stressed that a very powerful element in the form of a child had been sent to the Earth, and would play a vital role in all spheres of influence as well as coordinate and rule all political, military and shadow forces resisting the advent of the redeeming Messiah. The agents of these spheres of influence suspect that Messiah is the maldur atai cult predicted by the legend of Nepal. It is believed that a man wearing a white long robe of the Pope was seen in the third apparition in Fatima. The children who witnessed the Marian apparition were scared to death. They recounted they had seen one more man in black, huge as a gorilla. The face of the man in a white robe was deadly pallid. He said nothing. He was foaming at the mouth. The man in black uttered the following words to the children: “I will make an entrance as a child exactly five years from now, I will break all the holy seals and make the world ready for the advent of the beast. And upon my arrival I will gain confidence of the most powerful in the world”. The children were frightened to death seeing the dreary face of the tall man. They named him a “Gorilla”. For many years afterwards the appalling man stayed in the children’s dreams and they screamed “Gorilla”, “Gorilla”, “Gorilla” in their sleep. The man in the pulpit suggested the adepts of maldur atai cult had sent a sign of warning from another dimension. The third secret of Fatima might have warned the humankind about the upcoming dreadful scenario. The man also said that the events of Vatican in the last decades implied a quite a number of parallels with what was revealed in the apparition in Fatima. The year 1972 was crucial for the Holy throne. The mysterious man did provide further explanations but suggested the detective read the press. The media was brimming with the coverage of these events. They concerned a few persons associated with the illuminati, Vatican, NATO, Zionists, cocaine and banks.
The biographer asked Sergio whether he suspected that Paolo had been murdered for he had received information from unknown sources about the global conspiracy predicted by unnatural powers and had based his film script on this information? Sergio replied that Paolo had always liked to keep to himself both his creative ideas and his lovers, who might have included the members of clergy from Vatican. However, it was obvious that these events had nothing to do with “Salò”, while – to Sergio’s regret - Paolo was not completely open. All this was somehow connected to the filmmaker’s new film titled “The Third Secret of Fatima”. It has never been made. Only after reading the fragments of the detective’s diary, Sergio drew attention to this and realised what was happening in the head of Paolo when he was leaving to meet the strangers. Furthermore, why did they try to hide so much that the Pope’s life was threatened in Fatima and that the man who disclosed the attempt was named “Gorilla”? The biographer of Paolo’s life told Sergio that he had investigated the subject of the maldur atai cult and he found it strange - or perhaps it was only a coincidence - that both the last page found in Paolo’s jacket and the last page of the diary found in detective’s house were empty. Just like the pages found in the cells of the missing maldur atai adepts in Nepal. Or at least that’s what the local legends told. Sergio replied: “It is true that the coincidence is indeed weird”.
Later the Paolo’s biography was published in small run. It contained all collected information about the death of Pier Paolo Pasolini, the filmmaker. The book titled “Borgata” did not receive a wide acclaim, although the promotion campaign and its headings loudly claimed that the book reveals the hitherto unknown circumstances of the murder of the filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini, that the cause of the death is not “Salò”, but “The Third Secret of Fatima”, that the unshot movie was suppressed by reality and who killed Pier Paolo Pasolini. All these revelations made way to this book.
“Borgata”, the forth full-length album by Maldur Atai, centres on the events described in this unpopular book." [label info]
www.autarkeia.org
|
2012 |
€12.00 |
|
| MALONE, KALI |
Living Torch |
CD |
"Following her critically acclaimed album The Sacrificial Code, Swedish-American composer Kali Malone returns with Living Torch on Portraits GRM.
Living Torch, through its unique structural form and harmonic material, is a bold continuation of Kali Malone’s demanding and exciting body of work, while opening new perspectives and increasing the emotional potential of the music tenfold. As such, Living Torch is a major new piece by the composer and adds a significant milestone to an already fascinating repertoire.
Departing from the pipe organ that Malone’s music is most notable for, Living Torch features a complex electroacoustic ensemble. Leafing through recordings from conventional instruments like the trombone and bass clarinet to more experimental machines like the boîte à bourdon, passing through sinewave generators and Éliane Radigue’s ARP 2500 synthesizer. Living Torch weaves its own history, its own genealogy, and that of its author. It extends her robust structural approach to a liberated palette of timbre.
Living Torch was initially commissioned by GRM for its legendary loudspeaker orchestra, the Acousmonium, and premiered in its complete multichannel form at the Grand Auditorium of Radio France in a concert entirely dedicated to the artist.
Composed at GRM studios in Paris between 2020-2021, Living Torch is a work of great intensity, an œuvre-monde that is singularly placed at the crossroads of instrumental writing and electroacoustic composition. Living Torch proceeds from multiple lineages, including early modern music, American minimalism, and musique concrète. It’s a work as much turned towards exploring justly tuned harmony and canonic structures as towards the polyphony of unique timbres, the scaling of dynamic range, and the revelation of sound qualities.
GRM (Groupe de Recherches Musicales), the pioneering institution of electroacoustic, acousmatic, and musique concrète, has been a unique laboratory for sonorous research since 1958. Witnessing the extreme vitality of the music championed by GRM, the Portraits GRM record series extends and expands this momentum with Kali Malone’s Living Torch.
Biography:
The compositions of Kali Malone implement specific tuning systems in minimalist form for pipe organ, choir, chamber music ensembles, and electroacoustic formats. Malone’s music is rich with harmonic texture through synthetic and acoustic instrumentation in repetitive motions and extended durations. The music emits distinct emotive, dynamic, and affective hues which bring forth a stunning depth of focus.
Kali Malone has performed extensively in Europe and North America at Musica Festival, Berlin Atonal, Moogfest, Kanal Pompidou, Elbphilharmonie, Paris Philharmonie, and Radio France.
Her commission projects and residencies include the INA GRM, The Richard Thomas Foundation, MACBA, Macadam Ensemble, Orgelpark, Elektronmusikstudion and Tempo Reale. She collaborates and performs with various artists, including Stephen O’Malley, Lucy Railton, Frederikke Hoffmeier, Leila Bordreuil, Drew McDowall, Caterina Barbieri, and Ellen Arkbro. In 2016 she co-founded the record label and concert series XKatedral, together with Maria W Horn, in Stockholm."
https://kalimalone.bandcamp.com/album/living-torch
|
2022 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Does Spring Hide its Joy |
3 x CD |
»Does Spring Hide Its Joy« is an immersive piece by composer Kali Malone featuring Stephen O’Malley on electric guitar, Lucy Railton on cello, and Malone herself on tuned sine wave oscillators. The music is a study in harmonics and non-linear composition with a heightened focus on just intonation and beating interference patterns. Malone’s experience with pipe organ tuning, harmonic theory, and long durational composition provide prominent points of departure for this work. Her nuanced minimalism unfolds an astonishing depth of focus and opens up contemplative spaces in the listener’s attention.
»Does Spring Hide Its Joy« follows Malone’s critically acclaimed records. Her collaborative approach expands from her previous work to closely include the musicians Stephen O’Malley & Lucy Railton in the creation and development of the piece. While the music is distinctly Malone’s sonic palette, she composed specifically for the unique styles and techniques of O’Malley & Railton, presenting a framework for subjective interpretation and non-hierarchical movement throughout the music.
»Does Spring Hide Its Joy« is a durational experience of variable length that follows slowly evolving harmony and timbre between cello, sine waves, and electric guitar. As a listener, the transition between these junctures can be difficult to pinpoint. There’s obscurity and unity in the instrumentation and identities of the players; the electric guitar's saturation timbre blends with the cello's rich periodicity, while shifting overtone feedback develops interference patterns against the precise sine waves. The gradual yet ever-occurring changes in harmony challenge the listener’s perception of stasis and movement. The moment you grasp the music, a slight shift in perspective guides your attention forward into a new and unfolding harmonic experience.
»Does Spring Hide Its Joy« was created between March and May of 2020. During this unsettling period of the pandemic, Malone found herself in Berlin with a great deal of time and conceptual space to consider new compositional methods. With a few interns left on-site, Malone was invited to the Berlin Funkhaus & MONOM to develop and record new music within the empty concert halls. She took this opportunity to form a small ensemble with her close friends and collaborators Lucy Railton & Stephen O’Malley to explore these new structural ideas within those various acoustic spaces. Hence, the foundation was laid for »Does Spring Hide Its Joy«.
In Kali’s own words: “Like most of the world, my perception of time went through a significant transformation during the pandemic confinements of spring 2020. Unmarked by the familiar milestones of life, the days and months dripped by, instinctively blending with no end in sight. Time stood still until subtle shifts in the environment suggested there had been a passing. Memories blurred non-sequentially, the fabric of reality deteriorated, unforeseen kinships formed and disappeared, and all the while, the seasons changed and moved on without the ones we lost. Playing this music for hours on end was a profound way to digest the countless life transitions and hold time together.”
»Does Spring Hide Its Joy« has since been performed live on many European stages, in durations of sixty and ninety minutes. Including at the Schauspielhaus in Zürich, the Bozar in Brussels, Haus Der Kunst in Munich, and the Munch Museum in Oslo. Concerts are forthcoming at Unsound Festival in Krakow, Mira Festival in Barcelona, the Venice Biennale, and the Purcell Room at the Southbank Center in London.
In addition to live concerts, the Funkhaus recordings of »Does Spring Hide Its Joy« have evolved in parallel as a site-specific sound installation. Malone has also invited the video artist Nika Milano to create a custom analog video work that interprets and accompanies the musical score as a fourth player, creating a visual atmosphere inspired by the sonic principles of the composition. Eight sequential video stills from Milano’s work are featured in the album artwork.
»Does Spring Hide Its Joy« is packaged in a heavyweight laminated jacket with full-color printed inner sleeves with artwork by Nika Milano. Mastered by Stephan Mathieu and cut at Schnittstelle Mastering, the record is pressed in perfect sound quality by Optimal in Germany.
https://kalimalone.bandcamp.com/album/does-spring-hide-its-joy
Does Spring Hide Its Joy ist ein immersives Stück der Komponistin Kali Malone mit Stephen O'Malley an der E-Gitarre, Lucy Railton am Cello und Malone selbst an gestimmten Sinusoszillatoren. Die Musik ist eine Studie über Obertöne und nichtlineare Komposition mit besonderem Augenmerk auf gerechter Intonation und schlagenden Interferenzmustern. Malones Erfahrungen mit der Stimmung von Pfeifenorgeln, der Harmonielehre und langer Kompositionen sind wichtige Ausgangspunkte für dieses Werk. Ihr nuancierter Minimalismus entfaltet eine erstaunliche Tiefenschärfe und eröffnet kontemplative Räume in der Aufmerksamkeit des Zuhörers. Does Spring Hide Its Joy ist eine Dauererfahrung von variabler Länge, die einer sich langsam entwickelnden Harmonie und Klangfarbe zwischen Cello, Sinuswellen und E-Gitarre folgt. Für den Hörer ist der Übergang zwischen den einzelnen Abschnitten oft schwer auszumachen. Das gesättigte Timbre der E-Gitarre vermischt sich mit der reichen Periodizität des Cellos, während die sich verschiebenden Oberton-Rückkopplungen Interferenzmuster mit den präzisen Sinuswellen entwickeln. |
2023 |
€23.50 |
|
|
All Life Long |
do-LP |
Kali Malones mit Spannung erwartetes neues Album »All Life Long« ist eine Sammlung von Musik für Pfeifenorgel, Chor und Blechbläserquintett, komponiert von Kali Malone zwischen 2020 und 2023.
Chormusik, aufgeführt vom Macadam Ensemble unter der Leitung von Etienne Ferschaud in der Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-L'Immaculée-Conception in Nantes. Musik für Blechbläserquintett, aufgeführt von Anima Brass im Bunker Studio in New York City. Die Orgelmusik wurde gespielt von Kali Malone und Stephen O'Malley auf den historischen, temperierten Pfeifenorgeln der Église Saint-François in Lausanne, des Orgelparks in Amsterdam und des Malmö Konstmuseums in Schweden.
Kali Malone komponiert mit einer seltenen Klarheit. Ihre Musik ist geduldig und fokussiert und baut auf einem Fundament sich entwickelnder harmonischer Zyklen auf, die verborgene emotionale Resonanzen hervorrufen.
Kali Malone's anticipated new album "All Life Long" is a collection of music for pipe organ, choir, and brass quintet composed by Kali Malone, 2020 - 2023. Choral music performed by Macadam Ensemble and conducted by Etienne Ferschaud at Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-L'Immaculée-Conception in Nantes. Brass quintet music performed by Anima Brass at The Bunker Studio in New York City. Organ music performed by Kali Malone and Stephen O’Malley on the historical meantone tempered pipe organs at Église Saint-François in Lausanne, Orgelpark in Amsterdam, and Malmö Konstmuseum in Sweden.
Kali Malone composes with a rare clarity of vision. Her music is patient and focused, built on a foundation of evolving harmonic cycles that draw out latent emotional resonances. Time is a crucial factor: letting go of expectations of duration and breadth offers a chance to find a space of reflection and contemplation. In her hands, experimental reinterpretations of centuries-old polyphonic compositional methods become portals to new ways of perceiving sound, structure, and introspection. Though awe-inspiring in scope, the most remarkable thing about Malone’s music is the intimacy stirred by the close listening it encourages.
Malone’s new album All Life Long, created between 2020 - 2023, presents her first compositions for organ since 2019’s breakthrough album The Sacrificial Code alongside interrelated pieces for voice and brass performed by Macadam Ensemble and Anima Brass. Over the course of twelve pieces, harmonic themes and patterns recur, presented in altered forms and for varied instrumentation. They emerge and reemerge like echoes of their former selves, making the familiar uncanny. Propelled by lungs and breath rather than bellows and oscillators, Malone’s compositions for choir and brass take on expressive qualities that complicate the austerity that has defined her work, introducing lyricism and the beauty of human fallibility into music that has been driven by mechanical processes. At the same time, the works for organ, performed by Malone with additional accompaniment by Stephen O’Malley on four different organs dating from the 15th to 17th centuries, underscore the mighty, spectral power that those rigorous operations can achieve.
All Life Long simmers in an ever-shifting tension between repetition and variation. The pieces for brass, organ, and voice are alternated asymmetrically, providing nearly continuous timbral fluctuation across its 78-minute runtime even as thematic material reiterates. Each composition’s internal framework of fractal pattern permutations has the paradoxical effect of creating anticipated keystone moments of dramatic reverie and lulling the listener into believing in an illusory endlessness. On an even more granular level, the historical meantone tuning systems of each organ used, and the variable intonation of brass and voice, provide further points of emotional excavation within the harmony.
The titular composition “All Life Long” appears twice on the album, first as an extended canon for organ and again in the final quarter, compactly arranged for voice. In the latter, Malone pairs the music with “The Crying Water” by Arthur Symons, a poem steeped in language of mourning and eternity. For organ, “All Life Long” moves with a patient stateliness, the drama concentrated in moments when shifting tonalities generate and release dissonance and ecstasy. For voice, each word is saturated with feeling, the singers swooping gracefully downward to capture the melancholy of the narrator’s relationship to the timeless tears of the sea. “Passage Through The Spheres,” the album’s opening piece, contains lyrics in Italian pulled from Giorgio Agamben’s essay In Praise of Profanation. In it, Agamben defines profanation as, in part, the act of bringing back to communal, secular use that which has been segregated to the realm of the sacred, a process Malone enacts each time she performs on church organs.
This is not music of praise, or of spiritual revelation, but it is an artistic enactment of translating the indescribable. It carries the gravity of liturgical chant, and its fixation on the infinite, but draws its weight from the earthly realm of human experience. A music that draws the listener into the present moment where they can discover themselves within the interwoven musical patterns that can come to resemble the passage of days, weeks, years, a lifetime.
https://kalimalone.bandcamp.com/album/all-life-long
|
2024 |
€32.50 |
|
| |
All Life Long |
CD |
Kali Malones mit Spannung erwartetes neues Album »All Life Long« ist eine Sammlung von Musik für Pfeifenorgel, Chor und Blechbläserquintett, komponiert von Kali Malone zwischen 2020 und 2023.
Chormusik, aufgeführt vom Macadam Ensemble unter der Leitung von Etienne Ferschaud in der Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-L'Immaculée-Conception in Nantes. Musik für Blechbläserquintett, aufgeführt von Anima Brass im Bunker Studio in New York City. Die Orgelmusik wurde gespielt von Kali Malone und Stephen O'Malley auf den historischen, temperierten Pfeifenorgeln der Église Saint-François in Lausanne, des Orgelparks in Amsterdam und des Malmö Konstmuseums in Schweden.
Kali Malone komponiert mit einer seltenen Klarheit. Ihre Musik ist geduldig und fokussiert und baut auf einem Fundament sich entwickelnder harmonischer Zyklen auf, die verborgene emotionale Resonanzen hervorrufen.
Kali Malone's anticipated new album "All Life Long" is a collection of music for pipe organ, choir, and brass quintet composed by Kali Malone, 2020 - 2023. Choral music performed by Macadam Ensemble and conducted by Etienne Ferschaud at Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-L'Immaculée-Conception in Nantes. Brass quintet music performed by Anima Brass at The Bunker Studio in New York City. Organ music performed by Kali Malone and Stephen O’Malley on the historical meantone tempered pipe organs at Église Saint-François in Lausanne, Orgelpark in Amsterdam, and Malmö Konstmuseum in Sweden.
Kali Malone composes with a rare clarity of vision. Her music is patient and focused, built on a foundation of evolving harmonic cycles that draw out latent emotional resonances. Time is a crucial factor: letting go of expectations of duration and breadth offers a chance to find a space of reflection and contemplation. In her hands, experimental reinterpretations of centuries-old polyphonic compositional methods become portals to new ways of perceiving sound, structure, and introspection. Though awe-inspiring in scope, the most remarkable thing about Malone’s music is the intimacy stirred by the close listening it encourages.
Malone’s new album All Life Long, created between 2020 - 2023, presents her first compositions for organ since 2019’s breakthrough album The Sacrificial Code alongside interrelated pieces for voice and brass performed by Macadam Ensemble and Anima Brass. Over the course of twelve pieces, harmonic themes and patterns recur, presented in altered forms and for varied instrumentation. They emerge and reemerge like echoes of their former selves, making the familiar uncanny. Propelled by lungs and breath rather than bellows and oscillators, Malone’s compositions for choir and brass take on expressive qualities that complicate the austerity that has defined her work, introducing lyricism and the beauty of human fallibility into music that has been driven by mechanical processes. At the same time, the works for organ, performed by Malone with additional accompaniment by Stephen O’Malley on four different organs dating from the 15th to 17th centuries, underscore the mighty, spectral power that those rigorous operations can achieve.
All Life Long simmers in an ever-shifting tension between repetition and variation. The pieces for brass, organ, and voice are alternated asymmetrically, providing nearly continuous timbral fluctuation across its 78-minute runtime even as thematic material reiterates. Each composition’s internal framework of fractal pattern permutations has the paradoxical effect of creating anticipated keystone moments of dramatic reverie and lulling the listener into believing in an illusory endlessness. On an even more granular level, the historical meantone tuning systems of each organ used, and the variable intonation of brass and voice, provide further points of emotional excavation within the harmony.
The titular composition “All Life Long” appears twice on the album, first as an extended canon for organ and again in the final quarter, compactly arranged for voice. In the latter, Malone pairs the music with “The Crying Water” by Arthur Symons, a poem steeped in language of mourning and eternity. For organ, “All Life Long” moves with a patient stateliness, the drama concentrated in moments when shifting tonalities generate and release dissonance and ecstasy. For voice, each word is saturated with feeling, the singers swooping gracefully downward to capture the melancholy of the narrator’s relationship to the timeless tears of the sea. “Passage Through The Spheres,” the album’s opening piece, contains lyrics in Italian pulled from Giorgio Agamben’s essay In Praise of Profanation. In it, Agamben defines profanation as, in part, the act of bringing back to communal, secular use that which has been segregated to the realm of the sacred, a process Malone enacts each time she performs on church organs.
This is not music of praise, or of spiritual revelation, but it is an artistic enactment of translating the indescribable. It carries the gravity of liturgical chant, and its fixation on the infinite, but draws its weight from the earthly realm of human experience. A music that draws the listener into the present moment where they can discover themselves within the interwoven musical patterns that can come to resemble the passage of days, weeks, years, a lifetime.
https://kalimalone.bandcamp.com/album/all-life-long
|
2024 |
€16.00 |
|
| MALONE, KALI (FEATURING STEPHEN O'MALLEY & LUCY RAILTON) |
Does Spring Hide its Joy |
3 x LP |
»Does Spring Hide Its Joy« is an immersive piece by composer Kali Malone featuring Stephen O’Malley on electric guitar, Lucy Railton on cello, and Malone herself on tuned sine wave oscillators. The music is a study in harmonics and non-linear composition with a heightened focus on just intonation and beating interference patterns. Malone’s experience with pipe organ tuning, harmonic theory, and long durational composition provide prominent points of departure for this work. Her nuanced minimalism unfolds an astonishing depth of focus and opens up contemplative spaces in the listener’s attention.
»Does Spring Hide Its Joy« follows Malone’s critically acclaimed records. Her collaborative approach expands from her previous work to closely include the musicians Stephen O’Malley & Lucy Railton in the creation and development of the piece. While the music is distinctly Malone’s sonic palette, she composed specifically for the unique styles and techniques of O’Malley & Railton, presenting a framework for subjective interpretation and non-hierarchical movement throughout the music.
»Does Spring Hide Its Joy« is a durational experience of variable length that follows slowly evolving harmony and timbre between cello, sine waves, and electric guitar. As a listener, the transition between these junctures can be difficult to pinpoint. There’s obscurity and unity in the instrumentation and identities of the players; the electric guitar's saturation timbre blends with the cello's rich periodicity, while shifting overtone feedback develops interference patterns against the precise sine waves. The gradual yet ever-occurring changes in harmony challenge the listener’s perception of stasis and movement. The moment you grasp the music, a slight shift in perspective guides your attention forward into a new and unfolding harmonic experience.
»Does Spring Hide Its Joy« was created between March and May of 2020. During this unsettling period of the pandemic, Malone found herself in Berlin with a great deal of time and conceptual space to consider new compositional methods. With a few interns left on-site, Malone was invited to the Berlin Funkhaus & MONOM to develop and record new music within the empty concert halls. She took this opportunity to form a small ensemble with her close friends and collaborators Lucy Railton & Stephen O’Malley to explore these new structural ideas within those various acoustic spaces. Hence, the foundation was laid for »Does Spring Hide Its Joy«.
In Kali’s own words: “Like most of the world, my perception of time went through a significant transformation during the pandemic confinements of spring 2020. Unmarked by the familiar milestones of life, the days and months dripped by, instinctively blending with no end in sight. Time stood still until subtle shifts in the environment suggested there had been a passing. Memories blurred non-sequentially, the fabric of reality deteriorated, unforeseen kinships formed and disappeared, and all the while, the seasons changed and moved on without the ones we lost. Playing this music for hours on end was a profound way to digest the countless life transitions and hold time together.”
»Does Spring Hide Its Joy« has since been performed live on many European stages, in durations of sixty and ninety minutes. Including at the Schauspielhaus in Zürich, the Bozar in Brussels, Haus Der Kunst in Munich, and the Munch Museum in Oslo. Concerts are forthcoming at Unsound Festival in Krakow, Mira Festival in Barcelona, the Venice Biennale, and the Purcell Room at the Southbank Center in London.
In addition to live concerts, the Funkhaus recordings of »Does Spring Hide Its Joy« have evolved in parallel as a site-specific sound installation. Malone has also invited the video artist Nika Milano to create a custom analog video work that interprets and accompanies the musical score as a fourth player, creating a visual atmosphere inspired by the sonic principles of the composition. Eight sequential video stills from Milano’s work are featured in the album artwork.
»Does Spring Hide Its Joy« is packaged in a heavyweight laminated jacket with full-color printed inner sleeves with artwork by Nika Milano. Mastered by Stephan Mathieu and cut at Schnittstelle Mastering, the record is pressed in perfect sound quality by Optimal in Germany.
https://kalimalone.bandcamp.com/album/does-spring-hide-its-joy
Does Spring Hide Its Joy ist ein immersives Stück der Komponistin Kali Malone mit Stephen O'Malley an der E-Gitarre, Lucy Railton am Cello und Malone selbst an gestimmten Sinusoszillatoren. Die Musik ist eine Studie über Obertöne und nichtlineare Komposition mit besonderem Augenmerk auf gerechter Intonation und schlagenden Interferenzmustern. Malones Erfahrungen mit der Stimmung von Pfeifenorgeln, der Harmonielehre und langer Kompositionen sind wichtige Ausgangspunkte für dieses Werk. Ihr nuancierter Minimalismus entfaltet eine erstaunliche Tiefenschärfe und eröffnet kontemplative Räume in der Aufmerksamkeit des Zuhörers. Does Spring Hide Its Joy ist eine Dauererfahrung von variabler Länge, die einer sich langsam entwickelnden Harmonie und Klangfarbe zwischen Cello, Sinuswellen und E-Gitarre folgt. Für den Hörer ist der Übergang zwischen den einzelnen Abschnitten oft schwer auszumachen. Das gesättigte Timbre der E-Gitarre vermischt sich mit der reichen Periodizität des Cellos, während die sich verschiebenden Oberton-Rückkopplungen Interferenzmuster mit den präzisen Sinuswellen entwickeln.
https://kalimalone.bandcamp.com/album/does-spring-hide-its-joy
|
2023 |
€49.50 |
|
| MANIFESTO |
Exit |
CD |
"Being a part of the alternative scene since more than 15 years past, Magnus Zetterberg's Manifesto has created a trademark of bleak and dark electronica, industrial textures and blackened ambient that satisfies a diverse taste of listening with it's manifold expression. Catching up with this act in 2008, in connection with the release of the album Core, the label found it only natural to get in touch again. Since then, Manifesto has released material on such labels as Silken Tofu and Bone Structure (to mention a few) and played live across northern Europe.
Exit is the finalization of four years of transformative work where turbulence, creation and re-creation sets the thematics. The entering track unfolds existence as elusive and impermanent and onwards the harsh sides of reality push us towards entropy." [label info]
ralignment.tictail.com
"Manifesto is the solo project of Swede Magnus Zetterberg who has been issuing material under this name since 2000. Having previously released a series of albums, splits, live recordings and ep’s, ‘Exit’ is his latest 19th release and follows 2012’s ‘Rust’ album on Silken Tofu. Sonically Manifesto deal with soundtrack styled ambient music of a darker hue (aka ‘dark ambient’ for a more straight forward genre descriptor), which also fits within the recognizable traits of such music coming from northern European spheres.
Musically speaking dank sub-orchestral drones provide the sonic bedrock, which is then augmented with a meticulous level of textual sonic detailing. The sound palate is also embedded with a high degree of mechanized tonality and jagged industrial based distortion in a few fleeting moments. Evidently Magnus has had formally trained in sound engineering and music production, with the results of this being absolutely demonstrated within the refined dark ambient approach on display. 5 tracks are featured, with each ranging from 5 to 13 minutes and which play out as variations on established dark ambient genre traits, where some pieces are dour and brooding, whilst others featuring driving and rhythmically pounding undercurrents. Yet collectively the greatest impression of ‘Exit’ is a strong ‘cinematic’ atmosphere and specifically that of a dystopian science fiction type motion picture.
Although not necessary turning the tables of what can be expected from dark ambient music in 2016, this is still a complex, diverse and enjoyable listen, to very much constitute a soundtrack to a non-existent film. Mini gate-fold cardboard sleeve rounds out the packaging." [Noise Receptor]
|
2016 |
€12.00 |
|
| MANINKARI |
Continuum Sonore |
CD |
"You'll get in "Continuum Sonore" in well-known territories: deep alto with ethnic percussions. You're in a Maninkari record, no doubts.
But that's where the french duo will left the obviousness. After a handfull of critically acclaimed records on labels such as Conspiracy, Three:Four and Neuropa to name a few, Maninkari offered to Basses Frequences the chance to release something different: a drone album. If the band already used deep, continuous sounds in its previous works it never handle them with such extended, pure approach. They didn't used drums nor percussions apart on the intro, but their usual kind of traditional instruments (cymbalom, alto, bodhran) and manipulated fields recordings, to create solar or nightmarish drones. The band totally reached its goal and offered us a majestic piece of drone that I'm really proud of." [label info]
www.bassesfrequences.org
|
2012 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Phantasmes |
LP |
"Phantasmes is a 50 minutes experimental movie written and directed by Thomas Pantalacci. “A sensory experience between dream and reality, fantasy and eroticism, awakening and sleep…”
For that purpose, the band Maninkari wrote a two-part - one per side - 39 minutes soundtrack with multiple pieces. The tracks are not marked out because here, even silence is vital. It doesn’t soothe the tensions, but amplifies the feeling of oddness of the music. Dark ambient, syncopated drumming, dissonant chords… Maninkari use all the sonority spectrum, mixing aggressive high-pitched violin with deep and voluptuous bass sounds.
Playing on the thin border between dreaming and awakening, Phantasmes is a mental and physical record; seductive, disturbing and lustful.
Includes a download code for a free download of the album." [label info]
www.three-four.net
"The brothers Charlot return here (see also Vital Weekly 843 and 815) with thirty-nine minutes of music which they recorded for a '50 minute experimental movie written and directed by Thomas Pantalacci' and which is described as as 'a sensory experience between dream and reality, fantasy and eroticism, awakening and sleep…'. Usually Maninkari use a lot of percussion, but it seems that in their more recent musical outings they also use other instruments, such as viola, cimbalom, keyboards and samples. And yes, lots of effects. They easily reach for that bit of reverb, to add that extra layer of 'space' and 'mystic' to the music. Thank god, however, not always, and they use it wise and sparsely. Of course I haven't seen the movie, but I can imagine, based on the soundtrack, what it will look like. Dark and moody, but not always as 'loaded' as you would expect. Maninkari also leave room for quieter moments, sparser moments if you will. Sometimes a simple drone is all that we are left with, or even some crackles - it might be the vinyl. But then sometimes the music start to expand, growing, bigger and takes on dramatic courses. For instance on the b-side, somewhere half way through. When that happens, it usually involves percussion, loud and clear - manually and not mechanically played. The dramatic changes in the music made me surely curious about the film. There is a lot of tension in this piece of black vinyl. Excellent mood enhancher." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2013 |
€16.00 |
|
| MANNING, ROSS |
Te t on on ti computer |
MC |
Ross Manning is a contemporary new media artist from Brisbane, Australia. He focus on alive instrument practises, kinetic and sound composition. He is using mainly recordings of his own percussion instruments made by steel, aluminium and scrap metals. Ross Manning is an obsessive creator of systems that are driven by their own logic, exploring the rhythm and the recycling energy of them. His sound works has published on moremars, Room40, vitrine, Chemical Imbalance and Greedy Ventilator.
In both sides of his “te t on on ti computer” release, he present us two different aspects of his musical direction. The first side is a montage, with a big variety of distorted sounds and pure tones, that reproduced by his custom-made instruments and electronic sources. Noisy parts mixed with chaotic metal percussions and drones, are constructing a sonic sculpture that even if the individual elements have a complex structure, the final result sounds simple and mysterious.
On the second side, there is a long composition made by his self-made string panels, that they produce rhythmic patterns, that are changing form through the kinetic energy. Sonically, there is a sense of gamelan music, with melodic motifs that gradually change to a more complex form, with the composition to get more busy, constructing an extremely dense amalgamation of sounds.
www.moremars.org/store/products/ross-manning-te-t-on-on-ti-computer-cassette/
"Greece's More Mars released a cassette by Ross Manning before (see Vital Weekly 1062). This
Australian musician is not particularly fond of much information on his covers, so I still have no idea what he does, but last time I wrote: "Manning creates his own instruments since a very early age and on this cassette we find four of his pieces using these DIY electronics and "shelf-made string pannel" [sic]", so perhaps it is fair to say he is still doing that. The chaotic approach of before is now gone and there is much more control to be noted in these pieces, which works very much for the benefit of the music. Of course, he is doing a similar instrument here, which is something I am
not sure of. It is a most enjoyable release here, in which Manning carefully explores the sounds he produces with his devices. On the first side, there is a beautiful drone-like exploration of this, somewhere in the middle of the tape, whereas on the second side there is a more percussive element in the music. Then it sounds like a bit nervous yet regular tapping of violin strings. Throughout there is a rough element in the music like it has been taped in a space, using an amplifier and space plays a small but not insignificant role here. It is a mighty step forward, I thought." [FdW/Vital Weekly] |
2019 |
€9.00 |
|
| |
Reflex in Waves |
LP |
In August this year, Ross Manning opened his first major survey exhibition, Dissonant Rhythms, at Brisbane’s Institute of Modern Art. As part of the exhibition a monograph and LP edition, titled Reflex in Waves, were prepared to celebrate this milestone.
Reflex in Waves brings together a series of sonic approaches Manning has been developing for over a decade. Specifically, Manning’s work is concerned with waves and the impacts of their resulting vibration. Quietly producing audio works out of his studio in Yeronga, on the south side of Brisbane city, Manning’s works are based on a series of deeply personal instrument designs, tape manipulation and other exploratory approaches. His instruments, which are often percussive, use harmonically related materials that are activated by motor-driven strings. The resulting sound is a chaotic but pulse-like cluster of harmony.
Developing sets of uniquely pitched materials, Manning’s instruments each maintain a distinct quality. No two instruments sound alike and although the way in which they are ‘performed’ may be similar, the resulting sound is anything but familiar.
“I have always been interested in how sound lives in spaces,” Ross summarises. “As I worked on this exhibition, I spent a great deal of time in my studio building instruments and exploring them. I recorded many, many hours of materials in this space and this collection of recordings is very much a summary of my sound practice to this moment.”
Dissonant Rhythms will tour Australian galleries for the next four years. The Ross Manning: Dissonant Rhythms exhibition, publication, tour, and Reflex in Waves are supported by the Australia Council for the Arts, and the IMA’s Commissioners Circle.
https://room40.bandcamp.com/album/reflex-in-waves |
2017 |
€25.00 |
|
| MARANHA, DAVID |
Noe's Lullaby |
CD |
OSSO EXOTICO member with solo-album:
Not much info about this release you can find on the ROSSBIN-site, except the proposal: "To play Loud." So we did. And reached a great effect! NOE'S LULLABY is a one-tracker that is very different from the known OSSO EXOTICO-material: very creepy, slow-down percussive-pulses, dark & droney, lots of cymbal-sounds, distorted basses, almost a post-rock dark-drone mixture...
www.rossbin.com
"Noe's Lullaby is a mysterious recording in several senses of the word. Portuguese composer David Maranha has chosen to be obscure regarding instrumentation, listing the performers (a septet) but not what they're using to produce the sounds. From the aural evidence and what one can discern from past projects of his, it appears that such devices as stroked metal strings, wine glasses, harmoniums, guitars, and percussion (all with perhaps some electronic modulation) are among them. The music itself also has an air of mystery, even ritual. Difficult to pinpoint, it has something of Arnold Dreyblatt, but without the fast, intricate rhythms, staying entirely in a steady, slow tempo. On the other hand, there's more than a taste of Tony Conrad but much more rhythmically active. Pauline Oliveros' Deep Listening Band comes to mind, but there's not a shred of new agey fuzziness here. The beats are sometimes hammered on metallic surfaces, buttressed by crashing cymbals, other times implied in a throbbing pulse possibly generated by string overtones, but never entirely lost. This rhythmic motif, as viscous and syrupy as it is, makes Noe's Lullaby quite approachable for ears attuned to more rock-like bands such as Godspeed You Black Emperor!. The drone aspect of the single, lengthy piece could get suffocating were it not for the care lavished on all the accompanying details, the subtle embellishments floating alongside the drones. Indeed, as the work goes on those ornaments take on an independent (though adjacent) life of their own, every bit as solid and imaginative as the underlying throb. This interplay, even tension, helps make Maranha's piece as fascinating on an intellectual level as it is luxurious on a purely sensual one." [Allmusic.com]
|
2007 |
€6.00 |
|
| MARC WANNABE |
Things don't last very long |
CD |
Schwülstig-obskure rhythmische Elektronik, oder wie soll man das nennen, was MAREK WANTZECK hier produziert hat? Rollend abgefederte Beats werden mit allerlei vokalen Geräusch-emissionen verwurstet, der Effekt ist (jedenfalls bei mir und einigen von meinen 1000 selfs), dass man verwirrt das Tanzbein schwingen muss. Filed under: Mind-fuck-Techno!
“After 3 years the third rumbling album by Marc Wannabe finally is released! A journey through 12 crackling & grooving tracks, based mainly on the sounding sputum of throat & mouth. 60 minutes of straight & oblique rhythms, pulsating basses & energetic transfers. Old friends showing up, leaving breathes, noises & voices, and also the well known old pleated robots can be found somewhere... Marek Wantzéck (aka Marc Wannabe) explains the conceptual background of this album:
"How to handle that professional music as we know it? Well, the construction, you see, really made me start to use situations and transistors radios. And that became an image of the piece what was happening around me. And the title really came after the piece and is like a silent protest. So there was a strong connection there with things don´t last very long." That may answering a lot - but not everything. To get the full spectrum of possible answers: Listen to this CD!” [press release]
"Cultureclash. Kampf der Genres. Audiogebrösel aus dem kollektiven Musikgedächtnis der letzten Jahre. Hip-Hop, Grime, Dub, Experimentelles und abstrahiertes Rhythmusgefühl. Random Music, bizarres Audiotheater für Leute, die unter ihre Achim Wollscheid-MP3s einen Technobeat mischen.
Marc Wannabe präsentiert mit »Things Don't Last Very Long« fucked up Jazz, Knödelpop, dümmliche Hip-Hop Etüden und breites Verständnis für jegliche Form von öffentlichkeitsfern entstandenen Schülerhandyaufnahmen getreu dem Motto: mach mir die Sau für 1 Minute Schulhofimpression. Alles aufgezeichnet. Da darf es auch mal grunzen oder spastische Vokalverrenkungen geben. Mach dich zum Horst verdammt noch mal.
Wannabe darf alles, erlaubt sich alles und zieht auch noch andere mit hinein. Column One sind dabei und dürfen Wannebe auditiv abkanzeln und ihn in der Karzer schicken, während Stea Andreasson ihn wieder aus der Ecke zieht um ihm mit rotem Lolitamund die Leviten zu lesen. Andreassons filmisches Zitateschnippeln aus der Krimiserie Der Alte mag da als pädagogisches Anschauungsmaterial dienen.
Das braucht es dann auch mal. Alle Register werden hier gezogen. Und wer das alles nicht versteht, sollte die CD mal vor der Schule in der Cliquenraucherecke abspielen. Damit bist du einer von allen bei soviel stilistischer Vielfalt." [Thorsten Soltau / AEMAG] |
2005 |
€10.00 |
|
| MARCHETTI, LIONEL |
Knud un Nom de Serpent |
CD |
Wiederveröffentlichung des erfolgreichen MARCHETTI-Albums von 1999 (soweit wir wissen sein erstes full-length Solo-Album), ein in höchstem Maße forderndes Collagen-Werk mit Aufnahmen von schamanistischen Ritualen & ritueller Musik, inspiriert von MIRCEA ELIADE.
"Having seen Marchetti perform live with Jerome Noetinger, this CD comes as somewhat of a surprise. Starting with African music, followed by part of a French chanson and parts of spoken word, this work obviously needs a different approach. After reading the press release, things become clearer: Marchetti has a strong interest in shamanism and tries 'to make the listener live with my mythology, more aware of the world's potential forces'. Collage seems to be the method to achieve this goal. All tracks consist of numerous citations from music from all over the world and all over the times. The result is a work that one can listen to over and over again, because of the richness of its ingredients. Others can probably not stand the complexity..." [Roel Meelkop, Vital Weekly]
"Back by popular demand ! Lionel Marchetti's classic album of harrowing tape music from 1999, Knud un Nom de Serpent (Le Cercle des Entrailles), was published by Intransitive in 1999, quickly sold out, and remains the most requested title to be resurrected from our back catalog. We're thrilled to make Knud available again, now with a striking new cover design and an appreciative essay by Bhob Rainey (nmperign, The BSC). The gripping drama of Knud un Nom de Serpent illustrates Marchetti's idea of popular music as Shamanic ritual, a gateway to ecstatic altered states. Armed with fierce wit and a razor blade, he smashes together sounds from all over the world into a hallucinatory cyclone of Jamaican reggae, French chanson, American avant-garde vocalists, Thai pop songs, nature recordings, spoken text, and more. The result is a chilling work of furious, obliquely narrative tape-collage and tense, frightening scenes. As Marchetti explained to The Wire magazine, 'I've always been interested in the idea of the medicine man. Someone who by sheer force of imagination transports you into another world, part artist, part healer. Maybe that's what a composer is.' Lionel Marchetti (France, 1967) is a self-taught composer of musique concrète. He has built his own recording studio, and has composed in the Groupe de Recherches Musicales in Paris since 1993. Marchetti also performs improvised music with microphones and loudspeakers as a duo with Jérôme Noetinger, as part of the group quintetAvant, and with the collective Le Cube, which performs live music and interactive film. Marchetti's book La Musique Concrète De Michel Chion was published by Éditions Metamkine in 1998. Also available: int031 Lionel Marchetti & Seijiro Murayama 'Hatali Atseli (L'Echange des Yeux)' CD." [label info]
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Alpha Z Centauris |
MC |
"I started recording sounds when I was 17 years old, in 1984 when by chance someone gave me a K7 tape recorder with 2 diverse speeds... I discovered recording sounds was already a full and poetic act which was able to be used for the experimental music which i was dreaming of. In 1987, after one month of hard work in a summer camp restaurant I bought a 4-track stereo tape recorder and I started a lot of experiments in my little flat in Lyon (France) : via an old Radiola radio from the 50's, my hifi system, an old synthesizer, my clarinet (I tried to play in water), a rhythm machine, a bad (good?) microphone etc. At that period I knew nothing about Revox tape recorders and the idea of tape montage. Nevertheless, when I started Katakomb (which is a part of a series of my first 33 little musique concrete compositions, I discovered how incredible was the changing of speed for a recorded sound, or all synthesizer sounds, voices... and the beautiful possibility to reverse all sounds - I was discovering the 'power' of a recorded sound. For me, the act of recording became an incredible acceleration to join a new poetic 'world' : Katakomb was the first composition which was talking to me from a 'nowhere' place as if, as a composer, I became a 'stranger'. Satan and Alpha Z Centauris are composed as little free musique concrete studies and they follow what I started in 1987 : the idea of an accumulation of little aphoristic studies which can communicate all together even if they are composed in diverse periods and studio places. I have, since that period and always today, numerous little study compositions following that direction and I am happy to build around them, via a first edition of my archives on Mirror Tapes which has founded a new architectural place of montage and perceptions.' L.M. *A professionally duplicated & factory sealed C30 cassette tape with tape inlay professionally offset printed in full-colour. Limited Edition : 250 copies only." [label info]
|
2011 |
€9.00 |
|
| |
La grande vallee / Micro-climat |
LP |
"I wonder if my fascination for clouds (without being an obsession) may have risen at the end of the '80s as, whilst composing 'Micro-climat', I would regularly wander between the Vercors mountains and the high plateaus of the Monts du Forez discovering, through my eyes, body, breath, active observation and walk, that natural forms when constantly changing and yet swollen with a unity of matter (in this instance, water) open one up to a deep, fundamental breath and a clear field for the mind. The sky and its forces: our ally. A model for a natural music which, although fixed, as in musique concrète (a rule of the genre), moreover on a recording tape, will remain charged with such a poetic quality that (isn't it its role or rather its reality?) it will ensure a perpetual renewal for our senses, so as to reach another idea of the world, far more open and richer than what we could have imagined." --Lionel Marchetti, 2011.
"Lionel Marchetti is a major figure of the 'third generation' of concrète musicians, a term he values. Listening to these works, imbued with poetry and traversed by micro-narratives, one can indeed retrieve the original concrète spirit, the one that draws from the sonic world, with ears wide open, so as to extract a fertile, rich and multiple substance then shaped and conveyed towards a formal and musical abstraction. Lionel Marchetti has mastered this process, but his real distinctive feature is a truly unique talent for setting climates (as one sets traps) and keeping us on constant alert. The two pieces in this record perfectly illustrate the entrancing dimension of Lionel Marchetti's music, whose charm leads us, through each successive listening, to become voluntary captives so as to better liberate ourselves." --François Bonnet, Paris, 2020.
"La grande vallée": Musical composition, design and sound production carried out at the INA grm Studios (Paris) in 1993/95; Original audio recordings in the Drôme and the Mont Ventoux areas "Micro-climat" is the first movement of the Sirrus cycle (Micro-climat, Passerelle, Sirrus) composed in 1989/90; Musical composition, sound design and production, audio recordings in 1989/90 at the CFMI studios in Lyon (Lumière University, Lyon 2). Mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi; Cut by Andreas Kauffelt at Schnittstelle, Berlin, November 2020; Translations: Valérie Vivancos; Layout: Stephen O'Malley.
https://lionelmarchetti.bandcamp.com/album/la-grande-vall-e-micro-climat
"A long-standing member of Groupe De Recherches Musicales, the French composer, Lionel Marchetti, is one of the great contemporary exponents of musique concrète and acousmatic playback, having worked in the idioms since the late 1980s - producing dozens of solo and collaborative releases - and written extensively on the subjects. He is regarded as among the most important figures within the idiom’s third wave.
Recollection GRM’s LP, La grande vallee / Micro-climat, dives back toward the earliest days of the composer’s catalog of works. The album’s first side comprises the work La grande vallee, which was created at GRM between 1993 and 1995, before its original release in 1998 as part of Metamkine’s legendary Cinéma Pour L'Oreille series.
Drawing on a vast range of recordings from diverse sources - many taken from the natural world - over the works’ 20+ minutes, Marchetti weaves a startlingly imagistic and hauntingly musical tapestry of sonority. Shadows of ambience rise and fall amongst long tones and bristling textures, sculpting a space to be occupied fully, and where the boundaries between obscurity, clarity, and abstraction fade within expanses of brilliantly balanced organisations of sound.
The entire second side is given over to an earlier work, Micro-climat, created by Marchetti in 1989 and 1990 at the CFMI studios in Lyon, but remaining unreleased until 2001, when it appeared on his CD only release, Sirrus, issued by Auscultare Research. While radically different and arguably more explicitly experimental in its material presence than La grande vallee, the work similarly speaks from Marchetti’s intimate relationship with the natural world, drawing much of its inspiration and source material from his wanderings during this period in the Vercors mountains and Monts du Forez in the south of France.
Building on heavily processed tones and textures that dance with interspersed environment sounds - locatable and unplaceable - the work’s engrossing structures pulse with energy in a careful balance between pure abstraction and the ephemeral trace.
Largely unknown outside of France and a small number of devoted fans of experimental electronic practice, Recollection GRM’s LP, La grande vallee / Micro-climat, presents Lionel Marchetti as a crucial and welcome voice in late 20th and 21st century musique concrète.
A deeply poetic channeling of the natural world through rigorously experiential techniques, with its two works appearing for the first time ever on vinyl, it’s a vibrant and engrossing listen from start to finish that shouldn’t be missed. Like all things from the label, it’s bound to go fast so grab it while you can." [Soundohm]
|
2021 |
€20.00 |
|
| MARCHETTI, LIONEL & JEAN-BAPTISTE FAVORY |
100 000 Annees |
do-CD |
"Lionel Marchetti (France, 1967) is a composer of musique concrete. First self-taught, he discovered the catalogue of Musique Concrète with Xavier Garcia. He has composed in the CFMI of Lyon 2 University between 1989 and 2002, where he still organizes workshops focused on the loudspeaker, the recorded sound and
Musique Concrète, both on practical and theoretical levels. He has built his own recording studio, and composes also in the Groupe de Recherches Musicales in Paris since 1993. Lionel Marchetti also performs improvisation using microphones and loudspeakers, as a duo with Jérôme Noetinger, with the collective Le Cube with (Christophe Auger, Étienne Caire, Christophe Cardoen, Xavier Quérel, Jérôme Noetinger, Gaëlle
Rouard) that performs live music and where films are shown and worked on interactively, and with the collective Archipel: Emmanuel Petit, Mathieu Werchowski, Sophie Agnel, Fabrice Charles, Pascal Battus. Since 1992, he organizes regular workshops centered on Radio and creation together with Olivier Capparos for France Culture. At the same time, he writes
poetry, and develops theoretical thoughts on Musique concrète and the art of the loudspeaker
About the pieces: “Kitnabudja Town is a fascinating and abounding composition, a colossal encyclopaedia to dissect with
patience, an unseen sound collage that revives with the beloved techniques of the surrealists to reach a kind of automatic writing, a flux of thinking that is nor music, neither science, philosophy, neither eastern, nor western, at
the same time electronic and shamanic... using studio techniques that we can discern as archaic, lionel marchetti bends and pummels his sources until their last death rattle, being not afraid of distractions and collisions. A dense, visceral and generous work.”
“Comprising seven electronic improvisations, this piece is inspired by the movement of the seven celestial bodies closest to the earth with the sun as a central axis. Each planet is represented by two sounds: one concrete, the
other synthetic. The concrete sound is not audible but modulates the synthetic sound in amplitude and frequency. The result is then processed using several effects to obtain a
sound in constant evolution and partly random.
Without seeking to reproduce an existing astronomic model whitch is taken for reality, the piece proposes a quasiorganic vision of what in former times was named «The spheres» wherein the forces were realeased by the
movements of celestial bodies, acted directly on mankind.” Jean-Baptiste Favory "
[from the press release]
www.monotyperecords.com
|
2009 |
€17.50 |
|
| MARCHETTI, WALTER |
Antibarbarus |
do-LP |
"A reissue of Antibarbarus, issued as a compact disc in 1998, was the first edition Walter Marchetti released on Alga Marghen. The Antibarbarus cycle of five pieces makes use of original tapes coming from the same recording sessions that originated some of Marchetti's major musical works realized in the '80s. This former series of works presented some homogeneous and untouched sound sources in the "concrete" status of their inner - and necessarily chaotic - level of entropy. Nevertheless this operative and only in appearance "neutral" premise introduces an implicit mimetic transposition. This link between the "iconic" threshold of the acoustical material and its transposition literally deconstructs the prerogatives and the ideological categories of music composition. In Antibarbarus, the temporal continuum restores the mimesis of the phenomenal regression of musical time, crystallized in a framed-length which gets estranged from subjective domain.
But the transfiguration of sound sources now deliberately intends to de-signify the analytical prerogatives of hearing. The sensorial perception is in such a way inhibited from an immediate comprehension of the acoustic reality so reproduced: canis reversus ad vomitum suum. In the late 1950s, Marchetti was able both to formalize a more critical aim towards the established lingua franca and absolutist ideology of musical avant-gardism and to expand the sense of artistic praxis, in line with an ethical and subtly political evaluation of aesthetic experience. Marchetti was inspired by Cage's poetics of indeterminacy and subsequently created, through a close and indissoluble association with Juan Hidalgo and José Luis Castillejo, an original and de-ritualized form of action-music which led in 1964 to the birth of ZAJ group.
Marchetti's work relays, in its procedural level, upon a resolute de-functioning of the musical codes and impose this act as a reversed mimesis of the methodological statute of music composing. Namely, not a "degré zero de l'écriture", but its "reversal"; not a "denial of style", but "style of denial". In this perspective, Walter Marchetti's oeuvre condenses one of the rare examples of aesthetic radicalism consciously extended to music poetics. Comes in full color gatefold sleeve; Includes printed inner sleeves (with photos of "Musica da camera n. 182", London, Raven Row, 1989/2011 and "Music in secca", Milano, Fondazione Mudima, 2003); Liner notes by Gabriele Bonomo in English and Italian."
|
2017 |
€39.50 |
|
| MARCLAY, CHRISTIAN & OKKYUNG LEE / MY CAT IS AN ALIEN |
From the Earth to the Spheres Vol. 6 |
CD |
"This is the re-release of the split ART-LP (Opax Records - special SPACE ART ltd ed of 100/ original 31x31 cm painting on wooden support by Roberto Opalio as cover). Last release in the "From the earth to the Spheres" split series set up by Maurizio and Roberto Opalio aka My Cat Is An Alien on their own Opax Records imprint, sees the Italian cosmic duo splitting the media with well-known audio visual artist, performer and turntable-art innovator Christian Marclay together with cello improviser Okkyung Lee, ubiquitous figure of downtown NY avant-garde scene.
Their track "Rubbings" is the result of a live performance recorded at Tonic NYC in December 2003. Christian Marclay's trademarked technique of mixing several ranges of Lps on his multiple turntables, manipulating, fragmenting and altering the phonograph records' sonic nature in accordance with his "theater of found sound" esthetics meets the uncompromising and passionate playing of Korean-born performer Lee, whose powerful cello's stabs interact with Marclay's waves of screaming sounds creating a unique, stunning scenario.
My Cat Is An Alien's piece "Beyond the limits of the stars/ Beyond the limits of the grooves" was recorded in 2003 at their Space Room studio in Torino, and has been kept safely in their archive 'till September 2005, when it's been completely remixed and edited appositely for this release. One of their heaviest conceptions to date, the piece is built on electric guitars' strings moaning onto walls of space drones and electronics like ectoplasmic presences emerging from the brillliance of the Void. The initial minimal and claustrophobic guitar chords become more and more an ocean of howling moduled feedbacks combined with fragmented and distorted real-time inserts of post-romantic classical music from old 78rpm shellac records, sounding like radio frequencies transmitted via ether from the furthest reaches of the Cosmos.
As the title suggests, MCIAA's need of a non-finite "space music & art" aesthetics research has led them to etch a ghost track (instead of the final lock-groove you can find on the original vinyl) to un-seal the sounds from their actual support; a purpose expressed throughout the whole "From the earth to the Spheres" series' conception." [label info]
|
2006 |
€6.66 |
|
| MAREGIANO, ANNE |
CHARLEMAGNE PALESTINE, THE GOLDEN SOUND |
DVD |
"Born in New York City, composer, performer, and visual artist Charlemagne Palestine was a contemporary of Steve Reich and Phillip Glass in the avantgarde classical music scene of the 1960s and 1970s. On stages filled with his own home-made stuffed animals, Palestine performs his trance-like strumming music. He is often referred to as a minimal composer, but rejects that in favour of maximalism. Anne Maregiano's documentary about Palestine, The Golden Sound (2011), allows the artist to tell his own story while putting his music and performance, in long, unedited takes, at the centre of the film' - Michael Garrad, (Close Up) Bonus Films: 'The Red Suitcase' by Anne Maregiano (2011). 'Body Music 'by Charlemagne Palestine (1975). 'Charlemagne 2 : Piltzer' by Pip Chodorov (2002). 'Sound Recording: March 7, 1975' by Charlemagne Palestine. Book (44 pages) with texts written by Ingram Marshall, Roland Spekle, Pip Chodorov and Anne Maregiano. Photos by Kathleen Agnoli, Elaine Hartnett, James Lapine, Charlemagne Palestine. English with French subtitles." [label info]
"Il est 19h30 au Louvre le 6 mars 2001. Charlemagne Palestine descend les marches du grand auditorium avec sa valise en toile rouge. Il porte un grand chapeau Weston, plusieurs écharpes bariolées, un pantalon orange et des chaussures rouges. Il pose sa valise devant le majestueux piano Bösendorfer et en sort une grenouille, un petit singe, un ours, un perroquet… quelques peluches rescapées des poubelles de l’histoire. Charlemagne débute son concert devant une salle pleine. Il ne faut pas plus de cinq minutes de Strumming Music pour qu’un spectateur se lève et crie au scandale. Le concert s’interrompt, Charlemagne lui suggère de quitter la salle. Après un échange musclé, l’homme à lunettes se rassoit. A la fin du concert, je revois la même personne félicitant Charlemagne de sa performance. Que s’est-il passé ? Qu’est-ce qu’il lui a fait changer d’avis : l’origine ukrainienne de l’artiste, son appartenance à l’avant-garde new-yorkaise au début des années 70 (Tony Conrad, La Monte Young, John Cale, Taylor Mead, Terry Riley...), son expérimentation électro-acoustique à Los Angeles (Morton Subotnick, Ingram Marshall), son art vidéo (Nam June Paik), ses accointances avec le cinéma expérimental (Stan Brakkage) ou son exil vers l’Europe. Le film vient de commencer… » Sous la forme d’une confession intime et sur fond d’archives d’époque (vidéos, photos et musiques inédites), Charlemagne nous livre sa quête de « l’or sonore". [Anne Maregiano] |
2013 |
€23.00 |
|
| MARGOLIS, AL / IF, BWANA |
An Innocent, Abroad |
CD |
Zwei grossartige neue Stücke von IF BWANA aka AL MARGOLIS, der im Frühjahr 2008 auch endlich mal in Euopa live zu sehen war (z.B. im Hamburger B-MOVIE). AN INNOCENT ABROAD lässt sich als höchst strange & surreale Geräuschmusik charakterisieren, basierend auf der Stimme von LISA BARNARD und Flöteneinspielungen, in einer NURSE WITH WOUND-ähnlichen Machart bearbeitet und collagiert.
"The new Al Margolis/If, Bwana cd is comprised of Issue, for electronics and multi-tracked voice, and An Innocent, Abroad, a 40 plus minute work for electronics, vocals, and flutes. An Innocent, Abroad can be best described as a Sonic Oratorio: an assemblage, a construction of an event that never happened or will happen. A live installation for radio, perhaps. There is no "meaning" to the text. All parts were drawn or are inter-related to the original vocal track, recorded by Lisa Barnard, which is no longer present. The text/voice part has been multi-tracked and now represents five "separate entities". The electronic parts have been extracted and processed from the original vocal track. The five flute parts were performed by Jane Rigler and Jacqueline Martelle, and was be improvised by them. They recorded to the separate voice tracks. None of the performers heard the entire piece that they worked on. Lisa Barnard is a vocalist and performance artist. Most noted work is her interpretations of her dreams into original performances for Deep Listening Institute's annual Dream Festivals. Jacqueline Martelle is a flutist and arts administrator, living in New York City since 1996. She performs new music and has recorded on the Mode and Centaur record labels. Jane Rigler, flutist, composer, educator and producer is an active featured performer in contemporary music festivals throughout the U.S. and Europe as a soloist as well as within chamber ensembles
Al Margolis was one of the prime movers in the cassette underground scene of the 1980s (between 1984 and 1991 his Sound Of Pig label released over 300 cassettes of music by the likes of Merzbow, Costes, Amy Denio, John Hudak and Jim O'Rourke) and is the éminence grise behind twenty-three years of music under the name If, Bwana. He is the man behind the Pogus label, as well as label manager for Deep Listening, XI Records, and Mutable Music." [label info]
"The resulting texture sounds more like a Horatiu Radulescu piece performed by Morphogenesis." [DW]
www.pogus.com
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| MARHAUG, LASSE |
Context |
LP |
"Lasse Marhaug is one of those characters that operates at the nexus of so much stuff that’s important to us here - working as a producer (over the last couple of years alone he’s helped shape albums by Jenny Hval, Kelly Lee Owens, Okkyung Lee, Hillary Woods etc etc), a mastering engineer (far too many releases to mention), a prolific sleeve designer (likewise), publisher (his occasional Personal Best magazine is still going strong) and, perhaps most importantly - a recording artist in his own right. ‘Context’ is his most substantial release in years - a crushing assembly of bone-dry/darkside drone/machine malfunctions that’s bursting with a visceral, throbbing, mass of feeling. If yr into anything on the spectrum from Mika Vainio to Grouper to Kevin Drumm or Deathprod - this one’s as good as it gets
Over almost three decades of activity, Marhaug has carved out notoriety as a solo performer, a prolific collaborator (working with everyone from Sunn O))) to Jim O'Rourke) and as a busy producer, who's notched up credits on some of the most striking-sounding albums of the last few years. This new album was created as a swan song for the infamous Oslo studio that he's inhabited for 17 years, prior to his move back to the Arctic Circle where he originally came from. Recorded over a 14-month period and painstakingly edited from hours upon hours of material, it might just be the most impressive, moving record we’ve heard from him so far.
The interplay between piercing softness and deafening noise is the key to "Context", displaying a philosophy Marhaug has been exploring for years. Few other artists are able to balance chaos and harmony with such ease; Marhaug does it without grandstanding, it's music that sounds as simultaneously beautiful and as daunting as the Arctic landscape he's returning to. At any moment a sound can be alluring or treacherous, like the frozen sun reflecting on a snowy mountaintop. Marhaug's deftness with rhythm and bass emerges on 'Context 3', as he pairs Vainio-esque low-end pulses with crumpled noise and widescreen tones; as disquieting music-box chimes absorbed into the blasted soundscape on 'Context 5', while we're thrust into the freezing cold on 'Context 6', subjected to punctuating gusts of white noise and trapped string loops.
Trust it’s a rare and near-mythical beast, conjuring vast, treacherous soundscapes illuminated with pangs of sentiment that naturally weave strands of his non-musical practice in their psychosensual lustre and gritty attrition. As he steps into a new phase of his career, we're left with a concluding chapter that stands as a summation and open-ended post-credits reveal."
"Bursts of harsh noise, slivers of angular static, rumbles of punishing bass: Though the sounds here are every bit as intense as Marhaug’s past might lead us to expect, his patience and appreciation of space mean the results are newly delicate, the fragile skeleton of a once-formidable beast." - Pitchfork
https://marhaug.bandcamp.com/album/context
|
2022 |
€28.50 |
|
| MARSEN JULES |
Golden |
CD |
"Den Sommer begrüßt das Genesungswerk friedlich mit diesem Album von Marsen Jules. Auf GOLDEN treffen sich Gitarre, Piano und Elektronik zu einer harmonischen ménage à trois. Gelegentlich unterstützt von Ziehharmonika, Flöte und Geige finden sie sich nach einer Winterwanderung vor dem Kamin ein. Leise knisternd entzündet sich ein Feuer und vertreibt die Kälte aus unseren Gehörgängen. Akustikgitarre und Piano zeichnen die melodischen Linien, während sich die Elektronik einfühlend der Klangfarbe des Interieurs annimmt. GOLDEN ist wahrlich ein treffender Titel , funkeln und glimmen doch bei allen sieben Stücken die Klänge, ohne ihre Hörer je zu blenden. Sehr intim, sehr nah, zugleich klar und transparent taucht die Schönheit der Instrumente den Sommer in ein neues Licht." [label info]
Electronica-Ambience reminding at times of newer ULTRA MILKMAIDS or a more poppy WILLIAM BASINSKI...
"Close followers of these pages will already be intimately familiar with the work of Marsen Jules, responsible as he is for two of the loveliest albums we've had the pleasure of stocking these last few years. His debut album "Herbstlaub" strolled into an autumnal tundra of layered strings and neo-classical arrangements that best brought to mind the work of Arvo Part, attaining both critical and commercial acclaim from all quarters of the music scene. His dense follow-up "Les Fleurs" approached similar terrain but with a more colourful sound-pallette, creating an aural bloom of dense orchestral reductions that kept the minimal composure intact despite the rays of aural sunlight allowed to seep into Jules' unique, inspiring studio. This long awaited new album "Golden" takes little time in declaring its place as a worthy successor to both its predecessors - it's a breathtaking collection of pieces that begin from the same neo-classical starting point and unfurl in different directions, taking in acoustic guitar, barely audible electronic pulses, dense orchestral reductions and heavy filtering along the way. You'd find it difficult to get past the album's incredible opening track "Birkengefluster" without finding yourself incredibly moved by what's in front of you - another shimmering weave of elongated midnight strings and subliminal melodies consorting to force you to abandon all resistance in the face of its relentless beauty. By the time second track "Wharend" wheezes into life with its prepared piano passages and other-worldly washes of sound, you'll be unable to acknowledge anything else in your surroundings bar the music. Marsen Jules is just one of those rare artists who manages to achieve so much with such limited material at his disposal - it's both the simplicity and timeless quality of the 7 long tracks here that make "Golden" not only one of the most beautiful albums you'll hear this summer, but also one that you'll find hard to let go of come autumn. Sublime music - essential listening.'' [Boomkat]
www.genesungswerk.de
|
2007 |
€10.00 |
|
| MARTIN, KEVIN RICHARD |
Sirens |
LP |
When I was 22 I managed to acquire Techno Animal’s Demonoid 12” at a local record store, Rocking Horse Records. I can still recall the intensities of sound that marked the first moments of listening to it. The sense of bass as a tactile surface, that rolling groove and the howling sine waves and dub sirens that scorched with a type of sonic burning sensation that to this day makes my hairs stand on end. A year later I heard Ice’s Bad Blood, from there I discovered The Bug through a release on Wordsound, a band called God, a sound movement called isolationism and much more; all of these projects had one nexus point - Kevin Richard Martin.
In 2015, Kevin and I book-ended a series of concerts at Berghain for CTM festival. For his performance, Kevin debuted a new work I’d heard very little about called ’Sirens’. I remember two things distinctly about the performance. The first thing is he opened the set with a blazing passage of bass and dub sirens that instantly transported me back to those initial moments of encountering his work. The second was the feeling of absolute, crushing bass. Not before, or since, have I felt a sense of sound pressure like this. Unlike his other work with The Bug for example, the consistent bass carrying in the space was literally breathtaking and there were moments when it seemed difficult to see clearly as my eye sockets were vibrating in a way I’d never experienced.
Sirens, which documents the intensities surrounding the delivery and early days of his first child, carries in it a sense of deep affect. The album, unlike the live work, traces out a dynamic sound world that is both tender and caustic. It charts the emotional rollercoaster that is the arrival of parenthood, heightened through the complex circumstances of his wife's emergency procedures during the birth and two further life threatening operations for his son, in the first month of the child's life. Within each piece, microcosms of sensation unfold, Kevin clearly and deftly manoeuvres us through the tumultuous journey. Seconds become hours, and hours become seconds; Sirens somehow creates a sense of time that is without anchor and is foggy in a way that is profoundly unique (and frankly pleasurable).
Kevin Richard Martin has remained a point of constant inspiration for me over several decades now. To have the opportunity to share his first ever solo recording, one that arguably opens an entirely new side of his practice, brings me the utmost pride. His work has impacted so very much on me at various points and I know I am not alone in this situation. His new work, Sirens is a life journey transposed into sound that is truly personal, but effortlessly universal. It is the start of a new chapter for Kevin and one that I know will only strengthen his place as one of the critical voices in contemporary electronic music.
- Lawrence English, March 2019
https://room40.bandcamp.com/album/sirens
"Kevin Martin has tapped into a kind of unfathomable strain of desolation this year, first on King Midas Sound’s ‘Solitude’ - one of the most painfully lonely albums of recent times, and now on the first album under his own name, ’Sirens’, released by Lawrence English’s Room 40 label. It’s a startling record lost in its own thoughts, the soundtrack to personal tragedy and rebirth somehow mirroring Hildur Gudnadottir’s recent score work for Chernobyl, but in much more personal space.
Despite being a more or less constant presence on our radars since the late 90’s when we first opened our doors (actually, from way before that - 1995’s 'Macro Dub Infection' comp and 97’s 'Köner Experiment' are both foundational records here) - and despite a constant barrage of bangers under myriad guises (but mostly as The Bug), various strains of Martin's work seem to have only just recently converged into something entirely distinctive. Both ’Solitude’ and ’Sirens’ are neither showy nor self indulgent - this is music that’s ice cold yet intimate, barely-there - but utterly compelling. While its easy to make sudden impact with scudding basslines, here Martin takes a more lonely route into numerous strands of contemporary music; from dub to noise and across the abyss between, into a dimly lit corner that somehow brings out the best we’ve heard from him in over 20 years. It's nothing short of an isolationist classic." [Boomkat]
|
2019 |
€25.00 |
|
| MARTINIS, SOCRATES |
On Motion, Stasis and the Geometry of Desire |
MC |
"This odd cassette without first researching its origins sounds like ‘field recordings’ only not of actual fields but of industrial environments, possibly the continuous sound of a train or tram ride. Some are short, a few seconds others longer, all consist of such ambient sounds of mechanical travel… or perhaps an air conditioner or continuous extractor fan. No other sounds – human – animal or atmospheric except perhaps the slight sound of a garment on the microphone or a police siren of the European kind. The cassette arrived without card insert but from the on body print and via the Anitfrost website Socrates Martinis can be tracked down – a sound artist working in Greece. From here the tape appears to have 2 tracks on side A, and a further 2 on the B side. The B side containing again recordings in situ, only some of much more quieter ‘locations’ if these are actual
locations, and I guess now the short silences indicate where one track starts and another ends, though this is not obvious. Occasionally one is aware of the sound recordist ’s breath… but that is as expressive as this tape gets in a ‘representational’ sense. Why the printed inserts were not used is not stated, however this lack of information helps the enigmatics of this work. As such it has a strange beauty about it, clearly not in the telos or anti telos of noise, but much more the idea of listening as listening to sounds that are remarkable in their unremarkability and ubiquitous of industrial urban life and its environments. As such it poignancy captures the actual fragility of such environments which are seldom documented, noticed or of interest. ‘Art’ then in the great tradition of art, as who once would have thought a railway station a suitable subject for a painting…." [jliat/Vital Weekly]
www.antifrost.gr
|
2012 |
€8.00 |
|
| MARUTTI, ANDREA / CARLO GIORDANI |
Impressioni Organizzate di Ansie Liquide |
CD |
Building on 15 years of friendship, and nearly a decade working together, two fixtures of the Italian experimental music scene, Andrea Marutti and Carlo Giordani, come together with their collaborative debut full length release, "Impressioni Organizzate di Ansie Liquide" (Organized Impressions of Liquid Anxieties) - a rippling body of sonorous abstraction - issued by St.An.Da./Silentes.
The origins of the album date to 2011, when Andrea Marutti was asked by the filmmaker and cultural agitator, Massimo Indellicati, to compose soundtracks for a series of experimental short films - "Aquology - Oceano interiore" - centred around aquatic and science fiction themes. Intent on intervening with his own practice in electronics and synthesis, he asked field recordist, engineer, and software designer, Carlo Giordani, to come on board.
While the film project was never fully realized - only small fragments of Marutti and Giordani's initial collaboration were used - their creative relationship bore fruit, bringing them together regularly over the subsequent years, each pushing and expanding the other's approach toward sound into new territories. The album - the result of an enduring process of reworking of the cumulative material that resulted from their collaborations between December 2013 and January 2020 - melds these two distinct sensibilities into a single, palpable force.
"Impressioni Organizzate di Ansie Liquide" rests at the sublime juncture of shifting materiality and perception; where the organic transforms into the otherworldly and the synthetic bubbles with life. The collision of two highly individualized creative practices - built from a vast pallet of sonority - across its breadth, the locations of source and the intervening hand shift in and out focus, gathering as an expanse ambience and event that gives the impression of being guided by chance occurrences and responses of its own making.
Amplifying the incidental into the mystical and metaphysical, this work challenges the very notions of how we locate the meaning of music and art. Unified by the thematic vision of water that first brought Marutti and Giordani together, the album culminates as a series of evolving, abstract images, alluding to the embryonic fluids that give way to life. Drifting long tones, buzzing electronics, and woven textures of ambiguous sound, rumble and dance between the foreground and distance, penetrated by punctuations drawn intermittently from Marutti's synths and Giordani's deft snapshots of the world.
Like its subject, "Impressioni Organizzate di Ansie Liquide" is an immersive, languid realm, filled with elegant, poetic beauty, that bristle with unknown elements and the lingering potential of danger. A remarkably sensitive reminder of the creative potentialities that rest at the heart of electroacoustic, concrete, and field recording based musics, doubling as a vision of their possible futures, Marutti and Giordani have created an album that simultaneously drowns the ear and fortifies it with breaths of fresh air.
The album is presented on a glass-mastered CD limited to 200 copies which is housed in a deluxe six panel digipack with black finish, and features pictures by Stefano Gentile.
Andrea Marutti was born in 1970 in Savona and currently lives in Milan, Italy. He began his experiments with music in the early '90s using mainly tapes and objects. A few years later he also started to use synthesizers, samplers and other electronic devices, and founded the Lips Vago Digital Studio.
His most well-known projects are Amon and Never Known. During the late '90s and early '00s several of his releases in the field of Ambient / Dark Ambient music have been published by labels such as Eibon Records, Nextera, Amplexus, Silentes, Drone Records, Taâlem, etc. on CD and other formats.
For some time he was also responsible of other projects dealing with different styles of electronic music ranging from Lo-Fi, Weird and Cheap Electronica to IDM (Wolkspurz & Ramirez, Lips Vago) to Dada, Noise and Nonsense (Spiral).
With the turn of the century he started recording and releasing Experimental Ambient tracks under his own name, in duo with Giuseppe Verticchio/Nimh as Hall of Mirrors, with Davide Del Col (Ornament, Echran, Antikatechon) as Molnija Aura, and again in duo with Andrea 'Ics' Ferraris as Sil Muir. Later on he was also involved in two collective projects: Maribor with Giuseppe Verticchio, Maurizio Bianchi, Stefano Gentile, Pierpaolo Zoppo and Gianluca Favaron, and Meerkat with Andrea Ferraris, Davide Valecchi/aal, Fabio Selvafiorita, Luca Bergero/Fhievel, Logoplasm, Luca Sigurtà, Matteo Uggeri/Hue and Adriano Zanni/Punck.
During the years he also had the chance to collaborate with many other friends, musicians and artists: Fausto Balbo, Madame P, Aidan Baker, Femina Faber, a034, Moan, OvO, Sparkle in Grey, Amalia Del Ponte, K11, Subterranean Source, Raffaele Serra, ODRZ...
Between 1995 and 2013 he has ran Afe, a label devoted to experimental electronic music. During its existence, Afe has released dozens of works by many renowned international musicians: Maurizio Bianchi, Bad Sector, Maeror Tri, Telepherique, De Fabriek, Ultra Milkmaids, Aidan Baker, Logoplasm, Bestia Centauri, True Colour of Blood, Dronaement and many more.
After a few years of hiatus, in late 2017/early 2018 he re-built his studio in a new location and began to work on new projects.
Carlo Giordani is an electronic engineer, working in the field of Information and Communications Technology; he is a project manager and consultant, specialized in big data architectures, database consolidation and data warehouse migration. Previously he has worked as a geophysicist, developing data processing software related to electromagnetic fields.
Despite his technical training he has always been interested in photography and sound. One of his passions is to capture sounds, process and stratify them, dissect them with an acoustic microscope and force them to become compositions.
He began his activity of 'sound hunter' in 1981: armed with a Marantz Superscope portable cassette recorder, he used to record rain and thunderstorms. Due to the limits of the technology available to him ar the time, he reluctantly abandoned his project quite soon.
After a break which lasted almost twenty years, in 2001 he successfully resumed his activity of field-recordist, publishing many works on the Internet in a short time (some of which are now available on his personal website) and two audio CDs (namely "Sanglisente" and "La voce degli Alberi", which translates into "The Voice of Trees"); he has given lectures, live performances in selected venues and on the Internet, and has curated transmissions for Framework Radio.
Among the many other projects he has been involved in during the recent years, his contribution to three documentaries deserve a special mention. For these productions he collected and provided sounds which were essential in the narrative process:
- "L'oro bianco e altri racconti" ("White Gold and Other Tales"), a five days expedition to record the dams of Venerocolo and Pantano dell'Avio Lakes in the Brescia district, Italy;
- "Ragazzo" ("Boy"), with sounds recorded at Lagoscuro, above the Mandrone refuge in Trentino, Italy;
- "I compagni sconosciuti" ("The Unknown Companions"), with sounds sourced in an old farmhouse in the lower Brescia area, a house as a musical instrument.
In 2019 he was also present with an installation entitled "È buono e si sente" ("It's Good and You Can Hear It") at the event "Forme" at the Fair of Bergamo , Italy.
store.silentes.it/catalogue/standa2024.htm
|
2020 |
€12.00 |
|
| MASONNA |
Filled with unquestionable Feelings |
LP |
Cascades of electronic noise, a psychedelic touch and vocal belching mixed together constitute the ingredients of Mademoiselle Anne Sanglante Ou Notre Nymphomanie Auréolé, the double-barreled name for Masonna. Maso Yamazaki founded his project in 1987, with a charismatic and glamorous personality who become a cult figure in “Japanoise” scene. Masonna’s abundant productions on his own legendary and astonishing label Coquette were presented in very limited edition, sometime totally confidential (one sole copy), and reflect his predilection for 60’s psychedelic music revisited in its own very peculiar way. He transforms his voice into noise, feeding the microphone back through a process of extreme distortion. His shouts become clipped bursts of overloaded sound, doubled and extended by a delay that displace the sounds into stuttered blasts of static.
Filled with unquestionable feelings along with Freak is an ultra-rare cassette originally released in 1995 by Coquette in an edition of only 36 copies and now return for the first time in a stunning vinyl format fully remastered!
The two sides of the cassette / vinyl are completely different from each other. Side A can be considered a classic Masonna piece, where it reaches its full artistic maturity here. This side is very brash, earsplitting and mad. The distortion and effects on the vocals are top notch, they in combination with his awesome screaming create a complete audio assault. Remind also to his first period as Open your cunt and Like a vagina tapes. Everything is scraped, fast and beautiful and focuses an electrically overcharged universe, punctuating the thrilling and vocal sonorous power with some quite moments and brief interruptions, conferring a very particular dynamic to work. Side B is completely different. The voice disappears (or is no longer heard because it is covered or transformed by feedback). The structure is more compact and organized but eventually becomes far wilder, building up to pointillistic bleeps and dense layers of electronic fizz that unexpectedly cut to near-silence; these bear many uncanny resemblances to the simple melodic improvs and incessant ostinatos of Terry Riley.
https://urashima.bandcamp.com/album/filled-with-unquestionable-feelings
|
2021 |
€21.50 |
|
| |
Inner Mind Mystique |
LP |
Masonna, the moniker of the Osaka based artist Maso Yamazaki, belongs to the second wave of Japanese noise. The name alone, a pun on Madonna’s name by combining the Japanese words Maso (マゾ, Masochist) and Onna (女, Woman), illuminates the wry humour and intensity that rubbles below his work.
Masonna claims that his interest in making noise is rooted in childhood encounters with the sounds of destruction on tv. Initially playing in psychedelic rock bands, following encounters with the work of artists like Hanatarash and Nord, he disappeared from view for a number of years, quietly developing his own singular vision of the idiom, before bursting onto the scene in 1987 with a performance style, marked by frenetic energy, damaged equipment, wild body movement, and often personal injury, that quickly set him apart. The following year, he released his debut album, “Like a Vagina” - an overdriven blast of psychedelia and harsh noise - that would rattle everything in its wake.
In recent years, Urashima has dedicated considerable energy to slowly returning Masonna’s back catalog to print, many of which were issued in tiny editions and have remained virtually unobtainable since their initial release. The latest among these is the project’s “Inner Mind Mystique”, originally released in 1996 on CD. Comprising seven studio recordings that embark on a full sonic onslaught of few equivalents, the album deftly deploys Masonna’s mastery of cut-up techniques, folding screaming vocalisations, effects, burbling electro noises, high-pitched twees, and other sci-fi sounds into a hurling mass that balances between something deep and primal and futuristic. Each piece is the culmination of a vast array of electronic sound events, meticulously sequenced within a complex vocal fusion of earthly and heavenly sounds that almost transform into a form of violent ambience because of the density and consistency that they display.
Immersive and almost transcendental in effect, Masonna’s “Inner Mind Mystique” is unquestionable an high water mark in the history of Japanese noise, taking the extremes of an already boundary pushing genre into the next realm. Truly amazing and not for the faint of heart, Urashima’s beautiful edition of 299 copies represents this masterstroke’s first ever appearance on LP and comes complete with an A3 poster and a cardboard insert, housed in a sleeve faithfully reproducing every aspect of the original 1996 release. An absolute must for any fan of experimental music and noise.
|
2023 |
€24.00 |
|
| MASSACRE |
Killing Time |
CD |
"Another legendary release. Fred's first full-on group after Henry Cow - following soon after his move to America - was a power trio with Bill Laswell (bass) and Fred Maher (drums), both from Giorgio Gomelsky's house band Zu - later to become Material. Massacre was loud and their pieces tended to be short, make their point and end. They used the time-honoured structure of bebop: an intricate head followed by high energy explorations of rhythm and timbre (aka noise). But the authority of playing skills remained very much to the fore - hence, perhaps, the term Punk Jazz which was applied at the time. However, this is unequivocally rock. A fully re-mastered reissue of the original Japanese release, plus the five extra tracks that appeared on the long out of print, Rec Dec CD and two, previously unreleased tracks, including The Shadows-Massacre, FBI." [label info] |
2005 |
€14.00 |
|
| MASTER MUSICIANS OF BUKKAKE |
Totem Two |
LP |
"Echoing like a long lost Werner Herzog soundtrack Totem 2 is a record of subtle Meditations and Deep electric Hallucinations from the Crystal Caves of the Northwest to the orchestral desert portals of Turkey. Totem 2 finds MASTER MUSICIANS OF BUKKAKE exploring the disappearance of the Mystic and the schisms of our age. In times when forces move against our souls these are the first sounds of music that can only be described as NO-AGE , a resistance is making itself known. Featuring members of EARTH, ASVA, BURING WITCH, THE DIMINISHED MEN, and more and special guests from SECRET CHIEFS 3 and the thriving Istanbul music scene. MMOB has now solidified into a 7-piece cosmic psych force. Like a reverse dark side of the New Age sound, on the Totem series Master Musicians of Bukkake perform ritualistic electric excursions into the outer and inner reaches. Relying more on the electric power of psyched guitars, analog synth chants, and exotic heavy percussion. This Totem Trilogy echoes with the delusions of a west coast death cult. Outer spaced gamelan, dusty fuzz rock from celestial deserts, meditations of a deranged Krishna gathering, and the Blurry acoustic guitar majesty of The Cascade mountains all reveal themselves here in epic form." [label info]
www.importantrecords.com
|
2010 |
€19.50 |
|
| |
Totem Two |
CD |
"Echoing like a long lost Werner Herzog soundtrack Totem 2 is a record of subtle Meditations and Deep electric Hallucinations from the Crystal Caves of the Northwest to the orchestral desert portals of Turkey. Totem 2 finds MASTER MUSICIANS OF BUKKAKE exploring the disappearance of the Mystic and the schisms of our age. In times when forces move against our souls these are the first sounds of music that can only be described as NO-AGE , a resistance is making itself known. Featuring members of EARTH, ASVA, BURING WITCH, THE DIMINISHED MEN, and more and special guests from SECRET CHIEFS 3 and the thriving Istanbul music scene. MMOB has now solidified into a 7-piece cosmic psych force. Like a reverse dark side of the New Age sound, on the Totem series Master Musicians of Bukkake perform ritualistic electric excursions into the outer and inner reaches. Relying more on the electric power of psyched guitars, analog synth chants, and exotic heavy percussion. This Totem Trilogy echoes with the delusions of a west coast death cult. Outer spaced gamelan, dusty fuzz rock from celestial deserts, meditations of a deranged Krishna gathering, and the Blurry acoustic guitar majesty of The Cascade mountains all reveal themselves here in epic form."
www.importantrecords.com
|
2010 |
€14.50 |
|
| MASTER MUSICIANS OF JOUJOUKA (JAJOUKA) |
Apocalypse Across the Sky |
do-LP |
"Available on vinyl for the very first time: the 1992 album „Apocalypse Across The Sky“ by the legendary MASTER MUSICIANS OF JAJOUKA. Produced by BILL LASWELL, remastered for vinyl by HELMUT ERLER at D&M Berlin and according to Songlines one of the essential recordings of the ensemble.
No matter if you consider the MASTER MUSICIANS OF JAJOUKA a “4,000 year-old rock‘n‘roll band” (WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS) or even „6,000 years old“ (ORNETTE COLEMAN) – without doubt, the music of the ensemble in all its incarnations over the centuries is deeply rooted in Sufi mysticism, paganism and the cult of the goat-god Boujeloud. According to a myth, many centuries ago Boujeloud appeared to a shepherd called Attar, an ancestor of today‘s ensemble leader BACHIR ATTAR, and till today every year at the end of Ramadan a fire in honour of the goat-god is ignited. This pagan root aside, the music performed in several hour long rituals on traditional instruments like tebel and tariyya (drums), ghaita (a woodwind instrument), lira (flute) and gimbri (stringed instrument) reveals hypnotic, trance-inducing qualities and is considered to have magical and healing properties.
In the 1950s, BRION GYSIN along with PAUL BOWLES were among the first westerners to witness such a ceremony, and it was GYSIN who invited the MASTER MUSICINS OF JAJOUKA to play in his restaurant in Tanger, and who later (in 1967) brought BRIAN JONES to the small village of Jajouka where the ROLLING STONES guitarist recorded the ensemble for what became the first „world music album” and that raised interest in the MASTER MUSICIANS OF JAJOUKA in the western world. Since those days, a wide number of creative minds like WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS, ORNETTE COLEMAN, MARC RIBOT, FLEA, TALVIN SINGH or the ROLLING STONES have worked with THE MASTER MUSICIANS OF JAJOUKA who are now performing regularly outside Morocco.
In 1991, iconic producer BILL LASWELL also embarked on a trip to the small village of just 800 inhabitants in the Rif mountains to record the group for his AXIOM label - „Apocalypse Across The Sky“ is, unlike other LASWELL projects that bring together different cultures and genres, a pure document of the ensemble, raw and unpolished but exquisitely recorded, and ranks according to the world music magazine Songlines among the essential recordings of the legendary MASTER MUSICIANS OF JAJOUKA and is now available on vinyl for the very first time!
Musicians
Bachir Attar (Leader) - Ghaita, Gimbri, Lira, Vocals
Mohamed Bacari - Ghaita, Gimbri, Lira, Vocals
Ali Nachat - Ghaita, Gimbri, Lira, Vocals
Larbi Lalli Attar - Ghaita, Lira, Tarija, Vocals
Mohammed El Hammadi – Ghaita, Gimbri, Tebel, Vocals
Ali Mojdoubl - Ghaita, Liria, Tarija, Vocals
Tahir Bokzar - Ghaita, Violin, Lira, Vocals
Abdellah Sandaoui Attar - Ghaita, Lira, Tarija, Vocals
Abdellah Attar - Ghaita, Tebel, Vocals
Lahesen Brital - Violin, Tarija, Vocals
Abdeslam Bokzar - Tarija, Vocals
Abdellah Shirioui - Tarija, Vocals
Mokhtar Jaghdal - Tebel, Vocals
Mostapha Attar - Tebel, Vocals
Abmed EI Himdi - Tebel, Vocals
Abdellah Bokzar - Tebel, Vocals
Womens Group
Rahama Attar - Bendir, Vocals
Menana Attar - Tarija, Vocals
Rahama Attar - Tarija, vocals
Hadoush Attar - Tarija, Vocals
Rahama Attar - Tarija, Vocals
Yamna Attar - Tarija, Vocals
Produced by Bill Laswell
Recorded at Jajouka in the foothills of the Rif Mountains of Morocco on november 8, 9 and 10, 1991
Coordination and production assistance in Morocco: Nicky Skopelitis
Assistance in Tangier and Jajouka: Cheerie Nutting
Engineered by Oz Fritz
Assistant engineer: Carl Glanville
Mixed at The Hit Factory, New York
Remastered for vinyl by Helmut Erler at D&M, Berlin
https://zehra.bandcamp.com/album/apocalypse-across-the-sky
|
2020 |
€27.00 |
|
| MATHES, JEREMIE |
Efequen |
CD |
"Efequén is a recollection of the geomorphological structure of the island of Lanzarote which I visited in March of 2010. During one week I had the opportunity to amass various sounds in different parts of this volcanic and arid land. My initial goal wasn’t to represent a pure or realistic sound map of this island, but rather to interlace it with my errancies during my time there. My intention was to transcribe the sonic sensation of this semi-arid wilderness surrounded by limitless ocean.
I built my score by assembling, merging and permuting the sound fragments that I had collected. I worked to reveal my personal aural perception of this delimited land, where volcanic activity is still underlying, where nature appears hostile but is under permanent reconquest.
In Arrecife, I spent several hours with my stereophonic microphone gear, recording crowd and human activity. The harbor was also a focal point where I had the opportunity to use my hydrophone setup.
Ciclos is a hybrid combination of sound elements from bubbling aquatic plants, a decaying metal bridge and aeolian effects on constructions.
Los Caletones is a specific sandy bay to the north of the island where I made a series of recordings from the action of the ocean ebb and flow on volcanic black rock.
Atlante del Sol is an abandoned hotel in the south area of the island exposed to the elements in the middle of lava fields. This sonic piece is built from debris and objects found cast up by the ocean.
El Golfo is a small locality on the southeast coast of Lanzarote close to Timanfaya National Park, a protected area. I achieved capturing the sound of black sand swell from the beach at El Charcos del Ciclos."(Jérémie Mathes, January 2013)
www.unfathomless.net
|
2013 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
Oiarzun |
mCD-R |
"the work of french artist jérémie mathes is based on captation and manipulation of vibrant matters of acoustic origins through various field recording techniques and the use of music instruments as sound generators.
this 3" is only his fourth published work, after two albums on mystery sea and another one on the sadly defunct basses frequences imprint." [label info]
www.taalem.com
"Perhaps it was indeed some time ago since we last saw new releases by Taleem, who excuse themselves for the recent 'long pause'. In their series of mini ambient albums it's time for two that can be classified as musique concrete meeting ambient. The first is by Jeremie Mathes, who previous work was released on Mystery Sea and Basses Frequences, and who uses recordings here from an abandoned farmhouse and inside 'le semaphore de calleloungue', which is in the national park of the calanques. There are water sounds, which run through more of this work (pun intended), sonic debris, crackling of leaves and all of that some highly dark and mysterious sounds that lurk underneath. Slow approaching violence, perhaps. It's all quite dark and highly atmospheric. Just like pretty much all of his work so far, which is of a consistent highly quality." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2013 |
€5.00 |
|
| MATHIEU, STEPHAN |
To describe George Washington Bridge |
10inch |
"To Describe George Washington Bridge" is Stephan Mathieu's 2nd Dekorder release in the 10" format (reflecting his interest in old 78rpm records) after 2009's sold out "The Key to the Kingdom", and, we're happy to say, again it features two of the composer's most outstanding short pieces. Both are recorded utilizing similar methods as used on his most recent album "A Static Place" on 12K Records yet they are presented in an even more condensed and melodic way. As source material he used transcriptions made from the marvelous 25x 12inch 78rpm set G.F. Händel. "Twelve Concerti Grossi" performed by the Busch
Chamber Players in 1946, and a Columbia 10"
record from 1912 with Händel's usual smash hits
from "Messiah"." [label info]
www.dekorder.de
"Just as on 'The Key to the Kingdom' (reviewed in Vital Weekly 666) and 'A Static Place' (see Vital Weekly 766), this one deals with picking up sounds from old 10" records through ancient gramophones. What happens beyond that is a bit unclear (sound being picked with microphones and using spectral analysis and convolution), but no doubt some form of computer processing which stretches the material to what is perhaps now trademark Mathieu music. Very spacious music, drone like, minimal. Mathieu finds much of his inspiration in colorfield paintings (Rotkho, Newmann) and his music reflects that, I think: quite an uniform mass of sound with the slightest changes boiling on and below the surface. Yet Mathieu always knows how to add a bit of melodic shimmer to his music, which makes it move a bit out y'r standard drone music. Quite a bit. Mathieu knows how to capture a fine mood in a relative short time span, as each side last about five minutes. Very refined as usual. But I guess you didn't expect this to be objective, or let alone critical?" [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2011 |
€10.00 |
|
| MATHIEU, STEPHAN & EKKEHARD EHLERS |
Heroin |
LP + 12inch |
"Between Christmas 2000 and New Year 2001 producers Ekkehard Ehlers and Stephan Mathieu recorded an album of warm, soft, delicately crackling electronic music in the space of that week. It was christened with the ambivalent title "Heroin" and was released on CD via the label Brombron in 2001 and later in 2003 re-issued on Kit Clayton's Orthlorng Musork on double-LP with remixes the pair had commissioned as expansions.
17 years later Heroin sees its first vinyl release to include all 13 tracks from the original CD track-list on this LP + 12“ set. The centerpiece "Herz" finally receives its long deserved vinyl treatment (side C, at 45rpm) and on the flip side Thomas Brinkmann contributes a mirror in a magnificent remix of that very piece on side D.
Ehlers and Mathieu were both highly prolific solo artists during the period 2000-2004, and in just two years after the initial release of "Heroin" each had produced over half a dozen new solo recordings: among them the serial masterpiece Ehlers' "Plays" (Cornelius Cardew, Hurbert Fichte, John Cassavetes, Albert Ayler, Robert Johnson) released as 5 stunning LPs in a series on Staubgold, while Mathieu's 'Full Swing Edits' spread over five 10" records plus his album 'FrequencyLib' on Mille Plateaux, 'Die Entdeckung des Wetters' on Lucky Kitchen and ‘The Sad Mac’ on Atsushi Sasaki’s Headz label were greeted to critical acclaim.
Both artists were expanding their conceptual sonic approaches in the glow of developing laptop technologies which would to these times in 2020 seem quite primitive, but these two in that period used the state-of-the-art to aid and abet their conceptual visions, while at times the duo used unorthodox experimentation - yet always had a distinctively melodic and musical form at its heart and soul. Ehlers can be seen as a conceptualist, as a meta-musician who interrogates the mediums and methods of sound production - reflecting on the conditions and possibilities of improvisation (e.g. "Plays Albert Ayler") and exploits ideas of mutation and distortion of popular aesthetics played out within a ghostly form of divine pop beauty in his project März.
Mathieu, originally a drummer and co-founder of what has come to be known as the Berlin 'Echtzeitmusik' scene. His approach could be similarly described as working a critical analyst and researcher: Subtly and precisely working in the realm of processing as a method of intervening in melodious/harmonic analog sound sources.
Ehlers and Mathieu may not think too much about their singular productions and publications outcomes, but instead concentrate on the process and musical personality that characterizes their gesture- style itself stays in the background - and they usher a music from small minimal sound sources coaching a patient music of slow intervention - much like a refraction of light than a concrete painting or a blurred photograph - beatus accident.
And indeed, "Heroin" is an album that embraces the happy accident being made up of reduced, often very catchy and very direct micro hooks which seem laser-guided into a space accepting obvious melodic beauty in what feels like an observation of musics unfolding and revealing it's DNA, embed with for a kind of yearning for innocence and naiveté - as if Satie were on the jukebox in "The Crying of Lot 49". Not to say the music is "reduced", but rather: 'restricted' and born from acceptance of limitations, and the artists allowing the sounds to just "be.." with some incremental degrees of coercion.
The album not only sounds like that of 2 producers who are both dreamers and scientists, but that Ehlers and Mathieu chose to work with these means in a dialogue together to reduce pop music to its musical/tonal core, it is not Pop music anymore, rather a ghostly pointilistic itteration of song. "Heroin" is located at this transition, around that point at which tracks, that were or could have become pop compositions, irrevocably slip into a static harmonic nirvana. We are invited to follow the arch of Heroin in a slow-motion morphine musical haze.
Heroin sounded timeless when originally released and proof is that it remains so, one wishes that Ehlers and Mathieu would convene again for a week, a month or an entire year to continue this process of slow rumination, picking affectionately over the sounds they both love - and then maybe when everything is condensed, evaporated they would write more songs with those sonic refractive elements that remain.
Remastered by Stephan Mathieu, March 2020. Vinyl cut by Lupo @ Loop_O. Design by Caro Mikalef for Cabina."
https://schwebung.bandcamp.com/album/heroin
|
2020 |
€26.00 |
|
| MATTIN & RICHARD FRANCIS |
Lisa Says |
LP |
"LP clear vinyl 33 rpm
release date: 18.09.2012
artists: MATTIN & RICHARD FRANCIS
title: Lisa Says
order no.: aatp38
time: ca. 50 min
sleeve designed by Richard Francis, comes with text insert. Clear vinyl 300
handnumbered copies.
On “Lisa Says”: This LP captures the first transcontinental collaboration between artists
Mattin and Richard Francis with sounds recorded in Stockholm, Berlin and Auckland, NZ. The mixdown portrays the current state of affairs in composed noise: filtered gritty sound blocks flow and float with no seeming direction
when sudden breaks puncture the structure and create something like a melody. Well, almost. The music is accompanied by a text insert that
documents a skype conversation between the two artists discussion the methods and aesthetics connected to this release and their ways of working in general.
Mattin Bio www.mattin.org
Mattin is a Basque artist working with noise and improvisation. His work seeks to address the social and economic structures of experimental music production through live performance, recordings and writing. Using a
conceptual approach, he aims to question the nature and parameters of improvisation, specifically the relationship between the idea
of “freedom” and constant innovation that it traditionally implies, and the established conventions of improvisation as a genre. Mattin considers improvisation not only as an interaction between musicians and instruments,
but as a situation involving all the elements that constitute a concert, including the audience and the social and architectural space. He tries to expose the stereotypical relation between active performer and passive
audience, producing a sense of strangeness and alienatio in that disturbs this relationship.
Richard Francis Bio www.richardfrancis.net.nz
Richard Francis has been releasing works on CD/vinyl, performing solo and in collaboration as a touring artist since 1996. He uses field recordings of acoustic and electronic sounds and a tone generator to compose sound works.
He has released solo and collaborative music on a number of labels worldwide and runs his own label CMR through which he releases limited edition lathe cut records by New Zealand artists. In performance he uses a computer and electronics and has toured Japan, Australia, Hong Kong, Canada, USA and Europe. Since 2003, Francis has composed works for sound installation, participating in group and solo shows at galleries throughout New Zealand. He has collaborated for recording and
performance with many artists, and has had recent published collaborative CDs with Jason Kahn (USA/Swiss) and Francisco Lopez (Spain). Collaborations for recording and/or performance: Bruce Russell, Francisco Lopez, Jason Kahn, Mattin, Birchville Cat Motel, Gate, MSBR, Tetuzi Akiyama, Lawrence English, Rosy Parlane, Howard Stelzer, Jason Lescalleet, Jay Sullivan, Empirical, Pumice, Kuwayama Kiyoharu, Phil Dadson, Anthony Guerra, Sean
Meehan, Ishigami Kazuya, Antony Milton, James Kirk, MHFS, Tim Coster, Paul Winstanley, Takefumi Naoshima, Toshihiro Koike." [label info]
"A project in two parts, one the actual music, as recorded on July 3 2008 in Berlin and one the conversation as a piece of text from August 31 2011 in which Richard Francis and Mattin talk about the recording from three years before, about their methods of working together but also with others. A fascination they have in common is about white and pink noise, and sustaining those sounds. It's an interesting text to read, as it clears up some interesting things but it's not entirely necessary to read the text to like the music I should think. The buzzing, cracking and sustaining sound, which sometimes hoovers closely above the threshold of hearing, reminds the listener of your ventilator or heater buzzing, or the faint noises from afar late at night. If I understand right, this record is for Francis an end to the way he working and for Mattin the start of a new working method, a more conceptual approach if you will. This record contains some very minimal music, with very few sound elements, but are fascinating to hear. Crackles of vinyl (not from the pressing), field recordings very remotely humming and the white/pink noise slowly washing ashore and moving away. All of this in a very quiet and contemplating way. If you think Mattin is all about noise then you should surely try this record for a change. Maybe this is more what you would expect from somebody like Richard Francis, but this is a great improvised electronic record. Excellent head space music." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
www.aufabwegen.com
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| MAZUREK, ROB / EXPLODING STAR ORCHESTRA |
Dimensional Stardust |
LP |
Marfa TX-based multidisciplinary abstractivist Rob Mazurek has made an indelible impact on creative music over the past 30 years. Emerging from the musical nexus of the 1990s Chicago scene, he’s written more than 400 compositions and is featured on more than 70 recordings (including International Anthem’s very first, IARC0001, "Alternate Moon Cycles"). He’s led or co-led many ensembles – including the Chicago Underground (Duo, Trio, Quartet & Orchestra), Isotope 217 (alongside members of Tortoise), Pharoah and the Underground (feat. Pharoah Sanders), Alien Flower Sutra (with Emmett Kelly), São Paulo Underground (his primary working group across his time in Brazil), and a duo with Jeff Parker – each of which possesses its own distinct musical personality.
While Mazurek’s solo work as a musician expands from cornet, piano, and piccolo trumpet studies to embody musique concrete and electronic experimentation, his composition for large ensemble reveals an intuitive sense of scale. Commissioned by the Chicago Cultural Center and the Jazz Institute of Chicago in 2005 to assemble a group representing the diversity of the city’s contemporary avant-garde, Mazurek amassed a 14-piece ensemble and began composing music for what became his Exploding Star Orchestra (ESO). Including musicians from the often-segregated communities of Chicago’s North, South, and West sides – from his long-time collaborators in Tortoise’s expansive orbit, to Great Black Music luminaries from the hallowed AACM, to free jazz revivalists from the Umbrella Music group – ESO debuted in the urban epicenter of Chicago’s Millennium Park and, shortly after, went into John McEntire’s Soma Studios to record "We Are All From Somewhere Else" (Thrill Jockey, 2007). By the time of "Galactic Parables Vol. 1," ESO’s 2015 triple LP release on Cuneiform Records, Mazurek reflected to Pop Matters that "Exploding Star Orchestra is the conceptual, compositional and philosophical center of all my work... a life star of musical, visual and conceptual ideas."
In 2018, JazzFest Berlin curator Nadin Deventer invited Mazurek to present a new iteration of ESO with musicians based in Berlin as well as Chicago. Meeting the commission with the boundless ambition characteristic of his artistic approach, he imagined a jubilee of fifteen musicians and improvisers, true to ESO’s ethos in their widely diverse backgrounds and voices, but more tightly arranged around his intricate compositions than ever before. Summoning an array of symphonic studies – from Béla Bartók to Morton Feldman to Gil Evans to Sun Ra to Pedro Santos to Bill Dixon to The Art Ensemble of Chicago – in an ecstatic and wholly original program, Mazurek’s November 2018 debut at Berliner Festspiele marked a new pinnacle in his distinction as a composer and conductor of Contemporary Music. “Mazurek’s arrangements burst in colors, making synesthetes of us all,” wrote Paul Acquaro in a review of the concert for Free Jazz Collective.
When Mazurek returned to Chicago in Summer 2019, International Anthem took the opportunity to capture his new ESO compositions with a cast of collaborators from their collective constellation of artists. Over a handful of studio dates between August 2019 and March 2020, Mazurek channeled his arrangements through 11 musicians – Nicole Mitchell, Jeff Parker, Jaimie Branch, Joel Ross, Mikel Patrick Avery, Tomeka Reid, Chad Taylor, Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, Macie Stewart, Angelica Sanchez, and John Herndon – and commissioned his long-time lyrical collaborator Damon Locks to draft original texts for each of the titles and record vocal tracks. After three months of rigorous post-production, editing and assembly work, in June 2020 Mazurek completed his culminating new collection of ESO recordings: "Dimensional Stardust."
"Dimensional Stardust" showcases the intricacy and complexity of Mazurek’s compositions but in their most potent, most compacted forms. Opting to focus on tight ensemble orchestration over passages of open improvisation, Mazurek distills a maximal orchestra of explosive improvisers into a beautifully restrained, graceful group exercise in melodic minimalism. The album features almost no “soloist” moments, excepting Jeff Parker’s other-worldy guitar meltdown on “The Careening Prism Within,” and when Nicole Mitchell’s flute floats to the front of the barrage on “Sun Core Tet.” Mazurek himself is sparsely present as instrumentalist, only occasionally joining the ensemble with his piccolo trumpet (notably on “Parable 3000,” where he shares leads with Mitchell’s flute and Joel Ross’s vibraphone, and his trills and textures haunt ghostly around Jaimie Branch’s trumpet counterpoint). Even Damon Locks’s voice is employed more like an ensemble instrument than a lead vocalist. Locks’ distinctively dry, abstract narrative flow beams in intermittently – sounding almost like fragments of Deltron 3030 through an Orson Wells-style radio transmission – climaxing in the album-closing poetry of “Autumn Pleiades.” And all the way through, the electro-acoustic poly-rhythmic percussion section (Chad Taylor, Mikel Patrick Avery, and John Herndon) churns, thrusting the music forward as the harmonic instruments collectively bow between frenzied, futurist chromaticism and soaring, pan-humanist pentatonic anthems.
Somehow swirling the most adventurous elements of avant-garde jazz and contemporary classical into the most universal attractors of pop music, the cosmic opera of "Dimensional Stardust" is a pure spiritual extension of Exploding Star Orchestra’s unifying ethos, and a new peak in the prolific creative career of Rob Mazurek.
***"Dimensional Stardust" is the second album co-released by the North & South American partnership of International Anthem & Nonesuch Records, following Jeff Parker's early 2020 release, "Suite For Max Brown." International Anthem & Nonesuch Records are slated to co-release at least 6 titles over 3 years, details on future albums TBA. Outside of North and South America, these albums are marketed & distributed by K7 Records.***
Rob Mazurek - director, composer, piccolo trumpet, electronic renderings, modular synth
Damon Locks - voice, electronics, texts
Nicole Mitchell - flutes
Macie Stewart - violins
Tomeka Reid - cellos
Joel Ross - vibraphone
Jeff Parker - guitar
Jaimie Branch - trumpet
Angelica Sanchez - acoustic piano, electric piano
Ingebrigt Håker Flaten - bass
Chad Taylor - drums, percussion
Mikel Patrick Avery - drums, percussion
John Herndon - drum machines
https://intlanthem.bandcamp.com/album/dimensional-stardust
|
2020 |
€26.00 |
|
| MC PHERSON, DONALD & TETUZI AKIYAMA |
Vinegar & Rum |
CD |
"Originally released in 2006. Recorded in New Zealand in 2004, this is the duo recording of New Zealand guitarist Donald McPherson and Japanese guitarist Tetuzi Akiyama. A beautiful meeting of two virtuoso acoustic guitarists, both thoroughly schooled in the vast world of improvising. Donald McPherson, a native New Zealander, has released a number of extremely limited lathe-cut folk records. Tetuzi Akiyama is often associated with the improvising community in Tokyo generated around Tokyo's Off Site venue. But Tetuzi's sound owes just as much to the country blues guitarists of the '30s. His sound has taken the blues form into a new world of minimalist improvisations. His loose playing side-steps the usual clichés of the guitar in both the free improv and traditional folk scenes. Tetuzi has a varied number of very different projects from free improvisations, working with musicians across the globe, to hard minimalist electric blues boogies. Vinegar & Rum finds Tetuzi and Donald playing melodic folk improvisations that grow and morph into compositions that upon each listening uncover some new layer of beauty. Both playing on acoustic guitar, they have a level of communication and understanding that allows a musical connection to grow and blossom into a full-length recording of delicate melodic mayhem. The CD is limited to 1000 copies, with two extra tracks that do not appear on the vinyl version." [label info]
www.boweavilrecordings.com
|
2007 |
€15.00 |
|
| MCDOWALL, DREW |
Collapse |
LP |
"Drew McDowall’s back story reads like a primer of psychedelic fiction woven into statements of the unbelievable, superhuman and outright insane. Somewhere in the chaotic madness, comes an artist such as McDowall with total control and absolute calm within his songs and artistic method.
Growing up in the gangs of 1970’s Scotland, Drew McDowall started to shy away from the daily violence once punk took hold of the counterculture youth. Drew McDowall quickly scrambled to form his own punk band in 1978 with his then wife, Rose McDowall, called The Poems. Shortly lived, the Poems released a single and various tracks but more importantly, the band allowed McDowall to network with other local musicians in Glasgow, such as Orange Juice, and allowed him to travel down to London thus forming friendships with Genesis P-Orridge, David Tibet and countless others, bringing Drew into the fold of the experimental revolution happening in the UK brought upon by Throbbing Gristle and executed by bands such as Psychic TV and Current 93.
During the 1980’s, McDowall found himself in the ranks of P-Orridge’s Psychic TV and collaborating with the mysterious duo comprised of former Throbbing Gristle creator Peter ‘Sleazy’ Christopherson and the enigmatic John Balance who had been creating esoteric and progressive electronic music under the title of Coil. It was during his formative collaborations with Coil that McDowall saw himself shift from occasional contributor to austere full-time member of the arcane outfit. McDowall’s impact on the band’s sound was apparent as the releases transformed from their previous avant pop signature to a more complex and methodic electronic imprint accompanied by even more abstruse subject matter than previous years. McDowall would continue honing his compositional skills with Coil until the release of the band’s two most broad-minded albums, Astral Disaster and Musick to Play in the Dark.
The past decade, Drew McDowall found himself living in New York City and re-appropriating himself within the local music scenes he found himself contributing to. In 2011, alongside his friend and collaborator, Tres Warren (Psychic Ills), McDowall found himself exploring his passion of meditative drone and abstract sound patterns in their project Compound Eye. In recent times, McDowall’s production work has provided the music world with some of the most outstanding remixes for bands such as Nine Inch Nails, Azar Swan and Long Distance Poison as well as his well-received scores he composed alongside artist Tamaryn for the works of Bret Easton Ellis. Outside of his collaborative duties, McDowall formed an audience as a solo artist, playing countless performances and showcases around New York’s electronic music haunts.
Dais Records approached Drew to solidify his standing as a leading electronic musician with the recording of new material neatly wrapped up in his debut album entitled “Collapse”. Recorded in 2015 in Brooklyn, NY, McDowall’s synonymous modular synthesizer compositions are augmented by obtuse sampling cut-ups and contributions from Nicky Mao (Hiro Kone / Effi Briest) rounding out the lumbering sequential knot work that has become synonymous with McDowall and craft." [label info]
www.daisrecords.com
|
2015 |
€23.00 |
|
| MCFALL, CHRISTOPHER |
The Body as I left it |
CD |
"CD edition limited to 500 copies. This collection of works was assembled in 2009 and was composed using piano, a broken phonograph player, field recordings and sampled material. I think that this release embodies a certain diversity in terms of content because at the time I was recording these works I was experimenting with several different approaches to developing new compositions involving the use of a more melodic approach to things. Once the release was completed, I had several thoughts in reference to a title and the title 'The Body As I Left It' seemed the most appropriate to me given the circumstances that had occurred during the time of it's creation. (text by Christopher McFall) On this new series of recordings Christopher McFall enriches his personal urban ethnographic work with a palette of concrete musical materials and the sounds of failing playback equipment. This combination has yielded an album which succeeds in remaining a recognizable development in the work of this composer, while revealing a whole range of sensibilities which were previously not heard in his recordings. Once again Christopher has created a work of great subtlety which contains a sense of narrative while eluding any simple descriptives or conclusive understanding of its contents. (text by Asher Thal Nir)" [label info]
"Not much information on this new release by Christopher McFall. 'composed in Kansas City, MO 2008-9', 'untitled i-vii' and the title. Not even the website of Asher's label Sourdine is mentioned on the package. Let the music speak for itself. McFall has had already a bunch of releases on Gears Of Sand and Entr'acte, and also in the digital domain his work can be found. Up until now I believed his work was mainly based around the extensive use of field recordings and processing thereof. The empty land around Kansas City, the empty warehouses and silos, but here, perhaps for the first time, it seems that McFall also uses musical instruments, primarily, I think, piano sounds. These too are processed, and mingled with the field recordings and voice material. Its an interesting new phase McFall enters here. The overall musical touch brought to the table is gentle, quiet and altogether alters the music of McFall quite a bit. The sound is deepened, without losing its original focus. The musical elements are a great supplement to the field recordings, but perhaps that could also be said vice versa. An excellent work. This music indeed speaks for itself." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| MEAT BEAT MANIFESTO |
Ruok |
CD |
MEAT BEAT MANIFESTO is back! Vital, daring, powerful experimental dancefloor with BRAIN !
“ Visionary, Forefather, Innovator...these are terms that get thrown around all to loosely in the world of electronic music, but for certain individuals, these descriptions apply without question. Jack Dangers, the veteran composer and sound sculptor behind Meat Beat Manifesto, is one of these individuals. This, MBM's seventh album and first in 4 years, represents a healthy growth in the innovative Meat Beat sound. At first listen, the dense, dark layers of samples, breakbeats, and politically-charged vocals that were the hallmark of previous MBM releases are noticeably stripped down on R.U.O.K? The music was in part created in Danger's Bay area studio on a incredibly rare 1970's synthesizer unit called the EMS Synthi 100. R.U.O.K? collaborators include the turntablist-of-the-moment, Z-Trip, and ambient legend Alex Paterson of The Orb.” [press release]
Sub Rosa website: www.subrosa.net
|
2002 |
€13.50 |
|
| MEELKOP, ROEL |
5[zwischenfälle] |
CD |
"5(zwischenfaelle) is the latest release by dutch electronic musician ROEL MELLKOP. It is a special release in Meelkop’s catalogue because it is consist of five piece that were originally used in the context of sound installations running over a certain period of time in specific special surroundings. For 5(zwischenfaelle) Meelkop has set himself the task to compress these soundscapes into five dense and still minimal audio pieces that could work outside the context of the original installations. 5(zwischenfaelle) is focussed on single sound events and stark beautiful dynamic movements in a certain area of sound and does not have the bruitistic research-like feel of other solo works by Meelkop. 5(zwischenfaelle) makes for concentrated unpolished ultra minimal listening with maximum effect. For all friends of Bernhard Günter, Francisco Lopez, Joe Colley/Crawl Unit or Marc Behrens this is a definite work!
Roel Meelkop (Tegelen, NL, 1963) studied sculpture and painting at Academie van Beeldende Kunsten in Rotterdam, NL. He graduated in 1990 and in the years after that he concentrated mainly on painting. Five years later, he decided to expand his views on art and philosophy and applied for a postgraduate course at the same academy. He graduated from this course in 1997. By then, Meelkop had abandoned painting altogether in favour of working with sound. Before this he had already been working with THU20 on experimental sound collages and electronic music. This practice was extended and now includes sound installations and performances as well.
Nowadays, Meelkop regularly plays live performances around the world, either solo, or with one of the three musical projects he is involved with: THU20 (musique concrete), Kapotte Muziek (electro-acoustic music) or GOEM (electronic music). His solo music is a unique combination of the aforementioned styles. Besides his live activities, Meelkop has a long list of releases to show for his creativity and productivity in the studio. Another area of interest for Meelkop is sound in space. The relation between space and sound and the unique artistic possibilities this offers have urged him to create several installations, not only in exhibition spaces, but also in public spaces. Most of these installations are created specifically for the spaces that will hold them and are based on Meelkop’s impressions from these spaces. In most cases the work is not visual but auditory, thus expanding the existing space in a way that visual art will never achieve. Central issue in these installations is the experience of space and time at a specific place and time. Aside from his artistic activities, Meelkop is also active as organiser, curator and programmer of contemporary sound art and electronic music in Rotterdam, NL and as a reviewer for the email magazine Vital Weerkly." [label info]
"ROEL MEELKOP ist als Soundtüftler und inzwischen auch Kurator für zeitgenössische
elektronische Musik in Rotterdam nicht ohne
Vergangenheit in der niederländischen Szene.
Seit 1986 arbeitet er in dem Audio-Art-Kollektiv
THU 20, seit 1995 tritt er regelmäßgig mit Kapotte Muziek auf und veröffentlicht desweiteren seit 1997 mit Frans de Waard und Peter Duimelinks als GOEM sowie Arbeiten unter seinem Namen und seinem dubbigen minimalacid-
elektro Alter Ego slo-fi. Zu 5 (Zwischenfälle)
(AATP18, digipak ltd. 500) selbst ist zu
sagen, dass er hier Stücke aus spezifischen
Soundinstallationen aus dem Zeitraum 2005-
2006 überarbeitet und damit aus dem eigentlichen
Kontext gerissen hat. Allesamt unbetitelt,
werden 4 längere Tracks jeweils von einer
kleinen Präambel ein- und ausgeläutet. Das
räumliche Element fließt hier dennoch erfolgreich ein, durch Pausen wie auch durch überraschende Klangkontraste. Die Abstraktion
des eigentlichen Ausgangspunktes nimmt
fluchtartig zu, aber so, dass die Statik des Raumes nicht gefährdet wird. Verhallende Geräusche vielschichtig arrangiert, unerwartete
Klänge, undurchsichtige Hintergrund-lautmalereien. "Zwischenfälle" ist hier ein sehr gut gewählter Untertitel, da eine beruhigende Wirkung nicht von diesen Aufnahmen ausgeht." [cs / Bad Alchemy]
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| MEELKOP, ROEL & MECHA/ORGA |
Rotterdam 54:21 |
CD |
"This first collaboration between Roel Meelkop and Yiorgis Sakellariou consists of three pieces, two solos and one duet. Unusual and groundbreaking combination of modified field recordings and twisted sound of old analogue synths shows the distinct and personal approach to the electronic composition, shaped throughout the years of studio practice. Release date is 29th December 2012. Limited edition of 500 copies in jewelcase." [label info]
www.monochromevision.ru
"Roel Meelkop may not have been born in the city of Rotterdam, he's been there for more than half his life now, so he probably knows every in and out, and is a perfect guide for the city and the extended harbor. He toured the city, armed with a tape recorder and with Yiorgis Sakellariou, also known as Mecha/orga to tape the beauty and the ugliness of the big city. Afterwards they went down to Worm, Rotterdam's finest when it comes to staging experimental music, or more in particular to their in-door CEM studio (who moved since 1959 all over the country, Hilversum, Arnhem, Amsterdam and now Rotterdam), where we have some vintage synth modules. Here the sound was treated further and then stuck together as a collage of electronic music. Then it was played live a couple of times and ended up on a silver shiny disc. Thirty minutes together and then fifteen Meelkop solo and nine minutes Mecha/orga solo. Probably I am not the right person to shed any light on this release - too close involved and all that. But this is one damn fine release. The collaborative piece flows all into eachother with the solo ones. Whereas in the collaboration they use the collage form, setting field recordings aside from the electronics at one point, mixing and filtering them together at another point, making an intense, rich form of collage. In his solo piece, Meelkop seems to be concentrating on sustaining sounds from motorized objects, slowly filtering and fading several together, while Mecha/orga is more on the field recordings side of this matter, which is no doubt more his line of business. An excellent collaborative work and a story that will continue this year, not with the same line-up, but from these fruitful weeks in The Netherlands in April 2012." [FdW/Vital Weekly] |
2012 |
€12.00 |
|
| MEIRINO, FRANCISCO |
A New Instability |
LP |
"in 2019, the swiss power-acoustic musician francisco meirino presented 'a new instability' a commission for the venerable ina-grm in paris. of course, this institution is the pre-eminent center for the research and study of electro-acoustic music dating back to founding of groupe de recherches musicales in 1958 by pierre schaeffer. to this day, ina-grm continues to be at the vangarde of the electro-acoustic composition, and it is quite an accomplishment and very appropriate for meirino to receive such a commission.
this recording for 'a new instability' condenses the 32-channel original piece down to a still very active stereo version. here, meirino continues to amplify and refine his compositions that walk a fine tightrope between raw expressivity of brutalist noise and conceptual rigor of more academic pursuits. such a work ranks him in with the likes of zbigniew karkowski, dave phillips, puce mary, and illusion of safety.
field recordings from a martial arts dojo in his hometown of lausanne cast a pugilistic, combative arch to these recordings which snap, burst, explode, and erupt with utterances of men and women engaged in hand-to-hand combat. seering frequencies build, swarm, and amass out of these episodes rise to psychologically tense crescendo that rupture at their heights, quickly turning attention towards a violence that originates from within. it is as if the objective observations of those martial arts recordings are sublimated within a subjective experience of psychic unease, disquiet, and imbalance.
'a new instability' is another magnificent chapter in the ongoing body of work for this accomplished composer of electro-acoustic noise."
https://helenscarsdale.bandcamp.com/album/a-new-instability
|
2021 |
€18.50 |
|
| MEIRINO, FRANCISCO & KIKO C. ESSEIVA |
Focus on Nothing on Focus |
LP |
"A unique work stemming from a studio collaboration between Francisco Meirino and Kiko C. Esseiva. Using the same source material each artist composed one side of the LP. Assembled in 2012 and 2013 from hours of multitrackrecordings using reel-to-reel tape recorders, emf detectors, piezo transducers, analogue synths and various homemade sound objects. Discover, compare, enjoy the work of these two sound artists ! High Quality 180g Vinyl with excellent sound - not at least due to the cut done by Flo Kaufmann. Numbered edition of 300 copies." [label info]
www.aussenraumrecords.com
"Whether it’s relevant or not I don’t know, but immediately before listening to Focus on Nothing on Focus by Francisco Meirino and Kiko C. Esseiva in order to make notes for the final review, I watched a documentary about Joy Division. The record is a 12″ vinyl black void with a black label which you might think is a precursor to the abyssal darkness contained within. In fact after Joy Division’s bleak visions born of greyscale Manchester streets steeped in rain and the bedroom’s so cold, you turn away on your side, it was a relief to enjoy some movement, vibration and a surprising selection of fleeting semi-colours.
four men on a bridge
Assembled in 2012 and 2013 from hours of multitrack recordings as a duo, each artist was given one side of the record to present his individual composition using the original material as the building blocks. As the first release on Andreas Unterkircher’s Ausenraum label, the black and white cover picture of electrical equipment cut up and interrupted, repeated and sliced, slid out of place and readjusted, then partially contained within a perfect circle seems an apt metaphor for the processes etched into the grooves here.
she filled her time pushing the pram round Salford
There is an interesting YouTube video of Meirino and Esseiva playing together as a duo in an art gallery or something similar. They are set up against a side wall on a long table next to each other. Various people are seated in the white space, others walk in and out informally. Being able to see all this taking place, the physical approach of each artist is interesting and illuminating and offers some understanding into why each side of this LP sounds as it does.
tear us apart
Meirino stands bent over his black boxes of plugs and wires activating switches and summoning up raw electrical bleed and grime from the insides of these dark objects. He turns a torch on and off at intervals, and the completion and termination of the circuit is heard as a visceral thud. Essevia remains seated at his desk and, amongst other things, manipulates a tape recorder thoughtfully and subtly, reacting and operating within and against the bodily groundedness of the sputtering sound shrapnel exhibiting a concentrated intelligence and sense of purpose. Whether this performance formed part of the substrata from which this LP was carved I don’t know, but it is certainly an informative document.
it’s a picture of a tomb
For me all Meirino’s music seems to exist in a landscape with enhanced perspective and a very remote vanishing point: In other words the sounds are stretched out from incredibly distant thuds occurring below the horizon to crackles and clicks right up against the eardrum, as if generated inside the speakers themselves independently of anything else.
growling like a dog
Meirino places us on a ship negotiating a sea of fluctuating plasma. Creaks and groans from the rigging and the swell of undulating static gives way to scuttling creature in the hold. Early on a filament of light, a laser emission like a bowed violin note repeats a few times as a vestige of the sun’s benediction. Later, work of some secret nature takes place. Something rattles back and forth along rails as machines hum. Excited wings vibrate against the microphone and objects drop and roll across the hard floor. People talk, but the men’s voices are rudely cut off and are no more. A crescendo of metal and tooled desolation builds from nothing to form a rattling, prison riot cacophony then… suddenly we are in some dead pond where the water (or some other analogous fluid) carries sounds from afar. Unknown denizens of this inky pool signal to each other ever more frantically, again a crescendo… Nothing… Nothing… Nothing… Run-off groove…
Ian’s dead
Esseiva is an artist I have never heard before. Seemingly his compositional hand is more controlled than Meirino’s and the work focuses more closely on fewer competing strands. This approach yields a completely different experience, yet obviously both sides of the disc are united by their common provenance. Differences aside each promise is fulfilled in its singular entirety.
I came off the phone and went back to the table
Kiko C. Esseiva pledges breath and motors and grinding gears. A ribbon of steady sound unfolds and fades just once. This is a workshop in which the instruments that make this music are being built, and the very building of them is the music itself, and after they have finished playing, the dismantling of them is also the music itself. Sheets of steel and other substances are beaten in frantic rapidity. Tiny hammers pound. Insectoid nano-mosquitoes plague the workspace. Cut. Fibrillating electricity. Cut. A buffeted wire fence with mechanical animoids squeaking and chirruping in iron filing nests. Steel wool ruffles and frazzles. Cut. Dead air. A ball bearing rolls around an uneven plane causing other objects to become infectiously agitated and inexplicably animated. An organ plays itself, just once. Vibrating glass planes, jars, flasks and light bulbs. Cut… Near silence… Readjust to the tiny flecks of vinyl crackle not being part of the whole… And yet in a way they are… It all is… Run-off groove… Click… Click… Raise the needle.
unknown
pleasures" [Chris Whitehead / Sonicfield] |
2013 |
€16.00 |
|
| MEIZTER, K |
Travelling Light |
CD |
Solo-Album des B.S.E.-Mitglieds, der hier neue Wege einschlägt, wie immer bei HORUS in exquisiter Cover-Aufmachung.. "Auch wenn die erkleckliche Verbindung von Dark Ambient und Rhythmus keine Erfindung von K. MEIZTER ist, deuten Tracks wie Play It As It Lays in eine mir bisher unbekannte, aber recht interessante Dark Trip Hop Richtung und vielleicht ist ja auch der Titel Teil des Programms, dass man sich nicht um Genregrenzen scheren soll. Irgendwie wird hier das Kunststück zelebriert, dunkle Soundscapes mit Rhythmen zu versetzen, ohne diesen ihre düstere Spannung zu nehmen, denn die Befürchtung, Dark Ambient mit falsch eingesetzter Rhythmik zu verhunzen ist wohl nachvollziehbar. Stellenweise geht das Ganze dann sogar etwas in Richtung Industrial, wobei dies vor allem an den verwendeten Samples liegt und z.B. bei The Local Group nach einer guten Minute unterbunden wird, um wieder mehr loungetauglichen Klängen und Rhythmen Platz zu machen. Überhaupt hängt es auch auf diesem Album zum Großteil von den verwendeten Samples ab, in welche Richtung die Atmosphäre geht, wobei man hierzu sagen muss, dass ebenso wie Drumcomputer und Bass auch die Samples gut platziert eingesetzt worden sind. Travelling Light erschafft so ziemlich neuartige Klangkonstruktionen, die man sich eventuell ausmalen kann, wenn man sich ein Remix-Wars Album von GOLDFRAPP und HERBST9 vorstellt, bei dem der BRYN JONES der Baghdad -Ära auch irgendwie seine Finger im Spiel hatte. Travelling Light klingt genauso, nur eben ganz anders. Am besten anhören! Wegen seines außergewöhnlich ruhigen Charakters ist das schöne Some Battles On vielleicht nicht der repräsentativste Anspieltipp, also sollte man auch zumindest noch Honesty Through Paranoia sein Gehör leihen." [KMF]
"K. Meizter makes his solo debut with Travelling Light after five successful years in BEYOND SENSORY EXPERIENCE. Still lurking in the realms of dark ambient, K. Meizter now sets foot towards more experimental grounds focusing on melancholy melodies and twisted rhythms.
Travelling Light takes you on an intriguing journey through the Universe of Mind and comes
with elegant and thought-provoking artwork
presented in a special hand-numbered oversized booklet. The album has been mastered by
Mika Goedrijk (of This Morn’ Omina) at Atomic Studios and in some parts it would remind best times of this ritual group! References: Hybryds, 4th Sign of the Apocalypse, TMO." [label info]
www.horus.cz
|
2006 |
€15.00 |
|
| MELCHIOR, DAN |
All at Sea |
LP |
"We have been following Dan Melchior since the beginning with the Broken Revue, the collaboration with Billy Childish and the amazing project Dan Melchior und Das Menace. We are amazed by his own original and personal evolution from (let’s say) “orthodox” garage punk songwriter (and what a songwriter! Someone said one of the best in the US, but remember, he is british) to avant rock, experimental folk/blues and weird sounds.#The stuff he played changed with him, slowly affected by electronic music, Krautrock (like Can and Faust), avantgarde, concrete music… as well as a couple of the best Franco Battiatio’s works (“Fetus” and “Pollution”).#“All At Sea” consists of all these elements together: Dan wrote and built great songs never loosing his upset melodic streak BUT breaking down and decomposing the refrain, stretching and forcing the normal structure of a song, filling it with avant-solutions and experiments: “All At Sea” is the result.#10 songs able to keep you there – tied up – for 40 mins – in the dark.
https://soundcloud.com/nofirecordings/dan-melchior-what-happened-to-the-buffalo
|
2014 |
€14.00 |
|
| MELCHIOR, DAN & SIGTRYGGUR BERG SIGMARSSON |
Cod War Kids |
CD |
"This is the second collaboration of Sigmarsson and Melchior, following their 'Dark Arc' LP, reviewed in Vital Weekly 1146. I still have not much idea who Dan Melchior is, other than a guitarist. If there is a lot of guitars here is hard to say. Surely in a short piece like 'Wyno Ryder Forever' yes, but overall? I am not so convinced; it is not so important either, I would think, and both gentlemen do whatever
they want to do, using whatever apparatus (hard and software, instruments, sounds etc.), they find suitable and do a great job, once again, in creating some beautiful weird music. This is music that is sort of genre-defying. There are some great creepy bits, playing on an organ, in 'Blind Curtains & Curious Eyes', along with singing/humming/sighing/screaming, there are field recordings of a rather hard to define nature, there is surely some heavily obscured laptop doodling going (like on Sigmarsson's previous solo release, see Vital Weekly 1169) but there is also the aforementioned guitar piece, which complete with vocals (no words) and rhythm is almost like a proper song. I am
strongly reminded here of Nurse With Wound, but perhaps that is something that can be said of all the six pieces here. These two gentlemen share the eclecticism of the nurses; it is any music that you care to make, thrown together and it still sounds pretty coherent. The overall quality of the pieces is a bit dark, I thought, especially in their use of voices, which is the sort of unearthly humming; a drunken monk or a Middle-earth creature? Your guess is as good as mine. Sounds are provided by Helgi Porsson ('spooky synth sounds') and Frans de Waard (oh) and Tom Smith ("additional sounds"; I wish I could say what it is; I should know, don't you think?) and it's a great release (not because of those additional sounds; I was at conclusion before I reached the track in which they are used). It is experimental, dark, funny and solid. The fun is mainly in their strange
titles (another NWW influence?), such as 'This Is The Scene Where Siggy And Dan Receive Their
Prophecies From The Witches". This is an excellent place to start exploring the sound world of Sigmarsson and from there go to his solo work." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| MELT FAMAS |
Serial Weather |
10inch |
"MUSIKZIMMER LABEL:
The label Musikzimmer is based in Aarau (Switzerland) and Berlin. It was born with the idea of giving birth to music not only in a ethereal way. We want to materialise what we like. We want to produce, to touch and to spread it.
It all started 21 years ago with one of the first „independent“ exhibition spaces in Switzerland, the Kunstraum Aarau. Since approximately 7 years we focus on soundart and sound related site specific interventions. And because not every manifestation finds its form in a frame work of an exhibition, we started to organise concerts and offer now a stage without stairs to concertant situations. To can those situations as long as possible we decided to cut them into vinyl.
MELT FAMAS – serial weather is the first conserved situation. It will be followed by a 10“ of chained melodies by RM74. The concept is simple. 10 inch, 1 cover version and the cover sleeve is designed by an artist who does not play on but maybe with the record.
MELT FAMAS:
When the movement of a terrestrial object around a static point is repetitive, we talk about oscillation...When two people oscillate around several electric devices according to a nearly repetitive movement, we talk about rock‘n‘roll. At Melt Famas, during the supper, we talk about oscillations, aquatic rock‘n‘roll. Dessert comes when the table has already been cleared.
In the living room, guitar screams exhort to indiscipline, and voices invite to the reconstruction of a new order. At Melt Famas‘, codes are made for others. According to the stars position, the degree of gravity and the level of caffein of the last tea, sounds meet under the fingers until dizzyness spreads, and invite us to an immobile trance. Fred Billet and Nicolas Magot, or l‘invitation au voyage with a one way ticket.
FRED BIGOT: (aka Electronicat)
The root of Fred Bigot‘s music is in guitar. The way he makes music is all related to the way he plays guitar, including imperfections, lo-fi sound, noise, melody and the practice of improvisation.
The distorted but melodic guitar, the unquantised rhythms, the delay-heavy vocals and the buzzing rumbling 808 bass drum all became characteristic features of the Electronicat sound. His songs encompassed an array of influences in all respects - particularly glam rock, psychedelia, 60s garage rockabilly and experimental electronic music - and took it further making electronic music sound more rock n roll and vice versa.
To date he has released numerous albums and singles on international labels (Holy Mountain, Onitor, Disko b, Optical Sound, Ldrr). He has produced tracks for pour Beans, Miss le Bomb, Marina Ribatski (ex- Bondo de Role), remixes for Depeche Mode, Numbers, Bretzel Göring. Fred played all around the world alongside with artists such as Felix Kubin, Stereolab, Adult. He has collaborated with numerous artists and musicians, building up an impressive resume that includes projects with musicians J.G Thirwell, Gerhard Potuznik, Khan and contemporary artists Nicolas Moulin, Anu Pennanen and Pauline Curnier-Jardin.
NICOLAS MALLET:
After having visited experimental and post-punk music, Nicolas Mallet turned into Nicolas Metall. Melodies in minor chords, Bach is never far. Keyboards, guitars and rhythms. He plays with Fred Bigot (Electronicat) in Melt Famas, with Marie Germinal in a rock-post punk style, he has organised events and works with artists and dancers (Nicolas Moulin, Marie Reinert, Olivier Dohin, Grégoire & Elise Charbey, Clémentine Roy). His most recent Release „ Growing Ideas Of Falling Generations“ is a Double Vinyl on Nicolas Moulin Label „Grautag Records“.
„Growing Ideas Of Falling Generations, as the first double LP of Nicolas Metall, has to be heard as the psychoanalysis of the Space Odyssey computer HAL 9000. Electronic-wave music to dance on a russianÕs suburb discotheque dancefloor or to listen to by staring at the sunset , The 2nd release of the berlin-based label Grautag records“ (Grautag Records)" [label info]
www.musikzimmeraarau.ch
|
2011 |
€12.00 |
|
| MELVILLE |
17 TV Themes |
do-CD |
“2 x 17 masterpieces as a soundtrack for the cinema in your head and beyond: The hammering automatic rhythm of an Elka organ introduces us to Melville's film-music masterpiece, slowly moody echo-laden guitar lines, spooky keyboard chords, honey sweet theremin-sequences and lascivious female voices add to a "Blues noir", melodic and harmonic fireworks of references build up and make clear where we are. The cineastic escapades of the 50s and 60s and their heroes salute you: Alain Delon, Brigitte Bardot, Jean Paul Belmondo, Lino Ventura, Gina Lollobrigida, Sophia Loren, Michel Serrault… all these stars are cast for this sparkling masterpiece on celluloid, which is neither B-movie nor blockbuster, but rather builds up to something new each time you listen to its soundtrack. Melville sets straight limitations to his genre, but he gives his listeners the freedom to choose: What used to be a horror movie in the vein of Dario Argento yesterday might be the diary of a psycho killer in the 50s in moving pictures. Melville produces soundtracks, soundtracks for the cinema in your head. He invites each listener to direct his own movies, to trip on Melville's soundwaves depending on what mood you are in. While film connoisseurs will be thrilled and find clear cineastic references, the living room of the average listener will suddenly smell of gun powder and lead while a francophile gangster blonde will aspirate erotic confessions.
The second CD of the album is an image of the first one. It contains the exact order of tunes as the first CD but interpreted and remade by artists chosen by Melville. These artists come from all musical genres, ranging from earthy blues to avant-garde electronics and metal: The (ethno-)pop-project Binder&Krieglstein from Graz follows the Viennese avantgarde composer Jürgen Hofbauer, Reflector's doom laden metal stands next to Peter Plessas' innovative electronics, "New York-certified" theremin godess Dorith Chrysler and some acts from the avant-garde label "tonto", blues guitarist Christian Masser is followed by the minimal electronic freak marufura fufunjiru and Mego-darling Dr. Nachtstrom. An opulent array of innovative artists which clearly appreciate the genius and the brilliancy of the original.” [Soul Seduction]
|
2005 |
€16.00 |
|
| MENCHE, DANIEL |
Jugularis |
CD |
Die JUGULARIS-Venen sind zwei Adern im Halsbereich, die bis in den Schädel laufen... und klingt nach tiefgestimmten Trommeln & Becken-Kaskaden und hellen Gläser- & Glocken-Pulsationen, wobei das Ganze irgendwann eine ritualistisch-schamanistische Komponente bekommt, als wenn sich die Sounds in Stammestrommeln & Grillenzirpen verwandeln, und sich alles in hypnotischen Klangblöcken auflöst...
Great stuff again vom Power-Drone Magier !!
"Imagine yourself riding on cells coasting through your body's veins. The sound of the heart grows stronger like a beating drum as you're pulled closer. Suddenly, you're embraced by this giant pulsating muscle and when you're finally released back into the veins you can hear it's sound fading slowly, but still growling with the same intensity that it has beat with for eternity. Jugularis is the soundtrack to this ride and like your heart it's packaged in blood: the ultimate symbol of life and intensity. Recently Daniel Menche has embraced more percussion based sound to create music that manipulates the listeners blood flow and intensifies the listening experience. Jugularis still contains a distinctly Menche sound yet being that it's intensely rhythm and percussion based it's extremely different from anything that he has created prior. Never before has Daniel Menche's mantra of "If Music is like blood then make the speakers bleed" been so appropriate." [press release]
www.importantrecords.com
|
2006 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Scattered Remains:Early Remixes |
do-CD |
Zusammenstellung von frühen & raren Material, meist von nicht mehr erhältlichen Compilations, alles von 1994-1999. Der oft noch eher „noisige“, rauhe, mit mehr konkretem Touch arbeitende MENCHE.... Nice priced, alles re-mastered!
“Keeping track of the musical output of Daniel Menche has never been easy. Besides his numerous albums and singles, released by an
eclectic range of labels, he has contributed countless tracks to compilations, many of which reached only the smallest of audiences.
Scattered Remains tracks his progress from 1995 through 1999, collecting the best of these pieces, now fully remastered, onto two full-length CDs. With the passing of time it has become nearly impossible to find many the original releases these tracks came on,
making this rarities collection a must have for long-time fans and new converts alike. Besides the material culled from CD compilations, three tracks previously only available on vinyl appear in digital form for the first time ever. The list of labels involved reads like a who’s who of cutting edge music in the 90s: Banned Productions, Ash International, 23five, Noise Museum, Self Abuse, Isomorphic, KAON, Shirocoal, Suterfuge, G.M.B.H. and of course, Soleilmoon. Best of all, it’s a great value: Two CDs for the price of one. What’s
not to love?” [press release]
|
2005 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Guts |
do-LP |
"More voraciously bestial soundwork coming from Daniel Menche -- this time, his chosen theme is the piano, in which he attacks, investigates and dissects with the precision of an autopsy surgeon, adding a whole new meaning to the concept of prepared piano, or should we say, unprepared piano, for an all-out assault. Guts lays out quite possibly some of the finest slabs of Menchian sonic mayhem to date. Slightly different track sequence over CD and vinyl formats due to time constraints. Mastered in the analog domain at Stereophonic Mastering, Portland Oregon. X-rays from a Chihuahua dog named Arrow." [label info]
www.editionsmego.com
"Ohne wirklich ermessen zu können, wie hier der Einfluss nachträglicher Manipulation am Rechner aussieht: Menches Arbeit an den Eingeweiden eines Pianos präsentiert sich auf erhellende Weise komplett anders als die Reinhold Friedls. Menche hat sich schon immer in einer dynamischen Traverse bewegt, die Ambient und Noise in eins setzt, in der Intensität in lineare Verbindung mit “Volume” tritt. So wild-martialisch wie Titel und offizielle Beschreibung klingen, geht es hier nämlich gar nicht zu. Stattdessen scheinen Menches rohe Fieldrecordings (auf Soundcloud) von Wetterphänomenen, Stürmen und Regen, Wind in Wäldern, in den vier vinylseitenlangen Tracks (der letzte auf CD gekürzt und vorangestellt) durch: in unmerklich morphenden Prasseltexturen (Two), mal mit subtil-verblüffender Saitenresonanz (Three), immer busy, groß und raumgreifend, davor mit sirrendem Bohrgeräusch, das zu einem flackernd-schepperstotternden Schiffsbauch mutiert, die am elektronischsten wirkende Arbeit (One), um schließlich durch die Hintertür (Four bzw. 2×4) doch noch bei Friedls schabender Metallverdauung anzukommen, ohne je dessen Fingernagel-auf-Tafel-Effekt anzustoßen. Entspannend!" [Multipara/de:bug]
"Daniel Menche? Mensch, ja, DANIEL MENCHE, lange nicht gehört. Was fast ein
Kunststück war, angesichts seiner Kollaborationen mit A. Liles, Z. Karkowski
und A. Courtis und kontinuierlichen Releases auf Blossoming Noise, Important,
Sub Rosa, Utech etc. Guts (eMEGO 138) bringt wieder essentiellen Menche-
Stoff. Das Überraschende ist hier aber doch die Klangquelle - ein Piano, genauer,
die Eingeweide eines Pianos. In vier ausgedehnten Variationen wühlt der
Mann aus Portland in den drahtigen Innereien des Lieblingsspielzeugs der Lang
Langs, Jarretts und all der anderen Edelfinger und Tastensimpel. Hier klingt das
Piano, mit Schlägen und allen möglichen Handgriffen, Blechdeckeln und Präparationen
traktiert und zudem motorisch aufgewühlt, wie ein geknüppelter,
flatternd federnder Drahtverhau, wie von einem Steinschlag mitgerissen, wie
ein nicht enden wollendes Erdbeben oder ein anschwellender Sturm. Allenfalls
bei legendären Fluxusattacken oder bei Charlemagne Palestine hat ein Piano je
so ähnlich gescheppert und mit den Zähnen geklappert, so ähnlich, aber nicht
so. Sehr passend ist die Scheibe verpackt in Röntgenaufnahmen eines Hundes.
Menche seziert das Piano nicht bloß, er scheint in seine molekulare Beschaffenheit
einzudringen, es nicht bloß zu schreddern, vielmehr es bis aufs letzte
Fitzelchen zu pulverisieren. Wie ein Alchimist scheint er in allem, was er so
auspresst, den Lebenssaft zu suchen, den Geist, die Kraft im Innersten des
Stoffes. Das Doppelalbum enthält die vollständige Fassung, der CD fehlen 8:20." [Bad Alchemy]
|
2012 |
€20.00 |
|
| MENCHE, DANIEL & MAMIFFER |
Crater |
CD |
"There are profound forces that enmesh the minds, bodies, and souls of these venerable artists. Mamiffer unfurls darkened hymns and sprawled abstractions authored by Faith Coloccia in partnership with Aaron Turner. Daniel Menche stands as a stalwart noise technician of many years, with his blood and sweat permeating all of his adrenaline fueled recordings and performances. Collectively, they design sound to slip between the formally defined practices of metal, noise, song, and drone, offering a phenomenological essentialism that amplifies and exaggerates the earthly ele- ments of water, moss, soil, and fire. This can be a sonic transubstantiation of field recordings and in situ object documents from Coloccia and Turner’s home on Vashon Island, Washington; and this can be the aestheticized forms of mythic poetry cast through austere melodies for guitar, piano, electronics, and plainsong chant.
The communal production took four years to develop with a few performances that spilled forth. Menche, for one, abhors the notion of collaboration, preferring to qualify this as a documentation of their friendship. “’Collaboration” sounds so... business like or formal or something of a technical term. We’re just friends making acoustic sounds together and recording nature with our hikes together. Then we eat pizza and laugh.” This relational intimacy and interpersonal development brings an understanding of each other’s strengths, and from that understanding, the conviction to extract out the very best that each has to offer. From Menche’s perspective, Coloccia projects a nearly religious capacity for harmony and melody; Turner has grace and fury in his DNA;
And Menche quips about his own work: "I’m a chainsaw artist making those touristy statues of grizzly bears but instead of wood I’m using sound.” Ellipses of guitars and piano sparsely populate this album. Upon appearance, these forms are progressively dissolved into a dislocation of machined noise and wintry drone, abraded with the tactility of stone and iron. It can become difficult to determine where the province of negation ends (e.g. emptying the musical structure as a simulacrum of the sublime) and that of accretion begins (e.g. layer upon layer of noise, pressure, and volume to feed a collapse). In this liminal iceblink, the work of Mamiffer and Menche is resoundingly heroic, tragic, haunted, cold, and beautiful. To Menche, though, “this is a very humble recording. When we’re old and grey and come across this in a old dusty box, we’ll have a warm smile. Maybe we’ll play it on our death bed?!?!" [label info]
sige.bigcartel.com
"Daniel Menche, Faith Coloccia, and Aaron Turner have been close friends for quite a long time now, with this album emerging as the first fruits from their communed relationship. And as collaborative projects go, Crater is a superb document showcasing how each of these equally talented folks in disparate facets of the dark arts (noise for Menche, hallowed / haunted plainsong for Coloccia, and heroic riffage from Turner) can work so effortlessly and gracefully. Glacial harmonic drones expand from field recordings, church organs, abraded stone & steel, and guitars only to be disrupted by heavily hammered piano melodies that in turn are gristlized by the collective noise strategies, machines, and snowstorms. Alternately, meditative and explosive, imposing and rapturous. Brilliant through and through." [Aquarius Records]
|
2015 |
€16.00 |
|
| MENCHE, DANIEL / WILLIAM FOWLER COLLINS |
Raised Coils of the Giant Serpent of Eternity / I Heard only the Eternal Storm |
LP |
" “I traversed the worlds, I ascended into the suns, and soared with the Milky Ways through the wastes of heaven; but there is no God. I descended to the last reaches of the shadows of Being, and I looked into the chasm and cried: ‘Father, where art thou?’ But I heard only the eternal storm ruled by none, and the shimmering rainbow of essence stood without sun to create it, trickling above the abyss.” So declares Christ in the opening section of Jean Paul’s 1796 text “Speech of the Dead Christ”. The text served as inspiration for the music presented on this split album by Daniel Menche and William Fowler Collins, and in the instance of the above quote, also functions as an apt description for it - immense, harrowing, and numinous. Like the procession of images conjured in Jean Paul’s twisting passages, the sounds made by Collins and Menche unfurl in a trail of drifting shadow punctuated by convulsive spasms of light.
Opening the album with a harmonious set of gently spiraling tones, Daniel Menche’s piece “Raised Coils of the Giant Serpent of Eternity” offers only this brief moment of serenity before a headlong dive into a cacophonous abyss of darker dimensions. Suspended in pools of liquid bass, layers of molten brass hover, dissolve and reappear. Pitches rise and fall, intersecting for brief periods of melodic convergence before crumbling again into heaving slabs of rumbling dissonance. Closing out the piece a low and solemn tone emerges from the roar of Menche’s spectral orchestra, seeming less like resolve, than the final flickering breath of a dying star.
Conversely, William Fowler Collins’ offering on the second side remains in a state of subdued tension for much of its duration. Primarily constructed around the emanations of decayed strings, these glimmering filaments seem in perpetual retreat from comfortable stasis or momentous upheaval. Swaying over a backdrop of inky black, disharmonious clusters gradually pile one over the other, pulling apart and recombining, eventually forming a jagged and unsettling crest. From here bilious clouds of humming static overtake the disintegrating strings, appearing long enough to set the stage for the conclusion of the narrative. Much like the opening Menche’s piece on the reverse side, Collins’ gently cascading sheaves of brushed guitar that close out the album serve as a small enclave of comfort in the otherwise lightless caverns through which he and Menche have driven the listener." [label info]
sigerecords.blogspot.de
|
2014 |
€21.50 |
|
| MENS, RADBOUD & MATTHIJS KOUW |
3/4 |
do-CD |
On October 22, 2018, ERS Records released ‘3/4’ – a double CD featuring new work of Radboud Mens and Matthijs Kouw. On their new album, Mens and Kouw use a 12-meter magnetic string instrument and a modular synthesizer to create 6 carefully tuned pieces. With a total playing time of over 2 hours, ‘3/4’ continues the long-form drone explorations first released on the LP ‘1’ on Moving Furniture Records in February 2017. ‘3/4’ was recorded live in the studio in February 2016 and is released in a limited edition of 300 and packaged in a 3-panel carton sleeve.
In its use of specific tunings and the long string instrument to create long-form drone compositions, ‘3/4’ continues and pays homage to the work of American minimalists Ellen Fullman, La Monte Young, and Alvin Lucier. Within the constraint of a tuning in a specific key, each track on ‘3/4’ immerses the listener in frequencies that change very gradually. Starting with a deep hum with warm frequencies, the pieces gradually build up to a collage of textures and frequencies that are carefully moving in and out of the drone. Each track slowly reveals different sides and details of a sonic sculpture and brings about a loss of the awareness of time. In this rich tapestry of drones, nothing much seems to happen to the careless listener. However, an attentive ear will reveal a complex variety of resonances, phase-differences and emergent sonic artefacts.
https://clinamen.bandcamp.com/album/3-4 |
2018 |
€15.00 |
|
| MENTER, WILL |
Always Sound |
BOOK / 3 x CD |
200pp Book with
3 Audio CDs.
ALWAYS SOUND
A 200 page book of photographs, texts and documents, including three CDs, drawn from the soundworks, but recomposed as three related but internally coherent compositions.
WILL MENTER
A contemporary of Richard Long and Andy Goldsworthy, Menter is one of a handful of sound artists with strong links to the land art movement. Now best known for installations that explore the untransformed sounds of natural materials, wood, slate, water, ceramics, stone and air, he also collaborates regularly on cross-platform projects with dancers Aurore Gruel and Mure Natale, and ceramicist Jane Norbury - with whom he has developed many of his sound sculptures and performances since 2000.
He came to this work in steps: between 1975 and the early ‘80s, he was a driving force behind the Bristol Musicians’ Co-operative, investigating novel approaches to improvisation and varieties of multimedia collaboration; within a decade, his work had extrapolated to the point at which his music and sculpture had become inextricably entwined. Intermediate projects included Cân Y Graig (Slate Voices) which explored the world of slate, and the quarries of North Wales (also featuring the first extensive use of his slate marimbas); and Strong Winds and Soft Earth Landings for which he worked with a group of Zimbabwean artists, extrapolating the sounds and principles of the mbira.
In 1998 he relocated to France, where he still lives and works.
Between 2000 and 2003 he released a series of four solo CDs, mixing the sounds of his sculptures with environmental recordings and musical performances; his fifth CD, Song Sculptures (2004) was a suite of songs written for Sianed Jones, arranged for eight sculptures, percussion and contrabass; and a sixth accompanied his book, Bits of Wood, published in 2007.
“The book part of Always Sound brings together my work of the last ten years in a way that examines the unifying ideas and motivating forces as well as the nuts and bolts of individual projects and installations. The accompanying CDs have been assembled from in situ recordings of my installations and sculptures, musical performances, studio edits of live recordings and the sounds of nature. Each is realised as an integrated whole in which the sequence of pieces is as important as the content of each individual piece, and each has an elemental theme: CD1 - Land Sea Air; CD2 - Night Day and CD3 - Gravity Breath. Working across different art forms has come naturally to me and I don’t see it as a big thing. Nevertheless, I do sometimes forget how habit- and discipline-based our appreciation of art is. Without thinking about it, we listen to music and natural sounds differently, finding them beautiful in different ways. But sometimes it’s interesting to listen to music as if it were natural sound and natural sound as if it were music. We can find and then feed different areas of ourselves that way, if we have the patience”.
[label info]
www.rermegacorp.com
|
2013 |
€30.00 |
|
| MENUCK, EFRIM MANUEL |
Pissing Stars |
LP |
"Constellation Records beginnt das Jahr 2018 mit dem zweiten Soloalbum des GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR und THEE SILVER MT. ZION Gründers EFRIM MANUEL MENUCK. „Pissing Stars“ ist der großartig intensive Nachfolger von „Plays High Gospel“ und das erste neue Material mit EFRIM als zentralem Songwriter und Sänger seit „Fuck Off Get Free We Pout Light On Everything“ seiner Chamber-Punk Band THEE SILVER MT. ZION von 2014. MENUCK genießt unter den Fans politischen Punks, Post-Rock und Avant-Noise-Anhängern Kultstatus und feiert mit „Pissing Stars“ ein Vierteljahrhundert musikalischen Ausdrucks ohne Kompromisse. Auf „Pissing Stars“ verschleudert MENUCK Giftpfeile, leidenschaftliche Salven und zerbrechliche Blüten und formt das Ganze zu noiselastigen Songs, die sich um maximalistische Electronics und Drones ranken, die von Synthie oder Gitarre umgesetzt und von klagendem, oft verfremdeten Gesang durchzogen werden. Das passende Narrativ kann nur jemand wie MENUCK liefern: „‘Pissing Stars‘ gründet sich auf die kurze Affäre der amerikanischen TV-Moderatorin Mary Hart mit Mohammed Khashoggy, dem Sohn eines saudischen Waffenhändlers. Ich weiß nicht, wie lange sie zusammen waren, ich erinnere mich daran, wie ich als verzweifelter Teenager darüber las. Ich wohnte zusammen mit zwei anderen verwahrlosten Kids und einem Haufen wilder Kätzchen in einem überfluteten Keller und hatte nichts zu essen. Diese seltsame Union – die blonde Frau aus dem Fernsehen und der reiche Saudi-Sohn mit seinem mörderischen Vater – blieb bei mir und beschäftigte mich drei Jahrzehnte lang. Diese Sprösslinge aus Tod und Selbstentfremdung – und Liebe. Dieses Album beschäftigt sich mit dem Ende ihrer Beziehung und der Art und Weise, wie bestimmte eigensinnige Lichter einfach weiterleuchten. Das Album wurde in den dunklen Ecken zwischen 2016 und 2017 aufgenommen, in verschiedenen Stadien der Ungemütlichkeit, mit einem porösen Herzen und einer klaren Mission. So, als würde man mit zwei Messern in den Händen auf einen Abgrund zulaufen und manisch lachen. Besiegt und voller Freude zugleich. Hier geht es um das Ende der Liebe und den Anfang der Liebe. Um das Ende des Staates und wie wir alle darunter gefangen sind."
This is an audiophile 180gram pressing in midnight ultra-black vinyl from Optimal (Germany) that comes in a 350gsm jacket with printed inner dust sleeve and 12"x19" art poster, all printed on uncoated matte papers and boards, all artwork by Menuc
efrimmanuelmenuck.bandcamp.com/album/pissing-stars
PISSING STARS is inspired by the brief romance of american television presenter MARY HART and MOHAMMED KHASHOGGI, the son of a saudi arms dealer. i don’t know how long their union endured, but i remember reading about them when i was a desperate teenager – there was something about their pairing that got caught in my head. i was living in a flooded basement with two other lost kids and a litter of feral kittens. we were all unfed. this strange intersection – the televisual blonde and the rich saudi kid with the murderous father; it got stuck in me like a mystery, like an illumination- this vulgar pairing that was also love. these privileged scions of death and self-alienation, but also love. i’ve carried it in me for 3 decades now, this obscure memory, and i return to it often, tracing its edges like a worn talisman. this record is about the dissolution of their relationship, and the way that certain stubborn lights endure. this record was made in dark corners between 2016 and 2017. a very rough pair of years, shot thru with fatigue, depression, despair, and too many cigarettes and too much booze. but also = the giddiness of enervation, and the strange liberation of being emptied – borne aloft and carried by the drift. the world continues its eternal collapsing, fires everywhere and everything drained of meaning. this record was made in various states of unease, with a brittle heart and a clear intent. like running towards a cliff with 2 swinging knives, roaring with an idiot grin. overcome and overjoyed. this record is about the end of love and the beginning of love. this record is about the dissolution of the state, and all of us trapped beneath, and the way that certain stubborn lights endure. – ExMxMx
|
2018 |
€23.00 |
|
| |
High Gospel |
LP + CD |
180g Vinyl inklusive CD + limited edition Poster! EFRIM MANUEL MENUCK ist am besten als Mitbegründer von GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR, als Mastermind der Kammerpunk Gruppe THEE SILVER MT. ZION und als Mitglied der VIC CHESNUTT BAND bekannt. Mit dieser Band hat er insgesamt 13 Alben aufgenommen. Dazu hat er das Montrealer Hotel2Tango Studio mitgegründet und mit so verschiedenen Künstlern wie BRITISH SEA POWER, CARLA BOZULICH'S EVANGELISTA, WOLF PARADE und GRANT HART gearbeitet. Fans von MENUCK kennen sich mit seinem höchst eigenständigen und ständig weiter entwickelnden Zugang zur elektrischen Gitarre aus - eine einzigartige Kombination aus kurzen und langen Analogdelays, krasser Kompression und Wolken aus Pink Noise Verzerrung. Entstanden sind die Songs in den letzten anderthalb Jahren und lassen einen tiefen Blick zu in die Seele des Mannes, der nie versucht hat, persönliches, privates Leben von künstlerischer Äußerung zu trennen. Tief beeinflusst von den Emotionen, die ihn während und nach der Geburt seines Sohnes Ezra begleitet haben und geprägt von seiner Liebe zu Jessica Moss (die bei ASMZ auch Violine spielt) pendeln die Stücke zwischen experimenteller Klangentdeckung und Verneigung vor Melodien hin und her. Ein wunderbares Album! 180g Vinyl includes limited edition poster + CD Efrim
Manuel Menuck is best known as co-founder of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, leader of agit-chamber-punk group Thee Silver Mt. Zion, and member of the Vic Chesnutt Band (2007-2009); he has a combined thirteen albums under his belt with these three groups. He is also co-founder of Montreal's Hotel2Tango recording studio, with dozens of recording, arranging and guest playing credits to his name, for a list of artists as diverse as British Sea Power, Carla Bozulich's Evangelista, Wolf Parade and Grant Hart. Fans of Menuck will be well versed in his highly original and constantly evolving approach to the sound of the electric guitar - a unique combination of short and long analog delays, biting compression and blown-out clouds of pink noise distortion. His recasting of various folkways through the lens of uncompromising punk-rock is also well-documented in the discography of Thee Silver Mt. Zion, with that band's use of poetically political group singing set against a hybrid of damaged blues, waltz, klezmer and folk instrumental tropes. Perhaps less appreciated is Menuck's work as an inventive signal-bender and soundsculptor, with an overriding commitment to analog processing, tape manipulations, reamping and other iterative strategies. Efrim's aesthetic and techniques remain about as diametrically opposite to the dominant Pro-Tools and DSP culture as it gets for someone working in contemporary multi-tracked rock composition and production.
https://efrimmanuelmenuck.bandcamp.com/album/plays-high-gospel
|
2011 |
€23.50 |
|
| MERRELL, TODD / AIDAN BAKER / PATRICK JORDAN |
Nagual |
CD |
Verzaubernde Rausch-Drones und subtile Gitarren-Loops und Tupfer, ganz zart & betörend sensibel ist dieses Trio bei einer Aufnahme in HARTFORD, CT vorgegangen, die Teilnahme AIDAN BAKERs (NADJA) ist unüberhörbar. 600 Stück wurden aufgelegt und mit dem besonderen ARCHIVE-Artwork von SELDON HUNT ausgestattet.
"long playing ambient dronescape focusing the combined efforts of Todd Merrell on shortwave radio and electronics, Patrick Jordan on shortwave radio and processing and Aidan Baker (Nadja) on guitar. Recorded live in 04 in Hartford. Comes packed in heavy stock center open sleeve with environmental mirror image landscape artwork courtesy of Seldon Hunt. Pressing of 600 copies." [label info]
"... This live set finds Baker handling guitar duties, but you’d never know it from the sound, augmented by short wave radios, electronics, and various bits of processing, the sound here is deep and dark, a crumbling and epic expanse of rumbling shimmering low end. Roiling clouds of murky melodic fragments, distant swells, throbbing low end pulses, barely audible bits of static and washed out glitch. Very cinematic, if you were watching a film that was almost entirely dark, with just barely visible shifts in the various shades of black and grey. Lovely though, minimal and haunting. Think Coleclough, Chalk, Lustmord, that sort of ambient darkness.
But the second track is an entirely different beast. Simple guitar strums, minimal melodies, the strings struck softly, the metallic buzz and clang ringing out into the ether, some sort of underwater slow motion Fahey, smeared and soft and dark and dreamy.
The final half of the track, the guitar disappears completely, leaving streaks of feedback that sound like the cries of gulls, grinding slow motion slabs of shifting low end, whirling windlike whirs, almost like a manufactured nature recording.
The guitar returns for the third track, drifting gently, while the background noise builds into a slow motion wash of sound, the track culminating in a cloud of chimes and reverbed percussion, seasick swirls and struck steel strings, before slipping languidly into the final track, a lugubrious underwater crawl, all of the sounds muddy and indistinct, a sonar like ping buried way down in the mix, underneath it all a thick blanket of constant whirring drones, quite lovely.
Packaged in one of those cool, 6 panel, gatefold aRCHIVE
sleeves, glossy paper, super striking image of forest and clouds,
LIMITED TO 600 COPIES!!" [Aquarius Records]
www.archivecd.com
|
2007 |
€13.50 |
|
| MERZBOW |
Eucalypse |
CD / object |
MERZBOWs Hommage an den vom Aussterben bedrohten australischen Eukalyptus-Baum! Kommt in einem noch nicht dagewesenen, aufschiebbaren runden Holzcover, massiv & bedruckt, mit 4 runden farbigen Inlay-Karten. Wohl eines der spektakulärsten CD-Covers ever ! Das Material (5 Stücke, fast 60 Minuten) ist höchst psychedelisch, pulsierend, in jeder Sekunde expandierend, mitreissend und zermürbend zugleich....
"A complete winner here from electronics wizard Masami Akita and Solielmoon Recordings. The music is some of the most psychedelic that I have heard from Mr. Akita, a panoramic kaleidoscope of metal machine noise and psycho New Age synthoblasters. This is the 360 degree apocalypse of the mind. The Merz is letting loose. This is a man who has recorded a lot of music in his lifetime. I would be very surprised if Merzbow himself is able to keep track of the vast volume of material that he has put out over the years. Sometimes, you don't really remember it after listening a few times. This one is really dramatic and sticks in my mind very clearly. I can very distinctly remember the first time that I listened to it while driving. The music is meant to echo the reality of the destruction of Eucalyptus trees, which is apparently a very terrible problem on the Earth that is disrupting the ecosystem. I can accept that, and it doesn't hurt that this story was told to me via this amazing release. The first track is an amazing psychedelic journey that by itself would make this release worthwhile. Track two opens with violent crashing blending into radio signal white noise static, and industrial sounds that echo the hectic feeling that Merzbow is trying to evoke. This is completely harsh and distinctive, some of the most compelling material from this artist since the noise heyday of the mid-90s and popular releases such as “Pulse Demon.” Each track (all sharing the title “Eucalypse”) has a separate and distinct theme that works very well one after another. The over-arching theme of ecological destruction comes across in a very sincere and horrifying manner through the amazing synthesizer and noise work on this release. It sounds like Jimi Hendrix going through TG's pedals in the ninth circle of hell as everything comes crashing down. It is awesome. The packaging is made out of Eucalyptus wood, ironic considering that the release is trying to decry the practice. Ol' Merz didn't cut the damn thing down himself though, so it all works out in the end. Accompanying this beautiful, awkward, and coaster-shaped wooden box are several round cardboard photographs of Eucalyptus trees with information about the release on the back. The entire thing is completely breathtaking. I assume that this is in some sort of absurdly limited edition, so if you come across this one snatch it up, it's great." [Heathen Harvest]
"The Tasmanian Blue Gum tree, Eucalyptus globulus, is native to Tasmania and southern Australia. Eucalyptus trees are uniquely suited to the varied ecologies of Australia, and there is no other continent more closely associated with one genus of tree. Its leaves are the food of choice of the koala, and its flowers attract bees and hummingbirds. Out of approximately 300 identified species, Blue Gums are now the eucalyptus most frequently found in other parts of the world. Throughout the tropics they are known for their ability to dry out swampy areas, making them a valuable weapon in the fight against malaria, a disease caused by parasites carried in female Anopheles mosquitos, which breed in standing water. Eucalyptus globulus was first brought to India in the late 18th century. Large plantations were establish in Kerala in 1863, but other than small amounts of oil distilling, little use has been made of the fast growing trees. Instead, they have thrived in the moist, foggy hills, spreading far across the landscape and transforming the ecosystem in the process. With their deep roots they lower water tables, depriving native species of the moisture necessary to survive the annual dry season, while the anti-bacterial properties of the “blue gum” secretions they drop on the soil further suppress the germination and growth of other plants. An ancient and intricate web of life has been disrupted, and native plants, insects and animals are being driven to extinction. Humans, who have long been a part of the local ecosystem, are adaptable and will survive, but the biodiversity of an entire region is under threat from a single exotic species. It is truly a eucalyptus apocalypse. It is a eucalypse. At Soleilmoon, packaging and presentation are never overlooked. This release is presented in a hand-crafted round wooden box with screenprinted swiveling lid. The box contains one CD and four round, full-color cards. Only 1000 copies of this handsome CD have been made." [label info]
www.soleilmoon.com
|
2008 |
€23.00 |
|
|
Dead Leaves |
CD |
"... Sein Harsh Noise ist längst zum Urban Blues für Noisophile geworden, die sich ohne zu zucken die Federn bei lebendigem Leib rupfen lassen. Im auf~und~ab~kurvenden Weißen Rauschen nicht nur Rosarot, sondern alle Farben des Regenbogens oder eines Kathedralenfensters aufleuchten zu sehen im dritten Auge, zu hören mit der ganzen Haut und gesträubten Haaren, das ist immer wieder guter Grund, in den donnernden Wasserfall des Japaners als Jungbrunnen einzutauchen. Wie unter einem Sandstrahl vom Durchmesser eines Tunnelbohrgerätes verschwinden unter Akitas zischender, brausender, schrillender, jaulender, pulsierend stoßender, gründlicher Dusche die Mückenschisse des Trivialen. Wie runderneuert und neugeboren, wie ein in Drachenblut verhornter Siegfried, kann man sich danach wieder der Dreckschleuderei des Alltags stellen. Nur weiß Akita offenbar ganz gut, dass es mehr Lindenbäume als Lindwürmer gibt. Seine ‚toten Blätter‘ sind ein verkapptes Memento Mori." [Bad Alchemy]
www.licht-ung.de
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Zara |
10inch |
"... Its been some time since I last heard Merzbow too actually, and perhaps for the very same reason as I didn't hear post rock or ambient house: maybe after a while you heard it. And believe me, I heard a lot of Merzbow. Now that hear this 10", I realize I missed that too, but perhaps that is due to the fact that there is something about this record which reminded me of some older Merzbow, the 'SCUM' double LP. On that LP Masami Akita cuts up his own old work and re-assembles it. The a-side starts out with similar cut-ups, before going into what seems to be an improvised guitar recording, filtered through the EMS Synthi-A. On the b-side drumming pops up, reminding the listener of the fact that Akita started out as a drummer, and did also play the drums on his 'Live In Khabarovsk' LP. Akita is on both sides in a totally free improvisation mode, and his tools of the trade - noise - is apparent, but not the main driving force of this record. It appears here, in the middle of his free play of improvised playing. Here too its a call out to play more, old, Merzbow. Said records for instance, and then 'Zara' again." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
www.licht-ung.de
|
2010 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Hybrid Noisebloom |
do-LP |
Merzbow stands as the most important artist in noise music. The moniker of Japanese artist Masami Akita was born in Tokyo in 1979. Inspired by dadaism and surrealism, Akita took the name for his project from German artist Kurt Schwitters's pre-war architectural assemblage The Cathedral of Erotic Misery or Merzbau. Working in his home, he quickly gained notoriety as a purveyor of a musical genre composed solely of pure, unadulterated noise. Embracing technology and the machine, first in an absolutely analog way and then welcoming digital innovation, Merzbow broke boundaries and pushed toward new territories of the extreme, arriving at a sonic space of uncontaminated, straight noise that, from its base in Tokyo, has continued, now for over 40 years, to set the pace for the entire genre of noise.
When it comes to Japanese noise, few projects have pushed boundaries or risen to a more iconic status than Merzbow.
Hybrid Noisebloom, originally issued by Vinyl Communications on CD in 1997, is the latest in this trilling bread crumb trail. It is also the first time that this seminal document from Merzbow’s '90s period has ever appeared on vinyl.
Composed and performed on EMS and Moog Synthesizers, Theremin, Metal Devices, Noise Electronics, and Voice, all recorded at extreme volumes, Hybrid Noisebloom’s five tracks present a fascinating sonic assault, heavily driven by the presence of electronic sounds, played against the sparse interjections of Akita’s heavily processed vocals, that push toward new territories of the extreme, while subtly nodding toward historical gestures from the early years of the avant-garde.
A side opens with Plasma Birds comprising a series of banner that investigate timbral relationships, the fragmentation of melody, and abrasive, provocative noise - shifting from the sparse, airy, and restrained, to dance clusters of interplay and back again. Follows enclosed in just over ten minutes, Minotaurus, finding a strange middle ground between the intuitive logics of their instruments; synth and electronics taking on decidedly percussive approaches, while metal device’s fractured polyrhythms and beats often veer toward the presence of a notable tonality. B side is filled with a single long track, Mouse Of Superconcetion, formed by screeches and from swinging and chugging to stepped back and sparse combinations of rhythm and tone - moving from the lingering sensibilities of straight-ahead synth to radically out hard blow fire. Launching from a total wall of sound, C side track Neuro Electric Butterfly takes the listening on an endlessly surprising journey through its devices’ inner world, shifting between airy open passages that feature endless combinations of one or more effects, to furious moments of sonorous lashings where the sound falls in together in brilliant dialogical periods of conversant texture and psychedelic intervention. Closes The Imaginary Coversation Of Blue embedding bristling fragments, percolating tones, and poignant dissonances within a sweeping field of echoes rumbles and drones, taking sonic abstraction to startling heights.
All composed & performed by Masami Akita using EMS & Moog Synthesizer, Theremin, Metal Devices, Noise Electronics, Voice
Recorded & mixed at ZSF Produkt Studio, January - February 1997
Remastered by MA at Munemihouse Tokyo, 21 February 2021
Artworks by Masami Akita
https://urashima.bandcamp.com/album/hybrid-noisebloom
|
2022 |
€32.50 |
|
| MERZBOW / RAVEN / DAO DE NOIZE |
Animal Liberation |
CD |
"Animal Liberation features 3 characteristically powerful tracks of varying harshness and noise intensities with it’s theme strongly centered on animal rights and its firm stand against animal abuse.
The journey into the audio slaughterhouse begins with 2 harsh noise tracks presented by prolific Japanese noise artist Masami Akita, otherwise famously known as Merzbow and Serbia’s harsh noise artist Raven (or Djordje Miladinovic), who is highly recognisable in the harsh noise circuit as anti-war as well as a strong supporter of animal and human rights and conscious environmentalist. These two violently painful tracks are complex with a high level of hypnotic and sonic energy. The message of what these artists stand for are uniquely expressed by heavy layers of organic sounds, high frequency screeches and low level drones that almost sound like animal screams and grunts in the abattoir. This journey of butchery finally comes to an end with a closing ambient track from Ukraine’s noise/ambient artist Dao De Noize (Artem Pismenetskii). The tranquil hums overlapped by murmuring soundscapes with the background beating of hearts and animal bellows, bleats and cackles complement and complete the album. These 3 highly emotive tracks successfully propagate the intended message through a unique display of artistic sonic expression that is now one of the greatest social change movement around the world."
https://4ibrecords.com
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| MERZBOW KAPOTTE MUZIEK |
Works 1987-1993 |
Korm Plastics KP 3050 |
"Both of these projects hardly need an introduction. Merzbow is since the late ‘70s the project of Masami Akita working in the field of noise music, having released a few hundred CDs/LPs/cassettes by now.
In 1987 Kapotte Muziek was then the solo project of Frans de Waard, after Christian Nijs left the group early ’87. De Waard concentrated on working with other musicians, and started trading tapes with a few musicians he was already in contact with, and one of them was Merzbow. The first release was a cassette, which was released in two versions, one of Merzbow’s ZSF Produkt and one on Belgium’s Therapie label (although none ever showed up, so perhaps it didn’t happen). In October 1989 Merzbow was invited to play at V2 in ’s-Hertogenbosch and a subsequent small tour was done in The Netherlands, playing in Utrecht and Nijmegen. On october 3rd 1989 Merzbow played in the evening in a small student club, Diogenes, and in the late afternoon as a duo with Kapotte Muziek. The first 20 minutes were released on one side of the LP ‘Documentation/Collaboration’, whereas the second side has ‘recycled’ versions of those recordings. For their next project Merzbow Kapotte Muziek took all the recordings from that day and reworked them in an extensive process into the LP ‘Continuum’.
This 3CD set compiles all of these recordings and more. It includes (CD1) the first cassette, ZSF Produkt version, (CD2) has for the first time the complete live recording from the collaborative concert at Radio Rataplan plus two compilation pieces that were made around the same, and (CD3) the complete ‘Continuum’ LP, as well as three highly obscure compilation tracks, including the long reworked ‘Radio Rataplan’ from the very obscure ‘Dutch Tour’ double cassette by V2_Archief.
All expertly remastered by Jos Smolders at Earlabs, all lovingely designed by Meeuw, in a carton box with three CDs, poster, shrinkwrapped and sticker." [label info]
www.kormplastics.nl
Edition of 300 copies only
"In history, a certain type of very conservative – reactionary even - history, key moments and people are outlined, but no longer do we learn the kings and queens, we concentrate on oral histories of last week. So whilst seemingly radical in fact everything in music is still well and truly reactionary ideology. Artists still are identified with and seek to make seminal work, as our Tracey sickly maintains. So when in the late 1970s one Masami Akita stated “I threw all my past music career in the garbage. There was no longer any need for concepts like 'career' and 'skill'. I stopped playing music and went in search of an alternative.” The rest one could say really was history! Only a history that has been both ignored and wonderfully misappropriated into what is now the current noise “scene” of incompetent misfits who imagine their work to be art in the great western tradition. What this 3CD set demonstrates is the origin of this ‘scene’ or site of dissemination of the
meaningless and banal of contemporality. The ipad generation were not yet born when Akita and de Waard began a series of interchanges released originally on cassette and vinyl. The ‘history’ of this process is detailed here http://kormplastics.nl/kp3050.html. The consequences of this (and other events) of the time are in a real sense more profound. As if the ideas of a previous generation failed to generate, and how the fin de siècle became an eternal return of the (same) trivial misunderstanding, and failing to understand. The process of this collaboration is obviously a deconstructive one as any current art student would argue – though by virtue of wikipedia and a downloaded paper with Harvard references. So in fact this contemporality changes, in Damian
(Peter 1007-1072 not Hirst 1965 -?) fashion, the past to render the noise of Akita and de Waard as meaningful in its reaction to – from the past – of this future we now inhabit. The brilliance of such mutilation of past events not via some modified DeLorean but by the simple expediency of a logical inversion - the logic of the ipad’s NOT gates. (The garbage becomes art and so art becomes garbage….) One might therefore admire Akita and de Waard’s work as contributing to the current ‘scholasticism’ – or perhaps conversely to Damian’s condemnation of philosophy as the work of the Devil and the self flagellation of ‘noisers’ in small bars all over the mid-west. Either way – by not excluded middles they are genius’s. A logically non exclusive OR. And to end - by the by - I’ve been criticized for not describing the sound in a review – so what does this sound like – it sounds like the work that is yet to be produced by a sound ‘artist’ somewhere!" (jliat)
|
2012 |
€25.00 |
|
| MERZOUGA |
52°46’ North 13°29’ East – Music for Wax-Cylinders |
CD |
"The World’s Most Moveable Armchair
Erich Moritz von Hornbostel was an „armchair ethnologist“. Due to his bad health the musicologist was unable to travel to faraway countries. Instead he sat at his desk in the Dorotheenstraße in Berlin and received the world through his phonograph. On from 1900 the world’s music arrived at his office in the form of more than 16.000 wax-cylinder recordings from all over the planet. Due to an edict by the Prussian Emperor all German trading as well as scientific expeditors were bound to travel with a phonograph and send their recordings to Berlin. Today we might put it that way: Hornbostel was in charge of the biggest field-recording project of all times.
In his case being a stay-at-home was definitely an achievement. His immobility gave Hornbostel the chance to develop a completely new perspective, an unprecedented acoustical bird’s eye view, and made him the founder of a new discipline: comparative musicology’s aim was to “unveil the dark and distant past (…) and to extract the timeless and the general from the abundance of our present; in other words: We want to get to know the historic and the basic esthetic principles of musical art.” (1)
Approximately 100 years later Hornbostel’s acoustic present has itself become a dark and distant past. To our ears the 16.000 wax-cylinder recordings of the Berlin Phonogram-Archive sound like treasures from a long lost world. These treasures are not only raised by researchers but increasingly also by artists. The current archive’s management is generously granting them access to the recordings that have been digitalized over the past fifteen years.
Thus Eva Pöpplein and Janko Hanushevsky (aka Merzouga) have become fellow armchair-travelers. They bring along a lot of experience, which they collected as heavy-duty field-recordists on intensive sound-expeditions through India and South-East-Asia. („Good Morning, Rickshaw“ – Deutschlandradio Kultur 2008; „Mekong Morning Glory“ – Deutschlandradio Kultur 2009 / Gruenrekorder 2011). Now they encompass the sonic landscape of the Phonogram-Archive with the same musical sensitiveness that can be found in their previous works. Just like Hornbostel the two are genuinely interested in something timeless, something general: the uniquely beautiful human ability to play with sounds and structures. Janko Hanushevsky integrates his electric-bass improvisations into the historic wax-cylinders’ cracks and scratches. And Eva Pöpplein sparingly applies electronic effects in order to distill precious essences from the sonic material.
The result is a musical position-reckoning between the past and the future of sound-recording: Located at 52°46’ North and 13°29’ East, in the Ethnologisches Museum Dahlem, is the world’s most moveable armchair."
[Marcus Gammel, Deutschlandradio Kultur]
www.gruenrekorder.de
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
De Rerum Natura / Dance of the Elements |
CD |
Sound composition by Merzouga – inspired by Lucretius’ philosophical poem.
On the Nature of Things
In his poem De Rerum Natura (On the Nature of Things) the Roman poet/philosopher Lucretius (c. 99 – c. 55 BCE) explores Epicurean physics and philosophy through richly poetic language and metaphors, as he presents an entire cosmology: based on the principles of atomism, Lucretius tries to explain the nature of the mind and soul, and the development of the world. While some of his ideas have been proven scientifically wrong, some of his thoughts seem strikingly reasonable even for the contemporary reader.
Lucretius believes that, while everything in the universe is finite, the smallest elements (“The First Beginnings of Things”) themselves are eternal – moving through the void they collide, create forms and dissolve, just to collide again in order to create new forms.
For Lucretius life is a beautiful chance-driven Dance of the Elements. His ideas, popular and highly controversial in Roman intellectual circles, were soon to be banned and eventually forgotten during the rise of Christianity.
The poem was by chance rediscovered in the 15th century by the famous humanist Poggio Bracciolini (1380-1459), most likely in the scriptorium of a monastery in Fulda, Germany. During the renaissance it eventually became a foundation stone of modern western philosophy and natural sciences.
Translating the Book into Sound
When Soila Valkama, the ars acustica-editor of Finnish broadcaster YLEISRADIO commissioned us to produce a sound-composition, we suggested to her a playful attempt of a sonic translation of Lucretius’ ideas.
The listener embarks on a journey in which a universe of sound unfolds.
Smallest sonic elements float through space, dark and chaotic, merge to create concrete forms, transform into different consistencies, from water to wind, from stone to dust, steadily in motion in a constant process of becoming and dissolving.
Late in the piece the sounds of mammals and humans arrive, blurring again into a palimpsest-like structure when the circle is closing.
We used field-recordings of nature, as an analogue for the “concrete forms” that are created by the colliding elements, but also concrete musical structures: fragments of melodies, tonalities, and rhythmic patterns in contrast to the more abstract material.
Intertwined with the sound-composition we encounter fragments of Lucretius’ text in English and in Latin, carefully adapted and translated by Janko, and spoken by his brother, the actor Stefko Hanushevsky.
The radio-piece consists of six chapters, transposing the structure of Lucretius’ six books into the compositional structure.
There is no delay, no rest to interrupt the flow, we can constantly feel it, and we can see things, smell them, and perceive their sound. –
Lucretius, De Rerum Natura, Book VI: 932+933
1 Track (38′22″)
CD (500 copies)
Credits
Merzouga is:
Janko Hanushevsky (prepared electric bass) and Eva Poepplein (electronics)
Speaker: Stefko Hanushevsky
Translations: Janko Hanushevsky
Editor: Soila Valkama
Commissioned and produced by YLEISRADIO/Finland.
Artwork: U9 – visuelle Allianz
The artwork was created by setting up paper in the garden and applying pens and
brushes to the branches of a tree. All the traces of ink on the paper were created
by the wind moving the tree, thus providing all the scource-material for the album’s
entire artwork.
Merzouga would like to thank
Soila Valkama & YLE, Stefko Hanushevsky, Lasse-Marc Riek & Roland Etzin, Leopold Lenzgeiger, Sabine Kuechler, Markus Jarchow, Bohdan & Ewa Hanushevsky, and Felix & Waltraud Poepplein for their continuous support.
This release was made possible by the generous support of SKE-Fonds.
www.gruenrekorder.de/?page_id=16867 |
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| METEK (FEAT. VMOOD AND PYTHAGORA) |
Psychedelic Noise |
CD-R |
"The title of this album gives a pretty accurate description of its musical contents. Starting from a long “montage” of hissing noise textures, it very gradually unfolds into ever more diversified sounds, occassionally including voices, but only slightly brushing the boundaries of conventional musical structures. And in the end, everything dissolves again into the background noise of the universe.
What sets this album apart from most other noise music is the fact that it avoids any aggressive, confrontative, “harsh” postures. Instead, it often operates at a very quiet sound level, prompting the listener to actively listen out for signals embedded in the noisescape. This is precisely what creates the ‘psychedelic’ aspect of the music, where the listener’s brain imagines (to avoid the word: hallucinates) potential musical structures from the raw data fed into the ear by Metek and their two collaborators.
File under: noise, sound art" [label info]
www.attenuationcircuit.de
"METEK konnte man in den letzten Jahren immer wieder mal am Lieferanteneingang von Shit Noise Records rumlungern sehen, entsprach aber zu wenig der dort geschätzten pupertären Pornophilie. Auch mit Psychedelic Noise (ACLE 1017, CD-R), das auch wieder Beiträge seiner alten Gesinnungsgenossen Dan Pålsson (aka PYTHAGORA) und VMOOD enthält, stillt Fredrik Nilsson einmal mehr nur bereits etwas sublimiertere Bedürfnisse. Etwa die Lust, in Noiselandschaften Abenteuerurlaub zu machen. Was eine gehörige Widerstandsfähigkeit voraussetzt hinsichtlich rauer Winde und Elektronenstürme, dröhnender Wetterumschwünge und unwegsamer Wege, die sich nur knurschend bewältigen lassen. Dazu ist garstiger Regen quasi garantiert, sonnige Idyllen dagegen fast schon ein Grund, das Reisebüro zu verklagen. Der Grund des Hierseins sind schließlich brausende Impulse und lärmige Verwerfungen, in denen Pressluftgehämmer, Sandstrahl, sausende Motoren und allerhand industrialer Ohrenfraß widerhallen, als eine Art wetterwendische Natur höherer Ordnung. In der hagelt es Katzen, knattern Nattern, plinken Bluesgitarrensaiten wie rostiger Draht, kauen Kobolde Schwedenhappen, zerreißen schartige Partikel die Luft. Als hätte unser erklärtermaßen anime- und mangabegeisterter Schwede eine japanische Gebrauchsanweisung zur Hand für seine naturburschikose Blockhüttenpercussion und vogelbezwitscherten, kochlöffelklapprigen Kochkünste." [Bad Alchemy]
|
2015 |
€7.50 |
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| MGR VS. SIRDSS |
Impromptu |
CD |
"MGR, short for Mustard Gas and Roses, is ISIS guitarist Mike Gallagher's solo vehicle for ambient instrumental experimentation. His 2006 debut, Nova Lux, a critical success that drew comparisons to K.K. Null and Robert Fripp, featured contributions by members of the Red Sparrows and Dalek. MGR has recently shared the stage with the likes of Pelican, Mono, and Destructo Swarmbots.
David Scott Stone, who adopted the moniker SirDSS after doing time in the '90s with Slug and Get Hustle, has recently recorded with Big Business and the Melvins. A musician not afraid to take a long, hard step outside of how music is normally created and interpreted, Stone uses both conventional (modular synthesizers) and unconventional (micro-phoned sheet metal and bowed cymbals) to create unique and disturbing sounds. Impromptu, previously only available on a limited-edition CD-R, is a beautiful, compelling collage of instrumental improvisation and flowing soundscapes." [label description]
"Long slowly unfurling whorls of abstract steel string tangle, huge slow burning electric guitar shimmers, drifting amidst glistening sonic cobwebs, silver streaks of minimal feedback, while in the distance some sort of industrial apparition grinds and clangs, creaks and keens, beneath an outerspace world of dreamlike ambient guitarscapes, radiant sine waves and thick luminous layers of crumbling melody. So nice." [Aquarius Records]
www.neurotrecordings.com
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2006 |
€14.50 |
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| MICHAEL, DAVID & SLAVEK KWI |
MMABOLELA |
do-CD |
" ‘Sonic Mmabolela’ is a 2-week workshop/residency for professional and semiprofessional sound artists and composers with previous experience in the area of sound experimentation and field recordings. It takes place at Mmabolela Reserve, in the Limpopo province of South Africa, right at the border with Botswana. It involves field work, studio work and theoretical/discussion presentations. The workshop/residency has a special focus on creative approaches to the work with field recordings, through an extensive exploration of natural sound environments. It does not have a technical character but is instead conceived and directed towards the development and realization of projects of sonic creation by the participant artists/composers with the field recordings gathered." [Francisco Lopez website]
"Note from unwritten diary of David:
3:45 AM. Time to get up. The Bushveld is already awake.
Slávek and I are both dragging a bit, rushing to get out the door and deploy.
After almost two weeks of nonstop recording, we are both tired and a little homesick.
At this point in the residency we have already found a dependable dawn recording location in a dry creek bed just far enough away from Weederdooper homestead so that our microphones will not pick up breakfast activities and just close enough for us to make it back for a nap before the morning field session. In a strange way this location reminds me of another of Slávek’s favorite recording spots on a small tributary flowing into Lake Mamori in Brazil. Slávek and I share a room at Weederdooper, which makes these dawn sessions simple. Our equipment too tends to share space in locations we scout together during many of the field sessions. We each now have many recordings of the exact same events, but from slightly different perspectives. The dry river bed at Umzumbi, the hippos at Mmabolel Rock, the bridge to Botswana, the watering holes. Perhaps when we get back home we will make a CD together.
CD 1:
Slávek Kwi (Artificial Memory Trace)
01: Usvit (Dawning in Dry Riverbed)
02: Windpeckers
03: Lament of Longhorn Beetle
04: Subaquatic Insects, Terrapins, Fish Munching on Algae
05: From Perspective of Wasps
06: Baboons
07: Mouchy
08: Hippo-pota-muses
09: Noc Pt1 (Toads, Bats [via heterodyne detector], Xmas Beetles)
10: Transition (Xmas Beetles close-up)
11: Noc Pt2 (Frogs, Bats [via microphone], Insects)
12: Noc Pt3 (Cicadas, Frogs, distant Baboons)
Excerpts:
Track 01
Track 04
Recordings made by Slávek Kwi in November 2013 at the Mmabolela.
Composed in between February and June 2014 in Beech House, Ireland.
Trk 01-09 was originally constructed as multichannel piece titled “AfriKaa!”
dedicated to children with autism.
The Sound Expedition was funded by The National Concert Hall in Dublin;
very special thanks to Ciara Cuffe and Simon Taylor for kind support.
Extended thanks to David for making this publication possible.
CD 2:
David Michael
01. Slávek’s Dry Creek
02. Midnight on the Limpopo
03. Hippopotamuses at Mmabolel Rock
04. Umzumbi with Baboons, Bats
05. Duets
06. The Bridge to Botswana IV
07. Afternoon with an Impala Carcass
Excerpts:
Track 4
Track 6
Recordings made by David Michael in November 2013 at the Mmabolela. Produced in Sleepy Hollow, New York during various sessions in 2014.
19 Tracks (157′16″)
Double CD (500 copies)"
www.gruenrekorder.de
|
2014 |
€16.00 |
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| MICRO:MEGA |
Where we go we don't need it anymore |
CD |
„Hinter MICRO:MEGA stecken Männer mit beeindruckendem musikalischem Background: Frederic Luneau, einer der Gründer der LÖBE RADIANT DUB SYSTEM, der lange Jahre das Projekt WEBCAM betrieb und Sylvain Chauveau, der als Mitglied von THE WATERMELON CLUB auftrat und eine steile Solokarriere hinlegte. Sein 2000er Debüt-Album begeisterte die Kritiker und auch der Nachfolger bekam großartige Kritiken. Nach dem Release der MCD "Un Autre Decembre" eröffnete er 2003 für SIGUR ROS auf deren Europatour. Sein letztes Album ist schließlich als Soundtrack für den in Cannes gezeigten Festivalbeitrag "Des plumes dans la tete" verwendet worden. Parallel arbeitete Chauveau zusammen mit Joan Cambon an seinem Projekt ARCA und mit Steven Hess an ON. Diese Vielfalt an Arbeiten macht es verständlich, woher die musikalische Reichhaltigkeit des MICRO:MEGA Universums stammt. Durch die verschiedenen Einflüsse und Erfahrungen der beiden Musiker werden vielfältige Materialien und Instrumente verarbeitet, die geschickt vermischte Sound-Schichten ergeben. Dadurch kann das Duo elektronische und organische Elemente paaren und so ein Bindeglied zwischen LABRAFORD, PAN AMERICA, AUTECHRE, Yann Tiersen und PAN SONIC herstellen. "Where We Go We Don't Need It Anymore" ist weniger melancholisch als die oben genannten Bands, ein Album das offen und weniger introspektiv ist. Damit besetzen MICRO:MEGA eine einzigartige Nische in der französischen Elektro-Szene.“
“...Already endowed with very different sensibilities, the two musicians have drawn from their different experiences a marked taste for the use of a variety of materials and instruments and a great deftness in the mixing of multiple sound strata. Thanks to that, the pair can smoothly conjugate electronic and organic and establish links between LABRAFORD and PAN AMERICAN's America, AUTECHRE's England, Yann Tiersen's Brittany and PAN SONIC's Finland, without ever forgetting what melody means. Less melancholic than its predecessors "Where we go we don't need it anymore" is also perhaps less introspective, more open. While keeping a definitely unique place on the French electronic scene, MICRO:MEGA seem to have reached a kind of fullness that we are happy to share with them.” [press release]
|
2004 |
€13.00 |
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| MIDDLETON, IAN |
Aural Spaces |
LP |
"I've been in touch with Ian Middleton for over 13 years now, lured into contact by a Remora lathe-cut LP, I believe, which sounded similar in intent to IFCO material that Karla and I were working on at the time. Ian was a somewhat prolific figure of the '90s UK underground scene, both with his music and his visual art. There was an LP for Swill Radio 'in the can', which ended up on Eclipse as there wasn't any money here to release it. Ian's music has always had both organic and artificial elements combined with the vague melancholy of distant beauty. With Aural Spaces, Ian has refined and distilled his processes into a gorgeous electronic diamond. To quote my good friend Oskar Spee, 'Aural Spaces is an exotic, scientific, and beautiful perfume that slows down time and allows one to live, however briefly, in a better possible world.' I couldn't agree more. There is not a wasted moment. Ian has kept a low profile the last few years, preferring to concentrate on his work and make it better, an approach of which I heartily approve. The sequencing of this LP is immaculate, a skill that is becoming a lost art in this shuffle-play world. Aural Spaces is totally removed from the confines of today's backwards looking fads and instead points its bow directly towards the future. Fighting the good fight." [Scott Foust, Swill Radio]
www.anti-naturals.org/swill
|
2009 |
€18.00 |
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| MIEVILLE, EMMANUEL |
Ethers |
CD |
Slowly but o-so-surely, Emmanuel Mieville is building an impressive body of work, where each new album seems to make the previous one pale in comparison. And the music press would be wise to catch on to him. The man is discreet and unassertive, so is his music, but he – like it – cannot be dismissed as just another proponent of the field recording. For Mieville, music is some of the most spellbinding art for the ear out there in the aether.
"Ethers" is Mieville's second album for Baskaru, and though the previous one certainly stands the test of time, this new opus pushes the bar higher, much higher. In the composer's own words, "Ethers is an attempt to give an earthy quality, a dense texture to drone music, to lower it from the 'skies'."
Mieville first trained as a sound engineer, and then studied musique concrète at GRM. He grew up listening to creative radio programs and embraced field recording as a form of art. His latest works fully realized a synthesis of all these elements: the attentive ear to one's surroundings, the abstract approach to sound, the sense of drama that makes a field recording composition take life.
Mieville has worked with Buto dancers, video artists, and like-minded musicians like Eric Cordier, Guido Huebner, and Benjamin Thigpen. After appearances on compilations albums, he released two CDs in Malaysia (on Herbal Records and XingWu), followed by his Western full-length debut "Four Wanderings in Tropical Lands" on Baskaru in 2011. Since then he released two thematic albums: "Buddha – Anima – Asia" (Obs*, 2012) on Buddhism, and "Concret-Sens" (Crónica, 2014), a homage to early musique concrète.
www.baskaru.com
"The last time I heard something from Emmanuel Mieville was in Vital Weekly 803, and that was his previous album for Baskaru. Mieville, a trained composer from GRM uses a lot of field recordings in his music, which he treats into music. I am not sure how Mieville works in creating his music, but it could very well be that he has many treatments of the same sound source and which are later stuck together and crafted into a piece of music, with all the subtle changes possible, which Mieville can choose from when doing this. I might very well be entirely wrong of course. His music can be compared to that of Whetham (or vice versa, but that's not the order I am hearing these releases): quite closed off blocks of sound, but somehow the work of Mieville sounds more coherent than Whetham on his new release. It also seems to be less closed off, with a bit more air in between the various treatments that he uses in his music. Whetham's music seems hermetically closed. There is fine vibrancy in the pieces by Mieville, shifting back and forth, ignoring strict classical rules of composition. Excellent release." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2015 |
€12.00 |
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| MIEVILLE, EMMANUEL & ERIC CORDIER |
Dispositif: Canal Saint-Martin |
CD |
Ähnlich wie auf der "INSCAPE" CD von ERIC LA CASA und J.-L-GUIONNET werden auf DISPOSITIF "Orts-spezifische Aufnahmen" von den akustischen "Aktivitäten" eines grossen Gebäudes in Echtzeit zusammengeführt (mit 30 Mikrophonen, die an verschiedenen Plätzen eines Kulturzentrums in Paris befestigt waren). Daraus entstehen unglaublich komplexe und vielschichtige Field Recordings, vom reinen Objektknirschen bis hin zu menschlichen Lautäusserungen und herüberwallenden Proberaum-Klängen, das ganze wird zudem auch noch bearbeitet & effektiert...
"Many individuals are unable to properly listen. Dissecting noise until harmonic components are found and deployed, detecting a logic in whatsuperficially amounts to sheer din, elaborating contrasting messages and different impulses until their core is reached. Sound artists Mieville and Cordier tend a helping hand to those who want to learn a bit about the process of active listening with this project, a real-time composition that took its form in 2005 at the Centre d'animation Jemmapes in Paris' City Hall. Placing thirty microphones all over the place, which comprises various halls and offices plus "several floors of rehearsal rooms for dance, music, theatre", the two authors originated a sketchy yet efficient acousmatic pieceinterspersed with laptop-triggered "sonic objects" and movements from the surrounding life and activities, with emphasis on the urban landscape and a pretty evident human participation. To this, a few sounds captured in Normandy were also added. We hear people chatting, singing and whistling. In the background, a marching band or the wheezing currents of familiar hullabaloo filtered by a ventilation duct appear, rendering the whole as a flanged reproduction of the buzzing bustle of a large amount of beings whom we can't distinguish singularly but all contribute to the final patchwork. The work is a valid example of what can be achieved through the exploitation of subjective approaches to perception and, although a tad predictable in some of its parts, deserves careful consideration." [Massimo Ricci]
www.xingwurecs.com
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
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| MILITIA |
Ambiorix |
CD |
After releasing the MILITIA debut album into cassette (a split with CON-DOM entitled "Scorching Earth Policy") in 1995, Old Europa Cafe, 23 years later, proudly comes with the new and MILITIA album "AMBIORIX" devoted to the great Gaul King.
All sounds with the usual unmistakable MILITIA trademark, a big variety of rythms with loads of self made percussions and wind instrumets.
Songs are sung in different languages including Latin and Gaul.
The definitive MILITIA album, the album of their maturity.
Special Eco-Leather covers.
Covers available in some different brown tonalities and with 4 different logos printed on Eco-Leather Sleeves.
Also included is a 3-folded insert with cover notes.
Ambiorix, a musical story by MILITIA, based on Ceasar’s writings of “De Bello Gallico”
What happened before
When around 57 bC Julius Ceaser conquered Gaul, his troops marched into Belgica. (Belgica is more or less the state of Belgium plus a part of the Netherlands reaching to the river Rhine).
Belgica was inhabited by several tribes which were at war with each other frequently.
The tribe of the Eburons was lead by 2 kings, Ambiorix and Catuvolcus, both sharing power.
In 54 bC Ceasar had to provide his troops with fresh food and wood supplies and he ordered the tribes to cede a part of their crops to the Roman armies. Because the harvest wasn’t a good one that year and because the Eburons needed the wood from their forests for themselves for the coming winter, the Eburons refused.
Ceasar ordered his generals to built camps around the villages of the Euburon tribes, take over power and confiscate the food supplies by force.
Ambiorix and his Eburons were not to let this happen.
Music on the album and the story of Ambiorix >>
Track 1: Resistance
During the intro of the 1st track “Resistance”, you can hear “forest sounds”, like sounds of birds and insectsb and the wind blowing in the trees. The intro represents the situation of Romans entering the Eburon forest and starting to chop several trees.
The Eburons attack, the small group of Roman soldiers is taken by surprise and only a few can escape.
Track 2: Negotiation
Ambiorix and his Eburon warriors haunt the escaping Romans, but when Ambiorix reaches the Roman camp, he decides not to attack but instead he starts negotiations with the enemy.
The Eburon king explains to the Romans that he doesn’t mind their presence in the region and that he’s in fact Lucky with having them staying on his land, because their presence keeps other hostile tribes from entering Eburon territory.
Ambiorix warns both generals Sabinus and Cotta for the fact that a hughe Germanic army is crossing the Rhine and planning to attack the Roman camps.
Ambiorix advices the generals to move their troops to another Roman camp and join the troops there.
That way they would be stronger and capable of beating the Germanic warriors.
Ambiorix promisses the Romans a free passing through the Eburon lands.
Track 3: Arguing
The generals Sabinus and Cotta discuss all night long whether they should leave their camp or not.
Sabinus trusts Ambiorix and thinks it’s better to leave while Cotta prefers to stay in the camp and wait for the attack.
They cannot agree and only after Sabinus gets furious, hitting hard the table with his fist, Cotta agrees to leave the camp.
Track 4: Ambush
The decision to leave the camp has been taken and the Roman soldiers start marching.
There are two possible routes to the next Roman camp, one path was behind hilly landscape, the other through a valley.
The generals decide to go pass the valley and when descending, Ambiorix and his warriors attack, charging downhill out of the woods and straight into the indefensible flancs of the Roman army.
The Romans were slaughtered and a few were captured.
Noone could escape.
Track 5: Burning the Wicker Man
In his book “De Bello Gallico”, Ceasar described how the Gauls used to sacrifice their prisoners: the men or even women were locked up in a hughe puppet made of wood and straw, like a giant, and then this giant, called the Wicker Man, was set on fire, burning alive the prisoners inside it.
It was their way of sacrificing the captured Roman soldiers to the Gaul god of thunder, Taranis.
Track 6: Women of Gaul
Despite of Ceasar’s claims that Gaul women had nothing to say and were treated as inferior to men, we know from historical sources that some women occupied an important function in their community.
We don’t know if they were active in battle as well, but we know the story of the Celtic female warrior called Boudicca, who got beaten and witnessed her daughters being raped by the Romans.
She took revenge, lead her troops to war and burned down a few Roman cities located in Britannia.
Track 7: March on Gaul
Rome received the news about the beaten army and the resisting Eburons.
Ceasar swore to exterminate every tribe of Belgica. It was important for him to show the greatness and the power of the Roman empire, so this enormous defeat could not be left unpunished: a complete Roman legion and 5 cohorts (in all around 7200 men) was completely whiped out by just one tribe!
Ceasar sent a massive force to Belgica, a force never witnessed before.
Track 8: Calling all Gauls
At the same time Ambiorix united all other Belgian tribes to form a defending force against the Roman army that was marching to Belgica. Thousands of warriors stood behind Ambiorix.
They trained and prepared themselves for the great clash.
Track 9: War
This is the musical interpretation of the great battle between the Roman soldiers and the Gaul warriors.
You’ll hear commands in Latin and Gaul language.
Blood and mud, sufferings and death, victory and defeat.
Track 10: The Rape of Gaul
The Gauls lost the battle, whatever remained of the Belgican population was slaughtered and the Gaul villages were burned down: extermination, genocide, rape, plunder, massacres, murdering women and children, hostiges and prisoners became slaves.
It was the end of the Gaul civilisation.
Track 11: The Lost King
Ambiorix could escape and with a few warriors he succeeded in crossing the Rhine and hiding in Germania.
There’s no trace left of him and although sometimes Roman soldiers reported to have seen him, they can never catch him.
Ambiorix diappears in the dark mists of history.
We remember the great king who stood up against the Roman occupiers.
For evermore he’ll be a true Belgian hero in the hearts of all, in the hearts of Militia.
|
2018 |
€16.00 |
|
| MILLIS, ROBERT |
Relief |
LP |
"Our man Millis is a Climax Golden Twin and a noted curator of globe trotting / time traveling esoterica, amongst other accolades. In the former category, Millis and Jeffery Taylor steadily release some of the most headscratching amalgamations of avant-rock, decontextualized temple music, heightened-state minimalism, and collaged field recordings this side of the Sun City Girls (including the soundtrack to the cult film Session Nine); and in the latter, Millis has published a number of acclaimed anthologies for Sublime Frequencies (Scattered Melodies, This World is Unreal Like a Snake in a Rope, Phi Ta Khon, The Crying Princess, etc.) and Dust-To-Digital (our personal favorite, aptly titled Victrola Favorites). With his fingers in so many jars of jam, it can seem like an uncommon occurrence for Millis to release solo work although he is one to smear his sticky hands all over himself in performance, installation, and collaboration. Thus, The Helen Scarsdale Agency is delighted in presenting his latest opus, Relief.
A fever dream of blurred harmonics and ethnomusicological spelunking, Relief repeatedly returns to variations on a peculiar yet beautifully serpentine drone, whose twinkling acoustic properties meld the hallucinatory mouth-music of the Bangladeshi Murung people and the curved air hypnosis of Terry Riley. Millis bookends and interrupts his mysterious miasma with comedic interludes snatched from his lauded collection of antique 78s, maudlin piano tone-clusters, and teleported crescendos of spectral ballroom waltzes. More Nurse With Wound than The Caretaker, this polyglot raga-drone of daytime somnambulism and psychedelic slipperiness speaks to the uneasy borders at psychological, cultural, and geophysical states of being. Oh, to be a human on this planet." [label info]
www.helenscarsdale.com
"Polyglot might be just the right word to describe what Robert Millis and his Climax Golden Twins have been up to for the past two decades or so. An album might be a ramshackle collage of blisterfuck noise-rock, another might be a graceful set of murder ballads, and yet another might hypnotize the listener through an alpha-state minimalism. And then, there's Millis' acclaimed collections of olde-timey '78s and raw field recordings of indigenous folk songs, much of which has been released through those tasty labels Sublime Frequencies and Dust-To-Digital. The solo work from Millis tends more toward the dronemuzik and hallucinatory collage axis of CGT's multi-headed agenda, although he has been known to strum out a sadsack blues number that might straddle the worlds of Alan Bishop and Roscoe Holcomb; but here on the impeccable new album Relief, Millis tunes in and drops out with a blearily psychedelic album of forgotten sounds, ghostly fragments, and Pacific Ocean drones. The album begins with a comedic outburst from one of Millis' 78s with a helpful direction to "hear the secret sentence played out on the talking typewriter" followed by a jaunty clatter of a manual typewriter all wrapped in scratchy-vinyl, crackling goodness. Immediately, the album delves into a swarming tone-float of harmonic overtones pecked with trilling glissandos. The source for this sound has got to be a plung - a Bangladeshi mouth-organ used specifically by the Murung peoples living deep in the rainforest, as this sound is uniquely atonal and wrigglingly eerie in its wavering notes. Millis furthers this wooziness by rarifying these sounds into the holy minimalism conjured by LaMonte Young, Angus Maclise, and company. After swimming here in these golden pools for a good five or six minutes, Millis drops the needle on a dramatic orchestral swell that would be the envy of the Caretaker's sunken ballroom recordings. A couple of hip-swaying recombinations of temple music rhythms and Les Baxter exotica glide in and out of Millis' glassy-eyed shimmeriness and post-Eno piano constellations. The album's finale is an impressionistic driftscape of languid, temple bell & gong tones stretched into a gorgeous, expansive cloud of lush harmonics giving way to a metronomic wooden rhythm that leads to a set of solitary piano notes suspended over Mariana trench diving-bell ambience. Limited to 400 copies, and comes with the requisite download code. So fucking good." [Aquarius Rec.] |
2013 |
€16.00 |
|
| MILTON, ANTONY & ANLA COURTIS |
Bronze Age Subway |
LP |
"Recorded at Anla's apartment in Buenos Aires in December 2009 'Bronze Age Subway' is a mystic dreamy trip submerged in a warm bath of tape hiss. Listening to this sort of music makes your thoughts run sideways. Presented very much as it happened in the room with minimal editing it is full of surprises, chugging guitars and droning melodic organs work against each other to be finally married in some bright blaze of mystic glory; tin can violin and pounding drums attain odd tidal epiphanies. Released as a sweet vinyl LP by Ikuisuus and Gold Soundz.
Recorded in Buenos Aires, Argentina at unidentified studios, December 2009.
edition of 260 copies in lush silkscreened printed jackets." [label info]
www.ikuisuus.net
|
2011 |
€15.00 |
|
| MINIMAL COMPACT |
Deadly Weapons |
CD |
"Wiederveröffentlichung des 1984er-Albums der israelischen Kultband. Angeführt von Sänger Samy Birnbach (alias DJ Morpheus) waren Minimal Compact eine der inspirierendsten Bands der 1980er-Jahre. Sie verbanden funkige Rockrhythmen und prägnante Gitarren mit den musikalischen Aromen des Nahen Ostens. Die aus Israel stammende Band konnte in Europa und den USA auf eine leidenschaftliche Anhängerschaft zurückblicken, einige ihrer Songs, wie das auf "Deadly Weapons" zu findende "Next One Is Real", wurden zu Clubhits. Das Album markierte 1984 den internationalen Durchbruch der Band."
[label info]
"Minimal Compact's 'Deadly Weapons' - a disc of lingering textures- is a confluence where the streams of flair and ideas meet equally. It's an iconoclastic album, a collection of songs which are effortlessly assimilated yet tap normally suppressed emotions. If there is any simple division in music it's between compositions which lubricate the biological instincts -sex and the rest- and those that mine the, uhm, soul. Post Joy Division, I can only think of three rock bands who've successfully penetrated the shadows of existence in their individual ways: Nick Cave, Holy Toy and Minimal Compact. Heavy stuff, eh ? Piss off ! It's as easy as putting a record on a turntable. Though quite why the group should join the shortlist is uncertain: the majority of them are Israeli, so we have no obvious cultural connections on the surface. Compact's approach is harmonically impacted. And even at their most blatantly neo-traditional, like on 'The Howling Hole', the minaret motifs might make for a strange musical geography but the intent is instantly recognisable at some subcutaneous level. (...) Does this make the music 'difficult' ? Not unless you're a paraplegic who can't put a disc on a turntable. So damn well do it now." [Jack Barron / SOUNDS, 1984]
www.crammed.be |
2003 |
€10.00 |
|
| MINIT |
Now right here |
LP |
"Endlich was neues von einer unserer Lieblings-Drone-Bands, die inzwischen von Australien nach Berlin gezogen sind....wir hören hier auf drei Stücken kontemplative, extrem hypnotische Drone-Schichten, regelrecht leuchtende Klangteppiche, die sanft an Volumen und Dichte gewinnen und aus denen sich dann harmonische Strukturen herausschälen.. EMPFEHLUNG!!" [Drone Rec. info 2004]
“A long awaited release from Sydney's Minit culminates in a masterpiece collection of spectral drone music. With their unhierarchical approach to the use of 'found' sound, a fuzzed out electric bass line sits neatly alongside field recordings of atmospheric hum - their individual sound qualities overriding their semiotic value, so that each sound, representing a layer, shimmers and swells within Minit's evolving, sonic habitat. Now Right Here, the title track as well as the album, is about being caught in the moment. From fragile harmonic and melodic intonations to towering, ecstatic drones and electrical disturbances this album captures a balance betwen noise and harmony, excitation and calmness, distance and intimacy - drawing you into a hypnotic, psychedelic sound-world that belongs uniquely to Minit. Now Right Here is a fragile, immersive and emotional album.Minit is JASMINE GUFFOND and TORBEN TILLY. They are currently living and working in Berlin.”[press release]
“Overall the sound has become more detailled and more rich since my first encounter with them. Music with a highly trance like atmosphere, maybe even psychedelic. Quite nice indeed.” [fdw/Vital Weekly]
|
2004 |
€12.00 |
|
| MIRROR |
Some Days it rains all Night |
LP |
Breathtaking first new album in 15 years from "Andrew Chalk and Christoph Heemann’s cult duo Mirror, debuting on La Scie Dorée - home to their respective adored projects with Timo Van Luijk (Elodie, In Camera). A total gem for Jim O’Rourke or Kassel Jaeger fiends!
Both hugely regarded in their shared fields of exploration between improvised, low key noise, ambient and experimental composition, Chalk and Heemann have followed their nose for this sound since the early 80s alongside dozens of underground dons and their empathic level of musical comms really shows across this beautiful album. Most particularly we’re struck by the electro-acoustic mixing and recording, which comes close to the levels of subtly disorienting proprioceptive fuckery executed by their peer Jim O’Rourke, making them seemingly dialled in from different distant axes of floating suspension on the first side, before achieving immanent states of intimate meditation amid swirling ambient noise on the B-side.
’Some Days It Rains All Night’ introduces itself with tantalising timbral thizz and murmuring nudges of surreal acoustic space that soon start to slip out of time and place, inducing keening sensations and a slippage of light that give the scene a laggy glow, where their daubs of piano keys appear like glinting lights in a mist of bowed cymbals and rumbles of gong thunder, immaculately rendered in-the-mix for deeply disorienting effect. In other words, it’s dead trippy, and the other side takes the vibe yet further out into the dream swamp, holding off to more tentative gestures for a more uncanny sense of stasis and shrouded in electro-acoustic apparitions that richly recall similar interzones explored in Kassel Jaeger’s recent ace for Shelter Press." [Boomkat]
"....Then the clangor fades to a relative calmness, the textural wholeness returning autonomously to the inscrutable vibratory core that has always defined Mirror’s output. In the end, we register the symbolism for one’s existence. A fundamental quiet to begin with, a growth at first under control then gradually difficult, the fight against problems bigger than our strength, the apparent lack of a way out, the exclusively mental conjectures about an unknown “after” hindering the quest for becoming pure sound. The only significant goal.
But the elapsing of time brings things back into perspective. The breathing slows down, the awareness still deeply painful. Somehow, we keep walking. And learning, day by day, from authentic teachers. Those who won’t utter a single word." [Touching Extremes]
|
2020 |
€19.50 |
|
| MIXED BAND PHILANTROPIST |
The impossible Humane |
LP |
"Limitiertes Vinyl-Reissue des einzigen Albums der Industrial-Kultband.
Aufgenommen in den Jahren 1984 bis 1986 ist "The Impossible Humane" das einzige Album von Mixed Band Philanthropist, einem Nebenprojekt der The New Blockaders. Ursprünglich war die Platte 1987 auf dem deutschen Label Selektion erschienen und ist natürlich längst ein begehrtes Sammlerstück. Das Label Staubgold macht dieses Juwel aus Industrial und Musique concrete in einer Kleinauflage wieder erhältlich. Das Reissue enthält zwei Bonustracks, die der 7-Zoll-Single "The Man Who Mistook A Real Woman For His Muse And Acted Accordingly" entnommen wurden. Am Album war das Who’s who der damaligen Industrial-Szene beteiligt, u. a. Nurse With Wound, Organum, Andrew Chalk, The New Blockaders, Etant Donnes, H.N.A.S., P16.D4, Asmus Tietchens, Controlled Bleeding, Smegma und Merzbow. "A totally great listening experience", meinte das Magazin "The Wire". Die Vinyl-only-Produktion ist auf 400 Platten limitiert." [label info]
www.staubgold.com
"Recorded from 1984 to 1986, "The Impossible Humane" is the sole album by The New Blockaders side project Mixed Band Philanthropist. Originally released on the German Selektion label in 1987 and impossible to find nowadays, Staubgold makes this rare gem of Industrial goes Musique Concrete available again in a strictly limited edition of 400 copies. Furthermore the reissue contains two bonus tracks taken from the 7" single "The Man Who Mistook A Real Woman For His Muse And Acted Accordingly".
The album is assembled of exclusive source material by the who's who of the Industrial music scene of the time, including contributions by Nurse With Wound, Organum, Andrew Chalk, The New Blockaders, Etant Donnes, H.N.A.S., P16.D4, Asmus Tietchens, Controlled Bleeding, Smegma, Merzbow and many more. "A classic chunk of destroyed musique concrete. Assembled from a variety of musical and spoken sources, this is a nonstop barrage of genius. Filled with headsnapping changes, sexual innuendo and general confusion, it's a totally great listening experience," said The Wire magazine.
Idwal Fisher wrote: "This car crash tape collage still stands today as one of the best examples of the genre. Its perpetual barrage of split-second samples are a dizzying mess of '60's Pop songs, scrapes, industrial whirr, uncategorizeable racket, ghostly voices, electronic beebles and burrs, sped-up records, tape whizz, machine rumble, snatches of Reggae, bucket damage, kazoo farts, Disco spots and about three-thousand or more (I'm guessing) other samples that really shouldn't work but, by some slight of hand or genius, actually do. On paper snatches of steel bands shouldn't be found on the same side of tape as Geordie MCs, Michael Jackson, pneumatic drills, early Merzbow and '50's Doo Wop but here they are and it works. Totally. Then comes the added bonus of being able to listen to this to the point of ad nauseam, mainly due to the fact that there are so few reference points that every listen brings something new." [label info]
|
2014 |
€16.00 |
|
| MIZUTANI, KIYOSHI |
Inferior's Betrayal |
do-LP |
Reissue of the self-produced K7 in 1994 on Kiyoshi Mizutani's Ulcer House label.
https://fernsrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/inferiors-betrayal
"The first time I saw Merzbow in concert, in 1989, during his first European tour, I perceived them as a group. Masami Akita, Reiko A and K. Mizutani (although he arrived a bit later on tour) were a trio, even when Akita already seemed the leading man. Mizutani was present on various Merzbow releases from the 1980s but left in the early 90s. Since there have been several solo releases, not as many as Merzbow, since long Masami's solo vehicle, but that number is hard to surpass. 'Inferior's Betrayal' was first released on cassette in 1994 by Ulcer House. I am sure I heard that one, but not for long. With Merzbow, Mizutani was the guitarist, and I always assumed (but am not sure of) this is also his preferred instrument in solo work, next to sound effects. But, somehow, I also believe he uses field recordings or objects and contact microphones. The first piece, 'A Calm', is such a piece that sounds to me as if he's scraping contact microphones over rusty shovels and feeding that a bunch of sound effects. Interestingly enough, in none of the five pieces, Mizutani sounds like Merzbow, save perhaps for the feedback orgy of 'Parasite'. Sure, there is noise and a bit of feedback, but the main focus is not on that. Mizutani's music sounds like an exploration of acoustic sounds drifting into an electronic world. One could say that this is electro-acoustic music, but Mizutani adds an element of improvisation. All of these tracks are long and could be edited, but I would think endurance is part of the idea. A piece such as 'Composition' sounds like a Fluxus-inspired bang on a can (and plastic bags) and has a collage-like approach more than the four others. I enjoyed this double record, with music I hadn't heard in a long time and reminding me that I should dig out some of his other cassettes; perhaps Ferns will reissue these as well? That would be great." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2022 |
€26.00 |
|
| MLEHST |
Vilification of the english peasant class |
LP |
Eigentlich müsste MLEHST Preise gewinnen für die ausser-gewöhnlichste & einfallsreichste Titelgebung. Der Titel dieser LP heisst übersetzt etwa "die Herabwürdigung der englischen Bauernklasse".... klanglich ist das wieder äusserst herausfordernde, zermürbende Musik, mit eher hochfrequenten, Sinuston-artigen Drones, Cut-Ups, Feedbacks, insgesamt weniger krachig und "auskomponierter" als auf den Tapes der 90er, obgleich es auf der B-Seite harsche Rauschfelder gibt . Exzellent !
"Diophantine Discs is pleased to announce the release of a new LP... Mlehst - Vilification of the English Peasant Class.
After an extremely active period of recording between 1992 and 1998, Mlehst returned in 2005 to bring back his unique experimental noise music in a fashion as focused and intriguing as ever. "Vilification of the English Peasant Class" is a 3-track LP composed of invigorating and often unsettling music replete with drones, feedback, and cut-ups. The first side is very structured and precise, whereas the second side presents a more improvised and intense variation on the themes presented in the former. This is sure to appeal to fans of noise, drone, and experimental music in general.
Releasing an extensive number of recordings since 1992, England's Mlehst has always managed to capture the more experimental regions of noise music. His own Bandaged Hand Produce label was rather prolific in this realm as well. With his return in 2005 (and the establishment of Belief Recordings) we can only hope this trend will continue. Mlehst has released on a variety of labels over the years, including Self Abuse, Mother Savage, Absurd, Drahtfunk, Nihilist, and The Locus Of Assemblage. Additionally he has collaborated with or been released on splits with Runzelsturn & Gurgelstock, Brume, Smell & Quim, Crack Fierce, and Macronympha.
Pressed on clear vinyl and housed in a clear sleeve with sticker affixed to the front. Limited to 300 copies." [label info]
http://discs.diophantine.net
|
2007 |
€15.00 |
|
| MNEM |
For Delta Relics |
CD |
....die erste “echte” CD der finnländischen Analog-Drone-Meister, die sich wieder auf Reisen in abgründige archaic-drone Texturen geben...
“Audacious plunge into the undercurrent textures of sound overwhelming with archaic and primal influence yet appearing unprecedented and downright fresh in the present day. Finest sonic massives emitting complex syntheses of post industrial, electro-acoustics and harsh ambience; intensive layers of drones and abrasive loops laying foundation to diverse analog sound sculptures. Utilising old reel-to-reel recorders and analog gadgets has given this Finnish duo an almost trademark sound, now presented on their first full length release with highly acclaimed vinyl releases (Drone Records, Kaos Kontrol) already under their belts. Beautiful full colour sleeve in standard jewel case masterly designed by Stephen O'Malley (Malignant Records, Southern Lord, etc.).
Website: http://www.kaos-kontrol.org/mnem“ [label press release]
|
2003 |
€10.00 |
|
| MODELL, ROD / MARIT WOLTERS |
Cocoon |
do-LP |
Marit Wolters is a Viennese artist who creates sculptures that speak. They generate their own world of micro-sounds. Rod Modell is a sound designer operating primarily from Detroit (with an EU home-base in Amsterdam). Here, he moulded the sounds of Marit's works in the same way that she works her materials, creating a generative soundscape designed for museum playback during Marit’s exhibitions, constructed with sounds of Marit’s sculptures, drones, field recordings, and cosmic sounds. The result of this collaboration is COCOON, a 74 minute CD of music by Rod and Marit, with a 24-page 8" square booklet featuring Marit’s work. The package also Includes a poster that reproduces the original playbill from the debut exhibition of COCOON in Linz, Austria. A collector's item, limited and numbered to only 300 pieces.
"The Ethereal Substance of Matter" by Mirco Salvadori
It takes adaptation to begin this journey. We need to increase our perceptual sensors by adapting the transmission of touch to the apparently inert matter. Sight too must increase its visionary capacity, and hearing has the obligation to pick up even the most microscopic movement. Gradually, we levitate upon appearing in front of the substance. As protected in a transparent cocoon that allows contact, we penetrate through the undefined throbbing of a heart that is constantly springing into action, witness to a life that uses field recordings capable of recalling past glitches. Absorbed in the liquidity of sound we slowly immerse ourselves in the majesty of the deep dronic breath, driven by the power of the ambient wave that iterates its eternal oscillation. We are in, here where everything is an unlimited reverberation, almost a song of seductive ethereal substance.
13.silentes.it/private_sounds/sps2037_rod_modell_marit_wolters_cocoon.htm
|
2021 |
€36.00 |
|
| MOGARD, ABUL / MAURIZIO BIANCHI |
Nervous Hydra / All this has passed forever |
LP |
"MAURIZIO BIANCHI / ABUL MOGARD
NERVOUS HYDRA / ALL THIS HAS PASSED FOREVER
• Abrasive/enchanting split LP between Italian noise god MB and mystic Serbian synthesist AM
• Both artists at the peak of their respective powers • Cut @ D&M
• Limited edition of 500 copies
Ecstatic’s stunning split release between Maurizio Bianchi, godfather of the Italian industrial noise scene, and Abul Mogard, the much loved and hyperstitious synthesist, conjures a spellbinding testament to the transcendent and transportive energies of electronic music.
Although appearing to starkly contrast on the surface, both artist’s work patently shares a lust for the suggestive abstraction of raw current and its pareidolia-like capacity to generate rich and uncanny emotional responses from the end user.
On the A-side, Maurizio Bianchi serves the obfuscated, coruscating atmosphere of Nervous Hydra; a 17 minute piece of sunken, desiccated harmonic structures and warped greyscale tones rinsed with ET radio signals and distant percussion that recall the sound of embers landing on tinfoil or snow. It evokes the experience of being caught in a quietly raging whiteout with only a dying fire for company, or equally a sense of subaquatic, amniotic serenity prior to being evacuated into a much colder world.
Listeners can trust that the Italian artist’s first new work in several years is faithful to his ever- uncompromising oeuvre, but there’s also a tantalisingly elusive sense of redemption buried deep in there which marks it out from the rest of his canon and close to the work of his antecedents such as Kevin Drumm and Jim Haynes.
In that piece’s tempestuous wake, Abul Mogard brings a sense of soothing, glacial calm with All This Has Passed Forever on the B-side.
For 16 blissed minutes, Mogard spells out a nostalgic fantasy in creamy strokes of Farfisa organ and Serge modular recorded at EMS studios, Stockholm, and later combined with field recordings to elicit a wistfully widescreen paean to his days on the workshop floor accompanied by the harmonious drones and cacophony of heavy machinery.
No matter the piece’s provenance, though; it’s simply a sublime example of Abul Mogard’s gift for illusive, suspenseful ambient music which has seen his previous releases sky-rocket in 2nd hand value since their earliest, sold-out editions.
Over 30 minutes of ostensibly contrasting yet subtly, similarly spirited pieces that speak to the mystery and enigma of electronic music’s tortured, searching and romantic soul in equal measure."
www.ecstaticrecordings.com
|
2017 |
€22.00 |
|
| MOHAMMAD (MMMD) |
Zo Rel Do |
LP |
"Zo Rèl Do is the first volume of a trilogy that explores the sounds of the geographical area between 34°N - 42°N & 19°E - 29°E. In this new adventure Mohammad further enrich their monolithic, resonant and deep-dark melodic sound with rhythmic shreds, seismic vibrations that echoes past and future rituals. Volume 2 entitled Lamnè Gastama and Volume 3 Segondè Saleco will be released later in 2014 - early 2015. Edition of 450 copies." [label info]
www.antifrost.gr
"Of the two releases by Mohammad, 'Zo Rel Do' was already released in spring and 'Lamne Gastama' was just released; both of these are part of a trilogy that explores the geographical area between 34 and 42 degrees North and 19 and 29 E, which, if I'm not mistaken is roughly the area of the Mediterranean Sea. Mohammad is a trio of Nikos Veliotis (cello), Coti K. (contrabass) and Ilios (oscillators), and they describe their music as 'chamber doom, religious, extremely dark, harrowing, monolithic, born in heaven, sonic rape, electrocution', a lot of their music deals with low frequencies and dark textures, but I think there are some important differences between both releases. 'Zo Rel Do' seems to me less 'heavy' than the 'Lamne Gastama' one. On the latter the two stringed instruments are played 'con furioso', 'tres fort', like it is a vicious animal that need attacking. In 'Tik Tromakton' the oscillators from Ilios start out and it seems one of the rare occasions we hear him. Maybe, yet I might be entirely mistaken, but with many of the subtle low frequencies Ilios uses in his music, it might be better to witness this in concert at an appropriate volume, which may be lost at home (unless you want some domestic disturbance). The four pieces on 'Lamne Gastama' seemed to be more intense than the ones of 'Zo Rel Do', and evoke a feeling of oppression. Maybe even a very odd take on doom metal I was thinking. Having said all of that, I don't think 'Zo Rel Do' is a more lightweight record, but it certainly reflects a different life in that geographical area I think. The seven pieces here are a bit shorter than on the other one, and while 'Grabe' and 'Kabilar Mace' are quite forceful, 'Urso Nesto' seems to be entirely build of field recordings and 'Marik' reaches for a more contemplative mood, or even a sense of mourning in 'Samarina'. Both are excellent releases and with humble apologies to my neighbours for playing this at a considerable volume in the last few days." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€19.50 |
|
|
Lamnè Gastama - 34ºN-42ºN/19ºE-29ºE Study Vol.2 |
LP |
"Lamnè Gastama is the second volume of a trilogy that explores the sounds of the geographical area between 34°N - 42°N & 19°E - 29°E.
In this second volume Mohammad descend further down into the bowels of darkness unleashing sonic monoliths and Promethean melodies and rhythms. Lamnè Gastama, a veritable tour de force including Hapsía the first ever vocal track by the trio so far featuring Sakis Tolis of Rotting Christ.
Segondè Saleco, the third volume and final catharsis is expected in spring 2015. Tirage limité de 450 copies." [label info]
www.antifrost.gr
"Of the two releases by Mohammad, 'Zo Rel Do' was already released in spring and 'Lamne Gastama' was just released; both of these are part of a trilogy that explores the geographical area between 34 and 42 degrees North and 19 and 29 E, which, if I'm not mistaken is roughly the area of the Mediterranean Sea. Mohammad is a trio of Nikos Veliotis (cello), Coti K. (contrabass) and Ilios (oscillators), and they describe their music as 'chamber doom, religious, extremely dark, harrowing, monolithic, born in heaven, sonic rape, electrocution', a lot of their music deals with low frequencies and dark textures, but I think there are some important differences between both releases. 'Zo Rel Do' seems to me less 'heavy' than the 'Lamne Gastama' one. On the latter the two stringed instruments are played 'con furioso', 'tres fort', like it is a vicious animal that need attacking. In 'Tik Tromakton' the oscillators from Ilios start out and it seems one of the rare occasions we hear him. Maybe, yet I might be entirely mistaken, but with many of the subtle low frequencies Ilios uses in his music, it might be better to witness this in concert at an appropriate volume, which may be lost at home (unless you want some domestic disturbance). The four pieces on 'Lamne Gastama' seemed to be more intense than the ones of 'Zo Rel Do', and evoke a feeling of oppression. Maybe even a very odd take on doom metal I was thinking. Having said all of that, I don't think 'Zo Rel Do' is a more lightweight record, but it certainly reflects a different life in that geographical area I think. The seven pieces here are a bit shorter than on the other one, and while 'Grabe' and 'Kabilar Mace' are quite forceful, 'Urso Nesto' seems to be entirely build of field recordings and 'Marik' reaches for a more contemplative mood, or even a sense of mourning in 'Samarina'. Both are excellent releases and with humble apologies to my neighbours for playing this at a considerable volume in the last few days." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€18.00 |
|
| |
Pèkisyon Funebri |
3 x 10inch BOX |
"Leaving behind their folk based trilogy, Mohammad return to their own original material. Heavy and concentrated, majestic and dark, ethereal and subtle, Pèkisyon Funebri marks a new era in Mohammad's existence, unfolding earthly murmurs and ghostly chants over their distinctive seismic diapasons. An exhilarating procession through highly charged sonic plateaus, from the burning core to the silent skies." [label info] www.antifrost.gr
"The PAN label's premier purveyors of “chamber doom” return with a new cycle for longtime alibis, Antifrost, following their acclaimed folk trilogy of LPs between 2014-15, and the still-resonating tones of Som Sakrifis (2013) for PAN.
If you’ve encountered any of the aforementioned, you will have a very good idea of what to hope for in the 3-part Pèkisyon Funebri; namely a majestic sense of struggle against the flattening feeling of despair and fatigue that haunts our times.
This is music which appears to carry the weight of the world on its shoulders whilst wielding a cello and bow in its heavy limbs, dredging the psyche for signs of life which are found and coaxed from their holes to emerge as churning low-end gestures who reinforce their dual resonant frequencies in slow, wide vortices aimed at centring and quaking your thorax.
Subterranean in their prostration but sidereal in hope against the frustrations that we can only imagine must be felt in Greece right now, Pèkisyon Funebri is a masterful reminder that even at the lowest ebbs there is solace and resilience to be found if one remains faithful to the search.
Huge recommendation." [Boomkat]
"Is “all-encompassing” a cop-out term? Greek trio MMMD, a.k.a. Mohammad, have been eating us alive since 2013’s Som Sakrifis, and as someone following underground music back then, reading various interpretations of its sonic power was enthralling because its uncompromising, sensory-depraving tones assured that our reflections came out of our own visceral reactions rather than out of our interactions with any sort of external text. Our own Birkut began his immersive review of Som Sakrifis with an image of being alone on an island off of Cambodia with nothing but a winking, far-off light for assurance. Som Sakrifis in this allegory was both enveloping darkness and faint, hopeful light. What, then, is Pèkisyon Funebri? And what kind of status quo does its long-form drones conjure? What kind of hope, if any, does it offer a listener?
MMMD’s music has always reminded me of Howard Shore’s scores for The Lord of the Rings films, and as such, my listening has always been guided by that association. For me, Som Sakrifis was heroic music, war music, music by which pastoral hobbits fought against evil wizards and abominable orcs and glowing eyeballs, when outcomes of such battles meant everything to every thing, big or small, dwarf or elf, human or tree. Its overwhelming oppressiveness brought me into a breaking world, vied over by many, but plagued by absolutes. With Pèkisyon Funebri, MMMD has signified a formic return after a brief cartographical break from its regularly scheduled programming. It’s a quiet return at first, as opener “Az álmok itt érnek véget (rész 1)” culls an open landscape, a place where blood has been shed by neighbors who have found themselves equal under a force more terrible than God. “Qoxra” follows, a tremor-inducing dirge for everything that has been lost since “Liberig Min.” What follows is as nerve-wracking as it is steadying, and while my complete ignorance of Greek language obscures my semiotic reading of Pèkisyon Funebri as a multi-movement piece, my feeling is that its slow, plodding drones are of great human import somehow.
Unlike its stylistic predecessor, Pèkisyon Funebri is broken down into many long form movements. There are hiccups here, moments of letting up that are later infiltrated by solid, unyielding sound. “Sorsa” is punctuated by muted pulses, for instance, offering real moments of reprieve from this conjured world’s constant gravity while amplifying more sinuous, time-defying stretches of obligatory crying out like on “Malproksime” and closer “Erdia Da.” Whereas Som Sakrifis felt like that riddle about what has four legs by morning, two by afternoon, and three by evening, Pèkisyon Funebri asks “What’s in my pockets?” Its massiveness, sustained by a bold confidence in potentially liberating non sequiturs, signals a subtle change in trajectory toward a shadowy asymptote; this may not be MMMD’s magnum opus, but its power is great and its cohesion as a work is palpable. And like Som Sakrifis, its reach is absolute. Uniquely, its staying power suggests that MMMD’s reach can transcend time, bridging a Middle Earth and a dying one.
A function of drone as a form is that it grabs and sustains our attention in its steadfastness. It slows us down. It directs our attention. It soundtracks our movements, placing new and unusual stresses on our actions in time. As an electroacoustic genre, its affectiveness relies on subjectivity, while its deliberateness is a sign that begs some kind of reflection. Is Pèkisyon Funebri all-encompassing then? I’m not sure. Its reaches in reality are relatively short as its audience is limited by dedication and access, but its potential, I think, is a unifying one, even if it unifies primarily by pressing down on everything equally. Much like Barry Lyndon’s Epilogue, Pèkisyon Funebri reminds us of our fundamental equality amidst violent inequity: “It was in the reign of George III that the aforesaid personages lived and quarrelled. Good or bad, handsome or ugly, rich or poor. They are all equal now.” So what do we do from here while we are alive? Well, as TMTer Mukqs once said, “Just sit and listen.” Let it all sink in. Let it make your bones shake. Let it change how you walk. Let it bring you down when you feel too proud. Let it pull you up when you feel too small. Let it be and let yourself be changed by its unrelenting resonance. If even for a moment, let it make you feel something so that you have proof of your own dignity when forces of evil threaten it. Let it play. And let it outlive its own dark cloud." [Jackson Scott, Tinymixtapes]
|
2016 |
€58.00 |
|
| MOHNE, ACHIM |
Accelerated Standstill |
LP |
"Limited edition vinyl of 300. Cut by Jason at Transition, this release is dedicated to Paul Virilio. An assembling for locked grooves. Collected and performed since 1997, recorded live in 2013 as part of 'Touch presents' at Café Oto, London; Ausland, Berlin; the Academy of Media Arts, Cologne, and the Centre for Arts and Media (ZKM), Karlsruhe. This is the 7th in the Touch white label series of releases... This record can be played at all speeds, but the recommended speed is 33 rpm.
Accelerated Standstill is an assembling of locked grooves found on customary vinyl records. The records have been collected and performed live between 1997 and 2013. Locked grooves normally functioning as a 'barrier', avoiding the needle coming into contact with the label at the centre of the record. All grooves sound different, depending on how dust has effected and transformed the soft surface of the vinyl.
By using a triple vinyl deck set-up this (analytic auditory observations of) ending grooves are mixed live thus composing a 'music that lies hidden in the medium itself. The tiny dust particles inside the vinyl groove convert into a 'sound sculpture' - an important syntactical parameter (of the apparatus) is formed by the turntables themselves. The speed of their rotation is not limited to 33 or 45 rpm, but expanded between 1 and 150 rounds per minute thus determining the loops and the rhythm.
Achim Mohné started working with record players, cassette recorders and other sound-media-apparatus in the mid 1990s. He experiments with the space and time intervals of sound-media and is especially interested in the music that lies hidden in the medium itself. His method is to subject the support material to a forensic autopsy. His most recent project analyses the transfer data of a Wi-Fi router called Fritz Box/Fritz Kiste (cf TouchRadio). His further work features sound tracks for film and theatre performances (with Yoshie Shibahara) as well as collaboration with classical musicians (such as violinist Ayumi Paul)." [label info]
|
2014 |
€14.00 |
|
| MOLJEBKA PVLSE |
Zojo |
CD |
"The Moljebka Pvlse album Zojo was recorded during the Mathias studies at the Royal Institute of Art. He was inspired by the longest night of the year in Stockholm, the day when there is almost no daylight. His ambition was to make an acoustic album of minimal music without any musical instruments. Moljebka Pvlse setup long nylon strings across his entire studio at school, which he then plucked and bowed and recorded with his favorite contact microphones on that very night. These recordings became the fundament of the album and set the tone for the rest of the work. Moljebka Pvlse are very grateful for the contribution by the Japanese artist Michiko Kashiba on this album." [label info]
www.greytone.eu
"Three long pieces on Mathias Josefson's album 'Zojo', which he released under his moniker Moljekba Pvlse. Its been quiet from my end of the telescope for Josefson in recent years, but its good to hear his music again. Not that there is much change, I must admit, as Moljekba Pvlse still does what he does best: creating drone like music, based on metal sheets, with contact microphones and played with bowes. Perhaps the sound was enhanced with the use of electronics, but I am not entirely sure. The odd, new, element thrown in now is the use of voice (by Michiko Kashiba), which adds some wordless singing to the music. The sounds ring in the world of overtones, and it all happens in a rather gentle manner, which sometimes goes a bit up the scale, such as in 'Daylight', when it all sounds a bit like a violin played inside the motor of an airplane. Maybe all three pieces are a bit too long, and could have been say five minutes per piece shorter. But throughout however a very refined album of
textured drone music. For those who like Organum, I'd say." [FdW /Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
The Distant Past Resound |
CD |
https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/the-distant-past-resounds
About a year after the release of the great album "Borrowed Scenery", MOLJEBKA PVLSE is back with another, even better material. Four musicians were involved in its recording; Mathias Josefson, handling all the electronics, was joined in turn by Isabel Fogelklou, who rejoined the ranks of the Scandinavian project, recording her harp parts, as well as Hara Alonso on piano and Kris Kuldkepp on double bass. The contribution of each of these artists left its mark on the final shape of "The Distant Past Resounds", which to some extent is a continuation of the previously chosen direction. However, thanks to the use of richer instruments, the involvement of each of the participants of the recording session, whose input translated into richer arrangements, even bolder stylistic journeys and the diversity of the entire composition. All this makes the latest material of MOLJEBKA PVLSE an extremely interesting story, outlined in a very expressive way so as to release a whole palette of colors, moods and emotions from the sound matter, allowing you to lose yourself even deeper with each subsequent listening. We can still talk here about the stylistic convention, which can be defined as drone / ambient, but here they were treated as a base on which one of the most interesting, if not the most interesting album in the Swedish artist's discography was based.
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"The first notable difference with many previous releases from Mathias Josefson's project Moljebka Pvlse is that it is now a real group. I don't know if this is a temporary thing, but next to Josefson on electronics, we have Hara Alsonso (piano), Isabel Fogelkou (harp) and Kris Kuldkepp (double bass). It is not a surprise that these instruments are well suited to play long-form drone sounds, perhaps with some help (a bow, an e-bow), and get those strings resonating along with whatever Josefson does on the electronic side. It starts with a more abstract approach in which many overtones are ringing, which, at times, reminded me of early Organum, which is always a good thing. The CD has one long track, but on Bandcamp, there is a division into three tracks, each about twenty-five minutes. I am unsure if that has to do with the upload capacity of Bandcamp or if these are natural breaks in the piece. I don't register anything as being a separate section. As the music progresses, the instruments somewhat drift apart and become more apparent. The piano plays sparse notes, the double bass singling out notes, and from there on, the music becomes a most curious combination of what I perceive as long-form acoustic improvisation, colliding with the more composed droning of electronics. There is something orchestral about this piece at several points, certainly towards the end, which bumps with the feedback that is also, at times, part of this piece. A fascinating
release, which, for all I know, is quite a departure for Moljebka Pvlse and opening interesting new paths into the future." [FdW /Vital Weekly] |
2023 |
€13.00 |
|
| MOLJEBKA PVLSE & HOROLOGIUM |
Kaukasus |
CD |
Die Kaukasus-Region dient auf dieser Zusammenarbeit des schwedischen Projekts MOLJEBKA PVLSE mit den uns bisher unbekannten HOROLOGIUM als inhaltliche Inspirationsquelle.
Trancige Mantra-Drones, hypnotische perkussionsartige Strukturen, überwiegend sehr dronig-rauschig-minimalistisch, spirituelle Atmo. SEHR schöne Verpackung: Gefaltete / Bedruckte Papphülle in Leinen, mit Siegellack verschlossen. [Drone Rec info 2006]
“The highest mountains in Europe have been a place of constant national conflicts ever since. 'Kaukasus' by Moljebka Pvlse and Horologium is an album devoted to this magical and spellbound region, known for its natural beauty and cultural variety. 45 minutes of experimental ambient music on a limited to 555 copies CD edition, which as always comes in a splendid packaging: 260 x 360 cm poster folded in two (13 x 18 cm). A linen clothing is added for your aesthetical pleasure.“ [label info]
|
2005 |
€12.00 |
|
| MOLJEBKA PVLSE / SEVENTEEN MIGS OF SPRING |
Ravha / Electricity Gardens |
CD |
Split & Collaboration vom beliebten schwedischen "Experimental Drone"-Projekt mit den uns bisher unbekannten 17 MIGS OF SPRING aus Tel Aviv. Eröffnet wird das Album durch ein sehr langes, ungewöhnliches Stück von M.P. mit vielen eher konkreten field recordings, welches wieder dessen grosse Variabilität aufzeigt; es folgen ein echtes Collaboration-Stück beider Projekte und 5 Stücke von 17 MIGS OF SPRING, die sich zwischen dunklem drone-ambient und aggressiven Analog-Industrial bewegen.
"It is not every day you find reviews of albums released by Israeli labels in Vital Weekly. Topheth Prophet is an independent Israeli label formed in summer 2002 whose aim is to spread the knowledge of the Israeli noise scene to the outside world. The label focuses on styles ranging from harsh noise across power electronics to dark ambient. This 13th release from the label deals with drone-based ambient music. On this particular release one of the presented projects has its origin in Sweden. It is a split album between Israeli project SEVENTEEN MIGS OF SPRING and Swedish project MOLJEBKA PULSE. The album opens with the 27 minute long track titled "Ravha" from the latter mentioned project. The brain behind Moljebka Pvlse is the Swedish sound artist Mathias Josefson who explores the sounds of both acoustic and electronic origins, quite often with the starting point taken in found sounds and field recordings. The "Ravha"-track is a nice example of Mr. Josefson's ability to transform the sounds of reality into a world of drone-based minimalism. Opening with a mixture of concrete natural sounds and buzzing drones the expression slowly turns more and more harsh as the field recordings develops into noisy drones including spoken words. At a point the concrete sounds fades away or turns into sonic abstraction. The track moves into pure drone ambient minimalism. Nice work.
Seventeen Migs Of Spring is an Israeli project consisting of three members, Gurfa, K-76 and B-74. As was the case with aforementioned Swedish project the conceptual approach of this Israeli project is sonic drones based on concrete sounds. Compared to the Swedish project the Israeli projects goes further to the extremes with sounds of a rather noisy kind. Especially four or the five tracks get quite harsh with the use of an on-going mixture of static noise and radio-based shortwave frequencies. Inbetween the two projects comes a collaborative track that successfully combines the style of the two projects. Everyone interested in drone based ambient with focus on concrete sounds should definitely check out this album. " [NM, Vital Weekly]
label-website: www.tophet.org
|
2007 |
€13.50 |
|
| MOLLUSK |
Aeon Synapses Connect |
CD-R |
"Mollusk is a project from sound artist Per Åhlund, known from previous releases on Reverse Alignment (with Skare and Kahl) and Johan Boberg, musician and composer that has been working with varied forms of approaches towards music. Schooled by Stockhausen and Coltrane, Johan has been part of the electronic music scene since the '90s and has, just like Per, become a very much active part of EMS and Fylkingen in Stockholm.
During 2016, Reverse Alignment release a series of three Mollusk albums where "Aeon Synapses Connect" is the first, followed by "Astral Mechanics" (June) and "The Cloud Expedition" (September).
With Mollusk the duo create "modular soundscapes resonating within the organic machinery feedback"." [label info]
reversealignment.bandcamp.com
|
2016 |
€10.00 |
|
| |
Astral Mechanics |
CD-R |
"After releasing "Aeon Synapses Connect", Mollusk (Per Åhlund and Johan Boberg) now enter it's second episode in their three-part series.
This time the listener will discover a more contemplating side of the project, appealing more to a wider audience with a touch of ambient soundscape.
Where "Aeon Synapses Connect" were an outburst of experimentalism, "Astral Mechanics" has a more soothing character and a drifting feel.
Following "Astral Mechanics", Reverse Alignment releases the last part of the Mollusk trilogy,"The Cloud Expedition", in October.
"Modular soundscapes resonating within the organic machinery feedback".
Professionally made CDr w/4-panel digipack in a limited edition of 100 copies." [label info]
ralignment.tictail.com
|
2016 |
€12.00 |
|
| MONNIER, THIERRY |
Temps Espace |
LP |
Temps Espace consists of two pieces of DIY “musique concrète”.
DIY because it was made outside of any academism and done with the equipment that I own at the time of the recordings, appropriate or not.
Two tracks Inter…, in-between.
One composition (intermezzo) has been done 14 years ago and the other one (interfluve) 2 years ago. The connection between those tracks is the original sound material which has been recorded at about the same time (early two thousand).
Time and/or space are in question in the two compositions.
The first track result from the in-between of a reading of Deleuze and Guattari a thousand plateaus and the second one is taken from the space in-between two talwegs.
One were the sound has been deteriorated through the mixing process of a cassette 4 tracks tape recorder and the other one where the erosion is the central question.
But two tracks so different that they are separated on each side of the LP and with the recommendation to not listen to them one after the other.
Mastering by Giuseppe Ielasi
https://doubtful-sounds.bandcamp.com/album/temps-espace
|
2017 |
€17.00 |
|
| MONOCUBE |
The Rituals |
CD |
"Following a recent appearance on Drone Mind Vol 5, Ukrainian act Monocube makes his way into the halls of Malignant for his second, full length recording, featuring nine tracks and just over an hour worth of material ensconced in shadowy, enveloping atmospheres, intact with all the hallmarks of classic dark ambient: arcing, cinematic textures, elegiac melody, and timestretched drift. As The Rituals progresses, it becomes increasingly populated by something even more ominous and bleak; undertones of ancient tribalism and fiery invocations arise, mixed with the blackened soot of distant factory churn and the burning remnants of an ashen wasteland. Featuring collaborative tracks with Treha Sektori, Apocryphos, and Asmorod, The Rituals is an immersive and compelling work, seamlessly bound together in an embrace of darkness.
Tracklisting: Visiones III, Drowned Sun, Downwards (feat. Apocryphos), Totem Incantation, Fires Shifting - Nocturnal Motion, Through Our Blood, Father Fenris, Anthracite Glow (feat. Treha Sektori), Initiation (feat. Asmorod)." [label info]
www.malignantrecords.com
"Imagine a deep void, devoid of light, black to its very core, soundless, airless, empty and infinite. There’s no beginning or end, no past or future. The terms of time and space are so irrelevant here. A void that sucks you like a vacuum, and you can’t tell if that body of yours is still solid, or if you’re broken into atoms and only your consciousness remains as something that can still be described with actual words. Or perhaps even this doesn’t exist anymore.
What a cliché, huh. How many times have we dealt with such visions in the dark ambient genre. Mr Lustmord, Sir, you made a mess in many (well, ok, not so many) people’s minds and now your sons, and sons of their sons, generation after generation, paint these same visions. Very slightly changed over the years, sometimes more concrete, more cinematic, sometimes more abstract. In one occasion the music may be more melodic, while in another it may take a more droney direction. Noises, harmonies, ritual, oriental, glacial moods, it may all vary but the foundation is more or less always the same. The dark ambient community doesn’t mind being fed with more of the same though. At least I don’t. I don’t look for innovations anymore, I don’t need anything groundbreaking – that expectation ended about ten years ago. Now I just look for an atmosphere that will speak to me. For a mixture where all the ingredients are served in perfect proportions.
The reason why I write all this, is because Andrzej Gładuszewski of the Ukrainian project Monocube managed to reach a perfect balance, at least to my taste. The album doesn’t bring anything new to the genre, but it doesn’t have to. Sometimes I wonder if there are any dark ambient artists who still believe that they can create something truly “new”, something that in a few years from now will be considered a milestone. Guess not so many. This concerns most musical genres anyway. Only for dark ambient musicians things are even harder, because, contrary to pop, rock, or even neofolk if we consider the subject on a more underground level, the dark ambent genre from its definition is devoid of so-called “catchiness”. Of course I’m speaking in generalisations, because sometimes you may stumble upon a catchy ambient tune or theme. Yet even if that is the case, only us, the fans of the genre, may consider it so. For the majority of the listeners it’s still music that’s difficult to digest. By all means, I don’t mean to say that Andrzej is not an ambitious guy. I guess that his efforts are focused on something else: on capturing that very core that not many have managed to capture before. I feel like this core becomes smaller and smaller with every passing year, but he managed to reach it. Hit it like a world champion in archery or something.
It’s all because of the sound, which is of the highest quality, the feeling that Andrzej obviously has in his heart, his understanding of the genre and the potential receivers of this music. He knows exactly how to avoid boredom or irritation. The tracks differ from one another, each tells its own story and it doesn’t take much time for the listener to distinguish between them. You want some delicate darkness based on guitar sounds of a distant post-rock provenance? You got it in “Visiones III”. Deep and anxious bass drones, but still without bursting with horror? “Downwards” (composed with Apocryphos). While in “Totem Incantation” you’re dealing with strange noises, whistles and murmurs. Its chaotic, ritual character makes me think of the Aural Hypnox label, especially since my ears tell me that it was composed using solely physical objects, including the human voice. “Through Our Blood” introduces acoustic guitar and the exceptionaly eerie “Father Fenris” brings forth a crawling dread straight from the centre of the Earth. The main dish we find at the very end however. “Initiation” was made in collaboration with Asmorod, and Nicolas’ presence is very significant here. These solemn synth melodies are so specific they can’t be mistaken for anything else. After all, Asmorod is responsible for “Hysope”, one of my favourite ambient albums ever and… well, possibly the last “milestone” I was discussing above.
This mélange doesn’t seem as if made solely to put all the artist’s ideas and dark ambient influences into one recording. It forms a story, where each track is another chapter. Or it’s like different views of the same idea. Andrzej captured the essence of the genre and was able to carve in it in a very creative way, so a big applause from me for that. And “The Rituals” is a big step forward when compared to the previous “Blue Dusk /// Red Dawn”. At the moment it’s one of the best dark ambient albums of 2017." [Santa Sangre]
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
| MONOCUBE & TROUM // TROUM & MONOCUBE |
Contemplator Caeli |
LP |
"CONTEMPLATOR CAELI denotes the antique notion and skill of immersing into the (night-) sky, in order to feel connected to the immeasureable dimensions of the universe and the unearthly powers. The celestial spheres and objects are interpretated as living entities, building a shelter for the earth and the humans, reflecting an eternal cosmic order and it's principles. The sky is being watched with deep humbleness, amazement and praise.
Inspired by this old notion TROUM & MONOCUBE wanted to capture it's emotional bearing, understanding the sky also as our 'psychic firmament', the universe that is linked with every single cell in our bodies.
Ukraine's transcension guitar drone project MONOCUBE and German dream atmospherics TROUM collaborated on four long tracks, working with each other's basic material, using acoustic guitars, melodica, accordeon, voice and electronic effects.
The result is this very first vinyl release on TRANSGREDIENT, the initial edition is limited and numbered to 200 copies and comes on multi-"sky"-coloured vinyl and with inlay, feat. a phantastic artwork done by sukkeret.og.pepper studio (Berlin).
Side 1:
A1 CIRCULARIS ET PERPETUA
A2 PRECESSIO ÆQUINOCTIORUM
Side 2:
B1 STELLAE ERRANTIS
B2 DIGRESSIO
digital version:
https://troum.bandcamp.com/album/contemplator-caeli-collab-with-monocube
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"Although being familiar with both projects, the first thing that drew me to this album was the stunning gothic and celestial-tinged artwork. Upon investigation the visuals specifically tie in with the album’s theme which ‘denotes the antique notion and skill of immersing into the (night-) sky, in order to feel connected to the immeasurable dimensions of the universe and the unearthly powers. The celestial spheres and objects are interpreted as living entities, building a shelter for the earth and the humans, reflecting an eternal cosmic order and its principles. The sky is being watched with deep humbleness, amazement and praise’.
Circularis Et Perpetua opens the album, blending mournful drones and what appear to be treated choirs sitting in the middle to the back of the mix. Hitting its stride early, the tone swells in a cyclic rising and falling manner and hints at grandiose night-time vistas; this maintains consistency over the eight-minute span. In contrast to the ethereal mood that the choirs provide on the first track, a more earthbound perspective is articulated on Precessio Aequinoctiorum via the use of a lone male singing (courtesy of Monocube?), blended with widescreen enveloping drones. Stellae Errantis opens Side B, and is slightly less flowing than the preceding material as the caustic and tensile atmosphere sounds to be constructed around treated field recordings and layered foghorn drones. But the absolute highlight track is the final one, Digressio: an amazing piece of melancholy minimalism, based around reverb-drenched and catatonically plucked strings (acoustic guitar?), blended with widescreen melodious bass drones that rise and recede over an extended length.
If you enjoy the output of either or both projects, you will clearly find much to like with this release. While the first three tracks are enjoyably good, it is the fourth that is the absolute standout. Pressed in 200 copies in clear coloured vinyl, a full colour cover and insert rounds out the exquisite presentation."
[Noise Receptor]
|
2020 |
€20.00 |
|
| MONOPIUM |
The Goat & the Dead Horses Circus |
CD |
" ”The Goat & Dead Horses' Circus” is a new child for MONOPIUM. After a great debut album “Mesmerized.” The surrealist titles hint at the fact that the album is filled with abstract music and slightly degenerated, out of this world sounds. Twelve compositions introduce the listener to the world of magical fairytales. Welcoming you to an adventure based on a soundtrack of deranged improvisations; experiments with cut-ups and exotica. The tracks have been graced by guest appearances by two extraordinary artists: Euski (ROMA AMOR) and EmmA WyrD (CHRONIQUE NOCTURNE) The cover was designed by Robert Schalinski (of Column One fame)." [label info]
www.zoharum.com
"Michal Majcher is the man behind Monopium (great name I thought). Active since 2007, he released his first album, "Mesmerized' on Beast Of Prey in 2009. I don't think I heard that one. The music here on 'The Goat And The Dead Horses' Circus' is easily classified as 'odd'. Zoharum describes this "neo-cabaret, post-industrial electronics, musique concrete, drone and even free jazz, it draws associations with incidental musics for film noir, surrealist cinema and the dadaists" and I couldn't agree more. Not something I necessarily like throughout, I must admit, as it carries some traces of gothic, pathetic undercurrent here and there, the sort of adult stuff about fairytales, but because it sounds quite different from what is usually on our plates, but still could easily be classified as 'experimental' by our own standards, this is certainly something I played with a lot of interest. It's quite heavy on the percussion side of things, but also have tape manipulation, cello, voices and maybe field recordings - more water sounds here. A hotch-potch of instruments, and such perhaps of styles (although of course that's not necessarily per se), this makes up indeed a curious CD, of all those things mentioned, and to which one could also add perhaps ambient and plunderphonics. Nice one for its daringly, different content." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2012 |
€12.00 |
|
| MONOS (DARREN TATE & COLIN POTTER) |
Above the Sky |
CD |
"Finally the ‘new’ album from Monos sees the light of day. Spanning a period of almost four years and involving their one and only public performance, the trio of Darren Tate, Colin Potter and Paul Bradley finally agree that everything is where it should be and the CD is released. Two long contrasting tracks; the familiar and unfamiliar, the context changed, the final result very different, yet at the same time completely natural and cohesive." [label info]
www.icrdistribution.com
"Over the past few years, Darren Tate has been wandering into
some wildly weird electronics, broadening the scope of his aesthetic
beyond the seminal recordings he made with Andrew Chalk (amongst
others) as Ora, and more recently through Monos. For the most part,
Monos has been a collaborative project between Tate and Nurse With
Wound engineer extrordinaire Colin Potter, but at other times, we're
pretty sure that Tate is the only one behind the wheel. For Above The
Sky, the Monos line-up includes Tate, Potter, and fellow British
dronescraper Paul Bradley; and this record is a top notch, vintage
sounding Monos disc for sure.
The extended pieces found on this album were culled from the
one and only live Monos gig in 2006, the handful of recordings from
that gig were processed, recreated, forgotten about, rediscovered, and
processed again throughout various starts and stops over the next four
years. The resulting album is surprisingly coherent, presenting itself
as a sinewy mass of undulating drones dappled with various textures,
shadowy events, field recordings, subtle instrumentation, and then
some. The ghostly ambience that introduces this album is sublimely
beautiful, like the druggy drones of Nurse With Wound (e.g. Soliloquy
For Lilith) or the permafrost laden expanses of Thomas Koner or even a
darker version of Leyland Kirby's much-lauded hauntological ambience.
Distant sound elements of scraped metal echo to the foreground, as the
latent sounds from some occluded ritual in some forgotten place.
Shimmering acoustic clouds of resonance peel away into field
recordings of numerous birds flitting about. Later on, semi-melodic
phrases hover near the event horizon dominated by ominous electrical
vibrations and dilated drone fields. Seriously, this is fantastic stuff!" [Aquarius Records]
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Age and Transformation |
do-CD |
"To say that this has been planned for some time would be a bit of an understatement. The original Age and Transformation was released by Darren Tate in 2004 on his own Fungal imprint (and issued again in 2005). Both were released as CDRs in editions of 100 copies. Around 2006 the subject of doing a reissue was discussed, and discussed/planned/discussed, and now 6 (six!) years later Age and Transformation with an exquisite Colin Potter remaster along with an entirely new piece, Aged and Transformed remixed from the original is just about here. Darren's work has always been that of a drone eccentric, and proof positive of that is the micro-editions released since 2003 on his own Fungal Records. True modern-day psychedelia, drawn out drone excursions, electric guitar scraping and expansion, synth noodling harbored into small private recordings for the chosen few. The limited number of those exposed to Darren's view, which was not intended to be exclusive, just small updates as to where/what was happening with Darren in terms of gear, mood and circumstance. There is an inherent feel that little editing takes place, just captured recordings with the reel-to-reel on. Tate has worked extensively with other collaborators: Andrew Chalk (together known as Ora), Colin Potter (as Monos), Paul Bradley, Andrew Liles, and Ian Holloway to name a few. Collectively a solid block foundation of great U.K. drone artists. In a collaborative setting, there may be a bit more judicious editing employed for better (or for worse) depending on where one sits in appreciation of refinement over improvisation. Which brings us to Age and Transformation. Two tracks, both around the half-hour mark and presumably recorded in one take each. The first track ('Untitled') contains all elements of what makes a Tate recording effective: gentle guitar scraping, echoed city recordings, air vibrations oscillating an overall nocturnal hush that shrouds the whole piece. The second track (again, simply 'Untitled') is undoubtedly one of Tate's finest solo moments. A defining impressionistic recording captured in the middle of the night. It opens with the sound of a freeway , a very distant light traffic flow filtered through the forest. A lonesome organ sonata, languid chords with silence in between weave in and out at various points throughout. Tate sitting by the window capturing the sounds of the freeway, voices, haunting arias both human and industrial. The second disc is a reworking by Colin Potter. Extracted from the quiet of Age and Transformation, the first track 'Aged' is an encapsulation of the entire recording with the small dervishes, organ melodies and drone wrapped up in an almost tidy nine minutes. The second, 'Transformed,' is over 40 minutes of water tower acoustic sustained tones, layered subtle guitar hum... a perfect complimentary refinement on a classic ambient improvisation." [label info]
www.infractionrecords.com
|
2012 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
Sunny Day in Saginomiya |
CD-R |
"Bearbeitete field recordings, die eine trancige, verwaschene Atmosphäre ausstrahlen, und ein konkreteres Stück mit vielen hellen Metall / Gong / Glas? –Klängen... neues Album basierend auf field recordings von D.SUZUKI vom englischen Kultprojekt." [old Drone Rec. info]
"A unique project from the group of Darren Tate and producer Colin Potter. This project features recordings by Daisuke Suzuki (Lost Shadow, Siren Records). One track is based on a field recording and the other on an improvisation with some small objects. The overall tone of the recordings evokes a much more urban sound landscape than on previous Monos releases, but Colin and Darren's careful mixing and embellishment on the records lends a surreal if not slightly sinister atmosphere to the proceedings." [Edition - label info]
"Sunny Day In Saginomiya is a Monos album that originally came out in 2001 on the American label Edition... (yes, the ellipsis is a part of the label's name) and it's been out of print for a very long time. Darren Tate of Monos has just reissued this as a super limited cd-r on his own Fungal imprint. Here's what we had to say about the album way back when:
Darren Tate has been releasing an impressive catalogue of tiny edition cd-rs by his project Monos, which began as a solo project although more recently he has partnered with Colin Potter (who had worked with Tate in the organic drone ensemble Ora). Working in Potter's ICR studios (which has not only produced likeminded work from Organum, Jonathan Coleclough, and Andrew Chalk, but also the Dadaist collages of Nurse With Wound), Monos applied thick patinas of reverb and electric synthesis to a set of field recordings provided by another occasional Ora contributor, Daisuke Suzuki. The first half of the album couples reverb saturated field recordings of birds with some eerie spectral guitar drone work from Darren Tate, recalling some of the early Main albums. The second half is far more Spartan as Monos works their magic on a Daisuke Suzuki recording of bells, gongs, and rattles occasionally marked by ascending delay patterns and gradually overcome by the analog electronics found on Nightfall Sunshine. Quite lovely." [Aquarius Rec]
|
2015 |
€10.00 |
|
| MONTESSUIS, JOACHIM |
Chapel Perilous |
LP |
"After a prolific 2011 with a handful of splendid releases on CD, DVD and cassette + collaborations with the likes of Charlemagne Palestine, Julien Ottavi and The Master Musicians of Joujouka, “Chapel Perilous” marks the debut vinyl release and first proper solo album by the Paris based audio/visual artist and curator of the exquisite Erratum label. 23 tracks, totalling approx. 35 minutes, compiled from recordings made in the course of the past eight years, de- and recomposed for this album in early 2012. Drawing on his voice as the main tool, Montessuis delivers a frantic opus of cut-up noise poetry, making “Chapel Perilous” le chef d’œuvre of his extending body of work." [label info]
www.fragmentfactory.com
|
2012 |
€17.50 |
|
| MONTGOMERY, GEN KEN |
Birds + Machines |
CD |
"With the enthusiasm of a born-again composer, I reviewed music I composed in the 80s, giving special attention to pieces that fused electronic sounds with everyday recorded sounds and noisy songs." - Gen Ken
I knew of Gen Ken Montgomery long before I ever met him, in fact one of the first tracks to attract me to his music is on this cd. And then I did meet him, etc etc. (Ken was a co-founder of Pogus, by the way). So it is with special delight that Pogus can release this cd of Ken's works from the 1980's.
I think that what Rene van Peer writes in his notes for this disc sums up much of Ken's work indeed:
Gen Ken Montgomery's sound worlds are full of activity. Not in the sense of sinuous melodies and chord progressions that try to set flea-hopping records. The sounds conjure up images and atmospheres of workshops where people busy themselves with assembling and repairing a variety of contraptions. Places where humans and tools intermingle, where technology (both hi and lo) appears as a trusted and respected companion. It is as much accepted as an integral part of the human sphere as a dog or a cat might be - and it sounds equally homely.
That is not to say that all sounds you'll hear in his music are commonplace, mundane. Many of them are immediately recognizable. Many of them can be traced to their source, even through dense veils of modification. Some derive clearly from instruments, some from birds. But many are absolutely singular, there's no telling what produced them. And to tell you the truth (my truth): it doesn't really matter. Regardless what sounds or sources form the components of this music (everyday or extraordinary objects; musical instruments or electronic tools; his own voice or environmental recordings), what is important is the mind that processes them and welds them together into the independent entities that we call songs.
It is evidently an open mind that enjoys toying with sounds. His music sounds as if he works with what he finds. Obviously he has prepared materials to be used. But the way he puts everything together makes the impression of someone following his judgment of the situation on the spot. These are not guided tours, mapped out beforehand. These songs are explorations. Trips into an unknown. They aren't, however, excursions done in seclusion. Everywhere he goes Ken Montgomery creates a buzz. He creates a sphere of sound around him that feels humane, sociable. A warm cloud of sonic strangeness. But a loud cloud, too, mind you." [label info]
www.pogus.com
"Although never really 'away' from the scene, Gen Ken Montgomery's career has been up and off the radar quite a bit, but these days he feels like a born again composer. He has been around since 1980 and recently reviewed the first decade of his career, and compiled this overview from these years and released it on Pogus, a label he was one of the founding fathers of (a fact I was unaware of). Heavily under the influence of electronic music, from all sorts of directions.
From industrial music to Conrad Schnitzler and
the serious sixties avant-garde, but also working, early, with field recordings (bird sounds return in various pieces). This collection spans all of these interests and makes up a highly varied disc of experimental, electronic music. The free spirit of these pieces, mostly made through improvisation with synthesizers, electric violin, found sounds, is partly crude, inherent to the period it was recorded I guess, is great. Not every track is great, 'Crema Di Roma' just gets on and on a bit too much for my liking, but there is enough great music here in this package to enjoy. If you missed out his own early tapes and records, and 80s styled electronic music was just discovered, then this is a must have. All others already made a note to fill in the gap in history." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Postcards 1981-1986 |
do-LP |
Gen Ken Montgomery, a New York-based Visual Artist and Sound Composer is absolutely genuine; he has no training in traditional music or art. He was never a follower of any direction or school. Instead he founded his own school of off-beat DIY-electronics, driven by irresistible curiosity and ingenuous enthusiasm for sound experimentation and process-oriented performance.
His music is dense and full of polyrhythms and counter harmonies with singular control over layers of randomly pulsing, bleeping synthesizers and drum boxes. As a composer in the early eighties Ken was creating multi-channel sound works often performed in total darkness.
He began his sound explorations with electronic toys, cheap synthesizers and household gadgetry for which he had a special fascination. His ever present objects of affection are electric machines including an ice crusher (ICEBREAKER), aquarium pump, refrigerator, shoe shine machine, hand massager and a laminator (The Sound of Lamination).
Postcards has 41 (!!) tracks; 22 tracks on LP 1 compiled from his first tape Gen Ken & Equipment (1981), his second tape Collaborations (1982), his third official tape Kalkreuth Keks (1986), recorded at Conrad Schnitzler’s Studio, and several live recordings under the name KMZ with Michael Zodorozny of Crash Course in Science. Postcards LP2 includes 19 songs from the 4th official tape Beatmusik 1981-84 (SoP186) released by Sound of Pig, New York, songs from 1984 on his 5th release Room to Roam on Out Of The Blue, Berlin, plus 3 previously unreleased tracks from the same time period, one also as KMZ.
Gen Ken & Equipment was self-produced in an edition of 150 tapes in 1981 and led Montgomery to corresponding and trading tapes in the international Cassette Culture and Mail Art network, leading to relationships and collaborations with such luminaries in the underground music scene as Conrad Schnitzler, Giancarlo Tonuitti, CHOP SHOP, David Lee Myers (Arcane Device), Al Margolis, John Hudak, Francisco Lopez, AMK, Istvan Kantor (Monty Cantsin), G.X. Jupiter-Larsen (The Haters), Rod Summers (VEC), Maurizio Bianchi, Masami Akita alias Merzbow, CM von Hausswolff and Leif Elggren among others.
“Cassettes were an inexpensive and practical way of getting feedback from the developing international community of sound/noise/music experimenters. Cassettes allowed for spontaneous freedom and experimentation without the burden and commitment of releasing vinyl which was expensive to mail and costly to press in editions of less than 500”- gkm
Montgomery used the earliest Casio keyboards, self made electronic gadgets, cheap drum boxes and his favorite instrument, the Korg MS-20 synthesizer. The mixture of noise/pop/rock/electronic and soundscapes all on one cassette show how musical genres hadn’t become entrenched in the Cassette Culture scene yet. “Do it!”, “Small World” and “Treat The Hell Out of It” (released as a flexi-disc included with Onslaught Magazine (Artwerk) in 1982 are examples of the songs he composed at this time.
In the early 80s in New York City there were still small record shops such as Venus Records, Bleecker Bob’s, Soho Music Gallery and 99 Records that sold artist produced cassettes and fanzines. Independent mail order distributors like Rough Trade and Aeon Records carried Montgomery’s cassettes and On-Slaught Magazine, Option Magazine, Factsheet Five and other small DIY zines listed them or reviewed them.
Montgomery’s interest in structured improvisation and avante-garde theater theatre led to the formation of KMZ with his friend Michael Zodorozny from Crash Course in Science. KMZ performed regularly at the legendary Pyramid-Club in NYC. Tracks from KMZ and collaborations with other artists such as Stephen Spera and Stefan Tischler of Port Said can be found on his 2nd tape Collaborations.
Between 1982 and 85 Montgomery spent time in Berlin combining performance art and electronic music where he had the fortune to meet and develop a relationship with Conrad Schnitzler who has had a major impact on his life and work.
His third official Tape Kalkreuth Keks was recorded in Conrad Schnitzler’s studio during a 2-week stint in the dead of winter 1986. These 8-track recordings incorporated the violin, guitar, and keyboards with analog synthesizers, processing, voice and the “new” sounds of the Yamaha CX5M music computer. Three of the tracks on Postcards are from these sessions.
A 4th cassette Beatmusik, released on Al Margolis Sound-of-Pig-Label (SOP186) in 1988 featured a selection of tracks recorded between 1981 and 86. In 1989 Lord Litter from Berlin also released a fifth Gen Ken-tape called Room To Roam, also with recordings from 1984. A selection from these two tapes can be found on the additional accompanying 7”inch.
In 1987 Montgomery, along with David Prescott and Conrad Schnitzler started the label Generations Unlimited. Two cassettes of cassettes of minimal electronic music, Stepping Through Rooms and The One Sided Triangle were released on Generations Unlimited and in1988, GENCON, a collaboration with Conrad Schnitzler was released on vinyl.
His involvement in the late 70’s and 80’s Cassette-Culture and the Mail-Art movements led to his creation of the first and arguably still the most important Sound Art gallery in New York City in 1989: Generator. Located in the East Village, then in Chelsea, Generator’s wide scope and novel approach toward audio art made it a vector-point for some of the most interesting and important artists from around the world. Gen Ken also founded A.T.M.O.T.W.— Art is Throwing Money Out The Window — and Generator Sound Art Inc., and he co-founded the seminal experimental label Pogus Productions.
The past three decades many of Montgomery’s cassettes, records and CDs have been released in limited editions on small labels outside of mainstream distribution on such respected labels as De Fabriek (Holland), Staalplaat (Holland), Tellus, Mark Lane’s Artwerk, Banned Productions, XI Records (all USA), Firework Edition (Sweden), Old Europa Café (Italy) and Discos Esplendor Geometrico (Spain). Other recorded works are available on his own A.T.M.O.T.W. label, Generator Sound Art and on Touch Radio.
Montgomery continues to produce music and soundworks while also producing visual art, collage, bookmaking, and international correspondence art. As The Minister of Lamination (a.k.a. Egnekn) he is the world’s foremost practitioner of sonic Lamination Art and he continues to mail postcards to friends and collaborators throughout the world.
www.vinyl-on-demand.com
|
2012 |
€27.50 |
|
| MOORE, AARON |
The Accidental |
CD |
Erste Solo-CD des VOLCANO THE BEAR – Mitglieds, 7 Stücke mit betörenden Drone-Texturen, Piano-Minimalismen, Keyboard-Drones, Vibraphon & Becken-Tupfer, alles sehr “privat”, intim und ruhig... perfekte Mitternachts-Musik.
".. as a founding member of the english experimental group volcano the bear, aaron moore has been a part of creating some of the most stimulating and diverse music of the last 10 years with releases on nurse with wound’s united dairies label, and the american label, beta-lactam ring records, to name but two.
‘the accidental’ is moore’s first solo release and is in stark contrast to his drumming and vocal work with volcano the bear.
using such instrumentation as bowed and beaten vibraphone, cymbal, chord organ, thumb piano and keyboard, mainly concentrating with one instrument per track, moore has created an album of mesmerizing beauty.
shifting, woozy soundscapes, blurred drones, soft conjuring, and deep meditations - perfect for late night headphone trips.
on ‘three guineas’, a keyboard is used to create a new lullaby in which we are reminded of years past.
the majority of these recordings, made at his home in leicester on a digital 8 track and one microphone in 2003 were intended for an aborted collaboration with oren ambarchi. they then sat on his machine for a year or so until, with the nagging of friends, he set about doing something with them.
some of the tracks, he felt, needed the hand of another so he sent some tracks to friends andrew liles, luke fowler and alex neilson to collaborate on. they in turn sent the finished tracks back to moore where he set about editing them for inclusion on ‘the accidental’.
the title, ‘the accidental’ comes from the fact that were it not for the original aborted collaboration attempt with ambarchi, moore would not have recorded this music.
moore is continuing his work with volcano the bear and his new duo, dragon or emperor, as well as planning several collaborations in the coming months. if a follow up to ‘the accidental’ is to happen, then maybe it will be on purpose next time?!" [label info]
www.elsieandjack.com
|
2006 |
€14.00 |
|
| MOORE, ANTHONY / THERAPEUTISCHE HÖRGRUPPE KÖLN |
Ore Talks |
do-LP |
" 'ore talks' limited edition release, gatefold sleeve with booklet. a double lp of essentially electronic and noise-based pieces paired with astonishing texts spoken by anthony moore. the concept is that objects of value, artifacts or minerals, buried deep in the ground send strange signals through the earth up to the planet's surface. they are detected by the ears and instruments of miners, explorers and archaeologists who are tuned-in to the subterranean frequencies. the album contains a large booklet explaining this idea and featuring many pages of eccentric writing about sound." [label info]
Four sides of vinyl: this has served as a time constraint from the very outset of the project. With around 18 minutes per side giving an overall run time of 72 minutes, these time slots are designed to offer recordings of four sets of historical, technical processes and their devices. Each of the four chapters is conceived in two parts and realised in a number of actual compositions.
A. VALVES / ROEHRE:
1. Their Electrons. The developement of De Forest‘s Audion.
2. Noise as signal and the power of redundancy.
B. PIEZOS:
1. Reversibility; Loudspeakers as Microphones and The Transmitting Ear.
2. Mercury Acoustic Delays Lines.
C. RECORDERS:
1. Wax Cylinders, Hill ’n Dale, Voices of the Dead.
2. Magnetic Oxide and Memory Machines, Storing Time.
D. CRYSTAL SETS:
1. Waves; The Air as One Vast (negentropic) Library.
2. Farewell to AM, Fades to Infinity.
A voice is transmitted through various materials; early microphones, the reproducer of an Edison phonograph, glass phials filled with mercury, piezo crystals, transducers, and piezo discs attached to polystyrene spheres, shortwave radios, old russian valves and the self-built circuitry of condensers and switches. What emerges are speech-driven patterns of noise, electronic music and occasional passages where the voice can be plainly heard in 14 separate pieces of widely differing durations.
ORE THOUGHTS
Galena to Stibnite, starting with lead, ending with lead; the history of soldering, cementing connections for currents of information and noise alike. In the undigital realm, noise is a context for the signal and can be information in itself. For example rotating surface noise is useful for finding the original speed at which early shellacs may have been cut. Redundancy is vital for a proper understanding of the world. So Ore Talks celebrates lead and soldering and making connections and, endotically, noise; noises at the outer ear but also of the inner ear. Perec and the Oulipians employ the term ‚endotic‘ as an antonym to ‚exotic‘ in order to focus attention on the everyday, on what might be dismissed as mere noise. The infraordinaire, as Perec calls it, is very much the subject of a historiographical approach that prefers to explore the lives and times of the distinctly unfamous; a more vivid, sensory history that concerns itself with sights and smells and sounds.
In addition, Ore Talks posits a strange attraction between the discoverer and the yet-to-be discovered; between buried artefacts and the archeologist seeking to disinter them; between prospector and rich, subterranean lodes. The ‚ground‘ in the electrical field is a conductor that reaches into the earth. Simultaneously, metalliferous ores and objects alike call out to be uncovered in an equivalent act of active perception. The only prerequisite? Keep an ear to the ground; the telluric source for chthonic voices.
Murmurings from below the surface: the call of buried things that seek to be disinterred. Anthropomorphism notwithstanding, there is something to be said for giving a voice to inanimate minerals. After all, their constituent elements come from the stars and have also given rise to us humans. Furthermore, when those same elements are alchemically transformed into compounds of metal and fillers of plastics, of quicksilver and piezo crystals, of the very air, water or copper that play host to sound in its various forms, transporting speech, then ORE TALKS emerges as a title with some resonance.
And text too can be a ground from beneath which conceptual objects stem (voices in the grey matter). Here is a list of such objects that have been disinterred in no particular order from the paragraphs above. “Active perception; superluminality in the collapse of the sender/receiver paradigm”
“A History of Simultaneity; how far back does same-timedness go?”
“Noise in History, noise as history”
“The importance of redundancy in human communication”
“Sound and the continuum are products of each other”
“What holds true for time also applies to sound; they both depend on disappearing as they come into existence.”
“The speed of sound is a good rate at which to think about a speed of time” These and related topics are expanded over the following pages. They contain the sources for all readings recorded and subsequently transformed in the ORE TALKS experiments on this double LP.
www.therapeutischehoergruppekoeln.de/ore.html
"Antimonit Bleiglanz Coelestin... Ein erzernes ABC bis hin zu Zinnober.
Verbunden mit 72 Minuten Text + Klang in vier Kapiteln / Vinyl-Seiten: a. Valves / Röhren b. Piezos c. Recorders d. Crystal Sets. Kreisend um Ore [Erz] =
Mineralgemenge, die wegen ihres Metallgehaltes abgebaut werden, um es für Werkzeuge und Ähnliches weiterzuverarbeiten.
Kreisend um L/ore, dt. Lehre -> Folklore = the knowledge and traditions, frequently passed along by word of
mouth. Merke: Transmission is a vital part of the folklore process -> 1. Orality =
Mündlichkeit -> 2. Literacy = Reeling and Writhing / Lesen & Schreiben -> 3.
Technical Devices = Aufschreibesysteme. Es geht um Medientechniken: Alphabet - Grammophon... (Friedrich Kittler), um Recording Angels' Mysteries (Klaus Theweleit), um Dead Letters (Gregory Whitehead). Bevor Moore 1996 (bis 2015) Professor an der KHM wurde, hatte er mit Slapp Happy den Mond vom Himmel gepflückt, mit Pink Floyd gearbeitet und Soundtracks für Werner Nekes kreiert.
Akademisch forschte er dann synchron mit Kittler über die Geschichte und Gesetzmäßigkeiten von Sound, über phonetische und klingende Techniken des Daseins und der Erinnerung. 2004 nahm er teil an Kittlers Sirenenexperiment, das vor Amalfi Odysseus' Affäre mit den Sirenen nachstellte. Zwischen '...and the Gods made love' und Moores 'Dogs of War' spielt sich alles ab, was es zu singen und sagen gibt. Polyphone Erkenntnis über Sound und Zeit, Noise und Information, gefiltert aus den Lebenserfahrungen von der Bronzezeit her. Darüber schreibt und spricht Moore mit medienarchäologischem Knowhow und einem Ohr für die chthonischen Stimmen. Innere Stimmen, wie sie zuerst noch bikameral fluktuierten (Julian Jaynes), dann akusmatisch, mimetisch, alphabetisch, speicherbar, decodierbar, repetierbar wurden. Die Namen Zeiss, Chladni, Tyndell und Helmholtz oszillieren steampunkabenteuerlich an den pythagoräischen Küsten wie Töne und Zahlen zwischen Rauschen und Offenbarung. Schwingquarze geben den Takt an.
Memory Machines verflüssigen Vergangenes und Kommendes, um es zu fixieren, so wie Moores Sätze zu Science Fiction verschwimmen. Er raunt von The Etherial Skin of Interference, er wird poetisch, fasziniert von den Ur-Geräuschen, die Scott de Martinvilles Schweinsborsten-Phonautograph einfing oder Rilke der Kronen- Naht des Schädels zu entlocken gedachte. Klang wurde das mit Hilfe der Therapeuten Beck, Grewenig & Hennes (von The Knob, The Finger & The It), Langguth und Specht (einst bei 40 Sekunden Ohne Gewicht und Kunstkopf). Moores Stimme wispert und fitzelt subliminal unter löchrig-perkussiver Bruitistik,
er reiht Zahlen oder verschwindet hinter sirrenden Spuren, taktilen Geräuschen,
spurenelementaren Impulsen. Silben und Satzfetzen mischen sich mit Hilfe der
Hörgruppe zu Kratzern, Partikelkollisionen, Radiowellen, Zeitrost, Reibung von
Entropie und Negentropie, sprachmelodischem Blaseton, Frequenzpingpong.
Umso überraschender daher die klaren, wenn auch für den Laien kryptischen
Sätze über Interferenz, Simultanität, die Unschärfe des Now-Space, von Senden und Empfangen. Moore meditiert über Turings ACE und die Alchemie von Quecksilber-Laufzeitspeichern, aber die Sprache wird wieder verzerrt, der Noise dafür prickelig und wohltönend. Doch dann umfängt einen wieder im ursuppig, uhrsuppig brodelnden, radiowellenberauschten Äther protologisch wummernde Sonic Fiction, die zuletzt endlosrillenstottrig ausgroovt." [Bad Alchemy] |
2017 |
€25.00 |
|
| MOORE, ANTHONY / TOBIAS GREWENIG / DIRK SPECHT |
The April Sessions |
LP |
This journey, this slowly drifting sonic meditation, is an 'inner soundscape', a dialogue between the senses, the conscience and the world, inside / outside, interconnected. Like waking up from a long dream, and being stuck into its echo. The April Sessions immerges the listener into a drone-ish universe, full of random acousmatic events, inner monologues and a vast and unwritten subjective map to be drawn. The April Sessions has been living in a seedy hotel in Brussels
for a few months. She listens to the sparse traffic outside her window, locked in and locked down. 'Everything is constructed', she says to herself, 'even the sound of a solitary aircraft at 25,000 feet traverses the sky no further out than the inside of my skull'. Other weird sonic phenomena criss-cross the inner cosmos of her brain and streak across her private sky like comets. And then there is the unshakeable presence of that inner monologue, known to her variously as the Tacit Dictator, the Subvocaliser and, nightmarishly enough, the voice of the Merlucid Hake. (Anthony Moore, St Leonards, 10th of March 2021).
Anthony Moore, Dirk Specht and Tobias Grewenig have known each
other and worked together since the early 2000s. They have collectively participated in a number of projects including live performances and
recordings. In 2016, as part of The Missing Present Band, they released
the live LP 'The Present Is Missing' on A-Musik. The following year they
released 'Ore Talks', a double LP, realised in collaboration with
Therapeutische Hörgruppe Köln.
Anthony Moore
born in 1948, founded the band Slapp Happy (circa 1972) with
Peter Blegvad and Dagmar Krause, then worked alongside a.o. Fred Frith and Tim Hodgkinson in the unclassifiable band Henry Cow. He released several solo albums, composed soundtracks for experimental movies. His path also crossed Kevin Ayers's, Pink Floyd's, Richard Wright's… He was appointed professor for research into sound and music in the context of new media at the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne, Germany. He still continues to write and perform.
Dirk Specht
sound artist, musician and curator. He studied architecture and media
art and is active in the fields of sound works for choreography, radio
drama, sound art, film and video art soundtracks… He published
releases with several bands and projects. He has been an assistant
for research into sound from 2011 to 2016 at the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne, and is a founding member of Therapeutische
Hörgruppe Köln.
Tobias Grewenig
studied at the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne. He primarily deals
with non-linearity in his audiovisual installative works and performances, including projects with the artist group 'Therapeutische Hörgruppe Köln', the ensemble 'The Knob, The Finger & The It' and the improvisation collective "Frequenzwechsel". The conception and development of electronic instruments and code is a key component of his artistic work. He lives and works in Cologne.
https://subrosalabel.bandcamp.com/album/the-april-sessions |
2021 |
€16.00 |
|
| MOORE, STEPHAN |
To build a field |
CD |
"Stephan Moore is a composer, audio artist, and sound designer in New York City. He has graduated from from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Western Michigan University, and Interlochen Arts Academy. His creative work centers around the collection and use of real-world sound, the creation and perception of sonic environments, and technological manifestations of improvisation and interactivity.
Recent performances and installation artworks make use of a large multi-channel array of his hemispherical speakers. He performs regularly as half of the electronic duo Evidence, and with a variety of musicians, live-video artists, and dancers. He has created custom music software for a number of composers and artists, and has taught courses in sound art and electronic music at Maryland Institute College of Art, Peabody Conservatory, Massachusetts College of Art, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and Simon's Rock College of Bard.
He is currently the Sound Supervisor of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company." [general info about the artist / Deep Listening site]
Stephan Moore has spent the last five years touring with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company as a core member of their live band, alongside such notables as Christian Wolff, Takehisa Kosugi, David Behrman, John King, and William Winant. At the same time, he has been collaborating with a
number of younger choreographers to create sound scores for their performance works. To Build A Field collects the best of these pieces, drawn from six of his commissions by four very different choreographers. The CD's title refers to Moore's view of his role in these collaborations: designing and executing sonic structures that define the emotional and rhythmic topography of time. Each track negotiates a balance between acoustic sound sources and electronics, live performance and studio composition, and human vs. algorithmic control of sound materials. Time is continually bent into new
shapes, challenging the listener, and his collaborators, to think beyond the easy comforts of a regular tempo, and confront rhythm as texture instead of a reliable grid.
"Brooklyn-based sound artist Stephan Moore's recent musical work centers around the collection and use of real-world sound, the creation and perception of sonic environments, and technological manifestations of improvisation and interactivity. He develops his own performance software and builds point-source loudspeakers for use in his performances and sound installation work. His current ongoing collaborations include the Xenolinguistics performance project with visionary video artist Diana Reed Slattery, projects with choreographers Yanira Castro and Kimberly Young and performance artist Kyle DeCamp, sound design for the Nerve Tank theater collective, and the performing/recording duo Evidence with sound artist Scott Smallwood. He curates a concert series at the Merce Cunningham Dance Studio called Experiments in the Studio, and co-curates an annual month-long Floating Points festival of performances and sound installations at the ISSUE Project Room in Brooklyn, pairing the permanent sixteen-channel installation of his Hemisphere speakers there with diverse artists. Moore has been commissioned to create sound installations and performances for a number of dance companies and site-specific venues. He has been awarded residencies by Hunter College, the Experimental Television Center and Wave Farm for his work in music and new technology. His performance and exhibition credits include Tonic (NYC), Axiom Gallery (Boston), Zeitgeist Gallery (Boston), Deep Listening Space (Kingston, NY), ffmup (Princeton, NJ), Massachusetts College of Art (Boston), Yale University, Princeton University, The Tank (NYC), Roulette (NYC), the Music and Alternative and X-Disciplinary Approaches in Sound Festival (Sheffield, UK), Sound Practice (Dartington, UK), Music Without Walls? (Leister, UK), Disjecta (Portland, Oregon), Warehouse 23 (Boston), Issue Project Room (Brooklyn), The Chocolate Factory (Queens), ACM/Siggraph, International Conference on Musical Perception and Cognition, International Computer Music Conference, Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States, the Acoustical Society of America's semiannual meetings, American Theater in Higher Education's annual conference, International Society for Electronic Arts, World Forum for Acoustic Ecology, and the Burning Man Festival, among many others. As an improviser and musician, he has appeared on stage with John Paul Jones, Pauline Oliveros, Alex Waterman, Keith Rowe, Michael Haleta, MV Carbon, Andrea Parkins, Zach Layton, Troy Pohl, Curtis Bahn, David Linton, Mikel Rouse, Maria Chavez, Newton Armstrong, Seth Cluett, Ikue Mori, Kenta Nagai, Larry Polansky, Jesse Stiles and Joan La Barbara, among others." [label info]
www.deeplistening.org
www.deeplistening.org
|
2010 |
€14.00 |
|
| MORGEN WURDE |
Für Immer |
do-CD |
"Morgen Wurde and his musical allies move on to score the unfathomable wonder of the Dasein. "Für Immer" is a further breakthrough to the core, emanating sounds which let dissolve all conceivable questions of man about life and death. Sounds that let all questions appear negligibly.
The immersive finds are channelled into ambient/space/drone music hybrids with neoclassical and jazz noir elements, sometimes crossing paths with messengers of transcendental sounds like Abul Mogard, bvdub, Fennesz, Gas, Rafael Anton Irisarri or Tim Hecker.
The elevating experience happens in Morgen Wurde's electroacoustic spaces, hosting singular virtuoso instrumentalists. Creating the "Morgen Wurde" form of lyricism and haunting soundscapes, this collaborative exploration takes space music to new highs.
There are the stoically undulating sound masses, like the ambivalence of the awe-inspiring mysterious forces of nature, sometimes majestic, sometimes threatening. And there are the soloists, wandering through these sonic landscapes as masters of their art:
Doug Perry on the vibraphone and Tetsuroh Konishi on the trumpet embody subtle sublimeness. The violinists bring in widely differing styles: David Strother skipping ardently on top of the seething sound masses, Georges-Emmanuel Schneider forming a mystic amalgam with the underlying soundscapes. Maria Estrella's transcendent vocal texture, nestling in solemn spheres, marks the epic finale.
These musicians bring unique elements of life and humanity to the recordings, adding their very personal note and vision.
The rich material called for addressing also the body. Artists from around the world answered this call for cosmic dance remixes:
Altone (Japan) initiates the rite with his transcendently free-floating remix, incorporating sounds from various album tracks. Roman Ridder (Germany) then sparks the dance with a deep dub techno ride. Liuos (Finland) irresistibly animates the body further into a trance, before Cie (Germany) breaks loose the passionate fire of rave. Lostlojic (Ukraine) upholds the energy of peaktime techno, before Dmitriy Zakat (Russia) navigates through an absorbing bass intermezzo, followed by a sweeping post-dubstep adventure by Sébastien Job (France). Martin Schulte (Russia) pursues the explorative mission driven by minimal tech breaks. Thereupon Johnnyx Guitar (Germany) deepens the tempting occult spirit of the venture. Duckem (Greece) leaves the traveller with moody trip hop in a Blade Runner-style bar, before we come full circle with the beat version of Altone's remix, reaching out to eternity.
Like all the best remixing work, these tracks are not intended as alternative versions of the originals. Rather the remixes can be considered originals of the respective artists who drew sounds and vibes from the "Für Immer" originals.
This is the third album in the series of Morgen Wurde's electroacoustic sound processing-based albums, following “Brach Auf” (2016) and “Assassinous Act” (2017) which were released on Time Released Sound, Alameda. Besides, there are two albums “Letzten Endes” (2015) and “Als je zuvor” (2018) (both on Off Rec.) which were composed classically on the piano and then clothed with electronic sounds."
https://morgenwurde.bandcamp.com/album/f-r-immer
|
2020 |
€15.00 |
|
| MORSANEK / VINKEPEEZER |
same |
LP |
Quasi aus dem "Nichts" erreichte uns diese sehr gute LP von zwei niederländischen "Klangtätern", die beide auf ihre ganz eigene Art ein speziellen Klangkosmos erschaffen... VINKEPEEZER mag einigen noch als WRIKKEN bekannt sein, hatte mal eine 7" auf MIXER !
"Morsanek is an Amsterdam-based guitarist, DJ, and sound editor. In his DJ and editing projects Morsanek attempts to build audio narratives by connecting and disconnecting small timbral and organisational complements. His work as an improvising guitarist uses prepared guitar as a sort of sampler. His first vinyl release is a split LP on the Kazemat label in januari 2009. www.subdist.com/morsanek/
Vinkepeezer: Soundvillain, cut and paste composer, sonic painter. Vinkepeezers' music is built from many tiny sampled fragments that reappear as a swarming flock of birds, falling apart and building up again in ever changing forms. His music is organic, cinematic, warm and thickly layered, full of contrast. The music is performed live with an unique instrument consisting of game controllers such as the Wii remote, and by acoustic instruments played by musicians that reinterpret his compositions. Vinkepeezer is Dutch composer, sound artist and performer Ivo Bol, who works internationally with filmmakers, theatremakers and choreographers. www.ivobol.nl/" [label info]
"After the second world war brought a lot of English words into the Dutch language, and it may hardly be no surprise that German words didn't make it. There is one exception, which is the now fully accepted German word bunker. Before World War Two they were called 'Kazemat', which is a beautiful word, I think. Praise to Rob Vugs and Ivo Bol who just started a label with the same name, and more praise to him for this daring move: a bit of heavy vinyl, gatefold, full color sleeve, in an edition of 500 copies. Let's hope this may last longer than just one release. Ivo Bol was once a member of Wrikken, who released a 7" on Mixer (see Vital Weekly 334), but since time works solo as Vinkepeezer, creating music by using game controllers and acoustic instruments. Much of his work is created for film, theatre and dance. In the first two pieces it seems that Bol loves his Oval, through a jumpy myriad of bouncing sounds. Closely out of phase they make a densely shaped total. Its however not a glitch based as Oval, or many of their followers. Bol creates his own strong world, plus he knows how to cut back in sound and make a quieter moment. Nothing earth shaking new, but executed with great care. Morsanek is an Amsterdam based guitarist, DJ and sound editor, who for his own piece, which spans one side of this record, he uses his guitar, effects and sound editing. Its a bit hard to say how much of this was guitar or 'live', as I hear many different layers, which seems to be hard for one person to deal with and there are some sounds which seem like 'real' percussion. Whereas Vinkepeezer stays on the safe side of things, Morsanek goes for the adventure of sound, offering a wider range of sounds and moods, and makes a more surprising piece of music. But both sides are quite nice, so this is a most promising start for this new label." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.kazemat.com
|
2009 |
€15.50 |
|
| MOSS, JESSICA |
Pools of Light |
LP |
180gram vinyl includes 12x24 art print poster + 320kbps MP3 download The debut solo full-length by violinist and sound artist Jessica Moss (Thee Silver Mt. Zion, Black Ox Orkestar, Vic Chesnutt, Carla Bozulich). Recorded by Radwan Ghazi Moumneh (Jerusalem In My Heart, Suuns, Matana Roberts, Eric Chenaux) RIYL: Sibelius, Laurie Anderson, Sarah Davachi, Benoît Pioulard, Loscil. Jessica Moss is known best as the violinist, co-composer, and backing vocalist with the acclaimed chamber-punk band Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra (SMZ) and the avant-klezmer group Black Ox Orkestar. As fans of these projects will know, Moss has developed a distinctive and impressive approach to violin that combines a natural technical fluidity, a recombinant command of folk, classical and modern idioms, and an adventurous exploration of signal-bending and analog effects that uniquely expand the spectrum of the violin as sound source. Her solo work is deeply rooted in live performance, where she builds up and breaks down stunning longform compositions in real time with an array of pedals - including octave/harmonizers and samplers/loopers. To hear all of this rallied on her debut full-length solo release is intensely rewarding: comprised of two side-length multi-movement compositions, Pools Of Light unfolds at a stately, inexorable pace, combining sound-art and signal-processed timbres, extended melodic and contrapuntal lines, and the periodic deployment of stark, minimalist vocals. Pools Of Light is elegiac durational music at the intersection of neo-classicism, soundtrack, electronic, art-punk and avant-folk - a decidedly organic, non-academic, profoundly searching and emotive work, guided by Moss's liner note mantra: "FEELING LOVE IN A MELTING WORLD".
|
2017 |
€23.00 |
|
| MUELLER, JON |
Metals |
CD |
Beeindruckendes Album desPerkussionisten JON MUELLER, der das Spektrum der gängigen Drum-Sounds erweitert und auch die Vibrationen und Drones von grossen Gongs & Bass-Trommeln einsetzt. Von der Intensität und Herangehensweise erinnert "Metals" an DANIEL MENCHE, nur dass hier alles "handgespielt" ist , v.a. Dingen geprägt durch Trommelwirbel-artige Wellen, die sich mit Obertönen vermählen; genial minimal & trancig, von grosser Kraft & Intensität...
"Percussionist Jon Mueller works with rhythms that come from gong frequencies, from vibrations of the bodies of bass drums, and the surprising sonorities that occur with the combination of these elements. Now he applies these techniques to his latest solo effort, to stunning effect: Metals is, as its name suggests, a bold, all-percussion foray into heavy metal. No theatrical silliness here; just sheer exhilaration; the fundamental power of loud, organized, precise rhythms; ringing, heavy anti-melodies. It's this sound, in the many forms it has taken over the years that continually inspires new philosophies, drives independent thinking, and causes hundreds of thousands of people to bang their heads. Jon Mueller takes it, shapes it and makes it his own." [label info]
www.tableoftheelements.com
|
2007 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Death Blues |
LP |
"Find Yourself. Impatience. Death Blues. Acceptance. Impermanence. Iron String. The six songs that comprise Jon Mueller's Death Blues are each their own doorway to both a bold new musical statement from the renowned drummer percussionist and an unprecedented journey into a conscious contemplation of death -- and the life that surrounds it. Released in tandem with a multi-part manifesto, Death Blues transcends its own existence as 34-minute, earth-cracking rock album. Much like Mueller, whose landmark solo work stands alongside his role in notable bands Volcano Choir (and previously, Collections of Colonies of Bees), Death Blues embodies the acknowledgement that there's more to experiencing music than simply just listening. Conceived and largely executed in its recorded form by Mueller himself -- adding hammered acoustic guitar and bold vocal patterning to his ever-evolving mastery of percussion -- Death Blues is audibly (and intensely) personal. However, the very act of recording was the first step in a discourse that Mueller began over a year ago, forming a band of brilliant performers from his Milwaukee, WI hometown that would go on to perform Death Blues at Hopscotch Music Festival in Raleigh, NC and at two sold-out Death Blues events in Milwaukee, where a labyrinth led the audience into a multi-sensory and participatory experience culminating in a climactic performance of the album. It was as close as one could get to being next to Mueller at that moment of discovery: of the inevitability of death as the impetus to become more present in each moment and of the necessity of building his own path to sharing that idea. Death Blues is being collaboratively released by Taiga and Hometapes and is available as a limited edition LP packaged in a deluxe litho-wrapped jacket that includes the Death Blues manifesto; 500 hand-numbered copies of the highest fidelity pressed on 200g virgin vinyl." [label info]
www.taigarecords.com
|
2013 |
€20.00 |
|
| MUELLER, JON & JAMES PLOTKIN |
Terminal Velocity |
do-LP |
"Jon Mueller and James Plotkin first combined forces on Physical Changes, scorching the leading LP side of Mueller's 2009 multi-format collaborative investigation. Forging Mueller's blistering percussion and rolling hills of drums with Plotkin's searing guitar and melting electronics, a sturdy alloy was formed. When both musicians were asked to perform at the Utech Records Music Festival in June 2011, at which they appeared as a duo, the pair spent the proceeding days spontaneously unfurling Terminal Velocity. Recorded in rural Wisconsin just outside of Mueller's native Milwaukee, Terminal Velocity is an effort of concentration. On the brink of implosion, the duo reduces dense washes of percussion and guitar to thick crusts, at times deceivingly with a whispered intensity. Sizzling drums meet electronic warbles as two great forces restrain each other to a constant speed. Mastered by Plotkin, cut direct to metal and pressed on 200g virgin vinyl, Terminal Velocity is presented in an edition of 500 copies. Packaged in a heavy Stoughton tip-on gatefold, the jacket is hand-numbered on the spine and features a textured paper to enhance Karlynn Holland's graphite drawings the album accompanies." [label info]
www.taigarecords.com
|
2012 |
€31.00 |
|
| MUELLER, JON & Z'EV |
HYDratioN |
LP |
"LTD edition of 300 hand-numbered copies. Hand screened jackets printed by Neil Burke at Monoroid. For years, both Z'EV and Jon Mueller have explored these possibilities, both within traditional forms, and singling out specific elements within those forms. For Z'EV, an entire book, called Rhythmmajik, was written about the properties of rhythm, while his history pairs him with a wealth of collaborators, from Carl Stone, Glenn Branca, and many others, as he pursued the quest for rhythmic elements in many things, few of them being actual drums. For Mueller, it's about what happens with drums in different spaces, used in different contexts, from improvised collaborations with Jason Kahn, Asmus Tietchens, and Lionel Marchetti, to more composed and bombastic work with Rhys Chatham's Guitar Trio and Collections of Colonies of Bees, to the distorted pop sensibilities of Volcano Choir." [label info]
www.importantrecords.com
|
2010 |
€19.50 |
|
| MULO MUTO |
Decomposing Cacophonies |
CD |
“Decomposing Cacophonies” was recorded in Zurich (CH) in July 2017 by Attila and Joel during a long session. The duo embarked on a metaphysical exploration of the cycle of life and more specifically, reflected on how organic matter decomposes. This experiment was transposed into sound and subdivided into different moments that accompany decay. It is violent, at times calm at other times agitated, it may be noisy as well as dreamy; definitely deadly and ready to get recycled into the apparently never-ending cycle of inorganic and organic restoration. We live to die in order to let other beings live. We die to live in order to let other beings die.
The album was mixed shortly after the recording and mastered in January 2018 by Attila Folklor between the plains and the mountains of Ticino.
The pictures were taken by Joel during the Autumn of 2017 around the Mittelland, while Huere Giulio carefully took care of the layout.
From Luce Sia’s press release:
LUCE SIA is happy to announce its release n. 052, made in collaboration with the Swiss label L’è Tütt Folklor Records! Mulo Muto’s new album “Decomposing Cacophonies” is a 66 minutes crescendo of magmatic and piercing sounds, divided in 8 acts, that creates an intense and powerful ode to putrefaction.
«You will have with this means All the glory of the world, And therefore every darkness will go far from you. It is the strong force of every force, because it will win every thin thing, and It will penetrate every solid thing.» (From “The Emerald Table”)
Out now on digipack CD, limited to 190 copies!
Decomposers:
• Attila Folklor: electronics, synths, electroacoustic devices, loops
• Joel Gilardini: treated guitars, synths, electronics, loops
Thanks to Sacha, Nebo and Huere Giulio. Recorded by Attila Folklor and Joel Gilardini.
Mixed and mastered by Attila Folklor.
https://lucesia.bandcamp.com/album/052-mulo-muto-decomposing-cacophonies
|
2018 |
€12.00 |
|
| MULTER |
Basisrealität/Armutsgewöhnungszuschlag/Wolkenkuckucksheim |
3 x LP |
"The three part LP set is the first new studio material by [MULTER] in 10 years and it can be easily seen as the culmination of their artistic approach and search to date. Over six sides of black vinyl, attentively mastered by Fear Falls Burning, the group employ their strategies. a great sense of place is embedded into the sound thorugh carefully placed field recordings. a common-sense lyrical aspect becomes part of the scenery. heavy guitar drone-layers form a dense and almost overwhelming wall of sound. Distorted rhythms drive onwards and electronics counteract the seqeunce of events in the next instance. a beautiful, mature and very personal work." [label info]
https://aufabwegen.bandcamp.com/album/basisrealit-t-armutsgew-hnungszuschlag-wolkenkuckucksheim
|
2021 |
€46.50 |
|
| MUNDAL, ARE |
Compilation Vol. 1 |
do-CD |
"I thought the name Are Mundal sounded familiar in my sometimes confused state of mind. It turns out I had him confused with somebody with an immensely different name. Maybe the name sounded too familiar with Gary Mundy of Ramleh. Never mind. Mundal released his first CD in 1996, his second as a CDR in 2007 and since 2020, two LPs and one 12". On this CD, we find those vinyl releases collected plus one 7", which isn't listed on Discogs and a bonus track. As I said, I had never heard of the man
before, and there is not a lot of information about him available, influences and instruments. I have to guess here, and I'd say this is a man armed with a sampler, electronics and a microphone, and the result is a dark soundtrack, the stuff of horror nightmares. Found voices in 'Track 1', which is the A-side of the 'Interloper' LP (the first track on the first CD), some looped, industrialized rhythm, and dark synthesizers. Gothic, perhaps, is a word that applies to this music, and usually, that's not my thing, but the more I play this, the more I like it. As I was way deep into doing other stuff at the same, these two CDs were kept in rotation for quite some time, and with every new play, I heard something new. There are long pieces on these CDs, as each LP had one track per side, and within each track, Mundal moves from one section to the next. From dark ambience to orchestral to a bit of rhythm, all along keeping the end on the ball, and that is to keep everything dark and atmospheric. Maybe at times a bit too tacky (as in: too gothic) for my taste, but throughout this dark trip was an excellent listening experience." [FdW / Vital Weekly] |
2023 |
€16.00 |
|
| MUNDY, GARY & ERALDO BERNOCCHI |
Broken Masses |
CD |
"Five collaborative pieces between Gary Mundy of Ramleh/Kleistwahr/Broken Flag and Eraldo Bernocchi of Sigillum S. Combining two guitars, subtle electronics and what sounds like a voice from another dimension, rhythmic loops or serene pools of liquid sound are generated that add up to an album of immense beauty and scope. Sometimes more intense and at others almost elegiac, this work is in keeping with Gary's more recent solo work yet benefits also from Bernocchi's own clear signature stamped throughout. Haunting, moving and immersive, with an almost soundtrack quality to it, this is music for reflecting on these deeply troubled times firm in the knowledge something majestic can still be found. As Bernocchi himself says, "Broken people, broken bones. Broken dreams, broken masses. An unfinished skyscraper, stray dogs, small time criminals. A few hanged themselves in there, others jumped from the top. Time sneaked, undetected since 1986, until we met in a studio armed with two guitars, several ideas but no structure, no skeleton, except for our memories and the eyes of the watcher. 'Broken Masses' is a hymn to the wind of change, a floating unformed magma of feelings, memories, wishes and disasters. Since the legendary Broken Flag released Sigillum S "Trance Flexure" we've always been in contact, encouraging the wish for an album together. After 35 years it finally happened. More to come."
https://garymundykleistwahr.bandcamp.com/album/broken-masses
|
2022 |
€14.00 |
|
| MURAYAMA, SEIJIRO & ERIC LA CASA |
Paris: Public Spaces |
CD |
"Seijiro Murayama is a drummer-percussionist-voice performer currently working in Japan again after living for a number of years in France. Éric La Casa is a French sound artist well known for site-specific field recordings with a strong improvisational element. The two have been working together on numerous projects for nearly a decade. For six months starting in January 2012, La Casa and Murayama took portable tape recorders out to parks, subway stations, streets and other public spaces in Paris and separately made individual recordings in the same place and time frame, then edited the recordings. The result is the 12 tracks on this CD. Murayama frequently produced his unique vocal sounds while recording. This odd and unexpected voice sneaks into the varied and lively sounds that fill the public spaces, creating curious accents." [label info]
www.ftarri.com
"A most curious work here, but not unrelated to what I noted before: sometimes improvisers set themselves to work outside and use the natural sounds that surround them to be part of whatever they are recording. An extra layer of sound/music if you will. Here Murayama and La Casa do something similar, in the city of Paris. La Casa takes credit for 'field recordings' and Murayama for voice and recordings. Basically they go some place, with two portable recorders, and record the environment. Murayama adds with his mouth sounds to the recordings, but does that in a very subtle way, mostly almost unnoticed. He breathes, sighs, whispers or just makes crazy soft sounds with his mouth, maybe something a small baby would do. Maybe it's an imitation of sounds he's surrounded by, or maybe something he draws inspiration from. The space in which all of this happens is usually a bit hollow, adding an extra layer of musical information, a bit of reverb. Each track start with a cue to start, which is perhaps a bit annoying after a while, but on the other hand it also gives the idea of the start of an action, so the start of a piece, rather than seemingly random cut from a bunch of field recordings. That makes all of this quite a fascinating musical trip. Bird chirping, a marching band, fireworks, a construction site and sometimes just seemingly empty places. Murayama's contribution is rather mysterious most of the time, but that sort of is exactly quite right for this kind of music. A rather beautiful release. It would make you want to visit Paris straight away and go to these locations, close your eyes and listen again. But then, keep in mind, that this is not really a sounding travelogue, or just a piece of improvised music. It's a bit of all and at such a rather unique item." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| MURCOF |
The Versailles Sessions |
do-LP |
"Vom Barock zur Elektronik: Wassermusik des mexikanischen Elektronikers:
Seinen Titel verdankt das Album dem Ort, wo alljährlich "Les Grandes Eaux Nocturnes" stattfindet: das Sound-, Licht- und Wasser-Festival im wohl berühmtesten Schloss der Welt, dem Château de Versailles bei Paris. Der mexikanische Elektroniker Fernando Corona alias Murcof hat für den großen Fontänenabend im Jardin de Roi extra eine Suite geschrieben, "The Versailles Sessions" dokumentiert das Ereignis. Die sechs Kompositionen für das Projekt stammen alle aus dem 17. Jahrhundert (u. a. von Jean-Baptiste Lully, François Couperin) und wurden für das Projekt von Barockmusikern auf Originalinstrumenten eingespielt. Was wie eine Verabschiedung von elektronischer Musik klingt, ist in Wahrheit eine Fortführung von Techniken, die Corona über die Jahre entwickelt hat: die Verarbeitung bestehenden Materials - nur, dass dies jetzt aus dem 17. Jahrhundert stammt. "The Versailles Sessions" sollen dennoch nicht als Nachfolger des Albums "Cosmos" (2007) gesehen werden, eher als Zwischenprojekt zum 2009er-Werk "Océano". Das Album erscheint auf CD sowie als Doppel-LP in limitierter Edition." [label info / Indigo]
"In the summer of 2007, Fernando Corona completed a site-specific commission for Les Grandes Eaux Nocturnes, an annual festival of sound, light and water at Château de Versailles in France. A suite of music was composed specifically for the grand evening fountain display in the Jardin du Roi. The Versailles Sessions is an aural document of the event, to be released this winter on specially priced CD and limited edition double vinyl.
The six compositions prepared for the project derive entirely from recordings of 17th century baroque instruments (including harpsichord, viola da gamba, flute and violin) and a mezzo soprano. GetSound, who commissioned the project, hired musicians specialized in baroque music in Paris.
“We recorded pieces by Lully, Couperin and others,” says Corona of the sessions. “They were played traditionally, but we also experimented quite a bit with the music and instruments. It was a great learning experience - the musicians were amazing - very open minded and willing to have fun.”
The recording process may appear to be a departure for an artist known primarily as an electronic musician, but in fact it’s a continuation of techniques Corona has perfected over a number of years.
“It’s more or less done in the same fashion as my previous work: processing of previously recorded acoustic material. The only difference is the actual source material being so specific to 17th century baroque music and instruments. And since the recordings are the starting point of the composition process it naturally took me to a different place.”
Corona’s initial interpretations of the source material didn’t quite go according to plan.
“When we did a rehearsal about two weeks before the actual opening, it was pouring with rain so I wasn’t able to make the necessary tests. But being there and seeing the space and the installations (big disco balls and video projections on water fountains), I realised I was going in the wrong direction musically.
“The location demanded a different approach: more openness, more time for the sounds to develop and for them to resonate in that big space, so I went back home and during those remaining two weeks I reworked the whole commission into what it is now.
“The recordings I used as source material are very rich and cover a wide range of timbres, so I had lots of options as to how to approach the music making process.”
The Versailles Sessions should not be considered as the successor to 2007’s monumental Cosmos, rather as a special project while we await Murcof’s next album proper." [label info]
www.theleaflabel.com
|
2008 |
€18.50 |
|
|
The Versailles Sessions |
CD |
"Vom Barock zur Elektronik: Wassermusik des mexikanischen Elektronikers:
Seinen Titel verdankt das Album dem Ort, wo alljährlich "Les Grandes Eaux Nocturnes" stattfindet: das Sound-, Licht- und Wasser-Festival im wohl berühmtesten Schloss der Welt, dem Château de Versailles bei Paris. Der mexikanische Elektroniker Fernando Corona alias Murcof hat für den großen Fontänenabend im Jardin de Roi extra eine Suite geschrieben, "The Versailles Sessions" dokumentiert das Ereignis. Die sechs Kompositionen für das Projekt stammen alle aus dem 17. Jahrhundert (u. a. von Jean-Baptiste Lully, François Couperin) und wurden für das Projekt von Barockmusikern auf Originalinstrumenten eingespielt. Was wie eine Verabschiedung von elektronischer Musik klingt, ist in Wahrheit eine Fortführung von Techniken, die Corona über die Jahre entwickelt hat: die Verarbeitung bestehenden Materials - nur, dass dies jetzt aus dem 17. Jahrhundert stammt. "The Versailles Sessions" sollen dennoch nicht als Nachfolger des Albums "Cosmos" (2007) gesehen werden, eher als Zwischenprojekt zum 2009er-Werk "Océano". Das Album erscheint auf CD sowie als Doppel-LP in limitierter Edition." [label info / Indigo]
"In the summer of 2007, Fernando Corona completed a site-specific commission for Les Grandes Eaux Nocturnes, an annual festival of sound, light and water at Château de Versailles in France. A suite of music was composed specifically for the grand evening fountain display in the Jardin du Roi. The Versailles Sessions is an aural document of the event, to be released this winter on specially priced CD and limited edition double vinyl.
The six compositions prepared for the project derive entirely from recordings of 17th century baroque instruments (including harpsichord, viola da gamba, flute and violin) and a mezzo soprano. GetSound, who commissioned the project, hired musicians specialized in baroque music in Paris.
“We recorded pieces by Lully, Couperin and others,” says Corona of the sessions. “They were played traditionally, but we also experimented quite a bit with the music and instruments. It was a great learning experience - the musicians were amazing - very open minded and willing to have fun.”
The recording process may appear to be a departure for an artist known primarily as an electronic musician, but in fact it’s a continuation of techniques Corona has perfected over a number of years.
“It’s more or less done in the same fashion as my previous work: processing of previously recorded acoustic material. The only difference is the actual source material being so specific to 17th century baroque music and instruments. And since the recordings are the starting point of the composition process it naturally took me to a different place.”
Corona’s initial interpretations of the source material didn’t quite go according to plan.
“When we did a rehearsal about two weeks before the actual opening, it was pouring with rain so I wasn’t able to make the necessary tests. But being there and seeing the space and the installations (big disco balls and video projections on water fountains), I realised I was going in the wrong direction musically.
“The location demanded a different approach: more openness, more time for the sounds to develop and for them to resonate in that big space, so I went back home and during those remaining two weeks I reworked the whole commission into what it is now.
“The recordings I used as source material are very rich and cover a wide range of timbres, so I had lots of options as to how to approach the music making process.”
The Versailles Sessions should not be considered as the successor to 2007’s monumental Cosmos, rather as a special project while we await Murcof’s next album proper." [label info]
www.theleaflabel.com
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Martes |
CD |
"The latest from FERNANDO CORONA of Tijuana's NORTEC COLLECTIVE and a masterpiece of contemporary electronic music, where soul isn't sacrificed for technique. Rife with a gooseflesh-inducing aura of mystery and suspense, Corona draws together apparently divergent disciplines of classical orchestration and electronic minimalism." [label notes]
www.theleaflabel.com
|
2002 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Remembranza |
CD |
Das mexikanische Projekt mit dunkler, melancholischer Electronika, wo sich klassische Instrumentierung mit subtilen Rhythmen vermählt. Hat etwas stark melodramatisches, Filmmusik-mässiges, slo-mo Sehnsucht, und ist perfekt produziert. Könnte auch Freunden von BIOSPHERE oder PAN AMERICAN gefallen...
“As Murcof, composer Fernando Corona creates some of today's most captivating music being made, in any genre. For several years he has combined musical styles in wholly new ways, adding emotional depth to robotic minimalism and under the name Terrestrefunk, brass to techno. His innovative approach reaches new heights with Remembranza, the second full Murcof album that creates a storied, layered framework within strict microboundaries. Born in Tijuana in 1970, Corona was primarily known as a member of Mexico's celebrated Nortec (Norteno-Techno) Collective before his first full-length, Martes, was released in 2002. His revolutionary Murcof work recontextualizes the work of his beloved European contemporary classical composers (including the likes of Arvo Pärt, Henryk Górecki and Giya Kancheli) within minimal electronic structures. It's a trick that others have tried to pull off, but none with Corona's lightness of touch, or widespread appeal. The pieces here incorporate traditional instrumentation recorded especially for the album (including strings, piano and harp), working in tandem with his passion for new and unexplored rhythms. A sublime album of texture and depth, Remembranza reaches the apex of Corona's explorations, and re-establishes him as an artist at the forefront of electronic music." [press release]
|
2005 |
€13.00 |
|
| MURDEROUS VISION |
Voided Landscapes |
CD |
"Upon returning from a successful gig in Helsinki, Finland several inspired late night recording sessions began to take shape and morph into something a bit more cohesive. Voided Landscapes is a bleak journey into the paths of dark industrial and minimal death ambient. Using an arsenal of electronics, field recordings, strings and less conventional items, Voided Landscapes is a shifting beast that covers a lot of ground, but stays on a course that will not disappoint long time followers of the project. Features guest appearances by Robert O'Lexa (Vengeance Space Quartet), Pauline Lombardo and Rebecca Potter (Both of Cunting Daughters). Packaged in a 6 panel digisleeve with photography by Andy Henry that is printed on heavy uncoated retro paper stock."
https://murderousvision1.bandcamp.com/album/voided-landscapes
|
2018 |
€12.00 |
|
| MURMER |
What are the Roots that clutch |
CD |
"It was a cavernous tone that broadcast from a ventilator duct that inspired Patrick McGinley to begin collecting field recordings and working them into his slow-arc compositions. At the time when he heard that particular tone in that particular city at that particular time, he had no gear to recording device on hand. Over the next fifteen years (and counting) McGinley has eased into a peripatetic lifestyle, wandering the European countryside and forests (but never straying too far from the thrum and spark of civilization) in search of the same epiphany with his head rattled to the sound of a cavernous air duct.
Around 1996, McGinley adopted the moniker Murmer for his compositional work; and though his work often steps into the quieter realm of sound construction, much of his field recordings and resultant compositions privilege interference and disturbances that occur within any given sound ecology. Those sounds could be the elusive tone from that ventilator, the polyrhythmic chorus of chirping frogs, the abstracted roar from an Arctic wind tearing across the Black Sea, or the metallic skree from a bowed antenna perched atop a Soviet-era observatory. What Are The Roots That Clutch marks McGinley's first full album in nearly 5 years, but it marks an elegant continuation of his previous album We Share A Shadow. The five chapters of this album can't easily be associated with any specific location; instead McGinley overlaps and crosshatches his field recordings and abstractions into acousmatic passages with ghostly, half-melodic qualities. Even the two unprocessed recordings of the album are impossibly complex in their accretions of sound. McGinley's composed pieces embrace lithe, mysterious drones whose mossy, damp atmosphere perfectly situate with tactile crunches, tactile events, and signal noise generation. Eels and leaches would not be out of place in such an environment; but the subaquatic murk snaps into a hallowed manifestation of ritualized minimalism at the album's finale -- one that LaMonte Young and Angus Maclise might have conjured in 1968 with clattering percussive elements and a hypnotic blur of harmonic drone.
What Are The Roots That Clutch is limited to 400 copies and comes housed with letterpress artwork." [label info]
www.helenscarsdale.com
"Patrick McGinley just carries on. Working as Murmer since 1996 he has a strong love for the world of field recordings and electronics. Since quite some time now he lives in Estonia and walks the woods to tape his sounds, takes them home and then transforms them in whatever mysterious way. Five long pieces, from mere six minutes to eighteen minutes. The two pieces that stay under ten minutes are 'unmanipulated found sounds', the other three are 'composed from found sounds, found objects and live room feedback'. Its easy to tell the difference between one and the other. The 'pure' pieces are indeed pure pieces in which we hear the obscure sounds of motors, ventilators, or otherwise objects moved by say wind, while in the other three, McGinely chooses for a slow built up of events. A simple, single sound starts up and then slowly more and more sounds are added, sine wave like sounds leap slowly in and then at one point you'll notice that the entire piece seem to have changed and you
have a full on, minimal yet maximum output sound, such as for instance in the fifth (untitled) piece when the pots and pans in the kitchen start to vibrate and we have an interesting minimalist clutter piece, that is halfway between a drone piece and a Velvet Underground jam. Maybe that's where the real surprise of this release is, in that development of field recordings towards very interesting (and very good) minimalist, electronic music." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
"In looking at his discography alone, Patrick McGinley (aka Murmer) might not seem to be such a prolific artist; although he's certainly dedicated his entire existence to the pursuit of the field recording, its use in composition, and avant-garde sound practices in general. Each week, McGinley produces the ever enlightening Framework radio series dedicated to those very topics, starting out of Resonance FM in London with syndication now reaching several dozen adventurous radio stations across the globe. He's also active in curating a quarterly series of small cd-r editions of sound ecology, phonography, and field recording based sound art; and he also is an active participant in the Estonian avant-garde, as he's currently planted himself in the university city of Tartu. What Are The Roots That Clutch is his first full album in nearly seven years. Has it really been that long? That said, McGinley did work on a brilliant collaborative project with John Grzinich and Yannick Dauby, and he released a 3"cd-r for Taalem, both of which came out earlier this year in 2012. McGinley quips that he put the recordings aside to this record for well over a year, which may account in part for the delay; but ultimately, all of the recordings from Murmer are timeless. What Are The Roots That Clutch is no exception.
The field recordings that McGinley collects hedge towards disturbances in any given sound ecology, as found in the abrasive textures from a busted exhaust vent comingling with the Aeolian harmonics from the sustained gusts streaming down from the North Sea. McGinley does include two relatively unaltered field recordings (probably some minor filtering, but that's all) within the thoroughly abstracted and droned out compositions. One of these features a very eerie fundamental harmonic drone, obviously being activated by the wind and coupled with a glistening rattle and an unfurled flapping. The three elements here make for a surprisingly musical, if totally alien sounding piece that's akin to the Alan Lamb wire recordings. The album's 17 minute centerpiece is a slow building blur of industrial resonance and densely layered aquatic filigree that melts into chunks of clattering ice (it could be wood or glass... but ice is just so much more poetic to consider given the context); but the album's finale is where McGinley really gives us something to sink our teeth into. A comparatively harsh stutter of electrical abrasion builds up to a crescendo through water-tank rumblings and fire and / or water textures. At the peak, McGinley snaps to a downright psychedelic raga of back-masked belltones, harmonium drones, and percussive clatter that all comes together in a minimalist chorale on par with anything that Angus Maclise mustered in his dervishes and mantras.
As great as McGinley's last record was, What Are The Roots That Clutch might be even better. Handsomely packaged in letterpress artwork whose ochre-yellow hue matches the color of an Estonian farm house he's quite fond of. Limited to 400 copies." [Aquarius Rec.] |
2012 |
€13.00 |
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Songs for Forgetting |
LP |
"I work very slowly, hence songs for forgetting has been in development for a very long time. The first element, a large sand timer, was recorded in Cologne, Germany in August, 2007. Further field recordings were made of rain dripping through Soviet-era gutter spouts in the small Estonian village of Tõravere (which happens to be home to northern Europe’s largest optical telescope) later that same month; daytime fireworks (mascleta, set off for sound rather than light) in Valencia, Spain (March, 2008); a pebble beach in Étretat, France (June, 2008); underwater life in a branch of the Andelle River in Perruel, France (May, 2009); and, more recently, the rain gutters at my current home in Põlgaste, Estonia (September, 2013) and the stridulation and footfalls of an inadvertently disturbed ant colony on Kemiö Island, Finland (July, 2014).
But the force that brought all these recordings together was an inadvertent tendency towards instrumental recordings, which feature in each of these ’songs‘. These instruments were all unfamiliar, and in some cases they were not ‚instruments‘ at all, in the literal sense of the word, but objects or spaces that nonetheless lent themselves to being played. I encountered them around the same time as the recordings mentioned above were being made, and recorded my explorations and improvisations, sometimes alone, sometimes with other players.
The first of these instruments was small and zither-like. It was, I learned only recently, a miniature Ukrainian bandura, and it was in an apartment in Berlin where I stayed during a visit in August, 2007. The apartment was the home of another sound artist whose name, Jeff Gburek, I’d known for years, but whom I had never (and still have not) met in person. He was out of town at the time; he didn’t know for years that I played and recorded his instrument (although, thanks to this release, he does now).
The next instrument was an old radio antenna, on the roof of the aforementioned observatory telescope in Tõravere, which sang a predetermined melody when you bowed it, which I did together with a native of that village, Piibe Kolka, in August, 2007 (Piibe’s bowing can be heard in ‘the third song for forgetting’). And in December of that year, in Vienna, Austria, I recorded an improvisation with the debris and trash under a small pedestrian bridge with Lasse-Marc Riek, who coincidentally co-curates the Gruenrekorder label, and visual artist Elffriede (this action can be heard in ‘a fourth song for forgetting’).
In February of the next year, while staying with Maksims Šentelevs in Riga, Latvia, I experimented with one of the many instruments in his collection, a small kora. And a year later in February, 2009 I recorded another tabletop zither, given to me by an old housemate from my time in London, the singer-songwriter Sam Semple, playing it with a small motor also given to me by Max from Riga.
With all the elements collected, the songs began to come together, very slowly, beginning in that summer of 2007, and finishing only now as this release is being prepared. They were built often in response to specific emotional situations, situations that demanded some forgetting themselves, so the title can be read two ways: what you forget is up to you.
A brief word about some elements of the design of the physical version of this release, which is the work of Vahram Muradyan, using elements from my own collection of found objects and detritus, which are printed and embossed on sleeves made for us by the Räpina Paper Factory, here in southeast Estonia, using 100% additive-free recycled fibre: the front image is a reproduction of a leaf skeleton that I have had for some years – I can’t remember exactly where or when I found it, but I believe it is an aspen leaf from an Estonian forest. I have fond memories of recording aspen leaves in these forests, as they tremble in the wind. The maple and grape leaves that denote sides A and B of the vinyl were collected for their colors while traveling in France one autumn. The writing on the inner sleeve comes from one of several old school notebooks found in a mill ruin near my home, water-damaged and sun-faded, and mostly illegible. These notebooks make me think of memory and its loss, the fading away of the past. Included with the physical version is an original fragment of one of these notebooks.
Without the following people (along with those mentioned above) this release would not have been possible: Tuuli Tubin McGinley, Oliivia Tubin McGinley, Lasse-Marc Riek, Roland Etzin, Joshua Kunisch, Vahram Muradyan, Felicity Ford, Helmut Erler (who mastered the album at Dubplates & Mastering in Berlin), and Mihkel Peedimaa (from the Räpina Paper Factory, who made and donated the sleeves). Furthermore, this release has been produced with the help of a number of supporters, to whom I express my sincerest gratitude: Ariel Vitello, Bob Maier, Carole Kojo, Daniel McGinley, Eckhard Kuchenbecker, Greg Burrell, Hao-Tsun Kuo, Hitoshi Kojo, Irvic D’Olivier, James Bailey, Jonathan Coleclough, Julia Kümmel, Lauri Laanisto, Maren Möhring, Mark Stanley, Martin Clarke, Mike DePolo, Paul Fay, Udo Noll, and my colleagues at Resonance FM."
[Patrick Tubin McGinley, April/October 2016]
"The American ex-pat Patrick McGinley (aka Murmer) has now taken up residence in a rural village in Estonia after many years of wanderings and explorations. To this day, he continues to roam any and all environments, collecting field recordings and his own interventions with a particular place. It has been almost five years since his last solo work, but McGinley remains a steadfast champion the field recording within composition through his weekly Framework radio series, broadcast on Resonance FM and beyond through numerous radio and online outlets. Songs For Forgetting highlights McGinley's talents in molding and shaping tone and subtle melody from deep within the fundamental sounds of a particular environmental sound. At the same time, he'll interject actual instrumentation. The playful clatter of McGinley tinkering with a zither ringing in the vein of Harry Partch set in motion against a humid chorus of cicadas and spellbinding dronescaping. Witness the psalter-like halo blossoms on the second half of the record, where we find McGinley bowing a Soviet era antenna mounted at the top of an near-space observational telescope. The resulting harmonics and pastorally minimalist drones are drop-dead gorgeous, as richly sonorous as anything Pauline Oliveros and Charlemagne Palestine would compose through more conventional means. Songs For Forgetting manifests into a beautiful record, packaged in an suitably rough-hewn, embossed sleeve that was fabricated at the Rapina Paper Factory in southeast Estonia. McGinley has included considerable notes and ephemera, turning this into an wondrous objet d'art." [Stranded Rec.]
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2016 |
€20.00 |
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| MURRAY, BRENDAN |
Wonders never cease |
CD |
"Four years in the making, the music of Brendan Murray’s latest/greatest album of cinematic drone anthems, Wonders Never Cease, was honed during live concerts around New York and New England. Recorded in situ, each track was painstakingly (re)assembled and embellished back at Murray’s studio. While it cannot accurately be called a ‘live album’, the adrenaline thrill of live performance is palpable as soon as the opening howl charges out from the speakers. From the laminal scorch of the opening track, through an electric fizz storm and a breathy hymn for what sounds like harmonica and folding chairs (?), the eyes-wide-open bliss of Wonders is exhilarating. Soulful, melodic and intimate, this is electro-acoustic music as gloriously life-affirming and natural as a sunrise." [label info]
"The very last concert I saw in 2006, was on new year's eve, and by Brendan Murray, the unknown hero of experimental music. Due to some technical problems, it wasn't the grand finale of a great night, but he worked himself cleverly around the problems and did a more than suitable ending. Murray has a new CD to present, 'Wonders Never Cease' and I lost count a little bit, but it's perhaps his fourth or fifth solo release, and hopefully this will put him on the map for good, as he is ready for it (well, actually since his first CD, but that label disappeared all too quick). Murray plays around with the notion of drones in a clever way. The opening piece 'Hymn One' starts out as a loud beast, almost in a violent way, but when Murray pulls back the volume, things develop in a beautiful way. Heavily layered, with throughout changing patterns, which especially in 'Seas' works quite well, almost in a Steve Reich like manner, it is hard to believe that this actually a live album, even when its and pieces were reworked in the studio. It's a clever drone album, since it by-passes the Mirror et al as Murray's music is much more upfront and present, and that very same quality makes it also anything far from ambient music. 'Wonders Never Cease' is Murray's finest album to date and hopefully puts him on the map of great experimental composers." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.intransitiverecordings.com |
2006 |
€13.00 |
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Commonwealth |
CD |
Dröhnminimalismus pur! Poly-Drones die sich in endlosen Wellen umeinander legen, regelrecht anfangen zu schlingern. Aufs "erste Hören": Statik. Beim genaueren Hinhören: Eine unendliche Klangfülle, tänzelnde Obertöne, schwingende Frequenzen in multiplen Schichten, stetige Veränderungen und Verschiebungen. Der Drone-Gott steckt in den Details! Eine sehr feine Aufnahme des Bostoner Klangkünstlers BRENDAN MURRAY!
"Nie wurden Sehnen mehr gedehnt als über Murrays 49 Minuten Commonwealth. Nur Phill Niblock, Eliane Radigue oder Jean-Francois Laporte erzeugen solch sture Dronegebilde, in denen schüchterne Obertöne zu gigantischen Kolossen mutieren und Langatmigkeit den klaren Ton angibt. Harmonieansätze tauchen in diesem Wall aus Gitarre und analogen/digitalen Soundmanipulationen nur ganz spärlich auf und entblößen sich rasch als hilflose Wegweiser vergangener Genres. Nostalgie spielt allerdings keine Rolle, Commonnwealth schabt nach vorne, dezentriert Zeit und vermag sogar den Bewegungsapparat zu blockieren. Liest sich eventuell zu statisch, wirkt unter der Oberfläche aber äußerst drastisch. " [Ed Benndorf / DE BUG]
"Brendan Murray has become a central figure in Boston’s sound art vanguard through a reputation of exceptional live performances and a growing catalogue of slow-shifting compositions for rarified drones. A single crescendo terminating at the end of 49 minutes, Commonwealth is an epic investigation into subtle harmonics and overtones expressed through layered slippages of pure sound. Conceived through guitar, analog synthesis, and plenty of digital manipulation, Commonwealth expresses a rare confidence in Murray's finely tuned detailing of sinewy tonalities and sculpted megalithic surfaces. Murray himself has qualified this album as a "sincere bow to 'classic' minimalism," and Commonwealth is a worthy parallel to the work of Phill Niblock, Eliane Radigue, and Iannis Xenakis." [label info]
"We've ballyhooed Brendan Murray's exceptional, yet perennially overlooked drone & din work in the past; but nothing could have prepared us for Commonwealth. Damn, this guy is good. No, wait; he's fucking great! After a handful of cd-r productions, a Twonicorn cassette, and a fine cd release on Intransitive of processed shimmer, shifting frequencies, and some low-end girth rumblings for our bligatory SUNNO))) reference, Brendan Murray has produced his best work to date with Commonwealth. Compositionally, it's incredibly simple: a drone goes up, and it goes down. It lasts a little under 50 minutes. But buried with this single minded composition, there are thick spun rumbles, reflective vibrations, sympathetic sub-harmonics, and rich tonal frequencies. Out of the constant tectonic whir that introduces Commonwealth, shimmering clusters sound like a battery of reed organs or hurdy-gurdies, slowly modulating into heavier, deeper drones. We've been told that the source material for these sounds is guitar, although you'd be hard pressed to hear anything guitar-shaped anywhere on the disc. It's far more like the hallowed minimalist sound of Charlemagne Palestine and La Monte Young. Dare we say, it's better? Yes, Murray's drone hums like a perfectly tuned machine, with multiple pistons purring in a steady progress along Commonwealth's compositional arc. When Murray shifts the focus of the album downward, which begins not even halfway through the piece, the descent is noticeable; but it actually becomes Murray's most fertile work within Commonwealth. Here, low rhythmic thrumbs crawl beneath
the surface of the slowly collapsing drone, precluding its inevitable terminus. Perfect trance-enducing dronemuzik. Fans of Aidan Baker, Andrew Chalk, and Phill Niblock should definitely take note!" [Aquarius Records ]
"... Much louder and less subtle, this is loud drone music, one of the kind that Niblock plays live. Although playing music on headphones is not something I usually recommend, this piece sounds pretty fine on headphones, pressing air against your ears, making a thunderous storm, which shoots right in your brain. Towards the end the volume drops a bit in favor of more heavy weight bass sounds, forming the natural ending to a heavy work. Murray delivers, once again, a mighty fine album that will be another step forward in recognizing him as a true master of the genre. Fans of classical drone music be aware - this is the classic of the future." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.23five.org
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2008 |
€13.00 |
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| MURRAY, BRENDAN / PERISPIRIT |
split |
LP |
"Semata Productions & Razors and Medicine are pleased to announce the first long playing record release of both Brendan Murray and Perispirit. Murray has been making waves around Boston, the USA, and the world since 1999. Perispirit, the collaborative project of Ricardo Donoso and Luke Moldof formed in late 2007, is known by their dynamic live performances and two cassette releases.
Brendan Murray's "Birches and Marksman's Graves (Voice and Computer #1)" is a clear summation of his interest in controlled drones and gestural improvisation with a step into the unknown. Murray is always keen to transform and manipulate an instrument sound color to the point of non-recognition, utilizing a single source for this piece: the voice of Noell Dorsey. The piece opens with dissonant clusters, moving up and down generating momentum, keeping the music physical while still highly controlled. Vague hints of melody lie underneath the cracks trying to seep through but are swallowed up by the turbulence. It gradually gives way to extended technique vocalisms that call to mind sound poetry and at times even the Sprechstimme of Schoenberg. Later the swirling tones return with a combination of both the higher and lower pitch clusters. It sounds like falling infinitely downward.
Perispirit's side offers a statement that is equally focused but bares little if any resemblance to Murray's piece. It can be described as more active than their previous material, utilizing quick sectional transitions, relying on three key components: harsh noise, delicate melodic work, and degraded lo-fi manipulations. The piece begins with dynamic harsh cutups that pay attention to sound spacialization and stereo field manipulations inspired by the likes of Sickness and Pain Jerk. The momentum grows and is quickly brought down to almost nothing creating a feeling of aural blue balls. The process is resumed and then the piece breaks into looping guitar passages with a subtle electronic underpinning. The layers build than disappear. The noise returns building to a heightened peak of frustration until it drops off and we are left with the sound of lifeless monotony. Gradually a wall of drone begins to creep in and eventually overtakes all else.
Edition of 250 pressed on 160 gram off white vinyl featuring full color LP jackets & labels; mastered by Kris Lapke." [label info]
www.semataproductions.com
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2010 |
€21.50 |
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| MUSIC OF TRANSPARENT MEANS |
Selected Live Recordings |
LP |
"Selected Live Recordings is the third release De La Catessen Records has divined from the archives of New-York-via-Adelaide minimalist composer Alex Carpenter, and the second in this series for his shape-shifting collective, Music Of Transparent Means. It follows the two side-long fantasias of 2021's self-titled album; this time, we pan out slightly, to grant the listener a varied and yet more complex understanding of the material Carpenter was writing and performing when this music was happening, during the noughties. On this album, you can hear the results of some intensive explorations of the possibilities of minimalism both at its most delicate, and at its most feverish. The heavenly stasis of "Disappearance #1", for massed wine glasses and bowed guitars, feels like being jettisoned in a water tower filled with ether; the wooziness of "Burial Music" captures something of the spirit of Fripp & Eno's (No Pussyfooting), but as though the tape is slowly disintegrating; the music is blurred at the edges, warped and sidereal. Perhaps the centerpiece of Selected Live Recordings, though, is the simple, yet ravishing, "Rose Street Womb". With its performers given a simple set of instructions -- to continually repeat and elongate a series of phrases, while listening and responding to the overall sound of the ensemble -- its pastoral psychedelia recalls the gentle slippages of Arthur Russell's landmark composition, Tower Of Meaning. Elsewhere, "Mountain Piece #2" is a thunderstorm for massed drums, while "Second Presencing" uses delays as a structuring device to paint an "audio canvas" from a clutch of damaged tones. Throughout, you can hear Carpenter's knowledge and deep study of the history of minimalist composition -- he has written extensively on the work of La Monte Young, and there is certainly some aesthetic and ideological crossover with the likes of Phill Niblock, Terry Riley, and Arnold Dreyblatt. But it is also very much his own thing, the result of an intensive period of study and exploration of the possibilities, not just of minimalist composition, but also of Just Intonation. With the material long whispered about in reverent tones, and circulating on CD-R only amongst a small group of like-minded souls, De La Catessen's ongoing series of releases of Carpenter's music is a major development, bringing to light one of minimalism's hidden histories." [press release]
"From Iggy on the cover of Raw Power to Black Sabbath, circa 1980, in Milwaukee, from the ’52 Cleveland riot through to Suicide in Brussels, a healthy dose of chaos and danger is at the heart of all great rock music. So, it comes as no surprise to hear Alex Carpenter, the musician behind Music Of Transparent Means (MOTM), talk about chaos as core to the development of his music: “Even though there was this purity and mathematical elegance throughout some of the thinking and theory, what I remember almost more than that was the chaos and the mess, the forcefulness, the saturation and obliteration. The clear ideal gave way to this kind of loud, intense chaos, which in turn opened a path back to the clear.”
Music Of Transparent Means has always struck me as a particularly rock-reverent kind of minimalism, as though Alex has removed all the excess baggage that rock has picked up over the decades and focused on its most important aspects: noise and intensity, energy and mayhem. There is, of course, a great tradition of rock minimalism, from the Velvet Underground through AC/DC to Rhys Chatham and Glenn Branca, on into Band Of Susans, Spacemen 3 and Loop, but Alex’s music is curious for the way it flips the script on those examples and gives us an altogether different take on the intersection of these two forces.
You can hear the ‘elegant chaos’ of Alex’s compositions throughout this second archival release by the ensemble, which is filled with music that’s both seriously beautiful and deliriously serious. If the first MOTM release on De la Catessen gave an extended view into Alex’s work, with one long piece per side, here we have excerpts from performances throughout the years, allowing a more expansive take on both process and outcome. What strikes me, listening to this music, is the way that Alex indeed allows chaos to take its own non-form, to coalesce and congeal into huge, abraded blocks of sound, to allow the meeting of musicians, many from different walks of life, to morph into one throbbing brain at the centre of the sonorous universe.
Hearing “Rose Street Womb” for the first time in over a decade, I am also momentarily surprised by how much it echoes another favourite composition of mine, Arthur Russell’s early ‘80s piece, Tower Of Meaning. In “Rose Street Womb”, musicians are each given one short phrase, or a series of them, “which were continually repeated (either fully or partially) and continually elongated,” Alex recalls. “Performers were encouraged to listen less to their own part and more to the overall ensemble.” Here, you can hear that collective mind flame into being, where a ticker-taping tessellation of tones builds abstract architectures. It’s a collectivity that’s echoed in the brief excerpt from “Mountain Piece 2”, for massed drums, though this concerns itself more with the dynamic of rise and fall, and the collapsing of our distinct sense of rhythm and texture; it’s an exhilarating rush of projected energy.
By contrast, the woozy, sea-sick strands of melody in “Burial Music” obliterate themselves via the delay feedback system that Alex has constructed (shades of Fripp and Eno in the (No Pussyfooting) mirror-verse here), eventually leading to simple phrases collapsing in on each other, “resulting in a sort of ‘burial of melody’,” Alex confides. This focus on delay as a structuring force is also evident in the following “Second Presencing”, where Alex draws out what he terms an “audio canvas” by “increasing the delay time to over five seconds, thus opening a space in which I could react musically and build upon burgeoning patterns and gestures,” with a “slow change of harmonic centre”. If the delay pedal is so often the curse of lazy experimental and post-rock music, an easy route to padding out the tonal spectrum, Alex, on the other hand, uses it with indeed a painterly caress, using the parameters and extremities of this phenomenon to offer different ways of composing and responding to sound as it unfolds in real time, in front of our ears.
The closing excerpt from a 2002 performance of “Disappearance #1”, for wine glasses and bowed guitars, has particular personal resonance for me – attending this show at SEAS Gallery was the first time I’d encountered Music Of Transparent Means, on the recommendation of Alex’s and my mutual friend (and general all-round mensch of Adelaide music) Nigel Koop. I recall being struck by the eloquence of the sound and tested by its duration. For Alex, “Disappearance #1” was a significant piece – “the result of a painful re-entry back into performance after a long period of getting hung up on theory,” he remembers, “in particular the history of Western tuning and the idea of returning to some rarefied (and impossible) ‘perfect sound.’ Writing in just intonation definitely helped with the re-entry, but ultimately I realised I wanted more energy and chaos, even if it was in the service of striving towards some type of perfection.”
When I interviewed Australian musician Oren Ambarchi many years ago, I asked him why he was so moved by minimalist composers like Phill Niblock. His answer was simple: “I like it because it rocks.” Listening, with some intensity, to Alex’s music after some time away from it, I’m struck by the way it also collapses dualities – elegance and chaos; body and mind; heart and head; rock and minimalism. In here, we can experience something that’s fundamental, I think, to what we’re all looking for, perhaps moreso on the level of the unconscious, whether we’re lost in the zone at a heady recital or caught up in the tidal waves of noise rolling off the stage at a gig; deep, identity-dissolving sensory obliteration.
Like being caught in the middle of the holocaust of sound that my bloody valentine erupt into at the end of their gigs, during “You Made Me Realise”, you’re blissfully lost, and not a little concussed and confused. “The goal was to exhaust people first,” Alex concludes. “To get them to a point where these perceptual habits stopped serving them. Like meditating on a word until it loses its referential significance or magnifying an image until its normally recognisable shape becomes unstable. It’s only after these surface layers start breaking away that we can start clearing a path towards a more direct engagement with the material.” [Jon Dale]
https://transparentmeans.bandcamp.com/album/selected-live-recordings-2
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2022 |
€25.00 |
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Chord from the Second Delphic Hymn |
LP |
https://transparentmeans.bandcamp.com/album/chord-from-the-second-delphic-hymn-emerging-like-an-infant-from-the-house-of-truth
Discovering Music Of Transparent Means was one of the three or so genuine revelations from my fifteen years of living in Adelaide, Australia. I was in my twenties and had spent some time wondering why the city I was surviving hadn’t offered much in the way of genuinely engaging and affecting ‘experimental music’ (all terms used advisedly) during my tenure. I’d also somehow glommed onto the work of a number of American composers and polymaths – La Monte Young, Tony Conrad, Arnold Dreyblatt, Phill Niblock, Maryanne Amacher – and somewhere in the back of my head, I was looking for a similar music, locally made, that combined the rush and roar of the best rock music, its volume and its joyous love of kicks and freedom, with the temporal and experiential obliterations of the best minimalism.
So, finding Music Of Transparent Means (MOTM) was a heavy deal. A loosely shaped ensemble, MOTM was really the conceptual and aesthetic expression of éminence grise, Alex Carpenter, a fiercely intelligent and disciplined musician, composer and thinker who balanced that intensity with a genuine warmth and kindness in the personal realm. (The latter is far more important, in the end, than the former, and it’s one reason why I still listen to MOTM.) Alex had come up through time-honoured traditions – playing in rock bands as a teenager, studying classical guitar, finding himself embedded in, and ultimately chafing against the ‘classical guitar scene’: “It was a culture with limits. I didn’t just want to work on perfecting the Bach suites and discuss endlessly the merits of one particular arrangement over another one.”
Instead, Carpenter leaned towards composition over being ‘just’ a guitarist. The means of his expression were many and varied, but he recalls that he “also wanted loud, engaging sounds, alternative tunings, sustained notes and beating nuances that come from multiple instruments and sound sources.” A concurrent interest in the work of La Monte Young and his peers – Carpenter wrote an essay, “La Monte Young: Towards Absolute Music”, as a student in the nineties, which was an early, oft-referenced discussion of Young’s work - proved that Carpenter had intellectual chops to burn, as well, but as his colleague and peer Luke Altmann wryly comments, “he had an endearing love of the ridiculous and was the first person you’d look for at a party.” I can’t help but feel that you can sense that in the joyous sensory over- stimulation of MOTM – the music is, quite simply, a head-fucking blast to listen to and swim through.
Besides being the person releasing the album you’re now holding in your hands, Altmann was also a key facilitator for Carpenter, via the former’s De la Catessen Gallery. “Before I started presenting concerts at De la Catessen in ‘05, I meekly asked Alex if he would play there, since I couldn’t see the venue working without him. He agreed, and presented a series of concerts over the next two and a half years which really defined that period locally.” Carpenter’s final concert at De la Catessen, before relocating to the USA in 2007, was the launch of the album Chord From The Second Delphic Hymn. Initially planned as a lathe cut LP, the lathes proved unlistenable, and Carpenter returned to the CD-R format, via his label Vanished. There’s a sense, with this new LP release, of a project finally completed, come to full fruition.
Altmann’s description of “Chord...” is apposite: “As a listener it seems to hover and vibrate. Gravity is acting on it, but it’s failing. Its bubble-like surface swirls and endures, it is resolute but unresolved. But as a performer it’s another story - this beautiful object has an enormous mass and it takes intense physical exertion to keep it in the air. Each keyboard player has a sequence of notes, a sort of mantra, to play over and over, taking longer and longer to complete the sequence on each cycle. However, each note must always be repeated as rapidly, loudly, and consistently as possible, to create as close as can be to a continuous sound, before moving on to the next note. It is utterly exhausting and physically exhilarating.”
Carpenter expands, also taking into consideration this album’s b-side, “Emerging Like An Infant From The House Of Truth”: “The idea in both pieces (and in other pieces I wrote around that time) was to isolate a particular harmonic and textural “field” (for want of a better term) that was complex and engaging, and explore as many nuances as possible within the timeframe of the piece. Also to utilize these fields as channels for perceptual exhaustion and meditation.” I was once part of an MOTM performance – I can’t quite remember whether it was “Chord...” or another piece, but to be fair, we are talking 15+ years ago – and I readily concur with Altmann’s description of performing, and Carpenter’s focus on exhaustion and meditation: it’s tiring but thrilling, and strangely meditative, to be caught within the midst of all sound.
I also remember, once, sitting with Carpenter, and discussing an ideal of music that felt like a “bright white light shone directly into your face.” I mentioned it to Carpenter recently and he said, “I love this metaphor, and I remember talking about it with you! From memory it came from Baudrillard’s phrase “unbearable incandescence,” which I like because it seems to represent my feelings on sound as a resource musicians tap into. We perceive (and value) partial components of this overall “thing” - whether that be within a piece or an entire historic era. These components change, and there can be a flow to that changing, moving image, but the flow can also be interrupted by our preoccupation with a particular “snapshot” of the image.
“Put another way, I see sound as an unbearable incandescence because it is a resource that offers infinite possibilities, and as such we cannot take in all possibilities simultaneously. It needs to filter through our media. But to me it demands a certain reverence and curiosity. We’re aren’t using sound; it is using us.” Ask Carpenter to expand on this, and to explain what he wants people to get out of this music, and he continues: “The sensory overflow of the music that is on many levels quite forceful and unrelenting is an invitation for the listener to let go of the messages and concepts they might normally seek to have confirmed in music. To let go of the composed, performed data.”
I keep returning to the idea of a kind of blissful, obliterated exhaustion as core to the MOTM experience. It’s something Carpenter seems to agree with: “The goals of MOTM essentially centered around the exhaustion of perceptual habits. Given the pervasiveness—and to a certain extent, unconsciousness—of our expectation for music to render the themes, forms and meanings of habitual response, exhaustion was considered an important stage to reach. Only by becoming exhausted with the cultural categories normally sought and emphasized in music, could we really be given an opportunity to move beyond them.” I guess MOTM, and Carpenter, exhausted Adelaide, too – it was sad to see him go in 2007, as much as we all knew that he was destined for much bigger things, and that Adelaide’s cultural conservatism in the ‘00s was no great working context for someone so dedicated to music that sat outside of both the culturally dominant forms and those that presented as legibly counter-cultural within the dominant lexicon. But I learned from MOTM how to be in time and in sound; how to move through and give in to the experience of the sonification of our corner of the world. It was a lesson in possibilities.
|
2023 |
€28.00 |
|
| MUSLIMGAUZE |
Iranair Inflight Magazine |
CD |
“ Iran Air Inflight Magazine limited edition of 700 special package in a digipack. The title "Iran Air Inflight Magazine" refers to the Iranair civil aeroplane shut down by the American military. For the artwork we used found east European airforce propaganda material and the Iran air logo.This Muslimgauze will be hard to categorise: all is new material, pure Muslimgauze, percussive but not the dance style nor the ambient dub or distorted sound’s much more a new minimal repetitive and dry sound, most of the music is arranged percussion and some Arab text fragments appear every now and then. This album shows strong links with the first muslimgauze released on Bryn Jones own label limited Records, but also clearly shows his way of working shortly before he passed away.. Again Bryn has proven to make music in a clear Muslimgauze style which jumps across a wide variety in genres.” [press release] |
2003 |
€16.00 |
|
|
Uzi Mahmood |
do-CD |
"Bryn Jones died January 14, 1999. The man best known as Muslimgauze was 37 years old, and at the peak of his career. During his short life he recorded an astonishing number of albums, some 200 at last count, a great many of them in years immediately preceding his death. Indeed, his output was so great that his labels couldn’t keep up with the virtual flood of music he produced. It’s no wonder new material continues to surface so long after his passing.
“Uzi Mahmood” was recorded to satisfy a specific request. Soleilmoon wanted a 12 inch single that DJs could play in nightclubs. The idea was to introduce Muslimgauze to a potentially enormous new audience. The request was made in the autumn of 1999, in a phone call lasting less than five minutes; Bryn was never one for small talk. He was all business, and he could record a complete album in three or four days, sometimes faster. Two weeks after agreeing to record a disco album for Soleilmoon, “Uzi Mahmood” was delivered to the label. But instead of the agreed on two or three tracks, he sent an eleven song compact disc, followed a week later by a 90 minute digital audio tape containing the entire CD plus two more pieces. Four songs were eventually selected for the experiment, and in the spring of 1998 a dirty-and-dubby 12" EP was released. Two more songs were later used to replace a pair of corrupted tracks on the master tape for “Hussein Mahmood Jeeb Tehar Gass”, released on CD in 1999. The music was well received by fans, but the hoped-for dance floor revolution never happened, and the little record with the unconventional beats went out of print a few years later.
Fast forward to the present: The year is 2010 and the four song EP has been out of print for more than five years, seven more songs lie waiting in the vault, still unreleased, and the two tracks tacked onto “Hussein Mahmood Jeeb Tehar Gass” are the only ones in wide circulation. Which is why Soleilmoon is so very pleased to finally be releasing all thirteen songs together on one record. “Uzi Mahmood” is 90 minutes of the sexiest, most booty-shakin’ Muslimgauze music ever heard. We released a limited edition gatefold triple LP in November. Now it’s available as a two CD set. Disc one has the eleven tracks from the original master, disc two has the two extra songs that came on the DAT. The cover art is by plazm design (plazm.com)." [label info]
www.soleilmoon.com
|
2010 |
€18.00 |
|
|
Tandoor Dog |
CD |
"In 1998 Staalplaat and Muslimgauze were on a conquering spirit. Bryn Jones (1961-1999), the man behind Muslimgauze delivered new works, almost on a weekly basis and was more than happy to see them released straight away. Unlike others, Staalplaat was never shy to release larger works, lumping various works together, such as the 9CD “Box Of Silk & Dogs”. Allowing free reign in editing, the 4LP box set ‘Tandoori Dog”, contained the LP of the same name, which saw only eight out of the ten original pieces. Now released as a sole CD, the complete, ten track “Tandoori Dog” is released on a limited CD, spanning in total sixty minutes of music. Muslimgauze didn’t fail in this highly productive period. Peaking as never before, his music here carries all that makes Muslimgauze the unique artist he is. Taking his influences from what can be loosely called the Middle East, but extending that to as far as Pakistan, Jones samples freely percussion, instruments and voices and adds these to his own sequences and instruments, such as the tabla. The melting pot that is the studio blends this together, in hypnotic pieces of music. Captivating, minimal, groovy, but rather than being slick and commercial, this is the roughly shaped electronic world of Bryn Jones. All of this motivated and inspired by events in the Middle East, as reflected through the titles Jones picked for his work. A strong pre-occupation with the fate of the occupied people in the Palestinian lands and an unashamed love for such controversial groups as Hezbollah. With the re-issue of “Tandoori Dog” another keystone work by Jones is finally being available again." [label info]
www.staalplaat.com
|
2013 |
€15.50 |
|
|
Mazar-I-Sharif |
CD |
" 'Mazar-i-Sharif' is to polite society what a dozen angry Rotweillers are to a cafe full of poodles: An explosion. The diamond collars scatter across the tiles and the fur turns red as the perfectly clipped poodle-butts are torn apart by a pack of rabid Jerry Springer Spaniels. Your politically correct end-of-the-century tea party is officially OVER, and anyone thinking Muslimgauze is about to make a calculated move to new age radio should call a taxi right now because the missiles are already in the air.From the intense noise-and-rhythm barrage to the shocking cover image of a young boy with amputated arms, there is no part of this compact disc that will not offend someone. Yes, of course there are groovy Middle Eastern beats, and music loops are top notch as usual, and the true die-hard fans of Muslimgauze will not be disappointed, but we expect that there will be fewer of them after they hear this record. Track listing: 1. “Rezin Of Joy” – 13:39 2. “Sulymaniyah” – 4:17 3. “Mosul” – 12:13 4. “Bandar Abbas” – 9:57 5. “Zahedan” – 5:31 6. “Mazar-I-Sharif” – 7:56" [unknown source/label info]
www.soleilmoon.com
|
2009 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Syrinjia |
do-CD |
"Syrinjia was first issued in 1998 as a limited edition of 850 vinyl LPs. It has been sold out since winter 2002. Bryn Jones (Muslimgauze) always intended for us to release it on compact disc after the vinyl edition was gone, and today we’re happy to announce the fulfillment of his dream with the release of “Syrinjia” as a double CD. Ever the prolific composer, he recorded 20 songs for the album, of which only the first nine were included on the LP, leaving the rest to be released at a later date. Although Muslimgauze was never known for making particularly dance-oriented music, “Syrinjia” was a rare exception to the start-stop noisy feedback-driven assault that defined his style. This change in direction, more a detour, really, was the result of a simple request put to him to make an album that DJs could play for people who might not normally appreciate what he was doing. Rather than look at the request as a demand to compromise or sell out to commercial requirements, Bryn took it as an opportunity to explore a completely different foundation from which to work. While it could be said that the majority of his songs find their inspiration in Arabic or Islamic traditions, “Syrinjia” breaks the mold by looking west towards Jamaica and its vital reggae scene. The beats are rock steady and a sinuous bass line bubbles underneath at a rolling boil, and it’s standing room only once again on Air Palestine flight 132 to Kingston. A limited edition collectors version of “Syrinjia” was issued on CD on July 12, 2004. It was presented in a luxurious handmade silk folder with inserts made from recycled silk fiber. The entire run of 518 copies was sold in the first week of release. This regular edition is presented in a standard jewelbox and comes with a friendly price." [label info]
www.soleilmoon.com
|
2004 |
€18.50 |
|
|
Veiled Sisters (GOLD) |
3 x LP |
It's by some strange inversion that since his untimely death in 1999 Bryn Jones' Muslimgauze project has become evermore enigmatic as his publicly available recordings have become evermore vast. The Mancunian artist's sudden passing at the age of 37 prematurely resolved a body of work that remains as experimental as it is diffuse, with an informal archive that was left spread between favoured labels and confidantes. And though this monadic project never abided by genre specifications, it all feels as if it is taking the critical pulses of its time and rendering them into something other than the sum of its obscure compulsions. Jones' double album 'Veiled Sisters' from 1993 is no exception, and it persists as a magnificent outlier in his singular and bewildering discography.
Originally released by the label Soleilmoon, an early and lifelong supporter of Jones' work along with Staalplaat, the album is a notable example of the uniquely recombinant fragility and fervour of Jones' work. This 3LP edition marks the album's first appearance on vinyl. Like much of the Muslimgauze catalogue, 'Veiled Sisters' is dedicated to the Palestine Liberation Organization, with its two halves—Sister One and Sister Two—calling on the history and conflicts of the modern Islamic world through opaque titles and snatches of musical oration.
Forgoing the raucous timbre and abrasion that Jones could occasionally employ, this album balances a medley of shrill instrumental bursts with a complex patterning of ambient atmospheres. 'Veiled Sisters' moves with a hypnotic gait across its extended runtime with a dynamic ensemble of electronics grounded in a pulsing yet evasive combination of low-slung kicks and dub-soaked bass. The hissy wash of drums, both played and machined, decorate a restless patina all over, and the cacophony of samples send impressions scattershot into Jones' idiosyncratic yet readymade psychedelia. With a quiet intensity that is not often captured this succinctly in the Muslimgauze catalogue, this new edition of 'Veiled Sisters' is a reminder of the haunting wonder that Jones was capable of manifesting.
https://alter.bandcamp.com/album/veiled-sisters |
2022 |
€55.00 |
|
|
Turn on Arabic American Radio |
do-LP |
The relationship between Bryn Jones’ music as Muslimgauze and the track/abum titles he would provide (sometimes right on the tapes he would send in for release, but often determined later, sometimes even giving two different pieces months apart the same title, accidentally or not) has always been a little mysterious. Jones himself can no longer be asked, and as we continue to investigate the swathes of material he provided, you hit sources like the DAT or DATs that make up the contents of the new double LP »Turn On Arab American Radio«. Nine tracks, the first LP/four tracks titled »Turn On Arabic American Radio,« and the other LP/five tracks labelled only »Arabic American Radio.« None of them sound particularly radio-esque, although given the simultaneous vastness and ornate focus of Jones’ Muslimgauze work that gap between name and sound is far from atypical.
Instead here the de rigeur percussion loops that underpin this particular set of tracks, while occasionally clipping into the fierce distortion that Jones either loved to use or couldn’t get away from, steer away from both the more consistent application of that distortion as well as the Middle Eastern and Asian influences he often used. It’d be a stretch to call anything here basic boom-bap production but they come closer to it than a lot of Muslimgauze production. And while those loops are, as always prominent, they’re not actually the focus; settling into steady vamps as structures for Jones to pursue an extended and often more gentle exploration of the other sample sources he has here. There are stringed instruments, the sound of water, but most prominently or strikingly the human voice. Nothing is in English but tone and the occasional word ('familia', 'passport') still provide guides. There are ululations, snatches of melody; but most often speech, dialogue, often tense and harried sounding. Is this what Jones was thinking of or referring to with his Arabic American Radio?
As with so many other questions about Muslimgauze, we’ll never know the answer to that one. (Most pertinently in this case we might wonder who appears here, and what the context of these recordings is. But Jones never provided that with his submissions.) Here, even though those inexorable loops pound on, indefatigable, that emphasis on some of the people Jones chooses lends a measured gentleness to much of »Turn On Arabic American Radio«, at least within the context of his body of work. The last thing you hear at the end of the second LP is one last question from one of the many speakers on this peculiar Muslimgauze radio, echoed away into infinity. We may never have answers, but those questions continue to resonate.
https://www.discogs.com/release/25889791-Muslimgauze-Turn-On-Arabic-American-Radio
|
2023 |
€33.00 |
|
| |
Veiled Sisters |
do-CD |
It's by some strange inversion that since his untimely death in 1999 Bryn Jones' Muslimgauze project has become evermore enigmatic as his publicly available recordings have become evermore vast. The Mancunian artist's sudden passing at the age of 37 prematurely resolved a body of work that remains as experimental as it is diffuse, with an informal archive that was left spread between favoured labels and confidantes. And though this monadic project never abided by genre specifications, it all feels as if it is taking the critical pulses of its time and rendering them into something other than the sum of its obscure compulsions. Jones' double album 'Veiled Sisters' from 1993 is no exception, and it persists as a magnificent outlier in his singular and bewildering discography.
Originally released by the label Soleilmoon, an early and lifelong supporter of Jones' work along with Staalplaat, the album is a notable example of the uniquely recombinant fragility and fervour of Jones' work. This 3LP edition marks the album's first appearance on vinyl. Like much of the Muslimgauze catalogue, 'Veiled Sisters' is dedicated to the Palestine Liberation Organization, with its two halves—Sister One and Sister Two—calling on the history and conflicts of the modern Islamic world through opaque titles and snatches of musical oration.
Forgoing the raucous timbre and abrasion that Jones could occasionally employ, this album balances a medley of shrill instrumental bursts with a complex patterning of ambient atmospheres. 'Veiled Sisters' moves with a hypnotic gait across its extended runtime with a dynamic ensemble of electronics grounded in a pulsing yet evasive combination of low-slung kicks and dub-soaked bass. The hissy wash of drums, both played and machined, decorate a restless patina all over, and the cacophony of samples send impressions scattershot into Jones' idiosyncratic yet readymade psychedelia. With a quiet intensity that is not often captured this succinctly in the Muslimgauze catalogue, this new edition of 'Veiled Sisters' is a reminder of the haunting wonder that Jones was capable of manifesting.
https://alter.bandcamp.com/album/veiled-sisters |
2022 |
€24.00 |
|
| MUSTERION |
The Black Lodge |
CD |
Uns bisher unbekanntes Projekt auf HORUS, mit erster (?) Veröffentlichung unter diesem Namen. THE BLACK LODGE ist keine einfache Zusammenstellung von Musikstücken, sondern eher ein theatralisch-szenischer Soundtrack zu einer dunklen Geschichte oder Vision, mit Bezug zu LOVECRAFT, BURROUGHS, KEROUAC, GINSBERG. Das klingt sehr neoklassisch & dunkel instrumental, ist aber auch in elektro-akustischer Weise mit Stimmen & allen möglichen Geräuschen versehen, liegt also zwischen Neo-Klassik / Filmsoundtrack und Elektro-Akustik. Das ganze Werk wirkt wie in einem Traum oder einer Halluzination gehört… Grossformatige Hülle & Kunstdruck-Booklet, nummerierte Auflage von 500 Stück !
"The Black Lodge", a world beyond, is the place were Agent Dale Cooper is trapped. He travers through memories, dreams, Tibet, the works of H. P. Lovecraft and more. The Agent possesses the body of the late Jerzy Grotowski as he do his last journey among the walking dead. The visions of Cooper are seen, heard and felt in this avant-garde and exquisitely dark ambient album from Musterion, Simon AA Kölle (Za Frûmi, Abnocto). The Black Lodge is a place of murder, dreams, mystery, darkness, ancient machines, old memories and horror. A shrieking violin swells into a chaotic babel of sound; a pandemonium that would have lead most men to doubt their own shaking sanity. Inarticulate cries that only mutes can utter, and that rises only in moments of the most terrible fear or anguish.
With extreme attention to details this profound opus of the mind leads the listener away from the normal world and into the world of the Black Lodge. Garmonbozia!“ [label description]
“....In order to induce such a hallucinatory listening experience Musterion creates music using a wide array of instrumentation ranging from traditional and classical acoustic instruments to purely electronic based sounds. Though many songs are shadowed by dark ominous drones the music in each song reaches way beyond the range and habit of standard dark ambient music. Musterion has striven to bring experimentalism to dark ambient music and has successfully created a cinematic environment previously only pursued by too few capable musicians. Musterion “The Black Lodge” is definitely the most powerful full length album I have heard Simon AA Kölle participate upon. Fans of Simon’s previous work as Za Frumi will find the cinematic quality of the music familiar though be informed that the scope and intricateness of the songs far exceed Simon’s work with Za Frumi. I highly encourage dark ambient fans that like music that reaches beyond standard drone music to check out Musterion as well. Anyone with a fetish for H. P. Lovecraft or other dark occult inspired narratives is also encouraged to discover Musterion. Musterion is an invitation to close your eyes and be led into a world of shifting shadows, intrigue, and horror. This excellent release is limited to 500 hand signed copies so collectors be aware of the limited nature of this release.” [Heathen Harvest]
www.horus.cz
|
2005 |
€10.00 |
|
| MY CAT IS AN ALIEN / PESTREPELER |
Solar Anarchy / As Wolf |
pic-LP |
"My Cat Is An Alien are the brothers Roberto and Maurizio Opalio, who have been spreading their unique brand of mysterious guitarnoise improv across the globe for ten years. Pestrepeller are a barely-existing band of part-time musicians from the UK. The core trio is Harley Richardson, Ed Pinsent and Savage Pencil, occasionally joined by guest musicians. The band started life as Ultrasonic Attack Wave Pestrepeller around 1995 or 1996, and made Rodent and Insect Eliminator for Sympathy For The Record Industry. Sonic Boom, the genius behind Spaceman 3, remade this early record by processing it through his VCS3. Apparently he liked its complete lack of musicianship. A second LP Nug Yar was a limited press LP for Gary Ramon's Prescription label and sold out instantly, because only 99 copies of it existed and the print run was pre-sold to Coil fans. The trio played live in London precisely three times. Soon the band split up in acrimonious circumstances due to artistic disagreements, but reformed about two years later, met in the studio and recorded what became Isle of Dark Magick with Peter Hope-Evans, the blues harmonica player who used to be in Medicine Head in the 1970s. This session was released on CD by Important Records in 2006. Pestrepeller meet, play and record very infrequently, because they don't have enough time outside of their other pursuits in work, life, and art." [label info]
www.asilentplace.it
|
2009 |
€15.00 |
|
| MYSTERY OF THE BULGARIAN VOICES FEAT. LISA GERRARD |
BooCheeMish |
BOX - set |
The Mystery Of The Bulgarian Voices will release their first album of new studio recordings in over two decades on May 25th, 2018. Better known to many as Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares (Grammy winner for “Best Traditional Folk Recording”), ‘BooCheeMish’ sees the esteemed Bulgarian choir performing together with erstwhile 4AD Records label mate Lisa Gerrard (co-founder of the duo Dead Can Dance) on several tracks, thereby uniting two of the most distinctive vocal acts working in music. Gerrard, who is also well known for her movie soundtrack work on films such as ‘Gladiator’ and ’The Insider’, has often spoken about the influence the choir exerted on her singing technique when she discovered their music in the early 1980’s.
In successfully connecting Bulgarian folklore with other traditions and cultures, the album manages to retain the unique identity of the voices, vocal styles and techniques of the individual choir members, even when allying them with acoustic accompaniment such as stringed instruments and various types of percussion, including beatbox.
Once described as “the marriage of the avant-garde and the Middle Ages”, the magic of the ensemble stems from its success in mastering Bulgaria’s diverse, age-old vocal traditions while simultaneously sounding strikingly modern and original, thanks to the unique choral music structure - multi-part a cappella arrangements that transform its collective sound into strange colours as if something other than the human voice is being heard.
themysteryofthebulgarianvoices.bandcamp.com/album/boocheemish
|
2018 |
€68.00 |
|
| |
BooCheeMish |
2 x CD & BOOK |
The Mystery Of The Bulgarian Voices will release their first album of new studio recordings in over two decades on May 25th, 2018. Better known to many as Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares (Grammy winner for “Best Traditional Folk Recording”), ‘BooCheeMish’ sees the esteemed Bulgarian choir performing together with erstwhile 4AD Records label mate Lisa Gerrard (co-founder of the duo Dead Can Dance) on several tracks, thereby uniting two of the most distinctive vocal acts working in music. Gerrard, who is also well known for her movie soundtrack work on films such as ‘Gladiator’ and ’The Insider’, has often spoken about the influence the choir exerted on her singing technique when she discovered their music in the early 1980’s.
In successfully connecting Bulgarian folklore with other traditions and cultures, the album manages to retain the unique identity of the voices, vocal styles and techniques of the individual choir members, even when allying them with acoustic accompaniment such as stringed instruments and various types of percussion, including beatbox.
Once described as “the marriage of the avant-garde and the Middle Ages”, the magic of the ensemble stems from its success in mastering Bulgaria’s diverse, age-old vocal traditions while simultaneously sounding strikingly modern and original, thanks to the unique choral music structure - multi-part a cappella arrangements that transform its collective sound into strange colours as if something other than the human voice is being heard.
themysteryofthebulgarianvoices.bandcamp.com/album/boocheemish
|
2018 |
€48.00 |
|
| MYTRIP / EVITCELES |
Protective |
LP |
“Protective” blurs the boundaries between a split and collaborative LP. The record thoroughly captures and showcases Mytrip and Evitceles in their own and very individualist approaches to aggressive and atmospheric electronic music. What this album also does is present their combined power under the name Protective.
https://mytrip.bandcamp.com/album/protective
|
2018 |
€15.00 |
|
| MZ.412 |
In Nomine Dei Nostri Satanas Luciferi Excelsi |
CD |
"First of 5 albums in the MZ. 412 reissue series, with a new album planned for next year. 1995 bore witness to the resurrection of nefarious Swedish horde MZ. 412 (previously manifest as Maschinenzimmer 412) - Nordvargr, Drakh, Ulvtharm and Shaitan. This ground-breaking, genre-defining album saw the inventors of "Black Industrial" blur the boundaries between Black Metal, Ritual Industrial, Dark Ambient and Power Noise. "In Nomine..." captures the darkest sides of Satanism, death and ritual sacrifice. An enduring, blasphemous statement of True Swedish Black Industrial. This remastered version features two previously unreleased tracks, alternate versions and all new artwork. Housed in a matt digipak with spot varnishing." [label info]
www.coldspring.co.uk
"Swedish label Cold Meat Industry was one of the leading labels to release industrial-based ambient-albums that was often termed black ambient or death ambient. One of the true legends from the label was Swedish artist known as MZ. 412 who together with compatriot artists Deutsch Nepal and Brighter Death Now was a leading artist to form the style of Cold Meat Industry. Now more than one decade later British label Cold Spring has taken the trip back to the past to the early days of MZ. 412 and now releases all five albums from the master of black magic. Mz. 412 was originally born as Maschinenzimmer 412. Brain-man behind was Henrik "Nordvargr" Bjorkk who has also released solo-albums under the name Nordvargr with among others collaborations with noise artist Merzbow. Mz 412 circulates in-between spheres of industrial, power electronics and dark ambient with a black metal edge. Maschinenzimmer 412 was developed in 1989, where the shortage MZ. 412 became actual from 1994 forward. All five re-issues have been remastered and comes in a neat package: A black designed digipacinner sleeve with minimalist front-design and early satanic artwork painting on the inner sleeve. First two releases "In Nomine Dei Nostri Satanas Luciferi Excelsi" (1994) and "Burning the temple of god" (1995) is ritual works of martial rhythm textures and subtle drones of crushing power electronics. What is remarkable by these two is the elements of black metal expressions that suits well into the black atmospheres. On the next album "Nordik battle signs" from 1998 the expression seems darker and more heavy. Elements of black metal has disappeared. Instead the expression is more brutal with crushing power electronics. The album among others contains the absolutely astonishing pieces of ritual brutality "Satan Jugend II : Global conqueering" and "In hoc signo vinces". As we move to next album "Domine Rex Inferum" the expressions turns more subdued with focus on black ambient expressions until the final tracks where hell breaks loose with destructible power electronics. Last album in the box originally was released five years after the aforementioned previous album "Domine Rex Inferum". The album titled "Infernal affairs" moves away from the subtle textures of "Domine Rex Inferum" and thus takes the listener in to more upfront and bombastic textures of Industrial with elements of utterly dark ambient and cynic black noise. Hordes of samples from humans whispering, conversing and sometimes screaming in pain saturates the album meanwhile black whooshing drones creates a cinematic atmosphere. An absolutely astonishing boxset demonstrating why MZ 412 is considered one of the true kings of the Swedish black industrial-scene launched from Cold Meat Industry. A true milestone!" [NM/Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| MØHR & MAEROR TRI |
Hafenstadt |
CD |
" On “Hafenstadt”: This music was originally planned to form a part of the third tape box in the MØHR interpretation series of ZNS TAPES. In this series different artists got an individual 30-minutes-piece of basic material by MØHR to be interpreted it in any way: Using it as a backing tape and adding some more tracks, getting inspired and doing something unique in the spirit of the basic material, deconstruct and arrange it anew. The invited artists had any opportunity to re-work the source material. For the actual release the basic material was placed on side A and the interpretation on side B, enabling the listener to compare the basic and the final sound. Three tapes were compiled as one tape box linked by a loose theme. The first box, Bürokratie, contained works by DAS KONZENTRAT, BESTATTUNGSINSTITUT and SUICIDE COMMANDO (released in 1990), the second, Kulturschock, contained works by ANDREW CHALK/DARREN TATE, ECTOPLASMIC EMBRYO EXPERIENCE and FLAGRANTs D’ELI (released in 1991). The third one, which was to contain Hafenstadt by MAEROR TRI (as well as material of PBK and THE HATERS), has never been released due to the sudden end of ZNS TAPES. We’re convinced that this combination of basic stuff plus musical reworking is still an interesting and exciting experience for the audience, maybe especially after more than 20 years in the archives. (Andreaz Vogel)
MØHR biography
MØHR existed between 1986 and 1994 as the solo project of Andreaz Vogel. Previously he had been active as a bass player and drummer in various post punk and noise rock groups.Since its inception the main aim with MØHR was to create a dense and energetic sound without the use of conventional instruemnts. With this wall of sound the listeners were almost under attack and forced into a dark and brooding listening environment, both on the recordings and in the live situation. Andreaz also ran the important tape label ZNS TAPES.
MAEROR TRI biography
MAEROR TRI existed from April 1988 to the end of 1996, coming from the very north-western part of Germany. The three members were influenced by (post) industrial, noise rock and experimental ambient and found a way to establish their very own drone based style, using often guitars but also other instruments plus all kinds of (self build) objects and masses of sound effects. Their symbol, the triangle “Wheel” stood for ‘consciousness’, moving & shining in different colours and speed. The sound was meant as a tool for the listener to open the mind for transcension & sensitization: ‘We want to transmit a total openness, the bursting and overcoming of all mental barriers, the breaking out of the enforced subject “Tunnel-Reality” of modern society. ‘ Out of MAEROR TRI evolved the projects TROUM and 1000SCHOEN that are still very active." [label info]
www.aufabwegen.com
www.aufabwegen.com
"Mohr was the work of German avant tape-machinist Andreaz Vogel who ran the ZNS Tapes label in the late '80s and early '90s; and our introduction to this work dates way back to the very second Drone Records single, released in 1993. This was about the time when Vogel pretty much called it quits on sound construction; but given how many great artists had been introduced through the Drone Records series of singles, Mohr's work had always been intriguing even as it had been quite elusive in the global cassette underground at that time. By the end of Mohr's tenure, Vogel had embarked on three mail-art pieces in which various audio sculptors and sound destroyers would rework / deconstruct a 30 minute track from Mohr. The second in this trilogy was notable to those Andrew Chalk enthusiasts as an unknowable Ora cassette from 1992. The third - and never released - cassette was to include Maeror Tri, The Haters, and PBK. With Hafenstadt, we now have a glimpse back into the gristled, contorted, and mangled tape construction that Mohr had been producing in conjunction with a pretty stellar set of black hole implosion of x-ray drone courtesy of Maeror Tri. Vogel took something of a Fluxus approach to his industrially bent constructions, purposely avoiding musical instruments in favor of the found sound that got flung into orbit in a spiraling descent of his tape loop dub and squeaky wheel rhythmic errata. These are deliberately raw and malformed cyclical patterns for a DIY musique concrete. Maeror Tri's brain-crush of sustained reverb and backwards masked flares of dark energy bury much of the insistent hypnosis from Mohr well beneath their grim wall of leaden noise and nuclear winter drone. It's always a wonder to behold the early works from Maeror Tri, and here it's nicely paired with Mohr's mangled hypnogogia." (Aquarius Rec)
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| N & BU.D.D.A. |
untitled |
LP |
https://aufabwegen.bandcamp.com/album/no-title
"When Helmut Neidhardt (also known as N), Chris Sigdell and Sascha Stadlmeier (collectively known as Bu.d.d.a., meaning Bund des dritten Auges) met for the first time in 2020, they booked studio time to record music together. Still, as spontaneous as this meeting was, it was also chaotic. Salvaged from the recording was Helmut's guitar, some of which served as a basis for Chris to re-record his guitar at home, adding some vocals, mailing it off to Sascha, and adding his violin and musique concrète. Back it went to Chris, who did the final mix. Since then, they have toured together and played three shows as a trio. Judging by the music, that is good because what they do here sounds natural, even with some distance between them. Both music projects labour with drones and do that slightly differently. The guitar and amplification are essential for N, sometimes with sharpish played notes, whereas Bu.d.d.a. has a denser approach, layering instruments and sound effects in one thick carpet. There is a point at which they both meet, and that's precisely where x marks the spot. Two pieces (well, three, but the two on side B blend easily together as one) of vast drones, moving and shaking, going places instead of staying in one place too long. The voices are, perhaps, not something I am not all too happy about, but I can see why they do it, and it's the music quite well. It adds further to the mysterious sound they play, and even with the addition of N's guitar, sounding at times like a steel guitar, which I thought was very nice, I am still very much reminded of Troum (as noted before, in Vital
Weekly 1347), but this trio has enough going for themselves. Ominous and dark, this is exactly the kind of all-immersive drone you'd expect these people to play. Maybe it's a pity they didn't choose a new band name and started fresh as a new group, but that's none of my business. I can imagine there will be some exciting trio work for them in the future. One could say this is a promising start, but with their shared history, it doesn't feel like a start." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2023 |
€19.50 |
|
| N + BALTZER |
Gaunerzinken |
do-LP |
This improvisation was recorded live in one afternoon with a one-track recorder in the order of the tracklist. Nothing was cut or added.
GAUNERZINKEN
For us humans, the world consists of signs that we continually create and interpret ourselves. As cultural beings, we work partly consciously and more often unconsciously every day to produce signs of meaning. Through language, ritual, habit or deliberate planning. In this way we appropriate the world. The so-called GAUNERZINKEN have the same function. Signs painted on houses that give clues to their material value and inhabitants. The signs are planned. The inhabitants do not know their meaning. They are excluded from their interpretation.
Thus, GAUNERZINKEN form signs of meaning, created by marginalised groups who desire, in secret language, a double act of appropriation: The creation of a secret, self-concealing sign, for the appropriation of a part of the material world, the property. Through the production of signs, those excluded from material privileges gain a first access, a first symbolic occupation, a small boundary shift of the exclusionary in the world. Crime is therefore necessarily immoderate, immoderateness necessarily criminal. The music of N and Baltzer is in this immoderate, alluding to signs / playing signs, that remain ambiguous. The signs are diffuse, blurred, diffuse into atmosphere, no meaning is given, the implications are to be filled individually, subjective crooks are to emerge while listening. But no one gets excluded.
This is how we can appropriate the world. This world, flooded with signs, brushed over and dressed up, the world obscured by property. Through the production of secret meaning, through our signs, which first form in us as emotion and which we then paint on the facades of the world when we have located ourselves anew, which we should always covet, so that it may someday be ours again.
Here is your sound.
Double-Vinyl LP in a DIY linoleum print cover. Edition: Black printing on grey paper.
https://n-baltzer.bandcamp.com/releases
"Auf „Gaunerzinken“ entwickeln sich fünf, dem Wesen und der Erscheinung nach einander fremde Live-Improvisationen, die dennoch darin vereint sind, eine durch Gitarren vermittelte Unruhe zu erschaffen. Die Stücke variieren ungewöhnlich stark. Und das, obwohl nur ein Nachmittag benötigt wurde und obwohl das instrumentale Fundament während der gesamten Aufnahme hinweg identisch bleibt: „Guitars, amps and effects“ – einfach live, ohne nachträgliche Zusätze, pur. Hellmut Neidhardt, kurz N, hat es mit dieser unmittelbar bedrohlichen Musikform auf Dutzenden von Tonträgern und in einer Vielzahl von Projekten zu einer außergewöhnlichen Klasse gebracht. Und auch in Zusammenarbeit mit Sebastian Baltzer (ORANGE SWAN) gelingt ein vielschichtiges, behutsam sich entwickelndes Album von unerhörter Präzision. Gemastert von Dirk Serries, einem anderen Gitarren-Drone-Virtuosen, ist „Gaunerzinken“ ein herausragendes und atmosphärisches Werk geworden, dessen Improvisationen ein bebendes Leben innewohnt." [Ox Fanzine]
|
2022 |
€26.00 |
|
| N / MOLOCH / E H E |
Live at N51 21064 ° E6 783782 ° (28 11 2015) |
LP |
"With this collaboration, my ongoing search for musical challenge has led my into the territories of harsh noise; something I never did before... It happened after Moloch + E.H.E. and me shared the stage during some festivals, respectively I listened to them during Moloch + E.H.E. shows. I immediately liked how they manage to use noise in a very dynamic way, not always full blast, but really being able to tell a story with more than just one facette... And: they are not using laptop only as a source; the main part of their sound is created using a really difficult to see through bunch of effect-boxes with a labyrinth of wiring. So the cacophony (NOT meant negative in this case) in sound and the visual cacophony of wiring and pedals really comes together when you have a look on the tables on stage, spread all over with their tools... Besides the pure sound, the visual aspect is significant anyway: At least one part of Moloch + E.H.E. is concentrating on visuals during a show; using millions of frames for a visual improvisation in direct relation to the sound.
At some point we decided to just prove if it would work joining Moloch + E.H.E. with N drones and instead of trying that at the studio we directly did our first live-show. Luckily Andreas Brinke of [ B O L T ] was there that evening and did a fine recording directly from the mixing-board. And now you can hear this very first and fully succesful melting of our different aestethics in sound: With the first part of the show I added micro-sounds to the noise, mainly emphasizing the moves of Moloch + E.H.E., for the second part I choosed drones, somehow earthening the sound.
As with the music, we made it with this record: it is completely D.I.Y.; the records have been pressed on natural-clear vinyl, the sleeves are printes by ourselves, using different film-stills from the original visuals. Any cover now is made of two sheets of printed transparent paper put into a transparent plastic bag. With the record being transparent also, you have a very nice see-through / three dimensional effect... Look at it while you crank up the volume!
The records are available from us directly. And please come to our release show at AZ Muehlheim / Ruhr on January 4th; with a lot of other artists on stage also..." [Hellmut Neidhardt]
|
2019 |
€16.00 |
|
| N [49] [HELLMUT NEIDHARDT] & SIMULACRA |
Birka |
LP |
Thick rough cardboard covers, black polylined inner sleeves, 180g black vinyl, strictly limited to 100 copies.
N is the moniker of Dortmund-based German experimental guitarist Hellmut Neidhardt. In line with the release of his collaboration record with SANKT OTTEN - Männerfreundschaften und Metaphysik - September 2015 sees the release of two further N-related records.
The first one is his latest solo record - N(43) - „Anklam“ -, featuring the three tracks „Daemmerung“, „Restlicht“ and „Requiem“. It is a album Neidhardt somehow knew to be located in the dark fields of blinding error and its consequences, thus anything there might be a bit ambiguous in its meanings. From deeply melancholic, coarse-grained waves of sound, buried under tons of beside-noises to the last rearing of the sound of the sun before falling into the sea. And then you are still there, time has stopped, all has stopped. Exept the endless hovering of the requiem. „Anklam“ is once again a direct-two-track recording without any cut and paste, with Neidhardt just using his guitar / FX / amp setup - regardless how it may sound.
The second new record is N(49) „Birka“, a collaboration with SIMULACRA from Belgium. This is probably the one of N's collaborations that took the longest time to make so far and Neidhardt is happy to take part of the blame for that: Simulacra is known for his very deep, void-like sound aesthetic, with deeply breathing synth sounds without any artifacts around. For this reason it was very difficult for the two collaborators to figure out a corporate sound; they only knew they found this after it had happend at last... Well and from this moment, it was quite easy. Expect a very dark album, with a lot of bass, with N's guitar sometimes emerging from the depth of Simulacra's soundwalls, sometimes working as something like a driving force from underneath; slowly shifting frequencies through endless caverns, reverberating from the black walls. "This record is soo dark, we love it... (and thus are really happy we made it in the end...)." states Neidhardt.
www.denovali.com
|
2016 |
€27.50 |
|
| N [XX] (HELLMUT NEIDHARDT) |
Rote Fuhr [N41] |
LP |
"N is the moniker of Dortmund-based German experimental guitarist Hellmut Neidhardt. September 2015 marks the release of a new solo record and a collaboration album, N(41) „Rote Fuhr“ and N(42) + Dirk Serries „Kehr“.
„Rote Fuhr“ is special. Musically it finally brings together the more noise orientated approach of „Saarn“ and „Heven“ with the deep droning of records like „Prora“ (empiric records), „Goor“ and „Oie Kirr“ (both: Denovali). Also using white noise in a musically way, like a cold storm breaking loose, whiping away everything around and pushing it into abyssial, dark and glowing drones. With a destroyed arpeggio slicing some parts of „Rote Fuhr“, with a stacking of layers between noise and organ-like drones, all stenched together with micro-melodies to a symphony of brutal beauty.
Coda: this record mainly transports anger. An anger felt during a short tour of N with his labelmates Petrels and Talvihorros during a very dissappointing showcase in front (or better: not really in front) of some really ingnorant people. The next night made Hellmut instantly quit the intended setlist and let the anger run through the amps. And so finally finding a home for some motifs being played live since 2011... In a way they were never played before. ... Hellmut was very angry that evening, but very happy with this result. And just to be sure: this is a live-record. Recorded at Schlegels / Dortmund / Germany by Andreas Brinke as the recording engineer." [label info]
www.denovali.com
|
2015 |
€27.50 |
|
|
Anklam [N43] |
LP |
Thick rough cardboard covers, black polylined inner sleeves, 180g black vinyl, strictly limited to 100 copies.
N is the moniker of Dortmund-based German experimental guitarist Hellmut Neidhardt. In line with the release of his collaboration record with SANKT OTTEN - Männerfreundschaften und Metaphysik - September 2015 sees the release of two further N-related records.
The first one is his latest solo record - N(43) - „Anklam“ -, featuring the three tracks „Daemmerung“, „Restlicht“ and „Requiem“. It is a album Neidhardt somehow knew to be located in the dark fields of blinding error and its consequences, thus anything there might be a bit ambiguous in its meanings. From deeply melancholic, coarse-grained waves of sound, buried under tons of beside-noises to the last rearing of the sound of the sun before falling into the sea. And then you are still there, time has stopped, all has stopped. Exept the endless hovering of the requiem. „Anklam“ is once again a direct-two-track recording without any cut and paste, with Neidhardt just using his guitar / FX / amp setup - regardless how it may sound.
The second new record is N(49) „Birka“, a collaboration with SIMULACRA from Belgium. This is probably the one of N's collaborations that took the longest time to make so far and Neidhardt is happy to take part of the blame for that: Simulacra is known for his very deep, void-like sound aesthetic, with deeply breathing synth sounds without any artifacts around. For this reason it was very difficult for the two collaborators to figure out a corporate sound; they only knew they found this after it had happend at last... Well and from this moment, it was quite easy. Expect a very dark album, with a lot of bass, with N's guitar sometimes emerging from the depth of Simulacra's soundwalls, sometimes working as something like a driving force from underneath; slowly shifting frequencies through endless caverns, reverberating from the black walls. "This record is soo dark, we love it... (and thus are really happy we made it in the end...)." states Neidhardt.
www.denovali.com
|
2016 |
€27.50 |
|
| |
Tremonia |
LP |
N is one of the most profiled German drone / ambient artists - being active since the early 1990s he has released more than 50 records. On "Tremonia" he returns with the idea to picture a certain place musically - his approach goes further than before, using field-recordings for the first time. "Tremonia" is located under a row of 17 railway-bridges very close to the central station of Dortmund. Those bridges are played by the trains entering and leaving and also give house to an unknown number of homeless people. All these impressions can be heard on the field recordings of "Tremonia" taken in the early morning hours. Technically the record still sticks to N's "no overdub" rule with solo recordings: The field recordings were played over a third amplifier while recording the guitars, thus the mix was done live. Part of the tracks had been selected by Urbane Künste Ruhr for a compilation of places described by music.
heavy handprinted rough cardboard covers, black polylined inner sleeves, 180g black vinyl, strictly limited to 100 copies
https://n1511.bandcamp.com/album/tremonia
|
2023 |
€33.50 |
|
| N.STRAHL.N / METEK |
Drowning Devices |
CD-R |
"five tracks of subtley menacing, creepy combination of pulsing electronics, droning vibration, and field recordings evoking a claustrophobic, lysergic-fueled fevered dreamscape. Comes in a DVD case, the disk is pro burnt and printed." [label info]
"... The thematic approach here seems to be 'life under water', and more special the life inside a submarine. Both artists feel quite the same what the other wants and together they drum up five pieces that fit together quite well. The field recordings are difficult to pin down - but seem to me made in tunnels to get that reverb and that also keeps the sound 'outside', as recorded through a tube. To this they add their own electronics and sound effects. It starts out a bit noisy, but quite soon moves into a musical area where ambient, industrial, and microsound meet up. At times the amount of reverb used is a bit too much, but the claustrophobic nature of the music comes out quite well. Certainly when played through headphones this comes quite close. There is not much difference between the tracks that were finished by Metek or by N.Strahl.N, which might be a bit problematic - faceless perhaps - but together it makes quite a strong album. Something for the lovers of more present drone music, and those who love the Mystery Sea releases." " [FdW / Vital Weekly]
http://cohortrecords.0catch.com
|
2009 |
€8.00 |
|
| NADJA |
Skin Turns to Glass |
CD |
So ziemlich alles was NADJA in ihre Frühphase jemals herausgebracht haben, wird dieser Tage wiederveröffentlicht, so auch SKIN TURNS TO GLASS; die drei Stücke erschienen 2003 als CDR auf Nothingness Records und präsentiere NADJAs unnachahmlichen "Ambient Metal"-Sound, vom emotionalen Charakter her betrachtet sind das Drone-Stücke mit Hang zum Unendlichen und Dunkel-Kosmischen, als stilistische Mittel werden Metal-Elemente benutzt..
Als besonderes Schmankerl gibt es hier noch einen wunderbaren vierten, unbetitelten Track (fast 30 min lang), der NADJA von ihrer ambient-experimentellen Seite zeigt, mit endlosen Wellen von an- und abschwellenden Soundflächen......
"Dirge-like metal riffs & heavy, minimal percussion w/ ethereal melodicism & something of a shoegazer asthetic, creating a swirling amorphous wall of sound that strives to be both obliterating & uplifting. 3 tracks with a running time of 80 minutes." [label info]
"....So why buy this one? Or the two forthcoming releases? Or the 30 or 40 past releases? Well, if you're like us, we can't get enough of the sound of Nadja. And like we mentioned above, we HAVE figured out a way to make this sound go on forever. Each record, takes the dense blissed out buzz, the lurching doomic trudge, the gloriously effulgent majesty of Nadja, and stretches it out just a little bit further. Each time adding something crucial that wasn't there before. On Skin Turns to Glass, the songs are evenmore meditative and repetitive, looped endlessly, the riffs churning mantra-like, a buzzing slow motion hynorock, separated by spaced out stretches of glimmering ambience, and deep cavernous drones. Every Nadja record we're tempted to declare it the best yet, but we'd bet you if we went back to one of the first releases, we'd immediately think that it was in fact the best one. Such is the magic of Nadja, the sound they've created, the soundworld, each piece is as important as any other, the sound wouldn't be complete, in fact can naver be truly complete, until there are no more records, no more songs, no more pieces to add to the ever expanding puzzle. Hopefully that will never happen.
Includes an unlisted bonus track, nearly thirty minutes of shimmering doomic minimalism, droning dark bliss, that explodes in
the last minute or so, in a flurry of incendiary white noise, a drum damaged blown out psychguitar metallic meltdown, that ends quite abruptly, leaving us to wait patiently for the next movement, coming soon..." [Aquarius Records review]
label-website: www.theendrecords.com
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Desire in Uneasiness |
CD |
".. Zwar gibt es auch hier wabernde, monotone Texturen galore, allerdings schieben sich hier auch immer wieder mal unterschwellig feine Melodien durch das Geräuschdickicht. Der übliche Shoegazer-Doom wird mit etwas feinfühligerem Ambient-Feeling zu brutalem, subtil variierenden Soundscapes verwoben. Wühlt innerlich ziemlich auf." [Creative-Eclipse]
"Following a wave of recent reissues and re-recorded versions of older CD-R titles, Desire In Uneasiness is an album of all new material from the acclaimed Canadian dreamsludge weavers Nadja. Five colossal jams of eternally-fuzzy, ethereal dirge that are powered by the interlocking bass guitars of Leah Buckareff and Aidan Baker, who set loose a wave of monstrous grinding bass riffs amidst a fog of beautiful, swirling electronic effects. Desire also marks the first Nadja album to feature a live drummer in place of the drum machine programming that has driven the band's previous recordings, and the difference in the band's sound is apparent from the first crushing beats of album opener 'Disambiguation'. The organic drumming here takes Nadja's music into new realms of spacious jazzy exploration, dubby rhythms and cavernous psychedelia, while also delivering some of the band's most grooving, crushing hypno-bliss yet.
Desire also stands out from the rest of the Nadja catalog for it's bizarre artwork that Aidan commisioned from his friend The Reverend Aitor. Aitor's bright, bold lines and textured magic marker artwork gives the gatefold jacket we've presented this disc in the look of a twisted children's book on acid, with weird images of chickens, trees growing through chairs, and more. The package is a sturdy 4-panel gatefold jacket printed by Stoughton, and it looks killer." [label info]
www.crucialblast.net
|
2008 |
€8.00 |
|
|
Corrasion |
do-LP |
Vinyl-Version des Albums / CD von 2007. Kommt mit neuer Version des Titelstücks und Bonus-Track. 400 Stück gibt es nur, feines Klappcover, schweres Vinyl, und die Musik? "das vielleicht bisher eingängigste NADJA-Album, himmlische Melodien & wuchtige Arrangements, wundersame Drone-Sphären und geisterhaft gehauchter Gesang, im Spannungsfeld & Treffpunkt von Metal, Post-Rock und Sphären-Drone... Wiederveröffentlichung / Neu-Arrangements der Stücke einer CDR von 2003." [Drone Rec info]
"Basses Frequences is damn proud to finally give the vinyl treatment to what is certainly Nadja's finest full-length recording. "Corrasion" has Nadja in full doom mode; it is an extraordinary mix of slow, heavy, and layered guitar riffs and the ultra-dense-yet-melodic-drones that have become Nadja's trademark. "Corrasion" has been re-mastered for the vinyl release and includes an exclusive, extended version of the title track as well as the outstanding "numb" to expand on the 2007 CD release. Strictly limited to 400 copies on 180 gram black vinyl ( and 100 on 180 gram blue vinyl - sold out ) packaged in a full-color gatefold sleeve." [label info]
www.bassesfrequences.org
https://bassesfrequences.bandcamp.com/album/corrasion
|
2009 |
€25.00 |
|
|
Numbness |
CD |
"music genres: doom metal, shoegaze, ambient, experimental. Nadja is a duo of Aidan Baker (guitar, vocals, drums, piano, flute) and Leah Buckareff (bass, vocals, violin) from Toronto, Canada. Their sounds have been called "ambient doom"; music that combines elements of metal, shoegaze, ambient, post-rock, experimental, and neo-classical. They have released numerous albums on such labels as Alien8 Recordings, The End Records, and Conspiracy Records and have toured extensively throughout the world including appearances at noted festivals like Roadburn, FIMAV, and SXSW. "Numbness" is a special collection of tracks, compiled by Nadja themselves choosing "shoegaze-oriented" tracks among their vast previous titles. Most of the tracks were originally released on very limited vinyls or rare compilation albums. Among the 6 tracks, total time of over 70 minutes, there are two vocal-centered tracks which reveals the influence of My Bloody Valentine. The last track "Numb" is an amazing 21 minute drone noise track as if synchronizing dark psychedelia of Mono and Mogwai. A perfect compilation for Nadja beginners to Nadja freaks. Packaged in a special cardboard sleeve in black ink. Just Awesome! NUMBNESS track listing and info: 1) Veil of Disillusion originally released on Shadows Infinitum compilation (Crucial Bliss 2004) 2) God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen originally released on The Holiday Masterpieces compilation (Blod Records 2004) 3) Long Dark Twenties (slightly extended 7" version) originally released on 7" (Anthem Records 2008) 4) Alien In My Own Skin unreleased 5) Time Is Our Disease originally released on Infernal Procession... 3-way split with Atavist and Satori (Cold Spring Records 2008) 6) Numb originally released on Base Fluid 'net release (Foreshadow Productions 2007)" [label info]
http://happyprince.jp
|
2009 |
€16.00 |
|
|
Ruins of Morning (SOLD OUT) |
10inch |
"RUINS OF MORNING shows NADJA in a very experimental & dark poetic mood. Their contribution for the "Substantia Innominata"-series (dealing with / drawing inspiration from the "Unknown", "Unnameable" or "Not-Knowable") comes in two long parts based around one musical theme that appears again and again (a great dark harmonic phrase moving through different levels through this epic track), linked by very beautiful drone-sections & more noisy outbursts. Song-orientation and a more experimental sound-art approach are thus combined perfectly.
The phantastic lyrics from Aidan Baker point in a very poetic way to an utopian new morning where material values play no role anymore, but a new state of sensual being is settled in an almost J.G.BALLARDian way, when perceptions of the environment (sky, lights, sun) and the beloved (eyes & skin) fall into one.
Or is this a nocturnal boundless dream-phantasy? The wish / fear to return to mothers womb, a state where everything is one (one is all) again?
These lyrics open up a scope of vague possible interpretations witch match up perfectly with the impressing music; a music that describes "The Unknown" in strong metaphors of surrealistic psychic states of being.
Experience the avantgardish drone-metal duo at their most dark & beautiful and on their very first 10" ! Edition of 500 copies on GOLDen vinyl, fantastic artwork by Marcin Lojek (ibsendesign.pl). One track in two very long parts, playtime 40+ minutes!!" [label info]
RELEASE DATE 10. APRIL 2010 !!
www.substantia-innominata.de
"...In this series things evolve around 'Unknown', 'Unnameable' and 'Not-Knowable'. Nadja plays one piece, cut in two. Here they use more guitar like sounds, as Aidan Baker is the guitarist and vocals, while Leaf Buckareff plays the bass and Nadja find themselves in the shady zone where drone meets metal. The a-side is a mellow piece, if that is an appropriate word for the world of Nadja, but the b-side opens with a wall of sound type of drumming and then another wall of guitars, playing some of the darkest, slow metal music. Hardly drone like, which seems to an entirely different thing, but I must say there is something to say for the fact that this is drone like: the whole piece, both sides, works wonderfully well as a piece of dark ambience, the apocalyptic version of drone music. Not for the weak of hearth and mind!" [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Dagdrom |
CD |
"Dagdrøm is Nadja’s first proper full-length since their 2010 release Autopergamene (Essence Music) and, replacing their habitual drum machine, features live drums courtesy of Mac McNeilly from The Jesus Lizard. While Nadja retains their signature overblown sound and heavily distorted guitars, these songs are more concise and structured, tempering their experimentalism and ambience with a more straightforward “rock” sound and compositional style. As such, Dagdrøm looks both forward and back—a departure from Nadja’s usual sound and style, it also harkens back to the noise rock scene of the ’80s and early ’90s and bands like Big Black, Caspar Brötzmann Massaker and, of course, The Jesus Lizard, all of whom were influential on Nadja’s sonic development.
Originally from Toronto and currently based in Berlin, Aidan Baker (guitars, woodwinds, vocals, drum machine) and Leah Buckareff (bass, vocals, accordion) create music variously dubbed dream sludge, metalgaze and ambient doom—atmospheric textures and elements of shoegaze, and experimental / ambient with the heaviness and volume of metal and noise. Nadja has released numerous recordings on Alien8 Recordings, Hydrahead, Southern Records, Robotic Empire and their own label, Broken Spine Productions (to name a few). The group has toured and performed extensively around the world, appearing at such diverse festivals as Incubate, SXSW, FIMAV, Roadburn and Unsound." [label info]
http://brokenspineprods.wordpress.com
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Flipper |
LP |
"Over the roughly ten years of their musical activity, Nadja has undoubtedly become one of the most well-known and influential Drone bands around – and rightly so. Their unique soundscapes, characterized by epic soundscapes, radiating synths, and hushed vocals have a truly mesmerizing effect and capture you with their bizarre beauty.
On this album, Nadja explore new territory and focus on the endless ocean of the mind. Aidan and Leah are joined by Peter Broderick on violin, and Angela Chan on viola.
Tracklist:
A1 - Drown (10:08)
A2 - Song For The Sea (12:38)
B1 - Wrapped In Plastic (12:15)
B2 - Hands (9:00)
As the name already suggests, this album is dedicated to dolphins, with all profits being donated to the Whale and Dolphin Conservation.
All releases on Oaken Palace Records are produced by a Gold Standard carbon-neutral and ISO14001-certified company. The sleeves are made of 100% sustainable paper, and non-toxic printing colours are used.
Limited edition of 500 on 180g clear vinyl.
All records come with a free download code." [label info]
www.oakenpalace.com
|
2013 |
€20.00 |
|
| |
The Stone is not hit by the Sun, nor carved with a Knife |
CD |
"Nadja return with The Stone Is Not Hit By The Sun, Nor Carved With A Knife, their first release for Gizeh Records. The Canadian/Berlin-based ambient doom duo of Aidan Baker and Leah Buckareff continue their ultra-prolific output with a monolithic record which explores the depths of heavy noisescape-related music. Encompassing distorted riffs and hypnotic rhythms the album sonically attempts to continue on from the more structured elements of the duo's recent Queller album (2014), coupling that approach with Nadja's more traditional sprawling, dense and challenging sounds. The relentless fuzzed-out textures repeat and build into a blissful and cathartic whole - a place to be completely immersed. In the deep, glacial and all-consuming world that Baker and Buckareff provide the listener with here, there is a will to dissolve, to let the record wash right over you or perhaps even through you. At times crushingly beautiful, The Stone Is Not Hit By The Sun, Nor Carved With A Knife is brought to life by its clever restraints with quieter interludes serving a perfect purpose against its more intense, heavier moments. The album's intriguing title comes from a runic inscription on an Icelandic burial stone but the phrase also appears on the Eggja Stone which provided some of the lyrical content on the record. Nadja have a habit of transcending genres and indeed throughout their career, they have been incredibly difficult to pin down. The Stone Is Not Hit By The Sun, Nor Carved With A Knife is a welcome addition to that hefty catalogue and stands up tall against their most impressive work. Aidan Baker - guitars, vocals, drum machine; Leah Buckareff - bass guitar Recorded in the autumn of 2015 at Broken Spine Studios, Berlin. Mastered by James Plotkin. Artwork by
Aidan Baker and Richard Knox." [label info]
www.gizehrecords.com
"The CD was mistakenly manufactured with only 3 track markers when there should be four. So, the correct tracklisting should be 4 tracks, as it appears on our Bandcamp page:
https://nadja.bandcamp.com/album/the-stone-is-not-hit-by-the-sun-nor-carved-with-a-knife
The fourth track is a bonus track exclusive to the CD and not on the LP at all." [Aidan Baker]
|
2016 |
€15.00 |
|
| NADJA & TROUM |
Dominium Visurgis |
CD |
"TRANSGREDIENT RECORDS TR-07
RELEASE DATE : 15. May 2010
8-PANEL DIGIPACK w. METALLIC COPPER PRINT
FORMAT: FULL-LENGTH CD PLAYTIME: 49:30 min
FILED UNDER: DRONE
NADJA & TROUM "Dominium Visurgis"
This is something you could call a "dreamlike liaison". When the Canadian "avant metal / drone doom"-duo NADJA (who name TROUM as one of their early influences) and the German post-industrial / experimental drone pioneers TROUM (years ago active as MAEROR TRI who are still discovered by many drone-fans these days) combine their exceptional styles, they form something even vaster as usually known from them. These three long collaboration tracks were recorded as a result of a spontaneous improvisation in April 2008 "live in the studio" near the Weser-river in Bremen, Germany, and suck you in with their powerful & emotional drone melancholy that works in many micro-& macrocosmic ways, using electric & acoustic guitars, bass, accordeon, drum-machine & voice." [label info / press release]
"In dieser ersten Zusammenarbeit von Troum (Baraka[H] + Glit[s]ch) aus Deutschland und Nadja (Leah Buckareff + Aidan Baker) aus Kanada schaffen beide Bands etwas, dass vielen derartigen Kollaborationen eben nicht gelingt: den eigenen Stil beizubehalten und gleichzeitig offen zu sein, zentrale Elemente des musikalischen Partners gleichberechtigt einzubinden und eine echte Mischung entstehen zu lassen. Sei es aus dem Wissen darum, dass dies nur in einer direkten Konfrontation geht, sei es aus anderen Gründen und allein der glückliche Zufall hat es bewirkt, Troum und Nadja haben mit „Dominium Visurgis“ keine e-mail Zusammenarbeit auf CD gebannt, sondern sich tatsächlich im Studio getroffen und die vorliegenden drei Stücke in enger Zusammenarbeit komponiert und aufgenommen. Denn nur die dann entstehende derartig intensive Interaktion (und eigentlich: die daraus resultierende gegenseitige Inspiration) lässt eine Atmosphäre entstehen, die noch über die eigentliche Musik hinauszustrahlen scheint, den Wirkungskreis der Musik erweitert. Bei aller Qualität, die die VÖs beider Bands sonst haben, „Dominium Visurgis“ ist etwas besonderes. [Hellmut Neidhardt aka "N", Unruhr]
"...Ein dröhnender, träumender Urozean, ein Fluss ohne Ufer, brandet, brodelnd
und pfeifend, an Urgestade, die erst noch im Werden sind. Das Pfeifen lässt
einen für einen Moment das Schreien von Phantommöven über der summenden,
wogenden, atmenden Panthalassa halluzinieren. Der ‚atmende‘ Blasebalg erklingt
nun auch als webendes Akkordeon neben klingelnden Gitarren. Die beiden Duos
sind komplett zu einem Quartett verschmolzen. Man starrt gebannt auf, ach was,
durch seine Schuhe hindurch beinahe bis zum Nabel der Welt." [R. Dittmann, Bad Alchemy]
"To some these two names represent the absolute top of the drone music, and who am I to disagree? Troum, the follow-up to Maeror Tri and Nadja, the duo of Leah Buckareff and Aidan Baker, have both presented themselves through a line of releases, displaying the finer sense of drone music, through the use of guitars, accordeon, voice, rhythm machine effects and such like. In April 2008 they did a spontaneous improvisation in the Troum studio, which now is released on CD. This is indeed the top of their scene: guitars are set to play drones, through the use of e-bows, through lots of sound effects, loop stations and all such like. They do the usual slow built up towards a mighty crescendo, fly through air, and then land safely through a long decrescendo. Headspace music. Perhaps not the kind of music for a sunny day like it is today, but more for grey, rainy days. They are mood musicians and one has to be open to these particular dark moods, but if you open up then they are more than
willing to transport you through these dark woods. An excellent work, hardly to believe one of some afternoon improvisation." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
"... On albums like this, one again realizes just how many shades Troum’s self-repeating, subtly changing structures contain. When joined to parts provided by other talented artists, they shine with incredible power and enchantment, which one has to admire, totally captivated. This is precisely what happens on Dominium Visurgis." [Jiituomas, kuolleenmusiikinyhdistys.net]
|
2010 |
€12.00 |
|
| NADJA / AIDAN BAKER |
Nalepa |
LP + CD |
NADJA | AIDAN BAKER NALEPA
After their highly acclaimed album “Luminous Rot” (Southern Lord), Nadja continue their body of doom drone shoegaze works with the instrumental album “Nalepa”.
On “Nalepa” Nadja are joined by Ángela Muñoz Martínez on drums, also known as one of the percussionists in the always evolving Hypnodrone Ensemble. The three musicians teamed up for a live in studio session at Funkhaus Berlin, after being invited by Jake Muir, with the aim “that we might do something different in the studio than we normally would ourselves” (Aidan Baker).
The former DDR broadcast studio with its giant studio rooms, is the perfect place for an epic drone doom session, providing enough room for all the sounds to sprawl.
“Nalepa” features the studio session, divided into six parts, or two parts on vinyl. The first half is a pushing forward doom beast, featuring repetitive themes, while the second part comes with a more experimental seething approach, like a volcano close before eruption. The album has its own haunting libertine mood and sounds different, compared to other Nadja albums featuring drummers. Have a listen on soundcloud.
In a follow up session some weeks later, Aidan Baker also recorded a solo album at the illustrious Funkhaus Berlin that is featured as a CD, which comes with the Nadja LP. “Nalepa” by Aidan Baker features four dynamic tracks, moving somewhere between ambient, drone, jazz and space rock. All sounds on that record are played live by Aidan. He played drums over live-looped guitar and bass patterns, to create four exceptional energetic pieces.
“Nalepa” comes in an edition of 250 copies on LP+CD. Black vinyl with printed labels and reverseboard printed sleeve on 300g cardboard. The CD is housed in a reverse board printed cardboard wallet. Both formats are featuring artwork by øjeRum.
Nadja – Nalepa LP
Funkspiel I (8:25)
Funkspiel II (10:50)
Funkspiel III (6:58)
Funkspiel IV (12:25)
Funkspiel V (7:54)
Funkspiel VI (5.24)
Aidan Baker – Nalepa CD
Radioplay I (10:46)
Radioplay II (11:24)
Radioplay III (8:38)
Radioplay IV (11:18)
Credits:
Nadja
Aidan Baker (guitar)
Leah Buckareff (bass)
Ángela Muñoz Martínez (drums)
recorded live in studio 01.02.2020 at Funkhaus Berlin by Jake Muir, Matias Santos and Olívi Mamberti
Aidan Baker
Aidan Baker (guitar, bass, drums)
recorded live in studio 27.03.2020 at Funkhaus Berlin by Jake Muir, Matias Santos
Technical:
LP + CD / Limited to 250 copies
LP comes on black vinyl / reverseboard printed sleeve / printed labels
CD comes in wallet / reverseboard printed sleeve
https://www.midirarecords.com/release/md-100-nadja-aidan-baker-nalepa/
|
2022 |
€32.00 |
|
| NADJA / NETHERWORLD |
Magma to Ice |
CD |
10. Ausgabe in der FEAR DROP / FARIO - Split & Collaboration-Serie, diesmal sind die kanadischen Drone-Metal Überflieger NADJA und der italienische POLAR-AMBIENT Act NETHERWORLD in interessanter Kombination zu hören - 3 Stücke von NETHERWORLD, ein langes von NADJA welches eine einzige gigantische Drone-Blase darstellt, und eine fast 10minütige Zusammenarbeit). Kommt im überdimensionierten Vollfarb / Aufklapp-Cover! Eine Verbindung von "heissem" und "kaltem" Ambient wie man sie nur selten auf einer CD finden wird.
"Talented Italian ambient composer Alessandro Tedeschi runs the Glacial Movements record label and plays music as Netherworld. His fascination for polar landscapes and soundscapes makes him close to industrial ambient pioneers such as Thomas Köner, Rapoon, Biosphere and Lull. Icy, windy, droning and deeply "protomelodic" at once, his music is a poetic translation of the ice floe. For this record, he used processed fragments of classical music. Nadja is the drone / doom / ambient duo of Canadian musicians Aidan Baker and Leah Buckareff. Their behemoth of sound is a construction of heat, weight, loop and vapour. Here, they had to break Netherworld¹s ice and find a way to the red core of Earth. The common track brings heat onto ice, which warms up, crackles and soon melts. As a conclusion, the long piece by Nadja is total heat. This is Nadja "unrhythmed", which means pure lava. This CD features exclusive graphic concepts and artwork by Alan McClelland (www.eyelyft.com) " [label info]
"French label Fario is not very active: this is their tenth release in about as many years. The label is an off shoot of the excellent (but en Francais) magazine Fear Drop, whose only goal seems to release a CD with the meeting of two artists. They present each a couple of solo pieces and one collaborative piece. Lopez & Roden, Troum & Christian Renou, Rapoon & Desaccord Majeur and Vromb & Telepherique went ahead (among others) and here it's the turn for Alessandro Tedeschi, also known as Netherworld, and owner of the Glacial Movements label and Aidan Baker and Leah Buckareff, from Canada and best known as Nadja. Netherworld's three pieces are an excellent sound example of his own label: glacial movements. A very apt description. Still music of slow moving, utter deep movements. A turtle moves faster I think. A deep bass rumble in 'Closing To A Glacial Dawn'. Sounds like Biosphere or early Thomas Köner, but surely with a fine twist of his own, apparently all made with snippets of classical music. I skipped the collaboration to save that until the end and first heard the piece by Nadja, which spans nineteen minutes. A giant explosion takes place, and it sounds like a 180 degrees turn around from the Netherworld tracks. Yet that is only deceiving the listener. Yes, Nadja is much louder, but it's the same side of the ambient at work here: long sustaining sounds, feeding through effects, creating a ringing effect in your ear. Absense of rhythm is noted. How exactly their collaborative effort was recorded is a bit unclear but both ends meet up well here. There is the glacier like sounds of Netherworld, amplified of course to compete with the harsher sounds of Nadja, who mix in their own blend of guitars and electronics. Placed as the fourth track on the CD it makes perfect sense, forming a perfect bridge between the trio of silence of Netherworld and the solo outburst of Nadja. A perfect collaboration." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
labelwebsite FARIO: http://www.feardrop.net/fario.html
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| NADJA / PICASTRO |
Fool, Redeemer |
LP |
"Fool, Redeemer is semi-collaborative split release between Canadian acts Picastroand Nadja. Having toured together and shared a stage many times over the course of the last half-decade, the two bands thought it was time to finally release something together. Nominally a split album, with side A featuring tracks by Picastro and side B a sidelong track by Nadja, members of both groups contributed to each other's songs. And a certain mutual influence seeped into the compositions, Picastro's dark-folk appearing at the beginning of Nadja's track "Venom" and Nadja's trademark drone/dirge tendencies lending a heavier, noisier edge to Picastro's songs. Nadja is a Canadian duo made up of Aidan Baker (guitars, vocals, woodwinds, drum machines) and Leah Buckareff (bass, accordion, vocals), alternately based in Toronto, Canada and Berlin, Germany. The project, originally formed in 2003, creates music which has variously been described as 'Ambient doom,' 'Dreamsludge,' and 'Metal-gaze,' combining the atmospheric textures and elements of shoegaze and experimental/ambient music with the heaviness and volume of metal and noise. Nadja has toured extensively around the world and released numerous recordings on such labels as Alien8 Recordings, Hydrahead Records, Beta-Lactam Ring Records, Blocks Recording Club, and their own fledgling label, Broken Spine Productions. Toronto-based Liz Hysen's (guitars, vocals, piano, violin) Picastro has existed in various forms with various players (including members of Final Fantasy and Rockets Red Glare), since 1997. Currently active as a trio, Hysen is joined by Brandon Miguel Valdivia (drums, percussion), and Nick Storring (cello, guitars, woodwinds, electronics). Picastro creates stark, brooding, discordant song which draw on folk and psych traditions, noise, and post-rock. The band has released four full-length albums on such labels as Pehr Records, Polyvinyl and Blocks Recording Club." [label info]
http://brokenspineprods.wordpress.com
"A split release by Nadja, well-known in the pages (and outside I guess) and Picastro, a Canadian group around Liz Hysen's (guitars, vocals, piano, violin), with a fleeting membership, but here a trio of Hysen with Brandon Miguel Valdivia (drums, percussion) and Nick Storring (cello, guitars, woodwinds, electronics). Nadja of course is a duo Aidan Baker (guitars, vocals, woodwinds, drum machines) and Leah Buckareff (bass, accordion, vocals). There is however an overspill between both bands as they play on each other tracks - semi-split.There is something to say to put both of them on a disc together. Picastro plays music that is also 'heavy', but also with an interest for folk like music, psychedelics and post-rock. The violin and cello wail about, and the band plays on. This CD is cleverly constructed: via two psych rock pieces we arrive at 'Darnia', a more meditative piece of percussion and strings and a mellow song for acoustic guitar and strings in 'A New Souls Benediction'. The tinkling takes over for 'Venom' - the twenty-three minute excursion carried out by Nadja, which starts out with equal low strumming and whispering vocals, before slowly erupting into a wall of sound which is the trademark of Nadja, complete with drum overload towards the end of the piece. It marks a full and complete album." [FdW /Vital Weekly]
|
2011 |
€15.00 |
|
| NAM-KHAR |
Sur Chöd |
CD |
The Ritual/Drone collective Nam-Khar return to our Winter-Light label with their latest inner outing entitled 'Sur Chöd'.
This is Nam-Khar's second release with Winter-Light, after the very successful and well received 'Secret Essence/Sangwa Dupa' album in 2018. The music has evolved ....
"Sur Chöd" is composed of 6 long-form pieces, each piece transforming and morphing in to a musical entity within it's own right. The traditional percussive elements are still there in the music, deployed in full force alongside more subtle uses of these instruments. It is the use of the drone and bass elements that have changed on this release. The small vacuous pockets which Nam-Khar use so well are soon filled with warm, thick drones, synthesised sweeps and enlightening cosmic sounds. It once again creates that space for the listener to move into for contemplation and reflection, to energise and focus through the welcome isolation space created by Nam-Khar's atmospherics. Pushing the inner-traveller ever further onwards, along different trodden paths.
Ritual ambient, dark ambient, drone, industrial and subtle tinges of dark-jazz await the listener on this deep and diverse release from Nam-Khar.
https://winter-light.bandcamp.com/album/sur-ch-d
"Two years after its first album on Winter-Light label, Nam-Khar is back with the “Sur Chöd” full length, which seems as a natural evolution of the project, yet while keeping its specific style of Eastern aural mysticism, the project is infusing a handful of fresh spicy ingredients to their music.
Already on the first track based on the sounds and echoes of horns and gongs you may notice a subtle yet quite atmospheric layer of the shade and colour I cannot recall it was present on “Secret Essence/Sangwa Dupa”. But it is with the second piece, “aDre” that all the fun begins. Of course the word “fun” should be filtrated by sensitivity of an introversive dark ambient supporter, like me for that matter. How the drones flow, blend and morph one into another… It is made with all the principles of the genre, takes you far above the Himalayan peaks and lets you float blissfully. If you know me a little, you know that I’m not so fond of the pitch-black side of the genre. There always should be at least a faint glimpse of light, an atmospheric or oneiric foothold, so to speak. On “Sur Chöd”, Nam-Khar finds a perfect balance while maintaining this “tibetan” spirit from the previous releases they managed to create a veil of still mystic, yet a more universal aura. Something that cannot be limited by the monikers related to a certain culture. It is as profound as the Nature itself. It still can be overwhelmingly dark, like “Dregs Pa”, yet I feel this time it is a facade, an opening gate for the unknown, vast realms of the world beyond.
How the drones intermingle one with another forming these beautifully esoteric structures may at some points recall the darker works by Klaus Wiese or Mathias Grassow and since I’m a die-hard fan of both German artists, I can’t be more happy of that fact. “gNod sybyin” is evidently the best example. Along with these specific eastern drums and a silky glacial background it results with possibly the most sublime composition of the whole album.
On this album Nam-Khar has evolved into a five person ensemble. I’m not sure exactly how the personal constellations looked in the past (most of the time I was convinced that it is a one-man project, to be honest), but I suspect there’s some fresh blood on the board this time and this different perspective is noticeable, yet it doesn’t conceal what Nam-Khar is about. Nice example of stimulating diversity in favor of the project’s coherent style is “Gangs chen mdzod lnga”. Atmospheric scapes, reverbed tinkles, ritual sequences and silence being a crucial part of the whole composition. No single unwanted sound.
The final track has been made in collaboration with Akoustik Timbre Frequency, the project by Priapus23, who’s also known as a CEO of a ritual dark ambient label Sombre Soniks. And this is another “Sur Chöd” highlight, an unconditionally stunning fusion of divine drones, unrushed beats and a handful of tiny ornamentations. This one may not be exceedingly intricate, but in this case the artists prove that simplicity is a virtue and I found myself listening to “T’ew Rang” several times in a row, on repeat.
I would say it’s Nam-Khar’s best work up-to-date. I still appreciate “Secret Essence/Sangwa Dupa”, as I wrote in a review that album was more than decent, but I have to admit that I find some moments too “straightforward dark” to me, so I have to be in a proper mood to play that CD. “Sur Chöd”‘s palette of emotions is far more broad and giving even more possibilities for your own inner journeys. Where will it take you? Check for yourself." [Santa Sangre mag] |
2020 |
€13.00 |
|
| NAMBLARD, MARC |
F. Guyana |
CD |
"The field recordings of « F.Guyana » have been realized in the forests and the costal regions of French Guiana between the dry season and the « little rainy season » (November/December 2014, 2015 and 2016).
1. Awala
—
Plage des Hattes, Awala-Yalimapo. Softness of the setting sun with a greenbrown sea tainted with red as a backdrop. Waves hemmed with foam and a hot breeze blurring the sound of palm trees and crickets make a répétitive music.
2. Crique Popote, Rhinella marina
—
Crique Popote, east of Saül. Beginning of the night. Cane toads (Rhinella marina) come out of the forest and cautiously step into the world of a creek which is still sleepy at the end of the dry season. Their powerful sonorous trills intermittently punctuate the silky humming of nocturnal insects.
3. Crique Popote, Cacicus cela
—
Same location, at daybreak. The first rays of the sun spray gold dust on emerging treetops. A colony of Yellow-rumped Caciques caw their wacky repertoire in the crystalline air. Guianan Red Howler Monkeys and cicadas – among other early risers – also make their way through thèse dream-like surroundings.
4. Pics et Colibris, Woodpeckers and hummingbirds
—
On the dirt road to Saint-Élie, near Sinnamary. On either side of the road, a confused, impenetrable forest edge where even the whirring sound of hummingbirds and high-pitched droning of cicadas appear to be held back. Yet, here also, the forest offers a remarkable sensation to ears who like to listen, where each call, song or drummed sound seems like a cleverly written note on a timeless musical score. Above our heads, a woodpecker hammers at a piece of bark, tears it away and abandons it before flying away.
5. Boeuf Mort, Dark night
—
On a path called ‘Boeuf Mort’, near Saül. The dark night shivers. In the foreground, a tiny tree frog, Pristimantis inguinalis, pulses its brief resounding note, alternating with the trisyllabic call of Vitreorana oyampiensis, a Small glass frog. A Variegated Tinamou (Crypturellus variegatus) finally betrays its presence with its characteristic whistling.
6. Kaw Mountain, Manucus manucus
—
Kaw mountain, late morning, in the jumble of a secondary forest. Several White-bearded Manakins (Manacus manacus) have gathered in a courtship display area and fly about at prodigious speed, disseminating sparks of sound produced by their vibrating wings. Several doves (probably Leptotila rufaxilla) as well as a Northern Slaty Antshrike (Thamnophilus punctatus) can be heard in the background.
7. Petit Saut, Ara chlroropterus
—
Late afternoon, south of lake Petit Saut. A magical moment after a short but generous shower. In just a few minutes, and as the forest has finished shaking off the rain, a composite whisper builds up. Voices appear, rise, multiply themselves and at times whirl around. Perched on tall candle-like dead trees, Red-and-green Macaw (Ara chloropterus) converse and enjoy the sound of their vocal explosions propagating over the vast space.
8. Forest drones
—
Hypnotic summary of the throbbing sound of the primary forest early in the morning with Black Spider Monkeys (Ateles paniscus), Guianan Red Howler Monkeys (Alouatta maconelli), Stingless bees (Melipona sp.), cicadas and crickets taking the lead roles.
9. Kaw Mountain, Post-explosive breeding
—
Kaw mountain, late December. Close to a temporary forest pool. The intense downpours of the previous days have triggered the first mass amphibian breedings, accompanied by a cumulative chorus so powerful it represents a real danger for the unprotected human ear. Today, early in the night, the activity is moderately intense and enables us to appreciate the phenomenon. Two species of Leptodactylus (Leptodactylus cf. knudseni, Leptodactylus aff. mystaceus), displaying varying degrees of depth and quaver, and Dendropsophus (Dendropsophus leucophyllatus, Dendropsophus aff. minutus), with sharp high-pitched sounds, take the lead role in this hallucinogenic soundscape heralding the beginning of the rainy season.
10. Crique Douille, Arada
—
Chemin gros arbres, south of Saül. Typical soundscape, near a small creek, transmuted by the steady and hesitant arrival of a Musician Wren (Cyphorhinus arada).
11. Caribbean inspiration
—
Back to the ocean, near Cayenne, at dusk. Wanderings amongst fireflies, between a stretch of fallow land illuminated by a choir of Johnstone’s Robber Frogs (Eleutherodactylus johnstonei) – a small amphibian originally from the Caribbean – and the edge of a marshy forest, alive with groups of Snouted Treefrogs (Scinax boesemanni, Scinax ruber) and Crested Forest Toads (probably Rhinella cf. margaritifera). Accompanied by the muffled and haunting rhythm of waves crashing on the beach and beating the reefs…
11 Tracks (72′22″)
CD (500 copies) |
2017 |
€13.00 |
|
| NATURA EST |
Real Seasons |
CD |
British Electronic producer Tony Young (Autoclav1.1) and German Industrial/Noise powerhouse Andreas Davids (Xotox) present their 3rd album after the self-titled, monolithic debut in 2018 (Ant-Zen) followed with the all-engulfing “Second” in 2019 (Mahorka). 2021 continues the story with ‘Real Seasons’. Six tracks of brooding ritualistic Ambient that taps into the "old ways"; a time in which nature and the cycles of the Earth was to be worshipped and revered. The world as we know it is going through an extinction event crisis, the magnitude of which we have never seen before. Flash storms destroy homes and villages across the world, whilst bush fires rage across population centers without mercy for the lives they take in their path. Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter are regularly making an appearance in some corners of the globe, all in one day. Time, truly is running out. The clock is ticking. REAL SEASONS holds an aural mirror up to a thought process and belief system, that regardless of doctrine; tells a story of a simpler time, where harvests and unspoken Gods ultimately promoted balance between all life on the planet. Centuries later, we have now overstepped the mark. Nature is all, all is nature; but who really is the beast?
CD Edition of 300 copies in 6 panels Digisleeve, Matt Lamination. 6 Tracks. Running Time 35:58
https://cycliclaw.bandcamp.com/album/real-seasons |
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
| NAVARRO, ALEXANDRE |
Arcane |
CD |
Wunderbare Echo-Gitarren, die polyphon ins Endlose wallen sind die meist verwendete Basis für die Kompositionen auf "Arcane", das ist das erste echte CD-Album für ALEXANDRE NAVARRO. Tip für Guitar-Ambient / Drone Fans..
"After several ep releases on various labels and netlabels (Mandorla, Archipel, Realaudio, IOD) since 2004, Alexandre Navarro is proud to release his first CD album Arcane for SEM label. Arcane means esoteric, hidden or mysterious... While not necessarily a conceptual approach for the album, Arcane creates this sense of mystery through a blend of electric guitar experimentation, melody and field recordings. A guitarist since the age of 15, Alexandre Navarro has been working with electronic tools for several years (laptop, sampler, software...). For this album, however, he found it necessary to make more of a direct connection with the music; more organic, lofi and instrumental, where the guitar naturally played a central role throughout the recording of the album. With the exception of a few other instruments (organ, sampler, flutes), the album was exclusively recorded with a microphone, a guitar, a valve amp and some effects. In some ways, Arcane has something tribal and primitive at its core. It is directand essential, addressing the mysteries of creation, birth, death, life in general, in a poetic and nostalgic way. March 2008 - CD Digipack printed to 500 copies." [label info]
www.semlabel.com
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| NECKS, THE |
Silverwater |
CD |
"Their first studio CD for three years - named for an industrial suburb in Sydney, famous for its correctional facility - Silverwater ranges further and wider than the Necks' earlier releases, exploring a more sectional structure that counterposes more extremes and contrasts, and has a greater sense of forward motion, than usual, though still retaining the long, hypnotic single-track iterative form for which the band has become famous. Layers and skeins of overdubs and textures give way in places to almost empty stretches, and there is much play with asynchronous time. Paradoxically, for a band famous for its slow, cycling, repetition, the Necks show again that they work hard not to repeat themselves." [label info]
www.rermegacorp.com
"Hot damn. A new Necks album. They're one of our favorite bands EVER, and this is (one of the many reasons) why. Silverwater provides 67 minutes of the Necks' unique, hypnotic, keys/bass/drums bliss, all one track of course as is their wont. Over the course of those 67
minutes, though, the music made by this Australian trio varies quite a bit. Their trademark tranceiness is present, always, but at the same time this new album (their first studio record in, like, 3 years) seems more programmatic and propulsive than we're used to from these guys, taking off in directions we haven't necessarily heard from them before, but still sounding more like the Necks than anything else.
Yet, parts could be mistaken for an underground ambient psychedelic jam from the likes of Sylvester Anfang, almost. And we'd say this is
the Necks record to get Bohren & Der Club Of Gore fans into 'em. Other comparisons we've perhaps made before would be to Circle (in their non- metallic Miljard mode), Supersilent, Alice Coltrane, and AMM... anything that can elicit references to the likes of those is,
obviously, amazing.
Eerie wavering drones delicately unfurl near the start, quiet and pretty... that gives way to a section that's almost ceremonial, like some percussive ritual. Sparse and deliberate, drums-only for a stretch, to be joined by deep, plucked bass notes... it could be some kinda krautrock jazz... and it does get "jazzier", sort of, with electric organ coloration, and cyclic piano plinkings, but also electronic-y gritty glitchiness overdubbed... Silverwater's shimmering textures and minimalist pulsations are simply beautiful, enthralling. It's a glorious 67 minutes, all right.
If you know the Necks, you know you need this. If you're new to the Necks, please do yourself a favor and check this out. Next to seeing them live (which some of us have been lucky enough to do, oh my god they were good), this will demonstrate quite effectively why we hold them in such high regard." [Aquarius Records]
"67:15, ein Track. Der Einstieg in den
Necks-Sog geschieht diesmal über Hammondorgel,
Electronics, flickernde Percussion. Dann ein ultrarepetitives, trillerndes Pianomotiv von
Chris Abrahams, ganz sparsam der Kontrabass
von Lloyd Swanton, knatternd rollendes
Drumming in immer wieder wiederholtem Muster.
Lange spielt Tony Buck das allein, bis der
Bass wieder mit langsamen Schritten sich anschließt. Dann auch zarte, gleichmäßige Cymbalschläge und die Wiederkehr von Hammond
und Piano zugleich. So gleitet man in den nun
wieder vollen Klang hinein. Alles an The Necks
ist gleitend, fließend, repetitiv, hypnotisch.
Mandalas aus Schwebklang und Puls. Buck klappert mit Muschelschalen, Abrahams schlägt immer nur ein, zwei Noten an. Die Electronics
kommen wie ‚from nowhere‘, dazu das nun schon bekannte perkussive Klackern, wohl nicht von Hand. Die schlägt die Sekunden auf der Cymbal zu dröhnender Orgel und Pianomonotonie. Was macht Swanton? Lässt er einen Ventilator die Basssaiten beklackern? Jetzt steigt der Bass als Bass wieder ein, das Klackern geht aber weiter, dazu kommt jetzt - wenn die Uhr nicht geschmolzen wäre, würde sie 30 verstrichene Minuten anzeigen - eine Gitarre. Buck macht mit einem Drumriff dem mäandernden Dröhnfluss Beine, Abrahams hält mit einem Pianoloop schritt, dazu Walking Bass und der klackernde Automat. Und die Gitarre, jetzt deutlich. Dann dünnt der Klang aus auf das Klackern und zwei Klavierspuren, eine davon hell und verzerrt, dann übermenschlich trillernd. Dann doch auch wieder Bass und schnelle Cymbalschläge, aber nur kurz, als eine nicht realisierte Möglichkeit des Fortgangs.
Es spielen nur die Automaten, trillernd,
klackernd. Jetzt der zweite Anlauf von Bass
und Drums, auch das Piano, dann nur das Piano.
Es hat die Ausdauer, gegen die Automaten die Wende einzuläuten. Bass und Drums verhungern
aber ein drittes Mal, die Orgel hält als einzige, monoton pulsierend, den letzten Lebensfaden. Ganz im Hintergrund tauchen
Drums und Keyboards als weitere Lebenszeichen
auf. Jetzt weitere Orgelschwaden, wieder
und wieder, bis der Puls endlich von einer
Rhythmusgitarre verstärkt wird und kräftig genug, den Bass wiederzubeleben für einen simplen Vierklang. Dazu das Geschrammel über
sonorem Orgelfond und, für die finalen drei Minuten, tickende Cymbal, Pianonoten und Arcostriche, die diese vier Noten gemeinsam anstimmen. Bis zuletzt nur Cymbal und helle Pianotropfen bleiben. Was für ein Spannungsbogen, mit einer herausfordernd schmalen Brücke von Hier nach Da." [Rigobert Dittmann / Bad Alchemy]
|
2009 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Aether |
CD |
"Another remarkable performance from a group that has no peer and belongs to no genre or movement. Minimal in an essential and structural sense, they succeed where more formal attempts founder, in re-forming subjective time in a way that is genuinely gripping and as far from theoretical as great interpreters can get. Applying extraordinary technique in a remarkably discrete way, they here transfigure a single chord over a long duration, imperceptibly arriving far from their starting place meanwhile all values are subsumed into, and work only at the service of, a music that seems almost unplayed, emergent, inevitable. After all the statements are made there is a resurgence here of the sublime, in the last place you'd expect it, and through the unlikeliest means. An important project." [label info]
www.rermegacorp.com
|
2001 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Mindset |
CD |
"Now in their 24th year, the Necks’ release Mindset, their 16th album - and first LP, featuring two starkly contrasting tracks: the pulsating, raw, Rum Jungle and the slower building, rather hypnotic Daylights.
Polyrhythms imbue both pieces with powerful forward motion, embroiled with which ethereal piano patterns interweave with bass, drums, electronics, churning Hammonds and noise-guitars.
Drummer and percussionist Tony Buck writes: “Mindset shares some elements in common with our previous album Silverwater [2009], mostly in some mixing approaches and rhythmic devices - a reflection of our ongoing fascination with polymetric material and varying simultaneous pulses... but it's a whole other thing again, and the two tracks are very different from one another - Rum Jungle captures the live approach of the piano, bass, and drum trio a lot more, while Daylights features a bed of electronics and little sounds that slowly converge, coalescing into a multi-layered, multi-tempo, swirling soundscape.”
This release is supported by tours over the next three months in North America, Australia and Europe..." [label info]
www.rermegacorp.com
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Mosquito / See through |
do-CD |
"On the one hand, they seem to be releasing too many CDs - on the other, they are so different and so good you really need to have them. This time they offer two long pieces, both exquisite, of which Mosquito is, in my opinion, destined for greatness. Since the demo arrived in the office it's been on continuously. Minimal, with every sound perfectly imagined and perfectly placed, it achieves almost total timelessness. Essential." [label info]
www.rermegacorp.com
"The Necks: are they inspiring or monotonous? This is the most commonly asked question with regard to their music. Unlike traditional jazz groups, this Australian trio opts for single songs that span the entire radius of their discs. The question, though, of whether they're inspirational or not is insignificant, because they've been regarded as the most sought-after jazz musicians in all of Australia. Between the three of them -- Chris Abrahams (keyboard/piano), Tony Buck (drums), and Lloyd Swanton (bass) -- they have contributed to over 150 albums. That's quite an impressive number, considering how reasonably unknown they are; or perhaps that's only here in the United States.
Nonetheless, I have a feeling that the critical acclaim of their last few albums has slowly started to diminish this oversight. Their latest offering, which is a double-disc set called Mosquito / See Through, should fit in nicely with the rest of their catalog and continue to gather new supporters. They will simultaneously keep those existing fans happy since their basic concept has not been too heavily deviated upon. In the same fashion as the rest of their work, these two songs are slightly over an hour long in duration. And like a Robert Ryman painting, The Necks present them in very minimal fashion.
First in line, "Mosquito" is a hypnotic song that moves along at a leisurely pace until slight variations are allowed to flourish from within. Reflective piano is the highlight of this song, but there are gentle pulses of bass, a sometimes non-existent ride cymbal, and hanging wood chimes to accompany it. The inexorable subtlety of Abraham's piano is enough to lull you into a mindless state of sedation. Only during Talk Talk's best moments have I heard the piano sound so warm and charming.
"See Through" is the next long piece. Unlike its predecessor, it has oddly been broken up into several segments. During certain moments, there is at least a one-minute gap of complete silence before we are reintroduced to the song again. That aside, it's unquestionably the more interesting of the two songs. Where "Mosquito" focuses on lighter situations, "See Through" is a much darker and complex affair. The sound of jazz is almost completely concealed, and in its place we are left with stimulating atmosphere. The piano is still the focus here, and the drums, once again, fill in the empty space.
Heaven only knows where this album will take you if you allow it to do so. My only suggestion is that it not be behind the wheel of a car, for fear that you'll fall asleep and hit a road sign. I imagine that if you ever have the chance to take a train ride where you can view the countryside, Mosquito / See Through would be the ideal soundtrack. It has a way of blending in with its surroundings while never becoming overwhelming. And though most people might label this music as pretentious and self-indulgent, I would argue that it's some of the most stirring minimal jazz I've heard." [Tiny Mix Tapes]
|
2004 |
€18.00 |
|
|
Open |
CD |
"Die unvergleichlichen THE NECKS mit ihrem nunmehr 17. Album ihrer 26-jährigen Karriere.
THE NECKS haben etwas geschafft, was nur wenigen Künstlern gelingt: einen singulären Stil
zu kreieren, dabei eine ganz unverkennbare eigene Handschrift entwickelt und doch mit jedem
neuen Album nicht einfach bewährte Rezepturen neu aufgekocht, sondern durch feinfühlige
Neujustierung der Parameter neue Nuancen offenbart. Das leitende Motiv bei „Open“ waren –
nach dem vergleichsweise dynamischen, stellenweise eruptiven „Mindset“ von 2011 –
Stille und meditative Klarheit, die etwa „Drive By“ innewohnte. CHRIS ABRAHAMS (Piano),
TONY BUCK (Drums) und LLOYD SWANTON (Bass) setzen im Laufe der 68 Minuten einen
repetitiv-hypnotisierenden Klangfl uss aus leichtfüßig swingendem (Post-)Jazz, repetitiven Grooves à la JAKI LIEBEZEIT (CAN) und elektronischen Sounds in Gang, der elegant innerhalb der selbst gewählten Koordinaten mäandert und bei aller scheinbaren Reduktion und Schlichtheit unter der subtilen Oberfl äche eine komplexe Struktur offenlegt. Wie immer bei den Australiern. //
OPEN will be the Necks’ 17th album, and the 11th released by ReR. Here the band returns to the territory for which it is best known: a single, glacially mutating, long-form piece that runs for a little over an hour.
The previous record, “Mindset”, said bassist Lloyd Swanton, “reached some pretty intense levels at times, and though we never overtly discussed it, I think that on Open, by contrast, all three of us were taken by the idea of working in a field of significant stillness. At least, after a couple of days’ recording, it became clear that the music was leading us in this direction.” Feeding into the ground plan are floating arco harmonics, minimalist funk, iterative piano figures, subliminal and liminal pulses, twittering electronics and at one point an arco bass choir. It is unequivocally a studio work, with layer laid on layer, while still, miraculously, remaining architecturally spare." [label info]
www.rermegacorp.com
"The Necks might be our favorite jazz group, most of their records/performances being single hour long pieces, always a lush, patient, slow build, all texture and mood, super dynamic, but in a way most bands can't pull off, just bass drums and piano, their sound dense and dark, doleful and lovely. The last few Necks records have found this minimal band getting a little maximal, their slow build eventually erupting into something dense and driving and almost psychedelic, as if in response to that, Open finds the group and their most hushed and abstract, with the first few minutes featuring a field of tinkling chimes, spare pointillist piano, and only the occasional flurry of bass notes, spacious and mesmeric, as we usually find ourselves saying about these guys, we would have been happy if there was no slow build at all, and the whole record was just this glistening, glimmering sprawl of abstract free jazz drift.
But there is a method to their madness, and at about the eight minute mark, the song shifts dramatically, an electronic pulse, some simple hi-hat rhythms, the occasional bass drum, and nothing else, weirdly hypnotic and barely there, the sound soon joined by a buzzing hum, a snare crack here, some bass thrum there, the sound blossoming into a sprawl of subtle tribal drumming, and more shimmering chimes, soon the piano comes back in, and the song begins to take a more jazz-like shape, albeit one that's still quite free and abstract, the lilting piano melody offsetting the busy drumming, the sound shifting again soon after, with a snare roll that sounds almost like radio static, the bass and low notes on the piano unfurling a dense rumble, those chimes tying everything together again, before settling into something much more tranquil and serene, only to return to that strange electronic pulse / hi-hat section, which slips from jazzy shimmer, to abstract free form almost-psychedelia, the snare locked into another roll, adding a buzzy thrum, the sound finally settling into some hushed, laid back jazziness, wreathed in a dreamy droned out shimmer, gradually fading to silence.
Recommended, as always!" [Aquarius Records] |
2013 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Vertigo |
CD |
"The release of a new Necks album is always news. This is our 12th to date - and their 18th. While most ensembles are driven by personalities, the Necks are powered by an idea. A very large and simple idea - which now seems completely obvious…. but only because the Necks thought of it and made it work. Now their pleasure (and ours) is sequentially to re-imagine and explore that idea – the prime directive of which seems to be to be that each unfolding step and every passing detail of any performance be allowed to evolve organically out of the musical conditions established at its moment of departure. In other words, we are in the territory of chaos and catastrophe theory; of hurricanes and butterfly wings… And, since one can never step twice into the same river, each beginning has led to wildly unpredictable and variant outcomes; and imperceptibly: you never hear the changes until somehow they have already happened. “We end up, Lloyd Swanton writes, ‘in a very different place from whatever our initial notion … had been.” In the case of Vertigo, we are dropped straight into an almost Feldmanesque musical universe, in which sounds - seemingly disconnected - are already there; creating space rather than inhabiting it. Then, without trying, they mutate. Not mechanically and not according to any pre-determined process - because it’s always clear that what we hear is being played by human beings; that it’s music. A special kind of music that is not pushy or demanding or demonstrative, but rather co-operative, spatial, ambiguous. A music that leaves room for its listeners." [label info]
www.rermegacorp.com
"Die unvergleichlichen THE NECKS mit dem nunmehr 18. Album ihrer 28-jährigen
Karriere. THE NECKS haben etwas geschafft, was nur wenigen Künstlern gelingt: einen singulären
Stil zu kreieren, dabei eine ganz unverkennbare eigene Handschrift zu entwickeln und doch
mit jedem neuen Album nicht einfach bewährte Rezepturen neu aufzukochen, sondern durch
feinfühlige Neujustierung der Parameter neue Nuancen zu offenbaren. CHRIS ABRAHAMS
(Piano), TONY BUCK (Drums) und LLOYD SWANTON (Bass) setzen auch auf ihrem neuen Album „Vertigo“ den Maßstab sehr hoch an. Der prägende repetitiv-hypnotisierende Klangfluss
aus leichtfüßig swingendem (Post-)Jazz, repetitiven Grooves à la JAKI LIEBEZEIT (CAN) und elektronischen Sounds, der viele ihrer alten Alben prägte, ist auch auf dem aktuellen Album zu hören. Elegant und subtil erschafft das Trio aus Australien hier abermals ein Meisterwerk. Wie kaum einer anderen Band gelingt es den Musikern, dem Hörer einen „Weg“ vorzugeben, ihm aber genug Freiraum für eigenes Hören und Interpretieren zu lassen. Ganz große Kunst!" [Broken Silence]
|
2015 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
Body |
CD |
"The new NECKS studio record. It’'s another multi-layered classic and I won’t spoil it for you by trying to describe it. Though it’s their 20th, they still have a sack of fresh ideas - and even, on this record, a surprise! -
as they further test the BIG structural idea that they have been slowly unravelling from the beginning. Patience, temperament, quiet virtuosity, concentration, economy - and a unique understanding of experienced time -
confirm the Necks as one of today's few truly original bands. This record is a labyrinth; each listening different and each exposing further layers. Don’t think twice."
" 'Body’ is the mesmerising 20th studio album by cult Aussie trio The Necks. It lands nearly 30 years into their singular run of sprawling, freeform yet coolly disciplined kosmiche jazz treks to prove, where needed, the timeless scope and appeal of Tony Buck, Chris Abrahams, and Lloyd Swanton in combination...
Unfolding nearly 1 hour of fluidly spaced and patiently timed drums, guitar, piano, synth and acoustic bass permutations, ‘Body’ is an instant classic in The Necks’ restlessly shapeshifting catalogue. As ever, their playing is modestly virtuosic and democratic. No one element dominates the others. Rather, they move as a feathered phalanx in dynamic murmuration, moving from breezy swirls of percussion over low-lying bass eddies in the first part, thru a passage of lysergic deliquescence, to a motorik post rock climax and far out into synth-curdled space jazz.
However, any literal description of ‘Body’ will fall short of grasping its full majesty. It’s an album that needs to be received with the patience with which it was made. Only by submitting to its intuitive quantum physics for the duration, and allowing yourself to roll with their unique syncopation and naturally unpredictable dynamics, can you comprehend their music’s full, transportive effect." [Boomkat] |
2018 |
€13.00 |
|
| NEGATIVLAND |
Escape from Noise |
CD |
"If there is one Negativland CD that someone you know owns, it’s probably this one. This 1987 SST Records release was a surprise college radio hit, and, some say, years ahead of it’s time. "Escape From Noise" is one of our bestselling and most accessible projects, where we took the tape splicing skills honed on "A Big 10-8 Place" into ever more musical directions. In 1999 Seeland Records reissued "Escape From Noise" in a reworked package designed for the CD format. Negativland always intended the original cover artwork to be for the LP format only, and we were never happy with the "original" painted cover image reduced to such small size on the first CD issue. This new version features that artwork full size as the front cover, with the remainder of the artwork reformatted throughout the package by ace designer and Negativland satellite member Dan Lynch. This new version of "Escape From Noise" is not remastered or remixed in any way, nor is there any extra material added." [label info]
www.negativland.com
|
1999 |
€13.00 |
|
| NEGATIVLAND & CHUMBAWAMBA |
ABCs of Anarchism |
maxi-CD |
"Once-ever collaboration between these two culture-jamming groups, one of whom happened to have a much bigger megaphone, which they were kind enough to let the other one shout through on this 22-minute EP. Three collage pieces in which both dig at each other in the same sandbox." [label info]
|
1999 |
€9.00 |
|
| NEHIL, SETH |
Flock & Tumble |
CD |
Mit diesem Album erweitert der amerikanische Composer das bisher von ihm Gewohnte auf kurioseste Weise! Diverse Objektgeräusche und subtiler Einsatz von Stimmen und Gesängen, so obskur wie nur selten zuvor vernommen, field recordings & kaum Erkennbares, wohl auch elektronisch bearbeitet, vieles bleibt im dunkeln und macht FLOCK & TUMBLE umso geheimnisvoller und wunderbarer, von der Wirkung ungefähr so wie BIOTA, vom "Feeling" hat es was von THUJA, TIP für Leute die was wirklich Neutönendes suchen !
"Seth Nehil is an American artist involved in various projects ranging from compositions for dance, installations, multimedia performances, publications and visual art. Over the years, he has collaborated with other significant sound researchers (John Grzinich, Olivia Block, Michael Northam, Matt Marble and Brendan Murray) and has released many CDs on international labels such as Kaon, Alluvial and ...Edition.
It's not so easy to describe the music of Seth Nehil: like a compound of several substances, obtained by capturing natural and urban sounds, manipulated instruments, as well as by electronic treatments and textured objects.
Flock & Tumble is another fine example of his new direction : shorter tracks with an almost song-like structure and a large sound palette that includes the human voice as material. Flock & Tumble explores haphazard clusters, abrupt shifts, percussive rattles and gentle clouds." [label info]
"Throughout the years we have reviewed much of the work of Seth Nehil, who belongs with people like JGrzinich and MNortham to the main players of the US drone scene, which finds itself largely based in field recordings, but also acoustic instruments and just a little bit of electronics. All of this is collected and played and then put together into pieces of music. Music that is not easy to describe as it simply defies categorization, which is always good (and difficult for such reviewers like me, who like to use them). Partly we could say the music is improvised on the side of the instruments, percussive mainly. Then afterwards, or perhaps before hand, field recordings are put to it, something set in a loop, although not always 'on', and sometimes dropping out of the mix, in order to return later. If a word applies to this music, then 'organic' would, I think, be appropriate. Organic in the way the material is put together: from various sources, but it seems to fit together like it always was. Organic also in the sense of playing the instruments and the use of field recordings. This leads to some pretty strong pieces of music, in which we also recognize someone like Af Ursin or Yannick Dauby. Dense and delicate." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
"An important demonstration of Nehil’s abilities, this is a classic sleeper which deserves immediate exposure, well beyond the small circle of experts to which music like this is usually addressed." [Touching Extremes]
www.sonoris.org
|
2009 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Furl |
CD |
" 'Furl is the sequel to Seth Nehil's critically acclaimed 2009 release Flock & Tumble, also on Sonoris. Continuing his exploration of physically charged, acousmatic sound, these compositions whip, crash, swoop, glide and burble. Clusters of bell-like tones pierce hazy, corroded atmospheres. Animalistic yelps, distant pings, percussive bursts and glassy swells all merge in this unique sound-world. These five pieces are both rigorously-assembled and gracefully sparse. Furl will be a welcome addition to the expanding catalogue in Nehil's futuristic organic paradox. What others had to say about Flock & Tumble : Extraordinary a wonderful sense of confidence in the material, an ability to go somewhere quite new.' - Richard Pinnell (The Watchful Ear). 'Not too often you come across something that just sounds like little else.' - Brian Olewnick (Just Outside). 'An important demonstration of Nehil's abilities, this is a classic sleeper which deserves immediate exposure, well beyond the small circle of experts to which music like this is usually addressed.' - Massimo Ricci (Touching Extremes). Biography : Seth Nehil is an artist, performance-maker, and composer with a practice that crosses between sound, performance-events and the visual arts. In recent years he has created large-scale sound performances, collaborated with choreographers including Liz Gerring (NYC) and Linda Austin (Portland, Ore), and has published music on various international labels, including Sonoris (France) and Senufo Editions (Italy). Seth Nehil has also been an editor of arts publications, an organizer of performance festivals and a curator of exhibitions. He currently teaches sound, video and art theory at WSU Vancouver and the Pacific Northwest College of Art." [label press release]
www.sonoris.org
" 'Furl' is already the follow-up to last years 'Flock & Tumble' (see Vital Weekly 684) and continues his shift away from the field of drone music. Like it says on the press release 'these compositions whip, crash, swoop, glide and burble'. The music of Seth Nehil has moved into the field of acousmatica. More than on the previous it seems to me that Nehil is working with real instruments (played by himself or others), which are transformed, thanks to the computer no doubt, but he cleverly stays away from the regular type processing that the schooled composers use. Instead he creates quite vibrant pieces of music that bounces off into various directions and moods. Even a quiet piece like 'Hiss' has this vibrancy, with slow changes in sound and volume. As said its not easy to recognize the instruments he uses (piano? guitar? percussion?), but he works with them in a great way. He's now entirely away from the field recordings and drones and works in a modern classical approach. A piece
like 'Swarm' sounds a stage piece with various voices from behind and slaps and bangs on the piano and percussion, with the addition of electronics making glissandi. Yet he has sprinkled the thing with his own magic - the sort of obscuring the sounds and that gives his music something of its own. Its hard to say what that is exactly, but it doesn't sound like anything else, which is the best compliment a composer can get, I guess. Its by far the best Nehil CD I heard and a fine career move." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€12.00 |
|
| NEHIL, SETH & JGRZINICH |
Stria |
CD |
Fast schon beängstigend schöne Drones & „archaic surroundings“ von den beiden konkreten Klangsphärikern aus den USA.. zwischen stehenden, sich stets modulierenden Klangwolken und konkret-fliessenden Sounds...
Sehr schönes Cover auch, einer der definitiv besten DRONE-CDs des laufenden Jahres !
Absolutely wonderful new release, nicely packed
and designed and for a good price!
“...The exploratory focus of stria/confluence is the idea of resonance; the phenomenon of natural vibrations that give rise to intensified or stable structures within sound bodies and fields. In the production of these works, the composers' approached resonance in both the acoustic sound behavior and the social phenomenon in group interaction and/or participation within the context of sound generating activities. It was again applied to the studio in the use of massive multiplications and layerings, resulting in deeply transforming, evolutionary sound fields.. ”[from the press release]
"Strangely enough, we had never managed to get any of these records in stock when it originally came out in 2002 as the companion
to the now out of print album Confluence, which had been released on the Intransitive label. Stria is one of many collaborative projects
between these two impressive sound artists, straddling the realm of dronescape delirium and dislocated field recordings. Seth Nehil and
John Grzinich first began working together in the humidity of Austin, Texas in the revolving door collective of Alial Straa, which also
proved formative for Michael Northam and Olivia Block. But as all of these folks wandered to various corners of the globe (Grzinich in
Estonia, Nehil to Portland, Block to Chicago, and who the hell knows where Northam currently calls home), the collaborations have become
impressively focused projects, even as they take several years to complete. Like its companion piece, Stria centers upon the idea of resonance, spread across three longform pieces. The first of which collects various bowed tones from a huge ensemble of musicians and twists them all into a sinewy mass of slowburning drones and gradual progressions. The reference in the liner notes to Alvin Lucier makes
complete sense in view of this impressive dronesmear crescendo on par with anything that Jonathan Coleclough or Organum had mustered. The second piece is more in keeping with Grzinich's recent work with clattering stone and found objects in concrete bunkers, as scrabbling sounds and tactile noises echo back and forth against murky atmospheres. The final piece returns to the drone work with motors
agitating long thin wires with phase shifting oscillations and eerie turbulence rattling what otherwise would be some very pretty ambience,
but instead becomes a sublime listening experience. An excellent piece of work all around." [Aquarius Records]
|
2002 |
€13.00 |
|
| NEHIL, SETH & MATT MARBLE |
Ecllipses |
CD |
Mysteriöse Geräuschmusik pur! Tolle Zusammenarbeit der beiden Herausgeber des exzellenten FO A RM - Magazins. Materialien und Objekte werden so bearbeitet, das lebendige fliessend-konkrete Klänge entstehen, deren Herkunft man nur erahnen kann. Alles ist in ständiger Bewegung, die Stücke nehmen z.T. dramatische, dronige Formen an, um dann wieder in Mikrosound-artige Fragmentsounds zu fallen, mal klingt es nach schwingenden selbst-gebauten Instrumenten, dann nach rauschenden field recordings... geniales Zeug zum genauen Zuhören & Sich-Versenken !
"First collaboration release between two American 'sound composters', Seth Nehil and Matt Marble. A dynamic whirlwind tour through states of ellipsis and eclipses, abrupt ruptures, reuniting and igniting. Where nothing is static for too long. Through an invigorating admixture of instruments, field recordings and various found matter, a compelling and mysterious world comes alive to spark the imagination." [label notes]
"Naturalist aktionism? Sure, let's call it that. We can't really
say that the Hermann Nitsch and Gunter Brus bloodletting as grand
allegory is applicable to this collaboration between Portland based
sound artists Seth Nehil and Matt Marble; but a rigorous body of work
is definitely at hand. These two are the editors of the sound art
journal FO A RM, and have both generated impressive bodies of
conceptually minded compositions through field recordings, found
objects, the almighty drone, and hand-built instruments. Here, Nehil
and Marble wax poetic about the overlay of tactile sounds to emphasize the ruptures, holes, and negative spaces which may have been present on each layer of sound. So, instead of a gaping piece of unbroken ambience, Ecllipses is a tense and discordant album of rollicking textures which bristle and scrape against each other. Nehil and Marble revel in tumbles and scrabbles of what could be a revolving metal drum filled with various pine cones, twigs, and pebbles. Elsewhere, they focus upon churning bowed steel-strings, which offer buzzing clouds of softly rendered acoustic noise; and then soft pluckings of what sound like softened dulcimers drift into prolonged echo, hinting at avant- folk drones of Jewelled Antler (especially the Ov recordings) and Kemialliset Ystavat. Barring a minimal amount of signal processing and ring modulation, the album flourishes in the sodden palette of natural objects: wood, grass, leaves, soil, and rock."" [Aquarius Records review]
www.and-oar.org
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
| NEST (Otto Totland & Huw Roberts) |
Body Pilot |
10inch |
"Nest is the collaborative project of Huw Roberts (Wales) and Otto A. Totland (Norway). Using a combination of acoustic instruments, field recordings and sample manipulation, the two work together to create instrumental music linked closely with their environments.
While unmistakably a Nest record, the material on 'Body Pilot' marks a more restrained, pared back development of Nest's sound. The palette used to craft these pieces is sparser than on previous recordings, placing greater emphasis on the nuances and subtleties of each sound.
'Stillness' opens proceedings on familiar ground. Gently sustained strings rise from a near inaudible hum and are accompanied by slow, resounding piano notes. The pace is glacial, each sound unravels and unfolds in sequence painting a vivid picture of the record's opening scene. The muted greens of an open plain as it tapers into the distance and the pearl-white of the sky, featureless save the bas-relief of a distant mountain range. The landscape resonates in sympathy with the beckoning drone of a propeller engine.
On 'The Dying Roar', we find ourselves borne aloft amid turbulent skies. Brass and woodwind instruments swirl and eddy, growing in intensity until, like the ground disappearing below, they blur and fade into nothing. The engines are cut and we glide silently into the white. Solo piano plays out the piece and closes the first side of the record.
In sharp contrast with the pieces preceding it, "Koretz's Meteor" opens with the haunted drone of an electronic synthesiser. Unidentifiable sounds and effects clamour for space around the rising growl, sweeping from left to right, submerging and resurfacing. A camera shutter opens and closes, cicadas sing in the night, what could it be, that burns so bright?
'Body Pilot' comes to a close with 'The Ultimate Horizon', a detached, isolated piece of music. Sounds speed up and slow down like the on / off of a propeller, sub-bass rises and falls, passing above and below hearing level. The track fades as we travel beyond the infinite." [label info]
www.serein.co.uk
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| NETHERWORLD |
Kall. The Abyss where Dreams fall |
CD |
".... In a tradition that is anchored, at the same time, in avant-garde, ritual soundz and dark-ambient, with a typically Italian touch, NETHERWORLD gives a peculiarly and elegantly organic and palpable feel to sounds that, in the hands of others, would maybe fall flat …and it is as if the sound universe conjured by the magic of NETHERWORLD was strangely…how could one say? OCCUPIED. Each moment, each twist and turn of this sound adventure bears infinite richness and elasticity, at all times …those are rather ‘busy’ sound layers but each of the elements has sufficient breathing space and can differentiate itself from the other surrounding components. This antagonism represents one of NETHERWORLD’s greatest strengths. Another noteworthy antagonism: this tendency to propose us ambiences that are excessively introspective, subdued, withdrawn into themselves, but which, at the same time, expand, subtly dilate to occupy an incommensurable space. Upon the first notes (or pulses??) of the opening track, ‘’KALL’’, this infinite abyss, envelops us and our dreams sink, dissolve, reinvent themselves…The sound propositions found on’’KALL’’ have enough movement and density to please the ones fond of depth in their music, but the overall ‘purified’ feel will please the most discerning purist. For the occasion, MONDES ELLIPTIQUES once again used the mastering talents of JOHN SELLEKAERS @ METARC and it is CHRISTIAN SA LETTE who put his savoir-faire in our service for the design of the sleeve and images. Limited to 441 copies! Deluxe cardboard sleeve." [label description]
"Netherworld is Alessandro Tedeschi and on the album 'Kall - the abyss where dreams fall' he shows his interest in cool ambient and drone related kind of music, that slowly and patiently unfolds in the space. The music is presented in four tracks that are called 'Kall', from part one to part four. What's most present in the 14 minutes of the first piece is the pulsating drone atmosphere, that sounds very gentle and is put in the front, while from time to time there are other sounds too that are appearing in the background and are adding a specific and slightly tribal sounding sense to the track. The sense of tribal ambient music is even more present in the second piece, while in the third longer piece of 21 minutes, there are motives similar to those in the first track - slowly unfolding layers of sounds that are coming from the cooler corners of the ambient spectrum, a kind of atmosphere that is present through the whole album. 'Kall - part 4' is no exception in the sounds that Netherworld uses in the music on this album. The fourth part is as smooth ambient music as the previous parts, it is the smoothest track, with almost 8 minutes of few slowly shifting layers of a kind of sustained, unusual, calm and sometimes linear sounding and spreading ambient music, a kind of aesthetic and approach to the music that is mostly present on the whole album, that is not a typical ambient aesthetic, but it crossovers the border-lines between the ambient and drone kinds of music." [BR / Vital Weekly]
www.angle-rec.net
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| NEW BLOCKADERS & INCAPACITANTS |
As Anti As Possible |
CD |
"Two pioneering and prominent extreme harsh noise stalwarts, both of whom have been active since the early ’80s, come head-to-head in a much-anticipated collaboration where the mastery of both artists are skillfully woven into a chaotic symphony. The pairs (Rupenus & Gillham and Mikawa & Kosakai) worked with each other’s material producing two collaborations (appropriately titled ‘Blockading Of Incapacitants’ / ‘Incapacitation Of TNB’) comprising relentless metal abuse, screaming feedback, gut-churning rumbles and deranged vocals. As the title suggests, ‘As Anti As Possible’ is certainly no easy listen and will be a challenge for all but the most die-hard of Noise fans.
TNB and Incapacitants have been mutual admirers of each other’s work since the mid-‘80s and have since that time occasionally discussed the possibility of a collaboration. However, no such collaboration has occurred until now.
’As Anti As Possible’ was originally intended to be issued on LP but, due to the extreme nature of the music, vinyl format wasn’t possible. Therefore, ‘As Anti As Possible’ has been presented on CD format. Includes new artworks by Rupenus (TNB)
https://4ibrecords.com/2019/04/06/the-new-blockaders-incapacitants-as-anti-as-possible-cd-out-now/ |
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| NEW BLOCKADERS & VARIOUS ARTISTS |
Viva Negativa! A Tribute to the New Blockaders Vol. II - Europe |
do-CD |
"Volume II in a series of UK / European / US and Japanese artists’ tributes
to the pioneering UK Noise group The New Blockaders including exclusive
tracks by: Asmus Tietchens, RLW, Achim Wollscheid, Runzelstirn & Gurgelstock, Sudden
Infant, Dave Philips, Das Synthetische Mischgewebe, Kommissar Hjuler, Mama
Baer, Freiband, Vortex Campaign, Grunt, Lasse Marhaug, Jerome Noetinger,
Christian Renou, Pita, Giancarlo Toniutti, Zbigniew Karkowski, Alexei
Borisov, Cisfinitum, etc.
Artwork by Richard Rupenus (TNB)
The New Blockaders are a group who, more than any other, define the essence of true Noise music both in art and in act. Their influence on the current crop of popular crossover Noise artists such as Prurient and Wolf Eyes is
immeasurable. Emerging at the beginning of the 1980s alongside the Industrial grind of Throbbing Gristle and the harsh, abrasive Power
Electronics of Whitehouse, TNB stood out through a purity of vision. Their first record, 1982’s Changez Les Blockeurs, is noise in its most rudimentary form: metallic grating sounds and analogue feedback redefined what could be
classified as music. Its abstract form and Dadaist construction challenged all that had appeared before. It’s anti-music approach presented a recording closer to the theory-driven work of Einsturzende Neubauten than their
supposed contemporaries. They would appear rarely and when they did it would be in anonymity. The records would emerge even more infrequently with little information and in tiny runs. Collaborations in recent years with artists such as Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore and Merzbow have bough their anti-sound
to a younger and diverse audience. The metal-bashing of K2, the awkwardness of Runzelstirn & Gurgelstock, the density of Macronympha and the
abrasiveness of Merzbow all owe something to the anti-music of TNB. They can truly be credited as pioneers of Noise music as we know it today." [label info]
www.aufabwegen.com
Reissue of parts of the LP box on VoD, with some extra tracks by Jerome
Noetinger, Kommissar Hjuler and more.
"The New Blockaders, Noiseinfanterietrupp und frühe Vordenkerform bruitistischer Lärmcollagierung bekommt auf dieser Compilation ein frühes Denkmal neu aufgesetzt. Die vorliegende Kompilation, 2006 in ähnlicher Form auf dem VOD-Label veröffentlicht, bekommt hier eine gänzlich neue Formung mittels exklusiver Bearbeitungen und Widmungen und einem Mastering von Asmus Tietchens. Die versammelten Werke, allesamt bezogen auf die Tributisierung der NB reichen dabei von archaischer Klangformung bis hin zu penetrierenden Digitalschwaden kurzgeschnittener, fingernagelgroßer Klangpailetten. Achim Wollscheid, RLW, Tietchens selbst, Runzelstirn & Gurgelstøck in einer Paradestellung dafür was analog gegen digital bedeutet und Giancarlo Toniutti sind nur einige wenige, deren Beiträge sich sattsam an der Tatsache weiden, die frühen Ausläufe des Industrial in ihrer Glanzzeit als Musiker der selben Kunstgattung miterlebt zu haben. Wenngleich einige wenige Durchläufer überbleiben (wie z.B. Achim Wollscheids geradezu unhörbare Symphonie für geschredderte Samplebänke, die in ihrer Konsequenz zwar mutig genug ist, aber zu sehr hinter den anderen Beiträgen zurückkbleibt sowie Freiband’s programmatisch betiteltes »Nichts«, das geradezu unverschämt mager die Möglichkeiten gecrushter Feldaufnahmen untersucht und geradezu hingeworfen wirkt), sind die Beiträge von RLW (mit Einbindung der kompletten Familie in den Prozess der Manifestierung), Mama Bär (welche ihre kongenial platzierten Schreie gegenüber einer Metallbastonade tapestriert, um auf die Kontraste von Vokal und Bruit aufmerksam zu machen), Kommissar Hjuler (dessen Beitrag das Sujet allzu sehr ad absurdum führt, aber in seiner vehementen Konsequenz auch nicht davor zurückschreckt, Kinderlieder einzubinden) sowie die musique concréte-Arien von Jérôme Noetinger und Das Synthetische Mischgewebe (die mit ihrer Collage aus atonalen Kracherzeugern einen ähnlich bewegenden Ablauf schaffen wie seinerzeit Ruttmanns »Weekend«) in ihrer Klangwerdung geradezu vorbildlich beschaffen. Ein insgesamt sehr überzeugender Re-Release für all jene, denen die 10 Platten der VOD-Ausgabe zu teuer waren. 5/5 " [Thorsten Soltau / AEMAG]
|
2010 |
€17.50 |
|
| |
Viva Negativa ! Vol. III : USA |
do-CD |
"Die NEW BLOCKADERS sind eine Gruppe, die mehr als jede andere die Essenz des wahren Noise sowohl in Kunst als auch Musik definiert. Ihren Einfluss auf die aktuellen Crossover Noise Künstler wie PRURIENT und WOLF EYES ist nicht zu verkennen. Seit ihren ersten Schritten Anfang der 80er in der Gesellschaft des Industrial Grind von THROBIING GRISTLE und den kantigen Power Electronics von WHITEHOUSE, standen THE NEW BLOCKADERS immer für die Reinheit ihrer Vision. Ihr erstes Album, "Changez Les Blockers" von 1982, ist Noise in seiner ursprünglichsten Form: metallisches Knirschen und analoges Feedback definierten die Grenzen von Musik neu. Die abstrakte Form und die dadaistische Konstruktion stellten alles Dagewesene in Frage. Die Band sollte nur selten und dann anonym auftauchen. Alben kamen noch unregelmäßiger und meist in kleinen Stückzahlen. Kollaborationen mit Thurston Moore von SONIC YOUTH und MERBOW in jüngerer Vergangenheit haben den Sound von THE NEW BLOCKADERS auch einer jüngeren Generation nähergebracht. Das Metallgehaue von K2, die Ungemütlichkeit von RUNZELSTIRN&GURGELSTOCK, die Dichte von MACRONYMPHIA und die Kantigkeit von MERZBOW sind nicht ohne die Einflüsse der Anti-Musik der NEW BLOCKADERS." [label info/ Cargo]
"Volume III in a series of UK / European / US and Japanese artists’ tributes to the pioneering UK Noise group The New Blockaders including exclusive tracks by:
Z’EV, The Haters, Controlled Bleeding, Thurston Moore, Jim O’Rourke, Wolf Eyes, Macronympha, Emil Beaulieau, AMK, Idea Fire Company, John Wiese, Daniel Menche, Damion Romero, Aaron Dilloway, Lockweld, Prurient, Richard Ramirez, Keith Fullerton Whitman, Jason Kahn, mnortham, Carlos Giffoni, Blue Sabbath Black Cheer, etc.
Artwork by Richard Rupenus (TNB)
The New Blockaders are a group who, more than any other, define the essence of true Noise music both in art and in act.
Their influence on the current crop of popular crossover Noise artists such as Prurient and Wolf Eyes is immeasurable. Emerging at
the beginning of the 1980s alongside the Industrial grind of Throbbing Gristle and the harsh, abrasive Power Electronics of Whitehouse, TNB stood out through a purity of vision. Their first record, 1982’s Changez Les Blockeurs, is noise in its most rudimentary form: metallic grating sounds and analogue feedback redefined what could be classified as music. Its abstract form and Dadaist construction challenged all that had appeared before. It’s anti-music approach presented a recording closer to the theory-driven work of Einsturzende Neubauten than their supposed contemporaries.They would appear rarely and when they did it would be in anonymity. The records would emerge even more infrequently with little information and in tiny runs. Collaborations in recent years with artists such as Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore and Merzbow have bough their anti-sound to a younger and diverse audience. The metal-bashing of K2, the awkwardness of Runzelstirn & Gurgelstock, the density of Macronympha and the abrasiveness of Merzbow all owe something to the anti-music of TNB. They can truly be credited as pioneers of Noise music as we know it today.
Disc One:
Z'EV "Chips Off The New Block"
Keith Fullerton Whitman "September 27th, 1960"
Alan Courtis "Happy Blockaders Time"
Controlled Bleeding "The Latest Hole In My Head"
Plethora "Last Night I Dremt Of Anti-Fest... This Morning I Woke Up Deaf"
Macronympha "Riding Down Lost Highway"
The Haters "Mantra To Rot"
Emil Beaulieau "Anti-Vartan"
Lockweld "Catharsis Bomb"
Daniel Menche "Smoldered Blockaders"
John Wiese "Annul"
Broken Penis Orchestra "The Kill Lump"
Jason Kahn "Rille"
Disc Two:
Idea Fire Company "Les Heros De La Barricade Finale"
mnortham "Plotting Course On The Field Of Nothingness"
Thurston Moore "Corion Sound for TNB"
Jim O'Rourke "407 Seconds Over"
Damion Romero "Broken Block"
Prurient "Majdanek Slaughterhouse"
Richard Ramirez "Cultural Blockade"
Blue Sabbath Black Cheer "Untitled"
Carlos Giffoni "Richard Walks Into The Sea"
AMK "Phlegm Angst"
Aaron Dilloway "Machine Rape (Blitzkrieg)"
Wolf Eyes "Fisted Gadgets" " [label website info]
www.importantrecords.com
|
2010 |
€17.50 |
|
| NEZNAMO |
Aiwyâstô |
CD |
"If somebody still doesn't know, behind the Neznamo project stands the Moscow-based musician Dmitry Shilov who stepped on the path of ritual ambient music in 1996 under the stage name of Unknown. After releasing five albums on the "Strely Peruna" ("Perun's Arrows") label, the project temporarily fell in a lethargic sleep but woke up again in 2006 with a renewed name and approach.
As Neznamo Dmitriy has released several mini-albums on his own label Moonsun Productions, as well as a number of collaboration works with several other acts from the Russian drone underground: Misery, Bardo, Lunar Abyss, Siyanie, etc… For those interested in the project's roots and branches we can give some more keywords: Temnozor', Medve Na Meche, Peal Grim, Magickal Things.
"Aiwyâstô" is Neznamo's first full-length album and first "factory-pressed" CD. The album consists of one 42-min long composition recorded in a deep transcendental state. Covered in ornaments of unhasting vibrations, flickering and parallel sound layers, dense string drone permeates the whole track. This music is for lovers of deep inner self diving. Towards the depths of pitch-dark sound where one can see all forms dissolving in emptiness and being reborn by it again in an endless game of space and imagination." [label info]
zhb.radionoise.ru/eng/releases.html
"The shadowy figure behind Neznamo is the same Muscovite who offered up the Peal Grim cd from a couple months back. That was the album sporting the disclaimer "This record is not recommended to listening for depressively inclined persons" and Aiwyasyo is a blackened ambient record of a similar disposition. This album is not as exasperatedly bleak as the Peal Grim album, but it makes for another really amazing entry in the canons of contemporary Russian dark ambient works. Synth, guitars, and spectral emanations may or may not be in the mix for the bleak electrical pools of Aiwyasto. Sawtooth hums and buzzes gird the semi-melodic fugues that swirl, rumble, and brood over 40 minutes into this overwhelmingly sublime expanse of Ur-drone majesty that's not all that far from the likes of Troum / Maeror Tri, Aidan Baker's more turbulent solo works, and the cosmological grimness of Inade. Very nice, indeed." [Aquarius Rec.] |
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| NEZNAMO / SIYANIE |
Sonans |
CD-R |
"Live improvisation from Dmitry Shilov (NEZNAMO) and Sergei Ilchuk (SIYANIE) with guest appearance of Pavel Kuzmin. Recorded in Otgoloski Festival 11/25/2011. The weave of soft soundstreams, chants, overtones, ritual drones and recitations.
Triune Sound of Universum that long even after you stop the record. Lo-fi Drone Ambient.
CD-R, 111 copies, 6-panel envelope.." [label info]
www.moonsun.info
|
2012 |
€10.00 |
|
| NIBLOCK, PHILL |
Touch Three |
3 x CD |
Grossartiges, monumentales Werk des New Yorker Drone-Minimalisten, z.T. fürs Deutschland Radio Köln produziert.. Neun lange Drone-Stücke auf 3 Cds verteilt, die auf von verschiedenen Musikern eingespielten Instrumentalsounds beruhen. NIBLOCK hat daraus 24 - 32 Spuren-Stücke gemacht, die elektronisch nicht weiter verfremdet wurden. Reine Klänge, Wellen, Frequenzen, Fliessen, Obertöne - Statik die sich bewegt, wie sie einnehmender kaum sein könnte… mal sehr nah, dicht und konkret, mal orchestral vielschichtig und polyphon....benutzte Instrumente: Cello, Akustikgitarre, Saxophon, Trompete, Viola..
"Touch Three is minimalism in the classic sense of the word, if that makes sense. Niblock constructs big 24-track digitally-processed monolithic microtonal drones, and the result is sound without melody or rhythm. Movement is slow, geologically slow. Changes are almost imperceptible, and his music has a tendency of creeping up on you. The vocal pieces are like some of Ligeti's choral works, but a little more phased. He says: "What I am doing with my music is to produce something without rhythm or melody, by using many microtones that cause movements very, very slowly." These nine pieces were made from March 2003 to January 2005. They were all made (except "Sax Mix") by recording a single instrument with a single microphone. The recordings were direct to the computer/hard disk, most of them using a Powerbook G4, Pro Tools, an M-box and an external firewire drive. The resulting mono sound files were edited to remove breathing spaces, leaving the natural decay of the tone, and the attack of the subsequent iteration of the same tone. Each note was represented by several repetitions, perhaps ten for each tone, of about 15 seconds duration each. Each piece uses a few tones. A simple chord, perhaps. Additional microtonal intervals were produced in Pro Tools using pitch shift. The pieces were assembled in multitracks, usually either 24 or 32 tracks. The recording environment varied from a simple apartment in Berlin (Ulrich Krieger's) to a very large hall used for symphony orchestra performances and recordings, with a sizable audience space. The recordings were generally done quite closely miked. One hears only the sound of the instrument. There is no electronic manipulation in the recording, the editing of the tones, or in the mix. The only changes to the recorded tones are the pitch shifts to create microtones...the microtones are doing the work." [press release]
" Ever since I am a keen follower of his work, and this new 3CD set is just an overwhelming release. The idea is very simple, for each of the pieces on this CD. Recorded a few tones of one instrument, remove the breathing, leaving the decay and then change the pitch on some of the sounds. Then Niblock starts to layer these tracks, usually somewhere between 24 and 32 tracks. No other electronic processing was done to these recordings. Among the instruments used here we find cello, acoustic guitar with e-bow, recorders, alto/soprano/baritone saxophones, trumpet and viola. A typical Niblock piece lasts between 20 and 22 minutes. All clear, neat and simple? Then why release three CDs, nine tracks in total? They probably all sound the same anyway? Well, of course it less simple and of course it sounds different. The CD open with 'Sethwork' (check out Phill's website for the correct order of the tracks on CD one!), which is almost classical Phill Niblock: sustained tones, with hardly a pause and apparently played on 'acoustic, unamplified guitars with e-bow'. A continuos deep hissing (for the lack of a better word) sound. This is how Niblock sounded when I first heard his music, almost twenty-five years ago. Compared that with 'Harm', also on the first CD, which is a work for cello (which is one of Niblock's beloved instruments). Now here the sounds are highly sustained too, but in stead of one mighty block of sound, it almost sounds orchestral, with the sounds coming in and out of the mix. Two totally different approaches to the same technique. With a slight adjustment, leaving some space at the beginning and end of each sound, Niblock adds on 'Parker's Altered Mood, aka, Owed To Bird', the sound of inhaling breath (in order to play the alto saxophone), which add yet another dimension to this music. Maybe playing all three CDs in this set is a bit much, but I did it, and I must say time disappeared as this overwhelming unfolded little by little. Simply the best Niblock statement thus far, the most complete one.” [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2006 |
€22.50 |
|
|
Brazil 84 |
DVD |
"Brazil 84
16mm film & music by Phill Niblock (77 minutes)
“Three Orchids” for 3 orchestras (2002-03)
Orchestra of the SEM Ensemble, conducted by Petr Kotik
“Two by Tom,” for 2 orchestras (2005)
Trio Scordatura (Amsterdam) and the Nelly Boyd Ensemble (Hamburg)
“Three Orchids” (2002-03)
Trio Scordatura
Phill Niblock (b.1933) is an intermedia artist using music, film, photography, video and computers. He makes thick, loud drones of music, filled with microtones of instrumental timbres which generate many other tones in the performance space. Simultaneously, he presents films / videos which look at the movement of people working, or computer driven abstract images floating through time.
Brazil 84 is from Niblock’s series “The Movement of People Working.” 16mm, unedited long shots, carefully framed to compress single movements, shot in rural and urban settings, capturing people in their working environments, men and women using their hands and body to an eternal working choreography that seems tuned to the microtonal universe of Niblock’s music.
All these images are timeless, they could have been shot today, in the ‘60s or even earlier in the century. All these images have a perfect timing, a perfect framing, captured not as a document but more as a choreographic gesture, as visual music. The images are raw, the colors are saturated and the sound seems to happen in your head.
Phill Niblock says: “In 1984, I returned to Brazil, deciding to travel the coast, closest to the ocean, from Salvador, Bahia, to as far north as I could get in the time I had. That turned out to be Natal, 1000km away. I was the sole film crew, carrying the camera bag and tripod, loading the film, reading the light and occasionally applying sun screen. The film from that trip is the material on this DVD. And it was beautiful to see that country and those people.”
Originally silent, Niblock chose to add his music as the soundtrack, as he often does during screenings of his films. These works, specially compiled for this release, are presented in both stereo and surround mixes.
For this DVD, a new transfer was made of the original 16mm film, which was then restored under Niblock’s supervision.
The Digipak package contains an 8-page booklet of essays by Niblock, Bob Gilmore (music), Carlos Casas (film) and Johan Vandermaelen (the recordings)." [label info]
www.moderecords.com
|
2014 |
€24.00 |
|
|
Niblock for Celli / Celli Plays Niblock |
LP |
Composer, filmmaker and photographer Phill Niblock is a true pillar of the New York avant-garde. In the past 50 years, he has curated over 1,000 performances at his Centre Street loft and steadfastly built a massive, multidisciplinary body of work. While his earliest musical compositions date back to 1968, Niblock waited until the early '80s to release any recordings. Nothin To Look At Just A Record, a powerful debut with densely layered trombones, would be the first to unfurl his unique approach to sound.
The second album and perhaps the most rare in Niblock's vast catalogue, 1984's Niblock For Celli / Celli Plays Niblock is a meeting of two great minds. Working with reed player Joseph Celli (a composer in his own right, who has collaborated with John Cage, Pauline Oliveros and Ornette Coleman), Niblock nimbly removes the breathing pauses from Celli's oboe and English horn to create seamless, enchanting drones.
Niblock insists that his music be played loud: only in this way can one experience the visceral ringing of these long instrumental tones through the speakers and their natural overtones generated by the room. Niblock For Celli remains deeply absorbing.
This first-time reissue is recommended for fans of Alvin Lucier, Yoshi Wada and Dome.
|
2018 |
€21.50 |
|
|
Music for Organ |
LP |
First time release of these live-recordings by Phill Niblock from 2007 and 2019.
A SIDE
UNMOUNTED / MUTED NOUN, 2019: for organ AND 4 pre-recorded tracks. Commissioned by Musica Festival Strasbourg for Hampus Lindwall
B SIDE
NAGRO (AKA - ORGAN), 2007: for organ and tape. Tape material was recorded May 1, 2007 at the Joseph Gatto Organ (1787) in Sankt Kirchberg am Wagram, Austria by Emanuel Schmelzer-Ziringer
https://phillniblock-mm.bandcamp.com/album/music-for-organ
"Phill Niblock brings half a century of work in prism-pushing minimalist composition to a pair of towering Organ pieces performed by Hampus Lindwall and Emanuel Schmelzer-Ziringer, and recorded in 2007 + 2019.
His ‘Music For Organ’ surely arrives at a high zeitgeist moment for organ music - like his younger counterparts, Phill has keenly worked at the radical peripheries of whatever instrument he uses, systematically isolating and highlighting its phenomenological peculiarities and often subverting their context. However, as a son of the pivotal late ’60s era, Phill is also a true autodidact and applies a rigorous, if raw, approach to his music that always generates gripping, and often challenging, results, as heard here.
The A-side’s ‘Unmounted / Muted Noun’ (2019) for organ and 4 pre-recorded tracks was commissioned by Musica Festival Strasbourg for Hampus Lindwall and recorded in the composer’s presence. It appears to feature the organist stacking dense blocks of chords into a blinding black mass of roiling harmonics that do not let up until the runout groove. For 24 minutes the piece sustains a breathless pressure that’s either hellish, ecstatic or simply otherworldly, depending on your disposition, and we can only imagine that the Orgelbau Klais organ must have made it feel like the walls of the C.15th Collégiale Sainte-Waudrau church in, Mons, Belgium were about to crumble.
In stark contrast, the B-side’s ’Nagro (AKA - Organ)’ (2007), for organ and tape, performed by Emanuel Schmelzer-Ziringer at the Joseph Gatto organ (1787) in Sankt Kirchberg Am Wagram, Austria, feels much more pent in its transition thru tight, glistening higher registers. Up there, the piece feels out a fine range of tonalities and harmonic spectra, which, while dominated by the pealing highs, is also fleshed out with rolling low end in a seat-edge but heavy-lidded display of never-resolved tension. |
2019 |
€26.00 |
|
| |
Exploratory I |
LP |
Matière Mémoire present the new work of Phill Niblock: EXPLORATORY. One of the most beautiful and powerful works that Phill Niblock has ever offered. Phill reinvents and probes the oceans of drone music possibilities deeper than ever. This piece has been performed and recorded for over a year by many great musicians around the world, under the supervision and direction of Phill: Arditti String Quartet, David Watson, Lucy Railton, Phoenix Ensemble Basel, David Maranha, Ben Richter, David First, Andre Goncalves, and many more.
Matière Mémoire is now releasing the first two volumes by Arditti String Quartet, David Watson (Vol. 1) & Phoenix Ensemble Basel (Vol. 2).
https://www.matiere-memoire.com/page-d-articles/phill-niblock-exploratory-vol-1
SOUNDOHM:
Phill Niblock
"Exploratory l & II" (2LP in bundle / CD)
Only a handful of years after their launch in 2018, the Belgian Imprint, Matière Mémoire, has quickly ascended to become a label to watch. Focused on releasing new works by some of the most important figures in contemporary experimental music - Carlos Casas, Susana Santos Silva, Torbjörn Zetterberg, Hampus Lindwall, Charlemagne Palestine, Jim O'Rourke, Oren Ambarchi, and numerous others - their catalog features a thrillingly diverse array of ambitious sounds.
Among the artists offered a more dedicated focus within central Matière Mémoire’s output, is legendary minimalist composer Phill Niblock. 2019 witnessed the label’s release of Music For Organ, followed by his collaboration with Franck Vigroux and Kasper T Toeplitz, BestiaIRE, in 2020, and then Browner his contribution to their ambitious MMXX series, later that year. Now they’re back with a stunning double bill of LPs from Niblock, Exploratory I and Exploratory II, comprising a sprawling set of sonic exploration performed and recorded over the course of an entire year by Arditti String Quartet, David Watson and Phoenix Ensemble Basel. Issued in limited editions on transparent and clear red vinyl respectively, as well as in a CD edition that collects both, in his 88th year Niblock remains as visionary and ambitious as he ever was.
A composer, filmmaker, photographer, and tireless supporter, Phill Niblock is a pillar of American experimental music. For the last fifty years, there hasn’t been a time when he wasn’t there. Few haven’t, in one way or another, been touched by his music - carefully crafted, constrained works of durational tonality and shimmering harmonics - and his many efforts. For much of his career, Niblock has been focused on live performance acoustic phenomena, refraining to release his music in recorded form until the early 1980s, and then at an incredible slow and considered pace. Consequently, while more constrained that most artists of his generation, his output has been defined by a remarkable sense of clarity and depth, with each album album amounting to near perfection. Thankfully, over the last five years, pace of releases has begun to quicken, nearly doubling his discography during that period. Matière Mémoire’s latest double batch, the LPs Exploratory I and Exploratory II, takes us deeper into the incredible world, further expanding our access to his work for acoustic instruments, first unveiled by seminal albums like Nothin To Look at Just a Record, Niblock For Celli / Celli Plays Niblock, and Four Full Flutes, and increasingly returning to occupy a central place in his practice during recent years.
Exploratory I and Exploratory II belong to a larger body of extended works performed and recorded, under the close supervision and direction of Niblock for more than a year, by a remarkable cast of international players including, but not limited to, Arditti String Quartet, David Watson, Lucy Railton, Phoenix Ensemble Basel, David Maranha, Ben Richter, David First, and Andre Goncalves.
The first instalment, Exploratory I, features two distinct iterations - each offered a full side of the LP - one by Arditti String Quartet - the famous UK based ensemble founded 1974 by Irvine Arditti, Levine Andrade, Lennox Mackenzie and John Senter, focussed for nearly half a century on supporting contemporary composers by rendering their works in the closest possible way to their original vision - and the second by David Watson, the seminal New Zealand, New York based, experimental musician and bagpiper.
Like so much of Niblock does, the LP unveils a startling sense of scope - especially via the interplay and contrast by the renderings - from incredibly constrained means, each built from layers of sustained tones that reconfigure the notions of drone in real time. Imbued with remarkable tension and intensity, subtle shifts of harmonics bend time, moving at such a glacial pace that it’s sometimes impossible to know if they are tricks of the ear, creative considerations embedded within the work, or byproducts of mental and physical states of the players, with Arditti String Quartet’s side occupying a lower register and thicker sense of range, standing in contrast to Watson’s, that bristles in its spareness in ways that only his instrument can produce.
Of the three rendering, Exploratory II has what is arguably the broadest timbral range. Created under Niblock’s supervision by Phoenix Ensemble Basel - currently one of the most important contemporary music groups based in Switzerland, running for more than 20 years with a cast of roughly 25 musicians in its ranks - the half hour long piece (also the longest of the three featured across the Matière Mémoire’s two LPs) swells with oceanic depth, moving subtly between the appearance of stasis, beneath which remarkable power and diversity lays, and moments that build with tension, like a storm about to explode.
With Niblock’s work over the last 40 years occupying such a high bar of quality, it’s impossible to have favorites or designate one as better than the next, but Exploratory I and Exploratory II are easily some of the most exciting of his recordings to have emerged in recent years. Imbued with the power, depth, and range that only acoustic instruments can unleash, they are a stunning immersion into of world of brilliant creativity via the constraints of durational tone.
Issued by Matière Mémoire in two editions of 300 copies - Exploratory I on transparent vinyl and Exploratory II on clear red vinyl, as well as in a CD edition that collects the material from both LPs, they’re impossible to recommend enough.
|
2021 |
€26.00 |
|
| NIBLOCK, PHILL / SUN RA |
The Magic Sun |
DVD |
Ein unglaubliches Dokument von 1966 wurde von ATAVISTIC (wieder?)-veröffentlicht, ein 32minütiger Experimentalfilm von PHILL NIBLOCK über/mit SUN RA und sein „Orchester“ mit wildem impro-Soundtrack .. dazu gibt es reichlich Material aus den 60ern und philosophische Verkündigungen vom cosmic thing himself .... müsste auf allen neueren DVD-playern und Fernsehern laufen.
"The classic 1966 film by Phill Niblock featuring Sun Ra & His Solar Arkestra, plus rare & exclusive Sun Ra footage, photos & audio 'proclamations'! Composer, photographer and filmmaker Phill Niblock's classic of experimental underground filmmaking with a sensational soundtrack by pianist Sun Ra and the members of his Solar Arkestra. Shot in the mid '60s, when the Arkestra was based in New York, this film was produced using a unique negative process and ultra-tight close-ups on the moving hands and mouths of the musicians. The result is a virtually abstract music film, mastered from a new print in all its incredibly sharp black & white glory. The Magic Sun DVD also includes a luminous, largely unseen photo gallery accompanied by 14:00 of unheard, self-recorded Ra audio: a truly 'inside' auto-bio interview; TRT approx 32:00. NTSC Region 0.“ [label info]
www.atavistic.com
|
2005 |
€16.00 |
|
| NICHOLS, PASCAL |
Nihilist Chakai House |
LP |
"Blow ‘Love Sweet Love’ out yr ass. What the world needs now is more solo drumming albums!
Pascal here is happy to oblige with Nihilist Chakai House; two sides of one-man drumming action that swings like a goofy magnetic pendulum.
History lesson: Pascal Nichols is a fully fledged ceramist, beard-wearer and drummist in ozone-scraping duo PART WILD HORSES MANE ON BOTH SIDES along with non-beard Kelly Jayne Jones. For this disc he’s all alone and riffling the pack to better feel the texture.
Nihilist Chakai House Side One: It’s crystal clear like an ECM joint yet huffed with a sweaty Javanese energy. The bronze pots get thunked bad and vibrate, shifting units of time, Bene Gesserit style. A massive station clock weeps small brass cogs until the stutter of fudge-footed mice scramble all smeary, dazzling with dry-snare. Between times you hear the most amazing sonorous cowbell work this side of a Trouble Funk block-jam tailing off into resinous wooden bumps.
Nihilist Chakai House Side Two: Opens up all hot, with frittering and hummingbird-quick trap work. Ed Blackwell loans Pascal his sticks (made from hollow heron’s legs) adding that extra venerable edge to the membranous drones and crisp celery crunch. At one point hard hands, rough as sandpaper, jigger and jolley moans out the drum skins creating a Tie-Fighter dogfight. This segues into a resonant metallic chitter; all chipped chrome and dangerous ricochet. Pascal chooses to close this beautiful record in a dignified manner...amplified wool being wound round a Djembe in freezing fog. The taut fibres crush the breath out the goblet bowl, the drum speaks!
File alongside those Chris Corsano bootleg CD-Rs, Eli Keszler’s Endgrove tape and Paul Hession’s Giant Soft Drum Set." [label info]
www.discombobulaterecords.com
|
2014 |
€18.00 |
|
| NID |
Plate Tectonics |
CD |
Aufnahmen eines Konzertes aus Arnheim, Niederlande, vom Dezember 2002, in Studio-Qualität. Allertiefste dumpfe Dronescapes & verlangsamte Stimmen, Klassik-found sounds, glockige Klänge, obskure Vinyl-loops, immer dunkel & ominös & in einem dynamischen Feld voller unerwarteter Sounds. Eine recht einmalige Verbindung von Vinylloop-Plunderphonics, tiefbassigen Dronescapes und Geräuschen von selbstgebauten, oft ober-obskursten Gerätschaften und Objekten.
"Crawling back into the wound: NID 1995 – 2007. NID is an experimental group whose aim it is to challenge conventional concepts and structures of electronic music by experimenting with the source of sounds. The music is created on the spot, making each performance a genuine and unrepeatable event. It has been described as moving sound-objects, improvised electronic noise, or broodng ambient music. It has been compared to an underwater-journey, a pathway to the inner self. Given enough volume, it certainly affects the body as well as the mind. In which way remains open to the listener’s psyche. NID was formed in 1995. Over the years the core-members have performed in art-galleries, rock-clubs, bars, water-reservoirs, cinemas, as well as at industrial and electronic festivals and in record shops. In 1998 they were invited to play onboard the MS Stubnitz when it was anchored in the harbour of Stockholm as part of the “European Culture Capital” activities. They were also involved in the 2001 Six And More & R:IP jubilees, improvising with 30 other electronic free-jazz musicians. As for the group name… A “nid” is a curse or insult with homosexual connotation that was frequently in use in the Viking age. It brought a depth to the concept of honour and shame. It could be used as a challenge or simply to ridicule another (which was a challenge per se). It could reveal anyone else to be no better than he was, and it undermined social structures. NID disbanded in 2006. Chris Sidgell continues in various projects, most notably his solo project B-Tong. Jürgen Eberhard releases music under the name Feine Trinkers Bei Pinkels Daheim. This is NID’s one and only proper CD release. The sound on this work may appeal to fans of Lustmord, New Blockaders or collage post-industrial in general/experimental ambient. The music on this CD was recorded live in Arnheim by Mars Wellink
(Vance Orchestra). The cover was done by Katja Wahl..." [band info & press release]
"While not new, we only just discovered NID, and our discovery came about in a very random manner, considering various related works were right under our nose. We listed a killer 4 way split 12" a while back called One Man Drone, and our favorite track from the spit was a piece by a group called B(degree)Tong. We later discovered that the man behind B(degree)Tong was previously a member of German experimental sound-collective NID. But what we did not know was that NID was sometimes also known as Feine Trinkers Bei Pinkels Daheim, a group who had various releases on the Drone Records label, one of which is included on the recent tUMULt collection of out of print Drone singles. So now it's sort of come full circle and we have this, the only proper full length recording (as far as we know) from the group NID, aka Feine Trinkers Bei Pinkels Daheim and it's pretty amazing. Pretty bizarre too, but then with a (sometime) name like Feine Trinkers Bei Pinkels Daheim, what else would you expect?
Three looooooooong tracks. Each an epic, incredibly varied soundworld, blending found sounds and field recordings with drones and intense blasts of layered sound. The opener begins with a muted cacophony of birds and crickets, before disappearing into a roiling
black cloud of rumbling low end and distant droning guitar buzz. It almost sounds like sticking your head out of a speeding car, the wind whipping by and causing all sorts of distortions, but blurred into an impressively massive wall of sound. Within all this whipping sonic wind and rumbling whirs, are strange bits of percussion, the clang and bang of metal on metal, shakers and simple rhythms, they drift
briefly in the eye of the storm, before the drone drops again, even more furious than before, until it fades out amidst the dreamy
shimmer of female vocals and haunting minor key melodic buzz. Really intense and strangely beautiful.
The second track is another deep cavernous roar. A bit smoother than the previous number, but not for long, bit of metallic buzz surface amidst the undulating rumbles, with some serious dynamic spikes, some of which sound like brief bursts of SUNNO 0))), and others are even lower and more aggressive bits of low end exploration. There are bits of static and random buzz here and there, but mostly it's black and dark, a massive growling beast, slowly uncoiling into a monster that blocks out the sun. Near the end of the track, the darkness abates and in its place is a strange skipping stuttering snippet of music, wrapped in hazy distortion and looped into a mesmerizing rhythm, repeated over and over and over, gradually crumbling and becoming more and more distorted before erupting into a final burst of chest rattling low end, finally slowing down and sputtering to a halt.
The final track is over twenty minutes and is the most melodic of the bunch. Beginning with a looped cycle of xylophone melody, over
a throbbing low end pulse and streaks of keening distant guitar and bits of operatic female vocals. Very ominous and mysterious sounding. When suddenly everything stops, and there's a guy with a British accent ranting over someone ransacking a kitchen, breaking glass, clanging cutlery, and suddenly it's gone, and we're back in some new dronescape, a mumbled voice looped into a haunting mantra, beneath distant thunder like rumbles, and little blurs of high end melody, indistinct, but gradually building in intensity. The drones drift away leaving birds and voices, and some strange bits of hiss and skree, before transforming into a plodding doomdrone beast. A simple stretched out rhythm over cavernous thrums and the sound of subway cars, everything pulsing and throbbing, a bizarre bit of dark
collage, that manages to be strangely musical and completely hypnotic.
An amazingly weird record, and absolutely essential listening for the drone obsessed, which we would assume should be most of you..." [Aquarius Records]
"Posthumous release by this Swiss-German trio dedicated to mostly drone-bound sounds, noise manipulation, foggy samples and dialogue snatches. Here, three lengthy pieces encircle some fantastic voyages through muted hum, looped voices, gentle vibrations and the stench of noxious ooze. The last one, ‘35000 Feet Below the Ocean Surface’, clocks in at almost 22 minutes and hints at a leather-clad NWW surveying a desert of black ash. Which works a treat for me." [RJ, Adverse Effect]
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| NIETO, MIKEL R |
Dark Sound |
BOOK & CD |
"The book contains Ecopolitik, an introduction as an epilogue by José Luis Espejo, a letter to the Huaorani people, two research texts and one bertso, descriptive texts and photos of recordings, a possible chronology, a glossary, a compilation of several texts with testimonies, reports and declarations from different people, groups, institutions, and publications in reference to the impact—direct or indirect—of the noise from the oil industry during its various phases of development on the people, the environment and the fauna. More info at dark.mikelrnieto.net
34 recordings in one track. In a black polycarbonate CD.
Final editing, mastering and carbon print from Ireland by Slavek Kwi.
Tracklist
01. Nyctridomus albicollis
02. Lipaugus vociferans
03. General Electric CF34-10E
04. Hypsiboas lanciformis, Hypsiboas boans and Unidentified Oil Extraction Machines in the Distance
05. Pogonomyrmex barbatus
06. Paraponera clavata
07. Atta cephalotes
08. Ectatomma tuberculatum
09. Termitidae procornitermes
10. Eciton burchellii
11. Gryllidae and Unidentified Frogs
12. Lophostoma yasuni
13. Leptonycteris yerbabuenae
14. Yamaha Enduro E40X
15. Unidentified Underwater Animals
16. Honda GX160
17. Unidentified Underwater Survivors in Produced Water
18. Changlin YZ26
19. Electric Generator at Tiputini Biodiversity Station
20. Electrical Substation at the Yasuni Research Station (Ten Meters Distance)
21. Electrical Substation at the Yasuni Research Station (One Meter Distance)
22. Air Conditioner for the Electrical Substation at Yasuní Research Station
23. Chevrolet S10
24. CAT MD6420B Drill
25. Cummins KTA19G4
26. HongSheng CYJ-83-37HB
27. CAT 3512 DITA
28. MTU 396
29. Shale Pump SP1614
30. Tiger Rig ZJ30LDB
31. Oilon Wisedrive WD32-34
32. Maxon Oxytherm LE
33. Preamp Battery Blackout
34. Radio Jungla 94.3 FM Through Several JBL Control 1 Pro in Repsol-YPF Access Control"
176 pages, dark paper, black ink, hardback. languages: huao, basque, spanish and english"
www.gruenrekorder.de/?page_id=15050
"In the product page on the label’s website the description of this release ends with this warning: “Partially legible. Sunlight reading recommended”. It’s hard to fail recognising that this warning is absolutely appropriate, until you realise that it’s a black book, with black opaque pages, printed with black lucid ink, housing a black CD. And it doesn’t stop there, as it doesn’t have a fixed sale price, but its price is determined by the crude oil Brent price at the time of purchase, so the author and label warn that if you buy the book you’ll “contribute to the destruction of the planet.” With these creepy premises, a curiosity about the content of the work immediately arises. And after a few attempts, the reader can find the right angle and light to (struggle to) start reading realising that it’s a remarkable collection of essays, pictures and documents on the oil industry’s impact on the Ecuadorian natural environment. This is coupled with a CD with 34 recordings in one track from the Ecuadorian rainforest (the whole work is part of the Field Recording Series by Gruenrekorder). It progresses from delightful natural sounds to industrial machines slowly disrupting them. Then reading, meanwhile, some testimonies or a detailed chronology perfectly let this whole suppressed world to (painfully in every sense) re-emerge from its current status. The pervasive “black”, eventually, doesn’t hide anymore, but becomes the mandatory colour to engage with, in order to learn and understand what has been hidden, but must now be revealed." [Neural Mag.]
"I have listened several times to the CD Dark Sound by Mikel R. Nieto over the past month and have been intrigued by the purpose of the recordings presented by the album. — Dark Sound is a CD length single track album of field recordings taken by Mikel R. Nieto mostly in and around the Ecuadorian rainforest within areas associated with the colonisation and domination of contested areas that were found to have oil reserves. The album traces the relationships between a number of different indigenous groups who have resisted becoming associated with Western European and global models of capital, in favour of continuing the heritage and lives they had prior to the arrival of Spanish conquistadors in the late 15th Century.
The single track CD contains a wide number of field recordings from across various situations that the recordist encountered whilst investigating the noise and culture of Ecuadorian oil mining operations and the impact it has had on the biophonic soundscape and ecology of non-native human, native human, and nonhuman populations. The album comes with an accompanying black paged book with black glossy lettering throughout which makes it impossible to read other than in bright sunlight; a statement upon the darkest of dark geological substrates; crude oil, as well as a comment on the practices of obfuscation that have continued in pursuit of capital gain through oil drilling by corporations. This has led to a number of significant historical, political events including the death of Alejandro Lebaka, a Basque man who in the 1980s took it upon himself as a missionary to position himself as “the voice of the voiceless” (Lebaka in Nieto, 2016: 53) but in his attempted defence and support for a number of native groups, specifically the Huaorani (literally meaning those who speak our language”) which is to say, the native people of the Ecuadorian rainforests, was killed by spears from a group of Huaorani referred to as Tagaeri who no longer wished to partake in the violent systems of control forced upon the Huaorani.
The book provides a significant overview to the political history and issues encountered as a result of the colonisation, and pacification of the indigenous people of Ecuador in pursuit for oil whilst also raising a broad ranging investigation into acoustic research and/or phenomena that are a consequence of the oil operations and their effect directly and indirectly on the Ecuadorian ecology.
The album itself, contains a number of ethnographical and environmental field recordings that include weather events, insects, birds, fish and small mammals and security guards, diesel turbines and high security perimeter fencing. The recordings range from acoustic captures to hydrophones to ultrasound and contact microphones in an attempt to reflect the wide range of acoustic, para-acoustic infra and ultrasonic phenomena that are comprised, altered and ruptured in the pursuit of capital.
The book is highly politicised and the recordings only further emphasise the massive transitions from small tribe to mass industrial practice and the absolute refusal for some to be forced to be adapted and co-opted into a military industrial complex and capital based system of goods exchange and parasitic raping of newly discovered lands." [Mark Parker]
|
2016 |
€44.00 |
|
| NILSEN, BJ [BJ NILSEN] |
Invisible City |
CD |
"BJ Nilsen gehört schon seit langem zum Artist Roster des englischen Labels Touch und hat sich auf dem Gebiet der field recordings einen Namen gemacht. Mit seinen Vorgängeralben ,Fade to White" und ,A Short Night" wusste der Schwede Kritiker zu überzeugen und hat daneben auch mit dem führenden UK-Soundtüftler Chris Wattson und der isländischen Cellistin Hildur Gudnadottir zusammengearbeitet. Sein neues Werk ,The Invisible City" vereint wieder field recordings mit elektrischen Klängen, wobei er sich auf die Übergänge zwischen Natur und Menschen konzentriert - und diesmal auch Technologien einbezieht. Zusätzlich kommen akustische Instrumente wie Cello, Gitarre oder Orgel zum Einsatz. Entstanden ist ein dunkles, hypnotisierendes Werk mit spannenden Soundstrukturen. Die Außenaufnahmen entstanden in Schweden, Island, Norwegen, UK, Japan, Portugal und Schweden. www.myspace.com/bjnilsen"
[label info / Cargo]
"Recorded and Mixed during 2008-2009 in Berlin.
All tracks composed by BJNilsen using Tape Recorders, Computer, Organ, Acoustic Guitar, Electronics, Viola, Subharchord. Field recordings from; Sweden, Iceland, Norway, UK, Japan, Portugal and Germany. The Subharchord was recorded in the EAM Studio @ Adk, Berlin. Viola played by Hildur I. Gudnadottir." [label info]
www.touchmusic.org.uk
"By now BJ Nilsen (or rather BJNilsen) is a mainstay on the Touch label. He is not a man of many words, or big concepts. I am not sure what the title 'The Invisible City' refers to, but it does have a detailed list of all of his sound sources per piece. Its an interesting read of 'amplified chair dragged across floor, window shutters, steel whistle coffeepot, dead trees leaning against each other, train, footsteps in snow, crows, rain' but also acoustic guitar feedback, tapeloops of found sounds, pitch regulated viola, B&K Sine Random Generator Type 1204, virtual Hammond Organ and such like. The titles of his pieces do not give away much either: 'Gravity Station', 'Phase And Amplitude', 'Scientia', 'Virtual Resistance', 'Meter Reading', 'Into Its Coloured Rays', 'Gradient' and the title piece. If necessary at all, one could consider Nilsen to be part of the crowded scene of people who create atmospheric, drone based music through all sorts of means, but at the end of the chain there is always the computer: all pieces list 'various DSP' at the end. That renders some of the sounds, if not all, beyond recognition. As said this music is highly atmospheric and finds its origin in drone music. This is a fine disc, don't get me wrong. There is some excellent music on here, that is at times more daring then the usual 'field recordings and drone music', with some nasty frequencies here and there, and some sudden changes. That is what sets BJNilsen apart from many of his peers. But somehow I also had the impression that 'heard it already' is also part of this. It seems to me that BJNilsen created some fine work which is already in his line of work, rather than making the next move. That perhaps is the only downside to this release. If you are not familiar with his work, then this is good release to get to know his work, and perhaps if you can never get enough, then this will proof no disappointment either. An absolute great disc." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
Address: http://www.touchmusic.org.uk
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Focus Intensity Power |
LP |
For his inaugural LP for Moving Furniture Records the Amsterdam based Swedish sound artist BJ Nilsen turns his intense aural focus and compelling narrative power away from his well-known and much lauded predilection for field recordings of organic nature or the urban built environment. The five pieces presented on this record capture Nilsen during a short residency he did in the Fall of 2017 at Willem Twee Electronic Music Studio in Den Bosch, The Netherlands – five documents these are of improvised sessions using modular synthesizers, tone generators and test and measurement instruments.
Nilsen, ever the exploratory sound experimenter, de facto exchanged his wax rain coat for the white laboratory mantle. On Focus Intensity Power he lets the machines rule supreme. Although BJ says there's no underlying major concept to the record, the quintet of recordings is tied together to form a sturdy sonic package, tied with a red thread of analog pulse, droning waves and subtle and surprising noise interventions. Washes of natural wind or condensed bustle of London traffic as we have come to know and highly appreciate from his previous works have found their machine-counterparts in sessions that retain the flâneur's touch of slowly moving, roaming open ears with keen interest in texture and timbre. And at the same time these indoor improvisations yield a tremendous poetic freedom for both artist and listener; boundless walking through layers of pure sound – freed from time and place and space.
Sven Schlijper-Karssenberg, July 2018
credits
released August 24, 2018
Music by BJNilsen recorded at Toonzaal, 's-Hertogenbosch, NL. engineerd at Odd Phasting and Echoes, Amsterdam, NL.
Mastered by Jos Smolders at EARLabs.
Published by Touch Fairwood Music.
Artwork by Zeno van den Broek.
https://movingfurniturerecords.bandcamp.com/album/focus-intensity-power
"From his first dark ambient project Morthound which had releases on Cold Meat Industry during the early 1990s, BJNilsen moved over to the Hazard moniker in the late 1990s, and from around 2004 onwards opted to record under his own name. Generally speaking, over the last 15 years BJ’s approach has been characterized by an experimental approach to sonically processing various natural and urban-based field recordings. However with Focus Intensity Power being the solo new album, it marks a decided shift away from the use of field recordings as it is a purely studio-based album, which according to the promo notes provides: ‘documents of improvised sessions using modular synthesizers, tone generators and test and measurement instruments’. Sonically this album has greater alignment with early Hazard albums than recent solo output and is certainly welcomed from these quarters. The 15-minute album opener Beam Finder is an elongated exploration of minimalist unceasing mid to lower range bass tones, coupled with micro-tonal static and machine idling drones which appear late in the track. This approach continues with The Sound Of Two Hands, although this is slightly more forceful and varied with the introduction of a ‘ticking clock’ element and other minimalist scattered electronics. The relatively short Flattened Space embodies a muted sub-orchestral tone blended with mechanical menace, while Table of Hours fits cleanly within a dark ambient drone frame of reference. The final of the five tracks, The Limits of Function, starts slow but gradually elevates with layered machine drones, and the second half of the track is driven forwards by a central rhythmic loop. In essence Focus Intensity Power is an effective celebration of sustained tonal atmospheres, which amounts to evocative sounds in their purest form. Sublime." [Noise Receptor] |
2018 |
€16.50 |
|
| NILSEN, BJ & STILLUPPSTEYPA |
Drykkjuvisur Ohljodanna |
CD |
Zweite Zusammenarbeit der Skandinavier, und wieder wird eine geheimnisvolle, einsame & endlose Soundwelt erschaffen, die seltsam entrückt wie frühe WERKBUND-Sachen auf uns wirkt....
Wie DEUTSCH NEPAL oder KARJALAN SISSIT scheinen auch der ex- HAZARD- (und die Isländer von STILLUPPSTEYPA sowieso) eine geradezu obsessives Verhältnis zum Alkohol zu besitzen, die in diese Aufnahmen mit eingeflossen ist; wie der lange Absturz nach der rauschvollen Ekstase, surreal halluzinierend und beklemmend...
"In Scandinavia, it's not uncommon to hear of someone's mother, grandfather, uncle, or plumber who drank him-or-herself to death at an early age; and the Swedish drone artist BJ Nilsen has felt the alcoholic pangs which may foreshadow his own demise. In recent years, Nilsen has turned to his Icelandic neighbors Sigtryggur Berg Sigmarsson and Helgi Thorsson (collectively known as Stilluppsteypa) in existential sympathy over the problems of their collective lust for alcohol. Drykkjuvisur Ohljodanna marks the second collaborative document of abject minimalism that these three have composed; and like its predecessor Vikinga Brennivin, this album is spiked with drunken thought. Any alcohol induced euphoria has been tempered by perturbing blackouts, moments of cruelty, and an all-consuming nihilism. Beyond their shared Scandinavian heritage, their expressionist urge for the frigid drone, and their penchant for drink, BJ Nilsen and Stilluppsteypa intend this recording as an open ended experience, wandering through their sound without the burden of any exegetical text that may get in the way.
Drykkjuvisur Ohljodanna resolves itself as a grim kaleidoscope, where the bleakness of the wintry Scandinavian landscape and the langour of a drunken escapade constantly mutate through the highly refined sensibility of dronescaping. Sonar pings announce the beginning of this album, with its echoes returning as an amorphous fog and locating little but a gloomy pall upon the event horizon. Clattering electronics scurry across the barren sounds like death-watch beetles upon the tundra; and creaking doors offer something much more foreboding than what Pierre Henry envisioned for musique concrete. Drykkjuvisur Ohljodanna adheres to the psychological dis-quiet through sound design that Alan Splet provided for Eraserhead or that Nurse With Wound achieved on Salt Marie Celeste. Yet for all of their tendencies for brooding and desolation, BJ Nilsen & Stilluppsteypa retain a compulsion for a glacial beauty through their intoxicated visions of the sublime.... " [label info]
"...On the same Helen Scarsdale Agency label the second collaboration between B.J. Nilsen and Stillupsteypa. One perhaps wondered if the latter were still around, because the last thing we heard was the previous work with Nilsen (see Vital Weekly 460) and again alcohol abuse in the Scandinavian territory is the main theme here. It's a firm continuation of the previous album. Using also field recordings this is much along similar lines of the Jim Haynes album and far away from the last thing we heard from Stillupsteypa (which was close to being a disco band). A winter landscape, frozen roads, empty swirling through a desolate country is what is on this album. They captured the stale wind and put it to music. If the term Isolationist music hadn't been invented before, it should be done for this album. Droning landscapes, quietly humming, and even at times using a faint trace of a melody, such as in 'Undir Ahrifum/Sunderlaus' (all credits are in Swedish and Icelandic - two entirely different languages) with something that might very well a guitar. And sometimes it seems nothing is happening at all, such a breeze, such as in 'Supbröder/Drykkjufelagar', humming quietly. This album is a great one, excellently produced, but perhaps not holding something that is entirely new to the world of electronic music, but rather carries on a tradition, which sometimes is fair enough." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
"For a country whose entire population is only half that of San Francisco, Iceland has an exceptionally prolific arts community. One could easily look to the big Icelandic names in pop music (i.e. Bjork and Sigur Ros); but there's also slightly lesser known (but even more adventurous) music from the likes of Johann Johannson, Apparat Organ Quartet, and the entire output of the Kitchen Motors institution. But our personal favorite from Iceland remains Stilluppsteypa, whose dada drunkenness and black humor has developed arctic undercurrents to their increasingly bleak drone-based work. On Drykkjuvisur Ohljodanna, the Stilluppsteypa duo of Sigtryggur Berg Sigmarsson and Helgi Thorsson have hooked up once again with the Swedish sound artist BJ Nilsen, perhaps best known for his triumphant elemental drone work as Hazard released through Touch. Sigmarsson sums up the communal idea behind this album as a "love for drones, Scandinavia, and alcohol." Of course, he then proceeds to type a polysyllabic onomatopoetic bunch of drunken text that makes our extend-o-spelling of doom seem trite by comparison.
The previous collaboration Vikinga Brennivin was an homage to the Icelandic firewater of the same name; yet it held a clarity and singlemindedness rarely attributed to alcoholic excess. Drykkjuvisur Ohljodanna has that same contradictory dualism of conceptually relating to being fucked up without totally losing a grip on reality. Or perhaps these three Scandinavians have gotten so loaded that they drifted into a parallel universe of liquid physics and amorphous gravity. Needless to say, Drykkjuvisur Ohljodanna is another masterful album of alchemical drone, that's even darker and more morose than its predecessor. Sonar pulses and crackles of wood break up the jet-black atmospheres of frozen electronic drones, resonant frequencies, and hallucinatory echoes rippling way out on the outer regions of the event horizon for this sonic black hole. At times falling close to the constant spiralling of Nurse With Wound's Salt Marie Celeste, and times recalling the best isolationism of Thomas Köner. Somber, magnificent, and exquisitely constructed!" [Aquarius Records] |
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Big Shadow Montana |
LP |
"After producing their frozen trilogy of intoxicated dronemuzik for the Agency, these Scandinavian gentlemen have ventured into more absurdist territories through fictionalized soundtracks for imagined Mondo films and science fiction serials. It is in this context that BJ Nilsen & Stilluppsteypa present the apparitional Big Shadow Montana, an album of slow-motion delirium manifested in occluded smears, nocturnal gasps, and arcane tones from a variety of analogue synthesizers. Amidst the near constant wash of bleary-eyed etherealism, Big Shadow Montana cycles through several sonic themes and leitmotifs, displayed in varying states of clarity. In these transitions between half-remembered phrases and bleary-eyed thrumming, the album emerges as if it were the aftermath from a protracted bout of metaphysical channel surfing. Flickered impressions flash in conjunction with Breton's manifesto of Surrealism in the form of the memories from happily drunk escapades in the heart of winter, the sidereal spells cast by the innerspace travelers Klaus Schulze and Coil, and the nagging questions of existential portent: 'Was that bassline from Goblin, or was it German Oak? Maybe something from Faust IV?' The trio of Nilsen, Sigmarsson, and Thorsson elegantly twist and bend these fleeting images into a spiraling symphony of bubbling electronics and spectral drones that mutate on both sides of the record into lugubrious yet carnivalesque waltzes. When this first appears, it is the echoing undercarriage of a simple melody, bobbing amidst rattling chains and cascading cymbal crashes only to dissolve into sequences of cold-war era tone beacons and empathic swaths of maudlin sound design. At the second occurrence, the melody washes ashore on the Iceland beach, where nude Viking men and women try in vain to get a tan when the sun is just barely going to rise above the horizon in the winter months. It is a pyrrhic jubilation of calliope harmonies set down by organs and synths turning a pale-blue hue in the wake of all that white skin shivering underneath the arctic sky." [label info]
www.helenscarsdale.com
"Recently this trio was undercover present as Evil Madness (see Vital Weekly 773), an exercise in disco, and perhaps some of that experience rubs off in this new collaborative work - I believe the fourth or fifth time they work together. Up until now their work together was deep atmospheric excursions into the space we call drone music, but something has changed. Maybe its the re-arrival cosmic music that put them back at their analogue synthesizers and organs? The press text supplied hints certainly towards that. Certainly an album with more open spaces than what they produced so far. A far cry from monolithic blocks of highly computerized drones, this buzzes in an analogue way, carrying small melodies around, rattling percussion in the background, or the air sucked into a harmonium. Somewhere on the b-side (no track titles, so 'Big Shadow Montana' should be seen as one piece) it leaps into one of those pre-set rhythms found on organs with meandering, somewhat cliched melody, which
actually sounds very sweet. It adds, once more, that lovely cosmic ring to the music. This album sees them leaping out of the old fashioned drones in return to something that is perhaps even more old fashioned, but which sounds like a fresh start again. It holds a great promise for the future." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
"Collaborations in the experimental scene come and go, so it's so great to see one that has some longevity. This is album number seven from BJ Nilsen and Stilluppsteypa, and the fourth released by the discerning Helen Scarsdale Agency label. Since this trio (Benny plus Sigtryggur and Helgi of Stilluppsteypa) unleashed their drunken drone trilogy through the aforementioned Agency, they've been venturing into all sorts of delirious bouts of murky psychedelic collages and imagined soundtracks. There were the weird ruminations upon a found cassette, turned into a mondo filmscore on Man From Deep River; and then the sci-fi opus of synth meanderings found on Space Finale. Now what may be the best to emerge since that earlier alcohol-inspired trilogy is this, the mercurial and hauntological album Big Shadow Montana. Two long-form pieces make up the album, with the A side standing as a hallucinatory foreshadowing of what is to come on the flip. Here, ghostly drones broadcast directly out of the haunted ballroom from The Shining, flickering with half-received transmissions, bumps in the night, and any number of other worldly sounds. Bits of structure emerge in this slow-motion churning of drone, shadow, and filigree coming across somewhere between the fucked up collages that seem to bring all of the Teenage Filmstars records to a close and the subterranean drone-rock sensibility of German Oak. When the record flips, a cosmic stream of vintage synths slump toward oblivion paralleling what has been done by Emeralds and Oneohtrix Point Never (both of whom have released work alongside this trio on Editions Mego), but before this can venture any further down the rabbit hole of Schnitzler and Schulze references, Nilsen & Stilluppsteypa slip into a faux-exotica guise with cheap Casiotone melodies swaying to and fro through old Les Baxter and Martin Denny records. It's a signature move for Stilluppsteypa, if anyone remembers how they mustered a similar strategy on The Best Possible Yet back in 1997. But the maudlin organ harmonies and percolating tone-bloop oscillations are much more confident here, emerging perfectly out of the drone fog like those organ-led numbers on that Deathprod boxset, only to slip into a twin engine thrum of inner-space expansion. In listening back to the second side of the album, it's clear that the first is a lengthy dub of the second, recast and recontextualized as a percussive ghost. Totally captivating through and through, and with a damn trippy cover sporting a vibrantly hypnotic, candy-colored mandala. Yup, it does have a download card. Yup, it is limited. Yup, it is highly recommended." [Aquarius Records] |
2011 |
€14.00 |
|
| NIMH / MAUTHAUSEN ORCHESTRA |
From unhealthy Places |
CD |
"The energy, the genius and the intransigence of the music of the hystoric “cult” power electronics project Mauthausen Orchestra/Pierpaolo Zoppo, united to the originalty, the eclecticism, the rigorous experimental research carried on since fifteen years by Giuseppe Verticchio, mostly with his “Nimh” solo project… Disturbing images of unhealthy places, nocturne landscapes covered with fog, psychotic nightmares, tormenting and delirious, described with sonorities of great impact and incredible dramatic force… A dark and long itinerary, to be covered wrapped in the spirals of a time that progressively seems to slow down and stop, folded on itself, just like suspended in the void, without offering any way out… A sonic adventure for brave souls… Elegantly packaged in a digipack." [label info]
www.silentes.net
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| NINTH DESERT |
Collision h |
mCD-R |
The project of CYRIL HERRY, who also works as a film-maker (in example for TROUM). COLLISION H is a fabulous one-tracker using many layers of cloudy sounds & subdrones, evoking a haunting atmosphere. Comers in a nice oversized cardboard-cover, numbered ed. of 60.
"Collision h is made of various types of handled, stretched, retracted, skinned sound matters… Sequences extracted from sacred chants are confronted here with electronic frequencies and field recordings which collide and injure themselves but are forced to cohabit inside the same time and of the same space, similar to conflicting data assimilated by one and only memory." [label info]
" 'Collision H' enthält eine lange, 20 minütige Soundcollage die ziemlich dunkel und tief erscheint. Feld-Aufnahmen, rabenschwarze Ambiancen und schwere elektronische Frequenzen wabern und brodeln irgendwo ganz weit unten im Berg herum. Nur ein leichtes Drönen erinnert immer wieder an diesen Klangkanal, der so dunkel und trostlos ist, dass man, wenn man ihn entdeckt hat, auf keinen Fall hinuntersteigen möchte. Die Aufmachung hingegen ist hell und simpel. Die kleine 3 Zoll CD-R ist in eine schöne Kartonhülle zum aufklappen eingefasst. Eine gelungene Veröffentlichung." [Creative-Eclipse] |
2006 |
€9.00 |
|
| NNHMN |
Deception Island |
CD |
NNHMN returns to Zoharum with "Deception Island" a compilation CD of tracks taken from vinyl EP-s titled Deception Island Part 1 and 2 respectively, released by Spanish Oráculo Records.
As expected, the duo of Lee and Michal Laudarg deliver hell of a ride. Dark Wave, Synth Pop, EBM, New Romantic, Dark Disco - you name it. Spirit of '80s nostalgia is strong in this music. It's hard to listen to this without nodding your head or moving your hands and feet. Deception Island is very propulsive. From the first synths of "In Darkness" to the last beats of "Nachtgang" NNHMN keeps you enslaved on the dancefloor.
The track order has been slightly rearranged so the compilation has a more album feel and makes you find yourself listening to it for the third time in a row moving and watching the stars. You just don't want it to stop.
Restless dance of the night endless.
CD edition of 300 copies comes in "silk" digipack.
https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/deception-island-full-length-album
"The Berliner based Polish duo of NNHMN last year released two EPs entitled “Deception Island 1” and “Deception Island 2” on Oráculo Records. Zoharum this year released both EPs together as an album featuring the ten original songs.
Content: NNHMN is a band I personally consider as one of the greatest revelations from the past few years; Minimal-Electro-Wave music, which is clearly reminding me of the sterile- and cold atmospheres of the 80s. The whispering and totally emotionless way of singing of Lee creates an icy, sensual touch while Michal’s sound production creates a kind of dark-cellar dancefloor sensation.
+ + + : If there’s one band that awakens my curiosity on each new work it for sure is NNHMN (Non Human). They aren’t setting the world alight, but creates a fascinating vintage exposure with a true Minimalistic approach. The typical melodic strings, dry snares and icy sequences are reminding me of the 80s. I think it’s a real good thing both EP’s have been assembled as a full length album and there are some brilliant songs on it like “Deception Island”, “Education Lost”, “In Darkness”, “Nachtgang” and “Robot Woman”.
– – – : This album is a kind of compilation so if you already know both “Deception Island”-EPs you’ll be not surprised.
Conclusion: I remain totally addicted to the impressive Minimalism of this Berlin based duo; this is how Electro-underground music has to sound!" [Side-Line] |
2021 |
€12.00 |
|
| NO FESTIVAL OF LIGHT |
Divide et Impera |
do-CD |
No Festival Of Light is the best kept secret in the annals of dark industrial Swedish tradition. For decades Fredrik Bergström’s guilty pleasure lingered at the backyard of the world to sporadically cast a shadow of minimalist ritualism and evaporate in enchanted air again. An unorthodox approach and such deceptively simple music itself stirs all the senses to trigger morbid addiction, affection and unconscious share in blasphemous conspiracy. The 2CD set manifests rhythmic and ambient mind-numbing versatility of the project ranging from the debut “Divide Et Impera” (1994) mixed by Jouni Havukainen / In Slaughter Natives, to cryptic “Tape 1” (1996) originally released by Slaughter Productions, to various arcane compilation tracks featured on labels like Abyss, Slaughter, Thaglasz, Art Concept, to rare unreleased two live sets in Belgium and the USA in 1998/99. “Within the pleasures of the flesh, rests the Salvation of the human spirit”. For the lovers of early Cold Meat Industry and Slaughter Productions era, projects like Morthound, Ordo Equilibrio or Kranivm. A 2CD edition in a 4-panel gloss-laminated Digipak in edition of 300 copies. Co-released with Eibon Records. The special edition comes with a T-Shirt.
|
2018 |
€18.00 |
|
| NODDING GOD (DAVID TIBET & ANREW LILES) |
Play Wooden Child |
LP |
NODDING GOD were formed 666 years ago by Andrew Liles, David Tibet, and The UnderAge Shaitan-Boy in a Boys-Only preparatory boarding school in Babylon, since shut down by unfortunate events that took place there, in the night, in the dark.
Their first album, WOODEN CHILD, is released on House Of Mythology in May 2019. Sung 93% in Akkadian by David, who has studied this language for many years, this New Baby God Who Nods - a Nodding God, a Godding Nod - WOODEN CHILD is powered by Stars and Cuneiform and Pop and Drop and One Thousand Liles In One Thousand Axes.
Nodding God’s Virgin Boards Appearance will be at the Islington Assembly Hall on Saturday May 11, where they will PLAY WOODEN CHILD in its entirety; the event is presented by Old Empire & Born Again Concerts, in association with Mythology.
Joining Andrew and David on the boards will be Reinier van Houdt and Michael J. York on Analogue Synthesisers and Drone Planks and Organ Lords, with FluorescentFilms by Davide Pepe and Lasers by Rob of StanWaxLasers. The UnderAge Shaitan-Boy is, unfortunately, under Police Curfew and will be unable to attend this time, despite legal representations to the authorities to allow him to appear.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62KVH4bEe8k
"Die meisten der in den letzten Jahren entstandenen Projekte David Tibets außerhalb von Current 93 – die Zusammenarbeit mit ZU als ZU93 auf dem kammermusikalischen „Mirror Emperor“, das opulenter instrumentierte mit Youth aufgenommene „Create Christ, The Sailor Boy“-Album (beide Alben erschienen ebenfalls auf House of Mythology) oder die Hommage an John Balance zusammen mit James Blackshaw – waren musikalisch sicher nicht so weit von Current 93-Arbeiten entfernt. Anders dagegen verhält es sich bei dem aus Tibet, Andrew Liles und dem anonymen „Shaitan Boy“ (ein anderer Otto Avery?) als Nodding God eingespielten Album – ein Projektname, der auf eine von Tibets frühe(re)n Obsessionen verweist.
Schon die Ästhetik macht deutlich, dass die Stimmung eine andere ist: Pazuzu(s) als Springteufel vor pinkem Hintergrund und die Darstellung der drei Beteiligten als Cartoonfiguren. Das spiegelt sich auch in der komplett elektronischen Musik wider. Wie soll man das nennen, was man auf den sieben Tracks hören kann? Retrofuturismus? Progressive auf einem C64 komponiert? Auf dem Opener „Trapezoid Haunting“ hört man Tibets elektronisch verfremdete Stimme, die aus Ištars Gang in die Unterwelt vorträgt (der akkadischen Version der sumerischen Göttin Innana). Dazu erklingen repetetive Synthpassagen, Arpeggios und auch die folgenden sechs Tracks sind ähnlich ausgerichtet. „Natron Skipping Rope“ lässt an Jahrmarktsmusik denken, man hört Lasershots. Auf „Xanthosis Sabbat Clock“ kann man inmitten des Akkadischen englische Wörter erahnen (“quicksilver”, “Mercury”). „Salamander Candy“ wird zwischendurch von seltsamen Schreien durchzogen. Bei aller Verspieltheit haftet manchen der Tracks allerdings durchaus ein Moment des Unheimlichen an, was auch, aber nicht alleinig, an der durch die Bearbeitung so nichtmenschlich klingenden Stimme liegen mag.
Sucht man im umfangreichen Werk Tibets nach (muikalischen) Referenzen, so kommt einem vielleicht noch am ehesten entfernt der „Love Dance Of The Nodding Folk“ in den Sinn, aber letztlich wird auf “Play Wooden Child” eine ganz eigene Welt entworfen. Tibets Arbeiten waren/sind häufig geprägt von einem Kontrast(ieren) von Erhabenem und Profanem: Zum 5-Uhr-Tee erscheint Pazuzu an der Tür. Der Gegensatz zwischen der ausgestorbenem akkadischen Sprache, von der auch Linguisten nicht genau sagen können, wie sie ausgesprochen wurde, und der pinken Ästhetik und der Musik könnte wahrscheinlich nicht größer sein. In einem anlässlich der Veröffentlichung gemachten Interview fasst es Andrew Liles vielleicht auch ganz gut zusammen: “For me Akkadian just sounds great, otherworldly, something Christopher Lee would recite at some nefarious ritual in a Hammer movie. High camp or high art – it’s all interchangeable for me.”
Wer das Album direkt beim Label bestellt hat, bekommt eine Zwei-Track-CD, auf der neben der Albumversion von “Calcination Totem Station” noch ein Remix des Tracks namens “In A Foreign LandScape” zu finden ist. Diese etwas dunklere Version wurde für den Soundtrack von “In A Foreign Town” komponiert, einem 11-minütigen Kurzfilm, der eventuell zu einer auf Kurzgeschichten Thomas Ligottis basierenden Anthologieserie ausgeweitet wird." [Michael Göttert / African Paper]
|
2019 |
€29.50 |
|
| NOETINGER, JEROME & LIONEL FERNANDEZ |
Outer Blanc |
LP |
Highly electrified guitar, anamorphosed, perforated, and tainted by all sorts of effects, implodes its rage and its urgency in the magnetic nets of a tape recorder as cannibal as it is destructive. From various recordings Lionel Fernandez & Jérôme Noetinger have created and produced these ten pieces: big, biting, dangerous and acerbic – like the intoxicated meeting of a chainsaw and a microphone. Real garage music: grease, gutted car bodies and outdated alternators, like a soundtrack ripped from an unreleased Tobe Hooper film.
Lionel Fernandez and Jérôme Noetinger: a musical encounter between two important and uncompromising figures in contemporary experimental music in France. This duo emerged during an evening of the label Premier Sang programmed at Instants Chavirés (Montreuil) in the 2010s… A few years and a few furious concerts later and it is now on the Sonoris label that they are releasing their first record.
Guitarist of the pioneering french free noise/no wave band Sister Iodine, Lionel Fernandez uses an out of norm practice of the electric guitar in a group or as solo playing, “a guitar used as a flame thrower thrashed and fiercely held up as machette totem, he chops through darkness with unsane anti-riffs and carved blocs of dirty sounds, where gargle in slow combustion gangreened micro-textures » (Le Non_Jazz)
He also plays in other deviant combos such as Antilles, Cobra Matal, Ibiza Death, Haine, Porsche, Discom, Minitel, Mauser M etc and has collaborated either live or on records with Masaya Nakahara, Meyna’ch/Mütiilation, Andy Bolus/Evil Moisture, Stephen Bessac/Kickback, Hendrik Hegray, Tujiko Noriko etc..
Jérôme Noetinger is a composer, improviser and sound artist who works with electroacoustic devices such as the Revox B77 reel-to-reel tape recorder and magnetic tape, analogue synthesisers, mixing desks, speakers, microphones, various electronic household/everyday objects and home-made electronica.
From 1987 to 2018, he was the director of Metamkine, a non-profit organisation dedicated to the distribution of improvised and electroacoustic music. Between 1987 and 2014 Jérôme was a member of the editorial committee of the quarterly journal of contemporary sound, poetry and performance, Revue & Corrigée. For ten years from 1989, he was a member and programming co-ordinator of exhibitions, gigs, and experimental cinema at le 102 rue d’Alembert, Grenoble.
_
Lionel Fernandez, guitar, electronics
Jérôme Noetinger, Revox B77, electronics
10 tracks, 42 minutes, master by Fred Alstadt at Studio Angström
##################################
"Une guitare hautement électrifiée, anamorphosée, trouée, et salie par toutes sortes d'effets, implose sa rage dans les filets magnétiques d'un magnétophone à bandes, cannibale et destructeur. A partir de divers enregistrements et de pistes rapportées, Lionel Fernandez & Jérôme Noetinger ont créé et produit ces 10 pièces grasses et acides, moites et caverneuses, sorte de rencontre intoxiquée entre une tronçonneuse et un micro. Une vraie musique de garage, entre cambouis, carrosserie éventrée et alternateur périmé, comme la bande-son arrachée d'un film inédit de Tobe Hooper."
credits
released September 9, 2021
Jérôme Noetinger, magnétophone à bande Revox B77, électroniques.
Lionel Fernandez, guitare, électroniques.
Enregistré aux Instants Chavirés par Benjamin Pagier, à Paris à Blckout Studio, et Rives
Masterisé par Frederic Alstadt à Studio Angström
Artwork par Unglee Izi
Sonoris 2021
https://sisteriodine.bandcamp.com/album/outer-blanc-2
|
2021 |
€18.00 |
|
| NOETINGER, JEROME & SEC_ |
Testacoda |
LP |
"Jérôme Noetinger is an improviser and composer of electroacoustic music based in Rives (near Grenoble), France. He plays Revox, tapes and radio. SEC_ is the moniker of Mimmo Napolitano, an electronic musician and sound engineer from Naples, Italy. He plays Revox, no-input feedback, laptop, electronic devices. Together these two play the kind of improvised electronic mayhem that put Europe on the map. Testcoda features two separate recordings of shapeshifting electronics. One side recorded at Oblomova, Napoli (Italy) on 12.04 2011, the other at Le102, Grenoble (France) on 07.12.2011. All recordings were then edited and mixed by SEC_ and mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi.
'Surfing the entire sonic palette, these two titans of the mid-electronic age have the kind of rapport that comes with the best improvised music. Overlapping gestures and inter-twining sonic debris results in the kind of playful extremity that is impossible to ignore. No gear worship here, just the glory of free electronic sound, 21st Century style. A staggering display of reconstructed utopia'. Mark Harwood." [label info]
www.bocianrecords.com
|
2012 |
€15.00 |
|
| NOETINGER, JEROME / ENSEMBLE PHOENIX BASEL |
Les Voix de L'invisible |
LP |
“In June 2012, Ensemble Phoenix Basel commissioned me to create a work for them to play.#It was the first time in my life I had received such a request. After several months of reflection, I accepted and began working on a way of communicating a music with other musicians.#Not knowing classical notation, I decided to do what I do know: that being, working with recording and loops, and thereafter, ask the musicians to play by ear.#After a first session, having their interpretations in mind, I could reorganise it all taking into account the physical limits of each instrument.#I am very happy with this experience and warmly thank everyone in the Ensemble Phoenix for having made this possible.#The title, “Les voix de l’invisible” (The voice of the invisible) is inspired by Pascal Quignard’s book, “La haine de la musique” (The hate of music).” Jérôme Noetinger (translated by Liz Racz)#Ensemble Phoenix Basel. Christoph Bösch, flute. Toshiko Sakakibara, clarinet. Raphael Camenisch, saxophone. Samuel Wettstein, synthesizer. Maurizio Grandinetti, electric guitar. Aleksander Gabrys, doublebass. Daniel Buess, percussion and electronics. Thomas Peter, electronics.#Jérome Noetinger, composition, Revox tape machines.#Recorded live at Gare du Nord Basel, 14 & 15 June 2013.#Recorded, mixed and mastered by Alex Buess."
https://bocian.bandcamp.com/album/les-voix-de-linvisible
|
2016 |
€17.00 |
|
| NOISE RECEPTOR JOURNAL |
Issue No. 11 (August 2023) |
mag |
Noise Receptor Journal Issue No.11 content:
-: Long-form and detailed interviews with: African Imperial Wizard, Ulvtharm (Mz.412), Cult of Youth, Letum & James Light (of Agonal Lust, Wounded Son, Finders, Packing Plant etc).
-: Documentation of Linekraft: Hunger for Life Vol.1 (event January 2023), and Clutch showcase (October, 2022).
-: Reviews: 40+ detailed reviews.
-: Artwork: cover and 10+ pages of artwork by James Light.
-: The publication will again be in a new larger format (i.e. size mid-way between A5 & A4), with 100 pages approx.
-: Colour cover and professional greyscale with ‘perfect bound’ glue-bound spine.
-: Print run of 600 copies.
https://noisereceptor.wordpress.com
|
2023 |
€13.00 |
|
| NOISE-MAKER'S FIFES |
Monomania of Instinct (live June 1998) |
CD-R |
"Endlich was neues vom Brüsseler Geräuschmusikkollektiv um GEERT FEYTONS. D.h. leider keine neuen Studioaufnahmen, sondern ein Mitschnitt einer theatralischen Multimedia/Sound-Performance von 1998 aus Stockholm. Zu hören gibt es knirschend-dronige Klänge kreiert auf ihrer selbstgemachten Instrumenten und Soundsculptures, theatralisch-verzerrte Rezitationen, das ganze klingt sehr dynamisch & bedrohlich. One track, > 65 minutes." [Drone Records info 2004]
"Bachelard's animalistic aggression theory and what not - some scary shit going on here - one long throughly indigestible and stomach-churning track (65 minutes), but this is all the better for its uncompromising and unnerving severity. Noise-Maker's Fifes were unique and its founder Geert Feytons (RIP) will be sadly missed. Edition of 250 copies in fold-out slipcase cover. Co-released with Gold Soundz label." [label info]
"..a frightening miasma of non-musical elements. A succession of shrieks, shouts and
screamed words appear and disappear as clouds of rampant drones, electronic and concrete
sounds make their surreptitious appearance?." - Jose Marmeleira, Foxy Digitalis
|
2004 |
€10.00 |
|
| NORDERVAL, KRISTIN |
Aural Histories |
CD |
"Kristin Norderval cut her musical teeth touring with Einstein on the Beach in 1992, went on to record works of American composers such as Tania Leon, David Lang, and Anne LeBaron, improvised in the New Circle Five with Pauline Oliveros and Susie Ibarra, and co-founded the electro-acoustic duo Zanana with trombonist Monique Buzzarté. Now she has released a solo CD of her works for voice and laptop.
The composer writes: “Aural Histories is a compilation of works for voice and electronics. None have lyrics, but they all have stories. Some are improvisations recorded in one take with live sampling and audio processing in real-time; others are electronic compositions with varying degrees of vocal improvisation; and still others are through-composed electronic works. Some use the voice alone as sound source, and others contain pre-recorded and processed sounds of machines and electronic equipment, from coffee machines and microwaves to incubators and antique motors.”
Zooming further out, alongside singers and composers including Meredith Monk, Anne LeBaron, Juliana Snapper, and Mendi and Keith Obadike, Norderval’s work fits within […] a contemporary U.S. feminist opera that seeks to denaturalize singing, listening, and sound. This is work that faces rather than masks sound’s dependency on material transduction. Furthermore, it never forgets that sound always sounds in a three-dimensional setting even when played through speakers or headphones, as will be the case with this CD. […] For Kristin Norderval each sound’s specific location in space is a significant compositional parameter. Aural Histories is not a linear sound trajectory; instead it is an invitation to step into any of its ten different scenes. The doors are open to you, the listener: please enter." [label info]
www.deeplistening.org
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| NORDVARGR |
Untitled Navigations I |
CD |
Long one-tracker that clocks at almost 50 minutes length. Excellent eerie dark drones with a very floating movement & processing of sounds... one of his definite masterpieces !!
"New album of the northern wolf, leader on the Swedish scene of dark sounds. Co-creator of such projects as MZ412, TOROIDH, or FOLKSTORM for the second time appears on Beast Of Prey.
Untitled Navigations I was recorded live in the Villa Bohult studio, and is one massive ambient piece of slow moving darkness. As the soundscape evolves, rythmic patterns appear and merges with the crackling of broken records and deep resounding frequencies. Partly based upon Nordvargr´s previous attempts to alter sleep patterns, this recording also contains theta/delta waves, but the reason for this is not revealed. Untitled Navigations I is presented exactly as it was performed, without any overdubs or post production. Prepare for another dark journey into the mind of the nordic master of darkness.
Unconventional release in special white cardboard with silver printing. Unusual shape of the package that folded makes 150mm x 150mm size. Inside there are 3 different inserts showing winter landscapes. All very snowy and icy, handmade and numbered to 300 copies." [label info]
www.beastofprey.com
|
2009 |
€15.00 |
|
| NORTHERN SONG DYNASTY |
same |
CD |
Projekt von JESSICA BAILIFF mit JESSE EDWARDS: Feiner Folk mit gezupfter Akustikgitarre & mehrstimmigem Gesang & spacigen E-Gitarren, unglaublich zart, emotional, langsam, melanchronisch = abgedriftet in reine Emotion, und doch so traumhaft schön....
mal singt JESSICA BAILIFF, mal JESSE EDWARDS....
Referenzen z.B.: SLOWDIVE, RED HOUSE PAINTERS, LOW...
“The debut album from NORTHERN SONG DYNASTY, the duo of JESSICA BAILIFF (CLEAR HORIZON, EAU CLAIRE) and JESSE EDWARDS (RED MORNING CHORUS). Ten tracks of moody, psychedelic pop, folk, and electronic sounds influenced by time, space, and weather. Features guest appearances from FRED THOMAS (FLASHPAPER, SATURDAY LOOKS GOOD TO ME) and COURTNEY BIRD, and cover art by IKER SPOZIO (Ptolemic Terrascope)”
“....If you've never heard Jessica Bailiff or Jesse Edwards' work, then this might actually be the best place to start. The balance between desperation and happiness on this album might make it more attractive to some who have approached either's work and found it akin to reading Sylvia Plath. After enough exposure, neither sounds particularly cold and the subtle magic they both work on this record will permeate everything, making whatever darker themes are present seem less important than the sonic brilliance demonstrated in their work.” [Lucas Schleicher / Brainwashed]
|
2005 |
€12.00 |
|
| NOSTALGIE ETERNELLE |
Krummhörn |
CD-R + BOOKLET |
Krummhörn was released in a limited cassette edition Krummhörn and as CDr (this), accompanied by a book that tells the story of this duo with the collaboration of Stefan Knappe, founding member of Maeror Tri and Troum, and owner of Drone Records, as well as Félix V. Díaz, owner of Lux Atenea, a blog where he publishes cultural reviews about records, films, TV series and books.
|
2023 |
€15.00 |
|
| NOVA, JACQUELINE |
Creacion de la Tierra - Ecos palpitantes de Jacqueline Nova: Musica electroacustica e instrumental (1964-1974) |
do-LP |
"Jacqueline Nova (Ghent, Belgium, 1935 - Bogotá, Colombia, 1975), a representative figure of Colombian avant-garde music, developed important and radical work within the field of electronic and instrumental music, as well as in interdisciplinary forms. This album, Creación de la Tierra - Ecos palpitantes de Jacqueline Nova: Música electroacústica e instrumental (1964-1974) ("Creation of the Earth - Throbbing Echoes of Jacqueline Nova: Electroacoustic and Instrumental Music (1964-1974)")¸ under the curatorship and research of the Colombian composer Ana María Romano G., recovers Nova's most important electroacoustic works: "Creación de la tierra (Creation of the Earth)" (1972), "Oposición-Fusión (Opposition-Fusion)" (1968) and "Resonancias 1 (Resonances 1)" (1968-69), as well as the music for the film Camilo el cura guerrillero (Camilo the Guerrilla Priest) (1974), composed during her stay at the Centro Latinoamericano de Altos Estudios Musicales (CLAEM) , of the Torcuato Di Tella Institute, in Buenos Aires, as well as in the Study of Phonology of the University of Buenos Aires. The compilation also includes the instrumental works "Omaggio a Catullus" (1972-1974), "Transiciones (Transitions)" (1964-1965), and "Asuimetrías (Asymmetries)" (1967), in which she explores randomness, timbre possibilities or the encounter between acoustic and electronic media. The interest in experimenting with the human voice, and interdisciplinary work involving visual arts, were some of the aspects that have defined Jacqueline Nova's work. Ana María Romano has written: "Nova lived in an environment hostile to change, to debate and discussion, hostile to her being an autonomous and lesbian woman. She undertook feats that make her a pioneer, even though she did not set out to be taken as one, but only as a result of the commitment, dedication and passion of a creator with her society. Jacqueline Nova died in Bogotá of bone cancer. Her tragic and early death not only cut short a career in full creative force, but also directly affected the development of electroacoustic music in the country. After her death there was a great silence -- close to 15 years -- in musical creation with electronic means. Nova challenged a conservative milieu and survived alone, working in a field thought to be exclusively masculine. But it was a woman who strengthened the use of technology in Colombian music. A risky bet that sadly represented a high cost: Nova was relegated during her lifetime, but her noises managed to shake and question the comfort zones of the Colombian musical establishment." Includes a booklet with extensive information written by Ana María Romano G.; edition of 300."
https://buhrecords.bandcamp.com/album/creaci-n-de-la-tierra-ecos-palpitantes-de-jacqueline-nova-1964-1974
"Continuing their incredible dedication to the historic sounds of the 20th Century Latin American musical avant-garde, Buh Records returns with one of their most important releases to date, "Creation of the Earth - Throbbing Echoes of Jacqueline Nova: Electroacoustic and Instrumental Music (1964-1974)", the first ever collection dedicated to the pioneering work of the Columbian composer Jacqueline Nova.
Spanning the final decade of Nova's life, not only does this stunning double LP overflow with astounding acoustic, electroacoustic, and electronic works that entirely upend the Eurocentric historic experimental music, but the album doubles as a crucial illumination of the feminist and queer struggle for liberation through sound in Latin America during this period.
Absolutely astounding on every level and impossible to recommend enough, it's the sort of revelation that only comes around once in the rarest of times.
Running continuously since the mid 2000s, in recent years the Lima based imprint, Buh Records - run by Luis Alvarado - has issued an astounding array of little heard Latin American experimental music onto the world stage, offering particular focus to work - contemporary and historic - from Peru. In recent years, they’ve been increasingly casting their gaze further afield, offering glimpses of the broader Latin American context experimentalism with stellar releases by Mesias Maiguashca, Walter Smetak, Oksana Linde, and a number of others. Their latest, “Creation of the Earth: Throbbing Echoes of Jacqueline Nova: Electroacoustic and Instrumental Music (1964-1974)” belongs to this shift. The first-ever release entirely dedicated to the pioneering Columbian electronic composer, Jacqueline Nova, it lifts the shadows of time to reveal an astounding artist whose work has remained almost entirely unobtainable since her untimely death in 1975. Visionary and truly remarkable, the historical importance of this stunning double LP - issued in a very limited edition of 300 copies, complete with extensive liner notes by Ana María Romano - can't be understated. Once again, Buh has upended the perceptions of avant-garde happening during the 20th Century and replaced it with something far more diverse, vibrant, and alive.
"The history of avant-garde, experimental, and electronic music from Latin America has always been incredibly difficult to access, largely due to the effects of conservative, authoritarian governments that game to power in many countries in the region during the mid 20th Century, attacking progressive art-forms and limiting the mobility of the rich contexts of sounds that emerged within their borders. Despite the opposition that these artists faced, a remarkable scene of experimental music thrived - often cross pollinating - throughout Latin American during the second half of the 20th Century, a happening that Buh Records has been making greats strides toward illuminating for more than a decade. It would be hard to find a better example of this than their latest release, dedicated to the work of the Columbian composer Jacqueline Nova.
Born in 1935, Jacqueline Nova began playing the piano at a young age, eventually taking her studies to the National Music Conservatory in 1958. In 1963 she shifted her focus toward composing, and in 1967 became the first woman to obtain a diploma in composition at the Conservatory, following which she won a scholarship to study at one of the most noted electronic and electroacoustic studios in Latin American, Centro Latinoamericano de Altos Estudios Musicales (CLAEM), in Buenos Aires, Argentina. From this point forward, she almost entirely dedicated her efforts to electroacoustic composition, until her death in 1975.
Nova’s time at CLAEM set her apart from most of her Columbian peers, allowing her the space and time to reach a high level of technical refinement that, combined with her compositional talents, placed her as one of the leading figures in Colombian and Latin American electroacoustic music during that moment. This became even more the case following her return to Argentina in Guggenheim scholarship. Nova returned to Buenos Aires, with the support of a Guggenheim fellowship to research and develop a body of work that integrated ways of transforming the human voice through electronic processes.
“Creation of the Earth”, spanning two full LPs that comprise seven important works by Nova, is effectively a career spanning window into the composer’s remarkable inner world, covering the years between 1964 and 1974. Over its length, we hear the evolution of one of Columbia and Latin American’s most important avant-garde composers, from early efforts like “Transiciones” - a stunning work of complex harmonics and distances for solo piano - and “Asimetrías” - an equally striking, spacious work for flute and percussion - that give a glimpse of her purely acoustic beginnings in the avant-garde, and the sublime talent that laid the foundation for her subsequent works. Beginning with “Resonancias 1”, composed across 1968 and 1969 between Buenos Aires and Bogotá, we encounter Nova beginning to incorporate electronic processes; her piano and other acoustic instrumentation becoming interwoven with electronic sounds, in a work that is built on seven structures with timbre indications, leaving a great deal of openness for each player to make decision and determine its outcome.
The remaining three works gathered on “Creation of the Earth” are unquestionably the most radical and forward thinking, witnessing Nova reaching the full extent of her powers as a composer. The first of these, “Creación de la tierra”, composed in 1972, draws upon her research into the transformative potential of electronic process on the human voice. Composed solely from vocal material drawn from songs on the creation of the earth of the U'wa ethnic group in Boyacá, Colombia, the work culminates as an immersive ritual of astounding scope, rendering the source material almost unrecognizable through heavy processing that transforms it into writhing ambiences of texture and tone. This is followed by “Omaggio a Catullus”, composed over the two years between 1972 and 1974, which takes an entirely different approach to these queries. Incorporating a vast range of acoustic instruments, vocalizations, and electronic processes, it appears as a sonic gesture of deep urgency, entirely of its moment and yet somehow out of time. The final work of the collection, “Montaje electroacústico a partir de materiales de la música original de la película Camilo el cura guerrillero”, was created in 1974 toward the end of her life. As the title suggests, it is an electroacoustic montage from music materials created for the film “Camilo the Guerrilla Priest”. A likely indication of Nova’s politics - Camilo Torres Restrepo, the subject of the film, having been a Marxist-Leninist, priest who fought for progressive reform in Columbia - the work is a stunning gesture of avant-garde sonority, swirling into abstract forms.
As the liner notes to “Creation of the Earth” state, “Nova lived in an environment hostile to change, to debate and discussion, hostile to her being an autonomous and lesbian woman. She undertook feats that make her a pioneer, even though she did not set out to be taken as one, but only as a result of the commitment, dedication and passion of a creator with her society.” One can only imagine what effect she might have had if her life hadn’t been cut tragically short at the age of 40 in 1975 by bone cancer. Perhaps even more tragically, her death ushered in a period of silence in Columbian electronic music that would last well over a decade, perhaps proving how alone, ahead of her time, and important she was. For this reason and the astounding quality of the work, it is impossible to overstate the importance of Buh’s release of “Creation of the Earth: Throbbing Echoes of Jacqueline Nova: Electroacoustic and Instrumental Music (1964-1974)”, the first ever collection solely dedicated to her remarkable body of work. It’s a truly stunning and revelatory listen, bringing a crucial, lost piece in the history of Latin Avant-garde music into the light for the first time. Issued as a beautiful double LP, which includes fantastic exploratory liner notes, we can’t recommend this one enough. Ten out ten and beyond. Grab it before it’s gone." [SOUNDOHM]
|
2022 |
€34.00 |
|
| NOVAK, YANN |
Paradise & Winchester |
CD |
"Paradise & Winchester was created in late 2011 for the Belgian imprint Unfathomless who’s credo is to commission works that ‘illustrate artists‘ personal fascination for specific locations, either natural, human built, or fictitious’. In response to this, Novak chose a location that he had never been to, yet knew he would have a strong reaction to, Las Vegas, NV. The piece focuses on ‘The Las Vegas Strip’, a portion of Las Vegas Boulevard outside the city limits spanning two unincorporated townships: Paradise and Winchester.Paradise & Winchester was created from ten recordings, made over three days, each one an attempt to find relatively quiet moments in an outdoor location. These quiet moments were then digitally altered to reflect a more personal reaction to the location. The final form of the piece is an ever changing hybrid state, move from one location to the next and a constant mix of nearly raw material with altered material.Paradise & Winchester was formed in late 2011 after a 7 day trip collecting and recording sounds and images. The trip ended with three days of rest in Las Vegas, NV."
[Yann Novak, May 2012]
www.unfathomless.net
"There was a time the name Yann Novak propped up in these pages quite regularly, if not for his own music, it was for releases on his Dragon's Eye Recordings, but in more recent times this has become less and less. I am not sure why this is. Maybe he just releases less and less, or perhaps not all of his releases reach me. Here he has an interesting work which deals with the sounds of The Las Vegas Strip, in itself part of the Las Vegas boulevard, 'outside the city limit, spanning the two unincoprorated townships of Paradise and Winchester, where the majority of the casinos and tourist activity takes place'. This is not exactly a new soundtrack to Paul Verhoeven's 'Showgirls' (a fav here) or 'Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas'. In fact should you not have known this, would you be able to tell this forty some minute was recorded in one the most hectic and noisy cities in the world? I don't think so. At the same time I have to admit that I am also not entirely sure to what extend there has
been sound processing. Surely something, which makes a very nice pattern of gliding sounds and endless delays, but in between, in the backside, far away we still hear the activities of humans. Voices, cars parking and that sort of thing, but also the sound of wind, blowing down the microphone. In these forty-three minutes he moves between various settings, in all about five or six different movements. It has that gentle microsound feel that is part of many of the previous works by Novak have, and perhaps as such isn't the new approach to what he does. That aside though, this I thought was a great work. Taking the quiet sounds of a busy city and melt that into a gentle soundscape. Very nice!" [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2012 |
€14.00 |
|
| NU & APA NEAGRA |
Descantecul Apei negre |
CD |
"As if it were taken from a story which has not been written yet, this new album of NU & APA NEAGRĂ remains true to its original influences - the Romanian & Turkish folklore and the electroacoustic madness of the 20th Century. With field recordings, pseudo sampling and instruments such as caval, divan saz, prepared cymbalom, synthesizers and vintage sound effects, to name just a few, the group offers a vertical approach towards the sound, one that explores the cultural and primary layers of Balkan & Carpathian spaces which are put into an occidental equation. A sort of amorphous sound psychism, whose depths reveal all of a sudden some recognizable fragments, which could help reconstruct an archaeology of all four musicians' trajectories." [label info]
www.myspace.com/projectnu
"Mich wundert es nicht, dass die Banater Heide beste Schwarzerde bietet für weirde Folklore. Alexandru Hegyesi, Călin Torsan, Vlad Sturdza & Sașa-Livio Stoianovici, in Temeswar zuhause, machen mit Cimbalon & Bassgitarre, Klarinette & Pfeifen, Zither, Gitarre, Ebow, Glocken & Percussion bzw. Saz, Cobza, Gusle, also Lauten von den türkischen Crossroads auf dem Balkan, aber auch mit Korg, Moog, Harmophon und noch mehr Percussion und Effekten eine Pilgerfahrt. Zum Schwarzen Meer? Es scheint eher so, als wäre das Ziel kein Ort auf dieser Welt, sondern ein mystischer Ort, oder eine Anomalität in der Zeit. Da kreuzt sich spacewärts orientierte Sonic Fiction mit klanglichen Phantomen der Vergangenheit. Einer verleugneten Vergangenheit, denn warum sonst sollte der Hahn dreimal krähen ('Al treilea Cântat al cocoșilor')? Im Vorwärtsdrang wirbeln in einer halluzinatorischen Gleichzeitigkeit des Ungleichzeitigen alte Klänge auf. Uraltes Saitenspiel, Pfeifen, Schellen und Getrommel, auch raunende Gesänge, die, sich überlappend, durch die Erinnerung wabern, durch die Zeit kaskadieren, mit Echos von den Karpatenwänden und Klangfetzen, die sich in den transsylvanischen Wäldern verfangen haben, oder an den Mauern von Piteşti verstummt sind.
Lautengeschrammel und Hackbrettgedengel bringen das Blut in Wallung, Stimmfetzen werden zu einem Krähenschwarm, die Zeit kreist in sich selbst. Beim anfänglich orientalisch anmutenden 'Alt Pelerin' (Noch ein Pilger) schält sich wehmütiger Gesang von Maria Balabaș aus dem Dröhnfluss. Ich denke, schwarzes Wasser meint nicht das Marea Neagrä, sondern ein Wasser, das die Vergangenheit löscht. Doch vielleicht ist es, wie bei Telephos und Amfortas die Lanze, als das, was verwundete, auch das Heilmittel. Daher die Wiedertaufe mit schwarzem Wasser. 'The Black Water' badet lang in harmonisch rauschenden Spacewellen, mit Bassklarinette, Kaval und Pfeifen als bukolischem Widerhall, mit zartem Zither- oder Gitarrenklang, knurrigem Moog, jaulenden Synthies. Ist das jetzt Ruderschlag? Oder lappt die Zeit rückwärts? Man wird mitgerissen in dieser psychedelischen Odyssee (wie Dave Bowman beyond the infinite). Bei 18:50 reißt das Band.
[Schluck]" [Bad Alchemy]
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| NUBLA, VICTOR |
Neige |
CD |
Long active spanish musician (MACROMASSA) from Barcelona, known from the „About Breathing“ CD with Robin Storey / RAPOON... this new works shows him in a very symphonic mood with classic loopy samples, creating a dark and unsettling atmosphere, and with many voice-samples a kind of narrative setting. This documents a performance which happened at the contemporary art museum of Barcelona in May 2002. Worth to discover !
|
2003 |
€12.00 |
|
| NULL, K.K. |
Ergosphere |
CD |
Sometimes the music of KK NULL is the best that can happen to yourself at certain moments, with its high tension-high pitched-and highly artificial sinustone sounds, miles away from the usual harsh noise..... this sounds like spreading Adrenaline, but it's pressed and forced into steel-forms. NULLs sound never looses a kind of futuristic atmosphere, an almost floating character and quasi-composed delevopments.... Maybe like MAIN on Speed.. or sometimes it feels like being the witness to an intergalactic cosmic WAR, or like being involved in an utopian pinball-machine.....
[Drone Rec. 2006]
"Ergosphere was recorded live during Kazuyuki Kishino's (Zeni Geva, etc.) tour of Russia in late 2005, specifically on his only two solo dates, live at Moscow Palace of Youth in Moscow Russia October 5, 2005 and 'Festival Hea Uus Heli' Kanuti Gildi Saal in Tallinn Estonia on October 7, 2005. An uneasy balance of lull and divide." [label info]
|
2006 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Extropy Ground Zero |
CD |
"In Extropy Ground Zero, Kazuyuki Kishino displays an intriguing approach towards the genre of experimental noise. Deviating from his usual genre style, he unleashes new material of percussive blast beats which take dominance in the 2 tracks (one studio and one live) contained within. The juxtaposition of electronic percussive noise tempo against layers of interweaving swooshes and electronic bleeps provide an interesting ambience of sound, which strongly reflect KK Null’s unique creative process in noise experimentation."
https://4ibrecords.com
"KK Null is a legend in the noise/power electronics scene. Moreover, he is a master of chaos creation. We have for you, his latest work courtesy of 4ib Records, Extropy Ground Zero.
From 4ib Records: “Kazuyuki Kishino displays an intriguing approach towards the genre of experimental noise. Deviating from his usual genre style, he unleashes new material of percussive blast beats which take dominance in the 2 tracks (one studio and one live) contained within. The juxtaposition of electronic percussive noise tempo against layers of interweaving swooshes and electronic bleeps provide an interesting ambience of sound”
Track 1, “Extropy Ground Zero” starts off with some rapid, distorted conic bullets. What follows is absolute madness and chaos. There are so many things going on and so many dimensions and dynamics, it’s ridiculous…but in a good way. Trust me on that. After the rapid distorted cyber-strikes and a series of what sound like computer glitches, we then find ourselves behind a wall of harsh noise and again, those distorted rapid percussive beats. KK then mixes this with some upper-frequency harshness. Then after a short, dark ambient break… utter bloody chaos erupts; the sonic equivalent of breaking glass and fierce storms; the pinnacle of all that I just mentioned combined. That then tapers off like rain at the end of the storm and the storm begins again just before 9:00. Very destructive, uncomfortable cyber-noise madness. Great stuff and really unique in terms of noise artistry.
I’ve always been a huge fan of noise albums that were recorded live. They just add other dimensions in terms of experimentation/improvisation for the artist and sonic dynamics vast vs. claustrophobic for the listener. Track 2, “Tokyo Ground Zero” is live.
If you thought track 1 was maddening, you haven’t heard anything yet. Ok, I’ll step out on a limb and say it. It’s tracks like “Tokyo Ground Zero” that make Merzbow look like a drone artist. Now, please don’t get me wrong, I love Masami’s work and no one can deny his place in noise as a true pioneer..no one. But KK Null is really pushing some boundaries here, like serious goose bump-inducing chaos and sonic bloody anarchy. Super-speed distorted cyber-blast beats, glitches and blips, multi-dimensional harsh noise walls and shards and a whole other pile of chaos – shifting, speeding, slowing abruptly and uncomfortably. I think I even heard some buried samples and discordant piano strikes. It’s really very challenging to describe. It’s like a category 9 hurricane with so many things in the path of its destruction-lifting and dropping, tossing and smashing. Not many noise tracks give me chills but this one sure did. Really… you’ll just have to hear it. If this track indicates the direction KK is going, he really nailed a cornerstone on this one. I really can’t even find the words other than that.
I think we’re going to interview KK soon. We’ll have to find out how the hell he pulled that track off live. I can’t imaging being in that venue." [Noise Beneath the Snow]
|
2017 |
€13.00 |
|
| NULL, K.K. / Z'EV |
Brombron 17: Extra Space, Extra Time |
CD |
"Korm Plastics is proud to present the seventeenth release in the Brombron series. Originally a co-production between Staalplaat and Extrapool, it is now hosted by co-curator Frans de Waard. In the year 2000 Frans de Waard and Extrapool started the Brombron project. Two or more musicians become artists in residence in Extrapool, an arts initiative in Nijmegen, The Netherlands, with a fully equipped sound recording studio. These artists can work in a certain amount of time on a collaborative project; a project they always wished to do, but didn't have the time or the equipment to realize.
Since almost forty years Z'ev belongs to the absolute fore front of experimental music. Playing percussive music he gained a lot of attention, but in more recent years he returned to working with electronic tape manipulation. One aspect is working with other people, such as Francisco Lopez or Kasper Toeplitz. In his collaboration with KK Null he plays electronic drums.
KK Null (born Kazuyuki Kishino in Tokyo) is a Japanese experimental multi-instrumentalist. He began as a guitarist, but soon added composer, singer, electronic musician and drummer to his list of talents, and also studied with the Butoh workshop.
Null joined the noise/progressive rock band Ybo2 in 1984, issuing several albums and EPs throughout the remainder of the decade. Later he founded more bands, such as Absolute Null Punkt (aka ANP) and his most well known one, the self-described "progressive hardcore trio" Zeni Geva. From that point he also produced albums for other artists, created his own record label (Nux Organization), played live and collaborated on albums with many other musicians, including John Zorn, Yona-Kit, Steve Albini, Boredoms, Seiichi Yamamoto, Jim O'Rourke, Merzbow, Fred Frith, James Plotkin, Keiji Haino, Otomo Yoshihide, Jon Rose, Atau Tanaka, Zbigniew Karkowski, Z'EV, Alexei Borisov, Earth. Noisegate and Philip Samartzis, as well as supporting such artists as Sonic Youth and Mike Patton on tour." [label info]
www.kormplastics.nl
"Next and 17th album in the Brombron-series is an interesting collaboration between two legends of the noise and industrial-scene. Z'EV (aka Stefan Joel Weisser) has been around in the experimental music scene for a long time already. His brand of scrap-metal and found object percussion originates back to the early seventies. Creating his own instruments from various metals and plastics, he has placed himself at the forefront of the movement that became known as "industrial". He was among others one of the described forefront industrial pioneers in the legendary "Industrial Culture Handbook" (1983). In the more recent years, he has returned to working with electro-acoustic manipulations. Fellow artist at the extrapool studios is one of the top composer's of Japanese noise scene. Starting his career in the early 80's by performing guitar improvisations in the clubs and streets of Tokyo, Kazuyuki Kishino a.k.a. K.K. Null continued by collaborating with among others Merzbow and others from the extreme noise scene of Tokyo. The two quite different noise artists has come out with a very interesting album as the result of their studio-days at the Extrapool. The expression on the album "Extra space, extra time" seems like a very nice combination of the style of both artists. Percussion patterns derived from metal materials and other sorts of acoustic banging circulates hand in hand with rumbling noises changing between full throttle and subtle. What makes this release certainly interesting is the way that the twosome manage to blend noisy textures with handmade percussive patterns. Hordes of noise drones and pulses moves alongside the intense tribal drum patterns of Z'EV. The main parts of the six works of the album carrying the title "Extra space, extra time", opens slowly with distant sounds that builds over time until powerful drum patterns set in to create a trancelike atmosphere. Thus despite the abrasive nature of the album, the works has a great appeal thanks to the excellent rhythm textures created by one of Industrial music most steady-going percussion artists, Z'EV. A masterful collaboration on this one!" [NM/Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€12.00 |
|
| NULL, KK & JOHN WIESE |
Mondo Paradoxa |
CD |
"Constructed over the period of two years via mail collaboration this is a great and forceful collaboration between two artists that each have made a name for themselves with their unique approach to making sound. KKNULL is a master of feedback studies, working with looped scenarios to create dense and vital sound units. KKNULL has a long history as an experimental musician and is also the leading force behind proto-metal-group Zeni Geva and the dark-industrial project Absolut Null Punkt. John Wiese has recently collaborated with such acts as Wolf Eyes and Sunn O))) and is also a graphic designer in high demand. Usually he creates fragile but very erruptive lo-fi noise rumblings with an almost poetic touch. He has a musical past in the group Bastard Noise."
www.aufabwegen.com
|
2009 |
€12.50 |
|
| NURSE WITH WOUND |
Huffin' Rag Blues |
CD |
"Nach Plattentiteln wie »Funeral Music For Perez Prado« oder »Livin’ Fear Of James Last« zieht es Steven Stapleton nun auch musikalisch in Gebiete, die von Drone und Industrial so weit entfernt scheinen, wie es überhaupt nur geht: »Huffin’ Rag Blues« (Jnana) nämlich präsentiert Nurse With Wound mit unerwarteter Schlagseite Richtung Lounge. Es handelt sich dabei um eine überaus humorvolle Angelegenheit, für die die dargebotenen Stilmittel recht ordentlich durch den Wolf gedreht wurden und nur selten die typische Verschrobenheit anderer NWW-Releases vermissen lassen. Der Umgang mit Funk und Exotica erfolgt so, dass die Musik wie ein schwülheißer Fiebertraum erscheinen kann – komplett mit Schmachtgesang und Tiergeräuschen. Gegenüber Stapletons besten Projekten der vergangenen Jahre – etwa dem hypnotisch monotonen »Salt Marie Celeste« (2003) – ist »Huffin’ Rag Blues« freilich ein ganzes Stück luftiger und letztendlich auch weniger gewichtig geraten: Zuweilen ist der Spaßanteil der vorliegenden Platte recht gewöhnungsbedürftig, erneuert zum anderen aber den Glauben an eine vordergründig unverbissene Kunstmusik." [Kai Ginkel / SPEX]
"Nurse With Wound is the main recording vehicle for British musician Steven Stapleton. Since 1978, with collaborators such as David Tibet (Current 93), John Balance (Coil), Colin Potter and Matt Waldron (Irr. App [Ext]), Nurse With Wound has released dozens of albums that draw on nearly every genre of music. The only constant is that one never knows what the next album will sound like. Stapleton and Andrew Liles form the core of the band on Huffin' Rag Blues, and the direction to which they are heading is the lounge! Huffin' Rag Blues is unlike any Nurse With Wound album in recent memory as they veer into the space-age bachelor pad. Guest vocalists Lynn Jackson and Freida Abtan channel Peggy Lee, while Matt Waldron also lends his golden pipes to one song. This is truly exotica as imagined by the twisted genius that is Nurse With Wound." [label info]
www.dirter.co.uk
|
2008 |
€15.00 |
|
|
TRIPPIN' MUSIK (black vinyl) |
3 x LP BOX |
" ’Trippin’ Musik’ is Nurse With Wound’s most significant new dose in a while, collecting 3 epic discs of steeply psychedelic sonics that may well alter your breathing and heart rates and mental state. No tracklisting provided, play however tf you like.
Following from the reissue of NWW’s ’Soliloquy For Lilith’ boxset, ‘Trippin’ Musik’ relays the most recent findings from Steven Stapleton and co’s ongoing psychedelic research / surrealist reconnaissance / occult practice in electro-acoustic and avant-garde spheres. As the title suggests, it’s one for the journey, taking up whole sides of vinyl with intensely and intently focussed recordings that often take over 20 minutes to say their psychedelic piece in a cryptic language of abstraction.
Whether you take drugs to listen to this music or not, the effect is likely to live up to the title, but we’re pretty certain it will be stronger with than without. One disc features a whole side of what sounds like a folk song fractalised and slowed down by Carl Stone, while another also sees them strung out in desert guitar scenes sort of like a digitized interpolation of Earth jamming with Soisong, and the side of rapidly panned gasps is practically guaranteed to send your head into a tailspin given the right conditions, before it all shores up in a deeply lysergic scene of strolling, head-squashing, liminal/laminal electronic timbres that feel like classic kosmische slowed down and exhaled by an AI.
Trust the efficacy of ’Trippin’ Musik’ for psychoactive potential is right up there with the most potent sonic substance. Approach with spare time and a well stocked freezer for best results." [Boomkat] |
2020 |
€51.50 |
|
|
Salt Marie Celeste - Salt |
do-CD |
"A welcome re-release, as an expanded version, of one of Nurse With Wound's most notable albums. Originally recorded in 2002 by Steven Stapleton and Colin Potter, the piece "Salt" was a limited-edition release to accompany an exhibition of Stapleton's artwork at The Horse Hospital in London. The following year Salt Marie Celeste was released as a single 61-minute-long piece of droning atmospheric sound that manages to be both minimal and maximal at the same time. A parade of strange, often unlikely, sounds appear and disappear during the voyage from Z to A. Described by many as being one of the most unsettling and/or engaging NWW recordings, it went on to feature in many "albums of the year" lists of 2003. This new edition comes in a six-panel digipack with stunning all-new artwork by Babs Santini." [label info]
"A visionary product of Steven Stapleton's mind under the guise of Nurse With Wound, the UK based imprint, Dirter, delivers a brand new, deluxe, expanded double CD, comprising two of the project's most sought after albums, “Salt” and “Salt Marie Celeste”. Created around the same time near the turn of the new millennium, each represents a radical rethinking of the terms of ambient music, responding to an ever-darkening world.
This new, expanded double CD edition makes two crucial artifacts from the project’s rare back catalog available for a new generation of listeners, after being out of print for years, making it an absolute must for every NWW fan.
Sprawling across more than 40 years of activity, few musical endeavours have been as influential and uncategorizable as Nurse With Wound. Founded as a trio in 1978 by Steven Stapleton, John Fothergill, and Heman Pathak, by the early '80s the band had morphed into a solo vehicle for Stapleton’s maverick and creative mind, remaining so over the decades since and producing well over a hundred full lengths and EPs. The vast majority of these, issued in relatively small editions, have remained long out of print, highly collectable, and difficult to find. Thankfully, the last few years have witnessed a steady stream of reissues, finally bringing them back into our hands and allowing them to be approached, appreciated, and understood for what they are. The latest of these, issued by the UK based imprint, Dirter, gathers two rare artefacts from NNW’s output in the new millennium, “Salt”, issued as a very limited LP in 2011, an “Salt Marie Celeste”, issued as a rare CD edition in 2003. Released together as a deluxe, expanded double CD, these albums represents a radical rethinking of the terms of ambient music, responding to, and catapulting the listener into, an ever-darkening world.
Nurse with Wound was easily one of the most singular projects to emerge during the late '70s in Britain; a moment that witnessed the ashes of punk’s first generation morph into radical new forms, often embracing the strategies of experimental music. Rooted in a surrealist ethos, while constantly pushing forward across a vast range of creative territory, the project utilised the approaches and attitudes of both punk and avant-garde, in new forms of music that incorporates a countless number of influences that crossed their paths; cabaret, nursery rhymes, pop music, and krautrock, not to mention the wild and wonderful touchstones that made it onto the sprawling NNW List.
In its original incarnation of Steven Stapleton, John Fothergill, and Heman Pathak, Nurse with Wound only made two albums, 1979’s “Chance Meeting On a Dissecting Table of a Sewing Machine and an Umbrella”, and 1980’s “To the Quiet Men from a Tiny Girl”. In the aftermath, it became effectively a solo project for Stapleton, within which he allowed himself a remarkable amount of creative freedom and breadth, while involving the collaborations of numerous ambitious fellow travellers in the sonic realms. One of these was Colin Potter, an experimental musician and sound engineer known for his particularly playful approach to sound that emerged in solo ventures across the 1980s, as well as within regular collaboration with luminaries in the experimental underground, including NNW, Current 93, and Organum.
Potters' collaborations with Stapleton under the guise of NNW begin during the early 1990s, and are present across a significant number of the project’s output over the coming decades. Among the most striking and significant of these is the 2003 album, “Salt Marie Celeste”, a visionary excursion into texture and ambience that has been described by many as being one of the most unsettling and/or engaging of all of the project's recordings. Once heard, there’s little question of why it went on to feature in many ‘albums of the year’ lists when it initially dropped.
Recorded in 2002 by Stapleton and Potter and stretching to more than an hour in length, “Salt Marie Celeste” is an immersive gesture of droning atmospheric sound, riding the razors edge between the minimal and maximal; its remarkable density producing a glistening effect. Deploying a vast range of sound sources - instrumental and non-instrumental alike - across the album’s gloomy journey haunting images emerge. Orchestral-like chords flutter against the sounds of passing cars, boat horns, and creaking doors, almost transforming the listener’s reality into the impression of being in a film. This may not be accidental. The piece was originally intended to provide aural ambience to an exhibit by Stapleton at London's Horse Hospital.
Encountering NNW in one of the project’s most prolific and creatively enthralling periods, continuously pushing the boundaries of experimental sound into new and unexpected territories, “Salt Marie Celeste” is unquestionably a high water mark in its output that has remained sinfully out of print for nearly two decades, making Dirter’s reissue a partially noteworthy event.
Standing as a counterpoint to “Salt Marie Celeste” is “Salt”, which was created during the same rough moment in 2002 by Steven Stapleton and Colin Potter. Issued nine years later as a limited edition LP to accompany an exhibition of Stapleton’s artwork at The Horse Hospital in London, it is cited as the source material of “Salt Marie Celeste”, and as such, in this new pairing, offers incredible illuminating effects.
“Salt” is effectively “Salt Marie Celeste” stripped back to its core; a brooding ambient expanse that wraps the listener in a sense of existential tension. A sea of sound drones under restraint, without the more tangible worldly elements - field recordings, etc. - allowing a deeper sense of abstraction and bodily loss, allowing texture and ambience to take on an orchestral bearing of scope.
Regarded as one of the key actors in the inception of industrial music, Nurse With Wound has always managed to defy its own history. As crucial documents of the project’s restless journey at the outset of the new millennium, hear just that: the rebellious child of punk and the post-war avant-garde, joined in conversation with the seminal ambient works of Brian Eno, as well as the more contemporary efforts of artists like Gas / Wolfgang Voigt.
Absolutely incredible to start to finish, Dirter's deluxe, expanded double CD of “Salt” and “Salt Marie Celeste” brings two of NNW’s most engaging and sought after releases back into print, after being virtually unavailable for year. Not to be missed." [Soundohm]
|
2022 |
€17.00 |
|
|
Brained By Falling Masonry/Cooloorta Moon |
pic-LP |
It could be argued that Brained and Cooloorta are the definitive Nurse With Wound EPs. Both classic and timeless fan favorites appear for the first time together on one single album. Both EPs marked a distinctive change in the NWW sound. Brained from 1984 showcases NWW at their mid-80s finest. The relentless churning and uncompromising music of \"Brained by Falling Masonry\" is complimented by the eccentric mania of JG Thirlwell\'s vocals. \"A Short Dip in Glory Hole\" takes you into the murky depths of a David Lynch influenced nightmare, a lysergic unhinged movie for the ears, which greatly influenced the Peter Strickland film Berberian Sound Studio. \"Cooloorta Moon\" from 1989 takes you in a whimsical direction and further highlights the boundless originality of NWW. The evolution of NWW utilizing more traditional instrumentation and bordering on the verge of song structures started coming to the fore on this EP. In addition to all the original songs from the Cooloorta and Brained EPs, the 2010 track, \"Sarah\'s Beloved Aunt\" perfectly closes this collection. Lovingly remastered by Andrew Liles. Again, this arrives in a beautiful die-cut sleeve with Babs Santini artwork.
https://www.dirterpromotions.com/releases/nurse-with-wound/alas-the-madonna-does-not-function/
|
2023 |
€31.50 |
|
|
Bar Maldoror |
do-LP |
The long-running and infamous project known as Nurse With Wound -- essentially Steven Stapleton joined by a rotating cast of characters -- mixes the overly serious chin-scratching of the contemporary avant-garde with a healthy dose of absurdist humor and wit. Often unfortunately branded with the industrial's tag, Stapleton's music actually reflects elements of musique concrète, ambient, and free improvisation juxtaposed against more traditional forms. No one pigeonhole can adequately describe this diverse and immense catalogue: only by diving in can one truly appreciate the varied sonic possibilities of Stapleton's unfettered imagination. He's that weird, and he's that good. In the mid-1980s, Nurse With Wound existed as a live band for only eight shows, of which only five were in front of an actual audience. Live at Bar Maldoror, released in 1991, documents these various live incarnations. Having been remastered by Andrew Liles, the diverse and lengthy pieces (which were actually recorded in disparate locales, none of which are named "Bar Maldoror") sound rather contemporary. Sparse percussion, tape manipulation, loops, noise, dark drones, improvised semi-musical instrumentation and strangled glossolalia all expose the many facets of Stapleton's oeuvre. In 2023, as part of the silver editions, Rotorelief Records released Bar Maldoror as a double vinyl album, in a luxurious gatefold with four panels of artwork by Babs Santini.
|
2023 |
€40.00 |
|
| |
Thunder Perfect Mind (special ed.) |
3 x pic-LP |
One of the most essential works from Nurse With Wound, coming in an extended luxury 3x picture LP and 2CD edition, with many unreleased, alternative versions and songs.
This album is the sister album to Current 93’s same titled album and it’s a crownjewel for collectors of avantgarde and experimental music.
The original release of Nurse with Wound’s gargantuan “Thunder Perfect Mind” in 1992 coincided with that of Current 93’s homonymous genre-defining album. Legend has it that the gnostic name initially appeared to Steven Stapleton in a dream as the title of Tibet’s then still nameless upcoming album. Both records feature contributions from David Tibet, Colin Potter, Rose McDowall, John Balance of Coil, Alan Trench of Orchis and Joolie Wood amongst others. The title and the partial overlap of the personnel on both albums isn’t quite where the similarities end, both albums have since become undisputed milestones in their respective artists’ oeuvre. At the core of the definitive 2023 Infinite Fog re-release fully overseen by Steven Stapleton are the two original tracks “Cold” – a classic unsettling rhythmic Nurse collage-fest, significantly closer to jittery psychelia than the oft-cited “industrial feel” and the epic “Colder Still”, easily one of the most mind-bending breathtaking NWW compositions up to this point and well beyond. The track soothes ghostly atmosphere and reveals new surprises with every listen, not least of which is a direct link to its sister release from c93 as well as the first appearance of the signature rhythm loop that would mutate and re-emerge on several later tracks. The album also is the first full-length collaboration with genius sound wizard Colin Potter who has since become a ubiquitous sidekick both on Nurse albums as well as in live performances. As a follow-up to what is widely acknowledged as one of the best-loved exercises in drone of the 20th century “Soliloquy for Lilith”, TPM is a much more varied but at least equally rewarding experience. Infinite Fog are beyond pleased to be able to offer a significantly enhanced, remastered and extended 3 LP version for old and new fans alike.
Songs:
1. Cold
2. Colder Still
3. Zero Neither No (Andrew Liles mix)
4. Crank
5. Steel Dream March Of The Metal Men
6. The Dadda’s Intoxication
7. Dead Cold
8. Cold (Miss Ticker Mix)
9. Spooky Loop
10. Alien
11. Colder Than
12. Colder Than
13. Bad Trip In Berlin
https://infinitefog.bandcamp.com/album/thunder-perfect-mind |
2024 |
€88.00 |
|
| NURSE WITH WOUND / OCTAVE MIRBEAU |
Alienation / Un Homme Sensible |
mCD + book |
"Je ne crois pas avoir jamais été méchant. Non, en vérité, je ne le crois pas. Tout enfant, j’étais même doué d’une sensibilité excessivement, exagérément douloureuse qui me portait à plaindre, – jusqu’à en être malade – les souffrances des autres… pourvu – cela va de soi, car je suis un artiste – qu’elles ne se compliquassent point de laideurs anormales ou de monstruosités physiologiques. Ah ! ce n’est pas moi – vous pouvez m’en croire – qui admettrai jamais l’esthétique de M. Rodin. Et, je puis me vanter que j’en ai jeté des pommes cuites à son Balzac !…
Écrivain et critique, Octave Mirbeau (1848-1917) est notamment l'auteur de L'Abbé Jules, Le jardin des supplices et Journal d'une femme de chambre. Dans Un homme sensible, il conte l'histoire d'un assassin bien décidé, au nom de l'harmonie du monde, à débarrasser celui-ci de « tous les organismes inaptes à une vie harmonieuse et forte ». De quoi inspirer Nurse With Wound, qui, en guise d'illustration, nous livre ici Alienation (The Devil's Interval), une nouvelle pièce de musique inédite."
www.lenkalente.com/product/un-homme-sensible-d-octave-mirbeau-nurse-with-wound
"Let me finish where it all started. With Nurse With Wound whose music I have been listening to for the last ooooh thirty five years or so. Late eighties maybe? Mid eighties? Memories lost in the fog of time. You listen to so much you lose track. What was my first Nurse With Wound album? Probably ‘A Sucked Orange’, maybe that collaboration with Hafler Trio that came out on Staaltape. ‘A Sucked Orange’ I found hilarious; I’m A Frayed Knot, Pleasant Banjo Intro With Irritating Squeak, Scrambled Egg Rebellion In The Smegma Department. I listened and thought to myself but aren’t Nurse With Wound supposed to be dark and scary? Somewhere lodged in the back of my brain was the cover art for ‘Chance Meeting ...’ and that leather clad dominatrix and the thought that only weirdos listened to Nurse With Wound and here was ‘Raymonde Fluffs It’ in which Raymonde fluffs his opening lines. Laugh? I nearly bought myself one. The split with Hafler Trio meanwhile, that truly fried my brain. I had no idea what was going on but I knew that I liked it.
Shortly afterwards I availed myself of twenty nine United Dairies cassettes via Ron Lessard and have proudly walked stride by stride with Nurse With Wound ever since, diving in to the back catalogue and buying new stuff when the chance arose. Until recently when the thought struck me that barring what Lenka Lente have released I haven’t listened to a new Nurse With Wound release for what must be over ten years. How did that happen? How did I manage to overlook what one of my favourite bands have been doing for the last ten years?
I decided to make up for lost time by drawing up a list of every Nurse With Wound release catalogued on Discogs and ticked off all those that I had physical copies of. I discounted the two Nurse With Wound MP3 discs I bought in St Petersburg in 2003 because a] I dislike the Russian and Chinese attitude towards copyright and b] MP3’s are a bit shit. I now realise that far from having everything Nurse With Wound had recorded from inception to the year 2000 and bits beyond I was the proud owner of quite a bit of it with several gaps that needed filling. To fill these gaps I need time and money so for the foreseeable the blog is being put to bed as I venture forth on the good ship Nurse With Wound proudly captained by Steve Stapleton and his crew. Whether I shall ever rouse it from its slumbers we shall have to wait and see.
In the meantime I’m going to find out what Nurse With Wound have been up to these last ten years. I need to hear what awaits me within that decade and the gaps that lie beyond. I shall also paint and draw, read, listen to the radio, go for walks around Scholes, see out this sodding lockdown, survive the virus and hopefully emerge like a vaccinated butterfly sometime during the spring months. By then I will have listened to lots of Nurse With Wound. Lots. Masses. Hopefully I’ll have bought quite a bit too. Maybe I’ll sell off some stuff to make room for it. My very own dedicated Nurse With Wound shelf with a vinyl copy of ‘A Sucked Orange’ forever proudly on display.
My Lenka Lente/Nurse With Wound CD’s will also go there though the shelf will have to be a tad smaller to accommodate them. These three inch/five centimeter discs have been virtually my only portal to what Nurse With Wound have been up to recently. The last one that came through the door piquing my interest enough to having me seek out their Tusk set from 2017, which by the way in case you are interested and why shouldn’t you be is quite stunning and well worth your time. If only I was there. Woe is me etc.
‘Alienations [The Devil’s Interval]’ is a fifteen minute slice of a ‘sleep concert’ Nurse With Wound gave in Ireland also during 2017. Sleep concerts being eight hour long overnight shows where Stapleton DJ’s his back catalogue while mixing in live sounds [I’m guessing] as the audience chills out for the night on airbeds and sleeping bags. Somnolence and hypnogogia being the perfect state of mind in which to receive the slowly moving drones of say Soliloquy For Lilith. Whether Stapleton played ‘Chance Meeting …’ in its entirety at four a.m. isn’t recorded. You can achieve the same state of mind at home by smoking a big bifter and playing Soliloquy For Lilith on repeat while rubbing the rim of a glass bowl with a wet finger. Just don’t try it with ‘A Sucked Orange’ ... unless you’re an insomniac. The results will be very different. Fifteen minutes culled from eight hours of DJ’ing will have to suffice for now then and beautiful it is too with the merest hint of Aurelie Lierman’s vocals helping to lull you safely in to the droning arms of morpheus.
As for Octave Mirbeau, I vaguely remember buying a copy of his ‘The Torture Garden’ when I was going through a very expensive and steep transgressive reading curve. If I had all the money returned to me that I spent on books of a transgressive nature I’d have enough to buy a good chunk of the Nurse With Wound back catalogue on original vinyl, in mint condition. Needless to say I was wholly unprepared and underwhelmed by Mirbeau’s satire on the brutality of humankind wanting and expecting something of a far more base nature for my money. I left Mirbeau and much of transgressive literature behind around the same time. Maybe I should go back now that I am older and wiser? Now that I have more time on my hands. Now that I’m reacquainting myself with Nurse With Wound. The perfect partners perhaps? I could translate all of ‘Un Homme Sensible’ while listening to ‘Automating Volume Three’. I’m sure that it would be time well spent." [Idwal Fisher]
https://idwalfisher.blogspot.com/2021/02/octave-mirbeau-and-nurse-with-wound.html
|
2021 |
€16.00 |
|
| O PARADIS / ESCAMA SERRADA |
La Corte del Rey Pescador / La Reina esta mala |
2 x CD |
"I have been a follower of Ô Paradis since I purchased “El Juego Negro” a couple of years ago. Demian has always managed to present groovy, Mediterranean neo folk, with a large assortment of samplers, noises and improvised instruments, and most always caressed by Demian’s voice. Frankly, “La Corte Del Rey Pescador” is, in my opinion, one if his best results yet. He seems to have polished the sometimes crude angles of his previous records. The fluidity of the record is astounding, and the music has become riper, settled, like a fruit fills with juice in the spring sunlight. “La Corte Del Rey Pescador” reminds me more than ever of Corcobado, with a darker, more experimental sound. Especially the use of the bass and the introduction of diverse experimental melodies take the music that step further. The lyrics seem to have also developed, into an intimate world, full of metaphors and sparkled with direct statements. The swing of “La Verdad De Los Peces” is transformed into the dark pop ballad of “El Paraiso Perdido”. The languid “Solo Un Desierto”, with a naïve piano melody, becomes a folk masterpiece that disintegrates into the violent dark tune “El Trono De La Razon” to then let the record close with the brilliant, moving, “Mi Dios”. Twenty minutes definitely come out as being too scarce. A must for true folk, experimental pop and simply great music lovers."
"The debut album of Sergio Méndez comes through Tourette Records as part of the pack “La Corte Del Rey Pescador/La Reina Está Mala”. Sergio and Demian from Ô Paradis have a friendship that has culminated in the release of this double work, in which they have actually worked together on some tracks. However, don’t be mistaken, Escama Serrada doesn’t sound like Ô Paradis except maybe with some ingredients of the music production. But, hey, bread and cake also share ingredients yet they taste quite differently. Samplers, parchments of songs, melodies - but especially noise, sometimes thick, sometimes hard, are present as well. Always undulating and pulsing, creating the main bases for each song. Escama Serrada basically presents a sort of dark ambient, adding some martial spice at times and a lot of dark punk attitude at others. Perhaps the music is similar to a modern day nihilistic version of Einstürzende Neubauten, or deconstructed rock stricken through a machinery surface. I love the way the songs are connected to each other, and it seems the hand of Demian is visible here, since his Tourette release is perhaps also the one in which the fluidity of the record is the best in his career. Also, both records have seven songs, mirroring each other. My personal favorite is track “IV” with its haunting guitar that is slowly shaded by the atmosphere around it. Promising ambient, with ample possibilities and, appreciatively, a distinct personality." [both reviews from SIDE-LINE]
www.touretterecords.com
|
2009 |
€22.00 |
|
| O YUKI CONJUGATE |
A Tension of Opposites Vol.3 & 4 |
MC |
listen:
https://oyukiconjugate.bandcamp.com/album/a-tension-of-opposites-vols-1-2
Volume 3:
'A World Without Zeros'
Tracks 1 - 5 by Andrew Hulme, Hull & London 221-2 (43 minutes)
Volume 4
'Inversion'
Tracks 6 - 16 by Roger Horberry, York 2022 (37 minutes)
with
Joe Lamb - saxophone
Two years after the first two volumes of A Tension of Opposites (ATOO) were issued OYC return to the form they created to house their looser more exploratory works. ATOO allows them to expand their musical horizons and release their music more expediently.
The original ATOO was born out of 2020's virus state where both OYC members were left working in isolation. Two types of music emerged spontaneously, and rather than try to combine them OYC decided to present the results separately, two sides of a contrasting whole.
In need of a suitable format and frustrated by their usual lengthy release schedules, OYC returned to the quick and dirty compact cassette – the place they started back in the 80s.
ATOO is 'Dirty Ambient', a phrase coined by OYC for the process of working quickly and instinctively, embracing errors and honouring imperfections. It's also a jibe at what is sometimes a hideously manicured genre.
VIEW SHORT FILM HERE
vimeo.com/815575259
Brand new cassette release, second in the series of releases called 'A Tension of Opposites'.
86 minutes of completely new music, effectively two albums in one.
Housed in dual colour black and white shell, with folded Maltese cross packaging, full colour design printed on uncoated 240gsm card, inside and out.
This edition is a complement to 'A Tension of Opposites Volumes 1 & 2' and is limited to 300 copies.
"Now in its 40th year of existence, O Yuki Conjugate is still going strong. Going through various line-ups, but with Roger Horberry and Andrew Hulme as the common thread in their history. Their new cassette is a follow-up to the first instalment of 'A Tension Of Opposites' (see Vital Weekly 1275) and the result of working in isolation. The first one was at the height of lockdown and covid, but an idea they
liked to repeat. Hume has five pieces on the first side, Horberry ten on the second, and you try to spot the differences in approach and do the maths as the total is the sound of O Yuki Conjugate. They label their music as dirty ambient, which is about the "process of working quickly and instinctively, embracing errors and honouring imperfections. It's also a jibe at what is sometimes a hideously manicured genre." It's easy to hear the typical OYC elements in the music here, the percussion, the bass sounds, the sparse synthesizers, the slightly exotic feeling and the 'dirty' elements, a bit of tape hiss, for instance. As before, Horberry likes to keep his pieces short and tends to be rhythmic. Hulme has four shortish pieces and one long piece, and, again, his music is a slightly more abstract ambient drift. Remember that these 'differences' aren't significant, as Hulme's pieces have a fair share of rhythm, just as Horberry's music is highly atmospherical. Hulme's pieces are, perhaps,
more a collage of various sounds and textures, generally mixed in a free-floating manner, whereas Horberry's are kept together and have a song-like structure. Indeed, these approaches make up the music of O Yuki Conjugate. Let me end with the same conclusion as before; you can mistake this for a group effort, which is undoubtedly the point." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2023 |
€12.00 |
|
| O'ROURKE, JIM |
The Visitor |
CD |
"JIM O’ROURKE returns with his first new solo album since 2001. All the classic O’Rourke-isms are here, for you musicologist types: percolating banjos, smooth electric leads, organic, kicking drum sounds, the flickering of shakers to the left and right, mellow but ominous woodwinds, sounds that indicate “vintage” (before turning left and running out the door), sonic jokes, sonic tear-jerkers, sonic jerkoffs, all wrapped in spacious yet subtle left to right placement of everything in the picture. There’s moments of low comedy next to high drama and juicy melancholy with a seeming lack of regard for proximity. Plus—sudden surging rhythms! The Visitor is sort of “O’Rourke Does O’Rourke”—Jim re-contextualizing everything he’s done over the years, and throwing out the bullshit. The one thing you won’t hear is his voice—perhaps another O’Rourkian self-examination? Or maybe he’s just saving it for all the name-calling on his next album." [label info]
"You probably can't find a musician with a wider breadth of sound, or more sonically varied releases, than Mr. Jim O'Rourke. During his vast career he's made everything from harsh noise to delightful pop, was part of one of the more influential groups of the last few decades, Gastr Del Sol, collaborated with Nurse With Wound, became a member of Sonic Youth, was at the forefront of the '90s experimental electronic renaissance, made some crunchy rock albums with his Wilco pal Jeff Tweedy, and the list just goes on and on.
These days O'Rourke has slowed down his output considerably so a new release is both much more anticipated as well as a total unknown as to which side of Jim O'Rourke will be on display. With The Visitor, O'Rourke emerges with his first new full length in many years and wow the wait was worth it! The Visitor is one long track clocking in at
around 37 minutes but it almost serves as some kind of early morning daydream song cycle with a spectrum of nuanced sounds that make us
think of Van Dyke Parks arranging a John Fahey album or what a more restrained James Blackshaw record might sound like.
The record starts with very hushed noodling guitar and as the piece goes on the sounds expand in richness as extra flourishes of bells, piano and other lushness flesh out O'Rourke's delicate guitar playing. Hard to avoid this cliché, but The Visitor really is a total journey, at first you don't really know where it's going and you're not sure if you necessarily want to follow but as the piece evolves it completely grabs a hold of your attention until you are lost in its slowly unfurling sonic voyage. Highly recommended!" [Aquarius Rec.]
www.dragcity.com
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
|
To Magnetize Money and Catch a Roving Eye |
4 x CD BOX |
"A four-hour work, recorded at Jim O'Rourke's studio, Steamroom, between 2017 and 2018. Detailed and delicate electronic layers, processed instruments, and ambiguous field recordings come together in a slow-moving, fascinating kaleidoscope with multiple reflections and wrong turns, always in a constant state of flux. The finely crafted art of subterfuge. The four-CD set To Magnetize Money and Catch a Roving Eye is a hypnotic, multi-faceted, labyrinthine piece which flows as slowly as a river while speeding back through memory. Composer, performer, and multi-instrumentalist Jim O'Rourke was born in Chicago in 1969. He is a veritable chameleon working at the frontiers of very diverse musical genres." [label info]
"O’Rourke’s latest drone project, running to over four hours, is darker and more dreamlike than his Steamroom series, and one of his most meditative releases yet.
For more than a quarter century now, Jim O’Rourke has been sculpting shadows. For some, the American musician is best known for the lush, psychedelic Americana of albums like Bad Timing, or his production work for bands like Wilco, Stereolab, and Sonic Youth. (He was also a member of the latter for a spell, during the Murray Street and Sonic Nurse years.) But since the early 1990s, beginning with albums like Scend and Disengage, the secret heart of O’Rourke’s music has been dedicated to pure electronic abstraction. To call this minimalist output “ambient” or even “drone” doesn’t capture the subtleties of his broad expanses of shimmer and hum. Listen carefully to these pieces, and it sometimes seems that he is molding feedback into storm clouds, or milking frequencies out of thin air.
In recent years, O’Rourke’s drone activities have begun to assume center stage. His practice appears intense, even monastic: He typically devotes five or six hours a day to recording on the Serge, an arcane modular synthesizer from the 1970s; he might spend weeks editing a given session down, mixing it with homemade field recordings, and massaging it all into the desired shape. (“I wish the days were longer,” he has said.) Since 2013, the fruits of his labor have been trickling out under the Steamroom imprint, the digital-only Bandcamp series named after his Tokyo studio. It’s an evocative name, and not so far off from the sounds he achieves. That there are currently 46 releases after just six years—some of them reissues, but most of it new and previously unreleased—says something about his dedication.
To Magnetize Money and Catch a Roving Eye is a kindred spirit to that series. Even by O’Rourke’s standards, it is a mammoth undertaking. Steamroom releases typically consist of a single track that’s somewhere between 30 and 45 minutes in length, but the new album, a four-disc affair, totals nearly four and a quarter hours. The sounds within can be just as daunting. These are not the soft, consonant tones of Streamroom 40, a fan favorite; this music is woven together from ominous rustling noises, glowering low-end throb, and white-hot waves of piercing feedback. The dividing line between musical tone and pure atmosphere is porous: O’Rourke’s synthesizers are more gestural than melodic, and at their edges they dissolve into a vivid, four-dimensional soundscape.
There is an unmistakably dreamlike quality to the music, with hints of birdsong and distant traffic, old trains creaking to life and spaceships powering up, boots in snow and high-voltage power lines overhead. It sounds not just haunting but haunted—not malevolent, necessarily, but terrifying nonetheless. In places, it sounds like O’Rourke came across Grouper’s Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill and decided to take the title literally, coaxing from his matrix of tapes and circuitry a sound equal to that of blood drying on matted pine needles.
There are few repeated motifs, but for the most part, elements rise into the mix, spread out like inkblots, and are subsumed back into the murk, never to appear again. Some nine minutes into “Part II,” there is an unexpected eruption of feedback, a sustained explosion of surprising force, as though O’Rourke had set fire to Sunn O)))’s backline, but otherwise, recognizable events are few and far between. Seismic rumble melts into glassy shimmer, and vice versa; the music is constantly shape-shifting, yet it all converges into a low, sustained hum.
City-dwellers may recognize this as the standard frequency of the modern metropolis. It is as though O’Rourke had captured and amplified the sounds of everyday life, from the inaudible (magnetic fields, cell-phone signals) to the visceral (rainfall, rumbling subways), rendering them almost womblike. Despite the album’s intimidating scale, it is a strangely welcoming, even enveloping listen. “It’s not a question of patience,” O’Rourke has said, when asked why he likes longform composition so much. “It’s just my taste. I like longer music. It all really comes down to breathing.” In its controlled pacing and deep interiority, To Magnetize Money and Catch a Roving Eye also resembles a kind of breathwork. It is one of his most meditative pieces yet." [Pitchfork]
|
2019 |
€32.00 |
|
|
Too Compliment |
LP |
DDS catch enduringly absorbing sonic alchemist Jim O’Rourke at his knottiest and most ingenious in a wormholing suite of amorphous rhythm and psychedelic electronics – a massive RIYL Autechre, Roland Kayn, Bernard Parmegiani, NYZ, Keith Fullerton Whitman.
Playing up to and into DDS’ freeform aesthetics, O’Rourke renders 40 minutes shearing hyaline synth tones and ruptured rhythm generated at his Steamroom facilities in Tokyo, a modular out-zone trawling that harks back to his iconic Mego releases and some of the more recent Steamroom experiments. It’s an ideal addition to the ever expanding DDS cosmos, following Demdike’s recent ‘Drum Machine’ expo with a slice of purist and screwed modular magick that transcends early electronics and modern styles in pursuit of musical sensations that defy stylistic brackets.
‘Too Compliment’ was assembled using a bespoke Hordijk modular system, a rare West Coast-style setup hand made by Dutch engineer Rob Hordijk. O’Rourke focuses on the frequency shifter here, using it to coax out fluxing tone thickets, haphazard frequencies and elongated drone corridors. It’s transportive stuff, harking back to the early days of private press academic synth music but also sitting on edge alongside Autechre’s recent long-form work, as well as O’Rourke’s classic “I’m Happy, And I’m Singing, And A 1, 2, 3, 4”
In O’Rourke’s hands, the mass of electronics takes on throbbing, organic dimensions, congealing grey matter and purplish veins of fluid in viscous transitions that glisten and spark with invention as they form new tissue. What comes out is as unearthly as the earliest electronic music, but also blessed with a psychedelc spirit in a way that’s long kept O’Rourke right out on his own, teetering between paradigms yet never settling into any single style. If you’ve always been keen on finding a way into that sprawling soundworld, ‘Too Compliment’ is a perfect entry point into a highly rewarding creative macrocosm.
https://boomkat.com/products/too-compliment
|
2021 |
€27.00 |
|
| |
Hands That Bind |
LP |
"In addition to his day job transforming pop music with his own records, as well as those of Gastr del Sol, Loose Fur and Sonic Youth over the past few decades, Jim O'Rourke has been contracted for several dozen film scores over the years as well. It makes sense -- his abilities as an improviser, composer and producer allow him to interpret cinematic moments with a unique understanding for their construction and how they work. It doesn't hurt that Jim's a well-versed cineaste, a complete and total fan of watching films, which has given him a preternatural understanding of the role of music in movies. What doesn't make sense is how Hands That Bind is the first film soundtrack of Jim's to ever receive worldwide release! He's worked with filmmakers of international repute, like Olivier Assayas, Allison Anders, Werner Herzog and Kôji Wakamatsu! He served as music consultant on Richard Linklater's 2003 laff-fest, School of Rock! He's played in ensembles of award-winning documentaries and films alike! ... Made for an indie film that's been seen by festival audiences and not enough others, the soundtrack for Hands That Bind is a moody, atmospheric delight. Jim's roots in composition via tape-editing have evolved into a sophisticated assembly of found-and-processed sounds that achieve highly musical, near-orchestral majesty as they hang in the very air of the drama that unfolds in Kyle Armstrong's Hands That Bind. Described as a 'slow-burn prairie gothic drama' set in the farmland of Canada's Alberta province, and starring Paul Sparks, Susan Kent, Landon Liboiron, Nicholas Campbell, Will Oldham, and Bruce Dern, Hands That Bind is a spellbinding trip to the existential bone of rural working life in North America. As conflict rises over the hard-worked patches of land that provide a mere and mean existence, a desperate air settles in, as a series of mysterious, often supernatural occurrences rock the small community. O'Rourke's vaporous, serpentine musical backdrops and atmospheres reflect the obsessions and distractions of the film's principles; moods of all sorts seen or otherwise implied. Additionally, the music highlights cinematographer Mike McLaughlin's closely observed accounting of the farmers' environment, as well as the striking widescreen images of the big sky country with unnerving flair. For fans of Jim's ongoing steamroom series as well as collectors of soundtracks, Hands That Bind will provide hours of engrossing listening..." [press release]
https://jimorourke.bandcamp.com/album/hands-that-bind-original-motion-picture-soundtrack
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"The experimental producer and composer’s score for the prairie gothic film is luminous, faintly menacing, and clouded with uncertainty.
In Kyle Armstrong’s Hands That Bind, horror is hiding in plain sight. The film, which premiered in 2021 and is due for theatrical release this fall, is set amid desolate Alberta farmlands—a space whose relentless flatness you might assume allows for few mysteries. Straight roads stretch endlessly toward the horizon; barns outnumber trees by a wide margin. Any approaching threat ought to be visible from miles away. But in the world of this carefully paced prairie gothic, unsettling events arrive from out of nowhere, leading to more questions than answers. Who, or what, is mutilating the farmers’ cattle? Who’s in the black sedan making ominous drive-bys? And what are those lights swirling in the sky?
The crucial question, which drives the film’s grippingly human drama as well as its more cryptic events, is philosophical in nature: whether we can ever truly be certain about anything. “My opinion isn’t going to solve anything for you, because my opinion is that I don’t know,” remarks a bartender played by a scene-stealing Will Oldham, as he turns off a Scratch Acid song on the stereo. “Certainty is the rare exception to the rules of life. Whatever’s easiest to swallow is what most folks gravitate towards. Even if you lie to yourself, as best as you can, and look for something you call true, well, whatever your theory is, it’s probably wrong.”
Jim O’Rourke’s soundtrack is perfectly calibrated to this unforgiving space squashed between parched fields and blown-out sky. His palette—detuned piano, watery vibraphone, and a muted, amorphous shimmer that might be harmonium or synthesizer—matches the film’s dusty tones of beige and pewter and mobile-home brown. A high-end fizz resembles the incessant whine of crickets; the occasional spritz of static mimics the strange electrical phenomena on screen. Closer in spirit to the longform drone works of his Steamroom series than the fingerpicked Americana of Bad Timing or the mischievous classic rock of Simple Songs, O’Rourke’s instrumental score is, much like the landscape of the film, flat, faintly menacing, and miserly with its details. (Another comparison point might be the Boxhead Ensemble’s 1997 soundtrack to the film Dutch Harbor: Where the Sea Breaks Its Back, featuring O’Rourke alongside Chicago luminaries like Ken Vandermark and Douglas McCombs.)
It begins gently enough, with a high, lonesome harmony reminiscent of a freight train’s distant whistle. An acoustic bass plucks out a tentative melody. These opening passages move with pastoral ease. But the music quickly sours, clouded with uncertainty, as dark, shapeless figures clamber up from the lower register to disturb the tranquil upper reaches. Light is one of the film’s unspoken subjects—the implacable sun beating down on sere crops, the bokeh-like orbs cutting curlicues in the night sky—and O’Rourke’s soundtrack has similarly luminous properties. He favors soft attacks that come on like a backlist mist, and streaks of dissonance that flash out and disappear, swallowed up in the dull radiance.
The 38-minute score cycles through just a handful of themes and motifs, stirring them occasionally, as though to keep them from sticking. Halfway through, with “A Man’s Mind Will Play Tricks Upon Him,” brushed cymbals and plucked bass kick up a groove beneath a chiming piano melody; it’s one of few places where the record approaches anything resembling a song. But the moment is fleeting. In the concluding “One Way or Another I’m Gone,” the drumbeat returns, but this time there’s no lightness to it. It plods sullenly as jabbing tritones, a constant throughout the album, hint at a nameless evil. The soundtrack ends as it began, hovering in a nebulous interzone, neither major nor minor—ambiguous, ambivalent, unresolved.\\\" [Pitchfork]
##############
Eight years after “Simple Songs”, his last solo outing with the label, the towering talent of Jim O’Rourke returns to Drag City with “Hands That Bind”, the first LP in his long career to offer a proper release to his soundtrack work.
Composed for the director Kyle Armstrong’s 2021 film of the same name, the album\'s eight sublime musical complements interweave subtle melodic elements, bristling electroacoustic structures, and moody ambiences, collectively bridging the distance between O’Rourke\'s experimental work and his deft hand in the realms of pop. As absolutely brilliant as they come.
On the occasion of the release of “Hands That Bind” we are glad to announce a promotional sale with 15% off for members and 10% off for everybody on all available Drag CIty items, valid until Sunday at midnight or while stocks last.
The endlessly fruitful relationship between Jim O’Rourke and the Chicago based imprint, Drag City, traverses the better part of the last thirty years, with the label providing platform and support for one the great musical voices of our age. Beginning with his band Gastr del Sol\'s seminal second LP, “Crookt, Crackt, or Fly”, and running through his legendary suite of pop masterstrokes, - “Bad Timing”, “Eureka”, “Halfway to a Threeway”, and “Insignificance” - his involvement with projects like Loose Fur, The Red Krayola, and Mimidokodesuka, and a great deal more, his output with Drag City is a truly remarkable thing to behold, providing a snapshot into a restless creative mind within a collective body of intoxicating sounds. His last, 2015\'s “Simple Songs” build on the instrumental trajectory established by its predecessor, “The Visitor” (2009), but his latest, “Hands That Bind”, however, charts a new, surprising path. Composed as the soundtrack for the director Kyle Armstrong’s 2021 film of the same name, the album’s subtle melodic elements, played against bristling electroacoustic structures, bridge the distance between his more experimental work, largely housed in recent years on his own Steamroom imprint, and the pop-oriented work historically located on Drag City. Absolutely stunning from its first sounding to the last, “Hands That Bind” is yet another creative milestone from Jim O’Rourke that’s impossible to get off the turntable once the needle drops. Ten out of ten and not to be missed!
Jim O’Rourke is among the great voices of his generation. He is a true musical polymath, whose diverse efforts, since his emergence within the Chicago scene during the late 1980s, have continuously altered the creative landscape. Across more than a hundred albums, he has carved a relentless path, refusing conceptual stasis and the boundaries of genre and idiom, producing a body of work with such a profound impact and influence, that is so striking, forward-thinking, and important - while displaying a consistently unparalleled bar of quality - that it transcends the basic notions of art; becoming a network of sound, mirroring the pathways of an endlessly curious and uninhibited mind. O’Rourke’s music is thought unfolding in real time. Unbridled creativity in pursuit of the unknown.
Since his move to Japan during the late 2000s, O’Rourke’s recorded works have generally veered toward two polarities - direct, jointly billed, conversant collaborations with peers like Haino Keiji, Peter Brötzmann, Oren Ambarchi, Giovanni Di Domenico, Mats Gustafsson, Akira Sakata, Kassel Jaeger, and Fennesz, among numerous other, and privately created solo efforts falling under the banner of Steamroom - increasingly only issued as direct digital downloads. There has, however, been another body of work rumbling below the surface that has yet to receive a single proper release. Over the last few decades, O’Rourke has been composing several dozen film soundtracks for widely celebrated filmmakers like Olivier Assayas, Allison Anders, Werner Herzog and Kôji Wakamatsu. At long last, this mysterious area of the artist’s creative explorations begins to be more accessible with the release of “Hands That Bind”, composed for the director Kyle Armstrong’s 2021 film of the same name and his first film soundtrack to receive a proper release.
Anyone who knows much about O’Rourke is aware of his deep passion for film. Since his teens on the outskirts of Chicago, he has remained a devoted cinephile, which naturally, being the person and artist that he is, has cultivated an intimate understanding of the place and operation of music within the idiom. Any doubts to this end will be quickly laid to rest by the profound beauty and subtlety of “Hands That Bind”, composed for a “slow-burn prairie gothic drama” set in the farm-land of Canada’s Alberta province, that stars Paul Sparks, Susan Kent, Landon Liboiron, Nicholas Campbell, Will Oldham, and Bruce Dern, within which a series of mysterious, often supernatural occurrences, rock the small community.
Into these narratives and happening, O’Rourke composed eight sublime musical complements ranging from moody and atmospheric electroacoustic marvels that interweave long-tones and textural elements, drawn from diverse resonant sources, to more explicitly musically melodic and percussive pieces like “A Man\'s Mind Will Play Tricks On Him” and “One Way or Another I\'m Gone”, that return the ear to O’Rourke’s roots in post-rock and jazz. Joined collectively, these works evolve at glacial pace into a freestanding journey of startling proportions, building bridges within a single structure across the versatility and range that the artist has historically reserved for more discreetly located works, notably his poppier efforts for Drag City, and his more experimental works released on Steemroom.
Immersive and intoxicating, while displaying an understated elegance that only O’Rourke is capable of, whether regarded as a complement to moving image or a freestanding musical gesture, “Hands That Bind” is an absolute musical masterstroke of unparalleled brilliance, building on his long history of tape collage to construct a profoundly sophisticated assembly of found-and-processed sounds into orchestral majesty. Issued by Drag City as a beautifully produced LP, this is O’Rourke at his best. Ten out of ten and impossible to recommend enough. [Soundohm + press release ]
|
2023 |
€27.50 |
|
| OBLIVION ENSEMBLE |
Seraphim Hallucino |
CD |
Nach langer Wartezeit endlich ein neues Album für das US-amerikanische Projekt um BRANNON HUNGNESS und JOHN BERGSTROM, die vor Jahren auch eine EP für Drone Records eingespielt haben. SERAPHIM HALLUCINO ist ein erdrückend intensives, dunkles Werk basierend auf Instrumental-Improvisationen, die später im Studio ausufernd bearbeitet wurden... mit elektro-akustischer Finesse ausgestatteten Dronescapes, die geheimnisvoll & geräuschhaft tönen, man scheint wie in einem surrealen (Alp?)-Traum gefangen zu sein, immer wieder schlittern diese Sounds am Bewusstsein vorbei, um dann in überraschenden Arrangements wiederzuerstarken... eine einzigartige, filmische Atmosphäre wird erschaffen. Grossartiges Album!
"The music of Oblivion Ensemble remains as elusive and surreal as the ever-shifting cast of musicians and performerswho participate, knowingly, or unknowingly in their work. Founding members are John Bergstrom and Brannon Hungness (aka Figure). Hungness is a virtuoso experimentalguitarist and composer and a former member of the Glenn Branca Ensemble. Bergstrom is a computer-musicgearhead and a film composer with a classical music pedigree, and mastermind behind the industrial-noise assembly Torse. Seraphim Hallucino is Oblivion Ensemble’s fifth full-length release, the first since the virtual opera “Nightmare:Sinistrotorse” (Complacency, 1995). At Seraphim Hallucino’s source are strange, electro-acoustic improvisations of percussion, trumpet, voice, synthesizers and guitar. These improvisations are sculpted and sampled, twisted and turned, shaped into building and diminishing moments, and, at times appearing alone, pure and unmodified. Deeply imbedded in the music and fragmented lyrics are secrets, intertwining themes, voices, and imprinted messages. All come together to create an enormously complex, mercurial mix of surreal, dynamic and dark sounds. To fully appreciate the scope and intricacies of Seraphim Hallucino, headphones in a darkened room are highly recommended.
"The band most likely to compose a fitting soundtrack for the end of the world. ” [Sorted magAZine]
“Visionary gothic psychedelia. [The Wire]
"the most undefinable gorgeous musical anything that I have ever witnessed ... a beyond great performance, chilling and anxious.
[Best of Times]. In superb digipak, with artwork by Matt Vickerstaff of darkwaveart.co.uk." [press release]
"... Eerie textures are easily combined with chaotic and hectic movements. I am not sure wether we should see all twenty-two pieces as part of the total, or wether they are all separate, I rather believe the first, since some parts do flow nicely into each other, thus making the greater picture. There is a darker undercurrent on this CD, which doesn't make it easy to grasp, but it unfolds great beauty when explored in depth (and in dark, I presume)." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| ODRZ |
ODRZ80 |
CD |
"I admit I had not thought about ODRZ in a long time. As with so many things in the world of music, people change, move on or lose interest, and, as always, it’s not my job to speculate about the reasons. I reviewed three of their releases long ago (Vital Weekly 422 and 488). I don’t know what happened next, but a quick glance on Discogs tells me I continued releasing music. There is also a slightly obscure description of what ODRZ is about, of which I only quote the last line, “Each project is identified by the name of the group followed by a progressive number”. Today it is number 80. Of the three releases from Luce Sia, this is thirty minutes, the shortest and noisiest, in the traditional means. From my earlier reviews, I understood that ODRZ is more of an ambient industrial group with a bit of rhythm, but that is no longer the case here. Also, the three releases I heard were exactly sixty minutes long, which is no longer valid. Lots of crashing electronics and metal sheets banged upon. Feedback and distortion galore, and all of this is relatively traditional. This is the first two pieces comprising twenty-five minutes of the album. In ‘ODRZ80_03’, which starts with Italian spoken word before coming to a crashing halt. Great if you are into noise, and great if you want the occasional noise shot; I am in the latter category." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
https://lucesia.bandcamp.com/album/091-odrz-odrz80
|
2023 |
€12.00 |
|
| OFFTHESKY / PLEQ |
A Thousand Fields |
do-LP & 7inch |
A Thousand Fields is the first collaboration between Denver, Colorado based artist offthesky (Jason Corder) and Warsaw, Poland based musician Pleq (Bartosz Dziadosz). From the opening restrained "Ashes of America" with intermittant ominous strings through the industrial landscape of "drown under..." with it's glittering glass and harmonious drones breaking through, this work of ambient tapestry sees each artist pulling the best work from one another. Both are veteran experimental and ambient recording
artists with dozens of recordings to their credit. Featured on a multitude of labels that read like a roster of contemporary ambient and soundscape recordings - Home Normal, Ephre, Taalem, Databloem, dataObscura, Basses Frequencies, Constellation Tatsu to name just a few.
This recording feels like a potential has been met. What has been hinted at in solo and prior collaborations meshed together with an influence of equal parts minimalism, fourth world ambience, field recordings, drone, and experimental composition to a stunning degree.
Composition is thrilling when notes are allowed to breathe, to vibrate. A single piano string, the circular slow melody of a violin, as on the nostalgic "Delicate Exit" or the delicate assembly of abstract beauty - distant harp, an interrupted string section, shuffling of feet, a ghostly echo as on "simulacromancer".
This is a 2xLP set, mastered by Carl Saff, cut at 45 rpm. It is housed in a tip-on style heavy gatefold sleeve with OBI strip featuring artwork from Pyhai. The first 300 copies will include a bonus 7" entitled "Still Your Bones" (INFX 062 S) with 2 exclusive tracks. The entire pressing is a 500 copy edition, available in white 180g vinyl (limited to 100 copies **White vinyl Sold Out**) and the remaining 400 copies will be on black 180g vinyl.
Includes unlimited streaming of A Thousand Fields via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
https://infraction.bandcamp.com/album/a-thousand-fields
|
2015 |
€32.00 |
|
| |
A Thousand Fields |
CD |
A Thousand Fields is the first collaboration between Denver, Colorado based artist offthesky (Jason Corder) and Warsaw, Poland based musician Pleq (Bartosz Dziadosz). From the opening restrained "Ashes of America" with intermittant ominous strings through the industrial landscape of "drown under..." with it's glittering glass and harmonious drones breaking through, this work of ambient tapestry sees each artist pulling the best work from one another. Both are veteran experimental and ambient recording
artists with dozens of recordings to their credit. Featured on a multitude of labels that read like a roster of contemporary ambient and soundscape recordings - Home Normal, Ephre, Taalem, Databloem, dataObscura, Basses Frequencies, Constellation Tatsu to name just a few.
This recording feels like a potential has been met. What has been hinted at in solo and prior collaborations meshed together with an influence of equal parts minimalism, fourth world ambience, field recordings, drone, and experimental composition to a stunning degree.
Composition is thrilling when notes are allowed to breathe, to vibrate. A single piano string, the circular slow melody of a violin, as on the nostalgic "Delicate Exit" or the delicate assembly of abstract beauty - distant harp, an interrupted string section, shuffling of feet, a ghostly echo as on "simulacromancer".
This is a 2xLP set, mastered by Carl Saff, cut at 45 rpm. It is housed in a tip-on style heavy gatefold sleeve with OBI strip featuring artwork from Pyhai. The first 300 copies will include a bonus 7" entitled "Still Your Bones" (INFX 062 S) with 2 exclusive tracks. The entire pressing is a 500 copy edition, available in white 180g vinyl (limited to 100 copies **White vinyl Sold Out**) and the remaining 400 copies will be on black 180g vinyl.
Includes unlimited streaming of A Thousand Fields via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
https://infraction.bandcamp.com/album/a-thousand-fields
|
2015 |
€14.00 |
|
| OKLAND, NILS |
Bris |
CD |
“Nils Økland is one of Norway's most remarkable fiddlers, a renewer of traditional folk music, building bridges to classical, contemporary and improvised music. His music combines freedom and tradition -- he is concerned with the tradition of passing music by word of mouth and at the same time to see it in a fruitful meeting with modern impulses. Hallvard Kvale, an authority on Norwegian folk music and the founder of Norway's biggest and longest running record company for traditional music, Helio, names Nils Økland a visionary, the best thing to happen to Norwegian folk music in decades, and the closest the tradtition has come to a Miles Davis." Økland (Hardanger fiddle, violin), Sigbørn Apeland (harmonium, piano, organ), Torbjørn Økland (guitar, trumpet), Pål Thorstensen (double bass), Åsne Valland (vocal).” [press release]
|
2005 |
€15.00 |
|
| OLIVEROS, PAULINE |
No Mo |
CD |
Raw early experiments of the female LEGEND of experimental electronics, very strange stuff, a squealing world of e-noise... three long tracks recorded 1966-1967.
"In the summer of 1966 I worked in the classical Electronic Music Studio at the University of Toronto for six weeks. The system I used to create 'No Mo' and 'Something Else' consisted of Layfette tone generators, noise source and tape delay. In the Fall of 1966 I was the newly appointed director of the Mills Tape Music Center formerly the San Francisco Tape Music Center and now the Center for Contemporary Music at Mills College. 'Bog Road' was created at the Mills Tape Music Center in the Summer of 1967 with the Buchla Series 100 Box. The studio overlooked a pond where frogs were singing a chorus that inspired a series of Bog pieces." - from the liner notes.
|
2001 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Four Meditations / Sound Geometries |
CD |
"An- und abschwellende Dröhnwellen und mäandernde Haltetöne werden von Tropfen, Schraffuren, Impulsen und Kurzwellen akzentuiert. Dazu kommt elektronisches Glissandieren, Schimmern und Funkeln..." [Bad Alchemy about SOUND GEOMETRIES]
"Pauline Oliveros surrounded by Belgian ensemble Musiques Nouvelles, performing 2 long pieces for orchestra.
Sound Geometries for Chamber Orchestra, Expanded Instrument System and 5.1 Surround Sound System by Pauline Oliveros was premiered in Brussels. The 3 sections metaphors of the piece are intended to guide the players in their feelings and approaches to conducted, guided and improvisational music making to create differing atmospheres for each of the three sections. Players sounds are picked up during the performance by microphones, processed in one of ten geometrical patterns by the Oliveros designed Expanded Instrument System (EIS). to transform and move the player's sounds in space in the 5.1 surround sound system.
Meditation for Orchestra asks the performers to listen then sound. Listen means to include all that is sounding and to find a space for each sound that is made. Pauline Oliveros and Ione are guests of Ensemble Musiques Nouvelle in this studio performance of Meditation."
www.subrosa.net |
2016 |
€13.50 |
|
| |
The Well & The Gentle |
do-LP |
The Well & The Gentle, two of the major works of Pauline Oliveros, are presented here in a first time reissue on double vinyl in a gatefold sleeve with extensive liner notes.
If Oliveros had followed a more conventional path she may have, all social obstacles aside, been considered among the major composers of her time. However, Oliveros approached composition in a more egalitarian manner. She wrote music for musicians to interact with or, in the composers words, she wished to create "an inclusive and interdependent and unfolding world of relationships."
Oliveros' propensity towards inclusion is part of what makes this work so remarkably distinctive. The Well & The Gentle is carefully crafted, allowing performers to participate in the creation of the work. Players are asked to collaborate, focus, react and make imaginative choices. Only then can the performers "pass through stages of awakening to the possibilities inherent in making music, working together, leading to the essence of what can shape musical impulses and individual freedom simultaneously."
Unlike most major composers of the era, Oliveros' work focuses on collaboration and improvisation. For Oliveros, the processes involved in making music are as fundamental as the music itself. Oliveros creates, as Arthur Sabatini put it so eloquently in the liner notes, "A world in which sound and the practices entailed in making music merge; become, at once, source and atmosphere, energy and essence, presence and dynamic."
Pauline Oliveros was an electronic music pioneer, accordionist, composer and educator who resided in Kingston, New York. Her instrument was tuned in Just Intonation and she often included it in her meditative improvisational music. Her music is not meditative in the sense that it is intended for listening to while meditating, rather each piece is a form of meditation, such as her aptly titled Sonic Meditations.
A central figure in post-war electronic art music, Oliveros is one of the original members of the San Francisco Tape Music Center (along with Morton Subotnick, Ramon Sender, Terry Riley, Steve Reich and Anthony Martin), which was the resource on the U.S. West coast for electronic music during the 1960s. The Center later moved to Mills College, where she was its first director, and is now called the Center for Contemporary Music. Oliveros often improvised with the Expanded Instrument System, an electronic signal processing system she designed, in her performances and recordings.
https://imprec.bandcamp.com/album/the-well-the-gentle
|
2023 |
€36.50 |
|
| OLIVEROS, PAULINE / DAVID ROTHENBERG / TIMOTHY HILL |
Cicada Dream Band |
CD |
"Flames will destroy everything
at the end of the universe.
It may already be destroyed.
A cold cricket cries in the pile of wet leaves.
He wanders back and forth, unable to get past regret.
Go along with it
Stumble in rain,
Walk on alone.
At the end of the trail is a warm cabin with a single fire.
There you may dry out those lonely years.
Case 29, The Blue Cliff Record
2013 marked the arrival of millions of periodical cicadas to the New York Metropolitan area. These musical insects appear only once every seventeen years. On the occasion of this auspicious event, David Rothenberg performed a series of concerts together with composer and deep listener Pauline Oliveros, overtone singer Timothy Hill, and live singing insects brought in from the trees. The ensemble of digital accordion, clarinets with electronically enhanced nature sounds, and harmonic singing is certainly a trio unlike anything heard before. Even Pauline, with eighty-two years of music making, confessed she had not heard anything like it. The ensemble headed to the famous Dreamland Studios just outside of Woodstock to commit three and a half hours of music to digital memory. For the album they picked their favorite 64 minutes and 32 seconds. Joëlle Léandre said “I love this trio, it’s wonderful, special!” "[label info]
www.gruenrekorder.de
"Last year Gruenrekorder released the album ‘Bug Music’ by David Rothenberg. He has a love for the rhythms produced by birds, insects, etc and made a record based on these rhythms coming from nature, joined of vocalist Timothy Hill and guitarist Robert Jürgendal. The album by the Cicada Dream Band is a sort of a next step. The band combines the talents of Pauline Oliveros (V-Accordion), David Rothenberg (bass clarinet, clarinet, iPad, creatures) and Timothy Hill (voice). They made their recordings in august 2013 in New York. “2013 marked the arrival of millions of periodical cicadas to the New York Metropolitan area. These musical insects appear only once every seventeen years. On the occasion of this auspicious event, David Rothenberg performed a series of concerts together with composer and deep listener Pauline Oliveros, overtone singer Timothy Hill, and live singing insects brought in from the trees“. That is how it started. It inspired the three for long extended
dialogues with these natural sounds, and about an hour of this material is selected for this album. Although I like their improvisations, their way of combining it with animal sounds did not really do it for me. Although...this last sentence I wrote after one or two listening, but now that I’m listening again it begins to reveal its beauty. Like the beautiful lines they play along the whistling of an European blackbird in ‘Room at the Inn’. The music becomes more and more óne and intriguing after repeated listening. Besides the vocals by Timothy Hill fascinate and inspire. He is a new voice for me. He worked with a variety of artists like John Cage, Bill Frisell, Jeff Buckley, Odetta, Pete Seeger, Madan Gopal Singh, and not to forget David Hykes. Okay, I’m pretty much in favour of the dreams of Rothenberg." [DM/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| OM |
Pilgrimage |
CD |
"The mighty return of the transcendental RIFF! The third Om record! By now the methods and purpose of their ultra heavy music of
the spheres is clear. The music on this album, much like the first two, is stripped to its essence. Bass and drums churning out super
hypnotic heaviness and repetitive chant-like vocals creating a cyclical whorl of trance-rock divinity.
With a lot of new releases from bands we love, change in sound and development of style is important, Om seem to operate with different principles than the average rock and roll outfit. The consistency of their sound lends itself to the eternal nature of the music, as if all three of their records are really just movements in some expansive, cosmic symphony. Within Om's canon, change is felt like the passing of time without the aid of a clock or calendar, existing in the infinite void. And what an ass kicking void it is! The riffs and rhythms on Pilgrimage are certainly just as good as those on either of their previous releases, which means amazingly heavy and heady slabs of stoned out ROCK!
The record starts off with the title track, which is an expansive slow burner. Mesmeric and spiritual, soft spoken vocals and a propulsive tom and tambourine beat. The riffs on this track, as well as the bulk of Om's material, have a certain eastern quality, like some strange Sabbath-raga meld, and they go on forever and ever, taking the listener on some sort of mystic celestial voyage. By track
two, "Unitive Knowledge Of The Godhead", the fuzzed out bass distortion kicks in, and the sound gets HEAVY! This Sleep-like heavitude continues into the 11 plus minute "Bhima's Theme", by which point in the album the listener is more than likely completely
transfixed, eyes a-glaze with the eternal riff burned into their brain. The last song on the album is "Pilgrimage (Reprise)", which makes for a very circular experience, like when listening to the album all the way through, time disintegrates and 32 minutes seems
like a split second or a week or an eternity! Heavy, mannnn...
Possibly one of the most distinctive things about Pilgrimage is the recording itself. This album sounds fucking great! We mean, for a band that just consists of bass guitar and drums, you could not pick a better engineer than Mr. Steve Albini, whose forte has always been the rhythm section, and he completely nailed the sound! It's warm and cavernous, and completely swallows the listener whole.
So, if you are in tune with the amaranthine vibes of Om's two previous records, you will most certainly appreciate this one as a continuation on the path towards the essence of musical anima mundi! RIFF TO ETERNITY!" [Aquarius]
www.southernlord.com
|
2007 |
€15.00 |
|
| ON (SYLVAIN CHAUVEAU & STEVEN HESS) |
Your naked Ghost comes back at Night |
CD |
"Das renommierte Electro-Duo trifft auf den Dark-Ambient-Meister Helge Sten:
Bei dem Projekt On handelt es sich um die Kollaboration zwischen dem französischen Komponisten und Produzenten Sylvain Chauveau und dem in Chicago lebenden Percussionisten Steven Hess (Haptic, Pan American). Das Duo wählte schon immer recht seltsame Wege, seine Arbeit zu präsentieren. Doch das Prinzip ist einfach: Die beiden nehmen ein Album auf, um es dann einem Dritten zur Überarbeitung zu geben. Der Remix ist dann das fertige Werk. 2003 wurden über drei Stunden Arbeit vom norwegischen Dark-Ambient-Meister Helge Sten alias Deathprod bearbeitet. Stens charakteristischer Schmuddel-Ambient wird ohrenfällig, wenn er Hess und Chauveaus Kompositionen in einen Sumpf aus tiefem Hall und synthetischem Rauch taucht. Hess’ perkussives Dröhnen ist zum entfernten Summen eines Insektenflügels gefiltert und Chauveaus präparierte Gitarre wird zur tektonischen Unterhaltung zweier Kontinente. Man weiß nicht immer, wann On aufhört und wo Deathprod anfängt, aber das ist auch das Geheimnis dieser Produktion." [label info]
"..Those familiar with Deathprod will instantly recognise Helge Sten’s dense atmospheric structures and minimal and haunting soundscapes. It is, indeed, his presence which is felt the most on this record, as he manipulates Chauveau’s guitar textures into vast sonic plains and retains very few recognisable traces of the original sound sources. Hess’s percussions are even more treated and only seem to appear as occasional seismic pulses, sending shockwaves deep within the sound formations, or as distant textural touches. Album opener Your Naked Ghost Comes Back At Night And Flies Around My Bed is based on a slowly evolving warm and opaque drone upon which are added a few brushes of distortions stretched to the point where they become extremely polished and sleek. Erotique, which follows, opens with the distant rumble of percussions, but darker forms soon roll in and give this piece a stark desolate feel at the opposite end of the scale of what its title suggests.
Later on, on Facade, Sten uses metallic percussions as main element, progressively drawing them out into a much more compact and dense cloud of noise over the twelve minutes of the piece, while retaining the rich hue of the original component. Elsewhere, In The Forest Of The Night appears as dense but it is sign-posted with regular pulses which, while never dragging the piece out of its original torpor, brighten up its path. Too Many Demons Still Haunt This Land and The Lonesome Poetry Of Mark Rothko, which closes this album, are much darker and incredibly vast, as persistent winds blow upon barren landscapes and swallow the most vivid sonic details which attempt to arise, leaving these two pieces in a permanent state of darkness. The latter especially, stretching over seventeen and a half minutes, is an incredibly haunting moment, which, after over twelve minutes of deep-space like noises, begins to open up to a more peaceful and almost melodic sound form.
With Helge Sten applying his touch and aesthetic to the original pieces recorded by Sylvain Chauveau and Steven Hess, it is totally impossible to even envisage what these may have sounded. And while the sound sources were created by the pair, ultimately, this album sounds like the work of Sten. This however never hinders its impact in any way, the resulting compositions working extremely well together to create an intense and moody journey through some of the most stunning atmospheric soundscapes heard since SAWII." [The Milkfactory]
www.typerecords.com
|
2009 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
Your naked Ghost comes back at Night |
do-LP |
"Das renommierte Electro-Duo trifft auf den Dark-Ambient-Meister Helge Sten:
Bei dem Projekt On handelt es sich um die Kollaboration zwischen dem französischen Komponisten und Produzenten Sylvain Chauveau und dem in Chicago lebenden Percussionisten Steven Hess (Haptic, Pan American). Das Duo wählte schon immer recht seltsame Wege, seine Arbeit zu präsentieren. Doch das Prinzip ist einfach: Die beiden nehmen ein Album auf, um es dann einem Dritten zur Überarbeitung zu geben. Der Remix ist dann das fertige Werk. 2003 wurden über drei Stunden Arbeit vom norwegischen Dark-Ambient-Meister Helge Sten alias Deathprod bearbeitet. Stens charakteristischer Schmuddel-Ambient wird ohrenfällig, wenn er Hess und Chauveaus Kompositionen in einen Sumpf aus tiefem Hall und synthetischem Rauch taucht. Hess’ perkussives Dröhnen ist zum entfernten Summen eines Insektenflügels gefiltert und Chauveaus präparierte Gitarre wird zur tektonischen Unterhaltung zweier Kontinente. Man weiß nicht immer, wann On aufhört und wo Deathprod anfängt, aber das ist auch das Geheimnis dieser Produktion." [label info]
"..Those familiar with Deathprod will instantly recognise Helge Sten’s dense atmospheric structures and minimal and haunting soundscapes. It is, indeed, his presence which is felt the most on this record, as he manipulates Chauveau’s guitar textures into vast sonic plains and retains very few recognisable traces of the original sound sources. Hess’s percussions are even more treated and only seem to appear as occasional seismic pulses, sending shockwaves deep within the sound formations, or as distant textural touches. Album opener Your Naked Ghost Comes Back At Night And Flies Around My Bed is based on a slowly evolving warm and opaque drone upon which are added a few brushes of distortions stretched to the point where they become extremely polished and sleek. Erotique, which follows, opens with the distant rumble of percussions, but darker forms soon roll in and give this piece a stark desolate feel at the opposite end of the scale of what its title suggests.
Later on, on Facade, Sten uses metallic percussions as main element, progressively drawing them out into a much more compact and dense cloud of noise over the twelve minutes of the piece, while retaining the rich hue of the original component. Elsewhere, In The Forest Of The Night appears as dense but it is sign-posted with regular pulses which, while never dragging the piece out of its original torpor, brighten up its path. Too Many Demons Still Haunt This Land and The Lonesome Poetry Of Mark Rothko, which closes this album, are much darker and incredibly vast, as persistent winds blow upon barren landscapes and swallow the most vivid sonic details which attempt to arise, leaving these two pieces in a permanent state of darkness. The latter especially, stretching over seventeen and a half minutes, is an incredibly haunting moment, which, after over twelve minutes of deep-space like noises, begins to open up to a more peaceful and almost melodic sound form.
With Helge Sten applying his touch and aesthetic to the original pieces recorded by Sylvain Chauveau and Steven Hess, it is totally impossible to even envisage what these may have sounded. And while the sound sources were created by the pair, ultimately, this album sounds like the work of Sten. This however never hinders its impact in any way, the resulting compositions working extremely well together to create an intense and moody journey through some of the most stunning atmospheric soundscapes heard since SAWII." [The Milkfactory]
CD-version available too, 16 Euro !
www.typerecords.com
|
2009 |
€20.00 |
|
| ONDO |
Mahavishnu |
CD |
Geheimtip aus Schweden aus dem Doom-Drone-Metal Bereich: ONDO erschaffen den absoluten Katakomben & Gruft-Sound, auf tiefsten Höllenschlünden scheint ihr frei-flottierender Angst-Metal-Drone zu stammen, das ganze klingt sehr eigenständig und authenthisch & tief melancholisch....
"The majestic debut full length album from Sweden's Ondo. Intricate, textured doomed drone, blackened ambience and lush nocturnal electronica, delicately crafted into a dark cinematic vision. A shadow dreamscape of overpowering density, akin to an intoxicating fusion of early Earth, Raison D'Etre and a touch of the shimmering haze of Fennesz, perhaps? Presented as a limited edition of 500 copies only, in dvd presentation box with full colour art." [label info]
".... Whereas that cd-r was a single looooong song, this disc is split into distinct movements, each a bleak and caustic chunk of truly ominous ambience. Actually, there is so much stuff going on, and this is so dark and heavy, it’s almost disingenuous to call it ambient music. This is cinematic abstract free noise drone music. Heavy enough to worm its way inside the ears of drone inclined metalheads, but dark and blissed out enough to keep the drone obsessed in downtuned druggy nirvana.
The label mentions early Earth, Raison D’Etre and Fennesz, and damn if all three of those don’t definitely apply. Pretty melodies are buried under slabs of grinding buzz, chords are woven into undulating sheets of fuzzy sound, everything is hissy and glitchy, with a gauzy sheen. Imagine Earth 2 as reimagined by Christian Fennesz and you might be getting close. Chords and notes, churn and throb, blackened sounds pulse ominously enveloping crystalline shimmers and music box like melodies, voices and samples are chopped up and distorted, riffs are pulled apart into washed out smears of sound. Some of the tracks definitely border on serious doom territory, while others are blurred distorted dreamscapes, all skittery and smeared, dark pianos, radio distortion and amp buzz, distant melodic whir, all tangled into something creepy and beautiful, strings draped over crumbling industrial crunch, all woven around heaving heaviness, rendered in slow moving swells. Way recommended for fans of things slow and low, dark and doomy, murky and mysterious.
LIMITED TO 500 COPIES. Packaged in a white dvd style case, with a full color cover and printed black and white insert." [Aquarius Records review]
www.paradigms-recordings.com
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
| ONODERA, YUI |
Synergetics |
7inch |
Zwei Stücke mit feinsten ozeanischen Drones, basierend auf Piano und Gitarre. YUI ONODERA ist ein Musiker, Filmemacher und Konzert-organisator aus Tokio, und auch mit eigenen Label "Critical Path" aktiv!
"YUI ONODERA is a composer and multi-instrumentalist from Tokyo, who runs his own label 'Critical Path' to find "new ways to listen to sound" and who is also active in organizing concerts, composing soundtracks for experimental films and in designing sounds for contemporary dance & Butoh.
On "Synergetics", he presents two tracks of very minimal and quiet oceanic drones, based on guitar and piano. The music shimmers like light-reflections on water in extreme slow motion, when single recognizable tunes appear. Music for full concentration and contemplation, almost feathery and warm.
File under: Silence-Drones. BLUE-WHITE VINYL. MINIMALLY SELF-MADE PRINTED COVERS WITH INLAY." [press release]
|
2007 |
€7.00 |
|
|
Entropy |
CD |
Wiederveröffentlichung des ersten ONODERA-Albums von 2005 (als CDR erschienen auf seinem eigenen kleinen Label), zu dem wir vermerkten: "A new project from Tokyo with minimal “concrete” & drone-compositions....extremely nice & dense......hyper-subtle stuff.... ..derived from field recordings, guitar-sounds, electronics. Definitely Recommended ! 10tracks/total time 47m11s."
"A new label from Japan, this Trumn and the presentation is nice: sturdy card stock, like a small folder. The first one is by Yui Onodera, no stranger in the land of the weekly (see for instance the weeklies 590, 608 and 611), with his carefully constructed sonic silence. He uses field recordings, electric guitars and computer processing for his music - lots of computer processing. The result is a work in ten parts, all untitled, all flowing right into eachother. Each is a block by itself - static without many moving around and each has a similar built up, fade in, fade in and stays where it is, so small gaps of silence appear between the songs, but essentially, I think, its a one unified work. Highly microsound, and nothing new as such in that particular line of music, but Onodera does things pretty well, I think. 'Entropy', in all its silence-ness is a great work." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.trumn.com
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Too Ne |
CD |
Yui Onodera's work is patient. He invites a sense of dwelling with his pieces, an encouragement to pause and to allow sound to swell up around you. On Too Ne, he charts out a very specific sonic exploration. Across these five works he creates a lilting passage of sound, a liquidous flow that confirms the adage of ambient music existing as constant, but never solid. Too Ne also invites a sensing of the self, in that the works ask you to examine our own memories as a way to unlocking a deeper resonance within the work. Onodera has created an incredibly generous and open sound field here, one in which you might find yourself dwelling, deeply.
From Yui Onodera: "These pieces are what can be described as almost static ambient tracks. They are about a recognition of perceived stillness, even when there is change in the sounds' relationships with each other, and with the listener. 'Too Ne' is an old Japanese word that refers to a sound that is sounding from far away. It is about distance, and also perhaps about reaching out to those sounds that seem to exist far away from us. 'Too Ne' is a word that is not often used in modern Japan, but it has a long history, and can be found in the oldest extant collections of Japanese waka (poetry in Classical Japanese), such as 'Manyoshu'. It is sometimes understood that there are many sounds that appear in people's minds here, when they think of an imagined landscape. Sounds as memory markers, but also as devices to help us imagine more deeply the places we visit and recollect with our minds. Here, I recall in my mind the distance of static sounds like vague clouds, delicate sounds like a state where cherry blossoms whirl in the wind and resemble snow falling.
https://yuionodera.bandcamp.com/album/too-ne / https://room40.org/edition/too-ne/
|
2022 |
€14.00 |
|
| ONODERA, YUI & STEPHEN VITIELLO |
Quiver |
CD |
Yui Onodera // electric violin, electric guitar, field recordings, found objects, processing
Stephen Vitiello // acoustic and electric guitar, modular synthesizer, toy piano, field recordings, processing
Kenneth Kirschner // (variant’s materials) on Quiver 1
Quiver” continues our subseries of cerebral abstract electronic minimalism after Triac’s “In A Room” and Hanno Leichtmann’s “Minimal Studies”. The word Quiver can speak to an emotional state – “a slight trembling movement or sound”. A quiver is also the word for a kind of container, used for holding arrows, bolts, or darts. They employed a vast array of sound sources for meticulous processing on their computers from electric violins, acoustic and electric guitars, modular synthesizer to toy piano and field recordings. They built music rich with textures, loops, strange structures blurring the lines between foreground and background sounds thus making a complex and mysterious, generous and surprising music. These compositions by Onodera and Vitiello are layered with possibility and will mean something different to each listener.
Yui Onodera is a musician and composer based in Tokyo, Japan. After studying music and architecture, he founded the Critical Path. In terms of environmental functions and spacial relationships of sound, he employs materials from various sources ranging from field recordings, electronics, and voices, to various musical instruments, for process-based, restrained electro-acoustic, experimental and ambient pieces.Electronic musician and sound artist Stephen Vitiello transforms incidental atmospheric noises into mesmerizing soundscapes that alter our perception of the surrounding environment. He has composed music for independent films, experimental video projects and art installations, collaborating with such artists as Nam June Paik, Tony Oursler and Dara Birnbaum. In 1999 he was awarded a studio for six months on the 91st floor of the World Trade Center’s Tower One, where he recorded the cracking noises of the building swaying under the stress of the winds after Hurricane Floyd. As an installation artist, he is particularly interested in the physical aspect of sound and its potential to define the form and atmosphere of a spatial environment. 300 copies."
"I’ve been a fan of Yui Onodera’s music for some time, but this album surprised me. Rather than his usual stately drones and glacial fluttering, Onodera’s collaboration with New York sound artist Stephen Vitiello is… a pop album? Yes, I think so. The music is tuneful and upbeat, with even the more low-key songs having a melodic element at the forefront. Some of Vitiello’s previous work has moved in this direction, but “Quiver” puts accessibility in the forefront. I enjoyed it very much! Some tracks, such as “Quiver 4” (none of the songs have real titles), feature a skeletal guitar lightly applying Vini Reilly-esque melodic lines over a bedrock of electronic skitter and sometimes a steady (though understated) anchoring pulse. “Quiver 6” is rather lovely, with something sounding like moving water burbling next to a synthetic chorus and dreamlike shoegaze guitar wash that would appeal to fans of Chris Herbert, Cheihei Hatakeyama or even recent 12k releases. After listening through a couple of times, it occurred to me that this collaboration seems as natural and complete as an album by a full-time “band” might be… so I hope these guys pursue the duo
further! I wouldn’t mind more of this to spin as the soundtrack to my pleasantly groggy weekend
mornings." (HS/Vital Weekly)
http://mikroton.net/
mikroton.bandcamp.com/album/quiver
|
2018 |
€13.00 |
|
| OPEN TO THE SEA |
Another Year is over, let's wait for Springtime |
CD |
"Open To The Sea is the collaboration project of Matteo Uggeri and Enrico Coniglio and “Another Year Is Over, Let´s Wait For Springtime” is their second album. While Coniglio focusses on guitar, synths and other instruments, Uggeri adds samples and field recordings to create a soundcosmos full of tiny melodies and themes with appereance by some guest musicians on drums, trumpet and cello. That would make a perfect experimental ambient album with jazzy moments, but Uggeri & Coniglio push this release further by adding some vocals to most of the tracks by inviting guest singers like Dominic Appleton (This Mortal Coil) or Lau Nau from Finland.
“Another Year Is Over, Let´s Wait For Springtime” comes in an edition of 200 copies, housed in a full coloured digisleeve featuring an 8page booklet including more art by Graham Crowley, lyrics and credits.
Enrico Coniglio: guitar, piano, duduk, synths, tapes and drones
Matteo Uggeri: laptop, drones, rhythms, samples and field recordings; lyrics on “Uninvited Ghost”
Dominic Appleton: vocal and lyrics on “Facing the Waves”
Alberto Carozzi: bass on “Particles”
Alessandro Sesana: trumpet on “Tapes and Cows” and “Crystal Dog Barks”
John Guilor: vocal performance on “Uninvited Ghost”
Yan Jun: vocals on “Crystal Dog Barks”
Romina Kalsi/Animor: vocals and lyrics on “Particles”
Gaia Margutti: lyrics and vocals on “Another Year Is Over”
Lau Nau: vocals and lyrics on “Heavy Like a Falling Leaf” and “Tapes and Cows”
Simone Riva: drums on “Facing the Waves”
Andrea Serrapiglio: cello on “Uninvited Ghost”, “Duduk Confessions”, “Tapes and Cows PT.1”,
and “Another Year is Over”; backing vocals on “Uninvited Ghost”
Olivia Uggeri: lyrics on “Another Year Is Over”
Nora Uggeri: presence on “Another Year Is Over”
Luo Wanxiang: lyrics on “Crystal Dog Barks”
https://enricoconiglio.bandcamp.com/album/another-year-is-over
|
2020 |
€13.00 |
|
| OPITOPE |
Hau |
CD |
"This an imaginary album traveling from the north to south, overlapping the images of transition of the four seasons. In reality, indeed one things always leads to an end and I feel sad every time I think about that. In this album, we tried to express this sorrow feeling changing gradually into hope as we travel south. Seasons have no end. It always moves from spring, summer, autumn, winter back to spring.. And just like the changing seasons, the tracks in this album constantly shifts another and the last piece connects to the very beginning which forms the never ending circle. We have expressed the images of these "endings" with "never endings" by music. These thoughts were brought up naturally during the making of this album and it's not that we had this idea from the start. Another concept of this album is "symmetry". There are 9 pieces in this album and is constructed by track 5 being the axis of the symmetry - like in terms os composition, 1st track is a piano piece and also the 9th track. The same thing goes to the arrangements like you will notice sounds that forms contrasts between the left & right speaker." [Opitope]
www.spekk.net
|
2007 |
€15.50 |
|
| OPIUM |
Floatdownstream |
CD-R |
Das besondere an OPIUMS Transzendental-Ambient sind die ethnischen Original-Sounds, die sehr dezent und hintergründig im Klangfluss sichtbar werden (Didj, Perkussion, östliche Blas- und Streichinstrumente, Feldaufnahmen...
Behutsame Dreamscapes, die gleichzeitig entrancen und sensibilisieren. Referenzen: TUU, ALIO DIE, GRASSOW....
“An appealing and inspired work of classic ritual ambient music, with obscure and dilated sounds... Extraordinary and evocative atmospheres, for a sonic continuum based on articulate electronic waves, flowing pads, voices, percussions, ethnic strings and wind instruments, sitar, didjeridoo, natural noises recordings... Elegant, catchy, moving... Absolutely not to miss.“ [label info]
|
2005 |
€12.00 |
|
| OPTICAL MUSICS |
The First Words. Recordings 1984-1987 |
do-CD & BOOK |
"Optical Musics is a pioneering Greek avant-experimental project, founded by Costis Drygianakis and a group of people, formed in Volos. They were early experimenting with musical forms like free improvisation and electroacoustic experimentation etc, creating a highly personal musical idiom. From 1984 to mid-1987 the group started to make their most absurd home recording. The line-up of the group changed several times acted like an open collective, with the line-up of the group, focused more on experimentation with custom instruments, child instruments, synthesisers, bass etc. The most sophisticated recordings was used for the the disc “Optical Musics Volume 1” LP, released in 1987. Some other recordings of that period was used / recycled in personal works by Kostis Drygianaki like “Post-visual landscapes” (EDO, CD, 1999) and “Eantaisglossaistonanthroponlalokaitonangelon” (EDO, CD, 1999).
The “First Words: recordings 1984 – 1987”, that is presented here, is including 27 unpublished works of the group, maybe their more rough material, which were then a work-in-progress or “unfinished” tracks, covering a wide range of musical experimentation (free improvisation, minimalism, avant gard). With this publication, we are very happy to bring to light recordings of Optical Musics, a group that at that period did not get the publicity they deserved, but in the future their music influenced a younger generation of people in Greece that involved in the Greek experimental music scene.
Optical Musics’s “First Words: recordings 1984 – 1987” is out as a 2x CD with a book (Greek + English version) of 64 pages, full with information and images of that period. The recordings include alphabetically the musicians: Takis Agrigiannis, Kostas Anestis, Giannis Argyropoulos, Eleni Barouksi, Costis Drygianakis, Christos Kaltis, Aleksis Karavergos, Kostas Kostopoulos, Nikos Ksirakis, Kostas Pantopoulos, Thanasis Chondros, Aleksandra Katsiani. This release is a collaboration of the labels moremars, Hxoi Kato Apo To Spiti and Noise Below."
www.moremars.org
"These two releases are very much connected. The double CD and booklet provides a proper
historical context for the Greek band Optical Musics, in their earliest years, 1984-1987, while on cassette main member Costis Drygianakis performs 'a reconstruction of underestimated and
mislaid recordings from the period 1984-1987', so perhaps something we would have called back
then 'recycled'; taking recordings apart and put them together in a totally different way. Best
turned to the two CDs first, and the highly informative book that comes with (64 pages, 7"x7" sized) this music. I reviewed their 'Volume 2' before, all the way in Vital Weekly 66, and it's is possible that I also did 'Volume 1' when Vital (without weekly) was printed on paper, but I guess we have to wait for the complete volume to re-appear (later this year!). Back then in VW 66 I had some problem with saying something sensible about the group, but now I learned that they started in 1984 as a fleeting membership group and that they were inspired by visual elements, scores, photos, to play their improvised music, or better taking their cue from John Zorn's 'I compose improvised music', and apparently using the studio as an extra instrument. I must admit that notion is a bit beyond me when hearing this. I gather I was expecting something along the lines of P16.D4 is that respect but that seems not to be the case. Much of what they do sound improvised, composed or otherwise, leaving space for non conventional instruments, such as 'pruning shears, ground connector, drawer, children's toys, next to bass, guitar, lots of drums and percussion and a variety of organ sounds (casio MT65 and PT 30) and synthesizer, the trusted Yamaha DX-7. As we progress through the recordings it becomes evident that the band learned to play and structures become more complex, layered together (as opposed to the two-track stereo recordings on the first disc), allowing a bit more (free-) jazz elements; sometimes it is all electronic and almost musique concrete, and at other times it is more like free rock, although Optical Musics never hammer away. It is, all in all, quite a diverse release, and while not
always something that I enjoyed (too random at times), it was a fine archival release."
|
2017 |
€16.00 |
|
| ORCHARD [AIDAN BAKER, GASPAR CLAUS, FRANCK LAURINO] |
Serendipity |
do-LP |
"It was only a matter of time before Stéphane Grégoire - artistic director of the label - regained his now well-known desire to bring about improbable meetings between artists he really likes. This new project goes by the name of Orchard and is in the succession of This Immortal Coil and Numbers Not Names. These projects are quite apart in the label's catalogue and could be described as daring bets with one simple objective - to give life to an intuitive idea. At the end of October 2016, the four musicians in question - Aidan Baker (Nadja), Gaspar Claus (Pedro Soler, Angélique Ionatos, etc.), Franck Laurino (Zéro) and Maxime Tisserand (Chapelier Fou) - met for the first time. The recording took place at the l'Autre Canal in Nancy (France). The sessions were intensive and created an extremely specific context in which the musicians were confined. This atmosphere spontaneously brought about strong cohesion which led the group to produce a real break with its environment, easily freeing themselves from the closed-in walls of the studios to imagine an organic music rather like the photographs by Francis Meslet which illustrate the cover art."
"Another supergroup curation by ici d’ailleurs director Stéphane Grégoire, Orchard consists of Nadja’s Aidan Baker, Pedro Solo’s Gaspar Claus, Zéro’s Frank Laurino and Chapier Fou’s Maxime Tisserand. The quartet, strangers at the time of curation, hit it off with strong improvisations of ambientish post-rock - not unlike ol’ Tortoise. Appropriately, beautiful photos of an orchard comprise the artwork." [Norman Rec]
|
2017 |
€22.50 |
|
| ORCHESTRAMAXFIELDPARRISH |
Crossing of Shadows |
CD |
"orchestramaxfieldparrish's Crossing Of Shadows is a dark collection of lamentations originally recorded in 2006 and only released in a small private pressing in 2007 and has now undergone a remix and remastering. This new edition of six improvised electronic compositions is based on field recordings both left unprocessed and severely reprocessed, with added guitar, piano, voices and electronics, creating a musical path beginning from a place of extreme darkness and culminating in a point of light and hope. Recorded and mastered in 96K 24 bit audiophile audio. Included is a reconstructed version of 'Thirst' which first appeared on the Caligari - An Exquisite Corpse dvd release through the Chain Tape Collective.
There are two limited editions of this release, with the first being a hard cover book bound artist edition. This First Edition is 75 copies and will have elegantly handcrafted covers made from the finest papers and photographic printing. The Second Edition is for 225 copies and will be in a Japanese style mini lp sleeve. Total one time press of 300." [label info]
www.faithstrange.com
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| ORCHIS |
A thousand Winters |
CD |
"ORCHIS is an English Dark Folk band consisting of Tracy Jeffery (who also sings with Cunnan and J Greco's SQE), Amanda Prouten and Alan Trench (Cunnan, SQE, Twelve Thousand Days(with Martyn Bates), Temple Music). We have so far managed to release four albums to date starting in 1994 with The Dancing Sun (cryptanthus /World Serpent), which was more a collection of formative pieces than anything else, then in 1997 the concept album that was A Thousand Winters (cryptanthus / World Serpent). Mandragora (Trisol), an alchemical album based around the themes of life, death and the transmutation of the soul followed in 1999 and in 2001 Trait (a ‘best of’ released through the Russian Brudenia label). Relocation and various tedious problems put ORCHIS on the back burner for a while whilst we buried ourselves in other projects like the busy bunnies we are; we raised our heads out of the mire again in 2007 with the ‘Other Days’ download ep via the (now sadly defunct) Woven Wheat Whispers legal folk download service... There have been numerous compilation album appearances over the years, with some tracks turning up on the ‘Trait’ album. We like to think, as the Fairports had it, that we are Nicely Out Of Tune - there was the odd perfect take, but those were never the ones that went on the albums - rather it was the ones that kept to the True Spirit....
For now, we are happy, to inform you about the important, re-release of the second long-play, from this Esoteric Dark Folk band!.
A TOUSAND WINTERS it is improbable result of the deep mystical experiences embodied in studio work! It's a сonceptual album, with Grand Theme: The story of one part of Europe is extraordinarily like every other part; a thriving pagan culture that at first laughs in derision at the priests of the desert messiah, and then is slowly submerged by the rising tide of christianity until all that remains is folk memory and old tales and songs. The cult of the Nazarene has built many truly awe-inspiring cathedrals from the blood of the people of Europe whilst incorporating and subverting their culture into that of the Blood of the Lamb.
We can to tell that on music, it is mystical dark folk with an impurity of a classical English psychedelia of the end 60th or "Psychic TV" pouring "Allegory and Self" / "Trip Reset", probably to draw parallels with early works In Gowan Ring, but these words and comparisons it will be final a little what to describe music of great group! This inexpressible travel one way...
Now this album also the important part of history Neo-Folk of music to which we again have possibility to touch...
So, ORCHIS again with us and returning begins with "A THOUSAND WINTERS" which we with pride represent in 6 pannel-digiCD with a bronze stamping." [label info]
www.infinitefog.ru
|
2011 |
€12.00 |
|
| ORD |
Withered Bones |
CD |
ORD is another artist from Russia to appear in the Zoharum catalog. Behind the project is Alexey Shipilov, the owner of the label Status Prod. The musician can boast of quite a lot of phonographic achievements, which undoubtedly consolidated his position on the Russian experimental scene, with time going beyond its borders.
The material on "Withered Bones", the album released in Zoharum, is the result of several sessions recorded between autumn and winter 2020 at the "Yunost" Music Center and mixed in the summer of 2021 in the studio by Andrey Volkov.
We are dealing here with ritual music with a deep meditative influence, based on traditional acoustic instruments (singing bowls, flutes, tubular bells, caratals, tambourines and other percussion instruments) with the support of field recordings, samples and effects. Through its own music, graphics and live performances, ORD demonstrates his bond to the Buddhist ritual tradition and shamanic practices that preceded it, which gives a certain color and can be an asset. However, it can undoubtedly be successful in the mind of the recipient who is not too familiar with Buddhist meditation practices. It is worth reaching for this album to explore new areas of music.
CD released in an edition of 300.
https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/withered-bones
|
2022 |
€12.00 |
|
| ORGANUM / THE NEW BLOCKADERS |
Der Graben |
7inch |
"Der Graben ("The Ditch") is the "final" joint release by these two legendary noisemakers The New Blockaders and Organum, who have been collaborating for years. Or perhaps their collaborations all happened within a limited period of time, and these periodic releases have simply been documenting their work a few minutes at a time. Here they present two extremely short tracks, which may or may not be from their archive of collaborations. Sides A and B together total a mere 3 minutes in length, which makes this 7 inch mainly one for the collectors. The two pieces are filled with metallic scraping sounds and dissonant noise elements. The pieces are nice enough, but this release is more of a novelty than anything, just a few minutes of first class noise packaged in a nice black and white sleeve." [Richard di Santo]
www.diestadtmusik.de
|
2002 |
€8.00 |
|
| ORGANUM ELECTRONICS |
Solitude |
CD |
“In the everlasting silence of the universe
Dark clouds reflect upon shimmering water
The voiceless radiance of solitude
Dissonant overtones in dark clouds
Pierce the eternal veil of night
The rivers rage ceaselessly
Burst
Swiftly, cloud-shadows and sunbeams
White flames burning through a dark sky
Wrapped in its own eternity
Wild and forsaken
No sound is tamed
Release and rebirth, revolve, subside and swell
Inescapable and incessant in motion
The path of that unfailing sound
A harmony
Ancient and solemn
The voiceless radiance of solitude”
David Jackman’s music, both as Organum and under his given name, is typically characterized by repetition, brevity and a deadpan aloofness. He’s made plenty of extremely short (sometimes one-sided) 7” singles, albums containing multiple slight variations on a single piece, and albums of compositional (if not sonic) minimalism. It’s Jackman’s typical move to provide very little information beyond a word, or sometimes an image. Lately, he’s been predisposed to not even providing an image; just as few words as possible on a white background, nothing more.
Naturally, he does not seem to do interviews and has no web presence. As listeners, we’re left to apprehend the music as itself. No guidance into his hermetic world. I find it refreshing. Whatever your experience of an Organum album is, that’s all you get. Thankfully, each emission is thought- provoking enough to get lost in and monolithic enough to encourage both passive and active engagement.
8Howard Stelzer]
"In Vital Weekly 1216, HS reviewed 'Electronics' by Organum, which was quite the change for Organum’s David Jackman. In the last decade or so, Jackman used quite a lot of real instruments to construct a bizarre composition that may or may not be the same. After that came 'Stillness', not reviewed on these pages, and the name was changed to Organum Electronics, which is also the banner for 'Solitude', a thirty-six-minute piece of harsh electronics. Oddly enough, the artwork didn't change and is still similar to the artwork of his 'quieter' phase and which I think is pop art without the images. I have no idea if David Jackman acquired a set of modular electronics to do this, or if this is something he always had but not used a lot. The loud character of the music brings back memories of the very first record I heard from Organum, 'In Extremis'. I always thought that was made with acoustic instruments played with mechanical objects and slowed down, and I might be wrong. It had that density of ringing sounds that I enjoyed a lot back then and still do; Organum is one of the three or four musicians of whom I own a lot of records. That sort of density I also find in 'Solitude', even when it might be all electronics. It sounds like being trapped in the machine room of a large ship. The more you concentrate, the more little nuances appear in the music, an odd sense of movement in a standstill notion. The music might be loud, but it has not the similar aggression I find in some noise records. There is, odd as it may sound, a soothing aspect to the music. I am a fanboy, I admit that, and that means Organum can't do wrong. It was a bold move to change the style of music for David Jackman, but most enjoyable!" [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2021 |
€14.00 |
|
| ORIGAMI ARKTIKA |
aBSOLuT GEHöR |
LP |
"Origami Arktika embodies tension. With “Absolut Gehör” they explore otherworldly realms. Songs gleam with energy. Everyone works together to create these fevered dreams. Rhythm is the focal point for these pieces. Akin to a tribal feel the members play off of each other allowing for a collection that builds gradually. Instrumentation is kept extremely colorful alternating between the acoustic and the imagined. Kept intangible the pieces literally breathe.
“Ro og hamle” begins things off in creepy fashion with disorientated drums, music boxes, and a barely conscious bass. Setting the mood is remarkably simple for them as they explore the shadows. The calculated freedom reaches a critical point by the end with the song threatening to fully derail. “Bryggja te jol” allows things to get marginally grounded. Right in the beginning the same mood appears to be set. Eventually however a groove forms halfway through the piece and propels them to the luscious finale. Light on their toe “Tora liti” shows how nimble they can be keeping things remarkably clear. Elements fall into piece representing strange new territories to fully explore. By far the best track on the collection is the playful “Det syng for Storegut”. On this track Origami Arktika express their utmost desires to play with listener expectations. After so much experimentation they appear to capitalize on that work bringing forth an incredibly habit forming piece.
“Absolut Gehör” explores new sonic universes. Origami Arktika are a rare breed of a band." [Beach Sloth]
"This already arrived some time ago, and I played it already quite a lot. That could be an indication that this is really good, but in this case it's more doubt and an uncertainity to make up my mind. Origami Arktika is a band that includes Rune Flaten on vocals, and Tore Honore Boe, Kai Koloi Mikalsen and others; no instruments are specified here, but it's quite heavy on percussion and string instruments (guitars no doubt, a bass but also a zither). Not this keep a steady beat per se, as the drumming is done in a more ritualistic form. It owes more to the world of free psychedelic music than say dance music, more jazz than rock. These shamans do a slow dance. Perhaps this is all rooted in the world of ancient folk music, but then updated to the current day? I am not sure, but it sounds like it. At times quite drone like, but unmistakably a 'musical' record. This is a band playing. Maybe these are things I find hard to get in to. Maybe it's because I don't understand Norwegian,
providing this is not sung in another language I don't know. Maybe I am slightly allergic to all things ritualistik as such spelling dictates. But then, and here comes my uncertainty, I am playing this and find myself tapping my feet along and getting into their somewhat krautrock inspired rhythms. If you like the Nordic mysticism of say Sigur Ros and want something as moody but no doubt a lot weirder, than this is the place to visit. It's in a dark Norwegian Wood." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€22.50 |
|
| ORIGAMI GALAKTIKA |
One |
CD |
"Everything is one, unique, peculiar – the message besides the new album from norwegian artist. Absolutely essential collection of his new works is released now on the CD in glossy and beautifully designed digifile.
Origami Galaktika is Benny Braaten, A.k.a. b9. Established in 1994 Origami Galaktika is celebrating 20 years of ambient soundscapes. A journey that has brought deep spiritual sounds to close to 20 countries. A variety of venues ranging from art galleries, pubs, punk places, churches, to concert halls etc.
How many ambient acts do you know that have played Sunset Strip, Los Angeles? Or the French quarter, New Orleans? A vinery in Aesch, Switzerland? In the woods outside of Gdansk, Poland? Everything from youth clubs to tea-houses in Slovakia? Vancouver, Toronto, the middle of the praries where hardly anybody has ever been?
Supported extreme metal bands, opening metal festivals? Supporting The Legendary Pink Dots more than 50 times and played with: I: wound, (r), Daniele Brusaschetto, The Angels Of Light, Dave Phillips, Nocturnal Emissions, Francisco Lopes etc…
In addition to Galaktika, Braaten is also working with the historical music projects Folket Bortafor Nordavinden (The People Beyond The North Winds) and Skvalthr. He is also having music history "lectures" where he tells us about and demonstrates ancient musical instruments… He is also hosting tonings and drum journeys. Braaten is also working on music for a dance performance to be performed in May 2014.
The new album "One" is a bridge between the "old" and "new" Galaktika. Featuring two older (previously unreleased) pieces and 6 brand new ones. After many years of mostly sample based live performances, Origami Galaktika today is mostly accustic and no sampler is used in the live performances these days." [label info]
www.monochromevision.ru
"Behind Origami Galaktika we find Norway's Benny Braaten, who has been doing music for a great many years. He toured with Nocturnal Emissions and The Legendary Pink Dots and releases his records around the world, albeit quite sparsely. I must admit I am never sure how this whole Origami business works, but it's a larger group of people working together, although it seems that Origami Galaktika's Braaten is mostly working solo. I saw him a couple of times and his music is highly atmospheric and generated on relatively lo-fi equipment: electronics, field recordings and four track cassette tapes. Atmospheric and drone like is what he offers us. There was a time when we called this ambient industrial music, when we played the cello bow on the guitar and added lots of reverb here and there. That is, essentially, what Origami Galaktika still does. On this grey, rainy day this is probably the perfect soundtrack for the mood one can find oneself in. A usual piece by Origami Galaktika starts with a drone and on its way gathers more drones in small variations and a box tricks is opened and small variations on a theme appear. I was thinking about the fact that it sounds like something I heard a lot, even when perhaps not very recently; if that the lack of innovation is a real 'problem' (to whom, I wonder). True, Origami Galaktika doesn't necessarily change tactics, but he does a great job in what he does. If you like say Troum or Maeror Tri, and you like your sub consciousness tickled than Origami Galaktika is surely something you must hear, if you don't know them already. 'One' is one great CD." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€12.00 |
|
| ORIGAMI GALAKTIKA & I:WOUND |
We are Column One |
CD-R |
Whirring ORIGAMI-Drones and I:WOUNDstyled ethnic field recordings melt into a highly inspiring soundscape. Live Recording made at the legendary club DIE SIBIRISCHE ZELLE in Berlin, which was run by COLUMN ONE. A very strong norwegian–german collaboration which happened on that evening in east-Berlin....
|
2005 |
€10.00 |
|
| ORNAMENT |
Unicorn Lullaby |
CD-R |
Wiederveröffentlichung dieser schönen ORNAMENT-CDR mit recht einfach gestricktem, aber sehr wirkungsvoll-hypnotischen loop-ambient/drones, warm und dunkel, zwischen TAM QUAM TABULA RASA und AMON? Feine Fullcolour-Cover-Artwork auch ...
sehr zu empfehlen!
„Unicorn Lullaby" was self-released by Ornament in a few copies back in 2000 and is now published by Afe in a fully remastered and repackaged version that showcases the author's visionary attitude. Due to the poor distribution of the original version, this is probably Ornament's less know work, but it's probably his best attempt at Dark Ambient music contaminated with Industrial elements. If we look for some kind of internal reference wondering through the whole Afe catalogue, this can easily be found in Never Known's "Dawn of an Era", but "Unicorn Lullaby" has of course a personality of his own. According to his author, "Unicorn Lullaby" is an oniric / visionary concept in sounds, a travel to and back from an imaginary collapsing world where the "Unicorn Shaped Labyrinth" is the entrance / exit. "Noctifer" is the star shining above this imaginary world, while the gear-sounding "High Density of Grief" is a representation of the slave-citizens forced to work in a consuming production-chain and "From Concealed Gardens" tries to describe its mysterious flora and fauna. After entering the imaginary world, the protagonist wakes up ("I Opened My Eyes in the Liquid Room") and fight against his "Fiendish Ego" as the world begins to collapse ("Under Shivering Columns") as predicted by ancient priests who were charged with heresy ("The Heretics' Heritage"). This heritage is the only key that allows the protagonist to survive the ordeal and return to the place where he belongs as only a few traces of past life surround him ("Only Life Remains"). The distinctive overall sound of the album is subtly achieved with a rich shady substratum of distant sounds that are intentionally and elegantly kept in the background and are fully appreciable at a mid volume level.” [label description]
www.aferecords.com
|
2005 |
€12.00 |
|
| ORPHAX |
De Tragedie van een Liedjesschrijver zonder Woorden |
CD |
" “De tragedie van een liedjesschrijver zonder woorden” (The tragedy of a song writer without words) is the first normal CD by Orphax. This album contains music that has been written between April 2005 and July 2007 and retouched again in 2008 and 2010. The period these songs were written was one with many transitions in the live of van Erve. It was the end of his student years, the begin of his working years, a period where he struggled with an at that time unknown disease, a period where he was searching for answers to questions he didn't know. Inspired by this he wrote these wordless pieces.
The music on this release, at first planned for release in 2011, shows yet another look into the ever expanding work by Orphax. Even more than his other work this one is dealing with small details in the composition creating an environment that feels comfortable but at the same time grabs you by the throat. The music goes from minimal droning sounds to isolationist soundscapes and experimental ambient moods.
Orphax is the project by Sietse van Erve, born in Tilburg, living in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Orphax works in the field of experimental electronic music once started out with ambient music slowly incorporating drone elements he now has a focus on minimalist music and lo-fi droning sounds. With every release he tries out new ways to get to his goal to create a psychedelic mind influencing atmosphere.
So far he has released several CD-R releases both private as on small labels such as Cut Hands and Verato Project, Broken20 and Moving Furniture Records.
In the past he was performed and worked with artists such as The Village Orchestra, Jos Smolders, and Erstlaub. He also shared the stage with musicians such as Charalambides, Sindre Bjerga, Zebra (Frans de Waard & Roel Meelkop), Staplerfahrer, Dirk Serries and many others.
Limited Special Edition with bonus CD only available directly through Orphax." [label info]
www.movingfurniturerecords.com
"A while in the making, this 'tragedy of a song writer without words', which was already recorded between 2005 and 2005, later reworked, in 2008 and 2010 and then left in the hands of a less reliable label, but now being released as a CD on Orphax' own label, Moving Furniture Records. Orphax, you should know, is the work of Sietse van Erve and perhaps the easiest thing to say is that he is a computer musician, and one of the few I know who works extensively with AudioMulch, a sort of build your own musical software, along the lines of Max/msp or pure data. He has released a whole bunch of things, mostly CDRs and downloads, but now his first CD, and perhaps I am listening to this differently, but it sounds great. Do I listen better, more closely because this is a CD? I would hope it doesn't make any difference, but the five pieces, all with titles in Dutch, showcase what Orphax does best. Creating glitch like music, with microscopic changes, deep end drones and it works heavily on the mind. You could wonder wether something 'new' happens here, but that's not the point I think. Orphax plays some glitch based music which is firmly rooted in minimalism and has a tendency towards noise, but unlike some of his previous releases, the element of noise is very much under control here: it's there for sure, it serves the purpose of the music but it doesn't get in the way of whatever is going on, the drones, the ambience. Carefully building sound constructions, these six pieces is each a beauty to hear. This is, and I am not exaggerating here, by far the best Orphax release I have heard. It's a great decision to have this on a real CD, a show of confidence." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2013 |
€11.50 |
|
| |
Saxophone Studies |
LP |
Side A/Track 1 of this record contains frequencies and effects (or as someone called it "non-harmonic multitones") that do not work over headphones or laptop speakers. It is recommended to listen on a good sound system on high volume.
Saxophone Studies is an album that took multiple years to form. Already in 2006 I asked friends and other musicians if they could send me audio files to make music out of this. This music never really happened, but one of the files I received was some saxophone recordings by James Fella (Soft Shoulder / Gilgongo Records). In 2017 while browsing my computer for audio files I came across this recording and finally took it up to create work from this.
Straight from diving in these recordings I had a clear goal for these recordings. The result is a 17 minute long piercing drone work where due to the use of multi-layering and rough cutting a psychedelic effect takes place. The "non-harmonic multitones" collide with each other in the room but also your ears to create a mesmerizing mind fuck.
After this track was finished I was eager to create a second piece for saxophone, and I was really happy for this to work with my father. So late December 2017 I brought my recording equipment to my parents where my father played his various saxophones for me.
In this work, which is very bass heavy, I worked with all different saxophone sounds but the focus lies on the baritone. Again with multi-layering and here also phasing of the sounds a slow evolving piece grows and grows. Other than the first piece here I wanted to create a more relaxed listening experience, though still when you dive into the details strange patterns appear with beating sounds, from which in the end the melodic parts of the saxophone slowly emerge.
For this album I want to thank James and Jozef for their contributions, Rutger Zuydervelt for the help with the artwork and Jos Smolders for the mastering and advice, and the dear people from Monotype Pressings for the help in making this happen.
It was a long journey with quite some hiccups, but we made it.
credits
released September 28, 2018
Saxophone by James Fella (JF) and Jozef van Erve (JvE)
Composition and music by Sietse van Erve / Orphax
Mastered by Jos Smolders at EARLabs
Design by Sietse van Erve with help from Rutger Zuydervelt
https://movingfurniturerecords.bandcamp.com/album/saxophone-studies |
2018 |
€16.50 |
|
| ORPHAX & MACHINEFABRIEK |
Weerkaatsing |
CD |
Weerkaatsing is the first collaboration by Rutger Zuydervelt (Machinefabriek) and Sietse van Erve (Orphax), both active players in the Dutch experimental electronic music field. While their paths did cross many times at concerts either as visitors or as performing artists, never before these prolific musicians got together. And as with so many collaborations also this one has a story behind it:
Reflectie (Orphax)
The idea behind this collaboration started in 2007, when Rutger released his EP Stofstuk and following this the remix album Kruimeldief.
For years since the release I was intrigued by this little piece and the various remixes, and always had the idea of making a remix myself (and actually to start a series of unrequested remixes). Finally in 2016 I took the time to really work on this Stofstuk remix. With some magic and other forms of witchcraft I created the almost 20 minute long drone piece Reflectie, based solely on the Stofstuk piece. I tried to put a real Orphax touch to the work, but without losing the true Machinefabriek sound. As such it really felt for me as if we did a collaboration; and it was screaming for more.
So I told Rutger about this and after I sent him the piece the idea came he would also remix one of my works. And from there this collaboration really kicked off...
Spiegeling (Machinefabriek)
The first time I met Sietse was at a gig in Utrecht, probably in 2006 or so, but I’m not sure. Since then, I saw him at so many gigs… one of the regulars of the scene, I’d say. Anyway, in 2007 I invited a load of artists to make a remix of my track ‘Stofstuk’. The results appeared on the album ‘Kruimeldief’, but what was missing was Sietse’s remix. At least, that’s what I found out recently. Apparently he had been ‘secretly’ working on a beautiful 20-minute remake of my track. Damn, it was too nice not to do anything with it, so we decided that I should return the favour and do a remix of an Orphax piece. I choose 'Geluiden van de Eerste Dag’, of his 'Tragedie van een Liedjesschrijver’ album, the piece that resonated the most with me. And the rework was done in no time. Not because I was in a hurry, but because the basic material of the track was so grateful to work with. I added a few looped snippets of violin which I recorded at a rehearsal (for another piece), and these worked perfectly with Sietse’s sounds. ‘One plus one equals three’, I’d say (cliché or not).
Weerkaatsing (Together)
So then we had two remixes. We had already decided to release this somehow, but it didn’t feel complete yet. That’s when ‘Weerkaatsing’, the title track, came to life. The most ‘collaborative collaboration’, and our favourite track of the album. It’s like the table tennis illustration on the cover; we kept bouncing sounds back and forth, until the track was finished. Which, again, didn’t take long. We were clearly on the same wavelength, and together with the other two tracks, we think it’s a really solid drone album.
movingfurniturerecords.bandcamp.com/album/weerkaatsing
"In a small country like The Netherlands there is a small, lively scene of experimental musicians, who bump into each other quite a lot and it is almost inevitable that there will be collaborations. Sietse van Erve, also known as Orphax bumped into Rutger Zuydervelt, alias Machinefabriek, bumped into each other a lot, as players of concerts or visitors to other concerts. Orphax was also interested in 'Stofstuk', an early piece by Machinefabriek (see Vital Weekly 573) that got quite quickly a remix CD to its name (see Vital Weekly 586). Van Erve was not on part of that remix project but over the years worked on a remix of his own and when Rutger found out, he decided to thank by doing a remix of an Orphax piece, 'Geluiden van de Eerste dag' from 'Tragedie Van Een Liedjesschrijver' (see Vital Weekly 899), in a twenty minute piece. To top it off they
worked on a joint piece of music, bouncing sound files back and forth and now all three pieces.
These three pieces are now to be found on 'Weerkaatsing', which means reflection, just as all three pieces have titles which Dutch synonyms for 'reflection'. Many works by both artists have been reviewed in Vital Weekly, and if you read what was written over the years, you know the words 'drone' and 'ambient' have been used quite a bit. This collaborative is not different and both play what their fans, me included, expect them to do. Where Machinefabriek has the sustaining organ sound Orphax is known, along with the stretching of bell sounds, Orphax uses the violin loops of the original and even allows for some rough cuts. Machinefabriek seems to be at his most minimal in this piece, in awe of Orphax, I'd say, and Orphax returns by showing a more musical side. In their duet piece they go for the more conventional drone approach and it consists of many layers of Orphax' old organs picked up in a space with a microphone adding an excellent space feel to them, and it gets a lovely treatment. This CD has a great cover too,
courtesy by Zuydervelt. An excellent release." (FdW/Vital weekly) |
2017 |
€12.00 |
|
| ORSI, FABIO |
Osci |
LP |
Italienischer Newcomer auf SMALL VOICES mit einer von Nostalgie und Melancholie durchdrungenen Drone/Ambient-Produktion, field recordings und traditionelles Folk-Material wird z.T. loopig verwebt mit Gitarren- & Synth-Klängen, 3 nostalgische Postkarten runden das verträumt-nostalgische Bild ab... für Atmo-Melancholiker.
“SmallVoices is happy to present a new Italian promising artist: Fabio Orsi. 'Osci' is a two long tracks album (remixed by Gianluca Becuzzi/Kinetix) of ambient drone music, field recordings and experimental melancholic soundcapes... Using processed folk music parts (taken during folkloristic festivals, typical of the Apulian folk tradition), Fabio creates a dreaming atmosphere crossing between balls and bellows, silence and spirituality, everyday life: at home, in a church, in the countryside, at the small-town feast. All these sounds mixed and processed through digital machines: an encounter between modernism and tradition. Image a sort of mixture between Alio Die's ambient works, William Basinski's melancholia, Phil Niblock's experimentalism. Fabio Orsi plays: guitars, samples, field recordings, laptop. The black heavy weight vinyl was packaged in an elegant sleeve and including 3 postcards.” [label info]
“Osci is a deep hole into the ground of the loved/hated traditional music. It is a snatch with the past, watching it from unusual perspective, with deforming lens under coloured lights. Osci never meets "Art", it is something like a hack. As the sickle relates about the man, but it's completely unconcerned with their destiny. He speaks the speech of crickets and ants. Time no exist. Telephone are not used to ring and the bees are assembling a "flying saucers" with the elements of an old washing machine. Telephone doesn't know how to ring and voices are gliding in to the dark from mouths full of soil and cheap beer, talking about obscene love proposals. Under the Sun we reverse a big stone and the name of a girl crawls out, into the grass. Someone picks up it from the ground, and put it on the neck as an amulet. Violin's strings clasp the heart in an August night. Flames itching the flesh with pain. Finally our body shows infinite chances. Inside and outside. Every single pore is a hole. Inside is outside. A blink. We would like to shake the skin from bodies, jumping in the fire. A blink. Then we leave by car, disappearing on dusty roads. Sentenced to a slow craziness. All the rumours pushing under the scab. Where the streets are swelling as the veins and the buildings are collapsing, we plant a microphone, cold as a needle.” [liner notes]
|
2006 |
€15.00 |
|
|
The new Year is over |
3 x CD |
"Nine long and extraordinary tracks collected in a triple CD, among fluctuating ambient atmospheres, hypnotic rhythmic progressions, circular and motionless stasis, acid psychedelic escapes, evocative electronic reflections... Slow suites of "classic" ambient music suspended and dilated, soft and wrapping sonorities alternated with evocative and dramatic crescendos, through progressive sounds layerings, drones, pulses, distant echoes of human voices and subliminal perceptions of ethnical vibrations... A long and absorbing journey through distant sounds and universes, a timeless music without boundaries...
Monumental opus by one of the most brillant italian artist. Simply a milestone.
Limited edition of 300 copies in cartonsleeve." [label info]
www.silentes.net
"One of things I wondered about when listening and looking at 'The New Year Is Over' is why a set of three CDs? Track titles don't show evidence that these belong to each other per se, but of course music wise it does. Nine lengthy cuts of what Fabio Orsi does best, playing ambient soundscapes, highly atmospheric. He employs synth, effects and guitar according to the cover. That's easy. The outcome however isn't as homogenic as one should expect. I thought it would be along those lines where we have nine similar approaches to the same idea, but that's not the case. A piece like 'Endlisch' on the first disc is almost noise ambient, with a touch of rhythm buried underneath and marks the end of a CD that seems anyway a lot louder than we are used to. Its a diametrical opposite piece to 'Dust In One Hand, Love In The Other' (track two, disc two), which is a very soft floating sailboat, the last track of a more silent CD. These two works could have fitted one disc, but I can see why it's decided not to do that. The third disc has three pieces which have a slightly more rhythmic, looping feel about it, and bridges I guess the two previous CDs in an effort to go from very quiet, introspective material to more loud movements in 'The Lonesome Era (part 3)'. This CD is a showcase of the various aspects of atmospheric music that Orsi is familiar with and as such he does a great job in displaying that. You could argue wether three is a crowd and such a showcase could have been one CD, but I think its better to have it over the course of three separate discs and show the smaller variations in there." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2012 |
€18.00 |
|
|
Uncharted Waters |
CD |
With more than 30 albums under his belt, Fabio Orsi has been one of the leading figures of the Italian electronic scene for over 10 years now. In his work he experimented with folktronica, drones, field recordings, minimalism, and sampling. As the title itself indicates, his latest album (and the first one released on Zoharum) is a journey into previously unknown areas. "Uncharted Waters" is a pulsating, multi-layered, multi-coloured 36-minute composition that can surprise current fans of the artist. It proves you can expect the unexpected from Fabio Orsi. At the same time, the melancholy hovering over the melodies and the atmosphere of this album links "Uncharted Waters" with previous releases of this Italian artist.
https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/uncharted-waters
"Background/Info: In a bit more than years Italian artist Fabio Orsi has released an impressive number of productions. “Uncharted Waters” is his first work released by Zoharum Records.
Content: “Uncharted Waters” is an invitation to dream away. The work takes off a pure space-style. The track is progressively evolving towards darker passages. After more or less 20 minutes you’ll notice electro sequences accentuating the electro-ambient approach of the composition. “Uncharted Waters” features one single cut of more than 35 minutes.
+ + + : I like this typical space-like atmosphere hanging over the composition. It’s a relaxing experience, which progressively moves into a darker sound. The second half of the song is the most fascinating one. There’s a kind of exciting space-dub touch leading the listener into a transcendental journey.
– – – : When listening to a single piece with such a long during time it’s nearly impossible to remain fascinated from start till the end. The first half of the composition is relaxing, but not exactly exciting
Conclusion: Music can be synonym of travelling and that’s precisely what this album is all about! Put the disc in the CD player, close your eyes and dream away throughout unknown, imaginary places." [Side-Line]
|
2019 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Sterminato Piano |
LP |
I've known Fabio Orsi for almost fifteen years now, artistically and humanly. Since the days of "Osci" his first album released by SmallVoices, my label at that time, up to some essential records published by A Silent Place, another label that I managed, in a period that seems almost unrepeatable. Each of his work, whether in music or photography, is always a certainty for me, but lately also a surprise; in fact Fabio Orsi has learned to surprise himself and surprise us: this new creature is different from his previous releases, but is always touched by that talent and crystalline class that distinguishes him; after all these years, I can affirm it without fear of appearing too enthusiastic or even partisan. The new work "Sterminato Piano" settles among the best things of Fabio Orsi, but also in some ways, among the most unexpected and original. After eight years in Berlin, his return to Puglia (south of Italy) is restoring new life and new creativity and new energy. In fact, the new album is full of energy and warmth, with patterns, sequences and dancefloor beats of our dreams. Amazing cover artwork wizardly made by Italian illustrator Mastereaster.
https://fabioorsi.bandcamp.com/album/sterminato-piano
|
2019 |
€18.00 |
|
|
Reverse Diverse |
CD |
An album of sublime workmanship, developed by one of the finest Italian artists in that experimental context in the broadest sense that Fabio Orsi has explored over the years in every direction, with the uncommon ability to always go "beyond", renewing himself, seeking new sounds and new forms of expression, without ever completely abandoning the "main" path from which he began his long journey many years ago.
In this "Reverse Diverse", the artist combines sounds and musical openings that are at times almost "symphonic" with programmed rhythmic structures of great impact and effectiveness, with moments of strong impact and drama alternating with moments of more reflective "stillness" and introspection.
The tracks are those of an electronic music that draws its greatest inspiration from all that the "Berlin School" has been able to express from its beginnings up to the most current digressions; but this is only a general indication, because Fabio Orsi has been able to catch every bud of that experience, to then "expand" and develop it in a very personal way, integrating it with all the other influences that until today have "contaminated" his appreciated artistic/musical past.
|
2021 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Late Afternoon Tapes |
CD-R |
recorded, edited and mastered in my studio, Litoranea salentina, March 2022
fabioorsi.bandcamp.com
cover collage by Robert Kerber
“Für gewöhnlich versuchte er, einen winzigen Augenblick in der Zeit festzuhalten, aber manchmal fand er Vergnügen daran, kleine Geschichten zu erzählen”
robertkerberart.wordpress.com
With this album, the labels attenuation circuit, run by EMERGE, and Grubenwehr Freiburg, run by Grodock, launch a new series of co-releases, marked by their catalogue code with the label 'initials' ACGF, but especially by their over-sized artwork in the format of a 7'' vinyl single sleeve. The aim is to give artists a broader exposure across the various networks of the two labels.
Fabio Orsi, who divides his time between Berlin and his native Southern Italy, makes ambient music in the best possible sense of the term. Not in the sense that it is music that just textures the air as some kind of acoustic wallpaper or furniture and doesn't actually deserve attentive listening. But rather music that attunes itself to the slow changes in atmospheres, light and weather conditions, the ambience in the sense of the (natural) world that surrounds and in many ways (still) defines us. “Late Afternoon Tapes” with its slowly meandering guitar-based textures will not only appeal to fans of guitarists like Robert Fripp or Christian Fennesz, but also – and the “Tapes” in the title may be a conscious hint at that – to anyone who enjoyed William Basinski's “Disintegration Loops”. When it's late afternoon, the light fades into an eventual darkness. This is music to go gentle into that good night, to paraphrase Dylan Thomas, or at least Fabio Orsi's music “makes time pass a little less painfully” (Anne Clark).
File under: ambient
"Last week, I wrote about the Silentes label and Fabio Orsi, these are very active people. Here we have a CDR release. It marks the beginning of a collaboration between Attenuation Circuit and Grubenwehr Freiburg. As I commit these words to the screen, it is not yet late afternoon, but the idea behind the music is evident. Daylight fades, the day ends, and there is a soundtrack for that. 'Thursday Afternoon' from Brian Eno is such an appt title in this respect. Orsi's recent music is all about synthesizers, sequences and arpeggio. I am not sure if that is the case with this new release. Maybe he returned to his guitar and loops? Or perhaps it is a combination of both? I suspect the latter to be the case here. These five pieces sound not unlike Eno or Fripp, solo or together, and are something of a departure for Orsi; or a sidestep. The music is slow, with minimal changes. A few notes are hanging in the air thick of cloudy drones. The result is fuzzy and hazy music. I enjoyed this very much, but I guess Orsi can't do much wrong in my book. For me, this is not the soundtrack of the end of the day, but rather the start of the day, my favourite moment to play ambient music. In that sense, this is music for every day, all times of the day, depending on what the listener chooses." [FdW /Vital Weekly]
|
2022 |
€8.50 |
|
| ORSI, FABIO & CLAUDIO ROCCHETTI |
Cascando |
LP |
"The work of both Fabio Orsi and Claudio Rocchetti has long been a varied study in internal dynamics. Through an array of instruments and sound sources, Orsi and Rocchetti have made an album that both feels very internal, and yet firmly roots observation on the external; that which is indeed beyond view. The very 'falling' of Cascando is at play across the work. Typically, of course, one associates the act of falling as a negative; something which is accidental and brings pain. Yet as the album begins with its harsh insect-like frequencies, so it ends in a similar vein as the fall implied is complete. Quite beyond that which one would expect however, the end result of said fall is one that is considered, calm, and ultimately, biotic. The slowing down of everything gives us time to see beyond life's noise, with its diversions and tracts. It helps us to absorb but to also look deeper, further, and onward, to a place we can call our own, to a place we can call home." [Ian Hawgood]
www.backwards.it
"The psychedelic drone traveler Fabio Orsi has dotted the globe appearing on an impressive array of labels with his slippery dronescaping and nocturnal impressionism. Time Released Sound, Home Normal, Digitalis, Students Of Decay, and Korm Plastics have all released his recordings, and here; he finds himself on the Italian imprint Backwards working with fellow countryman Claudio Rocchetti, who both happen to be residing in Berlin. The twin guitars of these audio alchemists surface through dense layers of time-delay effects of shimmer and blur, resulting in some lovely overtones and harmonics washed amidst the field recordings of rural chimes and cathedral incantation. While it's hard to discern the exact division of labor, Rocchetti seems to be the one with more of the rough-hewn Tom Carter-styled bent to his guitar figures and drones, where Orsi might be the one who wraps his instrument in a deep cosmic hypnosis. Together, they are formidable pairing making a gauzy yet earthen mesmerism, in conjuring these mirage-like recordings. Think a more shambolic Stars Of The Lid or a less shoegazing doppleganger of Simon Scott, and you'll probably be pretty close to what this Cascando falls. Gorgeous stuff." [Aquarius Rec.] |
2014 |
€12.50 |
|
| ORSI, FABIO & VALERIO COSI |
We could for Hours |
CD |
FABIO ORSIs organ-& harmonium-like drones are contrasted here by Saxophon-tunes, the sound is very polyphonic & broad, with a slight ethno-feel to it, somehow static and in motion at the same time..
four tracks with about 40 minutes of length, but you will definitely touch the repeat button after its finished.... and if you take heavy hallucinogenic drugs to this music, you will probably end up writing a label text as this:
"We Could For Hours is instability. It represents the will to open the gates of unknown. It is the dark, whispered sounds and hidden truths. Chaos. And now here it starts, everything takes form, sensations rise, objects acquire colours, distorted vision but still a vision of reality. Everything dances and follows the rhythm of music, an unknown tribal dance. Silence. Sounds follow themselves but always hidden in a veil of mistery, words are mute, everything is listening attentively to the enchanting melody of nature. Mind, free from human limits, goes straight towards a long journey and meets the supernatural and then sinks into the knowledge oblivion. Everything is nothing. Nothing is the time. Time becomes memory and memory brings us to happy thoughts that rise first, then fall in the end. Hallucinations. The precariousness feeling is overwhelming us, tollings of a clock without hands are molesting our ears and they scan the slow and endless flowing of life. Too late to be back. There's no possibility. We have to live desolate countrysides burnt by an August sun. Lysergic vision. Void." [label notes]
www.asilentplace.it
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
| ORSI, FABIO / ALESSANDRA GUTTAGLIERE |
Giardino Forico N.1 - Napoli |
do-CD & BOOK |
60 pages artwork-photo book (cm 17x24) + 2xCD, ltd. 100 copies
The city has passed through us like a big wave of dust carried by the wind
we found ourselves covered by debris, passing skeletons
shadows of leaves, passages, spells, voices of pianos from the windows
memories of places that live in several times
ardours and fervours and odours
we have immortalized them
we have brought the simulacra with us
we have watched them from the Estrada Atlantica
from the singing pits of Salento
from the immense Metrosideros of Monserrate
with the organ of a church in the Itria Valley
from our home
in one year of work the Giardino Forico appeared
it behaves like life, it brings
it appropriates the airs, the colours, the languages and the ways
it does not represent
it shows its vigour
which is our own
The Giardino Forico is a way of giving back a place, a knowledge, a humanity through our languages. It is the result of a vital artistic process, we listen and observe the space and we speak it.
13.silentes.it/private_sounds/sps1827_orsi_guttagliere_giardino_forico.htm
|
2018 |
€34.00 |
|
| ORSI, FABIO / TEZ |
Otto |
CD |
13/Silentes presents the fruitful first collaboration between FABIO ORSI and the Italian interdisciplinary artist and independent researcher MAURIZIO MARTINUCCI (aka TeZ), mostly knownfor his collaboration with ADI NEWTON in CLOCK DVA.
Together they have created a work as dense as it is intense, with cosmic traits that are aptly depicted in the images featured on the artwork. A work in which the experience of its two authors reaches a unique climax where you can only let yourself loose without placing any limits on your senses.
“Two liquid minds that meet in a truly surprising creative partnership, devoted to the alchemy of electronic weavings that pulse, dig, transform, dare, reinvent. The artists in question are Fabio Orsi and TeZ, talented musicians who need no introduction other than to point out that we find ourselves in the presence of two veterans of avant-garde experimentation and ambient noise that drives out hidden horizons by intercepting them in the space-time folds of the sound dimension. The plastic breath of OT / TO's 'optophonic' compositions denotes elements of visionary writing out of the ordinary, like prismatic figures in the odour of quantum mechanics, or like chiselled tonal profiles that refer to the synaesthetic idea of a music susceptible to becoming a vehicle for sublimating multi-sensory experiences. If Fabio Orsi shows off his knowledge as an imaginative creator of mental-oneiric atmospheres through the hallucinogenic, deeply immersive registers of his instrumental apparatuses based on electronic patterns, field recordings and variable frequency drones, TeZ is the synthesist of post-science and of the kinematic algorithm that triggers highly pervasive vibrational dynamics, the strategist of the mathematical pulsation that forges cycles of gravitational currents and vortexes of telematic sounds with innovative pronunciation. It is no wonder that Adi Newton wanted him permanently at the court of Clock DVA and that he has also distinguished himself in comparative research into the interrelational potential of sound, light and space. It is from this molecular fusion that the genesis-synergy of a work full of magnetic properties and captivating waveforms is triggered. Eight tracks, each of which is marked by a specific numbering (from one to eight), according to a numerical sequence aimed at the 'philological' purposes of the authors. What comes to life is a phenomenon of tensional factors and sinusoidal events in continuous movement, like atoms of fluid crystals that change shape and volume, perspective angle and tactile sensation, regenerating between one loop-scan and another, while the harmonics float, dart, throb and dance on the mesmeric granular stratifications of the drones. A fine elaboration of phono-particle complexions for a four-handed challenge that we can consider decisively won.” - Aldo Chimenti
CD in 6-panel digisleeve, ltd. 200 copies
13.silentes.it/private_sounds/sps2247_orsi_tez.htm
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| OSSASERPIA |
Mvsic for Solve et Coagvla |
CD & book |
"Vladimir Igoshin (Ossaserpia) has created Opus alchymicum, spectacular account of the »work« of the musickal alchemists who developed a symbolic kind of psychochemistry, aimed at producing the gold of mystical illumination through celestial musick. See theories by Robert Fludd (Robertus Fluctibus) and Rosicrucian theories of the monochord. Very unique drone chamber musick with some strange industrial elements. Vladimir Igoshin is known for his contributions to HCD compilations such as Lust From The Underworld and/or AL: 100th Anniversary. Special art-work for an oversized hard-bound book (A5) designed by fantastic Madeline von Foerster! Special limited edition consists of 500 hand-numbered copies in hand-made box covered with rustish top-notch embossed Quilt 120g paper. The oversized embossed hard-bound book (A5) printed on Gmund Kaschmir cream 170g and embossed CD sleeve-jacket again on Quilt 120g paper. Very rare print for all fans of occult & alchemy! Special limited box on request only!" label notes]
"Genre: Dark Ambient / Drone / Neo-Classical (Chamber) / Industrial.
In today’s climate where record labels seem intent on cheaply mass produced releases to make a few quick bucks it comes as a relief to find a record label that actually cares about the presentation to match the music they release. Stepping into the, highly deserved, limelight is the Czech HORUS CyclicDaemon record label founded by Martin Mrskos. All their releases, well the ones I’ve been lucky enough to track down, have been impeccable in every respect. What went before though has been overshadowed by this latest release by the artist Vladimir Igoshin recording as Ossaserpia. I doubt many labels would have the balls to put out a recording housed in an actual hard bound book, A5 sized, in quality 120g paper and beautifully illustrated by the artwork of Madeline von Foerster. My eyes still can’t take it all in. I’m not by any means up on Art by any stretch of the imagination but I knows what I like and I like what I see set before me. The illustrations saying more than any amount of words can possibly describe. Which they need to as there are no words to accompany the pictures. A wise decision as it leaves the listener to use their own creative imaginations to make of it what they will as they listen to the music. For this book is best used in conjunction with the recording. Which I suspect was the way it was meant to be. Separated both are superb stand alone products. Together they open up undiscovered realms that feeds the senses. The touch, smell and sights of the book complimented by the aural grandeur that Vladimir has composed.
Based on the theories of Robert Fludd (Robertus Fluctibus), 1574-1637, a Kentish Anglican alchemist, mathematician, astronomer, cosmologist who wrote thirteen published works in his lifetime and the Rosicrucian theories of the monochord. Please Google these for I have not the time, nor the intellect required, to go into great detail here, the music expands on the theory that alchemists developed a symbolic kind of chemistry aimed at producing the gold of mystical illumination through celestial music. Clear as muck then. The concept may well be shrouded in unintelligible mystery to a Neanderthal knuckle scraper like myself but even I could see what the artist has tried to envision through his music. Featuring, what I can only call, a Medieval vibe mixed in with modern Industrial noise and drone sensibilities the twelve tracks are a treat for the ears. Though you will need to give it a couple of spins to really get inside every nuance that Vladimir has created.
From the off perceptions are challenged by the dirge drones and assorted muted ‘noise’ effects that spread like wildfire from the speakers. The bass tones are heavy duty and tinted with a dark apparel. Move past this introduction and the speckles of Neo-Classical / Chamber music begins to shine forth and suddenly the music takes the semblance of form as Vladimir throws all manner of different black musical combinations into the cauldron that bubbles with an intensity you never realised possible. You are treated to a music born of fire and brimstone from an age past brought to life in the present day. As your eyes scan and feast on the pictures of storm clouds, dragons and entwined couples the music conjures them in the minds eye. At its heart the music is surprisingly downbeat and steeped in dark oppressive moods where tranquillity appears smashed to a pulp. For all the unsettling swings the music takes, and it takes a lot, it ends on a note of triumph. A glimpse of fortitude winning against all odds.
Unlike many recordings that have tried to re-create the whole ‘magical’ dark ambient experience ‘Mvsic For Solve Et Coagvla’ is the only one I’ve encountered that has actually got under the skin of its subject matter. I’ll not pretend that it is by any means an easy recording to get into and many of you may be put off by the way Vladimir has tackled the subject in such an uncompromising way. This might have been the Achilles heal for a lesser experienced musician but Vladimir’s music is created in such a way that through repeated plays you become more accustomed to the sounds until finally the clouds break and the full visionary aspects opens up before your ears. If there was such a thing as a perfect 10 for both presentation and music working in harmony and tandem with each other then ‘Mvsic For Solve Et Coagvla’ would be it. I tell you now that it will be one of the most sought after recordings for music lovers and collectors alike this year. With only 500 numbered copies you’ll need to act fast…or live to regret it." [Alan Milne / Heathen Harvest]
label-website: www.horus.cz
|
2006 |
€26.00 |
|
| OSSO EXOTICO |
Church Organ Works |
CD |
Die Aufnahmen zu diesem Album wurden ausschließlich in Kirchen gemacht – Orgelstücke, wie sie minimaler und freischwebender kaum sein können. Ätherisch & von mitunter monumentaler Art, aber auch von zarter, heiliger Stimmung. Wieder eine aussergewöhnliche CD der Gruppe aus Portugal. Sehr feine Artwork (Klappcover).
"The three piece group from Portugal explore in ten tracks the possibilities of the church organ. The members play in various combinations on different organs. The outcome is very varied. The opening piece is barely audible, but the second piece is a loud, repitive, all register open one. Of course it's hard to see this music without any religious overtones, but Osso Exotico don't give a clue in that direction: all their pieces are untitled. Meditative pieces in most cases, but less minimal then the known minimalist who grew up with playing organ. This is a different approach then Charlemagne Palestine would do, but none the less this is quite interesting." [Frans de Waard - Vital weekly]
|
1998 |
€8.00 |
|
| |
VII (SOLD OUT) |
7 |
"OSSO EXÓTICO hail from Lisboa, Portugal, and since their early releases (three LPs) they have developed a truly unique style – an atmospheric, meditative ambience created through the use of concrete classical instruments. Their last CD Church Organ Works (on Sonoris, France) was played entirely on church organs.... This EP could be considered a follow-up to the CD. The material presented here was likewise produced solely on church organs. OSSO EXÓTICO don't play the organ in the orthodox, classical manner; they instead create a minimal lull, both orchestral & droneful, using the natural reverberation of the church, thus evoking full, other-worldy atmospheres. This EP might make you listen attentively to a different kind of organic harmony. The "music of the spheres" can be found here!!
CLEAR VINYL, COVERS CONTAIN SPICES!
ALL 7"es APPEAR IN A LIMITED & NUMBERED EDITION OF 250 COPIES." [press release]
|
1999 |
€ |
|
| OSTERTAG, BOB |
Getting a Head |
CD |
“Second in the metal box limited edition re-releases, this one from 1980 with Fred Frith (guitar) and Charles K. Noyes (percussion) and featuring unorthodox instruments built from tape recorders and helium balloons.” [ReR]
“....Best known for his work with computers, here a young Ostertag plays an instrument consisting of a highly unstable and peculiar recording system, which uses helium balloons to hold up tape loops between three tape recorders made to malfunction in a variety of ways. The record marks one of the first, and to this day one of the only, times that tape manipulation techniques developed by the first generation of electronic composers for use in the studio were adapted for liver performance and improvisation. Ostertag uses this rather sculptural and bizarre contraption to manipulate the brilliant guitar playing of Fred Frith, and the elusive percussion work of Charles K. Noyes. Originally released 21 years ago as an LP, the 1,000-copy run quickly disappeared into the abyss of the collectors item.” [bobostertag.com]
|
1980 |
€14.00 |
|
| OSWALD, JOHN |
Aparanthesi |
CD |
“Aparanthesi consists of just one note. Oswald received a commission from Réseaux for its 'Rien à voir' concert series in Montreal to create an electroacousmatic composition of approximately fifteen minutes in duration for their festival in the winter of 2000. I usually already have an idea of the tangent I would like to take when I accept an invitation, and in this case it was the one-note idea. I was hoping to find an interesting way to follow a single specific pitch gradually through many states; it would be, in a sense, the morphing of a pitch through various instrumental, acoustic and electronic forms. Now when I say that Aparanthesi is one note I mean that it is one specific pitch and manifestations of that pitch in the various audible octaves. For A there are ten audible octaves, from the lowest note on most pianos (A=27.5 Hz) to 5 octaves above A 440, which is 14,080 Hz. These ten manifestations of simple halvings and doublings of a set frequency are the entire harmonic content of Aparanthesi -- any deviations from this frequency gravitate back to it, by various means. There's are two human solo instrumentalists in this piece. One of them is an anonymous piano tuner. The other is a cellist, Joan Jeanrenaud. And then almost everything that has a broad range of frequencies, or noise elements, is gradually filter-tuned to this tonic. A thunderstorm becomes a thunderstorm in A. All the birds in an aviary sing in A. The 88 notes of a piano are all tuned in forced perspective to one A. ... and a foghorn and cattle." [press release]
www.empreintesdigitales.com
|
2003 |
€13.00 |
|
| OTTE, HANS |
Minimum:Maximum / Orient:Occident |
CD |
Aufnahmen von 1973 und 1977 vom poetischen Klang-Puristen und Minimalisten HANS OTTE. Stimme, Glockenspiel, Radiowaves, instrumentelle Geräusche, werden zu reduzierten aber wirkungsvollen Klangbildern verwoben, eine direkte Umsetzung von verwobener Klang- und Lebensphilosophie spiegelt sich hier wieder.
“minimum:maximum (1973): texts / sounds / pictures. An environment (simultaneous concert in Stockholm and Bremen) for two organists: Karl-Erik Welin and Gerd Zacher, keyboard instruments. orient:occident (1977): for two woodwind-players and tape: Ingo Goritzki, oboe; Hans-Wilhelm Goetzke, clarinet. "Perhaps best known for his piano work 'Book of Sounds' these two works by German composer Hans Otte were composed in the 1970s. In that decade his aesthetic creed became increasingly clear: 'the search for the character and individuality of sound as such, which must be rediscovered and re-experienced independent of superimposed structures. The composer understands the dialogue with sounds as the discovery of their nature.' (Ute Schalz-Laurenze). While Hans Otte was an enthusiastic, one might say visionary promoter of fellow composers, such as John Cage and David Tudor, whose impacts had registered to the general public long after their force reached the surface, he nevertheless remained deeply committed to his own music. Otte's writings, simple lines that say: 'words are just something added on'; 'all great things laugh'; 'when something is reminiscent of nothing'; and, 'it's really something -- that voice that was once in the mouth,' all direct us to his music, because: 'everything always happens: Now.' It is Otte's music that betrays his particularity of thought to what (is everything), how (it happens), and when (is now). Words are just something added on. Collectively, these aphorisms reflect an aesthetic that dispenses with words which may address themselves to an understanding of the world. Here, however, the world to be understood is indescribable. What is everything? When is now? How does it happen? The message is that words tell, music is. Listen. The titles of these works: orient:occident and mnimum:maximum, suggest a relationship between seemingly disparate things to remind us of Otte's adage: 'It is the gardener who owns the garden.'" [label info]
wwww.pogus.com
|
2005 |
€14.00 |
|
| OUR LOVE WILL DESTROY THE WORLD |
I hate even Numbers |
LP |
"Parallel universes mangle and mash into a superheated cloud of galactic debris and non-recyclable plastic. After a slew of genre-confounding 7" releases, Our Love Will Destroy The World unravels his own history of nearly everything in this, the mere third full length offering under his world destroying moniker. Smearing the already dotty line between twinkle-toed rave music and excoriating drone cacophony, "I Hate Even Numbers" weighs in like a three-legged gargantuan in a one-man morris dance. Blessed with a deep conviction that 'nowhere' is somewhere definitely worth going to, crippled, hobbling, clunkbeats and bubblepulses contest every frequency to the death underscored (overscored?) by mega-electrified guitar tuning exercises, shattering a passage to a brand new India. Everything louder than everything else, everything dissolving in the powerful acid of the sound next to it - a frybrained avalanche of audio M&Ms. Profound, elevating, and mercilessly, relentlessly UP!
Our Love Will Destroy The World is the new one-man project by New Zealander Campbell Kneale after disbanding BIRCHVILLE CAT MOTEL. In the past Kneale has released albums on Ecstatic Peace, Corpus Hermeticum, Last Visible Dog, Conspiracy and his own Celebrate Psi Phenomena label. He has colllaborated with Lee Ranaldo, Neil Campbell, Bruce Russel, John Olson (Wolf Eyes), Yellow Swans, has toured throughout Japan, Europe, America and Australia and also records und the names BLACK BONED ANGEL and Ming.
"I Hate Even Numbers" is the 2nd LP by this new project for the Dekorder label (his 4th altogether) after last year's monolithic "Stillborn Plague Angels" album.
Limited edition of 400 copies!" [label info]
www.dekorder.com
"A quartet of new releases on Dekorder display the label's nicer senses of finding interesting new names as well as keeping the old. The old is represented by Campbell Kneale, previously working as Birchville Cat Motel, now trading as Our Love Will Destroy The World. The music also saw some changes, which are even more apparent on this third album under the new guise. Kneale dances the vitus dance here. The five pieces are all evolving around revolving sounds. Hectic, nervous, jumpy, this hardly classifies as 'dance' music. There is a bit of drum computer in here, but not a 4/4 one and there is a total chaos in all these jumpy sounds which are looped together. Occasionally we hear some guitar noise underneath all of this bumping stuff, a vague reminder perhaps of the more droney and noisy days of Kneale. I thought this was a pretty nice record, a decisive step forward (or side-ward is perhaps a better word), and do something new and do that well. This album reminded me of the album Richard Youngs put out on Dekorder: that same wicked sense of rhythm." [label info]
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| OUSTAD, KRISTOFFER |
Filth Haven |
CD |
"As one half of Swedish/Norwegian industrial duo K.N.O., Kristoffer Oustad is no stranger to the Malignant roster, and yet within the broader context of the K.N.O. sound, his exact contributions were never fully known, or at least immediately recognizable. Listening to his debut solo recording, it becomes evident that the more emotive and moody qualities within those recordings seemed to be his primary responsibility. The 7 tracks that comprise Filth Haven operate on a palpable psychological level and are perhaps some of the most personal and deeply emotional recordings Malignant has released. Oustad shows an innate ability to craft intricate and detailed pieces of grey hued, analog darkness that feel suspended in time… dreamlike and meditative, yet always hinting at something ominous on the horizon, as gradually shifting textures, drifting tones and haunting melodies intersect in a hazy, somnambulant procession. While the method for composition (analog synths, guitar, and field recordings) may have been the same, each track is uniquely different than the next, but in the end, feels tightly bound together by a cinematic framework that sinks deep into your consciousness. An absolutely astounding and rewarding work for those that appreciate all manner of dark music." [label info]
www.malignantrecords.com
"Filth Haven is the first full length release published by the Norwegian Kristoffer Oustad under his own name. In the past Oustad has offered several albums and compilation works under the moniker of Kristoffer Nyströms Orkester (a power industrial duet formed with Peter Nyström of Megaptera) and Plague Machinery and the post-metal, avant-garde industrial project V:28.
Filth Haven is an ultimate bleak, demonic and epic soundscaping inferno. Massive, absorbing and grimy, the dark instrumental music rituals offered here are made of brooding droney chords, treated found sources, ultra-sonic electronic assaults, micro signals, harsh noises, disembodied chants and treated hypnotic-like percussive elements. The whole orchestration is amazingly captivating and exceptionally turbulent, as if we enter in complete nightmare-ish hallucinations which send us back to primordial origins or to some forgotten cosmic events. ‘Filth Haven’ is a tremendously hell-ish narrative album, a sublime illustration of infernal scenes of extravagance and final desolation we can appreciate in terrifying painting visions of John Martin, John Charles Dollman or Adolf Hiremy-Hirschl, just to name a few. The apocalyptic mood is interrupted by rare field recordings as in the otherworldly Acheron-like droning sound tapestry of “Row me over.”
Mesmeric splendor, compelling musical procession and dark contemplative estates that will ravish addicted fans of isolationist ambient music and anything related to post-industrial experimentalism. With this album Malignant Records proves one more time that they figure among the most iconic producers of shimmering industrial ambient music. Filth Haven is definitely a recommended album for collectors as well as beginners in the genre." [Philippe Blache, IGLOO MAGAZINE]
|
2015 |
€12.00 |
|
| OVAL LANGUAGE, THE |
Hibernation |
LP |
The Oval Language is an autonomous art project founded in 1987 in Leipzig, East Germany, by Klaus-Peter John and Frank Berendt, and continued to this day by John. Its fields of activity are multifaceted and have included sound-noise performances, conceptual works in open spaces, installations, land art projects, photography, etc. The Oval Language has collaborated extensively with various artists, among others Nicolai Angelov, Koyo Axel Guhlmann, and Guido Hübner of Das Synthetische Mischgewebe.
Around 1991, the then members of the group – John, Berendt, and Peter Schüler – were exploring the irrational impact of the Monument to the Battle of the Nations (Völkerschlachtdenkmal) near Leipzig and presented the tri-media project "Hibernation", based around their attempts at approaching the undercurrents that are conserved within the imagery associated with the monument. Hibernation comprised live performances at the Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig (Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst, HGB) and at the Museum of Ethnography, an event sculpture in front of the monument which involved the burning of large amounts of straw, and an installation at the briquette factory Zechau near Altenburg.
"Hibernation is about the Monument to the Battle of the Nations near Leipzig. We don't look at it through the historical prism of the 1813 Battle of the Nations, though. We are concerned with the monument as a Gesamtkunstwerk, as a manifestation of irrational German thinking in previous times and its impact on today's generation." (The Oval Language)
This LP reproduces the sound layer of Hibernation and includes a recording of a live performance at the HGB, made in 1991. Printed inner sleeve with photos of each stage of the project and texts. Edition of 300.
www.edition-telemark.de/785.01.html
|
2017 |
€20.00 |
|
| OVRO |
Revisited |
CD |
Auf "Revisited" benutzt OVRO Feldaufnahmen aus St. Petersburg und Moskau, die sie von einer Reise mitbrachte. Die wallend-raunigen Drones der Metro, obskure TV-Schnipsel, Kirchenglocken, der Besuch eines "Eis-Tempels" und die Benutzung von Metallflöten, Kaffee-Bar Geräusche, Altai-Folklore in einem Museum... aus all diesen Soundquellen schafft sie eine faszinierende "zweite Reise" für den Headspace, so dunkel, dicht und traumverwebt spannend, dass hier quasi Genre-freie Musik ensteht, zwischen drone ambience, Geräuschmusik und atmosphärisch-experimentellen Hörspiel.
"The wondergirl of Finnish dark ambient soundscapes is back with a new album. Revisited is based on field recordings made during Ovro’s tour in Russia in 2006, subsequently processed and treated in the studio. Revisited is a powerful aural travelogue. It will lull the listener to a state of receptive trance, and then starts working on the subconscious mind. Let yourself go, lose yourself in the sound, expect lucid dreams, out-of-body experiences, alien apparitions and a shower of sound massaging your body throughout. Revisited is loosely related to Estraier, a 2006 EP of which only a handful of copies were given out. Compared to Estraier, Revisited is extended, mutated and more elaborate throughout. While the beginning is similar, the paths taken turn out somewhat different and thus the outcome is all new. CD is packed in beautiful 4-panel digisleeve. Edition of 1000 copies." [label info]
www.someplaceelse.net
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Horizontal / Vertical (SOLD OUT) |
7inch |
"OVRO has already been called "the wondergirl of Finnish experimental music" and with this, her first ever vinyl-release, she really proves this! On HORIZONTAL / VERTICAL deep waving droning noises are set against vortexing echoes & swirling digital effects, derived from what could be instrumental sources or object recordings, moving the willing listener into a surrealistic subconscious dimension. Especially on the second side the contrasting conrete material can fill your imagination with "something" that "happens", so captivating & condensed!
This music spreads like an unconscious aural travelogue in different spatial directions (horizontal & vertical). What makes OVRO so special is her capability to create very "cinematographic" and "narrative" drone-atmospheres or landscapes, with great care for even tiniest details.
OVRO is also a part of the SOME PLACE ELSE-association, together with NIKO SKORPIO.
Filed under: Subsconscious Travel-Drones
more info: www.someplaceelse.net/artists/?id=ovro
WHITE VINYL. HANDMADE COVERS PASTED UP WITH NEWSPAPER-SHEETS & FILMSTRIPS" [label info]
www.dronerecords.de
"Auch OVRO, die mit Horizontal / Vertical (DR-93, white vinyl, red labels) erstmals auf Vinyl zu hören ist, bekennt sich zu einem ‚Anderswo‘, das als Label Some Place Else eine Adresse in Venäjänkangas hat, in den Hinterwäldern von Turku. Dort hat die junge Finnin Musik veröffentlicht - Malice in Underland (2003), Gegendurchgangenzeit (2005), Mosaick the Serpent / Vipera Aurea (2006) und Revisited (2008) und weiteres als Hæretici 7o74, einem Duo mit Niko Skorpio - , die jedem, der sie hörte, in die Zwielichtzone
zwischen Tag, Traum und Alptraum entrückte und Geheimnisse zuflüsterte, wie sie Dichter als Krikelkrakel einer anderen Macht zu Papier bringen. Schon das Video zu ‚Equation Impossible‘ macht eine Faszination durch Stummfilmhorror und Schwarzweißfilme von Polanski deutlich. Hier suggiert ein aufgeklebter Filmstreifen auf den handgefertigten EP-Hüllen eine cineastische Qualität der ominösen Klänge, die ins Bewusstsein einsickern wie nichts Gutes. Eine grummelnde Basswelle, wischende, fast krächzende und kaskadierende Loops, die rückwärts und linksherum gegen das Gebot
der Zeit verstoßen. ‚Undergrounded‘ und ‚Elevatored‘ steht auf den Auslaufrillen. Man steckt in einem Untergeschoss fest, und das leise Klopfen und Scharren vor der Tür lässt einen zittern, dass sie nicht aufgeht. Oder ist es nur der eigene Puls im Ohr, und schon zittert der furchtsamen Nachtwache in der Hirn-Morgue sprichwörtlich ‚jedes Blatt‘?" [Bad Alchemy]
|
2008 |
€7.00 |
|
| OVUM |
Eld |
CD-R |
Ein one-tracker (51 Minuten) vom schwedischen dark ambient-Projekt, Zeitlupen-drones und leicht sirrende elektronische Effekte, die ganz langsam niedersinken.... windartige, verhallte Filterrauschsounds verstärken eine Atmosphäre des Unendlichen und Transzendentalen. Sehr schönes Artwork (2-fach Vollfarb-Pappklappcover mit GLUT darauf), insgesamt ein exzellenter dark-drone-ambience Release! TIP !!
“OVUM is the main project of Karl Midholm from Sweden, his style may be best described as a mixture of Industrial-Ambient and Drone Music. "Eld" was created in 1999 using recordings of fire as the only sound source. Such recordings were subsequently run through filter banks and effect units, resulting in one fifty minutes long track of evolving beautiful drones. The album was originally intended as part of a various artists set dealing with the four elements that unfortunately was never released. After five years from its creation, it finally see the light of day as another Blade Records / Afe Records co-production.” [label description]
|
2004 |
€12.00 |
|
| OÖPHOI (OOPHOI) |
Mare Imbrium |
CD |
Re-Release of the limited self-released CDR which appeared originally in January 2001. We wrote at that time: “New work by the italian ambient-project, getting more and more attention in the ambient-scene. OÖPHOI uses here “synths, electronics, tibetan singing bowls, stones, shakuhachi..” for his unbelievable spaced-out nebulous & lush drone-sound.. “Mare Imbrium” is our favourite, with extremely distant acoustics and a surreal dreamstate-sound, ideal sensual late-night listening!”
"Challenging music to drift away with, a deeply atmospheric listening experience inspired by the most obscure Sea of the Moon, Mare Imbrium, the Sea of Storms. Dark synth washes, subtle noises, the distant voice of the Goddesses and deep slow resonances create a trance-like soundscape which asks for a careful listening to uncover its secrets" [from the press release]
|
2003 |
€13.00 |
|
| P16.D4 |
Kühe In 1/2 Trauer |
LP |
https://www.sonoris.org/product/p16-d4-kuhe-in-12-trauer-lp/
LP version. Reissue, originally released in 1984. P16.D4 was a German electronic noise music collective, active primarily from 1980 to 1988. P16.D4 embraced tape cut-ups, musique concrète, endless recycling, and transformation of previously published material, and many long-distance collaborations with like-minded artists such as DDAA, Vortex Campaign, Nurse With Wound, and Merzbow. Their active participation in the international industrial tape scene yielded collaborative output such as their release Distruct, where bands such as Nurse with Wound, Nocturnal Emissions, Die Tödliche Doris, and The Haters provided the source material. The longest-term collaboration was with the installation and conceptual artist Achim Wollscheid, who used P16.D4 sounds as the basis for LPs he recorded under the name SBOTHI. Ralf Wehowsky, the only constant member of the group, later released solo material under the alias RLW. Members of P16.D4 were also involved with Selektion, a collective of people involved with sound as well as the visual arts. Selektion published LPs, CDs, books, visual art and design. The collective worked in a strongly improvised, spontaneous and anti-professional way, using acoustic and electronic instruments, using existing sound fragments, duplicating and alienating them, using repetition, distortion, changes in speed and playing direction. For this they used not only sounds of other artists but also their own material from earlier productions. Late works of the collective are associated with musique concrete.
"This music is staggeringly original and innovative, and while it's possible to locate it in a chain of circumstance that links it to 'industrial' music, P16.D4 indulged in none of the empty cliches associated with the genre, worked incredibly hard, and seem to have been aiming at a form of sound art that was much more profound, varied, subversive, and potentially dangerous. Kühe In 1/2 Trauer's accompanying credits indicate their radical approach to making music: lots of improvisation, lots of live electronics, extensive use of tape-loops, some conventional instrumentation, and much that isn't -- like the milk churn on 'Paris, Morgue' or the use of baking tray and washing machine elsewhere. Even when guitars, drums or keyboards are used, they're played very weirdly. It's not even made clear who was doing what; the main credit is 'Concept,' which I assume means that one of the three devised the framework in which the noise would operate itself, and while RLW gets the lion's share of these credits, a lot of the cuts are evenly divided among the team and I have no doubt that the group operated in a very democratic or libertarian manner. None of this prepares you for the insane and troubling sounds that reach your ears, composed with scant regard for conventional logic and following an exciting, absurdist path, especially in the matter of tape edits and juxtapositions of recordings." --Ed Pinsent, The Sound Projector
|
2022 |
€20.00 |
|
|
Distruct |
LP |
LP version. Reissue, originally released in 1984. P16.D4 was a German electronic noise music collective, active primarily from 1980 to 1988. P16.D4 embraced tape cut-ups, musique concrète, endless recycling, and transformation of previously published material, and many long-distance collaborations with like-minded artists such as DDAA, Vortex Campaign, Nurse With Wound, and Merzbow. Their active participation in the international industrial tape scene yielded collaborative output such as their release Distruct, where bands such as Nurse with Wound, Nocturnal Emissions, Die Tödliche Doris, and The Haters provided the source material. The longest-term collaboration was with the installation and conceptual artist Achim Wollscheid, who used P16.D4 sounds as the basis for LPs he recorded under the name SBOTHI. Ralf Wehowsky, the only constant member of the group, later released solo material under the alias RLW. Members of P16.D4 were also involved with Selektion, a collective of people involved with sound as well as the visual arts. Selektion published LPs, CDs, books, visual art and design. The collective worked in a strongly improvised, spontaneous and anti-professional way, using acoustic and electronic instruments, using existing sound fragments, duplicating and alienating them, using repetition, distortion, changes in speed and playing direction. For this they used not only sounds of other artists but also their own material from earlier productions. Late works of the collective are associated with musique concrete.
"On this, their second LP, P16.D4 solicited tapes from several artists from Europe, England, the U.S., Canada, and Japan, and mixed that with their own material. Though in the current digital age collaborations from artists thousands of miles apart is quite normal, this was a quite radical approach back in 1982, when work on this LP began -- an interesting concept that actually works quite well, since these artists, which include Bladder Flask, DDAA, the Haters, Merzbow, Nocturnal Emissions, Nurse With Wound, and several others -- work in a similar free-ranging experimentalism as P16.D4, and their particular elements, usually just vocals or one instrument or noise implement, blend well without diluting P16.D4's own peculiar brand of avant-garde post-industrialism, but merely give it another facet. One of the best tracks, 'Aufmarsch, Heimlich,' consists of a choir submitted anonymously from Eastern Europe phasing in and out of static while a skronky alto sax bleats away. Most of the pieces exist somewhere just beyond the borders of free jazz, industrial, and even classical avant-garde, full of jarring noises and strange transitions and with a heavy overlay of electronics. What started out as an experiment yielded one of P16.D4's best albums." --Rolf Semprebon/AllMusic
https://www.sonoris.org/product/p16-d4-distruct-lp/
|
2022 |
€20.00 |
|
|
Kühe in 1/2 Trauer |
CD |
P16.D4 was a German electronic noise music collective, active primarily from 1980 to 1988. P16.D4 embraced tape cut-ups, musique concrète, endless recycling and transformation of previously published material, and many long-distance collaborations with like-minded artists such as DDAA, Vortex Campaign, Nurse With Wound, and Merzbow. Their active participation in the international industrial tape scene yielded collaborative output such as their release Distruct, where bands such as Nurse with Wound, Nocturnal Emissions, Die Tödliche Doris, and The Haters provided the source material. The longest-term collaboration was with the installation and conceptual artist Achim Wollscheid, who used P16.D4 sounds as the basis for LPs he recorded under the name SBOTHI. Ralf Wehowsky, the only constant member of the group, later released solo material under the alias RLW.
Members of P16.D4 were also involved with Selektion, a collective of people involved with sound as well as the visual arts. Selektion published LPs, CDs, books, visual art and design.
The collective worked in a strongly improvised, spontaneous and anti-professional way, using acoustic and electronic instruments, using existing sound fragments, duplicating and alienating them, using repetition, distortion, changes in speed and playing direction. For this they used not only sounds of other artists but also their own material from earlier productions. Late works of the collective are associated with musique concrete.
https://www.sonoris.org/product/p16-d4-kuhe-in-12-trauer-lp/
##########################################
“This music is staggeringly original and innovative, and while it’s possible to locate it in a chain of circumstance that links it to ‘Industrial’ music, P16.D4 indulged in none of the empty cliches associated with the genre, worked incredibly hard, and seem to have been aiming at a form of sound art that was much more profound, varied, subversive, and potentially dangerous. Kuhe In 1/2 Trauer’s accompanying credits indicate their radical approach to making music: lots of improvisation, lots of live electronics, extensive use of tape-loops, some conventional instrumentation, and much that isn’t – like the milk churn on ‘Paris, Morgue’ or the use of baking tray and washing machine elsewhere. Even when guitars, drums or keyboards are used, they’re played very weirdly. It’s not even made clear who was doing what; the main credit is ‘Concept,’ which I assume means that one of the three devised the framework in which the noise would operate itself, and while RLW gets the lion’s share of these credits, a lot of the cuts are evenly divided among the team and I have no doubt that the group operated in a very democratic or libertarian manner. None of this prepares you for the insane and troubling sounds that reach your ears, composed with scant regard for conventional logic and following an exciting, absurdist path, especially in the matter of tape edits and juxtapositions of recordings.”
Ed Pinsent, The Sound Projector.
“Though this German group started out as a the new wave band P.D., by the time of Kuhe in 1/2 Trauer, their first LP under the P16.D4 name from 1984, they had developed far beyond into extremely experimental music similar to other post-industrial artists working with abstract avant-garde soundscapes. There’s a bleak industrial feel to the gritty, lo-fi electronics and tape loops, while the group throws in enough curve balls to keep it interesting. On some pieces, strange, looped choirs bubble out of throbbing pulses and drones of feedback, while others have clanging and clattering, and elements of musique concrète and improvisation blur the boundaries even further. The opening track, “Default Value,” is one of those disorienting pieces with noises flying everywhere, while “Paris Morgue” takes excerpts from one of their old P.D. tracks and messes it up with additional instruments, while the ungainly titled fourth track throws in a heavy texture of percussive noises to create an edgy ambience about to teeter off the edge, and the even darker and more ambient title track takes the tension even further. Arrhythmic and amorphous and capable at moments of becoming quite noisy and abrasive, while at others far more somber and quiet, Kuhe in 1/2 Trauer is quite a fascinating release.”
Rolf Semprebon / AMG
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
DISTRUCT |
CD |
Assemblage of transformed, organized and (re)structed sound material submitted by:
Bladder Flask, Déficit Des Années Antérieures, De Fabriek, The Haters, Philip Johnson, Hiroki Kocha, Merzbow, Fredrik Nilsen, Nocturnal Emissions, Nurse With Wound, Onnyk, Harold Schellinx, Die Tödliche Doris, Vortex Campaign.
P16.D4 was a German electronic noise music collective, active primarily from 1980 to 1988. P16.D4 embraced tape cut-ups, musique concrète, endless recycling and transformation of previously published material, and many long-distance collaborations with like-minded artists such as DDAA, Vortex Campaign, Nurse With Wound, and Merzbow. Their active participation in the international industrial tape scene yielded collaborative output such as their release Distruct, where bands such as Nurse with Wound, Nocturnal Emissions, Die Tödliche Doris, and The Haters provided the source material. The longest-term collaboration was with the installation and conceptual artist Achim Wollscheid, who used P16.D4 sounds as the basis for LPs he recorded under the name SBOTHI. Ralf Wehowsky, the only constant member of the group, later released solo material under the alias RLW.
Members of P16.D4 were also involved with Selektion, a collective of people involved with sound as well as the visual arts. Selektion published LPs, CDs, books, visual art and design.
The collective worked in a strongly improvised, spontaneous and anti-professional way, using acoustic and electronic instruments, using existing sound fragments, duplicating and alienating them, using repetition, distortion, changes in speed and playing direction. For this they used not only sounds of other artists but also their own material from earlier productions. Late works of the collective are associated with musique concrete.
https://www.sonoris.org/product/p16-d4-distruct-lp/
#############################################
“On this, their second LP, P16.D4 solicited tapes from several artists from Europe, England, the U.S., Canada, and Japan, and mixed that with their own material. Though in the current digital age collaborations from artists thousands of miles apart is quite normal, this was a quite radical approach back in 1982, when work on this LP began – an interesting concept that actually works quite well, since these artists, which include Bladder Flask, DDAA, the Haters, Merzbow, Nocturnal Emissions, Nurse With Wound, and several others – work in a similar free-ranging experimentalism as P16.D4, and their particular elements, usually just vocals or one instrument or noise implement, blend well without diluting P16.D4’s own peculiar brand of avant-garde post-industrialism, but merely give it another facet. One of the best tracks, “Aufmarsch, Heimlich,” consists of a choir submitted anonymously from Eastern Europe phasing in and out of static while a skronky alto sax bleats away. Most of the pieces exist somewhere just beyond the borders of free jazz, industrial, and even classical avant-garde, full of jarring noises and strange transitions and with a heavy overlay of electronics. What started out as an experiment yielded one of P16.D4’s best albums.”
Rolf Semprebon / AMG
“Distruct is organized around sounds provided by the cream of experimental musicians of the early ’80s, from Nurse With Wound to Nocturnal Emissions, via De Fabriek, Die Todliche Doris, The Haters, Merzbow, and others. Obviously, there is no question of remixing here, and at no time do P16.D4 seek to hide its sources, clearly identifying the contribution of each artist in the liner notes. It would be futile to try to find the paw of each artist, the trio operating vis-à-vis its collaborators the same methods as in their own work. Reworked, distorted by various effects, cut, edited, aggregated with other sounds, produced by P16.D4 themselves, reprocessed. Exchange, communication, two other data that will constantly recur in the work of P16.D4, rich in external contributions and encounters of all kinds. Musically, and despite the diversity of sources treated, Distruct escapes the heterogeneous character, which often marks this type of collaboration, to offer a coherent whole: fragments of opera, Soviet speeches, out-of-tune guitar, saxophone, tattered violins, overdriven and metallic noisy attacks, jackhammers, field recordings, battered choirs, and many other less identifiable sounds. In addition to the desired dialogue between the artists, Distruct also offers a real reflection on listening, and on the expectations of the listener.”
Dissolve
P16.D4 was a German electronic noise music collective, active primarily from 1980 to 1988. P16.D4 embraced tape cut-ups, musique concrète, endless recycling and transformation of previously published material, and many long-distance collaborations with like-minded artists such as DDAA, Vortex Campaign, Nurse With Wound, and Merzbow. Their active participation in the international industrial tape scene yielded collaborative output such as their release Distruct, where bands such as Nurse with Wound, Nocturnal Emissions, Die Tödliche Doris, and The Haters provided the source material. The longest-term collaboration was with the installation and conceptual artist Achim Wollscheid, who used P16.D4 sounds as the basis for LPs he recorded under the name SBOTHI. Ralf Wehowsky, the only constant member of the group, later released solo material under the alias RLW.
Members of P16.D4 were also involved with Selektion, a collective of people involved with sound as well as the visual arts. Selektion published LPs, CDs, books, visual art and design.
The collective worked in a strongly improvised, spontaneous and anti-professional way, using acoustic and electronic instruments, using existing sound fragments, duplicating and alienating them, using repetition, distortion, changes in speed and playing direction. For this they used not only sounds of other artists but also their own material from earlier productions. Late works of the collective are associated with musique concrete.
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| PACIONE, ADAM |
Dobranoc |
pic-LP |
"Dobranoc contains more than 40 minutes of new music utilizing field recordings, guitars, shortwave radio, analog keyboards & Moog filters. Haunting and yet serene, overflowing with contemplative and melodic tones, these are mostly long-form pieces: 'Always' builds slowly into a monolithic block of sound, while in the title track, layer after layer of warm atmosphere appears and then unravels into a sea of tranquility. This is three-dimensional music, strikingly elegant, from a modern master of the art. This picture disc LP is adorned with Pacione's lovely full-color macro photography circa 1995. The colorful sounds and images are bound together into a unified abstraction, dreamlike in its beauty. Adam Pacione has been a fixture in the upper echelon of ambient drone for the last five years with releases on Elevator Bath, Infraction, and his own Bee Eater Recordings imprint. Pacione is also a highly skilled photographer with solo exhibitions and nearly a lifetime of experience under his belt. He lives in Fort Worth, Texas. This picture disc LP has been released in an edition of 268 copies." [label info]
"Adam Pacione's blissed ambience has quietly enthralled us over many years now; and he continues his relationship with the exceptional Elevator Bath label, who has issued this wondrous album through an ongoing series of picture discs that previously included work by Rick Reed, our own Jim Haynes, and Dale Lloyd (reviewed elsewhere on this list). Pacione claims a bunch of sources for Dobranoc, including guitar, field recordings, analogue synth, Moog filters, and shortwave radio. He seems intent on extracting particular, harmonious colors from each of those materials and working them into a monochromatic blur of softened dronescaping and hushed ambience. The faintest of half-melodies work through Pacione's stately compositions; and it's
easy to become lost in these extended moments on Dobranoc. Throughout, Pacione streams a series of delicate textures that could be snow
coming through the radio, or it could be a light shower of rain that settles behind much of Pacione's sustained tonal flutterings. No
matter the source, the slight abrasions of these sounds act as a ghostly counterpoint to the purity that Pacione gets out of his drones. The resulting wanderings through his radiant soundfields have much of the sense of mystery that Zoviet France managed on Shadow Thief Of The Sun or that emerged from the more minimal explorations of Stars Of The Lid. The picture disc features two blurred macro-lens images sporting oversaturated colors abstracted through the lens; and these are suitable visuals to accompany Pacione's ethereal work.
Limited to 268 copies." [Aquarius Rec]
www.elevatorbath.com
|
2009 |
€17.50 |
|
|
From Stills to Motion |
CD |
"An age of virtual audio saturation, of pre-articulated sound. Expressivity, once an array of possible voices, is ever more probabilized. Originality, once primary criterion, is cast from the platform, problematized. Wondering, late in modernity's day, what does it take to make a noise that matters? A keen-eared recontextualizer, an alchemist who can make sound, found or unfound, to walk its own way, outside the ready-made parade. Adam Pacione is one such new recruit to a group of like-minded musicians, kindred spirits Brian Grainger (Milieu), Mike Bennett (Zimiamvian Night), and Kiln, who have brought the ferment from their sound stills to the Infraction table. That label is now streaming a vital strain of new backwoods ambient, this latest from deep in the heart of (Ft. Worth) Texas -- experimental, but harmonically-inclined, apparently lo-tech, but substantially audiocratic. Pacione's distinction lies in drawing the vectors of several lines of musical enquiry into a trajectory which leads to a suggestive affective place. Echoes of the enviro-drone clan, low-lying labels like and/OAR, Twenty Hertz -- old familiars of Infraction, the silhouettes of whose kinfolk -- Keith Berry, Paul Bradley -- are heard remotely. Pacione starts from base material, conventional instruments, mainly guitars, the odd analog synth and sample, but no tone is left unturned. Like a tenderized but still chewy analog to recent Kranky fuzz-blur harmonizations, his source-sounds quietly exult in altered states -- compressed, granularized, weathered, distressed... in a word (Pacione's) 'grexed.' Grex comes from cross-breeding -- environment traits spun with the string-steel of source, further fleshing out, the familiar contour lent unfamiliar edge. A delicate and intricate weave results -- a warp to the weft, dissonance offset by harmony, consonance subverted by pitch-bend. Basinski may have modeled the suggestivities of disintegration, mate Milieu pointed the emotive caché in sepia-stained sonorities, and Boards brothers the heart-swoop from modulating detune." [label info] |
2007 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Any Way, Shape, or Form |
4 x CD BOX |
Adam Pacione's finely crafted, deeply affecting drone work has found its place in the upper echelon of modern ambient artistry. Once heard, the gorgeous fluidity of his music is instantly recognizable.
Now, an absolutely crucial addition to Pacione's relatively slim oeuvre is here, offering more than four hours of aural color and visual sound from a master of the medium. "Any Way, Shape, or Form," a stunning 4CD box set, compiles all the material from Pacione’s "Still Life" series of 3" CDRs, originally offered via monthly subscription throughout 2009 and now long out of print. The late night ambient/drone sessions in this set were pulled from recordings made from 1999-2009, many of which originally served as soundtracks to Pacione’s photography exhibitions in galleries throughout Texas. These recordings have been meticulously remastered and two previously unreleased tracks from this period have been added, resulting in an absolute must-have for aficionados of haunting, textural, electronic music.
Pacione’s work largely centers around early Portastudio tape loop experiments, synthesizers, samples, and processed field recordings that gradually decompress to form a hypnotic serenade of becalmed tones. After years of experimentation, his first releases appeared in 2004, leading up to his proper debut album, "Sisyphus," a year later. By this time, Pacione's name was becoming synonymous with lush, atmospheric sonances of the highest caliber. His reputation strengthened even more with his next full-length, 2007's masterful "From Stills to Motion," which fully delivered on the promise of his earlier efforts. Since then, Pacione has stayed active with performances and recordings (see 2020's excellent digital-only "Mâché"). His physical output has been sparse over the last decade or so, however, and copies of the earlier releases are now quite scarce. "Any Way, Shape, or Form" then is particularly essential in making this vital section of Pacione's discography widely available for the first time.
The sixteen tracks included here are mostly long-form pieces: contemplative soundscapes evolving at a deliberate pace. There is an inherent spaciousness in these works; sounds are free to move and breathe as they shift between tension and tranquility. These extended audial ruminations allow Pacione to examine and subtly emphasize the details of each arrangement. And these details have been brought into sharp focus by the rigorous mastering job executed by renowned sound artist Alex Keller: a drifting haze sharply underscored by a biting frost.
In addition to the peerless audio in this set is a 20-page booklet reproducing all of Pacione's photography from the original CDRs as well as several previously unpublished images. These truly are the visual equivalents of his recordings: otherworldly snapshots of a stylized vision of nature, neither artificial nor entirely organic but a harmonious amalgamation. These rich photographs are somehow both crisply intricate and dreamily impressionistic: the ideal accompaniment for Pacione's evocative sound, perfectly rounding out his world-building.
This beautiful artefact is simply a rare pleasure for the senses. And a welcome reintroduction to Adam Pacione's singular aesthetic. A treasure not to be missed.
All tracks by Adam Pacione, 1999-2009
Recorded at Nightmare Castle, Fort Worth, Texas
Remastered by Alex Keller, 2021, Austin, Texas
35mm, 120, and Liquid Light photography by Adam M. Pacione, 1989-1999
Layout by Colin Sheffield
Box set includes:
⋅ Four compact discs, each in its own full-color sleeve with flooded black interiors
⋅ Full-color heavy duty box with spot UV printing and flooded black interior
⋅ 20-page full-color booklet featuring liner notes, recording history, and a wealth of Pacione's gorgeous photography
⋅ More than four hours of haunting ambient experiments
https://adam-pacione.bandcamp.com/album/any-way-shape-or-form
|
2021 |
€38.00 |
|
| PADDEN, DANIEL |
Pause for the Jet |
LP |
"DANIEL PADDEN kannte ich bisher als einen der Volcano-The-Bear-Bären. Nach Glasgow umgezogen, ging er auf Solopfade, erst als The One Ensemble Of Daniel Padden und mit Pause for the Jet (Dekorder 026) zum zweiten Mal unter dem bloßen Familiennamen. Seine Vorlieben für schräge Sounds aus fernen Ländern, für seltsamen Kraut- und wagemutigen Artrock sind darauf collagiert zu Songs und Instrumentals mit surrealen Haupt- und Nebenwirkungen. ‚Crow Crow Growth‘ mischt das Timbre von Charles Hayward mit Saitengezupfe und Ethnopercussion zu einem wehmütigen Folksong. ‚Sponge Shipwreck‘ lässt 33 Sekunden lang den Geist von Harry Partch erscheinen, ‚The Ghostly Whole‘ nur den Geist einer alten Kirchturmuhr, während Ratten pizzikato Kontrabass knabbern. Die Residents und Nurse With Wound haben ähnliche Seancen abgehalten, ähnlich von Recording Angels behütete Träume geträumt. ‚Three Farewells‘ mischt Posaune, Bassklarinette und Cello und loopt dazu einen elegischen Gesangsfetzen, bevor mit ‚The Liar Inbetween‘ wieder ein fast straighter Song erklingt, auch wenn die Begleitung erst nur seltsam verzupft und verschrappelt daher kommt und sich dann doch elektrisch verdichtet. Auf ‚The Shadow Of Lunch‘ tutet eine asthmatische Harmonika, die Kopfstimme dazu wackelt auf hölzernen Stelzen. Auf rostig schnarrenden Twangs schwimmt ‚Narwhal‘ dahin, um auf morbiden Trommelschlägen zu stranden. Katzenjämmerliche Salonmusik quietscht in allen Scharnieren, bevor Padden nach ‚Arc Fankle‘ mit seiner stotternder Percussion und ‚Bustle‘ mit seinem Bassklarinettengebrummel a capella ‚English Again‘ anstimmt. Seltsam, aber seltsam schön." [Bad Alchemy]
"Since 1995 Daniel Padden has been a member of Volcano The Bear, with several highly regarded album releases on Nurse With Wound's United Diaries label, Textile and Beta-Lactam Ring Records. After his move to Glasgow he started The One Ensemble Of Daniel Padden as an outlet for his solo recordings with releases on Catsup Plate, Secret Eye and Textile. When The One Ensemble slowly metamorphosed into a band of its own, Padden started to record his solo output under his birth name, with last year's "The Isaac Storm" on the Ultra Exzema label being the first seminal result.
Over the years Padden has developed a strong fascination for obscure musics from all over the world (re his recent "Epiphanies" article for The Wire magazine): mouth organ love-songs from Thailand, The Ramayana Monkey Chant from Bali, Khene pieces from Laos; so-called world music from Burundi to Bulgaria.
Combining these interests with his love for British Folk and Art Rock (This Heat, Robert Wyatt), Kraut Rock (Faust), Free Jazz, the surreal collage techniques of Nurse With Wound and the odd humour of The Residents, he has developed a totally unique and highly personal musical vision without ever sounding overambitious or directionless. Gorgeous song-writing is seamlessly transformed into pure fuzz or string drones, suddenly interrupted by some improvised reeds or collapsing percussion, all within the blink of an eye, and never losing its natural flow, "Pause for the Jet" is already an auspicious aspirant for our "Record of the Year"."[label info]
www.dekorder.com
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
| PALESTINE, CHARLEMAGNE |
Relationship Studies |
LP |
"Relationship Studies LP includes 2 seminal electronic music radical realizations by Charlemagne Palestine, or Relationship Study No. 1 (1967) and the generally titled Electronic from the same year. Sounds in motion like race cars, motor cycles, war planes, rocket ships excited Charlemagne sonic imagination when we was still a young teenager. Then came the experience of listening to the electronic music of Tod Dockstader, Alwyn Nikolais, Pierre Henry and Pierre Schaffer, Xenakis and Poème Electronique by Edgar Varese. Immediately fascinated Charlemagne Palestine bought a primitive electronic equipment and started to experiment, creating his original electronicesque language. The two previously unreleased 18 minute masterpieces presented here directly come from this early period of intense experimentations in a fluid ever-changing mix of adding and filtering white noise and simple sine tone generators. Both pieces are late night compositions created at the electronic music studio of the New York N.Y.U. Intermedia Center using Buchla 100 and Buchla 200 systems. Even if dating back from the mid-1960s these intense sonorities might very much recall the best early power electronic scene from the late 1970s, in particular to the first brut music works created by Maurizio Bianchi. For sure they represent a very unique and inspiring approach to electronic creation, sounding more and more actual and surprising nowadays. Edition limited to 350 copies." [label info] |
2010 |
€23.00 |
|
|
Strumming Music |
3 x CD |
"These unpublished pieces are probably his most contemporary music work, build on the same principle with other instruments of what he discovered on piano with Strumming mid-70.
This is an unique variation of the way to compose. A perpetual rise in a continuum of sound.
In the beginning were the Bells
All of the Strumming Music manifestations seem to have originated from Charlemagne's physical relationship with the colossal carillon bells in the tower of St. Thomas Church on Fifth Avenue in New York. I met Charlemagne Palestine in 1968. The intensity of his listening impressed me as the intensity of his playing would later, when I heard him play on the carillon and the bells to "his church". I realized later, when Charlemagne had started to develop his series of piano pieces called Strumming, that he was assaulting that concrete ceiling and literally pushing through its three feet to release the sonic energy in the piano, much as he had with the carillon. Charlemagne's interest and work in electronic music increased in the late 60's and in 1970 he decamped to southern California where he became a graduate student working with Morton Subotnick. It was during this year at CalArts (1970-71) that Charlemagne developed an approach to the piano that was not only extremely repetitive and physical but predicated on the theory that, given the right stimulus, the instrument had a voice of its own and could produce a whole array of high overtones that seem to jump out on their own as if by magic. Over the next few years he developed and polished the music that came to be known simply as "Strumming."
The rapid alternation between single notes and chords and different registers became a technique that he seemed to own, and it really only worked with this magic piano. "Strumming" was the physical technique; the melodies and harmonies that resulted made the music breathe and feel alive. After a while, the ear doesn't distinguish between notes that are sounded by hammers and those which are harmonics, generated by the natural resonance of the piano and just appear because of the acoustical situation. extract from liner notes by Ingram Marshall
Charlemagne Palestine wrote intense, ritualistic music in the 1970s, intended by the composer to rub against audiences' expectations of what is beautiful and meaningful in music. A composer-performer, he always performed his own works as soloist. His earliest works were compositions for carillon and electronic drones, and he is best known for his intensely performed piano works." [label info]
www.subrosa.net
|
2010 |
€20.00 |
|
|
Godbear |
LP |
Black Truffle Records present the first official vinyl reissue of Charlemagne Palestine's Godbear
- Godbear is a 1987 solo piano recording originally scheduled to sit alongside Sonic Youth and Swans in the catalogue of Glenn Branca's Neutral Records
- Revisiting his signature piano style in 1987 after several years focusing on visual art, Godbear presents three distinct variations that demonstrate the development of Palestine's piano music performed on the Bösendorfer Imperial Grand Piano, the 'Rolls Royce' of pianos
- A classic release, and one that, because of the variety of approaches surveyed within, serves as an ideal introduction to Palestine's ecstatic and mysterious sound world.
- Godbear is presented in a deluxe gatefold sleeve designed by Stephen O'Malley and has been remastered and cut by Rashad Becker at D&M, Berlin.
Black Truffle is pleased to present the first vinyl release of Charlemagne Palestine's Godbear, a 1987 solo piano recording originally scheduled to sit alongside Sonic Youth and Swans in the catalogue of Glenn Branca's Neutral Records but eventually released on CD by the Dutch Barooni label in 1998. Although Palestine has worked in an enormous variety of media, his long form performances for solo piano are perhaps his most acclaimed works. Palestine immersed himself in the study of overtones throughout the 1960s, working first with carillons and then with electronic synthesis, searching for the 'golden sound'. Beginning in the early 1970s he continued his exploration of the complexities hidden within seemingly simple tones and intervals on the Bösendorfer Imperial Grand Piano, the 'Rolls Royce' of pianos. With the piano's sustain pedal constantly depressed, Palestine hammers out rapidly repeated notes, allowing a complex cloud of overtones to rise above the percussive texture of the struck keys. Initially working with simple intervals such as octaves and fifths, Palestine gradually expanded the harmonic range of his piano performances over the years, while still retaining their ecstatically single-minded nature.
Revisiting his signature piano style in 1987 after several years focusing on visual art, Godbear presents three distinct variations that demonstrate the development of his piano music after the classic recordings of the early 1970s. Occupying the entire first side, The Lower Depths stages a slow descent from the piano's mid-range to the Bösendorfer's cavernous additional low octave, building into a thundering swarm of booming overtones. Breaking entirely with the stereotype of clinical minimalism, Palestine's journey to the depths embraces passages of darkly romantic melody before slowly ascending to its starting point. The version of Strumming Music performed here condenses the developmental arc of the piece into eleven minutes, fanning out from a single octave to a complex harmonic wash that calls to mind Palestine's enthusiasm for Debussy and Ravel. Timbral Assault is like an evil twin of Strumming Music, transforming its insistency and harmonic complexity into aggressive intensity and creeping dissonance, foreshadowing Palestine's later collaborations with Christoph Heemann. A classic release, and one that, because of the variety of approaches surveyed within, serves as an ideal introduction to Palestine's ecstatic and mysterious sound world.
- Francis Plagne |
2016 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
DINGGGDONGGGDINGGGzzzzzzz ferrrr SSSOFTTT DIVINI TIESSSSS!!!!!!!!! |
LP |
DINGGGDONGGGDINGGGzzzzzzz!!!!!!! In the newest record by the iconoclastic Brooklyn-born composer Charlemagne Palestine (b. 1947), find two mesmerizing works for carillon, the keyboard-controlled bell tower derived in the 16th century. On side A, a new piece recorded at the artist’s studio in Belgium — a high-ceiling, stuffed-animal-packed paradise he calls Charleworld—among friends and “divinities,” his name for the thousands of plush toys he’s amassed since the ’60s. On the flip side, Blank Forms Editions’ very first and long-out-of-print release appears on vinyl for the first time: a cathartic street recording of the maximalist composer’s 2018 musical eulogy for his late friend Tony Conrad, performed on the bells of St. Thomas Episcopal Church, where the two first met. Two mesmerizing “klanggdedangggebannggg” sessions in the Quasimodo of 53rd Street’s inimitable, trance-induced style.
Perhaps more than any of his contemporaries in the bustling, cross-disciplinary downtown New York arts scene of the ’60s and ’70s, Charlemagne Palestine (b. 1947) has embodied the notion of the artist as playful polymath, testing and transcending nearly every creative form imaginable in his more than six-decade career. Originally trained in Jewish sacred singing to be a cantor, he began his artistic life as a musician, studying piano and accordion, accompanying figures like Tiny Tim and Allen Ginsberg on percussion, using early synthesizers as an assistant to Alwin Nikolais, and eventually landing a long-running gig as the carillonneur at Midtown’s St. Thomas Episcopal. This libertine spirit of experimentation soon led to adventures in other aesthetic arenas: making kinetic light sculptures with Len Lye, devising choreographed performances with Simone Forti, and producing a series of visceral videotapes with the Castelli-Sonnabend collection. In the ’70s, he was particularly prominent on the burgeoning loft movement, becoming well-known for his sparse, intense, and exacting long-form piano concerts that seemed to bend the very nature of time and space. Beginning in the ’80s, he spent decades in self-imposed exile from the new music scene, living variously in Europe and Hawai'i and privately honing his hermetic sonic and visual practice. This was followed by a period of triumphant resurgence beginning in the mid-’90s, since which he has performed and exhibited globally.
This release is on the occasion of Blank Forms’ sixth annual gala honoring Charlemagne Palestine.
Mastered by Stephan Mathieu
Design by Alec Mapes-Frances
A1: Recorded on March 21, 2023, at CHARLEWORLDDDDD, Brussels, Belgium, by Lawrence Kumpf.
B1: Recorded on April 8, 2017, at the Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Educational Center, New York, by Ben Manley and on May 7, 2017, at Saint Thomas Church, New York, by Adrian Rew. Mixed by Robbie Lee.
https://blankformseditions.bandcamp.com/album/dingggdongggdingggzzzzzzz-ferrrr-sssofttt-divini-tiesssss
|
2023 |
€27.50 |
|
| PALESTINE, CHARLEMAGNE & Z'EV |
Rubhitbangklanghear Rubhitbangklangear |
do-CD |
"Second time in 20 years Palestine and Z'ev are performing together. First time they're recording it! Unreleased material from Charlemagne's lair, a place now called Charleworld, where both fellows spent 3 days in June 2010. Part of our Sub Rosa/Laboratoire Central sessions.
'i first started to play the bells while at high school of music + art in the sixties at st. thomas church across the street from the museum of modern art in manhattan!! i played everyday for years!! in the eighties
i met z'ev in amsterdam!! i'd known him for 20 years before he suggested one day that we perform together, which we did at lem barcelona in 2007!! later after seeing and hearing the carillon at my studio in brussels he suggested that we perform and record together there, which we did in 2010!! here's / hearsz what we did!!!!' charlemagne palestine " [label info]
www.subrosa.net
"Unter den Minimalisten ist Charlemagne Palestine sicher derjenige, der im etablierten und institutionalisierten Musikbetrieb weniger als seine Kollegen wahrgenommen wird. Die Auftritte und Aufnahmen Palestines hatten bzw. haben – nicht nur wegen dem Moment des Repetetiven (der sich auch im Titel widerspiegelt) – (auch) immer einen gewissen rituellen Charakter, etwa wenn z. B. die Stofftiere aus der extensiven Sammlung Palestines auf der Bühne drappiert wurden (vgl. die Rückseite der CD) und er sich den obligatorischen Cognac (der hier das Cover ziert) einschüttete. Und auch Z’EV hat sich sowohl musikalisch als auch schriftlich (in Rhythmajik, Practical Uses of Number, Rhythm and Sound, das bezeichnenderweise ursprünglich von Temple Press veröffentlicht wurde) mit dem, was Musik alles bewirken kann, auseinandergesetzt. Über das zuletzt genannte Werk schrebt Z’EV, es handele „not about music but spells out the use of rhythm and sound and proportion for Trance, Healing“.
In den Linernotes der Doppel-CD schreibt Palestine, er und Z’EV hätten sich 20 Jahre gekannt, bevor sie 2007 den Entschluss fassten, zusammen aufzutreten. Die auf „RubhitbangklanghearRubhitbangklangear“ enthaltenen Aufnahmen stammen aus dem Jahr 2010 und wurden in Palestines Studio in Brüssel gemacht. Auf der ersten CD finden sich die gemeinsamen Arbeiten: Während Palestine auf seinem Carillon -eine Art überdimensionales Glockenspiel- Melodien minimal variiert spielt, schlägt Z’EV seine schweren Bass-Trommeln. Was anfangs noch nebeneinander herzulaufen scheint, fügt sich im Verlauf der 18 Minuten zusammen; das Stück entwickelt sich zu einem repetetiv-perkussiven Mantra, das fast schon sakralen Charakter hat. Die zweite Duoaufnahme beginnt wesentlich zurückhaltender: Während die Glocken behutsam und langsam geschlagen werden, sind Z’EVs Beiträge kaum noch rhythmisch zu nennen, klingen so, als spiele er eine riesige Klangschale. Der dritte Track enthält dagegen erratischer klingende Perkussion, man meint, Z’EV wanke vom Cognac beschwingt durch eine Fabrikhalle, das Carillon ist hier stärker im Hintergrund. Das ist das vielleicht atonalste Stück auf dem Album. Die zweite CD enthält die Soloarbeiten und auch wenn diese nicht wirklich schlecht sind, so fallen sie im Vergleich zur ersten CD etwas ab, wobei die schiere physische Präsenz Z’EVs, die sich auf dem 46-minügen Abschlusstrack zeigt, schon beeindruckt und den Hörer – je nach Disposition – vielleicht tatsächlich in Trance versetzen kann." [M.G./African Paper]
"Here's two men who have been around since the 60s and both considerable ties to the underground, perhaps Z'EV more than Palestine. But neither have been elevated into the world of high art and are easy to approach. They met in Amsterdam in the 80s and have played a concert before, but only in 2010 they actually recorded material together at Charleworld, Charlemagne Palestine's own place, where has a carillon set up. The picture on the back shows what this looks like. Palestine up in the air playing the bells and Z'EV on the floor with his percussion. In '#3' the playing is somewhat chaotic and aided by natural reverb, but it's my least favorite piece of the three collaborations. In the other two we find an interesting drone like layer, played by Z'EV on a large skin drum and which adds a great texture to the more controlled playing of Palestine. In "#2' Z'EV only seems to rub the skins and makes it even more intense and creepy. I stopped the music because I wasn't sure if I was just hearing the music or something outside happened. That's the great mark of quality, I think. Those two long opening pieces would have been great enough by themselves. There is also a second CD with solo works. Palestine is brief here, just under eight minutes with a fine piece of carillon music, and 'Solo Z#1' sees Z'EV exploring more of those drone like sounds like on the second duo duo piece while his second piece lasts forty six minutes and we hear him like at least I remind me from the first time I heard his music (mid 80s). Banging metal percussion, aided with natural reverb, in what seems now proto-industrial music from an acoustic perspective. Excellent stuff here, this is the Z'EV I haven't heard in quite some time. Great package of excellent contemporary music all around." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2013 |
€16.00 |
|
| PANHUYSEN, PAUL |
Pendulum Change |
LP |
"First vinyl LP edition by Dutch sound and visual artist Paul Panhuysen since 1986. In terms of sound art, Paul Panhuysen is well-known for his long string installations, yet he has produced a vast amount of other sound installations using different materials and sound sources ranging from various instruments to animals such as birds. This LP contains a recording of the installation "Pendulum Change Ringing", displayed at Pand Koloniale Waren in Hasselt (Belgium) in 2012. The installation consists of twelve engraved Turkish metal platters, each mounted onto a black plastic bin, and placed in a 20 meters long row. The rim of each platter is hit by a metal pendulum operated by a tiny electromotor. Each hit causes the platter to resonate with a rich sound texture full of dissonant overtones. During the recording, the twelve pendulums are activated one after the other. The paces at which they swing differ due to their rods having different lengths. This causes interlocking rhythmic patterns to emerge that become more complex with each step and never stay the same. Hits aggregate into clusters, then thin out again. The sound is not chaotic, yet its regularity is hard to comprehend. "You might call Pendulum Change Ringing a typical Paul Panhuysen piece: it works according to a system, quite a simple one in fact, but its effect surpasses that apparent simplicity by far." (René van Peer)
Edition of 300 copies. Full-color sleeve with photos of the installation and liner notes by René van Peer. Black poly-lined inner sleeve." [label info]
www.edition-telemark.de
|
2014 |
€22.00 |
|
| |
Long String Installations |
3 x LP |
After two LPs in 2014 and 2017, Edition Telemark now turns to the group of works that is probably the most well-known within the vast oeuvre of Dutch sound and visual artist Paul Panhuysen (1934–2015): his long string installations. Using this term, he referred to all of his works involving strings and sounds. They were realized all around the world between 1982 and 2012 – until 1991 mostly together with Johan Goedhart –, each installation made specifically for the site where it was displayed.
Unlike other artists working with long strings around the same time, e.g. Ellen Fullman and Terry Fox, Panhuysen's strings were instruments or performative material only secondarily. Rather, his installations can be considered sculptural and sounding events in space, operating in between two lines of tradition, constructivism and situationism, that are evident also in many other parts of his oeuvre.
"Over 250 long string installations were made since 1982 and have produced a better understanding of what is happening in these works. The first information about what happens around us always depends on the perception and detection of our senses and is afterwards transformed, analyzed and interpreted by the brain. It has been a happy coincidence which has drawn my attention to this opportunity to integrate image and sound in the art of long string installations. [...] In daily life we try to understand what is happening primarily by visual and auditory perception. In art these two senses are mostly kept apart. In the long string installations, eyes and ears are equally important. This improves the understanding of reality and daily life." (from Panhuysen's preface to the book "Long Strings 1982–2011")
The first recordings of Panhuysen's long string installations were published in the 1980s, most famously on a 3-LP box set edited on Apollo Records in 1986.
This new 3-LP set includes solely unreleased recordings made between 1982 and 2012, with one recording added posthumously in 2017. It is presented in a triple gate-fold sleeve with printed inner sleeves containing liner notes by Rolf Sachsse and Stephan Wunderlich as well as various high-resolution photos.
www.edition-telemark.de |
2018 |
€55.00 |
|
| PANTALEIMON |
Cloudburst |
CD |
"Pantaleimon (pronounced 'Pan-ta-lay-mon') is the adopted moniker of vocalist and composer Andria Degens. Sometimes collaborating with friends, though often alone, she creates beautifully haunting and meditative music. Cloudburst, her first recording as Pantaleimon since 2002's Change My World, features four tracks of hypnotic vocal passages that together form a long conceptual piece, which, Degens says, '...is symbolic of the journey every human being makes in a lifetime... the transformation, transfiguration, the state of being, the space between heaven and Earth.' Initially packaged with a limited, hand-printed edition of Degens's poetry and drawings, Cloudburst is now available as a proper CD release." [press release]
"Pantaleimon is the work of Andria Degens, who may be best known as the wife of David Tibet from Current 93; and she, like many of Tibet's friends and partners, has contributed on occasion to the Current 93 cause. It goes without saying that the Pantaleimon project shares plenty of Current 93's inspirations from British folk music; but where Tibet uses those musical archetypes as a medium for mystical revelation, Degens' approach is far more impressionistic and delicate. Given song titles such as "Crystalline Rain," "Ascension of
the Sun," and the title track of this 20 minute EP, the splendor of nature springs from her elliptical guitar instrumentals that draw
favorable comparisons to the likes of Marissa Nadler and Steven R.Smith." [Aquarius]
www.durtro.com |
2007 |
€10.00 |
|
| PARADIN |
Coma Digenean |
CD-R |
Recht frisches “experimental ambience” – Projekt aus den Staaten mit sehr dynamisch-lebendigen Drone-Sphären, kreiert aus Analog-Synths, Klangschalen, gebogenem Metall, präparierter Gitarre... ein one-tracker (50+ minuten) der aber durch verschiedene Teile läuft...
definitiv kein Einheitsbrei und noch zu entdecken !
“Earlier this year I had my first encounter with the music of Paradin, aka Ben Fleury-Steiner from the USA. He released 'Flesh Of Caverns' on Mystery Sea (see Vital Weekly 472), which means you have to find him the areas of deep and dark ambient music. His previous releases I never heard. Paradin uses synths, singing bowls, bowed metal and treated guitar here on 'Coma Digenean', a single piece that consists of five different parts and sees a continuation of the previous Mystery Sea work. However it should be noted that Paradin doesn't play very strict ambient music, but is rather interested in creating a large atmospheric cloud of sound; this is something in which more happens than just one single drone, but various sounds move around each-other, all creating this atmosphere. In that sense there is more happening here than on an average ambient album, and that the sound is more up there and present. Spooky and mysterious music that certainly has a cinematographic quality. Very nice ambient music that makes a bit of difference from the rest.” [FdW / Vital Weekly]
Address: http://www.gearsofsound.net
label: www.gearsofsand.net
|
2005 |
€6.00 |
|
| PARLANE, ROSY |
Jessamine |
CD |
"Wie schon am ebenfalls bei Touch verlegten Vorgänger »Iris« finden sich auf »Jessamine« lediglich drei Tracks, nach der Betitelung wohl als Teile eines großen Ganzen zu hören, die vom Umfang her wieder eine Spieldauer von fast fünfzig Minuten erreichen. Dabei weisen deren durchwegs von Rhythmus und Melodie befreite Konturen recht eindeutige Züge klassischer Drones auf, die in den entscheidenden Momenten von monolithischem Dröhnen weg in Richtung konzentriert geschichteter Textur-Overloads tendieren und großzügig angelegte Spannungsbögen vornehmlich aus gekonnt inszenierten Intensitätsverläufen zwischen Loslassen und Verdichtung rekrutieren. Das dazu notwendige Instrumentarium ist zum Großteil akustisch und reicht von Gitarre und Piano bis hin zu Field Recordings, Radios oder verschiedenen Haushaltsobjekten. So bleibt auch nach dem digitalen Reißwolf eine, durch die glasklare Produktion eigenartig verstärkte, organische Grundstimmung erhalten, die durchaus im Widerstreit zur fokussierten, geradlinigen Ausrichtung der Tracks steht. Da gibt es kein Ausfransen, kein flächiges Abschweifen; Parlane entwirft einen beeindruckend konsequenten, fast schon ökonomischen Flow, zurrt die unruhigen Kleinstbestandteile, knackend, knisternd und Obertonfunken schlagend, zu drei hypnotischen HighTech-Ambient-Monstern zusammen und setzt auf die Dramaturgie der Dynamik. Oder umgekehrt? Während jedenfalls der erste Track noch vor dem Klimax ein trotzdem versöhnliches Ende findet und die große Erlösung im folgenden lediglich spärlich angedeutet wird, eigentlich nicht mehr als ein digitales Bäuerchen darstellt, explodiert das beinahe zwanzigminütige Schlussstück aus mittels Kaminfeuerknistern geerdetem, euphorisch verstrichenen Klanglayern zu einer wahrhaft infernalischen Wall of Sound, aufgezogen mit Hilfe von acht Gastmusikern, die ihre elektronisch verstärkten Streich- und Saiteninstrumente hier zu einem Crescendo auflaufen lassen, das seines gleichen sucht. Die Sicherheit und Konsequenz, mit der Parlane seine Soundskulpturen bearbeitet, sowie eine herbe, oft schwer fassbare Schönheit, die sich gleichermaßen durch harsche Noisewälle und entschlackte Ambientpassagen streckt, machen »Jessamine« zu einer enorm intensiven Erfahrung und darüber hinaus zu einem der besten Alben an den Outskirts elektronischer Avantgarde des vergangenen Jahres." [Tobias Bolt / Quietnoise]
"This is New Zealand-based (and former Thela member) Rosy Parlane's second full-length release on Touch. His previous album, Iris (2004), was hailed by Jim Haynes in The Wire who wrote: "Jon Wozencroft's impeccable photography and design packages Rosy Parlane's Iris inside a predominantly blue package, inextricably linking the music to the emotional resonance of the color... He flushes his soundfields with cascades of digital fragments which he separates into two distinct compositional categories. On the one hand, Parlane stretches sounds from guitar, piano and organ into unrecognizable drones that swell into dense layerings, every once in a while coalescing into fluttering half-melodies. On the other, he emphasizes the textural qualities of those digital fragments, simulating the natural acoustics of ice crackling from trees in winter or the gentle patter of rain on a windowsill. When fusing these together by placing the textures against the backdrop of the drone, Parlane effectively builds pointillist sound environments with a profoundly human melancholia." With Jessamine, Rosy develops these themes, and continues to incorporate new musical elements from unconventional as well as orchestral instrumentation. To him, everything is an instrument: from household objects to nature sounds. But it is the human element which gives his work such a distinctive sound. Ranging from ambient to noise, he gives full rein to textures of living; to start, languid and mournful; later harsh and assertive. Jessamine is a magnificent follow-up to a classic Touch debut. Rosy Parlane: electric and acoustic guitars, piano, melodica, accordion, violin, trombone, snare drum, shimsaw, amplified sawblade, bowed metal, household objects, contact microphones, field recordings, radio, computer. Additional contributions by Marcel Bear, Tetuzi Akiyama, Lasse Marhaug, Anthony Guerra, Michael Morley, Donald McPherson, Matthew Hyland, David Mitchell, Stefan Neville and Campbell Kneale." [press release]
"A little over two years ago, Rosy Parlane, made his debut on Touch with 'Iris', following solo releases on Sigma, and a membership of such bands as Thela and Parmetier. Three tracks back then, and on 'Jessamine' again three tracks. Rosy plays here electric and acoustic guitars, piano, melodica, accordion, violin, trombone, snare drum, shimsaw (an instrument designed by Marcel Bear), bowed metal, household objects, field recordings, radio, computer and contact microphone, and if that isn't enough there is also help from a whole bunch of people who played guitar. The first track starts out in common territory: ambient glitch made with bowed guitars, violins, but Parlane's music is more angular. It has a sharper edge, already in this first piece. Even a bit of old Organum could be traced in these scraping and bowing sounds. It's hard to say if all the instruments mentioned on the cover are also there, but guitars are definitely there. In the loudest part, 'Part Three' things become orgasmic loud, almost in a Merzbow manner, but Parlane keeps things nicely under control. Overall, Parlane has a richer sound than on 'Iris', there is more happening and he is stepping out of the more safer microsound glitch. Quite a leap forward!" [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2006 |
€14.50 |
|
| PARMEGIANI, BERNARD |
Memoire Magnetique Vol. 1 |
LP |
"Transversales Disques is very glad to announce the release of « Mémoire Magnétique, vol.1 » spanning 1966-1990, revelatory collection of commercial and secret music by electronic music pioneer Bernard Parmegiani.
This series of rare application music compositions are representative of the vast scope explored by Parmegiani. Far from the strict format of concert music, its codes and usages, this music designed to fit with the screen is a work of amazing freshness and spontaneity.
It is pervaded with a singular balance, between minimalist music and a more articulated language. There is a space for melody, for word repetitions. Actually, repetition is a constant feature, blurring the line between his concert work and the rest. More than a border line, it seems to define two worlds, which communicate through it.
With an impressive number of application works, and some time spent at the head of the Sound / Image sector in the research service led by Pierre Schaeffer, the composer has managed to build up a framework designed for research and mutual exchange. Bernard Parmegiani presents us with lights, gestures, lines, various registers. Besides, how could one perceive these pieces of music without the pictures they are supposed to enhance? Each title is suggestive, and the best answer is in the field of imagination.
In the middle of the B-side, there is a true gem dated 1977. In this second extract of “Versailles… peut-être“ Bernard Parmegiani gives us a glimpse of the future. One can feel the pulse of the 80’s and of the first accents of Techno Music. It feels like driving a drop head car at 134 BPM, faster than on Kraftwerk’s “Autobahn”. One can also sense that soon the LFO will be replaced by the drum-machine.
Listening to these pieces of music arouses the same sensation as reading the prose of an author already known for his poetry. If one has never read his poems, here is the record that will open the door on a new world to be discovered / Maxime Barthélemy.
Remastered high-resolution audio transferred directly from the original tapes.
Exclusive Liner Notes + OBI STRIP
https://transversales.bandcamp.com/album/m-moire-magn-tique-vol-1-1966-1990 |
2018 |
€24.00 |
|
| PARMERUD, AKE |
Growl |
CD |
"Composer Åke Parmerud is from Göteborg, which is also the home of underground labels such as Fang Bomb, Release The Bats, and Beläten, names on which we can always rely to provide solid blasts of depressive post-industrial noise and drone music. Parmerud isn’t exactly cut from the same cloth, being as how he’s a prize-winning and classically-trained electroacoustic maestro, but there are moments of tasty darkness on his Growl (empreintes DIGITALes IMED 15132) collection which appeal to a macabre chap like myself. La vie mécanique, for instance, is a pretty effective critique of modern industrialisation, or at least an observation on it, and takes the hoary old dystopian cliché of “modern man becoming machine-like” and dusts it down for an update that involves samples of machinery blended with Techno music. In this lively composition of clattering beats and metal, it’s far from clear where the factory machines leave off and the dancefloor begins; it’s intending to convey something about the body being broken down into smaller units, much like the cogs of a machine being taken apart. Parmerud also makes a commentary on the contemporary use of machines (laptops, presumably) for making music. I wish he’d be a little less equivocal about it, both in his notes and his music, but it’s a nifty statement.
Maybe serious composers shouldn’t dabble with Techno. However, if you think men of Parmerud’s generation should leave the kids’ music alone, you’ll be even more appalled by the idea of Growl itself, where he drily observes “metal music is big in Sweden” from his lofty position, and borrows some ideas from his youngest son who plays in a metal band. This might be Aron Parmerud who plays his “axe” for Marionette, a Death Metal band who made a couple of albums for Listenable Records. What the composer has done here is zero-in on the throat-shredding vocals that characterise a lot of the music in this genre, and through arranging samples of voices shrieking “Hell Is Us! Die We Must!”, has built a virtual “growlers choir”. With the dark techno backing, electronic effects, and gloomy ambient tones, this works surprisingly well, even if it sounds too “expensive” and well-produced for a genuine metal album and has far too many interesting dynamics. He also misses the claustrophobia and genuine sense of doom. But even so Parmerud turns in a strong piece of work, and in any case he wasn’t setting out to produce a metal album.
What else are the “young people” interested in these days? Vinyl records, of course! So listen in to 2011’s Grooves if you want to hear what Parmerud can do when sampling the black stuff. The source material for this was the vinyl collection of his friend Kai Hanekken; in fact the composition seems to have been a by-product of a digitisation project requested by said Hanekken, who urged the composer to pick up the gauntlet and create a composition. He gave in. What gets sampled are run-out grooves and vinyl “noise”, i.e. crackles and clicks and such; Parmerud seems to have been only too aware that doing this was already something of a well-worn cliché, but again he liked the challenge and wanted to see if he could invert it and bring new life into the idea. Although best heard at high volumes and played back through a multi-channel system, Grooves still succeeds on your home CD player and delivers a suffocating density which is clearly one of this composer’s trademarks. Continuity is severely disrupted by the multiple edits, and the speed with which the layers of abstract noise pile up is incredibly alarming. You’ll feel like you’re trapped on an enormous spinning black disc of death.
Also here: 2014’s Electric Birds derived from birdsong samples (yet another instance where Parmerud had promised himself he would never make a piece like this), and Transmissions II, the most recent composition. It derives from a multi-media work where, if seen live, a singing choir are able to manipulate sound signals in real time. Some fascinating complex electronic layers result, and it sounds a lot more contemporary than some of the formal music that often gets released on this label, and is every bit as convincing as any given Mego release from the last few years. Sometimes proper composers make a ninny of themselves when they try and get “with it”, but Åke Parmerud has nothing to be ashamed of here." [The Sound Projector]
|
2015 |
€14.50 |
|
| PARSONS, DAVID |
Puja |
CD |
"Perhaps mainly known for his panoramic and almost cinematic Himalayan soundworlds, on Puja David continues his more recent tradition of travelling the inner horizon. And in so doing, he also invites us listeners to undertake similar journeys of our own. Puja is a mysterious and magic constellation, fuelled by the spirit and discipline of the age old Asian cultures and philosophies."
https://gterma.bandcamp.com/album/puja
"This is one of those albums where it’s difficult to single out one track, or even one moment that will stay with you longer that the other ones. It’s rather something that you absorb in its entirety and don’t really want it to end, even if you don’t listen to it carefully and attentively for the whole seventy four minutes. David Parsons (do not confuse with Alan Parsons) returns with his second offering for the gterma label.
The first recordings of this composer from New Zealand date back to the early eighties. He released some albums for the legendary Fortuna Records and its sister-label Celestial Harmonies. Well, honestly speaking, I wasn’t in a rush to get familiar with this one. I was rather expecting some New Age mumbo-jumbo with an Eastern touch and perhaps a few ambient incrustations here and there. And you know what? I wasn’t that wrong, except for the fact that the ambient layers are more intense and cover the New Age frames, so they do not dominate the work that is called “Puja” (in Sanskrit it means “ritual prayer”).
What surprised me the most were the occasional darker trips, like in “Offerings 3” where the deep drones having something in common with aliquot singing are merged with ritual bells and sequences that even Lustmord would be proud of. It’s a peculiar combination that introduces a feeling of anxiety into this sublime communion with the gods. A fear of them perhaps?
The artist is juggling with moods from track to track, as another “Offering” is a peaceful and ethereal composition with samples of female chanting, but not in the way you’d expect – it’s intermittent, delayed and reverbed, but still nicely fitting into the calming textures. You can meet these contrasts more often within the space of the whole album, but you don’t feel confused, as it’s all gives the impression of a very coherent and thought out work.
That is also why I discussed distinguishing certain tracks or fragments. Because of the sound and the mood that is a derivative of the concept, it all sounds quite monolithic and dense. Focused like a ritual that requires patience, stillness and self-meditation. Of course, you can use “Puja” as muzak as well, and I doubt David Parsons would be particularly disappointed with such a treatment – but it works both ways. Consciously or unconsciously you can feel that something has changed in the environment. That a touch of mystique has penetrated into your regular day like any other day.
Since it’s a gterma release you know what to expect from a technical point of view. A CD only, no digital version. And, as always, a booklet with some beautiful photos completing the musical side." [Santa Sangre]
" “Puja” (started by the composer with nothing particular in mind) is David Parsons’ first album using software synths only, as he decided purchasing a fine collection of soft-synths in years previously eventually making his studio now reside in a Mac Mini. The depth and versatility of a lot of current software quite astonished him, as did the ability to manipulate samples and oscillators in completely surreal ways, which all proved quite inspirational (as also happened for “Stupa”). David spent about a year programming the software with hundreds of sound patches and from this new library “Puja” is the first to emerge.
The name of the album only suggested itself after the project was completed. The track names, simply “Offerings” 1 thru 7, are offerings in the sense of a Hindu/Buddhist puja (prayer ceremony) and feel most descriptive of the 73-minute most subtle constructed and captivating sonic content. In the mesmerizing, gradually evolving, elevating and rather hypnotizing textural waves/drone tapestries, many enchanting sounds pass by such as those of praying monks, sampled sitar and a few refined, subtle rhythmic elements.
Soon, a sense of mystery and spiritually simply reveals itself to and washed over the listener. There actually are many sounds buried fairly deeply in the mix of this inward journey so that with repeated listening new things will be discovered depending on where the listener’s attention is centered at any given moment. As David let me know, the mix itself is very much biased towards headphone listening.
The Gterma label refers to “Puja” as a charming piece of work, something I can only fully agree upon." [Sonic Immersion]
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
| PAVONE, JESSICA |
Knuckle Under |
LP |
"Violist Jessica Pavone's Knuckle Under is the result of an exercise in mono focus, the result of a medically enforced hiatus from playing her primary instrument. She returned to the viola after a 21 month lay-off determined to play only the sounds she most wanted to hear. That turned out to be long tones, often played with such force that one imagines a puff of rosin rising from her strings as she bowed them. 'But Not Here' gets through just three rustic sounding notes before a delay unit sprays one out like a prism. She repeats the phrase, and another note splits and gets trapped in an effects pedal's hall of mirrors. The simplicity and sheer noisiness of the music feels remote from the scrupulous craftsmanship exhibited on her last solo record, Hope Dawson Is Missing, even though they share a tune. 'Plutonium', the piece in common, reveals the flexibility that Pavone finds in folk material. On the Tzadik disc, it unfolds into a stately art song; here, mournful low tones turn as bushy as a wolf's winter coat under the influence of amplification. Pavone is, as ever, scrupulously focused, wringing everything she can from one piece of material before moving on.' Bill Meyer, The Wire, Issue 368. Knuckle Under is Pavone's first recording to be released on vinyl. Mastered by James Plotkin, cut direct to metal and pressed on 200g virgin vinyl in an edition of 300. The jacket was letterpress printed, diecut and hand-assembled at Studio on Fire in Minneapolis." [label info]
www.taigarecords.com
|
2014 |
€23.00 |
|
| PBK |
Descent |
CD-R |
"Among the artists from the late-80s experimental tape underground who inspired the music of EMERGE and the founding of Attenuation Circuit, PBK is one of the most important. Therefore, we are extremely proud to present in a digital format for the first time his first solo release “Descent” from 1988, which the artist aptly describes as “dramatic atmospheric space-drone with plenty of analog synthesizer, via Dave Prescott, who once ran the Generations Unlimited label, releasing works by Conrad Schnitzler, Morphogenesis, etc. Prescott owned one of the largest modular synths ever assembled and puts it to striking use on this tape. Combined with PBK's Moogs, loops and drones, and howls of anguish provided by the irrepressible Minóy, all echoing around in the strange space of a Radio Shack mixer's spring reverb.”
“Minoy’s bedroom isolationist approach produced something that seemed otherworldly, spiritual and more like paintings, which was my own background. I took Minoy’s approach as my own model,” PBK says about their late-80s collaborations. This eminently emotional yet perfectly poised masterpiece of “noise ambient”, as PBK came to call his approach to music, is stunning proof that the international tape underground brought forth truly new sounds in electronics that are second to nothing but the most revered academic work by the likes of Stockhausen or Xenakis, and certainly opened up these ways of exploration to larger numbers of people. As fellow composer and Sound of Pigs tape label activist Al Margolis/If, Bwana says about the late Minòy (1951 – 2010): “i heard Minoy’s work before i had ever heard Stockhausen’s Hymnen – so that my take on hearing Hymnen was that it fit in this continuum …not the other way around!!!”
[label info]
www.wix.com/attenuationcircuit/attenuation-circuit
"Phillip B Klingler: that's what PBK stands for. No secret but just in case you didn't know this and that might happen, since PBK might not be a household name these days. Unlike the late 80s when he rose to small fame in the underworld of home-brew cassette releases. He never went 'away' or in hibernation, but perhaps was not always as visible in this twenty-five year career. I am not sure if this re-issue of one of his earliest cassette releases is part of a longer campaign to re-issue earlier works, or perhaps part of an anniversary of some kind, but its great to hear it again after so many years. 'Descent' is perhaps his first true solo release, and sees him take inspiration from Minoy and David Prescott, rather than Stockhausen of Xenakis (I am using the press text, thank you). At David Prescott's he taped a whole bunch of synth sounds and spread these out over the four tracks of his machine and then started to mix them, adding more synthesizer sounds, tape loops and such like, and the result is one of the earliest instances of 'ambient' meeting 'industrial'. It has that spacious character of ambient music, like being in a stream of sounds (as in a stream of consciousness) but at the same time has an angular character, a certain aspect of being nasty, that remote, desolate, empty industrial waste land image that makes it 'industrial'. Composing is perhaps not the sort of thing that applies here, but rather a surrealist take on mixing odd tracks of sounds together in two long form pieces of music. Intuitive playing and mixing, a surrealist approach to the art of composing, that is what PBK is best known for and here he does a great job at it. An early work, but what a fine piece." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2012 |
€8.00 |
|
| PBK & TELEPHERIQUE |
Noise-Ambient Connection |
CD |
"Noise music exists for many years, but there are still some individuals who are assiduously following their own approach, avoiding any external influence, creating something new and inspiring to get rid of any standards, giving us
the idea of unique sounding. Phillip B. Klingler (PBK) is the one such musician.
In his 20 years of activity, he walked against the number of noisescapes, painting them over with some secret traces of beauty and beyond. He released some solo works but also collaborations with Dirk Serries (vidnaObmana), Slavek Kwi (Artificial Memory Trace), Asmus Tietchens, Jeph Jerman (Hands To) and even
Artemy Artemiev (the son of famous Russian ANS-synth explorer). PBK proposes premium quality music with manifold edges: some hypnotic ambient pieces, some crazy noise collages, but mostly just unclassifiable abstract sound-sculptures. His early works were released on tapes by his own PBK Recordings label and sold out for many years, in the early 90s N D Records published his first couple of
CDs: endless labyrinths of dissonances, amorphous soundscapes unfolding from the complex schemes of machine improvisation and stochastic processes. Telepherique is the seminal German project existing since the late 80s and exploring the grey area of the electronic underground. The main person behind
it is Klaus Jochim who also was responsible for now defunct tape label Drahtfunk Productions. Besides his own production under various monikers like Technostria and Das Konzentrat, he released some great collaboration tape albums with artists like Brume, Kapotte Muziek, S.Core, Tesendalo, De Fabriek etc.
Telepherique uses a lot of synthetic sound sources and sequences, creating unsettling atmosphere from the structured electronic patterns ranging from intense rhythmic work to creepy ambient out-of-body soundscapes. They got initial support from labels like Ant-Zen and Noise Museum, later released some albums
through Old Europa Cafe, S.S.S.M., Afe Records and Waystyx. The name Telepherique means "funicular railway" in French, but indirectly also the intention gaining a view from a higher level. This particular album is the first ever collaboration between PBK and Telepherique, it represents yet another breakthrough in the
search for a music that is comprehensively exploring 21st century ambient music." [label notes]
www.monochromevision.ru/
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| PBK & ZANSTONES |
Mantis Fog Desert |
CD |
"The new collaboration of PBK and Zan Hoffman (Zanstones) is the experiment in perfect interaction between noise music, ambient approach and electronic sound, with organic and sometimes even psychedelic output. For both artists, being active in the underground music scene for many years, this album is very distinct and peculiar showcase of their endless creative potential.
Release date is 27th December 2011. Limited edition of 500 copies in jewelcase." [label info]
www.monochromevision.ru
|
2011 |
€12.00 |
|
| PENNY RIMBAUD'S L'ACADEMIE DES VANITES (CRASS) |
Yes Sir, the Truth of Revolution |
CD |
"CRASS WAS THEN - THIS IS NOW. WAKE UP TO IT
CRASS' album, 'Yes, Sir, I Will', was possibly the most angry and hard hitting attack on the political/military/industrial complex ever consigned to vinyl. Written by Penny Rimbaud in 1982 at the height of the Falklands conflict, it seethes with righteous indignation over what he saw as a pointless but vicious exercise in vote catching by a government whose popularity was severely on the wane. So powerful was this critique that it led to threats of prosecution by that very same government, threats which were typically used by CRASS to further their attacks on it and its tyrannical leader, Margaret Thatcher.
Over thirty years later, in 2014, Rimbaud was asked to participate in the Rebellion Festival, a yearly punk gathering held in Blackpool, UK. Realising that the opening date of the festival closely coincided with that of the euphemistically named 'Great War', Rimbaud and the festival organisers agreed that as an appropriate response they should open the event with a performance of 'Yes, Sir, I Will'.
In preparing for this performance, Rimbaud began to question the relevance of some of the content of 'Yes, Sir'. It seemed to him that much of it was pertinent only to the time in which it was written, a time when a genuine social uprising had appeared to be a very real possibility (one that was violently and conclusively squashed during the miners' strike of 1984). But times change and there was, he now felt, an element of aggression within the work which veiled its essential message of love and peace; it was a passion that could all too easily be mistaken for blind anger. With this in mind, and inspired by John Lennon's 'All You Need is Love', he set about rewriting 'Yes, Sir' from what he describes as a more Taoist viewpoint. Through replacing screams of anguish with laments of love, he was largely able to satisfy his wish to change 'Yes, Sir' into an expression of compassion, that being the hugely demanding realm of love in its unconditional form.
For the Rebellion performance of the now retitled 'Yes, Sir, the Truth of Revolution', Rimbaud was joined by CRASS' lead vocalist Eve Libertine plus a group of leading musicians from the London jazz scene with whom they'd worked extensively in the past. Named 'L'Académie des Vanités', the band consisted of Eve Libertine/vocals, Penny Rimbaud/vocals, Louise Elliott/sax, Kate Shortt/cello, Jennifer Maidman/guitar, Phil Robson/guitar, Thad Kelly/bass and Gene Calderazzo/drums. The live recording of that show, presented here, captures all the tense excitement created by presenting a primarily punk audience with complex poetics of love, accompanied by equally demanding freeform, improvised jazz. However, as had generally been the case with CRASS' output, wild, willing and worrisome, it would be wise to expect the unexpected. Equally, through its progressive and colourful imagery, the vibrant packaging designed by Gee Vaucher shows a refusal to harp back to the illusory golden past of punk dreams and conceits.
'We are poets, armed with the cobblestones of love, unconditional, uncompromising, beyond need of proof.' However, if proof is needed, it will most surely be found in the content of this radical, imaginative release." [label info]
www.coldspring.co.uk
|
2016 |
€12.00 |
|
| PER ASPERA |
Nil Desperandum |
CD |
Drittes Album dieses uns bisher noch unbekannten polnischen dark ambient-Projekts, das auf NIL DESPERANDUM eine ureigenste Vision von dunkler elektronischer Ambience entwirft, wo sehr minimal & bedächtig instrumentierte Synth-Parts of ebenso spärlich eingesetzte Sakral-Gesänge stoßen, es später aber Bezüge zu 9/11 gibt und die Klänge rauher & experimenteller werden. Ingesamt wirkt das alles sehr ausgereift & überlegt komponiert, 7 Stücke die aufeinander aufbauen.
Sehr ambitioniert und fesselnd !
"The third and the most complete release by one of the most talented ambient artists hailing from Poland these days. Unifying vast array of elements, Per Aspera once again achieves remarkably introvert but vibrant style.
Eerie industrial atmosphere seamlessly blends with serene harmonies of almost orchestral form. Cinematic, monstrous drone formations morph into pulsating abyss of dissonant disturbances and uncompromised sonic experiments, overlaid by subtle beauty of human voice and minimalist acoustic instrumentation.
All those skillful, multiformal explorations establish Nil desperandum one of those albums of complex yet stable musical concept—reflecting the incoherencies of human nature and its immanent affection to chaos and order merged together. Per Aspera tends to render tragically compound heritage of the mankind, being constantly shaped by cultural, ethnic and religious or ideologic discrepancies.
Definitely not your average dark–ambient buzz, this album stands out of the dull cliche. The sound may appeal to the admirers of T. Köner, Parca Pace, Nocturnal Emissions or Neubautens to name a few but still, expect no pattern follower.
Complemented with special A5–sized glossy digipak designed by Ibsen studio, this CD is limited to 500 copies only." [label info]
".... Whilst it’s ridiculously difficult to be overly innovative within the dark ambient genres, one of the skills a composer must demonstrate is the ability to keep the listener engaged whilst producing a sound that doesn’t show immediate comparisons to one or another artist from within this genre. Thankfully Per Aspera does a fantastic job at both and has created a set of recordings that smack of originality whilst containing a myriad of well executed compositions, rich textural sounds and a wonderfully imaginative evolving plethora of atmospheres that flow from the album. As a dark ambient release this is as good as it gets and sets an impressively high standard immediately, with a faultless album being produced from start to finish. For those who relish in the shadowy undercurrent of rich dark ambient soundscapes ‘Nil Desperadum’ delivers a fabulous journey into this style of music and is welcomed addition to the genre itself and as such is a near prefect introduction for a relatively unknown artist and a label which promises great things, if this is anything to go by." [Judas Kiss]
www.newnihilism.com
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| PETBRICK |
I (split black - clear vinyl ) |
LP |
"As the year 2020 fast approaches, there still exists a peculiar shortage of music spiritually attuned to these treacherous times. Fortunately Petbrick - the duo comprising Wayne Adams (Big Lad/Death Pedals/Johnny Broke) and Iggor Cavalera Sepultura / Soulwax/ Mixhell) - are exploring fresh lunacy anew whereby electronic experimentation, hardcore attitude, dystopian dread and in-the-red dementia collide and collude to form a uniquely invigorating assault, custom fit for an accelerated age. This debut employs both members' past experience - Wayne in a variety of musical guises ranging from punk to breakcore and gabba, and Iggor in a planet-straddling metal colossus whose questing spirit played a crucial role in the music's evolution - yet also cheerfully renders them obsolete in a resolutely genre-free onslaught, damaged by the endtime intensity of Ministry and the synapse-shredding mischief of Aphex Twin yet lodged firmly in the here and now. Moreover, guest vocalists are also on hand to traverse anywhere from full-throttle intensity (as with Full Of Hell's Dylan Walker on the blistering 'Radiation Facial' or Integrity's legendary vocal exorcist Dwid Hellion on 'Some Semblance Of A Story') to exhilarating melodic counterpoint (Laima Leyton (Mixhell) on 'Coming') and stream-of-consciousness lunacy from Warmduscher's Mutado Pintado, whose splenetic tirades on 'Gringolicker'. Paint-stripping and deliriously potent, 'I' is more than merely an exercise in the life-affirming flame of oppositional punk spirit scorching all or any musical boundaries in its path - it's an uncompromising soundtrack to a short-circuiting new era. Yet rarely has the sound of global malfunction also been so much fun."
https://petbrick.bandcamp.com/album/i
|
2019 |
€26.00 |
|
| PETERS, STEVE |
The Webster Cycles |
maxi-CD |
Sehr ruhige, verhallte Trombonen-Drones und Harmonien, zum Teil polyphon überlagert - ein One-Tracker von fast 30 Minuten, der an PAULINE OLIVEROS Endlos-Hall Einspielungen mit Akkorden erinnert. Beeindruckende Weite wird geschaffen, so entspannt und doch kraftvoll...
"The Webster Cycles, a somewhat open-ended piece for any combination of wind instruments and/or voices, allows for a good bit of decision-making and improvisation on the part of the performer(s). In the present recorded version, six trombone parts were performed (via overdubbing) by noted composer/performer J.A. Deane. The result is a beautifully coherent yet ever-changing music that slowly shifts its texture and harmonic focus as if its individual parts were refractions of a giant aural prism. The wonderful, subtle inflections and tonal shadings that Deane brings to each phrase imbue the piece with a vibrant, palpable sense of energy and motion. The piece's score is constructed from a selection of words drawn from a Webster's dictionary. The words become pitch sequences or melodic phrases that are to be played within the duration of a long breath. These sequences are grouped into seven sections, which the performer(s) may perform in any order they wish while maintaining the internal order of phrases within each section."
"Deane is a soulfully expressive musician and, despite the calm and coolness of Peters's music, his interpretation has immediate emotional appeal as well as seductive depth." [Julian Cowley, The Wire]
www.coldbluemusic.com
|
2008 |
€9.50 |
|
| |
Airforms (Chamber Music 10) |
CD |
Chamber Music is an ongoing series of site-specific sound works made entirely from a single recording of the empty space in which they are presented. An hour of “silent” room tone is recorded when no people are in the building; this is heavily filtered to extract drones derived from the room’s resonant frequencies. This is the only sonic material used, and there is minimal electronic processing involved. Airforms was made in 2013 as a birthday gift for Steve Roden, who provided two hours of empty room tone recorded in his bubble-shaped “Airform” house designed and built by architect Wallace Neff in 1946. The first hour was used to make the drones, and the second hour to make the bell-like tones, and the two are here superimposed. Certain Roden-inspired compositional strategies were devised to generate indeterminate structures.
“This is literally chamber music – sound artist Steve Peters records the ambient resonances of empty rooms, which he then turns into site-specific installations exhibited in the same locations. The latent acoustic potential of the space is brought out into a more tangible form. For the most part, stony sonorities are all that can be heard: long, looming tones that unfold incredibly slowly...these are broken by moments of vivid detail: sounds like dropping water, or the soft report of a sonar, gather and disperse, apparently randomly – though after a while they almost recall Morse code.” — The Wire
|
2017 |
€15.00 |
|
| PETERS, STEVE & STEVE RODEN |
Not a Leaf remains as it was |
CD |
"In 1995 Steve Peters and Steve Roden toured as a trio with singer Anna Homler; sometimes they would vocalize behind her, and they liked the way their voices blended together. They then spent about 15 years saying that “someday” they should record a voice-based project together. Aside from the physical distance between them, the problem was always: What would we sing? Neither wanted to write or sing lyrics.
Inspiration came in the form of a book of Japanese jisei – poems allegedly written by monks on their death bed – printed in both English translation and Romanized Japanese. Phonetically pronouncing the Japanese reminded Peters of the technique Roden has used of systematically chopping up the syllables in English texts to transform them into sound poems. Since neither of them speaks Japanese, it seemed like a good place to begin.
The two of them applied for a residency at Jack Straw, a non-profit recording facility in Seattle that gives grants of studio time. They had no exact plans other than they intended to avoid electronic instruments, or directly referencing the poems’ literal meaning, or imitating any Japanese musical idioms or “Zen” stereotypes. Culling some of the poems that made references to sound and noting them on 3x5 cards, Peters and Roden sorted the cards into four groups according to the seasons of the year that the poems represented, divided the cards between them, and taped them to their music stands. They then sang random fragments from the various cards - a word here, a line there, maybe backwards, maybe the English translation. They made no effort to keep the poems intact or retain any of their meaning, instead treating the material simply as phonemes to put in their mouths.
All of the music was improvised in the studio, built up one track at a time. They worked intuitively, with no structural guidelines beyond using the texts. Three days later they emerged from the studio, not quite sure what they had done. After letting the material rest for several months Peters and Roden determined that Doug Haire, who recorded the sessions at Jack Straw, was the obvious choice to do the mixing. The album was completed in the fall of 2011.
12k is known to be a label of understatement and restraint, however, Not A Leaf Remains As It Was is arguably the most hushed and delicate record in the label’s catalog. Every sound on the album’s four tracks, be it the artists’ voices, a pump organ or melodica hangs by a thread, played ever so slightly, with utmost care. Noises, created from turtle shells, leaves, and bells shuffle and flutter, as if they are quietly alive, in the background providing a textural backdrop to the sublime tones and ghostly voices." [label info]
www.12k.com
|
2012 |
€15.50 |
|
| PETIT, PHILIPPE |
Henry: The Iron Man |
LP |
"I first head Philippe Petit's Henry the Iron Man on WFMU in March of 2010 while driving through the meadowlands on the New Jersey Turnpike. The air was freezing and the sky a depressing cement gray. The music perfectly matched the frozen, decimated landscape. Then, as I took the exit ramp to the even more decrepit route 1 &9, the mood shifted, and I was lifted out of the darkness. Some sort of transformation was taking place, and the bleak numbness of winter soon gave way to hope and the strange feeling that Philippe and I would work together soon.
Fast forward to December 2010. Philip was now on Aagoo records and I was playing the test pressings of Henry. The same surprise and wonder that I had felt on the New Jersey Turnpike surfaced once again. Where do the manipulations start and stop? Is that popping sound Philippe's tweaking or dust on my cartridge? I was left guessing whether to approve the tests or not; and for me, this uncertainty is part of the pleasure of hearing the record.
Philippe’s work on vinyl informs both his creative process and the final product itself. He captures the accidents caused by vinyl manipulations and shapes them into sonic sculptures—creating order from a sum of circumstantial parts. The physical texture of the vinyl album also gradually changes over time. With each repeated listening, Philippe’s album gathers the patina of age. The cracklings become warmer, the sounds become altered, and the album’s identity evolves with every revolution of the plastic disc. My guess is even if your turntable is falling apart this record will be fun to play." [label info]
www.aagoo.com
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Henry: The Iron Man |
CD |
"One lost lemonish night sleepwalking on a lost country road I dreamt that Shinya Tsukamoto was working on a blurred remake of "Eraserhead", and I was to soundtrack the grotesque mutation of Henry into an "Iron Man". I decided to manipulate and take advantage of the vinyl material to fondle crackles and released noises, to process textures and their resonances into vertiginous travellings of sound ; conjuring up flashes of disturbing black & white grainy sounds, behind-the-scenes close-ups, rapid nightmarish stop-motion effects.
I embarked on a visceral musical voyage, an intricate and imaginative soundtrack gathering both organic and sonic elements and giving life to a noisy magma where unexpected clicks stumbled over interferences, where digital accidents happened and drones and acoustic resonances filled the spaces in time. The music sprang on me and got caught in my eye.
A few years ago BiP_HOp had started a series called "Reciprocess", thus to celebrate 10 years since the inception of the label + my 25 years of activism/DJing I composed a 70+ minute soundtrack, cut it into pieces which were sent to friends to add their spices to. The Wire magazine liked the idea and agreed to give it away with their issue # 301, in March 2009.
AIDAN BAKER & Philippe Petit
CHAPTER 24 & Philippe Petit
COSEY FANNI TUTTI & Philippe Petit
SIMON FISHER TURNER & Philippe Petit
KLANGWART & Philippe Petit
DOUGLAS BENFORD & Philippe Petit
MARKOVO & Philippe Petit
BELA EMERSON (feat. vocals from RANDALL FRAZIER) & Philippe Petit
KUMO & Philippe Petit
EUGENE S. ROBINSON & Philippe Petit
SEVERIN 24 (feat. vocals from KATHY COMPTON) & Philippe Petit
JASON FORREST & Philippe Petit
LYDIA LUNCH & Philippe Petit
JEAN-HERV� PERON (art-Errorist/Faust) & Philippe Petit
STRINGS OF CONSCIOUSNESS (Hervé Vincenti & Philippe Petit)
SYBARITE & Philippe Petit
JESU & Philippe Petit
dDAMAGE & Philippe Petit
Born in Marseille, South of France, where I started Djing, animating radio shows and editing zines in the 80s. In the 90s I contributed articles (under the pseudonym Candy Apple Grey and Filth Simpson ) for such magazines as Ruta 66 (Spain), Merlin’s Music Box (Greece), Maximum R&R (USA), What Wave, Cryptic Tymes (Canada), and French-written Taktik, Rage, Rocksound, Best, 491, Abus Dangereux, and many many more that no one will remember of… In those days, I had some fun and interviews w/ such bands as Nirvana, Fugazi, L7, Neurosis, Fuzztones, Babes In Toyland, Mudhoney, Pixies, Cynics, Dum Dum Boys, Alice Donut, Brood, Grotus, Fleshtones, Buzzcocks, Nick Cave, Sting Rays, Poison Idea, Jon Spencer, Soft Machine, Lydia Lunch, No Means No, Godflesh, Steve Albini, Gallon Drunk, Melvins, New Bomb Turks, and many other “noisy-rock” luminaries. In 1991, I started Kinetic Vibes Music, a Garage Punk zine and label releasing music by: Willie Loco Alexander, Pleasure Fuckers, Dead Moon, Bevis Frond, Lust-o-Rama, Ultra 5, Overcoat, Cryptones, Devil Dogs, La Secta, Dirteez, Tommyknockers and some other… Still available the mythical compilation “Electric Carnival” gathering 23 bands from 10 countries. In 1993 I founded the experimental label Pandemonium Rdz. Working with the likes of Guapo, Zeni Geva, Ground Zero, Condense, Cows, Headcleaner, Drive Blind, Double Nelson, Alboth!, Melt Banana, God Is My Co-Pilot, Samiam, Burning Heads, Cerberus Shoal, Flying Luttenbachers, Unsane, Bästard, Kepone, Ron Anderson, Ruins, Hint, Andy's Car Crash, Spaceheads… That is well documented there and many releases are still in print: www.pandemoniumrecords.com 41 records later, I needed to rejuvenate and started a new label: BiP_HOp was physically born in 2000 and will document avant electro for the century to come... A webzine, a radio show, organizing live events, and above all a label documenting the state of electronic art and sound design, unconventional sound adventures, modern ambient, contemporary alliances between acoustica vs. digitalia... Musics challenging the ears and the mind. www.bip-hop.com In 2000 Philippe Petit became Dj/ip@bip-hop.com chosing to use my e-mail address to keep contact with the listeners… Under this moniker I have been invited to play festivals and some of the best venues in Europe, Northern america, and even recently Mexico. According to me a DJ is not only an instrument for dancing but as a living musical library I should also take the audience to a new cultural trip / discovery. I want to entertain listeners and to open new "doors of perception", to create a virtual world to enable them to forget about their own existence for a short while. Sometimes I feel an urge not to be solo onstage which led me to start the duo Ear_Thrillerz. ; the now defunct group Deviationists ; and most actively these days the international collective : Strings Of Consciousness. www.stringsofconsciousness.info Today I still animate a radio show for Radio Grenouille which is the biggest non-commercial local radio www.grenouille888.org/dyn/ I still write in Noise Magazine. A bi-monthly mag, printing 25 000 which can be found in newstand all around France and is the best one dealing with Rock, indie rock, metal, post rock, punk, stoner doom, industrial, experimental, prog, Noisy music. Also a website (3000-3500 unique visitors/day) http://www.noisemag.net/ " [label info]
www.blrrecords.com
|
2009 |
€10.00 |
|
| PG.LOST |
Oscillate |
LP |
"Hier ist Oscillate von PG.LOST - das neue Album der Band, welche pures Drama und Katharsis lebt. Ihr fünftes Werk - das erste seit dem erfolgreichen 2016er Versus - braucht mit ausgeprägtem Verständnis von Spannung/Entspannung einen Vergleich mit Mono, Explosions in the Sky und Godspeed You! Black Emperor nicht zu scheuen. Mit Einflüssen, die von der emotionalen Wucht von Big Thief über den erfinderischen Geist des Krautrock bis hin zur Brutalität von Neurosis und dem dunklen Experimentalismus von Coil reichen, verflechten sich diese schwereren Elemente und öffnen sich in der Weite gar bis Fennesz oder Tim Hecker. Eine neue Ausrichtung, welche eine schimmernde Schönheit und Tiefe enthüllt, wie sie in der heutigen überkomprimierten und überproduzierten Version "moderner" Musik selten zu finden ist. Das Titelstück beginnt mit einer blühend dunklen Ambientpassage, ein aufsteigender Gitarren-/Synth-Part, der die Spannung aufbaut bis die endgültige Befreiung durch einem großen Refrai und gigantische Wellen von Gitarrenklängen erreicht wird. Oscillate steht exemplarisch für das Album als Ganzes - massiv im Umfang und noch größer im Klang. Das Album wurde im eigenen Studio aufgenommen und von Magnus Lindberg von Cult of Luna gemischt und gemastert. Souverän in der Ausführung ist Oscillate höchstdramatischer Bombast und ein gewaltiger Schritt vorwärts für die Band - vier Jahre warten haben sich gelohnt. Für Fans von Mono, Explosions In The Sky, Mogwai, Cult of Luna, EF, Caspian, Russian Circles, Envy * Limitierte Single Colour White Vinyl-Version! * Band Info: PG.LOST wurde 2004 in Norrköping, Schweden, gegründet und besteht aus Mattias Bhatt, Martin Hjertstedt (ex- Ghost), Gustav Almberg (The Great Discord) und Kristian Karlsson (Cult of Luna). Auf der Suche nach einem einzigartigen Klang und der Liebe zu Post-Rock, Ambient und Shoegaze mit einem Hang zum Post-Metal, veröffentlichte die Band 2006 und 2007 ihre selbstbetitelte sowie die Yes, I Am-EP.2008 veröffentlichten PG.LOST ihr Debutalbum It's Not Me, It's You! Es folgten In Never Out, Key, die Split-LP mit Wang Wen und zuletzt Versus. Line Up: Mattias Bhatt: Gitarre, Martin Hjertstedt: Schlagzeug. Gustav Almberg: Gitarre, Kristian Karlsson: Bass"
Trapped in a cavern, it’s pitch black and the air is getting harder and harder to breathe. Disoriented, hands follow the walls to find what could be the ceiling, fingers digging into the rock to find something– anything– loose to help point toward a direction out. Suddenly, a rock frees itself and after clearing away some dirt, a pin of blinding light shines through the enveloping darkness. Clearing away soil and rock with more and more vigor, hope and salvation is just a short way from here.
This is PG.LOST’s Oscillate– the band’s latest LP packed to the gills with pure drama and catharsis. Their fifth overall and first effort since 2016’s much lauded Versus, Oscillate leans on an instrumental approach and while their keen understanding of tension/release may warrant comparison to the likes of MONO, Explosions in the Sky and Godspeed You! Black Emperor, PG.LOST is unafraid to move into exciting new directions. With influences that range from the emotional heft of Big Thief to the inventive spirit of krautrock to the brutality of Neurosis to the dark experimentalism of COIL, these heavier elements intertwine and open up into wide-eyed expansiveness of Fennesz or Tim Hecker, revealing a beauty shimmering underneath and a range of depth rarely found in today’s over-compressed and spit-shined version of “modern music.”
In making the new LP, PG.LOST opted to keep it simple and follow their gut. “On the previous records we have always tried to make it very basic and clean when it comes to production, not too many overdubs or add-ons,” reveals bassist Kristian Karlsson. “This time was more about not thinking about that at all. We don’t try to over analyse our records– it always starts with one or two songs and they often set the mood of the rest of the writing process.I think this album has more layers to it– you hear new things every time you listen. We’re really looking forward to hearing what the listeners think.”
Kicking off with a blossoming dark ambient passage on the title track, an ascendant guitar/synth part builds tension until final release is achieved with a massive chorus, waves of eye-opening guitars and elephantine tribal drums. It’s emblematic of the album as a whole– massive in scope and even larger in sound, Oscillate is the true definition of its title with incredibly tense swells to the point of collapse leading to a slow but pensive disintegration. And again. And again. Oscillate is not just instrumental music, it’s cinematic– it’s high drama, executed in IMAX with a pristine soundtrack blasting at 120db.
Due in November via Pelagic Records, the LP was recorded by the band in their own studio, and mixed/mastered by Magnus Lindberg from Cult of Luna. In creating the LP, the only hurdle seemingly was an internal one and making efficient use of individual scheduling. “When we formed the band we spent almost every night in the rehearsal space,” recalls Karlsson. “Nowadays we only rehearse for tours or when we plan to have writing sessions for example upcoming records. It is not as spontaneous as it used to be, but I think it forces us to really make the best out of it when we do see each other.”
Founded in 2004 in Norrköping, Sweden, PG.LOST is Mattias Bhatt, Martin Hjertstedt (ex- Ghost), Gustav Almberg (The Great Discord) and Kristian Karlsson (Cult of Luna). Formed in pursuit of a singular love of post-rock, ambient and shoegaze with a bent towards post- metal, the band released their self-titled and the Yes, I Am EPs in 2006 and 2007. From there PG.LOST dropped their 2008 LP It's Not Me, It's You! quickly followed by 2009’s In Never Out, Key, the Wang Wen split LP and Versus followed in 2012, 2013 and 2016 respectively.
Sovereign in execution and mammoth in scope, Oscillate is ten tracks of pure dramatic bombast and a massive step forward for the decades-old band. The four years away have been worth it.
https://pglost.bandcamp.com/album/oscillate
|
2020 |
€34.00 |
|
| PHANTOM SHIP |
Spheres |
CD-R |
"Here at Winter-Light, we have been a follower of Phantom Ship for quite some time now. So we are extremely happy to announce that the second release on the Winter-Light label is that of 'Spheres' by Phantom Ship.
'Spheres' is the third studio album from Italy's Phantom Ship, following on from the self-released I.G.N.O.T.O. , in 2012. As with the previous releases, one gets the feeling when listening to 'Spheres' of being a passenger. A passenger aboard this vast, ghostly vessel that eerily glides through the galaxy, or across the thoughts and expanses of the inner mind; equally just as distant. Aboard this vessel, you become an observer. A witness to the might, power and wonders of the universe. A coming together of great forces; clashes between energies of immeasurable magnitude, such as on the track 'Orbiting Iron Spheres'. On this offering, quite possibly his best to date, we are treated to 6-tracks of symphonic and celestial awe. The universe is indeed a haunted house and Phantom Ship is one of its bigger spectres.
In the words of the artist himself - "'Spheres' is inspired by the eternal dialogue between the inner and the outer sphere of the human psyche."
"The hidden harmony is better than the visible" - Heraclitus Of Ephesus
The sounds were forged by Roberto Faloci at the Port of Shadows Studio, Perugia, Italy in the Winter of 2013/14. All tracks have been mastered by Peter Andersson of Raison D'Etre. The front cover design and original art concept was conceived by Roberto Faloci. The artwork and layout was produced by Midnight Sun Studio, as well as the promotional video.
1. Intro - 2. Orbiting Iron Spheres - 3. Warp7 - 4. Plasma Core - 5. Chakras Chant - 6. Cygnus
This professionally factory produced CD-r comes in a beautiful 6-panel digipack. 6 tracks with a total running time of 45:30 mins. The release is strictly limited to 150 copies." [label info]
www.winter-light.nl
|
2015 |
€12.00 |
|
| PHARMAKON |
Bestial Burden |
CD |
"Four days before New York noise musician Margaret Chardiet was supposed leave for her first European tour as Pharmakon, she had a medical emergency which resulted in a major surgery. Suddenly, instead of getting on a plane, she was bedridden for three weeks, missing an organ.
“After seeing internal photographs taken during the surgery, I became hyperaware of the complex network of systems just beneath the skin, any of which were liable to fail or falter at any time,” Chardiet said. “It all happened so fast and unexpectedly that my mind took a while to catch up to the reality of my recovery. I felt a widening divide between my physical and mental self. It was as though my body had betrayed me, acting as a separate entity from my consciousness. I thought of my corporeal body anthropomorphically, with a will or intent of its own, outside of my will's control, and seeking to sabotage. I began to explore the idea of the conscious mind as a stranger inside an autonomous vessel, and the tension that exists between these two versions of the self.”
Consumed by these ideas, and unable to leave her bed, Chardiet occupied herself by writing the lyrics and music that would become Bestial Burden, the second Pharmakon LP for Sacred Bones Records. The record is a harrowing collection of deeply personal industrial noise tracks, each one brimming with struggle and weighted with the intensity of Chardiet’s internal conflict." [label info]
www.sacredbonesrecords.com
|
2014 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Devour |
LP |
https://pharmakon.bandcamp.com/album/devour
Devour marks the fourth full-length record from Margaret Chardiet's project Pharmakon and her most intense output to date. Like her previous albums, Devour comes with a strong concept that is exorcised throughout the five demolishing tracks on the album, using imagery and language of self-cannibalism as allegory for the self-destructive nature of humans. Each of the five songs echoes a stage of grief associated with this cyclical chamber of self-destruction and the chaos surrounding us that leads us to devour ourselves in an attempt to balance the agony. The album was recorded by Ben Greenberg (Uniform) and is the first Pharmakon album recorded live in studio. The A and B sides were each recorded as a continuous take with vocals from start to finish, marking a totally new process for the artist that allows the ferocity and immediacy of her live performance to resonate throughout. Devour also explores new sonic territory, with denser electronics, groovier hooks, and moments of her most unhinged vocal deliveries to date. As one of the premiere vanguards of modern industrial and power electronics, Chardiet continuously pushes the genres and everyone involved in them, and with the release of Devour, she has once again changed the game. Artist Statement: "Devour" uses self-cannibalization as allegory for the self-destructive nature of humans; on cellular, individual, societal and species-wide scales. In our cells, our minds, our politics and our species, humans are self-destructing. But this behavior does not happen in a vacuum. It is an instinctive inward response to a world of increasing outward violence, greed, and oppression. Turning these wounds toward ourselves can be seen as an attempt at "balancing feedback", within a never-ending positive feedback loop of cause and effect. With this view, the blame is placed not within the individual, but with the world they must contend with, and a society that is designed to fail them - to keep them gnashing and wailing, inflicted with an all-devouring hunger that inevitably turns in on the self. Those that pit them against each other grin from the sidelines, bellies full. Those who see beyond the veil need to obscure the horrid sight by any means necessary, but respite is always brief- nothing can dampen the glare from behind the veil. This album is dedicated to all who were lost to their own demise, all who have been institutionalized; whether in prison, psychiatric facilities, or drug rehabilitation. It is for all those ostracized by and isolated from a totality which chews them up alive in a self-cannibalizing caste system. Here, where martyrs, slaves, and pharmakos are not eradicated, but simply called by another name. "ABOUT THE SHALLOWNESS OF SANITY"... To be well adjusted in this system is to be oblivious and unfeeling. This is for the rest of us, who understand that chaos, madness, pain and even self destruction are natural and inevitable responses to an unjust and disgusting world of our own making.
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2019 |
€20.00 |
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Devour |
CD |
Devour marks the fourth full-length record from Margaret Chardiet's project Pharmakon and her most intense output to date. Like her previous albums, Devour comes with a strong concept that is exorcised throughout the five demolishing tracks on the album, using imagery and language of self-cannibalism as allegory for the self-destructive nature of humans. Each of the five songs echoes a stage of grief associated with this cyclical chamber of self-destruction and the chaos surrounding us that leads us to devour ourselves in an attempt to balance the agony. The album was recorded by Ben Greenberg (Uniform) and is the first Pharmakon album recorded live in studio. The A and B sides were each recorded as a continuous take with vocals from start to finish, marking a totally new process for the artist that allows the ferocity and immediacy of her live performance to resonate throughout. Devour also explores new sonic territory, with denser electronics, groovier hooks, and moments of her most unhinged vocal deliveries to date. As one of the premiere vanguards of modern industrial and power electronics, Chardiet continuously pushes the genres and everyone involved in them, and with the release of Devour, she has once again changed the game. Artist Statement:"Devour" uses self-cannibalization as allegory for the self-destructive nature of humans; on cellular, individual, societal and species-wide scales. In our cells, our minds, our politics and our species, humans are self-destructing. But this behavior does not happen in a vacuum. It is an instinctive inward response to a world of increasing outward violence, greed, and oppression. Turning these wounds toward ourselves can be seen as an attempt at "balancing feedback", within a never-ending positive feedback loop of cause and effect. With this view, the blame is placed not within the individual, but with the world they must contend with, and a society that is designed to fail them - to keep them gnashing and wailing, inflicted with an all-devouring hunger that inevitably turns in on the self. Those that pit them against each other grin from the sidelines, bellies full. Those who see beyond the veil need to obscure the horrid sight by any means necessary, but respite is always brief- nothing can dampen the glare from behind the veil. This album is dedicated to all who were lost to their own demise, all who have been institutionalized; whether in prison, psychiatric facilities, or drug rehabilitation. It is for all those ostracized by and isolated from a totality which chews them up alive in a self-cannibalizing caste system. Here, where martyrs, slaves, and pharmakos are not eradicated, but simply called by another name. "ABOUT THE SHALLOWNESS OF SANITY"... To be well adjusted in this system is to be oblivious and unfeeling. This is for the rest of us, who understand that chaos, madness, pain and even self destruction are natural and inevitable responses to an unjust and disgusting world of our own making.
https://pharmakon.bandcamp.com/album/devour
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2019 |
€14.00 |
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| PHILLIPS, DAVE |
Selective Memory / Perception |
CD |
an hour long piece consisting of classical instrumentation and orchestral arrangements using cello, violin and piano, plus recordings of wind, broken urban creatures, intimate situations, insect and amphibian sounds and mutations thereof, transmogrified balloons, unconscious voices and more.
selective perception is the tendency to not notice and more quickly forget stimuli that cause emotional discomfort and contradict our prior beliefs.
selective perception is the process by which individuals perceive what they want to in media messages while ignoring opposing viewpoints. it is a broad term to identify the behaviour all people exhibit to tend to "see things" based on their particular frame of reference. it also describes how we categorise and interpret sensory information in a way that favours one category or interpretation over another. in other words selective perception is a form of bias because we interpret information in a way that is congruent with our existing values and beliefs.
human judgment and decision making is distorted by an array of cognitive, perceptual and motivational biases, and people tend not to recognise their own bias, though they tend to easily recognise (and overestimate) the operation of bias in human judgment by others.
we live in a mist of half-shared, unreliable perception, and our sense data comes warped by a prism of desire and belief, which tilts our memories too. we see and remember in our own favour and we persuade ourselves along the way.
we’re descended from the indignant, passionate tellers of half-truths who in order to convince each others, simultaneously convince themselves. over generations success has winnowed us out, and with success came our defect – when it doesn’t suit us we can’t agree on what is in front of us. believing is seeing - disinterested truth.
the mind censors the senses; as a result we inhabit a world of shadows. a momentary, vanishing world that ordinary attention simplifies and makes palatable. we tune out x percent of the sensory stimuli we actually receive, and solidify the remainder into discrete mental objects in programmed, habitual ways.
add our educational systems to the equation and it becomes clear why we are so successful in producing docile automatons. a world disclosed in ordinary perception that is a makeshift of habit and convention.
we may not be in control of what happens but we certainly are in charge of how we perceive our experiences.
"the reason why life may be judged to be trivial although at certain moments it seems to us so beautiful, is that we form our judgement, ordinarily, not on the evidence of life itself but of those quite different images which preserve nothing of life - and therefore we judge it disparagingly." (marcel proust)
credits
released December 30, 2016
audio recorded and assembled 2011 - 2014 in zürich by dave phillips. all audio by dp except female voices by nathalie dreier and luzia rasu. literary inspiration: marcel proust, alain de botton, ian mcewan
https://dave-phillips.bandcamp.com/album/selective-memory-perception
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2016 |
€10.00 |
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Proceed with Inquiry |
DVD |
"The contained DVD comprises video works, live performances and collaborations by radical Swiss sound artist DAVE PHILLIPS, sonically active since 1987, part of the notorious SCHIMPFLUCH GRUPPE (with Rudolf Eb.er, Joke Lanz) since 1991, having left his signature in numerous bands, projects and collaborations.
DAVE PHILLIPS uses sound as a means to activate primordial emotions otherwise hidden underneath the debris of civilization. His concept is called “Humanimalism” accordingly, meaning a state of mind that overcomes religious, material und supremacist charges of evolution, acknowledges itself as part of a whole and has grown into an empathic, conscious and connected creature allowing emotion and instinct their equal part in decision-making.
This collection presents his multifaceted work in composition, performance, psycho-acoustics, sonic rituals, voice, video, field recordings, objects and electronics, etc. in a yet unknown complexity and coherence of motion pictures. His performance work is revealed in all its undiluted brutality, the urgency and topicality of his work and his message is clearly evident, captivating and intensely documented.
Along with DAVE PHILLIPS’ video works created between 2014 and 2016, the DVD is a document of unique solo live actions and the notorious Paris 1996 performance of SCHIMPFLUCH-GRUPPE, as well as recent collaborations with G.X. JUPITTER LARSEN, and video artists PAKISE AKIN, JAN VAN HASSELT and REMOTE-CONTROL RECTUM, who in turn created their visual interpretations of PHILLIPS' audio works. It all amounts to a mind-expanding experience, playing with altered perception and throwing back the viewer onto his own vision." [label info]
"...Merely approaching, let alone summarising, the work of Dave Phillips is near impossible. Active for 25-odd years in multiple artistic fields (including appearances on almost 200 releases), his contribution here to the DVD component of the release is characteristically challenging. The work is delivered in three parts: video works, live performances, and collaborations.
The video works are varied with clear effort put into editing and sound composition. They’re often jarring and disorienting, always intimate, and personal. Some are abstract and intangible while others are precise and brutally polemic. There is slap-to-the-face activism in spades, including a sobering piece on humankind’s exploitation of the Earth and its animals (‘How sad, that nature speaks and we don’t listen.‘). Phillips’s use of footage depicting animal vivisection, cruelty, and industrial slaughter is about as subtle as a sledgehammer, as is the screaming text (‘Education is a progressive discovery of our ignorance!’). But these pieces are clearly meant to shock and are more about our complacency and willingness to let them happen than about the actions themselves.
The collaborative works are interesting enough, though they are not as strong as Phillips’s solo contributions. He seems to supply audio primarily over his collaborators’ mostly impressionistic visuals. Many could display rather comfortably on a screen in a respectable art gallery.
The live performances are highly entertaining and showcase a theatrical grotesquerie typical of the Schimpfluch-Gruppe of which Phillips is a core member. Indeed, the best of the live recordings here has him on stage with Rudolf Eb.er for a Schimpfluch-Gruppe action in Paris. Contact mikes in mouth, their faces slam repeatedly and unceremoniously into bowls of spaghetti. It’s bleakly humorous and very uncomfortable.... " [Heathen Harvest]
silkentofu.bigcartel.com/product/dave-phillips-proceed-with-inquiry-dvd |
2017 |
€13.00 |
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Sixth Mass Extinction |
LP |
"black vinyl lp in embossed sleeve, edition of 300. comes with a free 8 page newspaper featuring articles that offer a broad view of what homo sapiens has achieved in terms of coexistence and in taking care of its home.
1.
Things Falling Apart 21:12
2.
Radical Hope 20:12
about
things falling apart - composition for three PA’s (stereo version):
the original 6 channel piece was commissioned by bad bonn kilbi festival düdingen switzerland 2018.
radical hope - live action (studio version):
this incarnation of live action was initiated in january 2016 and has developed since. triggered by a broken heart, it’s a critical analysis of subjective behaviourisms, self-reflections, self-criticisms and conclusions thereof. the subsequent translation of derived intentions into ritualised actions include purging, activating learning and healing processes, self-betterment, empowerment and hair-burning. has since morphed into a piece about the relationship of the human as a species with planet earth as a cherished entity, such as a loved one, a friend, a partner, a companion, a parent or a family member, a home or an origin.
all audio by dp. decomposed may to november 2018 for schimpfluch. mastered by riccardo mazza. artwork by brett wagg using photos by dp.
https://totalblack.bandcamp.com/album/sixth-mass-extinction
Dave Phillips INTERVIEW by CHAIN DLK
( By Vito Camarretta - August 11, 2021)
dave dp phillips long story short
fields of re/search: existences and behaviourisms humanimalistically. works that oppose the omnipresent restriction and reduction of life and living, that activate primordial shared emotions otherwise hidden under the debris of civilization, inviting rumination, encouraging intervention, endorsing catharsis, liberating, cleansing. therapeutical stimulation is acknowledged. sonic activism, ritual protest music, humanimalism
methods: audio de/construction, composition, sonic rituals, psycho-acoustics and performance
tools: voice, body, fieldrecordings, electronics, objects, video
reason for this interview: his recent release “to death” (7th July 2021, Misanthropic Agenda)
enjoy the reading!
Chain D.L.K.: Hi Dave! How are you doing?
Dave Phillips: Quite alright. I moved house earlier a month ago, I’m settling in…
Chain D.L.K.: I heard you recent ‘to death’ and I honestly think it’s a listening that I would likewise honestly recommend in this historical stage… but before focusing on it, even if those well-informed readers of our zine, whose memory has not been reset yet, don’t really need any introduction, how would you introduce yourself, your sound art and its direction(s)?
Dave Phillips: Puh. Well. My music is rather free, abstract, “cinematic”, and personal. It sounds more organic than it does electronic. What I seek in sound/music is altered states of consciousness, states of trance and liberation, cathartic and purging kind of highs, some sort of elevation. Sound for me is communication, so I like it to have some sort of narrative, intentionality, something shared. I’m interested in the effect of sound as much as its aesthetic form. Sonically I’m inspired by contemporary (classical) composition, the sounds of insects, traditional music, improvisation/free music, bass music, as much as the energy of radical punk and metal. Literature is a big inspiration too. My sound work is often accompanied by topical contexts that touch on environmental and existential issues but are more driven by the interconnectedness of things, the thing that some call chaos, this enormous ecosystem that we are a part of, the kind of free life that is uncontrollable and beyond our systems of control or scientific measurement or language. I call my music “ritual protest music” – I protest against the reduction and restriction of life – I describe my way of approaching sound as “sonic activism”. Uhm, long “introduction” but there you go…. just open ears…
Chain D.L.K.: The last outputs I vividly remember of yours, who reached somehow my desk (I often don’t know how or why some sonic entities reach my desk, besides the fact someone delivers them to my mailbox), has been a super limited split with Emerge on Nazlo, that was a tribute to Dmitry Vasilyev. Have you ever met him? Which tracks did he leave in your memory?
Dave Phillips: I met Dmitry Vasilyev a bunch of times. The last time was in September 2018 when Dmitry had organized a tour for me and emerge in Russia. We met in Sevastopol before embarking on a tour together. The day before our tour began, we went swimming in the Black Sea and Dmitry drowned. The tape you speak of is a reaction to that tragic loss. Dmitry’s enthusiasm for and energy invested in experimental music was amazing…
Chain D.L.K.: I have to amend… There’s also a CD from Attenuation titled ‘Post Homo Sapiens’, but I honestly haven’t unfolded it yet… What a shame! Can I get excused for that? What should I expect?
Dave Phillips: Of course! Post Homo Sapiens imagines a world where insects and plants rule.
Dave Phillips imagephoto courtesy of Jesse Newman
Chain D.L.K.: I enjoyed the reading of some of your texts (ref: https://www.davephillips.ch/texts), the last of which includes many interesting and praiseworthy ecologist thoughts and reflections, but it dates back to 2015. Are you writing some new text for the recent evolution of human history?
Dave Phillips: “For the recent evolution of human history”, haha. Besides writing, I collect and present texts too, and my texts sometimes take from articles and books that touch me. For the “sixth mass extinction” LP (2019) I collected a bunch of articles that together offer a picture of how humans are doing in terms of coexistence with other beings on this planet. It’s probably no surprise that we’re not faring very well – what we seem to be good at though is causing mass extinction and destruction. Said articles were accompanied by a profound text by professor Jem Bendell on “navigating climate tragedy”. For an upcoming split with sist en 343 called “thinking future coexistence,” I used a text by Charles Eisenstein on what happened since corona blessed us – this should be out in the autumn. I am supposed to write something for an upcoming compilation, but I haven’t got there yet…
Chain D.L.K.: So let’s go back (or forward) to ‘to death’. I remember the words of a Tibetan monk on this subject, who said that we have to notice that when a baby comes to life cries, and we smile, when a person comes to death (let’s say so) sometimes has a smiling expression on his/her face, while we cry. Is this somehow ironic viewpoint close to the meaning of death you were referring to on your last release?
Dave Phillips: Yes, very much so! Accompanying my father on his last journey was a profound experience that demystified death to an extent where it mostly wasn’t this “horrible thing” that people often seem to associate with it, but something quite different…. somehow magical, often peaceful and serene – my father was smiling a lot as he lay dying – and also somewhat unbiased, more to do with “life (in all its stages) never fails to amaze me”, where often opposing angles together make the whole.
Chain D.L.K.: I think that most of the weirdest consequences of this likewise weird pandemic crisis can be interpreted by using the filter of human fear of death. How did this situation influence your ‘to death’?
Dave Phillips: I was living in such intense reality bubbles at the time of the pandemic that the pandemic itself seemed to be happening on a side-stage, it didn’t seem to have that much impact on me. In hindsight, though, I realize it played into my perception more than I acknowledged. It affected my perception of the world. The slow dying of my father seemed to go hand in hand with the dying of something that somehow defines us as humans, as we grow more and more separate and distanced from one another and from purpose and freedom – as we have from the “natural world” at large, a separation that we are imposing on us more and more. That’s a slow dying. I mean, the empire is failing and falling, it will crash, no doubt, it’s just a question of when and how. And it sure won’t be pretty. People, please remove your filters!
Chain D.L.K.: I also enjoyed the fact that in the title, there seems a first part missing. You can expect an ‘Hymn to death’, an ‘Ode to death’ or even a ‘Yell to death’! But it’s as it is… just ‘to death’! How did you draw inspiration for it? I read it was somehow related to your father’s last moments (of course you have my deepest sympathy).
Dave Phillips: Thank you. Yes, it’s mainly inspired by my father’s illness, which was devastating and my being his carer for the last 15 months of his life. I witnessed his person being eaten away by disease – in a way, he was gone before death gave him peace. At the same time, I found myself in a role that made sense on so many levels, and somehow I managed to pull it through – I’m so glad I did. Taking care of the old is like taking care of the young, is like education, is like a purpose in life – outsourcing that to a paid service or a job or some system is missing out on profound experiences, on things essential, maybe on things that define us as animals or mammals or tribal beings. Something that teaches more than schools or universities can, but also demands more. So really it’s more about the journey, the path, the story of accompanying someone all the way “to death” and all that it sets free. My father’s wish was to die at home, and I’m glad that my siblings and I made that wish come true.
But this journey also leads to other related topics. There are many readings of the title. The ode/hymn “to death” is certainly in there, probably poking at the wish to demystify death as the huge taboo that it still is. the title also addresses what we’re doing to planetary life – to plants and other animals. Thus, also what we’re doing to ourselves: when I view my father’s disease in a global context, it’s a common cause – nowadays. The main causes of death in our times show us how sick our allegedly “civilized” way of life makes many of us. So much human waste. We are “civilized to death”. And then there’s what this is all doing to us emotionally and existentially – areas where many of us seem more dead than alive, where we merely function and follow rules. The slow death of human potential through our educational systems and through our imposed “normality” is part of that. The death of freedom through total control of life, as per recent events. I mean, life IS uncertain – that’s the exciting part, isn’t it? All our puny attempts to create “safety and security” are laughable if they weren’t so devastating in what they actually do to us – but we’re like animals born in captivity. Our established political and economic systems seem rather dead too – I mean, an economy that functions linearly is just grossly inadequate for a world and lives that happen in cycles. So there are many paths and pointers “to death”. I can also turn it around: if death is the only certainty in life, then a tribute to death is a celebration of life!
Chain D.L.K.: What are the reversed words in the opening ‘A Cycle Completed’ to say?
Dave Phillips: The tone matters more than the words. What do you hear?
Chain D.L.K.: Death is maybe the aspect of existence that keeps the strongest taboos still on. Do you agree with such a statement of not?
Dave Phillips: Yes, that’s also why I wanted to make an album that demystifies that, that steers us away from this taboo, from this conditioned denial or shame, this refusal to face all aspects of existence. I wanted to describe death as what it is, part of a cycle as natural as birth, something to encounter and to know, not something to primarily fear. On the contrary, I feel the awareness of death is one of the driving forces of life, it brings out deep emotions which frankly make me feel very alive. Death the experience has many beautiful aspects to it, at least in my experience. To reduce death – or this album – to just something “dark and scary” is merely scratching the surface – it’s looking away. If we could include death in the bigger picture as something normal, we may enjoy more freedom in our lives…
Chain D.L.K.: That piercing scary and somehow beastly scream on “To Death We All Go, The Sooner The Better”… how did you grab it, if it can be said?
Dave Phillips: I often start a recording based on notes I made or impulses, ideas about sonics, and sentiments. The tape starts running and… I try to put these sentiments into sound, and then… often things happen, I get carried away…. I go places, I enter different states of being, it’s like I travel like I’m somewhere else. Then sometime later, thump, I land again, it’s like I’ve returned from far… and sometimes it even translates onto tape ;o)
Like this album. I didn’t plan to do something about this particular topic, or about my father. I had a bunch of ideas noted, things I wanted to work into, but nothing like “to death”. Then I started recording. It was like a trance. It just poured out of me. The basic recordings happened within about ten days, basic structures of pieces were completed the following week. When I started listening back to what I had done, I was surprised. Then I realized what it’s about…
Chain D.L.K.: Paraphrasing and quoting the title of one of my favorite tracks of the album, what’s the real catastrophe you wanted to represent or maybe exorcize?
Dave Phillips: “The real catastrophe is that humanity continues”. It refers to the coronavirus and a reason why it might’ve appeared. I mean, we humans have vastly overpopulated this planet, and we are a very sick civilization, we’ve taken a couple of wrong turns too many, and we’re destroying not only our home but also that of all other inhabitants and them with it. It’s time we became extinct, or at least drastically reduced in numbers. We, humans, are the catastrophe… haha… it’s somewhat tongue-in-cheek, my sense of humor, though I reckon part of me means it ;o)
Chain D.L.K.: Is there any moment of ‘to death’ that you want to keep deliberately indecipherable?
Dave Phillips: Honestly, I try to be transparent with all that I do. My intentions, sentiments, feelings, it’s all there really. I don’t try to be cryptic or mysterious. On the other hand, it’s very subjective – I’ve put things out into the world that I thought were obvious and then find myself surprised by very different interpretations. So in this work, there are wordings, for example, that are only my own words for this particular moment, this context, they are subjective and not telling in terms of a narrative, so they needn’t be clear, they are only relevant in terms of opening spaces, it’s your own words or sentiments that take you through those spaces, and that’s fine.
Chain D.L.K.: Any plan to lend or adapt ‘to death’ for other forms of art (theatre or video art maybe)?
Dave Phillips: Not for now. The way this album poured out of me, the way it happened, this format is quite right for now. Emotionally, I’m quite elsewhere now anyway, also thanks to having this album happen.
Chain D.L.K.: Any work in progress?
Dave Phillips: Always :o) I’m currently finalizing two pieces for a 7″ for a young Portland label, and a comp track, but there are other pots cooking too…
Visit Dave Phillips on the web:
https://www.davephillips.ch/about
https://dave-phillips.bandcamp.com/
https://soundcloud.com/dave-phillips
vimeo.com/davephillips
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2019 |
€20.00 |
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Should A Seeker Not Find A Companion Who Is Better Or Equal, Let Him Resolutely Pursue A Solitary Course; There Is No Fellowship With The Fool / Cicada Trance |
do-CD |
"should a seeker not find a companion who is better or equal, let him resolutely pursue a solitary course; there is no fellowship with the fool"
dave phillips' trajectory as an experimental recording artist began in the mid-80s, with a punk background that expanded to wilder and more nuanced territories as a solo artist.
having utilized field recordings, both raw and arranged, for over 20 years, not to mention his well-established work with bombastic body sounds, surrealist strings, and tribal percussion, phillips has honed his use of source material in a way that comes off more as a soldier's sense of duty than anything resembling a hobby. with "should a seeker... / cicada trance", he returns with two badly needed physical issues of integral field recording-based pieces that were previously only available for digital download.
"should a seeker..." was initially published as a digital release on the radical matters label in 2008. it is a structured arrangement of sounds with reptilian, amphibian, and insectan origin, remastered for physical release in 2023. for over 56 minutes, gurgles, primal roars, and screams from creatures of the night swirl in and out of the stereo spectrum in complex, yet somewhat rhythmic patterns, for an almost hyperreal effect.
from dave phillips about cicada trance:
the main insect featured here is the first one that drew me to another world, through its sound. a piercing high ringing frequency that seems to go on and on, often alternating with a slower, winding kind of motion, until the sound rises, peaks and drones again. some of these cycles are short, a minute or two a round, others seem to go for an hour, their winding down phase often partly silent; many play in 10 to 20 minute cycles. their song can differ from one region to the other, like dialects. their sound can be heard for miles. it’s ear-splitting loud when you’re close.
i’ve been wanting to do this piece for a long time, maybe since i returned from my first half year in thailand, early 1995. one recording herein is from then.
mostly i don’t see these musicians. many locals all over south east asia told me that these are cicadas. a few others gave other names. i never verified any further. i hear individuals and tribes, not really species. besides, there are all sorts of sonic individuals in these recordings, and i don’t think they care much about what we call them.
recorded in thailand, vietnam, indonesia and south africa, most of these are daytime sonic activities, one is nocturnal. all play in hot climates, frequently during the hottest time of day. two are desert inhabitants (kgalagadi), the others live in the humid heat of tropical rainforests.
i often wonder what goes on in these creatures when they’re playing. when they sing or stridulate, or whatever you want to call it, it’s vibration, it’s ongoing, repetitive. it’s being in the very immediate here and now. the common scientific explanation is “mating call” (another scientific favourite is “territorial call”). this may explain one of many reasons, but reasons apart from “functional” ones seem excluded.
i could imagine these singing ringing cicadas create trance states. like being high on life, ultimately immersed in the present moment and their immediate surroundings and celebrating it. maybe their sound creates altered states of consciousness also in other beings.
immersion - to be part of something
assembled jun ’21 - jan ’22 in zug and brugg, switzerland
dedicated to the most important beings on this planet - insects
alternate headphone listening is recommended
www.davephillips.ch
https://nopartofit.bandcamp.com/album/should-a-seeker-not-find-a-companion-who-is-better-or-equal-let-him-resolutely-pursue-a-solitary-course-there-is-no-fellowship-with-the-fool-cicada-trance
"As we all know, you can easily find noise music in nature. I am not a biologist, but I think cicadas exist in many countries, warm countries or just during the summer in some others. They are fascinating creatures, and many musicians have used recordings of them. Dave Phillips is the latest, and we know him as give or take, a man of noise music. In 1995 he spent six months in Thailand, and ever since, he has wanted to do a piece of music using recordings of cicadas. This now comes as 'Cicada Trance' and a work with a very long title, 'Should A Seeker Not Find A Companion Who Is Better Or Equal, Let Him Resolutely Pursue A Solitary Course; There Is No Fellowship With The Fool'. That piece was originally released in digital form by Radical Matters and used sounds of reptilian, amphibian, and insectan origin. Let's start here, as this is the first piece in the box. I think that the insects make up the backbone of the piece via long-form sustaining sounds, and on top of that, there are animal sounds, roaring and screaming, sometimes rhythmic, but I am unsure to what extent Phillips uses sound effects. There are none (so I believe, at least), and it's all a matter of overlaying sounds until a musical dialogue arises. This is quite a long piece at fifty-six minutes, but it's a great excursion. Strangely, I thought that this was indeed very much a Dave Phillips piece. It's loud but dynamic, and in some of his work, Phillips uses similar sounds but then of a different origin, such as his mouth or body.
Dynamics are not part of the other six, six minutes longer. Here Phillips uses just recordings of cicadas from Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and South Africa and places these together. Whereas 'Should' rocks back and forth, and sounds repeat, disappear but also return, no such thing happens here. It's piercingly high frequencies going on and on, just like they do in nature. It is almost like a harsh noise wall, but one realizes that this is all nature's (true!) forces. If you listen closely, and I did as I found this very compelling music, one notes minimalist changes or even melodic singing, especially in the second half. Here too, I can easily see this as a piece of music by Dave Phillips, but this time using only field recordings, and at that from various recordings from one animal. It is recommended to be heard by headphones, which I tried, but I must admit I thought it was too much at least the cicada piece. The other one worked great with headphones. What a blast!" [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2023 |
€16.00 |
|
| PHILLIPS, TOMAS / DEAN KING |
A Travers le Bord |
CD |
"'The product of a definite convergence of ideas as well as my own nascent french, the title Á Travers le Bord can be interpreted as both a Ôcrossing through' a material edge or border and a liminal move from exterior to interior, or vice versa, in terms of, for example, flesh, or more generally, selfhood. A happy accident. Though I would never presume to attribute any central meaning to music, such border crossings are a constant in my life and most likely inform my composition process as it unfolds in front of the laptop, moving or being still, listening, inside or out. It's a delightful paradox, the ongoing flux that finds its faithful correlate in the pull towards a relative silence and calm. Also delightful was my good friend and collaborator dean king's willingness to contribute sound material for this piece, in addition to a much needed critical ear. After a few limited edition cd-r releases as Eto Ami, we were due a joint project. Many of these sounds I processed further and set about composing Ð a long and sometimes arduous course that prompted its own numerous excursions through borders. Most importantly, however, I was reminded of the pleasures of camaraderie, even at a distance." [Tomas Phillips]
www.nonvisualobjects.com |
2006 |
€14.00 |
|
| PHILLIPS, TOMAS / LUIGI TURRA |
Vignettes Amplifie |
CD |
"The first ever collaboration between prolific american composer Tomas Phillips and prominent italian newcomer Luigi Turra, "Vignettes Amplifie" presents a sequence of subtle sound constructions characterized by minimalistic and contemplative approach. Quiet field recordings, soft acoustic sounds and organic electronic arrangements builds panoramic view on two levels. The acoustic gestures like bells, manipulated objects and drone fragments are coming from silence and disappearing after some time. On the other hand, there is a kind of reflection of these sonic events in the background, muted and abstracted, hiding from your ears. But these microscopic sounds, short and forgetful, seems to be the main part of the whole thing - when you are trying to trace them down, to catch your attention, and to understand the aesthetical value of this music. Shy and confused, these sounds represents the soul of this music, but in fact they are just grow and fade away like the autumn rain. This album will teach you how to turn your mind into ears, hunting for every little susurration in total silence." [label info]
www.nitkie.ru
"New age might also be the word that one could apply to an album that involves shakuhachi and prayer bowls, as on the disc by Tomas Phillips and Luigi Turra. They are both also credited for the use of laptop. And obviously this is not a work of new age. The music is simply not 'easy' enough, but it surely hints at a more zen-like experience of listening. Things are stretched out, quiet and peaceful. There are some highly obscured sounds from the world of electro-acoustics, long sustaining sounds on the bowl and the flute, the more than obvious crackles, which seem to belong to this micro-world. A release that could have as easily fitted on Line, I would think. Three pieces, all around eleven to fourteen minutes, which all need their time to peacefully and calmly enroll their story. A fine work of microsound, that not necessarily is anything new, but quite well crafted." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| PICCHIO DAL POZZO |
Abbiamo tutti i suoi problemi |
CD |
Wiederveröffentlichung der zweiten (und letzten) LP von 1980 von dieser legendären italienischen ProgRockExperimental-Band, die komplexe und unerwartete Arrangements und Strukturen, perfekt eingespielt, nur so aus dem Ärmel schüttelten... Anklänge an HENRY COW, ZAPPA, etc..
"One of the most original, impressive and highly respected of all the experimental groups to have come out of Italy in the 1970s, Picchio dal Pozzo were also one of the early invitees to the canonical 'Recommended Sampler', and would have been in RIO, had RIO lasted another year - and had the group not folded up and disappeared before anyone had realised it was there. In the last decade the record was reissued briefly in Japan, then It disappeared again. We have now re-mastered it and put it back into the public domain, where it belongs. Copying no one, though there is some Zappa influence - Picchio had a unique and highly developed style of composition that was not only out of step with it's own time but which sounds contemporary still. Highly composed and devoid of jazz phrasing and riffs with solos, this record achieves maximum musical effect with minimum instrumental means through close attention to timbre, dynamics and expressed tempi and a kind of deep complexity that sounds simple but changes with each listening. A lot of ideas subtly developed - rather than experimented with; a one-off classic." [label description]
|
2006 |
€14.00 |
|
| PILIA, STEFANO |
Action Silence Prayers |
CD |
"This solo work by the 3-4hadbeeneliminated guitarist Stefano Pilia can aptly be defined 'ecstatic', in the purest sense of the term. Each guitar note seems to emanate from beneath an invisible surface, lingering for a few moments only to drop back down and be replaced by another; different harmonics emerge creating a restless resonance, and tiny clusters of melody appear and disappear before fading in the haze of a gorgeous drone." [label info]
www.die-schachtel.de
|
2008 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
Spiralis Aurea |
do-LP |
Venturing into untapped realms of creative exploration, the Genoa born, Bologna based, guitarist and electroacoustic composer, Stefano Pilia, returns to Die Schachtel with a double LP of material that intertwines traces of sacred geometry, collective experience and elusive connections between nature and human kind. “Spiralis Aurea” encounters the composer venturing into unchartered waters, exploring notions of spirituality via a body of twelve compositions, recorded in various combinations with a cast of all-star instrumentalist; Alessandra Novaga, iosonouncane, Silvia Tarozzi, Mattia Cipolli, Ensemble Concordanze, Elisa Bognetti, Enrico Gabrielli, Valeria Sturba, Giuseppe Franchellucci, Adrian Utley, and Cecilia Stacchiotti.
The roots of “Spiralis Aurea” rest within Pilia’s longstanding, personal engagement with the spiritual and an epiphany had during a visit to the Futa Pass cemetery, the resting place for German soldiers killed in Italy during the Second World War. Deeply moved, he reflected on the profound meanings laying below geometry of its design; “a place"crossed" by thoughts about the landscape, history, symbols, rituals. A work offering a reflection on life and death. A prayer for the living and the dead.”
Drawing its title from the Golden Spiral - also known as the golden ratio, golden section, golden mean, or divine proportion - a mathematical formula and geometric form that has maintained both mystical and creative significance for millennia, each of the 12 works that comprise “Spiralis Aurea” began with a figure or process that is both geometric and symbolic, drawn by Pilia, that slowly translated into tangible organizations of sound.
Displaying a deep resonance with works by La Monte Young, Arvo Pärt, Pauline Oliveros, Eliane Radigue, Krzysztof Penderecki, and Terry Riley, that have witnessed trajectories of experimental music delving toward the spiritual, divine, and metaphysical, Pilia’s “Spiralis Aurea” culminates as a series of sonic meditations, leaving room within their spacious forms to encourage active listening. Calling up echoes of ancient musics within their optimistic, forward thinking tones, across various arrangements of instrumentation - double cello quartet and bass, horns quartet and bass organ, string quartet, string quartet and organ, cello quartet, solo organ, cello solo and synthesizer, electric guitar quartet, guitar quartet and synthesizer, piano and violin - Pilia sculpts a striking intersection between acoustic and electroacoustic process, drone, and chamber music, harnessing the literal and abstract in search of order and higher meaning within a chaotic and uncertain world.
Overwhelmingly beautiful, conceptually rich, and marked by a profound sense of emotive tension, Stefano Pilia’s “Spiralis Aurea” is issued as a pure gold double vinyl LP in a limited deluxe edition of 250 copies, housed in a beautiful sleeve designed by Bruno Stucchi-Dinamomilano, painstakingly letterpress printed with a 1915 German press machine with a hand-painted and applied gold foil shining on a rust-coloured materic paper of Franciscan inspiration.
https://dieschachtelrecords.bandcamp.com/album/spiralis-aurea
|
2022 |
€45.00 |
|
| PILLOW |
From Dusk to Dawn |
CD |
"best known as the keyboarder of italy's premier post rock combo giardini di mirò, wowing fans and sceptics alike with their formidable long players and impressively intense live performances, luca di mira finally returns as a solo artist. "from dusk to dawn" is the second album he pursued on his own. 6 years down the line, pillow's sound has changed quite drastically, yet glows with the same shocking deepness. focusing on a unifying, even more orchestral sound, di mira creates his own melancholic universe. centered around the epic "silent journey", pillow demonstrates in each and every track, how music should be approached in these troubled times. merging subtle piano fragments, overwhelming string arrangements, minimal guitar melodies and even 4/4 beats, pillow has written a soundtrack no one will ever forget." [label info]
www.city-centre-offices.de
|
2012 |
€15.00 |
|
| PIMMON |
Mort aux vaches |
CD |
Der Australier gehört inzwischen zu den anerkanntesten experimentellen Laptop-Musikern dieser Tage.. in der MAV-Serie gibt es abstrakte Geräuschkompositionen mit warmen Untertönen, seltsam quasi-rhythmische Muster & Sphärenharmonien zu hören.. wie immer im speziellen Art-Cover..
“ From all the people with a laptop and who travel, I rate Pimmon as one of the better ones. Not falling in a pure noise mode, or a pure improvisation mode, his music is a combination of melodies, raw chunks of sound and glitchy rhythms. His recent 'Snaps Crackles Pop' (a rather self-explanatory title) for Tigerbeat didn't make it to these pages, but would rank high in my top 10 for 2003. That CD was a studio, to get the full Pimmon picture, one would also need the 'Mort Aux Vaches' CD. Recorded at roughly the same time as the Tigerbeat CD, the live recording on 'Mort Aux Vaches' CD dates from about a year ago, upon his first Europe tour. Of course, the live side is always arranged in a more free mode, small mistakes happen but these pieces bear the Pimmon trade mark allover: grainy yet warm glitch rhythms, amplified static hiss that evolves into small wormholes and crackles and pop all around. However, Pimmon never looses the idea of composition - he never leaps into pure improvisation nor does he let things get out of control, there is always the structure to control. Pimmon clearly has this capacity, both in his studio work, but also in his live work. Finally a very good example of the latter becomes available. “ [Frans de Waard]
|
2003 |
€14.00 |
|
| PINTO, JOAO CASTRO |
Suntria - Imaginal Sonotopes |
CD |
"Suntria is a soundscape composition orchestrated, fundamentally, through the use of audio fragments captured from distinct locations of Sintra’s forest, near Lisbon, Portugal.
Since remote ages, Sintra’s mountains (in Portuguese, Serra de Sintra) are known as locations of worship and devotion. It is reputed that the Celts, Visigoths, Moorish and Romans were among the people who inhabited and praised these oneiric landscapes before the Lusitanos (the later Portuguese). Throughout the years, Sintra had different toponyms, it is said that the Celts referred to it as Cynthia (meaning the devotion of the moon). It is also given that some Greek and Latin scholars state that Sintra was also denominated as Mons Sacer (Sacred Mount). Ptolemy and the Romans called it Mons Lunae (Mount of the Moon) and, during the Moorish rule of the land, Sintra was denominated as Zintira, Chinra, Xintra, Sentra, until, finally, it was, before its actual designation, named Xentra. From the etymological study of the term there is a curious, but controversial, medieval designation from each Sintra is thought of being derived – Suntria. This possibility presents itself as problematic. The medieval origin of Suntria is supposed to have been derived from the Indo-European (meaning Sun or Luminous Astro). This denomination is controversial because the etymology of the word “Sun”, considering the existing Indo-European branches, puts aside any connection between the term “Suntria” and the significance of the word Sun (except when considering the Gothic [extinct Germanic language] term “Sunno”).
Suntria is the title of this composition because, and foremost, the conceptual purpose of the album is not to mimic the sonic landscapes of Sintra’s physical actual locations but to creatively interpret these spaces. Suntria is a hypothetical toponym of a determined physical location, as this composition is an interpretation and recreation of field recordings captured in Sintra’s soundscape.
The mystical ambience patent in Sintra’s forest is a national symbol depicted in literature, cinema and architecture by Portuguese and foreigner artists as, for example, Lord Byron, which lived there for a brief period.
Sintra’s fauna and flora is as rich as its environment, which configurates a micro-climate totally distinct from the one which predominates in Lisbon, from where it distances not too much. The basilar audio samples that integrate this composition were recorded in the ponds, cascades, forests and beaches of the Sintra-Cascais natural park. Additional sounds were recorded in other (natural / urban) locations of the country (check the cd sleeve for more info).
Suntria’s subtitle is imaginal sonotopes, and it is so because what is at stake in the piece is recreating combinations from elements of the soundscape, i.e., of diverse geophonies, biophonies and anthropophonies. According to soundscape ecology, a sonotope is, precisely, the spatial overlapping units or patterns advenient from these contingent conglomerations, which in their turn result on the blending of sonic elements.
Suntria is a piece that presents plausible soundscapes through the creative electroacoustic exploration and concrescence of samples that even though, in many cases, belong to the same ontic family (for example: geophony – water in streams, ponds and beaches) were originated and recorded, in terms of spatio-temporal coherence, in distinct locations. One of the main purposes of the album is, therefore, to question the sense of identity and place, concerning to the academic established postulates of soundscape composition. Sounding natural, i.e., as we phenomenologically relate to a sonotope, is one of the main goals of this composition: to make plausible the implausible.
One can expect to listen a diverse spectrum of sonic approaches, in between found sounds and abstracted composition, making use of techniques that range from transparent edit, equalization and juxtaposition (phonography) to concrete / acousmatic music procedures (manipulations in the morphological spectrum). In terms of dynamics, the composition reveals subtle quasi-silent moments as saturated and loud events. The same logic prevails in terms of spectral diversity, for Suntria outputs careful sculpting of low, mid and high frequencies, towards a whimsical sound voyage.
Finally, all the audio samples were registered through the implementation of various recording techniques: stereo (XY, ORTF [w. matched pair] and MS) and monaural (shotgun, hydrophone and contact mics). Concerning the audio recording devices, various gear was used, from the enhanced mono (low quality) mic of the iPhone and the prosumer mid-level entry recorders (as the Tascam DR-100 MKII / DR-70D), to the professional standard industry level recorders (as Sound Devices 702).
Suntria reaches for an aural acuity that invites the listener to perscrutate meaning, purpose/intentionality and ultimately to question the sense of hearing and being in the world." (João Castro Pinto, 10 May 2017) |
2017 |
€14.00 |
|
| PIPELINE ALPHA |
Evocation of Seth |
CD |
Erstes (?) Album eines deutschen Projektes mit dunkel-tribale Sounds & ethnischen Gesängen, was eine rituelle Atmosphäre heraufbeschwört; viele Sprachzitate / verzerrte Lyrics tauchen auf, wodurch das Werk mitunter einen Hörspielartigen Charakter bekommt und wie ein verwunschener, hitziger Fieber-Traum wirkt. Titel wie "Tanzende Skorpione", "Pesthauch in der Oase" oder "Wüstendämonen" verweisen auf oriental-okkulte Phantasien. Hörenswert und eigenständig, dabei aufwendig aufgemacht im Pappschuber mit Postkarten, etc.
"PSYCHEDELIC SUSPIRIA DRONE. comes in a lavish and handmade style. Limited Edition 222 / 8 TRACK 69:44min.CD. Label: Triage Industries. Pipeline Alpha gives you sophisticated pychedelic Drones originated in psychotic ethnic Ritual-Livesessions with analog effectmaschines, his voice and primitive synthesizers. His unique Low-Fi sound is his organic vision of music, which try to combine archaic dreams of natur with the synthetic world of matrix. For him every session is a evocation. Pipeline Alpha aka the mighty alpha-whale is also a filmmaker and poet, who likes to tell you storys about men living in bardo dealing with sinister old gods to free their beloved or to ruin fiends and natur." [label info]
|
2007 |
€10.00 |
|
| PITRE, DUANE |
Live at the Stone. ED09 for String Ensemble |
LP |
"ED09 is an evolving, long-tone composition by Duane Pitre. The work’s current score calls for 12 or more performers from the string and/or woodwind categories, along with the possible addition of bowed electric guitar (played by the composer).
Approximately half of ED09‘s score instructs the performers to execute specific notated pitches that coincide with conducted hand signs, while the remainder of the score allows the performers to make minor decisions that affect the pace and texture of the piece. These decisions are based on a structure consisting of set playing methods, technique restrictions, fixed pitch classes (the ‘pitch pool’), and spontaneous conduction (aka real-time ‘mixing’)–resulting in slow-shifting harmonic movement over a long duration.
Essentially, the score enables all of the performers to approach a performance of the piece in the same manner, thus creating a group of musicians that thinks and plays as a cohesive unit. The result is a piece of music that is focused, yet fluid, minimal, yet dense–yielding a sound that is not unlike slow-motion chamber music.
ED09 is an exercise in discipline and freedom, in the refinement of music, and in communal focus. The piece involves a temporary community of musicians with a central goal stripped of self: to become one.
180gr vinyl, edition of 350 (280 black / 70 clear)." [label info]
www.bassesfrequences.org
https://bassesfrequences.bandcamp.com/album/ed09-for-string-ensemble-live-at-the-stone
|
2011 |
€15.00 |
|
| PLANNING FOR BURIAL |
Desideratum |
LP |
"New Jersey gloom band Planning For Burial will release its first full-length in almost four years this May on SF-based dark music label The Flenser. Titled Desideratum, this album is the band’s first full-length since 2010′s cult hit Leaving (Enemies List).
Simultaneously straddling the line between being completely nostalgic and futurist sounding, Planning For Burial is the product of a single wunderkind taking healthy obsessions with certain influences and filtering them through a droning, gloomy spyglass that evokes only the most concrete blues (the emotion not the music) this side of the gray waters of the Atlantic. While Planning For Burial gets lumped in with the whole wave of “bedroom recording artists” (which is where the project toiled for years until Leaving finally was released), the mastermind behind the project sets himself apart from his peers due in no small part to his background in sound. Planning For Burial’s brand of dark shoegaze/gloomgaze is hard to categorize, but it’s sound contains elements of slowcore, shoegaze, doom, drone, 90′s alt rock, 80′s goth, and black metal, while never being defined by any one of those genres.
Over the course of the last four years, Planning for Burial has been sporadically popping up in live venues (sharing the stage with a wide breadth of musical compatriots from Chelsea Wolfe to Deafheaven while seeming out of place at none) along the east and west coasts and releasing a slew of EPs and splits on various labels. Now, as Planning for Burial gears up to release Desideratum, the band will also perform a series of live shows – tour dates can be found below. PFB commented,
Expected to ship on or before May 13th.
LP comes in a heavy jacket with a heavy inner sleeve. The CD version comes in a case-wrapped jacket with an inner sleeve. CD/LP package can be ordered below.
The colored vinyl edition is Half & Half Oxblood/Swamp Green and is limited to 200 copies. Inspired by a gloomy Jamison bottle." [label info]
theflenser.com
|
2014 |
€21.50 |
|
| PLEQ |
Ballet Mechanic |
CD |
"Preceded by the acclaimed Good Night CD single released last october, Pleq‘s Ballet Mechanic arrives in January on Basses Frequences. Described by Bartosz himself as “(…) the most personal, abstract and intellectual work to date. Ballet Mechanic is never to be repeated.”, this new offering invites the listener to travel through crackle, screech, squeak, sizzle and subtle drones. Melodies also appear throughout the electric atmospheres, as dark and heavy as in First to Fall or That Is Reallly The End, as feathery and celeste as in Good Night (glitch) or Once Upon A Time. Surely one of Pleq’s most accomplished and homogeneous work to date." [label info]
www.bassesfrequences.org
|
2011 |
€12.00 |
|
| PLOTKIN, JAMES & PAAL NILSSEN-LOVE |
Death Rattle |
CD |
" “Death Rattle” is the noise of two forces of nature in collision. Like a pair of clashing typhoons, Philadelphia based avant guitarist James Plotkin and Norwegian free jazz drummer Paal Nilssen-Love generate chaos, disturbance and a terrifying beauty in their first ever collaborative recording. Free jazz and metal-edged rock never chimed so exhilaratingly together before. ‘Paal’s precision and constant invention/reinvention is mind-blowing, only matched by its intensity,’ James enthuses. ‘There’s a very fluid feel to what he’s doing despite the ferocity. Instead of trying to match the chaos, I opted to build a more solid foundation of repetition and melody for him to launch from. I really appreciated the role reversal of drummer and guitarist!’
James Plotkin’s distinctively extreme, aggressive guitar sound has been a constant presence in underground music since the late 1980s, when he founded the metal/industrial band OLD. As a solo artist and as a member of outfits such as Scorn, Khanate, Phantomsmasher, Khlyst and most recently Jodis, he has plotted a nomadic trail through new metal, dark ambient, industrial, noise, grindcore and drone rock. Sought out by Michael Gira, John Zorn, Ikue Mori, Franz Treichler, Francisco López and many more, he has also remixed a wide range of artists from KK Null and Sunn O))) to Pelican, Earth, Nadja and Neu!. ‘I've wanted to work with Paal for the better part of a decade,’ comments James. ‘Stephen O'Malley had played one of Scorch Trio’s discs in the van during a Khanate tour and I could hardly believe it was only one drummer at work.’
Paal Nilssen-Love is one of the most intense drummers working on the planet right now. He grew up in Stavanger, west Norway, where his parents ran the city’s thriving jazz club. In theory he’s now based in Oslo, but there’s a huge global demand for his percussive threshing machine. He’s often travelling on a relentless round of musical projects and festival appearances – notably with Mats Gustafsson in The Thing, his Chicago trio with Ken Vandermark and Ab Baars, the Hairy Bones group with Peter Brötzmann and Toshinori Kondo, a trio with Massimo Pupillo and noise artist Lasse Marhaug, plus duos with Peter Brötzmann, Terrie Ex, John Butcher and others." [label info]
www.runegrammofon.com
|
2013 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Death Rattle |
LP & CD |
" “Death Rattle” is the noise of two forces of nature in collision. Like a pair of clashing typhoons, Philadelphia based avant guitarist James Plotkin and Norwegian free jazz drummer Paal Nilssen-Love generate chaos, disturbance and a terrifying beauty in their first ever collaborative recording. Free jazz and metal-edged rock never chimed so exhilaratingly together before. ‘Paal’s precision and constant invention/reinvention is mind-blowing, only matched by its intensity,’ James enthuses. ‘There’s a very fluid feel to what he’s doing despite the ferocity. Instead of trying to match the chaos, I opted to build a more solid foundation of repetition and melody for him to launch from. I really appreciated the role reversal of drummer and guitarist!’
James Plotkin’s distinctively extreme, aggressive guitar sound has been a constant presence in underground music since the late 1980s, when he founded the metal/industrial band OLD. As a solo artist and as a member of outfits such as Scorn, Khanate, Phantomsmasher, Khlyst and most recently Jodis, he has plotted a nomadic trail through new metal, dark ambient, industrial, noise, grindcore and drone rock. Sought out by Michael Gira, John Zorn, Ikue Mori, Franz Treichler, Francisco López and many more, he has also remixed a wide range of artists from KK Null and Sunn O))) to Pelican, Earth, Nadja and Neu!. ‘I've wanted to work with Paal for the better part of a decade,’ comments James. ‘Stephen O'Malley had played one of Scorch Trio’s discs in the van during a Khanate tour and I could hardly believe it was only one drummer at work.’
Paal Nilssen-Love is one of the most intense drummers working on the planet right now. He grew up in Stavanger, west Norway, where his parents ran the city’s thriving jazz club. In theory he’s now based in Oslo, but there’s a huge global demand for his percussive threshing machine. He’s often travelling on a relentless round of musical projects and festival appearances – notably with Mats Gustafsson in The Thing, his Chicago trio with Ken Vandermark and Ab Baars, the Hairy Bones group with Peter Brötzmann and Toshinori Kondo, a trio with Massimo Pupillo and noise artist Lasse Marhaug, plus duos with Peter Brötzmann, Terrie Ex, John Butcher and others." [label info]
www.runegrammofon.com
|
2013 |
€22.50 |
|
| POLIO |
Concrete |
CD-R |
Alles andere als „konkret“ klingen die drei Drone-Stücke auf dieser CDR von Peter Wright aka POLIO; spheric dreamscapes at its best !
“ Before relocating to the U.K. earlier this year, Mr. Wright finished this fourth POLIO release back in Christchurch, NZ. "Concrete" is an apt title; these are digital deconstructions of recordings made live in a bunker (apparently before an audience as distant chatter is
heard on the last track), and to my mind there's a palpable sense of weight, gravity. At first these suspended "pure tones" just sort of
hangs there, but the recording progressively resolves itself beautifully & becomes more open, then somewhere during the second track descends to an altogether deeper/sub-conscious level....oohmm .....close your eyes....still literally quite heavy but exquisitely layered and hallucinatory. Enveloping, but not stuffy. This is huge.” [label description]
|
2003 |
€7.00 |
|
| |
Soyuz |
CD-R |
“ Polio was originally intended to be a studio-only project dealing with the dregs of home-recorded detritus and recycling it all inside droning digital straitjackets. However, 2002 saw Polio out in front of audiences of at least 15 people on a couple of occasions which presented new challenges and resulted in a swag of new recordings awaiting their moment on a CD plonked inside a wrapping of cheap manilla paper with a neat schematic of a spacecraft on the front. Any excuse for pictures of space vehicles...
Soyuz presents the bulk of a live Polio performance at Lyttelton's appropriately off-kilter Wunderbar recorded to digital hard disc by the omnipresent David Khan, and one unlisted piece of studio deconstruction to finish the disc. Polio live is a mix of pre-processed drones, live loop & sine-wave manipulation & general knob-twiddling on the effects units. Sort of like those energy drinks you can get with extra crap thrown in to what is essentially sugar & water, Soyuz is like Gemini, but with extra minerals (?!)... ahh, hell, it's a hard thing to write blurbs with a hangover, but you get the picture hopefully...! The bottom line is if you loved Gemini, you'll definately like this disc. A further installment in the Polio saga will appear shortly on Norwegian imprint Humbug, but for starters why not sink your teeth into this beauty...” [label info]
|
2003 |
€8.00 |
|
| POOK, JOCELYN |
Untold Things |
CD |
"The Real World Gold version of Untold Things includes two bonus tracks: Adam's Lullaby and Ave Maria, sung by Natacha Atlas.
"I wanted Untold Things to reflect the live work I'd been at the time," says the classically trained, thirty-something Londoner. Pook sees the recording as a natural progression from her long association with Real World, where she'd been a keen participant in the legendary creative jams that are Recording Weeks and worked as a string player and arranger for Peter Gabriel. (As a former member of The Communards and co-founder of the all-female sextet Electra Strings she has also helped flesh out the sounds of PJ Harvey, Paul Weller, Morrissey, Nick Cave and Siouxsie Sioux).
Where her previous albums, 1997's 'Deluge' and 1999's 'Flood', were written specifically for theatre and film - the former for Canadian dance company O Vertigo, the latter for Stanley Kubrick's 'Eyes Wide Shut' - 'Untold Things' is very much Pook's own creative vision. Encouraged by Real World's penchant for blurring boundaries, she channelled her trademark combination of classicism and innovation into an exhilarating gem of an album, one which pulls off that rare coup of putting listeners in touch with their deeper feelings. 'Untold Things' will, no doubt, be the source of many an epiphany. You could say that it has a spiritual, even magical, quality, as befits one who is constantly changing artistic shape - and whose surname is the Celtic word for fairy.
Pook's soft speech, translucent skin and Pre-Raphaelite curls might fit the stereotype of a classical musician (and, if you like, a latter-day Titania), but they belie a background in performance-based work that's seen her create 'atmospheres' from found objects like answer-machine messages and corrugated iron. And though Pook insists she is proudly rooted in the formal, classical music tradition, she still hankers after the cutting edge. Her influences - Laurie Anderson, Steve Reich, Holger Czukay and her friend Michael Nyman - are also shared by her like-minded ensemble. "Most of my string section are friends who go way back and who, like me, are also composers. I tend to work with people I've got chemistry with and then build around what they play. That means all sorts of instruments and voices creep in."
"There's a juxtaposition of vocal styles," states Pook, who has always favoured eccentric opposites. On 'Untold Things', she pits her English choral plainsong and early music leanings against multi-ethnic traditions, and offsets the spacious, tranquil nature of some tracks with the pulsing, dervish-style rhythms of others. It turns out the vocals are not words at all. "Because words are so incredibly powerful," Pook explains, "I tend not to use them. I prefer to treat voices like instruments. So we've used a made up language on two of the songs; there's one piece which developed from a phrase Parvin Cox once sang to me over the phone. On others I've recorded texts backwards, because I love the strange, kind of uneasy quality you get. I find it really peaceful."
'Saffron' is the title track for 'In A Land of Plenty', a major new BBC TV drama series which aired at the time of the album's release. "It's about a family who are my generation, born in the Sixties and growing up into the present day. It's very beautifully shot, very impressionistic, which is unusual for television" Pook states. But it started out as a poem written by a mother for her daughter, its lyrics reversed by Pook and Pappenheim before being featured in a short dance film. All of the songs on 'Untold Things' have been reshaped and sculpted to perfection. Or at the very least, as near to it as Pook will admit.
"I could go on fiddling with all these pieces for years," she grins. "But with what I've learnt over the past year, especially from doing 'Eyes Wide Shut', I've been able to go back and rework some of them. I'm more confident in what I'm doing now, which has really helped me to develop. And Stanley (Kubrick) was just so amazingly positive and flattering about my music. The experience of working with him was truly powerful."
"I'm not somebody who conceptualises," she offers. "I just do it and see the connections afterwards. I know people will think there's a religious element to this, which isn't something I want to comment on. But I do think there's a sense of faith, of loss and yearning, which is inherent in the music. Hopefully, it moves you." And in keeping with her Celtic surname, Jocelyn Pook has made an album with translucent wings." [label info]
www.realworldrecords.com
|
2013 |
€10.00 |
|
| PORTION CONTROL |
Progress Report 1982-1986 |
do-LP |
"This material from PORTION CONTROL clearly demonstrates their early experimentation
both as ‘musicians’ and with at the advent of analogue electronic machines. The eclectic
material ranges from cassette portastudio material recorded in Peckham and Kennington,
South London to high end studio recordings.
The punk roots show as PORTION CONTROL demonstrate unrivalled creativity breaching
the gap between UK industrial, early ambient and the formative signs of electronic dance
music. The music features rising appegiators, proto bass lines (a true PORTION
CONTROL signature) dark sound design and recurring beats and rhythms... many elements
that became the bedrock of future darker electronic music.
During this highly charged period PORTION CONTROL established themselves at the
forefront of the Formative, Underground UK Electronics scene." [label info]
www.vinyl-on-demand.com
|
2015 |
€27.50 |
|
| POST SCRIPTVM |
Gauze |
LP |
"LP reissue of the first full-length album by Post Scriptvm, recorded in late 2001 and originally released as CD-r. Unlike the project's later works that are characterized by subtlety and meticulous production, Gauze is an unvarnished, gritty 4-track recording of lo-fi death ambient from the wasteland of southern Brooklyn, NYC, enshrouded in the lingering haze of razed buildings and burnt human remains. The boundary between what is considered normal everyday life and sheer insanity, carnage, personal and social collapse-true horrible face of humanity-is but an ephemeral layer of gauze that can be torn in a heartbeat, throwing reality out of balance, violently and irrevocably. "This game is prompted by a rip in the fabric of life." [Gauze] has the same hypnotic and overwhelming power as a strong fever dream. It hauls you into a contorted world of loose association, an industrial landscape in which humans lose their form and randomly merge with animals and bizarre machinery, where perception is warped and hours flicker by in an instant. -Nulll Oppressive drones and bleak atmospheres, interjected with twisted samples and cavernous, haunted basement noises. [Gauze] has a very cool old school feel to it that's been sadly missing within the 'death industrial' genre. -Jason Mantis/Malignant Records "Gauze" is a hazy swirl of dark ambient, subtle ritual elements, esoteric samples and mild death industrial textures. The deep tones and the cryptic vocals samples and chants combine to make some truly eerie atmospheres. -Scott Candey/Worm Gear "Gauze" sounds quite a bit like a live recording, like being immersed in a real-time psychosis simulation. -Industrial.org Post Scriptum construct their pieces from a varied mixture of drones, analogue sounds, post-industrial samples, strongly maintaining a claustrophobic atmosphere at the same time...thick with an uneasy sense of a catastrophe about to happen. -Corridor of Cells Ragged dark ambience full of trepidation and strangeness, as scratched into the flesh of weird, dimly lit corners of aural resonance. -SEVEN Tracklist: Cunctator Trepan On the brink Pore The Binding Vox Calamantis Gentle Diversions."
www.tesco-germany.com
"Gerade hat Kollege ENDSAL die aktuelle Live-Werkschau "Séance" (Besprechung) des russischen Industrial-Duos POST SCRIPTVM gewürdigt. Nun möchte ich noch ein paar Infos zu "Gauze" nachschieben, um die Diskografie komplett zu machen. Es handelt sich um die allerersten Aufnahmen von POST SCRIPTVM, die ursprünglich im Jahr 2001 auf CDR erschienen sind. TESCO ARCHAIC DOCUMENTS, eine Serie des Mannheimer Industrial-Labels TESCO, presst hier ältere – teils auch unveröffentliche oder live entstandene – Werke auf Vinyl, und so ist auch "Gauze" als nicht mehr erhältlicher Baustein des Gesamtwerkes nun als LP wieder zugänglich. Womit wir auch wirklich alle Veröffentlichungen der in den USA lebenden Russen auf NONPOP geehrt hätten.
"Cunctator" (01) startet mit einem höhligen, gefährlichen und vibrierenden Drone. Dumpf klingende Sprachsamples und ein kratziges Geräusch ergänzen den Track, ab der Mitte tauchen sporadisch sakrale Mönchsgesänge auf; eher Atmosphäre als Musik, sehr stimmungsvoller Dark Ambient. Das Frickeln und Bratzeln in "Trepan" (02) formt sich nach und nach zu Frequenzdonner. Auch hier tönt eine Sprech- und später schamanische Singstimme aus der Gruft. Mit metallenem Scheppern ergibt sich auch ein erster Ansatz von Rhythmus, der in "On The Brink" (03) weiter verfolgt wird. Gelooptes Kratzen hält Drones zusammen, später übernimmt diese Funktion ein Herzschlag – das Stück ein geisterhaftes Schweben. "Pore" (04) besteht aus weitem, maschinellem Rumpeln und Dröhnen, dezent von noisigen Sounds unterstützt, die in "The Binding" (05) zunehmen: Zwischen Weltuntergangs-Blitzen ruft eine russische Frauenstimme ganz sicher den Notfall aus. Wasserplätschern, Wind und schwimmende Drones lassen "Vox Calamantis" (06) ruhiger wirken, in wiederholende Loops fügt sich eine nachdenkliche, mahnende russische Stimme ein. Und zum Schluss besteht "Gentle Diversions" (07), ganz klassisch, überwiegend aus rotierendem Dröhnen zwischen Noise und Industrial.
Für mich sind POST SCRIPTVM einer der besten und intelligentesten Industrial-Acts auf dem Markt. "Gauze" hat bereits alle Grundbausteine für die spätere Entwicklung. Klanglich noch recht roh und rau, man könnte auch sagen 'old school', wirkt das Album fast wie eine Liveaufnahme. So unmittelbar und direkt. Ich habe permanent das Gefühl, mich in einem dunklen Schiffsbauch zu befinden, schwankend, zwischen stampfenden Maschinen. Diese LP gehört natürlich, wie alle anderen Veröffentlichungen von POST SCRIPTVM auch, in den Plattenschrank. Nicht nur als abzuhakendes Frühwerk, sondern als spannender Ausgangspunkt für folgende Meilensteine." [Michael We. für nonpop.de]
|
2016 |
€23.00 |
|
| POTTER, COLIN |
We Couldn't Agree on a Total |
CD |
"This is the 100th release by ICR. The first was the compilation LP ‘We Couldn’t Agree on a Title’ in 1981. Back in those days, I never imagined – no, wait – that’s so long ago, I really can’t remember what I imagined. I know that I did think Integrated Circuit Records was a good name for a label that was ‘integrated’ (?!) and vaguely electronic. Which is why it’s now called ICR, much less of a mouthful. But it is slightly surprising to have made it to 100 releases, although I doubt we’ll make it to 200, which partly explains the title of this CD.
3 tracks totalling over 74 minutes, 2 were recorded live at London's Cafe Oto. The third is a studio mix of the music I played live a number of times, but never managed to get a decent recording.
As we have made it to 100, this seems an appropriate time to thank everyone who’s been involved in helping me keep this leaky boat afloat for over 40 years - the artists who have appeared on releases and the people who have assisted in the running of things. I hope you know how much I appreciate this. In particular I would like to thank Jonathan Coleclough, who has been designing wonderful covers (including this one) and graphics for ICR for most of its life and has been a constant studio and live partner for many years.
And finally I would like to thank the people who have bought the records, cassettes, 8–track cartridges, CDs and downloads and showed up to see me make a fool of myself in public over the years. Without you it would have been somewhat pointless."
https://icrdistribution.bandcamp.com/album/we-couldnt-agree-on-a-total
"In 1981, Colin Potter released a compilation LP, 'We Couldn’t Agree on a Title', the inaugural release on Integrated Circuit Records. 'We Couldn't Agree On A Total' is the 100th release, but it's not a compilation. To celebrate this milestone, Potter selected two live recordings from his concerts at Cafe Oto in 2018 and 2016 and one studio piece of something he played live a couple of times but never managed to get a great recording of. The cover shows Potter and a plethora of instruments; I am sure this photo is some construction of various images, but it's an impressive display of gear. Next to playing as a musician, solo and with Nurse With Wound, Potter runs the ICR studio, so I am sure he knows all about gear, cobbling these together and making them sound simultaneously, with Captain Potter at the controls. The mixing board is the big audio canvas to paint sounds, add effects, change frequencies, and do whatever people do behind big mixing consoles to produce great music. In the April 2018 concert, Potter goes for a take on cosmic music, with arpeggios and rhythm in slow motion, and once that train leaves the station, it majestically rolls about. It has that cosmic Krautrock idea, and it works very well. In 2016, he did something similar, but the arpeggios come in later here, and it takes some time to get there. Potter needs some time to get his stuff brewing from below the surface, but it erupts like a volcano with clockwork precision. In the studio construction, none of these arpeggios are rolling about but a slow melodic touch over drone-like synthesiser tapestries. Maybe also a bit on the cosmic side, but less urgent and more ambient. To me, it seems Potter exercises more control in this piece, whereas in the live pieces, he's wilder and lets things run wild. Two sides of the master, and while I slightly prefer the controlled constructions, it's a great release." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
https://icrdistribution.bandcamp.com/album/we-couldnt-agree-on-a-total |
2023 |
€14.00 |
|
| POTTER, COLIN & THE HAFLER TRIO |
A pressed on Sandwich |
CD |
Erste Zusammenarbeit der beiden Urgesteine britischer Experimental-Drones / Elektronik, ein one-tracker von ca. 53 Minuten Länge. POTTER bearbeitet die H30-Sounds, das sind organisch-elektronische Oberton-Klangstrahlen, die sich glitzernd & oszillierend ins Ätherische winden, ruhig & klar & zur Versenkung einladend....
"CD is packed in special paper wallet & released as the limited edition of 1010 copies. This nutritious fare was prepared by Colin Potter at IC Studio, Preston, UK in 2005, using the finest Icelandic ingredients supplied by The Hafler Trio." Colin Potter explains: "I attended The Hafler Trio performance of 'How To Slice a Loaf of Bread' in Preston and was very impressed on many different levels. During a discussion with Andrew McKenzie after the event, he suggested that we might try a joint project. Shortly afterwards he sent me some of the original source material from the performance. It was my intention to preserve the overall shape & sense of the material, but at the same time move it to another (sonic)..” [label info]
“Do any of these two artists need really an introduction? I don't think so. Both are big shots in the world of experimental music. Early 2003, shortly after the re-discovery of The Hafler Trio, the trio did a performance in Preston called 'How To Slice A Loaf Of Bread'. The performance was attended by Colin Potter, who lives and works in the same city. Afterwards it was suggested that the two should work together, but McKenzie being Iceland and Potter in Preston made a tete-a-tete not easy. Andrew McKenzie mailed Colin Potter the original source materials for the concert, which Potter happily reworked into 'A Pressed On Sandwich'. The original performance was also released (see Vital Weekly 404), so there is something to compare. Both The Hafler Trio and Colin Potter are masters of drone music, but there are some subtle differences. The Hafler Trio seem overall more monochrome in approach, with so it seems for the listener who doesn't know any better, whereas Potter seems to be using more sound effects to create the soundscapes that he does, maybe less organic and more electronic. As said, the differences are quite subtle here, and there is certainly no hierarchy, both are masters of the genre. Potter's mix is perhaps a bit more dense and obviously more concise (The Hafler Trio release spans three CDs), but it moves as gentle and dark as the original. Great collaboration.” [FdW / Vital Weekly]
"Fucking brilliant. Yeah, you should expect that these two high caliber sound sculptors would manage something great; and they do not disappoint. As for the obligatory introductions, Colin Potter may be best known from his ongoing contributions to Nurse With Wound over the past two decades, but has been privy to some of the finest in British dronescaping thanks to his work in Ora and Monos. The Hafler Trio is the creation of Andrew McKenzie, a sound research project which has been investigating the impact of sound upon the body, mind, and spirit through the lens of a Byzantine gnosticism. A couple years back, Potter had the good fortune of witnessing the Hafler Trio's How To Slice A Loaf Of Bread performance in Preston, England in 2003; after the show, Potter and McKenzie struck up a conversation, whence McKenzie suggested that the two collaborate. Shortly thereafter, McKenzie sent Potter a collection of the source material from that very performance as the foundation for their collaboration. Potter stated his intentions clearly, that he wanted to preserve the shape of the material while pushing it into another space. It's an understatement to say that Potter merely achieved his intention; as A Pressed On Sandwich ranks as one of the best things that he's worked on, on par with his work with Steven Stapleton on the existential void of Nurse With Wound's Salt Marie Celeste. Yeah, it's that good! Of course, McKenzie ultimately stretched out his own material of monumental dronings over a whopping six discs on the twin set of triple cds also entitled How To Slice A Loaf Of Bread (all of which are long out of print); so Potter's redux is a bit easier to digest, but certainly no less an album! You'll encounter the drone supreme here on A Pressed On Sandwich with electrified tonal vibrations, undulating phase patterns, and oceanic gasps of sublime expanses. The album starts off with a very cold, shivering feel but eventually transitions into a dynamic interplay of tones that simultaneously capturing the solemnness of church organ droning (with all of the overtones of holy symbolism) and the unnerving purity of feedback (with all of the allusions of technology on the brink of collapse). We mentioned it before, and we'll mentioned it again: fucking brilliant." [Aquarius Records]
|
2006 |
€15.00 |
|
| POUSSEUR, HENRI |
Parabolique d'Enfer |
CD |
"This recording will be Sub Rosa's first posthumous recording of Henri Pousseur. It is the sixth release (out of eight) in their catalog devoted to this composer's experimental and electronic works. It also marks the end of the trilogy of the Parabolic works (following the 1972 unreleased recordings and the 2001 collective performance). This time around, we have a piece built through another major Pousseur work: Leçon d'Enfer (composed in 1990-1991 around Arthur Rimbaud). This previously-unreleased version was realized by Henri Pousseur in Cologne in 1992. This release was important to Henri Pousseur, as it concludes, in a sense, the Paraboles trilogy, after 1972's 8 Etudes Paraboliques (released as a 4CD box set comprised of all the études to be used as the basis for all current and future mixes) and 4 Parabolic Mixes (2001), on which four composers -- Robert Hampson, Philip Jeck, Markus Popp, and Pousseur himself -- tackled those source tapes. This suite of works was gradually pushing composition further into the territory of destruction and abstraction. This final installment, a mix made from the 1972 Études, as it should be, integrates a major external element (something already planned in the initial design), another work by Pousseur, "Leçons d'Enfer," a complex piece of musical theater dedicated to the memory of Arthur Rimbaud and composed in 1991 for the centennial of the poet's death. This work, over 100 minutes long, was written for two actors, three singers, seven musicians (clarinet, alto saxophone, tuba, harp, piano, and two percussions), tapes (including traditional Ethiopian music and field recordings from that area), and electroacoustic devices. With this version, Henri Pousseur shows how the deep impression left by a work in constant mutation can take different guises. The Rimbaud pictured in this flux is neither the promising teenager, nor the striking genius, nor even the desperate man struggling in vain in an empty landscape; it is an appeased hybrid breathing the ebullient air of the final times." [label info]
www.subrosa.net
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| PRAXINOSCOPE |
same |
pic-LP |
“Praxinoscope is a new project which sees the duo Roberto Opalio (one-half of My Cat Is An Alien) and Ramona Ponzini (close collaborator of the Italian space-brothers). While in the debut album as Painting Petals On Planet Ghost (out in early September 2005 on Time-Lag Records) Ramona will focus on her Japanese vocals alongside both brothers' acoustic tunes, here she plays little Japanese percussions and wind chimes, creating a resonant texture over Roberto's alien wordless vocals and space electronics. The material comes from a whole session recorded in a mysterious location of the Western Alps, directly transferred to cd using neither overdubs nor outtakes, practice which the Opalio bros have made us addicted to. For the entire lenght of its 40 minutes, the piece will stifle you the breath because of its so pure essence and intimate mood; a mystic, suffocated chant reminding the silence of ancient rituals, the ultimate exorcism to avert the Infinite Pain. Limited edition of 500 copies only as vinyl picture disc 12" LP with psychedelic artwork!” [label info]
“…..This project traverses a similar terrain as MCIAA, but is perhaps closer to Roberto's brilliant solo album, "Chants From Isolated Ghosts". Opalio's vocals star here, taking the limelight and thriving inside it. Effects drench his voice making it something truly not of this world. These lunar oceans of sound are magnificent and totally enthralling. It's as though he's a cosmonaut trapped inside a glass box, unable to travel the reaches of space. Such confinement derails your mind and Opalio sounds like a person struggling against himself. At times, hearing this is almost too much - there's simultaneous discomfort and exorcism happening and you can't quite focus intently on either. You are a passive player in this exercise, lost in the crevices Opalio and Ponzini create. I cannot discount Ponzini's contributions to this 40 minute piece, either. While it may seem minimal on the surface, her various "Japanese percussions" (mostly chromatics, cymbals, and the like) add a great deal of needed texture to counterbalance Opalio's haunted wails. It is reminiscent of the way Finnish master, Keijo, works in a lot of percussive elements to his tracks. And it has the same effect. Praxinoscope is a great new project from the always wonderful My Cat is an Alien. This is one of Opax's finest releases. Bringing to mind the vocal transcendence of the Skaters, Praxinoscope are proof that you don't need any instruments to make amazing sounds. This is wonderful, wonderful music” [Brad Rose, FOXY DIGITALIS]
|
2006 |
€15.00 |
|
| PRESTON, JOE & DANIEL MENCHE |
Cerberic Doxology |
LP |
"Joe Preston and Daniel Menche's Cerberic Doxology represents a new LOW in collaborations. A new LOW in depth, a new LOW in bottom frequencies, and a new LOW in drone, noise, heavy, metal, Basso Profundo, and Gregorian Chant. Cerberic Doxology is an album of rich subtleties and dramatic textures: a dense, dark, tonal topography surveying the dizzying heights and cavernous depths of the human voice. Constructed of only sonorous and rumbling vowel sounds, its absence of consonants still resonates with layers upon layers of audible friction. This new version of Cerberic Doxology represents a work that is slightly shorter and quicker in pace to fit the vinyl format. What's presented, then, is a piece foregrounding the seamless mastery of Daniel Menche's ambient and textural recording work. Limited to 500 vinyl copies, the Cerberic Doxology EP is an 18-minute analog piece. The B-side of this limited edition pressing contains 20 different samples from the work featured in 20 separate locked grooves. Daniel Menche and Joe Preston appear as vocal co-collaborators with The Man Choir on SunnO)))'s Southern Lord release, Monoliths & Dimensions." [label info]
www.discouragerecords.com |
2009 |
€14.00 |
|
| PRIME, MICHAEL |
Requiem |
LP |
Für „Requiem“ hat der unterbewertete Experimental-Composer aus England Sounds von NEGATIVE ENTROPY (sein Projekt mit Geert Feytons von den NOISE MAKERS FIFES), eine „sound sculpture“ von LEN LYE, und „the voice of Miro“ benutzt. Herausgekommen ist dabei eine fantastische, geisterhaft dröhnende Komposition die eine unglaubliche Weite und absorbierende Atmosphäre besitzt und sehr spannungsreich verläuft. Drown-Drones ! Schöne Artwork im Klappcover – ein Muss für jeden Drone-Freund!!
Fantastic new album by MICHAEL PRIME, creating ghostly, otherworldy dark drones which rich details and an unbelievable width and absorbing atmosphere ! very much recommended !
“A new album by Michael Prime who is another prolific sound composer for many years. Being an active member of Morphogenesis he also collaborated with among others: David Jackman/Organum, Jim O'Rourke, Eddie Prevost, David Toop, Adam Bohman. He's also one half of Negative Entropy a collaborational project with G. Feyton (Noise Makers Five) and is running his own label Mycophile. Recorded between December 1998and December 2000 'Requiem' is one of his most intense works so far and quite different from his more enviromental studies. Dedicated to M, H and LL. Pressed on 180 gramm vinyl the record is coming in a full color gatefold sleeve. Limited edition of 700 copies.” [label press release]
|
2002 |
€15.00 |
|
| PRIMITIVE WINGS |
Morphosis |
CD |
Satatuhatta is honoured to present the debut album of Primitive Wings, a new project by Jaakko Vanhala. ’Morphosis’ is a highly evocative album, bringing into mind vivid flashes of something primal, perhaps from the prehistoric past. At the same time it’s very raw, but without being utterly harsh. It can be seen as a sum of the artist's previous projects Zoät-Aon, Secret Apex and Vanhala, but it still presents something new.
Listening to the album, you can imagine insects digging their way through the forest floor, big dragonflies propelling amongst the ferns in the twilight, reptiles roaming in the verdant undergrowth, and prehistoric roars rising amongst the tropical trees. But it’s not a nature documentary. It feels more like an atavistic memory, an intuitive transformation taking you inside an alien consciousness. This could be felt as just undefinable chills or perhaps as a vision of an event on this planet, which happened under the same stars but billions of years ago. Something from the beginning, of growth, sentience and flesh, finding its expression in strange transformations.
https://satatuhatta.bandcamp.com/album/morphosis
"Another round of introductions here. Satatuhatta is a Finnish label "focusing on harsh noise and experimental sounds" and has about sixty releases, mainly on cassettes but, as we see here, also on CD. Many (or, instead, most) names are all new to me. Jaakko Vanhala is the man behind Primitive Wings, his latest project. Previously he worked as Zoät-Aon, Secret Apex and Vanhala. The cover doesn't provide us with the necessary information concerning instruments, which isn't a good thing from a reviewer's perspective. Listening to the eight pieces, running from five to seven minutes, I envisage a combination of reel-to-reel tapes, electronics and a battered synthesizer. The loops Vanhala cuts are long, short and shorter. By playing them all at once (or extensive layering), they never overlap in the same way, while at the same time, they never become very chaotic. Your ears adjust themselves to the proposed order of the sounds. At least, that's my little pet theory of this week. What he puts on his loops is very hard to say; electronic sounds are a contender for that, but also field recordings. I believe to hear some of that in 'One Star'. Somewhere below in the mix of mangled loops, some electronics lurk beneath, adding creepiness to the music. Primitive Wings operates primarily in the mid to high-frequency range and has some nasty sounds, but it is not necessarily all about an endless stream of harsh noise. Maybe there is a certain sameness in the sounds used here, which made me think that the album is, perhaps, ten minutes too long, but as always, that might be the idea of the noise plan behind such operations." [FdW / Vital Weekly] |
2023 |
€12.50 |
|
| PROPELLER |
Oro |
CD |
Zweites Album dieses Solo-Projekts von Mark Spybey (ex-Zoviet France) – sehr unterschiedliches Material, insgesamt nicht so noisy wie der Vorgänger "Rame " ('96) - "processed electric and acoustic guitars, pulsed beats from acoustic sources, drones from electric objects, chants and vocal improvisations from Eric Pounder (ex-Lab Report)." Zwischen Surreal Ambient und bizarren atmosphärischen Experimentalsounds, viele recht kurze Stücke, kurzweilig und gut! Speziell geschnittenes Pappcover mit Golddruck.
www.scratchrecords.com |
1998 |
€13.00 |
|
| PROPERGOL |
Paradise Land |
CD |
"new propergol...spec.pack. - incl. 3 postacrds ...A deaf & sepulchral sound // The door suddenly opens A voice announces : it's ongoing // Preparations in silence There will be no good bye // Defective electrical installations direction : airport // Anxiety-provoking situation Flight-plan : Direction> PN - (48° 52' 36'' S 123° 23' 36'' W) Feverous take-off then cruising phase // Engine shutdown... Silence... Fly over & scope of the disaster // In top view, mankind tears away A rupture, a break with civilization // Separation / isolation - arrival Final approach phase - Stabilization - Ejection... .. . What happens now? ----------------------------------------------------------------- end of transmission." [label info]
www.tesco-germany.com
"Allein, dass PROPERGOL ein neues Album veröffentlicht, geht fast schon als Überraschung durch. Liegt das letzte offiziell gelistete doch schon sechs Jahre zurück. Zwischendurch hat sich JÉRÔME NOUGAILLON mal um die Klänge von Kollegen (wie zum Beispiel POST SCRIPTVM aus Russland) gekümmert, aber ansonsten musikalisch recht zurückgezogen gelebt, 2012 immerhin ein Stück zu einem Sampler beigesteuert und den 25sten Geburtstag von TESCO – siehe Video unten – mit einem Liveauftritt gewürdigt. Nun ist eben "Paradise Land" erschienen, das aktuelle Werk des Ein-Mann-Projektes, schön verpackt im Din A5-Format, quer, edel und mit drei ästhetischen Postkarten.
Die eigentliche Sensation ist aber der radikale Stilwechsel. Weder Power Electronics noch aggressive Noiseorgien, sondern überwiegend angenehmer und warmer Ambient!
Stimmsamples, die nach Quietschen und animalischem Knurren einsetzen, spielen eine wichtige Rolle auf "Paradise Land" und tauchen deshalb gleich zum Beginn im Opener "Running Scored" (01) auf. Wehende Geräusch-Drones sorgen – hier wie auf dem gesamten Album – für eine sehr räumliche Atmosphäre, die Collagen – vor allem aus vielen Stimmen – und andere, meist natürliche Elemente wie zum Beispiel Uhrticken sorgen für Bezug zur Realität. "911 Dispatche" (02) verstärkt den Eindruck von Ambient; die wabernden, angenehmen, synthetischen Drones haben etwas Strahlendes, Kosmisches. Dazu stoßen weitere Stimmsamples, die für mich stets wie Bahnhofs- oder Flughafendurchsagen tönen, sowohl vom Klang als auch vom Stimmduktus her. In "Ymene" (03) steht längere Zeit eine Art Unterhaltung mit hallenden Stimmen im Raum, durchbrochen nur von wenigen Sounds, und geht über in eine lange Ambientfläche. Etwas bedrohlicher nun liegen wie Insekten vibrierende Drones über einem Grundbrummen. Regen und gewitterähnliche Klänge ("Torquenada", 04) bilden den Übergang zu sehr maschinellen, kurzatmigeren Gebilden aus Tönen.
Es folgen mal mehr geräuschorientierte, mal mehr flächige Ambientstrukturen, zwischendurch auch (wenige) noisige Elemente wie Pfeifen und Fiepen mit entsprechenden Verzerrungen. Rhythmische Strukturen hat sich PROPERGOL für "Bushman" (08) und "Impossible Landing" (09) aufgehoben, dann aber richtig losgelegt. Diese beiden Tracks sind als 'Songs' zu bezeichnen, haben etwas Technoides, bilden das Vorspiel zu einem nie einsetzenden Rhythmusgewitter mit tuckerndem Beat – groovender Minimal-Techno! Das längste Stück am Ende ("Bleu Nuit", 10) mischt noch einmal Vieles: eine verfremdete Stimme (die an Sprachausgaben alter Computer erinnert), Geräusche wie schweres Atmen (der Monolog eines Sterbenden?), weitere Solostimmen und Bahnhofsatmosphäre, um dann in angenehme und erneut rhythmische, federnde Ambientmusik überzugehen.
Es fehlen zwar inhaltliche Infos zum Album, woher zum Beispiel die Stimmen kommen und was genau die Thematik ist. Macht aber nichts. Die Klangmalerei funktioniert so gut, dass jeder Track ein Gemälde ist und eine Reihe von Assoziationen zulässt. Ich stelle mir ein Kontrollzentrum vor, und zwar in allen Facetten, mit Kommunikation, dem Raum selbst und den Informationen, die durch Leitungen übertragen werden. Einige dezente Hinweise (durch Titel und die knappe Labelinfo) könnten auch so verstanden werden, dass sich der Hörer an Bord eines 9/11-Fluges befindet. Dafür ist "Paradise Land" aber musikalisch fast zu gut verdaulich. Streckenweise könnten auch die Belgier von KRAKEN mit ihren Unterwasserthematiken Pate gestanden haben.
Sehr elegante, kluge und erzählende Ambientmusik mit vielen Stimmen und Field Recordings. Sticht in diesem Genre deutlich aus der Masse der Veröffentlichungen heraus. Fans älterer Alben sollten nur wissen, dass dieses ganz anders, viel weniger brutal klingt." [Michael We., NON-POP]
|
2012 |
€14.50 |
|
| PROPHECY SUN / EMERGE |
Spirit Dream |
CD-R |
"This album, possibly the most vocal-based release ever to come out on attenuation circuit, is a unique blend of improvised songs by Canadian performance artist prophecy sun and the electronic treatment of her voice by EMERGE.
Apart from being a dancer, video, and installation artist, prophecy sun is a master theremin player, an improvisational looping maestro and an experimental throat singer. Although on this album she uses only her voice, all of these practices feed into the way she uses it and how she constructs her songs out of words and, more often, just vocal sounds. The dreamlike, spectral quality of the theremin, the recurring patterns of the loops, and the wide range of vocal timbres available to the throat singer are all there in this music. EMERGE delicately treats the vocal material to create a dense, yet fragile sonic environment in which sun’s vocalises can take root and grow. For anyone who wants to discover the richness of experimental female vocals, this is a good place to start, on a par with Björk and Joan La Barbara." [label info]
www.attenuationcircuit.de
"A new artist for me hails from Canada and calls herself prOphecy sun. She is also a 'theremin player, an improvisational looping maestro and an experimental throat singer'. Attenuation Circuit calls this on par with Björk and Joan La Barbara. Here she performs five solo pieces, followed by three by Emerge, label boss for this label, and then eight relatively short collaborative pieces by the two of them. It seems, but I might be wrong that Emerge also uses voice material in his solo pieces, making this perhaps the most voice based released on this label. Voice, but not necessarily song based, even when some of the pieces are very short. All of it remains pretty much in the world of abstract music. I am not sure about this. I quite enjoyed it, even when I am not always the biggest fan of loop devices in relationship with vocals of a more abstract nature. It easily leads to 'heavenly choir sounds' and sometimes this happens with prOphecy sun too. Emerge, in his solo pieces, goes out into an even more abstract land and stretches out voice material in slow, cascading drone material. It's of course stuff that works together quite well. The looped voice material of prOphecy sun and the more abstract electronic processing of Emerge, which are made into not very long pieces, each with it's own specific character and some fine variation among these pieces. Very elegant collaboration." [FdW/Vital Weekly] |
2013 |
€7.50 |
|
| PROTAGONIST |
Songs of Experience |
CD |
"in 1794, william blake published ‘songs of experience’ as an addendum to ‘songs of innocence’, to complete the picture
of ‘the two contrary states of the human soul’ - the state in question here being the constriction of the human spirit, the
suffocation of creativity by the force to conform.
after magnus sundström aka the protagonist had released his debut ‘à rebours’ in 1998, the sky seemed the only limit for this musical entity. but, to much disappointment within the industrial scene, for the next seven years only a couple of compilation appearances would be heard from the protagonist. then, in 2005 two cds came out via cold meat industry: the aptly titled ‘interim’ ep and the album ‘songs of experience’ (which was actually not entirely a new album, but in parts consisted of reworked versions of the aforementioned compilation tracks and a couple of tracks from the previous ep).
the music on ‘songs of experience’ resolved all doubts: the protagonist is a devoted artist, putting quality over quantity, and the result had been well worth waiting! as if no period of inactivity had ever discontinued the creative flow, the protagonist reassumed the path of the debut: orchestral splendour, rigid drumming, dramatic string works and an increased presence of haunting, eerie atmospheres, pushing the album towards the darker edges of the neo-classical spectrum. vocal deliveries are rather sparse and restricted to short spoken parts this time around, but feature prolific
guests again: tomas petterson of ordo rosarius equlibrio lent his unmistakeable voice to the protagonist’s most wellknown track, ‘strife’, a truly bombastic marching tune. jonathan grieve of contrastate can also be heard on one track, the heart-shattering ‘sick rose’. among all the opulence, romantic leanings all over, though the whole composition takes a decidedly bleak direction. the adapted literature features not only blake, but also baudelaire (here’s the symbolist theme again) and no other than the master himself, mr. william shakespeare. all in all, music and content combine into one
impressive libertine’s manifesto, proclaiming the power of free thought and the mistrust of authorities!
for this well-timed re-release, raubbau gathers together not only the original album, but also the exclusive tracks from the ‘interim’ ep, thus presenting the entire bundle of cmi-released protagonist tracks. until today, the protagonist stands out unique among neo-classical artists for the sheer brilliance of composition and the authenticity of his preoccupations - he is really serious about seriousness. history has been revealed, let beauty unfold!" [label info]
www.raubbau.org
|
2012 |
€6.00 |
|
| PRURIENT |
Casablanca Flamethrower |
do-LP |
Casablanca - A hiding place and escape route. Flamethrower - A weapon designed to drive people out of hiding places.
Casablanca Flamethrower is Prurient's first proper full length for Tesco Organization. Thirteen tracks of doom electronics crowded by voices of industrial cynicism focused on four theatres (corridors of violence):
Ural tracers, Guadalcanal Necrophilia, Normandy Reaper, Casablanca Flamethrower…
Casablanca Flamethrower deals with alternative histories. About hidden allied war crimes. The wild and ferocious airborne divisions once they passed the beachhead and their fateful encounters with civilians. About forgotten victims and known memorials. We deal here with the memorials we see that were created after the fact. By ’hiding what is known’ we see another history, another past... a past without a future!
Additional atmospheres:
Paratroopers mutilations as psychological warfare
Unspoken necrophilic activities in the Pacific
Human ‘trophies’ sent home to loved ones before atom day
Memories of the black raven under Uncle Joe
Human smuggling, fatalistic hedonism and triple-crossing in Morocco’s propaganda establishments
These are the songs from torture chambers across hateful american shores.
TRACK LIST:
A
Black Iceberg
Peace and Bread Humilation
D-Day Rape
Normandy Reaper - Snow on the Atlantic
B
Fucked by Tracers
Beneath the Wheels of the black Raven
Most Cannibals were Women
C
Dead you are already
Corn Cop Pipe Butcher
Guadalcanal Necrophilia
D
The Thrust of the Spear
Sphere from Christ´s side
Directionless World
Tesco 140
credits
released March 31, 2020
https://tescogermany.bandcamp.com/album/casablanca-flamethrower
"As Dominick Fernow’s main project, Prurient is somewhat of a sonic chameleon which has explored a myriad of underground noise and industrial styles over a huge number of releases and span of years. While Prurient have also had a close association with Tesco Organisation for some time, Casablanca Flamethrower is the formal debut album for Tesco given other releases to date have been reissues on Tesco’s sub-labels. To quickly mention those reissues*, each were within an industrial/power electronic/heavy electronics frame of reference, therefore closely aligned with the Tesco’s prevailing style and sound. In a similar context Casablanca Flamethrower follows suit and is very much a Prurient album, and with its broader thematic focus on the hidden stories and forgotten victims of war, it definitely feels at home on Tesco.
In terms of the arc of Prurient’s main/core albums, Casablanca Flamethrower follows the massive seven LP Rainbow Mirror (self-described as ‘doom electronics’). Casablanca Flamethrower is notable by the fact that although not too far removed from the sprawling and mellow tone of Rainbow Mirror set, that sound has also been repurposed with a focused attention on a European heavy electronics/industrial sound. This may then be partially explained by the involvement of Kris Lapke of Alberich (who is credited as providing loops, percussion and synths), whose own project takes clear influence from a European heavy electronics sound, which has perhaps further cemented the sound and direction of Casablanca Flamethrower.
Black Iceberg open the album with a squelching bass throb, distant scrap metal tones and angst-ridden rasped vocals, while Peace and Bread Humiliation is a short track of hollow radio scanning static, whistling noise and semi-buried radio broadcast announcements. The following D-Day Rape is then an early album highlight, featuring bulldozing bass, mid-toned insectile noise squalls, while the spoken vocals are featured upfront but rendered undecipherable due to the treatment with an off-kilter warbling effected. Marvelous stuff. Fucked By Traces maintains momentum with static squalls, thick bass drones, vague rhythmic backing and charred echo chamber vocal barrage. Beneath The Wheels of the Black Raven is also an excellent track of stalking menace, where the tone is one of militaristic death industrial involving droning bass, slow shuddering rhythm, and vocals delivered as agonized chants and treated spoken fragments. Late album track The Thrust of the Spear is another highlight. Opening as a low droning and treated vocal piece it soon evolves into a minimalist yet highly hypnotic track of militaristic tinged rhythmic loops and swirling rotor blades. The track title then obviously then cross references the collage image of the Spear of Longinus shown on the back cover (contributed by The Grey Wolves). Yet when the spear collage is considered in context of the adjacent phrase: ‘the risen Christ holds the spear of destiny in his side’, it shrouds the intended meaning, which is at least consistent with Dominick’s established approach to abstracted thematic presentation. Sphere From Christ’s Side also uses similar militaristic rhythmic loops for brooding result, while the close to ten minute Directionless World rounds out the album in subdued fashion with minimalist tonal rumbles and radio scanning static (but perhaps could have been half as long without foregoing ideas or loosing impact).
From my own perspective Casablanca Flamethrower is an an intense yet brooding take on a heavy electronics/industrial sound, and is inherently more listenable, engaging and digestible than the sprawling Rainbow Mirror set. Yet even so, not all tracks reach the same peak level as the album’s standouts, meaning if it were paired down to a single rather than double LP, it would have increased immediacy and impact, and duly elevated the album from being good to great. Regardless, that is really quite a minor observation and is hardly a reason to not seek out this album, which is stunningly presented in a full colour gate-fold sleeve." [Noise Receptor] |
2020 |
€33.00 |
|
| PSICOPOMPO / LORENZO ABATTOIR / HERMANN KOPP |
Synchronicity (Theory of Carl Jung) |
CD |
"Psicopompo is the death guide that accompanies the dying to the afterworld. Synchronicity is the occurrence of two or more events that appear to be meaningfully related but not causally related. From the conceptualization of these two themes combined, German composer/musician Hermann Kopp (of Jorg Buttgereit’s Nekromantik and Der Todesking soundtracks) and Italian Noise Experimentalist Lorenzo Abattoir (Nascitari) merge their unique compositional techniques and source equipment (Hermann Kopp: Violin, Tambourine, Electronics / Lorenzo Abattoir: Shruti Box, Timbal & electronics), leaving the results entirely to chance. The final result is the unity of an audio event joining together 2 separate executions of melody and rhythm without any post production or added effects, bringing out the forlorn emotions of being on the journey to the new world upon death." [label info]
https://4ibrecords.com
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| PUNCTUAL TRIO |
Grammar |
CD |
Lou Mallozzi: turntables, CDs, Microphones, Oscillator
Fred Lonberg-Holm: Cello
Carlos Zingaro: Violin
Recorded by Pete Wenger at Experimental Sound Studio, Chicago, 28 May 2003.
Mixed and Masterd by Lou Mallozzi and Fred Lonberg-Holm at Experimental Sound Studio, Chicago, 23 June 2004.
Produced by Lonberg-Holm, Mallozzi and Zingaro.
@2003 Mallozzi / Lonberg-Holm / Zingaro
Lou Mallozzi (b. 1957)
Lou Mallozzi is a Chicago audio artist who has been dismembering and reconstituting language, sound, and gesture on stages, sites, CD, and radio since 1986. His background is in performance, intermedia and installation art, and since 1996 an increasing amount of his attention has been focused on improvised music. Using microphones, turntables, CDs and analog mixing, he collaborates with numerous instrumentalists in improvised frameworks. These collaborators have included Carlos Zingaro, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Michael Vorfeld, Mats Gustafsson, Jaap Blonk, Sebi Tramontana, Terri Kapsalis, Michael Zerang, Guillermo Gregorio, Birgit Ulher, Hal Rammel, and many others. He has performed in this context at the Come Sunday Festival (Munich), the Logos Foundation (Ghent), Podewil (Berlin), The Empty Bottle (Chicago), Candlestick Maker (Chicago), The Renaissance Society (Chicago), Kraakgeluiden (Amsterdam), and others. He has also composed several sound poems and structured improvisational works for soloists and ensembles, including Jaap Blonk, Barbara Lüneburg, and the ensemble Intégrales.
In addition to his improvised music projects, Mallozzi also produces intermedia and sound performances, radio art works, and sound installations. These have been presented at numerous venues since 1986, including the PAC/Edge Performance Festival (Chicago), the Chicago Cultural Center, Experimental Intermedia (New York), the TUBE audio art series at the Einstein Kulturzentrum (Munich), Spritzenhaus (Hamburg), Suoni/Sound 2000 (Isola d'Elba, Italy), The Subtropics Experimental Music Festival (Miami), the Fort Wayne Museum of Art (Indiana), Percorsi 98 Festival (Montegrosso d'Asti, Itlay), the Sound Canopy public art project (Chicago), Donald Young Gallery (Chicago), Gallery 400 (Chicago), the Bechtler Gallery (Charlotte), Randolph Street Gallery (Chicago), Aether Fest (Albuquerque), New American Radio, Bayerischer Rundfunk (Munich), Kunstradio/Radiokunst on ORF Vienna, Sender Freies Berlin, ABC Radio (Sydney), the Resonance FM Festival (London), and others. Among his collaborators in these realms are Sandra Binion, Mark Booth, Heinz Weber, Antonia Contro, and Maurizio Pellegrin.
Mallozzi has two CDs on the Penumbra Music label: Radiophagy (three radio works from 1990 - 1996) and Whole or By the Slice (electroacoustic collaborations with Hal Rammel). A CD of improvised music with Fred Lonberg-Holm and Carlos Zingaro is forthcoming on Rossbin Records (Italy). He also appears on Guillermo Gregorio's Faktura and Cornelius Cardew's Material (both on HatArt, Switzerland).
Mallozzi has received a number of grants and fellowships, including a residency at the Rockefeller Foundation's Bellagio Study Center (Italy), four Artist Fellowships from the Illinois Arts Council, and grants from the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation and the Governor's International Arts Exchange Program.
In addition to his artistic career, Mallozzi is co-founder and Executive Director of Experimental Sound Studio in Chicago, and he is on the faculty of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Fred Lonberg-Holm
Composer, improvisor and anti-cellist Fredrick Lonberg-Holm currently resides in Chicago. Defying categorization, his work deals only with the context of the specific musical situation in which he finds/places/builds for himself. A former composition student of Morton Feldman and Anthony Braxton, and cello student of Ardyth Alton and Orlando Cole, his ongoing projects include the groups Terminal 4, The Boxhead Ensemble, Pillow, and the Lonberg-Holm/Kessler/Zerang Trio. He is also currently a member of the Guillermo Gregorio Trio, the Peter Brotzmann Chicago Tentet, XMARSX, and Witches and Devils (music of A. Ayler). He also has been coordinating and directing performances of his Light Box Orchestra, a non fixed structured improvising ensemble utilizing a light based cuing system . In addition he has also performed in ensembles led by Anthony Braxton, Ken Vandermark, Anthony Coleman, Georg Graewe, Wolfgang Fuchs, and John Zorn. As an improvisor he has recorded and or performed with numerous musicians including Jaap Blonk, John Butcher, Gunter Christmann, Axel Dorner, Hamid Drake, Barry Guy, Joelle Leandre, Paul Lytton, Jeff Parker, William Parker, Mischa Mengelberg, Ikue Mori, Mats Gustafsson, Paul Lovens, Paul Rutherford, Sten Sandell, Hamid Drake, Jim O'Rourke, David Stackenaas, Willie Winant, Carlos Zingaro, and many others. He has also performed/recorded with the rock groups God-is-my-Co-Pilot, Wilco, the Flying Luttenbachers, Chris Mills, Janet Bean, Super Chunk, Bobbie Conn, Ahmed Elmotassem's Legal Fiction, L'Altra, US Maple, Freakwater, Lake of Dracula, Plastic Scorpions, Zeek Sheck, Smog and others. Concert works have been premiered by William Winant, Carrie Biolo, Joe Fonda and Bottoms Out, Duo Atypica, the Schanzer/Speach Duo, New Winds, Paul Hoskin, Kevin Norton, the E.S.P. Ensemble and others. He has performed throughout the US and Europe as both a soloist and ensemble member. His scores for dance have been performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and Dance Theater Workshop as well as many other venues. Film credits include music for a Playboy Channel short and the independant feature Animals, by Michael DiGiacomo. He has recorded for the Avant, Pogus, Occa, miguel, Explain:, Locust, Meniscus, Nuscope, Curious, Random Acoustics, Skin Graft, Hat Art, Buzz, Knitting Factory Works, Drag City, Ecstatic/Yod, Nine Winds, Atavistic, Rastascan, Box Media, 8th Day, Tzadik, Truckstop and What Next? labels as well as many others.
CARLOS “ZINGARO”
Born 1948 in Lisbon, Portugal; violin, electronics.
Carlos Zingaro undertook classical music studies at the Lisbon Music Conservatory from 1953 to 1965, and during the two years 1967/68 he studied church organ at the High School of Sacred Music. Also, during the 1960s, Zingaro was a member of the Lisbon University Chamber Orchestra. In 1967 he formed Plexus, the only Portuguese group at the time to have developed a new musical approach based on contemporary music, improvisation and rock; the group recorded a 45rpm single for RCA-Victor in 1968.
From 1975 onwards Carlos Zingaro has performed with a wide variety of improvising musicians, including: Barre Phillips, Daunik Lazro, Derek Bailey, Joëlle Léandre, Jon Rose, Kent Carter, Ned Rothenberg, Peter Kowald, Roger Turner, Rüdiger Carl, Dominique Regef, Evan Parker, Günter Müller, Andres Bosshard, Jean-marc Montera, and Paul Lovens. In 1978 he was invited by Wroclaw Technical University in Poland to participate in the 1st Instrumental Theatre Meeting, and in 1979 he won a Fulbright Grant and was invited by the Creative Music Foundation in Woodstock, New York to participate in meetings, classes and performances with such composers as Anthony Braxton, Roscoe Mitchell, George Lewis, Leo Smith, Tom Cora and Richard Teitelbaum (a regular collaborator). He also gave lectures on New Notation Concepts, Movement and Sound, and the inter-relationship of Improvisation and Body Attitude. As a soloist, or with other musicians and composers, Carlos Zingaro has performed at many of the most important new music and improvising festivals in Europe, Asia and America.
A substantial level of Carlos Zingaro's musical activities are associated with theatre, film and dance. In 1975 he completed Stage Design studies at the Lisbon Theatre High School and later served on the board of directors of the School. From 1974 to 1980 he was musical director for the Lisbon-based theatre group Comicos, being responsible for most of the original music scores performed during the period. In 1981 Carlos Zingaro received the Portuguese Critics Award for best theatre music and in 1988 he worked with the Italian theatre director Giorgio Barberio Corsetti on his Kafka Trilogy. He has also been stage and costume designer for several other theatre productions. He has produced several film scores and worked extensively with dancers and dance companies such as the Gulbenkian Dance Company, the Opéra de Genève Dance Company, Michala Marcus, Aparte, and Olga Roriz.
Carlos Zingaro was a founding member of the Lisbon-based art gallery Comicos, his work has been exhibited, and he has received several prizes for his cartoons, comics and illustrations, samples of which can be seen on a number of CD sleeves, for example, Musiques de
scène.
www.rossbin.com/rs019.htm
"Is there a mode (maybe mood, posture, or circumstance) in which you are required to set yourself in order to appreciate (maybe absorb) freely improvised music? If you are attending a live show, the location, smells, company, and certainly the visual aspects of the show contribute to your "experience." When you are merely listening to a purchased recording, what are the rules for your listening experience?
Do you meditate in a quiet room? Can you listen to it in your car? Walking with an iPod? Washing dishes? How does the experience of the improvisation mesh with your current environs? Don't ask me for answers, but consider all the stimuli that invade your senses every hour of every day. Maybe that's why the relentless beat-beat-beat of pop music is so simple... because no one's actually listening.
My point is this: no two listeners can have the same response to very highly interpretable music like what the Punctual Trio produces on Grammar.
The cast of players includes cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm, the newest member of Vandermark 5 (plus Wilco, Terminal 4, The Boxhead Ensemble, Pillow, and the Peter Brotzmann Chicago Tentet, to name just a few); Lou Mallozzi, a sound artist from Chicago who lists Mats Gustafsson, Jaap Blonk, Sebi Tramontana, Michael Zerang, and Guillermo Gregorio as collaborators; and Portuguese violinist Carlos Zingaro, who has partnered with the likes of Anthony Braxton, Roscoe Mitchell, George Lewis, Leo Smith, Tom Cora, and Richard Teitelbaum.
Simple review: you cannot dance to this disc, but I give it a ten.
The trio benefits from its choice of instrumentation. Lonberg-Holm's cello, which is seemingly at home in a range of settings from jazz standards to rock to free music, mixes well with Zingaro's violin's scraping, plucking, single notes, and complex travels. They are attuned to silence and space, as on the opener, or odd pulse and song forms, as with "Punctuation. Mallozzi doesn't drown you with samples or electronics; he places them in the mix as if he were Treg Brown, the sound editor of 1950s Warner Brothers cartoons. If you listen closely to "Punctuation, you may find yourself actually embedded inside a cartoon.
But then again, your experience with these sounds will probably be nothing like mine." [All About Jazz]
|
2004 |
€6.00 |
|
| PURE |
Home is where my harddisk is Vol. 1 |
CD |
Eine Label-Neugründung gibt es von Peter Votava, dem Mann hinter PURE, zu vermelden. Die dritte VÖ auf dOc RECORDINGS stammt von PURE selbst, mit zwei Live-Aufnahmen vom Winter 2001/2002 aus Hamburg (HÖRBAR!) und Porto.
“Consisting of two recordings of PURE´s live appearances in winter 2001/2002. The first track is the entire recording of a gig at the HÖRBAR, a monthly club in Hamburg, Germany that takes place in a small old cinema. Playing in the movie room created a very intense atmosphere as compared to other venues. The 38 min improvised piece interweaves low frequencies with orchestral sounds into dense, unsettling structures, only to dissolve them in its peaceful finish. The second track is an excerpt of a concert given at ANIKI BÓBÓ, Porto, Portugal. Its minimal algorithmic patterns slowly evolve into a swaying string figure that is finished by processed vocal parts.” [label info]
|
2002 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Ification |
CD |
"Mir ist PURE durch seine Releases auf Mego, Feld und dOc Recordings ein Begriff, andere kennen Peter Votava schon aus Ilsa-Gold-Zeiten, als Loop- und Sub/Version-Macher und Electronica-Veranstalter. Auf Ification (Crónica 038) schafft der Ex-Wiener und jetzige Berliner erneut mit dröhnminimalistischen Mitteln sieben Soundscapes. Die lassen einen eintauchen in dark-ambiente Dunkelwolken (‚Blind Flight‘) oder lethargisch und wie unter einem Bann dahin driften durch eine Nacht, die kein gutes Ende verspricht (‚End‘). ‚Iron Sky‘ ringt mit zähen und drückenden Verstrickungen wie Laokoon mit den Schlangen, die fatalen Beats schlägt - wie auch bei ‚After the Bomb‘ - Martin Brandlmayr, die Stimme ist die der Bolzn-Screamerin Alexandra. Die hatte auch schon in der Geisterbahn von ‚Sonomatopoeia‘ gestöhnt, zu giftigem Sirren, Theaterdonner und Gewummer, während die krachig verzerrten und gewellten Impulse des Auftakts ‚Fire‘ auf der Gitarre von C. de Babalon basieren. Die dystopische Melancholie von ‚After the Bomb‘ entsteht durch gedämpfte Drones, silbrig durchfunkelt, voller sirrender Frequenzen und mit dem fernen Nachhall von Sirenen und Gefechtslärm, den Brandlmayr mit Besenschlägen und Cymbalbeats andeutet. ‚Approximation‘ nähert sich mit dunklem Stöhnen - wie von den Sirenen der Titanic oder Tubas des Jüngsten Gerichts - und diskant schrillenden Strings, spärlich durchsetzt mit perkussiven Akzenten, dem Bereich der Klassik, mit offenbar ungescheutem pathetischen Effekt. Wer in Pures Elevator
Noir einsteigt, muss sich auf einen Trip ans dunkle Ende der Gefühlsskala gefasst machen." [Bad Alchemy]
"After more than ten CDs and several vinyls under different aliases, projects or collaborations that ranged a multitude of musical styles over the last 15 years, Pure's newest release is now proudly presented by Crónica. Three and a half years later than scheduled, and six years after his previous studio CD release “Noonbugs” on Mego, Pure returns with his fourth solo full-length album — “Ification” — the outcome of a long period of live work (documented in the first two volumes of the “Home Is Where My Harddisk is” series), residencies — in France, with Johnny Dekam, where the “Reqoil Displaced Peaceoff” DVD was produced — and collaborations — the “Heart Chamber Orchestra” with Erich Berger, an audiovisual performance based on the heart-beats of an orchestra of 12 musicians. “Ification” presents a collection of seven highly diverse tracks that revolve around dense, filmic and eerie atmospheres, without ever drifting into obvious or simple harmonies. As in his previous work, Pure takes from music history whatever serves his narrative needs and appropriates it through his." [label info]
"Something entirely different is the latest album by Pure, from Vienna. He works under various guises, and this is fourth Pure CD, following 'Noonbugs' on Mego for four years ago. Seven pieces of electronic music, six of them recorded with the help of others, like Christoph de Babalon on guitar samples, Martin Brandlmayr on drums, the screams of Alexandra von Bolzn and Anke Eckardt on bass guitar. What Aubrey lacks in variation is made up here by Pure. The heavy start of 'Fire', into to post nuclear war zone with no survivors of 'After The Bomb' (an appropriate title), Pure takes the listener on a ride that ranges from subtleness to the utter crude, which ends with the nightmares of 'Iron Sky'. Excellent music for b-movies that deserve a-music. Certainly not always 'pleasant' in terms of nice background music for your living room, but unpleasant music to make your life a bit easier and less painful." [FdW, Vital Weekly]
www.cronicaelectronica.org
|
2008 |
€14.00 |
|
| PÄRT, ARVO |
Berliner Messe |
CD |
"With a number of modern classics already to his name, notably the Symphony No. 3 [Naxos 8.554591], Tabula Rasa [8.554591], Fratres and Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten [8.553750], culminating in 1982 with his largest work thus far, the St John Passion [8.555860], Arvo Pärt has during the past 20 years consolidated his reputation as one of the most significant composers at work today with a sequence of magnificent sacred choral works. The present recording provides an overview of Pärt’s mature idiom with works written on either side of the Passion, and in which a gradual expressive opening-out and harmonic enrichment of the composer’s musical vocabulary can be detected. The Magnificat is perhaps Pärt’s most immediately appealing choral work whose alternation of solo and tutti sections imparts a powerful spiritual aura." [label info]
www.naxos.com
|
2004 |
€13.00 |
|
| QUELLET, ISRAEL |
Soni Sclavus |
CD |
Already the second album from this young Swiss composer, and like "Oppressum" its quite a beast on 11 tracks, using sounds going direct into your face, piercing pulsing organ-tunes, rumbling distorted rhythmic excesses, loopy metallic bangs, all kinds of impetuous weird sounds in between, animal sounds, backwards voices & whisphers and something like sound poetry. Very difficult to classify, "experimental" in the truest sense, after this session you maybe simply don't know if you like it or not, but it was NON-ORDINARY music like hell!
"Israël Quellet: a short biography. Born in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, 1972. He worked in the psychiatric field for several years. at 16, he discovers on his own some different soundworlds, such as Miles Davis's electric era, Sun Ra, Dub, German cosmic music, Magma, Zappa and many more. In 1997, he stepped into the action and, following the advice of a sound engineer friend, bought microphones, a digital mixing board, and studio monitors. Basically, he turned part of his basement into a soundsmithing studio. That is when he started to create, out of his immediate surroundings, sound works that have little to do with what is "normally" being done. Appreciated by composer Jorge E. Campos, Quellet is supported by the Centre Pierre Schaeffer in Paris. In 2003, he contacted Sub Rosa. Three years later, he was releasing his first public recording. This present one is the second (probably of a trilogy). It explores the very common object and have a great deal with the problem of saturation and noise." [label info]
"Israel Quellet's 2nd album for Sub Rosa is not the unexpected surprise from an unknown artist that this Swiss sound-maker's debut disc was (for both us, and the label, read our review of it to see what we mean, we started off by saying "who the heck is Israel Quellet?"). But, that's because THIS time 'round, when we saw
Quellet's had a new recording coming out, we were already eager to hear it. Much like its excellent predecessor, it's about compositions
(improvisations? explorations?) limited to specific sound sources, each track featuring the use/abuse of a certain instrument or two, or perhaps a non-instrument, and to Quellet, his methods are his music, this is the focus, to the extent that the tracks are identified
thusly... For example, track 1 is "for organ and percussion". Track 3 is "for fitness rower". Track 7 is "for footsteps and knocks on stairs, and vented carbon dioxide". He makes use of organ on here quite a bit, as well as percussion and less frequently voice,
electronically treated (and in French). Actually much of this seems electronically treated, or in some way distorted, with "saturation" factoring into several of his pieces, occasionally achieving Merzbowian levels of noise (on track 6, "for percussions and saturation" especially!). All in all, this disc can be heard as one man's playful but moody, quasi-industrial homebrewed take on 20th (now 21st) century classical music. With so much somber organ and repetitive thunderous percussion, many of these tracks seem quite
ominous, you can start imagining DIY Nitsch-style "aktions" happening in Quellet's backyard.
As with Quellet's prior album, this is varied and fascinating throughout, and surprisingly listenable. Truly experimental (and
successfully so) music for curious ears made by someone with curious ears too. Recommended!!
Oh, and by the way, on our list this week there IS a cool Sub Rosa disc from a hitherto unknown (to us) artist, look for Pierre Berthet's Extended Loudspeakers, it's also AQ recommended." [Aquarius Records]
www.subrosa.net
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Sounds from there |
CD |
"Quellet's 4th opus on Sub Rosa: a new complex and mysterious work for symphonic bass drum, symphonic tympanies, organ, tibetan horn, homemade horn, triangle, tubular bells, shocks inside the church,anvil metal tank and church bells. A challenging listen, but so rewarding.
Israel Quellet: a short biography
Born in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, 1972. He worked in the psychiatric field for several years. At 16, he discovers on his own some different soundworlds, such as Miles Davis's electric era,Sun Ra, Dub, German cosmic music, Magma, Zappa and many more. In 1997, he stepped into the action and, following the advice of a sound engineer friend, bought microphones, a digital mixing board, and studio monitors. Basically, he turned part of his basement into a soundsmithing studio. That is when he started to create, out of his immediate surroundings, sound works that have little to do with what is 'normally' being done. Appreciated by composer Jorge E. Campos, Quellet is supported by the Centre Pierre Schaeffer in Paris. In 2003, he contacted Sub Rosa. Three years later, he was releasing his first public recording." [label info]
www.subrosa.net
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| QUEST |
(an) Exterior |
MC |
Frans De Waard. When he is not writing reviews for the long-running Vital Weekly column he helms, records an incredible amount of music under many different monikers. Each one has a personality. The name Quest (not to be confused with QST) is De Waard's ambient outlet. Vintage synths, wet ware, hiss, harmonics.
The history of Quest goes back to the mid-90 when 'ambient house' was looming large when Frans de Waard got tired of playing the same noise show as Kapotte Muziek and Beequeen and was still deep into the world of everything dark and drone-like. It was time for something lighter, ambient and, why not, perhaps a bit rhythmical.
A drum machine was bought but never understood and only used for a couple of pieces on the 'Questionmark' LP, released as QST in 1994. That was the premature end of QST, but as Quest, the project became more ambient and less rhythm and a bunch of releases on Noise Museum and Lunar in the mid to late 90s. Somewhere in the late 90s new possibilities and techniques came along and it was time to move away from analogue synthesizers, field recordings and four-track machines. It had been a good run.
Fast forward to 2014 and another development in technology. Apps developed for the iPad made it possible to create the rhythm music dreamed off in the mid-90s but that was never realized back then; QST all of a sudden got a restart, with lots of pieces being composed resulting in a 12" released by Inta (2017), a CD for Static Caravan (2017) and Carpe Sonum Novum (2019).
In 2015 Infraction Records raised the question "is this technology also useful for some good old ambient music as Quest?", and never tired of trying new things out, Frans de Waard set to work. In a born again Quest, he decided to combine his newfound love for iPad technology in combination with some of his rusty and trusted synthesizers and with his old four-track machines, walkmans and field recordings. A high meet low sort-of technological approach, if you will. So far that has resulted in an album per year in the last five years. Of these, '(An) Exterior' was the first to get started but the second to finish. In fifty-three minutes, seven pieces of music are played, flowing like a breeze, like a storm and at times without any visible movement. Deep synths passages, small shimmering melodies, vast drones, mildly processed field recordings, it is all one long, spacious journey of one of the unique voices in experimental music.
When looking for a cover that surpasses the prescriptive photography from a landscape, Frans asked his close friend, musician and visual artist Bertin van Vliet if he could use some of his geometric drawings he posted online. Van Vliet invited Frans over and showed the entire collection of these drawings, a whole book full of them, which were all scanned for further inspection, which then resulted in the idea to do a limited edition facsimile reprint of the original Van Vliet drawing book, with a bonus CDR.
All of this resulted in a beautiful release, across various formats;
1. A CD in a digipack, edition of 300
2. A cassette with J-Card in a plastic case, edition of 50
3. A CD and bonus CDR (41 minutes of additional music) in a book bound reprint of the original Bertin van Vliet drawing book, edition of 25 copies
4. All of 1, 2, and 3 with an additional bonus CDR (40'20), with the original Bertin van Vliet book in a signed edition of 1 copy
Mastering by Peter John Nijland
Design by Timothy O'Donnell
https://infraction.bandcamp.com/album/an-exterior
|
2021 |
€9.50 |
|
| R.O.T. |
L'Ecurie |
LP |
Eine wunderbare, sehr mysteriös und seltsame tönende Platte! Auch nach mehrmaligem Hören weiss man noch nicht so recht, was hier eigentlich passiert. Sehr dronig und ambientös und vielschichtig "folkig-organisch"; etwas low-fi & fliessend improvisiert erscheinen die Dronescapes, dick & undurchdringlich und auch psychedelisch...erinnert an ruhigere VIBRACATHEDRAL ORCHESTRA z.B...
"r.o.t. has gained a quality reputation in the underground scene during their six years of existence. this led to a splendid cdr- and tape discography. "l'écurie" is their first long player. each side contains two jams that sound like calm and fluently movements through sound at one time, then like a somewhat more brutal treatment at another point. the album shows nicely how r.o.t. works as a (live) band. it's not about well-thought sound poetry here, but about spontaneous improvisation where random incidents are considered as an extra band member. a slow bass that wanders gently through the acoustic droning, when suddenly an alarm clock starts to ring, followed by new almost-quietness and laidback noise. r.o.t. stands for an original approach of sound sources and a continuously seeking for the "moment". side a was recorded in an abandoned administration building in jette, a small town near brussels. the space was run by young students for six months and renamed the place "l'écurie", the french for stable. r.o.t. improvised in the dusty kitchen during three long days, mostly during the nights as well. the tracks on the b side are takes from improvisations in an horse stable. there again the album's title refers to l'écurie. this time at an old farm which is called ferme du biereau (louvain la neuve). the farm is also known as a nice venue and spot for artists en musicians." [label info]
www.kraak.net |
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
| R.P.M. |
Circle Line |
CD |
"A very peculiar journey........
It's not often we would say this, but listening to this on headphones is a most unusual experience!
Circle Line initially started life as a graphic score created by Phil Mouldycliff as a piece to be played by Keith Rowe in 1989. Over a period of twelve years this open form composition developed to the point where by 2002 an opportunity arose to make a recording of the work at IC Studio in Preston, using ambient recordings taken from Circle Line Tube stations made specifically for the project by Phil and Colin Potter . Keith effectively solos over the assemble tape collage of sounds from the Underground, starting and finishing with material collected at Edgeware Road. Given that a full circuit of the Line takes upwards of fifty minutes, the individual stations are grouped together to create workable sections delineated by geographical boundaries. Since making the recording the work has been performed live by Rowe, Potter and Mouldycliff on a number of occasions."
https://icrdistribution.bandcamp.com/album/circle-line
"R.P.M. stands for (Keith) Rowe, (Colin) Potter, (Phil) Mouldycliff, whereas the Circle Line is an integral part of London’s complex underground network. On such grounds – pun intended – Mouldycliff developed in 1989 a graphic score for Rowe’s performance; the trio recorded this version of the piece in 2002, accompanied by field recordings captured during a trip on the same route. In synthesis, what we hear is Rowe’s trademark dissection of the object previously known as the guitar mixed with structural sounds of wagons, other mechanical entities and human reverberations (voices, steps and so on) typical of an hour spent on the CL.
Having often traveled with this very medium in the past, the problem was usually having my player’s musical selection smothered or otherwise ruined by the surrounding clangor-cum-hubbub. In this case we have Colin Potter who – fortunately for us – balances the whole’s overall level, skillfully processing where necessary. The advice we are given is to listen with a good pair of headphones, and should definitely be followed. Only in this way does the music reveal its clever microscopy, giving the listener’s hearing apparatus the respect it deserves.
Beyond banal classifications – no, it is not a “drone album” – Circle Line represents an exercise in careful listening aided by sonorities that stimulate the innards of our discernment, although complementary to a day of ordinary commuting. Enjoying these extemporaneous inventions – that is, everything which exists between subsonic engrossment and exploitation of timbral oxidation – is a special pleasure in this particular context. I might look at commuting with earphones from a different perspective, after all." [Touching Extremes]
|
2020 |
€13.00 |
|
| RABELAIS, AKIRA |
Eisoptrophobia |
do-LP |
Akira Rabelais’ supremely moving eisoptrophobia album issued on vinyl for the first time, 17 years after it was first released on CD. Harnessing Akira’s own smudged recollections of childhood brought to life via treated solo piano pieces by Erik Satie and Bartok, it’s a haunting mutation of sound that comes hugely recommended if you grabbed his peerless Spellewauerynsherde reissue last year, or indeed any of his releases for David Sylvian’s Samadhisound label. Followers of The Caretaker’s work or Stephan Mathieu’s classic 'Radioland' album should also dive deep into these exquisite, bittersweet memories of secret histories lost in time.
First released in 2001 on CD by Ritornell, a sub-label of Mille Plateaux, ‘eisoptrophobia’ was an early iteration of Akira applying his Argeïphontes Lyre software to classical music, opening a fascinating schism between the original object and his modern, subjective perspective in the process. Made up of spellbinding, uniquely decayed renderings of solo piano pieces, it forms a poetic farewell to the 20th century and a reluctant embrace of new technological possibilities.
The original piano recordings of Satie and Bartók pieces were made at Wave Equation Studios in Hollywood, California, and subsequently transformed by Argeïphontes Lyre with beautifully elusive results. The recognisable melodies here ring out in myriad new ways, sometimes fractured and indented by patinas of crackle that echo the original contours, while, at othere, smudged into mind-bending obfuscation or spectral, timbral thizz. They have the uncanny capacity to resemble exhumed artefacts, dug up after decades of decay, and riddled with potently psychedelic mycelium ready to spore on the listener’s mind. But they also capture that elusive yearning for early life; the distant crackle of AM radio playing in another room, scratched records, a piano playing, somehere.
The title eisoptrophobia itself means ”fear of mirrors“, in an interview with L.A. weekly back in 2002, Rabelais explained that he picked it as a way of articulating his dread of limitation. ”I exist in a much larger space than what I am physically. But if I were to look into the mirror, I would suddenly pull back into my body.” A feeling not unlike the experience of sitting through this remarkable album before suddenly being snapped back to your surroundings.
First time on vinyl, Black 2LP housed inside a deluxe, thick spine gatefold sleeve. Lacquer cut at D+M, Berlin, photography by Jacqueline Roberts, design by Michael Worthington
|
2018 |
€26.00 |
|
| |
The little Glass |
do-CD |
begin slowly and curved fingers, free unconsciousness, which i have approximately lately played, understanding and recognition taking part now, lithe they practice under its hold, listen, enharmonic.
every tone is the prism as words, any unexpected corners must be slipped away, beautiful with to pair is pitch of fashions, slightly exaggerating them, distinguished by nominal thoughtful... if a single day, some changes, like the roots of human tragedies, breathing, marvels in reverse diagrams, differentiated and alone, a different work of mechanical construction, expression, sincere and other hands.
the voice quite different from below, constantly arrives, to absorb, increase the colour, whereby lessons of sense out with sentiment in the hands to the cultivation of time. the letter which that portion details, of technical number, of touch, velocity. change from truthfulness across harmonious conversation.
your effort to be entirely among sense, distance, from under the most difficult value of this grace, which on each has much depends. the music is action, and anticipation with the room looking-glass in song.
the resonators are very the room, i throw light on in giving a part as meaning and beauty, practical exercises of one's pure playing, and evenly learn preparatory be taken in correct position; interpreting a consciousness the moment drawing down.
--
CD @ boomkat.com/products/the-little-glass
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-I0MMRVSMQ
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGY09jkj59E
credits
released November 2, 2015
Akira Rabelais, 2015
Akira Rabelais - Piano
Harold Budd - Piano
Tom Erbe - Mastering
Cabina - Design
|
2015 |
€18.00 |
|
| RADIGUE, ELIANE |
Vice Versa |
do-CD |
“1970 was an important year in ELIANE RADIGUE’s musical life since it was the year just before she acquired her ARP 2500 synthesizer. Since 1967, she had been using the feedback as a material; feedback from two tape recorders reworked through intensive studio techniques: slowing down, alteration, superimposition, montage. Vice-Versa, etc…, which appears to be her very last feedback loop composition was conceived as a sound installation. A single magnetic tape can be played at any speed, a stereo tape of which allows three playings: left channel alone, right channel alone, left and right channels together. These different channels can be overlapped/crossed over as much as possible, at any speed. In its content, the piece is the most minimal that Eliane Radigue has ever composed. Feedback is horizontally sustained, time is suspended, vibrating with organic and subtle pulsations. What is striking about this work, which may arguably be one of Radigue's most important compositions, is the extraordinary quality of the tones obtained from such a rudimentary material. It is hard to believe that the composer was yet to begin working on her ARP, since the sonorities heard on Vice-Versa, etc… are surprisingly similar to those she would go on to produce with her synthesizer.”—Manu Holterbach (translation: Maxime Guitton)
www.importantrecords.com
|
2009 |
€19.50 |
|
|
Jouet Electronique / Elemental I |
mLP |
"alga marghen proudly presents two sublime pieces by Eliane Radigue, 'Jouet Electronique' (1967) for feedback on magnetic tape and 'Elemental I' (1968) for feedback of natural sounds on magnetic tape. Both works, released at Pierre Henry's Studio Apsome in Paris, were never published before. Between 1967 and 1968, Eliane Radigue was the assistant of Pierre Henry in his studio, mainly for the editing of 'L'Apocalypse de Jean'. He also put her in charge of organizing his sound archive according to different criteria. It was an endless work... there were incredible sounds, a true sound library! Eliane Radigue really enjoyed to do this work, even if it took a long time... So, sometimes, she decided to set the machines of the studio to do some little work on her own. 'Jouet Electronique' and 'Elemental I' were born this way as a kind of recreation during her time as a studio assistant. Working with feedback is something that Eliane Radigue learned through Pierre Henry. Do you remember 'Voyage'? There's that fluid part which is made of feedbacks constructed with a microphone... Everything had to be set at a precise distance from the loudspeakers because that is the specific problem with feedback, you have to be at the right distance... Afterwards, these high tone recordings were slowed down in order to discover the deeper character of their colour. This work with feedback was in the end quite limited and what the composer preferred, as a way to produce sounds, was working with two reel tape machines. The first was set on the recording mode while the other was playing and it was the accidents happening in this phase that made the feedback richer. With some fine-tuning you could reach very beautiful results: low pulsations, very high-pitched sounds, sometimes the two at the same time or long sounds. All of these sounds could be slowed down or accelerated, which gave her a beautiful material to work with. With 'Jouet Electronique' Eliane Radigue had a lot of fun, hence the title... As far as 'Elemental I' is concerned, it was the first attempt at something which was very important to her based on the theme of the basic elements: water, fire, air and earth. Eliane had the chance to record in open air thanks to a small Stella Vox that Arman gave her in the beginning of the 1960s. At the time she was still living in Nice and every now and them she went for a walk to do some recordings: the sea, the wind, the rain, the fire... Eliane Radigue continued this way to built her very minimal sound library, not more than ten reel tapes... This was the starting point and in 1968 she used these recordings for her work with two reel tape machines. First pressing limited to 300 copies, with a text by Emmanuel Holterbach and a photo portrait by Arman." [label info]
|
2011 |
€19.50 |
|
|
Transamorem Transmortem |
CD |
\" “Before the greatest achievement
Before the greatest detachment.
At the limit of the frontier space of the unconscious - tuned waves - \"consonant things vibrate together\".
Where does the change happen? In the inner field of perception or the exterior reality of moving things in the course of becoming.
\"And time is no longer an obstacle, but the means by which the possible is achieved\".
Eliane Radigue - June 20, 1973
\"Transamorem - Transmortem\" was premiered on March 9, 1974 at The Kitchen in NYC, where the music programmer at the time was Rhys Chatham - this was right before his guitar phase. During this period, \"Transamorem - Transmortem\" was presented along with other compositions by Eliane Radigue in a linear mode of listening, although the piece had originally been conceived, during its composition, as a sound installation. Of course, both modes of listening are possible, and each works marvelously in its own way.
In their original form, Eliane Radigue\'s works are magnetic tapes. After being played a few times in public, the tape disappears to its case until a release proposal makes it available again through a disc.
During this period Eliane Radigue\'s compositions became fairly long, some lasting over an hour. Because the tracks could not be edited for some obvious reasons, a vinyl release was unthinkable. It was only in the 90\'s, with the advent of the CD format, that the long compositions of Eliane Radigue were made available (with the exception of the \"Song of Milarepa\" LP on Lovely Music, a work already divided into multiple movements and thus able to be fit onto two sides of an LP). For these reasons, the work of Eliane Radigue remained virtually unknown for twenty years - from the 70\'s to the 90\'s.
It was in 2004, when she accepted my aid in digitizing her archives, along with Lionel Marchetti, that I discovered \"Transamoren - Transmortem.\" Immediately, I was awed by the majestic grace of this very long tangle of frequencies, this set of seemingly unchanging tones, whose variations are of a delicate subtlety. \"Transamoren - Transmorten\" is recognizable as one of the most radical of Radigue\'s compositions, comparable to the first \"Adnos,\" the work that follows \"Transamoren - Transmortem\" chronologically. Very few transformations, an apparent formal aridity that is then contradicted by the physical play of the frequencies as the listener turns her head gently from right to left, or better yet as the listener moves slowly throughout the music space. Moving through zones of specific frequencies, the listener\'s body experiences localized zones of low, medium and treble frequencies which vary according to the acoustic properties of the space. As Radigue wrote of \"Adnos\": \"to displace stones in the bed of a river does not affect the course of water, but rather modifies the way the water flows.\" Here, we find the same meditative tension proposing a peaceful movement through the spaces created by the different frequencies that compose \"Transamoren - Transmortem.\"
Very well-organized, Eliane Radigue\'s archives are a pleasure to explore, and \"Transamorem - Transmortem\"\'s case contained a mine of information. What excited me most was the short text entitled \"Inner Space\", which described the ideal conditions under which \"Transamorem - Transmortem\" should be presented. That is to say as a sound installation.
\"Inner Space - This monophonic tape should be played on 4 speakers placed in the four corners of an empty room. Carpet on the floor. The impression of different points of origin of the sound is produced by the localization of the various zones of frequencies, and by the displacements produced by simple movements of the head within the acoustic space of the room. A low point of light on the ceiling, in the center of the room, produced by indirect lighting. Several white light projectors of very weak intensity whose rays, coming from different angles, meet at a single point\".
Eliane Radigue - 1973
I immediately felt that it was necessary to make \"Transamoren-Transmorten\" available once again, and this time in its ideal form, in trying to follow Radigue\'s recommendations word for word. It was with this idea in mind that the Cumulus collective (also responsible for the contemporary music festival Why Note) organized the Continuum festival in Dijon along with the art space Le Consortium (one of the founders of which had persuaded the goup Circle X to record their first, mythic EP in Dijon in 1979 - but that\'s another story!).
The goal was to correctly present some of Eliane Radigue\'s sound installations, an aspect of her work now completely forgotten. And yet, between 1967 and 1971 her work was often exhibited in galleries of contemporary art, mostly in Paris (Lara Vincy, Yvon Lambert ... ), a reflection of the fact that French people have had a harder time than Americans placing the work of Radigue. She herself hesitated for quite a while to use the word \"music\" to describe her work, a complex that is familiar to this very generation of musicians, and which is now no longer really a problem. Who would claim that the work of Eliane Radigue is not musical? That would be strange ...
The 2006 Continuum festival in Dijon saved four sound installations from the dust (an expression that Radigue uses to describe her archives): \"S=a=b=a+b\" (1969), \"Omnht\" (1970), \"Labyrinthe Sonore\" (1970) and \"Transamorem - Transmortem\" (1973). The first two installations are composed with feedbacks, the two others with the sounds of the ARP 2500 synthesizer. Each one is based on a strategy of specific spatial presentation, but that\'s also another story ...
Now it\'s your turn to enjoy this enveloping electronic space ...\" [liner notes]
www.importantrecords.com
|
2011 |
€16.50 |
|
| |
Feedback Works 1969-1970 |
LP |
Feedback Works 1969-1970
However mesmerizing they may be, the works of Éliane Radigue which could be found on record were quite rare when I met her in 1998: “Trilogie de la Mort”, “Biogenesis”, impressive pieces composed on the ARP 2500 synthesizer between 1970 and 1990. There was also the very rare double 7" “Σ=a=b=a+b”, edited by the author and then brought out by the Yvon Lambert Gallery in 1969, which seemed to unveil a turbulent side of the composer’s youth. This work was intended to be presented as a sonic environment and had been composed with nothing but feedback effects on magnetic tape… a relatively crude piece compared with those for synthesizer, difficult for me to relate to. I hastily concluded that Éliane had dabbled with feedback for its hot-tempered quality, a bit like her colleagues Robert Ashley or Alvin Lucier, before passing on to something calmer (in her case, the rounded and peaceable harmonics of the synthesizer)… my mistake. “Σ=a=b=a+b” was but a small part of the group of works based on feedback, just one of the more rough nuances from that so-rich period.
When I visited her in her Paris apartment for the first time, what made an impression on me were the immense shelves taking up the entire entryway, filled from floor to ceiling with tapes. All those sounds… the whole life story of an electronic composer. Immediately I became overcome with curiosity as to the beauties hidden within those boxes, no way not to find treasures within. I did not know anything as yet.
Éliane lives in an eternal present, one could almost say. I had never met someone who at her age was not busy digging around in their past. She, on the other hand, simply considered that she always had “her whole life in front of her”.
Éliane, always inhabited by music, usually lives with a new project in mind. Even if not at all stingy in responding to questions about her rich past, one would not say that she tried to evoque times gone by.
I quickly proposed to convert her magnetic tapes to digital. Not only to create an archive but also and especially to search out all the details, the secrets of this unique body of work. For years all I got were polite but firm refusals. She wanted to convince me that there was nothing but never-ending dust, and babbling, risky if not primitive… Things only changed suddenly after a return from Chicago in 2002 for the release of “L'Île re-sonante”. Delighted with the experience, she described the evening of the concert. She had been overwhelmed by the presence of very young people who came up for a signature on the boxset of “Adnos” trilogy (realised between 1974 and 1982 and published in 2002 by Table of the Elements. This time when I said that these works of the past were in effect full of passion and so it might be the time to put in order the archive, she said laconically, but with enthusiasm: “Oh, alright! But you do it, you know where everything is”.
The big job could begin; I was enchanted and am still. I expected to find other works on the rough side, like “Σ=a=b=a+b”, but with surprise quite another thing came forth.
The digital versions were all done in Lyon, at Lionel Marchetti’s. His interest in and knowledge of Éliane’s music, along with his detailed work, made for a most enjoyable activity. I recall the silence in the studio when we uncovered works surely never listened to after their first public performance, not to say ever presented... Sounds older than I was, for sure. Certain of these works had something of the traumatic about them: my goodness, she made these magnificent sounds with only three pieces of string!
Thus were the works of the feedback period of Éliane Radigue revealed, as we gradually got them digitized, extending over five years approximately: “Omnht” with its broad tectonic vibrations, the celestial voices of “Usral”, the dense silences of “Jouet électronique”, “Stress Osaka” massive chant, the horizon moving in “Vice-versa, etc.”, the magnetic bewitchments of “Opus 17”… each one brought its load of surprises and burst a well filled time bubble. So did we rewind the thread of her biography, discovering obvious connections even in the texture of the sounds themselves, which joined that period to the synthesizer one.
There is nothing anecdotal in the feedback period of Éliane Radigue. A good dozen pieces were composed between 1967 and 1970 in which most of the characteristic originality of her works had their beginnings. It is moreover continually amazing that she could build such formidably organic sonic edifices with the primitive machines which were hers: three tape recorders, a mixing board, an amplifier, two loudspeakers and a microphone. A home studio certainly primitive, but there were not any home studios to speak of in the sixties, the cost of materials being too high. To compose electronic music, or “concrete” or “experimental” (what distinctions!) you had to have access to an institutional studio (At the time usually located in the large radio studios, or certain universities). Indeed, a large part of Éliane’s possessions came from Pierre Henry.
She met him at the “Studio d'Essai” of the R.T.F. in the middle of the 50s, after having met Pierre Schaeffer almost by chance (if such a chance does exist) who invited her to learn the techniques of musique concrète. In fact, from 1955 to 1957 she learned all about these techniques there, “in the shadow of the masters” she says. Éliane emphasizes that she could be there as a “quiet little mouse”, because she cast no shadow on the masters of the place. She learned, as she says, that she was only there as a student. During the 50s no avant-garde musician could imagine a woman seriously competing with them… Jokes erupted: “At least when Éliane comes to the studio it smells good!” etc. Nevertheless Pierre Henry liked one of Éliane’s montages and wanted to use it in a piece he was working on, “L'Occident est Bleu” (1957). From 1957 to 1967 she no longer had access to a studio. During these ten years she will be travelling, taking care of her family, and composing a few graphic scores which will never be published, or even played: “Asymptote Versatile” in 1960, or yet “Chess Game” (based on a chess match between Marcel Duchamp and her then husband, Arman). She was biding her time.
She was to once again assist Pierre Henry from 1967 to 1969, and there she made her first tape compositions. During the last stage of mixing “L'Apocalypse de Jean”, in 1968, Pierre Henry brought to her some of the materials which would become her studio, so that she could continue working on some parts of the “Apocalypse” he asked her to work on, while he continued working at Studio Apsome. These things remained in Éliane’s house and she bought what was lacking to work autonomously: one more tape recorder, a microphone, and then, in 1971, the ARP 2500 synthesizer. Even if these first compositions date from the end of the 60s it seems evident the entire creative process in Éliane Radigue’s work had begun in the Studio d’Essai in 1955.
What I always find striking when I listen to the first piece “Jouet électronique” (realized in 1967 at the Apsome Studio and published in 2010 by Alga Marghen) is the maturity and expressive force in this short composition. There is already a tension and poetry proper to her own. Similarly, “Jouet électronique” seems to contain the germ of all which is to come. Or at least it opens all the paths which she will follow indefatigably. It is as if her musical work in some way contained a martial arts discipline on which she meditated for 10 years before striking the first blow, with an impressive precision… Right away her music separates from the explorations of musique concrète, from any academism, or whatever style then in vogue. Her adventure is intuitively going towards flux, towards contemplative stasis. A music of continuous sounds, of apparently simple structures, which permits the revelations and expansion of rich acoustic phenomena. One could say that in one sense it is the very texture of the sounds which leads the form in her compositions. At the same time this approach favors an intense sensuality in the listening. The fluidity of form in Éliane Radigue’s music has more to do with certain world music traditions, composed of drones, resonances, pulsations (although I cannot be sure that this was really the inspiration). A music in which time is suspended, but not stopped, rather unfolding with an intoxicating slowness, engendering fascination rather than boredom.
Between 1969 and 1970 Éliane Radigue gave up measured durations and composed works which flirted with eternity: “Usral” (1969), “Labyrinthe Sonore” (1970). and “Omnht” (1970). They are generally made of several tape loops of clearly different duration read simultaneously. In this arrangement, simple and ingenious (close to the usage of Steve Reich in his youthful pieces), the fixed sounds go slowly out of synch, in a play of perpetual mutation. From this appears a sonic landscape whose temporality, as well as its materiality, could be described by these verses by Paul Verlaine:
“…who, each time, is never quite the same, nor completely another…”
The terms “Sound Art” and “Sound Installation” are in vogue at this moment. There was nothing like it at the time. A way of describing this new approach had to be developed. So she presented her works under the description “Propos Sonores” (Sonic propositions) or sometimes “Music without End”. These works were unveiled to the public both in the places consecrated to music as well as museums and galleries (Yvon Lambert, Lara Vincy, etc.). Nothing surprising in the fact that these “Music without End” at times, like a halo of the infinite, accompanied works of such visual artists as Marc Halpern or Tania Mouraud. For all that, without minimizing the interest of these collaborations, it seems important to add that the sounds she used have in themselves a completely “plastic” quality.
This is the context in which Éliane composed “Omnht” in 1970 for one of the architectonic spaces of the visual artist Tania Mouraud, “One More Night”, presented at the Gallery of the Rive Gauche in Paris. With Jean Heuzé, one of Pierre Henry’s co-workers who helped out on this project, Éliane had the idea of screwing the speakers into the partitions so that they would be invisible with respect to the immaculate exhibition space. Due to this the sounds could vibrate within walls which become resonant surfaces. This description caused me to “leap up to the ceiling” because it is a technique that I used myself in my sound installation work… only twenty years later. I quickly felt it necessary to present this piece anew. In 2006, thanks to an active competition by the Consortium Art Center and the association “Cumulus” in Dijon (organizers of the contemporary music festival “Why Note”), it was possible to do a version among the old industrial buildings of “L'Usine”. Large plaster partitions were already in place and formed an ideal group of surfaces for the installation of loudspeakers. Resounding in these grand rooms, “Omnht” seemed to shake the entire building, thus creating a sonic architecture of time and space… A vast edifice of vibrations, built like a mirror of frequencies in which were reflected our inner worlds. It was admirable to see how much this work had resisted time; the fascinated reception by the public left no doubt as to its poetic force. After this public presentation I set up a stereophonic synthesis of that installation in my studio, by combining the original sounds with those taken at “L'Usine”. I felt a lively need to hear those magnificent sounds again. I realized moreover that the sonorities of “Omnht” survived the reduction quite well, and I found once more with happiness the unique intensity of this spatial composition.
Some time later, Éliane offered me one of the 10 copies of “Vice-versa, etc.”: a small handmade box, signed and numbered, realized as a multiple on the occasion of a show at Lara Vincy’s gallery in 1970, which contained a reel of magnetic tape and the instructions for use. It indicates that all playback speeds are possible, forwards or backwards, as well as any combination of two channels, on several recorders, “ad libitum”… A present which touched me profoundly. I took up the game and rapidly made mixings following the indications to the letter, respecting the composition methods of Éliane Radigue. Need I say that to work with such lovely sounds was a real pleasure?
Then I decided to do the same with all her sound installation works: slices of time from those sonic environments dedicated to space and infinity. There are so few spaces devoted to Sound Art, so the occasions for presenting such work to the public are rare. It seems evident to me that if we waited for that to happen very few people would have access to that part of Éliane’s work. Fundamentally, these stereophonic syntheses should have been made and published a long time ago because this compilation offers a simple way into the home of this passionate time.
Therefore, I proposed that we listen to them together, because of course the idea should seem legitimate to her. Knowing her to be extremely critical towards her past work, and ready to renounce certain aspects of it, I confess to being a bit anxious as to her reaction. Neither did I know how she would react to my taking the initiative in making such syntheses. Contrary to my apprehensions we passed a marvelous day. Éliane had forgotten practically everything of the sonic textures she made then, and discovered evident links with the sounds she realized later on with the synthesizer.
In her compositional work Éliane Radigue developed her own characteristic “footprint”: an art of imperceptible transition from one kind of movement to another. It is very difficult to know at what moment things change, because they are continually changing without one’s really being aware of it… a little like a natural phenomenon in perpetual mutation. This is doubtless one of the magical constituents of her music and it engenders the loss of any temporal reference point. If you look over the whole from her first compositions to the most recent ones for acoustic instruments, passing through the imposing electronic period, it seems evident that this way of gentle transition is a characteristic of her entire work. Not only within the compositions but also from one composition to another. We do not confront a collection of isolated experiences but rather embark on a patient and minute exploration of a vast poetic territory.
At the end of the day it was clear to her, just as it had been for me, that these syntheses had to be complied and published. This certainly does not replace the necessity of in-situ presentations; all of the music of Éliane Radigue is destined to vibrate spatiously and this is all-the-more so for the installations. And in any case, this collection gives a good overview of the intense beauty of these “Propos Sonores” composed so long ago with such reduced means.
By her original approach, Éliane Radigue held herself, as she still does, outside the dogmas of her epoch and therefore had to sometimes face some lack of understanding. Intuition is however her force, and she has known how to continue until today composing in full independence of spirit; her aesthetic gives forth a body of work unique in its genre, honorably recognized and appreciated today.
We are among the many who see her as a pioneer capable of revealing a precious territory of sounds, one that she seems alone to occupy. To us to enjoy this publication of the first remarkable steps of a figure who holds the music of our time in her spell.
Emmanuel Holterbach
https://elianeradigue.bandcamp.com/album/feedback-works-1969-1970
|
2022 |
€24.50 |
|
| RAGLE GUMM |
2nd |
mCDR |
"ragle gumm is a total mystery, even for us. we got this submission one day with absolutely no details about it, just an e-mail address to contact the artist... the only thing we know is that another work should be released sooner or later on elsie and jack. "2nd" is a very strong piece, full of processed voices, surprises and breaks. you can feel the industrial electricity when you listen to this piece! be curious!!!"
www.taalem.com
"Ragle Gumm is a total mystery, even for us, so says Taalem. He (she?) send a work out of the blue and otherwise it seems there is a work from him coming on Elsie & Jack. Apparently this work is full of voices, by claim of Taalem, which I must admit I don't hear, but its an interesting piece of music. Obviously the majority of is drone based, but Gumm throws in some sampled rhythm patches, which he chops up for good measure. That adds a curious feel to the piece, like high voltage electrical charges being sparked off. Sometimes the piece is on the verge of collapse, but it never really does, fortunately. The drones presented here are in a much more upright fashion, direct in your face and as such quite nice. Who is Ragle Gumm then?" [FdW, Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€5.00 |
|
| RAINEY, BHOB & RALF WEHOWSKY |
I don't think I can see you tonight |
CD |
Schon lange nicht mehr hat man RALF WEHOWSKY (aka RLW) so höchst verzückt abstrakt, sphärisch & dröhnminimalistisch erlebt. Seine Collab. mit BOB RAINEY lebt von sirrenden, flirrenden, kurz unbeschreiblichen Soundeffekten, die in eine Drone-Geäst gewebt werden, dass es eine reine Freude für den brachliegenden Geist ist. Mitunter werden field recordings und benutzte Instrumente erkennbar..
Daneben gibt es eine Fülle von auch sehr konkreten Geräuschen, Wendungen, cut-ups, etc.. hier kann man sich nicht einlullen lassen, diese 3 Kompositionen erfordern (& erzeugen?) höchste Bewusstheit und Konzentration!
"The Bhob Rainey/Ralf Wehowsky collaboration overcame many gruelling attempts, musical dead-ends and a five full years to realize its outcome and man, was it worth the wait! Both artists sit firmly in their unique and highly regarded (and earned) musical positions these days and are both truly fearless in attempting and pursuing new musical activities for themselves. Here are three powerful, often hair-raisingly intense pieces that allow no room for complacency on the part of the listener.... at all. Here is what Dan Warburton says in the newly posted February issue of Paris Transatlantic: 'Listen to how the title track emerges slowly from a shell into which fragments of recognizable noises are being sucked as backwards sound files, taking nearly seven minutes to reach the open air, where distant sounds of children at play, footsteps and tiny smears of saxophone multiphonics and all manner of sonic building blocks both recognizable and tantalizingly inscrutable are gradually brought together to construct the musical equivalent of a Gothic cathedral... from where I'm sitting this is one of the most important works of electronic music (or musique concrete, if you prefer) to appear this decade.'" [label info]
|
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
| RAISON D'ETRE |
The Stains of the Embodied Sacrifice (Expanded Edition) |
do-CD |
"Ewers Tonkunst is happy to announce its another collaboration with famous swedish industrial music mastermind Peter Andersson made ten years after long sold out Panzar “Human Degeneration” CD. This time it's a reissue of his main project Raison D'Etre latest studio album initially released in 2009 on Cold Meat Industry. 'The Stains of the Embodied Sacrifice' is not only vibrating on the surface of your skin. It is alive and breathing, a creature with a knife that cut deep wounds in your body while your soul shatters for air. It is a psychosomatic and transgressive disease opressed by a compulsive behaviour manifested in dualities - the one of your body and mind - and states of metamorphoses - mind becomes flesh become
wounds become fluids become stains. Play it loud if you want to become the martyr. Play it low if you are the innocent victim. There are no levels in-between. Violent and intense, it is a hell of an ordeal. But withstand and you are promised bliss. This version of the album has been expanded with an extra disc
containing 60 minutes of previously unreleased early-versions-of-the-original-album-tracks. The release comes in a special foldout 6 panels digisleeve and includes 2 full colour inserts." [label info]
|
2013 |
€18.00 |
|
| RAISON D'ETRE & TROUM |
De Aeris In Sublunaria Influxu |
do-LP |
First time on Vinyl, presented in Gatefold Sleeve on Double LP. Originally released in 2015 and carefully forged between 2011 and 2014, "De Aeris In Sublunaria Influxu" showcases a magically crafted alchemical wedding between these two titans of drone ambient. The 2LP features an exclusive bonus track.
Troum navigates through cavernous, subterranean spaces where cyclical sounds reverberate towards impressive crescendos of icy noise, luminous drones and dramatic, guitar-driven ghostly melodies. Their truly unique soundscapes shine in a perfect symbiotic movement with the Swedish dark ambient maestro Peter Andersson. Engulfed in a hauntingly beautiful kaleidoscope of grey-ish melancholia, raison d’être comfortably walks deeply into Troum’s vast territory, delivering his very own trademark of eerie tones, ominous sacral ambience and crystal clear constructions. Airy lush enigmatic atmospheres live together with dark breathing, reverberant transformative drones. Rich and gorgeously layered.
All sounds assembled and recorded by raison d'être (Peter Andersson) and Troum (Stefan Knappe, Martin Gitschel) between 2011-2014. All sounds processed, manipulated and structured by Peter Andersson 2011-2014. K-14 level mastering by Peter Andersson 2014. Artwork by Ritxi Ostáriz.
2LP Vinyl Edition of 300 copies, Gatefold Sleeve, Matt Lamination, black Paper Innersleeves. 8 Tracks. Running Time 76:785
https://cycliclaw.bandcamp.com/album/de-aeris-in-sublunaria-influxu |
2023 |
€28.00 |
|
| RAMLEH |
Switch Hitter |
10inch |
Überraschender neuer Release der UK-"Industrial / Impro / Rock"-Legende, hier sehr psychedelisch / hypnotisch noise-rockig & an alte SPLINTERED erinnernd...
"Black Rose Recordings and Broken Flag present the new 10" single by the legendary group Ramleh. Limited to 500 with black and white artwork this is their first new material since 1998 and it doesn't disappoint. Powerful droning intensity, motorik rhythms and warped guitar riffs dominate these two songs with one containing Ramleh's distinctive distorted vocals weaving in and out of this inventive chemistry. "Switch Hitter" could almost be described as a full on dissonant rock track, but Ramleh's desire for experimentation and improvisation lifts it way above the general rock mindset. Ramleh have been active since the early 1980s, first as one of the UK's pioneering power electronics groups and then towards the late 80s they, along with Skullflower, laid the foundations for the UK's improvisional noise rock scene. In fact Gary Mundy from Ramleh was also one of the founding members of Skullflower (there was an overlapping membership of both bands, yet Ramleh always managed to retain their own unique identity regardless of musical genre). They returned to the live scene last year with well received shows in London (one with Whitehouse the other with Merzbow), and New York, whilst a new album release and planned re-issues from their back catalogue are due late 2009 proving they have not lost any of their energy, excitement and ability to explore all possibilities." [label info]
|
2009 |
€15.00 |
|
| RANTA / ICHIYANAGI / KOSUGI |
Improvisation Sep. 1975 |
LP |
Toshi Ichiyanagi, Michael Ranta and Takehisa Kosugi originally got together in the summer of 1975 for an open-air concert in Sapporo. The concert felt like a great success but was unfortunately not recorded. As the desire arose to record together, they managed to arrange a studio session in the NHK Studio in Tokyo, with presence of sound engineers.
What was supposed to be a soundcheck for this session became the session itself: a haunting 50-minute séance of intense avantgarde improvisation using a large instrumentation and live processing (tape echo, ring modulation, phasing). A trident travelogue of the momentum masterfully controlled by the ensemble spirit, transcending the boundaries of psychedelic underground.
Official reissue of this underground classic from 1975, originally released in a tiny edition on the small Japanese Iskra label.
As the original master tapes of these recordings seem to be lost, the master had to be taken from an unplayed original LP copy. It was carefully restored and mastered by Jos Smolders with amazing result.
Audio restoration and mastering: Jos Smolders/EARLabs
Lay-out: Meeuw
Translation: Alan Cummings
Production: Timo van Luijk
https://metaphon2.bandcamp.com/album/improvisation-sep-1975 |
2022 |
€25.00 |
|
| RANTA, MICHAEL |
Azabu |
CD |
Even though only being fully terminated 50 years after its conception, Azabu can be regarded as the starting point of Michael Ranta\'s creative self-discovery. The recordings that form the base of Azabu were mostly made in the Tokyo district with the same name (Azabu-Juban). Next to abstracted field recordings, Azabu is also pervaded by a rich variety of percussion, string, and wind instruments, all played by Ranta himself. Subsequently Ranta edited, layered, and processed the recordings at the NHK electronic music studio in Tokyo. Both pieces display a vast array of acoustic, electronic, and concrete sound events meticulously sequenced to a complex fusion symbolizing the entire spectrum of earthly and heavenly sounds. Dynamic extremes evoke a restless flight through space, or through the depths of human subconsciousness, between dream and reality. Ultimately the music disappears, like a dot in the sky gradually fading into nothingness -- an \"ascension\" that closes the loop in a ritual of life that can begin anew again at any time. Michael Ranta: composition, performance, mixing (1971). Stefan Deistler: final mixing and mastering (2021). Painting: Wayne Jacob. Production: Timo van Luijk. Design: Meeuw. Gatefold cardboard sleeve; eight-page booklet.
https://metaphon2.bandcamp.com/album/azabu
|
2022 |
€14.00 |
|
| RAPOON |
The Bush Prophet |
CD |
"We are happy to present you the third Rapoon release on Ewers Tonkunst. “The Bush Prophet” is a brand new album from this legendary and highly influential project, which unique style of blending industrial, ethno-rhythmic and cut-up techniques has gained international recognition and made Rapoon one of the main artists in its genre. This work has an accent on more dark, hard and anxious sound constructions than most of its recent albums, it is full of tension and scepticism, but with no lack of inner hope though.
Like it’s last year Soleilmoon release “Melancholic Songs Of The Desert”, it deals with isolationism and the myth of democracy. Manipulated by media and bombarded with political spin we live in a world where our political choices are reduced to almost zero. Faced with a hostile world and lies from every direction is it any wonder that there is a need to retreat to try and find some peace and humanity. The voices on the television make promises and soothing noises then wage unjust wars in our name. The lies fall like honey and nothing changes.
These songs are a retreat into the one place that no government has yet found a way into, the free and open spaces of the mind. They are spontaneous and mediative reflections looking for an inner peace in a world made ugly by hatred and war. They symbolize a kind of "walkabout" and a reconnection with a lost sense of belonging spiritually, intellectually and physically with the world we inhabit. The music here looks for a sense of inner being that one can only find in quiet isolation.
The release is limited to 500 copies and comes in a stylish digisleeve with artwork by Robin Storey." [label info]
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Time-loop Anomalies |
CD |
"Time-Loop Anomalies", the next Rapoon offering on Zoharum after "Disappeared Redux", contains more than an hour of eerie, ethereal music lingering on the borderlands of dreamworld and reality. Robin Storey, the man behind the moniker, delivers yet again a subtle woven masterpiece, both being a bold step into the new world and in the vein of his earlier projects continuing recurring themes in his artistic work.
Robin says:
"Time-loop Anomalies" is a collection of single tracks and 'starts' in the creative process drawn together and composed into a cohesive collection of pieces. Many times in the method of composing new works different directions and musical elements are created and then honed down into a direction which is built upon and re-enforced throughout the "narrative" of a album. "Time-loop Anomalies" is a collection of short stories put together and given a unifying theme which binds the various elements.
The pieces span a wide timescale, but, in the spirit of quantum mechanics, they are tossed together and create new and different perspectives through the workings of chance and composition. There are hundreds more "starts" that resurface and disappear as time goes by. These are some that made it to the final stage of the creative method and got to be published.
Sputnik remix is my own personal favourite as it is autobiographical, in the sense that I remember looking into the starry skies when I was very young and seeing the little pinprick of light travel through the heavens. It left a deep impression of loneliness and separation upon me ...bleak but beautiful..." [label info]
www.zoharum.com
|
2012 |
€12.00 |
|
|
To West and Blue |
CD |
"Not a reissue, not a compilation, but something complete new. "To West and Blue" is 50th Rapoon album and 5th Rapoon release on Zoharum label. And this one will become a staple in our CD players for long time. 7 long, slowly evolving tracks appealing to your subconscious side. An album that is definitely not to everyone's tastes. This one gradually grows on you until you are captivated by its haunting beauty. But there is an underlying uneasiness in it. A sort of clash between reality and a ghost world or a world that is long-gone. With choral voices hidden beneath layers of treated sounds, "To West and Blue" is a stand-out album among Rapoon numerous releases.
Robin Storey talks about this album: These pieces are about the area grew up in in the UK. A peninsula of land which stuck out into the Solway Firth. Surrounded by the sea when the tide was in and surrounded by endless mudflats when the tide was out. When the water covered the ground the line between the sea and the sky was almost non-existent. A diaphanous boundary. The sea came in from the West where the huge skies hung without end in a vault of blue.
The 7 tracks presented on "To West and Blue" were mastered by Maciej Bartkowiak. The cover is based on photos by Robin Storey and the design was handled by Maciej Mehring. The whole production process was overseen by Michał Porwet.
The CD is housed in gatefold sleeve in the vein of Japanese-style vinyl replica and is strictly limited to 500 copies." [label info]
www.zoharum.com
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
|
The Fires of the Borderlands |
do-CD |
"It's been 16 years since the release of Rapoon's masterpiece entitled "The Fires of the Borderlands".
This special edition is comprised of two discs. The first is the main album which is mastered from the original tapes, therefore, it sounds significantly better to the 1998 version. The bonus disc is a 40-minute live recording for the San Francisco-based radio KFJC which again proves that Robin Storey has mastered the ability to creating haunting sonic atmospheres.
This expanded edition of the album is packaged in a digipak sleeve and is limited to 500 copies worldwide." [label info]
www.zoharum.com
"In the wake of so many dreadfully digital concoctions of insipid ambient music from the mid to late '90s, a good Rapoon album was a breath of fresh air. The warmth of his analog processes, tape-loop and delay mechanics, and some good-old cassette grit thrown in for good measure was a gnostic beacon to the days of a post-industrial zeitgeist from a previous decade, or century, or millennium for that matter when it came to the best albums from Rapoon. Any sense of timeloss and historical displacement would be considered a victory for most artists; but for Robin Storey and his long-standing Rapoon project, that's been a common parlance from his work. The Fires Of The Borderlands may be Rapoon's best known album, as it was put out originally through the Relapse subsidiary Release back in 1998. It's long been out of print; and it also ranks as one of his better releases. Here, we've got the Polish 2cd reissue of that album, fleshed out with a remastering job from the original tapes and a bonus disc featuring an hour long performance on KFJC down in Silicon Valley.
The album is flush with slow-motion billowings, night-ocean tidal wash, and sibilant blurs, all crafted from Storey's refined use of tape-loops and delay pedals. There's nary a reference to anything infernal or hellish to the hypnogogic cascade of Rapoon despite the album's title. At times, Storey engorges his reverb-drenched loops into a galvanized thrum of drone portent equivalent to the bunker hermeticism of Maeror Tri. But as with most of Storey's work he transcends a gothic nihilism through his application of ghostly dub reflections that could harken to the echoes of some pneumatic lung wheezing in the corner or a derelict monk chanting to a long-forgotten deity. Beautiful stuff.
The live in the studio session is equally as good with Storey lining the wash with distant tribal rhythms and wooden flute gestures thrown in for good measure." [Aquarius Records]
|
2014 |
€16.00 |
|
|
A pale blue Door |
BOOK + CD |
"Robin Storey, best known for his musical avatar Rapoon, has written his first book, a 68 page short story about a group of characters navigating an unfamiliar and changing world. “A Pale Blue Door” takes place in the past, the present and the future, and may involve time travel. The people in the story are trying to live their lives as best they can, but a mysterious spaceman floats in and out of view, affecting them in different ways, and never quite touching the ground.
“A Pale Blue Door” is a tightly written, well paced tale that reveals its secrets slowly. Robin Storey’s prose is concise and economical, engaging and seductive. The book begs to be read again and again.
Accompanying the book is a 60 minute Rapoon CD, also titled “A Pale Blue Door”. The compositions utilise recordings of stars, manned space missions, radio signals and emissions made available through NASA’s official website. There are also field recordings made on the marshlands of the Solway Firth in Cumberland.
Extract:
The wind moaned outside the frost rimed windows. It whipped up small eddies of snow and made swirling snow devils in the frigid air.
The landscape took on a surreal, lunar aspect in the moonlight and shadows were deepened in the silvered light.
Something moved in the shadows.
Something not human. It headed for the house with the pale blue door and left no footprints in the snow.
Silently in the sleeping night it drew closer and closer.
Billy woke with the certainty that there was someone else in the room. He sat up and looked towards the end of the bed. In the shadows and gloom he could just about discern the outline of a lumpy squat figure. His eyes grew accustomed to the light and the shadows retreated. He could see that the figure was about five feet tall and had a barrel chest and a thick limbs. The face remained in the shadows but it had a strange luminescence to it. Slowly it seemed to move forward and the face became visible. Billy shuddered. There atop this squat frame was the pale head of a pig. Small dark eyes regarded Billy without emotion.
As silently as it had appeared it vanished again into the shadows. Billy was covered in sweat and shaking. That terrible face was one he had seen before and it left him with a feeling of dread.
He sat staring at the place where the figure had been long after he could no longer see it.
The image burned onto the back of his eyes and some primeval horror clawed at his subconscious. Billy knew intuitively that this horror had existed for as long as man had been alive. It was ancient and mythical and spoke across aeons of time, perhaps even space. He continued to stare into the emptiness until a faint crackling sound brought him back to the present. He listened and tried to understand where the strange noise was coming from. After a long while he realised that the sweat which had poured from him when the dreadful vision had appeared was turning to ice on his body. He leaped from the bed and grabbed clean clothes and pulled them onto his freezing body. He pulled off the soaking bed clothes and tossed them into a far corner of the room and dragged the bed through the doorway into the living room. He went back to the bedroom to get fresh bedclothes and emptied his wardrobe onto the newly located bed, then he got planks and nails and boarded the room shut. He would never set foot in that room again.
The wind blew gently across the marshlands. The short grass rippled like the tide in the sweet smelling breeze. She sat on the turf in her best Sunday dress clutching a small posy of wild flowers she had gathered on the way. Her hair had been cut recently and a few stray strands broke free from the neat bob. She pushed them back in place with her small hands. She wanted to look her best.
Her father fussed around with his photographic equipment. Arranging tripods and lenses and polishing each item in turn with a giant yellow duster, taking great pride in his work and his treasured gadgetry.
She sniffed the air and it smelt sweet and warm. and warm." [label info]
www.soleilmoon.com
|
2015 |
€23.00 |
|
|
Seeds in the Tide Vol. 4 |
do-CD |
"Zoharum releases the fourth part in the series of RAPOON's archival recordings entitled "Seeds in the Tide". Like the previous three, this album is divided into two parts. In the first one we find songs from the years 2005-2007 from rare, limited releases, various artists compilations plus a remix of Rapoon made by the project Xela. This first disc, almost 75 minutes long, features a variety of recordings presenting Robin Storey's project from different angles.The second disc is a recording of the next concert from Rhiz in Vienna. This time it is a little shorter, only 45-minute-long appearance, very consistent, strongly contrasting with the first disc." [label info]
www.zoharum.com
|
2015 |
€16.00 |
|
|
Waiting by the River |
CD |
"Klanggalerie are very happy to announce a new collaboration with Rapoon after a far too long 12 year break. Waiting By The River is the all-new album by Robin Storey that takes the project into previously uncharted territory. Founded in 1992 after Storey left Zoviet France, Rapoon soon became an outstanding ethno-dark ambient project that has gained a cult following all over the world. More than 50 albums have been released over those 25 years, some more beat driven, others more playful and with ambient sounds and ethnic influences. Rapoon has never stopped evolving - think of Cultural Forgeries, an album full of unplugged acoustic music. Or Downgliding, full of compositions on the piano. In 2016, Rapoon presents you an album full of songs. You will hear guitars, vocals, stories are being told. A very different approach to Rapoon and one you've never heard before. Needless to say, the trademark Rapoon sound is still there. But this time you get a little extra. Another milestone in the band's discography. Low stock. "After the austerity of the 1950’s we entered the 1960’s with huge optimism and the belief that anything was possible. We had a new world opening out in front of us. A world of rapid technological advancement. A world of new foods. A world of new cars, new jobs, new possibilities. We were going to the moon. We were promised holidays on the moon. It was to be a world of plenty. You believe these things when you are five years old. The booming sixties came and went. We landed on the moon. The seventies saw a decline in economy and in hope. First Thatcher, then Blair, then Cameron went on to destroy everything that had been built for the people after the second world war. Now it was all for the privileged The moneyed. The few. An old lady sits by a billabong under a clear blue sky. She talks with her ancestors who wait by the river. As they have waited for millennia. She sings an ancient song. The water trembles." [label info]
www.klanggalerie.com
|
2016 |
€14.00 |
|
|
My Life as a Ghost |
do-CD |
"The next album in the Rapoon reissue series is "My Life as a Ghost" from 2004. It is suspended exactly between the "Rhiz" with its rhythmic structures and the human voice experiments known from, for example, "Disappeared". Another thing that returned are strong ambient textures which were absent from "Rhiz" coming from the same period and reissued together with "My Life as a Ghost" This is one of the most interesting, if not the most interesting Robin Storey album, from the first decade of 2000s.
The current edition, along with most other Rapoon re-releases in the Zoharum catalog, has been expanded to include an additional disc featuring refreshed unpublished recordings from the same session. On this second disc Robin Storey penetrates more rhythmic regions again, but with a strong melodious backbone. The extra 70 minutes completes the original album in a perfect way.
The CDs are housed in a digipak sleeve and the album is strictly limited to 500 copies. The cover is designed by Maciej Mehring based on Robin Storey's paintings. The album is mastered by Maciej Bartkowiak. The whole production process is overseen by Michał Porwet."
www.zoharum.com
|
2017 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Vernal Crossing |
do-LP |
"Vernal Croossing was Rapoon's fourth album, originally released in 1993 by Staalplaat. One of the most interesting records released by Robin Storey (founding member of the pioneering industrial group :zoviet*france) on vinyl now for the first time.
A magic balance between percussion and electronics, creating mind-bending tapestries of minimalistic patterns and quasi-melodic drones fused with occasional doses of well-placed white noise. An approach much in debt to his 12 year stint with zoviet-france. It paints a gossamer diaphanous drifting veil of mood over the top. Other than some moody loops and psychoacoustic dimensions, it sounds authentic - hardly a trace of crude electronics or sampling. The drumming - in soft tones rather than hard hitting ones - does nothing to intrude on the passive mood. The overall atmosphere does not really change throughout the recording making it a cool, pacifying atmosphere while having the madcap tempo which would be very easy to dance to.
This edition includes a new track called Total Crossing, edited/constructed by Colin Potter, who has been in charge of the remastering of the record. A deep drone trance/meditation edit that blew Robin's own mind (and also ours!). The successful experiment explained by Colin: "I imported all the masters to my DAW to make a mock-up of the LP & initially they were all together at the beginning of the multitrack, before I spaced them out in the record's running order. And I thought.... what would it sound like with them all playing at once? Well, it was actually suprisingly interesting, so I did a mixdown."
|
2020 |
€26.00 |
|
|
Dust of Souls (re-issue) |
CD |
“Dust of Souls” was previously released by Ultra Mail Prod. Limited to 100 copies release was almost entirely sold out in pre-sale leaving many Rapoon fans empty handed and aurally dissatisfied. Trying to meet the expectations of those who weren’t lucky enough to get this album Zoharum picks up the gauntlet and decides to reissue this important piece of Rapoon’s discography.
Album presents 8 tracks of trance inducing rhythms and sounds. With a use of processed acoustic instruments, electronics and ambient scapes Robin Storey takes us on a journey to the unknown lands and spaces. Near East ethnic influences are served in a form of loop based brain captivating compositions. Think of softer side of Muslimgauze but more ritual and hypnotic.
As usual former member of :zoviet*france: delivers a great piece of listening, where you can fully appreciate his years of experience as musician and independent artist. This is experimental music in its best.
Album comes in 6 panel digipack limited to 500 copies.
https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/dust-of-souls |
2020 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Call Fires to Cloud |
CD |
Edition comes in a full-colour 4-panel A5 sized digipak with different cover artwork. Glass mastered CD with 6 full colour A6 postcards on 300g glossy laminated card, limited to 100 copies.
These six images are from the Replicants Creation Myths.
'The great crow that tore up the earth with his beak, flapped his wings and made the stars from the dust when all was silent.'
The replicant society has broken down and all that remains are a few wandering tribes who traverse the dying planet searching for somewhere to call home. They pray to empty gods.
One group places it’s final messages and cultural artefacts into a holographic file but before it can be sent into space a great sandstorm sweeps across their encampment and buries everything. Millenia later another great storm finally blows the sand away from the power panels and the transmitter bursts into brief life. Just long enough to send the following files of music and art......
What began life as session tracks and studio sounds from the Mercury Rising Trilogy, ended up becoming an album of almost entirely new material. Robin Storey takes us on a journey to the outer reaches of a very distant and cold solar system.
These intercepted transmissions of audio and visual material, that have bounced around the known universe for millennia, finally allow us a glimpse in to their creators past.
https://winter-light.bandcamp.com/album/call-fires-to-cloud
|
2020 |
€20.00 |
|
|
:Cinema Telephonique: |
LP |
We present the latest release from Rapoon. ": Cinema Telephonique :" is an audio description of an imagined film. Robin Storey was inspired to start working on the album by the acoustic phenomenon that appeared while scrolling his sound files into 1010Blackbox sampler with the play activated. Staccato little snapshots of sound evoking cinematic fragments of pictures through the random audio. Every track was played live with looped drum recordings/resampled and multi-triggered. The recordings were then refined in Pro Tools. This album contains material, composed especially for a vinyl plate according to the scheme used before the CD era, when the longplay lasted not much longer than 40 minutes, which contained the entire concept, divided into two sides and also functioning as separate fragments, consisting of several shorter pieces arranged in such an order as to build their proper drama, taking into account factors such as their length, dynamics and sound.
The album is released only as LP on 180g of navy blue, transparent vinyl in a limited edition of 300 copies.
https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/cinema-telephonique
|
2021 |
€20.00 |
|
| |
Seeds in the Tide Vol. 6 |
do-CD |
4 years have passed since the publication of the previous part of "Seeds in the Tide vol. 5". So it's high time to release the next volume in a compilation series containing rare Rapoon tracks scattered across a variety of smaller releases and compilations. The sixth part contains recordings from the years 2013-2016, mainly from the 7th EPs "Moon and Cups Quarter 1-4", "Calling the Rain" and several compositions prepared for the purposes of variety compilations, appearing in the same period of time. The first album "Keepsakes and Oddities from 2013-2016" is complemented by the recording of the Rapoon concert, which took place in the summer of 2013 during the Gorlice Ambient Festival ..
Two-disc album released in six-panel digipack, limited to 500 copies
https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/seeds-in-the-tide-volume-6 |
2021 |
€17.00 |
|
| RAPOON + PACIFIC 231 |
Tour de Force |
CD |
" “Il est d’usage d’appeler monstrueux l’accord inaccoutumé d’éléments dissonants, mais j’appelle monstrueux toute originale inépuisable beauté.” Alfred Jarry cité par Claude Maillard-Chary
The first meeting of Robin Storey (Rapoon) and Pierre Jolivet (Pacific 231) took place back in 2007, when Old Europa Cafe released their split album "Palestine", dedicated to the memory of Bryn Jones (Muslimgauze). This time they team-up for a fulltime real collaboration, presenting their unique musical visions. The album is quite different from both artists' traditional styles, showing up the kind of synergetic effect embraced in sound. The long form, contemplative and mind expanding tracks are sequenced in time eliminating journey.
Limited edition of 500 copies in special packaging - custom made of metallic coated ruby color paper with white ink silkscreen print, assembled by hand.
Comes with the set of 6 postcards with oxide textures photos and ancient style drawing over them." [label info]
www.alone-at-last.com
|
2014 |
€15.00 |
|
| RATKJE, MAJA / EUGENIUSZ RUDNIK |
In Dialogue with... |
CD |
Release Date: X 2014
Total Time: 50:42
CD | 10 page folded insert | digipack
1. Eugeniusz Rudnik Divertimento
2. Maja S. K. Ratkje In Dialogue with Rudnik
3. Eugeniusz Rudnik Breakfast on the grass in the cave of Lascaux
Making music is to be in constant dialogue with your own aesthetics and preferences. In inspired moments, you can get surprised by where the process leads you. And in welcoming circumstances, there are no limits or sneaking doubts that disallow you to try out any possibility. The electronic music made by Eugeniusz Rudnik unquestionably encourages such a position. Working with his music has been greatly inspiring, and the nature of his music feels strangely fitting to my own approach to electronic media.
Maja S. K. Ratkje
[...]
When asked to compose music based upon some of Rudnik’s classic works, I was thrilled to hear his non-idiomatic use of field recordings and voices. I have worked with such sounds since I first started to create my own electronic pieces. And the always changing arsenal of concrete sounds that I carry along when I improvise live in concerts has many similar qualities to the musical world of Rudnik. I thought this task could go well.
Maja S. K. Ratkje
http://www.boltrecords.pl/2,polish-radio/76,Maja_S_K_Ratkje_in_dialogue_with_Eugeniusz_Rudnik,pl.html
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| RATS WITH WINGS |
Aide-Memoire |
do-LP |
A collection of material taken from diverse CDR-releases from this die-hard experimentalism project from Australia. Always disturbing, always challenging, always low-fi & mysterious, always unsettling, strange & alien in an almost absurd way. You could compare it to MLEHST or LICHT-UNG maybe, speaking of the approach....electronic micro & macrosounds, crackles, hums, squakings, sounds from objects, field recordings, drones... do not try to understand or analyse this, just let it in. This is one of the not-understandable records that will be searched for in maybe 20 years. Or maybe not. We think its great stuff ! Import from Australia in a tiny edition, handmade cover with broken CD on it.
"double LP of material taken from CD-R releases: The Fish Rots From The Head (unreleased), Southern Oscillation Index (HoLR) CDR-RWW (MIR), Ratified Loopholes (AEN), Ashtray Cabbage (Fiend), Get And Put (Deadline), Out Vile Jelly! (Gold Soundz), Night Science and Underground Australia compilations (Cipher Productions). [package has a damaged CD glued to the cover]" [label info]
|
2006 |
€20.00 |
|
| RATTI, NICOLA & MARK TEMPLETON |
Resophonic |
LP + booklet |
Nicola Ratti began his musical career as guitar player. Lately his approach is more focused on beat-analog experimentation and sound installation. He is currently working with Giuseppe Ielasi, with whom he formed the project entitled Bellows, Attila Faravelli – as Faravelliratti – and ~Tilde, a trio with Enrico Malatesta and Attila Faravelli.
Resophonic is a work that ponders about the creation of a an illusion. The construction in the fieldwork of a soundscape augmented through the addition of sounds that do not belong to it, and that moves in two cities which have a different origin, size, and surfaces, just like unknown protagonists of souvenir postcards.
A trip to Edmonton and one to Milan, discovering, as we listen, that the difference lies in the sound-dust of whom inhabit them, in the emptiness of the respective places where our foreign sounds have served as a magnifying lens through which observe them.
The 13 issues series is a 16-page A4 magazine that includes 13 pages dedicated to graphic or photographic works strictly related to an audio counterpart that comes in the form of a 12″ record pressed on virgin white vinyl and housed in a transparent PVC sleeve.
|
2014 |
€15.00 |
|
| RAUMERKUNDUNG |
Flug 4-5-6 |
mCDR |
RAUMERKUNDUNG ist das langjährige Projekt von Lutz Pruditsch (TARKATAK, TRÜMMER), und Robert Steinberger (Labelboss von DISASTER AREA), bisher sind sie nur durch live-Auftritte aufgefallen. FLUG 4-5-6 verbindet analoge soft-Schwingungen mit untergründigen Drones, field recordings und wall of sound-Gitarrren zu einer dunkel-psychedelischen Irrfahrt..
“ raumerkundung is lutz "tarkatak" pruditsch (guitar, sampler, tapes, contact microphones) and robert steinberger (guitar, metal, radio, contact microphones). existing since 1990, the duo has only released one tape on the trümmer kassetten label and contributed to some compilation tapes. they have played live on many occasions with, amongst others, illusion of safety, stillupstyppa or kapotte muziek. this 3" is their first "digital" release. "raumerkundung is an offshoot project of tarkatak ambient-droners concerned with trying to materialize the radiance of a specific space or location, offering an aural environmental reading of it... they are essentially a live
exploring unit using two guitars and various effect devices, applying the spirit of art-installations... and as such, their recordings remain sparse till now... the three pieces of the this 3" start with a short soft fluid quasi dub phase that quickly gets disembodied to become a patch of fragile emanations, wall breathings, and air susurrations... like a cloud of glimmering particles... of a very volatile nature, the sounds expand and seem to reveal more along their inherent decaying process... filigree echoes, underlying organic interferences and undercurrents blend symbiotically leading us in a perceptual exchange with the outside, while we step in..." (chalkdc/mystery sea)
|
2003 |
€5.00 |
|
| RECHE, PABLO |
Paredes |
mCD-R |
Two pieces of very massive, otherworldy drones from this Argentinian artist. PAREDES means "walls" and these sounds appear indeed acoustic concrete blocks of energy. Recommended for lovers of monumental drones! Comes in nice little photo-cover design. |
2007 |
€7.00 |
|
| RECHENZENTRUM |
Schulterblatt |
7 |
“ Rechenzentrum's John Peel sessions- cd release was generally received as a very fine recording. The delicate interaction between sharp rhythmical elements and noises or fieldrecordings, makes their sound mysterious but still transparent. It consists of several layers, interacting on different levels of musicality, shifting between traditional obviousness to hard to define abstractness in sound. They succeed very well in bridging between the more accessible underground music and noise, to use a one-liner.
"Schulterblatt" continues in this approach but sounds in no such way as their previous works. It displays an atmosphere in which an almost contradictional use of digital clippings and warm, flowing record-samples, become one and interact. It allows even a reversed night-club singer to go hand in hand with today's plug-in army, speaking a language which is not demonic at all, on the contrary.”
Comes in the special Mixer-cover of this series..
|
2003 |
€7.00 |
|
| RED FAVORITE |
same |
LP |
"Jeremy Pisani recorded these 11 tracks between 1996 and 2003. As a resident of western Massachusetts, he shared stages with acts like Sunburned Hand of Man (=vaguely focused free folk), P.G.Six (acid folk, reviewed on next page), MV & EE Medicine Show (=avant music), Flaherty & Corsano duo (=avant music), Dredd Foole (=guitarist / s-sw, -havn’t hear him yet-) and Joshua (psych-folk) has maintained a curiously low profile.
The combinations of fingerpicking guitar meanderings with additional textures and some murmering voice (like on “First”) fits well with music like early Tower Recordings, Six Organs Of Admittance, Currituck Co., etc. Jeremy described his music well as “A soundtrack for dreams, chemical endeavours, human afflictions and distant memories”.
Acoustic guitar is the main instrument, often as acoustic guitar meanderings, with textures and fingerpicking improvisations, combined with some additional instruments like amplified guitar and banjo. On several tracks the guitar is combined with mellotron : on “Routine”, “Cistern”, “Wingshot”, and on the slightly loaded “Flight”. There are also touches of collages with other sounds (like with a distant phonograph on “Agrippa”). The production and mixing is well done and in a combination of songs the concept has been made optimal. I heard for instance an original use of changing the environmental echoes or tensions in the recordings on “Stormwatch”. “Pallid” has also a strangely mixed sound, which has some surreal effect, probably benifits from a less perfect recording. And “Flight” which has a somewhat dense tension is mixed as outro into the quieter acoustic fingerpicking solo. In between tracks with more tension are various very moody instrumental tracks like “Routine”, which has also flute and mellotron. A strange track is “Green Hill Beach” which starts with waves, then has guitar improvisations (amplified and acoustic), some voice whispers, and then evolves to more and more electro-acoustic and electric guitars echoes, to a point of saturation with effects, then calms down as if filtered again to amplified guitar meanderings only. In general I can say that those people who liked the experimental approaches from Six Organs of Admittance should check this artist too. But also fans of Joshua / P.G.Six might notice here a wonderful undiscovered talent.
The last hidden 12th track is a beautiful solo fingerpicking instrumental closer in Middle Eastern mode. A release which definitely deserves to be heard with an official publication." [Psychedelic Folk]
"Red Favorite, a cycle of compositions for guitars, electronics and voices created by Jeremy Pisani was first released as a limited edition CD on Spirit of Orr and is now offered, as it was originally conceived to appear, on an LP. He moved closer and looked through the peephole. And he saw: the world stretched out before him, a quiet and gentle space with a broad expanse of grass that practically glistened in its greenness. A sparkling brook ran through the meadow in the middle distance, and now he saw that the grass was dotted with the pale blue and soft yellow of many blooming flowers, which, half hidden in the grass, stared out at him like so many frightened eyes. On a distant hilltop stood a grove of small pink trees, covered and obscured by the astonishing pinkness of their blossoms. The world had a sense of freshness, as if it might only be minutes old -- washed clean by a careful springtime rain, dried and scrubbed by a solicitous breeze, burnished to its brightness by the rays of a gentle sun. It was an uncomplicated place, a very simple place. But what it had was quite enough; it had all it needed." [label notes] |
2008 |
€15.50 |
|
| RED PANDA |
Ferrimagnetic |
CD-R |
Guitar/Drone Ambient Noise, very spheric & monumental, low-fi and meditative. Think of ULTRASOUND, DUAL, STARS OF THE LID, etc... Definitely recommended !
“The music on this release has existed spread across about 12 cassette tapes for nearly ten years. Red Panda has been founded in order to document these recordings. The music was not written as "red panda", in fact it wasn't FOR anything. These are bedroom recordings from 1995 and 1996 done on a busted 4 track (3 track), a home stereo, and a 4 track (all 4 tracks actually worked).
One interesting side effect that happened is that the song "Cyanic Pull" could not be found on any of the cassettes, but was eventually located on a very scratched CDR. Nothing could be done to repair the song, so it has been left with skips and scratches intact. There are also moments throughout the record where the tape bleed is evidenced by backwards detuned voices, and radio static (a side effect of home stereo recording). In the end Ferrimagnetic is a late night record full of pastoral hiss and hum, and shimmering guitars. For fans of early Flying Saucer Attack, Azusa Plane, and Too Pure era Seefeel.” [label description]
|
2005 |
€7.00 |
|
| REED, RICK |
The Way Things go |
do-LP |
"Here, finally, is the gorgeous presentation that astronomy domine Rick Reeds music so richly deserves: Two black vinyl LPs, pressed on
180-gram virgin vinyl, with full-color labels, inside black poly-lined sleeves, housed in a matte-finish full-color gatefold jacket adorned
with Reeds vibrant and fantastically evocative paintings. Included with each copy of this set is a full-color download card featuring
access to high-quality MP3s of the complete contents of the vinyl records. This package has been issued in an edition of 515 copies.
- - - -
Welcome to an atmospheric realm of blurred synth drones, textural shortwave radio, and vivid sine waves. Welcome to the highly
individual sonic world of Rick Reed. For around 25 years now Reed has been toiling away, composing, performing, and fine-tuning his craft of very personal and powerful electronic meditation. And his expertise is plainly evident. His is incredibly engaging music with an almost physical presence. Reeds level of mastery is virtually unparalleled - it seems that no one else can combine these elements with quite the same finesse, with the same ear for arrangement, or with the same sense of purpose.
If Rick Reed is not yet a household name it is likely due to his relatively slim body of work. 'The Way Things Go,' then, is an attempt at resolving this issue, for here are 83 worthy minutes of top-shelf electronic tonalities. 'The Way Things Go' covers a span of eight
years of work, and yet the material flows very naturally from one piece to the next. Yes, the evolution of technique is on display here,
but Reed found his voice some years ago and his stylistic development has therefore been suitably subtle and deliberate. This is the work of a composer who is extraordinarily familiar with the sounds at his disposal and whose editorial skills are equally honed.
Massimo Ricci, inspired by one of the pieces in this set (Hidden Voices, has noted:
I can't stress enough the importance of composers like Reed, who thrive in semi-obscurity and without the praises given to people [worth] less than half their value, continuously finding alternative interpretations of the word 'emotion.'
The observation is astute and the idea of an emotional presence is crucial to understanding Reeds work. His music is sometimes noisy,
sometimes tranquil. Harsh frequencies give way to beautifully sustained tones. Jarring textures and lilting melodies are both to be
found in this sphere. Above all, though, Rick Reeds work is challenging. There is no easy classification for music of this complexity. The curious listener is best advised to investigate personally.
In addition to his solo work, Rick Reed has participated in a number of productive collaborations over the years with Keith Rowe, Jgrzinich (in Frequency Curtain), the Abrasion Ensemble, and SIRSIT, among others. Reed's music has previously been released by labels such as Ecstatic Peace, Beta-lactam Ring Records, and Elevator Bath. He currently resides in Austin." [label info]
www.elevatorbath.com
"Over the years Rick Reed has played with Keith Rowe, Jgrzinich (as Frequency Curtain), Abrasion Ensemble and Sirsit but also explored the world of drone music as a solo artist. Hard to say what he does to create his drone moves. One could easily think of a bunch of analogue synthesizers, or perhaps heavily treated field recordings. Maybe its all computer work? One look at the cover though and its revealed: moog and EMS synthesizers, sine wave generators, shortwave radio, found radio sounds and voices. The pieces on this double album are from anywhere between 2001 and 2010 - the title piece. Its both an excellent overview of his work and a very coherent body of work. One could easily argue that in those ten years Reed didn't progress at all, and that his approach to composing stayed rather the same. That's one way of looking at it. One could as easily argue that it all makes up for a very consistent approach that reveals a fine craftsmanship in creating dense electronic landscapes. In
those ten years Reed never released much work, so its hard to say that he is overproductive and that 'it is always the same'. I thought this was all excellent music, a fine cross road of musique concrete and electronic music.Taking the best out of cosmic music, drone and experiment and put that into all immersive music. Music that sucks you totally into in it, like a hot bath, especially when you play it loud. Very refined." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2011 |
€25.00 |
|
| REFORMED FACTION |
I am the Source of Light, I am not a Mirror |
3 x CD-box |
Das dritte Werk der ehemaligen 2/3 von ZOVIET FRANCE, die sich nicht mehr "REFORMED FACTION OF Z.F." nennen dürfen und nun kurzerhand als "REFORMED FACTION" weitermachen. SOLEILMOON hat sich wieder eine besondere Artwork / Verpackung ausgedacht: Eine schmucke Alu-dose mit Prägung, darin drei CDs, ein Button mit dem ans RAF-Logo angelehnten R.F.-Zeichen, ein Klamottensticker, Farbbooklet, und eine golden bedruckte Inlaykarte.
Auf den 3 CDs sind ganze 52 (!) Stücke verteilt, das wirkt manchmal wie ein hochkreatives, experimentelles Potpourri, eine Wundertüte aus Ideen, Fragmenten & Skizzen und ist wohl (wie auch früher bei ZOVIET FRANCE) in langen Sessions entstanden. Neben gesampelten Material jedweden Ursprungs & Synths kommen vielerlei Instrumente, auch Drums, Bass & Gitarre zum Einsatz, oft wird es rhythmisch oder loopig (manchmal tribal, dann wieder eher Electronica-lastig), orientale Anwandlungen (Sitar) sind vorhanden, die Fülle von Stilen & Genren, die hier berührt werden ist schlicht überwältigend, irgendwo im multidimensionalen Musikraum zwischen RAPOON, ZOVIET FRANCE und den chaotisch-rhythmischen Sachen von DOWNLOAD oder BEEHATCH. Wow.
"Reformed Faction are Robin Storey and Mark Spybey. Their new release “I Am The Source of Light, I Am Not a Mirror” follows their 2007 Soleilmoon release “The War Against”, and is their third album. Their debut release “Vota” was released in 2005 by Austrian label Klanggalerie. The band has played live in both North America and Europe. Reformed Faction did not set out to record a triple album, but that is exactly what they have done. Reformed Faction do not talk about making music. They make music. They assemble and record and use improvised material to stimulate the development of composed pieces. The music was assembled in the same way that the CD package was: through active collaboration. “What folks probably don’t realize is that we have always embraced technology. We use technology, we aren’t governed by it. We have to learn how to use equipment in our own way, which means that instruction manuals are never referred to. We make music. We try not to theorise, and we avoid interpretation or analysis of our music like the plague.” This is an homage of sorts, to the last 40 years of music making. Robin began as a guitarist, Mark as a drummer. Throughout their careers they have neither deliberately nor consciously eschewed the use of conventional instruments or traditional compositional techniques. They do not regard themselves as an “experimental” band, preferring to leave the laboratory safe in the hands of physicists and technicians. A long time ago :zoviet-france: declared that they could, if they wished, create the perfect pop record or the archetypal country record. Both Mark and Robin were profoundly influenced by the music of rock bands in the seventies while boldly assimilating ideas from world music in the belief that all musical sources exist to be appropriated. In the same way, over the years, they have embraced technology. This is “anti-restictivist” music. “We realized a long time ago that as soon as we left :zoviet-france: our cover was blown. We could no longer hide under the false mantle of anonymity.” For Reformed Faction, each album is an attempt to develop ideas. The three CDs that comprise “I Am the Source of Light, I am Not a Mirror” are collages, each intended to be listened to in their entirety. The contributions of various friends have been assimilated into the recordings. The East German band Scatology and the American band Not Breathing both contributed to the process. Tommy Grenas of the Los Angeles band Anubian Lights, who Mark met through Damo Suzuki, came to stay with the band and also joined in the recording sessions. The recordings took on a life of their own. Picture the backdrop: the rainy landscape of northern England, the collection of classic seventies albums from the likes of Faust and Can, and the band’s preoccupation with the cultural and political legacy left by the dissolution of the eastern block countries. Reformed Faction spent time in the city of Dresden, where they met the artist Ira Tannheuser, who supplied the images used in the booklet accompanying the CD. The finishing touches were generated by Shaya, an enterprising Afghan trader and fan of Reformed Faction who trekked through the fabled Thar desert in the Sind province of southern Pakistan, and there discovered a long-forgotten depository of hand made metal boxes that had been manufactured 30 years ago in the town of Mithi. They were initially made for storing detonators but had never been used. Shaya had them embossed with the Reformed Faction logo by a local metal worker and then shipped them half-way around the world to Soleilmoon and told us to do something with them. The boxes are still partially encrusted with the sand of the Thar desert. “I Am The Source of Light, I Am Not a Mirror” is released in two configurations. Both come with three CDs in screen printed slipcases, a 12 page full-color booklet featuring the work of East German artist Ira Tannheuser, a screen printed insert describing the edition, a metal badge and a sew-on cloth patch.The first edition is limited to 100 copies and is available exclusively via Soleilmoon’s mailorder service. Besides the aforementioned goodies it includes a 3 inch CDR with an unreleased track presented in a hand numbered screen printed slipcase. The box is made entirely of sand-cast aluminum, and features the Reformed Faction logo on the lid. The second edition, which comes with everything included in the first edition except for the 3 inch CDR, is limited to 300 copies and is presented in a box made from sand-cast aluminum sides attached to a sheet metal top and base. The lid is embossed with the Reformed Faction logo. We are Reformed Fraktion. We are from the North of England. We travel. With open eyes." [label info]
www.soleilmoon.com
|
2009 |
€44.00 |
|
|
The World Awake / 11 Stueck |
do-CD |
"The World Awake! / 11 Stueck is a new double album from Reformed Faction, the duo of Robin Storey and Mark Spybey. It follows the triple CD release for Soleilmoon, ‘I am the Source of Light I am not a Mirror,” in 2009.
Robin Storey was born in 1955 in Cumbria, England. He studied fine arts at Sunderland University and took classes in electronic and experimental composition, joining with friends to perform the works of Karlheinz Stockhausen (a key influence, as were the Krautrock bands of the early 1970s). In 1979 Storey formed the pioneering industrial group :zoviet*france:, remaining a member until 1992: The same year Storey issued the first Rapoon album, Dream Circle, its entrancing fusion of Indian ragas, African rhythms and experimental textures anticipating the evocative soundscapes of the many releases to follow. Also a noted visual artist and animator, Storey's work has been exhibited throughout the world and is in the collections of many major galleries.
Mark Spybey was born in North Yorkshire, England in 1961. He has always worked in mental health care. After a long time as a member of :zoviet*france: he moved to Canada and worked under the names Dead Voices on Air and Propeller. He collaborated widely, toured and was vocalist of the acclaimed band Download (ex-Skinny Puppy). He was also a member of Sofortkontakt!, led by the late Michael Karoli of Can, appearing at Can’s 30th anniversary shows. Spybey has worked with a variety of artists who inspired his music, including Damo Suzuki of Can, Faust, Michael Rother (Neu!, Harmonia and Kraftwerk), Dieter Moebius (Cluster and Harmonia), Genesis.P.Orridge (Throbbing Gristle/Psychic TV), James Plotkin, Martin Atkins, Mick Harris and The Legendary Pink Dots. He returned to the U.K in 2000. The World Awake! Was originally intended for a vinyl release and recorded from improvisations made on one day in November of 2009. 11 Stueck was compiled from improvisations made on December 1st 2009, with drummer Christian Alderson and bass player Oscar Ruiz Fernandez. The Austin Texas based musician Tony D’Oporto, aka Gnome, also appears on one track. The work references the writing of Henry Miller, in his aptly entitled essay, “With Edgar Varese in the Gobi Desert.” “The World Awake! Just to repeat that to yourself five times a day is enough to make an anarchist of you. How would you awaken the world – if you were a musician? With a sonata for rusty tin openers? Have you ever thought about it? Or would you rather remain asleep?” “We have been educated to such a fine – or dull – point that we are incapable of enjoying something new, something different, until we are first told what it’s all about. We don’t trust our five senses. We rely on our critics and educators, all of whom are failures in the realm of creation.” Varese said, “What should be avoided; tones of propaganda. As well as any journalistic speculation on timely events and doctrines. I want the epic impact of our epoch, stripped of it’s mannerisms and snobberisms…. Imagination is the last word.” This first edition of “The World Awake/11 Stueck” is presented in a high-quality screen printed perfumed sleeve with printed slipcases for each disc. It is limited to 444 copies." [label info]
|
2012 |
€20.00 |
|
| |
Years of Lightning, Day of Drums |
CD |
"Brand new album from two former :zoviet*france: members Robin Storey (Rapoon) and Mark Spybey (Dead Voices on Air). This is the fifth album of their joint project which has been formed in 2006 and now gathers more and more attention from the audience which it really deserves. Obviously the duo is on its best creative form today and this work proves it totally. Delicate improvisational loop/collage technic which became a face of :zoviet*france: of its golden mid-80s era is brought here to a new level of sonic wizardry making a perfect balance between great operational technical skills and living breathing musical canvas. An absolute masterpiece of experimental electronic sound art which is far from both formal approach of concrete music and total lack of structure typical to pure improvisationists. Very recommended not only to :zoviet*france: / Rapoon / Dvoa fans but for much wider circles of true music lovers! This edition is limited to 450 copies and comes in a full colour digisleeve with two inserts." [label info]
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| REIBEL, GUY |
Douze Inventions En Six Modes De Jeu |
LP |
"Format: LP (180gr, insert, download code, 500 items)
Release date: december 4th 2015
Guy Reibel is one of the most enigmatic figures in the post-war electronic music scene. He started out with a double qualification: he first became an engineer – due to the pressure of his parents – and then studied composition with Olivier Messiaen in Paris, the teacher of Karlheinz Stockhausen, Iannis Xenakis, Francois Bayle, to name just a few…
Pierre Schaeffer, the director of the GRM (Groupe de Recherches Musicales at Radio France), very soon offered him a position: he was not only responsible to edit and work out the famous Solfège-3LP-Box that was the practical part of Schaeffer’s theoretical manifest “Traité des objets musicaux”, he also codirected with Schaeffer the class for electroacoustic music at the National Music Conservatory.
During that period Guy Reibel worked intensively in the studios of the GRM. He did not only compose some milestones of electronic music, he also developed a very music-based theory of electronic music: he included his ideas of musical gesture and game theory already in the sixties long before anybody else discussed those issues.
His theories as well as his education as a musician with absolute hearing etc. soon brought him in conflict with other members of the GRM, who at that time more and more emphasized the media nature of electronic music. Guy Reibel – who was for long time considered to be Schaeffer’s successor as the director of the Group – lost the competition with Francois Bayle and in consequence not only quit the GRM but also electroacoustic music. He kept his composition class at the conservatory, toured the world as conductor of his newly founded Groupe Vocale de France (who realized the first complete recordings of Ligeti’s choir-work) and also took over a director’s position at Radio France. Meanwhile his electronic music almost disappeared. There were two or three LPs available on the early GRM series, later only one CD. Guy Reibel became in some ways the Trotzky of the GRM, who was removed from the acoustic photos of the group. Now, decades later, these struggles are over, and the GRM generously offered the possibility to use their studios for the digitalisation of the old tapes. So Guy Reibel and Reinhold Friedl could digitize his whole archive of his electronic pieces in late 2014.
This vinyl is one result: “12 Inventions …” is now being released for the very first time: a milestone in electronic music and a perfect example for Reibel’s musical austerity: very defined and limited musical material results in concentrated and dense forms. The unusually vital character of the music is also due to Reibel’s use of hybrid sound production: he very often combined amplitude envelopes of acoustic sounds and noises (especially and very often of polysteron) on synthetic electronic sounds.
A few of the “12 inventions” are even played at least partly live: TM+, the legendary first live-electronic French group, was founded in 1977 by three of Reibel’s students: Denis Defour, Lurent Cuniot and Yann Geslin. They were almost the first purely electronic group that also toured Europe extensively with their analogue synthesizers. A separate vinyl of this group is also up to be released on Karlrecords’ Perihel series soon!
But this LP documents how Guy Reibel succeeded to compose a music that combines the density and purity of electronic music with an unbelievable sound sensuousness. A real listening experience, here released for the very first time!
Reinhold Friedl
All music composed by Guy Reibel
Commissioned by ina-GRM, Groupe de Recherches Musicales, Radio France, 1979
Tracks 3, 6, 8, 11 played by TM+, Trio Instrumental Électroacoustique: Laurent Cuniot, Denis Dufour, Yann Geslin, recorded at Grand Auditorium, Maison de la Radio, Paris, May 7, 1979" [label info]
www.karlrecords.net |
2015 |
€18.50 |
|
| REICH, STEVE |
Four Organs / Phase Patterns |
LP |
"This classic minimal music album is now available again on vinyl for the first time since the 70s.
In recent decades Steve Reich's music has been presented internationally at major venues, performed by high-profile musicians including the Kronos Quartet, guitarist Pat Metheny, and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. But in 1970, when the music on this LP was recorded, Reich's audiences gathered in museums and art galleries to hear his work interpreted by the composer himself and a group of friends.
"I am interested in perceptible processes" Reich had written in 1968. "I want to be able to hear the processes happening throughout the sounding music.' Four Organs is a radical realisation of this goal. Against the steady rattle of maracas, individual tones within a single chord are gradually lengthened. No changes of pitch or timbre occur, and the drawn out nature of the process provoked outrage at some early performances, when audiences found themselves caught up in a decelerating loop, being dragged towards stasis. Phase Patterns, composed a month later, relies on a phasing technique developed during Reich's earlier experiments with magnetic tape recordings, which he allowed to drift out of sync. Identical figures initially in unison shift out of phase, generating unexpected patterns.
When these pieces first appeared, on the adventurous French record label Shandar, they were regarded as defining works within a musical movement that had developed during the late 1960s. Reich was seen as a pioneer of minimalism, along with La Monte Young, Terry Riley and Philip Glass, whose music also featured in the Shandar catalogue. With hindsight the term is inadequate and inappropriate when applied to much of Reich's subsequent oeuvre, which includes rich and varied works such as The Desert Music for voices and orchestra, Tehillim - a setting of Psalms, and his multimedia opera The Cave. But these two works from 1970 are purely minimalist, in a way that the visual artists and sculptors who formed Reich's early audiences would have recognised.
These pieces may have clear affinity with conceptual art as well as the minimalist aesthetic, but Reich's allegiance is to making music rather than sound art or acoustic research. Characteristically, after creating Four Organs Reich looked for antecedents in musical history, and found them in the medieval organa of Léonin and Pérotin. His subsequent work has found acceptance and a substantial following within the established institutions of composed music. He has become a major composer.
In the same year that these Four Organs and Phase Patterns were written Reich travelled to Ghana to study with a master drummer. On his return to New York he started work on Drumming, an hour-long distillation of his interest in African and Balinese music and their polyrhythmic processes. It forms an impressive culmination to his use of phasing technique and is widely acknowledged as a minimalist masterpiece. But if it is the radical edge of uncompromising hardcore minimalism that you are after, this reissue of Four Organs and Phase Patterns delivers two key examples.
"Obviously music should put all within listening range into a state of ecstasy" Steve Reich in 1969." [label info]
www.aguirrecords.com
"Two of our favorite pieces of all time from minimalist composer Reich, available again! Both pieces were recorded in 1970, one at the Guggenheim in NY and the other at the University Museum in Berkeley. This is electric organ overdrive! Four Organs not surprisingly is a piece played on four electric organs (with Reich playing one as well as his good friend Philip Glass...), while beneath the organs is the repetitious shaking of maracas. The short pulsations of the organ gradually stretch out, lasting longer and longer, creating a totally dynamic tension that evokes standing in a massive and grand church that's empty except for the mesmerizing sounds of the organs lulling you into some sort of a trance. Phase Patterns manages to increase the tension with the four players using identical organs and playing to a precise strategy that Reich has calculated. These pieces predate and predict so much of the minimalist electronic and experimental music to come over the next three decades." [Aquarius Rec.]
|
2016 |
€22.50 |
|
| REIDER, C. |
Some things I did when I lost my mind |
CD-R |
Der Titel ist durchaus ernstzunehmen: Ein sehr authentisches experimentell-atmosphärisches Album von C. REIDER aus Colorado, aufgenommen in einer depressiv-psychotischen Phase, wo sich die Wahrnehmung seiner Aussenwelt radikal veränderte... aus dieser Zeit stammen die hier dokumentierten Aufnahmen aus knarzigen Drones, fremdartigen Stimmensamples, ständig steigen störende Sound-Effekte an die Oberfläche, eine fremd-organische Bedrohung ist direkt spürbar in dieser Musik... ein surrealistisch-klaustrophobischer Trip !
“Towards the beginning of the year 2001 I was suffering in the depths of the longest, worst depression of my life. This depression had become indescribably severe, my life had completely crumbled. Things got so bad that what I'd now call 'reality' began to kinda slip. Severe depression with psychotic features, I guess you'd call it.
All that I clearly remember from that time is that I spent most of my time weeping fitfully. I was generally still aware of what was going on around me, I went to work, came home and ate and stuff... like normal, but things were not normal. Truthfully, I don't directly remember much of what happened or much of the effect of the sickness. In fact, with every passing day, some part of me tries to convince myself a little more that it didn't really happen, that I made the whole thing up for attention. maybe that's true.
I remember the psychotic effects secondarily, from the writings about it that I did at the time. I could not discern color. People were very difficult to make out with any of my senses, their shapes were blurry and garbled, into what I described in my writing as squiggly, echoing lines. My interpretation of speech was messed up as well. I was able to understand most of what was said to me, but the nature of the sound was different... I described the sound of speech in writing of the time as "murmers, buzzes and crackles."
I almost describe this here as though it were a "cool trip," but there was nothing fun about this experience. It was THE WORST time of my life. I cut myself a lot. I thought about driving into frozen-over Lake Estes -- I thought about that a lot.
I'm better now, I promise, I'm better.
For whatever reason, I decided then to spend my lonely evenings putting sounds together, I guess I fell back on something that had always given my pleasure as a kind of therapy... because conventional therapy had gotten me nowhere.
At the time, a romantic idea had occurred to me of making a whole cd of very plain, stripped-down drones, so I started making drones through my various methods.
In one of my famous digressions (I digress a lot), I also became very involved in making electronic buzzes and crackles, and so I ended up making a very strange sounding, noisy, yet ambient set of recordings.
It was probably the only good thing that happened to me while I was sick. I am proud of it, and a little afraid of it. Sometimes it makes me cry. These recordings represent what I thought sounded right while I was waiting out the bio-chemical storm. They are queezy, non-melodic drone-loops with glitching electronic buzzes, murmers and crackles at the foreground. very zoned-out, yet difficult experimental, electronic-abstract sound works intersecting noise and ambient. Unsettling atmospheres, surreal electronic crackle, flitting shadows of voices. A difficult suite of music from a disturbed state of mind." [C.Reider]
“A new collection of instrumental and experimental soundscrapes (yes, you read that correctly) from this Colorado-based writer/musician. 'Some Things I Did...' begins on a relatively harsh note and continues much in that fashion, carving out it's own language of dense, claustrophobic electronic passages and deeply mysterious textures. Distant rhythms and playful, almost innocent patterns emerge from the seeming chaos, only to be swallowed up by larger, more sinister demons (the kind that inhabit the farthest reaches of consciousness). This is the soundtrack to a perfectly surreal nightmare, where nothing is as it seems and walls evaporate into viscous plumes of toxic fumes. reider's ever-evolving walls of post-industrial sounds are abstracted and fogged, yet they never get tedious or monotonous. He has a keen ear for creating cinematic moods and hallucinogenic collisions of sound. Fine work here.“[Godsend-online]
|
2002 |
€8.00 |
|
| RENALDO & THE LOAF |
Gurdy Hurding |
CD |
"Possibly the thing in the world that you never expected to happen, but luckily you were wrong: Klanggalerie are proud to present you the brand new album by Renaldo & The Loaf. 30 years after "The Elbow is Taboo", Renaldo & Ted The Loaf have created another fabulous record. 13 songs in classic RATL style with an incredible cover by the wonderful Poxodd. All the RATL trademark sounds are there, but of course technology has not passed unnoticed, so there is a 2016 approach to the music, too. This is what the band say: "Olleh! Hard to believe almost 30 years have passed since Elbow Is Taboo but finally we have decided it’s about time for a brand new album. So... (surprise!).... Gurdy Hurding is soon to be released by Klanggalerie . With a wonderful cover design and artwork by Poxodd, the collection of 13 tracks is scheduled to be released on October 25th. Renaldo & Ted". British avantgarde at its purest by who was often called The English Residents. Track list: 1. Henri Rise 2. Pessimistoc Song 3. A Convivial Ode 4. Scent Of Turnip 5. The Moment Is Lost 6. Gurdy Hurding 7. Improbable Legs 8. Carrot Ballet 9. Asper Dorsalis 10. Djinn House 11. Gladsome Vane 12. Early Twirly 13. Optimism" [label info]
"The style of Renaldo and the Loaf is immediately recognizable, with goofy voices and exaggerated accents, bizarre lyrics involving topics like garden gnome bedmates or a hatred of soap, non-obvious chords and melodies, acoustic instruments played abnormally and extreme sound manipulation to make everything sound unnatural. On Gurdy Hurding, the duo’s original bizarre vigor is still strong, although there are some technological enhancements. (...) Gurdy Hurding is a true statement of the duo’s fun yet uneasy spirit with an emphasis on creating interesting sounds and a relentless devotion to manipulate each one until it’s sufficiently peculiar."
(The Pulse, November 2016)
|
2016 |
€14.50 |
|
| RENOU, CHRISTIAN |
Ex-Voto |
CD |
In den Liner-Notes zu EX-VOTO erklärt CHRISTIAN RENOU das Scheitern seines Anspruchs, mit Beendigung von BRUME alle narrativen & lyrischen Elemente hinter sich zu lassen und die reine "Struktur von Klang als Molekular-Zustand" zu erforschen (seitdem benutzt er Computer zur Sounderzeugung & Aufnahme). Alles Nachdenken und Philosophieren über Musik half ihm nicht, den "wahren" Kern zu finden, denn "Mikro"- und "Makro"-Struktur sind letztlich ein und dasselbe, selbst die abstrakteste Form von Klang erzeugt Narration sobald sie ertönt. Diese frustrierende Erkenntnis führt aber zu einer neuen Freiheit in der Komposition, letztlich ist all seine Musik einfach "Seelen-Musik" und nichts anderes.
Auf EX-VOTO geht RENOU neue Wege und benutzt geräuschhafte Feldaufnahmen aus einer Kirche (dort gespielte Violinenklänge & Gesang). Es gibt wunderbare melodische Parts und elektro-akustische Noise-Elemente, Wasser- und Strömungsklänge, irgendwo taucht pathetischer Frauengesang auf, Verfremdung und Re-Kontextualisierung setzt RENOU wieder in sagenhafter Art und Weise ein. So viele verschiedene Ebenen & Stimmungen hier sind zu erfahren , kurz: EX-VOTO ist ein beeindruckendes Werk mit mehreren Bedeutungs- & Erfahrungsebenen, für mehrmaliges Hören wie geschaffen..
Wie auch für viele der BRUME-Alben gilt: unsere wärmste Empfehlung !
"Ex-Voto - a votive offering to a saint or divinity. ‘I see words’. With ‘ex-voto’, Christian Renou has forsaken his analogue machines to encourage a fresh approach via digital technology. As Renou states in his liner notes – he cannot escape narrative structures in his music – his sounds are so evocative of soundtracks without an actual film – encouraging the listener to conjure their own accompanying images.
Yes, it is incredibly melodic, hauntingly so, though at times this is broken by shards of noise and implacable clicks. Midway through ‘ex-voto’, alien beats provide a base for further evocative outpourings of human vs. machine visions. The introduction of strings brings an elegiac quality to the composition. Renou, when creating this narrative, did not deny the ghosts of history in the name of progress…
The disintegration and contamination of a guitar motif appears alongside chopped rhythms and often indistinguishable words. These distant, half-remembered voices babble incoherent noise which battle against the sweet, sweet cracked melodies which pitter-patter and dance around your head. An underlying, delicate metallic whirring plays against a near indecipherable reverie, before the initial guitar melody rears its head for a final time. Layer upon layer of hubble, bubble, toil, but no trouble, ensures this body of work to be Renou’s masterpiece [Frans de Waard / Vital claimed that this more melodic route was something that he’d like to hear more of, whereas Barry G. Nichols / Whiteline blog / Spekk recording artist, extolled the virtues of Renou’s ‘genius’ with this recording] 'I see death'. The cd is packaged in the usual high standard expected of elsieandjack. spot varnish and silver ink over beautiful photography and simple layout, printed on thick cardstock - plus Renou’s liner notes printed on a vellum overlay.
Remember, there is a hand-numbered edition of 100 with laser-etched jewelcases only available direct from Christian Renou and elsieandjack." [label info]
www.elsieandjack.com
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| RENOU, CHRISTIAN & ANEMONE TUBE |
Transference |
CD |
"Die wahrscheinlich letzte VÖ des guten, aber leider nie wirklich bekannt gewordenden süddeutschen Experimentalprojekts ANEMONE TUBE, hier von CHRISTIAN RENOU vormals BRUME dekonstruiert & re-komponiert. Neben geräuschhaft-konkreten Stücken begeistern lange melancholische Drone-Stücke... kommt im Postercover mit neon-farbener Papierumhüllung." [old drone rec. info]
“ final recordings by anemone tube, reworked by mister brume christian renou. sonic deconstructions and dense soundscapes. a bit of noise is thrown in but, overall the atmospheric sound prevails. comes in special poster cover wrapped in transparent green envelope with graphs designed by stefan hanser.” [press release]
|
2003 |
€13.00 |
|
| RESIDENTS |
Meet the Residents |
CD |
"Re-Issue des Klassikers von THE RESIDENTS, der ursprünglich 1974 auf Ralph Records erschien. Der komplette, abgefahrene RESIDENTS Trip begann mit diesem Debüt! In den riesengroßen Sound-Fleischwolf wurden seinerzeit Versatzstücke von FRANK ZAPPA über CAPTAIN BEEFHEART und RAYMOND SCOTT bis zu SUN RA geworfen. Dieses Release ist der beste Ort, um die wilde und wundervolle Welt der RESIDENTS zum ersten Mal zu betreten. www.myspace.com/theresidents " [label info]
|
2011 |
€12.50 |
|
| |
Mole Box |
6 x CD BOX |
THE COMPLETE MOLE TRILOGY EXPANDED – THREE STUDIO ALBUMS, A LIVE ALBUM, PLUS PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED STUDIO MATERIAL AND A COMPLETE UNRELEASED LIVE RECORDING.
20 UNRELEASED TRACKS! ALMOST THREE HOURS OF PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED RESIDENTS MUSIC!
THE ENTIRE UNRELEASED AND LEGENDARY UNCLE SAM MOLE SHOW.
PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED 25 MINUTE INSTRUMENTAL MIX OF ‘MARK OF THE MOLE’
PREVIOUSLY UNHEARD LIVE-IN-THE-STUDIO RECORDINGS, INCLUDING THE CLASSIC 1976 SINGLE ‘SATISFACTION’
LIVE-IN-THE-STUDIO PERFORMANCES, DEMOS, UNISSUED TRACKS, REHEARSAL ROOM RECORDINGS, LIVE MATERIAL AND MORE – DEEP INSIGHT INTO THE SEMINAL TRILOGY!
Between 1981 and 1985 The Residents embarked on what would become the infamous, ultimately incomplete ‘Mole Trilogy’. Intended to tell the story of two colliding cultures – the Moles and the Chubs – via the mediums of narrative storytelling and recreations of the music of those societies, the project took the band into unchartered musical territory, into the concert halls of the USA and Europe for the first time and, legend has it, to the brink of collapse.
Produced with The Cryptic Corporation using archival tapes supplied by The Residents themselves, this set presents, for the first time, all known recordings related to the ‘Mole’ saga – namely the albums “Mark Of The Mole”, “The Tunes Of Two Cities” and “The Big Bubble”, as well as live recordings, unreleased material, rehearsal room recordings, alternate mixes, demos and a selection of recordings which may or may not comprise part of the legendary, unreleased Part Three of the trilogy.
A significant leap, both sonically and conceptually, from their 1970s work, the “Mole Trilogy” proves to be the link between the freewheeling, avant-garde leanings of The Residents’ early material and the concept-driven, electronically produced music they would explore in the latter half of the 1980s and beyond. Packed with almost three hours (by our count) of previously unreleased music, this set is a must- hear for fans of San Francisco’s most infamous and increasingly unfathomable quartet.
Remastered, expanded, and pREServed for future generations – this is the latest in a series of archival Residents reissues that will continue throughout 2019 and beyond. Look out for American Composers Series and God In 3 Persons sets coming soon!
DISC ONE:
MARK OF THE MOLE
1. VOICES OF THE AIR
2. THE ULTIMATE DISASTER
3. MIGRATION
4. ANOTHER LAND
5. THE NEW MACHINE
6. FINAL CONFRONTATION
BONUS MOLES
7. VOICES OF THE AIR (LIVE IN THE STUDIO) *
8. THE ULTIMATE DISASTER (LIVE IN THE STUDIO) *
9. MIGRATION (LIVE IN THE STUDIO)*
10. ANOTHER LAND (LIVE IN THE STUDIO) *
11. THE NEW MACHINE (LIVE IN THE STUDIO) *
12. FINAL CONFRONTATION (LIVE IN THE STUDIO) *
DISC TWO:
THE TUNES OF TWO CITIES
1. SERENADE FOR MISSY
2. A MAZE OF JIGSAWS
3. MOUSETRAP
4. GOD OF DARKNESS
5. SMACK YOUR LIPS (CLAP YOUR TEETH)
6. PRAISE FOR THE CURSE
7. THE SECRET SEED
8. SMOKEBEAMS
9. MOURNING THE UNDEAD
10.SONG OF THE WILD
11.THE EVIL DISPOSER
12.HAPPY HOME
BONUS TUNES
13.OPEN UP
14.ANVIL FOREST
15.SCENT OF MINT
16.SMACK YOUR LIPS (1982 REHEARSAL)
17.SONG OF THE WILD (1982 REHEARSAL)
18.HAPPY HOME (1982 REHEARSAL)
19.GOD OF DARKNESS (LIVE IN THE STUDIO) *
20.SMACK YOUR LIPS (LIVE IN THE STUDIO) *
21.THE SECRET SEED (LIVE IN THE STUDIO) *
22.HAPPY HOME (LIVE IN THE STUDIO) *
DISC THREE:
THE BIG BUBBLE
1. SORRY
2. HOP A LITTLE
3. GO WHERE YA WANNA GO
4. GOTTA GOTTA GET
5. CRY FOR THE FIRE
6. DIE-STAY-GO
7. VINEGAR
8. FIREFLY
9. THE BIG BUBBLE
10. FEAR FOR THE FUTURE
11. KULA BOCCA SAYS SO BONUS BUBBLES
12. JINGLE BELL
13. UNTITLED *
14. KULA BOCCA (2-TRACK DEMO) *
15. DIE-STAY-GO (2-TRACK DEMO) *
16. CRY FOR THE FIRE SKETCH *
17. THE BIG BUBBLE (LIVE, 1986)
18. HOP A LITTLE (LIVE, 1986)
19. CRY FOR THE FIRE (LIVE ON NORGE TV NRK) *
20. DIE-STAY-GO (LIVE IN SAN FRANCISCO, 2011)
DISC FOUR:
THE MOLE SHOW LIVE AT THE ROXY
1. VOICES OF THE AIR
2. THE SECRET SEED
3. “WELCOME…”
4. THE ULTIMATE DISASTER
5. “RATHER FLASHY…”
6. GOD OF DARKNESS
7. “MOLE STYLE…”
8. MIGRATION
9. ANOTHER LAND
10. “THAT’S ALL WE NEED…”
11. THE NEW MACHINE
12. “A REAL COMPLICATED ENDING…”
13. THE SONG OF THE WILD
14. FINAL CONFRONTATION
15. “WE HAD TO BORROW MONEY FROM OUR PARENTS…”
16. SATISFACTION
17. HAPPY HOME
DISC FIVE:
THE UNCLE SAM MOLE SHOW – LIVE IN WASHINGTON, DC
ENTIRE RECORDING PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED
1. VOICES OF THE AIR
2. THE SECRET SEED
3. “GOOD EVENING…”
4. THE ULTIMATE DISASTER
5. “THOSE WERE FOUR SONGS…”
6. GOD OF DARKNESS
7. “MORE RELIGION…”
8. MIGRATION
9. SHORTY’S LAMENT (INTERMISSION)
10. SMACK YOUR LIPS
11. “WE’RE IN CHUB LAND…”
12. ANOTHER LAND
13. “THINGS ARE GOING FAIRLY WELL…”
14. THE NEW MACHINE
15. “A GIORGIO MORODER SCENE…”
16. THE SONG OF THE WILD
17. THE FINAL CONFRONTATION
18. THE SINGING RESIDENT NEEDS SOMETHING
19. SATISFACTION
20. HAPPY HOMEA
21. THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER
DISC SIX:
MISCELLANEOUS MOLE MATERIALS
1. MOTM MIX ONE CONCENTRATE *
2. LIGHTS OUT (PRELUDE)
3. SHORTY’S LAMENT
4. THE MOLES ARE COMING
5. WOULD WE BE ALIVE?
6. THE NEW HYMN
7. ANOTHER ANOTHER LAND *
8. NOW IT IS TOO LATE *
9. GOING NOWHERE *
10. FROM MOM1 *
11. SATISFACTION (LIVE IN THE STUDIO) *
12. MARCHING TO THE WE
13. WOULD WE BE ALIVE (LIVE 2005)
14. MARCHING TO THE SEA/INTERMISSION (LIVE 2013)
https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/the-residents-mole-box-the-complete-mole-trilogy-preserved/
|
2019 |
€45.00 |
|
| RESIDUAL |
Forcing the End |
mCD box |
Satatuhatta is happy to present second release of Residual, nearly 1,5 years after the brilliant debut tape. During this time the sound have matured further with more attention to nuance. This 3"CD is bursting of energy and is filled with highest caliber of electrifying junk driven harsh noise.
3" CD comes in a metal can with insert and silk screen printed cloth patch.
https://satatuhatta.bandcamp.com/album/forcing-the-end
|
2023 |
€11.50 |
|
| REUTOFF |
Regno Di Pianta |
CD |
CD-Wiederveröffentlichung der ersten REUTOFF CDR von 1999!
"Endlich, die erste CD-Veröffentlichung des russischen Trios, nach der 7" auf Drone (DR-46)!
REUTOFF could be seen as one of the followers of a "real" industrial-approach, aesthetically and soundwise, but without just copying any of the old classics. As with previous cassette-only albums, this is a surprise again, as they move mostly in ambient industrial fields (dark synths, speech-samples, chorals, sound-effects), but sometimes they break in with very experimental or noisy rhythmical tracks, to cover the whole spectrum of industrial as we knew it. The overall atmosphere is again dark & gloomy, sometimes even melancholic and yearnful. 10 tracks, for industrial-lovers something to discover!" [Drone info 1999]
|
2004 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Deprivatio |
CD |
Ganze fünf Jahre nach "Gute Nacht, Berlin" endlich das neue Album der Moskauer Ambient Industrial / Elektronik Band, die es wie wenig andere verstehen eine wirklich hoffnungslose Atmosphäre zwischen Misantrophie und trister Melancholie aufzubauen...
"... Reutov ist eine von Moskaus kleinen Satellitenstädten, die haupt-sächlich aus Industrieanlagen besteht. Ihr wird von den Band-mitgliedern, die alle in der Nähe leben, eine ganz besondere Atmosphäre zugeschrieben, die man beim Hören der Musik als trübe Industriemelancholie zwischen Zerfall und Science Fiction begreifen könnte; eine Stimmung, wie sie in Deutschland manche alte Häfen oder Güterbahnhöfe ausstrahlen. Ein Faible für den Klang der deutschen Sprache, das sich auch in vielen deutschen Songtiteln ausdrückt, hat aus dem 'v' am Ende der Stadt das doppelte 'f' für den Bandnamen werden lassen.
Wie immer ist auch dieses REUTOFF-Album eine Antwort auf die Frage, wozu eigentlich Dark Ambient erfunden wurde. Die fantastisch-düstere Stimmung erwächst stets aus der Musik der Russen selbst, und nicht – wie bei vielen Genrekollegen – aus den großen Worten, die begleitend zur Musik gemacht werden. Aber – endlich eine Veränderung – "Deprivatio" ist nicht mehr so durchweg archaisch wie noch die ersten Arbeiten, es ist ebenfalls nicht mehr so homogen industriell wie die beiden letzten Alben "Unseen Rituals" (2002) und "Gute Nacht, Berlin!" (2003). Die neue CD ist die bislang dynamischste, abwechslungsreichste, aufregendste und futuristischste Veröffentlichung von REUTOFF.
Hypnotisch ist der Beginn. Zum Dauerloop eines Kindersummens gibt eine rauchige, weibliche Sprechstimme auf Englisch Anweisungen, was zu tun ist: "Stellen Sie Sich vor, Sie sitzen in einem riesigen Theater mit schwarzen Sitzen und können nur eine einzige Sache sehen..." So düster und geheimnisvoll die ersten Sounds, so beruhigend sind die Worte. Später passt sich die Musik an und entspannt sich Richtung Downbeat, garniert mit verhuschten Männerstimmen und noisigen Geräuschen. Der Opener bereitet die futuristische Atmosphäre, die das ganze Album durchzieht. Noch häufiger im Verlauf der knapp 73 Minuten kommt sich der Hörer vor, als würde er durch einen von STANISLAW LEM entworfenen Park lebender Maschinen wandern. Auch das intelligente Songwriting – wenn man bei einem zehnminütigen Dark Ambient-Track davon überhaupt sprechen kann – offenbart sich gleich zu Beginn. Überraschungen wie eine eingeflochtene und beinahe folkige Akustikgitarre sowie versteckte und vertrackte Melodien und Rhythmen machen aus einem langen auch einen sehr abwechslungs-reichen Soundteppich. Es folgt ein eher klassisches Dark Ambient/Noise-Stück, dessen Drones in Verwandtschaft zu SAL SOLARIS gleißen und schimmern wie Sonnen im Weltall. Großes Kino, im wahrsten Sinn des Wortes, denn REUTOFF-Alben werden immer gerne mit der Stimmung von Filmmusiken oder Filmen – unter anderem "Stalker" von TARKOWSKIJ – verglichen. Und selten traf dieser Vergleich so zu wie bei "Deprivatio", auch bedingt durch die technisch hervorragende, satte Produktion.
"American Whores" geht dann wieder einen gänzlich anderen Weg. Die Collage bringt zu einem Bass, der auch MASSIVE ATTACK oder MOBY alle Ehre machen würde, ganz unterschiedliche Samples zusammen. Musik der 1920er-Jahre, fast eine Minute lang solo. Dazu verdichten sich die Trainerin eines Fitnesskurses und ein Kirchenprediger mit Chor – in Kombination mit dem Namen des Songs – zu einer infernalischen Amerikakritik. Nie wirken solche Samples belanglos, sie unterstützen bei REUTOFF immer die Atmosphäre des Tracks.
Auch der einzige deutsch betitelte Song, "In Die Leere Gehen", ist eines der Highlights: Hier ein strahlendes Universum mit synthetischen Engelschören, dort düstere Gewittercluster, die glauben machen, dass sich die Hölle öffnet – fehlt nur noch ein Sample von Luzifer persönlich. "Sun Of Sleepless" ist mit seinen knallenden und knirschenden Beats eine weitere Empfehlung für die Macher des nächsten Endzeit-Streifens; mit laut wehenden Fahnen geht die Welt unter. Und zum Abspann verglüht "25-th Hour" wie die letzte Moll-Hoffnung eines im futuristischen Kerker eingesperrten VANGELIS. Für so viele Höhepunkte übersieht man gerne die wenigen schwächeren Momente, etwa die Mischung aus Ethno und Dark Ambient mit piepsigen Loops menschlicher Geräusche ("Nemesis").
Alles an "Deprivatio" atmet russische "Metropolis"-Atmosphäre. Das Individuum zwischen Experiment, größenwahnsinniger Industrie, Verlassenheit und Zerfall. Damit ist die neue REUTOFF-Veröffentlichung längst nicht mehr nur ein Stimmungsbericht aus Reutov, sondern ein Abbild des neuen, modernen Russlands. Genreuntypische Experimente, die gekonnte Verknüpfung diverser Samples und Abwechslung in Tempo und Klangbild sorgen dafür, dass "Deprivatio" eines der besten und ausdrucksstärksten Dark Ambient-Alben der vergangenen Jahre ist. Es macht außerdem sehr neugierig auf die angekündigten Kollaborationen im Herbst." [Michael We. für nonpop.de]
"Finally, since five years after their 2003 “Gute Nacht Berlin” on Albin Julius HauRuck!, here is the long-awaited full-length solo CD from this most well-known Russian industrial project worldwide. “Deprivatio” is a sad story of a person surrender to the enemy environment, it’s about idle struggle with time and fatigue, about constant withering of passions and imminent vitality deprivation. Being maybe the most hopeless and sad work for the band, this album is paradoxically their most rhythmic and dynamic. There are more noisy drum loops and electro sounds here than martial drum patterns and old school noise, but their unique deep and profound melodic main themes are still remain as the basement for the brilliant new tracks of despair and downfall. The ascetic b&w artwork was done by Murad Ibatullin known for the recent “Iznutri” compilation. The release comes as a jewel box with 6 panel booklet, the first 100 copies come with 33x21 two sided poster." [label info]
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
No One's Lullabies |
CD |
"No One's Lullabies" is the 9th album by Reutoff, one of the best-known Russian projects on the international post-industrial scene. Over the course of one hour they will be performing their "lullabies" which won't let you sleep though... The whole panopticon of borderline mental states will unfold before the eyes of our attention. Every track is a masterfully performed decadent dance of emotions and feelings. Steady industrial rhythms, an unhasting but assertive semi-drunk waltz, circus-like grotesque with wicked medieval shades, comatose jazz swinging in dark tones and epic electronic doom that could also fit well in the repertoire of their brother-project Otzepenevshiye - all imbued with remarkable spirit and slightly inflamed imagination.
The material entitled "No One's Lullabies" was initially produced as a cassette mini-album by the German label Sea State in 2014 in a small edition of 80 copies in unconventional handmade packaging. The extended version with four additional compositions was put out by Reutoff on their bandcamp page as a web-release. Now we're glad to present the CD version of the album for the happy owners of CD-players and optical drives! The CD-edition contains an exclusive bonus track with a live version of one of Reutoff's rare compositions. The disc is packed in a matte 4-panel cardboard digisleeve, artwork features paintings by Fabrice Billard, the chef of Divine Comedy Records.
http://zhb.radionoise.ru/
"If someone were to ask me, which post-industrial artist gives you the biggest pleasure when you listen to their music, I would never mention Reutoff. If somebody else were to ask me which project is in my opinion the most daring in its experiments or simply the most innovative in the scene, Reutoff wouldn’t be my pick either. But if you were to ask me about the musician who combines experimental with so-called “catchiness” the most effectively, well, I’d have to think about mentioning this Russian duo.
They’ve been active for about 18 years, releasing a variety of materials, also in collaboration with other artists in their famous Kreuzung series: a collection of names such as Deutsch Nepal, Troum or Der Blutharsch. “No One’s Lullabies” was originally released on tape, thanks to the Sea State label from Leipzig. Zhelezobeton gives us an extended edition on CD, with five additional tracks and a cover image painted by Fabrice Billard, the owner of the Divine Comedy label.
For many years Reutoff’s line of work and constructing additional sound structures has more or less been the same. They take a nicely crafted industrial background, a mid-tempo rhythm theme, often looped and encrusted with other trinkets and little diamonds, so that most of the tracks possess a slowly yet nicely building tension that leads to a culmination, abundant in sounds and atmospheres. Not all of the tracks though: Reutoff is not a project that always chooses the easy and proven ways – check this splendid dark ambient of a non-obvious feeling in “Nameless Tune With No Fate”.
This is also one of Reutoff’s huge advantages. That you can’t describe their atmosphere in one or two words. You need to build the whole story in your mind, different for each track. It may be dystopian sci-fi straight from Orwell or Bradbury novels; a dark yet epic, sometimes even strangely romantic story, similar to, say, “Blade Runner”. After all, titles like “New World Disorder” or “Requiem for Android” cannot be a coincidence. On the other hand in some track you may notice a somehow optimistic… no, not a good word – a note that breathes with hope. Saying that not everything is lost, that there are still new and mysterious worlds to explore even though our planet is lost.
I feel this modern sci-fi element is pretty solid in Reutoff’s works, which is even more interesting considering the fact that when it comes to technical matters a strong analogue vibe emanates over the whole of “No One’s Lullabies”. This is specific for many post-industrial artists coming from Russia, that while they’re faithful to classic samplers and synths, they’re able to achieve such a fresh effect. Reutoff, Cyclotimia, Sal Solaris, some Cisfinitum efforts. This offering is no different, and once again provides us with a certificate of the uniqueness of the Russian post-industrial scene." [Stark/Santa Sangre mag]
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| REUTOFF & DEUTSCH NEPAL |
Eating the Dust |
CD |
"The Bubblegum Industrial Revolution continues at Entartete Musikk with a co-operational album featuring the legendary Reutoff and Deutsch Nepal. The music have been under construction for 10 years so expect a real longtime refined product with a taste of methanol. The sound spectrum spans from Electronic Orgone Accumulation in the deep underworld, over softly cuddeling ambientpieces to Apocalyptic Rythmic Wardance ... million of years passing and the crowd is crying blood. White horses playing ping-pong with their golden feces...? Cosmic Metall of Alcohology twisting arms and legs round vibrating Monolits of sound... Who dares
to torture the three lipped man?
Reutoff feat. Deutsch Nepal - Eating the Dust is a bombastic expedition through rottening minds and haunted places. A marriage between beasts producing their bad seeds and poisoning our souls ...have a taste of it! Wo Wa, Arnold pR and Lina Baby Doll smashing their heads together to get their orgone accumulator started and when happening there's no return, your life will
feel like a waste of time. C'mon bring in the Night!"
released March 23, 2018
Music by Reutoff
Lyrics and vocals by Lina Baby Doll
Produced by Reutoff and Deutsch Nepal
deutschnepal.bandcamp.com/album/eating-the-dust |
2018 |
€13.00 |
|
| REYNOLDS, ROGER |
Process and Passion |
do-CD |
From the liner notes: "...the serpent-snapping eye (1978) was composed for trumpet, percussion, piano and 4-channel tape. The work is twenty minutes long, divided into three roughly equal sections. In the first, the primary aim of the performers is to match, submit to and intensify the taped sounds. The second, in which the synthesized sounds are sparse, introduces a felling of independence as the performers respond, reflecting on models provided by the tape. In the final section, the live performers complement and elaborate upon -- they attempt to augment -- the synthesized sound. Ping and Traces were composed to complement one another. Ping represents a continuing interest in theater and intermedia running through Reynolds' compositions since The Emperor of Ice Cream (1961-62). In live performance the three strands of events occur simultaneously but are not synchronized. As a recorded performance, Ping is a self-sustained composition of instrumental improvisation over taped and electronic music. Traces was written for the composer-pianist Yuji Takahashi. Scored for solo piano, with flute, cello, ring modulator, signal generator, and 6 independent channels of taped sound, this work is concerned not only with events but their residues (traces)." |
2004 |
€14.00 |
|
| RHEIN_STROM (SIEFERT & RIEK) |
Von der Rheinquelle bis Hafen Karlsruhe |
CD |
How can we as humans in this day and age foster a relationship with the Rhine River, without lapsing back into modes of romanticism, when witnessing its remaining beauty in some rare places; without turning away in frustration and disillusionment, when confronted with the irreparable interventions it has undergone?
What is disclosed if we shift the focus from the dominant sense of vision to hearing?
Would you recognize the Rhine by its sound?
What other senses are helpful here?
Do I have enough senses at my command to answer this question?
Do I have to and can I develop further senses?
With these questions as a starting point Thomas M. Siefert and Lasse-Marc Riek have approached the Rhine acoustically and visually on various locations and seasons during the last seven years. This resulted in the close examination of the ambient sound, the soundscape and the “sound entity” of the Rhine.
The “Rhine-soundscape” does not only sound like flowing, gurgling or slowly bobbing water. The soundscape also includes animals and humans who live by the river, who move and rest there.
In addition to the sound of the present, also the sound of the past was sought out: a listening back to what has remained; a listening forward to what could come.
Siefert’s and Riek’s formal approach to the soundscapes demands from the artist to step back behind the recording. In the foreground of their artistic practice stands the unprocessed sound- and visual-recording of a specific situation.
Tracklist:
01 vorderrheinquelle (region)
02 rhein bei tschamut
03 rheinschlucht nähe versamer tobel
04 kanalrhein bei balzers
05 rheinbrech bodensee
06 stein am rhein
07 rheinfall bei schaffhausen
08 basel hafen (nähe wiesemündung)
09 petit camarque d´alsace
10 staustufe ottmarsheim
11 restrhein bei fessenheim
12 staustufe und schleusenanlage fessenheim
13 staustufe marckolsheim
14 ile de rhinau
15 staustufe rhinau
16 fähre kappel – rhinau
17 kanufahrt im naturschutzgebiet taubergiessen
18 ile de langgrund
19 staustufe strasbourg
20 staustufe gambsheim
21 karlsruhe hafen
21 Tracks (73′25″)
CD (500 copies)
www.gruenrekorder.de
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
| RHUCLE |
Beautiful Fragments |
mCD-R |
active for a couple of years only, tokyo-based rhucle has already an impressive body of work, mostly cassettes but also some cd-r's on labels such as white paddy mountain, assembly field or still*sleep. his tracks usually mix field recordings and long synthetic drones for a highly emotional result...
taalem.bandcamp.com/album/beautiful-fragments-alm-119
"And finally there is music by Rhucle, also from Japan, apparently Taalem’s heartland for this kind of
music. Here too I am introduced to his music, even when he had releases before on White Paddy
Mountain, Assembly Field and Still*Sleep. For his music he uses field recordings mixed with long
sustaining electronic washes of sound, or vice versa. Perhaps. I have no idea what comes first for him.
He plays here three long pieces with an average length of seven minutes. All three pieces are gentle
streams of sound. A guitar? Who knows? Maybe it is a guitar, sound effects, but for all I know an organ
and sound effects, or heavily processed field recordings being cooked up with some that are still fresh
and which simmer through the gentle flow of drones. This is quite easy listening, perhaps the easiest
of these four excursions into the world of ambient music." (FdW) |
2018 |
€5.00 |
|
| RICHTER, MAX |
The Blue Notebooks |
CD |
"Following releases by Set Fire To Flames and Sylvain Chauveau, Max Richter’s ‘The Blue Notebooks’ was the fourth release on FatCat’s 130701 imprint, established as an outlet for more more orchestrated, instrumental material.
Richter is a British-based, German-born pianist and composer. Following 2002’s highly-acclaimed ‘Memoryhouse’ - performed by the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and released on the BBC’s classical label, Late Junction - ‘The Blue Notebooks’ is his second solo album, a distinctive and adventurous work that is beautifully recorded and cinematic in scope.
Opening with a text from Franz Kafka over a sparse piano melody, the album moves through gorgeous, heart-wrenching string swells of ‘On The Nature Of Daylight’ (which quotes a tune from ‘Memoryhouse’); through to sparse but lyrical piano pieces; hazy, swirling atmospherics, avalanche pulse-beats and partially occluded melodies that recall Aphex twin’s ‘Ambient Works’ albums; and to reverberant organ / choir recordings.
Utilising piano, cello, violin and viola, alongside electronic beats (made using a variety of antique electronics and Reaktor), spoken word passages and the occasional field recording, other sounds were generated via old guitar pedals and vocoders. The organ music was made for a chapel near Tourtres in South-West France, whilst the environmental sounds are mainly recorded around London. The tone of the album is generally domnbeat – a series of bittersweet articulations that seem suspended somewhere between a certain dreamy sense of wonder / awe and a heavy melancholia.
Peppered across Richter’s music like diary entries (and backed with attendant typewriter clatter) are a number of literary texts or ‘shadow journals’ (lifted from Kafka’s ‘the Blue Octavo notebooks’, and from Polish author Czseslaw Milosz’s ‘Hymn Of The Pearl’ and ‘Unattainable Earth’). Apparently chosen by Richter on instinct, they were recorded by acclaimed British actress, Tilda Swinton, who has starred in films including ‘Adaption’, ‘Orlando’, ‘The Garden’, and ‘The Beach’. These brief passages muse over time, memory, and the impermanent nature of things.
With Richter playing piano, the other featured players here are his regular collaborators, Louisa Fuller (violin), Natalia Bonner (violin), John Metcalfe (viola), Philip Sheppard (cello), and Chris Worsey (cello).
Born in 1966, Max Richter trained in composition and piano at Edinburgh University, at the Royal Academy of Music, and with with Luciano Berio in Florence. The Richter family moved to the UK from Germany when Max was a young child, leaving the wider part of his family distributed around Germany. This sense of a lack of roots had an effect on his musical formation - “I have always had a sense of belonging, in some way, to the middle of Europe but not specifically to any one place…” he explains.
On completing his studies, Richter co-founded the immensely successful contemporary classical ensemble Piano Circus, where he stayed for ten years, commissioning and performing works by Arvo Pärt, Brian Eno, Philip Glass, Julia Wolfe and Steve Reich. Richter was also pro-active in developing the group’s use of live sampling.
“I have always listened to a broad range of music. In my early teens I was listening to a lot of classical standard repertoire as well as 20th century work. During this time I also built and customised a number of analogue electronic instruments and was immersed in the early electronic music scene.” In 1996 he worked closely with The Future Sound of London on their release ‘Dead Cities’. Initially involved as a pianist, he ended up co-writing a track (which they subsequently titled ‘Max’).
Following this, Richter collaborated with FSOL over a two-year period on the album ‘The Isness’, with his input ranging from programming or piano playing to arranging, mixing, co-producing and co-writing various tracks. Max’s orchestrations have also graced ‘In The Møde’ by drum’n’bass pioneer Roni Size." [label info]
www.fat-cat.co.uk |
2004 |
€15.00 |
|
| RIEK, LASSE-MARC |
Harbour |
CD |
" 'From Spring 1999 to Spring 2007 I made location recordings of microsounds from Harbours in Germany and Finland. A lot of various gangways, tunnels, bridges, ships, boats, ferries, floating docks and coastal birds are making abstract sounds. They where modulated from wind, water and machines. This field reseach was listening to the self-composition in the area 'harbour'.' [Lasse-Marc Riek]
Unprocessed Field Recordings 1999-2007, Germany and Finland. Audio CD, 6 panels digipak. Linenote: 'Imagine an incredibly large hall. Its walls are brick built and covered with some sort on lichen. Many of its stone have already started to crumble. The huge space might have witnessed a cotton mill. Anyway, the former industrial site has disappeared. Instead of an majestic void an empty space like this would usually create storage racks have been put into the hall almost touching the cover. Besides, every inch of the solid steel shelves is occupied by folders. Thick like those files from the law series. Compact as they wait on their shelves all of them are closed in storeys high as an apartment block. Impossible to look inside of them, though every single sheet of paper must be covered with signs and letters, symbols and tables from either side. Billions and billions of pages and of characters. What will you hear when you walk the aisles between the storage racks? Between the steel racks, bricks, folders, pages and a cover that lies so high above that it is impossible to figure out what it is made of. Will you hear how the bricks go on crumbling when time passes by? Would the steel groan under its heavy burden and when the draughty air sucked the humidity from the documents? Could you listen to what is inside the folders themselves? Their history, their sad and funny stories, the undoubted truth in and by them? Now, what do you hear when you walk on a dock?' [Stefan Militzer] " [label info]
"Somewhere between 1999 and 2007 Lasse-Marc Riek recorded sounds in harbors: Finland's Bjorkoby and Ostero and in Germany in Wismar and Hamburg. Presented here as seven individual pieces of sound. Unprocessed field recordings. Thirty-two minutes in total. As much as I dislike sailing, I like the sound of harbors, the smell of the sea, the wind. With today's summer rain and wind I could close my eyes and imagine to be in a harbour - at least for thirty two minutes. Riek, also the owner of the Gruenrekorder label, recorded some excellent sounds in these various harbors. Rusty metal, moved by the irregularities of the sea, seagulls, and objects moved by water (like rubber objects, tires or some such) and curiously also a steam engine. Each piece is kept short and to the point, a precise edit out of a larger reality. Almost song like in structure. If pure, unprocessed field recordings are your cup of tea, then this release by Lasse-Marc Riek is an excellent example of what it is. If you are new to the genre, this is a great way to step inside." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
www.herbalinternational.tk
|
2010 |
€14.00 |
|
| RIEMAN, ERIC GLICK / LESLI DALABA / STUART DEMPSTER |
Lung Tree |
CD |
ERIC GLICK RIEMAN: Piano & Synthesizer, LESLI DALABA: Trompete, STUART DEMPSTER: Trombone, Didjeridoo, etc..
9 Stücke fein gesponnene Instrumental- & Geräusch-Improvisationen, eher zurückhaltend und mit Gespür für Mikro-Details, manchmal fast meditativ...
“This is one of those recordings that arrived unannounced in the mail. I knew Lesli Dalaba, of course, but the others were new to me. The project is Eric Glick Rieman's and I found it immediately intriguing. There seemed to be something quite subtle going on; minimal, microtonal, economical and eccentric; it plays subtly with timbre, pitch and structure and never quite does what you expect. At first blush it seemed as it would be another interesting but conventional improvising trio, but after a few minutes the organising intelligence, and the clear compositional discipline became clear. And after this, throughout the CD, it sticks to the point. This is a deep investigation of a very few simple principles. Acoustic instruments rub ambiguously up against electrified objects and electronics, but these in the main provide atmosphere and harmonic complexity, never overpowering the mingling air-columns on which the wave of this CD floats. Attachments, modifiers, objects all make an appearance, but the topic is the small, the tenuous - and the tenacious - above all, breath.” [ReR]
|
2006 |
€14.00 |
|
| RIMBAUD, ROBIN |
The Garden is full of Metal - Homage to DEREK JARMAN |
CD |
Robin Rimbaud was both a friend and collaborator over the years and this CD is his tribute to an important figure in both his life and others'. Using recordings of Jarman's voice as well as location recordings around his home, he creates a graceful and delicate sculpture in sound. This is a close friend's tribute, backed by a profound understanding of the filmmaker's sense of intimacy, atmosphere and drama.
2014 - on the 20th anniversary of the passing of Derek Jarman and this reissue Robin Rimbaud (aka Scanner) reviewed many of the materials in his archive and discovered four selections that were originally off the release but feel now that they offer another viewing.
"This is a creative mind and man I still miss, but who thankfully and finally seems to be receiving the accolation he should have received long ago." (Robin Rimbaud)
"A beautiful and fragile tapestry. Reflective, tactile and emotional."The Wire
"This music operates a certain unsettling, eerie magic on the listener, sneaking out of the speakers surreptitiously and filling the room like a sudden burst of sunlight. Even those unaware of Jarman's flicks will be moved." NME
This album is a collection of memories taking recordings from spaces that Jarman inhabited or experienced - from the walk to the sea's edge from his cottage in Dungeness through to the roar of London congestion around his Charing Cross flat - Robin has attempted to create a fluid, elegiac sound portrait, a form of resonant landscape painting that weaves through recordings of Jarman's own voice. Robin applied the term 'sound polaroids' to describe these intimate, isolated, improvised moments, the same way a polaroid camera captures an image for a moment, almost dispoable, forgotten, a tiny epiphany that dwells within but surfaces at unexpetcetd triggers.
The majority of the sound here is abstracted and processed through modest means, cutting, stretching and editing tape - acoustic data like this once digitised dissolves into a form that one can mould and re-shape in an almost scultural manner.
Derek Jarman 1942-1994
Derek Jarman was one of England's greatest cinematic visionairies. Spanning painting, theatre, film, he comfortably moved between genres, seemingly shape -shifting at will. From designing ballet and theatre in the sixties for Frederick Ashton and Ken Russell, through to his own films in super-8 and seminal features such as Sebastiane (1976), Jubilee (1978), The Last of England (1987) and Blue (1993), Jarman explored a unique and compelling vision until his death from AIDS in 1994.
This record was an homage to film director Derek Jarman. It was released with a short film by Guy Marc Hinant shot on location in Jarman's garden. Published in 1997, it was the second full-length album by Robin Rimbaud / Scanner on Sub Rosa.
FEATURES
ROBIN RIMBAUD aka SCANNER
TRACK LISTING CD - 13 TRACKS
01 Open 5.08
02 Experience 7.49
03 Drop
04 Waterbrush 4.56
05 Their own Space 3.27
06 Fravaer 7.03
07 Rosa Rugosa 7.44
08 A Walk through St James 5.58
09 Always Fading: Sedum Acre 3.22
2014 BONUS TRACKS:
10 Circles of Stone 4'22
11 I Waited a Lifetime 3'19
12 Translucence 2'33
13 Garden (redux) 5'34
www.subrosa.net
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| RIPARBELLI, PIETRO / K11 |
Radiodrama (feat. BAD SECTOR) |
CD + CD-R |
Wer sich für die geheimnisvolle Welt der Äther- & und Radiowellen-sounds interessiert sollte hier hellhörig werden ! Diverses Basismaterial wird hier vom Klangkünstler PIETRO RIPARBELLI (aka K11) auf kunstvolle Weise bearbeitet, es entstehen schwindelig machende, fauchende, zischende, röhrende Geräuschtracks. Auf der Bonus CDR befinden sich die uneditierten Basistracks von z.B. BAD SECTOR, GALERIE SCHALLSCHUTZ, A.M.K., PROJECT D.A.R.K., etc.
Alles handgemacht /verpackt in Pappbox mit Booklet und extra-Videotrack, 211 Stück gibts davon in dieser Edition.
"A SPECIAL CONCEPT ALBUM WITH INCREDIBLE AND ORIGINAL RADIO SIGNALS AS SOURCE MATERIALS, RECORDED IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE WORLD BY: BAD SECTOR, STRANGE ATTRACTOR, CLAUSTHOME, GALERIE SCHALLSCHUTZ, SIMM-EL, GRUPPO PSICOFONICO DI GROSSETO; RECOMPOSED BY PITERO RIPARBELLI. A CONCEPT ALBUM CREATED FOCUSED ON THE ESOTERIC SIDE OF ELECTROMAGNETIC ACTIVITIES (ITC, EVP, AND TRANS-DIMENSIONAL PHENOMENAS) ALL AROUND US... Listen this sounds in your hands...
3 DIFFERENT KIND OF CONCEPTUAL EDITIONS ARE REALIZED FOR THIS GREAT WORK OF RADIONOISE,
INCLUDING AN ENHANCED CD-R (AUDIO + VIDEO AND EXTRAS) + A XEROGRAPHIC BOOK EDITED IN A SPECIAL HANDMADE DIGIPACK, BASED ON THE AUDIO INSTALLATION "CAMERA SONORA", REALIZED BY PIETRO RIPARBELLI/K11 DURING PIOMBINO EXPERIMENTA 3 - INTERNATIONAL SOUND ART FESTIVAL, WITH UNEDIT PIECES REALIZED BY:
MASSIMO MAGRINI/BAD SECTOR, GIANLUCA BECUZZI, ALEKSANDER KOLKOWSKI, A.M.K., GLOBSTER, VITTORE BARONI/L.T. MURNAU, PROJECT D.A.R.K.
Full lenght audio: 45:00 min.
"RADIODRAMA - CAMERA SONOR"A
track list:
1 PIETRO RIPARBELLI/K11 - COLLAPSE#01
2 GIANLUCA BECUZZI - RADIO TANS_IT
3 BAD SECTOR - PROPAGAZIONE
4 RM-ED/L - LISTEN REVERSE: A CONCEPTUAL VINYL MANIPULATION - DOCU-DRAMA, WITH:
ALEKSANDER KOLKOWSKI
A.M.K.
GLOBSTER
VITTORE BARONI/L.T. MURNAU
PROJECT D.A.R.K.
Full lenght audio: 40:00 min.
INCLUDING A SMALL DOCUMENTAL VIDEO + INSERTS."
[label info]
www.radicalmatters.com
|
2008 |
€16.00 |
|
| RIPIT |
Tsatsa Tushen |
12inch |
For ‘Tsatsa Tushen’, Ripit created four trance-inducing tracks of swampy industrial dub music, using vinyl loops of ethnographic African recordings, modular synths and intense dub-mixing. The general smokey atmosphere is generated by the collision of several unsettling rhythm layers, scattered echoes, crawling basses, raging stabs and drowned-out voices, guiding the listener on a unstable path towards a dissociative rite.
It should come as no surprise that Ripit releases these tracks now, as dub music has always been a part of his musical heritage. Not just in his work with Fujako, but also in his prolific early years in the late 1990s, you’ll find obvious links to dub. Hence the title, which means ‘knots of time’ in the main West-African language Hausa. ‘Tsatsa Tushen’ combines the old with the new, the dusty ethnographic records with modern electronics, bending the time and space continuum in a noisy Dub.
Since the 1970s, dub and industrial music find their common ground in the recycling of found sounds and in exploring electronic tools. Adrian Sherwood’s On-U Sound blended Dub with diverse emerging musical influences and industrial artists explored diverse forms of music, their paths regularly crossing. Ripit merged these influences and philosophies in this record.
Think of dusty-needled, hand-driven turntables playing sun-bent vinyls such as African Head Charge’s ‘Songs of Praise’ Muslimgauze’s ‘United States of Islam’, Test Dept’s ‘Critical Dub’, Badawi’s ‘Jerusalem Under Fire’ or The Bug’s ‘Tapping The Conversation’.
12” limited to 300 copies
All tracks by Nicolas Esterle at Zen666 2014-2015
Mastered & cut by Frederic Alstadt at Ångström Mastering
Images by Eric Desjeux
Design by Silken Tofu |
2017 |
€15.00 |
|
| RIVULETS |
You are my Home |
CD |
"Long-delayed 3rd album by internationally acclaimed solo artist Rivulets. Featuring guests Jessica Bailiff (Kranky), Chris Brokaw (Codeine, Come, the New Year), Christian Frederickson (Rachel's), Fred Lonberg-Holm (Boxhead Ensemble), & Bob Weston (Mission of Burma, Shellac).
The contributions of these remarkable musicians adds snowy layers of wintery texture to Nathan Amundson's beautiful recordings. Like Nick Drake smothered not with layers of orchestration, but subtle textures to truly compliment the mood of the album.
Rivulets is the project of minimalist singer-songwriter Nathan Amundson. Born in Colorado, Amundson grew up in Alaska before leaving home at age 16 and moving frequently throughout the United States. He started performing as Rivulets in 1999, and currently resides in Bloomington, IN.
Rivulets is a prolific songwriter, with releases out on several labels, including Acuarela, BlueSanct, Silber, and Chair Kickers'' Union. This is Rivulets'' 3rd full length album, and 1st for Important Records.
Rivulets'' first 2 full-length albums, r i v u l e t s (2002) and Debridement (2003), were both recorded by Alan Sparhawk of Low, and released on Low''s own label Chair Kickers'' Union. These albums feature guest appearances from the likes of Jessica Bailiff , LD Beghtol (Magnetic Fields), Jon DeRosa (Aarktica), Marc Gartman (No Wait Wait), Brian John Mitchell (Remora), Aaron Molina (if thousands), and Mimi Parker (Low).
Extensive touring overseas has garnered Rivulets intensely loyal fanbases across Europe. We''re hoping this, Rivulets 1st album on Important records, will help the US to take notice as well. A few of the artists Rivulets has shared bills with in the past include: Haley Bonar, Chris Brokaw, Cerberus Shoal, Cocorosie, Mark Eitzel, Daniel Johnston, Low, Mirah, My Morning Jacket, the New Year, Scout Niblett, Piano Magic, Radar Bros., Stars of the Lid, Songs: Ohia, Swearing at Motorists, Willard Grant Conspiracy, Shannon Wright, and Xiu Xiu. Rivulets'' discography also includes numerous compilation appearances and several EPs: the aforementioned Thank You Reykjavik EP on BlueSanct; The Alcohol EPs on Silber; the Rivulets / Marc Gartman split CD (featuring Jarboe of Swans) on Tract; and the You''ve Got Your Own EP on Acuarela (the bestselling EP Acuarela have released, out-selling EPs by the Album Leaf, the Clientele, and Tara Jane O''Neil!).
This is not a folk album. This is an album about hearts breaking, tearing it down, and moving on." [label info]
www.importantrecords.com
|
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
| RLW |
Tonlose Lieder |
CD |
22 Stücke aus der Zeit von 1990 & 1991, kurz bevor das erste RLW-Album “Acht” erschien.
Brilliante (De)Konstruktionen von instrumentellen & Alltags-Soundquellen (z.B. Piano, Gongs, MIDI-Keyboard & Rhythmen, Staubsauger) vermischt mit Sample-Technik, gescratchten Platten, & obskuren Feldaufnahmen. Eine unglaubliche Fülle von Ideen wird hier schonungslos umgesetzt - meist sehr dynamisches und vitales Material, zwischen Atonalität und Geräuschimprovisation, no easy listening guaranteered !
“After the recent re-issues of the old PD work, it's now time to fast forward in music history and take a closer look at the missing link of disbanding P16.D4 and the first solo works of RLW. Fast forward to 1990. This is the time when the old techniques of tape-splicing,
cheap four track records and such like was replaced by cheap samplers and computer interfaces (midi to control sequences), being an option for everyone. Before this all settled down into RLW's first CD 'Acht' (1992), he experimented with a lot of ideas, using the newly acquired techniques. The abrassive side of P16.D4 became more subtle, more dynamic and at the same time it was also reduced in sound and approach. No less than twenty-two pieces from the sketchbook are to be found on this CD, and each of them is described in the booklet.
Scratching records is for instance a main feature, like was done on the SLP project, but it involves also organ like sounds, sterile factory settings found inside the sampler and much more. In some cases we get the raw version of a piece that ended up on 'Acht', but the majority is unheard. Whereas on the later solo records by RLW it's hard to recognize the original input, we can hear on this CD him freely improvising around with instruments, sampling them etc. Of course not every fragment is great, but it would not be right to say that this album is only for those with a keen ear on history. It bears the collage-like style of P16.D4 with the latter RLW style, but in all its fragmented style it sounds, still after all these years, like a fresh album. Only to be compared, I think, with P16.D4's
'Tionchor' album. A collection of nice short pieces, that make more sense when heard they are groupep together.” [FdW / Vital Weekly]
Address: http://www.parallaxrecords.jp
|
2004 |
€13.00 |
|
|
An Archivist's Nightmare |
CD |
Die Beta-Lactam "Black Series" prüft (überschreitet?) weiter die Grenzen des Alltäglichen, mit dieser CD von RLW (oder sollte man eher sagen: mit diesem im CD-Player installiertem Happening?). RLW liest (mit extra-starkem "german accent" wie es scheint) die Titel der letzten Tonträger die er bekam vor, (s)ein Kind versucht dies (manchmal) zu imitieren, das ganze lief 2003 als Radio-Feature für Radio Resonance London... 60 Minuten lang....ja, genau, das wars! Den Effekt des ganzen kann mich nicht beschreiben, den muss man erleben!! Nummer 2 in der neuen BLACK SERIES (schwarze edle Klappcover) von Beta-Lactam!
"Black Series 2 - Ed. of 300 numbered and signed copies by RLW (P16.D4). RLW moves in to the world of sound art with his piece "The Archivist's Nightmare". "RLW: An archivist´s nightmare The nightmare has been produced as a sound feature for radio resonance, London, in mid 2003 and was “aired” on internet October 3rd 2003. It is dedicated to Benjamin Green and would not have been possible without the help of Dorothea, Soeren, and Sonja. Index points are set for your pleasure. The feature itself embraces the whole CD. Total Time: 60:00 Some notes: "...i will read the titles of the last records i got (i guess about 1000 should fit into one hour). selected, insofar as i'll leave out those i found not worth listening to anyway. no criteria of order otherwise (therefore the title). ... imagine a future archivist interested in experimental/avantgarde/underground - however you will call it - sounds of the past 21st and 20th century, trying to find a path..." rlw, april 2003 “in an earlier mail i told you i would like to add some pieces of mine to the feature. Meanwhile i think this only would distract the listener´s attention from the reading. Instead i will additionally read parts of my letters to you and include these recordings in the feature. this additional level of self-reflection will also be of use as an structural element. “ rlw, may 2003 “sounds fucking great.. and i can sense an opening of possibilities… working with children is something I would be interested in doing, with some kind of structured improvisation/game pieces… strange… i keep getting a very high pitch sound in one ear when I type loudly, which reminds me of yr piece.” ben green, may 2003 “thanks for the radio feature. it´s really great. the funniest thing i´ve heard in a long while. it´ s a weird thing, initially i thought these were the records that would get played later, and then i started thinking like ´got that one, heard that name before, did the cover for that one, dunno this`.” jos moers, june 2003" [label website info]
www.blrrecords.com
|
2007 |
€16.00 |
|
|
Contours Imaginaires |
10inch |
RLWs Beitrag für unsere Reihe über das 'Unsagbare' benutzt als Klangquelle nur ein kurzes Piano-Extrakt mit Stimme, aus welchem dann drei Stücke sozusagen re-fragmentiert werden, die intensive und hochspannende Trips in RLWs "Imaginäre Konturen" ermöglichen...
Titel & Klangmaterial stehen dabei in komplexen Inter-Relationen, sehr emotional & tief gehende Sounds und ein ausgefeiltes Konzept stehen hier wieder in einer perfekten Balance. Das ganze auf gelb-orangenem Vinyl mit ungewöhnlicher Textur, das Cover kommt vom Oldenburger Artworker OLIVER JAKOBI.
"After a break SUBSTANTIA INNOMINATA is back with a terrific 3-track 10" by the prolific german composer RLW (who started his activities back in the early 80's and was the main member of the legendary german experimental outfit P16.D4). The full title is: CONTOURS IMAGINAIRES. The whole composition is based on only few seconds of piano-sounds and vocals (the rest is "imagination") and the track-titles & pieces offer strong inter-relations in a complex way.
The used sounds develop through imagination & decay ("denaturing transformations") and appear in the pieces with different emphases. The "classical" piano-sounds and its highly processed permutations are set in contrast with the highly emotional voice-material, like entering a convoluted labyrinth of voice-frazzles, drones & fragmented strange sounds......
Being on a microlevel ("phantasized cell"), judging the decay of shadows. Are these the memories of single cells? The shadow of abrasion-processes? The slow decay of imaginations? A fantastic work where conceptual thoughts and emotionally driven acoustics merge in a perfect way.
500 copies, colour-vinyl, full colour artwork by Oliver Jakobi" [label description]
"Drone Records, best known for a long line of drone 7"s, started already a while ago with a new series: Substantia Innominata, in which artists deal with the unknown, in whatever way they feel ('unnameable, unspeakable etc). For someone who likes his imagination go wild, Drone Records made a fine decision in choosing RLW to be part of the series. On the cover it says 'built from a few seconds of piano and vocals. Everything else: imagination'. Quite right. Good music is like a good movie: you create images that might not be what they seem to be. And musique concrete, since this is what is primarily the concern of RLW, is always a good way of imaging. You hear music, which could be voice, which could be piano, but then it could also be something else. Deceiving music. That is what RLW does best. In none of the three pieces it's easy to determine what the original sound is, or how it was treated. No doubt inside the bits and bytes these days (unlike the good old days of four track and reel to reel, where RLW learned the trick of the trade) things are transformed to such an extent that your imagination is free to run wild. It makes a movie in your head. For me an abstract movie, of squares and circles, using only a few colors and they spiral around, bounce off screen and back in. And no doubt it might be something entirely different for someone else. A great record. One that leaves more space to guess than some of the work RLW has recorded in the past, usually with others. His solo work goes out to no man's land more, which is great." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
"Die A-Seite dieser 10″ wird beherrscht von kontemplativen Stromwerken, besinnnlich hin- und herlappend, bis am Ende Wut auszubrechen scheint und seltsame semantiklose Verzerrungen dem Schrei irgendeine Weisheit versagen. ‘Ombre d’érosion’ heißt der Track passend. Die B-Seite beredet sich während ‘Cellule Imaginaire’ weitaus angestrengter, wenn auch unbehaglicher. Stetiges Zellteilung mag nicht immer erwünscht sein und kann offensichtlich höllisch wehtun. Das abschließende ‘Erosion d’imagnaire’ zerbröselt Vorstellungskraft in Hilfeseufzer, schwärmende Painosaiten, Radiofehler bei minimalen Rauschzuständen. Fantastisches Vinyl ! Übrigens: RLW ist Ralf Wehowsky aus Mainz, ohne Frage einer der wichtigsten zeitgenössischen Elektroniker." [Ed / De:Bug]
|
2007 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Fall Seliger Geister |
CD |
"We are proud to present the stunning new album by Ralf Wehowsky. He is currently one of the most respected electronic composers of our day. Ghostly creaking sounds mix with highly complex electro-acoustic and electronic sounds. This description may sound familiar, but no sound is what it seems and rlw always manages to stay far ahead of his contemporaries. His music is impossible to pigeonhole into one simple bracket. It is neither industrial or musique concrete, nor computer music nor improvisation. In fact it could be all of these. A rewarding release that will still sound fresh and relevant in years to come.
Ralf Wehowsky was one of the founder members of the seminal German group P16.D4 and the label Selektion whose ground breaking releases influenced many working in today's experimental music scene. Previous releases have seen him collaborate with such well known and diverse artists such as Merzbow, Bernard Gunter, Jim O'Rourke, Achim Wollscheid and Lionel Marchetti.
Ltd to 500 copies, the CD comes packaged in a Japanese mini LP style sleeve with textured reverse board printing and black inner sleeve." [label info]
www.dirter.co.uk
"Oddly enough, the latest RLW CD is on Dirter but co-released by Black Rose Recordings, which happens to be the Contrastate label, but they aren't co-releasing their own release. For a moment I thought that things might have slowed down for RLW, but a quick look on discogs proved me wrong: Ralf Wehowsky is as active as always. Following that great P16.D4 set I hoped I could find time to play some of the RLW stuff again, which I collected, but sadly this has to wait. But of course then there is this new one. I am not sure if I would regard myself an expert on the work of RLW (or in fact of someone else for that matter), even when I heard a lot of his music. For starters, it's not easy to define his music. It's a lot of a lot of things. RLW gathers his sounds somewhere inside and outside the house, playing instruments like cello or trombone (at least that's what I think), children playing outside and taping sounds in the kitchen. All of that is brought into the computer and treated in
some way, and then it reaches it's final composed state. So RLW's music could be called electro-acoustic, musique concrete, improvised and/or field recordings, yet it's never exclusively one of these, but rather a curious mixture of all of these. The improvised element, in case you wonder, is made up using extensive blocks of sound from instrumental passages, like said celli, trombone or thumb piano. Here it seems as if RLW recorded a whole bunch of those and then in the process of mixing decided which parts he really needed. By adding all the other sounds and the close mixing of the total amount of music, he creates some excellent dense soundscapes. Dense and moody, in fact, as the overall tone seems a bit darker than before. Excellent release indeed. Damn, I wish I had more time to go back to his older work." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Agnostic Diaries |
CD |
"The common factor linking these recordings are projects that were never fully realized. The basic recordings started in 2005, however the period of reworking and transformation (2016 to 2017) is more important. All vocal parts and general revisions were done during this period. Agnosticism was the basic idea for the vocal/musical re-working of the pieces with the vocals implanted into the basic pieces, not just as simple overdubs, but inserted in a dialectical confrontation with the basic sounds and structures. "Le Ballet" relies on George Antheil's Ballet Mecanique; "For Gerald" on a co-operation with Anla Courtis using some sounds by Ovary Lodge planned for the Gerald Jupitter-Larssen series which stopped far too early. "Without M.B." includes RLW's parts for a collaboration with Marc Baron whilst "Monotype #6" includes vocals by Dylan Nyoukis, also used for a collaborative CD-r with him. Ralf Wehowsky is one of the most respected electronic composers of our day and was also a founder member of the seminal German group P16.D4 and label Selektion whose ground-breaking releases influenced many working in today's experimental music scene. Previous releases have seen him collaborate with such well known and diverse artists such as Merzbow, Bernhard Guenter, Jim O'Rourke, Achim Wollscheid, and Lionel Marchetti. His music is impossible to pigeonhole into one simple bracket. It is neither industrial or musique concrete, nor computer music nor improvisation. In fact, it could be all of these." [label info]
"There was a time when Ralf Wehowsky was very active when it came to releases under the alias of RLW. In the last decade that seems to have slowed down. The last new one I heard was his LP with Paak (Vital Weekly 1047). Wehowsky was, in the 1980s, one of the main people behind P16.D4, a highly influential group coming from the world of 'industrial music' but crossing over to musique concrète. Since the early 90s, he works solo as RLW, using the computer to work and rework sounds and collaborating with many others, such as SRMeinxner (his label boss here), Paak, Das Synthetische Mischgewebe and others. The music on 'Agnostic Diaries' was recorded in 2016 and 2017 but started back in 2005; it is an album to complete things that were not yet completed. Among those who delivered sounds for this, we find Anla Courtis, Ovary Lodge, GX Jupitter-Larsen, Marc Baron and Dylan Nyoukis. Throughout these six pieces, voices seem to play one role or another. The music of RLW is best explained as organized sound. You load everything you have, basic material, processed versions (analogue, digital) thereof, onto the computer and through a lengthy process of editing and erasing, filtering and cutting, adding effects and so on, until there is a narrative, a composition. It is not easy to say why something works, and something else, perhaps, doesn't work. I guess that is part of being great at what you do and RLW is among the best in this field. With the excellent variation between pure electronic sounds, acoustic sounds and voices (which are, of course, also acoustic) a fine, delicate interplay emerges that makes up these six pieces. In the opening piece, 'Le Ballet' (which relies on George Antheil's 'Ballet Mecanique'), there are some very high and piercing tones, which made me reach for my remote control, but in his other pieces that don’t happen. The dynamics between 'loud' and 'quiet' is something that RLW plays with, along with hard cuts in the music. Yet, it seems as if all the sounds come naturally out of the previous, a logical extension if you will and that makes up for some great music. Upon repeated listening, there is every time something new to be found in this." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Satanic Inventions |
CD |
!!! Limited to 200 copies only !!! 51+ min. playtime
October 2022 PRESS RELEASE
Artist: rlw (Ralf Wehowsky)
Title: Satanic Inventions
Track Titles:
1. Early Symptoms
2. Normality, Lost # 1
3. Overworn With Watching # 1
4. Fever Glazed Thine Ears # 1
5. Fever Glazed Thine Ears # 2
6. Normality, Lost # 2
7. Fever Glazed Thine Ears # 3
8. Overworn With Watching # 2
9. Normality, Lost # 3
10. Overworn With Watching # 3
11. Overworn With Watching # 4
12. Normality, Lost # 4
13. Fever Glazed Thine Ears # 4
14. Overworn With Watching # 5
15. Out Of Joint
Format: CD
Cat no: BRCD 22-1021
Release Date: October 2022
Black Rose Recordings are proud to present the stunning new solo release by Ralf Wehowsky. He is currently one of the most respected electronic composers of our day. With this release his starting point is the comparison of the black plague and covid-19 as there are some astonishing similarities of how people dealt with the diseases. Denial of reality, conspiracy theories, searching for scapegoats, etc: Surely satanic inventions are the source of all calamities? Extracts from documentary recordings and a few fragments of ars nova/subtilior compositions have been transformed, extended, fragmented and re-contextualised, from which the 15 pieces of this release are built.
Ralf Wehowsky was one of the founder members of the seminal German group P16.D4 and the label Selektion whose ground-breaking releases influenced many working in today’s experimental music scene. Previous releases have seen him collaborate with such well known and diverse artists such as Merzbow, Bernhard Guenter, Jim O’Rourke, Achim Wollscheid and Lionel Marchetti. His music is impossible to pigeonhole into one simple bracket. It is neither industrial or musique concrete, nor computer music nor improvisation.
“RLW's work moves on the edge of musique concrete, but never looses it's touch with industrial music on the one hand and with microsound on the other. But it defies these categories and can perhaps only be classified as RLWmusic. Great work!” – [Vital 584, The Netherlands]
“…truly outstanding” – [www.chaindlk.com]
"There have been many documentations on differences and similarities of the pandemics, which plagued mankind over the last centuries and millennia. Comparing the black plague and covid-19 there are - besides the obvious differences (more victims in absolute numbers
because of increasing overpopulation, decreasing number of victims in relative numbers because of the evolution of scientific knowledge) - astonishing similarities how people dealt with the diseases. Denial of reality, conspiracy theories, searching for scapegoats: Surely satanic inventions, spread by elites, papists, jews, communists, etc, are the source of all calamities? Human stupidity never should be underestimated. For tunately, history teaches that the misery ends
someday, even if the pandemic meets with war, famine etc. Amidst similarities new powers do grow. In the late 14th century ars subtilior must be pointed out. Liberation from religious themes, breaking open
rhythm, introducing bizarre chromatic passages, odd dissonances, etc.
Therefore, it seemed natural to combine documentations of actual madness with songs from that past. Some short extracts from documentary recordings and a few fragments of ars nova/subtilior compositions have been transfor med, extended, fragmented and recontextualised, from which the 15 pieces of this release are built.
Recorded from April 2021 to March 2022, Eggenstein, Germany" [liner notes]
"Seeing such a political statement on an RLW CD is something I don't recall seeing before. It is about the pandemic and the conspiracy theories that spawned, which I (too) believe is the true disease of our times. "I can read", usually means, "I like to cherry-pick popular notions", and "science is an opinion" is usually said by someone who has no clue as to what science is. Or, as I challenged someone: "How do you prove that all swans are white" to which I got the answer ", by killing all black ones", which seemed proof that not all swans are white. RLW says that all misery end one day, and something will grow. In the 14th century, Ars subtiloir (subtler art) became a musical style. It was rhythmic and notional, more complex. The end of the plague (well..) ended in something new. RLW uses music recordings from that time and short extracts from documentary recordings. Not that you easily recognize any of this in the fifteen pieces of music. Sure, some of this finds origins in voice material, and a word here or there is recognized, but who or what remains a mystery. The abstraction level is very high, as with much of RLW's music. He applies a collage-like approach to his music. A surprising element is the use of turntable/vinyl, which I haven't heard from him in some time. RLW's music is of a different complexity than the original Ars subtiloir, so I assume (not being an expert here), that he applies his musique concrète techniques to the music. Editing, stretching, granular synthesis and whatever else there is are as strong as any other RLW record. One thought I had with hearing these voices bending and twisting; maybe they sound like shapeshifting alien reptiles? Having read most of David Icke's books (to be found in a folder on my hard drive labelled 'humour'), there must be a place here for the sounds of reptiles. Throughout, there is some excellent, imaginative music here. I would say that even without the backstory, this is still a great release; it can be enjoyed equally."[FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| RLW / RICHARD FRANCIS |
R |
CD |
"First collaboration between Ralf Wehowsky (Germany) and Richard Francis (New Zealand)
On a trip from Auckland over Worpswede to Eggenstein Richard Francis visited Ralf Wehowsky on the weekend of September 28th and 29th, 2013. For the recording sessions taking place during these two days Richard used his analogue synth and electronics, while Ralf had a desktop and a laptop for producing digital electronic sounds at hand. For bridging the anatgonistic sound worlds the input of one sound system was fed with the output of the other and vice versa. For this release two of the tracks (Piece 1, Untitled 1) are presented as they were recorded, with only slight pan and volume adjustments. The third track (Piece 3) is composed of fragments of a longer improvisation, time-shifting the contributions of the two artists against each other to constitute a system of non-simultaneity.
RLW/Ralf Wehowsky
Ralf Wehowsky is a german experimental composer, active since the 80s (with the group p16.d4 then). his work is split between solo releases (under the moniker rlw) and collaborations, exploring all fields between media exchange and realtime presence recordings. collaboration partners include among others Lionel Marchetti, Merzbow, Jim O´Rourke, Bruce Russell, Das Synthetische Mischgewebe, Anla Courtis, Contrastate, Kohei Matsunaga, Annette Krebs - and Richard Francis.
Richard Francis
Richard Francis is a sound artist from New Zealand working with electronics and found recordings. He's released solo and collaborative albums on Senufo Editions, Entr’acte, Glistening Examples, Korm Plastics and Aufabwegen. Recent collaborators include Ralf Wehowsky, Frans De Waard, Anla Courtis, Bruce Russell, Mattin, Jason Kahn and Francisco Lopez."
https://aufabwegen.bandcamp.com/album/r
"In 2013, Richard Francis travelled from his hometown Auckland to Worpswede, where he was invited for a residency. He did a stop-over in various places to work, such as Worm (Rotterdam), Extrapool (Nijmegen), and the German town of Eggenstein, where he met Ralf Wehowsky, also known as RLW. They spend two days together recording music. Francis, at the time, had a small mobile modular synthesizer, some electronics, and RLW behind his desktop and laptop. Both systems were connected via in- and outputs. Of the three pieces, the two longer ones were recorded in September 2013, and I assume they also mixed these at the same time; perhaps we could see this as live-in-the-studio music. The third piece, 'Piece 3', is a recomposition by RLW, using the original recordings from 2013. As I hear the two longer pieces, I wonder whether that live-in studio thing results from extensive editing and mixing of an improvised recording. In all honesty, I couldn't say which it is. It has that complexity that we know from RLW, the aspect of multi-layered sound, the collage approach we know from musique concrète, a world of music to which RLW owes much. Francis modular electronics move around like snowflakes, like corroded spaceships, or simply recall what we call 'early electronics'. The collage principles are no strangers to both men, although more applied by RLW than Francis (certainly in recent times), and it takes the material all over the place. The rusty spaceship and
explosions of dark matter cause massive disruption, as noise isn't kept out of the equation. These two long pieces make up for a bumpy ride, neatly going all over the place, from strict noise to sheer silence, from densely orchestrated nightmares to single lines floating about. In the 2020 rework of the source material, some of the density of the 2013 material disappears, and it all becomes an opener. Here the music becomes almost like a cosmic synthesizer scape or something working with sine waves. I was surprised this piece was the opener of the CD, but because it's over seven minutes and much shorter than the other two, the spaciousness of this piece works very well as an introduction to what's coming.
In my Thursday Afternoon Talk (link below), Jos Smolders and I talk about a previous RLW release, 'Satanic Inventions' (Vital Weekly 1365) and I mention that RLW doesn't seem too prolific in recent years. My mistake: take a look at his releases on Discogs and you'll see otherwise." [FdW / Vital weekly]
|
2023 |
€13.00 |
|
| RNGMNN |
Arctic Interference |
CD |
Winter-Light welcomes Germany's RNGMNN to the fold, with his new work entitled 'Arctic Interference'. Having previously released albums on Noctivagant and Reverse Alignment, as well as a collaborative release on Cryo Chamber with Dronny Darko, RNGMNN aka Ronny Engmann now delivers on 'Arctic Interference' 8 new tracks of icy Arctic ambience ranging from cold, drifting pieces to stark, rhythmic, pulsating sound scapes.
Field recordings, percussive elements, sampled sounds, dark electronic pads, scrapes and stabs all combine creating a sense of drifting isolation, disorientation and knee-deep, jagged movements across vast snow blown and storm battered mind-scapes. Rest assured there are plenty of variations on this album, to peak the interests of even the most wind swept and experienced Arctic travellers.
The tracks were recorded in the month of December, over a period of years in 2014, 15, 16, 17 and 18.
Here the artist sets the scene .....
"The moon appears behind the dense clouds, as the nomads are passing and wave their goodbyes. They have shown me which is the safest place to stay this night; a shelter where I will survive the Arctic climate without harm. Uncertainty arises. I hear their mischievous laughter in the distance, as if they knew that this night will not be easy for someone who is not used to these cold circumstances.
The snow around me is covered in dust and faint traces that indicate that I am not the first person to have stumbled around here. The ongoing winter storm is gradually sending its waves of frost my way. The night sky swallows the already dark mountains. The freezing cold is increasingly clouding my perception.
I reach the snowed-in shelter that is the remnants of a small cave of frozen magma. The tips of burnt pieces of wood protrude out from under the snow. Confirmation that I'm definitely not the first person to have stayed here overnight. This lonely and abandoned place is eerily quiet and unnerving. The only thing I can hear from outside is the rhythmic sound of the icicles, which every now and then clash against each other and subsequently fall to the ground. The memory of how I came here at all is slowly beginning to fade. Everything is getting dark. Everything goes numb."
https://winter-light.bandcamp.com/album/arctic-interference
|
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| ROACH, STEVE & JORGE REYES |
The Ancestor Circle |
CD |
Conjuring images of a primal futurism, this alchemical blending-of-sound is a ceremonial offering to the forgotten gods. The Ancestor Circle is a new tribal-ambient-electronic collaboration, the first recording from Roach & Reyes since Vine ~ Bark & Spore (Timeroom 2000). This is the lost chapter of a long soulful journey that has taken twists and turns in its unfoldment. The music feels steeped in a frothy mind-altering blend, waiting for years as the potency increased. Roach & Reyes combined their instinctual nature — developed over almost a decade of worldwide live and studio adventures — leading up to the core of what became The Ancestor Circle. It is in this circle that their sound is unearthed from deep within their primordial soundworld, where prehistory meets future-tech creating a sound impossible to carbon date.
Like the audio artifacts of a lost tribe, the studio source recordings that form this album’s foundation were uncovered in 2013 on a cryptically-marked set of tapes. Created the week before Roach & Reyes’ May 2000 concert at Tucson’s Temple of Music and Art, this is their last joint studio project as Reyes passed on to The Ancestor Circle in 2009.
Roach comments, “Jorge is still very much alive here in the circle where we always met with an unspoken language of sound constantly moving through us. As I completed this music now, adding new elements and evolving the arrangement, I could feel Jorge’s spirit listening and interacting with me in the studio, offering feedback or sometimes making his guttural sounds of agreement like he would do in the past when we were deep in the process of carving on a mix. Just as in previous magical studio and stage experiences, we are in the circle once again.”
For thousands of years, music was created to assist entrance to expanded states of consciousness, support a passage of life, birth and death and invoke the gods, spirits, and allies. While the abundance of today’s entertainment-music has lost this powerful inner core, on The Ancestor Circle it is fully reinstated. This is a new “medicine music” as it should be: a probing visceral experience with the power to illuminate and shroud in mystery, digging deep into zones hidden within the psyche. It offers a potent realm of renewal for those seeking an unfiltered, cathartic rinse-down of today’s technological, modern world; it helps hit the reset button of perception.
Rising up from a dark shroud of night to embrace life, an ancient voice chants in serpentine ecstasy only to subside and hover next to a slow realm of eternal time drawn from electronics, percussion, prehispanic flutes, ocarinas, other acoustic instruments and silence. When the sound dissolves beyond recognition, a subconscious landscape arises, whispering of faded visions painted on stone, echoing on studio walls, of times gone by and times to come. Roach & Reyes are still here bringing us messages from the infinite.
Artist Bios
Jorge Reyes took an ethno-musicological approach to music-making on 20 solo albums; released throughout the late 80s, 90s, and 00s these albums all has a special emphasis on indigenous and shamanic traditions from Reyes’ native Mexico. After years of tirelessly performing across Europe, he met Roach in the early 90s at a festival on the Canary Island of Lanzarote. Along with the Vine ~ Bark & Spore collaboration with Roach, Reyes & Roach teamed with Spanish electric guitarist Suso Saiz for two mid-90s albums from their group project, Suspended Memories (Music From The Hearts of Space 1993 & 1994). Reyes passed away on February 7, 2009.
Steve Roach is a pioneering cornerstone of ambient-atmospheric-electronic music with over 100 albums to his name. Since the early 80s, Roach has approached music like a medicine man approaching the void: engaging the challenge, uncovering new mysteries, and bringing them back to share with the world. From the expansive, time-suspending spaces reflecting his spiritual home in Arizona to the fire breathing, ethno-ambient expressions woven from all things electric and organic, Roach’s long list of groundbreaking recordings are fueled by his prolific nature and uncompromising approach.
https://projektrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-
ancestor-circle |
2014 |
€15.00 |
|
| ROBERT, JOCELYN |
Monsonics |
LP |
"Monsonics was done in two steps, both for the Citysonics Festival in Mons, Belgium, in June 2009. Two of the pieces - "L'air circulaire" and "L'abbatoir des Droits de l'Homme" - were first composed as soundwalks. I first went to Mons to choose interesting paths, then made the works to fit to them. For the festival, one could borrow maps and mp3 players from the organization, or one could download the soundtracks and a map from the website of the festival and live the experience on site. The pieces that appear on the LP are sligthly reworked versions. The two "La Chapelle des FUCAM" pieces are performance works made for the Festival. They are numbered 1 & 3: there were other versions, but these two seemed to fit better with the other pieces on the LP. There are no overdubs: they were made live using software developed at Avatar, Quebec city. The software can be downloaded for free at www.avatarquebec.org/ohm/index.php?page=logiciel&id=1 - Jocelyn Robert
Jocelyn Robert lives in Québec, Canada. He works in audio art, performance art, installation, video and writing. He did many performances, solo or with Diane Landry, Laetitia Sonami and Bruit TTV. He published about fifteen CDs, and participed in over twenty others. He was awarded First Prize, Image category, at the Berlin Transmediale in 2002, and the Prix du Rayonnement International from the Conseil de la Culture de Québec in 2006. He had numerous solo shows, and also teamed up with Emile Morin and Daniel Jolliffe for many installations. His work has been shown in Canada, United States, Mexico, Chile, Australia, and in Europe. His texts have been published by Le Quartanier (Montréal), Ohm Éditions (Québec), Errant Bodies Press (Los Angeles/Berlin), Semiotext(e) (New York), and in many catalogues, notably from Ars Electronica (Austria) and Sonambiante (Germany). In 1993, he founded the art centre Avatar, in Québec City. He currently teaches at l'École des arts visuels de l'Université Laval, Québec." [label info]
www.hronir.de
|
2010 |
€18.00 |
|
| |
The Maze |
CD |
"The Maze is a map of different territories I covered in my recent travels. But the mapped territories are not contiguous: I am the tunnel that links these places and times, I am the border that keeps them together. Now, a geographer who makes a map doesn't make a survey: these are two different things. The survey - the gathering - comes first, but the mapping process includes several subsequent steps: scaling, removing, enhancing, and adding. Scale allows to grasp a large territory at a glance. The degree of scaling will make some aspects of the territory emerge and other disappear. The second step is the removal. A geographer who draws a map removes a lot of elements in order for others to appear. Then, some elements will be enhanced: on a tourist map, significant buildings will be bigger than scale and coloured, on a navigation map algae in waterways will be larger than life... Finally, things will be added: words, signs, numbers... Data from the surveys is never enough. Words and numbers are never seen in the fields, but they are on maps and play a very important role. They are ideas about the territories, references, links to culture. A map is a story, and the geographer is a storyteller. So I turned into a geographer and made The Maze as a mapping process. In The Maze there are lots of field recordings, many of which have seen their time scale change, some have had elements removed, other enhanced, and there are also musical elements added here and there, which tell more about the feelings of the places and travels. The Maze is both a journey and a story. (Jocelyn Robert, September 2015)" [label info]
www.fragmentfactory.com
"Canadian sound artist Jocelyn Robert has been at work since the mid-80s, recording initially for ReR. His new, limited edition CD is made up of material dating back over a decade and seeks to conjure up images of places he has visited by way of blending field recordings into lengthy musique concrète pieces.
Without prior knowledge of the artist’s intentions, the contents would (for most) surely be incomprehensible, with the exception of some short, tuneful colour inserts. While not entirely without humour, there is an academic austerity here which one can best penetrate by giving up to the concept and enjoying the sometimes unsettling, unpredictable narratives of Robert’s adventures as if they are one’s own late booking to a foreign city. Stride into frozen fog on early morning riversides, mopeds coming close to running you down and treasured videos of special moments being reduced to a glitchy mess by the time you get them home.
One group the disc brings to mind is Switzerland’s Schimpfluch, Robert being similarly cryptic and unafraid of both sudden silences and changes of pace. Not surprising then that the Swiss collective have also recorded several releases for this German label, which seems to be working outwards from basement noise into more self-consciously conceptual art." [Phil Smith / Record Collector mag]
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| ROCCHETTI, CLAUDIO |
These are the days |
LP |
CLAUDIO ROCCHETTI (von 3/4HADBEENELIMINATED) benutzt auf dieser LP sein MC- & Vinyl-Archiv als eine Art Gedächtnisspeicher in Verbindung zur Welt; die hier gespeicherten Informationen sind auf vielfältige Weise verbunden mit den Vorbesitzern & ihrer Aura. Auf "These are the days" werden Teile davon collagenhaft neu zusammengesetzt und ganz neue Geschichten "erzählt", es wirkt wie kurze Schnappschüsse des Unterbewussten ins Verborgene der Alltagsgeräusche, kaum fassbar und doch nicht chaotisch, mit viel Raum für Pausen und Rauschen, Knirschen, Crackles... eine besondere Scheibe, die mit mehrmaligem Hören an Schönheit gewinnt!
"These are the days" is a collection of short pieces all around of memory concept... a sort of back-up of experiences on Claudio's preferred media (tapes and vinyls). Tapes and vinyls are here used in a double way: in their common way, the Universal recognized one. As sound reproducers, as technological element of our day-life with their own personal story linked to all the people who owned them... they are full of memory, they are part of our World. But if you change the rules and use the machines in an unusual way, the story change and also the result. Driving them over the limits we can discover unexpected borders... "...I'm attracted by places where the human presence is denied or cancelled, but where you can still hear their vibes. Abandoned flats, tube stations in disuse, spaces in which Nature grows between asfalt and cement, resuming what men has stolen..." CR. Limited to 300 copies." [label info]
www.asilentplace.it
|
2007 |
€14.00 |
|
| RODEN, STEVE |
Ecstasy showered its Petals with the full Peal fo the Bells |
mCD |
"last summer, while in paris, i was given a beautiful small bell as a gift. it has been a constant sounding companion ever since. at times, during my travels, i would shake it to bring certain spirits forth, and at times it would ring on its own, living in constant motion in my pocket or my bag. as with
some of my earlier works with single sounds – the lamp, chair, splint series and the tea cups in winter couplet – i wanted to see what such a simple singular object could generate, as well as if some of the presence of the person who gave it to me could be conjured through its sounding. perhaps making music can be a kind of alchemy. of course, i not only shook the bell as intended, but recorded the rubbing of its surface, the tapping of it's stem, etc. as usual, some of these sounds are present as recorded, while others have been manipulated
through pitch, and/or time. the title is a fragment from georges rodenbach's bruges-la-morte, a book more filled with the sound of
bells than any other i have read (or heard!). [steve roden]" [label info]
www.myspace.com/fernsrecordings
|
2009 |
€6.50 |
|
|
Berlin Fields |
CD-R |
"Berlin Fields is a sonic journey not limited by national boundaries, city limits, or material limitation. Roden perambulates, recording as he goes with the immediacy and quirks that come from using both portable recorder (a Sony PCM-D50) and phone. Exploring intuitively, Roden brings together 19 sonic vignettes via 'finds': things discovered; and 'activation': objects performed on site. Using intuition as a guide, Roden's interactions and sonic interventions - 'play' in every sense of the word - are both learning tool and platform for his creativity. Unearthing a vocabulary spoken by quotidian things, Roden coaxes tables, radiators, sardine tins and all manner of chanced upon paraphernalia into speaking their curious and complex language. Mindful of Rolf Julius' artistic philosophy, Roden introduces performances that sit congruently within, and do not disrupt, the sites he happens upon on during his travels through the capital cities of France, Germany and Finland. The land- and cityscapes, formal architecture and informal spaces Roden explores act as host for his interventions. Instead of simply absorbing his bodily movements and thought process, such places create a consonant dialogue with his soundings, saturating their own particular sounds - indeed atmospheres - within Roden's wanderings. Roden is both player and listener in a world sounding with music, and musical with sound. His actions are delicate insertions that proliferate: actions, soundings, reactions that spread into, echo, and synergise with the world. His performances activate the specific place, space and object with microscopic precision - the knowledge of a shaman. Ripples of tone singe the edges of a bird-filled landscape bestowing it a glowing aura; rhythmic motions on cavernous metal are 'touched by hands', jam jars are caressed across tables to intone chanting, a poetry of sorts. Such soundings act as a bridge, directly connecting body (and being) to location; a marker for experience. What is evident in Berlin Fields, is that Roden respects the sonic world around him. He is playful, mischievous perhaps, but most of all he listens with the ears of the ancient, the sacred. His motivation, simply, is to work with situations and sounds that move him - that teach him something new or different - that in turn drive him on to explore new environments, situations, objects and the places they inhabit. Ultimately, Roden brings one closer to an intimate world of reverie - an aural terrain that heaves, resonates, clips, scrapes, chimes and drips a mystical, ancient language." [label info]
www.3leaves-label.com |
2012 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Flower & Water |
CD |
"Flower & Water began with an offer to work with the first Dragon’s Eye release – a flexi-disc with a recording of George Winston playing a blues piano composition called “Medley: Bread Baker’s Stomp” – as source material. Since I am not a true remixer, I decided to modify the track via physical manipulation. Most of the material began with cutting up some of the flexi’s and taping back together in ‘wrong’ ways. I then played (or tried to play) the broken records that had been taped back together, and also putting objects onto the surface of the record while being played with a cheap record player that had a small built-in speaker. In many ways I felt like I was building a series of temporary sculptures, as I wanted the experience to be physical – similar to the use of hands in making bread from scratch. Based on Paul Novak’s bread making book, I felt I should approach my engagement with the flexi’s should feel a bit like a ritual. I then took the stereo recordings of the objects, and put different moments into a sampler so that I could shift pitches and create loops. In many ways the experience of cutting the records into pieces, felt related to my own practice, in that my approach to these recordings were quite different than how i’ve worked before – particularly with the addition of such an arduous process of physical building, rather than building the recordings in my “studio”. What is beautiful is that the recordings (done with a small stereo field recorder), captured not only the sounds of the record player, the plastic cups, the stones, and other things I set on the turntable, those sounds were processed by the reverb and echo that naturally exists in the space. So, rather than working within a virtual environment, I tried to keep the experiences as analog activities – with dust and hands, with scissors and scotch tape, and with the ways that sound is activated via dropping, sliding, and of course, listening. My hope was that the messiness of my process might offer some sound pieces that might relate to how a kitchen might look when I might have finished baking bread… with hands covered in flour, with dough stuck to the counter, etc. in many ways the overall group of tracks is a kind of hybrid – with agitated acoustic actions and piano recordings that have become loose and repetitive. The titles were all taken from Paul Novak’s book – A Baker’s Dozen of Daily Breads and More, some were as found, while others a bit more playful – such as wing / ogre / stone which was made up of the letters of George Winton’s name. The cover image of a bunch of cut up records was used in the making of this recording – fortunatel, no record needles were harmed during the recording session." [label info]
www.dragonseyerecordings.com
|
2014 |
€14.00 |
|
| ROGALSKY, MATT |
Memory like Water |
do-CD |
Amerikanischer Musiker & Komponist mit sehr vielfältigen Stücken & Konzepten, hier dokumentiert ist live-Material der letzten 10 Jahre. Vielschichtig schimmernde sphärische Endlos-Drone-Stücke & geräuschhafte Improvisation z.B. mit Violine & Gitarre, sowie eine äusserst merkwürdige Komposition für Radio-Klangquellen...
“The six (or seven) pieces on these CDs document live performance works which span 1996 to the present. Most of the solo pieces are structured improvisations, in that they have a broad form which is repeated from performance to performance while the detail is always quite different. The collaborative pieces are less formalized and depend hugely upon the input of my co-performers. I am very grateful to have worked with them. Conceived as two halves of a single piece, Resonate (noise) and Resonate (tones) seamlessly crossfade from one to the other. Both are sustained-sound pieces, the first exploring noise textures, the second exploring dense, quasi-orchestral harmonic territory. Both pieces employ original software which generates sound using a type of granular synthesis, triggering sampled sources many hundreds of times per second.
The three works entitled Kash are all related in that they employ the same original software instrument (of that name) initially developed in 2001 and still in use today. This software enables me to interact with live performers (or other sound sources) in fluid and lively improvisational situations, accumulating and processing fragments of low-level sounds (the "spaces between the notes"). The three performances with my Kash instrument represented here show how very different the outcomes can be, depending on who (or what) my co-performers are. In each case, all the electronic sound is derived from their real-time input.
Kash (vln) is a collaborative improvisation between myself and violinist Jane Henry, recorded live. Jane is a composer-performer whose performance techniques involve, among other things, use of multiple violin bows made of different abrasive materials. Kash (gtrs) is a live studio recording featuring my brothers Benjamin and Luke Rogalsky on steel-string acoustic guitars. This performance was an improvisation based on a few suggestions as to overall structure. Kash (radios) is a live recording made before an audience at Experimental Intermedia in New York City on March 8 2001. In this case, the "performers" with whom I am interacting are two radios, tuned to talk stations. The radios are faintly heard at the beginning of the piece, but soon the direct sound disappears and only the processed sound remains.
Sprawl (western magnetics) is a document of a live solo performance. As with Kash, Sprawl is a software instrument still in current use, which I developed to be employed in many different improvisational situations. Input from a live performer, or any other sound source, can be sampled and explored at the micro-level using a granular synthesis technique controlled by an computer graphics tablet. Many textural layers of sound can be built up to a dense wall of sound but equally delicate melodic lines can be drawn out as well. On this occasion the input sounds were provided by my brother Luke Rogalsky.
Transform is a manipulation of a live radio signal, tuned to any music station; the frequency content of the source radio program is brought out by a series of tunable delays which create strong harmonic resonances. These harmonies are constantly shifting throughout the piece, which is performed in two sections, the first relatively quiet and the second fairly loud, where the processing used causes the radio to take on the character of an electric guitar constantly on the verge of feedback. Overlaid on the resonant radio in the middle and end sections are sounds of a quite different character generated with electronic feedback loops. The underlying radio signal may sometimes be heard emerging from the dense processed sound.” [Matt Rogalsky]
www.xirecords.org
|
2006 |
€15.00 |
|
| ROIGK, STEFAN |
Worte wie Schall und Raum |
CD |
"1. "Vom Sagen Hören" 20:16 min
2. "Schweigen Ist Gold" 8:02 min
3. "Worte wie Schall und Raum" 33:30 min
Fotokarten: 1 Titel, 1 Abbildung "Vom Sagen Hören", 3 Abbildungen "Schweigen Ist Gold" und 3 Abbildungen "Worte wie Schall und Raum"
Ein ruhig gelesener Vortrag, ein lebhaftes Zwiegespräch und ein expressives Stück Sprechtheater deklinieren die Möglichkeiten einer rein auf Sprache basierenden imaginären Musik. Miteinander, gegeneinander und aneinander vorbei wuchern die Stimmen in Feldern aus hypnotischem Flüstern, eklektischem Wüten, kaskadenartigem Plappern und beruhigendem Erzählen. Die Texte erläutern zeitliche Strukturen, Spannungsbögen und Klangverhältnisse, zeichnen Klanglinien und Punkte und erschaffen gemeinsam eine Art Kopfmusik, welche ihre klanglich-musikalische Ebene erst im aktiven und extrem subjektiv-semantischen Prozess der Rezeption durch den Hörer enfaltet.
Die einstündige CD sowie die 8 Fotokarten im Format A5 dokumentieren die Installationen "Schweigen Ist Gold" (2015), "Worte wie Schall und Raum" (2015) sowie die Lecture Performance "Vom Sagen Hören" (2012-15). Alle Kompositionen befinden sich in vollständiger Länge als Stereomix auf der CD. Die Veröffentlichung erscheint im Rahmen des internationalen Stipendiatenprogrammes für Klangkunst "Braunschweig Projects" – Künstlerförderung des Landes Niedersachsen an der HBK Braunschweig 2014- 2015.
Berlin 2016, Audio CD + 8 Fotokarten DIN A5, 62 min."
www.revolver-publishing.com
|
2016 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
The Rising of Matteo |
CD |
The Rising Of Matteo is a highly dynamic and eclectic ride between directed feature, audio art, and faked diary. Out of field recordings made during an artist residency in Milan and the audio material of his installation work, Berlin-based artist Stefan Roigk molds spatially complex and overlapping platforms as tedious noises play sonic protagonists in an exclusively acoustic audible theater piece. The hypnotic swarms of organic chants; cascades of rustles, rattles, and drones; short cracklings and scratches; and moments of exhausting compression or restful silence generate a rousing maelstrom of fragmented narrations with expressive gestures. From density to decay and from intimacy to vastness, Roigk creates a dense and highly differentiated composition of intense associations and dramatic film-like atmospheres.
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| ROMULUS & REMUS |
Zalmosis |
10inch |
Collector’s item – trilogy part 2 ! Excellent tribal / ethno – percussive trance-pieces with edges on this sec. part of the trilogy, silkscreened / woodcut covers & inlays.
“Ed. of 111 numbered copies with a bonus coupon. Collect all 3 coupons and send them to R/R and receive a handmade object to hold all 3 releases. Audiophile vinyl packed in a tri-fold cover, signed and numbered. Part 3 of this trilogy will feature Markus Wolff (Crash Worship, Waldteufel). Romulus And Remus are no longer just for Rome. They have become modern dark facilitators for all. Where previously the whiley brothers paid homage to the moon goddess through last year's "Hekate" 10" (B-lRR mt039), they now make worshiping at the alter of the Death God easier and more affordable than ever. Rather than having to defer to the sticky mess of tossing some poor bloke on spear point to appease the ancient Thracian God-O-Death, Zalmosis, all you now need is a turntable and a copy of the new 10" and, by turns, the tides will be turned in your favour without the cleanup. While it certainly can be said that, like its predecessor "Hekate," "Zalmosis" has its bloody scythe lightly dipped in the halotosis of Muslimgauze, the unmistakable "Z" factor of this latest opus reeks of an absolutely distinct Romulus & Remus-ness. The hand percussion breaks are expertly woven into a sonic miasma that often sounds like the record player is on the fritz. Syrupy raga drones become beds for the rhythms to lie in and decay or sometimes be smashed to bits (and, yes, that scraping noise IS supposed to be there, you ninny). There may even be a little one-upmanship over the "Hekate" 10" because, after all, what is the moon goddess going to do in protest? Moon? Nonetheless, both 10"'s are beautifully rendered, extremely limited and indispensable companion pieces with a third on the way. Which is to say that your Zollection is not Zomplete without Zalmosis!” [press release]
|
2003 |
€22.00 |
|
| ROSENQVIST, DAG & RUTGER ZUYDERVELT |
Vintermusik |
CD |
"One album, seven tracks, two people. Who are they? Dag Rosenqvist is a Swedish musician releasing solo music under his own name/previously Jasper TX moniker, and Rutger Zuydervelt is prolific Dutch sound artist familiar to most as Machinefabriek, already known to Zoharum followers via ”Dubbeltjes” compilation of his rarities. And what is ”Vintermusik”? Actually, it is another rarity being reissued.
The tracks from this album date back to 2006 and are one of the early tracks commited by both Dag & Rutger. They did not meet at the time of the recordings, they used the Internet to exchange files. And so 50 minutes of music was created. It is contemplative music full of shimmering guitar drones, delicate piano melodies and bits of field recordings. They sound cold, yet warm at the same time. So the time for releasing this music is just right – it is a little bit of winter music for the end of the summer.
The original version ”Vintermusik” came out on a CDR limited to just 200 copies. Due to a popular demand we decided to re-release it. It has not dated in the least bit, it is as fresh as on the day of its release. As a special bonus, another rare gem was added, that is ”Feberdröm” coming from a 3” CDR. It gives you the full picture of those early ventures into duo collaboration between Dag and Rutger.
”Vintermusik” is released in a 3-panel ecopak in a strictly limited edition of 300 copies." [label info]
www.zoharum.com
"With some recognition (to avoid the word fame), Rutger Zuydervelt, also known as Machinefabriek, can always lean back and grab an oldie but goodie (and sold-out-ie) from the shelf and have it re-released. This is what happens here: The first six pieces were released in January 2007 on a CDR by the musicians themselves and probably didn't make it to these pages, and 'Feberdröm (Koortsdroom)' was released in December 2007 as a 3"CDR and reviewed in Vital Weekly 609. All of this now compiled on 'Vintermusik', a proper CD version of all the work by Dag Rosenqvist (sometimes also known as Jasper TX) and Rutger Zuydervelt. It's after all these years still not possible to tell who did what on these recordings, as for instruments and mixes that is. The original 3"CDR is placed at the end of this release back then I wrote: "... it's a great work. High static crackles, a mid-range bed of warm drones and a bass that rumbles somewhere below. Much along the recent works of Machinefabriek, and a sound that brought him his fame so far. Maybe there is a risk of repeating, but no doubt the fans will take that for granted. Nice one." The other five pieces follow a similar schematic, I think: lots of drone like sounds, generated by guitars and loop devices (and who knows what else from the electronics department) and all of this creating a solid hour of the finest dark ambient. Nothing new, but what did you expect from a re-issue? Fine quality, through out all of this." (FdW/Vital WEekly] |
2014 |
€12.00 |
|
| ROSENQVIST, DAG & SIMON SCOTT |
Conformists |
LP |
"Conformists’ is a soundtrack album to the short film of the same name composed by Dag Rosenqvist (aka Jasper TX) and Simon Scott.
The origin of the album occurred when Dag was approached by filmmaker Juriaan Booij to provide music for a film he was planning to shoot. Before a single frame was committed to celluloid, the overview provided to Dag was to score a film about how group mentality rules us as humans.
Equipped with only this simple brief, access to a handful of storyboard images and stills from the film set, Dag decided to ask friend and colleague Simon to collaborate on the project. Through the long-distance exchange of files, ideas and half-finished tracks, ten pieces were completed for the film score.
The resulting soundtrack is music rich in subtlety and nuance. Matching the overarching themes of the film, an undercurrent of menace is present throughout, evoking the feeling of half-forgotten memories and imagery drained of its colour.
It should be noted that one of the strengths of ‘Conformists’ is that unlike many film scores, the album also works as an entity in its own right. It was uncertain for a time that the film was going to be completed. As a result of the artists’ creative juices flowing thick and fast, the album was completed as a collaboration based on a film they imagined would be made..." [label info]
www.low-point.com
|
2010 |
€15.00 |
|
| ROSS, LESLIE |
Drop By Drop, Suddenly |
do-CD |
"The first CD starts with the shortest seed pieces that play primarily with the timbral and microtonal differences highlighted between tone-holes, forming a layered, pseudo-multitrack effect while playing with only one fingering, single note or multiphonic. They range from the more strictly tonal or modal pitch-centered to the thicker atonal and dissonant collection of frequencies found in some multiphonics. Pieces progress to longer complex ones by the second CD, some of which have as minimal material as the shorter ones, but make more extensive use of live multitrack recordings and frequency filters to further bring out changes in frequencies or accentuate beatings inherent in specific multiphonics. The electronics used were created explicitly for each composition using the computer-based program MAX/MSP.
Save for the unconventional 15 microphones of the “prepared bassoon”, these recordings include pieces with no sound processing whatsoever, as well as pieces that do involve sound processing and multi-tracking. Importantly, however, any processing (timed entrances of microphones, overdubbing, looping, spectrum filtering, pitch shifting...) is made in real time, not post-recording. All recordings are single-take recordings where four speaker channels along with room microphones have been mixed down to stereo. Key clicks occasionally get picked up in a loop recording to return sometimes processed, sometimes not later; in circular breathing a multiphonic might drop out a moment before sounding again –what might sound like clicks or occasional drop outs on some of the recordings are not overlooked mastering faults but the result of this live processing and playing as would be experienced in performance.
With a formal background in classical music and early performance practice Leslie Ross took a plunge into the free improv scene of downtown NYC in the mid 80’s and has immersed herself in experimental music ever since. Her connected, parallel, work as baroque bassoon builder also opened up into explorations of invented instruments and sound installations at the same time. She has presented solo programs, both acoustic and electro-acoustic with laptops or electronics throughout Europe and the US over the past three decades. In the mid 2000’s she returned her music focus to a detailed exploration, analysis and understanding of bassoon multiphonics, the details of which she has made freely available on her website. It is through this exploration of multiphonics and the subtle changes made when playing with resonance keys that she was brought to the multiple-mic project of this CD." [label info]
https://xirecords.bandcamp.com/album/drop-by-drop-suddenly
"In my desperately insufficient erudition, the sum of “bassoon” and “woman” gave “Lindsay Cooper” as the most likely result until three days ago, when – while rummaging across the piles of promos received in 2018 – I retrieved this 2-CD set by Leslie Ross. Haven’t been listening to anything alternative since. More than the trademark biography-in-pills used by the official specialists to fill half of a writeup, let me urge you to check this article to understand the kind of creative individual we’re dealing with. An instrument builder, inventor and skilled player who lives surrounded by canaries and cats, and produces valhallas of tones, microtones and illusory tones from a single source. What’s not to like?
A resort for brains who don’t content themselves with shabby explanations, Drop By Drop, Suddenly comprises tracks of length varying from 5’13” to 27’37”. An attentive look at the program reveals that the pieces are ordered from shortest to longest, as if Ross wished to take the hand of the listeners to gradually immerse them into oceanic clusters to reach mental emptiness. We also noticed that the harshness deriving from certain pitch contiguities tends to decline (not always!) with the temporal extension. What Ross is telling us – perhaps without realizing – is that every apparent strain can be alleviated or, at the very least, considered under different perspectives with the acquisition of fundamental psychoacoustic data. Especially when lulled by such a concentration of upper partials, occasionally suggesting fragments of near-immobile melody (“Closed Circuit, A Pastoral”) or simply lifting us from the chair (“Water”).
Amazingly, everything heard occurs in real time. Even when veritable legions of bassoons (and relative key clicks, and whatever else one can hear, including the aforementioned birds) are perceived in the stereo field. It’s all born from an expert positioning of the microphones – Ross amplifies the unthinkable, besides the “normal” – and loops, natural or less: what do we know, poor guitarists deprived of the chance of circular breathing? The aim of the composer – subjecting the audience to a feeling close to the vibrational totality experienced by the performer – is achieved in full. Equally notable is the cross of inner stability and disregard of corporeal issues generated by the superimpositions; but we’re on Phill Niblock’s label, therefore we were expecting it, in a way.
And so, another case of droning wonderment. However – trust this madman – that’s just the beginning of an utterly enriching voyage. Sometimes being a canary implies receiving incredible rewards." [Touching Extremes]
|
2018 |
€17.50 |
|
| ROSSETTO, VANESSA |
The way you make me feel |
CD |
In fall 2014, I spent some time in New York City in preparation for a performance. During this time, I recorded as close to continually as I could given normal human and mechanical shortcomings – an SD card runs out of room, a battery dies, a person wakes too groggy to check the recorder or, in a flurry of activity, leaves it dormant. After a time, you start to forget the device is even there which is of course the purpose but also interacts in its own way with the frailties of human memory – if you forget it’s there you forget to check to make sure it’s functioning properly. Despite all that, at the end of the allotted time I was left with a large volume of recorded material that took me longer than I’d have liked to comb through, sort, assess and determine a structural framework around which I could wind bits of this straw into something resembling a form. In all this record of whirlwind events, I found myself most drawn to the moments at rest, in between overt actions and dialogue, and it was out of these that I constructed the majority of these pieces. It so happened that during the time of recording I was already collapsing into an unprecedentedly long, deep and unbroken depressive state. As so often can happen, the document I had planned to make and set out to make is not the one I ended up making. It couldn’t be. I believe that is reflected in the decision to form these pieces out of the absences and interstices – the pauses, misfirings, missing pieces, long sleeps and synaptic gaps and, of course, the way they make me feel.
(Vanessa Rossetto, April 2016)
|
2016 |
€14.00 |
|
| ROSTAMI, ARIA & DANIEL BLOMQUIST |
Still |
CD |
Five years have passed since Glacial Movements published the wonderful "Wandering Eye" album by the duo Aria Rostami and Daniel Blomquist, whose themes focused on a description of the best places to observe space from the Antarctic Plateau. A further step forward is represented by "Still", whose purpose is to describe how time can change its motion in case of cold weather.
" "Still" consists of a few recordings done within our first year of collaborating (2015-2016) - the opening track was our first studio recording, everything we had done prior to that was strictly live. Throughout this project, we've tried a lot of different approaches and made a special effort for each record and each live show to make it feel different from the last. In that first year, we primarily aimed to make songs that were built over long periods of time - usually getting noisier and/or more intense - and this was how we had envisioned "our sound" at the time. This also means that songs that were more on the traditional ambient side didn't make the cut of our first record, "Wandering Eye". When Glacial Movements approached us about a second release, we went with a different direction and the songs we chose for "Still" captured a new spirit in our work that was originally left on the cutting room floor. As time went on, we started venturing into new ideas like experimental techno, noise, and more traditional compositions while the songs on "Still" sat like a time capsule. We released more music, expanding our sound, and "Still", which was originally slated for a 2018 release, got pushed back further as conflicts on release schedules came up. We could never have predicted what the world would have looked like in 2021 when this record will finally be released. Somehow, through elements of chance, "Still" is finally being released in a world that feels like it is on pause in so many ways. Most of the songs on "Still" change over time. They do not sound the same when they end as they did when they started. This change is subtle rather than grand and over time the songs become completely new. For the song and album titles, we were thinking about time slowing or stopping in cold weather - how life is on pause and how movement is difficult. The stillness feels more like a cocoon rather than a hibernation - there is something changing over time - and although we had no idea what a global pandemic or politics of today would look like when making this work, the world today completely recontextualizes the music and the delay in the release now feels appropriate. "
https://glacialmovements.bandcamp.com/album/still
"When I was little I used to go on holiday to Austria with my parents. Sometimes we’d go in the winter and other times in the summer. One thing we always did was take a cable car to the top of one of the Tyrolean mountains. It was a weird feeling being carried up a mountain in a tinbox by metal cables. When we got to the top the views were incredible. Even as a child I knew that the views were impressive. One holiday in the winter we went up to a glacier. I didn’t know what it was but was excited to see one. Little did I know that the glacier was just a load of ice. At the time I was disappointed as I wanted to see something impressive. Like a stadium, church, another massive mountain on top of a massive mountain, but it was just a load of ice. As I listen to Still by Aria Rostami and Daniel Blomquist I’m reminded of this trip.
The album opens with ‘-2 °C’. Airy synths swirl out of the speakers while a deep drone slowly grinds its way towards me. This opening salvo works not only as an introduction to the track but to the album itself. Everything that follows is of the small ilk. ‘Undercooled’ is a bit busier but generally it’s the same thing. Here, though, the melodies are crisper, giving the ‘Uncooled’ an edge that the opener was missing. The standout track is ‘Hoarfrost’. Here Rostami and Blomquist add some sounds of birds and running water to the mix. These elements take us out of the serene drones and plant us in the real world. The field recordings also give the song a sense of urgency that is missing from the rest of the album.
Still lives up to its name. Rostami and Blomquist aren’t rushing anything here. They are taking their time and delivering some exquisite drones that do enough to keep your attention whilst keeping it, well, still. Mostly the album works. A lot of the heavy lifting is done by the huge, slab like, synths. As they move forward, one drone at a time, you do get the impression of glaciers. Gradually turning mountains to rumble and cutting out valleys where there wasn’t one before. The downside to the album is that the slightly light, faster, melodies aren’t quite as engaging as I hoped, so my attention was lost from time to time. It always came back to the music, but after a few moments it was lost again. This is an album to play while concentrating on another task. That sounds harsh, and slightly belittles the richness of the music, but there wasn’t enough variation to keep me engaged for the full 55-minutes.
While listen to Still, I’m back up the mountain looking down at the valleys and gorges, the glacier violently cut through the landscape. Despite the tourists everything is quiet and still. It might snow later, but it probably won’t. Ultimately it doesn’t matter as the glacier will still be here tomorrow. As will the album. Perhaps then I’ll find its inner secrets, but if I don’t, I know it’ll be an enjoyable experience finding out." [God is in the TV]
|
2021 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Wandering Eye |
CD |
"Aria Rostami and Daniel Blomquist's debut album "Wandering Eye" was recorded over the span of a year and a half. "Dome A" and "Dome B" were recorded inside of a planetarium dome to no audience and it was the second time Rostami and Blomquist played together. "Ridge A" is the latest song recorded and it was performed live in Blomquist's basement. These live tracks use source material ranging from samples from the internet, to live field recordings, to synthesizers. "Dome C" and "Dome F" were compiled by sending material back and forth over and over again and then rearranged into coherent songs. These studio recordings mostly consist of processed piano originally recorded by Rostami. "Ridge B" originated as a cover of the Persian pop song "Do Panjereh" by Googoosh that Rostami had created but was manipulated and distorted in the process of sending the material back and forth. The song titles come from a paper published by Saunders et al. titled "Where is the best site on Earth?" which highlights the best places to observe space from the Antarctic Plateau. Antarctica is the coldest, driest and calmest place on earth. The astronomical sights there yield images of the heavens that are sharper and have more clarity than any other sight on earth. It is a gateway to observe other worlds.
Aria Rostami and Daniel Blomquist are from San Francisco, CA. Rostami and Blomquist's work occurs at two stages, the gathering/preparation of source material and the live performance. Primarily, Rostami and Blomquist's source material focuses on, digital information and the exchange of that information, repetition and decay, and non-involvement or surrendering aspects of creative control. Some of the piano recordings were created by answering a simple questionnaire Rostami made that uses letters, colors, numbers, major verse minor, and picking between flat, natural and sharp to create a framework for a composition. After the framework is created, Rostami creates a song on the piano, records and sends it to Blomquist who in turn manipulates it. In some cases, Rostami recorded the material using the audio recording option for the app Viber. Rostami used Viber to communicate with a friend who was visiting Iran. Since he had asked her to fill out the survey through the app, he also recorded the material through the low quality recording interface. Sometimes this material is thrown back and forth and sometimes it's processed only once or barely touched. The recording is then turned into a loop and recorded to tape. This system was developed to surrender control and allow the origin of the composition to come from somewhere else much like field recordings or sampling does (two other ways Rostami and Blomquist gather source material.).Time, entropy, and decay are central factors in Rostami and Blomquist's work. For live performances Blomquist works with samples gathered and manipulated digitally and then dubbed to analog tape, reconstituting the quality and predictability of the digital source material. By using loops, Blomquist can take a short audio clip and concentrate on processing it live and allow for improvised changes to that recording over long periods of time. Rostami adds in an extra layer of drones, fuzz, melodic ambience and crescendos with his synthesizer. Their compositions explore dynamic relations between digital and analog sound creating quiet transitions and soaring peaks."
https://glacialmovements.bandcamp.com/album/wandering-eye
|
2016 |
€15.00 |
|
| ROTHENBERG, DAVID |
Bug Music |
CD |
"There has been rhythm on this planet for millions of years longer than humans have opened their mouths to sing. Long before birds, long before whales, insects have been thrumming, scraping, and drumming complex beats out into the world. David Rothenberg decided to investigate the resounding beats of cicadas, crickets, katydids, leafhoppers and water bugs in his unusual third foray into music made with and out of the animal world. After working with birds and whales, he now tackles the minute complex tunes of the entomological universe, building songs live and in the studio with cicadas who emerge only once every seventeen years, treehoppers who tap complex vibrations onto plant stalks, and a tiny beetle who makes one of the animal world’s loudest sounds by vibrating its penis underwater.
He is joined by guitarist Jürjendal, who has studied with Robert Fripp and Eno, Timothy Hill of the Harmonic Choir, Umru Rothenberg on iPad, and millions of tapping, screeching, and howling bugs—Hear them before they hear you." [label info]
www.gruenrekorder.de
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Nightingale Cities |
do-CD |
Five years in the making, David Rothenberg’s Nightingales in Berlin project includes a book, a film, many live concerts, and this double CD, including a 20 page color booklet of stills from the film and music not available in any form online. Here’s what Rothenberg says about the project:
“I used to make interspecies music largely on my own, seeing myself as some kind of individual explorer seeking out musical ideas with creatures we can’t even talk to. But in recent years I’ve decided that the point of musical contact with another species is to convince other people to join me. Over five years, from 2014 through 2019, I invited the best and most adventurous musicians I know to connect in musical collaboration—humans with nightingales, in Berlin and Helsinki.
The nightingales have helped me find the perfect sound. By assembling just the right group of kindred spirits, together we dream of a way that humans and nature might live closer together. Our species is warming the planet beyond recognition, and this could mean the end of our reign over this place. Yet there are still these moments during which humans can touch nature through sound happening all around us, as we make music along with the nightingales of Helsinki and Berlin. The paths to animal music sit right before us.
I love to listen to different musicians respond to the song of the nightingale for the very first time. I have played with these birds for several years now, and sometimes I wonder why I keep trying to make music with musicians with whom I cannot speak, who live as birds—such different lives than people who may join the band. Some human critics think it’s all delusion, that I intrude upon the birds’ ancient world of perfect sound and struggle, but whenever I bring a new musician along to play with nightingales, I realize why I began this process in the first place. We all feel such joy and hope when music can carry meaning from one species to another. The planet becomes a more harmonious place.”
Nightingale Cities
Emil Buchholz, bass
Korhan Erel, iPad
Wouter Jaspers, Field Kit
Lembe Lokk, voice
Benedicte Maurseth, Hardanger fiddle
Wassim Mukdad, oud
Jay Nicholas, electric bass in remix
Volker Lankow, frame drum
David Rothenberg, clarinet, bass clarinet, seljefløyte, iPad
Sanna Salmenkallio, violin
Cymin Samawatie, voice
Ines Theileis, voice
Disc One, Berlin (72 minutes)
1. The Boori Sound
2. Dreaming Slow
3. While Birds Chant Praises
4. O Bülbul, Your Love
5. The Nightingales Are Drunk
6. Viktoria’s Dream
7. Nightingale Cities
8. Addicted to Birds
9. She’s Finally Here
10. At Midnight We All Waited
11. I Cannot Go Home
12. Exit Music
13. Nightingale, You Are the One
Disc Two, Helsinki (69 minutes)
1. Elektro Repeet
2. Sharawaji Blues
3. Willow Wind
4. No One Sings at Dawn Alone
5. Ballad with Nightingale and Mosquitoes
6. Sisichak
7. Sisichak Remix [for Emu]
8. Alien Beauty
9. The Morning Electric
10. Sotavalta’s Satakieli
11. NeoNachtigall
24 Tracks (141′00″)
Double CD (500 copies)
20 page color booklet
|
2019 |
€16.00 |
|
| ROY, STEPHANE |
Migrations |
CD |
“Appartenances” (2003). “Trois petites histoires concrètes” (1998), “Masques et parades” (2000-03).
… Stéphane Roy has again demonstrated his virtuosity with Trois petites histoires concrètes… (Le Devoir)
www.empreintesdigitales.com
|
2003 |
€12.00 |
|
| ROZENHALL, DANIEL |
same |
CD |
1. A Plumage Man With A Plastic Bag (3.43)
2. Eyeland Part 1 (16.37)
3. Eyeland Part 2 (19.47)
4. Grig-ailment (6.39)
5. Sinister Laburnum (18.14)
Total time: 64.44
Tracks 1-3 were originally released on the LP Eyeland (Firework Edition Records, FER 1042) in 2003.
Tracks 4-5 were originally released on the LP Miasmasun (Firework Edition Records, FER 1032) in 2001.
All tracks were digitally re-mastered in 2007 for this CD edition.
All music by Daniel Rozenhall. Recorded at EMS, Stockholm.
Cover and insert artwork by Rozenhall. Graphic design by Rozenhall and Sten Backman.
"Time is an illusion. Nature consists of rhythms, pulses and the eruptive life wills of the organisms. And there is something unremittingly organic – or to be more exact bacteriological - about Rozenhall’s soundscapes. They demand their own lebensraum and squeeze themselves up between the dials on the mixing board. Sounds that have gone astray. In perpetual motion. A process without hiatus. Bacteriological objects forcing themselves upon us from the eye of the hurricane, while everything around us is twisted out of joint – time, space and the whole show. We contemplate but we aren’t able to interact. The body loses power over its movements and the world is transformed into flickering light. Yes, if we promptly need to speak of Rozenhall’s music, then we have to speak of the sounds between the frequencies, between the fingers, between the words, beyond the patterns. Where every nerve ending is revealed. Millions and millions of details. A rhythm without tonality. A music of negations. And our conversation cannot be anything else but the excretions that are left behind after the descriptive attempts have been halted - the waste product of sounds. Try to lie still to this. Rozenhall unveils your couchpotatin’ for what it is: an imagined resting place on a globe of galactic driftwood.
Rozenhall’s music has nothing to do with greeting phrases. This is the way a farewell sounds. To part is to begin again with oneself. The last handshake that allows thought to return to one’s own drawing board. Rozenhall has created the ultimate soundtrack for this swiftly passing ground zero. When you without help from anyone else have to confront the vertigo within yourself. The dizziness that happens before you have caught up with your own autobiography and the private mythmaking that allows you to return to your ordinary habits.
And the first thing you meet is the treble. The shrill tone that is allowed to radiate into every cavity. Impossible to figure out like a rubik’s cube without a solution. A sound wave from an alpine landscape, deserted and windswept. It’s like if The Overlook Hotel in Stanley Kubricks’s ‘The Shining’ started sending out its own emotional state through a forgotten radio channel. And it is our fate to lay frostbitten with our axes raised for attack in the garden labyrinth."
[Daniel Westerlund , Writer and publisher]
www.fylkingen.se
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Forecusst |
CD |
"Auch für Forecusst nutzte Rozenhall wieder das EMS in Stockholm als Klanglabor. Weißes Rauschen prasselt wie Sturzregen. Die Luft brodelt und zischt, dass man reumütig ein Königreich für eine Arche bieten möchte, wenn man nicht wie gelähmt sich ducken müsste unter einem himmlischen Zorneswolkenbruch, wie ihn Bußprediger nicht ‚göttlicher‘ sich wünschen könnten. Man meint schon das Geheul der Verdammten zu hören. Die hellen Jauler und Triller eines kurzen Zwischenspiels geben nur unzureichend Entwarnung und noch weniger Beruhigung. Track 3 setzt dann auch wieder den Presslufthammer an der verstockten Seele an, zumindest an dem vermeintlich sicheren
Boden unter den Füßen. Soll man sich so eine neuzeitliche Version des Fegefeuers vorstellen, als Werkhallen der Läuterung, mit Gehämmer, Schweißbrennern und Fräsen? Pulsierendes Sirren nimmt im vierten Abschnitt wiederum bald bedrohliche Dimensionen an, auch eine ungute Schärfe. Diskantes Georgel in schneidenden Registern, ein Brausen, das Geheul mit sich führt und endlich doch abflaut, um in ein zweiminütiges Loch abzutauchen.." [Bad Alchemy]
"...Here his various interests blend together nicely: there is a fine balance between ambient sounds and noise bits into compositions that sound as compositions, and not a bunch of sounds let loose in the computer, running around on end. Quite cinematic music in approach, I could imagine this would work well as a soundtrack to science fiction movies of spaceships in pitch black skies and enemies firing laser guns, before landing on a radio active waste dump - an empty planet was used for this - and geiger counters running amok. Rozenhall's ambient industrial sound has certainly matured over the years, and will no doubt continue to grow. 'Forecusst' is the start of that growth." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.kningdisk.com
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| RRILL BELL |
False Flag Rapture |
MC |
Following up on 2020's critically acclaimed "Ballad of the External Life" LP, Rrill Bell's latest outing on Elevator Bath is a complex amalgamation of acoustic source materials (metallophones, winds, strings, and brass), (cassette) tape treatments, and digital assemblages, which coalesced over a period of six years, starting from the artist's desire to build a highly personal album around a turn-of-the-century recording of his late grandmother singing an impromptu hymn in Slovak dialect at a family gathering, resurrected from memory after lying dormant for 50+ years. Working through a family legacy of religious hallucinations/visions, the album (in spite of its tongue-in-cheek title) unironically explores themes of potentially staged transcendence, ecstasy of suspicious origins, vulnerability, inspired/anxious states of mind, fractured identity, doubt, rupture, redemption by proxy, and the dilemma of being forced to adopt a perspective in a contingent universe.
The music on "False Flag Rapture" is restless yet focused, shifting, evolving – like "Ballad...", never staying in one place too long – and features a wide range of aural perspectives, as well as a strong sense at times of "listening with", rather than merely "listening to". Hyper-detailed, darkly tinged ecstatic/manic passages alternate with dreamlike chamber pieces and muted celestial drifts cloaked in an uneasy haze, with the occasional disarming reveal.
A labor of love begun in earnest in 2015 and completed in 2021, "False Flag Rapture" is a testament to abstract electro-acoustic music's oft under-appreciated potential to treat deeply personal themes while connecting alienated human beings.
Born and raised in the US-American Rust Belt, and a resident of Germany for over two decades, Rrill Bell draws on the formative inspirations of radical scratch culture, Cagean thought, harmolodics, musique concréte, and various other strains of experimental music practice. Originally rooted in the world of improvisational performance, over the past decade his work has expanded to include various hybrid approaches to location recording, augmented reality, composition, and audio narrative.
In addition to 2020's "Ballad of the External Life" LP on Elevator Bath, Rrill Bell's music has previously been released by the Klappkart, Gertrude Tapes, Weird Forest and Denovali labels, among others.
Rrill Bell: chimes, vibraphone, crotales, glockenspiel, drum machines, tapes, dictaphones, tape decks, and electronics
featuring contributions from
Felix Fritsche: clarinets/flutes
Koenraad Ecker: cello
Alex Morsey: contrabass/tuba
Mastered by James Plotkin
Artwork/collage by Rrill Bell
Photography by Katrin Koenning
Layout by Colin Andrew Sheffield
42-minute lime green cassette with full-color six-panel j-card in clear Norelco case, plus full-color outer o-card featuring collage art by Rrill Bell.
https://rrill-bell.bandcamp.com/album/false-flag-rapture
|
2021 |
€11.00 |
|
| RUA, VITOR & THE METAPHYSICAL ANGELS |
When Better isn't quite Good enough |
do-CD |
"The spirit of enquiry and experiment is still alive and kicking - in Portugal anyway. On this double CD, Vitor looks twice at the same material. On CD one we get his unique take on guitar improvisation, which is electric, songlike and mixes genres in an unusual way. Then he takes all the pieces on that CD and orchestrates them with drums, bass, piano, guitar, clarinet and trumpet, to make a duplicate CD on which the same pieces appear as quite different pieces. You can choose one or the other, or compare the takes - or try to unpick the process by listening. And the band lists some of the leading figures of the Portuguese avant-jazz, and indie rock scenes.
Vítor‘s career has veered from rock (he was the founder of the hit band GNR) through minimalism, folk, punk, thrash metal, electronic and country to free improvisation (29 years with Telectu). Since 1987, he has focused more on classical contemporary composition - for soloists, chamber groups and orchestras and written five operas. Here gets back to his rock roots, bringing all that other buzzing knowledge with him."
|
2018 |
€17.50 |
|
| RV PAINTINGS |
Samoa Highway |
LP |
"RV Paintings were born in California. Humboldt County, to be exact. It is nearly impossible to imagine their origins being elsewhere since the brothers Brian and Jon Pyle, who currently pilot RV Paintings, constantly mine the metaphysical properties of their homeland through a heavy-lidded psychedelia. The redwood trees that majestically rise from the rugged terrain may have been one of the endemic objects that inspired RV Paintings to "jam nature;" but Humboldt County's other major cash crop -- marijuana -- cannot be far behind. As much as the Pyle brothers channel a psychotropic animism through sound, their diaphanous drones and foggy ambient tangles spring from a schematic intelligence that belies any method acting of getting stoned and jamming in a room.
Samoa Highway is the second full album for RV Paintings, following the nature jam transmissions of Trinity Rivers published by Root Strata in 2007 and a well-suited split LP with Taiga Remains from Blackest Rainbow. Just as the debut payed homage to the rugged river system that cuts through forests and mountains of the region, Samoa Highway refers to the lengthy bridge that runs between two coastal communities in Humboldt County, one of which houses a municipal airport. A swarm of drone guitars announces the opening of the record on "Millions," with a shoegaze wash collapsing into rarified tone purity and bulging through a metallic buzz. Field recordings of airplane take-off and firework explosions punctuate the undulating bleary smear of the Pyle brothers' guitars. The result is one of levitation, even as RV Paintings seem to be plugging their guitars and electronics directly into the moss, soil, and mycelia of the Humboldt forest. Echo-soaked flutes, maudlin strings, scabrous noises unearthed from the bottom of the Pacific, and a cinematic arcs of guitar shimmer complete the beautiful and haunted miasma of Samoa Highway that falls somewhere between Taj Mahal Travellers, Organum, and The Caretaker.
Brian Pyle may be best known as one of the founders of the Starving Weirdos and records his solo work as Ensemble Economique. Samoa Highway stands the first piece of vinyl published by Helen Scarsdale Agency and includes a code for a digital download. Pressed in an edition of 500 copies." [label info]
www.helenscarsdale.com
"Two brothers, Brian and Jon Pyle are behind RV Paintings and hail from Hunbold County, California, home of redwood trees and marijuana. Bryan Pyle is also a member of Starving Weirdos and solo known as Ensemble Economique. The brothers jam about about to start with and then edit these out into fixed compositions. They use guitars and effects, I believe, and if I am to believe the press text, also flutes and strings. The recording quality doesn't seem to be something that they care about that much, or perhaps its just the pressing that is not that great? It moves into slight distortion which doesn't justify the music. Unlike many of the previous releases by The Helen Scarsdale Agency, this is drone music of a somewhat different branding. More improvised, more loosely played also, these drone based textures are a bit crude and bending the idea of static drone music, with its metallic scraping and reverb effects in the background. A bit like a toned down 'In Extremis' by Organum, with the addition of field recordings, buzzing effects and other obscured sonic debris. A bit more raw than is usual, and that surely marks a fine difference. Because its not top perfect, all the more nice." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
"Two brothers from Humboldt County are RV Paintings - one is Brian Pyle, whose name should probably strike a chord as one of the principals in Starving Weirdos and recently has been generating some impressive work under his solo Ensemble Economique moniker; the other is Jon Pyle, who occasionally makes a guest appearance in the Weirdos but also operates in Nudge with Honey Owens, Paul Dickow, and Brian Foote. For all of the method acting from the brothers Pyle in getting stoned and jamming, they have been remarkably consistent and consistently good in all of their ruminations, with RV Paintings probably the best that they've mustered. The RV Paintings debut on Root Strata is three years out but is still a timeless, gorgeous dronesmear of bowed metals and elongated guitar; this was followed by a well-suited split with Taiga Remains on Blackest Rainbow, and now, they've got this stunner on Helen Scarsdale.
RV Paintings speak about, to, and from their own immediate surroundings: the moss, mushrooms, and mycelium of the awe-inspiring redwood forests, the heavy fog that hangs at the coast and from their bongs, and the weightiness of the Pacific Ocean just off to the west. The title Samoa Highway gives the impression that the two brothers were on their own trip during a cold, wintery day, gazing off to the southwest and pondering the warmer climate of American Samoa. But no, the Samoa Highway is located in Humboldt County, connecting Eureka with the small community of Samoa on the other side of the bay which was thought to resemble that of Pago Pago in the mid-19th Century. It's also the bridge that would get you to the Arcata/Eureka Airport.
So, the album begins with field recordings of airplanes lifting off on the jawdropping track "Millions," as sitar-like harmonics and ghostly, levitating drones emanate from the distance. It's a perfectly narcotized smear of echo and drift, hanging in space as the remnants of a particularly lucid dream or the foggy headspace from an afternoon of smoking pot and staring at the sun. This is a track that could spiral onward forever. So nice! Samoa Highway continues with "Mirrors" driven by melancholy looped melody from a cello that dissolves into a flurry of shimmered guitar fuzz, whose shoegazed mantra has been submerged under centuries of felled trees and lichens. Cyclical patterns of samples from dark yet pastoral orchestral passages rounds out the album. If it weren't for the delicate freeform clamor of the drumkit, tracks such as this wouldn't be that far removed from the 'pop ambient' cuts by Gas. Citations of Taj Mahal Travellers, Organum, Grouper, Barn Owl, and The Caretaker certainly hit the mark. Music for airports? More like Music for California airports! Fuck yeah!
And a download coupon is tucked within the sleeve as well!" [Aquarius Records] |
2010 |
€10.00 |
|
| S.Q.E. |
Wahid (SOLD OUT) |
7inch |
Zwei fantastische, orientalisch-esoterisch anmutende Stücke vom URE THRALL-Mitspieler J.GRECO aka S.Q.E., der optimaler Begleit-Release zur neuen CD „The Abyss Stares Back“ !
“S.Q.E. is the solo-project of J.GRECO now residing in New York City, who has worked with URE THRALL, KRIS FORCE, ALAN TRENCH, and others and released three full albums so far, now pointing into a more ‘song-oriented’-direction than before ... The title of this EP WAHID means something like “independent” (also “alone” or “solo”) in arabic language. The title-track on Side A is build on powerful oriental percussion, mixed with mesmerizing floating flute, drone- and e-bow-guitar-sounds, forming layers of harmonic overlapping... EPITAPH 3, the B-side, is less rhythmically structured and creates enormous space with backwards-sounds from cymbals and voices, deep drones and synth-layers at the base... two deeply mesmerizing tracks....
Filed under: Oriental & Esoteric Drones
BLACK & WHITE MARBLE - VINYL. WHITE COVERS WITH WONDERFUL CALLIGRAPHED “WAHID”-SYMBOL. “ [press release]
|
2005 |
€7.00 |
|
| SAD KARMA |
Solis |
maxi-CDR |
Ziemlich beeindruckende CDR auf ONYXIA von einem (neuen?) Projekt namens SAD KARMA, die vier sehr elegisch-dunkle Stücke komponiert haben, irgendwo zwischen reinen atmosphärischen Klängen und richtigen „Songs“.... etwas elegisch, weirde Gitarren & Analog-Synths, Pianoeinsatz...
“SadKarma is the phenomenon of the experience of pleasure, through the perception of balance and proportion of stimulus. It involves the cognition of a balanced form and structure that elicits attraction and appeal towards a person or an inanimate object. SadKarma is the bedlam of organic ambience with decoration & fluctuation in its purest form. The frames of the music bear fragments from certain eras of artists like Swans and Coil but the painting itself has drifting textures far more beautiful. Professionally executed CDR release with full colour sleeve & label. Warmly recommended! Ltd. 200 copies.” [label info]
|
2005 |
€7.50 |
|
| SAINT PETERS CROSS / KRABATH / JOAN MIRO |
The Wrath / Arum Rapasopis / Artist |
CD-R |
"6th release of Metarealist Records presents 3 projects from Ukraine. The split is opened by Saint Peters Cross - orthodox death-industrial / ambient project of label owner - K. Saint Peters Cross continues the path of Mental Destruction who started in early 90s, but makes it in his own way, only taking the overall ideological attack vector from the Swedes. Next comes Krabath - with renewed sound and ideas. Now the connection with the same-named Czech animation film is lost, and Krabath tries to develop the idea of descructive discrepancy between educational programmes of modern society and natural impulse of childhood. Musically all compositions are woven from the sounds of various toys and voices of children of various age. Fans of dark experimental ambient should definitely appreciate "Arum Rapasopis". And the closing act is Joan Miro - noisy power electronics, insane brainchild of Pt74 also standing behind Krabath. "Artist" has already been released as a split with Moscow based project Fungoreia. Blind fury, insane atrocity with industrial sounds of a broken meat grinder - all this will bring pleasure to the lovers of formalistic art." [label info] |
2013 |
€10.00 |
|
| SAKELLARIOU, YIORGIS |
Klaipeda |
CD |
"Klaipėda is located in the west of Lithuania, right on the shores of the Baltic Sea. I lived there from September 2011 until July 2012 and during those months I was regularly recording in the city and the surrounding rural areas. I got very fond of these locations and all the sounds I recorded are very significant and dear in my memory. Throughout the changes of the seasons, varying between human-made and industrial to “natural” sounds caused by birds, water, wind or plants, the acoustic environment never ceased to inspire me.
Klaipėda offered an amazing diversity of sonic material, from echoing train whistles, factory machines’ drones and hammering sounds, to the far hiss sound of the sea, the thumps of thunders and the rustling of the leaves on the trees. The album, however, is not a documentation of Klaipėda’s soundscape nor does it intend to realistically reconstruct my acoustic experiences. As a two part composition, it aims to engage the listener with a profound sonic world in which each one can connect with its own memories and create new subconscious thoughts.
(Yiorgis Sakellariou, December 2013)" [label info]
www.unfathomless.net
"More and more Yiorgis Sakellariou works under his own name and no longer as Mecha/orga: a development we see with more serious composers coming from the 'industrial' music end (a term to be regarded in the broadest sense possible). Sakellariou is from Greece, but lived in Klaipeda (Lithuania) for some time, a few years ago, and now is residing in London. Between September 2011 and July 2012 he recorded sounds in and around Klaipeda and these are used in the two pieces that are on this CD. I have not been to Klaipeda, but to Lithuania and some of that cold, rural, wood country is something that is easily seen in these pieces, along with the harbor/sea side of the city. Sakellariou taped some motorized events (ships no doubt, but maybe also chainsaws in the forest?) so that he can add a fine drone-like layer to the music, especially in the second piece/part. One of the fine powers of Sakellariou's music is that one never knows what he does, exactly, to his sound material. Is it just a collage of sound? Does he layer all his sounds in some way? Is there any sort of treatment that he applies to this? It's not for me to say what he does: I really don't know (never asked him, I guess). I do know it results in some excellent music that is entirely based on field recordings; imaginative music that opens up a fine sound world and shows us the somewhat desolate world of Lithuanian woods and seaside. Maybe a bit cold, but perhaps that's just an illusion." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2015 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Nympholepsy |
maxi-CD |
Nympholepsy (23:03) is inspired by the immediate environment and history of ancient messene. The work links the archaic with the contemporary by establishing a dialogue between the ethereal (sound) and the material (the ancient ruins). It is an exploration of the blurred limits between myth and history and the relationship between deities and human beings, nature and the supernatural.
The sonic material is based on the voice of Savina Yannatou which is manipulated and combined with environmental recordings.
In memory of my father Costas Sakellariou
Nympholepsy was premiered on June 3, 2018 at Tuned City - Ancient Mesene - Athens (OCC) as part of the INTERFACES project and co-funded by the Creative Europe program of the European Union.
Special thanks to: Savina Yannatou, Carsten Stabenow, Manolis Manousakis, John Grzinich, Nikolas Malevicius and the production and technical team of OCC.
noise-below.bandcamp.com
mechaorga.wordpress.com
https://mecha-orga.bandcamp.com/album/nympholepsy
"Yiorgis Sakellariou’s Nympholepsy is a portrait in sound of the historical ghosts inhabiting the ruins of Ancient Messene, a city on the Greek peninsula of The Peloponnese. Over the centuries, the site saw several waves of settlement and conquest, of building, destruction and reconstruction, beginning with foundation by the Achaeans and culminating with the city’s reestablishment in 369 BCE after the defeat of Sparta by Thebes at Leuctra. Much more recently–in 2018–the ruins of Ancient Messene were the focus of a Tuned City event in which a number of sound artists were commissioned to explore the themes of place and memory and their implications for the situated nature of listening. Sakellariou was one of the artists invited to participate; Nympholepsy is the work that resulted.
The audio interpretation of an ancient city would seem to be a natural fit for Sakellariou. Trained as an ethnomusicologist and active since the early 2000s as a composer of electronic music and a field recordist, Sakellariou has produced a body of work largely concerned with ferreting out and disclosing the networks of association that tie together an environment and the listeners situated within it. For Nympholepsy he took field recordings of Ancient Messene and combined them with manipulated recordings of the voice of Savina Yannetou, a Greek vocalist as conversant with early music as she is with contemporary improvisation. Sakellariou alters the sound of Yannetou’s voice artfully, changing its pitch and timbre, setting up rhythmic patterns and blocks of sound, and occasionally stripping it down to traces of its grain with the underlying breath exposed. Structurally, the twenty-three minute-long piece is a work of accumulation and densification as Sakellariou adds layers of sound elements and pressures them into thickening masses—an especially appropriate response to a place that itself was the product of an accretion of peoples and their material cultures over long periods of time." [Daniel Barbiero / Avant Music News] |
2019 |
€8.00 |
|
| |
Auka |
mCD-R |
“for music is certainly the ultimate mystery of faith, the mystique, the completely revealed religion” (ludwig tieck)
the title is inspired by the painting "auka" by m. k. Čiurlionis.
many thanks to gailė griciūtė, dominykas digimas, daniel crokaert and jean-marc boucher.
“auka” was composed in august 2019 during a residency at DAR (Druskininkai Artists‘ Residence), organized and supported by the lithuanian composers’ union.
environmental sounds recorded in vilnius, kaunas, elektrėnai and druskininkai, lithuania from november 2018 till august 2019.
https://taalem.bandcamp.com/album/auka-alm-137
"While the label says they explore the various ways of ambient music they proof here with the release by Yiorgis Sakellariou they don't mind going an extra mile; or two. Sakellariou is a composer of music created with the use of field recordings. You might know this from my previous reviews of his work. On 'Auka' (inspired by a painting by m. k. Ciurlionis, and Auka meaning 'sacrifice') he uses field recordings from Vilnius, Kaunas, Elektrėnai and Druskininkai, all cities in Lithuania. Using field recordings, I would think, is nothing unusual in the world of Taalem, but Sakellariou uses his field recordings as they are, and does not apply any sort of manipulation to it (save, perhaps, for some equalization). He uses these sounds as they are and it is in the combination of these sounds to create the composition. A lot of the time one has no idea what these sounds are; crackling of leaves, branches, static electricity, metal staircases; that is the sort thing believe to hear. Another very un-Taalem thing is that Sakellariou uses a lot of dynamics in his music, and this piece is not different. There are two distinct loud passages in this piece but also some very quiet, near-silent passages. This is not your standard ambient music, but rather a musique concrète work and Sakellariou is a refined composer in that field. Perhaps, this work will be something of a shock for some people but I love it. It is a powerful work full of the near-by and far away sounds, unusual spaces to record them in and an intense listening experience." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2020 |
€5.50 |
|
| SAL SOLARIS |
Die Scherben 2004-2010 |
CD |
"kultFRONT and ZHELEZOBETON labels are glad to announce the new CD by one of the most outstanding Russian post-industrial projects - Sal Solaris. This release follows the logic of the "Der Ruf" compilation CD (2006, Der Angriff) and collects the tracks recorded at different times on various occasions. Among other tracks the disc contains compositions from the compilations "The Black Square" (2006, kultFRONT), "Iznutri" (2007, Ewers Tonkunst), "Rush for Black Celebration" (2008, kultFRONT), "Heliophagia III" (2009, Heliophagia), "Art of Caring the Dead" (2009, Dodozavr), "Heliolatria" (2010, Heliophagia), also tracks from the split 10" record with Stahlwerk 9 (2004, Der Angriff) and several previously unreleased compositions.
When describing the sound of Sal Solaris reviewers often mention the neologism "power ambient" and we can't but agree with this term. The music of this duet coming from Rostov-on-Don and Moscow combines the elements of dark, often space ambient, post-industrial and power electronics, a collage approach and a dense saturated atmosphere, not relaxing but rather stimulating the listener. A collection of works created during various years allows to trace the live dynamics of the project - from the austere ideological persistence of the "early National-Bolshevist period" to the more sculpturesque and psychedelic compositions, including some naive but remarkable exercises.
The works feature contributions from many band friends, including Russian cosmist writer Ivan Polikarov, lead artist of "Crazy Pierrot Cabaret" Sergey Vasilyev, piano player & composer Anna Antropova, decadent cynic and erudite DJ Deutschmark, master of noises Nikolay Lepesa, trombone player Seung-hui Cho and even Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovskiy.
The artwork is done by the famous visual artist and media philosopher Oleg 'cmart' Paschenko (http://holesk.in | http://www.conclave.ru).
With this CD kultFRONT & Zhelezobeton labels open the series named "Die Zeichen" aiming to publish the archival works of Russian post-industrial projects." [label info]
|
2013 |
€12.00 |
|
| SALAKAPAKKA SOUND SYSTEM |
Barbed Wire Boogie |
MC |
New self-released tape "Barbed Wire Boogie" is out! 40 minute pro-duplicated (by BSM-studio) cassette of tracks made 2013-2015. This was originally intended to be released as a split cdr release with/by another artist but after about a year of waiting I grew tired of that laissez-faire attitude and decided to put it out myself with a few added tracks. Once again DIY proved to be THE most satisfying way, even though it means limited quantities (it's limited to only 50 copies) and much more limited exposure... you know, I'm not a 'networking' type of person.
Track list:
A1 Fetus
A2 Afraid of sunlight
A3 Man builds a house (pre-mix)
A4 Terror da mort
A5 In praise of Jean Tinguely
B1 Iceland
B2 If the world should end in fire and ice
B3 No input (radio friendly edit)
B4 Don't call me friend, we barely know each other
A1 is a disturbing song about a pregnancy gone wrong. A2 is something you could call apocalyptic ambient (bit like Homeinen kuu on "Accident Worhip" CDr and The end of the world on the following tape, where is also a cleaner final version of A3 here (hence the pre-mix on a title). A4 is based on a sample of the great Coffin Joe. A5 is inspired by the exhibition of Jean Tinguely's works which I found quite inspiring. Here I use mostly the sounds which I recorded at the exhibition. B1 is based on a sung poem which I found accidentally somewhere. I have no idea what does it tell about but I found it quite fascinating. Just one of the examples where vocals is just another instrument, words lose meaning when you understand absolutely nothing of the language. I appreciate if there's someone who understands Icelandic and could tell me something about the poem. B2 is a sort-of-remix of a certain popular song. B3 is only using a feedback as a sound source. Original track is much more longer but in hope for a decent amount of radio play I decided to include here an edited friendly version, heh. B4 is something I made while I was kind of frustrated and annoyed about people using the word 'friend' in a very loose fashion. You know, Facebook 'friends' etc. - "Hey boss, I am your friend. A special price only for you." Yeah... fuck off... 'friend'!" [label info]
ikuinen-kaamos.blogspot.com
|
2015 |
€7.50 |
|
| SALOMAN, GABRIEL |
Movement Building |
do-CD |
Shelter Press collect all three volumes of the compelling Movement Building works for dance by Gabriel Saloman (Yellow Swans) in a handy double CD set, providing a first opportunity to listen and immerse yourself in the noise deity’s most refined and touching body of work since going solo after Yellow Swans’ demise.
Since 2014 Shelter Press has been steadily releasing a multi-volume series of documents showcasing Gabriel Saloman’s music for contemporary dance. Under the title of Movement Building, these albums have covered a wide breadth of themes and approaches, all of them coalescing around Saloman’s darkly cinematic approach to contemporary guitar music. Known for his part in the seminal electronic-noise duo Yellow Swans (alongside Pete Swanson), Saloman has taken the sweeping drones and fried electricity of his former band and embedded them within an expanding pallette of bowed strings, martial percussion and resonant piano.
Shelter Press has now made good on its promise to collect all three volumes of this vinyl only series – Movement Building Vol. I (2014); Vol. II (2015); and Vol. III (2017) – as a double CD featuring two hours of music, new artwork, previously unreleased tracks, a new digital master by Helmut Erler of Berlin’s Dubplates & Mastering, and an extensive essay on dance, politics and the themes of each album written by Saloman. These collected volumes provide an absolutely necessary document for any fan of Saloman’s work, past or present.
The first disc collects Movement Building Vol. I and Vol. II, the former a sprawling 36 minutes epic that had previously been separated into two discreet tracks for vinyl and is collected here as one continuous piece, moving through an extended set of drone and loping drum play before climaxing in the kind of glorious guitar chording most often associated with groups such as My Bloody Valentine, GSYBE or Mono. Movement Building Vol. II explores various combinations of drum and drone, ASMR inducing high end clatter and Saloman’s infamous take on Miles Davis’ classic My Funny Valentine.
The second disc collects Movement Building Vol. III, including two tracks not available on the concurrently released vinyl version. Vol. III shares with earlier albums the emotive and disorienting bowed guitar, militant percussion and searing guitar eruptions that was so evocative of memory and trauma. Joining this pallet are other familiar Saloman sounds: shoegaze washes of distorted guitar, minimalist piano attacks, melancholy guitar melodies, and a patina of harsh noise at just the right moments. Added to this is a more contemporary approach to drums and bass, perhaps an effect of his collaborations with producer Michael Red in their dub-ambient project Chambers.
Saloman’s music has never sat comfortably in any genre, sharing with a select cohort of other artists (Stephen O’Malley, Lawrence English, Grouper, Kreng, Tim Hecker, among others) an ambiguous position overlapping “modern classical”, “electronic music”, and the more outer limits of “ambient metal”. The recordings collected in Movement Building doesn’t clarify as much as it expands Saloman’s oeuvre further into an idiosyncratic musical no-man’s land that fails to be faithful to any popular musical trend – contemporary, retro or futurist.
|
2017 |
€17.00 |
|
| SALT |
Machiakari |
LP |
"the moment of light is unrepeatable: with his second album, stefan alt pays homage to life in the present moment, any moment, which by nature can never be repeated. the same group of people may get together in the same place again, but a particular previous gathering will never be replicated, and thus each moment always remains a once-in-a-lifetime experience, one to be enjoyed and cherished. this positivity is the overall theme: so embrace the machiakari, the glow in the night, urban artificial light, the modern manifestation of light in times of darkness.
'machiakari' works in the tradition of juxtaposing alluring atmospheres, psychedelic appeal and even occasional melodies with washes of seemingly freeform noise and challenging track structures. so join the ride, enter the 'time capsule' and let go of your standard perception of time. 'assault on precinct 13' is indeed a cover version of (and adoring homage to) the famous score title by john carpenter, the movie and its soundtrack itself being classic examples of the avant-garde making a successful foray and leaving an impact on popular culture. 'absorbed' and 'we never sleep' (referencing the theme of light and the work of john carpenter again, respectively) feature drums by experimental jazz musician gerwin eisenhauer, a contemporary of salt in the city of regensburg, the result being dynamic and intoxicating halfstep tunes with a lot of sonic grit, loaded with urban anxiety and confusion. when you visit tokyo, you will most likely overlook the older quarter 'ueno': outdated, sporting a visible patina, a flair of darkness and decay, fascinating for its sluggishness. the three parts of 'yakushi-do' dive head-on into japanese culture and mysticism, a path leading to purification of the mind, delivered with an industrial attitude, moving from ritual to collage style.
'machiakari' follows the enthusiastically received 'invisible', with which it shares not only it’s concise 45 minute album format, but also it’s artistic reappraisal of visual phenomena and japanese culture. and yet, this sophomore album is an entirely different entity, a focused and confident manifesto shedding valuable light in the dark of night. the moment of light is unrepeatable."
https://ant-zen.bandcamp.com/album/machiakari |
2019 |
€25.00 |
|
| SAMARTZIS, PHILIP / KOZO INADA |
H [ ] |
maxi-CD |
"Australian electro-acoustic composer Philip Samartzis is an increasingly vital presence in the Australian sound community. His work over the past decade and a half has offered a prophetic vision for each of his chosen formats and aesthetic approaches. On h [ ] Samartzis is joined by minimal Japanese composer Kozo Inada, who brings with him an equally refined and austere sound sensibility. Between them, these two composers collaborate to produce a highly detailed work that juxtaposes, obscures and ultimately unites pure electronics with environmental recordings. These elements are set to work against and within one another, the results causing the listener to reconsider which sounds are emanating from the interwoven tapestry of source materials. Celebrating the rich tradition of acousmatic sound and musique concréte, this composition provides a potent reminder of the potentials of sound as a transformative and (imagined) narrative medium." [press release]
".....Electronic and environmental sounds are manipulated, at times flowing into one another, other times providing a jarring contrast. The trance produced is both meditative and playful, as if implying that any mix of source materials can be both united and broken apart, and still work as a sustained groove. Though obviously composed in sections, with some improvised links, this is a piece that needs to be swallowed whole, as it was ultimately constructed to be whole, despite its sonic dualism. Ambient is everywhere today, silence is music, and found recordings are a new source of rhythm and structure. While this has made for a lot of redundant shit—malaise is not ambient—Samartzis, solo and in collaboration, has been one the best at using all sounds to create a new harmonic vocabulary. Here, his ideas work with and around those of Inada to create a rich, deep piece. 10/10 " [Mike Wood / Foxy Digitalis]
|
2006 |
€11.50 |
|
| SAND |
His first Steps |
LP |
"The present album is a forerunner of GOLEM, the legendary album from the cosmic and psychedelic genius that is Sand. After the split of POT the early SAND submerged as a threesome in the basement of Claudiusstrasse and built up an alchemical assembling shop, where they resurrected the archetypical GOLEM. SAND considered themselves as an exile community in a fascinating area - full of distinctly bizarre energy.
There is something magical and inexplicable in creation, and Sand manifest absolutely these mysterious phenomena. Story-tellers, musicians, shamans, geniuses, Sand were known, at the end of the 60s, as P.O.T. (Part of Time). The music they created at that time has remained unreleased until now.
Two different approaches are evident within this band. The first—which is shown in the compositions of the trio Ludwig Papenberg, his brother Ullrich Papenberg and Johannes Vester—is avant-gardist, experimental and proto-industrial. The second, when this same trio is augmented with a few extra members, reveals a more emphatically “rock” side, somewhat in the vein of Pink Floyd’s The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, perhaps making it somewhat less personal than the visionary and experimental positions characteristic of Sand, a truly unique entity in the history of music.
At that time Klaus Schulze was developing, with engineer Manfred Schunke, a specialised recording process called “Artificial Head Stereo Sound”, which, like “Surround Sound”, created the illusion of the music coming from 360º around the listener. Schulze chose Sand to record in his studio one of a series of records to demonstrate this new technique. Sand’s album Golem was recorded and released on the Delta-Acustic label in 1974.
Sand acknowledge that Manfred Schunke and Klaus Schulze were Sand’s most important mentors.
Although classed as “Krautrock”, Sand are not really in the Krautrock style, despite being part of this movement of German cosmic/psychedelic bands. Instead they take us on a cerebral/cosmic/strange/dark trip all of their own, with a highly original subtlety, elegance and strength. Trapped in the trip, swallowed up by the quicksands, seduced by the unique and innovative combination of acoustic guitars, synthesisers, sound generators, short-wave radios, factory noises, hammers from the shipyards, agricultural machines, whirls of sand and eerie atmospheres, the listener discovers and lives the story of Sand and his Golem.
Julian Cope wrote of Golem in his HeadHeritage’s website’s “Album of the Month” column, “Dig this fucking weird Saxony sound and fill your heart”.
Rotorelief releases, in 2010, a series of unreleased albums by Sand as well as a reissue of Sand’s only album, the obscure and rare Golem, first released by Delta Acustic in 1974, along with related releases by Nurse with Wound and Current 93.
This series of albums from Sand is called “INXOM”, the series title having one letter for each album, explained by Johannes Vester as follows:
“Incoming, Inspiration, (...) In X is OM (Odem) which could mean ‘There is Om/Odem/Atman in the Unknown (X)’ ; this also corresponds to "shem" which is in XOM,—the meaning in the Golem Myth. Last, but not least, for me it sounds like the electronic attitude in symbiosis with Sand's spirit....”
And also called '' INXODEM '' with 5x Sand album (INXOM) from 70's + 1 album of Nurse With Wound (2013) and 1 45RMP twelve inch of Current 93 (1992) :
"His First Steps" (I) / is a previous, unreleased and variety album (1972 & 1973) of "Golem"
"Golem" (N) / legendary album composed in 1972 and 1973 (released in 1974)
"Desert Navigation" (X) / unreleased album, titles composed in 1973, 1975 and one track from 1982
"Sylph Ballet" (O) / unreleased album, titles composed in 1969, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975 and 1976
"North Atlantic Raven" (M) / unreleased album, titles composed in 1973, 1975 & 1976
(+ bonus 1982)
"Chromanatron" (E), by Nurse With Wound composed in 2013 with sounds and extracts from Sand
"When the May Rain Comes" (D), 2 varieties of the reprise title "May Rain" of Sand by Current 93 in 1992
Today, 40 years later, here the cool sound jugglers, founders and new members, go again (Ludwig and Ulrich Papenberg, Johannes Vester, Christian von der Schulenburg and Richard Pappik) then Sand is active in a creative frenzy timeless...
www.rotorelief.com
|
2016 |
€25.00 |
|
|
His first Steps |
CD |
"The present album is a forerunner of GOLEM, the legendary album from the cosmic and psychedelic genius that is Sand. After the split of POT the early SAND submerged as a threesome in the basement of Claudiusstrasse and built up an alchemical assembling shop, where they resurrected the archetypical GOLEM. SAND considered themselves as an exile community in a fascinating area - full of distinctly bizarre energy.
There is something magical and inexplicable in creation, and Sand manifest absolutely these mysterious phenomena. Story-tellers, musicians, shamans, geniuses, Sand were known, at the end of the 60s, as P.O.T. (Part of Time). The music they created at that time has remained unreleased until now.
Two different approaches are evident within this band. The first—which is shown in the compositions of the trio Ludwig Papenberg, his brother Ullrich Papenberg and Johannes Vester—is avant-gardist, experimental and proto-industrial. The second, when this same trio is augmented with a few extra members, reveals a more emphatically “rock” side, somewhat in the vein of Pink Floyd’s The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, perhaps making it somewhat less personal than the visionary and experimental positions characteristic of Sand, a truly unique entity in the history of music.
At that time Klaus Schulze was developing, with engineer Manfred Schunke, a specialised recording process called “Artificial Head Stereo Sound”, which, like “Surround Sound”, created the illusion of the music coming from 360º around the listener. Schulze chose Sand to record in his studio one of a series of records to demonstrate this new technique. Sand’s album Golem was recorded and released on the Delta-Acustic label in 1974.
Sand acknowledge that Manfred Schunke and Klaus Schulze were Sand’s most important mentors.
Although classed as “Krautrock”, Sand are not really in the Krautrock style, despite being part of this movement of German cosmic/psychedelic bands. Instead they take us on a cerebral/cosmic/strange/dark trip all of their own, with a highly original subtlety, elegance and strength. Trapped in the trip, swallowed up by the quicksands, seduced by the unique and innovative combination of acoustic guitars, synthesisers, sound generators, short-wave radios, factory noises, hammers from the shipyards, agricultural machines, whirls of sand and eerie atmospheres, the listener discovers and lives the story of Sand and his Golem.
Julian Cope wrote of Golem in his HeadHeritage’s website’s “Album of the Month” column, “Dig this fucking weird Saxony sound and fill your heart”.
Rotorelief releases, in 2010, a series of unreleased albums by Sand as well as a reissue of Sand’s only album, the obscure and rare Golem, first released by Delta Acustic in 1974, along with related releases by Nurse with Wound and Current 93.
This series of albums from Sand is called “INXOM”, the series title having one letter for each album, explained by Johannes Vester as follows:
“Incoming, Inspiration, (...) In X is OM (Odem) which could mean ‘There is Om/Odem/Atman in the Unknown (X)’ ; this also corresponds to "shem" which is in XOM,—the meaning in the Golem Myth. Last, but not least, for me it sounds like the electronic attitude in symbiosis with Sand's spirit....”
And also called '' INXODEM '' with 5x Sand album (INXOM) from 70's + 1 album of Nurse With Wound (2013) and 1 45RMP twelve inch of Current 93 (1992) :
"His First Steps" (I) / is a previous, unreleased and variety album (1972 & 1973) of "Golem"
"Golem" (N) / legendary album composed in 1972 and 1973 (released in 1974)
"Desert Navigation" (X) / unreleased album, titles composed in 1973, 1975 and one track from 1982
"Sylph Ballet" (O) / unreleased album, titles composed in 1969, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975 and 1976
"North Atlantic Raven" (M) / unreleased album, titles composed in 1973, 1975 & 1976
(+ bonus 1982)
"Chromanatron" (E), by Nurse With Wound composed in 2013 with sounds and extracts from Sand
"When the May Rain Comes" (D), 2 varieties of the reprise title "May Rain" of Sand by Current 93 in 1992
Today, 40 years later, here the cool sound jugglers, founders and new members, go again (Ludwig and Ulrich Papenberg, Johannes Vester, Christian von der Schulenburg and Richard Pappik) then Sand is active in a creative frenzy timeless...
www.rotorelief.com
www.rotorelief.com
|
2016 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
Desert Navigation (clear) |
LP |
"Texture and feeling of 1975 with boosted audiophile sound quality. Previously unreleased album by German trio Sand, recorded 1973-1982. Live events in the quarry and an archaic sound formed the background music of the young atomic age. In the meantime, after endless trance garage sessions, Sand drifted from the mythical landscapes to Berlin and mingled with various oriental influences. Vultures were scudding along the urban canyons while burning houses illuminated the skyline. Sand navigated in obscure spheres and discovered Tendrara. There is something magical and inexplicable in creation, and Sand absolutely manifest these mysterious phenomena. Storytellers, musicians, shamans, geniuses -- Sand were known, at the end of the '60s, as P.O.T. (Part of Time). Then Sand -- Ludwig Papenberg, his brother Ulrich Papenberg, and Johannes Vester -- developed a more avant-gardist, proto-industrial, visionary, experimental approach, becoming a truly unique entity in the history of music. Not dependent on a classic krautrock style, Sand is nevertheless part of this movement of German cosmic/psychedelic bands, in addition to being the originators of proto-industrial musics. Live events in the quarry and an archaic sound formed the background music of the young atomic age. In the meantime the desert storm accumulated in endless trance garage sessions. Then Sand drifted from the mythical landscapes to Berlin and mingled with various oriental influences. Vultures were scudding along the urban canyons whilst burning houses illuminated the skyline. Sand navigated in obscure spheres and discovered Tendrara. "
|
2017 |
€25.00 |
|
| SANSON, GIL & BRUNO DUPLANT |
Blank |
CD |
"Dabbling in this and that, eager collaborator & french composer Bruno Duplant has gradually nurtured a sensitive style of his own on the border between multi-instrumentation, improvisation, and site-specific recordings…here he teams up with like-minded transgressor and Venezuelan artist Gil Sansón, who already appeared on labels such as Winds Measure Recordings & Con-V, and Lengua da Lava. Often working on the basis of self-imposed premises & convoluted concepts, Gil shapes patiently questioning intense sound forms…
“blank” opens with distant hum, a faraway pervasive sea,
an opaline world,
just a way of falling into line with each fluctuation,
the wobble of things…
marks…scattered objects…traces of passage…
all become the elements of a receptive score…
Urban moans, muffled motion…
a sea yet to surge,
a scraped slate,
refusing all appearances,
“blank” captures the diaphanous, the transient,
the diffuse or dazzling instant…
A script of perceptiveness…
It punctuates, cuts,
incisions drawing unseen reliefs…
“blank” infuses you in revelatory intervals…
::: TRACKS :::
1. foliage, brackets, skidmarks
2. blank
3. detachment
::: DURATION :::
66:20
::: FORMAT :::
CD ltd to 200 copies
all copies come with an additional art card on 300 gr satin paper." [label info]
www.mysterysea.net
"In terms of expectance, this is certainly one of the stranger releases on Mystery Sea in some time. Many of the releases on this label have some connection with 'sea', 'water', 'rivers' and such like, but that doesn't seem to be the case here. Although Bruno Duplant may use, perhaps, field recordings of the watery kind in this work, it all seems to be more the work of improvisation music on real instruments. Duplant plays horn, double bass and electronics and Gil Sanson (did I ever hear from him?) plays electric guitar and amplifier, broken mandolin, empty maraca and 'phonographies'. He also wrote the score for the first and the last piece, and Duplant for the one in the middle. So, instead of having improvised music, this is composed music, which just happen to sound like improvised music. Three pieces, as said, and they are all around twenty-two minutes, and they deal with a lot of quiet sounds. A plink here, a plonk there, all carefully played, quiet and spacious. There is a bit of bird sounds, large chunks of unidentified field recordings rumble play an important role. I think (!) I like it, but I am not too sure: I do know that it's all a bit long. I think I would have been equally satisfied with two of these pieces instead of three. Maybe I just lack the right amount of concentration today? Maybe I think it's a bit too much of the same thing? Mystery Sea makes a daring move, however, with this release, making it different from the ones we already know." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| SANTAAGOSTINO |
Operazione Paura |
CD |
"SantAAgostino tell of the Noises from Beyond the Gate.
SantAAgostino play the Journey of No Return from the Death Phase. SantAAgostino sing the Dark Zone of those who met the pain-soaked Demiurge and came back to Earth without forgiveness for their sins. SantAAgostino write about the laments and the looks of those who saw beyond the coma and came back. SantAAgostino feel the return of those who died and are reborn more rotten and foul than before.
Operazione Paura is a tribute to music and cosmos energy: the same energy that santAAgostino trio was permeated with during the opus and the esecution of the pieces.
Operazione Paura is a total turning not just for the band but for dark, ambient music and noise, generally speaking. That’s because santAAgostino is like a meteor crashed onto the Earth disarranging all the balances, rhythmes and cycles. After the crash the planet seems to be perished but, in the inner part, the new fire of life is burning. A brand new energy developed in a new way of living, of thinking and being.
Operazione Paura speaks of the filmic and horrorific fear, mind trap “to kill” atavistic thoughts and all those mental factors that trapped the man into a selfmade cage in his own mind, through the mind itself. Operazione Paura is an awl that, slowly but inexorably, drives the listener to a dimension where there is no thought, no images, no more conceptualizing, nothing still exhists: there is just a huge solitary desert now, where sounds spontaneously flow creating new monster beyond space and time. It’s a place where new divine dynasties born, spreading their seed, in order to bear a brand new reign far from the borders that we can’t even imagine." [label info]
www.greytone.eu
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Mokaraba Constellation |
CD |
"Greytone is proud to present the second album from the enigmatic act santAAgostino. Definitively the best expression of their multifaceted way of visual-audio compositions. Seven tracks of pure melodic ambient noise will bring the listener into a cathartic mind introspection above the abyss.
Mokaraba Constellation is an album of songs and just because those songs have been slapped with layer upon layer of filthy concrete and lead doesn't mean they were never songs at all. Fantastic, crucial tunes yet again from the mind of the Italy's most hard working dark ambient / noise alchemists
Without a doubt this is one of the finest experimental records we’ve had cross our label in years, and one nobody in their right mind should pass up." [label info]
www.greytone.eu
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| SANTOS SILVA, SUSANA / HAMPUS LINDWALL / TORBJORN ZETTERBERG |
Hi! Who are you? |
LP |
The trio Susana Santos Silva / Torbjörn Zetterberg / Hampus Lindwall emerged in 2015 with their first album If Nothing Else (Clean Feed CF348) which was received with critical acclaim. The unique conceptual approach to composition & improvisation rooted in both free jazz and contemporary classical music was described as “guaranteed a unique listening experience” (JazzIn), “It is art!” (Gapplegate Music Review) and “unique sound and style” (New York City Jazz Record). On their new album “Hi, who are you?” (Matière Mémoire MATME004LP) they have taken the musical creation a step further by adding live electronics for real time sound treatment. Different techniques from experimental electronic music is juxtaposed with simple use of electric guitar effects to obtain tight and highly emotional sound.
Susana Santos Silva - trumpet
Torbjörn Zetterberg - double bass, and electric noise on track 5 and 10
Hampus Lindwall - pipe organ and live electronics
All music composed and performed by Susana Santos Silva, Torbjörn Zetterberg and Hampus Lindwall
Produced by Susana Santos Silva, Torbjörn Zetterberg and Hampus Lindwall
Recorded by Torbjörn Zetterberg in Engelbrektskyrkan, Stockholm, Sweden, January 20-21 2018
Mixed by Torbjörn Zetterberg in Mörbylund, Sweden
Mastered by Mats Äleklint
Cut by Frédéric Alstadt at Ångström studio, Brussels
Artwork collage by Dan Lean (Merciful Stranger Art)
Graphics and layout by Cedric D’hondt
The organ in Engelbrektskyrkan was built by Grönlunds Orgelbyggeri in 1964 and restored in 2013 by the same company. It has 91 stops, 5 manuals and pedal.
https://matiere-memoire.bandcamp.com/album/hi-who-are-you
https://matiere-memoire.bandcamp.com/album/hi-who-are-you
In 2015, Portuguese trumpeter Susana Santos Silva teamed up with Swedish musicians Torbjörn Zetterberg on bass and Hampus Lindwall on organ. The combination is relatively unique, as is their sound. Santos Silva is one of the leading voices in contemporary improvised music, often performing together with Zetterberg. Their collaboration with Lindwall is more selective. In 2015 they released "If Nothing Else", and we are happy that the next iteration of their music is now available, albeit in only 300 vinyl copies, so you'd better hurry.
The sound of Lindwall's church organ is critical to the overall feel of the music. Under the influence of his organ teacher, Rolande Falcinelli, he moved to Paris in 2002 and studied at the Conservatoire de Saint-Maur-des-Fossés and the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Lyon. He is the Titular Organist in Saint-Esprit, Paris.
In an interview with us about their debut album, Susana Santos Silva explained their approach as follows: "It's improvised music but with a great sense of structure and development within each song. And that's what can be so beautiful in an improvised piece of music, that all the notions of composed music, like the development of an idea, theme and variations, counterpoint, leitmotifs, dynamics, question-and-answer phrasing, different layers, textures, and so on, can just happen spontaneously, in the moment".
Most of the music is acoustic, but frequently altered by live electronics. The result is a strange sonic world, that is at once brutal, haunting, reverent and riveting. The performance was recorded in the Engelbrektskyrkan, a church in Stockholm, selected amongst others for its recently restored organ, that has 91 stops, 5 manuals and pedals.
The resonance of organ, trumpet and bass in the church makes this an even more special performance. In a way, you have to be in the space itself to fully enjoy it, even if the sound quality of the album is also astonishingly good.
Highly recommended!
---
I had the luck to see the trio perform in 2017 in the Saint Jacob's Church in Ghent, Belgium, where I recorded the following video vignettes with my smartphone. Not the ideal quality, but it gives an impression of what this music means in a real church. The trio is of course high up on the balcony next to the organ.
[The Free Jazz Collective] |
2019 |
€23.00 |
|
| SARNO, LOUIS |
Song from the Forest: The Soundtrack |
CD |
"This is the soundtrack album to the film “Song from the Forest”, which tells the story of Louis Sarno, an American who has lived for thirty years among the Bayaka pygmies in the Central African Republic. No outsider has had such access to this beautiful and musical culture, and this selection of the best of his recordings presents the sounds of this amazing people and their environment with a depth and richness never heard before.
SONG FROM THE FOREST: THE FILM /// Premieres in Germany: Showtimes
As a young man, the American Louis Sarno heard a song on the radio that gripped his imagination. He followed the mysterious sounds all the way to the Central African rainforest and found their source with the Bayaka Pygmies, a tribe of hunters and gatherers. He never left.
Today, twenty-five years later, Louis Sarno has recorded over 1,500 hours of unique Bayaka music. He is a fully accepted member of Bayaka society and has a son, Samedi. Once, when Samedi was a baby, he became seriously ill and Louis feared for his life. He held his son in his arms through a frightful night and made him a promise: “If you get through this, one day I’ll show you the world I come from.”
Now the time has come to fulfill his promise, and Louis travels with Samedi, age 13, from the African rainforest to another jungle, one of concrete, glass, and asphalt: New York City. Together they meet Louis’ family and old friends, including his closest friend from college, Jim Jarmusch.
Carried by the contrasts between rainforest and urban America, with a fascinating soundtrack and peaceful, loving imagery, their stories are interwoven to form a touching portrait of an extraordinary man and his son.
A modern epic set between rainforest and skyscrapers.
FROM THE DIRECTOR
In the fall of 2009, I was traveling in the Congo River Basin when by chance I heard tales of a white man who was said to have lived for decades in the rainforest with a tribe of huntergatherers called the Bayaka Pygmies, for decades. I went to look for him. A few days later, I was standing in a clearing when Bayaka came running at me from all directions, brandishing spears and screaming. Suddenly, the noise ceased, and a tall figure detached itself from the undergrowth: a white man, two heads taller than everybody else, a Bayaka baby in each of his arms. Before me stood a legend: a lost, forgotten man, reborn in the Central African jungle. A man who once ate tadpoles for a month, who married a Bayaka woman, who survived malaria, hepatitis, typhoid, leprosy, and has recorded more than 1500 hours of unique Bayaka music. Before me stood the musical Herodotus of the Central African forests, the white Bayaka—Louis Sarno.
When we shook hands in this clearing, I instantly felt that something really big had happened in my life. How could I know that this was the beginning of a journey which would turn me—a writer and journalist—into a film-maker and which would take me across the globe for years to come? To me—a person without a real home, driven from place to place, a passionate hunter-gatherer of stories who has spent the past twenty years traveling to the most remote corners of the Earth—Louis Sarno is the most fascinating person I have ever met. He took a radical leap, accomplishing what I often imagine myself doing when I am on the road: leaving it all behind, starting over, becoming someone else. More than everything else I am impressed by his life’s work: the fantastic recordings of Bayaka music that we are proud to present in this soundtrack from Song From the Forest. (Michael Obert)
FROM THE CURATOR
Beautifully mapping the entire range of music-making of a single community of hunter-gatherers across more than a generation, the Louis Sarno collection of Bayaka music and soundscapes is extraordinary, unprecedented, and unrepeatable. No field recordist has ever matched the depth and sensitivity of Sarno’s commitment to presenting a record of what it sounds like to live with an indigenous community. Sarno has developed a uniquely sensitive recording approach, refined through an acute listening that is only possible through permanent immersion in a culture.
Nearly all of the recordings on this soundtrack have been drawn from the Louis Sarno collection of Bayaka music at the Pitt-Rivers Museum in Oxford. Louis continues to donate his exceptional recordings to the Museum with the long-term intention that they will benefit the community whose musical life they so beautifully present. (Noel Lobley, Ethnomusicologist, Pitt-Rivers Museum, Oxford University)
FROM THE MUSIC SUPERVISOR
Through Louis Sarno’s recordings, Bayaka music has become famous around the world. I first spoke to Louis about his endeavours in the mid-nineties when I was putting together “The Book of Music and Nature”, which included some of his work. When I heard he was still down there, twenty years later, and that a film wasnbeing made about his life, I knew I wanted to help.
Central to Bayaka music is a sonic integration with the rhythms and melodies of the forest itself. We have tried to include selections from the vast archive that highlight the ways the human sounds fit into the natural sounds, as an inspiration for how human life as a whole might better be part of our surrounding environment, our true home. (David Rothenberg)
TRACK NOTES BY LOUIS SARNO
1. Yeyi-greeting / 4:30
Yeyi just means ‘yodel,’ and this is one of my favorite forms of Bayaka music. They used to go on all night, slowly moving through the village, and at dawn they’d be going on one last time, throwing leaves on the roof of each house. The new generation doesn’t do it the way it used to be done. This is the most recognizable sound in Bayaka music, pure vocal music, very beautiful songs. When they sing you can hear the forest all around them.
2. Women Sing in the Forest / 4:55
This is recorded in a bimba forest, where there is not much undergrowth, so you hear the singing echoing as if you were inside a natural cathedral. The Bayaka have this way of wandering into the forest, taking music from different forms, and improvising together as they collect water or gather mushrooms. I love the sound of women’s voices in the distance in the forest. The forest without that sound is incomplete. These are the most lovely voices on Earth.
3. Tree Drumming / 3:08
There is a certain kind of tree, the gooma that has big buttress roots. You hit it and it really resonates. Whenever the Bayaka come across a tree like this on the trail they hit it and play a little music. It’s kind of irresistible. Then they move on.
4. Bobé Spirits Calling / 5:53
I remember that camp, it was a beautiful one. The first evening, as the sun was setting, I saw this fire in the distance between the bimba trees. But it turned out to be the sun, at ground level in the forest, and you could barely see it through the trees at the horizon. The Bobé were really wild, spinning around and dancing wildly. That was the time when they buried Samedi’s grandmother. I had just came back from America, and I walked fifty kilometers in one day, and I heard she had died. The next day I set up to find this camp. We didn’t know where to go exactly, and it took us three days to find it. I was so moved by the place. The ceremony went on for two or three nights. This is a typical esimé, when the women move on from the usual melodic singing into something polyrhythmic. The Bobé are not human, they are animal spirits, and they use sounds that are beyond language. The Boyobi ceremony is not just music, it’s theater, dance, and myth, all blended together. Sometimes the Bobé spirits are naked in the moonlight, smeared with bioluminescent fungus. No crew has yet been able to film this!
5. Bayaka Night Insects / 4:52
Insects, yes, but also a few birds. That’s a type of cuckoo. I call it the “ngon go go” bird. There are two cuckoos and the rest is insects, with maybe a few tree frogs. Sometimes you get these moments in the forest where everything seems to come together like that. That’s why I spent so much time in the forest, because most of the time nothing much seems to be happening. But once in a while you get these beautiful moments, which you can only get by spending a lot of time out there. Years.
6. Louis Sarno Speaks / 2:32
Ewunji was an incredible guy, Samedi’s great-grandfather. He was known to go very deep into the forest, way into what’s now the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park in Congo, and we just wandered around with spears, no hunting nets. You couldn’t survive like that now. The small animals have been decimated by poachers. Taking care of this should be the responsibility of the World Wildlife Fund, but they prefer to concentrate on big charismatic animals like elephants and gorillas, instead of the animals that the Bayaka depend on, small forest antelopes and monkeys. The Bayaka are no longer allowed to go into the park, but the poachers still go in there with shotguns.
7. The Flutes We Hear No More / 5:12
That was the only time I ever heard two flute players playing at the same time. Momboli and Gongé playing mbyo duets on Dec. 22 nd 1992. You are supposed to hear this music in your dreams, that’s why they usually play it alone at night, so it can get into your dreams. They play more or less in unison even though the Bayaka love vocal polyphony. This is a music you no longer hear anymore, since the last flute player died a few years ago. He gave me his flute and I had it in my house and could get a bit of a sound out of it. But when the Séléka raided my house last year during the insurgency, they destroyed everything, and they smashed the flute. This is a sound we will never hear again.
8. Net Hunt / 3:00
Well, that’s not actually a net hunt. That’s actually gida-gida, it’s a gorilla hunting game, they imitate chimpanzee noises. That’s from 1987, the very first time I went out into the forest. Just the men and boys are singing here. They make these fake spears and pretend to kill.
9. Earth Bow / 2:09
To make an earth bow the Bayaka take a sapling and bend it over, then attach a piece of twine to one end of the sapling, tie the other end to a piece of bark and hold it over a hole that they dig in the ground. This was Boungingi, and those are the same guys who were playing the tree drum. Just takes them a minute or so to make this instrument. Usually one person plays it, but there is always some extra percussion in the background.
10. Geedal / 2:28
That’s Balonyona, one of the greatest masters of the bow harp, the geedal. I recorded many hours of his playing, he really was the best player of this instrument. In 1991 he even went to Paris to play. It has six strings, you find it all over Africa. But the Bayaka way of playing is a bit different. They use fewer notes, and more rhythms. They play along with the pulses of the forest. It fits right in.
11. Flute in Forest / 5:16
That is a beautiful melody, the flute sounds so beautiful in the forest in the distance. That sound brings back so many memories of so many good times. Momboli played that melody a lot, and I recorded it often in the distance. You hear the night ambience swelling with insects, frogs, cuckoos, and the distant flute. So many good times… This music is really part of the whole forest world.
12. Water Drumming / 2:55
When the women bathe, they are always playing water drum. And sometimes they get these percussive melodies, this is a music for girls, and they are much better at it than the boys. Women will do it, too, and sometimes I’ve been far away when you can only hear the deepest sounds, and I think it’s the drum, and when I get closer, I realize it is women playing in the water. It is one of the few instruments Bayaka women are allowed to play.
13. Lingboku Celebration / 5:36
Ah, the Lingboku – women’s music. That is the one spirit they still have. They claim all the others have been stolen from them by the men. A lot of the lyrics make fun of male sexuality, it’s really an expression of female power. The men don’t like women to do it. But they don’t stop them. The men are not supposed to be present when they sing it. “The penis has no endurance and dies right away, but the pussy is always ready to keep going.” You ought to mark this song “explicit” on the CD. The dancing is quite explicit, too, the women look like they’re humping each other and if they catch men looking at this they’ll chase them away.
14. Moukouté’s Lament / 1:52
Ah, that’s little Moukouté. He appears in the film. At the time you recorded him for the film, he really wasn’t all that good at the geedal. But since then, he’s gotten a lot better.
15. Yeyi-Farewell / 5:32
What can you say? It’s beautiful. Yeyi. It’s the most pure Bayaka music. I never get tired of hearing these songs. They bring back so much musical wealth of these people. I don’t make recordings anymore. In some ways it’s easier to make recordings with today’s new technology, but I don’t love it the way I love those old cassette recorders. How do you write numbers on those tiny SD cards! They’re always getting lost. Many of the people I used to record are no longer alive. The new generation is just not the same." [label info]
www.gruenrekorder.de
"One of the various releases this week that is supposed to be a soundtrack. Here no film either, but just the recordings made by Louis Sarno, made in Central Africa with Bayaka Pygmies, a tribe of hunters and collectors. Sarno is not a visitor, but he lives there as a member and married, has a son and recorded 1500 hours of music and sounds. That's what the documentary by Michael Obst is about, about this rather unique field recordist. Sarno, who guides us through music from Bayaka and the place they live in, documents each of the fifteen pieces here in word. Flutes, tree drumming, singing, games, celebrations and such like are what we hear on this disc. Sometimes recorded from a distance, with the rainforest adding a whole additional layer of sound, which works very well. The 'Tree Drumming' reminded me of earlier Etant Donnes. I very much enjoy a release like this. Not because I know a lot about the subject of tribes or Non-Western music, and I am the first to admit I can't say
anything worthwhile about this, other than: I think this is a fascinating trip. Maybe it's because I was on holiday just now, and perhaps I would like to evoke the memory of holiday a bit longer? (I doubt whether Central Africa will ever be a point of holiday for me however). Just for now I can really enjoy all of this a lot. Strangely fascinating music. A sound documentary as well as something that you can enjoy from a purely musical point of view. Very nice variation in the world of field recording." [FdW/Vital Weekly #946]
|
2014 |
€14.00 |
|
| SASAJIMA, HIROKI |
Bells |
CD-R |
"Bells is an Evening Record. The deep of its sound travel us toward a landscape and a situation directly. It is a record that supposes an experience on listening, a compromise with hearing. Images float, changing in a record with a beautiful narrative. The trip, the steps and tension appears clearly in this process that means to listen to this record.
It is an unique track of long haul. It is not a fleeting record. It is a record-experience.
I have the chance to make listen to Bells to my pupils of twelve years old, as an exercise of writing. And this is one of the very beautiful results: “It presents a picture of me walking with Hiroki headwind in a field close to nothing. Like night, also appears to be near a route by traffic noise. In a moment it looks like rain and another seems to pass a train. The noise is constant. The combination of constant andsound recordings is perfect. I think Hiroki Sasajima walks through puddles.
It was a very good piece of work why is good at drawing on white paper. Evening Bell is the perfect title.Hiroki I imagine abandoning any idea where he is recording all the sounds you hear. This is very good to use your imagination.
With this work Art you can imagine many things.” " [Bernardo Durand]
www.ahoraeterno.com.ar
|
2011 |
€12.00 |
|
| SATORI |
Contemptus Mundi |
CD |
"Neben der Wiederveröffentlichung der "Kanashibari"-LP auf CD, gibt es vom englischen Duo Satori auch noch etwas Neues zu hören. Es handelt sich zwar lediglich um einen Song namens "Contemptus Mundi", aber der bringt es zusammen mit einem Remix auf Albumlänge. Neil Chaney von Pessary und Cold Spring Label-Chef Justin Mitchell nehmen einen gesprochenen Auszug aus einem von Magus Peter H Gilmore, Hohepriester der Church of Satan, verfassten Essay und lassen um diesen von Peter H Gilmore selbst gesprochenen Text herum eine dunkle Schattenwelt entstehen. Gilmore richtet seine überbetonten Worte gegen den Kontrollwahn in der modernen Welt, gegen die Versuche, die Menschen vor allem Übel zu bewahren und sie damit einzusperren und ihrer eigenen Meinung zu berauben. Eine Sichtweise, deren darwinistische Ausrichtung in den heutigen Zeiten wieder Anhänger finden dürfte.
Satori lassen Posaunen erklingen, Chöre und Pauken. Tiefste Drones, immer wieder auftretende, kleine Unterbrechungen und metallische Geräusche geben dem Song etwas abgrundtief Schwarzes und Unheimliches, auch wenn bei über 20 Minuten Spielzeit etwas die Abwechslung fehlt. Die bringt dann der "Nameless Wrath Mix", der ohne Gilmores Pamphlet auskommen muss und etwas industrieller ausgerichtet ist. Die Posaunen sind durch Rauschen ersetzt worden, die Pauken durch dumpfe Schläge. Der Mix rumpelt mehr, wirkt bedrohlicher, erreicht aber nicht die atmosphärische Dichte des Originals. Schön düsterer Drone Ambient, der darauf hoffen lässt, dass Satori bald mehr veröffentlichen." [Medienkonverter]
"Brand new CD from UK dark ambient/Fortean electronics act Satori - Neil Chaney (Pessary) and Justin Mitchell (Cold Spring boss). This is a collaboration between Satori and Magus Peter H. Gilmore, High Priest of the Church Of Satan. Satori provide their trademark deep, underground, pounding electronics, here with a ritualistic dark soundtrack atmosphere, while Gilmore bestows a seething tirade against the weakness of the modern world! Two 20+ minute tracks, the 2nd being a deeper, instrumental mix of the title track." [label info]
"... "Contemptus mundi" is another very dark effort from the two british composers, this time in collaboration with the high priest of the church of Satan, Magus Peter H. Gilmore. While the joint venture behind Satori create dark ambient of low end rumbles added processed choir, bells and ochestral brass, Magus Peter H. Gilmore accompanies with spoken words focusing on the weakness of modern world. Underneath the multilayered dark ambient some slow and heavy rhythms creates a ritualistic atmosphere on the album. After the lengthy track "Contemptus mundi" running 26 minutes, comes a remix with an exclusive focus on the instrumental side and with more concentration on noisy elements. Where the opening track belongs to the dark ambient-style this so-called "Nameless wrath mix" is more towards the ambient-noise-style. Never the less two interesting ambient-based works from Satori that will appeal to listeners of projects such as Inade, Brighter Death Now and Lustmord." [NM, Vital Weekly]
www.coldspring.co.uk
|
2009 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Live at the Cave |
CD |
"Live document from the long standing and highly appreciated English Dark Ambient / Industrial project Satori. This CD is a live document in highest sound-quality from their famous concert in Salzburg on 10.10.2008, which took place in a cave in central Salzburg. Fascinating dark rumbling Ambient and Industrial sounds we love and know so well from Satori's "Kanashibari" album. "A real masterpiece in the history of this outstanding band!" 46mins of music in a card sleeve." [label info]
www.steinklang.at
|
2010 |
€7.50 |
|
| SAVAGE REPUBLIC |
Meteora |
CD |
Hailing from the Los Angeles underground of the 1980s, Savage Republic forged an astonishing reputation for themselves as art-punk and industrial pioneers with their legendary performances. Their brand of ritualistically tribal exhibitions blurred the boundaries of Post-Punk and Industrial music.
Their music incorporates minimialist bass rumbles, exotic and/or militaristic drumming, Arabic melodies, alternate tunings, primal chants and even a bit of surf guitar.
Savage Republic released four full length albums in the 1980s, plus several live records and compilation tracks. 1989 everything went quiet as the republic scattered to pursue other interests and their labels and distributors folded. After reuniting in 2002 for a brief U.S. tour supporting the boxed-set reissue of their five studio albums by Mobilization Records, several of the members began sharing ideas for new songs, reviving the band officially in 2005.
In 2006/2007 Savage Republic added drum professor Alan Waddington (the Unforgiven) to the line-up and released "1938" on Neurot Recordings, the band's first studio recording in 18 years. The limited edition "Siam" EP was also released on Neurot Recordings featuring alternate mixes of some of the "1938" material.
With their first full-length album in seven years, Savage Republic return with some of their best work yet! Self-recorded in a secret cavernous location, their mix of tribal textures, political anthems and Morricone-esque surf instrumentals once again transport the listener to faraway lands at turns both sinister and beautiful. One of many highlights of "Meteora" is the pandemic inspired piece "Unprecedented"written by Wire's Graham Lewis that is sure to become a staple in their set list. This longest-lasting lineup of Thom Fuhrmann, Ethan Port, Alan Waddington and Kerry Dowling have infused all the power of their legendary live performances into a cinematic sonic dreamscape.
"Very few artists can stand as being actually unique. Artists who make sound that fills the holes in your soul that nothing else touch. Savage Republic is one these very few. As a founding member of Neurosis I can say that we are very aware and vigilant of all things that happen around us. There is no tolerance for disruption in our ritual. For the last 13 years we have played one band and one band only for our preshow music, Savage Republic is the soundtrack that sets the tone for whats to come and what existed before." - Scott Kelly / Neurosis
https://savagerepublic.bandcamp.com/album/meteora
|
2021 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Meteora |
LP (Lathe-cut) |
Hailing from the Los Angeles underground of the 1980s, Savage Republic forged an astonishing reputation for themselves as art-punk and industrial pioneers with their legendary performances. Their brand of ritualistically tribal exhibitions blurred the boundaries of Post-Punk and Industrial music.
Their music incorporates minimialist bass rumbles, exotic and/or militaristic drumming, Arabic melodies, alternate tunings, primal chants and even a bit of surf guitar.
Savage Republic released four full length albums in the 1980s, plus several live records and compilation tracks.
1989 everything went quiet as the republic scattered to pursue other interests and their labels and distributors folded. After reuniting in 2002 for a brief U.S. tour supporting the boxed-set reissue of their five studio albums by Mobilization Records, several of the members began sharing ideas for new songs, reviving the band officially in 2005.
In 2006/2007 Savage Republic added drum professor Alan Waddington (the Unforgiven) to the line-up and released "1938" on Neurot Recordings, the band's first studio recording in 18 years. The limited edition "Siam" EP was also released on Neurot Recordings featuring alternate mixes of some of the "1938" material.
With their first full-length album in seven years, Savage Republic return with some of their best work yet! Self-recorded in a secret cavernous location, their mix of tribal textures, political anthems and Morricone-esque surf instrumentals once again transport the listener to faraway lands at turns both sinister and beautiful.
One of many highlights of "Meteora" is the pandemic inspired piece "Unprecedented"written by Wire's Graham Lewis that is sure to become a staple in their set list.
This longest-lasting lineup of Thom Fuhrmann, Ethan Port, Alan Waddington and Kerry Dowling have infused all the power of their legendary live performances into a cinematic sonic dreamscape.
"Very few artists can stand as being actually unique. Artists who make sound that fills the holes in your soul that nothing else touch. Savage Republic is one these very few. As a founding member of Neurosis I can say that we are very aware and vigilant of all things that happen around us. There is no tolerance for disruption in our ritual. For the last 13 years we have played one band and one band only for our preshow music, Savage Republic is the soundtrack that sets the tone for whats to come and what existed before." - Scott Kelly / Neurosis
Vinyl is cut by Uncle Gusstaff in the real time in Studio im. Witolda Gombrowicza.
https://gusstaffrecords.bandcamp.com/album/savage-republic-meteora |
2021 |
€26.50 |
|
|
Tragic Figures (40th Anniversary Edition) |
do-LP |
Savage Republic: Tragic Figures (Expanded 40th Anniversary Edition) (Red Vinyl Edition) 2LP-Set Regular Version
Welcome to the world’s first (and only) post-punk-industrial-trance-psychedelic-surf album! The fact that it took us so many adjectives to describe Tragic Figures lets you know just how unique of an album it is. Sure, there are echoes of other artists, like krautrock legends Can, post-punkers Public Image Limited (Savage Republic opened for PiL on their 1982 West Coast dates), avant-garde guitar players like Glenn Branca and Rhys Chatham, scrap metal industrialists Einstürzende Neubauten, and Bay Area sludgecore nihilists Flipper—but really, this unlikely product of (mostly) UCLA undergrads sounds like no other record before or since. And only adding to Tragic Figures’ mystique are its graphics, which displayed band co-founder Bruce Licher’s trademark letterpress printing and featured a UPI photo of rebels getting executed in Kurdistan, the ghostly images sharing space with a red lettering that gave the album’s title in script that roughly translated “tragic figures” into Arabic (which, in turn, had the unexpected effect of drawing more Iranian and Middle Eastern people to their shows)! Tragic Figures wasn’t just a bold musical statement; it was an objet d’art in its own right.
For its 40th anniversary edition, we at Real Gone Music worked with Bruce Licher to preserve and expand on the magical, talismanic quality of the initial release. The original album has been remastered from the original tapes by Mike Milchner at Sonic Vision, while both the CD and LP editions both boast an extra disc of largely unreleased rehearsal recordings taped in the bowels of UCLA parking garages, where the band used to practice to take advantage of the extended reverb afforded by all the concrete surfaces (imagine being an unwitting undergrad happening upon this unearthly din coming out of nowhere)! Richie Unterberger’s liner notes feature interviews with band members Licher, Philip Drucker, and Jeff Long, and the LP comes with the original cover graphics expanded into a gatefold jacket pressed in heavyweight “chipboard” paper stock. Finally, the LP pressing is in red vinyl limited to 2000 copies. Clear your calendar and set aside a couple of hours to listen to Tragic Figures…you won’t end up where you started.
Disc One Side One
1. When All Else Fails…
2. Attempted Coup: Madagascar
3. The Ivory Coast
4. Next to Nothing
5. Exodus
Disc One Side Two
1. Machinery
2. Zulu Zulu
3. Real Men
4. Flesh That Walks
5. Kill the Fascists!
6. Procession
Disc Two Side One
1. Attempted Coup: Madagascar
2. When All Else Fails
3. Kill the Fascists!
4. Real Men
5. The Vampire Bites
6. Next to Nothing Weirdness
7. Thee Three Preserves
Disc Two Side Two
1. Sliding into Arabia
2. As It Was Written
3. Procession (Into the Light)
4. Exodus
https://realgonemusic.com/products/savage-republic-tragic-figures-expanded-2-lp
"Die erste legendäre LP von 1982 der damals als "Art-Punk" gehandelten kalifornischen Band, die auch politisch radikale Wege ging, ihren eigenen "Staat" gründete und mit eigenem Label & Druckerei versuchte so unabhängig wie möglich zu bleiben...
TRAGIC FIGURES vereint auf unnachahmliche Weise aggressiven Industrial-"Rock" und politische Agitation (so z.B. im Stück "Kill the Fascists"), sehr perkussiv & tribal und oft mit Metall- oder Schrottschlagzeug und gebrüllten Vocals, aber auch eine psychedelisch-trancig "ethnische" Note ist hier bereits vorzufinden... was sich später zu ihrem unnachahmlichen oriental angehauchten Wüsten-Rock entwickelte..." [Drone Rec. 2002]
|
2022 |
€55.50 |
|
| |
Tragic Figures (40th Anniversary Edition) |
do-CD |
Welcome to the world’s first (and only) post-punk-industrial-trance-psychedelic-surf album! The fact that it took us so many adjectives to describe Tragic Figures lets you know just how unique of an album it is. Sure, there are echoes of other artists, like krautrock legends Can, post-punkers Public Image Limited (Savage Republic opened for PiL on their 1982 West Coast dates), avant-garde guitar players like Glenn Branca and Rhys Chatham, scrap metal industrialists Einstürzende Neubauten, and Bay Area sludgecore nihilists Flipper—but really, this unlikely product of (mostly) UCLA undergrads sounds like no other record before or since. And only adding to Tragic Figures’ mystique are its graphics, which displayed band co-founder Bruce Licher’s trademark letterpress printing and featured a UPI photo of rebels getting executed in Kurdistan, the ghostly images sharing space with a red lettering that gave the album’s title in script that roughly translated “tragic figures” into Arabic (which, in turn, had the unexpected effect of drawing more Iranian and Middle Eastern people to their shows)! Tragic Figures wasn’t just a bold musical statement; it was an objet d’art in its own right.
For its 40th anniversary edition, we at Real Gone Music worked with Bruce Licher to preserve and expand on the magical, talismanic quality of the initial release. The original album has been remastered from the original tapes by Mike Milchner at Sonic Vision, while both the CD and LP editions both boast an extra disc of largely unreleased rehearsal recordings taped in the bowels of UCLA parking garages, where the band used to practice to take advantage of the extended reverb afforded by all the concrete surfaces (imagine being an unwitting undergrad happening upon this unearthly din coming out of nowhere)! Richie Unterberger’s liner notes feature interviews with band members Licher, Philip Drucker, and Jeff Long, and the LP comes with the original cover graphics expanded into a gatefold jacket pressed in heavyweight “chipboard” paper stock. Finally, the LP pressing is in red vinyl limited to 2000 copies. Clear your calendar and set aside a couple of hours to listen to Tragic Figures…you won’t end up where you started.
|
2022 |
€30.00 |
|
| SAVY, PASCAL |
Simulacra |
CD |
Conceived around a time of strong political, social and cultural turmoil in the UK and elsewhere, a time ridden with a deep sense of uncertainty and unease, the music resonates with feelings of alienation and powerlessness as well as convey ideas of anger and latent violence. Working with heavily textured drones as well as sharp edged sounds and sustained rhythms to echo and articulate those feelings, some of the tracks were re-worked until their final forms had lost all relation with their initial skeleton, something that was partly influenced by the idea of simulacra not representing the real anymore, inspired by the reading of ‘Simulacra and Simulation’ by Jean Baudrillard and ‘The Weird and the Eerie’ by Mark Fisher. The addition of rhythmic structures, a new step for Savy, helped explore the idea of power by saturating the sonic landscape with repetition and pulsations. On certain tracks rhythms are implied, slowly disappearing or simply absent to reflect this idea of the real not being there anymore.
Overall the process used to make this album was heavily influenced by both the idea of simulacra (sound as a representation of the real but often devoid of true relationship with it) and the idea of connecting to something tangible and truly personal (drone textures and harmonic movement as a representation of the fragility of the real). Ultimately, this record seeks to process a turbulent period echoed by ideas of political, social and cultural disintegration. Feelings of alienation and loss, as well as a desire for reconnection are at the core of the music, and the album navigates this complex emotional and personal map while avoiding the trappings of an escape into the hyperreal of pure simulation.
Pascal Savy is a French musician who lives and works in London. He creates organic ambient and drone music as a way to reflect on erosion, transition and decay. He utilizes tones, textures, micro-melodies and noise to explore atmospheres rather than narratives. His work often combines acoustic and electronic sources generated from field-recordings, pick-ups, tape loops, feedback, synthesisers or home made electronics which he transforms into dense and layered motifs.
CD Edition of 300 copies in 6 panel Digisleeve, matt lamination. 7 Tracks. Running Time 48:49
https://cycliclaw.bandcamp.com/album/simulacra
|
2023 |
€13.00 |
|
| SCHAEFER, JANEK |
Cold Storage |
CD |
"Cold Storage is an impressive resume not only of Schaefer's own career as a sound artist, but half a century of theory and practice of electronic music in all its diverse forms." - The Wire
"Cold Storage is one of Janek Schaefer's most refined works of "musique concrete". The original concert was a live improvisation using as an instrument the snippets he had previously collected and assembled. The CD version uses the same sounds, but "keeps it closer to the source material". Luckily, it is not apparent at all that he kept it so "close" to the original source. The five movements are powerful and haunting precisely because the sources are unrecognizable, and, instead, the slowly evolving music seem to hark back to mysterious primitive forces of nature. The first movement sounds like the internal, psychological perception of the composer entering a room. The second sounds like a broader survey of the environment, evoking a multitude of action, from traffic to waves. Its ebullient chaos is balanced by the ghostly and massive moving textures of the third movement, The fifth movement is the most fearsome, unleashing industrial fury and expressionist tension. The whole is exactly the sum of its parts: a multi-faceted experience that describes a continuum of emotions through the inner ear." - Scaruffi.com
|
2004 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Unfolding Luxury beyond the City of Dreams |
LP |
"Dekorder presents two new vinyl editions composed and designed by UK sound artist Janek Schaefer, who is known around the world for his wide variety of engaging and unpredictable works for installation, concert and composition. Following his highly acclaimed ‘Lay-by Lullaby’ album on 12k [which Pitchfork listed in the ‘Top 10 under-the-radar releases for 2014’], Janek has created and collated a collection of tracks that showcase both his more ambient works [077], and his highly charged sonorities [078]. A beautiful pair of LP’s that ideally should be experienced together for your home listening pleasure. The tracks were mastered by Stephan Mathieu and cut by Lupo at Calyx Mastering.
A1 White Lights of Divine Darkness
By chance I composed this for my brother-in-law the day he passed away. In recent years he had seen the white lights of heavens gate, but returned, and became fascinated by what he called God’s divine darkness in this lifetime.
A2 Unfolding Honey 6:06
A track from my exhibition soundtrack 'Future Beauty, 30 years of Japanese fashion' held at The Barbican Gallery, London. The exhibition featured some amazing folded garments by Issey Miyake, that inspired the unfurling fabric feeling of the composition.
A3 Luxury 3:00
An orchestral drone piece featuring an old French lady singing to her cats with an extra celestial chorus.
A4 Skyline Ascending 3:28
A Carpenters LP piano loop is layered again and again over a high sky recording, which was recorded using a helium balloon floating in the clouds over the city, with raindrops.
B1 Coda (for Sir John Dankworth) 5:00
In my early teens, I used to attend week long music camps, in tents, within the grounds of Sir John Dankworth's home with Cleo Laine. I used to know them, and composed this piece with one of their vinyl's on the day I heard he died. The installation premiered at the Sydney Cooper Gallery in Canterbury, broadcasting a 3 channel version to six 50's radios.
B2 The City of Dreams 8:28
Theme tune for the opening of “The Mill: City of Dreams” a site specific theatre production in a deserted mill in Bradford. Piano motif recorded live with my twin-arm turntable, additional overlays recorded with Mark Robinson on his old family piano.
B3 Beyond 6:30
The Carpenter’s return, sliding piano loops through recordings made in Grand Central Station at closing time when the vast hall was deserted, and the full majesty of the acoustic space could be appreciated. Stilettos pass by forming polyrhythm's, as the last train announces it’s departure...
credits
released 19 November 2014
Biography
Janek Schaefer has exhibited, lectured, and performed widely throughout Europe [Sonar, Tate Modern, ICA, Strasbourg Museum of Modern & Contemporary Art], USA/Canada, [Walker Art Center, Mutek, Princeton, XI], Japan, and Australia [Sydney Opera House 2003]. His foundsound concerts and installations explore the spatial, social and celestial qualities that sound can communicate, through the twisting of old and new technology. The context of each idea is central to its development and resolution, often exploring themes of appropriation, accident, & alteration.
Janek studied Architecture at the Royal College of Art where he worked with Brian Eno, creating “Recorded Delivery” in 1995, and discovered how important sound is in perceiving space, and place. In 2008 he won the British Composer of the Year Award in Sonic Art, and a Paul Hamlyn Award. The Bluecoat Gallery in Liverpool exhibited a Retrospective of his career to date in 2009. He is represented by the Agency gallery, London, and is a Visiting Professor at Oxford Brookes Sonic Art Research Unit. He lives and works in Walton-on-Thames." [label info]
www.dekorder.com
"The other LP has seven pieces, shorter pieces of course and it's a pity that there are no clarifications printed on the cover. They are in the press text, so we know why there were created, so we know, for instance that 'Luxury' is 'an orchestral drone piece featuring an old French lady singing to her cats with an extra celestial chorus', or that 'Skyline Ascending' is 'a Carpenters LP piano loop is layered again and again over a high sky recording, which was recorded using a helium balloon floating in the clouds over the city, with raindrops'. Shorter these pieces may seem, they essentially are not unlike his longer pieces: multi-layered sound events that create a beautiful dense, atmospheric field of sound. Careful crackles, computer processed sustaining loops (from instruments, vinyl, field recordings, nothing is sacred in the hands of Schaefer), and carefully placed field recordings in their raw state. There is obviously no reason to pick one over the other, but I think I prefer the second LP to the first, great as that one is. The second LP had more variation and the compositions were better worked out, unlike the more endless stream of sounds approach of the first. The differences are small I know, and it's probably best if you get both at the same time. This is Janek Schaefer at what he does, and what he does best. No surprises here, pleasant or otherwise." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
Inner Space Memorial in Wonderland |
LP |
"Dekorder presents two new vinyl editions composed and designed by UK sound artist Janek Schaefer, who is known around the world for his wide variety of engaging and unpredictable works for installation, concert and composition. Following his highly acclaimed ‘Lay-by Lullaby’ album on 12k [which Pitchfork listed in the ‘Top 10 under-the-radar releases for 2014’], Janek has created and collated a collection of tracks that showcase both his more ambient works [077], and his highly charged sonorities [078]. A beautiful pair of LP’s that ideally should be experienced together for your home listening pleasure. The tracks were mastered by Stephan Mathieu and cut by Lupo at Calyx Mastering.
'Over the years, I have produced a number of works in praise of the ideas of J.G Ballard. He lived just over the river from my home. While reading his autobiography in 2009, I was wandering how to go and say hello, but found out I was too late. I produced a monument in honour of him called the ‘Inner Space Memorial’, part of my Retrospective at the Bluecoat in Liverpool. A pair of speaker cones were turned around to play back into the void of their cabinets. An epitaph for a great mind.'
'Wonderland is the finale of my exhibition soundtrack to "Asleep at the wheel...". A work that questions where our culture is heading further down the highway ahead. A single majestic daydream that drives you forwards as reality undertakes you. Location recordings were made in the middle of the night on a footbridge over the M3, at the end of Ballard's street. I was fascinated to work out that while he was writing Crash and Concrete Island, the six lane motorway was being built right past the front of his home. Ideal music for when you need to stay awake on the road!'
Biography: Janek Schaefer has exhibited, lectured, and performed widely throughout Europe [Sonar, Tate Modern, ICA, Strasbourg Museum of Modern & Contemporary Art], USA/Canada, [Walker Art Center, Mutek, Princeton, XI], Japan, and Australia [Sydney Opera House 2003]. His foundsound concerts and installations explore the spatial, social and celestial qualities that sound can communicate, through the twisting of old and new technology. The context of each idea is central to its development and resolution, often exploring themes of appropriation, accident, & alteration.
Janek studied Architecture at the Royal College of Art where he worked with Brian Eno, creating “Recorded Delivery” in 1995, and discovered how important sound is in perceiving space, and place. In 2008 he won the British Composer of the Year Award in Sonic Art, and a Paul Hamlyn Award. The Bluecoat Gallery in Liverpool exhibited a Retrospective of his career to date in 2009. He is represented by the Agency gallery, London, and is a Visiting Professor at Oxford Brookes Sonic Art Research Unit. He lives and works in Walton-on-Thames." [label info]
www.dekorder.com
|
2014 |
€14.00 |
|
| SCHEFFNER, PHILIP |
Fon |
maxi-CD |
Erste Veröffentlichung für das neue Berliner Label PONG. PHILIPP SCHEFFNER versucht hier, hörspielartig mit musikalischen Mitteln eine Story zu erzählen.. sehr interessant und außergewöhnlich.
First release for new Berlin based label PONG by P. SCHEFFNER who already created music for several film-productions. This work has Hoerspiel-like qualities, like the “cinema pour l’oreille”-series.
“For „fon" Scheffner developed for the first time a soundtrack without a film. Over and over modified soundscapes and acoustic „accidents", recorded and re-arranged in analog and digital technology, have been created as a subtle drama structure, which the six different tracks follow without narrating a clear story. Comfortably situated in the electronic home after a while a certain restlessness is noticed by the inhabitant. The attempt to contact the outside becomes a journey through ether waves and wires and gets stuck between beats and loops. A real outside world seems more and more unlikely to exist. The cinemascope-version of the story could be totallly different: A catastropy has happened in a small town, USA. A single survivor is sitting in his detached family house, seeking desperately for signs of life. In this version the hero would probably leave the city at last. Close Up. It is raining. Long fade out.” [press release]
|
2001 |
€11.00 |
|
| SCHEICH IN CHINA |
Scheich in China |
LP |
"Killer album of ferric, monotone, fizzing electronics, slowed down bunker Techno and heavily atmospheric field recordings unearthed and compiled by Golden Püdel's impeccable selector Nina (veteran of mixes for the likes of Blackest Ever Black's Krokodilo Tapes and Berceuse Heroique) and Tobias Duffner's VIS label. Highly Recommended if you're into Alessandro Cortini or fellow Pudel compatriot Helena Hauff.
Scheich in China make exactly the kind of stuff you’d hope to hear during one of Nina’s far-reaching but focussed DJ sets and comes from another one of the club's elusive and extended possee, someone who alongside their nocturnal activities apparently spends their time beekeeping.
Their self-titled LP bluntly stakes out malefic intent to hypnotise thru their unflinching style and greyscale, atonal palette that’s deeply entrenched in a bunker mindset.
On the A-side they lash us into a trio of ever-decreasing drone techno circles primed for the grungiest DJs and clubs that crave a bit of murk on the ‘floor, but the record’s biggest attraction in undoubtedly the B-side’s 18 minute tract of treated and re-wired field recordings, all processed with a cold, hollow, metallic finish that make us feel like some invisible entity haunting the Hamburg docks and Reeperbahn at 6am.
If you fell in love with Alessandro Cortini's impeccable run of releases over the last few years, this one's a must." [Boomkat]
https://v-i-s.bandcamp.com |
2016 |
€16.00 |
|
| SCHICKERT, GÜNTER & PETER UNSICKER |
Mauerharfe |
LP + CD |
Günter Schickert, krautrock maestro of echo-driven psychedelia, returns on Marmo one year and half after the release of the Labyrinth LP. Mauerharfe consists of old and special material, which has officially never seen the light before. It is due for release on the eve of the 30th anniversary of Berlin Wall fall, in 12” LP with CD, CD and digital formats. The physical versions contain exclusive pictures, linear notes, a prose poem by Peter Unsicker and some draft writings by the artists with reflections on the project.
Berlin, August 1990, first post-wall Summer. Two friends, the locals Günter Schickert and gallerist Peter Unsicker perform a spectacular yet symbolically intimate interpretation of those epochal changing days by building a sound installation with a damaged piece of the Berlin Wall. They persuade the patrol “Feliks Dzierzynski” of the Western German army to transport and relocate a the piece outside Peter`s Wall Street Gallery on the Zimmer Strasse, in the borough of Mitte, where only a few months back the intact structure actually passed through.
Once the wall was positioned, they bend down the bars of the iron structure that crop out the concrete, bind piano chords to them, stretch the strings down to the bottom base of the construct and connect guitar amplifiers to the set up. The Berlin Wall is ready to be played as a harp.
Günter Schickert`s Mauerharfe are executed between August and October 1990, resulting into three long field recordings.
Side A features a 19` long piece. The tape-induced background noise lays down a carpet of haunting atmospheres and introduces the experiment. Günter starts to test the chords by pulling out, with his fingers, dry and acid timbers. The warm up evolves by investigating wider sinusoidal waves and dilated metallic riffs. The track takes the form of a more conventional music narration, as the artist bangs the harp with a sort of rudimental violin bow creating marching percussive patterns. Layers of psychedelic ambience take over the scene before mixing up with roaring industrial spasms. Lunar sceneries seem to emerge, paving the way to sudden strings feedbacks, crackling distorted clicks and menacing reverbs.
Flipping side, a similarly long take opens up with ferocious urge, like being catapulted into a warfare between iron and cement, sounding like a real military operation. As the strings get hit and pulled, the metal seems to crash into thousands of pieces, dissolving into merciless distortions. Yet it is intriguing to notice how these dynamics of madness occasionally generate wavy and gentle sub-harmonics. This piece adds up intensity in comparison to the previous one, containing enhanced abrasive and distorted frequencies. The final part is marked by monstrous echoing rhythms, before drifting back to a chaotic rumble of fire, metal and concrete.
The third piece, Mauerharfe 3, is a 30 minutes long performance dated August the 13th 1990. As Schickert recalls, 29 years before exactly on that same date, the construction of the Berlin wall was accomplished. This take appears exclusively on CD, with copies included inside the vinyl package and as a separate CD format release. The recording is cleaner than the previous two, giving more width and definition to the sounds. As opposed to Mauerharfe 1 and 2, where the wall of sound is overwhelming, in this 3rd take human presences can be heard : fragments of women voices, a baby crying, the siren of a police car. The compositional approach is more sober, the tones of the harp warmer, closer to an actual one, its notes more gentle, discrete and meditative, sometimes resulting into deep, gong-like percussive timbers.
As Günter Schickert claims, the idea behind the project was the one of representing, in a personal musical way, the feelings and sensations that he – as well as many others experiencing the division and eventually the removal of the Wall - felt through the decades around the presence of this monstrous separator. The wall becomes an instrument, seen both as an object and executor of the experiment, while the human and artistic presence almost vanishes. The atonal and harsh sounds embody the ugliness of an inhuman separation, the terrible echoes of prisons and the lament of its prisoners. The pulling of the strings suggests the repression of a regime, while releasing these it indicates a dash of freedom.
You can get lost into the intensity of the Mauerharfe, find always new sensations and a countless amount of details. If you approach the listening with adventurous spirit and a good dose of curiosity, it can really throw you back into the past, a past of segregation, austerity and suppression, yet of an urging desire of liberation.
https://marmomusic.bandcamp.com/album/g-nter-schickert-peter-unsicker-mauerharfe
|
2019 |
€22.50 |
|
| SCHITTKO, CLEMENS / LOUIS JUCKER / THE SPYON / JEROEN DIEPENMAAT / KOMMISSAR HJULER & MAMA BÄR |
Home Made Universe |
LP |
Tracklist
A1 –Clemens Schittko Selbstkritik
A2 –Louis Jucker Fake Fake Folk
A3 –The Spyon Got Milk (#6)
A4 –Jeroen Diepenmaat Home Made Universe
A5 –Louis Jucker Vielle Laroque
B –Kommissar Hjuler & Mama Bär Copenhagen Magazines
LP is series FLUXUS +/-, limited to 100 copies, LP appears in black vinyl with black labels.
|
2018 |
€22.00 |
|
| SCHMICKLER, MARCUS |
Param |
do-LP |
...ein “drone”-album par excellence auf Seite 1, 3 & 4 die himmlisch-höllischen, vielschichtigen dunklen und mitunter disharmonisch-noisigen Drones erinnern an ROLAND KAYN oder andere „classical“ composer und graben sich wie tiefe Furchen ins Gemüt... unheimlich und doch wunderschön ! Andere Stücke (v.a. Seite 2) sind eher klassisch abstrakt gehalten und brechen mitunter aus, aber der düstere Unterton ist stets vorhanden...sehr sehr intensiv !!
“The new release on Cologne based label A-Musik contains compositions by Marcus Schmickler that were performed and recorded over the last four years with many various musicians and ensembles. These recordings document Schmickler's interest in a confrontation with modern classical composers, they are a return of "the livingd dead." According to Schmickler innovations
are only possible by including the old.Schmickler has been known also for his different approaches with Pluramon, MIMEO, his collaborations with Thomas Brinkmann or the improviser Thomas Lehn. "Param" continues his series of releases on A-Musik although it presents itself less electronic and less bulky than "Wabi Sabi" or "Sator Rotas". The original recordings of the compositions are newly edited for this release..” [press-release]
|
2001 |
€17.00 |
|
| SCHUMACHER, MICHAEL J. |
Four Stills |
CD |
Eine faszinierende Klangwelt entwirft MICHAEL J. SCHUMACER auf „four stills“. Hochfrequent-undurchdringliche Geräusche erinnern an organisches, unbekanntes Leben, Anklänge an JOHN HUDAK, LOPEZ, CHARTIER...
“Sedimental’s first release for 2002, Four Stills, is from New York composer/guitarist Michael J. Schumacher. Schumacher has a strong presence on the experimental scene with his refined guitar “drone” compositions but parallel to this activity he has been working with number system applications of sampled material through electronics, a direct extension of his audio installations. Schumacher is also internationally recognized along with his wife and artist Ursula Scherrer, who designed the artwork for this release, for the outstanding Studio 5 Beekman space (now Diapason on 6th Ave.) that provides a sympathetic environment for audio artists to execute installations. The participants in this project read like a who’s who of leading-edge composers and experimental musicians.
Our reaction to material originally considered for Four Stills was nothing short of breathtaking. Where as much digitally generated material succumbs to a hermetically closed world of glitches and electronic landscape Schumacher’s work opens up this environment, despite the density of the material, into a breathing, organic spaciousness while still maintaining the intimacy inherent in the form.
”The Four Stills are expressions of the number system that I have used since 1989 in my electronic compositions. These numbers form the basis for dozens of rhythmic processes executed by the computer, from playing a midi grand piano, to deciding a range within a sample buffer to play, to determining larger structural aspects such as the alternation of sound and silence within a particular part. The fact that they are prime numbers prevents predictable patterns from emerging. The limit of six maintains structural coherence. The Four Stills were recorded direct to stereo in real time. Though the sounds used in a given piece are predetermined, their interaction with each other over time is left to chance.
These pieces are extensions of my installation pieces, which evolve over long time periods, and are also created in real time by generative algorithms. However, in contrast to the installations, which utilize distance as an important perceptual feature and employ as many as 16 independent channels of sound, allowing for meaningful variations in texture, these recordings, being limited to two channels, are more compact in their presentation of the sonic material. They therefore remind me of certain styles of painting, which present the spectator with a static field of color that is experienced in no particular order. Though the music obviously unfolds over time, the analogy seems appropriate to me, since the dense textures (sometimes as many as 27 simultaneous parts) invite a contemplation of the many layers of sound and their relation, not in time, but in space.” Sedimental is honored to make available the rarely heard digital works of Schumacher to a wider international audience-a dynamic composer who has provided a unique aesthetic forum for some many like-minded composers as well.” [press release]
|
2002 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Stories |
CD |
"The new album by composer, performer and installation artist Michael J. Schumacher from New York City after the critically acclaimed Room Pieces, on the XI label. Feat. guest musicians Tim Barnes, Charles Curtis, Donald Miller, Peter Zummo, George Bishop and many more.
Stories refers to the idea of layering, the process of building a structure by stacking things on top of each other. This procedure is particularly evident in Room Pieces New York, in which as many as 23 parts play simultaneously. In general, Schumacher's interest is to develop a contemporary form of counterpoint, where each voice maintains its integrity while contributing to a total sound. Listeners are invited to create their own melodies by letting their ears follow the sounds moment by moment, allowing spontaneous pathways linking the various voices to emerge effortlessly. Michael J. Schumacher works predominantly with electronic and digital media, specializing in computer generated sound environments which evolve continuously for long time periods. His sound installations have been heard at Apex Art, PS 1, the Queens Museum and The Kitchen in New York City, at the Technical University and Podewil in Berlin, at the Museum for Applied Arts in Frankfurt, at the Museum of Modern Art in Lyon and many others." [label notes] |
2004 |
€14.00 |
|
| SCISS |
Achronie |
Video-CDR |
30 minutes of various visual & acoustical extracts, a combination of lights, flashes, sparks & shimmering drones with more concrete sound effects, environmental filming in a special way, nice colourful waving water-effects, at parts hyperabstract amorph drones, shifting geometrical shapes & patterns with hallucinogenic effects, etc etc., not really psychedelic, this is more subtle and refined. A very recommended work.
“ Achronie - the inability to perceive the phenomenon of passing time - started in 2001 as an experimental audio/video collaboration between Cem Akkan and Sciss. Completed in August 2002, the work consists of eleven short clips and three interludes that explore the interaction between floating and vibrating visual shapes and synchronized sound scapes. While in most cases sound creation followed video, finally a careful balance was found in which the question of stimulus and response or causality arises. The way we look at the images influences the way we hear the noises and vice versa.
More specifically, the clips deal with paradox situations of speed and time perception. A dynamic system in which the recipient can synchronize himself/herself to the stream and, on a different point on the time line, divorce from it. The moment when speed exceeds a threshold and gets mapped back to a state of calmness.” [Sciss-info]
for more info / sound-examples check: www.sciss.de
Music By – Sciss
Video Editor – Cem Akkan
|
2002 |
€10.00 |
|
| |
Crosshatch |
mCD-R |
Another new label rising from Berlin with its first output, a damn fine release by german project SCISS, combining digitally processed drones and found sounds.. kind of ambience with musique concrete influences... comes in special white printed cardboard box !
“ apostrov starts its release programme with «crosshatch» by the berlin based composer and musician sciss. the 18-minute mini-cd appears to be a crystallization of the artist's live performances. during the recent years through many concerts, sciss has created a kind of alter ego. it has an individual independence and freedom distinct from his studio works like «stamina» or «residual». it is the well-prepared but equally improvising live situation of asynchronous tape tracks being mixed, filtered, alienated and sampled, where the meditative and the spontaneous elements meet. «crosshatch» is a rearranged and intensified version of the dienstbar concert in october 2003 in the church of the holy cross – the concert as a space inside a space, earthly headquarter inside the celestial. no coincidences: alike the initial mover, the piece begins with a soft stroke which unfolds a unidirectional 'dynamic' energy throughout the first part. the dancing figure arises from a ducked position, heads straight forward but turns out to be a vulnerable object. maximally reduced but nevertheless exploring the properties of tortuousity, the listener is thrown into a panopticum comprised of shattered items. a visual presentation of synchronous, different viewpoints, phrases which revolve, counterparts that are not contradictory. a concealed pompe des nuages is operating and produces castings and spew outs as a new landscape. what is a poetic affection? distant sound traces cautiously underline the barren foreground like sheet lightning. and right in the middle of it a short melodic fragment, like an obelisk standing on a grey deserted square, its skin made of oil. a distressingly premature return of the oreille from its embryonic separation to the real, yet echoing world.” [label description]
|
2004 |
€7.00 |
|
| SCOTT, SIMON (SIMON SCOTT) |
Navigare |
LP |
"This is the debut full-length release by the UK's Simon Scott. Scott has had a notable musical past: in the early '90s he was the drummer for the renowned shoegaze band Slowdive. Upon leaving Slowdive, he formed the more electronic-based group Televise. He also set up his own label, Kesh Recordings, and has so far released titles by the likes of Hannu, Sebastian Roux, Aus and Mark Templeton. More recently, Scott has been involved in several diverse projects, including his work as a member of Seavault (with Antony Ryan from Isan), and collaborations with Machinefabriek, Jasper TX and Emmanuele Errante. With Navigare, there are shades of Scott's previous output and musical interests, but as a whole, the album marks a bold new direction. Navigare opens with "Introduction Of Cambridge," a shimmering wall of sound, its ethereal tones and slow-burning drones gradually drawing closer and closer, creating gorgeous uplifting melodies and textures. The processed guitar combined with gentle swathes of interference and underlying rhythms echoes the processes of Chain Reaction's productions as much as it does the screeching, arcing feedback lines of Kevin Shield's guitar work. Navigare shares an affinity with the melodic content of Fennesz's work, the dark beauty of Tim Hecker's sound, and houses elements of the restraint found in Andrew Chalk's drone compositions. What really devastates here is Scott's ability to merge ambient passages with such memorable melodic cycles, taking the simplest of ideas and building on them, generating murky hooks and submerged "riffs." Scott explores textures using a variety of instruments including sitar, violin, cello, and flute, merging them with excerpts from field recordings; it all sounds so effortless. The looping rhythms and slow guitars rise and grow, at times approaching something oppressive; select pieces such as "Flood Inn" house an underlying weight, comparable to Justin K. Broderick's Jesu and Final projects. Perhaps the hazy drums, bass and guitar drift of "The ACC" presents the most recognizable of stylistic qualities from Scott's back catalog; a groove that recalls the Souvlaki-era sound in all its glory, re-imagined in a new, darker and more expansive form. Additionally, a guest appearance from label mate Jasper TX, a vocal contribution from Moskitoo, and a track co-written with Rafael Anton Irisarri, adds even more depth to Scott's already ambitious vision." [label info]
www.myspace.com/o3o3o
"Ah, Miasmah! After the likes of Elegi, Jacazek, and Kreng, we're pretty much automatically interested in any new release on
Norway's Miasmah label. Like this one. Add in some bits of trivia, like that Scott was once the drummer for shoegazers Slowdive, and that
this disc features a guest cameo from another Miasmah artist we love, Jasper TX, and we're already pretty intrigued. We also weren't at all surprised, but certainly pleased, by the gentle swells of ambient sonics that seep sleepily from the speakers when one hits play. The first two tracks, "Introduction Of Cambridge" and "Under Crumbling Skies", are blissfully replete with quiet hum and shimmering textures, forming into and out of drifting diaphanous melodies, blurry and
melancholic. Some sparse, slowed down drum skitter adds a touch of Bohren to the proceedings in the first track, while the second employs a glorious chorus of angelic drones, that graces one's ears again and
again throughout the disc.
Then, suddenly upping the volume, the third track "Flood Inn" seemingly enters into a subterranean realm full of soft fuzzy distortion. Quasi-industrially rhythmic, with a distant tolling bell heard amidst the crackle, this is ambience of the heavier (but not
harsh) variety, almost like something from a Nadja or Jesu album.
Having given warning of a more sinister side, the disc continues on, with seven tracks more, being a beautiful blend of dreaminess, drone and distortion. There are almost pop songs hidden here, with buried rhythms and barely-there vocals (in one instance
contributed by 12K's Sanae Yamasaki, aka Moskitoo), electronic treatments rendering the sound sources (guitar, sitar, violin, cello,
flute, field recordings, voice, ???) all one lush, hushed, beautifully bleary, gorgeous warm bath of song-like drone...
It's a moodier, shoegazier take on Pop Ambient perhaps, certainly something that fans of Tim Hecker, Fennesz, Final, Jasper
TX, and of course those other Miasmah wonders should check out!" [Aquarius Records]
|
2009 |
€18.00 |
|
|
Bunny |
CD |
"This is UK multi-instrumentalist Simon Scott's second album for Miasmah. He might still be best known for his tenure as the backbone of influential shoegazers Slowdive, but after his debut solo effort Navigare in 2009, he showed that there was far more to his oeuvre. With an ease and fluidity that eschews the usual trappings of the genre, he injected Slowdive's freeflowing bliss into the kind of blackened soundscapes the Miasmah label has made its calling card and gave the sound a rich, multi-layered quality that was effortlessly enticing. Bunny sees him take on a plethora of themes and ideas, distilling them into a coherent, well-defined narrative. The overall premise of the record is apparent from the very beginning, and might surprise some with its inspired take on the blackened jazz and smokey Americana heard in Paris, Texas or Mulholland Dr.. It would do Scott a disservice to simply label the music as Lynchian however; his success is to treat the layers of instrumentation (drums, guitars, cello, synthesizers) with a masterful fluidity, allowing the influences to melt into a delicate and delectable whole. Occasionally Scott acknowledges his shoegazing past, nudging the sound towards the blurred haze of his former band, but even these moments are cavernous enough for us to imagine them oozing from a Midwestern jukebox in an abandoned suburban diner. Bunny is an ambitious and daring journey for an artist who refuses to stay still; and it might just be the best road trip you've never taken." [label info]
www.miasmah.com
"Simon Scott produced one of the best records of 2009 with Navigare, an album whose shoegaze dronemusic was dotted with radioluminescent dream-pop numbers. It was hardly a surprise to us when we learned that he was the drummer of Slowdive way back when. Since then, Scott has produced a single for Immune and a collaboration with Jasper TX, both equally fantastic. For his second proper record, Scott makes a slight detour; but one that is well suited to everything else that's been released by the hauntologically leaning Miasmah records. The album opens with a languid series of smoke and mirror abstractions flickering above a nocturnal jazz rhythm that gives way to a Caretaker-esque melody of disembodied historicism amidst subterranean clatter and eerie scrapings. A walking bassline follows this as the only constant to the next track "Betty" whose distant cacophonous guitars slide into audibility through a dense fog of reverb, with a trip along the drumkit taking one tempestuous fill before succumbing to Scott's omnivorous reverb, sounding not all that far from Supersilent at their grooviest and some of those bleached Crescent instrumentals, if anybody remembers that Bristol outfit. With the breathtaking "Radiances," Scott relives his shoegaze past with a song directly out of the Slowdive playbook: a halo of guitar ambience brightens a classic Brit-pop maudlin rhythm section, where the droning slipperiness of the guitar is perfectly countered by the easy pace of the bassline. It really does sound like "Albatross" off of the Blue Day album by Slowdive, and we mean that as quite a high complement. Scott reprises this dream-pop sensibility on the equally deft "Drilla," with electro-static crackling and plenty of ephemeral drone-guitar work to fill in the blanks." [Aquarius Records] |
2011 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Insomni |
CD |
"Couldn't sleep arose to forage for sound. The hum of the fridge encouraged further investigation of hidden, domestic sounds; the fish tank, dvd player, a broken laptop
Dawn and morning light allowed more sound and the guitar, in its case, beckoned
From darkness to light
Guitars: Guild 12 string D-125 & Vintage Guild 6 string GF-25. Mics: Induction coil pick up & Hydrophones. Buddha Machine pre-recorded and mixed, then re-recorded at Holme Fen Posts using mobile speakers. Recording device: Edirol r-09. Radio: static between stations. Software: Max MSP (self-programmed), Supercollider & Logic Pro.
Simon Scott (b. 1971) is a British multi-instrumentalist who is currently based in Cambridge, UK. Insomni is his fourth album and his debut for Ash International and is published by Touch. His music is a fusion of digital signal manipulation combined with an aesthetic of compositional collaboration with environmental sounds and organic acoustic textures. He is inspired by his interests in sound ecology, music technology, the natural world, illustration, photography, composition and sonic art.
Below Sea Level, originally presented live in quadraphonic sound, was released on Touchline in March 2015, after 12k originally released the album in 2012 as an 80-page journal and seven track CD. It explores the aesthetics of active listening, sound ecology and the subjective distinction of compositional materials and sound timbres. Critically applauded for creating juxtapositions of analogue and digital timbres, the man-made and natural world sounds, captured in his local sunken landscape of The Fens in East Anglia, create a fusion of digital signal manipulation combined with organic acoustic textures.
Since the late 1990's Scott's solo work has been featured in a variety of international films, sonic art exhibitions, dance productions, television productions and digital multi-media projects.
He has toured worldwide since 1988 and he is the drummer for UK band Slowdive, who worked with Brian Eno on 1993 'Souvlaki' album. His track 'Für Betty' was included on the German label Kompakt's 'Pop Ambient' (2014) compilation series and his solo music has also been previously released on recording labels 12k, Morr Music, Miasmah, Sonic Pieces and Ghostly International.
Scott is also a freelance composer and sound recordist for film and television and recently appeared on the BBC program 'Springwatch Unsprung' recording aquatic wildlife and discussing his work with presenter Chris Packham. He has taught Music Technology and sound recording in Cambridgeshire and lectured at Cambridge University.
In 2008 he established the KESH recording label, releasing global artists audio and visual projects and he has also collaborated on various projects with Taylor Deupree, Nils Frahm, Machinefabriek, The Sight Below, Isan and James Blackshaw." [label info]
"There are people who know Simon Scott as member of the renown shoegazer band, Slowdive. I have, unfortunately, never got into their music during their reign (even now I can see Rafael Anton Irisarri glaring down at me for this comment). I have, however, come upon Simon Scott's music back in 2009, where, for the first time since his playing drums for Slowdive, he has ventured out to release a solo album. Since then, Scott's music appeared on many of my favorite labels, such as Miasmah, Low Point, Slaapwel, and even 12k. Scott also runs and releases on his very own imprint, Kesh Recordings. His latest full length, Insomni, lands courtesy of Ash International, a long running outlet for Mike Harding, who is already busy with curating releases for Touch.
Insomni opens up with a slowly rising guitar strum slash drone slash noise, perfect as a soundtrack for my early morning walk, as I step out towards a lethargic and barely visible sun. The volume ascents with the climbing star, and soon envelopes every cell of my body. Gentle ambient soundscapes are intermixed with growling distortion, and it is this cocktail of dynamically opposing sonic vibrations that awakens my neurons, and a smile creeps in. The thunder eventually dissolves into a field recording of chirping birds, and Scott's guitar chords tell their story. Those awakened in the midst of night will recognize this texture of insomnia, mixed with fleeting thoughts within an empty chalice of a mind, and distant sounds of the universe unfolding on its own... all on its own...
Couldn't sleep... arose to forage for sound. The hum of the fridge encouraged further investigation of hidden, domestic sounds; the fish tank, dvd player, a broken laptop... Dawn and morning light allowed more sound and the guitar, in its case, beckoned... From darkness to light… -Scott
Insomni pursues its tale through a set of repetitious passages, shimmering light and lo-fi fabric. These are accented with environmental sounds (including the pickup of a cellular electromagnetic interference), wrapping this reverse lullaby into an organic aural pillow of music to wake up to. My favorite moment on the album enters with Scott playing his acoustic guitar (the press release credits a Guild 12-string D-125 and Vintage Guild six-string GF-25) - this is where Scott's talent as a multi-instrumentalist truly shines - it feels like Simon Scott is all this music, all these sounds, all this one. This is a beautiful record to add to your collection, and if you buy directly from the label you will receive two bonus tracks not available anywhere else. Highly recommended for fans of Rafael Anton Irisarri, William Basinski, Lawrence English and Christian Fennesz."
[headphone commute] |
2015 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Floodlines |
CD |
Recorded live at Cafe Oto as part of “Touch presents…” on 31st January 2016
Simon Scott is a sound ecologist and multi-instrumentalist from Cambridge, England. His albums ‘Insomni’ (Ash International) and ‘Below Sea Level’ (12k / TouchLine) are out now (see above). His work explores the creative process of actively listening, the implications of recording the natural world using technology and the manipulation of natural sounds used for musical composition. He plays the drums in Slowdive and has recently collaborated with artists James Blackshaw, Spire, Taylor Deupree (Between), Isan + many more.
This is his first physical release for Touch.
Source material recorded in The Fens, East Anglia.
Simon Scott's blistering live set from London follows his 2015 album ‘insomni’ but features his field recordings of areas of The Fens in East Anglia that cartographically are below mean sea level. They’re complimented by underwater hydrophone recordings taken on field research trips, making the unheard audible and brings the unseen to the surface. It’s a flat landscape that was devastated by the draining of The Fens in the 17th century. The ecosystem was damaged but these areas have been left to reflood and re-establish it’s vernacular wildlife, replete with its own instrumentation and orchestras. Tapping into these, Scott's vision encourages us to explore the fertility of the flatlands of England.
www.touchmusic.org.uk
|
2016 |
€11.00 |
|
| SEAWORTHY + MATT RÖSNER |
Two Lakes |
CD |
"In April 2010, 12k recording artist Seaworthy (the recording project of Cameron Webb) and Matt Rösner traveled to the south coast of New South Wales to undertake a detailed field recording study of two coastal lake ecosystems at the Lakes Meroo and Termeil. The aim of the project was to explore the sounds of a fragile coastal Australian environment and to build from those sounds unique musical pieces that provide a place for listener contemplation and reflection. Field recordings were taken from the lakes and surrounding beaches, forests and streams at different times of the day. Various equipment including a hydrophone, a shotgun and stereo microphones were used to capture the natural sounds of each lake. During breaks in field recording, the artists set up recording equipment in a nearby lakeside cabin. Using acoustic and electric guitars, a ukulele, and electronics, a series of improvised performances were documented. On the last day of the trip, with the experience of the recording process still fresh in mind, rough arrangements were created from the field recordings and improvised sets. Matt Rösner then took these arrangements back to his studio in Myalup -- a small coastal town on the opposite side of the Australian continent -- to mix and finalize the production. Both Rösner and Webb have been active in the Australian experimental music scene for over ten years, with a plethora of releases on local and international labels sharing a similar vision of molding found sounds and field recordings with traditional instrumentation and electronics. Aside from shared musical interest, both artists grew up in close connection with the Australian coastline, albeit on opposite sides of the continent. This connection with their landscape as a remote and diverse place is evident in the pieces created by the artists during their collaboration on the South Coast. Two Lakes marks the third full-length appearance for Seaworthy on 12k following 2006's Map In Hand and 2009's 1897 and blends his signature guitar style with the beautifully arranged field recordings and electronics of Matt Rösner. Two Lakes is a strikingly stark and lonely album undeniably influenced by the remote recording cabin and delicate Australian ecosystem. The blend of instrumentation comes off more like a natural, live duet between artist and nature than a modern-day layered recording. Webb's finger-picked acoustic guitar and ukelele play off of the sounds of wind, reeds and insects in perfect harmony, supported by soft beds of eBowed drones and careful electronic tones. Despite their human presence, Rösner and Webb manage to create music that resonates on another level, as if composed by the lakes themselves." [label info]
www.12k.com
|
2010 |
€14.00 |
|
| SECONDFACE |
Transitions |
CD |
On Transitions we experience the full register of SecondFace with vivid and colourful musical expressions ranging from ambient to trance and dub techno. The cinematic feeling remains as strong as on the album "Vega Colony".
https://secondfacedk.bandcamp.com/album/transitions
"The music on this album had a long way coming as composer Frank Vilbæk Jensen lost quite some drafts due to two severe computer breakdowns as he only made a partial back-up of them. Next to starting on new music to add to the recovered stuff Frank also struggled for a long time finding cohesion and a red thread in the tracks in which he succeeded in the end.
The 74-minute “Transitions” ended up as a 12-track album, a mix of organic live approach and hard-midi editing, covering a wider range of styles than previous and using more melody. Elements of techno-minimalism and ambient dub are still on the menu but less present while the whole sound design (which proves quite hypnotic and mesmerizing) has expanded further into the mellow, chill-out domain.
“Transitions” makes a simple, varied but most effective listen I reckon." [Sonic Immersion]
|
2017 |
€13.00 |
|
| SECONDS IN FORMALDEHYDE |
Construct |
m-CDR |
"Construct offers a 22 min journey through nice shimmering drones that have a quiet romantic glitch appeal. Euphoric but at the same time fragile. This release marks the highlight of SiF's quiet young career" [label info]
www.waterscape.de
|
2007 |
€7.00 |
|
| SECRET PYRAMID |
Embers |
LP |
Secret Pyramid is the nom de nocturne of Vancouver, BC’s resident
ambient explorer Amir Abbey. Having perfected his brand of elegant elegia over the past decade heard on albums released by illustrious imprints as Students of Decay, Ba-Da-Bing!, and Nice Up International and collaborated with the likes of Loscil, Abbey makes his Geographic North debut with Embers, Secret Pyramid’s most sincerely solemn and curiously calming work to date.
Embers’ six pieces find Abbey furroughing a few of his most trusted tools (including Ondes Martenot, sampler, Space Echo, two tape machines, and a computer), while taking a more compositional approach than his past works. This method opened entirely new aural possibilities and allowed Abbey to consider, manipulate, and re-consider each passing tone. The end result is an exquisitely enveloping work of contemporary ambient music that is equally inspired by and spiritually linked to influential French composer Olivier Messiaen, the progenitors of Dub, and a number of ephemeral oddities in between.
Sonically, Embers reveals some of Secret Pyramid’s most minimal and open works yet. Certain pieces (such as “Pins,” “Particles,” and “Ohms”) employ a single instrument or sound source with only a modicum of manipulation. This “less is more” approach gave each sound actual room to breathe and find a balance of beauty and dissonance, and the magical transition between the two.
Emotionally, the music was created during a particularly turbulent time in Abbey’s life, allowing him to process things musically. In his own words, “It’s a reflection of the impermanent, shifting, and fleeting aspects of our lives, both the good and the bad, that often spark something inside of us. Aspects of our daily existence, and the self (whether our emotions, surroundings, relationships,) that are constantly morphing, disappearing, reappearing, burning out, reigniting, and so forth, metaphorically like flares or embers.”
https://secretpyramid.bandcamp.com/album/embers
|
2020 |
€25.00 |
|
| SECTION 25 |
Eigengrau |
CD |
"Blackpool’s most famous music export Section 25 are best known for being a legendary band on Manchester’s Factory label. They were labelmates of Joy Division and were produced by Martin Hannett in their early days. We at Klanggalerie think that SXXV are not only known and loved in the postpunk scene, but also in the avantgarde and Industrial genres. So we asked some great bands from those scenes to remix classic Section 25 tracks. The result is an incredible variety of styles and approaches, nevertheless the whole album sounds homogenic. The impressive full track list is as follows:
Girls don't count (Atomizer Remix)
Beating Heart (Absolute Body Control Remix)
Desert (7JK Remix)
Colour Movement Sex & Violence (Monoton Remix)
Inner Drive (Dust Orchestra Remix)
Looking from a Hilltop (Wrangler/Stephen Mallinder Remix)
Desert (Samy Morpheus & Erge Storman Version)
The Process (Volcano The Bear Remix)
Uber Hymn (DDAA Remix)
Desert (Shane Fahey Remix)
New Horizon (23 Skidoo Remix)
Girls don't count (Renaldo & The Loaf Remix)
Desert (:zoviet*france: Remix)
Dirty Disco (Portion Control Remix)
Experience a different and new Section 25. The postpunk roots are still there, but the collaborators have taken their songs to a new level where avantgarde meets rock and electro." [label info]
www.klanggalerie.com
|
2013 |
€15.00 |
|
| SEETYCA |
The Lake (SOLD OUT) |
7inch |
Erstes Vinyl für dieses ostdeutsche Projekt, welches fast lyrisch zu nennende akustische Stimmungslandschaften erschafft, organisch und geheimnisvoll, von dunkler expressiver Kraft....
"Another German project dealing with language, poetry and sound is SEETYCA. They use their own orthography and publish lyrics and prose on their projects website. Seetyca’s musical interest lies more in creating "acoustic landscapes" or moods than in telling stories. They’re especially interested in unconscious archaic states of the mind. The two pieces on "The Lake" relate to a sacral approach of experiencing nature. When beautiful (classic?) samples are set into a sphere of extremely wide spaces and reverbation, when these clouds of sounds spread out in infinite refulgence, moving like slow surging billows, a point of utmost inner calmness can be reached.....
File under: mysterious organic drones
BLACK MARBLED DARK GREEN VINYL, HANDSPRAYED COVERS WITH COLOUR PHOTO, INLAY" [press release]
|
2007 |
€7.00 |
|
|
The Luminous Deep |
CD |
"When the final faint rays of light shine upon motionless limbs, colours begin to fade as the pelagic darkness bides a welcome with its cold and soft embrace. The descent continues, unevenly adrift on an unknown current. The boundaries of time and space no longer apply. Finally at rest on the distant seabed new life is destined to spring from this empty shell anew. Comes in a jewelcase with 16-page booklet." [label info]
http://gterma.blogspot.se
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Nemeton |
CD |
" 'Nemeton' is the new studio album from seetyca on the Winter-Light label and we are very pleased to have this fine artist on our roster. In the ancient Celtic tradition, a Nemeton was a sacred space, primarily situated in natural areas, often sacred groves of trees.
The album 'Nemeton' will take you to your own sacred place, as it hints at what lies hidden, ever deeper in the thick forests and darkened woods of Germany. A lo-fi master piece in dark ambient, the six tracks on this CD invoke feelings of apprehension, wonder and longing for a place never visited in the flesh but often travelled to in the minds eye. A place that lies tantalising just out of reach in the distance but that at any moment can become all consuming and enveloping. Encompassing you in thick dark layers of ambience and transporting you to a space from which there is no return.
CD is strictly limited to 300 copies in a 6-panel digipack. 6 tracks, total running time 79:30.
1. katarakt - 2. nemeton - 3. die wogen der unbil - 4. wenn alles aus ist - 5. als loch geh ich vor dich hin - 6. die Feuer von samhain" [label info]
www.winter-light.nl
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Winterlicht |
CD |
'Winterlicht' is Seetyca's third full length album to be released on the Winter-Light label.
As the album title indicates the theme is that of the winter's light and comprises of 12 new tracks, combining deep drones and sparse musical pieces to create a vast wintry landscape. The opening track 'cold morning' invokes images of sunlight playing across fields steeped in deep white snow while your cold breath disappears in to the morning air. The title track 'winterlicht' is a slowly evolving darker, deeper 13 minute drone piece. Here the heavy mantle of winter steadily envelopes the listener, drawing the darkness of the nights ever nearer, as the cold winds howl and the ice begins to form, locking the landscape in to a frozen tundra.
The play between light and dark, the subtle use of environmental sounds and carefully chosen instruments, played by a stellar array of Seetyca's friends, is what makes this album truly engaging.
'Winterlicht' was conceived, played and recorded over three summers between 2014 - 2016.
credits
released October 13, 2017
Seetyca uses e-maschinen, samplers, glass harmonica, air voice and harmonica. Technical assistance by dr. dipl.-ing. johann e. mildenberg.
Some friends gave a hand....
artin mucht: additional synths.
umanosuke yumeji: electro harmonix.
thom yeesland: environmental sounds.
madeleine madeiras: ice piano on track I.
ralf behrendt: additional atmospherics on tracks VIII & XII.
string samples on track IX by the oregon origo chamber orchestra, conducted & recorded by etheocles stevens.
gowlan roberts: bass on track XI.
the newschubert: additional sequencing on track XII.
The album was mixed by Artin Mucht and mastered by Seetyca.
The cover design and layout has been created by Midnight Sun Studio.
winter-light.bandcamp.com/album/winterlicht
|
2017 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Trances |
CD |
'Trances' is the new album from Germany's master of the drone Seetyca, which is a sequel to the album 'Zwischenwelten', previously released on our Winter-Light label in September, 2016.
On 'Zwischenwelten' the listener was pulled between worlds, switching from one to the other through dense ambient drone pieces. On 'Trances', one is drawn into different states of mind, slight shifts in sanity and mental disturbances.
This is not only evident in the music and some of the track titles but in the musical transitions also. There are subtle changes and shifts used in the cross overs between the tracks. What the artist refers to as experimenting with different "disturbed transitions'.
As the album title suggests, the music is very hypnotic and in keeping with Seetyca's signature drone style. But there are other elements at work here, layered between the drones, or inter-woven between each track which also makes 'Trances' a stand alone album in it's own right. Here, Seetyca gives the listener the space to maneuver between sounds, not filling the whole space up, to the point that you feel suffocated. Patient and careful attention to detail. Enjoy.
credits
released March 28, 2019
All music written and recorded by Seetyca.
Seetyca uses e-maschinen & samplers, flutes, duduk, rich. lipp & sohn piano, self-built percussion and voice.
Mixed by Artin Mucht.
Mastered by Seetyca.
https://winter-light.bandcamp.com/album/trances
Here’s one for those who dig long, continuous strings of soundscapes as expansive, inspired and deep drone worlds are on the menu on Seetyca’s “Trances”, a kind of follow-up of “Zwischenwelten”.
The 60-minute organic-spiced aural space is long and continuous flow of sound a blend of electronics, wind instruments and acoustic elements immersing into an alienating, profound mysterious and dark netherworld with an occasional abstract/experimental edge. Lovely echoes of Schulze’s “Mirage” surface beautifully but briefly on “Huge Globes of Glass passing by” while the sonic fingerprint of Robert Rich comes to mind as well as haunting/gothic-ish ambiences at other passages as it travels into the beyond. The two-part “Stratospheres” found at the end of the release is a special treat due to the very nicely rendered elevating impact.
Despite the sometimes obscure sound treatments, few strange aural corridors and twists, “Trances” is an appropriate companion to descend into a deeper, hypnotizing state- without things becoming gloomy or feeling lost.
Website: http://www.seetyca.bandcamp.com
[Sonic Immersion] |
2019 |
€12.00 |
|
| SEKTOR 304 |
Soul Cleansing |
CD |
"In three decades, Industrial music, due to its tangible form, has given birth to numerous interpretations and splintered factions.
What’s indisputable, is that most of what is actually defined as “industrial” has ultimately become more about entertainment than
confrontation and far removed from the original intent. This is the context in which Sektor 304 has appeared. Equipped with a frightening
and impressive array of primitive instrumentation pulled from junkyards and scrap metal heaps, this Portuguese outfit has delivered an astounding formal debut ¬ a heady mixture of truly old school industrial in the vein of Einsturzende Neubauten, Test Dept , and S.P.K, and the grinding, bass heavy dirge of vintage Swans and Godflesh. These are anthems to the past, but geared towards an apocalyptic and bleak future… a form of counter-culture using what is most evident in modern western society: the debris, the abandoned objects, the waste, the noise, and the interference.
With a solid foundation of rusty, oil drenched percussion, Sektor 304 adds layer upon layer of squalling industrial clangor, hammering metallic noise, grimy atmospheres, heaving masses of haunted factory drones, and threatening tribal batter, with a strong and commanding vocal presence. The sound here is almost physical in nature - provocative, persistent, and demanding. An organic impulse filled with shamanic drifts in which the noise barrage allies itself with metallic rhythmics and the use of concrete elements in the compositions. Junk, plastics, amplified objects. A change of scale. A manipulation of
non-musical sounds in search of visual inductions trying to bring forward
the sequences of Tsukamoto or situations invoked by J.G. Ballard. The conflict between man and machine as a metaphor of the struggle of man against himself. A mix and weight of three decades of sonic subversion.
It can be said that to find the future of music, one must look to the past, drawing influence from prior achievements, yet forging a new identity, and sculpting something completely unique and distinct. With Sektor 304, the future is now, and it’s not entertaining. In 6 panel digipak, mastered by Steel Hook Audio." [Malignant Records]
"Epic crushing metallic industrial heaviness, the kind of thing
we thought they just didn't make anymore, but this is total Swans /
Godflesh / Cop Shoot Cop worship, pounding metallic percussion,
soundscapes of whirring drills, blown out low slung bass, howled
distorted vox, the whole thing so repetitive and mantric, thick slabs
of distorted rumble wrapped around tons of damaged electronics,
bleating horns buried beneath reverb drenched beats, some songs are
full on walls of twisted electronic crunch, others are brooding,
droning skeletal sprawls, laid over deep blurred basslines, and tribal
rhythms, some are dense whorls of deeeeeep sinister black ambience,
all darkly drifting layers, and distant bits of clang and shimmer. For
a few moments here and there, the sound gets downright poppy, like
some sort of washed out post industrial deathrock, but even then, it's
shot through with a seriously menacing sonic undercurrent that seeps
into every beat, and every note. Filthy, crusty, heavy, haunting,
crushing and brutal, the perfect mix of old school industrial pound,
and more modern bleak blackness. Fucking fierce and frightening, grim
and punishing, and we're digging it like crazy." [Aquarius Records]
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| SERRIES, DIRK |
Microphonics XXI-XXV |
do-10inch & CD |
"with the conclusion of other remaining projects and collaborations, there’s no focus other than dirk serries’ ongoing exploration of minimalism. four years in the making and undoubtly fuelled by his 2009 debut and previous mainstays vidnaObmana and fear falls burning, this second microphonics studio album is a heartbreaking symphony of echoing themes, wailing overtones and beautiful desolation. microphonics xxi-xxv, subtitled ‘mounting among the waves, there’s a light in vein. the burden of hope across thousands of rivers’ does hint towards an emotional statement, one that boldly goes beyond what previously achieved.
microphonics xxi-xxv will be out on march 16, as a limited edition double 10inch in a numbered gatefold sleeve (150 copies on white vinyl, 300 copies on black vinyl), complete with a cd copy of the album, and a cd in a deluxe mini album gatefold sleeve." [label info]
www.tonefloat.com
"At the end of 2008 microphonics I - V saw the daylight. Time has come for Dirk Serries to play music under his own name and say good-bye to his alter-egos vidnaObmana and Fear Falls Burning. The design of that album was minimalist in structure. Quiet guitar patterns built up and flowed away and a calm, meditative ambient atmosphere with adventurous harmony was created. Five live albums and a 10 " were released at Tonefloat. Meanwhile appeared the last album of Fear Falls Burning, what can be called a stunning album, which led to an acoustic aftershock of an era ended. For more than four years later arrived the second studio album by the musical project microphonics, microphonics XXI - XXV with the subtitles Mounting among the waves, There's a light in vein, The burden of hope and Across thousands of rivers, which are the titles of the four tracks on the album. Elements of Fear Falls Burning, vidnaObmana and of course microphonics can be found in the compositions. The sound of
the guitar is dirtier, unpolished, seeking feedback and underneath the many layers of repeating sounds in which Serries is a master. The discrepancy between the heavy bass lines, distorted guitars, layered chords and delicate strumming seek each other, collide and blend together. Cheerfulness is hard to find in this album. It is true quest in which somewhere hope flickers. In this way the album ends with open chords and a rolling drone. The album is a pleasant surprise twist in the microphonics project, in which the ambient atmosphere reigned supreme. The double 10?is coming out with a book of city photography of Martina Verhoeven, the partner Dirk Serries. She plays bass in 3 Seconds or Air (a side project of Dirk Serries) and is responsible for the cover photography of Serries. The photography of the book, I haven?t view it yet, but given the pictures I've seen her before, it will be aesthetically pleasing and appropriate to the album. Often there is a desolate atmosphere in carefully composed black and white photos. Tonefloat knows to release another wonderful compilation of image and sound, which is a delight for the eyes and ears."(JKH/Vital Weekly]
|
2013 |
€27.50 |
|
| SERRIES, DIRK / STEFANO GENTILE |
The Disintegration of Silence |
CD + BOOK |
DIRK SERRIES
THE DISINTEGRATION OF SILENCE
28-page 8" Book + CD, ltd. 250 handnumbered copies
Stefano Gentile and Dirk Serries met almost thirty years ago when Stefano’s Amplexus label released Vidna Obmana’s seminal classic "The Transcending Quest" on a limited 3” CD. Fast forward twenty years later, after the ending of Dirk Serries’ critically acclaimed Vidna Obmana project, Stefano and Dirk, under his own name, regathered with another gem "The Devastation Chant", a limited 8” lathe cut and a 10” vinyl on Gentile’s new label Silentes/13 that featured Stefano’s own impressive collage artwork. Now again, after four years, Dirk Serries, fully operational under his own name as a free (jazz) improviser, frequently returns to his trademark ambient music while continuing to push himself as an artist and sound sculptor. THE DISINTEGRATION OF SILENCE is Dirk’s new album that, partially inspired by the melancholic collage artwork of Stefano Gentile, plays with the sounds he has been recognized and appreciated worlwide for almost four decades, while - so typical for Dirk’s ongoing knack for adventure - expanding the comfort of his ambience with alienating analog and real-time treatments. An album that has been performed solely on electric guitar in conjunction with plenty of pedal effects and absolutely no computers. Enjoy this breathtaking work of melancholy and introspection, marking it another milestone in the collaboration between Stefano Gentile and Dirk Serries.
https://dirkserries.bandcamp.com/album/the-disintegration-of-silence
"The most extensive package is the 28-page booklet, 8 inches squared of collages by label boss Stefano Gentile and music by Dirk Serries. The two go back some thirty years, when Gentile's first label enterprise, Amplexus, released a 3"CD by Serrires, then working as Vidna Obmana. Four years ago, Gentile released some more music by Serries, now working under his own name, on vinyl and 'The Disintegration Of Silence' is their latest offering. In the booklet, we find collages by Gentile from fashion ads, words, and newspapers, all looking quite colourful. As I am playing Serries' music at the same time, I am thinking about his music concerning the collages. Maybe the music resembles black-and-white photography of nature shots, trees and such. Still, the relation between images and music becomes more apparent if you look at the images as worn-out pages from magazines from a long time ago. These days, Serries is more known as a player of free
improvised music, but he occasionally returns to the world of ambient music, and this is what he does here, playing five excellent moody tunes on his guitar. Many guitar effects are used, some of which are a bit hissy, such as in the second part. At times, it sounds like he has been made on a reel-to-reel tape, using various bits of tape stuck together, with the music recorded later. It creates a refined, somewhat unsettling atmosphere and sometimes just a beautiful atmosphere in the longest and final piece. It's always good to hear Serries doing this kind of music occasionally. I understand his heart might be somewhere else, but I assume he also wants to unwind after a hard day of improvising and do what he does very well. A true beauty." [FdW / Vital Weekly] |
2023 |
€20.00 |
|
| SEVEN THAT SPELLS |
Black Om Rising |
CD + DVD |
"Wrapped intricately like a holiday present in book binding with a gatefold image of topless women and buddhas cavorting in the sky, Seven That Spells thankfully don’t say anything on the instrumental Black Om Rising. The band regularly puts out limited-run releases of abstract psychedelic narratives that fever out of control or space out into remote cosmic hinterlands. On the surface, they seem to be following the lead of Japanese noise-rock guru, Acid Mothers Temple founder, and occasional Seven That Spells collaborator Kawabata Makoto, a.k.a the most prolific recording artist in history. Yet, the Slavic foursome have likely been digging deep into the Western canon as well as the Nipponese one. On Black Om Rising, there’s traces of the propulsive intensity of motorik post-rockers like Trans Am and Turing Machine, the apocalyptic prog ferocity of Magma, and the virtuosity of The Mars Volta. There’s even traces of free jazz in Lovro Ziopaša’s sax-ranting, which uses dub echo to ominous insistence on “RA”. The centerpiece of Black Om Rising is the three act play “Lo”, which emerges from simple gothic Dick-Dale-tremolo and dilates outward into mini orchestral vignettes that are both sporadic and organically harvested. The CD’s side B, a DVD capture of a live performance, catches the band at even more frenetic and dissonant heights, proving them a most worthy import indeed." [PopMatters]
"Ed. of 500 copies in a book bound case and 8 page booklet. Audio CD plus region free DVD consisting of songs from “Black Om Rising” album performed live. Don't go round tonight, well it's bound to take your life; there's a black Om on the rise. And that black Om slugs all creation square in the gut. Seven That Spells spells, in this instance, EXPLOSION. Black Om Rising is a tightly-wound precision time piece ringing the hours with an effervescent brutality. The rhythm section growls with a low, mean thudding punch that could give the back end of The Birthday Party or Big Black the business in a street fight. Black Om Rising ascends; a beautifully bejeweled bloody stump of instrumental brilliance. Gilt post-punk edges halo the Kraut-suffused filigree of expert musicianship, that is not only capable of handling heavy progressive payloads, but also of circumventing the trigonometry of wank. Powerful, mellodious, charismatic, dynamic, weird and ballsy to the core. STS has compassed an album whose every drone, silence and screech is so slyly crafted that Mozart called from the 18th century demanding amps!" [label info]
www.blrrecords.com
|
2008 |
€16.00 |
|
| SEVERED HEADS |
Clifford Darling please don't live in the Past |
do-LP |
"Severed Heads are one of the longest surviving bands to emerge from the Australian post-punk independent music scene. They began in Sydney in 1979, incorporating elements of ‘industrial’ noise-generation, tape cutting & looping and electronic sound synthesis. As the project developed song-structures and vocals were employed in a more-or-less recognizable mutant electro pop style. After many line-up changes featuring Garry Bradbury and psychedelic guitarist Simon Knuckey, Severed Heads was the vehicle for composer Tom Ellard.
In 1985 their record label asked them to release a retrospective, so they dragged out bits that we had lying around from 1979 up til 1983. The compilation was titled “Clifford Darling Please Don’t Live In The Past”, spread out into a montage over four sides of vinyl. Bradbury and Ellard would fuss each bit and sling it on their new digital recorder, and since they still have the digital recorder, this reissue is made directly from the bits assembled twenty years ago. This compilation includes live recordings, raw demos, unreleased studio recordings and solo pieces from each member of the band during from the first five years. Their early music was characterized by the use of tape loops, noisy arrangements of synthesizers and other dissonant sound sources in the general category of industrial music. After several releases in that vein, Severed Heads began incorporating various popular music tropes, such as a consistent 4/4 rhythm, strong melodic lines, resolving chord arrangements and the occasional vocal. This move was underscored by the incorporation of mimetic devices, such as drum machines and bass synthesizers. The result was a striking hybrid of the avant-garde industrial and pop.
All songs are remastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. Housed in a jacket featuring brightly colored, distorted, VHS graphics output by Stephen Jones’ video synthesizer created by Tom Ellard video piece “Kato Gets The Girl” in 1985, designed by Eloise Leigh. Each copy includes a fold-out poster with a color video still photo on one side and liner notes and credits on the other. 30 years later Severed Heads’ perverse creativity is still paving the way for powerful imaginative challenging music far and wide." [label info]
www.darkentriesrecords.com
In 1985, Severed Heads were commissioned to collect a retrospective of their (then) six years in existence. Instead of the standard 'best of' anthology, Tom Ellard and Co. took the opportunity to create a sprawling collage of a whole slew of material never heard before, with cutting room edits, tape loop assemblages, live tracks, and numerous experiments that never found their way onto any of their albums. That approach is emblematic of the subversive manner in which Severed Heads produces and contextualizes their heavily mediated electronics, tracks that boisterously flaunt new wave pop structures butted against chunks of machined voltage-control noise and volatile industrial rhythm. On this release, more than pretty much anywhere else in Severed Heads catalog, do comparisons to Cabaret Voltaire and Throbbing Gristle make the most sense.
(Aquarius Rec)
|
2015 |
€28.00 |
|
| SEVERIN BESTOMBES (VOM HORSE GORE CLUB) |
Auszug & Abgesang |
LP |
„Wenn man zu vorgerückter Stunde der verdächtigen Phantasterei anheim fällt, der heimische Plattenteller würde ungeklärterweise das Dunkel des Raumes wie von Geisterhand erleuchten, dann liegt das in erster Linie nicht an der falschen Sorte Pilze, die man unter Umständen mal wieder zu leichtfertig verzehrt hat, nein, es sollte sich lieber schnell besonnen werden, dass die lang erwartete dreizehnte Punch Productions Platte nun endlich von den Nadeln malträtiert werden darf, auf dass das fluoreszierende Plastik wahlweise in giftgrün oder türkisblau erstrahlt. Als wäre das nicht schon reizvoll genug, bietet uns die erste Manifestation des seltsam-mysteriösen HORSE GORE CLUBs zudem unerhört exquisite Tonkunst. SEVERIN BESTOMBES ist das dreihundertsiebenundfünfzigste Pseudonym eines gewissen Herrn Jürgen Weber, der, so erzählt die Legende, im vergangenen Jahrtausend in einer nicht unbekannten österreichischen Metropole, respektive dem slawischen Bezirk "Neue Welt", mehrere Hundert der denkbar wildesten musikalischen und antimusikalischen Orgien dem Tonband anvertraut haben soll und sich inzwischen, vielleicht zur Kontemplation, in ein katalanisches Dörfchen zurückgezogen hat, von wo aus er jedoch von Zeit zu Zeit, aber leider immer seltener, nicht minder wilde Geistesblitze in die gepeinigte Welt hinaussendet. "Auszug & Abgesang" ist ohne Zweifel einer dieser Geistesblitze, der darüber hinaus wohl oder übel dem angesprochenen Rückzug ins Kontemplative wie eine bittersüße Frucht entsprungen zu sein scheint.
Der erste Part dieser LP-langen Abrechnung mit dem Wiener Gesangsverein trägt den mit düsterer Symbolik überschütteten Titel "Lilien aus dem Garten des Gegenpapsts". Das akustische Gewächshaus dieser Spiegelbildikone fühlt sich jedoch an wie ein klaustrophobisches, von gespenstischen Erinnerungen heimgesuchtes Mythologieaquarium, dessen Innenwände zur Dämmerstunde zwischen Kuckucksruf und Spieldosengedudel von psychopathischen Rhythmen rituell verziert werden. In einer noch dunkleren Ecke liegt ein abgesoffenes Diktiergerät und gibt die befremdlich geflüsterten Chiffren eines kleinwüchsigen Wesens zum besten. Dann zieht ein sphärischer Wind in das Fast-Vakuum dieses Mikrokosmoses ein und alles wird erschreckend leise. Ist dies etwa die Ruhe vor dem persiflierten Militärparadenrummelplatzsturm? Haaaauuu Rrruckkk! Einmal kräftig dran gezogen und die schwerwiegend stachligen Lilien sind auch schon gepflückt. Zur Belohnung wird zwei-, dreimal auf die Klaviertasten gehauen und die Rillen flüchten sich hustend ins Platteninnere.
"Musik für Dolores" schwebt ebenso wie die A-Seite im Umkreis experimenteller, elektroakustischer Tonkunst des nahezu gesamten zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts und verarbeitet dabei womöglich sämtliche jemals aufgeschnappte Einflüsse. Zuerst werden NURSE WITH WOUND, Ghedalia Tazartzes, Edgar Varèse und wer weiß schon wer sonst noch alles durch den cut-up Fleischwolf gedreht und anschließend samt rudimentären Groovebruchstücken auf eine kaum noch wahrnehmbar leise Minimalambientfläche breitgeschmiert. Irgendwann brechen dann einige atonale Klavierklänge durch den fragilen Schleier, begleitet von dezenten Stimmexperimenten und schließlich einmündend in sehr sparsam platzierte Abstraktionen, die im Grunde völlig auf elektronische Klangforschung reduziert wurden. Das ganze wurde dazu mit einem heimlich munkelnden "live at Schlafzimmer" Charme aufgenommen und wirkt daher umso staubiger, direkter und echter.
"Auszug & Abgesang" bietet zwei hartnäckige Kompositionen zum Schlussstriche ziehen und neue Anfänge finden. Gerade letzteres will seitens der fragmentarisch aufgerissenen und minimalistisch verwesenden Klangstrukturen bewusst nicht leicht fallen. All die einzelnen Szenen dieser Collage sind wie Mittelteile ohne signifikanten Beginn und Ende, an ihren ungeraden Kanten aneinandergefügt, montieren sie eine diffuse, mit Schräglage in sich verschachtelte Sinfonie, die mit einem Bein auch im traditionsreichen Avantgardezimmer steht. Art bruit!“ [Roy Liebscher / Lichttaufe]
Collectors item from NOVY SVETS alter ego with surprisingly experimental soundscapes, wonderfully obscure collages !
“12" vinyl GLOW IN THE DARK !!!!!!!!!! - Silk-screened plastic sleeve
Severin Bestombes is said to be J. W. Eber who is said to be J. Weber, who the world claims to be NOVY SVET, singer and brain appendix of MUSHROOM'S PATIENCE and god knows what else. might be true....well, seems to be true. And what's truth on diplomacy's smooth grounds? Was this guy ever known for being outstanding diplomatic?
Definitely not...neither is this album. Bad memories melted into two long (each one LP-side long) tracks, that have their roots growing out of the sixties avantgarde's ass. In the end it is just fuckin' beau.
special cover - on special vinyl - for sure special musick too” [label info]
label: www.punchrecords.it
|
2006 |
€20.00 |
|
| SEWER ELECTION |
Kassettmusik |
LP |
"April 2007. Moments captured and repeated in raw mono. Contact mic, cassette loops + cassette amplifier"
Originally released as two private edition cassettes and then reworked for a CD release on iDEAL in 2008, Kassettmusik still stands out as one of Dan Johanssons' most confounding and bold moments. Upon its release, the extremely minimal and restrained approach on the recording took a quite unexpected turn compared to the brutish harsh noise and 'Killing For' endeavours Sewer Election was known for at the time. Crude cassette loops of sparse electronics and body sounds with the fidelity of the disintegrated magnetic tape becoming an important piece of the two side-long compositions.
Pressed in 500 copies in a matte sleeve. Insert with liner notes by Chris Sienko. Vinyl master by Viktor Ottosson. Fördämning Arkiv 5.
https://soundcloud.com/idischidelbarone/sewer-election-kassettmusik |
2022 |
€18.00 |
|
| SHALABI EFFECT |
Unfortunately |
CD |
"This fourth and latest offering was recorded over 3 evenings during the band's recent residency at the Montreal Interculture Institute. It truly represents the band's appetite for experimentation & their desire to keep things interesting for their fans. At times epic and challenging, perhaps like a secret collaboration between Fly Pan Am & Acid Mothers Temple." [label info]
www.alien8recordings.com
|
2005 |
€13.00 |
|
| SHASTA CULTS |
Shasta Cults |
LP |
"Shasta Cults is the musical project of Canadian electronics technician Richard Smith. For almost two decades, Smith was the official Buchla & Associates go-to repair person for studios, collectors, and musicians around the world, having worked with artists like Aphex Twin, Suzanne Ciani, Mort Subotnick and institutions like NYU, The Library of Congress and Mills College in Oakland, Ca.
Recording demonstrations of the rare equipment that found its way on to his workbench is how Smith describes the origins of Shasta Cults. Although sounds have been trickling out for decades via Soundcloud and other outlets, it wasn’t until 2017 that Smith recorded his first album using one of these rare instruments – the Buchla 700. Configurations, released this past September by Important Records, features eight tracks of heavily-modulated, wave-shaped explorations drenched in effects, and was the catalyst for his latest releases.
Recorded over the span of 3 months in the fall of 2018, this album was programmed solely on the only fully-functional Buchla Touché. Developed in the early 1980s with hardware by Don Buchla and software programmed by musician David Rosenboom, the Touché features waveforms generated internally by twenty-four digital oscillators using frequency modulation and sophisticated digital and analog signal processing for timbre and output assignment, all of this controlled via a six-octave black and white keyboard, unusual for a Buchla instrument.
This LP is a continuation on themes first heard on Configurations, with more consideration given to the generation and capturing of the pieces. This album is less dark than previous releases, showcasing the incredible fidelity of the hardware used and Smiths evolution as an audio engineer. Put on some headphones, find a comfortable chair, and let this LP transport you to the mystifying southern cascades of Siskiyou County." [label info]
"To the uninitiated, the complexities of electronic synthesis can seem daunting and foreign. Even for those well versed, complete mastery over those systems seems like a lifelong task given the seemingly infinite nature of their design. Richard Smith, the synthesist behind Shasta Cults, has worked as an official technician for Buchla gear for nearly 20 years, and has an intimate mechanical knowledge of the company's many machines, which have achieved near-fetishistic status over the past decade. On Shasta Cults' self-titled album, Smith demonstrates a rare virtuosity of the Buchla Touché (of which there were only four made) that illustrates not only the power of the machine to sculpt uncanny textures but also Smith's singular compositional style.
Smith's work is compact and economical, a contrast to the protracted compositions that define the remaining core of Important Records' contemporary synth roster, including Eleh, Caterina Barbieri, Alessandro Cortini and Jessica Ekomane. Drones and arhythmic swells comprise the basis of most of the six pieces on Shasta Cults, but rather than letting them marinate he focuses on dynamic layering and timbral juxtapositions. Shasta Cults originated from Smith's desire to demonstrate the range and abilities of the various Buchla models he was repairing and restoring, and this approach seems directly derived from those roots. Within each track, he's able to cover a surprising amount of ground. If you didn't know the music was created all on one machine, you'd be forgiven for assuming these tracks were realized using a much more diverse arsenal.
The album begins peacefully, and with restraint. "Prologue" hovers with a sense of placid melancholy, bass tones cycling in and out of the mix. Its clean tones sound glass-like, smooth and nearly transparent as they fade in and out of the audible field. Other moments have more bite. "DA3" features coarse waves of sound that resemble aural quicksand, gulping the listener up in successive, oozing surges. This buzzing intensity is overlaid with dramatic, organ-like stabs that appear triumphant in the face of the pulsing chaos below. On the drone track "Incline," Terry Riley-esque tones swirl back and forth over an increasingly resonant bass hum. The closer, "Chinook," with its apprehensive melodic fragments that open up into a yawning, fuzzed-out climax, leaves the album feeling unresolved in a way that feels entirely purposeful.
Gear worship for its own sake can be tiring, but the music on Shasta Cults is too expressive to be pigeonholed simply as exercises in technological know-how. The recent Buchla boom has led to many different approaches over the past few years, but Smith's Shasta Cults project stands apart not just because he has access to the rarest models or has such an intimate knowledge of their notoriously unpredictable, generative circuitry. He uses this knowledge to create music that is richly textured without becoming dense, and like all masters of their instrument he knows how to dance elegantly between complexity and simplicity. It is that dance that makes Shasta Cults feel special." [Resident Advisor]
|
2019 |
€26.50 |
|
| SHEFFIELD, COLIN ANDREW |
Signatures |
CD |
Mit einer etwas andere Art von "Plunderphonics" sticht C.A. SHEFFIELD auf "Signatures" hervor; seine vier Stücke sind feinst gesponnene Drones, die aus Extrakten von alten Grammophon-Platten gewonnen wurden. Auf diesen befanden sich, dem Labelkonzept von INVISIBLE BIRDS gemäss, Vogelgesänge und weitere Natursounds (was man den stark transformierten Drones allenfalls noch als subtile organische Aura anmerkt). Sehr sanft und kontemplativ auf den Punkt gedroned, beim letzten Stück epische Ausmaße annehmend...
"these pieces were composed without the use of a computer, only a turntable, old sampler and a portable 64-track digital workstation.
each track is a distillation of commercially available recordings with the essential qualities remaining, only very brief sections are selected and the raw components then contracted into gradually shifting and unfolding atmospheres, offering subtle nuances
and quiet restraint. fragments from these tracks include sounds from birds or water, some being partially obscured while others are veiled references to those elements. in "broken light," the low rumbling that appears at the beginning and for the first few minutes is the sound of birds' wings flapping upon takeoff)." [label info]
"this is the second release by a new label called invisible birds. their first release was m. swizynski's 'films 2007' we reviewed in vital weekly 625, although it didn't mention this as a label. the label focuses itself on releasing 'limited edition cds and dvds evocative of birds and the landscapes they inhabit', which i think is a very nice selection method for incoming demo's. colin andrew sheffield might better known from the releases on his own label, elevator bath, for which he released cdrs and a cd. his 'signatures' cd has its official release december 10th 2008, the 100th birthday of olivier messiaen, another lover of birds and music (probably in that order). sheffield uses a turntable, old sampler and a 'portable 64-track digital workstation' and no computer on these recordings. on the turntable lies records of nature sounds, birds and water, of which sheffield carefully selects fragments to sample and layer on his ancient workstation. if you staple enough sounds on top of eachother, then have them slightly out of sync, one can create beautiful drone music, and that's exactly what sheffield does here. the first three tracks are nice, but it will turn out they are exercises for what is to come: 'breath of day', the fourth and final epic of this, with gramophone hiss and organ like sounds, being stretched out over the course of the twenty-seven minutes this lasts. a true beauty, in all its simplicity. sometimes the simplest things is enough to get things done. the previous tracks, which lay out what sheffield wants, eventually, are great too, but aren't of the same beauty as the last one. if it would have been just the first three i would have been equally enthusiastic about this, now i'm probably ecstatic. great cd." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
www.invisiblebirds.org
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| SHEFFIELD, COLIN ANDREW / JAMES ECK RIPPIE |
Essential Anomalies |
do-LP |
Colin Andrew Sheffield (sampler) and James Eck Rippie (turntables) began playing music together in Dallas, Texas in 2000 and released their debut LP, "Variations," a year later. They separated soon afterwards, relocating to cities 2,600 miles apart; and though they continued with solo work, they remained inactive as a duo until recently. During this hiatus, Sheffield stayed busy dealing antiquarian books and running his Elevator Bath label; Rippie became an accomplished sound mixer for major motion pictures and television shows. And yet the collaboration between these two friends of a quarter century has always held a special significance (as Francois Couture of AllMusic stated: "The level of understanding between [these two artists] ... commands respect"). So, in 2015, when the two found themselves both living in Austin, a reactivation of their improvising duo was a happy inevitability.
"Essential Anatomies" is the fruit of the pair's renewed efforts. Comprising four pieces originally issued on limited edition cassettes and now widely available for the first time, the double LP is an experiment in audio collage and instant narrative composition. The main tools are sounds from the past: commercially available recordings manipulated and sculpted into a medium with inherent potential. Unlike their plunderphonic ancestors and contemporaries, however, Sheffield and Rippie place a heavy emphasis on atmosphere and a kind of musicality. Their work is surprising and challenging, but it is infused with their keen sense of structure and listenability.
Elements of sound art, drone, glitch, and noise emerge from their altered samples. These sounds have been stripped of any extraneous cumbrances, leaving just the crucial components. The parts that remain, the essential anatomies, form the basis for an ongoing abstract dialogue between two artists with a remarkably developed affinity. The results capture dual streams of consciousness, coursing with a description of nonrepresentational beauty.
"[B]est described as abstract plunderphonics. Sheffield and Rippie use samplers and turntables to sculpt the past into new forms that defy instant categorization; suffice it to say that the old has never sounded so new."
- Richard Allen, A Closer Listen
"Essential Anatomies" has been released by Elevator Bath as a limited edition double LP, copies of which are also available here: www.elevatorbath.com
Mastered for vinyl by James Plotkin
Cover art by Eugenia Loli
credits
released July 7, 2017
Colin Andrew Sheffield (b. 1976, El Paso TX) is the founder of the Elevator Bath recording label. He has released a number of solo recordings on labels such as Invisible Birds, Mystery Sea, Quiet World, and 23five.
James Eck Rippie (b. 1977) is a visual/sound artist originally from outside Nashville TN. His recorded work has been as a turntablist, but he has also worked extensively with other instruments and mediums. He has released his work with the Crónica Electronica and Sirr labels, among others, and has collaborated with sound artists Simon Whetham, Paulo Raposo, and eRikm.
Sheffield and Rippie will tour the US this summer.
elevatorbath.bandcamp.com/album/essential-
anatomies-3
"Compiling recent small-run cassette works into a luxurious double record set, Essential Anatomies represents a reunion for the duo of Colin Andrew Sheffield and James Eck Rippie. Collaborators since 2000 and friends for even longer, the four lengthy recordings here capture their Texas reunion in 2015, and with its undeniable sense of complexity and cohesion, makes it clear that they have not missed a step from their time apart.
On paper, what Sheffield and Rippie do is well-trod ground: processing and recontexualization of samples and other forms of pre-recorded music. But rather than being another pair of John Oswald wannabes, they do so with distinct expertise and precision. To use a slightly abstract metaphor, they are much closer to Public Enemy’s Bomb Squad production, taking bits here and there and using them as elements in a much different whole, than they are Puff Daddy’s wholesale plagiarism and lack of innovation.
The first of the four lengthy pieces (each around 22 to 23 minutes long) is an instant launch into the gloom that is Essential Anatomies. Chilling, piano like scrapes cut through a blackened, churning abyss of sound. Some shrill, sharp bits pierce through the darkness here and there, but the piece largely stays pleasant, even though it is rather bleak and covered in a nicely noisy sheen of fuzz. Tortured, almost melodic tones occasionally shine through a wall of ghostly drifts and heavy rumbles, at times heading toward a bit of harsh crunch, but stays in check. The melodies appear here and there again, acting as a slightly less oppressive counterpoint to the sound of decay that surrounds it. Finally, the duo end the piece on a lighter note, like sun shining through menacing gray skies.
What is abundantly clear right from this start is that Sheffield and Rippie are not only extremely proficient at creating moods and space with their samplers and turntables (respectively), but also a creating dynamic compositions that are quite expansive and varied, changing often but returning to reoccurring motifs that results in a more composed, rather than improvised sound. The second piece allows a bit more of their source material to shine through, mostly in the form of piano notes and what sounds like frozen reverberations of chimes far in the distance. There is the same sense of space, but erratic loops and mangled notes result in a composition that builds in tension, eventually transitioning into haunting church organ like walls that dominate the latter half of the piece.
Comparably, the second record comes across a bit less melodic and a bit more textural in the composition and structure. Part three begins with an almost percussive, crunching machinery like opening that is eventually melded with a batch of wet, almost organic like noises and radio static. Bits of recognizable music still sneak through here and there, but it is less the focus. Instead, metallic sweeps and unnatural field recording like sounds fill out the mix, though it ends on a slightly more ambient note. The final composition first is free and spacious, with some crackling tactile like elements at first, but soon it takes on a decaying sound. More organ and mangled string fanfares give a more conventional signpost here and there, but by the end the duo has already transitioned the sound to one of tension and fright, slowly evolving into an uncomfortable silence to end the record.
While I do not believe I could ever manage to place the source of the sounds Colin Andrew Sheffield and James Eck Rippie utilized in making Essential Anatomies, never does it feel like the two overly processed or from their source. Meaning that, there is some of the original character left from the source material, however subtle it may be. Instead these audio building blocks are obscured but tastefully utilized to construct these atmosphere heavy works. Rippie’s day job is a sound mixer for films and television shows, which surely aided the two in creating the cinematic mood that these two records conjure up. It is that combination of sonic nuance and compositional strength and diversity that make Essential Anatomies so good." [Creaig Dunton/Brainwashed] |
2017 |
€25.00 |
|
| SHENTOV, IVAN / ANGEL SIMITCHIEV / MARTIN LUKANOV |
Palimpsest |
MC |
The source material for “Palimpsest” was recorded over several fairly different sessions. Some of them took place in the live setting, others happened in the confinement of the Kontingent Records studio. These recordings were then carefully examined, subtly (re)arranged, and barely overdubbed. Four long-form pieces were shaped in the end. Despite having collaborated on many different occasions and in varying formats, “Palimpsest” is the first full-length recording in which the different approaches by Shentov, Simitchiev, Lukanov are utilized in pursuit of a unified musical direction.
The result is an album that explores minimalist drone territories through a purposely limited toolset and in a recording environment that relies heavily on intuition, spontaneity and patience. The record also carries delicate traces of raw ambient, found sounds and field recordings, processed guitar and electroacoustic improvisation. While the first three tracks are slightly more condensed in both length and substance, the closing piece, which spans over the whole B-side of the album, is where this collaboration peaks. During its almost thirty minutes, it majestically unfolds its textures and synthetic artifacts, which are layered over a subtly shape-shifting backbone of guitar drones, melodic fragments and loops.
https://amekcollective.bandcamp.com/album/palimpsest
|
2022 |
€8.00 |
|
| SHIFTS |
Vertonen 10 |
CD-R |
Sehr schönes neues Material von diesem Projekt des immer noch hyperaktiven FRANS DE WAARD, der bei SHIFTS nur Saiteninstrumente einsetzt.. ein fast 60minütiger, mikrosound-artiger multipler Drone ertönt hier, der sich vom knisternden Anfang zu dunkel-bedächtige Flächen mit infiniten Effekten in verschiedenen Phasen und Ebenen bewegt. Grossartig !! Das ganze kommt in einer kunstvoll gefalteten blauen Hülle, lim. & nummeriert 60 Exemplare.
“Exquisitely packed comes this new work by Frans de Waard's string based project Shifts. And the question that immediately rises upon listening is: where are the strings? But as said before, Shifts is based on strings, so one may assume that the origins of these wide, drony and shimmering sounds are indeed strings. This short rant is meant only to mark a shift in Shift's appraoch to sound: this is definitely digitalised material, whereas his earlier works were obviously analog. OK, having said that, the work on this disc is an almost one hour piece of drony arctic sound, with small rattlesnakes moving about in the snow. I know this doesn't make sense but that's exactly the point: these sounds have the same incongruity and don't seem to belong together, but they go together very well. Further into the piece we are taken away from the desert snowfields and seem to be hovering at some height above them. And at a certain altitude the winds are taking over the sound scenery, adding resonance to the original drones. This is basically how the piece develops. A classic ambient drone piece that makes the mind go on its own trip and makes time seem to originate from another universe.” (MR, Vital Weekly) Address: http://www.verato-project.de
|
2004 |
€10.00 |
|
| SHIGGAJON |
Sela |
LP |
Shiggajon is a Danish collective based around musicians Mikkel Reher-Lanberg and Nikolai Brix Vartenberg. Much like the music itself the collective is in constant flux, sometimes performing in the form of a small ensemble, other times appearing on stage with as many as 15 persons, depending on the situation.
It's tempting to categorize Shiggajon as a spiritual jazz ensemble, since their music is able to induce a heightened, spiritual euphoria much similar to that of Pharoah Sanders, Don Cherry or Alice Coltrane. But any narrow definition of their sound would be misleading. While there's an element of ritualism present, there's also a post-modern tendency to absorb everything from sufi music to krautrock and contemporary electronic drone. Heavily modulated guitar pedals and processed vocals accompany layers of flutes, strings, bells and percussion as the most natural thing in the world.
It's the kind of music that demands openness and surrender. Every time the ensemble performs improvisation is fundamental - it’s a journey into the unknown. As in John Coltrane's later works, Shiggajon establishes a unity between spirituality and improvisation - they embrace the paradox of seeking elevation and existential affirmation through sounds that occasionally verges on chaos and dread. These two long, multi-layered, cacophonous pieces occasionally come off as slightly abrasive and dissonant, but ultimately the music is a process resulting in joyful catharsis and healing.
|
2015 |
€19.00 |
|
| SHIROTSUBAKI, HIROTAKA + SLEEPLAND |
Etude 3 |
mCD-R |
tokyo-based hirotaka shirotsubaki and now berlin-based sleepland have separately created for a few years some fine ambient/drone soundscapes, mostly self-released for hirotaka and for instance on white paddy mountain for sleepland.
from time to time they also create together beautiful tracks. previous collaborations were released as, you may have guessed it, "étude 1" and "étude 2" (digital self-releases by hirotaka).
taalem.bandcamp.com/album/tude-3-alm-117
"Both Hirotaka Shirotsubaki and Sleepland are from Japan and even when the latter relocated to
Berlin they still work together. I had not heard of Shirotsubaki, but Sleepland had a record out on White Paddy Mountain (see Vital Weekly 1008). Now here space is the place. The two artists recorded together (I assume via e-mail) some long formed spacious pieces of music, perhaps with the use of guitars, loop stations and a bunch of reverb pedals coupled together. Sound wise I was reminded of Chihei Hatakeyama here, who has a similar approach to play the sustained ringing guitar. Lots of reverb times lots of delay and a bit of hiss make up a sound that just is very well suited from dreaming
or sleeping (not that I would do that when I play music, but it’s a thought that occurred to me with the name Sleepland). Not too long, a bit ominous and it works just fine." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2017 |
€5.00 |
|
| SHOCK FRONTIER |
Mancuerda Confessions |
CD |
"Founded some time during 2010, Shock Frontier is the brainchild of Psychomanteum’s Robert Kozletski. Born from an increasing interest in harsher industrial sounds, and aided by long time friend Kyle Carney (Defiantly Fading), Mancuerda Confessions is an expertly composed and finely honed collection of shape shifting, nightmarish emissions and radioactive tonalities, drawing inspiration from some of the early death industrial pioneers, but adding an unique, densely layered and atmospheric style. This is a soundtrack to a world that ends not in a cataclysmic, fiery fashion, but one that slowly decays and rots into oblivion, where swathes of ghostly textures, samples, and disembodied noises morph into murky ambient realms, and caustic frequency reverberations pierce through a bleak, post-apocalyptic haze. After 19 years in existence, it’s arguable that a definitive Malignant sound exists, but if it does, Shock Frontier has managed to come awfully close to capturing it with Mancuerda Confessions. A must for fans of Megaptera, Steel Hook Prostheses, Soldnergeist, and the early CMI sound. In 6 panel eco-wallet, designed by Brian Vdp, and mastered by John Stillings/Steel Hook Audio.
Tracklisting: Paroxysm, Angels Upon Iron Horses, Blood Eagle Zealot, The Confessional, Controlled Atmosphere Killing (feat. Staalkracht ), Understanding the Extent Of Our Disintegration, Decrepitude Approaching, Mancuerda, This Is Paradise." [label info]
www.malignantrecords.com
|
2013 |
€12.00 |
|
| SHOEMAKER, MATT |
Erosion of the Analogous Eye |
CD |
"As said in the review of the new CD by Jim Haynes there is a small school of drone musicians, mainly from the USA who deliver some of the more darker outing in the scene. There are of course minor differences to be spotted. According to the cover of Schoemaker's new CD 'environmental phenomena' where recorded in Indonesia, Cambodia and USA, but its hard to spot these on the actual music, as he feeds them through a whole bunch of analogue synthesizers, guitar stomp boxes, reverb and such like. Only in the last piece 'The Analogous Eye' bird calls and wind sounds rise out of the mass, but even here things seems electrified. This makes that Schoemaker's music is altogether more 'electronic' in nature than that of Haynes or Irr.App.(ext.) and also a bit more 'louder', industrial perhaps. In his music he depicts empty industrial sites of long sustaining, rusty sounds of rusty object on even more rusty surfaces. The two parts of 'Erosion' are highly minimalist affairs of long sustained sounds. Not to be confused with the current wave of 'cosmic' sound artists, this goes further and deeper. An excellent work, sadly perhaps limited to 300 copies only." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
"The studio of Matt Shoemaker is alive with electricity. Impossibly complex wirings channel signal in and out of analog synth modules, an array of curious aluminums boxes with unmarked knobs, slinkies strung from ceiling to floor creating a set of giant spring reverb units, accelerometers attached to consumer electronic errata, and even a few conventional tools like guitar stomp boxes and a bruised computer. For all of the convoluted engineering that goes into Shoemaker's equipment, the resulting mesmerism in sound appears effortless and strangely organic. Shoemaker has enjoyed a semi-obscure career through his polymath activities that bridge such electronic experiments with a choice library of globe-trotted field recordings and a broad knowledge of avant-garde cinema. For Erosion of the Analogous Eye, Shoemaker waves his hands about his laboratory to construct an ever-evolving album for mutant dronemuzik. His electrical seas of synthetic bristling undulate with placid regularity, only to find Shoemaker contorting these brain-melting psychedelics into cancerous, atonal bellows. Out of his allotropic shifts, one can find swells of irradiated static transform into the graceful chime of temple bells; and electrical phase patterns slip into deep forest murmurings dotted with narcoleptic birds calls. On one hand, this album is prescient of the revival for progressive electronics currently underway in the flood of US post-noise projects; it's easy to triangulate this between Emeralds and Heldon. But on the other hand, Erosion of the Analogous Eye is the continuation of where Shoemaker had begun with his early work on Trente Oiseaux with its grotesques exaggerations of field recording into this beguiling piece of art. The artwork on Erosion of the Analogous Eye features unique hand-dyed abstractions mounted onto letterpressed paper. This has warranted a very small pressing of 300 copies." [label info]
www.helenscarsdale.com
"A very prescient, and very good, record by the sound-artist / field recordist Matt Shoemaker, Erosion Of The Analogous Eye pushes his work of tonal exploration and exaggerated found sounds into the neighborhood of many of the post-noise cosmic explorers who have been blossoming in every corner of the US it seems. At the same time, this is very much a Matt Shoemaker record, following a trajectory set forth through his acclaimed work on the once-mighty Trente Oiseaux label.
An ur-drone of analog synthesis opens the album, obviously harkening to '70s kosmische activities certainly a muscular revisitation of Schulze or even an extraction from Richard Pinhas. Such a lazerbeam of a drone has a lysergic sunrise feel to it, with the light and shadow brought into sharp relief, the colors shifted and separating into spectral bursts of yellow, red, pink, and orange. Yet, slowly, Shoemaker introduces atonal drones which clash with that introductory suspension. At first, the metallic slashes have almost an Andrew Chalk and Jonathan Coleclough feel, but Shoemaker quickly dispels those notions with a layer of field recordings of insects ravenously scurrying about. That introductory tone, which still continues through this first track, bends like a divebombing plane with Doppler tones trailing behind, descending in a series of bell tones. All of this in a seamless 17 minutes. A steady rhythm of gamelan bell tones opens the second track with accumulated complimentary drones shimmering and vibrating while harmonic dissonance abounds, collapsing into a quiet stream of percolating textures. Spread across 24 minutes, this track seems ancient and sounds beguilingly beautiful. Bellowing rumbles amplify out of recordings of rain, mud, and water and steadily arching through a metallic rattling of various pipes and gongs for the final track, which eventually gives way to an uneasy set of recordings of birds in a rainforest whose calls echo through the trees.
As with all Helen Scarsdale releases the packaging is stellar. Letterpressed text with hand-dyed paper. Each are different, each are quite special. Oh yeah, limited to a mere 300 copies!" [Aquarius Records]
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Isolated Agent Stranding Behaviour |
pic-LP |
"Elevator Bath's ongoing series of picture disc LPs (each record being adorned with full-color artwork by the recording artist) continues with Matt Shoemaker's debut appearance on vinyl: An enigmatic pairing of new recordings with appropriately cryptic artwork.
Much of Shoemaker's recorded output prominently features the use of field recordings (see his Tropical Amnesia One CD), but in this case he has eschewed such grounded measures and has instead sculpted a two-part puzzle which seemingly exists on some other plane(t). Layer upon evolving layer of sonic phenomena is still the methodological trademark, but the content is almost entirely electronic, lending a great deal of vivid color to a description of blackest space. The two works presented here are powerfully mysterious, unsettling examples of Matt Shoemaker's prowess as a composer of details, of moods and tenses.
The improbably relevant artwork for this picture disc consists of two collages utilizing Shoemaker's own hand-dyed paper. The images, as well as their meanings, are essentially abstract and yet remarkably familiar. On the A side, the Isolated Agent scuttles in a circular motion, forever locked in an endless search for the unknown element. The B side depicts the constant retreat, the Stranding Behavior inevitably resulting in/from confusion.
"You realize what you are implying? That we owe our human condition here to the intervention of insects."
Matt Shoemaker's music has been released by such labels as Trente Oiseaux, The Helen Scarsdale Agency, and Ferns Recordings. He resides in Seattle.
This picture disc LP has been released in an edition of 233 copies.
Total running time: 30 minutes" [label info]
www.elevatorbath.com
"The other record is by Matt Shoemaker, who seems to be always present, with his regular releases on labels as Ferns and The Helen Scarsdale Agency. His work recently shifted a bit more towards that of working with field recordings, but on this LP it all seems to be electronic again. I have no idea wether these are the result computers working overtime or meters and meters of cable connecting one synthesizer to another, and once connected start playing themselves, almost, as it were. Shoemaker layers the results of whatever process he applies on a multitude of tracks and does some highly creative mixing with those sounds. Highy atmospheric (obviously! I'd say) of course, but Shoemaker's work is also a bit more experimental than the usual drone minds (UK, USA, otherwise). Shoemaker knows how to put in a strange angle in his work, that makes it just a bit different than the ordinary drone record. Partly based in the seventies cosmic tradition, partly drone and partly serious avant-garde, but with a long, stretched time signature. Great record." [FdW/Vital Weekly] |
2010 |
€17.50 |
|
|
Soundtrack for Dislocation |
CD |
"Matt Shoemaker's first full-length album for Elevator Bath is Soundtrack for Dislocation, an entirely self-contained account of a fantastically abstract and intensely personal vision.
As with much of Shoemaker's work, this is an album permeated with a very potent sense of unease. And despite the fact that the use of field recordings is very minimal here, there is a no less organically tangible quality which only contributes to the feeling of disquietude.
For those unfamiliar with Matt Shoemaker's work, Soundtrack for Dislocation is absolutely the ideal place to start as it is arguably the most fully-realized project in his catalog. All the necessary elements are present: The enigmatic cover and interior images, the cryptic track titles, and of course the recordings themselves - densely packed and elaborately evolved aberrancies. Shoemaker seems to have provided more than enough clues to the puzzles he offers in his works but, like the most effective tales, these subtle indications cannot quite account for all that happens. The rest is up to the astute listener who accepts this very inscrutability as the reward.
Matt Shoemaker's music has been released by such labels as Trente Oiseaux, The Helen Scarsdale Agency, Mystery Sea, and Ferns Recordings. He resides in the northwest of the United States.
Packaged inside an extra thick, full-color, matte finish, 6-panel digipak featuring Shoemaker's beautiful photography, this compact disc has been issued in an edition of 509 copies. Total running time: 57 minutes" [label info]
"No stranger to Vital Weekly with his various releases for labels such as Mystery Sea, Ferns and The Helen Scarsdale Agency. Maybe its just too easy to say, but Shoemaker is one of the drone boys. The press text says that the 'use of field recordings is very minimal here', so we have to guess what it is that Shoemaker does. His website reveals a bit: "Devices employed: microphones and assorted transducers, digital and analogue recorders, signal processors, computer, various electronic and acoustic instruments." That says some, but not all. Electronic instruments, acoustic instruments: that could be anything. Now I could do some guessing, and I'd say cello, guitar, sound effects, such as reverb and such alike, but maybe I am barking up the wrong tree. Three lengthy pieces are on this release which displays Shoemaker's skill quite well. No man for just some silent playing, or 'just' a bunch of drone loops circling about, as he keeps his music very lively. It bounces from these mellow looped drone sounds into a more harsher sound world, and these worlds grow easy together inside the length of a piece. Sometimes these build in a natural way and sometimes in a more gently disturbing manner. Three long pieces of an excellent beauty."
[Frans de Waard, Vital Weekly]
www.elevatorbath.com
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Tropical Amnesia Two & Three |
do-CD |
"In November of 2007 I was part of a group of eleven sound artists who journeyed to Brazil to participate in the Mamori Sound Project, an annual residency/workshop under the direction of Francisco López that convenes in an isolated area of lowland lakes and rainforest, perhaps around 4 hours' journey outside of Manaus, right in the heart of Amazonia.
I had some very limited experience with tropical rainforests from travels in South East Asia, but nothing like the immersion that was central to what Francisco had organized: direct access to a staggeringly diverse bioacoustic environment unmatched anywhere else on Earth.
Over the course of the two weeks we spent at Mamori lake exploring and recording, there was never a pause in the stream of curious animal sounds.
Not even during sleep, as the nighttime would roar to life and pass into dreams. I had come prepared with the equipment that I could afford to bring: a pair of condenser microphones, several homemade contact microphones, and a single hydrophone. With these I was able to capture all of the sounds used to make the three Tropical Amnesia parts.
While assembling the field recordings, I was immediately drawn toward the idea of imagining the rainforest, and the bodies of water contained within, as an unfathomable void of sorts, and something beyond thescope of enduring memory. Reflecting on my own memories from Mamori Lake and the surrounding area, I can of course picture the individual ant or frog, but it is the sheer multitudes and abundance of life that persists in my mind as a consuming, evolving abstract." - Matt Shoemaker - March, 2010
Nine years later after the release of Tropical Amnesia one, Ferns Recordings is proud to be able to discover the rest of this trip with a certain sadness. Ferns Recordings wanted to pay a tribute to Matt Shoemaker by not letting these magnificent recordings remain in oblivion.
All sound recorded November 2007 in/at/around Mamori Lake, Amazonas, Brazil.
Material culled and assembled December 2007/January 2008 in Seattle.
https://mattshoemaker.bandcamp.com/album/tropical-amnesia-two-three
"In 2017, Matt Shoemaker passed away and yet somehow there is still new music from him to
be released, which is a good thing. Ferns already released the first instalment of Tropical Amnesia (not reviewed in these pages), and maybe they had the second and third part from Shoemaker, but not yet the resources to release it earlier. These two discs contain sounds recorded in the Amazon area in Brazil in November 2007 and in December of that year and
January 2008 this has been used to create the two-hour works that span these discs. I couldn't
tell if these works were made out of single events, or perhaps also with the help of loops; I assume there has been sort of layering of sound events in both these pieces. It works in two different ways here. 'Tropical Amnesia Two' is a rather straight forward work, once the ball gets rolling; from there on it stays in a fairly loud and oppressing volume but throughout it changes and moves through what I think is probably the whole range of animal life; insects, frogs, birds. In 'Tropical
Amnesia Three' there is a less straight forward approach and while the piece moves through
the same animal sounds, there is a different build-up, within one point birds leaping out of the choir of cicadas and ending with something that is close by the microphone making a popping
sound, as if Shoemaker was close to the pond in a rowing boat. Towards the end of it all, there
is a sign of human life and perhaps also the best example of this being construction of organized sound, rather than straightforward documentation of an event. This, I thought, was very delicate work, even in all it's considerable presence, volume-wise that is. It reminded me of the movie 'Monos' about the life of guerrilla’s in the Colombian rain forest and which I thought was one of the best movies I saw this year." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2019 |
€15.00 |
|
| SHRINE |
Ordeal 26.04.86 |
CD |
"The new full length by Dark Ambient / Drone act Shrine is dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster on 26th April 1986. Composed during a post-operative convalescence period in 2015, Hristo Gospodinov says of the process: "To me the Chernobyl theme has always been very special not only because I witnessed the nuclear sunburn effects myself back in 1986 when I was a kid, but also because I find it to be the closest glimpse of a pending apocalypse we have seen so far. I find it terrifying not only because of the devastating effect of the ionizing radiation itself, but also because it was a man-made event. To me, the parallel with the biblical book of Revelation is inescapable." Laced with emotional distress and Shrine's superbly crafted soundscapes and notable sound design skills, "Ordeal 26.04.86" serves as a tribute to those that suffered, and still suffer from the irreparable. Events like this have happened again since - the most recent being in Japan's Fukushima - and there's definite signs that in the future we'll unfortunately witness more of these manmade catastrophes. "Ordeal" will serve as the perfect soundtrack. Ltd x 500 copies in a digipak." [label info]
www.cycliclaw.com
"Das Dark Ambient-Projekt SHRINE haben wir auf NONPOP regelmäßig begleitet. Und dabei immer wieder festgestellt, dass gerade in einem so überlaufenen Genre die Qualität der Musik sehr hoch einzuschätzen ist. Die thematischen Arbeiten des Bulgaren HRISTO GOSPODINOV wirkten stets überzeugend und durchdacht, wie aus einem Guss. Mir war deshalb auch nicht bange, als ich vor einigen Monaten die Ankündigung zu einem neuen Album las, welches sich thematisch mit der Nuklearkatastrophe von Tschernobyl am 26. April 1986 beschäftigen sollte. Solche ganz großen Themen sind ja entweder schon häufig bearbeitet worden oder führen schnell zu enttäuschten Erwartungen. Aber, ganz im Gegenteil: Auch wenn HRISTO im Pressetext etwas dick aufträgt und biblische Endzeit-Prophezeiungen bemüht, liefert er hier musikalisch sein bislang vielfältigstes und stimmigstes Werk ab, so viel schon einmal vorweg.
"Atomgrad" (01) startet mit Vogelgezwitscher und einem bereits leicht bedrohlichen Drone, wie ein schwarzer Windhauch. Mehrere Drones verdichten sich schnell zu einem schillernden, strahlenden Geflecht mit mechanisch britzelnden Geräuschen sowie industriellen Schlägen dazwischen, das Unheil kündigt sich an. Insgesamt ist die Atmosphäre zwar (noch) nicht unwohl, aber es knirscht und knackt wie vor einer Explosion in einer bis dahin heilen, natürlichen Umwelt. "Radiant Skyline" (02) ist wahrlich beeindruckend mit seinen gleißenden, leuchtenden Sounds, die – unterlegt von einem stetigen Bratzeln – permanent mächtiger werdend und tatsächlich klingend wie radioaktive Wolken, sehr filmisch das Ganze. Die Dramatik der Synthielinien mit verwehten, choralen Elemente geht auch als Neoklassik durch, die acht Minuten durchlaufen eine ungeheure Steigerung zu einem mächtigen, flehenden, atomaren Schrei. "The Silent Apocalypse" (03) ändert die Szenerie, wechselt in höhliges, verregnetes Ambiente, durch das ein dunkles, fanfarenartiges Tröten nach unten absteigend, untermalt vom Ticken eines Geigerzählers. "The Night That Hell Broke Loose" (04) nimmt den Titel beim Wort: bedrohliches, maschinelles Hämmern, eher kreischende Töne und rezitierende Vocals im Hintergrund, was mich nicht zum ersten Mal an die etwas Dark Ambient-lastigere Variante von DER BLAUE REITER (siehe auch "Nuclear Sun" – Besprechung zum selben Thema) erinnert. Wehmütiger, schmerzlicher Regen mit klagenden Drones fällt in "Under The Graphite Clouds" (05). Und "The Burden Of Knowledge" (06) ist in Gänze eine radioaktive Soundlandschaft, bedrückend wie eine Beerdigung mit Sounds von Instrumenten und Messgeräten vor blasigen, nach oben steigenden Drones. Alles eindrucksvoll unterlegt von martialischem Dröhnen und russischem Flüstern.
Während dieser monumentalen 50 Minuten verliert HRISTO GOSPODINOV zu keiner Sekunde die Struktur, das Gleichgewicht der Elemente aus den Augen. Ein überwältigend dichtes Werk vor dem thematischen Hintergrund der atomaren Bedrohung, oft außerhalb der Genregrenzen von Dark Ambient. Wie gesagt, das beste SHRINE-Album bisher."
[Michael We. für nonpop.de]
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
| SIEBEN |
Each Divine Spark |
LP |
Each Divine Spark was lovingly knitted and written, rehearsed and diced; recorded live, loud and looped in a beautiful space; layered delicately and slow-roasted at home over UA-Ds, tape saturation and warm delays; passed over the ears of people who appreciate and emit sonic sorcery; then sensitively mastered to preserve said sonic sorcery. The space in this record is the subtlest sound I have never made, but can lay claim to.
All the loops for Each Divine Spark were recorded live and loud down to 2” analogue tape at Club 60 Recording Studio, Sheffield. Mics and blends by Paul Blakeman. Extra layers, vocals, and guest musicians added at Redroom Studio. Michael Eden plays guitar on tracks 8 and 10. Sarah Jay Hawley sings on tracks 3, 5, 8, 9 and 11. April Howden sings on track 2. Jo Quail plays cello on track 4. Mixed at Redroom Studio, Sheffield. Additional listening and sound advice by Paul Blakeman, Dan Worrall and Robin Downe. Mastered by Dan Worrall at the Laundry Rooms, Sheffield. Artwork by Martin Bedford. Written, performed and produced by Matt Howden.
P+C Redroom Records 2014
https://sieben.bandcamp.com/album/each-divine-spark-2014
|
2014 |
€19.50 |
|
| SIGMARSSON, SIGTRYGGUR (BERG) |
For Einar Jonsson (1874-1954) |
BOOK & CD-R |
"Perhaps by now a somewhat forgotten fact, but Sigtryggur Berg Sigmarsson may be best known as a member of Stillupsteypa (and for their collaborations with BJ Nilsen), but he's also a visual artist and once the 'owner' of a record label, called Some. He tells me this package is a sort of revival of that label. The book at hand is a catalogue of artwork from the years 1997 to 2014. Lots of drawings, photos of performances, but also photos of objects, pictures of the artist as a child, letters, and some words, but no expert insight essay. Which I guess is a good thing. It leaves some of the mystery in tact and has a fine naive impact on the viewer, perhaps establishing him as an outsider. The book is published in an edition of 100 copies, half of which are sold and the other half comes with a fourteen-minute piece of music, called 'For Einar Jonsson (1874-1954)'. He was Iceland's first sculptor, who drew inspiration from the Icelandic folklore heritage, but also using mythological and religious motifs (I am quoting a website here). Later on he rejected all classical art tradition and enamoured theosophy. The fourteen-minute piece is a way too short for my taste - and for the book. I wanted to sit down, play the music and all along look at the images, but I had to put the piece on repeat. Sigmarsson uses what seems to me the sound of a church organ, and turns it into this heavily processed piece of drone music. A bit stretched out, many layers and all along the source material can be recognized, which gives the piece, perhaps, also a religious motif. It's the kind of drone music we know Sigmarsson do very well, and here he doesn't disappoint us either. Except of course that it could have been twice as along - at least. Putting it on repeat is not the same thing, but will do as well. Hopefully more to come!" [FdW/Vital Weekly] |
2014 |
€16.00 |
|
| SIL MUIR (ANDREA MARUTTI / ANDREA FERRARIS) |
same |
CD |
"Diophantine Discs is pleased to announce the release of a new CD...
Sil Muir - Sil Muir.
Italy's Sil Muir presents to us here their first full-length work. It is a beautiful, yet melancholy, hour-long recording carrying us along that sleepless journey from dusk 'til dawn. Powerful and gentle drones shudder and shimmer through these four dense and amazing tracks. Sil Muir is the collaboration between Andrea Marutti (Amon, Never Known, Afe Records) and Andrea "Ics" Ferraris (Ur, Airchamber3, Ulna). Their only previous appearances are a lengthy compilation track on Transf.Order and a collaboration with Horchata on taâlem.
Housed in a custom printed color wallet. Edition of 500 copies." [label info]
http://discs.diophantine.net
"A mighty fine disc of dark drones, ambient and a totally isolated feel." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2009 |
€12.00 |
|
| SIRIA |
Boa-Lingua |
MC |
Boa-Língua is the second album by Síria. It departs from her former work, Cuspo, using it as a foundation for structure and duration, while following very different pulses. Boa-Língua was made from recordings of practice sessions that were not originally intended to be used or worked as songs. Boa-Língua means “good tongue”, used in opposition to “má-língua”, literally “bad tongue”, a Portuguese expression for “tittle-tattle”.
“Canção do Gato” is a version of a song recorded by Tiago Pereira from A Música Portuguesa a Gostar Dela Própria. “Nos Montes” was remixed by @c (Pedro Tudela and Miguel Carvalhais). “Senhora dos Remédios” is a version of a song as sang by Catarina Chitas and features a sample by Maile Colbert. “Belgian Shepherd” is a remix of the track by Rui P. Andrade from his album All Lovers Go To Heaven, it combines original sounds with recordings and voice, and it was previously released in Island Fever by Colectivo Casa Amarela. “Ay Işığında” is a version of the song as sang by Nərminə Məmmədova . “For Ghédalia” and “Boa-Língua” feature recordings by Los Niños Muertos (André Tasso and Bruno Humberto).
Síria is Diana Combo, who in this project joins her voice to the usual practice of combining vinyl records, field recordings, and other sound sources, in a gesture of appropriationism that she has been presenting as EOSIN.
----
Like my previous album, Boa-Língua was born and developed as a result of a subconscious will and energy, rather than a clear idea that was intended to be seen and heard.
During a season in the studio, the voice was given way to freely exist in a context of exercises of improvisation. These sessions were recorded and later heard as a tool to analyse vocal practice. Spontaneously and intuitively, these recordings began to be edited, combined and mixed, until a sequence of 9 proto-songs emerged.
Each theme waited for the sounds that intertwined with the voice. As it had happened in Cuspo. This time, however, the voice was mostly used in its original version of vocal exercises, because the work was anchored in this spontaneity and unintentionality. And it developed by itself, with me being an attentive vehicle, an open channel for the work to flourish. The sounds beyond the voice come from various sources: percussions were recorded by me in the studio, other sounds were collected from archives.
The space for introspection and self-examination that the studio provided came at a time when I felt it was necessary to find an answer to the perceived tendency for obloquy, reproach, gossip, voluntary misunderstanding, etc. I asked myself: What happens when we find ourselves in the midst of people who behave in this way, sneaky or directly? Do we become, sooner or later, the same? Do we silent ourselves as a response? Or do we resist this tendency through the opposite attitude? That's where the album’s title came from.
The repertoire of Boa-Língua consists of versions of traditional songs and chants, a version of one Azerbaijani song, two originals (one in Turkish, one in Portuguese) and two original songs in which the voice does not take the form of words.
Voice and percussions: Diana Combo
Recording, editing and first mix: Diana Combo
Post-production: Tiago Martins at Fisgastudio
Mastering: Miguel Carvalhais
Artwork: Miguel Carvalhais with photos by Diana Combo
https://cronica.bandcamp.com/album/boa-l-ngua
"So wie einem die besten kreativen Gedanken oft beim Gehen oder in der Badewanne kommen, entstehen die Releases von Sängerin Diana Combo alias Síria meist als Nebenprodukte kleinerer Arbeiten, die ganz unerwartet ein Eigenleben erhalten. So wie sich ihr erstes Album aus einer Auftragsarbeit heraus verselbstständigt hatte, ist “Boa-Língua” das Resultat einer der Stimmübungen, die Combo regelmäßig aufnimmt, um die Resultate zu analysieren. Dabei greift sie oft auf bekannte Songs in ihrer portugiesischen Muttersprache zurück. Bei den letzten Sessions dieser Art sammelten sich eine Reihe von Songs an, die gerade wegen ihres provisorischen Charmes schon fast nach einem Coveralbum klangen. Dieses musste dann nur noch um die Gesangsspuren herum produziert werden und liegt nun vor.
Dass Combo theoretisch gefällige Singer Songwriter-Alben machen könnte, das vielleicht irgendwann auch mal zum Spaß machen wird, aber bis auf weiteres nicht will, weil sie das herausfordernde, immer noch sperrige in schönen Songs mag, merkt man auch hier wieder, und so hat gerade das leicht zusammengeschustert wirkende Konnex zwischen Gesang und Soundkulisse seinen besonderen Reiz. Im “Canção do Gato”, dem Katzenlied (für Hinweise zu den Originalen den unten eingebetteten Bandcamp-Link befragen), tritt ihre Stimme über mehrere Tonspuren in Dialog mit sich selbst, was auch a capella funktioniert hätte, doch die vorwärts und rückwärts eingespielten kratzenden und schabenden Loops sorgen für die betongraue Hintergrundfärbung, die den hellen Gesang umso deutlicher exponiert.
Die schwindelerregende Orchestralsounds von “Nos Montes” mit ihren aufgeklebten Trommelwirbeln wiederum lassen das ungekünstelte des Gesangs umso mehr durchscheinen, der sich zur düsteren Pauke des hörspielartigen “Danse Macabre” geradezu trunken gibt. Beim metallenen Klappern und Hämmern von “Belgian Shepherd” und “Yarin”, aber auch beim unbestimmten Rauschen und Knistern von “Senhora dos Remédios” kommt eine dezente Spannung zum Vorschein, der den bisweilen chorartigen Gesang wie aus einer verwunschenen Anderswelt herüberwehen lässt, so wie sich beides immer gegenseitig charakterisiert.
Combo sagt, dass sie das Studio gerne als Fluchtort vor dem allgegenwärtigen Sprachgewirr der sozialen Wirklichkeit aufsucht, als Ort, der keine Antworten verlangt. In ihren dort entwickelten Songs findet sich mehr von der Flucht als vom Ziel, was “Boa-Língua” spannend macht. Ich wäre aber auch gespannt zu wissen, wie ein geplantes Síria-Album klingen würde."
[African Paper] |
2020 |
€9.00 |
|
| SISTER IODINE |
Venom |
do-LP |
"Sister Iodine’s Venom is a pure and raw, energy-powered album performed like an audio exorcism. Each track contains its own intense physicality to radiate sound illuminations of light inside of darkness. Venom is a powerful album of potent spells that Sister Iodine have conjured and captured as sonic shamans.” Cameron Jamie. Paris, France. January 2018.#French noise scene spearheads, Sister Iodine, return with their sixth album; “Venom”. Active since the Nineties, Sister Iodine which involve Erik Minkkinen, Lionel Fernandez, and Nicolas Mazet, have not lost one milligram of their radical and uncompromised approach in sound exploration and limits stretching. Following two studio albums on Parisian Label, Premier Sang, released in 2009 and 2013 respectively, it took almost 5 years to shape up “Venom”. #It is with the advent of the 21st century – more than ever – that the decisive path of Sister Iodine has taken a fascinating route. From their debut album, ADN115, released in 1994 which was strongly influenced by the original New York No Wave scene (Mars, DNA, Red Transistor) to their more recent works which are augmented by “newer poisons” such as black metal, or the most abrasive end of industrial music and power electronics, as well as experimental electronics (Editions Mego has reissued an extended version of Premier Sang’s “Flame Desastre” on CD), the band has managed to survive through the years from the inhospitable French squats of the nineties to nowadays’ established venues and proper tours. Today, the band’s music has changed recipients and has attracted younger generations with their organized radioactive chaos, never conceding anything from their initial intensity. Over the years, Sister Iodine will have also created their own idiosyncratic language, for which sound exploration matters and pure beauty seem to count as much as pure explosive ferocity, while intense violence and energy gets deployed in live shows. #The last few years witnessed an increasing number of collaborations such as the recent sessions with Meyhna’ch (Mütiilation) or the ones with Masaya Nakahara (Violent Onsen Geisha / Hair Stylistics). “Venom” includes two tracks featuring the vocal contribution of Stephen Bessac, the deviant frontman of the cult French hardcore band Kickback. #Sister Iodine produces today a music that is actually unique and unheard anywhere else. One of eternal youth and audacity."
|
2018 |
€32.00 |
|
| SISTER LOOLOMIE |
Signals |
CD-R |
"Sister Loolomie is one of the offspring of [S]ergey (or just [S]), a musician from Moscow region, known for his projects Exit In Grey, Five Elements Music and some others, as well as for his labels Still*Sleep and Semperflorens. The musical style of [S] is notable for its delicate and gentle approach to sound, the keywords for its definition are: ambient / drone / experimental / electroacoustic. In Sister Loolomie [S] utilizes deliberate sonic "digitalizing" and at the same time manages to keep the warmth and cosiness of sound in his own way, resembling tape drone music.
[S]ergey uses guitar, electronics, radio and computer processing in creating his soundscapes, both abstract and sensuous at the same time. The compositions move calmly and slowly, sound loops draw in attention like spirals and dissolve it in their textures. Shivery signal waves and soft generated rasp form an aerial atmosphere, in which crackle the discharges of digital interference, and bright yet slightly melancholic melodies bring serenity and tender contemplative sadness." [label info]
http://zhb.radionoise.ru/
|
2009 |
€8.00 |
|
| SITAAR-TAH! |
Semimimimimin |
CD |
Ungewöhnliche Ethno-Sounds auf ARCHIVE, dem Label aus New Jersey. SITAAR-TAH! ist ein asiatisches 22köpfiges "Orchester" welches mit Sitar-, Tabla- und rauhen Obertongesangklängen in den Hyper-Trance & Ekstasen-Raum vorstösst...
"Orchestra that provided the amazing musical backdrop for Keiji Haino on the double disc archive release Animamima. The 22 piece unit is back with this swarm of locus gem of a release. Graphic and design work on the release by Stephen O’Malley features an outer cover that is a four color silkscreen, beautifully executed by Alan Sherry of Siwa records. Inside is a gorgeous photographic collage. Pressing of 700 copies." [label info]
"...a single 43 minute ascension this time featuring featuring a khoomei/Tuvan throat singer, and hoo boy, it does not disappoint. The group's sound swells gently to locust-swarm proportions, all the while featuring pulsating percussion and recurring raga-esque motifs while holding down more of a modern groove. Despite the sheer magnitude of the group and its sound, the piece never really gets aggressive; rather, its insistence continually rises, ebbs, and spirals upward to a liftoff which begins about two-thirds into the piece, when the throat singing begins and slowly but surely pushes things both upward AND forward." [Downtownmusicgallery]
www.archivecd.com
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| SIZZLE |
Muermotivo |
CD-R |
SIZZLE is a french electronic industrial / experimental project from France, one member is LE K who is also the man behind the label FACTHEDRAL’S HALL. This is rhythm-based & vital break-beat / breakcore / sometimes minimal influenced stuff, which has a dark & hypnotic atmosphere and often develops into more droney fields, sometimes it goes into quite bizarre areas..... suspensefully and straightly created, this is a versatile and interesting release. To discover.
« On se rappelle Sizzle, l'un des projets de M.Reina, alias Le K., manager du label Facthedral's Hall, comme un territoire bouillonnant, où les drones en mouvements n'en finissaient pas de régurgiter d'épais fantômes mélodiques, issues de gestes ambiants souvent éprouvés. Aujourd'hui, si la texture est toujours visitée, il s'agit d'une contrepartie rythmique, aussi sèche que les premiers CDR's étaient arrosés, mais également vivante. Au long des morceaux, plusieurs modèles rythmiques sont convoqués, depuis certaines conventions éléctro-industrielles élégantes, récemment héritées de musiciens comme Delta Files, ou Orphx, jusqu'à des éffondrements en écho, ou plus loin des claudications éclairées par des harmoniques ondulants. Grain, ponçage, caisse claire franche, crécelle saturées, beats vissés, autant de matières dures visitées par Sizzle, discrètement augmentées de sons périphériques malléables, festons discrets. » [Fear Drop]
|
2004 |
€5.00 |
|
| SKARE |
Solstice City |
CD |
Fünfte Veröffentlichung auf dem Label welches sich den "eisigen Landschaften" verschrieben hat. SKARE ist ein schwedisches Trio mit MATHIAS JOSEFSON (besser bekannt als MOLJEBKA PVLSE), die ihre Dronescapes unter dem Gesichtspunkt des Kreislaufs der Aggregatzustände von Wasser (zu Gas & Eis & Schnee) erstellt haben. Dementsprechende field recordings werden verarbeitet, leichter Instrumenteneinsatz (Piano) sticht hervor, aber auch der Schnittpunkt von Natur & Stadtleben gerät in den Fokus... die narrative Komponente wirkt sich aber nie störend auf die "deep drones" aus, sondern wurde geschickt verwebt... für Fans von THOMAS KÖNER, TOY BIZARRE, MICHAEL NORTHAM, etc..
"Skare is the collaboration of Mathias Josefson (Moljebka Pvlse), Fredrik Olofsson and Per Åhlund. The members of Skare are all fascinated by the circulation of water, snow and ice. The metamorphosis from gas to floating liquid to snow to solid ice through freezing, the light reflecting from the snow and filtered through the ice as a prisma and - most of all - the sound of this ever ongoing circle.
Skare's first album, Solstice City, is an interpretation of a journey through a shifting landscape where the city meets nature. Departing from a distant and foreign shore, the traveller embarks a ship, uncertain of his destination. This prelude, introduced vividly in "To the other shore", releases this pilgrim to further explore yet unchartered territories. Leaving all man-made conventions, the second track "Through Wind and Broken Ice" takes us where the city imitates nature. Finally, a factory appears in the whiteout; a place where angels are manufactured as presented in the final track "The Snow Angel Factory"...The vehicles used by Skare on this journey are field recordings, found sounds and treated and manipulated instruments." [label info]
www.glacialmovements.com
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Grader |
CD-R |
"Skare is the combined artistic forces of Mathias Josefson (Moljebka Pvlse) and Per Åhlund (Diskrepant). Both situated in the Stockholm area and known from their perfomances across Europe as well as abroad.
Grader contains two recordings from live appereances the years before their debut Solstice City was released on Glacial Movements Records (2009). A minimalistic and dreamy experience of both analog and digital elements, a drift into contemplation. As the name Skare tells, we find ourselves in a wintery landscape with only us and the beauty of the cold. This is creative experimentalism from Sweden's finest, an interlude before their second album arrives.
Professionally made CDr in a limited edition of 100 copies in 6 panel digipack." [label info]
www.reverse-alignment.se
|
2015 |
€10.00 |
|
| SKELETON BIRDS AND THE NUMBER OF GOD |
These dark Roots of Heaven |
LP |
"Nick Mott with Ben Jones and Sarah Sullivan from Jazzfinger. An atmospheric recording captured in a cave in Cornwall with later manipulation and overdubs by Nick Mott. Also featuring weird demonic voices courtesy of 5 year old Gabriel Mott. Disintegrating tape loops, home made pipes, distorted violins and guitars, cheap keyboards, percussion, water and rocks. Influenced by Nick and Bens shared appreciation of Avant Garde Black Metal and Occult Noise this album is however loose, free and almost fragile in its incorporation of found and sampled sounds. Discordant and disjointed in places, yet occasionally an almosy tribal melody is allowed to evolve before being plunged into a brass sample or sonic blender..mysterious and intense. 180 gram vinyl. Limited to 250 copies." [label info]
www.altvinyl.com
|
2010 |
€18.50 |
|
| SKULL DEFEKTS |
The Drone Drug |
LP |
Endlich sprichts mal jemand aus: DRONES haben Drogenwirkung! Die schwedische Band SKULL DEFEKTS ist eigentlich nicht unbedingt für lupenreine Drone-Musik bekannt, aber hier sind sie ganz auf der "Analog Synth Drone"-Schiene, sehr trocken, sehr vibrierend und kratzend und knarzend, mit inhärenten wellen- und vibratohaften Bewegungen, keine endlosen hallenden Räume sondern spürbare Reibung und Vibration sind das Thema...
"In their own words, Sweden's Skull Defekts are "all about rhythm, repetition, and all energies in sound." The concept manifests itself in two distinctly different forms. On 2007's Blood Spirits and Drums Are Singing, the band showcased their more "rock"-based sound described by Julian Cope as an amalgamation of Chairs Missing-period Wire, Audionom, and '70s German proto-metallers Tiger B. Smith. However, the DFX, as they're sometimes known, also have an alter-ego under which their sound becomes a harsh wall of droning noise and psychedelic industrial bowel churn. It is that persona that is embodied on The Drone Drug.
Drone is often associated with music that is essentially ambient in nature. While The Skull Defekts do create an ambient aura, The Drone Drug has more in common with the terrifying atmospheres created by noisier cohorts like Prurient then the minimalism of Tomas Koner. The sound is grim, black, and abrasive; mechanical, filthy, and unnerving. This limited-edition LP is the first of two by the DFX to be released by Actual Noise, with the second, Skull, coming in the near future.
A recent appearance at No Fun Fest, an Eastern US tour in October, an upcoming split with Prurient, and a new release on Important Records, all make 2008 a very productive and successful year for The Skull Defekts." [label info]
" NOW ON VINYL!! Limited to 500 silkscreened copies. With a coupon for free digital download of the album, with an extra track, one we're pretty sure was included on the prior cd version of this on Release The Bats, which we reviewed thusly: Holy drone!! This is not at all what we expected from these guys, but then, most Skull Defekts records tend to confuse or confound. Which is pretty much why we love them so. And who are we to turn up our noses art a sonic surprise, especially when that surprise is DRONES. Big thick buzzy snarling crumbling blown out low end buzzing writhing brain melting, ear drum crushing, rib cage rattling, speaker destroying drones. Skull Defekts are no stranger to the drone, and the fact that they called this record Drone Drug, should have been a clue, but the band, who in the past have been heavily rhythmic, have discarded pretty much everything except for the drone. No beats, no riffs, no recognizable instruments, nothing but deep dark drones. This is a seriously heavy record. Dense and brutal, four extended tracks, each an exercise in tension, long form extended tones, but within these, stretched out sounds, much like dronelord Phill Niblock, the various layers are surprisingly active, throbbing and pulsing, and twisting and slithering and buzzing and whirring and shimmering, the sounds rough and raw, bits crumbling and emitting grit, slipping into fuzzy drift and then slipping back into a solid endless throb. The power of the drone is divine, and when harnessed, like this, with volume, and texture, and timbre, the music is a physical presence. Headphones come to life and encase your head in an organic black cocoon of sound, speakers unfurl thick flows of sonic tar, laying supine, eyes closed, you're soon buried alive, beneath layers and layers of resonant rumbling sound. And it is divine.This is powerful, earth shifting, massive minimal music. Not sure if these sounds come from synths or guitars, electronics or sine wave generators, malfunctioning effects pedals or a microphone lowered into the center of the Earth (we're leaning toward the latter), the result is something so primal and organic, so primeval and timeless, the act of listening seems to alter the listener's molecular structure, transporting the listener to an alternate universe, made entirely of sound, where our bodies are transformed into sound waves, our souls escape their mortal shackles and reveal themselves to be pure, deep drones. So awesome." [Aquarius Records review]
www.actualnoise.net
|
2008 |
€15.00 |
|
| SKULLFLOWER |
Kino IV: Black Sun Rising |
CD |
"Rounds up the first three 7" releases on Shock, Majora and Forced Exposure, the bonus track from The Portable Altamont (1991) compilation, plus six previously-unreleased tracks, including three from the Xaman sessions. A disc of total rock!
Finally available, after almost two years of driving Dirter & Shock to the brink of insanity -- a massive 4CD retrospective of Skullflower's early works from 1986-1990, featuring all the material previously released on Broken Flag, Shock, Majora and Forced Exposure, plus around two hours of previously-unheard music -- 14 tracks spread across the series. And this is not "out-take" dross used to fill up CDs, this is essential early Skullflower providing further insight into their uniquely twisted musical world. All material has been digitally mastered by Richard Whittaker at FX, and each CD comes in a deluxe gatefold card cover and inner sleeve with newly-unearthed artwork by Matthew. Booklets feature extensive notes and previously-unseen flyers, posters and photos." [label info]
www.dirter.co.uk
"This long in the works reissue campaign has had aQ staff and aQ customer Skullflower nerds freaking the fuck out. Four, count, em FOUR reissued rarities! On the last list, we reviewed reissues of both Skullflower's very first 12"ep Birthdeath, and their first proper full length Form Destroyer, both absolute psychedelic noise rock crushers. But that was only the beginning. Since most Skullflower fans were already super familiar with those records anyway, it was more a chance to revisit, as well as preach the gospel of early Skullflower to the uninitiated. But it's the other two reissues that might be the most thrilling. Elsewhere on this week's list, you'll find a review of Xaman, Skullflower's 1990 second album, one that due to a manufacturing defect found most copies eventually rendered unplayable, and thus essentially unheard for decades. And then there's this one, a singles comp, hopefully the first of many, gathering up three different singles, originally released on Majora, Forced Exposure and Shock, and the crazy thing is, even the Skullflower freeks here, had only ever actually heard ONE of em! So that alone made this totally essential. But in addition to those singles, there are also SIX previously unreleased tracks, as well as Skullflower's three contributions to The Portable Altamont compilation (which also featured such noisy luminaries as Coil, Current 93, Nurse With Wound, and Drunks With Guns), all of which add up to some of the filthiest, noisiest, most pummeling, tranced out, knuckle dragging, psychedelic krautrock-style dirgery you've every heard. Cuz really, for all the skree and crunch, all the noisy churn and caveman pummel, most early Skullflower jams are stretched out hypnorock sprawls, albeit constructed from crumbling superdistorted bass, wild tangles of angular melody and shards of noise guitar skree, and some surprisingly motorik drum bashing...
The only one of the three reissues that's sort of new, begins with the weird choice of starting not with any of the previously released 7" tracks, but instead, a double shot of unreleased rarities, the opener "Night Tripper" as good as anything SF was doing at the time, squalls of feedback, thick, blown out riffage, damaged drumming, yowled, buried in the mix vox, super murky and hypnotic, which leads right into "Kasso's Blues", which is loping and lumbering, a sort of detuned atonal main riff, and some garbled vox wrapped around tribal beats make it sound like some super obscure, super wasted Butthole Surfers jam. The aforementioned single, the only one we HAD heard, is the "Rift / Avalanche" single on Majora, and it's some of our favorite Skullflower, smoldering, brooding, dirgey, but sorta dreamy, a locked minimal rhythm, buried vocals, and then long arced tones, super mesmerizing and so epic, the 'flipside' though is a wild nois drenched heavy psych freakout that looks forward to groups like Rusted Shut. The Forced Exposure single delivers one part noisy Dead C style plod rock freakout, and one part billowing psychedelic space out, while the Shock single is super swaggery and dirgey, the recording muted and murky, total cave like rehearsal style sound, but it suits them, the second half getting downright rocking.
After that, there's the awesomely titled "Bo Diddley's Shitpump" , which might be the most bloozy of the bunch, as is hinted at by the title, but it's more like Pussy Galore style blues, tangled up with some Swans and some Hawkwind, and with a hint of mutated AmRep style bash and howl. "Against Everything (A Guide To Canine Foreskin Retraction)" sounds like a Crash Worship record on Shock, wild dense tribal drumming, wreathed in a cloud of flanged shimmer, wah wah splatter and spidery tendrils of tangled guitar melody, and girded by some strange industrial whirring buried in the mix. "March Of The Lemmings" is all garage blooz swagger, with echo drenched vocals and a thick chugging main riff, even some bleating horns, everything dubbed to high heaven, and then wrapped in a spider web of noise guitar skree, and finally closer "The Punk Rock Song" is about as punky OR poppy as SF get, but they manage to fuck it all up and douse it in just enough noise to keep it interesting...
Holy shit, so much amazing, twisted, noisy sonic genius. As far as we're concerned all four of these Skullflower reissues should have /could have been Records Of The Week, but forced to pick one, t had to be Black Sun Rising. But seriously, who are we fooling, you NEED all four!!!
Nice packaging too, mini gatefolds, printed inner sleeves, and a booklet with reproductions of the original 7" covers." [Aquarius Records] |
2013 |
€15.00 |
|
| SKULLFLOWER / MASTERY |
split |
LP |
"SKULLFLOWER presents a trinity of sombre meditations evoking Europe after the rain, drowned ruins, sunken dreams: spiders run across harpsichords in deserted schlosses and chateaus, doors slam and phantom demon choirs are summoned at seances by Blatavskian crones, whose impenetrable china blue dolls eyes open onto Tibetan vistas, terrible, ancient and remote…
MASTERY is improvised one man cosm(ag)ick from Ephemeral Domignostika. Total berzerker black metal, rooted in the tradition of true grim blackness, but filtered through Mastery’s cracked perception, transforming this into something beyond true; a droned out and damaged, outsider blackness, that sounds pretty much unlike almost any other black metal.
Ltd x 500 copies.
Standard edition: 400 copies on purple vinyl.
Special edition: 100 hand-numbered copies on green vinyl through Cold Spring mailorder only!" [label info]
" 'We offer an invocation to, and an evocation of the hidden, averse, heathen power that seethe within our native soil. Come leave your timid gelded civilised masks, bow down and rise up, reborn, within our whirlwind', schreibt SKULLFLOWER-Mastermind MATTHEW BOWER unter der Überschrift „Skullflower: What we are ...“ in seinem Blog und vermittelt so eine Ahnung des – ich nenn' es mal – ganzheitlichen Aufforderungscharakters, den er mit der Musik seiner, 1987 gegründeten und 1988 mit der 12'' Skullflower-Birthdeath/release/142281">"Birthdeath" auf BROKEN FLAG debütierenden Band verbindet. Kurzum, der Mann hat Sendungsbewusstsein, und das nicht ohne Grund.
Bis zum, durch interne Streitigkeiten zwischen den Mitgliedern verursachten Bruch im Jahre 1996 handelte es sich bei SKULLFLOWER, ungeachtet ihrer Einbindung in die klassische englische Industrial-Szene der frühen 80er Jahre, um eine Band im engeren und bei ihrer Musik um Noise Rock, im – nun ja – sehr weiten Sinne. Dies änderte sich, als Gründungsmitglied MATTHEW BOWER SKULLFLOWER 2003 als Quasi-Soloprojekt ins Leben zurück rief. Zwar umfasst das derzeitige Line-Up immer noch die Mitstreiter SAMANTHA DAVIES und LEE STROKE, man tut den beiden aber sicherlich kein Unrecht, wenn man in ihnen eher Begleitmusiker für die Realisierung von Visionen sieht, die in allererster Linie BOWER'scher Provenienz sind. Der Sound verschob sich von Album zu Album nachdrücklicher in den Bereich des Noisig-Atonalen, bisweilen auch Dronigen – wobei man sich das, was hier behelfsmäßig als "Drone" bezeichnen wird, im Falle von SKULLFLOWER selbstverständlich dezidiert unbehaglich vorzustellen hat. Den bisherigen Gipfelpunkt dieser Entwicklung bezeichnet zweifellos das, 2011 bei COLD SPRING erschienene Album "Fucked On A Pile Of Corpses", mit dem BOWER ein infernalisches Noise-Monster abgeliefert hat, das sich in der Brutalität und Kompromisslosigkeit seiner musikalischen Umsetzung dem überaus charmanten Albumtitel als absolut ebenbürtig erweist.
Umso überraschter – und das durchaus positiv – ist man nun, auf der vorliegenden, ebenfalls auf COLD SPRING veröffentlichten Split-LP wieder eine Rückwendung in vergleichsweise strukturiertere musikalische Territorien zu verzeichnen. Der Begriff skullflowertruth.blogspot.de/2012/07/black-psychedelia-one-of-these-days-im.html">"black psychedelia", den BOWER in seinem Blog auf das Side-Project VOLTIGEURS anwendet, scheint mir für die Beiträge auf der vorliegenden Split-LP wahrlich nicht minder passend: Was für ein Getöse! Was für eine Wucht! Wer den jüngeren Output bis hin zum besagten, Nerven und Gehör gleichermaßen zerschreddernden Meisterwerk von 2011 ebenso zu schätzen weiß wie ältere, tendenziell „rockigere“ (Anführungszeichen sind hier durchaus angebracht) Veröffentlichungen wie Skullflower-Obsidian-Shaking-Codex/master/54292">"Obsidian Shaking Codex" von 1993, der wird von diesen drei Stücken begeistert sein. Zur Darbietung gelangt eine Melange aus den beiden zentralen stilistischen Betätigungsfeldern der umtriebigen Band aus London – das Beste aus beiden Welten sozusagen. Wie auf den meisten späteren SKULLFLOWER-Veröffentlichungen kommt man komplett ohne den Einsatz von Drums bzw. ganz generell ohne irgend einen Beat aus: Der Sound baut sich alleine aus schneidend-knirschenden, durch Verzerrer und Effektgeräte gemarterte, im aktuellen Fall – passend zum compagnon de guerre auf der B-Seite – ziemlich Black-Metal-lastig tönenden Gitarrenriffs auf, die in der Gesamtschau etwas generieren, das man wohl am treffendsten als apokalyptisches Noisedronehochamt umschreiben könnte. Letztlich mündet der Versuch einer konkreteren Charakterisierung der Musik von SKULLFLOWER fast zwangsläufig in ein Ringen um wohlfeile Worte, denn seit die Band nach ihrer Interimsauflösung im Jahre 1996 und der Wiederauferstehung im Jahre 2003 wieder auf Kurs ist, oszilliert der "typische" SKULLFLOWER-Sound irgendwo im Niemandsland zwischen Gitarrenwänden, Feedbackexperimenten und brutalem Noise – und ist überdies immer im Fluss, will heißen, der Schwerpunkt, um den herum sich die Musik jeweils kristallisiert, ändert sich von Veröffentlichung zu Veröffentlichung.
Die Atmosphäre der drei Stücke der Split-LP ist getragen, man könnte sie schon fast ein wenig pathetisch – nicht im abwertenden Sinne – nennen, doch mag das der Thematik geschuldet sein, die sie laut Promotext umkreisen, es handelt sich nämlich um "a trinity of sombre meditations evoking Europe after the rain, drowned ruins, sunken dreams". Im Übrigen darf es, wer für einen derartigen Alleszermalmer wie das mehrfach angesprochene Vorgängeralbum verantwortlich zeichnet, guten Gewissens mal ein wenig ruhiger und getragener angehen – gar kein Problem. Das sei MATTHEW BOWER und uns, dem enthusiasmierten Publikum, von ganzem Herzen gegönnt. Zumal "ruhig" in diesem Fall ohnehin nur sehr, sehr bedingt etwas mit dem landläufig üblichen Verständnis von ruhig zu tun hat. Langer Rede kurzer Sinn: Großartiger Beitrag – Musik, die im Raum steht wie ein schwarzer Monolith.
Und damit kommen wir zur B-Seite und ... äh ... MASTERY. – Vorweg sei das Eingeständnis ausgesprochen, dass ich mich in der schillernden Welt des Black Metal keiner allzu fundierten Sachkenntnis erfreue, obgleich ich dem Genre im Laufe der letzten Jahre zunehmend mehr Sympathie entgegenbringe. Der geneigte Leser möge meine folgenden Worte also als subjektive Meinung eines Interessierten und keinesfalls als kanonisches Urteil eines Eingeweihten – oder eines solchen, der sich dafür hält – interpretieren.
Denn in der Tat: So lange ich mich bei der A-Seite aufgehalten habe, so kurz kann ich mich bei der B-Seite fassen: Laut discogs handelt es sich bei MASTERY um ein, seit 2005 aktives Ein-Mann-Black-Metal-Projekt aus der Gegend um San Francisco; die Musik beschreibt der Promotext als "[t]otal berzerker black metal, rooted in the tradition of true grim blackness, but filtered through Mastery's cracked perception […]; a droned out and damaged, outsider blackness, that sounds pretty much unlike almost any other black metal." Nun ja. Meiner unmaßgeblichen Meinung nach wäre hier ein wenig mehr Bescheidenheit unbedingt am Platze gewesen: "Blood Electric" ist summa summarum eine ebenso brutale wie uninteressante Uptempoprügelnummer, dominiert von einer Stimme, die irgendwo zwischen genretypischem BM-Krächzgeschrei und Death-Metal-Gegrowle changiert. Und aufregend, geschweige denn "droned out and damaged outsider blackness", geht nun wirklich anders. Nicht nur, dass man dergleichen schon x-mal anderswo und obendrein besser gehört hat – wenn auch nicht unbedingt auf knapp 18 ununterbrochene und mit Fortschreiten der Laufzeit zunehmend nervigere Minuten ausgedehnt. Man fragt sich zudem, worin eigentlich das verbindende Glied zwischen SKULLFLOWERs grandiosem Opus auf der A-Seite und diesem mediokren Gekloppe bestehen soll – und zwar ebenso in qualitativer wie in stilistisch-formaler Hinsicht. Ich jedenfalls bin einigermaßen davon überzeugt, dass so ziemlich jeder, der – mit absoluter Berechtigung! – von der SKULLFLOWER-Seite begeistert ist, die MASTERY-Seite mit einem Gähnen quittieren wird – et vice versa.
Doch sei's drum: Allein für den beispiellosen musikalischen Furor, den SKULLFLOWER auf der A-Seite entfalten, lohnt sich die Anschaffung allemal." [Endsal für nonpop.de]
|
2013 |
€23.00 |
|
| SLAVES, THE |
Ocean on Ocean |
do-LP |
"The mystical drone-folklorist Jon Porras introduced us to the luminous sound of The Slaves, so we thought it fitting that he should expound upon their radiant shoegazing heaviness. Here speaks Mr. Porras:
"A shadow moves beneath the water. Ocean On Ocean: two abysmal surfaces echoing into one another. Mutually reflecting an endless geologic score to a post-apocalyptic litany. Planes of ambivalence obliterated by light, voices eclipsed by devotional low end, synthesized stereography spiraling from an eternal core. Hovering above the weighted disposition of Doom and below the consolation of Shoegaze, the duo transmit a burdened grace that unfolds like a radiant mammal writhing in black water. We discover an object heavy and obtuse until placed into the sea. Lines of light swell and dissipate behind hushed lyrics. Feedback and whitenoise ebb and flow, the mammal's breath hollowed, tumbling below the surface. The hum offset and displaced by water that surrounds. Holographic accord materialized by invalidated hopefulness. We are unsure and skeptical of what this optimism holds. What lies waiting at the depths carved between these two reflective surfaces? Ocean On Ocean implies a tangible province exists between these mirrored planes. A staircase built from reflective feedback, extending horizontally into bliss. A bliss that is fleeting and simultaneously petrified in the present. A paradox realized by the duo's distillations of urgent ambiance and luminescent melancholy. Conjuring environments that billow out from instrumental restraint, Ocean On Ocean is an exercise in disciplined abstraction.
Initially a cd-r, Ocean On Ocean reaches its supreme possibility today. An acoustic artifact cast into alchemical tangibility, these recordings are finally at peace on vinyl. Now the relics hidden between these Oceans can be crystallized."
The Slaves are Barbara Kinzle and Birch Cooper, who hail from Portland, Oregon and who have released other works on Digitalis and Paradigms to considerable acclaim, drawing favorable comparisons to the likes of Grouper, Slowdive, Earth, and Barn Owl. The 2LP of Ocean On Ocean is limited to 400 copies, and the recordings were mastered for vinyl by James Plotkin." [label info]
www.helenscarsdale.com
"Fuck, yeah! Here, we have the double lp reissue of the aQuarius favorite Ocean On Ocean by The Slaves, the Portland duo of Birch Cooper and Barbara Kinzle. We got the cd-r of this album back in early 2011, upon the enthusiastic request from the former aQ-staffer Jon Porras, known to some as one half of of drone-doom duo Barn Owl. The rough sound of the cd-r has been considerably improved via remastering by James Plotkin, with the vinyl cut at 45 rpm so that all the heavy / dreamy / shoegazy loveliness is even richer and more radiant. Still one of our favorite albums, made even better!
We love bands whose music-making formula appears, on the surface, simple and intuitive, yet the sounds they create are huge, engulfing and seemingly complex. Using two synthesizers and echoing vocals, The Slaves inhabit a sound that is as lush and dense as it is mysterious and minimal. Their debut album, Ocean on Ocean, is the perfect showcase of a group that can conjure up bountiful sounds within a restrained approach. Honestly, we can’t get enough of Ocean on Ocean, something about those enormous, dreamy, engulfing songscapes just leaves us wanting more. Their oozing brew of minimal pop melts and blurs with the melodic thickness of MBV's Loveless or early Slowdive, but surrenders to a contemplative mode that falls somewhere between Gregorian hymn and pagan ritual. The duo spin a radiant web of sustained vocals and heavy synth, each chord drawn out and smeared into a neon haze while indecipherable lyrics suggest longing, loss and submission to oblivion.
"Seventeen" unfolds with a slow arching chord progression that grows and dissipates like a coastal tide. Female vocals creep into the oceanic haze while fluttering noise and cosmic wash hover in obscurity. And though the rhythm-less wash may appear to be aimless improv, a close listen reveals a defined structure beneath the veil of long tones and heavy atmospherics. And yes, The Slaves are heavy. And it's not a "down-tuned guitars through a wall of amps" kind of heavy. It’s more evident in the slow movement of the songs, and the visceral effects felt by each musical gesture. The duo have perfectly crafted a searing offering of "soft doom", so gorgeous and mesmerizing we’ve had Ocean on Ocean on repeat for the past week. "Shadows" is another noteworthy track. We love the push and pull of heavy synth and whispery vocals, whirls of female voice echo into the night then dissipate into huge swells of HEAVY distorted synth. Crumbling low end amid ethereal dream chants, what else could we ask for?? One of our favorite records in recent memory and highly recommended!" [Aquarius Records]
|
2012 |
€22.50 |
|
| SLEAFORD MODS |
Spare Ribs |
CD |
"Die motzenden Electro-Punks mit weiblicher Verstärkung. 2020, wir müssen reden! Corona, Brexit, Johnson, Trump und jede Menge andere Scheiße, die in der Welt vor sich geht. Für Jason Williamson und Andrew Fearn aka Sleaford Mods bietet dieses Seuchenjahr natürlich reichlich Material für ein neues Album. Jason Williamson spricht dabei die Sprache der Menschen auf der Straße, hat ein Gespür für ihre Sorgen sowie Nöte und trägt sein Herz stets auf der Zunge. Der Titel des sechsten Albums "Spare Ribs" bezieht sich auf die Corona-Krise in England, wo manchen politischen Eliten das Leben ihrer Mitmenschen verzichtbar erscheint. Erstmals bekam Williamson bei den Aufnahmen weibliche Unterstützung: auf dem Album findet man gleich zwei Duette, einmal mit der britischen Newcomerin Billy Nomates, zum zweiten mit Amy Taylor, Sängerin der australischen Punkband Amyl & The Sniffers.
Poised to blow the cobwebs off life and unleash some much-needed wit and charm upon us, Sleaford Mods are back with their astonishing 6th studio album, entitled Spare Ribs.
Recorded in lockdown in a furious three-week studio blitz at JT Soar in July, the polemical Jason Williamson and dexterous producer Andrew Fearn kick against the pricks with unrivalled bite, railing against hypocrisy, inequality and apathy with their inimitable, scabrous sense of humour. And Spare Ribs, featuring Amy Taylor of Melbourne punks Amyl and the Sniffers and the British newcomer Billy Nomates, finds the duo charged with ire at the UK Government’s sense of entitlement, epitomized by its devil-may-care approach to the coronavirus crisis.
Commenting on the new album Jason says, “'Our lives are expendable under most governments, secondary under a system of monetary rule. We are stock if you like, parts on a shelf for the purposes of profit, discarded at any moment if fabricated or non-fabricated crisis threatens productivity. This is constant, obviously and notably in the current pandemic. The masses cannot be present in the minds of ill-fitting leaders, surely? Or else the realisation of their catastrophic management would cripple their minds. Much like the human body can still survive without a full set of ribs we are all 'spare ribs’, preservation for capitalism, through ignorance and remote rule, available for parts.”
https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/sleaford-mods/spare-ribs
|
2021 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
UK GRIM |
CD |
Krieg, steigende Energiekosten, Inflation. Eine politische Klasse und ein gespaltenes Land. Das Unbehagen nach dem Brexit, Akte nationaler Selbstbeschädigung und verhängnisvolle Realitätsfluchten. Verzweiflung, Wut und Entfremdung. War es jemals schlimmer da draußen? Willkommen bei "UK Grim". Das zwölfte Album der Sleaford Mods baut auf den einzigartigen, aufrührerischen Stärken früherer Alben auf und verfeinert sie gleichzeitig auf eine neue Weise. Es handelt sich um nichts Geringeres als eine Band und eine Stimme ihrer Generation, so wie es The Jam, The Clash oder Public Enemy zuvor waren. Begonnen haben die Arbeiten zum neuen Album in den Lockdowns von 2021. Schließlich setzte man die Arbeit im JT Soars fort, dem Arbeitsraum und der Kreativzelle der Band, und vollendet "UK Grim" dann im Heimstudio des musikalischen Kopfes Andrew Fearn. Das Album präsentiert die Band in ihrer makellosesten Wut, gepaart mit wilder Poesie. Nach "Spare Ribs" von 2021 (ihrem dritten UK-Top-Ten-Album seit 2019 und ihrem bisher erfolgreichsten) ist es, wie alle ihre Platten, eine Diagnose der Krankheiten der Gesellschaft. Obwohl "UK Grim" größtenteils vor den Turbulenzen des Jahres 2022 entstanden ist, nimmt es die Erschütterungen einer Gesellschaft, die den Verstand verliert, auf unheimliche Weise vorweg, erzählt von einem Mann, der entschlossen ist, sich mit Heucheleien auseinanderzusetzen, insbesondere mit seinen eigenen. Die 14 Tracks klingen nach knarzigem Punk, widerspenstiger Elektronik und Elementen von Hip-Hop. Sie beschreiben die Realität in zu brutaler Unverblümtheit, um nur einfache Protestsongs zu sein. Sie sind zu Vinyl gewordene Wut, aufgekocht von den Großmeistern des pointierten Zorns - den Sleaford Mods! Wie bei den "Spare Ribs" Kollaborationen mit Billy Nomates und Amy Taylor helfen auch bei "UK Grim" Freunde aus: Florence Shaw von Dry Cleaning ist auf dem schaurigen "Force 10 From Navarone" zu Gast. Williamson ist ein Fan der Band und sagt: "Sie erinnert mich wirklich an die frühen Sachen, die ich gemacht habe, einfach die Art und Weise, wie sie ein einziges Wort benutzt, um eine ganze Geschichte zu erzählen." Perry Farrell von Jane"s Addiction rappt auf dem bizarren "So Trendy", einem Song, von dem Williamson sagt, er sei "sehr vorsichtig... ein wirklich seltsamer Track". Seit ihrem Durchbruch-Album "Divide and Exit" von 2014 hatten die Sleaford Mods immer mehr Gelegenheit zum offenen Austausch, sowohl im In- als auch im Ausland. Sie sind eine unermüdlich arbeitende Band, die mit ihren minimalistischen Liveshows unter anderem 2021 in der 10.000 Zuschauer fassenden Nottingham Motorpoint Arena auftrat. Zu den weiteren Meilensteinen ihres Erfolgs gehören Auftritte im US-Late-Night-TV, Headliner-Auftritte auf Festivals und Chart-Platzierungen in ganz Europa mit "Spare Ribs". Ein großer Bewunderer ist Iggy Pop, der der Band mit einer persönlichen Version des Drogenrausch-Grand-Guignols "Chop Chop Chop" Tribut gezollt hat. |
2023 |
€12.00 |
|
| SLOAN, JASON |
Deluge |
CD |
If we have any StillStream fanatics here chances are you might remember this performance, which originally streamed live on the Sadayatana show back in 2011. Although then presented without title, Jason intended for this piece to capture the aftermath of our world after having suffered through a grand deluge. gterma are very happy to bring back to life again this emotional recording. Jason has also kindly composed for us a brand new epilogue which now closes the album. Comes in jewel case with 16-page booklet.
gterma021to040.blogspot.com/p/gterma039-jason-sloan-deluge.html
"Jason Sloan is a US-based new media & sound artist, electronic musician, composer whose sonic creations explores immateriality and its connection in memory, systems and the virtual world.
“Deluge” contains his performance, which was originally streamed live on Stillstream’s Sadayatana program August 2011, which intended to capture the aftermath of our world after having suffered through a grand deluge.
For the cd-release, the 60-minute dark-ambient recording though has been extended by a brand new epilogue which now closes the album.
The continuous live-set is an inner world ambient affair drifting into ethereal lands as it smoothly changes shape and reveals intrinsic motion along the way. Headphones are essential to discover the many fine details and hypnotic realm embedded in the carefully molded, overtly minimalist atmospherics, which all received the balanced, delicate and refined mastering touch of Anders Peterson.
The epilogue is a soft and warm soundscape wandering, opening up melancholic farscapes as it drifts and evolves onward.
All in all, “Deluge” makes an impressive and imaginary ambient listen. Recommended.
Website: www.jasonsloan.com" [Sonic Immersion]
"In the case of “Deluge” by Jason Sloan we’re dealing with a recording of a live performance on StillStream Radio on the 5th of August 2011. From what I read in the booklet, the broadcast was transmitted in a non-legal (let’s not beat about the bush, just pirate) way in Baltimore and the surrounding area. Guerilla ambient – I like it.
For many years, Jason Sloan has been bouncing on the edges of the ambient scene releasing several albums, most of them in his own label SloBor Media. Perhaps his contact with gterma will cause that he’ll reach this fifty or hundred people more – as for a minimalist ambient it’s quite much anyway, and the material contained on “Deluge” or rather “Live On Sadayatana – Deluge” indicates that the musician definitely deserves it.
“Blue Star” is a long, slowly developing set of drones, bathed in soft sound haze. Torn from the impression of space-time and drifting aimlessly in the night sky. Although I may be wrong with this “space” term as it has a specific American taste. In my mind’s eye I see strange lights flashing in the sky over the Arizona desert, and in the back of my head the name of Steve Roach begins to form. At the beginning and at the end (not only in this piece) there are some pieces of radio transmission somewhere in the background, which further enhances the sense of non-existence and emptiness, where past, present and future meet.
“ElevenEleven” continues this minimalist journey, where it ‘s difficult to talk about a destination. Although it seems like the music has taken a bit darker direction. As if somewhere in the distance a vortex of unknown provenance appears, absorbing everything it encounters on its way, no matter whether it is a material being or not. Oh, this music fits to my taste, oh it fits. Teetering on the verge of dark ambient but not throwing itself into the dark void, so that I should have advised Jason to send the music to Cyclic Law or Malignant.
Low drones can be found in “The Fifth World”, but at the same time there is more contrast between them and the fetching synth melodies, so I have the impression that this track has the richest sound in the whole CD. “Deluge” is somehow the closest to “The Fifth World”; it’s added to extend the album’s length, but it is not a bad track, on the contrary. It sounds a bit better than the other ones, but not different enough that the album can’t be treated as a homogeneous journey into the unknown.
As always in gterma releases, the booklet contains several atmospheric photographs, which in my opinion this time not entirely correspond to the images projected by my mind. But in fact this is a little thing that cannot affect my overall positive opinion. I would take such trips more often." [Santa Sangre]
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| SLOWDIVE |
Everything is Alive (Crystal Clear vinyl) |
LP |
Sechs Jahre nach dem monumentalen Comeback mit dem selbstbetitelten Album, finden slowdive - bestehend aus Rachel Goswell und Neil Halstead (beide Vocs und Git.), Christian Savill (Git.), Nick Chaplin (Bass) und Drummer Simon Scott - auf "everything is alive" immer mehr Konturen ihres eindringlichen, elementaren Sounds. Das fünfte Album der Shoegaze-Giganten enthält die Dualität einer vertrauten inneren Sprache, gemischt mit der Exaltiertheit von Neuanfängen. "everything is alive" ist transportierend, suchend und leuchtend, das Werk einer klassischen Band, die ihre unverwechselbare Stimme weiter in die Zukunft richtet. Das neue Album begann mit Halstead in der Rolle des Autors und Produzenten, der zu Hause an Demos arbeitete. Halstead experimentierte mit modularen Synthesizern und stellte sich "everything is alive" ursprünglich als ein "minimaleres elektronisches Album" vor. Die kollektive Entscheidungsfindung von slowdive führte die Band schließlich zurück zu ihren charakteristischen, mit Hall durchtränkten Gitarren, aber dieses erste Konzept sickerte in die Kompositionen ein. "Wenn wir als Band alle damit zufrieden sind, ist das tendenziell das stärkere Material. Wir sind immer aus leicht unterschiedlichen Richtungen gekommen, und die besten Stücke sind dort, wo wir uns alle in der Mitte treffen", sagt Halstead. "slowdive ist vor allem die Summe seiner Teile", fügt Goswell hinzu. "Wenn wir fünf in einem Raum zusammenkommen, passiert etwas Undefinierbares." Der mehrjährige Aufnahmeprozess begann im Herbst 2020 im Courtyard Studio, wo die Band schon immer aufgenommen hat, setzte sich dann in Oxfordshire und in der umliegenden Heide von Lincolnshire fort, um dann wieder zurück in Neils eigenes Studio in Cornwall zu gelangen. Anfang 2022 holte die Band Shawn Everett (The War On Drugs, Alvvays, SZA) ins Studio, um sechs der acht Tracks des Albums abzumischen. "everything is alive" ist genau das, was der Titel andeutet: eine Erkundung der schillernden Natur des Lebens und der universellen Berührungspunkte darin. Mit seinen psychedelischen Klanglandschaften, pulsierenden 80er-Jahre-Elektronik-Elementen und John Cale-inspirierten Reisen wirkt das Album sofort wie etwas, das für die Zukunft gemacht ist; das passt, denn die Fangemeinde der Band ist im Laufe der Zeit immer jünger geworden, und ihr Einfluss auf vorwärts denkende Musik-Künstler*innen ist ungebrochen. Für ein Genre, das oft als spalterisch angesehen wird und oft Introspektion rechtfertigt, zeigen slowdive hier, dass sie ihr Handwerk beherrschen, indem sie es über das Singuläre hinaus vorantreiben; das Endergebnis ist eine Platte, die sich ebenso emotional und kathartisch wie optimistisch anfühlt.
The fifth album from shoegaze giants Slowdive contains the duality of a familiar internal language mixed with the exaltation of new beginnings. everything is alive is transportive, searching and aglow, the work of a classic band continuing to pitch its unmistakable voice to the future. Six years after the group’s monumental self-titled album, everything is alive finds Slowdive—vocalists and guitarists Rachel Goswell and Neil Halstead, guitarist Christian Savill, bassist Nick Chaplin, and drummer Simon Scott—locating evermore contours of its immersive, elemental sound.
The new record began with Halstead in the role of writer and producer, working on demos at home. Experimenting with modular synths, Halstead originally conceived of everything is alive as a “more minimal electronic record.” Slowdive’s collective decision-making ultimately drew the group back towards their signature reverb-drenched guitars, but that first concept seeped into the compositions. “As a band, when we’re all happy with it, that tends to be the stronger material,” Halstead says. “We’ve always come from slightly different directions, and the best bits are where we all meet in the middle.” The convergence of five unique characters has made the sound. “Slowdive is very much the sum of its parts,” Goswell adds. “Something unquantifiable happens when the five of us come together in a room.”
The group’s projected studio sessions for everything is alive, in April 2020, were naturally scrapped, and when the group finally did meet up, six months later, at Courtyard Studio, where they’ve historically recorded, the mood was jubilant. (Finally, they had a proper reason to leave the house.) That was the beginning of a multi-year recording process, which moved from Oxfordshire and into the Wolds of Lincolnshire and back to Neil’s own Cornish studio before extending into February 2022, when the band brought in mixer Shawn Everett (The War On Drugs, SZA, Alvvays) to mix six of the record’s eight tracks.
Owing to their deep history, there’s a palpable familial energy to Slowdive in 2023. everything is alive is dedicated to Goswell’s mother and Scott’s father, who both died in 2020. “There were some profound shifts for some of us personally,” Goswell says. Those crossroads are reflected in the many-layered emotional tenor of Slowdive’s music; everything is alive is heavy with experience, but each note is poised, wise, and necessarily pitched to hope. Its unique alchemy subtly embodies both sadness and gratitude, groundedness and uplift. Reflecting on “kisses,” which may be Slowdive’s surest pop moment yet, Halstead said, “It wouldn’t feel right to make a really dark record right now. The album is quite eclectic emotionally, but it does feel hopeful.”
everything is alive, is exactly what the title suggests: an exploration into the shimmering nature of life and the universal touch points within it. Spanning psychedelic soundscapes, pulsating 80’s electronic elements and John Cale inspired journeys, the album lands immediately as something made for the future; which figures, as their fanbase has grown younger and younger as time has gone on, and their influence on forward thinking musical artists continues to prevail.
For a genre that is often thought of as divisive, and often warrants introspection, here Slowdive show their craft as the masters of it by pushing it outwards, beyond the singular; the end result being a record which feels as emotional and cathartic as it is optimistic.
https://slowdive.bandcamp.com/album/everything-is-alive
|
2023 |
€26.50 |
|
| |
Everything is Alive |
MC |
Sechs Jahre nach dem monumentalen Comeback mit dem selbstbetitelten Album, finden slowdive - bestehend aus Rachel Goswell und Neil Halstead (beide Vocs und Git.), Christian Savill (Git.), Nick Chaplin (Bass) und Drummer Simon Scott - auf "everything is alive" immer mehr Konturen ihres eindringlichen, elementaren Sounds. Das fünfte Album der Shoegaze-Giganten enthält die Dualität einer vertrauten inneren Sprache, gemischt mit der Exaltiertheit von Neuanfängen. "everything is alive" ist transportierend, suchend und leuchtend, das Werk einer klassischen Band, die ihre unverwechselbare Stimme weiter in die Zukunft richtet. Das neue Album begann mit Halstead in der Rolle des Autors und Produzenten, der zu Hause an Demos arbeitete. Halstead experimentierte mit modularen Synthesizern und stellte sich "everything is alive" ursprünglich als ein "minimaleres elektronisches Album" vor. Die kollektive Entscheidungsfindung von slowdive führte die Band schließlich zurück zu ihren charakteristischen, mit Hall durchtränkten Gitarren, aber dieses erste Konzept sickerte in die Kompositionen ein. "Wenn wir als Band alle damit zufrieden sind, ist das tendenziell das stärkere Material. Wir sind immer aus leicht unterschiedlichen Richtungen gekommen, und die besten Stücke sind dort, wo wir uns alle in der Mitte treffen", sagt Halstead. "slowdive ist vor allem die Summe seiner Teile", fügt Goswell hinzu. "Wenn wir fünf in einem Raum zusammenkommen, passiert etwas Undefinierbares." Der mehrjährige Aufnahmeprozess begann im Herbst 2020 im Courtyard Studio, wo die Band schon immer aufgenommen hat, setzte sich dann in Oxfordshire und in der umliegenden Heide von Lincolnshire fort, um dann wieder zurück in Neils eigenes Studio in Cornwall zu gelangen. Anfang 2022 holte die Band Shawn Everett (The War On Drugs, Alvvays, SZA) ins Studio, um sechs der acht Tracks des Albums abzumischen. "everything is alive" ist genau das, was der Titel andeutet: eine Erkundung der schillernden Natur des Lebens und der universellen Berührungspunkte darin. Mit seinen psychedelischen Klanglandschaften, pulsierenden 80er-Jahre-Elektronik-Elementen und John Cale-inspirierten Reisen wirkt das Album sofort wie etwas, das für die Zukunft gemacht ist; das passt, denn die Fangemeinde der Band ist im Laufe der Zeit immer jünger geworden, und ihr Einfluss auf vorwärts denkende Musik-Künstler*innen ist ungebrochen. Für ein Genre, das oft als spalterisch angesehen wird und oft Introspektion rechtfertigt, zeigen slowdive hier, dass sie ihr Handwerk beherrschen, indem sie es über das Singuläre hinaus vorantreiben; das Endergebnis ist eine Platte, die sich ebenso emotional und kathartisch wie optimistisch anfühlt.
The fifth album from shoegaze giants Slowdive contains the duality of a familiar internal language mixed with the exaltation of new beginnings. everything is alive is transportive, searching and aglow, the work of a classic band continuing to pitch its unmistakable voice to the future. Six years after the group’s monumental self-titled album, everything is alive finds Slowdive—vocalists and guitarists Rachel Goswell and Neil Halstead, guitarist Christian Savill, bassist Nick Chaplin, and drummer Simon Scott—locating evermore contours of its immersive, elemental sound.
The new record began with Halstead in the role of writer and producer, working on demos at home. Experimenting with modular synths, Halstead originally conceived of everything is alive as a “more minimal electronic record.” Slowdive’s collective decision-making ultimately drew the group back towards their signature reverb-drenched guitars, but that first concept seeped into the compositions. “As a band, when we’re all happy with it, that tends to be the stronger material,” Halstead says. “We’ve always come from slightly different directions, and the best bits are where we all meet in the middle.” The convergence of five unique characters has made the sound. “Slowdive is very much the sum of its parts,” Goswell adds. “Something unquantifiable happens when the five of us come together in a room.”
The group’s projected studio sessions for everything is alive, in April 2020, were naturally scrapped, and when the group finally did meet up, six months later, at Courtyard Studio, where they’ve historically recorded, the mood was jubilant. (Finally, they had a proper reason to leave the house.) That was the beginning of a multi-year recording process, which moved from Oxfordshire and into the Wolds of Lincolnshire and back to Neil’s own Cornish studio before extending into February 2022, when the band brought in mixer Shawn Everett (The War On Drugs, SZA, Alvvays) to mix six of the record’s eight tracks.
Owing to their deep history, there’s a palpable familial energy to Slowdive in 2023. everything is alive is dedicated to Goswell’s mother and Scott’s father, who both died in 2020. “There were some profound shifts for some of us personally,” Goswell says. Those crossroads are reflected in the many-layered emotional tenor of Slowdive’s music; everything is alive is heavy with experience, but each note is poised, wise, and necessarily pitched to hope. Its unique alchemy subtly embodies both sadness and gratitude, groundedness and uplift. Reflecting on “kisses,” which may be Slowdive’s surest pop moment yet, Halstead said, “It wouldn’t feel right to make a really dark record right now. The album is quite eclectic emotionally, but it does feel hopeful.”
everything is alive, is exactly what the title suggests: an exploration into the shimmering nature of life and the universal touch points within it. Spanning psychedelic soundscapes, pulsating 80’s electronic elements and John Cale inspired journeys, the album lands immediately as something made for the future; which figures, as their fanbase has grown younger and younger as time has gone on, and their influence on forward thinking musical artists continues to prevail.
For a genre that is often thought of as divisive, and often warrants introspection, here Slowdive show their craft as the masters of it by pushing it outwards, beyond the singular; the end result being a record which feels as emotional and cathartic as it is optimistic.
https://slowdive.bandcamp.com/album/everything-is-alive
|
2023 |
€11.50 |
|
| SMITH, RANDALL |
Sondes |
CD |
“Sondes (Multiple Soundings) by Randall Smith brings us four years in the life of this versatile composer, condensed into an earjam of seventy-five minutes. Known for his delicately conceived musique concrete collages, typically working with thousands of found sounds, here Smith adds acoustic instruments to the mix, in order to more faithfully reflect the complexity of all he encounters. Filled with sorrow, celebration and dance, Smith plunges into worlds we’re unable to see, in order to bring back, like some explorer of centuries past, some idea of what they might sound like. Whether the sounds of continents taking shape, or the internal chemistries of mother and child, each turn is unexpected, graceful, filled with discovery and invention. If no one has heard music like this before, and no one has, it’s only because each personality fills with the tumult of the world in an entirely new way, like a signature, or fingerprint. Sondes is an invitationto uncover the hidden worlds beneath this one, to cleanse the ears until everything appears as it really is: infinite.” [Mike Hoolboom]
www.empreintesdigitales.com
|
1999 |
€12.00 |
|
| SMITH, STEVEN R. |
Old Skete |
LP |
"Eleven stark performances on hand-made electric guitar by the man also known as ULAAN KHOL, HALA STRANA and ULAAN MARKHOR, and for work with THUJA, MIRZA and Amsterdam-based clarinetist GARETH DAVIS. Absence of overdubs, loops, samples and delay pedals leaves Old Skete open and unadorned, a spare work akin to Smith's 'Kohl' (Jewelled Antler 2002). Edition of 500." [label info]
www.worstward.com
"Multi-instrumentalist, musician, and printmaker Steven R. Smith's fifteenth solo album (from a staggeringly extensive discography of almost 40 releases) presents the artist at his most raw and vital: an album comprised entirely of solo guitar, with no edits, overdubs, loops, or studio trickery. The result is a haunting minimal record that retains the common thread of modal, droney, Eastern European folk-inspired chord progressions and movements that Smith is known for, while simultaneously giving his compositions appropriate room to breathe. Since the artist himself recorded the album live, there is an intrinsic candid and intimate nature to this release that is both intangible and captivating. Old Skete could very well be considered Smith's sketchbook; the intuitive nature of the pieces provide a glimpse into Smith's process. The works presented are not perfect in terms of performance or duration, but they are immediate, emotive, and vibrant. There are few times where more instrumentation is missed, but towards the end, when Smith starts banging out chords and allowing the pieces to crescendo (especially on the final track), you can't help but think how a killer rhythm section could close this record out perfectly." [James Woodard] |
2011 |
€14.50 |
|
| SMOOTH QUALITY EXCREMENT |
Plastic Perpendicular Crevice |
CD-R |
12 tracks, almost 76 minutes. All live-material except one track. Very melancholic / isolationistic stuff, but also a cosmic-chaos otherworld appears, and great pure mysterious sound-scapes with hallucinative percussion, eerie dronescapes that suck you in - maybe forever... everything can happen after you entered this excremental world!
"The NEWEST material from Ure Thrall, The Fruitless Hand and even our old pal Paul Locasta. Features special personal outtakes and cut-ups!" [label info]
|
2006 |
€10.00 |
|
| SOISONG |
xAj3z |
CD |
Erste "grössere" Veröffentlichung vom neuen Projekt von "Sleazy" und Ivan Pavlov aka COH, kommt als acht-eckige CD in spezieller sieben-eckiger "Origami"-Klappcover-Verpackung mit obksurem Farb-Inlay; limitiert... . 7 tracks, die keinem bekannten Genre zuzuordnen sind und viel verfremdetes vokales Material einsetzen.
"... xAj3z is freedom from the mundane. It is the hidden beauty that stares us right in the face and dares us to recognize it. There is nothing generic about its sound, each melody carries its own personality, its own indefinable emotion. To the surface dweller this can be a casual experience, but those who delve a bit deeper will uncover, piece by piece, the hidden revelations that SoiSong has packaged for us." [Sound & Symbol blog]
"The first full-length from SOISONG. xAj3z freely mixes music styles and combines various approaches to music-making: artificial vocalists are accompanied by real drums, jazz-noir arrangements meet the delicate melodics of the South Seas, computers are made to sound warm and organic. The album shows no apparent respect for genre-definition and aims at communicating with the listener at highest levels of emotional intensity, often lyrical, sometimes dark, on occasions amusing and even uplifting. The album is packaged according to the new PIANOSTEALTH ™ technology - this package is made to last." [label info]
'xAj3z' is Soisong’s debut album. Peter Christopherson (Coil, Throbbing Gristle) and Ivan Pavlov (COH) have joined forces as Soisong. "The two-man show will combine Ivan's uncompromisingly visceral computer based music with Sleazy's decadent, dark and whimsical approach to artificial vocals and 'South Seas' instrumentation..."
This is the first full length release by Soisong. It is packaged in an unusual, oddly-shaped origami-like sleeve. Please note the disc itself is octagonal in shape and will not play in slot loading CD/DVD players.
|
2009 |
€35.00 |
|
| SOL, EDWARD |
Wrong Action |
mCD-R |
EDWARD SOL ist der Betreiber des emsigen ukrainischen Labels QUASI POP aus Kiev. Seine "Wrong Action" mCDR ist eine ziemlich absurde & durchaus witzige Klangcollage über eine Pop-Diva in vier Teilen (z.B. "inside Kylie"), basierend auf Analog-Synths, Loops, Plunderphonics, Tapes, Objektklängen, Noise-Feedbacks, etc.. sehr schön verpackt in ein handgemachtes Digipack..
"Tape collages, audio-objects and wild psychonoise in surrealistic cinematic mood. This is the tragic (and funny at the same time) story of Pop Diva working and partying hard. Audio tabloid in some sort, inspired by the early works of Pierre Henry, but Inland Empire and The Hafler Trio as well." [label notes]
"Music by Edward Sol has been released by Quasipop before and reviewed here. Here he presents another four tracks on 3" format in a nice little package. Apparently the theme is about 'This is the tragic (and funny at the same time) story of Pop Diva working and partying hard', although it's not sure which diva is meant here. Maybe Kylie Minogue, as suggested by the track title 'Inside Kylie'? Unlike some of his previous stuff, Sol goes out to old fashioned tape collages, cutting, splicing and pasting of tapes to create his music. At times he wanders out in the rich field of noise, but stays in true spirit of the good ol' musique concrete. It's at times loud and vicious, but the collage element of the music prevails. Influenced by say Pierre Henry (voices are spliced together) and Merzbow, makes this his most refined statement so far. Not in every subtle, but created with great care." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
label: www.quasipop.org
|
2007 |
€6.00 |
|
| SOLA TRANSLATIO |
Mother Sunrise |
CD |
Starke Zusammenarbeit zwischen ALIO DIE und OPIUM, spirituell-entrückte Elektronik & field recordings mit leicht orientalischem Flair..
“Combining an entrancing mix of natural recordings (water, wind, soil, forest) and electronic textures, Mother Sunrise conveys a descent into the natural world at its grittiest, most organic, and most truly "alive." Usually ambient & atmospheric music is primarily electronic, or perhaps utilizes guitars or other acoustic instruments, with electronic treatments. While this recording does integrate such conventional instrumentation in part, it derives its truly unique flavor through the liberal use of natural "location" atmospheres (recorded in the Far East as well as Italy), as well as organic percussive elements. Opium is a newcomer, mostly unknown in the ambient & atmospheric music scene, but Alio Die (especially through his excellent collaborations with ambient stars Robert Rich and Vidna Obmana, but also through his proprietorship of the Hic Sunt Leones label on which most of his solo material has been released) is one of the increasingly respected & beloved artists of our genre. Taking a truly unique and personal approach to this work, Alio Die arrives at a sound which is distinct -- truly rich, complex, and substantial enough to bear repeat listening." [label description]
www.hypnos.com
|
2001 |
€13.00 |
|
| SOLEILKRAAST |
Choresonic Preludes to a Dark Cycle (SOLD OUT) |
7 |
“This is the very first release of this new exciting French one-man-project from Nantes who is dealing his music with an existentialist and metaphysical approach. The first piece ‘Zoyd Kraast’ is felt like this dark overwhelming dense ocean of monumentalised drones; a real droning explosive storm in which “something alien” must be existing…whereas the second piece is based on the works of flickering piano-dots, drowning into this surrealistic atmosphere.
~ Filed under: metaphysic / monumental drones ~
BLACK VINYL WITH ORANGE & YELLOW SPECKLES.
PLAIN BLACK COVERS WITH HANDMADE INLAY BY THE ARTIST” [press release]
|
2004 |
€6.50 |
|
| SOLTAU, THORSTEN |
Gewächse im Zwielicht |
CD |
full press release:
This Friesian multi media artist with two works on one CD: his compositions combine drone-ambient and electroacoustic elements and passages in a wonderful way (sometimes spheric, sometime bizarre, sometimes
melancholic) = various instrumental, vocal and electronic sources are building a hypnotic and poetic web, very complex and with many unexpected twists and surprises in the mix... this album is like a little wonder!
The CD combines two complete works by the artist: "Gewächse im Zwielicht", consisting of 4 pieces (2019-2021), dedicated to the hidden phenomena becoming recognizable only after closer examination, and "An End. An One Another" (2021-2022), an installation work for the art gallery 'De Groen' in Arnhem, Netherlands, for this he worked with a choir. Five long pieces with a total time of over 62 minutes, revealing many details with repeated listening...
as the author notes: "My goal is the creation of rich sounds with layers only reachable by multiple listening. Each work exposes itself over time with each consciously made playback / perception: Repetition becomes a reward for the listener."
listen to a track:
https://soundcloud.com/drone-records/thorsten-soltau-das-begehren
###########################
THORSTEN SOLTAU: Self-taught artist since 2006. Working under his given name as well as Femurl [ˈfiːmjuːl].
Strong interest in sonic disintegration, conceptualism and dualism (philosophy / gender).
Thorsten Soltau is a citizen of KonungaRikena Elgaland-Vargaland. He resides in Friesland, Lower Saxony.
MUSIC.ART.MORPHOSIS.
A reflection.
I call myself a listening person – I am constantly listening to and into environments. This has lead to a refined sense able to picking up things that may slip the attention of others. My ears are trained to scan the places I visit – crowded metropoles, remote spots in nature or even familiar surroundings of office or home. My way of listening can be divided in two modes: the perception of sound on an unconscious level or the deliberate focus on sonics.
Becoming a sort of scanning antenna had a profound effect how I compose. The experience of my listening is reflected in my sound works. As an example several compositions feature barely noticeable overdubs. They can only be heard with specific settings of loudness and spatial room (and are therefore easy to recognize with headphones) or equalizer settings. Another example is the creation of dense clusters of sound resembling information streams or (over-)crowded places.
My goal is the creation of rich sounds with layers only reachable by multiple listening. Each work exposes itself over time with each consciously made playback / perception:
Repetition becomes a reward for the listener.
On sounds.
My compositions are either electronic or electroacoustic. A commonly used sound is the human voice or excerpts of complex synthesis. As a composer I choose my source material wisely. The starting elements have to inhabit the desired mood and intensity later formulated into full compositions. Nevertheless I am open for developments by surprise or error during sound design.
One important factor is randomness. Sounds or sound manipulating factors are mapped to random forces which allows for unexpected results. Some of my composing techniques are deliberately executed against their primary intention as well. This allows for an ever-morphing character of my works until the final touch is added.
On sonic morphosis.
My compositional ethic has strong ties to morphosis. To reflect different degrees of sonic shifting / transformation / transitions I apply several techniques and methods. As explained above the use of complex treatments and randomness allows for a sound that constantly shapes into an liquid and organic sculpture. The sonics I create are further exposed to imperfections and errors – like body and mind aging or perishing over time.
Errors are integral and welcome. Most of them occur as a glitch in the analogue or digital domain during sessions or setup changes. They give a further layer to the music resembling small failures made by the composer – adding a human touch despite their virtual origin.
On concepts.
My solo work has always been underlined by concepts. My canon includes albums with apparent or less apparent concepts. Often works can be seen as cornerstones of things I research at that time of their genesis. Several compositions reflect situations from personal life. Thus all works can be seen as intimate and highly personal sonic artifacts. Conception can be seen as the base of each work without outweighing the listeners experience. Each of my pieces can be explicitly heard as a sole composition as well.
https://thorstensoltau.de |
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| SOLUMENATA |
Aeriform Redux |
CD |
"WYRM (2000-2011). The project is now defunct and all activities have ceased. 11 years the archetype had been explored and exploited - new territories will be mapped out with Solumenata…" [label info]
www.aquarellist.ru
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
From Gehenna to Elysian Fields |
CD-R |
The WYRM (2000-2011) project is now defunct and all activities have ceased. 11 years the archetype had been explored and exploited - new territories will be mapped out with Solumenata…
Solumenata, WYRM co-founders Liz Lang (aka Auracene) and Allan Zane with the addition of PBK, have embarked on a new musical journey taking them out of the "darkness" and into an almost bone-bleaching "light". Six months even before the release of the farewell WYRM CD, Solumenata debuted with their first LP 'Aeriform' on the Russian SEALT label in the Summer of 2011. In less than three months, the LP sold out.
1 track - total running time 1 hour
inkjet printed CDr w/ insert in a case
1st 33 copies of 100 include additional disc of live performance in Columbus, OH 2/30/12
www.roilnoise.com
|
2015 |
€10.00 |
|
| SONDE |
En Ondes |
CD |
Weitere Aufnahmen der Montrealer Performance / SoundArt-Gruppe, diese stammen aus dem Archiv von 1980-1988, viele field recordings und Objekt-Noises, Klänge von Sound-Sculptures, meditativ-konkrete Improvisationen...
"This CD is the second release ever of Sonde, the previous one being Sonde en concert edited in 1978 by Music Gallery Editions. This CD is thus quite important, bringing to light part of the group's archives. Optimized with today's sound tools, all these recordings deal with waves of different kinds, sound waves of course but also organic and brain waves. The live concert recordings of these pieces, with the exception of L'acier bien trempé (électronique), were broadcast by CBC-Montreal approximately in 1984 at the request of the producer Gilles Poirier, hence another of the meanings of the expression 'en ondes'. 'Sonde is a group of Montreal electroacoustic composers and performers. Their compositions were generally conceived for live performance on original sound sculptures. Through meditative improvisation, the group's aim was to produce new music with sounds revealed by electroacoustic amplification and transformation. Very active from 1976 to 1986, the members of the group included Andrew Culver, Charles de Mestral, Pierre Dostie, Chris Howard, Robin Minard, Michael O'Neill and Linda Pavelka. Since the beginning, Keith Daniel provided Sonde's technical support.'" [Charles de Mestral]
|
2007 |
€15.00 |
|
| SONOLOGYST |
Phantoms |
CD |
https://sonologyst.bandcamp.com/album/phantoms
Voices of children in a park, people playing a handball game, dogs barking, a man talking of philosophy, a demon lurking in a dark corner. Dreamlike mental landscape of nonsensical memories, a metamorphic passage from the blackness, the shadows of a lost beauty. Everything frozen in the stillness of phantom recordings.
Recordings by SONOLOGYST
Sound Design, Turntables, Trumpet, Azzax, Voice.
"The previous release by Raffaele Pezzella, also known as Sonologyst had "Silencers, usually
known as Men In Black" as a sort of theme (see Vital Weekly 1134). I'm not sure if there is an
overall thematic approach on 'Phantoms', other than some ghostly activity. Originally inspired by modern classical composers (Stockhausen, Henry, Ferrari, Subotnick, Nono, Pousseur,
Parmegiani and Maderna), Sonologyst's music has not much to do with that, certainly not on
this new one. The previous sounded a bit more improvised than before, with a violin playing an
important role, here the sound sources are "turntables, trumpet, azzax (which is an "electrified cymbal that I play with wooden or Plexiglas sticks”), voice and sound design". I recognized some of the turntables already, with its crackling sounds, but it has not the meaning lead. Like before, Sonologyst music has a great soundtrack-like quality to it, and this time it is the phantom in the attic movie. The voice (by Pezzella? By others? I don't know) doesn't sing or speak, but it is rather more along the lines of making sounds that have emotions; crying or shouting, but in a controlled manner, and it is not featured in all pieces. The music has a sort of improvised feel to it, again, but these recordings have been overlaid, edited, and are presented as collages of sound. In that way,
it owes to the world of musique concrete, perhaps also because of the vinyl used and what seems to be field recordings, and less to the world of improvised music, as found on his previous release. In these pieces, he offers quite some variety and in each of them, he explores the sounds in a fine collage form. The music is not shy for a bit of noise here and there and it that respect owes to the world of classic industrial music, but Sonologyst is capable of keep matters interesting and above
all varied." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
––– Address: https://sonologyst.bandcamp.com/ |
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| SONS OF GOD |
The Sons of God perform a Miracle |
DVD |
" 'For each and every person, we now want to reestablish the direct link with the devine within ourselves... the driving force behind everything... which, through its limitless openness, allows our dreams and fantasies to be realized in that part of life which is shared with others.' So lautet die simple Botschaft von Gods Söner, THE SONS OF GOD, auf The Power Is Yours. Diese, wie alles bei Leif Elggren & Kent Tankred, hintersinnige Frohe Botschaft ist Teil der DVD The Sons of God (FYDVD1001), die einem die Augen aufgehen lässt über die Magie der beiden schwedischen Prätendenten auf den Himmelsthron auf Erden. Ihr zentraler Zauber ist ein ritueller Tanz, den sie bei Dance aufführen in einem achteckigen panoptischen alten Anatomiesaal, mit spastischen, zeitlupigen Verrenkung, bis zur Erschöpfung, bis das Telefon klingelt. Dieser seltsame Totentanz zweier älterer Männer im Sonntagsanzug kehrt wieder in Before the Miracle, einfach in einem leeren Raum, und in Transients, in einer Rohbauruine. Seine quasi Beckett‘sche Endform findet dieser Tanz in The ons of God Perform a Miracle, der in einer Duo- und einer Quartettversion zu sehen ist. Sieche Grauhemden, Kandidaten für ein Lourdes-Wunder, winden sich in extremer Zeitlupe aus ihren Stühlen und sinken wieder zusammen. Dazu gibt es Tänze mit eisernen Besen (New Way), besonders sakral und erhaben als Version im Grand Theater in Bourges und, genial simpel, The Sons of God Drive Chairs. Besonders mysteriös jedoch ist The Arm, ein, anders als die von Noise gepeitschten Tänze, lautlos ausgeführter Schnitt an Tankreds Oberarm, im Chiaroscuro alter Meister visualisiert. Unerklärliches, Traumhaftes, wird körperlich, Absurdes wird spielerisch, Spielerisches zum heiligen Ernst, zu Lebens-Werk." [Bad Alchemy]
"The Sons of God work in the borderland between performance, installation and music; everything contributes to the whole and provides the basic structure for that inquisitive and expansive spirit which is apparent in The Sons of God´s working method. Sound objects, pre-recorded compositions, physically demanding movements, the voice, the staged meetings and conditions, the objects: all of this constitutes the foundation for an attempt to achieve those obscure moments where daily life unites itself with the heroic nature of our inner lives."
This DVD includes a selection of works by the group The Sons of God (Leif Elggren and Kent Tankred) from the years 1988-2007 - video documentations of performances as well as films and slideshows, in all over two hours of material. The DVD also includes a full colour 24 page booklet with texts by Daniel Rozenhall.
[label info]
www.fylkingen.se
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
The Object |
CD |
"The Sons of God, who serve the aims of civil defence and whose motto is to instil strength and courage and who have previously conducted investigations into materials and media, within the realm of the psyche as well as the social, have now taken it upon themselves to investigate "the object" using the means at their disposal. With the aid of a diaphragm in the shape of a 130-by-200-millimetre piece of sheet iron and microphones taken from the mouthpieces of Swedish Army telephones dating from the period in question, we will search the boat and, applying the methods of analogue telephony with regard to electromagnetism and its effects on matter, attempt to extract "locked", "frozen" or "dormant" information from the complex interior of "the object". A condensed version of the results of our investigation is presented on this CD release. Anyone who listens to and partakes of it will be placed in the same position as we were in our work on "the object", perhaps only with a change of perspective. We are therefore pleased to pass on the material, in the hope that new layers will be discovered and other information extracted." [label info]
www.fireworkedition.com
|
1999 |
€13.00 |
|
| SORIAH |
Chao Organica in A Minor |
CD |
Kontemplation pur von diesem obskuren Künstler! Orgel-Oberton-Drones und gutturale Gesänge, esoterisch & spirituell, aufgenommen in einer Kirche in Portland.
“Like a bolt from the blue, the saccharine rich organ drone sets the supper for this winding piece of esoterica. Take equal parts Messiaen organ atones and the beguiling, echoed baritone moans of a disembodied spirit (with just a dash of pungent myrrh pouring over a cup of the very thickest Turkish coffee) and the environs of Soriah are partially breached. This magnificent choral suite for antique church organ is paired with a second vocal suite for Tuvan throat singing. The bone trembling multi-timbres of Soriah's commanding throat singing crack open and become a cathedral as the rumbling is pulled through a wash of electronic effects. Of chaos is a new religion erected. Soriah's crushing passion play becomes a bombastic bodhisattva that leaves all average messiahs staying indoors for the second coming. Also sprach Soriah! For fans of drone, Mirror, Coleclough, Af Ursin and avant-garde that stands the test of time.
From out of the fir-lined mists of the Pacific Northwest's primordial musical soup is spawned the singular performance and sound sculptor Soriah. Spilling initially from a rock and roll womb, but building on years of intensive studies in Tuvan throat singing and classical Indian raga chanting, Soriah both subverts and elevates tradition by weaving the avant-garde into the ancient. Whether backed by hand percussion, or accompanying himself on organ, or with electronics, or wailing a cappella, a thick, echoing, thaumaturgic atmosphere is carved out of the thin, vibrating air that rushes between vocal chords. Performance is an integral part of Soriah's Choa-sphere. Concerts played in haunted tunnels, from trees, in the desert, in churches and other far-flung venues are more the rule than the exception. Elaborate costumes, often incorporating authentic head-dresses and other tribal garments and totems, are another hallmark. The costumes are worn partly in beatific reverence and partly for the sake of how they move. Soriah's grounding in the study of butoh, yoga and other physically based rituals completes the circle of the experimental shaman; a circle which will continue to propagate as the only constant with Soriah is change. After numerous home and hand made releases Soriah is finally poised to light out into the world at large through his first recording on Beta-lactam Ring Records.” [label press release]
|
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
| SORIAH (FEAT. ROEDELIUS & NORMAN WESTBERG) |
Lumina |
10inch |
Available exclusively on 10" clear with white smoke vinyl, this ambient and avante garde collaborative album from world renown throat singer Soriah features prepared guitarist, Norman Westberg (SWANS) and the venerable and seminal German artist, Hans Joachim Roedelius (CLUSTER). The SIDE A track "Alba Via" featuring the later, incorporates the pipe organ housed in the Berlin philharmonic and harkens back to Soriah's first release "Chao Organica in A Minor" with a prepared sense of harmonics and majestic pipe organ whirls. "Mirrored in Amber" featuring the former gives a floating peace and dark vastness expressed in Westbergs heaviy effected guitar and Soriah's spacial expansiveness. This work intends on bringing peace to lost souls of those who have recently passed, a common overarching theme of Soriah's work.
https://soriah.bandcamp.com/album/lumina
"A long time ago, in Vital Weekly 603, FK reviewed a CD by Soriah, then from Portland, featuring his throat singing and other instruments. Today, I heard his music for the first time, and now it is in collaboration with two others, one per side. The A-side contain 'Alba Via', which is the Latin translation of the Tuvan saying meaning "white road") and is collaborating with Hans Joachim Roedelius, now in his 88th year and still a musical force, always open to working with new musicians. He recorded the pipe organ at the Berlin Philharmonic, which he sent to Soriah (preferred spelling is SoRIAH). I don't know if any processing was done to the Roedelius recordings. I couldn't tell. If entirely unprocessed, the pipe organ is played only at the very low end of the register and very few tones. It takes some time before Soriah's voice comes in, and I think there is also a flute-like sound. Even though I am not an expert on overtone singing, I believe the actual overtone singing happens later in this piece. The overall mood is tranquil, and while there is development throughout, it slowly grows with more sounds and, as with so many parts of ambient music, an all-too-quick ending.
I had not heard of Norman Westberg before; my bad, I know, but I was never a fan of the Swans. That's where his main claim to fame is. Unlike Roedelius, whose work I listened to a lot and found a natural match for Soriah, I never heard any of his solo work. But Westberg delivers the goods. Apparently, all on guitar and, at least that's what I think, a lot of effects. Westberg creates a massive drone, slowly developing and changing, and Soriah's throat singing rolls majestically in and out of the mix. For some strange reason, there is a mid-track, fade out, and fade in, like there is a first and a second part, but there isn't much difference. Here, the development is also slow but stays within the number of sounds used. Unlike the other side, which seems to add sounds as the piece goes. Both pieces are about twelve minutes each, and that's not enough for me. Both could have been twenty and make up for a great LP, or both could have been thirty, and it would be an excellent CD; I prefer the latter because flipping a record also takes the listener out of the flow. It's fantastic music, albeit way too short." [FdW / Vital Weekly] |
2023 |
€29.50 |
|
| SORRY FOR LAUGHING |
same |
CD |
The Sorry For Laughing album was released in 1986 on cassette only. It is a project by Gordon H. Whitlow who is also a member of legendary US avantgarde collective Biota, formerly Mnemonists or Mnemonist Orchestra. Whitlow composed and recorded the album all by himself.The accompanying artwork for the original cassette release was made by several members of Mnemonists, the visual department of Biota. Sorry For Laughing has a different sound though. It is more varied, there are elements of post punk as well as elements of contemporary classical music. Somehow though you can hear Biota in there as well. Les Disques du Crepuscule is in the air. After all, the idea was to make a Christmas album. Whitlow says that when he lived in Colorado and worked in a bakery a homeless drifter used to come to the shop and buy the same stuff every day. With Christmas approaching, he interviewed the guy and got his Biota mates involved. Piano parts were recorded at a wealthy house-sit in Denver, others at Mulberry Street Studio, home of Biota's Bill Sharp who also co-produced the album. A most interesting album that's been lost for a long time. We are glad to bring it back into the world, remastered by Martin Bowes of Attrition. Gordon Whitlow says about it: "This is a solo musical project recorded in the winter of 1985-86 and self-released on cassette in a very small edition in 1986; this was followed by a modest limited edition cassette release on the ADN label in Italy in 1989. It has never been released to the public on any medium other than cassette. The compositions stem from my beginning days with the avant-garde recording ensemble Biota, shortly after completion of the Bellowing Room LP. The recordings feature a handful of Biota players contributing to compositions that fall outside the group’s activities. Vienna-based label KlangGalerie has expressed interest in reissuing the project as a CD. As you will hear from the initial spoken word (interview) passages, the project has a quasi-Christmas theme, but it is not overt in that sense. Rather, it is a collection of instrumentals whose moods and atmosphere are founded on largely repetitive melodic passages accompanied by “found” atonal elements. It is intended to be minimalistic with sparse arrangement (and on one track, some distant vocalization), aiming for a sense of nostalgia, isolation/loneliness, and childlike muse
https://www.klanggalerie.com/gg289
|
2019 |
€15.00 |
|
| SOUND |
Screaming Zenith |
do-LP |
Wieder “weird stuff” auf beta-lactam: ein US-Projekt mit düster-schwülstigen, elektronisch-psychedelischen, oder verspielt-experimentellen Stücken (bei dem auch Viola und Sitar zum Einsatz kommen), gratwandern sie zwischen Irrsinn und Ernst bzw. lassen den Hörer im unklaren, ob er das nun gut finden soll oder nicht....und das sexuell-dadaesk-explizite Cover passt zu der Musik eigentlich überhaupt nicht. Das ganze im Vollfarbklappcover, Seite 4 ist mit Artwork beklebt, viele inserts.
“Cacophony plus catastrophe divided by calliope minus colostomy=crepe-noizette! Sound sound off like a delicious blend of fresh When and finely ground Aphex Twin mixed with just a dash of Pascal Comelade drool. 13 tracks of dark dementia sewn together as a quilt of mini symphonic diversions, embroidered with bits and bytes and twisted sub rhythms and the occasional driving breakbeat. Whimsical and dada-esque with solid musical foundations, this record can also stand as rightful heir to the likes of Didier Bocquet and early Ian Boddy in its sequenced charms. And let's not forget our Frog forebears Albert Marcoeur and Etron Fou Leloublan for that certain "je ne sais quoi" factor. Ah, And as if these were not enticements enough, the gorgeous full-colour artwork may just win you some free counceling sessions should it be seen in your possession by an upright citizen type. A capricious and captivating compendium that sustains the continued use of "C" descriptor words containing "P's" to describe it, saving of course for "crap," which this is never, though you may be compelled to do so when you see and hear how beautiful and odd this record is and becomes. Please to file in experimental...barring that, I should think that rock or electronic would be a fair second, or electronica just gone wrong! If you work at Tower, just steal it and order more later!!!!!!!! “ [press-release]
www.blrrecords.com |
2002 |
€15.00 |
|
| SOUNDSCAPE ROST (ELIN OYEN VISTER) |
Spaces and Species Vol. I |
LP |
Soundscape Røst-Spaces and Species Vol I is a unique collection of field recordings and soundscapes, from the Røst archipelago – 100 km into the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Nordland (NO/Sápmi). The album is a careful edited selection of hours and hours of sound material listened to and recorded between 2010 and 2011. The listener will experience a multitude of nature and sea-bird voices/spaces and acoustic moments, spanning from booming roars to the faintest of hums. You can listen to the song of the multitude of pelagic seabirds breeding in the Røst archipelago and the Nykan nature-reserve and the acoustic moments in time of their ocean-and land spaces they spend their time in every spring and summer, mating, breeding their chicks, socializing and coming and goings searching for food.The lowfrequenzy grunts of the Razor Bill, the song of the last Kittiwakes of Vedøya, the swarming of hundreds of Puffin wings and their ancient cowlike song and grunts in their nests in Hernyken nature reserve, The Eiders of Kårøysundet an early winter-spring morning and the sounds of the ebb and flow on the Northside of Røstlandet are amongst the soundscapes on Vol 1.
Vol I is eavesdropping to the rapidly changing soundscapes of one of Northern Europe most numerous seabird breeding colonies which has for half a century experienced an escalating dramatic decline of the pelagic seabird populations, resulting in the silencing of the bird mountains . Soundscape Røst also listen to and documents the acoustic realities of a marine land -and seascape over time and listens to nature-culture in an everlasting continuum of interdependency. The vinyl album is an integral part of the sound installation Soundscape Røst – The Listening Lounge, (2012) and is the first album in the Soundscape Røst triology.
Note to the reissue on Gruenrekorder.
Since the album was released in 2012, the decline in the seabird populations have escalated. During the summer of 2020 the bird mountain of Vedøya became silent. Statistically speaking there are no more Kittiwakes and Guillemot breeding on Vedøya. In 1980 there was approximately 1.5 million pairs of Puffins breeding in all of the Røst archipelago and on Vedøya alone, 12000 pairs of Guillemots and 25.000 pairs of Kittiwakes. Now the overall Puffin population is down to around less than 200.000 pairs and the few Guillemots left are hiding in small caves and crevices. The last Kittwakes of Røst are now clinging on in Kårøya and Gjellfruvær. If the decline continues, there will be no Puffins left in Røst by 2040.
https://www.gruenrekorder.de/?page_id=18960
|
2021 |
€18.00 |
|
| SOUND_00 + LEFTERNA |
Elementals: Collabs 2 |
CD |
After a series of collaborative publications on multiple experimental labels, the duo of Toni Dimitrov (Sound_00) & Boban Ristevski (Lefterna) finds its 'Elementals: Collabs 2' conceptual release on Winter-Light. 'Elementals: Collabs 2' is an ambient/experimental release of deep drone contemplations and ambient exploration, good for deep meditative and learning sessions.
'Elementals' gathers together selected collaborative works from the artists Sound_00 + Lefterna. All tracks have previously been released separately on compilations from the labels Fall Into Void, Post Global Recordings, HNM Recordings, AOsmosis and Crna Zemlja. For this release on our Winter-Light label, the tracks have been completely remastered by Cruel Sound Works, adding a richer, more distinctive warm feel to each piece.
Glass mastered CD comes in a 4-panel full colour digi pack. 7 tracks with a total running time of 77:23 mins.
winter-light.bandcamp.com/album/elementals-
collabs-2
"Quite some years ago, Sound_00, the musical project of Toni Dimitrov was an active force in the world of net labels and CDRs (this was before cassettes became hip again), but he disappeared for a while, for reasons I don’t know but I see his name popping up again and here he has seven pieces recorded in collaboration with Boban Ristevski, also known as Lefterna, and who, also many moons ago, wrote
reviews for this rag. Apparently they have been working together for some time now, and released
their work on compilations on such imprints as all Into Void, Post Global Recordings, HNM Recordings, AOsmosis and Crna Zemlja. Not that I heard any of these. This collection sees these pieces re-mastered by Cruel Sound Works, “adding a richer, more distinctive warm feel to each piece”. These are quite lengthy pieces of music, somewhere between seven and fifteen minutes, dealing with field recordings, processed and otherwise, and to which a bunch of electronics are added. There is a strong love for field
recordings that contain a lot of water, rain, running taps or river streams; that sort of thing. By way of processing and adding effects and electronics it comes out as a deep wash of atmospheric drone music.
I can’t say if these are now warmer than before, but they sound pretty much all right to these ears.
There is the dash of reverb, set to a cavernous setting to suggest that spooky touch, which is something that you can find on all these releases, by this label, and in general with this kind of music. This is music that one should undergo and feel, rather than rationalize about. Like many of the other isolationist
musicians it seems less about composing and more about letting sounds wander freely inside a bunch of sound effects but it becomes a very nice work indeed." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2017 |
€13.00 |
|
| SPEAR |
Not two (SOLD OUT) |
7 |
"Since the appearance of their first tape, self-titled tape in 1994, SPEAR (from Lodz in Poland) have been exploring the area of "alchemistic sound-creation". The group searches for hidden treasures in the stream of the unconsciousness much like alchemists centuries ago searched for hidden gold in common metals. Through their music SPEAR seek to find the other side of reality, the spiritual side of the world which is linked with the material world. Having released two CDs, this is their first vinyl offering. The music consists of faraway bells, windy drones, flutes, strange harmonies and singings eminating from outer-space; a new kind of ethno-experimental-industrial release. Mesmerizing & magnetizing magique ...
This is today's alchemistic music!
CLEAR VINYL, SILVER PRINTED COVERS DONE BY SPEAR." [press release]
|
1999 |
€ |
|
| SPECIMENS |
In the Dust of Idols |
LP |
‘In The Dust Of Idols’ is an album exploring mortality, Existentialism & the dread one can feel in the face of an apparently meaningless world. The journey you embark on when trying to create meaning where there is perhaps none. These initial senses of dread can be brought about by the insignificance you feel in the face of greatness (or perceived greatness), where others have seemingly found meaning and purpose in the face of your own wavering path. Often these can be expressed in grandness and can become historically significant human feats, the fact that they have stood the test of time can become in itself overwhelming when reflecting on your own journey. Whilst these moments in time may hold no specific meaning to you - despite their impressive nature - you are driven into senseless awe.
‘In The Dust Of Idols’ ties in this sense of wonderment coupled with the overarching dread you feel as you contemplate your own existence, where you fit into the significance of society and as Ruth Tallman quotes “the search for answers in an answerless world”.
“I wanted to create something dense & heavy. When you listen through, it makes you feel like it has the weight of time stitched into it” explains Ives. As well as expanding the range of instrumentation used on this, his second album, Ives also enlisted the talents of Cellist Charlotte de Burgh-Holder and experimentalist Joe Summers on the tracks “The Unread Library” and “Twisted Necks” which further adds to the dynamic depth and range on this record.
“Clarity was not my main objective, like an old piece of furniture covered in dust, you can tell what it is but the details are obscured, my ambition was to create a dense sonic backdrop, a representation of the confusion and insecurities we all can feel when questioning our existence - you know there should be answers but you can’t quite make out what they are”. It’s not all dark though and moments of optimism and cracks of light pepper the record giving enough hope to the listener to pursue questioning the unanswerable.
Accompanying the release of the record is a short film set to music from the album, produced and shot by photographer & director Lucie Rox. The film is a visual expression and representation of identity and the many ways this is challenged, perceived and adopted. Whilst taking forward the concepts explored throughout the album, the film looks to reduce the great vastness of confusion and self doubt put forward on the record & focus instead on a more intimate and personal perspective laid bare and shared by both director Lucie Rox & Specimens.
With a heavy focus on race & heritage of which both Specimens & Lucie are mixed - Caribbean & British / African & French respectively - the objective of the film is to show one of the many angles where an individual's search for meaning & identity can be expressed.
‘In The Dust Of Idols’ is released on November 30th 2018 as an international collaboration between SVS and First Terrace Records. Pressed on beautiful white & blue splattered vinyl with artwork from Australian painter Kieran Ingram and mastered by the legendary Lawrence English.
https://specimensmusic.bandcamp.com/album/in-the-dust-of-idols
|
2018 |
€20.00 |
|
| SPECTRES |
III - Ghosts in the Machine Book |
BOOK |
The expression "ghost in the machine" emerged within a particular context, namely as a critique of Cartesian dualism's separation of soul and body, and thus served to revive a certain mechanistic materialism. In simple terms, this critique denies the existence of an independent soul (the "ghost") contained in a corporeal organism (the "machine"). It asserts, on the contrary, that the "soul" is just a manifestation of the body -- that ultimately, they are one and the same. The artificial always brings with it the fantasy of emancipation and autonomy, and a break with a supposedly natural order of things. In a certain respect, the domain of musical creation constitutes a kind of front line, at once a terrain of exploration for possible applications of AI and a domain that boasts an already substantial history of the integration of machines and their calculative power into creative processes. From algorithmic composition to methods of resynthesis, from logical approaches to the creation of cybernetic systems, from the birth of computer music to neural networks, for more than half a century now music has been in continual dialogue with the binary universe of electron flows and the increasingly complex systems that control them. Each of the texts included here, in its own way, reveals a different facet of the strange prism formed by this alliance. Each projects its own particular spectrum -- or spectre; each reveals a ghost, evokes an apparition that is a composite of ideas, electricity, and operations. This book, then, does not set out to cut the Gordian knot constituted by the question of the possible mutations and becomings of binary logic, and in particular its most recent avatar, AI. On the contrary, it seeks to shed a diverse light upon the many possible ways of coming to grips with it today, and upon the dreams, promises, and doubts raised by these becomings, whether actualized in the creation of codes and programs to assemble sounds or infusing a whole compositional project. Above all, though, what is at stake here is to discover how these developments resonate together, and how this resonance manifests itself through all these approaches, all these reflections, all these modes of creation and of living. For the artificial, the artefact, is always the extro-human brainchild of a human, all too human dream. Authors: Keith Fullerton Whitman, Émilie Gillet, Steve Goodman, Florian Hecker, James Hoff, Roland Kayn, Ada Lovelace, Robin Mackay, Bill Orcutt, Matthias Puech, Akira Rabelais, Lucy Railton, Jean-Claude Risset, Sébastien Roux, Peter Zinovieff.
https://shelterpress.bandcamp.com/merch/spectres-3-ghosts-in-the-machine-fantomes-dans-la-machine
|
2021 |
€19.50 |
|
| SPHERICAL DISRUPTED |
25 |
CD |
Back in 1995, the first Spherical Disrupted tape release "Zerschellt, zersplittert" was published. 25 years later it is the best occasion to celebrate this long time span and that will happen with the new release "25" involving a lot of invited guests. This 3CD box consists on the one hand of the new album "25 (Future)" with brand new recordings, featuring guests vocals for the very fist time (TC75 – Tino Claus of Aministia/MRDTC and Darkrad – Jana Komaritsa) as well as three remixes by Disharmony, Wesenberg and Yura Yura. On the other hand there is the double CD "25 (Past)" with new versions, compilation appearances and remixes for other projects (Bloody Dead And Sexy, Experimentum Crucis, Yipotash, The Trial, KiEw, Mimetic Dancing, The_Empath, Xabec, Mandelbrot, Still Patient?) from those 25 years. Most of these tracks are available on CD for the first time or are either unpublished or long out of stock. The content of the box is supplemented with three inlay prints and the “Granite Hardware Remix Kit” in the form of two granite stones. The box is limited to 100 hand-numbered copies.
|
2021 |
€12.00 |
|
| SPHYXION |
2 |
CD |
https://sphyxion.bandcamp.com/album/2-2
Sphyxion is the second project of the Maninkari band. This new album is an exploration of minimal electronic music and rhythmic, dark wave in the vein of minimal wave.
The structure of the pieces evolves in a repetitive way where the drum machine remains predominant and leads to sounds of minor nostalgia, melancholy and dark. On some tracks, the sounds of drones appear and mix with the atmosphere of the song.
Samples of voices appear regularly and present as haunted memories that linger in memory. This album is the continuation of the first album, which is a sort of retro futuristic music that explores the themes of the tension between the past and the future.
It's a kind of fiction about events that did not happen but that could have been.
|
2018 |
€12.00 |
|
| SPIEGEL, LAURIE |
Expanding Universe |
do-CD |
"The Expanding Universe is the classic 1980 debut album by composer and computer music pioneer Laurie Spiegel. The album is reissued here for the first time in a massively expanded two-CD set, containing all four original album tracks plus an additional 15 tracks from the same period, nearly all previously unreleased. Some of the already well-know works included in this set are Patchwork, the complete Appalachian Grove series, and Kepler's Harmony of the Worlds, which was included on the golden record launched on board the Voyager spacecraft. The pieces comprising The Expanding Universe combine slowly evolving textures with the emotional richness of intricate counterpoint, harmony, and complex rhythms (John Fahey and J. S. Bach are both cited as major influences in the original cover's notes), all built of electronic sounds. These works, often grouped with those of Terry Riley, Phil Glass, Steve Reich, differ in their much shorter, clear forms. Composed and realized between 1974 and 1977 on the GROOVE system developed by Max Mathews and F.R. Moore at Bell Laboratories, the pieces on this album were far ahead of their time both in musical content and in how they were made. Each of the included works broke new ground, pioneering completely new methods of live interaction with computer-based logic - ways of creating music that are now reaching the heights of their popularity with Ableton Live, Max
MSP and other interactive music software entering mainstream music production. The package also includes an extensive 24-page booklet with notes by Laurie Spiegel and period photos." [label info]
www.unseenworlds.net
"And yet again does Unseen Worlds provide us with something Unheard, at least over here. From the world of minimal and electronic music they find those interesting gems that are from really rare releases - of the kind you don't even see on the most outsider/underground blogs. I never heard of Laurie Spiegel or her album from 1980 on Philo Records. We are dealing here with some highly computerized music from a time when computer where not things for your desk or your lap, but apparatus that filled rooms. Its all told in the booklet, albeit with a lot of technical speak that perhaps sometimes may elude the uninitiated. But the whole text breathes 'another time, another world', even if you don't understand what it is all about. It is about limitation with those early big computers to create music, and perhaps that's the real surprise if you hear it. Take for instance a piece like 'Drums', which sounds like Pan Sonic or Goem, with a bouncing back and forth rhythm. The booklet tells us, about these pieces, that Spiegel has a folk influence, but that's hard to hear (well, that, or more inside knowledge is required). In other pieces there is perhaps something that we would call these days 'cosmic music'. Spiegel's music is not of a plink-plink nature that one perhaps would associate early computers with. Instead she plays long form, sustaining pieces, which slowly develop. Now, here she is clearly been influenced by the world of minimal music. Various of her pieces start out with with a bouncing single note which slowly expand - 'get longer' - and then starts to build slowly. The length of a piece is usually five to ten minutes with some being well over that, such as the title piece which is close to thirty minutes (which was also pressed in this length onto vinyl, so a CD version is more than welcome, I should think). No doubt with some of this music one could easily think its too simple and with my laptop running live you could easily do the same results in a few minutes, but I prefer to take the historical position: wow, with such limitations, these results! Spiegel's discography is rather small, and this double CD contains the entire debut LP, various pieces from later works (such as 'Drums' and 'Appalachian Grove I-III'), but also many pieces that are here for the first time. I can imagine that close to three hours of this music is perhaps all bit much to take in, but this is yet another remarkable re-issue on Unseen Worlds. Boy, what a great label so far, what surprises they have next for us?" [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2019 |
€18.00 |
|
|
Unseen Worlds |
do-LP |
Laurie Spiegel's second full-length album, Unseen Worlds, arrived just over ten years after her debut album. Having realized the pieces found on The Expanding Universe (1980) on an instrument no longer available to her, the GROOVE System at Bell Laboratories, Spiegel moved on to composing and developing for the Alles Machine, alphaSyntauri, McLeyvier and various other instruments before creating an instrument entirely her own. Spiegel created Music Mouse - An Intelligent Instrument on a Macintosh 512k so that she could have an instrument that was not general purpose but a small, specialized, and well defined musical instrument for and by her that she did not have to compromise on or risk losing access to it. While it was a very personal instrument for Spiegel, demand among friends and colleagues nevertheless grew until Music Mouse - An Intelligent Instrument became a commercial product for the Macintosh, Amiga, and Atari personal computers with a devoted popular following that continues to this day, despite the obsoletion of those platforms. At the time of her Unseen Worlds album's original release in 1991, the issuing record label turned out to be going out of business, dissolved and disappeared, sending the album immediately into obscurity. Outside of a private CD edition issued by Spiegel on her own Aesthetic Engineering label in 1994, this new edition represents the first proper commercial release of Unseen Worlds. "Unseen Worlds is not so much based on melody and rhythm as it is on textures, pulses, and sonic environments. Sometimes dark, sometimes light, its drama pulls in the adventurous listener who wants to take a musical journey. Using computer software she wrote in order to implement a unique musical vision, Unseen Worlds blends the artistic and the technical, the cerebral and the sensual, and revives the virtually abandoned tradition of electronic music. Unseen Worlds is the work of a sonic explorer whose music can both challenge and caress. Those looking for other worlds of sound can put on headphones and find them here" - Craig Anderton
|
2019 |
€33.00 |
|
| |
The Expanding Universe |
3 x LP |
The Expanding Universe is the 1980 debut album by computer music pioneer Laurie Spiegel. The original album is reissued here as a massively expanded 3LP/2CD set, all four original album tracks plus an additional 15 tracks from the same time period, many making their first appearance on vinyl in this brand new edition. Since this album's first CD reissue in 2012, it has gone on to be widely established as a classic of 20th century electronic music. Some of the well-loved works included in this set are "Patchwork", the "Appalachian Grove" series, "East River Dawn" and "Kepler's Harmony of the Worlds", which was included on the Golden Record launched on board the Voyager spacecraft. The pieces comprising The Expanding Universe combine slowly evolving textures with the emotional richness of intricate counterpoint, harmony, and complex rhythms (John Fahey and J. S. Bach are both cited as major influences in the original cover's notes), all built of electronic sounds using the GROOVE system at Bell Laboratories during the 1970s.
https://unseenworlds.bandcamp.com/album/the-expanding-universe
|
2019 |
€42.00 |
|
| SPIRACLE |
Ananta |
do-CD |
"Hitoshi Kojo (aks Spiracle) professes to have some difficulties in falling asleep. When sleep comes to him, it can often arrive at dawn, when the colors of the sun begin to break through the darkness of night and when some are just rising after their own good night's sleep. Ananta is a twin set of compositions that urge the listener toward a dreamless sleep-state, while reflecting the glowing warmth of a blossoming sunrise. In constructing the two variations of Ananta, Kojo began with finely tuned drones extracted from a Dilruba and a Sarangi, and applied a process of merging sympathetic field recordings and other tonal interferences alongside those instrumental sounds. The resulting pieces are elliptically static drone compositions that brightly shimmer with hues of gold, crimson, and aquamarine.
One of the two variations of Ananta was published back in 2006 as a micro-edition CDR through Mystery Sea. In composing the Mystery Sea version, Kojo purposefully eschewed the representational sounds of the "Night Ocean Drones" espoused by the label, opting for these aforementioned concepts. On this piece of tiny churning textures streaming along a linear path, Kojo's piece nearly achieves infinity, which happens to be the translation from Sanskrit of "ananta." While other works from Kojo enjoy the darkly elegant arches found in select recordings from Organum and Lawrence English, the Mystery Sea Version of Ananta fits more of the tradition of the Roland Kayn, Yoshi Wada, and Charlemagne Palestine in constructing pieces which require endurance, lest you succumb to Kojo's audio hypnosis. The Strato Version of Ananta is a previously unreleased composition, that bends and undulates around a fundamental drone, all the while still maintaining the sun-flecked glints magnified in the Mystery Sea version. Limited to 300 copies."[label info]
www.helenscarsdale.com
"We missed out completely on the Ananta cd-r that Spiracle first released through the Mystery Sea label a few years back. It was limited to 100 copies and quickly disappeared, much to our chagrin. Fortunately, Helen Scarsdale in her sage wisdom has just reissued that static drone opus with a second disc that reworks the original material while keeping the same intent.
Hitoshi Kojo is man behind Spiracle, having wandered from his native Japan to Central Europe where he's been collaborating with the likes of Michael Northam, Maurizio Bianchi, John Grzinich, and Murmer. Much of his work deals with acoustic drone construction, with some of his records taking up the mantle of beautiful tactile noises like those generated by Organum, Jonathan Coleclough, and Andrew Chalk. Ananta, now presented as a double disc, is an album with a purpose; or at least it has a purpose for Kojo as he's one who has trouble falling asleep. So he composed this album as a narcotizing agent to lull him into a deep sleep. But this is also a man who is a night owl, so the time when he's usually falling asleep is when the sun is just beginning to rise. So for this composition, Kojo tuned his drones to match the ruby reds and golden yellows of daybreak. The Mystery Sea Version of Ananta is a linear construct of softened static with wisps of sustained tones spiralling in and out of the mix. The composition shimmers along this focused path with few variations, reflecting a rigor of process much like the champions of minimalism (e.g. Charlemagne Palestine, Roland Kayn, Yoshi Wada) but with a delicate approach found in the likes of Stars Of The Lid. The Strato Version found on the other disc smoothes out the static into a rich undulating surface of warm golden tones, that could easily be an ambient lullaby to accompany a daydream whilst napping at the beach. So, so beautiful!
The Helen Scarsdale reissue does increase the distribution of this disc, although not by much... there's only 300 of these beauties kicking around!" [Aquarius Records]
|
2009 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Evestrum |
7inch |
"SPIRACLE is the original project of Japanese artist HITOSHI KOJO (currently residing in Switzerland), known to some for his label OCTPIA & some solo-releases (recently also part of JÜPPALA KÄÄPIÖ).
On this, the first SPIRACLE vinyl release, two pieces of sublime Drone-Muzak are placed, mesmerizing and mind-expanding sonic clouds. The two tracks EVESTRUM and EXUSIAI are "focused on the physicality and the osmosis of the sound" as HITOSHI describes it. The acoustic basis-material comes from a glass harp, resonated trumpets, metal sheets & electronics. A kind of sonographical report of a process that a "subtle spiritual existence merges into a physical body and becomes tangible through the senses." The unbelievable cover-artwork as an object is paradoxically representing an invisible world.
Filed under: ASTRAL BODY DRONES
TRANSPARENT VINYL, SILVER LABELS. EXTREME HANDMADE (& COMPLETELY WHITE) COVER USING COTTON WOOL, GAUZE BANDAGE, THREAD & SPECIAL PAPER. SILVER PRINTED INLAY.
THE FINAL STATEMENT OF DRONE RECORDS AND THE LAST RELEASE OF SPIRACLE!" [label info]
"The final one is by Hitoshi Kojo, also known as Spiracle. He's from Japan, but currently lives in Switzerland and who has had various releases before. For this 7" (his first vinyl actually) he uses a variety of acoustic objects, such as a glass harp, resonating trumpets and metal sheets, as well as electronics. The sound here reminded me of the very first Organum record, 'In Extremis'. Slowed down metal scraping, which occasionally folds into electronic overtones and makes a very beautiful vibrating and resonating sound. Like the Wyrm 7", this is not exactly the type of drone music that lulls the listener into a deep sleep, but has a great unsettling character. An excellent work, topped with a great handmade, cloth cover. And apparently this is also the final record by Spiracle. That's two very sad occasions, I should think." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€7.00 |
|
| SPK (S.P.K.) |
Zamia Lehmanni (Songs of Byzantine Flowers) |
LP |
Originally released by Side Effects in 1986, “Zamia Lehmanni” was the third (and final) core SPK album and was Graeme Revell’s first truly solo project. He was in a period of transition, somewhere between the industrial noise of the early years and his later award-winning soundtrack work. On the day before this was first released, this style of music, now ubiquitous (especially in soundtracks), did not exist.
After “Information Overload Unit” cleared a space for subsequent explorations, and the environmental percussion and anchored mutilated sound collages of “Leichenschrei”, the “body without organs” was fully eviscerated. Graeme felt ‘industrial music’ was becoming ossified and needed to be taken into radically new territories: ‘post-industrial’.
The track “In Flagrante Delicto” (mastered as originally intended here) was later used by Revell for his work on the soundtrack for the 1989 film “Dead Calm”, which won him Best Original Score from the Australian Film Institute.
Unavailable in any format since Mute’s 1992 CD edition, we now present this landmark album on newly remastered CD, and on vinyl for the first time since 1986. Approved by Graeme Revell, this release comes with new artwork by Abby Helasdottir and is remastered by Martin Bowes (The Cage).
LP on sumptuous 180gm black or limited edition gold vinyl, presented in a 350gsm gatefold sleeve.
CD in a 6-panel digipak. The track “The Doctrine Of Eternal Ice” appears on CD only, but is included on the digital download for vinyl.
Both formats feature new liner notes from Graeme Revell, 2019.
https://coldspring.bandcamp.com/album/zamia-lehmanni-songs-of-byzantine-flowers-csr274cd-lp
|
2019 |
€23.50 |
|
| SPOONBENDER 1.1.1. |
Stereo Telepathy Academy |
CD |
Die Zahl 3, Synchronizität, Telepathie, David Cronenberg, „Third Mind“-Technik: San Francisco’s SPOONBENDER 1.1.1 ist eher ein Projekt zur Erforschung parapsychischer Phänomene als eine reine Musikgruppe.
Hier enthalten ein 40 minütiger one-tracker mit elektronischen Sounds & Film-Text-Schnipseln, der ein Experiment dokumentiert, das auf Burroughs / Gysins – Third Mind-Technik basiert, wo zwei Filmquellen miteinander verbunden werden, die eigentlich nichts miteinander zu tun haben, um synchronizitäre Verbindungen herzustellen. Nummerierte Auflage von 333 Stück, und bereits weg beim Label !
“Spoonbender 1.1.1’s Stereo Telepathy Academy is fucking mental. And essential. Truly alien, Truly progressive, and likely to be misunderstood by all but the committed. A true classic on par with COILANS and NWW’s Soliloquy For Lilith. I’ve listened to it obsessively for weeks, and i’m afraid to go near this whilst on drugs! DEEP AND ESSENTIAL!..” [UKDave, KFJC Reviews]
“In 1913, Marcel Duchamp dropped three pieces of string, each a meter long, from a height equal to their length. He then cut shapes into pieces of wood in order to document the rumpled line of his three fallen strings. In essence, Duchamp conceived his 3 Standard Stoppages as a preservation of chance, which he viewed as a means to combat logical reality. In addition to Duchamp's self-proclaimed antipathy to the rational world, he was quite particular in how he contextualized and executed his ideas through readymade objects, chance operations, and his notorious psycho-sexually charged dioramas. It is this dualism between the chance operation and an absolute intellectual/technical control which brings us to the present age, and to Spoonbender 1.1.1 in particular, where the acceptance and integration of opposites results in the 3rd option: everything.
The San Francisco-based Spoonbender 1.1.1 outlines itself as the 'tele-ambient dream self' of the critically-acclaimed, 'populist avant-tronics and media group' I Am Spoonbender. It is important to note that Spoonbender 1.1.1 declares itself not a side project of I Am Spoonbender, but a psychologically immersive extension of the central IAS concept. Both projects uncover the hidden connections that lie beneath the surface of reality by delving into the arenas of paranormal research - the exploration of the occult significance surrounding the number 3 and its strange laws, for example - but the intended outcomes for these concepts are decidedly different. For Stereo Telepathy Academy, Spoonbender 1.1.1 exercises psychic community through the architecture of the soundtrack.
At the beginning of the first transmission of Stereo Telepathy Academy on November 3rd, 2004 - a performance where the group supported Genesis P-Orridge's PTV3 - 1.1.1's Dustin Donaldson announced that "tonight's Spoonbender 1.1.1 show is governed by chance operations and the 'third mind' technique. Spoken text was taken from one film, overlayed onto images from another film, and the score was composed while viewing a third (and secret) film source. The synchronistic results appear to be intentional." Such was the strategy of Duchamp's aforementioned piece nearly a century ago; but Spoonbender 1.1.1's collision of artforms also employs the technique found in the William S.
Burroughs / Brion Gyson classic The Third Mind. As the images of David Cronenberg's rarely seen film Crimes Of The Future flickered, Spoonbender 1.1.1 radiated an inverted telekinetic minimalism of undulating tones supporting the third piece of the puzzle: spoken text from Cronenberg's Stereo, a faux-documentary detailing a surgical procedure for the advancement of telepathic communication. The result is a sort of Wizard Of Oz / Dark Side Of The Moon for the mimetic engineering mindset.
The same principles and elements apply for Stereo Telepathy Academy, the group's long-awaited debut studio recording (1.1.1 has existed solely as a live group for years). This marks the second of three editions to be released. The first was an edition of 111, documenting the aforementioned live performance; the second is this edition of 333, sporting handsomely letterpressed artwork; the third and final edition will be a unique art piece in an edition of a mere 3 copies.” [label notes]
"Edition 2 (studio version) of the Spoonbender 1.1.1 Stereo Telepathy Academy trilogy...
Simply put, this is a weird-as-hell, warped, late night, difficult-listening 'trip' for all you aQers looking for truly strange atmospheres... Okay, first things first; Spoonbender 1.1.1 is not a side-project of I Am Spoonbender. The duo of Dustin Donaldson and Cup consider Spoonbender 1.1.1 to be a self-contained project that ventures outside the 'populist avant-tronics' of I Am Spoonbender into the realms of sidereal soundtrack music, the transmission of ideas through subliminal means, manifestations of 'third mind' techniques, and the non-logic of chance operations. Not so different on paper, but put another way: there are no drums, singing, or 'songs' in the 1.1.1 project. The material for Stereo Telepathy Academy was debuted during a live performance in which Spoonbender 1.1.1 performed with (appropriately enough) Psychic TV; however, for the second edition of Stereo Telepathy Academy, Spoonbender 1.1.1 recomposed all of the material in the studio -- expanding and elaborating on their live performance, and making for a distinctly new and different listening experience that stand on its own with or without the visual accompaniment. That said, as in the first edition, Stereo Telepathy Academy features "text taken from one film, overlaid on images from another, and the audio score was written around a different, third film... the results appear to be intentional" for a sort of 'Wizard Of Oz/Dark Side Of The Moon' for telekinetics.
The J.G. Ballard-esque text was taken from David Cronenberg's 1969 student film 'Stereo', a faux-documentary detailing the work of a Dr. Luther Stringfellow, which concerns surgical procedures for the advancement of telepathic communication, while the visuals came from 'Crimes Of The Future' (another Cronenberg film, which transpires in an urban dystopia populated by pedophiles and oozing victims from a female-eliminating cosmetics related catastrophe). As creepy and sterile as the images were, we have to say that its Canadian-ness was positively charming, somehow. In their score, Spoonbender 1.1.1 lunges ominously forward with an otherworldly radiance of slow motion electronic pulses and melodies that retain an even darker hue than that of Klaus Schulze, Coil (e.g. Coilans / Time Machines), and Alan Splet, who are probably Spoonbender 1.1.1's closest sonic neighbors. Given the nature of their intense, masterfully detailed sea of electric sound, Spoonbender 1.1.1 hedged their bets that Cronenberg's pseudo-scientific spoken text would situate nicely against their audio. And indeed, this freakish document of prepared-chance context, atmosphere and appropriation works exceptionally well.
PLEASE NOTE: In keeping with the numerological-binding-of-3 theme, there will be 3 released versions of Stereo Telepathy Academy, all with different packaging. The first version arrived as a cd-r edition of 111 copies sporting a white glove as an allusion to 'Crimes Of The Future' (now out of print). This is the second edition, a proper disc that comes with letterpressed artwork in an edition of 333. The final edition will be in an edition of only 3 copies!" [Aquarius Records]
|
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
| SRMEIXNER (STEPHEN MEIXNER) |
A Silent War |
CD |
Artist: srmeixner
Product Title: A silent war
Format: CD
Cat no: BRCD 21-1018 / CDROT097
Release Date: October 2021
Style: Abstract, Experimental Electronics, Ambient
Black Rose Recordings and Oxidisation present the new album from Stephen Meixner (Contrastate). Initial inspiration for this project came from the 1980s recycling projects such as “Captured Music” and “Destruct”, both released on the Selektion label who described recycling as “a procedure concentrating on materials already existing on their own or as separate sources as a practical base for further reworkings”. As the project was progressing news was sent across the world of the death of George Floyd whilst in police custody. Sadly, not a new phenomenon, but a repeat of past events highlighting the unfinished business of needing to change the future. I decided to incorporate the events into the initial theme using words and specific references to carry on a dialogue that interacts with the re-interpretations of previous sound sources. It has been said that we cannot tackle the past by re-writing it. Maybe we can.
This releases features contributions from Ralf Wehowsky (rlw/P16 D4), Steve Pittis (Band of Pain), Jonathan Grieve and Stephen J Pomeroy (Contrastate), Leyden Jars, Adrian Morris, Lee Pomeroy and Simon Wray.
"There must be something in the air. Two weeks ago, I reviewed three releases from Howard Stelzer. He worked with sound material fellow musicians mailed him, which in return was based on Stelzer's primary sound material. I mentioned P16.D4's 'Distruct' (Vital Weekly 863), from 1984, which worked along similar lines. The same record is mentioned on the cover here (though misspelt as 'Destruct'), along with 'Captured Music', which also worked with the recycling of sound, more specific live recordings from a festival of the same name. Stephen Meixner, one-third of Contrastate, does have a similar approach here. He received sound material from his Contrastate buddies
Jonathan Grieve and Stephen J Pomeroy and also from Ralf Wehowsky (one of the leading players of P16.D4), Steve Pittis (Band Of Pain), Leyden Jars, Adrian Morris, Lee Pomeroy and Simon Wray. I don't know these last four. Meixner added the death of George Floyd as part of the narrative in the music, something that P16.D4 would not have done, staying away from overtly political messages. The message is not really in your face (whether good or bad, I leave it up to you). There is vocals/text in only a few pieces here, such as in a 'cover' of Nina Simone's 'Singing About Revolution'. Musicwise, Meixner doesn't copy the musique concrète approach of P16.D4 too much, even when the studio-as-instrument' method is present here. The results are pretty different for Meixner. The sounds are part of the overall composition, working from one idea and making it a 'song' rather than a cut-up or collage. Some sounds are used as guiding lights for a piece via sample/loop, and then Meixner spins the
rest around. In 'Unfinished Business', this is indeed a more collage-like form, but n 'We Demand Tomorrow (Or Business A Usual)', the percussion is the glue that holds drones and electronics together. Meixner has an excellent ear to make the right connections between this disparate sound material. It makes a fine homogenous album with subtle variations. Most of the time, I had no idea this was from various unrelated sources, which I would think is a great thing. This is quite different from the recent Stelzer albums, with both of them using friends' sounds as starting points." (FdW)
––– Address: blackroserecordings@yahoo.co.uk
"This is the work of Stephen Meixner, who is also a member of Contrastate as well as the man behind Black Rose Recordings. This disk was a direct response to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. As the artist states, “Sadly, not a new phenomenon, but a repeat of past events highlighting the unfinished business of needing to change the future. I decided to incorporate the events into the initial theme using words and specific references to carry on a dialogue that interacts with the re-interpretations of previous sound sources.” That said, let’s dive into the music and see what this sounds like.
This is kind of an odd album. The opening track, A Silent War,” features heavily processed vocals and synth drone with snippets of beat and other random noises thrown about. You can only make out bits and pieces of the vocals, such as “the police were called” that give this track a disconcerting feeling. It's ominous without being heavy-handed. Next up is “Breathe,” which is particularly unsettling with its constant incantation of “I can't breathe” and “please let me up, I can't breathe.” The subject of this track is unmistakable with its origin in Eric Garner’s murder, which then led to “I can't breathe” becoming a rallying cry within the Black Lives Matter movement. What makes it interesting is the almost mechanical way that he keeps intoning “I can't breathe,” almost as if you're listening to a public service announcement or something in an airport where they're saying that you must stay to the right. The disconnect makes this track work particularly well. “Virtue Signaling” is a synth drone composition with bits of beat drum beats thrown in randomly. It's noisy, but never quite descends into noise. One thing that makes this fun is that you can tell this intentional. This isn't a “stick a brick on a synthesizer and make drone music” composition. This is composed and well put together. “Unfinished Business” is some peaceful, mellow drone, but even here there are bits of grinding metal noise. “We Demand Tomorrow (Or Business As Usual)” keeps this feeling going with additional bits of sound that sounds like a growing mixed with metal xylophone or pipes and heavily distorted voice like listening to a radio station between stations.
Finally, we have a short piece, “Singing About Revolution,” with lyrics by Nina Simone. But in this version, imagine that someone watched 27 hours of Schoolhouse Rock, smoked a ton of hash, and then decided that they were going to recreate one of the videos, but a little different with hallucinogenic vocals. Solid.
Overall, this is an interesting disc and well worth checking out." [Chain DLK]
"Stephen Meixner of Contrastate has been recording and releasing music under this solo guise for many years now and generally speaking it involves a more abstract and darkly experimental sound than that of the main project (yet some indirectly similar sonic threads too can be noted too). With reference to this latest work the liner notes highlight A Silent War had its nexus in 2020 UK Covid lockdowns and was intended as a working basis for further recordings, but obviously evolved into this standalone work. Likewise, the liner notes provide further detail on the working methodology, which was inspired by 1980’s recycling projects and involved recontextualising sound sources contributed by close associates. Six tracks make up A Silent War which includes an element of social commentary but is which is also not overtly emphasised. This is weaved within the crisply refined electronics which slot neatly under a ‘dark ambient / experimental / post-industrial soundscape’ descriptor.
The title track opens the album exudes a performance art angle, which is mostly due to the tone provided by manipulated spoken word vocals, while the minimal shimmering soundscape is occasionally interrupted with moments of melodic percussive strikes. Breathe continues and is framed around multiple electric to semi-orchestral drones coupled with a centrally placed jittery tonal texture, while further vocal cuts up referencing the track title and its thematic aspect. The instrumental track Virtue Signalling brings more interweaving melancholic drones but also includes a wonky pitch-shifting tonal framework blended with vague mechanical rhythmic elements and other manipulated tones (piano note stabs perhaps?). In maintaining the prevailing sonic theme the minimalist but incessant plodding pulse of Unfinished Business characterises the first segments before shifting off into melancholic drone territory with fragile tonal respite. We Demand Tomorrow (or business as usual) slightly differs, given it contains some forceful electricity-toned textures, while late in the track it morphs into musically playful and percussive-driven elements. As for the final track Singing About Revolution, it is a short two-minute cut and the oddest and surreal offering of the lot, to the point of being quite jarring against the tone of the balance of the album (and therefore well-positioned at the album’s conclusion). Here there is a clear nod to Contrastrate thanks to vocals provided by Jonathan Grieve, and notable the lyrics are credited to Nina Simone to close the thematic loop.
A six-panel double gatefold cover with extensive liner notes rounds out the packaging of an expertly crafted yet equally understated album of experimental ambient & post-industrial sonics." [Noise Receptor] |
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
| SSHE RETINA STIMULANTS |
Colloidal Urban Semantika |
CD-R |
"...The aggravating and ferocious noise elements are still on here but they take more of a back seat instead of being the driving force behind the steering wheel. He has pummelled all the samples he could find and turned them into a voyage of discovery. Voices are turned into black holes that appear almost at random. A drum rolls rambles on as static hisses vibrantly. Tunes are speeded up then slowed down. It’s totally crazy freaky stuff. And it takes some getting used to. Go with it though. Give it the time to sink in. You’ll need to play it a few times to see where it’s going. Suddenly it all makes a kind of quirky sense…although you’ll, like myself, probably be mystified as to why it does in the end..." [Alan Milne / Heathen Harvest]
"after a long time SSHE RETINA STIMULANTS is back on OLD EUROPA CAFE. For this release SRS deploys a deranged catalogue of samples from forgotten spectres and once wild avenues, looking for the hidden codes of unborn languages across the debris of polluted sideways… layers after layers of frequency manipulations coexist with millions of tiny acoustic bubbles, drilling even further into the subtle essence of unseen city souls.
This turns into a new phase of SRS cultural extremism, where past assaults are refined across the scenery of selected views from alien observation platforms…. “ …once more, this is a concept for research and management of urban wildlife, based on acoustic reference to the analysis of colloidal phases in the marginal segments of social environments…” Profesionally printed CDR numbered on CD label and limited to 160 copies." [label info]
|
2006 |
€12.00 |
|
| STABAT MORS / RICHARD RAMIREZ |
Hideous Bliss |
LP |
"Christian Koehler was the motivating mind behind the project, Stabat Mors. Fusing thematic concepts and philosophical ideas based on Althusser, Mishima, Derrida, Artaud, and Cioran, the accompanying noise is a confrontation with distorted accordian,
metal, piano, and microphone to tube; a farewell release that is a sharp feedback orgy and celebration of despair.
"Hegels Tod" is the first track: a solo recording from 2006. Very isolated, sad, and extreme, the mix is an infusion of trying to bind the theme of death into sound. It was the last track recorded before he died the same year.
The second piece is a documentation of Stabat Mors' first live show at the Neues Museum Bremen in 2004, featured here as a trio. Etuede 2 & 3 of "Bild & Tod nach Derrida" is a mixture of lecture and noise-cacophonia.
Richard Ramirez appears on the other side of the LP with long track recorded in 2006.
"Error Strike" is a barrage of dynamic, crushing noise; an enduring wall that spans twenty minutes!
This lp is pro-pressed in a full-colored record jacket with paintings by Christian Koehler. Additionally, the album comes with a huge insert featuring the text, to "Bild & Tod nach Derrida"." [label info]
www.scrotum-records.de
The lp is the memorial to Christian. It is sad that he will never see the final result.
|
2010 |
€12.00 |
|
| STACHE, ERWIN |
Harmonie der nicht ganz reellen Töne |
CD / object |
RUND UM DEN WATZMANN hat wieder zugeschlagen und sich was ganz besonderes ausgedacht: Wenn das Klappcover dieser CD öffnet, knarrt sie wie eine alte Schatzkiste in verschiedenen Tonlagen!
("the packaging is a mysterious musical instrument you have to discover").
ERWIN STACHE ist ein hochkreativer Leipziger Komponist und Musiker, der seit Jahren obskurste Instrumente baut und damit phänomenale & witzige Konzerte gibt. Dies ist seine erste full-length CD und stellt ein Sammelsurium von Geräuschen seiner Sound-Objekte dar...
label: www.watzmann.nl
|
1998 |
€20.00 |
|
| STAHLWERK 9 / SAL SOLARIS |
split |
10" |
Die ANGRIFF 10” Industrial – Reihe geht munter weiter, diesmal nicht rein russisch besetzt, sondern mit dem deutschen Projekt STAHLWERK9 auf einer Seite und den guten dark ambientern SAL SOLARIS auf der Flipside.. thematisch geht es hier um das russische Raumfahrtprogramm und entsprechend fallen die Beiträge aus: exzellenter Elektronik-Ambient von STAHLWERK9; dunkel-harmonische, sehr filmische Spaceflächen und mächtigere Drone-Monolithen von SAL SOLARIS, inkl. Teile von russischer Propagandamusik (ausser „GAGARIN“ können wir leider nichts verstehen). Atmosphärisch stimmig und etwas obskur. Kommt im Postercover.
“This split release is dedicated to soviet
space program. Most delicate, subtle and wonderful tracks both bands ever did. Haunting mysterious atmosphere of the unknown fills the heart of the listener with a sense of a strange sadness and slight anxiety. Dark ambient with melodic background and some noise elements. Not to be missed! Sal Solaris is known for their Hau Ruck! CD, Der Angriff 10" in Prometheus series and Heilige Feuer I compilation appearance, Stahlwerk 9 have released now sold-out CD on Achtung Baby! as well as numerous vinyl releases, on Eternal Soul, Steinklang and Neuropa to name a few. A2-sized poster cover printed on stylish beige paper, limited edition of 370 copies. 4 tracks, total time - 28 min.” [label press release]
|
2004 |
€10.00 |
|
| STALNOY PAKT |
Russias Awakening (Probuschdenie Rossii) |
CD |
Debut-CD des St.Petersburger Projekts von ALEXANDER LEBEDEV-FRONTOV. Pompös-orchestraler Industrial, Maschinen-Noise, Propaganda-Zitate & Musik aus (konter)-revolutionärer Zeit....
“This is the first full-length CD release of the new project of A. Lebedev-Frontov (Linija Mass, Vetrophonia) after the brilliant 10” release in Prometheus series and the split 10” with Rasthof Dachau, both issued by Der Angriff. This time it is dedicated to those Russians who, being in European emigration, still tried to fight for the freedom of Russia after the Bolshevik revolution has happened. The music is in the same vein as on the previous vinyl releases – deep profound ambient with analogue noise touches and phrase samples. Non-standard sized silver-on-black printed cover, limited edition of 500 copies. 10 tracks, total time: 53.43.” [label description]
|
2004 |
€14.00 |
|
| STEINBRÜCHEL |
Mit Ohne |
maxi-CD |
"Eighteen-minute CD-EP, with EP pricing. Mit Ohne is a sound documentation of an audio/visual installation by Yves Netzhammer and Steinbrüchel. The installation entitled 'The Feeling Of Precise Instability When Holding Things' was part of the group exhibition 'Wohnträume/Wohnräume,' exhibited from 26.07. to 28.09.2003 at the Museum für Gestaltung in Zurich, Switzerland. The audio sections by Steinbrüchel were composed in sync with the visuals by Yves Netzhammer and succeed in translating and supporting the poetic vibrancy and slow morphing movements of the 3D rendered animation. For the exhibition, an atmospheric, fragile and detailed work was created involving a three-part projection and multichannel sound which conveys an abstract audio and visual approach to the environment surrounding us and the concept of a room itself. Each audio track takes the listener into a new form of 'room' and simple patterns of single tones are layered into dense movements surrounding the listeners space. The crystalline polished sounds form a highly precise environment which interacts with particles of melodies searching for space to breathe. Between the tracks there are no pauses, which gives the dedicated listener the feeling of being moved suddenly from one room to the other. Space and silence are sensitively woven into each other while forming an atmospheric and organic surrounding. Through the sound the feeling in every room changes from dark to bright, from large to small, from lonely to crowded, from silent to loud." [label info]
lim. 500 copies
www.12k.com
|
2008 |
€10.00 |
|
| STELZER, HOWARD |
How To |
CD |
New material from the master cassette manipulator Howard Stelzer. "How To" is 46 minutes of collage ranging from drones to harsh noise. Not to be missed for any fan of Stelzers work.
Mastered by James Plotkin and art by Lasse Marhaug.
If your not familiar with Mr. Stelzer here is what TinyMixTapes.com has to say about him.
"Don’t let the disappearance of his label Intransitive Recordings fool you; Howard Stelzer has kept himself as busy as ever. The New York-born tape manipulator may no longer have an outlet of his own, but even before closing Intransitive Recordings down back in 2012, he had been releasing albums pretty much everywhere. He has recently announced a new album on Phage Tapes, How To, which follows the still-fresh Narrow Escape and At Ease, a collaboration with Joe Bastardo.
Active since the mid-90s, Stelzer has made cassette tapes his trademark platform to craft complex collages of noise, found sounds, and synthetic textures. Yet he is best known as an all-around devotee of tape as a medium, collecting hundreds of cassettes, writing about sound art and tape culture, and curating an amazingly ambitious catalog of experimental music for Intransitive Recordings. Based in Boston and active for over a decade, the label released music by Jason Lescalleet, Nerve Net Noise, Jason Talbot, C. Spencer Yeh, and Brume, among many others. Nevertheless, it would be unforgivable to overlook 1998’s Bond Inlets, Stelzer’s crowning achievement; an album where he was able to pick the inherent limitations of consumer-grade tapes apart, laying out a foreboding work of rare emotional power."
https://phagetapes.miiduu.com/howard-stelzer-quothow-toquot-cd
|
2015 |
€10.00 |
|
| STELZER, HOWARD & FRANS DE WAARD |
Pink Pearl |
CD |
"Composed in Lowell MA (USA) and Nijmegen (NL) by HS and FdW, 2011-2012. All sounds were extracted from live, studio and mail collaborations 2002-2011. Cover photography by Ashley Stelzer. Cover design by Mirt. Mastering by SEC_. Frans de Waard (1965) has been producing music since 1984. First as Kapotte Muziek, but throughout the years, he also worked as Beequeen (with Freek Kinkelaar), Goem (with Roel Meelkop & Peter Duimelinks, both of whom are also a member of Kapotte Muziek these days), Zebra (with Roel Meelkop) and such solo projects as Freiband, Shifts as well as his own name. He played various solo concerts as Goem-FDW in Japan, as part of a package tour with Pan Sonic. Frans de Waard also likes to play sets of improvised music with whoever is available, just as he did with people like Guiseppe Ielasi, Jaap Blonk, Howard Stelzer, Roel Meelkop, Andrew Liles, Radboud Mens and the mayor of his home city Nijmegen. In 2008 film maker Harrie Timmermans made a small documentary about his work with Kapotte Muziek under the title 'What You See Is What You Hear'. He has given workshops and lectures at various places, such as Extrapool, the art academy of Maastricht en 's-Hertogenbosch, the Glinka Conservatorium in Moscow and Lithuania. With Scott Foust he formed the duo The Tobacconists in 2009 and with Wouter Jaspers the duo Ezdanitoff in 2010. Howard Stelzer has been active as a composer and performer of electronic music since 1992. His music exploits the unique sonic and physical qualities of cassette tapes and tape players: gritty hiss, the squeal and hum of cheap motors taxed until (and sometimes well beyond) their breaking point, amplified plastic clatter, and play speed altered by pressure from fingers applied to the tapes' reels. Early work was stubbornly low fidelity, with awkward pauses and jarring a-musical transitions assembled roughly into rather linear collages. Stelzer's music has evolved over the years, and now seems to sit still for longer durations. Tapes and cassette artifacts are densely layered, treated, layered some more, thrown into a bin and shaken up, then smoothed back out into pleasantly boring stasis with lots of sharp tacks buried within. Stelzer ran the Intransitive Recordings label from 1997 until 2012." [label info]
www.bocianrecords.com
|
2013 |
€12.00 |
|
| STELZER, HOWARD & JASON TALBOT |
Songs |
CD |
„Intransitive Recordings is proud to present the long-awaited debut CD by Howard Stelzer and Jason Talbot. "Songs" contains eight concise pieces of electro-acoustic music created from cassette tapes and a single turntable. Since the duo's inception on 1999, they have worked toward developing a unified, improvisatory sonic language by approaching their machines in a decidedly instrumental manner. For their first album, Stelzer & Talbot take inspiration from artists such as Schimpfluch-Gruppe, P16.D4, SBOTHI, as well as musique concrete and contemporary free improvisation, arriving at a voice entirely their own. The duo's music demonstrates a raw passion and energy, anchored by tense silences.
Stelzer and Talbot have toured extensively, collaborating with artists as diverse as Kevin Drumm, Martin Tetreault, Haco, Gert-Jan Prins, Keith Fullerton Whitman/Hrvatski, Roel Meelkop, Le Quan Ninh, nmperign, Christian Renou/Brume, Brendan Murray, Brent Gutzeit, Jack Wright, Ron Lessard, and Jason Lescalleet. In addition, Stelzer has performed with Axel Doerner, Jos Smolders, Jerome Noetinger, Lionel Marchetti, James Coleman, and Andrea Neumann, and is a member of Bhob Rainey's large ensemble the BSC, whose first CD is forthcoming on Grob this summer. Stelzer runs the Intransitive Recordings label, and Talbot the Kissy Records label. They live in Boston, Massachusetts.” [press-release]
|
2003 |
€7.50 |
|
| STELZER, HOWARD / JASON TALBOT |
Four Sides |
do-7 |
Verrückte, fordernde, konkrete Noise-Collaborations auf dieser schön gestalteten Doppel-Single, von dem Bostoner Duo HOWARD STELZER und JASON TALBOT. Kommt im Klappcover, auf dem Chicagoer Label C.I.P. !
“The Boston-based duo of Howard Stelzer (tapes) and Jason Talbot (turntable) has been performing together since 1999. With a honed proficiency on their designated instruments, Stelzer and Talbot create an audio dialogue that relies more on playing the equipment as opposed to using either as traditional playback devices. A rich array of whirs, chirps, sputters, skitters, squeals, scrapes, and other bursts of sonic activity you wouldn't think a turntable or cassette machine capable of (or, at times, even surviving) are the foundation of Stelzer and Talbot's sound palette as they build and shift their compositions. A vortex of crunching and feedback from a needle grinding into the turntable body while three cassette players sputter rapid-fire through elaborate pausing and fast forwarding rituals can collapse into a squirming sine-wave like whine from a single paused cassette motor a moment later. And although it's hard for me to listen to this and not envision the physicality of their live performances, these recordings definitely capture the equally dynamic results. Edition of 400.“ [label info]
|
2003 |
€10.00 |
|
| STERN, JOEL & MICHAEL NORTHAM |
Wormwood |
CD |
Collaboration of our beloved “concrete etheral ambience” performer MICHAEL NORTHAM with the (for us)unknown JOEL STERN. They mix: “found objects, prepared instruments, electronics, feedback systems, environmental recordings” on five pieces for a stunning result ! Open your ears and listen to magical natural sounds objects.....
"The five wormwood pieces are taken from a single recording session which happened late at night, in a loungeroom borrowed from friends, at petticoat lane, East London, on dec 29th 2002. Michael had only just arrived fresh / weary from his explorations in Malta, Joel was preparing to leave London after 3 years and return home to Australia. The music, in all its abstraction, reflects this transitory moment of shared sensibility and open exchange between two people heading in opposite directions. + found objects, prepared instruments, electronics, feedback systems, environmental recordings." [label info]
|
2004 |
€12.00 |
|
| STETSON, COLIN |
New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges |
CD |
"Colin Stetson is a horn player of uncommon strength, skill and genre-defying creativity. He composes and performs otherworldly songs that combine a mastery of circular breathing technique with percussive valve-work and reed vocalisations, making a polyphonic solo music that combines influences as diverse as Bach, early metal, American pre-war Gospel, and the explorations of Jimi Hendrix, Peter Brotzman and Albert Ayler. Colin has been making his mark as a staggering solo performer for several years now, in front of audiences small and large, from intimate jazz and experimental music venues to big stages, whether opening for Arcade Fire or The National, or playing at jazz and new music festivals like Moers and London Jazz. His talents have been widely recognised and employed by artists as diverse as Tom Waits, Laurie Anderson, TV On The Radio and Bon Iver; he also plays in Bell Orchestre and Sway Machinery.
Stetson's live solo performances are absolutely stunning and uncategorisable and he conveys a commensurate intensity and iconoclasm on this new studio album of original material. New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges is Stetson's second solo record and his first for Constellation.
Stetson is able to weave an uninterrupted flow of arpeggiated swirls and chordal progressions while simultaneously singing yearning melodic lines through the reed of his horn – a technically powerful combination, exponentially intensified by Colin's innate sense of pace, phrasing and trajectory. Stetson approaches his solo work with one foot firmly rooted in a pop sensibility, harmonically and in terms of overall song structure – a sensibility on fine display in longer pieces like "Judges", "The Stars In His Head (Dark Lights Remix)" , "Clothed In The Skin Of The Dead" and "Fear Of The Unknown And The Blazing Sun". He can paint short, ecstatic spirals of rapid-fire ostinati that move through the entire range of the instrument, full of subtle rhythmic shifts and filigree, as with "The Righteous Wrath Of An Honourable Man", "From No Part Of Me Could I Summon A Voice" and "A Dream Of Water", all of which clock in at the 2-3 minute range (and the last of which features a spoken word vocal by Laurie Anderson). Colin can also shred, especially when rallying the full force of the bass saxophone, whether in the foghorn blasts that open the album or the gasping syncopated pulse of "Red Horse (Judges II)". The seamless, steamy, multi-timbral drone that underpins Shara Worden's guest vocal on "Lord I Just Can't Keep From Crying Sometimes" demonstrates another side of Colin's mastery and sensibility.
The music on New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges was captured entirely live in single takes at Montréal's Hotel2Tango studio, with no overdubs or looping, using over 20 mics positioned close and far throughout the live room. Guest vocals by Laurie Anderson and Shara Worden (My Brightest Diamond) are the only exceptions to this rule, along with one brief french horn that was multi-tracked.
The Judges sessions were co-produced by Stetson and Shahzad Ismaily and engineered by Efrim Menuck at the Hotel2Tango, then taken to Greenhouse Studios in Reykjavik and mixed by Ben Frost, the critically acclaimed experimental electronic/ambient composer and producer whose shared influences of minimalism, noise and black metal made him the perfect choice for a bold and unconventional approach to the raw material. Frost pushes and pans different mic signals to the fore from song to song (and within songs), eliciting a cornucopia of details and extremes in Colin's playing and highlighting the complexity of sounds generated by a single horn in Stetson's hands. Rhythms are formed by clicking keys, minute textures are brought forward by running ambient mics extremely hot, and low end is at times pushed fully into the red to devastating effect. Mastering by Mell Dettmer provides the final touch.
The result is a highly original, experimental, euphoric record that fires on all levels: a document of an astoundingly strong and gifted player; a compositional tour-de-force; and a studio production bursting with intensity and inventiveness." [label info]
www.cstrecords.com
|
2011 |
€14.00 |
|
| STIEBLER, ERNSTALBRECHT |
Kanon / Torsi |
LP |
"Ernstalbrecht Stiebler (b. 1934) is a German composer of minimalist and reductionist contemporary music. His name is still most closely associated with his long-time position as radio editor and producer for New Music at the Hessian Broadcasting Corporation (Hessischer Rundfunk), but his own compositional oeuvre – beginning in 1955 and continuing until now – has in the recent years attracted more attention with various concerts and several releases.
Having attended the Darmstadt International Summer Courses for New Music from 1958 onwards, Stiebler decided in 1963 to leave serial music behind and instead opt for his own reductionist style built on minimalist structures and repetitions, though not in any way related to the so-called Minimal Music but rather influenced by Minimalism in visual art. In terms of composers of his time, the closest stylistic relationship that could be drawn is that to Morton Feldman. Stiebler's approach is best summarized in his own words: "Music is too important to burden it with emotions."
This LP pairs two organ-based works: "Kanon" (1980) for organ, electric organ and wind instruments, and "Torsi" (2002) for organ in three movements: "Torso", "Organa minima" and "Cantus". The latter recording, made at St. Stephen's Church in Konstanz (organ: Hans-Peter Schulz), was previously released on CD by m=minimal. "Kanon" is so far unreleased. Edition of 300 in gate-fold sleeve including an extensive interview conducted by Jens Strüver about Stiebler's compositional views and techniques."
www.edition-telemark.de
|
2017 |
€20.00 |
|
| STIMULUS |
Programme Music |
10 |
Mit ihrem Debut-Vinyl begeistern STIMULUS aus England mit einer sehr ansprechenden Mixtur aus atmosphärischen Effekten und eher strukturierten & harmonischen Electronics, eingängig und trotzdem anspruchsvoll, sehr schön gemacht.. Nr. 3 in der LACTAMASE-Serie.
Part three in the lactamase series is by STIMULUS, an experimental trio from England, creating a very appealing hybrid of effectful sounds and more structured & harmonic electronics. Recommended!
“Futuristic electronica? Repetitious tonalities (croaking textures, tempered guitars, sparse, resonant bass), into a sand blasted piano denouement, introducing one to the taut, kinesthetic dynamics utilized by Stimulus. Each track is constructed around repetitious cadences upon which disparate textures twitch and spasm. The muffled, steel wool scrubbed, looped rhythmic impetus of the hypnotic "transference" is shattered as agitated streaks of fluorescent light hover and screech like flaming electronic pterodactyls. Though they utilize a love of "Nurse With Wound, '70's Italian Prog, Iron Maiden & field recordings" as inspiration, Stimulus move well beyond, exploring sonic territories uniquely their own.” [taken from label press-release]
www.blrrecords.com |
2001 |
€12.50 |
|
| STOA |
Silmand |
CD |
Seelenmonat. Viertes Album der Neo-Klassik / Sakral-Ambient / Mittelalter-Folk Pop-Band und Mitbegründer des "Heavenly Voices"-Genres, hier mit Verstärkung von Mitgliedern von LOVE IS COLDER THAN DEATH und CLAN OF XYMOX. 13 Stücke voller dunkel-romantischer Momente, musikalisch hochwertig arrangiert & von erhabener & fragiler Schönheit, zudem scheinen die meisten Instrumente original eingespielt zu werden. Melancholische Streicher sind omnipräsent, emotionaler geht es kaum !
"The first new sign from STOA in 7 years! Fans will be happy that the STOA mastermind stays true to himself with his fourth album. Besides the usual melancholy, unusual pop rhythms found their way on the various albums, but the typical STOA sound is still distinct. The vocal lines harbour some surprises as well. For once theres the angelic voice of singer Mandy Bernhardts, known from the live performances of the band; on the other hand, the voices of three guest singers sound on Silmand. The first voice belongs to the Australian multi-instrumentalist Louisa John Krol. The Dutchman Peter Nooten (Ex-Clan of Xymox) could be engaged for Silmand as well as the Leipzig-based Ralf Jehnert (Love is Colder than Death)." [label info]
"For lovers of melancholic music, it probably doesn't get much better than Silmand." [Heathen Harvest]
www.darkdimensions.de
|
2008 |
€15.00 |
|
| STOLLERY, PETE |
Un son peut en cacher un autre |
DVD-A |
"Onset-Offset (1996). Peel (1997). Shioum (1994). Altered Images (1995). Shortstuff (1993). ABZ-A (1998). Vox Magna (2003).
When I first became involved in electroacoustic music, I was fascinated with the way that technology could allow the composer to work directly with sound, in a similar way to how a sculptor or potter works with his-her materials. The ability to manipulate material at this basic level is a central aspect of my music and this can be seen most obviously from pieces which are concerned with the interplay between the meanings associated with sounds and these sounds as pure sonic material, divorced from any mimetic connotation. There is little in my music which can be likened to broad brush-work - attention to detail and the exact positioning of sound objects within composed space is of the utmost importance to me. This allows the listener to become aware of the intrinsic qualities of the sounds themselves, and how they behave. There are many uses of, and references to, real-world sounds in the pieces on this disc; the key in the lock opening the door at the beginning of Onset-Offset is, on one level, metaphorical, but at the same time, provides an opportunity for the listener to enjoy the spectro-morphological behaviour of this gesture. Playing with the potential ambiguities of listening is central to all these pieces; a door slides open to reveal a new sound space, but at the same time, the listener dwells on the texture and shape of that slide; a street scene is recognised initially, but with the subtle inclusion of other sounds, and gradually mutates into the unrecognisable - the boundaries between what is known and what is unknown become blurred. A roulette wheel is stretched and the outer surface peeled back to reveal new sounds beyond.'
Pete Stollery studied composition with Jonty Harrison at the University of Birmingham, where he was one of the first members of BEAST (Birmingham ElectroAcoustic Sound Theatre) in the early '80s. He now composes almost exclusively in the electroacoustic medium, particularly acousmatic music. He has collaborated with practitioners from other artistic disciplines, particularly dance and sculpture and has produced music and sound design for a number of UK visitor attractions including Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh, Magna in Rotherham and St Patrick's World in Downpatrick (Northern Ireland). He is Reader in Composition and Electroacoustic Music and Director of the Electroacoustic Music Studio at the University of Aberdeen (Scotland), delivering courses on the creative applications of technology in music and music education to students, schoolchildren and the general public. He is a board member of Sonic Arts Network (SAN), the national organisation promoting electroacoustic music in the UK, which he chaired in 1996-99 and again in 2002-03. In 1996, along with Alistair MacDonald, Robert Dow and Simon Atkinson, he established the group invisiblEARts whose aim is to perform acousmatic music throughout Scotland and to promote Scottish acousmatic music to a wider audience, both within Scotland and abroad." [label info / credits]
www.empreintesdigitales.com
|
2006 |
€12.00 |
|
| STOREY, ROBIN & DEAD VOICES ON AIR |
With an Ear and a Why |
7inch |
"03. is a collaboration with fellow Reformed Faction member Robin Storey under the name, “With a Why and an Ear.” Robin and Mark first played together in the late eighties in Zoviet-France. Later Robin formed Rapoon and has released many albums. He continues to collaborate extensively. With Spybey he has released four Reformed Faction albums, with others in the pipeline. Robin is a gifted visual artist and his works appear in numerous collections worldwide." [label info]
www.touretterecords.com
|
2011 |
€10.00 |
|
| STORMHAT |
Addicted to Disaster |
CD |
Erste "echte" CD für dieses dänische Projekt. Schwer zu sagen was hier genau passiert, zu komplex und überlagernd sind die vielfältigen (Arbeits?)-geräusche die hier in den Raum dringen, eine chaotisch-hallend-konkrete vielflächige Geräuschsymphonie, es rumpelt und zischt und klingt an jeder Ecke. Zum Teil werden die Ursprungsaufnahmen leicht effektiert, oft werden Sounds von Glocken, Klangschalen und/oder Metallteilen verwendet. Sehr sehr spannend und ungewöhnlich.
"The work of Denmark's Stormhat melds a variety of elements of experimental music, from ambient/drone to field recordings and feedback. With his first pressed CD, Peter Bach Nicolaisen gives us a wonderful hour-long journey though field recordings, reverberating & scraped percussion, and drones. An excellent recording, sure to appeal to fans of all related genres, "Addicted to Diaster" provides a wonderful and engaging listen. Stormhat's work has previously been released on Cohort and A Beard Of Snails. Housed in a custom printed color wallet. Edition of 500 copies." [label info]
"....Stormhat is the Danish word for one of the European continent's most poisonous plants; a few grams consumption of the Stormhat-plant marks the end of a human life. Its also the name chosen by Peter Bach Nicolaisen to work around with sound and music that entirely is based on processed field recordings. That may sound like old news to anyone, but I must say that if you expect some microsound, ambient glitch than 'Addicted To Disaster' will be a small disappointment, and that's exactly what I like it. No disappointment here for me. This is a pretty strong disc of multiple layered field recordings that never slip under the threshold of hearing, but owe much more to world of 'noise' and 'industrial', even when it has as such nothing to do with that world. This music is there, it's present and a truly great pleasure to hear. Its hard to say what these field recordings originally were, except for the occasional thunder storm passing and some crackle of leaves, but otherwise things are too abstract to be recognized. This breaks away from the traditional field recordings cum microsound ground and moves into something different. That's a great thing and Stormhat delivered a fine CD." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
http://discs.diophantine.net
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
| STRATVM TERROR |
Love me tender or I will cause Pain |
CD |
Now they are back after 15 years with their new assault: 'Love me tender, or I will cause Pain'.Stratvm Terror had just gone underground, hiding for their next terrorising attack. But no, that would have been too easy.
Rumoured said there will be no more albums and the project is dead.§
Massive layers of corrosive darkness with occasional injections of ominous noise sounds and claustrophobic vocals makes this an utterly end-of-life experience.This album is filled with seven oppressive and depressive weird obscurities to ease or cause you pain, depending on your inclinations.
With 'Love me tender, or I will cause Pain' the project celebrates their 30 years anniversary with no happiness, only sweet pain. They started the band in 1993 and released a great number of albums in the late 90's and early 00's, on Old Europa Cafe, to finally take a longer break around 2008.The Swedish doom ambient industrial noise project Stratvm Terror consists of doom metal guru Tobias Larsson (Ocean Chief) and dark ambient master Peter Andersson (raison d'être).
Mastering and Layout by Peter Andersson 2023.
https://raisondetre.bandcamp.com/album/love-me-tender-or-i-will-cause-pain
|
2023 |
€14.00 |
|
| STRINGS OF CONSCIOUSNESS |
same |
LP |
"A collaboration between ANGEL (Ilpo Väisäinen (Pan Sonic), Dirk Dresselhaus (SchneiderTM), Hildur Dudnadottir (Mum/Stilluppsteypa etc.) and STRINGS OF CONSCIOUSNESS (Philippe Petit (BiP_HOp etc.), Mark Beazly (Rothko), Raphaelle Rinaudo ( Pierre Yves Mace Ensemble), Nicholas Dick (Kill The Thrill)). The whole sound project redesigns with fluidity a certain form of contemporary noise. It is quite both warm and delicate, away from the traditional noisy tempest attached to this musical genre. However, you have to embark on a musical voyage to allow this noisy delicacy slowly make its way into your body instead of violently exploding onto your face. The more attention you'll bestow on that record, the more unsuspected new paths you'll be invited to wander about. An intricacte and imaginative soundtrack with several layers of sound, gathering both organic and sonic elements to assemble a post-industrial sound structure. The latter will give life to a noisy magma where unexpected clicks stumble over interferences, where digital accidents happen and where drones, acoustic resonance fill the space in time. A multitude of digital notes will slowly stretch to reach a dark-grey chaos, a pure and clean big bang echoing and calling lost sound memories." [label info]
"... On both pieces, the rough coating on the sound forms is very reminiscent of Pan Sonic’s own experimentations, but the context is somewhat different here, and the resulting work draws upon very different resources. With this album, SoC and Angel have created an incredibly dense and vibrant soundtrack, which is ultimately much bigger than the sum of its parts." [The Milk Factory]
www.conspiracyrecords.com
|
2008 |
€16.00 |
|
| SUDDEN INFANT |
Buddhist Nihilism |
LP |
Swiss Industrial-Dada-Noise-Rock band based in Berlin. Their 2014 album "Wölfli's Nightmare" on Voodoo Rhythm Records was produced by Roli Mosimann (Swans, The Young Gods, Wiseblood) and was very well received by critics and audiences. "Buddhist Nihilism" will consolidate the bands ability for bizarre and intense compositions full of left field humour, powerful rhythms and twisted structures. Brilliantly mixed and mastered by Martin Siewert (Radian) in his Vienna studio. "Buddhist Nihilism is a real fistful of sturm und drang, a real departure for the band. The new record leaves some of the noise and industrial elements behind and sees the band streamlining its approach. "Sudden Infant go all the way. Nothing is held back." - Keith Moline / The Wire "One of Europe's finest Noise provocateurs!" - Matthew Kosloff / Skyscraper Magazine
https://suddeninfant.bandcamp.com/album/buddhist-nihilism
|
2018 |
€20.00 |
|
| |
Lunatic Asylum |
CD |
Joke Lanz and Sudden Infant once again return in their razor-sharp trio setting whereby the absurdist nature that Joke's work is already cut with is reconfigured in a gnarled and beefy punk-fucked contorted rock setting. Short bursts of angular flex are heavily propelled by depth-charge rhythms, wry lyrical musings on modern living, and sensibilities hatched from years of experience in the worlds of sound art, abstract music, industrialised junk-noise and related areas have manifested in the perfect follow up to 2018's Buddhist Nihilism album on Harbinger Sound. Aided by Christian Weber on bass and Alexandre Babel on drums, Joke lays on a battery of electronics, loops, field recordings and samples to complement mostly semi-spoken vocals that appear like they've been swept from the overflowing gutters of a shopping centre into a huge ball of malaise that can only be laughed at as world leaders look on perplexed. Exactly as the title suggests, 'Lunatic Asylum' depicts a world in absolute disarray as the seams binding it together slowly fall apart to reveal jesters whose best attempts to glue everything back in place are built on bigger lies more transparent than ever. Meanwhile, citizens of the developed world turn on each other for the stupidest of reasons or grow fatter with their descent into an ignorance nourished by half-baked cultural nuggets pre-packaged and sold as great and awe-inspiring work. And everything has to be recorded, photographed and shared as brain cells are decimated by false ideals, propaganda, exaggerated lifestyles and a huge tub of popcorn swimming in indiscernible yellow gloop. Such are the snapshots that resonate as Lunatic Asylum takes some well-aimed swipes at the human condition of the 21st Century. Featuring a fantastic guest appearance by Franz Treichler (The Young Gods) on ' Il y a des Enfants', each of the 14 songs that constitute Lunatic Asylum are bold, heavy, playful and rife with surprising twists and turns Joke's mostly English splatter-poetry helps guide into a space that's about as accessible as the outer reaches of rock can get. In a perfect world, this is the stuff even daytime airwaves should be pregnant with but, since the world is presently tripping over its own feet more so than ever, we will have to suffice with wherever this can nudge with the help of Fourth Dimension Records. One day, hopefully, more will catch up. Please note that a vinyl version of Lunatic Asylum will appear later, but due to continuing heavy delays at the pressing plants this won't be available to pre-order till June. In the meantime, the CD features two bonus tracks.
https://suddeninfant.bandcamp.com/album/lunatic-asylum
|
2022 |
€14.00 |
|
| SUDDEN INFANT / CARLOS GIFFONI |
Oslo Oscillation Orgy |
LP |
"This collaborative release has its origins in a joint performance which took place in ‘a shady pub in London’, according to Carlos. Recordings have since been exchanged and reworked, and finalised when the two played together again in Oslo last year. Based in Berlin and London, Joke Lanz toils ceaselessly to create new sounds. He crafts an abrupt musique concrète, a bewildering edifice of no-fi electronics, turntables, and unexpected and disorientating sound sources. Since 1986 he has appeared under a variety of guises, including Schimpfluch-Gruppe, Schnäbi Gaggi Pissi Gaggi, WAL, Catholic Boys in Heavy Leather, Opposite Opponents, and the ubiquitous Sudden Infant.
Carlos Giffoni is a Venezuelan artist based in New York. His compositions utilise analogue and digital synthesis, modular
manipulation, feedback systems, and rewired electronic instruments.
He is a prolific performer, appearing with Thurston Moore, Jim O’Rourke, Kid 606, Merzbow and Smegma, amongst many others. Carlos is the curator of the annual experimental music No Fun Fest in Brooklyn, and also a member of no wave/noise/rock trio Monotract.
First edition of 200 copies" [label info]
"Two masters of noise team up. The old master from Switzerland is Joke Lanz, also known as Sudden Infant since about twenty years and Carlos Giffoni from Venezuala but since some time in New York. They met four or five years ago and have played together a number of times. The record now released by Entr'acte was recorded in last two years in London and New York. For some reason I expected the full forty minute noise blast, but not so. Of course this record is not the softest discussed this week, but it turned out to be one interesting slab of sound collating through skipping vinyl, looping of sounds (which could be from reel to reel recorders) and manipulations through computers. Occasionally these things explode into noise, but throughout everything sounded more through out than I anticipated. After the recent release by Sudden Infant on Absurd which I didn't enjoy very well, this is a real blow in the face. Intelligent noise, well crafted." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.entracte.co.uk
|
2007 |
€15.00 |
|
| SULIDAE, PHILIP |
History of Violence |
CD |
"Sounds were recorded in the Belanglo State forest, 150 kilometres to the south of Sydney, Australia. Its quiet solitude and isolation contrasts dramatically with its turbulent and macabre history – the scene for a series of horrific murders in the early 90’s at the hands of one of Australia’s most notorious serial killers.
I choose Belanglo as a location due to my own somewhat morbid fascination with its history, but also due to its virtually indistinct organic character. It is essentially a forest like any other area of bush along the eastern seaboard of Australia; however its latent and almost dormant sensation is unlike any other.
I find this contrast very interesting, as it plays deeply into people’s subjective understanding – this understanding of Belanglo is, I believe, largely shaped and divided by our external perceptions of its history, and the innate, immediate impact of its environment.
During recording, the sounds, timbres and sonic characteristics were very comparable – similar areas, environments, topography. This allowed me some latitude and gestural flexibility in composing, as I could play with the ideas and observations that lay behind the forest and its history. In effect I could try and create a sonic environment that would replicate the contrasting and distinct perceptions of Belanglo.
Our ideas of place and the constructs behind them generate a fertile ground for creativity and composition.
(philip sulidae, February 2014)" [label info]
www.unfathomless.net
"It's been a while since I last heard music by Philip Sulidae, but some of his newer releases are downloads only, so perhaps that explains, and there also seems to be some time gap between this and the previous. I quite enjoyed his work so far, which sometimes seemed quite raw and at other times very microsounding. This new work surely fits the latter body of works. All of the sound sources were recorded at the Belanglo State Forest in Australia, which is some 150 kilometres to the south of Sydney and apparently a very quiet area, even when it was the "scene for a series of horrific murders in the early 90’s at the hands of one of Australia’s most notorious serial killers". No doubt that's one of the reasons to do field recordings over there, and Sulidae is not the first to go to 'guilty territories'. It's not something you are aware of when hearing this release, based upon just hearing it. These six pieces are very quiet, high pitched for whatever reason, and it's unclear to me
whether this has any electronic processing, or whether this area is high pitched, insects maybe? I think a certain level of sound processing took place and it’s quite a frightening release, in a curious way. The sheer level of compression, to get all of these sounds together, make a very oppressive release, despite all the quietness that is going on here. But perhaps I am hearing too much in this release, maybe things that are not in there per se. I played this a couple of times, and the more I hear it, the more I like it. It all seems relatively easy made but it unfolds a lot of beauty actually. A great yet very much unsettling release." [FdW/Vital Weekly] |
2014 |
€14.00 |
|
| SUN RA & HIS MYTH SCIENCE SOLAR ARKESTRA |
The Antique Blacks |
CD |
"Another much sought after and long unavailable title recorded in 1974 with a smallish ensemble consisting (probably) of stalwarts Marshall Allen, John Gilmore, Danny David, James Jacson, Akh Tal Ebah, Clifford Jarvis, Artakatune, and new electric guitarist, Sly, that was released on Saturn in the same year. This sounds like a studio recording, carefully thought out - most of the compositions appear only on this record (apart from versions of Nature's God and Space is the Place), and include a chain of very interesting accompanied /interpolated) spoken texts: There is a Change in the Air, The Antique Blacks, The ridiculous "I" and the Cosmos "Me" - as well as a very long and scary coda to Space is the Place. Ra plays Rocksichord and Moog throughout (solo on track 7 and at the end of track 8). Theatrical and political; this is a fascinating release." [label info]
www.rermegacorp.com
|
2009 |
€14.00 |
|
| SUN RA (AND HIS SOLAR ARKESTRA) |
On Jupiter |
CD |
"A big band studio recording made a month before Sleeping Beauty and released by Saturn in 1979 consisting of three quite different pieces: On Jupiter, which is a vocalised, relaxed, swing trance piece, UFO - Sun Ra's unashamed approach to disco, layering big band events over a funky beat and chunky chants -, and Seductive Fantasy, which lurches along in classic Ra fashion, very easygoing and with a good high-definition recording quality. It's nice to hear the oboe and bassoon, often lost in live recordings, so prominent, Again, the mixing is unusually sophisticated. As an ex-LP, it's LP length." [label info]
|
2008 |
€14.00 |
|
| SUNCHARIOT |
Fictio |
CD-R |
Another new project from Russia, creepy drones and slow-motion pulses, mechanic & cold sounds, little harmonies appear in the acoustic dust... intense dark & visionary stuff, on Moscow's ABGURD-Label.
"A project of a sculptor and an ethnographer Denis Shapovalov from the city of Rostov-on-Don, who is also the one and the only member of ADRIVA, ENMERKAR and MATTER. "Fictio" calls to self-dependent comprehension of forms by sublimation of clods of clay and granite monoliths with alchemy of archaic Drone Ambient, giving birth to resonances and fluctuations of Time. As deep stone strata that move by one millimetre in a thousand years, humming and drifting drones spread over the body, moving away all the vanity and fuss.
The release consists of two 35+ minutes parts, one of which was released as the same-named CDr on Observatory records in an edition of 40 copies." [label info]
label website: www.abgurd.com
|
2007 |
€9.00 |
|
| SUNEATERS |
Cosmic Insight, Baby (Part 1) |
10inch |
"The electronics of the legendary 70s "Berliner Schule" are coming back to life again! Tobias Fischer (Feu Follet/Naarmann und Neiteler) and Mirko Uhlig (solo/Aalfang mit Pferdekopf) are openly displaying their love for floating pads, pulsating sequencers, dynamic melodies and freely breathing soundscapes. The duo combines the warmth and deepness of analogue "cosmic music" with emotional drones and contemporary electronics. References are plentiful, ranging from the great pioneers Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze as well as Kluster and Eno to the magical musical territories of Coil, Robert Fripp and Mirror. Featuring the guest appearance of renowned ambient and classical composer Steve Jolliffe (founding member of Supertramp and Tangerine Dream) on flute." [label info]
http://eys.online.fr/tutrur
|
2007 |
€7.50 |
|
| SUNKEN |
Eye Electric Organ, Brain Electric Nerve |
CD |
"eep in the swirling depths of the ocean a terrible yet wondrous beast stirs slow but sure amidst great forests of sea algae. Taking on the form of a pair of conjoined drown-ed sailors it sets forth upon the currents determined to loose its apocalyptic vision upon the earth via droning sea shanty and great humming hymn. Sunken is the duo of sunken sailors Stefan Neville (Pumice) and Antony Milton (Nether Dawn/A.M etc). Using a range of organs, sonar gear, live tapeloops, vocals and an unhealthy amount of submarine reverb they create a glorious droning pop noise. 'Eye Electric Organ, Brain Electric Nerve' follows on from their acclaimed self titled debut (also on PseudoArcana) and various compilation appearances. You can read reviews and hear a sample from the album." [label / website info]
www.pseudoarcana.com
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| SUNN O))) |
Kannon |
CD |
"Kannon is an album which was composed in the aftershadow of SUNN O)))’s most recent successes in immersive collaboration (the group worked with Scott Walker on Soused, Ulver on Terrestrials in 2013 and 2014) and also from the broad and influential wake of their epitimous Monolith’s & Dimensions . Kannon emerged both independently as a conceptual entity and with roots in the legacies of those projects, yet was fully realised years later, in 2015. The album is 36 minutes in length and consists of three pieces of a triadic whole : Kannon 1, 2 and 3.
The album celebrates many SUNN O))) traditions ; Kannon was recorded and mixed with SUNN O)))’s close colleague and coproducer Randall Dunn in Seattle, in Studio Litho, Aleph and Avast!; and the LP includes performances by long term allies and collaborators Attila Csihar, Oren Ambarchi, Rex Ritter, Steve Moore and others. And at the core the composition centers around the dynamic and intense guitar and bass interplay of SUNN O)))’s founders : Stephen O’Malley & Greg Anderson.
It’s possibly the most figurative album SUNN O))) has created, which is unusual as they usually dwell in layers of abstraction and subjectivity. On the other hand the album is the most outright “metal” in years, drawing personal associations and memories of cherished albums like Panzerfaust and Twilight of the Gods again to the forefront of consciousness. At the third time it is very close to the cyclical character of mantra which the band has evolved into as a living creature, the enormity of intense sensate detail and manifestation of the live in concert face of SUNN O))), the organism that has flourished, metamorphosed and transcended tremendously over the past ten years.
The literal representation of Kannon is as an aspect of Buddha: specifically “goddess of mercy” or “Perceiving the Sounds (or Cries) of the World”. She is also sometimes commonly known as the Guanyin Bodhisattva (Chinese: 觀音菩薩) amongst a plurality of other forms. There is a rich lineage behind this idea tracing back through many asian belief systems, with as many names and cultural personifications of the idea.
SUNN O))) commissioned critical theorist Aliza Shvartz to write a text / liner notes around these ideas and topics. She also explores the relations and perceptions to their approach to these ideas via the metonym of music and SUNN O)))’s place/approach within the framework of music and metal overall.
SUNN O))) also commissioned Swiss designer/artist Angela LaFont Bollinger to create the cover artwork, an abstracted sculpture of vision of Kannon, and the French photographer Estelle Hanania to capture portraits of the core trio (Csihar, Anderson, O’Malley) in the impressive and obscurant Emanuel Vingeland mausoleum in Oslo.
The LP is packaged in immaculate tip on gatefold sleeve by our long time comrades Stoughton Printing, and pressed at Cascade in Portland, Oregon. CD, download and coloured vinyl versions are also available.
– Stephen O’Malley & Greg Anderson / SUNN O))), 11 September 2015" [label info]
credits:
Released December 4th 2015
Attila Csihar - Vocals
Stephen O’Malley - Guitar
Greg Anderson - Guitar, Bass Guitar
Oren Ambarchi - Guitar, Oscillator (K1,K2)
Randall Dunn - Korg MS 20 (K1, K2)
Rex Ritter - Moog (K2)
Brad Mowen - Concert Bass Drum (K2)
Steve Moore - Juno 106 (K2)
Conch trio : Dempster, Priester, Moore
Recorded at studio Litho, Avast! and Aleph, Seattle by Randall Dunn
Mixed at Avast! by Randall Dunn
Assistant recording engineer (Litho) : Mell Dettmer
Mastered by Jason Ward at CMS
Kannon 1, 2, 3 written & arranged by SUNN O)))
Lyrics by Attila Csihar
Produced by SUNN O))) with Randall Dunn
SUNN O))) art direction : Stephen O’Malley
Cover and typographic design by Allison Lafont Bollinger
Text by Aliza Shvarts
Band portraits by Estelle Hanania / Detail from mural Vita at the Emanuel Vigeland Mausoleum, Oslo
© Emanuel Vigeland Museum / ARS 2015
www.southernlord.com
"Those grimrobed ambient metal overlords O'Malley & Anderson (here with guests including Oren Ambarchi and vokillist Attila Csihar) add a new opus to their extensive discography of doom/drone masterwerks! The three part Kannon, which may have germinated from the track "Cannon" found on their live Domkirke double lp from 2008, is art to play loud. All deep drones, deep voices, doubtless deep thoughts (check out the liner notes by critical theorist Aliza Shvartz). And here are OUR notes: Abyssic atmospheres of vast grinding drones. Layered, liturgic cavernous ritual. Gorgeously sculpted feedback flowmotion. Along with moments that remind us of the wide open Western spaces twang of more recent Earth (or Barn Owl) as well." [Aquarius Rec.]
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
|
ØØ VOID |
CD |
"OO Void was originally released in 2000 by Hydra Head in the USA and Rise Above in the UK and Europe. They have been out of print for approximately 8 years now. *In 2008, OO Void was reissued in Japan only through Daymare Recordings. That release featured a second disc of remixes from the experimental/industrial group Nurse with Wound. *The record has now come back home to its proper resting place via Southern Lord. Beautiful artwork from Stephen Kasner and package execution via Stephen O'Malley. -Petra Haden (Queens of the Stoneage, Foo Fighters, The Decemberists) contributed Violin and vocals to the album -Pete Stahl (Scream, Wool, Goatsnake, The Earthings?, QOTSA) contributed vocals to the album -Rabid, fiendish following. This will be hunted down and devoured. *OO Void (also known as Double-O Void) was the second album recorded by sunn O))) circa 2000. At that time the guitarist & core members: Stephen O'Malley and Greg Anderson were joined by guest bassist collaborator Stuart Dahlquist (Burning Witch, Goatsnake). OO Void also features some incredible contributions from both Petra Haden (Violinist/Vocalist) and Pete Stahl (vocals). Their melodic evocations are seamlessly woven within this thick sonic tapestry. The group approached the compositions of this album in a different way than their previous recordings. Each member focused intently on one composition/song and brought it into the recording session. Then each of those songs that were brought in were translated to the other members and nuances were worked out on the spot in the studio. Greg Anderson aka The Duke brought in: NN0))), Stephen O'Malley aka Mk Ultra Blizzard brought in: RA at Dusk, Stuart Dahlquist aka G.Subharmonia brought in: Richard *The exception to all this was the inclusion of a rendition of a obscure Melvins song called: "Rabbits' Revenge". This song was actually never recorded in the studio by the Melvins and the riffs were salvaged from a live tape that Anderson had of the band playing in Seattle from March of 1985! *This album was recorded to 24 track 2" tape at Grandmaster studios in Hollywood, California. A large step forward in production values from the band's debut recording The Grimmrobe Demos. Fellow sub-sonic entusiast Scott Reeder (the Obsessed, Kyuss, Goatsnake) captured that particular incantation of sunn 0))) on huge reels of tape." [label info]
www.southernlord.com
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Life Metal (Pinwheel green and purple vinyl) |
do-LP |
SUNN O))) are pleased to present Life Metal, their first new studio album in four years, due for release on Southern Lord in April 2019. The album will be supported by their first European tour since 2016, including their first ever French tour - dates and details below.
At the very beginning of 2018 SUNN O))) co-founders Stephen O'Malley & Greg Anderson set out on a path toward a new album production. They were both determined to create new music and a new method of working in the studio, without forgetting the long and proud history of production and studio accomplishments forged during their first two decades of existence (and the members' own musical experiences out of the band's). One long term goal was completely clear: to record Sunn O))) with Steve Albini in his Electrical Audio studio. Steve took the call, said "Sure, this will be fun. I have no idea what is going to happen."
Greg and Stephen gathered twice that spring for writing, conceptualising and riff woodshedding in the very building where the band was formed: Downtown Rehearsal in Los Angeles. Sonic cosmoses, flashes of abstract colour (synthetic and objective) and themes emerged from the mastered depths of saturation and circuits between the two players and their mountains of gear. Themes developed in terms of brightness and energy, while visionary cues pointed toward subconscious areas of practice and the pair realised they were exploring other zones of consciousness via sound/time and sound/energy manipulation. In early summer a pre-production session with full backline, as a trio with T.O.S. on Moog, was recorded at Dave Grohl’s 606 studios, Northridge, California.
In July 2018 SUNN O))) spent just over two weeks in Chicago at Electrical Audio (Studio A) with Steve Albini at the helm. The results are astounding: there is breadth and luminosity of colour, it sounds vast. The sessions were impeccably recorded, authentically represented and completely accurate. The spectrum cracked the firmament open in clarity. An all analogue technique was used, they recorded and mixed on tape, providing a creative gateway for SUNN O))) to evolve their production methods into stronger, confident, performance based and a more logical executive process. The album was mastered and lacquers cut from tape in October by SUNN O))) ally Matt Colton at Alchemy in London. The LP version is a AAA album, recorded and mixed on tape via a completely analogue production, from the input of the band's amplifiers and the air coming off the speakers in front of the microphones to needle touching the pressed vinyl on your turntable.
Continuing one of the main currents of the SUNN O))) concept, depth of exploration within collaboration, brought forth Hildur Guðnadóttir to the Sunn O))) constellation. Hildur is a sometime live collaborator of Sunn O))) and a renowned film music composer, former member of the bands Múm, Pan Sonic and Angel. She was a long time collaborator with the composer Jóhann Jóhannsson (RIP). Hildur lent her incredible attitude, as well as her voice, breath and electric cello, and the enigmatic haldorophone to the proceedings, culminating in the epic composition/concerto "Novæ". The cosmos clearly expands.
Tim Midyett, a close friend of Greg and Stephen since the Seattle days of the early 90s (and member of Silkworm, Bottomless Pit and Mint Mile), joined in a foundational role tying earth to sound with wicked performances on aluminium neck bass and baritone guitars: instruments he helped pioneer playing back in the 90s (alongside Steve and Shellac of course). Dark matter is reality.
Prolific new music composer Anthony Pateras arranged and recorded an incredible contribution of pipe organ for a piece titled "Troubled Air" (titled after an essay by author Aliza Shvarts, who also penned the liner notes for Sunn O)))’s Kannon) at Schlosskappelle, Schloss Solitude, Stuttgart. String theory of space.
The resulting album is titled Life Metal. It is fully realised and completely real. The record was produced by the core of Stephen & Greg & arranged by the greater constellation Sunn O))). Paintings by visual artist Samantha Keely Smith graciously adorn the sleeve and provide a perfect suitable mask to the proceedings. They collide ideas of 19th century romanticism & late 20th abstract expressionism (mysticism) with Sunn O)))’s approach to metal (via reference points of Arbo, Turner, Delville, Richter, Turrel, Wou-Ki). Photographer Ronald Dick shot them in baths of light colour representing depth of sound pressure in the work.
SUNN O)))
Life Metal
(sunn300, Southern Lord)
1. Between Sleipnir's Breaths
2. Troubled Air
3. Aurora
4. Novae
There is a second more meditative LP titled Pyroclasts, also recorded by Steve Albini in parallel, and which will be revealed in the autumn 2019 (more later) with all music performed by Stephen, Greg, T.O.S., Tim Midyett, and Hildur Guðnadóttir.
|
2022 |
€35.00 |
|
| SUPERSILENT |
7 |
DVD |
„Um direkt allen Mißverständnissen vorzubeugen: Auf „7" der neuen DVD von SUPERSILENT gibt es keine Extras oder irreführende graphische Menüs. Keine staatlichen Warnungen, keine Einführungen mit Ufos. Kein Schnickschnack. Denn Label, Künstler und Regisseur hatten den Anspruch, das „7" wie eine Audio CD laufen sollte, nur mit Bild. Einlegen und ein komplettes SUPERSILENT Konzert genießen, genau so lange (109 Min.) und in der gleichen Reihenfolge wie dargeboten. Man kann sogar zwischen den Tracks hin und her skippen. Keine Overdubs (auch wenn sich irgendwie einige psychedelische Momente auf die DVD geschlichen haben:-)), statt dessen hat DEATHPROD einen hervorragenden Stereo Mix abgeliefert, bei dem man sogar zwischen Dolby Digital und dem leicht besseren DTS wählen kann. Und dank DVD-9 ist die Bildqualität sowieso überlegen.“
"The Norwegian death-jazz improvising unit return for the seventh of their Supersilent series, this time in the form of a DVD release of a highly-anticipated live performance in Oslo on August 16, 2004. Members Arve Henriksen (trumpet, electronics), Helge Sten (audio virus), Ståle Storløkken (keyboards) and Jarle Vespestad (drums) form a band that refuse categorization, with experiments in such disparate elements as ambient, jazz, electronica, rock, techno, noise and musique concréte. Critics have compared them to the Miles Davis band of the early '70s, and groups like Stockhausen, Einstürzende Neubauten and Can. Supersilent hadn't played the capital for quite some time and the line went around the block. With the uncertain knowledge that all Supersilent concerts are totally improvised, it didn't take long to hear that they were in excellent form and interplay, all captured by three cameras to black and white 16 mm film and recorded by Kai Andersen from Athletic Sound. Filmed by Norwegian multimedia artist Kim Hiorthøy, the black and white footage lends a filmic quality very rarely seen in concert DVDs. Constructed like an audio CD with visuals, there are no extras, no menus, no FBI warnings or meaningless graphics -- what you get is a pure, complete Supersilent concert from start to finish, 109 minutes. What you see and hear is how it was, no overdubs have been applied to the recording, but a couple of psychedelic hiccups have found their way to the film. The 6 "tracks" are divided so you can skip back and forth as on a CD. By using the audio button on the player's remote control you can chose between Dolby Digital and the slightly superior DTS sound alternatives, if your DVD player is ready for DTS. The sound is mixed by Deathprod in good old stereo. Please also note that this is a DVD-9 production, giving superior picture quality due to the disc having dual layers and more available space. What you hear and see is a multifarious, totally improvised, completely unique live performance from a group who define the best in bombastic Nordic sound. Running time: 109 minutes." [label info]
|
2005 |
€16.00 |
|
|
6 |
CD |
"Supersilent have been a solid cornerstone in Rune Grammofon since the very beginning and are seen by many as representing the very essence of the label. From the monumental hardcore blizzard storms of 1-3 to the elegant electrojazz of 4 and the almost quiet soundscapes of 5, this new album is where the sum of all things Supersilent comes together in a shape of almost epic proportions. Like 1-3 and Scorch Trio, it was recorded at Athletic Sound in Halden, Norway. More than ever it appears clear that their music lives in a no man's land between the genres, somewhere between rock, electronica, jazz and modern composition. As with all their recordings and live performances, everything here is improvised. That most of the music on 6 appears to be written or at least arranged is testament to the high, almost telepathic level they work at . Needless to say, there are no overdubs. Often being labelled jazz because of the improvising aspect of the music and the fact that three of the members come from a jazz background, with 6 they are just as likely to attract followers of bands such as Goodspeed You! Black Emperor, Sigur Rós, King Crimson, (late) Talk Talk or Popol Vuh." [label info]
www.runegrammofon.com
|
2003 |
€15.50 |
|
| |
11 |
CD |
"This is the eleventh release in the Supersilent series. These recordings are taken from the very fruitful sessions that resulted in Supersilent 8 (RCD 2067CD), but are no mere leftovers. Indeed, Supersilent 8 was originally scheduled as a triple release, but producer Deathprod (Helge Sten) finally decided to split it. This is also the first vinyl-only release from the band. Supersilent 8 was recorded during a 5-day studio session at Athletic Sound in Halden, Norway, the all-analog facility where other Rune Grammofon albums like Supersilent 1-3 (RCD 2001CD), Scorch Trio (RCD 2025CD), Luggumt (RCD2040CD/RLP 3040LP) and Raus Aus Stavanger (RCD 2049CD) were recorded. From the monumental hardcore blizzard storm of 1-3 to the elegant electro-jazz of 4 and from the quiet soundscapes of 5 to the epic 6, Supersilent yet again re-invented themselves with 8, an album that to a certain degree explored more abstract and mysterious pathways beyond categories and comparisons. In fact, these sessions turned out to be so fruitful, that producer Deathprod finished 5 hours of music and at one point considered making it another triple CD. In the end, 68 minutes ended up on Supersilent 8, but it was always understood that more of the excellent music that didn't make it to the final cut would appear in one way or another at a later time, and indeed, here it is as a vinyl-only release. This was also Jarle Vespestad's final studio session. This 180 gram audiophile vinyl edition was carefully mastered by Bob Katz and cut by Paul Gold at Salt Mastering. Members include: Helge Sten (audio virus, electric guitar), Ståle Storløkken (synthesizers, keyboards), Arve Henriksen (trumpet, voice, electronics), and Jarle Vespestad (drums)." [label info]
www.runegrammofon.com
|
2014 |
€15.50 |
|
| SUSTAINED DEVELOPMENT |
same |
CD-R & object |
"ACL 1001: Limited edition of 50 in hand-painted unique packaging
AC 1001: Unlimited edition in plastic sleeve
This drone project combines microtonal layering (inspired by Phill Niblock) of organ, harmonium, and voice sounds with field recordings and creates aural textures combining brooding atmospheres and minimalist audio conceptualism.
The five tracks are dominated by layers of long tones and extensive sheets of sound which at first appear as static as sound sculptures before one becomes aware of the microtonal goings-on beneath the surface. Hence the project name which not only refers to the “sustained” character of the tones, but also to the implied process of listening. Inspired by the so-called John Cage Organ in the German town of Halberstadt, on which the world’s longest (and slowest) piece of music started being performed in 2001 (samples of the performance can be heard on the album), as well as by the compositional methods of Phill Niblock (see the liner notes of the limited edition for more information on the conceptual background), “Sustained Development” is an attempt to approach the concept of the drone thorugh a variety of means including layering of instrumental sounds, digital stretching of recordings, and collage. Free jazz musician and audio artist Hartmut Geerken describes it as “a special kind of experience” to “dive into the thrilling and exciting drones in which more goes than one might think at first. While listening, I had a brief visit from La Monte and my old friends, the Dagar Brothers; at full volume, I was worried my almost 40-year-old speakers might break, and the whole thing was concluded by cut-ups I quite liked.” " [label info]
www.wix.com/attenuationcircuit/attenuation-circuit
|
2011 |
€11.00 |
|
| |
same |
CD-R |
"ACL 1001: Limited edition of 50 in hand-painted unique packaging
AC 1001: Unlimited edition in plastic sleeve
This drone project combines microtonal layering (inspired by Phill Niblock) of organ, harmonium, and voice sounds with field recordings and creates aural textures combining brooding atmospheres and minimalist audio conceptualism.
The five tracks are dominated by layers of long tones and extensive sheets of sound which at first appear as static as sound sculptures before one becomes aware of the microtonal goings-on beneath the surface. Hence the project name which not only refers to the “sustained” character of the tones, but also to the implied process of listening. Inspired by the so-called John Cage Organ in the German town of Halberstadt, on which the world’s longest (and slowest) piece of music started being performed in 2001 (samples of the performance can be heard on the album), as well as by the compositional methods of Phill Niblock (see the liner notes of the limited edition for more information on the conceptual background), “Sustained Development” is an attempt to approach the concept of the drone thorugh a variety of means including layering of instrumental sounds, digital stretching of recordings, and collage. Free jazz musician and audio artist Hartmut Geerken describes it as “a special kind of experience” to “dive into the thrilling and exciting drones in which more goes than one might think at first. While listening, I had a brief visit from La Monte and my old friends, the Dagar Brothers; at full volume, I was worried my almost 40-year-old speakers might break, and the whole thing was concluded by cut-ups I quite liked.” " [label info]
www.wix.com/attenuationcircuit/attenuation-circuit
|
2010 |
€5.00 |
|
| SUZUKI, AKIO |
A I Sha / あいしゃ |
LP |
"Needless to say, Akio Suzuki is one of the representative sound artists in Japan. Many of his previous releases are sometimes interpreted as the work of a hermit or wizard creating beautiful sounds with his self-made musical instrument called 'Analapos,' glass harmonica (De Koolmees), and stone flute, but the title of Suzuki's first sound piece, aidan ni Mono wo Nageru (Throwing Things at the Stairs) at Nagoya Station in 1963, reflects his perspective on the noises in his work. This LP consists of two 2009 performances created with the use of radio. 'Howling Objects,' with reverberation of a large museum space, and 'a i sha,' in which the radio moves throughout the museum, can be noise itself, but they exist in accordance with the method of 'Oto-date' and 'Tadori' for which Suzuki has been continuously searching. Here, an approach to Suzuki's hardcore sound in his nature is surely concentrated. 'It was at a solo exhibition in the Minamigaro gallery in Nihonbashi, Tokyo in 1976 when I held the premiere showing of 'Howling Objects'. When I inserted the microphone into the cylinder of the stand type Analapos, and played echo sound, I was surprised to cause a howling. From that incident, I arranged iron 'wappa' boxes (cylindrical containers formed by bending a thin plate), inserted two wireless microphones with echoes in the boxes and moved the position of the boxes to search for a sound. ... In the performance I did at the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, I used roll papers, microphones and radios to revisit 'Howling Objects'. These radios and microphones used from the 1970s have been increasingly degraded in recent years, so this performance has become the last one. 'a i sha' is a performance in which the two radios used in 'Howling Objects' are loaded onto a small dolly and moved around the museum. After setting the radios to AM, selecting the noise wavelengths and tuning the two radios to be able to hear an interesting rhythm, I adjust the volume to an appropriate level and start. As the sound landscape changes by the directionality of radio by moving over to a corridor, wide space and a window, I share the sound field with the people who happen to be there by chance and the people chasing the dolly'. Akio Suzuki Full-color cover photo on sleeve. New liner notes in Japanese and English by Suzuki. Limited edition of 250." [label info]
omega-point.shop-pro.jp |
2015 |
€32.00 |
|
| SUZUKI, KAORI |
Music for Modified Melodica |
CD |
"Music for Modified Melodica was born out of two explorations: one of tuning (and subsequently degrading) the small reeds of a melodica, and the other to modify it playable with foot pumps, allowing for the sustained excitation of the reeds.
Playing with the highly resistive foot bellows introduced massive ‘volumes’ of air to the reeds, overblowing them to vibrate loudly. This aspect led me to work with the sound potentials of combination tones which appear at high acoustical volumes- an area which has been elemental, especially to my durational sound works, over recent years.
The pumped breaths of the melodica are amplified and brought through time delays, with electronically manipulated high frequencies and oscillators to further activate the mix. The resulting experience, as a performer, lends affinity to what a participant to the music previously called it—one which “rewards endurance with transcendence”.
MMM was performed and recorded live. Similar iterations have been performed in New York, Osaka, and Tokyo in various settings, and at least once in an abandoned naval magazine.
Intended for hi-volume listening!
bio:
Kaori Suzuki is a Tokyo-born and California-based artist, performer, and composer.
Her spiraling sound visions are geared for heightened states of listening-and-being, often working with loud, high-droning electric and acoustic instruments, synthesis, tape, oscillators, and other elements necessary to spin her auditory transmissions. Suzuki’s long time interests in “inner-ear tone” psychedelia and psychoacoustic phenomena inform her live performances, recordings, and installation works.
Suzuki’s recordings of solo and collaborative configurations are published on independent labels in Europe and the U.S., including Beacon Sound (US) and Second Editions (DE). When she's not working on her solo music, her other projects include drumming in the Oakland based minimalist psych-punk group, Night Collectors; her ongoing, collaborative light & sound happenings with partner, John Krausbauer; and playing amplified cello and guitar in the ever-intense amplified string ensemble, Ecstatic Music Band.
Suzuki sustains a diverse background in electronic music and instrument making, including her production of electronic instruments for her (now defunct) project/company, Magic Echo Music from 2008-2013. Her autodidactic creations evolved into custom and small run instruments, which have been utilized by various musicians around the globe and most venerably by Hiroshi Hasegawa (C.C.C.C., Astro). She continues instrument making for her own work, and currently teaches on the subject of electronic music at the Center for Contemporary Music at Mills College and as a visiting lecturer at Santa Clara University.
As a performer, Suzuki has presented her sound works at numerous venues across North America, Japan, and Europe, including the San Francisco Electronic Music Festival (US), Berkeley Art Museum (US), OTOOTO (JP), Worm (NL), CCRMA (US), Quiet City Series (CN), Debacle Festival (US), The Lab (US), Gallery Nomart (JP), Gallery 316 (MX), Vox Populi (US), Zorba (FR), Elastic Arts (US), FUSE Arts (UK), Human Resources (US), Time Based Art Festival (US), Rhizome (US), Ochiai Soup (JP), Coaxial (US), Arkaoda (DE), Holy Underground (US), and many others.
kaorisuzuki.net
Recorded live at the littlefield concert hall (Mills College) in Oakland, California, July 2019.
Mastered by Jos Smolders at EARLabs
Covert Painting by Pete Greening"
https://movingfurniturerecords.bandcamp.com/album/music-for-modified-melodica
|
2022 |
€12.00 |
|
| SVAER |
л.λ.ハ |
mCD-R |
svær is a solo project by a french musican currently based in brussels, belgium. we discovered him nearly three years ago when he was the opening act for tim hecker in brussels. based on layers of guitars, his excellent first album "muted people" released in 2020 seriously confirmed our hopes
https://taalem.bandcamp.com/album/alm-143
"And finally, there is svær, from France, but currently residing in Brussels. In 2020 he released his debut, 'Muted People' and his three pieces are for deceased dogs, 'Laika', 'Loukanikos' and 'Hachikō'. All dogs go to heaven, svær says (What happens to cats? Or people who are afraid of dogs? I know a few of the latter). I understand that svær plays the guitar and undoubtedly uses many sound effects to arrive at that gritty guitar sound that was popular once upon some time ago. Taalem learned about svær when he opened for Tim Hecker; perhaps that may serve as a pointer? Especially in 'Loukanikos' the digital processing plays a very big part. On either side of 'Loukanikos', the other two offer a much more mellow ambient tapestry of long spun sounds on the guitar, lo-fi electronics and sadly too short." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2022 |
€5.00 |
|
| SVARTSINN |
Traces of Nothingness |
CD |
Reissue, for the first time on vinyl as a double LP in Matt Laminated Gatefold Sleeve, in standard Black as well as Grey in Black Marble Special Edition, and also available as a limited Digipak. Both formats include 4 bonus remixes by Lamia Vox, Triarii, Letum and Gydja. Also features all new artwork by Dehn Sora.
The 3rd offering from Norway's Svartsinn could be acknowledged as the end of a trilogy, the first opus "Devouring Consciousness" was an album containing stories made during what the artist explains as being some difficult and rough times. The second offering, "Of Darkness And Re-Creation", was the process of trying to deal with these struggles and reflect on them. "Traces Of Nothingness" is simply the reaction, result and the path ahead in this ongoing, seemingly endless darkness. A slightly more melodic, sad and obscure side of Svartsinn that still keeps the cold and dark atmosphere that defines his sound.
CD Edition of 300 copies in 4 panel Digipak, Matt Lamination. 12 Tracks. Running time; 74:56
https://cycliclaw.bandcamp.com/album/traces-of-nothingness
“....Beatless, desolate dark ambient soundscapes. Traces of Nothingness opens with the words "It lives ... in the dark ... something in the dark" - an appropriate introduction to this collection of brooding thunderclouds. Whale-like groans and distorted, distant impacts populate this world of shadow and bubbling ooze - there is at times the sound of a colossal drum pounding a broken beat, there are huge air movements and amorphous disturbances. On a number of tracks tonal material bleeds in briefly toward the end - drones, strings, humming textures - strikingly beautiful against the vast bleakness of the background atmospheres....” [Morpheusmusic]
|
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
| SVASTI-AYANAM |
Sanklesa |
CD |
Wer sich schon immer eine Melange aus tibetischer Ritual-Musik und perkussiver ambient Industrial-Trance und dunklen Maschinen-Drones gewünscht hat, liegt bei SVASTI-AYANAM genau richtig ! Dies ist die Wiederveröffentlichung eines lange vergriffenen Albums von 1998 vom RAISON D'ETRE-Seitenprojekt, enthält 2 Bonus-Tracks!
"Svasti-ayanam is Peter Andersson's foray into dark, Tibetan-Nepalese ambience. Andersson is well known for his work as Raison D'etre, Atomine Elektrine etc. In this incarnation, his signature Raison D'etre sound has been modified in an incredibly pronounced, and effective way. Sanklesa is marked by strong tribal rhythms that draw the listener into distant, foreign, ritual soundscapes. Andersson has released a prolific catalogue of music, that includes many CD's, limited vinyl and countless compilation appearances. Album incl. 2 exlusive bonus-tracks." [label info]
www.eternalpride.ru
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| SWANS |
Leaving Meaning |
do-CD |
SWANS Leaving Meaning is the band’s fifteenth studio album, the follow up to 2016’s The Glowing Man and due for release by Mute / Young God Records (N America) on 25 October 2019. Leaving Meaning will be released on double vinyl in a brown chipboard sleeve, double CD in a brown chipboard digipack and digitally.
Listen to the first track from the album, ‘It’s Coming It’s Real’:
https://youtu.be/3ZVZo30M8Lc
Written and produced by Michael Gira, the album features contributions from recent and former Swans, members of Angels of Light as well as Guest Artists Anna and Maria von Hausswolff, Ben Frost, The Necks, Baby Dee, and a Hawk and a Hacksaw – full personnel list below.
Michael Gira explains, “Leaving Meaning is the first Swans album to be released since I dissolved the lineup of musicians that constituted Swans from 2010 – 2017. Swans is now comprised of a revolving cast of musicians, selected for both their musical and personal character, chosen according to what I intuit best suits the atmosphere in which I’d like to see the songs I’ve written presented. In collaboration with me, the musicians, through their personality, skill and taste, contribute greatly to the arrangement of the material. They’re all people whose work I admire and whose company I personally enjoy.”
“Here below are the primary contributors to Leaving Meaning:
Michael Gira – Vocals, words, acoustic/electric guitar, production. I started Swans in NYC in 1982 and have been the primary songwriter, singer and producer throughout the years. In the early years I played bass, but later switched to guitar. During the years of Swans hiatus (1999 – 2010), I released several albums by and toured with a group called Angels of Light.
Kristof Hahn – Lap steel, various guitars throughout, backing vocals, generous and insightful advice on mixes and arrangements. Kristof first became involved with Swans in 1989, was a principal contributor to Angels of Light, and a core Swans member 2010 – 2017. Kristof’s other musical ventures have included the Rock ‘n’ Roll Noir band Les Hommes Sauvages and Kool Kings (with Alex Chilton). He’s currently working on an instrumental record for Lawrence English’s label, Room 40. He holds a master’s degree in Political Science, and when Swans doesn’t pay the bills, he translates books for a living. Kristof’s presence, on and off tape, is pivotal to this record. Kristof lives in Berlin, Germany.
Larry Mullins – Drums, vibes, orchestral percussion, Mellotron, various keyboards, backing vocals. Larry (AKA Toby Dammit) is a trained symphonic percussionist and all-around consummate musician. He played through the 90s with Iggy Pop and later with The Stooges. He played with Swans in the late 90s and was a main contributor to Angels of Light. He is rumored to have been involved with The Residents. His varied and numerous credits also include a stint with Silver Apples as well as recently, Shakespears Sister. His current main job is playing keyboards with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. I decided immediately to ask Larry to contribute to Leaving Meaning after watching the German TV series Babylon Berlin, and suddenly, unbeknownst to me, there was Larry as the main focus of various cabaret scenes, drumming behind a huge kick drum in his inimitable style. After laughing in shock for perhaps half an hour, I decided to contact him. We hadn’t been in close touch for a long time and I’m elated I reached out. Larry lives in Berlin, Germany.
Yoyo Röhm – Electric bass, double bass, various keyboards, piano, backing vocals. Yoyo came to my attention through his work with Kristof and Larry in Berlin. In addition to his excellent bass playing, Yoyo’s ears were invaluable in helping to sort out many of the arrangements. Yoyo plays with numerous left field musicians around Berlin and also works with Mick Harvey on his Serge Gainsbourg recordings and tours. Yoyo, Larry, Kristof and I rehearsed in Berlin for 3 weeks prior to recording. Yoyo is a true Berliner – gruff and determined on the outside, a marshmallow inside. He was a great musical resource for this record.
The Necks – (Chris Abrahams – piano, organ; Tony Buck – drums, percussion; Lloyd Swanton – double bass). I have been an avid Necks fan since I first saw them perform at a Big Ears Festival in 2010. They subsequently played with Swans at a few shows in Australia. Their live performances and recordings are just about any superlative you can think of – mesmerizing, transcendent, sublime. Their music is entirely improvisational – it’s my understanding that they have no idea what they’re going to play before they start. And yet, mostly using rudimentary jazz trio instrumentation, they manage to fashion burgeoning and ever-evolving, immersive clouds of sound that utterly envelop the listener as the music unfolds. I’m beyond honored and humbled that they agreed to perform the basic tracks for 2 of my songs (The Nub and Leaving Meaning). Their performances were then delicately, and (I hope!) tastefully further orchestrated upon in Berlin. Tony lives in Berlin, and also played drums on the song Some New Things.
Anna and Maria von Hausswolff – Choral backing vocals. Anna is blessed with a soaring voice, lyrical acuity and increasing facility with the church organ. I was impressed recently to learn that she often travels around Europe and visits churches unannounced, where she talks her way into being allowed to use the resident organ – some of them rather massive, I imagine – and plays and explores for hours. Her searing records and live shows reflect the courage of her imagination and have garnered her increasing, much deserved recognition. Maria is an accomplished Swedish cinematographer and director of photography. In 2017 I heard Anna and Maria singing together at a sound check for a special song they were doing in Anna’s set, was instantly enthralled, and resolved at that moment to ask them to participate together on a Swans recording. I’m delighted they agreed to come to Berlin and record for me. They were a joy to work with! They live in Scandinavia.
Ben Frost – Guitar, synthesizers, sound manipulations. Ben’s adventurous sound-craftings, sometimes harrowing and sometimes delicate and quite musical, and his powerful live shows, have afforded him much recognition of late. I’ve also been highly impressed with his soundtrack work for the HBO series, Dark. He’s an extremely talented arranger and composer. His mission for this record was intentionally ill defined. I basically wanted his ears and sensibility, with no particular part or instrument in mind. I arrived at his studio in Reykjavik, Iceland, put up the songs, and he played what he thought a song needed. I was pleasantly surprised to discover his unique approach to the electric guitar as well as his synth work. Ben also was quite helpful with arrangement and mixing ideas. Ben lives in Iceland.
Baby Dee – Lead vocal on The Nub, supported by her friends Fay Christen and Ida Albertje Michels, and Jennifer Gira. Dee has released numerous records (one produced by Bonnie Prince Billie, I think), and if you don’t know them, you should! The first time I saw her she was riding a unicycle in circles outside the now-defunct Avant club, Tonic, in NYC, playing a ukulele (or accordion?) and singing with great mirth. I saw her set that night and was won over. She’s since toured with Swans several times. Her music could loosely be called neo cabaret, but more accurately she’s totally unique and a great performer and songwriter, graced with a powerful voice and high-end ability on the piano, accordion and more. I wrote The Nub specifically for her to sing. I was stymied for words to the main guitar figure to the song, and suddenly she popped into my mind, floating through the universe in diapers, sucking milk from the stars. The song wrote itself. Dee lives in The Netherlands.
Jeremy Barnes and Heather Trost – Jeremy: Santur, hi-hat, fiddlesticks, accordion, engineering; Heather: Stroh violin, violin, viola, fiddlesticks, engineering. Together, Jeremy and Heather comprise the band A Hawk and a Hacksaw. (Jeremy played at one time with the bands Neutral Milk Hotel and Beirut). Again, if you don’t know their music, you should! They’ve released several records. It’s Balkan/Gypsy influenced, somewhat psychedelicized, with great singing, playing and melodies. They’re each multi-instrumentalists and they intrepidly travel the world, both touring and simply exploring the Balkans, in search of adventure and master musicians of the region, some of whom they simply befriend, others whom they record. They toured with Swans a while ago, and I’ve had it in the back of my mind to ask them to record on a record since. I travelled to their home studio in Albuquerque, New Mexico, presented the songs, and did the same thing I did with Ben – I said, “Now what?” You can hear them on several songs on the record, sometimes subtly, at other times more pronounced. In any event, it’s great to have such a pair of wonderful humans on the record.
ADDITIONAL MUSICIANS:
Dana Schechter – Dana played bass on the song ‘Some New Things’. Dana was a core member of Angels of Light. Her current band is Insect Ark. It’s rather heavy and great. Will be working with Dana more soon in the future and very pleased we reconnected recently.
Jennifer Gira – Backing vocals throughout and cameo vocal on Sunfucker. Jennifer has sung backing vocals on the past few Swans albums as well as lead vocal on the song When Will I Return? on the last Swans album, The Glowing Man. She’s also of invaluable help on mixing and arrangement decisions.
Cassis Staudt – Accordion and harmonium. Cassis was a core member of Angels of Light. She moved to Berlin some time ago and we lost touch. Cassis is a composer of music for films in Berlin. I’m very happy to be working with her again.
Norman Westberg – Electric guitar. Norman played on a few key moments on this record. Norman has been in and out of Swans since the beginning (mostly in) and was a core Swans member in 2010 – 2017. We’ll continue to work together into the future, absolutely. Norman releases solo instrumental records through Lawrence English’s Room 40 label. We’re touring (each solo) together in Eastern Europe soon.
Christopher Pravdica – Bass guitar, sounds. Chris played at pivotal moments on this record. He was a core Swans member in 2010 – 2017. We’ll continue to work together in the future, absolutely. Chris has recently been enlisted by Jamie Stewart for his band Xiu Xiu.
Phil Puleo – Phil played hammer dulcimer on the song Amnesia. This might be considered a severe underutilization of his considerable talents as a drummer, but there’s more to come quite soon. Phil was a core member in Swans 2010 – 2017 and played as a member of Swans in the late 90s and contributed to Angels of Light.
Thor Harris – percussion, trumpet, clarinet, sounds, bells, gizmos, additional vibes. Thor drove up from Austin to record for me at Heather and Jeremy’s place in Albuquerque. Always a highpoint to be in the presence of this committed musician and friend. Thor was a core member of Swans in 2010 – 2016 as well as Angels of Light. Certainly, more to come! Thor has his own happening combo, Thor and friends, and they make seductive and beautiful records and tour often. He also has recently been recruited by Jamie for Xiu Xiu.
Paul Wallfisch – Paul played piano to great effect here and there on the record. Paul was a touring member of Swans in 2017. He works with the glorious human chanteuse Little Annie. He’s also a musical director for theater productions in Germany, and recently landed a very fancy-pants job as musical director/composer for a theater production at a historical theater in Vienna.
Thanks to All!!!!
MG”
|
2019 |
€18.50 |
|
| SYLVESTER ANFANG |
II |
CD |
"Verdammte Hippies! "Sylvester Anfang II" ist der authentischste, von Drogen zerfressendste, prallste, von gotteslästerlichem Hedonismus durchzogene Ausflug in die Zeit von Analogus Rex, den ich jemals gehört habe. Die Flamen spielen einen verqualmten Hippie-Jam, der sich gewaschen hat, oder eben nicht. Voller okkulter Mystik, ohne Plan, ohne Ziel. Krautrockjamsessions auf Acid während einem satanischen Ritus im Haus von Charles Manson. Gitarrengewaber, hypnotische Percussion, wummernder Bass, orientalische Harmonien, obskure Teufelsgesänge, altmodische Synthesizer, ein heißes Covergirl. Und der verrückte, dreckige Gesang von Clay Ruby alias BURIAL HEX im Hintergrund ist beim Zweiteiler "The Devil Always Shits in the Same Graves" sogar richtig furchteinflößend.
Irgendwie sind SYLVESTER ANFANG geil, irgendwie nicht nachvollziehbar. Ich glaube, im LSD-Rausch ist dies die ultimative Musik, herrlich unterproduziert, ohne Songs im eigentlichen Sinne, von ein paar Wahnsinnigen, die trashige Horrorfilme ein wenig zu ernst nehmen. Diese Verbindung von POPOL VUH und AMON DUUL ist allerdings ziemlich mutig, das Ganze auf eine Länge von fast siebzig Minuten auszudehnen, geradezu wahnwitzig. Vor allem laut aufgedreht und bei vollem Bewusstsein entfaltet "Sylvester Anfang II" ungeahnte Faszination, hauptsächlich bei Althippies und Typen, die letztes Wochenende auf einer harten Pilzmischung hängen geblieben sind." [Vampster]
"All things must evolve, and given time even the unicellular organisms dwelling in ocean's deepest fathoms may shift form and take to the skies. In celebration of the mysteries of evolution, Aurora Borealis proudly presents SYLVESTER ANFANG II. In the time since the release of Kosmies Slachtafval, Silvester Anfang have grown into SYLVESTER ANFANG II, a more psychedelic beast, a more tangible creature in some ways, but one that defies and confounds standard classification. Taking their cue from Krautrock communes of yore, the Flemish troubadours have expanded both ranks and minds and now present this giant new opus for general consumption. With cultish numbers swollen with new blood in the guise of Stef Anus (Kiss the Anus of a Black Cat), Father Sloow (Sloow Tapes pontiff), Bram (Ignatz) and Clay Ruby (Davenport, Burial Hex ), the sound is much fuller and more reminiscent of Krautish dope jams then ever before. Ruby's vocal additions create a whole new universe for the band, rather like if Dr. John had been born in a plague pit in Flanders, and the resulting tracks "The Devil Always Shits in the Same Graves" parts 1 & 2 are masterful examples of Flemish voodoo boogie. The new material is more hypnotic than before, and the band are sure to add new members to their fan cult as they slink across Europe like a fog in the coming months. Sure to upset parents and upstanding citizens with their occult themes and liberal Europeanstyle artwork, SYLVESTER ANFANG II reach new levels of consciousness with their mantras of goat worship and the orthodoxy of denial that states "Only analogue is real". Dust off your robes, sharpen the sacrificial blade, order in some Trappist beers... Tune in, turn on, evolve." [label info]
www.aurora-b.com
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| SYNCHRE |
Requiem |
CD |
All instruments and compositions _ Luca Canciello & Lorenzo Brusci
Vocals _ Movement 2, The Zimbabwebird; Movement 1 and 3, Sosta Palmizi
Text, Movement 2 (by Zimbabwebird, in Zulu and Shona, 2015): "Thuma mina, mweya mutsvene.
Unditumeo" [Send me, pure spirit. And then send me.]
Lorenzo Brusci, 1966, co-founder of MUSSTDESIGN.com, managing partner at the music robot start up MUSICFIT (musicfit.ch).
He launched over the last 20 years prestigious adventures in the audio and sound space design field as the sound and interactive design studio GIARDINO SONORO (giardinosonoro.com) and the architectural speakers manufacturer ARCHITETTURA SONORA. He has been composing music for various ensembles, theatre, television and radio since the early ’90s (He founded TIMET.org in 1993).
Lives between Berlin, Tuscany and Krakow.
www.lorenzobrusci.com
www.soundcloud.com/lorenzo-brusci
Luca Canciello, Italian born, Berlin based.
Multi-instrumentalist, composer, sound designer, he performs experimenting with live electronics, instruments and sounds.
www.soundcloud.com/climnoizer
His musical journey and inspiration have brought him into various fields and art disciplines, working solo or collaborating with other artists and bands.
His interest for other art forms, in particular dancing, leads him composing musical pieces for theatre, dance companies, experimenting the various natures of rhythm in music .
On sound design, he’s been involved on projects linked to international cultural heritage and architectural media mapping.
The mechanism of individual and collective memory and its rituals, are the central inspiration of our Requiem. It’s not a formal Mass; our intention was to harvest and express the community’s need of sharing and binding its ties while facing the experience of death.
A deep sense of community - religo in latin, binding in english - inspired our structural research. Requiem becomes then the concerting moment that asks for “holding back”, a desperate request of time suspension, the ultimate demand for re-living, re-experiencing, re-loading, re-gaining, now, in this very ritual and public moment what will be lost forever.
Through a free attitude in music composition and expression - our syncretism - we designed a process of electroacoustic layering, consolidating in 3 compositional areas the process and destiny of organic life.
- Living Elegy - the enchantment for life and its many endangering gates: the movement is subdivided in (living) Articulation, (ritual)Transition and (pathological) Abandon;
- Nostalgia - the seeking for the integral time suspension and life preservation;
- Transfiguration - where we depict the organic reaction to danger and biological faith, subdivided in (furious and ultrabiological) detachment, (regenerating) intimate power, (coding the) extended mind, (persuing a new form of) immanency.
https://emerge.bandcamp.com/album/requiem
"Lorenzo Brusci (Timet, Climnoizer, Giardino Sonoro) & Luca Canciello gestalten als SYNCHRE mit ihrem Requiem (ACU 1009, CD) aus Drones, Breakbeats und dunkel grollenden Blechbläsern (oder Orgelpfeifen) einen Dreisatz aus 'Living Energy', 'Nostalgia' und 'Transfiguration'. Als einen Übergangsritus, mit einer zart flehenden Gesangseinlage von Tozim Madzima aka Zimbabwe Bird, zu plonkenden Lauten aus dem Innenklavier. Danach wieder rauschend sich wälzende, zittrig verzerrte und knarrende Synthie- und Gitarrensounds, mit Vogelgezwitscher durchsetzt und erst zeitlupig gedehnten, dann wieder zuckenden Beats. Und zuletzt auch wieder der dunklen Bläserpracht, zu der sich diese grandiose Musik der brausenden Verwandlung entgegen stürzt. Wer braucht noch eine Leitkultur, nach so einem Durchgang ins weiße Licht?" [Bad Alchemy] |
2016 |
€10.00 |
|
| SYNDROME |
Now and Forever |
LP |
"Mathieu Vandekerckhove, mostly known for his work with Amenra. For years the self-taught musician learned and studied his craft of songwriting and sound scaping, mainly as a means to self exploration, meditation and attempts at channelling negative into positive energy, this while staying below the surface at all times.
Now 2012 marks a turning point for Mathieu Vandekerckhove and Syndrome as he steps forward, with the epic 28 minute long “Now And Forever”. Dedicated to his son Wolf, this track offers words of guidance and will grant you a look into the heart and soul of the artist. Close your eyes and hear the beating heart of pure artistic freedom.
First 75 orders will get an extra booklet with photography by Mathieu Vandekerkhove."
hypertensionrecords.com
"Gent in Ostflandern, Heimat AMENRAs und somit auch die von Mathieu Vandekerckhove. Der AMENRA-Gitarrist ist ebenso wie seine Kollegen ein Vielbeschäftigter. Die belgische Ausnahmekapelle und ihr ganzheitlicher Ansatz wussten im letzten Jahr gemeinsam mit NEUROSIS live dergestalt zu überzeugen, dass der amerikanische “Headliner“ an jedem Abend Vollgas geben musste, wollte die Band nicht von Vandekerckhove und den Seinen in den Schatten gestellt werden. Wer NEUROSIS kennt, weiß, dass sie diese Form der Herausforderung suchen und lieben.
Dass Eindruck zum Ausdruck wird, ist ein Wesenszug kreativen Wirkens. Die Belgier indes verzahnen künstlerischen Ausdruck und das eigene Leben eng. Nicht umsonst wird bei keiner Veröffentlichung auch nur ein Aspekt dem Zufall überlassen. Gleiches gilt für alle Projekte der in Gent Beheimateten – gleiches gilt somit auch für SYNDROME. Es geht die Geschichte, dass Vandekerckhoves Projekt einem Zuhause Experimentieren entsprungen sei, vor ca. sieben Jahren. Mit “Now And Forever“ liegt die mittlerweile dritte Veröffentlichung vor, ein Track mit einer Spielzeit von 28 Minuten. Das Stück bildet den Wandel ab, der sich in SYNDROME eingeschrieben hat und setzt sich aus Ambient, Drone, Doom und ja – Folkelementen zusammen. Unterstützung erfährt der Belgier von Bandkollegen Colin H. van Eeckhout und Josh Graham. Letzterer sollte als NEUROSIS-Mitglied und A STORM OF LIGHT-Kopf keiner weiteren Vorstellung bedürfen.
“Now And Forever“ startet mit einer eindringlichen Akkordfolge, die sanft von einem Drum durchklopft wird. Der vormals erwähnte Wandel drückt sich immer wieder in einer hohen Verdichtung der einzelnen Sounds aus, schnappt Versätze beinahe beiläufig und schichtet diese sorgsam auf, bereitet so auf das Hervorbrechende und Anstürmende vor, besänftigt diese und überführt sie kurz darauf wieder in mindestens zweimalige, versetzte Wiederholungen desselben Motivs. Die Intervalle des Motivs ändern sich stetig und befördern so den rauschhaften Charakter. Ab Minute neun gesellen sich Vandekerckhoves Brummvocal hinzu, um schließlich durch Colins helle Gesangsparts abgelöst zu werden. Immer bleibt die Gitarre leitend und gleicht dabei aber auch einem Katalysator. Sie senkt nicht nur die Aktivierungsenergie, sie überführt auch Dunkles in Klingendes, Tönendes. Reaktant dabei ist das Niederringende des Alltags, dass in das Ergebnis namens “Now And Forever“ expediert wird. Im Vergleich zu AMENRAs Wirkweise des “Hervorbrechens“ steht bei SYNDROME eher das Aufbrechen im Vordergrund. Wo dort die Ausdehnung, das Treiben und das Herauskommen definiert werden, geht es hier eher um ein Öffnen, ein Aufschließen und Durchstoßen. Das Ein- und Aufweichen von Strukturen geschieht entlang des beschriebenen Wandels.
Dabei findet der Hörer AMENRAs die anderen Projekte der Mitglieder in die Wertvorstellungen der Hauptband gut verfugt. Nicht umsonst haben die Belgier mit der CHURCH OF RA eine Form der Herangehensweise gewählt, die in Glaubenssystemen wurzelt. Ernsthaftigkeit ist dabei das Credo, fernab von Dogmen und Hierarchien der Entstehungsgrundlage, sondern vielmehr Basis für eine bedingungslose Hingabe, die Ergebnisse erschließt wie das vorliegende. Dort, wo eine Deckungsgleichheit von Handlungen erzeugt wird, entsteht eine Überzeugungsgemeinschaft, eine, die gemeinsam einen Pfad beschreitet, der an den wenig begangenen Weg Robert Frosts erinnert. Das, was dabei betreten wird, ist gesäumt von einem Streben nach Ganzheitlichkeit in Bild und Ton. Das dort im Verborgenen Schlummernde wird Stück um Stück freigelegt, hoch ist der Aufwand für dieses Abringen, jetzt und für immer." [S.L./Black Magazine]
"Nearly a decade ago, Syndrome came into the world through the Belgian mind of one Mathieu Vandekerckhove due to his need for a meditative vehicle through which he could release the negative energy in his life and transform it into something more constructive. This vehicle obviously existed in obscurity, laying dormant in silence for many years before taking on the attributes of droning post-rock and finding a home in 2011 with Belgian label ConSouling Sounds where Vandekerckhove has spent his entire career under this moniker to this point. Life was officially given to Syndrome when “Floating Veins” was released last June, finding availability in both a 12″ and a CD limited to 500 copies, of which the first 100 came with a bonus DVD-R of material. Other than that and “Now and Forever” here, the only other existing official Syndrome release is a three-way split with Monotonos and Sequences entitled “Fall of Man”. Outside of Syndrome, Vandekerckhove is otherwise known for his work as guitarist for sludge doom bands Kingdom and, more importantly, Amenra whom found a decisive home in Neurot Recordings a year ago. Unfortunately it seems that, despite a promised release of the new studio album “Mass V” a few months after signing, nothing has yet been unleashed.
This slow pace on Neurot may be what has freed Vandekerckhove to pursue his solo project in such depth, and that depth has found him constructing a one-track, 28 minute opus in dedication to his son, Wolf, for this release. What few words are present here exist as a guiding light for his son towards finding himself, finding strength, helping others, and knowing no matter how distant the expanse, be it physical or ethereal, his father is there in spirit. It’s an intimate portrait of the proverbial handing of the torch in blood, primal if not tribal in spirit. A tribal nature is in fact how this album opens, with a subtle light percussive notion — the only place on the entire album where you’ll find any hint of bombast behind the epic, weaving feedback drones that shimmer harmoniously before washing away in tides of a deeper, less tenuous drone that is textured lightly by gentle noise and guitar tones. These moments will eventually give way to the heart of the track that contains the lyrical content and the most desolate production within the release to give space for the vocals to express their stern, yet inert fragility. The deep performance here, both literally and emotionally, immediately reminds of efforts from several artists including Steve von Till and later Ulver, and whose building ethereal guitar nature is uncannily reminiscent of the gut-wrenching dreamy style that Love Spirals Downwards once achieved.
Other than the obvious emotions associated with succeeding at bringing a child into this world, there has to be something incredibly special on an entirely different, subconscious level about implementing those emotions into a dedication through music. It was a decade ago, this year, that Green Carnation released their acclaimed “Light of Day, Day of Darkness” album which was inspired by, at least in part, by the birth of Tchort’s son and the death of his daughter. Obviously there is a greater sense of melancholy in that record, but there is a very distinct yet undefinable emotion that accompanied that album — an emotion that is also present in full force here. It certainly isn’t melancholy, but it is reserved all the same — focused and incontrovertibly sincere. That said, it’s difficult to place the particular portion of the painting by Matthieu Ronsse, “Bateau”, that as used as the album cover, in regards to it’s significance to the subject matter at hand. It certainly fits in with the ethereal music of “Now and Forever”, and there are certainly ties in sound to the sea, but it is certainly cryptic at best in relation. The figure pictured has a ship’s flags linked to the inside corners of the eyes, almost representing tears, while the sail itself covers the mouth. The ship itself is on fire. There are many obvious lines of thought, but they seem to contradict one another once their paths cross.
Perhaps this is an explanation best saved for another article at another time. Regardless of the cryptic artwork though, it’s hard to imagine an album of this style achieving a level of perfection that rises above this. There’s simply such an incredible amount of intensity, love, and musical prowess at work in “Now and Forever” to find any kind of negative attributes within." [Sage/Heathen Harvest]
|
2013 |
€20.50 |
|
| SZCZEPANIK, NICHOLAS |
The Chiasmus |
CD |
"Nicholas' debut CD is much more than an impeccably constructed piece of abstract drone music: The Chiasmus undulates between waves of quiet melancholy and overwhelming beauty, with small slices of pointillistic noise. an album where the emotional response is always the central focus rather then pure aesthetic concerns, the nuances of The Chiasmus are only revealed upon multiple listens; by then, the listener is completely tuned into the world it presents. packaged in a jewel with a 16 pages booklet of art by Avery McArthy." [label info]
"... We mostly know him as the owner of Sentient Recognition Archive label, who produce some professionally packed CDRs of the moody, textured drone music around. I think this is the first time I hear his music. Its hardly a surprise that he creates such music himself. Drone music with a big D. Szczepanik seems to be drawing inspiration from all over the place. Through calm and atmospheres, he isn't too shy about breaking away from that and offer a louder end of his excursions. Things buzz and drone and sometimes bite your ear. Think a louder Organum meeting the softest Machinefabriek. The softer moments are the best, I think, but the louder bits (a minority here) provide a great counter point. Maybe a bit long, but very nice." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
"A split release between bad ass French microlabel Basses Frequencies, and Szczepanik's own Sentient Recognition Archive label, The Chiasmus is Szczepanik's latest collection of dronology, and the first proper cd we've had (quite possible his first proper cd release
entirely). We've long been fans, being the dronelords and ladies we are around these parts, and past Szczepanik joints have demonstrated a mastery of the drone, creating surprisingly lush and lustrous expanses of low end minimalism. On The Chiasmus, Szczepanik continues to move ever deeper, ever darker, five long tracks, each a different variation of drone, drifting from minimal black shift, to near Pop Ambient bliss.
Record opener is cavernous, epic, Teutonic and slow shifting, peppered at the beginning with bits of glitch and hiss, the song soon settles into an uneasy sprawl, ominous and dangerously grim, but still somehow warm and expansive and enveloping. The second track shifts gears completely, unfurling a gauzy bit of chordal shimmer, all warm and sun dappled and delicate and gauzy, gentle tranquil melodies played out over minutes instead of seconds, a little Eno for sure, as the song drifts and flutters and hovers dreamily in midair. The final three tracks hover somewhere in between, deep moaning post industrial whirs laid over dense metallic buzz, the two layers slowly seeping into one another like some blackened sonic spill, deep bell like tones ring out, their tones frozen in time and stretched out into softly undulating sheets of sound, slightly reflective and iridescent and
kaleidoscopic, glimmering and glistening underneath some alien black sun, and finally, a loooooooong stretch of grinding muted buzz,
spreading out in slow motion, it's black shimmer infused with streaks of melody, as if some strange black seas was slowly growing warmer and coming to life before our ears.
Fantastic, gorgeous stuff. Essential listening for the drone obsessed..." [Aquarius Records review]
www.bassesfrequences.org
|
2009 |
€12.00 |
|
| SZMT |
Parvenu |
CD |
Parvenu is a work about authoritarian structures and developments.
The narrative is abstract, all sounds are concrete. Every single sound on this recording is based on recordings from three bee hives.
Track List:
Sometimes She Had Melancholic Memories of Her Larval Stage – 11:48
His Primary Role Was to Mate with the Fertile Queen – 9:04
The General Skepticism of the Constitutional Monarchy Was Justified as New Forms of Authority Surfaced – 15:11
The Surviving Virgin Queen Hid in the Shadows of Her Former Kingdom – 11:37
www.gruenrekorder.de
"Behind szmt (no capitals needed) is Tobias Schmitt, better know, I think, as Suspicion Breeds Confidence, but also an improviser and organiser of concerts. As szmt he “contextualizes seemingly contradictory material and techniques. All input is equal and will be formed into a coherent but nevertheless open to misinterpretation result by means of improvisation and composition” and for
‘Parvenu’ we read that it is a “work about authoritarian structures and developments. The narrative is abstract, all sounds are concrete. Every single sound on this recording is based on recordings from three bee hives”, in which context I guess the whole authoritarian structures becomes funny. When I played this yesterday for the first time I didn’t look any of this up, nor could I really decipher the font
on the cover and decided to give it another try, another day, which turned out to be today. Now that I know I am hearing the processed sound of bees, it sounds like something very obvious, but I guess that’s always the case. I assume that Schmitt is armed with a laptop and sound processing tools that lie within those machines to compose the four pieces on this CD. It is shimmering, quiet, sometimes loud, sometimes very processed, beyond recognition and then sometimes it seems to be fairly close to
what is really a recording of a bee. Most of the times it sounds like the work of microsound, that active music force from a decade ago, but in the case of szmt that is perhaps 2/3 of the story. In “The General Skepticism of the Constitutional Monarchy Was Justified as New Forms of Authority Surfaced” (all four
titles are that weird, indeed), Schmitt let’s his bees do a dance, and while not really techno music, or perhaps something we could or should dance too, there is surely some kind of groove to be detected.
Schmitt’s work reminded me of Roel Meelkop, Marc Behrens and that posse, but he added his own
twist by allowing a more loop based structure, working his processing around those, calling for
minimalist developments within each piece. It’s these perhaps not so big differences that actually made it stand out from the microsound as it was before and made it into something he can call his." [FDW/Vital Weekly]
"Gruenrekorder recordings are often filled with surprises, and szmt’s Parvenu is no exception: the brainchild of Tobias Schmitt, the forty-eight-minute release was created entirely using sounds derived from three bee hives. Given the szmt description provided, Schmitt, who also issues material under the Suspicion Breeds Confidence alias (e.g., The Fauna and Flora of the Vatican City) and has contributed to a number of releases on the label over the years, would appear to be somewhat of a provocateur. szmt, we’re told, “contextualizes seemingly contradictory material and techniques” such that all input is “formed into a coherent but nevertheless open-to-misinterpretation result by means of improvisation and composition.”
In the case of Parvenu, four long-form explorations are presented, each carrying with it a wordy title, the lengthiest “The General Skepticism of the Constitutional Monarchy Was Justified as New Forms of Authority Surfaced.” The material’s predictably abstract and amenable to interpretation, the listener free to conjure any number of possible interpretations in response. Occasional moments of insect swarm and buzzing do surface, but for the most part Schmitt’s treated the original recordings like so much raw material ready to be liberally shaped and transformed.
As the recording plays, it’s impossible to predict what direction it’ll take; at one juncture, a writhing, industrial-inflected rhythm pattern begins to assert itself before a swathe of smears abruptly takes its place. Elsewhere, amplified chirping, grinding, and warbling noises suggest a microphone moving in closely on the hive and its inhabitants, with rutting sounds of indeterminate origin implying activity of some (re)productive kind occurring within. Tinged with sci-fi bleeps, a few ambient-like episodes arise that one would perhaps misidentify as synth-generated were one unaware of the production methodology involved, and strange though it might sound, that aforementioned track, especially when it features clattering beat elements, threads sequences into its fifteen-minute frame that aren’t unlike what one might encounter in an early Autechre experiment.
A number of possible descriptions come to mind, but experimental soundsculpting might be the best and simplest fit for what’s going on here. Such experimentation is business as usual at Gruenrekorder central, of course, as long-time followers of the label already know. As strange to outsiders as Parvenu will be, to Gruenrekorder fans such weirdness is nothing more than standard operating procedure." [Texture] |
2017 |
€13.00 |
|
| SZYMCZUK, MACIEK |
Clouds |
CD |
"The next Maciek Szymczuk album Clouds sees the light of the day on 28th February and it is a logical and perfect continuation of contemplative motives from its predecessor called Ways. Although the cover shows only Maciek's name, the album is filled with guest appearances which add energy and ideas to the 14 compositions gathered here.
The music on Clouds is changeable, just like the nature of this weather phenomenon. At one point it is delicate and ethereal, when at the other it is stormy and dark (as signified on the cover.) With all its diversity, all the tracks form one coherent whole which helps to relax and meditate a bit. With more focus on atmosphere than bouncy rhythms, Clouds is more of a soothing experience.
The release date is not insignificant - it is the birthday of Maciek. But it is the listeners we are having presents for. The first 100 copies of Clouds will include a special bonus CDR called Rare Species Vol. 1 which will contain renditions of Clouds tracks (prepared by Andrew Lagowski, Blare For A, Dead Factory, Michael Hoffmann and Xenoton), remixes by Maciek Szymczuk (done for kIRk and Echoes of Yul among the others) and, apart from those, compilation and unreleased tracks.
All together gathered on one disc, so it is quite a treat." [label info]
www.zoharum.com
|
2013 |
€12.00 |
|
| TABOR RADOSTI |
Lamat |
CD |
Filed under: occult / gothic dark ambient industrial. Long existing project from Czech Republic (translates as "Joy Camp" - who seem to play live only with masks) with their version of eerie & bleak electronic / technoid horror-ambience....digitalized drones & sounds, neo-classic elements, at part rhythms appear, a dishumanized voice speaks in an (unknown?) language. Very bombastic, soundtrackish & dramatic as a whole, but there are also melancholic parts (which sounds a bit like a softporno soundtrack) in between...
For fans of: AH CAMA SOTZ, LAIBACH, COIL, SCHLOSS TEGAL (someone of them had his hands in the mix too).
|
2006 |
€13.50 |
|
| TAGG, DAVID |
Pentecost |
CD |
"When the hard work of the day is done, and you go home and begin your nightly routine of winding down, there are only so many things that reciprocate that relaxed stillness. Here at Install, we're happy to say that we have the exact soundtrack for many of your sleepy evenings to come: David Tagg's newest album PENTECOST. Following in the wake of his Cold Spring Harbor EP, and utilizing a process that included using his grandfather's reel-to-reel tapes of organ playing for source sound, David has created what could be described as an "ambient novel". A superbly vivid work of musical nonfiction that tells the stories of 1000 photographs, long since forgotten memories and a crackling, eroded legacy, now exhumed from the dusty wine cellars of Tagg's sentimental estate. What all this wholly amounts to is a landmark recording, full of cool, subdued tones and soft shadowy movements. PENTECOST could be David's strongest ambient moment, if not only for consistency, but also for potency." [label website info]
www.installsound.net
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| TAJ MAHAL TRAVELLERS |
August 1974 |
do-LP |
High quality reissue of the monumental work August 1974 by Japanese experimental music ensemble Taj Mahal Travellers. Pressed on 180gr. vinyl with extensive liner notes by Julian Cowley.
In April 1972 a group of Japanese musicians set off from Rotterdam in a Volkswagen van. As they crossed Europe and then made their way through Asia they made music in a wide range of locations. They also paid close attention to the changing scene and to differing ways of life. Midway through May they reached their destination, the iconic Taj Mahal on the bank of the Yamuna river in Agra, India. The Taj Mahal Travellers had fulfilled physically the promise of the name they adopted when they formed in 1969. But their music had always been a journey, a sonic adventure designed to lead any listener’s imagination into unfamiliar territory.
The double album August 1974 was their second official release. The first July 15, 1972 is a live concert recording, but on 19th August 1974 the Taj Mahal Travellers entered the Tokyo studios of Nippon Columbia and produced what is arguably their definitive statement. The electronic dimension of their collective improvising was coordinated, as usual, by Kinji Hayashi. Guest percussionist Hirokazu Sato joined long-term group members Ryo Koike, Seiji Nagai, Yukio Tsuchiya, Michihiro Kimura, Tokio Hasegawa and Takehisa Kosugi.
The enigmatic Takehisa Kosugi, whose soaring electric violin was such a vital element in their music, had been a pioneer of free improvisation and intermedia performance art with Group Ongaku at the start of the 60s. Later in that decade, before launching the Taj Mahal Travellers, he had become known internationally through his association with the Fluxus art movement. During the mid-70s the Travellers disbanded and while his colleagues more or less stopped performing as musicians Kosugi continued to reach new audiences across the course of several decades as a composer, regular performer and musical director for the acclaimed Merce Cunningham Dance Company.
August 1974 captures vividly the characteristic sound of the Taj Mahal Travellers, haunting tones from an unusual combination of instruments, filtered through multiple layers of reverb and delay. Their music has strong stylistic affinities with the trippy ambience of cosmic and psychedelic rock, but the Taj Mahal Travellers were tuning in to other vibrations, drawing inspiration from the energies and rhythms of the world around them rather than projecting some alternative reality. Films of rolling ocean waves often provided a highly appropriate backdrop for their lengthy improvised concerts. This is truly electric music for the mind and body. |
2018 |
€27.00 |
|
| TAKAHASHI, YUJI |
Meikai No Heso |
CD |
Yuji Takahashi “Meikai no Heso” CD
Edition OMEGA POINT Archive Series OPA-026
A collection of small pieces of tape music by renowned composers, that haven’t been talked about very much. All of them are premiere release on disc.
tr.1 Yuji Takahashi (1938 -), Meikai no Heso (The Umbilicus of Limbo, 1963) (sound file)
It is also known as Window to Antonin Artaud, or The Umbilicus of Limbo. it was performed in a version of tape and instruments - poetry reading of the French poet Antonin Artaud, which was modified on the tape, and bass instruments as well as percussion instruments. This is a live recording of Musicians Group: New Direction at Sogetsu Art Center, conducted by Toshi Ichiyanagi. At the beginning of the concert, Kuniharu Akiyama gave his commentary about the piece.
tr.2 Kuniharu Akiyama (1929 - 1996), Jo-un Keiji sho (1987) (sound file)
It is a segment of a body of work Sound Gift, that was commissioned by WDR (Westdeutscher Rundfunk) for a show to celebrate John Cage’s 75th birthday. A short text, “Kumo Kumo-wo Joshi Keiji-suru (Kumo=Clouds, Keiji=Cage)”, which was a poetry reading by Akiyama, was looped in the tape, which then overlapped with Haiku about clouds (including English and German), words related to Zen ( in which Cage immersed himself), and sounds. By the way, an English version of Haiku was read by Ayuo Takahashi.
tr.3 Yoriaki Matsudaira (1931 -), Constellation (1984) (sound file)
This is a work by using UPIC device developed by Iannis Xenakis (which can translate graphical images into sound). Here is Matsudaira’s commentary.
“I decided to draw the constellation which we can see in Japan, and chose to fade in colours depending on the brightness of each star. Each of us was supposed to indicate the tone by images, and I remember that I decided to divide the sky into four sections to change the tone little by little.
tr.4 Yoshio Hachimura (1938 - 1985), Catch in the air (1973) (sound file)
It was produced in 1973 at NHK Studio of Electronic Music. Some Japanese traditional instruments, piccolo, tuba, violin, piano as well as electronic sounds were edited on the tape. Its sharp materialistic sound is characteristic of this composer.
tr.5 Toshi Ichiyanagi (1933 -), Music for Film Shikisokuzekuu (1974) (sound file)
The visual of Shikisokuzekuu is described as follows; A letter of Heart Sūtra is projected one by one on the screen rapidly. From the middle of the film, religious paintings appeared with subliminal effect, and flickering vivid colours were added. That gave the audience a dizzy sensation.” The music is mixed barbaric rhythm, electronic sound and Japanese traditional instrument.
omega-point.shop-pro.jp/?pid=159022056
|
2021 |
€21.50 |
|
| TAMARU |
Figure |
CD |
"Vignette #1 - I've had the same headache in my right temple for 8 days straight (too many football grand finals in Europe at odd hours mixed with late nights for music). Most sounds just hurt my head. But my preferred method of falling asleep involves headphones and music. Figure is a warm, treacly soother to both my sore head and desire to sleep.
Vignette #2 - I'm walking home from work with my headphones on. The sky is grey. As I walk, appearing before me is the full 180° arc of a rainbow. To anybody who, like me, has lived in Sydney for the last month and is used to much more regularly blue skies, you will understand the joyous feelings that such a sight might trigger. Figure is my brooding soundtrack which always hints at quiet joy and peaceful satisfaction.
Tamaru has created a contemplative drone work from a setup of bass guitar, volume pedal and delay pedal. The work is majestically beautiful as its simple constructs drag you through a range of of emotional states without seemingly doing very much at all. The bass notes tend to form sinewave sounds which, through subtle shifts in the delay time, are pushed into brief microtonal harmonies. Each track is given time to sink in and envelope. Each is inviting and full of warmth.
Put it down to the weather. Put it down to my health. Whatever it is, Figure is one of the finest releases I've heard for a while and will be returning to my playlist regularly top accompany any of a wide range of moods."
[Adrian Elmer/Cyclic Defrost]
www.trumn.com
|
2009 |
€14.00 |
|
| TAMING POWER |
Selected Works 2001 |
CD-R |
"There was a time when Vital Weekly reviewed a lot of vinyl and cassette releases by Taming Power, the musical project of Askild Haugland. That's what I wrote back in Vital Weekly 711 too, when he released a double LP of his work following an extensive gap before and, as we know now, after that. He never released many CDRs, but he did so in 2001, when he released this CDR which is now re-issued, which was to promote his music to concert organizers, as back then he was interested in playing studio pieces in between bands, rather than having a DJ on. It was intended to have this released on vinyl and maybe some day it will. Apparently I call Haugland a 'liar' as he wrote me 'please DO NOT once again call me a liar', but that seems a bit of a harsh word for me to use. I don't recall exactly but maybe I had some doubts about how he generated some of his drone like pieces. He writes also that the 'music was made entirely and exclusively from tape recorder feedback. Sounds and sequences
were generated on a reel-to-reel tape recorder and then edited to a 4 track recorder'. I am not going to argue with that, he's the creator, he's right. I must admit I didn't hear much of his music again, but these ten shortish pieces (lasting thirty minutes) are quite nice works for multiple layers of feedback, creating moody and occasional harsher textures and defies the easy goin' drone music. I like the fact that these are almost pop-like length pieces and each piece is a rounded set of improvisations, disguising themselves as compositions. I am not sure if these should be re-released again on vinyl, but this is perhaps a fine reminder that Taming Power should do some new music." [FdW/Vital Weekly] |
2013 |
€6.00 |
|
| TANAKH |
Villa Claustrophobia |
CD |
Zeitlos schöne Songkonstrukte auf dieser Debut-CD eines 5-köpfigen Projekts aus Richmond USA. Folk- und kammermusikalische Einflüsse, aber auch orientalisch anmutende Gesänge und Sounds machen dies zu einem der besten songorientierten Alben der letzten Zeit für mich .. Anklänge an z.B. CONSTELLATION-Projekte, OPION SOMNIUM, MUSIQUE CONCRETE ENSEMBLE, LABRADFORD..... [BarakaH, 2003]
"Tanakh is a layering of sound and structure that combines songwriting sensibility and improvisational abstractions that are as thick and rich as they are minimalist. These two seemingly opposed forms fluidly combine to forge dark sweet lulling gypsy melodies dug from Middle Eastern sands that have been knuckled across Appalachian washboards that shadow the city in which they live. Villa Claustrophobia marks the debut of this new project and features an all-star ensemble including Mic Turner (Dirty Three), Jessica Billey (Lofty Pillars), David Lowery (Cracker), Ned Oldham (Palace) and Nirmal Bajekal (Ravi Shankar's band) amongst others. Between them they bring vocals, violin, viola, cello, bass, percussion, electric and acoustic guitars, flugel horn, trumpet, clarinet, and various ethnic and home made instruments to the recording." [press release] |
2003 |
€13.00 |
|
| TANKRED, KENT |
There is Nothing to Attain |
do-CD |
Kent Tankred (b.1947) is one of the true hidden masters of Swedish electro-acoustic and experimental music. Tankred studied at Elektronmusikstudion in Stockholm in the early 70s and he has released a sparse catalogue of fine works, mainly for his and Leif Elggren’s Firework Edition Records as well as Ash International. In 1995 he put out the extremely strong album ”Ordinary Things” on Fylkingen Records. ”THERE IS NOTHING TO ATTAIN” is his first albums since the 2010 CDr with the same title. - iDEAL.
*
Music is not like people. Nonetheless most music tries to pretend it is human, imitating their movements, feelings, attributes, even opinions.
Kent’s music doesn’t pretend to be anything. One quickly forgets there could be a human behind it, even though it may have arisen from some profound game, a concentration on some discovery, combination, principle.
The music is naked, or rather unclothed, inhuman, at the first encounter reminding you of everything you would prefer to avoid: leaf-blowers, neighbours drilling the wall, machinery grinding, a screwdriver stripping the thread with a careless move, electric warning signals, all on top of each other.
A recent radio programme was discussing whether the phrase “human error” should be replaced by the less recriminatory “human contribution”. Meanwhile a submarine has sunk into an ocean chasm and the 53 aboard who might still be alive will run out of oxygen before they can be reached. A struggle between man and machine.
But here there is no struggle, the machine is likened to any other natural phenomenon. It just is, does what it does, or doesn’t, in its own time which is neither fast nor slow since it doesn’t have to be compared with anything, has no purpose, no significance, is neither good nor evil. A god like Einstein’s, indistinguishable from nature in its entirety. A galaxy does not rotate in order to be beautiful or strong. A fan does not make something flap about randomly in order to trace a certain pattern.
In the starkly dystopic early science-fiction film On the Beach (1959) a Morse signal is detected from a region where all life should have been eradicated by the atomic winter. An expedition is sent to resolve the mystery. In a completely lifeless industrial zone they find that someone, before the radiation wiped them out, had hung a coke bottle on a string from a roller blind balanced so that the random flapping of the blind caused the bottle to press the telegraph key, producing a haphazard stream of code which inevitably from time to time formed meaningful words and phrases.
I am hard put to explain what it is than can suddenly make the music so entertaining, so jocular in the midst of this objective, mundane mangling. Yet one does get reminded at some point that someone is behind all this, has discovered or molded, has chosen this; perhaps not a joke but pure serendipity.
Just as things originate so must they vanish, by one decision or another – a handbrake, a puncture, a flying catch. The process “concludes”, or purports to, as when someone suddenly wakes you from a dream which you forget immediately but retain the echo of a feeling. Or you are surprised by your parents opening the door when you’re in the middle of a game where you can’t remember whether what you’re doing is supposed to be secret or not.
And so the cauldron or the ventilation pipes spill out a bus garage, a swarm of drones, or those flying bicycles Leonardo had a mind to make.
Johannes Bergmark.
https://idealrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/there-is-nothing-to-attain
|
2021 |
€17.50 |
|
| TAPE DEKAY (BJ NILSEN) |
Decadimento Del Nastro - Decadenza Di Tutto |
CD |
“Decadimento Del Nastro - Decadenza Di Tutto” is the first album by Tape Dekay, BJ Nilsen’s (Hazard, Morthound) analogue musique concrete / noise project whose first and only appearances date decades back: 1999 on the Cold Meat Industry sampler ‘Estheticks Of Cruelty’ with ‘Försökspersonerna’ track and ‘Jonestown Revisited’ track from a 2009 cassette compilation ‘White Nights’ released by Private Edition. The conceptual content of the current CD has been created with the Automatic Music Control System developed by ONKYO and the Elettrocardiograf by Officine Galileo informed by psychotronic distress, thought insertion, electronic harassment and the Frey effect. These 7 recordings reveal harsh and fragmented soundscapes tainted by disembodied voices, squelch and hyper charged feedback. Co-released with Narcolepsia and limited to 300 copies in an uncoated Digipak. |
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| TAPE LOOP ORCHESTRA |
Interiors Two |
LP + CD + BOOK |
New impressionistic, metaphysical investigations from Andrew Hargreaves’ Tape Loop Orchestra.
Taking his cues from found photos and a hopeless romantic sensibility, Tape Loop Orchestra’s entropic drift carries him thru rooms 7-13 of his ‘Interiors’ trilogy, taking all the time he needs to ponder the questions: “Are there invisible entities left adrift when a room is unoccupied, sounds forever reverberating beyond the life of the body? Is there a way for us to access this library written in the air?”Across the LP he typically divines a moire of ephemeral emotive nudges swept up in ferric swells, while the bonus CD supplies an intimate audience with TLO recorded live at Manchester’s Partisan venue on a chilly sunday evening in winter 2018.
In a transition from fading daylight to darkness, the music on the LP inhabits richly melancholy headspace. Initially clear, plangent keys and choral sighs almost subliminally begin to fray at the edges as their signals become reiterated in outwardly spiralling feedback loops. Across the front the sound connotes a late summer light ebbing away into dusk, gradually allowing the ear’s eye to adjust to the low luminosity of the B-side, where a chill of night seeps into the near-static scenes, fringed by the meridian sound of distant cars or the shiver of spirits accreted in soft furnishings and peeling wallpaper, eventually slowing down to a stark solo piano pulse and even Carpenter-style atmospheric noir.
Leading on beautifully from the LP’s solemn ending is TLO’s live set recorded for an event organised by Tom Houghton at Partisan, a listed building in a historic quarter of Manchester city centre. We were lucky enough to be lulled to a soporific state by said set, and we can assure listeners it’s lost none of its enchanted appeal on the CD.
|
2019 |
€34.00 |
|
| |
Interiors Three |
LP + CD + BOOK |
Cobwebbed keys and dust mite spectres perfuse the dimensions of rooms 14-19 in the third and final volume of the Tape Loop Orchestra’s ongoing ‘Interiors’ investigations, subtly refining the Tape Loop Orchestra sound from vast and moor-like to minimalist and economic. Big tip if you’re into Tim Hecker, Basinski, A Winged Victory for the Sullen, Richard Skelton.
Again accompanied by a booklet of evocative “found” images, TLO vicariously probes our relationship to space and time thru the prism of domestic life, and more specifically, thru the spaces once inhabited by others. His music is a metaphor for the plasmic, entropic energy of human spirits, and their referential ephemera, using the glimpses of other peoples lives - as found in the booklet - as cues for haunting strokes of dilapidated piano coupled with cosmic sighs that strafe the soundfield like the timelapse of midwinter sun dialling an empty bedroom. The LP features two related pieces, while the CD revolves one long, immersive track formed of outtakes.
“Rooms are an incarnation of the people who inhabit them. The selection of items are signs of status, emblems of their aspirations and signatures of private lives. Even when empty the omnipotence of the inhabitants is on display through the soft furnishings, artworks and trinkets.
Empty Time is the third volume of Tape Loop Orchestra’s Interiors series. Across the series TLO adopts a restrained minimal approach, focusing on the spatial aspects of sound TLO offers up a soundtrack to interiors bereft of inhabitants. Offering his own collection of found photos as a visual guide the listener is invited to meditate on the spaces we inhabit and what ephemeral energy is left behind when they are not in use.
|
2019 |
€34.00 |
|
| TAPHEPHOBIA |
Ghostwood |
CD |
New deeply introspective album by Norway’s Taphephobia. Opting for a slightly cleaner sonic palette than previous releases using less processed sounds and a more natural sounding approach to his guitar work, Ketil Soraker pushes what is now considered as Taphephobia's signature sound. In the vein of his previous Cyclic Law release “Escape From The Mundane Self”, we are submerged in a skillful combination of lush ambient guitar passages, sonic abstractions and processed flute. “Ghostwood” is a most personal hymn to experiencing the solace of the northern forest. Artwork by NIHIL.
Edition of 300 Copies in 4 panel Digipak. 10 Tracks. Running Time 45:37
https://cycliclaw.bandcamp.com/album/ghostwood
|
2018 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Blue Hour |
CD |
New album by Norway’s Cinematic Drone project Taphephobia. On is now 8th full length, we’re offered a dreamlike experience based upon personal emotional states and reflections of both the immediate environment and far reaching “outer” world. Not a concept album but rather a collection of feelings and visual impressions that revealed themselves in the compositional process. “Blue Hour” is dedicated to the unique atmosphere of the northern landscape. Artwork by Nihil.
Edition of 300 copies in 4 panel Digipack. 8 Tracks. Running Time 46:31
https://cycliclaw.bandcamp.com/album/blue-hour
"This new album guarantees static musical excursions and textured oceanic experiences of crystal purity and chilling beauty.
With his project Taphephobia the sound artist Ketil Søraker is rigorously following the path of deep ambient music with clear reverence to most representative classicists of the genre.
After a slow debut in this musical sphere, Taphephobia finally made a name and a growing reputation thanks to a contract with the indie dark ambient / post-industrial music label Cyclic Law. Solid albums as Ghostwood were released in relative discretion but elaborated with passion and obvious compositional skills. This project is inclined to smoothly layered sequences, timbral explorations with a fancy for cinematic qualities that invite the listener to enter mythical worlds where the ordinary sense of temporality is vanished.
Humming drones meet shimmering atmospheric soundscapes, the whole thing luring the listener in one extra-sensory slow motion immersion. This new album guarantees static musical excursions and textured oceanic experiences of crystal purity and chilling beauty. As for Ghostwood we can appreciate the occasional presence of transfigured and deeply sorrowing guitar lines in a dream-pop/ shoegazing style, floating between glimmering drones and a deep vastness. All in all Blue Hour is a quiet, charming, soothing and spacious ambient release with moments of forlorn stillness."[Philippe Blache, IGLOO mag] |
2020 |
€13.00 |
|
| TARAB |
Strata |
CD |
"Strata has been constructed from recording made in a series of vacant lots and their immediate surrounds in the north-west of Melbourne. These vacant lots are backed onto by various factories and warehouses on one side and a train line and Moonee Ponds creek (perhaps more aptly described as a concrete storm water drain) on the other. Running some 20 meters above all this is a large multi-lane highway overpass. This area has interested me for some time, the creeks and their walking paths act as a thoroughfare of sorts somewhat removed from the rest of the city. Somewhere to move through but not to stop and spend any real time. This collection of empty lots in particular has become an overlooked pocket, acting as a trap and dumping ground for rubbish or as a safe out of the way location for homeless people to live. It is a place where the industrial meets nature to create a zone which is strangely neither. It has a odd feeling of emptiness while being both sonically and physically dense with traffic noise, over grown weeds, hidden dwellings and rubbish.
As discussed in the introduction to Francesco Careri’s book Walkscapes: Walking as an Aesthetic Practice (Editorial Gustavo Gili, 2002) there is a common held view of the urban landscape as full with small pockets of emptiness (be it parks or demolition sites), as opposed to the rural landscape which is seen as empty with small areas of density. A view which holds within it much of the associated baggage regarding centres, peripheries and social marginalisation. What is thought of as empty is often simply that which is not seen or heard, the majority of people wilfully choosing to ignore. As for many others, these areas of cities hold great fascination for me, acting as a sort of hidden zone, full of the traces and debris of various past and present human activity, whether commercial, domestic or nefarious. All the while being slowly eroded by weather and reclaimed by the now unrestrained plant and animal life.
Rather than attempting to document this location I set out to construct a sound piece from the place itself through my direct interaction with it. Somehow collecting together all the existent traces I could unearth to form the work. Not only through walking, observing and recording the various areas and sounds but also by crawling and scratching around in the dirt; sifting through the piles of discarded objects; listening to the solid vibrations of the concrete pylons and traffic noise from inside the creek; by burying microphones and dragging them through the dirt and rubble. Strata attempts to respond to ideas of urban density and emptiness, and to show how these states blur and overlap each other. I have tried to highlight the small hidden details and with them create a condensed hyper-real version of my many wanderings through this area. But perhaps more simply put, Strata is the result of a process of attempting to, if only fleetingly, inhabit somewhere. To see, hear, smell and touch it." ]Eamon Sprod, September 2013]
www.unfathomless.net
"Vacant store fronts, abandoned buildings, and empty lots are increasingly harder to find in San Francisco these days. Even the former wastelands well to the east of our Mission location are filling in with all manner of development, from modern office spaces to sleek steel & glass apartments. Complaints of gentrification can hardly be made when such buildings are constructed on purportedly mitigated toxic sludge or the settled landfill of crumbled highways from the '89 earthquake. These dead zones in the urban landscape nevertheless are thriving ecosystems of feral plants and animals that can exist sprouting through broken asphalt and plumping themselves on the scraps of whatever can be pulled from nearby garbage cans. Few would pine over the loss of such spaces, and the Australian sound artist Eamon Sprod (aka Tarab) is one who would actively explore vacant lots instead of ignoring them. Over the years, Sprod has released a small catalogue of brilliant, if understated albums that reflect these dead spaces in the urban landscape, often with apocalyptic foreshadowings through his compositions. He patiently builds this work through layers of sparsely processed field recordings and found object manipulation often recorded directly in such environments - empty warehouses, military bunkers, dry sewer ducts and the like. For Strata, Sprod has documented something of a concrete island on the outskirts of Melbourne, bordered by train tracks, highways, and drainage ditches. In collecting his recordings, he would dig and claw through the broken concrete, construction refuse, bum trash, and aggregated debris, amassing a whole array of crumbled textures and noises that would also echo with the distant din of cars and trains roaring by, many miles away. What is always impressive about Sprod's albums is the incredible clarity of detail which pops into focus, as the bright frequencies of found metal debris take the shape of obsidian shards with possible diabolically mystical qualities. The compositions coalesce into churning swarms of texture that snap into expansive rumbles paralleling the desolation of Thomas Koner's polar treks, giving way to doppler-effected field recordings of trains with the grinding of brakes and the pulsing thunder of the engines. It's that rich attention to detail that warrants comparisons to Chris Watson's impeccable phonography, but the compositional approach strikes a balance between the psychological implications of Luc Ferrari and those damn-near perfect collages by Small Cruel Party. As with all of Tarab's work, this is very highly recommended! Limited to just 200 copies!" [Aquarius Records]
"Not the most active when it comes to releases by Eamon Sprod always gets around with his music, and has been releasing music on 23Five Incorporated, Naturestrip and most recently on Semper Florens (see Vital Weekly 866). Here he has a thirty-four minute piece based on a recording in a 'series of vacant lots and their surrounds which back on the Macaulay Station and Moonee Ponds Creek, North Melbourne, Australia', so train sounds are part and parcel of this. Although it's not entirely clear what he does, I'd say Tarab uses an excellent balance between pure, untreated sounds - here's where the trains drive right through your living room - and the treated versions there of, but it's never really that clear what is what indeed. Maybe Tarab stuck some contact microphones of the tracks as to pick up some far away signals, or rummages through the dirt along the tracks, which makes a very dynamic piece of music. Sometimes very loud and present but then as abruptly switching off and staying
is this low audible audio rumble of amplified gravel. Sometimes, as say around eight minutes, there is a deep end bass sound which must be something the computer coughed up, but then, I might be entirely wrong here. This is a great release of music that comes to us a soundscape and not as a pure documentation of sounds; exactly the kind of thing I like. Much enjoyable release from down under." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2013 |
€14.00 |
|
|
I'm Lost |
CD |
"A schizoid-concrete opus of environmental sounds heightened, stimulated, decontextualized, and teased into a psychic puzzle of industrialized and post-industrialized detritus, I'm Lost marks another milestone in the ever impressive catalogue from Australian sound-artist Eamon Sprod, who adopts the moniker Tarab for his endeavors. The title is one that explodes with a multitude of meaning. There's the geographical frustration in losing one's way as the surrounding landmarks fail to match with whatever technology may be in use (e.g. a sextant, a compass, an iPhone, a torn map, one's poor memory of a childhood neighborhood, etc.). There's the psychological implications of being lost from the existential narratives that we have scripted for ourselves due to broken relationships, failed jobs, dead relatives, natural disasters, the hand of God, etc. In addition to these possibilities, Sprod proposes that the notion of "lost" could also be an inversion of the idea of the "found object" or the "found sound," instead becoming the "lost object" or the "lost sound." Sprod's semantic wordplay is hardly a conceptual gimmick, as he fully immerses himself in the confusional framework while maintaining a consummate technical prowess over his field recordings. The compositional approach is rhizomatic, with dead-ends, wrong turns, and reprisals of these same dead-ends and wrong turns, offering a blackhumor sneer at the stubbornness of humanity's inability to learn from our mistakes (e.g. pollution, blight, poverty, disease, etc). Within the album's harsh edits and disjointed collages, Sprod renders sound with dysphoric associations through his vacant drift, crumbled gravel, scalding plasma-tube frequencies, and putrid factory noise. I'm Lost achieves the same psychological gravity as heard in the works of Sudden Infant, P16.D4, and John Duncan with an even greater sense of dislocation from those pioneers of radical tape splicing." [label info]
www.23five.org
" "Careful arrangements of sonic rubbish." That's one hell of a great artist's statement, courtesy of Eamon Sprod (aka Tarab). Over the past decade or so, this Australian sound-artist has quietly produced some of the finer examples of composition through field recording. His work is hardly the stuff of pleasantries from a soft ambient whoosh set as the backdrop to various birdsongs plopped willy-nilly for the intrepid listener to identify. Nope, there's always the threat of psychological, psychic, and existential violence lurking throughout Sprod's work. When the insect chorales push through to the foreground, it's symbolic of pestilence, disease, blight, and the simple fact that much in the outback can fucking kill you. It's easy to tap into the ultra-violent, post-apocalyptic, doomsayer, and/or isolationist scenarios mapped out elsewhere through the Australian psyche (e.g. Mad Max, Chopper, On The Beach, Bad Boy Bubby, etc.); and Sprod carves out his own niche in digging through the hinterlands of urban neglect, locating meaning of psychogeographical import (or the lack there of) within a recontextualized sound object. Since his debut Surfacedrift back in 2004, Sprod's work has steadily exhibited a maturation in conceptualization and aesthetic complexity, culminating in the schizophonic collage-tactics of I'm Lost.
The opening salvo of leaden thud, turbine roar, and pressurized blasts of air slithering through release valves is a torrent of concrete-actions, jump-cuts, and dead-ends, as if Sprod has decided to dematerialize the listener and purposefully mistranslate the coordinates between alternate realities of equally miserable / fascinating locations of industrialized bleakness. When he settles upon a singular space-time continuum, it's a vat of uranium churning at the bottom of an oil drum, while the container itself quickens its half-life through atomic fission. Another turn and Sprod channels an ethereally unholy skree of a thousand particle accelerators amassing their beams on a single contact microphone, ending up with something akin to a far more uncomfortable Phill Niblock or Rhys Chatham, manifested through what could be fluorescent bulbs. The quiet passages of textural rummaging that Sprod intersperses throughout I'm Lost have the queasy feel of somebody pulling off scabs from old wounds. Equal parts Cronenberg and Schimpfluch (Lanz, Phillips, Eb.Er., Zeier, etc.) - so of course, it's fucking awesome." [Aquarius Records]
"When reviewing 'Strata', the previous release by Tarab in Vital Weekly 911, I already noted that he's not the world's busiest bee when it comes to releases, but with steady intervals there's always something new. The title could refer to being lost in a geographical sense of the word, or being lost from 'existential narratives that we have scripted for ourselves' (broken relationships, failed jobs), but Eamon Sprod uses it for 'lost object' and 'lost sound', opposed to 'found object' and 'found sound'. He still uses field recordings on these five pieces here, but also to a wider extent than before the collage/cut-up aspect in all of this. 'Strata' seemed rather un-manipulated, but 'I'm Lost' is surely the product of lots of manipulation. Firstly through the layering of sounds and secondly through cutting these up and re-assembling these sounds. It makes that this music is a bit more noise like than before, jumping around in all these weird and unexpected cuts. It's not easy to say
where Tarab gets his field recordings; if they are tied in to specific location(s), or thematically linked or from whatever source he seems fit. Maybe they all stem from pollution sites, I thought, as to a certain extent it seems to me this album is also a bit darker than his previous work, or perhaps many other works by those who work inside field recordings. It may share the negative worldview of say Joe Colley or the near-broken equipment of Francisco Meirino and with both of them it's a similar collage like styled, dynamic work of collage and cut-up. And, if you have been paying attention in the past few years, it's this dynamic form of noise - loud, quiet, high, low - which, combined with a refined sense of composition, is something that I enjoy very much. Therefore I can easily say that this is Tarab's best work to date. Strictly personal opinion, obviously." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Material Studies |
mCD-R |
"tarab is the alias of eamon sprod, an australian sound artist whose motto is "careful arrangements of sonic rubbish". that says it all!
his past works were released on various international labels such as 23five, crónica, unfathomless or kaon.
"material studies #2 is the continuation of a small series of explorations of working with simple materials, started with 2019’s ms#1 released on hemisphäreの空虚. this work pares back and further refines this process, with the use of minimal discarded everyday materials introduced to the artificial movement of air, via an air-conditioning unit. this work is not intended as a document of this interaction, but is the result of working with this situation and the resulting recordings as material, to see and hear what might emerge from that process." (tarab)
recorded 2019. arranged 2020-21
this work is the result of working with simple materials and process
master: yvan etienne
merci beaucoup: jean-marc and yvan
https://taalem.bandcamp.com/album/material-studies-2-alm-140
"Tarab was already present with a new release last week, and now Eamon Sprod returns with another work, part of his "small series of explorations of working with simple materials, started with 2019’s ms#1 released on hemisphäreの空虚" (see Vital Weekly 1222). He also writes that "this work pares back and further refines this process, using minimal discarded everyday materials introduced to the artificial movement of air, via an air-conditioning unit. This work is not intended as a document of this interaction. Still, it is the result of working with this situation and the resulting recordings as material, to see and hear what might emerge from that process". This release is another proof of how far and wide Taalem's interpretation was of the word ambient music. No fat drones, no carefully constructed collage of field recordings, or lush computer-processed sounds, but rubbing of objects near the microphone. You don't recognize any of these materials, and if you didn't know better, one could think someone is rummaging through his tool shed. Upon closer listening, one hears the minor differences in the work, at one point in the middle, almost disappearing again. Towards the end, there is a dramatic build-up until it cuts out at the end. Again, this is not a work that uses a lot of computer processing or electronics, but there has been a fair amount of editing to make it a composition, rather than going through the toolbox with a handheld microphone." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2021 |
€5.00 |
|
| TARKATAK |
Skärva / Oroa |
7 |
a north german drone-project that has since this EP developed to one of the main german atmospheric deep droners... beautiful & dark transcendental noise..
“First full-lenght E.P. of a quite unknown german project, which only appeared on 3 cassettes so far and on a split-7" with DEEP. TARKATAK uses synths and other electronic devices, the music is slow & dull, non-impulsive and dream-like. Very low rumblings, dark harmonies, some subliminal & dense backwards-effects, this is sensible "archaic music" which could be easily compared to old Zoviet France and the likes. Another Mind-Drone. If you're able to go INTO the sound, the sound will pulsate in YOU and have effects for a long time...” [original Drone Records press release]
300 COPIES ON BLUE– WHITE– RED MULTICOLOUR VINYL and BEAUTIFULLY DESIGNED FULLCOLOUR COVERS by MARIO F. (originally released in December 1998)
|
2003 |
€6.00 |
|
|
Skärva / Oroa (SOLD OUT) |
7inch |
"First full-lenght E.P. of a quite unknown German project, which only appeared on 3 ½ cassettes so far and on a split-7" with DEEP. TARKATAK uses synths and other electronic devices, the music is slow & dull, non-impulsive and dream-like. Very low rumblings, dark harmonies, some subliminal & dense backwards-effects, this is sensible "archaic music" which could be easily compared to old Zoviet France and the likes. Another Mind-Drone. If you're able to go INTO the sound, the sound will pulsate in YOU and have effects for a long time...
BLACK VINYL, [was impossible to press this music on coloured vinyl!!], BROWN HAND-COLOURED AND STAMPED COVERS, EACH ONE WITH TWO "STRINGS"
"Two spacious new E.P.s for entheogenic minds
- out on Drone in December 1998"
|
1998 |
€ |
|
| |
I II III IIII |
CD |
Die 4 Titel auf / // /// //// sind in ihrem Ursprung auf Reisen entstanden, an unterschiedlichen Orten oder auf dem Weg. Dann weitergeführt in unterschiedlichen Situationen an diesem festen Ort hier bis sie eine endgültige Form angenommen haben, die sich aber erst nach vielen Stimmungsschwankungen gefunden hat. Ein manchmal langer Weg dessen Resultat nur aus der Stimmung entscheidet, die die Musik in diesem Moment entgegenbringt.
Tarkatak
Ende 1981 war der Anfang: Punk und die Kassettenszene machten alles möglich. Unter dem Namen „Der Pilz“ erschienen die Geräusch-Collagen aus selbst geschnittenen Tonband-Loops und Kassetten-Overdubs. Das Harsche blieb bei „Der Pilz“, das Ruhige wurde zu „Tarkatak“, mit der ersten Kassette „slow“ (1999). Die Quellen und Wege blieben gleich (hören, sammeln, schneiden, unkenntlich machen), das Medium wurde Digital, obwohl es oft noch immer nach Kassette rauscht. Und immer wieder geht es tief in das dunkle, zähe Unbekannte – um sich dann vom Klang irgendwo erfüllt und umschlossen zu verlieren.
Neben zwei Kassetten, einer LP, div. 7“s bei Drone Rec. (z.T.Features mit Klangwart und Deep), CD/Rs (u. a. zusammen mit Anemone Tube und Florian Filsinger) und ein bisschen Digitales, gab es Konzerte oder Live-Kollaborationen mit Troum, A Thousand Vows, Melt Banana, Christina Kubisch, Kapotte Muziek, EA 80 etc."
https://aufabwegen.bandcamp.com/album/i-ii-iii-iiii
"You could think that is a label that hands me two new CDs, and one of these is new work by Asmus Tietchens, that would be the one first to hear. But a new CD by Tarkatak! Hold on. I can't remember I last heard or reviewed his music. I have known the musical project from Lutz Pruditsch since he started it in 1992. Before that, he had a cruder, industrial act, Der Pilz. As Tarkatak, he plunges into the world of ambient and industrial. 'I II III IIII" is his first release since the 2007 release 'Mormor' (not reviewed). There are four long pieces on this CD: ' I', 'II', etc. The pieces are from 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2017/2021. I have no idea what kind of instruments Tarkatak uses; only the piano is recognizable in 'IIII'. Otherwise, I think he uses electronics, effects, guitars, synthesizers and such. There is a robust drone approach in these pieces, of slowed-down tapes and rusty sounds, slowly evolving. With pieces between thirteen and twenty minutes, there is enough time to let them grow and develop naturally. This works best in the longest of the four pieces, 'II'. Tones arrive from nowhere, make a few slow and majestic moves and then disappear, replaced by new ones. The resulting music is dark, atmospheric and ambient. It ticks all the right boxes for me; I have been a fan since the early days, even when I am ashamed to say I haven't played many in recent years. Oddly enough, the one that didn't work well for me was 'IIII', with the piano sounds. Whereas the other was akin to amorphous clouds, the musical element of the piano, slightly unorganized, banging out slow
tones against a drone background, became after a while a bit boring. But a good hour of great music has passed by then, so nothing to complain about. Let's hope we don't wait another fifteen years for the next album." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
" „I II III IIII“ ist das erste neue Album von Tarkatak seit dem 2007 erschienen Album „Mormor“ auf Genesungswerk. Ende 2021 erschien ein starker Track auf einer Compilation. Die hier enthaltenen Aufnahmen entstanden zwischen den Jahren 2011 und 2021, geremixed wurden sie im Frühjahr 2021. Lutz Pruditsch, dessen Werk in den 80ern/90ern als Der Pilz stark von der Industrial Culture beeinflusst war und der das kleine Label Trümmer Kassetten betrieb, macht als Tarkatak eine ziemlich variantenreiche Musik, die sich im Drone verorten lässt.
Konzipiert während des Reisens und Unterwegsseins, bekommt man vier lange Tracks, die sich fortwährend entwickeln: So kommen auf “I” im Laufe der 16 Minuten zu dem in der Ferne anschwellenden Drone immer weitere Elemente hinzu, die sich nach und nach verdichten. Das ist eine sich langsam entwickelnde, aus zahlreichen Schichten bestehende Musik: Zwischendurch wird man an eine Sirene erinnert, Dissonanzen tauchen auf, es pulsiert, brummt und irritiert (und das ist durchaus positiv zu verstehen). “II” wirkt anfangs von der Stimmung wesentlich positiver, weniger dunkel. Man kann sich diesen weitgehend sehr melodischen Track zur Untermalung eines Sonnenaufgangs vorstellen. In der Ferne erklingen Pianotöne, die verhallen, im Rauschen gerade noch erahnbar sind. Dann glaubt man, Wellen schlügen gegen das Ufer, dann setzen dunkle, unheilschwangere Drones ein, um dann am Ende doch hoffnungsvoll zu enden. “III” ist wesentlich reduzierter, beginnt fast unhörbar, dann kommen seltsam-melodische Passagen dazu. Dem Track haftet ein Moment des Mysteriösen an, bevor der Rest Schweigen ist. Der das Album abschließende Track “IIII” beginnt dunkel, tastend, dann kommen Klavierpassagen dazu, die wesentlich dominanter als zuvor sind.
Diese vier langen, organisch wirkenden Tracks loten aus, was der Drone alles kann. Sehr schöne, auf 200 Exemplare limitierte Veröffentlichung mit einem zum Poster ausfaltbaren Siebdruckcover." [MG / African Paper]
"An edition of 200 copies only in silk-screened hand numbered poster-cover sounds nice and lovely but is in fact a bit unhandy, the poster folds out to more of the organic structure in bronze / brown / black. Thankfully a regular booklet is included here so at least some basic infos can be gained from the artwork.
Tarkatak is actually no new name to me, it's a project by Lutz Prueditsch (who was active as Der Pilz, run his experimental tape label Trümmer Cassetten and later Dachstuhl a.o. activities) I've listened to in awe years ago already when his album 'Mormor' appeared on the much missed Genesungswerk label, in a cardboard box with a CD on felt. Ambient drones for the thinking man or something like that I wrote back then. At least back then he gave the tracks some titles but for this collection, recorded between 2011 and 2021 and finally mastered in 2021 even those have left and the tracks are titled as the release, just four numbered sections. Well, freedom of speech, association or of thought or both this is.
The most recognizable instrument used here in small doses is a piano, spreading a few melodic highlights throughout these organic drones, built from field recordings and found but altered sounds and voices. Reworked over and over again the continuos movement and the flow hardly ever stops until everything is dissolving.
The mood is shifting from brooding to wallowing in various stages of post-romantisicm not completely unlike contemporaries Troum (f.e. with 'Mare Morphosis'). Maybe also reflection of a period of travels and changes in the artists life. A pleasure to listen to. Dreamy Movements in a deep wakefulness sleep." [CHAIN D.L.K.]
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| TATE AND LILES |
Without Season |
CD |
Feine Collaboration der ORA-Hälfte DARREN TATE mit dem aufsteigenden Brightoner ANDREW LILES. TATE hat wieder field recordings beigesteuert (z.B. Holz- oder Bootknirschen, leises Bachrauschen, Äthersounds, Vögel & andere Tiere, Laufgeräusche, Unterholz-knispern), die unverarbeitet im Mix auftauchen, während ruhige drones und Instrumentalklänge (Piano, Akkordeon) das ganze konstrastieren... WITHOUT SEASON klingt überwiegend getragen, dunkel und etwas bedrohlich & ist von einer gewissen surrealistischen Bizarrheit, irgendwas „stimmt hier nicht“ oder lauert im Geäst...
“There is a playful madness, an eccentricity running through the veins of this recording. Disembodied sounds flit around the margins of our consciousness, barely recognisable, separated from obvious meaning, snatches of the almost familiar. We’re nearly home, but not quite. It’s more dreamlike, a perverse version of home, where something isn’t quite right, something is out of place. Our sanity perhaps?
‘In that direction,’ the Cat said, waving its right paw round, ‘lives a Hatter: and in that direction,’ waving the other paw, ‘lives a March Hare. Visit either you like: they’re both mad.’
‘But I don’t want to go among mad people,’ Alice remarked.
‘Oh, you can’t help that,’ said the Cat: ‘we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.’
‘How do you know I’m mad?’ said Alice.
‘You must be,’ said the Cat, ‘or you wouldn’t have come here.’
Quote from Alice In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Sonically flawless and wrapped in superb visuals, this is some of the strongest work from either artist.” [press release]
|
2005 |
€14.50 |
|
| |
Without Season |
CD-R |
"Feine Collaboration der ORA-Hälfte DARREN TATE mit dem aufsteigenden Brightoner ANDREW LILES. TATE hat wieder field recordings beigesteuert (z.B. Holz- oder Bootknirschen, leises Bachrauschen, Äthersounds, Vögel & andere Tiere, Laufgeräusche, Unterholz-knispern), die unverarbeitet im Mix auftauchen, während ruhige drones und Instrumentalklänge (Piano, Akkordeon) das ganze konstrastieren... WITHOUT SEASON klingt überwiegend getragen, dunkel und etwas bedrohlich & ist von einer gewissen surrealistischen Bizarrheit, irgendwas „stimmt hier nicht“ oder lauert im Geäst..." [Drone Rec. info 2005]
“There is a playful madness, an eccentricity running through the veins of this recording. Disembodied sounds flit around the margins of our consciousness, barely recognisable, separated from obvious meaning, snatches of the almost familiar. We’re nearly home, but not quite. It’s more dreamlike, a perverse version of home, where something isn’t quite right, something is out of place. Our sanity perhaps?
‘In that direction,’ the Cat said, waving its right paw round, ‘lives a Hatter: and in that direction,’ waving the other paw, ‘lives a March Hare. Visit either you like: they’re both mad.’
‘But I don’t want to go among mad people,’ Alice remarked.
‘Oh, you can’t help that,’ said the Cat: ‘we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.’
‘How do you know I’m mad?’ said Alice.
‘You must be,’ said the Cat, ‘or you wouldn’t have come here.’
Quote from Alice In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Sonically flawless and wrapped in superb visuals, this is some of the strongest work from either artist.” [press release Twenty Hertz]
|
2015 |
€10.00 |
|
| TATE, DARREN |
The elves are coming |
CD-R |
Wie klingt es wohl, wenn Elfen erscheinen? In den Soundrahmen aus japanischen field recordings von DAISUKE SUZUKI (Grillenzirpen, etc.) fallen wellende Instrumentalklänge und einzelne Klangobjekte von DARREN TATE, die seltsam effektiert (deharmonisiert) scheinen, die Atmosphäre die so mit einfachen Mittel erzeugt wird lässt sich schwer beschreiben.... irgendwann kommen noch leise, schleppende Rhythmusmaschinensounds dazu, das alles höchst minimal und höchst seltsam .... 41 minutes, 2 pieces...
„Along with one of his best titles this features some excellent artwork from Darren and comes in the ‘usual’ Twenty Hertz style in a jewelcase with printed inserts. What we hear however is a little harder to explain. Guitar and Organ improvisations mix with everyday environmental sounds and field recordings that were captured in Japan and contributed by Daisuke Suzuki. These two worlds collide to create a very intimate affair. Ominous paranoid undertones rattle the tranquillity of late night insects, the insanity of the day impeding on the faded light“ [label info]
“... 'The Elves Are Coming' consists of him playing guitar and keyboard whilst in the background there is a field recording by Daisuke Suzuki. It was mixed in two days in early january of this year and, although it is never stated, it's probably recorded then also, as the whole thing has a very direct, almost 'live' feel to it. The guitar sometimes just 'hums' and seems not to be doing much, while we hear sounds of someone shuffling about in what seems to me a wooden cabin of some sort. It's the sort of ambient drone music that is not necessarily demanding much, more like a sort of coincidental colliding of sound particles. That may sound perhaps a bit too easy, but it's this apparent randomness that is quite nice.” [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2006 |
€10.00 |
|
| TATE, DARREN & PAUL BRADLEY |
Sometime today |
CD |
Zusammenarbeit dieser britischen Droner aus dem ICR/COLIN POTTER-Umfeld.... ein one-tracker von 39 Minuten Länge, der den Hörer in etwas verwunschene, aber gleichwohl betörende akustische Fliessmuster wirft...
“Sometime today’ is a collaboration between Darren Tate and Paul Bradley. In his own unique and intimate way, Darren recorded the basic tracks at his home in York. Including guitar, keyboard and various other techniques, these recordings were passed onto Paul who took them with him, along with a laptop, on a recent visit to Turkey. These original tracks were supplemented with various field recordings taken around the town of Fethiye and the piece assembled during this three-week visit. Voyeuristic, evocative, abstract and delicate, you are invited to spend some time in their sonic world.
Darren Tate made his name in the group Ora, a floating collective that included Colin Potter, Andrew Chalk and Jonathan Coleclough. More recently he is heard as one half of Monos with Colin Potter and on a growing collection of limited solo release CDRs on his own Fungal Records. Paul Bradley started out with his first commercial release on ICR and this friendship and partnership has continued over two collaborative CDs with Colin Potter. He has released several solo discs on his own Twenty Hertz label and recently appeared on the Monos release "Landscapes", which then led to the "Sometime Today" collaboration.” [press release]
“'Sometime today' can be filed under: late-summer-afternoon-walk-in-the-park drone. It's reminding of a hot weather summer afternoon walk with loved ones in an almost empty park, yellow leaves have falled from the trees, a pond... Inspiring atmosphere and music.... Nice, peaceful, relaxing piece, patiently changing in few phases by adding layers of sound. Ok for both close listening or as a background while reading something casually, poetry recommended.” [BR/Vital Weekly]
|
2004 |
€13.00 |
|
| TAUMEL |
In Pieces - Volume One |
10inch |
"in pieces - volume one" - taumel trifft das ensemble adapter
- - -
im winter 2016 haben sich 'taumel' und das 'ensemble adapter' zu mehreren improvisativen sessions getroffen um einen musikabend zu entwickeln, bei dem die gegensätze und grenzen zwischen komposition und improvisation, freiheit und festlegung, chaos und struktur verschwimmen oder kollidieren. im mittelpunkt der sessions stand die entwicklung einer spezifischen, klang-gestischen musiksprache. jeder musker hat gewissermaßen auf seinem instrument einen charakter und seine jeweils eigene spezifische klang-gestik entwickelt. diese sessions haben wir mitgeschnitten und für "in pieces" als grundlage genommen. "in pieces" besteht aus den remixes dieser sessions, sowie zusätzlich von taumel produziertem studiomaterial.
"in pieces" kann als sureales klanggedicht verstanden werden, als eine abstrakte klang-geschichte, die durch die verschiedensten zustände wandert - von größtem glück bis hin zu raserei und wahnsinn. in den 2 mutierenden klangfeldern kreist die assoziative geschichte um das thema der sprachlichen unveräußerbarkeit und damit auch um das thema 'chaos und ordnung'. diese doppelbödigkeit, der versuch zur schönheit und dessen umkippen in zerstörung und versagen. schreibversuche, sprechversuche, gestammel, gestotter, geschrei, einengung, wegdriften, gesumme... in der mutation der zustände treffen heterogene klangereignisse aufeinander oder werden vermengt zu einer neuartigen masse zwischen lied, sprechen, melodie, harmonie, geräusch, beats, riffs, wort, elektronik und verfremdung. die aktion des instrumentalisten (das instrumentenspiel) steht auf der gleichen ebene wie jede andere klangerzeugende handlung oder stimmliche veräußerung sowie jede elektronische klangerzeugung und ist immer gestisch gedacht, performativ, als handlung, als akustischer tanz.
"volume one" ist der erste teil eines als zweiteiler geplanten musikalischen zusammenhangs ("in pieces - volume two). in zwei klangteilen (seite a, seite b) ist "in pieces - volume one" kein liederzyklus wie unsere anderen serien, z.B. TRAUM, sondern eher ein musikalischer 2-akter, später insgesamt 4-akter. hier teilt sich die gesamtform der musik-serie nicht auf in alben und songs, sondern in alben und deren a+b seiten, wie akt 1, 2, 3 und 4. vielleicht kann man daher "in pieces" auch als akustisches theater hören, oder als hörspiel ohne worte, oder als soundtrack ohne film, oder als film ohne bild, oder eben einfach als eine ordnung sich verändernder klangereignisse.
"off the record"
in "off the record" trifft taumel auf andere musiker und entwickelt alben in kolaboration. hier können verschiedenste formen der musikalischen interaktion ausprobiert werden. in diesem fall von "in pieces" bestand die zusammenarbeit mit dem "ensemble adapter" in den besagten sessions, die das grundgerüst und skelet für das gesamte album bilden.
- - -
INFORMATION:
"in pieces - volume one"
by taumel and ensemble adapter
label: dronerecords
https://www.dronerecords.de
taumel: jakob diehl / sven pollkötter
https://www.taumel.net
publisher: https://www.la-chunga.com/en/
ensemble adapter: Kristjana Helgadóttir / Ingólfur Vilhjálmsson / Gunnhildur Einarsdóttir / Matthias Engler
http://ensemble-adapter.de
instruments: voice, drums, percussions, guitars, tipewriter, flutes, harp, clarinets, prepared piano, keyboards, synthesizer, loops and samplings, electronics, fxs on instruments.
- - -
- - -
"in pieces - volume one" - taumel meets ensemble adapter
in winter 2016, 'taumel' and the 'ensemble adapter' met for several improvisational sessions to develop an evening of music in which the contrasts and boundaries between composition and improvisation, freedom and determination, chaos and structure were to blur or collide. the sessions focused on the development of a specific, sound-gestural musical language. in a way, each musician developed kind of a character on his instrument and its own specific sound-gesture. we recorded these sessions and used them as a basis for "in pieces. "in pieces" consists of the remixes of these sessions, as well as additional studio material produced by taumel.
"in pieces" can be understood as a sureal sound poem, an abstract sound story that wanders through the most different states - from greatest happiness to frenzy and madness. in the 2 mutating sound fields, the associative story revolves around the theme of linguistic inalienability and thus also around the theme of 'chaos and order'. this ambiguity, the attempt at beauty and its overturning into destruction and failure. attempts at writing, attempts at speaking, stammering, stuttering, screaming, constriction, drifting away, humming... in the mutation of states, heterogeneous sound events meet or are mixed to a new kind of soundmash between song, voices, melody, harmony, instruments, noise, beats, riffs, words, electronics and alienation. the action of the instrumentalists (the instrument playing) is on the same level as any other sound producing action or vocal expression as well as any electronic sound production and is always meant gesturally, performatively, as action, as acoustic dance.
"volume one" is the first part of a musical context planned as a two-part work ("in pieces - volume two). in two sound parts (side a, side b) "in pieces - volume one" is not a song cycle like our other series, e.g. TRAUM, but rather a musical 2-act, later altogether 4-act. here the overall form of the musical series is not divided into albums and songs, but into albums and their a+b sides, like act 1, 2, 3 and 4. perhaps, therefore, "in pieces" can also be heard as an acoustic theater, or as a radio play without words, or as a soundtrack without a film, or as a film without a picture, or simply as an order of changing sound events.
"off the record"
in "off the record" taumel meets other musicians and develops albums in collaboration. here different forms of musical interaction can be tried out. in this case of "in pieces" the collaboration with the "ensemble adapter" consisted in these sessions, which form the basic framework and skeleton for the whole album.
https://soundcloud.com/drone-records/taumel-in-pieces-vol-one
"For various reasons, this is an oddball release for the Drone Records' subdivision of Substantia Innominata. Firstly, because one of the musicians is a relatively well-known actor, who played a role in the excellent German TV series 'Dark', a must-see if you like that sort of thing with time travel. He's also a composer for various films. With Sven Pollkötter, he is the duo of Taumel. I am sure Diehl's participation will raise a few unusual eyebrows in the direction of this record. More importantly, the music is not what we know from this series, a subdivision of Drone Records, which, by and large, deal with the more droney end of the musical spectrum, music for the subconsciousness. Taumel teams up with Ensemble Adapter, a four-piece group of percussion, clarinets, flute and harp, along with a ton of effects, tapes, and voices. The six of them recorded a couple of improvisations, which served as the basis of further mixing, remixing and processing by Taumel (who play keyboards, voices, guitars, typewriter, tapes, percussion, sampler, and such like). On this record, there are eight pieces, which in itself is also a thing you don't see a lot with releases on this imprint. The result is still much rooted in improvised music than you would think or even jazz, but with that streak of darkness, that is more common here. A most remarkable record, I'd say, and one that took some time here before it sank in. The resulting pieces of music are just that, pieces of music, rather than soundscaping or long-form pieces. There is excellent clarity here regarding the instruments, which are all pretty well defined within the result. However, the four pieces per side can be seen as one long story, moving from place to place, albeit a more abstract one, of course, but maybe I am distracted by the fact that there is an actor at work here. Also, it has an excellent film character. I can easily imagine visuals to go along with this, and it comes close to the world of soundtracks. Perfect record, but not one that quickly reveals its secrets." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2021 |
€16.00 |
|
| TAZARTES, GHEDALIA |
5 Rimbaud 1 Verlaine |
10inch |
"Vinyl reissue of this great tribute to the poetry of Rimbaud and Verlaine made by our favorite French sorcerer, who exceptionally abandones his typical imaginary language to reinterpret six small poems in his own way, jumping from one musical genre to the other and happily letting them crunch together in a childish, enthusiastic play. Recorded in Paris in his flatelier around the same time he recorded the wonderful Hystérie Off Music and previously available in an almost unnoticed mini CD edition published by the French label Jardin au Fou, it's now available in a remastered vinyl version - with an excellent 45 rpm cut made by SST in Frankfurt.
Pressing info: 350 copies on black."
|
2016 |
€16.50 |
|
| |
Diasporas |
LP |
Originally recorded in 1977, following a limited release in 1979, Ghedalia Tazartes debut album, Diasporas, introduced listeners to the surreal, mysterious and truly unclassifiable statement of Tazartes and his out-of-time place in the French avant-garde canon. Born in Paris in 1947 to Judaeo-Spanish parents of Greek descent, Tazartes spent his early career as an autodidact utilizing his knowledge of repetition and collage, coupled with his Ladino linguistic heritage, to create some of the most unique recordings of the late 20th century. Interest in the works of Tazartes truly sparked when artist Steve Stapleton included his follow up album, Tazartes' Transports, in his famed "Nurse With Wound List," thus adding endless curiosity to the folklore behind Tazartes and his mystical entree. From the onset of Diasporas, looping incantations seemingly pile up at the behest of Tazartes. In almost a prayer-like decree, Tazartes chants to the gods in an undefined whail that is both haunting and spiritually divine. Tazartes unique use of tape loops to capture the disappearing traditions of his family's past creates an atmospheric texture that unexpectedly complements his cut-up, manipulated vocal experiments. While contemporaries within the French avant-garde maneuvered academic theory and rigid tradition, Diasporas strays away from these boundaries, working in Tazartes' invented practice of 'impromuz', a method in which he endlessly records for hours and edits only the moments that display any sense of spontaneous enlightenment. Further emboldening the obtuse nature of Diasporas are the seemingly random recitation of poet Stephane Mallarme and the traditional 'Parisian-style' piano accompaniment of experimental composer Michel Chion. Since its initial release over 40 years ago, both Dais Records and Alga Marghen have released reissues of Diasporas in various formats, all of which quickly fell out of print. Dais Records presents an official reissue, newly remastered by Josh Bonati, utilizing the original artwork of Diasporas in its sole album form, for the first time in over four decades.
https://ghedalia-tazartes.bandcamp.com/album/diasporas
|
2020 |
€22.50 |
|
| TAZARTES, GHEDALIA & MAYA DUNIETZ |
Schulevy Maker |
LP |
"Holotype Editions was founded as a means of bringing out music by some of the most unique and peculiar artists of the last decades. What could be more fitting for the imprint’s seventh release, than the duo of cult artist Ghédalia Tazartès and multi-instrumentalist, composer and singer Maya Dunietz. Recorded live at Cafe Oto, in December 2013, Schulevy Maker documents the duo’s first live appearance. An amalgam of bizarre samples, concrete sounds, live piano and bells, juxtaposed with the otherworldly voices of Dunietz and Tazartès. At times light and humorous, at others dark and ritualistic, Schulevy Maker can hardly be labeled or tagged. The album title refers to Shoemaker-Levy 9, a disrupted comet that collided with Jupiter in July 1994. Tazartès and Dunietz freely reassembled the syllables of the comet’s name, coming up with this obscure title. A truly life-affirming record, by two artists defying categorization, Schulevy Maker comes in a limited edition of 300 copies, pressed on black vinyl with a beautiful cover designed by We Are Still Bold and Beautiful. Recorded live at Cafe Oto, London - December 2nd, 2013 by James Dunn. Mixed by Daniel Meir. Mastered by Nikos Lavdas at Kiwi, Athens, 2017. |
2017 |
€16.00 |
|
| TBC |
Rotorfraktal |
MC |
A new cassette-only release by Drone Records-artist TBC on his own imprint, almost 90 minutes of droning & windy white-noise-hisses, slowly shifting to distored siren-like waves, and gradually other strange effects appear in the mix... really great fully contemplative drone-storms and -rays...
"TBC is starting his guitarwork edition of the explorations of tableguitar. It's a composition of long underlaying droning emotional ambientnoise track in several parts" [label info]
|
2006 |
€6.50 |
|
| TBC_CZEPOKS |
same |
CD |
"New electro-acustic improvisation release of two hamburg groups, which collaborated for this cd – one is tbc, known for the electro-acustic noises, the other one is czepocks with the
psychedelic sound of hamburg. They use a lot of diffrent instruments in the mix: from melancholic e-bass and e-gutar, two heavy processed keyboards, recordplayer loop action, contact-micro noises and fieldrecordings, they deliver a mix which can satisfy fans of p16.d4, early nurse with wound and faust. It appears in a dvd-box." [label info] |
2012 |
€10.00 |
|
| TBC_CZEPOKS_SIGD |
Radio Gagarin Allsound Orchestra |
CD |
"In Hamburg, Germany, there is a radio station called FSK and one of the program is Radio Gagarin. Here TBC, also known as Thomas Beck holds court and plays records and sometimes has friends over an in-house radio session. On a date not given their guest was Chris Sigdell, whom we otherwise know as B*Tong (but also Leaden Fumes and Bu.d.d.A) on electronics and the other side of the table we find TBC_Czepoks, being Seemann (bass, theremin, violin dulcimer), Rana Miss Ton (keyboards, sound objects) and TBC (tapes, electronics, live mix). Sigdell oversaw the edit and mix we now hear on the CD. As these things go in this particular end of the world, the result is an all-dark, heavily reliant on drone affair, with occasional leanings to the world of noise. In the opening
piece, 'Phainon', we enter a world full of rusty machines, stashed in a big hall. Squeaking and vibrating, objects falling to the floor, this turns out to be the release at its heaviest. In other pieces, the four-piece settle for a more subdued drone sound. Slowly opening and closing all sorts of filters on a variety of electronics and amplified objects, they create an unsettling moody atmosphere; probably as black meets brown on the cover. In 'Pyroeis' a voice appears, reminding me of the earliest Current 93 records (which Is a big plus in my books). The two parts of 'Phosphoros' that end the proceedings are my favourite part of this release. This is quiet yet unsettling; this moody and sparse but with lots of tension underneath. Massive and spacious, like the unveiling of a black hole (is that possible?), with stuff already disappearing from the scenery. This is about one-third of the entire release, and it proofs that given enough time and acting out patience, brings out the best in improvisation." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
https://tbc-czepoks.bandcamp.com/
|
2020 |
€10.00 |
|
| TEAR GARDEN, THE |
The Brown Acid Caveat |
do-LP |
"It's been nearly 50 years since the first Brown Acid Caveat was issued to a million hippies in a field at the first Woodstock Festival. In these dark , more-knowing times The Tear garden felt it was the perfect moment to mark their 30th Anniversary with a similar warning , especially as their first album back in 1987 bore the declaration , "We Will Pour Our Jars in Reservoirs" on the cover. In fact , we were joking. Despite the madness you may perceive all around you right now, those jars were stashed on the highest shelf of a kitchen cupboard and the key was tossed into the ocean. Our sole wish is to introduce beauty to the medieval landscape we appear to be trapped in right now.There will be no brown paint splashed around. Beauty survives , even underneath the ugliest, heaviest rock. This is The tear Garden's 8th record and is testimony to an enduring friendship that spans the aforementioned ocean. After 8 years, The Tear Garden (the psychedelic/experimental/electronic project of Edward Ka-Spel of The Legendary Pink Dots & cEvin Key of Skinny Puppy) return with "The Brown Acid Caveat", the culmination of the duo's 31 years of working together. Psychedelic electronic melancholia , fearless experimentation & improvisation combine to take the intrepid listener on a mesmerizing voyage of the mind. Feel the Love. Don't touch the brown acid."
"How to characterize The Tear Garden, the more than 30 year collaboration between Skinny Puppy’s Cevin Key and The Legendary Pink Dots’ Edward Ka-Spel? The threads that make up their discography aren’t hard to identify; there’s a baleful wit couched in heartbreak and a melancholic psychedelia that are easy to spot on every LP, EP and non-album track with few exceptions. But just being able to identify those repeated moods and ideas doesn’t get us any closer to understanding the essence of what these two friends have together, or how their divergent musical paths keep leading them back together to make such lovely music.
The Brown Acid Caveat is the first LP of new material since 2009′s Have a Nice Trip and in contrast to that record’s jammy experimentalism (a thing both Edward and Cevin excel at unsurprisingly), the songs here feel more purposeful and concise. Even when the songs stretch out past the seven minute mark, their deliberate construction hearkens back to the latter era-Nettwerk Tear Garden albums, when many of LPD’s members were involved in the project. Probably not coincidentally, some former Dots – guitarist Martijn De Kleer and dub maestro Ryan Moore – are present here, although it’s unclear to what extent they pitched in or influenced the proceedings. That said, opener “Strange Land” hearkens back to 2000′s underrated Crystal Mass, playing out as a sad travelogue through places real and imaginary, all carried by delicately strummed guitars and Ka-Spel in the wounded sage persona he’s been growing into since his very earliest recordings.
Indeed, while the group has always thrived on a mix of straight songwriting and trippy outer space journeys, Ka-Spel and Key are working hard to reconcile those ideas here. Functionally that means you get more than a few songs, like “On With the Show” and “Kiss Don’t Tell”, that start fully formed before slowly unravelling into ambient tapestries of modular synthesizer, samples and reverb. And while every song feels as though it could go in that direction, The Tear Garden do show some restraint, allowing the lovely repeating synth figure of “A Private Parade” to play itself out fully before swapping in a solo that lands somewhere between a violin and a theremin. Especially pleasant is the excellent “Calling Time” (which features one of Ka-Spel’s best bits of contemporary wordplay “I’ll serve until it’s time/I’ll serve until this bar runs dry”) which marries a propulsive bassline with off-kilter mechanical percussion and a bubbling lead, all delivered in a relatively trim 4:29.
Still, while this is unmistakably a Tear Garden record, from the dubby half-spoken “Sinister Science” to the cathartic exotica of the string-infused “Seven Veils”, we’re no closer to insight beyond simply identifying familiar components. And maybe that’s where some of the magic comes from really. It occurs while listening Ka-Spel crack a little while he partakes in cute rhyming games on plinky-plunky closer “Object” that the Tear Garden is almost an in-joke, an insular and obscure province charted by two long-time friends who found a creative unity many years ago and have never let it go. It’s their trip, but we still have the privilege of being guests, and that can’t help but still feel somewhat special."
[idieyoudie.com] |
2017 |
€34.00 |
|
| TECUMSEH |
Return to Everything |
CD |
"First ed. Of 500 copies in a deluxe custom made book bound gatefold sleeve. The first 50 include a bonus insert by the band. To come see Tecumseh return to everything is to walk on thunder with the comforting knowledge of certain annihilation. The group treads dexterously between ultra-low-end doom and old school industrial drone. Pregnant, yawning thrums prime the pump for the annealing to come. The quiet blizzard of growling steel that appears is ferocious enough to draft hairline fracture maps upon the nearest bones. The variety of shuddering attacks makes the heavy atmosphere breathable. Dig the new breed of metallic gods." [label info]
www.blrrecords.com
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| TEHOM |
Live Assault |
CD |
Special LIVE audio recording of a unique TeHÔM performance for "The Keep Ambient Lodge" at 2016’s Brutal Assault Festival in the Czech Republic. Recorded both through the mixing board as well as from two room microphones to capture glimpses of the live experience. TeHÔM's music recalls visions of ancient cultures, evoked by hypnotic, abstract and organic soundscapes wrapped in ritualistic and esoteric atmospheres from which a primordial flood of Chaos emerges.
Edition of 500 copies in a 4-panel matte laminated Digipack. 1 Track. Running Time 47:32.
https://cycliclaw.bandcamp.com/album/live-assault |
2017 |
€13.00 |
|
| TEICHER, ELSE |
Whored |
CD |
"Ed. of 300 numbered copies with the first 40 including very special art inserts by the band. Bitter/sweet Else (both E’s pronounced) appears to have been spat a tuberculin progeria princess from Der Himmel Uber Berlin. She has been fiendishly haunting sonic neithers for the past 20 years with a number of small run cassette and CDR releases and, for a time, as half of Romulus & Remus. “Whored” weds composerly and DIY elements into an experimentally corroded pastiche of pseudo-noise and sub-psychedelia. Her oddly wrought opuses are musical, yet remain damaged enough that they occupy a space that is not quite “tuneful.” The smaller Rainy Day Women pieces sew blown out loops into exquisite corpses of overdriven drone and pulse. The seething, long form “Horde” forms up slowly and steadily like an ever massing din of doom cascading over a distant horizon, eventually filling it. The mournful yet rising Kathode rumbles through like a requiem mass of organ and decaying electronics. Else’s beautiful noise resides somewhere betwixt the primitivism of early Zoviet France and shameless weirdness of early Severed Heads. Even in her reign of misappropriated instrumentation she avoids an improvisational sound. Her compositions have shape and direction. The wrongs sound strong. So click your heels and raise a baeren-jaeger Prost for the mysterious she-teuton and the Pferd she rode in on. In these hinterlands, broken is spoken." [label info]
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| TELEPHERIQUE |
Nerv.Sys |
do-CD |
“nerv.sys's topic is distress as a result of technical evolution in industrial civilizations. the collage-based music symbolizes the moods and parameters appearing under distress and the effects caused on the human mind and body. on this cd, telepherique try to transform these effects caused via the nerve system into music - caution: please listen at your own risk!” [press release] |
2004 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Slowmotion |
CD |
"Telepherique, one of Germany's most recognizable names, has returned with another masterpiece. After almost one-hundred
releases over the last eightteen year on many respected labels like Ant-Zen, MSBR and Old Euroupa Cafe, Force of Nature is honored to
present 'Slowmotion'. Telepherique's new album 'Slowmotion' is not the first album in which a critical view on society is presented to the listener. For example with the project Telerotor they released 'Modern Times' and 'Mobility', two highly conceptual albums with a vision on the hasty life and connectivity in modern times. But in contradiction with their earlier social conscious albums, 'Slowmotion' has a ritualistic ambient flow which enforces the listener to take it a step down; To see and live things in 'Slowmotion'. It is well said on the inlay: "This CD is dedicated to all the people who try to simplify their life in modern times, marked with materialism, business, stress and sickness". The eight tracks have notitles but they are divided into three 'steps', being "Out of balance", "Down shifting" and "Fountain of flow". The whole results in a ritualistic, flowing album with moments of rhythm, ambience and complex soundscapes." [label info]
"...but it is safe to say that 'Slowmotion' is well chosen title: the music is mostly ambient in approach, with long washes of synths, but it's never the big A ambient. Telepherique also uses rhythm, a lot of it, but it's a slow pulse, whenever it is used. Not exactly dance music, but a sort of driving pulse, a heart beat if you want, or the steady bump of a train ride. You watch outside and the landscape slowly changes, with altering colors and sceneries. The rhythms have a sense of tribalism, which is not far away from some of the mechanical beats of Muslimgauze. Excellent production of music that is best heard when traveling. Leave what you are doing behind and start a journey with this as its soundtrack." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
label website: www.forceofnature.cc
|
2007 |
€14.00 |
|
| TEMPLE MUSIC |
Alpha - Barton upon Humber - St Peter |
CD-R |
"The Green Man Project is presented as a private limited edition CDR (50x each volume), housed in individual, hand printed ‘art’ wraparound sleeves with information about each location. Each piece is different, as is each location; each is dense, shifting, unexpected, rhythmic, arrhythmic, modal, tonal, abrasive, ethereal... each is as different and yet the same as the Green Man himself. Take yourself on a journey of a different sort with Temple Music…
The Green Man is a symbol familiar to many; it cuts across a vast swathe of interests - folklore, pagan, esoteric, architectural - and is found in a number of different contexts. Place names (farmsteads, woods), inn and pub signs, company logos and, overwhelmingly, churches, all contain references to, and images of, the Green Man, Primary and seconday schools alike set it as an art project. So ubiquitous is it, in fact, that most people will not have to have it explained to them - you can simply refer to the Green Man and they will know what you are talking about. Or, at any rate, they will know the symbol... So what exactly is the Green Man a symbol for? In broad terms, there is an agreement that he is part of our pagan past, a symbol of death, rebirth and renewal, the spirit of the Woods - Jack O? The Green, Robin Hood (Wood), the Lord of Misrule, the Corn King. A British, Celtic or Norse god brought into the churches (where he is often found in conjunction with Sheela-na-Gig) to properly sanctify them by our superstitious forebears. So broad are the terms of reference, so much does the Green Man seem to represent and signify, it seems that he is what you make of him and what you want him to be...
All the World is drown’d
Roots of Trees are drown’d
Ocean breathes and sleeps
Leaf and Branch are drown’d
Here I breathe and sleep
Tracy Jeffery - Harp, Vox
Stephen Robinson - Bass, 3 Drone Harmonium, Lapp Frame Drum
Alan Trench - Lyre, Dulcimer, Guitar, VSS30, Birds, Rainstick
www.myspace.com/templemusick" [label info]
www.shiningday.pl
|
2008 |
€9.00 |
|
| |
Gamma - Cadney - All Saints |
CD-R |
"The third in the seven album GREEN MAN series from TEMPLE MUSIC (ALAN TRENCH (ORCHIS, CUNNAN, S.Q.E., TWELVE THOUSAND DAYS) & STEPHEN ROBINSON (THE BELOVED)) opens with sinister bursts of (dis)harmony from the vintage String Machine underpinned by brooding bass and highlighted by tense yet liquid guitar... as the piece build, the mood lifts and becomes more rhythmic until a veil lifts on a crystalline vision of chiming bells and harmonised lyre; distant flutes play far away... again, this new vision builds, ebbs, flows... making way for a beautiful circular guitar and organ duet... this resolves into a song of yearning and loss with vocals by TRACY JEFFERY (ORCHIS, SQE) that seems to encapsulate all that has gone before; the final playout is both sad and elegiacal...
Once again TEMPLE MUSIC continue on their seven step journey; this third on the path shows an evolving series of spectacular depth ...
Once again, this comes as an extremely limited Art Edition; a beautiful handmade package, with individually painted and hand-blocked outer sleeve and complementary inner sleeve – and, once again, PLEASE NOTE that this is a NEW and RE-MASTERED EDITION that has a depth and tonality missing from the now totally unavailable Woven Wheat download version– and is exclusive to this SHINING DAY release.
This is what TEMPLE MUSIC have written about the album:
This recording is the third part of a continuing series of seven long pieces inspired and informed by different Green Man locations in the county of Lincolnshire, England. This volume is based upon a lonely and tree encircled location, the air tumbling with the black tatters of rooks - the once important All Saints church of Cadney Cadney sits in the wide clay valley of the river Ancholme a couple of miles south of Brigg (named after the bridge across the river). The suffix ‘ey’ gives the clue to its history, meaning ‘isle’ and before drainage schemes and the channelling of the Ancholme this was indeed an island in the midst of fresh and saltwater marshes and was ceded (under the name ‘Ruckholme’) to St Gilbert, founder of the Gilbertine Order, some time in the 12th century. Here he built Newstede priory where he lived until his death in 1189.
Based closely on the Cistercian order, the Gilbertine rule was austere, based on manual labour – farming. The son of a Norman baron and an English woman, Gilbert was ideally placed to bridge the cultural gap, and here, on the island in the darkness of the marshes between Lincoln Edge and the Wolds, in the Norman church of All Saints he could hardly have failed to notice the pagan survival that watched over the congregation; the Green Man. Modern Cadney is peaceful (if not entirely somnolent); the priory now a farm, the Ancholme now slow flowing and calmly channelled under the vastness of the arching sky. Here the past seems distant, unfocussed; the present hardly here at all, the landscape dreaming under the cloth of fields and woods. Although the work of Gilbert - and almost the memory of him - are nearly erased by time, the Green Man lives on.
SR & AT, 11.11.08 ev, Lincolnshire
On this piece, Temple Music were:
Tracy Jeffery – Voice : Stephen Robinson – Bass, String Machine, Synths, Lapp Frame Drum, Cithara
Alan Trench – Guitars, Tibetan Bells, Sequencer, Synths, Lyre, Whistles, Mongolian One String Fiddle Treatment
www.myspace.com/templemusick" [full label info]
www.shiningday.pl
|
2008 |
€9.00 |
|
| TENHORNEDBEAST |
The Sacred Truth |
CD |
"From the ashes of Dark Ambient legends Endvra the TenHornedBeast is rising. Cryptic, menacing atmospheres erupt from droning chasms of feedback. On an altar of horn and fire "The Sacred Truth" is revealed. An ultra doom / drone epic! Presented in a matt-laminate, spot-varnished digipak. TenHornedBeast is Christopher Walton." [label info]
"With a past in the British dark ambient-project Endura in joint venture with Stephen Pennick, Christopher Walton knows exactly how to create atmospheres of the disturbingly black kind. His solo-project "Tenhornedbeast" is like a trip back to the early days of death industrial. The expression on the five intersections of the album is repetitive and slowly moving, though the approach to dark minimalism varies on the overall album. With drones based on orchestration of the dark kind the associations from beginning of the album stylishly turns towards the Cold Meat Industry-scene, more precisely towards the lesser harsh moments of Brighter Death Now around the "Necrose Evangelicum"-period. From fourth intersection titled "In the teeth of the wolf", the drones becomes more guitar-based in the gloomy drone-rock style characterizing the expression of Sunn O))), with a dark ambient-based touch reminding of Lustmord and early british industrial/metal-ambient-project Saw Throat (aka SoreThoat ). The true power of this album is Christopher Walton ability to create cinematic atmospheres of trance-like hypnotism with this great mixture of acoustic and synthetic. Impressive album." [NM / Vital Weekly]
www.coldspring.co.uk
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| TENHORNEDBEAST / MARZURAAN |
split |
CD |
Zwei lange Stücke auf dieser Split der Bands aus UK. Unfassbar weiten & mächtigen, fast halbstündigen DOOM-DRONE produzieren TENHORNEDBEAST, die früher als ENDVRA aktiv waren. MARZURAAN ist die zweite Inkarnation von RYN, und sie rocken hier weniger metallisch-krachig, sondern in wunderbarer ultra-minimaler JESU-Manier... Spezielles ausgestanztes Cover.
"Aurora Borealis is proud to present this split CD by two of the lesser known greats from the Northeast of England. TENHORNEDBEAST is the dark vision of Christopher Walton, part of the much feted ENDVRA, masters of 90s dark and occult ambient. 'Law of the needle', clocking in at over 28 minutes, is an oppressive opus of doomed drone, both monolithic and multifaceted. Pure power. "elongated, sinister drone, ...distant, echoing string resonance from bowed guitars and cold, steely walls of distortion" think the good folks at Boomkat, as well they may. MARZURAAN contribute 'Into countless battles', 13 minutes of narcotic guitar haze. I think this is my favourite of anything they have done to date. So good, you never want it to end. The gruff metal grunts of the 'Solid Wood' LP have been replaced by a subdued, almost crushed vocal, totally stands out. "acres of textured guitar, low end pressure and brooding drums" say Boomnkat. Can't wait to hear more from MARZURAAN - this is epic, like a bassier, looser, Mogadon dosed JESU with a man past caring roped in to give his thoughts on where its all gone wrong. Pete from MARZURAAN did the artwork and layout. Printed on heavy textured card and with 2 diecut runes. Comes in a pvc bag." [label info]
" Every once in a while, someone will release a record, and we can't help but feel like it was made specifically for us. And for you. Some records just perfectly speak to the aQ aesthetic, as undefinable as that seems to be. This is another one of those cases. Someone thought it would be a perfect combination to match up UK one man ambient drone outfit Tenhornedbeast, with UK slow motion doomlords Marzuraan. And it is perfect. And a fantastic idea, but just because something is a great idea, doesn't always mean someone thinks of it. And we're not saying we had been thinking someone should get these two bands together specifically, we're just glad they did, and we sort of wish we HAD thought of it. But that's neither here nor there. The important thing is that it happened, and now we can all luxuriate in the deep dark heaviness both of these bands explore. And while the bands are indeed different, their aesthetics are not all that far removed. The both exist in some blackened nether region, haunting sonic realms, where heaviness can be expressed in both utter darkness and extreme force, sometimes
both, and once in awhile neither.
Tenhornedbeast offer up a nearly 30 minute long sonic ritual, beginning as a bit of swirling black minimalism, but slowly building to a truly intense wall of doomdrone, the sound thick and textured, a churning cauldron of low end buzz and downtuned disembodied riffs, all brought to a boil and poured out in a viscous black torrent, left to flow like some subterranean river. But these deep drones are laced with melodies, and keening high end shards, allowed to shine forth occasionally, but often swallowed up before they can fill those caves with their unnatural light. The track continually changes shape, sound and timbre, various shades of grey and black, lightening and darkening as the landscape changes, a haunting journey through some lost world, where sound replaces sight, allowing us to navigate ever deeper.
Marzuraan counter with what must be one of their prettiest tracks ever. It's still sludgey and doomy, but the notes ring out, the melodies almost soar, the sound fuzzy and glimmering, almost like these guys have caught the shoegaze bug as well. Washed out and blissy, super melodic and melancholy, but the coolest part is that the track seems to warble and waver, almost like someone is manually adjusting the tape speed, so the notes sound drunken and drugged, the track lurches and weaves drunkenly, only adding to the haunting and off kilter beauty. Part way through, the riffs get a little more riffy, and then the vocals come in, a moaning distant croon, and we're most definitely in serious Jesu territory, but that weird speed shifting hitch, keeps it from sounding too pretty, or two blissy. But if these guys keep heading in this direction, they could definitely give Jesu, and Nadja and other metallic shoegazers a run for their money.
The packaging is super swank, a three panel gatefold, each of the front panels diecut with each band's symbol, printed inside and out, housed in a thick plastic sleeve with a sticker affixed to the front." [Aquarius Records review]
www.aurora-b.com
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| TERUGGI, DANIEL |
The Four Seasons |
CD |
"The Four Seasons, a possible interview with myself Where does the title The Four Seasons come from? This project started inadvertently in 1993 with the composition of the first work of the cycle Instants d’hiver (Winter instants). It is a work in several movements, some very short, coming from unfinished musical projects that I had abandoned. All these previous projects should have taken place in wintertime during the five years preceding the composition. I selected a lot of material I had prepared for these projects and starting from there I composed the piece. Then came Summer Band in 1996, for bandoneon and tape, whose title came naturally for me in reference to a work of Piazzolla's that I loved and [that] I played a lot as a teenager ("Verano Porteño", Autumn in Buenos Aires), it was also a journey into the bandoneon and its fascinating sound, which is an invitation to movement and rhythm. Twelve years passed between these two works and the next one, Autumn Song for piano and tape, composed in 2008. This is an introspective work rich in complementary dialogues between the two sources, a sort of pas de deux in sound. Having named this work implied that one day it would lead to the complete cycle; it was not clear during the composition of Winter Moments and Summer Band, but I decided to go until the end and give my vision of the four seasons; the decision thus took place in 2008. For this, the last season was needed and it only arrived in 2013 with Springtime; an acousmatic work that finishes/completes the cycle in a discovery game of this eagerly-awaited season. In the final version of the cycle, I organized the seasons in a different order to conclude with fall and thus present in a climatic disorder: winter, summer, spring, autumn. Are there any references to past works in this cycle? Not at all; one could imagine Goethe or Vivaldi watching behind my imagination, but it is rather the circumstances of the chosen titles throughout/over the twenty years that have created this total dimension. I have already mentioned the "Verano Porteño" by Piazzolla which was already a seasonal cycle, but only the Verano interested me, the rest of the cycle much less. All my works have each a strong identity but also present very different facets of my composition. Both acousmatic works are made up of a multiplicity of different sounds, in contrast with the works for piano or bandoneon and tape, only using the sound produced by the instrument and its transformations. You use the word tape to define the sounding part that is played with the instruments. Why? One could say that this is an old pre-digital habit when music was recorded on magnetic tape. With the disappearance of analog media, the word continued to be used to define this second sound element associated with a performing instrument, as opposed to the so-called real-time sound processing of instrumental sound, another situation in vogue. The word has remained more or less present among composers. In my case, as Summer Band was for "bandoneon and band" (tape is bande in French), I did not want to change the word for another, and even today I continue to use the word tape without any complex... I've never heard anyone I saying he did not understand what I was talking about. Same thing with the Spanish Cinta, the pun bandoneon and “band” doesn’t work of course in another language. (...)"
https://megadisc-classics.com/album/daniel-teruggi/
|
2015 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
Sphaera |
LP |
"Between 1984 and 1989, my acousmatic work was focused on processing and merging the four fundamental substances. Each 'element' gradually became articulated with the others, thus crystallizing my subjective perception of their materiality. Over the years, helped by the enthusiasm of a Greek friend who propelled me into the Socratic universe, what started out as an exploratory path has become a circular, spherical unity, in which each occurrence simultaneously belongs to one of the four substances as well as the whole. These four sections, of uneven durations, embody the different resonances of each 'element' upon my imagination. The movements are ordered compositionally and range from the intangibility of the air to the extreme density of the earth. In 'Eterea', the dual nature of air, a space for the dissemination of sounds and an environment for mobile masses, shaped the work and the development of its forms. Whether it be the vast expanse of particles as organized movement or the displacement of sources in our three-dimensional perception, ethereal air fills the space and drives the immaterial motions and gestures. 'Aquatica' locates the materiality of water in relation to its amazing extremes: from the drop to the ocean, an extensive journey unfolds through the various phases of the reinvented liquid. Still waters, deadly waters, raging waters follow one another, leading to the aerial fusion of a primordial equilibrium eventually retrieved. Then comes 'Focolaria' and the unsteady fires, the elusive and wild will-o'-the-wisps that open and adorn the gates leading to the depths of the earth. The land of 'Terra' is devoid of atmosphere, a land of matters before the advent of life. The sounds of the original matter merge and evolve into purer forms. The motions trigger progressions towards new equilibriums of forces, the ultimate fusion, the very last attempt, needed for the emergence of life. The sphere is now complete, the world ready for creation..." --Daniel Teruggi
"While the theme of the four elements has been a constant source of inspiration in the arts, its setting to music using electroacoustic techniques seems highly auspicious, since the notion of matter and its transformation is consubstantial with the concrete approach. In Sphæra, Daniel Teruggi precisely addresses this question, transcending matter with the help of novel digital audio techniques so as to draw out forms, trajectories, layers, and musical objects, all of which result from the merging or sublimation of primordial sounds. Indeed, this is where Daniel Teruggi's music and compositional approach stand out: by engaging sounds, with strength, will and inspiration, in a close encounter with energies, whether tectonic or electrical. Such collisions, such metamorphoses, are then appeased in the whole space of the composition, a fascinating landscape, the final destination of all transmutations." --François Bonnet, Paris, 2021
Mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi. Cut by Andreas Kauffelt at Schnittstelle, Berlin, July 2021. Translations: Valérie Vivancos. Layout: Stephen O'Malley.
https://danielteruggi.bandcamp.com/album/sph-ra
|
2023 |
€20.00 |
|
| TERVAHÄÄT |
same |
CD |
"The fifth release from Finnish underground label Anima Arctica is this self-titled debut work by Tervahäät, a duo consisting of Antero Väätäjä and Ilmari Akkanen. This shortish but interesting album builds bridges between raw post-industrial ritual tracks and frosty Finnish folklore.
From the start of the album on, we are presented with the successful instrumental base of this project that returns in most of the tracks: banjo and bass melodies overlaying rumbling industrial soundscapes, varied organic percussion and some seething electric guitar work. Longer tracks like “Otava” forge these elements into extended ritual journeys, accompanied by pathos-filled vocals in Finnish. The accompanying sheet of English text (a translation of the lyrics?) speaks of animals, spirits, and mystic poetry. In general, the music of this album is not easy to get into; while there are accessible tracks like the Nordic neofolk of the instrumental “Joulukuu”, the greater part of the album is rather esoteric and demands a receptive mood, one that resonates with the cold and oppressive visual imagery. It is perhaps typically Finnish in the sense that it doesn’t open up at the first listen.
However, despite this closedness and lack of very direct compositions that immediately grab you by the throat, Tervahäät manages to deliver an album that has a compelling mysticism about it, as well as an original sound that blends organic, industrial, and folkloric elements. The foundations for an interesting musical oeuvre have been laid here, and lovers of experimental post-industrial music should definitely check this album out. It will be especially appealing if you have an ear for Finnish underground music of the past decade." [O.S. / Evening of Light]
www.animaarctica.fi
|
2009 |
€10.00 |
|
| |
Taival |
CD |
"Taival continues on the paths and narrow roads through Finnish forests to further explore the rustic and mystical sounds and visions of Tervahäät. Seven tracks of ritualistic folk & neofolk are inspired by rural surroundings, spiritual unity, and a sincere interest in the native land and its entities — trees, animals, and the spirit of the ancestors. The fourth album of Tervahäät brings also some surprisingly warm winds from the icy north-west, but the warmth also carries a slight smell of decaying bones and suspicioulsy friendly whispers from old ghosts." [label info]
www.animaarctica.fi
"I have spoken to many people about their taste in music. Several of them can pinpoint a defining moment that triggered their now eclectic taste, which has led them along the path of musical freedom. I, personally, keep very limited and musically specific company, but for me it’s a very simple and nostalgic memory.
Have you ever had one of those evenings where you find yourself looking at film after film on YouTube? You go from band-to-band and genre-to-genre, and you stumble across some amazing, bizarre, and down-right amateur videos. That particular nostalgic night, I stumbled across a man playing a Finnish instrument called the ‘kantele’. I was amazed at how simple the instrument looked and yet how sweet the tone is. The first one I heard was a five-string, and the YouTube trail quickly brought me to a ten-string. Before I knew it, I had placed an order for a five-string kantele to be made in the United States. This epiphany of sorts found me entrenched in the culture of Finland, whilst playing its national instrument.
This immersion in Finnish culture—now six years on—has not deteriorated; if anything, it has intensified. From the stories of the Kalevala, Vainamoinen, and the mythical Kantele he constructed from a pike’s jaw-bone, to the vast landscapes full of lakes, forests, and elks, and the pre-Lutheran religious customs and practices that were once the Pagan folklore of the land… It’s quite possibly the polar-opposite, natural elements of my homeland that fuels my fascination.
Tervahäät
When my editor told me to ‘light a fire’ underneath the Tervahäät review, I detected a Finnish scent on the name. Further examination of the cover and notes brought about the jubilation and motivation required to get that ‘fire’ going.
Many no doubt know that Finland is renowned for great music. Being a folk metal junkie, there isn’t much that comes out of Finland that I don’t like or haven’t seen live, even here in Australia. Having predominantly covered folk and neofolk to date with the Heathen Harvest Periodical, it was a much-anticipated listen.
The polar opposite landscapes of which I previously spoke are significant. We have huge deserts, dried-up lakes, and a bevy of poisonous reptiles to keep your trekking interesting. I played Taival in my car on a four-hour drive across the plains of South Australia. My research on the band’s name, Tervahäät, loosely translates to ‘Tar Wedding’. Quite auspicious given that my initial listen is being done on the open road! The album’s name, Taival, loosely translates to ‘Journey on foot’. As we say in Australia, ‘bugger that’—there are too many snakes out at this time of year.
The opening song, ‘Kärrinpyörä’, begins with guitar strumming reminiscent to the intro of a Western film scene. The harsh and drawn-out vocals accompany a simple melody being looped in the background. Harsh vocals are usually associated with heavier music but there is elocution with these, which really hold your interest. The surroundings in the early stage of my journey are arid and harsh. Dry farms and wrecked cars are a common sight. The previous suggestion of Western theme has much more credence (to my present situation). The chorus keeps returning and after a while I find myself singing and humming it in a familiar way.
‘Kevätkirot’ begins with a more melodic approach that fins the vocals taking a 180-degree turn wherein Riimu showcases his vocal ability. His voice wouldn’t sound out-of-place belting out Russia’s national anthem or one of Ivan Rebroff’s classics. These haunting tones are hypnotizing. They captivate me to the extent that I needed to know more about the lyrics. Not verbatim, but in Riimu’s words, the song reflects a particular mood: A time in early depression, or that bleakest time in spring and utter loneliness. The outro of the track has a dreamy presence and plays a haunting sound whose origins would point to a wind instrument.
The album isn’t short of effects, and as ‘Tuomiolaulu’ begins, the presence of reverb gives the song an enchanting sound. Again the song is driven by powerful vocals; the music passages are superfluous to them but accompany the style.
Have I mentioned that the album has an occasional Western theme? The use of Banjo on ‘Koulutie’ reaffirms this theory. The previous description of Finland’s landscape casts a rural description which gives credence to my suggested theme. It then dawns on me that this album draws inspiration from the transition of seasons—the personal reflections and mood changes that occur within all beings and in the case of this album, the artists.
The song ‘Taival’—also the album’s namesake—ends the seven-track recording. A synthesizer and eclectic but simple percussive beat accompanies the consistently haunting vocals. I listened to this one a few times over. With each listen I hear a new overtone in the background. Like the recording was being infiltrated by ghosts or spirits from the ancient land or another world. One in particular sounds like a Tuvan throat singer. It adds a mystique that’s hard to quantify in words. It still sends a quiver of eeriness over my body with each listen.
Musically simple, vocally diverse, and lyrically reflective are appropriate word associations for Taival. It’s been a while since I have heard anything like this, and I want to explore this style a lot more. I have myself in recent times been meditating to this record; the music works with me like a spiritual guide to the Suomi landscape that I’m yet to visit. Its place as driving music wasn’t limited to that one encounter. The CD hasn’t left my stacker. The artists are clearly emotionally entrenched in their music. It comes across as from the heart; it comes across with honesty, and it works." [Malachy O'Brien / Heathen Harvest]
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| TEST DEPARTMENT / TEST DEPT. |
Disturbance |
LP |
In an ideal world, Disturbance, the new album from industrial pioneers Test Dept, would not exist. It wouldn’t need to. Britain would not stand divided by xenophobia. Working class communities would not be under siege. Capitalism would not have created a climate change crisis pushing the planet towards a dangerous brink. And the Thatcherite ideals that Graham Cunnington and Paul Jamrozy spent Test Dept’s early years raging against would not be so terrifyingly back in political vogue.
Back in1981, Cunnington, Jamrozy and a revolving door of talented artists from disparate disciplines and backgrounds formed Test Dept, forging an incendiary new sound from a squat in New Cross that made them underground heroes, landing the group under surveillance by the British government. 37 years later, on Disturbance, that sound is as incendiary as ever.
“It began with a project to do with our archive,” recalls Cunnington. It was the early 2010s and Test Dept had been dormant for years. The pair wanted to sort through Test Dept’s old recordings to “re-establish our history and get our music out there again” after record label red tape left many of their 14 albums out of print.
When attention turned to the “next logical step of a new album”, an idea emerged – taking germs of ideas from old songs and turning them into new, sledgehammer-heavy sonic experiments full of powerful protest poetry. Politics had come full circle. It felt fitting to do the same with their music.
The result is an album that at once peers into the past and roars into the future, across eight tracks that conjure the raw power of Test Dept in their original, 1980s incarnation while adding new elements. “We’re different people now – not spring chickens anymore,” laughs Jamrozy. “We’re still angry but it’s tempered by a slightly different wisdom. We tried to upgrade the sound, to soup things up further.”
“Art is not a mirror to reflect reality, but a hammer to shape it,” the poet and playwright Bertolt Brecht once wrote. It’s a mantra that continues to drive Test Dept. who return to their past on this eviscerating new album in order to move into a bold new future. They hope Disturbance can soundtrack a society doing the same.
music merch
Disturbance
by Test Dept
Wishlist
supported by
dauvit thumbnail
dauvit Test Dept. have always sounded like Test Dept. and nobody else sounds like Test Dept.
Another fantastic release.
jvvoda thumbnail
jvvoda Not a case of sentimental cash-out reunion call, quite the opposite. This record will keep you pushed to the edge of your comfort zone, and true to the title, it will leave you disturbed - in the best possible way - as a wake up call from your apathy and ignorance back to action.
mipsen thumbnail
mipsen What a great interpretation of my favorite track of the "Unacceptable Face of Freedom"! The whole album is extremely recommended! Favorite track: Gatekeeper.
R5N thumbnail
R5N Just a fucking brilliant album. 🤘Glad to see such a great return.
Bryon Wilson thumbnail
Bryon Wilson Love the album! I honestly can’t say what my favorite track is. I keep listening to the entire thing straight through. Great work.
Synthonic thumbnail
Synthonic You don`t listen to Test Dept, you feel them. If you have a heart, that is.
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more...
Landlord 00:00 / 04:41
Streaming + Download
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
£5.99 GBP or more
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
package image package image
Single black vinyl in gatefold sleeve with artwork designed by David Altweger
Includes unlimited streaming of Disturbance via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
ships out within 3 days
£17.99 GBP or more
Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
package image
CD in 6 panel digipack with artwork designed by David Altweger
Includes unlimited streaming of Disturbance via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
ships out within 3 days
£8.99 GBP or more
1.
Speak Truth To Power 06:21
2.
Landlord 04:41
3.
Debris 04:33
4.
Full Spectrum Dominance 07:27
5.
Information Scare 04:50
6.
Gatekeeper 05:32
7.
GBH84 04:21
8.
Two Flames Burn 07:53
about
In an ideal world, Disturbance, the new album from industrial pioneers Test Dept, would not exist. It wouldn’t need to. Britain would not stand divided by xenophobia. Working class communities would not be under siege. Capitalism would not have created a climate change crisis pushing the planet towards a dangerous brink. And the Thatcherite ideals that Graham Cunnington and Paul Jamrozy spent Test Dept’s early years raging against would not be so terrifyingly back in political vogue.
Back in1981, Cunnington, Jamrozy and a revolving door of talented artists from disparate disciplines and backgrounds formed Test Dept, forging an incendiary new sound from a squat in New Cross that made them underground heroes, landing the group under surveillance by the British government. 37 years later, on Disturbance, that sound is as incendiary as ever.
“It began with a project to do with our archive,” recalls Cunnington. It was the early 2010s and Test Dept had been dormant for years. The pair wanted to sort through Test Dept’s old recordings to “re-establish our history and get our music out there again” after record label red tape left many of their 14 albums out of print.
When attention turned to the “next logical step of a new album”, an idea emerged – taking germs of ideas from old songs and turning them into new, sledgehammer-heavy sonic experiments full of powerful protest poetry. Politics had come full circle. It felt fitting to do the same with their music.
The result is an album that at once peers into the past and roars into the future, across eight tracks that conjure the raw power of Test Dept in their original, 1980s incarnation while adding new elements. “We’re different people now – not spring chickens anymore,” laughs Jamrozy. “We’re still angry but it’s tempered by a slightly different wisdom. We tried to upgrade the sound, to soup things up further.”
“Art is not a mirror to reflect reality, but a hammer to shape it,” the poet and playwright Bertolt Brecht once wrote. It’s a mantra that continues to drive Test Dept. who return to their past on this eviscerating new album in order to move into a bold new future. They hope Disturbance can soundtrack a society doing the same.
credits
released March 1, 2019
Graham Cunnington - Percussion, Electronics, Vocals
Paul Jamrozy - Percussion, Electronics, Vocals
Zel Kaute - Drums
Lottie Lou - Electronics, Live Sound
David Altweger - Visual Director
Rob Lewis - Additional Drums
Ashley Davies - Bass / Percussion
Laura Thompson - Additional Vocals on 'Gatekeeper'
Roz Corrigan - Piano on 'Debris'
Michelle Outram - Cello on 'Truth'
Jordi Blanchar & Ilenia Bombardi - Additional Vocals
Recorded:
Flesh & Bone Studios, Hackney
The Shed, Nunhead
Mixed & Produced: The Shed
Engineered: Lottie Lou
Mastered: Giovanni Versari at La Maestra Mastering, Tredozio (FC)
GBH84 Is dedicated to The Orgreave Truth & Justice Campaign
Artwork by David Altweger
Photos by Michael Kötter |
2019 |
€20.00 |
|
| TESTCARD |
#23: TRANSZENDENZ - Ausweg, Fluchtweg, Holzweg? |
BOOK |
In der avancierten Popkritik genießt Transzendenz keinen guten Ruf. Im frühen Punk wurde ein explizites Transzendenzverbot ausgerufen; das bewegungslinke Lager denunzierte das »Ausklinken« als konterrevolutionär oder verklärte es im Reggae zum »antiimperialistischen Befreiungskampf«.
Als der moderne Pop in den 1950ern entstand, war er das Immanenteste überhaupt geschaffen für das reine Diesseits. Das Jenseits, die Transzendenz, tauchte lediglich ironisch gebrochen, als Diskurs zweiter Ordnung auf. Erst ab den 1960ern lassen sich explizite Transzendenz-Momente im Popkosmos finden. Und gleichzeitig wurde Kritik laut: Was ins Jenseits ausgreift, ist entweder kein Pop oder schlechter Pop. Doch Pop störte sich nicht daran, brachte das Transzendente als Leerstelle zum Schwingen und füllte diese mit Schlagworten aus dem Fundus von Esoterik, Raumfahrt und Psychedelic.
Kurz darauf wurde das Transzendente offensichtlich gemacht. Christlicher Rock und der islamisierte Cat Stevens wollten den Pop missionieren, Heavy Metal verklärte ein negatives Christentum. Und im Krautrock, im Jazz und in der experimentellen Musik diente ein Spiritualitätsgestus stets der Abgrenzung zu den Niederungen der Popkultur. In den 1990ern wurde die Transzendenz dann rehabilitiert, zumindest solange sie nicht mit säkular-moralischen Normen in Konflikt geriet. Dem Jenseits brachte man dieselbe diffuse Toleranz entgegen, wie den meisten anderen Pop-Phänomenen auch.
Heute bedienen Neo-Drone und Neo-Psych ein bestimmtes Marktsegment unter vielen gleichwertigen. Und damit macht sich Sprachlosigkeit breit. Wie reden wir über spiritistischen Neo-Folk oder Hauntology, wenn die politisch inspirierten Kategorien der Vergangenheit ebenso wenig greifen wollen wie diejenigen der Weltflucht? Und was genau ist das Transzendente an der gegenwärtigen Entgrenzung der Stile?
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Johannes Ullmaier:
Worüber man nicht reden kann, darüber. Transzendenz und ihre Rolle in Musik und Popkultur
Roger Behrens:
Der Geist der Utopie
Thomas Hübener:
Notizen zur Transzendenz im Säkularpop
Martin Niederauer:
»If you find earth boring …«. Spiritualität und Religiosität im Jazz und die Interpretationen des Unbestimmten
Holger Adam:
Spirituelle Neuorientierung jenseits von Krautrock und Neuer Musik. Peter Michael Hamels Musik der 1970er-Jahre
Volker Zander:
Moondogs Oberton-Kontinuum
Wolfgang Brauneis:
»Ich lebe in meinem eigenen Königreich«. Zu Michael Buthes Kunst der 1970er-Jahre
Tim Stüttgen:
Sun Ra: Kosmischer Noise. Eine quare Lesart von Sun Ras musika-lischer und performativer Praxis im Schatten der Sklaverei-Geschichte
?Move On Up. Die große Transzendenz-Diskografie
Frank Apunkt Schneider / Didi Neidhart:
Discotranszendenz & Distant Thunder … Transpirationen am Tag danach
Franziska Meifert:
Turn on, tune in, drop out! LSD, Musik, Transzendenz
Alexander Nym:
Vom Pilzkult zur Popkultur. Entheogene im Dienst des kulturellen Wandels
Michael Horowitz:
Tickets zur Transzendenz
Sascha Hommer / Martina Lenzin:
Parolen aus der Stadt. Abenteuer eines Wolfes. Episode zwei
Christian Werthschulte:
»Wir leben in einer Nicht-Zeit«. Ein Gespräch mit Mark Fisher über die Geister der Zukunft
David Schwertgen:
Was soll denn eigentlich verschwunden sein? Vaporwave und die Leere hinter der Oberfläche
Raphael Smarzoch:
Schwellenakustik. Liminale Klanglandschaften in und jenseits von Pascal Laugiers Martyrs
Flora Könemann:
Text, Ton, Stimme, Frequenz. Transzendenz? Das (un-)stimmige der (eigenen) Stimme
Hendrik Otremba:
Tobias Gruben und die Wahrheit. Zur Erinnerung an einen fast Vergessenen
Wolfgang Buechs / Jonas Engelmann / Jens Meisenheimer: Jurpolp From an Unknown Planet. Sun Ra antwortet
Marius Henderson:
Soft Berry Metal. Eine »häretische« Annäherung an Black Metal Theory
Gerald Fiebig:
(Verheißungs-?)Volle Dröhnung. Dronemusik und spätmoderne Zeiterfahrung
Peter Scheiffele:
Vodou. Eine politisch-religiöse Praxis zwischen Revolution und Überlebenskampf
Sandro Holzheimer:
Yeah Science!? Die Transzendenz des neuen Atheismus
Jasper Nicolaisen:
Wir sind hier nicht in Wittenberg, Martin … 95 Thesen zur Möglichkeit einer emanzipatorischen Religion
Rezensionen Tonträger
A. K. KLOSOWSKI & PYROLATOR: Home-Taping Is Killing Music
AARON DILLOWAY: Siena
AARON MOORE & THIERRY MUELLER: Today Is Yesterday’s Tomorrow
ALAHUTA: First Connexion
ANDREAS DORAU: Ärger mit der Unsterblichkeit / Demokratie
ANDY STOTT: Luxury Probelms
ANIKA: EP
ANNE-JAMES CHATON / ANDY MOOR: Transfer
ASHLEY PAUL: Line The Clouds
ASH WEDNESDAY: Love And Other Numbers
BEAK>: Beak>> / Beak>> Bonustracks / 0898/Welcome To The Machine
BORIS HEGENBART & 19 ARTISTS: Instrumentarium
BRENDA RAY: D’Ya Hear Me: Naffi Years 1979–83
BROADCAST: Berberian Sound Studio
BRR: s/t Buch
BUDHADITYA CHATTOPADHYAY: Eye Contact With The City
BUKE AND GASE: General Dome
CANDELILLA: Heart Mutter
CHAD VANGAALEN & XIU XIU: The Green Corridor II
CHARLATAN: Isolatarium
CHARLATAN MEETS THE NORTH SEA: Emerald Eyes
CHICALOYOH: Thébaïde Des Pierres Bleues / In My Garden Shed/Vol. 2 / Les Fantômes Sortent Des Racines
CHRISTINE SUN KIM / WOLFGANG MÜLLER: Panning Fanning
CHUZPE: 1000 Takte Tanz
CLASSLESS KULLA & ISTARI LASTERFAHRER: Auf & Zustände
COLIN STETSON: New History Warfare Vol. 3: To See More Light
CONRAD SCHNITZLER: rot / blau / Consequenz / CON 3
CROCODILES: Endless Flowers
DAGOBERT: Dagobert
DAVID FENECH: Grand Huit
DAVID ROTHENBERG: Bug Music
DEMDIKE STARE: Testpressing #1 und #2
DER PLAN:: Die letzte Rache
DER PLAN: Geri Reig / Normalette Surprise / Die Letzte Rache / JaPlan
DIE NERVEN: Fluidum
DIE TÖDLICHE DORIS: Losspielen
DIVERSE: Noise of Cologne 2
DOLDRUMS: Lesser Evil
DRACULA LEWIS: Permafrost EP
DROPOUT PATROL: s/t
EKKEHARD EHLERS: Adikia
EMIL RICHARDS: Stones – Journey to Bliss
ENSEMBLE PEARL: S/T
FIELD ROTATION: Fatalist: The Repetition Of History
FREIBURG: Aufbruch
GEOFF BARROW/BEN SALISBURY: Drokk: Music Inspired By Mega-City One
GHOST TIME: Ghost Time
GIANNI GUIBLENA ROSACROCE: La Piramide Di Sangue / La Mia Africa
GRAFZAHL: Der Rückzug ins Private
GRAVETEMPLE: Ambient/Ruin
GROUPER: Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill / The Man Who Died In His Boat
HAFTBEFEHL: Blockplatin
HANS W. KOCH / THOMAS LEHN / BEN PATTERSON / JOSEF CSERES: Requiem For A Baby Grand. Final Piano Music For 8 Hands And Tools
HECKER: Chimerization (english) / Chimerization (farsi) / Chimerization (deutsch)
HOTEL MORPHILA ORCHESTER: Schwarze Energie
IANNIS XENAKIS: GRM Works 1957–1962
IGOR WAKHÉVITCH: Logos / Hathor / Docteur Faust / Nagual / Les Fous d’Or / Let’s Start
ILLUSION OF SAFETY: Sweet Dreams
JACK DICE: Block Motel
JENNIFER VEILLEROBE: Luftlöcher
JESSIKA KENNEY & EYVIND KANG: The Face Of The Earth
JE SUIS LE PETIT CHEVALIER: An Age Of Wonder
JOHN FAHEY: Voice Of The Turtle / Transcendental Waterfall: Guitar Excursions 1962–1967
JOHN ZORN / MOONCHILD TRIO: Templars – In Sarcred Blood
JUKEBOX MAMBO: Rumba And Afro-Latin Accendet Rhythm & Blues 1949–1960
JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE: The 20/20 Experience
KETTCAR: Zwischen den Runden
KIASMOS: Throwna EP
KIKO C. ESSEIVA: Drôles d’oiseaux
KLUSTER: Klusterstraße 69–72
KOFELGSCHROA: Kofelgschroa
KOMMANDO SONNE-NMILCH: You Pay I Fuck
KUUPUU: Sous Juju / Sisar
LAURIE SPIEGEL: The Expanding Universe
LORD HURON: Lonesome Dreams
LORD TANG: Lord Tang
LUBOMYR MELNYK: Corollaries
LUNAR ABYSS DEUS ORGANUM: Atanimonni Aitnatsbus
MARCUS WIEBUSCH: Hinfort ! Feindliche Macht
MARK LORENZ KYSELA: Eins+
MATS GUSTAFSSON / PAAL NILSSEN: Love / I Love It When You Snore
MATT CARLSON: All Moments
MICHAEL PRICE: A Stillness
MILES: Faint Harted
MODERN PETS: Excessive/Organic Kidneys
MOON DUO: Circles
MUTTER: 25
MV&EE: Fuzzweed / Zebulon Residency
NATHAN BOWLES: A Bottle, A Buckeye
NEIL ARDLEY: A Symphony of Amaranths
NILS FRAHM: Screws
NILS WOGRAM / SIMON NABATOV: Moodes And Modes
NORBERT MÖSLANG: Indoor_Outdoor / The Sound of Insects
ONEIROGEN: Kiasma
ORBIT THE EARTH: Aphelion
OTIS G. JOHNSON: Everything – God Is Love 78
P16.D4: Passagen (6CD+)
PALAIS SCHAUMBURG: Palais Schaumburg
PELT: Effigy
PETER BRODERICK: These Walls Of Mine
PETRELS: Onkalo
PRSZR: Equilibrium
PTTRNS: Body Pressure
PYROLATOR: Inland / Ausland / Pyrolator’s Wunderland / Pyrolator’s Traumland / Neuland
RACHUT/LANDSCHIER: Blinder Mond
RAINER VEIL: Struck
RED MATH: Obsolete Systems
ROBBIE BASHO: Seal Of The Blue Lotus
RUTH FEAT. MUSHY: Far From Paradise
SAFFRONKEIRA: Tourette
SCHORSCH KAMERUN: Der Mensch lässt nach
SELVHENTER: Fricka B. Fricka / s/t
SLEAFORD MODS: Austerity Dogs
SPRINGINTGUT: Where We Need No Map
STEPHEN MALKMUS AND FRIENDS: Can’s Ege Bamyasi
SUN PAPA & THE FAN CLUB ORCHESTRA: An Insane Portrait
SUUM CUIQUE: Ascetic Ideals
SUZANNE CIANI: Seven Waves / Lixiviation Ciani/Musica Inc. 1969–1985 / Voices of Packaged Souls
SWEET VALLEY: Stay Calm / Eternal Champ / Jenova
THE BLACK TWIG PICKERS: Rough Carpenters
THE COSMIC JOKERS: The Cosmic Jokers
THE EX & BRASS UNBOUND: Enormous Door
THE NORTH SEA: Grandeur & Weakness
THE PETER BRÖTZMANN CHICAGO TENTET: Concert For Fukushima, Wels 2011
THE SCHWARZENBACH: Farnschiffe
THE SOUND OF GERI REIG. Düsseldorf – San José 1979. The Original Tapes
UN-KOMMUNITI: Black Dwarf Wreckordings 83–85
URBAN HOMES: Centres
V. A.: Personal Space – Electronic Soul 1974–1984
VARIOUS: Drone-Mind // Mind-Drone Vol. 2
VARIOUS ARTISTS: Your Victorian Breasts
VATICAN SHADOW: Ornamented Walls
VIRGIL MOOREFIELD: No Business As Usual / Five Ideas About the Relation of Sight and Sound
VLADISLAV DELAY: Kuopio / Espoo
WEISSER WESTEN: Weisser Westen
WILLIAM SHELLER: Lux Aeterna
WOLD: Freemasonry
WOLF EYES: No Answer: Lower Floors
XUL ZOLAR: Eternal Love/Goa Bay / Hex
YOSHI WADA: Earth Horns With Electronic Drone / Singing In Unison / Off The Wall / The Appointed Cloud / Lament For The Rise And Fall Of The Elephantine Crocodile
ZS: Score / Grain
Rezensionen Papier
DIDI NEIDHARDT / HANS PLATZGUMER: Musik ist Müll
HEINRICH DEISL: Im Puls der Nacht. Sub- und Populärkultur in Wien 1955–1976
KARL MEYERBEER / PASCAL SPÄTH: Topf & Söhne – Besetzung auf einem Täterort
CHRISTOPH WAGNER: Der Klang der Revolte
TIMME ROSENKRANTZ / FRADLEY HAMILTON GARNER: Harlem Jazz Adventures. A European Baron’s Memoir, 1934–1969
DEREK ANSELL: Sugar Free Saxophone. The Life and Music of Jackie McLean
MARKUS HEIDINGSFELDER: System Pop
PAULA-IRENE VILLA / JULIA JÄCKEL / ZARA S. PFEIFFER U. A. (HG.): Banale Kämpfe? Perspektiven auf Populärkultur und Geschlecht
JAMES KENNAWAY: Bad Vibrations. The History of the Idea of Music as a Cause of Disease
JENNIFER SHRYANE: Blixa Bargeld and Einstürzende Neubauten: German Experimental Music ›Evading do-re-mi‹
NIKOLAOS KOTSOPOULOS (Hg.): Krautrock. Cosmic Rock and its Legacy
HUNTER HUNT-HENDRIX / NICK RICHARDSON / BRANDON STOSUY: Black Metal. Beyond the Darkness
THERESA BEYER / THOMAS BURKHALTER (HG.): Out of the Absurdity of Life. Globale Musik
CORNELIUS VON JACKHELLN (Hg.): GewaltKunstWerk
STAN HAWKINS (Hg.): Pop Music And Easy Listening
ANTONIO GRAMSCI: Literatur und Kultur
DIETMAR DATH / BARBARA KIRCHNER: Der Implex. Sozialer Fortschritt: Geschichte und Idee
SONJA EISMANN (Hg.): Absolute Fashion
DIRK BRAUNSTEIN / SEBASTIAN DITTMANN / ISABELLE KLASEN (HG.): Alles Falsch. Auf verlorenem Posten gegen die Kulturindustrie
URSULA MARKUS / TANJA POLLI: Das Geschlecht der Seele. Transmenschen erzählen
ALEXANDER KARSCHNIA/MICHAEL WEHREN (Hg.): Kommando Johann Fatzer (Ringlokschuppen. Mülheimer Fatzerbücher 1)
CORNELIA VISMANN: Das Schöne am Recht
NIKLAS LUHMANN: Macht im System
WERNER FULD: Das Buch der verbotenen Bücher
DAVE MONROE (Hg.): Philosophie für Verdorbene – Essays über Pornografie
SVEN LEWANDOWSKI: Die Pornographie der Gesellschaft
CHRISTIAN KESSLER: Die läufige Leinwand – Der amerikanische Hardcorefilm 1970–1985
STEFAN SCHELER: Cumshots – Höhepunkte der deutschen Pornofilme 1 + 2
STEFANIE VOIGT / MARKUS KÖHLERSCHMIDT: Die philosophische Wollust – Sinnliches von Sokrates bis Sloterdijk
MYRON HURNA: Späte Gegenwart. Zur Historisierung des Holocaust
ALEXANDER KLUGE: »Wer ein Wort des Trostes spricht, ist ein Verräter«. 48 Geschichten für Fritz Bauer
ANNIKA SCHEFFEL: Bevor alles verschwindet
SARAH DIEHL: Eskimo Limon 9
VLADIMIR JABOTINSKY: Die Fünf
SARA STRIDSBERG: Darling River: Doloresvariationen
JOSEF WINKLER: Wortschatz der Nacht / Mutter und der Bleistift
BRIAN WOOD / MARK BROOKS / ROLAND BOSCHI: 100% Marvel 64: Wolverine und die X-Men. Alpha & Omega
WENZEL STORCH: Arno & Alice
ANKE FEUCHTENBERGER: Die Spaziergängerin
SOPHIA MARTINECK: Hühner, Porno, Schlägerei
MARC-ANTOINE MATHIEU: 3 Sekunden
TONTO (Hg.): Noise
SASCHA HOMMER (Hg.): Orang # 10: Heavy Metal
HENNING WAGENBRETH / R. L. STEVENSON: Der Pirat und der Apotheker
ATAK / MARK TWAIN: Der geheimnisvolle Fremde
CHRIS WARE: Jimmy Corrigan. Der klügste Junge der Welt
THOMAS VON STEINAECKER / H. J. BALMES u. a. (Hg.): Neue Rundschau: Comic – Form und Inhalt
KERI SMITH: Mach Mist!
MEL GOODING / JULIAN ROTHENSTEIN (Hg.): Psychospiele – Persönlichkeitstests, Spiele und Fragebögen
JÖRG VÖLLNAGEL: Alchemie – Die königliche Kunst
HARTMUT KRAFT (Hg.): Ecce BLALLA! Abstürze und Höhenflüge
PAULE HAMMER: Welt-Enzyklopädie
DIETMAR DATH / HEIKE AUMÜLLER: Verbotene Verbesserungen
CHRISTIANE ZU SALM (Hg.): Manifesto Collage
GISELA VETTER-LIEBENOW (Hg.): Karikatur & Zeichenkunst
TOBIAS G. NATTER / ELISABETH LEOPOLD / LEOPOLD MUSEUM (Hg.): Nackte Männer – Eine Entdeckungsreise
LENTOS KUNSTMUSEUM LINZ / LUDWIG MUSEUM (Hg.): Der nackte Mann
DOX PRAGUE (Hg.): Amor Psyche Aktion – Wien. Das Feminine im Wiener Aktionismus
MUSEUM MODERNER KUNST STIFTUNG LUDWIG WIEN (Hg.): Wiener Aktionismus – Kunst und Aufbruch im Wien der 1960er-Jahre
HANS-PETER WIPPLINGER (Hg.): Padhi Frieberger – Glanz und Elend der Moderne
HANNAH PILARCZYK (Hg.): Ich hatte die Zeit meines Lebens. Über den Film Dirty Dancing und seine Bedeutung
KONRAD KLEJSA/SCHAMMA SCHAHADAT/MARGARETE WACH (HG.): Der polnische Film. Von seinen Anfängen bis zur Gegenwart
CHRISTIAN SCHIFFER (Hg.): WASD – Texte über Games. Vol. 2 »Select System – Games und Politik«
GEORG SEESSLEN: Träumen Androiden von elektronischen Orgasmen? / Garten der Lüste / Future Sex in Queertopia (Sex-Fantasien in der Hightech-Welt I–III)
WOLFGANG MÜLLER / AN PANHUYSEN (Hg.): Gebärde, Zeichen, Kunst
WOLFGANG MÜLLER: Subkultur Westberlin 1979–1989. Freizeit
[Verlagsinfo]
www.ventil-verlag.de/katalog/testcard
|
2013 |
€15.00 |
|
| THALASSA |
Bonds of Prosperity |
LP |
"Thalassa is the avant-drone project for Aaron Turner (Sumac, Isis, Mamiffer, House Of Low Culture, etc.) and William Fowler Collins. In his many guises, Turner articulates a chimerical aesthetic that intrepidly explores beyond the scope of sludge, hardcore and post-rock. In Collins’ blackened earth drones, he steadfastly engages in the elemental exploration of the New Mexican landscape that often inspire comparisons to the potency of black metal without the need for a single blast beat. It makes a hell of a lot of sense these two would eventually cross paths and collaborate.
The project name Thalassa harkens to ancient Greek mythology of a primordial sea-goddess, later reprised in the early 20th century through an obscure psychoanalytic treatise by Sándor Ferenczi who posited ideas of human sexuality in symbolic return to the sea. For Turner, the project's name was sparked by a blood disorder called Thalassemia, whose root name is that very same Greek goddess. The ocean, blood, rain, sand, the desert, heat, fog -- all of these elemental / environmental forces are at play in the heavily sedimental drones and crumbled noise from Turner and Collins on their debut release, Bonds of Prosperity.
Pressurized torrents of sound build incrementally through layers upon layers of
aggregated grit, soot and flotsam. Given the ecological and mythic references, these tracks suitably take the long-view through a uniquely muscular approach to American minimalism. Thalassa finds itself in very good company with Maeror Tri, Deathprod, Sunn O))) and Lustmord.
2XLP edition of 300 copies, housed in a custom printed 2LP sleeve, pressed on black vinyl only."
sigerecords.blogspot.de
|
2017 |
€27.50 |
|
| THE BEAUTIFUL SCHIZOPHONIC |
Musicamorosa |
CD |
"Im Schatten blühen junge Mädchen pink? Jorge Mantas jedenfalls ließ sich durch Proust inspirieren, untermischt mit von Tristesse und Abschied geprägten Liebesgeschichten von Poe bis Wong Kar-Wai, Mädchenbildern von Waterhouse und Rosetti bis Rohmer und Deville, aber auch den Erotika-Ikonen der Fotografen Guido Argentini und Roy Stuart. Mein erster Eindruck - Bilitis - war also gar nicht so abwegig. Ein Computermönch träumt von Sensuality & Sadness und schon treibt Sublimation delikate Blüten. Gefühlskitsch bekommt im Halbschatten einer künstlerischen Sensibilität gleich etwas Sublimes. Musik als Geliebte, umsponnen von einer Delectatio morosa, der Lust an sündigen Vorstellungen? Fast alle Titel stammen aus Prousts Die Gefangene. Colleen spielt dazu La Lectrice und alles wird gleich ‚Pariserisch‘. Nicht Lukas, der Hl. Antonius ist der Schutzpatron der Künstler. Das ist nicht halb so sarkastisch, wie Dionysius als Nothelfer gegen Kopfschmerzen. Ich schwanke, während Mantas mollige Drones mich umschweifen und verführerisch ihre Gestalt wechseln, zwischen Kopfzerbrechen und Gedankenverbrechen - wie denn auch anders, wenn eine Musik gleichzeitig so schön, fatal und schizophon daher
kommt. Ach wie so schwelgerisch öffnet der Laptop seine Speicher, auf deren Grund man auf Wagners Liebestod und Debussy stoßen würde. Was gerade noch knirschte wie Sand oder schäumte wie die Brandung um Aphrodites Knöchel, ist nun blinkende Gitarre, dann wieder eingedampftes orchestrales Rauschen. Als Encore folgt ein ausführlicher Remix durch @c, schnüffelnd wie eine Maus, die rosige Nackedeis wittert." [Bad Alchemy]
"Marcel Proust has been one of the main sources of inspiration to me in the last years. His ideas devoted to the affections of the human heart, his approach deeply rooted on the long literary French tradition in which love can only be lived in sadness, is something that goes much beyond pure aesthetic. So it came only natural that somehow I would try to convey this literary and philosophic interest with the sound aesthetic I pursue. The image of a sleepless solitary writer confined to a Parisian soundproof room, has everything to do with the experience of a modern laptop composer, alone in the dark of a room, in a sort of headphone ecstasy with his acoustic fragments of reality. Both experience loneliness. Both are melancholic dreamers creating from an imaginary memory of the world. Whether this music is truly related with some of the delicate emotions depicted in A la recherche du temps perdu or not, it's up to the listener to decide. Could this be a possible sound equivalent to the literary images of affection written by Proust in the early 20th century? Is the sound atmosphere of each piece loaded with some kind of sensual aura? Would ever be possible to express a sadness full of joy in the same moment of music? Probably we'll never know. But perhaps we think about it next time we'll listen to musicamorosa." [Jorge Mantas]
www.cronicaelectronica.org
|
2007 |
€15.00 |
|
| THE BRAIN |
All Human is Error |
LP |
Created in early 2020 by American graphic artist Scott Summers and German-born guitarist/electronics engineer Karl Gottlaus, Workshop of Filthy Creation is a small privately funded record label that serves as the "official" production and distribution node for The Brain. Workshop of Filthy Creation also exists as a platform for the release of projects by other artists whose music exists somewhere in that vast gray area where experimental music and improvisational electronic music intersect. Workshop of Filthy Creation also intends to re-release works by various artists from the 1970s and 1980s whose music was either neglected or underappreciated during their time.
All Human Is Error is the second full-length album by German expatriate (now living in Portland, Oregon) The Brain (aka Karl Gottlaus), and continues his exploration of harsh electronics and violent guitar, this time accompanied by Japanese drummer/percussionist Body Hammer. Utilizing neither sequencers nor digital samplers, neither MIDI technology nor computer-based recording/production techniques, All Human Is Error returns the listener to the mindfields of Germany's post-1960s man-machine blitzkrieg and France's "after the barricades" cold wave vanguard. Featuring a battery of analog synthesizers, audio generators, and tape machines, as well as slashing, angular guitar and thunderous drums, All Human Is Error takes the molten past of 70s-era "kosmische musik" as an aural starting point before erupting into a volcanic hailstorm seething with calculated menace and mayhem. As a whole, All Human Is Error heralds an uncertain future where the ever present threat of war, environmental collapse, viral apocalypse, and global genocide becomes more probable each day.
Available in LP/DD formats. For more information and orders, contact Scott Summers or Karl Gottlaus.
Artist: The Brain
Title: All Human Is Error
Catalog #: WLP04
Release Date: March 2022
https://thebrainshop.bandcamp.com/album/all-human-is-error
|
2022 |
€23.00 |
|
| |
Experiments for Guitar + Machines |
LP |
About Workshop of Filthy Creation
Created in early 2020 by American graphic artist Scott Summers and German-born guitarist/electronics engineer Karl Gottlaus, Workshop of Filthy Creation is a small privately funded record label that serves as the "official" production and distribution node for The Brain. Workshop of Filthy Creation also exists as a platform for the release of projects by other artists whose music exists somewhere in that vast gray area where experimental music and improvisational electronic music intersect. Workshop of Filthy Creation also intends to re-release works by various artists from the 1970s and 1980s whose music was either neglected or underappreciated during their time.
The Brain's debut release Experiments for Guitar + Machines is also the debut release on Workshop of Filthy Creation, a label devoted to the exploration of noise, sound and music in an uncertain world. The Brain's initial album, available on vinyl and as a digital download, is a collection of experimental guitar/electronic soundscapes that recall the early work of Heldon, Cyborg-era Klaus Schulze, and the surreal kling-klang blitzkrieg of Conrad Schnitzler. Mesmerizing analog synthesizer drones collide with abrasive guitar textures to create dense sound collages that blur the distinction between industrial mayhem and ambient calm. If the true essence of music lies in its inherent unpredictability, then The Brain's initial release fully captures this anarchistic spirit. It is an approach to music that has been nearly abandoned in this new sterile age of MIDI and the endless programming of beats, where music has become merely a commodity for mindless consumption and perfunctory excretion.
Available in LP/DD formats from Bandcamp at www.thebrainshop.bandcamp.com and directly from Workshop of Filthy Creation. For more information and orders, contact Scott Summers or Karl Gottlaus.
Artist: The Brain
Title: Experiments for Guitar + Machines
Catalog #: WLP02
Release Date: August 2020
|
2022 |
€23.00 |
|
| THE FLOATING WORLD |
The Wood beyond the World |
CD |
"The Japanese term ‘ukiyo,’ translated as ‘the floating world,’ was used to describe the pleasure seeking urban culture of Edo Japan. When alternately rendered as ‘sorrowful world’ the term took on Buddhist connotations, indicating the transitory nature of human experience, the ephemerality of existence. These two seemingly opposed yet sympathetic concepts have always heavily informed the music of The Floating World and each album has been created with these as central themes. Named for a novel by William Morris, The Wood Beyond the World is The Floating World’s latest album and an attempt to capture the journey from the mundane to the illusory made by the novel’s protagonist – a journey that reflects the hunt for the temporal and intangible the band’s name intimates. With the addition of Neddal Ayad (guitar; Desolation Singers/Great Attractor) and Grey Malkin (drones, bells, piano; The Hare and the Moon), as full members who have brought additional nuance to the music, this ambition is more fully realized. Amanda’s delicate, melancholy flute parts now weave in and out of Neddal’s hazy guitar and Grey’s eerie and dissonant accompaniments – the whole underpinned by various rough field recordings used to compliment and counterpoint the music. Roy Felps (Korperschwache) also guests on the album, adding drifting acoustic guitar to a song. Amanda has also collaborated with Lacus Somniorum, New Risen Throne, Far Black Furlong, Dodson and Fog, The Joy of Nature and The Hare and the Moon. She and Neddal have another band together, Secrets to the Sea, as well. Released as part of our Eclipse Series.
Edition of 500 copies in 4 panel digi sleeve. 8 Tracks. Running Time 54:00" [label info]
www.cycliclaw.com
"The Floating World‘s The Wood Beyond the World is the brightest of Cyclic Law’s three October releases, apparent from the very first seconds. The chimes of Vortex and the waves of Taphephobia are joined by the flute of Amanda Votta. This convergence of sounds is not the only factor that ties these releases together. As with all of Votta’s work, The Wood Beyond the World is steeped in Buddhist concepts. The band’s name was inspired by the Japanese ukiyo, which can refer to either a pleasure-seeking culture or the ephemeral nature of existence. Votta’s project exists in tension, as do the preceding projects; and while all may possess different timbres, all approach the same subject: the overload of the modern era. The press release even echoes that of Tapephobia: “a journey from the mundane”. Yet Votta and her new bandmates exude no animosity, only holy contemplation. If nothing is permanent, should one turn a blind eye to suffering? Or might one seek the lessons of a higher plane? The protagonist of William Morris’ 1894 adventure novel of the same name leaves home to avoid trouble, only to find it elsewhere. We carry our potentials within us – good and evil, dead and alive – as if each of us were Schrödinger’s cat. The album sounds like the choice before it is made, the promise before it is spoken, the mandala before it is disturbed. The fuller cast of guitar, piano and field recordings enriches the wood like children among the trees." [A Closer Listen]
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| THE FORCE DIMENSION |
Early Recordings 1985-89 |
4 x LP BOX |
4 Lp Box w. Shirt & Booklet. Black vinyl ltd. 400. The Force Dimension was formed in the mid 80's by René Van Dijck and Tycho de Groot. After some demos and appearances on compilations, the band signed a contract with the Belgian label KK Records. Their self-titled debut was released in 1989 curiously on two different versions, one produced by Luc Van Acker (Revolting Cocks) and the other co-produced by Dirk Ivens (Klinik, Dive). The duo continued developing a very unique sound mixing EBM, industrial and different electronic influences.
4 Lp Box w. Shirt & Booklet
The FORCE DIMENSION. Early Recordings 1985-1989
LP0.5 (=1) Lp2 (all Tracks recorded 1985/1986)
A1. Radial 4:01
A2. Asylum Iso-sweet 3:20 (solar)
A3. Enter My Playroom 4:07
A4. Square Feeling 2:26
A5. Babybubblebathroom 9:21
A6. Weeping Robot 4:38
B1. Arctic Aparatus (correct version). 4:59
B2. Dadahaha 6:16
B3. Walking Against The Wall 4:56
B4. Cathedrals of SM 2:34
B5. Suffocating Syndrome (grey version) 2:07
B6. Karton Im Regal 3:44
LP1 (=2) (all Tracks recorded 1985/1986)
A1 Iceplanet Asterioid 5:20 (1985/86)
A2 Destruction 4:59 (1985/86)
A3 Burning Sticks down at the Castle 4:22 (1985/86)
A4 Enterprice Mister Spock Disco 5:36 (1985/86)
A5 Pi 3 5:10 (1985/86)
A6 Pi 3 outro 0:19 (1985/86)
A7 Toys of Witchcraft 4:00 (1985/86)
B1 Dogmah Nepal 3:14 (1985/86)
B2 Mental Psi 5:03 (1985/86)
B3 Suffocating Syndrome 3:35 (1985/86)
B4 SDI 5:08 (1985/86)
B5 Rayons im Lokal 2:55 (1985/86)
B6 Tarot 8:05 (1985/86)
LP2 (=3) Lp2 (all Tracks recorded 1985/1986)
A1 Excitement 4.27
A2 Excitement Outro0.15
A3 Blow Out 4.26
A4 Spelonkologgio 3:15
A5 Attenzione prego 6:12
A6 offerz to buddha 2:13
A7 Calls from the Islands in Between 5:56
A8 Calls from the Islands in Between outro 0:16
B1 two times dead 5:59
B2 fire 3:44
B3 War of Ghosts 7:09
B4 Inside myself 4:23
B5 Cold Cave of Death Part 1 0:49
B6 Cold Cave of Death Part 2 & 3 2:55
Lp4 (=3) (all Tracks recorded 1986-1989)
A1 Dust (Remix). 5:34 (1989)
A2 Carcinome (Fabforce 7inch Version) 3:28 (1988)
A3 Excitement 3:01 (1987)
A4 Attentione Prego! 3:37 (1987)
A5 Green Hall 4:51 (1986)
A6 Sequence your Body 2:28 (1988)
A7 So-Dom (Fabforce 7inch Version) 4:35 (1988)
B1 Julius Caesar 6:33 (1987)
B2 Superballen 3:01 (1986)
B3 Arctic Apparatus 2:08 (1986)
B4 Giant „Ghost“ Steps 4:41 (1986)
B5 Cradle Song 2:34 (1988)
B6 Hangar V1 2:36 (1987)
B7 Gabrielle 4:10 (1987)
B8 Fiebertanz 4:07 (1987)
|
2023 |
€95.00 |
|
| THE GHOST ORCHID |
An Introduction to EVP |
CD |
Hochinteressante CD zum Thema "Electronic Voice Phenomenon" (EVP), das sind auf magnetischen Tonträgern aufngenommene "Geisterstimmen" für die es keine gesicherte Erklärung gibt. Auf der CD werden eine Fülle von EVPs vorgestellt und erklärt (moderiert von LEIF ELGGREN und die Arbeit des EVP-Erforschers RAYMOND CASS wird vorgestellt. Die Aufnahmen sind z.T. bis zu 35 Jahre alt. Handelt es sich um Stimmen von Verstorbenen? Oder Botschaften von Aliens? Oder um ganz normale Radiostimmen, die über noch unbekannte Mechanismen übertragen werden? Im Booklet werden dazu die verschiedensten Theorien diskutiert und weitere erstaunliche Details erläutert. Für jeden an übersinnlichen / paranormalen Phänomenen Interessierten eine faszinierende Anschaffung!
"This is the third edition of this much sought-after CD... and has been unavailable since 2002... [originally issued in 1999]. The ParaPsychic Acoustic Research Cooperative [PARC], in association with Ash International, is proud to present the first ever fully comprehensive investigation into the paranormal phenomenon of EVP, otherwise known as Electronic Voice Phenomenon. Without doubt EVP falls into the catagory of the paranormal alongside other unexplained mysteries such as ufology, life after death & poltergeist activity. The listener is guided through a collection of strange and mysterious voices that have appeared without explanation onto the tapes of EVP researchers. Included with the CD is a 24 page booklet containing commissioned articles which cover the conflicting views surrounding the EVP. Actual voice samples are reproduced here for the first time on compact disc: Polyglot Voices, Public Service Broadcasting, Interruptions across the airwaves, Singing Voices, Instant Response Voices, and the extraordinary Alien Voices. The CD also includes a commentary by the artist Leif Elggren (in English), and recordings of the work of Raymond Cass, England's leading EVP researcher, and original member of the Fortean Group, and the Latvian EVP researcher, Dr. Konstantin Raudive. This CD release seeks to present the evidence; are the voices extraterrestrial, paranormal evidence of our telepathic powers or an elaborate hoax perpetrated by sinister and powerful groups to mislead us from their true aims...?" [label info]
www.ashinternational.com
|
1999 |
€15.00 |
|
| THE HUMAN VOICE |
Exit Lines |
CD |
"Harleif Langas better known as the mastermind behind Northaunt has found a new way to exorcize his ambient creativity. The Human Voice brings a rather different style from what we've been used to hearing from this man. It's definitely more into pure soundtrack music or soundscape experiments. There are records from which there's less to say, but only experience it yourself. 'Exit Lines' will bring the listener into a mysterious sonic voyage with fewer sounds mainly composed by guitar treatments. It increases some of the imaginary visions this kind of music can occur, but it's not necessary fascinating during the entire ride. I for sure like the wayguitar sounds can be used and transposed to create such an ambient trip. Exit Lines is the kind of album that needs a visual part this way creating a 'total concept'. Definitely for lovers of minimal experiences!" [Side-Line]
"NORTHAUNT mastermind Harleif Langas gives voice to a less dark and oppressive journey with "Exit lines", and explores the thin boundary between ambient (not necessarily dark....) music and spacious post-rock. Deep drones and sparse melodic guitar lines, "skeletal" structures and subtle noises. Appealing to both the Constellation-freaks and the courageous (and open minded) dark ambient travellers. Digisleeve." [label info] |
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| THE IMAGINARY SOUNDSCAPES |
Field Factory |
mCDR |
"the imaginary soundscapes is the electronic meeting of stéphane rives who uses re-worked samples from hiw own discography mixed with recordings from his daily life and sound environment, a process that builds on "islet of memories", a project he began in 2010, and frédéric nogray (his solo disc "wuritagu" is still available from us) who returns to his early research on feedback, here caused and moderated in real time with three effects pedals, oscillating between minimalism and psychedelia.
"field factory" is a wonderful ever evolving post-industrial drone that will keep you awake during its 20 minutes..." [label info]
www.taalem.com
"In the ever-expanding universe of Taalem, now over 100 releases, three new additions, reviewed in order of appearance in the Taalem catalogue. The first one is by French duo Stephane Rives and Frederic Nogray. They already had a release on Ruptured (see Vital Weekly 802). Rives normally plays saxophone but on this release he is responsible for 'mixing and editing of recordings from his daily life and sound environment, sometimes using samples of his own discography' while Nogray creates 'feedbacks caused and moderated by three effects pedals, general mixing and editing in real time', recorded in Beirut, where Rives lives. Now this is something different than the usual release on Taalem. It's dark, it's drone like - that is not strange - but The Imaginary Soundscapes add an element of noise to it, although perhaps noise is not the right word. It's perhaps more abstract than much of the ambient releases on Taalem. The processed feedback makes up a fine, sustaining field of sound and the field recordings in here do not come in some long form but rather in a more collage like form." [FdW/Vital Weekly] |
2014 |
€5.00 |
|
| THE LORD & PETRA HADEN |
Devotional |
LP |
Devotional is a new collaborative album with vocalist and violinist Petra Haden and Greg Anderson, who first worked with Anderson during his time in Goatsnake, as well as on the second SUNN O))) studio album, ØØ Void.
Devotional is a rapturous and heady offering of wordless vocalizations, droning guitars, and heaviness explored in unexpected and intoxicating ways. Inspirations came from deep listening to Indian classical music, as well as a fascinating look at the chaotic and unbelievable life of Ma Anand Sheela and the Rajneesh community.
Through a haze of incense, flowing robes, and secret mantras, Haden’s voice rings out over constant drones in ecstatic chants throughout this musical investigation into the myriad of ways in which worship can lure and intoxicate. This is a journey that Haden and Anderson go on together, the guitar and vocals combined like the call and response of a guru and their congregation. Greg Anderson comments on the album, “I’m extremely happy with the recordings we made together. Petra’s vocals bring a whole new dimension to the heaviness.”
Petra Haden comments, “It was so much fun getting to play and sing on SUNN O)))’s album ØØ Void. 20 years later, I’m on stage with them at The Mayan Theater in Los Angeles singing and playing on the encore. I was in heaven! After the show, Greg and I talked about working on more music together. When I heard his ideas, I already had melodies in my head. I recorded some ideas at home and it developed from there. Greg is a really deep listener and he’s so much fun to work with. Getting to collaborate with Greg reminds me why I love to sing and improvise. I feel free and happy. That’s what music is all about.”
Seductive and hypnotic, Devotional is an intriguing new chapter in The Lord’s exploration of heavy music.
|
2022 |
€26.00 |
|
| THE NORTH SEA |
Archaic Spines |
CD |
"Here is the latest release from Brad Rose's project The North Sea, and if you know anything about this group you know to keep your mind and ears open. There are certain very vague parameters Mr. Rose and The North Sea work within. One can expect an interesting selection of both acoustic and electric instruments, and a shimmering tension created by the juxtaposition of old song forms/instruments with new ideas and technologies. Even given those small guidelines, 'Archaic Spines' may surprise even the most dedicated Brad Rose/North Sea fans, as we are presented with a fine selection of very sparse and lovely meditations for bouzouki. The sound is raw, apparently released as recorded with few (if any) overdubs or effects. The effect is mesmerizing and refreshing, one instrument played with feeling and an unerring ear for the folk rivers that feed The North Sea's ocean of sound." [label info]
|
2007 |
€6.66 |
|
| THE ONE ENSEMBLE OF DANIEL PADDEN |
Wayward the Fourth |
LP |
"Now also available on vinyl –very limited edition of 300 copies!-, thanks to Clear Spot's very own Daffodelic label! The One Ensemble from Scotland (led by highly regarded musician Daniel Padden) blend European folk, narrative, popular and chamber forms to create modern compositions that provide attention-grabbing hooks and thought-provoking challenges. At times formal and at others improvisational, it is difficult to pin down the One Ensemble's sound. Influences range from the classic pop-psychedelia of Robert Wyatt to the deep experimental drone of Third Ear Band. Blissful free jazz, delicate acoustic out-folk, tape collages, Eastern raga and mystical modern minimalism all peacefully coexist in the One Ensemble's unique and beautiful universe. (The CD version of this unbelievable album was released earlier this year by Secret Eye Records.)" [label info]
"... As with the recent Live at VPRO CD-R (Brainwashed), Wayward the Fourth is the work of a genuine ensemble, quartet to be exact, captured in a studio. The songs are gorgeous, twisted amalgams of European and American ethnic musics, free jazz, chamber music, minimalism and experimental plateaus rarely glimpsed in the western world, dispersed with just the right emotional — ranging from giddy to somber — intensity. There’s vocals on a few tracks, a few bizarre deconstructions on some others, but what strikes me most about this is the sheer musicality, the deliberate attention to space, detail and compositional structure. One Ensemble albums have always sounded like this, but just as with Volcano the Bear’s brilliant Classic Erasmus Fusion (Beta-Lactam Ring), the ensemble approach has reached new depths of cinematic, multi-hued brilliance. Easily one of the best ‘07 has coughed up so far.” [Womblife]
www.clearspot.nl
|
2007 |
€10.00 |
|
| |
Oriole |
LP |
" 'oriole' is the new album by the one ensemble. bolder and more dynamic than previous albums, it showcases the one ensemble's ability to combine thrilling live playing with compositional elegance, shifting between hard-nosed rhythmic workouts and string miniatures, between wayward waltzes and open-throated song. oriole features the core quartet of shane connolly (drums and percussion), peter nicholson (cello), daniel padden (guitar) and aby vulliamy (viola and accordion). the one ensemble started life as the solo project of volcano the bear's daniel padden, but after two albums it became a live band, taking padden's experimental folk and expanding it into a fuller, more orchestrated sound. under padden's leadership, the ensemble developed a curious and strident brew of eastern european folk, chamber music, a pinch of robert wyatt and some kind of earthy psychedelic primitivism."
www.altvinyl.com
"This LP sees Daniel Padden's One Ensemble laying down some Eastern European-sounding folk business with accordions and fiddles and stuff. It's all quite dusky and repetitive and there's sometimes some vocals. It's not a straight folk record by any means, though, with the ensemble free to play around in more jazzy and experimental territory when they want to. It's not a million miles away from Leeds's finest chamber jazz-folk troupe 7 Hertz actually, and there's shades of A Hawk and a Hacksaw in its warm, bubbling fusion vibes, and Phil reckons there’s a bit of an Alexander Tucker-esque medieval feel here too, and when they take it down a notch like in ‘Chicken on a Raft’ it’s reminding me of Lungfish’s Dan Higgs.
Padden is of course best known for his work with Brit oddballs Volcano The Bear, and that's no surprise listening to this record either, as the band he's put together seem perfectly happy to switch from bustling gypsy folk to disorienting neoclassical to even more disorienting free expression without so much as a hiccup, and some of the most effective moments see them taking repeato-rock ideas and throwing folk textures all over them.
It works really well and is thoroughly charming, with the physicality of the traditional instruments really shining through in the strained, warm tones. In fact I think as far as charm and listenability go it’s the equal of his other band. Well worth investigating." [Norman Records]
|
2012 |
€16.50 |
|
| THE SAND RAYS |
Remembered Vol. 1 (EPs gathered together) |
CD |
After the dissolution of The Infant Cycle, Jim DeJong went on a hiatus from production, and disappeared into seclusion. However, after a few months, an offer to score a feature film appeared, which spurred him back into production. A lot of flexible basic tracks were produced during this time, that could be fitted together for different scenes. Unfortunately, the film production ground to a halt, but being active again caused DeJong to begin his new project, The Sand Rays, and adapt some of the film score ideas into something that could be released and heard. A number of EPs were released on DeJong's label The Ceiling in tiny editions, under a number of similar names (The Sand Rays, Ray Sands, Sandra Y.), which are hard to find. The sounds emanate from an assortment of instruments and sound makers including carved runout grooves, bass guitar, bird cages, shortwave radio, and more, cooked into a choppy stew of drones and mood.
The cover photo reflects its contents. Up close, a pretty photo of sumac, but pulls back to reveal a more troubled location. This location was outside DeJong's old studio, a brownsfield too toxic for people, but a safe place for the vegetation to flourish.
The material could be considered an extension of the final inclinations of The Infant Cycle, such as the "Drop-out Center" album (2012, Zhelezobeton): zhelezobeton.bandcamp.com/album/drop-out-center A new chapter in the same book? Now we bring together the rare first four EPs in an easier to find and digest package, with full colour sleeve artwork. Eight interlocking tracks. Play it straight through, or random, or repeat.
zhb.radionoise.ru/eng/zhb-lxx.html
zhelezobeton.bandcamp.com/album/remembered-vol-1-eps-gathered-together
|
2017 |
€12.00 |
|
| THE TREE PEOPLE |
same |
CD |
Japanische Re-Edition einer Acid-Folk Ausgrabung aus dem Jahre 1979 !!
"Tiliqua Records is psyched about being able to present a whole new audience and generation with the lysergic beauty of the Tree People's sole recorded artifact, a privately released acid folk gem out of 1979. In times when people are all getting excited about media-created scenes like “New Weird America” and “Freak Folk”, they seem to overlook the fact that such music was already being created decades ago. The Tree People is evidence of such a splash of creativity that sadly enough was doomed to disappear within the cracks of obscurity. Until now. Tiliqua was granted the opportunity to restore this gem and with the kind collaboration of Mr. Cohen of the Tree People, who provided me with the master tapes and a seemingly unlimited support, Tiliqua was able to prepare this reissue. To me, this album is one of the singular most beautiful gems to have crossed my path and words always fall short in an attempt to describe the aural sensation it unleashes. “Upon listening today this hushed and intimate feeling still resonates through the music – the record possesses an extraordinarily potent atmosphere that still intoxicates the senses after so many years. Over a combustible backing dominated by shimmering strings, bone-shaking hand percussion rhythms, and quivering sensuous threads of eastern-toned flute playing, the group succeeded in concocting up a syncretic combination of meditative Indian raga, western folk stylings and idiosyncratic melodic ideas. The music breathes out intimacy and communicates with a rare directness - hooking you instantly with sheer aural bliss derived from the melody, from the flowing beat, from the sound of the words and syllables and of all those separate elements interacting with each other, rendered into a concentrated, gracious flow of lunar notes. The album's compositions have so many hidden qualities, all breathing out deep and affectionate sentiments that reveal, just like a lotus flower centered on the axis with its petals unfolding towards the circumference, a streamlined adhesion towards the group's' own singular creed. Listen to it and you may feel like awakening from a deep slumber, your unconsciousness leaking away as aspects of reality slowly mix in with the rest of your already blurred mindset.” First time ever official reissue, housed in a sturdy mini-LP styled gatefold sleeve." [Beta Lactam]
|
2006 |
€19.50 |
|
| THE [LAW-RAH] COLLECTIVE & CINEMA PERDU |
Invocation |
CD |
"in our lives we meet various people and we get to spend some quality time with a couple of them. depending on who we spend our time with and in what state of mind the time together is spent, we talk about friendship. and the more honest and unconditional this friendship is, the more it adds to the quality of our respective lives. it's a rare thing when you meet someone and right from the first moment you know you add to each others lives. it only happens a few times - and maybe not even that often - but we have all been there and we all recognize those moments; as well as the people it concerns. and yes, those times bring back a warm and fuzzy feeling. but then there are the many ways a friendship can end: a wrongfully interpreted word, a misunderstood thought, incompatible visions or simply because it started to cost more energy then it gave back. as incomprehensible a friendship can begin, it can also end. sadly there are also true and deep friendships that have never ended, even when said friend has left this dimension. the feeling that we're left with is just about the worst feeling ever ... with 'invocation' the [law-rah] collective and cinema perdu present a split album with personal views and interpretations of the emptiness that remains. finding closure in a process of grief. not the most happy of feelings, but it's a feeling we all recognize, an emotion we can all relate to and maybe the one thing we all have problems with giving it a place in our lives. the process of composing, writing, producing and finishing 'invocation' has helped us seeing things in perspective again after loosing loved ones. 'invocation' - simply to have that final conversation, to share that final drink, or just to say you care ..." [label info]
"So today we will be looking at (and listening to, of course) some darkly pulsing ambient and asking, “just what is it about this music that makes it so great for processing inarticulate emotions?” Well before I answer that, and while I try not to ‘zone out’ entirely, let me just articulate my feelings right now by saying: This... Is... Great. And, furthermore, it pulses darkly and in all the right places. Ahhh…
It’s a collaborative effort, this, between The [Law-Rah] Collective (Bauke van der Wal) and Cinema Perdu (Martijn Pieck) -- each performing and contributing two individual tracks and a fifth track wherein they combine their compositional efforts. Opening track, ‘1’, by [Law-Rah], pleasantly and gently throbs like the aural equivalent of a deep red Rothko painting. For musical touchstones, think Nurse With Wound and Locust. His second individual track, ‘5’, drones slightly more ominously and is accompanied by a glitchy ‘popping’ sound which is not unlike that made earlier when we were preparing the post here at Norman and a trolley rolled over a long sheet of bubble wrap. These sounds phase in and out and pan woozily to leave the listener a little disorientated.
Cinema Perdu similarly explores the empty psychological spaces which remain once you are all cried out. Really, this is perfect for the final part of the day when this reviewer has precious little more strength to muster. The two tracks Martijn Pieck brings to this disc are as sublime as the previous two by Bauke, in that the music is the contemplative, irresistible, seemingly boundless evocation of space, of internal conflicts easing and resolving themselves outside of time. Plus, his second track features metallic chiming under mallets. I’m a sucker for resonating metal and mallets.
Martijn and Bauke’s collaborative track, ‘4’, is possibly the most affecting of all. What sounds like a sample from a long lost choral masterpiece is used as a bed for found sounds and plucked electroacoustic instruments, with an industrial throb underpinning it all… there’s an organ playing. For a minute there, I thought it was coming from the cathedral in my mind. Then silence. The CD whirrs its death throes and I feel a little more alive." [Norman Rec.]
"THE [LAW-RAH] COLLECTIVE ist ein mehr oder weniger loser Zusammenschluss von Künstlern rings um den niederländischen Musiker BAUKE VAN DER WAL, der das Projekt mit dem enigmatischen Namen um das Jahr 2000 herum gründete. Bevorzugt tummelt man sich im Experimental-, Drone- und Dark Ambient-Sektor, zeigt aber auch keine Berührungsängste mit harscheren, ja dezidiert noisigen Spielarten, was exemplarischen Ausdruck in Kollaborationen mit NAVICON TORTURE TECHNOLOGIES (Box Edition von "The Gospels Of The Gash" und "Your Suffering Will Be Legendary") findet. Überhaupt ist man, was die stilistischen Details betrifft, um relativen Abwechslungsreichtum bemüht, und so reicht das bei discogs aufgespannte Genre-Spektrum von "Elektronik, Pop" über "Experimental, Abstract" bis hin zu "Dark Ambient, Drone". Seiner Grundrichtung bleibt das Kollektiv nichtsdestoweniger treu; nicht umsonst hat man schließlich – nomen est omen – der eigenen Homepage die Adresse "darkambient.net" verpasst. Entsprechend gerne arbeitet man freilich mit stilistisch benachbarten Künstlern wie CISFINITUM oder eben CINEMA PERDU zusammen. Der Mann dahinter, MARTIJN PIECK, ist langjähriger Freund VAN DER WALs, seit 2008 Vollmitglied von THE [LAW-RAH] COLLECTIVE und seit 2011 unter dem nom de guerre CINEMA PERDU aktiv, unter dem er bislang mehrere Alben im File- und Tape-Format veröffentlicht hat.
Die vorliegende CD "Invocation" ist nach dem gemeinsamen Split mit WOODBNDR, "Blue Ruins Under Yellow Skies" von 2014, die zweite dezidierte Zusammenarbeit mit CINEMA PERDU und folgt stringent jener kontemplativen Drone-Programmatik, die im Großen und Ganzen das Leitmotiv für die Arbeit VAN DER WALs mit dem [LAW-RAH] COLLECTIVE abgibt, hier allerdings in ganz besonders vielschichtiger, facettenreicher Form zelebriert wird. Das Thema der CD fordert eine gewisse Besinnlichkeit freilich nachgerade heraus, beschäftigt sich die inhaltliche Ebene von "Invocation" doch mit dem Zerbrechen, Erlöschen, in jedem Fall aber mit dem Ende intensiver Freundschaften und enger Beziehungen, sowie insbesondere mit jener gähnenden Leere, die eine solche, mehr oder weniger gewaltsame Trennung einer tiefen emotionalen Verbindung nach sich zieht – egal, ob sie "nur" einem menschlichen Zerwürfnis, einer individuellen, existenziellen Krise oder gar dem physischen Ableben eines der Beteiligten geschuldet ist: "Invocation" versteht sich, so führt der Promotext aus, als "split album with personal views and interpretations of the emptiness that remains. Finding closure in a process of grief." Vor diesem Hintergrund erschließt sich denn auch ganz zwanglos der Hintersinn jener Sentenz, die sich auf der Innenseite des CD-Kartonschubers findet: "Some things were never meant to change but here we are" ...
Das beim Berliner RAUBBAU-Label erschienene Album enthält sechs unbetitelte, lediglich durchnummerierte Tracks zwischen knapp acht und knapp zwölf Minuten Länge – etwas Zeit, Muße und Geduld sollte der interessierte Hörer also schon mitbringen, möchte er sich mit dieser, ohne Worte auskommenden, "conversation about what really matters" auseinandersetzen. Wer nun allerdings vom leidlich bekannten, sich über die komplette Laufzeit spannenden, mediokren Einheitsgebrumme ausgeht, das so betrüblich oft unter der Bezeichnung "Dark Ambient" firmiert, wird erfreulicherweise eines besseren belehrt: Lediglich das erste und das letzte Stück, beide von THE [LAW-RAH] COLLECTIVE eingespielt, präsentieren sich als ausgesprochen dronige, tiefenentspannte, einzig durch allerlei Rascheln, Knistern und anderweitige Störfrequenzen in minimale Regung versetzte, dabei jedoch niemals langweilige Soundmeditationen, während die von CINEMA PERDU beigesteuerten Beiträge 2 und 3 deutlich experimenteller und collagenhafter daherkommen – streckenweise fühlte sich der Rezensent durchaus ein wenig an NURSE WITH WOUND erinnert. Die eigentliche Zusammenarbeit zwischen den beiden Outfits, Track Numero 4, gibt denn auch das interessanteste Stück des Albums ab und entwickelt sich, ausgehend von einem sakralen, durch rotorartiges Flattern fragmentierten Choraleinstieg, hin zu einem, schon fast treibend-rhythmischen Mittelteil, um schließlich in einem amorphen, alle Strukturen wieder einschmelzenden Klangbad zu verhallen. Nicht alles auf "Invocation" ist also gar so meditativ, wie es auf den ersten Eindruck und nach Lektüre des zitierten Begleittextes scheinen mag – nach einigen Hördurchgängen entpuppt sich das versammelte Material in der Gesamtschau vielmehr als erfreulich abwechslungsreich und immer wieder für das eine oder andere überraschte "Oho!" gut.
Fazit: THE [LAW-RAH] COLLECTIVE & CINEMA PERDU legen mit "Invocation" ein rundum gelungenes Werk vor, das routiniert mit den Genregrenzen spielt, sie ausweitet und bisweilen beinahe transzendiert, ohne dabei jemals bemüht zu klingen, sich in Beliebigkeiten zu verheddern oder in akademischen Frickeleien zu verlieren. Beide Projekte interagieren perfekt miteinander und realisieren so ein bemerkenswertes, ebenso meditativ-hypnotisches wie dramatisch dichtes Album, das durch seine implizite Programmatik und die unprätentiöse Art & Weise, in der diese präsentiert wird, noch zusätzlich punktet: "the process of composing, writing, producing and finishing 'invocation' has helped us seeing things in perspective again after loosing loved ones. we hope it can do the same to you." – Irgendwie ist die ganze Veröffentlichung ... einfach ... sympathisch. Und wer kann schon etwas gegen sympathische Musik haben? Der Autor dieser Zeilen jedenfalls nicht." [Endsal/NON-POP]
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
| THELXINOE |
Inner Subspace |
MC |
The first full-length album by Thelxinoe is re-released now for the first time on audio cassette.
This release continues developing a distinct Thelxinoe approach of creating high-quality drone ambient with the stringed and wind instruments involved. There are some slightly Maeror Tri/Troum-influenced moments such as light and a bit psychedelic, sometimes reversed guitar chords – especially in the shorter odd tracks which look like introductions or transitions to much longer even tracks. But the essence of Thelxinoe’s creativity is in the second track full of straight multilayered canvases of meditative drone ambient and particularly in the fourth 33-minutes track. This marvelous piece is called "Corona Borealis Void" and offers dark texture made of overwhelmingly long-resonating brain-blowing drones which goes as perfect background for sometimes melancholic and relaxing, sometimes psychedelic saxophone inclusions.
"Inner Subspace" was released digitally in 2012 on DNA Production.
Alexey Zakharov: alt-saxophone, baritone-saxophone
Peter L.: guitar, bass, sound processing
Kol Belov: cover art
https://thelxinoe-avalancheorganization.bandcamp.com/album/inner-subspace
|
2021 |
€9.00 |
|
| THEME |
Sacral Blood Warning |
CD |
THEME Sacral Blood Warning CD. The sixth album by the group originally founded by Stuart Carter and Richard Johnson in 2000, following both their involvement in the 1998 incarnation of Splintered for a European tour. Over the years, Theme have performed live sporadically, appearing at festivals and playing a couple of short tours in Europe, the last of which featured them in a full band collaborative mode also including Faust's Jean-herve Peron on bass and Zsolt Sores (Inconsolable Ghost) on viola and electronics. Sacral Blood Warning pays witness to Theme once more returning to the core duo in order to expand on the largely brutal and less compromising approach their work has been imbued with since the very beginning. Partly designed as a reflection on modern times and all the inherent confusion as unrest appears to reign heavier than ever in an almost illusory realm, the music that constitutes this album explores notions of a self without moorings violently torn in several directions. Whilst it might seem deliberately dystopian for the most part, the rich layers of often organic sound reveal a gamut of other delphic shades besides the confusion. There are moments when one can snatch another gulp of air before succumbing to the undertow itself initially inspired by all from sci-fi soundtracks to the confrontational assaults of Suicide and the ravaged voice manipulations of Robert Ashley. Joint-released by Idioblast, this was released in late September 2020.
https://fourthdimensionrecords.bigcartel.com/product/theme-sacral-blood-warning-cd |
2020 |
€12.00 |
|
| THEODOR BASTARD |
Bossanova_Trip |
CD |
"BossaNova_Trip" is the highlight of the early experimental period of Theodor Bastard. A non-vocal electronic album recorded by Fedor Svolotch (Alexander Starostin) in 2002 several years before the formation of the band’s key line-up. 14 original utterly minimalistic tracks of the album were on the cutting edge of the avant-garde trends of that time and are worth comparing to the best glitch releases of such labels as Mego, Raster-Noton and Sonig. Aimed at the most sophisticated music lovers, "BossaNova_Trip" has completely fulfilled the ambitions of Fedor Svolotch as a skillful master of sound design and had a strong influence on the unique sound of the later well-known albums of Theodor Bastard. It was on this recording that the track "PU's_Tota" originated in its initial electronic proto-version which, in highly modified form, became the band's first major hit two years later. This reissue features a bonus track – the vocal version of "PU's_Tota", originally released on the compilation that came along with the BulDozer#2 magazine. The melody and the lyrics sung by Yana Veva, which are now so familiar to the fans of Theodor Bastard, appeared in this version for the first time.
zhb.radionoise.ru/eng/zhbd-17.html
* * * * * * *
"BossaNova_Trip" – вершина раннего экспериментального творчества Theodor Bastard. Безвокальный электронный альбом, записанный Фёдором Сволочью (Александром Старостиным) в 2002 году за несколько лет до формирования основного состава группы. 14 оригинальных крайне минималистичных треков альбома находились на острие авангардных тенденций того времени и достойны сравнений с лучшими глитчевыми релизами лейблов Mego, Raster-Noton и Sonig. Расчитанный на самого искушенного меломана, "BossaNova_Trip" в полной мере реализовал амбиции Фёдора Сволочи как утончённого мастера саунд-дизайна, оказав сильное влияние на уникальное звучание последующих всем известных альбомов Theodor Bastard. Именно на этой записи зародился трек "PU's_Tota" в своей изначальной электронной протоверсии, который спустя два года в сильно изменённом виде стал первым самым главным хитом группы. В качестве бонус-трека на переиздании представлена вокальная версия трека "PU's_Tota", первоначально выпущенная на сборнике-приложении к журналу "БульDozer#2" – в этой версии впервые появилась так хорошо знакомая поклонникам Theodor Bastard мелодия с текстом в исполнении Яны Вевы.
https://zhbd.bandcamp.com/album/bossanova-trip
|
2018 |
€13.00 |
|
| THIRTEEN HURTS |
UVB-76 |
CD-R |
Thirteen Hurts is a recording artist named Richard Adams who has performed at Denver Noise Fest a few times, as well as Norcal Noise Fest, and in one instance, he drove over 2,000 miles to play St. Petersburg Noise Fest. At that time, he lived in a solar powered home in rural Colorado, 6 hours from any form of civilization. I imagined him in some sort of geodesic dome listening to numbers stations and Coast To Coast AM with only the cold, dead air of winter, and hitherto useless power lines in the distance to accompany it.
Thirteen Hurts live was also quite a surprise. Whenever I see about 30 pedals sitting on a table, I always assume that there's going to be a great deal of muddy, buzzing garbage to endure, but not in this case. Each time I saw this phenomena, there was such a level of control and focus, also accompanied by a casual, playful demeanor, that it looked like that of a practiced, serious scientist, or maybe a "rocket surgeon" would be a better term. The assurance that this person could fix a car or save a life while laughing, chatting, and gesticulating, came to mind. The man was like a ninja with his pedals, building little ditties and then destroying them with epic blasts of clearly articulated, yet cataclysmic, disastrous noise.
It's only appropriate then, that NO PART OF IT is releasing UVB-76, an album inspired by a Russian shortwave radio signal whose origin has never been found, and whose communications have been poured over and analyzed for decades. Naturally, much (actually about half, I'm told) of the source material is from radios, and certainly there will be some segments of this release that the kids will call "brutal!" and "sick!", but the depth and range of this release, like the two Thirteen Hurts CDs before them, is unprecedented. The attention to detail is without comparison. Each track is amounts to prime numbers.
At times, layers of heavily panned electric rhythms dance in and out of sync while what sounds like dying drip-drop synth burble cascades in and out of the picture. At other times, it sounds like the sci-fi soundtrack to an animal stalking its prey, despite ominous, disruptive climate patterns. Brooding, creeping static pulses punctuate swarms of oscillating ghost hiss. Musique Concret glossolalia meets high-speed cut-up squealing robot ganglia. With what seems like a minimal approach, "UVB-76" runs the gamut. Each track is rich and unique, and any two tracks would compliment eachother as sides on a stellar 7 inch. 66 minutes in duration, and not a moment is wasted.
https://nopartofit.bandcamp.com/album/uvb-76
|
2016 |
€8.00 |
|
| THIS HEAT |
Deceit |
CD |
Re-issue from second regular LP from 1981. Remastered 2001. A milestone of experimental music.
"...Im Vergleich zum Debut ist "Deceit" - was Betrug oder List bedeuten kann (Melodieselige und Neoprogger also vorsicht!), aber auch, wenn man den Titel ein paarmal schnell hintereinander auspricht, den Bandnamen ergibt - etwas songorientierter und weniger laut geraten. Um Betrug geht es in der Tat auf dieser Scheibe, zumidest stellenweise. So thematisiert "Makeshift Swahili" z.B. (unter anderem) die Vertreibung der nordamerikanischen Indianer und um die davor gemachten Versprechen. In "Independence" wird der Text der amerikanischen Unabhängigkeitserklärung "kritisch" vertont. Zeitkritik unter dem Motto "history repeats itself" - der Anfang von "Cenotaph" - steht hier im Mittelpunkt, auch außermusikalisch, so ist z.B. "Suffer Bomb Disease", der Titel des letzten Tracks, in japanischen Schriftzeichen abgedruckt. Ansonsten sind die Texte recht kryptisch und mitunter schwer zu enträtseln, wie auch die dazugehörige Musik.
Im Vergleich zum Erstling ist "Deceit" also nicht mehr so extrem und laut, ist reduzierter, dafür aber subtiler. Die industrialartigen Momente sind nicht mehr vorhanden, oder besser, sie sind verändert worden. Klang es auf "This Heat" mitunter nach einem Dampfhammer, so erweckt die Musik auf "Deceit" eher den Eindruck eines Uhrwerks, ein rhytmisch-monotones Klappern und Klopfen, das in seiner repetitiven Motorik am ehesten noch an Can erinnert ("Paper Hats" z.B., das nicht nur vom Titel her Erinnerungen an "Paperhouse" von "Tago Mago" weckt). Für diesen Effekt ist einmal mehr Haywards metronomenhaftes, aber gleichzeitig unglaublich vielseitiges und abwechslungsreiches Schlagzeugspiel verantwortlich. Dazu kommen Bullen und Williams, die hauptsächlich Töne, die ihren Ursprung in Gitarre und Bass haben, beisteuern, verfremdet, mehrfachst übereinandergelegt und durcheinander gemischt. Aber auch Klarinetten- und Keyboardklänge gibt es hier zu hören, ebenso fast unkenntlich gemacht, zusammen mit einer Myriarde anderer Sounds, Sprachfetzen und Geräusche, deren Ursprung kaum zu erahnen ist. Bullen und Hayward besingen die Stücke oft gemeinsam, in gleich - oder auch gegenläufigen, einander kontrastierenden Gesangslinien. Auch die Art und Weise zu singen ist sehr verschieden. Bullen singt die Texte recht emotionlos-gleichförmig vor sich hin, während Hayward durchaus Melodien von sich gibt, mitunter aber sehr schräg und fast verzweifelt kreischt ("Paper Hats", "Makeshift Swahili"), damit aber unglaublich intensive Emotionen freilegt. "Radio Prague", "Triumph" und "Suffer Bomb Disease" sind reine, minimalistische Klangkreationen, fast zerbrechliche Music-Concrete-Experimente. Alles auf dieser Scheibe ist schräg und seltsam, gibt aber das Zeitgefül der frühen 80er eindringlich wieder. Aber diese Musik ist zeitlos; wäre das Album 15 Jahre später erschienen, hätte es wohl unter Post-Rock-Freaks für Aufsehen gesorgt. So tat dies die Scheibe in New Wave-Kreisen.
"Deceit" ist eine der wichtigen Scheiben der 80er, mit progressiver Musik einer Avantgarde-Formation, die sich, wie z.B. auch Art Zoyd, Univers Zero, Present, Shub Niggurath oder Fred Frith (und die diversen Formationen, mit denen er tätig war), erfolgreich von ihren 70er-Prog-Wurzeln gelöst hatten, um etwas wirklich Neues zu machen." [Babyblaue Seiten]
|
2006 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Out of Cold Storage |
6 x CD-Box |
Monumentale Box mit ALLEN offiziellen Releases & dickem Booklet sowie einer CD mit bisher unveröffentlichten Aufnahmen von der legendären britischen Band um CHARLES HAYWARD, die aus verschiedensten Einflüssen von Industrial bis Jazz in genialer Weise einen ganz neuen, eigenen Stil kreierten, der bis heute absolut einmalig geblieben ist!
“Where do you start with something like this? With a history lesson and a 9.0 review up at Pitchfork this week I suppose... Born out of the UK crucible that existed in the period immediately post punk (before it earned capitals and morphed into genre all of its own...), This Heat formed through the restless response of three twenty-somethings who felt impelled to document their corner of 1970's London. Already faces at the more severe end of the prog-rock scene, Charles Bullen and Charles Hayward were joined by non-musician Gareth Williams - a catalyst that would see them recording vast quantities of work then editing the results down into consumable chunks of aural fortitude. Spread over a massive six discs and further bolstered by a pretty darn exhaustive book that interviews the surviving members (Williams passed away in 2001), 'Out Of Cold Storage' is testament to the unbridled virility of This Heat - with all the music very much rooted in its era, yet also utterly timeless. Comprised of their five studio albums ('This Heat', 'Deceit', 'Health and Efficiency', 'Made Available' and 'Repeat') plus an incendiary set of live action culled from their 1980/81 heyday, 'Out Of Cold Storage' allows everyone to get hold of these classic recordings in pristine form - a real treat given the eroded bootlegs and mp3s that have been doing the rounds for years. Ranging in style from the avant-rock of their eponymous debut, through to the political polemic of 'Deceit', This Heat are spiky without the need to resort to high-kicking comparisons with the likes of Orange Juice et al., with their output always a couple of steps removed from their retrospective peers. Unafraid to disrupt their reputation through creative right-angles, the likes of 'Repeat' and it's central 20 minutes of looped drones and rhythms (think Can in a chiller cabinet) are seemingly at odds with 'Health And Efficiencies' melody etched high - yet rather than cause tension, these juxtapositions merely heighten the band's appeal and allow you a glimpse into moments of creative perfection. Vast, comprehensive and thoroughly indispensable, 'Out Of Cold Storage' is the kind of collection that reasserts your faith in the music and proves that the endless vault combing perpetrated by labels can sometimes come good. Six shades of fantastic....“ [Boomkat]
|
2006 |
€75.00 |
|
| |
same |
LP |
"Second pressing of vinyl re-issue. First official vinyl re-issue in collaboration with original band members Charles Bullen and Charles Hayward. 24 bit/96 kHz re-master from original analog tapes. Includes booklet with track notes and archival photos. Isn't it so often the case that the most innovative works of art -- the ones that break the ground where others follow -- are the ones that seem to reach only the ears of those who take those ideas and run with them? So it is with This Heat and their eponymous debut album frequently referred to as 'blue and yellow' for its ultra-minimal jacket. Within its 48 minute run time, the seeds of post-punk, avant rock, noise rock and post-rock can be found. Formed in Brixton, a multicultural, and -- at the time -- down-at-heel part of south London, This Heat were born into a music scene in rapid flux, first thanks to the punk explosion and then via new wave and its myriad offshoots into pop, rock and art-rock. But while many sought to apply punk attitude to chart-friendly sounds, This Heat were concocting some of the most experimental ideas ever committed to tape, taking influence from musique concrète, krautrock, the burgeoning industrial scene and even the dub reggae blasting out in their home borough. Their debut album had -- for the time and for the DIY scene -- an unusually long gestation, recorded in sessions between February 1976 and September 1978 in a variety of studios including their own Cold Storage, a converted cold storage room in the Acme Studios complex. Innovating throughout, they combined loops and tape manipulation with live performance and haunting vocals to a complex, dissonant whole. The band recorded everything they ever did -- including gigs -- and tracks such as 'Water' were entirely improvised in the studio. Given the difficult, abrasive, and involved nature of their sound, This Heat never found anything approaching mainstream success, but patronage by the influential Radio 1 DJ John Peel meant they reached a national audience -- whether that audience was ready for them or not. Celebrating This Heat's 40th anniversary in 2016, Modern Classics Recordings will re-issue the band's catalog -- 1979's This Heat, 1980's Health and Efficiency, and 1981's Deceit -- with full co-operation of surviving members Charles Bullen and Charles Hayward. Four decades on, the tireless efforts of This Heat's process can once again be a revelation for new audiences." [label info]
www.lightintheattic.net
„Was diese so Band so ausnehmend macht und selbst unter heutigen Maßstäben so ungemindert bestechend, ist in meinen Ohren der Thrill zwischen schwebenden Momenten, in denen die Musik die Luft anzuhalten oder garottiert zu werden scheint und sich enorme Energie aufstaut, und den unglaublich intensiven Eruptionen in Gestalt des ostinaten Drummings und sich ins Gehirn fressender Loops. Dazu kommt dann noch an besonders sublimen Momenten HAYWARDs Gesang mit einem Timbre, das einem die Kehle zuschnürt durch den wehen Ton und mit heißkalter Dringlichkeit die Schädeldecke aufstemmt....“ [Bad Alchemy #51]
“A landmark recording by one of most important British bands, full stop. this, their first release, tore up the book and laid new rules for band composition and performance. First, the music: without precedent, then, the musicians: all extraordinary, all uncompromisingly radical, then the way it was all put together: endlessly surprising, hammeringly intense, and the sound: hard, radical, crafted, rich, with complete control of the frequency range. Beautifully recorded, radically mixed, this was breathtakingly present. Stripped back to the bone but never simplified. And it hasn't aged. this is deep, complex work that creates its own world, anticipating much that was to follow in the next 15 years. A luminous release out of print (for almost a decade?). Re-mastered by the group for this re release.“ [label info]
"Earlier this year, a few months back, we made the 40th anniversary This Heat vinyl reissues our Records Of The Week. More like Records Of All Time, really. The two full-lengths (This Heat and Deceit) quickly sold out, and have been sadly absent from our racks for the past little while - but now they both have been repressed, and are available again at a slightly lower price than before (thanks to no longer being in gatefold jackets). If somehow you missed out before, we urge you to get 'em now! Our review of this one...
Oooh, at last nicely reissued on vinyl, automatic Records Of The Week!!! What more is there to say that we haven't already said (at length, below, you'll see) about these This Heat records?
Trying to explain why this record is so good is sort of like trying to explain why ice cream is so delicious.
Or maybe it's kind of like writing an introduction for the new Pynchon novel. Or telling a few jokes before Richard Pryor comes on stage. Or throwing a couple quick passes before Joe Montana comes on the field. It's that daunting, that overwhelming, that impossible.
The trio of Charles Hayward, Charles Bullen, and Gareth Williams known collectively as This Heat were one of the few bands that literally changed people's lives. Changed the way folks thought about music. I (Andee) couldn't believe music like this actually existed. It was everything I wanted to listen to before I knew that THIS was exactly what I wanted to listen to. Hit It Or Quit It publisher / rock critic / indie scenstress Jessica Hopper once wrote that she literally pee'd her pants the first time she heard This Heat. And it's not hard to see why. Without This Heat, modern, alternative, avant garde music as we know it would be a whole different beast. Post rock, math rock, avant rock are hugely indebted to the genre shattering experimentalism of This Heat. Tortoise, You Fantastic, Yona Kit, Brise Glace, Psychic Paramount, Laddio Bolocko, Radian, Village Of Savoonga, Larsen, Starfuckers, Circle, Salvatore, I Am Spoonbender - none of those bands would even exist if it weren't for This Heat, or if they still did you can bet they would sound a whole lot different. And that's just off the top of our heads, AND that's -just- bands whose sound directly reflects the influence of This Heat. Imagine how many performers and artists were influenced by This Heat but who let that influence manifest itself in not so obvious ways.
We once described This Heat as "Krautrock-ish hyper rhythmic tape-looped prog." Which comes close to succinctly describing the magical musical alchemy of This Heat, but still only scratches the surface. This is their self titled debut, originally released in 1979, which manages over the course of about 50 minutes to redefine almost all music that has come before.
The sound of This Heat is rhythm and texture and dynamics. The recording studio as instrument. Every sound and every song is based on rhythm and texture. There are hooks, and melodies, but they exist to serve the rhythm and are often born from the deft manipulation of sound and tempo. Even the most static and repetitive parts manage to sound -musical-. There are vocals, but they are minimal and otherworldly, weary and sing songy and completely mesmerizing. A droning musical accompaniment to the haunting whirs and clanging percussion in the background. This record is such a totally immersive and strangely lovely musical environment. From the machinelike Krautrock of "Horizontal Hold" to the dreamy contemplative "Twilight Furniture" with its simple chiming guitars, muted tribal percussion and keening vocals, to the bizarre affected drum workout of "24 Track Loop", it's like wandering through some alien musical world. As sky full of greys and blues, smeary drones floating gently by, haunting quavering vocals drifting below, like tendrils of smoke, the barren landscape littered with all manner of rhythmic outcroppings, harsh jagged crashes and booms, as well as low rolling thumps and stutters, off in the distance simple spare melodies float and hover, each note a glowing spot on the horizon. Absolutely and utterly overwhelmingly brilliant.
There are plenty of places on the web and in magazines to read more about the history of the band, the band members, the various releases and reissues (see elsewhere on the AQ website for reviews of past editions of various TH recordings) but none of that ultimately matters as much as the sound. And oh the glorious sound. Just take a listen to the sound samples and no words will be necessary." [Aquarius Records]
|
2016 |
€26.50 |
|
| THIS IMMORTAL COIL |
The World ended a long Time ago |
do-LP |
In 2009, following the death of Jhonn Balance four years earlier, This Immortal Coil's "The Dark Age Of Love" appeared as a tribute to the superb work of the British band Coil over two decades.Formed by musicians from all walks of life, the album was praised by critics but also, and most importantly, by Peter Christopherson himself!
13 years have passed and this passion for the band has never wavered. Following the death of Peter Christopherson in 2010 on the one hand, and meetings with musicians such as Massimo Pupillo (Zü), Aho Ssan and Kristoffer Rygg (Ulver) who in turn wanted to pay tribute to this gigantic band, on the other hand, Stéphane Grégoire's (founder of the label Ici d'ailleurs) desire to make a new opus took shape in 2017 with a first recording of the title "Where Are You". Just like the first one, more than 5 years will be necessary to realize this new album so that it is at the height of Coil's genius.
The Ici d'Ailleurs team is very proud to unveil This Immortal Coil's second album 'The World Ended A Long Time Ago'.That will be available on December 09, 2022 in several formats (DL / CD / 2[LP] / BOX- 3[CD] / BOX - 5[LP]) that will be revealed very soon. The artists this time are Coil lovers but without the album being a "lovers" cover, that would be the opposite of Coil's image.
Many, many thanks to Shannon Wright, David Chalmin, Matt Elliott, Christine Ott, Aho Ssan, Gaspar Claus, Aidan Baker, Ulver (Kristoffer Rygg, Ole Alexander Halstensgard, Stian Westerhus), Massimo Pupillo, Mattia Cipolli, Elisa Bognetti, Stefano Michelotti, Francesco Bolognini, Marton Csokas, Ivan Chiossone and Eric Aldéa who make this project a reality
This Immortal Coil "The World Ended A Long Time Ago » is : Shannon Wright - David Chalmin - Matt Elliott - Christine Ott - Aho Ssan - Gaspar Claus - Aidan Baker - Franck Laurino - Kristoffer Rygg - Ole Alexander Halstensgård - Stian Westerhus - Massimo Pupillo - Mattia Cipolli - Elisa Bognetti - Stefano Michelotti - Francesco Bolognini - Márton Csókás - Ivan Chiossone - Eric Aldéa
https://thisimmortalcoil.bandcamp.com/album/the-world-ended-a-long-time-ago
|
2022 |
€26.00 |
|
| |
The World ended a long Time ago (special ed.) |
3 x CD BOX |
In 2009, following the death of Jhonn Balance four years earlier, This Immortal Coil's "The Dark Age Of Love" appeared as a tribute to the superb work of the British band Coil over two decades.Formed by musicians from all walks of life, the album was praised by critics but also, and most importantly, by Peter Christopherson himself!
13 years have passed and this passion for the band has never wavered. Following the death of Peter Christopherson in 2010 on the one hand, and meetings with musicians such as Massimo Pupillo (Zü), Aho Ssan and Kristoffer Rygg (Ulver) who in turn wanted to pay tribute to this gigantic band, on the other hand, Stéphane Grégoire's (founder of the label Ici d'ailleurs) desire to make a new opus took shape in 2017 with a first recording of the title "Where Are You". Just like the first one, more than 5 years will be necessary to realize this new album so that it is at the height of Coil's genius.
The Ici d'Ailleurs team is very proud to unveil This Immortal Coil's second album 'The World Ended A Long Time Ago'.That will be available on December 09, 2022 in several formats (DL / CD / 2[LP] / BOX- 3[CD] / BOX - 5[LP]) that will be revealed very soon. The artists this time are Coil lovers but without the album being a "lovers" cover, that would be the opposite of Coil's image.
Many, many thanks to Shannon Wright, David Chalmin, Matt Elliott, Christine Ott, Aho Ssan, Gaspar Claus, Aidan Baker, Ulver (Kristoffer Rygg, Ole Alexander Halstensgard, Stian Westerhus), Massimo Pupillo, Mattia Cipolli, Elisa Bognetti, Stefano Michelotti, Francesco Bolognini, Marton Csokas, Ivan Chiossone and Eric Aldéa who make this project a reality
This Immortal Coil "The World Ended A Long Time Ago » is : Shannon Wright - David Chalmin - Matt Elliott - Christine Ott - Aho Ssan - Gaspar Claus - Aidan Baker - Franck Laurino - Kristoffer Rygg - Ole Alexander Halstensgård - Stian Westerhus - Massimo Pupillo - Mattia Cipolli - Elisa Bognetti - Stefano Michelotti - Francesco Bolognini - Márton Csókás - Ivan Chiossone - Eric Aldéa
https://thisimmortalcoil.bandcamp.com/album/the-world-ended-a-long-time-ago
|
2022 |
€26.00 |
|
| THISQUIETARMY |
Aftermath |
CD |
"Quite some time ago I reviewed 'Unconquered', one of the three previous releases by Eric Quach, also known as Thisquietarmy (see Vital Weekly 628). His fourth album is 'Aftermath', and released by Basses Frequences. Quach is not unlike his fellow country man Nadja (or perhaps like Aidan Baker), he plays guitar and lots of sound effects. To result is not too dissimilar to Nadja or Baker: highly atmospheric drone music, with a nice touch of melody here and there. In general the idea is to raise a wall of sound (as in built from many layers, not the noise type of sound) through loops created on the guitar and through the effects, and then, when everything is in place, he adds a guitar melody on top. Its a simple yet effective method to create such music, and Thisquietarmy does that well, I must say. Great moody music. But like with so many others, armed with guitars, loop stations and such like, there is also not much new under the sun. That should merely be noted. Not as a complaint,
but as a statement. If you are looking for something new, this might not be the place where it happens, so you know. If you are looking for more music along the lines of Troum, Nadja or Fear Falls Burning: Thisquietarmy is as good as them." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
www.bassesfrequences.org
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Vessels |
LP |
"Montreal's THISQUIETARMY create sublime yet massive walls of beautiful shimmering drone, at times with a near pop sensibility, at others near Industrial in its percussive bombast. "Vessels" explores themes of the sea and man's struggle with this relentless and all pervasive force, the music a perfect means of expressing both the flat calm and the force 9 storm. Eric Quach, the man behind thisquietarmy, is a prolific artist, and "Vessels" is perhaps his most impactive work to date. "The Pacific Theater" grips the listener in warm drone before slamming them into the rocks with epic percussion. Album closer "A Spanish Galleon" takes a more gentle approach with clean guitar and washes of orchestral strings. Quach's live performances are presented as a real-time multimedia installation, based on an impromptu score to a prepared film, which he creates himself. The visual themes revolve around dark ethereal ambiences and ghostly abstract. The live material can be as structured as it can be improvised on the spot, depending on the moment's vibe, and drowns the audience in a hypnotic dream-like state of introspection. For Fans Of: NADJA, JESU, AUN, AIDAN BAKER." [label info]
www.aurora-b.com
|
2012 |
€20.00 |
|
| |
Phantom Limbs |
CD |
"A phantom limb is the sensation that an amputated or missing limb (even an organ, like the appendix) is still attached to the body and is moving appropriately with other body parts.
++
Recorded between 'Aftermath' & 'Vessels' back in 2009. Everything was done - titles, artwork and photography by Meryem Yildiz. Somehow, with the delay of 'Aftermath' and with the new tracks that would make 'Vessels', the EP got shelved and was forgotten until earlier this year, and now resuscitated by Land of Decay on cassette (limited to 100 copies)."
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
| THISQUIETARMY / DIRK SERRIES / TOM MALMENDIER |
Hell |
CD |
This record evolved as a concatenation of two happenings. Thisquietarmy presented his album “Democracy of Dust” on stage at the Moving Noises Evening 2017, supported by Tom Malmendier, who joined in for some live drum parts for older tracks of thisquietarmy. Dirk Serries played one of his last ambient sets before releasing “Epitaph” at the same evening. So things came together very quick and the idea was born to end up the evening as a trio.
Hell features a long improvisational track, in which you can hear typical Serries and thisquietarmy sounds accompanied by some diversified percussion sounds by Malmendier. The set starts very quiet and cautious and ends up in climax of experimental guitars and absolute amazing freejazz drumming.
Recorded at Christuskirche Bochum. Mixed by Dirk Serries. Mastered by Eric Quach.
“Hell” comes as a 6panel digisleeve with matt finish. Limited to 200 copies.
https://thisquietarmy.bandcamp.com/album/h-e-l-l |
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| THISQUIETARMY X N |
Zerfall / Zerfallen |
LP + CD |
Thisquietarmy and N met during live shows and festivals on and off for years. As both are always interested in doing collaborations it was just a matter of time, when both would team up for a guitar drone convention.
All started with an improvisational live set in Cologne, followed by a studio session in Duisburg, back in 2019.
“Zerfall | Zerfallen” features all the tracks of those two sessions, except one track, that is featured on “Zerstoeren”, the sister release (MD 098).
“Zerfall” (LP) features two epic tracks and it is obvious after the first seconds, that the studio session was a loud unfaltering monster. We can say that for sure, because this is one of the rare occasions, we had the chance to join the recording session. Imagine an old industrial building with a big studio room on the upper floor, where two guitarists are sitting in front of an amp wall, playing so loud that no earplug can save you.
The first track “Zerfall Alpha” flows with loud noise soundwalls by N and the looming sounds of thisquietarmy, evolving into soundscapes that feel like both guitars are melting into one unbending soundwall, going loud and sometimes quiet even to get subsequently louder. “Zerfall Beta” is the evil twin of the A side track and unfolds a massive drone doom wave.
“Zerfallen” (CD) features the other three tracks of the session, in the same mood like “Zerfall” but with an individual sonic evolving. All rounded up by the live session from Cologne “Zerstaeuber“, which is also featured on “Zerfallen”. Here you can discover, how the musicians approached very tentative, how their sounds work together for the very first time.
All in all, you get 2 hours of massive drone doom ambient noise guitar fulmination. Listen loud for maximum aftermath.
“Zerfall | Zerfallen” comes in an edition of 222 copies on LP+CD. Black vinyl with printed labels, housed in reverse board printed sleeve on 300g cardboard. The CD is housed in a reverse board printed cardboard wallet.
If you want to read more about the recording session, here is an intrview Eric and Hellmut did for Fifteen Questions: 15questions.net/interview/thisquietarmy-and-n-share-their-creative-process/page-1/
Zerfall (LP)
A Zerfall Alpha 22:27
B Zerfall Beta 23:20
Zerfallen (CD)
01 Zerfallen Eins 11:21
02 Zerfallen Zwei 12:52
03 Zerfallen Drei 31:27
04 Zerstaeuber 17:24
Technical:
LP + CD / Limited to 222 copies
LP comes on black vinyl / printed labels / reverseboard printed sleeve
CD comes in reverseboard printed sleeve
thisquietarmy (amps+guitars)
N (amps+guitars)
recorded by Tobias Stieler, June 2019
mixed+mastered by Eric Quach, March 2021
photography by Roxane De Koninck
www.midirarecords.com/release/md-097-thisquietarmy-x-n-zerfall-zerfallen |
2022 |
€27.50 |
|
| THROBBING GRISTLE |
A Souvenir of Camber Sands |
do-LP |
Mute are happy to announce the release of Throbbing Gristle’s A Souvenir of Camber Sands digitally, on double CD, and limited edition double white vinyl with high definition audio download on November 29. This release is the infamous live show recorded at Throbbing Gristle’s 2004 performance as part of Jake and Dinos Chapman’s All Tomorrow’s Parties festival line up. The performance and CD were both dedicated to their dear friend and co-conspirator, John Balance, who passed away in November 2004. The CD-R set was on sale minutes after Throbbing Gristle finished performing. The few remaining copies of this limited edition set were briefly available through Mute Records, but quickly sold out. This is the first CD reissue, and the first time A Souvenir of Camber Sands is available on vinyl and digital platforms. Throbbing Gristle are Chris Carter, Peter ‘Sleazy’ Christopherson (who sadly passed away on November 25, 2010), Cosey Fanni Tutti, and Genesis Breyer P-Orridge. Other recent Throbbing Gristle re-releases on Mute include D.o.A., Throbbing Gristle’s Greatest Hits, and Part Two: Endless Not + TG Now.
|
2019 |
€25.00 |
|
| |
A Souvenir of Camber Sands |
do-CD |
Mute are happy to announce the release of Throbbing Gristle’s A Souvenir of Camber Sands digitally, on double CD, and limited edition double white vinyl with high definition audio download on November 29. This release is the infamous live show recorded at Throbbing Gristle’s 2004 performance as part of Jake and Dinos Chapman’s All Tomorrow’s Parties festival line up. The performance and CD were both dedicated to their dear friend and co-conspirator, John Balance, who passed away in November 2004. The CD-R set was on sale minutes after Throbbing Gristle finished performing. The few remaining copies of this limited edition set were briefly available through Mute Records, but quickly sold out. This is the first CD reissue, and the first time A Souvenir of Camber Sands is available on vinyl and digital platforms. Throbbing Gristle are Chris Carter, Peter ‘Sleazy’ Christopherson (who sadly passed away on November 25, 2010), Cosey Fanni Tutti, and Genesis Breyer P-Orridge. Other recent Throbbing Gristle re-releases on Mute include D.o.A., Throbbing Gristle’s Greatest Hits, and Part Two: Endless Not + TG Now.
|
2019 |
€16.50 |
|
| THU20 |
Live in Groningen |
CD |
Mitschnitt eines fantastischen Konzerts (August 2000) der fast schon legendären THU20 - ein Projekt von JOS SMOLDERS, PETER DUIMELINKS, ROEL MEELKOP. Sehr subtile Geräuschmusik, zwischen sehr direkter & konkreter Collage & eher sanften Drone- & Microsounds, immer spannend und in höchster Konzentration vollendet. Letzte Kopien dieses Releases zum Sonderpreis !
"Dutch electro-acoustic ensemble THU20 is the co-operation between Roel Meelkop, Peter Duimelinks, Sjac van Bussel and Ios Smolders. The strength varies, their releases are limited and live shows rare. Not a steady thing this THU to say the least.. Despite all of this, all four have firm ideas about music and performances. THU has a unique sound, established through numerous experiments in recording and several collaborations (they've worked on hearplays, spoken word projects, highly conceptual music-making and so on), but still is not a defined thing.. and that's good. The THU20 philosophy is one which fits perfectly with our own and obviously Mixer is very proud to release this cd. "Live in Groningen" is an edited version of a performance they did during the CASA ELECTRONICA festival high up north in the Netherlands. The hearplay-like character of their set/ music is very much imaginative and holds a lot of anekdotal, but still fairly abstract elements. The sound of THU20 is a multi-layered object, compiled of numerous sonic happenings, going through the complete range of audible sound and certainly not in a lineair way. From highly digital to dusty acoustics, from pleasantly calm to disturbingly hectic. It is exactly this tension and variation which keeps you tuned and fascinated. The way basic elements like repetition, tonal differences and time-elapse are used is truly original and surprising. Things move around completely free, accessible for one's own thoughts and interpetation, adding to the constantly changing texture. THU20 dashes around sound, though all is embedded in a very gentle stream of subtle tones and little sound-events, which makes this work perfectly suitable for extended and intense listening... THU20 has released previously on Staalplaat, Flenix and Midas Music." [label info]
|
2000 |
€10.00 |
|
| |
Vroeg Werk |
do-CD |
"First anthology of legendary dutch electroacoustic group of musicians whose names can be definitely placed in range of true underground stars and passionary pushers of contemporary experimental music scene. First CD in this double album is compiled from studio works, unreleased or taken from rare compilations, second CD gathers the best concert recordings. Release date is 29th December 2012. Limited edition of 500 copies in jewelcase." [label info]
www.monochromevision.ru
"Sometime in the early '80s, a bunch of young Dutchmen formed a couple of post-punk bands that nobody remembers anymore; but on one Thursday that happened to be the 20th of some month, one of those bands abandoned their rhythms entirely and splattered out a drone-tape and synth-noise set that had the audience freaking out. The punk structures were scrapped entirely and THU20 was stuck onto this project as the new name. Get it? The Dutchmen of THU20 included Jac Van Bussel, Peter Duimelinks, Roel Meelkop, Jos Smolders, and Guido Doesborg (later replaced by the ubiquitous Frans De Waard). The mid to late '80s proved to be a highly prolific time for THU20, although the project continues on to this day at a much more restrained pace. The ideas that went into THU20 transitioned from Joy Division into Cabaret Voltaire & Throbbing Gristle quickly arriving at a DIY punk form of musique concrete and electro-acoustic experimentation. Such was a similar trajectory for the German ensemble P16.D4, albeit towards even more unconventional goals. In the studio, THU20's work could be austere and brutalist in the obfuscated collages and disjointed slabs of noise; but the live version of THU20 proved to be far more shambolic, dynamically expressive, and rewardingly chaotic. Vroeg Werk is a diverse collection that spans both of these modes of operation, with the second of these two discs being entirely live recordings and the first culling from the dustbin of the cassette culture. The studio material found on disc one has some semblances of the more abstracted tape work found on Einsturzende Neubauten's Drawings Of O.T sans Blixa, with the opening track "5720" being particularly choice. But, the live material is really where THU20 shine, grafting gritty electro-acoustic noise sourced from voice, tape, synth, feedback, pedals, shortwave, power tools, scrap metal, and who knows what else onto thin rhythmic spines of morse code blips, overblown tape loops, and primitive drum machinations. Effectively, THU20 would land somewhere between the panzer bleakness of MB and the viral shredding of Nocturnal Emissions. Not a bad place to be..." [Aquarius Rec.]
"And then there is 'Vroeg Werk' by THU20. Now I am the last person to review that, you may claim, right so, but I really don't have that much to do with it. By accident I was present at two concerts, and added vocals (?) to one and a synth to the other, which makes a total of five out of thirty-one pieces. This double CD reflects the early works of THU20, an original five piece with Jos Smolders, Peter Duimelinks, Jac van Bussel, Roel Meelkop and, in these early years, Guido Doesborg. Started out by Doesburg and Van Bussel as a sideline project to Club Rialto, they experimented in their early years with feedback, sample delay pedal boxes, a synth, a rhythm machine and then slowly something such as 'composition' came in, along with the other three members. THU20 were part of the big cassette scene (see also the P16.D4 of two weeks ago), sending out their pieces to compilations. The first discs collects these in chronological order (which is commendable, but it means it's doesn't start out with the best tracks), ending with their twenty minute concert in Bordeaux from 1989 (originally released as a split LP with Merzbow). The whole of the second CD has concert recordings of the years before that, 1986-1989, plus one from 1992. Here we find THU20 improvising freely with electronics, turntables, tapes, synthesizer and sometimes, but not always, guided by a backing tape and a loose notion of a graphic score. Many of these pieces are well-known to me, following the band from their very early days, but boy, they sound great here. The muffled sound of the cassettes is complete washed away and all of these piece shine like diamonds. You could argue if 150 minutes is a bit much, wether the chronological order is a great idea, but this is some truly exciting music. It combines the industrial music of say 1986 (feedback, noise) with the more rough edged notion of musique concrete, electro-acoustic, and it follows this band to find their own way in this. Many of their previous releases are hard to find these days ('Eerste Schijf', 'Tweede Schijf', 'Derde Schijf' or 'Elfde Uni'), and surely here's a band who deserved their own big box set. That is not likely to happen, but this 'small' (what is small?) box set is worth every penny. And still kicking around, THU20 works on a very irregular basis in 2013, in a slightly different line up. Who would have guessed?" [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2012 |
€16.50 |
|
| THUJA |
Pine Cone Temples |
do-CD |
Episches neues Werk dieses 4-köpfigen kreativen Geräusch-Improvisations-Kollektivs, deren Klangquellen keine Begrenzungen zu kennen scheinen. Neben gewöhnlichen Instrumenten werden field recordings aber auch konkretes Material eingesetzt. Die Improvisationen klingen so sensibel & fein verwoben als seien sie „gewollt“ komponiert. Jedes neue Stück offenbart überraschende Sounds, und doch wirkt das Werk wie aus einem Guss. Entspannter „Abstrakt-Geräuschambient“, der niemals langweilig wird. Bei THUJA wirkt LOREN CHASSE von ID BATTERY mit, die auch eine Single auf Drone hatten – nicht nur deswegen sei dieses Werk hiermit in höchstem Maße empfohlen !
“By incorporating real-time recordings of natural sounds from their particular surroundings, the four members of Thuja play off each other and the space they inhabit with impeccable instinct, succeeding in creating eerie yet strikingly melodic compositions. The end result is a total immersion of the senses, for both the player and the listener. Across the grand expanse of Pine Cone Temple's two discs, implements such as piano, guitars, percussion, and well-placed contact mics are blended like pigments to conjure the subtlest of sonics, pulling every lost drop of their immediate universe into floating and buzzing cinematics. Minimalist hues are brush-stroked into being and slowly unfurl into the atmosphere. Improvised clouds of sound softly erupt to form compositions of such immense and precise detail, it would seem the music was written out rather than spontaneously developed. Such is the magic of Thuja and their uncanny ability to sculpt microscopic psychedelia from their immediate environment and collective consciousness.” [label info]
“....and all of them loosely based in one way or another on nature, or natural sounds, or the way music and found sounds interact with the spaces they are performed in. There are instruments like guitars, drums, bass, but more often than not, you'll find sticks and stones, found objects, junk, all sorts of industrial and natural detritus, recorded, re-broadcast, and recorded again. Utilizing natural reverb, the sounds of certain spaces, ambient sounds as well as making the act of making music, music in itself. Wow. So what does Pine Cone Temples sound like? It's wide open and expansive. Ambient perhaps, but there's too much going on for it to be strictly ambient. It's more a sort of abstract soundscape, the sort of soundscape the requires close listening, active listening, in order to understand, and feel the sounds, not just hear them. The rustle of leaves, crickets maybe, running water, or are those sounds manufactured by the band in an attempt to pay homage to the music of nature? Does it matter. Maybe its both, the sound of running water accompanied by Thuja emulating the sound of running water. Clicks and creaks, and little bits of clatter, a simple melody played on a recorder, warm organ warble, whipsering wind, toy xylophone notes released and left to drift in the slowly shifting breeze, distant bird calls, reverbed piano, dark cavernous rumbles, shimmering single notes stretched perilously across a sound field dotted with the echo of dripping water and the buzz of vibrating guitar strings. This isn't so much music as it is simply sound, sound that has been lovingly shaped and guided, observed and interacted with, recorded in its element. As if Thuja were just recordists, who use their own sounds to lure the sounds of nature to come just a little closer, in order to capture them raw and natural, and incorporate them into the sun dappled cloak of their jewelled nature-folk. The sounds of music can be smooth and soothing, or raw and primitive, as can the music of sound, and thus Thuja, whose music of sound is pure, and organic, lush and lustrous, and breathtakingly beautiful.” [Aquarius Records]
www.strange-attractors.com |
2005 |
€15.00 |
|
| TIBETAN RED / THE OVAL LANGUAGE / DAS SYNTHETISCHE MISCHGEWEBE |
The Breath of the Hydra |
CD |
A three way collaboration between the Germany based THE OVAL LANGUAGE, the Catalan TIBETAN RED and DAS SYNTHETISCHE MISCHGEWEBE living in Rennes, France. In an on and off exchange since end of 2016, a continuous exchange of audio material, ideas and suggestions. Salvador Francesch and Guido Hübner meet again after long years at the occasion of a concert of the latter one at the LEM festival in Barcelona. Since then working together became evident as was the choice of including Klaus-Peter John with whom several collaborations had already seen the light of day through the years, most notably the homage to the late Carlfriedrich Claus ‘sprechzimmern’ with RLW as well as a 2x CD collection of collaborations on the notorious Monochrome Vison label in Moscow.
The association of their different sound worlds and even more specifically their extremely particular fashions of creating them was meant to merge and melt in a whole able to blur clear distinctions with only an occasional sneaking out of a head and a hissing tongue amongst many that takes the scent and direction respectively in the brooding heat that forges shape and carves direction.
TIBETAN RED Salvador Francesch is a catalan-canadian painter, sculptor and sound explorer who lives in La Garrotxa, Girona. He has released 5 CDs in his Tibetan Red project. His work pursues experimentation with sounds that seek to convey some aspects of his interest in Eastern rituals and ceremonial art.
THE OVAL LANGUAGE Klaus-Peter John is from Leipzig, the project started as a trio in the early 80’s working to turn into his solo project with sound, noise works in open spaces, photography, installations and land-art informed projects in which mainly the voice is put center stage.
DAS SYNTHETISCHE MISCHGEWEBE started in the early 80’s in Berlin with cassette production and performative concerts, exhibitions and installations to which a D.I.Y. approach of a lot of customized equipment became inherent accompanying an interest in several areas of science and technology. Moved to Barcelona then France, producing many recordings and performance works.
https://emerge.bandcamp.com/album/the-breath-of-the-hydra
"The Breath of the Hydra (ACU 1029), da weißt man ja, es sind drei Köpfe. So auch hier: TIBETAN RED + THE OVAL LANGUAGE + DAS SYNTHETISCHE MISCHGEWEBE. Ersterer, Salvador Francesch in La Garrotxa in den katalonischen Pyrenäen, hat dem mit Todo entretenimiento es una anticipación del infierno auch das Motto vorangestellt. Der Dichter José Bergamin soll das gesagt haben, als Vorstand der Alianza de Intelectuales Antifascistas der kulturelle Kopf der Spanischen Republik, der Picasso den Auftrag zu "Guernica" gegeben hat. Francesch teilt mit Bergamins Rechtfertigung des 'Roten Terrors' allemal die Vorliebe für Rot und offenbar auch die Vorfreude auf die Hölle. Blödsinn, natürlich die Abneigung gegen Amusement. Er ist mit seinem Debut 1985 auf Freedom in a Vacuum nicht ganz so lange dabei wie Guido Hübner, der ab 1981 sich der Cassette- & Soundculture einschrieb. Bei "Sprechzimmern" (2015), einer Hommage an den konkreten Lautpoeten Carlfriedrich Claus, und zehn Jahre zuvor bei 'Papillon Schizophone' war er dabei auch schon mit Peter John zusammengekommen. Der Leipziger, der in den 80ern als Sänger bei Neu Rot (!) anfing, hat sich nach "Hibernation" & "Waldkonzerte" auf Edition Telemark zuletzt mit "Hexen Hexer" gegen Denunziation und Hexenjagden positioniert, auch wenn heute dabei, anders als im Spanischen Bürgerkrieg und beim Hydraschlachten, seltener Blut fließt. Ich kann mir eine 'Melancholie des Widerstands', wie sie Hübner von László Krasznahorkai aufgegriffen hat, als das Verbindende zwischen den dreien vorstellen bei ihrem alchemistischen Procedere mit brodeligem Köcheln und Sieden, das einher geht mit kratzigen und schleifenden Impulsen und hohleren, quasi perkussiven Anmutungen, die das überwölben. Dazu vexieren zirpige, halbwegs natürliche Klänge mit einem leisen, hauchzarten 'Schreiben' mit metallischem Griffel, über das motorische, zischende, sirrend oszillierende Attacken hinweggehen und einen industrialen Dominator installieren, der impulsiv oder gedämpft rumort und infernalische Stimmen nur ahnen lässt. Der Griffel schreibt weiter in einer opaken Nichtstille und hat dabei etwas von einem Keuchen oder Röcheln an sich. Martialische Wellen mischen das auf, und zischende Ventile machen das zu einem Tauchgang in die Schinderwerkstätten der Schlotbarone. Trappeliges Toben, abgerissene Kürzel und tatsächlich der Kehle entrissene Laute verunklaren dabei die Differenz von Mensch-Maschine, Organisch-Anorganisch, Außen-Innen, Hart-Weich, Makro-Mikro. Immer wieder leise als bruitistische Audiographie aus winzigen, halb wie gehauchten Krakeln vor einer nun dröhnend bebenden Klangwand. Wenn nur das Schreien nicht wäre, das infernalische, kaum zu hören, aber doch nicht zu leugnen. Ganz in der Nähe - Folterkeller, Höllen. Die satanischen Mühlen mahlen als zerrende Tonbandspuren, weiß der Teufel, was sich hinter verschlossenen Türen alles abspielt. Scharrt da wer an Metall? Was sind das für unheimliche Heimlichkeiten?" [Bad Alchemy]
"German Attenuation Circuit label run by Sascha aka EMERGE, has released a new album in which three sound artists of electronic experimental music collaborate: German artist The Oval Language, Catalan Tibetan Red and Das Synthetische Mischgewebe who lives in Rennes, France.
"The Breath of the Hydra" is the result of exchanging audio files since the end of 2016.
Salvador Francesch is a Catalan-Canadian painter, sculptor and sound explorer who lives in La Garrotxa, Girona. He has published five CD's with his Tibetan Red project.
Klaus-Peter John aka The Oval Language is from Leipzig and works in noise, open space, photography, installations and informed land-art projects where the voice takes center stage. Guido Hübner aka Das Synthetische Mischgewebe started in the early 80's in Berlin with the production of cassettes and performance concerts, exhibitions and installations.
This album consists of a single track of almost 52 minutes long which unfurls two faces. One, the sound is almost imperceptible and silence plays a relevant role. In the other, drones and noises are the background of a proposal with a strong organic character and consequently, gasping and buried voices are barely heard and spit out an indecipherable language. The clicks near the middle of the track look like whips that are followed by screams which are in the distance. All this takes place in a dark ambience that well represents the history of the Hydra." [Guillermo Escudero/LOOP]
https://emerge.bandcamp.com/album/the-breath-of-the-hydra, http://www.attenuationcircuit.de/
|
2021 |
€12.00 |
|
| TICKMAYER, STEVAN KOVACS |
Cold Peace Counterpoints |
CD |
"A suite of fiendishly complex compositions for mixed real and virtual resources. Bob Drake, Djorge Delibasic, Pegja Milosavljevic and Chris Cutler make appearances - playing electric guitar, bass, drums and virtuoso violin between them, but mainly it is Stevan who plays all kinds of keyboards, strings, double bass, zither, samples and software. Three thoroughly through-composed and finely articulated pieces make up this very concentrated suite: Concerto Grosso (for keyboards, string instruments and CPU), The Cold Peace Counterpoints and Five Bagatelles for a Polyhsitor. Those familiar with Tickmayer's earlier recordings, or the Science Group, will have some idea of what to expect - a rare commingling of high European art music (Tickmayer studied with both Gyšrgy Kurtˆg and Louis Andriessen), various East European folk musics, experimental rock, post rock and computer assisted electronic composition. These are intense, emotionally and philosophically driven pieces that demand attention, and reward it when given." [label notes] |
2008 |
€14.00 |
|
| TIDAL / CHAOS AS SHELTER / IGOR KRUTOGOLOV |
Ingathering of exiles |
CD |
Sehr fruchtbare Zusammenarbeit des US-Minimal-Drone-Projekts TIDAL mit den apokalyptisch-sakralen CHAOS AS SHELTER und dem ebenfalls aus Israel stammenden Experimentalmusiker IGOR KRUTOGOLOW, die hier eine unheilvolle und schwermütige Atmosphäre heraufbeschwören: bedrohlich–symphonische Drones, pathetische Klagegesänge, tief-eruptive Soundschwälle, schwelende feedbacks, elektronische Sounds und akustische Instrumente oder Soundquellen... ein bedrückend intensiverTrip ins sakrale Herz der Dunkelheit, der sich hier symbolisch auf das biblisch-messianische Heilsversprechen bezieht..
„Tidal is David Brownstead, previously known for his harsh noise project 666 Volt Battery Noise. Now focusing on minimal ambient music, David has released CDs under the name Tidal on Alluvial Recordings and just recently on Manifold Records. "The Four Rivers" on Alluvial, is the first installment in what is to be a trilogy dedicated to and inspired by Mishima. "Golem And Man" on A Pyrrhic Victory/Manifold is his latest release which was released in October 2002. The second installment of the Mishima trilogy is in the works as well as other releases and collaborations.
Conceived in 1999, Vadim Gusis (Chaos as Shelter) is Israel's premier solo composer of Soundscape, Neo-Folk, Ambient Drone music...He currently has three CDr releases, one 3" CDr, 2 CDs, a double CD and a 7" record in his discography. He works out of New Jerusalem Studio.
Igor Krutogolov is an experimental multi-instrumentalist (including cello, piano and throat singing) based in Jaffa, Israel. He is a frequent contributor to Chaos As Shelter as well as various other projects in genres ranging from ambient to improvisation to harsh noise. His solo work has appeared on various compilations and he is currently working on upcoming solo and collaborative releases. Historically "The Ingathering of Exiles" is when, in the Messianic age, all Jewish people, including the Ten Lost Tribes, would gather from their exile around the world to Israel. The Ground Fault Recordings CD, "Ingathering of Exiles" is an idea that explores the shared
heritage of the three collaborators.” [label description]
|
2003 |
€7.00 |
|
| TIETCHENS, ASMUS |
Biotop |
CD |
Zweiter re-release in der Serie von Wiederveröffentlichungen des TIETCHENschen Oeuvres – BIOTOP erschien 1981 und ist pure analoge Elektro-Pop-Musik mit nicht zu vernachlässigem Obskur-Faktor, klingt nach 80ern wie irgendwas !
„Second in the rerelease series presenting the first of four albums that were issued by Sky Music in the early 80's. Incl. 2 unreleased bonus tracks. 1000 copies with poster booklet in jewel case. Playing time: 51:34 min.” [press release]
“ With the release of this album, a 3 year interlude began which was dominated by the use of Roland 'CompuRhythm' drum-machine. In addition, I discovered new sounds and playing possibilities on the Moog which considerably expanded my creative armoury. I also added a conceptual self-limitation: no track should be more than four minutes long. In the end, the majority of the pieces on the first two Sky albums actually clocked in at under three minutes each. In the opinion of my musical mentor Okko Bekker, their sparseness and short lenght evoked the impression of radio time-signals (Radio-Zeitzeichen), a form of acoustic station identification which was
already obsolete by then. This reference provided me with the name for my accompanying orchestra, which consisted solely of musicians from the experimental music scene in Hamburg. Because of the total absence of bass lines the commercial potential of the pieces was virtually non-existant. The album was recorded on an 8-track Otari tape-machine. The Eventide digital harmonizer and the Ursa Major 'Space Station' reverb-machine also played a part. All of the pieces were recorded in 1980. They were not commissioned by any label, the contact with Sky Records only happening in 1981. The two bonus tracks from 1979 mark a decisive break with previous work ('Nachtstücke'). 'Futurum Drei' was recorded between 6th and 9th of July 1979. 'Fast Food' came three weeks later. While the first of the pair does not totally make the break with the old way of working, the second points clearly into a new direction.
I would particularly like to thank Günter Körber (Sky Records) for his kind permission to re-release 'Biotop' and the three other Sky albums, and for allowing me to use the orignal labels in facsimile.” [from the liner notes - Asmus Tietchens]
|
2003 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Eine ganze Menge |
mCD |
„wir freuen uns drei teilmengen von asmus tietchens präsentieren zu können. 20 minuten in 3 teilmengen mit unveröffentlichten material aus der bekannten reihe. sinustöne und weißes rauschen modifiziert zu riesigen fast-nichts-räumen, abstrakter menschenleere, in schnüffelndes und knabberndes. we are proud to present three "teilmengen" by asmus tietchens. 20 minutes with 3 unreleased tracks from the well known series. sinuswaves and whitenoises are modified into enormous almost empty rooms, into snapping and nibbling abstrakt places - deserted by humans.” [label info]
|
2004 |
€8.00 |
|
|
Geboren um zu dienen |
CD |
“8th part in the ongoing re-release series of all early Tietchens albums between 1980—1991. Described by Tietchens himself as his «Industrial» album, «Geboren, um zu Dienen» was originally released on the spanish ESPLENDOR GEOMETRICO label in 1986. The CD version incl. three unreleased bonus tracks from the same period and comes with a full colour fold-out booklet incl. liner notes by Tietchens himself.” [label info]
„If I'd ever recorded an «Industrial» solo album, it must be «GEBOREN, UM ZU DIENEN». Although I obviously wasn't one of the inventors of «Industrial Music», I clearly felt an affinity to it. So I tried to learn my lessons well adding my own musical aspects to the general apocalyptic noises of this genre. My main concern was to dive deep into the canonical topics of fear, hysteria, claustrophobia, machine and threat. The end was imminent as hundreds of Pershings and SS20 all pointed in the direction of the march up area called West Germany, the seals of the read buttons were already broken. Even the conventional alternative — a tank war between NATO and the Warsaw Pact — sounded like utter apocalypse. Would we really have welcomed our brothers from the east with open arms? This particular background has to be seen as the main influence on GEBOREN, UM ZU DIENEN. I believe that many of my colleagues also recording «Industrial» albums felt the same at that time. IF there would have been a «Bang» it — without doubt — would have been global.
Fear, emptiness and the futility of the aesthetical, were not alien to me, but until then I moved inside a carefully tested zone which was defined by a spectrum of experimental forms. GEBOREN, UM ZU DIENEN was an experiment in itself which first fruits I set free immediately. As if I'd to work under a deadline I recorded the tracks hastily, not wasting much thoughts about dynamics, duration, precision and construction. In the same way I resolutely did rough mixes of the seperate tracks of the pieces: what sounded dirty stayed dirty. Essentially the raw and the unsculptured were a part of the dogma of «Industrial». The original nine tracks plus five more (three which appear as Bonustracks on this CD) all developed in a very short period of time. The album was released on the spanish «Esplendor Geometrico» label, run by Andres Noarbe, in the same year. Originally a tape only label EG released a series of radical albums during the mid 80's, also albums by the «Industrial» group of the same name, many which are much sought after items today. Of course only 500 copies of the album were pressed, which still meant a considerable financial risk given the small circle of potentionally interested listeners. But the enthusiasm and dedication of everyone involved lead to a self-evident «Nevertheless».
Looking back at these years it has to be noted that I established a daring attitude then, which luckily developed positively and stayed with me until today. The fact that a german attorneys general confiscated a small number of the LP in 1990 deeming the cover as being immoral («A Call for abortion»), was registered with satisfaction. A case like this corresponds with the mark of quality granted by the «Stiftung Warentest». Go on Germany! “ [Asmus Tietchens, 2006]
Editorial notes: The original masters of all the pieces incl. the bonus tracks are in perfect condition and were used 1:1 for the transfer onto CD. Only the fade-out at the end of «Mein erstes Erlebnis» was slightly corrected.
|
2006 |
€15.00 |
|
|
In die Nacht |
CD |
Fourth part in the rerelease-series of all early vinyl albums by Asmus Tietchens on CD. This is the third of the SKY albums from 1982 incl. three bonus tracks of unreleased material not included on the original LP. Comes with a poster booklet feat. the original cover artwork. Edition of 1000 copies.
“Asmus Tietchens 'In die Nacht' (Sky Records 077) 1982 To my surprise, SKY ordered a third album from me. For distribution reasons the album had to be finished rather quickly. This presented me with an immediate problem, as usually it would have taken about three months to complete an album with twenty tracks similar in style to those on 'Biotop' or 'Spät-Europa'. There was not much time to decide whether to say no to the SKY offer, or deviate from my usual doctrine of Short Tracks. I decided for the latter and, eyes wide open, stepped into an aesthetic trap. I found myself trying to square the circle, wanting to have the rich detail of my short works at the same time as creating longer pieces. This experiment, an equivalent to doing the splits, was only partly succesful. It is not really possible to create pieces of six minutes or more from ideas which are only
adequate for tracks of three minutes, unless one is willing to risk musical redundancy or, worse, long-windedness. In retrospect, the four central tracks of 'In die Nacht' are too long for the material from which the are built. Back in 1982 though, my opinion was different. Nonetheless, I did gain my first insight into the rules of time and proportion, even though I was not able to handle them perfectly. I managed to complete the album in three weeks, helped by the fact that I was able to include some tracks left over from the 'Spät-Europa' sessions. So the tapes were delivered on time, even though I was not 100% happy with the collection. SKY, however, was very
enthusiastic about the album and released it immediately, at the same time offering me the option of a fourth LP. By then I had decided that I was no longer willing to work to a deadline, nor did I want to be compromised by a label's distribution policy. There would have to be some mutual agreement well in advance. Either that, or nothing would come of it. I would like to thank Günter Körber of Sky Records for his kind permission to re-release 'In die Nacht' and the three other SKY albums, and for allowing me to use the original lables in facsimile. [Asmus Tietchens, 2004]
|
2004 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Leuchtidioten |
10inch |
“This new release features two 'rhythmic' tracks that were recorded during the 'Teilmengen' sessions (which appeared on CD as 'a-Menge' and 'b-Menge'on Ritornell) but were not used for these albums as Tietchens regarded them as too different to the other pieces and therefore decided to have them released on their own.” [press release]
www.diestadtmusik.de
|
2002 |
€11.50 |
|
|
Litia |
CD |
“Fifth part in the ongoing rerelease series of all early vinyl albums by Tietchens on CD. This one from 1983 marks the end of his Sky 'phase' and was the last to feature his very own version of 'Synthesizer Pop Music' for some time (he'd only return to this music with the release of his HEMATIC SUNSETS albums in the late 1990's). The CD also feat. the rare 'Rattenheu' 10inch only release plus one unreleased archive track and comes in a transparent jewel-case with full colour poster booklet feat. a reproduction of the original cover art and extra photos. Edition of 1000 copies. Total playing time: 63:01 min.” [press release]
“The years 1982 and 1983 proved to be a time of extreme musical schizophrenia for me. On the one hand I could not let go of the rhythmic synthie-etudes. On the other, and at the same time, I had already turned to 'Industrial Music'. The latter manifested itself in the release of four cassettes between 1981-1983.
But for one last time I was intrigued by some new gadgets. I felt that with their help I could take my rhythmic work much further: namely, one of the first digital, programmed rythmn machines (MFB521) and the Korg Polysix polyphonic synthesizer. With the help of these two machines I was able to create structures, I simply could not make with the other machines available at the time. But while working on LITIA, I reflected on the growing imbalance between my own creative input and the possibilities of the factory sounds (presets, sequencer, sound colours, ect.), with the result that my early fascination with these gradually disappeared and a more
thoughtful attitude emerged. More and more I was impressed by the machines but less and less was my own creativity involved. It was high time for me to re-consider and to come to terms with this situation with regard to my own view of human dignity.
Nevertheless, I wanted one more album to be released on Sky, and with the above instruments and an even more complex studio set-up it was recorded in no time. This had to be the finale, though. The bonus tracks 11-15 on this CD, which belong to the LITIA series, and which were released in 1996 as a 10inch entitled "Rattenheu", are to be viewed more as a kind of musical joke, one which would only be heard again at the Aroma Club in 1998. With the issuing of LITIA a four-year release period reached its end, a period which was marked by the use rhythmic and harmonic preset sounds and by flashy-coloured LP sleeves.
The above-mentioned and long-ago completed aesthetic shift to an utterly different musical attitude, coupled with a partial throw-back to musical experiences of the late 1960's, would be made public in the album releases which followed. Again, I would like to give my warm thanks to Günter Körber (Sky Records) for his friendly co-operation. Take care, Günter!” [Asmus Tietchens, 2004]
|
2004 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Spät-Europa |
CD |
Nummer Drei der Re-Release-Orgie auf dem feinen Bremer Label. SPÄT-EUROPA ist eines der vier frühen SKY Records Alben und beinhaltet 20 Miniaturen mit unnachahmlichen frühachtziger analog-Elektronik-Sounds...
“Part Three in the ongoing rerelease series of all early vinyl albums from 1980 - 1991, this is Tietchens second album for SKY Records recorded in 1981 documenting his search for his own style of'pop music'. Edition of 1000 copies in jewel case with poster booklet feat. the original cover artwork.
Liner notes:
Asmus Tietchens 'Spät-Europa' (Sky Records 070) 1981
Even more consistently than on 'Biotop' I kept all of the tracks on this album deliberately short. Originally, all of them were supposed to be exactly two minutes in length but, back then, without a computer, this was not really possible and the idea could not be carried ot precisely. Nonetheless, this strict concept gave the listener a total of twenty miniatures, four more than on 'Biotop'. The technical standard of the studio had improved rapidly. It was possible for me to indulge in as many tracks as I wanted ! However, these two aspects presented me with a creative problem: I either had to respond in a very appropriate way, or would end up producing somewhat useless 'filler' material. The first I was not yet capable of and the second would have been embarrassing. 'The shoemaker should stick to his last'! I decided to stay with a maximum of eight tracks as this would give me no problems at all. New synthesizers (Polymoog, ect.) and an enlarged array of additional equipment (EMS Vocoder, Ring Modulator, Sampler, ect.) forced me to learn a lot of new things, but I worked my way through it all quickly and thoroughly. The results found their way into the music on this album. The jubilant sound of 'Schöne Dritte Welt' was created by the late Andreas Hoffmann, a.k.a. C.V. Liquidsky. Parallel with this album I worked on a series with the working title of 'Experimentelle Geselligkeit', a string of musical sketches which I was wanting to use with my regular electronic equipment. I then realised that the relative inflexibility of the rythmn machine made it impossible to transform these sketches into complete works. The rythmic patterns proved to be incompatible. As a result, that work came to a halt, leaving the sketches unreleased. Two of them are included as bonus tracks on this CD. 'Soirèe' and 'Zum Tee bei Frau Hilde' were intended, in a re-arranged form, to be the basis of an album with the previously mentioned title of 'Experimentelle Geselligkeit'. The series was never completed, and the fragments were put aside. Only thirteen years later, when the 'Aroma Club' opened its doors, did I return to the idea. I would particularly like to thank Günter Körber of Sky Records for his permission to re-release 'Spät-Europa' and the other three Sky albums, and to use the LP labels in facsimile.” [press release]
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2004 |
€15.00 |
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Aus Freude am Elend |
CD |
Wohl eine der ungewöhnlichsten & schönsten Tietchens-Alben, die augenzwinkernde Verwendung von vokalem Material war hier der Fokus, found sounds & field-recordings werden eigentümlichst verfremdelt, aus Schlager- oder Volksliedern die abartigsten Töne rausgekitzelt, absolut unkategorisierbare Klänge entstehen... ein wunderbares-wundersames Re-Kontextualisierungs-Projekt! JA WIR LIEBEN ES! 2 Bonus Tracks!
"11th part in the ongoing re-release series of all early Tietchens albums between 1980-1991. AUS FREUDE AM ELEND is based on the human voice as a primary sound source and was originally released in edition of 500 copies on Dom America in 1988. The CD includes two previously unreleased tracks and comes in a jewel case with full color artwork and poster booklet also feat. the original front and back cover. First edition of 600 copies.
Asmus Tietchens AUS FREUDE AM ELEND (Dom America Dom US LP 02) 1988 "Following my research of piano and water sounds (DS102, DS88) it didn't come as a surprise that my next project was about the human voice as a sound source. The great masters of Plunderphonics already showed the way in the early 80's, when they plundered the gigantic junk-shops packed full of already recorded material, which was stolen by them to use it for their own aesthetic targets. This album only consists of such stolen goods. Each track (with the exception of 'In memoriam P.F.') was based on voices of people who I naturally didn't ask their permission to use these recordings in the first place. So you can hear the voices of ecstatic religious people as well as other people making love. You'll also hear someone singing to Annette and Peggy out of the trash bin of a publishing company. Even the screams of furious teachers came in handy while I made loops from them. Especially loops: Rarely before this album and only once after it (on Stupor Mundi) did I made use of the structural means of loops to such an extent. I was fascinated by the rhythmical and harmonic permanence, in the same way as many of my musical colleagues at the time. The aspect of the 'Ritual' was a self-evident common formulation in difficult music during the 80s, so loops and tape voices, monotonous rhythms and LoFi became obvious means to shape the music. AUS FREUDE AM ELEND too was strongly spiced with these ingredients and therefore can be seen as a prototype album of this specific view of music during the time. This tendency was supported - even partly inspired - by a new generation of sound machines, which also made it possible for new aesthetic goals to appear at the horizon. The 90s were near at hand and sound art music would develop drastically in many ways in the years to follow. Samplers, digital editing, hard-disc recording and the first PC's opened new doorways. Half of the material on AUS FREUDE AM ELEND was already created with these digital tools. I never quite understood how the labels Dom America (run by Jon Carlson) and Dom here in Germany were connected. Did Carlson used to be a fan of Dom which was founded by Christoph Heemann and Achim Flaam. Did he simply liked the release politics of this label. And what became of Dom America ? Actually I don't know. I guess it was one of the small enthusiastic independent labels which released a handful of titles and which disappeared after being active for a couple of years during the 80s. However AUS FREUDE AM ELEND had vanished shortly after its release. I only used 'stolen' voices twice again ('Stupor Mundi', 1990 and 'Das Fest ist zu Ende. Aus', 1993) after this album by the way." [label info / credits]
"... Much like some his previous records, most notably 'Formen Letzer Hausmusik' and 'Seuchengebiete', its foremost a work of electro acoustic or musique concrete. There is an element of repetition that one wouldn't easily spot with the original 'masters' of the genre, but Tietchens uses them in his own, highly personal, way, adding his own fine blend of electronics and in order to make a creepy sound, a sinister play of vocals. The people whose voices are used sound like they are singing in a far away cage, in isolation, a cry to get out. After all these years this record hasn't aged at all, and is a highlight in Tietchens career." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
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2008 |
€13.00 |
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Adventures in Sound / Nachtstücke |
do-CD |
Das Bremer Label DIE STADT startet eine Wiederveröffentlichungs-Serie von nicht mehr erhältlichen TIETCHENS-Scheiben – hier der Anfang mit der allerersten LP ‚Nachtstücke’ von 1980, die noch Früh-Achtziger Charme aufweist, dazu schier unglaubliches Material aus den Sechzigern auf der zweiten CD !!
“First in a series of 18 CD's aiming to make available all early vinyl albums by ASMUS TIETCHENS between 1980 - 1991 on CD. Each release feat. the original tracks (sometimes extended / original versions) + unreleased bonus tracks from the same recording period, original artwork + accompanying texts by TIETCHENS. This - the only 2CD in the series - feat. his very first album 'Nachtstücke' from 1980 (incl. 4 bonus tracks) + a 2nd CD with archive material recorded with his long time friend Okko Bekker between 1965-1969.
These are the first works in TIETCHENS long career as a sound artist and were never released before. Edition of 1000 copies in jewelcase with full color poster booklet.
About the artist: ASMUS TIETCHENS started recording music as early as 1965 (documented here on 'Adventures In Sound') though his first release only appeared 15 years later ('Nachtstücke'). Ever since then he stayed very productive and had numerous cassette, vinyl and CD releases on numerous labels (Sky, United Dairies, Dom, Staalplaat, Ritornell and Die Stadt to name just a few). He has collaborated with various other like minded artists such as Okko Bekker, Cluster, Conny Plank, Terry Burrows, Liquidski, David Lee Myers (Arcane Device) and most recently with Thomas Köner who is one half of their ongoing collaborational project KONTAKT DER JÜNGLINGE (who so far released 3 CD's DS34/DS39/DS48 on Die Stadt).” [press release]
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2003 |
€18.00 |
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Abfleischung |
CD |
Auch "Abfleischung" gehört zu den "irgendwie legendären" TIETCHENS-Alben (1989). Das tolle Cover, die Titel, das unglaubliche CIORAN-Zitat, das alles ist "klassisch Tietchens" und noch immer gibt es wenig Musik die sich daran messen kann, noch immer klingen diese 20 Skizzen (zum ersten Mal recyclete TIETCHENS altes Material seiner selbst) so rätselhaft nicht-menschlich wie von einer gänzlich fremden Welt stammend. Collagige Cut-ups, teils flächig unterwandert, elektronisch verfremdet bis ins Deformierendste hinein und doch mit Blick für jedes kleinste Detail des Klangs, dabei sind die Tracks so kurz dass die Aufmerksamkeit nie versiegt, der Geist hat keine Chance zur Routine, nur zur Fokussierung....
"12th part in the ongoing re-release series of all early Tietchens albums between 1980-1991. ABFLEISCHUNG is based on material recorded by Tietchens as early as 1967-1970. These recyclings made in 1989 became the 20 short tracks on this album which was originally released in edition of 500 copies on Hamster Records in 1989. The CD includes two previously unreleased tracks and comes in a jewel case with full color artwork and poster booklet also feat. the original front and back cover. First edition of 600 copies. Total playing time: 49:18 min." [label info]
"....It was released in 1989 on Hamster Records as part of a four record series: 'Watching The Burning Bride', by Asmus Tietchens and Terry Burrows (owner of Hamster), then 'Abfleischung' by Asmus solo, then 'Whispering Scale' by Terry solo and the fourth one 'Burning The Watching Bride' (by the two of them again) was released in 1998, on Disaster Area. On 'Abfleischung' Tietchens goes back to his old reel to reel tapes from the period 1967 to 1970. Not a remix where one particular sound is remixed but the track in its entirety is reworked. Asmus calls this 'recycling', a much more appropriate word for what he does. He uses the techniques of 1989 to recycle the sounds of twenty years before. No less then twenty pieces are presented on this album (plus two bonus pieces) which last from forty-eight seconds to almost five minutes, but mostly between one and two minutes. Short pieces which were change for Tietchens too. Different methods of treating of the basic material, lead to a variety of similarly titled pieces, such as Mineral 1 to 4 and Modal 1 to 5. This album shows Tietchens at his peak of musique concrete, working with a limited set of sound in a limited frame of time. A fascinating journey of sound with the crackling of tooth combs, metallic rusty sounds and many more highly obscured sound sources. The only thing that makes this a bit dated is the sometimes excessive use of reverb, which perhaps in those days made a lot of sense, but not these days - at least not with me. But throughout a very well needed re-issue on CD." [FdW, Vital Weekly] |
2008 |
€14.00 |
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Eine Menge Papier |
mCD |
"Asmus Pre-Mengenserien und somit alles vor der sonischen Auseinandersetzung mit Sinus und Rauschen birgt noch wesentlich feinere Schätze als man denken mag- beachtet man Tietchens Output an Material in den letzten zwanzig Jahren und lässt man sich davon nicht abschrecken, entgehen einem Dinge wie »Papier ist geduldig« oder »6.9.98 7 Uhr/8 Uhr« nicht. Ersterem gewährt aufabwegen in sehr hochwertiger und edler Manier einen Publikumsneuzugang (der angesichts der damals sehr niedrig gehaltenen Limitierung auch geraten erscheint) und erweitert das recht kurzweilige Material der original Syntactic 7“ um eine weitere, nie veröffentlichte Single sowie Material aus den Sitzungen, die es nicht auf das Vinylformat geschafft hatten. Der Klang ist erstaunlich für die 1996 umgesetzte 7“, hier zieht vor allem Tietchens’ großartiger Umgang mit dem Quellmaterial sämtliche Register avantgardistischen Könnens. Wie unschwer zu erkennen bzw. auch zu hören, beruht das Material dabei auf Papiergeräuschen, eine Serie die Asmus aufgrund des limitierten Frequenzganges des Materials und seiner beschränkten Weiterverarbeitung jedoch frühzeitig wieder beendete. Teilweise sehr krachig mit deutlichen Anleihen an Asmus Tietchens Achtziger-Konkretindustrial: »P.I.G. 5« mit seinen betont sinusoiden Einzelklängen gerät zur fast schon skizzenhaften Abstraktion von Papierklang, hingegen betont »P.I.G 4« auf recht kurze Weise die Schönheit von Tietchens Bearbeitungsmanie, kennzeichnet sich das Stück doch durch recht scharfgeschnittene und –gefilterte Einzelereignisse ehemaliger Schriftstückverformungen.
Letztes Stück bietet dem Hörer eine wunderbar noisige Vertonung all dessem, was Tietchens an Papier in seinem Studio wahrscheinlich aufbieten und –gespannt lauschend und schelmisch lächelnd- auch zerknüllen konnte. " [Thorsten Soltau, AEMAG]
“Eine Menge Papier” assembles 20 minutes of sounds derived from using paper as the sound souce. Two tracks originally came out as a limited 7” record on the austrian Syntactic label in the 1990ies and appear here for the first time on CD. The other two tracks were planned for a follow up 7” on the same
label that never materialized. The fifth track is a study of sonic material in the same series. There are two further tracks from the P.I.G. series that are considered by the artists as failed attemps. These remain in the closet. The five sonic movements on “Eine Menge Papier” go back to the Tietchens sound right before he started the Mengen series, using primarily sine waves and white noise. “Eine Menge Papier” is an interesting documentation of the transition in Tietchens’ sound from the concretish, post-industrial rumblings and textures to the more refined, abstract and cold atmospheres. Asmus Tietchens has been producing electronic music since the 1960ies and is
one of the most renowned sound artists today in Germany. In the last five years he was awarded twice the SWR state radio prize “Karl Sczuka Preis” for radio art. He has released more than 80 records and CDs on labels all around the world."
[label notes]
www.aufabwegen.com
www.tietchens.de
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2009 |
€9.50 |
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Soiree |
CD |
"LINE is proud to present a new full length solo recording by German electronic music pioneer Asmus Tietchens.
Soirée is the result of extended recycling. Beginning from the investigation of: what will happen if I recycle (not remix) some of my older compositions and then recycle the recyclings and then recycle the recycled recyclings… ad infinitum? Quite quickly the initial pieces vanished totally. New structures and sounds emerged depending on the methods and tools I used.
Each of the pieces on Soirée is based on a distinct composition of my musical past. In each case the listener is presented with the 10th “generation” of this recycling process.
Confronted with the variety of the results I ask myself: Is it really necessary to create further new electronic music if only one piece as a nucleus is sufficient to derive hundreds and hundreds of different distinct individual variants?" [label info]
www.lineimprint.com
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2011 |
€12.00 |
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Spät-Europa |
LP |
"Wieder veröffentlichtes Album aus der Frühphase des Avantgardemusikers.
Asmus Tietchens ist wohl einer der bekanntesten Künstler im Bereich abstrakter Musik. Fünf seiner Frühwerke, die grob unter Avantgarde-Synthiepop zu verorten sind, werden jetzt vom Label Bureau B wieder veröffentlicht. Während Tietchens mit "Biotop" (1981) plante, "in die Zukunft" aufzubrechen, zeigt er sich auf "Spät-Europa" in dieser angekommen. Als zweites Album der "Zeitzeichen"-Phase im Jahr 1982 auf Sky Records veröffentlicht, führt es den Stil des Vorgängers nicht nur weiter, sondern bringt ihn um eine Nuance treffender auf den Punkt. Auch "Spät-Europa" transportiert jene gallig übersteuerte Pseudo-Pop-Klangwelt voller verstolperter Rhythmen und schräger Melodien. Dabei ragen mitunter düster grollende Industrial-Elemente in die neonbunten Stücke hinein, wohingegen die Form der Stücke knapp und pointiert gehalten wird: Wie schon auf "Biotop" strebte Tietchens auch auf "Spät-Europa" 20 Zwei-Minuten-Miniaturen an. Und auch hier bildet mit "Epitaph" ein betont sperriges Stück den Abschluss.
Asmus Tietchens is one of the best known German artists in the field of abstract music. His early works though are finest avant-garde synthesizer pop. "Biotop" was Tietchens' first release on the German label Sky Records (Cluster, Michael Rother etc.). It is inhabited by insectoid squeaks, banging percussion and echoes of displaced nursery rhymes. These blaring, crashing tracks glare with artifice, mirroring the ideas of an artist lacking the inclination and capacity to compose straightforward easy listening music.
"Spät-Europa" also conveys a banefully distorted pseudo pop soundscape of disjointed rhythms and oblique melodies, defined by nervous pulses, cool alacrity and croaking toots; tongue in cheek it most certainly is, but the musical arrangement again affirms its own identity. Here, shadowy, rumbling industrial elements cut into the neon coloured pieces indicative of the artist's parallel lines of development. Both reissues are available on CD (Digipak), vinyl (180g) and for download." [label info]
www.bureau-b.com
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2013 |
€18.50 |
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Nachtstücke |
LP |
"Nachtstücke owed its publication to former Tangerine-Dream member Peter Baumann,who was asked by the French label Barclay/EGG to produce three albums focussing specifically on
German electronic music. He was working with Hans-Joachim Roedelius at the time, who had been given a few Tietchens tracks on cassette. When Baumann heard Roedelius play them in the studio during a break in proceedings, they sparked his interest and he met up with Tietchens some time later; they agreed that he would go over the material again and edit or abridge it in places. A release date was pencilled in for the latter part of 1978. The commissioning label, however, doubting the commercial potential of the project (Tietchens: “How right they would turn out to be”), postponed the release and had to be reminded of contractual commitments on more than one occasions. When the Nachtstücke LP finally
appeared, almost two years later, it bore the unauthorized subheading Expressions et Perspectives Sonores Intemporelles and
featured a completely different cover. Originally, the album was to depict a leathery embryo with a laser beam shooting through its eye (Tietchens: “I liked the idea of sta
rting with something so gruesome”), but now three blurred figures danced on the sleeve: “I was pretty disgusted when I opened the package containing my copies”, Tietchens reports, taking the rerelease as his cue to create
completely new artwork.
Nachtstücke has surprisingly little in common with the pseudo-pop of the ensuing Sky Phase, but shines a light further ahead to the
gloomy, spectral aspects of Tietchens’ later works. Created between 1975 and 1978, the
Nachtstücke pieces reveal a deliberate
approach, avoiding dissonance and discord wherever possible. Still, the release saw the album “fall right out of time” as Tietchens frankly admits: “Gentle rhythm and harmonic beatitude did not suit the concert of advanced pop music as it was then being played.”
Nevertheless, the Nachtstücke tracks remain important to the artist, as they document his early encounters with the Moog Sonic Six and
Minimoog. With this in mind, the material is presented here in its original, unadulterated form." [label info]
www.bureau-b.com
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2014 |
€19.50 |
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Parergon |
CD |
" “Parergon” (Greek ‘collection of small texts’) is the sequel of the idea to continue to recycle recyclings of recyclings. That does not mean remixes or deconstructions but much more genuine compositions derived from already repeatedly recycled structures. In the future the new compositions, too, will be transformed by recycling into totally new music. This approach is in no case hermetic because no circular course happens: There is no way back to the beginning. With digital tools – but w i t h o u t chance operations – one can achieve treatments and processings which lead to a nearly endless multitude of esthetic relevant compositions derived from once defined basic structures. In this connection ‘sampling’ is not of importance. -
The pieces of “Parergon” do not intend to provoke pictures or moods, but will give the listener simply something to listen to – it is up to him how he handles this offer. In consequece the pieces have no titles. Instead they have index data which point to certain series. -
“Parergon” has been composed in dark times, but at the best only the artwork reflects this conditions. The sounds themselves come from the vacuum." [Asmus Tietchens, 2016]
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2016 |
€13.00 |
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Seuchengebiete 4 |
CD |
"Seuchengebiete 4, the continuation of Asmus Tietchens' almost legendary series of treated water sounds, consists of six Hydrophonies. The sonic palette ranges from deep gurgling bass pulses to fragile movements of showering bright particles. The overall mood is ernest, contemplative and dark. Seuchengebiete 4 is perhaps the ultimate soundtrack for our crises-ridden times." [press release]
https://aufabwegen.bandcamp.com/album/seuchengebiete-4
"Der Hamburger Asmus Tietchens schätzt Serien, man denke etwa an die auf inzwischen sieben Teile angewachsene Mengenreihe. Auf den Alben der “Seuchengebiete”-Serie finden sich sogenannte Hydrophonien, Stücke, deren Basis das Geräusch von tropfendem Wasser ist. Der erste Teil erschien 1985, sechs Jahre später folgte Nummer zwei, 1997 auf Donna Klemms Label Artware Nummer drei. Schon in einem Interview im Jahre 2007 sprach Tietchens davon, an neuen Hydrophonien für einen vierten Teil zu arbeiten, jetzt erscheinen sechs neue Aufnahmen auf Auf Abwegen.
Auf„Hydrophonie 21“ scheint Wasser in einer Höhle zu tropfen und zu (ver)hallen, im Vordergrund blubbert es, während im Hintergrund seltsam-melodische Flächen zu hören sind. Dann scheint Wasser ausgeschüttet zu werden und zu fließen. Dem Track wohnt eine leichte Unruhe inne. Die nicht nur numerisch, sondern auch auf dem Album darauf folgende Hydrophonie nimmt diese Bewegung zurück, ist tastender, reduzierter, minimalistischer. Zum Teil klingt das Fallen der Tropfen so, als zupfe jemand einen akustischen Bass. “Hydrophonie 24″ hat einen leicht metallischen Klang, ist vielleicht- etwas verkürzt gesagt- mit durchaus dissonanten Momenten das industriellste Stück auf diesem Album. Dagegen scheint “Hydrophonie 26″ zurückhaltender und weniger unruhig zu sein. “Hydrophonie” 32 hat einen leicht ambient-sakralen Charakter und ist der vielleicht atmosphärischste Track auf diesem Album. “Hydrophonie 27″ beginnt fast kaum wahrnehmbar, dann hört man entfernte, kristalline Momente, als würden Vögel zwitschern.Was klar gewoden sein sollte, ist, wie unterschiedlich trotz gleichen Ausgangsmaterials die einzelnen Stücke sind.
Über die Jahre ist Tietchens immer sehr konsistent darin gewesen, wenn er über die (nicht vorhandene) “Botschaft” seiner Musik gesprochen hat. Schon 1991 meinte er: „I don’t try to create moods with my music, and I don’t try to tell stories, and my music doesn’t carry any message except an aesthetic one (now and then). Mostly my pieces are formalistic exercises, or better, the results of formalistic exercises. Music shall be no more than itself. Absolute Music.“ In einem jüngst erschienen Interview wird diese Haltung noch einmal klar artikuliert: “’Absolute Music’ is not connected with any political, spiritual, ideological or educational intention. The listener is totally free for his own impressions, feelings, possible pictures and thoughts when listening to ‘Absolute Music’. To me that is total freedom of perception. I am no teacher, no philosopher, no scientist – why should I intrude my thoughts on any other human being? I always try to let the music speak for itself. That should be enough.“ Dennoch darf auch auf diesem Album das obligatorische Cioran-Zitat natürlich nicht fehlen: “Der zügellose Optimismus hält der geringsten und bedeutungslosesten Offenbarung der menschlichen Natur nicht stand.” [MG / African Paper]
"In the 80s, there was a small list of very hard to obtain records, records of the kind that everybody wanted. Among them was Seuchengebiete' by Asmus Tietchens, released by A-Mission Records. That label vanished quickly, and the records too. I am sure I traded some obscure Gerogerigegege LP for it, but it was worth the trade. I may have told this story when I reviewed the CD re-issue back in Vital Weekly 504. On 'Seuchengebiete', Tietchens explores the sound of water dripping in his studio sink. It was the first record on which Tietchens explored the quieter side of music. Later on, there were more volumes of this approach (although never called 'volume 2' etc.). The second volume was in 1991 (reviewed in Vital 23, when it was a paper fanzine; see advertisement elsewhere), and '3' was in Vital Weekly 121. I mentioned for the latter that I didn't get the design of the release, which is, maybe oddly, also the case here. As this CD arrived on Saturday, I took a whole Sunday off to play all four 'Seuchengebiete' instalments. Over the years, some things have changed in the music of Tietchens. It was the first 'Seuchengebiete', one of his first quiet works; these days, his music is soft. Many of his musical compositions contain sounds beyond recognition, but in this case, it is pretty clear what the source material is. The dripping of water can be recognized, but it is transformed in various ways, from delightful high-end splashes to low-end bass sounds; some of this sounds like it is changed with granular synthesis, but no doubt there is also another technology at work here. There is something profound about the music, slow, contemplative; maybe the music is a sign of the sorry state of our times. Perhaps it is the association I have with the water sounds here; that of leaky pipes in an abandoned industrial landscape. The soundtrack for a worse tomorrow? I am sure that is not what Tietchens put into his music, as I would think there is very little meaning put in by him, but it is all about the listener's associations. This time, Tietchens applies his current composing techniques to an older idea, working wonderfully well." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
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2021 |
€13.50 |
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| TIETCHENS, ASMUS & RICHARD CHARTIER |
Fabrication 2 |
do-CD |
"500 copies. Designed by Richard Chartier. 'Fabrication 2 ist the sequel to 'Fabrication', the first collaboration between Richard Chartier and Asmus Tietchens released in 2007. Whereas for the first collab the idea developed from the project around reinterpretations of Chartier's 'Postfabricated' this time the efforts where directly focussed on the reinterpretation of specific basic sound material. This basic sound material can be found on the first disc in the set prefabrication 2' which was constructed by Richard Chartier alone in Montreal and Washington, DC. 'Fabrication 2' is the reworking of this sonic basis by Asmus Tietchens. Whereas the first CD has traces of subtle dematerialized rhythmic structures the second disc is a study in minimalism and concentrated sound manipulation. Richard Chartier (b.1971), sound and installation artist, is considered one of the key figures in the current of reductionist electronic sound art which has been termed both microsound and Neo-Modernist. Chartier's minimalist digital work explores the inter-relationships between the spatial nature of sound, silence, focus, perception and the act of listening itself. Chartier's critically acclaimed sound works have been published over the past 12 years as 38 compact discs on labels such as 12k/LINE (US), Raster-Noton (Germany), Spekk (Japan), Non Visual Objects (Austria), Room40 (Australia), Die Stadt (Germany), DSP (Italy), ERS (Netherlands), and Trente Oiseaux (Germany). He has collaborated with noted sound artists Taylor Deupree, William Basinski, CoH, and German pioneer Asmus Tietchens, as well as installation artists Evelina Domnitch, Dmitry Gelfand, and visual artist Linn Meyers. Asmus Tietchens has been producing electronic music since the 1960ies and is one of the most renowned sound artists today in Germany. In the last five years he was awarded twice the SWR state radio prize 'Karl Sczuka Preis' " [label info]
www.aufabwegen.com
"The first collaborative result between Richard Chartier and Asmus Tietchens was called 'Fabrication' and released together with the rough sound material on a bonus CD. Apparently that was a way of working which both artists like, so its now continued on 'Fabrication 2'. The first 'Fabrication' was an exchange, back and forth, of sound material between the two, on this new one things are a bit different. One disc is the rough sound material composed by Chartier and on the second we find the reworks as carried out by Tietchens based on the Chartier piece. That piece, lasting thirty-nine minutes, is an odd one by Chartier. It is called 'an unusual improvisation' by him, and perhaps its so indeed. It has that, perhaps by now, 'classic' Chartier approach in sound: low, minimalist, drone like, with a minimum of clicks but its all indeed a bit more roughly put together, like more by accident than design. That adds a rather nice perspective to the piece and with those odd changes also
perhaps the right source material for Tietchens. He knows his ways with material like this, and created eight different treatments of the material in a classic Tietchens manner. Classic by now, as it continues the sort of interest Tietchens developed in the 21st century, his 'Menge' series. Very sparse electronics, with an emphasis on drone like sounds and treatments in some click like sound. Simply great music, but perhaps I'm not the most objective person about Asmus Tietchens. I don't think I ever heard a bad thing from him. 'Fabrication 2' is a damn fine work among other damn fine works, and nothing that leaps out of that catalogue, but ranks with the best." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€18.00 |
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| TIETCHENS, ASMUS & ROLF ZANDER |
Tarpenbek |
CD & 12inch BOX |
"CD in LP Box. The box includes: 12 high quality prints reproducing etchings by visual artist Rolf Zander – each image corresponds with a track on the CD. The box further holds three prints with sketches and texts by Rolf
Zander about his style of etching and the composition of the visual works. Finally there is a text print giving track info for the CD and an essay on the project by Kai U. Jürgens.
Handnumbered 300 copies. There is also a special ART EDITION of 30 copies available. This edition includes one of 30 original etchings by Rolf Zander, signed and numbered.
The collaboration between Rolf Zander and Asmus Tietchens is very special indeed. Zander was Tietchens’ music teacher at school. He can be heard on some of the tracks on the Adventures In Sound CD of early experiments that came with the reissue of Nachtstücke on Die Stadt.
Tarpenbek is now the realization of a project that has been long in the making and planning. It all started with a series of etchings by Rolf Zander that he made in the 1970ies. These etchings deal with the structures and
topographical features of the small north german river “Tarpenbek”. The series of images is very reduced minimal and interwoven with textures on the original material.
Tietchens took each of these etchings as a starting point for a musical composition, taking ideas about structure and layers from the images. Ony in one instance field recordings from the riverbanks of the Tarpenbek were incorporated. At most instances the music is as minimal as the visual works. Full of details and small surprising turns.
aufabwegen is really proud to present these works together – high quality prints of the etchings by Rolf Zander and a CD with 47 minutes of new music from Asmus Tietchens." [label info]
www.aufabwegen.com
"...This CD comes in a LP sized box with twelve prints by Rolf Zander - ok, which I didn't see then, but I looked at his website and have an idea what he does. And I think it fits the minimal music of Tietchens very well. What seems the case with the work of Zander is that there is an certain level of erasing in his treated zinc plates and of course know Tietchens for having a similar interest in erasing sound and use the bare minimum of what remains. If I am to believe what the liner notes tell me these printings were used by Tietchens to define his music, but maybe that's just an interpretation of the writer. Set up an equalizer, some oscillator or whatever kind of filter and then feed whatever sound through these applications - I am never sure if herr Tietchens still only uses analogue equipment or also digital ones these days. Whatever it is, the results are without doubt Trademark Tietchens. At least of course the Tietchens that has been exploring this route for the last ten or more years, perhaps since he started to release music on Mille Plateaux and later 12K. Carefully placed clicks and cuts, sustaining sine wave like sounds, all heavily reduced, the bare necessities of a simple sound. This is the electro-acoustic music that I love, that doesn't dwell on glissandi to evoke a sense of drama as I hear so often, but a simple, drama-free sound, highly abstract in nature (and henceforth probably not the most popular in its kind, sad to say), but oh so beautiful. Its not that Tietchens adds anything to what we know about his work, but it's just another confirmation of what a great composer he is. This is an excellent release!" [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2012 |
€45.00 |
|
| TIETCHENS, ASMUS & TERRY BURROWS |
Watching the burning Ride - Burning the watching Bride |
do-CD |
"The two collaborative albums by Asmus Tietchens and Terry Burrows, Watching The Burning Bride and Burning The Watching Bride have just been reissued on double CD. The works originally appeared on vinyl in 1986 and 1998 respectively. The double CD is jointly released be Die Stadt and aufabwegen forms part of the Asmus Tietchens reissue series. The double CD features two short bonus tracks plus a lengthy text by Terry Burrows explaining how the collaboration came about."
|
2017 |
€17.50 |
|
| TIETCHENS, ASMUS + FRANS DE WAARD |
Oordeel |
CD |
On „Oordeel“
This collaboration was bound to happen someday! Out of mutual respect and admiration for each other’s work Asmus Tietchens and Frans de Waard decided to work on some music together. The result is “Oordeel" (dutch for "judgement") – eleven tracks of diverse character and subtle beauty. From distorted groans and gritty pulses to delicate and abstract sound layers Tietchens and de Waard have created a fascinating sound world of bizarre beauty.
Frans de Waard
Frans de Waard (1965) has been producing music since 1984 (Kapotte Muziek, Beequeen, Goem, Zebra, Freiband, Shifts, Modelbau, etc.). In 1984 he started his own record label Korm Plastics, releasing music from Arcane Device, Asmus Tietchens, Jim O'Rourke among others. He has worked for the pioneering Dutch tape label Staalplaat (1992-2003) and since 1986 as a reviewer for his own publication Vital (now Vital Weekly), a magazine which has been an online source for underground music since 1995, and which celebrated its 1000th issue in 2015. In 2016 Timeless published in France his first book, an autobiography of life in Staalplaat titled This Is Supposed To Be A Record Label. His interests in music creation ranges from ambient to noise to what he describes as 'silly disco
music'. He has played concerts in Europe, USA, Canada, Russia and Japan, and collaborated with Steven Wilson, Jaap Blonk, Andrew Liles, Radboud Mens, Keiji Haino, Pan Sonic and others.
Asmus Tietchens
Tietchens was born in Hamburg in 1947. Since 1975 he has been working as an independent musician; in 1980 he released his first solo record Nachtstücke. After producing a series of rhythmic and harmonic albums for the Sky label in the early 1980s he released his first industrial record Formen letzter Hausmusik in 1984 on United Dairies. Here Tietchens articulated his musical interests clearly: everyday noises were treated and at times deformed beyond recognition and placed into new contexts. Until now Asmus Tietchens has released more than 80 albums on international labels where he continues to explore the posibilities presented to him by specific sound sources (ranging from water sounds to pure sine wave tones). He has a more rhythm-oriented fake band project called Hematic Sunsets. Tietchens’ work is rooted in a deeply sceptic gesture, marked by frequent quotes from the works of philosopher E.M. Cioran on his album covers. Asmus Tietchens has been awarded with the prestigious Karl Sczuka Prize of the Südwestrundfunk (SWR) twice: in 2003 for his work Heidelberger Studien 1-6 and in 2006 for Trois Dryades. He lives and works in Hamburg.
https://aufabwegen.bandcamp.com/album/oordeel
"As everyone knows by now, I am the world’s foremost authority on Frans de Waard Record
Reviews. Do you think you’ve written more Frans de Waard record reviews than I have? You are
incorrect. Go ahead, count all the Frans de Waard record reviews that you’ve ever written and tell me how many there are. Oh, is that all? I’ve written more. You cannot win. Looking at my recent contributions to the subgenre of music journalism of which I am the indisputable champion, I notice that my critical expertise is most frequently turned towards de Waard’s solo albums as Modelbau and Quest/QST. However, as the Reigning King of Frans de Waard Reviews that we all agree I am, I happen to know that the (unofficial) Mayor of Nijmegen thrives on collaborations. This latest pair of albums show off his versatility with two very different, yet equally excellent, pieces of electronic music made with the cooperation of two very different composers.
It’s amazing to think that “Oordeel” is the first album-length album that de Waard and veteran German composer Asmus Tietchens have done as a duo. Both are prolific and enthusiastic collaborators, so it seems natural that they’d come together at some point. Both gents share a disinclination to explain themselves, preferring to follow their musical instincts wherever they lead and to let an image or a title stand as the only signpost to guide listeners. The way that the title “Oordeel” is pronounced in English, the word describes something difficult to endure; a protracted
unpleasant or traumatic experience. The Dutch word, however, means “judgement”. I suspect that
neither interpretation is intended to frame this music literally, and that the title was more likely selected for it’s aesthetic appeal. I could be wrong, but then again I’m the greatest reviewer of Frans de Waard records on the planet, so… let’s just assume I’m right, okay? Indeed, this music is not in any way an ordeal to sit through, nor does it seem to be judging anything. The album’s sequence of short, discrete pieces offers no clues as to a concept or even compositional strategy, and yet it sounds very specific. Every piece seems to be created from similar materials united by a
background ambience of incorporeal breath, which makes it hang together as a single idea.
There’s a cool hermetic quality to all eleven vignettes, each one offering sharp clicks and carefully sculpted hums that skip lightly over a surface haze. I’m reminded of smooth 1970s plastic, mercilessly austere and yet vaguely sinister in its indifference. Only one piece breaks up the set: “VII” temporarily shatters the reverie with a buzzing whine of dial-up modems and hostile radio static. Once “Oordeel” gets that out of its system, though, it returns to the holodeck and stares out at the cosmos for awhile." [HS/Vital Weekly]
|
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| TIETCHENS, ASMUS / FRIEDER BUTZMANN |
NNOI#02 |
LP |
"Second in this series of recordings and documents of artists of the NNOI Festival. The design of the entire series is based on drawings by Frank Diersch, made for this project. This record unites two German greats of the electronic avant-garde of the last 40 years and brings together two worlds that exist like the sides of a coin facing away from each other and yet are firmly connected at the core. 'NNOI#2' can be described as a kind of miraculous "Göffel" - a mixture of fork and spoon.
Asmus Tietchens, the glass fork, reduces his 9 compositions 'Stenograms' to abstract structures that force a space that transforms its floating hardness and beauty into the clear outlines of a sculpture. The Tietchens-Monolith is being straightened out further. Frieder Butzmann developed a 'SinusToneSuite' for the 'NNOI'. As a collector of strange objects and apparitions, Frieder went in search of sinustones that could be found between generators, vocal cords and wooden tubes. The 'SinusToneSuite' is an opulent electronic composition, a dance with the golden spoon of unreason and love!"
|
2020 |
€19.50 |
|
| TIETCHENS, ASMUS / MIKI YUI |
Neues Boot |
LP |
TAL presents the first musical collaboration between Hamburg based Asmus Tietchens and Japanese artist Miki Yui, operating out of Düsseldorf for almost 20 years now. Highly respected and hugely influential artist Asmus Tietchens first made his mark on the electronic music scene in the late 1970s, whereas Miki Yui debuted her sonic settings in 1999.
Their first joint album NEUES BOOT envelops the listener with a poetic sound sensibility and a conceptual clarity which was processed and passed back and forth between their individual studios in Hamburg and Düsseldorf.
Asmus Tietchens: After Stefan Schneider suggested to release a Yui-Tietchens album on his TAL imprint Miki and I quickly developed some ideas towards our eventual collaboration.
We agreed upon an ongoing mutual exchange of material. We have both been very familiar with each other's music for a long time and we found our individual approach towards sound design to be uniquely compatible. We do not use our electronic tools in order to merely achieve the maximum of technical possibilities, but to illustrate aesthetic necessities. This entails a deliberate reduction and refined perception of the sonic characteristics of the material. Only this approach enabled us to fully realise the complete spectrum of the sounds and noises we were working with in order to construct this New Boat. Each and everyone of my treatments is e x c l u s i v e l y based on a track supplied by Miki. I added no new sound sources. Naturally the spatial and temporal dimensions of the source material were thus altered. These transformations are exactly what makes our collaboration special and unique. Very early on we had agreed on New Boat as a working title and a guiding light . Of course in the beginning we had no idea where this New Boat might take us. Now we do know. After several months of ship-building the boat has now set sails for new sonic horizons. Ahoi!
Miki Yui: The title of the album as well as the individual tracks have been inspired by conversations with Asmus. When we had a chat after one of his concerts, he told me about Kōdō, the Art or the Way of the Scent. It is a 8th century Japanese incense ceremony. Very frequently the names of Japanese incense sticks are derived from natural themes, e.g. Bairin is the plum grove, the scent of the first blossom heralding the end of winter.
This poetry, the ephemeral nature of the world reminded me of Kigo, words from a Haiku (a form of Japanese poetry), which reference a particular season or a natural phenomenon. So I chose the names of the individual pieces from Kigo as if The Boat was exploring nature whilst sailing through the seasons. Only in retrospect I realised that the titles combined create this poem:
Early spring a hazy view in the night (Oboro)
Plum groves (Bairin)
Over a Dayfly (Kagerou)
A Milkyway (Amanogawa)
Dawn (Akatsuki)
Art of fragrance (Kōdō)
On fragile thin ice (Usurai)
https://asmustietchensandmikiyui.bandcamp.com/album/neues-boot
"Exquisite electronic subtleties from two generations of explorative artists, pairing the tactile sensitivities of cult Hamburg based Asmus Tietchens with Düsseldorf resident Miki Yui for the first time with marked success.
Mutual spirits, Tietchens and Yui have long operated in pursuit of a lower case, spectral muse, and now at the behest of TAL’s Stefan Schneider they present a beautifully insoluble sound that transcends the sum of their parts. Incredibly delicate, and full of nanoscopic movement, the seven tracks unfurl between passages of burbling pastoralism and oneiric drowse, with particular highlights in the hypnotic timbral artefacts of ‘Kagerou’ or ‘Usurai’, and their 10’ of lush scenery inhabited by peacocks and a canopy of phosphorescing animaliculae and atmospheres in ‘Akatsuki’ recalling aspects of Mark Fell & Rian Treanor’s tape for our Documenting Sound series." [Boomkat]
"It’s a sad, hard fact that circulating music by means of physical objects is becoming the exception and not the rule. So, if you’re going to do it, might as well do it right and make it special. Future Audio Graphics makes LPs that bind interdisciplinary collaborations within gatefold LPs. Each combines a text by one artist, images by another and a record of sounds by a third. Ironically on Sculpture Gardens the efforts of writer François Bonnet (aka Kassel Jaeger), sculptor Virginia Overton and sound artist Anne Guthrie cohere into a consideration of impermanence.
Through his efforts to reissue works of electronic music on vinyl, Bonnet, a published author and the artistic director of Groupe de Recherche Musicales in Paris, has had plenty of opportunity to think about how ready-made vinyl objects can concentrate attention upon work, as well as how rapidly records become items to be hunted rather than merely purchased. Even when one fixes one’s work within an object, other peoples’ perceptions of the object and the work cut into it aren’t fixed. Neither is the object’s availability; LPs sooner or later drift into the collector’s realm. Bonnet doesn’t waste words on the peculiar circumstances of vinyl records in his essay, but a reader might think about his efforts to present them while reading his discussion of the relationships between art objects, ready-made objects and time. Time and the changes that accompany its passage are, he suggests, part of the artist’s material. Virginia Overton’s images depict aluminum pans that she installed at the Whitney Museum of American Art. She used them as containers of small gardens; when the plants died, she flipped them over and used them as sound resonators. Inside one of the museum’s galleries, Overton had placed cast-off pieces of metal and wood, which she repurposed as sculptures. Nothing stays the same, but in change new phenomena emerge.
Anne Guthrie’s portion of the work uses sounds collected from Overton’s exhibits as a starting point. She collected field recordings of the gallery interior, the outdoor area where the gardens were installed, weather, distant machinery and close-up captures of herself moving objects and deploying microphones. The magnified sounds of precise work and plants living and dying, sometimes straight and sometimes processed to draw out particular timbres, loom over distant jets and HVAC units, and into this mix Guthrie weaves the distant parping of her French horn. Across four discrete tracks, one can hear different moments and environments fixed for a moment in one representative configuration, which is now an object that can be bought and displayed and played in other times and places. Guthrie’s decisions and actions use Overton’s work as a starting point to illustrate Bonnet’s words."
[Bill Meyer /DUSTED] |
2021 |
€20.50 |
|
| |
Neues Boot |
CD |
TAL presents the first musical collaboration between Hamburg based Asmus Tietchens and Japanese artist Miki Yui, operating out of Düsseldorf for almost 20 years now. Highly respected and hugely influential artist Asmus Tietchens first made his mark on the electronic music scene in the late 1970s, whereas Miki Yui debuted her sonic settings in 1999.
Their first joint album NEUES BOOT envelops the listener with a poetic sound sensibility and a conceptual clarity which was processed and passed back and forth between their individual studios in Hamburg and Düsseldorf.
Asmus Tietchens: After Stefan Schneider suggested to release a Yui-Tietchens album on his TAL imprint Miki and I quickly developed some ideas towards our eventual collaboration.
We agreed upon an ongoing mutual exchange of material. We have both been very familiar with each other's music for a long time and we found our individual approach towards sound design to be uniquely compatible. We do not use our electronic tools in order to merely achieve the maximum of technical possibilities, but to illustrate aesthetic necessities. This entails a deliberate reduction and refined perception of the sonic characteristics of the material. Only this approach enabled us to fully realise the complete spectrum of the sounds and noises we were working with in order to construct this New Boat. Each and everyone of my treatments is e x c l u s i v e l y based on a track supplied by Miki. I added no new sound sources. Naturally the spatial and temporal dimensions of the source material were thus altered. These transformations are exactly what makes our collaboration special and unique. Very early on we had agreed on New Boat as a working title and a guiding light . Of course in the beginning we had no idea where this New Boat might take us. Now we do know. After several months of ship-building the boat has now set sails for new sonic horizons. Ahoi!
Miki Yui: The title of the album as well as the individual tracks have been inspired by conversations with Asmus. When we had a chat after one of his concerts, he told me about Kōdō, the Art or the Way of the Scent. It is a 8th century Japanese incense ceremony. Very frequently the names of Japanese incense sticks are derived from natural themes, e.g. Bairin is the plum grove, the scent of the first blossom heralding the end of winter.
This poetry, the ephemeral nature of the world reminded me of Kigo, words from a Haiku (a form of Japanese poetry), which reference a particular season or a natural phenomenon. So I chose the names of the individual pieces from Kigo as if The Boat was exploring nature whilst sailing through the seasons. Only in retrospect I realised that the titles combined create this poem:
Early spring a hazy view in the night (Oboro)
Plum groves (Bairin)
Over a Dayfly (Kagerou)
A Milkyway (Amanogawa)
Dawn (Akatsuki)
Art of fragrance (Kōdō)
On fragile thin ice (Usurai)
https://asmustietchensandmikiyui.bandcamp.com/album/neues-boot
"Exquisite electronic subtleties from two generations of explorative artists, pairing the tactile sensitivities of cult Hamburg based Asmus Tietchens with Düsseldorf resident Miki Yui for the first time with marked success.
Mutual spirits, Tietchens and Yui have long operated in pursuit of a lower case, spectral muse, and now at the behest of TAL’s Stefan Schneider they present a beautifully insoluble sound that transcends the sum of their parts. Incredibly delicate, and full of nanoscopic movement, the seven tracks unfurl between passages of burbling pastoralism and oneiric drowse, with particular highlights in the hypnotic timbral artefacts of ‘Kagerou’ or ‘Usurai’, and their 10’ of lush scenery inhabited by peacocks and a canopy of phosphorescing animaliculae and atmospheres in ‘Akatsuki’ recalling aspects of Mark Fell & Rian Treanor’s tape for our Documenting Sound series." [Boomkat]
"It’s a sad, hard fact that circulating music by means of physical objects is becoming the exception and not the rule. So, if you’re going to do it, might as well do it right and make it special. Future Audio Graphics makes LPs that bind interdisciplinary collaborations within gatefold LPs. Each combines a text by one artist, images by another and a record of sounds by a third. Ironically on Sculpture Gardens the efforts of writer François Bonnet (aka Kassel Jaeger), sculptor Virginia Overton and sound artist Anne Guthrie cohere into a consideration of impermanence.
Through his efforts to reissue works of electronic music on vinyl, Bonnet, a published author and the artistic director of Groupe de Recherche Musicales in Paris, has had plenty of opportunity to think about how ready-made vinyl objects can concentrate attention upon work, as well as how rapidly records become items to be hunted rather than merely purchased. Even when one fixes one’s work within an object, other peoples’ perceptions of the object and the work cut into it aren’t fixed. Neither is the object’s availability; LPs sooner or later drift into the collector’s realm. Bonnet doesn’t waste words on the peculiar circumstances of vinyl records in his essay, but a reader might think about his efforts to present them while reading his discussion of the relationships between art objects, ready-made objects and time. Time and the changes that accompany its passage are, he suggests, part of the artist’s material. Virginia Overton’s images depict aluminum pans that she installed at the Whitney Museum of American Art. She used them as containers of small gardens; when the plants died, she flipped them over and used them as sound resonators. Inside one of the museum’s galleries, Overton had placed cast-off pieces of metal and wood, which she repurposed as sculptures. Nothing stays the same, but in change new phenomena emerge.
Anne Guthrie’s portion of the work uses sounds collected from Overton’s exhibits as a starting point. She collected field recordings of the gallery interior, the outdoor area where the gardens were installed, weather, distant machinery and close-up captures of herself moving objects and deploying microphones. The magnified sounds of precise work and plants living and dying, sometimes straight and sometimes processed to draw out particular timbres, loom over distant jets and HVAC units, and into this mix Guthrie weaves the distant parping of her French horn. Across four discrete tracks, one can hear different moments and environments fixed for a moment in one representative configuration, which is now an object that can be bought and displayed and played in other times and places. Guthrie’s decisions and actions use Overton’s work as a starting point to illustrate Bonnet’s words."
[Bill Meyer /DUSTED]
|
2021 |
€14.50 |
|
| TIETCHENS, ASMUS / OKKO BEKKER |
E |
CD |
"The term "E-Musik" is not used to denote "electronic music", as one could be led to believe. Rather the E stands for "earnest" music or a music that is to be taken seriously, even more so as composers of this genre tend to be focused on their salary. Whether the distinction between E- and U-Musik, that mainly exists in the german speaking territories, is to be rendered a useful one, Bekker/Tietchens try to explore on their 1988 release E. They do this by appraoching some stylistic variation of so-called E-Musik in their own terms. What we hear ranges from soviet realism via dodecaophincs through to minimal music and free atonality. The meeting of Bekker and Tietchens and the results of their encounter on this album are all the more remarkable because Tietchens is an exponent of non-academic electronic music and Bekker works in the field of F-Musik, whose social acceptance is way below that of U-Musik. F-Musik stands for "functional music" and describes a type of music no one really wants to listen to. Usually upon playback the irritated listener tries to lower the volume approaching zero. Thus the title "Musik Im Deutschen Imbiss (short: MIDI)" - while being totally neglected both by music sociology and musical aesthetics - might well prove to be an example a valid analysis for compositional challenges that mights be solved on a future album entitled "P". Strictly speaking Bekker and Tietchens know New Music only by hearsay and through occasional visits of concerts in broadcasting houses or other remote locations. That they tried to formulate a somewhat partial typology of New Music regardless, is due to their enthusiasm and juvenile furor. It is not a product of their actual knowledge of the subject." (Tro Khan) comes in jewel case with full colour poster booklet, reproducing the original artwork plus new photograph and liner notes by Tro Khan, plus both tracks from the bonus 7" U, plus 2 unreleased bonus tracks from the period. edition of 600 copies
www.diestadtmusik.de
"The reissue campaign of the early works by Asmus Tietchens continues, here with a 1988 recording with long-standing collaborator Okko Bekker, originally released on Dom, now sporting four bonus tracks not on the original. Intentional or otherwise, E parallels much of the library music that was being quietly generated in institutional electronic studios across the globe, jumping thematically from pre-serialist melodicism played on period-specific digital sampling keyboards to Eno-esque avant-pop electronic numbers with a few forays into thoroughly abstracted / splintered sound collages and way out saxophone improvisations.
E was always an eclectic record and one that seemed out of place next to Nurse With Wound or HNAS; but in a context of Ghost Box relocating the KPM catalogue for themselves and those digging into the not-quite-new-age electronics of sci-fi exuberance and baroque horror synthesis (e.g. K. Leimer, Craig Leon, Laurie Speigel, etc.), this album will definitely bring delights in its fancifully cheeky electronic simulacrum." [Aquarius Rec.] |
2015 |
€14.00 |
|
| TIETCHENS, ASMUS / PEINEMANN |
Harvesterhude |
do-CD |
"2 CDs in printed paper sleeves housed in carton slip case. Designed by Asmus Tietchens.
500 copies. Dedicated to C.V. Liquidsky.
On „Harvestehude“
After more than 10 years of enthusiastic experiences and encounters with so-called „Difficult Music“ throughout the 1980ies Martin Peinemann and Asmus Tietchens deemed their somewhat differing approaches to making music compatible and agreed upon a loose collaboration in the year 1992. For various reasons (organizational and others) the work was not to take place at Audiplex studios but at Peinemann’s home studio. This modest lab featured all the necessary technical equipment needed to realize noise music meeting the standards of the day. This included an analogue 4-track-tape deck (9,5 cm/sec, Dolby noise reduction, integrated 6-channel mixer), soon after a digital 8 channel multitrack, a powerful periphery and sound producing devices of all kinds. For „Hochallee“, their first collaboration, Peinemann and Tietchens set themselves no definite deadline. The working sessions took place in an atmosphere of relaxation, usually on Saturday afternoons. By 1996 Peinemann and Tietchens finally had amassed a series of pieces they considered to be complete. At this time Peinemann began working on computer generated solo works and Tietchens moved on towards a more reductionist sound work.
„Klosterallee“, their second collaboration, was realized under completely different circumstances. In the years gone by since their last work Peinemann had deeply immersed himself into the field of extreme digital sound manipulation that he often discussed with Tietchens. From this collection of sound structures Peinemann offered some to Tietchens as sourcings for further treatments. The following expanding of these structures was not done in the form of sessions but executed by Tietchens alone over a period of three months. Peinemann then authorised the final results.
Unlike Asmus Tietchens Peinemann never released any music until now. He always valued the working process higher than the working result. The reason for this collaboration to finally come out as a double CD follows a noble motif that can be roughly translated as such: „A warning to the Old, an instruction to the Young.“ (Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock, „Pädagogische Ergetzungen“, 1802).
www.aufabwegen.com
"Quite a treat: last week we reviewed a brand new release by Asmus Tietchens, and this week there is even a double CD of collaborative works. Asmus worked with lots of people in the past, from Merzbow to Vidna Obmana, from Achim Wollscheid to Arcane Device. Most of his collaborators are quite well known, save perhaps for C.V. Liquidsky (and we are still waiting for that particular album to be released
on CD as part of Die Stadt/Auf Abwegen's re-issue program), but he's the man to whom Tietchens and Martin Peinemann dedicate their collaboration. Right, Peinemann, you may ask: now who's that? I also have no idea, really, as up until now he never released anything. The two discs here were recorded in two different periods. The first disc, called 'Hochallee' (the name of the street where Peinemann lived then) has recordings the two musicians made together in the period 1992 to 1996. For
Tietchens this was an entirely different environment than the usual surroundings
of the Audiplex studios where he always seems to record (well, save for a few exceptions). With rather 'low' standards, such as a four-track recorder, six-track mixer and all sorts of apparatus, they recorded thirteen pieces, and at the end they deemed this fit enough for a release (which then took another twenty years).
The other disc is called 'Klosterallee' and it's here that in springtime 2005
Peinemann recorded basic sound material for Tietchens to re-use, and this he did
at the beloved Audiplex studios. By then Peinemann had moved his work into 'extreme
digital manipulations' (the word of the label). One is right when one says this is an interesting find, displaying us mid 90s Tietchens and mid 00s Tietchens, working
in for him slightly different surroundings (at least on one disc) and with someone with whom we have absolutely no history. I was corrected following last week's review and told that Tietchens does work with computers since about fifteen years, using GRM tools, but of course on the first disc that is not the case. These
thirteen pieces are rudimentary pieces of electronic music, sometimes blissful feedback, sometimes a dub inspired synth song ('Hochallee 12'), pieces with looped, rhythmic sounds, and in general it seems that the classic Tietchens treatment is never far away in these pieces. Several of these pieces could have been on, say,
'Aus Freude Am Elend', the various albums with Terry Burrows or some others from the early to mid 90s. That slightly mechanic play with sounds, the entrapment in sound effects (reverb plays some role indeed), but also a rolling rhythm (reminiscing krautrock, one could muse?) in 'Hochallee 6', which makes this first
disc quite an odd bunch of different approaches, but it's a variety that works
very well.
The second disc is the Tietchens we know from recent years, and indeed he doesn't
refer to himself as a reductionist, because his music doesn't resemble that of Ikeda
or Noto; also knowledge picked up last week. His current music is all about quietness,
not for any esoteric reasons, but simply because he wants us to listen more closely,
and perhaps concentration is by now a lost art form in this hectic life everyone is supposed to have these days. Here none of the source material is easily recognized, in fact not at all, but it feeds through analogue and, as we have learned since last week, digital means and reduced to a few sounds here and there sometimes held together with a simple, sustaining drone like sound, a residue of what once perhaps a much bigger sound element. It's interesting to play both of the discs back to
back and hear the progress of Tietchens and the way he treats his sounds. On the second disc perhaps less 'new', because there have been more works alike this and some of the early/mid 90s stuff has moved the background of our memory. I am not sure if that's really the case. However both CD's in this package are, no matter how different they turn out to be, quite beautiful. This is a must for every
Tietchens fan." [FdW/Vital Weekly] |
2016 |
€18.00 |
|
| TO / THOMAS TILLY |
Cables & Signs (ten underwater field recordings) |
CD |
"These sound pieces all originate from hydrophonic mono recordings, carried out during summer 2009 in the waters of a moat of a castle in the west of France. During these recording sessions, I came to realise that some of the sounds generated there (Cables & Signs 1, 5 and 10) were modulated by variations in the intensity of the sun on the surface of the water. Even though I was not able to accurately identify the species emitting them, I now know they were produced by insects and aquatic plants. Fascinated by their relation to the external environment, by the concentration of these phenomena on the site and by some of the effects they produce on the ear, I selected fifty minutes out of the five hours of material gathered on location. Naturally composed and modulated by the environment, these ten excerpts result from a careful and subjective listening process and now exist through this format as musical pieces. Apart from a slight equalisation, none of these works were electronically altered or edited." [thomas tilly]
www.fissur.com
"On a hot day like today I should be outside, trying to find some cool shade, but I have to stay inside and cool it with my old ventilator, which sometimes makes a funny noise. The first time I was playing this CD by Thomas Tilly I wasn't paying attention enough - hot weather and all that - I thought that it was the ventilator acting up again. Then I studied the liner notes and it turns out that Tilly recorded sounds under water, and although I am not entirely sure, I understand these are the sounds are perhaps from insects and plants and somehow react to the sun shining on the water. These are then recorded and nothing else was done with it, except that we hear it. Its a pretty amazing disc, I must say. The music sounds like electrical charges, decaying motorized objects and such things alike. If you wouldn't better you could easily think this some sort of conceptual thing about machines, maybe something by Paul Panhuysen. It shares the same minimalist approach of Panhuysen, but then entirely from field recordings. Click like sounds, with some odd changes, if any at all. It doesn't sound like field recordings at all, and that's the best thing about it. It stays away from that line of interest of rain and wind sounds but makes a fascinating world of itself. One of the most interesting pieces of work I heard in quite some time. Hard to explain, but you should definitely found our for yourself." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Script Geometry |
do-LP & CD |
\"Approaching the forest as if were a city, a construct, an ensemble of strata and vertical heights where signals answer, contrast and ignore each other. Variations occur, fullness and emptiness are created according to the weather and the peak and off-preak hours. This density that language can\'t define presents a challenge for the ear, and from this density surfaces, frm time to time, certain analogies to a modern sound environment. Cultural leads fraw our experience of these natural acoustic phenomenin towards the domain of technology : \'it sounds like... it\'s like\'. The timbres ? The sound structures ? There exists something in a tropical forest that sounds like and plays within the realms of electronics, music and electronics noise ; something characteristic of an era long before the birth of biotopes that form this forest and create this sound. Script geometry comes from this idea and the desire to work with density, in an attempt to extract forms that characterize these analogies. Taking these sounds out of their context and rearranging them as we would patch cables on a synthesizer ; weaving these strata and vertica heights into a different pattern by using the signals from the forest as if they were synthetic sounds : dissecting this spectrum and looking for something that can only be revealed through listening, this is the essence of the project\'. Thomas Tilly - Winter 2012\'In March 2013, I traveled to the Nourages scientific research station in French Guiana. Situated in the heart of a tropical rainforest, this station welcomes international scientific research progams dealing with tropical forests and their biodiversity. For the 30 days and nights of my stay, i listened to and captured the sound environment with an emphasis on animal communications : those wich are perceptible to the huan ear, but also the inaudible spectrum. The result is a collection of compositions and phonography characteristic of the zone. No electronic treatement has been added to these recordings other than a low cut filter and a light EQ mix. Script Geometry was conducted as an artist-in-residency programme at the Confort Moderne, Jazz à Potiers, the Lieu Multiple and the Nouragues Station in French Guiana between February and June 2013. A series of concerts, conférences, broadcasts and a creative workshop took place in accompaniment to the project\'. Double LP mastered by James Plotkin. CD mastered by Thomas Tilly. Cut by Rashad Becker at Dubplates and Mastering, Berlin.\" [label info]
www.aposiopese.com
\"A double LP and a CDR of the source material. For this work he went to the Nourages scientific research station in French Guiana, in the middle of the rain forest. For thirty days he recorded sounds with an emphasis on animal communications, some of these using ultra sonic translators. \'No electronic treatment has been added to these recordings other than a low cut filter and a light EQ mix\' it says on the cover and we have to believe that, sometimes hard as it is. However some of the recordings are overlaying each other so a more dense pattern arises, and the chirping of insects that is already a bit electronically sounding are emphasized, such as in the opening piece, \'At Night, Mass\'. The pieces on
this record shift back and forth between untreated - as \'no mixing, no editing\' - and \'composition, classic and ultrasonic recordings. Mixing and editing\', and especially those pieces, say \'Crossroad, nodes\' have a highly electronic feel to them. A very minimal piece of electronic music, almost like a modular synthesizer piece, but maybe a bit less organised, following the more chaotic patterns of the nature sounds. I thought this was a great record. Very much originating in the world of field recordings, but then, the result, from an entirely different kind of planet. \'Unidentified Insects Colony\' is almost like The Haters ripping paper and doesn\'t sound like an unidentifiedd insects colony at all. A truly fascinating work of which the hour long CDR is a nice bonus. Maybe something for the die-hards I guess, but it makes the package all the more complete.\" [FdW/Vital Weekly 05.2014]
|
2014 |
€24.00 |
|
| TOEPLITZ, KASPER T. |
Capture |
CD |
Epischer one-tracker (76 min) für Tanztheater, sehr hochfrequent rauschig-mikrotonal, erinnert z.B. an KARKOWSKI und LOPEZ, nach einiger Zeit wird man völlig absorbiert von diesem sirenenhaften weissen Rauschen,..... so minimal wie nur vorstellbar und doch so kraftvoll und hypnotisierend, erzeugt das Gehirn von ganz alleine Veränderungen im KlangMaelstrom... am Ende so metallisch durchdringend dass es kaum noch hörbar ist...
“A very micro-tonal score, played by 3 dancers/musicians whose infinitesimally slow movements are "captured" by web-cams and "mapped" to all the parameters of a real-time digital synthesis engine - frequency, amplitude, ambitus…. No samples, no pre-recorded sounds, the sole sound source is a white noise generator, sculpted by filters, producing a polyphony of drones, oscillations, movements of electricity - a long electronic ascension”. [label info]
|
2005 |
€13.50 |
|
| TONALIENS |
Tonaliens |
do-LP |
Tonaliens is a Berlin-based group investigating the inner dimensions and outer limits of Just Intonation. It was formed in 2014 by Amelia Cuni (voice), Werner Durand (invented wind instruments), Robin Hayward (microtonal tuba), Hilary Jeffery (trombone), and Ralf Meinz (live sound, electronics). The group came together shortly after the release of the software version of the Hayward Tuning Vine, an interface for exploring microtonal tuning that allows for direct and intuitive interaction with the pitches normally hidden between the keys of the piano. Coming from diverse backgrounds, the musicians were eager to explore this harmonic space, and thus the tuning vine "acted first as a catalyst, then as a map, and finally as a spaceship" (Hayward) that enabled them to navigate those areas that largely remain obscured.
The music of Tonaliens has so far been focused on a very specific area within the microtonal space that was discovered by mapping out the first three harmonics of three tubes of Durand's self-invented Pan-Ney instrument. They named this area the Tonaliens chord, and both recordings on this double LP – two live performances from 2015 – are based on it. Sides A and B are recorded live in a church in Amsterdam, the Vondelkerk, during the Sonic Acts Festival. Sides C and D contain a contrasting, more intimate performance made at KuLe in Berlin for the Labor Sonor concert series. Amelia Cuni appears only on the Amsterdam recording.
Edition of 300 in full-color gatefold sleeve with liner notes by Robin Hayward, and detailed photos and screenshots. Black poly-lined inner sleeves.
www.edition-telemark.de
|
2017 |
€30.00 |
|
| TONIUTTI, GIANCARLO |
Ura itam taala' momojmuj löwajamuj cooconaja |
mCD |
Faszinierende Veröffentlichung von Klang-Morphologiker GIANCARLO TONIUTTI, der auf dem Gipfel eines Berges in Italien (Monte le Zuffine) ein drei Meter hohes Kreuz fand (mit einer kleinen Glocke) - Klänge dieser Objekte und die psychogeographische atmosphärische "Aura" des Ortes dienten als Grundlage für diesen wunderbar mysteriös wummernden one-tracker, der zischelnde & leiernde Blasen wirft....
this is really CRYPTIC Ambience...
"This work could be seen as a process of sonic magnification. A couple of years ago I made a field-recording on a mountain top. It was meant to go on a project I had in mind. I needed a pure field-recording, almost silent. On this mountain I also found a small bell and decided to vaguely use it to generate a faint tonal presence. But in the end the recording was spoiled by the recorded presence of many tiny natural noises.
The project as process: Recently I took this recording back to life, and decided to mainly work with the sounds coming from the short bell performances, trying to generate the whole sound morphology from a mesostructural derived process, through analogic treatments of these acoustic fragments.
The epiphenomenal world: Somehow intended as a magnifying process of the internal structural features of the sounds from a bell and its mechanics, the work took advantage also of the fact that all these sounds were strongly embodied in the acoustic micro-activity of the natural environment. The selected sources were basically dirty, from interferences of insects and other small sounds. While magnifying and isolating the bell sounds, it was impossible (and not meant in the end) to remove these accidental environmental noises surrounding each sound particle. Thus, as they became part of the timbral quality of each single sound, they also shaped the evolutionary process of the work.
This work could be seen as a process of inflow moistening (title in Hopi language) " [label info / credits]
"No one will ever accuse Giancarlo Toniutti of releasing too much music into the world. It has literally been ten years since Toniutti has released any recordings outside of a very rare
compilation track here or there. That said, Toniutti is an undeniably intriguing sound artist, who has deeply immersed himself into obscure forms of ethnomusicology and linguistic study, all the while keeping a finely tuned ear to the habits of vangarde composition. His
earliest recordings emerged out of the Italian power electronics community of the early '80s whose most well known practitioner was
Maurizio Bianchi. Like Bianchi, Toniutti put out a handful of recordings on the seminal British noise label Broken Flag. While
bracing, complex, and adventurous in its crunched tape manipulations and sinister synthesis, Toniutti's work stood apart from the signature Broken Flag arc of transgressive noise, due to Toniutti's intellectual rigor. It was this rigor that brought Toniutti to pursue
his collaborations with Andrew Chalk and Conrad Schnitzler, and it was probably this rigor that caused the prolonged length between
recordings over the past decade.
So, the 20 minute composition that Toniutti produced for Ferns impressive series of 3" discs has been granted a Hopi Indian title based on an ancient song dealing with cunnilingus and bedbugs. I'm sure that Giancarlo has a very particular reason for placing such a text alongside this warbling set of mutated field recordings; but as of yet, it remains something of a mystery. This composition does enjoy a hermetic quality, in spite of Toniutti's explanation that he derived all of the sounds from a field recording he made in Italy involving a mountain, a 10ft tall cross, a metal pylon, and a temple bell. Out of that environment and those objects, Toniutti arrives at a record that might appear somewhat meditative at first, with its constant wash of low frequencies; but upon deeper investigations into the piece, he reveals queasy, off-kilter tonalities which gently vibrate against each other, bristling with quiet textures. His is a pretty unique sound, somewhat like the early electronic work of Xenakis with the diminutive sensibilities of early Bernhard Gunter. Highly recommended!" [Aquarius]
|
2007 |
€7.00 |
|
| TONIUTTI, GIANCARLO & TIZIANO DOMINIGHINI |
Counterchronology |
CD |
"Unreleased very first recordings from 1979 by Giancarlo Toniutti together with Tiziano Dominighini. His very first approach on electric and acoustic instruments and noises. Recovered and mixed by Giancarlo Toniutti 2014. Limited to 300 copies." [label info]
www.finalmuzik.com
"The only straightforward statement found on Counterchronology's densely worded liner notes is downright blunt: "Tiziano is dead." Aside from that one somber fact, the archeological ruminations of this recording are laboriously complex; but here's what we can gather. In September of 1993, the Italian vanguardist Giancarlo Toniutti came across two cassettes that contained material dating as far back as 1979, marking some of his earliest recording then in concert with a character named Tiziano Dominighini. He shelved them once again for another decade when he rediscovered the material to hold a number of open-ended / freeform recordings of Giancarlo and Tiziano clamoring about the glassworks shop run by Dominghini's father along with various environmental recordings, sparse yet maltreated guitar splutter, automatic writings, art brut actions, and long-form chord organ drones. In repurposing the musical interludes and provisional collages from those tapes, Toniutti sought to aggregate the sounds in such a manner as to maintain the something of an integrity from the originals while configuring the more naive gestures with the hand of a mature electroacoustic composer. On the near 34-minute first track, Toniutti weaves haptic events in varying degrees of density upon a bed of those long-form organ chords, with unhinged filter sweeps diving deep into cascading deep low-end rumblings. There's an extemporaneous psychedelic quality to much of the percussive burblings that hold aesthetic similarities to Angus MacLise, AMM, Z'ev, certain facets to the early Nurse With Wound continuum, and the most shambolic / abstract participants of the global freakfolk explosion from a couple years back. The shorter 10-minute second piece slowly blossoms from a deep bellowing thrum with desolated sibilance into a frenzied clamor on junked metal accompanied by distant flutes and strange utterances, both detouring from and complementing the first piece quite nicely. As rewarding as he is challenging, Giancarlo Toniutti continues to impress." [Aquarius Records]
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| TOOP, DAVID |
Entities Inertias Faint Beings |
LP |
From David Toop:
The music existed already, spores maybe or dormant clusters of digital files. Out of three periods of solitude the germination began. The first was in Queensland, on Tamborine Mountain (an aboriginal name), so silent at night that I listened to recorded music – Japanese gagaku, Buddhist ritual from Bhutan, Korean Confucian music – as if drifting into cavernous black space. Stepping into sleep I saw a hypnagogic image - a transparent swimming pool suspended over the mouth of a volcano. I read Stephen Mansfield’s book on Japanese stone gardens – “Successful stone arrangements seem almost alive, the elements conversing among themselves with an occult vitality, the call and response that has been noted between well-placed rocks resembling the chanting of Buddhist sutras” ; Daylight listening in chill air, hearing whip birds, butcher birds, noisy mynahs, kookaburra chatter, rainbow lorikeets; catapult elastic, I wrote, radio waves in a kettle, electric buzzers. On Queensland’s Gold Coast I gazed at a distant humpback whale breaching out to sea, watched Yasujiro Ozu’s 1934 silent version of A Story of Floating Weeds, listened to cicadas burst into life as a helicopter flew overhead.
Back into society and driving with Lawrence English I asked him, why would anybody release music in the 21st century? He laid out his philosophy; I was convinced. Then in St Ives, Cornwall, solitary again, drawing, reading Timothy Morton’s Hyperobjects and Clarice Lispector’s Agua Viva (her beautiful sentence: “dry keys echo in the dark and humid early hours”), gazing at ocean flux, music trembling into life from secreted audio files, music becoming living entities. Phantoms rose up out of sea mist, images of black light and blistered skin from photographers (Takuma Nakahira and Tomatsu Shomei), the fermenting of sounds. From a distance I heard voices – the extraordinary painter Mariko Sugano reciting ancient Japanese garden texts on the taboos associated with stone setting; Emi Watanabe’s flute as if a ghost from the Noh; the sounds of underwater creatures in my pond; Sylvia Hallett’s sarangi crying (in cavernous black space); the fervent drumming of Rie Nakajima’s small mechanical beings (like cooking with paper, wire and batteries); John Butcher’s reeds, music as a scientific exploration of the body, the instrument. Rie talked about the properties of objects, soft or hard. In the Noh play Aoi no Ue, the spirit is compelled with drum and plucked string (the catalpa bow).
In solitude I contemplated death, decay, the gush of life. Back in the car, Lawrence told me, when you die you’ll leave many projects unfinished. I laughed. Unspeakable truths, notes for a language to come, maybe not this world.
room40.bandcamp.com/album/entities-inertias-faint-beings
"Composer/performer/improviser David Toop’s latest release traces the seam between sound and music, paying attention to the hidden sounds that surround us and turning silence inside out.
In a lot of ways I’ve come to dislike music,” David Toop told The Wire in 2003. “I love sound, I love silence, but music as a whole I don’t like anymore.” You might assume that would have troubled him, given that Toop, then 54, had been deeply involved with music for most of his life, in virtually every role imaginable: performer, improviser, composer, critic, theorist, archivist, curator, and label owner. But if it represented any sort of crisis for him—six years before, burnout and “indifference to contemporary music” had led Toop to hang up his hat as a music journalist—it didn’t hold back his output. Since making the statement, Toop has continued to perform and lecture, released a half-dozen albums, and written two books, including the recently published Into the Maelstrom: Music, Improvisation, and the Dream of Freedom.
But Toop’s turn away from music, that complicated category of organized sound, has been crucial in one very important aspect: It has allowed him to ask probing questions about the nature of listening. Those questions come to a head on Entities Inertias Faint Beings, his first studio album since 2007’s Sound Body. Offering a vibrant array of rustle and hum, the new album traces the seam between sound and music, between the intentional and the incidental, between expression and mute abstraction. A partial index of its sounds would include the whine of rubbed wineglass rims; shortwave radios on the fritz; the electric buzz of the forest canopy at night; the languid click of fingernails across guitar strings; the whirr and flap of a 16mm film projector’s take-up reel. It is an album about paying attention to the hidden sounds that surround us, about turning silence inside out. And it is an album about using sound to find one's own bearings.
Entities Inertias Faint Beings got its start as an autobiography—or, more precisely, it is the result of what turned out to be an abortive case of writer’s block. Its genesis lies in three periods of solitude: first a stay on Tamborine Mountain in subtropical Queensland, Australia (“so silent at night that I listened to recorded music—Japanese gagaku, Buddhist ritual from Bhutan, Korean Confucian music—as if drifting into cavernous black space,” Toop writes in his introduction to the album), and then on Queensland’s Gold Coast, where cicadas harmonized with helicopters. Back in Cornwall, trying and failing to write his life’s story, he began sifting through several years' worth of personal recordings he had stored on his computer: small, percussive thunks; filament-like drones; the crinkling of paper. Shuffling, layering, and arranging—not so much composing as feeling his way through the material, as if improvising—he added new sounds to the mix, like a quiet passage of acoustic guitar from one of his daily practice sessions, and a hydrophone recording from his garden pond. And in London, he fleshed out the pieces with the help of musician friends. The improvising saxophonist John Butcher lends trilling, bird-like sounds to two tracks; Rie Nakajima's battery-powered motorized objects rattle and whirr, suggesting insect colonies in upheaval.
The overall result—thematically, anyway—is something like one of W.G. Sebald’s literary peregrinations: a palimpsest of place, memory, and accident, although its precise route is unknown to all but its creator. There is little to tell us what any of these clicks and pings might actually be. Several of the album’s track titles suggest cryptic headings scrawled on notecards in dusty filing cabinets: “dry keys echo in the dark and humid early hours”; “pieces of wood and iron, phials of odours”; “sea slug.” They function as indices of possible experiences, and if they explain little—do the bassy gurgles of “sea slug” really come from a gastropod mollusk?—they offer unusual and inviting travelogues consisting of little more than white noise and feral throb.
But Toop can’t quite resist sneaking music—that most elegantly ordered aspect of organized noise—back into the equation. Again and again, understated wisps of melody, harmony, and rhythm surface briefly and disappear just as quickly, sending out ripples that supercharge every corner of this lovely, engrossing album. In the album’s centerpiece, “ancestral beings, sightless by their own dust,” Sylvia Hallett’s sarangi, a bowed string instrument from Hindustani classical music, weaves an eerie, mournful air over slow, methodical pulses. Then, at the track’s end, a jungle’s worth of growling, chirping, buzzing sounds swells and is swallowed in turn by the steady gush of a tropical rainstorm. Toop has compared his compositional processes to traditional Japanese stone gardens—one track, “setting stones,” quotes a thousand-year-old passage on the subject—and at its most engrossing, Entities captures the uncanny qualities of inanimate objects in conversation with one another. It is a way of suggesting that the music exists independently even of its creator; it is a product of the act of listening itself. By the act of focusing our ears, we bring it to life—and vice versa." [Pitchfork]
|
2016 |
€23.50 |
|
| TORAL, RAFAEL |
Space |
do-LP |
"Vinyl version of Toral's latest creation. After 15+ years of accomplished work on guitar & electronics, the Portuguese musician, producer & sound engineer found his way into a complete renovation of his music. Leaving the guitar behind, Toral has equipped himself with instruments such as a theremin-controlled noise generator, amplified coil spring percussion, & a random pulse width modulation oscillator. With these he has launched a jazz-fueled craft through Earth's atmosphere, into outer space. The resulting voyage is one where the sounds created recall the blasts of a ray gun, the gurgle of a velociraptor, the rush of a primordial geyser, all seasoned with vintage analog appeal & interspersed with meditative moments of silence. Includes unreleased 17-minute vinyl-only bonus track." [label info]
www.taigarecords.com
|
2008 |
€18.00 |
|
|
Space Elements Vol. 1 |
CD |
"Bis Ende der 90er hatte sich der portugiesische Musiker mit Gitarren-Drones auseinandergesetzt. Mittlerweile hat Toral um den für ihn paradigmatischen Begriff »Space« ein ganzes post-Free-Jazz-in-Elektronik-Universum kreiert und dies auf zahlreichen VÖs dokumentiert. Als einer der wesentlichen Gitarristen der 90er angesehen, arbeitete er u.a. mit J. Zorn, J. O'Rouke, Sonic Youth, MIMEO oder Alvin Lucier. Auf dieser CD entschlackt Toral Musik soweit, bis nur noch arrangierte Sounds übrig bleiben. Sein Vorteil ist es, dass dabei keine eklektische Futzelelectronica herauskommt, sondern ein durchaus abgefeimtes Setting, in dem Reste von Jazz und - mit etwas gutem Willen - auch Swing auszumachen sind. Klarerweise auf heutige Verhältnisse gemünzt. Mit dabei: Rute Praça (Cello), Margarida Garcia (b.), César Burago (dr.) und Torals Langzeitkumpel, der Taschentrompeter Sei Miguel. »Ernste« Musik mit hohem Spaßfaktor." [Heinrich Deisl / SKUG]
"The Space Program is Rafael Toral's long-term research launched in 2004, through which he has unearthed an innovative approach and a complete re-thinking of how electronic music is conceived and experienced. Using custom experimental instruments, Toral performs electronic music concerned with "phrasing and swing", shaping strange melodies with physicality, movement and gesture in flux. The result is a kind of alien electronic jazz. After the acclaimed, orchestral "Space" (Staubgold 2006) and the following "Space Solo 1" (Quecksilber 2007), this is the first volume of the Space Elements series, each release being focused on one kind of instruments, on small settings and including collaborations. "Space Elements Vol. I" features Rute Praca (cello), Margarida Garcia (electric double-bass), Sei Miguel's amazing percussionist César Burago, and David Toop (flute), besides a short appearance by Sei Miguel (pocket trumpet) himself." [label info]
www.staubgold.com
|
2008 |
€14.50 |
|
| |
Space Elements Vol. 1 |
LP |
"Bis Ende der 90er hatte sich der portugiesische Musiker mit Gitarren-Drones auseinandergesetzt. Mittlerweile hat Toral um den für ihn paradigmatischen Begriff »Space« ein ganzes post-Free-Jazz-in-Elektronik-Universum kreiert und dies auf zahlreichen VÖs dokumentiert. Als einer der wesentlichen Gitarristen der 90er angesehen, arbeitete er u.a. mit J. Zorn, J. O'Rouke, Sonic Youth, MIMEO oder Alvin Lucier. Auf dieser CD entschlackt Toral Musik soweit, bis nur noch arrangierte Sounds übrig bleiben. Sein Vorteil ist es, dass dabei keine eklektische Futzelelectronica herauskommt, sondern ein durchaus abgefeimtes Setting, in dem Reste von Jazz und - mit etwas gutem Willen - auch Swing auszumachen sind. Klarerweise auf heutige Verhältnisse gemünzt. Mit dabei: Rute Praça (Cello), Margarida Garcia (b.), César Burago (dr.) und Torals Langzeitkumpel, der Taschentrompeter Sei Miguel. »Ernste« Musik mit hohem Spaßfaktor." [Heinrich Deisl / SKUG]
"The Space Program is Rafael Toral’s long-term research project launched in 2004, through which he has unearthed an innovative approach and a complete re-thinking of how electronic music is conceived and experienced. Using custom experimental instruments, Toral performs electronic music concerned with “phrasing and swing” and performing strange melodies with physicality, movement and gesture in flux. The result is something you’re unlikely to have heard before, a kind of alien electronic jazz. After the acclaimed, orchestral Space and the following Space Solo 1, this is the first volume of the Space Elements series, each release being focused on one kind of instrument, on small settings and including collaborations. Space Elements Vol. I features Rute Praça (cello), Margarida Garcia (electric double-bass), Sei Miguel’s amazing percussionist César Burago, and David Toop (flute), besides a short appearance by Sei Miguel himself. From Toral’s liner notes: “Having found that jazz is the field of musical knowledge where disciplined decision-making is most developed, this music is more informed by jazz than by any other. The Space Program emphasizes articulating silence and sound, by structuring musical discourse on experimental instruments with a simple and clear sonic identity. To my surprise I found no historical precedents to this practice, being that it draws practically no information from electronic music history (which is grounded on different thinking patterns), and it draws very little from jazz history as well, since the instruments I use are inadequate to play any music based on the Western system. I regard this approach to jazz (meaning a system of individual decision-making from the standpoint of free-spectrum live electronics) as a new and exciting field of creative possibilities. I called it “post-free jazz electronic music.”
Space Elements Vol. I was mastered direct to metal and pressed on clear 200gram virgin-vinyl in a limited edition of 500 copies. The jacket was designed by Helder Luis at NOTYPE and features a collage by contemporary artist Joao Paulo Feliciano. CD Version available on Staubgold." [label notes]
|
2008 |
€14.00 |
|
| TORBA |
Musique Inconcrete |
LP |
After the quickly sold out »Ggràn« cassette, released on Fragment Factory in 2016, we are very happy to welcome back the Italian sound artist Mauro Diciocia aka Torba for his 2nd contribution to the FF label catalogue. »Musique Inconcrète« is the follow-up to »Musica Conventionale«, released earlier this year on his own Edizioni Aaltra imprint, and marks the second installment in a trilogy of related recordings, informally named »Le Musiche«. While being active in the field of contemporary sound art and noise music for more than a decade, Diciocia has produced a whole lot of mostly small run cassette releases. This LP is Torba's first and long overdue full-length album for the vinyl format.
While Diciocia's latest work is far from being composed in classical terms, the concept behind the album revolves around the idea of sketch or annotation. Or better still: The inconcrète. A semi-false (or semi-correct) french word, used to undermine the consistency of the french Musique Concrète tradition in a rather light-hearted manner. During the conception of this album, MD was strongly influenced by the work »Incompiuto - The Birth of a Style« by the Italian contemporary art collective Alterazioni Video. They loudly claim that Incompiuto – the unfinished – is the only Italian art style of some significance in the past 50 years: "The term ‘incompiuto’ refers to the architectural and infrastructural works whose construction has been halted, and which can be witnessed throughout the entire Italian peninsula. They are all publicly funded, and for a variety of reasons (design errors, political decisions, inaccurate cost estimates, contractors' bankruptcies, evident disregard of building regulations, the disappearance of funds, etc.) their construction has been interrupted, leaving behind a series of ruins in reverse.” (Alterazioni Video)
Far from any reference to post-architecture or mafia-political controversy, the final output of »Musique Inconcrète« is a macro cut-up of sound-screens reorganized as quasi-organic narration: Fragments of unfinished compositions, roughly assembled according to a mere aesthetic criteria. Beyond the sporadic use of oscillators and a few inserts of other people's music manipulated on ¼-inch tape, the whole LP is made out of field recordings collected in the region of Salento in southern Italy, where Diciocia is currently living. All environmental sounds were captured with common consumer electronics (walkman and mobile phones) in order to give back the domestic feeling of an abandoned opera. Speaking of geography, the first track Lapjèdr Fòr is the only exception. Intended as an introduction to the whole narration, it testifies MD's emotional and non-linear journey back from Germany, where he spent about eight years, to Southern Italy: It contains a clashing mix of recordings made in Berlin and around the seaside of Torre Lapillo.
The pictures for the artwork of the album were taken by the photographer Gabriele Albergo, whose perpetual-in-progress project »Salento Death Valley - A Black Diary of the Most Beloved Italian Peninsula« aims to deconstruct the touristically idealized image of the region through the serial production of what he calls anti-postcards.
Edition of 300 copies on black vinyl.
https://fragmentfactory.bandcamp.com/album/musique-inconcr-te
"Many of the sounds on Musique Inconcrète are thin, threadlike, fibrous, like amplified insect legs or the metallic rustle of uncut guitar strings. Usually such a description would apply to an album with much more sound processing and alteration involved in its construction, not a work that relies as heavily on mostly unmanipulated field recordings as this does, but the singular vision that audio collage maestro Mauro Diciocia (a.k.a. Torba) has adopted for Musique Inconcrète is unconcerned with “usually.” The six tracks on the LP are true sonic sketches, a structure he borrows from the Alterazioni Video collective’s tradition of Incompiuto—the incomplete. Diciocia warmly embraces a state of unfinishedness, fully content to explore acoustic settings and movements with qualities that might often be cited as weaknesses: insubstantiality, choppiness, frailty. He uses the aforementioned field recordings—most of which were captured in southern Italy—as fragile canvases for his sketches, their beautifully mundane soundscapes both contributing their own unique textures to the music as well as serving as a base for quiet interjections of buzzing static; occasional and very choice musical samples; and other oddities. The recordings themselves are often shaky and unstable, an effect that’s achieved via either subtle processing or the recording medium itself; Diciocia chose to use basic electronics like small tape recorders and mobile phones to evoke “the domestic feeling of an abandoned opera.” Such careful efforts to fully adopt an intentional lack of polish or seamlessness make Musique Inconcrète not only a fascinating and thought-provoking release but also more lush and well-realized than one could ever think possible." [Noisenotmusic]
"Wenn das neue Torba-Album ein Pendant in der Welt der haptisch erfahrbaren Artefakte hat, dann ist es die Ruine – ein Phänomen, welches das Künstlerkollektiv Alterazione Video jüngst am Beispiel unvollendeter Architektur und Infrastruktur untersuchte, an verschiedenen Konstruktionen, die aus Geldmangel, wegen technischer Probleme, politischer Planänderungen und ähnlicher Gründe Fragment bleiben mussten. In der dazu entstandenen Studie wurden sie als die bedeutendsten Kunstwerke des heutigen Italiens bezeichnet.
“Musique Inconcrète”, erneut eine Reihe an feinsinnigen Cut-Up-Kollagen, wurde stark von diesen Überlegungen getriggert und setzt sich aus eher spontan zusammengesetzten Komponenten zusammen, denen man ihre Fragmentiertheit anmerkt. Benannt hat Torba das Resultat allerdings nicht nach dem Unvollendeten, sondern nach dem “Inkonkreten”, was eine ganze Reihe weiterer Bedeutungsnuancen eröffnet.
Im Vergleich zur One Track-CD “Musica Convenzionale”, dem ersten Teil der losen Reihe “Le Musiche”, erst recht aber zu früheren Veröffentlichungen, sind die sieben Tracks des neuen Longplayers noch ein ganzes Stück dezenter, andeutungshafter und ungreifbarer: Mikrosequenzen, deren Soundmaterial diffus an Zikaden, Straßenlärm, Sinustöne, Wind und Wasser und zwitschernde Vögel, aber auch an jazziges Basspiel erinnert, eine Viel-, wenn nicht Unzahl an per Telefon aufgezeichnetem Material, dazu Songzitate und immer wieder dezente Manipulation – all das liegt übereinander, greift ineinander und verschmilzt doch nur soweit miteinander, dass das Konstrukt einer Einheit verwehrt bleibt. Alles verbindet sich gerade so stark, dass die Konturen einzelner Klänge undeutlich und eben unkonkret werden.
Man kann darin freilich eine Kritik an den Ideen der Musique Concrète, oder zumindest das Aufzeigen einer Kehrseite und eines blinden Flecks sehen, betonten die Pioniere dieser Musik doch besonders das Material in seiner wie selbstverständlich angenommenen Abgegrenztheit. Die einzig deutliche Grenze, die Torba hier zieht, ist die des immer wieder überraschenden Schlusspunktes einer Sequenz oder einer Tonspur, womit er an einige seine früheren Tape-Veröffentlichungen anknüpft. Torba ist nach wie vor ein Gelände mit vielen abrupt endenden Sackgassen. Mehr noch als in den opulenteren Stücken wird dies in den zwei minimalistischen “Intermezzi” deutlich, in denen der (teils verfremdete und im Tempo hochgeschraubte) Auftakt einer berühmten Klaviersonate durch ein Szenario verhuschter Sounds getrieben wird. Daran, dass das Motiv immer wieder nach drei Tönen de nova da capo geht, mag man sich gar nicht gewöhnen, und soll es vielleicht auch nicht.
In dieser Spannung, in der die einzige klare Kontur die Evidenz des Unfertigen ist, liegt die Signifikanz und natürlich die größte Herausforderung von “Musique Inconcrète”. Hat man sich daran gewöhnt, erkennt man viel Schönheit in dem Gebräu aus Verkehrslärm, Stimmengewirr und verschwommener Jahrmarktsmusik." (U.S./African Paper) |
2019 |
€18.00 |
|
| TORTURING GIRL (=TORTURING NURSE + ALO GIRL) |
same |
LP |
Torturing Girl is a great collaboration between Torturing Nurse and Alo Girl. In 2004, Junky and Misuzu created the Harsh Noise project “Torturing Nurse” in Shanghai in the spirit of Hijokaidan. Originally, the band’s classical line-up included Youki, Misuzu, Miriam and Junky. They use contact mike, metal, pedal, feedback, voice and guitar. Since 2010 Tourturing Nurse consists of Junky and Youki. Alo Girl is dissolute and cruelly Italian HNW/ Harsh noise project by Cristiano Renzoni (whose also the other half of Richard Ramirez’s An Innocent Young Throat-Cutter) and it debuts in 2009 with its first LP. He uses analog electronics, pedal and contact mike in order to create sonic wall construction where brutality appears to be the inevitable outcome. This angry LP comes in a deluxe silver silkscreen on black cardboard sleeve, limited to 119 hand numbered copies w/8 pages mini-booklet.
Listen to extract at: www.urashima.it/uma019.html
|
2011 |
€25.00 |
|
| TORTURING NURSE |
Il Comunismo doveva morire |
CD |
"il comunismo doveva morire is Torturing Nurse's first Mind Flare Media release. Absolutely devastating, this album is one single track running almost an hour and fourteen minutes long. The band suddenly breaks in from nowhere and immediately begins an assault on your ears, suddenly switching and transitioning to a variety of different power electronics landscapes. The artwork sums it up well, a symbolic representation of a dead politicial system. The back features similar art taken from famous propaganda and manipulated, ending with more political imagery inside and a CD that rests upon a pile of skulls. Without a doubt the harshest thing these guys have ever done. This stuff is powerful and not for the faint of hearing." [label info]
www.mindflaremedia.com
"Why noise from Japan was spectacularly good was that noise as miss-appropriation of western music in post war Japan was where miss-appropriation of the west was paramount, removal of tradition in favor of day glo Elvis's Whiskey made from genuine Scottish grapes and school girls in tartan mini skirts." . discuss.. Or why miss-appropriation has now firmly shifted to China might be the explanation of the ability of Torturing Nurse to take over the incoherence of noise from the great masters of Japan, and that in there inconsequential screaming, noise and feedback is what they do so well, whether from design, pastiche or naivety, it doesn't matter, all is symptoms without any traces, illness without disease, psychoanalysis of sanity, this is a culture which was never part of the monotheistic religions. Judaistic calling which engendered the enlightenment and guilt, Freudian Oedipus or Marxist theory ,T.N. is a superficial image, a simulacra of the west without foundation or introversion, it has nothing to attack or demolish, so is pointless, nothing to solve or cure, the name itself silly lacking any psychosis of western introversion, those bare chested lot who miss mommy, no this is noise as noise for noise from noise and nothing else besides, and 74 minutes which is never enough. All those blokes in Texas half drunk on Budweiser with their effects pedals, guitars and toys should take a listen and weep, no not weep, too much weeping already, maybe then get washed have a shave and get a job at HMV in the local mall, or else take up the dizi, sheng, paigu, paixiao, guan, erhu, zhonghu, dahu, banhu, jinghu, gaohu, gehu, yehu, cizhonghu, diyingehu, leiqin, guqin, sanxian, yangqin, guzheng, ruan, konghou, liuqin, pipa, zhu?????" [jliat/Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| TOTSTELLEN |
Fliehkraft |
mCD-R |
“Rasende soziale Rotation wirkt auf einige wie der Sog eines Strudels in sein Zentrum. Für andere ist die Wirkung wie die Fliehkraft auf einer Drehscheibe, die Dich bei einer falschen Bewegung ins Abseits schleudert. Nicht wenige sind beiden Kräften ausgesetzt & zerreissen.“ [from the liner notes]
One-tracker release about „social rotation“, raw ambient Industrial with a political approach, eerie & with pure analogue effects and field recordings, from Hamburg. Comes in a nice handsewed cover. Authentic stuff !
|
2003 |
€5.50 |
|
| TOY BIZARRE |
kdi dctb 039 |
mCD |
"Der Code kdi dctb ist bei Cédric Peyronnets Fieldrecordings so obligatorisch wie in gewissen Parallelwelten das BWV oder dergl. ‚kdi dctb 039‘ speziell ist der Mittelteil einer Trilogie, die mit ’kdi dctb 151’ auf dem Split mit Dale Lloyd auf Bremsstrahlung in San Diego begann. Dass Peyronnet auf puren Naturklang (keine Synthesizer, Sampler etc.) pocht, wurde schon als bewusste Abkehr aufgefasst von der erzfranzösischen Pariser Musique- Concrète-Schule. Aber die Lauschangriffe auf die akustische Umwelt, hier nur deklariert mit ‚made in various places from 1994 to 2007‘, sind nicht weniger ‚typisch
französisch‘. Oben propellert ein Flieger, unten knistern Laub und Ästchen, dazwischen ein Hüsteln, Klackern und Knurschen, ein Zwitschern, Bitzeln und Zirpen, wie ein Glas prall gefüllt mit ‚Wald & Wiese‘. Duchamp hat 1919 in einer Apothekenambulle ‚Pariser Luft‘ als Readymade-Gastgeschenk mit in die USA genommen. Peyronnet könnte entsprechend 20 Minuten ‚Heimatklang‘ verschenken, so komprimiert, dass er explosiv verpufft, dass es wie ein Percussionorchester aufrauscht und dann minutenlang nachbebt, als synästhetisches Konzentrat von ‚Natur‘, über die hinweg erneut
Flugzeuge ihre Bahn ziehen" [Bad Alchemy]
"kdi dctb 039 is a part of a trilogy made up of 'kdi dctb 151' (See bremsstrahlung recordings), 'kdi dctb 039' & 'kdi dctb 180' (TBR).
Another piece about childhood memories composed only with field recordings made in various places visited from 1994 to 2007 : acoustic spaces, sound objects, sound auscultations, bits of soundscapes... Microphone and recorder as the primary tools. It's sometimes good to make a pause, seat and take a look at the
past - then, some sound fragments may appear... our sound memory. toy.bizarre (Cédric Peyronnet / ingeos) - sometimes qualified as "rural headphone electro(acoustro)nic music" - works on field recordings, phonography, soundscapes, sound art, since 1985. He has released more than 40 works on CDs, tapes, videos, compilations...Contact : http://www.ingeos.org" [label info]
"Throughout the '90s, Cedric Peyronnet would boldy announce that none of his Toy Bizarre recordings were made with synthesizers
or samplers, instead with field recordings and collage techniques as his twin media. It has been speculated that this notion comes from a
punk attitude against France's institutional avant-garde which evolved out of the work of Pierre Schaefer and Pierre Henri; but at the same time, Peyronnet's recordings focus on the specificity of sound locations, and the technology of samplers and synthesizers didn't have the ability to reflect the unpredictability that Peyronnet witnessed in environmental sound. While Peyronnet doesn't
mentioned his aversion to technology on this 3" from Ferns, he's retained the same adventurous sensibility for dynamic edits coupled with nocturnal, slippery ambience. From the jump-start opening of crackling twigs and grasses with an airplane's Doppler-effected
engine roaring in the distance, Peyronnet's 20 minute composition dissolves into elegantly fluid timbres weaving out of tactile sounds
from sand, grit, gravel, and other bits of detritus. Once all of the sounds have all settled into a drift of stasis, a quick jump to another set of textures and abrasions begins with a corresponding set of sympathetic drones. Fans of Loren Chasse's field recording work,
Tarab, and Steve Roden should all take note of this exceptional release." [Aquarius Records]
|
2007 |
€6.50 |
|
| |
kdi dctb 278 |
CD |
" “kdi dctb 278” is what I call a sound film. Its shape entirely and solely based on the sound recording of places – as in all of my pieces – fits my refusal to make a choice of abstraction or narration and willingness to stay in an in-between, to maintain a dialogue between abstraction / narrative, which would be close to the daydream.
“kdi dctb 278” was recorded 1994~2013 @ various locations; sequences built for various projects.
Some parts appeared first in the kdi dct 216 “garden / square meter” series (Melbourne), thanks to Jude Anderson, Jacques Soddell.
Tested live (parts) @ Instants Chavirés, L’Audible Festival, Paris, 2012/09, thanks to Jérôme Noetinger.
Tested live (fully) @ Sonikas, Madrid, 2013/12 – thanks to Juan Carlos Blancas, Alfonso Pomeda & the man-who-saw-codex-but-lost-the-way.
This version, mixed 2015/06 @ TBS
Release date: 09.2015
Label : Semperflorens
Time: 41:43 mins
Format: CD in DVDBOX
Limited to 500 copies" [toy bizarre info]
www.ingeos.org/en/kdi-dctb-278/
"After all these years, we are still not all that clear what the acronym that Cedric Peyronnet (aka Toy Bizarre) has used for the bulk of his album titles. It's definitely some sort of cataloging system as his titles are in sequential fashion, now reaching 278, though there are some sizable jumps between the various numbers. Peyronnet may have explained what this may mean somewhere and at sometime, but enlightenment eludes us. So, we'll collectively shrug and move onto this vivid collection of manipulated field recordings and phonographic compositions that are found on this impressive album. Since the late '80s or thereabouts, Peyronnet has used natural sounds as his primary source material, working in parallel to Eric La Casa, Small Cruel Party, Tarab, and some of the more obtuse practitioners of contemporary musique concrete. Peyronnet's uneasy dislocations never settle on the notions of purely objective / narrative descriptions of sound, nor could they be defined as abstraction. So one can hear jolting splashes of water and mud along with Luc Ferrari like snippets of human voice well-removed from context alongside filter-heavy drones of liquid miasma and mercurial drones dappled with found object texture and splattered detritus. Peyronnet has quite a knack for rendering all of the components of his compositions with an incredible sharpness of detail - the purity of his dilated frequencies and an exactness to environmental elements work into his slippery compositions punctured with bursts of energy that Peyronnet allows to wane into solemn pools of contemplation." [Aquarius Rec.]
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| TOY BIZARRE & PIERRE REDON |
Saisons |
CD |
Die field recording drones von TOY BIZARRE im Zusammenspiel mit PIERRE REDONs feiner Gitarrenarbeit! Auf vier Stücken (zweimal beide zusammen, je eines beide solo) vermischen sich kunstvoll schwelend flächigen Klänge, immer wieder durchbrochen von elektro-akustischen Momenten, fein & subtil verwoben.
"This collaborative effort brings us some of the most beautiful and atmospheric instances of composition with nature. the four tracks, some
solitary works, some creatied by using field sourcings of the opponent, feature subtle wildlife field recordings, detailed electro-acoustic passages, swelling metallic drones and amplified silences." [label info]
"...Toy Bizarre is perhaps one of the last 'old' guys to use his band name rather than his own name, Cedric Peyronnet, which is good. Pierre Redon is a much younger guy and never used a band name, which is also good. They have been playing music together since 2002. Peyronnet is in fine electro-acoustic mood and Redon's main instrument is the guitar and electronics. They both play two pieces, Redon springtime and autumn (first and last piece), Toy Bizarre summer and winter (the two pieces in the middle). Listened closely to the music, one can spot the differences, even when Redon uses field recordings and Toy Bizarre makes his field recordings sound like drones. The result should appeal to all lovers of drone related music with a good, sturdy look at the world of field recordings. Subtle music goes loud, noise music goes subtle. Mind you, this is not a work of microsound. There is much more happening than just a few static crackles built from a ten second rain sample. This is quite vivid, imaginative electro-acoustic music. Great stuff." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| TOY BIZARRE / EMERGE |
untitled |
LP |
Since the 1990s, French sound artist Cédric Peyronnet has established himself as one of the most prolific and original composers working with field recordings. After numerous CD releases under his own name and as ingeos and toy.bizarre, this is his first ever vinyl. It was made commissioned by composer and label head EMERGE. A long-standing fan of Peyronnet, he contributes a piece to the split release that is based on Peyronnet’s recordings.
The theme running through the whole split album is the acoustics of mines. All material is based on field recordings made by Peyronnet in (partially disused) French mines in the mid-1990s. Scratching, gravelly, cavernous sounds dominate the soundscape, evoking a world of subterranean gloom that seems familiar to listeners of EMERGE’s bass-heavy drone compositions. In Peyronnet’s piece, the field recordings are simply arranged in a collage-like manner, but the atmosphere created by this editing is strikingly similar to the one dominating the album side processed by EMERGE. This turns the album into a subtle play with the expectations of the audience. What just a second ago seemed to be mere random ambient sound suddenly turns into a musical structure through rhythmic repetition, and an apparently documentary audio snapshot might actually be digitally treated. Through this intriguing interplay, the two artists make us reflect on the role of the recording medium which, through the very fact that it is a medium, turns every ‘natural’ sound into a ‘cultural’ artefact.
toy.bizarre - kdi dctb 018
Original recordings were made in Puy-Les-Vignes disused mine, April and May 1995.
Some parts were used on the M.SL tape published by kaon.
Composed / Mixed @ TBS, Tlse, 2014. SACEM 2014.
www.ingeos.org
EMERGE - msl
all sounds recorded by Cédric Peyronnet with analog device (tape) around 1995 in the MSL mine, reworked on site & replayed with speakers inside the place then re-recorded by Cédric Peyronnet treatment and composition by EMERGE in 2014 photography by Cyril Herry design by EMERGE
label info
www.attenuationcircuit.de
|
2015 |
€16.00 |
|
| TRAMA AFONA |
Trama afonA |
CD |
"Trama afonA is the sound/visual project by Lorenzo Scacchia (Roma, 1977), a vain attempt to tramaphonise (convey) what he sees in the dark and hears into silence…
Apart from a few self-productions, this album constitutes the first official release, gathering tracks composed between 2005 and 2008 (presented in reverse chronological order). Tracks 1, 3 were inspired by a wonderful creature. Tracks 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12 were composed as soundtrack for various solo photo/graphic exhibitions by Trama afonA. Track 4 drew inspiration from a story by H. P. Lovecraft. Track 11 was composed for an Italian compilation. Tracks 13, 14 were the soundtrack for the former Trama afonA’s website.
Trama afonA is gathering suggestions from the contemporary quotidian theatre and at the same time from the past, namely the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Paying particular attention to the individual and specific human stories, rather than to History… Focusing on what happens behind the scenes, aside, beneath. Subjects and dynamics less showy, blurred, but not consequently less interesting or worth caring. Opening doors and drawers using the sole curiosity as tool, walking backwards the traces of memory, wandering amid shades and details given by mystery, decadence, abandon, romanticism… Carefully delving into psychological dynamics. Openly denouncing the social plagues, but often humbly providing just visual and sound suggestions.
A brief semantic note about Trama afonA: the Italian noun trama has 3 significations, corresponding to the English plot (as a story line as well as a conspiracy) and weft (of a woven material); the adjective afona means aphonic." [label info]
www.greytone.eu
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| TRANSITIONAL |
Nothing Real Nothing Absent |
CD |
Erinnert sich noch jemand an die begnadeten HEAD OF DAVID? Das lief damals unter "britischem Noise-Rock", war aber weitaus abgründiger und experimenteller als viele andere Bands mit derselben Stilrichtung aus dieser Zeit, von der Innovationskraft & rabenschwarzen Radikalität ehesten vielleicht noch mit der New Yorker Band LIVE SKULL vergleichbar. DAVE COCHRANE gehörte zur Urbesetzung von HEAD OF DAVID, war später bei GOD, SWEET TOOTH und JESU, und brilliert nun in diesem neuen Duo TRANSITIONAL, das irgendwo zwischen JESU-Rock und elektronischen Power-Trance & Drone angesiedelt ist, mitreissend wie hier rohe Kraft in betörende Bahnen gelenkt wird....trancige Beats, Weite, rauhe Sounds wie Wellen & Wind...
"Transitional is the new project of musician producer Kevin Laska (Novatron) and long time Justin K Broadrick and Kevin Martin collaborator Dave Cochrane (Jesu, Grey Machine,). The debut 'Nothing real Nothing Absent' offers a rich variety in their approach to sound combining crushing atmospheres through a mixture of electronic ambience, mangling bass lines and distorted epic layers of textured guitar. Injected with driving rhythms and effected vocal phrasing Laska and Cochrane build discordant worlds on an immense scale which pull you down to another level of fear and ethereal bliss before kicking off with some more soul dismantling sonic dysfunction.
This is a band which can deliver both sonic tranquility and extremely heavy slabs of dense music and just about everything in between; Heavy electronic machinery, juggernaut bass lines and hypnotic guitars go from passive relaxation to an unstoppable machine within a single surge. Kevin Laska's woven creations of bleak electronic/organic mesmerizing mayhem and bliss has found a new level. Now joined by legendary bassist Dave Cochrane who played with the likes of Kevin Martin in God, Ice and The Bug and Justin Broadrick in Jesu and Head of David. Born September 2006 Laska's found himself in another quality up with Cochrane, following his last collaboration with a.o. Russel Smith and Anthony Difranco (Ramleh, ex Skullflower) as Novatron. Transitional; a solid, textured and dynamic sonic journey through a world that is both self deprecating and enlightening, but either way leaves you wanting more." [label info]
www.conspiracyrecords.com
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| TREMBLAY, PIERRE-ALEXANDRE |
Alter ego |
DVD-A |
Autoportrait (2001). au Croisé, le silence, seul, tient lieu de parole (2000). Binary (Virtual Rapper Remix) (1998). fugue; qui sent le temps? (1997). la cloche fêlée (2004)
"The other self - Finding in music an accomplice, the other, without whom nothing is possible, without whom one cannot grow. Better: through his contact, one really exists, since one plainly sees oneself. A mirror. the other me - My music as an intimate insight, naked, subject to the world's judgement: an act of humility. Through it I present a hidden side of my torment, in my name, alone to take on the poetry of its imperfection. Of my imperfection. the other you - Proposing dreams fragments, paths for wandering, where others can hopefully loose themselves and self-identify to the extent of purging their humanity. Or just to enjoy the road. the other thing - work, not as a superficial exercise of aesthetic seduction, but as an attempt to transcend differences toward the Übermensch. Strong arguments, amoral, music as a vehicle of reflections, Expressionist and Romantic, inducing an effervescence, an urgency to live. Perhaps simply beautiful? other." Pierre-Alexandre Tremblay.
First initiated to the world of classical guitar at an early age, Pierre Alexandre Tremblay subsequently dedicated body and soul to composition and bass guitar during his adolescent years. With the support and guidance of Jean-Guy Larin, Michel Tétreault, Michel Donato and Marcelle Deschênes, the young composer forged his unique language in Montréal's teeming cultural life of the '90s and, in 1998, completed his bachelor's degree in composition at the Université de Montréal. Pierre Alexandre Tremblay continued to explore further musical endeavours in the creative atmosphere of England at the beginning of the millennium. He was awarded his PhD in Electroacoustic Composition from the University of Birmingham (UK) in 2005, under the supervision of Jonty Harrison. Since then, Pierre Alexandre Tremblay teaches composition at the University of Huddersfield (UK). In parallel with his academic path, Pierre Alexandre Tremblay formed, in 1996, the contemporary jazz ensemble [iks], which he still leads and with which he continues to tour Europe, America, and Africa. With this ensemble, that has released six albums to date, he practices improvisation on his instrument and, more recently, on realtime processing devices. He is also frequently in the studio for popular music artists, both as producer and session bassist. Well versed in these aesthetic approaches that he considers complementary, Pierre Alexandre Tremblay now seeks to unite them into a single coherent poetic language. He spends his spare time, pursuing his interests in reading and photography, and with his family. In addition, as founding member of the no-tv collective, he does not own a working television set.
[label info / credits]
www.empreintesdigitales.com
|
2006 |
€12.00 |
|
| TREPANERINGSRITUALEN |
Deathward, To The Womb |
LP |
"Trepaneringsritualen's long out of print debut release, Deathward, To The Womb (2012) finally sees a proper reissue. An invocation not so much of Babalon herself, but of the tormented elemental of Frater T.O.P.A.N., and his fervent attempts to usher in the Æon of Horus. In the lyrics - based on the texts of Frater T.O.P.A.N. on the Babalon Working - the perilous flame that is Babalon is called upon to ravage creation. She is asked to scorch the earth clean for the coming cosmic renovation. The Eternal Virgin would spring from Her womb. From Her love, the new divine man would be born. 70 years after the Bablon Working was deemed successfully concluded, its utter failure is painfully apparent. "All love songs are of me" She says. This is certainly true of the first five songs of Deathward, To The Womb. The final songs, "All Hail The Black Flame", seem different altogether. In this guise, Babalon brings not solely love, but cataclysm; a holocaust brought upon the domain of Man. Manifested as the Black Flame, She reaches from a time before time, formless chaos, and rips apart the very fabric of the created worlds. Such is Her nature: two opposing principles; that of the nurturing mother, and that of the callous destroyer. "She is flame of life, power of darkness - She destroys with a glance - She may take thy soul. She feeds upon the death of men." Babalon was summoned at Winter Solstice 2015 under the sign of n, with assistance from Alone In The Hollow Garden, A.I.L of Arktau Eos, Michael Idehall, KzR of Bölzer, Nÿland ii of Hadewych, and Æther. To destroy and to give life. This ritual has concluded and was successful. Appended to the six original songs is a specially commissioned 12 minutes and 57 seconds long ritual work entitled "I Remember When I Was God", and attributed to Teeraal Räum Pheynix."
www.coldspring.co.uk
"Seit "Perfection & Permanence", dem letzten regulären, 2014 erschienenen Studioalbum von TREPANERINGSRITUALEN kümmert man sich beim neuen Hauslabel COLD SPRING offenbar verstärkt um das Aufforsten vergriffener Werke des umtriebigen Okkult-Post-Industrial-Kuttenträgers aus Göteborg, und so ist nach "Veil The World", der Reissue eines Tape-Boxsets aus dem Jahre 2011, nun "Deathward, To The Womb" dran. Das Original erschien 2012 als eine der allerletzten Veröffentlichungen des, noch im selben Jahr verschiedenen, schwedischen Label RELEASE THE BATS im 10''-Format in einer recht übersichtlichen Auflage von 275 Stück. Damit sich die Anschaffung der, nunmehr als CD und LP erhältlichen Wiederveröffentlichung auch für jene Klientel lohnt, die das gute Stück im Original ihr Eigen nennen, hat man seitens COLD SPRING noch den knapp 13-minütigen Track "I Remember When I Was God" obendrauf gepackt, der 2015 in genretranszendierender Zusammenarbeit mit allerlei illustren Zunftgenossen wie MICHAEL IDEHALL, ÆTHER oder dem BÖLZER-Frontmann KZR aufgenommen wurde. Auf der CD prangen zwischen dem letzten regulären Stück der Original-10'' und dem besagten Bonbon übrigens zwölf, jeweils viersekündige "Silent Tracks" – was genau das letztendlich nun soll, erschließt sich dem Rezensenten nicht wirklich, und daran ändert auch eine entsprechende Anmerkung auf der discogs-Seite der CD – "Tracks 7-18 contain no music, but are part of the T × R × P ritual" - rein gar nichts, doch was soll's: dass THOMAS MARTIN EKELUND, der Mann hinter TREPANERINGSRITUALEN, eine ausgeprägt paramystizistische Ader und ein erklärtes Faible für okkultistische Umtriebe hat, ist ja nun hinlänglich bekannt, und insofern wird sich der Mann schon irgendwas dabei gedacht haben, was dem Endergebnis dienlich ist bzw. war. Der Verbraucher muss schließlich nicht alles wissen & verstehen, was zum Produkt beigetragen hat, und entscheidend ist ja, nach des Altkanzlers Helmut Kohl weisen Worten, am Ende immer nur, was hinten 'rauskommt: im vorliegenden Fall weiß das jedenfalls durchaus zu gefallen.
Nach dieser kurzen Einleitung dürfte dem Leser bereits klargeworden sein, dass es sich bei "Deathward, To The Womb" um ein dezidiert "rituelles" Werk handelt, weshalb derjenige an dieser Stelle bereits vorgewarnt sein soll, der primär auf nach vorne losbratzende Gassenhauer wie "Judas Goat", "Papist Pretender" oder "Castrate Christ" schielt: Abgesehen von der geradezu atemberaubend treibenden Quasi-T × R × P-Hymne "All Hail The Black Flame", einer todsicheren Bank während jeder Live-Darbietung des Schweden, ist's mit dergleichen nach vorne losgehendem, rumpeligen Black-Post-Industrial auf dem vorliegenden Album ansonsten eher Essig. Es dominiert jene konzentrierte, fiebertraumartige Lo-Fi-Gruselatmosphäre, die die Phantasie des Hörers auch ohne expliziten Hinweis in nachtfinstere Bereiche namenloser In- & Evokationen lenkt, wie sie Meister EKELUND so gerne thematisiert. Und ganz in diesem Sinne rekurriert "Deathward, To The Womb" auf die so genannten "Babalon Workings", eine Serie magischer Rituale, die 1946 vom späteren Scientology-Gründer L. Ron Hubbard und dem Raketeningenieur (sic!) und Autor Jack Parsons – okkulter Ordensname "Frater T.O.P.A.N" – durchgeführt wurden, um eine Inkarnation der thelemitischen Entität Babalon – einer Art archetypischen weiblichen Gottheit auf Basis der mythomagischen Modelle Aleister Crowleys – zu manifestieren. Wie die Fama munkelt, warnte "Ipsissimus" Crowley Parsons vor den schwer kontrollierbaren Effekten seines Unternehmens, und das nimmt wenig wunder, bezeichnet Babalon doch ein Konzept, das seine passendste Analogie wohl in der hinduistischen Göttin Durga bzw. deren dezidiert "dunklem" Aspekt Kali hat: es vereinigt in sich die Polarität des Hervorbringens und des Verschlingens, mithin des Lebens und des Todes. Parsons jedoch war guter Dinge, erklärte nach einiger Zeit den ersten Teil des Rituals für erfolgreich abgeschlossen, um unmittelbar danach seine spätere Frau Marjorie Cameron kennenzulernen, bei der es sich seiner Überzeugung nach prompt um ebenjene Manifestation der Babalon handelte, die Hubbard und er beschworen hatten. Nachdem Parsons aufgrund eines tödlichen Unfalls verstorben war (ursächlich war eine Explosion in der heimischen Küche während des Hantierens mit allerlei hochsensiblen Substanzen, die das halbe Haus in Schutt und Asche legte – wahrlich ein, eines Raketeningenieurs würdiges Ende!), verrannte sich seine Witwe in die Theorie, ihr Göttergatte sei von finsteren Mächten ermordet worden, blieb ihrem magischen way of life aber treu und spielte noch bis ins hohe Alter eine illustre Rolle in thelemitischen Künstler- und Okkultistenkreisen. Zu ihrem Freundes- und Bekanntenkreis zählte von KENNETH ANGER (in dessen Kurzfilm "Inauguration Of The Pleasure Dome" sie die Rolle der Scarlet Woman aka Babalon bzw. der Kali übernahm) über ANTON LA VEY bis zu GENESIS P. ORRIDGE so ziemlich alles, was in der einschlägigen Szene Rang & Namen hatte. Marjorie Cameron verschied 1995 im Alter von 76 Jahren, nachdem sie auf dem Sterbebett im Krankenhaus die letzten thelemitischen Sakramente durch eine Hohepriesterin des O.T.O erhalten hatte.
Der vergleichsweise ausführliche Exkurs über die Dame ist durch die thematische Agenda von "Deathward, To The Womb" bedingt: "An invocation not so much of BABALON Herself, but of the tormented elemental of Frater T.O.P.A.N., and his fervent attempts to usher in the Æon of Horus." Die Lyrics, so die labelseitige Auskunft weiter, seien anhand der Schriften des Frater T.O.P.A.N alias Jack Parsons entstanden und thematisieren das Babalon-Konzept als schwarze, den Erdkreis kathartisch reinigende, Flamme, nach deren segensreichem Großreinemachen aus der Asche der alten Welt ein neuer Quasi-Gott-Mensch hervorgeht. Die fragliche eschatologische Powerfrau sah Parsons, wie gesagt, in seiner Marjorie bereits idealtypisch verkörpert, womit der Erfolg der gesamten Veranstaltung für ihn außer Frage stand – schon Crowley war da skeptisch, und im Lichte der Erfahrung haut der Promotext in exakt dieselbe Kerbe: "70 years after the Bablon Working was deemed successfully concluded, its utter failure is painfully apparent." Und in der Tat – blickt man in der Weltgeschichte so um sich, ist man spontan geneigt, zuzustimmen: weit & breit nüscht zu sehen vom "new divine man", ganz im Gegenteil. So gesehen verlegt "Deathward, To The Womb" den Focus von PARSONSs schwachbrüstiger Happy-End-Finalität auf den wesentlich lebenswirklicheren, nämlich verschlingenden, kaliesken Aspekt Babalons, der exemplarisch im bereits erwähnten "All Hail The Black Flame" zum Ausdruck kommt: "In this guise, BABALON brings not solely love, but cataclysm; a holocaust brought upon the domain of Man. Manifested as the Black Flame, She reaches from a time before time, formless chaos, and rips apart the very fabric of the created worlds. Such is Her nature: two opposing principles; that of the nurturing mother, and that of the callous destroyer." Rein musikalisch handelt es sich hier zweifellos um den T × R × P -Klopper schlechthin: unterlegt von martialischem, treibend-wummerndem Getrommel und rhythmischem Metallschlagwerk krakeelt sich EKELUND die schwarze Seele aus dem Leibe und beschwört das Jüngste Gericht – herrlich, einfach herrlich!
"»All love songs are of me« She says. This is certainly true of the first five songs of Deathward, To The Womb", so der Promotext, wobei, naja, von "love songs" im engeren Sinne hier sicherlich nur die wenigsten sprechen würden, doch insofern die ersten fünf Stücke sich alle durch ihren rituell-kontemplativen, teilweise devotionalen und bisweilen gar hymnischen Charakter auszeichnen, kann man sie in einem sehr weiten, übertragenen Sinne tatsächlich so bezeichnen. "The Birth Of Babalon" und der anschließende Titeltrack klingen wie Meditationssessions am Grunde des Hades – hier wie zumeist ist es freilich insbesondere EKELUNDs gutturales Gegurgel, das diesen speziellen, dämonischen Mehrwert maßgeblich generiert. "Osiris, Slain & Risen" (der Bezug zum Babalon-Konzept ergibt sich durch Osiris' Ehefrau Isis, die die Einzelteile des von seinem Bruder Seth Ermordeten und Zerstückelten einsammelt und neu zusammensetzt) wirkt durch den monotonen, trockenen und dumpfen Grundrhythmus, über dem EKELUNDs Gezeter dahintreibt, fast noch eine Spur finsterer. "She Is Flame Of Light" ist ein weiterer Höhepunkt des Albums und als solcher treibender und hypnotischer als die vorangegangenen Tracks, wobei es insbesondere die stimmig übereinandergeschichteten Vocals sind, die für den morbiden Charme ursächlich sind. "Sacrament & Crucifixion", obgleich ebenfalls keineswegs übel, geht danach etwas unter und hinterlässt insgesamt einen vergleichsweise indifferenten Gesamteindruck. Danach folgt "All Hail The Black Flame": toll, toll, toll – aber davon hatten wir's ja schon mehrfach. Bleibt zu guter letzt noch der Bonustrack "I Remember When I Was God", doch, um's kurz zu machen: obgleich der Rezensent insbesondere die langen, rituellen Stücke von TREPANERINGSRITUALEN – so z.B. "ÅKALLAN: Mímir" vom DEATHSTENCH- oder "Edifice Of Nine Sauvastikas" vom ÆTHER-Split – ausdrücklich zu schätzen weiß, so haut ihn das hier jetzt nicht so wirklich aus den Latschen. Irgendwie klingt die Nummer im Ganzen ein klitzekleines bisschen disparat, man vermisst diese gewisse innere Spannung, die die einzelnen Elemente zusammenhält und zu einem kohärenten Ganzen zusammenfasst. Mag am Ende vielleicht auch an der Vielzahl der Beteiligten liegen, denn, wie sagt das Sprichwort doch so schön: "Zu viele Köche verderben den Brei". Und bei "I Remember When I Was God" haben möglicherweise wirklich zwei oder drei Köche zu viel mitgemischt. Wobei der Brei freilich trotzdem nicht unbedingt verdorben, sondern durchaus genießbar ist, nichtsdestoweniger hat man dergleichen von TREPANERINGSRITUALEN schon mal besser gehört.
Summa summarum rubriziert "Deathward, To The Womb" trotzdem ohne Wenn & Aber unter "Pflichtkauf": zum einen, weil es sich dabei schon jetzt um so etwas wie einen zeitgenössischen Klassiker des Genres handelt, zum anderen, weil es einfach ein spannendes, fesselndes Album ist, das selbst in seinen ruhigen Passagen so mitreißend und stimmungsintensiv ist wie wenig andere. Obendrein bekommt derjenige, der vor dem Hintergrund der vergleichsweise schmissigen 2014er Scheibe "Perfection & Permanence" Lust bekommen hat, sich in die etwas abgelegeneren Gefilde des EKELUNDschen Oevres einzuarbeiten, mit dem hier versammelten Menü eine hervorragende Einführung an die Hand. Im übrigen macht diese Neuauflage Lust auf mehr. Und wer "A" sagt, muss bekanntlich auch "B" sagen. Ganz in diesem Sinne fiebert der Autor dieser Zeilen jetzt schon prophylaktisch möglichen Reissues von "Roi Perdu" oder "Septentrional" entgegen: ist das nicht 'ne super Idee, Herr EKELUND? Bei COLD SPRING wenigstens wäre man dafür bestimmt Feuer & Flamme – schwarze Flamme!" [Endsal / NON-POP] |
2017 |
€19.00 |
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Yours is a Kingdom of Death |
CD |
This is unification!
Two sides from split LPs — with Body Cargo, and Deathstench respectively — joined into the whole they were always ment to be.
»Yours Is A Kingdom of Death« is an exercise in sombre slow-moving death chants, ritualistic in appearance and in intent.
A renunciation of the created world; a glorification of the New Man; he who is beyond life and death, existing as pure flame alit in eternal void.
Channeled by Thoth XIX at the 63rd Link, 2013 e.v. Mastered by Nordvargr.
www.oldeuropacafe.com
|
2017 |
€13.00 |
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Yours is a Kingdom of Death |
LP |
This is unification!
Two sides from split LPs — with Body Cargo, and Deathstench respectively — joined into the whole they were always ment to be.
»Yours Is A Kingdom of Death« is an exercise in sombre slow-moving death chants, ritualistic in appearance and in intent.
A renunciation of the created world; a glorification of the New Man; he who is beyond life and death, existing as pure flame alit in eternal void.
Channeled by Thoth XIX at the 63rd Link, 2013 e.v. Mastered by Nordvargr.
The SOLID edition for fans and collectors
limited to 300 copies
on DEATH-WHITE Vinyl
Tracklist:
A1 Unclæna Ghast
A2 Gravfärd
A3 Death Worship
B1 Åkallan: Mímirm
|
2018 |
€23.00 |
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Algir; Eller Algir I Merkstave |
LP |
Trepaneringsritualen return to Cold Spring with an album-long ritual working entitled ᛉᛦ — Algir; eller Algir i Merkstave. On this record — constructed from a series of rituals designated to guide the last ceasing of ᛏᛇᚱᚫ ᚾ ∴ ᚾ ∴ ᚾ — T × R × P is manifest in its most obscure form. Sonically minimal yet devastating in emotional impact, this working lets the listener grasp the last vestiges of Nifl and Múspell, and with them as weapon and beacon traverse the Night. ᛉᛦ reveals a barren landscape where crooked paths lead onward, through soot black veils to a point of radiant light where all that is is Union & Dissolution.
Dedicated to our sister, ᛏᛇᚱᚫ ᚾ ∴ ᚾ ∴ ᚾ.
T × R × P channelled through the forms of ᚦᛟᚦ ᚷᛁᚷ, ᚾᛟᚺ ⩝⚭⩝, and ᛏᛇᚱᚫ ᚾ ∴ ᚾ ∴ ᚾ at the 63rd Link, 4 & Rising, and Zone Rouge December 2017 e.v. — July 2018 e.v. Mastered by Martin Bowes. Artwork by Nullvoid.
___
I tordön rister marken och i ett enda andetag rämnar alla världar. Den arma kropp som en gång med knapphet höll samman faller nu itu, och itu, och itu. Tills varje beståndsdel blir till Ingenting. Likt en vålnad utan hud och blod och anda — utan köttets förtvivlan — kastar jag mig — handlöst och av vanvett vredgad — i ditt vidunderliga gap.
Här, i gudars sotsvarta skymning, där natt och dag förgås, hörs alla ord och stäv för första gången tydligt. Här tar alla vaga förnimmelser sin sanna form och stiger ur ett disigt skimmer.
Här, i alla solars gyllne gryning, strålar tusen — åter tusen, pilar av det mest förblindande ljus, mot en enda punkt. Skapandet, och varandet, och blivandet löses upp där prisman splittrar ljuset. Framför mig syns vägen klar och uppenbar.
Vi Vandrar Vidare
V ∴ V ∴ V
CD in 6-panel digipak
LP - Limited first edition of 500 copies on 180g black vinyl. Printed inner sleeve with reverse board outer sleeve.
Official teaser: youtu.be/8bTlXaUPpzI
https://coldspring.bandcamp.com/album/algir-eller-algir-i-merkstave-csr275cd-lp |
2019 |
€22.50 |
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Algir; Eller Algir I Merkstave |
CD |
Trepaneringsritualen return to Cold Spring with an album-long ritual working entitled ᛉᛦ — Algir; eller Algir i Merkstave. On this record — constructed from a series of rituals designated to guide the last ceasing of ᛏᛇᚱᚫ ᚾ ∴ ᚾ ∴ ᚾ — T × R × P is manifest in its most obscure form. Sonically minimal yet devastating in emotional impact, this working lets the listener grasp the last vestiges of Nifl and Múspell, and with them as weapon and beacon traverse the Night. ᛉᛦ reveals a barren landscape where crooked paths lead onward, through soot black veils to a point of radiant light where all that is is Union & Dissolution.
Dedicated to our sister, ᛏᛇᚱᚫ ᚾ ∴ ᚾ ∴ ᚾ.
T × R × P channelled through the forms of ᚦᛟᚦ ᚷᛁᚷ, ᚾᛟᚺ ⩝⚭⩝, and ᛏᛇᚱᚫ ᚾ ∴ ᚾ ∴ ᚾ at the 63rd Link, 4 & Rising, and Zone Rouge December 2017 e.v. — July 2018 e.v. Mastered by Martin Bowes. Artwork by Nullvoid.
___
I tordön rister marken och i ett enda andetag rämnar alla världar. Den arma kropp som en gång med knapphet höll samman faller nu itu, och itu, och itu. Tills varje beståndsdel blir till Ingenting. Likt en vålnad utan hud och blod och anda — utan köttets förtvivlan — kastar jag mig — handlöst och av vanvett vredgad — i ditt vidunderliga gap.
Här, i gudars sotsvarta skymning, där natt och dag förgås, hörs alla ord och stäv för första gången tydligt. Här tar alla vaga förnimmelser sin sanna form och stiger ur ett disigt skimmer.
Här, i alla solars gyllne gryning, strålar tusen — åter tusen, pilar av det mest förblindande ljus, mot en enda punkt. Skapandet, och varandet, och blivandet löses upp där prisman splittrar ljuset. Framför mig syns vägen klar och uppenbar.
Vi Vandrar Vidare
V ∴ V ∴ V
CD in 6-panel digipak
LP - Limited first edition of 500 copies on 180g black vinyl. Printed inner sleeve with reverse board outer sleeve.
Official teaser: youtu.be/8bTlXaUPpzI
https://coldspring.bandcamp.com/album/algir-eller-algir-i-merkstave-csr275cd-lp
"After a run of strong albums framed around vocal driven, rhythmic death industrial compositions, Trepaneringsritualen (TxRxP) has chosen to take an abrupt left-hand turn (onto the left hand path?) to deliver an extremely minimalist ritual dark ambient album, thus harks back to an earlier phase of the project. In fact this new instrumental album is so minimal and ritualized in style, it would not at all be out of place on the Aural Hypnox label.
Compositionally this album consists of two lengthy nineteen-minute tracks, each titled with the algiz rune, but noting for the second track the algiz rune has been inverted. To glean meaning from this, in its upturned position, the algiz rune can be interpreted as a human with upraised arms to received the protection, guidance and wisdom from the Universe. But in its inverted position can be interpreted as meaning hidden dangers for the self and the need to reflect and look within as part of the process of gaining strength and connecting with higher self. Yet even with the cover image of the algiz rune formed by tree branches, based on the spartan artwork and text in Swedish, how the algiz runes should be interpreted in context of this album remains unclear.
Sonically speaking the atmosphere is one of bass driven tonal depth and catacombic echo, where blackened washes of archaic drones blend with reverb drenched ritual percussive sounds, including: deep catatonic drum hits; sparse gongs; wailing horns; ritual chimes; singing bowls, low atonal piano notes etc. Yet for all of its apparent minimalism, this album is one that immediately draws you into its sinister clutches and does not loosen its grip for the entire album duration, particularly given the ample tensile sonic elements which keep interest and engagement throughout. Although cut into two separate tracks, the sound effectively plays out at an album length track as the sound between the two pieces bridges the same pace and articulates visions in the mind’s eye of a ritual ceremony being conducted in the falling twilight on the damp forest floor, while tree limbs creak and sway in response to the winds gusting through treetops far above. Also of note is the deep shuddering thud featuring at the start and end of the album album, as if sonically representing the opening and subsequent closing of a ritual cycle.
Prior to the release of this album, perhaps I had assumed that TxRxP would continue to forge ahead with a song-based approach. That impression has been proven to be completed incorrect, but at the same time, ᛉᛦ – Algir; Eller Algir I Merkstave is an exceptional example of minimalist and strongly meditative ritual dark ambient music, and completely takes me back to the earliest days of when I started listening to this type of music. Recommended." [Noise Receptor]
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2019 |
€13.00 |
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Oberhausen Ritual |
LP |
12" heavy 180 gram black vinyl. solid black matte cardboad sleeve with glossy black hot-foil print, plus 12" inlay and sticker. this lp includes an mp3-download-code. hand numbered edition 200 copies + overpressing
it was in the fall of 2016 that trepaneringsritualen in the shape of th.oth XIX graced the maschinenfest stage with one of their infamous rituals, and naturally this is mandatory to be documented via the raubkauf series. trepaneringsritualen has made quite a name for itself, with the signature “dödsindustri” sound since 2008, an especially vile brew of upfront electronic noise, feedback and agitating night-rhythms, fuelled by eclectic references to all kinds of magick.
the set presented on “oberhausen ritual” is a concise representation of their musical output so far, familiar tracks alternating with unheard ones, all coalescing into an intoxicatingly vile stream of sound, clocking in well under 40 minutes, yet leaving nothing to be desired.
it’s with the bleak abyss of “immaculate & incorporeal” that the listener gets sucked into the otherworld that is trepaneringsritualen, with th.oth XIX’s trademark vibrant, guttural vocals kicking in on “a black egg”, and “the 7th man” offering the first appearance of the drums of death. from there, it’s a constant buildup, with every track adding more of the ritual’s raw, primordial force, culminating in the glorious “he who is my mirror”. and it’s that grand finale which also best exemplifies his crossover credibility with other extreme music scenes (i.e. metal).
the success of trepaneringsritualen doesn’t simply come from producing led-heavy death industrial, it comes from being unique and authentic. originality and dedication, simplicity and a more than convincing overall picture – to which this live document adds an important feature.
https://raubbau.bandcamp.com/album/oberhausen-ritual-live-at-maschinenfest-2016 |
2020 |
€25.00 |
|
| TRICOLI, VALERIO |
Clonic Earth |
do-LP |
"The experimental Italian composer returns to PAN with a new LP, titled 'Clonic Earth'. His ongoing output for the label has long-presented his electroacoustic sound compositions where since the mid-'00s, he has utilized analogue live sampling and real-time editing of field and studio recordings by means of manipulation of 1/4 inch tape.
Asides from being a founding member of the Italian avant-rock group 3/4HadBeenEliminated, he has worked extensively with various musicians, choreographers and multimedia artists including Thomas Ankersmit, Antoine Chessex, Werner Dafeldecker, Anthony Pateras, and Robert Piotrowicz.
His studio compositions, documented on few records, often explore themes of the internal - represented both by the psychological and the physical - and of the occult, which with the use of spoken text makes them often deeply existential works, self-investigations of the psychological, emotional and irrational horror within.
The new record, 'Clonic Earth' is a perturbing, compelling and eventually mind-expanding work, marked by compositional strategies of exploded narratives, psychological insight and oracular literary references, where questions about the boundaries of spatial perception in the decoding processes of acousmatic music are overturned into existential, metaphysical questions.
Tricoli's allegorical and philosophical universe takes the form of an unhinged mind's landscape swarming with estranged sound objects, and sometimes reminiscent, in the complexity of details and surrealistic effects, of Hieronymus Bosch's larger paintings. Compared to his previous works, the content of 'Clonic Earth' explores more synthesized and heavily processed sounds, especially vocals, often appearing in the form of a religious, electrified chanting.
The record is described by its author as a natural consequence of the internal collapse depicted in his previous record, 'Miseri Lares': 'As if all the debris left inside my loudspeakers have been ignited to expand into the ether, to find a justification at the principle of Chaos, or Cosmos alike.'
This movement is expressed by references to the theme of fire as original matter in the Chaldean Oracles which, together with the later work of Philip K. Dick, are the main sources for the vocal/text elements of the composition. Fire, intended as the convulsive principle of existence, but also an ontologically terminal element - hence a representation of the infinite decay and a mean of communication with the otherworldly Ð serves the author a metaphor for the acousmatic listening experience itself: a borderline perception of sounds eternally fixed in their spasmodic disappearance, which could eventually drag us into a different layer of reality, drastically changing, subverting, or expanding the space in which they are diffused. A ritual, somehow, which may link the listener and the perceptive space that he inhabits with whatever lies beyond the loudspeakers, beyond the vibrating surface of the world.
The 2xLP is mastered and cut by Rashad Becker at D&M, featuring artwork by Bill Kouligas."
www.p-a-n.org
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2016 |
€27.50 |
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Say Goodbye to the Wind |
Shelter Press 139cd |
The Palermo born, Munich based composer, Valerio Tricoli, has forged a singular path within experimental sound practice, continuously rethinking the relationship between electroacoustic composition and narrative possibility. Say Goodbye to the Wind is his first album with Shelter Press. Across three intricate, deeply personal works of concrète music, the composer blurs the boundaries between the tangible and abstract, weaving complex allegories for the self. Most commonly created on a RevoxB77 reel-to-reel -- manipulating, live sampling, and real-time editing/mixing of field and studio recordings -- in Tricoli's hands, estranged moments of sonorous ephemera transmogrify and intertwine as metaphorical and allegorical sums, far greater than their parts. The title of Tricoli's sixth full-length is taken from a story by J.G. Ballard, set in the desolation of a holiday resort that rests among a landscape of endless rolling dunes that are populated by "sound sculptures" and monsters. Historically, one of the primary pursuits of musique concrete is the transformation of everyday sonority into abstractions of profound meaning and weight. While this process unquestionable played a heavy hand in the composition of Say Goodbye to the Wind, Tricoli's approach to the idiom sets the stage for something entirely unique. Not only are the practices of tape music applied to field recordings, but to the sounds of piano, synthesizers, objects, and the composer's voice, in addition to interventions by Ecka Mordecai (cello), Lucio Capece (soprano saxophone), and Ida Toninato (vocals). "Lo Spopolatore", draws its title from Samuel Beckett's short story Le Dépeupleur (The Lost Ones). Tricoli's work weaves together a multitude of sonorous fragments: field recordings, voice, and diverse instrumentation. "Mimosa Hostilis" -- the name of a Brazilian plant which contains DMT -- begins with same recording as its predecessor, made of his son's breathing, a few months after his birth, in the Sicilian sea wind. Here, Tricoli treats his sources with pointillistic precision, intermingling vocal and minimal instrumental gestures into a polyrhythmic patter that transforms commonplace sonority into aural echoes of wind, rain, the shadowy species within. The title of "De Vacuum Magdeburgicus" is taken from the name of the first paper published by Otto von Guericke, a 17th century, German scientist, inventor, and politician. While no less oriented around the abstract possibilities activated by field recordings, "De Vacuum Magdeburgicus" is the album's most explicitly musical work. Warbling instrumental sounds and vocal interventions, bent by the hand tape manipulation, push toward heightened states of drama and tension, pushing and pulling against a vast pallet of textures drawn from the natural word and beyond. Artwork by Mårten Lange. Mastered by Rashad Becker.
https://shelterpress.bandcamp.com/album/say-goodbye-to-the-wind
|
2022 |
€18.50 |
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| TROUM |
Ryna |
CD |
Wiederveröffentlichung des Debut-Albums von 1998, mit neuer Artwork von TILMANN BENNINGHAUS (Berlin). Re-release of Troum's long sold out first album from 1998 with new artwork by Tilmann Benninghaus. Digipack.
"...Die acht Stuecke greifen sehr gekonnt ineinander, steigern sich von Minute zu Minute. Praesentieren sich die ersten Tracks sehr einheitlich, ambient, setzen dann leichte Rhythmusstrukturen ein, um im Finale Riurja" ihren Hoehepunkt zu finden. Alle, die sich mit auditiven Aphrodisiaka berauschen, sollten diesen Edelstein besitzen: Ein begeisterndes Noise-Ambient-Werk!" [Der Schrei]
"Vielmehr versetzen sie Gitarrensaiten in harmonische Schwingungen, um damit sinnlich erfahrbar zu machen, dass Begriffe und Ideen Herrn & Damen ohne Unterleib bleiben müssen, wenn sie sich nicht entpuppen zu Flügelwesen, Tänzern und Sängern. TROUMS Dröhnwellen singen von der Einheit von Pneuma, Psyche & Soma. Eine Einheit, die ständiger Modulation ausgesetzt ist. Beispielhaft für einen Modulator steht bei TROUM der ‚Thalamus‘, der wörtlich ‚Schlafzimmer‘ genannte Teil des Zwischenhirns, der die ein- und ausgehenden informativen Erregungen des Großhirns moduliert. Muss man das wissen? Es kann zumindest nicht schaden, sich dessen bewusst zu sein, dass TROUM im Klang & Fleisch gewordenen Wort ‚Traum‘ die psycho-physischen und environmentalen Fundamente vibrieren lässt." [Rigobert Dittmann, Bad Alchemy]
"...The general feel of the sounds here is reminiscent of the earth moving, tectonic plates in constant shuffle, the tracks building and then either shifting or worn away via attrition. Its as if Maeror Tri learned to fly through ingenuity, smoke and mirrors, while Troum has taken the ingenuity, smoke and mirrors and, somehow, grown wings. Amazing stuff!" [JC Smith]
"I believe it was 1997 when a small posting came my way stating that Maeror Tri had dissolved. At the time, this German trio had
become one of my (Jim's) favorite ensembles alongside the likes of Organum, Skullflower, and :zoviet*france:. Maeror Tri's dedication to grimly focused atmospheric music harbored all of the things that succeeded in the campaigns of industrial and ambient music; and the
Maeror Tri anonymity (or at least a mysteriousness about the group that lead to such a reading of their collective persona) certainly enhanced their charm. Albums such as Emotional Engramm and Multiple Personality Disorder had achieved heavy rotation status on my stereo (and still get pulled from the shelves quite often in this day and age); so the news that Maeror Tri was no more was met with sadness. Fortunately, two thirds of the Maeror Tri ensemble had decided to continue on but under the moniker Troum. While the name of this duo was an archaic German word for dream, Troum's pursuit of unconscious symbolism through their heavily processed guitar drones still maintained the ashen darkness that Maeror Tri perpetuated, as was evident on their first CD release Ryna, which originally came out in
1998 on the Belgian label Myotis. It should be noted that Ryna is not the first Troum recording; that honor is held by a cassette called Dreaming Muzak that came housed in a tiny pillow. Ryna quickly went out of print, along with much of the Maeror Tri back catalogue; but thankfully, Troum have repressed this early gem through their own Transgredient imprint. An album of constantly billowing black clouds, Ryna achieves the same dark ambient / dronescape signature that had marked so many great Maeror Tri / Troum releases. On occasion, cracked / decayed loops of rhythmic surging emerged from beyond the horizon of Troum's guitar suites, alluding to a Norse mythological bellow of impending doom and apocalyptic battle. While I've not done the side-by-side taste test of the two albums, the 2007 redux of Ryna appears to much louder and cleaner. Regardless, it's a pleasure to hear this record once again!" [Aquarius Records]
|
2006 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Symballein |
CD |
Sechs Stücke aus der Frühphase von TROUM, erschienen auf obskuren & raren Compilations im Zeitraum 1997 - 1999; dunkel, dronig-morastig, tieffrequent, von massiver Konsistenz, post-industriell, jenseitig ...am ehesten zu vergleichen mit der ebenfalls damals erschienenen Debut-CD RYNA.
"...alle sechs sind gute beispiele für die "kl_F/B-S/comp-Theorie", bilden trotzdem ein fast perfektes gesamtwerk und zeigen troum durchweg von ihrer düsteren seite; kavernenartig, rhythmen durch meterdicke wände gefiltert, stimmen aus der zwischenwelt. ein stärkerer kontrast zur aktuellen, dagegen fast leichten A.I.W.S. erscheint kaum möglich......
ps: die "kl_F/B-S/comp-Theorie", deren erste erwähnung hier nicht mehr eruiert werden kann, stellt die (unbewiesene) vermutung in den raum, dass bands kleinere Formate/B-Seiten/compilation-Beiträge gerne dafür nutzen, ein wenig abseitigere tracks zu platzieren. neben dem wunsch, auch mal über die eigenen stränge schlagen zu können, der experimentierlust zu frönen, wird vermutet, dass zum teil auch stücke dergestalt eine heimat finden, die aufgrund von laufzeitbeschränkungen der veröffentlichungsmedien in vorhergehenden releases gekippt werden mussten.
psps: und des wird zeit, endlich einmal small voices aus italien zu loben; allgemein + besonders und jetzt besonders wegen der coverartworks: hier strukturpappe-aufklapper mit schlitz zur cd-aufnahme: eine weitere perfekte annäherung an das lp-cover als die sowieso perfekte verpackung." [n, Unruhr.de]
"Symballein" is the second TROUM releases on SmallVoices label after the well ... "Autopoiesis" LP picture disc (SVV001) actually SOLD OUT. This album is a collection of very rare material, from the very beginning of Troum (period: 1997 - 1999). As Troum meaning the music is dreamy... The concept of the ‘Dream’ is the common thread running through Troum; the name, the music and the philosophy. For not only is TROUM the old German word for "DREAM" but, according to their website, ‘the dream, seen as a central manifestation of the unconscious, symbolizes the aim of TROUM to lead the listener into a hypnotizing dream-state of mind, a pre-verbal and primal consciousness sphere. TROUM uses music as the direct path to the Unconscious, pointing to the archaic "essence" of the human’s inner psyche. TROUM tries to create music that works like a direct transformation of unconscious matter’.
In Symballein dreams are obscure and indecipherable..., in one word nightmares; the music is archaic and droney, with multi-layered guitar drones..., oneiric ambient industrial nearly to Maeror Tri best releases. The disc in packaged in a elegant and luxurious embossed cardboard digi-sleeve. Symballein: "perceivable & non-perceivable things fall into one" [label press release]
|
2007 |
€10.00 |
|
|
Grote Mandrenke |
CD |
"Available June 20th, 2012 as a first edition of 1000 copies in a custom made book bound gatefold sleeve and full color insert. “Grote Mandrenke” is definitely a Troum with a view. The title refers to a massive Atlantic storm that killed upwards of 25,000 Europeans in the mid 14th century (about a decade after the plague showed up. HOORAY!). Troum, of course, bathe their devastating subject in swelling waves of melodic drone and sea-walls of sound. Appropriately, “Grote Mandrenke” is cinematic and melancholy; anthemic and brooding, and distinctly shoegaze, but in a way that you can look up, and you still see shoes. And bodies, floating in a foamy miasma of silted water and fish guts. In fact, this should be on a label called 5AD, because this is one awesomer. Buzzsaw ambience and measured percussive breaths comprise a perfect soundtrack for nature's dominion over man." [label info]
"An aural hallucination on the events that occurred January 15-17, 1362 at the Friesian North Sea coast. This is the studio-version of a live event performed throughout 2008 & 2009, with live-visuals by Brian Traylor. First live performance: Antwerp (BE), Jan 26, 2008 at Nuit & Brouillard festival. Last live performance: Torun (PL) March 27, 2009 at CocArt festival. Final mix: May 2011
Thanks to Chris McBeth & Brian Traylor. Special thanks to Güse S. Schierloh & Bernd Hollendiek who provided us with the main basic material - by fortunate coincidence they met already in 1993 and played (Güse) & recorded (Markow C.) the material which made this release possible. All artwork by Jesse Peper jessepeper.com. Layout and design by chris.
www.troum.com
www.troum.bandcamp.com
www.lastfm/music/troum
This is the second part in the "Power Romantic" series." [credits]
|
2012 |
€14.00 |
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|
Mare morphosis |
CD |
"'Mare morphosis' forms the third & final part of TROUMs so called 'Power Romantic' trilogy that started with 'Mare Idiophonika' in 2010. The basic materials & arrangements for this one long epic piece were created from 2009-2013 (partly based on the recordings for the 'Bach Eingeschaltet, Dritter Band' 7" dealing with experimental reworkings of J.S.BACH pieces) & to some extent used live in different live-programmes: A piece like an 'Ocean of Transformations', morphing through various stages of intensity. 'Mare morphosis' stands out in the history of TROUM studio-albums as their most symphonic, refined and orchestral effort so far. Cover photography by Paul Takahashi, graphic design by Tilmann Benninghaus (8 panel fold out digipack). First edition: 1000 copies.
'Mare morphosis definitely gives Troum’s music a new dimension, reflecting ancient waves, amplifying the power of Sehnsucht, drumming the drowning heart." [Denis Boyer / Fear Drop]
"Mare morphosis" ist eines der stimmungsvollsten und abwechslungsreichsten Werke von TROUM, die ich kenne. Die einzelnen Abschnitte wirken tatsächlich wie Sätze einer Sinfonie, ohne dass die Gesamtanmutung vernachlässigt wird: Es geht hörbar um die mächtigste aller Naturgewalten, das Wasser, in seinen unterschiedlichen Ausprägungen. Von ästhetisch über melancholisch bis düster und bedrohlich; vermutlich sind die 'Veränderungen' im Titel so zu deuten. Wunderschön und mit vielen Details zum Mehrfach-Hören gespickt.' [Michael We / nonpop.de]" [label info]
"What comes with the Power Romantic trilogy (which pt. 1 and 2 are: Mare Idiophonika, Grote Mandrenke) is brooding from the core of Troum’s universe. Relating Troum with strong Romantic tropisms is like sewing an endless canvas. In every musical piece they work, the two musicians BarakaH and Glit[s]ch navigate a vast sea of sound, recalling the Romantic feeling in front of deep landscapes that reflect the very soul, threatening in a voluptuous appeal the observer to dissolve in the totality. Troum’s attraction to the notion of Dissolution is felt every time that the sound waves inflate to shape a luminous drone, every time that the pulsation melts into a magmatic rumbling. And what about the beauty of sadness, celebrated since the days of Maeror Tri…
That sea of sound, of profound melancholic drones and waves gets its monument with the Power Romantic trilogy in which Troum show their skill in harmony, but not only. Drones and harmony still reign but a clear way is designed for melody and rhythms (as it already was in Tjukurrpa pt. 3). The oceanic feeling is fueled by new movements, like a storm upon and under the fluid. Mare morphosis, pt. 3 of the Power Romantic trilogy, opens as the very building of a Sunken Cathedral, with heavy rhythms like stone columns gently embraced by subtle sharpened melodic phrases. The whole soundscape navigates then by the tide and lets the strong motion of sound rumbling and driving to surface the heavy layers of undercurrents, bringing up to light their deep melancholic germ of melody. Mare morphosis definitely gives Troum’s music a new dimension, reflecting ancient waves, amplifying the power of Sehnsucht, drumming the drowning heart." [Denis Boyer / Fear Drop]
listen: http://troum.bandcamp.com/album/mare-morphosis-cd-2013
www.troum.com
|
2013 |
€12.00 |
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|
AIWS |
LP |
"Backwards is very happy to presents the vinyl version of TROUM classic album from 2007.
Re-mastered by Thomas Dimuzio. New amazing artwork by Pierre-Ives Girard.
AIWS covers studio-recordings composed from 2002-2005. These musicians have compiled some of their most favorable pieces through the years to be placed on this release. Presenting nine analogue (4&8 track) recorded compositions that lead the listener through vast feelings of beautifully deep melancholic and hypnotic states of mind. Composed with guitar-drones and harmonic phrases that are processed in various ways creating an atmosphere of the sublime and emotional meditative states that transcend listener to immerse within themselves. Ingredients: Sufi-songs, old vinyl-crackles, acoustic & e-guitars, e-bow, e-bass, voice & whisperings, accordion & flute. One of the most emotional and profound Troum releases! Dedicated to Eternity.
Edition of 400 copies. 100 on purple vinyl and 300 on black vinyl.
|
2017 |
€18.00 |
|
|
Synistanai |
CD |
Troum
"Synistа́nai"
aquarel 53-20
2020
SYNISTÁNAI: zusammenstellen, - fügen, - vereinigen, - verknüpfen
( to collocate, to assemble, to unite, to merge, to interloop.. )
A collection of rare & deleted tracks from compilations Vol. III (2003-2007)
Everything recorded between 01/2003 and 02/2007.
( Part I: Symballein : 1997-1999; Part II: Syzygie : 1999-2002)
CD, limited edition of 300 copies in 4-panel digisleeve
1. USWENA
2. ANANKE
3. PINA
4. SENGUH
5. IRCHENNAN
6. DRŪSIAN
7. DONISIS
8. GIASCEI
9. (...) ULTRACHRONOS (...)
Track 1 finished 01/2003, originally released on "Record of Shadows Infinite" CD
Crucialblast, 2003)
Track 2 finished 03/2003, originally released on "Evolved as One" CD (Evolved as One, 2003) Track 3 finished 05/2003, originally released on "Dark Ambient Radio 2" CD
(Dark Ambient Radio, 2009)
Track 4 finished 03/2004, originally released on "Subterranean Ways of Thinking" LP
(Avatar Rec., 2004)
Track 5 finished 09/2005, originally released on "Listen to Something Different" CD
(Ars Macabre, 2007)
Track 6 finished 10/2006, originally released on "Brainwaves" 3xCD
(Brainwashed Rec., 2006)
Track 7 finished 01/2006, originally released on "Walking in the Rain on the Ostrow Tumski" CD
(Ars Benevola Mater, 2006)
Track 8 finished 05/2006, originally released on "Cryosphere" CDr
(Glacial Movements Records, 2006)
Track 9 finished 02/2007, originally released on "The Threshold of Silence" CDr
(Umbra, 2007)
Notes to track 9 : The full title was : "(magic cymbals and the mother of) ULTRACHRONOS" - and there were, as usual, NO keyboards used! (wrong info by label and now on discogs)
Collected autumn 2019 by Baraka[H]
Mastered by Igor Potsukaylo
Artwork based on a painting by Stefan Knappe
Sleeve by Oleg Galay
aquarellist.ru/catalog/73/
|
2020 |
€13.00 |
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| |
Symbiosis |
LP |
Listen:
https://aufabwegen.bandcamp.com/album/symbiosis
First ever vinyl reissue of TROUM's Symbiosis EP, with unreleased extra track
The original Symbiosis CD EP was released in January 2003 as a limited edition in a handmade 3D pyramid-box (200 copies) as Transgredient TR-02. An additional standard edition came in a stickered & handcoloured cardboard cover with obi (more copies). The 5 tracks were recorded from May 2000 – August 2002 and consisted of guitar-only solo pieces by both members. Forming a unity out of singularities, merging the contradictions, this first re-issue has an additional unreleased bonus track, a reworking of older material recorded with the same approach. Finalized in march 2023.
Troum
Troum is a duo located in Bremene, Germany, established in early 1997. The two members Gli[S]ch and Baraka[H] were active before in the influential ambient industrial group Maeror Tri which existed from 1988 to 1996. "Troum" is the old German word for “dream". The dream seen as a central manifestation of the unconscious symbolizes the aim of Troum to lead the listener into a hypnotizing dream-state of mind, a pre-verbal and primal consciousness sphere.
Troum have played live extensively and collaborated internationally with numerous releases on different labels around the globe.
|
2024 |
€20.00 |
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| TROUM & REUTOFF |
Kreuzung Zwei: Creatura Per Creaturam Continetur |
CD |
"Jedes Wesen ist mit jedem anderen verbunden."
Nach ANTLERS MULM der zweite Teil der REUTOFF Collaboration-Serie: TROUM bearbeiteten hierfür Basismaterial der Moskauer und gossen das ganze, inspiriert von der Kosmologie HILDEGARD VON BINGENs, in sechs dronig-sphärische Stücke.
"The second in Kreuzung collaborations series. The basic sound sources and samples made by Reutoff especially for this release have been treated, arranged and mixed with an addition of their own instrumental parts by Troum. Dark profound harsh ambient with some occasional rhythmic patterns intertwined with transcendental prepared guitar loops and perfect drone noises - a perfect blend between two project distinctive features and creative manners. The concept of this work is based on cosmology of Hildegard von Bingen. The release comes in a special “Kreuzung” series package made of brown kraft carton with a full colour stickered artwork/info cover and Reutoff logo embossed on the back, the CD is housed in the same carton die-cut inner envelope." [label info]
"The forty-five minutes are divided into six tracks, slowly building towards an intense mixture of miniature noisescapes, neoclassical tapestries, ethnic rhythmic structures and eerie vocal samples. All titles are in Latin, and since that isn't my strong point, I'll leave translations to the readers' enquiring minds. The first track, "Aether Purus", is typical for Troum, although the familiar bassy layering of Troum seems to have gone up in frequency; it's all a bit higher. "Terrenus" has some partial neoclassical-like sounds, but it is set in a 1970s surrounding, "A Space Odyssey"-like environment. There are moments there that appear like insects stuck in your aural canal. Or is it really little aliens?
This setting is forcefully continued in the third (title) track where the Troum sounds find their way back into the composition. Later in the track rhythms are added to the composition. It is by far the longest track on the album. "Ignis Niger" is the fourth track and its creepy, erratic voices and samples really get you into a mood fit for watching a horror movie. Yes, two film references are my way of saying this whole release is very filmic. "Ignis Lucidus" has rhythms again, in combination with deep droning layers. It's a bit close to atmospheres like O Yuki Conjugate. The disc closes with "Aer Aquosus (Reprise)" which is a short but powerful track in an adapted Troum style.
My knowledge of Reutoff is minimal, so maybe there are a few too many references towards Troum here, but on the other hand I love Troum, and this album is, despite the references, so different from their other work that I think I'm secretly going to like Reutoff a lot also." [Bauke van der Wal / Connexion Bizarre]
"The Germanic and dark drone outfit Troum embark on a collaboration with the equally dark, Russian ensemble Reutoff, although the conceptual framework of their album isn't one wholly wrapped in mystery, occlusion, and shadow. Creatura Per Creaturam Continetur is based upon the cosmology of Hildegard von Bingen, the 12th century German abbess, whose richly detailed visions through her unshakeable Christian faith offered feminine descriptions of the cosmic order sprinkled with sexually charged metaphor. In addition to her writings, Hildegard had developed an impressive musical canon of monophonic chorales and plainsong melodies, whose recursive elements certainly look forward to all sorts of drone-based musics of the 20th and 21st centuries.
While the drone connection is easy to make, how Troum and Reutoff view Hildegard von Bingen's faith and art is unclear.
Regardless, the majestic swells that immediately surge at the introduction of this album are some of the most beatific and
heavensent that either project has produced to date. Troum have always been known for their glacial pacing of drone crescendos for spiralling guitars heavily processed in effects; and on this album, they leave no doubt that they excel at their craft. For those seeking the dark, almost blackened ambience that both Troum and Reutoff have mustered in the past, there's plenty of industrial bellows, clanking rhythms, creepily whispered vocals, and subaquatic reverberations to cast a somber pall across these recordings..." [Aquarius Records]
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
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| TSUNODA, TOSHIYA |
Landscape and Voice |
LP |
Black Truffle is pleased to present Landscape and Voice, a radical new work (and rare vinyl release) from major Japanese sound artist Toshiya Tsunoda. Undoubtedly one of the most influential artists working with location recordings since the 1990s, Tsunoda’s work possesses a rigorously searching quality that sets him apart from his contemporaries. Tsunoda is known to many listeners for the subtle atmospheric poetry of his early Extract from Field Recording Archive series, which focussed on vibrations recorded in various indoor and outdoor environments in his native Miura Peninsula, often inside pipes, bottles and other vessels. In more recent years, his work has explored the implications of his claim that field recording should be seen as ‘depiction’ rather than ‘documentation’. He has explored disorienting editing and processing in his works with Taku Unami, and, perhaps most radically, represented Maguchi Bay as a kind of kinetic sculpture for shaking speakers by removing all but the inaudible low frequencies from a field recording (Low Frequency Observed at Maguchi Bay).
One of the recurrent concerns of Tsunoda’s recent work, as he explains in the crystalline liner notes accompanying this release, is ‘exploring how I can establish a subjective relationship with an environment, rather than seeing it merely as an object to be recorded’. This has taken various forms, from documenting simultaneously an outdoor environment and the blood flowing through the listener/recorder’s body (captured with a stethoscope) on The Temple Recordings, to representing his own experience of the landscape as made up of ‘grains of space and time’ by inserting looped fragments into field recordings in Grains of Spring.
On Landscape and Voice, this meeting between subject and object becomes an almost mystical union between the natural and the human. As with all of Tsunoda’s work, a relatively simple concept leads to compelling, thought-provoking results. Landscape and Voice combines vowel sounds spoken by six voices with short, looped fragments of field recordings, their noise character suggesting consonants: voice and landscape thus join together in something like words. The record consists of three pieces, each using a different, richly evocative field recording, which periodically freezes, catching on a looped fragment to which is synchronised an abruptly looped spoken vowel sound. The lengths between these interruptions vary, as do the tempi of the loops. The interruption of these lushly immersive recordings of the world – bristling with bird song, rushing water, distant traffic, and clinking metal – only serves to intensify them, as if the depicted environment itself had been returned to the listener each time it abruptly reappears. At the same time, the constant interruption creates an uncannily frozen effect, as if the recorded environment were an object rather than a stretch of recorded time. When combined with the bare human presence of the vowel sounds, the result is both austere and magical. Pressed on 45RPM for maximum fidelity, in a gorgeous sleeve designed by Lasse Marhaug with liner notes from the composer, Landscape and Voice is a radical proposition from one of the deepest thinkers in contemporary sound.
https://blacktruffle.bandcamp.com/album/landscape-and-voice
|
2022 |
€23.50 |
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| TSUNODA, TOSHIYA / JUSTIN BENNETT |
Cleavage of Acoustics / Cacerolada |
LP |
Nr. 3 in der Mixer Split LP Reihe ! JUSTIN BENNETT hat einem Protestmarsch in Barcelona gegen den Irak-Krieg im März 2003 beigewohnt, eine unglaubliche detailreicher Soundkulissensumpf aus Sirenen, Autohupen, Perkussion, Pfeifen & Gegröhl. T. TSUNODA arbeitet diesmal nicht mit reinen field recordings, sondern lässt Sinuswellen auf konkretes Material treffen, was zu knisternd-resonanzbildenden Effekten und merkwürdigen „small sounds“ führt.
Tolle Geräuschmusikplatte !
“Both Justin Bennett and Toshiya Tsunoda have gained a reputation when it comes to fieldrecording-based soundworks. Using their sonic surroundings as the startingpoint for their work, both are unique in approach and result. "Cacerolada" is based on a noise-protest against the Iraq-war, recorded in Barcelona. It wakes up and dies out as any day does, gradually moving along all kinds of sonic occurrences in between. Compared to Tsunoda's, Bennett's work comes from a more contemplative approach, outlining to his listener the beauty, absurdness or musicality of the everyday soundtrack he's living in. Originally these protests served a highly political goal, to record them and treat these recordings as a piece, is what made "Cacerolada" into a sound-object, to be listened to with different ears. This is the core of Bennett's work. Using hardly any processing-tools (Bennett composes with the raw building-blocks he records), these environmental-pieces are very much like documents, with specific artistic or aesthetical qualities. He hunts for certain scenes or situations and captures moments in time that contain a specific type of gesture he is looking for. The reference to daily life might be very much upfront, though Bennett's work is much more than a highly associative collection of recorded sounds. His recordings easily keep up as complete compositions with a strong musical form, taking the listener beyond what is heard at first sight and this is exactly where the strength in Bennett's work as a composer and sound-artist lies. These works show a delicate timespam, organically interpolating from scene to scene. The so familiar sounding material constructs and underlines compositional shape and development, adding a rare compositional richness to environmental-soundworks.
Tsunoda's "Cleavage of Acoustics" stands in close relation to previous works in which he tries to integrate somewhat technical concepts into the everyday beauty of singing birds and chirping crickets. Tsunoda adds to the body of these compositions of the public domain, as Justin Bennett does, but takes a different route to get there. He experiments to find out the musical relevance of technicality for natural sounds and forces a symbiosis between the two. The results still contain the associative character and organic development so typical for environmental recordings, but have a new, more abstract, mimicry. The sometime subtle, sometimes clashing, but always interesting interference between these two worlds, is what gives Tsunoda's work a very unique twist. It can exist as a completely autonomous entity while grafted upon the soundmaterial we all know so well. Tsunoda, like Bennett, makes us hear our surrounding acoustic reality in a different way. Not by fencing off certain parts of it, as Bennett does, but through simple yet very effective technical interventions, making it's appearance shift a bit or two.
"When listening to field recordings, I am always surprised by the richness of it's acoustics. Vibrations echoe from various places, in mixed complexity, changing constantly over time. In some way, it looks like stratum. I would like to sharply cleave the stratum to see the surface of the crevice. This work shows the audibility of sound vibrations through an uncommon process. I tried to cut off the source (field recording) material using a gate device and sine-waves. In each track, specific sine-waves have been mixed with the source-material.
In this work, I regard the sine-wave as the standard speed signal for the source. This has made any alternation within the audio signal detectable for the gate device. The linear audio signal (monoral) is cut horizontally into the advance direction, turning it into two signals. The amplitude of the alternating current has a separated + and - side, with 0 volt as base for the gate device. This split signal is simultaneously reproduced through the right- and left- channel of stereophonic audio equipment. Try mixing these 2 channels. The waveform is almost restored to it's original form, giving a peculiar result compared to the separated signal playback." [press release]
|
2004 |
€12.00 |
|
| TUNNELS OF ĀH (TUNNELS OF AH) |
The Smeared Cloth |
do-CD |
"The Smeared Cloth" is a double CD compilation containing the TUNNELS OF ĀH recordings from 2012-2018, which have not yet been published on any medium. The first disc is filled with compositions from the period before the debut in Cold Spring and outtakes from the sessions for "Thus Avici", the next album for the British label.
The second disc contains tracks recorded during and between the sessions for "Surgical Fires" and "Charnel Transmissions". Although they were created as loose compositions, out of the concepts clearly outlined on each of the mentioned albums, they sound incredibly coherent, giving impression of being part of a concept release, this makes them a pleasure to listen to; especially when we get carried away in the world created by Stephen Ah Burroughs with the sounds characteristic of his work. Sometimes they evoke associations with ancient rituals, intensifying the impression of Egyptian darkness, the feeling of coldness and emptiness coming as if from a deep dungeon, and with them an echo. All this is a superstructure for the 21 tracks filling both discs, outlined and maintained, in a convention that allows them to be stylistically located somewhere between isolating dark ambient and death industrial, where the gloom aura and dense, mechanical structures coexist as if in symbiosis, thanks to which the balance between building the atmosphere and reflecting the true nature of the industrial collision. This release is undoubtedly a must-have for TOĀH fans, but it can also delight those who appreciate death industrial at a high level. The album's released on two CDs folded in a six-panel ecopack.
Tracks 1-11 taken from "The Smeared Cloth" CD1
Tracks 12-21 taken from "The Smeared Cloth" CD2
https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/the-smeared-cloth-2012-2018-unearthed
"In den frühen 80ern gründete Stephen R. Borroughs zusammen mit Justin Broadrick und Dave Cochrane das Trio HEAD of David, das einen der noisigsten Grundsteine dessen legte, das später Industrial Metal genannt werden sollte. Im Lauf der Jahre konzentrierte er sich mehr und mehr auf Soloprojekte, und neben Frag war dies seit etwas über zehn Jahren Tunnels of Āh, mit dem er einen Ritualkosmos von fast räudiger Abgründigkeit entstehen ließ.
Dass Tunnels of Ah trotz der starken Abstraktion seiner ästhetischen Konzepte ein konsequent verfolgtes atmosphärisches Thema hat, wird bereits deutlich, wenn man die mittlerweile sechs Alben, die seit 2013 auf Cold Spring und zuletzt Hypershape erschienen sind, im Vergleich hört, denn da fallen die verbindenden Elemente sehr deutlich ins Auge. Mehr noch beeindruckt einen die musikalisches Stringenz angesichts der jüngst auf Tape und Doppel-CD erschienenen Compilation “The Smeared Cloth 2012 – 2018 Unearthed”, denn hier lassen frühe Stücke und Outtakes aus verschiedenen Albumsessions ein überraschend zusammenhängendes Bild entstehen.
“The Smeared Cloth” ist nichts für Hörer, die Probleme mit Beklemmung, Dunkelheit und niederdrückender Schwere haben. Eine finstere, bedrohliche Stimmung zieht sich durch die oft kreisenden Soundgebilde, lassen durch ambiente Dröhnung, Saitenrasseln oder sirrende Streichersounds filmreife Phasen der Spannung und durch paukende und prasselnde Takte und plötzliche Schuttlawinen aufwühlende Momente entstehen, steigern sich vom subtilen Hauch eines – nur oberflächlich sanft wirkenden, in Wirklichkeit höllischen – Windes zu infernalischen Szenen von hochtönendem, schleifenden Lärm. Klangfarben von Stein und noch stärker Metall prägt das Gesamtbild, doch ist in gewissen Abständen auch immer die Illusion des Organischen spürbar, als würde das harte und kalte Material mit dürren Reiserbesen und ähnlichem traktiert. Auch die entmenschlichte menschliche Stimme ist gelegentlich zu hören, mal in Rezitation, mal als finsteres Growlen und Keifen, mal in Form eines sakralen Gesangs.
Wenn man in den 20 Stücken die Kohärenz betont, sollte man hinzufügen, dass in ihnen natürlich auch Raum für Variation ist. Sollte ich einige herausragende Stücke betonen, dann wären es wahrscheinlich “Keys King At Womb Door Again”, in welchem sich ein anfangs kaum spürbares lykanthropisches Hecheln langsam zu etwas (noch) Monströse(re)m steigert – eine Entwicklung, die vielleicht etwas vorhersehbar ist, doch die urige Soundgestaltung, die durchweg an etwas Altes, seit Urzeiten Verschüttetes denken lässt, fällt weitaus stärker ins Gewicht. Ferner “Fountain of Life”, das nach gängigem Verständnis wohl eher wie das Gegenteil seines Titels klingt und an einen zerbrochenen Brunnen erinnert, dessen Wasser ein paar Erdklumpen mit sich reißt und am Ende im Schlamm versiegt. Nicht zuletzt auch der Titeltrack, dessen Spoken Word-Passage wie das Monument eines sinnlosen Aufwands vor infernalischer Kulisse am Ende von einer Schuttlawine geschluckt wird.
Nach den über zwei dystopischen Stunden scheiden sich wahrscheinlich die Geister: Während die einen fürs erste genug gelitten haben, sind die anderen nun gewappnet für die regulären Alben des Projektes, und “The Smeared Cloth” gibt da tatsächlich einen großartigen Einblick in einen Kosmos, den ich allen empfehlen kann, die frühe Coil, alte Broken Flag-Releases und ausgewählte Death Industrial-Platten nebeneinander im Regal stehen haben."
[African Paper]
"Eager to get back into the Tunnels. Not long ago, I gave 'Deathless Mind' another spin, and I had been looking forward to some new material from Burroughs. Still.. two whole CDs, dearie me. I'm curious if I can make it through in one go. Also, it is not exactly 'new' material, but rather excerpts and unused tracks from two distinct periods: the first CD collects all discards from the Lost Corridors and Thus Avici era; the second contains material from the period between Surgical
Fires and Charnel Transmissions - compiled into this 2,5-hour lasting tour de force. Me, oh my.
Though branded as 'dark ambient' on Discogs, we've come to know Tunnels of Āh for industrial ambient landscapes and complex saturated loops and textures that range timbrally from (seemingly) acoustic in origin to overtly synthetic. Also, the 'loops' here should mostly be taken less literally; there are elements that seem to repeat, but for the most part, the chopped-up complexity of the textures ensures we won't have the typical 'looper' kind of experience in which repetition is often an easy way of tricking our brain into believing it is listening to something musical.
On CD 1, many sounds seem to have acoustic sources, which is much more noticeable than on the more recent albums. We also seem to get a lot more vocal delivery than usual, making tracks like 'Brute World' and 'To the Pschal Victim' almost have an early Current 93 or 'ambient Test Dept kind' of ring to them.
It is also completely dissimilar in many ways, e.g., production-wise, but for fans of those bands, these tracks may be the right point of entry into the Tunnels. The vocals are often mixed in quite deeply, so you won't be listening to poetry with a noisy background.
With the choppy granulated ambient of 'Lost Corridors', a track that did not feature on the eponymous 2013 album, there seems to be somewhat of a 'natural' ending to the first part of the first CD. The subsequent ambient track 'Fountain Of Life' ramps the intensity again with its swirling vortex of delayed grit. Both 'Great Darkness' and 'The Cloth is Smeared' really stand out as two of the more memorable pieces.
Disc 2 starts with the interesting combination of 'To the Paschal Victim' and 'Circumcision', which seem to be variations on the same bass riff/loop - though the latter track slides off into a murky bass swamp about halfway through. 'Red Distribution' and 'White Distribution' wrap this disc up in a
manner that reminded me of Charnel Transmissions. There is a certain kind of dense lo-fi elegance to them, which also made me fall for that album when it first came out.
I've said this before, and I'll repeat it: What I love about Tunnels Of Āh is that though it is clearly tarnished with the brush of industrial and perhaps even reminiscent of some noise - due to its complex textures, it never becomes too harsh or punishing, which given the length of most tracks may be a very deliberate choice either during mastering or in the composition process. Moreover, a wise one, since especially with a leviathan of this length, balance is a thing to aim for.
Does it work as an album, though, or is this merely a release for us to be complete? Tough question. The first CD is consistent, albeit on the long side. With 77 minutes, it is about half an hour longer than any Tunnels release on average, and I definitely had to listen to the whole release in phases. That said, when it
comes to textures and intensity, there seems to have been some thought put into the dynamic distribution of the tracks and though longer than usual, I would say both these discs work as stand-alone albums. Another keeper in a long line of excellent works from the Tunnels." [LdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2023 |
€16.50 |
|
| TURNER, AARON & DANIEL MENCHE |
NOX |
LP |
"Daniel Menche is a prolific musician whose work in the fields of noise and experimentalism displays both savage tactile expressionism and masterful studio manipulations. Aaron Turner is an equally prolific artist whose output veers from violent guitar architectures to textural meditations. Consequently, their collaborative album Nox could have been a brutish exercise in punishing frequencies and aural assaults. Instead, Nox is what Turner describes as “a combo of Danielʼs more free-flowing form of impulsive music making and my more contemplative composition.” Consisting of one lone track over the course of two sides of an LP, Nox uses its allowance of time to patiently wind and unravel around Mencheʼs intuitive and free-associative vocal and drum treatments. Manipulated and wrought to the point of abstraction, this spontaneous underpinning served as the narrative backbone to Turnerʼs orchestral vocal arrangements. Over the course of the year-long development process, the two musicians maintained a continual dialogue on the direction of the album, taking turns adding their accents and embellishments to the composition. Field recordings, found sounds, and auxiliary instrumentation fleshed out the recording until Nox developed into a final ruminative experience. Menche and Turner had previously worked together on the Mamiffer/Menche collaborative album Crater, though Nox bears closer sonic relations to other endeavors in both artistsʼ canons. One can hear vestiges of Mencheʼs more percussion-based albums like Concussions or Turnerʼs more ethereal vocal-based work with Jodis on their most recent offering. And while the tactics and tools used for creating the album are very much of the modern age, the duo conjure the timeless elements of the transcendental hymns of Arvo Pärt or the tonal clusters of György Ligeti through their patient, economical approach. Ultimately, Nox creates a lush, inviting, and deeply dimensional world that belie the cold basements of Portland, OR and Vashon, WA where it was slowly brought to fruition.
LP edition of 400 copies. The LP is housed in a letterpressed jacket designed by Daniel Castrejon with photography by Faith Coloccia. Turner and Menche worked over a period of 2 years to complete the album using voice, field recordings, electronics, guitar, etc. The album was then mixed by Mell Dettmer (Earth, Eyvind Kang, Jessika Kenney, Sunn0))), etc)."
sigerecords.blogspot.de |
2017 |
€23.00 |
|
| TWELVE THOUSAND DAYS |
Insect Silence |
CD |
"MARTYN BATES (Eyeless In Gaza) & ALAN TRENCH (Orchis, Howling Larsons) return after a long hiatus with the fourth TWELVE THOUSAND DAYS album. From the opening “Death Went Fishing” (a free translation of “vgíke o cháros na psarépsei”, the classic rebetiko by Giannis Papaioannou) to the closing, haunting notes of “Red And Golden Fire”, the listener is taken on a journey made up of a thousand journeys, a thousand side trips, a thousand destinations, hinging around the sprawling central trip of “Pathless”, in which the ramifications of choices made swim into hazy view. The 13 tracks that make up “Insect Silence” are a concatenation of dulcimers, whistles, guitars, synths, disturbing digital background noise (“Night Harmonium”) and other instrumentation with slices of pure, aching melody echoing through strange darkened corners, all enlivened and enlit by the wondrous tones of Martyn Bates.
MARTYN BATES is well-known for his brilliant long-time work with EYELESS IN GAZA, for his solo albums and for collaborations with MICK HARRIS and ANNE CLARK.
ALAN TRENCH: co-founder of World Serpent Distribution and musician with brilliant projects/groups ORCHIS, HOWLING LARSONS, TEMPLE MUSIC." [label info]
https://finalmuzik.bandcamp.com/album/twelve-thousand-days-insect-silence
"It's been quite some time since Martyn Bates (Eyeless in Gaza) and Alan Trench (Temple Music, Orchis) have come together as Twelve Thousand Days. It's fair to say much water has passed under the bridge since their last album From The Walled Garden in 2006. Insect Silence follows a ditched compilation release with the same title scheduled for release a number of years back. Insect Silence continues with the folk based music provided by Alan Trench and fronted by the distinctive voice of Martyn Bates but Insect Silence more so than their previous albums doesn't dwell solely in folk music. It may be its starting point but Insect Silence differs with passages of psych guitar and its layering of synths and electronics, as well as in the ambient interludes which feature throughout and often open up the tracks way beyond its grounding in folk music. Lyrically Insect Silence is couched in an English familiarity and in the eternal themes of life, love and death. Just shy of 70 minutes it's a long winding path of 13 tracks involving a large assortment of instrumentation which are woven into a complex and intricate tapestry of sound. You will be surprised by the pathways Twelve Thousand Days roam on .
Insect Silence opens to the spirited acoustic folk and percussive tambourine bashing of 'Death Went Fishing', outwitting death as it rushes onwards, weaving soaring psych guitars, which return throughout Insect Silence, as Bates implores that "he will return again". Its sets the scene for Insect Silence an album loosely based around folk music employing a rich multitude of instrumentation including guitars, dulcimers, harmonium, whistles as well as electronics. Twelve Thousand Days stretch the parameters of folk music with psych-guitar and ambient and instrumental interludes sprinkled throughout the 13 tracks. At times it likes listening to a Krautrock inspired psych-folk album with space rock leanings. In a good way, of course.
Opening to an ambient interlude 'Mad As The Mist' is the first of three musical settings of the words of Irish poet W.B. Yeats. Dreamy folk guitars entwine twang and strum, as Bates in his pure folk tones recalls philosophers such as Plato, Homer, Tully and Cicero, swelling into another passage of soaring solo of psych guitar and back again to dreamy folk song. More restless psych-guitar features on 'A Coat'. There's more of an experimental edge to the Yeats setting here pitching Bates' strained (and occasionally treated) voice to the fore, embellished by the pluck of guitar notes augmented by glinting electronics, bass throb and a needling guitar casting vibrations of psychedelic proportions. 'Arrow', the final piece in the Yeats trilogy is starker and played more straightforward with the beautiful folk voice over ringing acoustic guitar and warm synth backing.
Away from the Yeats tracks, a number of which Bates recorded with Troum in different musical forms, 'Errant Desires' moves to graceful ambience with flourishes of guitar notes. Bates' pure mournful tones add a sleepy lamentful melody, as faint electronics flicker behind the gentle flurry of guitar notes and assorted instrumentation. Beautifully atmospheric, it's one of my favourites on Insect Silence. Bates' voice is measured and melodic illuminating the sense of life passing in the evocative lyrics of rain falling, captured in our hands and gladly falling to the earth. More timeless folk arrives in the form of 'She Raises Her Eyes' where in captivating melodic tones Bates sings of a longing recalling long cold December months over duelling dulcimer chime.
One of the more surprising tracks appearing in the first half of the album is 'Invoke Hecate' where over passages of whistle and rousing, beating strum, Twelve Thousand Days sounding not unlike Ostara invoke the Goddess of Witchcraft, through an assortment of occult techniques. Alan Trench in past endeavours has facilitated many musicians in the apocalyptic folk genre but this rare sojourn, even with it blistering psych solo, can still raise an eyebrow and something of a smirk.
As mentioned earlier, Insect Silence is interspersed with instrumentals taking the music down alternate pathways, straying far off the beaten track. The first of these 'Night Harmonium' carries an air of arcane English mysticism with its loose folk stylings where strings chime and whistle billows merge over background synths and static clicks. The instrumental 'Old Ladies As Birds' is another brooding mystical moment where layers of whistles and flutes cast an age old melody over wheezing harmonium while loose guitar notes chime and ring out as distant electronics shudder underneath. While 'Old Ladies As Birds' is evocative of transforming souls and spirits, the jaunty folk offering of 'Fieldwork' is celebratory. Based on whistles and acoustic strum it comes across like a folk dance or Pagan procession. If 'Fieldwork' revels in a lost Englishness 'Descent' is dealing with nostalgia. A vintage crackling recording of 'See, The Conqu'ring Hero Comes' shrouds the descending organ scales of 'Descent'. Bates' voice is quiet, distant and softly murmured amidst the eerie disembodied voices of the choir as percussion rattles. You can almost picture the landscape on the pastoral 'Red and Golden Fire' another experimental offering mixing lulling electronics with whistles and flutes which closes the album.
Insect Silence hinges around 'Pathless' an epic experimental 16-minute musical and lyrical journey which we all make on our travels through life. Set in the middle of the album it continues the theme first introduced on the opener 'Death Went Fishing'. With the huntsman at our heels, we try to outwit death to no avail. Travelling from ringing guitar with Bates' voice, wrapped in layered accompaniment, veering between passages of Krautrock electronics and wavering synths to psaltery, whistles and location recordings. All the elements of Insect Silence emanate from and come together on this track to great effect. As it flows together seamlessly it's difficult to pinpoint where 'Pathless Part I' ends and 'Pathless Part II' begins but it may be when a heartbeat bass pulses and acoustic guitars ring out and the spoken word of Lisa (I think this is Elizabeth S who features on releases from Eyeless In Gaza) surfaces amidst guitars and layers of spacey synths which lull, crash and wail, before Bates returns, to close this epic track in high registered tones.
Insect Silence bustles with an immediacy, there's a sense of freshness of getting it all down on tape before the additional sound layers of instrumentation are added. Ambient, electronics, psych guitar, whistles, location recordings are all here embellishing the tracks making it intricate and complex. At the heart of it is an open-ended folk sound reflected in Bates' beautiful, distinctive voice which illuminate the timeless themes. Insect Silence is by far the best I've heard from Twelve Thousand Days and though the tracks are disparate there's an arching basis in folk music which traverses into other areas which holds it all together. As we said, Insect Silence is a journey, a pathway laid down just waiting for us to follow. Insect Silence is released digitally and on CD by Final Muzik in an edition of 500 copies. For more information go to Final Muzik and to download go to Final Muzik Bandcamp." [Compulsion Online]
"Man neigt gerne dazu, Bands, die sich nur alle Schaltjahre oder seltener zu neuen Aktivitäten zusammentun, als klammheimlich aufgelöst zu betrachten, erst recht dann, wenn es sich dabei um noch anderweitig aktive Musiker handelt – so wie Sänger Martyn Bates mit Eyeless in Gaza und seinem Soloprojekt und Instrumentalist Alan Trench mit seinen Folk- und Psychedelic-Gruppen Temple Music, Orchis und Black Lesbian Fishermen. Nachdem mit ihrem Duo Twelve Thousand Days wahrscheinlich nur noch wenige gerechnet hätten, steht mit „Insect Silence“ nun ganz überraschend ein neues Album in den Regalen, das fast da anknüpft, wo die beiden vor gut zwölf Jahren mit „From the Walled Garden“ aufhörten. Fast, denn gerade bei Alan sind doch ein paar Spuren seiner neuen Arbeiten herauszuhören.
Wie man es von früheren Aufnahmen her kennt, wechseln sich schmissige, fast frohsinnige Folksongs ab mit verträumt melancholischen Klageliedern und geheimnisvollen ambienten Soundscapes, und zusammen mit Bates’ unverkennbarer Stimme, die so klar und jugendlich wie eh und je klingt, kreiert die Musik ein verzaubertes Setting, das an ein langsam vor dem Auge verschwimmendes Jugenstilgemälde erinnert.
„Death Went Fishing“ und „Invoce Hecate“ zählen zu den eingängigen Folkstücken, die mit feurigem Geschrammel und ekstatischen Rasseln nach vorn galoppieren – mystische oder makabre Töne schleichen sich über sanft gesungene Textzeilen in die Szenerie und bilden mit der harmonischen Musik eine heikle Mischung, und schon mit den allerorts spürbaren heidnischen Untertönen sind die Stücke vor jedem Indie- und Pop-Appeal gefeit. Impressionistische Tableaus wie „Mad as the Mist“, dessen anfangs noch ziellos umhertastendes Gitarrenspiel sich erst nach und nach zu einem anmutigen Stimmungsbild zusammensetzt, bilden einen Gegenpol dazu, ebenfalls das aus einer balladesken Märchenwelt herübergewehte „Old Ladies as Birds“ und das mit Knacken und Knistern leicht verfremdete Zwischenspiel „Night Harmonium“ – beide Stücke gewinnen noch an Charisma durch Alans berührendes Flötenspiel.
In einigen dieser Tracks sind aber auch räudige Psych Rock-Elemente zuhören, die der Musik eine Kantigkeit verleihen, die in den klassischen Zeiten des englischen Folk nichts ungewöhnliches gewesen wären – zünftige E-Gitarrensoli und dröhnende Riffs, die die Folkmelodien, die sie spielen, gleichsam zerschreddern, als wären sie eine nationalhymne in Woodstock. Weder Eyeless in Gaza noch Orchis waren frei von solch rauen Beigaben, doch hier hat sich v.a. die Sprache jüngerer Temple Music in die Stilpalette geschlichen und gibt dem naturverbundenen Sound eine deutliche Prise Realismus.
Es gäbe einiges, das sich in den einzelnen Songs hervorheben ließ, die anrührende Melodie in „Errant Desires“, die cinematischen Verfremdungseffekte in „Red and Golden Fire“ und der melierte Orgelsound in „Descent“, der in ein verwehtes Sample des Liedes „Hail the Conquering Hero!“ (im Deutschen die Melodie von „Tochter Zion, freue dich“) übergeht, sind nur einige davon, doch alles in allem funktioniert „Insect Silence“ am besten als zusammenhängendes Werk, das mit mehrmaligem Hören immer mehr zu verzaubern weiß." [U.S., African Paper]
|
2018 |
€13.00 |
|
| TZESNE |
Asimilacionismo |
LP |
"Twelve years separate the debut mini-album "Huffduff" from this solo LP titled "Asimilacionismo". Tzesne’s new vinyl is not a peaceful continuation of the last. Rather that being produced using drone-ambient techniques, his new work is atypical. Perhaps the easiness to find opportunities, or the hodgepodge of media used to register these intermediate materials, was the trigger to question where these methods occur and how to confront them by injecting some type of risk. This meant including a concept when composing, and opening a door to a game of possession-dispossession, implication and subjectivity; the one that has served to shape this story is the one named "assimilationism". All authors own tools and personal style are yielded to another authors, so that in turn the speech of the first one can be constructed. The result is the work itself, which emerges from a movement of resistance, widening as far as it is allowed to, considering the compositional margins, and reaching places where previous works have never ventured. But it is also possible to leave this information to one side and focus on listening alone, as it still holds the possibility to transform the place and the moment in which you are.
Tzesne | "Asimilacionismo"
seriesnegras | 2016
12” l white viny l 180 gr.
200 copies pressed
Contents: 9 tracks
Total duration: 39:18
Composed Amsia * Sounds Tzesne
Recording & Mixing: 2014 - 2016
Mastering: Tzesne & Amsia
Graphic: Jon Martín"
www.seriesnegras.org, www.artoartian.org
"Zweites Solo-Vinyl nach der Drone 7“ von 2005 überhaupt von diesem baskischen experimental Soundartist. Tzesne arbeitet fast immer mit (bearbeiteten) Fieldrecordings, bevorzugt solchen, die auf extra zu solchen Zwecken unternommenen Exkursionen aufgenommen wurden; als Verbindung mit dem Ort (der Aufnahme) oder bestimmten Handlungen, die dann das Thema der VÖ werden. Bzw. in abstrakt abstrahierter Weise an das Thema der Inspiration erinnern und so die Atmosphäre bestimmen. „Asimilacionismo“ führt genau diese Haltung fort und ist trotzdem ziemlich anders; geheimnisvoll, so dass es fast unbefriedigend ist, dass überhaupt keine weiteren Informationen vorliegen; auch über „Amsia“ nicht, der / die hinten auf dem Cover im Kleingedruckten Credits für Komposition bekommt (und Tzesne für „Sounds“). Neben dem Titel steht auf dem Cover vorn dann aber allein Tzesne… Wer soll das durchschauen? Was bleibt ist die Konzentration auf die Musik an sich, die auf „Asimilacionismo“ tatsächlich so erscheint wie eine Art von Erweiterung der undergründigen Soundpalette von Tzesne: Seite A dieser auf weisses Vinyl gepressten Platte, deren Labelartwork zusammen mit der Vinylfarbe diese Bezeichnung auch tatsächlich verdient, entwickelt ein zunehmend unruhiger werdendes Gespinst aus industriell anmutenden Loops, die über vier Etappen in ein immer elektronischeres Alter-Eho morphen, mit ebensolchen Sounds; definitiv neu im Hause Tzesne. Auch Seite 2 zeigt diese leichte Verschiebung der musikalischen Akzente, nutzt fünf Etappen, durch nahezu identifizierbare Fetzen von Gesprächen auf eine Art fast wie ein Hörspiel erscheinend, die jenseits von Fieldrecordings liegenden Elemente so etwas wie eine musikalische Grundierung, als Verstärkung der durch die Feldaufnahmen bestimmten Eindeutigkeit. Und am Ende das Finish in einem der für Tzesnes Ansatz typischen Multischicht-Fieldrecordings mit ihrer Vexiergestalt zwischen Versprechen und Auflösung (des Rätsels…). Sehr empfohlen, definitiv ganz oben / perfekt. Gerade auch, was Spannungsbogen und Dynamik betrifft. …wahrscheinlich am besten über den Artist selbst zu bekommen." [N / Black Magazin]
|
2016 |
€20.00 |
|
| TZII |
SAnd HAert RAge |
12inch |
"Hyperactive musician and filmmaker TZII is no newcomer to the TuT/RuR roaster, since we already had the pleasure to release his much acclaimed BLACK MONOLITH SPACE QUEST soundtrack on Rectangle Astral, and to welcome him on JAW with his project SOLAR SKELETONS. TZII has been making music for almost two decades, and yet SAnd HAert RAge is a first in the artist’s career in several ways: amidst a long discography of CDs and tapes, it is his first solo appearance on vinyl; and more importantly perhaps, it is the first time that he chooses to tackle one of the most fundamental experiences of his life, his Saharian childhood. TZII spent his early years, until adolescence in fact, in Africa, confronted to a multitude of intense, deeply life-altering experiences, from Beninese Voodoo rituals to the endless landscapes of the Sahara desert. An extreme environment, provoking extreme and very divergent emotions, which find their musical expressions in the changing ambiances of the record’s four tracks. From mystery to simple beauty, from melancholy to pure joy, this is an intimate but exalting record, where meditative and festive moods rub shoulders in the most natural way. Best Oriental Chill-Wave for both the dance-floor and your inner eye." [label info]
www.tutrur.com
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| UBEBOET |
Haereo |
CD |
"Madrid (and Cologne) based Miguel Angel Tolosa has a solid musical background both in electroacoustic & contemporary composition, and he’s also quite versed into sound engineering and producing techniques.
Most of all, he’s the long operating figurehead behind the highly respectable Con-V label.
His area of expertise is drones & field recordings tinted, and he has published works on many labels such as among others : Winds Measure Recordings, Non Visual Objects, Twenty Hertz, Drone Records…
As a dedicated listener/explorer, his music displays a large textural palette, and is infused with that underlying beauty all around us…
This album has been saved from loss and was initially to be released on Asher Tuil’s now defunct & missed Sourdine label.
“haereo” speaks forlorn rainy tales
or exhales morning urban springs…
a sea of untranquility
where small streams abound,
like so many darker veins and obscure skin maps…
Faint echoes exude from exhausted machinery,
a mass of dying waves,
a trail of stars pointing to nowhere, closed doors, and nocturnal flames in the distance,
dead intrepid plants swaying in the wind…
“haereo” is a flux of broken memories,
something reached out for, brushed,
something singularly mighty,
which takes us beyond, deep at heart "
[label info]
www.mysterysea.net
"Miguel Angel Tolosa works as Ubeboet since quite some time and has as such a number of releases, although the word 'overproduction' certainly doesn't apply to him. The cover says he worked on this from 2008 until 2012 and that he takes credit for electronics and field recordings; the latter being taped in Prague, Madrid, Lozoya valley area (Spain), Aguilar de Campoo area (Spain) and Serra San Bruno (Italy), while Ingar Zach plays bowed singing bowls on one piece. What's interesting to note is that in the first piece, 'Eaden', there are indeed quite some field recordings, but all of birds and insects, rather than what we are used to with this label, which is all things aquatic. In 'Umbrae' the microphone is thrown into the deep end and picks up signal below sea-level, along with Zach's bowed singing bowls. Below and above sea-level is where we find 'Sanatorium Rose', the final and longest piece on this release (which is about thirty-six minutes in total length), but there is also the motor-hum from a boat passing as drone music. In all three pieces we find Ubeboet's strong love of all things very dark. Much of the way he processes his sounds is to melt these field recordings by computer means and maybe all things analogue (either, or) and filter out much of the mid-high end until the darker rumble remains. In that way, Ubeboet surely has a strong own voice compared to his peers, which is a great thing and he shows it best in a release like this." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| UGGERI, MATTEO |
The Next Wait |
CD + CDR |
In 2013 my wife Gaia was pregnant. We were then waiting for our first born to come, expected for November of that year. A few little obstacles and troubles occurred during the nine months, so my anxious nature at the time generated in me the need to somehow express the feelings in a record, where I conveyed the worries that a father, especially a musician that needs his own moments for playing, may have in terms of an expected potential future lack of time and energies.
I also decided to involve fellow musicians I got to know at the time, like Maurizio Abate (guitar), Enrico Coniglio (guitar and organ), with whom afterwards I would have made full albums - but you can find here the first traces of our collaboration. There were Andrea Serrapiglio (cello) and Cristiano Lupo (bass), that I knew for quite some time, and featuring female voices. I asked Dominique Van Cappellen-Waldock (that I discovered through her marvellous presence on a Doug Sharin solo album) if she wanted to sing on a track, and she did, providing her own lyrics. The American singer Jenny Oakley, aka Empty Vessel Music, did the same on track one, as well as a glitching sample from Nicola Ratti is also featured.
The central piece of the whole album can be considered “Family Man”, a sort of cover from a song by Black Flag, totally reversed by my wife Gaia Margutti. She re-interpreted the lyrics her own way, and she performed it in an unforgettable session of home recordings, with my daughter Olivia, now finally born, hanging from her neck.
Indeed, the album took quite a long time to be made, and then the ‘wait’ was over, transformed in the new life we were all three now living together.
The second half pieces, actually a long track sliced in three parts, are dedicated to this transition period, where also tensions in the family are occuring. The tracks are built on a piano melody provided by the Japanese artist, Mujika Eisel, that collaborated with me on a previous album.
Now it is 2019, and not only is Olivia 5 years old, but also Nora was born, in March 2017. This album, is now dedicated to both of them, and can in a away, be perhaps considered a bit too ‘direct’, (as a Henry Rollins song!) but it’s for me a sincere expression of feelings and sensations. The concept of waiting can be interpreted in different ways, and anyone can ask himself what the two dogs in the front cover (kindly provided by the Italian photographer Adriano Zanni) are expecting to come.
Anyway, the album is finally released, thanks to the generous and neverlasting effort of US label Infraction, available in the three formats of LP/CD/DL, with an additional 7” containing two outtakes entitled “After the Wait” (exclusive to physical formats only), when the new life was becoming a new set of routines.
I even made a video in 2018, featuring - guess who? - my family. It can be seen on Infraction Bandcamp and on my website as well.
I hope that this long pathway of experiences, feelings, music and visual art will be shared with careful listeners all over the world. - Matteo Uggeri
Album editions :
100 copies of clear blue water LP + 7 inch (after the wait)
150 copies of black vinyl 180 gram edition
Each LP is housed in a Stoughton tip-on style heavy sleeve. The 7" is a clear vinyl.
250 copies of full-length CD. The first 100 copies will contain a bonus CDR with 2 exclusive tracks (entitled 'After the Wait'). The CD will be housed in a Stoughton style mini-lp gatefold sleeve.
Maurizio Abate (guitar)
Enrico Coniglio (guitar, organ)
Andrea Serrapiglio (cello)
Cristiano Lupo (bass)
Dominique Van Cappellen-Waldock (vocals)
Jenny Oakley (vocals)
Nicola Ratti (electronics sample)
Gaia Margutti (vocals)
Mujika Eisel (piano)
https://infraction.bandcamp.com/album/the-next-wait
|
2019 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
The Next Wait |
LP + 7inch |
In 2013 my wife Gaia was pregnant. We were then waiting for our first born to come, expected for November of that year. A few little obstacles and troubles occurred during the nine months, so my anxious nature at the time generated in me the need to somehow express the feelings in a record, where I conveyed the worries that a father, especially a musician that needs his own moments for playing, may have in terms of an expected potential future lack of time and energies.
I also decided to involve fellow musicians I got to know at the time, like Maurizio Abate (guitar), Enrico Coniglio (guitar and organ), with whom afterwards I would have made full albums - but you can find here the first traces of our collaboration. There were Andrea Serrapiglio (cello) and Cristiano Lupo (bass), that I knew for quite some time, and featuring female voices. I asked Dominique Van Cappellen-Waldock (that I discovered through her marvellous presence on a Doug Sharin solo album) if she wanted to sing on a track, and she did, providing her own lyrics. The American singer Jenny Oakley, aka Empty Vessel Music, did the same on track one, as well as a glitching sample from Nicola Ratti is also featured.
The central piece of the whole album can be considered “Family Man”, a sort of cover from a song by Black Flag, totally reversed by my wife Gaia Margutti. She re-interpreted the lyrics her own way, and she performed it in an unforgettable session of home recordings, with my daughter Olivia, now finally born, hanging from her neck.
Indeed, the album took quite a long time to be made, and then the ‘wait’ was over, transformed in the new life we were all three now living together.
The second half pieces, actually a long track sliced in three parts, are dedicated to this transition period, where also tensions in the family are occuring. The tracks are built on a piano melody provided by the Japanese artist, Mujika Eisel, that collaborated with me on a previous album.
Now it is 2019, and not only is Olivia 5 years old, but also Nora was born, in March 2017. This album, is now dedicated to both of them, and can in a away, be perhaps considered a bit too ‘direct’, (as a Henry Rollins song!) but it’s for me a sincere expression of feelings and sensations. The concept of waiting can be interpreted in different ways, and anyone can ask himself what the two dogs in the front cover (kindly provided by the Italian photographer Adriano Zanni) are expecting to come.
Anyway, the album is finally released, thanks to the generous and neverlasting effort of US label Infraction, available in the three formats of LP/CD/DL, with an additional 7” containing two outtakes entitled “After the Wait” (exclusive to physical formats only), when the new life was becoming a new set of routines.
I even made a video in 2018, featuring - guess who? - my family. It can be seen on Infraction Bandcamp and on my website as well.
I hope that this long pathway of experiences, feelings, music and visual art will be shared with careful listeners all over the world. - Matteo Uggeri
Album editions :
100 copies of clear blue water LP + 7 inch (after the wait)
150 copies of black vinyl 180 gram edition
Each LP is housed in a Stoughton tip-on style heavy sleeve. The 7" is a clear vinyl.
250 copies of full-length CD. The first 100 copies will contain a bonus CDR with 2 exclusive tracks (entitled 'After the Wait'). The CD will be housed in a Stoughton style mini-lp gatefold sleeve.
credits
released September 10, 2019
Maurizio Abate (guitar)
Enrico Coniglio (guitar, organ)
Andrea Serrapiglio (cello)
Cristiano Lupo (bass)
Dominique Van Cappellen-Waldock (vocals)
Jenny Oakley (vocals)
Nicola Ratti (electronics sample)
Gaia Margutti (vocals)
Mujika Eisel (piano)
https://infraction.bandcamp.com/album/the-next-wait |
2019 |
€28.00 |
|
| UHUSHUHU (Ухушуху) |
Onega |
MC |
"Together with the ΠΑΝΘΕΟΝ label we are happy to present the cassette reissue of the second album by Uhushuhu - "Onega". The first release was made by ΠΑΝΘΕΟΝ in January 2015 on CD-R, a small edition of 33 copies in beautiful handmade packaging. It was sold out very quickly and now we've decided to re-release this recording on cassette along with two other albums ("Long Songs Pleasant for Hearing" and "Geoscience").
The sound of "Onega" was described by ΠΑΝΘΕΟΝ as "archaic earth hum; water ripple near dusk; stones dancing in the dark; tales about moss and its inhabitants. Ease of predawn dew, heady spirality of snails." We can only agree with these laconic and concise characteristics.
Besides the album itself the original disk contained a bonus track - a remix by Creation VI who stand behind the ΠΑΝΘΕΟΝ label. It is also included on the B-side of this cassette and even more - there is an exclusive 27-minute reshape version from Uhushuhu themselves mixed in a different tonality.
Artwork - clear cassettes with stickers, two-sided full-colour cover, outer cardboard slipcase." [label info]
zhb.radionoise.ru/eng/releases.html#zhb
"Along with two reissues on cassette of quickly sold-out cdrs over the past few years, we have a new album from the enigmatic Russian collective Uhushuhu. These are drones to sink into - deep, thrumming tones, nocturnal field recordings, accreted electronic vibration, and wind-swept aeration that appear to emit from the depth of the Russian forest, all embued with a transcendent, mystically dark quality that immediately makes us think back to those early Andrew Chalk albums, especially his beloved Sumac disc with Jonathan Coleclough. As with the other cassettes, this too is limited to 55 copies; but unlike the others, the plastic casing is swaddled in an O-card." [Aquarius Records]
|
2015 |
€8.50 |
|
| ULTRA UNITED |
Research 1 (SOLD OUT) |
7 |
"This is the very first release of a new composer from Basle, Switzerland, who has created an amazing 6-track-disc of captivating, organic and strengthful sounds. After a strange effected chanson-entry we find ourselves in a world of long bassy drones, squeezing effects, earthquake- and siren-like sounds, and synthetic tunes. The whole holds an extreme tension during the tracks, and ends up with rather spacey and relaxing track a la BAD SECTOR.This is a real physical- & psycho-acoustical journey from the first to the last second! ULTRA UNITED means "Music that combines extreme opposite and ambiguous emotions in every respect". GOLDEN VINYL, BLACK ON BLACK PRINTED COVERS." [press release]
"THESE THREE EPs ARE PERFECT EXAMPLES THAT "DRONES" ARE NOT JUST "DRONES", BUT THAT THEY CAN BE USED TO CREATE INTENSE AND EXCITING COMPOSITIONS TO EFFECT DIFFERENTLY ON OUR MIND AND EMOTIONS. ALL 7"es APPEAR IN A LIMITED & NUMBERED EDITION OF 250 COPIES." [additional info on DR-38-40]
|
1999 |
€ |
|
| UMPIO |
Opium Electronics Vol. IV |
CD-R |
"Umpio means "vacuum" in Finnish. This is a project founded by Pentti Dassum in 2006. Pentti has been playing guitar and bass in a variety of punk, death-metal, rock, jazz and experimental bands since the early 90-ies, and also has a huge sound engineering experience obtained from working within the Finnish musical underground. However in his own project Umpio he devotes attention to making sounds from metal junk, contact mics, circuit bending, various analogue and digital electronics and whatever comes in his hands, recording extraordinary material from harsh noise to hypnotic ambient.
The "Opium Electronics" falls right into the latter category. The first cassette "Opium Electronics Vol. I" was released by the Russian label Rokot in 2012, then two CD-Rs followed on Pentti's own imprint Nekorecords and now the fourth installment comes out on our label. Four tracks mold in a single sonic flow. Soft enveloping electronics that sounds like a plush cocoon wrapped around one's head. Background textures humming gently, waves of mild noises rolling softly, forefront sounds slightly scratching the ears... detachment and abstraction not providing any determined images but giving free scope to the listener's imagination." [label info]
zhb.radionoise.ru/eng/releases.html
|
2014 |
€8.50 |
|
| UN CADDIE RENVERSE DANS L'HERBE |
The reversed supermarket trolley files towards the rainbow |
CD |
Neues Werk des Electronica-Projektes in unglaublicher Aufmachung (wie ein 3D-Kinderbuch mit Elementen zum Hochklappen) !
"This is a unique rare live recording of "Un Caddie Renversé dans l' Herbe" which took place at Iasmos, on Saturday, November 12th 2005
during the birthday party of Amaryllis.
Enjoy the dreamy, surreal, avantgarde, ethnic sounds of Un Caddie mixed with sounds, toy instruments and songs the children perform.
An unsusual & fascinating combination of laptop & traditional instruments as Balaphon, Mbira, Kalimba, Berimbau plus Piano, Cello, Guitar, Bass, Melodica, Chimes and more!
The CD comes in an extremely special design and package which is folded like a cartoon picture toy-book and is limited to 388 hand-numbered copies..." [label info]
|
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
| UN DRAME MUSICALE INSTANTANE |
Rideau! |
CD |
"Rideau! was Un Drame Musical Instantané's second album, originally released in 1980 on the group's own GRRR label. Since its creation in 1976, featuring Jean-Jacques Birgé, Bernard Vitet and Francis Gorgé, the group has decided to promote collective musical creation, co-signing their albums, which they consider as artworks in themselves, or their live shows which they try to renew every time they play. Un Drame borrowed their sources from rock (synthetizer player Birgé and guitarist Gorgé, both authors of the album, Défense de); jazz (trumpeter Vitet who founded the first free jazz band in France, together with François Tusques, as well as Michel Portal who played with many American and European jazzmen); classical modern music; as well as movies or world news; they were the first in France to give a new impetus to live music on silent films. Birgé and Gorgé also recorded a duo album that was mentioned on the infamous Nurse With Wound list, Défense De. On Rideau, you will hear their wild mix of styles, a very original, unclassifiable, inventive music, which drifts from jazz to electronic music and contemporary music. Remastered in 2016 and with a lot of bonus tracks, amongst them the track that appeared on United Dairies' compilation album "In Fractured Silence" for the first time in its full length!"
[label info]
"We are talking here of the trio of Jean-Jacques Birgé, Bernard Vitet and Francis Gorgé, indeed a very unique trio. From the beginning they blended jazz, rock, electronics, new music, improvisation, sound, audio-visual into fascinating Gesamtkunstwerk. In a way that has some resemblance with the work of Alfed Harth and Heiner Goebbels, who were operating at the same time. (...) All three members already had their history in the jazz scene of France, especially Bernard Vitet who died in 2013. As a trio they would become a stabile force for many years. ‘Rideau’ is a perfect start for getting introduced to their idiosyncratic way of assembling influences. They developed their very own world, their own language. Listening after a long time once again to Rideau, the music still talks and sounds far from out-dated. The musicians play a wide variety of instruments. (...) Back then their music sounded very experimental and wild to my ears, now it strikes me this is really full-grown, open and well- balanced music by inventive musicians who had a strong musical intuition and vision."
(Vital Weekly, May 2017)
www.klanggalerie.com
|
2017 |
€14.50 |
|
| UNDER THE SNOW |
Delta |
CD |
"Extended sonic fluxes of synthetic nature mixed with delicate acoustic and electric guitars chords and riffs, crowd noises, indefinite and fading melodic "spots" of unknown origin, feedbacks, echoes, pulsations, vibrations, cracklings, rustling waves in continuous movement... But also sudden pauses, unpredictable and improbable inserts of folk blues radio transmissions, crystal clear water sounds, static, wrapping and dramatic electronic weaves, metallic tickings... An extraordinary range of sounds and atmospheres for this new, challenging and really particular experimental-explorative project by Stefano Gentile and Gianluca Favaron." [label info]
www.silentes.net
|
2011 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
The Background Noise |
LP |
"Under The Snow is a project by Stefano Gentile (guitar, objects, field-recordings) and Gianluca Favaron (microphones, field-recordings, processing). Stefano Gentile is well known for his work as owner of the Silentes and Amplexus labels; he is part of Maribor (along with Maurizio Bianchi, Nimh, Andrea Marutti and Gianluca Favaron) and in the past he has collaborated with Aube and Amir Baghiri. Beyond releasing under his own name, Gianluca Favaron collaborates with Ennio Mazzon on the Zbeen project; in the past he has released music as Ab'she and was part of Lasik Surgery along with Pierpaolo Zoppo. Released after a series of works for Silentes and U-Cover, "The Background Noise" is a single-sided 12" record, built starting from acoustic guitar sounds that develop on a background of statics and digital scoriae, where the cold and aseptic electronic frequencies melt with the plucked strings, resonating in a dramatic request for help or, maybe, in the warning of an imminent danger. A welcome release in the fast-growing discography of Under The Snow, that will appeal to fans of other Italian musicians like, among the others, Gianluca Becuzzi, Fabio Orsi, Enrico Coniglio, Stefano Pilia and Giuseppe Ielasi (who took care of the mastering).
"The Background Noise" is released in a limited edition of 86 copies; an additional edition of 13 copies is also available, it includes a 30x30cm reproduction of the cover picture printed on high quality professional photo-paper. Due to the restricted amount of available copies you'd better not think twice about it!" [label info]
http://13.silentes.it
"As Under The Snow Favaron works with Stefano Gentile, who plays acoustic guitar and treated guitar picks, and Favaron is responsible for 'programming, electronics and signal processing'. They have released a bunch of CDs (see Vital Weekly 771, 786 and 826) of their improvised playing, in which the laptop picks up the guitar sound and treats that on the spot. Following a start in which the laptop seemed to prevail, the later releases had a more fine tuned balance of straight guitar sounds and laptop processing. This one sided LP has a twenty minute piece which continues the chosen road of the previous releases and shows us more crackles, static hiss and bangs on the guitar. Maybe a bit more chaotic than before, I thought, bringing out the element of improvisation more than on the previous releases. At the same time there is also a bit more drone like sounds, closing off the LP, and taking away some of the emptiness previously found in their music. I think it's great to see them slowly develop and become more and more like an improvised working unit. The combination of live laptop processing a live guitar is perhaps not something that hasn't been done before, as noted before, but again here, this seems to work rather well." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2013 |
€16.00 |
|
| UNDERJORDISKA / SPECTRAL LORE |
split |
CD-R |
Zweimal qualitativ hochwertige "dark harmonic ambience" von Projekten aus dem Black Metal-Bereich...
"Two experimental black metal one-man bands venturing into new and undiscovered territories: this split is a collaboration far different from your typical "let's throw some left-outs from our previous records, make a intro or two and off to the printing plant" mentality, instead being a concept split album which should be heard as one, rather than two albums on the same cd. It is a journey from the surface of the sea to the very depths of the ocean, and then back towards the surface again. Each musician undertakes one part of the journey; two compositions over 30 minutes, featuring actual underwater recordings, aquatic drones, unique instruments (from a mandolin to a duduk) and even melodic post rockish moments. There is a continual flow of movement to the music, as the listener, embodied within this audial environment, descents and ascends through the ocean, towards a deepest point that seems to bear a particular significance: but is it the goal, or the journey itself that matters more?" [label info]
"... Hailing from the small but gradually growing group of Ambient Black Metal projects, Spectral Lore's Ayloss and Underjordiska's Dawid Dahl place consumptive Guitar- and Mandolin patterns alongside the foreboding electronic tapestry, integrating field recordings of lazy days at the beach into angelically ringing drones. And whenever they return into the oblivious void, the aforementioned bipolarity shines through even clearer. The overall impression of these two independently realised but astoundingly complimentary thirty-something-minute tracks is therefore timbrally rich and thematically diverse. While Dahl builds his piece modularly, taking it through a string of musical passages, the Spectral Lore contribution is rather shaped like a curve, slowly oscillating between anthemic noise and vaporous darkness. The stoic refusal of many genre-related releases to take their ostrich-like head from the sands of sadness is counterpointed by an approach which never rests on its laurels while placing seminal importance on ambient coherency: Diversity and darkness, they teach us, need not be a contradiction." [Tokafi] |
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
| UNKNOWN ARTIST |
Anastenaria |
do-LP |
"Excavated from the bottomless vaults of the Greek musical heritage, the new KEMA/\ label reissues a timeless piece of Hellenic ritualism: the folk dance of ANASTENARIA. Closely affiliated to the Berceuse Heroique imprint, KEMA/\ will focus its attention to the unearthing of ageless recordings, from pagan, cult-like hymns to forgotten electronic deviations...brutally backed with a fitting series of contemporary remixes. The sounds of ANASTENARIA are hypnotic and terrifying at their most docile moments, spinning you through ten segments of circular improvisation while transporting you to those sun-beaten hills and back again - the voices of the musicians and participators themselves creating enough energy to form a captivating pull towards this compelling segment of music. On the second slab of vinyl, Hospital Recordings boss, Vatican Shadow takes the essence of the entire cut and morphs it into a ten-minute cyclone of granular drones and thorny percussion, leaving the original's prophetic instruments to wail wildly beneath the mounds of hardware mutation - a strikingly apt fit to a recording made decades before... Over on the flip, it's up to Pete Swanson to definitively derange ANASTENARIA to its fullest, leaving behind a faint glow of the original's powerful air of mysticism. Fuzzy kick drums, grainy hi-hats and an ocean of organised noise culminate into total sonic destruction, spewing out the exhausted remnants of the dance to the Gods. Beautifully packaged by Will Bankhead, this first KEMA/\ is full of rebooted sounds that will appeal to the more daring spinners out there." [label info]
|
2014 |
€18.50 |
|
| UNSONG |
The frailty of angels, the treason of people |
CD |
Excellent debut release from this British project, silent but dense & eerie ambience with tension, a very own style...
“Unsong (Mason Ball) is a project interested in producing stark, atypical and emotive audio regardless of logical progression, musicality or continuity. Unsong create rich, layered, instinctive sound works from the minimal to the extravagant, utilising a miscellaneous array of sources: electronically generated tones, processed field recordings, disassembled voices, domestic appliances, stolen sounds, chance; the list stretches on exponentially.The methodology employed by unsong is a simple one: proceed with what sounds right, abandon what doesn't, often producing broken and unintelligible sounds to engage, soothe, surprise and disorientate the listener. Unsong endeavours to fashion disordered audio for gleefully unsound minds. [label info]
“ Dark, atmospheric music, that however doesn't tend towards something like dark ambient (with tons of digital synths), but more into the sound research areas of The Hafler Trio (circa How To Reform Mankind), Coil or Andrew Liles. One of the better pieces on this is the lenghty title piece, which is a slow beast moving onwards until a loop drops in and changes the slightly the atmosphere of the music. Sometimes the music falls below the point of hearing, but it always creeps back from under the carpet, right into your face. Scary music, this is. Music that could be easily used for some thriller film production. Very spooky but very well made. I am told that through the website of Unsong it is possible to order from each song a lenghty remix (one track per CDR), in case this wasn't enough... [FdW, Vital Weekly] Address: http://www.macrophonies.co.uk
|
2002 |
€13.00 |
|
| UP-TIGHT |
The Night is yours |
CD |
"Finally out this mighty masterpiece of dark and wild psychedelia from the Japanese three-piece legends! Fuzz and reverb drenched jamming sounds from the basements of Hamamatsu evoking the always welcomed ghosts of Amon Düül and Les Rallizes Denudes.
Originally released as an instantly sold-out LP edition on Sloow Tapes in 2011, we decided to do justice and make The Night Is Yours available again, this time as a CD edition limited to 200 copies. Housed in our high quality tip-on mini-LP gatefold packaging (plus insert) featuring new sonic treatment by the mastermind Aoki Tomoyuki and expanded trippy artwork by Bart De Paepe!"
“Tokyo psych monsters Up-Tight come out of the classically wasted/drug-damaged school of excessive fuzz and reverb, giving the nod to the endless jam style of Les Rallizes Denudes while spiking their sound with dark downer ballads that owe as much to The Jacks as they do to The Velvet Underground. The Night Is Yours is the absolute apex of their catalogue to date, crossing beautiful comedown folk-psych moves with whole sides of extended scorch. Indeed, there’s a new focus on psychedelic ritual here, especially apparent on the staggering “She’s So Heavy” with choirs of disembodied monks chanting in the background while the bass – played with all of the thunderous power of Mik from Kousokuya – marches the group ever forward and vocalist Tomoyuki hovers over the track like a wraith. If you can picture Spacemen 3 circa “The Perfect Prescription” produced by Ghost circa “Temple Stone” then you’re close to the outrageous levels of psychedelic excess captured here. Tomoyuki’s guitar tone has to be heard to be believed, with tactile garage punk crunch put to the service of endlessly euphoric orbits of three droning chords. Up-Tight have been responsible for a buncha the most memorable releases to come out of the post-PSF underground but this has to be their recorded pinnacle, the perfect balance of two chord Velvet downers and strung-out post-Rallizes string violence. One of our records of the year so far! Highly recommended!” (Volcanic Tongue)
www.essence-music.com
|
2014 |
€15.50 |
|
| UR |
Triadic Memories |
CD-R |
"Ur were born in early 2005 as a collaboration between Federico Esposito and Mauro Sciaccaluga, both active in the italian hardcore circuit. They were later joined by Andrea Ferraris, past and present member of Burning Defeat, Permanent Scar, Onefineday, Deep End and One By One.
Ur made their live debut at the Afe-Party in November 2005, and since then their live-sets have become more and more frequent. Recently they also opened for Eugene Chadbourne and Wolf Eyes during their italian tours.
Their music is mostly based on free improvisation and its sonorities can't easily be described without referring to the seminal work of the well-known and wildest Industrialists of the late '70s / early '80s.
"Triadic Memories" is their first "official" disc and comes after the self-released "Baptism & Birthday". There is a strong dramatic feeling in their powerful sound, where everything seems to reproduce a sort of wedding between the modernity of the media and the primordial instincts of the performers.
"Movement #1" is taken straight from "Baptism & Birthday", and is usually played as the opening number of their live-sets. The track begins with an high-pitched theremin sound laid on a bed of reverbered and tortured bass guitar. More percussions and distortions appear along with a looping voice as the music turns into industrial madness.
"Movement #2" is a more laid down piece of music built on a continuous drone enriched with scraped metals / objects and a female voice building tension over tension. Surprisingly enough, an accordion enters the mix accompanied by more looped voices and fades out as the track ends with cymbals hits.
An early version of "Movement #3" already appeared as an untitled contribution to "Breaking Down the Barriers 1995-2005, Ten Years of Afe", an on-line compilation issued by Afe in late 2005 to celebrate its tenth birthday.
With this final track we return to the industrial atmospheres of "Movement #1": feedback and bass distortions overwhelm a glockenspiel as an hooter alarm becomes more disquieting loop after loop. All sort of uncomfortable noises are used, and "Movement #3" ends with the lonely sound of a breathing voice.
Far away from Power Electronics and Harsh Noise, "Triadic Memories" is more a sort of psychedelic and liberatory journey reminding the best old-school Industrial music experiments." [label info] |
2006 |
€6.00 |
|
| URE THRALL |
Premonition 9/11 |
7inch |
"URE THRALL is an American artist from Houston, TX (living since years in the Bay Area) who is long active in the more atmospheric- transcendental experimental US-scene – in former days he was a member of the pre-VOICE OF EYE project CRUOR and later with ASIA NOVA, and he also participated in the two first V.O.E. – CDs as a guest musician. Now, apart from being a member of SMOOTH QUALITY EXCREMENT, he works solo and creates most impressive soundscapish depth-drones with an incredible emotional quality, harmony & sadness melting together into beautiful aural visions.
This 7”, his first vinyl-release as URE THRALL, contains two long tracks (> 8 min.) with an organic, filmic & sublime quality, using echo-flutes, bass, e-bowed guitar & restrained percussion underneath. THE TRAVELER with all its majestic harmony seems to be like an endless travel through emotional fields of melancholia - expressing the endless search for something once known which is lost forever and you can’t even remember what is was, but you feel that you need it back existentially ! Perfect music for endless drives on highways (both physically and spiritually) ... The title track PREMONITION 9/11 is less relaxed and more of a threatening quality, using faster percussion and strange bass-patterns with oriental sounding flutes & swirling sound-effects. This track also uses field-recordings from the tragical events happened on 11. Sept. 2001 in NYC and must be also seen as a treatment of traumatic experiences. The whole 7” is a personal statement about the politics of the USA after this tragic day, which is expressed also in the cover-artwork and the liner-notes: “THE COVER ART is an effigy of the American Flag in decay and is composed of an extreme close-up shot of the World Trade Center moments before its collapse, its occupants leaning out the windows fully aware of their impending transition to the next plane of existence.”
[original press release January 2003]
|
2007 |
€6.00 |
|
| US STEEL CELLO ENSEMBLE |
Noise in the Library |
LP |
Bob Rutman's life could be compared to the life of Odysseus, although we're not here to write his biography. Putojefe is happy to present his phenomenal Noise In The Library, recorded with the U.S. Steel Cello Ensemble, an all-steel string quartet established by himself in Boston in 1976.
The Ensemble consists of one Steel Cello and three Bow Chimes, played by Rutman and a rotating cast of guest musicians: in this instance, Daniel Orlansky –one of Rutman’s closest collaborators and longest-lasting member of the band–, Stephanie Wolff and Alex Dorsch. The instruments, built and developed by Rutman, are impressive sound sculptures in themselves, made of large flexible sheets of metal and defined by the artist as "American Industrial folk instruments".
The „Bürgermeister von Mitte” needs no introduction. He has literally traveled history, from Nazi Germany to the New York of the Seventies, landing again in Berlin in recent years. A tireless performer aged 87, he has toured the US and Europe extensively, playing both small galleries and underground venues as well as established cultural institutions as the MoMA, London’s ICE and the Berlin Atonal Festival.
Rutman is internationally recognised as the multifaceted avant-garde artist par excellence, as attested by his diverse collaboration with key figures of post-war culture: Dorothy Carter, Merce Cunningham, Laurie Anderson, Philip Lamantia, Wim Wenders, Asmus Tietchens and many others.
Captivating from the beginning to the end, primitive and futuristic in its form, Noise In The Library remains as the U.S. Steel Cello Ensemble’s sole recording featuring the exceptional overtone singer Stephanie Wolff, whose vocals are intertwined with Bob Rutman’s chant in Tibetan Buddhist style. Prior to this, Wolff had only appeared as a guest singer with the groundbreaking krautrock outfit Brainticket. Her deep and delicate tones go beyond spirituality and take listeners on a space travel to open skies.
Recorded live at Passionskirche in Berlin on May 31st, 1989, in the prime of the Ensemble’s career, this is one of the last few examples of great, powerful music made by humans without the indiscriminate use of electronics or binary codes.
A sometimes frightening and breathtakingly intense performance, as thoroughly mysterious as early American soil, as it first appeared to the eyes of visionary European minds.
https://ussteelcelloensemble.bandcamp.com/releases
|
2018 |
€18.00 |
|
| USENBENZ, ANDREAS |
Bells Breath |
LP |
“Bells Breath” transforms the tolling of the bells in the Ulm Minster into a work of sound art. This project by Andreas Usenbenz and Dorothee Köhl was created for the 125th anniversary of the minster spire’s completion and was presented in the form of an audio installation inside the minster in the fall of 2015.
There are 13 bells in the bell tower, ten of which are in use. Each bell has its own size and pitch, and each has its own function.
“Bells Breath” strips away that function, creating a new form of auditory experience. The moment of the bell tolling has been recorded, the tone stretched and the individual tones are layered on top of each other. The sound installation was situated on the ground floor inside the minster, beneath the bell frame. A platform for people to step or sit on created a spacial frame of reference, the sound was triggered by the listeners by pressing a button.
When dealing with this work, it is helpful to have a brief look at Minimal Art. In the early 1960ies, a new understanding of art was being developed in contrast to abstract painting. Part of it was an abandonment of categories that had been considered essential until then, like the aesthetic experience or the artists signature style. Industrially produced materials were now being used, every day objects were stripped bare of their function. Experiencing art turned into an experience of self-awareness on behalf of the audience.
Sculptor Tony Smith was aware of the importance of this type of experience as early as the mid-fifties. He took his students on a nocturnal journey on the still uncompleted New Jersey Turnpike. Driving down the road lacking crash barriers and road markings didn’t serve any functional purpose. Instead, the dark and the passing industrial complexes appeared in a different state of perception. It’s this experience that Smith regarded as having an artistic quality.
This kind of quality can be described further using the “Mirrored Cubes” by Robert Morris. The installation consists of four mirrored cubes. They are positioned in a square, one edge length apart from each other, therefore eliminating the element of composition. The surface, as perceived by the audience, is only a reflection of the surroundings and of itself. Artwork and location become an inseparable one. What the audience experiences is an amplified perception of itself and of the spacial situation here and now.
The here and now are two elements that appear on different levels in “Bell’s Breath”. The work strongly relates to the location, the tower hall right beneath the bell frame. At the same time, the sounds’ original function is being eliminated by prolonging and layering the different sounds. This, together with the audience’s presence in the space creates a new experience of perception.
releases February 17, 2017
All field recordings, sound design & compositions by Andreas Usenbenz, between march 2015 and may 2016
The music is based on field recordings of 10 different church bells installed in the Minster of Ulm. Usenbenz recorded the bells using a wide spaced A – B pair with omni directional DPA microphones,
a Sennheiser ORTF setup and contact microphones mounted directly to the bells or their direct environment.
The Bells where rung by the Sacristan. Additionally, Usenbenz played them with different props to tease very specific sounds out of the bells. No additional sounds were used in these compositions.
Produced at Klangmanufaktur
Artwork by Chris Corrado
Mastered by Stephan Mathieu
Cut by CGB at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin
|
2017 |
€16.50 |
|
| UTON |
The Source has its rare Beauty |
MC |
UTON is the experimental project of Jani Hirvonen, a key contributor to the thriving underground music scene in Finland. Over 20 prolific years, Hirvonen has formed a distinct sound world with UTON that is often distinguished by a beautifully maximal approach to instrumental psychedelia; playful compositions involving seemingly endless layers of colourful ambience, woven like a tapestry.
Part of what makes UTON's staggering discography so wonderful is a willingness to veer away from any predictable trajectory, and continue to surprise listeners. With The Source has its Raw Beauty, UTON has taken a full departure and bravely struck an immersive mainline into heavy minimal drone. As Hirvonen explains, “UTON has always been an experimental project, and it expands to experiment with whatever just comes into the flow – but, of course, there needs to be that Source which makes it feel inspiring and exciting.”
Outlier Communications is thrilled to present this unique work from a vibrant musical visionary. During its creation, Hirvonen's visual artwork for the cassette morphed into an homage of sorts to the distinct CD packaging popularized by Corpus Hermeticum, the legendary label curated by Bruce Russell of The Dead C from about 1993 - 2004. We tried our best to honour that vision, and believe these sessions – which resulted from an acoustic guitar being mounted with an electric massager – would have fit nicely in that esteemed catalogue.
“The sound and idea is very simple, and the result raw and noisy,” admits Jani. “That noise penetrates from and into the depths; from and into The Source – to our life and form – and continues this loop eternally. It's an esoteric energy bank, a power charger for the inner batteries.” Hirvonen recalls from the sessions, “The whole guitar was trembling, not just the strings. Playing and improvising with very minimal movement was relaxing and meditative, I could just melt deeper into this raw beauty.”
https://outliercommunications.bandcamp.com/album/the-source-has-its-raw-beauty
|
2022 |
€9.00 |
|
| UW HYPOTHEEKADVIES |
Nature of Nurture |
CD |
"Ed. Of 400 numbered copies with full color insert each with an original hand drawing. Features members from former BlRR band Girlfriends and mastered by Erik Drost and Raymond Steeg (Legendary Pink Dots). According to the Explosive Ordinance Field Guide: “Uw Hypotheekadvies should be handled with great care as it is one of the most powerful EO’s, especially if detonated through speakers in the comfort of one’s own home.” As trios go, UH sound more like a thousand-tet. Imagine a heavily armoured Glenn Branca guitar army falling DOWN an UP escalator in such a way that they never reach the bottom and are forever tumbling and crashing. Now throw DNA down the same escalator and pour acid on that. UH don’t just rock; they ROCK. Like agates gone wild, their abstract explorations come delivered via sledgehammer and arrive on the plate as oddly conceived gemstones with insects trapped inside. It smells like the teen spirits of Naked City and Laddio Bolocko lurk underneath UH’s woodpile, but despite the improv flavour of UH’s pummeling, they skew away from jazz and lean in more towards prog than Zorn and Co. UH’s chaos fleshes form and even descends into subtle soundscapes in between the rat-a-tat blastpatter. A beautiful monstrosity of Nature and Nurture." [label info]
www.blrrecords.com
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| V.A. (VARIOUS ARTISTS) (COMPILATIONS) |
33 rpm : Ten Hours of Sound from France |
CD |
23FIVE INCORPORATED ist nicht nur seit Jahren der wichtigste Konzertveranstalter für experimentelle Musik in San Francisco, sondern inzwischen auch als Label tätig. In Zusammenarbeit mit dem San Francisco Museum of Modern Art ist eine Compilation-Reihe entstanden, die pro Ausgabe Projekte eines einzigen Landes vorstellt. Hier also Frankreich, das vom 6.-14.09.2003 im San Francisco Museum of Modern Art vorgestellt wurde. Zu hören gibt es hier eine Auswahl mit 12, sehr elektro-akustisch & musique-concrete - ausgerichteten tracks von KASPER T. TOEPLITZ, KRISTOF K.ROLL, JEAN-CLAUDE RISSET, LIONEL MARCHETTI, CHRISTOPHE HAVEL, LAURENT DAILLEAU, MATHIEU CHAMAGE, pizMO, JEAN-PHILIPPE GROSS, und MIMETIC. Mit ausführlichem Beiheft (24 Seiten) zum Konzept der Ausstellung und zur französischen Tradition der Musique Concrete.
“ 24 Page Book + CD curated by Laurent Dailleau. The CD compendium of 33 RPM-a co-presentation between 23five Incorporated and SFMOMA-celebrates the contemporary models that French composers have built in response to the historical influences of musique concrete and computer music. Featuring compositions from Kasper T.Toeplitz, Kristoff K. Roll, Jean-Claude Risset, Lionel Marchetti, Christophe Havel, Laurent Dailleau, Mathieu Chamagne, pizMO, Jean-Philippe Gross, and Mimetic. In contrast to the encyclopaedic catalogue to the 10 hour program, the
selection within the 33 RPM CD emphasizes an acousmatic approach towards electro-acoustic construction. Kasper T. Toeplitz offers a tumultous wash from churing electric generators, while Lionel Marchetti presents a queasy demonstration for sinusodial currents matched against a lonesome accordion and Jean-Claude Risset investigates the microtonal resonances from a handful of found instruments.” [press release]
|
2003 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Anthology of Noise & Electronic Music Vol. 2 |
do-CD |
“ This 2nd volume explores the early days of pre-electronic music (Percy Grainger, Johanna M. Beyer...) and proposes some rares or unpublished pieces by main composers of electronic music (Wladimir Ussachevsky, Otto Luening, Tod Dockstader, Morton Subotnick, Hugh Davies, Luc Ferrari) as well as unreleased tracks by musicians who are cornerstones of the 90's electronic scene (Autechre, Aphex Twin, Scanner, Kim CasconeYoshihiro Hanno...), acid movement (Woody McBride, Choose) or industrial (Laibach, SPK). Without forgetting some free-jazz (Sun Ra) or rare stuff from Captain Beefheart, Daphne Oram, Alan R. Splet...
slow explorations of the past and the present
Given the present system of production there are reasons, some of them identifiable, why only a few names emerge in each period.
There may also be a preference for concentrating information rather than letting it pile up in disordered fashion. Over the past 40 years the same ten electronic music composers get mentioned again and
again (including in music dictionaries and histories). Yet behind them are many other names. Who are they? Second-raters? Not necessarily. For we then need to define the concept of top-rate (rated by who, and on what criteria?) and second-rate or minor
artist. Great pleasure can be derived from the works of minor artists. The case of Tod Dockstader is instructive: when "for lack of academic qualifications" he was denied access to the electronic music facilities he needed, was there not great beauty in the pieces he nevertheless created and in his determination to make music without those facilities? His name was never seen on the labels of top record companies. But he influenced quite a few people - Richard James quoted him, and others then referred to his work. Some of his records were reissued, and what one could call
the rehabilitation process continues. The same applies to many other composers. All such stories spell a passion for music, and weave myth.
historical axes
At the turn of the century there were efforts to find new sources of sound - a number of machines were exhibited, including Thaddeus Cahiel's Telharmonium in 1887 and the Dynamophone presented to the New York public in 1906; they generally played well-known
romantic or post-romantic pieces. After a few flamboyant skirmishes described in the previous volume, the postwar period saw the arrival in 1951, of Wladimir Ussachevsky and Otto Luening in New York's Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center.
When audiences of the 50's and 60's first heard Varèse, Pousseur, Stockhausen, Berio, Ussachevsky, Yuasa, Dockstader and Mumma, what did they feel? Perhaps a sort of break, an epistemological break, like it must have been for the first audience of Monteverdi's
Orfeo (in Mantua, Italy on 24 February 1607). They left the auditorium completely stunned,because they had never heard anything like it.
WHAT CONTAINS THIS SECOND EDITION ?
CD 1
Wladimir Ussachevsky + Otto Luening > Incantation for Tape * 1953 02:35
Luc Ferrari > Visage V * 1958-59 10:33
Tod Dockstader - Aerial > Song * 2002 12:56
Johanna M. Beyer > Music of the Spheres * 1938 05:59
Morton Subotnick > Mandolin * 1962 07:02
Daphne Oram > Four Aspects * 1960 08:05
Robin Rimbaud / Scanner > Emily * 2003 04:46
Hugh Davies > Quintet * 1967-68 12:05
Alan R. Splet > Space Travel w/ Changing Choral Textures 04:02
Kim Cascone > Zephirum Scan * 2002 04:58
CD 2
Autechre > Bronchus One.1 * 1991 06:01
Yoshihiro Hanno > On/Off Edit * 2001 09 :12
Meira Asher > Torture/Bodyparts * 2001 03'40
Woody McBride > Pulp * 1993 06:07
Lasse Steen / Choose > Purzuit ov Noize * 1994 05 :36
Arcane Devices > Lathe * 1988 05:54
Laibach > Industrial Ambients * 1980-82 09:54
SPK > Slogun * 1979 06:20
Percy Grainger > Free Music #1 (for four theremins) * 1936 01:22
Sun Ra > Imagination * 1965 02:04
Captain Beefheart > She's too much for my miror / My human gets me blues * 1969 05:32 “ [press-release]
|
2003 |
€20.00 |
|
|
Antologia de Musica Electronica Portugesa |
CD |
Feine Erkundungen in die elektro-akustische und experimental-elektronische Szene Portugals, vieles unbekanntes, produziert von RAFAEL TORAL.
“Compiled by Rafael Toral and Plancton Music this anthology waeves a historic thread that freely crosses boundaries between the authors' cultural territories and also documents as many approaches to electronic music as possible, both on material and conceptual levels. tracklisting : 1. Nuno Canavarro - Alsee (1987) 0' 52" 2. Cândido Lima - Oceanos - (1978) 5' 53"
3. Nuno Rebelo - New Amp - (1984) 3' 42" 4. Isabel Soveral - Anamorphoses I (1994) 5' 19" 5. Filipe Pires - Homo Sapiens (1972) 4' 38" 6. Telectu - Performance # (1984) 4' 47"
7. Jorge Peixinho - Elegia a Amílcar Cabral (1973) 5' 13"
8. Rafael Toral - Mills Session (introdução) (1997) 2' 22"
9. João Pedro Oliveira - Silence to Light (1992) 3' 34"
10. Anar Band - Plasticman (1977) 4' 42" 11. René Bertholo - África Aqui (1996) 1' 46" 12. Carlos Zíngaro - #444-07 (1981) 3' 24"
13. Emanuel Dimas de Melo Pimenta - Lisbon Revisited (1986) 3' 06" 14. No Noise Reduction - RLO II (1995) 3' 32"
15. António Ferreira - O Verão Nasceu da Paixão de 1921 (1988) 8' 52" [label info]
|
2004 |
€15.00 |
|
|
ARTIFICIAL MEMORY TRACE presents: Interpretations |
CD-R |
Interpretations of graphical works from AMT by: MAISON_MEDICALE, DALE LLOYD, KARKOWSKI, SECRET SOCIETY MUSIC, DAVID MC CARTHY, JEAN LUC GUIONNET, AIOFE MC GOVERN, NOISE-MAKER'S FIFES, and additional tracks by AMT, TBC, SKWI + Y.BUCHHEIM. Quite radical in approach & sounding, between extreme concrete microcospic field / soundobject recordings & instrumental use, electronic noises & drones, everything is possible...
On Hamburgs "Wachsender Prozess"-Label !
|
2006 |
€9.50 |
|
|
Debris Field (MAX EASTLEY / LOREN CHASSE / COLIN POTTER / PHIL MOULDYCLIFF / KEITH ROWE / etc.) |
CD & book |
Katalog und -CD zum Thema “Trümmer” einer Ausstellung, die von April bis Juni in einer Kunstgalerie in Bolton (UK) stattfand und von PHIL MOULDYCLIFF kuratiert wurde. Abbildungen von Bildern, Skultputuren, Zeichnungen, Texte & Biographien der hier vorgestellten 13 Künstler, sowie ein 48+ minütiger feinstofflich-ambientöser Installationssoundtrack von LOREN CHASSE, PHIL MOULDYCLIFF, COLIN POTTER und KEITH ROWE machen dies zu einer äusserst sehens- und hörenswerten Publikation.
“This is the CD and catalogue for the 'Debris Field' exhibition at Bolton Museum curated by Phil Mouldycliff. The CD is an edited version of 'Debris Field ambient wash', a 48 minute piece that is split into 3 movements. The catalogue includes an essay by Mouldycliff titled 'Tracing paths through debris fields' which gives some insight into the exhibition and CD. Also includes photographs of some of the exhibits and artist biographies for those involved including Colin Potter, Keith Rowe, Max Eastley, Tom Philips etc” [ICR]
“ 'Debris Fields' was curated by Phil Mouldycliff and deals with 'remains', the debris after the act. It's not an exhibition about music per se, as it includes paintings, drawings, prints, sculptures and also music. Some of the participating artists are also musicians, such as Loren Chasse, Keith Rowe and Phil Mouldycliff and they all delivered some music to Colin Potter, who presented 'Debris field Ambient Wash', a mix of all the sounds into a 'discreet, constantly changing audible environment' to fill up the space with the exhibits. While flipping pages of the catalogue at home, this music fills also up the private space, and the big advantage is of course you can turn up the volume much louder and enjoy things perhaps better than in the public space. The music alone is worth getting the catalogue for.” [FdW / Vital Weekly]
"...Under the curatorial vision of Phil Mouldycliff, 13 artists embarked on a sound-art exhibition at the Bolton Museum, Art Gallery
and Aquarium, whereby (to the best of our understanding) the artists were given access to the Museum's collections of natural artifacts to use within the installations and as sound making devices. In turn these installations (which also involved paintings, drawings, prints, sound, and sculptures fabricated by the exhibiting artists) became something of what Mouldycliff qualified as an "accumulation of
fragments." The participating artists included Colin Potter, Loren Chasse, Keith Rowe, Max Eastley, Russell Mills, Julian Lees, Peter
Oakley, Tom Phillips, Colin Fallows, Hugh Davies, Glenda Lees, Paul Mason, and Phil Mouldycliff.
As none of us had the good fortune of experiencing the exhibition, we can only comment on the catalogue (which artfully
presents the numerous ideas behind all of the contributing artists) and the accompanying CD which features a mix of material produced for
the catalogue by Colin Potter of various sounds produced by Rowe, Chasse, Mouldycliff and himself. As the disc begins, it's apparent who
is the creator of those first sounds: AQ-fav sound artist Loren Chasse as he presents a delicate crackling of natural tactility above a rarified drone of accumulated environmental ambience (i.e. surf and wind), very much sounding like those heard on his The Air In The Sand release. The ominous shadows and oceanic rumbles which Potter has employed so successfully in Nurse With Wound, Monos, and Ora act as the glue holding the entire composition together, with Keith Rowe's
small yet growling machines and vibrating strings only occasionally emerging from the din. Mouldycliff's contributions are a little harder to pinpoint, as we're honestly not all that familiar with his work (sorry Phil!). The disc itself is a wonderful listen, and certainly continues along what Mouldycliff intends, as "pathways through the assembled clutter as if exploring a debris field on the bottom of the sea." [Aquarius Records]
|
2006 |
€16.00 |
|
|
Dissolution Tapes: The Musique Concrete Ensemble remixed |
CD |
Eine Compilation auf dem US-Label ZEROMOON, die das ganze mögliche Spektrum experimentellen Soundrecyclings aufzeigt ! Remixed wird nämlich das (sehr ruhige & schöne) Album “Disonancias..” von MUSIQUE CONCRETE ENSEMBLE in einem extrem weiten Spektrum, von atmosphärisch-organischen Dronescapes bis hin zu digital-concrete noise... wirklich hervorragendes Material, definitiv zu empfehlen !
“ Lets face it, most compilations suck, are filled with half-assed throw away tracks by name artists and filler by unknowns reinventing the wheel for the umpteenth time. This is were Dissolution Tapes differs. In order to maintain a stylistic consistency of music and challenge the contributors, musical themes recorded by Normal Music's secret alter ego, The MCE, were given to every participant. Its sort of a remix CD but beyond that in how attention was paid to the overall disk in terms of flow and composition creating a unified release of new and challenging music. Artists include: Cornucopia, Alexei Borisov, Anton Nikkila, Freiband, Ultra Milkmaids, Violet, Jacob Kirkegaard, Maja Ratkje, Kotra, Dead Letters, Andrey Kiritchenko, Das Torpedoes, Michael Gendreau, R.R. Habarc, Francisco Lopez, Rechord, Fe-Mail.” [label info] "Dissolution Tapes requires effort but rewards accordingly. Still, it should not be approached as the companion disc to Disonancias y Repeticiones Ambiguas, unless you plan on seriously expanding your horizons." - François Couture, All-Music Guide "listen to this compilation whole in one breath, it's worth it." - Vital Weekly
|
2003 |
€10.00 |
|
|
Ein Prosit zur letzten Tide |
do-CDR |
Eine Compilation des Hamburger HÖRBAR e.V. – als Soundquelle für alle Beiträge dienten Unterwasseraufnahmen, die auf der jährlichen HÖRBAR-Barkassenfahrt im Juni 2003 gemacht wurden, sowie Aufnahmen vom leeren Kinosaal des B-MOVIE’s (wo die Konzerte stattfinden) für das HAFLER TRIO – Konzert kurze Zeit später..... ein guter Überblick über die alte und neue Hamburger Experientalszene !
Nice Compilation from members of the Hamburg-based HOERBAR–association, who organize experimental concerts in the B-MOVIE in Hamburg. This compilation gives an ovierview about the old and new Hamburg-scene, with exclusive material by the long active ASMUS TIETCHENS, JETZMANN, Y-TON-G, TBC, XYRAMAT, EBINGER, ELEKTRONENGEHIRN, WILLI W., but also newer promising acts like [-HYPH-], GRADIENT COMMUNICATION, EVAPORI, AUDIBLE PAIN, FÜR DIESEN ABEND, TOTSTELLEN, SONATA REC., and some more.... the only track here from “abroad” comes from MURMER (we think).
All material is based on underwater-recordings made by ASMUS TIETCHENS during the yearly riverboat-trip by the HOERBAR-members & friends on the ELBE, from June 2003, AND recordings from the empty concert-hall for the HAFLER TRIO concert (which happened a little later). The whole project was organized and put together by WILLI W. Very much recommended !!
|
2004 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Epitaph for John |
CD |
Über 3 Jahre nach seinem Tod erscheint diese Memorial-Compilation für den ursprünglich aus Berlin stammenden Komponisten JOHN WATERMANN, der nur 48 Jahre alt wurde. Neben dem über 13 minütigen Originalmaterial von WATERMANNs „Toowong Cemetary“ , welches zu seinen letzten Aufnahmen zählen dürfte, gibt es hier Bearbeitungen desselben Materials zu hören von FRANS DE WAARD aka FREIBAND und anderen, die engen Kontakt mit WATERMANN hatten: ASMUS TIETCHENS, RLW, und MERZBOW.
Dies ist eine würdige Gedenk-Compilation mit grossartigem Material, hier zeigen diese Koryphäen der unabhängigen Geräuschmusik-Szene ihre ganze Klasse! Kommt mit kompletter Discographie und vielen weiteren Infos!!
“CD only (compilation with Asmus Tietchens, RLW, Merzbow, Freiband and John Watermann). In late 2000, I received an e-mail from John Watermann. It was rather out of the blue, since we hadn't been in contact for maybe ten years. I don't have that e-mail anymore, but I remember that it started like this: "I hope you remember me? I have been diagnozed with cancer which is incurable", and then he went on to propose that I buy the remainder of his self-released CD-Rom, "A Rose Is A Rose". John also proposed that we do a musical collaboration together. I mailed him a CDR of field recordings that I had made in the summer of 2000 in Sweden, and he mailed me a CDR called 'Toowong Cemetary'. During the next year and in early 2002, John and I e-mailed about how we should approach this collaborative work. I did a fair share of processing on his sound material, but it seemed hard for me to finish. In my various e-mail communications with John, I didn't dare ask what would happen if he would die and the work was not completed.
In the afternoon of April 3th 2002, I got an e-mail from Shannon O'Neill, telling me that John had passed away. Afterwards, I got in contact with Barbara Heath and Malcolm Cones, who were both dealing with John's estate. They send me a couple of CDRs containing all the recent soundwork John had been working on, but they contained nothing of our collaboration. I left my music unfinished, until mid-2003 when I thought of inviting Asmus Tietchens to do some work on John's original sounds. I knew that they were in close contact. After Asmus had finished, and I still wasn't ready with my piece, so I invited two more people, Ralf Wehowsky and Masami Akita. In the previous years Masami worked on an extensive collaboration with John and Ralf Wehowsky mentions Watermann as one of the few artists he was keen follower of. Once I had their contributions, I decided to start from scratch and take their finished works as new raw sound material, which is why my piece is now at the end of the CD.” [Frans de Waard – liner notes]
“Over the course of his life John Watermann worked with almost every conceivable artistic medium. In many ways, he was the epitome of the "total artist"; almost every element of his life being in some way his own artistic project. As a young man in his native Germany he worked as a photographer and documentary filmmaker, also etching, painting and writing. His experience as a youth in Germany in the Second World War influencing his work from then right through until his death.
Following his move to Australia Watermann worked as jeweller, opening a number of shops in Sydney with his longtime Australian partner Barbara Heath (an accomplished jeweller in her own right) and meanwhile continued to write, paint and even sculpt. Eventually, after traveling the east coast of Australia in a self-built sailing boat, Watermann settled in Brisbane and began to produce his music.
He first released his music in 1989 in the form of the album "Warmth is the Fifth Room". Like most of his releases, the cassette appeared in a run of very few copies on his own label "Nightshift", and was consequently almost impossible to find.
Over the next 10 years he released numerous albums and contributed to a number of compilations, both under his own name as a solo artist, in collaboration with others (such as Merzbow) and under a number of pseudonyms (including Radio Mull, Spinal Machine and Total Disease). Also, apart from his music, in the 1990s he created an interactive cd-rom work "Rose is a Rose" and published the webzine "Lean Yellow Supporting".
Sadly, on April 2nd 2002 John Watermann died suddenly of an infection resulting from his ongoing treatment for cancer. Having in the final year of his life returned to painting and writing (alongside a burgeoning interest in cooking), he still had vast plans for future projects.
Among these unfulfilled projects were plans to collaborate with Frans de Waard on a new release. Although only preliminary discussions on the collaboration took place and Watermann never completed any work towards the project, Watermann's source material that was to be the basis of the work now serves as a basis for this tribute release.
Despite his vast artistic output, Watermann has been known almost exclusively for his music and even then his work remains largely undiscovered, perhaps for no other reason than its sheer unavailability. In many ways Watermann could be considered a classic example of the artists' artist, his work influencing many far more prominent sonic alchemists. And perhaps then this release serves as a record of Watermann and his influence, documenting the respect he reserved from his peers and, hopefully, introducing his work to a new audience.” [Ben Byrne] . tracklisting:
1. Asmus Tietchens - JWAT 1 (03:05)
2. Asmus Tietchens - JWAT 2 (02:37)
3. Asmus Tietchens - JWAT 3 (05:39)
4. Asmus Tietchens - JWAT 4 (03:55)
5. RLW: Seeking Perfection - Somewhere Else (12:52)
6. Merzbow - Untitled For John (05:28)
7. Freiband - Threnody (10:26)
8. John Watermann - Toowong Cemetary (13:32)
[press-release]
|
2005 |
€13.00 |
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Floating Foundation Vol. 1 |
CD |
"HISTORICAL EXPLANATION : bases and developments
Leaving aside controversy and scandal, Frank Lloyd Wright built a huge hotel in Japan between 1916 and 1922; a few months later, Tokyo was devastated by an earthquake. Only a few buildings stayed up - amongst which the Imperial Hotel. When asked how his construction had remained intact, he replied: Floating Foundation. In this case as in others, he had thought and assimilated the nature of nature. What must be done now is to apply this principle to other areas of creation.
A thousand facts and actions could support the theory that we are moving towards a new decompartmentalization of genre, towards a unified field, as Christophe Charles - and Markus Popp - would state.(we could also treat archeologically the compartmentalization of the arts and its decompartmentalization throughout history, to reach the conclusion that nothing is ever permanently set).we are merely linking together a few elements that go in the same direction.
Likewise, the idea which preoccupies us in this series, is to create sound objects, abstract in their appearance, with musicians who are, in most cases, plastic artists too - the border between music and plastic arts is thinner than ever before. This is what we will try to explore for the time being.
Janek Schaefer
Based in london as architecte and musician. After his 'Above Buildings' , he worked with Robert Hampson on a project called Comae', also he invented the Tri-Phonic Turntable.
Robert Hampson
Founder of Loop and Main - a seminal musician from south london. he produced about 12 records from early 90 and participated to the 'Gilles Deleuze unit' with Scanner mid-90.
Christophe Charles
French sound plastician living in Tokyo, close in mind to Markus Popp / Oval - he released "undirected 1986-1996 " on Mille plateaux and "dok " - a soundfile exchange between Oval and him.
Stephen Vitiello
Born in New York City in 1964,. His work has been featured in group exhibitions at Whitney Museum and Postmasters Gallery, in New York. A musician and media-artist, he is involved in the New York avant garde,. He was also a close collaborator of Nam June Paik.
Kurt Ralske
Kurt Ralske is a Manhattan-based composer, electronic musician, and computer audio-video artist. Described by Alternative Press as 'proving that machines do indeed have souls' - founder long time ago of the mythic Ultra Vivid Scene (on 4AD)" [label info]
"The aim of the Floating Foundation series is to "create sound objects" with musicians "who are, in most cases, plastic artists too" (from Sub Rosa director Guy Marc Hinant's presentation) -- in other words, to walk the thinning line between music and plastic arts. The sound sculptors contributing to this first installment all decided to take its title (inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright's sense of architecture) literally. Each piece is a journey through either air or water -- not that the artists declare to specifically use sounds derived from these sources, but their music feels airborne, free-floating, gentle, and following its own, sometimes capricious path. Janek Schaefer's "Lithospheric Shifts" opens the CD, but it represents its weaker point. It doesn't take off, offering a limited and uninvolved scope of sounds. Robert Hampson's (aka Main) "Hysteresis" is already more interesting and takes the shape of a British-school electro-acoustic work. Christophe Charles and Stephen Vitiello's contributions make for the best moments, the former vaguely ambient, the latter presenting the most minimalist but sharply focused work, derived in part from his recordings of the World Trade Center (something that cannot help but take an unplanned extra dimension after the events of September 11, 2001). This is where the sense of plasticity, of "sound sculpting," can be felt the strongest. Kurt Ralske's "Au.Taste" provides a suitably calm ending."
[François Couture, All Music Guide]
|
2002 |
€13.00 |
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INFERNAL PROTEUS |
BOOK / 4 x CD |
Auf dieser PFLANZEN-Compilation werden 40 verschiedene Pflanzen (davon 1 fiktionale) musikalisch charakterisiert, wobei das Spektrum sehr weitreichend, aber größtenteils im dark ambient / post-industrial und apocalyptic folk – Bereich anzusiedeln ist. Die Aufmachung ist äußerst edel, ein 96seitiges Hardcover-Buch mit Abbildungen / Artwork zu jeder Pflanze.
Die Auswahl der Pflanzen erfolgte durch die beteiligten Projekte und zeigt auch schon, wo ein Hauptinteresse lag: bei den bewussteinsverändernden Pflanzen...;
ein wahrhaft monumentaler Trip in die Pflanzenwelt, eine Compilation die eigentlich Unverbindliches zu verbinden sucht. Einmalig in der Konzeption und Gestaltung, a definite MUST have!
“A professionally and luxury manufactured 96-page hardback book with full colorartwork, containing 4 Compact Discs with 40 first-class artists and a playtime averaging 67 minutes per disc ¬ from Folk to Rhythmic, Pop to Ambient and Electronic to beyond... Every contributing artist was given the freedom to chose one plant or herb of his delight to present within “Infernal Proteus” under the aspect of music and visual art. The result is a new form of book, ground breaking in its expression ¬ a manifestation of true artistic virtue!” [press release] Featured are a.o.:
AH CAMA-SOTZ (Belgium): Morning Glory, ALIO DIE (Italy): Borage, AMBER ASYLUM (USA): Kelp, APOPTOSE (Germany): Oak, AUBE (Japan): Chrysanthemum, BARADELAN (Germany): Bonsai, CHAOS AS SHELTER (Israel): Bellflower, COLECLOUGH & HILL (UK): Beech, YANNICK DAUBY (France): Sundew, ENDVRA (UK): Hops, HEKATE (Germany): Cornflower IGOR18 (Israel): Venus Flytrap, INADE (Germany): Ginkgo DAVE KNOTT (USA): Redwood, LOTUS EATERS (USA): Marijuana, MNORTHAM (USA): Salvia Divinorum, SETH NEHIL (USA): Birch, STEVE RODEN (USA): Pine
TROUM (Germany): Khan Arachnid, ULTRA (USA): Yohimbe WOLFSKIN (Portugal): Thornapple........and many others !
label-website: www.theajnaoffensive.com |
2002 |
€45.00 |
|
|
Jukebox Buddha |
CD |
"Fifteen tracks made with the FM3 Buddha Machine. Featuring exclusive contributions by Adrian Sherwood and Doug Wimbish, Blixa Bargeld, SunnO))), Thomas Fehlmann, Sun City Girls, Gudrun Gut, Kammerflimmer Kollektief, Jan Jelinek/Andrew Pekler/Hanno Leichtmann, Mapstation, Aki Onda, Robert Henke, Es, Alog, Minit and Wang Fan. It was about three years ago whilst loafing in one of Beijing's finer foot massage joints that Christiaan Virant, the other half of Chinese duo FM3 to Zhang Jian, began to riff mutation fantasies as applied to the Buddha Machine. The Buddha Machine is a literal translation from Mandarin for the small plastic box, driven by two double 'A' batteries, that grinds out low-fi looped sutra variants across the whole of China and South East Asia. The original concept was to locate the nest, infect the breeding process with the new strain of meditative sonics developed by FM3 over the previous couple of years, lop off a hundred or so clones for promotion purposes and bounce off the impact with a few European gigs. That idea died as soon as the little babies fell into the hands of Brian Eno, a rare musical expeditionary from the far West visiting China, and the notorious Alan Bishop of the Sun City Girls. Only just over twelve months later the little beggar polls 88 thousand pages on Google (the number 8 is the luckiest number in China) and has a dedicated My Space page almost as amusing as the soundbox itself when only the Pope is missing from its fanbase! On Jukebox Buddha, the first chapter of Buddha version, disciples of many levels stretch, compress, reconfigure, rub and dust, and generally fuck around with the nine floating loops clipped out from FM3's confrontational world of quiet. Moving straight to level four, the entry from Einsturzende Neubauten's Blixa Bargeld finds the Beijing resident submitting to sweeter harmonies than those with which he is traditionally associated, even eschewing voice in a move that could free him from the eternal cycle of rebirth. Level two devotee Wang Fan, longtime associate of FM3, builds environmentally-friendly filigrees of sound while new initiates Sherwood and Wimbish immediately recognize the key importance of bass to the Buddha. A true Zen moment is struck by the shameless humor of Jan Jelinek, Andrew Pekler and Hanno Leichtmann's commercial but Robert Henke (Monolake) takes a more devotional approach with a lift from his new album of droneage based entirely on loops from the Buddha Machine. Although Mapstation sound like Mapstation, in an act of submission Thomas Fehlmann bucks the beat and builds floating layers of naked vocal. The Sun City Girls prove they have visited more temples in the East than any other Westerner, and SunnO))) arrive from a different dimension with incomparable restraint. In fact, the absence of self indulgence pervades many of these contributions, as with Minit whose contribution is the only one to actually sound like FM3 but none more so than Gudrun Gut's analysis of the creative process employed in producing the track she has offered here." [press release] |
2006 |
€10.00 |
|
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Lust from the Underworld |
do-CD |
Luxuriöser Vollfarb-Katalog mit kunstvollen Fotos von verschiedenen Fotografen zum Thema “Liebe und Eros in Mythologie, Symbolismus & dekadenter Kunst”, dazu 2 CDs mit Musik von diversen Projekten und Musikern aus dem elektronisch-düsteren Bereich: Romantic Electro-Dark Wave, Mittelalter-Folk, Dark Ambient, Gothic Poetry, insgesamt eher song- & vokalorientiert...
“Wow, this is an impressive looking release. The Czech label Horus CyclicDaemon released an enjoyable compilation before (Chaos), but this time they have taken their ambitions a step further. A luxurious A5 book full of erotic photos contains two cd's filled with exclusive material of interesting artists. The project is dedicated to Love & Eros in mythology, symbolist & decadent art and focuses especially on the story of Hades & Persephone & Koré & Demeter. This theme is worked out in the booklet, which contains about 30 `bizarre pictures` from 9 recent & modern photographers as well as some texts and poems. The photos have very different styles, some are subtle and romantic, others are rawer and fetish-like. Apart from the erotic photos, there is also a page for each artist involved, with credits and lyrics. Everything is printed on top quality paper to enhance the visual stimulation. Furthermore the booklet is packaged in a very nice envelope.
The theme becomes not only clear from the visual contributions of the photographer, but the musical artists also deal with themes of lust, sex and fetish. And they are certainly not the least artists, though there are also some unknown (but promising) artists present. Don't expect fetish EBM/techno like Die Form though, in general the musical idiom is romantic or mysterious. The music on Lust from the Underworld ranges from dark folk to neo-classical, from heavenly voices and medieval to ritual, from dark ambient to experimental industrial.
Disc one starts sensual, with atmospheric sounds and the typical voice of Chako (related to Jack or Jive from Japan). Unto Ashes treats us to ritual and medieval sounds, with nice hurdygurdy and percussion sounds. Then comes a bombastic filmic soundscape by Abnocto, a project of Simon Kölle and Simon Heath, also known for Za Frûmi. These gothic fantasy sounds bring images of monks sneaking through dark corridors. The contribution by 4th Sign of the Apocalypse from the USA has a ritual, monotonous sound and an experimental structure. Then comes a rather mysterious piece with whispered/spoken vocals by a Mexican act called Detritus, which I think is another Detritus than the one who releases on Immanence and Ad Noiseam.
Romowe Rikoito is a lovely folky band from Russia, which enchants me with their melancholic string sound. Maor Appelbaum is a new name for me, but sounds interesting with a mixture of electronic and classical sounds, it reminds me of the more experimental Matt Howden works. The Mystery School adds a slow piano-based romantic hymn, while Chaos as Shelter is responsible for some rather dark ritual ambient sounds in combination with a traditional Persian song, reminding me of Agnivolok. One Inch of Shadow from Poland has a shimmering, experimental soundscape with some dramatic vocals on top of that. It is followed by Hexentanz, a project related to Soil Bleeds Black, but darker and more ritual, quite nice. Disc one is finished by a great atmospheric ambient piece with classical elements and interesting spoken text by Musterion, another project of Simon Kölle.
Disc 2 has a great start: Sieben with one of their most rhythmic pieces 'Forget me not', which I clearly remember from Matt Howden concerts and which is very different from the track with that name on the Sex and Wildflowers album. Mondblut are always masters at creating mysterious, sensual moods, and they do not disappoint. Empusae slowly builds up his track, which evolves into a complicated rhythmic piece, the harshest track so far. Delusional Day is much softer, with lovely, expressive female voices, somewhat jazzy. The Crown of the Scars is somewhat weird, with strange lyrics, making me think of David E. Williams. Cotton Ferox from Sweden had made a great album, and again they have contributed an original sounding piece, sort of experimental ambient dub with penetrating spoken word. While Angels Watch has a usual a more traditional dark folk sound, with romantic lyrics about angels and nice contributions by Matt and Jane Howden. Then follows an improvised, somewhat oriental piece by The Legendary Pink Dots, interesting as always. The Belgian Hybryds are specialized in dark ritual sounds, and with the help of the sensual voice of Ms. Poly Esther the lustful character of their song is further enhanced. Last but one is a bombastic medieval soundtrack piece by Za Frûmi, perhaps the best track I know from them. A slow classical piece with a religious feel by Ossaserpia finished the second cd.
Only 500 handnumbered copies have been made of LUST FROM THE UNDERWORLD.” [Hans D. / FUNPROX]
|
2004 |
€22.00 |
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Serene Moments (NACHT / NORTHAUNT / SHINJUKU THIEF / UMBRA) |
do-7 |
Nächtlicher gothic-ambient & neo-klassik-Industrial von vier Projekten, im Klappcover, auf dem polnischen FLUTTERING DRAGON – Label !
“Concept double 7" vinyl presenting mysterious sounds, chants, whispers and yells created by Nacht, Shinjuku Thief, Umbra and Northaunt. Four magic projects on four sides vinyl disc. Six incredibly mesmerizing tracks which will make the last sunbeams die...Edition limited and numbered to 505 copies.” [label info]
|
2004 |
€10.00 |
|
|
Si'ka-del-ik |
CD |
Bewusstseinserweiternder Noise? Auf dieser PSYCHFORM-Compilation versammeln sich die Collagen / Cut-Up / Bizarr-Noiser, um eine grosse gemeinsame AKUSTISCHE HALLUZINATION zu erschaffen, die vom Abseitigen berichtet. Special priced !
“PsychForm Records are very happy to announce their first release...an international compilation appropriately named (si-ke-del-ik) volume one. The sounds within are characterized by hallucinations, distortions of perception, altered states of awareness, and occasionally, behavior resembling psychosis. The artists featured on this installment are: Christian Renou , Grillhaus, Contagious Orgasm, Rowenta / Khan, John Wiese, Noggin, The Haters, Mixed Band Philanthropist / Broken Penis Orchestra. MP3 sample is by Contagious Orgasm.” [label description]
|
2004 |
€10.00 |
|
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SPIRE (ORGAN WORKS PAST PRESENT & FUTURE) |
do-CD |
Wer auf erhabende und experimentelle Orgel-Klänge steht, muss hier einfach zugreifen ! Orgeln dienten hier in verschiedenster Weise als Inspiration oder Klangquellen für die Stücke...zu hören gibt es fulminante oder monumentale Orgel-Drones, leise Sphärensounds, eher knarzige field recordings, etc.. ...inkl. ausführliche Linernotes im Booklet.
„ CDOne: Leif Elggren Z'EV Philip Jeck Sigtryggur Berg Sigmarsson Charles Matthews Marcus Davidson Scott Minor/Fennesz Finnbogi PŽtursson Biosphere Toshiya Tsunoda Tom Recchion Lary 7/Jeff Peterson
CDTwo: BJNilsen Scott Taylor Jacob Kirkegaard Oren Ambarchi/Tom Recchion Chris Watson and on the web: http://www.touchmusic.org.uk/spire/stillupsteypa.mp3
The story: The thought of producing a compilation where the tracks were all either inspired by or more directly influenced by the organ had been frequently aired over the years. The conversations were always animated and expansive. The organ works of Arvo Pärt, those performed by Christopher Bowers-Broadbent, a pupil of Richard Rodney Bennett at the Royal Academy of Music in London, and others, have reached a wider non-classical audience. Eventually Benny Nilsen arranged to visit St. Mary's Church, Warwick and work with one of England's finest, Charles Matthews. Crawling around inside the instrument, positioning microphones most appropriately in the Church, or 'capturing' the psalms composed by Marcus Davidson, Nilsen explored the possibilities with all the familiar lust of the avant-garde.
As the brief widened, so did the responses... some contributors referred to earlier versions of the organ and its often highly political usage, others explored aged instruments themselves. Some studied the effects of the sounds produced on the physique and the psyche, others conceptualised the brief and either built their own or recorded natural or man-made phenomena which utilised the same basic process, wind through pipes.
The organ represents the marriage between acoustic complexity and ritualised space. It is impossible not to be drawn upward, towards the spire of the church or cathedral, or to the huge and daunting forest of pipes themselves. The organ dwarfs all comers, and unlike other instruments, it is this non-musical element which makes the organ stand apart.“ [press release]
|
2003 |
€19.50 |
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Text-Sound Compositions. A Stockholm Festival |
5 x CD-Box |
Re-Release von den lange vergriffenen FYLKINGEN-LPs die zwischen 1968 und 1977 erschienen sind und die Stockholmer TEXT-SOUND COMPOSITION-Festivals dokumentiert haben. Experimental sound poetry and beyond !
“Fylkingen Records in collaboration with the Swedish Radio released a series of LP records with text-sound compositions between the years of 1968-77. All of these were documentations of the international festival text-sound Compositions-Stockholm Festival, which Fylkingen presented in Stockholm several times during these years. Most of the LPs were only pressed in batches of about 400-500 records, and most of the LPs sold out during the festivals. A re-release had long been planned, and this 5 CD box marks the complete re-release of the complete recordings. Apart from the 5 CDs with in all ca 6 hours of material, the CD box contains a 60 page booklet with essays by Teddy Hultberg and Sten Hanson, as well as historical photographs taken by Lütfi Özkök during the festivals.
The term text-sound composition was coined in 1967 in Sweden by the composers writers Lars-Gunnar Bodin and Bengt Emil Johnsson, and was meant to serve to name a genre that was a vital art form in the no man's land between sound, poetry, and music. text-sound compositions had influences from previous modernistic waves such as futurism, dadaism, lettrism, etc., but perhaps the most important influence was the Swedish poet and visual artist Öyvind Fahlström, who had just over a decade earlier coined the term concrete poetry. The term concrete poetry related to Pierre Schaeffer's concrete music, and it is somewhere between concrete poetry and concrete music that text-sound compositions appear. The birth of the electronic music studio and concrete music's idea that every sound can be freed from its original context and given a new meaning when it is reworked and put together with other sounds in the electronic music studio became the catharsis for text-sound composition. In the electronic music studio, voice and language sounds can be broken down, unleashed, and then fused together to become a poetry that had never been heard before. Certain text-sound composers would come to work only with pure lingual sounds, but most eventually came to integrate lingual sounds with other sounds, both concrete and electronic.
The CD box contains works by the following text-sound composers and sound poets: Charles Amirkhanian, Lars-Gunnar Bodin, Svante Bodin, Henri Chopin, Bob Cobbing, François Dufrêne, Gust Gils, Jarl och Sonja Hammarberg-kesson, Sten Hanson, Bernard Heidsieck, C. Christer Hennix, Ake Hodell, Bengt Emil Johnsson, Sandro Key-berg, Bengt af Klintberg, Ilmar Laaban, Annea Lockwood & Harvey Matusow, Arrigo Lora-Totino, Ghérasim Luca, Arne Mellns, Franz Mon, Ladislav Novák, Diter Rot & Emmet Williams, Erik Thygesen, Paul de Vree.” [press release]
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2005 |
€45.00 |
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The Golden Road |
7 |
Feine neuseeländisch–norwegisch–britische Compilation EP, in 4 verschiedenen Artwork-Ausführungen. BRUCE RUSSEL (CORPUS HERMETICUM!), ANTONYM, TAMING POWER (EARLY MORNING RECORDS), SINDRE BJERGA / ANDERS GJERDE (GOLD SOUNDZ / HUMBUG).
“This is the second record in the EP compilation series, which started in 2001. The records are released according to this concept: 4 artists are given approx. 4 minutes each, and can use these minutes for whatever purpose they want as long as the result has something to do with experimental music. Each artist is given 1/4 of the pressing to create covers for and to make a personal edition - which means that all releases in this series exist in 4 different editions which are distributed by the individual artists.” [label info]
|
2003 |
€6.00 |
|
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The Walls are whispering Volume III |
CD |
Dritter und letzter Teil der schönen Compilation-Reihe für experimentellen & dunklen Ambient, Drone & Trance auf dem belgischen EE Tapes, zum Abschluss viele bekanntere Acts, insgesamt bietet die Trilogie einen umfassenden Überblick über den derzeitigen atmosphärisch-experimentellen Underground !
“....To refresh your memory: 'The Walls Are Whispering' are three compilation CDs with dark ambient music of whatever kind, be it drone related, be it more rhythmical or be it more soundscape/field recording like. The series collects some of the better known names in this area with some newcomers, such as Acid...Soma and Azymbol, here on the third volume. The various field recorders are represented here by MNortham, Seth Nehil and Yannick Dauby. The darker ambient comes from Shifts, Azymbol, Acid...Soma and Contagious Orgasm (the latter two being also the most noise related here), whereas Oren Ambarchi and Fear Falls Burning use the guitar to drone away. The two surprising pieces are by Eric Lanzillota (who has settled now as a composer of music) with a nice pure electronic piece of shifting clusters of sound and Felix Kubin who does something likewise. They are both atmospheric in approach, but are different than the much of the other pieces (here, as-well as on the previous two volumes). It's another good volume and with all three one should have a good guide to what is available in this field of music.” [FdW / Vital Weekly] Address:
http://www.eetapes.be
|
2006 |
€12.00 |
|
|
The Walls are whispering Vol. 2 |
CD |
EE is known for its nice compilations-series with a very open-minded approach for all kinds of experimental music. THE WALLS ARE WHISPERING is the first series being released on “real” CDs, and dedicated more to dark ambient & drone stuff. This is the second volume with tracks by: REUTOFF, ERIC LA CASA, AH CAMA- SOTZ, [LAW RAW] COLLECTIVE, VANCE ORCHESTRA, and others. Comes again in nice silkscreened 7” cover ! |
2004 |
€12.00 |
|
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The walls are whispering... |
CD |
Dark experimental compilation on belgiums finest cassette & CDR label. Exclusive material from : Toy Bizarre (FR) Kallabris (DE)
sveen (BE) Christian Renou (FR) PBK (US) vidnaObmana (BE) Troum (DE) Steve Roden (US) Inade (DE) Dieter Müh (GB). The CD comes in a deluxe offset-printed 7" cover (gold and black print on bordeaux cardboard).
“ With PBK, Toy Bizarre, Troum, Christian Renou, Steve Roden, vidnaObmana and a host of newcomers all on one beautifully handcrafted disc, this becomes a tense and absorbing sit-down event. Toy Bizarre's opener "(Lost in Gent)" is sparsely ambient and full of enigmatic refinements followed closely by the equally spooky "Stella Polaris" by UK's Dieter Müh (Dave Uden Steve Cammack). Christian Renou consigns his nearly nine-minute opus "Apres, Bientot et Encore" like a message from an ether encircled globe. As he plays with metallics, the drone builds with laser-like thrashes and buzzing alarm calls. Intermedia artist Steve Roden's "The Presence of Copper" is this Californian's quiet investigation of truth in essential metals. Roden uses what could be a toy harp and rebellious electronics. Kallabris (J.T. 124), who offers two tracks to this collection, stirs up the "Nord" on this gothic apparition. The heavy bass drone and looming wind takes a vacant vessel into its sordid grasp and shivers its timbre. Troum completes this narrative with their uncommonly propitious and hazy rendering of "Makaria." In eight minutes, Troum envelops us a single orchestral passage. The listener is blinded in a cascade of filtered guitar phrasings creating their signature drone, though in higher tonal values. Also included here are works by Sveen, PBK and Inade. This forbidden elegy needed to be told by multidimensional sound historians, the keepers of these well-guarded secrets.” [TJNORRIS]
|
2003 |
€12.00 |
|
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This Place is Dreaming |
CD |
Psychogeographical Compilation that comes in DVD-case with large full-colour booklet, produced for the festival of the same name that happened in October 2004. Field Recordings & interviews from Brussels archives as well as instrumental pieces & recordings from other cities were used for 18 compositions from the likes of AKI ONDA, TMRX, MARTIENS GO HOME, FRANCISCO LOPEZ, HILDEGARD WESTERKAMP, JUSTIN BENNETT, STILLUPPSTEYPA, etc. – a great variety of different approaches for the “Rethinking and Transfiguring the Sites and Sounds of Brussels”. |
2004 |
€13.50 |
|
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Variable Resistance |
CD |
23FIVE INCORPORATED ist nicht nur seit Jahren der wichtigste Konzertveranstalter für experimentelle Musik in San Francisco, sondern inzwischen auch als Label tätig. In Zusammenarbeit mit dem San Francisco Museum of Modern Art ist eine Compilation-Reihe entstanden, die pro Ausgabe Projekte eines einzigen Landes vorstellt. Diese CD ist AUSTRALIEN gewidmet und beinhaltet Stücke von AMBARCHI, PIMMON, DARRIN VERHAGEN, PHILIP SAMARTZIS und einigen anderen...sehr schöne Zusammenstellung!
“Variable Resistance" was the second 'listening room' event co-sponsored by SF sound art organization 23five, Incorporated and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Where the first collaboration between 23five and the Museum centered on Japanese experimental music, this one takes a southern route to Australia, which has enjoyed a healthy explosion of adventurous musicians exporting their wares across the globe. Assembled by noted sound artist Philip Samartzis, "Variable Resistance" is a title that encapsulates the tone and extent of the work on hand, referencing not only the electronic gizmo (the variable resistor) as key to many of the featured homespun constructions, but also as an applicable non-definition of those artists who "offer variable resistance in how they are defined and the positions they occupy in a broader cultural context, fragmented, and dispersed among remote cities and divided by enormous physical and psychological space." That said, Samartzis attempts to breakdown the Australian aesthetic into a number of sub-genres: Microphonics, Metallic Plates & Resonating Strings, Residue, Flutter & Flux, Malfunction & Resistance, Improvised Composition, Suspended Time & Expanding Space, Electrical Impulses & Variable Flow, Soundhackers, and Microwaves, Collisions, & Noise. While each of these subgenres do offer some help in interpreting the work of these artists, those featuring on this cd (a condensed version of the SFMOMA event) are pretty good at resisting any imposed characterization. Much of the work on "Variable Resistance" is based upon live improvisation filtered through a number of DSP techniques (with obvious exceptions and detours) with tracks from Oren Ambarchi, Robbie Avenaim, Philip Samartzis, David Brown, Xonk, Thembi Soddell, Darrin Verhagen, Pimmon, and Delire.” [Aquarius Records]
|
2002 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Verfassung |
LP |
Erste „offizielle“ Compilation des HÖRBAR e.V. aus Hamburg! Enthält 14 Stücke der Mitglieder, die das grosse Spektrum der derzeitigen experimentellen Musik fast abdecken, von dröhn-minimalistischen Sphären über cut-up & Collagen, musique concrete und Impro bis zu post-industriellem Noise, mit Y-TON-G (ex PARA NOISE TERMINAL) und TBC sind auch zwei Drone Records-Vertreter dabei, aber auch sonst durchweg hochklassiges Material von u.a. EVAPORI, [HYPH]; AUDIBLE PAIN, INCITE, GREGORY BÜTTNER, SONATA REC und natürlich darf ASMUS TIETCHENS nicht fehlen.
“On the newly released vinyl LP "Verfassung" (German for "state" or "constitution") 14 electronic tracks by 14 musicians and projects can be heard. The music includes all styles of experimental electronic music: minimal to noise, musique concrète, improv, cut-ups and collages. The record not only shows the current state of the experimental music scene in Hamburg, despite the different individual approaches and styles it creates a musical flow, offering a diverse and exciting listening experience. All musicians on the record are members of the "Hoerbar" (German for "audible" and "listening bar"). For over 10 years it has been an important meeting point for producers and consumers of experimental music in Hamburg, Germany. Once a week a lively exchange between composers, musicians, labels and collectors takes place. Once a month local and international musicians are invited to the "Unüberhörbar" concert (German for "unignorable"), among the guests have been Jim O’Rourke, Hafler Trio, Keith Rowe, People Like Us and many others.” [label info]
"the audible VERFASSUNG of our loosely organized group of producers [called HOERBAR] is being reflected by this audio document, which is representative but cannot be complete.some children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of those courageous explorers of electroacoustic music continued walking on analogue and digital paths, avoiding the academic castles of compulsion and the sweat-moistened dancepalaces, being driven by furious excitement to add something personal to the pool of established aesthetic strategies. knowing that the wheel cannot be reinvented is not a cause for resignation or for becoming Epigones, but made us develope our ambitions to learn from historic achievements so that we can walk upon new roads and even stray with our heads up. so, the electroacoustic VERFASSUNG [constitution / condition / circumstance / state of mind] compiled by hoerbar hamburg manifests the whole spectrum between the righteous ponderer‘s efforts and the unconcerned homo ludens‘ arabesques. we will go on." [Asmus Tietchens]
“Ah the classic format of compilation LP, with booklet. It looks retro, very 80s like, but it's 2006. The Hörbar in Hamburg is an organisation that puts on concerts, mainly in the B-Movie cinema. Hörbar is mainly run by musicians, who work as volunteers, doing the sound, the bar and the door. Every week they meet up and do something. Now Hörbar also acts as a label, and this compilation is the first release. Of course it features music from the people that make up the Hörbar organization. The good thing is that it holds many musicians I never heard of, such as Pizza Ni Ni, Renoise, Margitt Holzt, Guy Saldanha and Ebinger, sitting next to somewhat more known locals such as Evapori, Gregory Buettner, Sonata Rec, [Hyph-], TBC, Incite and Y-Ton-G. Of course the biggest star from Hamburg, Asmus Tietchens, is also present, with the most silent and reduced piece of the lot. What can be noticed that there is a fair amount of noise material on this record, such as TBC, Guy Saldanha and Audible Pain. Margitt Holzt and Incite represent the rhythm side of this bunch, whereas Tietchens has his own followers such as Gregory Buettner and some seem to follow their own track, such as the curious piece by Ebinger (who he?). Evapori and Sonata Rec play pieces that are a cross over between the world of Tietchens and the underworld of noise. The most curious piece is by Pizza Ni Ni, entitled 'E', it seems just the one time strumming of an E chord on the guitar. A booklet describes the pieces and has a bunch of nice quotes. Limited to 300 copies - that is the final trick from the 80s, make a few and create a rarity!” [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.hoerbar-ev.de
|
2005 |
€15.00 |
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IDIOSCAPES |
CD |
Nice compilation on new belgique label, special priced !
"the idea was to ask some of our favourite sound artists to take part in a compilation . . . and, to our surprise, they accepted. The only concept was that they had to provide a specific / particular / idiosyncratic piece. qualified as a “drone paradise” by lasse marhaug (of jazkamer), the result is a fine and coherent whole, full of extended textures, contrasted acoustic surfaces, subtle and strong. Idioscapes contains 70 minutes of authentic acoustic researches, with glitches, loops, noises, deep and glittering textures, subliminal frequences and narrative inserts, punctured with sensible musical moments.
idioscapes is a very nice object with a beautiful digipacked artwork.
01 janek schaefer : scarlett arrives - for scarlett schaefer
02 keith fullerton whitman : quest appartments, Newcastle NSW
03 critikal : critically fluffy
04 rapoon : the moment screams
05 kk null : idioscape / decomposition
06 charlemagne palestine : la beauté et la bête
07 steffen bashô-junghans : the blue hour
08 sébastien roux : D 821
09 troum : fantauma
10 eve and the sickness : infected nature
11 jazkamer (lasse marhaug) : ruido rosa 5 minutos
12 daniel menche : cadence
13 idiosyncrasia : filt_h " [label info]
|
2007 |
€10.00 |
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Nekton Falls |
3 x CD |
Von SEETYCA zusammengestellte Compilation mit ansprechendem übergreifendem Konzept ("Tiefsee"), exzellentes Material von SEETYCA, HERPES Ö DELUXE, I:WOUND, YANNICK DAUBY, FRANS DE WAARD, MICHAEL NORTHAM, MICK HARRIS/LULL, NID, MATHIAS GRASSOW, etc. etc..
"This compilation is set against an ambitious conceptual background, that incorporates ideas from various scientific disciplines and combines environmental concerns with a fascination for the incredible depths of the oceans. These references are centered around an interest in interrelating processes between living organisms and their surroundings, as it is indicated by the title "Nekton Falls" (a scientific term that is used to describe the process of dead sea organisms dropping to the bottom of the ocean, rotting and eventually turning into food for a new generation). All this is explained in detail on the website www.nekton-falls.org, complete with artists' statements and suggestions for further reading.
A background like that of course hints towards dark stretched out sounds and field recordings of water, and this is exactly what you get for the most part of the three CDs, plus some rhythm-based tracks and grainy digital textures. In total 26 artists and projects are involved here, including well established names (Michael Northam, Frans de Waard, Roel Meelkop, Lull, to name a few) as well as lesser known ones. The individual tracks are connected with interludes composed by Seetyca, who also contributes a track and is responsible for the overall concept (together with A. G. Reisdorf). Most of the music is rather subdued, with vast fields of sound, fading from black to deep shades of blue and back again. This creates a nice, continuous flow of music, yet with enough variations to keep you interested. This flow is only sometimes disrupted by one of the few rhythm-oriented tracks, which might be nice by themselves, but don't go along too well with the other pieces. However, a whole palette of approaches towards the darker side of atmospheric music is on showcase here. Amorphous immersive soundscapes, field recordings of natural phenomena, digital errors, clear blocks of abstract sound and hints of acoustic instruments - it's all there and most of the time it nicely complements each other. With so many people involved obviously not all tracks work well for everyone. Some tracks might benefit from a little refinement and some of the sounds seem rather worn out. But there are some real highlights to be discovered and as a whole it works pretty well, guiding you on a worthwhile trip into imaginary sub oceanic regions." [MSS / Vital Weekly]
|
2006 |
€16.00 |
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Polyhedric Tetrapak |
CD |
Filed under :“Impressionistyle music”. Very interesting experimental remix-project on a new label from Barcelona, Spain, with remixes by ALEJANDRA & UNDERWOOD, ERIK M., STEPHEN VITIELLO, OnCe11, DJ OLIVE. UN CADDIE RENVERSÉ DANS L’HERBE. nice price !
“..a sci-lo-fi retrodocument taking out of context the 50's and its multiplicity of approaches into sound and popular music. completes this work filters of totlop pak with an uncomercial view of sometimes a remix album. we asked to these artists because we love their work and we can identify some aspects of un caddie's sounds to this way////” [from the press release]
|
2001 |
€8.00 |
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... It Just Is . In Memoriam: Jhonn Balance |
do-CD |
Russisch-Ukrainische Tribute-Comp. für JHONN BALANCE, mit entsprechend vielen ost-europäischen Beiträgen, aber auch einem neuen Stück von PETER CHRISTOPHERSON mit thailändischem Chor!
“Fulldozer Records presents: the international compilation dedicated to memory of Jhonn Balance (tribute to COIL). After the tragic death of Jhonn Balance - COIL had abolished. In one moment a musical epoch was gone. But the memory is alive. The idea of a compilation in memory of Jhonn Balance had been wandering the minds through the whole year after this tragic event and was realized by a virtue of two labels - Fulldozer (Russia) and Nocharizma (Ukraine). Peter Christopherson had personally approved this idea. Lots of eminent and cult musicians responded to the offer to participate in tribute:
1.. The Threshold Houseboy's Choir (dir: P Christopherson) - Mahil Athal Nadrach
2.. Thighpaulsandra feat. Jhonn Balance - Christ's Teeth
3.. Theodor Bastard - Love's Secret Domain
4.. Kotra - Volt Of A Worm
5.. Spies Boys - Nasa-Arab
6.. Alec Empire - Tribute To Coil (Short Version)
7.. 2, 5 BZ - I Am A Green Child
8.. Chris Connelly - Connelly Whats Lest But Solid Gold
9.. Biblioteka Prospero - Heartworms
10.. Phillip Klinger aka PBK - It Just Is
11.. KK.Null - Scatovator
12.. EU - Absolute Elsewhere
13.. Darling Kandie - Paingame
14.. Pomassl - Oil Philmm
15.. Alexei Borisov feat. Ivan Sokolovsky & Dmitri Kutergin - Truth
CD 2
1.. CoH - No Balance
2.. Alva Noto - Odradek (Music To Play In The Dark)
3.. Schlammpeitziger - Konflikckfahig (live)
4.. Goodiny & PCP - Black Sunraiz
5.. Scanner - To Meet The Moon
6.. Brompton's Cocktail - Soma Gestalt
7.. Mystified - Scratches & Dust (Night Echo Version)
8.. H.H.T.P. - Eclipse
9.. Noises Of Russia feat. Olga Nomok & Nikolay Rubanov - Remote Viewer
10.. Kryptogen Rundfunk - Throughout Time
11.. A.Vorodeyev - Slur (Acoustic Plumbum V.)
12.. Serge Tereshkine - Teenage Lighting
13.. Volga - Anal Staircase
14.. ILI - Green Water
15.. M.R.F / Elena Voynarovskaya - Immortality (live)
16.. Theodor Bastard - Love's Secret Domain (Instrumental)” [label info]
|
2005 |
€13.00 |
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Thalamus II |
CD |
Pflicht für jeden Fan der russischen Szene ! Compilation zum zweiten Thalamus-Festival, welches im Mai 2005 in St. Petersburg stattfand.
Je 2 Studio-Stücke mit erstklassigen Material der dort auftretenden Bands SHUMY ROSSII (dark ambient), EKRAN (electronic Industrial), MAJDANEK WALTZ (neo-folk), und die Drone Rec.-Favoriten CISFINITUM und LUNAR ABYSS QUARTET (bzw "DEUS ORGANUM").. Spezielles, zugebundenes Klapp-Cover, nummerierte Auflage von 500 Stück.
"The compilation dedicated to the 2nd "Thalamus" festival passed in May 2005. Contains 2 tracks by each project performed there: Shumy Rossii (Noises of Russia), EKRAN, Majdanek Waltz, Cisfinitum, Lunar Abyss Deus Organum." [label info]
|
2005 |
€12.00 |
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Table For Six: All Quiet? |
CD |
Hochkarätige "Experimental Drone"-Compilation mit schönen langen Tracks, alle mindestens 10 Minuten. Kommt im silberfarben bedruckten 7"-Cover, auf Belgiens wohl am längsten bestehenden Experimental-Label EE Tapes, sowieso ein Spezialist für Compilations.
"6 artists from 6 different countries gather around the table and showcase their individual audio art, each one with an exclusive long track of progressive ambience. Program: Tarkatak (Germany), Cisfinitum (Russia), Civyiu KKliu (United States), Kendo Nagasaki (United Kingdom), The [Law-Rah] Collective (The Netherlands) & 33 MHZ (Belgium). Full metallised CD with cardboard cover in plastic 7" sleeve. Only 200 copies available directly from our office."[label info]
"....Very nice compilation, which should appeal to all who love a non-quiet microsound." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
Address: http://www.eetapes.be/
|
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Listen to something different |
CD |
ARS MACABRE is a record-shop and mail-order in ROSTOCK (the very north-east of Germany) existing since 1995, who also co-organized many experimental concerts on the ship MS STUBNITZ in the harbour of Rostock. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of this shop (who works under quite difficult conditions) a compilation-project was started, which could finally be released now in May 2007. Some of label-owners Frank Krögers all-time faves were put together on this high-quality collection of experimental & electronic music: Old heroes that already ceased to exist or were silent for a long time (MUSLIMGAUZE, CONTROLLED BLEEDING, ETANT DONNES), famous long-existing projects (ASMUS TIETCHENS, HAFLER TRIO, AUBE), ambient & dark drone-stuff (BEEQUEEN, TROUM, INADE, WINDFAHNENAMT), plus the anti-genre acts COLUMN ONE and DITTERICH VON EULER-DONNERSPERG.
"With all exclusive and previously unreleased songs, except Étant Donnés (appears on “La Vie Nouvelle” 2003) and Windfahnenamt (appears on “Windfahnenamt” 2001), LISTEN TO SOMETHING DIFFERENT offers not only a starting point for new listeners and musical explorers, but also a substantial addition to any experimental music lover’s collection. One carefully assembled compilation that ambitiously unites 13 internationally acclaimed experimental artists and is released as a fine 6-panel digipak CD. Ars Macabre is a record store and mail order service operating in Rostock, Germany and is specializing in the distribution of experimental music since 1995." [label info]
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
|
4 sides a circle |
4 x mCDR |
Das Label aus L.A. liebt obskurste Compilations, bei dieser ist ein echter Kompass dabei ! Vier mini-CD-cases wurden übereinander verklebt, ein ganzer Block wie ein akustisches Buch, um neue Klänge zu entdecken....
"16 tracks by 17 acts tom grimley, al margolis, the cherry point, mike shiflet, pcrv, rhy yau, sixes & yellow swans. mitchell brown, vertonen, brutum fulmen, howard stelzer, hive mind, jason talbot, brent gutzeit, oscillating innards, fin. none of whom have ever appeared on a bp release, compass included to point a way" [label info]
|
2006 |
€15.00 |
|
|
An Uncommon Nature |
LP |
"Edle neue Compilation auf dem Seattler Label Anomalous Records- vereint einige interessante Acts aus dem konkreten wie sphärischen Minimalismus-Bereich, die auf Anomalous aktiv sind... (s.u.). Kommt mit 4 ästhetischen Fotopostkarten zum Thema...
Great compilation presenting nearly all acts from the Seattle-based label. From concrete to spheric minimalism. Exclusive tracks by JEPH JERMAN, MIRROR, AGOG, CLIMAX GOLDEN TWINS, JONATHAN COLECLOUGH, MIKE SHANNON, MONOS, RICHARD LERMAN, DAVE KNOTT. Comes with 4 postcards with b/w prints of photographs by Rachael Jackson." [Drone Rec. info 2001]
“ While unified by a common theme, the tracks are quite varied including desert contact mic recordings of rain and wind on a tree [Jeph Jerman], processed sounds of a gate [Jonathan Coleclough], erhu played on a beach [Mike Shannon], mysterious singing 'water babies' [Agog], a mixture of wild celery stalks, tundra grass, a cord made from sinew, a whalebone roof support and the seals [Richard Lerman], and the straight recording of an approaching thunderstorm [Dave Knott]. This attention to detail in audio is matched by the close up photographs of fungi, dripping sap, and trees which surrounds it.” [from the press-release]
|
2001 |
€14.00 |
|
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FRANNCE |
3 x CDR |
Ausufernde Compilation auf dem DIY-Label aus Frankreich, wohl etwas ironisch als "Ode an France" untertitelt. 45 Projekte zwischen kraftvoller Drone-Psychedelia, wirbelnden Analog-Electronics & Instrumental-Madness, so ziemlich alles aus dem Bereich "Experimenteller / Impro Folk-Drone" was man sich nur vorstellen kann...
"A quick look at the listing of groups on this super limited triple cd-r collection of songs from France, or about France, or with some sort of French angle, should have most weird music fans freaking out bigtime. All exclusive tracks from tons of AQ faves, including: The Shitty Listener, Quetzolcoatl, Brothers Of The Occult Sisterhood, Silvester Anfang, Heavy Winged, Tom Carter, The North Sea, Taiga Remains, Ashtray Navigations, Uton, The Futurians, Mike Tamburo, Tanakh, Black Forest Black Sea, Ben Reynolds, Volcano The Bear, 6majik9, CJA, The Stumps, Gregg Kowalsky, Fursaxa, Seht, Valerio Cosi, Fabi Orsi, Birds Of Delay, Bjerga / Iverson, Robert Horton and more more more. 3+ hours of strange and magical sounds from all over the world, but all centered around France. From the ultra lo-fi barely audible pop genius of The Shitty Listener, the gorgeous mournful steel string Appalachian folk of The North Sea, the washed out murky drift of Quetzolcoatl, some super spare solo electric guitar drift from Tom Carter, a bit of haunting high end tribal buzz from Brothers Of The Occult Sisterhood, some gorgeous shuffle and twang, slither and creep from Silvester Anfang, an epic druggy slowburning NZ-style krautrockish jam from The Stumps, some whispered crystalline shimmer from Fursaxa and we could go on and on. Varied and expansive, from folk to drone to noise to pound to swirl to buzz to twang...
As with all RuralFaune stuff, meticulously packaged, each one hand assembled, three spray painted discs, rouge, blanc and bleu (the colors of the French flag), housed in a cool textured red and orange wallpaper cover, in a thick vinyl sleeve, with a sticker on the front. Inside is a huge fold out, 2 sided poster insert, with liner notes on one side and a painting on the other, as well as a bunch of other inserts, stickers, a tiny square of paper hand numbered and a "piece of blotting paper impregnated with red wine"! LIMITED TO 300 COPIES. We will NOT be able to get more..." [Aquarius Records]
www.myspace.com/ruralfaunelovesyou
|
2007 |
€18.00 |
|
|
SPIRE LIVE FUNDAMENTALIS |
do-LP |
Der dritte Teil in der SPIRE LIVE-Serie, lange Stücke mit "modernem" Orgelbezug & -einsatz von PHILIP JECK, CHARLES MATTHEWS, MARCUS DAVIDSON, BJ NILSEN und FENNESZ, - Aufnahmen von den zwei SPIRE - Konzerten auas Göteborg und Brüssel. Ganz wunderbar tönen wieder BJ NILSEN und FENNESZ, der eine löst die Orgel-Töne in rostig-rauhen Resonanzen auf, der andere klingt ("rein ORGANisch") höchst melancholisch und polyphon... aber auch die anderen Stücke (u.a. eine Version eines SCELSI-Stückes) sind die Anschaffung wert.
"Spire Live - Fundamentalis is a double LP-only collection of exclusive live tracks recorded at various Spire events held throughout 2005 and 2006. Released in association with U.S. label, Autofact, Touch presents a selection of tracks performed by the main performers of Spire: Fennesz, Philip Jeck, BJNilsen, Charles Matthews and Marcus Davidson. Improvised pieces from Fennesz, BJNilsen and Philip Jeck contrast with a performance by Charles Matthews of a scored composition by Italian composer Giacinto Scelsi, "In Nomine Lucis," and Marcus Davidson's self-penned "Standing Wave," which ends side two with a locked groove. Cut to preserve and enhance the bottom end frequencies, Fundamentalis is not merely a document; the tension between and within the individual pieces is palpable. As the Touch label places it, Fennesz's set "...evokes the rolling centuries in all their pain and beauty, leaving us at once becalmed and energized, but never oppressed under the weight of time." Electronics breathe new life not only into the organ, but also into the setting. But a new technological successor does not mean replacement. Ultimately, it's the majestic sound of the organ, so steeped in centuries of tradition that one remembers above all else. Spire is one of the most innovative projects around, drawing on the full canon of organ works, from the very first annotation in the Robertsbridge Codex from the 14th century, to Max MSP patches and software sampling. With two CD releases and nine performances in cathedrals and churches throughout Europe, Spire remains a potent live force in harnessing the sounds of the ages. Art direction and design by Jon Wozencroft." [label info]
".... Jeck's side is everything we could hope for, long lazy loops, slathered in record static, hiss, crack and pop, dreamy melodies skipped into haunting rhythms, everything washed out and blurred, a worn weary sonic drift, organs and voices, soaring and whirring, very mechanical and machinelike, but simultaneously, warm and emotional.
Serene, hypnotic, mesmerizing, what else can we say about the magic of Jeck's music that we haven't said before??
Matthews' half of side two is super minimal and hushed, mostly organs, allowed to wheeze and whir, slightly dissonant, but dense and layered, the tones hovering in a suspension of rumbles and shimmers, very dramatic and cinematic, understated and reverent, almost like some strange religious musical ritual. The second half, ostensibly Davidson's, although he is credited with a locked groove, is a dark
drone-y flow, keyboards blurred into warm streaks, also slightly atonal, ominous, intense, the muted rumble builds to an almost cacophonous organ-ic frenzy, that heard at full volume must have stirred the soul for sure.
The second disc is split evenly between Nilsen and Fennesz. Nilsen's side, recorded in a church in Sweden, is a dark, harrowing,
rumbling, post industrial dronescape, the tones rough around the edges, the melodies lugubrious and caustic, building up into a serious din, metallic washes of sound, thick shards of pulsing buzz, very brittle and sharp, before slipping into something a little more serene, but no less intense, more muted metallic tones, drifting in a churning sea of hissing static and electronic grit, a barely noticeable rhythm, more of a pulse or swell, finishing off in a deep grinding low end blur, like a much more minimal 20th century SUNNO))).
The Fennesz track is all organ, the root of all of these pieces, but here, the organ is unaltered, barely unadulterated, allowed to warmly wheeze, strange tangled melodies, glistening and glimmering, the tones beginning to change shape, the melodies allowed to elongate and blur slightly until they're swallowed up by a warm cloud of static and hiss before fading out completely. The second half of Fennesz' side is a more murky underwater reading of the first half, not as much grit and gristle as we usually expect, instead, the sound is whirling and muted, reminding us of Oval, but with the glitching skips smoother out, leaving just warm shimmering sonic swells, sun dappled melodies, and rich layered high end drones, drifting serenely, pastorally.
Gorgeously packaged, super thick full color gatefold sleeve, super striking Wozencroft photos, pressed on thick vinyl. And as if you even need to be told, quite limited indeed." [Aquarius Records review]
www.a-fact.com
|
2008 |
€18.50 |
|
|
Landscape I / The Forest |
CD-R |
CENTRE OF WOOD ist das neue Label von COLD CURRENT PRODUCTION mit dem Fokus auf "Folk" in verschiedensten Varianten, diese Compilation gibt einen Label-Überblick mit 15 Stücken von Geräuschmusik & Akustik-Drone bis free form / Impro & Neo Folk, mit schönen Stücken von TIM COSTER, NEBELUNG, THROUROOF, PRAGUE, ES, WE WAIT FOR THE SNOW, und vielen uns unbekannten Acts.. Nummerierte Auflage & handgemachtes Cover, kunstvoll verschlossen mit einem Stück Ast!
"[Forestes, the most important influence for "Centre of Wood" label, of every kind and in every part of the world, are a magic place where to get lost and then find our deep relation with the nature. 14 bands from the acoustic, drone, lo-fi and free folk underground called to rappresent through music their relation with these places. The Result is this CD-R that contains more than 60 minutes of weird music. The projects and the bands involved are : Tim Coster; Donato Epiro; Nebelung; Vapaa; Chora; Aalto; throuRoof; Eyes like Saucers; The Katie Winter; Belly Boat; Prague; Es; Las Vegas Club; We Wait for the Snow. Listening to this compilation is like getting lost in a immense green forest, walking through its trees, meet the eyes of its creatures...]
PACKAGING : The packaging is composed of a brown and green heavy cardboard, closed with a small branch and a brown cotton thread, with an insert in perfect d.i.y. old style. limited to 120 numbered copies." [label info]
www.coldcurrentprod.com
|
2007 |
€10.00 |
|
|
>Manifesto Rumorarmonico Post Futurista. Tributo a LUIGI RUSSOLO |
do-LP |
Vier altgediente Noise-Heroen treffen sich auf dieser Compilation zu Ehren des italienischen Futuristen LUIGI RUSSOLO, dessen legendäres Manifest "Die Kunst der Geräusche" (1913) den Startschuss für den Einsatz von Maschinenlärm in moderner Komposition darstellte.
Die Compilation zeigt gut, auf welche unterschiedliche Art und Weise "Geräusch" eingesetzt werden kann, von agitierendem Power-Effekt-Lärm (MERZBOW), mechanisch-maschinellem Rausch-Noise (GX JUPITTER-LARSEN) über seelenlos-statisches Elektro-Geknirsche & Gekrache (SACHER PELZ) bis hin zu mysteriösem Dröhnklang (RAPOON)..
"Vinyl compilation devoted to “Luigi Russolo” the father of Futurist music and the first man theorizing that music has to be composed mainly by rumors And not by harmonic sounds ! His music was played with an instrument “l’Intonarumori” or “Rumorarmonio” which was invented by himself ! Russolo is the forefather and theorizer of the “Electronic music” concept and for sure we can say today that he was the first man playing “Industrial” muzak ! For this project we found four artists which are known for being since their first approaches to music as “Neo-Futurists” and uncompromising “Industrial”. Involved artists :
- GX Jupitter-Larsen from USA, also known for being the mind behind The Haters and for all his very “Futurist” performances where a click becomes the main sound !
- Merzbow from Japan, the father of Japanese noise ! this is the sound Russolo was playing if alive today
- Rapoon from UK, with his first project “Zoviet France” Robin Storey was one of the very first artists using toy instruments !
- Sacher Pelz from Italy, Sacher Pelz was the very first project by Maurizio Bianchi also known as MB, he was one of the very first artist theorising electronic noise !
Each artists gives his contribution to this tribute playing long tracks on a full LP side ! White Vinyl. Discs are packed in hand-numbered folding cover showing Luigi Russolo and his Rumorarmonio." [label info]
www.oldeuropacafe.com
|
2008 |
€22.00 |
|
|
DIY CANONS |
do-CD |
Compilation mit Stücken die sich alle auf die Kompositionsideen von LARRY POLANSKY beziehen, kuratiert von SIMON WICKHAM-SMITH. Einiges witziges und verstörendes (z.B. das Schrei-Stück von RUVIARO), einiges belangloses (MIKE SWNICHLSKI), einiges erstklassig (MIKE WINTER), einiges eher nervtötend (WICKHAM-SMITH), schöne sirr-drones (STEVEN M MILLER), handgespielt schönes (GEORGE ZELENZ), etc. etc., ein Riesenspektrum von Interpretationen von meist unbekannteren US-Komponisten gibt es hier zu entdecken....
"Okay. Really cool, kind of fun, double cd compilation based on a work of Larry Polansky's. Pieces are constructed from the sounds of cats, screams, MIDI instruments, computer, Barbie Phone, samples, wooden flutes, piano, bass clarinet, Ringtones, Metro Cards, contrabass, and more. I have some of my favorites - which keep changing each time I listen to the discs. Perhaps you will too. Read on too get a "real" description from the curator of this project. [label info]
"The pieces on this CD are all based on the ideas in Larry Polansky's four voice canons, a series of pieces he began in 1975. These canons are usually "mensuration canons," which means that the tempi of successive voices is proportional to their start times, so that the voices end together. They also use simple ideas of moving through a list of permutations, and applying the elements of those permutations to various musical parameters. A set of Polansky's canons was produced on Cold Blue Records as four voice canons (CB0011).
Polansky described these ideas in Four Voice Canon #13 ("DIY Canon"), a kind of open-source meta-canon score. He distributed this at talks and on the web as an open invitation to others who wanted to make four voice canons of their own. Composers responded with a wide variety of variations on the basic idea; a selection of these works is presented here." [Simon Wickham-Smith, curator]
|
2005 |
€16.00 |
|
|
v-p v-f is v-n |
7 |
Höchst obskure 7"-Compilation mit 20 (!) Stücken, wobei 5 Endlosrillen eingearbeitet wurden, überwiegend sind Projekte aus der "Microsound-Drone-Ambience" Szene vertreten, z.B. LAWRENCE ENGLISH, CIVYUI KKLIU, ILYA MONOSOV, ALFREDO COSTA MONTEIRO.. die Bandbreite ist aber sehr gross und machen dies zu einer spannenden Hörerfahrung. Kommt im sehr schönen "letter-press" Cover, wie alles auf WINDS MEASURE RECORDINGS... (Label aus New York City).
"v-p v-f is v-n 7" compilation series, 7001
jeph jerman + albert casais, ting ting jahe, richard garet, alfredo costa monteiro, ben owen, lawrence english, jeph jerman, civyiu kkliu, tommy birchett, ilya monosov, mpld, andy graydon, and ben scott. edition: 350 7" black vinyl record letterpress sleeve and insert." [label info]
" "v-p v-f is v-n is a 7” black vinyl compilation consisting of twenty terse pieces (with five being lock grooves) - nine on side I rotating at 33RPM and eleven on the side II spinning at 45RPM - and serves as aural digest of the was, is, and will be of Winds Measure Recordings collaborators.
This wonderful 7”-teaser is a little sonic who’s-who (and who will be) of Winds Measure Recordings collaborators. There are a lot names (most familiar to me, a few not) present on this compilation - label owner Ben Owen, Jeph Jerman, Albert Casais (Omnid), Ting Ting Jahe (collective), Richard Garet, Lawrence English, Civyiu Kkliu, Tommy Birchett, Ilya Monosov, Andy Graydon, Alfredo Costa Monteiro, mpld (project of Gill Arno), Ben Scott (participant in Ting Ting Jahe),Tommy Birchett (also participant in Ting Ting Jahe), and Rudolf Unger.
As I was listening to v-p v-f is v-n for the second time, I had the volume turned up fairly high having discovered that several of the tracks especially on the 33RPM side are moderately subtle and/or sprarse explorations of sound (although dotted with a few startling moments). The other members of my family, not really appreciating my peculiar musical interests in general, kept asking (actually yelling) “What’s that noise?”. Well there is a lot of noise on this album, but to my ears, the noises that these artists make is music.
There are some considerably abstract, challenging sounds here in the sense of being quiet, fragmented, and rough. Listening to the first three pieces on side I - Jeph Jerman & Albert Casais, Ting Ting Jahe, & Richard Garet - will confirm this observation. Be forewarned to drop the volume before the piercing frequencies of Alfredo Costa Monterio’s Élytre [track 4] kicks in and quickly disrupts the quiet atmosphere established by its predecessors. In sharp contrast, Ben Owen brings back a sense of calm down with Typhoon, kii-tanabe consisting of what appears to be a minimally processed field recording containing some vocals and natural background ambiance, and then Lawrence English complements this with a droning piece of naturalness titled Water Run Sand. mpld follows this up with another drone segment titled Red Tape but this time sounding coarser and very machine-like. Side I concludes with two lock grooves (Jeph Jerman, Ben Owen).
Side II begins with Civyiu Kkliu and Rudolf Unger joining forces to produce a minute’s worth of vibrating, rumbling noise that becomes a little broken towards the end. Jeph Jerman then delivers a beautiful 50-second piece of macrobiotic resonations that goes hand-in-hand with Ben Owens’ sparse and reverberating 16-second miniature s-s-e, sm ca. Listen carefully or Tommy Birchett’s barely audible 11-second interlude will be absorbed by Ben Owens’ piece or made imperceptible by Andy Graydon’s gorgeous Two Fold Note - a dark and harmonious tonal drone. Ben Scott’s ccc is an interesting 25-second experiment in percussive clatter that is followed directly by Ilya Monosov’s For Well Treated Trumpet. Short Version - a rather warped and amusing piece of discordant abstractness. Side II concludes with three lock grooves (Civyiu Kkliu, mpld x 2) and short-lived 7-second reprise by Tommy Birchett.
v-p v-f is v-n gives a candid retrospective of what Winds Measure Recording has offered and also provides a peek at what the near future might hold. Nice to see it released on vinyl as this medium serves the label’s sonic aesthetic well." [Larry Johnson, EARLabs]
www.windsmeasurerecordings.net
|
2008 |
€9.00 |
|
|
SACRAL SYMPHONY |
CD |
"Steht der Name EVGENY VORONOVSKI auf einem Produkt, kann sich dahinter eigentlich nur Qualität verbergen; das hat der Russe in den vergangenen Jahren oft genug bewiesen. Zum einen ist er Bestandteil von NEUTRAL, der momentan zum Duo geschrumpften, akustischen Neofolk-Vorzeigeband aus Russland. Dort geht er seinem gelernten Handwerk nach und spielt – als studierter Geiger – die Violine. Zum anderen ist er der Kopf hinter CISFINITUM, einem Projekt, das außerordentlich atmosphärischen Dark Ambient produziert. Gerade mit der elektronischen Musik war VORONOVSKI auf zahllosen Samplern vertreten: "Iznutri" (Besprechung), "Energia" (Besprechung) oder der "Heilige Feuer"-Serie. Nun hat er den Spieß umgedreht und Material von anderen Bands eingesammelt, ist mit CISFINITUM allerdings auch selbst vertreten. Die insgesamt fünf Projekte aus Russland, Deutschland, Großbritannien und der Ukraine steuern jeweils rund 15 Minuten lange, exklusive Stücke bei, die auf meditativen Drones basieren. Zusammen gehalten werden sie von der losen, titelgebenden Vorgabe 'sakral'. Ein Versuch also, etwas Heiliges, Religiöses einzufangen, eine 'höhere Sphäre', was allen Beteiligten auf ihre Art und Weise gelingt.
Die Herangehensweise von 1000SCHOEN, einem Ein-Mann-Ambientprojekt aus Bremen, ist die – und das ist nicht negativ gemeint – naivste von allen. Nichts klingt 'dark', die puren Ambientflächen warten mit Windspiel und Sitar auf. Wuchtige Geigendrones im Mittelteil und später auch eine E-Gitarre verleihen die nötige Intensität. "Dageraad" ist warme, freundliche Entspannungsmusik, deren urige, natürliche Stimmung manchmal an den Balkanfolk von SVARROGH erinnert, an einen Guru auf dem Hügel, der einsam sein Instrument bearbeitet.
TROUM, ebenfalls aus Bremen, sind sehr viel düsterer. Das Projekt um STEFAN KNAPPE von DRONE RECORDS arbeitet mit dicht aneinander gedrängten Drones, die klingen, als ob Wind durch unterschiedliche Metallröhren weht. Wie durch eine Nebelwand tauchen dazu an- und abschwellende, geloopte Chor-Versatzstücke auf. Ab der Mitte des Songs erwecken die verfremdeten Vocals den Anschein einer rituellen Beschwörung. Die Synthesizerflächen von TROUM decken die ganze Bandbreite nach der Einnahme von halluzinogenen Drogen ab: Mal ist es ein Gleiten durch Licht, mal stiert ein Alp durch dunkle Wolken. Streckenweise klingt "Palas Tyn" wie ein frühes, sehr abgedrehtes Instrumental von PINK FLOYD.
EVGENY VORONOVSKI beweist vor allem dadurch Klasse, dass er mit CISFINITUM nur wenig Material braucht, um große Welten zu erschaffen. In "Autumn Ritual" mäandern ausladende, träge und warme Synthesizer-Drones durch das All, eine – wie es so schön heißt – 'Reise durch Raum und Zeit'. Sollte die Menschheit einmal schockgefrostet werden müssen, um im Tiefschlaf auf einen anderen Planeten zu fliegen, ist diese elektronische Kammermusik in Superzeitlupe perfekt für den Kopfhörer im Kryogentank.
ROBIN STOREY alias RAPOON steuert mit "One Last Breath" den experimentellsten Track der Zusammenstellung bei. Der Mitbegründer von ZOVIET FRANCE arbeitet hauptsächlich mit Stimmeffekten. Dazu hat er sich sowohl beim KIEV CHAMBER CHOIR bedient und dessen Gesänge bearbeitet als auch die eigene Stimme aufgenommen und verfremdet. Alles zusammen ergibt Himmelschor-Drones, die allerdings verzischt und verzerrt sind. Die Tür in eine andere Welt steht zwar offen, ist aber unerreichbar. Im letzten Drittel des längsten Songs dieses Samplers (19:43) gehen die Gesangsloops in ebenfalls scheppernde Posaunenklänge über, die nach und nach immer klarer werden, so dass ganz zum Schluss ein winziges Stückchen Engel erhascht werden kann.
Den Schlusspunkt setzt der Ukrainer OLEGH KOLYADA, der unter vielen Namen aktiv ist. (Ein NONPOP-Interview mit ihm gibt es hier.) Als FIRST HUMAN FERRO zeigt er in der Regel ein etwas härteres, post-industrielles Gesicht, das sich nun aber der sakralen Gesamtstimmung anpasst: Wir dürfen bei der Entstehung eines Universums zuhören. Leuchtende, helle Wolken aus Synthie-Tönen ploppen wie zukünftige Planeten in eine noch nicht vorhandene Atmosphäre. Später untermalt ein Sample mit wunderbarer, irdischer Klaviermusik das Szenario. Dieses Vermischen zweier unterschiedlicher (Atmo)Sphären hat viel vom 'geistigen' Sound des Zwillingsprojekts ODA RELICTA.
Es gilt, was schon eingangs erwähnt wurde: Der Macher bürgt für Qualität. Das ist in diesem Fall nicht anders und umfasst selbstverständlich alle beteiligten Projekte, nicht nur CISFINITUM. Allerdings muss sich der Hörer über die meditative Anlage des Samplers im Klaren sein, damit es keine Überraschungen gibt. Bis auf einige TROUM-Passagen ist die Musik wesentlich mehr Ambient als 'Dark', die Drones sind beruhigend und viele von ihnen nicht von dieser Welt, das heißt typisch 'spacig'. Spaß macht ganz nebenbei auch die Interpretationsfreiheit, die "Sacral Symphony" bietet. Hinter den sphärischen Tracks können sich Weltraumabenteuer, religiöse Erfahrungen oder einfach – wie EVGENY VORONOVSKI das vorschlägt – 'russischer Spirit' verbergen. Guter Sound für die restfeierliche Stimmung der Nach-Weihnachtszeit." [Michael We. für nonpop.de]
"You don't have to be a religious fanatic to hear the quality in this latest effort from Belgium label EE Tapes. The album titled "Sacral symphony" presents five grandiose pieces of drone-based electronics from five well-known and acclaimed composers of drifting ambience. The compilation is compiled by Russian composer Eugeny Voronovski who also contributes under his artist alias Cisfinitum. German composer 1000Schøen opens the symphonic extravaganza with a hypnotic piece titled "Dageraad" that includes acoustic sounds of guitars and flutes to create lush piece of ambience. Next artist is also German. Troum
contributes with the piece titled "Palas tyn" consisting of church bell-sounding drone accompanied by warm drones moving in deeper sound levels. Eugeny Voronovski alias Cisfinitum contributes with the beautiful piece "Autumn ritual" based on ochestral ambience reminding me of works from Angelo Badalamenti. Things get even more grandiose with the otherworldly piece from Rapoon, "One last breath", a dark and beautiful piece of processed choir samples. Final piece comes from the artist titled First Human Ferro, a remarkable piece of spacey ambient based on church organ samples with echoed acoustic sound like in a church. An excellent piece to end this otherworldy ambient compilation from EE Tapes." [NM / Vital Weekly]
label website: www.eetapes.be
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Table for Six: All Quiet? # 3 |
CD |
Das wohl am längsten bestehende belgische Label für elektronisch-experimentelle, post-industrielle und dronig-ambiente Klänge geht mit seiner TABLE FOR SIX-Reihe in die dritte Runde (sechs lange Beiträge)! Wieder präsentiert sich eine gelungene Mischung aus Altbekannten oder älteren Acts (FRANS DE WAARD, ANEMONE TUBE (nach langer Pause wieder aktiv wie's scheint) und (AD)VANCE(D) (ex VANCE ORCHESTRA), und den Newcomern NEUESTRASSE (mächtig atmosphärische dark ambient Drone aus Italien), STORMHAT (post-industrieller drone-industrial mit ungewöhnlicher Komplexität im Microsound-Bereich, sehr genial! Dänemark), und BRUNE DE ANGELIS (elektro-akustisch beeinflusste dunkel-symphonische Musik, nicht so weit entfernt von alten TIETCHENS-Sachen). Insgesamt sehr dunkel-atmosphärisch geprägt, Spezial 7"-Siebdruck-Cover, keine Ausfälle, was will man mehr !
"EE Tapes was originally a tape-exclusive label established in Belgium back 1987, but during the years the media forms released from the label has changed, to the present state of being a CD-only label. Present release is another shot from the "Table For Six"-series, that celebrates different forms of ambient with contributions from interesting composers of the scene. On this third chapter contributions comes from newcomers as well as from more established artists. Despite the focus on ambient the approaches to the style is quite different with everything from concrete sounds to abstracts noise. Opening piece titled "Bulo omega" is twelve minute work of buzzing drones from Italian artist Neuestrasse. Washes of noise waves creates a quite organic edge to the expressions of noise. Organic is also the word to describe the following contribution from Danish artists Stormhat that specializes in ambient-scapes exclusively based on field recordings. His piece "Substanser" nicely mixes abstract concrete sounds with recognizable found sounds. German project Anemone Tube continues with a minimalist piece of beautiful ambient based on processed choir-samples and grandiose soundscapes. With its warm atmosphere, the work titled "Projected cataclysm" from Anemone Tube stand in extreme contrast to the following icy drone work from Dutch sound artist Frans De Waard. His piece titled "Wortel (root)" is another minimalist work based on buzzing drones operating in subconscious levels with a very interesting result. Once in a while the drones fades away giving space for swarms of high frequency noises and crackling electronics wiping out any sign of buzzing tranquility. Dutch artist (Ad)vance(d) closes the compilation with another great piece of ambience based on field recordings with subtle melodies moving in deeper layers. Excellent compilation that also presents some quite bizarre and beautiful jazz-like ambient-noise-spheres based on acoustic instruments such as horns and string instruments from Italian artist Bruno De Angelis. Thus a great span in the contributing expressions. Good work." [NM, Vital Weekly]
" 1 | Neuestrasse (Italy): atmospheric ambient noise aka Matteo Roncari | newcomer in the dark ambient scene, although he had a first CD out already on polish War Office Propaganda label in 2006 neuestrasse@tiscali.it
2 | Stormhat (Denmark): obsessive experimental sonics aka Peter Bach Nicholaisen | climbing up fast on today's ladder of field recording-fame with CDreleases out on US-labels Cohort Records & Diophantine Discs www.stormhat.dk
3 | Anemone Tube (Germany/Netherlands): contemplative digital synths - aka Stefan Hanser, (harsh) noise artist returning after a long silence & now residing in the Netherlands, showcasing a very unusual piece for his doing in the best 80s prog synth tradition, but
with modern tools www.myspace.com/anemonetube
4 | Bruno De Angelis (Italy/UK): modern classical improvisation - former member of Influenza Prods (80s) and still active with Mana Erg (90s - now), always doing a kind of cinematographic stuff so far, here presenting a most special solo outing bruno.deangelis@yahoo.co. uk
5 | Frans de Waard (Netherlands): noise collage of tape-hiss only, back to the root(s) -
it all started with the cassette....
pioneer with Korm Plastics, (ex-)Staalplaat, Kapotte Muziek, Beequeen, Freiband, Shifts, etc etc.... www.fransdewaard.blogspot.com
6 | (ad)vance(d) (Netherlands) : floating space sounds built up with field recordings & a lot of
imagination - aka Mars F. Wellink (ex-Vance Orchestra) who teams up with Jan Dekker for this exclusive contribution: a well-balanced composition between dream, sleep & reality maybe..... mars.f.wellink@xmsnet.nl"
[label info]
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Ten Grand Tonearm |
LP |
Darling, darfs auch etwas ausgefallener sein? Eine australische Compilation auf dem Label von RATS WITH WINGS, irres handgemachtes Recycle-Cover, haufenweise Acts aus dem Abstract Noise / Impro Experimental Bereich, abstrakter, geräuschhafter und Synapsen-sprengender geht es wohl kaum....really advanced & wild !
"The elaborate packages continue on this one also as they use old vinyl jackets on which they apply their posters. Sun of the seventh contribute in this compilation the last track of the first side (as a full force 25 member big band) along with (in order of appearance) rlw (the Johannes Frisch and Ralf Wehowsky duo, on this track they improvise on abstract structures using a sitar as a point of reference), castings (who have released in labels as chocolate monk american tapes), rahdunes (they add elements of early 80s german industrial), cygnus (in a lo-fi ambient track based on guitar accompanied with synths in the background), xNoBBQx (volumes of feedback combined to delay, wah sounds and low pitched frequencies) loachfillet (with the enigmatic sample in the beginning of a female voice that repeats in greek “it is usually raining” while it is followed by a freakout improvisation of noise produced by electronics, guitar and drums that bring to mind the USA scene), Marco Fusinato (who takes the lead from loachfillet in almost the same manner, he has collaborated around 2000 with Thurston Moore on live performances in the centre of contemporary art in Australia). The second side of the vinyl starts with the British the vitamin b12 (vocals processed thru o sequencer or something), Mark Harwood (a member of the australian honch synaesthesia who presents a quietly evolving track based on processed field recordings), werewolf Jerusalem (electronic noise), misty lavender doughnuts of shame (a spectacular name), arse lunch (xNoBBQx’s side project, drone based on feedback and high pitched guitars recorded live around 2007), pigs in the ground funally William de Kooning (locked grooves). This release by heard worse is a high quality one. They manage to leave the labels mark while at the same time they succeed to bring to forth what connects them with the contributed artists without being boring due to the difficult music and sound aesthetics. This is an art object for sure." [Fervent, Random E-Zine]
|
2008 |
€15.00 |
|
|
John Barleycorn Reborn : Dark Britannica |
do-CD |
"A discovery of folk music from dark Britannica. 'John Barleycorn Reborn' explores seasonal birth, death and rebirth on this double CD. Our cycle begins at Lammas 2007 (1st August), a day traditionally known for 'the first fruits of the harvest'. Pre-orders begin on this day. All orders also receive a free complementary thirty-three track download only set of further music. This compilation explores the darker side of British folk music, evoking the mystery of our ancient past and peoples, the strangeness of their beliefs, arcane traditions and the remnants of this carried down the centuries as folklore. The set has an extended booklet with articles, essays and explorations of the album's concept. The album is a collaboration between Cold Spring and Woven Wheat Whispers, a folk music artist community and legal download service (where the third part complementary part will be available). Curated by Mark Coyle. Track Listing: Disc 1 1. The Horses Of The Gods - 'John Barleycorn' | 2. The Owl Service - 'North Country Maid' | 3. The Story - 'The Wicker Man' | 4. Damh The Bard - 'Spirit Of Albion' | 5. Mary Jane - 'Twa Corbies' | 6. Andrew King - 'Dives And Lazarus' | 7. The Triple Tree - 'Three Crowns' | 8. Sol Invictus - 'To Kill All Kings' | 9. Sieben - 'Ogham On The Hill (Remix)' | 10. Sharron Kraus - 'Horn Dance' | 11. Charlotte Greig And Johan Asherton - 'Lay The Bent To The Bonny Broom' | 12. Pumajaw - 'The Burning Of Auchindoun' | 13. Peter Ulrich - 'The Scryer & The Shewstone | 14. Alphane Moon - 'Where The Hazel Grows' | 15. English Heretic - 'Hippomania' | 16. Far Black Furlong - 'Icy Solstice Eye'. Disc 2 1. The Anvil - 'John Barleycorn Must Die' | 2. Tinkerscuss - 'To Make You Stay' | 3. The Straw Bear Band - 'Trial By Bread & Butter' | 4. Electronic Voice Phenomena - 'The Sorrow Of Rimmon' | 5. The Purple Maids Of Lazeron - 'Dragonfly' | 6. Sand Snowman - 'Stained Glass Morning' | 7. The A Lords - 'Summerhouse' | 8. The Kitchen Cynics - 'The Guidman's Ground' | 9. Quickthorn - 'PewPew' | 10. Clive Powell - 'Reed Sodger' | 11. Venereum Arvum - 'Child 102 Willie And Earl Richard's Daughter' | 12. Drohne - 'Nottamun Town' | 13. Stormcrow - 'Gargoyle' | 14. Doug Peters - 'Pact' | 15. While Angels Watch - 'Obsidian Blade' | 16. Xenis Emputae Travelling Band - 'John Barleycorn: His Life, Death And Resurrection' | 17. Martyn Bates - 'The Resurrection Apprentice'." [label info]
www.coldspring.co.uk
|
2007 |
€16.00 |
|
|
An Anthology of Chinese Experimental Music (1992-2008) |
4 x CD |
Diese Compilation hat definitiv hat das Zeug zum Klassiker, handelt es sich doch um den allerersten umfassenden Überblick über die wachsende chinesische & asiatische Experimental & Elektronik & Noise-Szene, die hier in ihrer ganzen Vielfalt präsentiert wird. Ein guter Teil dieses Mammutswerks (48 Stücke!) bewegt sich im experimentellen Drone & Ambient-Bereich, aber es gibt auch einige Extrem-Noise Beiträge, Rhythmisches, hyper-abstraktes, Musique Concrete, Microsound. vier CDs mit für uns fast nur unbekannten Acts, eine wahre akustische Entdeckungsfahrt!! Anspieltips: DAJUIN YAO, STRINGRAYS, WANG FAN, LOGA, von denen mal hoffentlich wieder hören wird ! Mega-Digipack mit 2 Booklets, inklusive Text von Z. KARKOWSKI & YAN JUN "An Overview of Experimental and Non-Academic Music in China". SONDERPREIS!!
"Bis zur letzten Minute interessant bleibt dieser viereinhalb-Stunden-Rundumschlag durch experimentelle Musik aus China, zusammengestellt vom Aktivisten Dickson Dee, der dieses Feld seit zwanzig Jahren von Hongkong aus bestellt. Anders als der Titel suggerieren mag, konzentrieren sich die vier CDs dieser Box auf eine ganz junge Szene, die experimentellen Rock der 90er hinter sich gelassen hat und stattdessen (meist elektronisch) auf abstrakterer Stufe mit Klang experimentiert, für uns grob umrissen durch Noise, Ambient, Soundscape, in China selbst unter Sound Art zusammengefasst. Knapp die Hälfte der Stücke sind von 2007, ein weiteres Viertel von 2006; der Rest bleibt für eher punktuell scheinende Pionierarbeiten. Neben einem Booklet mit kurzen Texten zur Selbstvorstellung fast aller Künstler gibt es ein weiteres mit einem sehr erhellenden Text vor allem zur Genese experimenteller Musik in der VR China von Zbigniew Karkowski und Yan Jun, die drei Fünftel der Beiträge ausmachen (dazu kommen je ein Fünftel aus Hongkong und Taipei, plus ein Beitrag je aus Singapur und Malaysia). Dieser Text zeichnet die Linie nach von Kulturrevolution über Recycling und Piraterie westlicher Medien und klärt etwa über die besondere Ausgangslage der traditionslosen, wertungsfrei offenen Rezeptionssituation auf. Wie gesagt, das ist spannend, dennoch bemerkt man beim Durchhören eine gewisse Schieflage der Bandbreite, von der nicht klar wird, wie subjektiv sie geprägt ist. So einige Arbeiten konzentrieren sich auf Feedback und Distortion, von hier und heute aus besehen die schwächsten Glieder (Torturing Nurse verschwenden leider ihre Viertelstunde); besser gefallen mir die Sound- und Dronescapes, die oft Fieldrecordings verwenden und nicht unbedingt bahnbrechender, aber konzentrierter und eindrücklicher sind, und grade auch (aber nicht nur) von den Pionieren kommen: Dickson Dee selbst, Wang Fan, Dajuin Yao. Bemerkenswert aber auch Hong Qiles krasser, modemartiger Schreddernoise aus Fuzhou wie auch mein Favorit Loga, einer der ganz wenigen, die mit Rhythmus arbeiten, der sich bei ihm ganz unmerklich aus einer Klanglangschaft entwickelt. Dazwischen verstecken sich immer wieder isolierte Preziosen – Stimmauslotungen (Alice Hui-Sheng Chang), verträumte Popelektronika, die auch auf Noble stattfinden könnte (Nara), ein Beatstück mit Matmos-Funk (Sun Dawei), 50er-Jahre-WDR-Elektronik (Circadian), manch uneinsortierbares und offenbar folgenlos gebliebenes aus den 90ern, und man fragt sich ein wenig: gibt es da so wenig dazwischen? Beatexperimente? Oder Plunderphonics, im weitesten Sinne, wenn doch die Kultur auf Trash und Piraterie gewachsen ist? Aber das ist einfach Potential für die nächsten vier CDs, die genauso willkommen wären, wie diese hier, die natürlich ein Standardwerk ist." [multipara / de:bug]
"FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME, AN EXCEPTIONAL AND
VERY COMPLETE PANORAMA (MORE THAN 5 HOURS / 4 CDs)
SINCE ORIGINS (1992) OF ALL EXPERIMENTAL AND ELECTRONIC MUSIC IN CHINA, HONG KONG, TAIWAN, SINGAPORE AND MALAYSIA.
4 CD SET DIGIPACK
+ 2 x 16 PAGE BOOKLETS
AN ANTHOLOGY OF CHINESE ELECTRONIC MUSIC (1992-2008) from Mainland China (Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Guilin, Hangzhou, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Fuzhou, Shanxi, Harbin) Hong Kong - Taiwan - Singapore - Malaysia.
This anthology features 48 artists from within the Chinese area of influence. It is designed
as a journey through what is currently happening underground, under extremely diverse forms.
It also looks at the recent past and the key role of pioneers like Wang Fan, Dajuin Yao,
and also Hong Kong-based Li Chin Sung aka Dickson Dee who, for almost two decades, has been spreading the word about Experimental music in Mainland China. This album was curated by Dickson Dee on Guy Marc Hinant's invitation. It includes an enlightening presentation on the
short yet intense advent and history of the Chinese noise explosion,co-written by Zbigniew
Karkowski and Yan Jun.
________________________________________
The Sound of the Underground: An Overview of Experimental and Non-Academic Music in China
The Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966-76) in one way or another eradicated most of the
existing culture in China. At the same time as intellectuals were sent to rural labor camps,
countless ancient buildings, antiques, books, paintings and various artifacts were just
destroyed. This period created an enormous intellectual, cultural and artistic vacuum in
China - destruction that in a sense, time is still healing.
So tradition of music culture and especially non-academic, purely experimental music,
started from 'point blank' scratch sometime in the 80ies. With the market economy introduced in that decade and further media developments in the 90ies, there was a kind of an explosion in youth culture that had been held back for decades. Movements and music scenes that previously never reached China - like for instance psychedelic music, punk or neo-dada started to appear and expanded at astonishing pace.
The birth of these alternative rock and punk music scenes that later developed into even
more experimental trends is a direct result of global capitalism and profound change in China's position within the World Order. It however did not develop the same way as it
usually does in the West - with one eye looking forward and the other one always glancing
at history. It started with 'dakou' and with piracy.
tracklisting
4 x CD
CD1
01. Li Chin Sung aka Dickson Dee (Hong Kong) / Somewhere (1994) / 10'33
02. Zenlu (Shenzhen) / Zen (2007) / 9'19
03. Bai Tian (Chengdu) / Wet (2007) / 4'05
04. Cheewei (Singapore) / Evening has arrived (2006) / 8'02
05. Lim Giang (Taipei) / "???" (2006) / 8'41
06. Ang Song Ming aka Circadian (Singapore) / Book radio mixer (2007) / 3'02
07. Chung-Han Yao (Taipei) / Untitled (2005) / 5'02
08. Goh Lee Kwang (Malaysia) / Frong spraying (2007) / 3'42
09. Wu Quan (Beijing) / Weather forest (2006) / 5'04
10. Me:Mo (Beijing) / pro.a (2007) / 4'30
11. Wang Jong-Kuen (Taipei) / Leaving (2006) / 5'40
12. Dajuin Yao (Zuoying) / Psycho Realm (2006) / 5'29
CD2
01. Sun Dawei (Beijing) / Crawing state (2007) / 4'14
02. Nara (Beijing) / Dream a little dream (2007) / 6'54
03. WFDD / Wang Fan + Dickson Dee (Beijing/Hong Kong) / Sin (2007) / 8'36
04. Stingrays (Singapore) / 061020 (2006) / 5'18
05. Dennis Wong aka Wong Chung-Fai (Hong Kong) / para_dot (2006) / 5'12
06. Fathmount aka Wilson Lee (Hong Kong) / A yoke of oxen (2007) / 4'56
07. PNF (Hong Kong) / Chi (1994) / 3'11
08. Li Wen Tai aka Vince Li (Hong Kong) / Eat (2007) / 4'57
09. Shenggy (Beijing) / Junggy 's decay (2007) / 3'05
10. Ronez aka Zhou Pei (Guilin) / Kikusui Back (2006) / 4'57
11. Zhou Ri Sheng (Shanxi) / Noise God (2006) / 7'22
12. Fish (Taipei) / Rusty Crane Keelong (2007) / 4'46
CD3
01.Torturing Nurse (Shanghai) / Fugitive (2006) / 14'46
02. Wang Fan (Beijing) / Zero (2006) / 6'28
03. Wuwei + Ulrich Morits (Shanghai/Berlin) / Toy Ships (2003) / 2'48
04. Xper. Xr. & The Orphic Orchestra (Hong Kong) Hickory Dickory Dock (1992) / 1'01
05. Hong Qile (Fuzhou) / j gmc (2007) / 8'00
06. Ying Fan (Taipei) / L2255 mix (2007) / 3'58
07. Dead J aka Shao Yanpeng (Beijing) / untitled (2007) / 3'49
08. Z.S.L.O (Taipei) / 422189 (1997) / 3'09
09. Jedung Kying / Edging + Junky (Guangzhou/Shanghai) Dabao (2007) / 3'01
10. Tats Lau (Hong Kong) / Face The Antagonish (1992) / 2'53
11. Li Jianhong (Hangzhou) / Sod (2007) / 5'32
12. Dino (Taipei) / untitled (2005) / 6'45
CD4
01. Wang Changcun (Harbin) Through the tide of faces (2007) / 4'59
02. D!O!D!O!D! / Li Jianhong + Huangjin (Hangzhou) A dark knife (2006) / 5'36
03. Yan Jun (Beijing) / Its more than enough (2006) / 5'35
04. Loga (Fuzhou) / 620 (2007) / 9'22
05. Pei aka Liu Pei-Wen (Taipei) / Bird lady (2007) / 7'43
06. Eric Lin aka Lin Chi-Wei (Taipei) / untitled (2007) / 3'10
07. Alice Hui-Sheng Chang (Taiwan) There she is, standing and walking on her own (2007) / 3'59
08. Ching Shen Ching (Taiwan) / V-zone (1997) / Fuji Wang + Anes: electronics / 7'25
09. Dancing Stone (Hong Kong) / Two (1995) / Nelson Hui: flute + Ling Lee: voice / 2'13
10. Illuminated 6.6.6. (Hong Kong) / Enjoy the silence (1992) / 6'06
11. Juno aka Timmy Lok (Hong Kong) / Possiblilities (1995) / 3'18
12. Simon Ho (Hong Kong) / 5 (2005) / 6'53 "
[full label info]
www.subrosa.net
|
2009 |
€25.00 |
|
|
Risveglio Di Una Citta (In Memory of Luigi Russolo) |
6 x CD-R / book |
Ein weitere "LUIGI RUSSOLO-Memorial" Veröffentlichung, dem Erfinder der "sechs Geräuschfamilien des futuristischen Orchesters" wird hier vom polnischen Liebhaber-Label IMPULSY STETOSKOPU (stets handgearbeitete Cover) ein Tribut gezollt. Sechs Geräuschmusik-Projekte verteilen sich auf 6 CDrs (CRIA CUERVOS, LIEUTENANT CARAMEL, BIG CITY ORCHESTRA, HEAD58m, GOVERMENT ALPHA, HYWARE), das ganze ist als Vollfarb-laminierte A4-Mappe gestaltet mit vielen Fotos, Malereien, und 2 Texten zum Thema RUSSOLO versehen. Wow ! Limitiert auf nur 160 Exemplare !
www.myspace.com/impulsystetoskopu
|
2008 |
€33.00 |
|
|
Ya Ji |
CD |
Das dürfte die erste in China veröffentlichte CD sein, die wir anbieten. Eine Compilation mit Collaboration-parts von BAI TIAN (auch auf der SUB ROSA Anthologie enthalten), SHIZI (auch aus China), sowie ANDERS PETERSON (aka OBJEKT4 und RELAPXYCH) und die legendären LOOP ORCHESTRA! Glitchig ambientes, drones, plunderphonics.. inkl. inlay mit liner notes über alle Stücke auf englisch und chinesisch!
"Ya Ji (Elegant Meeting):
A truly International sound project between China, Sweden and Australia. Proving that experimental music is very much acultural. The artists involved are Bai Tian from and currently lives in Chengdu (Sichuan province) and Shizi from Lanzhou (now lives in Beijing) in China, Anders Peterson from Stockholm and The Loop Orchestra from Sydney. The Artists have remixed each other’s work and these remixes are joined together to make up the 16 minute collaborative first track. Sound files were exchanged through the Internet. So it is a real cross-cultural/international sound project and in that respect it is unique. The other tracks on the CD are pieces by each of the artists.
The CD is released on the Chinese label KwanYin Records which is under the Sub Jam (www.subjam.org) collective from Beijing . All of the Artwork, CD production and final mastering was done in China.
The music ranges from the sound journey of the first collaborative track , Ya Ji, through to the beautiful final slowly unfolding piece by Shizi . The 16 minute collaboration is in four separate chapters. The first is a collaboration between Bai Tian and Anders Peterson. The second is a remix by The Loop Orchestra of the collaboration. The Loop Orchestra remix is then remixed by Shizi. The piece is really like a sound journey from minimal beats which become buried by dronal loops and finally slowly collapsing into the abyss.
The second track , In , by Bai Tian is a bright crisp digital electronic piece which references the heyday of European digital electronica of the late 90s.
Track three, insomniactivity is by relapxych.0 (Anders Peterson from Stockholm, Sweden). It is a marriage of instrumentation and electronica.
The next piece (track four), Vibraloops, by The Loop Orchestra is a colourful and humourous tape-loop rendition of a 1940s/50s vibraphone orchestra. Full of kitsch and colour it is beautifully percussive and opposite to the previous piece is very much low technology or as they like to say a category called No Tech. Purely tape loops played on reel-to-reel tape machines.
Track five, Background Shadows is a radio studio remix of the CD Her Face Amongst the Shadows by Objekt4 (the previous sound project of Anders Peterson). The remix is by John Blades and Richard Fielding who co-present the experimental radio program Background Noise on 2 mbs FM in Sydney. For this they used the radio studio as an instrument. Listen at www.anonradio.net .
The final track, track six is by Shizi and is a layered drone piece which is like being consumed by a thick fog. A very appropriate closing to the elegant meeting.
The whole CD can really be described as a sound journey with a beginning, a middle and an end.
THE ARTISTS:
Anders Peterson (relapxych.0)
After working for many years with sound design, film music, sound recording, mastering / remastering, acoustic design and also as a musician (guitars / bass) I eventually found the most rewarding personal experience from the sounds of nature (water, wind, fire, earth), with its endless variation and amazing organic qualities, constantly evolving, and by capturing (recording) ambience from certain places I finally obtained sounds that had massive potential to be truly *original* and *unique* to myself. The next step was to combine these recordings with musical instruments and “approaches”, combining harmonics and “body” from musical instruments with the organic flow and constantly varying rhythms of for example dripping water, gusts of wind or cracking ice, through digitally coded cross-synthesis, hybrid sounds carefully sculptured by hand. Creating musical ambience instead of ambient music.
www.ghostsounds.net
Bai Tian (aka Bai+ian) is a emerging sound artist, flute player and organizer of independent music based in Chengdu, China. He plays in a wide range of styles such as ambient, cut’n'paste and electronic music etc. He has performed with Chinese and international artists such as Huan Qing, Zafka, Zbignew Karkowski and Li Chin Sung. He has participated in exhibitions such as 156M Contemporary Art Exhibition (Chengdu), Getitlouder (Chengdu) and China Power Station (London).
www.myspace.com/baiii
Shizi was born in Lanzhou, China in 1984. He is a drummer, and improvised music player. As member of “Noise Association of Lanzhou” he started his underground music career in the late 1990’s. He has worked with more than 10 bands/projects with different styles. Once he moved to Beijing for university in 2003, he started to work in the palm of electronic/experimental and improv music. Now he is studying sound design at Beijing Film Academy.
www.myspace.com/shiziofnoise
The Loop Orchestra was formed in 1982 by Richard Fielding and John Blades. It is a collective of reel-to-reel tape machines which are approximately 30 to 35 years old. The reel-to-reel tape machines play lengths of quarter inch tape joined into loops of varying size onto which sound is recorded from various sources. This methodology is historically significant in the history of electronic music from the 1950s. The loops are mixed together to create a layered and slowly evolving soundscape. They have had CD and record releases in Australia and Europe since their first release (the LP record Suspense) in 1991. There are currently five members: John Blades, Richard Fielding, Manny Gasparinatos, Hamish Mackenzie and Juke Wyatt. The Members for this recording were John Blades, Richard Fielding, Manny Gasparinatos and Patrick Gibson. For information and a full list of performances and releases visit. www.thelooprchestra.com."
[press release]
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
|
FREQ_OUT [0 - °°Hz] |
CD |
"With pieces by: Finnbogi Pétursson, Franz Pommasl, BJ Nilsen, Jacob Kirkegaard, Mike Harding, Kent Tankred, J. G. Thirlwell, PerMagnus Lindborg, Jana Winderen, Hans Sydow, Brandon LaBelle, Petteri Nisunen/Tommi Grönlund, & an ensemble piece arranged by BJ Nilsen [Hazard]. "What: A sound installation consisting of 12 individual audio works which are presented as a single piece. Where: Any large self-contained space will work. The first event took place at Charlottenborg Exhibition Hall, Copenhagen, Denmark, in June 2003. Who: Encouraged by disturbances, Swedish artist and curator C M von Hausswolff assembled a collection of 13 artists representing the elite of international sound art. The group consists of sound artists, architects, composers, producers, sculptors, mathematicians and visual artists. The installation was part of a larger event taking place at the Royal Danish Theatre and Charlottenborg in Copenhagen. How: Each player is assigned a frequency range to work with. This process is carried out in situ, each player using a workstation consisting of mixing desk and PA system. All the resulting sounds are then mixed together in the space provided to create a sound installation. Why: The project reveals how space-specific certain frequencies can be, but also how other sounds can be separated from their source and 'thrown' around the space. It also shows how sound 'fits' (or not) into the space provided by exploring the complexities of frequencies and their inter-action. The final mix not only reveals the innate properties of the frequency ranges, but also the possibilities when they are combined. The result is a lively and accessible sound-filled space which can be approached either as a traditional installation, or as a theme park of sound -- fun for all the family and serious students alike." [label info]
www.ashinternational.com
|
2004 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Twisted Cabaret Vol. 1 |
CD |
"Ein internationaler, avantgardistischer Haufen tanzt mit einer gesunden Portion kabarettistischer Lebensmüdigkeit im Dreivierteltakt in den Tod. Oder zumindest in den Vollsuff. Bei 18 Songs kein einziger Totalausfall, dazu sind viele Stücke selten oder sogar exklusiv. Kaufen! www.youtube.com/useser/volvoxmusic
TRACKLISTING: 01. THE TIGER LILLIES - START A FIRE 02. BABY DEE - THE EARLIE KING 03. EVELYN EVELYN - HAVE YOU SEEN MY SISTER EVELYN 04. THE REAL TUESDAY WELD - THE SWEETEST SONGS 05. THE DRESDEN DOLLS - BANK OF BOSTON BEAUTY QUEEN 06. BUDAM - DA DA DA DIE 07. LE MAXI MONSTER MUSIC SHOW - J'AURAIS AIM 08. THE RESIDENTS - THE DYING OILMAN 09. KOKUSYOKU SUMIRE - GEKKO RENKA 10. KATZENJAMMER KABARETT - SAYLOR SANDHAM'S SISTER 11. VERMILLION LIES - BONNIE & CLYDE 12. LITTLE ANNIE - SIT ON DOWN 13. DE KIFT - KNOECK 14. THE LEGENDARY PINK DOTS - MAN OR MOUSE 15. ARANOS - NEW GUITAR 16. MARCELLA PUPPINI AND THE FORGET ME NOTS - WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO YOUR FACE? 17. EL TIGER COMICS GROUP & JOEL HUBAUT - VAPAMOU RIRE 18. LITTLE WHITE RABBITS STILL BLEED - BALLOON ANIMAL SUICIDE (BIG BLUE RIBBONS)" [label info / Cargo ]
"Seit Charlotte Rampling in Cavanis Sadiconazista-Film Der Nachtportier diesen Song von Friedrich Hollaender im KZ um ihr Leben sang, klingt bei mir Cabaret beklemmend pervers wie Macabaret. Darüber schiebt sich das Großstadt-Triptychon von Dix und der Conferencier im Kit Kat Club plärrt grinsend seine Zoten. Hinter dem Rücken deutscher Abgrundsvergessenheit hat sich aber anderswo etwas entwickelt, Dark Cabaret getauft oder "Brechtian punk cabaret", das den Spirit von vor 1933 mit anderen Mitteln, mit Postpunk-, Gothik- oder bloßer Nostalgie-Attitüde wieder aufgreift. Versammelt auf Twisted Cabaret Vol. 1 (Volvox Music, VOL0902/0903, CD + DVD) sind die stilprägenden The Tiger Lillies aus London als Brandstifter mit groteskem Zündstoff, The Dresden Dolls aus Boston und das französische Katzenjammer Kabarett mit den ‚erwachsenen‘ Altstimmen von Amanda Palmer bzw. Mary Komplikated. Little Annie bietet einen ihrer Songs from the Coal Mine Canary und eine verboten glaubwürdige Version von Aznavours ‚Yesterday When I Was Young‘. Irritationsveteranen wie The Residents und unverwüstlichen Tänzern über Abgründen wie The Legendary Pink Dots mit dem herzensbrecherischen Edward Ka-Spel als ‚Man or Mouse‘ (unter lauter Schafen) stehen Baby Dee zur Seite, hinter deren rauer Schale eine Seele steckt, die in Kilogramm gewogen werden kann, und Aranos als Stehgeiger mit einer heißen Kartoffel im Mund. The Real Tuesday Weld steuern im 3/4-Takt fingerdick Patina bei, die großartigen Marcella Puppini and The Forget Me Nots lassen Männer Männchen machen. Dazu krähen die kessen Mädels von Kokusyoku Sumire Tango Balkanese oder, halb Geisha, halb Rokoko, Enkaschlager, dass die Perücke stäubt. Vermillion Lies spielen kriminellen Rock‘n‘Roll aus Oakland, als männliches Gegenstück kurbeln die Muncie Bros. aus Indianapolis aka Little White Rabbit Still Bleed Red ihre Klappsmühle, während Evelyn Evelyn sich schwuder & bresterlich eine Gitarre teilen. Mit The Maxi Monster Music und dem Schellackgesang ihrer üppigen Bearded Lady zu Singender Säge und Zweifingerklavier und der theatralischen eL TiGeR CoMiCs GRouP mit ihrem heiseren Chansonier Joel Hubaut treten weitere Franzosen auf, De Kift verblüffen mit holländischem Rap zu Blasmusik und Slide Guitar, der toteslüsterne Budam von den Färöer Inseln stimmt einen morbiden Humptatawalzer an. Fehlen bloß die World/Inferno Friendship Society und Daniel Kahn & The Painted Bird. Einige der Lieder sind exklusiv, einige rar, nicht wenige glamourös oder fatal, aber alle stellen sie seltsame Sachen mit Herz oder Hirn (soweit vorhanden) an. Von den Blauen Engeln und Seeräuber Jennies ganz zu schweigen. Die besten unter diesen Galgenliedersängern und Pfeffermühlenfatalisten können jederzeit die bad alchemystischsten Zeilen, die ich kenne, unterschreiben: Wenn ich mir was wünschen dürfte, möcht ich etwas glücklich sein, denn wenn ich gar zu glücklich wäre, hätte ich Heimweh nach dem Traurigsein. Was singt Amanda Palmer da auf der DVD? I want all the details of the pain and misery, und Ka-Spel, für den sie sich ans Klavier setzt, würzt nach mit Asche und 15 toten Fliegen. Aber die DVD ist eh schon wegen The Tiger Lillies Freakshow unbezahlbar." [Rigo Dittmann / Bad Alchemy]
|
2010 |
€14.50 |
|
|
SURFACE TENSION |
BOOK & CD |
300 Seiten starkes, sehr schön aufgemachtes Kunstbuch (herausgegeben von BRANDON LABELLE und KEN EHRLICH) mit CD zum Thema „Kunst im öffentlichen Raum“ bzw. zur Frage des Ortes der Kunst, der Dialektik von Innen und Aussen, der Beziehung von innerem Wunsch und äusserem Raum... mit vielen Projektbeschreibungen & Essays, Fotos, und CD mit Klang- und Installationskünstlern: Bruce Nauman, Paul Panhuysen, Anthony Moore, Erik Nauman, Stuart Dempster, Frances-Marie Uitti, Undo, Yoko Ono, Terry Fox, Alison Knowles, Atau Tanaka.
Super-Aufmachung & hochinteressante Musik & Projekte, mit diesem Buch kann man Stunden verbringen !!
"Edited by Brandon LaBelle and Ken Ehrlich. CD compiled by Stephen Vitiello. CD mastered and manufactured by Ground Fault Recordings. Published by Errant Bodies Press (300 page, 8.5"x11", book with compact disc)"
"Surface Tension aims to broadly explore the notion of Site by addressing questions of public space and the frictions and conversations that occur as intersections of the imagined and the real. Through investigating these interactions, Surface Tension will seek to make apparent connections between cultural production and the very spaces in which such work functions. As much as the rhetoric of globalization, virtuality, and digital networking dominates contemporary discourses of place and space, Surface Tension looks towards proximate space and experiences of locality to tease out the tensions between contemporary global communications and the site-specifics of everyday life. Rather than reinforce existing notions of an authentic alternative vs. a 'wired' culture, we hope to explore the cultural and personal investments made in technology in order to examine how social andpolitical space is inhabited and made manifest. This entails a consideration of the desires, impulses, and longings which occur within and against the contexts of social spaces and cultural arenas, and how this very interaction performs within the dynamics of spatial organization. Out of these relations comes the radically diverse ways space can be negotiated, manipulated, and traversed."
"From Gordon Matta-Clark to Lawrence Weiner, Bruce Nauman to Alison Knowles, the question of site locates itself in issues of public space, at the intersection of the imagined and the real, at the juncture of performance and architectural production. By anthologizing essays, documents, and interviews by leading critics, historians, and artists on issues of site-specificity, conceptualism, feminism, and architecture practice, Surface Tension reveals the connections between cultural production and the very spaces in which such work functions. These textual explorations are complemented by extensive documentation of related projects, both historical and contemporary, by artists, architects, and performance artists, including Coughing Piece, a never-before released 1961 audio work by Yoko Ono; an obscure audio work by Nauman from 1969; projects by Suzanne Lacy, a leading figure in the development of conceptual practice and public art; and an experimental text by Jane Rendell on psychic architectures. Conversations occur between the pages of Surface Tension, between theoretical analysis and modes of practice, that activate the publication as a site itself, one participating in a broad field of knowledge. Includes an audio CD of the sound art pieces."
Essays/Writings: Kathy Battista, Jennifer Gabrys, Gordon Matta-Clark, Margaret Morgan, Paul Panhuysen, Lucy Lippard, Laurie Palmer, Brandon LaBelle, Ken Ehrlich, Jane Rendell, Juli Carson, Atau Tanaka, Michael Asher, Simon Leung Documentation of Projects: Concrete Steps, Jen Hofer/Melissa Dyne, Kim Abeles, Carol Brown, Wochenklausur, Christof Migone/Alex St-onge, Michael Rakowitz, Eyal Weizman, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Tanja Jordan, Lizzie Scott, Lize Mogel, Terry Fox, Lynn Kirby, Octavio Camargo, Colette Meacher, Valerie Trever CD: Bruce Nauman, Paul Panhuysen, Anthony Moore, Erik Nauman, Stuart Dempster, Frances-Marie Uitti, Undo, Yoko Ono, Terry Fox, Alison Knowles, Atau Tanaka."
[label info]
|
2003 |
€25.00 |
|
|
Pop Ambient 2009 |
LP + CD |
"LP version. Includes free CD of the entire album, featuring the CD-only track by Klimek And Husak. The bliss is finally back -- presenting the 2009 edition of Kompakt's highly-anticipated fan-favorite series, Pop Ambient. To the uninitiated, Pop Ambient serves as a very essential arm of the Kompakt family -- always curated by Kompakt co-founder Wolfgang Voigt (aka Gas, Burger/Ink, etc.), always offering a provocative collection of listening music that is guaranteed to give you warmth throughout those cold winter months. One of the most striking things many will find on this year's edition are the many new faces, compared to the historically familiar roster that has graced previous editions. Leading noise/experimental producer Tim Hecker of Alien8 and Kranky fame joins in with a tremendous contribution that builds wave after wave of textured noise and melody. Boomkat's winners of best album of 2008, The Fun Years take loop melody and turn it inside-out with an astounding, exclusive, guitar-based tune. Pop Ambient 2009 turns to the mighty imprint Type and the esteemed producer Sylvain Chauveau with two contributions of untreated works from the lovely Nuage full-length that straddles his work with a small ensemble and his own piano and guitar performances. Considering the overwhelming response to Wolfgang Voigt's Gas collection reissue Nah Und Fern and the Raster-Noton book/CD of 2008, it's fair game he dominates this compilation under the guise of Mint, with this deep and somberly moving piece, as well as together with longtime production partner Jörg Burger as Burger/Voigt with a Gas-eous remix of Jürgen Paape's "Ausking" and a highly-emotive original. Popnoname shows off his diverse talent with a Kraut-y sunscape of majestic measure. Finally, Pop Ambient favorite Klimek appears in stunning splendor... the horns of heaven ring loud to open the compilation, and together with Husak, he brings Pop Ambient 2009 to an end with a majestic roar. Considering that 2008 was such an amazing year for left-field electronic music, Kompakt anticipates this year's change of pace will be welcomed by their loyal fans and maybe make some new friends with a new sound. Other artists include: Marsen Jules and Andrew Thomas." [label info]
www.kompakt.fm
|
2009 |
€14.50 |
|
|
Musics in the Margin Vol. 2: Musik Oblik |
CD |
"Decompartmentalization:
Like the 'Musics in the margin volume 1' CD co-produced by Art en Marge and Sub Rosa in 2006, this new production comes from a project mixing visual arts with music. Since the first CD, 'Art en Marge' has obtained its museum status and changed its name. These changes point out the fact the new 'art & marges museum' focuses on the affinities existing between three visual art fields considered on equal terms: modern art, contemporary art, and outsider art. Proceeding from how obviously compartmentalization is not only arbitrary but simplistic, this new production entitled "Musik Oblik" explores the world of sounds and silence through the multidisciplinary works of artists unfolding stunning soundworlds and visual universes. Decompartmentalization is the key word, and this record offers unique approaches transcending the simple question of the insider/outsider classification. The purpose of this project is to outgrow the social-cultural dimension of the works while respecting their creators' integrity, whoever they might be.
Carine Fol (art & marges museum)
Featuring:
Based in Berlin, Klaus Beyer is mostly known for his unusual performances of Beatles songs, but this musician's talent is larger than that, as he also writes his own songs, makes short films and animated films, and works as an actor.
Normand Cournoyer launched his music career around the age of 70. He says he was inspired by the Lord, and therefore adopted the slightly religious alias Normand L'Amour. Self-taught, he has since written an incredible number of songs (more than 1,500, in over 75 languages) using a piece of random composition software.
Installation artist, performer, illustrator, sculptor, sound collector, and globe-trotter Baudouin Oosterlynck is thriving to expand our listening capabilities by creating prostheses and musical objects to multiply and increase our ears. Silence also plays a key part in his work, and he has traveled a lot to pinpoint geographical locations where one can enjoy complete silence.
The Wild Classical Music Ensemble, a music project started in 2007, on the day musician/audio artist/experimentalist Damien Magnette met Lynh, Johan, Rudy, and Kim, four artists with learning disabilities. From then on, their musical research has been based on free improvisation and experimentation. Lately, The Wild Classical Music Ensemble has been integrating punk/rock riffs composed by the group's guitarist Kim Verbeke.
In March 2005, drummer Teun Verbruggen (Jef Neve Trio, Flat Earth Society, ...) invited maverick guitarist Mauro Pawlowski (dEUS, Club Moral, Somnambula) and Rhodes piano magician Jozef Dumoulin (Mäâk Spirit, Magic Malik, Octurn...) to a one-shot improvisation gig. The meeting intitled Othin Spake was so conclusive that they are still playing together five years later.
A major representative of the Italian madrigal style of the Renaissance, alongside Luca Marenzio and Monteverdi. Gesualdo's position in music history has been largely reassessed in the 20th Century. Once seen as a marginal, unbalanced composer whose music was gradually falling into oblivion, Gesualdo is hailed by some as a visionary, the first composer, 300 years before Wagner and the Post-Romantics, to make significant use of chromatism and dissonance, and a precursor of the Moderns in his use of extreme contrasts and unusual rhythmical breaks.
A composer, violinist, and teacher, Baudouin de Jaer trained in Belgium and Canada with Henri Pousseur, Frederic Rzewski, and Philip Boesmans, among others. His concerts and compositions took him to Mexico, Peru, Korea, Palestine, and Morocco. Many of his works are multidisciplinary or adapted to a complete space.
A major artist of the 20th century, Adolf Wölfli was commited to the Waldau Mental Asylum, near Bern, in 1899. He remained there until he died. Wölfli started drawing, writing, and composing music at the age of 35, working all day long on what amounts to a colossal body of work. It comprises 25,000 pages of graphic compositions, collages, literary works, and music scores.
Jacques Brodier, artist and researcher, is the inventor of the Filtre de Réalité (Reality Filter), whose antennae, using the ionosphere's reflection, receive the electromagnetic noise broadcasted by Earth civilization and deep space. This airwave noise consists of radio signals from everywhere, music and voices in multiple languages drifting away, lost in a sea of cosmic noise, occasionally mistreated, butchered, distorted by untraceable causes or the mishaps of dissemination." [label info]
www.subrosa.net
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Psychogeographical Dip |
CD |
"Schonmal was von "Psychogeographie" gehört? Diese von uns bisher leider übersehene Compilation beschäftigt sich damit. 'Psychogeographie' nennt sich die Erforschung von Gesetzmäßigkeiten und Wirkungen der geographischer Umgebung auf die Gefühle & das Verhalten des Menschen. Folgende Musiker & Projekte haben das hier umgesetzt: GEN KEN MONTGOMERY, CHOP SHOP, GEOFF DUGAN, FRANCISCO LOPEZ, SEAN MEEHAN, BRIAN CONLEY, JOHN HUDAK, IF BWANA, PAT COURTNEY. Zu hören sind v.a. spacig-dröhnige field recordings, konkrete metalscapes, spannende Collagen ... im netten Klappcover mit Beilage." [Drone Records 2000]
|
1997 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Zelphabet Vol. K |
CD |
"The eleventh installment in Zelphabet’s new series of 26 alphabetically oriented compilations of noise. Zelphabet K rides into the new year with tracks from K2, KEY RANSONE, KK NULL and KLUSTER 07 (CONRAD SCHNITZLER)." [label info]
www.zelphabet.com
"And then there is of course Zelphabet, curated by G.X. Jupitter-Larsen of The Haters fame. Now up to the letter K. Intervals are getting longer, unfortunately, as this is such a fine series that I would love to see complete one day. Two noise ends and two surprises here. The noise side is represented by two Japanese artists. K2 goes out furthest into noise land with a twenty minute onslaught of cut up distortion. It could very well be that K2 takes a bunch of his own tapes, a pair of scissors and then just crudely assembles bits of tapes into a new piece. KK Null is here also a bit louder than we are used of him in recent years, but adds a rhythm or two to his noise tapestry. More digital in approach, with the rhythm being made by skipping loops of CD players, feeding off to a line of sound effects. Both of these pieces are almost twenty minutes and perhaps at such a bit long. The two surprises is first a 1998 recording by Key Ransone. Once better known as Small Cruel Party, but since 2000 more or less gone from the scene, in order to be a chef in France. But not entirely disappeared. His 'A Tangible Bridge' is performed by the Seattle Creative Orchestra - Ransone always had something with bridging electronic music with modern classical music. This piece is entirely modern classical, with slow violin build up and after a crescendo, silence, followed by singing and strange gestures. Maybe a bit like older Arvo Part? I must admit I am not that much of a connoisseur of the genre, but this piece is actually very good. The other surprise is Kluster 07, consisting of Conrad Schnitzler, Michael Thomas Roe and Masato Ooyama, who recorded this piece in September 2007. Bouncing, psychedelic electronics with a set of more or less improvised percussion on top and more improvised bits on some synthesizers. Quite a mellow piece, but perhaps also a nice update to the earliest incarnation of K/Cluster - still a steady favorite after almost forty years." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2011 |
€11.00 |
|
|
I.D. Art # 2 |
CD |
"When the Los Angeles Free Music Society 10 CD set came out I eagerly flipped through the contents to see what treasures had finally been made available again. Much to my surprise the early compilation I.D. Art #2 was not included in this otherwise major overview of the LAFMS. I.D. Art #2 was the second LP release on their label, coming after Le Forte Four’s ‘Bikini tennis shoes’ LP, and before the 2LP ‘Live at the Brand’, a split album between Le 44 and The Doo-Dooettes. It dates from 1976. It is also probably the most difficult LP on their catalogue to find. Originally released in an edition of just 200 copies, most of which were given out to the 44 artists and groups who appeared on this extraordinary LP. The deal was that each track was paid for by the contributor at a rate of $8 per minute in exchange for 4 copies of the disc. Consequently very few copies were ever made available via the LAFMS mail order service.
With a running time of 66 minutes and the sheer variety of contributions, I.D. Art #2 remained for most people a mysterious and tantalising item.
Most of the contributors came from the students at Otis Art Institute in LA, and many make their only ever recordings for this disc. Among the known names from the LAFMS scene are: Le Forte Four, Joe Potts, Fredrick Nilsen, Mr Foon, Ace & Duce, Dennis Mehaffey as well as 6 tracks by Smegma. Other artists include the painter Miles Forst, violinist Josie Roth, film makers Doug Henry and Gary Beydler, mail artist and dog portrait painter Irene Dogmatic, Otis librarian Joan Hugo, graphic designer Kathe Schreyer and many other creative artists and designers at the start of their careers who submitted their audio idea, be it via telephone, in subways, recontextualising old vinyl, philosophising, story telling, being abstract, joking, rehearsing and lo even playing instruments. This exhilerating journey, bursting with ideas was compiled by Joe Potts and Waynna Kato." [label info]
tracklist:
• 1a. Mac McCloud; b. Mac McCloud (2:19)
• 2. Harold Schroeder “Silent rituals” (3:32)
• 3. Greg Neutra/J.D. Elliot “Grieg fatigue” (2:01)
• 4. Smegma a. “Rrose Selavy will wait for my washing machine, even” b. “The Andalusian dog often digs into the furniture with onyx fingers.” (2:02)
• 5. Smegma “Potatoe war” (0:59) mp3
• 6. Fredrik Nilsen “You can’t hide from aldehyde” (1:40)
• 7. Miles Forst “Art, art, art” (0:41)
• 8. Smegma “One moment” (1:30)
• 9. Smegma “Pig face blues” (0:24)
• 10. Doug Henry “View this command as a verbal enactment of a command” (0:15)
• 11. Josie Roth “Heal, and another little time” (1:01)
• 12. Joe Potts “I don’t want to go to the farm” (0:21)
• 13. Otto Fick (0:48)
• 14. Smegma “Excerpt from: I’ll have Julie Nixon-Eisenhower for my appetizer (sour lungs to my surprise)” (3:01)
• 15. Karen Kato “Xmas 1952” (0:35)
• 16. J.J. Allen Vargas “Victim of racism” (1:25)
• 17. Dennis Guy Mehaffey “Busta Nosa” (1:47)
• 18. M/R/Zuniga “Vulnerability: rape, male vs. female” (1:31)
• 19. Mike Green “Martin Heiddeger revisited” (dedicated to Molly) (0:15).
• 20. Mehaffey a. Introdution by Buckminster Fuller. b. “I stumble/You laugh” (4:01)
• 21. Jules Lemelle (1:03).
• 22. Maureen Abbott (0:14).
• 23. Smegma “Take one” (3:29).
• 24. Dan Weiss/P. Hamilton Ross “A bicentennial tribute to America’s freight trains” (0:56).
• 25. Mr. Foon “Timeless #1” (5:50)
• 26. Bertil Petersson “Monologue to Henry VIII” (2:05)
• 27. Amrein & Stoll (1:04)
• 28. Ace & Duce “Dogs are barking" (0:37)
• 29. Irene Dogmatic/Rose Tatoo (0:36)
• 30. Gordon Shields “Cotton duck, up and back” (0:59)
• 31. Gary Beydler “Record stick” (0:16).
• 32. Tom Kemp “Pasadena subway station poetry stills” (3:39)
• 33. Donald Spaulding “I don’t want this to happen” (0:32)
• 34. Janice Felger/Joan Hugo “One minute of art news update in 30 seconds (1:04)
• 35. Sue Farthing (0:22)
• 36. Waynna Kato “White/Noise” (0:29)
• 37. Jim Abuan/Peter Muzzey “Why does love have to be so sad?” (0:20)
• 38. Juan Gomez “This is my country” (2:47)
• 39. P.J. Campbell (1:01).
• 40. Kathe Schreyer “Don’t make me laugh” (0:15)
• 41. Mary Dana Chodzko “Patty Smith by Mary Dana Chodzko” (1:42).
• 42. Gary Laskin “Have sex with Rex” (1:25)
• 43. Jean Koller “Dream” (3:20).
• 44. Le Forte Four a. Discarded portion of the soundtrack for Rick’s film “Burger madness” b. From “The origin of Largie Schrapnel” c. “I haven’t heard you for a long time...” d. “Fat ape” (1:17)
www.stalk.net/paradigm
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
|
A tasty Swarm of small Signals |
DVD-Audio |
"A Tasty Swarm of Small Signals is an impressive sound art project comprising 91 micro-compositions by sound artists from every corner of the globe. This wide range collection has been curated by Francisco López and includes original work of James Webb, Lawrence English, Francisco López, Asmus Tietchens, Louis Dufort, Alan Courtis and Zbigniew Karkowski. Working with field recordings, sound manipulation, and generated sounds, these internationally acclaimed artists offer us the possibility of listening and experiencing some of the most enticing proposals, tendencies, approaches and investigations in this field of art. James Webb opens the collection with 'Sightings into the dreams of others'. His pieces share a dreamy atmosphere, an oneiric quality, both beautiful and strange. With a delicate, poetic touch Webb introduces several sounds like bird chipping, piano notes and morse code signalling, creating an elegant whole that has the effect of drawing our attention out of the work itself, back into our own sound environment, and finally integrating both. As in Webb's work, the next artist of the collection, Lawrence English, requires the imagination of the listener to complete the pieces here presented. Through an artful integration of field recordings and synthetic sounds, English creates suggestive and beautiful compositions which wake up our imagination and make us see that we are always part of the work itself, in the same way as we are part of the world we look at. The world is not just a set of objects around us and the compositions are not just a set of sounds. We relate to each object, to each sound, with our personal emotions and memories. The world which we live in, as English's compositions, is always a unique experience, a personal creation. While Lawrence English is able to integrate field recordings and created sounds in an extraordinary way, Francisco López goes further and blurs any distinction between these different sounds. By an artful manipulation of the field recordings the artist makes the natural sounds no longer identifiable, and as a result they move away of any reference or visual association. In his proposal López directs our attention to the sounds themselves, and lets them follow their own path, their own development into other sounds and variations. Similarly Asmus Tietchens also focuses on the manipulation of field recordings in ways suggested by the sounds themselves. His artful employment of silence and isolated sounds, (small signals), is complemented by an increasingly obscure atmosphere, conforming a subtle composition. Short bubble like percussive sounds hit repeatedly on a persistent silence, than soon evolves into a dark ambience. No rhythms, no sequence, no pattern, no thought. Just unidentifiable sounds, dropping from nowhere on top a black background, a cosmic silence, a universal darkness. Louis Dufort proposal deals with the inner structure of sound matter. He places sounds under his unique microscope to show us the different frequencies, reflections and elements each sound contains. This approach is able to focus all our attention on the sounds themselves, instead of being treated as elements of a structure that encompasses them and gives them a specific meaning obtained from their place in the structure. In Alan's Courtis pieces, in contrast to Asmus Tietchens proposal for this collection, there is no silence, but a succession of disquieting sounds and distortions, and a constant feeling that we are reaching some kind of limit, something is about to break through. Waves of sound take over, fill all space and ourselves, and carry us through a labyrinth of sounds and variations where we seem to disappear and where only sounds remain. Karkowski proposal is an investigation in the vibration of electronic sounds and takes us to an experience of this ever lasting reality. Everything is a vibration taking place in time. Our first exposure to these pieces can be confounding, but if we get past our tendency to look for rhythm and harmony, an experience of sound can get through, showing us the ever present vibrations surrounding us, inside of us, everywhere. All these proposals are presented in an audio DVD, where each artist presents thirteen two minute compositions over a fixed image, adding to more than three hours of sound. It offers us a taste of the most interesting proposals in experimental sound art, and of the most compelling experiences that this art form can bring us to."[S. Porrúa]
www.storung.com
"This might be the future of releasing music. I think I said that before, with some of the Empreintes Digitales DVD's, containing no images but 24-bit audio. And a lot more difficult to extract and rip and share (for free). But perhaps also a bit too much for audiophiles? I am not sure. Francisco Lopez curated this project, with consists of seven artists, each delivering no less than thirteen two-minute audio compositions. Why seven, thirteen and two, you may wonder? I am not sure either, but Lopez did a nice selection. Besides himself we have here James Webb, Lawrence English, Asmus Tietchens, Louis Dufort, Alan Courtis and Zbigniew Karkwoski. Which I guess makes an interesting selection from various parts of the world of experimental music. The serious avant-garde is represented by Dufort, who does a fine job on the matter at hand, and while heavily under the influence of acousmatica, the briefness of the pieces makes it all nice. Webb and English both represent the world of field recordings and ambience. Delicate pieces here, in which a certain amount of musical-ness slip through the gaps. Lopez and Tietchens also deal with field recordings and electronics, but their work is much more abstract than English and Webb's. In Lopez' case thirteen pieces of mildly droning affairs of heavily treated rainfall or ventilation shafts (or some such, you can't be sure with Lopez), whereas Tietchens offers his highly atomized sparks of sounds and silence. Alan Courtis and Zbigniew Karkwoski are both on the more traditional noise spectrum, each at a side, firmly apart. Karkowski with some highly computerized noise patterns, at times fiercely loud and sometimes a bit less loud, but throughout firmly gritty and digital, while Courtis is much more quiet (than we are used of him?), but not allowing any silence in his work. Drone based soundscapes of a big city at night - perhaps - like indicated through the visual on display. An excellent compilation, which is of course a bit long - three hours - to be played at once, but you could select one a day and have a great week." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€18.00 |
|
|
Message from a Subatomic World |
CD |
"2008. Having not released any various-artists compilations in the past decade, Hypnos released in 2007 a new compilation Sounds of a Universe Overheard featuring a diverse array of ambient soundscape artists from around the world. We are proud to follow last year's release with its "mirror image" compilation, which we believe meets or exceeds that high standard.
Here are another 10 exclusive tracks by 10 artists who have not appeared on Hypnos compilations before, though some of these artists will certainly be familiar to followers of our label. Message From a Subatomic World in comparison to its predecessor is perhaps a bit more abstract and deep-space, more mysterious and strange, whereas Sounds of a Universe Overheard is a bit more musical and structured overall.
THE ARTISTS
Austere - This elusive duo has released two albums with Hypnos in the past year, Solyaris on Hypnos and Pulse on Hypnos Secret Sounds. They've also ranged over a wide sonic territory with previous self-released projects during the past decade.
Evan Bartholomew - Perhaps best known for the rhythmic electronica he records as Bluetech, Evan has just recently started releasing ambient work under his own name, and recently launched his own Somnia label.
Relapxych.0 - is Anders Peterson from Sweden, experimenting with combining field recordings with musical instruments and approaches, creating musical ambience rather than ambient music. Visit www.ghostsounds.net
Numina - Certainly familiar to Hypnos listeners, Numina has released 3 great CDs on our label, and he has been one of the great new names in the ambient music world this past 5 years.
Jason Sloan - A partner in the Slo.Bor label with Matt Borghi, Jason creates uncompromising sound art using tools as diverse as electric guitars, synthesizers, and self-designed software algorithms.
Phaenon - Real name Szymon Tankiewicz, his debut album was released on the Malignant label, and he has relocated from his native Poland to Maryland, USA.
Stephen Philips - Also familiar to Hypnos listeners, Stephen runs the Dark Duck Records label on which he has many releases under several identities, in addition to his two releases on our label.
True Color of Blood - Alter ego of Eric Kesner, who uses treated and layered electric guitars to craft unique and challenging ambient drone works, which he has released on labels like Gears of Sand, Eibon and Afe.
Svartsinn - This Norwegian dark ambient artist has several prior releases, mostly on the Cyclic Law label, and is a frequent live performer around the world.
Oophoi - No other name has gone from obscurity to such high regard among ambient listeners in such a short time, and this Italian master of the atmospheric drone has been greatly prolific, counting among his releases two projects on Hypnos, Athlit as a solo artist, and Distance to Zero with Paul Vnuk Jr. of Ma Ja Le." [label info]
www.hypnos.com
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
|
DRONE-MIND // MIND-DRONE Vol. 1 : HALO MANASH, UBEBOET, JARL, B*TONG (SOLD OUT) |
LP |
The NEW LP-series from Drone Records, dedicated to the Drones of the World, and the Drones of our Minds. A kind of continuation of the Drone 7"-series on a more user-friendly format. Each LP features four artists from the international drone-scene and is limited to 500 copies, pressed on four different vinyl-colours. Volume 1: UBEBOET (Spain), HALO MANASH (Finland), B°TONG (Suisse), JARL (Sweden). Stunning artwork paintings by British artist PETE GREENING, design by NINA KERNICKE (ALL SIDES).
Vinyl-colours each 125x : SOLID WHITE // GREEN // GOLD // SOLID ORANGE MIXED WITH BLACK.
Having celebrated the vinyl back in 1993 when the 7" series started, we still think its the best & most beautiful format to present music!
Don't miss the beginning of the second wave of DRONES on our label !!
FULL INFO:
The NEW LP-series from Drone Records is dedicated to the Drones of the World, and the Drones of our Minds. A kind of continuation of the Drone 7"-series but on a more user-friendly format. Each LP features four artists from the international drone-scene and is limited to 500 copies and pressed on four different vinyl-colours. Each LP artwork will feature paintings by British painter PETE GREENING. This series shows the various sides of todays experimental drone-music. The title symbolizes the interaction between sound of the Eternal and our psyche and raises questions: Can Drones (or sound per se) be regarded as "intelligent"? Does every mind produce a Drone? Isn't it possible that any organic or non-organic entity produces a Drone? Drone Music is seen as more than a mere 'music style', it expresses an approach to perceive & understand the world. DRONE-MIND and MIND-DRONE build a circle of diverse inter-relations. The Drone as a metaphor for everything that vibrates, that releases energy - from atoms and elementary particles to the hum of the earth and the universe.
The Drone as an entity that connects everthing that exists within our own "mind-space", perception and self.
Four "Drones" on one record! The first Volume (MIND-01) ist OUT NOW ! (December 2011) and features:
VOLUME 1: UBEBOET / HALO MANASH JARL / B°TONG
UBEBOET from Spain starts off the new series with two fantastic "transcension drone" pieces derived from choral / voice-material - highly emotional, contemplative and sublime.
HALO MANASH is the main project from the AURAL HYPNOX-family based in Oulu, northern Finland, known for powerful shamanistic / ethnic otherworldly drones. "Walkeus" comprises two pieces of dense ritualistic sounds based purely on ethnic instruments and voices without using any electronics, recorded on analogue reel-to-reel tape.
JARL (the drone side / solo-project of the Swedish Industrial duo IRM) is known for "pure sounding" overwhelming, at times noisy hypno-drones. The long track "Zero in Scream" uses zither-sounds in an innovative way.
B*TONG from Switzerland creates highly experimental pieces that seem to use all kinds of concrete sound-sources, leading into surrealistic drone-based journeys, always challenging and forming a very own musical dimension
= four projects that differ considerably from each other, but united through the idea of the power of the Drone.
~ ~ The drones of their minds "materialized" ~ ~ The "intelligence" of drones materialized ~ ~
"Compiled by the tireless sound archeologist (and Drone Records founder) Stefan Knappe, “Drone-Mind/Mind-Drone Vol.1” can be seen as a well-deserved masterpiece in a career that may open a new chapter in the history and archiving of the drone. This ancient foundation of music, myth, and rituals both sacred and profane is alive and well in a new generation of artists. Those chosen for this first volume have contributed mesmerizing and deeply memorable drones that ought to make this an instant classic of its kind." [Mike Wood/Foxy Digitalis]
“El Rey ha muerto. ¡Larga vida al Rey!”
It took Stefan Knappe 18 years to fill the roster of one hundred 7″ releases on Drone Records. Since the first 7″ by his own Maeror Tri (which was actually predated by a cassette release in 1991, also by Maeror Tri), Drone Records has been a home for artists to release their sounds on the sacred vinyl as well as get a chance to deliver their own artwork.
To reminisce: the simple artwork yet immensly thick drones by Yen Pox (DR-15), the “Fuck, how am I gonna send out 250 metal plates”-release by [multer] (DR-51), and the fragile boxed edition by Xabec (DR-92). Very well known as well as completely unknown artists, who either made it or didn’t; they are a part of Drone’s 18-year history of vinyl releases.
But times, they are a-changing. It is time for something new, and the chosen format is vinyl, LP, and four artists per release to promote their sounds and become part of the family. On this first release in the new series, pressed in solid white, green, gold and black / orange mixed vinyl, we get acquainted with new works by four artists from different scenes: Ubeboet, Halo Manash, Jarl and B°Tong.
And no, for a change, your humble reviewer will not go in depth into all the tracks and describe them for you. Because if you made it this far already, you know you want this album, and you are going to buy it. What makes this release a definite must-have is the same reason why you visit festivals with sounds, music and sound art. Even if you don’t know all this artists or there is a track you maybe don’t like at the beginning, it fits the release as a whole. Exploration of artistic depths and differences, very well combined by ‘His Masters Drone’, Stefan Knappe.
Four days before the year 2011 is over, this release solidly puts itself in the annual Top Three. Without any doubt!" [Bauke van der Wal / Connexion Bizarre]
"The LP is a fascinating showcase for four different drone and ambient artists, and that is perhaps the essence of everything ever done by Drone Records. Although I have a personal preference for the A-side here, there is much to love, and subtle variation in the presentation of these four artists. A glorious debut on coloured vinyl for this new series, and a highly recommended release for all droners out there. Here’s to the future!" [Oscar Strik, Evening of Light]
|
2011 |
€15.00 |
|
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Yokomono 03.5 ("triple grooved" MERZBOW, MIKA VAINIO, NO ARTIST, JAAP BLONK, CYNTHIA ZAVEN) |
LP |
"This whole Yokomono thing dealt with vinyl, vinyl killers and such like. To which end Staalplaat goes as far as to pressing records for these installations and invite composers to deliver sound material. I am not sure how this will end up in the installation pieces, but if its still the same thing as with the vinyl killers, then this ’3.5′ is worthy one. To explain what it is, I have to copy the original text by Staalplaat: “Our first attempt was the release of Yokomono 03 where we hoped to cut two tracks, one spiraling from outside in and the others from inside out. So that the needle would move in different directions. This attempt failed (for reasons that we will not go in to at this moment). This new record has three parallel soundtracks where the cutting needle was lifted twice with short intervals, in order to make the needle used during “wiedergabe” to jump tracks randomly.
To play this record you must not see your turntable as a reproduction machine that reproduces the music on the record. You can not put it on and sit down to listen. See the record and turntable much more as a music instrument that with each turntable model and with each setting if your machine you will create a different sound and mix of this record. As with any instrument you have to learn how to play your turntable and find what setting you like best. Of vital influence are the skate settings en the wait [sic] on the tone arm, these and others you must very to experience the options of the record.” There is a brown noise (inserts quote again: “In science, Brownian noise, also known as Brown noise or red noise, is the kind of signal noise produced by Brownian motion, hence its alternative name of random walk noise. The term “Brown noise” comes not from the color, but after Robert Brown, the discoverer of Brownian motion.” with sound pieces by Cynthia Zaven and Merzbow, and a white noise side with Mika Vainio and Jaap Blonk. Now this is certainly a most strange record. I stood by my turntable, changing the weight of the tone arm hearing say Blonk, but then moving into Vainio and back, or the piano tones which I assume are Zaven’s going into Merzbowian noise, sometimes with white/brown noise blocks coming in, quickly and disappearing equally fast. Stuff you can do on vinyl only and which have a highly added value to what you get. Hardly plain music, but also not just a DJ tool. Very nice, even without the art installation itself." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
www.staalplaat.com
|
2012 |
€12.00 |
|
|
DRONE-MIND // MIND-DRONE Vol. 2 (SOLD OUT) |
LP |
DRONE-MIND // MIND DRONE - Volume 2 -
This LP-series from Drone Records is dedicated to the Drones of the World, and the Drones of our Minds. A kind of continuation of the Drone 7"-series but on a more user-friendly format. Each LP features four artists from the international drone-scene and is limited to 500 copies and pressed on four different vinyl-colours. Each LP artwork will feature paintings by British painter PETE GREENING. This series shows the various sides of todays experimental drone-music. The title symbolizes the interaction between sound of the Eternal and our psyche and raises questions: Can Drones (or sound per se) be regarded as "intelligent"? Does every mind produce a Drone? Isn't it possible that any organic or non-organic entity produces a Drone? Drone Music is seen as more than a mere 'music style', it expresses an approach to perceive & understand the world. DRONE-MIND and MIND-DRONE build a circle of diverse inter-relations. The Drone as a metaphor for everything that vibrates, that releases energy - from atoms and elementary particles to the hum of the earth and the universe. The Drone as an entity that connects everthing that exists within our own "mind-space", perception and self. Four "Drones" on one record! The second Volume (MIND-02) ist OUT NOW ! (December 2012) and features:
YANN NOVAK / STROM NOIR / EMMA YA / KARL BÖSMANN
YANN NOVAK (U.S.A.): minimal transcension drones
The records starts with a fabulous - silent but dense - drone piece by Californian sound & installation artist YANN NOVAK (coming from L.A.), the first in a series of compositions using the 'silence" of vinyl endgrooves, indeed a perfectly sublime start for a a vinyl release dedicated to drones.
STROM NOIR (SLOVAKIA): shimmering elation drones
STROM NOIR encharms with two stunning 'elation" drones based on guitar harmonics, beautifully shimmering like light radiances - this Slovakian artist is also active with his true DIY-label Black Orchid Productions.
EMME YA (COLOMBIA): sigil dissolution drones
EMME YA is, after the EPs by REYNOLS (DR-42) and C.D. (DR-63) the third ever artist from South America on Drone Records. These 'esoteric' suction sounds are created as 'sigil dissolutions', meaning the unification of sonic sigils with our deeper minds. Mysterious, intense, haunting...
KARL BÖSMANN (GERMANY): post industrial / electronic drones
Behind this project with the odd name we find a german sculptor who attracted lots of attention with some remarkable releases of very unusual & daring drone-based collages - his track for MIND-02 named 'Die Verwandlung' is inspired by Kafkas short story of the same name and stands out as a powerful & threatening & even rhythmic tour de force undergoing dramatic changes from the beginning to the end.
= four projects that differ considerably from each other, but united through the idea of the power of the Drone.
~ ~ The drones of their minds "materialized" ~ ~ The "intelligence" of drones materialized ~ ~
4 Vinyl-colours: RED & BLACK MIXED // SOLID SILVER MIXED WITH BLACK // WHITE, SOLID BLUE & TRANSPARENT GREEN MIXED // CHRYSTAL CLEAR WITH BLUE AND BLACK
Mastered by Sergey Uak-Kib http://kshatriy.pro/
|
2012 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Cycles: Cyclic Law's 10th Anniversary Label Sampler |
do-CD |
"To commemorate our 10th year of activity, we’ve collected new and previously unreleased material by most of Cyclic Law’s roster who’s music has been released on the label over the past 10 years. This very special label sampler features exclusive tracks by ALLSEITS, ARCANA, AUN, BEYOND SENSORY EXPERIENCE, DESIDERII MARGINIS, GUSTAF HILDEBRAND, KAMMARHEIT, KARJALAN SISSIT, NEW RISEN THRONE, NORTHAUNT & MULM, PARHELION, SHRINE, SINKE DUS, SOPHIA, SVARTSINN & PSYCHOMANTEUM, THE FLOATING WORLD, THERRADAEMON, TREHA SEKTORI, TRIANGULAR ASCENSION, VISIONS and VORTEX. This compendium stands as an homage to all artists involved throughout the years, and whom with their unique approach to atmospheric music have forged the Cyclic Law Sound. We’d also like to dedicate this release to our worldwide supporters who’ve made this 10 year venture possible. Onward to a new dawn...
Edition of 1000 copies in 6 panel digi sleeve.
21 tracks. Running Time 2:35:00." [label info]
www.cycliclaw.com
|
2012 |
€14.00 |
|
|
VERNACULAR |
do-CD |
"The word 'Vernacular' means "native language or native dialect of a specific population, as opposed to a language of wider communication that is a second language or foreign language to the population, such as a national language, standard language, or lingua franca", and here it's the thematic approach for a neatly designed double CD compilation in which curator Yui Onodera reconsiders 'Vernacular, which has been cut by the "universal design that transcends locality and ethnicity" of modernism'. He claims that 'the meaning of a sound and the way it is used is different in each country and I think it should naturally be apparent in the sound of their work, if artists work on it consciously'. That is a rather bold claim. I slide in CD 1, sit somewhere else, away from computer which shows me the tracklist and away from the actual package. When disc one is done, could have I told I heard artists from Australia, America (twice), Japan, UK (twice) and Italy? Or Greece, Estonia, The Netherlands, Argentina, America (twice) and Germany, following disc two? I must admit: not really. What can be noted is an overall uniform approach to sound and the way its played, processed and composed. Carefully and delicate music, is what all of these fifteen people connect. One a bit more on the field recordings side of things, the other process that lot via the computer into something altogether more abstract and here there we find the presence of an instrument, usually in the form of a guitar, such as with Federico Durand and Troum (whose presence may seem like an odd-ball here, but it fits in quite nicely) and the piano of Kenneth Kirschner. Steve Roden provides his usual musical loops and may also seem be a bit odd. Otherwise, music seems to be an universal language for these boys (no girls as far as I can see), and nowhere I had the idea I was listening to something that was very specific from a specific country. In that respect this compilation may seem like failure, but
the quality is overall great here. Find here pieces from Hior Chronik, Yui Onodera, Janek Schaefer, Simon Scott, Tu M', Dale Lloyd, Jos Smolders, Yves De Mey, Kim Cascone, John Grzinich and Lawrence English." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
http://whereabouts-records.com
|
2013 |
€14.00 |
|
|
EXTRACT. Portraits of Soundartists |
BOOK // 2 x CD |
"Since we started the label Nonvisualobjects two years ago, many collaborations with artists worldwide have arisen, a large, growing network has evolved and an extensive body of work has been formed that we would like to explore and try to sum up. The book developed from the idea of presenting an extract of artists involved in the current experimental electro-acoustic music scene, often following a rather reduced approach in their work. We would like to present artists that work in different areas in this field of electroacoustic music, to cover a large spectrum even in this quite specific area.
With essays, interviews, photos, drawings and other materials presented in this book, we try to look at the motivation and intention behind the sound production from different perspectives, to possibly allow for a new/extended approach to this form of music.
Many of the artists involved in this project do not exclusively work with sound, but also in other artistic disciplines. In this book we would like to present these other sides of their work to allow crossreferences/crosslinks to open up new aspects of the music.
EXTRACT contains interviews, essays, photos, drawings and 22 tracks by: Keith Berry, Richard Chartier, Taylor Deupree, Heribert Friedl, Richard Garet, Andy Graydon, Bernhard Günter, John Hudak, I8U, Dean King, Dale Lloyd, Roel Meelkop, Will Montgomery, Tomas Philips, Steve Roden, Jos Smolders, Steinbrüchel, Nao Sugimoto (aka mondii), Asmus Tietchens, Toshiya Tsunoda, Ubeboet and Michael Vorfeld." [label info]
www.nonvisualobjects.com
|
2007 |
€36.00 |
|
|
DRONE-MIND // MIND-DRONE Vol. 3 (SOLD OUT) |
LP |
the NEW LP-series from Drone Records, dedicated to the Drones of the World, and the Drones of our Minds. A kind of continuation of the Drone 7"-series on a more user-friendly format. Each LP features four artists from the international drone-scene and is limited to 500 copies, pressed on four different vinyl-colours. Vol. 3: JIM HAYNES (USA), MANINKARI (France), KSHATRIY (Russia), EXIT IN GREY (Russia). stunning artwork paintings by British artist PETE GREENING, design by TILMANN BENNINGHAUS.
JIM HAYNES: psychogeographical drones of rust and decay.
This highly interesting sound-artist from San Francisco (also active as painter, label-manager, & writer) is focused on the unpredictable processes of rust & decay in connection with the perception of time. For his contribution "He stopped at a picture..." to the re-newed Drone Rec-series he is using field recordings from a world war 2 era radar outpost (located near the Golden Gate Bridge), combined with shortwave, motors, wire-tapping microphones, analogue electric sounds.. => a breathtaking experimental & raw drone-collage, full of tension & almost dramatic suction, sound of " psychic loss & american paranoia" (JIM HAYNES).
EXIT IN GREY: timeless natural drones.
The main project of Russian Sergey [S] from the Moscow-area (who is also active as FIVE ELEMENTS MUSIC & SISTER LOOLOMIE) is mesmerizing the listeners since years with small & handmade editions of emotional daydream-drones, intuitively woven together with guitar, field recordings & analog synths. The long piece "Drawn by Memory/The Wind 2012" is a perfect example of his skills and creates with minimal instrumental & natural sound-sources an atmosphere of timelessness and nostalgia..
KSHATRIY : dark psychedelic (higher?) consciousness drones
KSHATRIY means 'warrior' in Sanskrit and expresses the artists believe in the universal power of sound. Hailing from the fascinating St. Petersburg scene in Russia comes this "fractal dark drone ambient' project, especially focused on cosmic/transpersonal consciousness themes - these "Shifting Waves" sound secretful & mysterious with a phantastic spatial sound-quality (open to both digital & analogue sound sources) for the perfect cosmic mind-movie.
MANINKARI : handplayed / instrumental trance drones.
This French duo (consisting of two twin-brothers from Paris) has blown us away with their captivating "handplayed" instrumental drone music, with influences from various styles like Jazz, Art Rock and Classical Music, combining improvisation and composition. Often based on percussion & strings, they look at their sound as a spiritual tool causing a disorder of the mind, a 'visible' transformation of the uncontrollable dreams & their own subsconscious. The two pieces "Enstase 1 & 2" sound at the same time subtle, airy and dense using a suprising instrumentation, and show impressively one of the possible new directions of drone music.
= four projects that differ considerably from each other, but united through the idea of the power of the Drone.
~ ~ The drones of their minds "materialized" ~ ~ The "intelligence" of drones materialized ~ ~
four vinyl-colours, each 125 x: WHITE & GREEN MIXED // BLACK // MIXED YELLOW RED // CHRYSTAL CLEAR & WHITE MIXED. design by Tilmann Benninghaus (Berlin) using bronce-colour & UV gloss
Mastered by Sergey Uak-Kib http://kshatriy.pro/
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2013 |
€15.00 |
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Smm: OPIATE |
LP |
"Vinyl limitiert auf 800 Stück im dicken Sleeve mit bedruckter Innenhülle. 'SMM: Opiate' ist der zweite Teil in der SMM Serie von Ghostly International, die eine Erforschung der weitreichenden Möglichkeiten des Sounds zwischen klassischem Minimalismus, Electronica und Drone, Soundtracks und zerbrechlichen Vorstellungswelten zum Ziel haben.
'SMM:Opiate' ist der Nachfolger zu 'SMM: Context' von 2011 und genau wie damals gesellt sich auch hier eine sorgfältig ausgewählte Selektion von Musik, die über zwei Jahre und die ganze Welt hinweg zusammengestellt wurde.
Als Ganzes ist die Erfahrung sicherlich ähnlich derer des Opiats aus dem Titel, doch tatsächlich ist dies eine Zusammenstellung, die den Hörer dazu einlädt, seinen eigenen Sinn zu finden oder einfach nur der Schönheit der Musik zu huldigen und der Welt für eine Weile zu entkommen.
'SMM: Opiate' versammelt Originaltracks von SIMON SCOTT, A WINGED VICTORY FOR THE SULLEN, CELER, BLACK SWAN, JIM HAYNES, EN, PJUSK, FIELDHEAD und NOVELLER. //
SMM: Opiate is the second release in Ghostly's SMM series, which is an ongoing exploration of the evocative possibilities of sound, with a focus on classical minimalism, electronic and drone composition, film soundtracks, and fragile imaginary landscapes. Opiate is the follow-up to 2011's SMM: Context, and as with that record, it's a carefully chosen selection of music, compiled over some two years from around the world.
The record opens with Simon Scott's "Water Shadow," a luxuriant piece of beatless ambience that's like a wash of warm water or the first touch of the summer sun on your face after a long, cold winter. It's a warmth that doesn't last, though — "Ti Prego Memory Man," by A Winged Victory for the Sullen, is no less beautiful. It's a stately, alpine beauty, its chilly sounds a harbinger of things to come. Celer's "Nothing So Mystical" is more minimal still, while Black Swan's "Passing Heartbreak" brings whispers of humanity, its sound coalescing out of an atmospheric whirl of vocal textures.
The wryly titled "This Is Radio Sweden," by Jim Haynes, is all brooding background noise that's shot through with what sounds like an old-fashioned telephone engaged tone, a track that seems shot through with connotations of absence and loss. EN's "White" is both somber and somehow transportive, setting plucked chords from what sounds like a banjo over a glistening synth figure, while Pjusk's "Dorsk" slows to a sort of stasis, with only the faintest of basslines to indicate any sign of life. Fieldhead's "37th" is like a slow, mindful from such a reverie, and Noveller's "Bright Cloud Blooms" brings the cycle to a close with another brief flush of precious warmth.
As a whole, the compilation seems to follow a narrative arc, descending through a series of stages into near-complete stillness, and then slowly ascending back to where it began. As a whole, the experience is certainly evocative of the opiated sensation evoked by the record's title — but really, it's a compilation that invites you to find your own meaning in it, or simply to appreciate the beauty of its music and escape the world for a while." [label info]
www.ghostly.com
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2013 |
€17.00 |
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DRONE-MIND // MIND-DRONE Vol. 4 (VERY LAST COPIES!) |
LP |
DRONE-MIND // MIND DRONE - Volume 4 :
"travelling with Drone Records around the world to the MINDs of artists creating drones... "
This LP-series from Drone Records is dedicated to the Drones of the World, and the Drones of our Minds. A kind of continuation of the (almost legendary) Drone 7"-series, with artwork based on huge paintings by British artist PETE GREENING.
The series shows the various sides of todays experimental drone-music.
Drone Music is seen as more than a mere 'music style', it expresses an approach to perceive & understand the world. DRONE-MIND and MIND-DRONE build a circle of diverse inter-relations. The Drone as a metaphor for everything that vibrates, that releases energy - from atoms and elementary particles to the hum of the earth and the universe. The Drone as an entity that connects everthing that exists within our own "mind-space", perception and self.
Four "Drones" on one record! Volume Four (MIND-04) is OUT NOW (May 2015) and features: KIRILL PLATONKIN / JEREMIE MATHES
ILIOU PERSIS / ROMAN KHARKOVSKY
KIRILL PLATONKIN : emotional power drones of a higher beauty
This artist from Blagoveshchensk (the very east Amur region of Russia) excites with two Guitar-Drone pieces showing a very 'direct' mixing (no fading), revealing a highly energetic, yet completely elevating character...."a free interpretation of a magic flight on some air or space transport" (the artist's description about one of the tracks).
JEREMIE MATHES: cavernous metal tank drones
A drone newcomer from France (who is currently living in Cambodia) with so far three great releases on Mystery Sea / Basses Freq. - using field recordings as a basis... on "Uunartoq Qeqertop", his contribution for MIND-04, we hear raw materials that were collected in an reverberant metal tank, reaching out for "density, emptiness, accumulation, disintegration, evolving with altered collages and processed sound from the original material " [Jeremie Mathes]
ILIOU PERSIS: surrealistic drones inspired by the psychology of masks
"... an enormous amount of power appears to explode from some silent part of my brain and I look at myself behaving more animalistic than an animal, less human than a walking god." [quote from the artist]
A highly interesting musician and anthropologist from Portugal is behind this project who is fascinated with the culturual & psychological implications of MASKS, which can transform the carriers consciousness in a strong way. The long track for MIND-04 is a journey into fascinating subconscious areas transformed into sound.
ROMAN KHARKOVSKY: melancholic nightshade drones
With this pseudonym we welcome the very first artist from South Asia (Pakistan) on Drone Records, who is closing the new Drone-MIND circle with two wonderful melancholic drift & dreamscapes, phantasizing about the nightly atmosphere at the bank of a certain river in the Ukraine..."Roman Kharkovsky is an entity of higher spiritual intelligence that belongs to Kharkov, city of Ukraine, and keeps playing music through the winds of Kharkov to Dnieper river to carpathian mountains and all the way to the black sea." [quote from the artist]
FOUR VINYL COLOURS - each 100 x: TRANSP.GREEN & SOLID YELLOW MIXED // SOLID BLUE & BLACK MIXED // BLUE AND YELLOW MIXED // TRANSP. GREEN & BLACK MIXED
Graphic Design by Tilmann Benninghaus with UV gloss cover using two paintings by PETE GREENING
A limited edition of 400 copies - // listen: soundcloud.com/drone-records
order: www.dronerecords.de
vinyl colours:
Transparent green & solid yellow mixed
SOLID BLUE & BLACK mixed
TRANSPARENT GREEN & BLACK mixed
Blue and Yellow mixed
see here:
www.recordindustry.com/vinyl/colored-vinyl
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2015 |
€15.00 |
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Tincture of Japanoise |
CD |
"While Merzbow plays museums and ‘noise’ becomes increasingly canonised in ‘high culture,’ this compilation proves that the underground, countercultural Japanese noise scene is still very much alive and kicking. Noisician ORiFiCE, who also curates the noise-oriented Rollator Series on the attenuation circuit label, has been a keen follower of Japanoise for many years. For this album, he has assembled a range of younger artists from Japan whose pieces display an exhilarating freshness and showcase the great variety of approaches that is covered by the umbrella term ‘noise.’ The great surrealist/punk collage cover was created by established noisician Government Alpha.
“Frustrante oso polar!”, the opening track by Abisyeikah, clearly establishes noise as anti-music: samples of marching bands and other similarly traditional music are sonically destroyed with distorted guitars and computer-game beeps. Sounds like machinegunning reactionary composers at a game arcade, which is to say: a lot of fun! Zr3a also opens his track “Dr. Strangenoise” with a very famous sample … and goes on to desecrate it thoroughly. A great track with a great deal of humour, just as, thankfully, most of the tracks here are self-consciously playful and indulging the bliss of noise instead of rehashing the by now overly familiar poses of cultural pessimism. “Bean” by Naoki Nomoto has a more abstract take on noise. Its feedback and glitch-type sounds created with an analog synthesizer are faintly reminiscent of more academic electronic music. “LxDxP (Love Dream Peace)” by Ememe goes in another direction with its rhythmic quasi-techno noise, a real headbanger. Elma pays tribute to the classic Japanoise sound as defined by Merzbow with the hissing, harsh “(In)Tolerance?” The next piece makes for one of several interesting contrasts that the album offers thanks to ORiFiCE’s clever sequencing of the tracks: “Grandblue” by Hedoromeruhen gives evidence to the territory shared by noise and (free) jazz while taking the piss out of some softer sides of music along the way. With “Gainful Heart Amen Noiser” by Zpore Zpawn, we launch into the finish of the album, in which samples of classical music collide head on with hectic, energetic harsh noise in overdrive. The final track by Jah Excretion is titled “Sleep Garden” – a programmatic title in so far as this piece gives evidence to the (apparent) paradox that the noisiest music can sometimes be the most meditative and soothing." [label info]
www.attenuationcircuit.de
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2014 |
€8.00 |
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Nostra Signora delle Tenebre |
do-LP |
"There was a time in Italy when movies did not suck. Or at least, when they sucked, they did it in a graciously peculiar way.
Alongside the world-famous auteurs (the Fellinis, the Viscontis, the Bertoluccis), there was a plethora of lesser known, critically unappreciated directors, often mockingly called cinematografari, frantically tackling (and twisting) every kind of movie genre: western, comedy, thriller. For some reason, they excelled especially in their wild, sick take on horror and crime dramas – and music played a big role in these successes.
Classically trained composers like Ennio Morricone and Stelvio Cipriani rubbed shoulders with former pop stars-turned-soundtrackers like Nico Fidenco and Pino Donaggio and together happily immersed themselves in the muddy waters of this cinematic swamp, creating their own distorted versions of the funk, psychedelia and beat rock canons. The aberrant results were then applied like thick make-up to equally mind-boggling, malevolent, highly stylized movies from directors like Dario Argento, Lucio Fulci or schlock uebermeister Joe D’Amato.
For a brief period it worked at the box office too.
“Nostra Signora delle Tenebre” is a tribute to that extraordinary, by-gone era now apparently forgotten in Italy too. It is a tribute to the gloriously adventurous soundtracks of maybe somehow less glorious horror and giallo flicks – movies that anyway retained a decidedly Italian flavour, a bizarre mix of nasty violence, lurid sexuality and feverish Catholic mysticism, all filtered through a manic obsession with death, blood and the sins of the flesh.
At the same time, this album is a way to celebrate a small but thriving national scene, generally labeled under the admittedly lazy banner of “Italian occult psychedelia” and championed by the likes of Simon Reynolds and Julian Cope while at the same time getting growing interest from music magazines, with several features on The Wire, Vice, Fact Magazine, Tiny Mixtapes, Foxy Digitalis etc.
“Nostra Signora delle Tenebre” gathers together almost all the best bands in the scene: groups like Michael Gira’s favourites Father Murphy, Lay Llamas and Mamuthones (now both on Rocket Recordings), Heroin In Tahiti, Cannibal Movie and Jennifer Gentle, probably the best known Italian indie band abroad and whose “A New Astronomy” album is considered a forefather of the genre.
We asked these bands to revive some of our favourite horror and giallo soundtracks from the 60’s and the 70’s. They did it in their own way, and it sounds good.
Limited (FIRST) edition of 500 copies of which 100 copies as special edition available through Backwards only, and 400 on black vinyl (as standard edition).
Second pressing of 500 copies on violet vinyl.
Tracklist:
Heroin In Tahiti “Nuda per Satana” (A. Baldan Bembo)
Lay Llamas “Palude” (L. Michelini)
Second H. Sam “Gli ultimi cannibali” (N. Fidenco)
Lamusa “Tourist trap” (P. Donaggio)
Edible Woman “Magic & Ecstasy” (E. Morricone)
Mai Mai Mai “Sette note in nero” (Bixio – Frizzi – Tempera)
Jennifer Gentle “Chanson de la Nuit” (E. Macchi)
Slumberwood “Toby Dammit” (N. Rota)
Mamuthones “The Thing” (E. Morricone)
Gianni Giublena Rosacroce “Incubo sulla città contaminata” (S. Cipriani)
Beautiful Bunker “L’aldilà” (F. Frizzi)
Cannibal Movie “Sans espoir” (B. Nicolai)
Father Murphy “L’alba dei morti viventi” (Goblin)
OVO “Nuda per Satana” (A. Baldan Bembo)
Maria Celeste “Cento campane” (Fiorentini – Grano)" [label info]
www.backwards.it |
2015 |
€20.00 |
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Phra Rahu |
do-CD |
"A long time coming, we have worked zealously to present this offering to the dark entity known as Rahu. A vast demigod with a strong worldly influence, Rahu's might is perhaps best illustrated in his devouring of the sun, causing the Earth to sit in his dark shadow. We have assembled this dark mantra from material both new and old, creating a deep tribute featuring several of the profile artists of gterma. Massive double album in a jewel case with 16-page booklet." [label info]
gterma.blogspot.de
"Body in Sweden and soul soaring over the Himalayas, the gterma label is a lotus of ambient electronica, blossoming regularly ever since 2011, each album released in a format that does the otherwise tired old jewel case format proud – there´s always a booklet swollen with the breathtaking (mostly landscape) photography of its “tertön“, mr_rehn. As individual as the particular peaky-ness of every mountain peak, each is its own gateway into the mandala of a personal but shareable universe.
Phra Rahu is a sprawling, double disc overview of the label´s feel. There are some stunning exceptions to the usual expectations, perhaps in light (or rather, “in shadow”?) of its dedication to a dark deity and the legendary tale woven about its most devious act. The twelve pieces are almost all previously unreleased, except a trio from other labels; another three were specially created for this anthology.
Rahu is a demigod from Hindu mythology, whose might is such that he once devoured the sun. Each disc is a chapter dedicated to his story, the first entitled “Eclipse Event,” opening the volume with the suitably mood-setting gothic sweep and distant banshee howls of “Premonitions”, the first of two contributions by Last Industrial Estate bookending “The Black Hand Reaches Out” by Parikrama & The Newschubert, in which light bristles and flares against the darkness. That “hand” is otherwise the only human touch to this opus; Phra Rahu is a cosmic event, witnessed only by the windowless monads drifting in space. Space is said to abhor a vacuum, yet especially as we drift toward the close of the first chapter, this music creates an absolutely luscious one.
Due to the monolithic time signature (a full eighty minutes per disc) it becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish where one artist leaves off and the next is ushered in, so one can only take an educated guess when “The Devouring of the Sun” by LiST has drawn to a close and “Tormented Lands” by Seetyca & Etheocles Stevens commences. The rise of a dharma trumpet would seem to signal the beginning of “The Intervention of Lord Vishnu Part I & II” and ceremonial drumming seems to be telegraphing its approaching end, before the breathy, twinkling ambience of Mathias Grassow, credited with the last section, “Mohini the Enchantress”, becomes distinguishable against blackened heavens. Ultimately, attribution is irrelevant and what´s more, a credit to the seamless arrangement of the compiler.
The second chapter, “Rahu Mantras” rolls out like one long, numinous but multivalent drone joining five pieces contributed in turn by A.P. (Anders Peterson, who also masters most gterma productions and appears earlier in the guise of Last Industrial Estate), eco-ambient veteran Mathias Grassow and Jiří Mazánek, Grassow solo, Earth Vibration and New Zealand´s David Parsons. Long airy and beatless, it shimmers like a mirage and pit-a-pats on tiptoe in the middle, after which it opens slowly and magnificently, like the maw of Rahu gaping, sun reemerging, pushed by tablas and solar winds.
Phra Rahu is an awesome, perfectly paced astral journey, anything but meditation music, an instar struggling toward surface and light.
gterma´s discography is an utter pantheon of thoughtfully executed, Subcontinental-inflected ambient, divulged lucidly in word and sound here. A personal favourite is the superior and mystic dub ambient of Urenga (Andras Kiss, who contributes to Phra Rahu as Indo), whose only physical releases among a shoal of digital albums have appeared with the gterma imprint. Mu (The Lost Continent) is pure Shangri-La, while After Rain is humid and kir-coloured." [Cyclic Defrost]
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2014 |
€19.50 |
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DRONE-MIND // MIND-DRONE Vol. 5 |
LP |
DRONE-MIND // MIND DRONE - Volume 5
The series shows the various sides of todays experimental drone-music.
"In an era when so much content is driven by personality, we offer instead the challenge, or the respite, of interacting with sound on its own terms." [CLADE,]
This LP-series from Drone Records is dedicated to the Drones of the World, and the Drones of our Minds. A kind of continuation of the Drone 7"-series, with artwork based on huge paintings by British artist PETE GREENING. Drone Music is seen as more than a mere 'music style', it expresses an approach to perceive and understand the world. DRONE-MIND and MIND-DRONE build a circle of diverse inter-relations. The Drone as a metaphor for everything that vibrates, that releases energy - from atoms and elementary particles to the hum of the earth and the universe. The Drone as an entity that connects everthing that exists within our own "mind-space", perception and self.
Four "Drones" on one record! Volume FIVE (MIND-05) is OUT NOW (Oct. 2016) and features:
GYDJA ҉ CLADE,
MONOCUBE ҉ YRSEL
GYDJA: (New Zealand) Enchanting female drone esoterica by an artist who is also known through her stunning artworks for COLD SPRING and other labels. Through magnetic winds and metallic clouds the long track "Gjallarbru" creates a wonderful secretful and sensitive atmosphere; very lonely and frosty, like a cold and clear consciousness released on a high mountain, on top of the world...
CLADE, (Scotland / USA) Named after a notion taken from biology science (=Monophylum), this duo is based in Scotland and USA, alluring with very focused minimal drones on so far four releases. The two tracks presented here stand out with their use of somehow refractional, fibrous sounds, placed on monotonus drones with a very sedative and insistent effect...
MONOCUBE: (Ukraine) This "ethereal drone" discovery from Ukraine moves musically through endless spaces, creating choral-like aural clouds and strange melodies => self-supporting drones with an incredible width, when even the smallest particles of concrete microsound encountering are exciting, entering into a heavenly "song of the sirens" choir..
YRSEL : (France) Another bi-national project is this French-Swedish collaboration of JULIEN LOUVET (2:13 PM, etc.) and C-J LARSGÅRDEN (ONDO),who released three albums so far. Their track "Krstnhmnbrtncrt" consists of very heavy, swallowing drones with atonal elements coming to the surface, diffus and poisonous but also lulling you into a deep (dead) sleep., slowly drowning in dense humming waves of cryptic drones...
SOLID SILVER COLOURED VINYL, graphic design by ABBY HELASDOTTIR, using two paintings by British painter PETE GREENING (www.redbubble.com/people/petegreening); limited ed. of 400 copies
listen: soundcloud.com/drone-records order: www.dronerecords.de
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2016 |
€15.00 |
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Now it's dark: DAVID LYNCH tribute |
CD |
"Now It's Dark: David Lynch Tribute" is an album made by Russian experimental sound artists dedicated to the famous film director and musician David Lynch, and produced by the kultFRONT label with the support of Zhelezobeton Distribution Division... The idea of a tribute to Lynch first appeared when Sal Solaris recorded the track "With Me" for "The Black Square" compilation (KF-VI, 2006), using samples from the movie "Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me". The digital EP "Lynch" featuring compositions by Tsaraas, DMT and Bardoseneticcube (KF-XVII, 2012) followed several years later but only now the time has come for a full-length album... Eleven projects from the Russian dark underground scene have presented their own visions of the mysterious and meditative atmospheres pervading the works of the American tenebrous genius: Reutoff, Light Collapse, Dvory, Skripp, Wunderblock, Relic Radiation, Kryptogen Rundfunk, Sal Solaris, Arcuation, Povarovo and DMT... Overall sound mastering was done by Arnold_pR (Reutoff). Artwork of the 6-panel digipak features a fragment of the painting "Special Agent Gorgon Cole" by Chris Mars. The edition is limited to two hundred copies.
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2016 |
€13.00 |
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Epicurean Escapism III |
CD & DVD + book |
"Epicurean Escapism III Compilation CD + Dave Phillips “Proceed With Inquiry“ DVD + 24-page catalogue
A manifesto of escapist longing, of taking things to a more extreme level, a quest for a complex contextual message: The third and final edition of the Epicurean Escapism compilation series again unites music, film and visual arts contributed by the most interesting acts in the field of experimental industrial music; exploring the viewpoint of escapism, sharing the vision of uncompromising utopian transgression, diving into this subjective counter-world. Enjoy and endure!
The CD starts with British veteran providers of the extreme, SUTCLIFFE JÜGEND, who present a straight forward power noise track with a pulsating electronic hook. Swedish units ALFARMANIA and SKIN AREA dig deep into the depraved consciousness, each of them with of their unique version of morbid industrial resonating with decay, while BUDRUS seduce the listener with beautifully melancholic Lithuanian poetry; German act GERECHTIGKEITS LIGA clank and rattle with their brand of organic industrial. NIKOLAS SCHRECK, the prominent voice of Radio Werewolf appears as a vaudevillian, with a perverse neo-psychedelic composition conveying allusions to the deity Lord Sutekh, merging European neoclassical with ethnic Indian music and poetry with an unmistakable Radio Werewolf accent. A very special treat also comes from LAST DOMINION LOST – one of the last recordings of John Murphy on drums can be heard on their ritual piece “To The Master, A Long Goodnight” dedicated to the master himself.
The contained DVD comprises video works, live performances and collaborations by radical Swiss sound artist DAVE PHILLIPS, sonically active since 1987, part of the notorious SCHIMPFLUCH GRUPPE (with Rudolf Eb.er, Joke Lanz) since 1991, having left his signature in numerous bands, projects and collaborations.
DAVE PHILLIPS uses sound as a means to activate primordial emotions otherwise hidden underneath the debris of civilization. His concept is called “Humanimalism” accordingly, meaning a state of mind that overcomes religious, material und supremacist charges of evolution, acknowledges itself as part of a whole and has grown into an empathic, conscious and connected creature allowing emotion and instinct their equal part in decision-making.
This collection presents his multifaceted work in composition, performance, psycho-acoustics, sonic rituals, voice, video, field recordings, objects and electronics, etc. in a yet unknown complexity and coherence of motion pictures. His performance work is revealed in all its undiluted brutality, the urgency and topicality of his work and his message is clearly evident, captivating and intensely documented.
Along with DAVE PHILLIPS’ video works created between 2014 and 2016, the DVD is a document of unique solo live actions and the notorious Paris 1996 performance of SCHIMPFLUCH-GRUPPE, as well as recent collaborations with G.X. JUPITTER LARSEN, and video artists PAKISE AKIN, JAN VAN HASSELT and REMOTE-CONTROL RECTUM, who in turn created their visual interpretations of PHILLIPS' audio works. It all amounts to a mind-expanding experience, playing with altered perception and throwing back the viewer onto his own vision.
The compilation package is topped off with a 24-page catalogue with a text about the work of DAVE PHILLIPS, as well as a double page each with collages, pictures, drawings and lyrics representing the audio work of every artist featured on the CD."
www.silkentofu.org
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2016 |
€22.00 |
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Musique Concrete |
LP |
This record represents an important milestone in the development and progression of musique concrète – marking a crossroad for not only the genre itself but also in the paths of its originator Pierre Schaeffer and another of the genre’s most important and respected protagonists Pierre Henry.
Undoubtedly one of the most influential experimental and electroacoustic musicians, Pierre Schaeffer is also credited as being the father of the theory of musique concrete as well as later name coining the term itself. Having found a job in 1936 at Radiodiffusion Française (later Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française or RTF) as an engineer, Scaeffer developed a newly found interest in music and with the blessing of his superiors made the most of his access to the Radiodiffusion Française studios, utilising his abilities as an engineer to experiment with sound whilst collaborating with musicians and composers that passed through the station’s hallowed doors. In 1942 Schaeffer and influential theatre director, producer and actor Jacques Copeau founded the Studio d’Essai (renamed Club d’Essai in 1946) as part of RTF in order to experiment with radiophonic techniques. Drawing on the works of French filmmaker, critic and novelist Jean Epstein, Schaeffer would occupy his time and his mind with the manner in which sound recordings “revealed what was hidden in the act of basic acoustic listening” and in 1948 formally set about his research in ernest – the results of which were presented as a series of studies known as Cinq études de bruits (Five Studies of Noises) during a concert in Paris.
With word of his theories and experiments spreading, Schaeffer was able to press the RTF management to further finance and in doing so expand his research. However, for an undertaking of this size he would need help. Having previously collaborated as part of his early research with a young classically trained composer by the name of Pierre Henry, Schaeffer had no problem convincing the RTF executives he was the right man of the job. By adding a third prong to this sonic fork in the shape of sound engineer Jacques Poullin, Schaeffer was able to complete a powerhouse, which he renamed the Groupe de Musique Concrete, that would push his experiments further than he could have imagined. In1951, RTF handed the trio the keys to one of the earliest purpose-build electroacoustic studios (the other being the WDR Studio in Germany), furnishing it with state of the art bespoke equipment such as a Morphophone (designed by Poullin himself and capable of tape loop-delay) and a Phonogène (a multi-headed tape instrument also designed by Poullin). The studio went from strength to strength, attracting composers such as Karlheinz Stockhausen and Edgard Varèse to collaborate, and in that same year Schaeffer and Henry produced and premiered what is considered to be the first opera concrète, Orphèe 51.
As Schaeffer’s notoriety grew as did demand for his time and he found himself increasingly called away from the studio during which time he would hand the keys to over to his colleagues. Pierre Henry wasted no time in pursuing projects closer to his own heart, working with experimental filmmakers and choreographers like Maurice Béjart (the two would later collaborate with Michel Colombier on the cult classic Les Jerks Électroniques De La Messe Pour Le Temps Présent Et Musiques Concrètes Pour Maurice Béjart). In 1957, following a particularly prolonged absence on RTF duties, Schaeffer returned unhappy with the direction the group had taken and tabled an idea to revitalise both their approach as well as personnel. As a result, Henry and several other key members left the group the following year leaving Schaeffer to lay the foundations in 1958 for a new collective called Groupe de Recherches Musicales – one of a number of theoretical and experimental groups overseen by Saeffer’s Service de la Reserche at RTF – and set about recruiting new members including Iannis Xenakis, Henri Sauguet, Luc Ferrari and Michel Philippot as well as usher in a new steady stream of eager musicians eager to study within what had rapidly become (and still is) a national institution – including a young Jean Michel Jarre!
Featuring the full versions of these seminal early works (abridged versions of which had previously appeared across two 7” singles on Disques BAM) the recordings presented here are the first fruits of this new alliance and served to lay the bedrock for the future of the Groupe de Recherches Musicales research which would later count the likes of Ivo Malec, Philippe Carson, Romuald Vandelle, Edgardo Canton and François Bayle (who went on to coin the term Acousmatic Music) amongst its members and cement its place in the annals of experimental, electroacoustic and early electronic music history.
www.finderskeepersrecords.com |
2016 |
€21.00 |
|
|
A Taste of MOLOKO PLUS / 1996-2016 |
do-CD |
A TASTE OF MOLOKO PLUS (1996-2016)
Format: 2 CD, Digipak, Download
Country: Germany
Released: 02.09.16
Genre: Alternativ Rock, Electronic
Style: Ambient, Industrial, Experimental, Drum & Bass, Dub, Rock & Roll, Plunderphonics, Darkwave, Cut Up etc.
Compiled by Rex Joswig
Artwork by Robert Schalinski
00 CD 1
01 Happy Anniversary
00 by The Excellent Listener 01:52
02 The Silencer
00 by The Hidden Sea 04:38
03 / 09 / 13 Take 1 / 2 / 4
00 by Jürgen Ploog 00:37 / 01:27 / 01:09
04 100° In The Shade
00 by The Fatal Shore 04:55
05 Sehn=Sucht
00 by Herbst In Peking 06:59
06 Backbone Break
00 by R. Stevie Moore 00:50
07 Baby, Scratch My Back
00 by R. Stevie Moore 03:05
08 Dan The Man From Ampellang
00 by Dim Locator 04:42
10 Resurrection Day
00 by Phil Shoenfelt 04:07
11 Imagine This
00 by Krohn Jestram Lippok 02:54
12 Immer Wenn Es Regnet
00 by Herbst In Peking 04:54
14 Drowning Fool
00 by The Hidden Sea 06:28
15 Wild Is The Wind
00 by The Fatal Shore 04:27
16 Time Bells
00 by Project Skull 04:46
17 Pee. Bee. Woman
00 by Badphish 06:51
18 Moos & Berge
00 by Britannia Theatre 08:13
19 Dunkler Shanty
00 by Herbst In Peking 03:11
20 Some Sunny Day
00 by The Excellent Listener 03:17
00 CD 2
01 Sadelectricity
00 by Mimetic 03:27
02 East 17 (dad version)
00 by Column One 06:27
03 Loop
00 by Medusa 04:48
04 / 16 Half Life / Storm Troopers
00 by De Fabriek 00:39 / 00:42
05 Warm Leatherette
00 by Machine de Beauvoir 03:06
06 / 19 Take 8 / Take 9
00 by Jürgen Ploog 00:50 / 01:12
07 Rydike
00 by Marc Wannabe 04:15
08 On The Road
00 by Gerome Nox 05:51
09 Quantum Insert
00 by Alfred 23 Harth & Wolfgang Seidel 03:32
10 1867
00 by Delphium 02:59
11 Douce Vie (Mimetic rmx)
00 by Herbst In Peking 05:02
12 Future
00 by Shroom & Al.x 04:43
13 Words
00 by The Excellent Listener 00:56
14 My True I
00 by The Same 05:43
15 The Right To Doubt It (edit)
00 by Column One 04:44
17 Am Abhang
00 by The Same 04:49
18 Pathology Cut
00 by Project Skull 01:15
20 Es Gibt Keine Freiheit
00 by Herbst In Peking 09:47
21 Auf Matrosen
00 by Automatic Noir 03:53
www.molokoplusrecords.de
|
2016 |
€15.00 |
|
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'... that first Season' - A Winter-Light Compilation |
do-CD |
We invited 16 specific artists from all corners of the globe to contribute exclusive tracks for “…that first season”. Many of the artists are favourite listens of ours, as well as the addition of one or two new and interesting ones. The resulting compilation of tracks offers the listener a unique perspective from each artist based upon the one common theme - the winter light.
It was always an interesting idea to us to see how this theme would play out from different parts of the world, across both hemispheres and on different continents, with different styles of ambient and artistic approaches. All of the submitted tracks have been included on this double compilation and our expectations have been exceeded with the quality, the variety of rich sounds and depth of the music. Spanning across two discs, Heavy Snow and Long Shadows, Winter-Light and the participating artists are pleased to offer over 140 minutes of exclusive music, brought together for the first time on this, our first compilation.
The artwork has been produced by Midnight Sun Studio and all tracks have been mastered by Simon Heath. All music recorded in 2016.
We would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to everybody who has contributed to making this release possible. Dedicated to our Ezzy.
The DCD comes in a 8-panel full colour digi-pack and is also available as a digital download. Strictly limited to 500 copies.
CD1: Heavy Snow
1.1 Seetyca - The Stars
1.2 Gydja - Krapadrífa ok snáka sótt
1.3 Phantom Ship - Entanglement (version)
1.4 Foetusdreams - Ignis Fatuum
1.5 Nexus Sun - Estive
1.6 ABBILDUNG - Om Ter Om
1.7 Charadriiform & Filivs Macrocosmi - Drifting Stations
1.8 VelgeNaturlig - Golden
1.9 Rapoon - Tal-Gel Isolde
CD2: Long Shadows
2.1 Jeff Stonehouse
2.2 Havdis - Borea
2.3 Apocryphos - Sesam In Winter Lights
2.4 Strom Noir - Not Everything Dies
2.5 Kloob - A Special Glow
2.6 Michael Brückner & Mathias Grassow - ,,The Fall Of Leaves''
2.7 Hakobune - Shimoyo
www.winter-light.nl
"Apart from the high quality of the music itself, this compilation is very special for at least two different reasons. One, the cohesive character of the whole thing which sounds, well, maybe not as if it has been composed by a single artist, but rather as a group of musicians from various parts of the world, gathered under one idea, understood 100% by each and every one of them. And two, the diversity of the projects presenting different approaches within the ambient framework. Where else would you find purely dark ambient outputs like Abbildung or Apocryphos going hand in hand with Hakobune or Strom Noir, which are not affiliated with the dark scene, plus the emotional drone masters like Havdis and Mathias Grassow on top of that.
Most of them have been present on Santa Sangre with their full albums in the past. I don’t know if there’s a point in detailed descriptions of the tracks one by one, because here it’s all about nuances; nuances that sometimes are more significant, sometimes less, sometimes are very tiny, but it is they which make each project unique. Let’s try to point out these nuances then – just bear in mind that the atmospheric basis is the same for all of them. Organic drones by Seetyca that make you feel like you’re deep under water, warm microglitches and delicate synths by Gydja that make me like this composition more than her darker or more ritual offerings. Vast cosmic howls by Phantom Ship, that don’t have the most original feeling in the world, but they swallow your body and soul and take you straight into the void. The monolithic blackness of Foetusdreams which reminds me of the familiar monument from ‘2001: Space Odyssey’ hovering over the surface of the moon. The gloomy majesty of Nexus Sun which is reminiscent of the image of mountain summits touching the grey sky. The disturbing field recordings and dense bass backgrounds by Abbildung, sounding like a perfect aural illustration of the “Hell” segment of “The Garden of Earthly Delights” by Hieronymus Bosch. Slow synth melodies and surreal samples from some Russian radio broadcast by Charadriiform & Filivs Macrocosmi, which are like lost signals and transmissions floating over the Siberian nowhere. Semiacoustic solace by Velge Naturlig that reminds you that there’s a day after each night, and the sun will always appear after the harshest snowstorm. The Middle Eastern mystery of Rapoon which in five minutes tells the story of the thousands of uneasy years of that region.
This is how “Heavy Snow”, the first half of this double CD ends, while the second half, entitled “Long Shadows”, begins with Jeff Stonehouse who has something in common with Seetyca: organic, influenced by the sea, though less dark. And even more minimal. After that, the sad beauty of ‘Arctic Nature’ by Havdis, who is probably the most underappreciated ambient artist on this planet. The longest and most beautiful piece on “…That First Season”. Apocryphos comes from the USA, but continues in the path taken by Havdis in the preceding track. The artist’s emotional, slowly forming melodies keep you frozen and in awe. Trance guitar drones by Strom Noir make me long for Autumn. Spatious and windy textures with subtle oldschool synth sequences by Kloob may recall some of Atomine Elektrine’s works. Combining ethereal drones with classic, space (quite Schulze-esque) electronica by Michael Brückner & Mathias Grassow prove that Mathias is simply the best in this spiritual ambient business, and that inviting his more Berlin school-oriented colleague to collaborate on this track wasn’t a misguided idea at all. Calming serenity by Hakobune, which makes “Shimoyo” an accurate ending of this almost two-and-a-half-hour long compilation.
Nature, sadness, the interchange of seasons and weather conditions: this is why I like ambient music the most, and this is what I get here in excess. Surely one of the best compilations released over the past few years. And I consider it as a crowning of the first cycle of the Winter Light label’s activity. Why am I sure that only great things are to come from the Netherlands?" [Stark/Santa Sangre]
|
2017 |
€16.00 |
|
|
Fluxus Anthology : A Collection of Music and Sound |
LP |
Walter Marchetti, Juan Hidalgo, La Monte Young, Ben Vautier, Wolf Vostell, Milan Knižák, Robert Filliou, Alison Knowles, Emmett Williams, John Cage, Joseph Beuys, Yoko Ono, Dick Higgins, Philip Corner, Eric Andersen, Robert Watts, Nam June Paik, Ken Friedman
In collaboration with Maurizio Nannucci.
The Fluxus was a collaborative movement of artists that worked across the diverse artistic media of performance, music, dance, poetry, photography, architecture, painting, sculpture and film during the 1960s. Emerging in New York City and spreading to Europe and Japan, Fluxus was lead by recognised artists such as George Maciunas, Yoko Ono, Joseph Beuys, Nam June Paik, La Monte Young and John Cage. Fluxus Anthology is a collection of soundworks created by these visionary artists.
Side A
Walter Marchetti – Per La Sete Dell’Orecchio (Excerpt) 2:13
Juan Hidalgo – Tamaran (Excerpt) 3:50
La Monte Young – Dream House (Excerpt) 3:45
Ben Vautier – Some Ideas For Fluxus 1:23
Wolf Vostell – Elektronischer Dècoll/age. Happening Raum 3:00
Milan Knižák – Broken Music Composition 3:26
Robert Filliou – Imitating The Sound Of The Birds 0:55
Alison Knowles – Natural Assemblage. Le Vrai Corbeau 5:05
Emmett Williams – Duet 1:50
Side B
John Cage – Radio Music 4:32
Joseph Beuys – Sonne Stat Reagan 3:33
Yoko Ono – Toilette Piece 0:30
Dick Higgins – B.B. Finally Dreams About Life, B.B.’s, You Play It 1:35
Philip Corner – Car Passing At Night, Country Road In Maine 1:05
Eric Andersen – Untactis Of Music 2:32
Robert Watts – Interview 1:25
Nam June Paik – My Jubilee Ist Unverhemmet 5:15
Ken Friedman – Orchestra Requiem Variations 3:00
www.songcyclerecords.com
|
2017 |
€28.00 |
|
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NEW SONGS OF THE HUMPBACK WHALE |
CD |
New Songs of the Humpback Whale is a comprehensive investigation into the form and meaning of whale song with graphic visualizations from infographic designer Michael Deal. Liner notes and song selection by artist, scientist, author, and philosopher David Rothenberg. What album was so important that ten million copies of it needed to be pressed at once? Songs of the Humpback Whale, which National Geographic included with every copy of its January 1979 issue, distributed in 25 languages. No human pop star has ever received such magnanimous treatment, so what is it that is so special about the song of the humpback whale? Well, for one, humans knew nothing of this fabulous sound until the US Navy released its classified recordings at the end of the 1960s, at the very moment the world was most poised to listen to the unknown, the psychedelic, and the trippiest of sounds. Humpback whale song fit the bill perfectly. From high wails to deep growls to rhythmic scratches to tearful moans, it encompasses the full range of emotions in the longest song performed by any animal, a tune that can go on for nearly 24 hours at a time. The stereotypical long moan of whale song is only one note in a complex composition, with distinct phrases, repetition, structure, organization, shape, and form akin to many kinds of human music. This is no random outburst of cries and whispers, but a song with power, verve, identity, and design. New Songs of the Humpback Whale aims to gather the best recordings since 1990 by scientists and whale-listeners the globe over, offering a chance to assess what has happened to whale song since 1979. Infographic designer Michael Deal has designed colorful glyphs based on sonograms familiar to sound scientists, making the structure of this grand underwater music easier to understand than ever before. Though humpback whale song did not evolve for humans to appreciate, it may be no accident that humans do. Upon hearing the great song for the first time, whale scientist Roger Payne said he heard the size of the ocean, "as if I had walked into a dark cave to hear wave after wave of echoes cascading back from the darkness beyond ... That's what whales do, give the ocean its voice." Includes recordings by made by Salvatore Cerchio near Madagascar in 1990, Olivier Adam near Madagascar in 2007, Glenn Edney near Tonga in 2008, and David Rothenberg near Maui in 2007 and 2010.
Track Listing:
Disc 1
01. Madagascar Whale One (recorded by Salvatore Cerchio, 1990) 10:08 listen
02. Madagascar Whale Two (recorded by Olivier Adam, 2007) 10:28 listen
03. Tonga Whales (recorded by Glenn Edney, 2008) 09:45 listen
04. Maui Whale One (recorded by David Rothenberg, 2007) 11:40 listen
05. Maui Whale Two (recorded by David Rothenberg, 2010) 08:01 listen
06. Madagascar Whale Lower, Faster (recorded by Olivier Adam, 2007) 05:11 listen
- Recordings of humpback whale song from 1990-2010, with graphic visualizations from infographic designer Michael Deal.
- From high wails to deep growls to rhythmic scratches to tearful moans, humpback whale song encompasses the full range of emotions in the longest song performed by any animal (up to nearly 24 hours long); the stereotypical long moan of whale song is only one note in a complex composition, with distinct phrases, repetition, structure, organization, shape, and form akin to many kinds of human music.
- A follow-up of sorts to National Geographic's Songs of the Humpback Whale, which it pressed in an edition of ten million and included with every copy of its January 1979 issue, distributed in 25 languages.
- Liner notes and song selection by artist, scientist, author, and philosopher David Rothenberg.
www.importantrecords.com
|
2015 |
€15.00 |
|
|
DRONE-MIND // MIND-DRONE Vol. 6 : NAM-KHAR, FOR KINGS AND QUEENS, MARKIAN VOLKOV, KEVIN DURR |
LP |
Four "Drones" on one record! Volume SIX (MIND-06) is OUT NOW (Nov. 2017) and features:
NAM-KHAR ҉ MARKIAN VOLKOV
FOR KINGS AND QUEENS ҉ KEVIN DURR
NAM-KHAR: (Germany): A German collective being influenced by Tibetan philosophy, working in the 'old school' way using analogue electronics and original instruments from the Far East, for the first time on vinyl. The two conjoined tracks consist of dense analogue expanses that wave and move minimally, sparse metallic object sounds and wheezing winds, plus delicate percussion. Very best ethno ambient drone!
MARKIAN VOLKOV (Italy): This completely anonymous project from Italy excites with hypno-percussive, tribalesque and droning ritual industrial, repetitive structures and samples immersing into echoes and electronic noises with great effect. The two tracks presented share a most captivating tension and power.
FOR KINGS AND QUEENS (Germany): After some very promising self-released CD-R's the long track 'Grenzland' (borderland) is the first vinyl appearance for this Berlin-based project [a couple with a professional opera singer], - a deeply surrealistic soundscape with layers of high-pitched sinus tone drones and waves, unreal female voices appear and slowly metallic drones burst in and whirring shortwave radio sounds.
Welcome to the borderlands of reality...
KEVIN DURR: (USA): Field recordings of water (streams, rain and environment) and vocal whispers seem to be the only sound sources for two highly suggestive, almost caressing nature drone pieces, transformed through clever processing. KEVIN DURR hails originally from Alaska and has been active in various musical project and genres before, before he started the 'water drone' project with a series of of tracks using especialy water sounds combined with binaural recordings techniques and ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) = two most subtle and fascinating acoustic landscapes.
Amazing cover-art by TILMANN BENNINGHAUS with true 3D effect (using extra golden pantone colour), comes on BLUE-VIOLET TRANSPARENT VINYL, as usual two existent paintings by British artist PETE GREENING have been used (www.redbubble.com/people/petegreening); lim. 400 copies.
listen: soundcloud.com/drone-records
www.dronerecords.de
artworkers:
www.redbubble.com/people/petegreening
www.benninghaus.org
artists:
www.facebook.com/Nam-khar-115680475169685/
https://soundcloud.com/arkianolkov
https://forkingsandqueens.bandcamp.com
https://soundcloud.com/evinurr-ieldecordings
|
2017 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Your Reality is broken |
LP |
A compilation of covers, reinterpretations and/or transformations of Contrastate tracks in celebration of their 30th anniversary. The inivitation to participate was limited to a select few artists who have over the years, in some shape or form, worked with Contrastate. Track A1: Recorded in 2016. The original piece "The People Who Read The Books" was from 1997 concerts in Erlangen, Muenster and Nevers. Track A2: Recorded in 2016 Track A3: Recorded in March 2017. Sound sources: "As Time Began", "Thirst For Knowledge", "A Thousand Badgers In Labour" and a self played cover version of "An End marked By Pessimism". Track B1: Recorded in 2017. The track originates from the album "A Breeding Ground For Flies". Track B2: Recorded in 2017. Sound sources: English Embers/In Absentia - plus original material Track B3: Recorded in 2017. Includes a printed inner-sleeve. Front cover artwork: "Das Tier ist tod" Back cover artwork: "Perinatale Grundmatrix I" Insert artwork: "Tre uomini sulla croce"
Tracklist Hide Credits A1 –Contrastate The Peolple Who Control The Information Recorded By – Contrastate 5:00
A2 –RLW Goodbye Great Nation 2016 Recorded By – RLW 7:31
A3 –Troum An End Marked, As Time Began Recorded By – Troum 6:21
B1 –Genocide Organ / Contrastate Son Of Sam Recorded By – Genocide Organ 5:46
B2 –Band Of Pain Re-establishing Beams (#9) Recorded By – Steve Pittis 6:09
B3 –État D'Urgence (2) Assassinate En Arrière-Plan Recorded By – État D'Urgence (2) 5:24
"Ever since their inception in the late 1980s, this UK project has simultaneously dabbled both in the worlds of musique concret and harsh electronics; two styles that are undeniably similar but have very few in the way of crossover artists, all with a distinct sense of irreverence. Active again after a lengthy hiatus in the early part of the 21st century, Your Reality is Broken is another piece of work that successfully blurs unnecessary lines; in this case if it is a tribute album to them, a remix collection, or a compilation of collaborations. In truth, it is all of these things at once, and it is excellent.
There are only five artists who were invited to participate in this release, each providing one piece that is either a reworking of Contrastate material, a collaboration with them, or in the case of the opening piece, Contrastate covering themselves. The remainder of Your Reality is Broken are artists that also work between those two aforementioned stylistic poles: RLW, Troum, Genocide Organ, Band of Pain, and État D'Urgence.
Contrastate’s self-reflexive contribution, "The People Who Control the Information," is built upon a different piece that was previously only performed live in 1997, "The People Who Read the Books." In its opening moments it is largely a spoken word performance, with ringing electronics filling the otherwise wide open spaces around the vocals. Sharp, grinding electronics tear through and hints of rhythm appear, which eventually solidify into an almost reggae like beat. By the time it all comes together, it is a bizarre combination of noisy electronics, spoken word, and dancehall beats; a strange combination no doubt, but also one that works very well.
Troum's "An End Marked, as Time Began" is constructed by the legendary drone act from three existing Contrastate works plus their own cover of "An End Marked By Pessimism." Besides the aforementioned song, this is pretty much the other most musical piece here. Troum blend the existing recordings into a sustained wall of cavernous sound, making for a murky and somewhat oppressive sonic feel. With snatches of voice peppered throughout and swirling strings later introduced, it comes together in a surprisingly melodic and classical-tinged form.
"Son of Sam" is a reworking of the same titled composition from the band's 2012 A Breeding Ground for Flies album that is credited to both Genocide Organ and Contrastate on the sleeve, so I am not sure if it is a collaboration or a reworking, but it is distinctly GO in sound. This is the modern day form of the legendary band, which is less about intentionally lo-fi noise and more atmospherically bleak. The treated and flanged vocals are of course there, as is the droning, abrasive Korg MS-10 synth, but the whole piece is very clean and well refined, more depressive than aggressive. Steve Pittis' Band of Pain uses material from English Embers and In Absentia to build "Re-establishing Beams (#9)": a mélange of echoing thuds and jarring, drill-like electronics that are at first right in line with old school noise sensibilities but eventually goes in to more restrained, subtle places.
Ralf Wehowsky (as RLW) and État D’Urgence each supply the more disturbing, discomforting tributes on this record. The former's "Goodbye Great Nation 2016" is a pairing of churning sub bass and piercing high frequencies that, while somewhat minimal at first, convey a splendidly sinister mood. Fragments of voice and chimes are weaved in, and with the random voices and mangled piano, it is an entirely disorienting and uncomfortable sounding composition. The latter’s "Assassinate En Arrière-Plan" is another where vocals are up front and demonically processed, making for the most sinister and horror-esque moments of this record.
Your Reality is Broken is a bit of an odd compilation, but one that is undoubtedly Contrastate, and the artists selected all reflect this idiosyncratic approach just as well. All of the artists contribute excellent reworkings or inspired pieces, but I also appreciate the classic compilation feel to the record. The mix of artists, the presentation, the style, it all reminded me of classic albums like the Rising from the Red Sands series or albums put out by RRRecords a few decades ago. It simply hits all the right buttons from beginning to end." [Creaig Dunton / Brainwashed]
|
2017 |
€20.00 |
|
|
Metaphors: Selected Soundworks from the Cinema of APICHATPONG WEERASETHAKUL |
do-LP |
"Apichatpong Weerasethakul is recognised as one of the most original voices in contemporary cinema today. His seven feature films, short films and installations have won him widespread international recognition and numerous awards, including the Cannes Palme d'Or in 2010 with Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives. Compilation album 'Metaphors' contains 14 soundworks carefully selected from his past cinema and other visual works since 2003, which includes Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, Syndromes and a Century, Fever Room and more.
Apichatpong Weerasethakul has regularly worked with the same sound designers since 2003 and has always given importance to the personality of on-location sounds giving his films a sense of continuity. In post-production, he's fascinated by the manipulation of these 'live' sounds in order to express 'reality'. This reality doesn't necessary represent the actual sound of the places, but more a representation of the world in layered memories. Similar to the way he treats images, Apichatpong sometimes calls attention to the physicality and the fragility of the audio (and its apparatus) and to the process of audio manipulation itself.
In his cinema, Apichatpong prefers natural sound sources over music. Nevertheless, he often boldly incorporates popular songs that were persistent during the shooting. He doesn't shy away from using tunes that relate to his own personal memories. In this sense, Apichatpong values the spirit of authenticity much more than rigid manipulation of audio and weaves a complex and dreamlike soundscape in his cinematic repertoire.
Born in Bangkok, Apichatpong grew up in Khon Kaen in north-eastern Thailand. He began making films and video shorts in 1994 and completed his first feature in 2000. He has also mounted exhibitions and installations in many countries since 1998 and is now recognised as a major international visual artist. His art prizes include the Sharjah Biennial Prize (2013) and the prestigious Prince Claus Award (2016), the Netherlands. Lyrical and often fascinatingly mysterious, his film works are non-linear, dealing with memory and in subtle ways invoking personal politics and social issues.
www.subrosa.net
|
2017 |
€20.00 |
|
|
Metaphors: Selected Soundworks from the Cinema of APICHATPONG WEERASETHAKUL |
CD |
"Apichatpong Weerasethakul is recognised as one of the most original voices in contemporary cinema today. His seven feature films, short films and installations have won him widespread international recognition and numerous awards, including the Cannes Palme d'Or in 2010 with Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives. Compilation album 'Metaphors' contains 14 soundworks carefully selected from his past cinema and other visual works since 2003, which includes Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, Syndromes and a Century, Fever Room and more.
Apichatpong Weerasethakul has regularly worked with the same sound designers since 2003 and has always given importance to the personality of on-location sounds giving his films a sense of continuity. In post-production, he's fascinated by the manipulation of these 'live' sounds in order to express 'reality'. This reality doesn't necessary represent the actual sound of the places, but more a representation of the world in layered memories. Similar to the way he treats images, Apichatpong sometimes calls attention to the physicality and the fragility of the audio (and its apparatus) and to the process of audio manipulation itself.
In his cinema, Apichatpong prefers natural sound sources over music. Nevertheless, he often boldly incorporates popular songs that were persistent during the shooting. He doesn't shy away from using tunes that relate to his own personal memories. In this sense, Apichatpong values the spirit of authenticity much more than rigid manipulation of audio and weaves a complex and dreamlike soundscape in his cinematic repertoire.
Born in Bangkok, Apichatpong grew up in Khon Kaen in north-eastern Thailand. He began making films and video shorts in 1994 and completed his first feature in 2000. He has also mounted exhibitions and installations in many countries since 1998 and is now recognised as a major international visual artist. His art prizes include the Sharjah Biennial Prize (2013) and the prestigious Prince Claus Award (2016), the Netherlands. Lyrical and often fascinatingly mysterious, his film works are non-linear, dealing with memory and in subtle ways invoking personal politics and social issues.
www.subrosa.net
|
2017 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Ich glaube ich höre Genesungswerk |
CD |
"This very nice (and nicely packed) compilation is a selection of 14 exclusive tracks, new or previously unreleased from the Genesungswerk label and their allies out of Germany, Dortmund. In addition, there is a cut-up version of the entire CD by Segment, available for download at www.genesungswerk.de/compilation. Unconventionalism is the connection here between the diversity of styles, described as 'Weird noises, nice melodies, obscure data snippets...' by Genesungswerk themselves. Most of the artists have contributed calm and moody electronic music, some a little more dub influenced ([multer], krill.minima, Basalt or Konrad Bayer) while others have a more soundtrack-ish approach, like Kallabris, Teamforest, Syncliar, Resonator and N (the guitarist from multer who submits a guitar-only piece far removed from recognizable guitar sounds). The opening and finishing Tracks by Pale Asle Petterson and P. Myles Bryson are fine examples in a more experimental vein, while the contributions from Segment (the label head himself), Franco Baresi and Karten Frankreich consist of a few deranged Dada Pop tunes. All of which are very suitable sounds for late night listening." [Carsten S./Brainwashed]
www.genesungswerk.de
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2002 |
€8.00 |
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DRONE-MIND // MIND-DRONE Vol. 7: OPENING PERFORMANCE ORCHESTRA, MYTRIP, SKELDOS, SPECIMENS |
LP & CD |
...finally a new issue in our "drone-explorers" LP-series, for the first time with full bonus CD!
Featuring: SKELDOS (the new drone-melancholia phenomenon from Lithuania), OPENING PERFORMANCE ORCHESTRA (Prague - incredible dense and tight drone waves with scientific approach - full length/different version of their piece on the bonus CD), enchanting guitar/field recording drones from London based SPECIMENS, and MYTRIP from Bulgaria continues his mission to create timeless expanses of pulsing, spectral synth drones..
DRONE-MIND // MIND-DRONE - Volume 7 LP + CD
The series shows the various sides of todays experimental drone-music.
This LP-series from Drone Records is dedicated to the Drones of the World, and the Drones of our Minds.
A kind of continuation of the Drone 7"-series, with artwork based on paintings by British artist PETE GREENING.
Drone Music is seen as more than a mere 'music style', it expresses an approach to perceive and understand the world. DRONE-MIND and MIND-DRONE build a circle of diverse inter-relations. The Drone as a metaphor for everything that vibrates, that releases energy - from atoms and elementary particles to the hum of the earth and the universe. The Drone as an entity that connects everthing that exists within our own "mind-space", perception and self.
Four "Drones" on one record! Volume SEVEN (MIND-07), for the first time with full bonus CD, is OUT NOW (05/2019) feat.:
SPECIMENS ҉ SKELDOS ҉ MYTRIP
OPENING PERFORMANCE ORCHESTRA
Behind SPECIMENS we find the London based ambient/drone artist Alex Ives. His productions pull together delicately arranged but often highly driven cassette loops, synth layers and field recordings as well as often employing wider instrumentation such as organ drones, guitar swells & saxophone hidden beneath the noise. Two excellent LPs have been released so far on his own label First Terrace Records and SVS Records.
Alex Ives also co-hosts a monthly experimental radio show on Resonance Extra.
For MIND-07 we present three shorter SPECIMENS pieces: these raw, somehow perforated drones with lots of atmospheric noise remind on PETER WRIGHT or early TIM HECKER, creating a truly absorbing mood.
SKELDOS: This "drone-melancholia" phenomenon (active since 2011) doing "abstract, longing, flowing soundscapes with tender touch of a distant melody" from Lithuania breathed out one long track that befogs everything in sadnesss and emotion, built on waving sounds from accordeon, voice and other instrumental sources, slowly unfolding into multiple layers. The title of the track "Byra" means 'falling' or 'crumbling' and is encrypted through this fragmented sentence: "...or listening to the things you have barely touched falling... (sls.III)", coming from a never-ending sentence which was started with the first SKELDOS album.
MYTRIP from Bulgaria has been characterized by Tiny Mix Tapes with the phrase "ambient music as a weapon" and is surely standing at the forefront of the vivid electronic/ambient/drone scene there, active since about 10 years with the AMEK label. Two tracks of swirling and pulsing spectral synth drones show the newest development of the project, founded on "more melody-driven and textural soundscapes, where blurry rhythmic patterns meet with organic field recordings, found sounds and deconstructed instrumentation."
OPENING PERFORMANCE ORCHESTRA: Something very special is also the last act on MIND-07, O.P.O. from Prague, with a 12min. 'especially mastered for vinyl'-version of 'Creeping Waves', the FULL version (70 min.) of this piece is placed on the bonus CD. An incredible dense and steadily fluctuating drone expansion, based on the Creeping Wave theory, applied to acoustic phenomena: "According to the principle of diffraction, when a wave front passes an obstruction, it spreads out into the shadowed space. A creeping wave in electromagnetism or acoustics is the wave that is diffracted around the shadowed surface of a smooth body such as a sphere. Creeping waves greatly extend the ground wave propagation of long wavelength (low frequency) radio. They also cause both of a person's ears to hear a sound, rather than only the ear on the side of the head facing the origin of the sound. In radar ranging, the creeping wave return appears to come from behind the target."
cover-art by TILMANN BENNINGHAUS using two paintings by British artist PETE GREENING
Edition of 400 copies on TURQUOISE coloured VINYL. Mastering by PETER ANDERSSON
listen: soundcloud.com/drone-records order: www.dronerecords.de
Title: DRONE-MIND//MIND-DRONE Vol. 7
Track title Track time
Track 1 SPECIMENS - Broken Beams 5:16
Track 2 SPECIMENS - First Flight 3:58
Track 3 SPECIMENS - Over the Great Island 3:35
Track 4 SKELDOS - Byra 10:42
______________________________________________________________
Side B
Track title Track time
Track 1 MYTRIP - Death is my Heaven 4:24
Track 2 MYTRIP - I stood still 6:59
Track 3 OPENING PERFORMANCE ORCH. - Creeping Waves III 12:00
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2019 |
€18.00 |
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Wire Recorded Pieces |
LP |
This compilation is for those who are not familiar with the fascinating world of Primal Electronica, Noise, Sound Design, Industrial, Avant-Garde, Tape-Music, etc. _ you name it!. This set hopes to be the gateway to a completely new Revolutionary sound experience, proving what John Cage predicted in the 1930s : "'I believe the use of noise to make music will continue and increase until we reach a music produced through the aid of electrical instruments which will make available for musical purposes any and all sounds that can be heard." Including a track recorded in 1921, almost a hundred years ago_ and ending in the early 1960s, this selection includes artists of very different nationalities such as Egypt, USA, Hungary, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Sweden, France_ even the USSR! It represents everything New and Revolutionary that we have come to expect since the beginning of the Postmodern era. These are relics with much to say to the contemporary listener as they sound impossibly way ahead of their and our time(s). Revolutionary since much of the included material did and still does push the very definition of what music is. Here are demonstrations of techniques and Sound Systems that shaped Modern Music as we know it today. These are the first examples ever to loop a track, play it in reverse or use a host of other effects which are all so common tools for musicians of today. Songs are sequenced to give a coherent and surprisingly easy way to enjoy and appreciate this music field that can be baffling - in order to give the listener some of the most multilayered (in every sense of the word) experience. Thanks to 21st Century advance techniques, every track here has a low noise floor, which has been achieved without the loss of palpability or dynamic range. These recordings sound fantastic: fresh, jarring, groundbreaking and adventurous._ Enjoy the ride. "WIRE RECORDED PIECES" Precocious Noise and Early Electronica Pt. 2
https://soundmiraclerecordings.bandcamp.com/album/wire-recorded-pieces
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2019 |
€20.00 |
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Die Rückkehr in Parallel-Meeseversum (2. Kepler-452b Pre-Sequel) |
LP |
Tracklist
A1 –Frank Drake (2) Interstellar Radio Message Sent To Globular Star Cluster M13 From November 16th, 1974
A2 –Jürgen Schneider (5) & Softday RMXfallout
A3 –Vrillon / Ashtar Galactic Command Message To Mankind From November 26th, 1977
A4 –Jonathan Meese DR. NOANGSTEA'S DORIAN Scarlettierbaby's Revolutions Parfum: DICTATORSHIP OF ART (Suessesuessesuesse, You (Mr. Majestickx On The Run Loganfox))
B1 –Kommissar Teotihuacán Und Die Gefiederte Schlangenfrau* fRagenta K'inich Janaahb' Pakal
LP in the series FLUXUS +/-, limited to 74 copies, numbered. LP appears in black vinyl with black labels. Pair and impair copies appear with different backsides. Co-release with Edition Kepler-452b.
Some copies appear with handmade changes for backside and/or frontside by Kommissar Hjuler, some copies are signed.
|
2018 |
€23.00 |
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An Anthology of Greek Experimental Electronic Music 1966-2016 |
do-LP |
This anthology aspires to map the heterogenous landscape of Greek Experimental Electronic Music in all its contextual, sociopolitical, geographical and aesthetic disparity. With a single exception, it zeroes in on post-80s music. It comprises works of very different kinds by composers of all sorts of backgrounds that, still, can be thought of, as both "Greeks" and "Experimentalists".
Experimental Electronic Music is generally expected to be highly variegated, especially when examined in a breadth of several decades, and with respect to all sorts of artistic, academic, subcultural and other influences. What is not so obvious, however, is that the very notion of Greekness, as well as its contextual and historical offshoots, are highly diversified, too. This anthology is an attempt to map the various kinds of Experimental musics that have been produced by Greeks over the last few decades. More, it is also an attempt to delineate different understandings of what "Greek" or "Experimental" may stand for, by means of zeroing in on the numerous, often overlapping, realities and micro-scenes that are associated with the former. |
2019 |
€20.00 |
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Anthology of Electroacoustic Lebanese Music |
CD |
Following the Second World War (1945-1949), Beirut established itself as the cultural capital of the Middle East, with the Lebanese music scene leading the way. Lebanese music has a distinct sound due to the country’s unique fusion of Western and Eastern influences. Even Lebanese folk compositions often reference Western contemporary music. After 15 years of civil war and a decade of post war rehabilitation, the situation of alternative art and especially music was very poor in Lebanon. Things began to change around 2000 with the arrival of a new generation of musicians, born at the beginning and during the war, more interested in experimental art forms than in fame or glory. The experimental music scene in Beirut, may exist in relative geographic isolation from other global movements of a similar ilk, but over the past fifteen years it has become a dynamic hub for a dense concentration of fiercely independent musical voices. From humble beginnings and tiny numbers, the close-knit community has grown and thrived.
Unexplained Sounds Group is proud to release an anthology of the contemporary electroacoustic music from Lebanon. As always the compilation doesn’t pretend to be exhaustive of the whole Lebanese experimental scene, being the main goal, simply to turn on a spotlight on it. Another chapter of the "experimental surveys" series to map the best upcoming music from the international underground scene.
Special thanks to Joseph Doumet for his support, and to all artists involved in the project for their kind and much appreciated collaboration.
https://unexplainedsoundsgroup.bandcamp.com/album/anthology-of-electroacoustic-lebanese-music |
2019 |
€13.00 |
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The Godfather of Odd: A HARDY FOX tribute |
CD |
"Hardy Fox grew up in Texas. After college he moved to San Francisco reveling in the free love days of 1967-68. He co-founded the much loved cult band, the Residents, where he was primary composer. The Residents recorded such groundbreaking albums as Eskimo, Duck Stab, Commercial Album or Fingerprince and continue to inspire, record and tour until this very day. They aren't only known for their avantgarde music, but also for their multimedia CD ROMs and their DVDs. Throughout the group's existence, the individual members have ostensibly attempted to operate under anonymity, preferring instead to have attention focused on their art output. Much outside speculation and rumor has focused on this aspect of the group. In public, the group appears silent and costumed, often wearing eyeball helmets, top hats and tails—a long-lasting costume now recognized as its signature iconography. In 2015 Hardy retired from the band, and two years later identified himself as the band's co-founder and primary composer. Hardy continued to record under various pseudonyms, best known as Charles Bobuck, until later he worked under his own name and released such seminal albums as Heart or Rilla contemplates Love. A week before his untimely death, Hardy recorded a very personal good-bye to his fans, a mini album entitled 25 Minus Minutes. For many of us, Hardy wasn't only a genius musician, but also a close personal friend. Philippe Perreaudin and Walter Robotka have thus put together a tribute album to him which collects specifically recorded music by former label mates, collaborators and friends, and also some musical admirers. The cover was made by Helge Wagner and it also features a piece of art by Liz R. Full tracklist: 1. Blaine L. Reininger - Autumn Shore 2. The Residents - If Only 3. Harry Lagoussis - Crossing Up In Space 4. Palo Alto - El Ralpho 5. Laurie Amat - He Said 6. Harvey & Nipple - Teddy 7. Carla Fabrizio - Inter 8. DDAA - Adios Come Again 9. Cult With No Name - I Hate Heaven 10. JG Thirlwell - Trouble Adore 11. Renaldo & The Loaf - Mahogany Wood 12. Steven Brown - The Yawn Song 13. Už Jsme Doma & Randy - Never Known Questions 14. Ptose - The Black Hound Shrine 15. Fred Frith - Almost Certain."
www.klanggalerie.com/gg300
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2019 |
€15.00 |
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Strain, Crack & Break : Music from the Nurse With Wound List Vol. 1 (France) |
do-LP |
After years of mythology, misinterpretation and procrastination Nurse With Wound’s Steven Stapleton finally chooses Finders Keepers Records as the ideal collaborators to release “the right tracks” from his uber-legendary psych/prog/punk peculiarity shopping list known as The Nurse With Wound List, commencing with a French specific Volume One of this authentically titled Strain Crack Break series. Featuring some Finders Keepers’ regulars amongst galactic Gallic rarities (previously presumed to be imaginary red herrings) this deluxe double vinyl dossier demystifies some of the essential French free jazz and Parisian prog inclusions from the alphabetical “dedication” inventory as printed the anti-bands 1979 industrial milestone debut.
When Steven Stapleton, Heman Pathak and John Fothergill’s anti-band Nurse With Wound decided to include an alphabetical dedication to all their favourite bands on the back of their inaugural LP the notion of creating a future record dealers’ trophy list couldn’t have been further from their minds. By adding a list of untravelled European mythical musicians and noise makers to their own debut release of unchartered industrial art rock they were merely providing a suggestive support system of existing potential likeminded bands, establishing safety in numbers should anyone require sonic subtitles for Nurse With Wound’s own mutant musical language. Luckily for them, the record landed in record shops in the midst of 1979’s memorable summer of abject apathy and its sound became a hit amongst disillusioned agit-pop pickers and artsy post-punks, thus playing a key role in the bourgeoning “Industrial” genre that ensued. On the most part, however, the list , like most instruction manuals, remained unreadable, syntactic and suspiciously sarcastic… As potential “real musicians” Nurse WIth Wound became an Industrial music fan’s household name, but in contrast many of the names on The Nurse With Wound List were considered to be imaginary musicians, made-up bands or booby traps for hacks and smart-arses. It took a while for the rest of the record collecting community to catch on or finally catch up.
Since then, many of the rare, obscure and unpronounceable genre-free records on The Nurse With Wound List have slowly found their own feet and stumbled in to the homes of open-minded outernational vinyl junkies, D’s and sample hungry producers, self-propelled and judged on their own merit, mostly without consultation of the enigmatic NWW map. But, to the inspective competitive collector’s chagrin, one resounding fact recurs, NWW got there first! via vinyl vacations, on cheap flights and Interrail tickets, buying bargain bin LPs on a shoestring while oblivious to the pending pension worthy price tags after their 40 year vintage, Stapleton and Fothergill, even if you’ve never heard of them, were at the bottom of the pit before “digging” became paydirt. And NOW at huge international record fairs that occur in massive exhibition halls (or within the confines of your one-touch palm pilot) amongst jive talk acronyms such as SS, PP, BIN, DNAP and BCWHES the coded letters NWW have begun to appear on stickers in the corner of original copies of the same premium progressive records accompanied by a customary 50% price hike to titillate/coerce the initiated as dealers extort the taught. Like “psych” “PINA” or “Krautrock” did before, “NWW” has become a buzzword and in the passed decades since its first publication The List has been mythologised, misunderstood and misconstrued. It’s also been overlooked, overestimated and under-appreciated in equal measures, but with a growing interest it has also come to represent a maligned genre in itself, something that all members of the original line-up would have deemed sacrilegious. Bolstered by the subtitle “Categories strain, crack and sometimes break, under their burden,” all bands on the inventory (many chosen on the strength of just one track alone) were chosen for their genre-defying qualities… A check-list for the uncharted.
Forty years after Nurse With Wound’s first record, Finders Keepers Records, in close collaboration with Steve Stapleton remind fans of THIS kind of “lost” music, that there once existed a feint path which was worn away decades before major label pop property developers built over this psychedelic underground. As long-running fans and liberators of some of the same records, arriving at the same axis from different-but-the-same planets, Finders Keepers and Nurse WIth Wound finally sing from the same hymn sheet resulting in a collaborative attempt to officially, authentically and legally compile the best tracks from the list, succeeding where many overzealous nerds have deferred (or simply, got the wrong end of the stick). Naturally our lavish metallic gatefold double vinyl compendium would only scratch the surface of this DIY dossier of elongated punk-prog peculiarities hence out decision to release volume one in a series which, in accordance with Steve’s wishes, focuses exclusively on individual tracks of French origin, the country that unsurprisingly hosted the highest content of bands on the list. Comprising of musique concrète, free jazz, Rock In Opposition, Zeuhl School space rock, macabre ballet music, lo-fi sci-fi, and classic horror literature inspired prog, this first volume of the series entitled Strain Crack And Break throws us in at the deep end, where the Seine meets the in-sane, introducing the space cadets that found Mars in Marseilles.
Like the Swedish flat-pack record shelves that attempt to house the vast amounts of vintage vinyl that goes into a multi-volume compilation like this, it is time to prepare your own musical penchants and preconceived ideas about DIY music and hear them slowly strain, crack and break.
https://www.finderskeepersrecords.com/shop/strain-crack-break-nurse-with-wound/
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2019 |
€24.00 |
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Terässinfonia Vol. 1 |
CD |
"Terässinfonia - Steel Symphony: Sound of Finnish experimental noise.
For 25 years Freak Animal Records has published countless releases by Finnish artists. Activities of label has played part in shaping perception how many people see the Finnish noise and experimental underground. Despite vast amount of releases, label has never given full view that would reveal diversity of expression found among Finnish scene.
After quarter of century of work, Freak Animal aimed to take a task of compilation series under title Terässinfonia. To present Finnish noisy and abstract experimental sound in wider scale. Assumption is, that there would be at least three volumes, if not more. All volumes include many projects unknown for vast majority of people. Series will illuminate that Finland is at this moment experiencing surge of creativity on this field, even if it may happen widely unnoticed.
VOL1:
Umpio ”junkdive”
Kitu ”Edeema”
Tyhjä Pää ”Acetone”
Hazarda Bruo Sonsistemo ”loishäätö”
Atrophist ”Mutation Cycles”
Unclean ”Mental Deprivation”
Edge of Decay ”Anomalia”
H.Ö.H. ”Mittausteknologian kehittyessä”
Jazzhand ”Gavia Arctica”
Rotat ”Guts”
Junkyard Shaman ”Harha”
Contortus ”Pristine”
Metsäkirkko ”ihmisen jälkeen”
https://www.nhfastore.net/terassinfonia-1
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2020 |
€8.00 |
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Terässinfonia Vol. 2 |
CD |
Terässinfonia – Steel Symphony: Sound of Finnish experimental noise.
For 25 years Freak Animal Records has published countless releases by Finnish artists. Activities of label has played part in shaping perception how many people see the Finnish noise and experimental underground. Despite vast amount of releases, label has never given full view that would reveal diversity of expression found among Finnish scene.
After quarter of century of work, Freak Animal aimed to take a task of compilation series under title Terässinfonia. To present Finnish noisy and abstract experimental sound in wider scale. Assumption is, that there would be at least three volumes, if not more. All volumes include many projects unknown for vast majority of people. Series will illuminate that Finland is at this moment experiencing surge of creativity on this field, even if it may happen widely unnoticed.
VOL2:
Nuori Veri ”Jatkumon Ahjo”
Parempi Ratkaisu ”Ali-ihmisten kärsimys”
AMEK MAJ ”Miksei”
Toteslaut ”strike the master sword”
Maskhead ”Tormented Pleasures”
Vitun Siat ”ole eläin”
YANA ”Tuntematon”
Circle Of Shit ”fake decoupe orgasm”
Ahola & Silander ”Koitos”
Electric Hobo ”Pripyat”
tyhjiø ”aurinko”
found from : |
2020 |
€8.00 |
|
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Escape |
CD |
Escape ist die Rettung.
Escape ist Ende des Spiels.
Escape macht ungeschehen.
Escape gibt eine zweite Chance.
Escape gewinnt Zeit.
Escape ist plötzlich und eilig.
Escape ist still und heimlich.
Escape klappt nicht immer.
Siebzehn Komponistinnen und Komponisten verklanglichen auf der DEGEM CD 14 ihre unterschiedlichen Perspektiven zum Thema “Escape”: Computertaste oder Schlauchboot – kleine Fluchten oder die eine große… Die meisten der fünfzehn elektroakustischen Musikstücke auf dieser Compilation wurden direkt für dieses CD-Projekt komponiert und hier erstmals veröffentlicht.
Kuratorin: Monika Golla
Gesamtspielzeit 76:15 min.
[01] Simon Vincent:
…Falling Man, Rising Woman…: Conclusion
[04:00] | 2015
[02] Paul Hauptmeier & Martin Recker:
Another Shore (short version)
[06:04] | 2015 – 16
[03] Julia Mihály:
cozy new gastfeindlichkeit
[05:15] | 2016
[04] Kai Niggemann:
Interrupture
[03:40] | 2016
[05] Inge Morgenroth:
Nachtgestalten
[05:57] | 2014 – 16
[06] Mehran Sherkat Naderi:
Ich trenne mich von mir
[04:30] | 2014 – 16
[07] Kirsten Reese:
Jugendvollzugsanstalt
[05:02] | 2016
[08] Sabine Schäfer:
escape, part I
[05:58] | 2016
[09] STROM:
Umschaltplan
[06:08] | 2016
[10] Claudia Robles-Angel:
Departure
[06:00] | 2016
[11] Johannes S. Sistermanns:
Raum_aufgeben_1
[01:32] | 2016
[12] Arsalan Arbedian:
„\a“
[04:04] | 2016
[13] Felix Leuschner:
iScape
[04:59] | 2016
[14] Nikolaus Heyduck:
Sine Wave Peaks
[05:17] | 2016
[15] Hiromi Ishii:
Shinra
[08:05] | 2011
https://www.degem.de/cds-dvds/escape/
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2016 |
€13.00 |
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R L E (2020) |
CD |
"Every summer since 2017, attenuation circuit has been organising the “re:flexions sound-art festival” for experimental music at its homebase in Augsburg, Germany. For the 2020 edition of the festival, the label has produced a CD album. It is included in the festival ticket, but also available as a release in its own right. The artists featured on the CD are those who were originally invited to the festival. Due to the current medical precautions and international travel limitations, the line-up of the festival on 4th July had to be changed, but the CD gives a very good idea of the festival's original concept.
Individual artists applied for the festival and were “matched” in trio or quartet configurations by label head and festival organiser Sascha Stadlmeier aka EMERGE to create new collaborations. In anticipation of performing live at the festival together, the newly created line-ups produced the tracks for this album by way of remote collaborations.
Bu.d.d.A., Stadlmeier's own latest duo project with Chris Sigdell aka b°tong, joined forces with trumpet player Fabio Fabbri and Tangerine Dream violinist Hoshiko Yamane to create a haunting yet mind-opening space (or laboratory?) scenario with their track “human interbreeding”.
Agente Costura plays her sewing machine and lays the beat for “sudden descent”, a track that might be described as post-industrial noise-electro (in the 1980s Detroit meaning of electro) in a trio with Occupied Head and Boban Ristevski on various electronics.
Gintas K, Calineczka, and Wilfried Hanrath weave a delicate tapestry of lowercase drone sounds that is interspersed with fragile metallic sounds of mysterious origin that even coalesce into strange melodies at times. This calm yet by no means monotonous piece is called “closer musings”.
With Lee Enfield, Waterflower, and KOMPRIPIOTR, we dive deep into drone ambient territory, yet with a noisy edge buried underneath the lush layers of harmony. The track's title “scare up” might refer to the noisy beast that is lurking down there, waiting to come to the surface. And sure enough the piece turns into a rather suspenseful ride on the soundwaves.
The final track “ferch” closes the album with meditative post-rock drone ambient. N(91), a veteran of guitar-based drone music who is always “N”, but numbers his projects/releases, meets like-minded duo deep, who use two electric bass guitars and some electronics to create their music."
https://emerge.bandcamp.com/album/r-i
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2020 |
€5.00 |
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R L E (2021) |
CD-R |
“r | e” is the logo of the re:flexions sound-art festival, organised anually by attenuation circuit at their Augsburg homebase from 2016 to 2021. As in the last few years, the final edition of the festival on 4th July 2021 was accompanied by a CD compilation. It was given out to concertgoers with their tickets, but is now also available as a stand-alone release. The three tracks are first-time ever collaborations between two artists/bands each. The same pairs played the three improvised sets of the festival, with every concert a world premiere for these line-ups.
Stefan Schmidt on the unusual fretless guitar and EMERGE on electronics create a deep listening experience that combines dark ambient structures with field recordings to invoke a rich, imaginative sonic environment.
DIY underground legends Doc Wör Mirran team up with performance art duo The Oval Language. DWM create a leftfield pop track which is slightly subverted by the vocal noises and self-built instruments of The Oval Language.
That harsh noise and power-play free jazz share similar attitudes is almost commonplace. But it's one thing to talk about attitudes and another to actually hear the two genres get fused with one another. This is what happens on the track by feedback noisician Carsten Vollmer and the drums/sax duo Sprengmeister – with very convincing results.
https://emerge.bandcamp.com/album/r-i-2
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2021 |
€7.00 |
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PRSNT (Ryuichi Sakamoto, Pascal Comelade, Laurie Spiegel, Lyra Pramuk, Chassol, Nicolas Godin, Pierre Rousseau, Pedro Vian, Pierre Bastien, Visible Cloaks, Kelman Duran, Refree, Lucrecia Dalt, Lafawndah) |
LP + BOOK |
‘PRSNT’ is a unique global artistic project combining the input of artists across the worlds of music, video and written word which acts as a statement on how we, as consumers, engage with music in the 21 st century. Vital electronic musicians including Ryuichi Sakamoto, Lafawndah, Lyra Pramuk, Lucrecia Dalt and Visible Cloaks have each contributed untitled tracks, which are approximately 32 seconds long.
The concept was devised by Created By Us and the Barcelona-based label Modern Obscure Music. They read a study which identified that the overwhelming volume of instantly accessible information
online is shortening attention spans and altering how audiences engage with music digitally. Their curiosity about the state of online consumption developed further on discovering that around a third of all listeners using digital platforms skip to the next track, within the first 30 seconds of playing.
Each musician was given a fascinating challenge to create engaging compositions with real artistic merit, inside the confines of this shortened span. Akin to Brian Eno’s famous Windows 95 start-up music, the time constraints are crucial, and the compositions are deceptively complex and more substantial than expectations of their nano nature would suggest.
‘PRSNT’ acts as a critique of flighty feed culture, but is simultaneously constructive, providing something which is either proposed solution or “if you can’t beat ‘em join ‘em” resignation. Every artist has interpreted the brief differently, resulting in an intriguing blueprint for the potential future of
digital music. Could abbreviated micro compositions satisfy, inspire and nourish like their longer counterparts? They certainly take up much less of listeners’ busy lives, which are often spent tackling
ever-increasing workloads.
The LP contains original compositions by Ryuichi Sakamoto, Pascal Comelade, Laurie Spiegel, Lyra Pramuk, Chassol, Nicolas Godin and Pierre Rousseau, Pedro Vian and Pierre Bastien, Visible Cloaks, Kelman Duran, Raul Refree, Lucrecia Dalt, and Lafawndah.
incl. writings by contemporary thinkers like Shumon Bazar and François J. Bonnet, and images from Wolfgang Tillmans, Joel Meyerowitz, Juergen Teller, Araki, Jack Davison, Alessandra Sanguinetti, Dani Pujalte, Elizaveta Porodina, Adrià Cañameras, Larissa Zaidan, Zhong Lin and Javier Tles among others
Design by Marc Monguilod
Lacquer cut by Josh Bonati & Mastered by Rashad Becker
https://modernobscuremusic.bandcamp.com/album/prsnt
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2021 |
€55.00 |
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Drone Islands : Stellar |
CD |
Third volume of the series Drone Islands, "Drone Islands - Stellar" continues Eighth Tower Records' deep explorations into the realm of "drone music". The volume mainly focuses on drones inspired by astronomical events, and were originated through various musical approaches, from the well established synthesizer sounds and onto orchestral arrangements sounding like drones; furthermore, it showcases many young and talented musicians involved in the latest "drone dreamers" wave.
https://eighthtowerrecords.bandcamp.com/album/drone-islands-stellar
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2021 |
€13.00 |
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DRONE-MIND // MIND-DRONE Vol. 8: AUME, K. ISHIGAMI, HIROSHIMABEND, BALDRUIN |
LP |
Four "Drones" on one record! Volume EIGHT (MIND-08) is OUT NOW (11/2021) feat.:
KAZUYA ISHIGAMI ҉ AUME ҉
HIROSHIMABEND ҉ BALDRUIN
Drone on! We're finally back with a more 'pulsative' and post industrial-influenced issue, presenting the following artists: KAZUYA ISHIGAMI (*1972 / Osaka / Japan) is a prolific composer, engineer, sound designer and performer active for many years (also under the name DARUIN), with broadcasts of his works around the globe. His track 'Clean2020' works on the theme of 'memories" and is based on the idea to accept and acknowledge even the painful memories to reach a state of ease and to transform the subjective past...
AUME is the duo of SCOT JENERIK (23five Inc. / Mobilization Records) and ALEPH OMEGA (ex CHROME), from the US west coast, both also active in F-SPACE before, creating stunning audio-visual 'immersion dark ambience" with true archaic energy..
HIROSHIMABEND (aka 'puppy38') hails from Austin, Texas but has been based in Vienna for many years now, and has impressed with many long-form works in the field of electronic / esoteric emanations, mostly self-released via Opiumdenpluto. He is also active as a visual and mastering artist...- "Listening to the music of hiroshimabend has been likened to swimming in a milky lake of black ink."
BALDRUIN is a German project with a very electronic and musical edge. His pieces appear to be like excursions into a (bad) fairy-tale world.. - "well constructed cosmic ambient-scapes with a dark psychedelic / cinematic / surrealistic touch; when strange voices, subtle percussion and whistling noises enter the scenery.."
Let your MIND be surrounded by adventurous sonic landscapes - organic repetitions as coming from a ghostly otherworld, oriental field recordings, layers of pipe organ-like drones, mysterious electric ether-potentials etc..- "Vier feine Synapsenputzer machen einem mal wieder so manches klar.." [Bad Alchemy}
cover-art & mastering by puppy38 using two paintings by British artist PETE GREENING
https://www.saatchiart.com/Pete_G
Edition of 400 copies on VELVET PURPLE (solid purple and solid red mixed) coloured VINYL.
listen: soundcloud.com/drone-records order: www.dronerecords.de
basic concept:
DRONE-MIND // MIND-DRONE - Volume 8 LP
The series shows the various sides of today's experimental drone-music
This LP-series from Drone Records is dedicated to the Drones of the World, and the Drones of our Minds. A kind of continuation of the Drone 7"-series, with artwork based on paintings by British artist PETE GREENING.
Drone Music is seen as more than a mere 'music style', it expresses an approach to perceive and understand the world. DRONE-MIND and MIND-DRONE build a circle of diverse inter-relations. The Drone as a metaphor for everything that vibrates, that releases energy - from atoms and elementary particles to the hum of the earth and the universe. The Drone as an entity that connects everthing that exists within our own "mind-space", perception and self.
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"Würden Drone Records den Begriff, der von Beginn an so etwas wie ihr Motto werden sollte, enger fassen, dann wäre ihre Reihe “Drone-Mind // Mind-Drone” wahrscheinlich auf viel weniger Interesse gestoßen und vielleicht sogar eine kurzweilige Angelegenheit geblieben. Stattdessen setzte das Bremer Label von Beginn an auf eine Idee des Drone, die, wie es in einer früheren Besprechung bereits zitiert wurde, pars-pro-toto für verschiedene Arten der Vibration und der Freisetzung von Energie im buchstäblichen wie im übertragenen Sinne stand. Und so sind auch auf dem gerade erschienenen achten Teil der Reihe wieder vier Geheimtipps aus drei Kontinenten vertreten, die die Dröhnung als eine Art verbindendes Element gemeinsam haben, diese jedoch in ganz unterschiedlichem Maß und auf unterschiedliche Art mit anderen Aspekten verknüpfen.
Bereits in der Ankündigung hieß es, dass die neue LP pulsierender ausfallen und Einflüsse des Post-Industrial aufweisen sollte, und den Opener “Clean2020″ des aus Osaka stammenden Sound Designers Kazuya Ishigami kann man da bereits exemplarisch anführen. Der Track, der sich mit dem Thema (auch schmerzhafter) Erinnerugen und ihrer Akzeptanz befasst, entwift ein über zwölf Minuten langes, ansatzweise episodisches Narrativ, das mit Samples und zahlreichen Effekten ein veränderliches Stimmungsbild entwirft. Das an Zikaden (vielleicht nicht nur) erinnernde Zirpen zu Beginn zieht sich durch weite Teile des Stücks, lässt ein durchaus angenehmes Alltagskolorit entstehen, doch ein zwiespältiges Gemisch anderer Sounds – mechanisch anmutendes Klappern, beklemmende Hochtöner, Vögel, das Dudeln einer versteckten Melodie – kommt hinzu, und da die eizelnen Sequenzen in ihrer Dauer und Veränderlichkeit kaum vorhersehbar wirken, ist eine der zentralen Stimmungskomponenten Spannung.
Ein ähnlich veränderliches Soundpanorama entwirft das amerikanische Duo Aume – namentlich Scot Jenerik und Aleph Omega aus dem F-Space-Umfeld. Ihr Beitrag wirft die auditiven Antennen mit rauem Knarren in die Mitte eines Geschehens, dessen Richtung man in den Sprachsamples und dem industriellen Hantieren zunächst noch nicht ausmachen kann. Während es unablässig reibt und schabt und knackt und ein unterschwelliges Dröhnen immer mehr anschwillt und irgendwann den ganzen Raum ausfüllt, treiben die Stimmen einen merkwürdigen Schabernack, scheinen wie Schafe zu blöken, bis alles in Kriegsgeschrei mündet. Doch in der zweiten Hälfte bekommt der Track noch einmal eine überraschende Wendung und prescht mit monoton-rhythmischer Perkussion dem Horizont entgegen.
Insgesamt ist die zweite Seite um einiges “schöngeistiger”. “Puppy38″ des in Wien lebenden Amerikaners Hiroshimabend beginnt mit entrückten Orgelsounds, in die sich ein undefinierbares Summen mischt. Just wenn sich eine hypnotische Wirkung einstellt, setzt eine eindringliche Melodie ein und entführt den entsprechend angefixten auf einen Trip durch einen imaginären Raum voll mit plastischen, knisternden, vibrierenden Sounds und etwas, das wie menschlicher Atem klingt. Hier scheint jede Raumwahrnehmung (bzw. Projektion) so unsicher, das sich kaum sagen lässt, ob die so entrückt anmutenden Sounds nicht doch der Sog eines abgründigen Höllenschlundes sein könnte. Rituelles Pochen holt den Hörer zurück auf vertrauten Boden, wo ein beruhigender Abspann erfolgt.
Baldruin ist das Projekt des deutschen Künstlers Johannes Schebler, der auch musikalisch – sowohl solo als auch mit seiner Band Diamantener Oberhof – sehr umtriebig ist. Seine drei etwas kürzeren Track offenbaren eine Schlagseite in Richtung Psychedelic und World Music eine weitere Facette offenbaren. Fast wie eine perfekte Miniatur führt das mit mollastigen Bläsersounds (einer Duduk?) beginnende “Die Katakomben von Tesco Libra” mit entspannten Handdrums zu einem kleinen Höhepunkt hin, kein Ton ist hier zu viel. Elektronischer und von einer gefahrvollen Spannung durchzogen mutet “Verstecken” an. Die schöne Loungemelodie, die einen mit Lärm, basslastigem Knarren, fiesen Hochtönern und Stimmen gefüllten Raum in einen Traum aus Plastik verwandelt, reizt fast zu einem NWW-Vergleich. Das abschließende “Klima und Psyche” dagegen zeigt Baldruin hier von seiner folkigsten Seite und lässt die Sammlung mit tremolierenden Bläsern, Saitenpicking und klapperden Handdrums in wehmütiger Heiterkeit – falls es so etwas gibt – ausklingen.
Es scheint, als würde dem Phänomen Drone vielerorts eine große Ausschließlichkeit angedichtet: Musik ist entweder Drone oder nicht, und wenn, dann ist sie nur dies. Tatsächlich aber kann Drone sehr unterschiedliches bedeuten und in sehr unterschiedlicher Musik eine Rolle spielen – eine Rolle, die keineswegs an Bedeutung einbüßt, wenn sie ein Aspekt unter mehreren ist. Drone kann den Aufbau einer Musik gestalten, ihre Materialität prägen, eine Musik hypnotischer machen und ihr Rückgrad verleihen, und immer besteht eine starke Wechselbeziehung zwischen dem Dröhnen und dem suchenden, repziperenden und interpretierenden Geist. Dies unter der Formel “Drone-Mind // Mind-Drone” zu vereinen, ist auch beim achten Teil ein starkes Argument gegen alle, die behaupten, Drone hätte sich über die Jahre totgedröhnt." [U.S. / African Paper]
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2021 |
€16.00 |
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The Harmonic Series Volume 2 |
3 x LP |
"A collection of long-form works in just intonation by Kali Malone, Duane Pitre, Catherine Lamb, Tashi Wada, Byron Westbrook, and Caterina Barbieri. Each artist occupies an entire side of the collection's three LPs. Curated by Duane Pitre, Important Records returns with its second volume of compiled works in just intonation. The Harmonic Series Volume 2, issued as a triple-LP collection, features a series of long-form compositions by six of the most important emerging voices of contemporary experimental music. Unlike equal temperament, which equally divides an octave into 12 fixed notes, just intonation utilizes intervals of whole number ratios to determine tonal positions. It results in a highly individualized tonal language and holds the potential for more nuanced relationships and striking, sympathetic resonances. Rooted in ideas that trace their way across the last 2500 years, just intonation lays at the foundation for numerous Indian, Persian, and East Asian musical traditions. It was reintroduced into western music during the 20th century by composers like Harry Partch, Ben Johnston, Lou Harrison, James Tenney, Terry Riley, and La Monte Young. An interest in just intonation has continued to swell following the appearance of The Harmonic Series in 2009 inspiring Pitre to curate a second compilation. Kali Malone's "Pipe Inversions" -- played by Malone on a small pipe organ, joined by Isak Hedtjärn on bass clarinet -- belongs to a larger body of microtonal organ works that have increasingly placed the composer at the forefront of contemporary minimalism and drone music. Across the length of Duane Pitre's "Three for Rhodes" -- a chamber piece for "unknown instrumentation" - deconstructed rhythms and melodic fragments swell in a dance of harmonic interplay, rising and falling within the work's engrossing architectural complexity. Catherine Lamb's "inter sum" -- one of a tiny number of available works to encounter the composer and renowned violist working on synthesizer -- endeavors to break the visualization of harmony as a vertical reality, rendering it multidimensionally in space. A canon for eight-violins played by Marc Sabat, Tashi Wada's "Midheaven (Alignment Mix)" -- guided by the internal logic of its tuning system -- shape-shifts into an elegantly poetic form of musical conceptualism. Byron Westbrook's "Memory Phasings" -- composed and recorded on a combination of computer controlled modular synthesizers and a Yamaha TX802 -- employs the ratios of just intonation as harmonic building blocks for texture. Deploying just intonation as a means for psycho-physiological exploration, Caterina Barbieri's "Firmamento" -- composed for synthesizer -- deftly intervenes with the expectations of minimalism, durational music, and drone. Cut at Golden and pressed at RTI for maximum fidelity." [press release]
"Emerging during the early years of the new millennium, over the last two decades Important Records has slowly grown into one of the most important imprints in the landscape of experimental sound; a vehicle for historically important works by artists like Arnold Dreyblatt, Christina Kubisch, Ellen Fullman, Eliane Radigue, Pauline Oliveros, Catherine Christer Hennix, Phill Niblock, and numerous others, as much as a platform for a constantly evolving cast of emerging artists at the forefront of the contemporary scene.
Their latest, The Harmonic Series Volume 2, is a crystalline vision of the monumental ambition and artistry that lays at the label’s heart. Curated by Duane Pitre and stretching across an astounding 3 LPs, it looks toward the future of just intonation - the ancient tuning system that lays at the foundation for numerous Indian, Persian, and East Asian traditions - collecting long-form compositions by six of the most important voices in contemporary experimental music: Kali Malone, Catherine Lamb, Tashi Wada, Byron Westbrook, Caterina Barbieri, and Pitre. Vast in scope, immersive, and overwhelmingly beautiful from start to finish, if there’s a compilation to grab this year, this is the one. Words fail to describe how good it is.
Dating back millennia, since its reintroduction into Western music by composers like Harry Partch, Ben Johnston, Lou Harrison, James Tenney, Terry Riley, and La Monte Young, just intonation has maintained a devoted following within the context of experimental music. Utilizing intervals of whole number ratios to determine tonal positions, chosen by a composer, its origins rest in an attempt to mirror the natural behavior of sound within music.
Often resulting in highly individualized modal scales with nuanced relationships and striking, sympathetic resonances, just intonation offers the potential for a radically expanded range of creative possibilities that are largely unavailable within equal temperament, the tuning system most commonly encountered within music today.
Back in 2009, this led the composer, Duane Pitre, to curate the first Harmonic Series compilation, presenting a multi-generational suite of works by Ellen Fullman & Theresa Wong, Michael Harrison, Pauline Oliveros, Charles Curtis, and numerous others.
Over the years since, interest in the system has continued to swell, witnessing numerous younger artists deploying it in diverse ways, offering Pitre a new chance to explore the subject on even more ambitious terms.
The Harmonic Series Volume 2 comprises brand new works by six of the most important emerging voices of contemporary experimental music - Kali Malone, Catherine Lamb, Tashi Wada, Byron Westbrook, Caterina Barbieri, and Pitre - offering each artist a full side of the collection’s 3 LPs, carefully curated to activate intertwining sequences and relationships between the works.
Beginning with Kali Malone’s Pipe Inversions - played by the author on a small pipe organ, joined by Isak Hedtjärn on bass clarinet - blankets of long tones unfold within shimmering harmonics and rich rhythmic and melodic sequence, before settling into Duane Pitre’s sublime Three Simples for Rhodes - a chamber piece for ”unknown instrumentation” - built from deconstructed rhythms and melodic fragments that swell in a dance of harmonic interplay within the work’s engrossing architectural complexity.
From here we depart into the singular world of Catherine Lamb’s Inter Sum, a rare instance of the renowned violist working on synthesizer, that channels its materiality from her own environmental field, filtered by the synth, to highlight the subtle tonalities and harmonics that often lay unnoticed in the natural world, setting the stage for the deep, enveloping tension that unfurls across the length of Tashi Wada’s Midheaven (Alignment Mix), a canon for eight-violins played by Marc Sabat, where two mirroring, overlain realizations of the composition - one moving forward as the other simultaneously moves backward - slowly converge toward a crescendo of dissonance, with striking harmonic interplay and delicate overtones guiding the way.
The final LP in the collection is graced by a work Byron Westbrook, before concluding with a psycho-physiological exploration by Caterina Barbieri. Westbrook’s Memory Phasings, composed and recorded on a combination of computer controlled modular synthesizers and a Yamaha TX802, stunningly deploys harmonic blocks of texture and long-tones within structures of rapid appreciations and carefully balanced punctuations, that culminates as a shimmer vision of abstraction in sound.
Barbieri’s Firmamento then brings us full circle, concluding the second instalment of the Harmonic series with graceful subtlety introduced by Kali Malone, with a striking effort of durational drone composed for synth.
Resting on the shoulders of an ancient tradition, Important’s The Harmonic Series Volume 2 - through truly visionary works by Malone, Lamb, Wada, Westbrook, Barbieri, and Pitre - paints a wondrously optimistic image of the future of the approach, not to mention experimental music at large.
Issued as a triple LP, cut at Golden and pressed at RTI for maximum fidelity, housed in a heavy duty, single pocket sleeve with printed inner sleeves, it’s impossible to recommend enough. Easily one of the most exciting releases of the year and not to be missed." [Soundohm]
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2021 |
€45.00 |
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NEKROPHILE REKORDS 1983-1990 |
10 x LP BOX |
"Symbolically limited to 666 copies, housed in a deluxe wooden box, and also including an exclusive t-shirt and a 240-page book, this magnificent set feature no less than ten LPs and two 7" vinyl records covering the entire Nekrophile Rekords original output, with the welcome addition of two unreleased full-lenght albums by Coming To Now and Metgumbnerbone. Comprehensive edition about the legendary Nekrophile Records tape label. Founded in Vienna by Michael Dewitt, also known as Zoe Dewitt, the label was specialized in occult / ritual industrial music (self-described as 'Martial Music for the New Aeon'). During its lifespan it released eight cassettes and various printed materials.
The label was notable for releasing solo material from Throbbing Gristle member Genesis P-orridge (with Stan Bingo), and also for early material by the noted Industrial band Coil (with Zos Kia), with the participation of Peter Christopherson, another member of Throbbing Gristle. Dewitt released solo material on the label under two names: Korpses Katatonik, and Zero Kama. The Zero Kama album "The Secret Eye of L.A.Y.L.A.H." is purported to have been recorded in its entirety using human bones and skulls as musical instruments. The overall content and design of Nekrophile's releases clearly drew inspiration from the occult, with many references to Aleister Crowley and Thelema in particular." [Soundohm]
LP01 NRC01 1983 Korpses Katatonik Subklinikal Leukotomy 1Lp
LP02 NRC02 1983 Genesis P-Orridge / Stan Bingo What's History 1Lp
LP03 NRC03 1983 Various The Beast 666 1Lp
- Korpses Katatonik Choronzon 4:26
– Coil Here To Here (Double Headed Secret) 4:22
– Hunting Lodge Learn To Will I 4:28
– Kathan Spiss The Serpent 6:38
– Toy Muzik Introducing The Brides Of Christ II Part A 7:45
– Stigma Diaboli La Force Pas La Joie 10:18
– Hunting Lodge Learn To Will II 5:08
– Mr. Vile Thumb Introducing The Brides Of Christ II Part B 4:44
– Zero Kama V.V.V.V.V. 6:59
– Post Mortem: The Sea Of Cefalu 1:45
LP04 NRC04 1984 LAShTAL Thoum Aesh Neith 1Lp
LP05 NRC05 1984 Zos Kia / Coil Transparent 1Lp
LP06 NRC06 1984 Various The Archangels Of Sex Rule The Destruction Of The Regime 1Lp
– Sleep Chamber W:O:M
– Zero Kama Prayer Of Zos
– Ain Soph Theme III
– Ewald Spiss Gbvrh
– Metgumbnerbone Death
– Coming To Now Thy Call To Kia
– Zero Kama Seven Nights Of Tantra
– Ain Soph Theme II
– Ewald Spiss NTzCH
– Sleep Chamber Coven Of Angels
LP07 NRC07 1984 Zero Kama The Secret Eye Of L.A.Y.L.A.H. (Cass, C60) 1Lp
LP08 NRC08 1985 Ain Soph Ars Regia (Cass, Album, C60) 1Lp
LP09 Coming to Now „Closer to Silence“ 1Lp
LP10 Metgumbnerbone For the Raven“ Lp plus 7inch
"Wait, some ritualistik musick in Vital Weekly, reviewed by FdW? That'll be some fine trashing! If you thought that, then I have to disappoint you. I am a fan here, which is a very personal thing. When in the early 80s I discovered Throbbing Gristle, I somehow got hold of a cassette by Genesis P. Orridge and Stan Bingo,
'What's History'. I assume I purchased it at Staalplaat. My musical partner bought 'The Secret Of L.A.Y.LA.H.' by Zero Kama, and together we headed out to the nearby town of Arnhem to see that band perform on what turned out to be one of the very few occasions they ever played live. We thought it was a disappointment. We were promised a concert with skulls and bones, but save for some flutes, all the drumming was on drums, plus some easy blood spatter on a naked girl. My friend asked one of the members what Zero Kama meant and got the dry reply 'zero karma'. Still, we both found the cassette a fascinating thing. Skipping a few years, I found myself behind the counter of Staalplaat. While I had very little interest in the world of death, industrial, and gothic, I found these CD reissues that Staalplaat had made of the Nekrophile Records quite interesting. As part of my research into 'what am I supposed to sell here', I took copies home of the available titles. Coil/Zos Kia had not
been released yet, and we came close to doing it ourselves (or not? That story is somewhere else), Ain Soph was no longer available, but the rest was still there. For a few reasons, I liked this. It was a world of its own, a label that only released a handful of cassettes mysteriously disappeared and yet almost all of it was on CD. I still have the CDs, and I still take m out on occasion to play them in one row.
When Vinyl On Demand announced a 10 LP/2 7" set, it was a no-brainer to spend my Christmas allowance on a box, mainly because there was also a book. Now books about record labels have my utmost interest, even if I don't like the music. This, obviously, is not the case here, as I enjoy the music. Vinyl On Demand delivers heavy books using heavy paper and is almost like an art catalogue. They aren't easy to read but look great. In this book, we find the story of Nekrophile Records well documented, first and foremost by Zoe deWitt, who ran the label in the early 80s (as Michael deWitt). We read of her interest in Psychic TV, magic and occultism as part of industrial music, rather than death and destruction. The music also changed, quieter, using bells, and flutes, next to synthesizers and electronics. deWitte first operated as Korpses Katatonik, later as Zero Kama, when the music became even more rhythmic. Skulls and bones were sourced at an old graveyard, and a legendary cassette came to fruition. As they do those days, deWitt was in contact with other musicians, and, also as they did, this leads to compilation cassettes, which included the first ever track by Coil, and music by Hunting Lodge, Stigma Diaboli, Toy Muziek, Sleep Chamber, Ain Soph, LashTal, and the aforementioned P.Orridge/Bingo tape. The book in this box details the various problems with these releases, such as musicians promising too much or forgetting what was promised. The book has some fine examples of letters from them, such as John Balance's fine writing (as recently also detailed in another book, 'The Abrahadabra Letters'), Steve Stapleton's blunt 'no' to an invitation, catalogues and pamphlets. All with excellent photo material, which made me sad that such things are no longer made (letters, booklets et al., I mean) in these days of digital communication.
Of course, the music is not an insignificant portion of the material. There is an exciting variety here. There is the more experimental synthesizer/electronics side of the ritual industrial music on the one hand. Here we find Korpses Katatonik, LashTal and Ain Soph (the latter, to my surprise, as that one is missing from my old collection, and I was never too fond of their later work). In contrast, the ritual, rhythmic aspect is represented by Zero Kama, whose LP gathered quite a cult following over the past thirty-something years and Metgumnerbone. Their LP was initially not released by Nekrophile, but contacts were established back in the day. The group gained notoriety because of their gravedigging for skulls and bones and subsequent arrest. Another album planned at that time that only sees the light of day now is Coming To Now, a duo of Luther Howard and Andy H. Their music has a fine blend of ritualistic slow drums, flutes and voices and is also similar to the more ritualistic rhythm side, and charming naive quality. The compilations have material from both ends of the musical spectrum, and the Psychic TV influence on Coil, Zoskia, Orrdige/Bingo is a clear one, a little diversification. It is topped with two 7"s by Toy Muzik, quite an unknown entity from the UK in this story, and more Metgumnerbone, to top this off. A small label, whose overviews fit in one wooden box (coffin is the apparent reference), offers a beautiful insight into the ancient and arcane world. I love it!" [FdW / Vital Weekly]
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2022 |
€299.00 |
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Terässinfonia Vol. 3 |
CD |
FIN, introducing many new acts to global scene. Finnish compilation series of harsh noise, pe, experimental-noise, etc. Be surprised of quality and quantity of new names!
Aprapat - Ham slapper
Will Over Matter - Control Mechanism
Genetic Wounds - Body and flesh
Satowhite - Laylines
Kovana - not for sale
Moozzhead - Lust Upon Thy Altar
Eugenocide - Täsmällinen Kansanmurha
Piessa - Ulkopuolinen III
The Aprils - Drunk Mass
Mogao - cold mountain
https://www.nhfastore.net/new-arrivals/terassinfonia-3
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2021 |
€8.00 |
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TIME ENDS - A Tribute to J.G. Ballard's Tetralogy of Transformation (special ed.) |
do-LP / CD |
Desiderii Marginis, Troum, Martin Bladh & Karolina Urbaniak and Anemone Tube have gathered to pay homage to the first four novels of British writer J.G. Ballard: The Wind From Nowhere, The Drowned World, The Drought and The Crystal World, which are often seen as disaster novels. Each of the four projects presents a very unique take on the chosen work, using the respective text as a starting point to offer sonic representations of and (further) perspectives on these books, using drones, field recordings, words and much more to create evocative and richly layered soundscapes.
Adorned by a painting of German artist Alex Tennigkeit depicting a sphinx-like hybrid creature, a phoenix rising from the ashes of our civilization, the double album also includes an in-depth essay by Michael Göttert (African Paper) on Ballard's works in which he argues that the novels can best be understood as texts of transformation, as well as texts by the sound artists.
The double album starts with Desiderii Marginis' track “The Wind From Nowhere”, on which field recordings and intense drones suck the listener into a stormy vortex. Troum interpret The Drowned World, and their two dynamic tracks illustrate both the changes happening to the (outer) landscape and the (inner) world of the protagonists. Martin Bladh & Karolina Urbaniak make use of sound and words on “The Poisoned Well”, their interpretation of The Drought, referring to Shakespeare, the Bible and scorched earth policy amongst other points of reference. The album closes with Anemone Tube's take on The Crystal World, using field recordings made in Japan’s Mount Fuji forest. “Sea Of Trees” aims to show a devolutionary process, in which man gains access to his actual spiritual home – a primordial wisdom, which lets him discover an internal non-dual space, allowing to ultimately becoming one with the earth as body-being consciousness – the ‘perfect dream’ landscape.
Format CD | Double LP & download | Playtime: 79:27 min
CD Edition CD in oversize 148x148mm sleeve including postcards & foldout poster, limited to 140 copies.
Regular Edition Regular edition double LP in sci-fi neon yellow vinyl limited to 250 copies.
Special Edition Special edition double LP & CD set limited to 150 copies including A2 poster signed and hand-numbered by artist Alex Tennigkeit.
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2022 |
€36.00 |
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TIME ENDS - A Tribute to J.G. Ballard's Tetralogy of Transformation |
do-LP |
Desiderii Marginis, Troum, Martin Bladh & Karolina Urbaniak and Anemone Tube have gathered to pay homage to the first four novels of British writer J.G. Ballard: The Wind From Nowhere, The Drowned World, The Drought and The Crystal World, which are often seen as disaster novels. Each of the four projects presents a very unique take on the chosen work, using the respective text as a starting point to offer sonic representations of and (further) perspectives on these books, using drones, field recordings, words and much more to create evocative and richly layered soundscapes.
Adorned by a painting of German artist Alex Tennigkeit depicting a sphinx-like hybrid creature, a phoenix rising from the ashes of our civilization, the double album also includes an in-depth essay by Michael Göttert (African Paper) on Ballard's works in which he argues that the novels can best be understood as texts of transformation, as well as texts by the sound artists.
The double album starts with Desiderii Marginis' track “The Wind From Nowhere”, on which field recordings and intense drones suck the listener into a stormy vortex. Troum interpret The Drowned World, and their two dynamic tracks illustrate both the changes happening to the (outer) landscape and the (inner) world of the protagonists. Martin Bladh & Karolina Urbaniak make use of sound and words on “The Poisoned Well”, their interpretation of The Drought, referring to Shakespeare, the Bible and scorched earth policy amongst other points of reference. The album closes with Anemone Tube's take on The Crystal World, using field recordings made in Japan’s Mount Fuji forest. “Sea Of Trees” aims to show a devolutionary process, in which man gains access to his actual spiritual home – a primordial wisdom, which lets him discover an internal non-dual space, allowing to ultimately becoming one with the earth as body-being consciousness – the ‘perfect dream’ landscape.
Regular Edition Regular edition double LP in sci-fi neon yellow vinyl limited to 250 copies.
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2022 |
€27.50 |
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To Catch a Ghost - Field Recordings from Madagascar |
LP |
This is Sublime Frequencies’ second volume of transcendent musical field recordings from central and southern Madagascar, produced by Charles Brooks. Like the grand beauty and wonder of its flora and fauna, Madagascar’s music is completely unique. Whether the tempos are fast with polyrhythmic precision or slow in the form of a Kabosy ballad, once one gets familiar with its sound, it can never be mistaken again. Charles Brooks has been traveling to Madagascar and living with these spectacular artists for many years and has managed to document countless examples of their work, and regardless of how formal or informal a recording is made, the results always turn out magical. The following is an excerpt from Brooks’ liner notes:
The musicians on this album are storytellers and much of their craft is improvised and has a strong foundation of expertise in their respective cultural traditions. These field recordings have been collaborative from beginning to end and here, I’ve attempted to represent the finest of these talented artists. Their music journeys across endless landscapes with some movements having the qualities of a start and finish and yet no apparent end… Seeking, recording, and sharing the intangible experience, the best of all of this, is to catch a ghost.
• Charles G Brooks (2018)
(Limited edition LP with two-sided insert featuring images of the artist and highly detailed notes of the recording sessions)
https://www.sublimefrequencies.com/products/626114-to-
catch-a-ghost-field-recordings-from-madagascar
|
2018 |
€22.50 |
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Ode to MARCO VERONESI |
CD |
"A compilation dedicated to the late Marco Veronesi, who founded the ADN label, in the 80's with Alberto Crosta, Piero Bielli and Rudy Pavesi. Without ADN and Marco the Italian / International experimental scene would have been much less important and relevant than it was, including releasing the very first Sigillum S LP, "Boudoir Philosophy" and introducing thousands of people to endless examples of gorgeous noise and industrial provocation. This compilation features a number of artists who were fundamental in the development of ADN during the 1980's: Angelo Avogardi, Bene Gesserit, Cellula Ascolto Attivo, Christina Kubisch, DDAA, Francesco Paladino, La 1919, La STPO, Merzbow, Ralf Wehowsky, Riccardo Sinigaglia, Sigillum S, T.A.C., Tasaday, The Motor Totemist Guild. Ltd x 300 copies in poster cover."
https://adnrecords.com/album/vv-aa-ode-to-marco-veronesi/
"Marco Veronesi was one of the founders of the Italian underground ADN label, who passed away in 2013 after a lengthy illness. This compilation (a limited edition of 300 copies) features various outtakes by a number of artists who were fundamental in the development of ADN during the 1980s. The set opens with “An Elegy” by the experimental electronic ensemble T.A.C. (Tomografia Assiale Computerizzata), an eerie five-minute piece featuring haunting wordless female voice backed by multi-layered pulsating and incidental electronics and metal percussion. Riccardo Sinigaglia offers “Magik,” a piece of haunting Middle Eastern exotica where Sinigaglia plays all the instrumentation (an experimental cauldron of strings, percussion, winds, and electronics) with beautiful wordless vocalizations by Lilli Coda. Jumping forward a bit, we have “Fetides Humbert et Jacques” by La STPO, the typical craziness one might expect from this French band, a mix of spoken parts, odd vocalizations, mallet and metal percussion, saxes, and low growling bass with strange electronic sounds in play that, all taken, really sounds like nothing else. Following up on that we have “Black Phoebe” by the Motor Totemist Guild sans Grigsby, an odd and quirky chamber-rock piece for flute, piano, trombone, and percusion. Italian duo Sigillum S guides us forward with “Happiness in the Kooky Cracks among Dimensions,” beginning as an airy and peaceful keyboard piece with much added ambience, adding many strange electronic embellishments as it goes toward an almost frightening end. Jumping forward again, La 1919’s offering “Hcabial” approaches near symphonic proportions using layered keyboards, electric guitar, and percussive loops, all twisted up in a stew of musical madness. Jumping further forward, Merzbow offers a pulsating electronic rhythm overlaid with mega-blasts of snarly grating noise with “Mix 05.23.” The set closes with “Japa(n)chinko” by Cellula Ascolto Attivo, a nine-minute piece mixing industrial sounds and field recordings with voices, loops, odd instrumentation, and more. There are fifteen tracks in all, I’ve only detailed about half of what’s here, but if one appreciates challenging and experimental musical styles of all kinds, then you can’t go wrong with this one! The CD is packaged in a huge poster that folds down to roughly the size of the disc." [Expose] |
2014 |
€13.00 |
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CYCLES II : Cyclic Law's 20th Anniversary Label Sampler |
do-CD |
In celebration of our 20th year as a label, we've gathered 22 artists on 20 tracks, all graciously presenting us exclusive and unreleased material. Featuring AJNA, ASCENDING DIVERS, ASHTORETH, BECKAHESTEN, CURSE ALL KINGS, DESIDERII MARGINIS, FUNERARY CALL, KAMMARHEIT, LEILA ABDUL-RAUF, NERATERRÆ & DØDSMASKIN, NEW RISEN THRONE & CORONA BARATHRI, NORDVARGR, ØJERUM, SHEDIR, SHRINE, SOPHIA, SUTEKH HEXEN, TAPHEPHOBIA, VISIONS and VORTEX. We’d like to dedicate this release to our worldwide supporters who’ve made this 20 year venture possible and to all artists involved throughout the years, whom with their unique approach to atmospheric music, have helped create the aural world that is Cyclic Law. Artwork imagery is by our close collaborator and friend Kristina Feldhammer.
Double CD Edition of 500 copies in 6 panels Digisleeve with 180x120mm poster, matt lamination. 20 Tracks. Running Time; CD1 56:57, CD2 57:17
https://cycliclaw.bandcamp.com/album/cycles-ii-cyclic-laws-20th-anniversary-label-sampler
|
2022 |
€19.50 |
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|
Territorio del Eco : Experimentalismos y Visiones de Lo Ancestral En El Perú (1975-1989) |
LP |
Territorio del eco: experimentalismos y visiones de lo ancestral en el Perú (1975-1989)
The Land of Echo: Experimentalisms and Visions of the Ancestral in Peru (1975-1989)
First compilation brings together the Peruvian experimental scene from 1975 to 1989, a period was the most prolific for a generation of Peruvian artists who, based on musical conceptions derived from modern jazz and techniques inherited from avant-garde music, sought to integrate the sounds of Andean, Afro-Peruvian and Amazonian cultures in search of a new musical universe. Native instruments and folk melodies were used in compositions that demanded modern recording techniques and electronic sounds. This generation was articulated in Lima and was made up of musicians such as Omar Aramayo, Manongo Mujica, Arturo Ruiz del Pozo, Miguel Flores (Ave Acústica), Douglas Tarnawiecki (Espíritus), Luis David Aguilar, Chocolate Algendones and Corina Bartra.
But more than a movement, it was a set of individuals from dissimilar origins, who came from rock, jazz, contemporary classical and popular music, but also from the visual arts and poetry, and who had in common the cultural climate of the late seventies and early eighties in a country marked by a series of social and economic transformations, as well as the emergence of new visions and insertions of Andean culture and folklore in the city. The appearance of a mythical substrate connected the work of these musicians and defined an aesthetic, based on the deconstruction of folklore and the exploration of the possibilities that indigenous instruments offered. And from there they could go towards abstract, symbolic and conceptual forms, but also towards more melodic forms, with a strong influence of jazz, while also taking advantage of electronics and the possibilities of the recording studio.
Territorio del eco: experimentalismos y visiones de lo ancestral en el Perú (1975-1989) - The Land of Echo: Experimentalisms and Visions of the Ancestral in Peru (1975-1989) - is a compilation that offers an overview of what was one of the moments of greatest creative intensity for experimental music in Peru in its encounter with indigenous sounds. Rescued from private archives and limited editions on cassette, these pieces are reissued for the first time in vinyl LP format. The album includes extensive notes written by Luis Alvarado, author of the compilation, as well as much visual documentation. Cover art by Paloma Pizarro.
Beneficiary project of the Economic Stimuli for Culture 2020 of the Ministry of Culture of Peru.
--------------------
Primera compilación reúne la escena experimental peruana desde 1975 a 1989, período que fue el más prolífico para una generación de artistas peruanos que a partir de concepciones musicales derivadas del jazz moderno y de las técnicas heredadas de la música de vanguardia, buscaron integrar los sonidos de la tradición andina, afroperuana y amazónica en búsqueda de un nuevo universo musical. Instrumentos nativos y melodías del folclore fueron empleadas en composiciones que demandaron de novedosas técnicas de grabación y de sonidos electrónicos. Esta generación que se articuló en Lima, la conformaron músicos como Omar Aramayo, Manongo Mujica, Arturo Ruiz del Pozo, Miguel Flores (Ave Acústica), Douglas Tarnawiecki (Espíritus), Luis David Aguilar, Chocolate Algendones y Corina Bartra.
Pero más que un movimiento se trató de un conjunto de individualidades de procedencias disimiles, que venían tanto del rock, como del jazz, de la música clásica contemporánea, y popular, pero también de las artes visuales y la poesía, y que tuvieron en común un clima cultural como fue el de ese tránsito de los 70s a los 80s en un Perú marcado por una serie de transformaciones sociales y económicas, y de la aparición de nuevas visiones e inserciones de lo andino y el folclore en la urbe. La aparición de un sustrato mítico emparentó el trabajo de estos músicos y definió una estética, basada en la deconstrucción de lo folclórico y en la exploración de las posibilidades que los instrumentos nativos ofrecían para a partir de allí ir hacia formas abstractas, simbólicas y conceptuales, pero también hacia formas más melódicas, de marcada influencia jazzística y con un aprovechamiento de la electrónica y del estudio de grabación.
“Territorio del eco: Experimentalismos y visiones de lo ancestral en el Perú (1975-1989)” es una compilación que ofrece un panorama de lo que fue uno de los momentos de mayor intensidad creativa para la música experimental en Perú en su encuentro con las sonoridades nativas. Rescatadas de archivos privados y tirajes limitados en casete, por primera vez se reeditan en formato de vinilo LP. El álbum incluye amplias notas escritas por Luis Alvarado, autor de la compilación, así como mucha documentación visual. Arte de tapa por Paloma Pizarro.
Proyecto beneficiario de los Estímulos Económicos para la Cultura 2020 del Ministerio de Cultura del Perú.
https://buhrecords.bandcamp.com/album/territorio-del-eco-experimentalismos-y-visiones-de-lo-ancestral-en-el-per-1975-1989-essential-sounds-collection
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2021 |
€23.00 |
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\'Музыкальное Приношение\' (Musical Offering) - |
CD |
listen:
https://coldspring.bandcamp.com/album/musical-offering-csr326cd
Available on CD (or any other format) for the first time outside USSR, five Soviet composers perform their works on the legendary ANS synthesizer.
Recorded in 1971, "MUSICAL OFFERING" is 6 tracks (42 mins) of experiments on the unique machine by: Eduard Artemiev (2 tracks), Oleg Buloshkin, Sofia Gubaidulina, Edison Denisov, and Alfred Schnittke.
"MUSICAL OFFERING" demonstrates a 'musical' machine unlike any other and has long fascinated cutting edge, modern electronic composers, notably COIL and THE ANTI GROUP COMMUNICATIONS (TAGC) / CLOCK DVA, that have both released recordings utilising the ANS.
Try to imagine a score sounding by itself without a conductor; an orchestra without musical instruments. This magic is possible by using the musical ANS synthesizer. Created by Soviet scientist Evgeny Murzin over the course of 20 years, ANS is an instrument with which a composer can not only create but also draw their music without notes. You can see the twinkling of different lamps, the rotation of grooved glass discs... The drawings on the glass are 'sounding notes'. To listen to the drawn picture, press the button and a wonderful transformation will begin.
Inside the ANS are five rotating glass discs with 144 tones printed (by hand) on each one. Light is projected through the discs and onto photovoltaic cellbank which converts the light into electricity and sends signals to the ANS's amplifiers and bandpass filters. The ANS can generate 720 tones this way and, unlike a human musician, play them all at the same time.
Murzin dedicated his photoelectronic apparatus to Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin, hence the name ANS. Scriabin, the creator of the 'Poem of Ecstasy', and a famous explorer of synesthesia, used in his works a highly chromatic, new type of harmonic style designed to express his beliefs, views and wishes. Soviet music lovers will already know recordings made on ANS from Tarkovsky's films Solaris, The Mirror, and Stalker, Konchalovsky's film Siberiade, and others.
Presented in a digipak with the new artwork by Abby Helasdottir (who also created the compelling promo video), complimenting the ANS process perfectly.
Officially licensed from Russian state label Melodiya.
Watch promo video (YouTube): bit.ly/Musical-Offering
Copyright © – ВТПО "Фирма Мелодия" (Melodiya)
All-Union Recording Studio. Recorded in 1971.
Recording supervised by Юрий Богданов
Mastered by Martin Bowes at The Cage
Track listing:
1. OLEG BULOSHKIN - \'Sacrament\' (3:32)
2. SOFIA GUBAIDULINA - \'Vivente-Non Vivente (Alive And Dead)\' (10:44)
3. EDUARD ARTEMIEV - \'Mosaic\' (4:05)
4. EDUARD ARTEMIEV - \'Twelve Looks At The World Of Sound\' (12:53)
5. EDISON DENISOV - \'Birds\' Singing\' (5:04)
6. ALFRED SCHNITTKE - \'Stream\' (5:57)
######################
"A new batch of Cold Spring CDs, and I must say... At least with one of them, they stole my mathematic sound nerdish heart. "Musical Offering" is a sampler with Russian composers using the ANS, probably entirely up to its limits. Two tracks by Eduard Artemiev and one track each by Oleg Buloshkin, Sofia Gubaidulina, Edison Denisov and Alfred Schnittke. I only knew about Artemiev on this list because of his movie soundtracks. So to hear his work without a movie and, of course, images of empty landscapes, a brutalist-themed forgotten society and demise and a void enter my head, but fair is fair: all images were in colour. Nothing bleak or grey but the richness of the ANS is all over the place.
So for those who don't know what an ANS is all about, it's a Russian synthesizer designed over 20 years by Evgeny Murzin, and there is only one. It works with drawings on glass plates and devices that transform light into voltages, and those voltages create sounds. The glass discs spin, and well ... Wiki / YouTube is your friend here. Many artists have worked with the ANS, including Coil, The Anti Group Communications. Yes, [law-rah] also used original sounds from the ANS on their split with Cisfinitum (released on Fario). Maybe working on that release is the reason why I have a personal
weakness for this machine. I just couldn't get over how rich the sounds were that we got to use. Sure: A completely different thing than Coil being in the museum and drawing on the discs and us 'just' working with some recordings one of the museum guys did for us. Yet still ... I was impressed then, and I'm still impressed now.
For this disc, I am keeping the review smallish. Why? Because you already know if you are a) interested in neo-classical compositions by Russian composers. If you are, you will get this release and not be disappointed. It's as simple as that. If you are b) a nerd who loves different forms of synthesis like me, this album is one to consider. Because it's very varied and shows a lot of the ANS in 'its original environment': Russian composers on a Russian synth, and if you are c) curious about composition techniques, this will break your mind. Because from the ritualistic rhythmic parts in "Sacrament" (by Buloshkin), the 'voices' in "Vivente-Non Vivente" (by Artemiev) and the birds and frogs in "Birds Singing" (by Denisov), can you tell what is the origin of the sound? Is it a bird? Is it a recording? Or is it super ANS?
For me, it's not one of those reasons to love this album, and it's d) all of the above." [BW / Vital Weekly]
|
2023 |
€15.00 |
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Terässinfonia Vol. 6 |
CD |
Terässinfonia - Steel Symphony: Sound of Finnish experimental noise.
For 25 years Freak Animal Records has published countless releases by Finnish artists. Activities of label has played part in shaping perception how many people see the Finnish noise and experimental underground. Despite vast amount of releases, label has never given full view that would reveal diversity of expression found among Finnish scene.
After quarter of century of work, Freak Animal aimed to take a task of compilation series under title Terässinfonia. To present Finnish noisy and abstract experimental sound in wider scale. Assumption is, that there would be at least three volumes, if not more. All volumes include many projects unknown for vast majority of people. Series will illuminate that Finland is at this moment experiencing surge of creativity on this field, even if it may happen widely unnoticed.
VOL6:
Commando 15, Axyrxiom, Old Intestines, Isä Kosminen, Kaarna, Grunt, Näsiä, Yksi.
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2023 |
€12.00 |
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Fluxus & NeoFluxus: Stolen Symphony (Part I) |
do-LP |
https://subrosalabel.bandcamp.com/album/fluxus-neofluxus-stolen-symphony-vol-1
Double LP version. Gatefold sleeve; includes 24-page large booklet.
All in all, there are more than 50 pieces, new and old, live and studio, finished pieces and scores to be performed, acoustic and classical, solos and pieces for ensemble, using classical and special instruments. This Fluxus edition features (in alphabetical order): Eric Andersen, Ay-O, George Brecht, John Cage, Giancarlo Cardini, Giuseppe Chiari, Henning Christiansen, Philip Corner, Öyvind Fahlström, Ken Friedman, Sten Hanson, Geoffrey Hendricks, Toshi Ichiyanagi, Joe Jones, Bengt af Klintberg, Milan Knízák, Alison Knowles, Larry Miller, George Maciunas, Sara Miyamoto, Nam June Paik, Yoko Ono, Opening Performance Orchestra, Benjamin Patterson, Josef Anton Riedl, Terry Riley, Takako Saito, Tomas Schmit, Dieter Schnebel, Mieko Shiomi, Yasunao Tone, Ben Vautier, Yoshi Wada, and La Monte Young. The musicians and performers Anna Clementi, Agnese Toniutti, Deborah Walker, Werner Durand, Luciano Chessa, Miroslav Beinhauer, Petr Bakla, Nicolas Horvath, Petr Ferenc, and Premysl Ondra have played, performed and declaimed the Fluxus pieces, Arditti Quartet and S.E.M. Ensemble provided one piece from their archives. Milan Knízák, Petr Rezek, Petr Kotík, Olaf Hanel, Eric Andersen, Per Brunskog, Peter van der Meijden, Pavlína Morganová, Natasha Lushetich, Joseph Nechvatal, Natilee Harren, Martin Patrick, Diedrich Diederichsen, Christopher M. Reeves, and Hubertus von Amelunxen have written Fluxus-themed texts. Archivio Conz in Berlin provided access to their extensive Fluxus archives and Edizioni Conz provided coproduction. Ursula and René Block made possible the realization of John Cage's historical composition "Rozart Mix" from the Edition Block archive. The photographic material comes from Marie Knízáková and Milan Knízák's private archive, the German photographer Wolfgang Träger, Archivio Conz's Fluxus archive and Opening Performance Orchestra's digital archive. The cover themes are paintings by Milan Knízák, while the graphic design is the work of Jaroslav Buzek.
1.
La Monte Young Composition 1960 #15 to Richard Huelsenbeck (1960) by Agnese Toniutti (Piano) 04:27
2.
Milan Knízák DKH Quartet (edit) (1973) by Arditti Quartet 04:39
3.
Henning Christiansen Wolfsflöte (1986) by Werner Durand (Winds) 04:02
4.
Giuseppe Chiari Metodo teorico e pratico per suonare il violoncello (1962) by Deborah Walker (Cello) 07:45
5.
Milan Knízák White Process (from the cycle Processes Mainly for the Space of Mind) (1978) by Petr Ferenc (Voice) 00:47
6.
Dick Higgins Emmett William's Ear (1977) by Agnese Toniutti (Piano) 09:42
7.
Milan Knízák A Chromatic Scale in Countermovement (1971) by Miroslav Beinhauer (Broken Piano) 02:07
8.
Henning Christiansen Sturmsax (1986) by Werner Durand (Winds) 03:39
9.
Yoshi Wada Lip Vibrator (1973) by Ostravská Banda & Audience (Paper Tubes) 02:26
10.
Terry Riley Shoganigidi #1 (2021) by Miroslav Beinhauer (Broken Piano) 03:19
11.
Yasunao Tone Clapping Piece (1963) by Residents of the Institute Ostrava Days directed by Eric Andersen 02:37
12.
Mieko Shiomi Direction music for a pianist (1990) by Agnese Toniutti (Piano) 26:01
13.
Dieter Schnebel An-sätze (1985) by Anna Clementi (Voice) 05:39
14.
La Monte Young Composition 1960 #7 (1960) by Nicolas Horvath (Piano) 01:20
15.
Eric Andersen It isn't bad (2021) by Eric Andersen (Voice) 01:06
16.
Eric Andersen Opus 1961 (1961) by Miroslav Beinhauer & Petr Bakla (Piano) 05:31
17.
Bengt af Klintberg Triad No.1 (2021) by Werner Durand (Bottles) 05:15
18.
Mieko Shiomi Imaginary Garden No. 3 (2009) by Miroslav Beinhauer (Piano) 07:36
19.
Milan Knízák Material Events (from the cycle Processes Mainly for the Space of Mind) (1978) by Premek Ondra (Voice) 01:31
20.
Giuseppe Chiari Gesti sul piano (1962) by Luciano Chessa (Piano) 04:37
21.
Öyvind Fahlström Morgon (1952-55) by Anna Clementi (Voice) 05:33
22.
Philip Corner A really Lovely Piece Made For & by Agnese (2019) by Agnese Toniutti (Piano) 03:15
23.
Terry Riley Ear Piece (1962) by Luciano Chessa (Oscillator) 05:02
24.
Philip Corner Small Pieces of a Fluxus Reality (2018) by Agnese Toniutti (Piano) 02:28
25.
Benjamin Patterson Paper Piece (1960) by Luciano Chessa (Paper) 06:01
26.
Philip Corner Toy Piano (2012) by Agnese Toniutti (Piano) 02:21
27.
Sten Hanson A Living Man (Poem) (1971) by Anna Clementi (Voice) 03:53
28.
La Monte Young 556 for Henry Flynt (1961) by the Residents of the Institute Ostrava Days, direction: Eric Andersen) 09:22
29.
Yoko Ono Conversation Piece (1962) by Anna Clementi (Voice) 08:07
30.
Opening Performance Orchestra Stolen Symphony (2021) (Electronics) 21:27
31.
Milan Knízák & Phaerentz & Opening Performance Orchestra BROKEN REBROKEN edit (2020) by Milan Knízák, Phaerentz & Opening Performance Orchestra 03:00
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2023 |
€25.00 |
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Spectra Ex Machina - A Sound Anthology of Occult Phenomena 1920-2017 Vol.2 |
LP |
https://subrosalabel.bandcamp.com/album/spectra-ex-machina-a-sound-anthology-of-occult-phenomena-1920-2017-vol-2
The Anthology Spectra Ex Machina brings together rare documents pertaining to so-called occult phenomena, most of them taken from little-known archives. In the course of three volumes, this series traces an audio history of parapsychology through the exploration of spiritualism and haunted houses (vol. 1); musician mediums (vol. 2); experiences of extrasensory perceptions (clairvoyance, psychokinesis, etc.) and electronic voice phenomena (vol. 3).
The link between music, sound and the paranormal is manifested in many different ways. Gerard van der Leeuw, the Dutch historian and philosopher, wrote "Music represents the great struggle of reaching the wholly other, which it can never express". Furthermore, "The effect of music on the emotions is so mysterious as to seem magical. There is no logical explanation why a particular combination of musical notes, whether in the form of a tune or of a simple chord, can affect the heart. Nothing in nature has perhaps so persistently resisted explanation",
as said Derek Parker, the British journalist. Since music is arguably the most intangible of the arts and since the paranormal, in all its manifestations, continues to intrigue people, the placing of these two
subjects together seems obvious. This second volume of musical and audio anomalies continues and expands upon the works initially reproduced in the latter. Rosemary Brown makes a welcome re-appearance, especially with a performance of Grübelei via Liszt, as well as the Caruso-inspired tenor Leo May making a repeat performance. Few people realize that both Anton LaVey and Aleister Crowley were quite fine musicians and Alex Sanders was also interested in music. The background music of Wagner's Tannhäuser used by the latter combines both pagan and Christian elements. So close your eyes and let the magic of sound take over!
|
2023 |
€19.50 |
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| |
DAIS223 (DAIS X RETROSPECT) COMPILATION |
MC + Portable Cassette Player |
Dais Records, das in LA/NYC ansässige Label, das klanglich ausdrucksstarke und visuell dynamische Künstler vertritt, ist mit dem analogen Innovator und Produktdesignstudio Retrospekt eine Kooperation eingegangen. Das Vermächtnis und die Tradition von Dais passen hervorragend zum Leitbild von Retrospekt: "Wiederbelebung von Retro-Tech für eine neue Generation". Das Ergebnis ihrer ersten Zusammenarbeit ist ein schickes, weißes, limitiertes Exemplar des tragbaren Kassettenspielers CP-81 von Retrospekt, das eine exklusive 19-Track-Kompilationskassette mit unveröffentlichtem Material aus den Reihen des Labels mit dem Titel DAIS223 enthält. Nathaniel Young, Kreativdesigner bei Dais, hat die Standardpräsentation des CP-81 sowohl für den Player als auch für die Verpackung neu gestaltet. Die weiße Dais-Edition des Kassettenspielers wird in einer weißen Schachtel mit schwarzem Text verpackt, zusammen mit einem Satz weißer Dais-Kopfhörer und dem C23-Compilation-Tape. Das Gerät verfügt über alle wichtigen Funktionen eines Kassettenspielers: Abspielen, Vorspulen, Zurückspulen, Aufnehmen und wird mit einem verstellbaren Dais-Kopfhörer geliefert. Der Dais x Retrospekt Kassettenspieler ist auf 1000 Stück limitiert - die Kassette wird nicht separat verkauft. Zu den Funktionen gehören: Wiedergabe, schneller Vorlauf, Rücklauf, Aufnahme, Mikrofonbuchse, Kopfhörerbuchse, Typ-C-USB-Stromversorgung, Batteriebetrieb möglich Enthalten sind: Tragbarer Kassettenspieler, C23-Kassettenband, 2x AA-Batterien, Verstellbare Dais-Kopfhörer, Benutzerhandbuch Der Compilation-Titel DAIS223 bezieht sich auf die Katalognummer (DAIS223). DAIS223 enthält unveröffentlichte Tracks von High Vis, High-Functioning Flesh, RIKI, Private World, Helm, Tor Lundvall, CoH, AURAGRAPH, ADULT., Drew McDowall, SRSQ, Cold Gawd, Remixe von SPICE und Cold Showers sowie Demos von Body of Light, Choir Boy, VR Sex und Xeno & Oaklander.
https://daisrecords.bandcamp.com/merch/dais-x-retrospekt-collab-limited-cp-81-cassette-player-and-compilation
We are proud to announce our collaboration with analog innovators and product design studio: Retrospekt.
The Dais x Retrospekt Portable Cassette Player is a limited edition release of Retrospekt’s CP-81: reimagined with a new graphic design in white, with rose-adorned artwork by Dais creative director Nathaniel Young. The device features all of the core cassette player functions, packaged with adjustable Dais branded headphones and an exclusive 19-track compilation cassette of unreleased material from our roster.
Limited to 1000. Tape not sold separately.
DAIS223 Tape Compilation
Listen to Sampler: found.ee/DaisXRetrospekt
SIDE A:
High Vis - Forgot To Grow
High-Functioning Flesh - Down To Sense
Riki - SAS (For Those Who Speak And Spake)
Private World - Through The Distance
Body of Light - Out of Season (Demo Instrumental)
Helm - Evil Ceramics
Choir Boy - Happy to Be Bad With You (Demo)
Tor Lundvall - Black Fly Day
CoH - Vow a Vow
SPICE - I Dont Want To Die In NY (Remix)
SIDE B:
VR SEX - Runway Runaway (Demo)
Xeno & Oaklander - Hoplite (Demo)
Tempers - Camino Del Sol (Antena Cover)
Cold Showers - Sliver (Inner City Remix)
AURAGRAPH - No Control
ADULT. - Few Warnings Are Important (2003)
Drew McDowall - Animals Will Sing
SRSQ - Phantasmata
Cold Gawd - Gin (At The Mountain)
Contents include:
- Portable cassette player
- Dais Records "C23" Compilation Tape
- 2x AA batteries
- Dais adjustable headphones
- User guide
Tape Player Features include:
- Play, fast-forward, rewind, record
- Microphone jack
- Headphones jack
- Type-C USB power supply
- Battery operable
|
2023 |
€100.00 |
|
| VACANT STATIONS |
Clones |
CD |
Awaken. Force yourself up. Draw the blinds. Grey light burns your eyes. Plug yourself in. Step out of the door and fade in to the swim....
From the first opening moments of 'Day', you already know that you are about to experience something totally different from the artist 'Vacant Stations'. As the first solemn sounding notes play out, the mood is set, hanging in the air like a heavy, dark oppressive mantle. But all is not lost...there is always hope.
Vacant Stations is an ambient project hailing from London, UK who has a background in film and video. Through his music, Vacant Stations generally hopes to conjure visuals and inspire creativity. A little bit about the thoughts behind 'Clones' in the words of the artist himself.
"Some of the motivations and intentions behind 'Clones', are mostly concerning the theme of identity: A meditation on the conflict and pressures of striving for individualism in an era of homogenisation, while considering implications about the future of human identity as it inevitably merges with the technology it creates. A self-reflexive comment on what have come to be regarded as dark ambient genre conventions. Hopefully a sense of narrative also comes through." - Vacant Stations.
All music recorded by Vacant Stations 2017. All tracks have been mastered by Cruel Sound Works. The cover concept and design is by Midnight Sun Studio ©.
The edition is presented in a 6-page full colour digi-pack. 13 tracks, running time 62:00.
www.winter-light.nl
"Music should aspire to link us to universal truth. Even ambient music can do that, as Vacant Stations demonstrates with great elegance here.
Westerners like to move freely. We like to travel great distances; eat a wide variety of foods; purchase a dizzying array of highly specific products marketed to our tastes. We aren’t limited by the rhythms of night and day; of seasons; of social propriety. Our places and spaces have evolved to meet our demands. What do they say about us? Here is an album that seems perfectly crafted to show us. We all have an image that we hold in our minds of the total creep-out that we’d get from one of these populated spaces suddenly bereft of life and purpose: it’s why we love Urban Exploration. Clones is Urbex for the ears, then.
This is drone done right: patience and perseverance over thirteen tracks which open and close like portals between the listener and a succession of vast echoing warehouses, tunnels and even retail spaces necessitated by our twenty-first century appetites.
Expert, subtle layers of synth which occasionally fatten out into buzz and then dissolve again into hollowed submerged spaces float over a spare bassline powered by a creepiness almost sub-aural. Sometimes the whirring of wheezing, uneven machinery intrudes uneasily into this mélange like a reminder of entropy. All is not peaceful in the abandoned landscape of Clones; routine maintenance is required. Ain’t that a universal truth?
We are invited to self-examine as we ponder the meaning of single-word track titles like 'Lapse', 'Penultima' and even 'Publix'. Who would have associated that bustling grocery chain with the ominous string of underwater chimes like a deadened jingle that haunt this latter piece with such melancholy? Certainly no shopper in the daylight hours, comparing packages of frozen broccoli and thinking about getting to soccer practice.
Let’s do what the track compels us to as listeners: empty the store of customers. Let the fluorescent overheads flicker and die until the space is lit at a quarter of their wattage. Peruse the aisles and freezer cases alone, with nothing but the sound of our mortal heartbeats in our ears, and the deep internal realization that our Western food supply is fragile, susceptible to even the smallest disruption, and based upon the unquestioned labor of the nameless and the unprotected in fields and fisheries.
Care about soccer practice now? I don’t. And this is the dark gift of Clones." [Brutal Resonance] |
2017 |
€13.00 |
|
| VAINIO, MIKA / PAN SONIC |
Kilo |
CD |
"MIKA VAINIO's first solo album for Blastfirstpetit sees him return to his classic power electronics, heavy beats approach that made PANSONIC garner a worldwide reputation.
The album developed from VAINIO's recent live sets to make ten tersely titled tracks inspired by the shipping container industry.
Four stars in Mojo " heavy-freight" ,The Quietus described it as "fearsome"." [label info]
www.blastfirstpetite.com
"Mika Vainio, one half of Finnish minimal electronic duo PanSonic, has a new record of atmospheric industrial music coming out. Louder Than War contributor Craig Johnson has been having a listen.
To be honest, it’s exactly what you’re expecting. It’s slow, atmospheric and industrial. The fact that it’s so predictable isn’t a bad thing though as that’s exactly how Mika Vainio made his name. If you’re good at something, why give up?
In a time where electronic musicians seem to spawn from every corner of the world, it’s easy for music to start sounding the same without any differentiation between what has merit and what doesn’t. In this case, Kilo is a really great document of how to make industrial ambience sound very, very good.
What we have here is a weird mix of ambient soundscapes and beat-heavy industrial trance; it feels like a soundtrack to some sort of brutalist post-apocalyptic rave. In my mind, it conjures up black and white images of deserted industrial space, filled with jagged edges and metal structures. It’s stark, yes, but it’s also quite therapeutic. I can sort of switch off and let myself become fully engrossed in this alternate world. Ironically, it’s not the sort of music you want to share with others.
I’m aware that writing this piece means I’m sharing my thoughts on the music with you but I mean share in a different sense. It’s an album that you only ever want to listen to when you’re on your own; late at night, early in the morning, any time of day as long as you aren’t in a group of people. I cant imagine this being the soundtrack to a dinner party or on the office stereo. This is subtle music that’s made specifically for the recluse. The person that wants to sit in his own company and be overcome by the powerful imagery these bursts of sound create.
The juxtaposition of calm, atmospheric pieces and heavy industrial beats work to give an almost frightening nightmare like state on track such as Scale. The whole album fits together with a strange contrast running throughout. At times it feels like it’s about to collapse in on itself, then comes a sudden burst of energy in the form of an industrial barrage or a eerie screech.
It’s removed from reality in a sense that it manages to project an alternative, abstract setting. I can’t imagine it soundtracking anything other than this industrial landscape I view in my mind. I think there’s a definite divide in the style of tracks here.
While some do have that calmer, more subdued tone, other has, overall, a fiercer and driving sound. Luckily though, they work together in perfect harmony. Never sounding out of place, the whole album flows and each new sound follows on logically, never letting you awake from the industrial dreamland you’ve suddenly found yourself part of.
I’m actually going to see Mika Vainio play at The Sage, Gateshead in June and am eagerly waiting being transported into this dream like state. I just want to be sat in a dark room, his industrial soundtrack taking me away from the reality of the world outside. Even just for a short period of time, I have a feeling it’ll be fantastic." [Lounder Than War]
- See more at: http://louderthanwar.com/mika-vainio-kilo-album-review/#sthash.s5DDP4Q1.dpuf
|
2013 |
€16.00 |
|
| VALANX |
Tidelands |
CD |
Water is flooding. Land is obsolete. Scattered tribes rule their part of the world. Struggling. Adapting. "Tidelands" is Valanx soundtrack to a post-apocalyptic future where water is abundant and the circumstances of living has changed radically.
This is the final album by Valanx and Reverse Alignment is very happy to release it. We've been fortunate to work with such great artist.
"This album is the swansong of my long musical journey and I would like to dedicate it to the most important person in my life, my wife Petra. Without her I’d be lost in nothingness. Eternal love.
I’d also like to thank Kristian Widqvist for his continued belief in Valanx and his dedication to the project.
Last but not least, a big thank you to all the listeners over all these years."
Arne Weinberg
CD in 4-panel ecopack limited to 200 copies.
Released September 28, 2018
|
2018 |
€12.00 |
|
| VALEN, FARTEIN |
The Eternal |
CD |
FARTEIN VALEN (1887-1952) ist ein legendärer norwegischer Atonal-Composer, der symphonisch-dramatische, düster-unheilvolle Neue Musik komponierte – diese CD gibt einen beeindruckenden Überblick über sein Schaffen..kommt in einem wunderschönen Klappcover mit ausführlichem Booklet!
"A highly personal selection of works by one of Norways greatest composers, by many, ourselves included, considered a genius. Symphonic poems like 'Pastorale' and 'The Churchyard By The Sea' are among the most potent, strangely beautiful and extraordinary pieces of music to come from any composer of the 20th century. Included here are also 'Ode To Solitude', the violin concerto, the first symphony and two piano pieces. 'A major figure in 20th century music' Glenn Gould." [label notes]
|
1999 |
€15.00 |
|
| VAN GULICK, JASON |
Concrete |
LP |
"Jason Van Gulick is one of the most inventive drummers on the contemporary music scene. For more than a decade, he has used his education as an architect to explode the foundations of drumming. Maintaining a distance from all aesthetic, disciplinary or formal limitations, he has developed his artistic approach in the confrontation between the acoustic character of his chosen instrument and architectural resonant spaces.
This piece is the result of several years of research on the deep existing connection between the production of sounds and their dffusion in space.
It has to do with our primitive bond to music, with the concrete experience that is specific to every diffusion of sound and explores the acoustic specifities of an architectural space through percussions.
The work combines, through the process of improvisation and of composition in situ, the idea of the metamorphosis of material : « Halle B » due to its volume, its ability to reverberate the sound and its echoing faculty, transforms the sound of the percussions following the example of former places of worship. This industrial nave made of concrete has forged the creation of the music by imposing to the latter a specific temporality and an almost spiritual depth." [label info]
2More along the lines of Vital Weekly is the work of percussion player Jason van Gulick. I didn’t review his previous release, 'Entelechy' (Vital Weekly 930), so this is the first time I hear his music. I believe he is from Belgium, but recorded his CD in Halle B of the 'La Condition Publique' in Roubaix. It is apparently a space with some great acoustic proportions and Van Gulick has an interest in using sound and the way it travels through a space. Interestingly enough not all of the five pieces here have this massive, natural reverb. In the opening piece everything is very close and quite direct. The ringing of cymbals open up and at one point in this (untitled, all are) piece the sound is being picked up from a bit further away and we hear a massive drone like. Van Gulick shifts back and forth with his playing,
using sticks, bows, and objects on the entire kit. This results is an occasional thick, massively sound, in which Van Gulick's playing blends refined with the travels of those sounds through that space. I can imagine he used quite a bit of microphone set-ups in this to come up quite close or, as a total opposite very far away and in the process of making this CD, Van Gulick mixes these recordings together. While
it may sound like a 'live' record, I am pretty sure it isn't. Quite a bit of work went into balancing the various recordings and Van Gulick delivers a beautiful record. Loud and dark, light and quiet; he knows how to built excellent soundscapes in space, but also he knows how to transfer these to the listener and give him a similar experience." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2018 |
€20.00 |
|
| VAN HOEN, MARK |
The Revenant Diary |
CD |
" "Don't look back," repeats one of several voices within Mark Van Hoen's The Revenant Diary, his fifth solo album and first release on Editions Mego. Surrounded by weighted beats, analog synthesizer drones and granular dirt, the unidentified, siren-like female voice's advice is as much seduction as warning. Tellingly so, for as well as being both Van Hoen's most ambitious and his most accessible work, The Revenant Diary is an eloquent meditation on the allures and dangers of memory, regret and nostalgia. The album's foundation was shaped by a memory and a chance encounter. While remastering some of his early '90s releases and Peel Session tracks, Van Hoen -- a founding member of Seefeel, who also worked as Locust and in Seefeel offshoot Scala and has collaborated with Slowdive, Robert Fripp, Edison Woods and Esben And The Witch, amongst others -- happened upon a track he had recorded in 1982. Attracted by its simplicity, he was inspired to record the basis of The Revenant Diary on 4-track tape, using a minimal set-up, reminiscent of his first early '80s musical adventures as a young teenager. The recollection of one of these -- a 13 year-old Van Hoen's experiment in reel-to-reel tape recording of an ineffectual pop song playing on the radio, which spuriously transformed it into a spooky amalgam of backwards church organ and unintelligible voices -- provided an evocative inspiration. The Revenant Diary pivots on this combination of complex reflection and simplified technology. A determinedly analog affair, it brims over with Van Hoen's signature sounds: immersively-decayed drones, almost broken ambient surfaces and lulling rhythms, with granular crackle providing spectral grit. Fragments of female vocals pepper the album, and notably dominate the 10-minute epic "Holy Me," one of Van Hoen's most complex compositions, in which non-verbal sounds rub delicately against each other in an otherworldly choral composition. Less song-based than his last solo work, the well-received Where Is The Truth (CCO 046CD/LP), its palette and structure are more descendants of the 1995 album Truth Is Born Of Arguments, which utilized a similar combination of decayed atmosphere against a granular/glitch rhythmic structure. Tracks like "Laughing Stars At Night" and "Unknown Host" exude a powerful emotional undertow, as alluringly woozy as they are intensely contemplative. But this is no exercise in Instagram-style disposable nostalgia. Van Hoen's adroit juxtapositions of gauzy textures evoke the blurred luminescence of 16mm film and the rich, color-saturated hues of rediscovered Polaroid photos, as the cover artwork, designed by Stephen O'Malley, acknowledges. The Revenant Diary expertly renders displaced memory daze in lushly melodic, gently delirious electronic sound. All titles composed by Mark Van Hoen. Recorded in Brooklyn & Woodstock, NY, 2011. All instruments & processing by Mark Van Hoen with additional vocals by Georgia Belmont." [label info]
www.editionsmego.com
"Over the years I didn't keep up with Mark van Hoen's solo work. I remember Aurobindo to be a nice work but haven't heard that in a long time, and also 'The Last Flowers From The Darkness' has faded from my memory, but then no less than fifteen years have passed. Van Hoen, once a member of of Seefeel, Scala and collaborator with Slowdive, discovered some old tracks which brought him in the a teenage mood again: why not use that old four track tape machine again with a minimal set up? When hearing this, I reminded of his older works again. Van Hoen plays, at least for me, pop like music, with rhythm, broken down guitar sounds, samples and occasionally a female voice dropping into the music. Grainy, down-sampled voices going back to the 2-bit sampling mood add a certain raw texture to the album. Hazy stuff, a bit blurry. Its a clash of the modern versus the old, new and ancient technology meet up in a very nice way. A well entertaining record, filled with melancholy, ambience, choir
like sounds and glitched up rhythms. I am told this is all a bit more abstract than his previous work, but I think this is some very nice alternative popmusic. Certainly the kind of popmusic I like." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
"The Revenant Diary (eMEGO 136) bringt ein Wiederhören mit MARK VAN HOEN, den ich seit den Tagen mit Seefeel und Scala oder als Locust lange nicht mehr auf dem Radar hatte. Maßgebend für die 11 neuen Tracks war, so heißt es hier,
die Erinnerung an sein jüngeres Selbst als tonbandelnder Teenager Anfang der 80er. 'Don't Look Back' und 'I Remember' halten das Motiv der Rückkehr fest, das ihn dazu bewegte, sich diesmal doch wieder althergebrachter technischer
Mittel zu bedienen. Entscheidender ist jedoch das emotionale Moment, ein Schwanken zwischen Nostalgie und Trauer. Da herrschen anziehende und abstoßende Kräfte, die auch in 'Why Hide From Me' und 'No Distance (Except the
one between you and me)' reflektiert werden. Downtempo-Triphopbeats transportieren orchestrale Samples und eine verwehte Frauenstimme (die vokalisierende Georgia Belmont). Orchestral? Vielleicht sind es schimmernde Gitarren, Klanggewölk aus Streichern? Van Hoen inszeniert da eine mehrspurige Unschärfe aus flackernden, kaskadierenden Klangfetzen. Auch Belmonts Gesang
wird dabei zu einem phantastischen Folklorechor. 'Ambient' ist wohl auch ein irreführendes Wort, Van Hoen macht phantastische Musik, durchsetzt mit tierischen Lauten ('Garabndl x'). Das poppige 'Don't Look Back' ist insofern eine schwache Nummer. 'I Remember' hat danach mit seinem verschleppten Beat einen Steampunk-Touch, der Gesang ist nur ein Schatten seiner selbst. 'No Distance' tickert wie ein elektronisches Spinett, über Synthienebelstreifen schimmert ein Knabensopran auf ü. Wieder mädchenhaft, schliert die zerhackte Stimme über das motorische Tuckern und Synthiegeflöte von '37/3d'. Die 80er und 90er im Reißwolf der Erinnerung? "Wo warst Du?" lautet die wehmütige Frage, die Van Hoen aber über krumme Beats stolpern lässt. 'Unknown Host' überbrückt als halbe Samba die Zeit bis zu 'Laughing Stars At Night' mit seinem Baritongitarrenloop über Breakbeats und Lyrics, die hier mehr sind als nur eine Catchphrase. 'Holy Me' multipliziert Belmont für ein verzerrtes Replikantenmadrigal a capella in der Kirche der verlorenen Zeit. Da darf man dann schon mal Einkehr halten." [Bad Alchemy]
|
2012 |
€14.00 |
|
| VAN HOORN, NILS |
Colours |
CD |
"In the middle of 2001, Niels van Hoorn (Legendary Pink Dots) received a friendly email from Ryan Moore (Twilight Circus Dub Sound System / Legendary Pink Dots) offering assistance with his new solo album. He promised 'no stress, just fun!' And that is exactly what happened. Moore ended up playing drums and congas, which were looped and later employed for multi-track recordings. Van Hoorn's experiments with a Boomerang Phrase sampler resulted in the first sax loop on the album, which were mixed live with effects to a 2-track tape. For the most part, Van Hoorn placed himself in the middle of his studio, encircled by his collection of saxes, clarinets, flutes, analogue windsynths and keyboards, and would walk around to each, improvising. Everything was then recorded by Moore and passed through his 'effects kitchen; for some sonic baking. And voila! 'Colours' came into being. Both Niels and Ryan hope you enjoy listening to it as much as they enjoyed producing it." [press release] |
2003 |
€12.50 |
|
| VAN VELDHOVEN, WOUTER |
Four simple Songs for five dead Bumblebees |
CD |
Debut-Album für den Niederländer WOUTER VAN VELDHOVEN, der elektronisch verfremdete Drones und "kleine" Instrumenten-Klänge sowie Holzknirschen & weitere leise Objektsounds zu sehr intimen, warmen, minimalen Tracks verwebt.. kommt im handgemachten Stoffcover, auf neuem Label aus Utrecht !
"The debut full length of dutch sound artist Wouter van Veldhoven is also the first release on the eat this media label.
Wouter is becomming a well known name in the dutch experimental music scene with his reel to reel tape recorders. Seeing his live perfomance is believing; handcrafted analogue ambient. With this record he convinces the homelistener of his qualities too.
The first track opens with sounds of a wooden floor. Sounds are added, melodies float by, get recorded and degenerate. And then you wake up, realising the music has stopped and you're listening to silence, the silence of your room."
[label info]
"After appearing alongside Machinefabriek and Soccer Committee on previous releases, Wouter Van Veldhoven has at last put together an official (i.e. non-CD-r) debut solo album. Don't be misled by its excessively humble title: this album is anything but simple. While the melodic content and the range of sounds Van Veldhoven draws upon are highly accessible, production wise there's an awful lot going on here. Although the artist's combination of drone tones, static signals, field recordings and ramshackle instrumentation is certainly nothing new to the world of ambient electronics, Wouter still manages to make something fresh, and moreover, emotionally resonant. Everything is balanced, EQed and filtered to perfection, meaning these forty minutes are deeply absorbing, but beyond that there's a plainly evident musicality to all this that tends to be absent from a lot of the more academically-geared music in the genre. A real joy to listen to, and decked out in landed gentry-style tweed packaging, Four Simple Songs For Five Dead Bumblebees must be this week's best dressed, and most quietly beautiful release. Highly recommended." [Boomkat]
www.eatthismedia.org
|
2008 |
€10.00 |
|
| VAN WISSEM, JOZEF / SQÜRL |
Only Lovers left Alive (OST) |
do-LP |
"Soundtrack for the critically acclaimed Jim Jarmusch film Only Lovers Left Alive, starring Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton. The score for Only Lovers Left Alive - a collaboration between SQÜRL (Jim Jarmusch, Carter Logan and Shane Stoneback) and Dutch lutenist Jozef Van Wissem - serves as a reflection of the distinct textures of Detroit and Tangier, bridging ancient and modern sounds, entangled and timeless. Avant-Baroque lute weaves through twenty-first century guitar grit, heavy back beats, Moroccan percussion, synth bass, field recordings, and numerous sonic effects to create a cinematic tapestry. Guest vocalist Madeline Follin (Cults) appears on SQÜRL's syrup soaked re-interpretation of the Wanda Jackson hit "Funnel of Love". Zola Jesus' commanding vocal soars through Van Wissem's "In Templum Dei". And Yasmine Hamdan's intimate and evocative "Hal", recorded on the set of the film and mixed by SQÜRL. The film and soundtrack album were released worldwide in 2014, and quickly earned the group the Cannes Soundtrack Award from a consortium of film and music critics. In the years that have followed it has remained a favorite of critics and fans alike, who have continued to hunt down the limited vinyl copies in existence."
https://squrlnyc.bandcamp.com/album/only-lovers-left-alive-original-motion-picture-soundtrack
|
2021 |
€29.50 |
|
| VANCE ORCHESTRA |
Organizing the Evidence |
mCD-R |
active from 1996 to 2005 (releases on noise museum, ee tapes, waystyx, drone records...), both members resurrected VANCE ORCHESTRA a couple of years ago after being involved in other projects: (ad)VANCE(d) for mars, the dear listeners for robert. now they're back together for this strange and addictive 3" in three parts full of mysterious sounds...
https://taalem.bandcamp.com/album/organizing-the-evidence-alm-129
"“Organizing the Evidence” is the first release from Dutch duo Vance Orchestra in a rather
long time. They officially called it quits back in 2005, splitting into solo projects (ad)VANCE(d) and The Dear Listeners. Apparently, they reunited in 2018 to record this short, strange mini-album of roughly dissonant organ and synthesizer crawl with a seemingly live-in-one-go direct-to-tape atmosphere. The whole mess is smeared with in-the-red production overload that suggests an enervating instability, as if “…Evidence” might veer out of the players’ control into chaotic noise at any moment. The Orchestra keeps their fried circuits reigned in for the most part, but they don’t let up the pressure or implied threat of looming disaster. This EP might too grating and irritating to be ambience or even drone music, though those elements are evident in Vance’s DNA. If the group records more, I’ll be curious to hear where they go from here." [Howard Stelzer / Vital Weekly] |
2019 |
€5.50 |
|
| VASILISK |
Acqua |
LP |
"Reissue of Japanese tribal/industrial pioneers, released back in 1989 on Musica Maxima Magnetica. Originally recorded and mixed in London, Napoli and Tokyo 1988, now remastered with additional bonus track. Comes on transparent green vinyl, limited to 150 copies." [label info]
www.steinklang-records.at
"Akin to William Bennett's Cut Hands or perhaps to the acoustic-leaning facets of Muslimgauze or to the slightly more obscure British project O Yuki Conjugate, Vasilisk were a well-regarded Japanese outfit of ritual-industrial musicians who released a handful of albums in the late '80s. Now, they've undergone a necessary reissue campaign thanks to the Austrian imprint Steinklang. Acqua (1989) was the third and final album from the band's first incarnation. And while they's since reformed, with a couple of albums that's we've not yet heard including one with the nihilist industrial project Dissecting Table, Vasilisk have long been lumped into the continuum of industrial culture (mostly since two members of Vasilisk started out in the brutalist punk-noise trio White Hospital with Jun Konagaya later christening himself Grim), but the music of Vasilisk falls more on the hypnogogic, dreamy side of tribal esoterica. Synths, organs, flutes, and guitars float through Acqua's processional tracks. This is especially true for the lengthy title cut which has much more of the kosmische atmospherics of a Popul Vuh or even a Motion Sickness Of Time Travel, before an ominous clamor from hand-drums turns the vibe in a completely different but wholly cinematic direction. The shorter tracks follow Vasilisk's mantra-based hypnosis through acoustic rhythms, moody flute drone, and suspended ambience; but the longest piece marks one of the earliest appearances from long-standing aQ-favorite Tatsuya Yoshida, aka the ringleader of the Ruins. This is a live session recorded with Yoshida behind a drum-kit and pushing the velocity at a considerably greater speed than what Vasilisk had typically performed. Around Yoshida's Charles Hayward / Jaki Leibezeit timekeeping, the rest of Vasilisk punctuates with tumbled percussion, time-warp electric drones and more of those ghostly flutes." [Aquarius Records]
|
2014 |
€20.00 |
|
| VAZHES |
Urja |
mCD-R |
"Conceptual mini-album of Vazhes featuring leading Russian post-industrial artists Vresnit и Akpan. A voyage to a lost among the boggy forests Komi-Permyak village of Urja located near the huge site of Kuregkar ("hen town") of a mythic people of Chud' (Vazhes) on shore of Nylva ("girl's water") river. First composition makes it's path through the twilight of sundown foreboding night. A mystery of shadows, calm flow of water through the grass of fields. Evil rituals of black wizards can be heard in the night darkness of the second track, sparkles of fire flying high in starry sky, shades moving in a rhythm, gloomy incantations, voices appealing to mysterious beings. Daybreak in Urja. Sunlit fields, haystacks covered with morning dew, stubborn and viscous fog hiding in forest borders and river valley, singing birds and bawls of cattle following a shepherd playing horn. Beautiful material in nice packaging: handmade cardboard cover with three photos. [press-release]
www.operatorprod.narod.ru
|
2010 |
€8.00 |
|
| VELDMAN, HESSEL |
Ymuiden |
CD |
Winter-Light welcomes Hessel Veldman: musician, composer and producer to our label with his new album 'Ymuiden'. The album comprises of seven experimental electronic soundscapes, laced with industrial elements, creating a hypnotic, dark undercurrent of sound.
'Ymuiden' is an experimental audio sound map of Ijmuiden, Noord-Holland, The Netherlands. A city where Hessel grew-up and still lives today. A place that has seen much happen, many changes and innovation in its short history, as Hessel outlines below .....
Ymuiden - Hessel Veldman:(Shadows of IJmuiden’s Roughness)
Ymuiden…
IJmuiden…
my place of birth…
the place where I spent my youth…
the place where I still live…
IJmuiden…
the place that was born in 1876…
where they dug and conquered the dunes…
where they gave birth to the mouth (muiden) of the harbour (Piervrees) of Amsterdam (IJ)…the place of raw (Rauw) labour…
the off-shore industry (Stuurlast)…
the steel factory (Ademslak)…
the gateway (docks; Sluisgelag) to Amsterdam…
the exit to the world (Scheepskoorts)…
the international fishing harbour (Tongrot)…
the fortified WWII (1943-1945) city (Duinbeton)…
January 26th 2022 will see the opening of the world's greatest lock (Zeesluis IJmuiden) and the release of 'Ymuiden' by Hessel Veldman.
Recorded in IJmuiden, The Netherlands @ De Goede Herder Kerk studio; winter 2019/2020.
All tracks recorded, composed and produced by Hessel Veldman.
Sound sources: KORG MS20 + archived field recordings.
Mastered by Martijn Comes at the Immovable Substance studio.
Cover sleeve photo’s made by Murray Maffra, at different locations in IJmuiden.
Cover design Midnight Sun Studio.
Special thanks to Mark O'Shea, Nicole, Martijn Comes, Visserhallen, John Williams and inspirer Willem de Ridder.
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| VELEHENTOR |
From the Gloom of Graves |
CD |
Very gloomy dark ambience, sad & melancholic tunes in the way of RAISON D'ETRE, SVARTSINN or other acts appearing on CYCLIC LAW, EIBON Records or COLD MEAT INDUSTRY....
VELEHENTOR also uses spoken words, slow percussive elements and guitar, and thus creates his very own vision & style..
VELEHENTOR is the 2nd project of Drone Records-artist CLOSING THE ETERNITY, from Ekaterinburg / Russia !
"Classic Dark Ambient: cold echo of unknown rituals straying in the pitch darkness of resonant stone labyrinths. Paranoiac trance
induced by the feeling of lifeless presence in the crypts that breathe with dead moisture. Glacial serenity of indifferent doom.
The album was recorded during the winter of 1999-2000.
Pitch black digipack with varnished pictures and info. Limited to 460 copies." [label info]
www.abgurd.com
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| VELGENATURLIG |
Opalescent Pust |
CD |
"Our next release on the Winter-Light label is by the Portuguese sound sculpture VelgeNaturlig and is entitled 'Opalescent Pust'.
VelgeNaturlig is no stranger to Winter-Light, having appeared on our recent DCD compilation "...that first season", with his beautiful track 'Golden'. 'Opalescent Pust' has an entirely different feeling altogether, one of constant motion, one of change. 'Opalescent Pust'; the breath opal, the colour of pearl, the purest form of breath. A cleansing process, that of a purifying experience. Purity.
From the opening moments of the first track 'Onset', you know you are entering a world that is both familiar to you, but also somewhat alien at the same time. It's an inward journey that you have begun; a travel within yourself that you should feel comfortable with as it's you. But the dark tones and underlying menace of the music let you know that, in no uncertain terms, before you can reach that light, that purity, you must first traverse the dark paths of your own mind and wrestle with whatever it is you find lurking there. And so the tone is set.
Tracks such as 'Opal' push you further into the blackness where, lying there in state, you can hear the electrical impulses of your own thoughts, embellished through 'Amorphous Silence'. 'Diffraction','Gold Opacity' and 'Pust' will leave you floating and submerged in your own flotation tank. Drifting into nothingness, a time to shed and let go. 'Obsidiana', 'The Hum' and 'Plateau' push you upwards and on towards a ceiling of light, crashing first through barriers of your own constricting thoughts and feelings where finally...with 'Exhale', you can at last breath; the purest breath.
The album began life as a one take improvisational piece, which was then fine tuned in the studio by Ivo Santos (aka VelgeNaturlig), resulting in the fluid, organic wave of sound that you now hear. This full CD of new and original music comprises of 10 tracks of experimental drone and ambient soundscapes.
All music has been recorded by VelgeNaturlig, the end of 2016. Fine tuned by Ivo Santos, Home Studio in 2017. All tracks have been mastered by Cruel Sound Works. The cover concept and design is by Midnight Sun Studio © 2017.
The edition is presented in a 6-page full colour digi-pack. Running time 69:48."
www.winter-light.nl
https://winter-light.bandcamp.com/album/opalescent-pust
|
2017 |
€13.00 |
|
| VENROOY, ESTHER |
Shift Coordinate Points |
LP |
Schon mit “To shape volumes, repeat“ (CD, Robo Records] war diese belgische Komponistin aufgefallen, jetzt erscheint diese sehr konzeptuelle Soundart-Platte als erste LP-Veröffentlichung auf dem britischen ENTR’ACTE, die ominöse Spionage-Radiodurchsagen als Soundquellen benutzt.
“Composed and produced by Esther Venrooy in 2005. Commissioned by Happy New Ears with the kind support of the Flemish community. In 1997, British maverick label Irdial-Discs collected a selection of so-called ‘numbers stations’ or ‘spy stations’ recordings under the title The Conet Project. This plays like a ‘best of’ of more than 30 years’ worth of secret radio and contains fragments of American, German, Swedish and Russian transmissions. Belgian composer Esther Venrooy was given permission to work with the material and for the occasion of the celebration of 75 years of Belgian radio created a highly personal interpretation of the medium’s secret history. Using manipulated sound and collage techniques she manages to distill an abstract poetry of sounds and thereby succeeds in extracting some meaning out of these hermetic transmissions.K9 moved back into the combat area ‹ Standing now in the Chineseyouth sent the resistance message jolting clicking tilting through the pinball machine ‹ Enemy plans exploded in a burst of rapidcalculations ‹ Clicking in punch cards of redirected orders ‹
Crackling shortwave static ‹ Word falling ‹ Photo falling ‹ Break through in Grey Room ¬ Pinball led streets ¬ Free doorways ¬“ [label description]
“About nine years ago, Irdial Records released a four CD 'The Conet Project', collecting sounds from number stations, or spy stations: transmissions found on radio waves of various secret services. A great and no doubt worrying work, if you understand the consequences of it, but also a wealth of great sound. I believe it is not allowed to use these sounds at will (I forget what the fuzz was all about, but somebody got sued for sampling some of it), but Esther Venrooy asked and got permission to use the material to create a sound piece for Belgium radio, which existed seventy-five years. If one is familiar with the original 'Conet Project' recordings, then it's easy to spot all the original voices ('five - three - two - zero - five'), but Venrooy knows her classics in music, especially that of musique concrete: the sudden shifts in sounds, the gentle gliding electronic tones, but also incorporating a little melody at the beginning of the second side. There is nothing really frightening about these voices anymore, they are isolated from the original context, and placed in this new, abstract picture, where they become voices of the unknown. They no longer have their original meaning, but rather a new one. This is a more than excellent record, and by far the best work by Venrooy to date.” [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2006 |
€15.50 |
|
| VERGARA, JESUS A. |
R Derive Aplysia |
MC |
There is always something special about tracks that were made of field recordings. Sometimes it is just the moment you recognize the original sounds that makes you happy but sometimes the tracks engrosses you, so you find yourself in a soundworld that takes you on a journey you don´t want to miss. Well, Jesús Vergara from Mexico does exactly that.
The title track is a massive piece of music and a statement of an Mexican artist, who has to tell a story worth listening to. If you want to find out more about the background of the album, you can read further below in the artist text, but you also can search for hints in the artwork.
Tegh from Iran did a remix for the B Side of the tape, that takes the track further into songstructures without loosing the original field recordings storyline.
https://midirarecords.bandcamp.com/album/r-derive-aplysia |
2022 |
€11.00 |
|
| VERNON & BURNS |
The Tune The Old Cow Died Of |
LP |
This is a collection that will appeal mainly to the absent-minded coterie. All the sounds of fun and fear are here. How does a disko club sound from outside? How do you stop a tape at the right position? Have you ever listened to some tramps singing in the park? The answers to these questions can be found in the marvellous music of these two Scottish tape-musicians who are equipped with a fine sense of poetic humour. File under vaudioville, varièté concrete, documentary forgery, unsound art, whorespiel, blunderphonics, (not of this) world music, imaginary soundtreks, unimaginative soundtracks, lower case, lower class, lower quality, lower prices hurry hurry now while stocks last!!!
“They have some great sounds, strong ideas about juxtaposition, and use them in a very winning way… Whilst not setting themselves up as 'proper' experimenters along the order of Luc Ferrari or Bernard Parmegiani, this duo can often be more bold or daring than any establishment electro-acoustic musician." - Ed Pinsent, Sound Projector
“Together they splice real life audio recordings into small radio plays… Tramps on a bench, the music outside a disco or a walk in the snow. But these real life recordings have been altered, changed and added to, so that a small musical story becomes alive …small fascinating journeys”. - Frans de Waard, Vital Weekly
"With its modernistic abstract sleeve design that looks like a computer printer malfunctioning, this one certainly comes across as a bit of an oddity, but turns out to be a good example of well-crafted tape-work and sound art. Vernon and Burns are a team based in Glasgow, and both of them have been involved in radio work. (Also it seems that they perform as Boy Band Tax Returns, whatever sort of project that may be). Here they use spliced tapes, documentary recordings, found materials and allsorts, and quietly assemble a very charming and beguiling set of pieces.
What really gives them the edge over so many records of this ilk is that V & B have a great sense of humour and fun. This record shows it is possible to work in the cut-up mode without needing to resort to obscene jokes or infantile frat-boy humour. Since I've heard so many records recently spewed forth from the USA shock-jock mentality of Broken Penis Orchestra and others of a similar adolescent mentality, its extremely refreshing to find something so much more subtle and informed by a dry wit. Vernon and Burns are not trying to be 'shocking' or 'ironic', even when they use childrens' records or old educational tapes from forgotten sources. They have some great sounds, strong ideas about juxtaposition, and use them in a very winning way. At times it may come across as the work of two BBC staffers having a bit of fun with tapes from the radio archive, but then perhaps that's very close to what it is. Their unassuming stance grows on you, keeps you listening. Whilst not setting themselves up as 'proper' experimenters along the order of Luc Ferrari or Bernard Parmegiani, this duo can often be more bold or daring than any establishment electro-acoustic musician."
Ed Pinsent, Sound Projector.
https://vernonandburns.bandcamp.com/album/the-tune-the-old-cow-died-of |
2005 |
€15.00 |
|
| VERNON & BURNS MEETS LIED MUSIC |
Lost Lake |
LP |
Lost Lake sees the return of the collaborative project between sound art duo Vernon &: Burns (Mark Vernon and Barry Burns) and Lied Music (Luke Fowler and John W Fail). It is a sequel to the long-sold out LP Lied Music vs.Boy-Band Tax Returns (released on Ultra Eczema, 2006). This LP merges musique concrète compositional approaches with absurdist improvisational strategies. The four artists met in Glasgow where they recorded a series of sporadic improvised sessions using a diverse array of sound-making instruments (amplified toys and objects, guitar, analogue synths, percussion, squeeze box, field recordings and found tapes). Improvised sessions from 2008 were subsequently manipulated, tortured and caressed, both individually and collectively, into a series of highly idiosyncratic song-forms and sound collages.
https://vernonandburns.bandcamp.com/album/lost-lake
"The latest entry in the Vernon & Burns catalogue sees this Glasgow duo teaming up with Lied Music, the duo of Luke Fowler and John W. Fail. Lost Lake (SHADAZZ SHA.11) is one of the stranger and darker emissions from these talented creatives, particularly if you care to compare it with the sometimes more playful assemblages of V&B, or the deliciously offbeat melodic avant-pop tunes created by Fowler as part of Rude Pravo. At first spin the record is a near-bewildering toasted-cheese sandwich, a concoction which contains at least a zillion ideas apparently thrown together any which way. Faced with such an array, discerning avant-LP listeners may want to reach for The Faust Tapes as one touchstone, but another credible precedent is the unearthly Bladder Flask LP 1, that ne plus ultra of cut-up sound art put together by a teenaged Richard Rupenus as if possessed by some fevered desire to surpass the worst excesses of the lunatic fringe end of the United Dairies catalogue. But the Bladder Flask release had the underlying sinister aim of sending all those who heard it mad, through highlighting the complete absurdity and futility of everything. Lost Lake has a more benign mission, thankfully. The album has been very carefully crafted, using sets of recorded improvisation sessions produced by the four players, aiming to resculpt the near-chaos of that source material into a coherent structure. Within that structure, fractured songs and equally fractured stories emerge; yes, a scrambled form of a radio listening or cinematic experience, which is an effect Vernon & Burns have striven for with a good deal of their work (and have produced many items expressly in radiophonic mode). As to the cinematic, Fowler is also a film-maker. There is a logic to this scheme, but it is hard to follow and weaves its way around in a highly secretive and intuitive fashion, like an errant underground stream full of eccentric fish and darting river-insects stained in unnatural colours. We could account for some of this quirkiness by pointing out that all four creators were involved in the refashioning process, rather than a single editorial hand behind the editing knife; one can imagine the clashing dynamism generated by four powerful personalities, each of them bending the path of events in their favour. Additionally, the source material itself was not exactly straightforward music to begin with, but created using the now-virtually-standard set-up of the modern improviser, that is amplified instruments, toys, found tapes, field recordings, and live electronics. From this rich stew, voices and tunes emerge from amid a varispeeded and highly layered humid aggregation of extremely strange sounds. And yes, like the Rupenus LP, it is quite absurdist, but I like to think it’s a fun and cartoony absurdity, rather than bleak and Beckett-like. That said, this aural bric-a-brac crawls out from a dark attic of the mind, and is as much an unsettling listen as it is entertaining. Corin Sworn’s cover art encodes all the above information quite perfectly. Using collage technique (naturally), it depicts a figure sitting on a sofa surrounded by hideously “tasteful” drapes and furnishings. This image of bourgeois normality is thoroughly disrupted by replacing the outline of the figure with fragments of urban horror and machinery, then further scrambling the visual schema with concentric rings and diagonal bars, suggesting the power of the aural emanations on the record. The album is, we are told, a sequel to a 2006 release called Lied Music vs Boy-Band Tax Returns, which we reviewed in our Vinyl Viands issue." [Ed Pinsent, Sound Projector online, December 15, 2012]
|
2011 |
€16.00 |
|
| VERNUSKY, MIKE |
Aatma |
LP |
"Aatma is the re-imagining of my recent journey into Mumbai through sound, place, and moment with a Nagra SD recorder. The work was composed immediately upon my return while these things were, in a very real sense, still resonating in my mind.
Part 1 is the arrival. Echoes of the shanka can be heard from a distant past across the Arabian Sea, as waves wash debris ashore and push you deep into the tumult of the city. Here you may experience the current of life and ride old trains into spectral shadows of obscure & eccentric Bollywood and devotional vinyl records from a local music boutique.
Part 2 is a precarious walk across the narrow causeway leading to Haji Ali Dargah, a 600-year-old mosque only accessible at low tide. It is difficult to reach the mosque without being taken aback by the disparate forms of life unfolding on the way in, both in the sky and on foot as can be heard here.
Part 3, the final section, is a departure from the hustle of the city altogether. This section delves into the droning, colorful, and percussive instruments with their richly complex and evolving timbres. It culminates in a return to daily shanty life on the beach accompanied by transistor radios blasting modern bollywood music.
Aatma is a tribute to Mumbai’s wonderful people and culture, and in the hope of representing different and altered states of listening, living, and celebrating. I hope you find this journey as inspiring as it was for me." [Mike Vernusky]
Music and field recordings by Mike Vernusky
Mastering and additional tempura by Cory Allen
Design by Noopur Choksi
Photography by James David Smith
Kind logistical support by Bhanuj Kappal, Damian O'Riain & Jay Kumar Singh.
Special thanks to Manuella Blackburn and illapfest UK.
Bollywood vinyl courtesy of Pilak Bhatt of MusicCircle.
https://fernsrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/aatma
|
2021 |
€18.00 |
|
| VERTICCHIO, GIUSEPPE |
Tjukurpa |
CD-R |
GUISEPPE VERTICCHIO is the man behind NIMH, who also pubished deep ambient works under his real name.
This private release from 1999 explores the beauty of Didgeridoo-sounds, six very nice pieces of ehnic ambience...
reminds on some works of AMIR BAGHIRI, GRASSOW, the AMPLEXUS-Label.
“Get in if you are into didjeridoo: Giuseppe's a skilled pratictioner, and though i'd have appreciated more a bunch of crude, unmediated recordings of the instrument's playing, this disc goes by way fascinating, enriched by tribal chants, processed crickets, synthesizer textures and a bunch of fx's that helps making the whole smoother. If the name of Steve Roach comes to your mind reading these words, be warned: this is less produced, less big studio imprinted than the before mentioned, therefore, at least to my ears, sounds more genuine, authentic, sincere. No loops, no tricks, just somebody blowing into a big hollow trunk and an old computer tricking backgrounds into existence while it happens. The jewel case presents a colour print of a cave painting, perfectly in argument."
[P.Ippoliti]
|
1999 |
€8.00 |
|
| VERTONEN |
Return of the Interrobang |
CD |
VERTONEN gehört mittlerweile zu den interessantesten US–Elektro-Geräuschmusikern, tönt stets abwechslungsreich und überraschend. So auch hier, ein übergreifendes „Thema“ sind repetitive Klangstrukturen..... so gibt es ein langes welliges Drone-Stück, welches sich gut entwickelt; pumpende Sinustöne- und Gameboy-artige Sounds beim nächsten, repetitive Orgel-artige Loopmuster, Samples von lockerer Piano-Barmusik, etc. etc.
“Produced with support from a CAAP grant, this disc highlights three aspects of experimental audio I have been exploring over the past years: deep drone washes, throbbing, lurching activities, and manipulated turntables/vinyl.” [Vertonen] “Have seen a lot of Vertonen shows here in Chicago, bumped across a comp track or two, heard him on the radio twice, but this is surprisingly the first time I've sat down at home with a Vertonen release. So far the live stuff has come across as great loud deep-flow crash-sizzle, often with a nasty beat orientation wrecking through it, but on wax it's been unpredictable, softer but somehow heavier--and Return of the Interrobang surprises me further with deep glacial industrial dare-I-say-mellow textures. First track is a rather gorgeous and fairly soft (but thick) drone, not completely unlike something you'd hear from Birchville Cat Motel.... Great tones, glowing embers with doom undercurrents, packed with a sci-fi title: "Toroidal Circulation 1 & 2." (Never mind, I just looked it up and it's a science fact title.) Second track comes in with a hard beat, your basic urban alarm siren drill kind of thing, with mysterious sounds floating in the background, and it's pretty heavy, but ends up the most 'typical' track on the CD, because the remaining three, a trilogy called "The Medical Turntable Variations," are just lovely little subtle stumbling loop miniatures. I mean, sure, you can infer a creepy entropic 'broken machine' connotation with all three tracks, and the title of the third part, "Deplete To Ruination, The Wide Shift," is of course something scary to contemplate, and topical too: the ostensibly approaching era where dystopian science fiction becomes dystopian science fact. (There's that "it's not science fiction, it's science fact" thing again, he's good with that.) Possibly the loveliest of the three, but it does have a haunted piano thing going on...like, say, the haunted piano bar of a big-city luxury hotel in ruins, long abandoned by human life, now a bizarre gargantuan relic of the oil age...oh, and hey, what's an interrobang?! Is that science fiction or science fact?!—[Blastitude 18]
|
2004 |
€12.00 |
|
| VETROPHONIA |
Promzona |
CD |
Das Projekt von ALEXANDER LEBEDEV-FRONTOV (LINIJA MASS, STALNOJ PAKT) und NICK SOUDNIK (ZGA), zwei der lange aktiven Akteure der russischen Experimental-Szene. Auf 'Promzona' wird aus elektronischen & instrumentellen Quellen & found sounds eine sehr agile 'futuristische' mechanisch-industrielle, soundtrackhafte Geräuschmusik geschaffen, die zwischen den Polen 'dunkel-schwelend atmosphärisch' und 'kakophonisch-ausbrechender Maschinen-Lärm' schwankt. Die Musik ist in permanenter Bewegung mit vielen kleinsten und allerkleinsten Details und irren Sounds darin, man fühlt sich mitunter wie im Innern einer riesigen Maschine...
6 Stücke, 70 Minuten Spielzeit, Studio-Aufnahmen vom Sommer 2004, grossformatiges gedrucktes Klappcover.
"Brand new album from this legendary orthodox-futuro-industrial project from St. Petersburg. Landscapes of industrial zones, clanks of rusty metal sheets, rings of glass concrete, rumbles of locomotives, roar of fabric pipes and sounds of gramophone from the workshop. Only mind-blowing composition "Protaskivanie Trub" ("Pulling the Pipes") filled with worker's speech samples is worth listening. Vetrophonia doesn't forget about the technological progress too - track "Informatika" tells us about the newest electronic computers working with perforated tapes. Be up to date, listen to Vetrophonia!" [Zhelezobeton]
|
2005 |
€12.00 |
|
| VIBRACATHEDRAL ORCHESTRA |
Tuning to the Rooster |
CD |
Die Meister des instrumentellen impro-psych-drones mit neuem Material, dass zum ersten Mal durch ein 24-Spur Mischpult gewandert sein soll (und nicht wie sonst aus simplen 2-Spur Aufnahmen besteht).
Nicht nur alte Acid Heads wie JULIAN COPE halten diese in quasi-rituellen Gruppen-Performances entstandende Musik für zeitgemässes Schamanentum, mit der bewussteinsverändernde Exkursionen möglich werden.....hier trifft die Kraft des Ur-Klangs, des Ur-Drones auf archaisch-menschliche Ekstasewünsche, und das macht das VIBRA-ORCHESTRA so besonders....
"This is music as a shamanic aid, made as much for the players themselves as for the listeners. But as I'm writing from the listening perspective, I have to inform y'all that this is music to get you there. Every track sounds as though it has always just 'been there,' it's just you ain't quite tuned into its peculiar frequency until now. The 12-and-a-half minute 'Wearing Clothes of Ash' is like a piano-led 'Paradieswarts Duul-period drone-a-thon with John Cale and Terry Riley guesting on viola and keys. Following this, the sublime 'Baptism Bar Blues' is proof positive that they can rock the riot house with pure adrenaline rush when the decision is made. Indeed, this track is magnificent and should be available to the masses free or in pill form." [Julian Cope]
“Vibracathedral Orchestra are one of those rare groups with a completely singular sound and a seemingly endless reserve of psych rock free drone inspiration with which to explore it. For us, they are one of the only bands who we could literally listen to forever, an everlasting endless jam, unfurling over the course of the next 50 years, each riff unfolding every month or so, each drum hit an entire day, melodies stretching for weeks and weeks. Our eyes close and we drift off to the next world while the music plays on...
That's exactly how it feels listening to Tuning To The Rooster. The songs are long, and they do feel gloriously and deliriously long, but they're never quite long enough. Not for us anyway. VCO have been masters of the drone, of the slowly shifting soundscape since their inception, but much like Skullflower discovering their inner Hawkwind on recent records, VCO seem to also have rediscovered the RIFF this time around. The opening track is like an Allman Brothers track gone totally apeshit. Or maybe Skullflower jamming with the Outlaws. Or something! There's a jangly sort of Southern rock riff, over chaotic propulsive drumming, a serious jam for sure, but the whole thing is wrapped in a thick cloak of droning shimmering distorted guitar noise, a continual psychedelic freakout SO continual that it becomes a static psych rock drone, with the original riff eventually repeating mantra like until it meshes with the background drone and it all becomes a brain melting divine psychedelic jam of the highest order. Woah, everyone who freaked out over Skullflower's Exquisite Fucking Boredom needs to check this out! The second track is back to that classic VCO sound we can never get enough of. A primal primitive space jam, all drones and rumbles and whirs and shimmers, a glorious pagan ritual that makes us want to lay naked in the middle of the forest and sink into the wet leaves as our eyes sparkle with reflections of shooting stars. Drifting and dreaming... The last two tracks again focus on the riff, hypnotic and repetitive, like Steve Reich composing for Hawkwind. A glorious minimal psychedelic jam, wreathed in a haze of swirling feedback and wild melodies, minor key pianos, and all manner of swoosh and swoop. So utterly and fantastically divine!“ [Aquarius]
|
2005 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Wisdom Thunderbolt |
CD |
"Wisdom Thunderbolt marks the triumphant return of Vibracathedral Orchestra after more than three years in the wilderness of intermittent performance, tangential projects, and unfindable limited editions.
The seven tracks on Wisdom are thee VCO's most rocking dispatch ever, neatly combining the Ra-like collage of tracks like "Wisdom Thunderbolt" with the insistent pulsing jams of "A Natural Fact" and "Order of the Broad Eraser." "Ochre Dust" and "Rainbow Whirlwind" are more in the old-school VCO thick-blanket of sound, with tuned-percussion melody peeking out from the fog. After a surprise opening, "Sway-Sage" heaves with raucous drumming (courtesy of Magik Marker Pete Nolan) under the swells of sound. Hard to imagine, but this is the first widely available music (except for the Tuning to the Rooster comp) from the VCO since 2003's acclaimed The Queen of Guess." [label info]
"First proper full length in a while from these ur-drone space
explorers, which is long overdue, considering the protracted near
silence of VCO, and Matthew Bower all but abandoning his Sunroof! in
favor of the noisier Hototogisu. Whatever you call that sort of music
that Sunroof!/VCO traffic in, very few other outfits have managed to
channel the same sort of ferocious guitar freakout and blissy ambient
swirl into the magical metallic drift that those two groups did.
So here we have Wisdom Thunderbolt, featuring the VCO usual
suspects (Neil Campbell, Mick Flower, Bridget Hayden, Adam Davenport) with a whole mess of special guests, underground drumlord Chris Corsano, the aforementioned Matthew Bower (Skullflower, Sunroof!, Hototogisu, etc.), Pete Nolan of the Magik Markers and John Godbert (Skullflower, Total) and the sound is exactly as we remember it. Thick and dense, swirling and blissed out, druggy and blurry,
smeared and shimmering. There is percussion, it mostly tinkles and
skitters, but occasionally pounds and swings, organs and synths are
woven into weird little buzzing soundscapes, horns wail and skronk,
guitars growl and jangle...
While the opening track is a ramshackle stumble, all over the
place, but in a very good way, the second track is where the band
locks into that perfect groove they've always been capable of. A
blown out stretch of raga like buzz, tribal drums underpinning a
simple riff, a spacey sea sick shimmer, all wrapped up in layers of
guitar buzz and hissy synth, rich and thick and totally mesmerizing.
The rest of the record is more of the same, longform buzz
drenched krautrocky drone jams, with some notable exceptions. The 12+ minute "Rainbow Whirlwind, which sounds like some lost Spacemen 3 jam, the guitars pulsing and throbbing, tones beating against other tones, the synths and guitars creating constantly shifting rhythms, interrupted in the middle by a blown out free noise fest, before
slipping back into spaced out pulse and dreamy drift.
And, the uncharacteristically 'rock'-y intro to "Sway-Sage"
that sounds like the Guess Who's "American Woman", before quickly
slipping back into some super distorted space jam, with a glitchy
buzz laid over a relentless rhythm, and with thick ropy swirls of
guitar and synth buzz burying everything in that distinctly VCO warm
washed out sonic blur." [Aquarius Records]
www.vhfrecords.com
|
2007 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Dabbling with gravity and who you are |
CD |
Aufnahmen von 2000, endlose v.a. sehr perkussive Sessions, ein kreatürliches akustisches Durcheinander mit vielen Blasinstrumenten, toll wie alles plötzlich einen folkig-orientalischen Anstrich bekommt, 11 Stücke oder Indexe, fast 61 Minuten, das ganze hat Proberaum-Charme, wurde ja auch in der KÜCHE von MICHAEL FLOWER aufgenommen..
"New pressing of long out of print title by the classic quintet of Neil Campbell, Bridgit Hayden, Julian Bradley, Michael Flower, and Adam Davenport. Assembled from recordings of their weekly sessions in Michael's kitchen, the tracks here represent the joyous, celebratory side of the VCO - all forward motion, massed strings, percussion, horns, and little instruments rocketing forward in a swirl of sound. Compared to the more austere sounds of recent CD's like "Lino Hi" and "Versatile Arab Chord Chart," the tracks here take off from where the loose hippy chant and drum action of collectives like Amon Duul intersects with the ploygot instrumental approach of mid-60's Sun Ra (ref "Exotic Forest," "Shadow World," etc). "There is no chord formation that can be planned which creates elation or sadness, or any art which is profound enough to change anything fundamental about a person. There is just a resonance around us which musicians/artists are using or not using" - Bridgit Hayden on the VCO" [label info]
www.vhfrecords.com
|
2002 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Joka Baya |
LP |
"The ever-mysterious Vibracathedral Orchestra returns from another relatively quiet period with an uncompromising set of outre jams on a trio of limited-edition LPs. Slightly reorganized around a line-up of stalwarts Mick Flower and Adam Davenport with frequent collaborators John Godbert (Total) and John Moloney (Sunburned Hand of the Man), the band here stretches way, way out over these six sides. Joka Baya offers up a set of shorter pieces on the A-side in a high-fidelity style that contrasts the dark, smoky sound of the rest of the tracks. The percussive grooves are overlaid with Sunroof!-like shimmer, stabbing electric leads, gentle acoustic rain, and droning organ peeking through at opportune moments. The roaring side-long epic on the flip is a droning, phasing slice of psychedelia with Moloney's drums battering the tape in between long stretches of humming stasis." [label info]
www.vhfrecords.com
" It's been a while since we've heard from UK ur-drone spacelords
Vibracathedral Orchestra, founder Neil Campbell took off on his own a
while back, and now kicks up a ruckus as Astral Social Club, but the
Orchestra is still going strong, fronted by long time members Mick
Flower and Adam Davenport, who for this new set of THREE (!!) full
length releases, is joined by John Moloney of Sunburned Hand Of The
Man and the mighty John Godbert of the legendary Total.
Each of the three, Joka Baya, The Secret Base and Smoke Song,
function on their own as fully formed proper albums, but the three
also seem to fit together into one expansive whole, a sweeping
sprawling songsuite, that seems to drift from one lp to the next, and
in fact, although we didn't try it, we imagine you could probably play
these records simultaneously in various combinations and the results
would be even trippier.
Needless to say, most folks will most likely want all three,
but no harm done in starting with one, and then grabbing the others
later, unless they sell out that is, which seems very likely
considering that these are quite limited.
Up first is Joka Baya (in the black cover) beginning with a bit
of African drumming, which gives way to some gorgeously glimmering and
glistening prismatic dronemusic, swirling effects, all dreamlike and
bleary eyed, with what sounds like birdsong mixed into the chiming
notes and extended tones. The record shifts gears after that into
something much heavier and more blown out, a full on psychedelic post
Hawkwind spacejam, a heavy krautrock rhythm beneath a flurry of
tangled psych guitars. The African drums return briefly before the
band lock into a throbbing processed minimal looped dronescape, murky
and washed out, dark and hypnotic.
The flipside is a single side long epic, a slow burning cloud
of processed guitars, cymbal shimmer, glitched out FX, building to a
pounding psychedelic crescendo before slipping into a propulsive muted
buzzdrone raga outro.
The second lp is called The Secret Base (in the white and red
cover) and begins immediately with a total Spacemen 3 / Loop styled
drug rock jam, repetitive, mesmerizing, super hypnotic, the guitars
smoldering and incendiary. The next track is an Eastern tinged
spacekraut groove, strangely Southern sounding as well, a bit twang
flecked, a little dubby even, melodic, and major key and surprisingly
playful. Like the first record, The Secret Base also fills its second
side with a single extended track, this time, it's all clattery and
ritualistic and tribal, shakers, bells, hand drums, moaned and chanted
vocals, very reminiscent of Avarus, NNCK, Sunburned Hand, eventually
the sound locks into a skeletal groove, hypnotic and propulsive, but
still abstract and way loose.
Finally, the third art in the trilogy, Smoke Song (in the
Orange cover), which begins with a sprawling bit of Clattery, twangy
tribal free drift, fluttery flutes, lots of percussion, a sort of wild
and wooly drum circle, laced with woodwinds and swirling effects,
before slipping into a muted spacey jam, all subtle drumming, wheezing
chords, little bits of guitar jangle, warm whirring keyboards, druggy,
psychedelic, and just a bit Doors-y (or Wooden Shjips-y, for a more
contemporary reference).
Smoke Song too offers up a side long closer, this one ending
the whole trilogy, and it's a doozy, full on droned out drug rock,
cyclical, mesmerizing, sitar-like buzz wrapped around a simple, but
pounding motorik beat, while all around it a swirling cloud of hiss
and buzz and shimmer.
Needless to say, all three are recommended, and again, not sure
how limited these are, or how long they'll be around..." [Aquarius Records]
|
2009 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
Rec Blast Motorbike |
LP |
"Return of the mighty “classic” lineup of the VCO with their first new music in many years. Here the quintet of Michael Flower, Neil Campbell, Bridget Hayden, Adam Davenport, and Julian Bradley (joined by raconteur John Godbert) feature in a set of upbeat tracks that put the group's radical instrumental strategies into a package of full on rock action. Recorded live using a binaural head system, the sound is nicely ragged in a you-are-there way, with scouring guitars and bleeping electronics riding atop the band’s signature grooves. As with some of the band’s other records, there’s more than a hint of the early Velvet Underground spirit here – if you wish that Cale and Reed would have been more into being an instrumental band, here it is. Includes download code." [label info]
"We’ve long worshipped at the altar of these psychedelic shamans, dutifully prostrating ourselves before them, and bathing in the luxurious glow of their din, a din that has constantly evolved over the years, sometimes pure, cosmic ur-drone, other times, free-from, avant rock space-psych, and at others, a sort of mutant electronica. But in each incarnation, the group never failed to conjure up a sort of transcendental soundstate, the music, whether caustic and chaotic, or moody and minimal, always evoking a tranced out sense of mesmer, a true psychedelia that is rare, even amongst proper ‘psych’ bands.
Rec Blast Motorbike, finds the group’s original line-up together again (Michael Flower, Bridget Hayden, Neil Campbell, Adam Davenport, Julian Bradley and John Godbert) and it sounds like it. If we didn’t know better, this could easily have been some old self released cd-r, which is fine with us, the sound raw, and free, lo-fi, yet somehow lush and epic, beautiful blustery blowouts set alongside fractured folkiness, essentially rhythmless, but the rhythms that are present are more spluttery and loose, sounding like an errant snare rolling down an immense flight of stairs one minute, a field recording of someone bored restlessly tapping a tabletop at others, some tracks are driven by what could be a junkyard wind chime, and others, by a veritable hippie percussion ensemble. All the while, the rest of the crew are unfurling streaking arcs of distorted guitar buzz, rippling sheets of feedback and grinding FX doused riffage.
It’s hard to define exactly what would qualify as ‘classic’ Vibracathedral’, but to our ears, this is pretty much it. The old gang together again, making a glorious noise, like they never stopped in the first place." [Aquarius Rec] |
2015 |
€20.00 |
|
| VIDNA OBMANA |
The ultimated Sign of burning Death |
LP |
"Vidna Obmana (stylized vidnaObmana on many album covers) is a pseudonym used by Belgian composer and ambient musician Dirk Serries. 'The Ultimated Sign Of Burning Death' is officially his first tape ever. Completely recorded in his small bedroom at his parent's house in 1984, the music was made on a KORG MS20, using self-fabricated tape loops of various lengths, vocals, a few effects and an old DJ mixer. All pieces were real-time recorded on a standard Marantz tapedeck, with no overdubs. Since originally only a handful of copies were self-released, Belgium's Therapie Organisatie reissued the tape in 1985 for a limited run of 50 copies. Over time the reputation of this hard-to-find tape grew slowly but consistent. Now this rarity appears on beautiful black vinyl with remastered sound. The record is pressed on 140-gram black vinyl and comes in a deluxe silkscreened cardboard sleeve with new artwork, a luxurious insert and a plastic protection sleeve." [label info]
www.urashima.it
"Yes, that is "Ultimated" you are reading; and no, we're not too sure about it either. Vidna Obmama is the long-standing project of the Belgian electronic musician Dirk Serries. His best known work dates to the '90s, in a series of oceanic ambient records that spilled through an occluded / fictionalized ethnomusicology similar to what :zoviet*france: and O Yuki Conjugate were up to at that point in time. But the earliest cassettes by Vidna Obmana (which translates from Serbian as 'optical illusion') lives up that name as a completely different beast than those tranquilizing soundpaintings or even his smolderingly long-form guitar drone expeditions as Fear Falls Burning. The Ultimated Sign Of Burning Death was the very first release for Vidna Obmana, and has the distinction of being an aggressive industrial noise proposition, pretty much the exact opposite of what he's best known for. That said, Serries did release a compendium of his mechanically inclined industrial tapes on Vinyl On Demand several years back, showcasing his earlier more aggressive inception. But even in comparison to that box, Ultimated Sign Of Burning Death is a dense, almost power-electronic squall of unkempt distortion and hurricane-shock vocal bellows. Controlled Bleeding and early Ramleh would be very worthy reference points. Super limited pressing of just 99 copies on the ever-collectable Italian noise-imprint Urashima. Restocks are unlikely." [Aquarius Records]
|
2014 |
€27.50 |
|
|
The Trilogy |
3 x CD |
Dirk Serries, known for his Zoharum collaboration with Celer entitled 'Background Curtain', was operating for many years as Vidna Obmana. The first recordings under this moniker appeared in the mid-1980s. Initially in his work he penetrated very rough industrial sounds, but at the beginning of the following decade he turned to ambient music with subtle ethnic undertones. His first albums, where he successfully explored this style and which also brought him wider notoriety, were 'Passage in Beauty' (1991), 'Shadowing in Sorrow' (1992) and 'Ending Mirage' (1993), composing a trilogy in both sonic and visual sense. A few years later, they were reissued in one package by the American label Relic.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the release of the last album from these three. This is a good opportunity to bring the entire trilogy to light again, as it is considered one of Dirk Serries' outstanding achievements as Vidna Obmana. On top of that, all three albums, both in the form of a triple compilation and as single discs, have long been unavailable and reach quite high prices on auction sites. The discs received a new graphic design, their sound was also remastered by the artist himself. We can enjoy over three hours of these classic ambient sounds again.
The triple album is released in an 8-panel digipak and it is strictly limited to 400 pieces. The cover is designed by Maciej Mehring based on the photographs by Martina Verhoeven. Dirk Serries himself is responsible for the mastering. The whole production process was overseen by Michał Porwet.
The trilogy will be also available as a limited wooden box with an expanded content.
zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/the-trilogy
|
2018 |
€20.00 |
|
|
The Surreal Sanctuary / The Contemporary Nocturne |
do-CD |
"By releasing "The Trilogy" not so long ago, we have opened a new series in which we are trying to bring closer the VIDNA OBMANA albums, which have long been unavailable in regular distribution and which reach exorbitant prices on auction portals.
This time we took two regular albums to work on. "The Surreal Sanctuary", like "The Contemporary Nocturne", recorded with the guest appearance of Steve Roach, Jim Cole and Joris De Backer, originally appeared in 2000 on Hypnos as separate publications. However, their character, the time in which the compositions were created and the participation of the same guests combine them into an extremely poignant and musically rich entity. Therefore, together with the artist, we decided to publish a two-disc album, closing this chapter in the discography of Vidna Obmana.
All the material was remastered by Dirk Serries in 2018. Photos for this album were made by Martina Verhoeven.
The 2CD album is released in an 8-panel digipak, strictly limited to 400 copies."
https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/the-surreal-sanctuary-the-contemporary-nocturne
|
2018 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
Dante Trilogy |
3 x CD |
An almost his 25 year existency as VIDNA OBMANA Dirk Serries never shied away from challenges, sometimes to the regret of many of his fans, but it’s when he was offered a record deal with the renowned metal label RELAPSE RECORDS/RELEASE ENTERTAINMENT Vidna Obmana took his boldest step ever. With his DANTE TRILOGY he created his most ambitious, daring and unique set of albums which, for good, made him to be one of the most unique voices in the ambient and experimental scene.
Not only brought he VIDNA OBMANA to a definite conclusion but executed for him that perfect fusion of everything his project stood for since the first release in 1984.
His industrialism, the minimal ambience, the fourth world explorations and his electronic processing experiments went into blender. Utterly surreal, intense and expansive, the 3 albums TREMOR, SPORE and LEGACY showcase VIDNA OBMANA at his creative peak while conceptually the trilogy expresses Dirk Serries’ frustration, disappointment and creative turmoil as his role as VIDNA OBMANA in the ambient scene. This trilogy became that end of the road for probably his most critically-acclaimed and world-wide appreciated project but a change was necessary.
Having these 3 albums out on RELAPSE RECORDS/RELEASE ENTERTAINMENT solidified his connection to the metal and heavier guitar scene and the next chapter in DIRK SERRIES’ obsessive quest for that sublime in sound and mood was born: FEAR FALLS BURNING.
Now fully remastered, making every complex detail stand out even more, ZOHARUM is releasing the trilogy as a 3CD set with the related breathtaking photography by MARTINA VERHOEVEN. Music that according to VIDNA OBMANA was especially recorded to experience on a qualitive set of headphones.
https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/dante-trilogy-tremor-spore-legacy
"Die DANTE'S INFERNO Trilogie markiert einen starken Bruch mit den Jahren des "Transzendental-Ambients" und ist einer der letzten Arbeiten von DIRK SERRIES unter dem Namen VIDNA OBMANA. Basierend auf der dunklen Poetik der Dante'schen Verse setzt er hier schon Gitarren, metallische Obertoneffekte, elektronische Rhythmen & diverse handgespielte Perkussion ein, aber auch Ethno-artige Flötensounds und die typischen ultra-sphärischen OBMANA-Drones... auf LEGACY gibt es Gastauftritte von STEVE VON TILL (NEUROSIS), STEVEN WILSON (BASS COMMUNION) und anderen.. - das ist weit mehr als der vorher so perfekt ausgeprägte aber vorhersehbare Ambient-Stil, das ist post-industrieller, abgründiger dark ambient mit überraschenden Stilmerkmalen.." [Drone Rec. info]
|
2023 |
€20.00 |
|
| VIGROUX, FRANCK |
Totem |
do-LP |
New full length album by one of France’s most singular contemporary composer. Reflecting on ancient culture’s use and reverence for emblematic monuments which most often represent myths and stories, the album’s narrative has been infused with such symbolic and depicts an envisioned mythology, unfolding through it’s 10 aural pieces. Franck Vigroux‘s music is unique and comprised of tectonic tension, pulsating rhythms and abrasive analog textures like few can produce. Applying his own calculated personal signature in his sonic explorations his distinctiveness comes not only by his unique approach to sound but also by his incorporation of new media practices and performing arts into his A/V work.
Mastering by Denis Blackham.
Cover Photography by Emile Barret, model Armand Yerly / 2010
Double Vinyl Edition of 500 copies in matt laminated Gatefold Sleeve.
10 Tracks. Running Time 55:10.
https://aesthetical.bandcamp.com/album/totem
"With a title like Totem and its evocation of Native American traditions and the stereotypical association that evokes of nature and animals one could be forgiven for assuming French producer-composer Franck Vigroux has gone down a folk road. Instead his collision of musique concrète and electronica reasserts folk’s relationship to both the avant-garde and dance music, albeit in brutalist and abrasive fashion. This isn’t music for a campfire sing-song or to be played in a pub at midsummer but its rugged vigour nonetheless stretches away from modern production tools into something more primeval.
Totem features some of the most uncompromising and colossal electronic music you will hear this year. In a manner not a million miles away from the later work of the great Scott Walker, Vigroux builds up and juxtaposes hefty blocks of sound, often alternating between moments of calm and seething noise, as on ‘Capaupire’ on which a metronomic, minimal backbeat and ambient textures are sporadically interrupted by walls of abrasive white noise. On ‘Tropiques Tropiques’ these slabs of noise come close to echoing the caustic doom metal of a SUNN O))) or a Wolves in the Throne Room, another North American pagan leitmotiv to chime with the album’s title even as it slyly confounds any expectations of the tropics.
For all the sturm und drang, however, Totem is a subtle and intricate album that owes just as much to Wolfgang Voigt as it does Throbbing Gristle or Merzbow. Tracks like ‘Rhinocéros’, ‘Frontières’ and ‘Baron’ are low-key electronic explorations, hypnotic beats and looped synth patterns building quietly, with the expected explosions of noise kept at bay. The joy is in delving into the sonic depths Vigroux plunders to parse out hidden melodies and meanings. ‘Cris’ and ‘Chronostasis grand finale’ meanwhile are redolent of Ben Frost’s epic constructions but with the Australian’s bombast stripped away to reveal a moody, haunted core. ‘Elephant’ takes this mood to notable heights as synth lines and disembodied voices swim in and out of focus like ghosts pleading to be noticed before a wave of drone swallows them whole like a tide.
On Totem, Franck Vigroux’s take on folk traditions sees him heave up almighty boulders of sound to unearth the hidden ghosts underneath. Quite how they relate to a notion of totems remains somewhat out of reach, as do the animals evoked in certain track titles. Is this a form of unpleasant cultural appropriation or a case of sardonic humour? Such questions can make it a frustrating experience but on the other hand Totem certainly towers like its namesakes tend to and between this scale and the mysteries it contains, it’s an album that lingers in the memory even after the last notes have faded away." [The Quietus]
|
2019 |
€28.50 |
|
| |
Totem |
CD |
New full length album by one of France’s most singular contemporary composer. Reflecting on ancient culture’s use and reverence for emblematic monuments which most often represent myths and stories, the album’s narrative has been infused with such symbolic and depicts an envisioned mythology, unfolding through it’s 10 aural pieces. Franck Vigroux‘s music is unique and comprised of tectonic tension, pulsating rhythms and abrasive analog textures like few can produce. Applying his own calculated personal signature in his sonic explorations his distinctiveness comes not only by his unique approach to sound but also by his incorporation of new media practices and performing arts into his A/V work.
Mastering by Denis Blackham.
Cover Photography by Emile Barret, model Armand Yerly / 2010
Double Vinyl Edition of 500 copies in matt laminated Gatefold Sleeve.
10 Tracks. Running Time 55:10.
https://aesthetical.bandcamp.com/album/totem
"With a title like Totem and its evocation of Native American traditions and the stereotypical association that evokes of nature and animals one could be forgiven for assuming French producer-composer Franck Vigroux has gone down a folk road. Instead his collision of musique concrète and electronica reasserts folk’s relationship to both the avant-garde and dance music, albeit in brutalist and abrasive fashion. This isn’t music for a campfire sing-song or to be played in a pub at midsummer but its rugged vigour nonetheless stretches away from modern production tools into something more primeval.
Totem features some of the most uncompromising and colossal electronic music you will hear this year. In a manner not a million miles away from the later work of the great Scott Walker, Vigroux builds up and juxtaposes hefty blocks of sound, often alternating between moments of calm and seething noise, as on ‘Capaupire’ on which a metronomic, minimal backbeat and ambient textures are sporadically interrupted by walls of abrasive white noise. On ‘Tropiques Tropiques’ these slabs of noise come close to echoing the caustic doom metal of a SUNN O))) or a Wolves in the Throne Room, another North American pagan leitmotiv to chime with the album’s title even as it slyly confounds any expectations of the tropics.
For all the sturm und drang, however, Totem is a subtle and intricate album that owes just as much to Wolfgang Voigt as it does Throbbing Gristle or Merzbow. Tracks like ‘Rhinocéros’, ‘Frontières’ and ‘Baron’ are low-key electronic explorations, hypnotic beats and looped synth patterns building quietly, with the expected explosions of noise kept at bay. The joy is in delving into the sonic depths Vigroux plunders to parse out hidden melodies and meanings. ‘Cris’ and ‘Chronostasis grand finale’ meanwhile are redolent of Ben Frost’s epic constructions but with the Australian’s bombast stripped away to reveal a moody, haunted core. ‘Elephant’ takes this mood to notable heights as synth lines and disembodied voices swim in and out of focus like ghosts pleading to be noticed before a wave of drone swallows them whole like a tide.
On Totem, Franck Vigroux’s take on folk traditions sees him heave up almighty boulders of sound to unearth the hidden ghosts underneath. Quite how they relate to a notion of totems remains somewhat out of reach, as do the animals evoked in certain track titles. Is this a form of unpleasant cultural appropriation or a case of sardonic humour? Such questions can make it a frustrating experience but on the other hand Totem certainly towers like its namesakes tend to and between this scale and the mysteries it contains, it’s an album that lingers in the memory even after the last notes have faded away." [The Quietus]
|
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| VIKTOR, KNUD |
Les Ephemeres |
do-LP |
The lost masterpiece Les Éphémères by the self labeled ‘sound painter’ Knud Viktor (1924-2013) now sees its first ever release by Institute for Danish Sound Archaeology – 40 years after it was conceived. Viktor’s pioneering work – his Images Sonores – are composed of field recordings of insects, animals and the his surroundings.
A finished master tape and even a complete cover layout for Les Éphémères was found in Viktor’s archives after he passed away in 2013. The phenomenal piece was originally commissioned by the French radio station France Musique in 1977. The twenty short ‘sound images’ of Les Éphémères were originally broadcast as vignettes in-between other radio programs.
From the middle of the 1970’s Viktor began composing almost exclusively for four channels. He invented his own intuitive quadraphonic mixer – the Tetramix – to realise his spatial visions for his Image VI – The Lubéron Symphony, and from then on worked with quadraphonic sound, thus making the release of his works difficult. Les Éphémères is close in time and also holds close ties to The Lubéron Symphony, which Viktor considered his magnum opus. Perhaps most strikingly is the shift in the way he uses the recordings of insects, birds and animals in both The Lubéron Symphony and Les Éphémères: Often untreated and clearly recognizable, the field recordings leave the inherent melody and rhythm of the animal sounds to sing for themselves, layering recordings to create simple and elegant sound images. In two of the twenty pieces Viktor’s own voice blends with the animals, as he recites two poems. One about the singing vineyard populated by musical crickets, the other painting an autumn picture with wine bubbling in the barrels as we hear the wine flies humming.
Viktor’s work emanates with a tremendous love and fascination with his companion species and the landscape and geology that surrounded him. His works are devoted to depicting the life on the mountain where he lived for fifty years. Hearing how the ecology of the landscape changed as commercial farming and pesticides took effect, a larger perspective in his work became clear to him:
"As it turns out, my work has actually set many things in motion; it touches upon something universal that I feel I have a duty to convey to others. A duty that I feel as a citizen of the earth. Not as a human citizen, but as a citizen of the earth. It may sound pretentious, but this is a question of generations to come." – Knud Viktor
The world has seen dramatic ecological change since Viktor recorded his sounds. Not only have the individual insects and animals that he recorded vanished from Lubéron, so too have entire species. Like fossils, their imprints now exist only in his works, in the recordings stored on tape. In the midst of our planet’s sixth mass-extinction event, the growing silence that Viktor heard in his immediate surrounding is now global: scientists estimate that half of the planet’s animal life has already disappeared. Viktor’s sound works allow us to borrow his ears. They convey his love for the animal worlds that surrounded him and perhaps we too can see our companion species differently through his works.
|
2018 |
€24.00 |
|
| VILLENA, CARLOS |
Els Humans Tambe Som Carn |
CD-R |
"Carlos Villena in Spain for years makes noise and dark-ambient music, released on his own label Mantricum and on other labels as well. Often he seeks cooperation with other musicians and proposes a split release together and connect with his music of the other musician. His latest solo-release "Els humans també som carn" on Mantricum and is dedicated to animals. The music is very dark and threatening to call with continuous dark layers and slow changes in tone. The first track has some clear tones of processed sounds of crickets. The second track with a length of around twenty minutes is minimal and is slowly broken by carved long scream of a man. It has the feel of an abandoned slaughterhouse where the spirits of killed animals still roam. The last song begins with a more open in terms of tones, but also goes quickly through the dark under layers in the music. "Els humans també som carn" is
not a optimistic record at all. A part of animal rights activists mean that humans
are equivalent to animals and in that sense are humans mea as well. In this case I can
imagine, that record is dark I you know what is happening to animals and humans who live and die in captivity." [JKH/Vital Weekly]
www.mantricum.com
|
2012 |
€10.00 |
|
| VIOLENT ONSEN GEISHA |
Shocks! Shocks! Shocks! |
LP |
"The Tokyo-based Japanese experimental musician Masaya Nakahara as kwon as Violent Onsen Geisha has been dazzling us with his entirely singular approach to sound since 1989. Harnessing his unique natural approach to mixier by combining techno, pop samples and hip hop, as well as his sister's karaoke singing or his parent quarreling, screams and glass or ceramic bowls broken, he incredibly built a body of work in recorded contexts that has almost no parallel, producing arrangements where all the style and the sonic atmosphere meet in a happy junk room and elaborating his delirious patchwork studio from magneto-phone tapes. His amazing cut-up proved interesting to major band such as Sonic Youth and Beck, who invited him on a US tour in 1995.
At the height of his music career as Violent Onsen Geisha in 1998, Nakahara published Mari & Fifi No Gyakusatsu Songu Bukku (Mari & Fifi’s Massacre Songbook) and made his debut as a novelist. In 2001, he received the 14th Yukio Mishima Award for “Arayuru Basho Ni Hanataba Ga” (Bouquets of Flowers Everywhere), and became increasingly active as a writer and movie critic.
His best-know cassette Shock! Shock! Shock! released in 1989 from legendary Vanilla Records, first time reissued on vinyl format, takes us deep into the intimately responsive aspects of his work. Despite the density of its structures, that combine the most disparate musical genres with deafening shouts and crashes, Shock! Shock! Shock! feels like a breath of fresh air, fearlessly skirting the line between creative rigor and focused interplay and a playful irreverence in ways that leave you wondering where the hell you are.
‘’For someone who has no musical talent like me, the only thing that I could naturally create was noise.’’ Masaya Nakahara"
Vinyl with the magnificent mastering by Andrea Marutti is a truly thrilling exchange of collages, vacillating between kitsch, the austere, and boundary pushing structures, all played against and pushed onto the next level by Nakahara incredible talent. Unflinchingly beautiful and creatively challenging, Shock! Shock! Shock! completely defies genre and definition, rising as a wonderful reminder of what noise music is all about. A justly radical zone of creative patchwork sound that renders an engrossing listen that you can’t pull out of once you’re in.
Released in an edition of 299 copies sole, unquestionably one of our favorite reissues of the year. Absolutely stunning, this is a stone-cold killer that can’t be missed.
https://urashima.bandcamp.com/album/shock-shock-shock
|
2022 |
€23.00 |
|
| VIOLET |
Violet Ray Gas & The Playback Singers |
CD |
VIOLET gibt es schon seit geraumer Zeit (in der Cassetten-Szene bereits als "1348" und NEW CARROLLTON aktiv!), ist aber leider bislang im Drone-Katalog kaum in Erscheinung getreten... Dieses Album auf dem eigenen ZEROMOON-Label präsentiert rauhe, grobkörnige, experimentelle low-fi drones inkl. Einsatz von Schallplatten-Loops, Stimmzitaten & Feedbacks, zum Ende hin aber weniger noisige polyphone Sphären-Schichten, die schon fast an PHILL NIBLOCK gemahnen... ein weites Spektrum öffnet sich hier mit eigener Handschrift...
"Quite an intriguing burst of dark electronic and sample noise from Violet, whose Violet Ray Gas and The Playback Singers (ZEROMOON zero008 / SENTIENT RECOGNITION ARCHIVE SRA 10) is released in a digipack covered with Futurist-inspired monochrome images full of harsh diagonals and fuzzy dreams of the machine age. Jeff Surak arrives here from Washington DC, a hero of the 1980s cassette tape scene when he used to release music under his 1348 alias and ran his Watergate Tapes label. Consequently we can hear much stern authority and grainy power in these grim process-works. My fave so far is the opener ‘All Records Collapse’, with its implacable radio voice plucked from an indeterminate Eastern European zone, but ‘Snakehead Lapping’, ‘Plague Numbers’ and ‘Marionetki’ all communicate the requisite doses of futility. Two long tracks at the end, ‘Violet Ray Gas’ and ‘Interior Ghosts’, are somewhat more musical than atmospheric, shaped from queasy long-form drones tempered with alien sounds. Surak strives to offer ‘near-silence’ and ‘full-on tonal Brutalism’, with all shades in between." [The Sound Projector]
"... Dark and mysterious, mixing in bits of Jeck and Tim Hecker, Wolf Eyes, blending them into Violet's ominous world of sound. There's feedback all over the place, but it's far from harsh or jagged, instead it's used like color, to paint greyed out landscapes burnished reds, and melted oranges, thick tones, reverberating chimes, bits of buzz and crunch, disembodied voices, intercepted broadcasts, clouds of hiss, chugging machinery, industrial sonic detritus, warped strings, woozy synths, all wound up into dense walls of sound one second, blurred into delicate crystalline lattices the next. "Plague Numbers" is total Jeck, a skipping scratched record smeared into a gauzy washed out living portrait of sound, indistinct figures, flitting shadows, mysterious shapes, all moving as if through a thick field of static, not even four minutes, but we found ourselves wishing it would never end. Elsewhere the sound of lapping water is swallowed up by a crackling crumbling fog of burnt melodies, and slowed down riffs, a sort of sun dappled lysergic sonic swirl. The title track is a tuning up orchestra stretched out into a softly chaotic symphony of angular tones and fractured melodies, of sine waves and groaning creaking low end rumbles, augmented by curious crackles and strands of distortion arranged in patterns resembling speech, but rendered in impressionistic shards, finishing off with a gorgeous high end ur- drone, a softer Sunroof!, a field of static bagpipes, their overtones creating otherworldly patterns in the ether. Gorgeous." [Aquarius Records review]
www.zeromoon.com
|
2009 |
€12.00 |
|
| VIOSAC (VIOLENCE AND THE SACRED) |
Rustypile |
CD |
"Instigation to obsessive behaviours through the use of a neurotic variety of dissonant sequencing (brought to extreme consequences in the exaggeratedly protracted title track). Elsewhere, intriguing reiterations and leisurely paced abstract electronics pave the way to an easier enjoyment of an ill-minded quietness, the impossibility of referencing the sounds to anything well-known a definite plus. Samples of classic music appear like funny ghosts amidst panoramas overflowed with deformed dichotomies and rambling precariousness. Spoken word (texts by a William Shakespeare) is not exactly welcome, especially when it ruins a beautifully misshapen string loop (“Sonnet 139/66”) or unspeakably nonfigurative suspensions (“Sonnet 64/15”). This is uncompromisingly disordered stuff: at times naïve, often labyrinthine, for the large part appreciably unendurable due to a reluctance to open the doors to a “first come, first served” kind of short-term audience. On the contrary, Rusty Pile must be attentively analyzed in order to appreciate its most satisfying traits, which translates into “legitimate experimental release”." [Massimo Ricci / Touching Extremes]
www.viosac.net
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| VISIONS |
Temples |
CD |
Following 2018’s highly acclaimed collaboration album with Russia’s PHURPA, Frederic Arbour presents a new full length album under his VISIONS moniker. We are now presented with more grounded and melody based pieces that on his previous releases, which were more out worldly and exploring sonic expanse. Using a stripped back approach and forging new sonic territories, “Temples” also serves as an hymn to lost civilisations, and a gratitude for what can still be found and discovered from our predecessors. As societies fall, most of their temples and shrines seem to remain, perhaps, as a reflection of the materiality of spirit.
Edition of 500 copies on 4 panel Digisleeve. Matt Lamination. 7 Tracks. Running Time 45:48
Release Date July 17 2019
https://cycliclaw.bandcamp.com/album/temples
|
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| VITAL |
Magazine for Electronic and Electroacoustic Music - The complete collection 1987-1995 |
BOOK |
Vital - The Complete Collection 1987-1995
various authors
580 pages, hardcover
Frans de Waard published Vital, a fanzine for electronic and electroacoustic music, from 1987 to 1995. It was a low-budget, Xeroxed publication, bearing the revolutionary instruction: ‘No Copyright Publication. Reprint Now!’ It featured interviews with Asmus Tietchens, O Yuki Conjugate, Merzbow, P16.D4, Pierre Henry, Jim O’Rourke, Brume, Döc Wor Mirran and many others, hosted discussions on copyright, plagiarism and plunderphonics, house music, ambient music, cassette culture and noise, and included contributions from musicians such as Leigh Landy, Godfried Willem Raes, John Duncan, and GX Jupitter-Larsen. Every issue included reviews of cassette releases, LPs, CDs and books. A total of 44 issues were published. Vital moved online in 1995, where it appeared every week since as Vital Weekly.
This book is a reprint of all 44 issues and is a lively record of the heyday of cassette culture and industrial music, but also of developments in the wider field of electronic music.
kormplastics.nl/vtcc.html |
2020 |
€20.00 |
|
| VIVENZA |
Realite de l'automation directe |
LP |
"Réalité de l'automation directe:
Bruitism is the representation of a living, biological body, not unrelated but on the contrary intimate to the substance. The nature/technique gap is totally, in The Art of Noises, the most accomplished form of a reconciliation with industrial mechanization.
By highlighting the autonomy of the dialectical movement in its inaugural tension, bruitism reestablishes this relationship with the pure objectivity of the substance, which is the cornerstone of the program of futurism and remains more than ever valid for the future of all futures. The sonorous world, the noises of life, are not just a simple residual environment but the material of a new art, The Art of Noises !
Luigi Russolo declares : « In a few years the engines of our industrial cities can all be skilfully sounded so as to make from each factory an exhilarating orchestra of noises ». The futurist objective is « a will for a back to original forces »[3], it finds in bruitism the most intense form of a participation to the universal energy of the being of the world.
Extract from L'art des bruits futuristes (The Art of Futurist Noises), Vivenza, 1982
1. L. RUSSOLO, The Art of Noises, Milan, 1913.
2. L. RUSSOLO, The Noises of Nature and Life, Milan. 1913.
3. L. RUSSOLO, The Art of Noises, Milan, 1913." [credits]
"From his first works in the middle of the 70s, Jean-Marc Vivenza places himself in the field of the theorico-political link attached to the Italian Futurists and Russian Constructivists trends whose bruitist-plastic propositions are the only theorical sources having ever been developped with consistency, and qualifies his music as « bruitist futurist » rather than industrial.
It is the re-appropriation of noise as a formal plastic aid. He explores the field of perspectives that the acoustico-plastic material offers and works on a concept that he calls « the objective materiality of noise », basing himself on the futuristic thesis of Luigi Russolo, exposed in « The Art of Noises » edited in 1913, constituting the working guide for Vivenza and remaining the base of any authentic bruitism. He is then the first, between 1976 (with the band Glace) and 1979, to build a bridge between the thesis of Luigi Russolo and our time.
The originality of Vivenza is to use industrial sonorous material in the literal sense of the word (machines, workers in action, factories) and records real industrial sonorities in factories : reality is the subject of futurist research." [biography info from the label)
http://rotorelief.com
|
2011 |
€23.00 |
|
|
Veriti Plastici |
LP |
"Veriti Plastici, the third part of the first works of Vivenza, recorded and completed in 1983, represents a fundamental step in the definitive formalisation of the bruitist sonorous views. Made of very objective industrial atmospheres, this recording will be the bridge between the pure experimental approach, and the rigorous structuring of the works that will be produced later (Fondements Bruitistes - 1984, Réalités Servomécaniques - 1985, Machines - 1985, etc.). The release of Veriti Plastici was accompanied by a text : LE PROGRAMME FUTURISTE DE RETOUR A LA REALITE MATERIELLE, clearly describing the principles defining the theory of bruitism. It was declared : 'Luigi Russolo will advocate the use of real noises to take us in the organic participation of existential dynamism, and to do so had to be developped : ' the understanding, the taste and the passion for noises ' ; and moving from the eye which presided at the expression of the futurist idea through painting that riveted the mind on a reductive image on a space point of view, to the ear offering a scope of sonorous expansion open on the infinite : ' our multiplied sensibility, after using futurist eyes, will have futurist ears '. (L. Russolo, l'Art des bruits, Milan, 1913)." [label info]
http://rotorelief.com
|
2012 |
€22.50 |
|
| |
Veriti Plastici |
CD |
"Veriti Plastici, the third part of the first works of Vivenza, recorded and completed in 1983, represents a fundamental step in the definitive formalisation of the bruitist sonorous views. Made of very objective industrial atmospheres, this recording will be the bridge between the pure experimental approach, and the rigorous structuring of the works that will be produced later (Fondements Bruitistes - 1984, Réalités Servomécaniques - 1985, Machines - 1985, etc.). The release of Veriti Plastici was accompanied by a text : LE PROGRAMME FUTURISTE DE RETOUR A LA REALITE MATERIELLE, clearly describing the principles defining the theory of bruitism. It was declared : 'Luigi Russolo will advocate the use of real noises to take us in the organic participation of existential dynamism, and to do so had to be developped : 'the understanding, the taste and the passion for noises' ; and moving from the eye which presided at the expression of the futurist idea through painting that riveted the mind on a reductive image on a space point of view, to the ear offering a scope of sonorous expansion open on the infinite : 'our multiplied sensibility, after using futurist eyes, will have futurist ears'. (L. Russolo, l'Art des bruits, Milan, 1913)." [label info]
http://rotorelief.com |
2012 |
€14.00 |
|
| VIZ MICHAEL KREMIETZ |
SUIZEN |
CD |
"Nach 'Die Para Akasha Meditation', die neue Solo-CD von Viz Michael Kremietz. Zu hören sind auf der CD fünf sogenannte Honkyokus – traditionelle Urstücke des japanischen Zenbuddhismus – aufgenommen im EkoinTempel in Koyasan/Japan, sowie drei Eigenkompositionen, davon eine 23-minütige Klangcollage. Zur CD gehört ein aufklappbares Digipack und ein 16-seitiges Booklet. Es zeigt beeindruckende Wasserklangbilder vom Spiel der Shakuhachi, photographiert von Alexander Lauterwasser."
https://www.silenzio.com/Suizen-CD-Kremietz-Viz/de |
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| VOICE OF EYE |
Substantia Innominata |
10inch |
"geistermusik aus der wüste... oder der wind in den felsen... voice of eye's beitrag zur substantia innominata serie auf drone.
voice of eye haben schon ganz am anfang dieser anderen serie auf drone-records, der 7” reihe (genauer: im november 1994; dr-09), einen beitrag bringen können, der das ganz eigene drone-verständnis von diesem us-duo noch immer perfekt mitteilen kann. einer der gründe dafür mag sein, dass voice of eye (immer noch) zum teil selbstgebaute geräte nutzen, oft in form von streichinstrumenten, deren klang, zusammen mit flöten, stimmen und fieldrecordings quasi aus dem stand eine eigenartige stimmung evozieren kann. vor allem aber vermeiden sie dabei jede art von bombast oder auch nur das endlose übereinanderschichten von einzelnen spuren. die beiden haben, mit anderen worten, einfach ein sehr gutes gespühr für aufbau und spannung und eine sehr eigene vorstellung von klangästethik: einzelne töne sind in ihrem sound in einer form texturiert, die unmittelbar anspricht und voice of eye erreichen das, meiner meinung nach, neben der nutzung dieser wirklich ausgefallenen, exotischen instrumente, gerade nicht durch geheime effektgeräte, sondern vielmehr durch eine eher fast karge bearbeitung, durch ein rohlassen des klangs. daran hat sich seitdem (zum glück) nichts geändert, die “substantia innominata” 10” baut in allen drei stücken (“vira”, “dhyana”, “purusa”) auf dieses klangverständnis und webt (und das ist hier mal fast wörtlich zu nehmen) ein sehr zartes und transparentes gespinst mit einer, technisch gesehen, für eine 10” geradezu unglaublich langen spielzeit. musikalisch / atmosphärisch dann mit diesem zeit-ausschalt-faktor, den nur wirklich packender ambient schafft. daher: volle empfehlung (auch wenn die superlange spielzeit ihren vinyltribut fordert)." [N, Unruhr.de]
"This release marks the comeback of the legendary duo from New Mexico, USA, consisting of BONNIE McNAIRN and JIM WILSON! Over a decade ago (1992-1995) VOICE OF EYE released three albums with their unique style combining ethnic, ritualistic & folklore influences in an experimental and highly organic way to create a kind of "transcendental drone ambience", using only "real" instruments & self-built devices and an array of electronic effects. In November 1994 they released an EP entitled "Sprocket" on Drone Records (DR-09), which is still one of the absolute highlights in the Drone series.
After this first phase of musical creation VOICE OF EYE focused on building an incredible "Earthship" house in the deserts of New Mexico. In 2007 they returned doing shows in the States, Germany, France & Italy and releasing two limited CDRs. This 10" has 3 tracks with NEW material (entitled "VIRYA", "DHYANA" and "PURUSA") inspired by the wisdom of Buddhist / Advaitic meditation & philosophy, where the contemplation within music & sounds appears as a tool to reach a higher consciousness & awareness of reality.
This highly sublime & emotional "other-dimensional" ambience is based on lots of ethereal vocal material, flute-sounds and their typical self-built string-instruments, full of yearning and beauty - almost 39 minutes of material coming on clear vinyl with golden striae, with superb artwork by THOMAS DOHMEN.
This is the celebration of the "Unknown", seen as a state of mind where the Ego dissolves into a timeless universal consciousness." [label description]
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
| VOLCANO THE BEAR |
Classic Erasmus Fusion |
do-CD |
Was soll man zu dem britischen Quartett VOLCANO THE BEAR noch sagen? Wer auf der Suche nach überraschender & neuer, (noch) nicht klassifizierbarer Musik ist, die nicht am Computer entsteht, muss hier einfach mal reinhören!! Ihre Musik mit Einflüssen aus Folk, Drone, Avant-Rock & Impro-Jazz ist nicht nur oft irgendwie “weird” und verquer, sondern weist auch streckenweise grosse harmonische & elegante Schönheit auf... wie immer ist vokales Material omni-präsent!
“.... zeigt Antifolk flippernd zwischen Didgeridoo und Handy, Daumenklavier und elektrischer Störung, als Folklore des Absurden, die es fertig bringt, in raffinierter Unschuld zerebralen Goldstaub aufzuwirbeln..” [Bad Alchemy # 51]
„...Describing Volcano the Bear's music is about as difficult as identifying the instruments. The quartet's arsenal of gear is transcendant of time and space, culled from different cultures and different eras, from classically orchestral woodwinds (albeit sometimes just blowing through the mouthpiece) to African thumb piano, helicopter sounds, thunderstorm and rain and running water, medieval squeeze boxes, squeak toys, chirping or crying bird sounds, and Asian stringed things. While improvisation has been integral to the band's development, Volcano the Bear can always be counted on very cold-calculated and composed songs appearing on their official studio albums. Their arrangement is loose but never wanky or show-offey. Perhaps it's this lack of soloing and pretention that has kept them from appropriate recognition by some of the major experimental media in favor for a whole "free folk"/"weird rock"/"new weird America" obsession.“ [Brainwashed]
"VTB have crafted a strange geometry in their musique concrete between celestial duck honks and what sounds like a flood in the living room, there are more than a few occasions of heads cocked at the speaker in mundus caninus. Of course, this bodes well for humans, too. Augmented by all the dog friendly moments is a double album of sprawling musical invention. Record one births gently into a lo-fi-adelic Comus-like saline that even might even win over the Devendra crowd, if the Devendra crowd had ingested just a little too much mushroom tea on that day and left their ironic trucker hats at the door. Song becomes fever dream and then pitches into a barren place of low estate and low chanting whose Residents might well be Eskimos. With typical minimalist pageantry, VTB mutate from piece to piece, punctuating along the way with surprise sounds that the aforementioned dogs love so well; the kinds of quirks that make Nurse With Wound and P16.D4 records such fun listens. VTB spin some very melodious tales, which are subliminally hooky, after a fashion. Spiritual and surreal are sisters. Quiet ritualism queues with dadaistic and with progressive harmonies, together on the same fractured, out world, sing-along journey. And that's just record one. Record two crawls slowly from the echoey ooze, grows legs and then presents as a different and, in many ways, more dramatic creature. A long, shifting organ drone becomes a deeply psychedelic statement that bleats loud and strong like an acid bleached Spiral Insana or a sneaky This Heat.” [label info]
www.blrrecords.com
|
2006 |
€14.00 |
|
|
The birth of Streissand |
7inch |
Rare Single der britischen (ja man darf das jetzt wohl sagen?) Kult-Band, die die experimentelle Erweiterung des Impro-"Folks" wie wohl keine andere Gruppe betreiben... leider teuer!
"Second release from the new Newcastle-based No-Fidelity label, after the first recording from scene-legend Sir Richard Bishop (of the Sun City Girls) sold out in a whistle. Something a bit special. Having built their career upon a reputation for incendiary live appearances and a heap of self-released CD-Rs and cassettes, Leicester's Volcano The Bear have slowly been gathering steam, becoming one of this country's most exciting experimental improv outfits. This startling new 7" for No-Fi showcases the group at their most abstract, the A-side a sinister brew of creaking violin and string plucks. It sounds something like No-Neck Blues Band collaborating with Wolf Eyes on a re-take of the Saragossa Manuscript soundtrack. The B-side goes further down the path paved by Olsen and co. with some metallic clanking and utterly gnarled noise eruptions." [press release]
|
2007 |
€10.00 |
|
|
Amidst the Noise and Twigs |
CD |
"Die vier buchdeckelartigen Hochglanzseiten mit surrealen Bilderwelten des Nick Mott – Würfelkopfgestalt, gesichtslose Männchen fliegen durch die Luft, eines legt seine Stielaugen vor sich auf den Tisch – würden den Kauf von VOLCANO THE BEARs Admidst The Noise and Twigs (mt204a) fast schon alleine rechtfertigen. Umso besser, wenn dann die Musik auch noch überzeugt. Neben dem Artworker zeichnen für diese wieder Aaron Moore, Clarence Manuelo und Daniel Padden verantwortlich. Sie jagen den Hörer durch eine scheinbar zufällig chaotische Dadaund Patchwork-Welt, die bisweilen Dilettantismus höchst gekonnt suggeriert und mit allen musikalischen und technischen Tricks Illusionen aufbaut und zerstört. Hippiegeschrammel trifft auf orientalische Flöten und Gongs der Chinaoper. Dann paaren sich Flötengedudel, Geklapper und Geknarze ’Before We Came To This Religion’. Auf ’Larslovesnicks Farm’ steht ein altes verstimmtes Klavier, auf dem ein Langweiler vier Töne tonleiteraufwärts stetig wiederholt, dazu scheinen Türen zu knarzen und Wasser wird verspritzt. Ein Banjo beschränkt sich auf 2 Töne, die während des Anschlagens getunet
werden. ’Cassettes Of Berlin’ ist eine negativländlerische Collage aus Geräuschen, Stimmfetzen und Radioeinspielungen, abgehackt, weil am Frequenzeinstellrad weitergedreht wird. ’Splendid Goose’ ähnelt den langen Mothers-Stücken der zweiten Freak Out-Scheibe. Das Schlagzeug unterbreitet den treibenden Rhythmus, über dem sich monotone Frequenzteppiche ausbreiten, gestört und unterbrochen von Kracheinspielungen und begleitet von brummiger Stimmakrobatik oder Flötengequengel. ’She Vang Moon’ kreiert eine Atmosphäre tibetanischer Klöster mit Mönchsgesang, Harmonium, Gonggeschepper, verzerrt dann immer mehr durch unsaubere Frequenzen. Es geht auch gefühlvoll, wenn die Trompete zu einer Art Hymne ansetzt, aber dann wird gegrunzt, gejammert und durch den Kamm geblasen. Das letzte Stück, ’The Three Twins’, beginnt in getragenem Tempo mit 3 Tönen und der tiefgreifenden Aussage “Hi-a-o, Hijä-jah...“ (oder so ähnlich), geht über in dilettantisches Geklopfe, Kindergeschrei, Klaviergeklimper - das Schlagzeug wuselt im Hintergrund – und entwickelt sich tatsächlich noch zu einem Song, der am Ende vom Sax regelrecht ’zerquetscht’ wird." [Bad Alchemy]
"The first 1000 copies are packaged in a full color book bound case with an eight page booklet. Volcano The Bear "Amidst The Noise And Twigs" is the follow up to the critically acclaimed "Classic Erasmus Fusion" album. Who knew that amidst the noise and the twigs there was music…sweet, sweet music?! This world is Volcano the Bear’s womb. At last, the year that VTB gets a shot at Top Of The Pops, assuming the pops finally snaps out of its vapid trance and embraces the standards of Comus, 3 Hurel, early Residents and 12th century Arabo-Andalusian music. As usual, our heroes are found keeping things stripped to the bone trumpet, but dripping with a juicy, melodic marrow. The record pours slowly and resolutely like a folk-psych dream urn, loaded with full metal banjoes; crumhorns at 12 O’clock; and autoharps at defcon 5. The experimentalism is this time couched in shifting tides of self-spun acidic harvest ballads that noisily well up into proto-Kraut thrums and tribal night t rips around the pyre. A rural, squelchy, DIY delicacy which stinks of occidental embouchure so crystal crisp that every skkrrrr, pphaaapph and brrruuuummmm resonates like a small, sound-specific god, intertwined with beautifully skewed notes, voices and rhythms. "Amidst The Noise And Twigs" plays like a recently discovered field recording of some obscured Celtic clan who accidentally stumbled onto psychedelia 600 years ahead of its time. These pipers truly rock the gates of dawn." [label notes]
www.blrrecords.com
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
|
The Mountains among us |
CD |
Die bereits 200ste Katalognummer des Portlander Labels ist für VOLCANO THE BEAR reserviert, und diese präsentieren hier ganz besonderes Material, 2 urlange Stücke mit sehr geräuschhaften Instrumental- Drones & field recording-Quellen, sehr frei & voller überraschender Wendungen und wunderbarer dunkler Parts. Das Album weist mitunter fast schon neo-klassische Qualitäten auf, ist
überraschend atmosphärisch, dabei aber von unheimlicher Stringenz. Unser definitiver Lieblingsrelease der britischen Band! Anklänge an NOISE MAKERS FIFES, ZEITKRATZER, MORPHOGENESIS.... erschien übrigens vor einigen Jahren bereits auf Beta-Lactam als LP in einer Auflage von nur 100 Stück!
"Die wohl beste Band des CTM Festivals 2006 mit zwei über 20 Minuten langen Tracks in oberdickem und teurem Pappcover. Natürlich werden VTB in keinem Weird Folk Artikel erwähnt, dafür sind sie viel zu weit draußen, zu windig, hölzern, befremdlich und abseits von allem. Es blasen alte, nach Gauklerfest klingende Tröten, aber nur selten zum Tanz oder Marsch. Streicher werden gekappt und geschnitten, Vögel und ein anonymes Publikum schauen teilnahmslos zu, an der Harfe wird semi-improvisiert, Gesang in die Länge gezogen etc etc. Trotz aller Experimentierfreude an den Instrumenten steht deutlich VTBs famose Studioarbeit im Vordergrund. Alle Spuren sind meisterhaft abgemischt, so dass klar der Eindruck des steten Machens über dem der fertigen Arbeit steht. Unheimlich, mysteriös und spitzengut." [Ed Benndorf / DE BUG]
"First edition of 500 numbered copies in a full color book bound cd case. This year sees the eruption of the Volcano with a myriad of releases leaving the town folk covered in a fine and mysterious silt of musical entropy. The limited release of "Mountains" finds our boy’s spelunking the creepiest of dream spawned caves, excavating crystalline fragments along the way, which are then set in beautiful mental jewelry appropriate for any formal occasion. Arpeggiated blurs and disinterred voices snap, crackle and pop as an unnamed rusted hulk is slowly pushed across an ever morphing open landscape. More accurately still, it's like that weird wind harp record from the 70's with a mid period NWW and Mauve Sideshow marching up opposite sides of the hill to claim the giant harp. And that's just in the first 19 minutes!. Afterwards, there is a slo-mo interlude battle between rarified VTB brand chamber music and the sounds of...things. As promised, the denouement is a brief, dare I say, pretty little whisper of pizzicato and drone. So pretty and little, in fact, that it caught the attention of my otherwise weirdness deaf partner. A real symphony of the spheres that showcases this Volcano's ability to blow its top and rain sweet tweeky kittens on the valley below." [label info]
www.blrrecords.com
|
2008 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Commencing |
5 x LP BOX |
"Leicester, England – mid 1990's. Aaron Moore, Nick Mott, Clarence Manuelo & Daniel Padden create a free form group named Volcano The Bear out of their frustration with standard musical limitations. Now, after 20 years of experimenting with improvisation, folk, Dada, Post Punk, Krautrock, noise, surreal comedy, pure avant-garde and more, the group has obtained a cult following and high critical praise across the globe. Reknowned for their highly theatrical and obscure live performances, as well as their mind-blowing catalogue of releases, VTB truly is a one of a kind group, consistently pushing forward with their own unique, experimental approach to sound making.
Commencing manages to be both a retrospective of the group's 20 year history as well as it ´s own unique release filled with vast amounts of material. The 5 albums, 64 tracks & over 4 hours in length, presented here has been carefully put together over the last couple of years to become an entity – working as much by itself as well as a whole. Expect an abundance of unreleased material, alt-versions, tracks from early cassette albums never released on vinyl, live recordings, pieces from forgotten compilation appearances and more, all mixed and compiled together to form 5 stand-alone albums.
The physical release also includes a book of writings, photos and flyers from their long history, along with a bonus download only album of tracks that didn't make the final cut. This is the ultimate VTB release for fans of the group and of surreal, experimental musical history in general.
Deluxe Silkscreened Box-set, incl. 5LPs with individual covers & linernotes for each track on the back, 50 page book of photos, artwork, flyers and stories of the band´s 20 years of existence. Also includes a free download of all 64 tracks + 10 track bonus album. |
2015 |
€90.00 |
|
| VOLCANO THE BEAR / LA STPO |
The Shy Volcanic Society at the Beat and Bird Parade |
CD |
"A split CD containing five tracks from Volcano the Bear and four by STPO. The French group STPO is a long existing and very underestimated group with limited releases over the years. Their history of dadaist and experimental music started in 1984. Beta-lactam Ring released and re-released some of their older material. For this release they choose four tracks that were recorded in 2003 and were not included on earlier releases. These tracks again illustrate their very odd musical universe. I admire them for staying close to their unique musical vision and language. For Volcano the Bear things are opposite in at least one aspect. Namely, they released already a bulk of records in the past. Less bizarre then STPO Volcano the Bear refer in their experimental music to folkmusic. Their compositions stay somewhere in the middle between song-structure and soundcollage. Also they are one dimensional compared to the compositions of STPO that are structured along the inimitable logic of their musical fantasies. The same for their carefully worked out arrangements. The over the top and very expressive vocal work by Pascal Godjikian is the heart of most of the tracks on this CD. Can't get enough from them." [DM, Vital Weekly]
"CD issued early May 2009 as an edition of 500 copies in a full color gatefold sleeve. A split album with Volcano the Bear and La STPO. VTB tracks 1-5 and STPO tracks 6-9. Bears and Birds, oh my! One side keeps the hot hot. And the other keeps the weird weird. VTB’s typically atypical entomological set scratches like a hive that has evolved just to the point of thumping out tribal fealties to its giant insect God-Thing. Environmentally ritualized sub-rhythms mix musique-concrete with actual concrete, forming freakishly minimal foundations for the hive of whatevers to swarm within. Noise, once again, for heroes. All this, of course, juxtaposed against France’s hidden reverse: La STPO, who absolutely let it blurt. Their pounding system of post-post-punk-neo-Zeuhl cracks the mantle, with bass lines thicker than Sequoias. And louder than screaming Sequoias. La STPO vacillates between two extreme extremes: something approximating a kind of industrial strength nouveaux bâtiments s'effondrants (German buildings are not the only ones susceptible to collapse), and crushing riffs ala SunnO))). Pascal Godjikian’s fierce grunts and barks keep the hive on the other side believing he is their God-thing. He is someone’s God-thing, that’s for sure." [label info]
www.blrrecords.com
"Diese Split-CD vereint Stücke zweier experimenteller Bands, Volcano the Bear aus England und La Société des Timides à la Parade des Oiseaux aus Frankreich. Beide bieten, so viel vorweg, alles andere als leichte Kost.
Volcano the Bear zeigen sich bereits reichlich unkonventionell. Die bis auf einige textlose Lautäußerungen instrumentale Musik wälzt sich wie ein zeitlupenartiger Klangstrom aus den Boxen, ohne dabei eine rechte Form anzunehmen. Streich- und Blasinstrumente mäandern entlang, allerlei Schlagwerk rumpelt vor sich hin, dazu knurrt oder brummt ab und zu jemand, was letztlich wie ein weiteres Instrument klingt. Einige undefinierbare Geräusche vervollkommnen das Ganze. Da hört man gelegentlich schrilles Kreischen wie von einer Kreissäge, oder wurde da ein Instrument malträtiert? Wer weiß. Ein andermal spielt eine einsame Flöte (oder ähnliches) eine seltsam schiefe Melodie, nur von sporadischen Beckenschlägen begleitet, oder Blechbläser stimmen eine Art ländliche Weise an. Äußerst kurios.
So strukturlos diese Klänge sich über weite Strecken zunächst präsentieren, herrscht doch nicht völlige Planlosigkeit, es scheint doch irgendein System dahinterzustecken. Auf jeden Fall entwickelt diese Musik nach anfänglicher Skepsis eine starke Faszination.
LaSTPO agieren hier noch ein ganzes Stück avantgardistischer als auf ihren mir bisher bekannten Alben. Vor allem die Stimme von Sänger Pascal Godjikian schlägt hier noch wildere Kapriolen, es ist kaum möglich, dieses permanente Knurren, Bellen, Heulen, Brüllen, Würgen mit Worten adäquat zu beschreiben. Da glaubt man, der selige Demetrios Stratos von Area sei wieder auferstanden! Dazu liefern seine Mitstreiter Klänge, die mit dem üblichen Verständnis von Rockmusik, auch von progressiver, kaum noch etwas gemein haben. Das ist zu großen Teilen schon radikale Anti-Musik! Da knarzen Streicher in Zeitlupe, als würde ein alter Holzschrank quälend langsam über einen Dielenboden gezerrt, Bläser schnarren, Schlagwerk rasselt, bis unvermittelt eine gigantische Lärmeruption einsetzt, in der die einzelnen Instrumente nur noch durcheinander purzeln. Les Oreilles Internationales treibt es in dieser Hinsicht auf die Spitze, es wirkt wie ein einziges Konglomerat unterschiedlichster Arten von Lärm. Und immer wieder die brutalen Lautäußerungen, als deren Urheber man kein menschliches Wesen annehmen möchte.
Diese Lärmorgien sind wirklich so ziemlich das krasseste, das ich je gehört habe. In Worten lässt sich kaum beschreiben, was hier auf den Hörer einprasselt. Grandios! Mehr davon! Warum gibt es nur so wenige CDs von LaSTPO? Tipp für alle abenteuerlustige Hörer! Und wer die Gelegenheit hat, die Band live zu sehen: Hingehen! Es lohnt sich!" [Jochen Rindfrey / Babyblaue Seiten]
|
2009 |
€14.00 |
|
| VON EULER-DONNERSPERG, DITTERICH |
Knüllungen, Wulstungen, Klumpungen |
LP |
Geierberg Sterben Sie Bitte!
Und Ist Kein Jammer In Der Welt
Wahres Gegen Nichtwahres
Die Schläferfalle Vom Ende Der Zeit
Studioaufnahmen 1980-82, geringfügig überarbeitet und ergänzt 2012. Recorded 1980-82, slightly enhanced and added to 2012
© MOLOKO+ 2015
MOLOKO PLUS 080 PICTURE DISC
donnersperg@web.de
www.molokoplusrecords.de
„Wer Versucht, Den Menschen Mit Seinem Tiersein Zu Versöhnen, Wird Selbst Zum Menschen.“
KLOPSTOCK
„The One Trying To Reconciliate Man To His Beastly Existence, Is Doomed To Become a Human Himself.“
KLOPSTOCK
VIRB:
Ein grauer Knurrhahn und Grummelsack, der eine Schule für Honiggewinnung und Schnittblumenzucht in Alt Wrietzen im Oderbruch betreibt. Steht neben Dr. Kurt Euler, dem Vorsitzenden der Parteikommission für Volksbildung und Kulturkampf beim ZK der Kommunistischen Einheitspartei Deutschlands (KED) in dem (ungerechtfertigten?) Ruf eines im Geiste Johann Gotthilf KLOPSTOCKs, des Lehrers einer irrenden Menschheit, wirkenden, sinnenfrohen Zuchtmeisters fehlgeleiteter junger, mitunter auch alter Menschen, welche in hemmungslosen Daseinsirrtümern schwelgen und ihr Leben von dessen Ende her betrachten. Tritt seit dem Rübenwinter 1946/47 als Sachwalter des Werkbundes und des traditionsreichen Tonverlages Walter Ulbricht Schallfolien unbedingt gegen Wirrnis und verstocktes, kleinbürgerliches Schwarzsehertum auf und betreibt unter den Leitgedanken Verdunkeln! Der Feind sieht dein Licht! Beginne den Tag mit Sterben! Das „Scheitern als schöne Kunst“.
Im Jahre 1980 gründete Euler-Donnersperg die WALTER ULBRICHT SCHALLFOLIEN Hamburg, welche sich im Geiste Walter Ulbrichts, des damals meistgehaßten Menschen der Erde, des Erbauers des Berliner Antifaschistischen Schutzwalls, unbedingt der Langsamkeit verpflichtet fühlen und unter dem Leitwort NEU KONSERVATIW die ehernen Werte des klassischen „Industrials“ zu pflegen bestrebt sind (vgl. SPK: The Cathedral of Death - Die Kultur der Todesverdrängung). Bis Ende der 80er Jahre des 20. Jahrhunderts veranstaltete Euler-Donnersperg zahlreiche Auftritte mit geistverwandten Klanggestaltern, u. a. mit Illusion of Safety, Jim O’Rourke, The Hafler Trio, Bourbonese Qualk, Nocturnal Emissions, Whitehouse, Gerechtigkeitsliga, The Legendary Pink Dots, Laibach, Asmus Tietchens. Gleichzeitig geben die Walter Ulbricht Schallfolien Dokumente der Gruppen SPK, Throbbing Gristle, Laibach, John Watermann, Asmus Tietchens, The Hafler Trio, Werkbund, Mechthild von Leusch, Column One, Evapori und Hyph heraus. Im Nebenamt Sachwalter des WERKBUNDES tritt Euler-Donnersperg mit Lesungen und Klangschöpfungen eigener Werke hervor – unter anderem mit Michael von Hausswolff, Leif Ellgren, Kent Tankred, The Hafler Trio, Asmus Tietchens, Dan Burke, Organum, John Duncan. Seit 1996 jährliche Herausgabe eine Heftes der Pelzwurstlieder, Bildschallplatte im handgestalteten Portfolio, Reimdichtungen im Geiste Klopstocks mit elektronischem Zuspielband: Zustandsbeschreibung der Welt mit den Augen der Listspinne, der Trugnatter, der Assel, der Klappnase, des Stachlers.
www.molokoplusrecords.de
|
2018 |
€18.00 |
|
| VON EULER-DONNERSPERG, DITTERICH / FELIX KUBIN |
NNOI#01 |
LP |
NNOI#...
In this series, the recordings and documents of the actors of the NNOI Festival gather and reveal the primitive anatomy of the NNOI that sinks onto the frosted glass of nature, like the printing ink unconscious in the letters of the newspaper.
The design of the entire series is based on drawings by Frank Diersch - made for this project.
forthcoming: NNOI#2: Rashad Becker & Robert Schalinski, NNOI#3: Asmus Tietchens & Frieder Butzmann, NNOI#4: Air Cushion Finish
D.v. Euler-Donnersperg - side: unreleased tracks from his wild beehive.
Felix Kubin - side: Felix Kubin accompanies René Clair‘s silent film »Entr’acte« from 1924 live with a new electro-acoustic soundtrack, which refers to the surreal choreography, the contrasts in content and the fast editing sequences of the film in rhythmic cut-ups.
Rene Clair‘s film „Entr‘acte“ from 1924 is a real jewel of surrealism and is largely unknown to this day. The director radically experiments with cinematographic effects, provokes absurd exaggerations, which sometimes take on blasphemous proportions, and is not afraid to commit violence. The staff of actors is made up of famous artists such as Erik Satie, Francis Picabia and Marcel Duchamp, who, quite self-ironically, bounce through the image rather than stride. Men and women roles are reversed, a death procession turns into a roller coaster ride. The bizarre humor of the film also testifies, among other things, to the artistic daring of its time.
Ditterich von Euler-Donnersperg
»I hate long announcements now. Everyone writes something and brags about all kinds of information (especially celebrity names). Something has become completely uniform over time. I hate that. Simply state briefly: „The old gray gurnard from the Waterkant creaks and growls its funny and less funny ways ..“ GLÜCKAUF!
Felix Kubin„I am a child living in the body of Juri Gagarin. He is empty like a corpse. His eyes move slowly like radars. First comes the idea then the technology. Children are angels, sometimes they fall into nothingness. I am Juri‘s ventriloquist.“
Felix Kubin, messenger of exploding lungs, lives and works against gravitation. At the age of 12 he started composing electronic 4-track music. His activities comprise futurist pop, electroacoustic and chamber orchestra music, radio plays, lectures, workshops and his label Gagarin Records. He has been involved with the noise project Klangkrieg, the communist singing group Liedertafel Margot Honecker and the tetchy teenage bands Die Egozentrischen 2 and x2.
Frank Diersch - a German draftsman and painter.
NNOI - festival for 12,756 tone music, obscure teaching & organ of the world-ventriloquist-lodge.
https://www.facebook.com/donnersperg/
www.frank-diersch.de/
www.felixkubin.com
www.nnoi.de
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YxuYqL52is
https://www.facebook.com/nnoi.festival/
NNOI - festival for 12,756 tone music, obscure teaching & organ of the world-ventriloquist-lodge
"In der NNOI Festival-Reihe werden Aufnahmen von Künstlerinnen und Künstlern veröffentlicht, die auf dem gleichnamigen Festival , “für 12,756 Tonmusik, obskure Lehren & Organ der Weltbauchrednerloge”, gespielt haben (u.a. werden noch Asmus Tietchens und Frieder Butzmann folgen). Den Auftakt macht eine Split-Veröffentlichung: Ditterich von Euler-Donnersperg, Sachwalter des Werkbunds, selbst so titulierter „Knurrhahn“ hat mit den zwischen 1996 und 2014 erschienenen “Pelzwurstliedern”, sogenannten „Reimdichtungen im Geiste Klopstocks mit elektronischem Zuspielband“, originellste, kaum kategorisierbare und von beißendem Humor durchzogene Lyrik herausgebracht. Felix Kubin hat neben zahllosen musikalischen Veröffentlichngen, auf denen auch immer ein absurder Humor deutlich wurde (im Presseinfo heißt es: „„I am a child living in the body of Juri Gagarin.“), eine ganze Reihe von Hörspielen produziert.
Auf der ersten Seite befinden sich acht bisher unveröffentliche Stücke von Euler-Donnersperg, bei denen sich das Ausgangsmaterial, was bearbeitet wurde, nur erahnen lässt: „Krebs im Schlafrock“ beginnt mit einem ratterndem Loop, man hört zerhäckselte Stimmen. Einem Teil der Stücke haftet etwas Fragementiertes an. So auch bei „Kleiner Irrtum“ mit den hektischen Wassersounds, flirrenden Tönen und dann so etwas, das sich wie ein Echolot anhört. Auf „Mit geknickten Dichterschwingen“ hört man einen Loop, der an Jahrmarktsmusik erinnert, auf „Ein letzter großer Seher“ muss man zwischenzeitlich an Vogelkreischen denken. Die drei dann folgenden Stücke nehmen das Hektisch-Fragentierte zurück: „Verlangen, den Regenbogen zu fangen“ ist von ruhigen, kristallinen, flächigen Sounds durchzogen, die teilweise an ein Theremin denken lassen. Auf „Verknausertes Korn“ dröhnt und knistert es. Bei „Angenehm müde“ meint man das Ticken eines Metronoms zu hören, am Ende scheint eine bearbeitete Stimme aufzutauchen.
Kubins Beitrag ist ein langes Stück, das als neuer Soundtrack für den 1924 entstandenen Stummfilm “Entr’acte” von René Clair konzipiert ist. Bei dem Film wirkten damals Erik Satie, Francis Picabia und Marcel Duchamp mit und gerade durch Clairs Einsatz von Effekten wie Zeitlupe und Überblendungen (ein Gesicht starrt einen aus dem Wasser an, ein Papierboot durchpflügt die Dächer von Paris) erzeugt Clair eine durchaus kurios-absurde Atmosphäre (Puppen verlieren ihre Köpfe, der Rock einer Tänzerin scheint eine Blume zu sein, ein Zauberer entsteigt einem Sarg). Der Track beginnt mit kuriosen Knarzen, Brummen, Loops, Fiepen, am Ende meint man ein Sample aus Coils “Things Happen” zu hören – in Passagen ist das durchaus nicht so weit entfernt von manchen Arbeiten Steven Stapletons und von der Stimmung und Herangehensweise ist das ein mehr als passender Soundtrack zu “Entr’acte”." [MG / African Paper]
|
2020 |
€20.00 |
|
| VON HAUSSWOLFF, C.M. (CARL MICHAEL) |
Perhaps I Arrive - music for Atatürk Airport, Istanbul |
do-CD |
"This double disc set includes some of the most unusual sounds you will have heard from Carl Michael von Hausswolff. The story goes like this. Von Hausswolff was chosen by the 1997 Istanbul Biennal to create a sound installation for Atatürk Airport. His classic sound combining low frequency rumblings, very monotonous oscillations and hissy non-narrative sequences was deemed too confusing for the commutors. It was feared, von Hausswolff’s sound installation might be mistaken for an alarm and would be capable of causing serious panic at the airport. Hence the original soundtrack for “Perhaps I Arrive” was neglected. This music can now be heard for the first time on disc 1. Carl Michael von Hausswolff’s response to the artistic restrictions was to produce the four tracks you hear on the second disc. These only make use of the very basic pre-set industry sounds included in the Yamaha QY22 and show a new side to the von Hausswolff sound. Very simple, post-nuclear lounge music. These four tracks you guessed it! ¬were happily used in the context of the Biennal exhibition. Art is a three-letter word (William S Burroughs)" [label info]
"Nothing is for a musician more annoying than a response like: whatever you are doing, it sounds like a test tone, alarm signal, hiss or worse: I think your equipment is broken. So when Carl Micheal von Hauswolff was asked by the Istanbul Biennale to make a site specific work at their airport, he was probably very annoyed when they turned down his piece of low rumbling, because it could have caused alarm. So instead he created something else, on a Yamaha QY22, using preset sounds only - probably to annoy the organizers. Now both versions are released as part of this double CD - the rejected piece on one CD, and the accepted on the other. The rejected piece is indeed a piece of low rumbling, a bit of hiss sounds (long waves picked up from the ether I think) which may not have worked at the airport - depends of course on how things are presented - but for home listening I must say this is quite nice. Perfect Hauswolff styled hiss music. And what a difference indeed with the accepted version. Four pieces there of lounge like music, but with a more forceful rhythm underneath, so it wouldn't entirely work in lounge bar. But you can imagine people at an airport, hastily walking along Hauswolff march like beats and bittersweet keyboards with a vague trace of arab-like sounds. This is a side that we haven't heard from him before, and it's not something he should do a lot (or in fact never did again, as far as I can recall), but it's surely a curious album. " [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.aufabwegen.com
|
2008 |
€18.00 |
|
|
800000 Seconds in Harar |
CD |
" CD digipak. CM von Hausswolff says: 'I was approached by my old friend and Radium 226.05 colleague Ulrich Hillebrand, now director of Angered Theatre in Göteborg. He informed me that there was a new play in the process of being written by author and theorist Michael Azar called 'Jag r en annan' (I is another) stemming form the famous letter written by Arthur Rimbaud in his youth. The play uses Rimbaud's life from being a young poet in Charleville ending with him being the trader in Harar, Ethiopia. Hillebrand asked me if I was willing to compose the music to this play. I accepted. I told Hillebrand that I needed to use material that had something to do with Rimbaud's life and as he had connections in Ethiopia and in the small city of Harar he said: why don't you go to Harar for 10 days and see what you can find ? So I went to Addis Ababa where a guy was waiting for me and drove me the 10 hours beautiful ride to Harar. I made recordings and looked for other useful material. There are 2 tracks. On the first track, which consists of three 'parts' I have used material from Harar. The long dronic sounds are taken form an instrument that I, after searching for days, bought in Harar - it's called a 'krar' and is a string instruments (it's quite clear that I have used a string instrument- also if you study Ethiopian music you came across the name of Saint Yared and he was the first to construct a notation system for music... much earlier than the Europeans). As I could not really master the actual playing of this instrument, I bought a bow for a violin and some rosin and with this I got one good tone out from this krar. Then the computer helped me to sort the modes and pitches out. On this piece there also two location recordings: the first one you hear is a recording I did outside Harar on a hill where there are next to no car sounds or other machine sounds - just the wind, insects, some kids and that (I wanted this recording to be more or less timeless or at least 19th century and forward...). The second location recording was done in the night in my hotel, where I woke up one night and became fascinated by the leaking taps in my bathroom so I decided to records this. On the second there are only oscillators used... several of them... And using one low pitch oscillator I ran a sound filtered through. This sound is the low 'rhythm' you can hear, and it's a low pitched morse code signal... and the text is the famous poem Rimbaud wrote in his youth called Le Dormeur Du Val (The Sleeper in the Valley). This poem is a beautiful text starting off in the nature, where a person is sleeping in the grass. Slowly Rimbaud zooms in and we read that it's a soldier and at the very end we are told he has two red wounds on his chest - the guy is dead!'
Arthur Rimbaud lived in Harar from 1884 until shortly before his death in 1891. This is Carl Michael von Hausswolff's first album for Touch, but the connection goes back many years, of course. Carl Michael von Hausswolff was born in 1956 in Linköping, Sweden. He lives and works in Stockholm. Since the end of the 1970s, Hausswolff has worked as a composer using the tape recorder as his main instrument and as a conceptual visual artist working with performance art, light and sound installations and photography.' [label info]
www.touchmusic.org.uk
"Dem Minimalismus wird definitiv in der heutigen Zeit viel Raum gewährt. Vergleichbar dem graphischen Design einer Designer Republic wird Weniger zum Mehr, ist die Leerstelle längst
Ausdrucksmittel für den mondänen Zeitgeist. Hausswolff fährt diese Schiene seit Jahren
erfolgreich, verlässt sie aber nur für kurze konkrete Zwischenhalte (siehe das Triptych für das Laton-Label) um dann wieder drei Alben mit konsequent kurzgeschnittener Konzeption und
Kuration zu veröffentlichen, deren Sinn sich in stehenden Tönen auf Viertelstundenbasis und
kraftvollen Feldaufnahmen äußert. Die Vergangenheit die Hausswolff hier besingt, schleicht sich auch in Künstlerreichweite, denn die Kuration aus alter skandinavischer Galeristenarbeit wirkt auch Jahrzehnte später bei Hausswolff nach. Sicherlich ist »800 000 Seconds in Harar« ein im heutigen Sinne weitaus ausgewogeneres Werk, auch wenn die spärlichen
Akkordwechsel der Drones eher lange auf sich warten lassen. Geduld muss vorhanden sein,
das Goutieren der Musik wird schlagartig zum Spiel mit Zeit und Raum. Erst im dritten Stück
entfalten sich orgelartige Strukturen, auf die John Cage angesichts seines Jahrtausendwerkes
ORGAN2 stolz sein dürfte. Ähnlich verlangsamt, aber mit präsenten Bassschwingungen hallen
die organischen Zutaten eines Besuchs in Harar umso mehr am Hörknochen noch. Nichtsdestotrotz ist Hausswolff auf dünnem Eis. Das sorgfältige Konstrukt aus Schwebungssummern und genau präzisierter Hertzzahl gerät angesichts der emotionalen Verortung in der Musik bisweilen ins Wanken. Dann muss man Geduld aufbringen, um dieses Werk in seiner vollen Länge zu würdigen.
4/5 " [Thorsten Soltau / AEMAG]
"Selbst wenn man die Hintergrundinfos zu dieser CD nicht kennt, ist es immer wieder ein Vergnügen dem "Meister des Drones" zu lauschen. - Nun, auf CD ist das bei CM von Hausswolff immer so eine Sache, da seine meisten Tracks sehr lang und auch abhängig sind von der Qualität der Stereoanlage, denn der Herr hier bevorzugt extrem tieftönendes Klänge. Live und direkt ein unglaubliches Erlebnis, wenn er die Filter zum glühen bringt, man in den Sitz gepresst wird und die Kleidung wie Folie sich um den ganzen Körper spannt und das nur durch einen herrvoragend aufeinander abgestimmten Drone. Für diese Veröffentlichung, die gleichzeitig Musik für eine Theaterstück über die letzten Lebensjahre von Arthur Rimbaud in Harhar ist, wurde CM kurzer Hand in ein Flugzeug verfrachtet und zehn Tage nach Äthopien geschickt und das nur, weil er sagte, er bräuchte Basicmaterial für seine Kompositionen. Also hört man hier die bearbeiteten Klänge der Originalschauplätze, Reiseeindrücke und Aufnahmen auf der Grundlage traditionellen äthiopischen Musikinstrumenten. Wunderbare und meditative fließende Drones umschmeicheln den Hörer und nehmen ihn mit auf diese (Traum)Reise!" [Carsten Vollmer / OX]
|
2011 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Addressing the Fallen Angel |
LP |
"Two part sound piece based on sound installations at Pierogi Gallery (Brooklyn), Museo Rufino Tamayo (Mexico City) and ZKM (Karlsruhe), presented in 2001 - 2003." [label info]
"Renowned EVP expert and dark interpreter CMvH gets down to the nitty gritty of morality in art with a fascinating, newly augmented collection of sound installation recordings made 2001-2003 in response to Stockhausen’s controversial comments on 9/11 and now released by Sähko.
‘Addressing the Fallen Spirit’ employs an oblique collage of recordings from various installation works as the vehicle for Carl Michael Von Hausswolff’s thoughts on the intersection of art and morality. It’s obviously a dead sticky subject but one that CMvH tackles in the accompanying liner notes, which are crucial to understanding the LP, and take on a particular resonance in 2019 when discussions about political and moral responsibility are more urgent than ever.
The premise of the LP lies in Karlheinz Stockhausen’s 2001 assertions that Al Qaeda’s 9/11 attacks on the Twin Towers in NYC, the Pentagon, and Pennsylvania constituted a work of art. Stockhausen would later clarify his comments and condemn the attack as “Lucifer’s greatest work of art”, but CMvH finds fault with both assertions, essentially saying that a) the attack wasn’t a work of art because it caused death and tragedy, and b) that in qualifying his statement by invoking the mythological fabrication of Lucifer, and by extension Christianity, he was deferring responsibility to the big spirit in the sky.
As CMvH outlines in the liner notes, the argument is more complicated, and applies to a vast history of art in the last 50 years. This includes CMvH’s own highly controversial use of ashes from the victims of the Holocaust at Nazi concentration camp Majdanek in a painting at his 2012 gallery show, which was quickly cancelled.
Bookended by brief vocal snippets, concluding with the voice of Stockhausen, the piece’s collage of distressed radio signals, 666 Hz sine waves, guitar amp hum recorded at multiple CMvH installations between 2001-2003 thus act as a charred sponge or carbon sink for thoughts on the matter of “religious dogma and artistic pomp”, and society’s inability to properly grasp and take responsibility for its actions, or at least not even discuss the matter maturely. Taken in context of impending ecological disaster, too, he suggests that humans, even the ones we massively respect (CMvH is hugely inspired by Stockhausen), have difficulty coming to terms with objective reality and taking responsibility; now is the time to act." [Boomkat]
|
2019 |
€18.00 |
|
| |
INSNITT |
CD |
Arch explorer of EVP and paranormal recordings, CMvH is joined by John Duncan, Joachim Nordwall and other members of the Swedish avant fraternity at the opening of his 2018 solo exhibition in Gothenburg.
‘INSNITT’ captures 30 minutes of roiling subharmonic frequencies and anxious scrabble made at 3:e Våningen, Gothenburg on September 14th 2018. It arrives over 40 years since his first recordings to witness the Swedish polymath flanked by a coterie of longtime collaborators including Leif Elggren, Jean Louis-Huhta, and Henrik Rylander, plus the aforementioned, charging the air with stressed electronics that resemble the sounds of shearing metal and hi-pitched, whirring mechanicals.
Their massed effect is saturated with sense of hyperrealist psychedelia, appearing to physically keen and lurch in 3D in a way that ultimately makes us feel seasick and rinsed out by the end. Perhaps it’s best recommend to those listeners with strong sea legs and a tolerance for this kind of northerly climate sounds.
https://idealrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/insnitt
|
2021 |
€15.00 |
|
| VOUDOURIS, DIMITRI |
NPFAI.1/PALMOS/NPFAI.3/PRAXIS |
CD |
Vier interessante Arbeiten eines südafrikanischen Komponisten (geboren 1961 in Athen); so werden bei NPFAI.1 Originalklänge von afrikanischen Zeremonial-Instrumenten (Kundi & M'Bira / bzw. Kalimba) computergestützt in mysteriöse Granularwellen & -welten verwandelt, die die ursprüngliche Klang-Atmosphäre der Objekte beibehält.
Ähnlich werden bei den anderen Stücken Klangdetails einzelner Instrumente analysiert und elektro-akustisch bearbeitet, so daß bestimmte musikalische Parameter wie durch ein Mikroskop näher betrachtbar werden. Besonders gut gefällt das letzte Stück PRAXIS, wo ein griechisch-orthodoxer Chor herhalten muss für VOUDOURIS unheimliche Transformationen, die sich bis ins Unkenntliche auflösen, um dann wieder zurückzukehren zum Ausgangsmaterial. Genial! Wieder erstaunlich, zu welchen Neuentdeckungen das POGUS-Label animiert !
"South African composer Dimitri Voudouris (b.1961 Athens, Greece) began composing in the 90¹s. He composes for acoustic instruments, electronic sound sources, multimedia, including dance and theatre. He bases his technical and theoretical compositional approach in research of cognitive psycho-acoustic behavioral patterns in humans and the behavior of sound in relationship to continued environmental changes. His socio-cultural interests have led him to research the survival of music in the 21st century and the impact that media and technology have on the composer.
NPFAI. 1 (New Possibilities for African Instrument) is an electro-acoustic composition for kundi and m'bira with computer assisted processing. Kalimba or m'bira is a finger piano made of wood and metal strips used in ceremonial music. In Western Africa this instrument is known as m'bira and in Eastern Africa it is called a kalimba. The kundi a bowed harp is a ceremonial instrument originating from the Mangbetu tribe of the Congo. In NPFAI.1, working with each individual layer gave Voudouris better control in the change of sound characteristics as some sound phenomena changed, disappeared and new sound phenomena surfaced creating new possibilities. In Palmos, Voudouris chose three Western instruments - the Hammond organ, oboe, and the bandoneon - whose overtone and harmonic capabilities allowed for interlocking moments to take place, a phenomenon that is ever present in African traditional music. Spectrographic analysis of sounds produced by each individual instrument was carefully monitored which allowed for a deeper understanding of timbre [harmonic content], attack, decay and vibrato. Subtractive synthesis further allowed for the isolation of certain inaudible frequencies to be enhanced to an audible level and the elimination of others. These compositional elements allow the listener to perceive the sound as stable individual tone and noise spectra, frequently of surprising purity.
NPFAI. 3, third in a series of electro-acoustic studies, is for African marimba and computer assisted processing. The African marimba used in this work is a tenor marimba, used traditionally as a rhythm instrument. The marimba is tuned in Xhosa tuning with just intonation in Eb (with added A's). The instrument was played with traditional mallets; the recording was processed and constructed on computer. Granular, algorithmic and subtractive sound syntheses were used in the construction of NPFAI.3. These procedures were not to defamiliarize the sound of the instrument but rather to explore the deeper analogies of organic identity in the construction of micro sound environments, focusing on capturing the physical properties of the instrument and its organic sound textures. PRAXIS is a four-channel tape piece using a recording of Christian Orthodox Greek male choir and computer assisted processing. 566 sound compartments were created that ranged from 10 to 40 seconds in time duration. Each sound compartment was constructed and manipulated individually, allowing for better control in maintaining individuality in the sound structures. The computer further allowed for the individual micro-rearrangement of pitches in each sound compartment, leading to the notion of continuous macro-timbre. The methods used allowed for greater control in spacial differentiation of each sound. The distorted nature of the sound source was not eliminated but was build into the composition." [label info]
www.pogus.com
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| VOWINCKEL, ANTJE |
Terra Prosodia |
CD |
"Sound composition with dialects and disappearing languages from Europe
With: George Cadéac, Nesa Engler, Don Eoil, Remy Graillon, Ingvar Larsson, Peter Meyer und Ingrid Wahlgren
1. Rumansch
2. Gutamal
3. Provencal
4. Wallis-Deutsch
5. Provencal
6. Gascon
8. Scottish-Gaelic
8 Tracks (33′46″)
CD (500 copies)
Currently about 6000 languages are spoken on the world. Most of them will disappear soon – and together with them a meldodic richness of human expressivness. However, the fact, that dialects and disappearing languages are only spoken by a few people has one advantage: only if one does not understand the contents it is possible to really listen tot he sound, saying far away from their homeland these languages unfold their musical enchantment (charme?). What you find are melodies that nobody invented (conceived of?). They arise in the process of impulsive speaking, on the grounds of oral tradition. Landscapes seem to continue there with melodic heights and valleys. Often single sentences remain in our heads as catchy tunes.
In Terra Prosodia people tell a short spontanuous story based on a personal experience. Stories about storms, excursions, accidents and so on. Particularly speakers who have spent their lifes in remote valleys or islands often speak with much more distinct modulation. This expressiveness gets lost quickly one cou live in a big city.
In the compositions the contents of these stories do not matter any longer. The pieces focus on the melodies in the dialects and add second instrumental or humed melodic voice. By this also the melody of the speaking voice is underlined. In the beginning the second voice will imitate the speaking voice, later becomes indpendent and follows own directions. As soon as the focus of perception is on the melody, you can listen to both lines as independent voices.
During my work I found out, that an even more exact decoding and mapping oft he intervalls (which would be possible technically) on no account lead to better results. Quite the contraray the effect of a catchy tune that occurs when you remember the melodies is based on the fact the our brain is already during hearing looking for characteristic figures and intervalls. Our ear behaves like the eye in a stalagtite cave. In a vast array of stalagtites and stalagmites we always remember nothing then typical single shapes. „Look, that looks like….“. Only this mechanism allows us to remember something of huge amount of shapes.
(Antje Vowinckel, translation: Chris Heenan)
Text by Christina Kubisch:
Many things disappear and only then gets attention. Images, texts, sounds appear in archives in audio-visual documentations in the net.
But archiving the no more living existence is partial maybe even sometimes absurd or naiv. Language only can remain vivid and interesting, if it is spoken everyday. When it is staying in a process of change, articulated by different persons, when it is depicting facts, information, thoughts, emotions and so on.
Antje Vowinckel’s Terra Prosodia makes happy and sad at the same time. The musicality of the spoken word sinks in even more by the melodical adaption as in case of pure listening of an unknown lanugage. You admire the beautiness and complexity. You instantly wish to speak one of these languages yourself for not leaving them to archivars and linguists but forward them to people who would use them in future.
In Terra Prosodia Antje Vowinckel succeeds in a wonderful mixture of a political important theme, a formally convincing process and a subtle and profound humour, that is hard to find. Once you have listened to the voices you will listen differently to spoken language in every day life." [label info]
www.gruenrekorder.de
www.gruenrekorder.de
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| VOX POPULI! |
Psyko Tropix |
LP |
Touch Sensitive is honoured to dig into the vaults of legendary cult French group Vox Populi! with a collection primarily pulling from their creative highpoint of 1986-1990. The vast majority of the works are unreleased and all make their first appearance on vinyl. The recordings have been licensed from the group's extensive archive, mastered by Rupert Clervaux and cut by Andreas Kauffelt at Schnitstelle. The release is completed by liner notes focusing on Vox Populi!'s creative process and prolific output. Springing from the rip it up restart of post-punk in 1980 and primarily active throughout that decade, Vox Populi!'s discography is a perfect showcase of an almost unclassifiable group. The often-used 'ethno-industrial' tag - even if not approved by the group - goes some way to describing a melting pot of primarily self-taught techniques and vast cultural influences. Founding member Axel Kyrou's parents were avant-garde musicians and filmmakers resulting in a heavy cultural immersion from a young age. His partner and bandmate Mitra moved from Iran to Paris in 1978 - followed a few years later by her virtuoso brother Arash who joined the group at the age of 14. Based in their 14th arronidissement studio - previously Axel and his brother's family playroom - Vox Populi! quickly became a lynchpin in the Parisian experimental scene and beyond through the burgeoning mail-art scene. The group contributed work to a huge number of independent labels. Their music and approach quickly progressed from rudimentary experiments to harness transcendental spiritual qualities and moments of intense beauty. In this collection, we can feel the vibrations of Don Cherry's Organic Music Society, Faust's communal explorations and King Tubby's forward-thinking studio experimentation. "We recorded everything - every idea. We would always have a cassette or a reel running. We made such different styles - freaky, alternative, experimental, industrial etc. We had no rules and no plans - our main motives were play and pleasure. I think that many people can feel that in the music." Three tracks recorded in 2017 by a reconfigured Vox Populi! sit perfectly with music from 30 years previous - "We were never defined by fashion or the zeitgeist. So we remained ourselves. Our sound is still natural. We had to be turned on by our own music and we wanted the music to have an impact on consciousness. We were the subjects of our own experiments and there was also a kind of mystery - even for us." The Psyko Tropix collection is another magical and mysterious addition to the open-hearted and open-eared world of Vox Populi! "The music of Vox Populi! found me several years ago and it was one of my record digging highlights. Their stark contrast of dark and light paints a beautiful picture of the physical and mental world we all live in. This new album doesn't miss a step in exploring further in both directions" Cut Chemist
https://touchsensitiverecords.bandcamp.com/album/psyko-tropix
|
2022 |
€29.50 |
|
| VRIL |
The fatal Duckpond |
CD |
"Award-winning soundtrack to the film by Horst Gack,(Prix Ultra de Concourse Lumiere, Ulm, 2009: Best Soundtrack). After a break of six years, Chris Cutler, Bob Drake and Lukas Simonis, now with added ingredient Pierre Omer, present the second volume of recordings by the elusive VRIL - a band who revive and update both the great institution of the guitar instrumental and the now sadly neglected practice of collective arrangement, intense rehearsal and live studio performance. Appropriate to the half century that has passed since the birth of the form, these hits dodge about, get bored easily and blend both concentration and complexity with the still indispensable traditional qualities that made the genre great: hummability, crafted sounds, nifty arrangements, ridiculous gimmicks and ensemble playing. 'Neither tribute nor parody, these enigmatic pieces are never more nor less than exactly what they are'.... wrote Lothar Preen in his Melbourne concert review....'but perfectly realised'. With film stills, misleading sleeve-notes and storyboard by the Diogenesian recluse Frank Key." [label info]
www.rermegacorp.com
|
2009 |
€14.00 |
|
| VROMB |
Jeux de Terre |
CD |
Das erste VROMB – Album erschien 1993 auf Tesco und wird inzwischen zurecht als Klassiker betrachtet – irgendwo in der Grauzone zwischen dunklem ambient Industrial und rhythmisch-futuristischer Elektronik siedelte VROMB seinen ureigenen Stil an..
"until 1993, hugo girard's only appearance on record had been on a canadian compilation cd (adolphe présente), but these new ambient industrial sounds caused enthusiastic reactions in europe and canada. the first full length release was a canadian / german label collaboration: 'jeux de terre' . this cd was beautifully packaged in a 7"x10" cover and the disc was in a hand numbered paper sleeve. also included was a postcard and several large prints of nicely drawn insects - the text was in both french and english. the original 'jeux de terre' has been deleted for years. now there is the opportunity for vromb addicts to get it again. this re-release is in celebration of the ten year anniversary of vromb. the concept behind 'jeux de terre' (earth plays) was of a journey through an imaginary world of
insects. insects that had not been identified yet - as you can now read in english for the first time. 'insects, go for food or discovery, warzone, life purpose at the insect dimension' as girard explains it. the sound on this disc is less beat oriented than later vromb releases, but nevertheless it is partly rhythmic. drones and basses create a hypnotic and sometimes threatening atmosphere. you might seem to hear natural, even sampled, insect sounds but there were no samplers used. just 'strictly analog and digital synthesis'. you can hear what makes vromb's music unique even on his debut.
a soundtrack to a film yet completed. the ant-zen re-release contains one unreleased extra track which was intended for the original version and an 8 page booklet which includes a modified version of the original artwork."
[label info]
|
2003 |
€13.50 |
|
| W>A>S>P>S / NACHT UND NEBEL |
split |
7inch |
"Comes on black vinyl, with red, green or white cover. nacht und nebel - 3 tracks of rumbling, scraping 'cello misuse.
W>A>S>P>S - 1 track of brutally heavy bass surf wall and electricity shock. "Stark and potentially horrifying sounds within"
[label info]
https://nachtundnebel.bandcamp.com/album/split-7-w-w-a-s-p-s
"I love that this singles like this exist. This split from experimental musicians W>A>S>P>S and Nacht Und Nebel is a conceptual single who's mere existence without even putting it on the turntable is proof enough of the vision and intent. This record isn't intended to be music for the livingroom or to illicit some kind of emotional response. Instead they're the the conclusion to their equation. A proof of a theory and making the conceptual an actual object you can hold in your hand to reenact this document of a particular set of circumstances. A crazy vision that they had to follow to it's end point.
In the case of W>A>S>P>S, Benjamin Hallat is presenting a sound, a long droning speaker-breaking low end crackle that would make anyone check their needle and amp, which hasn't ever existed in nature. This is a completely man made sound that exists entirely because of electricity. It's a humming dangerous sound. It's a transformer overhead jammed between poles of power lines that's shorting out in the acid rain. The lower end hum shifts through a narrow spectrum of tones because now we have to mention the limitations of whatever this was recorded on. The mic and tape have been turned up to maximum input which boosts that rumble and obscures everything else. Like some kind of circuitry didgeridoo it warbles and melts away under a static crackle that comes from malfunction. It could be a simple conversation on a telephone, a sample recorded off the tv...which was then successively rerecorded over and over. Each time a new one was made from the record of the last time, getting exponentially more broken. W>A>S>P>S have transformed it into something else completely that will never exist as a 'live' sound. It's a weird world we live in. Welcome to the future.
Nacht Und Nebel (or Night and Fog, which has equally ominous connotations as Nazi coined 'Joy Division') on the B-Side is the solo project, of Henry Davies. The press release says the three tracks on this side are manipulations of a cello but you wouldn't know it on "Those That Tremble as if They Were Mad" that features a cycling warm wooden sound that slowly works it's way through digital sounding crunches and crushes of various bit sizes, turning into a deadly swarm. A hiss of digital swarming bees from the '50s. Theremin warps and old synths sparkle and give off tesla sparks of lightning. It ends up underwater as a long past memory you'll want to forget in this stark apocolpytic future. "Derinkuyu" is the sound of a far off thunderous footstep from a massive robot and you're listening through an old tin can telephone, the only technology left. It's also on the heels of those fucking digital bees and walks ever so closer with pinging noises from an equally deadly submarine. It's as if we're listening to creatures who can't even hear and have no use for sound waves. These tracks are the leftover detritus of a forgotten way they used to communicate before theygave up on the whole damn thing.
Those bees are stuck inside an old Atari on "Anareta". I even forgot this came from a cello? Basically unimportant except for the fact there's deliberately no reference whatsoever to the original source. Henry is saying it doesn't make a difference how this started, it's been bent into a completely new thing. The traditional organic sound has been obliterated. This one skitters around in waves after the initial bzzzzz and fades out as the EQ was pushed down into negative Db's above 500hz. It's not happy, you aren't going to put it on in the car on the way to work but it's inspiring as hell.
Head over here to get one of these 250 copies, xerox sleeves, minimal as hell. Stark and potentially horrifying sounds within." [Jason /7inchesblogspot]
|
2013 |
€7.00 |
|
| WADA, YOSHI |
Singing in Unison |
3 x LP |
" 'Singing in unison' is the latest in a series of recordings from acclaimed sound artist, composer and performer Yoshi Wada. Recorded live over two nights, March 14 and 15, in 1978, at New York City's legendary performance space The Kitchen, Singing in Unison is a dramatic yet meditative work: modal improvisations for three male voices, singing, with great gravitas, in purposeful unison. These previously unreleased recordings, featuring vocalists Richard Hayman, Imani Smith and Wada himself are extremely powerful, with a glacial majesty and a sense of timeless wonder. Wada's earliest musical memories are of hearing Zen Buddhist ritual chants in his native Japan, and those memories are reflected in the deep vocalisations here; also evident is Wada's period of intense study with Indian master singer Pandit Pran Nath. Thus there is a definite Eastern feeling to Singing in Unison, with further elements added by Imani Smith's Sufi background and Wada's interest in Eastern European vocal styles, but the music is also informed by Wada's experiences in the Fluxus movement and as a member of the New York avant-garde community. The edgy atmosphere of 1970s New York City pervades these recordings, adding a hint of menace. Despite the fact that this is purely vocal music, fans of the slow-moving heaviosity of Sunn 0))) will appreciate Singing in Unison. It is available in two formats: a single CD of the March 15 performance, with gatefold sleeve; or a triple LP set featuring a complete version of both performances, March 14 and 15. 'Singing in Unison' is a massive, monumental, monolith of vocal sound. Unstoppable! Triple 12' LP set for the complete version of both performances on March 14 and 15. Two and a half hours in total. Quality pressing + liners." [label info]
www.emrecords.net
|
2012 |
€45.00 |
|
| WAKHEVITCH, IGOR |
Hathor |
LP |
"Subtitled "LITURGIE Du SOUFFLE POUR LA RESURRECTION DES MORTS", this is probably Wakhevitch's most esoteric and occult-influenced work. Some sort of dark ritual for synthesizer and orchestra inspired by Kabbalistic writings where Igor's trademark bottom heavy electronics pulse, wizz and sweep to a backdrop of heavy tribal drumming. Elsewhere, menacing and majestic spoken word passages open us the doors to the netherworld, leading you into an esoteric sound ritual that sounds spooky, virulent, powerful, droning, entrancing and mystical at the same time. Again Wakhevitch brings together disparate elements, bridging apparently unrelated musical forms and integrate them in order to deliver another unique work that sounds strangely prescient and recalling at the same time works from Mort Garson (Black Mass), Ruth White (Flowers Of Evil), Terry Riley (Surgery Persian Dervishes), Stockhausen (Stimmung), Tangerine Dream (Zeit) or early Klaus Schulze (Irrlicht)." [label info]
www.wah-wahsupersonic.com
|
2013 |
€23.00 |
|
| |
Les Fous d'Or |
LP |
"Released by Pathe Marconi in 1975 and housed in a fantastic surrealist cover designed by his father, Russian painter/art director Georges Wakhevitch, this album marks the debut of Wakhevitch's long-standing collaboration with american dancer/choreographer Carolyn Carlson. It also shows the composer's progression into a more esoteric and lyrical grounds: a departure from the violence of his first three albums into quieter yet equally dark and mysterious regions. Divided in two sides (called "CORNERSTONE"/"LES FOUS D'OR") the whole record oozes a dreamy, mysterious, surrealist atmosphere enhaced by the spoken word introductions that open a series of mesmerising electronic pieces which range from the gentle to the hypnotic. Animal sounds, ritual horns, wordless vocals and assorted metal banging and scrapping add to the whole mix for a landmark sound that will evolve in future albums. Six different pieces that take off where Hathors' 'Aurore' left before moving into a crazy and disjointed landscape that echoes the crazyness of Docteur Faust yet in a subtle, stranger, more warped way. Strictly limited to 500 copies on transparent clear vinyl. Single cover reproducing the original 1975 artwork. Includes insert with liner notes reproduction of the original Les Fous d'Or insert." [label info]
www.wah-wahsupersonic.com
|
2013 |
€23.00 |
|
| WALDRON, M.S./ STEVEN STAPLETON / S.B. SIGMARSSON / JIM HAYNES / R.K.FAULHABER |
The Sleeping Moustache |
CD |
Akustischer Surrealismus in Reinform auf dieser aufwendige Ketten-Collaboration, Drones und Collagiertes zu gleichen Teilen, Sprachexperimente, Geräuschaftes, Weirdes, abenteuerlich und schön!
Anhören und staunen !
„... Im fünfmaligen Wechsel von gut 10-minütigen mit 2- bis 3-minütigen Tracks jonglieren die Fünf mit den elektronischen Schatten von Nähmaschinen und Regenschirmen, wuchten nackte Eselskadaver auf Konzertflügel, klingen nach der Nachtschwester und lassen sich das Schamhaar neu friesieren [...].. Auch wenn sie das Pissoir nicht neu erfindet, ist sie doch Frucht einer langen Erfahrung aquis submersus.“ [Bad Alchemy #51]
“....Each with a peculiar understanding of the audio arts, these five artists came to the proverbial table and thought it a good idea to collaborate. Given the predilection for the surreal and the sidereal that each of these five employ in their many audio and visual projects, those agendas oozed from the recordings that became known as The Sleeping Moustache.
An epiphany of controlled disorder, a convulsion of beauty, a cascade of thought from delirious minds, The Sleeping Moustache is an exquisite manifestation of sound poetry scattered into a tortuous collage mired in an oblique melancholy. Magnetic tones extracted from the ether, mechanical sounds smeared into a lugubrious growls, horns trumpeting straight out of John's Book of Revelation, ululations sliced into information overload that Schwitters himself would be proud of. The Sleeping Moustache presents a psychically instable landscape, where dreams and nightmares wreak havoc upon the drudgery of daily life. The closest audible territory for The Sleeping Moustache might be the psychoactive constructions of Nurse With Wound's Homotopy To Marie, although the characters in this drama happened upon an entirely different map of that terrain.
The artwork for the first edition of The Sleeping Moustache features five letterpress prints from each of the artists with an edition of 1700.” [from the label description]
"You know it's gotta be an amazing record when we start a review by stating "we don't know where to begin with this record" and then we blather on and on for another 500 words pretty much demonstrating that while we may not where to begin, we certainly have a lot to say. And that totally applies to The Sleeping Moustache, the latest release from the enigmatic Helen Scarsdale Agency. The most well known of these five audio contortionists is Steven Stapleton who is the brains behind Nurse With Wound, who convolutedly reconstitute Surrealism, avant-garde aesthetics, and krautrock expressivity, resulting in some of the most profoundly brilliant and disturbing records we've ever heard. Sigtryggur Berg Sigmarsson is one of the drunken pilots of Stilluppsteypa, an Icelandic project of electro-absurdity capable of magnificent minimalism. M.S. Waldron is responsible for irr. app. (ext.), (an unwieldy moniker for sure) which has produced an amazing body of post-Surrealist expressivity in recent years. When he's not manning the fron counter here at Aquarius, Jim Haynes has developed a peculiar knack for rust-inflected dronescaping, and finally R.K. Faulhaber, who is the mystery man amongst the bunch, although we've been told his unpublished works offer a byzantine array of mutilated sonic collages. The album that these five produced is a weighty proposition to say the least, with detours a plenty within this mangled concoction of delirious dronescaping punctuated with glossalaic vocalizations. Delicate plinks and plonks sprinkled across sublime, gaping tones which transition to a convulsive beauty with mechanical spasms and nightmarish creakings. Throughout The Sleeping Moustache, ghostly reminders of each of the contributors' refined aesthetics emerge as a Gordon knot of convoluted logic, unsettling shifts between horror and comedy, psychological instability, and disquieting soundscapes. If you're even remotely a fan of Nurse With Wound or irr. app. (ext.) or Stilluppsteypa, this album is not just recommended... it's absolutely required." [Aquarius Records] |
2006 |
€14.00 |
|
| WALKER, SCOTT & SUNN O))) |
Soused |
CD |
"Freigeister unter sich: Der US-Chansonier trifft auf die Drone-Doom-Band: Als Sunn O))) im Jahre 2009 erstmals bei Scott Walker anfragten, ob er einen Beitrag zu ihrem Album "Monoliths & Dimensions" beisteuern wolle, ahnte niemand, dass es einmal eine echte Zusammenarbeit geben würde. Vier Jahre später meldete sich Scott Walker schließlich bei der US-amerikanischen Drone-Doom-Band: Er habe neue Musik geschrieben und dabei stets eine Kollaboration mit Sunn O))) im Sinn gehabt. "Soused" ist das beeindruckend wuchtige Ergebnis einer Kooperation zweier Freigeister. Scott Walker feierte in den 60ern weltweite Erfolge mit den Walker Brothers, veröffentlichte in Folge viel beachtete Soloplatten und etablierte sich als Chansonier mit teils bitterböser Lyrik. In den 80ern erfolgte ein radikaler Stilwechsel und zudem eine Änderung seiner Arbeitsweise. Alben wie "Climate Of Hunter" (1984), "Tilt" (1996) und "The Drift" (2006) zeigten einen wandlungsfreudigen Künstler, der 2013 mit dem komplexen Meisterwerk "Bish Bosh" seinen Weg fortsetzte. Mit "Soused" folgt die logische Konsequenz Walkers künstlerischen Schaffens. Das Vinyl erscheint mit Downloadcode.
///
When Sunn O))) first approached Scott Walker about appearing on their 2009 album Monoliths & Dimensions, little did they know what it would actually lead to. Four years on, Scott was back with something even more enticing, collaborating on Soused, a body of work he was writing with them in mind.
Recorded in London in early 2014 and produced by Scott Walker and long-time ally Peter Walsh with the assistance of musical director Mark Warman, Soused is a 5-track 50-minute body of work that cements both acts’ wide-reaching and otherworldly renown." [label info]
www.4ad.com
www.4ad.com
|
2014 |
€12.50 |
|
| |
Soused |
do-LP |
"Freigeister unter sich: Der US-Chansonier trifft auf die Drone-Doom-Band: Als Sunn O))) im Jahre 2009 erstmals bei Scott Walker anfragten, ob er einen Beitrag zu ihrem Album "Monoliths & Dimensions" beisteuern wolle, ahnte niemand, dass es einmal eine echte Zusammenarbeit geben würde. Vier Jahre später meldete sich Scott Walker schließlich bei der US-amerikanischen Drone-Doom-Band: Er habe neue Musik geschrieben und dabei stets eine Kollaboration mit Sunn O))) im Sinn gehabt. "Soused" ist das beeindruckend wuchtige Ergebnis einer Kooperation zweier Freigeister. Scott Walker feierte in den 60ern weltweite Erfolge mit den Walker Brothers, veröffentlichte in Folge viel beachtete Soloplatten und etablierte sich als Chansonier mit teils bitterböser Lyrik. In den 80ern erfolgte ein radikaler Stilwechsel und zudem eine Änderung seiner Arbeitsweise. Alben wie "Climate Of Hunter" (1984), "Tilt" (1996) und "The Drift" (2006) zeigten einen wandlungsfreudigen Künstler, der 2013 mit dem komplexen Meisterwerk "Bish Bosh" seinen Weg fortsetzte. Mit "Soused" folgt die logische Konsequenz Walkers künstlerischen Schaffens. Das Vinyl erscheint mit Downloadcode.
///
When Sunn O))) first approached Scott Walker about appearing on their 2009 album Monoliths & Dimensions, little did they know what it would actually lead to. Four years on, Scott was back with something even more enticing, collaborating on Soused, a body of work he was writing with them in mind.
Recorded in London in early 2014 and produced by Scott Walker and long-time ally Peter Walsh with the assistance of musical director Mark Warman, Soused is a 5-track 50-minute body of work that cements both acts’ wide-reaching and otherworldly renown." [label info]
www.4ad.com
"When we first heard about the collaboration, it sounded like a joke, like some internet meme. It did seem crazy, and on the surface, pretty hilarious, but eventually it was proven to be an actual thing. Then when we first heard a little snippet online, we weren’t entirely sold, Walker sounded even more over the top than usual, and the title Soused seems to indicate that maybe Walker was in fact completely wasted when he recorded his vocals, cuz it definitely sounded like it. But when we finally got to hear the whole thing, it suddenly all made sense, Walker’s vocals, while still insanely dramatic and over the top, were somehow perfect, and SUNNO))), instead of just doing the guitars-against-the-amps drone thing, really seem to be working way outside their comfort zone, and in fact, lots of this record sounds extremely, sonically uncomfortable. Fantastically so. We were so smitten by opener “Brando”, we had trouble digging any deeper into the record. Right from the get go, opening with Walker crooning over a whirring organ, shimmery and sun dappled, and what sounds suspiciously like the Guns ’N Roses “Sweet Child O’ Mine” guitar lick, but then the thick, viscous drones creep in, accompanied by strange ticks and pulsations, as well as what sounds like a bull whip, as well as the occasional burst of distorto guitar, the combination of that low end creep, and Walker’s vocals, as well as a cool feedback/high end that seems to echo the vocal melody, it’s pretty powerful, and stunning, weird, but also weirdly beautiful. “Herod 2014” was our next obsession, with it’s weird squelchy electronic rhythm, buried in thick rumbling thrum, it’s Walker who carries the song, some sort of demented, and yeah, likely seriously soused, torch song, flecked with static, and driven by a slo-mo Sabbath riff stretched out into near static sprawl, Walker’s vocals wreathed in lots of mysterious noise, the whole track peppered with what sounds like some strange banshee wail, or pterodactyl cry, but it’s somehow so perfect, that it becomes as integral to the song as any other element.
“Bull” is downright balladic after the previous heaving monoliths, but not for long, the song exploding into some serious Swans like pummel, with Walker kicking it up a notch, some loose chaotic drum damage, some junkyard percussion, and a ‘hook’ that manages to be the catchiest bit on the whole record, the song slipping into slo-mo somnambulant creeps, before launching right back into that ‘chorus’. We have to be honest, the first three songs are so perfect, it’s not until maybe the 20th listen that we even made it to the last two, but they’re similarly broody and bombastic, “Fetish” featuring some seriously buzzed out bass (assuming that’s a bass), and like “Bull” before it, another killer ‘chorus’, that sounds like Swans gone haywire, dosed on some serious narcotics, a wild cacophony of elephant like electronic bleats, churning metallic riffing, monstrous drumming, before settling into what sounds like some sick, mutant strain of kraut-doom. And don’t even get us started on Walker’s INSANE lyrics, in this case, a refrain of “Choo Choo, Choo Choo mama”, which sounds ridiculous, but in the context of the song, it sounds mad, maniacal, and like some sort of twisted genius, which we’re assuming it is. Finally, there’s “Lullaby”, which is one, at least for a moment, until another blurt of atonal, moaning, keening, doom cabaret explodes from the murk, only to settle right back down, most of the track spent in hushed lowercase mode, finishing off super dramatically, a field of barely there guitar rumble, distant sonar like pings, ominous swells, mysterious insectoid clicking, and one final, haunting stanza from Walker. Most definitely a twisted outsider masterpiece, and considering how skeptical we were, it’s even more surprising that this might just end up being a record of the year contender for some of us!" [Aquarius Records]
|
2014 |
€29.50 |
|
| WANDER |
same |
CD |
Ähnlich wie bei FRANS DE WAARDS (leider nicht mehr aktiven) Projekt SHIFTS geht es bei WANDER um ruhigen Minimalismus und Drones, allerdings hier nicht mit Gitarren erzeugt sondern mit reinen elektronisch-analogen Frequenzen, gar nicht so unähnlich von z.B. den letzten ELEH-Sachen, aber mit mehr Entwicklung im Drone...
"Ok, so Wander promised to release only once in each possible format, but Divine Frequency insisted on doing another full length CD, and who are Wander to refuse such a request? Wander is Beequeen in drone disguise. This piece (in two parts), was recorded in the summer of 2008, with subsequent mixing afterwards. All analogue synthesizers humming away. Just in to catch the next synth revival? If only. Wander never cared about hypes, but this is a great piece." [label info]
www.divinefrequency.com
"... As ever the release itself is simply titled Wander and organ drones lay again at the foundation of this album. The CD is divided into two tracks and that does not live up to what it might suggest. It starts off with airy hiss and rumble, while a steady organ drone slowly rises up along the way; getting stronger in force and eventually slowly fading away into a more silent passage. After that a new movement in the piece shows it face: a fieldrecording of crickets guided by low end pulses that secretly take us into that second track and it's not before a louder organ sequence starts to play when you actually realize that you've reached yet another movement. And that will happen again... and again. So it's more like one long track instead of the earlier supposed two. With lots of dynamics to keep it exciting and a very pleasant listen at the same time. Oh yes, yet another fine example in that ever growing line of Wander releases." [SDT/Vital Weekly]
|
2009 |
€12.00 |
|
| WARDROBE MEMORIES |
The Mean |
MC |
"Wardrobe Memories has been around since 1999 - serving Drones and melodic dark ambient on CD-R, vinyl and Cassette. After releases on Dhyana Records, EE Tapes and several other hard-to-purchase longplayers, sparsely spread in very limited runs, a new LP on shhhh records appeared in 2011 with foggy soundtracks and subtle beats. Now after 2 years (and almost one year in the making) the new album by Wardrobe Memories appears with a green C-50 audio cassette on Voluntary Whores, strictly limited to 48 copies, serving 14 soundtrack-songs for a never released steampunk-darkfuture-movie. Release comes with a futuristic object and oversized printed artwork." [label info]
www.voluntarywhores.de
|
2013 |
€8.00 |
|
| WARMDESK |
InvalidObject Series (function) |
mCD |
Das irische FÄLLT-Label hat auf einen Schlag ein Kompendium zur neuen digitalen laptop / click / glitch / IDM – Musik herausgebracht ! Das sind 24 mCDs mit allerlei bekannten und unbekannte Vertretern dieses jungen Genres. Wir haben die meisten da, hier eine Übersicht ! Limitiert jeweils auf schamlose 250 Stck ! Preis pro mcD : € 9.50
Better priced now, last copies of this absolute compendium of IDM. € 9.50
“ The invalidObject Series was established in 2000 as a sublabel of Fällt to release a finite series of twenty four 3"CD/.mp3 works.
Offering a unique perspective on a diverse range of musical output at the turn of the millennium, the Series features work by some of the most respected artists operating within the field of '.microsound' and has been described as "a remarkable document of a vibrant artistic community and a critical moment in the evolution of digital music" (Philip Sherburne), "a showcase for the extraordinary range of practical approaches within contemporary electronic music" (Matt Ffytche, The Wire) and, simply, "impressive" (Rob Young, Editor, The Wire). “ [label press release}
|
2000 |
€9.50 |
|
| WASHBURN, SEAN |
Wave Mantra |
CD |
"We step into the year of 2015 with a retrospective look on an album that has since become quite scarce in the marketplace. Wave Mantra was originally released by Sean himself fifteen years ago. It is best described as a sonic journey through an enigmatic and absorbing soundworld with a very rich organic flavour. A beautiful tale that we are very happy to see back in print again. This reissue has, like so many other gterma titles, also been gently remastered by Anders Peterson. Comes in a jewel case with 16-page booklet." [label info]
gterma.blogspot.de
gterma.blogspot.de
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| WATSON, CHRIS |
Locations, Processed |
LP |
"Chris Watson, a.o. known as the keyboard player of Cabaret Voltaire and a founder member of The Hafler Trio, creates an all new sound journey in honour of Bob Moog via a series of his own location recordings, subtlety processed through The Moog Sound Labs System 55. It's almost a return to the principles that birthed Cabaret Voltaire's earliest experiments."
"The cover and series name shout “Moog!” Yet the sound is what we’ve come to expect from Chris Watson: field recordings treated with love. The fact that the chapters were filtered through the Moog Sound Lab’s System 55 seems incidental, but widens the understanding of the processing tool. This 12″ is part of a new series that also includes entries from Hieroglyphic Being, Charlemagne Palestine, Mika Vainio, Gazelle Twin and The Grid, a remarkably diverse group ~ our only quibble being the consistent, yet unrevealing cover art.
Watson’s set concentrates on New York City, and offers a sonic window into the experience of visitors. “Grand Central Terminal” offers the hum of human traffic, along with gentle specific reminders: the announcement of a train, the departure from the platform, a child’s voice. A clear contrast is made by “Rockefeller Centre” (using the British spelling) as the hum disappears but the other sources remain. This time the journey of the train claims the ear, including the distinctive two-note warning tone, somehow devoid of the ubiquitous warning, “Watch the closing doors.” The sound of running children in “Central Park” is particularly endearing, as is a hint of birdsong, although less than one might expect considering the location. Still, those who have visited New York without living there are likely to be able to relate to the dominant soundscape of traffic and transit; they have not yet discovered the city’s hidden places. The intrusion of airplanes, sirens, and fire horns makes a good case for the city as the antithesis of Olympic National Park. Abandon all hope, those who seek one square inch of silence.
Watson makes an interesting sequencing choice with “Times Square,” as the earlier pieces progress from south to north. Times Square is actually south of Rockefeller Center. But as the loudest of the tracks (by virtue of conversation, honking, bicycle bells, passing bass, cries of “Taxi!” and more), the sequencing makes sense. Just as one seems to have escaped to relative peace, the real world rushes in with a vengeance. Some grow acclimated to such sounds, but the noise levels remain at dangerous levels throughout most of the day. This makes “Jamaica Bay to Leigh Valley” seem a welcome escape. The sirens can still be heard in the distance, but the waterfowl drown them out. The finale serves as a litmus test for the ears: if one were forced to choose between extremes, which would one prefer?" [Richard Allen/ A Closer Listen]
|
2018 |
€20.00 |
|
| WATSON, CHRIS & MARCUS DAVIDSON |
Cross-Pollination |
CD |
"Touch presents a piece by British environmental sound archivist Chris Watson and a collaboration between Watson and British composer, producer and keyboard player Marcus Davidson (Spire). "Midnight At The Oasis" is a 28-minute time compression from sunset to sunrise in South Africa's Kalahari Desert and features the dense and harmonic mosaic of delicate animal rhythms recorded in this remote habitat. The piece was first performed at the Marquee in Parliament Street, York, on September 13th, 2007 as part of SightSonic's contribution to the BA Festival of Science. The Kalahari Desert is a vast and open space where most of the wildlife is nocturnal. After sunset, the dunes, grasses and thorn bushes are patrolled by an emerging alien empire -- the insects. "Midnight At The Oasis" presents an unseen soundscape from this beautiful and hostile environment. "The Bee Symphony" is a project by Chris Watson originally for Pestival (an international arts festival dedicated to "insects in the arts and the art of being an insect") in 2009 to explore the vocal harmonies between humans and honey bees in a unique choral collaboration around and within the hives of an English country garden. Recorded live at The Rymer Auditorium, Music Research Centre, University of York, England on December 17th, 2010 by Tony Myatt, using a Soundfield SPS200 microphone recorded onto an Edirol R4 (surround version) and 2 x Neumann U87 microphones via Grace Microphone Preamplifiers, recorded onto an Edirol R44 (stereo version). Composed and arranged by Marcus Davidson using recordings made by Chris Watson & Mike Harding and diffused through a 4.1 Genelec system by Chris Watson." [label info]
www.touchmusic.org.uk
"What on earth am I doing inside the house? The sun is bursting, with a totally friendly temperature, which scream: walk! walk! walk! But no, I am inside, listening to music. Music made with the use of field recordings to be precise, as is certainly the case with the first piece by Chris Watson. Entirely recorded in the Kalahari desert, from sunset to sunrise, but then trimmed down to twenty-eight minutes. A remote area, where most of the wildlife is awake at night - with lots of insect chirping and buzzing. Its almost an electronic piece of music, which I guess is exactly why this is such a great piece of music. With much of the field recording artists who merely capture the environment, Watson takes it all a step further and actually composes with those sounds into quite a captivating piece of music. No by looping sounds, or putting on fancy plug-ins, but merely a process of editing and fading. Simple but difficult in order to create such an overwhelming mass of sound. And masses of
sounds is also what's happening on the second piece, which is by Watson and one Marcus Davidson. It explores the vocal harmonies between humans and honey bees. Watson is here responsible for the field recordings used (which he did with label honcho Mike Harding), while Davidson gets the credit as composer. The bee choir consists of five human voices, who buzz like bees. If you are melissophobic then this will surely be a scary piece. A lovely CD of music derived from nature, as well as an interaction of human activity and animal sounds. Now its time to go out and the hear the real action." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2011 |
€14.50 |
|
| WATSON, DAVID & TONY BUCK |
Ask the Axes |
LP |
besom presse announces "ask the axes," the first collaborative release by the duo of experimental bagpiper david watson and famed percussionist of the necks, tony buck. watson and buck’s premiere recording documents two twenty-plus minute tracks featuring the hallucinatory sound palette of the highland bagpipes, drums and percussion.
ask the axes leads with watson blowing out a grounding and sonorous fundamental tone. moments later it’s redoubled with the serrated buzz of a higher register saw wave, suggesting a startling revelation of the untapped potential of the highland pipes. as watson steadily accumulates layers, the sound takes on a prismatic effect. from the droning choir of reeds, phantasmic overtones suddenly surface and are submerged in a fizzing backdrop like aural phosphenes. when buck enters he manages to do so without interrupting watson’s uncanny suspension of time. his toms and snare splinter with a giddy phasing effect as he shakes a number of bells into a thrumming substratum.
on side b, the duo evolve into an ecstatic kinesis, expanding and accelerating sensations of space and time. buck’s measured crescendo conjures the trance-inducing meditations of the sufi dervishes while watson’s pipes peal out glossolalic spasms that sound like a long lost maclise ritual. as the record closes in heaves and gasps, a warm afterglow settles in ahead of a startling conclusion.
https://besompresse.bandcamp.com/album/ask-the-axes |
2019 |
€24.00 |
|
| WE LIKE WE & JACOB KIRKEGAARD |
Time is Local |
LP |
Time is Local is a project by Danish collective We like We and sound artist Jacob Kirkegaard built around a 12-hour live sound installation and performance at Thorvaldsen Museum in Copenhagen.
The piece was initiated and performed by the artists during the G((o))ng Tomorrow Festival in 2017. As they slowly wandered the halls and rooms of the museum for a whole day, they performed extended sound compositions for a visiting audience at each of the 12 chambers for a longer session - a haunting experience as the outside world disappeared and the focus was on quiet sonic moments unfolding in midst of the grand, reverberous space. For this album they have collected 12 fragments revolving around the chambers in the museum. Each chamber is being represented by its own handful of tones, instruments and voice. The statues within, depicted by neo-classicist sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen get their own soundtrack of quiet emanating gusts. Barely heard frequencies reflect through the walls. The marble carved busts of Greek gods that line the museum hallways gaze eternally with a blank stare as decades pass and new audience arrives.
Although We like We should need no introduction to followers of the Sonic Pieces label, the Danish all female sound quartet consists of Katrine Grarup Elbo (violin), Josefine Opsahl (cello), Sara Nigard Rosendal (percussion) and Katinka Fogh Vindelev (voice). Together they have forged a dynamic and intuitional sound beyond genres through the last decade. Only two years ago they released the nordic neo-classical opus Next to the entire All. This time they emerge in collaboration with sound artist Jacob Kirkegaard. Jacob’s works are sonic reflections on complex aspects of the human civilisation, treating themes such as radioactivity, melting ice, border walls and tones emitted by the ears. Through the last decades he has released records and sound documents through labels such as Touch, Important Records and more. As a document of their 12h performance, Time is Local is a beautiful sonic evocation that shines as a bright line of sun through the cracks of a tomb.
https://welikewe.bandcamp.com/album/time-is-local
|
2019 |
€29.00 |
|
| WEGLOWSKI, STEFAN |
Smooth Inertia |
CD |
Glacial Movements celebrates the fiftieth record release with "Smooth Inertia", the new album by Polish artist Stefan Węgłowski. He's a composer, producer, live performer. His works include mostly compositions for small ensembles and solo instruments. In his works he uses minimalist and spectral techniques, combining them with broadly defined area of electronic music. He teaches at the Faculty of Media Art at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. He lives and works in Warsaw.
" Smooth inertia is an album that was created in solitude, after the end of a certain period in which stagnated. I could call it a blank sheet that I had to fill in. For years I had been trying to create an ambient album that I would be happy with, which would transcend me somehow beyond my full understanding. I tried to use only the old tools that were known to me, relying on them while following the path of my idols, ambient classics of the 80s and 90s such as Fennesz, Ethan Rose and Apex Twin. I used classic methods such as field recording, spoken voice (Anna Figurska) virtually unrecognizable by its deformation - a voice mosaic, an out of tune piano (Adam Kośmieja). In two pieces I play the guitar, after 9 years of not touching the instrument, returning to my classical roots. I remember; I shed light on what I have experienced; I do my best to bring myself relief. How to commit myself to do things that demand to be done."
Smooth Interia is dedicated to Paweł Węgłowski, with all my love. Stefan Węgłowski, February 2023.
Production / composition : Stefan Węgłowski
Recording Engineer : Kamil Kęska
Mix : Stefan Węgłowski, Michał Wolski
Mastering : Michał Wolski
Piano : Adam Kośmieja
Voice : Anna Figurska
Guitar: Stefan Węgłowski
Cover Photo by Bjarne Riesto
Sleeve design by Oleg Galay
Glacial Movements, April 2023
https://glacialmovements.bandcamp.com/album/smooth-inertia
|
2023 |
€16.00 |
|
| WEHOWSKY, RALF / JOHANNES FRISCH |
Tränende Würger |
CD |
RLW COLLAB(or)IERT wieder ! Diesmal mit dem uns unbekannten JOHANNES FRISCH, der aus der Impro-Szene stammt.... Vier Stücke voller Überraschungen !
“ 1) Johannes Frisch: works since the late 1970s as a performer, composer and improviser of contemporary music between experimental rock, free jazz and other openminded styles. on his main instrument, the double bass, he works for more than three decades consequently on an individual expressive language. he played with lot of musicians of the international scene of free improvisation and all experimental fields - among others Lol Coxhill, Maggie Nicols, Johannes Bauer, Le Quan Ninh, Paul Hubweber, Michael Vorfeld, Misha Feigin. Compositions for theatre, film and dance theater actual projects: Kammerflimmer Kollektief; Home of the beast, with Peter Hollinger und Helmut Bieler-Wendt; Ensemble Sondarc, music for six double basses; rat'n'X; trio with Paul Wirkus & Mikolaj Trzaska; concerts & festivals all over europe.
2) Ralf Wehowsky: founded the group P.D. (in 1981 renamed P16.D4) and the label Wahrnehmungen (in 1982 renamed Selektion) in 1980. P16.D4 were one of the most influential groups of experimental industrial music. They developed concepts of materialaustausch long before the term remix was even coined. for their live appearances they were equally at home at punk and no wave festivals as at the holy grails of academic avantgarde like the Ferientage Neuer Musik, Darmstadt. since the early 90s Wehowsky worked under his own name (rlw). the quiet, highly complex style of composition, based on artifacts of instrumental and electronic lateral noises, evolving out of his collaboration with bernhard günter was influential for numerous artists in the fields of electronic and improvised music. some reflections on his work can be found on TULPAS, a 5CD-box-set, featuring more than 50 artists performing their versions of rlw pieces (incl. Jim O´Rourke, Brume, Achim Wollscheid, Toshiya Tsunoda, John Duncan, Antanas Jasenka, Ryoji Ikeda, John Watermann a.o.). the new decennium started with a surprise for many as first releases showed a new approach of integrating improvised music and composition (as can be found on the CDs VIEWS and SIGHTS, the latter w/ long-time collaborator Bruce Russell).
3) Tränende Würger: is based on free improvisations by the Frisch/Wehowsky duo, reworked with electro-acoustic means. the compositional process did not intend to mask the nonlinear nature of the improvisations. quite on the contrary their organic character has been emphasized by crystal-clear sharpening of details. you´ll find complex structures and dark atmospheres, not unlike those on some P16.D4-, This Heat- or Mnemonists- releases, though absolutely rooted in the 21st century. beauty and posoning are not far from each other.
'Tränende Würger' comes in a plastic bag, 15x15cm with the artwork on six seperate sheets, dealing with poisenious plants. Design by Meeuw.” [label description]
|
2005 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Which Head are you dancing in? |
CD |
"An album 'Which head you're dancing in?' is full of weird rhythms and glitches but the most amazing thing here is the main inspiration. All of the pieces from this release wouldn't have been created without Ornette Coleman. Both Frisch and Wehowsky found many inspiring moments in music played by the father of free jazz. Their own work is full of glitches and noisy ornaments. In some parts one can find rhythmical structures reminiscing discotheque for spoilt laptops, other compositions show beautiness of contrasts between silence and prolonged, dark and wiry bass phrases.
Johannes Frisch works since the late 1970s as a performer, composer and improviser of contemporary music between experimental rock, free jazz and other openminded styles. on his main instrument, the double bass, he works for more than three decades consequently on an individual expressive language. he played with lot of musicians of the international scene of free improvisation and all experimental fields - among others Lol Coxhill, Maggie Nicols, Johannes Bauer, Lê Quan Ninh, Paul Hubweber, Michael Vorfeld, Misha Feigin compositions for theatre, film and dance theater actual projects include Kammerflimmer Kollektief; and collaborations with Helmut Bieler-Wendt.
Ralf Wehowsky founded the group P.D. (in 1981 renamed P16.D4) and the label Wahrnehmungen (in 1982 renamed Selektion) in 1980. P16.D4 were one of the most influential groups of experimental industrial music. They developed concepts of materialaustausch long before the term remix was even coined. For their live appearances they were equally at home, at punk and no wave festivals and at the holy grails of academic avantgarde like the Ferientage Neuer Musik or Darmstadt. Since the early 90s Wehowsky works under his own name (rlw). The quiet, highly complex style of composition based on artifacts of instrumental and electronic lateral noises, evolving out of his collaboration with bernhard günter was influential for numerous artists in the fields of electronic and improvised music. Some reflections on his work can be found on TULPAS, a 5CD-box-set, featuring more than 50 artists performing their versions of rlw pieces (incl. Jim O«Rourke Brume, Achim Wollscheid, Toshiya Tsunoda, John Duncan, Antanas Jasenka, Ryoji Ikeda, John Watermann a.o.). The new millennium showed a new approach of integrating improvised music and composition (as can be found on the CDs 'VIEWS' and 'SIGHTS', the latter w/long-time collaborators Bruce Russell and Johannes Frisch)."
|
2014 |
€12.00 |
|
| WELBURN, JAMES |
Hold |
LP |
"Like watching a massive twisting fire slowly fading into the open skies, accompanied by a drum section so repetitive yet mind bending that you're unsure if it's ever going to stop. This is how Hold starts off, leaving you catching for your breath before the album has even reached the second track.
James Welburn steps into the ashes covered in drones and noise together with drumming partner Tony Buck (The Necks), producing a debut album crushingly epic. Hailing from the UK, but located in both Berlin (DE) and Lillehammer (NO), James has been on a path to catch the perfect drone through the last years, playing an abundance of underground drone and noise sets in Berlin and Norway. This can be heard on Hold, though set in an impressively produced setting closer to a recent Swans record rather than the raw noise of those early live shows.
It's hard to label the album too much in one style, as it shifts and turns into parts inspired by everything from Shoegaze to Black Metal, all set in a state of endless repetition." [label info]
www.miasmah.com
"Quite an impressive solo debut from British noiserocker James Welburn! His bio quips that he's been playing in various art/drone/noise rock outfits since the '90s, though a quick glance through the entire internet didn't provide much in the way of information on what those projects might be. However, we know that back in 2008, he had a release under the name Project Transmit, which also featured the fantastic drummer Tony Buck from trance-inducing Australian 'jazz' group The Necks. Now, Buck has joined forces with Welburn once again for Hold - a well-controlled album of darkly ascendant drone guitars guiding a well-heeled rhythm section that's crushingly muscular when it needs to be and skeletally restrained when called for at other times. Second track here "Peak" falls into the latter camp with Buck and Welburn conjuring the slow-core nocturnes from Low's first couple of albums, with a Joy Division-y spaciousness on the bass and Buck tapping metonymically on the ride. Welburn fills in the blanks with cinematic melancholy dripping from his guitar strings into pools of drone. Buck stomps hard on the accelerator for the next track "Shift" with a punk-as-fuck jackbooted riff on the black metal blast beat, albeit done on a jazz kit, with Welburn slipping the buzzsaw guitars into icy layers. The detuned bass that anchors "Duration" with a bloody-knuckled masonry on par with Todd Trainor of Shellac, with the guitars again crashing forward with drone-metal blurs and slabs of frigid noise. Swans and Godflesh are reasonably close neighbors of what Welburn is up to here, although these tracks are entirely instrumental with the songs hitting their dynamics through slow-burn and flame-out approaches to their compositional arcs. Just imagine if Welburn and Buck were to get a hold of two or three dozen guitarists with their slipstream noise perfectly in step with Welburn's compositional prowess. Look out, Branca. Look out, Chatham." [Aquarius Rec]
|
2015 |
€16.50 |
|
| WENZEL, BETTINA |
Mumbai Diary |
CD |
VOICE as Instrument of Affection
Sound diaries have their seductive appeal. Unlike written memoirs, sketches, cartoons and photo journals they share a common feature with film documentaries – the temporal sound-image. Deprived of visual information (and of predominance of sight), sound-image attracts listeners’ ears, penetrates their bodies, permeates through their minds, initiating the process of imagination and articulating lived as well as imagined experiences. No escape; intrusive meanings are always present. In contrast to moving images that reduce space and vision to the surface and depth of a screen, sound-images are capable of not only extending the listeners’ universe but also making them aware of and signifying the impulses within their bodies. If combined with appropriate musical expression, as in the case of Bettina Wenzel’s Mumbai Diary, the ambition to represent the unique artistic intention in correlation with genius loci and intimacy of a place where one finds oneself in a particular moment succeeds in producing interaction.
Wenzel’s abstract voice finds proper structural support in the concrete soundscapes (of urban origin) she created from the field recordings during her artist residency in Mumbai; it bodily spaces the intervals and foldings that house voice as their natural constituent. Although we do not see her, we feel that she is singing with her entire body; it is the body which paints the vocal lines and pointillistic textures onto the surface of a sound time-crystal. The resulting form was neither composed nor improvised; it was created by affection. As we know (from Bergson and Deleuze), the affection is coupled with the body that offers the internal space for the act of affection.
Mumbai Diary is therefore not an itinerary, it does not provide listeners with any space-time coordinates or information from the life of its author. Rather it is a sound album, a collection of sound-images, thoroughly arranged by the memory as well as by the taste and style preferences of its compiler, composer and adapter in one person. She compiles out of the obsessive need to give a new meaning to the recorded fragments of her memory. She composes because she desires to manifest her relationships with the world and other people through a new meaning that is no longer dependent on the old codes and conventions of art communication and music making. And finally, she adapts the compiled and composed result to her instrument of affection – VOICE. It is the VOICE that brings into the memories of Mumbai, now embodied in the sound-images, the affection from outside – from the body of their originator. And the same VOICE generates later the affective response in the listeners, whose memories are not bound to the above mentioned genius loci. The VOICE becomes the guide through the unknown soundscape, thanks to the VOICE the soundscape becomes familiar to the listeners.
So, what can listeners hear (and feel) during the affective sound walk Bettina Wenzel invites them to? Unconventional, extended vocal performance used as a means to define herself against a foreign culture. Pleasure of the immediate need to vocalize. Barthesian grain of the voice in full effect. Expressive voice escapades against sound patterns alienated from their original environment. Improvised vocal comment to an appropriated religious song disturbed by traffic noise. Suggestive percussive textures woven from metallic sounds and breathing noises. Unidentifiable sound objects versus clear vocal intention. Unexpected juxtapositions of ambitious onomatopoeias and indeterminist formalisms. Potential stimuli to fictive narratives…
As the chronology and causal-consequent relations are no the focus of in this sound album, you can listen to its impressive sound-images-affections in random order. M.D. could stand for Mumbai Diary as well as for membra disjecta in this case.
Jozef Cseres, aesthetician of arts
September 2010
www.wenzelvoice.de
www.wenzelvoice.de/mumbai
www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=553258571
mail: bettina@wenzelvoice.de
All COMPOSITIONS BY BETTINA WENZEL
FIELD RECORDINGS/ VOICE/ AKAPPAIKINNARI BY BETTINA WENZEL,
APRIL–SEPTEMBER 2009, MUMBAI
MIXED BY BETTINA WENZEL, MAI 2010, COLOGNE
MASTERED BY JOKER NIES, JULY 2010, COLOGNE
PRODUCED BY BETTINA WENZEL
PHOTOS/ DRAWINGS BY BETTINA WENZEL
Artwork BY CHRISTA MAREK
TEXT BY JOZEF CSERES
© Bettina Wenzel 2010
www.gruenrekorder.de/?page_id=3722 |
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| WESOLOWSKI, STEFAN |
Kompleta |
LP |
"This record is the reissue of Stefan Wesolowski's first album, Kompleta, which was composed in 2006 and released on Gusstaff Records in 2008. Given that he was only 21 at the time, a record which was considered a first attempt now seems something of a master work. It portrays a universe deeply influenced by sacred music and offers clear, direct compositions and liturgical chants which are powerful vectors for emotion. These songs are interpreted by Stefan Wesolowski himself accompanied by Maja Siemińska and their work fits together wonderfully. The record also marks the beginning of a beautiful friendship with the composer Michal Jacaszek who did the electronic arrangements. This worked so well that they have collaborated on several other projects since. A tangible spirituality emanates from these 9 tracks, providing a contemplative, introspective experience for listeners.
Kompleta is mainly based on strings (violins, viola, cello) but also manages to distance itself from traditional compositional methods by including subtle electronic touches to help anchor the work in a resolutely progressive dynamic. It is also interesting to note how Wesolowski decides not to choose between the spheres of heritage and modernity - on the contrary he seeks a balance between the two without ever deforming or betraying his sources of inspiration.
In around 30 minutes, Stefan Wesolowski marks the start of a remarkable career. The Mind Travels Series is under the spell of this record and happy to be able to offer Kompleta a new lease of life, fittingly illustrated by a fine new serie of photographs by Françis Meslet. The album has been re-mastered and will be released on CD and for the first time as a vinyl LP. It is a record for all lovers of Modern-classical and contemporary music looking for new sounds to go with their albums by Greg Haines, Arvo Pärt, Nils Frahm, Steve Reich, Hildur Gudnadottir, A Winged Victory For The Sullen, Jóhann Jóhannsson... For other listeners, it is an ideal gateway to these universes where elegance and intensity are key."
stefanwesolowski.bandcamp.com/album/kompleta |
2015 |
€18.00 |
|
| WESTBERG, NORMAN |
The All most quiet |
LP + CD |
"Since SWANS‘ 1983 debut album “Filth”, Norman Westberg has essentially been a permanent member of this project. Anyone who has experienced SWANS live on one of their recent tours will know who Norman Westberg is: the almost stoic, tall man, who coaxes rhythmic sounds from his guitar with an incomparably minimalist power and elegance.
With “The All Most Quiet,” Norman Westberg has returned to Hallow Ground with a new solo album. The play on words in the title can be applied to Westberg’s own musical work, because whereas SWANS are hard to surpass in terms of brute force, the artist’s solo work is much more subtle, and therefore also quieter. The resulting juxtaposition between the dense metropolis of New York, where “The All Most Quiet” was recorded, and the album’s minimalistic strains open up virtual spaces for attentive listeners. The opening, nearly twenty-minute title track begins with a lucid echo-like and extensive sound that seems to expand spatially and then contracts again. At the same time the piece is evocative of lighting effects: mostly the music is slightly cool but rather bright. Individual beams break open or darken the mood. The consistent subtlety of the collages provokes the increased attention of the listener and every sonic shift is consciously perceived. The track “Sound 2,” which fills the entire B-side, begins with atonal and slightly bumpy delays, which become increasingly confused and develop an unpleasant undertow. It is a kind of clamorous minimalism combined with an ability to conjure up sounds from a guitar that hardly sounds like guitar that makes Norman Westberg’s music so unique." [label info]
www.hallowground.com
"While MRI, released by Room40 in February, was a reissue of a 2012 album, The All Most Quiet contains new material in the shape of two long-form tracks. Like its predecessor, The All Most Quiet is radically different from his contributions to Swans. The fact he’s actually found the time to compose and record new material is impressive in itself: the latest Swans album, The Glowing Man was released on 10 June, and the two-hour colossus of a sonic experience was developed and recorded off the back of a full year spent touring its predecessor, To Be Kind. Given the duration and intensity of a Swans live show, it’s remarkable that Norman Westberg’s had time to piss and still has the energy to stand, let along record a new album. But then, perhaps his solo work has therapeutic benefits, and affords him the opportunity to decompress after long days spent in the Swans pressure-cooker.
The All Most Quiet is, as the title suggests, not a loud album. It is also a gentle album. But that doesn’t mean it lacks dynamic tension, and while it is calming, it’s also not completely undemanding.
The title track starts its long, meandering journey as a mid-range drone which pulsates subtly. The tonal changes which emerge are gradual. It’s easy to let it simply drift by, and it’s pleasant enough to appreciate in this way, but attentive listening brings its rewards. The introduction of new layers, textures and tones, shifts in the scale and pace of oscillations change the mood, subtly, inconspicuously, but no less definitely. And while The All Most Quiet bears no obvious resemblance to Swans, it is possible to hear a certain correlation in the way Westberg builds on slow-burning transitions to hypnotic effect. There are hints of ominousness and darkness, but the sense of scale and grandeur seeps through the very fabric of the sound. The second track, ‘Sound 2’ maintains the atmosphere, and the absence of any clear highs or lows builds a tension beneath the calm surface.
The All Most Quiet once again highlights the trait I most admire in Norman Westberg’s approach to guitar laying: patience. No heroics. No sense of the ego common to guitar layers. His playing is focused on achieving texture and an overall listening experience. Whether he’s peeling off shards of noise, as on early Swans’ releases or creating more sculpted sound, as on their later releases, and in his solo recordings, at no point dos one ever find oneself thinking ‘what fretwork! What guitar wizardry!’ In fact, much of the time, Westberg’s guitar doesn’t sound like a guitar, particularly on The All Most Quiet. And for the most part, the sound is too immersive for one to really think at all." [Christopher Nosnibor/Aural Aggravation] |
2016 |
€22.50 |
|
| WESTERHUS, STIAN |
The Matriarch and the wrong kind of Flowers |
LP |
"This is the third solo album on Rune Grammofon by Norwegian experimental guitarist Stian Westerhus. With The Matriarch and the Wrong Kind of Flowers, Westerhus not only challenges and stretches the limits of his instrument but also comes up with an extraordinary piece of music that has more in common with modern contemporary music than just being a left-field "guitar" album. In spite of having studied jazz in the UK as well as in Norway, he also has a remarkably non-academic approach to making music. It's not imperative for Westerhus to make the guitar sound like anything other than a guitar, it's simply his instrument of choice to express himself musically. At the age of 13, he saw Jimi Hendrix on TV doing "Star Spangled Banner" at Woodstock and since then, there's been no looking back. His way of working is very intuitive, both when recording and playing live. Nothing is planned and he tries to avoid thinking about what's going to happen. He is probably one of the hardest-working musicians in Norway, also finding time to record and play concerts with other projects like Puma, Monolithic (with Motorpsycho drummer Kenneth Kapstad), his duo with Sidsel Endresen and as a member of Nils Petter Molvær's trio. He's also an in-demand producer after having produced Pelbo's Days of Transcendence and Nils Pettter Molvær's Baboon Moon. Most of the material on this album was recorded at the Emanuel Vigeland Mausoleum in Oslo, a tomb sonically known for its 20-second natural reverb, generally known for enormous wall paintings about the circle of life. The temperature inside is kept at 5 degrees Celsius to preserve the paintings in the best possible way. With The Matriarch...Westerhus has taken a great leap forward and produced a unique record that, together with his international activities, should get him the recognition he so thoroughly deserves. Stian Westerhus: guitars and voice. Includes free mp3 download of the whole album."
www.runegrammofon.com |
2012 |
€24.00 |
|
| WESTERKAMP, HILDEGARD |
Transformations |
CD |
Fünf faszinierende Arbeiten (1977-1992) der kanadisch-deutschen Akustik-Designerin, die für ihre fliessenden, poetischen Kompositionen allerlei field- & Umgebungsaufnahmen (z.B. Stadtgeräusche, Grillen, Raben, Nebelhörner und Fabriksirenen, etc etc) benutzt, die später im Studio nachbearbeitet werden... wie immer bei EMPREINTES DIGITALES kommt das ganze in einem aufwendigen Cardboard-Klappcover und mit dickem Booklet!
„ Westerkamp creates new possibilities for listening. One can journey with her sound to inner landscapes and find unexplored openings in our sound souls. The experience of her music vibrates the potential for change. Her compositions invite interaction – a chance to awaken to one’s own creativity. One can transform through listening as she has. In the music and soundscapes of Westerkamp we feel memory and imagination as we hear trough the future.” [PAULINE OLIVEROS].
“ Vancouver based German with a strong interest in sound ecology and the use of everyday sound environments. ranges from walks through soundscapes to environmental compositions. a wonderful disc.” [Anomalous Records ]
www.empreintesdigitales.com |
1996 |
€15.00 |
|
| WESTERN, CREED, SPYBEY |
W ands |
CD |
"A posthumous collaboration between the late Phil Western (DOWNLOAD, BEEHATCH), Jesse Creed (THE PASSENGER) and Mark Spybey (DOWNLOAD, DEAD VOICES ON AIR, REFORMED FACTION, BEEHATCH).
Both Phil and Jesse shared a love for vintage analogue synthesizers such as the VCS3, and the music for "W ands" was largely created using this equipment. In the spirit of how it was created, Spybey added improvised passages using his collection of homemade and ethnic instruments and then edited the pieces.
Phil would often talk about being 'taken away' by music. Both Jesse and Mark have laboured to do this through their own music too, not as a means of escape but to transcend. This music strives to explore the desire to go beyond the ordinary everyday experience and to reach a place where the egos and the individual contributions of the players are largely inconsequential. A place where time doesn’t really matter. A place of healing and invention.
An album of expansive drones and analogue electronics, which will undoubtedly appeal to fans of Coil, Nurse With Wound, Zoviet France. Digipak.
Read the full story of this release here: www.coldspring.co.uk/csr285cd.pdf"
https://coldspring.bandcamp.com/album/w-ands-csr285cd
|
2020 |
€13.00 |
|
| WESTON, MATT |
For Alexandros Grigoropoulos |
CD-R |
"it was early december 2008 when the 15 year old alexandros grigoropoulos dropped dead by the bullet of the cop, epaminodas korkoneas (an action that bursted into some of the most severe riots greece had lived for at least the last 3 decades). at that time we were nuts with the work of matt weston, the us percussionist whose sounds were recorded and then were given a more musique concrete approach turning his improvisations to more vital electroacoustics. under our enthusiasm for his work we asked him for a recording for 'a question of re_entry" which upon landing on our desk set our office in amphissa on fire with its intense electroacoustics but also astounded as it was recorded as a kind of memorial for the late alexandros which, as a tribute to his memory was issued on his name day the 30th of august 2009. www.mattweston.com " [label info]
http://absurd.noise-below.org/
"But sunday afternoons can get disturbed. In December 2008 15 year old Alexandros Grigoropoulos was shot by the police. US percussion player Matt Weston, of whom I think I never heard, created a tribute to Grigoropoulos' memory, which is a powerful, loud work of electronics, turntablism (it seems, it might also be the kaos pad), and percussive instrumental bits, all recorded loud, in your face, without becoming too obvious noise based. This is also only partly rooted in the world of improvised music, but perhaps owes more to old good musique concrete in the old analogue sense of the word. Quite a powerful work of heavy electronics for a heavy subject." [FdW / Vital Weekly] |
2009 |
€7.00 |
|
| WETTERLÄUTEN (WETTERLAEUTEN) |
same |
LP |
"There were times, blessed times when man had not yet lost the sense of his connection to both Nature and the Sacred, when church bells used to be heard across the countryside to banish approaching storms from hamlets and villages. In our Teutonic regions, this was called “Wetterläuten” – the “chiming away” of bad weather. Anyone who ever had the privilege of experiencing the ecstatic and all-embracing live improvisations of WERNER CEE (e-chin / lapsteel guitar / electronics), NORBERT GROSSMAN (synth / church organ) and EVA KORN (gongs), will understand why the South-German trio choose this archaic name for their project. WETTERLÄUTEN’s atmospheric manipulations range from dreamy sunset drones to heavy pre-storm electricity to apocalyptic orchestral deluge, penetrating and bringing into motion the very cosmic fabric around them. Their unmistakable sound owes much to their unusual instrumentation, especially the combination of e-chin (an electric version of the ancestral Chinese Guqin zither) and live electronics, and of course Eva’s virtuosic gong playing. Understanding themselves more as a musical concept than a band, WETTERLÄUTEN regularly involve other musicians, especially Norwegian guitarist ALF TERJE HANA and drummer MICHAEL HOFMANN. Reue um Reue is excessively proud to present their first ever official release. Welcome in the eye of the cyclone." [label info]
www.tutrur.com
|
2014 |
€7.50 |
|
| WETWARE |
Flail |
LP |
Brooklyn-based outfit Wetware (Roxy Farman and Matt Morandi) return with the intense follow-up album to 2018’s Automatic Drawing, an electronic dirge, simply titled: Flail. Formed in 2015 and known for their odd and unpredictable live performances, Wetware’s new album captures this disorienting confusion in a series of definitive documents that encompass a concentrated, noisier sound that pushes and pulls against electronic textures and frenetic vocals, creating a palate of wild, unhinged sonic collages.
Presented across eleven new tracks in a tightly wrapped and smartly delivered album, Flail is exemplary of Wetware’s dynamics and prowess.
The 42 seconds of “Car Dancer,” act as a trailer for tension, setting up the episodic blast of “Kismet,” challenging the listener to find a wall to grab. Lead single "Exaggerated Bliss" pulsates before spinning unexpectedly into a chilling spoken narrative. Bitterly terse storytelling follows the staccato map of emotion, and as sparse as “Divided In Halves” is, “Rivalries Regulars” immediately answers with a dense oration that features Farman cursing “I know the reason for it” in stoic repetition, agnostic of rhythm yet in sync with mania.
“Shiny Face” furthers the band’s ability to create space with sound, using drone layering and drilling vocals before locking into meditation. Frequency becomes potency, as the track traverses speed, rhythm, and dire sparsity. Ending with the atmospheric jaunt, “Horse Pistol,” Flail draws from the dearth of clarity that informed No Wave and early-Industrial music through a modern lens offering no deft solutions, allowing the album to circle infinitely in the fading present, fostering a window into modern paranoia.
https://wetware-nyc.bandcamp.com/album/flail
|
2020 |
€23.00 |
|
| WHETHAM, SIMON |
D/R |
CD-R |
"October 2008, I join a group of UK based performance artists in Tallinn, Estonia, to produce new collaborative works as guests of Non Grata. The project, Co-LAB‘08, is organised and run by Orion Maxted and protopPLAY. The theme of the project is 'Deconstruction/Reconstruction‘, appropriate as this reflects my composing using field recordings.
The first performances are solo, showcasing existing work. I spend two days recording and composing in Tallinn, performing a 30 minute sound piece for the group. The second performance has barely begun when the power is cut and a hole is smashed in the wall of the performance space with a sledgehammer.
The third performance is a group reaction to this, starting loud and intense, gradually becoming calm and peaceful.
Throughout the fourth performance, individuals reacted to artists actions during the previous performance. My subject, Yoko Ishiguro, carried out the following: smoking, cooking, washing her hair, eating a banana, attempting all simultaneously. (Simon Whetham, 2009)" [label info]
www.1000füssler.com
|
2009 |
€9.00 |
|
|
Mall Muzak |
CD |
"In 2009, as part of the ‘All Around You’ season of sonic events co-ordinated by Alastair Cameron at Arnolfini, Matt Davies for The Cube and myself, I was invited to produce a site-specific work for a half-derelict shopping centre called ‘The Mall’ in Bristol. I proposed exploring the space with various microphones and techniques to uncover sounds not normally heard by the shopping public.
Memories of family visits from my childhood portrayed the shopping centre as a crammed and noisy place, every shop a brightly lit shrine, drawing in it’s worshippers, enticing them to empty their pockets of coins and notes…
On returning to The Mall, it was apparent that the current recession had hit hard, with almost half the units with their shutters down, possibly never to open again. The seemingly empty drones of the various processes that keep a structure like this alive could be heard over the scattering of shoppers who had entered, wandering some distance from one active unit to another.
These lifesigns of the building became more apparent behind the scenes, in the corridors that link the units, hidden from view, in the units that were closed, in the storage areas and delivery bays. The drones become more musical and tonal, singing a lament to the financial situation and to better times. The chattering of air conditioning and escalators echoing that of now absent consumers. Coins drop in an empty space, money thrown away….(Simon Whetham)" [label info]
www.unfathomless.net
"These days it seems if Simon Whetham is everywhere, now with a release on Unfathomless. For this one he made field recordings in The Mall, Broadmead, Bristol. We see a picture of him on the insert, holding up his microphone, near the escalator. Shopping is not an activity I enjoy very much, nor shopping centers, perhaps for that reason that they always buzz with activity. People, ventilators, escalators, and above muzak. I am not sure if Whetham feels the same about malls, and calls his release 'Mall Muzak', with a sarcastic undercurrent, or perhaps even considers this to be alternative muzak for shopping malls, but somehow I think this is all not the case. His piece (lasting almost fifty minutes) is a musical survey of activity going on in malls. Exactly the ventilators, escalators, the eternal buzz. He captured the whole lot and put this into a great musical piece of buzzing and humming tones, occasionally with the obscure sounds of objects falling, pushed to the faraway background. Although I didn't hear Whetham do much beyond what he usually does, I think this was a pretty good CD, perhaps even one of the best I heard from him so far. Minimal yet always changes in smaller details and throughout making an excellent form of new muzak - now, if malls would play this I'd be around them more. Perhaps." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2011 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Hydrostatic |
CD |
" ‘Hydrostatic’ was commissioned by the McNeill Street Pumping Station New Music Festival, Shreveport, Louisiana, USA in November 2011, and presented as a multi-channel performance.
Simon Whetham spent more than a week exploring the site, capturing the sounds of the space, the vibrations of the buildings, the spirit of the community and perhaps the echoes of past activity…
Mastered by Miguel Carvalhais..
Simon Whetham – Biography 2013
Over the past eight years Simon Whetham has developed a practice of working with sound recordings as a raw material for composition. These are often environmental sounds he has captured employing a variety of methods and techniques, in order to obtain discreet or obscured sonic phenomena.
In removing sound from it’s source, sometimes amplifying it significantly, it becomes abstract – familiar yet otherworldly. More recently, when presenting work in a performance or installation, for him the space and the objects within become instruments to be played.
Simon has a large number of works published through many specialist organisations, including Touch Music, Cronica, Dragon’s Eye, Monochrome Vision and Entr’acte; has performed extensively internationally; collaborated with artists from musicians to performance artists, painters to video artists, dancers to poets; has run listening and field recording workshops in UK, Colombia, Chile and Australia; and received a large number of commissions and awards for projects and installations – notably ‘Active Crossover’. Supported by the Arts Council England and PRS for Music Foundation, the project comprises sound installation, performance, collaboration and workshops. ‘Active Crossover’ has toured six cities in the UK, and also been hosted in Estonia, Argentina, Australia, Chile and Colombia, with future residencies in Germany and Norway in 2013." [label info]
www.aufabwegen.com
"SIMON WHETHAM, dem wir zuletzt als Eyjafjallajökull-Gestrandeten im April 2010 in Lissabon begegnet sind, treffen wir wieder im November 2011 in Shreveport, Louisiana. Das dort stattfindende McNeill Street Pumping Station New Music Festival hatte ihn mit einem Beitrag beauftragt. Er verbrachte eine ganze Woche in dem einstigen Pumpwerk, um den hydrophonen und postindustrialen Genius loci oder Hausgeist zu begegnen. Das Rauschen von Wasser, der Geschmack von Eisen, Rost und Patina wurden zu Ingredienzen seines Dröhnscapes Hydrostatic (aatp39), den nicht zuletzt der Fluss der Zeit durchströmt. Pfeifende Laute und geisterhaft summende evozieren dabei etwas Älteres als das Industriezeitalter. Hölzernes und metallisches Gestöber suggeriert eine verlassene Geisterstätte, eine Ruine, die nach noch Brauchbarem durchsucht wird. Organum hat schon auf Vacant Lights solche Klänge eingefangen, Ephraim Wegner hat kürzlich ähnliche in verlassenen Hotelruinen gefunden. Immer ist damit ein ‘Danach’ verbunden, ein ‘Vorbei’. Latten scharren über den Boden, der Wind faucht, als wollte er noch den letzten Eindringling verjagen. 1887 in Betrieb gegangen, wurde bis 1980 dampfbetrieben, heute ist das McNeill-Pumpwerk ein National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. Whetham erschafft mit droneüberwölbtem Getröpfel und Geplätscher die Illusion einer Quelle, des verborgenen Anfangs einer Lebensader, die hier mit nahezu kultischer Aura widerhallt und wieder als pumpende Mechanik zu ‘atmen’ beginnt. Das Elementare, das das vermeintlich so rationale und funktionale Maschinenzeitalter ignoriert und verdrängt hat, kommt wieder im Denkmal zum Vorschein, nachdem die Funktionalität modernisiert und inzwischen noch unbewusster geworden ist. Ich glaube, es war Ernst Jünger, der zuletzt Zweifel an einer Freiheit hatte, die davon abhängt, dass Wasser, Strom und Gas in unsichtbarer guter Hand sind." [Rigobert Dittmann, Bad Alchemy]
"The ever so busy bee Simon Whetham and his multiple travels around the world. Here we find him guest of the McNeill Street Pumping Station New Music Festival in Shreveport, Louisiana in November 2011 where Whetham spend a week going about this pumping installation to create a multi-channel performance of his music. It's not only the pumps, but the complete site, the buildings and the people around it that have been captured by him and collages into five pieces of music, totaling around 53 minutes. With Whetham, I must admit, I am never sure what it is that he does. Obviously he picks up sounds from the environment, that's hardly a secret, but then what does he do? Is he playing them one at a time (which I doubt), is he layering them together, or is there any sort of electronic treatment going on? I assume the latter is the case, but I might be wrong altogether. Whetham does apply 'musical' techniques to create his music, like using loops in the fifth part of a jackhammer, the
melodic drone touch in the third part and such like. He creates all these little touches which stretches it far beyond the mere documentation of a certain area. Spooky and mysterious at times, this is another fine addition to what mounts to a vast amount of releases by now. It's almost on par with his recent 'Never So Alone' (see Vital Weekly 870), which I thought was his best so far. This one is almost as refined I am to say. It's only in the smaller, somewhat untouchable details that I think this is just a bit less. Just a bit, I may add. If the name Whetham is new to you, then 'Hydrostatic' is an equal fine starting point." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
"The globe-trotting British sound artist Simon Whetham found himself in Shreveport, Louisiana in 2011 where he was commissioned to develop a body of work based on the defunct MacNeill Street Pumping Station. This artifact of the 19th Century was the last known steampowered water plant in the United States and has been a historical site for several decades now. He was one of many acclaimed artists asked to contribute to the seemingly inactive MacNeill Street Pumping Station New Music Festival, alongside Tim Hecker, Lawrence English, Mark Fell, Eli Kezler, and about a dozen other denizens of avant-garde soundcraft. It was a great idea to have all of these artists develop compositions, installations, and performances within such an interesting space; and we can hope that the festival is merely on temporary hiatus. Needless to say, here we have the stereo mix of Whetham's multichannel installation that he presented at the festival. His source material consists of drones from the huge metal pools and the network of pipes from that space, focusing mostly on the resonant frequencies of the ghostly drones and watery tones. Overlapping, sinewy electric vibrations tumble into a pool of isolationist dank at the beginning of the album before a reverberant flute utters a solitary bellow amidst the metallic klang reverb articulating two of the techniques of Whetham's sound-hunting - that of the contact microphone on sonorous objects and the open-air recordings of those reflective surfaces. Deep, low-end rattlings gird the bulk of Hydrotasic with wind-swept thrumming, agitated found objects, and plenty of nocturnal clutter being moved around by the ghosts that lurk in the sticky humidity of a Louisiana swamp, or at least that's what it sounds like. Brilliantly akin to the processed field recording work of Jonathan Coleclough, Thomas Koner, and BJ Nilsen." [Aquarius Records]
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Never so Alone |
CD |
During an extended stay in Lisbon, courtesy of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland erupting and causing european airspace to be closed, Simon Whetham explored the sonorities of city, and the surrounding countryside, using the various microphones he employs in his work. In addition to a Sennheiser shotgun microphone and two Tram lavalier mics, which capture ambient sounds we all hear, he uses contact microphones and hydrophones to expose sound vibrations that travel through objects, an electromagentic coil pickup and a radio receiver.
Simon then composed with these sound materials, in part responding to the geography and architecture of the location, the inhabitants, the weather even, but also the broad spectrum of feelings and emotions felt while investigating the place.
Field recordists tend to work alone when gathering their recordings, entering a state removed from their surroundings, but simultaneously absorbing them and becoming part of them. The loneliness alluded to in the title should therefore not be read as negative, but positive, and essential for the creation of this work.
https://cronica.bandcamp.com/album/never-so-alone
"In 2010 the volcano Eyjafjallajokull erupted and made air traffic impossible for some time in Europe. Simon Whetham was in Portugal and has to extend his stay. He decided to capture the sounds of the city, using a Sennheiser shotgun microphone, two Tram lavalier mics, contact microphones and hydrophones, and later on composed pieces of music that are now released by, how appropriate, a label from Portugal (though not Lisbon). The title of the CD reflects the lonely state the field recordist does his work with, but it's not to seen in a negative way. This is a long album, close to 80 minutes and that is a bit much, considering the careful nature of the music, I think. Whetham does a fine job capturing sounds from the city and melting them together into seven pieces of music. Whetham knows how to create sustaining sounds from those city sounds and waves in between, down there and on top smaller blocks of sound, crackles, someone walking a tunnel and that sort of thing in single play mode or in loop form and makes some beautiful collage of sounds. Whetham has a particular interest in the world of ambient music, rather than just pure field recordings or heavy computer processing. This makes his music very delicate and spacious even at times. It's long, but it's great. I almost track of time when I was playing this, dreaming away. Maybe of a sunny city as opposed to a grey day in February. Very delicate, very refined indeed. Maybe the best thing I heard from him so far." [FdW /Vital Weekly]
|
2013 |
€12.00 |
|
| WHITE NOISE |
An Electric Storm |
LP |
"Still available. 'An Electric Storm' (1969) is justly renowned among techno boffins as one of the first albums to fuse pop, psychedelia and electronic music before the advent of the Moog synthesizer. But you don't have to be versed in the language of sine waves and oscillators to enjoy this mostly delightful and hugely inventive album." [label info]
www.islandrecords.com
"White Noise's landmark 1969 album An Electric Storm might not the first thing most people think of when considering 1960s music, but there are few records anywhere tied more intrinsically to the moment of their creation. Recorded in the months immediately prior to the widespread availability of keyboard-based synthesizers, An Electric Storm might be one of the most painstakingly crafted electronic recordings of all time. Pieced together on improvised equipment via innumerable tape edits, this remarkable album is at once futuristic and unavoidably date-stamped, serving as a fascinating audio snapshot of a bygone era in sound generation and recording technology.
One of the few acts in pop music history able to trace their origins to the lecture hall, White Noise were first conceived when American electronic engineer David Vorhaus-- following a lecture by BBC Radiophonic Workshop veteran Delia Derbyshire-- enlisted Derbyshire and Brian Hodgson to integrate their experimental electronics with more pop-oriented material. (Derbyshire, of course, was by this point already responsible for the classic theme song from "Dr. Who" and other music for BBC TV and radio programs.) Commissioned by Island Records' Chris Blackwell, the three musical scientists soon holed themselves up for months in their Camden Town studio, fastidiously assembling what Vorhaus later surmised to be the most heavily tape-spliced album in history.
Yet knowledge of White Noise's academic or technical background does little to prepare the listener for the widescale psychedelic mayhem of An Electric Storm. Despite its brief 35-minute running length, the album covers an enormous amount of stylistic ground, as White Noise overlay their fractured pop songcraft with musique concrète effects, weird bits of radio theater, and long stretches of gothic horror. While other groups of the period--such as Silver Apples or The United States of America--made use of similarly primitive electronic equipment, An Electric Storm was a separate beast entirely, and its singular textures have been a primary influence on such subsequent acts as Stereolab, Broadcast and Belbury Poly.
Not originally issued in the U.S. until 1973, the album has seldom stayed in print for long, and surely owes at least a portion of its peculiar mystique to its rarity. With their latest reissue, Universal has kept the original tracklist intact, without unearthing any additional alternate or bonus material. The album has been splendidly re-mastered, however, and An Electric Storm remains a virtually requisite headphone experience with an otherworldly appeal that transcends its considerable influence.
Like so many ambitious albums of the time, An Electric Storm is consciously split into two distinct sides, the first half dubbed "Phase In" and the second "Phase Out". On the first side, White Noise indulge their daffy pop appetites with such bizarre trinkets as the cartoonish "Here Come the Fleas" and "Love Without Sound", the sensuous track which first encouraged Blackwell to pony up the cash for the full album. With the aid of rotating vocalists Annie Bird, Val Shaw, and John Whitman, the songs on the album's first half are melodic and memorable, and often infused with a cheeky sense of humor. The group's quirky wit is perhaps best witnessed on "My Game of Loving"; the album's notorious "orgy" track that follows an ecstatic bit of sexual frenzy with the sound of contented snoring.
Things get considerably scarier during the lengthy "Phase Out" segment, which begins with the group's 11-minute ambient centerpiece "The Visitations". This death-defying piece, which reportedly took over 3 months in the studio to assemble, ostensibly tells the tale of a motorcycle accident and its supernatural aftermath. Packed dense with disembodied noises and eerie panning effects, this intense track can become addictively engrossing, a perfect slice of audio theater that one can't help but ride through to the very end.
Vorhaus, Derbyshire and Hodgson took so long in recording An Electric Storm that Island started to get antsy, and well before completion the label began to demand the finished product. Presented with the challenge of such a time crunch, many groups might panic and fall back upon more conventional material. But true to their iconoclastic nature, White Noise instead improvised the still-astonishing "The Black Mass- An Electric Storm in Hell", a spirited cacophony layered thick with percussion, funereal chanting, and the tormented screams of the damned. Like the rest of An Electric Storm, this dark finale sounds quite unlike anything recorded before or since, and stubbornly refuses to ever settle in as background music.
And this unrehearsed episode of grotesquerie provides An Electric Storm with a strangely appropriate ending, as it stands as one final monument to White Noise's unique inspiration and eccentric approach to technical problem-solving. Theoretically, with the benefit of all the ensuing advances in recording technology, it should be easier than ever for today's musicians to duplicate such a production. Perhaps this deceptive sense of ease is precisely why no one has ever really been able to do so." [Matthew Murphy / Pitchfork]
|
2008 |
€20.00 |
|
| WHITE, FRANCES |
In the Library of Dreams |
CD |
"I was going to write about how this is an absolutely beautiful and disturbing record, but I think quoting from the liner notes of James Pritchett really does sum it up. 'Frances White invites us to take a walk through her Resonant Landscape. Where are we going? We are walking through the woods, marshes, and streams of New Jersey. She points out the birds and frogs that make their home there, the water that flows through it and the wind that shakes the trees. But then we turn and there is that other sound world, the one in which these woodland sounds are transformed, or in which we find sounds altogether new: spectral birds singing to us through a sparkly haze; distant colored winds, like the breath of giants; the air around us, alive, charged with long, low drones and sudden electric crashes. There is something magical about this other world, and (like most magic) there is something disturbing here as well. We move between the two worlds almost at random, bumping into one sound after another. We find ourselves rising off the path and floating, then falling abruptly into silence, reappearing in a marsh full of geese and blackbirds. This is more than a sonic postcard from Princeton: it is a journey into the inner world of Frances White. We could call it an electroacoustic dream drawn from her memories of hikes in the woods. As in a dream, real experience is placed in a surreal context, a play of inner and outer. We fill in the gaps, supplying connections among the random fragments of reality, memory, and imagination. This gets to the heart of White's music. She has made a body of work in which she takes the real, brings it into her being, transforms it there, and then brings it out again in her compositions. Technically, she works by using the computer to manipulate recorded sounds and to synthesize wholly new ones. She mixes her timbres by hand as a painter would mix colors, and she applies them lovingly and painstakingly to her canvas of silence. But the power of her work comes from her ability to take listeners on journeys through her inner sense of sound, finding something luminous, exalted, dramatic, and at times frightening there. Her music is like the work of dreams, both the pleasant ones and the nightmares. It is not by accident that Gus Van Sant set the calmly-executed bloodbath of his film Elephant to one of White's Walks through 'Resonant Landscape'. White's unsettling juxtapositions of real and imagined sound work well with Van Sant's matter-of-fact treatment of almost unwatchable violence. Frances White studied composition at the University of Maryland, Brooklyn College, and Princeton University. She has received awards, grants, commissions, and fellowships from organizations such as the Guggenheim Foundation, Meet the Composer, the Alice M. Ditson Fund, the Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust, Prix Ars Electronica, the International Computer Music Association, ASCAP, the Bang On A Can Festival, and the Other Minds Festival. Ms. White's music can be heard on CD on the Wergo, Centaur, Nonsequitur, Harmonia Mundi, and Bridge Records labels. A CD devoted to her chamber works, Centre Bridge, was released in August of 2007 on the Mode label. Ms. White's music was featured as part of the soundtrack of three of Gus Van Sant movies." [label info]
www.pogus.com
"This new Pogus release is a work of a composer who is completely new to me. White studied composition at the University of Maryland, Brooklyn College, and Princeton University. Some of her work has been released by labels like Mode, Bridge, Harmonia Mundi, etc. This new release gathers six compositions for very different line ups. The first one, ‘Chosi’ is for solo shakuhachi, beautifully played by Ralph Samuelson. White studied Shakuhachi herself and feels inspired by traditional music that has shakuhachi in a main role. Also she feels inspired by nature. No wonder that she often uses natural field recordings in her electronic work. Just like Jonas Braasch, White has a comparable fascination for space and environment in her musical output, like titles as ‘Walk through Resonant Landscape 5.1’and ‘Walk through Resonant Landscape 5.2’ indicate. Both titles provide a picture or metaphor that describes how one can experience these pieces: it feels like a travel through different parts of a jungle. Here birdcalls dominate, there sounds from insects. The works are built up as a series of waves of manipulated environmental sounds. The works have a fine balance of acoustical natural sounds and electronics. White builds successful imaginary landscapes and surroundings. Also I would say she is searching for some spiritual quality in sound. The title piece ‘In the Library of Dreams’ is written for viola d’amore played here by David Cerutti, against a background of electronic sounds. Only one piece is for an ensemble, ‘The Ocean Inside’ played by Eight Blackbird, an ensemble of six musicians. It is a romantic piece of work of slowly moving patterns that disappear in a background of fragile sounds. The closing piece ‘The Book of Roses and Memory’ has very sensible playing by Liuh Wen Ting on viola and Thomas Buckner as narrator. The electroacoustic music of White takes you into dreamy atmospheres, with compositions that are not extremely complicated. In fact her work is very accessible. It is also very solid work and far from some easy romantic pastiche." [DM/Vital Weekly]
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| WHITEHEAD, CHRIS |
Ravenscar |
CD |
“Ravenscar stands 600ft above the restless North Sea. To many it is simply a stopping off point between Whitby and Scarborough, commanding expansive views of the beautiful North Yorkshire coastline. Yet this place is also a canvas on which the overlapping layers of history have left their fingerprints.
The recordings that form this work were collected over two years during various seasons and in a range of weather conditions. Natural materials collected from the site were manipulated in several ways to add a sense of intimacy and perspective.
Although the piece is intended to be listened to as an unbroken whole, five distinct phases are passed through:
Wind: A consequence of Ravenscar’s exposure is its surrender to the wind which sculpts the cliff top trees and relentlessly batters the sparse buildings. Much the same prospect must have confronted the Romans when they built a signal station here in the 4th century AD.
Alum: In 1640 alum was discovered in the rocks, the production of which became the first British chemical industry. An alum works was built on the cliff top where the complex production process took place. It involved fire, seaweed and huge quantities of stale human urine.
Tunnel: When the railway came to Ravenscar in 1884, W. H. Hammond paid for a 279 yard tunnel to be built so that the view from his house was not compromised. The line closed in 1965. The disused tunnel now remains as a dark and baleful monument to the ghosts of steam.
Grass: In 1897 the Ravenscar Estate Company Ltd. began building roads, laying sewers and creating gardens. Their optimistic vision to fashion a holiday resort rivalling nearby Scarborough bore little fruit. Few plots were sold, and in 1913 the company folded leaving nature to reassert her dominance.
Radar: The stark remains of a Second World War radar station stand at Bent Rigg. Operational from 1941 to monitor shipping and aircraft, these long redundant concrete buidings are now used by sheep as a welcome refuge from the unceasing winds.” (Chris Whitehead)
www.unfathomless.net
"This Whitehead is not to be confused with the other, Gregory (of whom we haven't heard much lately, sound wise that is) and I don't think I heard music from Chris Whitehead before. He did his bunch of field recordings in a place called Ravenscar, in North Yorkshire but he also uses materials which he retrieved from the site. I looked the place up on google maps and it looks like a quiet small place near the coast. But maybe that was something I could have told you from listening to this forty-three minute work. It starts out with sea waves, it has the cracking of leaves, rusty agricultural devices (which occasionally buzz), all melted in a fine long piece that has somewhere between the twenty and thirty break (indicated on the cover as 'Tunnel') some hollow sounds, the tunnel probably, and some close range fire like sounds. It has a nice drone like texture to it. Towards the end the live farm stock plays a small role too, as well as a bit of street sounds. This is not the work of pure
sound documentation which we sometimes see in the area of music, but Chris Whitehead has perhaps (!) processed a bit of the sounds, and if not, then he surely did a more than fine job in putting all of these recordings into an excellent audio picture of that area." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2012 |
€14.00 |
|
| WHITEHEAD, CHRIS / ANDREA BORGHI |
Wade's Causeway / Gelazen |
CD |
SEMPERFLORENS label begins a series of Split-Discs. time will tell whether this idea good or bad. But I sincerely hope that you will accept this venture with dignity and appreciation. The series opens with two small works of...
Chris Whitehead
Chris recorder material exclusively for our label. The source of inspiration as well as workplace for this record became the abandoned Roman. This abandoned architectural monument is filled with diversity of nature's ambient sounds and Chris' reflections about the symbiosis of life and death. This is gorgeous and nuanced sound work worthy of multiple immersion to reveal the hidden at first glance facets.
Andrea Borghi
In recent years, Andrea Borghi focused on study of substitutability of material and sound. He makes sound directly from the concrete material through "discomateria". He is experimenting with different materials such as glass, plastic, metal, and more recently, marble. In discomateria one play, treated and processed and generate sound in real time. And at the same time discomateria is independent works of art. So, all tracks on this album are mainly documented pieces of process of improvisation.
format: CD in digifile ltd. 300
www.semperflorens.net/sf01sp.html
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
| WHITMAN, KEITH FULLERTON / ALIEN RADIO |
split |
LP |
"We are stoked and honoured to release this Deutsch-Amerikanische meeting of two Meisters of the Modular Electronic Music System (originally invented by Don Buchla in 1963 for the likes of Morton Subotnick, Ramon Sender, Terry Riley et al at the San Francisco Tape Music Center). Both are presenting very distinct approaches displaying the vast possibilities of the machine yet maintaining similar Klang aesthetics (and maximum quality). KFW is a renowned master of the Modular, especially in live situations. 101105 is Whitman captured at his most symphonic. Recorded last year at one of the semi-monthly The Bunker parties in Brooklyn opening for members of Ectomorph he sent the audience (all high on LSD) straight into sawtooth arpeggio heaven. 101105 is a condensed edit of these recordings, cut on 45rpm for maximum fidelity. KFW has released records on a myriad of labels, most notably on Kranky and Planet µ (under his Hrvatski pseudonym). Last year's (vinyl-only) album Disingenuity b/w Disingenuousness on Pan made it into many year-end Top 10 lists, including The Wire and Boomkat. This year Whitman has been commissioned a residency at GRM studios to work on a piece for François Bayle's original 80-channel acousmonium! Alien Radio is one of many aliases of Northern Germany's Ulf Schütte, a (part-time) member of Datashock, Black To Comm, Aosuke, Phantom Horse, etc. and founder of the Tape Tektoniks cassette label. His recent Modular System explorations showcase a more basic, sketchy and song-based approach, reminding of Jan Jelinek's Ursula Bogner recordings and having been compared to the likes of Conny Planck, Delia Derbyshire and Dick Raaijmakers. His debut release was a split 7 on the Belgian Kraak label with Köhn, Ducktails and Peaking Lights." [label info]
www.dekorder.de
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| WIEMAN |
Alive Futarist Minifesta |
CD |
"In 1914 Luigi Russolo wrote his famous 'Art Of Noise' manifest. The 100th anniversary of 'Futurism' was celebrated all over the world but also in Tilburg, The Netherlands. Wieman was invited to perform their meltpot of futurist noise and since Tilburg is the hometown of their close friend Jos Smolders, and since he has switched to modular synthesis (and his synthesizer looks like a space ship control unit anyway), it was decided we would join forces for this project. In the usual fashion of home preparation and then spending a day to sort out the sequence of the tracks, Wieman and Smolders set to work, plundering freely from recordings of Russolo's original 'Intonarumori' instruments, via the sixties soundtracks of sci-fi movies (Star Trek, 2001 A Space Odyssey), Vivenza's machine recordings, industrial music and afro futurism, Wieman applied their usual meltpop techniques, while Smolders added his modular synth madness. It's bursting with mechanical rhythms, spacey choirs, and machine noise as well as sampled spoken word. In accordance with true meltpop the guessing game (hmmm, where have I hear this before?) is yours.
Wieman is the project of Roel Meelkop & Frans de Waard; the logical runner-up to Goem, first called Zèbra, but in 2012 they changed their name to Wieman. They call their music meltpop and take conceptual approaches to create new music. They created new pieces out of the catalogue of Factory Records, worked with music that had the word 'music' in it, remixed music from the cassette label Limbabwe Tapes, provided music for a performance leading up to screening of 'El Topo' by Alejandro Jodorowsky (together with Ben Schot), worked with Wally van Middendorp (of Minny Pops), reworked Cybe (80s synth musician) for an LP, dissected classical notions in pop music and even mined their own Goem catalogue as the source of music for a new piece of music. They only work on commissioned music.
Jos Smolders is a composer and mastering engineer, who recorded for Korm Plastics, Quiet Artworks and Staalplaat, is a member of THU20 and WaSm (together with Frans de Waard) and whose motto is that "Getting into the headspace and understanding the perspective of the artist is essential". His mastering clients include Merzbow, Pierre Henry and Scanner among many others." [label info]
|
2016 |
€10.00 |
|
| |
Cryptonesia |
LP |
"Ini.itu is releasing a new vinyl LP, composed by Wíeman (Roel Meelkop and Frans de Waard).
Roel Meelkop studied visual arts and art theory at the Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. He is a member of Goem, Kapotte Muziek and THU20. In the last couple of years, Meelkop has focused on solo works in composition and installation work.
Frans de Waard is making music since more than 25 years under many aliases and in different line-ups, the most well-known being Kapotte Muziek, Goem, THU 20, Beequeen, Ezdanitoff, the Tobacconists and of course Freiband, under which name he already released an LP on ini.itu a few years ago.
Wíeman is their «meltpop» duo, which was previously known as Zèbra.
The project for this LP started when some obscure tapes released under the moniker Cybe in the early 80’s found their way to one of those MegaUpload accounts that disappeared a few months later.
So “Positive Movement Muzak / New Age Synthesis” “Cybernetika” and “Cybonesië -Tropische Klankbeelden” were temporarily out in the world again.
With the help of some synth forums the man behind that name could be located. With his approval and upon request from ini.itu, Wíeman, already famous for their reappropriation of Martin Hannett samples on “Live in Leugen”, used snippets from those Cybe tapes to create new pieces. What you have now with “Cryptonesia” is the unexpected meltpop child of dangdut and krautrock, filtered through electronica and post - exotica lenses. Refusing the temptation of going subtropical gabber, the good-natured beats, boisterous and carefree, exhale a cheerful and joyous mood. The epic 18 minutes long B-side is a freewheeling and energetic construction of meandering and hypnotic pseudo-gamelan riffs, resulting into trippy and lush washes of bliss. A record to enjoy, not only for its hedonistic take on music history reverse engineering, but also for the sake of its ecstatic feeling. The LP was mastered by Taylor Deupree." [label info]
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| WIESE, JOHN |
Deviate from Balance |
do-LP |
"John Wiese's long awaited Deviate From Balance is the artist's first album since 2011's Seven Of Wands (PAN). Recorded throughout Europe/UK, Australia, and the US, the album includes scored ensemble pieces including over 20 musicians on each, recorded in Melbourne and Portland, as well as audio documentation of installation pieces Wind Changed Direction, a four-channel sound piece presented in the garden of the Getty Center (curated by Liars), and Battery Instruments, an eight-channel piece presented at HSP in New Zealand, now heard for the first time. Also included are various collaborations and recordings from live performances. At over 80 minutes, Deviate From Balance has been packaged as a 2×LP with tip-on gatefold jackets. Musicians appearing include Joseph Hammer, Ikue Mori, Evan Parker, C Spencer Yeh, Joe Preston, Smegma and countless more. The material is extremely diverse and services as a comprehensive and detailed document of this prolific individuals work over the past several years." [label info]
www.gilgongorecords.com
|
2015 |
€32.00 |
|
| WINDEREN, JANA |
The Blue Beyond |
LP |
Jana Winderen's practice focuses on sound and knowledge production as she seeks to raise awareness of the environmental issues we face as a society. Audemars Piguet Contemporary collaborated with Winderen on two new sound installations compositions. The first, "Du Petit Risoud aux Profondeurs du Lac de Joux", was developed during two field trips to Le Brassus in the Vallée de Joux, at the heart of the Swiss Jura, where Audemars Piguet has been based since 1875. On these trips, Winderen captured sounds in the waters of the Lac de Joux and in the Risoud forest. When Audemars Piguet Contemporary invited the artist to present a second composition for exhibition in Miami Beach, Winderen proposed a site-specific sound environment. For \"The Art of Listening: Under Water\", Winderen used sounds recorded in the Atlantic Ocean in the Miami area, as well as sounds from the Barents Sea around the North Pole and the Tropical Oceans to expose the constant underwater presence of human-created sound today. In both pieces, the artist offers a unique opportunity to listen closely to the underwater inhabitants of a specific region and to reflect on how human activity interacts and interferes with aquatic and also terrestrial life in a seemingly beautiful and visually calm environment. Jana Winderen often draws the fish, amphibians and plankton she meets. This release also consists of a drawing of two fish that probably would never meet; the pike from the freshwater Lac de Joux in the Jura Mountains and the snapper from the saltwater environment by Miami.
https://janawinderen.bandcamp.com/album/the-blue-beyond
|
2023 |
€26.50 |
|
| WINDY & CARL |
The Dream House |
do-CD |
„ 'The eternal Struggle', der Titel des ersten Tracks auf dieser zwei CDs umfassenden und achtzig Minuten dauernden Huldigung der Langsamkeit, beschreibt die Musik von Windy Weber und Carl Hultgren treffender und prägnanter, als dies Horden von Kritikern in Dutzenden Reviews zustande bringen könnten. Langsam und zäh entfaltet sich ein nahezu dreißig Minuten langes Stück, das trotz seiner Dauer und Viskosität genau das vollbringt, was guter Ambientmusik heutzutage oft fehlt, nämlich die Fähigkeit, den Hörer stundenlang in den bequemen Ohrensessel drücken zu können. 'I have been waiting to hear your voice' knüpft hingegen eher an älteres Windy and Carl-Material an, wie es beispielsweise auf „Antarctica“ bereits zu hören gewesen war. Hier liegt der Fokus auf lang anhaltenden Drones, die jedoch nie nach Laptop klingen, sondern so organisch wirken, als hätte man sie in einer großen Konzerthalle oder Kathedrale aufgenommen. Die zwei auf der zweiten CD „Dedications to Flea“ enthaltenen Stücke sind dem gleichnamigen, verstorbenen Hund gewidmet und bewegen sich musikalisch auf dem gleichen Niveau, das Windy and Carl mit „The Dream House“ als Maßstab ausgegeben hatten. Um den Bezug zu dem Verblichenen herzustellen, wurden jedoch einige Field Recordings integriert und die Stimmung gegen Ende der zwei Tracks etwas gedämpft. Auch mit ihrem ersten Lebenszeichen seit fünf Jahren gelingt Windy and Carl der eindrucksvolle Beleg, dass sie auf dem Gebiet der sich langsam entfaltenden Musik ein einzigartiges Gespür für den richtigen Ton zur richtigen Zeit besitzen und damit zu den Besten des Genres gehören.“ [Echoes-online.de]
"The Dream House is the first album of new material from Windy & Carl in five years. Recorded at their home studio in Dearborn, MI it consists of two tracks. The Dream House is in many ways the duo's simplest and most straight-forward release, concentrated as it is on two evolving pieces. It is also Windy & Carl's most ambitious recording, with the duo deliberating on longer forms. Windy & Carl are capable of sustaining melodic ideas and patiently apply attention to singular musical gestures. Windy Weber describes the album as being about 'death and dreams and beliefs and leaving and moving on.” [label info]
|
2005 |
€16.00 |
|
| WINER, LESLIE |
When I hit you, you'll feel it |
do-LP |
Light in the Attic is ecstatic to announce When I Hit You—You’ll Feel It: a 16-track anthology that celebrates the extraordinary work of musician, poet, and author, Leslie Winer. When I Hit You—You’ll Feel It spans Winer’s three-decade-long musical career: from her groundbreaking solo work in the early ‘90s to her latest inspired projects. Featuring musical contributions from Jon Hassell, Helen Terry, Jah Wobble, Renegade Soundwave’s Karl Bonnie, and others, the collection also spotlights Winer’s diverse collaborations, and unearths previously-unreleased recordings.
Newly remastered by the GRAMMY®-nominated engineer John Baldwin, When I Hit You—You’ll Feel It will be available in multiple special 2xLP editions, on CD, and across digital platforms. The album includes a new interview with Winer, captured by the compilation’s co-producer, acclaimed author and critic Wyndham Wallace. Rounding out the package is an insightful essay by the award-winning writer and scholar Louis Chude-Sokei and an original cover collage by the renowned British photographer and artist, Linder, and design by designer Christopher Shannon.
"The definition of a hidden gem" - John Peel / "The world seems finally to be catching up to Leslie Winer, whose startling intelligence and singular vision shine through her copious recording life." - Max Richter / "She might just be the coolest woman on the planet!" - Boy George "When I Hit You - You'll Feel It" is a 16-track anthology that celebrates the extraordinary work of musician, poet, and author, Leslie Winer. The collection spans Winer's three-decade-long musical career: from her groundbreaking solo work in the early '90s to her latest inspired projects. Featuring musical contributions from Jon Hassell, Helen Terry, Jah Wobble, Renegade Soundwave's Karl Bonnie, and others, the collection also spotlights Winer's diverse collaborations, unearths previously-unreleased recordings and was newly remastered by the GRAMMYr-nominated engineer John Baldwin. The album includes a new interview with Winer, captured by the compilation's co-producer, acclaimed author and critic Wyndham Wallace. Rounding out the package is an insightful essay by the award-winning writer and scholar Louis Chude-Sokei and an original cover collage by the renowned British photographer and artist, Linder, featuring photography by Mondino, and design by designer Christopher Shannon. Musician, poet, iconoclast, model, artist, enigma. Leslie Winer is many things. She grew up in Boston with a voracious appetite for music and the written word and embraced the city's lively jazz and folk scene in the '70s. Moving to New York for art school, she formed an unlikely friendship with writer and artist William S. Burroughs and lived on-and-off with Jean-Michel Basquiat. In London, where Winer began her musical ventures in earnest, she was a regular at Leigh Bowery's underground club Taboo, where she met many of her collaborators, including filmmaker John Maybury, Kevin Mooney (of Adam and the Ants), and Boy George. Winer's striking looks also attracted fashion designers and photographers. Throughout the early '80s, she was an in-demand model-appearing in campaigns for Valentino, Christian Dior, and Yohji Yamamoto, and serving as a muse for a young Jean-Paul Gaultier, who later dubbed Winer "the first androgynous model." She posed for Helmut Newton, Irving Penn, and Pierre et Gilles, and graced the covers of The Face, French and Italian editions of Vogue, and Mademoiselle. But music was Winer's true passion and, at the turn of the '90s, she would unknowingly help invent the massively popular genre known today as trip-hop. On her debut, Witch, Winer masterfully blended the uninhibited sampling of early hip-hop with dancehall basslines and programmed beats, while weaving mesmerizing - and coolly-detached - spoken-word vocals into her ambient tracks. It was unorthodox in the most delicious ways. While Witch was finished in 1990, it wouldn't be released for three years, due to the whims of Winer's label. By the time the album saw the light of day (released under the pseudonym "c"), trip-hop was gaining mainstream traction via acts like Portishead, Massive Attack, and Madonna. Although Winer eventually gained wider acknowledgment (prompting the NME to give her the dubious distinction of "The Grandmother of Trip-Hop"), Witch initially went sorely unnoticed. Winer continued to record, undeterred by the elusive nature of mainstream success in the modern music business. Her network of inspired collaborators continued to grow and expand, yet her influence remained largely a secret except to those in the know, such as Grace Jones and Sinead O'Connor, who would cover her songs. In the modern era, one is hard-pressed to find an artist who continues to push the creative envelope as much as Winer does. And yet, three decades after her revolutionary debut, her work remains just as startling and fresh.
https://lesliewiner.bandcamp.com/album/when-i-hit-you-youll-feel-it |
2021 |
€39.50 |
|
| WINER, LESLIE & VON HAUSSWOLFF, C.M |
1 |
LP |
Leslie Winer is an artist and author living and working in France. Earlier releases include Witch (recorded in 1990, released in 1993), & That Dead Horse (recorded in 1994, released in 2010), Always Already (2011), and the retrospective compilation Leslie Winer &c. (WHO 003CD, 2012). She has collaborated with Jon Hassell, Bomb the Bass, Mekon, and her words and voice were heard on a track on CI by Diamond Version (Carsten Nicolai and Olaf Bender) (2014). As of 2015, she is co-editor and co-executor for the estate of beat writer Herbert Huncke. (1), by Winer and Carl Michael von Hausswolff, is Winer's first full-length original release to be recorded since 1994. CM von Hausswolff divides his time between the worlds of music and visual art. His records, which he has been releasing since 1979, have been released by such labels as Radium 226.05, Ash International, Raster-Noton, Laton, iDEAL, and Touch. He curates Freq_Out, a collaborative sound installation shown in Paris, Berlin, Stockholm, Marrakesh, and beyond, with such artists as JG Thirlwell, Finnbogi Petursson, Jana Winderen, and Christine Ödlund. He makes films with Thomas Nordanstad and music with Martin Rössel (as Gomila Park), Jean-Louis Huhta and Graham Lewis (as Ocsid), and Joachim Nordwall and Jason Lescalleet (as ENOUGH!!!). Leslie Winer and Carl Michael von Hausswolff met in 2011 in Lisbon, Portugal, via Philip Marshall, co-owner of The Tapeworm. They decided to make a vocal/electronic music collaboration just for fun, with no intentions to have it on any kind of phonogram. Time proved different! Text and vocals by Winer; music by von Hausswolff, except for "Talked to some of them," which features music by von Hausswolff and Nordanstad, from their 2009 film Electra, Texas 2008. Recorded, mixed, and treated in Vigny, France, and Stockholm, Sweden, 2012-13.
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"Leslie Winer has long been an intriguing figure to me, an eighties fashion model who while in London frequented Leigh Bowery's infamous Taboo nightclub. In New York in the seventies she lived with Jean Michael Basquiat and became acquainted with the Beats in the form of William S. Burroughs and Herbert Huncke. But it is her association with musicians connected to Adam And The Ants that really gets me. She had a short lived marriage to Kevin Mooney, and was instrumental in his post Ants projects Max and Wide Boy Awake.
This is her first proper album since Witch, a cult album with a turbulent history which first surfaced as a white label before its official release in 1993 on Transglobal Underground's own label. Its hazy atmosphere, spoken passages laced with samples and dub infused beats, has as many commentators pointed out laid down something of a blueprint to what became known as trip hop - something which Winer herself has reservations about. Witch featured a rich ensemble of artists including bassist Jah Wobble, filmmaker John Maybury, and various ex-Ants musicians including Mooney and Matthew Ashman, alongside Mooney's former Max/Wide Boy Awake associate John Keogh, as well as Karl Bonnie of Renegade Soundwave. Winer also featured on Sinead O'Connor\'s The Lion and the Cobra which in various formations also included Mooney, Marco Pirroni, and O'Connor\'s ex-husband John Reynolds, who also turns up on Witch. The interconnectedness between these players beggars belief and that\'s without bringing in John Gosling's Mekon whose releases feature many of the aforementioned, as well as Winer herself.
But that's just the backstory. In 2010 The Tapeworm released & That Dead Horse, a collection of unreleased recordings, while 2012 saw the release of & © on The Wormhole, containing material from the aforementioned Witch with other material recorded in Miami and collaborations with Vincent Gallo and Christophe Van Huffel. Van Huffel would go on to work with Winer as Purity Supreme releasing the guitar strewn atmospherics of Always Already as a 12-inch on Ash International. It was around this point The Tapeworm's Philip Marshall brought together Leslie Winer and Swedish sound artist and composer Carl Michael von Hausswolff, who agreed to collaborate on music. The results are (1).
It's easy to regard Winer's delivery as a stream of consciousness, but there's thought behind her lyrics and particularly in the emphasis found within her phrasing. Lines appear and then reappear later in another form, as she plays with reality, in a voice deeper and more lived in than the mischievous delivery of Witch. It's difficult to ascertain Winer's viewpoint in her words on (1), as they sway between the poetic and the philosophical, especially on the longer tracks found on the first side. On 'I'll Be Mother' over a discreet ringing drone, she ruminates about "the next generation" and the need for "a pharmacological method of making people love." Her husky drawl, speaks of a susceptible populace where "we are creators, yet we have also been created". "I'll Be Mother" she repeats, adopting the role of the maternal figure characterised in the ritual of making tea. Winer, as executor to the works of Herbert Huncke, has long been associated with the Beats, but it is in the following track the friendship and the education learned from William Burroughs comes to the fore. 'I'll Be Mother' may have touched upon the Control Process that Burroughs dwelt on, but 'This Discreet Organ' looks to transformative powers of interconnectedness, touching upon observation and evolutionary evidence to question "long held notions of who and what we think we are" where time, sequence, speech, language and pattern recognition play a role. This is Winer in full-on philosopher mode: "The concept of what a thing looks like takes precedence over direct observation". In measured breathless tones she reflects on human development and the need for sleep, questioning evolution, biology and gender roles when she inquires "Did women throw enough spears?" Mirroring Burroughs she asks "Who is running the show?" over Von Hausswolff's lingering drone.
More than ever on 'Can I Take Your Order' her husky, hesitant delivery apes the sardonic drawl of a Burroughs reading. The text concerning culture and patriarchy is cut-up with various sections reappearing and reformed over the powerful undulating drones of von Hausswolff. While much of von Hausswolff's score is understated and subtle it is much more prevalent here - and in all the tracks on side 2 - gently swelling around Winer's fragmented oblique text entwining biographies of an aspiring writer and isolated academic. Juddering glacial tones form a frosted layer to the treated, distant and hard to discern delivery of Winer on 'Weatherman'. The closing track 'Talked To Some Of Them', additionally features and is credited to Thomas Nordanstad. It is taken from Electra, Texas 2008, the third in a series of films by CM von Hausswolff and filmmaker Thomas Nordanstad. The music is reduced to arching electronics, rising and falling behind Winer's fragmented musings, recycling text that originally surfaced on 'I'll Be Mother'. "This seems to be the final revolution", she muses, over effects resembling distant tolling bells.
Last year, Leslie Winer, in a photographic session by Juergen Teller, became the face of Vivienne Westwood's 2014 campaign, and amidst all the Tapeworm associated releases it seems Leslie Winer, from her reclusive life in France, is making tentative steps back to into the public arena. Without downplaying von Hausswolff's contribution here my focus on (1) is in on Winer, her voice and the spoken word text giving form to her philosophy and current thinking. (1) won't garner the gushing words that surround Witch, recently reissued by Superior Viaduct, but (1) does show she still has much to say, and (1) is worth seeking out, especially if either artist is of interest. For more information go to Monotype Records" [Compulsion Online]
|
2015 |
€26.00 |
|
| WINTER FAMILY |
Red Sugar |
CD |
"Second long awaited album by duo Ruth Rosenthal and Xavier Klaine, actually based in Brooklyn.
A rare and unique audio worldview expressed by the singular approach of Ruth Rosenthal (voice) and Xavier Klaine (harmonium, organ etc..).
From the first bares of Searching Donkeys this new album creates a glowering and intense atmospheric...part nightmare, part uplifting dreamscape. It permeates and builds into a compelling whole. a reference point might be some of the output of Constellation records - indeed GYBEs Norsola Johnson plays on this record..
However it is doubtful whether any of those artists ever produced anything to match the taut tension of the title track Red Sugar..an hymn to absence. The ambition of Winter Family is evident on the expansive, orchestral epic dancing in the sun..crank your speakers, sit back and open your mind.. it WILL blow you away." [label info]
www.subrosa.net
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| WISHART, TREVOR |
Fabulous Paris. A Virtual Oratorio |
CD |
"This 3-movement, secular oratorio explores our collective and individual experience of the mass industrial society in which we live, through the medium of the human voice. The source material for the first movement, 'The Division of Labor', is based on a text from Adam Smith's 'The Wealth of Nations', describing the division of labour in a Scottish pin factory spoken in a Glaswegian accent. The division of labour is then applied to the voice in a series of variations in the digital domain (e.g. resynthesis of the melodic-contour of the speech, canon-hocketing the time-shrunk syllables, texturing fragments cut from the tails of the syllables, generating 'choral' textures from 'iteration' of groups of material, etc.). In the second movement, 'Angel' a woman remembers some of those inconsequential yet special experiences which define an individual life. The oratoio ends with the voices of Neil Armstrong, President Kennedy, Adolph Hitler and many others in 'Fabulous Paris'. Approaching that exciting yet frightening labyrinth of information and experience which is the modern mega-city, 'Fabulous Paris' is first encountered as the prize destination on an American TV game show, but soon becomes the mysterious city of our dreams, hopes and fears." [from the credit notes]
www.trevorwishart.co.uk
|
2007 |
€14.00 |
|
| WOLLSCHEID, ACHIM |
Moves |
CD |
“A CD of lovely, resonating installation sound from Selektion founder Wollscheid. "Once I had the idea to play a house. This happened when the city of Frankfurt, in charge of an investment company and intending to raise the acceptance of a deserted industrial complex, planned to perform a vernissage (make over) in this place. Therefore they needed an artist and an artwork. When I was asked, I thought that it would be apt to the situation to leave the huge space empty of artworks and instead attach a compute-generated clapper to each of the 1400 windows to transform the space into a poly-rhythm box. I liked the plan, but the investors didn't. Nevertheless, I pursued the idea to activate the resonance frequencies of given objects in a space in order to arrive at site- and space-specific compositions which would change with every place and given situation.” Wollscheid."[label info]
|
1996 |
€13.00 |
|
| WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM |
Celestite |
do-LP |
"Seit der Bandgründung 2002 haben WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM über 4 Studioalben und hunderte von Konzerten hinweg die transzendenten und mythischen Aspekte des Black Metal durch ihr ganz eigenes Prisma gebrochen und Musik erschaffen, die in direkter Beziehung zu den wilden Landschaften des pazifischen Nordwestens steht. "Celestite" bricht auf zu einer Reise, die tiefer in den kristallinen, Synthie-getriebenen Herrschaftsbereich vordringt, der WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM schon seit langem fasziniert. Mit Unterstützung des Produzenten Randall Dunn (EARTH, SUNN0))), MASTER MUSICIANS OF BUKKAKE) hebt die Band eine versteckte Soundlandschaft aus, die sich nur lose an den gewohnte Sound bindet und doch jederzeit als WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM zu erkennen ist. Während sich das Album entfaltet, entwickelt sich eine meerestiefe psychedelische Soundlandschaft; Portale öffnen sich und geben den Blick auf eine Zauberwelt frei, die nur in Träumen, Visionen und Musik zu betreten ist. "Celestite" wurde in den Avast Studios in Seattle und in der bandeigenen Owl Lodge in Olympia realisiert, wo die Band ein ganzes Arsenal an Vintage Synthies und Effekten aufreihte; dazu gesellten sich ein Ensemble aus Bläsern und die klassischen API und Neve Konsolen. Kommentar der Band: "Um 'Celestite' zu machen, tauchten wir tief in die unterirdischen Sounds, die im Mix von ,Celestial Lineage verborgen lagen. Wir isolierten sie, entwickelten sie weiter und wählten die so gewonnene Soundlandschaft als Startpunkt.
Auf diesem Fundament errichteten wir das ganze neue Album. Manche Melodien von "Celestial Lineage" sind wiedererkennbar, doch diese vertrauten Sounds erscheinen als Geister, die nur lose mit den Originalkompositionen verbunden sind." "Celestite" ist der erste Release auf dem bandeigenen Artemisia Records Label." [label info]
https://artemisiarecords.bandcamp.com
"We're super into this, but avant black metallers Wolves In The Throne Room have gotten a lot of flack for this new record of theirs, which seems to be more based on them as a band, than the record itself; like Deafheaven or Liturgy, the fact that they're 'hip' and 'cool' and lots of non metalheads dig them makes them ripe for criticism from the 'troo cvlt' black metal crowd. Also that they're doing something a bit different. A LOT different, here. And we applaud it! 'Cause taken objectively, as in, if you didn't even know this was WITTR, you might find yourself pretty into it.
The deal is, there's really no black metal here, just pure spaced-out synth shimmer, completely cosmic and kinda New Agey, even. It's total Tangerine Dream worship, but with plenty of dense bombast and thick layered drones. More like Emeralds than Emperor. The sort of thing some black metal bands dabble in as "intro music", taken to the full-length extreme. And it's pretty good - the first track sounds like it could be an alternate soundtrack to Bladerunner. Haunting and ominous, lush drones and buried melodies... Elsewhere, the swaths of thick synth-iness sound almost like Salem, some beatless almost witch-housiness... There's even some Carpenter-y electro beats on "Sleeping Gold Storm". The moaning horns and other elements, in the more cacophonous crescendos, builds up the drama and edginess, but it never gets metal, nope. It's the intro to itself, instead.
Thumbs up from us! And, black metal and/or WITTR fans who aren't open-minded enough to approve of this, don't fret, it's just meant as an electronic "companion" to their last album, 2011's Celestial Lineage, not a follow-up. You still gotta keep waiting for that, but in the meantime, you could try to relax and enjoy these surprisingly spaced-out sounds. Plus, it's not like there's not precedence for stuff like this in the realms of black metal, from Neptune Towers to Alturaz... And for other folks, more into synths and drones than metal, this could easily be the first (only?) WITTR you'll ever need." [Aquarius Records]
|
2014 |
€30.00 |
|
| |
Thrice Woven |
CD |
Now, a portal into the dreamworld of Wolves in the Throne Room opens again with THRICE WOVEN. It is a glorious return to the blazing and furious Black Metal that they alone can create!
The album begins with Born From the Serpent’s Eye a true thrashing black metal epic that is bisected with a haunting northern lament sung by Swedish star Anna von Hausswolff. The band worked with metal documentarians Peter Beste and Nico Poalillo to create a video for this track which captures a bonfire-lit performance in the forest near their Olympia compound.
The Old Ones Are With Us opens with the crackling of a fire and the voice of Steve Von Till (Neurosis) invoking the springtime thaw. It then storms into a dirge inspired by 90’s Finnish doom with lyrics that celebrate Imbolc, the holy day which marks the end of winter and the first stirrings of spring.
Figures from Norse mythology intertwine with personal heartbreak and rebirth in the bleak Angrboda. The song is named after a frost giantess who birthed Fenris Wolf, a beast who was destined to destroy the world and murder the gods. Fenris Wolf also appears on the cover of THRICE WOVEN in a painting by Russian occult artist Denis Forkas. Forkas’ obscure medieval painting techniques perfectly compliment the music of Wolves in the Throne Room.
A raven’s wings stir the air in the interlude Mother Owl, Father Ocean. Anna von Hausswolff returns in a duet with Turkish harpist Zeynep Oyku. Forlorn industrial atmospheres haunt the mix. Hausswolff’s lyrics, sung in Swedish, echo over a barren grey seascape.
Fires Roar in the Palace of the Moon is the classic Cascadian Black Metal epic. The third eye opens to see holy rivers being born from the ice on the tallest peaks. The lyrics offer blessings to the waters of the earth as they flow from the high places to the source of darkness, the ocean.
https://wolvesinthethroneroom.bandcamp.com/album/thrice-woven
|
2017 |
€14.50 |
|
| WORBY, ROBERT |
Factitious Airs (Electronic Music) |
LP |
This LP by Robert Worby (Langham Research Centre) focuses on recorded sound and structures made with recorded sound. How the original sound was produced and the objects used in the production of the sounds is of secondary interest. Tiny details in the sounds are important and what might appear to be insignificant, dull or uneventful is often salient. Acute, obsessive listening brings these elements to the fore.
In the process of making these structures, meaning begins to emerge and unfold. This is always highly subjective, ambiguous and uncertain and might fleetingly resonate with many ideas, objects, narratives and situations that are not connected with sound.
Inspiration often comes from existing music but also from the entire history of ideas and, again, a tiny detail might produce a kind of creative resonance. Curiosity is predominant and drives forward the process of composition.
"Can a music made with the modern tools of digital music and contemporary production sound eerily as if created with the same equipment that Stockhausen, Henri and Berio all availed themselves of in the radio studios of the 50s and 60s – and yet sound bright and fresh to the ears of today's listeners? Robert Worby shows us how, with Factitious Airs." — Carl Stone
|
2020 |
€25.00 |
|
| WRIGHT, PETER |
Red Lion |
CD |
Londoner Aufnahmen von 2004: field recordings von verschiedenen Plätzen Londons (Red Lion Square, Tate Modern, etc.), feedbackin’ hyper-effektierte Drone-Guitars, merkwürdige Obertonräume entstehen, Daydream-Akustikgitarren verschmelzen mit Environmentals, sowas wie Helikopter-Vibrationen(?), einzelne metallische Töne ziehen Resonanzen wie Schweife hinter sich her, himmlische Vibratos, die in der Luft schweben & zu schimmern scheinen, sirrend-fräsende Klangwolken mit Siren-Effekt...
Wie fast kein Zweiter ruft PETER WRIGHT aus seinen Gitarren manchmal fast aberwitzig zu nennende Obertonresonanzenschwälle hervor, schafft sirrend-schwirrenden Singsang par excellence, der nie in langweiligen tumben Noise oder Drone abgleitet, sondern immer in fein- ästhetischer Balance bleiben....
RED LION ist ein poetisch-verträumtes Werk mit vielen Facetten und sei hiermit allen die PETER WRIGHT noch nicht kennen ans Herz gelegt. 9 tracks, ca. 55 min.
“You can remove a Kiwi from New Zealand but you sure as hell can't remove New Zealand from a Kiwi. Such is the case with Christchurch transplant, Peter Wright. Over the course of a decade, Wright has etched his name in glass in the annals of drone-world superstardom. And while I'm not sure what that really means, the point is that when it comes to soaring dronescapes, few do it better than Peter Wright. He has helped pave the way with contemporaries such as Birchville Cat Motel and Double Leopards, but clearly has his own distinct voice. With his past few albums, Wright seems the logical successor to native Kiwi, sound manipulator extraordinaire, Roy Montgomery.
"Red Lion" is Wright's latest incarnation and, once again, pushes the boundaries of what he can do with his trademark 12 string Danelectro to the absolute outer limits. He pushes the limits of simplicity without ever breaking. Wright's albums are a thing of sheer, pure beauty, existing in a vacuum where nothing on the outside can tamper with their grace. Even with his lofty intentions, "Red Lion" is immediately approachable and grabs the listener from the opening notes. As always, Peter Wright offers up something wholly infectious and undebatably magnificent.
Press about Peter Wright: "The finest in underground free noise / drone...mostly from New Zealand but all around the world as well. For those of you new to the CpsiP label, imagine classic Siltbreeze (Dead C, etc.) mixed with Jewelled Antler (Thuja, Blithe Sons etc.), dark and deep listening that sometimes verges on all out noise, but more often than not remains subtle experiments in avant drone and abstract sound." - Aquarius Records
"This is easily some of the most evocative proto-drone work to reach these ears in a while, with beautiful almost folk melodies that flutter on the edge of audibility cut up with a thick soup of early-evening smog and long forgotten geographies. Somewhere between early Flying Saucer Attack, Mirror and William Basinski. Highly recommended." - David Keenan, Volcanic Tongue
"If Windy & Carl's vision of Antarctica is your idea of bliss, you will drool over this soundscape depiction of Peter Wright's home in New Zealand. Now living in London, these are what the label calls "love-drones," as Wright's memories of his home's wide open spaces inspire slowly unfolding waves of lush guitar." - Jim Steed, Fakejazz “ [label info]
|
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
|
An Angel fell where the Kestrels hover |
CD |
"An Angel Fell Where The Kestrels Hover started life as the second part of a two album reflection on my emotive responses to seasonal changes, both in a personal sense and also a more social and geographical sense. My double CD Snow Blind, recorded at the same time and released earlier this year on Install, captures the foreboding darkness and gloom of winter, whilst An Angel Fell... focusses on the spring and summer months, and as a result has a generally sunnier disposition.
Obviously there's a direct literal interpretation at work here, the music is brighter and more melodic, perhaps even sensual, without as much harsh discordance that is predominant on Snow Blind. On 'Lavender Buzz' the seasonal inspiration is most literal, where the foundation of the piece is from a strategically placed microphone in the middle of a clump of lavender plants recording bees collecting nectar from the flowers. But also, as the music was actually recorded during the summer I only had to look out the window or take a walk in the nearby Streatham Common to get a sense of the type of almost lazy sounds I wanted to create. Ironically, this was also one of the wettest July's on record in the UK and the frequency of the often violent thunderstorms also tainted my creative thoughts, neatly juxtaposing light and dark textures.
Aside from the weather, location was also an important factor. I made these recordings in London, England, where my wife and myself were living at the time. This is an album heavily influenced by living in that sprawling, chaotic urban jungle, as most of my last few releases have been. Reflections on physical and mental space are frequently wrapped up in the sounds I make, even at their most abstract. London was my home for nearly 6 years and this was the last recording I made consciously referencing and musing on the city before we moved back to New Zealand in 2008. In many ways it represents the closing of a circle that started with my first UK-based recordings that appeared on Yellow Horizon (PseudoArcana, 2004).
The titles I come up with for my music can be fairly oblique, often abstract and meaningless, but they can reflect my mood at the time I make the sounds themselves. Sometimes they are socially or politically motivated, sometimes very personal and inward-looking. At their most poetic they can be a substitute for lyrics, but the titles are not necessarily designed to lead the listener into a particular train of thought when listening to the sounds. The album title, An Angel Fell Where The Kestrels Hover, was one of the first I came up with when previewing my early mixes on headphones sitting in a South London meadow watching a kestrel circling high above looking for field mice in the long grass. I could immediately see a connection to the birds movements and the way my music drifts and floats. The kestrel's hovering flight, almost like a hummingbird, beating it's wings and making minute adjustments in the wind, allowing it's head to remain absolutely still to enable it's sharp eyes to spot movement in the ground metres below is amazing to watch. And I liked the idea that maybe it could see something in the grass that us mere mortals can not, like a fallen angel." [Peter Wright]
www.spekk.net
|
2009 |
€15.50 |
|
| |
Snow Blind |
do-CD |
"Peter Wright is a true veteran of the experimental scene, hailing from New Zealand with a catalogue that goes back over a full decade. We're very proud to present you with his newest offering, a mammoth double-album called Snow Blind. Anyone familiar with Peter's music will be happy to hear lots of the layered guitar drones and textural interplay that his records have been known for, however we feel this is a totally accessible record to anyone who enjoys dense drones or ambient music. Wright coaxes otherworldly harmonies out of thick slabs of rocky chords that tower nearly endlessly like cliffs overlooking a black ocean, with some pieces keeping a calm, stately mood and others bursting with hot yellow energies. Altogether this is one of the finest collections of guitar music we've heard in a very long time, and should not be missed. Presented on a limited run of 300 copies with sprawling and unique artwork by Peter himself." [label info]
www.installsound.net
|
2009 |
€16.00 |
|
| WYNESS, JAMES |
Stultifera Navis |
CD |
"Steeped in Scottish panorama, ears-educator James Wyness brings theory and practice face to face…armed with a PhD in electroacoustic composition and keen on biological sciences, semiotics and anthropology, using field recordings as well as hand-made instruments, and found objects, he weaves detailed sonic universes & audio-environments attentive to timbres & spectra…
these often acquire an extra dimension in the live context of installations & performances…
Most of his works so far are self-releases, though he has some out on netlabels like Impulsive Habitat, Green Field Recordings, and also one on Gruenrekorder…he has recently set up his own structure and a further bunch of ltd edition releases is scheduled to appear on his Reekin Lum Records label…through the convergence of mutual interests, he is in the process of collaborating with Giancarlo Toniutti…
“stultifera navis” has already had some public presentation during his 2013 Czech residency at my Školská 28 in Prague…
Deep down bubble barely visible lifeforms,
an unrecognized language of ridges and folds,
and sibylline marks…
Once skimming the surface, they’re welcomed with wind moanings, trembling wires, and rustlings in interlaced layers…
Dry wood, an entanglement of clear scratches and wild weed line old doors, like openings to dormant wonders…
“stultifera navis” is a dense trip where the past lurks into the present, within the very heart of learning…
an hamper of new found significances…" [label info]
www.mysterysea.net
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| WYRM |
Divination Bones |
pic-7 |
"We are happy to present the second ever PICTURE 7" in the Drone-series (first one was CRANIO-CLAST / DR-44) by this promising project from the United States formed by ALLAN ZANE and LIZ LANG. ALLAN has worked with JOHN MURPHY (SPK, SWORD VOLCANO COMPLEX, etc.) in the past and also released with RATS WITH WINGS, GX JUPITTER-LARSEN, NOCTURNAL EMISSIONS, IRR.APP.(EXT.), etc.. and solo works. Forthcoming CD includes the works of VAL DENHAM and PBK. LIZ is also active as AURACENE and has had a very successful CD with RIVER GUERGUERIAN.
The droning world of WYRM (an old word for "serpent") appears to be at the same time raw & inaccessible, but then also subtle and mysterious. Crackling noises, granular sounds, waving drones, and more undescribable acoustic objects form an "other dimension" of its very own. The music seems to point to existential archaic areas in our mind that are unaccessible but somehow known.
A definite must for fans of abstract drone experimentalism in the way of early HAFLER TRIO or BRUME.
Filed under: DIVINATION DRONES
PICTURE 7" DESIGNED BY ALLAN ZANE. EXTREME HANDPAINTED COVER WITH STICKER DESIGNED BY LIZ AND ALLAN ZANE. BEAUTIFUL PARCHMENT INLAYS. PLAYS ON 45 RPM !!" [label info]
|
2010 |
€8.50 |
|
| |
Divination Bones (2nd extended ed.) |
7 |
Excellent abstract drone-experimentalism by this mysterious project by the long active ALLAN ZANE, feat. LIZ LANG (AURACENE); this is second, revised & complete version of both tracks previously released as a picture-7", due to a pressing mistake an uncompleted version has been pressed before - which means everyone who bought already the pic-7" can get this second edition FOR FREE (excl. postage)!
"Während auf der Picture-7“ die Demoversionen zu finden sind, schob Drone Records nach
Betriebsschluss seiner 7-Zoll-Serie eine zweite Edition mit dem Original nach- und bildet
damit den Kreislauf zweier Kompositionen nach. Tradiert feldrekorderhaft und mit der
Betonung auf Troum’sche Harmonielehren setzen sich in zwei spitzenintendierten Stücken
geradezu vexierte Spiralen an Klang und schleichender Verdichtung in Gang, die in ihrer
schleifigen Ruppigkeit dem Trägermaterial Vinyl eine Menge abgewinnen- während die Demo
deutlich spurenarmer ausfällt, nimmt sich die Komposition im ausformulierten Zustand mehr
Zeit während die sonore Klangmechanik weitaus differenter ausgearbeitet ist. Der Gestus
beider Stücke fällt in den Zuständigkeitsbereich von irr. app. (ext.) und bietet neben dissonanten Saitenexperimenten Versatzstücke der Hauntologie in quälender Zeitlupe. Als letztes Signal von Drone Records eine wahrlich lohnende Investition: Käufer der Picture-Disc bekommen die Platte beim Bestellvorgang sogar umsonst dazu. 5/5" [Thorsten Soltau / AEMAG]
|
2011 |
€6.00 |
|
| X-NAVI:ET |
Dead City Voice |
LP |
"Dead City Voice" is the second vinyl album by Rafał Iwański aka X-Navi:Et(of HATI, Voices of the Cosmos, KAPITAL, Innercity Ensemble fame). It's the follow-up to acclaimed "Soundtracks for the Dying Moments" LP released on Instant Classic last year. It contains 6 new electroacoustic compositions recorded from 2010 to 2013.
The theme of the city has appeared in the modern art territory quite a few times before. Wim Wenders, a cult German director, once said that "thecity shapes people, leaves its stigma on them and deforms them to its own likeness." Murray Schafer, a Canadian composer, while working on the concept of "soundscape", claimed that many of the surrounding sonic incidents infiltrates the music of our times. Following the footsteps of Charles Baudelaire among others, urban artists, Rafał Iwański and Ewa Bińczyk, replayed the city, penetrated its spirit and echoed it in their activities. Telling the city by means of sound and vision is becoming an inward journey as well.
Inside the cover one can also find the literary text by Dariusz Brzostek (Ph.D. at the University of Toruń, Poland) - a literari, anthropologist and music journalist who has collaborated with many magazines, such as Glissando, Trans/Wizje, Antena Krzyku, Teksty Drugie, Magazyn Fragile.
Visually the album is of the highest value. The gatefold cover is adorned with works by Ewa Bińczyk. Additionally, a special edition of 33 copies will include genuine intaglio prints signed by the author making it a true collector's item.
The album was released by Zoharum in collaboration with Eter Records, a label set up by Rafał Iwański to release music by his projects X-Navi:Et, HATI, Voices of the Cosmos in digital and analogue formats.
The album is released in a gatefold cover in a strictly limited edition of 250 copies." [label info]
www.zoharum.com
"On vinyl, in a fine fold out cover, we find Hati's Rafal Iwanski's solo project X-Navi:et. Both this and his Hati project are quite active when it comes to releasing music, so you could wonder: do they ever sleep? The main concept behind the six pieces on his new LP is the 'city', but not in a very strict sense I would think. This is not twice 20 minutes of city sounds, or something like that set to music, but pieces that depict the sounds of city through musical means. He uses analog filter machine, analog synthesizer, sampling pad, loop system, hulusi, bells, rattles, metal objects, field and found recordings and effects. Me think that a lot of the acoustic sources here have been sampled and treated extensively before finding their place inside a composition. Take for instance 'Tinnitus Auris': the tinkling of bells are the sounds that a lorry makes when trying to park. Next to that we hear a conveyer belt like sound - the other cars on the same street. Below that is a fiery drone-ventilation shafts on the side walk. That's what I heard. In the other pieces there is a similar liveliness, which we find a big cities - not in the street where I live, and not many cars or people pass on an ordinary working day. But of course all of this is easily said, when you look at the title(s), the picture, the text and such like and make these connections with a big city. I wonder what someone would imagine playing this music as it is, without knowing these references; it might not be the city. But who cares about that? We know what it is about and it's the gesamtkunstwerk that counts. This is a beautiful record of some fine, dark ambient music, with a nice industrial touch to it, very occasionally. Great release!" [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2013 |
€16.00 |
|
| XABEC |
Closing the Circle |
CD |
"Through the last 15 years Xabec developed his own and unique blend of experimental Ambient
and Electronica. Now time has come to close the circle, but before Manuel G. Richter focuses on
his new Drone and Experimental project Silent Walls, the final Xabec album 'Closing The Circle' shows once again the full musical range, energy and depth of Xabec. The album is limited on 300 numbered copies in handmade boxes with an embossed printing of the album logo on the front. 'Closing The Circle' captures a full live show in exquisite audio quality, recorded on multitrack including ambience microphones. It also contains new, unreleased and rare songs, collaborations
with Architect and Adjacency Pair and live appearances of Spherical Disrupted and Moogulator.
Listen online at Bandcamp www.xabec.bandcamp.com/album/closing-the-circle-2." [label info]
www.xabec.com
|
2013 |
€15.00 |
|
| XELA |
Divine |
LP |
" "The Divine" marks the second phase in the trilogy proposed by John Twells aka Xela. Crawling out of a castle dungeon in pursuit of its predecessor, "The Illuminated", this LP finds itself trapped in an abandoned church somewhere in a damp Southern wilderness. Church bells chime and rattle through the record's first piece, echoing and distorting through a fog of chattering voices and prayers. Tape loops stumble over tape loops and the solemn, ecclesiastical drone slowly decomposes into thick, crackling noise. Through the mists choirs sing, heralding the introduction of the second side of "The Divine" which takes the human voice into cavernous and smudged, yet strangely alluring territories. There is almost a Basinski-like charm to this work as the choirs effortlessly degrade into an unrecognisable mud of harmony and abrasiveness. This is music informed by a religious world; Xela has edged from the scriptures of cults and secret societies to the spires of organisation and power. God is in the detail.
Limited edition of 500 copies!" [label info]
www.dekorder.com
|
2010 |
€12.50 |
|
| XIPHOID DEMENTIA |
Secular Hymns |
CD |
"Actively recording since 2002, Egan Budd’s Xiphoid Dementia has become known in the underground and in numerous live situations for creating meticulously crafted yet hard to define, post industrial soundscapes, navigating between textured ambience, scourging noise, junk metal , field recordings, and surreal atmospheres, sometimes all in one track. Still, there’s a hyper-focus here that ties it altogether, and makes for something that is dynamic, unpredictable, and clearly ambitious. For those that question if there’s originality left in industrial music, Xiphoid Dementia answers with a resounding yes, though not so much in the sounds themselves, but rather how they are layered and placed.
The first track, Abortion Rites, manages to capture the essence of Xiphoid right off the bat; starting calm enough with a singular drone and a rising apocalyptic choir, only to be eventually engulfed in a firestorm of brain rattling noise and straining machine vibrations, before shifting gears into sprawling cosmic drones, deep bass drops, and processed vocal squall. Subsequent tracks follow a similar path, constantly moving from the cerebral to the physical, adding structural elements, then obliterating it in a mass of debris, mechanized whir, and sharp edged clutter. Of the four tracks here, the last track is perhaps the most focused, and certainly the bleakest; a 13 + minute excursion into a dystopian society full of utterly hopeless and dark, resonating atmospherics, and ending in a cyclonic blur of destructive noise and blackened filth . It’s perfectly executed and a suitable ending to what equates to an intensely visceral and creative listen. Hard to find comparisons here, but those that appreciate the dynamics of Navicon Torture Technologies, Prurient, and Propergol will certainly find something to like." [label info]
www.malignantrecords.com
|
2012 |
€12.00 |
|
| XQM / EMERGE / LDX#40 |
Session #43, recomposed |
CD |
original field-recordings and sounds by xqm
reworked and recomposed by EMERGE and LDX#40
xqm - Session #43 | 2018-07-05 | Track #02
Recorded during 43rd session 05th.July 2018 at WWII shelter Koblenz-Neuendorf/Germany
Manuel Schaub: Sequencer & FX
Matthias Weigand: Analog Synth & FX, Recording & Mastering
xqm-beats.bandcamp.com
EMERGE - trover
composed in the region of Kutná Hora
final editing and mastering in Berlin
in August 2018
emerge.wordpress.com
LDX#40 - Pangea Mix
Assembled in Frankfurt/Main
in December 2018
kunstscheisse.net/ldx40
vimeo.com/ldx40
xqm artist-edition available here:
ecocentricrecords.bandcamp.com/album/session-43-recomposed
credits
released November 8, 2019
VITAL WEEKLY
There is a slightly confusing cover here, which tells us that the music recorded by xqm is the source material for the other two, but the booklet may seem to indicate that the order of the CD is Emerge/xqm/LDX#40, whereas it is xqm/Emerge/LDX#40. The previous time I heard music by xqm I found it rather noisy and left it to Jliat to devote a review to (Vital Weekly 1187). For no reason I expected this to be along similar lines, but here the duo went out with the sequencer, analogue synthesizer and effects to produce a twenty-one minute piece of drone music, with a fine dark undercurrent and some heavily produced white noise/hiss-like sound that over the course of the piece becomes a very fine dark ambient beast. Emerge then applies his 'usual' cut-ups techniques to it, by alienating the sound and using a collage-like approach. It means that there are all the colours of ambient industrial sound pass by, and they either have a full stop or a gradual, chameleon changeover. LDX#40, of whom I may not hear a lot before, prefer to stay in one dark ambient field with a slightly more distorted drone, without it all turning to true noise fest. There is some excellent buried tension in this piece that has some fine suspense; like a good horror movie. Even though the presentation is a bit weird, this is a very fine three-way compilation. (FdW)
https://immerge.bandcamp.com/album/session-43-recomposed |
2019 |
€12.00 |
|
| Y-TON-G / ASMUS TIETCHENS / KOUHEI MATSUNAGA |
YAK |
CD |
8 tracks of mainly rather concrete silent & mysterious microsound-works from these three sound-researchers from Germany & Japan in collaboration, all have delivered basic materials and worked on stuff from the others, so it's quite a variable and out-balanced release...
"An infinite and sometimes not easy to grasp recycled process. That's what Asmus Tietchens, at least to me, is known for. Here he teams up with Kouhei Matsunaga from Japan (of whom we haven't heard much lately, but he had a couple of nice releases on his own Flying Swimming label) and an even more obscure Y-Ton-G, who hails from Hamburg (just like Tietchens) and has been around since the dawn of cassettes and still releases CDRs to this date. Each of them supplied sound material to somebody else who then composed a piece of music. Two of them have sound material by a duo (Y-Ton-G and Kouhei and Asmus and Kouhei) - see, not easy to grasp these processes. Not that it really matters when it comes to appreciating this release. The eight tracks here make quite a coherent flow of music. The starting point - say the rumble on the surface - is processed through means unknown. That is: Asmus in his studio, Y-Ton-G through tapeloops and sound effects and Kouhei through laptop, things are altered, changed, deformed and sound like anything else and the starting point as such can no longer recognized. Through whatever means each of the composer uses here it still sounds pretty coherent. It's hard to tell who does what here if one is not looking at the cover. One could argue that the composers are perhaps interchangeable, but I like to take an opposite view. Through different working methods, arriving at similar results one gets a great example of various ways in reaching goals in modern musique concrete. Both Y-Ton-G and Kouhei Matsunaga show great respect for the music of Asmus Tietchens and its an album that surely will appeal to fans of Asmus. A very refined work." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
label: www.monochromevision.ru |
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| Y.ANN |
Valytheme |
CD-R |
Wiederveröffentlichung des raren und einzigen Solo-Tapes vom ULTRA MILKMAIDS-Zwillingsbruder YANN JAFFIOL - fast 50 Minuten feinste & hauchzarte Gitarren-Echo-Drones & Verwebungen, in die sich kleine Soundeffekte mischen....
"reissue of the tape self-released in 1997 by y.ann on the u mohol label, "valytheme" is the first & only tape of one ultra milkmaids twin.
close to the early milkies sound, maybe in a more ambient approach, it contains some tracks that were in fact demos for the ultra milkmaids. everything was carefully remastered for this this reissue." [label info]
|
2006 |
€9.00 |
|
| YAO 91404 D |
LenShunZavod |
CD |
Freak Animal is proud to present 1st real CD release by this obscure Russian industrial-noise unit. Several extremely limited tapes and CDR´s in ther backcatalogue, with various approaches and different levels of success. This CD marks one of their biggest highlights, with crude physically crafted industrial-noise. Even if it crosses borders towards purity of harsh noise once in a while, the spirit of Soviet factory landscapes is always present. 2 long tracks that develop during their playing time to different atmospheres. In jewelbox with b/w artwork. Freak Animal cd-047
https://www.nhfastore.net/YAO91404D-LenShumZavod |
2009 |
€10.00 |
|
| YEN POX |
Deliver (SOLD OUT) |
7inch |
this newcomer sets your mind in fire with the most alien and deepest possible spacey landscape - not from this world
"LIMITED+NUMBERED FIRST EDITION OF 250 COPIES.
RED VINYL, HANDMADE SILK-SCREENED COVERS
THIS DUO FROM THE U.S. MAY BE KNOWN ONLY TO VERY FEW LISTENERS OF EXTREME MUSIC SO FAR. YEN POX ONLY RELEASED ONE FULL-LENGTH-TAPE IN 1994, WHICH WAS SO AWE INSPIRING THAT DRONE RECORDS DECIDED TO RELEASE A FIRST 7" AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. IN THE MEANTIME, YEN POX ALSO APPEARED ON THE OUTSTANDING CD-COMPILATION "INVISIBLE DOMAINS" (MALIGNANT RECORDS) - THE SAME LABEL THAT HAS JUST RELEASED THEIR DEBUT-CD. THE YEN POX SOUND CAN BEST BE DESCRIBED AS DEEPLY DRONING POLY-DIMENSIONAL SOUNDSCAPES, RATHER DREAMSCAPES, THAT TRANSPORT THE LISTENER THROUGH ALIEN, DARK AN SURREAL ATMOSPHERES, COMBINED WITH A KIND OF STRANGE ENERGY THAT DOESN'T LET YOU STAND STILL. THE TWO TRACKS ON THIS E.P.,'DELIVER' and 'REMOVE' SHOW YEN POX WORKING IN THE MOST DARK, GLOWING AMBIENT MOOD POSSIBLE. THIS IS STIRRING FOOD FOR YOUR BURNING SOUL!
"LET ATMOSPHERE SPEAK THROUGH THESE UNIQUE
POLY-DIMENSIONAL SOUND-WAVES"
DRONE RECORDS DR-15/ DECEMBER 1995 |
1995 |
€ |
|
| |
Universal Emptiness |
10inch |
Finally NEW material by the "almost legendary" US-duo, working with deep e-bass sounds to create a really isolationistic mass of darkest cosmic ambience; artwork by the great artist & photographer EYELYFT (eyelyft.blogspot.com) feat. gloss spot printing parts; comes on BLACK vinyl, lim. 500, over 30 min. playtime! **extra NOTE: the original material was so massive that it needed 3 master-plates before it could be pressed - the original tracks had to be shortened & de-equalized as they were TOO HEAVY!
www.substantia-innominata.de
"Some ten issues ago I reviewed a CD by Blood Box, the solo project of Michael J.V. Hensley, who is a member of Yen Pox, and I wondered: do they still exist? It has been a while since I last heard Yen Pox, but they still exist: here is a brand new 10" with two pieces, 'Above' and 'Below'. Apparently with some problems to get it pressed, since the music of Yen Pox deals with much low end. Despite the alchemical titles ('as above so below', remember), I think this music is otherwise free anything remotely 'occult', 'magick', 'gothick', which sometimes sips in with this kind of music. Two pieces of utter dark ambient music, reverberating drones from the underworld. Hard to say what Yen Pox are doing though. Are these highly processed field recordings? Lots of analogue synthesizers? Digital ones? Just sound effects? Or, and that is perhaps the most likely thing, a combination of all of this. Slowly moving, hypnotic, trance like. Yen Pox sound like Troum here, and that, I think, is a big compliment. Very fine record indeed. Why is there so little Yen Pox out there?" [FdW/Vital Weekly]
"Soundmassen, schwarz und zäh wie Teer, wälzen sich durch Universal Emptiness (SUB-14, 10"). Die Urschlange und Mutter allen Dröhnens hat eine derartige Konsistenz. Auf dem Vinylmaster war das Klangbeben, das YEN POX einzufangen versucht, kaum zu bändigen. Aber wer wie Michael J.V. Hensley & Steven Hall seine universale Wahrheit zu verkünden versucht, muss bis an die Grenze des Machbaren gehen.
'Above' & 'Below' heißen die beiden urig pulsierenden, dröhnenden, grollenden, rauschenden Seiten der Medaille und erinnern damit an die hermetische Weisheit der Tabula Smaragdina. Demzufolge ist auch oben ein Abgrund, denn synästhetisch erfassbar ist nichts als eine dunkle Tiefe, eine tiefe Dunkelheit, Protuberanzen einer Schwarzen Sonne, Strudel der Ursuppe. Sie hat einen metallischen Beigeschmack, den Geschmack von Fanfaren. Der Wind aus der Tiefe bringt etwas mit, das in Götterohren Musik zu sein scheint, Stöhnen, Schreie, Rufen, vielleicht Gesang. De profundis. Aber Oben ist Unten, die Götter brüllen selbst. Wir hören sie als - Gedröhn." [Rigobert Dittmann / Bad Alchemy #72]
|
2011 |
€12.00 |
|
| YOUNG GODS, THE |
The Young Gods Play TERRY RILEY in C |
do-LP + CD |
The Young Gods release a record with Two Gentlemen, Play Terry Riley In C. Needless to say this is a fertile meeting between two monuments who have helped shape the cutting-edge music of the last few decades. Terry Riley, born in 1935, is the cornerstone on which a considerable number of artists have relied to liberate their relationship to the process and methods of creation. In the same way, The Young Gods revolutionized, from the second half of the 1980s, their relationship with rock music by converting guitars into samplers. Composed and premiered in 1964, In C is a major piece in the contemporary music repertoire of the second half of the 20th century, and a pivotal moment in its history. The score for In C is reduced to 53 musical phrases, which each musician must repeat in the order in which they appear, as many times as he or she wishes; the instrumentation is not specified; the impetus for the performance is not given by an orchestral direction, but by the musicians listening to one another. A perfectly open work, In C was the first work to offer a successful synthesis of repetition and variation. The Young Gods first approached In C in 2019 at the invitation of Benedikt Hayoz, director of the Landwehr wind orchestra in Freiburg -- this resulted in a performance of the work with 85 musicians. Other approaches were made with Ensemble Batida, a Geneva-based contemporary music collective, with the dance company Alias, and with the documentary filmmaker Peter Mettler, for his film Petropolis. In this album, The Young Gods offer a new interpretation of In C, as a trio and with their own sound vocabulary -- electronic instruments, drums, and guitars. They have chosen to follow the score and Terry Riley's indications, while allowing for some additional freedom, for example in terms of managing the sound intensity -- which evolves, in several long cycles, from almost silence to eruption and back again. They have also chosen to maintain a constant tempo throughout the live performance by building up a hypnotic flow and a continuous musical presence that meanders and oscillates in perpetually changing rings and atmospheres that transform in a perfectly fluid manner. By developing through a series of crescendos and decrescendos, by playing on the repeated addition and removal of musical phrases, by working sensitively on the sound quality (timbre, grain, alterations) of its elements, the piece aligns a series of ascents, ecstatic plateaus and lulls that give the work as a whole all the characteristics of a living form. Double LP version includes CD."
https://www.twogentlemen.net/products/the-young-gods-play-terry-riley-in-c-2/
https://theyounggods.bandcamp.com/album/the-young-gods-play-terry-riley-in-c
|
2022 |
€32.00 |
|
| YRSEL |
Abraxas |
CD |
"The album «Abraxas» is recorded during 2011-2013 and contains some of the bands most challenging and yet accessible music so far. On this album the band has taken in some guests to contribute with sounds. Denis Del Nista (Moon, Burning Emptiness label) appears with sounds on the track «Simon Magus» and Alice Dourlen (Chicaloyoh) contributes with vocals on the tracks «Asat» and «Nequaquam Vacuum».
YRSEL is a collaboration between Julien Louvet (Austrasian Goat, Death To Pigs, 14:13) and CJ Larsgarden (Ondo, APF, Forest City). Though hailing from different musical genres and from France and Sweden respectively, the two artists bonded following a split release on the label Burning Emptiness. YRSEL create complex, multi-layered and atmospheric music that fully explodes the genres of drone, doom and electronica resulting in a glacial melt of sound and texture." [label info]
www.pactasuntservanda.se
"A duo from France and Sweden, consisting of Julien Louvet (who you might know from Austrasian Goat, Death To Pigs, 14:13) and CJ Larsgarden (whom we know as Ondo, APF and Forest City), who already released two albums in 2010 and played some concerts shortly after in France and Belgium. A collaboration of humans meeting up and not gigabytes being exchanged. They spend two years making this album of nine tracks, which lasts nearly 80 minutes (and it is also available as a double CD). Instruments aren't specified as such, but me thinks there is lots of guitar sounds, electronics, processed acoustic instruments and such like. I wouldn't bet my life on it, though. There is guest vocals by Alice Dourlen on 'Asat', but I must admit I wasn't blown away by that piece. Her vocals are drenched in reverb to add something mysterious to the music but it's a bit too much, maybe because of the length of the piece - seventeen minutes. All of these pieces are hardcore atmospheric: lots of sustain on the strings, lots of reverb in and out of place, mumbling vocals and the overall color is grey towards black, rather than towards white. Perhaps doom drone is the best description of this. I enjoyed it however, maybe because I was trying to continue to read 'Game Of Thrones' (or whatever it is called) and Yrsel provided the best bleak soundtrack for a book on murder and deceit, and when it came to vocals here, I was a bit less interested, but mainly because it wasn't my cup of tea. It's music that works well on CD, I thought, as you flow from one piece into the next, rather then interrupt your flow and switch to the next side of the record. Very nice indeed, very dramatic." [FdW/Vital Weekly] |
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Abraxas |
do-LP |
"The album «Abraxas» is recorded during 2011-2013 and contains some of the bands most challenging and yet accessible music so far. On this album the band has taken in some guests to contribute with sounds. Denis Del Nista (Moon, Burning Emptiness label) appears with sounds on the track «Simon Magus» and Alice Dourlen (Chicaloyoh) contributes with vocals on the tracks «Asat» and «Nequaquam Vacuum».
YRSEL is a collaboration between Julien Louvet (Austrasian Goat, Death To Pigs, 14:13) and CJ Larsgarden (Ondo, APF, Forest City). Though hailing from different musical genres and from France and Sweden respectively, the two artists bonded following a split release on the label Burning Emptiness. YRSEL create complex, multi- layered and atmospheric music that fully explodes the genres of drone, doom and electronica resulting in a glacial melt of sound and texture." [label info]
www.pactasuntservanda.se
"A duo from France and Sweden, consisting of Julien Louvet (who you might know from Austrasian Goat, Death To Pigs, 14:13) and CJ Larsgarden (whom we know as Ondo, APF and Forest City), who already released two albums in 2010 and played some concerts shortly after in France and Belgium. A collaboration of humans meeting up and not gigabytes being exchanged. They spend two years making this album of nine tracks, which lasts nearly 80 minutes (and it is also available as a double CD). Instruments aren't specified as such, but me thinks there is lots of guitar sounds, electronics, processed acoustic instruments and such like. I wouldn't bet my life on it, though. There is guest vocals by Alice Dourlen on 'Asat', but I must admit I wasn't blown away by that piece. Her vocals are drenched in reverb to add something mysterious to the music but it's a bit too much, maybe because of the length of the piece - seventeen minutes. All of these pieces are hardcore atmospheric: lots of sustain on the strings, lots of reverb in and out of place, mumbling vocals and the overall color is grey towards black, rather than towards white. Perhaps doom drone is the best description of this. I enjoyed it however, maybe because I was trying to continue to read 'Game Of Thrones' (or whatever it is called) and Yrsel provided the best bleak soundtrack for a book on murder and deceit, and when it came to vocals here, I was a bit less interested, but mainly because it wasn't my cup of tea. It's music that works well on CD, I thought, as you flow from one piece into the next, rather then interrupt your flow and switch to the next side of the record. Very nice indeed, very dramatic." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2013 |
€16.00 |
|
| Z'EV & JASON KAHN |
Intervals |
CD |
Each moment for what it is: Challenges concepts of rhythm, development and production.
In 2009, experimental percussionist Jason Kahn was joined by percussionist and industrial music pioneer Z’EV for a series of shows in Switzerland. Kahn performed on percussion and analog synthesizer, while Z’EV contributed his signature sound of performing on metal percussion. It was the first time that the two collaborated and based on this release, the shows were largely (if not entirely) improvised. Intervals is ZEV’s heavily processed reworking of the original recordings, condensed into two approximately 25-minute pieces. Mixing ZEV’s music concrète approach—the sounds of chains rattling, coins spinning—with Kahn’s hand percussion work and droning synthesizer work, the sounds are sometimes processed beyond recognition, resulting in a dark, ambient quality. Elsewhere, the music takes on an intriguing, lo-fi electronic characteristic anchored by quiet, high-pitch synth notes and percussion filtered through distortion effects.
“Lausanne // april 13, 2009” is a haunting ambient work built on quiet metallic scraping sounds, and ominous low-end rumbling. Occasional wind-like sounds—possibly the product of ZEV’s post-production—swell subtly behind the percussionists while quiet static crackles around the edges. The seemingly aleatoric sounds of the two musicians walking across the room and dropping pieces of metal arhythmically is countered by more musical elements: gong hits, rhythmic passages performed on cymbals, tribal timpani drumming. Ultimately however, it seems that Kahn and Z’EV are working to avoid any sense of development. Rather, they let each moment exist for what it is, let it fade, and enter with a new idea spurred by their stream-of-conscious interaction.
“Zürich // april 14, 2009” takes a somewhat more “active” approach. Opening with shaker-like sounds of metal rubbed together and sustained synth notes, the piece moves to a period of white noise and glissing, bowed metal percussion. Unlike in “Lausanne,” there is some clear motivic development, repetition of ideas, and clearly demarcated sections. At the piece’s halfway point, for example, piercing high frequency held notes are underpinned by rolling timpani figures and manipulated room ambience. Like “Lausanne,” “Zürich” ends with a single synth note that eventually drowns out all other sounds.
Even within the context of experimental music and music concrète, Intervals can be a difficult listen. The recording is imbued with a severe psychological—at times nightmarish—quality. During certain moments, the music’s muddiness becomes virtually impenetrable and the overall darkness of the aesthetic can be suffocating. That said, Intervals is certainly an intriguing and emotional work—one by two master percussionists willing to approach their instruments in a new way; an album created without artistic compromise that challenges one’s concepts of rhythm, development, and production.
By Hannis Brown TOKAFI mag |
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| Z'EV |
Forwaard |
CD |
Great drone-work from Z'EV, very slow & otherwordly movements with lots of strange sounds... recommended for any dark drone fan looking for something special !!
"Since almost forty years z'ev belongs to the absolute fore front of experimental music. Playing percussive music he gained a lot of attention, but in more recent years he returned to working with electronic tape manipulation. One aspect is working with other people, such as Francisco Lopez or Kasper Toeplitz. On 'Forwaard' he uses field recordings made by Frans de Waard (hence the title), which are 'recoded' by z'ev into a forty minute, densely layered pattern of musique concrete. Many of the water like sounds disappear in the 'recoded' version and makes a particular strong work. The cover contains field photography Frans de Waard and was designed by Meeuw Muzak. It comes in the 15x15 cm cover that Korm Plastics has used before." [label info] |
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Outwaard |
CD |
Einen ganz anderen Charakter als "Inwaard" nimmt der zweite Teil der Zusammenarbeit von Z'EV & FRANS DE WAARD an. OUTWAARD wird dominiert von schwer ächzenden & tiefbassigen organischen Klängen, Tiergeräusche sind vernehmbar aber so sehr verfemdet dass man sich wie in einem fremden Dschungel mit 10facher Gravitationskraft vorkommt.. (in der Tat beruhen alle Sounds auf field recordings von Frans die er in einem Kleintier-Zoo machte). Z'EV hat sich stilistisch mehrfach gewandelt, und OUTWAARD ist wieder ein beeindruckendes Zeugnis von seiner Transformationsfähigkeit.
Beängstigend gut !!
"For close to forty years z'ev has been at the absolute fore front of new musics. Playing his unique brand of percussive music he gained a lot of attention, but in more recent years he returned to working with electro-acoustic manipulations. Since 2003 he has also begun a wide ranging series of collaborations, working with Francisco Lopez, Stephen O'Malley, David Jackman/Organum and Oren Ambarchi among others. One such ongoing collaboration is with Frans de Waard, with whom he released 'Forwaard' in April 2007 and 'Outwaard' is the next installment. Whereas the sound sources used on 'Forwaard' where of a varying nature, on 'Outwaard' they were all made at a petting zoo in Kleve, Germany. These recordings which are 'recoded' by z'ev into a forty minute, densely layered pattern of musique concrete. Many of the animal call like sounds disappear in the 'recoded' version and makes a particular strong work, but occasionally one returns and leaves a no less than haunting listening experience. The cover contains field photography Frans de Waard and was designed by Meeuw Muzak. It comes in the 15x15 cm cover that Korm Plastics has used before." [label info]
www.kormplastics.nl
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
A Handful of Elements |
CD |
"With “A Handful Of Elements” Z’EV returns to the “dense, carefully laid and deep drone works” [adnoiseam.net] of “Sum Things” (CSR101CD). However, for this release he has drawn deep from his 40 year old sonic archive (from live performances both instrumental and vocal to a range of soundscapes from around the world), producing soundtracks to accompany you to the other side of ambient, through the door between your eyes." [label info]
www.coldspring.co.uk
"Readers who has been studying the history of Industrial music should know that Stefan Joel Weisser is a true legend of industrial sound expressions. Side by side with more well-known Industrial legends Throbbing Gristle and Cabaret Voltaire, Z'EV was an important part of the Industrial pioneers in the 70's. Thus Z'EV was one of the presented industrial pioneers in the ground-breaking work "The Industrial Culture Handbook" out on RE/Search back in 1983. The California-based multi-talented artist has specialised in producing concrete soundscapes using found sounds of Industrial materials. Present album titled "A handful of elements" is no exception. Having dug into the 40 year old archive of sound materials from Z'EV, Stefan Joel Weisser delivers a work of dense, carefully structured noise drones divided into five intersections. The expression belongs to the ambient scene however do not expect any kind of chill-out atmospheres on this one. That Z'EV has its roots in the industrial scene seems obvious as you wander through the territories of threatening metallic noises giving you the feeling of being trapped alone on a distant space station light-years from any kind of human contact. Turn of the light and let you drift into this sonic nightmare of seductive industrial soundscapes." [NM /Vital Weekly] |
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| Z'EV & BOYD RICE |
untitled |
mLP |
"... This vinyl EP features two untitled tracks. One side plays at 45 rpm, and the other side plays at 33 rpm, with the two sides clocking in at around eight and 16 minutes respectively. Both sides feature vocals by Boyd and percussion by Z’EV, with the source recordings having been subjected to extensive post-production treatment by Z’EV. Although the sound sources used here are vocals and percussion, it would really be impossible to know this without being told – Z’EV’s treatments of time and pitch shifting, distortion and stretching have radically transformed the source material into a dense, churning mass of textured drones and abstract noise, with shimmering metallic tones swooping and falling, interspersed with low rumbles which could conceivably be derived from a human voice slowed down way beyond the point of comprehensibility. Anyone expecting to hear something like NON’s ‘Total War’-era works of martial rhythms and stridently declaimed rhetoric will be disappointed – this record is much more akin to NON’s earlier pure noise pieces like Pagan Muzak and Rise. In terms of Z’EV’s work, this is quite similar to his collaborative releases with Hati and Stephen O’Malley of Sunn 0))), both of which involved his collaborators creating source material which Z’EV then treated in this way." [Heathen Harvest]
"This stunning 12" brings together two long-time San Francisco friends and legends of the Industrial music scene, both active since the late 70s! Boyd Rice is well-known for his project NON and for his collaborations with Death In June, Rose McDowall, Coil and Tony Wakeford to name but a few. Z'EV is a prolific composer and conceptual artist, who utilises metal percussion and electronics to create mystical rhythmajik - and who is also known for his collaborations with hard-hitters such as Stephen O'Malley, Oren Ambarchi, Psychic TV, KK Null, Organum and many more. Two lengthy and exclusive tracks! Ltd x 1000 copies on marbled vinyl." [label info]
www.coldspring.co.uk
|
2008 |
€15.00 |
|
| Z'EV / FRANCISCO LOPEZ |
Buzzin' fly / Dormant spores |
CD |
Zwei lange Stücke auf dieser beeindruckenden CD, die auf gemeinsam erstellten Klangquellen beruht. Das 32 minütige "buzzin fly" von Z'EV ist ein atemberaubendes Dronescape voller aufblitzender und schneidender Sounds, bei LOPEZ wird daraus eine 40minütige Versenkungsübung, wenn mächtige Eisberg-Drones auftauchen und wieder verschwinden gerinnt die Zeit, hier tun sich furiose Welten auf ..... genius stuff !!!!
"A sensational collaborative album between Z’EV, one of the forefathers of industrial music, and renowned Spanish artist Francisco Lopez, known for his releases performances and installations worldwide. Z’EV’s ‘buzzin’ fly (in loving memory of Tim Buckley)’ is a full spectrum 32 minute piece full of dynamic shifts, sonic worlds and can be described as oceanic in feel. Lopez’s ‘dormant spores’ takes 40 minutes to run it’s course, and is perhaps a more meditative piece than Z’EV’s, but no less challenging. Lopez skilfully crafts minimalist hypnotics that can be as destructive to delicate eardrums as they are captivating. Both
works complement each other and form a powerful album that Lapilli and Black Rose Recordings are happy to release." [label info]
"...Lopez more than Z'EV, but both are avid collectors of sound material from the world that surrounds us. Lopez is the man with the microphone, while Z'EV does that too, but he also is on the look out for material to play his percussive music on. Throughout Z'EV's career percussion music has played an important role, but the studio has had a likewise big role in his work. Using the studio (no doubt a harddisc these days) to its extreme, using as many tracks as possible to make subtle shifts and changing patterns throughout the piece. Perhaps the opposite of how Francisco Lopez: using sometimes just one or two sound sources and exploring them through radical equalization. Before he did this using a very low audible range for his music, but lately he has shifted towards audible material, but in cut-up/collage way. Here it is no different. The sound sources of both are presented in a strong collage form, in which loud/soft material, sometimes with smaller blocks of silence in between them. A very intense piece of music.
In the five pieces by Z'EV things stay throughout on a more equal level, in which sounds seem to shift and phase along side each other. The whole thing, rather one piece in five blocks than five separate pieces makes a highly psychedelic pattern of sounds moving in and out of phase. Two sides of the coin called field recordings and both sides, even when so different, are equally great. Powerful, intense and illusionary. Great stuff." [Fdw / Vital Weekly]
"Sadly, this is music that some would describe as “ambient”, simply because that seems to be the going term for music that doesn’t have drums or traditional style guitars. The problem with that definition is that it is considered synonymous with “nothing really happens” and there is a world of chthonic wonder to be found in the depths of the sounds herein. It’s virtually impossible that any fan of experimental or concrete music will not have happened upon the works of either Z’ev or Lopez in their travels. Each is prolific, respected and established within the community. The album is a split, rather than a collaboration (hence the divided title) with the first half, comprised of five shorter linked tracks, belongs to Z’ev, the second, a long single piece, to Lopez. The two halves are a nice match, with the almost blissful organic drift of the former leading nicely into the intense rise and fall of the latter. This release is all about the texture and progression of sound, so if you are looking for something that truly is ambient- something inoffensive that meekly fades to the background- you might want to look elsewhere. If you’d prefer to throw on headphones for something that will reveal itself more with each subsequent listen, you could do a lot worse." [KM, Adverse Effects]
|
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
| ZAFFIRI, ENORE |
Riverberazioni Sonore |
7inch + magazine |
Author: Enore Zaffiri
Title: "Riverberazioni Sonore"
Label: Rossbin
Format: 7” + Magazine
Catalog #: Rsep001
Time: 11:00
SIDE A:
Riverberazioni Sonore n° 31 (05:26:00)
Recorded in Torino / Year 1998
SIDE B:
Sonetto CXLIV (02:37:00)
Recorded in Torino / Year 1973
Riverberazioni Sonore n° 31 02:59:00
Recorded in Torino / Year 1998
Enore Zaffiri was born in Turin on March 29, 1928. He studied in Turin at the "Conservatorio G. Verdi", taking a diploma in composition, choral music and pianoforte, and subsequently in Paris at the "Conservatoire National" with Tony Aubin. He perfected his piano studies with Guido Agosti in Siena at the "Accademia Musicale Chigiana". From 1954 to 1982 he held the Chair of General Music Culture at the "Conservatorio G. Verdi" in Turin.
As a composer he won various awards. In 1964, he turned his interest to electronic music and founded SMET (Studio di Musica Elettronica di Torino) which made its headquarters in Turin at the Conservatorio, and he also became a lecturer in this subject.
Zaffiri’s first objective was to overcome the historical elementary principles which coordinated the relationships between the sounds of traditional musical language for acoustic instruments and then concentrate his efforts on electronic means, searching for new sound perspectives originating from a structural principle based on the Euclidian plane geometrical figure by which means the various sound parameters can be coordinated and the formal and spatial dimension extracted.
In 1965, together with other operators in the visual field, he set up the Studio di Informazione Estetica and started an interdisciplinary research into sound and visual phenomena.
The main objective of the research was to generate the elements relevant to the sound and visual fields from a single basic structure. The extreme limit of the formal rigorism was achieved in 1968 with the project Musica per un anno, the purpose of which was the sonorization of environments.
From 1970, Zaffiri turned his attention towards the live performance of electronic music. He combined electronic sound with the human voice - sometimes crossing the border into total theatre (Il giuoco dell’oca from the novel by E. Sanguineti and Raptus based on a text by M. Châtel). In the period, the first scores for synthesizers appeared, permitting the live performance of pieces specifically written for this instrument.
At the end of the seventies, he extended his research into visuals to the video, maintaining the interdisciplinary process using the instruments that technology offered and which represented, for the author, the means and support for what he intended to express.
At the end of the eighties, he produced the video L’arte nella Storia published by Cooperativa Books and Video in Turin.
www.rossbin.com/rsep001.htm
|
2005 |
€18.00 |
|
| ZANNI, ADRIANO |
Songs to the Sirens |
CD + BOOK |
"This work is loosely inspired by the title of a song by Tim Buckley included in his 1970 album "Starsailor" (a cover version by This Mortal Coil released in the '80s by 4AD was quite formative for me).
My passion for the sea, observed, listened and lived mainly - but not only - from the beaches of my land and during winter. A solitary invocation, a project still open, in progress for several years during which the photographs and field recordings used for its composition were collected, and assembled in its musical component during the months of lockdown.
The audio part opens with a track centered on the recording made on the morning of 23 February 2020, which then, ironically, would have been the last time I could see, hear and feel the sea before the forced isolation caused by the pandemic.
The sensory lack - visual, auditive and olfactory - that I suffered the most during isolation was that of the sea. To overcome this lack - as far as possible - I have composed, produced and mixed the audio tracks which are part of this album. As usual in my work, the photographs and sounds are complementary to each other and make up a single emotional and sensorial body.
A single contemporary, visual and auditory landscape." - Adriano Zanni
"On the edge of absence" by Mirco Salvadori
Standing on the edge of the vastness of the sea, the infinite space embraces our gaze creating emptiness, the same in which we got lost, each of us confined within the walls of our own flats. The undefeated storm was raging outside, while our imaginary boat did not emit even the smallest creaking, motionless and sheltered in its own absence. Yet thoughts returned there, on the edge of the immensity that had always been frequented, our feet sank on the shoreline of memories, our hearing distinctly perceived the Sirens' song: "Sail to me, sail to me, Let me enfold you, Here I am, here I am". Modulating the melody of the words, a guiding voice shaped by waves capable of unspeakable violence, a liquid essence able to penetrate and destroy, dragging the shipwrecked man towards the cliff of abandonment.
Adriano Zanni has listened to it, he has followed it trying to filter what it was whispering to him. He has travelled closed in his hermetic confinement with the constant presence of a poet who decided to welcome the last wave inside himself on a hot June day. What we listen here is nothing but their dense dialogue along a vast tract of beach that welcomes the two travellers, enveloping them in the sounds of marine space and time. It almost seems as if Zanni is attempting to drive away from himself the ghosts wrapping the continuous whispering of his travelling companion, filtering the sweetness of the dance of the waves, the shouting of the beaches crowded with summer heat, the footprint that sinks into the limpid substance, the unknown sound that hides in its depths, the murmur that turns into a song from which it's impossible to move away.
Just like water that penetrates between the rocks, reaching the most remote sea ravines, transforming itself into sonic purity, the echo of memories glides towards us, enveloping our innermost thoughts and inviting us to dive into the wave that wraps up its body before it is welcomed by the land.
A work that fascinates by transforming the perception of reality. We listen to sound, we dive into it, we get lost... Maybe all is just a dream, even our continuous swimming towards the open sea.
Adriano Zanni: photographs, field recordings, analog and digital electronics, resonances and sampling
13.silentes.it/private_sounds/sps2039_adriano_zanni_songs_to_the_sirens.htm
|
2020 |
€23.00 |
|
| ZEITKRATZER |
(Old School) John Cage |
CD |
" 'Four' (1992), 'Five' (1988), 'Hymnkus' (1986). Zeitkratzer directed by Reinhold Friedl: Frank Gratkowski (bassclarinet, clarinet), Hayden Chisholm (clarinet), Franz Hautzinger (trumpet), Reinhold Friedl (piano), Maurice de Martin (percussion), Burkhard Schlothauer (violin), Anton Lukoszevieze (cello), Uli Phillipp (doublebass), Ralf Meinz (sound). Recorded live at Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, UK, November 26, 2006. Recorded and mixed by Ralf Meinz and Reinhold Friedl, produced by Burkhard Schlothauer, executive producer: Reinhold Friedl.' 'The internationally acclaimed 'hilarious releases' [vital weekly] of Zeitkratzer records will continue with the new series [old school]. The first two CDs, dedicated to the music of John Cage [zkr0009] and James Tenney [zkr0010] are now released together. The collaboration of Zeitkratzer with William Bennett (Whitehouse) [zkr0007], recorded live in 2009 in Marseille, France and Den Haag, Netherlands, will follow this summer. Later in 2010, the [old school] series will continue with two more releases, dedicated to the music of Alvin Lucier [zkr0011] and Morton Feldman [zkr0012] respectively. John Cage's compositions have been part of Zeitkratzer's repertoire since the very first day. The pieces presented here justify Zeitkratzer's reputation as sound specialists. Avant-garde composer Cage is played in a conservative, precise and sensual way, apart from all philosophical ambitions, and hopefully as seductive as a Schubert quintet! The 'Wire Magazine' acclaimed: Zeitkratzer convinced us that CageÔs music can still live with all its complexities, stripped of the debris of its iconic-ironic status, if we only give ourselves time, space and ears to hear !" [label info]
www.zeitkratzer.de
"So far we learned that Zeitkratzer played new scores by current artists, such as Alva Noto, Francisco Lopez and John Duncan (to name just three) or interpretations of works by Lou Reed and Throbbing Gristle (to name another two). Perhaps its merely a logical next step that they start playing modern classical music from the 'old' school. Coming up are works by Alvin Lucier and Morton Feldman, but the new series '[Old School]' start off with John Cage and James Tenney. From Cage they performed three pieces, all composed in the last years of Cage's life, a highly productive era. It would have been nice to see them play say 'Cartridge Music' or 'Variations', but here they go for the pieces 'Four', 'Five' and 'Hymnkus'. The first and the third last thirty minutes and 'Five' only five minutes. All of these pieces are rather 'open' for interpretation. It would be a bit far out to explain the way they work, with time frames and how to play them, but its exactly the sort of material that Zeitkratzer is happy with. The ensemble's instruments (bass clarinet, clarinet, melodica, piano, trumpet, percussion, violin, violincello and double bass), played by those who have a background in improvised music, are well cut to play music that leaves much room for the players to choose their own sound material within given time frames. In 'Hymkus' they stay close to the ensemble feeling with repeating notes on the wind instruments, but in 'Four' they go all out. Wildly scraping of instruments, improvised playing of wind instruments and all of that making a great piece. The short 'Five' is along similar lines, but perhaps a bit more structured - as per Cage's instructions." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€14.00 |
|
|
(Old School) KARLHEINZ STOCKHAUSEN |
CD |
"The internationally acclaimed 'hilarious releases' [vital weekly] of zeitkratzer records go on. This is the fourth release in the series [old school]. The first three CDs, dedicated to the music of John Cage [zkr0009], James Tenney [zkr0010] and Alvin Lucier [zkr0011] have been highly acclaimed. London's Wire Magazine wrote: 'The rigour and discipline they collectively bring to this compositions make both discs utterly enthralling, from start to finish.' The new release is dedicated to the music of Karlheinz Stockhausen.' 'I do not want a spiritualistic session. I want music.' Karlheinz Stockhausen is one of the most outstanding composers of the 20th century. After his early super organised compositions as Gesang der Jünglinge, Kontakte or Studien 1 and 2, he realised 'Aus den Sieben Tagen' ('From the Seven Days') as a precisely organised text composition. Not one single note is written, but it is exactly defined, what kind of material the musicians should choose, - and how they shall play it. Length, tempi, etc are not given. zeitkratzer had the chance to work on this pieces in Ljubljana in spring 2011, and tried to develop the approach to interpret the texts as precisely as possible, what means in a traditional way of score-reading. As Stockhausen pointed out: 'musical meditation is not sentimentality, but ultra alertness and - in the lightest moments - creative ecstasy.' Set Sail for the sun!' Zeitkratzer under the direction of Reinhold Friedl with Burkhard Schlothauer (violin), Anton Lukoszevieze (cello), Ulrich Phillipp (doublebass), Reinhold Friedl (piano), Marc Weiser (electric guitar), Christian Lillinger (percussion), Frank Gratkowski (clarinet), Hild Sofie Tafjord (French horn), Hilary Jeffery (trombone) and Martin Wurmnest (sound). 5 pieces taken from Stockhausen's intuitive music cycle 'Aus den Sieben Tagen' (1968) : 'Unbegrentz', 'Verbindung', 'Nachtmusik', 'Intensitt', 'Setz die Segel zur Sonne'." [label info]
www.zeitkratzer.com
"Apart from some of his fifties electronic works, I have never been a great fan of the music of Karlheinz Stockhausen. Perhaps I didn't hear enough or perhaps I simply don't understand a lot of it. In the sixties he composed a piece 'From The Seven Days', which consisted of open ended instructions for the players, such as 'play a vibration in the rhythm of the universe/play a vibration in the rhythm of dreaming//play a vibration in the rhythm of dreaming/and slowly transform it/into the rhythm of the universe/repeat this as often as you can'. A very fluxus way of composing music, but his ensemble would in return ask for partial authorship of the piece for this composition and quickly Stockhausen returned to notating his pieces accurately. For 'From The Seven Days' stands as a bit of an odd-ball in his oeuvre, but its not difficult to see why its so attractive for the musicians of Zeitkratzer to perform this piece. They love performing such open ended pieces on their extended instruments (violin, violoncello, double bass, piano, electric guitar, percussion, clarinets, french horn, trombone), since many of the players have a background in improvised music, and this sort of score leaves enough space for them to play with the notes. Its highly irrelevant to say whether these five pieces, are 'accurately' played, its 'just' an interpretation of whatever is possible and I think Zeitkratzer deliver and outstanding job, especially in 'Setz Die Segele Zur Sonne', a long, dense piece of glissandi played with a sinister undercurrent. The other pieces are shorter, and offer a variety of insights: moody, loud, fierce, introspective. An excellent performance all around." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2011 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Songs |
LP |
"Zeitkratzer releasing songs ? Isn't zeitkratzer a contemporary music group ? Or a noise band ? Songs ? These songs actually have been developed over several years and evolved from a fashion show zeitkratzer was making the music for. Marc Weiser a.k.a. rechenzentrum, since then a member of zeitkratzer, sings. Marc has already caused some furore as Mark Markowitch, singing fake songs in fake languages in some hidden Berlin bars. So now all of those together: zeitkratzer's noise, zeitkratzer's unfathomable electro-like sound layers and Mark's voice, flying above, croaking, reciting, disappearing inside the noise, singing the falsetto or just floating on a repetitive prepared piano loop... What a beautiful goodbye to Pop - back to the real song, the real air, with orchestral density and minimalistic sound layers: Songs ! zeitkratzer directed by Reinhold Friedl. Marc Weiser (voice), Burkhard Schlothauer (violin), Anton Lukoszevieze (violoncello), Ulrich Phillipp doublebass), Frank Gratkowski (reeds), Hild Sofie Tafjord (french horn), Hilary Jeffery (trombone), Reinhold Friedl (piano), Christian Lillinger (drums, percussion)." [label info]
www.bocianrecords.com
|
2012 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
Zeitkratzer performs Songs from the Albums 'Kraftwerk 2' And 'Kraftwerk' |
LP |
2nd volume of „modern composition supergroup“ (The Wire) ZEITKRATZER's re-interpretations of early compositions by electronic pioneers KRAFTWERK.
In more than two decades ZEITKRATZER has created an astonishing broad catalogue from the obligatory (20th century avant-garde composers like CAGE or STOCKHAUSEN) to the unexpected (electronic artists such as CARSTEN NICOLAI, TERRE THAEMLITZ or underground experimentalists like THROBBING GRISTLE and KEIJI HAINO) – but hardly anyone was prepared for the ensemble’s choice of early KRAFTWERK pieces! When volume 1 was released in 2017, ZEITKRATZER founder and director REINHOLD FRIEDL announced that there'll be a volume 2 of course – and here it is::
from the opening drony horns of „Harmonika“ to the subtle guitar of the album closer „Wellenlänge“, the 4 tracks own all the interpretatory and aesthetic acerbity the ensemble is known and praised for.
The first album made it immediately into “The Wire office ambience” playlist and to the
“Best of Bandcamp Contemporary Classical Releases”: “ZEITKRATZER’s interpretations are bouncy, horn-driven motorik grooves, static explorations of pointillistic overtones, breathy Zen-like meditations, and rollicking rhythms.” The Spanish Rockdelux concluded: “Keep close and be happy to get more!” Sonic Seducer attested ZEITKRATZER to “uncover unexpected potential. It’s a blessing that the next KRAFTWERK is already announced!”
And here it is! Now you can listen to all the music of the first two KRAFTWERK albums “as gloriously played as one could ever desire” (Vital Weekly).
Recorded live at HELLERAU - European Centre for the Arts, Dresden in january 2019, „zeitkratzer performs songs from the albums „Kraftwerk 2“ and „Kraftwerk“ “ delivers the compositions that were still missing to complete zeitkratzer's stunning take on the early, hybrid kraut-esque electronic avantgarde albums “Kraftwerk” and “Kraftwerk 2”. Mission accomplished! A must-have. As German radio SWR agreed: “ZEITKRATZER is serious music turned from stiff to joy!”
https://karlrecords.bandcamp.com/album/zeitkratzer-performs-songs-from-kraftwerk-2-and-kraftwerk
|
2019 |
€18.00 |
|
| ZEITKRATZER & CARSTEN NICOLAI |
Electronics |
CD |
"This cd documents the cooperation between Zeitkratzer and Carsten Nicolai, started nearly a decade ago; a cooperation between an avantgarde ensemble and a non-academic electronic musician. The electronic music of Carsten Nicolai - partly being of even aseptic clearness and quality suddenly becomes sensual and physical through Zeitkratzer's instrumental sounds. Inversely, Zeitkratzer sounds different too: in '5 min' the musicians play only electric sound generators: humming of plugs, the peeping of the synchronised Zeitkratzer-clocks, white noise, TV cheeping at 10 kHz. 'Synchron Bitwave', the latest piece is the most sensual and warmest; no other sounds than a small third and its electric derivates, finally leading to high, dabbed string spiccati. While 'c1' transfers electronically conceived asymmetrical loops into a 19-16th rhythm. A strange undertow results, partly because of the pieces' grounding with merging split sounds. Here, Carsten Nicolai virtually becomes metaphysical, perhaps even romantic...'
[label info]
".. So, when taking on a collaboration with Carsten Nicolai, who is best known for his swaggering rhythms for pure tone and minuscule glitches as Alva Noto, we had to ask how this would work. Well, essentially, Nicolai has adapted his sound for Zeitkratzer, not the other way around, which might have been a real challenge for Zeitkratzer to attempt to adopt the thud and rumble of something like the Transall series. Instead, Nicolai and Zeitkratzer pursue long-form compositions, mostly for electronics, but occasionally with the assistance of a particular instrumental coloring from say a clarinet, a cello, or a piano. Each of the three pieces here were performed live, commissioned for this sound art festival or that in Europe. The first of which swarms around static-laden drones and crackling hiss which spirals around a Niblockian drone from a sustained clarinet, eventually a rhythmic undercarriage from a softly tapped piano ebbs against the slow- building arc of sound. The second piece seems to be staged from prepared piano, amplified televisions, and tone generators, offering another skeletal rhythm to the clinical frequencies. The third piece returns to the ideas of the first with the reprise of that piano, but here a semblance of a melody encroaches the slow-motion raga drone from low-thumbing electronics and rasping sustained strings. It's not all that far from another of Nicolai's storied collaborations, with Ryuichi Sakamoto. Both Zeitkratzer and Nicolai are guilty of playing it safe on these three pieces, but the results are striking and lovely nonetheless." [Aquarius Records review]
|
2008 |
€15.00 |
|
| ZELIENOPLE |
Give it up |
CD |
"Der weite Weg zum Popsong: das Chicagoer Trio zwischen Doom und Ambient:
Das Trio Zelienople gehört zu den festen Größen der Underground-Szene Chicagos. Der Perkussionist Mike Weis spielt regelmäßig mit der Alternative-Folk-Legende Scott Tuma, zusammen mit dem Zelienople-Gitarristen und -Sänger Matt Christensen bilden sie die Band Good Stuff House. Doch trotz aller Nebenprojekte liegt das Hauptaugenmerk auf Zelienople, die mit dem Multiinstrumentalisten Brian Harding komplettiert werden. Mit "Give It Up" entstand das bis dato ausgereifteste Werk des Trios. Die Band bewegt sich weg von früheren Vergleichen mit Talk Talk, Slowdive und Bark Psychosis und entwickelt einen
wagemutigen, frischen Sound. "Give It Up" ist zudem "poppiger" als der Vorgänger "His/Hers", ist eine Sammlung sich langsam wälzender Songs. Von dem an Bohren und der Club Of Gore erinnernden Opener "Aging" über den Americana-Doom von "All I Want Is Calm" bis zum diesigen Ambient von "Water Saw" reicht
die Klangpalette. Und das perkussive und traumhafte "I Can Put All My Faith In Her" kommt dem Popgedanken des Trios am nächsten. Musik für den Abend am Kamin." [label info]
"Another fantastic disc of gauzy, shimmery otherworldly dronemusic, from the seemingly infallible Type label. Long time aQ faves, Chicago's Zelienople moved to Type, after a handful of releases on PseudoArcana, Digitalis and Root Strata, and it was a pretty perfect match. Rameses III, Alps, Goldmund, Grouper, Xela, North Sea, Helios, Svarte Greiner, Black To Comm, it's not difficult to see that maybe this was where Zelienople belonged all along.
On Give It Up, the group deftly mix light and dark, weaving softly smoldering dreamscapes, all muted and hushed, with sun dappled dronefolk, all chiming soft focus guitars, and minimal percussion, hazy and gauzy and slightly blurred, vocals surfacing here and there throughout. A sort of ethereal slowcore, pop songs pulled apart and set in amber, this record a shadow produced by the muted sunlight
shining through.
Some tracks are brooding and doomy, laced with ominous creaks and deep moaning low end tones, wheezing organs, and layered ambience, others are folky and reverbed, strummed guitars wreathed in a patina of muted thrum, spread out over some almost Neil Young sounding vox, but buried way down in the mix, still others are skeletal and barely there, voices drifting in the ether, over spare tendrils of melody, only to slowly shift, and get lost in a cloud of prismatic chordal hum. Absolutely gorgeous, the perfect blend of minimal doom folk, hushed slowcore and abstract dronemusic.
The lp version comes with a bonus cd (NOT a cd-r, an actual pressed cd), featuring Zelienople's soundtrack for a film called Gone, stunningly beautiful, even more minimal than the record proper, the first half of the disc all gauzy drones, the second half, bleary eyed
slow motion chamber music. Be careful removing the cd from the lp, it's attached by a little dollop of glue or something, but a quick
pull will take some of the lp sleeve with it..." [Aquarius Records]
|
2009 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
His/Hers |
CD |
"Zelienople (named after a borough in Pennsylvania) is the moniker of Chicago based musicians Matt Christensen (guitar/vocals), Mike Weis (percussion) and Brian Harding (guitar/clarinet) and between them, in a desolate suburban basement, they have come up with a record of pure psych-rock sludge. Now on their fifth album, the band have struck upon their finest moment yet, honing their skills to create something singular and utterly unique. There is certainly no shortage of acts willing to throw down waves of experimental guitar noise and clattering percussion, but with the benefit of focus and experience, Zelienople sound like something totally out of time and almost impossible to place.
Residing in a hazy drunken world in-between slow-core pioneers Low, psych-folk outsiders Charalambides, Japanese overlords Boris and Dead Man era Neil Young 'His/Hers' is a faded photograph of rock music past, yet still manages to keep a firm footing in the present.
Guitars echo like disappearing ghosts and vocals moan and wail mercilessly while percussion bubbles up in glorious waterlogged waves.
'His/Hers' isn't a concept album, but it might as well be with five bravely sculpted tracks acting like chapters, taking you through a whole gamut of emotions, from pensive and lonely through to aggressive and impulsive and beyond. Fusing the warring factions of blues, noise, metal, folk and jazz the trio have made as breathtaking a psychedelic album as you're likely to find, and unlike so many others in the scene it never threatens to overwhelm you with meaningless academia or pretension. This is an album made for listening, for enjoying and sinking in to, an album that is made as an illicit treat for the discerning music fans among us. Grab hold and step aboard, Zelienople are just about ready to take you on a universal journey into the subconscious, and it's gonna be quite some ride." [label info]
www.typerecords.com
|
2007 |
€15.00 |
|
| ZENI GEVA & STEVE ALBINI |
Maximum Implosion |
do-CD |
MAXIMUM IMPLOSION collects all collaborative (and most sought after) pieces between Zeni Geva (KK NULL) and Steve Albini (BIG BLACK / SHELLAC): "Nai-Ha" and "All Right, You Little Bastards!". Also included are bonus tracks from the ultra-limited 12"-only "Superunit", presented with meticulous Cedar mastering by legendary mastering engineer Denis Blackham.
On the first CD, Zeni Geva present ultra-heavy Japanese noise rock, with sludgy riffs, thundering feedback, lumbering drums, subhuman bass crawl, and complex noise textures, with KK Null's trademark vocals / unique guitar accompanied by Albini's heavy guitar. "Nai-Ha" loosely translates to "broken inside", with the title track relaying the gruesome aftermath of a car accident.
The second CD captures Zeni Geva and Steve Albini's live-to-desk tracks from Tokyo & Osaka in 1992. Albini also makes vocal appearances, as well as guitar throughout.
All production and mixing by Steve Albini. Final mastering by Martin Bowes at Cage Studios in England, and presented here in its complete form for the first time on Cold Spring.
Presented in a 6-panel double digipak with original artwork/photo by Mitsushiro Hiruma and design/layout by Alonso Urbanos.
"With a huge sound reminiscent of Godflesh in its heavy bottom and impossibly high-end guitar tones, resulting in almost no mid-range, it's hard to believe that there are only three people in the band... What saves the record from sounding like an impenetrable wall of sludge are a combination of Albini's sure-handed engineering and production, along with the band's precise grasp of noise, dynamics, and song construction... Anybody into sheer, painful heaviness should check this one out!" (Korperschwache).
Steve Albini continued to produce / engineer several albums for Zeni Geva, including 'Desire For Agony' (Alternative Tentacles) and '10,000 Light Years' (Neurot Recordings).
credits
released October 5, 2018
Vocals / Guitar: KK Null
Vocals / Guitar: Steve Albini
Guitar: Tabata Mitsuru
Bass Guitar: Mas-P
Percussion / Drums: Eito Noro
Producer: Steve Albini
https://coldspring.bandcamp.com/album/maximum-implosion-csr260cd
|
2018 |
€16.00 |
|
| ZENIAL |
Connection Reset by Peer |
CD |
"It's Zenial's first album in 6 years, and it shows his creativity in the context of live activity. It does not mean that 'Connection Reset by Peer' is a live album as such. Yes, the source material for the record was recorded live during sonic experiments and creating sound installations over the past few years. The album is not a compilation though-it's a well-weighed entity, thematically and sonically coherent. 'Connection Reset by Peer' is a result of interferences of environment sounds based to a large extent on electricity, radio feedback, electromagnetic field sounds emitted by current generators and elements of the so-called field recordings." [label info]
www.zoharum.com
"After six years Zenial, also known as Lukasz Szakankiewicz, returns with a release. Apparently he was occupied with playing live music in between, bringing him all of the world, even into Peru, Ecuador, Luxembourg and Kazakhstan. The four pieces on this new CD deal with works that were recorded over the past few years, live in concert or from sound installations. Zenial uses environmental sounds, but mainly those which deal with electricity, radio feedback and electromagnetic fields. Music which is entirely different than the one produced by Inner Vision Laboratory. Music that owes equal portions to musique concrete, noise and microsound, not necessarily in that order. This is where I think noise is interesting. Things buzz, crackle, hiss and form long wave sine tones, radio interceptions, stuck together in an interesting collage of sound. It reminds me of the work of Francisco Meirino with some minor differences. Zenial is through a bit louder on an overall level and is therefora little less dynamic. Also more than Meirino does, Zenial works with computer treatments and not straight with the sound material itself. Quite a loud release but one that works pretty well. For the strict lovers of noise probably too intelligent and perhaps that's why I quite enjoy it. The most curious thing is probably the inclusion of a remix by Michel Banabila, from The Netherlands. Best known for his (fourth) world music, but here he proofs he knows his way around with more abstract material, although far away, an ethnic influence can be heard. Maybe working on a new career as a remixer? It fits well here." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2012 |
€12.00 |
|
| ZIMIAMVIAN NIGHT |
Zimiamvian Night 3 |
do-CD |
The recording was dead. A lifeless piece of audio "lost" (filed) on a dusty hard drive and purposely dropped under a nameless 'untitled' folder. The men and women of the Zimiamvian Night collective were content to move on, record more pieces, capture other lights, and bathe in distant ambiences far, far away.
The Wolf (indeed his real name) caught word of this abandoned audio and offered to inject some life, and perhaps revive what was left behind. After careful listening, tape splicing (uploading) and pain staking attention to the neverending, everlasting drone notes, blowing wind and dappled environmental samples - a new recording emerged and is now presented here. Alive and well.
Zimiamvian Night 3 is the collection over 2 discs of the before, after and in-between. It is meant to document this transition and serves as a reference point to the story that spans years, the accidental audio diary passively collected on tape and the mysterious end result.
Double CD set. 1st CD available via digital stream, download and digital consumption. 2nd CD available only through the physical product, no download. Keep the physical medium alive - thank you.
Gatefold mini-lp Stoughton tip-on sleeve with each disc housed in its own cardstock envelope. 300 or so copies. Design by none other than Tim O'Donnell.
https://infraction.bandcamp.com/album/zimiamvian-night-3
|
2018 |
€17.50 |
|
| ZINC ROOM |
Ash |
CD |
"The sixth album of Zinc Room coming from Ekaterinburg was recorded last for today, but thematically stands as a beginning of the spontaneously formed trilogy of "Ash / Shifting Soil / In Wooden Room". The author is traditionally true to himself in terms of sound sources and general approach - bass guitar, spiral springs, samples and natural elements (steel slabs, sand, dry branches, stones). Once again he was aided by the fellow Kein (Scratching Soil, Carved Image Of Emptiness, Prognostic Zero) who played keyboards and added some atmospheres. The music can be described as a mix of harsh industrial noise and cemetary dark ambient. For the fans of old school!" [label info]
|
2013 |
€12.00 |
|
| ZOVIET FRANCE |
Digilogue |
CD |
Re-release der längst vergriffenen LP von 1995, mit Bonus-Material. Wieder ein unnachahmliches Z.F. – Album.
back in stock this re-release of the long gone LP from 1995 , with bonus-material !
"Digilogue is a set of extremely dark and somewhat convoluted minimalism from :zoviet*france:. The combinations of experimental and conventional sounds create massive clouds of sinister atmospheres. The layered textures increase the tensions of exotic darkness. This music is definitely exotic and definitely erotic -- not pleasantly but disturbingly. The sinister timbres are seductive and jarring. It is a shocking sample of an alternate reality. This CD will appeal to fans of Darkroom, Lustmord, Lászlo Hortobágyi, and Jeff Greinke. Even though it is disturbing, it is an excellent disc." [Jim Brenholts, All Music.com]
|
1998 |
€16.00 |
|
|
Tables are Turning |
do-LP |
"Somewhere in the rainy, misty forests of the Pacific Northwest of America, three ladies have the unlikely task of sewing together the packaging for a new album by :zoviet*france:.
:zoviet*france: are releasing ‘The Tables Are Turning’ on compact disc and double LP through Soleilmoon Recordings. The music was composed as the soundtrack to ‘Designer Body’, a dance that toured England from 2008 to 2009. The work explores the transformational relationship between humans and the clothing they wear. Seven dancers, performing on continuously rotating plinths, slowly remove layers of their costumes, revealing the sensuous nude bodies beneath. The music accompanying the dancers is by turns dense and moody, then lyrical and soaring, underlining the mounting vulnerability of the dancers as they undress.
Liv Lorent, balletLORENT's artistic director and choreographer, spoke with Kelly Apter, writer for The List, saying “At the beginning, the body is the most designed it can be. They’re wearing hats, coats, heavy costumes and make-up – all the man-made and artificial things we do to disguise ourselves everyday. Then, over 50 minutes, we take it all away. And because there are several layers, there’s a real sense of metamorphosis.”
The members of :zoviet*france:, who prefer to remain annonymous, write “We've known Liv Lorent for a long time. When she started to conceive 'Designer Body', which she wanted to be a hybrid of contemporary dance and performance art, she decided that an unconventional performance needed an unconventional soundtrack. The composition of the soundtrack and the choreography evolved alongside each other so it became a dialogue between Liv and ourselves. The main inspiration that we took from the production's concept was rotation; throughout the one hour performance, the dancers are located on turntables that turn continuously, at varying speeds and changing direction. We mirrored this in much of the soundtrack, with circular and rotating sounds.”
Both formats (CD and double LP) are presented in a deluxe dual-layer green satin bag with fold-over flap. The letters ‘ZF’ are hand-stitched into the flap in white thread, and a two-sided color insert printed on sturdy cardstock completes the package. There are 400 LPs and 600 compact discs in the first edition. The LP, with music on three of the four sides of the records, will go out of print when the initial pressing sells out." [label info]
www.soleilmoon.com
"With hindsight it is of course not easy to tell when you first heard something, let's say the music of :Zoviet*France:. I think, in my case, this must have been at my friend Peter, when staying over one night after a concert, and he would proceed to play me records, as that was the kind of stuff he was into, unlike me, who was more into cassettes (and waking up, always, to the sound of 'Erector' by Whitehouse). I am however pretty sure I knew the name before as their records where sold by the then existing mail order of Ding Dong Records. Slowly over the years in the mid 80s I got to hear and see those crazy packed records and was immersed by them. In 1990 or so I saw them play live, in the UK, where Peter's band was due to play also, in a multiple day event. I think one night just had :Zoviet*France:, and they played for what I remember as two hours in a seated theatre. Their extended sound tapestries of acoustic sounds, lots of electronics went on and on, from mood to mood.
A bit later I remember them playing at the Dutch radio station, VPRO in this case, for a recording that later turned out to be 'Mort Aux Vaches'. They were downstairs fiddling with the soundcheck and I was up in the control room. 'You can start the recording', one member said, and after 90 minutes the DAT was full. One of the radio people went down and told them it might be time to stop, which they did with a quick fade out. Now I could have been disappointed by that, being cut out of such beautiful music, but I wasn't. Seeing them playing around with the simplest of means, tea cups, flutes, and electronic devices was great. Following the extreme productivity of the 80s, there were some releases in the 90s, and in the 00s? One CD, and one 12"/10"/7"if I recall well. Zoviet*France, since many years a duo do play live and share live recordings easily but for whatever reason it never comes to a release that easily. Maybe they foresee that physical releases may disappear, maybe their sometimes complex packaging proofs to be difficult (this new one comes in a 'dual layer green satin bag with fold over flap') but more realistic: :Zoviet*France: are no longer part of the world of concerts, CDs and such like. For quite some time now they create soundtracks for dance companies and performances, and you don't sell CDs at those gigs (I guess, actually). 'The Tables Are Turning' was created for Ballet Lorent in 2008 and I am sure this is not a live recording, but I am also not sure how it works. There are twelve pieces here, quite distinctive pieces, so maybe these are used in this order, no breaks in between or maybe in some other configuration. There is an interesting distinction between the live releases by :Zoviet*France: and their studio work. A typical live CD has one or two pieces in which everything flows right into each other, like an endless stream of subconscious sounds. In their studio work they perform much shorter pieces which occasionally have an odd start or ending , like it's being cut out of a bigger whole. In the dance piece, the dancers are located on turntables - hence the title - and the revolving sound, the looping sound is something that returns in the music. From spacious and melodic in 'Prophecy Loved A Child' to the processed music boxes of 'Green Air' to the gritty organ opening of 'The Grit In The Cloud'. In the past :Zoviet*France: would refer to this as 'songlets', as opposed to real songs, but the shorter ditties here like 'The Fire Of Revolution', 'Sandbox', and 'A Moment Of Film' hark back the best days of 'Popular Soviet Songs' or 'Lohland'. I played this pretty much everyday for a week, and decided this is a great :Zoviet*France: release; not their best, which would be for me 'Mohnomishe', 'Shouting At The Ground', 'Digilogue' and 'What Is Not True', but it's up there with pretty much everything else I know by them, and which is a lot. This christmas will be spend with an entire day of :Zoviet*France: music." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2013 |
€65.00 |
|
|
Look into Me |
do-LP |
"First vinyl reissue of ZF’s elusive ambient noises, originally transmitted in 1990 on their Charrm label and including parts used for a Stan Brakhage soundtrack, now resurfacing as part of V-O-D’s ongoing archaeological survey of the Northumbrians’ seminal early years.
Far as we can make out, ‘Look Into Me’ marks one of the last Zoviet France appearances of Mark Spybey, who was a band member 1987-1989. Alongside founding members Ben Ponton and Robin Storey they conjure a rawer, coarsely hypnagogic sequence of events and textures that recalls a folk drone symphony played by wraiths on high moorlands and in the pits of derelict collierys.
A section of the 24’ opening side’s wizened strings loops and windswept ambient noise in ‘Cair Camouflet’ was used as part of the soundtrack to the film ‘Loud Visual Noises’ (1987) by Stan Brakhage, and the rest of the record follows in a fittingly enigmatic allegory of synaesthetic sound abstraction and experimental de/composition, to deeply psychedelic tracts of drone noise reminiscent of Two Daughters, mottled voices reminding of Delia Derbyshire’s Dreams records, and clangorous, feral ambient noise that could really only come from these epochal shaman and masters of their craft." [Boomkat]
"Look Into Me contains a combination of industrial grinding, modified guitar and electronics. Other tracks apply synthesizers and tape loops with far more sophistication and impact than on the earlier albums. Zoviet France cycle and recycle abstract noises into a constantly changing texture, composed of sonorous drones, grindings, scrapings, squeakings and so on. It's atmospheric without conjuring up any obvious imagery at all, thanks to the unreality of most of the sounds used. Occasionally, the overtly machine-like nature of some sounds has a familiar feel. The LP consists of the spacious and disjointed side-long Cair Camouflet, backed by ten other tracks, and the 45rpm companion record provides another three. Enjoyable and imaginative.." [Soundohm]
|
2020 |
€31.50 |
|
|
Collusion (WHITE vinyl) |
do-LP |
"First vinyl pressing of ZF’s 1992 compilation of tracks for Mute’s Grey Area, spanning obscure cuts 1984-1991 ranging from signature, weathered ambient to grinding rhythmic noise and mindbending enigmas that affirm faith in music of the most mysterious sort." [Boomkat]
Original liner notes: “For many years we avoided participation in compilation projects, although opportunities were frequently presented to us. We have developed our music in such a way that it is most appropriately experienced in isolation. Therefore, allowing it to be presented in a form where it could be preceded and succeeded by other recordings, over which we would have no control, was alien to our intention. It also seemed (and in many cases still does) that compilation projects serve little purpose other than to fulfil the collector or editorial aspirations of the originator. In such circumstances the listener becomes little more than the end-user.
In 1984, following an approach from Jon Wozencroft of Touch seeking a contribution to Lands End, we revised our policy: we inverted the criticisms outlined above and sought to exaggerate them so that they became a positive technique in their own right. We encouraged the active and overt participation of the compiler so that the project would become more than the sum of its parts. In practice this required us to produce music akin to the incidental music produced for film and television soundtracks, music that could be cut up, manipulated and re-worked into new contexts, yet still retain its inherent characteristics. Now, with the general availability of sampling technology, the appropriation and translocation of music in this way is widespread, elevating the end user to a position of experiential collusion.
More recently, we have adopted a more closely defined stance, working only with those projects behind which we can perceive a unifying concept, either of form or purpose. Most of the recordings on this CD were created in this context and therefore represent a degree of creative input on the part of the labels concerned – Prometheans all!” |
2020 |
€30.00 |
|
| |
Further Collusion |
do-LP |
"First vinyl edition of a new 1hr40min compilation of ZF’s hard-to-find compilation cuts, pursuing the model of 1992’s ‘Collusion’ with work spanning nearly a decade, arriving as part of Vinyl-On-Demand’s comprehensive reissue programme.
‘Further Collusion’ looks down lesser heard ginnels and hidden ravines of Zoviet France’s singular, textured ambient noise with a range of obscure cuts sequenced into an inimitable trip. Inspired by their native North East English regional landscape of rural wilds and post-industrial waste, they using a patented, encrypted palette of loops and FX to conjure sounds and sensations that describe the natural world and may well induce deeply uncanny, hypnagogic states of mind with certain listeners." [Boomkat]
"Like its predecessor Collusion (1992), Further Collusion is a record which brings together tracks that Zoviet France have contributed to various compilations down the years. The Tyneside post-industrial pioneers have long been feted for their unique approach to making music for compilations - rather than simply offering up a single piece, the outfit often actively involve the compiler in the creation of the music. It is an approach which makes Further Collusion both an LP which demonstrates the many different facets of the Zoviet France sound and also reminds one of how wide the project’s net is cast. Crushing drone, wispy ambience, mind-boggling sonic collage and experimental concrete can all be found here, but the overall listening experience remains awe-inspiring throughout." [Bleep]
|
2020 |
€32.50 |
|
| ZOVIET FRANCE & FOSSIL AEROSOL MINING PROJECT [ZFAMP] |
Flexible Pooling |
7inch flexi |
"Ltd edition 7 inch ep white flexidisc at 33rpm in custom packaging with insert and accompanying free download. this is two sides of audio at 11minutes and a download for a further 18 minutes...a 29 minute 'mini LP' in all...
:zoviet*france: and Fossil Aerosol Mining Project take their collaboration, which resulted in last year’s ‘Patina Pooling’ double album release by alt.vinyl, a stage further – into the realm of pliable reverberation. Using the near-redundant record format of the 7-inch flexidisc, ‘Flexible Pooling’ consists of two new tracks that have been devised with the lo-fi quality of the format in mind. The low grade sound fidelity and susceptibility to physical degradation of flexidiscs intentionally becomes an additional layer to the recordings, a surface audio patina analogous to the rusting of the steel sleeves of last year’s album.
Coded access to the free download of an additional, extended track will be supplied exclusively with the single.
Flexible Pooling will be released by alt.vinyl and Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art this month, in conjunction with the Baltic 39 exhibition, The Curves of the Needle." [label info]
www.altvinyl.com
"In 2014, we were blessed with a few copies of the first collaboration between the like-minded alchemists :zoviet*france: and the Fossil Aerosol Mining Projects, which came to us as a double lp, housed in a beefy slab of metal. Those few copies did not take long disappear, and we certainly expect that same fate to fall upon this outing as well. Flexible Pooling is intended to be the material antipode to the heft and durability of that first, with this 7" being a mere flexidisc and housed in a thin paper sleeve, with various printed ephemera gracing the package as well. There's two tracks found on the flexidisc and a download track, making the entire program an honest 30 minutes in length. It's a radioactive blizzard of tape machined errata, countervailed with subcutaneous drones and slippery layers of bedraggled, haptic noise compressed and / or exhumed from the vaults of some deep sea science station collecting data on thermal vents at the ocean floor before it was abandoned. The two entities organically sift through their material, sending various flutters, glissandos, snippets of unknowable dialogue, and electrical malfunctions into accreted and aggregated chorales of raw hypnogogia. Beautiful and eerie, Flexible Pooling represents a perfectly realized sound between two already exceptional authors of the sublime drift. Extremely limited." [Aquarius Rec.] |
2015 |
€18.00 |
|
| ZSOLT SORES |
Astro-Noetic Chiasm (Ahad's Flux Worlds 2) |
LP |
Representing Ahad's 'Flux Worlds 2', this album arrives as the companion to the 'Flux Worlds 1' DOUBLE-CD, 'Memo Point Soundmap...'. Recorded live, 'Astro-Noetic Chiasm X' once again takes us through an immersive setting where real time electronics converge with improvised viola, percussion, cello, trumpet, synths, gadgets and so on to create vast washes of avant-garde turbulence that assumes a stance rarely seen outside very early electroacoustic-
flavoured kosmische music or abstract droneworks.
https://hingethunder.bandcamp.com/album/astro-noetic-chiasm-ahads-flux-worlds-2
In listening to Astro-Noetic Chiasm χ by Zsolt Sőrés, one quickly has the impression that the sounds being heard are coming from an anomalous nowhere. As if they were not generated here but received from there. They simply sound otherworldly. So, what is their actual address in space and time, as well as the sender’s or the receiver’s? How are we to identify them?
We could of course try to single out the sonic settings and processes we hear according to the technology that produced them (unconventionally played musical instruments and diverse electronic sources), but this strategy would be counterproductive in terms of poetics. Sőrés is not a technocrat and the titles he gives to his pieces reference philosophical concerns that are represented both conceptually and sonically. In his dystopic sonic fiction he is a time traveler, but not the one we know from science fiction; rather than going against time to generate an extraterrestrial experience, he composes present, past, and future the way we compose our percepts, affects, desires, or utopias. Once the sound he or his sonic collaborators create starts to evolve in space-time, the battle to control its identity begins. This does not necessarily mean mastering a sound in terms of appropriation, but grasping it conceptually, purposefully registering its existence in order to use its physicality as a potential means of expression. Naturally, not all generated sounds are worthy of Sőrésʼs aesthetic attention or utilization, only those that his experience identifies as suitable vehicles for significant differentiation. This happens in real-time, composed improvisation, scored for five musicians; on this recording are trumpet player (Franz Hautzinger), two cellists (Anthea Caddy, Judith Hamann), sound effects producer (Mihály Kádár), and Sőrés himself playing viola with the help of various objects and devices.
And so, welcome to Ahadʼs sonic garden and lend your ear to the flux sound manifestations of “astro-noetic chiasms” that are woven successively and synchronically into a pliable decentralized patchwork, visually represented by the hermetic symbol χ in the pentagonal “middle” of the non-hierarchical score. Sőrés as composer does not approach his work in a centralizing way, he designs flexible structures so that musicians can playfully recombine and deconstruct the entire central structure and linear order. Ahadʼs creative philosophy simply refuses to think in terms of a restrictive and pointless metaphysics.
Jozef Cseres
April 2022
"For a moment, I thought this was the re-issue market going bonkers. Didn't I review a CD with this title two weeks ago? While I said, it was the best piece on the CD, I don't think it needed a re-issue on LP immediately. I am wrong, of course, not for the first time. I am just confused by the words 'Flux Worlds'. Effectively, this LP is an extension of the double CD and contains a recording from a concert from January 2022 at the "Ultraschall Berlin - Festival für Neue Musik" at Heimathafen Neukölln, and Zsolt Sőrés plays with some guests, such as Franz Hautzinger (trumpet), Anthea Caddy (cello), Judith Hamann (cello) and Mihály Kádár (live sound, effects). The man himself is on the 5-String Viola, Cymbal on the Top of the Viola, Vibrating Objects, Mole-Rat Electromagnetic Field Explorer, Domino Synth, and an EBow. One Jozef Cseres delivers the liner notes, which I didn't quite comprehend, but I loved the words "sonic fiction" in there. I understand there is some composition at the core of all of this, but I believe there is some freedom of interpretation. Like with his double CD, improvisation plays an important role, going hand in hand with a love for all things sonically forceful. This LP connects to the final piece on the 2CD in that this is, most of the time, at least, a work of loud, aggressive droning. The instruments are all amplified, there is some voice material (on the second side), and the ritual aspect plays a role. I wrote that this is the kind of music by Zsolt Sőrés where I can see a dialogue with sounds and instruments, and that's what works best here. Buy the LP and download the music; thus, it is possible to enjoy the whole work uninterrupted. I know, people like vinyl, but in work like this, I think the constant flow is an important factor for enjoyment." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2023 |
€20.00 |
|
| ZURRIA, MANUEL |
Again & Again |
do-CD |
This is the third and final chapter of a project/research on "minimalisms" that the Italian flutist Manuel Zurria, acclaimed instrumentalist and passionate lover of the more adventurous contemporary music, began in 2007. The double CD include near two and a half hours of music, which reveal how much different the approaches to the beloved "minimalist" verb can be. And how much an inquiring and participatory interpretation can lead to exciting results.
In this brilliant collection Zurria not only "plays" pieces by some of the most important and exciting composers on the international scene, but "it makes them its own", reinterprets them, adapts them to his sensitivity, finally making a "version" that transcends the limits of the genre. Here you find an exhilarating review (transgressive but, in a personal and deep way, "faithful") where the research spirit of Zurria introduces us to old and new authors from Eastern Europe (such as Sáry, Szemző, Demoč, Kabelis, Mažulis) and makes us re-know essential musicians such as Riley, Reich, Glass, Tenney, Skempton, Volans.
Music that will make you fly!!
Manuel Zurria is an Italian flutist and multi-instrumentalist of international fame. He worked with composers such as Sylvano Bussotti, Aldo Clementi, Alvin Lucier, Salvatore Sciarrino. Composers from around the world wrote pieces for him; in between them Giancarlo Cardini, Philip Corner, Noah Creshevsky, Bernhard Lang, Mary Jane Leach, James Saunders, Stefano Scodanibbio, Jacob TV and many many others.
As a performer he played the music of Terry Riley, Arvo Part, Frederic Rzewski, Alvin Curran, Kevin Volans and a plethora of others, all around the world in international festival and concert series.
He recorded wih BMG Ariola, Mode, Stradivarius, Ricordi, Die Schachtel, EdiPan, Capstone, Another Timbre, Mazagran, Megadisc, ANTS. He's author of a unique discographic project on Minimalism in 3 parts and 7 CDs ("Repeat!" by Die Schachtel -2007-, "Loops4ever" by Mazagran -2011- and "Again & Again" by ANTS -2020-).
2 CD set, comes in a gatefold cardboard cover with 12-page colour booklet with liner notes by the author in Italian and English.
https://ants4.bandcamp.com/album/again-again
|
2020 |
€16.00 |
|
| ZWEITRÄUME |
Flicker / Flutter |
CD-R |
„Alles fließt. Die Klänge schwimmen ineinander und umeinander, Entwicklungen ergeben sich im Kleinen, über lange Strecken. Das spielt dem Zeitempfinden Streiche: Der Fluss der Sekunden löst sich auf in Rotation. Hier tönen: Computer-Innereien, Schreibtischutensilien, Schellack-Platten, Klaviere, Heimorgeln, Feuer, Wasser, Flöten. Willkommen zum Tanz.” [label info]
Dark slowly feedbackin’ drone-ambience, smouldering foggy low-fi noises, delays and strange synth-lines, many little concrete details appearing.... the second CD-R of ZWEITRÄUME, again something to explore.....
|
2006 |
€10.00 |
|
| ZYLO, ARVO |
UPHEAVAL |
CD-R |
In 2005, Arvo Zylo constructed a drone piece out of several layered samples from pop divas holding sustained notes. It was submitted to a compilation with this information ahead of time, and rejected out of fear of copyright retribution. Thinking that since no single sample therein is easily recognizable in the slightest, "Upheaval" was reworked in a total of 100 different versions, the final version being four hours long ("The torture has been transcended" - WIRE Magazine).
This release, which has been released in a cassette edition at Czech label Nova Alternativa, is now available on pro CDR in the states. More than just drone material, it traverses several different approaches, from soundtracky ambient "vistas" to abrasive industrial repetition.
https://nopartofit.bandcamp.com/album/upheaval-2
"It has been a while since I last heard some new music from Arvo Zylo, following quite a bit of his work on LP, CDR and cassette. Much of his work is about noise, but not exclusively, which he proofs on 'Upheaval'. In 2005 he "constructed a drone piece out of several layered samples from pop divas holding sustained notes", and submitted to a compilation, who refused out of being sued by said (sad?) pop divas. That piece was worked over by Zylo for 100 times and on this CDR we get 'Upheaval Version 93' to 'Upheaval 99". It was previously available as a cassette by Nova Alternativa, and now as a great looking CDR. As is to expected you couldn't recognize any pop diva in here and let it be known I could not name many pop divas, old or new, but the nature of Zylo's processing means that is surely not the case to recognize any of it. As his tools, Zylo uses, so I believe, a combination of digital and analogue tools. The digital ones to pitch the material up and down and to get a loop going, while analogue stompboxes are used to further colour the material. At various times these transformations are taken to the extreme, enter Zylo's love for noise, with loops and sounds from the conveyor belts of an industry in decay, but also decay of a more subtle origin can be spotted in not so ambient but also not so noisy excursions such as 'Upheaval 96', which reminded me of Vivenza. I prefer that more 'subtle but not too subtle' approach by Zylo, perhaps more than the blunt noise of 'Upheaval 99'. It is, however, the variety of approaches here that makes this a most enjoyable release, even when the noise pieces could have been shorter." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2019 |
€9.00 |
|
| [-HYPH-] |
Alter.Tenacio |
CD |
Vier höchst spannende und eigenwillige elektro-akustische Geräuschkompositionen vom inzwischen in Berlin ansässigen Projekt [HYPH], hoch-dynamisch & klaustrophobisch werden hier zermürbende & zersetzende Klangcluster in Szene gesetzt, die wenig mit den "klassischen" elektro-akustischen Sounds gemein haben, aber es gibt auch mikrosound-artige Gebilde die klanglich an A. TIETCHENS gemahnen... sehr sorgfältig und mit viel Liebe fürs Detail zusammengesetzt...
"...Wiese präsentiert ‚pulverize dreams‘ for city soundscape and acoustic instruments, ‚reset barriers‘ for demonstration soundscape and human voices, ‚upgrade sirens‘ für sirens, feedbacks and acoustic instruments, das auf 24 Min. ausgedehnte ‚suspend values‘ for processed e flat bass clarinet sowie eine halbe Gedenkminute. Die Klänge von Xylophon, Kontrabass, Altosax und Bassklarinette sind dabei bis zur Unkenntlichkeit verwischt, die Stadtlandschaften erweiterte Kampfzonen des Stresses, der Aggression und der abstrakten Anästhesie. Halbwegs der Pulverisierung entkommen, obwohl verhackstückt, die Stimmen, jedoch nur als Stottern und Rabarbern. Die ‚suspendierten Werte‘ sind ein Exerzitium in Seufzen, Zwitschern und Blubbern (Klappengeräusche) und in seiner reduzierten Subtilität fast schon wieder schön." [Bad Alchemy]
|
2008 |
€13.50 |
|
| [AD]VANCE[D] |
Unseen Intelligence |
mCD-R |
"once half of the wonderful VANCE ORCHESTRA, mars f. wellink still creates multi-layered soundscapes full of details. not very productive, his past works were released on absurd (one cd-r), waystyx (one lp and one dvd) and more recently on the 10" series of drone records, substantia illuminata. "unseen intelligence" is a wonderful "sound travelogue", as stefan knappe described his 10"." [label info]
www.taalem.com
"Mars F. Wellink came from Ain Towh and Vance Orchestra and since some years is (Ad)Vance(d), which is never very active with releases, but always creates a fine piece of drone music. Here he works with one Jan Dekker and its never known what they use sound wise. For all I know there is a bunch of field recordings, voices and tons of processing on going, but then its hard to say which kind of processing. Does (Ad)Vance(d) use a lot of analogue electronics, or is it perhaps in the world of computers? Its all not easy, if not impossible to tell. 'Unseen Intelligence' consists of three distinct parts. The first has a slight light metallic ring to it, with voices taped on a dictaphone. The second part, with some ten minutes also the longest, an obscure piece of crackling sounds (radio?), voices, and some sounds of scraping metal, which grows in intensity and the short third piece builds in a log fade up to the conclusion and contains, perhaps, all sounds elements as before. Its once again an excellent piece of music of a highly atmospheric nature, which should appeal to drone-heads world-wide." [FdW, Vital Weekly]
|
2012 |
€5.00 |
|
| [LAW-RAH] COLLECTIVE, THE |
Inspiration |
CD |
"this time the [law-rah] collective is martijn pieck and bauke van der wal. bauke is the founder and original member of the collective, hence the first releases were the result of his twisted mind. during the years of law-rah's existence, he has collaborated with several people and re-evaluated the collective nature of the project. this in turn has changed a solo project with a weird name to a true collective of artists in both the audio and visual arenas. martijn and bauke have known each other since 1993 and shared many hours making music together. however, in the mid 90's both martijn and bauke went in different directions when it came to creating electronic music. in the autumn of 2007 the time was right and they once again started making music together. with this release martijn has become a full member of the collective and ideas for many future projects are already locked into their collective minds. "it's a new collective now. so a new i ... i (me) becomes us. after incarnation and isolation, now inspiration." (bauke van der wal)
compared with the collective's conceptual works like '1953', which was an earlier release by bauke and dutch writer, vocalist and member of the collective hiekelien van den herik, this album's subject is a more private and subliminal one. all track titles are related to baukes and martijns home town utrecht, and to the history they shared there over the years. a quote from a band both bauke and martijn appreciate is printed on the cover as a good example of their 'inspiration' and perfectly illustrates their thoughts about this town:
"this is the place where all roads meet, the place where all is secret. the place where time stands still in the comfort of night and love becomes will in the presence of light. i never want to leave..." (taken from 'terminus' by psychic tv)
musically, 'inspiration' can be clearly identified as a new step in the [law-rah] collective's exploration of their electronic microcosm. sub-bass lines and drones interact with beautiful idm'ish melodic lines that are complimented by pulsing beat sequences - inducing an overall majestic and sometimes melancholic impression. this music is filled with deep, haunting and phantasmagorial sounds that are expertly adapted to give one's fancy a full scope of emotion. more simply put, this is a inspired journey through two persons' past and present.
"the basics from the [law-rah] collective always was that you create your own imaginary movie and we'll take care of the soundtrack..." (bauke van der wal)
[full label info]
www.ant-zen.com
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Innovation |
CD |
the latest output by the [law-rah] collective is called 'innovation'. on this release the utrecht based duo consisting of martijn pieck and bauke van der wal chose to explore new methods within each of the steps it takes to create an album.
the experiments have led to an album with seven coherent yet diverse tracks with a total playing time of just under an hour. from this perspective, the story that is being told never gets boring in any way. it grabs your attention from the first tones of 'the theory of co-evolution' and it doesn't let you go until the final moments of 'diffusion of innovation'.
while they were working on 'innovation' pieck and van der wal stayed close to the sonic palette for which the collective is known and appreciated; it's still those massive drones - or if you prefer noisey soundscapes - which at moments hurt either your ears or your emotions. but the album is called 'innovation' for a reason, so how the album was created has changed in all possible ways: sound sculpting, composing, mixing, mastering and even collaborating ...
the sound sculpting part was done all with modular synthesis. all sounds have been created from scratch, which was long trajectory of pulling and patching cables and intensive listening until the sound was what it needed to be.
as for the collaborating part, with 25 years of working together it was hard for pieck and van der wal to try something new. for 'innovation' the workflow of creation was considerably different than any other album by the [law-rah] collective. the outcome could have gone two ways: either all the tracks had no relationship to each other, or the tracks would form a coherent story with matching production.
with 'innovation' the [law-rah] collective asked themselves whether it pays off to leave the beaten track; to take a step back and question yourself and your ways.
it's a proven fact: 'innovation' has become a very intense and consistent album with a clear message. it's not for your average background listing sessions. the sounds are all over the frequency spectrum and the compositions are quite demanding to the listener.
it's intense ... it's dynamic ... it's innovative ...
https://soundcloud.com/raubbau/sets/the-law-rah-collective-innovation
|
2018 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Tess |
mCD-R |
at first a solo dark ambient project created by bauke van der wal more than 20 years ago, the [law-rah] collective has evolved through the years for more diverse sounds while more and more collaborators were added (including martijn "cinema perdu" pieck).
"tess" is a kind of special release as it's a solo droney piece made by bauke.
tess
(19:53)
forever in our hearts
this time the [law-rah] collective is bauke van der wal
www.darkambient.net
https://taalem.bandcamp.com/album/tess-alm-141
"The [Law-Rah] Collective started as the solo project of Bauke van der Wal and later became a duo, with the addition of Martijn Pieck (also known as Cinema Perdu). 'Tess', however, "is a kind of special release" by Van der Wal solo. Now, when I think of Taalem releases, over 140 of them (and not sure how many I heard, but a lot surely), this would be the sound to describe the label. The music here is dark, sad, electronic, and thoughtful. It doesn't stay in one place but is on a constant shift. These shifts are minimal, but they all happen at the right moment. I have no idea how Van der Wal works (somehow, I think I may not have seen a live concert by him/them), whether this is modular electronics or computer-generated music, but it has a great warm feeling. From the opening drone, the pieces move on, paces the drones and slowly adds a metallic percussion in the background. Metallic and mechanic, I should think, like machines at work on a construction site or a life support system in the hospital. A sombre piece, but maybe that's also because of the 'special release' and 'forever in our hearts' note that comes with this. An excellent release, this one, very moving." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2021 |
€5.00 |
|
| ØE & ENRICO CONIGLIO |
Inner Frost |
mCD-R |
" 'inner frost' is the first collaboration between enrico coniglio and øe aka fabio perletta, two respected italian musicians.
guitarist, environmental sound recordist and sound artist, enrico coniglio already has a solid body of physical works, alone or in collaboration with oophoi (aqua dorsa) or giovanni lami (lemures) on silentes, psychonavigation records, glacial movement, hypnos and netreleases on cronica or touch. he's also the co-curator of the great galaverna netlabel.
fabio perletta is a sound and multimedia artist. his works include electronic music, sound and light installations, live performances and graphic design. over the years he has collaborated with many international artists such as richard chartier, yann novak, lawrence english, simon whetham fabio orsi and many others. he also runs the farmacia901 label.
for this two-track release, enrico and fabio wanted to create pure glacial ambient. the release was ready last spring but we all decided to postpone it to a more appropriate release date. we're now in december, you can now have the pleasure to enjoy "inner frost"..." [label info]
www.taalem.com
|
2013 |
€5.00 |
|
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