B°TONG (B*TONG / B-TONG/ BTONG)

"B°TONG is Chris Sigdell, former member of NID (1995 - 2005), and guitarist/singer in Phased. b°tong reaches for the nether regions of experimental electronic sound but is never quite serious. b°tong's music varies from dark ambient layers of sound, brooding drones, itchy-scratchy tones to weird electronics and/or harsh noise. b°tong deconstructs and recycles samples from television, radio and/or films, he records natural and artificial sounds, and he processes and distorts his own voice.
In a live situation, he uses microphones, sampler, and "instruments" such as: metal sheet and spring, various kitchen utensils and an orgon emitter. The sounds thus generated are run through various effects giving birth to images of darkness and tranquility, the solitude of icy polar night, or the equivalent of an underwater journey down a bottomless pit! http://www.myspace.com/btongmusic"

[from a concert announcement 02.2010]

Komplex, nachdenklich und zeitintensiv setzt Chris Sigdell Ausrufezeichen in Sachen experimenteller Klanglandschaften. Den zu vernehmenden Gesamtsound von B°TONG lupenrein kategorisieren zu wollen, scheitert alleine an der Tatsache, dass Chris Sigdell, der Mann hinter B°TONG unzählige Stile wie Drone, Noise, Industrial, usw. in seinen Dark Ambient implantiert, wodurch letztlich nur noch von experimentellen Klangcollagen die Rede sein kann, welche sich vornehmlich in dunklen Sphären abspielen. Für die perfekte Akzentuierung sorgt eine große Auswahl von Sprach- & Tonsamples. So ist B°TONG wie ein tiefer Brunnen, in dessen pechschwarzes Wasser Steine beinahe geräuschlos fallen. Mit unheilvollem, brodelndem Dark Ambient werden die Kreaturen von Lautréamont und Lovecraft aus der Tiefe heraufbeschworen. Das akustische Horrorkonzept ist so überzeugend, dass es dem Zuhörer eine authentische Gänsehaut beschert.....
Seit 2005 tingelt B°TONG mit seinen Geräten durch die Welt und spielte nebst Festivalen wie Sinus-Series (Basel), Ausklang (Hamburg), Shift (Basel), Lab 30 (Augsburg), Unser
Industrie (Leipzig), Kildemose (Refsvindinge), Støy På Landet (Trondheim) über Hundert Konzerten in den USA, Asien, Europa und Russland. Von B°TONG gibt es an die 10
Tonträger auf unterschiedlichen Kult-Labels wie Drone Records, Attenuation Circuit und Gears Of Sand. Aktuell sind: „Augenaufschlag“ CD (Attenuation Circuit), eine Spoken Word/Sound Kollaboration mit dem Basler Schriftsteller bOuM; und die Compilation „Drone
Mind // Mind Drone“ LP (Drone Records) B°TONG wurde in der Vergangenheit unterstützt durch: SUISA, RFV Regiosoundcredit, S.I.G. und Kultur Basel-Stadt
www.btongmusic.wix.com/btong
www.btong.bandcamp.com
www.facebook.com/btongmusic
www.myspace.com/btongmusic
[dito, Sept. 2012]

Album	Format	Label & Cat. Number	Description	Year	Price (incl. 19% VAT)
Microsleep	CD-R	Verato Project verazität 023	overlooked early release by the rising Swiss "experimental musique concrete" artist; numbered. ed. 60 copies (first ed.), professional cover & fabrication	2007	€9.50
Ov ELF and HAARP	CD-R & object	Attenuation Circuit / Limited Edition Series ACL 1003	most abstract drone-morphologism, fields of concrete otherworldy sounds... excellent album by the Swiss project again, soon also on the very first LP on Drone Records !! lim. / numb. 50 copies coming in handpainted CD/cloth-case with diverse inlays, and sticker, on a new label from Augsburg, Germany, run by EMERGE and GERALD FIEBIG	2011	€11.00
Un_b°tong	mCDR-box	Attenuation Circuit Mini Series ACM 1007	6 short pieces (rather studies) of extreme manipulation from unmusical sounds, mainly human voices -> like a daring from of audio poetry mixed with electroacoustic detailness, this presents new surrealistic paths for the great Swiss artist! Comes in mini DVD box on the excellent ATTENUATION CIRCUIT label from Augsburg, Germany	2011	€6.50
Each and every Word must die	LP	HOTS 001	collector's item! - recordings of private concert given in Barcelona in December 2016, in front of an audience of 2 people only!! numbered edition, lim. 100 - handpainted cover - coloured vinyl - inlay - download code	2017	€26.00
Monastic	CD	Reverse Alignment RA-36	MONASTIC (='klösterlich') is the companion release to 'The long Journey' on the same label =>; from various field recordings uncanny soundscapes and strangely reverberating acoustics are formed, resulting in long one nightmarish, unescapable ambience realm which seems to have no beginning or ending, going on in endless circles..	2017	€13.00
A Fleeting Moment of Superabundance	LP	Force Majeure FORCE 013	hard to find B-TONG LP [the French label who co-released this is no longer existing - R.I.P. Stephane! ] recorded during lockdown, everthing was construced with live instruments instead of using field recordings and samples => three long tracks that capture a special period of time, we think one of this best releases so far, super eerie, mysterious, abysmal, not from this world... lim. + handnumbered 300 copies, very nice silkscreen fold out art sleeve	2023	€25.00
{Mass}	do-CD	Zoharum ZOHAR 326-2	epic double album by the versatile Swiss composer (also member of BU.D.D.A.) => 6 long tracks, developing an exceptional, captivating exp. ambient style (with guitars, vocals..) - *fieldrecording phrases, drone structures to guitar, almost post-rock quasi songs... - it is a soft and tender twilight harbouring secrets and mysteries- and the potential of light. The hopefulness of a vessel traversing the nigh-on infinite seas of blackness towards some distant star" - 300 copies	2024	€17.00
Zenihilist	CD	Krater Recordings - KR05-015	this album marks 20 years of the Swiss project! - * 'Zenihilist' playfully sides nihilism with the mystic teachings of ZEN. The title is not only a word-play on zen and nihilism, but also a pun on an ordinary German's pronunciation of the English word 'the'.. * - 4 tracks 51+ minutes, dark and haunting immersive dronescapes with occasional voice additives..	2025	€13.00