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Search results for "gri"

Artist Album Format Label & Cat. Number Year Price (incl. 19% VAT)  
ASTRID & RACHEL GRIMES Through the Sparkle LP Gizeh GZH073LP 2017 €20.00
BRIGHTER DEATH NOW Breaking down Nihil-Live do-CD Der Angriff Nr. 39 2011 €18.00
CHORA(S)SAN TIME-COURT MIRAGE (=CATHERINE CHRISTER HENNIX) Live at the Grimm Museum CD Important Records IMPREC342 2012 €17.50
CONTRASTATE Life without Agriculture CD Drone Records SYM:05 2024 €13.00
ELODIE (TIMO VAN LUIJK & ANDREW CHALK) Grisailles LP La Scie Doree Scie1516 2016 €35.00
FEAR DROP No. 12 mag & CD Fear Drop / Lagrimas de miedo LAGR12 2005 €10.50
  No. 16: LA ZONE GRISE mag & CD Fear Drop LAGR 016 2012 €12.00
FLORIANZ, MATTHEW / LIQUID MORPHINE GrijsGebied CD H/S Recordings HSCD1 2001 €13.00
GRIM Factory Ritual (white vinyl) LP Tesco Organisation TESCO 133 2019 €23.00
Message LP Urashima UMA 165 2022 €29.00
  Therianthropy 7inch + BOOK Ant-Zen act438 2023 €35.00
GRIMAUD, DOMINIQUE & VERONIQUE VILHET Iles LP InPolySons IPS 1016 2016 €18.00
GRINBERG, ANATOLY The Dreams and their Meanings CD Ant-Zen act410 2021 €13.00
GROUPER Grid of Points LP Kranky krank217 2018 €23.00
IN DIE FERNE Ad Un Passo Dal Grigio CD-R Essentia Mundi EM042 2018 €8.00
KIRCHENKAMPF & THE IMPLICIT ORDER M103 (a cosmic Peregrination in four parts) CD-R Cohort Records CRCD 106 1999 €9.00
KRAKEN Chagrin CD Spectre Records S22 2006 €9.50
LEWIS, KLARA Ingrid LP (one-sided) Editions Mego EMEGO 270 2020 €19.00
LINIJA MASS Triumph Stali 10inch Der Angriff Nr. 19 / indiestate IST 026 V 2004 €12.50
Trud CD Der Angriff No. 13 / Indiestate Distribution IST 046 CD 2007 €13.00
Mechano-Faktura CD Der Angriff No. 14 / Indiestate Distribution IST 047 CD 2007 €13.00
  Proletkult CD Der Angriff No. 15 / Indiestate Distribution IST 048 CD 2007 €13.00
LUNAR ABYSS QUARTET Hyperborean 10 Der Angriff Nr. 8 2003 €12.00
MAGRINI, MASSIMO (BAD SECTOR) Vrachnas CD Backwards BWCD04 2018 €13.00
MALDUR ATAI Holy Grief 7inch Autarkeia Vinyl 003 2010 €8.00
MC NINCH, NATHAN A brief audio history of agriculture CD Oral CD08 2005 €13.50
NICOLAS GENITAL GRINDER Echoing in Empty White Rooms of Amplified Nothingness MC Abstract Perversions # 1 1998 €10.00
OM Pilgrimage CD Southern Lord SUNN86 2007 €15.00
PEAL GRIM same CD Moonsun Productions MS009 2015 €12.00
RAWLINGS / STELZER / TALBOT // GRIVAS / ZIOUTOS / MALEVITSIS live documents CD-R Editions_Zero # 2 2002 €8.00
SHAKHNES, GRISHA Leave / Trace LP Glistening Examples glex 1301 2013 €19.00
  The Heaver MC More Mars MM39 2023 €9.50
SLEAFORD MODS UK GRIM CD Rough Trade RT0391CD 2023 €12.00
STADLMEIER, SASCHA / EMERGE / ANJA KREYSING same MC Grisaille 04 2019 €8.00
STAHLWERK 9 / SAL SOLARIS split 10" Der Angriff Nr. 2 / Indiestate IST 020V 2004 €10.00
SUNDIN, RONNIE gring CD Antifrost afro2028 2004 €14.00
THROBBING GRISTLE Heathen Earth CD Mute Records TGCD5 1991 €15.00
The Second Annual Report do-CD Industrial Records IRLCD 1 2011 €18.50
20 Jazz Funk Greats by DREW DANIEL BOOK Continuum Books - 33 1/3 series - ISBN 978-0-8264-2793-9 2008 €12.00
20 Jazz Funk Greats do-CD Industrial Records IRLCD 3 2011 €18.50
Mission of Dead Souls LP Mute TGLP6 2018 €26.00
Journey Through a Body LP Mute TGLP8 2018 €26.00
A Souvenir of Camber Sands do-LP Mute TGLP20 2019 €25.00
  A Souvenir of Camber Sands do-CD Industrial Records TGCD 20 / Mute TGCD20 2019 €16.50
TOTSTELLEN / GRIMM Schwindel VIDEO Antiinformation AIC OPTICAL 001 / Totes Format 03 2005 €12.00
TSARAAS Agrimony mCD-R Linija Shuma SHUM 0004 2006 €7.00
V.A. (VARIOUS ARTISTS) (COMPILATIONS) Heilige Feuer IV CD Der Angriff Nr. 17 2004 €14.00
  Heilige Feuer 6 do-CD Indiestate IST056 / Der Angriff Nr.32 2009 €8.00
VETROPHONIA Formula of War CD Der Angriff Nr. 41 2011 €13.00
WESTON, MATT For Alexandros Grigoropoulos CD-R A Question of Re_Entry AQORE 10 2009 €7.00

"gri" entries in albums descriptions

Artist Album Format Description Year Price (incl. 19% VAT)  
ABECASSIS, ERYCK & FRANCISCO MEIRINO La Gueule du Loup CD the result of raw and tension filled "anti-structure improvisations", both artists work here 100% with modular synths, patches are build spontaneously during the sessions... crude buzzing and cracking noises, electrical grindings and quantum whimper with lots of cut ups and breaks, more noisy but also brooding parts... these seven tracks were recorded at Studios INA-GRM in 2015 2017 €12.00
ALBRECHT/D. - // KOMMISSAR HJULER Kein Leporello LP ALBRECHT/D. (1944-2013) was a legendary German (fluxus, dada, industrial) artist who co-released earliest THROBBING GRISTLE live tapes in 1976 and performed with JOSEPH BEUYS and many others.. DETLEV HJULER managed to get a ultra rare piece ("Anrufbeantworter-Konzert") from him consisting of bewildering voice-fragments (with heavy swabian dialect), musical debris, radio-madness, noise.. (25 min.), Side B fits perfectly : "JoBeuysseph" collage by K. HJULER; black vinyl edition of only 25 copies! (numbered) 2020 €45.00
ATARAXIC ATAXIA Shadow Sea CD-R re-issue of a lim. CD-R, this male/female duo (from Columbia, USA) convinces with a very special low fi industrial sound mixture using violin (or other string instruments), processed / sampled found sounds and pulsing noise... "The beauty and grit of this release is not only palpable, but also sort of regenerating and constantly transforming. The rest is enshrouded in mystery." - prof. printed release on the label of ARVO ZYLO 2016 €8.00
BAD ALCHEMY No. 93 (März 2017) mag neue Artikel & einzigartig formulierte Rezensionen aus Würzburg: ARTROCK aus GRIECHENLAND, NADJA & B/B/S, ÄLTERWERDEN MIT MUSIK, ATTENUATION CIRCUIT, DOMIZIL, DRONE RECORDS, HELEN SCARSDALE AGENCY, KARLRECORDS, E MEGO, PSYCH.KG, und vieles mehr aus der experimentellen, drone, post-industrial, Impro & Neue Musik & NowJazz-Szene... das meiste auf deutsch, 88 Seiten, handliches Format, günstig & geistreich! 2017 €3.50
BALL, DAVE & JON SAVAGE Photosynthesis CD unique collab. between DAVE BALL (SOFT CELL, THE GRID) and JON SAVAGE, working with vintage analogue synths in a digital way they created quiet and introspective cinematic soundscapes, with an almost classical approach... "a haunting, delightfully organic album of ambient and experimental electronica. This is a record to sink in to, letting it take you on its journey to some other place," [The Sound Not The Word] 2016 €12.00
BASINSKI, WILLIAM Lamentations CD 12 new tracks, constructed from tape loops and studies from his archives, 1979-2020 - "on his new album he transforms operatic tragedy into abyssal beauty - more than any other work since The Disintegration Loops, there is an ominous grief throughout the album, and that sense of loss lingers like an emotional vapor." 2020 €14.50
  Lamentations (black vinyl) do-LP 12 new tracks, constructed from tape loops and studies from his archives, 1979-2020 - "on his new album he transforms operatic tragedy into abyssal beauty - more than any other work since The Disintegration Loops, there is an ominous grief throughout the album, and that sense of loss lingers like an emotional vapor." - BLACK vinyl ed. with DL card 2020 €29.50
BASTARD NOISE / BIZARRE X Self Righteous Suicide / ...Ethik?... LP strong split LP with extremely vocalized scum and dark noise ("powerviolence") by BASTARD NOISE (4 tracks), and 11 tracks of swampy old school Grindcore by BIZARRE X from Germany, both with hyper agressive lyrics about personal and political entities.. "FIGHT ANIMAL ABUSE AND SPEAK OUT AGAINST HUMAN IGNORANCE WHICH IS THE ONLY 'CANCER' ON THIS POOR PLANET"; comes with inlay, ed. of 600 copies 2019 €15.00
BASTARD NOISE / U.N.D. Economy of Death / Fall 7inch 5 track split EP with fierce new material by Finnish grindcore / noise legends U.N.D. (UNBOUNDED NOISE DESTRUCTION) and the well known noise / power electronics / hatecore project BASTARD NOISE (alter ego of MAN IS THE BASTARD), who have 3 tracks on Side A 2013 €7.50
BIXOBAL No. 5 (October 2008) mag little 56p mag issue by ANOMALOUS RECORDS-fame ERIC LANZILLOTTA, feat.: ONDE, MICHAEL GRIFFEN, TUNNEL CANARAY, ASSOPHON RECORDS, lots of reviews of vinyl, books, CD, DVDs, cassettes.. english language 2008 €3.00
BOKANOWSKI, MICHELE Musique de Courts Metrages do-CD *This 2 x CD edition collects all the original music composed by Michele Bokanowski for the short films of her husband, Patrick Bokanowski...her sounds are visionary, sometimes disturbing and grotesque, sometimes ecstatic. Some compositions are suites of grim musique concrete, an obscure ambient perhaps like never heard before, others are liquid abstractions of "expanded" music where it is easy to lose the ordinary awareness of one's senses... * material from 1972-2019 (!), 6 panel digisleeve, 2nd ed. 2021 €18.00
BVDUB & NETHERWORLD Equilibrium CD their first official collaboration - inspired by the notion EQUILIBRIUM which means the state of complete balance inside a glacier... - "the gritty warmth of bvdub above, the glacial cold of Netherworld below, locked in a line that forever remains the perfect point at which they both exist as one.." - four long tracks, *fragile, intense, and transportive soundscapes of calm beauty, employing different sound sources from organic to electronic with the addition of grainy noise dynamics..* [IGLOO mag] 2022 €16.00
CASPAR BRÖTZMANN MASSAKER The Tribe LP re-issue of the debut LP (1988) by CASPAR BRÖTZMANNs band project, still a milestone of ultra heavy & mind crushing industrial noise rock... "This plethora of sounds were arranged into tracks to sound like breaking concrete, grinding metal, or bursting glass, at once monumental and threatening, impenetrable and hermetic, yet also archaically tender and loving........Channeling Hendrixian vibrations mixed with hard German industrial atmosphere" 2019 €18.00
  Der Abend der schwarzen Folklore LP re-issue of the awesome third album (1992), the first with GORE drummer DANNY LOMMEN, also recorded in CONNY PLANK's studio near Cologne... "...to sound like breaking concrete, grinding metal, or bursting glass, at once monumental and threatening, impenetrable and hermetic, yet also archaically tender and loving.... -....evolving into a free-form noise, strangely motionless like an earthquake rumble, that sounded like nothing else at the time.." [Boomkat] 2019 €18.00
CHALK, ANDREW The Circle of Days LP older CHALK recordings feat. DAISUKE SUZUKI performed on / created with field recordings, keyboards, guitar, bass & slide-guitar => everyday environmentals (like in ORA with DARREN TATE) merge with subtle instrumental drones and sound drops, filed under: impressionist ambience... "A magical, captivating piece of work that functions like a sonic parallel to the way shooting stars grip our gaze in wonder" [Infinite Limits]; ed. of 325 copies 2014 €20.00
CHOCHOS Y MOSCAS The Shake of Fruit to come MC 14th tape on this German tape-label that gained 'cult'-status very quickly => radical grindcore & noise from Spain with plenty of very short tracks that all transport messages around fruits & Vitamin C, super bizarre stuff again as we love it from this label! lim. 50, luxurious / oversized art-cover 21x21cm, orange cassette & PE Bag with object (plastic micro fruit slices) 2014 €8.00
CIRCULAR Ghostwhite CD fourth full length album by CIRCULAR (since 2006), who always constructs very carefully his vision of the darker side of 'cosmic music' - "Circular shines with his new album and creates haunting and gripping sonic works that capture the imagination. Beautiful melodies and rhythms contrast the field recordings and sounds of modular synthesizers to build an abstract image spanning the entirety of the inner cinema." - 6 panel ecopak design 2019 €12.00
COBER ORD Le Revers Du Soleil MC promising project of YAN AREXIS (LA BREICHE, STILLE VOLK) and YANN HAGIMONT (HABSYLL) from France, creating a very doomy and grim occult ritual sound with handmade instruments, voices, steel instruments, and electronics, with ultra slow clashing percussion, whispers, noisy outbursts, screams, bass-drones.. "COBER ORD is just MASSIVE AESTHETIC BLACKNESS- raw, archaic, monolithic, but also dark, rough, ritual ... rooted in primordial natural forces." lim. 150 copies, 4 color screen printed packaging 2015 €9.00
COSEY FANNI TUTTI Tutti LP after the legendary "Time to Tell" MC (1982), this is only the second solo album by COSEY FANNI TUTTI, the "living artwork" of the industrial (COUM, THROBBING GRISTLE, CHRIS & COSEY,CTI, X-TG) and famous for the more technoid and seductive side of the genre..."The music production on TUTTI, like its 1983 predecessor, has a timeless quality.... it lives and breathes her insistence on exploring new sounds and techniques." [Resident Advisor] BLUE vinyl, embossed sleeve, download code 2019 €29.50
  Tutti CD after the legendary "Time to Tell" MC (1982), this is only the second solo album by COSEY FANNI TUTTI, the "living artwork" of the industrial (COUM, THROBBING GRISTLE, CHRIS & COSEY,CTI, X-TG) and famous for the more technoid and seductive side of the genre..."The music production on TUTTI, like its 1983 predecessor, has a timeless quality...it lives and breathes her insistence on exploring new sounds and techniques." [Resident Advisor] - CD version 2019 €16.00
D-EFFECTS No. 1 mag mag from Berlin, german language: THROBBING GRISTLE, CHROME, SPK, CHARLES MANSON, CIORAN, BRAUTIGAM, CROWLEY, BATAILLE, etc 2004 €3.00
DB/MZ (dB/Mz) The Light to come CD promising new "post industrial" drone project of DAVID BENGTSSON and MAGNUS ZETTERBERG (MANIFESTO), their debut album contronts you with 6 dark drone ambient pieces, between hazy subtleness and more grim expanses, always creating a wide space and an impressive otherwordliness.... reminded us on MOLJEBKA PVLSE or the MALIGNANT & CYCLIC LAW label releases... very good, to discover ! 2015 €12.00
DEAD FACTORY / ATUM Extinction / Zona CD-R special cover with metal-grid inlay & colour photo on the front, numb. ed. 213 copies , sold out at the label // www.beastofprey.com 2006 €10.00
DIETER MÜH (DIETER MUH) We're not happy 'till you're not happy 7inch Dark industrialized new 7” from this British outfit, very grim and destructive, where you can’t decide if the female screams you hear are based on lust or torture. Excellent intense & pulsating grinding ambient-noise. lim. 300 copies 2003 €6.00
  Feeling a little Horse CD this release documents an early live performance by the much respected British industrial project (live in Nottingham, summer of 1998) and was first published in a tiny handmade edition - a 37+ min. recording of very raw and bleak, distorted and grim apocalyptic improvisation sounds.... the CD also holds 3 rare additional studio tracks that add a more atmospheric and subtle note; comes in a 7" sleeve with 4 postcards, lim. 150 copies 2017 €13.00
DISSECTING TABLE Intrinsically Pure CD hard to find D.T. release on this punk/hardcore label from Hiroshima => ICHIRO TSUJI aka DISSECTING TABLE was the first singer in the Japanese hardcore band GUDON (who gained a cult status), on two long pieces analog / digital electronics plus Grindcore elements and processings result in a mixture of very noisy, clattering passages and more silent parts, full of psychedelic effects... one of his best works so far !! Japan import, comes with OBI, lim. 500 copies 2011 €14.00
DISSECTING TABLE / VASILISK Saddharma / Tibetan Liberation CD music for katharsis & ritual: one long real tour de force (from dark noise to grindcore - 30+ min!) by D.T., + four new quite raw & powerful pieces by the refreshed legendary ritual / ethno / ambient / psych noise act VASILISK that are alone worth the money !! Lim. 500, comes in DVD slimcase 2011 €14.00
ESA RUOHO Parched Throat CD-R remix of an electro-dance track by ANODYNE, which is stretched and transformed from 7 minutes to over 1 hour... "everything that used to be beats and melodies has been pulverised into drifting audio grit"... project from Finland also active as LACKLUSTER; lim. 33 special cover 2015 €8.00
ESCAMA SERRADA Santa Lucia 10inch limited 10" EP, 6 tracks => "The Barcelonan horde around S. Méndez departs from the psychedelic post-industrial realm to descend into post-BM and occult-rock darkness, haunted by feeble screams, howling choirs and Méndez’ unmistakable ritualistic invocations. Grim blackened buzz riffs merge with laptop glitches... Blood sacrifice muzak at its best." - about 200 copies exists 2012 €7.50
EXIT ELECTRONICS Learn the Hard Way CD first release from a new solo project of JUSTIN BROADRICK (GODFLESH, JESU; JKFLESH..) who is indulging here competely in his love for grinding, granualr industrial beats and heavy rhythmic hypno - electronics.. 11 tracks 51+ min, 400 copies, 6 panel digipak 2023 €13.00
FAGES, FERRAN / RUTH BARBERIAN / ALFREDO COSTA MONTEIRO Atolon CD amazing free improvisation on "acoustic turntable", trumpet and accordion - we hear lots of rubbing, grinding, scraping and strangely breathing sounds that can hardly be recognized.... these trained musicians from Portugal & Spain do everything extraordinary and abstract on their instruments, from delicate and tender areas to abrasive eruptions and arrangements.. special offer now ! 2004 €6.00
GEINS'T NAIT L'Or'n Cat CD the second "GN" LP from 1987 also sees now a late re-issue, fully re-mastered: a at times chaotic and wild form of experimental industrial using electronics, weird found sounds, samples, instruments, noises of all kinds, with a true DADA and Punk attitude ... "The mood is quite heavy and dark throughout, more so than so it seems on their debut album. Rhythms mechanically hammer away, along with grinding guitars..." [Vital Weekly] 2022 €15.00
ILLUSION OF SAFETY Pastoral CD a surprising discovery from the archives, this album with five studio tracks showing IOS as a duo in the 90's (DAN BURKE and KURT GRIESCH)=> concrete object sounds merge with analogue electronics, very versatile tracks + perfect for multiple listening sessions... *showcasing a less aggressive stance from the project, a more organic subdued presentation, sounds to make a clearing, & open space..* - "40 minutes of absolute poetic sounds.* [Bauke van der Wal]" - lim. 200 2023 €12.00
INADA, KOZO d [ ] maxi-CD lim. 500 / "material"-series, yellow-grid etch-cover ! 2001 €10.00
JÜPPALA KÄÄPIÖ Alpen Ocean LP the final release by this duo of CAROLE & HITOSHI KOJO with their warm shimmering & wide harmonic ambience using many instrumental sources, human voice / chants & field recordings with an organic touch... a gritting overtune-symphony...celebrating the deep connection to the landscapes, plants & animals around... beautiful & elevating ! lim. 250 copies 2013 €19.50
K2 / ALLAN ZANE split LP experimental noise in its truest sense on this "Pacific" Japanese / US collaboration with Drone Rec. artist ALLAN ZANE (aka WYRM, see DR-99); fast changing harsh attack collages, grinding & scratching wall of sound expanses... numbered ed. 300 copies 2015 €16.00
KHOST (DECONSTRUCTED AND RECONSTRUCTED BY) GODFLESH Needles into the Ground LP Industrial Metal is not dead! Three grinding remixes from last years KHOST album by JUSTIN BROADRICK, one new track by KHOST: crushing drums and low end basses, incredible powerful and claustrophic stuff, with a strong emphasis on the "industrial" side of things... this definitely expands the genre! 2016 €18.00
KLEISTWAHR Common Values CD 7th album on Fourth Dim. since 2014, the 'second incarnation' of the project.. 6 new tracks, a perfect mixture of noise, melancholy and despair.. - "MUNDY uses a guitar, organ, synthesizers, and a plethora of sound effects and creates a multi-layered, orchestral sound...It is dark and grim, as opposed to dark and pleasantly atmospheric. The soundtrack for harsh times.... An excellent album all around, and KLEISTWAHR goes from strength to strength." [FdW / Vital Weekly] 2022 €13.00
KRENG The Summoner LP four years after the last KRENG album "Grimoire" this intense & claustrophobic new work reflects the undergoing of the "5 stages of mourning" (adding a new stage in between - "The Summoning") after loss => using the sounds of 12 string players & wall of noises provided by a Belgian doom metal band, this album creates extreme tension, dramatic phases, existential emotions... comes in beautiful die-cut cover with thick full colour inner sleeves 2015 €17.00
KRYPTOGEN RUNDFUNK Tales from the Mirrored Spaces do-CD for the rich St. Petersburg experimental underground K.R. is one of the main attractors, the always multi-layered dronescapes (this time lots of acoustic instruments like mouth harp, bowed guitar, metal plate, singing bowl were in use) seem to oscillate and spread in all directions.." a dynamic sonic universe varying from ritualistic ambiental textures to heavy electronics, abstract multi-layered drones and sharp gritty noises." - this is the special ed. with one full bonus live CD, lim. 100 copies 2019 €19.50
LOCRIAN / HARPOON split 7inch rare split single by these two Chicago-based bands, industrial-grind & metal-core... lim. 300 on green marbled vinyl, comes with etched cover & oversized full-colour inlay 2009 €11.50
M.B. / FRAG Psychation CD the dark noise project of S. R. BURROUGHS [TUNNELS OF AH] that started already in the 90's, now in excellent collab with M.B => three long tracks (76+ min. playtime) that range from organ like, complex fragment-drones to claustrophobic, grim post industrial, always dense and structured.. - " A cascade of electronic shapes that fluctuate and shift in a metamorphosis of Musique Concrete tonal expressionism... The sound of humanity as it is drowned beneath the post human neo liberal order."; lim. 300 2020 €13.00
MARTINIS, SOCRATES Au Seuil de la Liberte 7 the Greek Drone Records artist also known as HELICE PIED, NIXILX.NIJILX and BLANCO ESTIRA NUESTRO now under his "real name"; a lovely 45 rpm disc inspired by RENE MARGRITTEs painting from 1937. coloured vinyl 2009 €6.00
MENCHE, DANIEL & MAMIFFER Crater CD first full length collab. between 'UR-energy-droner' D. MENCHE and FAITH COLOCCIA's & AARON TURNERs project: "Glacial harmonic drones expand from field recordings, church organs, abraded stone & steel, and guitars only to be disrupted by heavily hammered piano melodies that in turn are gristlized by the collective noise strategies, machines, and snowstorms. Alternately, meditative and explosive, imposing and rapturous. Brilliant through and through." [AQ] 2015 €16.00
MERZBOW Cloud Cock OO Grand do-LP "Brain Forest For Metal Acoustic Concrete" - re-issue of self-released CD from 1990, incl. A2 poster, recorded in the Netherlands 1989, heavily influenced by death metal and grindcore at that time, performed on synthesizers, metal devices, noise electronics, and string instruments... - lim. 299 copies 2023 €34.00
MNEM Engrama LP re-release of the early 10" from 2000 plus one long (13+ min) unreleased track.. "Undoubtedly calmer than the 'Golyma' LP yet still intensive experimental industrial with post-electroacoustic undertones. Organically flowing drones and hypnotic, grinding loop sounds of vintage analog sound processing via old reel-to-reel tape recorders and treatments.."lim. 270, black sleeves with cut n'pasted front and back covers; BACK IN STOCK 2007 €15.00
MOLOCH Die Isolation CD extremely depressive black metal / dark ambient mixture from Ukraine... "Crunchy distorted guitar minimalism, primal thrashing beats, and an overall raw necroish execution are reinforced by howling, tortured, grim vocals that recall the old BURZUM era..." 2015 €12.00
MURMER In their Homes and in their Heads 7inch field- & object recordings (from a garden in London, an old computer, a broken necklace) form two amazing "concrete drone" pieces: "... they take you on a trip into an other world of low drones and high-pitched noises, crunching and gritting microsounds, surprising cut-ups, all very near and clear..." - lim. 300 copies on clear vinyl, handmade cover art 2007 €7.00
MVK (MATTHIJS KOUW) Memoirs From a Parallel Suburbia MC rare cassette only release (C-30, 40 copies), inspired by a quote from J.G. BALLARD: "Prosperous suburbia was one of the end-states of history. Once achieved, only plague, flood, or nuclear war could threaten its grip." - 'The music consists of slow shifting darkness, overlapping shades of grey and black and the glacial comparison I made before is easily repeated here. The delicate thunder of a quiet storm.' [Vital Weekly] 2020 €9.00
NADJA / DISROTTED Roman Numeral LP "From The Lips of A Ghost In The Shadow of A Unicorn's Dream" is the title of NADJA's great doom opus on this rare split LP with US "sludge" band DISROTTED, comes on Purple swirl vinyl => "Both of these bands are capable of conveying profound and gripping atmospheres by weaving together pummeling riffs and walls of noise, creating rich and organic textures on a level very few are able to reach.. " 2021 €20.00
NAM-KHAR & SIELWOLF Oppressfield CD after the great "Atavist Craft" from 2015 this is the second collab by NAM-KHAR and SIELWOLF - again they move inside the field or ritualistic ambient industrial, always circling and hypnotizing and slowly machine-like, maybe a bit more dark and colder as before... "Industrial is bleak and dark, it has to be, but beneath the grime, dust, oil, and blood, there always lies a diamond." [Fallofbecause] = dystopian trance-meditation muzak with great effekt! 2017 €12.00
NOX Opus Unending CD abysmal ambient from Croatia, the first album for this new project (aka AEGRI SOMNIA), enabling a truly dark meditation, incorp. subtle field recordings... "... It creates a strong visual effect, which has something pretty paranoiac. You get the impression there’s an invisible presence walking at your back. It’s a hostile atmosphere like appealing to awake the ghosts" [Side-Line] - lim. 200 4 panel digipak 2020 €13.00
  Abyssal Codex CD "Dead Archetype" = Ghostly dark ambient from Croatia (also known as AEGRI SOMNIA with releases on Cryo Chamber), the 2nd album as NOX => the processed field recordings give this an extremely mysterious and uncanny atmosphere, there's always "something going on" within these foggy dronescapes, for the perfect "cinema between your ears"... - lim. 200 in a 4 panel"digifile", 10 tracks 66+ minutes of finest black hole muzak.. 2022 €13.00
OBJEKT / URIAN Agitation CD second full length album for this German Post-Industrial project, for fans of rhythmic old school industrial & powerelectronics with vocals, analogue sounds & voice samples; very powerful, dark & grim, they are able to transform the classic elements nto a contemporary version of "conscious" industrial without the typical clichees 2010 €13.00
OFF THE CUFF Part.Heaven CD-R project of HUM & MYSERY with slow & grinding low fi industrial tunes.. last copy!! 0000 €8.00
OGIERMANN, CHRISTOPH LebendDurchführungen 15/16 MC (C-10) contains "Bio-Adapter? Kommt drauf an, was man draus macht (Wiener / Zizek)" & Allgemeine Begriffe sind Prozesse (aus Monumenten TU-Wörter machen) (Klavierkonzert)", recorded for the TWISTED KNISTER - Automatenmusik project; lim. 69 copies 2008 €8.00
OGNI VIDENIY & SVETLO111 Synapse CD-R OGNI VIDENIY, the Russian project from Archangelsk, teams up with St. Petersburg's SVETLO111 for a phaser-swirling electro-droning ride, inspired by neuro-physiological microworlds it seems... "Three long psychoactive tracks filled with gritty analogue noise, farced with scraps of electronic signals and soaked in a syrup of harmonious drones. Despite the abrasive texture of sound and use of rather sharp effects, the atmosphere of the album is quite contemplative." numb. ed. 77 copies 2015 €8.00
OLHON Sinkhole CD digipack. project of MASSIMO MAGRINI (=BAD SECTOR) and ZAIRO 2006 €13.00
  Underwater Passage CD underwater field recordings (-40m) from ZAIRO treated by MASSIMO MAGRINI (BAD SECTOR), extreme low frequency sounds made audible... their third album, a stunning masterpiece !! digipack 2008 €13.00
PHARMAKON Devour LP the extremely powerful fourth full length of 'new female industrial' cult act PHARMAKON aka MARGARET CHARDIET, as usual based on deep psychological implications "... using imagery and language of self-cannibalism as allegory for the self-destructive nature of humans. Each of the five songs echoes a stage of grief associated with this cyclical chamber of self-destruction and the chaos surrounding us that leads us to devour ourselves in an attempt to balance the agony." - lim. ed. with half white half black coloured vinyl 2019 €20.00
  Devour CD the extremely powerful fourth full length of 'new female industrial' cult act PHARMAKON, as usual based on deep psychological implications "... using imagery and language of self-cannibalism as allegory for the self-destructive nature of humans. Each of the five songs echoes a stage of grief associated with this cyclical chamber of self-destruction and the chaos surrounding us that leads us to devour ourselves in an attempt to balance the agony." CD version in jewel-case 2019 €14.00
PHILLIPS, DAVE Selective Memory / Perception CD "an hour long piece consisting of classical instrumentation and orchestral arrangements using cello, violin and piano, plus recordings of wind, broken urban creatures, intimate situations, insect and amphibian sounds and mutations thereof, transmogrified balloons, unconscious voices and more. " - the soundscaping / composition side of D.P., with great result ! 59+ min. , lim. 300 2016 €10.00
PROTAGONIST Songs of Experience CD re-issue of the second album from 2005 (Cold Meat Industry) by the Swedish orchestral / martial / neo-classic industrial act, contains THREE bonus tracks (from the rare "Interim" EP); feat.JONATHAN GRIEVE (CONTRASTATE) and TOMAS PETTERSON (ORDO ROSARIUS EQUILIBRIO)... back in stock special priced now 2012 €6.00
RIPARBELLI, PIETRO / K11 Radiodrama (feat. BAD SECTOR) CD + CD-R concept-album using sound-sources by BAD SECTOR, GALERIE SCHALLSCHUTZ, STRANGE ATTRACTOR, etc. based on "hidden sound forms involved in radio signal transmissions". This edition of 211 copies contains a bonus-CDR "CAMERA SONORA" based on an installation in 2007 in collaboration with MASSIMO MAGRINI (BAD SECTOR); comes with booklet in Box, all hand-designed ! 2008 €16.00
SAND His first Steps CD recorded 1972-1973 as a "forerunner" to GOLEM with early/different versions, just after the split up of P.O.T. (Part of Time); 5th in the series of SAND albums on Rotorelief.."seduced by the unique and innovative combination of acoustic guitars, synthesisers, sound generators, short-wave radios, factory noises, hammers from the shipyards, agricultural machines, whirls of sand and eerie atmospheres, the listener discovers and lives the story of Sand and his Golem" 2016 €14.00
SILK SAW Parallel Landscapes LP the comeback for this experimental electronic(a) duo from Belgium, known from several SUB ROSA and ANT-ZEN releases; intelligently constructed IDM that is not really danceable, more hypnotic (like VROMB for example) and quirky and with a nice use of acoustic instruments and weirdo sounds....the vinyl version contains 4 tracks that are also on the CD version entitled "Parallel Landscapes" with different cover - done by Moscow street artist GRISHA; lim. 300 2015 €18.00
SOLA TRANSLATIO Mother Sunrise CD warehouse found: the debut-album of this project by ALIO DIE & OPIUM using many organic field recordings with oriental flair.. - *Combining an entrancing mix of natural recordings (water, wind, soil, forest) and electronic textures, Mother Sunrise conveys a descent into the natural world at its grittiest, most organic, and most truly "alive.*... 2001 €13.00
SPECIAL INTERESTS (MAG) No. 10 mag the noise & industrial mag. from Finland with articles on: LE SYNDICAT FACTION VIVANTE, ROBERT TURMAN, GRIM, STORM BUGS, T.O.M.B., WINCE, etc.+ reviews of live shows, books, CDs and vinyls, 84 pages B5 offset printed pages, perfectly bound 2018 €10.00
STUZHA Butugichag / Бутугычаг CD second album for this Siberian experimental ambient project, evoking icy aural narrative images of a Soviet Labour Camp called KOLYMA... multi-layered drone rays mixed with field recordings from Sibera, mechanic noises from scraping metals, dark choirs & menacing waves, cold Siberian winds, and harmonies of grief at the ending.. to discover for "cinematic dark ambient" fans ! 2015 €12.00
SUNN O))) Kannon CD three new studio tracks by the drone metal gurus, coming back to their main characteristics: the massive guitar-bass work of STEPHEN O'MALLEY and GREG ANDERSON, continuing the path of the "classic" SUNN O))) sound.. "Abyssic atmospheres of vast grinding drones. Layered, liturgic cavernous ritual. Gorgeously sculpted feedback flowmotion" [AQ Rec.] 2015 €13.00
  Flight of the Behemoth do-LP first ever vinyl re-press of the 3rd album from 2002, feat. MASAMI AKITA....slow moving lava guitar drones of a subterreanean beauty...contains the vinyl only bonus track "Grimm & Bear It" - luxurious design: case-wrapped gatefold jacket with full color 24" x 36" folded poster, printed inner sleeves, metallic print; BLACK vinyl edition 2020 €33.00
SYNTA[XE]RROR [.]DOT CD Polish project with new album after a long time, a must for any fan of the classic "IDM" ANT-ZEN / HYMEN Rec. sound! - " Artificial sounding and non-obvious rhythms are enriched by very emotional, melodic pads and synths giving a great impression of symbiosis of a man and machine.." - think of SOMATIC RESPONSES, GRIDLOCK.. avantgardish Glitch- & Industrial & minimal electro Pop with great drive! lim. 300 copies 2021 €12.00
TASADAY L'Animale Profondo CD in 1986, this Italian collective released their second LP "L'Animale Profondo" with a very 'handplayed' industrial style, touched with a ritualistic flair.. "free and uncontrollable sounds that tell of an ensemble that was years ahead in European experimental music. Echoes of Einstürzende Neubauten but also of Throbbing Gristle... and beyond, in a deep, almost free jazz universe. Post-industrial sounds that turn into tribal moments with absolutely no control. Without rules. Total freedom of expression." 2017 €13.00
TBC Antisystem CD-R "antisystem ~ denken ~ chaos ~ parameter ~ begriff ~ freisetzen ~ vitalie manie ~ masse ~ amorph" (from the inlay); a very bassy / droney one-tracker (50+ min.) from Hamburgs anarchic noiser Nr. 1; very minimal, dense, massive, mixed with insect field recordings (?); not too far away from some works of FRANCISCO LOPEZ or Z. KARKOWSKI 2007 €7.50
THEME Sacral Blood Warning CD the project of RICHARD JOHNSON (ex SPLINTERED, publisher of GRIM HUMOUR mag., etc.) and STUART CARTER, with a much more aggressive and "industrialized" album than before, with suction pulses, beats and electronics along with disorted vocals and strange sounds...very good and rousing! - " the music that constitutes this album explores notions of a self without moorings violently torn in several directions..." 2020 €12.00
TREES Sickness In CD sounds of hurt => ultra-slow, grinding doomscapes made of heavy guitar-chords, drums, feedback & shrieking vocals; two long tracks of de-humanization, for fans of KHANATE, BUNKUR, HUMAN QUENA ORCH., etc.. 2012 €12.00
TROUM & AIDAN BAKER Nihtes Niht CD alien drones of DIS-orientation - a soundtrack for the endless NOTHING, for suspended ice landscapes, very dark & lonely & grim - maybe the darkest AIDAN BAKER has ever done! Lim. 500 in very special fold-out cover, comes with 11 additional full-colour inlay cards showing paintings of STAS MUKLINOV, released on a new Russian label from Moscow... LAST COPY ! 2013 €15.00
V.A. (VARIOUS ARTISTS) (COMPILATIONS) Si'ka-del-ik CD CONTAGIOUS ORGASM, MIXED BAND PHILANTROPIST & BROKEN PENIS ORCHESTRA, GRILLHAUS, C.RENOU, JOHN WIESE, NOGGIN, ROWENTA / KHAN, HATERS 2004 €10.00
Variations CD JOHN WALL, ADAM BOHMAN, KYMATIK, JOHN GRIEVE, etc.. 1995 €13.50
4 sides a circle 4 x mCDR 16 tracks by 17 acts, weird squared object-package with 4 sticked 3"jewel-cases & real compass inside !! HIVE MIND, AL MARGOLIS, VERTONEN, MITCHELL BROWN, TOM GRIMLEY, THE CHERRY POINT, R.H.Y. YAU, YELLOW SWANS, VERTONEN, BRUTUM FULMEN, HOWARD STELZER, JASON TALBOT, BRENT GUTZEIT, ... 2006 €15.00
23 Drifts to Guestling CD re-issue of MC from 1983, compiled by DAVID TIBET, "the missing piece of the jigsaw between COUM TRANSMISSIONS, THROBBING GRISTLE and PSYCHIC TV", lots of tracks (51) with rehearsal pieces, demo-versions, live-tracks, interviews, radio snippets, phone calls, conversations, etc., feat. GENESIS P ORRIDGE, PETER CHRISTOPHERSON, TG & COUM TRANSMISSIONS & PTV, ADI NEWTON, FRANK ZAPPA, CHARLES MANSON, MONTE CAZAZZA, etc. essential for anyone interested in the history of Industrial Music !! 2008 €13.00
The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye (OST) CD soundtrack for the film of the same name by MARIE LOSIER about the art & life of GENESIS BREYER P-ORRIDGE (THROBBING GRISTLE, PSYCHIC TV) and "his" wife LADY JAYE and their incredible "Pandrogyne" project (using sexual transformations to create a complete symbiosis with the beloved other); music by PSYCHIC TV, THEE MAJESTY, GENESIS BREYER P. ORRIDGE & LADY J., and other collaborations... 2012 €13.00
  Shared Meanings 12inch stunning experimental electronic / technoid / GRIME compilation (one side 33 rpm, one 45 rpm) with 5 highlights from the lim. cassette with MUMDANCE mixes from last year: CATERINA BARBIERI, MUMDANCE & LOGOS, PEDER MANNERFELT, NKISI, SPACE AFRICA; lim. ed. 400 copies 2018 €15.00
VAN WISSEM, JOZEF / SQÜRL Only Lovers left Alive (OST) do-LP soundtrack for the one and only VAMPIRE cult film by JIM JARMUSCH, the original score was performed by SQÜRL (the band project of JARMUSCH) and dutch lutenist JOZEF VAN WISSEM... - " Avant-Baroque lute weaves through twenty-first century guitar grit, heavy back beats, Moroccan percussion, synth bass, field recordings, and numerous sonic effects to create a cinematic tapestry." - luxurious ed. gatefold cover + printed inner sleeves 2021 €29.50
ZOVIET FRANCE Look into Me do-LP first vinyl re-issue of this album from 1990 (with recordings made 1987 + 1988), probably the last one with MARK SPYBEY in the line-up... "Zoviet France cycle and recycle abstract noises into a constantly changing texture, composed of sonorous drones, grindings, scrapings, squeakings and so on. It's atmospheric without conjuring up any obvious imagery at all, thanks to the unreality of most of the sounds used.." - lim. 300 (outside of the Chasse II box) 2020 €31.50
15 DEGREES BELOW ZERO Under a Morphine Sky CD 15 DEGREES BELOW ZERO is a trio from the US, working somewhere between experimental ambience and noise, using all kinds of sources from concrete instrumental sources (percussions, guitars) to more unrecognizable stuff; 7 tracks that reveal quite a variety of approaches & styles, quite strange & idiosyncratic & worth to check out! "15 Degrees Below Zero brings you the companion to 'Morhine Dawn' (2004 Crunch Pod Media), a further journey into the experimental ambience of 15 degrees below zero, who were formerly known as "Imperial Flower Unit". Mastered By Tomas Garrison At Misanthrope studios. "15 Degrees Below Zero's sound ranges from subdued, drifting ambience, featuring skewed, conventional instrumentation and tatters of rhythm, to more insistent, grittier electronic flourishes." [label info] label: www.forceofnature.cc 2007 €8.00
2KILOS & MORE 9,21 mCD-R Debut-mini-album of a new french duo, which could be described maybe as "electronica with an edge", atmospheric stuff with mechanical loops and lots of development within. Two pieces, almost 19 minutes. "2kilos &More is a french duo who mixes electronics and real instruments (guitar, melodica) creating evolutive & complex tracks full of detailed sounds. After many live gigs (with Rapoon, Hybryds and Bad Sector at the third Thérapie Auditive festival in Paris in May 2006 and opening for bands like Colder or Trisomie 21 earlier), this 3", carefully mastered by Norscq (The Grief, The Atlas Project, Von Magnet) is their very first disc, a foretaste to their forthcoming album..." [label info] 2006 €5.00
5UU'S Hunger's Teeth CD Die 5UU’s gehören zum Aushängeschild neuer “Avant-Prog-Rock” oder “Art-Rock”-Bands und wurden oft mit den genialen ART BEARS verglichen....oder als zeitgemässe Nachfolger von YES. Diese Musik ist schwer zu beschreiben: perfekt eingespielte Genre-sprengende Rockmusik, manchmal sehr strukturiert und mit Refrains die man mitsingen kann, i.d.R. mit disharmonischem oder neu-harmonischem Gesang & alles auf den Punkt gespielt; unerwartete Wechsel, fast-Krach-Parts, sehr ruhige experimentelle geräuschafte akustische Szenen, inkl. einem umwerfenden Solo-Stück von THOMAS DIMUZIO; und SUSANNE LEWIS (CORPSES AS BEDMATES) singt auf zwei Stücken. „....Ein Charakteristikum der UU´s-Musik besteht darin, daß häufig Melodien gegen Begleitungen gesetzt werden, die nicht als Unterstützung sondern als Widerpart wirken. Es macht Spaß, beim Hören zu erleben, wie diese Melodik trotzdem als "schön" wahrnehmbar bleibt (obwohl ich mir darüber im klaren bin, daß viele Hörer einwenden würden, die Melodien seien hier als Melodien kaum noch erkennbar).... “ [Ralf J. Günter / Babyblaue Seiten] “The re-formed 5UU's first CD, featuring, one-of-a-kind drummer Dave Kerman with new line-up- Sanjay Kumar (keyboards) and Bob Drake (Bass, Guitar, Vocals) and guests Susanne Lewis, Tom Dimuzio, and James Grigsby. Power, complexity and intelligence - an express train that can pirouette on a dime.” [label info] “....Hunger's Teeth is the most exciting rock album I've heard this year. No, not Anderson exactly, but Robert Drake's vocals do bear a striking resemblance to the Yes man's "angelic" tenor. Is this "progressive rock" for the '90's? A celebration of intricately layered arrangements and polyrhythmic playing, effortlessly combining '70's grandeur with avant-rock, contemporary collage and computing - and only one track in 11 over six minutes! The musicianship (also David Kerman and Sanjay Kumar, plus guests) is superb, not showy, always at the service of the experimental approach to song structure - lots of convoluted instrumental passages that return almost miraculously to "refrains". Brilliant.” [Chris Blackford / Rubberneck] „...."Mangate" is a minimalist, tape-manipulation piece created by Thomas DiMuzio. It has such a hypnotic effect, that I once missed my exit on the highway because that track had lulled me into a semi-trance. Very neat. Those first three tracks are my favorite part of the album, but it continues to maintain its high quality throughout. The ground it covers ranges from a barbershop quartet singing about barbers to philosophy about a bachelor fumbling his way through mending his own clothes. Plus there's a running theme throughout the album that has to do with horses - the one pictured on the cover, the track title "Roan" (which starts with galloping hoof beats), the rocker "Glue" ("in time, sugar and horses will both become glue") that starts with the trumpet call that begins horse races, etc. Even the album title is apparently meant to be the name of a famous race horse. The more I listen to this disc, the more layers and tie-ins to various themes I find. This is definitely a highly recommended album, if you're a fan at all of prog's more experimental edges. For those looking to get their first 5uu's album, this would be a good place to start (if you can find it).” [Ground and Sky] 1994 €14.00
A.G. (AGHIS GIANNOULIS) Colours in Black & White : 2017-2018 DVD Colours In Black & White (DVD / HD AV), consists of five parts, is the new audiovisual artwork by A.G created from 2017 to 2018. This project is an approach of - Digital Visual Music - in linear process, intersecting the aesthetics of new media art and post-minimal composition, as well as experimenting with the bounds of static and moving imagery next to the music in slow motion. The visuals were developed by the transformation and multiplication of a single video signal through digital post-production, resulting into an abstract black & white video synthesis. Titles : Colours In Black & White I : 2017 (Duration 25:00) Colours In Black & White II : 2017 (Duration 30:15) Colours In Black & White III : 2018 (Duration 25:33) Colours In Black & White IV : 2018 (Duration 28:15) Colours In Black & White V : 2018 (Duration 18:50) __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ A.G is a media artist based in Athens & Paris. He has released studio albums and audiovisual works under the names of ANIKA and A.G. In 2015 he reinterpreted three compositions of Erik Satie in the 3CD compilation ERIK SATIE ET LES NOUVEAUX JEUNES 2 (incl. Max Richter, Peter Broderick, Sylvain Chauveau, Rachel Grimes & Dustin O'Halloran), released by french label Arbouse Recordings. He has participated in various collective exhibitions where he presented audiovisual artworks and has collaborated with Free103Point9 Transmission Arts organization for Noise!2009 Festival (Ontological Hysteric Theater) in New York. A.G Works : 2005 ANIKA:A:0304 (MLP) 2008 ANIKA:A:0507 (LP/CD) 2009 ANIKA: 33 RECORDING SESSIONS, NOT INCLUDED IN A:0507 (CD-R) 2010 A.G:POLYGON:08 (CD) 2014 A.G:VIDEOS:2003-2013 (DVD-R) 2015 ERIK SATIE ET LES NOUVEAUX JEUNES 2 (3CD Compilation) 2018 A.G:COLOURS IN BLACK AND WHITE:2017-2018 (DVD-R) Videos : Colours In Black & White I (25:00) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhf0LEUunfU Colours In Black & White II (30:15) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8DK3WZgGts Colours In Black & White III (25:33) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gs6VaQjEL0k Colours In Black & White IV (28:15) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25dV70HXzJY Colours In Black & White V (18:50) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztCprALWI3Q&t=336s Links : A.G:POLYGON:08 http://agpolygon08.blogspot.com ANIKA:A:0507 http://anika-a0507.blogspot.com A.G:VIDEOS:2003-2013 http://ag-videos2003-2013.blogspot.com A.G:LIVE AT FENAILLE MUSEUM. RODEZ:20.05.17 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLRD4yPV0J4 FREE 103 POINT 9 / TRANSMISSION ARTS https://wavefarm.org/ta/artists/xnc29y RE:VOIR http://re-voir.com/shop/en/film-revoir-experiemental-film-dvd/786-ag-videos-2003-2013.html _ 2018 €12.00
AGLAIA Three Organic Experiences CD Die zweite neue VÖ im Jahr 2003 für HIC SUNT LEONES beschert uns sehr luftigen, leichten, vorbeiwehenden Ambient der hochsphärischen Sorte dieses Newcomers aus Italien, inspiriert von griechischen Mythen... perfect late night music by this new Italian project.. „AGLAIA is a musical projekt by Gino Fioravanti and Gianluigi Toso. Gino Fioravanti is a therapist, writer, painter and musician. his touch with electronic music make it human and cosmic/amniotic at the same time. His writings and inspiration, research in different spheres like Alchemy, mythology, ortho-bionomy . Gianluigi Toso is a musician and back-school teacher. He moves through different musical styles, with Gino Fioravanti has relesed many cd for mind and spirit. "Aglaia is one of the Chariti. The 'Cariti' are goddess of beauty, generally represented as three sisters.They live upon Olympus mountain toghether with Muses, with whom sometimes they sing chorus. They pleasently follow the tracks of Apollo, god of divination and music. Their father is Zeus, their mother is Eurinome, the daughter of the Ocean. It is generally considered that 'Cariti' exert every sort of influence upon works of mind and art. Charis means living artís work. In some tradition they are daughters of Erebo and of the Night and love to dance under the pale moon light. The concept of AGLAIA is to create long musical instants, apparently motionless, but with inside the movement of hundred of nuances, micro-variations, pulsations. A fluid, sonoruous tapestry with a never ending motion. The music was thought like a magma of raw materials to refine throught an infinite number of sonorous passages. The listening of T.O.E. behave towards the micro-particle that compose our subtle individual plot, in a world where nothing is firm and nothing is really moving." [press release] www.aliodie.com 2003 €14.00
  Reverberant Skies CD "My tears are like the quiete drift of petals from some magic rose; and all my grief flows from the rift of unremembered skies and snows" Dylan Thomas Tracks: 01 Magnitudine stellare 02 Atlas coeli 03 A boat hunted the edge of the sea 04 Mistic glow 05 Reverberant skies 06 Plenilune 07 Layasakta manas 08 The airy circle 09 Uranometria 10 High on a hill 11 From this darkness spin the golden soul Aglaia sounds: Gino Fioravanti, Gianluigi Toso Recordered: October 2008-May 2009 Photos by Kati Astraeir http://katiastraeir.com Artwork by Hic Sunt Leones" [credits] www.aliodie.com 2009 €14.00
AKATOMBO Sometime, never CD Following on from his critically acclaimed False Positives and Editions Mego collaborations with E.G. Lewis of Wire / Dome, ex-pat Scotsman and long-time resident of Hiroshima Paul Thomsen Kirk delivers his fourth album—ten tracks full of atmospheric, powerful, beat-driven, electronic-based compositions. From the persuasively percussive-led to dark ambient soundscapes to sleazy, wide-screen, full-on, bass-bin rumblings, Sometime, Never has it all… just because. “[A] meld of post-punk toxic ambient angst (à la Throbbing Gristle and Cabaret Voltaire) with contemporary rhythmic models…. Akatombo is big on alienation and … generally conveys a feeling of being close-up to events and places while at the same time feeling disconnected and uncomprehending of them…. [A] brilliantly compelling, adrenalin-soaked antidote to the tranquil hedonism into which electronica has been too apt to lapse in recent years.” —David Stubbs, Resident Advisor “[Paul Kirk’s] beatscapes hearken back to the industrial pioneers of the mid-’80s, but his sound is decidedly contemporary, a mix of drums, bass, bleached tones and samples that veer from dub to club…. The best tracks display more than mood; they reverberate with sass.” —Richard Allen, A Closer Listen “A killer collection of programmed beats, layered samples, dark atmospheres, thick guitars, and droney-ambience, sounding at times like Muslimgauze, or like a more chill Necro Deathmort, or one of those bands who might have shared a compilation with Techno Animal or Sidewinder back in the day. The vibe is definitely on the isolationist tip, murky and claustrophobic, the beats are crunchy and caustic, more often lurching and lumbering than skittering or shuffling, and those beats are set amidst thick swells of grim sinister ambience, and blackened late-night atmospheres….. A sort of dubbed out downtempo dance music that’s not so much for dancing, but lurking, hanging out in the shadows, in empty clubs in empty cities, everything crumbling and decayed, a seriously dystopic soundtrack for some wasted scorched earth future.” —Aquarius 2015 €13.00
ALDINUCCI, GIULIO Disappearing in a Mirror CD talian sound artist GIULIO ALDINUCCI drops his 2nd album on Karl: “Disappearing In A Mirror” is again a truly masterfully composed and sound-designed ambient masterpiece and a more than worthy follow-up to the critically acclaimed “Borders And Ruins” which made it onto several year’s best lists for 2017. Over the course of four solo albums on labels like DRONARIVM plus EPs and collaborative albums (a.o. with IAN HAWGOOD), GIULIO ALDINUCCI successively has been refining his skills as composer and sound designer. His elegant style which blends ambient and field recordings came to full impact on his 2017 album “Borders And Ruins” which gained the Italian sound artist a lot of critical praise and made it onto several year’s best lists, a.o. Acloserlisten.com. ALDINUCCI’s latest effort is again not only a musical masterpiece of sublime beauty and sacral majesty, it also deals with philosophical concerns. Where “Borders …” was a reflection on the instability of borders - borders as an extreme attempt to discriminate and rationalize that turns into a source of chaos and cultural ruins on both sides - and their impact on the relationship between people and territory, “Disappearing In A Mirror” raises the very personal question of identity. In the words of ALDINUCCI himself: “ ‘Disappearing In A Mirror’ focuses on the fluidity of the identity concept, highlighting the harmonious coexistence of contradictory elements and the transitional features that characterize every transformation. It is a reflection on the current situation of change and disruption and at the same time it is a gaze into the human timeless soul and its inner soundscapes.” https://karlrecords.bandcamp.com/album/disappearing-in-a-mirror "Apart from his various collaboration and split releases, Disappearing In A Mirror is Giulio Aldinucci's follow-up to 2017’s Borders and Ruins, and it is his second release for Karl Records. If you thought Borders And Ruins depicted a rather dark view on the state of the world, you’d better be ready for this new album. “Where [Borders and Ruins] was a reflection on the instability of borders and their impact on the relationship between people and territory, 'Disappearing In A Mirror' raises the very personal question of identity." Aldinucci manages to create a sonic version of a hall of mirrors, where you can get completely disoriented from the images of yourself trying to find a way out. In a striking combination of gritty distorted sounds and distant orchestral and choral arrangements that sound like a stretched Beethoven symphony, the first two tracks present a frightening dystopic view. But from there, Aldinucci [somewhat] restores the balance with 'Notturno Toscano', as if he doesn’t want to scare the listener too much. But even in this track the intensity slowly increases again. There’s no way out of the mirror maze, it seems… "Disappearing In A Mirror focuses on the fluidity of the identity concept, highlighting the harmonious coexistence of contradictory elements and the transitional features that characterize every transformation. It is a reflection on the current situation of change and disruption and at the same time it is a gaze into the human timeless soul and its inner soundscapes." If the sweat in the palms of my hand is an indicator of emotional intensity, this album definitely belongs on the top the list!" [Headphone Commute] 2018 €13.00
ALEXANDERSON, MAGNUS Stretched in the Dark CD Drei Stücke von dieser Neuentdeckung für uns, dem schwedischen Elektro-Akustiker MAGNUS ALEXANDERSON; seinen Stil könnte man als "dark & droney electro-acoustic" bezeichnen, v.a. das Titelstück begeistert mit schneidenden, sehr kraftvoll-intensiven Dronescapes... "Elektron is the record company of SEAMS, the Society of Electro-Acoustic Music in Sweden. Their tenth release is by Magnus Alexanderson (1961). He studied guitar, bassoon and musical theory in his youth and later on computer music. Nowadays he works mainly in the electro-acoustic field. There are three pieces here on this release, one from 1991, one from 1997 and the most recent is from 2000, the opening piece. It's called Stretched In Dark (the word the mentioned in the title is missing here) and is listed as musique concrete, but it's wall of the sound drone could easily be listed as 'amplified electric guitar plays with a chain saw', as it has the heavy saw sounds of an amplified agricultural tool. The midiguitar is part of the second piece, Melting Points (1997) together with a sampler. Similar chainsaw effects are reached here, but it's a much more serious piece of slowly gliding sounds, occasionally interrupted by smaller sounds. The oldest piece is Fu (1991), and it's also the longest piece. It's for computer-controlled synthesizer and of a much more quieter nature. Bell like sounds open the piece, and over the course of almost thirty minutes these get stretched out and are sometimes visited by the bell sounds. A deeply atmospherical piece that is the highlight of the CD, even when the other www.elektron.nu 2005 €13.00
ALIO DIE Under an holy Ritual LP Wiederveröffentlichung der ersten ALIO DIE-CD von 1992 in einer schönen Vinyl-Edition !! "First time on vinyl this amazing Alio Die masterpiece..., a milestone of ritual ambient music!!! "Under an Holy Ritual" was his first CD, released on his label Hic Sunt Leones in 1992 and re-released on Projekt in 1993, was received with international acclaim. "Natural and acoustic sounds and selected noises, electronically treated and reworked, are integrated in a meditative and spiritual context that often, in the feeling, becomes close to a prayer. Visible static, this music is rich of hidden sounds, layers of elements to discover at each listening. Alio Die's music, in the consciousness space that creates, it's a melting of technology and mysticism, like a new ritual with echoes of a medieval time, deep and grounded in introspection." Ghostly incantations from the void, subtly shifting frequencies and moods... Stefano Musso has menaged to resurrect unsettling sounds from a pre-Middle Ages epoch and merge them into a pastiche of gripping, evocative pastures. One might be prone to labelling Alio Die as quasi-active ambient music, but that has become a word so bandied around these days that in this case the meaning far from concise. Alio Die presents in his first seminal work, his personal interpretation of atmospherical music... Stefano Musso studied art and electronics in his home town of Milan, Italy, and began performing ambient, electro-acoustic music under the name Alio Die in 1989. Characterized by evocative acoustic sounds manipulated and tendered electronically, Alio Die's work builds intimate soundscapes tied to the mystery and majesty of life and nature. His first CD "Under an Holy Ritual", released on his label Hic Sunt Leones in 1992 and re-released on Projekt in 1993, was received with international acclaim. He subsequently released more than 25 CDs, and collaborated with many well-known artists such as Robert Rich, Vidna Obmana, Mathias Grassow, Nick Parkin, Yannick Dauby, Amelia Cuni, Raffaele Serra, Ora, Antonio Testa.” [label info] “Multi-layered sonic densities that can evoke the air of ancient storms one minute, then ebb like an immense black ocean the next. This knows how to alter moods with both thick electronic pulses and prehistoric scrapes of mysterious percussions. Cerebral, spooky, and thought provoking meditative/ambient music that harkens from a ritualistic viewpoint." [I/E Magazine] 2006 €15.00
ALU Autismenschen CD Späte Veröffentlichung des ersten, bisher unveröffentlichten Album von 1980 von dieser deutschen Paranoia-Elektronik / „New Wave“-Gruppe, die aus zwei der drei Mitglieder der Krautrockband SAND bestand (deren LP „GOLEM“ auf World Serpent wiederveröffentlicht wurde!) . Liner-Notes von DAVID TIBET! “About the band: Alu was a seminal German synth-punk band active 1979-83. This CD is their unreleased first studio album from 1980. This is the unreleased first studio album by one of the pioneering German synth / electronic projects. Liner notes by David Tibet. The project of some of the members of Alu were in prior to Alu, Sand, enjoyed a fantastic revival a few years back (thanks in great part to David Tibet). Unearthing this release will bring much joy to anyone interested in the pioneering sound of German electronic music from the late 70s to mid 80s. Alu released two live LPs, a 7", and a small quantity of cassettes; all of these releases are, tragically, out of print. For those to whom Alu is a new name, comparable audio would be Suicide, Throbbing Gristle (circa 20 Jazz Funk Greats), Esplendor Geometrico, or Algebra Suicide, not to mention myriad electronic German bands who existed concomitant to Alu and have enjoyed recent reissues of their own, including Phonophobia, Die Todliche Doris, and Thorax-Wach. Labels with similar artists include Zick Zack and Twisted Knister. For the young'uns who like Wolf Eyes, this may be considered a worthy ancestor... Alu was born from the ashes of the seminal project Sand, whose releases were issued a few years ago through the persistence and passion of David Tibet. Not coincidentally, David Tibet also provided liner notes for this release. This release comes with a booklet of lyrics (in German), photos, plus a short biography (in English) of the band. Translations of the lyrics and other information on the band will be up soon at their recently created website, alugenerator.com. “....you may call me a retro freak, I prefer the old stuff, like Alu, or The Screamers or Suicide, with whom Alu has in common that they both combined the speed and energy of the punk rock, combined with analogue synthesizer stuff. Some of the more lengthy pieces, such as 'Halt Dich Fest' sound, with lenghty guitar doodlings show their krautrock background, but Alu is at their best in their shorter pieces: a screamy voice, full of doomsday paranoia, a continuous rhythm-box, simple melodies on the organ and guitar in a distorted mood. The real stuff that can't be beaten by a groove-box and microphone. The best re-discovery of 2005!” [FdW / Vital Weekly] 2005 €20.00
AMBARCHI, OREN Triste CD Überraschender CD Re-Release der vergriffenen LP auf dem Metal-Label SOUTHERN LORD, die auch SUNN O))) veröffentlichen. Ein Live-Mitschnitt eines schönen Konzertes aus Nijmegen vom Juni 2001. „...zu hören ist AMBARCHI’s ruhig-dronige Seite, markante gitarrenbasierte Töne die in einem immerwährenden Wechsel zu interessanten Mustern verbunden werden...“ [Drone Rec info] Als Bonus gibt es noch Remix-Collaborationen mit TOM RECCHION. “An expanded reissue of the Triste album from Australian electronic guitarist and percussionist OREN AMBARCHI. The Triste material is reminiscent of his work on Grapes Of Wrath, with his guitar sound/tone transformed into a dark, tonally extreme, percussive instrument, with the sound arranged melodically to create beautiful drone soundscapes. Includes all the tracks from the original version (released on vinyl in a limited edition), along with some remix collaborations with TOM RECCHION.” [press release] “ Mr. Ambarchi's subtle harmonic clusters and beautiful Acoustic lullabies sway the listener into a waking dream like the best works of Charlemagne Palestine, La Monte Young, Phil Niblock, and John Fahey. Imagine that deep tranquil ocean, endless and mysterious, filled by single tears of resonating beauty until the ocean gives way torrents. This is Triste...” [from the original press release] 2005 €14.50
  Raga Ooty / Nilgiri Plateau LP "Raga Ooty unearths three previously unreleased works (each titled with reference to the area in south India where his mother was born) from Oren Ambarchi's archive, showcasing the rawer side of his solo work between 2006 and 2011. The side-long Raga Ooty unspools a twisting, skittering thread of gritty guitar harmonics over a bed of buzzing tambura drone, creating the same paradoxical impression of simultaneous stasis and forward propulsion achieved by minimalist masters such as Henry Flynt, to whom this work is dedicated. The Nilgiri Plateau generates an 8 minute wash of gleaming overtones from a 12 string acoustic guitar played with motors, continuing the experiments first made public on the 2007 Stacte Motors LP. The closing Raga Ooty (Slight Return) returns to the distorted guitar harmonic hysterics of the opening piece, this time elaborated over a wash of Ambarchi's signature Leslie cabinet tones, building relentlessly over the course of 12 minutes recorded live in Basel late last year." [label info] www.boweavilrecordings.com 2012 €20.50
AMBER ASYLUM Bitter River CD "Amber Asylum is one of the most influential and respected acts in the neo-classical / dark ambient genre. Group leader, multi-instrumentalist and producer Kris Force boasts a repertoire that includes collaborations with Neurosis and Swans as well as credits for penning soundtrack music for video games, television, and feature films. Her band is known for their distinct brand of chilling romantic mire and brooding darkness constructed with layers of violin, viola, cello, guitar, bass, percussion, and Force's alluring voice. Bitter River is the darkest and most devastating Amber Asylum album ever conceived. The perfect follow-up to the plunging Still Point, this introspective journey into lost love and lost innocence paints powerful sonic portraits of vast, lonely landscapes, dark chambers, rolling fog, and monumental twilight. For the recording, Force employed some of the most accomplished musicians in the underground: long-time Amber Asylum conspirator Jackie-Perez Gratz (Giant Squid, Grayceon) on cello; Leila Abdul-Rauf (Saros) on guitar, piano, and vocals; bass player Eric Wood (Bastard Noise); and drummer Chiyo Nukaga (Noothgrush), along with guest appearances by Sigrid Sheie (Hammers of Misfortune) on flute and Jarboe providing narration. Bitter River features artwork by David D'Andrea." [label info] "Amber Asylum machten schon immer mehr als nur Musik. Sie schufen die musikalische Untermalung zu Tagträumen. Zumindest zu den Tagträumen, die in die Welt von Elfen, Feen oder Nymphen führten. Die einen auf die Reise in dichte Wälder oder taubedeckten Wiesen im Mondlicht schickten. Die einen mögen dabei an den Herren der Ringe denken, andere an romantisch-verklärte Illusionen über eine Zeit als die Menschen ihre Seele als Teil der Gesamtdynamik der Natur und diese als von vergessenen Zaubern durchzogen betrachteten. Wie auch immer scheint die Musik von Amber Asylum sich nicht mit dem modernen Großstadtleben vereinen zu wollen. Das dieser Anti-Modernismus nicht immer nur romantische Gedankenverlorenheit ist, zeigt sich, wenn man einige Namen assoziierter Weggenossen und Nebenprojekte unter etwas genauer unter die Lupe nimmt. Das sagt dann aber weder was über Kris Force, die maßgeblich hinter Amber Asylum steht, noch über die Musik dann wirklich etwas aus. Auf "Bitter River", dem mittlerweile siebenten Album der Band, wird Force von Jackie Perez-Gratz, Sigrid Sheie und vor allem von Leila Abdul-Rauf unterstützt. Letztere lieh dem Projekt nicht nur ihre Stimme sondern trug auch neben Kris Force zu Songwriting bei. Und gerade ihr pathos-gefüllter, fast opernhafter Gesang hebt Amber Asylum aus der Menge der Neo-Folk Bands heraus und nimmt der Musik damit den Beigeschmack des Klagegesanges Rückwärtsdenkender. Charakterprägend ist auch die Mithilfe von so unerwarteten Gastmusikern wie dem Noothgrush und Graves At Sea Schlagzeuger Chiyo Nukaga, Eric Wood (Ex-Man Is The Bastard, Bastard Noise) und Jarboe von den Swans. Denn "Bitter River" ist nicht nur besinnlich verträumt, es ist über weite Strecken vor allem von einer düsteren, ungewissen Stimmung geprägt. Das macht dieses Album, das beim ersten Hören eine nette Untermalung für verschneite Winterabende zu sein scheint, auch in diesem Sommer nicht komplett deplaziert, ist doch jeder verträumte Tag im Park Unsicherheit und der Angst vor dunklen Wolken und plötzlichen Gewittern und Regengüssen geprägt." [Tinnitus-Mag] www.profoundlorerecords.com 2009 €13.00
ANEMONE TUBE :existence CD " A U F A B W E G E N RELEASE INFO cd-audio releaae date: 25.05.2001 artist: ANEMONE TUBE title: :EXISTENCE: order no.: aatp09 time: 50:12 min jewel case / 500 handnumbered copies / fold out colour insert :existence: as a great mix between rumbling noise and floating ambience. four hasrh tracks and three more dense and collage like works make this a varied and thrilling listen! tracklisting: Flesh & Bombs (10:13) Secondary Master (4:43) Choke Down (5:41) Existence (11:10) Red Waves (5:56) Continuity (4:08) The Encounter III (8:19) Anemone Tube was founded in Summer of 1996 by Stefan Hanser who felt the urge to express deeper personal feelings and dreams. The audioworks from Anemone Tube vary a lot along with the different means Stefan Hanser uses as sound source and for manipulation and could easiest be described as industrial-, ambient- and noisescapes of organic and synthetic sounds. The use of constantly shifting and altering sounds and moods is possibly one of the most intruiging things about the audio creations of Anemone Tube with the purpose of trying to put the listener into a delirious mental state, to irritate, torment and caress him no matter if in a positive or negative way: to cause emotional reaction! Over the years plenty of releases, several participations on compilations, split and collaborational releases on tape, vinyl, cd and video have been realised by different labels worldwide such as Transfixional Entertainment/Ravensburg, AufAbwegen/Köln, Solipsism/USA, Loud!/Italy, Napalmed/Czech, Inner Space Records/USA and many more. www.transformed.de/anemone.html" [original press release by AUF ABWEGEN] "German ambient-industrial project Anemone Tube was formed in 1996, and has explored a variety of heavy noisescapes and rhythmic blocks of sound; the Tube's modus operandi has always seemed to focus on putting the listener into a state of delirium caused by constantly shifting sounds and tones sourced from assorted organic and synthetic sounds, and this approach has resulted in a stylistically diverse body of work over the years. On the debut full length Existence, a nearly hour-long disc released in a hand-numbered limited edition of 500 copies, Anemone Tube is at it's heaviest, constructing seven bulky tracks that move from gorgeous ambient dronescapes to crushing, loop-heavy walls of distortion and menacing melodic tracers undulating over grinding rhythmic throb, sort of like what I'd expect a collaboration between Wolf Eyes and Maurizio Bianchi to sound like, although you can also draw lines to Throbbing Gristle, SPK, and violent early UK power electronics when tracks like 'Choke Down' and 'The Encounter III" get into full swing and start obliterating speakers with ferocious torrents of factory distortion. I really dig the way that Existence manages to balance the haunting, atmospheric drones and buried deconstructed rhythms with the louder, brutal passages of rumbling machine filth, making this much easier to digest than many of Anemone Tube's peers. Packaged in an elegant jewel case with a large 10-panel booklet glowing in fiery, fractaled reds and oranges, imprinted with mysterious pictograms." [Crucial Blast] 2001 €12.50
  Golden Temple CD "anemone tube’s third release of the 'suicide series' tetralogy is an immersive industrial music album and the most ambitious and complex work yet, a long-term project of no less than 6 years, pursuing a highly sophisticated approach full of cross-cultural and historical references. painting a sonic landscape, 'golden temple' is perfectly real and dreamlike at the same time, endorsing archaic, mythological and worldly ideals alike. beauty and evil, the profane and chaos, apocalypse and hope - anemone tube keeps account and observes the antagonist forces of life. composed of raw urban field recordings collected in japan and china, combined with layers of piercing feedback and sinister hovering synth melodies, 'golden temple' confronts you with an all-embracing atmosphere of aggrieving darkness and glorious harshness, fathoming the possibilities of the genre. to ensure due impact, it has been sharply engineered to perfection by mastermind james plotkin. pursuing radical psychological effects of sound, the 13+ minutes initiation 'l`homme et les sirenes' is a mind-bending journey into the human psyche, a slowly emerging sinister landscape evoking man’s intrinsic imbalance with (its own) nature, followed by the noisy debris and crushing buildup of 'apocalyptic fantasy' as well as 'tower of evil', which is the central piece of the album, conceptually and musically, multi-layered and sample-heavy, related to tokyo’s roppongi hills mori tower, which is regarded by natives as a symbol for the uninhibited commercialization of life. 'negation of myth' descends into a barren, metallic darkness, radiating an equivocal sense of melancholy, before 'sea of lights (golden temple)' ascends in sparkling brightness and divinity. the evanescent bleakness of 'anthropocene - the dark abyss of time' finishes the main part of the album on a perversely promising, almost calm, spiritual note. under the heading 'arcadia - dreamland and myth', which constitutes a coherent sequel to the album, anemone tube explores questions pertaining our longing for a return to the realms of myth and emotion. whereas the sinister seething 'i, death, rule even in arcadia' picks up the first piece’s topic of sirens and conjures up the dionysian reunion with the innermost depths of nature and chaos, the psychologically strenuous 'tojinbo - tranquil sea of equanimity' composed by radical sound artist dave phillips (switzerland, schimpfluch-gruppe), using field recordings of the country’s most notorious suicide spot, demands the ultimate choice: how far to go to find your peace of mind. after the purely fantastic 'dream landscape' conjuring up an apocalyptic vision and the dark, brooding landscape of 'death over china' slowly spreading as thick smog (as a consequence for china’s uncompromising economical and societal development causing irreparable environmental harm), the semi-fictional work 'golden temple' is the series’ logical sequel . it suggests a (meta)physical landscape, here in form of global cities and metropolises proudly and brightly soaring in darkness, and bestowing golden radiance and divine beauty. with its alluring metaphorical world of images, symbols and sounds it is the very symbol of our innermost longings, desires and fears and our attempts to escape from a disconcerting reality. the 'golden temple' is comforting and threatening at the same time: consoling as it promises to reveal the secrets of beauty, threatening as it becomes a mirror of our secret death wish. strongly influenced by pasolini’s cinematic masterpiece 'medea', which evolves around the subject matters of estrangement from traditional values, the loss of contact with the mythical and the sacred in an increasingly rationalized and consumerist society, anemone tube brings matters to a head with an invocation of religiously charged symbolism, with the 'golden temple' acting as more than a singular viewpoint, but as a meta-sign, functioning in its paramount acknowledgement and acceptance of complex, sometimes contradictory subject matter. supported by the use of ancient and contemporary imagery, literary and cinematic references reproduced in the lavish accompanying booklet anemone tube creates different narrative levels, juxtaposes contemporary western and long-standing asian culture, plays with symbolic meanings and values - however, while doing so, never takes an unequivocal stand. anemone tube with his varied interests and approaches always strives to present a holistic work of art, and 'golden temple' works on many levels accordingly. the considered use of field recordings and samples, the arrangement of old masters’ paintings, contemporary photos and a variety of quotes from literature and movies - nothing is random, everything is part of the big picture. 'golden temple' is a multi-facetted recording, absorbing and inspiring as well as a complex concept waiting to be discovered. quality time lies ahead for those who get involved and visit the golden temple! the cd comes with a beautifully designed 6 panel digifile with golden print on black paper and a lavish 12-page booklet." [label info] "Im Zentrum von Tokyos Bezirk Minato erhebt sich die Skyline der Roppongi Hills, einer Gruppe von Bürotürmen um den mächtigen Mori Tower, den die kritisch gesinnten unter den Einheimischen in leicht abergläubischer Weise den bösen Turm nennen. In ihrer Wahrnehmung steht er für die Macht, die das Kapital und der entfesselte Konsum auf alle Lebensbereiche ausweitet. Für den Musiker Anemone Tube, der vor einigen Jahren Japan bereiste und am Fuße der Türme das Covermotiv und nicht wenige der Sounds seines aktuellen Albums „Golden Temple“ aufnahm, ist der Ort ein Symbol der kapitalistischen Spatmoderne, der Tower of Evil, den er im gleichnamigen Stück besingt, ist eine Allegorie, die nicht nur in Japan ihre Manifestation hat. „Golden Temple“ – man mag beim Titel an Mishimas Temple of the Golden Pavillon denken, woraus im opulenten Booklet zitiert wird – ist der dritte Teil von Anemone Tubes „Suicide Series“ und somit Nachfolger von „Dream Landscape“ und „Death Over China“. Ein weiteres mal geht es um Landschaften, die sich in der Spätform unserer Zivilisation herausgebildet haben und die zugleich ihren selbst hervorgerufenen Kollaps symbolisieren. Auf „Golden Temple“ ist all dies noch stärker als zuvor mit textlichen und ikonischen Zitaten und Anspielungen unterfüttert, die viele Fragen stellen und gelegentlich auch die eine oder andere Antwort in den Raum stellen. Noch deutlicher als auf „Death Over China“ dreht sich auf „Golden Temple“ alles um das Thema der Entfremdung und ihrer apokalyptischen Dimensionen, und wie es scheint wird ein historisches Panorama entfaltet. Im eröffnenden „L’Homme et les Sirenes“ wird gewissermaßen die Ursünde der Entfremdung abgehandelt, der Trick des Odysseus, dem verführerischen Gesang der Sirenen zu widerstehen, oder allgemeiner: durch scheinbare Disziplin, die in Wirklichkeit eine Selbstfesselung ist, über die Natur und ihre Geister zu triumphieren. Dieser Akt, von Homer gefeiert und noch in der Dialektik der Aufklärung als Sternstunde der Zivilisation gewürdigt, erscheint hier als Auftakt einer fatalen Dystopie, zumindest lässt der knochentrockene Schleifsound, der seine destruktive Wirkraft erst nach und nach entfaltet, nichts anderes vermuten. Von der Irrfahrt des Heroen bis zum finalen Anthropozän in „Anthropocene – The Dark Abyss of Time“ mit seinem an apokalyptisches Flammengeprassel erinnernden Rauschen ist es ein weiter Weg, und der ist mit Marken versehen, die so etwas wie einen Kampf zwischen Sein und Entfremdung anzudeuten scheinen. Auf musikalischer wie textlicher Seite herrscht der Nihilismus des all-encompassing destroyer aus dem zentralen „Tower of Evil“. „Apocalyptic Fantasy“ knüpt mit fatal dröhnenden Kreisbewegungen und einem Sound, der an Gitarrensoli diverser Metalgenres gemahnt, an die vorab veröffentlichte EP „In the Vortex of Dionysian Reality“ an, und schon dass hier auf Fantasy und nicht auf Nightmare verwiesen wird, unterstreicht das Lustvolle, dass dieses Untergangs-Narrativ bis zum kaum verständlichen Sprachample durchzieht – wie im Tarot Crowleys ist der Turm, der hier durch brettharte Noisewände evoziert wird, eine dem Einsturz geweihte comfort zone, deren Implosion gefürchtet und zugleich erhofft wird. Nach einer eindringlicheren Version des schon auf dem Vortex-Tape enthaltenen „Tower of Evil“, hier mit dem Zusatz „The Ultimate Truth“, führt uns „Negation of Myth“ in die etwas filigraneren Regionen der Anemone Tube-Kosmos, was allerdings nur heißt, dass die nosigen Sounds weniger verwaschen und die einzelnen grobkörnigen Partikel deutlicher herausgearbeitet sind. Wer vergleichbare Passagen auf „Death Over China“ oder auf der Split mit Dissecting Table kennt, weiß, dass solche Tracks immer noch niederdrückend sind, und hier ist es v.a. das kosmische Hintergrunddröhnen, das den Eindruck von etwas Verlorenem aufrecht erhält. Vielleicht ist es diese Evokation von etwas ungreifbar Verlorenem, die auch den vielleicht schöngeistigesten Track „Sea of Lights (Golden Temple)“ so eindringlich macht. Anemone Tube war stets an einer angemessenen allegorischen Aufmachung interessiert, doch diesmal ist das Booklet besonders reichhaltig gefüllt. Auf der bildlichen und paratextlichen Seite, die hier entfaltet wird, erwacht eine hetrotopische Gegenwelt, die so etwas wie ein nicht entfremdetes Sein zum Thema macht. Teil dieser Gegenwelt, wenn auch auf sehr radikale Art, ist zumindest der erste der beiden Bonus-Tracks, die wie eine integrierte EP unter dem Titel „Arcadia – Dreamland and Myth” angehängt sind: „I, Death, Even Rule in Arcadia” greift das Motiv der Odysse wieder auf und deutet eine alternative Erzähung an, in der der Held dem Ruf der Geister nachgibt und – auf tragische Weise, der Entfremdung jedoch entrinnend, wieder mit seiner eigenen Natur verschmilzt. „Tojinbo – Tranquil Sea of Equanimity” wiederum ist besonders doppelbödig, scheinen die vom schweitzer Soundaktivisten Dave Philips abgemischten Feldaufnahmen aus der Nähe einer für zahlreiche Selbstmorde bekannten Felsenklippe in Japan doch eher wieder eine Folge der Entfremdung statt ihre Alternative zu beschwören. Letztlich bleibt es eine Frage der Interpretation, ob man die schönen Seiten des in „Golden Temple“ beschworenen als eskapistische Gegenwelt, als Einklagen einer veschmähten Kostbarkeit, als reine Dokumentation oder als vorsichtig hoffnungvolle Zukunftsaussicht auf ein Danach lesen will. Nietzsches Umschreibung des Dionysischen als „Ja zu Leben in all seiner Tragik” kommt mir dabei allerdings nicht aus dem Sinn. Sicher ist, dass das immer etwas links klingende Wort Antikapitalismus und das immer etwas rechts klingende Wort Antimodernismus selten so sehr überblendet wurde, wie auf diesem an Andeutungen und Anspielungen reichen Album, das den Geist Pasolinis wie ein Kontrastmittel über die Goldenen Tempel unserer Zeit gießt – und damit selbst die namenlose saufende Schönheit zu Füßen der Kolosses aus Glas und Beton zum Strahlen bringt." (U.S./AFRICAN PAPER] www.raubbau.org "The second chapter in "the suicide series" from Berlin's Anemone Tube is a suitably grim offering of machined noise, discordant feedback, and industrial field recordings of urban sprawl from a protracted visit to China a few years back. Anemone Tube's inclusion of these Chinese sounds comes from a very conscious decision to express the unfortunate side of the human condition to lay blame of current ills on the foreigner, the other - as Sartre explored in The Stranger. These recordings of locomotive engines grinding against the tracks, jet-engines surging into the sky, and the deafening roar from turbines are not unique to China, but the acceleration of environmental decline through such activities should also be seen as a mirror to the European civilization, whose cities have complex histories to war, famine, death, and disease. Hence, the title refers more to the gleaming optimism of human progress when everything points to another conclusion. Anemone Tube captures this in an immersive construct of these revolving field recordings, compounded by sinister synth passages and haunted drone, that keep us thinking of the likes of Morthound and Megaptera, in the death-industrial realms." [Aquarius Rec.] 2016 €13.00
ANTENNE # 3 CD Überraschung! Diverse Jahre nach dem letzten Werk " # 2 " sind ANTENNE zurück, und zwar auf dem Sub-Label von BETA-LACTAM RING RECORDS. Der besondere Stil, die magisch-zarten & zerbrechlichen Songs, Akustikgitarren & sanfte Elektronik, zurückhaltende trip-hop Beats, der unfassbar sanfte & wundervolle Gesang, all das wurde weiterentwicklelt und perfektioniert. Extrem subtil & gefangennehmend melancholisch, ohne pathetisch zu sein. Ein leicht geräuschhafter & experimenteller Einschlag rundet das ganze ab, wahrhaft dunkler Ambient-Pop! "Antenne is the critically acclaimed solo project of Copenhagen’s Kim G. Hansen, who formerly recorded as half of the Danish industrial duo Institute for the Criminally Insane. Kim G. Hansen was also one of the founding members of Danish experimental noise-rock band Grind, who later became Amstrong - a project focused on trip-hop aesthetics but still influenced by the origins of the band. In 1999, Kim left Amstrong to form a solo project - Antenne. The female vocalist of Amstrong, Marie-Louise Munck, also participates at the project as vocalist on most of the songs. Antenne is known for a minimal and profound style of experimental and dark trip-hop. This is their third full length release and their first release on BlRR/helmet room recordings." [label info] www.blrrecords.com 2008 €13.00
APOLLON Nox CD-R Another (so far, for us) unknown name on C. REIDERS CDR-label is APOLLON, creating distracting loop-ambience with strange samples & ethnic tunes, sometimes really hypnotic... 15 quite different tracks... worth checking out, reminds us on some works of BIG CITY ORCHESTRA. " 'Nox" is an ever changing tapestry of dark sound vignettes, with gritty and foreboding loops of ethnic percussion and smokey ambience, recalling the works of Zoviet:France and Muslimgauze. Apollon's Martin Lee-Stephenson has been working in the experimental "genre" for many years under different pseudonyms. He has been credited in some way, either as producer and/or artist with over 100 releases to date, including collaborative work with such well-known experimental artists as Muslimgauze and Pigface." [label info] 2003 €8.00
APOPTOSE Ana Liil CD "Ana Liil doesn't want to be your friend – she lives in an entirely separate world. Maybe at night you see her shape behind a grimy window in the neighbourhood, or you hear her singing from afar. But you will never get closer to her. “I don't know who she is,” Apoptose says. “One day she just emerged. Like a thought that sounds logic in your dreams but completely strange in daylight.” Apoptose’s “ana liil” plays with your expectations. This album spins within close range of those dark ambient realms that Apoptose became known for since the early 2000s. Songs like “meer der ruhe” or “schnee” still bear this signature. But at the same time they show a new quality of songwriting. Both feature the frail singing of a girl who keeps the dusty shadows at bay . On “forget your face”, “adrenalin” or “ich verbrenne” Apoptose replaces the reverb charged tracks by songs full of voices and haunting melodies. But beware: all is not as it seems. The album will be available on CD, vinyl+CD and download. The CD is housed in a stylish spot varnished six-panel cardboard pack including a twelve-pages booklet and a separate CD-sleeve. The LP+CD version comes in an altered design with copper foil blocking and printed inner sleeve. Don't miss!" [label info] www.tesco-germany.com "Wer ist ANA LIIL? "Sie will nicht mit Dir befreundet sein – sie lebt in ihrer ganz eigenen Welt." So steht es in der kurzen Beschreibung zum neuen APOPTOSE-Album. Ich könnte mir gut vorstellen, dass ANA sich diese Eigenschaft mit RÜDIGER, dem Mann hinter APOPTOSE teilt. Wohltuend zurückhaltend präsentiert sich der Musiker, den wir seit einiger Zeit begleiten. Rund vier Jahre nach "Bannwald" (Besprechung und Interview) legt er, ganz unaufgeregt, im Mai mit "Ana Liil" auf TESCO ein neues Album vor; wir durften es vorab schon hören. Trotz vieler Änderungen in den vergangenen Jahren – von den rituelleren Alben "Nordland" (2000) und "Blutopfer" (2002) über das industrielle "Schattenmädchen" (2007) und den Post Punk-Ausflug "Warrior Creed" (2008) wieder zurück in waldigere Gefilde auf "Bannwald" (2010) – blieb ein gewisser APOPTOSE-Sound immer erkennbar. Dies gilt auch für "Ana Liil", hier finden sich erneut die leicht orgeligen, langgezogenen Synthietöne. Ansonsten hat sich allerdings eine ganze Menge getan. Zum Beispiel arbeitet RÜDIGER auf einigen Songs mit Gesang, die Trommeln von früher liegen wohl endgültig im Keller, und die Musik mit eingängigen, starken Melodien könnte als minimaler Synthiewave durchgehen. Schon "Meer Der Ruhe" (01) birgt die erste Überraschung: Zu einer ruhigen, traurigen Synthiemelodie mit neoklassischer Anmutung singt eine Kinderstimme, anrührend und auf Deutsch. Gemeinsam mit dem angesprochenen, speziellen Klang ergibt sich etwas Märchenhaftes – wir reden allerdings von den düsteren, morbiden Märchen, in denen es um Geister, Tote und andere Dimensionen geht. So kommt der Song trotz der Kinderstimme sehr gut am Kitsch vorbei. In "Ich Verbrenne" (02) wandelt sich die Sängerin vom Mädchen zur Frau. Die weiterhin ruhige Synthie-Ambientmusik mit dezentem Rhythmus im Hintergrund erinnert mich – hier und an anderen Stellen – an elektronische Musik der 1980er/90er, zum Beispiel an die frühen WOLFSHEIM. Der Titeltrack (03) schlägt zum ersten Mal wirklich düstere Töne an: dronige E-Gitarre, Percussion und englische, gesampelte Vocals. KRAFTWERK oder deren aktuelle Version ATOM™ scheinen in "Fernsehen" (04) zu grüßen (und auch das nicht zum letzten Mal): sanfte, jetzt sehr modern wirkende Elektromusik mit TV-ähnlicher Ansagerstimme ("Fernsehen macht dumm ..."). Die moderne, computerisierte Anmutung bleibt für die nächsten beiden Tracks bestehen: "Adrenalin" (05) mit mächtigem BACH-Chor im Hintergrund und "I Say Seven" (06) mit einer dronigen, mächtigen Melodie, analogem Schlagzeug, Synthielayern und der technisierten Frauenstimme, welche Zahlen präsentiert – mein Favorit. "Hiding" (07) ist eines von zwei Stücken, bei denen mir "Twin Peaks"-Lieder von JULEE CRUISE in den Sinn kommen (mit mehr Drive und Rhythmus), auch die Kinderstimme im Abschlussstück "Schnee" (09) bringt mich dorthin zurück. Dazwischen liegt mit "Forget Your Face" (08) ein Track, bei dem ich kurz – ich hoffe, RÜDIGER verzeiht mir das – an die PET SHOP BOYS denken musste. Extrem packende Ambientmusik, die inhaltlich durchaus an frühere Alben von APOPTOSE anknüpft, vor allem "Schattenmädchen" und "Bannwald". Auch Kinderlieder und Gesang gab es vor allem schon auf letzterem. Musikalisch allerdings geht "Ana Liil" in eine andere Richtung. Die Nähe zur Natur ist nicht mehr so deutlich hörbar, die starke rituelle Komponente fehlt, die Trommeln spielen überhaupt keine Rolle mehr. Das aktuelle Werk ist in seiner fast ausschließlich elektronischen Anlage durchgängiger, die Stücke sind sich ähnlicher und häufig mit Gesangsstimmen versehen. Nach und nach umspinnt die Hauptdarstellerin den Hörer mit Einsamkeit und Verlorenheit – und trägt ihn davon. Das Album erscheint als CD, LP und als Download und kommt laut Beschreibung von TESCO mit aufwändiger Verpackung..." [Michael We./NONPOP] 2014 €14.50
  Ana Liil LP + CD "Ana Liil doesn't want to be your friend – she lives in an entirely separate world. Maybe at night you see her shape behind a grimy window in the neighbourhood, or you hear her singing from afar. But you will never get closer to her. “I don't know who she is,” Apoptose says. “One day she just emerged. Like a thought that sounds logic in your dreams but completely strange in daylight.” Apoptose’s “ana liil” plays with your expectations. This album spins within close range of those dark ambient realms that Apoptose became known for since the early 2000s. Songs like “meer der ruhe” or “schnee” still bear this signature. But at the same time they show a new quality of songwriting. Both feature the frail singing of a girl who keeps the dusty shadows at bay . On “forget your face”, “adrenalin” or “ich verbrenne” Apoptose replaces the reverb charged tracks by songs full of voices and haunting melodies. But beware: all is not as it seems. The album will be available on CD, vinyl+CD and download. The CD is housed in a stylish spot varnished six-panel cardboard pack including a twelve-pages booklet and a separate CD-sleeve. The LP+CD version comes in an altered design with copper foil blocking and printed inner sleeve. Don't miss!" [label info] www.tesco-germany.com 2014 €24.50
ARCHITEUTHIS DUX Submergence CD-R Architeuthis Dux is a noise unit from Austin, TX, perhaps best known for their heavily engaging, blistering harsh noise performances. Active since 2012, the duo of Kenny Brieger and Tony Duran have created an impressive oeuvre of mostly limited CDR editions, some in quantities as low as 15 copies. Through over a dozen releases, there have, on many occasions, been moments of what one can only call "blissed out abrasions"; Traversing territory that comes off with an almost kraut-rock oriented synth meltdown glaze, topped off with lo-fi metallic clang, skrieking industrial grit, and just generally bleak and tortured, surgical steel atmospheres. NO PART OF IT proposed to hone in on these reflective moments, and compiled a morass of penetrating, expertly organized cacophony that serves to stand apart, or give way to, the rest of Architeuthis Dux's more aggressive power electronics and heavy electronic work. The result is just under an hour of crisp sampling, damaged percussion, and simultaneously subdued, yet clearly pissed off pedal action that could stand up to SPK's early live sets, or Nurse With Wound's darkest moments. https://nopartofit.bandcamp.com/album/submergence 2016 €8.00
ART BEARS Winter Songs CD Re-Release of second LP from 1978 ! „Die Songs von "Art Bears" haben mit Rock-Idiomen kaum was gemein, das Trio bedient sich auf "Winter Songs" überwiegend der Konzepte der Avantgarde und der Klassik des 20ten Jahrhunderts. Kalt, dunkel und dissonant, nur beiläufig mit den allseits beliebten Schönheitsidealen flirtend ("The Hermit"), beschwören Art Bears eine Stimmung unterschwelliger Spannung herauf. Dazu trägt maßgeblich der unvergleichliche Gesang von Dagmar Krause bei. Die sparsame Instrumentierung besteht aus ungemein kreativem Schlagzeugspiel von Chris Cutler, der bekannterweise auch verschiedenste Effekte, wie z.B. präparierte Tonbänder einsetzt, und aus songdienlich eingesetzter Gitarre, Keyboards und Geige des Multiinstrumentalisten Fred Frith, der gelegentlich auch zum schrägen Gitarrensolo ansetzt. Nur selten bricht hier offene Aggression aus, wie beispielsweise auf "Rats&Monkeys". Inspiriert durch die Skulpturen der Kathedrale von Amiens, vermittelt "Winter Songs" mit der schön-bizarren Gnadenlosigkeit etwas von der Atmosphäre des Mittelalters, allerdings anders als man es vielleicht gewohnt ist. Allen Henry Cow/Canterbury-Sympathisanten zu empfehlen, Gentle Giant-Jünger dürfen auch mal ruhig reinhören.“ [Siggy Zielinski / Babyblaue Seiten] “New digipak version; originally released 1978. "The Art Bears' second album consists of twelve songs of various tensions: rest vs. speed, improv vs. pulse, space vs. density, Dagmar Kraus' vocals vs. everyone else. As usual, Chris Cutler's lyrics tell political allegories through medieval-tinged stories: slaves, castles, and wheels of fortune (and industry) dominate. Fred Frith explores discordance through his guitar, and European folk figures through his always enjoyable violin. Though not as confrontational as their other work, the centerpiece has to be the frantic 'Rats and Monkeys' with three minutes of teeth-gritting, out-of-control insanity as all three players are plugged into a wall outlet and let rip." [label info] 2004 €14.00
ATUM HITWA CD Gespenstischer & sehr dunkel glühender esoterischer dark ambient, mit leichten Folk-Einflüssen. Müsste das vierte Album der Polen sein (nach drei CDRs, die ebenfalls auf Beast of Prey erschienen). Zu entdecken für Fans des Genres! Limitiert auf 444 Exemplaren in grossformatiger Hülle. " - dark ambient with dark post-industrial rhythms - If symbol can be received by senses, then combining with a sound, how much a concept does it make? Is this something more, that can move our imagination a step forward? New album of Polish project Atum is a try in creating such images in our minds. As a guests on the album participated: INFAMIS, DEAD FACTORY i EQUUS. 47 minutes long album of strong dark ambient. Sounds, calm, and growing, pulsing create a grim atmosphere. Album diversified by rhythm loops, industrial hits and also acoustic guitar. Sounds for a Cold Meat fans, something between Desiderii Marginis and Megaptera. Unconventional release in 135mm by 150mm format, printed on a cardboard 45cm long. Folded in three parts, minimalistic graphic form with specially designed symbolics. CD mounted on a rubber dot. All foiled and hand numbered to 444 copies." [label info] www.beastofprey.com 2008 €13.00
BABYLONE CHAOS Noises from the Attic mCD-R "seven years ago, we released a "réactions mécaniques", a 3" by botchan korisen, one of the many aliases julien cornu-kuoch uses (used?). over the years, his main project babylone chaos evolved from more electronic sounds and rhythms to more complex structures and organic sounds. babylone chaos recently released a collaborative disc with contagious orgasm ("altered beasts" on steelkraft manufactory) and it seems like babylone chaos could be now compared to the japanese artist. "noises from the attic" is an oppressive 17 minute track, a frightening and dense mass of sounds." [label info] www.taalem.com "Also Babylone Chaos is a new name, but behind it is Julien Cornu-Kuoch, of whom Taalem released a couple of years ago 'Reactions Mecaniques' under the name Botchan Korisen - which is something I can't find no evidence off in back-issues - but now sees a change of modus operandi. The sampler seems is dusted and microphones stuck in the attic, basement or outside and sampled together into a dense piece of sample mania. Cornu-Kuoch is working these days with Japanese artists Contagious Orgasm, which is something that also shows in his solo music. There is an ambient quality about this too, but it's very much unlike say Tone Color. Where's Tone Color is light, airy, and up in the sky, Babylone Chaos is dark, brooding and mysterious. More the soundtrack of a fine horror movie about zombies and life after a nuclear holocaust, ending with a fine industrial grinding of said (sad?) zombies. Very dark and very moody indeed. Quite unlike for Taalem, I was thinking." [FdW/Vital Weekly] 2013 €5.00
BAD ALCHEMY Nr. 116 (Oktober 2022) mag Freakshow Artrock Festival 2022; Live: A Novel Of Anomaly, Boy Harsher, Sean Noonan, Tryon; Features: Still Against the Invasion - Der ganze Begriff von Glück ist Finnen im Allgemeinen fremd - Musica Nova in Canada; Neues von Circum-Disc, Constellation, Crammed Discs, Cuneiform, Discus, Klanggalerie, Enja / Yellowbird, Intakt, Jazzhausmusik, Relative Pitch, Sofa, Tiger Moon, Umland, Umlaut, We Insist!; Spotlights: Doc Wör Mirran, Alfred Harth / Peter Fey, Paul Hubweber, Tomo Jacobson, Manuel Mota, Marc Richter, Udo Schindler, Christof Thewes, Trespassers W, John Zorn; 88 S., keine Werbung 2022 €4.00
BAD SECTOR Storage Disk 2 CD Zweiter Teil der Anthologie mit raren Tracks vom italienischen Kult-Projekt, die beweisen dass Massimo Magrini auch auf Compilations und "kleinen" Releases nur hochwertiges veröffentlicht hat; inklusive 4 unveröffentlichen Stücke von 2002, und wieder im besonderen WAYSTYX-Design! "2nd part of rare tracks anthology. Contains material from: "Planar Energy" picture 7" (Smallvoices), "Scrignum Vitae" box with CD and objects (Old Europa Cafe), "Ten Years Of Madness" 2 CD (Achtung Baby!), "Land:[Schaft]" 2x10" (Cold Lands), "Hover" CDr (Bastet Rec.), "L'Ame Electrique Presents Old Europa Cafe" (Ame Electrique) + 4 previously unreleased tracks recorded in 2002." [Zhelezobeton] "...The Waystyx label focuses on Industrial based music, drones and field recordings. Behind the Bad Sector-project you find the Tuscanny-born artist Massimo Maggrini who has been active under the Bad Sector flag since 1994 with the debut cassette release "Ze" on the Slaughter Productions label followed by the CD-release "Ampos" on Dutch label God Factory in 1995. Since then it has resulted in an extensive number of releases on various labels with quite a few on the Waystyx label. Present album titled "Storage disk 2" is a compilation of later materials of Bad Sector from the period 2002-2005. The overall expression is quite dramatic combining industrial sound spheres with more downbeat ambient. Despite the downbeat expression approaching the tranquilizing sound of melancholic ambient, there are masses of industrial elements combined with interesting noisy and state of the art electronics added elements of manipulated guitars and processed human voices. The music of Bad Sector is intense and very atmospheric. Thus a pleasant overview of earlier materials from a talented Italian artist calling himself Bad Sector. Intense!" [NM, Vital Weekly] www.waystyx.com 2008 €13.00
CMASA CD In jeder Hinsicht ungewöhnlich und doch unverkennbar BAD SECTOR! CMASA beruht auf älteren Fragmenten, die MASSIMO MAGRINI aka BAD SECTOR für eine Kunstausstellung in Pisa 2005 einspielte (zum Thema "River's end" - dort wo der Fluss aufs Meer trifft), darunter Klavier- und Gitarrenbearbeitungen sowie Feld- und Objektaufnahmen von Wasser und Metall. In Verbindung mit BAD SECTORs typischen (und nach wie vor unerreichten) Synth-Sounds entstehen fünf lange "Movements" voller industriell-poetischer Traum-Atmosphären; digital verfremdete "technische" Klänge in einem Meer von Nostalgie, Einsamkeit & Melancholie. Gänsehaut-erzeugend. Grossartig. "In 2005 Massimo Magrini was invited to provide a soundtrack for the M3M art exhibition in Pisa/Italy. The exhibition was based around images of the seaside and the rivers estuary of Pisana area with CMASA airplane factory built there in it's centre vis a vis of archaic marine cottages. This marvelous seaside scenery mixed with vintage industrial locations, together with some kind of nostalgia, created an unexpected but amazing mood. To sculpture a soundtrack of this scenery Massimo Magrini was asked to use acoustic and natural sounds too and so he added for this work treated piano and snippets of acoustic guitars together with water sounds and metal samples. This may sound unusual for a BAD SECTOR release but all those new elements are perfectly blent into the massive and ambient soundwaves for what previous releases are known for and making CMASA probably to the most emotional album of Massimo Magrini to date. All initial exhibition sounds where regenerated, remastered and re-assembled during 2007-2009. Digipack.(LOKI/PAS 23)" [label info] www.loki-found.de www.loki-found.de 2009 €13.00
Chronoland CD "This new album of Massimo Magrini is the soundscape for a mind movie and another masterpiece that picks up where the previous work CMASA left off. Twelve beautifully crafted chapters of music segueing between morphing layers of thick drones, haunting melodies and crackling vocal transmissions. Chronoland unfolds a fascinating and cineastic atmosphere of frightening ambient melodica with dark soundwaves deeply imbedded in the music and bursts of electro-acoustic effects. This release is another step forward into the sound cosmos of Massimo Magrini with new directions but always in the unique way of BAD SECTOR." [label info] www.loki-found.de 2011 €13.00
Raw Data mCDR "active for almost twenty years, massimo magrini/bad sector has a solid discography with many releases on respected labels such as old europa cafe, waystyx, drone records, afe records or blade records. recorded in 2006, these short tracks were originally released as an interactive webpage in 2007. they were remastered and re-shaped especially for this 3" in january 2010. massimo says about "raw data": "the goal was to create interesting soundscapes that have no link to human manufacts/intentions: they just sound like directly recorded from sort of special, non musical device. only apparently cold, their macrostructure is so complex that a top-level macrostructure is totally unnecessary"." [label info] www.taalem.com "Bad Sector has been going for some twenty years now and had a lot of releases on labels as Old Europa Cafe, Waystyx and Drone. Although sometimes placed among the industrialists of a darker kind, I always thought the music of Bad Sector (the brainchild of Massimo Magrini) was quite interesting. The pieces here, eleven in total, were first released on an interactive website, but remastered for this release. It seems to be entirely made from computer data, and have a cold clinical feel, with a great dynamics in sound. Deep bass sounds, high end frequencies, looped around, seemingly without much story. Cold but fascinating stuff. Things bump and collide, and then disappear as black holes." [FdW/Vital Weekly] 2011 €5.00
Transponder CD "science experiment as pagan ritual... Who needs representation for Bad Sector? Certainly almost no one. Since 95 year, each new album of this project it's event which is awaited by every second listener of industrial music. And now - long-awaited, CD the version, one of the most interesting albums of Italian master Massimo Magrini! First time Transponder was released as CD-r on Blade Records in 99, now the album is again accessible, in a new format and with additional, exclusive compositions of that period - "Yst" and "Waal"! More than 60 minutes dark, deep, meditative, structured noise-ambient, in the best traditions of Dolmen Factory and Ampos..." [label info] www.infinitefog.ru 2011 €12.50
Xela LP Despite the existence of Massimo Magrini's project since 1991, Bad Sector has rarely been released on vinyl. There have been a few 7 inches and one 10 inch released back in the Nineties. Now is the time for the very first vinyl in 12 inch format! Xela originally appeared on CD in 2001 and contained an edited and remastered version of a backing tape from a 1996 festival performance in Berlin, that was curated by Staalplaat. Especially mastered for vinyl, Xela is everything that the specific sound of Massimo Magrini stands for. Deep droning waves echoing through the abyss are underpinned by minimalistic archaic rhythms and processed radio transmissions, creating an inexplicable mystery of beautiful and timeless sound sculptures. 100 copies in clear vinyl. 200 copies in black vinyl. The cover artwork is based on photographs by Stefan Alt. www.loki-found.de 2017 €16.00
  Live at Maschinenfest 2015 MC "for more than two decades, massimo magrini aka bad sector has succeeded in spellbinding fans of all kinds of eclectic electronic music. may it be industrial beats or ambient - his musical creations range from simply beautiful soundscapes to pulsations that will grip and energize your entire body. minimal arrangements of distorted bleeps and clicks, distant voice samples and radio recordings of numbers, technical terms or alike blend with farreaching pads, infinitely stretched with massive reverb - thereby generating the impression of moving like a cosmonaut through open space. the reductionistic creations however do not lack complexity by any means, as each sound is allowed to unfold, maximizing each instruments power. the incredible portfolio of bad sector is now topped by raubbau’s release of his live performance at maschinenfest 2015. a perfectly balanced mix of every facet bad sector has to offer. available: 20october2k17" [label info] www.raubbau.org 2017 €12.00
BAD SECTOR & ASTRO Idioblast CD "In 2005 a small Russian label, Insofar Vapour Bulk, proposed to Massimo Magrini to work on a recording made by Hiroshi Hasegawa (Astro). It was a "drone-like" sound of a few minutes, Despite the difficult nature of the assignment, Massimo loved the very static and cryptic structure of the original. So, starting from this basic recording (without using additional sounds) he developed a 45 minutes long suite: it was like using a magic audio lens which revealed a myriad of hidden details in a microscopic world. The original Astro sound can still be heard at the beginning and at the end of the suite. The re-edition comes in beautiful cardboard case with silver-embossed printing." [label info] www.loki-found.de "... IDIO BLAST verzaubert mit drones und regelrecht glitzernden Klängen, kristallin-klar und glasig-summend und mit seltsame Zwischentöne versehen..." [Drone Rec. 2006] 2012 €13.00
BAD SECTOR / CONTAGIOUS ORGASM Vacuum Pulse CD Re-Release des vergriffenen Tapes von 1996 (OEC 083), zu dem wir damals bemerkten: "Wer beide Gruppen kennt, hat mit solch einer Kollaboration sicher nicht gerechnet! Was dabei herauskommt (kein Split-Tape, sondern gegenseitige Bearbeitung von Basic-material), liegt fernab der für beide Gruppen typischen Sounds: mystische Sphärenmusik durchmischt mit konkretem Material, Samples, etc..die eine Seite CONTAGIOUS ORGASM beeinhaltet Contagious'sches Material bearbeitet von Bad Sector, während auf der BAD ORGASM - Seite genau umgekehrt vorgegangen wurde..." klasssse.. Re-released now, back in stock for a SPECIAL price ! “....From a mere description, this could end up sounding like every other drone and ambient noise release you own, but the fact is that nothing can account for the sheer depth and richness of the sounds on offer here. Everything has an almost organic quality to it, the drones sounding so liquid and deep that they take on a life of their own, both separate and a part of their generative technology – an otherworldly symbiosis of life and machine that stems directly from science fiction. It is hard to distinguish the two different artists’ efforts from one another, as their approaches to sound and composition are so alike, especially when focussed towards this common theme. It is, then, almost the perfect collaboration, each artists’ talents serving to enhance the other’s and producing a work that is not far removed from their usual output, but that has that elusive X-factor of genius and serendipity that quickly ranks this as a classic of modern music. Nearly indescribable, highly recommended. [Gavin Lees, Immanence Records] label: www.oldeuropacafe.com 2002 €12.00
BAD SECTOR / SSHE RETINA STIMULANTS Neurotransmitter Actions CD "Originally released in 2000 this long sold out collaboration work is now available again and brings back some fine piece of well crafted deep sounding electronica from Italy. The BAD SECTOR tracks of Massimo Magrini building up again a sonic cathedral of sub-harmonic drones and rhythms while Paolo Bandera of SSHE RETINA STIMULANTS/SIGILLUM S dissects precisely the frequency oscillation and adds an intense and contemplative manifest of digital noise to the second part of this split-work. This is an outstanding example in sound research by two of the most important masterminds of the Italian electronic music scene. The CD is presented in a beautiful cardboard package with bronze-foil print." [label info] www.loki-found.de "If you have been reading these pages closely over the past few years, you may know I have a soft, as yet unexplained, spot for the music of Bad Sector. One could find this odd, as I may not be known as someone who likes this dark, slightly gothic electronic music. But it seems there is always an element of computer treatments, sci-fi and humour in this, which makes that I enjoy it. In 2000 Bad Sector released this split CD with Sshe Retina Stimulants, also from Italy, and the music project of Paolo Bandera (and I have no opinion on his music, simply because I don't know it very well), and now it's been re-issued. Here we have one-track silence (why?) at the beginning, four pieces by Bad Sector, five by Sshe Retina Stimulants and one, in the middle, of them together. The Bad Sector pieces are trademark for him (the band is a solo project of Massimo Magrini): heavy slabs of electronics, ditto dark rhythms, and lots of treated vocals. This entire here more forceful, it seems, than on the more recent releases. Quite nice, again, music in the realm of industrial music. Sshe Retina Stimulants, whom I didn't know that well, seem to be more about singular synthesizer strokes in quite a noisy manner. There is something about these tracks, which may make them sound alike. Maybe its all more loop like with some sound effect treatments? Either way, it works quite well, even when it's perhaps not something I would play everyday. In the middle ground, their collaborative piece both ends are tied together and operated with a tour de force. Altogether this is fine manifestation of industrial music." [FdW/Vital Weekly] 2014 €13.00
BAKER, AIDAN Exoskeleton Heart CD-R "Following up his amazing Periodic disc that was issued through Crucial Bliss two years ago, acclaimed Toronto drone-guitarist Aidan Baker is back with Exoskeleton Heart, his newest entry into our ongoing Crucial Bliss series. And this 2-track, hour long excursion into deep feedback bliss is stunningly beautiful. Split into two halves, "Interior" and "Anterior", Baker once again taps into his visions of the bodycage using only his electric guitar, performed and recorded live; the result is an evocative feedback-heavy dronescape drifting with the gritty hum of the amplifier, layers of shimmering, chiming feedback, crushing distorted ambient dirge that borders on Sunn O)))-levels of sonic weight, and shafts of elegiac melody breaking through the stormclouds of Baker's cavernous rumbling like rays of sunlight. Aidan Baker is without question the North American counterpart to the Teutonic guitar drones of Troum, and Exoskeleton Heart delivers some of his most massive, meditative, crushing, and beautiful subterranean drift yet. Hell, the final 10 minutes of "Anterior" is without questions one of the most beautiful things we have ever presented through this label, an angelic glacial melody that builds inexorably into a wall of blissed out fuzz a la something you'd expect from Aidan's dronesludge band Nadja. Essential. The disc comes in a full-color signature Crucial Bliss foldover sleeve with the disc affixed to a plastic hub on the interior of the sleeve, and has been pressed in a limited edition of 300 copies" [label info] label: www.crucialblast.net 2007 €10.00
BALDRUIN Relikte aus der Zukunft LP Relikte aus der Zukunft (Relics from the Future) is a new album by experimental German artist Baldruin. Growing up in a small Bavarian village rectory around 10 meters beside the church and serving as an altar boy; organ music, church bells, and spiritual chanting were very much present in Johannes Schebler's ears during his childhood years. This experience was probably the basis for his ongoing interest in transcendental and mysterious atmospheres, he recalls. Schebler started making music as Baldruin back in 2009 with DIY experimentations which were first released on tape, a CD-R 3" and later on several LPs all over Europe (Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Finland, Netherlands, Slovakia), as well as in the USA and Japan. While in the beginning Baldruin's tracks were mostly created with acoustic instruments, later synthesizers and other electronic sound sources joined, expanding the sound palette and letting primordial and futuristic worlds merge organically into each other. Although Relikte aus der Zukunft feels like a journey to the unknown, with constantly changing moods, all of the recordings were done in a small and improvised home studio in Schebler's living room in Wiesbaden, Germany, using mostly a single MIDI-keyboard for recording. The tracks are full of color and amazement, detailed and thorough when evoking the setting and conjuring the experience. They can be playful and bright, or suspenseful and ominous, until bursting into ritual and hallucination. The gloomiest soundscapes can jump into a ship fueled by retro sci-fi arpeggios, the solemn can turn to rejoice, and a star can shrink into a fireplace. Mastered by Alberto Cendra at Garden Lab Audio. Cover art by Johannes Schebler. Edition of 300. https://buhrecords.bandcamp.com/album/relikte-aus-der-zukunft "Vor gerade einmal acht Monaten brachte Johannes Schebler alias Baldruin mit “Kleine Freuden” ein Album heraus, das trotz seiner Opulenz und vor allem wegen der geschlossenen Kompaktheit der einzelnen Stücke ganz im Zeichen der fast schon intim anmutenden Miniatur stand. Seit einigen Wochen steht mit “Relikte aus der Zukunft” nun ein neuer Longplayer in den Regalen, der im Vergleich dazu wie ein Gegenzoom wirkt und die Aufmerksamkeit auf die großen und breiten Zusammenhänge richtet. Schon der Titel könnte zu einem handlungsreichen Film passen, und zu Tracks wie “Hintenherum”, “Wurzeltrank” oder “Ritt auf der Silberechse” könnte man sich fantastische Science Fiction-Stoffe der surrealen Art ausdenken. Die ersten Minuten des Albums verbreiten eine erwartungsvolle Stimmung: Es klappert und rumpelt, und über einem Sound, der nach Syntie klingt, erklingt das Trillern verschiedener Klangquellen, die Flöten, Klarinetten und ein Saxophon sein könnten, im Zusammenspiel mit flatternden Flügelschlägen aber sofort an verfremdete Vogelstimmen denken lassen. Halbversteckte Glockenschläge im Hintergrund leiten über in ein sakraler anmutendes Setting mit tiefen Tastentönen und etwas, das an Choräle erinnert, und man wundert sich, dass all dies – laut Begleittext – überwiegend einem Midi-Keyboard entstammen soll. Sanft bimmelnde Glöckchen, spannungsvolle Cellodrones, quirlige Sounddetails, die wie Gummi quietschen; ein vermutlich asiatisches Saiteninstrument, dass mit seinen kreisenden Bewegungen eine entsprechende Melodie anstimmt und weitere folkig eingefärbte Klänge; alarmierende Hochtöner über dunklen, aus der Ferne hörbaren Paukenschlägen; desolate Sounds, die für kurze Momente an Industrial erinnern; sogar eine vervielfachte menschliche Stimme vor einer Kulisse aus Gebimmel und rauschenden Motoren – die klanglichen Details und motivischen Ideen sind in diesem Album beinahe Legion und im ständigen Wandel begriffen. Ist man erstmal vollends in diese Welt eingetaucht, dann halluziniert man vielleicht noch einige dazu. Wenn man also so etwas wie einen roten Faden sucht, dann findet man ihn woanders, z.B. in der aufgeweckten Neugier, die in der Reise durch die verschiedenen Klangwelten spürbar ist. Da scheint man dem Entdecken einer Kultur beizuwohnen, deren Zeichen man wie ein Schwamm aufsaugt, während die eigentliche Erforschung und Kartografierung noch ansteht. Die einzelnen Szenarien wirken wie Momentaufnahmen im Stadium des ersten faszinierten Eindrucks. Neben “Insel der Hoffnung”, dass in all seiner Verträumtheit und mit gebrochenen Rhythmen so etwas wie der “Hit” des Albums sein könnte, gibt es weitere Wegmarken. Das wäre z.B “Wilde Reise”, eine von rumpelnden Trommelwirbeln und entrückten Flötensounds begleitete Fahrt über Stock und Stein. Außerdem “Vorherbestimmt”, das mit seinen pulsierenden Orchestralsounds wie ein dramatischer Stummfilmscore klingt, der von allerlei destruktivem Klirren begleitet wird und in seiner ganz eigenen Schönheit doch unangetastet bleibt. Vielleicht findet sich auch in dieser Tendenz zur Zerfleddertheit, an deren Grenze sich fast alle Stücke bewegen, und die immer durch eine solide Grundsubstanz eingehegt und zusammengehalten wird, ein Schlüssel zur klanglichen Grund-DNA dieses beeindruckenden Albums." [African Paper] 2023 €27.50
BARONI, CLAUDIO F. & DARIO CALDERONE Ursae Minoris CD A constellation is a construct of perspective. Unfathomable fireballs ripping apart and reconstituting atoms, separated by millions of light years in all directions, are flattened into two dimensions by the human eye. From the slightest suggestion of line and form, the mind gathers them together into objects, seeing in them figurative outlines or distinct cultural reference points. Depending on one’s geographic location and culture, these groupings and their associated imagery can vary wildly. Despite being completely outside of human time and dimension, the stars are minimized and abstracted by distance and then reconstituted by social construct. This act of mental agility serves to make some small sense of the darkness around us and to serve as a memory aid so as to keep a grip on our place in the world. As musical beings we might also wonder: What does a constellation sound like? Would we also find some meaning or a sense of place in this sound? How does a change in our observation change our reality? With his Ursae Minoris, Claudio F. Baroni does not strive to give us direct answers to these questions. He begins to employ this process of perspective transformation, aurally converting a two dimensional abstraction of stars into points on a grid and then using this ‘data’ to generate the music, which leaves the final step of recontextualizing to the performer and the audience. The title refers to the constellation Ursa Minor, which was ‘created’ by the Greeks around 600 BCE out of a portion of another constellation. In Latin and in the colloquial names in many European languages it means Lesser or Little Bear. It is commonly referred to as the Little Dipper in North America. Pointing the way to the North Star, this is one of the most important and well known constellations in the Northern Hemisphere. Ursae Minoris, meaning ‘of Ursa Minor’, is the title of this work because in this album we encounter this constellation not as a singular instance but as an evolution of multiple perspectives to ruminate upon. As our view of the stars changes with time and place, the three movements of this piece each offer a different aural interpretation. While working on his string quartet Perpetuo Motum, Baroni happened upon the diaries of Ciriaco d’Ancona (1391-1455), an Italian humanist, textile trader, and antiquarian. Within these diaries are maps of constellations that d’Ancona used to navigate at sea. He is sometimes called the ‘father of archaeology’ as he was one of the first Europeans to collect objects from ancient cultures systematically. Driven by his curiosity, he decided to depart from southern Italy across the Mediterranean to Egypt, Greece and throughout the Aegean Sea. D’Ancona relied upon Ursa Minor to locate the North Star in these travels. The score of Ursae Minoris is based upon a celestial map centered around Ursa Minor. Using a similar process to one he used in writing Perpetuo Motum, the musical material was determined by a direct ‘transcription’ of the points on this map into predefined variables such as pitch and volume, transforming the stars into musical ‘events’. With the pitch material settled, Baroni explored other musical aspects. Each movement focuses upon a specific technique of sound production. The first consists of short percussive sounds, especially those produced by tapping the metal end of the bow (called the screw) upon one of the strings. Constantly adjusting the placement of the screw and the length of the string, we are treated to a richly nuanced catalog of these tiny explosions. In the second movement, constant slow glissandi (pitch-sliding along the string) are played up and down on one of the strings as if orbiting around the gravitational pull of its neighboring string, which holds steady to one pitch. The last movement is entirely constructed of one long and shifting bowed tremolo (a shaking of the bow) resembling a trembling comet appearing out of silent space, grazing the ears with a roaring distance and disappearing back into the void. While his single-minded use of instrumental technique can be uncompromising, Baroni leaves room for spontaneity in other aspects. Continuing the journey metaphor, the score consists of variable paths from which the performer can choose whichever routes and sidetracks they fancy in the moment, rendering each performance unique. Also striking is Baroni’s use of electronics as a way to deepen and refract the natural sounds of the instrument. The subtle use of a loop station gives rise to many layers of the already existing acoustic sound world, expanding it without injecting outside influences. This leaves one quite often wondering if there is just one bassist making all that sound or if there is a sky full of them. Baroni has spent the last 10 years sounding out the depths of personal instrumental expression with his SoLo compositions. Ursae Minoris is the seventh piece in this ongoing series, each of which focuses on the unique qualities of a different instrument. Central to his process in this series is an extended collaboration with the performer to discover distinctive sounds from the instrument. He is not interested in fresh instrumental techniques for their own sake, simply to sound new or shocking, but because this is the terrain where there are more layers still to be explored. Baroni worked extensively with bassist Dario Calderone over a long period, taking time to form each movement of Ursae Minoris. Calderone’s complete commitment to this kind of music is evident in the intensity and detail of his playing. For example, in order to endure the brutal, endless tremolo of the 3rd movement, Calderone had to reinvent his bowing technique. Throughout the piece he latches onto the essence of the music and gives it a constant drive. Forget for a moment the title and all of this background information. One doesn’t need to know anything about this composition’s connection to the stars to hear the force of the music or to feel the determined searching of the exposed performer. Baroni studiously avoids making specific aesthetic or cultural references in his music. He creates a closed sound universe with its own scale and physics wherein we can surrender to being propelled through this singular abstraction. In the end we may be left to wonder: Where are the lines between natural phenomena, sound as sound, fragile and situated perception, and conscious interpretation? How much does each of us feel the urge to find some recognizable form and meaning in the sounds of these little points on a graph? Or we may just go along for the journey, leaving our mind’s universe behind. https://contemporaryseries.bandcamp.com/album/ursae- minoris 2021 €12.00
BASINSKI, WILLIAM The Disintegration Loops IV CD "Teil IV der hypnotischen alten tape-loops, die in endlos-symphonischer Wiederholung wie nostalgische Erinnerungen an vergangene Zeiten wirken.. sehr ruhig & meditativ." [Drone Rec.] “..And somehow, that personal grief comes through in these reworked 20 year old recordings. Basinski had discovered a handful of old tape loops that were oxidizing and essentially disintegrating, and transferred them digitally, capturing the strangely decaying melodies, making for an expansive suite (almost three hundred minutes) of haunting otherworldy looping drones. Muzak like melodies crumble into barely melodic throbbing pulses, swathed in reverb, allowing the already obscured snatches of music, to fade into wispy smears of sound. So beautiful.” [Aquarius Records] "For those who missed out on the now-legendary, highly sought-after (and highly sold-out) box sets, we are now offering the four volumes of The Disintegration Loops suite as separate, individually packaged albums. The audio was remastered in 2012 from the original master tapes, and the artwork is packaged in deluxe old-style tip-on gatefold jackets. For a collection of music built around the poignant inevitability of decay, there has been a great many hopeful and inspired words devoted to William Basinski's The Disintegration Loops: stunning, ethereal, majestic, transfixing, life-affirming… and for good reason. From its 20-year gestation period to its infamously fateful completion, The Disintegration Loops is one of the most powerful manifestations of the inevitable cycle of life ever committed to tape, even as it documents the inevitable decay of all that is committed to tape. The very passage of time is its most effective instrument. Not only lauded by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Pitchfork, NPR and dozens more, The Disintegration Loops have become considered by many to be “one of the most pre-eminent American artistic statements of the 21st Century.” [press release] https://williambasinski.bandcamp.com/album/the-disintegration-loops-iv 2014 €15.00
BASS COMMUNION / PRECISION SURGERY Kurzwellen 8 LP "Many of you will be aware of my love of industrial and noise music, and one of my favourite labels of this kind in recent years has been the old school 80’s industrial revivalist label Kurzwellen, affiliated with ToneFloat from the Netherlands (who have released many of my projects over the years, including the IEM and Bass Communion box sets). Each of their releases so far have been in the form of hyper limited edition vinyl only releases, sometimes only 100 copies of so, and each is housed in a 24x36inch silkscreen poster sleeve with suitably grim black and white imagery. This time around the label played me a new album they were releasing as Kurzwellen 7, “Hinterkaifeck” by Precision Surgery (Hinterkaifeck being the location of a famous unsolved murder from the 1920’s), and I felt inspired to create 2 minimal Bass Communion remix treatments which are now being released alongside the Precision Surgery album as Kurzwellen 8. Both LPs are out on 7th July and can be pre-ordered from the Tonefloat Store. Not recommended for people who find the music under my own name quite depressing enough already thank you very much…" [Steven Wilson website] 2018 €20.00
BATES, MARTYN Migraine Inducers / Antagonistic Music do-CD Wiederveröffentlichung der allerersten BATES-MC von 1979, damals als MIGRAINE INDUCERS! Völlig verschieden von dem späteren Songwriting, stehen diese Sounds noch voll in der Spätsiebziger Post-Punk und Industrial-Tradition, mit rauhem low-fi Noise und Instrumental-Sounds (v.a. Gitarre & Synths), Gesangexperimenten, etc.. aber auch schon ruhigere folkige Elemente die an den späteren MARTYN BATES erinnern, mit seiner typischen Delay-Orgel und gezupfter Gitarre, sind vorhanden... 20 kurze Stücke voller freier "Anti-Musik"-Energie, die den Geist der damaligen Zeit atmet; auf der zweiten CD ein späteres Remake / Komplettierung des Tapes von 1994. "Calling yourself Migraine Inducers might not be the best route to stardom. But then, this was released in 1979 at the birth of the DIY movement, which was all about making a defiant two-finger salute to stardom. A new generation of ambitious musicians armed with total artistic freedom released their music on the then-popular cassette format thus bypassing major record companies. Martyn Bates (of later Eyeless in Gaza fame) debuted with Dissonance/Antagonistic Music, a homemade cassette full of intense nervous fragmented soundscaping, not dissimilar to Nurse With Wound or an instrumental Throbbing Gristle. When the initial 12 copies had sold out, the tape was re-released slightly more professionally over the years and now, for the first time ever, as a double CD. Sonic exploration is the heart of this beautiful, stark masterpiece, which may not be easy on the ear on first take, but gradually grows and then, when you least expect it, proves itself full of harsh beauty." [FK / Vital Weekly] www.blrrecords.com Beta-Lactam Ring Records 2007 €15.00
BEEQUEEN Music for the head ballet CD Wiederveröffentlichung dieser vergriffenen BEE QUEEN CD von 1996, die vier sehr ruhig schwingende Drones enthält.. (ein zuvor nicht enthaltener Bonustrack!) " Die Musik greift in das Environment ein, formt es um und verändert die Sichtweise des Hörers auf so subtile Weise, daß die Veränderungen erst Stunden später erkennbar werden." [Zipo, Auf Abwegen # 20]. Die neue BEE QUEEN - CD ist im Gegensatz zum Vorgänger wesentlich ruhiger, meditativer und monotoner und enthält 3 lange Atmo-Tracks. Sehr schön!“ [Drone Records info 1997] „Always a lonesome recording with it's distant organ drones quietly amassed, Music for the Head Ballet was first bestowed upon us in 1996. The now defunct Isomorphic records had the privilege of issuing these 3 pieces of lulling resonating ambience. Music for the Head Ballet has had an elusive history. There is little information about the music listed anywhere. The reviews are scarce, and those few that do make a mention are consistent in their praise of this alluring work. The original 936 numbered copies seem to be carefully tucked away on coveted shelves as it is rarely seen making an appearance in any market platform. Even the names of the tracks support it's ambiguous nature ("Days that never were", "White feathers on a dish,used to erect the pyramids" and "These foolish things"). Now after so many years of myth making, this gorgeous work has been made available again by Infraction. This reissue features new artwork as well as a previously unreleased 13 minute additional track from the original sessions. It is quite possibly the most blissful track Beequeen have committed to disc. Buy it now and hold your peace forever. Edition of 500.” [label info] 2004 €13.00
BEGG, MICHAEL Vanitas CD VANITAS is another semi-conscious descent into the liminal territories between contemporary composition and electronic erosion. I am still consumed by landscape, by memory, by *that* sense of longing. And I still cannot stop staring at the moon. For this release, I played many more acoustic instruments than is usual for me. Piano, guitars and bass mostly – but also a series of virtual instruments that I built for the recording; sampled wood burning stove, tuned martini glasses, e-bow autoharp, stolen French music box, loose piano string droner, and a blow torch treatment of glass sheets. I also took my first leap into sonification resulting in the opening track; Invocation, in which I programmed NASA information about a particular lunar eclipse early in the 16th century, which I mapped onto a series of 6 solfeggio frequencies. I don’t necessarily subscribe to the mystical qualities accorded to these frequencies – but there is something undeniably affecting about them. The track clears the deck s very effectively for the remainder of the recording, I think. Hopefully these exploratory excursions don’t detract too much from what should be an immersive listening experience. VANITAS will be available from May 6th on the usual digital download and streaming sites. But there is also a very limited CD run comprising 150 copies. As with previous releases, this comes in a hi-gloss, Japanese Artboard digipak. It also features a Deryk Thomas painting on the back cover which may surprise you! ~ How I wrote up Vanitas at the end of the last session. Midnight. Orchestras are tuning up in the verges of the hollow ways. I have built my own instruments from wood, antique metals and computers. I read a book about the harmonic consonance between planets – but the planets are all out of kilter. I see through holes in the past that manifest as chasms in the sky. I am so sad. I am so angry. This is my only voice. These are my only tools. I sit still. Very still. I jump in time, but I always land in the night. The beautiful night. God, I cannot tell you how much I miss the night. Yes, i meditate. It seems very obvious to me that these pieces come from that space, that place – but it doesn’t warrant any closer examination than that. Just, please, allow the seconds to decouple themselves from the minutes. Watch the hours drift up to that hole in the night sky. This recording is a monument to a certain kind of laudable failure. It is what happens when someone with no gift for programming writes scripts in Python and Max in order to consume data and make the moon and the tide sing. It’s what happens when someone with cheap tools and the ghost of a sound to realise gets out of his studio and into the workshop to make doomed instruments from all the junk in the village. It’s what happens when a man with no formal musical education takes it upon himself to score and orchestrate an ensemble. It’s where ‘I can’t do this’ meets ‘I must do this’. This is not creating something of worth from silence, this is more like recovering something once lost from the midst of a solid block of shapeless sound. The work is done. The coding is spaghetti. The instruments are broken; warped and ragged. Still, the moon sings in my ear. The machines in the studio haven’t been updated in over three hours so are obsolete. Yet Clea’s cello, formed in the year of Mozart’s birth, spins a silver thread in space and time. And so, another midnight. Wife and children sleeping. Another illustrated ruin in my hands. And under what skies? Out into the night. Close the coop, and put away the hens water. Look up. There is one word you need to find. And if you whisper the right word, it will carry beyond the dimmest star. Now, back to bed, little pilgrim." https://omnempathy.bandcamp.com/album/vanitas 2019 €13.00
BEGG, MICHAEL / HUMAN GREED Let the cold Stove sing CD "These recordings comprise work conceived for theatre, gallery and installation contexts. They are concerned with defined and definite spaces, places and absences. These places arise both from nature and through construction. In turn, the construction may be natural or virtual. They are informed by the great divorce of music and context occasioned by the birth of recording, and by the 20 year fermata occurring after the invention of recording and before the discovery of the means of affecting playback. This was, by definition, the period where we began to conceive of the need to listen repeatedly, in the way an archaeologist brushes repeatedly at the desert, for clues, details, and, possibly, reason." [label info] www.omnempathy.com "East Lothian based composer Michael Begg has quietly but steadfastly released (in this listener's humble opinion) some of the finest and most affecting albums of the last decade, such as 2008's dark and yearning 'Black Hill: Midnight At The Blighted Star', 2011's melancholic masterpiece 'Fortress Longing' and 2014's career best 'World Fair'. Along the way many noted and esteemed collaborators have added their voice or presence to proceedings such as Julia Kent (Antony And The Johnsons), David Tibet (Current 93), Chris Connelly (Ministry) and Clodagh Simonds (Mellow Candle, Fovea Hex). Working in the realm of drones, electronica and modern experimental composition to create vast, atmospheric and hugely evocative pieces of sound and melody, Begg has little in the way of contemporaries although aficionados of the windswept work of Richard Skelton, 'On Land'-era Eno, the dark soundscapes of Andrew Lilies and the classic recordings of Reich, Glass and Popol Vuh will find much to fall in love with here. Referencing both, according to Begg, 'gallery, theatre and installation works, as well as my preoccupation with defining space, place and time with sound' this is an essential and crucial work that needs to be heard and experienced. The album begins with 'Hopetoun Tower Before The Harvest', named after a forbidding and lonely construction that stands defiantly on a hill near Begg's Captain's Quarters recording studio. As befits its namesake, the track rumbles with exposure to some building and growing winds as snakelike electronics creep and wisp into view. A beautiful and tentative string section enters, trembling emotively as bowed strings and bowls resonate. It feels sacred, like a storm has suddenly and dramatically silenced leaving a hushed and perceptible sense of being in the universe. The title track follows, piano and droned strings echoing out into darkness, both tangibly lonely and filled with a gorgeous sadness. There is something deeply existential about this work, one feels small in the face of the space and sounds that evoke the surrounding skies and landscape. 'The Children Will Wet The Academy Floor' adds some truly lovely chamber strings that reverberate and haunt, a spectral symphony of lamentation and grief whilst 'Paris is Closing' is a field recording of chatter and metro sounds that are pleasingly though disturbingly disorientating. Next, 'Pendrachin Wood: Pollen And Frost' is a frozen and glacial layered piece of orchestral electronica, reminiscent of Bowie's Berlin experiments; this literally lifts the hairs of one's arms and neck as it swells and recedes with visions of snow covered pines in the darkening Scottish winter afternoons. Human Greed are no simple drone or electronic act; these are carefully wrought and constructed compositions that evoke and emote in an almost avant classical sense. They are almost unique in working in this field and are creating pieces of heartbreaking genius that this listener implores you to discover and fall in love with; it is criminal that Begg is not more revered outside of the underground as the pioneer and composer that he is. 'Francis Bacon; A Room' is as complex and unsettling as the British artist himself, a corrosive drone and buzz hovering over the mutter of voices whist a sister song 'Louise Bourgeois: A Cell' allows chimes and electronic hums to flutter and slither malevolently throughout. 'Leisure In F' glides majestically into being, epic and choral strings ebbing and flowing until ominous notes and birdsong float into focus; reminiscent of charcoal skies passing by overhead with the threat of snowfall as nature and animal life reacts accordingly this is an incredibly moving and transportive piece. 'Made And Unmade In Europe' rasps and buzzes as a bird's lonesome call cries out against the imperious landscape, an unforgiving wind suddenly giving way to a soprano song and weeping strings in a genuinely breathtaking moment. 'Cunny For Thine Mountain Penne' almost silently emerges on delicate notes and drone sounds, distant percussion and mournful brass reminding this listener of Gorecki's 'Sorrowful Songs'. Stately, graceful and melancholic this regal and funereal piece stays with the listener long after the album has finished playing. Next, 'Intermission For Blisters And Russian Weddings' is driven along on wary and eerie violin bursts, a solar echo resonating and unfurling slowly and perceptibly whilst gentle bass notes hold anchor. This is music to play when the sky is huge, dark and forbidding, to watch the stars blink on and off with cosmic indifference to us watching. 'Studies In Space And Density' is equally massive in scale and suggestion; a cold, sad throb through the universe that becomes increasingly distorted and growling before returning to an icy, repeating refrain of solar wind. A sudden warmth enters with 'Let The Cold Stove Sing Within Reason' as a bass throb and beautiful melody grows and layers over a distant electronic howl and circling strings. Hugely affecting, there is an integral human component at the heart of everything Human Greed or Begg does, this is music about the human condition, about what it is to be in this casually cruel and beautiful universe. 'Whiteadder Water After The Harvest' brings us full circle and close the album with the burble of streams and rivers, metallic and windswept notes sweeping overhead. I cannot recommend this album highly enough. There is more detail, more arresting and heart-rending moments, more creativity on this album than there is in some other artist's entire oeuvres. One for those lonely, late night listens or for accompaniment of solitary walks and dérives, 'Let The Cold Stove Sing' is a heartbreakingly beautiful and important album, perhaps quite easily already my album of the year. The cold stove is singing, now one must listen." [Grey Malkin/The Active Listener blogspot] active-listener.blogspot.de/2016/06/michael-begg-human-greed-let-cold-stove.html 2016 €13.00
BERRY, KEITH Simulacra do-CD "Simulacra is a 2xCD set with 15 new tracks spanning the double compact disc set. The outer sleeve is a mini-lp gatefold. Each disc is then housed in a envelope style card sleeve. Photography by Griffin Lamb. Image modifications by Keith Berry & Timothy O'Donnell. Layout by Timothy O'Donnell. INFX 069. 2017 Infraction. credits released March 30, 2017 The following hardware was used in the production of these recordings : ROLAND JUNO 60 CLAVIA NORD LEAD 2 TEENAGE ENGINEERING OP-1 / PO-14 / PO-16 DOEPFER DARK ENERGY 2 STRYMON EL CAPISTAN STRYMON BIG SKY HEXE MELUSINE 2 ZVEX INSTANT LO-FI JUNKY ZVEX LO-FI LOOP JUNKY NEUNABER TECHNOLOGY STEREO WET REVERB LINE 6 DL4 ELECTRO-HARMONIX 2880 MULTI-TRACK LOOPER FOCUSRITE FORTE EDIROL M-10DX PRESONUS ERIS E5 https://infraction.bandcamp.com/album/s-i-m-u-l-a-c-r-a "The surely sleepy Keith Berry makes music while hibernating, creating the sort of brain-fogged beauty I can only imagine coming out of a pure and dreamless night. Having made lovely records like ‘Simulacra’ for a long while now, he knows exactly how to make an ear-coating lullaby, using slowly avalanching chords and raindrop tape hiss towards total peace. That this record was in fact made from repurposed leftovers of past album ‘Elixir’ makes sense -- his music has a green footprint in that it can be made again from itself. These slowly enrapturing phases of sound are familiar, echoing the plethora of quietly crackling releases by Chihei Hatakeyama and Federico Durand, but they should put their listener way too far at ease to make comparisons. This record’s minimal sound works in frames of drone we’re used to -- it foregrounds blaring but gentle chords and lets the acoustics quietly bristle against them -- to create a much needed domain of rest." [Norman Rec.] 2017 €17.50
BETTIS, CHUCK Sonic Sigils mCD Wieder eine empfehlenswerte Ausgrabung auf SCARCELIGHT aus der sich permanent erweiternden und weiter verzweigenden Geräusch- & Experimental-Szene. CHUCK BETTIS benutzt die psychologische „Spiegel“-Technik als Inspiration und schafft hier digitale Klanglandschaften von höchster Abstraktheit, für die Begriffe wie „Noise“ oder „Ambient“ nicht mehr relevant scheinen. Das Ganze fängt eher hektisch-dissoziiert an und bewegt sich langsam aber stetig in pulsierend-meditative Bereich.....digitale, metallische Klänge überwiegen. TIP for Explorers ! “There is some kind of menacing magic at work here. The magickal intonations captured on this disc were inspired by the acifist/psychological technique of calming people in heated conversations by catching up to the breathing of the upset person, then slowly, by utilizing your own breathing, slowing down their breathing by slowing down your own. This deluxe 3" CD features scratchy, fuzzed and distressed scrapes and burbling skittered fragments. Gorgeous graphics by Chuck himself. Contrasting mechanical whines, and tones, tiny microscopic signs of life all darting around in their droplet universe” [George Parsons./ Dream Magazine #5] 2004 €8.00
BEX Rosegger LP "Third opus by Berlin-based one-man project Bex. Originally from France, Bex has released two CDs on the French label “Le Dernier Cri” and played a great many concerts throughout Europe since his first live gig back in 2006. “Rosegger” is his first vinyl appearance, his most luminous and most intense work to date. As if emerging through some hermetic transformation from the harshness and anger of the previous albums, “Rosegger” is ablaze with a radiant, almost ecstatic mixture of joy and grief, drenched in light even in its darkest moments. Melodic guitarscapes and distant shoegaze vocals between lament and incantations pour over the listener, filling every pore, vein and cell with a warm, brittle, spellbinding emotion, taking him adrift on luminous waters which progressively darken on side B, finally drowning the incandescence into deep pools of doom drones like a glorious, achingly beautiful sunset." [label info] www.tutrur.com 2011 €10.00
BHATTACHARYA, DEBEN Paris to Calcutta, Men and Music on the Desert Road BOOK + 4 CDs Deben Bhattacharya (1921-2001) was a field recordist, poet, filmmaker, musicologist, and amateur ethnomusicologist, based in Calcutta and Paris. Highly influential, it would not be too bold a stretch to say that his work shaped how we listen to the world: he produced a vast number of LPs, CDs, videos, and radio shows of traditional music from India, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Europe from 1953 until his death in 2001. Never before published, Paris to Calcutta: Men and Music on the Desert Road features over four hours of music and is Deben\'s impressionistic account of a 1955 journey overland, in a converted milk delivery van, from France to India collecting and exploring music along the Desert Road from Europe into India. With four CDs of recordings, photographs, Deben\'s original recording notes, musical transcriptions, and more. An amazing glimpse into a time long gone and essential listening for anyone interested in folk and world music traditions. Produced and edited by Robert Millis (Indian Talking Machine (2015) and Victrola Favorites (DTD 011CD, 2009). \"Actually, I think my playing is probably more derived from the folk music records that I heard; Middle Eastern music, Indian music... for years I had something called Music On The Desert Road, which was an album with all kinds of different ethnic music. I used to listen to that all the time.\" --Frank Zappa, 1993 (from an interview in Guitarist Magazine, talking about an LP released by Deben in 1956 using a few edited versions of the music included on this compilation.) 160 pages, cloth bound cover with four CDs: 45 pages of photographs and 50 pages of detailed recording notes. Introductions by Jharna Bose Bhattacharya, Robert Millis and WG Archer. Includes recordings of: Students of the Salonica Quaker Girl\'s School Dance of Jerissos,Saban Akdao, Hasan Sayin, Reza Argin, Jumma Ali, Vakkas Kaplan, Feizi Kaplan, Hüseyin Eroğlu, Raif Karsligil, Imam and congregation of the mosque at Kilis, Dervish worshippers in the house of Sheikh Saud Mawlawi, Nour Hanbali, Antone Noweh, Doureid Laham, Bashraf Sama\'i Taatyus, Andalusi Muwashshah, Hazim, Suleiman and friends, Al-Haj Hashim Mohammad, Shu\'aib Ibrahim, Abdul-KArim Al Azawi, Shu\'aib Ibrahim, Khalil Akrawi, Ostad Zareen Panje Bel, Gulfa-e-Ghani and Zareef, Ostad Abol-Hassan Saba, Sher Khoda, Darioosh Sefvat, Hamedanian, Shapoore Delshadi, Eskandare Ebrahimi and Orchestra, Eskandare Ebrahimi , Muhammad Hussein, Dost Muhammad, Abdul Kader, Saroj Narang, Jyotish CH. Choudhury, Kalipada Das, Bhona, Mangal Mukerjee, and Jai Chand Bhagat and Babu. Track Listing: Disc 1 01. Students of the Salonica Quaker Girl\'s School - Dance of Jerissos (Ierissos) 02:50 listen 02. Saban Akdao, cümbüs - Çiftetelli (gazel) 09:39 listen 03. Hasan Sayin, singer; Reza Argin, zurna; Jumma Ali, dhavul - Untitled 02:45 listen 04. Vakkas Kaplan, zurna; Feizi Kaplan, dhavul - Mahlo: Song of the Highway Men 02:44 listen 05. Hüseyin Eroglu, vocals, cura saz - Karacaoglan 05:16 listen 06. Raif Karsligil, unaccompanied vocals - Karayilan (Black Snake) 05:01 listen 07. Imam and congregation of the mosque at Kilis - Mevludin Nebevi (the prophet\'s birth) 05:36 listen 08. Performer unknown - Folksong from Outebeh, vocals and rababa (one stringed fiddle) 04:28 listen 09. Performer unknown - Bedouin Melody, Shebbabeh (flute) and darabuka (drum) 03:38 listen 10. Performer unknown - Bedouin dance from Katana 02:30 listen 11. Dervish worshippers in the house of Sheikh Saud Mawlawi - Maqam rasd (In praise of the prophet) 02:06 listen 12. Performer unknown - Sabah, played on the Ney (flute) 02:20 listen 13. Nour Hanbali, qanun; Antone Noweh, oud; Doureid Laham, darabuka - Suite in maqam rasd featuring Bashraf Sama\'i Taatyus and Andalusi Muwashshah 13:49 listen Disc 2 01. Performer unknown - Taqsim (improvisation) on violin 03:19 listen 02. Hazim, rebab (bowed spike fiddle) - Ballad of the Shahlaan Family 10:16 listen 03. Unidentified coffee grinders (two different grinders, switching hands halfway through) - Bedouin coffee grinding beats 06:24 listen 04. Suleiman and friends, accompanied by rebab - Hijeni (a love song often sung while riding away on a horse) 06:16 listen 05. Al-Haj Hashim Mohammad, santoor (hammered dulcimer); Shu\'aib Ibrahim, joza (Iranian rebab); Abdul-Karim Al Azawi, dumbuk - Sharqi Dokah (love song) 08:40 listen 06. Shu\'aib Ibrahim, joza - Taqsim in maqam ajam 03:50 listen 07. Al-haj Hashim Mohammad Al-rejab, santoor; Shu\'aib Ibrahim, joza; Abdul-Karim Al-Azawi, dumbuk - Maqam hadidi 03:45 listen 08. Khalil Akrawi, vocals, spoons - Kasam-e-Meru (excerpt from a 25-minute piece) 01:49 listen 09. Ostad Zareen Panje Bel - Tar solo in humayun dastgah 10:45 listen Disc 3 01. Gulfa-e-Ghani and Zareef, zarb - Train rhythm imitation 02:03 listen 02. Ostad Abol-Hassan Saba - Setar improvisation in mahour dastgah 02:40 listen 03. Sher Khoda, zarb - Shahnama 13:38 listen 04. Darioosh Sefvat - Santoor solo in isfahan dastgah 10:20 listen 05. Hamedanian, zarb - Baba Karam 12:36 listen 06. Shapoore Delshadi, tar - Tar solo in isfahan dastgah 06:36 listen 07. Eskandare Ebrahimi and Orchestra - Humayun 16:06 listen Disc 4 01. Eskandare Ebrahimi - Setar improvisation in mahour dastgah 08:06 listen 02. Muhammad Hussein, zurna (horn); Dost Muhammad, dhol (kettle drum) - Atan (dance song) 04:01 listen 03. Dost Muhammad, dhol - Battle rhythm 01:29 listen 04. Abdul Kader, solo voice - Love song from Herat 02:52 listen 05. Performer unknown - Nose flute improvisation 02:34 listen 06. Performers unknown, harmonium, tabla - Sikh song on Hindu/Moslem unity 11:45 listen 07. Saroj Narang - Simla folk song 02:37 listen 08. Jyotish CH. Choudhury, sitar - Raga zila 07:04 listen 09. Kalipada Das, flute; unknown, anandalahari (friction drum) - Methosur (rural folk song) 04:02 listen 10. Unknown performers, clarinet and drum - Improvisation on film tune 02:34 listen 11. Bhona, sitar; Mangal Mukerjee, ghara (claypot drum) - Raga kafi 06:50 listen 12. Jai Chand Bhagat and Babu, vocals, cymbals, ektara - Bhajan (devotional song) 04:15 listen 13. Jai Chand Bhagat and Babu - Bhajan (devotional song) 04:48 listen 14. Temple bells and drums 02:34 listen - Deben Bhattacharya\'s impressionistic, poetic travelogue written on the road from Paris to Calcutta in 1955, never before published. - Deben Bhattacharya (1921-2001) was a field recordist, poet, filmmaker, musicologist, and amateur ethnomusicologist, based in Calcutta and Paris. - Introductions by Jharna Bose Bhattacharya, Robert Millis and WG Archer. - 43 tracks, over four hours of music, all recorded in 1955 featuring music from Bedouin camps, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Jordan, Pakistan and Greece. - 160 pages, cloth bound cover with four CDs. - 45 pages of photographs; 50 pages of detailed recording notes. https://sublime-frequencies.bandcamp.com/album/paris-to-calcutta-men-and-music-on-the-desert-road 2018 €52.50
BIANCHI, MAURIZIO & CLAUDIO ROCCHETTI Alienation CD-R 5 tracks, professionally printed. Exciting tension-bath, deranged synth sounds, rough drones, pulses, microwaves, this is how ambient industrial should sound today. For a BIANCHI release this is highly chaotic and versatile, raw & dark! "Estranging sounds complex in five unusual recordings, edited and assembled in an alienor period of two years. Fantastic collaborative work; file under: experimental, concrete music, deep dark noise ambient.Limited to 700 copies only. Format: special professional silver CDr (= same quality and “look” of a CD) in beautiful digi-sleeve package. Maurizio Bianchi: tapes, radio waves, electronics, samples. Claudio Rocchetti: dusty analog devices. Mastered by Valerio Tricoli. Preface: A DANGEROUS TERMINAL DRAMA UNDER THE ACTUAL IMPROPER REVENUE OF ALIENATION WASTE, OF SOCIAL-CULTURAL SPHERISTERION, WHEN THE MAIN ELECTRONIC TOPICS IN THE VAN OF SHIFTLESS ACCESSORIES WAS PLANNED AS RESTRICTIVE SCULPTURES. THE VIOLATED ACTIVITIES, GRINDED OF THE EMBRYONIC INGREDIENTS REMAINED BETWEEN EXISTENTIAL INDIVIDUALISM AND TRANSFORMATION OF PARASITES WORTH, VISITING A RECREATIONAL ESTRANGEMENT. THE GRAVITATIONAL PEOPLE REMAIN INTERESTED WITH ELEMENTS OF PICTURED INTERIORS INSIDE A REFINED CRUELTY... THE BEST RESULTS ARE A DETERIORATION OF EDUCATION SYSTEM, THE ANALYSIS OF VARIOUS RETICULATED METROPOLIS, IN FRONT OF THE IMPURE HUMANIZATION OF INNOVATOR PROCESSES. THE PARTICULAR USE OF FANCIFUL CONCRETE-TONES LEAVE YOU WITH A GREAT IMPRESSION OF CHROMATIC CONSISTENCY, FAR AWAY FROM BUREAUCRATIC AND COMMERCIAL MORBIDITY." [label info] www.finalmuzik.com 2008 €10.00
BIANCHI, MAURIZIO & RYAN MARTIN As strong as Death is do-LP Backwards is very happy to announce the Maurizio Bianchi & Ryan Martin "As Strong As Death Is" double vinyl LP. For roughly the past 40 years, the cryptic tally of works by Maurizio Bianchi has formulated a somewhat religious rite of passage, a communion of tone and definition based around his various devotional phases in his life. Coming to the forefront of industrial music and noise composition in the late 1970’s, just as the world was recovering from the jarring wake left behind by groups such as Throbbing Gristle and Whitehouse, Bianchi was bundled within the zeitgeist of extreme experimentation due to the use of provocative subject matter and sonic assault. Though by 1983, Maurizio Bianchi seemed to have “disappeared” after conflicting releases and disappointing acceptance amongst his peers. It was not until the mid-90’s when Maurizio Bianchi resurfaced, now with a focus on spiritual guidance and restraint, that he released varied recordings of his newly sculpted ambient works and re-visitations of his now classic albums from the previous decade. Up until present day, Bianchi has enjoyed a renaissance of interest in part due to his expansive reissues of previous works and his dedication to new recordings, which state that Bianchi is still a zenith in the world of the experimental electronic music. Around 2008, New York City based artist / musician Ryan Martin, of industrial outfit York Factory Complaint and Copley Medal, started correspondence with Bianchi about the reissue of his mechanically clinical ambient masterpiece, Endometrio, for release on Martin’s co-founded imprint, Dais Records. During this time, Martin was forming his own solo label to release private edition works under the title Robert & Leopold and asked Bianchi to present his recent exploratory violin compositions as the label’s debut release. Since that time, Bianchi and Martin have collaborated in various forms including the release of Bianchi’s recent exploration, Arkeomene, and the featuring of Martin’s artwork on the cover of Bianchi’s contentious single, Amentest. Most notably however was the complex and deliberate musical collaboration between the two entitled “As Strong As Death Is”. Spanning the course of two years to create, legendary Italian noise composer Maurizio Bianchi and artist Ryan Martin (York Factory Complaint / Copley Medal / Dais Records) took on the pilgrimage of scoring the abstract concept of marriage based on the biblical Song of Solomon. Employing prepared electronics with accompanying strings and tape, this ambient religious collaboration seeks to flesh out the union, to understand the universal desire to be one. Constricted lullabies walk down the aisle to create a consortium of moving, ghost-like consolidation. Mixed ad edited by Anthony Mangicapra (Hoor-paar-Kraat) and mastered by Kris Lapke (Alberich / Hospital Productions). Recorded in both New York City and Opera, Italy between 2010 and 2012, this release was originally released in 2013 as a limited double cassette on Martin's own Robert & Leopold imprint in a edition of 100 copies, which quickly went out of print. The release comes with a lavish jacket, in two editions: ltd.100 copies on white vinyl and ltd.400 copies on standard black vinyl. Comes with a coupon for a free digital download. www.backwards.it 2016 €20.00
BIANCHI, MAURIZIO (M.B.) Mectpyo Box 10 x CD BOX Legendary Maurizio Bianchi recordings from the early '80s remastered and collected in a 10CD box. Includes the following industrial music classics: Symphony for a Genocide (1981), Menses (1982), Neuro Habitat (1982), Regel (1982), Mectpyo Bakterium (1981), Das Testament (1983), Endometrio (1982), Carcinosi (1983), The Plain Truth (1983), and Armaghedon (1984). Also contains two hours of bonus tracks from the same period, with compilation contributions previously issued on Bain Total, Broken Flag, Come Organisation, and TRAX, as well as various mail art collaborations and a unique live recording and interview from January 1st, 1983. Includes 35 folded inserts with original artworks and collages; essays on Throbbing Gristle, Whitehouse and Come, Conrad Schnitzler, Leibstandarte SS MB, and SPK; playlists from 1981 and '82; a 1981 interview issued in Datenverarbeitung; an essay by Vittore Baroni on Bianchi titled "Milan Burns"; and Bianchi's "Fanta Punk Tale" from 1978. Limited to 200 numbered copies. 2015 €165.00
BIOSPHERE Wireless - Live Arnolfini, Bristol CD "Biosphere ist das Hauptprojekt des norwegischen Künstlers Geir Jenssen, der auf eine ansehnlich Discographie zurückblicken kann. "Microgravity" and "Patashnik", zwei weg- und stilbereitende Alben erschienen auf dem legendären R&S-Label in Belgien, prägten in diesem Kontext neben Alben von Aphex Twin, Carl Craig, Sun Electric und Ken Ishii den Begriff "Electronica" maßgeblich mit. Aus dem Album "Patashnik" wurde die Single "Novelty Waves" ausgekoppelt, die auch die Spots einer der Levis TV-Kampagnen untermalte.Remixes für bekannte Künstler wie Nicolette, James oder Frontline Assembly zeigten zwar weiterhin gleichsam das Interesse der Musikszene an seiner Kunst, aber auch Geir Jenssens Willen Musikstücke völlig nach seinen Vorstellungen zu transformieren.Live während des "Arnolfini" Festivals in Bristol, am 27.Oktober 2007 von Chris Watson aufgenommen. Er benutzte hierfür 2x Sony ECM 77s mit einem Nagra P11 Ares Flash Recorder. Gemixt, editiert und gemastered wurde das Stück final von BJNilsen in Berlin im März 2009.Dieses Konzert war Teil des "Touch 25 Live", die auch eine "Storm" Performance von Chris Watson & BJNilsen beinhaltete." [label info / Cargo ] "... What we do know is that 'Wireless' is the first live album by Biosphere, one of the master minds of ambient music. Starting out in ambient techno (releasing a classic with 'Patashnik' in 1994), and then moving out of the techno, deeper into the land of ambient music, leaving off any pulses at some point. On 'Wireless' he returns to use pulses and rhythms: minimal but not in a click n cut sense. Warm, fourth world alike. which guide the soft synths, field recordings and, for the first time around the trumpet of Anders Karlskas. As such this live album is not a distinct break with the 'old' Biosphere, the one calm sound tapestries on 'Substrata' for instance, but it seems to have come to a full circle now. The more simple, rhythmic samples refer to what I can call Biosphere 'mark 1', but not as dance oriented, more trance inducing, lay down, sit back music, whereas the deep atmospheric textures of before are still part of it, that has become a trademark of Biosphere. Changes in the sound of Biosphere are small, but crucial. 'Wireless' is once again a refined ambient from one of the true masters of the genre." [FdW / Vital Weekly] www.myspace.com/biosphereofficial 2009 €14.50
BJARNADOTTIR, HAFDIS Sounds of Iceland CD "This recording takes you on a round trip of Iceland. The aural journey starts westward from the island’s south in the cold early spring. After a side trip into the West Fjords, our route traverses the north of the country at the height of summer, followed by an excursion into the interior highlands before a short stop in the East Fjords. As the sound trip nears its geographical starting point, autumn and winter make their appearance before the journey comes full circle. The recordings do not feature human-derived sounds. 1. South 0.00 – 1.45 Strokkur geyser, Haukadalur 1.46 – 3.15 Hot springs, Haukadalur 3.16 – 7.04 Grímsnes lava field 7.05 – 8.11 Hot spring in Reykjadalur valley in Hengill geothermal area 2. South West 0.00 – 2.55 Urriðakotshellir cave, Heiðmörk Nature Reserve 2.56 – 3.47 Gjáarétt, outside Urriðakotshellir cave, Heiðmörk Nature Reserve 3.48 – 5.19 Stream near Lake Elliðavatn, Reykjavík 5.20 – 6.28 Eiðsvík cove near Geldinganes causeway island, Reykjavík 3. West 0.00 – 1.52 Hraunfossar waterfalls and River Hvítá 1.53 – 2.24 Deildartunguhver hot spring 2.25 – 4.49 Húsafell area 4.55 – 7.59 Surtshellir cave 4. Westfjords 0.00 – 3.38 Barðaströnd coast 3.41 – 5.19 Látrabjarg bird cliff 5.20 – 7.31 Near Galtarviti lighthouse 5. North 0.00 – 1.50 Goðafoss waterfall 1.51 – 2.52 Lake Mývatn 2.53 – 4.50 Hot springs in Námaskarð geothermal field 4.51 – 5.56 Dettifoss waterfall 6. Highland Plateau 0.00 – 1.53 Near Mt Laugarfell 7. From East to South 0.00 – 1.03 Klifbrekkufossar waterfalls, Mjóifjörður fjord 1.04 – 2.30 Sólheimajökull glacier 2.31 – 3.03 Gullfoss waterfall 3.04 – 4.11 Strokkur geyser, Haukadalur valley 7 Tracks (41′59″) CD (1000 copies) www.gruenrekorder.de 2015 €13.00
BLACK TO COMM Alphabet 1968 CD "Marc Richter alias Black To Comm ist kein Newcomer auf dem Feld der elektronischen Musik. Als Kopf des in Hamburg ansässigen Labels Dekorder hat der Musiker und Designer die Musikfans schon mit zahllosen Kuriositäten beglückt, mit seinen eigenen Kompositionen machte er allerdings am meisten Furore. Richter ist ein Pionier auf seinem Gebiet: Mit Bandschleifen, alten Orgeln und einer Flut zufällig gefundener Sounds schuf er einen ganz eigenen, organischen Drone-Sound. Mit "Alphabet 1968" indes bewegt sich Richter eher hin zu klassischen Mustern, hin zu Songs (in Ermangelung eines besseren Begriffs). Kurze Stücke, die für ihn Meilensteine repräsentieren, die ihn wiederum an seine Lieblingsplatten erinnern. So entstanden zehn atemberaubende Songs, die über 45 Minuten Weltmusik, Techno, Noise, Avantgarde, Ambient und sogar Exotica streifen, die Reverenzen reichen dabei von Moondog über Basic Channel bis zum Soundtrackkomponisten Bernard Herrmann. Jedes Stück ist mit elektrostatischem Radiorauschen unterlegt, das einen durch das Album wie auf einer alten Senderskala wandern lässt. // A sprawling epic of a record from Hamburg's omnipresent Marc Richter. Marc Richter (aka Black to Comm) is no newcomer to the experimental music scene. As the figurehead of the Hamburg-based Dekorder label, the musician and designer has brought countless oddities to the attention of rabid music fans in the last few years, but it is with his own compositions that he has made the biggest splash. Releasing for a plethora of labels including Digitalis, Trensmat and of course his own imprint, he has pioneered a new, organic drone sub-genre using tape loops, vintage organs and an inexhaustible swamp of found sounds. With this latest album however, it was Richter’s intention to move away from the epic drones he had made his own and into something more ‘classic’. The mission statement for ‘Alphabet 1968’ was to write an album of ‘songs’ for want of a better word. Short tracks which represented genre points, the milestones which stuck in Richter’s mind when he thought back to his favourite records. What we arrive at is an breathtaking ten track album which, over the course of forty-five minutes, explores world music, techno, noise, avant-garde, ambient music and even exotica. Each track is linked with a loose thread of radio static or environmental sound, dragging you through the album as if tuning in to a stray broadcast or a particularly adventurous mix. Richter has pieced the album together from hours of recordings made at his studio with home made gamelan, small instruments and loops gathered from a collection of ancient vinyl and 78 records. The scope of the album is admirable but ignoring this it is simply a shockingly arresting collection of experimental oddities, with references ranging from Moondog to Basic Channel by way of the Bernard Herrmann. It’s not hard to fall in love with ‘Alphabet 1968’, far harder would be to place exactly where the record should fit into your collection." [label info] www.typerecords.com 2009 €15.00
BLACK TO COMM / AOSUKE same LP "....THE TWO BRAND NEW TRACKS BY BLACK TO COMM ARE CONTINUING THE MASSIVE ORGAN/VOICE DRONE ALCHEMY OF THE LAST DOUBLE-LP WHILE REFINING AND PERSONALIZING HIS SOUND, REACHING NEW HEIGHTS OF BLAZING SONIC MYSTICISM. AOSUKE HAVE DECIDED TO HOME-RECORD THEIR NEW MATERIAL, CONTINUING THEIR LOOP-ORIENTED, MONOTONE YET HIGHLY MELODIC AMBIENT JOURNEYS. WORKING WITH REPETITION AND SMALL ABSTRACTIONS, ALL INSTRUMENTAL "LOOPS" ARE PLAYED BY HAND AND RECORDED LIVE WITHOUT OVERDUBS (ONE OF THE MAIN PRINCIPLES OF THE GUITAR/ELECTRONICS DUO), CREATING SURPRISINGLY CONCRETE DORMANT AND SOMNAMBULISTIC SOUNDSCAPES WHILE FORTUNATELY COMPLETELY LACKING THE WASHY AND DROWSY EFFECTS OF MOST AMBIENT MUSIC. BLACK TO COMM IS THE ONE-MAN PROJECT OF MARC RICHTER WHO IS THE BRAIN BEHIND THE DEKORDER LABEL AS WELL. SO FAR HE HAS RELEASED TWO ALBUMS ON HIS OWN LABEL ("RÜCKWÄRTS BACKWARDS" AND "WIR KÖNNEN LEIDER NICHT ETWAS MEHR ZU TUN..."). AOSUKE IS THE DUO OF TOBERT KNOPP AND ULF SCHÜTTE, THE LATTER BEING A LABEL HEAD AS WELL (TAPE TEKTONIKS). LAST YEAR THEY HAVE RELEASED THEIR DEBUT "MONOTONE SPIRITS" ALBUM CO-RELEASED BY HAMBURG'S AUDIOLITH LABEL AND SOUTH GERMANY'S MEUDIADEMORTE LABEL." [label info] "...A nearly sidelong track that begins with a wavering Goblin-y synth, that buzzes warmly and endlessly, an epic stretch of near static drone, drenched in overtones and subtly flickering variations in texture, and surrounded on all sides by distant barely audible scifi melodies and field recordings. Eventually this synthdrone is joined by another tone, this one more grinding and distorted, that slowly builds and builds along side the first, the intensity growing and growing as well as the volume, and the various surrounding sonic events seem much more frenzied, until everything levels off in some sort of Niblock style drone, the various layers beating against one another, notes and tones shifting subtly, the sound seemingly alive, flecked with shards of melody and bits of buzz and swirling effects. It's a glorious sound that enraptures and entrances, eventually, fading out and releasing the listener from their glorious trance. The side finishes off with a brief coda of humid late night soundscaping, the sound of the moors, or the plains, some mysterious dark emptiness, droning and ominous, with creepy reverbed vocals and all sorts of night sounds tangled up in the track's undulating shimmer. The flip side features a group called Aosuke, who we weren't all that familiar with, but whose sounds are as dark and gorgeous and Black To Comm's. But where BtC focus on sound and drone, Aosuke focus on melody as much as texture, with guitar being the focal point, a blissy soft focus guitar ambience, crystalline notes drifting through clouds of space-y effects and strange processed and blurred vocals, it sounds almost like how you might imagine a Durutti Column record on Morr Music might sound. Organic melodies, natural sounds, all tangled up in strange electronic soundscapes, very meditative, a little krautrocky at times, and so so pretty." [Aquarius] www.dekorder.com 2007 €12.50
BLANCO ESTIRA NUESTRO (+), HERMANA HELICE Cylindre / Oeur (S+C) 12 "To show an aeroplane in motion, one should not paint still lives" (*) Kryptische neue VÖ des griechischen Projekts, das ständig den Namen ändert (nach NIXILX.NIJILX und HELICE PIED - als DR-83 auch auf Drone Records verewigt) - und damit wirkliches Neuland betritt, denn der Wiedererkennungswert anhand eines festen Band-/Projektnamens ist wohl der Grundkonsens aller Musikschaffenden. Diese 45rpm 12" enthält 3 Stücke, die alle auf Aufnahmen von Flugzeugen (wahrscheinlich Innenräume) basieren. Dazu kommen absolut undefinierbare rumpelige Klänge und Sirr-Sounds, und diverse kryptische Zitate von MARCEL DUCHAMP(*), ANTONIN ARTAUD, JEAN COCTEAU, ARTHUR RIMBAUD und anderen auf dem Cover. Bestimmte Klänge auf den Stücken sind wiederum verbunden mit vorher erschienenden Tonträgern. Sokratis Martinopoulos produziert keine gewöhnliche Musik, sondern akustische Rätsel. "blanco estira nuestro (+), hermana Hélice is Socrates Martinis’ (1984, Athens, Greece) third pseudonymous project, following nixilx.nijilx and Hélice Pied. This installment, composed in 2006–7 using found sounds and objects, focuses on the sounds and sights of a distant aeroplane, the vanishing drone of which Martinis’ finds to be particularly beautiful. The subject of planes was first explored in Aputi (released by Authorised Version, 2005), the final section of which makes a return appearance here in the .oeur diptych. This piece also reuses a guitar sound from E.2, which originally appeared on the debut nixilx.nijilx CDR published by absurd in 2004. Cylindre. also revisits past recordings, borrowing a bell sound from Conduit no. 2 (Drone Records, 2006). Martinis is also a member of ‘silkworms cannot be confiscated until they’ve become perfect cocoons’ with absurd’s Nicolas Malevitsis. First edition of 200 copies. Co-published with absurd." [label info] 2008 €12.00
BLAST 4TET Sift CD "This is the second release, after a long wait, from this unique ensemble. Equally at home with the discipline of composition and the tightrope of improvisation Blast (now Blast 4tet) have evolved a fluid, pointillistic, unfathomable but transparent musical language that seamlessly integrates - over very short durations - highly complex writing and very free ranging improvisation, allowing the two languages to merge and combine into a new kind of logical exposition that makes sense but can’t be reverse-engineered into its component parts. This is a music that lives through detail and exposition; neither resolving into composition, nor able properly to be understood as improvisation. In this respect Blast have solved a problem that has defeated many in the last 40 years. Founded in 1989, Blast’s line up and musical focus have evolved considerably over the years, from complex, composed art-rock to a much more open style that combines elements of improvisation and austere contemporary composition. DIRK BRUINSMA Studied composition with Henk Stoop and wrote numerous works for ensemble and soloists. Groups include the Palinckx octet, Otolithen, the Positive Nuns and Brown vs. Brown. He has also worked with Evan Parker, Barry Guy, Fred Frith, Elliot Sharp, Gunther Sommer, Martin Schütz, Axel Dörner, Jaap Blonk, and others. Special subject: multi-media - eg. 'desktop cinema/opera', with Marko Kosnik/Jaap Blonk, installations, and an opera with Jacques Palinckx. PAED CONCA Played in Otolithen with Dirk Bruinsma, Best Before, with Bruno Meillier and Dominique Lentin and was co-founder of TSUKI with Hans Koch and Margrit Rieben. He has also worked with Bart Maris, Ottomo Yoshide, Matt Wand, Koji Asano, Jim Meneses, Stephan Wittwer, Dorothea Schuerch, Kato Hideki, Werner Luedi, Michael Wertmueller, Kido Natsuki, Masashi Kitamura, Katsui Yuji, Yoko Miura, Martin Schuetz, and others. FRANK CRIJNS Studied composition at the Rotterdam conservatory with P.J. Wagemans and Klaas de Vries. Composed for ensembles and soloists. As a guitarist played in Big Band Nieuwe Muzie' and The Positive Nuns. Has worked with Fred Frith, Elliott Sharp, Tim Hodgkinson, Pavel Fajt, Jacques Palinckx and others. Works regularly with film maker Jos Neutgens. FABRIZIO SPERA Active as a musician and organizer in the field of experimental music. Has worked, amongst others, with Wofgang Fuchs, Thomas Lehn, John Butcher, John Edwards, Otomo Yoshide, Peter Kowald, Tom Cora, Chris Cutler, Tim Hodgkinson, Lisle Ellis and Wadada Leo Smith He is a permanent member of Ossatura and the Rara ensemble." [press release] www.rermegacorp.com 2009 €14.00
BLEGVAD, PETER Go Figure CD "After 19 years, Go Figure marks the Peter Blegvad Trio's return to the studio, in supernal form and now a quintet with Karen Mantler and Bob Drake. Peter, John and Chris first met when Henry Cow was touring with Faust, in 1972. Peter was on secondment from his own group Slapp Happy, and in the following year Henry Cow and Slapp Happy merged, making two LPs before they separated again. When John Greaves left Henry Cow in 1976, he joined Peter in New York where they wrote and recorded Kew.Rhone. Peter and John have continued to work together, on-and-off, ever since. After making two solo LPs for the still vaguely experimental Virgin Records, Peter's next LP, Downtime, was made independently by ReR -- and the core players wound up being the Peter Blegvad Trio. Bob Drake first became involved during the second trio recording, Just Woke Up, which he mixed and mastered. Karen joined the trio in 2002 for a festival in Ferrara. Bob's first stage appearance with the band came ten years later, in 2012, at the RIO festival in Carmaux. ReR has been releasing the Blegvad working group's records for 37 years and this is the fourth so far. They don't come easy." peterblegvad.bandcamp.com/album/go-figure "Artist, poet, illustrator, philosopher, cartoonist – so broad are Peter Blegvad’s other interests, and so protean his muse, that one sometimes has to wait for years for his attention to turn again to music. But the payoff lies in the way that those other pursuits feed back into his music in the form of songs that exult in their uniqueness. Blegvad is one of pop’s very few “true originals” whose work always bears out that status. Probably best known for Leviathan, his long-running Independent On Sunday cartoon strip, Blegvad brings a similar level of abstruse conjecture and whimsical wordplay to his lyrics, whether he’s musing, in “Sven”, upon a leathery ancient corpse preserved “in a Finnish fen”, or offering a grim reflection, in “Mind The Gap”, on how a terrorist bomb destroys the collective isolation of Tube travellers: “Blown apart and blown together, now the two of us were one”. However, it’s not usually that dark: “Too Much” is a jaunty ragtime rumination on excess, slipping from familiar physical indulgence to more abstract realms (“too much sturm, too much drang, too much yin, too much yang”); and in “My Father’s Face”, Blegvad pirouettes on the cusp of whimsy and something more sinister, relating how he once drew his sleeping father, then erased his face. But perhaps his most elegant and amusing aesthetic reflection resides in “Way To Play The Blues”, where he uses John Cage’s epigram “I have nothing to say and I am saying it, and that is poetry as I need it” as inspiration for a (probably apocryphal) tale of the Stones asking Blegvad to help them understand the way to play the blues, a question he denudes of dues, and ultimately of volition. Blegvad’s band, comprising various Henry Cow alumni and sundry avant-gardists, provides flexible support for his musings, from the sinister cod-reggae shuffle of “Penny Black”, about a cursed stamp, to the more indefinable brew of languid, jazzy raunch-rock conjured to convey the enigmatic villain of “Had To Be Bad”. Elsewhere, there’s an aptly Kevin Ayers-y air to the Provençal tableau “Cote D’Azur”, while “God Detector” adopts a suitably Dylanesque tone for the tale of a man with a machine he claims can trace divinity – for which, of course, he searches in vain amongst humanity. If there is a unifying theme to the album, it’s probably to be found in the reflections upon dissipation and the futility of ambition in songs such as “Simon At The Stone” and “Winner Came There None” – songs which don’t so much disparage notions of being and doing, as prompt enquiry about the limitless ranges of experience, and their comparative values." [The Independent] 2017 €13.00
BOHMAN, ADAM Burnhill Row LP Incredible weird recordings from 1980 from this one half of todays still very active duo BOHMAN BROTHERS ! "1980 was an incredibe year for London's experimental music scene with many different strands. Recommended Records were rereleasing the first two Faust LP's, L. Voag had found 'the way out', Swell Maps were 'in occupied Europe'. Throbbing Gristle and other industrialists were giving plenty of live actions. Nurse With Wound had just released their first LP, as had This Heat. The other great LP on Piano Records by Steve Beresford was also on the shelves. Meanwhile, elsewhere in the capitol Adam Bohman was making his first recordings working with two budget cassette recorders. Bunhill Row was the first complete album of material, but whilst the aforementioned artists were pressing up their recordings and making them easily available via Rough Trade or the Recommended Records shop, Adam's releases remained in tiny cassette editions made for friends or exchanged on the mail art network. So here for the first time is Bunhill Row, released as it should have appeared at the time - on vinyl. It must be said that this is quite unlike any of Adam's other releases, and quite unlike his work with Morphogenesis, or his work as one half of The Bohman Brothers. This is 'songs' - 30 in all, and the main instrument used is a trumpet (an ordinary trumpet), along with a variety of other acoustic instruments and objects, many of which are still part of the Bohman armoury as known. The overall feel sits somewhere between R. Steevie Moore and Caroliner Rainbow, but this is British of course. Somehow it all works, and all in all opens another window on to the incredibly fruitful astral alignment that occured over London at this time. Adam also has a solo CD on Paradigm Discs, and also appears on 'Variations - a London compilation' the first CD released on Paradigm Discs." [label info] www.stalk.net/paradigm 2006 €17.50
BOHREN & DER CLUB OF GORE Dolores do-LP "Dolores. Das ist die Frau, die den Schmerz schon im Namen trägt. Frau + Schmerz = Süßer Schmerz, also. Dolores. Wenn das kein passender Titel für eine Bohren & Der Club Of Gore-Platte ist, weiß ich auch nicht. Nachdem die letzte Bohrenscheibe "Geisterfaust" noch einmal so deutlich ruhiger, langsamer und entweltlichter geriet, als deren Vorgängerin "Black Earth", werden sie doch nicht etwa nochmals ... noch langsamer? Quasi im Stillstand? Gegen die Zeit? Ein Ton über 14 Minuten? Und dann die Erlösung: Nein, sie werden nicht. Kein billiges unreflektiertes Fortschreiten in dieselbe Richtung. Wie früher eine Weile bei Speedmetalbands und anderweitigen Grind-oder-sonst-wie-Core-Kapellen üblich: immer schneller, alles andere ist egal. Nein. Immer noch sehr getragen, verbindet "Dolores" Elemente aus "Geisterfaust'" und "Black Earth" und fügt ein paar neue, sehr feine Ingredienzien hinzu. Nach wie vor bleiben die schwebenden düsteren Flächen, die wie radioaktiver, dunkelgrün leuchtender Nebel aus den Boxen kriechen und dein Schlafzimmer in einen mystischen Ort verwandeln, allgegenwärtig. Akzentuiert durch sparsam eingesetzte Drums führen sie den Hörer sanft durch die erste, drei Stücke währende Passage mitten in "Dolores"' Kern. Dort wartet dann erstmals das Saxophon. Auch diesmal bedient sich der Club des schon bei "Geisterfaust" angewandten Tricks, dieses Instrument erst nach einer gefühlten Ewigkeit, bei "Unkerich", ins Spiel zu bringen. Wenn es dann einsetzt, so warm und scheu und sehnsuchtsvoll, gefriert dem Hörer geradezu das Blut in den Adern. Heiß und kalt, hoffnungsvoll und hoffnungslos, das dunkle und helle Flimmern liegen für einen Moment so nahe beieinander, dass sie fast dasselbe sind. Oder zu sein scheinen. Doch die Erlösung währt nur kurz. Schon bei "Welk" nimmt uns der Club das sanfte Gebläs wieder weg und führt uns in die unendlichen Tiefen des Bohrenuniversums hinab. Dort erscheint dann ab und an ein E-Piano aus den Kriechnebeln, das mit verhalten angedeuteten Melodien den Pfad weist. Bei "Faul" kehrt die Schöne zurück - "Dolores" erscheint im Schimmer der nächsten Saxophonlinie und leuchtet von innen heraus. Bohren At Its Best, kann man da nur sagen. Die Titel der Stücke wurden dementsprechend mit spitzen Fingern gewählt: "Staub", "Welk", "Still Am Tresen" und "Unkerich" deuten nochmal deutlich an, was hier gespielt wird. Ein Gesamtkunstwerk sozusagen. Das alles bietet dem Durchschnittsbürger nicht unbedingt Gudelaune- oder Feierei-Musike. Eher handelt es sich um eine filigrane und doch ausdrucksstarke Art, die Höhen und Tiefen des Lebens auf individuelle Weise musikalisch zu abstrahieren. Dennoch keine reine Kunstmusik, sondern mit großem Genuss hörbar. Vielleicht eher bei Rotwein, als bei Bier. Aber ich bin ohnehin Weintrinker, zumindest im Winter." [laut.de] "Imagine a blackened, funereal dooooooom band like Skepticism or Nortt morphed into the jazz idiom (after having kissed a frog, or some fairytale scenario like that), playing their slow, sad music in a smoky Berlin jazz club. The sound is jazz (electric piano, organ, vibes, sax, double bass, trap kit...) but the feeling is doom. That's our usual shorthand for describing the unique music made by longtime AQ fave, Germany's Bohren & Der Club Of Gore. Here at last is their eagerly anticipated 5th album, Dolores (not named after the San Francisco street near us, presumably). If you're fans like we are, you know what to expect, it's just as ponderously "heavy" as a "jazz" band can be. No, not loud, not harsh, not noisy. The opposite of all that. Rather, whisper-quiet, glacially slow, and spacious, with sparse snare hits keeping time like a wound-down clock ticking off the eternity between 2 minutes to midnight and the witching hour itself. Doomsday so slowly arrives on a velvety bed of somnolent deep bass notes, and the cool slinky tones of vintage Fender Rhodes. Cymbals shiver in a dark haze of ambient drones near to silence. Several of the songs are infused with the warmth of tenor or baritone sax breathes gorgeous expiring breaths. It's all so sad and woeful and achingly beautiful, Bohren nodding off, their fragile melodies trickling like tears, and by the end you may find you have shed a few too. This newest Bohren differs mainly from their previous Ipecac outing Geisterfaust by being composed of somewhat shorter, sweeter tracks, ten in all, in about an hour. But it is, again, an-ever-more- perfected example of why Bohren is one of our all time favorite bands, especially at twilight and late at night..." [Aquarius Records review] www.pias.com 2014 €23.00
BORG, ANNEMARIE In Nomine Tellus CD In Nomine Tellus is an album inspired by the state of our world and draws the listener into a microcosm of its own, where a tumultous storm is angrily circling the perimeter of our still peaceful shores. Annemarie paints this aural canvas utilizing both electronic and acoustic instrumentation as well as her own voice. The album follows "In Nomine Cetus" and is the second album in a planned suite of three. On this album Annemarie plays the ROLI Seabord Grand, piano, harp, cello, guitar and singing bowls as well as utilizing hear own voice and original field recordings. Additional whale sounds are provided by iWhales and Patrick Tapio Johnson plays the cello on Pace. The album is again mastered by Anders Peterson of Ghost Sounds. To learn more about Annemarie's vision on this album you can also visit her at: www.annemarieborg.com www.antara-project.com https://soundcloud.com/the-lost-gterma/gterma055-annemarie-borg-quiet-storm-one-earth-lament?in=the-lost-gterma/sets/gterma055-annemarie-borg-in-nomine-tellus 2018 €13.00
BORGA, ASCANIO Raw Science CD "The common ground beneath these pieces is an experimental approach to the music production process. In a classic situation, recording, mixing and mastering have a mere technical role as they are employed to capture instruments and sounds, add auxiliary effects, balance tracks, to exploit and correct sound problems. The main focus is usually on the first steps: in theory, with an ideal quality recording, subsequent phases (especially mastering) should be reduced to a minimum to preserve the original sounds with maximum fidelity. This implicitly makes the assumption that the creative part of the music (i.e. the one where lies the musical language) is oustide the whole process of music recording and production. The last assumption does not hold for concrete and other forms of experimental music, including this one. Here, effects and sound manipulation play a primary role, mixing and mastering are part of the composition, active creative phases in which crucial modifications and ideas can be inserted, driving the recording towards completely new and unexpected directions. Every phase of music production is not separate from the others, as the whole process can be repeated several times, in any order, following a non-linear pattern. Creative elements can live in any moment between the initial conception of music until the final master. The composer has an extended palette of tools, including those of the sound engineer, to take deeper control on the sound itself. [from the liner notes] credits released September 1, 2016 Recording, mixing & mastering: v2k alchemical laboratory, Rome, 2013-2016 (except some parts of track 1 which were recorded in Berlin) Ascanio Borga - electric guitar, synthesizers, samples, noises, treatments Artwork and layout by AB Cover painting: “Cutting The Stone” by Hieronymus Bosch Other images: a reproduction of the Alchemical Door (Rome) © sonic boundaries sb002 "Ascanio Borga is one discreet but continuously creative sound artist coming from Rome and whose objective is to cross various fields of electronic experimentation, from retro-ish cosmic synth excursion to vaporous space ambient and dark droning vibes. Over the years he mainly published self-releases as limited editions now available on his online Bandcamp store. One interesting fact, in 2008 he published one release on Afe Records (founded by pioneering dark ambient artist Andrea Marutti). As stated in the press release and compared to his early materials Raw Science deliberately embraces a more sonic and claustrophobic sound universe where crackling industrial noises are melted with tripped out and freezing black noise textures. The whole concept and the visual aesthetic brought to the fore are based on antique knowledge, alchemical then hidden sources of sciences, apparently taken from medieval esoterism and the mystical kabbalistic wisdom. The pieces gathered on this album sound quite hermetic, not easy to approach at first step but with required attention we can appreciate a tremendous gallery of fuzzed out and metallic drone rituals as in the rather industrial “Porta Alchemica” or as in the sonically grimy “Azoth.” Those kind of obsessional and textured noise ambient sequences admit comparison with the corrosive experimental assaults of Constrate or Sigillum S and the buzzing minimalism of Keith Fullerton Whitman. All in all Raw Science is a pleasant curiosity to discover in the noise / harsh psych drone territory." [Philippe Blache - igloomag] "With more than three years in the making, Raw Science is one of the most convoluted Borga's works. It contains four extended tracks crafted with careful stratifications, noise manipulations and other heavy sound treatment of various sources. With its unique mixture of dark electronics, guitar drones and concrete/noise elements, Raw Science occupies a musical niche similar to that of Bad Ground and Xenomorphic." [Sonic Boundaries] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zS3iuxyZndQ 2016 €10.00
BRADLEY, PAUL Sirens CD-R SIRENS fasst die vergriffenen mCDRs "Cede" (Waterscape Rec.) und "Searching for the way" (Locus of Assemblage) zusammen, sowie das bisher nur als digitalen Download erhältliche Stücke "Horizon". Das sind warme, melancholische Dronescapes wie sie für BRADLEY typisch sind, hochsensibel & verzaubernd.. ‘sirens’collects together the out of print releases ‘cede’ and ‘searching for the way’ along with the download release ‘horizon’. ‘cede’ was originally released as a 3 inch cdr on the German label Waterscape Records in an edition of 50. ‘searching for the way’ was issued through the UK label ‘The Locus Of’ in an edition of 100 3 inch cdr’s. ‘horizon’ is also available as a download from Twenty Hertz Digital. ‘sirens’ comes in a plastic sleeve with full colour 4 panel insert and the first 50 copies also include two photograph inserts (the ‘sirens’ and ‘searching for the way’ covers) and a numbered and signed obi. Tracks one and three were lightly re-touched in February 2008 at IC Studio." [label info] www.twentyhertz.co.uk 2008 €10.00
BRAND, STEVE & JONATHAN BENHAM One hour as the one who watches CD-R BLADE RECORDS ist zurück, aber jetzt ohne wahnwitzige handgemachte Handwerker-Verpackungen, sondern mit gedruckten Karton-Hüllen. STEVE BRAND, besser bekannt als AUGUR, präsentiert hier in Zusammenarbeit mit dem uns unbekannten J. BENHAM ein ausuferndes Stück „natural / concrete Drone“, in meist sehr ruhiger & poetischer Atmosphäre verschmelzen rauschige field recordings, handgespieltes Equipment & Instrumente (wohl hergestellt von JONATHAN BENHAM), runtergeslowed-Vokales, meditative Glockensounds, Grillenzirpen (etc.etc.), zu beeindruckenden Improvisationen.... Das ist wie eine Ode an die „magische“ Realität, wir denken an ähnliche Arbeiten von LOREN CHASSE / ID BATTERY, AAL, JEPH JERMAN, ILLUSION OF SAFETY... “Steve Brand (AUGUR) and Jonathan Benham present one long experimental / drone track, timed at exactly one hour. Inspired by nature, Surrealism, the music of indigenous cultures and outsider art. Oversized packaging.Ltd.ed. of 150 copies.” [Punch Records] 2005 €10.00
BRANDSDAL, KJETIL D. Freedom Waaaoh Waaoh CD Die ersten beiden BRANDSDAL LP’s auf einer CD ! Obskurster low-fi Surrealismus! Hard to say what this really IS, as the sounds are difficult to recognize or to classify...low-fi surrealism at its best! "The name of Kjetil D. Brandsdal has been bandied about the world increasingly over the last couple of years. Of Norwegian origin, though resident for the last three years or so in Northern Ireland, Kjetil has carved quite a niche for himself as a 'sound artist'. Exhibiting a sterling self-reliance, he emerged first via a slew of self-released cassettes (about ten in all), then followed these with two self-released LPs and a slew of singles on labels such as Boblador, MykeDroner, and Betley Welcomes Careful Drivers. The LPs were manufactured in editions of 300, and got snapped up pretty damn fast, but not before he sent one to H-Corp HQ in the far antipodes. The CD currently under consideration was the natural result, once the Hermetically-tuned ears of the corporation got a whiff of the lo-fi, droning, tape-looped improv. spew that Kjetil was purveying, it was a done deal. The Freedom CD compiles choice tracks from both LPs, KDB and Kjetil D. Brandsdal, but also features the full-length version of 'III', originally restricted to just one whole LP side, it now closes the CD at a full 35 minutes. The recorded pieces are devoid of drums, most rhythms coming from tape loops or guitar parts, and generally levitate the consciousness pretty effectively in a ceilingwards direction. Production appears to be on porta-studio in most cases, and headphone listening reveals some pretty cool mix-work in a style not a million miles from our own Omit, but retaining a unique Nordic 'grittiness' in sound."[press release] “Of Norwegian decent, though a current resident of Northern Ireland, Kjetil D. Brandsdal constructs ominous lo-fi droning tape loops similar to a gritty variant of Omit accompanied by throbbing de-tuned bass and occasional post-VU strum. A very nice introduction / documentation on the perennially great Corpus Hermeticum!” [Aquarius Records] 0000 €14.00
BRAZINSKIS, RIHARDS & RAITIS UPENS Aldaris CD "Filled with ethno-grief and admiration at the same time, “Aldaris” is a mental time travel back to such a mighty and noble age in Riga when the factories rumbled, stone houses rose up one after another and the whole city rapidly turned from a fusty medieval fortress into the modern layout of the city we still live in. It’s an adoration of a great socially economical prosperity which existed not so long ago, but quite unbelievable from the current perspective. The historical factory of the beer brewery Aldaris (The Brewmaster in Latvian) had its inception around the year 1865. It’ a living monument of brick architecture of the industrial era which preserves and silently retells the Latvian land’s legacy of the past 150 years. Nowadays this total glory stands contrastingly in a midst of a quite humble and remote outskirt named Sarkandaugava (Red river Daugava in Latvian). The whole territory of the factory is organized in quarters of buildings – very characteristic style of that time. Although many of the original buildings has been rebuilt or even demolished, the common look remains largely intact. The specific building we made our recordings in was neglected since 1976 till the renovation started in 2014. During the repairing period we had the luck to freely interact with the old beer kettles made in year 1938 which now are part of Aldaris beer museum located there. Also we recorded a beer brewing process in the same building and surrounding atmospheres in the whole area. Recordings were made in several stages with the last and most extensive session hold on March 1, 2015 and thus precisely matching the release date of this CD. As far as we’re concerned this should be the first beer related work in the world of field recording based audio expressions. And it’s an honor it’s hosted in such an important country in beer culture as Belgium. Enjoy!" [Rihards Brazinskis] 2017 €14.00
BRIGHTER DEATH NOW Breaking down Nihil-Live do-CD "Der Angriff and Indiestate Distribution proudly present a very special 2CD release of one of the most influential and famous power electronics projects in the world, a favourite child of Cold Meat Industry mastermind Roger Karmanik - Brighter Death Now. Recorded live during short Russian tour made in September 2009, it is unique since the lineup was made of Russian artists and only Roger himself was a part of the common European live incarnation of BDN. The persons behind Anthesteria and LamiaVox have joined him in Moscow while the guys from Bardoseneticube and 414 were together with him on stage in St.Petersburg. The basic parts of the tracks have been sent to them all in advance, so they have prepared their own vision of this material, thus it was nothing like a spontaneous improvisation or jam-session, but pure conceived and well-organized collaboration. Both shows have been recorded on a multi-channel devices, then carefully mixed and mastered, so the final quality is close to the studio one without losing any bit of the raw energy of live performance. The result is a very fresh and unexpected look on the well-known BDN compositions such as "Innerwar", “PayDay” and “Testing” which should be interested not only for devoted followers of the project but for the wider audience of power electronics / death industrial fans. The real gem in our roster, not to be missed! The release is limited to 450 copies and comes in a special embossed foldout envelope with cardboard inner sleeves. CD 1: MOSCOW (24-09-2009): Innerwar / Oh what a night / Payday / I wanna die / Destroy / I hate you CD 2: SAINT-PETERSBURG (28-09-2009): First floor / Testing / Leave me alone / Dödsambient / There is nothing left in this world / Female blood" [label info] 2011 €18.00
BRUME & TBC House Unwillently CD-R CDR-Version der vergriffenen LP !! Finally out, the CDR version of the sold out LP !! “This Lp is a collaboration between Brume, aka Christian Renou and Tbc, aka Thomas Beck. I have sent musical material to Brume and he has made five typical Brume tracks out of it. I think I don`t have to introduce him, because over 70 Releases speak his own language.This is the second lp for him and me too. On " House Unwillity" you find all this: a complex texture of soundstructure using drones and enviromental soundscapes from Tbc and abrutlly cuts, "primitiv" percussion and the usual absuse of traditional instruments from the musical talents of Brume. The enviromental recordings was made in a old house near the habour in Hamburg. This house is a part in spectulating with money around this area in Hamburg to get a new architectonic face of happy capitalism. It`s near the wellknow "Hafenstraße", a squat with places for concerts, bars, food on a low profit d.i.y. culture.” [label info on original LP release] 2005 €8.00
BRYARS, GAVIN / PHILIP JECK / ALTER EGO The Sinking of the Titanic (1969- ) CD "...GAVIN BRYARS taucht mit der Neueinspielung seines Klassikers The Sinking Of The Titanic (Tone 34) auf der Biennale in Venedig 2005 noch einmal ein in das Wasser ohne Balken und die Luft ohne Drähte. Überlebende, 711 von 2201, gab es nur Dank Marconis drahtloser Telegraphie, wobei die 1. Klasse dreifach bessere Überlebenstüchtigkeit bewies als die 3. und die Mannschaft. Bryars selbst am Kontrabass und das italienische Ensemble Alter Ego spielen ebenfalls etwas, das ‚Autumn‘ heißt, jene episkopale Hymne, deren dritte Strophe die passende Zeile Hold me up in mighty waters; Keep my eyes on things above enthält. Philip Jeck dreht mit seinem Vinylgeknister die Zeit bis nach 1912 zurück. Dazu hört man - Legenden gibt es immer in mehreren Versionen - den Bericht einer Zeugin, die Nearer, My God, to Thee gehört haben will. Der Unterwassersound der immer und immer wieder intonierten, aber verlangsamt und wie schon nicht mehr von dieser Welt in einer Luftblase gespielten Hymne mischt sich mit herbstlichen Assoziationen wie Grillengezirp, aber auch der raunenden Menge bei einem Sportereignis. Jeck‘scher Sarkasmus? Die Regenmacher als perkussives Element wirken ähnlich makaber. Wäre das Pathos ohne solche V-Effekte zu stark? Oder soll es diesmal gegen Kitschverdacht hartgekocht werden, nachdem die ‘94er Version (Point Music) noch einen Kinderchor und dunkle Bläser mit versenkt und auf dem Gebein am Meeresgrund Morsezeichen getokt hatte? Wenn die White-Star-Musiker, von denen keiner überlebte, aber tatsächlich als Letztes Walzer gespielt haben? Und wenn Marconi recht hätte, dass Klänge unsterblich sind? Dann wellt sich um den Erdball, selbst wenn auch die Erinnerungen längst verdämmert, zu Bernsteintränen geronnen und zu Hollywoodmelodramen verklärt sind, eine oxymorone Kakophonie aus Entsetzensgebrüll im Walzertakt." [Bad Alchemy] "Performed by Gavin Bryars (double bass), Philip Jeck (turntables) and Alter Ego (strings, brass, wind, percussion, keyboard, tape recorder and sound design). This version of UK composer Gavin Bryars' seminal piece, The Sinking of the Titanic, was recorded at the 49th International Festival of Contemporary Music at The Venice Biennale, October 1, 2005 at the Teatro Maliban. The Sinking of the Titanic is an open semi-aleatoric work written in 1969 and Bryars has developed versions of variable length (from 15 minutes to an hour) that have been performed in different contexts, both as sound installation and as a real concert work. The piece has its origins in an obsession (one in which Bryars meditates on the famous ship's sinking), whose evidence is in a minute handwritten notebook. This brings together information, curiosities, evidence, statistical data on the survivors, technical research on the ship, on the places occupied by the passengers, on projects for the wreck's recovery. This sinking is then a metaphor for the failure of modern technology, of the paradox of modernity, the fact that a super-technological ship could have been rammed and sunk by a block of ice. The version proposed by Alter Ego (a contemporary music group based in Rome, Italy) and Gavin Bryars is an absolutely new approach for the project and for multimedia installation. The other important new figure in this version is Philip Jeck, one of the most important names on the experimental scene. Jeck uses his experience to cover the sound with a blanket of thin dust, which, at the same time, is memory, distance, hallucination, traveling and anxiety. The dust which comes from the obsessive repetition of a short phrase and its melancholy is part of a harmony that Jeck shares with Bryars that succeeds in freezing time in another dimension. This is another important aspect of the Titanic idea: one related to memory and to lifetime, to concreteness and abstraction meant as a metaphor for the journey between life and death, the ocean's surface and depth. Gavin Bryars (double bass); Philip Jeck (turntables); Alter Ego (strings, brass, wind, percussion, keyboard, tape recorder and sound design). Limited edition of 2000 CD in a special wallet + postcard [postcard image by media artist Andrew Hooker]. Artwork by Jon Wozencroft." [press release] www.touchmusic.org.uk 2008 €14.00
BURROUGHS, WILLIAM S. Call me Burroughs LP "Originally released in 1965 by The English Bookshop in Paris and later by ESP-Disk' in New York, Call Me Burroughs marks not only the recorded debut of William Burroughs, but also for many the first encounter with his inimitable voice. While Burroughs has had pervasive influence on counterculture in the past 50 years – from the Beats to punk rock and even hip hop – no other figure today is so widely considered the epitome of cool. Call Me Burroughs features the author reading from Naked Lunch and Nova Express, two of his best-known works that utilize the cut-up method developed by Burroughs and artist Brion Gysin. An eerie, deadpan drawl guides the listener through sci-fi innerscapes, narcotic nightmares, reports from the edge of the apocalypse. Phantasmagoric passages echo real experiences roaming the streets of Mexico, the West Village, Tangiers. Bradley the Buyer and other shadowy agents haunt our ears as Burroughs turns the page and pauses purposefully. "Anything put out up till now is like pulling a figure out of the air – Enemy installations shattered – Personnel decimated – Board Books taken – Electric waves of resistance sweeping through mind screens of the earth – The message of Total Resistance on short wave of the world" This first-time vinyl reissue is recommended for fans of Hunter S. Thompson, Patti Smith and Throbbing Gristle." [label info] www.superiorviaduct.com 2016 €24.00
Let me hang you LP Twenty years ago, William S. Burroughs was asked to record an audio version of his favorite parts of Naked Lunch. Longtime associates and producers Hal Willner and James Grauerholz produced several sessions, and they recruited a team of world class musicians to help. Famed for their Naked City involvement, Bill Frisell and Wayne Horvitz contributed their genius, as well as Eyvind Kang, just to name a few. The recordings were then abandoned and collecting dust on a musty shelf, as forgotten as a piece of rancid ectoplasm on a peepshow floor. In 2015, Hal Willner decided to reopen this unfinished masterpiece and asked help from King Khan (a musician that he and Lou Reed admired and became fast friends with). Hal sent Khan all of the recordings and asked him to add his gris gris to this extremely perverted gumbo... and history was made and the scum began to rise! King Khan recruited M Lamar, the creator of the "Negrogothic" movement and the identical twin brother of transgender actress Laverne Cox (Orange is the New Black), and The Frowning Clouds, a band of young Australian boys who have mastered the sixties garage punk sound -- and that perhaps WSB would have also enjoyed for other purposes a long time ago. Let Me Hang You is a collection of depraved genius straight from the godfather of punk's very own mouth. If chills and thrills are what you seek, then look no further -- here is the bible of freakdom, recited by the pope of the underground... Now, pull the chair from underneath you and see what happens! Produced by James Grauerholz, A. A. Khan & Hal Willner Words by William S. Burroughs Published by Nova Lark Music (ASCAP) administered by Songs of Virtual (North America) and Touch Tones Music (Rest of World). Recorded and Mixed by Vera Beren, James Grauerholz, Wayne Horvitz, Eric Liljestrand, Robert Rebeck & A. A. Khan at Hairball IV Studio and Mercy Studio in Lawrence, KS, Wayne Horovitz's home studio in Seattle, WA, Eric Liljestrand's home studio in Venice, CA & King Khan's Moon Studios in Berlin, Germany. Edited and Sequenced by Hal Willner Reading from Burroughs’ novel, Naked Lunch, using an Abridgement edited by Nelson Lyon Artwork by Michael Eaton & A. A. Khan Mastered by Nene Barratto at PorcAudio, Berlin, Germany. In loving memory of Nelson Lyon. Music by Bill Frisell (Published by Friz-tone Music), Wayne Horovitz (published by Other Room Music), Eyvind Kang (published by Deformed Music, A. A. Khan (published by House of Hassle), Hal Willner, El Congo Allen, Nick Van Bakel & Reginald M. Lamar. credits released July 15, 2016 William S. Burroughs - voice King Khan – guitar, bass, violin, VCS 3 Synthesizer, piano, organ & drums Bill Frisell - guitar Wayne Horvitz - keyboards Eyvind Kang - violin, erhu & shani El Congo Allen - Trumpet Tony Sher -bass Kenny Wollesen - drums Jenny Scheinman - violin Hank Roberts - cello M Lamar - vocals Hal Willner - samples & turntables The Frowning Clouds: Jake Robertson – Bass Nick Van Bakel – Guitar Zak Olson – Guitar Daff Gravolin - Guitar Jamie Harmer - Drums https://khannibalism.bandcamp.com/album/let-me-hang-you 2016 €23.00
  Nothing Here Now but the Recordings LP In 1980, Genesis P-Orridge and Peter “Sleazy” Christopherson of (then-) Throbbing Gristle travelled to New York City to meet up at the fortified apartment, known as The Bunker, of famed beat writer and cultural pioneer William S. Burroughs and his executor James Grauerholz. Genesis and Sleazy started the daunting task of compiling the experimental sound works of Burroughs, which, up until that point, had never been widely heard. During those visits, Burroughs would play back his tape recorder experiments featuring his spoken word “cut-ups”, collaged field recordings from his travels and his flirtations with EVP recording techniques, pioneered by Latvian intellectual Konstantins Raudive. Over the following year, P-Orridge, Christopherson and Grauerholz spent countless hours compiling various edits, each collection showcasing Burroughs sensitive ear and experimental prowess for audio anomaly within technical limitations. In early 1981, Burroughs had relocated to Lawrence, KS to escape the violence and manias of New York City life. There, P-Orridge and Christopherson put the finishing touches on the record that would be known as Nothing Here Now but the Recordings. Released in Spring 1981, the album would end up as the final release on Industrial Records, brought about by the dissolution of Throbbing Gristle. It was quietly out of print until 1998, when John Giorno and the Giorno Poetry Systems included the album on a retrospective CD box set, which compiled the majority of Burroughs's seminal recordings. In 2015, Dais Records worked closely with the Estate of William S. Burroughs to finally re-release, for the first time in 36 years, a proper vinyl reissue of William S. Burroughs Nothing Here Now but the Recordings to celebrate the centennial anniversary of William S. Burroughs. For the 2023 edition, Dais has remastered the audio with renowned engineer Josh Bonati, and restored the original artwork with a new dedication to Genesis Breyer P-Orridge and Peter Christopherson. 2023 €25.00
B°TONG (B*TONG / B-TONG/ BTONG) Hostile Environments CD "B°TONG is Chris Sigdell, former member of the German experimental industrial group NID (1995 – 2005). With B°TONG he reaches for the nether regions of experimental electronic sound and has established himself as an acknowledged and known professional soundscape artist. His music is a choice of dark, brooding layers of sound, high-pitched tones and weird electronic sounds that give birth to images of darkness and tranquillity, the solitude of an icy polar night or the equivalent of an underwater journey into a bottomless pit. To create these soundscapes, he uses found samples and self-made recordings and processes these on the computer together with recordings of his own voice and other vocal samples. There are no traditional instruments involved. In a live-situation Chris Sigdell relies on playing metal-sheets, electric toys and various kitchen utensils. The sounds thus generated are put through various effect-pedals giving him that trademark sound. . B°TONG has played over 200 concerts all around Europe and in Russia, Canada and the U.S.A. He has shared stages with Aun, Batur Sönmez, Column One, Dave Phillips, Frontline Assembly, Michael Northam, Origami Galaktika, Sudden Infant, The (Law) Rah Collective, To Live And Shave In LA, Troum, Zbigniew Karkowski. . Sometimes B°TONG collaborates with other artists, as he has done with: Alain Courtis, Batur Sönmez, Diskrepant, Origami Galaktika, PS Stamps Back, TBC, and Tamagawa. Two new project are Tongdisklaktika, a together with Benny Braaten (Origami Galaktika) and Per Åhlund (Diskrepant) and Thee Secret Society with Jürgen Eberhard (F.T.PB.P.D.), Helge Moune (1000schoen) and Melvin Neumann (Vibrae). B°TONG has also been part of installations (“Polarkreis” & “95°“ by Brigitte Gierlich & Camilla Schuler) and video-projects (“Images” by Ulrich Fischer). He video-clips have been shown at the 2007 Miami Art Fair as part of the Urban Nomad film-festival, and in Beijing. His videos are made in collaboration with video artist Silvia Bergmann." [label info] www.greytone.eu "We first discovered Chris Sigdell, aka B-Tong (which, by the way, is usually written with a little circle, you know, the degrees sign, not a dash, but our website doesn't like it, so hence the hyphen), via a four way split called One Man Drone, which as you may have surmised, was a collection of one man drone-groups, and our favorite of the bunch happened to be B-Tong, whose sound was weirdly cinematic, and fantastically and psychedelically noisy and chaotic. We compared the sound to Philip Jeck mixing Goblin and Wolf Eyes! We later discovered that Sigdell played in NID, another group who utilized drones, but wove those drones into something much more cacophonous, and expansive and lushly layered. But still, ultimately, it was all about the drone. We had always hankered for more B-Tong, and while apparently there have been a bunch of full lengths, this is the first we've managed to get our hands on, and it's just as good as we remember; and yeah, if there was ever any doubt, Sigdell firmly establishes himself as an aQ-pantheon-worthy dronelord. The opener, is ominous and cavernous, laced with weird crackles and gritty crunch, kindred spirits with our own Jim Haynes for sure. The sounds oozing a sort of sonic decay, and some deft and subtle sample placement, makes the opener even more chilling. It's almost like some industrial doom, stripped down to its skeletal core. A moody, muted melody, playing out like foghorns in the distance, echo drenched chimes, and tinkling percussion, buried under grey washes of softly undulating thrum, lots of constantly shifting textures, and some seriously harrowing sound design reminiscent of Ben Frost. And the sound continues to drift southward as the record progresses, a virtual journey through dark caverns, toward whatever lurks below, fields of deep resonant rumbles, dripping water, distant billows of thunder, stretched out into weird glossolallic shimmers, thick chordal blurs that ooze and bleed ominously, splashing water doused in FX and transformed into a sort of garbled alien language. Plenty of barely there lowercase ambience, but also super active sprawls of electro static gristle, ultra creepy moans and gasps, sonar pings that disappear into the abyss, short wave broadcasts from beyond, lumbering behemoth beats, dulled into barely perceptible pulsations, smears of almost dub like throb, and keening high end tones dulled into bleary shimmery sonic ripples, all locked in a sort of hazy stasis, while all around, billowing clouds of black hum drift malevolently, and beneath this black soundworld, hushed melodies, and dreamlike sonic coloration, shift constantly creating an ethereally prismatic sonic backdrop. Fantastic. Essential dronemusic for sure!!" [Aquarius Records] 2013 €13.00
  Monastic CD "Since getting to know Chris Sigdell from a distance in 2010, sending the label a promo copy of ”The Great Disintegrator”, and onwards recognising the release of his project b°tong ‎ through labels such as Attenuation Circuit, Greytone and Silken Tofu, we met up in the flesh in 2016. Since then the label invited him to master last years releases from Ajna, Valanx and Dronny Darko and now releases his project b°tong’s two new albums ”Monastic” and ”The Long Journey”. ”Monastic” is a configuration of field-recordings that Chris Sigdell recorded together with his companions Benny Braaten and Bertrand Gaude in 2010, while having a day off on tour. In the hands of Chris Sigdell ”Monastic” forms spooky and disturbing waves of sound, dripping carelessly down the spine, crushing rocks. Don’t listen properly, behave inaccurate. Don’t be obnoxious, be quiet and feel the concrete. CD w/ 4-panel digipack limited to 300 copies. Released 29th September 2017." www.reverse-alignment.se "The other CD is all based on field recordings Sigdell made at Landbouwbelang in Maastricht along with Benny Braaten and Betrand Gaude. Whatever you can record at Landbouwbelang (agricultural interest?) is not entirely clear, I’d say, as whatever Sigdell does with his equipment, it is all transformed a notch or two. With both of these releases I have no idea what it is that Sigdell uses, but the best I can make of it is that it is all a mixture of analogue and digital equipment. No words are used on ‘Monastic’, but there is plenty of reverb and sounds of water dripping, so I would think it has a more cave like atmosphere. It also sounds a bit louder and grittier than ‘The Long Journey’; it is more like being trapped in a machine hall, I’d think, than in a space ship. It’s the yin to yang here, the noisier ‘Monastic’ versus the atmospheric journey of the other. I would think that’s the reason for releasing these on separate discs; the different approaches require different discs. My personal preference is for ‘The Long Journey’, but I see the fine quality of both." [FdW/Vital Weekly] 2017 €13.00
CABARET VOLTAIRE Mix-Up CD Cabaret Voltaire are often seen as one of the pioneering groups of the British industrial music scene in the mid 70's, much like contemporaries Throbbing Gristle they started life as a dada influenced performance art act later to focus more on the kind of subversive musical experiments that would fill the gap left by the death of the first wave of punk rock towards the end of the decade. Alongside the birth of post-punk, something of a more artsy, misanthropic kind of angst was in the air from a generation of people influenced by post-modern literature, art and controversial underground political and philosophical views. Tied in with the potential of what the coming digital age was beginning to offer for harsher, more mechanical and soulless sound experimentation, the first wave of industrial music was born. Cabaret Voltaire leant more towards post-punk then most of their peers, and their first release in 1979's Mix-Up shows that more then anything. The Cabs would go on to be seen as a pioneering force in both industrial and electronic music in general, but the early experiments on offer here don't quite have the same feel as some of their later work. Kirlian Photograph opens Mix-Up, led by a goofy bassline, simple drum machine and a hissing, dissonant synth rhythm playing off this rhythmic interplay it is similar to much of the feel of the album. The production is dark, with a distinct analogue quality that is both detrimental to its sound and part of its appeal. No Escape is very similar, probably a little more playful with its distorted textures and almost happy sounding melodies. Fourth Shot sounds like it could have been a Public Image Ltd. track if they dabbled in electronic sounds a little more, beginning with some electronic warbling it introduces a lonely hi-hat snare and dissonant rhythm guitar. It provides a nice wall of gloomy texture, as does Eyeless Sight, with a more pronounced old school drum machine driving it. Many of the other songs follow very similar formulas, something of underproduced old school post-punk with some electronic effects and noise experimentation. It's probably not worth pulling these apart for that mere fact, but suffice it to say despite the lack of variety the album remains an interesting listen. Mix-Up is one of the first industrial recordings to emerge from one of it's key pioneers, and so is probably more valuable as a history lesson for most then something that is pleasurable to listen today. That is not to say this is not an appealing listen, to fans of post-punk, analogue electronic music and lo-fi in general there is plenty to enjoy. It'd probably be worth getting something like The Voice of America or Throbbing Gristle's The Second Annual Report instead. [Sputnik] 2013 €10.00
CALARCO, JUAN JOSE Aguatierra CD "U N F A T H O M L E S S a thematic ltd series focusing primarily on phonographies reflecting the spirit of a specific place crowded with memories, its aura & resonances and our intimate interaction with it… Juan José Calarco | aguatierra Aguatierra is about creating an undefined territory, where traces of one place reconstruct the other. A flow from which the discontinuities of time and space try to create a continuous narrative through the wandering into two landscapes of artificial islands. Considering them both delineated by their irregularities, my main approach was about exploring through their variances, generating a reflection of each other : the ecological park of Xochimilco, located within México City, is somehow defined by the coexistence of a very traditional place (the large series of canals which are remains of the Chinampas agricultural practice) with the semi-urban morphology of fences, metal structures and large lumber. Called “garden of flowers” and nevertheless immersed in the urban and environmental degradation, these islands preserve a rich heritage of myths and rituals. Whilst Reserve Otamendi, at the valley of Río Luján in Argentina, can be really described as a reversed interrelationship of the built environment and nature ; an abrupt myriad of small canals and marshes form themselves between the landslide of a railway bridge and the surrounding waters ; grown from the margins of their spatial context, they extend as a vast wetland threatened by abandon, predation and recurrent fires. So, I worked from the similarities on the sound contents of both places, treating them as a whole but also focusing on their landmarks, to mirror each other, juxtapose and merge them. Wanting to draw indeed a blurred but tangible, non-territorial geography. (Juan José Calarco) cd ltd to 250 copies hand numbered copies cover design + treatments by Daniel Crokaert based exclusively on photos by Juan José Calarco." [full label info] www.unfathomless.net 2011 €14.00
CANTU-LEDESMA, JEFRE Love is a Stream CD "As a member of San Francisco legends Tarentel and Type’s premier astral travellers The Alps, Jefre Cantu-Ledesma is hardly a new addition to the label, so it’s hard to believe that ‘Love Is A Stream’ is his first Type solo album. Previously releasing on Arbor, Spekk and his own Root Strata imprint, this latest album marks his journey into the beautifully cacophonous world of dream pop. Shoegaze music has been much maligned in recent years, probably due to its rebirth and subsequent explosion of popularity (which gave rise to hundreds of young bands aping the over twenty-year-old sound). However it was only a fragment of the genre that these bands attempted to re-create, and on ‘Love Is A Stream’ Cantu, instead of focusing on tired weeping melancholy ballads, focuses solely on expansive, almost noise-ridden hopefulness. This is the kind of noise we fell in love with when My Bloody Valentine blew our ear drums performing ‘Loveless’, or the kind of harmonic excess we heard on hundredth listen to Catherine Wheel’s ‘Ferment’, but taken into deeper, more abstract realms. ‘Love Is A Stream’ is dedicated to love itself, and the dreamy, shimmering blown-out textures might at first sound like white noise before they ultimately give way to blissful harmony and hidden melody. Underneath the grit and growl are hidden guitar parts, synthesizer drones and even vocals (provided by Lisa McGee, John Twells and Maxwell August Croy) that succeed in swelling the dense, tape-saturated songs to heady new heights and belie any influences they might have. On each listen the mind strips away another layer of dust and bones to reveal haunting and deeply moving beauty. The world might be spiralling into despair, but Jefre Cantu-Ledesma has brought us a record that isn’t afraid to share the love. All that’s left to do is drown in it." [label info] www.typerecords.com 2010 €15.50
CARR, KATE The Story surrounds us MC "Kate Carr melds the exquisite details of her field recordings with an ephemeral approach to the song. This Australian has relocated herself to London after many trips around the globe. With each orbiting journey, she has collected innumerable sounds from the urbane to the aqueous and from the frenetic to the sublime, contextualizing all of these into compositions rippling with primordial melodies through guitar, piano, and electronics. The Story Surrounds Us follows her highly acclaimed albums I Had Myself A Nuclear Spring (first released on her own Flaming Pines imprint in 2015) and Carr's debut for Helen Scarsdale in 2016, It Was A Time Of Laboured Metaphors. Emblematic of her work is a gentle dislocation between the environmental sounds and her drone-dub ellipses of somnambulant melody. The clatter of a frozen dock or a vibrational shimmer from rustled objects or the unintelligible whispers displaces the sense of self amidst a sea of disparate symbols and coded thought. More a travelogue in and out of one's own body than to any particular place. Carr suggests "In a way, it is about restlessness, an uncomfortable tossing and turning in all these many different places, a struggle somehow to forge a connection between my own internal world and all these places and persons I have encountered. I think this holds a sense of unease and strain, with both beautiful and failed moments of intimacy and connection which are made either possible or impossible in the difficult and distorted context of being away. It is quite sad, really." Look to Carla dal Forno, Alan Lamb and those moments of clarity in the shapeshifting ethos from Jewelled Antler for neighboring sounds to Kate Carr's chimerical compositions." www.helenscarsdale.com "A rather fast follow-up to her last tape (It Was a Time of Laboured Metaphors, also on Helen Scarsdale), Australian sound artist Kate Carr's latest work is another entry in a rapidly growing discography that blends elements of both traditional composition and the unpredictable nature of field recordings. She does this and merges them together seamlessly, coming together as a beautiful set of sounds and moods from across the globe, yet still unified as a part of the human experience. Elements of The Story Surrounds Us were recorded during Carr’s travels to Iceland, Mexico, Sweden, and Spain, all of which clearly had an influence on the work; most obviously in the natural recordings she utilizes throughout. The tape is bookended by two sets of untreated field recordings from Ólafsfjörður, Iceland that perfectly capture the juxtaposition of her work. The first, "The Creaking Door Of The Abandoned Concrete Factory" is half a minute of just that: creaking sounds of post-industrial decay, capturing the emptiness of what surely was once part of a thriving industry. The end is “Water Lapping at Ice on Melting Lake”: the sound of wet and watery nature decaying, no doubt exacerbated by the same industry. Between these two most obvious field recordings lay eight songs that are never truly a-musical, but never become overly conventional either. "Things That Stubbornly And Resiliently Subsist Without Leave" features a lot of sparse, delicate guitar playing, but the musicality is broken up by mysterious, more synthetic-like passages that never become unpleasant. This combination also features heavily in "I Didn't Get A Lot of Sleep in Mexico", with light floating tones melded with processed guitar-like sounds, peppered with incidental found recordings and hints of music throughout. A brilliant pairing of compositions is the untreated recordings of "Communication Wires In Tropical Storm, Si'an Kaan, Mexico", and their appearance in the more compositionally based "We Were The Pulse Of A Wire Pulled Tightly". The former recordings are simply the sound of undulating metallic cables whipped about in heavy winds, taking on an odd beauty that contrasts their significantly more frightening pedigree. On "We Were The Pulse…" they reappear as overt pulses and jittery echoes resonating within electronic swarms and insinuations of percussion. The final product is moody and expansive, but concludes on a much lighter, drifting note compared to its more menacing moments. Other moments of this tape showcase Carr’s more conventional musical tendencies as well. Gentle melodies are the initial focus on "There Was a Lot of Whispering Involved", with a bit of plucked string being counterbalanced by the heavier subterranean rumble. On the whole it sounds much more traditional, but no less gripping. On the other hand, "1001 (Missed Connections)" begins with crackling voices on a PA system and ugly buzzing noises, but soon is realigned into sustained, yet chilly melodic moments. What even resembles a traditional 4/4 bass drum comes in, but just a bit too briefly. Conceptually, The Story Surrounds Us continues Kate Carr's focus on studying the sounds of specific locations, as well as the effects of social decay and its inevitable renewal. However, the music is captivating on its own as well: a wonderful blend of composed sound blended with the incidental, ephemeral sounds that surround us at all times, culminating in a strange, sometimes almost alien, but never mundane experience." [Brainwashed] 2017 €10.00
CARTER TUTTI VOID Transverse CD "Transverse is a unique collaboration between two members of the groundbreaking band Throbbing Gristle, Chris Carter and Cosey Fanni Tutti, and electronic trailblazer Nick Void of Factory Floor. Created especially for the legendary Short Circuit presents Mute festival at the Roundhouse London in May 2011, the tracks were prepared in the studio and then performed and recorded live in front of the audience. Outside of the trio, these recordings were unheard prior to the festival and the popularity of the performance left many being turned away at the door." [label info] www.mute.com 2012 €16.00
Play Chris & Cosey do-LP "Mit acht brandneuen Neuinterpretationen und Bearbeitungen von CHRIS & COSEY Klassikern aus den Achtziger und Neunziger Jahren. Die Idee zu diesem Album stammt von den sehr erfolgreichen Live Performances von ,Carter Tutti Play Chris & Cosey", die zwischen 2011 und 2014 zu einer bisher ungesehenen Serie von Shows im Vereinigten Königreich, Europa, Skandinavien und Nordamerika führten. Diese Shows führten wiederum zu einer großen Nachfrage, was Aufnahmen dieses Livesets anging, so dass sie Ende 2014 die komplette Kollektion der aufgearbeiteten Klassiker in ihrem eigenen Studio in Norfolk neu aufnahmen. Jedes Format wartet mit einem exklusiven Remix auf. Bei der CD ist das ,Vengeance" im exklusiven Remix, während das Vinyl sämtliche fünf Tracks von der Merchandising CD der Tour enthält. Double LP version, includes all five tracks from the limited CD Remix Chris & Cosey (CTI RSDUK01, 2014). Reinterpretations and re-workings of classic Chris & Cosey songs from the 1980s and 1990s. The idea for the album originated from the pair's much-requested live performances of Carter Tutti Plays Chris & Cosey, taking place in an unprecedented series of shows in the U.K., Europe, Scandinavia, and North America from 2011 through 2014. These dates in turn instigated so many requests for recordings of the live set that they were inspired to re-record this collection of reworked classic versions in their own Norfolk studio. Housed in a gatefold sleeve." [label info] "Carter Tutti. Chris & Cosey. There may be a semantic difference somewhere to be discussed, but this album brigades what those differences may be as the pair of Chris Carter and Cosey Fanni Tutti have crafted an album of material mined from the back catalogue of Chris & Cosey albums under the moniker Carter Tutti. Over the past four years, the couple has been touring vigorously, with the set including revamped / recorded / reengineered versions of the older Chris & Cosey material. So many people approached them with requests for the live recordings of these newer versions that they went into the studio to properly sequence these tracks for an album. And we gotta say that Carter Tutti offer up one hell of a recapitulation, and at times, they really do better themselves than what they had done back in the '80s. When Throbbing Gristle broke up and Chris & Cosey ventured out on their own, they adopted the seductive electro-pop subversion facets of TG to their own devices. Their albums eagerly consumed technology and fused any and all forms of electronics into the sexual / somatic rhythms of the human body. Admittedly, some times their ideas were hindered by the technologies that were at their disposal. Samplers that could only fire so fast and so much. MIDI programming that was limited by latency, memory, and timing issues. Jump several decades, and what Chris & Cosey did in the '80s with a bank of synthesizers and sequencers can now be done on any given phone. So many of these recapitulations work with the same set of melodies and sequences, but smoothed out the technological stumbling blocks. "Driving Blind" was one of the better tracks on their 1984 album Songs Of Love And Lust; and here, the two flesh out the arpeggiation of the sequences with a dense polyphony of streaming electronics above their whipcrack techno production - and Cosey's skulldrill monotone mantras are as compelling, delirious, and sexy as ever. "BeatBeatBeat" is one of the most refreshing recreations, mostly because the original was pretty damn annoying, again with a minimal, surgical set of cybernetic techno and Cosey reworking the vocal chorus into more of a celestial chime and less of a mosquito irritant. The S&M inspired "Sin" finds Cosey channelling Siouxsie more so than she's ever done in the full-throated bellows of sexual depravity above another finely tuned machine of chome-plated techno. One can hope that whatever new material comes out of this redux, it will follow this template which is pretty fucking great." [Aquarius Records] 2015 €29.50
Triumvirate LP "Triumvirate = the combined power of a group of three in creative collaboration. Containing all new studio recordings, Triumvirate brings Chris Carter, Cosey Fanni Tutti and Nik Void's collaborative partnership as Carter Tutti Void to a conclusion. The trio first came together as a collective for a live performance, invited by Mute for the Short Circuit Festival in 2011 and released their acclaimed debut, the live album Transverse the following year. Carter Tutti Void went on to release f(x) (Industrial Records, 2015), their first studio recording and performed a handful of selected shows, culminating in their final live performance in Hull, part of a series of events for Hull City of Culture 2017 centred around the COUM Transmissions retrospective. Triumvirate was approached with the improvisational spirit of previous Carter Tutti Void albums. The rhythms, created by Chris Carter, formed the foundation and starting point from which the process began of melding the live instrumentation of Cosey Fanni Tutti and Nik Void's searing guitars, vocals, effects and the arsenal of sounds each had amassed from a variety of sources, some sounds manipulated to extremes, all fed into the mix. Tying the album together is the power of three, and a free open approach to sound shared by the trio. Carter Tutti Void are Chris Carter, Cosey Fanni Tutti (Chris & Cosey / Throbbing Gristle) and Nik Void (Factory Floor / NVPR). Chris Carter recently released his first solo album in 17 years, Chris Carter's Chemistry Lessons Vol. 1 (Mute, 2018) and Cosey Fanni Tutti's TUTTI, her first album since 1982, came out ear-lier this year on Conspiracy International (home of Chris and Cosey since 1982). Nik Void is currently working on her debut solo album." [label info] 2019 €26.50
  Triumvirate CD "Triumvirate = the combined power of a group of three in creative collaboration. Containing all new studio recordings, Triumvirate brings Chris Carter, Cosey Fanni Tutti and Nik Void's collaborative partnership as Carter Tutti Void to a conclusion. The trio first came together as a collective for a live performance, invited by Mute for the Short Circuit Festival in 2011 and released their acclaimed debut, the live album Transverse the following year. Carter Tutti Void went on to release f(x) (Industrial Records, 2015), their first studio recording and performed a handful of selected shows, culminating in their final live performance in Hull, part of a series of events for Hull City of Culture 2017 centred around the COUM Transmissions retrospective. Triumvirate was approached with the improvisational spirit of previous Carter Tutti Void albums. The rhythms, created by Chris Carter, formed the foundation and starting point from which the process began of melding the live instrumentation of Cosey Fanni Tutti and Nik Void's searing guitars, vocals, effects and the arsenal of sounds each had amassed from a variety of sources, some sounds manipulated to extremes, all fed into the mix. Tying the album together is the power of three, and a free open approach to sound shared by the trio. Carter Tutti Void are Chris Carter, Cosey Fanni Tutti (Chris & Cosey / Throbbing Gristle) and Nik Void (Factory Floor / NVPR). Chris Carter recently released his first solo album in 17 years, Chris Carter's Chemistry Lessons Vol. 1 (Mute, 2018) and Cosey Fanni Tutti's TUTTI, her first album since 1982, came out ear-lier this year on Conspiracy International (home of Chris and Cosey since 1982). Nik Void is currently working on her debut solo album." [label info] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWB1ni4sa5Y 2019 €13.00
CARTER, CHRIS Chemistry Lessons (CCCL Volume One) CD "Das erste Album von Chris Carter seit 17 Jahren ! Als Gründungsmitglied von Throbbing Gristle – gemeinsam mit Cosey Fanni Tutti, Peter ‘Sleazy’ Christopherson und Genesis Breyer P-Orridge –, spielte Chris Carter eine signifikante Rolle in der Entstehung elektronischer Musik, eine Reise, die Carter als Teil von Chris & Cosey und Carter Tutti respektive Carter Tutti Void und in seinen Soloarbeiten bis heute fortsetzt. Die Verknüpfung von traditioneller Musik und Elektronik sind jene Momente, die die Musik von CCCL Volume 1 an das Schaffen von Throbbing Gristle rückbinden." [label info] "Architect of the present future, Chris Carter goes retro hauntological on CCCL Volume One, his first solo album in 17 years. Since his previous album, released in the last century, he’s been busy taking his influential duo with partner Cosey Fanni Tutti to a natural close, and likewise seeing thru their trio with Nik Colk Void, while at the same time diversifying his bonds with remixes of the contemporary field, from Factory Floor to Nisennenmondai and Perc. Here, however, the enormously pivotal artist paints a sonic self portrait indulging an unswerving thing for the BBC’s Radiophonic Workshop and the malleability of modular synths, all with a mixture of wide-eyed, youthful innocence and high end studio nous executed to nostalgic degrees. In the classic framework of hauntology, Carter’s nostalgia is for a lost, assuaged or thwarted synthetic future he experienced explicitly and cosmotically growing up during the ‘space age’, when synthesisers were vehicles for interstellar and interdimensional travel and acted as the connective ligament of counter-cultural likeminds across the world, so its easy to understand why he can’t shake that feeling here. Like a grown up kid with all the kit he could ever dream of, Carter brings his ideas to life in uniquely tactile style, working like a sculptor with broad palette of amorphous materials that continue to react and mutate after he’s fixed them in place, at his legendary studio in Norfolk. Each of the 25 tracks feels to offer a window onto worlds of encrypted kinetic energy, fulminating figments of the imagination which come to life in shapeshifting, plasmic forms made all the more “real” and hyperstitious thanks to his application of AI like vocaloids which populate the album, cropping up as alien sirens, glossolalic darkroom murmurs, and fully-fledged “singers” in their own strange right. The result is a uniquely absorbing album tied together by Carter’s smart internal logic, a mazy manifestation of bio-electronic feedback systems that gives voice to the machine as much as the man operating it in a way that will really speak to followers of classic electronic music." [Boomkat] 2018 €16.50
  Chemistry Lessons (CCCL Volume One) do-LP "Chris Carter’s Chemistry Lessons Volume One is populated with insistent melodic patterns and a distinct sense of wonderment at the limitless possibilities of science. “If there’s an influence on the album, it’s definitely ‘60s radiophonic,” Carter says. “Over the last few years I’ve also been listening to old English folk music, almost like a guilty pleasure, and so some of tracks on the album hark back to an almost ingrained DNA we have for those kinds of melodies. They’re not dissimilar to nursery rhymes in some ways.” That combination of traditional music and the backing track for exciting, potential futures gives tracks like ‘Moon Two’ and ‘Tangerines’ a sheen of inquisitiveness and quiet euphoria, while ‘Modularity’ and ‘Roane’ have an anxious, sci-fi noir charm. Elsewhere skewed voices add a calming, human note to the album. Carter explains, “Sleazy and I had worked together on ways of developing a sort of artificial singing using software and hardware. This was me trying to take it a step further. I’ve taken lyrics, my own voice or people’s voices from a collection that I’d put together with Sleazy, and I’ve chopped them up and done all sorts of weird things with them.” These moments sit alongside tracks where melodies have a dissonant, noisy, awkwardness that ties the music on CCCL Volume 1 back to the Throbbing Gristle legacy. As a founding member of Throbbing Gristle alongside Cosey Fanni Tutti, Peter ‘Sleazy’ Christopherson and Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, Chris Carter has had a significant role in the development of electronic music – a journey which has continued through his releases as one half of Chris & Cosey and Carter Tutti and a third of Carter Tutti Void – as well as with his own solo and collaborative releases. He is also credited with the invention and production of groundbreaking electronics – from the legendary Gristleizer home-soldered effects unit through to the Dirty Carter Experimental Sound Generating Instrument and the sold-out TG One Eurorack module designed with Tiptop Audio (issued to commemorate the fortieth anniversary of Throbbing Gristle’s Second Annual Report) – Carter has created the means to make sounds as well as making the sounds themselves. The 25-track album was recorded in Carter’s own Norfolk studio and the artwork and accompanying videos were self-created, taking cues in part from battered old experimental BBC broadcast LPs. Despite having been worked on over an extended period between various artistic projects in a variety of different moods, situations and circumstances, CCCL Volume 1’s experiments never feel like Carter noodling around aimlessly in his studio-laboratory. Instead there is an inner coherence and a distinctively Chris Carter approach to sound and execution that showcases the sonic scientist’s restless, questing creative spirit forever scouting for new ideas." [Mute.com] "Architect of the present future, Chris Carter goes retro hauntological on CCCL Volume One, his first solo album in 17 years. Since his previous album, released in the last century, he’s been busy taking his influential duo with partner Cosey Fanni Tutti to a natural close, and likewise seeing thru their trio with Nik Colk Void, while at the same time diversifying his bonds with remixes of the contemporary field, from Factory Floor to Nisennenmondai and Perc. Here, however, the enormously pivotal artist paints a sonic self portrait indulging an unswerving thing for the BBC’s Radiophonic Workshop and the malleability of modular synths, all with a mixture of wide-eyed, youthful innocence and high end studio nous executed to nostalgic degrees. In the classic framework of hauntology, Carter’s nostalgia is for a lost, assuaged or thwarted synthetic future he experienced explicitly and cosmotically growing up during the ‘space age’, when synthesisers were vehicles for interstellar and interdimensional travel and acted as the connective ligament of counter-cultural likeminds across the world, so its easy to understand why he can’t shake that feeling here. Like a grown up kid with all the kit he could ever dream of, Carter brings his ideas to life in uniquely tactile style, working like a sculptor with broad palette of amorphous materials that continue to react and mutate after he’s fixed them in place, at his legendary studio in Norfolk. Each of the 25 tracks feels to offer a window onto worlds of encrypted kinetic energy, fulminating figments of the imagination which come to life in shapeshifting, plasmic forms made all the more “real” and hyperstitious thanks to his application of AI like vocaloids which populate the album, cropping up as alien sirens, glossolalic darkroom murmurs, and fully-fledged “singers” in their own strange right. The result is a uniquely absorbing album tied together by Carter’s smart internal logic, a mazy manifestation of bio-electronic feedback systems that gives voice to the machine as much as the man operating it in a way that will really speak to followers of classic electronic music." [Boomkat] 2018 €26.50
CATLIN, TIM Radio Ghosts CD "The name Tim Catlin may not be terribly well known amongst the avant-guitarist circles; but his recorded output clearly stands amongst the best that Glenn Branca, Keith Rowe, and Jim O'Rourke have mustered from their six strings hard wired into the histories of electroacoustics, minimalism, and post-punk experimentation. Based out of Melbourne, Catlin is a guitarist who incessantly tinkers with the mechanics of his instrument, envisioning it as alternately as a mimetic sculptural object and a pure sound generator. Through his experiments with alternative tunings, atypical string gauges, and Rube Goldberg contraptions of interconnected motors, speakers, and radios, he seeks out the rasping textures of strings vibrating against each other, the acoustic phase patterns of two microtonally tuned strings, and the electrical purity of circuits feeding back upon themselves, essentially creating a polyglot drone symphony cast in smoldering monochrome. Radio Ghosts arrives nearly five years after his debut album Slow Twitch and showcases Catlin's unassuming expertise with the finer aspects of the mechanically prepared guitar. For all of its dynamic frequencies and crosshatched vibrations, Radio Ghosts is devoid of Marshall stacks, Sunn amps, and stomp boxes, as Catlin captures the acoustic phenomenon of the guitar's transient vibrations and steers clear of any tricked out sonic demolition. Instead, Radio Ghosts focuses upon the minutiae of the guitar: wood, strings, and amplifier. Through his refined, tabletop guitar techniques, Catlin prefers to set his guitar in motion, allowing the process dictate the course of action with minor edits and sleights of hand from the composer himself. Catlin's drone guitar work is simultaneously capable of expressionistic illusions (e.g. cicada choruses, industrial grind, uncanny ephemera from the radio waves, etc.) and a sonic transcendence of pure sonic introspection. Given that the final piece on Radio Ghosts replaces the guitar with a crash cymbal that Catlin agitates through similar processes, Catlin's work shows that Organum does not have exclusivity on the bowed cymbal for creating epic, tactile sound fields." [label info] www.23five.org 2007 €13.00
CAUDAL Forever in another World LP Caudal is a new trio featuring Aidan Baker (CA – Nadja, Whisper Room, ARC) on guitar, Gareth Sweeney (IE – Gout) on bass, and Felipe Salazar (CO – Muerte En Pereira) on drums. Baker’s multi-layered, heavily affected guitar overlays Sweeney and Salazar’s driving, propulsive rhythm section creating music equally influenced by krautrock, post-punk, and spacerock. The Animal: European Ground Squirrel (Spermophilus citellus) Caudal have decided to dedicate their release to the European ground squirrel (German: Ziesel). All profits will be donated to support the protection efforts of the Austrian Union for Nature Preservation (homepage only available in German – sorry for that!). The European ground squirrel has very specific habitat requirements. It needs short turf in order to dig its tunnel system. It finds this on the steppes and in pasture, in dry banks, on sports fields, parks and lawns. These conditions are lost when changes in agricultural practice convert grassland into arable land and forest, or grazing ceases and the grass grows coarse and scrub-land develops. Over the last ten years, the population has therefore diminished by more than 30%." [label info] www.oakenpalace.com 2013 €18.50
CECILIA Adoration LP "Standout début album of dream-like, avant garde pop and electronic variants that properly introduces Rome-based Montreal artist Mélissa Gagné aka CECILIA after guesting on Rabit’s Les Fleurs Du Mal album last year and releasing an EP for Yves Tumor's Grooming label. Devastatingly restrained yet ravishing songs with haunting English, French and Italian vocals, huge recommendation if you're into Yves Tumor, Félicia Atkinson, Rabit, Teresa Winter, Portishead, Leila... Cecilia wrote and produced Adoration, with accompaniment by mutual spirits such as her friend Jasmine Pisapia and the poet activist Griséldis Réal, who help to render a stark yet subtly gilded cross-section of her psyche, which places the listener as dark interpreter to a series of tumultuous inner dialogues - “One is summoned to whisper truth, beauty, tragedy to demon ears.” Incubated for one and half years between Montreal, Toronto and New York, Adoration reads like intimately diaristic pages recalling an amorphous lucid dream. In that phantasmagoric headspace she meditates on loss and romanticism, using a shifting backdrop of highly visual stimuli to frame her thoughts and bring them to life with an uncannily immersive effect perhaps not felt so strongly since Félicia Atkinson’s Hand In Hand LP. Electronic bass and percussion are shadowed with traces of synth and guitar improvisations, but the one consistent element is the female voice. Sometime detached, glossolalic, and at others uncannily familiar, plaintive, the voice’s presence is integral to the album's quietly absorbing atmosphere, and even if the listener can’t understand their direct meaning, they connote so much more through abstracted inference and ambiguity. Following her early forays made with the Charity Whore EP for Yves Tumor’s Grooming label, and previous work as DJ/producer Babi Audi, along with her hybrid stage works, Cecilia ties all those strands into an illusive yet highly distinguished work set to resonate with listeners from myriad backgrounds and disciplines. It's no doubt one of 2018’s most haunting, beguiling LPs." 2018 €18.00
CHAOS AS SHELTER Dead Air Broadcasts CD Dunkler Radiowellenäthernoise, der ein faszinierendes Dickicht von blubbernden, verrauschten Radiosinustönen offenbart, in denen sich mitunter verzerrte Stimmen wiederfinden, wie Botschaften aus einer fremden Galaxie. Very succesful new CAS release, totally different from other works but still so dark and menacing.. „This release combines drones with distorted overtones and hints of blip and glitch. Grinding mechanical sounds also add to the mix assaulting the ears with brutal yet melodic power electronic compositions. In addition the album harbors a few tracks that lend themselves more to the dark ambient side of experimental music with the same source materials as the above only with less aggression.” [press release] 2002 €11.00
CHASSE, LOREN & MICHAEL NORTHAM The Otolith CD 58 Minuten voller Wunder und Geheimnis! Mehrere Jahre haben LOREN CHASSE (THUJA, etc.) und MICHAEL NORTHAM eine unglaubliche Fülle von Klängen zusammengetragen (Field Recordings, Aussen-Objekt-Aufnahmen, Instrumentalsounds) und daraus auf acht Stücken Räume voller konkreter Details und dröhnender Sphären erschaffen, es tönt so soft und obertonreich und doch nie beliebig, Originalsounds bleiben oft im dunkeln aber betören stets in höchstem Maße. Das ist "organischer Ambient" oder "Microsound Musique Concrete" in Vollendung! "The recordings of Loren Chasse and Michael Northam begin and end with the great outdoors. Yet, the well-documented wanderlust of these two kindred sound artists is only part of the equation. Field recordings of wind, water, and stone intertwine and hybridize within private rituals of droning psychedelic ragas that return as a folklore reiterating the mystery of the natural world around us. Through his numerous contributions to the multi-faceted Jewelled Antler as well his solo work, Chasse has long postulated the microphone as an extension of his ear, which magnifies and probes the surface of the earth for a tactile grit that permeates all of the sounds that he generates. Northam claims his inspiration from vast geographies, microscopic detail, and severe weather, which he compacts through various techniques to explore what is between improvisation and acousmatic composition. Both Chasse and Northam entertain such notions through an alchemy of arcane instruments: autoharps, ouds, flutes, bells, gongs, bowed wires, harmonium, and Northam's magnetic table harp. The Otolith is the result of several years of work, with sounds gathered collectively in the San Francisco Bay Area and throughout Europe. The album speaks as a bramble of fence wire and chaparral scrub oak, acquiring an unkempt collection of rubbish, cobwebs, insects, and soil within its tangle. As the wind pushes in one direction, this mass emits a quite if scratchy melody as if the ghost from a forgotten song; but when the wind changes directions, it bellows a rasping din of metal and vine cracking against itself. This sodden calliope tumbles into a miasma of droning atmospheres, softly rasped distortion, and very subtly rendered lulabies lurking deep within the overgrowth." [label info] " Throughout the Marin Headlands just north of the Golden Gate Bridge, the coastal mountains are dotted with countless bunkers which were built during World War II in anticipation of the Japanese invasion that never came. Nearly 70 years later, these bunkers have been weathered by wind, fog, rain, and of course the sodden folks who tromp through the Headlands on a daily basis. These concrete structures with small portals facing the Pacific all have amazing reverberant qualities; and it shouldn't be a surprise that the more frequented bunkers and passageways inevitably echo with the sound of children dying to hear their own voices tossed back to them. The Headlands have been a favored destinations for Loren Chasse, who has sought many of the lesser known and lesser travelled environs for field recordings and jam sessions that would eventually work their way into all things Jewelled Antler (Thuja, Franciscan Hobbies, The Blithe Sons, Of, Ov, etc.). In his recordings, Chasse extracts a profound mystery and grand sense of wonder from that echo, the bunker's grit, the soft recurrence of surf bleeding through those walls, and the distant bleat of a foghorn. Back in 2005, Chasse took his fellow globetrotting wanderer Michael Northam to the Battery Townsley where the two set up long string wires and various handheld instruments to begin a series of recordings which took a few years to complete after Northam left California. The two did manage to meet up once again in Estonia, there exploring the Soviet industrial ruins that pock the Estonian landscape with similar intentions. Out of the bramble of overgrown weeds, rebar, concrete, dirt, rock, wind, and water, Chasse and Northam straddle those psychedelic leanings of Jewelled Antler and the more studied aspects of minimalism. The Otolith begins with an acoustic clamor, as if billions of iron filings were brushing against each other under the direction of a couple of hefty magnets, before shifting into a harmonium blur of sustained tones hinting at a melody well beneath these clouds of tousled energy. Softer drones and Aeolian fragments flutter forth out of bowed strings and gently tapped gongs amidst a golden hue of opiated atmospherics. Scrabblings across the surfaces of leaves, rocks, mud, and metal fuse with field recordings of wind and water, as a continuing demonstration of Chasse's alchemy with naturalist sound to bring forth stately ragas and dreamtime psychedelic lullabies. Chasse and Northam work amazingly well together, having produced this thoroughly amazing album. Think Popul Vuh, Parson Sound, Pandit Pran Nath, Harry Bertoia, and Eric La Casa. Totally beautiful and mesmerizing." [Aquarius Records review] www.helenscarsdale.com 2008 €13.00
CHOMO C'est illimite (experimentations sonoros et poetiques) LP CHOMO recorded at home, on the site of « Art Préludien » in Achères-la-Forêt (France), either in his house, or in the Church of the Poor (which he built), or outside, on tape recorders or cassettes, by inventing systems to be able to produce overdubbed sounds. Thus, these recordings are original, with their imperfections and the conditions of the live (CHOMO rarely started again). The digitization of tapes and cassettes was carried out first by Laurent Danchin between 2009 and 2010, then by Denis Tagu between 2018 and 2019, with the help of the Association des Amis de Chomo. The selections and the editing were carried out by Denis Tagu in 2019. The cleaning of the selections and the mastering were carried out by Michel Geiss in January 2020. Photos of CHOMO paintings were taken by Laurent Danchin. The assembly and the infographic of the cover (front and back, and English version of the insert) were carried out by Julien Louvet in April 2020. The collage presented on the insert inside was performed by Dominique Grimaud in January 2020 from photographs taken by Denis Tagu. Infography : Julien Louve. CHOMO : C'est illimité : expérimentations sonores et poétiques Side 1 : Chomo speaks to us (0:25) - Sheet metal (1:30) - Invented language: poem (4:10) - Universal prayer for humanity (11:36) Side 2 : Unfortunate poet (0:27) - Piano (1:36) - Carrions roting in the sun (5:32) - Swamps (1:07) - Dead woods of great solitude (3:11) - Breath in bottles, roosters and hens (1:17) - Chomo talks to an invisible being, strange noises (2:50) - Honey bees (1:20) https://inpolysons.bandcamp.com/album/cest-illimit-exp-rimentations-sonores-et-po-tiques inpolysons.free.fr/en/chomo.html 2020 €18.00
CHRISTOPHERSON, PETER The Art of Mirrors. Live at L\\\\\\\'Etrange Festival 2004 (Homage to DEREK JARMAN) CD \\\"The late Peter \\\"Sleazy\\\" Christopherson, former member of Coil, Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV, is remembered by Black Mass Rising and Infinite fog Produciton Labels with the release of his 2004 performance at L\\\'Étrange Festival, The Art of Mirrors (homage to Derek Jarman). A master of samples, industrial wizard, renowned visual artist, Peter \\\"Sleazy\\\" Christopherson influenced all. Heavy, dark, and otherworldly, this record is sure to bring you towards a trance-like state.\\\" [label info] https://infinitefog.bandcamp.com/album/live-at-l-etrange-festival-2004-the-art-of-mirrors-homage-to-derek-jarman 2018 €16.00
CHRISTOU, JANI Enantiodromia CD Sieben Werke aus der letzten Schaffensperiode des genialen griechischen Komponisten († 1970), der nur 44 Jahre alt wurde. Ob flirrend-ekstatische Klangfelder, Geräuschkaskadenerzeugung mittels der Klangkörper der eingesetzten Instrumente, ob atonale Improvisation oder „industriell“ anmutende rhythmische Muster mit unheimlichen Stimmen, JANI CRISTOUs Musik zeugt von hoher Intensität und Dichte und einer kaum mehr zu überbietenden, körperlich spürbaren Spannung, die sich z.B. bei ENANTIODROMIA eindrucksvoll entlädt.... Hier enthalten: ENANTIODROMIA (1965-68), PRAXIS für Streichorchester und Klavier (1966-69), EPICYCLE (1968), ANAPARASTASIS III (1969), MYSTERION (1969), ANAPARASTASIS I (1968), PRAXIS for 12 für 11 Streicher und einen Pianisten (1966). Dazu im booklet hochinteressante liner-notes über seine Konzeptionen von Metamusik, Proto-Performance, Klangpatterns und seine spezielle Kompositionstechnik mit eigener Notation...“Er sah die Musik vielmehr als ein Mittel an, uranfänglich gemeinsame Emotionen zu aktivieren, die ansonsten durch Zivilisation unterdrückt sind, und einen mystischen Zustand der Trance oder der Hysterie zu erreichen.“ TIP !!! Seven works from this genius greek composer from the sixties, absolutely intense stuff ! Comes with booklet in german/english liner notes, with many interesting background infos about this conception and philosophy. VERY MUCH RECOMMENDED !! 2001 €18.00
CHRYSAKIS, THANOS ELYTRA CD New insect music release by Greek sound artist Thanos Chrysakis About ΕΛΥΤΡΑ Everyone has heard the marvelous sound of crickets in the summer especially in the countryside. The sound is produced by raising and scraping against each of their protective fore-wings the elytra. Their burrow act as a resonator bringing at times a transcendent quality to the place. The music in this album with myriads of sounds, regular and irregular pulses, unfolds a similar transforming quality. Thanos Chrysakis About Thanos Chrysakis Thanos Chrysakis is a Greek composer, musician, producer and sound-artist. He is best known for his work in electronic and contemporary music, free improvisation, and electro-acoustic music. With several albums to his name his work has appeared in festivals and events in many countries. His music was among the selected works at the International Competition de Musique et d'Art Sonore Electroacoustiques de Bourges 2005, in the category oeuvre d'art sonore électroacoustique, while received an honorary mention in 2006 at the 7th International Electroacoustic Competition Musica Viva in Lisbon (the jury was constituted by Morton Subotnick (USA), François Bayle (France), and Miguel Azguime (Portugal). He operates the Aural Terrains record label since 2007 where he has released part of his work until now, alongside releases by Kim Cascone, Franscisco López, Tomas Phillips, Dan Warburton, Szilárd Mezei, Michael Edwards, Wade Matthews, Dganit Elyakim, Edith Alonso, Christian Skjødt, Luis Tabuenca, Christian Kobi, Jeff Gburek, Steve Noble, and Milo Fine. He has written music for musicians of the Hyperion Ensemble, the Stockholm Saxophone Quartet, the Konus Saxophone Quartett, and the Shadanga Duo among others. Close collaborations with Tim Hodgkinson, Vincent Royer, Chris Cundy, Yoni Silver, Lori Freedman, Jason Alder, William Lang, Wilfrido Terrazas, Philippe Brunet, Wade Matthews, Ernesto Rodrigues, Abdul Moimême, Zsolt Sőrés, Ove Volquartz to name but a few. https://aufabwegen.bandcamp.com/track/tortoise-pilgrimage "Insekten üben seit langem eine (nicht nur) klangliche Faszination aus: Man denke an die vielen Filme, in denen das Zirpen der Zikaden fast schon ein alternativer Soundtrack ist oder an die symbolische Bedeutung der Geräusche der Grillen in einem Stück wie Sam Shephards „True West“. Eine Reihe von Musikern wurden vom Klangpotenzial der Insekten angezogen: 1986 veröffnetlichte Graeme Revell „The Insect Musicians“, sein Versuch einer auf dem Geräusch von Insekten basierenden “micro-musique” (gerade ist das Album auf Old Europa Cafe neu herausgebracht worden), jüngst erschien noch ein Album namens “The Life Of Insects” von der in Berlin lebenden Peruanerin Ale Hop. Der 1971 in Athen geborene Thanos Chrysakis hat zahlreiche Alben veröffentlicht und betreibt das Label Aural Terrains, “a creative space for exploratory contemporary music in its different manifestations”, auf dem er u.a. Alben von Francisco López, Tomas Phillips oder Michael Edwards veröffentlicht hat. Auf “ΕΛΥΤΡ” basieren die Stücke auf dem Klang von Grillen, der für Chrysakis fast eine “transcendent qualitiy” hat. Das das Album eröffnende 8-minütige „Alabaster Tide“ ist eine dichte Klangfläche, die anfangs in ihrer rabiaten Unruhe durchaus an einige der perkussiven Arbeiten von Z’EV denken lässst. Hier fühlt man sich, als befinde man sich geradewegs inmitten zahlloser Insekten. Das Unruhige wird aber im Verlaufe des Stücks zurückgefahren, schließlich hört man ein paar hochfrequentere Passagen und Knirschen. „Coral Aether“ knüpft mit seinem Knistern und Flüstern daran an. „Tortoise Pilgrimage“ besteht aus flirrenden und sirrenden kristallinen Sounds, die gar nicht so weit von einigen Aufnahmen Asmus Tietchens entfernt sind, dann plötzlich meint man, ein Windspiel erklinge. Eine größere Reduktion hört man auf „Tranquil Edge“ mit seinem Knistern, das den Eindruck erweckt, als ob kleine Zweige brechen würden. Dann gibt es „Delphic Maxims“ mit fast schon wasserartigen Sounds oder das Rascheln bei „Pierian Roses, das sich im weiteren Verlauf verdichtet. Schließlich endet das Album mit „ A Shadow’s Dream“ mit erratischen perkussiven Momenten, und dann plötzlich – unerwartet – etwas, das wie ein Piano klingt. Auch ohne die Faszination, die vielleicht vom Ausgangsmaterial ausgeht, ist das ein sehr starkes Album." [MG / African Paper] 2020 €13.00
  Manifold Vista CD listen: https://aufabwegen.bandcamp.com/album/manifold-vista About Manifold Vista Manifold Vista is the new album by composer/producer Thanos Chrysakis. Rarely can something so meticulously assembled together sound so fluid. A distinct, disciplined sense for composition emerges from each of these works, displaying formal integrity while at the same time, they are also effervescent, forceful, fiercely idiosyncratic and beautifully shaped and transformed. The album discloses an expanded and detailed vista of sound’s interiority forming a strangely pleasurable, not to mention engaging, experience. Thanos Chrysakis is a Greek composer, musician, producer and sound-artist. He is best known for his work in electronic and contemporary music, free improvisation, and electro-acoustic music. With several albums to his name his work has appeared in festivals and events in numerous countries, including CYNETart Festival, Festspielhaus Hellerau - Dresden, Artus Contemporary Arts Studio – Budapest, CRUCE Gallery – Madrid, Fylkingen – Stockholm, Relative (Cross) Hearings festival – Budapest, Festival Futura – Crest - Drôme, FACT Centre – Liverpool, Association Ryoanji – Ahun - Creuse, The Center for Advanced Musical Studies at Chosen Vale — Hanover - New Hampshire, Areté Gallery — Brooklyn - New York, UC San Diego – California - San Diego, Berner Münster – Bern, Fabbrica del Vapore – Milan, Grünewaldsalen – Svensk Musikvår — Stockholm, Splendor – Amsterdam, Logos Foundation – Ghent, Palacio de Bellas Artes – Mexico City, Műcsarnok Kunsthalle – Budapest, Spektrum – Berlin, Susikirtimai X – Vilnius, Festival del Bosque GERMINAL – Mexico City, ДОМ – Moscow, Oosterkerk – Amsterdam, KLANG ! – Montpellier, Nádor Terem – Budapest, Utzon Centre – Aalborg, Center for New Music – San Francisco, Västerås Konstmuseum – Västerås, Störung festival – Barcelona, BMIC Cutting Edge concert series at The Warehouse – London. His music was among the selected works at the International Competition de Musique et d'Art Sonore Electroacoustiques de Bourges 2005, in the category oeuvre d'art sonore électroacoustique, while received an honorary mention in 2006 at the 7th International Electroacoustic Competition Musica Viva in Lisbon (the jury was constituted by Morton Subotnick (USA), François Bayle (France), and Miguel Azguime (Portugal). He operates the Aural Terrains record label since 2007 where he has released part of his work until now, alongside releases by Kim Cascone, Franscisco López, Tomas Phillips, Dan Warburton, Szilárd Mezei, Michael Edwards, Wade Matthews, Dganit Elyakim, Edith Alonso, Luis Tabuenca, Jeff Gburek, Philippe Petit, Steve Noble, Milo Fine and David Ryan among others. He has written music for musicians of the Hyperion Ensemble, the Stockholm Saxophone Quartet, the Hermes Ensemble, Nemø Ensemble, the Konus Saxophone Quartett, and the Shadanga Duo among others. Close collaborations with Tim Hodgkinson, Vincent Royer, Chris Cundy, Yoni Silver, Lori Freedman, Jason Alder, Julie Kjaer, Henriette Jensen, William Lang, Wilfrido Terrazas, Philippe Brunet, Wade Matthews, Ernesto Rodrigues, Abdul Moimême, Ove Volquartz to name but a few. https://aufabwegen.bandcamp.com/album/manifold-vista 2023 €13.00
CINDYTALK In this World CD Nach "Camouflage Heart" von 1984 verschwanden CINDYTALK für vier Jahre in der Versenkung, die sie allerdings damit verbrachten, das epische Nachfolgewerk "In This World" zu schreiben und aufzunehmen. "In This World" erschien als zwei separate Vinyl LPs, die beide "In This World" betitelt, aber mit verschiedenem Cover Artwork ausgestattet waren. Die Neuauflage erscheint als Doppel-Vinyl oder einfache CD. "In This World" is a noble venture. It's every inaccessible racket you could imagine but creeps gently in on the delectable title instrumental before kicking you in the navel with a hybrid broth of Motorslug, Swans, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, and generally alienating cacophonies." [Chris Roberts (Melody Maker)] " So the rumor goes that Gordon Sharp was invited to join Duran Duran after Sharp dissolved his Edinburgh glam-punk band The Freeze in the late '70s. He turned them down. Elizabeth Fraser and Robin Guthrie also put out the request for Sharp to join the Cocteau Twins. After a brief stint accompanying the Cocteau Twins for a Peel Session in 1982 and a guest spot on This Mortal Coil's It'll End In Tears, he opted for his own project -- the obscure, yet majestic Cindytalk. In This World is an opus in every sense of the word. Originally, In This World came out in 1988 as two separate albums under the same name, each with slightly different artwork. One album, a masterpiece of abject post-punk that in all honesty is the closest parallel to Swans' Children Of God; the other, a delicate ambient construct of melancholy piano scarred with surface noice prognosticating pretty much everything that Type Records has released (e.g Machinefabriek, Jasper TX, etc.). It's very good thing that both of these albums have been repackaged into one self-contained object, as the only half of In This World that seemed to be floating around was the piano-laced ambient one. As good as that half is, you need the grit and dirge of its companion album to complete Cindytalk's ideas of grand dualities: heaven / hell, pleasure / pain, holiness / transgression, etc. While billed by Sharp as the 'disgusting' part of the In This World diptych, the first half begins with a lovely tonefloat of scratched violin drones and painterly piano notes. Yet, with the crushing rhythm and noise attack of "Janey's Love," Sharp does not disappoint with his disgusting tag. This is a monstrous industrial dirge with huge monotone slabs of distortion and atonal drones counterpointing Sharp's soaring falsetto. The punk poet Kathy Acker supplies a brief spoken word interlude as the coda to this incendiary number. Immediately hereafter, Cindytalk continue their turgid rhythmic marches with an angular distorted rhythm, slippery bassline mired in audio rust, and twin guitars spitting acid, fire, and brimstone on such tracks as "Gift Of A Knife" and "Circle Of Shit." As the first half of the album progresses, the songs steadily disintegrate as rhythm, song structure, and noise all collapse into a blur of smeared grey that is eerily reflective of William Basinski's Disintegration Loops. The piano which opened In This World becomes the dominant sound in Cindytalk's soundscapes, also marking the delineation between the two halves of In This World. Yes, this is the beautiful side of Cindytalk, coated in ash, snow, bruises, and rust. Gordon Sharp's piano playing comes from Brian Eno's Thursday Afternoon, which in turn came from Erik Satie; and that impressionist sentiment continues forward amidst subterranean drones and field recordings of barren spaces. Sharp's voice is mostly absent from these tracks, although the eponymous finale to the album showcases one of Sharp's most emotive croons. They really don't make albums like this any more, with such attention to detail and dynamics between rage and beauty. Fortunately, both of these records were concise enough that they could both fit onto one CD; and if you've not had the opportunity to hear Cindytalk, please do not let this album and its predecessor Camouflage Heart pass you by!" [Aquarius Records review] 2007 €14.00
The Crackle of my Soul CD "Written and recorded by gordon sharp at belmont shore (ca), mid-levels (hk) & kobe (japan) 2001-2009. mastered at piethopraxis, july 2009. dedicated to matt kinnison (1965-2008). Cindytalk have been active since 1982, which we won’t go into here (a quick Google search will satisfy that need). During the 80s and 90s their sound was defined by broken down rock structures and abstract piano ambience. A third side to their coin emerged at the dawn of the 21st Century with a turn towards obscure computer usage pushing all resemblance of melody and conventual texture to the outer edges. ‘The Crackle Of My Soul’ is the first full length to come from this new direction, starting in 2001 and now finally ready for release. Its also the first Cindytalk album since the 1995 release of ‘Wappinschaw’. Although very abstract in nature these 10 tracks still echo the vocal brilliance and subtle beauty that they become known for, as well as pushing back the boundaries making this an essential listen regardless if you are aware of the back catalogue or not. This is the first in a series of already finished releases, which will see the light of day throughout 2010." [label info] www.editionsmego.com "Cindytalk on Mego? It was a shock to see that pairing. Cindytalk has been the sporadic project of Gordon Sharp with a shifting ensemble over the past two and half decades. At first, Sharp's abject post-punk took a gritty, almost industrial growling to the ethereally dark tunes of the Cocteau Twins. Sharp's voice in many ways is the masculine equivalent to Liz Fraser's, just as beautiful and haunting; and the two had paired up on a few tracks through This Mortal Coil and the Cocteau Twins. Cindytalk's two releases in the '80s - Camoflage Heart and In This World - have been secret gems to all those who had uncovered that work, with Cindytalk only emerging a few times since. There was the impressionist Ambient piano record The Wind Is Strong and 1994's underwhelming Wappinschaw. Then, a decade of silence followed by a limited edition single from 2003 and a brilliant one-sided 10" of drone-rock beauty in 2008. So, it was hard to know what to expect with a 2009 full album from Cindytalk, especially from the digi-centric label Mego. Here, Cindytalk is just the work of Gordon Sharp; and The Crackle Of My Soul certainly sounds like a Mego record on par with the likes of Pita, Kevin Drumm, and BJ Nilsen, as shards of digital noise are looped and phased into building compositions that glow with a very intense high-end piercing. Not quite Whitehouse territory, it's actually far more glacial and icy in tone. Nevertheless, Sharp's electronics have a way of drilling into your skull. Voice and piano occasionally creep into the mix, but not to the extent that you would hear on any of the earlier records, even the aforementioned album The Wind Is Strong. We have to admit that we didn't love this record as much as Camoflage Heart and In This World; but it's sort of a different beast, and there's a lot of very strong electro-acoustic renderings to be found here..." [Aquarius Rec.] 2009 €13.50
  The Wind is strong (lim. marble smoke viny) LP Cindytalk is the mercurial, expressionist outlet of Scottish artist Cinder. An evolution of her early 1980's Edinburgh-based punk band The Freeze, she launched the project upon moving to London, inspired by the crossroads of exploratory UK post-punk and early European industrial. Her work thrives on chance and transformation, collaging elements of noise, balladry, soundtrack, catharsis, and improvisation. After a series of celebrated albums for the Midnight Music label as well as collaborations with This Mortal Coil and Cocteau Twins, Cinder migrated to the United States, becoming involved with various underground techno collectives around the Midwest and West Coast. Subsequent relocations to Hong Kong and Japan further expanded Cindytalk's horizons, resulting in a fruitful partnership with Viennese experimental institution Editions Mego, for whom she released five full-lengths of swooning, granular atmosphere. 2021 finds her as engaged as ever, at the precipice of long-awaited back catalog reissues alongside multiple new works, guided by her lasting love of discovery and deviation: “new pathways always being uncovered.” The 3rd album by Scottish industrial enigma Cinder aka Cindytalk began life as the soundtrack to an experimental film by English director Ivan Unnwin entitled Eclipse (The Amateur Enthusiast's Guide To Virus Deployment), and was originally slated for release via Factory Records' video division, Ikon. Inspired heavily by Alan Splet's eerily disembodied sound design in David Lynch's Eraserhead, the collection's 15 pieces seethe between field recordings, wistful piano vignettes, and lurking metallic haze – a hybrid palette Cinder characterized at the time as “ambi-dustrial.” Unfortunately Ikon collapsed on the eve of the project's completion so the film was never distributed, but the Midnight Music imprint repackaged Cindytalk's score as an LP in 1990 under the name The Wind Is Strong... (full title: The Wind Is Strong - A Sparrow Dances, Piercing Holes in Our Sky). Long out of print, the album remains one of the most elusive and adventurous in the Cindytalk discography, a mix of musique concréte, haunted reverie, and desolate beauty. Even unaccompanied by their intended visuals, this is overtly cinematic music, conjuring forests at dusk and shadowed corridors, equal parts remote and reflective. Cinder cites a belief that “all sound is music,” which fully manifests here, utilizing tape hiss, ticking clocks, flicking flames, and distant whispers as evocative accents in tapestries of luminous negative space. Although Cinder included the subtitle “A Cindytalk diversion” in the sleeve notes, The Wind Is Strong... is crucial to the project's canon, demonstrating the depth and versatility of her unique ear and intuition. She describes each album as a direct response to the previous one, and in that sense The Wind marks a bold break from the coiled song-oriented post-punk of 1988's In This World, venturing into unknown, unnamed terrain, and finding foreboding new futures to call her own. https://www.daisrecords.com/products/cindytalk-the-wind-is-strong Cindytalk ist das quecksilbrige, expressionistische Ventil der schottischen Künstlerin Cinder. Als Weiterentwicklung ihrer Edinburgher Punkband The Freeze aus den frühen 1980er Jahren gründete sie das Projekt, nachdem sie nach London gezogen war, inspiriert von der Kreuzung aus forschendem britischen Post-Punk und frühem europäischen Industrial. Ihre Arbeit lebt vom Zufall und der Verwandlung, sie collagiert Elemente von Lärm, Balladen, Soundtracks, Katharsis und Improvisation. Nach einer Reihe gefeierter Alben für das Label Midnight Music sowie Kollaborationen mit This Mortal Coil und den Cocteau Twins wanderte Cinder in die Vereinigten Staaten aus und engagierte sich in verschiedenen Underground-Techno-Kollektiven im Mittleren Westen und an der Westküste. Spätere Umzüge nach Hongkong und Japan erweiterten Cindytalks Horizont und führten zu einer fruchtbaren Partnerschaft mit der Wiener Experimental-Institution Editions Mego, für die sie fünf Alben mit schwelgerischer, granularer Atmosphäre veröffentlichte. 2021 ist sie so engagiert wie eh und je und steht an der Schwelle von lang erwarteten Wiederveröffentlichungen des alten Katalogs neben zahlreichen neuen Werken, geleitet von ihrer anhaltenden Liebe zur Entdeckung und Abweichung: Immer neue Wege werden aufgedeckt. Das dritte Album des schottischen Industrial-Enigmas Cinder aka Cindytalk begann als Soundtrack zu einem Experimentalfilm des englischen Regisseurs Ivan Unnwin mit dem Titel Eclipse (The Amateur Enthusiast's Guide To Virus Deployment) und sollte ursprünglich über die Videoabteilung von Factory Records, Ikon, veröffentlicht werden. Inspiriert von Alan Splets unheimlichem, körperlosem Sounddesign in David Lynchs Eraserhead, bewegen sich die 15 Stücke der Sammlung zwischen Field Recordings, wehmütigen Klaviervignetten und lauerndem Metalldunst - eine hybride Palette, die Cinder damals als "ambi-dustrial" bezeichnete. Unglücklicherweise brach Ikon am Vorabend der Fertigstellung des Projekts zusammen, so dass der Film nie vertrieben wurde, aber das Midnight Music Imprint verpackte Cindytalks Partitur 1990 als LP unter dem Namen The Wind Is Strong... (vollständiger Titel: The Wind Is Strong - A Sparrow Dances, Piercing Holes in Our Sky). Längst vergriffen, bleibt das Album eines der schwer fassbarsten und abenteuerlichsten in der Diskographie von Cindytalk, eine Mischung aus konkreter Musik, geisterhafter Träumerei und trostloser Schönheit. Selbst ohne die visuelle Untermalung ist dies eine offenkundig filmische Musik, die Wälder in der Dämmerung und schattige Korridore heraufbeschwört, die zu gleichen Teilen entlegen und nachdenklich sind. Cinder beruft sich auf die Überzeugung, dass ügalles Geräusch Musik ist,üh was sich hier voll und ganz manifestiert, indem sie Tonbandrauschen, tickende Uhren, züngelnde Flammen und entferntes Flüstern als evokative Akzente in Wandteppichen aus leuchtendem Negativraum verwendet. Obwohl Cinder den Untertitel "A Cindytalk diversion" (Eine Cindytalk-Abwechslungü) in die Cover-Notizen geschrieben hat, ist The Wind Is Strong... entscheidend für den Kanon des Projekts und demonstriert die Tiefe und Vielseitigkeit ihres einzigartigen Gehörs und ihrer Intuition. Sie beschreibt jedes Album als direkte Antwort auf das vorherige, und in diesem Sinne markiert The Wind einen kühnen Bruch mit dem songorientierten Post-Punk des 1988er Albums In This World, indem sie sich in unbekanntes, unbenanntes Terrain wagt und eine neue Zukunft findet, die sie ihr Eigen nennen kann. Für Fans von: Harold Budd, Tor Lundvall, Lawrence English, Kevin Drumm, Loscil, This Mortal Coil, Drekka, Zoviet France. 2021 €23.50
CINEMA PERDU 2 Compositions with Found Sounds mCD-R cinema perdu is the dutch sound artist martijn pieck. here's what he says about "2 compositions with found sounds": "in my project cinema perdu i work with field recordings as starting point for my compositions. with all kind of manipulations and additions from other sound sources like synthesizers and contact-microphone recordings i recreate the feeling of a place during a certain time, sometimes more factual, sometimes more storytelling. in this case the 2 tracks are evolved around 'found sounds’ in an urban environment." aside from working as cinema perdu, martijn is also co-composer in the [law-rah] collective next to bauke van der wal since 2008 and together with jon unger formed woodbender. reviews: vital weekly 1150 It wasn't for nationalistic reasons I started with Cinema Perdu, the Dutch musical project of Martijn Pieck. It was just the first one that I played. Pieck is also a member of [law-rah] collective next to Bauke van der Wal since 2008 and together with Jon Unger formed Woodbender (see Vital Weekly 1077). His latest release as Cinema Perdu was the excellent CD 'Amsterdam CS' (see Vital Weekly 1127), in which he used field recordings at the Amsterdam Central Station. Taking field recordings and feeding them to his extended modular set up. I recently saw a concert by him and the field recordings disappeared in there, just they do in these two pieces here. They are just called 'found sounds' and are not specified in any way, just from an 'urban environment'. I don't even want to go in there and think about it; I don't care that much, as I was lost easily in the dark currents produced by Cinema Perdu that hold the middle ground between a grinder and synthesizer, playing some darker chords. This is quite an un-earthy rumble that is going on here, exactly the spooky tone in combination with a delicate atmosphere that I like so much. (FdW) 2018 €5.00
CISFINITUM Devotio 10inch Das Projekt CISFINITUM von Evgueny Voronovsky gehört für uns zu den momentan besten russischen experimentell-atmosphärischen / Drone / Post-Industrial - Acts, weshalb die Einladung zur neuen SUBSTANTIA INNOMINATA–Reihe nach dem phänomenalen Konzert im Bremer Dom (November 2005) sich fast zwangsläufig ergab. Bereits im Namen CISFINITUM steckt die Auseindersetzung mit dem Nicht-Mehr-Erfassbaren, DEVOTIO verweist klanglich mit monumentalen Kirchenglocken-Drones auf sakrale Sphären des Transzendenten, nicht mehr Hinterfragbaren.... kommt auf weissem Vinyl und eine fantastische Artwork des Berliner Artworkers TILMANN BENNINGHAUS . “Hinter CISFINITUM steckt Evgueny Voronovsky, ein ausgebildeter Violinist, der neben konkreten und instrumentellen Klangquellen auch alte sowjetische Synthesizer in neuem Kontext benutzt (wie auf der letzten CD-Veröffentlichung „BEZDNA“ [Monochrome Vision]), z.B. den legendären ANS. CISFINITUM (=„Jenseits des Endlichen“) ist ein Text (1930) & Begriff des russischen Dichters Daniil Charms, der für die „Logik der unendlichen Nicht-Existenz“steht: das was hinter dem Verstandesmässigem liegt. Die Endlichkeit der logischen Welt wird durch die Logik selbst nachgewiesen. ’ Das Cisfinitum zerstört die Postulate eines nach dem anderen. Das entzieht jeder Grundlage ihren Halt. Das zweifelt alles an. Das raubt einem sein Vermögen. Das hat kein Heiligtum, keine Moral, keine Tugenden. Das Cisfinitum ist brutal.’ [Michail Demidov]“ [Drone Records / REM-info 2005] The fourth volume in our new series comes from one of the currently best projects of the russian experimental-atmospheric / drone / post-industrial-scene. Main force behind CISFINITUM we find Evgueny Voronovsky, an educated violinist from Moscow. CISFINITUM is a notion by russian poet & writer DANIIL CHARMS, meaning the „logic of the infinite non-existence“, that „something“ that is beyond all rational things. DEVOTIO uses monumental bell-sounds that build complex overlappings & hypnotic drone-waves in various layers, dissolving into pure vibrations. To us It sounds like a journey into the heart of the sacral, pointing at a sphere of transcendence where all questions end. Or begin again. Comes on white vinyl and with great artwork by Berlin-based artworker TILMANN BENNINGHAUS. 2006 €12.00
  Tactio CD Mitschnitt des denkwürdigen CISFINITUM-Konzerts im Bremer St. Petri-Dom vom 24. November 2005, welches v.a. durch die Verwendung monumentaler Kirchenglocken-Drones besticht (Aufnahmen einer russischen Kirche basieren); es fand statt im Rahmen der REIHE ELEKTRONISCHER MUSIK ("Rapid Ear Movement"), kuratiert von CHRISTOPH OGIERMANN. "CISFINITUM ist eines der am längsten bestehenden Moskauer Industrial / Experimental/ Elektronik - Projekte (Gründung 1989) und steht für die russische Variante des sogenannten „ambient Industrial“, „drone“ oder „dark ambient“. Als „dark ambient“ bezeichnet man in der neueren elektronischen Musik seit einigen Jahren die „dunkle“ Seite der atmosphärisch-experimentellen Musik, bei der es oft weniger um den explizit Ablauf der Komposition geht, als vielmehr um die Schaffung „bewusstseinsverändernder“ Atmosphären mit Hilfe von Klang. Hinter CISFINITUM steckt Evgueny Voronovsky, ein ausgebildeter Violinist, der neben konkreten und instrumentellen Klangquellen auch alte sowjetische Synthesizer in neuem Kontext benutzt (wie auf der letzten CD-Veröffentlichung „BEZDNA“ [Monochrome Vision]), z.B. den legendären ANS. CISFINITUM (=„Jenseits des Endlichen“) ist ein Text & Begriff des russischen Dichters Daniil Charms, der für die „Logik der unendlichen Nicht-Existenz“steht: das was hinter dem Verstandesmässigem liegt. Die Endlichkeit der logischen Welt wird durch die Logik selbst nachgewiesen." [Konzertankündigungs-Info Drone Records] "With a parsimonious discography mostly released on seasoned Russian labels such as Waystyx, Ewers Tonkunst and Monochrome Vision, Evgeny Voronovsky has established himself as an uniquely engaging artist in the country's current ambient scene. Under the name of Cisfinitum, he has taken a syncretic approach to an often codified genre, uniting his formal training as a violinist at the Moscow State University with his affinity for concrete sounds and experimental structures. Past releases have shown a capacity to synthesize these factors at times while emphasizing the contrasts between them at others, sometimes over the course of a single track. In this aspect, this album follows the tradition faithfully. Tactio is the live recording of a Cisfinitum concert at the St. Petri Dom (St. Peter's Cathedral) in Bremen, on November 24, 2005. The particular (and as expected highly favorable) acoustics of this environment were consistently used not only as an enhancing effect but as an integral foundation for the performance, making it unmistakeably tied to its context. Presented in the form of six continuous tracks, the album is a contemplative composition of vibrant drones, reverberating bells and synthesized resonance, gracefully evolving from the celestial tones of its start to the tellurian pulses of its climax. This is a piece of work that is elaborate in its simplicity, and it's with much appreciation that it is presented here today. The beautiful iconic artwork by Evgeny Kuprienko further emphasizes the relic-like qualities of this recording." [label description] www.mechanoise-labs.com 2008 €10.00
CLEW OF THESEUS Meridian CD "This album shows a projection and further maturity in Clew Of Theseus’ sound. Meridian is a dark and esoteric album, very focused, full of sounds at once harsh and ambient, with forceful drones and rich textures. Sounds were created with acoustic winds, electric guitar, analog and junk synthesizers and gritty electronics, mixed to create a foreboding atmosphere. The album was mastered by Timothy Stollenwerk at Stereophonic Mastering, best known for his work on dozens of Daniel Menche albums. Meridian was recorded in two weeks during the monsoon season of 2008. A careful study into the symbols inside the album show an obsession with elemental force and eternal power. Clew Of Theseus evokes images of furious storms, wiping the landscape of blight, bringing beautiful darkness in its wake. CD packaged in standard jewel case with full-color artwork." [label info] www.catharticprocess.com 2009 €12.00
COIL Swanyard do-CD "150 minutes of previously unreleased material from Coil, strewn with parts that would eventually metastasise into ‘Backwards’, and ultimately ‘Black Light District’ and ‘Musick To Play In The Dark’. We hardly need to stress that ’Swanyard’ is a bounty for Coil nuts out there, but equally a fascinating listen for anyone attempting to get to grips with their unfathomable catalogue - especially DJs and listeners currently digging into the underbelly of the ‘90s. The material was all written and recorded between 1993 to 1996 and was selected and assembled by Danny Hyde (Electric Sewer Age, ex-Coil, ex-Psychic TV, ex-Black Light District) from the studio archives. As he outlines in the liner notes, these 23 tracks offer unforetold snapshots of Coil’s constant work-in-progress during an important phase of exploration. Tracks were usually seeded in Peter 'Sleazy' Christopherson’s dreams, and rendered thru the prism of his myriad sample bank, with Jhon Balance pulling from his notebooks for lyrics, and Danny Hyde would aid in engineering, editing and mixing, animating their studio gremlins and mental apparitions to an almost complete form. The ’Swanyard’ is effectively as close as you’ll get to being in their notorious studios during the pharmaceutically-fuelled peak of the ‘90s, at the point where dark ambient, electronica and dance music were mutual bedfellows, and mutated the framework for where we are today." [Boomkat] 2019 €25.00
COIL + ZOS KIA + MARC ALMOND How to destroy Angels LP Cold Spring are proud to announce the complete recording of 'A Slow Fade To Total Transparency'. Recorded 24th August 1983, at the Air Gallery, London, UK. All audio has been remastered from the original tapes, is previously unreleased, and is EXCLUSIVE to this release. Personnel for the performance - John Balance (Coil), John Gosling (Zos Kia), Marc Almond (Soft Cell) and live mix by Peter Christopherson (Coil, Throbbing Gristle). Liner notes by Michel Faber ('Under The Skin', 'The Crimson Petal And The White'). 1. "HOW TO DESTROY ANGELS" - the complete 23 minute piece. 2. "HOW TO DESTROY ANGELS - ZOS KIA REMIX" - a 9 minute unheard remix by John Gosling. 3. "BAPTISM OF FIRE" - unreleased recording of Zos Kia / Coil at Recession Studios, London, England, October 12, 1983. Michel Faber: "Imagine how out-of-step with the dominant culture COIL were when they unveiled themselves in the Air Gallery to perform A Slow Fade To Total Transparency. Subtitled How To Destroy Angels, the music - a backing track prepared by JOHN BALANCE, JOHN GOSLING and PETER CHRISTOPHERSON - bears only scant resemblance to the How To Destroy Angels 12" that Coil would release as their debut vinyl the following year. Instead of the meditative ritual gongs of the 12", what we hear here is a restless, queasy melange of industrial noise, its eerie whistles the perfect backdrop for MARC ALMOND as he recites a bitter tirade against an ex-lover". All orders direct from Cold Spring will receive an exclusive artcard. All vinyl comes with download card. CD Edition out now in glossy 6-panel digipak Vinyl available 10th September 2018: coldspring.bandcamp.com/album/how-to-destroy-angels-csr263cd-lp 2018 €22.00
CONSUMER ELECTRONICS Airless Space do-LP "Consumer Electronics return with a double album of all new studio recordings produced by Russell Haswell. Some wondered how the songwriting team of Philip Best and Sarah Froelich would fare after the leaving their London home to take up residency in the United States. Well, here's the answer. Recorded in San Francisco, CE deliver "Airless Space", a state-of-the-union address that does for our American cousins what the band's earlier "Estuary English" album did for a British audience poised upon the coming madness of Brexit. Unusually for CE, "Airless Space" clocks in at 60 minutes, a hexed induction for a country labouring under a presidency, that like Brexit itself, few saw coming or contemplated having to endure. Soundwise, CE have maybe mellowed the tone a touch, allowing their electronics to stretch out and breathe, whereas the frenzied and anxious vocals of Best and Froelich remain as snatched and breathless as ever. Stunningly produced by Russell Haswell and gorgeously mastered by award-winning cutting engineer Matt Colton, "Airless Space" by Consumer Electronics is their most complete and rounded statement yet." [label info] "Russell Haswell serves vacuum-tight production for Sarah Froelich and Philip Best’s alternately piercing/soberly observant vocals in their 3rd album together as Consumer Electronics, and their first since relocating from London to San Francisco… In ’Airless Space’ the grizzly trio recalibrate their shrewd gaze from the pre-Brexitlands of 2014’s ‘Estuary English’ to the thick of an unprecedented time in USA, which is currently in the process of fulfilling the dystopian, apocalyptic America of 2020 prophesised in countless films, books and artworks. Trust CE to grasp the zeitgeist with bare hands in their particular style, with Best and Froelich trading the mic to mete out nearly 60 minutes of wryly sardonic side-eyes at the state of it all, while Haswell variously punctuates the negative space with a palette of bolshy bass drums and noise, or turns the vocals into gargling gurns of bestial wretchedness. If we’re playing favourites, the increasingly throttled 13 minutes of vitriol and pranging n0!ze jabs in ‘Muder of JJ’ is substantial, while Best is at his most unsettling with the unflinching cool delivery of ‘Carnage Mechanics’, and they come together most fiercely when the vocalists trade the mic over pelting rhythm and bone-twanging twitches in ‘Play Therapy’, with Best uttering the truest lines: “Stay indoors all day, that’s what i do these days / Never leave the house if I can help it/ why would i fucking want to?” [Boomkat] 2019 €25.00
  Airless Space CD "Consumer Electronics return with a double album of all new studio recordings produced by Russell Haswell. Some wondered how the songwriting team of Philip Best and Sarah Froelich would fare after the leaving their London home to take up residency in the United States. Well, here's the answer. Recorded in San Francisco, CE deliver "Airless Space", a state-of-the-union address that does for our American cousins what the band's earlier "Estuary English" album did for a British audience poised upon the coming madness of Brexit. Unusually for CE, "Airless Space" clocks in at 60 minutes, a hexed induction for a country labouring under a presidency, that like Brexit itself, few saw coming or contemplated having to endure. Soundwise, CE have maybe mellowed the tone a touch, allowing their electronics to stretch out and breathe, whereas the frenzied and anxious vocals of Best and Froelich remain as snatched and breathless as ever. Stunningly produced by Russell Haswell and gorgeously mastered by award-winning cutting engineer Matt Colton, "Airless Space" by Consumer Electronics is their most complete and rounded statement yet." [label info] "Russell Haswell serves vacuum-tight production for Sarah Froelich and Philip Best’s alternately piercing/soberly observant vocals in their 3rd album together as Consumer Electronics, and their first since relocating from London to San Francisco… In ’Airless Space’ the grizzly trio recalibrate their shrewd gaze from the pre-Brexitlands of 2014’s ‘Estuary English’ to the thick of an unprecedented time in USA, which is currently in the process of fulfilling the dystopian, apocalyptic America of 2020 prophesised in countless films, books and artworks. Trust CE to grasp the zeitgeist with bare hands in their particular style, with Best and Froelich trading the mic to mete out nearly 60 minutes of wryly sardonic side-eyes at the state of it all, while Haswell variously punctuates the negative space with a palette of bolshy bass drums and noise, or turns the vocals into gargling gurns of bestial wretchedness. If we’re playing favourites, the increasingly throttled 13 minutes of vitriol and pranging n0!ze jabs in ‘Muder of JJ’ is substantial, while Best is at his most unsettling with the unflinching cool delivery of ‘Carnage Mechanics’, and they come together most fiercely when the vocalists trade the mic over pelting rhythm and bone-twanging twitches in ‘Play Therapy’, with Best uttering the truest lines: “Stay indoors all day, that’s what i do these days / Never leave the house if I can help it/ why would i fucking want to?” [Boomkat] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjgTBnca2rE 2019 €15.00
CONTAGIOUS ORGASM Division and Combination CD New release by the legendary Contagious Orgasm containing 6 new tracks and 5 tracks previously released on various comps (Lagrimas De Miedo N'10 – Subduction, (si'ke-del'ik) Volume One, The Walls Are Whispering... Volume III, Peacemakers Inc and Spiral Organ Of Corti). The material is varied between tracks, including industrial synth beats, guitar based atmosphere and noise collage. Im a big fan of this long running project and I feel this release shows the multiple dimensions of creativity of the members of the group. 2013 €10.00
CONTRASTATE A breeding Ground for Flies CD "After a ten year break, the unique, incredible Contrastate have resumed activities and we at Dirter are immensely proud and excited to be able to announce this full length CD of brand new material. This follows a number of re-issues and releases of live and unreleased material, that just about quenched their loyal following's thirst. It seems like Contrastate never really went away and they, along other experimental acts from the 80's and 90's, have gone through something of a critical re-assessment of late. When Contrastate ceased activities nothing like them really came to take their place. Wilfully obscure with just a handful of memorable live shows to their name, Contrastate's music has come to be understood on its own terms. Simply, if you are familiar with them you need to know no more; if you're not, you've been missing out and this is as good a place as any to start. Contrastate's sound insinuates itself somewhere inside the dark ritual ambiance of the electronic avant-garde shot through with a vein of experimental noise and vocals strewn amongst industrial surrealism." [label info] www.dirter.co.uk "Ah Contrastate. Did I ever say that I loved the group's earliest output very much, but when they allowed more room for vocals, I thought it was all a bit too 'gothic' for me - and I use that term for a lot of things which I guess I simply don't like. Then I lost track of Contrastate, although it was good to see their first LP on a CD in Vital Weekly 480. Stephen Meixner occasionally pops up in Vital Weekly every now and then. But here is an entirely new album, their first new recording in ten years and of course of the band as trio. Long term serving members Jonathan Grieve and Stephen Meixner and 'new boy' Stephen J. Pomeroy. I must admit I had no idea what to expect this time around. Good news is that the voice that put me off before is not very well present on this new album - for the majority it's all very instrumental. It's the kind of instrumental is that is close to the original sound of Contrastate, but perhaps better recorded than before, using more smooth equipment. Contrastate is still very good in creating highly atmospheric music with the use analogue synthesizers, electronics, bits of field recordings, some voices (not a lot, not a lot) and an odd use of the collage form for their pieces. A piece like 'Against The Sky' moves through a number of different places which could have been easily separate pieces by themselves. Excellent stuff all around but a downside is perhaps that once they get 'poppy' (by their own standard, I guess), in 'Operation Infinite Truth', they show their political side, which is not a bad thing per se, but isn't a sampled speech on the situation in Iraq by one George W perhaps a bit outdated with Obama in his second term already (or in his first when this was recorded). Being political is always a key point for Contrastate, although I never grasped the finesse of their politics, but here it seems a bit outdated. But besides that, I think this is great return to their best form. Moody, dark, atmospheric, vaguely experimental, a bit pop-like, what more could we want?" [FdW/Vital Weekly] 2012 €13.00
COPH NIA A Prelude to Lashtal Lace 12inch "before appearing on raubbau with a long-awaited full length album, coph nia mastermind mikael aldén serves us a scrumptious appetizer on a 12'' plate: one outtake, a radical remix and two b-sides are a classic satiable ep size serving for the vinyl gourmet. first up is the album's title track, a homage to coph nia's ongoing fascination with crowleyan matters, an enchanting dark folk hymn in which the female backing vocals swell on slowly, before, after a moody break, the song plunges into full-on hazlewood / sinatra-style psychedelia. 'mother of songs' is a lesser known original, here as a slowly grinding goth tune with angelic choirs, while joy division's 'in a lonely place' is an undisputed classic, stripped to an even bleaker carcass of despair in the unique coph nia style. finally, michael idehall's version of 'lashtal lace' replaces everything female, acoustic and romantic about the song with haunting atmosphere and industrial darkness. appease your appetite quickly, the serving is scarce!" [label info] www.raubbau.org 2014 €16.00
COPH'ANTAE TRYR Research Chronicles 2007-2009 do-CD "A superb collection of 4 albums (!) from the protagonist of New Drone Music Generation was released on 11/09/11. The Russian project Coph’antae Tryr presents its 2CD incl. 4 albums by this Ambient / Experimental drone sculpturist. Coph`antae Tryr is a way of an enlightenment and clearing by injections of medical enzymes in subconsciousness to study and learn other, undercover, dark corners of a universe and places where it is simply impossible to get physically. Where Coph is the axe of clearing opening a window to light, „Lux resplendens“ (dazzling Light), Antae – a barrier constraining consciousness and a body, and Tryr – a medicine. Demirod & Gridaltlryn: Solemn and melancholy sagas, with sensation of extreme weight, places slightly opening, and even flinging the doors open in Next world and infernal life measurements. Kyrleet & Redoran: That uneasy, the thoughtful sagas, baring horrible essence, denying rational philosophical concepts and self-confident claims for pansophy." [label info] www.horus.cz 2011 €16.50
COSEY FANNI TUTTI Delia Derbyshire: The Myths and the Legendary Tapes LP Cosey Fanni Tutti has announced details of a new album, Delia Derbyshire: The Myths and the Legendary Tapes, her original soundtrack recordings for Caroline Catz's acclaimed film about Derbyshire. In 2018, Cosey Fanni Tutti was commissioned to write the soundtrack to director and actor Caroline Catz's acclaimed, intimate portrayal of the composer, musician, and sonic experimentalist, Delia Derbyshire (1937-2001). Best known for her groundbreaking work on the 1963 Doctor Who theme tune, Derbyshire was instrumental in giving easy access to and rewiring a nation's attitudes towards electronic music. Working within the often-stifling confines of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, her experimentalism -- which saw her manipulating magnetic tape, found sounds and electronics -- is only now being given full credit for the immeasurable impact it has had on the way we hear the world. The new album includes the audio explorations and experiments that lead Cosey Fanni Tutti to the final soundtrack for Catz's film. From the four-minute long "Cornet Lament" to the humorous "Snuff Chorus" (which references an addiction that Derbyshire had for snuff), the album is a journey through both Delia and Cosey's practise -- Fanni Tutti spent time researching Derbyshire's archives (both musical and the more personal ephemera of her life) to create an audio world for Catz's depiction of the artist to inhabit. Fanni Tutti explains, "The compositions are inspired by my research of the Delia Derbyshire audio archive, Delia's original compositional notes and techniques which in combination with my admiration and love of Delia's work provided a way to integrate her style and approach to music with my own. An alliance of our sensibilities." The new album follows the release of Cosey Fanni Tutti's new book, RE-SISTERS: The Lives and Recordings of Delia Derbyshire, Margery Kempe and Cosey Fanni Tutti. The music was composed, performed and produced by Cosey Fanni Tutti in Twickenham Studio 3, London and Studio 47 in Norfork, with vocals by Cosey Fanni Tutti and Caroline Catz, alongside the voice of Delia Derbyshire. Musician, artist, and author Cosey Fanni Tutti has continually challenged boundaries and conventions for four decades. As a founding member of the hugely influential avant-garde band Throbbing Gristle, as one half of electronic pioneers Chris and Cosey, and as an artist channeling her experience in pornographic modelling and striptease, her work on the margins has come to reshape the mainstream. Her first solo album, Time To Tell (1983) was followed by 2019's Tutti and her debut book, Art Sex Music, was published in 2017. 2022 €30.00
  Delia Derbyshire: The Myths and the Legendary Tapes CD Cosey Fanni Tutti has announced details of a new album, Delia Derbyshire: The Myths and the Legendary Tapes, her original soundtrack recordings for Caroline Catz's acclaimed film about Derbyshire. In 2018, Cosey Fanni Tutti was commissioned to write the soundtrack to director and actor Caroline Catz's acclaimed, intimate portrayal of the composer, musician, and sonic experimentalist, Delia Derbyshire (1937-2001). Best known for her groundbreaking work on the 1963 Doctor Who theme tune, Derbyshire was instrumental in giving easy access to and rewiring a nation's attitudes towards electronic music. Working within the often-stifling confines of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, her experimentalism -- which saw her manipulating magnetic tape, found sounds and electronics -- is only now being given full credit for the immeasurable impact it has had on the way we hear the world. The new album includes the audio explorations and experiments that lead Cosey Fanni Tutti to the final soundtrack for Catz's film. From the four-minute long "Cornet Lament" to the humorous "Snuff Chorus" (which references an addiction that Derbyshire had for snuff), the album is a journey through both Delia and Cosey's practise -- Fanni Tutti spent time researching Derbyshire's archives (both musical and the more personal ephemera of her life) to create an audio world for Catz's depiction of the artist to inhabit. Fanni Tutti explains, "The compositions are inspired by my research of the Delia Derbyshire audio archive, Delia's original compositional notes and techniques which in combination with my admiration and love of Delia's work provided a way to integrate her style and approach to music with my own. An alliance of our sensibilities." The new album follows the release of Cosey Fanni Tutti's new book, RE-SISTERS: The Lives and Recordings of Delia Derbyshire, Margery Kempe and Cosey Fanni Tutti. The music was composed, performed and produced by Cosey Fanni Tutti in Twickenham Studio 3, London and Studio 47 in Norfork, with vocals by Cosey Fanni Tutti and Caroline Catz, alongside the voice of Delia Derbyshire. Musician, artist, and author Cosey Fanni Tutti has continually challenged boundaries and conventions for four decades. As a founding member of the hugely influential avant-garde band Throbbing Gristle, as one half of electronic pioneers Chris and Cosey, and as an artist channeling her experience in pornographic modelling and striptease, her work on the margins has come to reshape the mainstream. Her first solo album, Time To Tell (1983) was followed by 2019's Tutti and her debut book, Art Sex Music, was published in 2017. 2022 €15.00
COUNCIL ESTATE ELECTRONICS (JUSTIN BROADRICK & D. DALTON) Arktika CD "The original concept for COUNCIL ESTATE ELECTRONICS was for Justin K Broadrick and Diarmuid Dalton, via analog synths and electronics, to pay tribute to the synthesizer music they were influenced by in their youth : Tangerine Dream, Throbbing Gristle, Kraftwerk, Cluster, etc. Set to the imagery and geography of the council estate in Birmingham in which they were both raised; Shard End and the surrounding areas. Once the duo set to work on the music they found other influences seeping in - seventies dub like King Tubby, Scientist, etc and early dub techno founders Basic Channel, Maurizio, Chain Reaction label, etc, thus expanding the sound palette and the geographical environment that was to be the theme for the project. The Arktika, launched in St Petersberg, is the first of a new class of ships known as Type LK-60YA, ordered by Russian state nuclear agency Rosatom (eventually there will be three vessels). Its task will be to smash a path through the ice of the Northern Sea Route. Raw power counts for a lot in icebreaking, and by bringing 80,000 hp (60 megawatts) to bear, Arktika will be able to break through floating ice almost ten feet thick. The icebreaker will lead convoys along a route that otherwise would be impassable." www.glacialmovements.com 2016 €13.00
CROUCH, ROBERT An Occupied Space CD-R "An Occupied Space is the debut full-length release by Los Angeles artist Robert Crouch. Each track takes as its point of departure a field recording of a public place where music is integral to the experience of these social constructs. Throughout the release, music is piped through loudspeakers across public plazas and boulevards, footsteps cross thresholds where reverberating guitars and vocals spill out into city. “I found it necessary to give myself a very strict set of parameters,” Crouch states, “in order to approach the idea of making music in the first place. I suppose it comes from my training as a visual artist.” Furthering this analogy to a visual arts practice, An Occupied Space has perhaps more in common with the photographers from the Düsseldorf School, rather than the history of field recording or ambient music. Much like the photographers Andreas Gursky, Candida Höfer, and Thomas Ruff, and how they wrestle with both the psychology of their subject matter as well as the politics and constraints of their chosen medium, An Occupied Space can be considered to be a collection of landscape studies, with the artist fulfilling the roles of documentarian, composer, and observer simultaneously. Structurally, An Occupied Space operates within overlapping contexts; they exist as documents, as meditations on the psychology of place, and finally as self-reflexive “objects” that address the contingent nature of their own construction. They are as much about music as they are music. “I wanted to employ melody without necessarily being melodic, to explore texture without remaining static, and to respect the integrity of the original recordings while still allowing my hand as artist to remain evident." [label info] www.dragonseyerecordings.com 2011 €10.00
CURRENT 93 If a City is set upon a Hill [coloured vinyl] LP "Das neue Current 93-Album verweist mit dem auf den ersten Blick untypischen Fliesen-Artwork, auf denen der Mord Kains an Abel dargestellt ist, auf Current 93s „Rockalbum“ „Aleph At Hallucinatory Mountain“, auf dem es hieß: „In the beginning was the murderer“. Musikalisch-personell knüpft es stark an das 2018 erschienene Album „The Light Is Leaving Us All“ an, wurde „If A City Is Set Upon A Hill“ doch in fast der gleichen Besetzung aufgenommen – im direkten Vergleich ist „If A City“ vielleicht etwas elegischer und mit seinen sieben Stücken und 37 Minuten Laufzeit recht kurz, dabei allerdings nicht weniger gehaltvoll. Schaut man in die Entwicklung Current 93s, dann ist es sicher kein Zufall, dass viele der als Referenzwerke gesehenen Alben aus den 90ern, die nicht unerheblich zum Kultstatus des Projekts um David Tibet beigetragen haben, durch eine relativ stabile Kernbesetzung eingespielt wurden und darüberhinaus eine Vielzahl starker – solch ein Begriff mag bezogen auf Current 93 vielleicht etwas profan anmuten – Songs enthielten. Die Qualität der einzelnen Stücke trug dann auch sicher nicht unerheblich dazu bei, dass das 2018 erschienene „The Light Is Leaving Us All“ das vielleicht stärkste Album seit “Black Ships Ate The Sky” war. Seit “The Light…” erschienen die weitgehend instrumentalen, von Soundscapes durchzogenen Alben „Invocations Of Almost“, „If A Star Turns Into Ashes“ sowie die beiden Soloalben Tibets („Ferelith“ und „Fontelautus“), die in ihrer somnambulen (Alp-)Traumatmosphäre und atmosphärischen Dichte zumindest zum Teil an das Verstörende und Irritierende des Frühwerks anknüpften. Das schon vorab veröffentlichte das Album eröffnende „If A City…“ legt den Ton, die Stimmung fest: Im Zusammenspiel von Drones, Klavier und Geige entsteht ein elegisch-melancholisches Stück und Tibet, der hier – wie schon auf seinen Soloalben – nur noch unter seinem Vornamen firmiert, intoniert: „If under G+D’s Wing/By the JawBone and HeeHaw/The donkey creeps silently/Through the door in the hall/Then plague and mice/And the woodlice stream…“. Wenn man einem Instrument eine tragende und zentrale Rolle zusprechen will, so dann sicher der von Aloma Ruis Boada gespielten Geige, die das gesamte Album prägt. Auf „There Is No Zodiac“ setzt der dezente Einsatz von E-Gitarre leicht dissonate Akzente. Auf dem dann folgenden „Joke Moon“ gibt es ein fantastisches Zusammenspiel von Alisdair Roberts wunderschön gezupfter Gitarre und der Violine. Auch auf „A Column Of Dust“ erzeugen Gitarre und Geige und der dramatische Gesang Tibets eine beeindruckende Atmosphäre – man möchte dem von ihm besungenen “Final Express Train” nicht unbedingt begegnen. „The Child, And Fire” erinnert mit seinen Pianopassagen entfernt an „Soft Black Stars“. Textlich finden sich die thematischen Obsessionen, die das Werk Current 93s seit Jahr(zehnt)en prägen: Apokalyptische Szenarien werden entworfen: „It it rains razors, and murders, and slaughters“, „The Moon is dead now—Joke Moon!“, „A castle or Moloch“, „And the noise in your eyes/Has the rumours of wings/And the fly and the hornet/From the Scorpion RainBow“, „In the walls the colourful cartoons/Are covered with sores“), das Zusammenspiel von Profanem und Erhabenem („In time for tea, in time for end“), Nursery Rhymes („By the butcher, and the baker, /And the candlestick maker“, “Just memories stretched out/From nursery rhymes or spectres”), (der) Gott in all seiner Ambivalenz: „Vengence in His Eye/I AM THE LORD! – THE KILLER AND THE CREATOR“. Muss man beim Titel des Albums vielleicht unweigerlich an die von John Winthrops aus der Bergpredigt (“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden“) entlehnte Fortmulierung denken, der so eine zentrale Rolle beim Selbstverständnis der amerikanischen Nation zukommt, denken, erfährt man im Booklet, dass die Inspiration für das Album ein akkadischer Text namens „If A City Is Set Upon A Height“ ist. Passenderweise dankt Tibet im Booklet seinen Hebräisch-, Akkadisch-, Koptisch- und Ugaritischlehrern, erneut sein Interesse an (ur-)alten Sprachen, am logos betonend, der ja “im Anfang” war. Letztlich ist es so erfreulich wie erstaunlich, dass nach dem fast 40-jährigen Bestehen Current 93s, “your favourite hallucinatory skipping-rope”, wie es auf dem Albumcover heißt, noch immer Alben entstehen, die beeindrucken können und beeindruckend sind und ein Spätwerk einläuten, das viel verspricht." [MG, African Paper] 2022 €37.50
  If a City is set upon a Hill CD "Das neue Current 93-Album verweist mit dem auf den ersten Blick untypischen Fliesen-Artwork, auf denen der Mord Kains an Abel dargestellt ist, auf Current 93s „Rockalbum“ „Aleph At Hallucinatory Mountain“, auf dem es hieß: „In the beginning was the murderer“. Musikalisch-personell knüpft es stark an das 2018 erschienene Album „The Light Is Leaving Us All“ an, wurde „If A City Is Set Upon A Hill“ doch in fast der gleichen Besetzung aufgenommen – im direkten Vergleich ist „If A City“ vielleicht etwas elegischer und mit seinen sieben Stücken und 37 Minuten Laufzeit recht kurz, dabei allerdings nicht weniger gehaltvoll. Schaut man in die Entwicklung Current 93s, dann ist es sicher kein Zufall, dass viele der als Referenzwerke gesehenen Alben aus den 90ern, die nicht unerheblich zum Kultstatus des Projekts um David Tibet beigetragen haben, durch eine relativ stabile Kernbesetzung eingespielt wurden und darüberhinaus eine Vielzahl starker – solch ein Begriff mag bezogen auf Current 93 vielleicht etwas profan anmuten – Songs enthielten. Die Qualität der einzelnen Stücke trug dann auch sicher nicht unerheblich dazu bei, dass das 2018 erschienene „The Light Is Leaving Us All“ das vielleicht stärkste Album seit “Black Ships Ate The Sky” war. Seit “The Light…” erschienen die weitgehend instrumentalen, von Soundscapes durchzogenen Alben „Invocations Of Almost“, „If A Star Turns Into Ashes“ sowie die beiden Soloalben Tibets („Ferelith“ und „Fontelautus“), die in ihrer somnambulen (Alp-)Traumatmosphäre und atmosphärischen Dichte zumindest zum Teil an das Verstörende und Irritierende des Frühwerks anknüpften. Das schon vorab veröffentlichte das Album eröffnende „If A City…“ legt den Ton, die Stimmung fest: Im Zusammenspiel von Drones, Klavier und Geige entsteht ein elegisch-melancholisches Stück und Tibet, der hier – wie schon auf seinen Soloalben – nur noch unter seinem Vornamen firmiert, intoniert: „If under G+D’s Wing/By the JawBone and HeeHaw/The donkey creeps silently/Through the door in the hall/Then plague and mice/And the woodlice stream…“. Wenn man einem Instrument eine tragende und zentrale Rolle zusprechen will, so dann sicher der von Aloma Ruis Boada gespielten Geige, die das gesamte Album prägt. Auf „There Is No Zodiac“ setzt der dezente Einsatz von E-Gitarre leicht dissonate Akzente. Auf dem dann folgenden „Joke Moon“ gibt es ein fantastisches Zusammenspiel von Alisdair Roberts wunderschön gezupfter Gitarre und der Violine. Auch auf „A Column Of Dust“ erzeugen Gitarre und Geige und der dramatische Gesang Tibets eine beeindruckende Atmosphäre – man möchte dem von ihm besungenen “Final Express Train” nicht unbedingt begegnen. „The Child, And Fire” erinnert mit seinen Pianopassagen entfernt an „Soft Black Stars“. Textlich finden sich die thematischen Obsessionen, die das Werk Current 93s seit Jahr(zehnt)en prägen: Apokalyptische Szenarien werden entworfen: „It it rains razors, and murders, and slaughters“, „The Moon is dead now—Joke Moon!“, „A castle or Moloch“, „And the noise in your eyes/Has the rumours of wings/And the fly and the hornet/From the Scorpion RainBow“, „In the walls the colourful cartoons/Are covered with sores“), das Zusammenspiel von Profanem und Erhabenem („In time for tea, in time for end“), Nursery Rhymes („By the butcher, and the baker, /And the candlestick maker“, “Just memories stretched out/From nursery rhymes or spectres”), (der) Gott in all seiner Ambivalenz: „Vengence in His Eye/I AM THE LORD! – THE KILLER AND THE CREATOR“. Muss man beim Titel des Albums vielleicht unweigerlich an die von John Winthrops aus der Bergpredigt (“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden“) entlehnte Fortmulierung denken, der so eine zentrale Rolle beim Selbstverständnis der amerikanischen Nation zukommt, denken, erfährt man im Booklet, dass die Inspiration für das Album ein akkadischer Text namens „If A City Is Set Upon A Height“ ist. Passenderweise dankt Tibet im Booklet seinen Hebräisch-, Akkadisch-, Koptisch- und Ugaritischlehrern, erneut sein Interesse an (ur-)alten Sprachen, am logos betonend, der ja “im Anfang” war. Letztlich ist es so erfreulich wie erstaunlich, dass nach dem fast 40-jährigen Bestehen Current 93s, “your favourite hallucinatory skipping-rope”, wie es auf dem Albumcover heißt, noch immer Alben entstehen, die beeindrucken können und beeindruckend sind und ein Spätwerk einläuten, das viel verspricht." [MG / African Paper] 2022 €18.50
CUTLER, CHRIS & THOMAS DIMUZIO Quake CD Live-Aufnahmen von 1999 aus Portland und Lowell, MA, die die ganze Klasse der ungewöhnlichen Geräuschmusik-Collab/Improvisation zeigen. Neben mächtigen Drones & Samples gibt es perkussive, manchmal fast rituell anmutende Strukturen, aber auch feinste konkrete Mikro-Detail-Geräuschmusik, ein Clash von handgespielter & elektronisch erzeugter Klangblase.... eine Musiklandschaft, die einen auf seltsame Art und Weise innerlich vitalisiert, die voller Energie steckt, dynamisch und lebendig.. “Last year we saw the welcome reissue on ReR of Headlock (1989), the debut solo album by US electroacoustic composer Thomas Dimuzio, which is hallmarked by his sure handling of an expansive, yet detailed, sonic architecture crafted in the studio. However, Quake finds his samplers and processors feeding off Chris Cutler's percussion ('electrified' and otherwise) and sundry objects in two live improvised performances from March this year. Both events have been subdivided into numerous short, titled tracks, though in many cases the music appears to be continuous. Given the vampiric nature of the process, authorship of sounds is not always easily attributable, but the general impressions of Cutler's abrasive percussives, and gritty electronics supplying the microsonic detail, with Dimuzio expanding these textures and unleashing his own ominous stormcloud drones. The result is intelligently paced, decidedly atmospheric noise mongering.” [Chris Blackford, THE WIRE, 1999] 1999 €13.00
CYCLOTIMIA Metamorphosis 10 Music for the lost! Elegische Synth-Wellen voller Schwermut und Pathos, Piano-Tupfer, Choräle im Hintergrund, getragene E-Beats... schon die zweite 10“ für das Moskauer Projekt, die hier eine sehr traurig-sehnsüchtige, aber herbstlich-warme Stimmung verbreiten... erinnert an alte CONTROLLED BLEEDING, RAISON D’ETRE, REUTOFF. “ New release of the Moscow project widely known today for its recent StateArt CD release "Wasteland". This 6-track release continues in the same vein as the above full-length album, but it's less rhythmic and more deep and meditative, being maybe the most dark and melancholic Cyclotimia release to date. Analogue electronic layers submerge listener to an atmosphere of uneasy hallucinatory reverie. Subtle clear sound and sad melodies unite to create the unique mix of cold psychodelia and soulful grief. The release is limited to 300 copies and comes printed silver on black deluxe paper.” 2002 €12.50
CZUKAY, HOLGER Cinema 5 x LP-BOX + DVD + 7inch VINYL-VIDEO Am 24. März 2018 wäre Holger Czukay 80 Jahre alt geworden. Die Vinylbox »Cinema«, die auf fünf Schallplatten assoziativ Holgers fast 60 Jahre währende musikalische Karriere nachzeichnet, war dementsprechend nicht nur als Retrospektive gedacht, sondern auch als Geburtstagsgeschenk, als Ehrung, als Dankeschön. Am 05. September 2017 jedoch stirbt Holger Czukay in seinem Kino in Weilerswist (Köln), dem alten Innerspace-Studio von Can, das er seit den 1970er-Jahren bewohnt, inmitten seiner Instrumente. Er wird neben seiner nur wenige Wochen zuvor nach langer Krankheit verstorbenen Frau Ursula Schüring (geb. Kloss, aka U-She/Ursa Major) begraben, schräg gegenüber liegt sein Freund und musikalischer Begleiter seit Can-Tagen, Jaki Liebezeit (✝2017). Es finden so gleich mehrere musikalische Urgesteine auf dem Kölner Melaten-Friedhof ihre letzte Ruhestätte, ganz nah beieinander. Ihr Nachlass jedoch hat mit jener Stille des Friedhofs nicht viel zu tun – davon zeugt auch die Retrospektive »Cinema«: Die musikalische Reise beginnt mit der Jazz-Nummer »Konfigurationen«, bisher unveröffentlicht, die der universale Dilettant, wie Holger sich selbst zu bezeichnen pflegte, 1960 mit seinem Jazz-Quintett aufnahm. Es folgen Experimente, musikalische Meditationen, Meilensteine, Stolpersteine, Hits, Raritäten und Ausgegrabenes. Die noch vor Can entstandenen Stücke unter dem Projektnamen Canaxis 5 etwa (mit Rolf Dammers), die 1969 heimlich im Stockhausen-Studio aufgenommen wurden und hier – längst vergriffen – nun ihre Auferstehung feiern, die sich über vier Jahrzehnte streckenden Solo-Arbeiten (wie das zeitlos-tanzbare »Cool In The Pool«), Kollaborationen mit Brian Eno und Cluster, das Projekt Les Vampyrettes (mit Conny Plank) oder Produktionen mit der japanischen Sängerin Phew (mit Plank und Jaki Liebezeit) – und nicht zuletzt die Songs der Jah Wobble-Kollaboration »Full Circle« (ebenfalls mit Liebezeit), die Holger rückblickend zu den Höhepunkten seines kreativen Schaffens zählte. In allen diesen Klängen zeigt sich, wie vielseitig und erfinderisch Holger Czukay als Künstler war – und wie tief seine unkonventionellen Ansätze sich denn unzähligen Zusammenarbeiten einschrieben. Der Titel »Cinema« kommt dabei nicht von ungefähr, Holger hat ihn sich so gewünscht, war seine musikalische Arbeit doch stets mit dem Kino verbunden. Sein Verfahren, aus der Situation der Aufnahme heraus vermeintliche Sound-Unfälle oder heimliche Aufnahmen in seine Stücke zu integrieren, etwa durch die Verwendung von zufällig gefundenen Radiowellen oder unbemerkten Mitschnitten, schuf musikalische Assoziationsketten, die das sprunghaft Visuelle der Post-Moderne zu Klang brachten, wie man es sonst nur aus dem experimentellen Kino kannte. »Movies«, Titel des ersten Solowerks (1979), war dabei eine Konsequenz aus dieser Affinität zur Filmmusik, die schon seit der »Soundtracks«-Compilation (1970) auch die Geschichte von Can begleitete. Über progressive Songs mäandern da die Bassläufe, mal treibend, häufig gemütlich und schunkelnd, darauf drapiert Geräusche, deren Ursprung nicht immer ganz klar ist. Auf der musikalischen Leinwand offenbaren sie das Malerische in Czukays Klangwelten. Und Holger verfolgte diese Leidenschaft konsequent, sein Film »Krieg der Töne« aus dem Jahre 1987, den er vertonte und in dem er gleich auch noch die Hauptrolle übernahm, liegt der Box exklusiv auf DVD bei. Die visuelle Musik Holger Czukays, fußend auf seiner meisterhaften analogen Schnitttechnik, hat ihn nicht nur international zu einer Legende gemacht, sondern auch Einfluss auf große Teile der elaborierteren Musikwelt genommen. Zu seinen Bewunderern gehören internationale Größen wie Sonic Youth, Radiohead und Geoff Barrow. Blurs Damon Albarn hat von Czukay gar die Idee zu seiner virtuellen Band Gorillaz gestiftet bekommen. Der stets zu Scherzen aufgelegte Musiker war eine Leitfigur der kreativen Soundbastler. Mit sicherem Gespür für eingängige Rhythmen und Melodien bewegte er sich, 1938 als Holger Schüring in Danzig geboren, stets jenseits der ausgetretenen Pfade, schuf seine eigene klangliche Signatur, einen oft verschmitzten Holger-Sound, den man in seinen Arbeiten mit den Eurythmics, S.Y.P.H., den Bläck Fööss, The Edge von U2, der Zeltinger Band oder auf Platten mit David Sylvian genauso wiederfindet wie im Katalog seiner Band Can. Auch mit Ursa, die er die letzten Jahre bis zu ihrem Tod pflegte, hat Holger Musik aufgenommen, einige der Stücke finden s »Breath Taking«ich zum ersten Mal überhaupt auf Vinyl veröffentlicht, ebenso wie das Stück, auf dem die rar konservierte Stimme Karlheinz Stockhausens zu hören ist. Die Box lädt dabei auch zu einer musikhistorischen Reise ein, illustriert sie doch anhand von Holgers Lebensweg gleich mehrere musikalische Epochen. Der frühe Jazz der BRD, die Innovation der Krautrock-Ära, das Bad in diversen neuen Wellen, die elektronischen Experimente: Holger war überall dort zuhause, wo etwas passierte. Und er hat Spuren hinterlassen. Zwischen Linernotes, raren Fotografien, einem Zeitstrahl und diskografischen Angaben tauchen im aufwändigen Booklet der Vinylbox immer wieder Statements und Anekdoten von Musizierenden, die ihre Wertschätzung zum Ausdruck bringen oder in Erinnerungen an einen großen Künstler schwelgen. Sie alle sind sich einig: Holger Czukay hat einen festen Platz in der Musikgeschichte. Er wird niemals vergessen werden. Die von Hendrik Otremba kuratierte Holger Czukay Retrospektive »Cinema« erscheint am 23. März 2018 als 5-LP-Box (+ Film »Krieg der Töne« + VinylVideo und umfangreichem Booklet) und als 5-CD-Box bei Grönland Records. https://www.groenland.com/product/holger-czukay-cinema/ 2018 €120.00
DAIJING, PAN Jade LP "LP on white vinyl! What if a song was not a culmination but a singe, an imprint, or a crater left in the wake of creative process? On her new record "Jade", Pan Daijing composes at a different scale than that we've come to know. Since the release of her groundbreaking LP "Lack" in 2017, Daijing has expanded her operatic vision into a series of major commissioned exhibition-performances at institutions including the Tate Modern, Martin Gropius Bau, and the Haus der Kulturen der Welt. Developed for full casts of opera singers and dancers, and reaching for an all-encompassing durational experience of intensity for both performer and audience, the development of these works was for Daijing as emotionally disarming as it was thrilling. In order to continue accessing her own limits, Daijing had to develop a place of sanctuary within her own practice. Its nine tracks written and recorded over the last three years, "Jade" is the sound of solitary release and refuge, of creative self-sustenance. Written without the imperatives of direct address to performers or audience, "Jade" speaks inward, while inviting a kind of rhetorical listening. The artist draws on materials familiar from her previous work: namely, ascetic electronic textures that rumble and pierce, and voice bent in irreverent directions. In place of catharsis, however, her arrangements here linger in tension, extending curiosity towards the delicate void that nourishes extremes. They toy with the minor capacities of song: repetition, chant, observations that conclude without resolving. "Jade" comes from a vulnerable place, tender as in an undressed wound caught in the midst of healing over. Vocals, mostly Daijing's own, arrive as wordless sequences of notes soaring alongside a drone, or plain laughter, or in a few places spoken word. What is said or sung provides fragments of experience and reflection. In the process of piecing together these fragments, the listener is confronted with the tender parts of her own. "Solitude is like an immense lake you're swimming through," says Daijing of these songs. "Sometimes you dip your head in and sometimes you lift it above. On album centerpiece "Let," she speaks to us over the sound of rippling water, returning between anxious scenes to a refrain: "I take my bath in the ocean." We are not just consuming Daijing's story; we are being invited to join her in the water. The album is mixed and mastered by Rashad Becker, featuring artwork by Pan Daijing, cinematography by Dzhovani Gospodinov & design by NMR." "High-minded noise operatics and ruptured spoken word experiments from PAN mainstay Pan Daijing on her second album for the label. If Daijing's PAN debut "Lack" was operatic body horror, all fireworks and theatrics, "Jade" drags that body inside, dumps it into a grimy bathtub and locks the door. It's an anxious, solitary album that twins basement noise aesthetics with Daijing's cathartic performance, playing her signature vocals against screaming oscillators, booming Wolf Eyes-esque percussion and uncomfortable analog bass. 'The Goat' allows her words to creep slowly over a backdrop of slithering, industrial distortion. Her voice is barely audible, whispered in the spaces between muted squeals and repeating pulses. On 'Dictee', Daijing wails and hums over distorted cello moans; on 'Dust' there's the suggestion of a song, shattered into pieces and rebuilt using ill-fitting replacement parts. The album's most successful moment is when Daijing allows a crack of light to shine in through the tightly-drawn curtains. 'Let' layers disarmingly sweet synthesizer chimes over Daijing's cool, confident vocals. "Could it be possible, I take my bath in the ocean, I can't get out," she repeats ominously as synth tones creep into view. It's a suffocating album, made in solitude to represent the visceral anguish of the void. Fans of '80s industrial drone tomes from Ramleh or M.B. or more recent noise plates from Puce Mary, LINGUA IGNOTA or Pharmakon should investigate without delay." [Boomkat] https://soundcloud.com/pan_hq/pan-daijing-dust-pan-113 2021 €23.50
  Tissues do-LP Pan Daijing's exhibition-performance Tissues premiered in the Tanks at the Tate Modern in autumn 2019. A five-act immersion in performance, sound, movement, space, and most of all emotion in its most distilled and conflicted states, Tissues engaged with the conventions of opera and tragedy to present a searing representation of the embattled human psyche in space and time. While the ambitious multi-sensory artwork made use of the range of Daijing's artistic capabilities, music, particularly the voice, was at its formal and emotional core. The vinyl and digital release of Tissues on PAN serves as a record of that work, in the form of an hour-long audio excerpt: an invaluable archival document from Daijing's expansive live practice. Tissues is both a solitary work and a formal study in relation. Composed, directed, designed, written, and performed by Daijing (alongside a cast of twelve dancers and opera singers), the work_its libretto written in a mixture of old and modern Chinese_lingers inside a single human perspective. Daijing conjures states that are by turns delicate and severe, the tension between opposing modes animating the work as it unfolds. And yet, for all its interiority, Tissues foregrounds an intimate relationship with its audience through details like its engulfing visual landscape and its rattling, confrontational narrative arcs. Daijing uses the opera form as a prism through which to question the boundaries of music itself: perhaps, she proposes, music is much more than simply what is heard. It is in the relationship between voice and electronics that this limit is most clearly breached. Across the four acts gathered in this documentation, a counter-tenor, a soprano, a mezzo-soprano, and the artist herself voice a mixture of stunning laments and cries over an instrumental landscape, built out from industrial texture. Meant to be heard in a single listen, rather than track by track, the work unfolds through tender hollows and agitated peaks. At its crescendo, the operatic vocals melt away and the synthesizers themselves seem to howl with grief. Daijing uncovers an essential, sometimes painful, music in all that surrounds us, inviting something like catharsis but also a greater understanding of the thing she and her cast conjure and draw close. A tissue, after all, is both a disposable object one uses to wipe away a tear, and the building block of our fleshy human forms. Daijing reaches and excavates the roiling core of what it is to be alive and full of feeling. Music from Tissues, an opera of five acts at Tate Modern, London on Oct 2nd, 4th and 5th, 2019 Composed, written, produced and directed by Pan Daijing. Performed by Anna Davidson, soprano ; Marie Gailey, mezzo soprano, Steve Katona, countertenor and Pan Daijing, additional vocals. The recording is mixed by James Ginzburg , Jan Urbiks and Pan Daijing, mastered by Rashad Becker. *2xLP comes in a gatefold cover, and includes an obi strip and a booklet containing images from the performance & liner notes, as well as a postcard granting access to exclusive video documentation* https://pan-daijing.bandcamp.com/album/tissues 2022 €26.50
DAO + COH Dzerzhinsk-9 LP "Tourette Records is proud to announce the release of DZERZHINSK-9 by DAO+COH (Andrej Kolesov and Ivan Pavlov). Originally recorded in 1996, this collection of previously unreleased material showcases COH's trademark audio experimentation, and the collaborative spark shared by both artists. DZERZHINSK-9 represents some of the earliest work by this duo, and pre-dates Pavlov's first solo release on raster-noton.de by 2 years. This potent collection of intense and dark experimental material is a result of a live-in-the-studio improvised session recorded during one of Ivan's visits to DAO studio in Dzerzhinsk, Russia. Performed with hand-made digital and analogue equipment, and recorded onto a 4-track cassette deck, this is a gem of curiosity to anyone with interest for COH and electronic music in general. Russian-born Ivan Pavlov is well known for his solo work as COH spanning more than 20 releases, including collaborative projects with the likes of Coil and Cosey Fanni Tutti. He currently works with Peter Christopherson (Throbbing Gristle, Coil) in SOISONG. Ivan's university friend, Andrej Kolesov (aka DAO), is a musician who has previously contributed to the album COH: STRINGS (2007), playing saz and oud. A new joint work by Andrej and Ivan is currently in the works." [label info] www.touretterecords.com 2009 €15.00
DARKRAD Heart Murmur CD Jana Komaritsa presents the new album of her project Darkrad – Heart Murmur, released on German label audiophob. With this album she continues the theme of inner blackness and disturbances of mind, weaving the canvas of ominous world. Heart Murmur is a medical condition, when the sound of blood flowing can be heard in between regular heartbeat cycle. Darkrad creates swishing rumbling sounds of the tortured heart, sounds from the reality not seen, from the world not known, sounds from the dread, both inner and outer. Merging melancholic dark ambient passages, bitter melodies, disturbed vocals and raw noisy sounds, rhythms and basslines, she opens the door to the infinite dark and offers the listener to dive into the world beyond. Pure unrestrained emotion interweaves with once suppressed memories and fears, merging into one flow of hypnotic soundscape. Listen to her grim heart murmur, pulsating and vibrating in between the regular healthy heartbeat, frightful signals sent from the other side, penetrating the normal reality and spreading into our world. The album also includes bonus tracks: compilation contributions and former tape releases, partially in new versions, as well as remixes from Flint Glass and Mortaja. (auphcd026) https://audiophob.bandcamp.com/album/heart-murmur 2018 €12.00
DAS SYNTHETISCHE MISCHGEWEBE Gleis3eck / Görlitzer Tunnel do-CDR "The long-running (22 years and counting) German-spawned outfit Das Synthetische Mischgewebe (The Synthetic Mixture of Fabrics in English) has a long history of site-specific performances and recordings, two of which are documented on the two CDs comprising this release. Recorded around the time the group departed from Germany for Barcelona and then France, it’s fitting that both of the sites here represented no longer exist. In 1986 and 1987, Berlin was still a victim of the Wall, and deserted spaces were seemingly easy to come by. One such was the Gleisdreieck, a railway junction where DSM set up their electronic and acoustic instruments for an extended recording, of which some 85 minutes are hereby presented. The second location, of which 46 minutes is included, was the Gorlitzer Tunnel, a pedestrian underpass several hundred meters long under Kreuzberg. It would be of no avail to try to determine exactly what instruments, items and gadgets were used to make the sounds heard in these recordings – and that mystery suits these CDs well. It’s useful to recall that this was around the same time as Einstürzende Neubauten, also in Berlin, were releasing Halber Mensch and Funf Auf Der Nach Obenen Richterskala, their strongest statements. Berlin at that time (beautifully documented in the Berlin Super 80 DVD/book package) had more than its share of experimental artists, and DSM’s sounds were emitted from the least-accessible cracks in the city’s pavement. From quiet rumblings, these performances grow via distorted hissings, squawks, clanks and grindings into a soundscape akin to a futuristic factory stamping out robots. Metal is scraped, mechanical contraptions buzz and squeak, feedback squeals and vibrations summon deep groans. The second track on disc 2, the Gorlitzer tunnel set, is on the whole a quieter, more eerie evocation of the location’s deep reverberations, with what may be a generator rumbling quietly in the background. The occasional vocal interjections, echoing in the tunnel, are unexpected and deeply strange in the context of the overall darkly mysterious sounds. Limited to 200 copies, the two CDs come packaged DVD-style with a beautifully-printed insert of text and photos on translucent paper. The liner notes by member Guido Huebner nicely describe the place and time. These recordings are marvelously evocative: of lost places, of a time and location that was certainly unique, of a group’s early works from 20 years ago, and of surreal, often intimidating imaginary places summoned by the mysterious equipment. One would hope that many more than 200 people would want to investigate these places." [Mason Jones / Dusted Magazine] "These days it's probably no longer known, but Das Synthetische Mischgewebe was a band, and not the project of G.do Hübner, which it is since some time. Before people like Yref, Chazev, T.O.W. Richter, Isabelle Chemin and Jean Rene Lasalle were member at one point or another. The recordings on this double pack are in more than one way historical. They are old, twenty years to be precise, but they were also made in the then divided Berlin, in a place you can't find anymore. Das Synthetische Mischgewebe used an old tunnel and a subway station going from East to West Berlin to rehearse for concerts that were later held. Abandoned industrial areas, in which they could easily find material to play their music on. Everything you hear on this double pack is recorded on the spot, using what ever is available there. Industrial tools, scraping metals, obscure objects which we can't visualize and such like. But they are played like musical objects and rather than trying out what the sound possibilities are, the actors in Das Synthetische Mischgewebe want to play a piece of music with those objects, so they carefully move about and create pieces of improvised music with these objects. Battery run amplifiers and a walkman to record the whole thing onto give this a slightly rough edge, although I must say that the sound quality is more than excellent. Cut into sessions of thirty minutes, this can't be engaging to hear from beginning to end without leaping into a moment of boredom, but throughout I thought this was a very fine release. Not loud or heavy industrial as some of the early work was (or perhaps that's just a wrong memory? Apparently Vinyl On Demand is releasing some LPs with older work), but rather pre-dates a lot of the onkyo type improvisation of the last few years and a very fine work of electro-acoustic music. Topped off with a nice presentation and a most enjoyable set of personal liner notes. Great archival release." [FdW / Vital Weekly] 2006 €18.00
DAUBY, YANNICK Echoes as Messengers CD "This year 2015, Yannick Dauby and Wan-Shuen Tsai were part of a public art project at National Taiwan University. Yannick's work was a creation project related to the sound universe of bats and led to a series of public events, including soundwalks and exhibitions in the campus. The blog chiroptera documented the activities of field recording and creation, some in collaboration with students. Here is a new output of this project, released as a CD. Echoes as Messengers is a kind of domestic sound installation, an electroacoustic composition which develop itself slowly and sparsely, a 'Discreet music' inspired by echolocation. It has been composed with the ultrasonic voices of the Japanese House Bat (Pipistrella abramus) recorded in Taipei (Spring 2015), transformed and combined with the help of analogue electronics (notably the infamous Blippoo box by Rob Hordijk, the Sidrax organ by Peter Blasser and other modular synthesizers) and digital processing. Please try to listen to it at low volume, or at dusk, or windows open. This project as been informed and influenced by the remarkable works of Donald Griffin, Alvin Lucier, David Tudor and David Dunn." [label info] www.kalerne.net 2015 €12.00
DEAD GUM Meta LP Backwards proudly presents the new full length album of amazing Greek artist DEAD GUM! "META", Dead Gum’s sophomore studio album, constituted a challenge for its maker. While “GAINER” - its predecessor - hollered for awareness and singularity, this one indulges into multi-layered, ambiguous narratives tracing an impossible duality. With abiding influences that distance him from conspicuous contemporary norms, Panagiotis Spoulos creates a nocturnal, desolate sound collage, invoking a meta-purpose for a/the current status quo. The public character of the endeavour is almost jostled by the privateness of the overall statement; the invitation thus corresponds to a peek into a baffled brain and a rove around gradual levels of muffled alarm calls and grimy smells. "META" is no post-something. "META" merely stands half foot ahead of absolute nothingness, the true end of it all. https://deadgum.bandcamp.com 2019 €16.00
DEAD VOICES ON AIR Bundle 1995-2013 CD “Bundle 1995-2013″ stands as a career spanning primer into the challenging and innovative musical world of “Dead Voices On Air”. Mark Spybey has worked under the name Dead Voices On Air for 20 years, following his departure from Zoviet-France. He's released 15 albums and collaborated with an impressive list of people, including members of Can, Faust, Throbbing Gristle, Swans, cEvin Key, and others. Bundle 1995 2013 stands as a career-spanning primer into the challenging and innovative musical world of Dead Voices On Air. Spybey began working as DVOA in 1992 in the wake of relocating from his native Britain to Canada. Employing processed sounds generated by primitive instruments and childrens toys, and eschewing the standard sequencers and samplers, he began sculpting experimental soundscapes. Haunting drones and echoes of vocal murmurs are layered with noisier elements to create an intense, engaging sonic experience." [label info] www.metropolis-records.com 2013 €15.00
DEAF MACHINE Found Noises CD Das Berliner RAUBBAU-Label (früher auch als FORMOSAN aktiv) hat das längst vergriffene, verstreute Material dieses Solo-Projektes eines MEGAPTERA-Mitglieds zusammengestellt. Low-fi droning & death industrial stuff mit obskuren Samples & found sounds... "The groups in the Nyköping/Oxelösund region of Sweden (Megaptera, The Protagonist, Morthound) have been pretty thoroughly documented in the past. But one crucial missing link of this micro-scene has been overlooked, and not given the deserved recognition. Until now, that is. Mikael Svensson, founding member of Megaptera, also did his own project Deaf Machine for a while, though it vanished without leaving many traces behind. Besides a couple of wildly obscure self-released tapes, the only other marks were contributions to seminal compilations such as "In the Butcher's Backyard" (CMI) and "Death Odors" (Slaughter Prod.). Not content to rest on the laurels after the successful inaugural release by Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio, the fresh German label Raubbau has decided to treat Deaf Machine with an ambitious rerelease program covering two separate CD albums. This first one, "Found Noises", contains one of the tapes, two tracks culled from compilations, and one previously unreleased track. The similarity with Megaptera lies in the frequent use of voice samples from movies and news broadcasts. But whereas Megaptera relies on a method with upfront pounding machine rhythms, Deaf Machine opted for a subtler approach more based on textures and moods. The mix of muffled voice fragments, disjointed rhythm loops, and crude, bass-heavy synth-noises sound unlike anything else that came out of Sweden at the time. A unique sound by a neglected artist that thankfully no longer will remain a secret within small circles of cognoscenti." [label info] 2008 €13.00
DEATHPROD Sow Your Gold in the White Foliated Earth LP "Oslo's Ultima Festival for contemporary music in 2014. The idea was to give revered Norwegian experimental electronic musician Helge Sten, aka Deathprod, access to seminal avant-garde composer Harry Partch's self-designed, custom-made, specialized, invented instruments - an orchestra tuned to just intonation, using up to 43 intervals instead of the standard 12 for the most commonly used Western equal temperament. An artist with a 30+ year career and an uncompromising reputation that reflects the emotional specificity of his uneasy, yet compelling sound, maintained throughout his expansive discography, Sten was an intriguing choice for such a project. Although he attended art school, training in electronic music and sound art, he had little experience with acoustic instruments and can neither read nor write music notation. Yet he's been engaged with Partch's music, and outsider art more generally, since he was a teenager. His resulting piece/composition for the project was originally intended only for performance by Cologne-based Ensemble Musikfabrik, for a series of concerts in five European cities between 2015 and 2018. It's Musikfabrik that undertook the painstaking, expensive process of building an entire set of the composer's creations - the second only to the originals built by Partch himself. They are the professional musicians and virtuosic instrumentalists that had to re-train and re-educate on these unknown and experimental sound sculptures in non-standard tunings. And they house this large, gorgeous physical instrumentarium and deal with the enormous logistics of working with it, sometimes shipping the fragile pieces to other locales via semi-trucks or ships. Because of such monumental efforts, Musikfabrik are notoriously guarded with recordings of the instruments. And rightly so. They're the only ones allowed to perform on them, too. But Sow Your Gold isn't Musikfabrik playing. Instead, Sten spent days and nights alone with the instrumentarium in Cologne. He played the instruments himself while recording, layering the recordings and editing without effects to compose an `audio score' for Musikfabrik to work from in order for the ensemble to perform the piece. (Partch also regularly worked this way, although he would transcribe afterwards. Likewise, Sten worked with a professional arranger to create a detailed score, too.) So, that makes Sow Your Gold an even less likely rarity - partly why its release comes seven years after its creation. If you ask Sten about the album's title, he'll point you to the text he borrowed it from - Michael Maier's Atalanta Fugiens by H.M.E. De Jong, a 1969 study of a 1617 book of alchemical emblems - and notable passages dealing with alchemy, chemistry, and agriculture, all transformative processes. And while that may sound complicated, his takeaway is simple: "You have to break something down to create something new," - a lesson he felt related strongly to his own musical process, especially in this project. So, while Sow Your Gold in the White Foliated Earth is a piece written for specific, oddly tuned, extremely rare and unusual instruments, and for a certain ensemble - namely, some of the finest contemporary musicians in Europe - Sten grew fond of the audio score, recognizing it as coming directly from the creative process in its purest, most natural form. And so from a foliated earth, where obscure tradition, treasured scarcity, immense effort, and patient certainty layer and criss-cross, comes rugged gold, polished to shining by one outsider for another." https://deathprod.bandcamp.com/album/sow-your-gold-in-the-white-foliated-earth 2022 €26.50
  Sow Your Gold in the White Foliated Earth CD Oslo's Ultima Festival for contemporary music in 2014. The idea was to give revered Norwegian experimental electronic musician Helge Sten, aka Deathprod, access to seminal avant-garde composer Harry Partch's self-designed, custom-made, specialized, invented instruments - an orchestra tuned to just intonation, using up to 43 intervals instead of the standard 12 for the most commonly used Western equal temperament. An artist with a 30+ year career and an uncompromising reputation that reflects the emotional specificity of his uneasy, yet compelling sound, maintained throughout his expansive discography, Sten was an intriguing choice for such a project. Although he attended art school, training in electronic music and sound art, he had little experience with acoustic instruments and can neither read nor write music notation. Yet he's been engaged with Partch's music, and outsider art more generally, since he was a teenager. His resulting piece/composition for the project was originally intended only for performance by Cologne-based Ensemble Musikfabrik, for a series of concerts in five European cities between 2015 and 2018. It's Musikfabrik that undertook the painstaking, expensive process of building an entire set of the composer's creations - the second only to the originals built by Partch himself. They are the professional musicians and virtuosic instrumentalists that had to re-train and re-educate on these unknown and experimental sound sculptures in non-standard tunings. And they house this large, gorgeous physical instrumentarium and deal with the enormous logistics of working with it, sometimes shipping the fragile pieces to other locales via semi-trucks or ships. Because of such monumental efforts, Musikfabrik are notoriously guarded with recordings of the instruments. And rightly so. They're the only ones allowed to perform on them, too. But Sow Your Gold isn't Musikfabrik playing. Instead, Sten spent days and nights alone with the instrumentarium in Cologne. He played the instruments himself while recording, layering the recordings and editing without effects to compose an `audio score' for Musikfabrik to work from in order for the ensemble to perform the piece. (Partch also regularly worked this way, although he would transcribe afterwards. Likewise, Sten worked with a professional arranger to create a detailed score, too.) So, that makes Sow Your Gold an even less likely rarity - partly why its release comes seven years after its creation. If you ask Sten about the album's title, he'll point you to the text he borrowed it from - Michael Maier's Atalanta Fugiens by H.M.E. De Jong, a 1969 study of a 1617 book of alchemical emblems - and notable passages dealing with alchemy, chemistry, and agriculture, all transformative processes. And while that may sound complicated, his takeaway is simple: "You have to break something down to create something new," - a lesson he felt related strongly to his own musical process, especially in this project. So, while Sow Your Gold in the White Foliated Earth is a piece written for specific, oddly tuned, extremely rare and unusual instruments, and for a certain ensemble - namely, some of the finest contemporary musicians in Europe - Sten grew fond of the audio score, recognizing it as coming directly from the creative process in its purest, most natural form. And so from a foliated earth, where obscure tradition, treasured scarcity, immense effort, and patient certainty layer and criss-cross, comes rugged gold, polished to shining by one outsider for another. https://deathprod.bandcamp.com/album/sow-your-gold-in-the-white-foliated-earth 2022 €15.00
DECONDITION Sukellan Tuntemattomiin Syvyyksiin CD "Sukellan tuntemattomiin syvyyksiin" ("I dive into unknown depths" FOR english) is Decondition's debut ALBUM after a tape released in 2006 on Freak Animal, The Universal Nothingness". The new album contains thirteen tracks recorded before and after the "Universal Nothingness" sessions. Using electronics, sampler, effects, field-recording, processed vocals, tape-voices, DECONDITION creates hypnotic, repetitive pieces of noise, mixing power or rhythmic electronics with real industrial sounds. The atmosphere is obscure, weird and very personal, most of the tracks dealing with death and the resurrection of the ego. Nordik P/E, Noise & Dark-Ambient "Decondition are a Finnish project previously unknown to these ears, although a prior cassette ‘The Universal Nothingness’ was released by Freak Animal back in 2006. Evidently the 13 tracks featured here were recorded during various sessions both prior to and after ‘The Universal Nothingness’ sessions, and with the title translating to ‘I Dive into Unknown Depths’ it appears a hefty dose of nihilism is the conceptual underpinning of the album. To provide a quick overview of their approach, Decondition inhabit a sonic realm which is an amalgam of overblown distortion, off kilter factory clatter, clanging junk metal arrhythmia and occasional segments of respite. From the opening passages of the album the crumbling waves of distortion and squalling static articulate the sonic timbre of harsh noise, yet there is a semblance of structure due to cyclic loops, imbedded samples and occasional barrage of unintelligible aggressive vocals which provides an industrial verging on power electronics angle to the sound. The third track functions to prove this point, where when ‘Dark Clouds Over My Inner Landscape’ arrives it demonstrates a focused, loosely rhythmic and pulsing power electronics track. Despite it clattering intensity mid album piece ‘Disease Within’ manages a partially meditative quality, which is mostly due to its grinding cement mixer rhythmic loops (…as agonised vocals yell a sermon of angst and inner turmoil). ‘Wheel of Change/ Passage of Time’ is another standout due to it pulling back on the heady distortion of preceding material, instead utilising a rhythmic militant industrial approach. Late album track ‘Aistiharhojen Luoma Todellisuus [ Sukellan Tuntemattomiin Syvyyksiin ]’ is another example of restraint (and one of the longer album tracks at just six and a half minutes), with a subdued soundscape of cavernous industrial drones and slowly manipulating textures. This paring back of intensity bleeds into to the final album track ‘Deep Sleep In My Dreams’, but on this piece accommodates a more suitably drugged and hazy atmosphere to match its title. On a cursory level this album appears rather punishing and admittedly Decondition do deliver a strong set of industrial/ noise/ power electronics for the underground genre fanatic (which is further complimented with suitable decaying factory images). Yet there is also clear variation to be discovered within its general harsh abrasiveness. In effect this is a solid, hour’s length album of noisy, distorted, arrhythmic to rhythmic industrial noise abuse, mixed with elements of power electronics aggression and offset by moments of restraint." [Noise Receptor] 2014 €6.50
DENT, LOREN Anthropology Vol. 1 CD "It's as if Dent had returned, irrevocably altered, from an ambitious and expansive field trip through nothing less than the history of digital and analogue ambience to splice his findings with the DNA of late-modernist classical. Loren Dent's intent is no radical re-think of genre; his bent is more recontextual, a fine tension between the vectors of New Music, minimalism, ambient, post-rock and space music. It's a trajectory traversing considerable terrain. Opener, 'Introduction - Dreams and Concrete,' for example, moves from Feldman to Niblock, before picking up on Pärt, in the transition to 'This Thing We Enjoy,' where the borders of melancholia are skirted, and a quiet glow is flirted with, before abandoning itself to a swooping digi-orchestralism and fibrillating fizz closer to the Kranky oeuvre of Tim Hecker and Christopher Bissonnette on 'Another Rural Fantasy' and 'Winter During Wartime.' The parade of references is by way of a rough guide, but the music of Anthropology is more maximalist in its articulation, more sweeping in its scale than all the aforementioned, with great gushes of tonalism surging through the soundfield. And those influences are dissolved, becoming trace elements in a blend of welling and swollen symphonics wrestling with pop ambient pointillism, all couched by Dent in his own tones." [A. Lockett] "BEHOLD! An offering from the ambient gods of Infraction. Dust off thine finest goblet, pour from your favorite bottle, remove thy clothes and be pure. Get back to nature and absorb the wonder of pure ambient beauty and message from the heavens that is Loren Dent's 'Anthropology Vol.1'. From the moment I hit play and shiver at the beauty of the intro I realize I'm destined to experience a journey into myself and the wonder of life. The tones here are profoundly uplifting (although there are some darker moments of uncertainty) and moving in a way I am simply unable to articulate. Sadly I'm no "Ambient Shakespeare" but I will say that this is like a soundtrack to life itself, one of joy, love, fear, pain, loss, grieving, euphoria and one which transcends time. Emotions that are integral to the human spirit, despite the age/time in which it exists, be it a modern or an ancient world. This stuff is deep, DEEP material. At one point I was almost reduced to tears, as I felt like I was the only living thing on the planet and felt very lonely... Man the power of music, the sound of those strings. Loren Dent is an extremely gifted artist to the point where it almost feels like there has been a divine hand in the creation of his sound world. His wondrous layers of sound are rich and constantly evolving, always emotional and hypnotic. His tools are both analogue and digital and his use of both is a joy to behold. For any ambient music lover that may have been disillusioned lately and possibly feels that the genre has been reduced to mere simple drones, then I'm fairly sure this will restore their faith in the genre. This deserves a prestigious place in the hearts and minds of all music lovers. To reference particular tracks, for me would be a pointless exercise as this really serves as a complete work..." [Norman Records] 2009 €13.50
DER PLAN Geri Reig (Bonus Version) LP Mit minimalen Mitteln produzierte, teilweise experimentelle elektronische Musik, verspielt und mitunter dilettantisch anmutend, aber immer mit Humor. So ließe sich des Debütalbum von Moritz Reichelt, Frank Fenstermacher und Kurt Dahlke (Pyrolator) alias Der Plan kurz zusammenfassen. Auf "Geri Reig" aus dem Jahr 1980 revolutionierten die Wegbereiter der Neuen Deutschen Welle den Synthiepop. "Geri Reig" ist ein Punkalbum im eigentlichen und im besten Sinne. Neu, bedrohlich und gleichzeitig humorvoll. Der Plan verzichteten - nicht unähnlich wie eine Handvoll anderer Bands dieser Zeit, etwa die Residents oder Throbbing Gristle - nicht nur auf die althergebrachten Songstrukturen, sondern gleich auf das ganze olle Instrumentarium. Das Reissue erscheint im Digipak mit Linernotes von Carsten Friedrichs (Ex-Superpunk), seltenen Fotos und sechs Bonustracks. Erhältlich als CD, Download und als 180g-Vinyl. https://derplan.bandcamp.com/album/geri-reig-bonus-version 2012 €20.00
DESPREZ, JOSQUIN The Renaissance Master. Sacred music and Chansons 3 x CD / book Sublime génie Il y a 500 ans, disparaissait Josquin Desprez. Traversant infatigablement l’Europe d’une cour à l’autre, il fut l’un des fers de lance les plus actifs de la Renaissance franco-flamande. Pour rendre hommage à cette figure majeure de l’histoire de la musique, harmonia mundi a réuni ici quelques-unes de ses œuvres profanes et religieuses les plus caractéristiques. Ce livre-disque, richement illustré, replace son parcours dans le contexte de cette période bouillonnante. JOSQUIN DESPREZ [1440-1521] Missa de Beata Virgine (Missarum Josquin liber tertius, Ottaviano Petrucci,Fossombrone, 1514) · Kyrie (3'47) · Gloria (8'01) · Credo (7'15) · Sanctus - Benedictus (5'47) · Agnus Dei (4'54) · Ave Maria (Mottetti A, Ottaviano Petrucci, Venezia, 1502) (4'38) · Stabat mater dolorosa (Mottetti de la corona, libro tertio, Ottaviano Petrucci, Fossombrone, 1519) (8'01) · Ave nobilissima creatura (Mottetti de la corona, libro tertio, Ottaviano Petrucci, Fossombrone, 1519) (8'36) · Salve regina à 4 (Vatican, Cappella Sistina, ms. 42, c. 1503) (4'01) · Pater noster - Ave Maria (Novum et insigne opus musicum, Hieronymus Formschneider, Nürnberg, 1537) (7'03) · De profundis - Requiem æternam (Motetti libro secondo, Andrea Antico, Venezia, c.1521) (4'28) · Qui habitat à 24 (Cantiones triginta selectissimae, Ulrich Neuber, Nürnberg, 1568) (5'38) Missa Pange lingua (Missæ tredecim quatuor vocum, Hieronymus Formschneider, Nürnberg, 1539) · Introït (5'43) · Kyrie (2'42) · Gloria (4'57) · Graduel (6'04) · Alleluia (4'29) · Credo (7'03) · Offertoire (3'09) · Sanctus (6'33) · O Salutaris (1'02) · Agnus Dei (7'04) · Hymne 'Pange lingua' (2'44) In principio erat Verbum (Secundus tomus novi operis musici, Hieronymus Formschneider, Nürnberg, 1538) · In principio erat Verbum (2'41) · Fuit homo missus a Deo (4'36) · Et Verbum caro factum est (1'46) Miserere mei,Deus (Liber selectarum cantionum, Sigmund Grimm & Marcus Wirsung, Augsburg, 1520) · Miserere mei, Deus (5'34) · Auditui meo dabis gaudium (4'14) · Domine, labia mea aperies (5'01) · Déploration sur la mort d'Ockeghem. Nymphes des bois / Requiem æternam (Jean Molinet) (Septiesme livre contenant vingt-quatre chansons a cinq et six parties, Tielman Susato, Antwerpen, 1545) (3'31) · Douleur me bat - 5 voix (Hc, T, T, Ba, B) et violes (Septiesme livre contenant vingt-quatre chansons a cinq et six parties, Tielman Susato, Antwerpen, 1545) (2'57) · Adieu mes amours - 4 violes (Harmonice musices odhecaton, Ottaviano Petrucci, Venezia, 1501) (2'08) · Plusieurs regretz - 2 voix (Hc, Ba) et violes (Septiesme livre contenant vingt-quatre chansons a cinq et six parties, Tielman Susato, Antwerpen, 1545) (2'36) · Petite camusette - 3 voix (Hc, T, Ba) et 3 violes (Septiesme livre contenant vingt-quatre chansons a cinq et six parties, Tielman Susato, Antwerpen, 1545) (1'10) · Mille regretz - 4 voix (Hc, T, Ba, B) et luth (Chansons amoureuses a quatre parties, Livre 11, Tielman Susato, Antwerpen, 1549) (2'00) · Mille regretz (Canción del Emperador) - luth solo (Transcription de Luis de Narváez) (Los seys libros del delphín, Libro 3, Diego Hernãdez de Cordova, Valladolid, 1538) (1'58) · En non saichant - 5 voix (Hc, T, Ba, Ba, B) (Septiesme livre contenant vingt-quatre chansons a cinq et six parties, Tielman Susato, Antwerpen, 1545) (1'47) · J'ay bien cause de lamenter - 3 voix (Hc, T, B) et luth (Selectissmæ necnon familiarissimæ cantiones, Melchior Kriesstein, Augsburg, 1540) (1'28) · Nimphes, nappés - tutti : 6 voix, violes, luth (Septiesme livre contenant vingt-quatre chansons a cinq et six parties, Tielman Susato, Antwerpen, 1545) (2'41) · Ile fantazies - violes (Rome, Biblioteca Casanetense, ms. 2865, 1479-81) (2'03) · La plus des plus - violes (Harmonice musices odhecaton, Ottaviano Petrucci, Venezia, 1501) (1'24) · Plus n'estes ma maistresse - 4 voix (Hc, T, Ba, B) et luth (Trente sixiesme livre contenant trente chansons, Pierre Attaingnant, 1550) (1'45) · Cueurs desolez . Ne cherchez plus/Plorans ploravi - cantus (Hc) et violes (Trente sixiesme livre contenant trente chansons, Pierre Attaingnant, 1550) (1'44) · Plaine de dueil - 5 voix (Hc, T, T, Ba, B) et violes (Septiesme livre contenant vingt-quatre chansons a cinq et six parties, Tielman Susato, Antwerpen, 1545) (1'26) · Fortuna desperata - violes (1'47) · Faulte d'argent - 5 voix (Hc, T, T, Ba, B) et luth (Septiesme livre contenant vingt-quatre chansons a cinq et six parties, Tielman Susato, Antwerpen, 1545) (1'28) · Cueur langoreulx - 2 voix (Hc, T) et violes (Septiesme livre contenant vingt-quatre chansons a cinq et six parties, Tielman Susato, Antwerpen, 1545) (1'22) · Fors seulement - luth (1'59) · Je me complains - 5 voix (Hc, T, T, Ba, B) et violes (Septiesme livre contenant vingt-quatre chansons a cinq et six parties, Tielman Susato, Antwerpen, 1545) (1'47) · Se congié prens à 6 - 2 voix (T, Ba) et violes (Septiesme livre contenant vingt-quatre chansons a cinq et six parties, Tielman Susato, Antwerpen, 1545) (2'15) · Tenez moy en vos bras à 6 - tutti (Septiesme livre contenant vingt-quatre chansons a cinq et six parties, Tielman Susato, Antwerpen, 1545) (1'55) · El grillo - 4 voix (Hc, T, Ba, B) et luth (Frottole libro tertio, Ottaviano Petrucci, Venezia, 1505) (1'37) · Si j'ay perdu mon amy - violes (Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, ms. fr. 1597, c. 1500) (1'47) · Parfons regretz - 5 voix (Hc, T, T, Ba, B) (Septiesme livre contenant vingt-quatre chansons a cinq et six parties, Tielman Susato, Antwerpen, 1545) (1'55) · Vous l'arez, s'il vous plaist - 3 voix (Hc, T, Ba) et violes (Septiesme livre contenant vingt-quatre chansons a cinq et six parties, Tielman Susato, Antwerpen, 1545) (1'52) · Allégez moy - 6 voix (tutti) et luth (Septiesme livre contenant vingt-quatre chansons a cinq et six parties, Tielman Susato, Antwerpen, 1545) (1'08) Ensemble Clément Janequin La Chapelle Royale Huelgas-Ensemble Cappella Amsterdam Theatre of Voices Philippe Herreweghe Direction Ensemble Les Éléments Daniel Reuss Direction Paul Hillier Direction Dominique Visse Direction Ensemble Organum, Marcel Pérès Direction https://www.harmoniamundi.com/albums/sacred-music-and-chansons/ 2021 €29.50
DEUTERROR Le Gueule de Guerre CD After the two amazing Agrippen and Cortharis Lex, available for download on his website, Deuterror offers his new realisation, and first release on CD, "Le Gueule De Guerre". A fable on the faith that animates man and keeps him standing, getting beyond the limits of a minimalist dark ambient or the violence of an extravagant noise. Deuterror develops his theme with drones in turn overwhelming and disturbing, vindicative frequencies, making of Le Gueule De Guerre a severe statement bittered with desillusion. The album, presented in a beautiful matt digipack and limited at 1000 copies, also includes a cd-rom track which allows the listener to appreciate even more Deuterror's universe to its true value. 2007 €12.00
DIE ANARCHISTISCHE ABENDUNTERHALTUNG #1 LP LP version. Marbled vinyl. In 1995 the self-titled full-length debut of Die Anarchistische Abendunterhaltung (DAAU) was released. The band consisted of four young, "classically derailed" musicians who played their own compositions exclusively with their with acoustic instruments such as violin, cello, clarinet and accordion. Their work contained influences from Roma music, Eastern European folk, klezmer and jazz, and was performed with energy and true punk spirit. DAAU was part of the fertile Antwerp scene, which also produced dEUS, Zita Swoon, and Kiss My Jazz, and soon signed an international record deal with Sony Classical. The group's influential first record, which has been out of print for a while, is now finally being released again and is available on vinyl for the very first time. https://subrosalabel.bandcamp.com/album/1 In those early days, DAAU consisted of four young, classically trained musicians who tackled their instrumental compositions with a true punk spirit. 'If we'd had guitars, bass or drums at that time, we would probably have been just another rock band', says accordionist Roel Van Camp, who, together with his schoolmates Buni Lenski on violin, the latter's brother Simon on cello and Han Stubbe on clarinet made up the Antwerp quartet. 'With our acoustic instruments we tried to create our own version of the music we loved listening to, from sixties rock and prog to new wave.' The quartet, which initially played in streets and cafes, appealed to a diverse audience and sometimes joked that they were a classically trained unit that had 'gone off the rails'. 'As befits teenagers, we wanted to shake things up', Stubbe remembers, 'even though we always kept cherishing our classical backgrounds.' Van Camp: 'Our education was never supposed to feel like a straitjacket. We were free-spirited enough to ignore the laws and regulations of the music academy and to create our own sound. Our compositions were open to influences from Roma music, Eastern European folk, klezmer and jazz'. 'That eclecticism was a direct result of the zeitgeist', Han Stubbe adds. 'We loved different styles and happily mixed them together'. The monniker Die Anarchistische Abendunterhaltung was derived from Steppenwolf, a novel by German writer Hermann Hesse about a character who was outside society. 'In the book, the narrator talks of a theatre', Van Camp explains. 'And at the entrance there is a warning sign sign that says: if you go in here, you are guaranteed to lose your mind. That was an apt description of the way our music worked'. Almost all tracks on DAAU's first album were 'Drieslagstelsels' (or 'three-course rotations'). The term referred to an agricultural method of the early Middle Ages, but also to the fact that each song of the group consisted of three major movements. Van Camp: 'The titles of those pieces referred to our method of writing. We piled up a huge bunch of ideas, because we wanted to tell more than just one story. With each composition, we took the listener for a ride'. 2023 €17.00
DIE FORM Die Form ÷ Hurt LP This Die Form side-project was recorded in a few days in 1984 and remains the only trace under the name of Hurt, initially released on Bain Total label (K.29 cassette) at the same period as 'Some Experiences With Shock'. As for the both previous volumes 1 & 2 from the double album 'Die Form ÷ Fine Automatic', it appears in the 'Archives of Industrial Music from France' collection, proposed by Rotorelief Records. It brings together all the tracks of the cassette, and other titles from Die Form, close in the spirit and in the form, have been added. It is a kind of snapshot, close to the tear and chaos, where the machines and the out-of-control guitars are used as a support for the cry up to the final exhaustion. Passion - Pain - Urge. Again, these are experimental and industrial creations, characteristic of this particular period:time, in the spirit of bands as 'No New York' (Teenage Jesus, DNA, James Chance, Mars), and Suicide or Throbbing Gristle, SPK www.rotorelief.com 2016 €23.00
DIE FORM (IT) La Dimensione Umana LP & CD "An obscure Italian early Industrial/Electronic outfit coming from Brianza, in the Lombardia region covering the triangle between the cities of Milan, Monza and Brescia, an area known for the high amount of furniture factories. Die Form first emerged in 1982 with the tape La Dimensione Umana (here remastered and put on vinyl for the 1st time) later the band members merged with long time friends Orgasmo Negato (also known as Nulla Iperreale), choosing the definitive name Tasaday in 1984. The band was made up of six extremely young kids influenced by the music of Cabaret Voltaire, Throbbing Gristle and Pop Group, as well as the philosophical theories of Georges Bataille and Jean Baudrillard." www.officinafonograficaitaliana.it 2016 €18.00
DIETER MÜH (DIETER MUH) The Björn (Bjorn) Tapes CD-R Three long pieces of re-mixed live-material by the masters of dark grim ambient-noise ! Slowly evolving dense industrial soundscapes full of tension and atmosphere... comes in handmade wood-package! “Another well deserved re-release of material by these British masters of unique electronics. This work was originally put out on the Japanese Xerxes label in 1999 as a limited tape release. Three lengthy pieces of adventurous and strong electronics beyond categorisation yet lurking somewhere between harsh ambient atmospheres and heavy post-industrial intensity.” [Kaos Kontrol newsletter] 2004 €15.00
Eponymous LP " “Eponymous” was at first to be a cassette release on the French label Mineurs Du Fonds. In the spring of 1998 José Leseuer (Mineurs Du Fonds operator and journalist) contacted us wanting to distribute our “Black Square” CD album in France and was asking about new material. We mailed him the “Eponymous” recordings. Recorded in late 1998 at our home studio in Forest Fields, Nottingham “Eponymous” is a classic example of a "Work In Progress" album. At the start of 1998 we had ditched our old Roland synths (JD800 / SH101) and invested in sampling devices, an 8 track digital recorder and effects pedals. “Eponymous” features us looping a lot of machinery (including photocopying machines and printing machines) and taking samples from our old 1980’s project Mühviertel. With “Eponymous” we were still learning and discovering the possibilities of reaching the sound we wanted to create / hear. José never released the cassette, instead he disappeared for four years. In 2002 he resurfaced with a new label called Naninani Recordings and “Eponymous” was now a CDR with a remix by French artist Cedric LeRouley. The original release was 113 copies. José has since disappeared again. Sentimental Productions have caringly rescued the recordings and re-mastered them. Vinyl seems to make sense….." [Stephen Cammack / Dieter Müh] https://soundcloud.com/sentimentalroductions "As I was looking at the cover of this record, I was thinking: does Dieter Müh still exist? The previous release I reviewed was not that long ago, Vital Weekly 1062, but that was, as is this new one, a release recorded in 1998. The previous one was released back then in a small edition, but 'Eponymous' had a somewhat bigger edition back then; 103 copies were released on CDR by Naninani Recordings, a short lived CDR label from France. Vital Weekly, being one of the oldest online sources for this kind of music, of course (well…) reviewed this before, in Vital Weekly 337. I wrote back then: "One would think that Dieter Müh is just a guy with a funny name, but it's not. I believe they are a duo or trio from the UK. Also, they have been around for sometime now, with a couple of small scale releases some years back. After that things became quiet and they seem to have vanished. But Dieter Müh is back. The pieces on this release are not very recent ones, they were all recorded in 1998 {the release was from 2002 - FdW}. The easiest way to describe Dieter Müh is by labelling them as 'ambient industrialists', but that wouldn't entirely justify them. They operate in a lofi sampling way, lifting samples from probably other people's work, and creating their own dense and dark tapestries of sound. Because of their humble recording methods, the sounds remain kinda obscured, but that is something, I believe, that will appeal to the lovers of such ambient industrial ethics. The final piece is a remix of Dieter Muh soundmaterial by one Cedric Lerouley, who uses probably more updated sound techniques, but if you wouldn't know would sound like another Dieter Muh piece, but then recorded better. All in all in a nice release, without anything dramatic new." With fresh, 2017, ears I would say something like this; the recordings on this LP were made in a studio and one easily notes the difference with the previous one, recorded in concert. I easily admit I wasn't that blown away by their live sound, which I thought was a bit too single-minded in approach, but in their studio work they show much more. The seven titles here continue to explore the mild industrial sound of sampled percussion, repeating voices, a fair dash of reverb; for instance in 'Dumhome' I hear influences of both Big City Orchestra and early Contrastate. In 'R.I.P.>5' they go out for a more industrial drone sound of multi-layered synth sounds, while in 'Sebel' Throbbing Gristle/Cabaret Voltaire are guiding principles, with phased loops and spoken word samples. There is throughout all of these pieces references to be made to one band or another, yet I would think Dieter Müh, back then a duo of Steve Cammack and Dave Uden, have plenty of their own input to make each track their own thing, and it is through variety that they achieve their own sound. It seems like none of these pieces sound very similar to the other ones. None of this screams 'true noise' in your ears and that's some much better. Ambient industrial is surely something that is still the most appropriate term for such music. It's also a musical style that never became big and never had a revival, oddly enough. This is a most welcome re-issue I guess; it sounded retro and I love it (the previous remix not included this time)." [FdW/Vital Weekly] 2017 €23.50
  The Bjorn Tapes LP "This is a entire reissue of a limited to 50 copies C45 audio cassette originally released by Xerxes (Japan) as ES-27 in April 1999, later re-released as a limited CDr by Blade Records (Italy) in 2004. All material recorded live on 30 January 1999 in Nottinghem, U.K., edited and produced by Dave Uden during February 1999, re-mastered in September 1999. using electronics, semples, tapes, bass-guitar, vocals, the English duo created here three long tracks of hypnotick electronic music / ambient noise in the "old-school" experimental genre. White vinyl housed in a three-panel folded silkscreened cover released in a limited edition of 320 handnumbered copies. Released in November 2018." "I'd like to think the world has finally woken up to Dieter Müh, the long-running industrial ambient project once consisting of Dave Uden and Steve Cammack, which since 2009 has been the solo project of the latter. EE Tapes recently resurrected Mutus Liber, a 1995 giveaway tape compiled for interested listeners and reissued it on CD. The Bjorn Tapes was another short-run cassette released by Dieter Müh first released on tape in 1999. It was a year that would see Dieter Müh share bills with The Grey Wolves, Con Dom, AntiChildLeague and Colin Potter. Colin Potter had a hand in their debut album Black Square, recording and producing it at his studio in Yorkshire. Dieter Müh at this point were Steve Cammack and Dave Uden, both inspired by the possibilities brought forth by the punk/DIY spirit of the seventies. It is industrial music that seeps into their sound, and you can hear it in the drone and noise ridden layers of electronics, manipulations, tapes and field recordings found within The Bjorn Tapes, which was recorded live and later edited in the studio. The entire Dieter Müh discography is littered with some wonderful short run releases on labels such as Tesco, Hanson Records, Harbinger Sounds. The Bjorn Tapes first surfaced on the Japanese label Xerxes run by Yoshida Yasutoshi of Government Alpha. The Bjorn Tapes was recorded live in Nottingham in January 1999 and edited and produced a few months later. I don't see a show listed in the Dieter Müh gigography so I'm guessing this was a live in the studio affair. It was soon after this recording I first caught Dieter Müh live, where the duo would be huddled over banks of synths, twisting wires and twiddling knobs. I've really no idea how they produced the sounds they did but whatever they did it resonated with depth, feeling and power. The Bjorn Tapes captures the essence of a live Dieter Müh performance. Silence, space and a keen sense of sound gestation play a role on 'Herma'. Distant throbs and samples ebb into windswept drone terrain mixed with shuffling textures before it seeps into harsher drone based layers. It is a fine example of their ambient sound vibrations where nothing is rushed or overbearing and you really need to listen closely to pick up on the dynamics. Even though their sound is based in drone based experimental electronics, Dieter Müh are often regarded as an industrial ambient group. If that's the case then 'Herma' focusses on the ambient side of their industrial ambient sound, while the other two tracks emphasise the industrial side of that description. 'Low Feed' mixes industrial churn mixed with tape manipulations where voices become almost alien. An electronic throb pulses underneath, like blood through coursing through the body. Electronics shimmer, whirr and echo, broken by sudden glints of crashing noise. This is the Dieter Müh I remember from the live shows I witnessed where they slipped seamlessly from subtle drones into denser, harsher sound layers writhing with distended, disembodied voices, sampled percussive clatter and chasms of noise. Unsettling, unnerving and oppressive 'Low Feed' is a great track. The 23 minute side long piece 'Aghor' unfurls in various movements. The opening ambient sonics are laced with taped voices and intermittent bass thuds. It cut to crunchy, textured manipulations, followed by a passage of processed tapes of mutterings, utterings and whisperings shadowed by electronic oscillations, spliced with clicks and micro tone shudders. At this point there's a sense of ritual to be found within the soundscapes and primordial intonations before bass rumbles enter and underpin a dizzying morass of sound, where manipulated and disembodied voices are enveloped in waves of fluctuating distortion and noise and the flickering haze of frequencies. It is an impressive build up of sound, texture and intensity proving Dieter Müh's dexterity and firm grasp of composition. As it unwinds the loose bass tones and taped voices almost take the form of a live Throbbing Gristle performance, surging with brief bursts of vocals, rendered in a power electronics style sinking into silence and then edging out in queasy electronic oscillations. Originally issued on cassette by the Japanese label Xerxes run by Yoshida Yasutoshi of Government Alpha and subsequently reissued on CD-R by the Italian label Blade Records The Bjorn Tapes is now released on white vinyl housed in a three-panel folded silkscreened cover released in a limited edition of 320 handnumbered copies on the Nuit et Brouillard side label Force Majeure. It's a handsome edition and well worthy of your time, especially if you've missed this group whose roots in early industrial inspired some fine releases, such as Cari Saluti and Tertium Organum, which collaged the sounds of industrial, experimental, ambient, ritual and noise to great effect. For more information go to Force Majeure" [Compulsion Online] 2018 €18.00
DORELLA, BRUNO Paradiso CD Italian musician and producer Bruno Dorella guides us to \"Paradiso\", his new solo album, with the music for the homonymous choreographic project of gruppo nanou, to be released on CD and digital on November 25th, 2022 by the independent label 13 / Silentes. \"Paradiso\" was born for the choreography of the new show by gruppo nanou, a contemporary dance and performing arts company, founded by Marco Valerio Amico, Rhuena Bracci and Roberto Rettura. The collaboration between Dorella and the company has started almost a decade ago and over time has also involved Ronin and OvO, the main bands of the Ravenna-based musician - OvO were on stage in 2021 for Canto Primo: Miasma | Arsura, an encounter between sounds and infernal images, with Dante\'s recurring reference. But there is more than this. \"Paradiso\" is also the first electronic music album made by Dorella who, during the lockdown period, focused himself more and more on softwares. The tracks are composed according to the bodies and the choreography of the show. Dorella says: \"The composition took a long time. The choreographic needs, and the effect of music on the bodies, often led me to think with a broader perspective. Me and the members of gruppo nanou started the work from mutual suggestions and gradually we understood each other faster and faster. We defined a common conception of rhythm, deciding to work on apparently \'off-grid\' rhythms, creating the illusion of something wrong together but perfectly timed. In reality, these rhythms are parallel planes that travel in time with each other, even if out of phase.\" \"Saturno\" is the first single taken from \"Paradiso\" and contains the fundamental elements of the entire work. That is, parallel, overlapping, sinuous rhythms, apparently out of phase but which \"turn\" together. In addition to abstract guitars and breath as the only source of voice. According to gruppo nanou: \"Bruno has composed a choreographic work. We have verified together how sound can accommodate the body and be in dialogue with the scenic action. It was a transitive operation between scene and sound, bodies and the material density of sounds, vibrations and motion. The beauty of this musical work is that it is concrete matter and at the same time it is a precise thought. All the rules and limitations that we set for the creation of the show - regarding choreography, sound, lights and scene - have managed to be assimilated to become creative resources and therefore to become exact viscera.\" The journey of \"Paradiso\" is articulated into thirteen tracks and ends with the title track, which is also the brand new single from the album and the only episode that can be assimilated to an \"alien\" song-form, featuring Francesca Amati (Comaneci) on vocals. Dorella speaking: \"We always thought that, at a certain point, we needed a \'song\'. With Francesca there is a long-standing collaboration and gruppo nanou loves her tone of voice, so it has always been clear that she would be the one to sing the song. But she had to do it in a non-existent and unidentifiable language. So, I broke down the syllables of what Francesca had sung, recomposing them with a new result.\" In Dorella\'s long and eclectic career, \"Paradiso\" is only his second solo record, following \"Concerto per chitarra solitaria\", created for a contemporary classical music festival and released in 2019 by Bronson Recordings. \"I always thought of ensemble music, never really in the solo dimension, and I always imagined that if I ever made a record on my own and with my name on it, it would be related to pure composition\", Dorella explains. Active since the late 90s, Bruno Dorella is also known under the pseudonym Jack Cannon and was a member of Wolfango, as well as founder of OvO, Ronin and Bachi da Pietra, and more recently of Tiresia and the GDG Modern Trio, as well as an element of Sigillum S. \"Paradiso\" is the first record that testifies his experience in the field of theater music, developed through collaboration with various theater and dance companies. \"Paradiso\" is a collective effort among the contemporary research dance company gruppo nanou and the artist Alfredo Pirri. Its path begins in 2021 and continues until July 2022 through appointments, called sketches, intended as the progressive deepening and development of research and tests for the construction of a performative process that removes the concept of the beginning and end of a performance, as well as its front use. The space is intended as an active place in which to immerse oneself, creating an impromptu community that accesses the performance as it happens in a museum exhibition. \"Paradiso\" is the beginning of a common journey starting from the Third Canticle of Dante Alighieri’s Commedia; as a paradise, it is an elsewhere space, inhabited by light and evanescent figures; a long cinematic shot in which to immerse yourself thanks to the music of Bruno Dorella. The stage space consists of a mirrored dance floor obtained by combining different layers of silver and gold carpets where reverberating spaces and territories, intertwined and choreographed by gruppo nanou. Indirect lighting allows the carpet to reflect the surrounding space, welcoming it inside visually and creating a floating perception and making the floor like a pond where the bodies in movement flake with evanescent contours. The place determines each time the use and arrangement of the scene created by Pirri; the space, as well as the bodies and the light, is reflected by the mirrored surface of the carpets, redesigning the geometry of the space itself. For this identity of relationship between place and scene, each Paradise is unique and unrepeatable, thus finding the impossibility of describing a Paradise uniquely, as Dante wrote in the beginning of the Third Canticle. The gestures lose all trace of naturalism to turn into an abstract choreography, whose meaning is in the desire to bridge the distance between the gaze (of the viewer) and the bodies in action. The limit of the backgrounds is forced, torn, deteriorated by the body that attacks it with its choreographic action. The choreographic images are produced “accidentally”, and the bodies are immediately pulverized thanks to the process of abstraction that produces pure plasticity that surpasses all other instances. The evidence of every research step or residency is called sketch and, even if is still a studio form, it shows how the performative device works on the space, its architecture or lack of it, recreating and rethinking both the stage and how the audience interact with it. As it will be in his final form, every sketch is different from the others; not a step forward but a step in deep the research. In each different spaces there will be different sets and choreographic compositions. A difficult experience to tell. Album credits: Music composed, played, recorded and mixed by Bruno Dorella Mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi Vocals on 6 & 13 by Francesca Amati Vocals 4, 9 & 10 by Elisabetta Da Rold Voices treatment on 1 by Bruno Dorella & Giovanni Lami, 5 includes parts of Old Vogue Dancer by Bruno Dorella, 11 includes a sample by Stefano Ghittoni Layout and artwork by Marco Valerio Amico Photos by Daniele Casadio Project credits: Project: gruppo nanou, Alfredo Pirri, Bruno Dorella Choreography: Marco Valerio Amico, Rhuena Bracci Scenic space: Alfredo Pirri Music: Bruno Dorella Lights: Marco Valerio Amico Colors: Marco Valerio Amico, Alfredo Pirri Costumes: Rhuena Bracci With Carolina Amoretti, Marina Bertoni, Vera Borghini, Rhuena Bracci, Francesca Dibiase, Andrea Dionisi, Agnese Gabrielli, Marco Maretti, Emanuel Santos, Sofia Pazzocco, Michele Scappa And the graduates (2019) of the Post Diploma – Dance Course of the Civica Scuola di Teatro “Paolo Grassi” of Milan: Livia Bartolucci, Alessandra Cozzi, Elisabetta Da Rold, Agnese Gabrielli, Nicolò Giorgini, Simone Mazzanti, Camilla Neri, Francesca Rinaldi, Pablo Ezequiel Rizzo, Bruna Romano Production: Nanou Associazione Culturale, Ravenna Festival Contributon: MIC, Regione Emilia-Romagna, Comune di Ravenna, Fondazione del Monte di Bologna e Ravenna Collaboration: Civica Scuola di Teatro “Paolo Grassi” di Milano Support: Centro di Residenza della Toscana (Armunia-CapoTrave/Kilowatt), E Production, ATCL Circuito Multidisciplinare del Lazio per Spazio Rossellini Polo Culturale Multidisciplinare della Regione Lazio, C.U.R.A. Centro Umbro Residenze Artistiche, Spazio ZUT!, Indisciplinarte, La Mama Umbria International https://brunodorella.bandcamp.com/album/paradiso 13.silentes.it/private_sounds/sps2258_bruno_dorella.htm 2022 €12.00
DÄLEK {DALEK] Untitled LP "One track, 40 minutes over 2 sides. The eagerly awaited and legendary Latitudes session finally sees the light of day. Vinyl comes in a limited run of 700 black and 300 purple and includes an insert and a sticker. from the liner notes: July 2005 was a crazy time in my universe. John Loder, my mentor and surrogate big brother, who I had worked alongside at Southern for 20 years, was very ill - battling a brain tumour diagnosed 18 months earlier. Dälek were holed up in my flat, on the sharp end of reducing their number from three to just two. They were recording a session for our relatively new Latitudes imprint - spending days in the studio laying tracks and nights in my living room, working on ideas. We got to know each other, really. (I have the photos of Alap passed out drunk in his boxer shorts to prove it.) I discovered that the hip-hop bravado and crushing beats were only one layer of these guys. They had a secret Metal past, a serious Alt-Country present, and hearts as big as New Jersey. Their love and knowledge of music ran deep. On the 7th, I got up to head into the office/studio, and left them sleeping away. Half way to the bus stop I got a call from Tony saying turn around, go home, don't get on the bus or the tube. He said there had been explosions in the Underground. I turned around, went home and turned on the news. Alap and Will sat with me and watched London's own version of 9-11 unfold, and then, full of determination and grit, headed into the studio to finish recording. And what did they produce? Why it's taken this long for this recording to be released is only down to me, and the battles that I've fought in the intervening five years. In August of 2005, John Loder left us. Since then I've had to work very hard to keep Southern going, and though we had to close our warehouse and as a result lose most of our staff last year, we've survived, and actually come out all the better for it. It's like the old days - we're compact, which means we can fight our battles like guerilla warriors - which is pretty much what you need to do to make ends meet these days. None of this has much to do with the epic grooves that Dälek laid down on this session. And it has everything to do with it, at least when I listen to what MC Dälek is saying. Sonically, this session is a real departure from Dälek's albums. It's a gorgeous, multi-cultural melting pot of sound and space, a serious shot to the head, an opening of the third eye. I strongly urge you to explore the magnificence of this session on headphones, in a darkened room, and let it take you away. I love it so much that I guess I wanted to keep it to myself for all this time. But it's time to share, and to apologise to you all for taking so long. - Allison Schnackenberg, August 2010" [label info] http://blog.southern.com/latitudes 2011 €15.00
EARTH Pentastar: In the style of demons CD Die vierte EARTH CD von 1996, wo es neben „klassisch“ metal/rockig instrumentierten slow-drone Stücken auch sehr feine ambience-tracks gibt (wie das wunderbare „Crooked Axis for String Quartet“), die ihre sensibel-harmonische Seite zeigen.... eine ungewöhnliche Mischung to say the least. “Dylan Carlson and Dave Harwell use drums and Vocals on the fourth release. Some people think this is ambient metal, grindcore refusniks, classic minimalists, or industrialists making soundscapes. A little bit of all of that is true. Dylan says the music is built around the riffs, and claims 70s riff rock as an influence, but it is run through the Earth machine, and the riffs are slowed down to a molasses in winter pace, but not down to a hibernation Grief pace. "High Command" "Peace In Mississippi" and "Coda Maestoso In F(flat) Minor" are my faves here but they are all good. Great, stretched out guitar, motionless in space, contemplating the nature of emotional disorders, rock music.” [Hairy Kari, KFJC] 1996 €15.00
EASTLEY, MAX Installation Recordings (1973-2008) do-CD "This 2CD is essentially a retrospective of Eastley’s installation work. As such, it updates and adds many new examples to the 1975 release “New and Rediscovered Musical Instruments”, which was released as a split LP with David Toop on Brian Eno’s Obscure Records. This is Eastley’s first solo CD. Of the 35 tracks, only the last 2 have any guests or ‘playing’ (the most virtuosic moment being George Lewis playing a grass blade). All the other pieces are either powered by the natural forces of wind and water, or else are motor driven gallery installations. The ethereal sounds of the aoelian harp, the haunting aeolian flutes, and the violent tension of his aerophone installations are hallmark Eastley sounds. These sounds, and many others, sit amidst a wide range of acoustic settings, from windy hill tops to quiet brooks, residential street scenes to coastal shores. The indoor recordings are no less varied, ranging across a rich variety of acoustics and gallery spaces from tiny micro sounds to large scale amplification. Wood, metal and stone are brought to life with electricity. Although there are many photos in the 20 page booklet, much is left to the imagination to work out how the sounds are made. With this limited access to the visual, the focus is pulled towards the musicality of the sounds themselves. This musicality is reinforced by the slow crossfades of most of the pieces from indoors to outdoors to form a series of suites. The recordings mostly date from the mid 70s, but there are pieces from later decades. Nearly everything was recorded either to Revox or Uher and occasionally cassette, using what microphones were available at the time. Recent recordings are digital. The varying quality of the recording set-ups across this 2CD adds yet another dimension to the shifting sound fabric of this anthology." [label info] www.stalk.net/paradigm "Max Eastley begann 1972 damit Skulpturen mit Klang zu verbinden, indem er Bewegung und Materialien seiner Skulpturen mit den Grundprinzipien des Instrumentenbaus verband. Dies führt für die vorliegende Retrospektive, die Aufnahmen aus den Jahren 1973 – 2008 auf 2 CDs enthält, notwendig dazu, dass nur Klang dokumentiert wird, doch die ihn erzeugenden Installationen trotz der zahlreichen Fotos nicht adäquat abgebildet werden können. Immerhin kann man auf ihnen die verschiedenen Instrumente zumindest sehen. Die Aerophone sind teilweise sehr schlanke Kreuze, deren Arme im rechten Winkel außen mit Saiten verbunden sind, die im Wind schwingen, und erinnern beinahe an Antennen, in deren Zentrum noch ein Stück bunter Stoff geknotet wurde. Auch an den schmalen dünnen aufrechten Kästen der Aeolian Flutes finden sich diese bunten Bänder wieder, so dass sie an abstrakte Figuren erinnern, deren Schals im Winde wehen. An den Hydrophonen fällt ihre Schlichtheit auf, wie sie als verschieden lange dünne Rohre aus dem sie antreibenden Wasser ragen. Klanglich erinnern die Skulpturen überwiegend an vom Wind betriebene Klangspiele und – meist archaische – Drones sowie verfremdete Tierstimmen und seltener an präparierte Saiteninstrumente. Da bei den Innenraum-Installationen die natürlichen Kräfte fehlen, um sie erklingen zu lassen, wurde auf mechanische Antriebe zurückgegriffen, die jedoch die unregelmäßigen Strukturen natürlicher Ereignisse nachahmen sollen. Nichts desto trotz erinnern einige ihrer Aufnahmen eher an Loops als an Klangereignisse, denen jedes Muster fehlt. Für diese Retrospektive wurden alle Aufnahmen auf „radiotaugliche“ Ausschnitte von oft nur zwei bis fünf Minuten gekürzt. Doch da die kinetischen Installationen keinen kompositorischen Aufbau haben, der einen bestimmten Anfang und Ende „erfordert“, lassen die als einzelne Tracks dokumentierten Ausschnitte fragen, ob eine einzelne Installation auf einer eigenen – dann wohl leider weitgehend unverkäuflichen – CD nicht besser repräsentiert worden wäre, da dies dem fortdauernden Klang einer Installation angemessener wäre. Ohnehin sind die Mehrzahl der Aufnahmen durch Ein- und Ausfaden zu collagenartigen kleinen Suiten arrangiert, was dem Material eine dem bloßen Hören angemessene neue Form gibt. Da die Ebene eines Dokuments, das den für Eastley gleichberechtigten visuellen Teil ausspart, verlassen wird und etwas Neues entsteht. Damit wird ebenfalls deutlich, dass auch eine kinetische Kunst letztlich das Werk eines – oder mehrer – Künstler ist und damit einen sozialen Charakter hat. Leider findet sich dazu nichts in dem 20seitigen Beiheft, das keine konzeptionellen Überlegungen enthält. Mit dieser Eastley-Retrospektive macht Paradigm Disc einmal mehr Musik zugänglich, die sonst kaum auf Tonträgern zu bekommen ist. Denn nach der 1975 auf Brian Enos Obscure Records Label erschienen Split-LP New And Rediscovered Musical Instruments mit David Toop, ist diese Doppel-CD erst die zweite Veröffentlichung, die Eastleys Klanginstallationen dokumentiert. Wer sich für Musik jenseits chromatischer Tonleitern, in der Zufall eine zentrale Rolle spielt, interessiert, dem ist diese Doppel-CD sehr zu empfehlen." [Ingo Techmeier / Bad Alchemy] 2010 €20.00
ECKLOFF, JÜRGEN Angeflantschte Fugenstücke LP “Bei Wanzen Geld zurück” originally recorded 2004 for an exhibition at Sibirische Zelle (Berlin) fills the A-side of this two sided 30,48cm rotating audio-archive. A seemingly empty room with greasy walls is somehow filled by situations and more - of course with happy ending! Side B contains six shorter pieces including the unusual trilogy Mörtel I – IV. This is the very first trilogy that consists of four pieces instead of the usual three! A masterpiece using the most modern techniques of composition. (That's also the reason why the additional `T´ is used in the record-title...) All the sounds used for the pieces on Side B where recorded by the author himself mainly for his forthcoming film "Girls In Dirty Aprons" at several places. Five scenic figurines of photographic beauty and understanding of sonic nature. `Miniatures Concrètes´ a French maybe would say.... The final piece entitled “Jazz” sets another direction, Eckloff never has shown before. Not Dixieland...the other Jazz! Yes! The not fully printed backside of the coveroffers a lot of space for notes - a new & fresh invention on the fast growing record-market that underlines once more the forward-thinking way 90%Wasser steps on since years! Tracklist: side one: 1. Bei Wanzen Geld zurück side two: 2. Fettröhre 3. Mörtel I 4. Mörtel II 5. Mörtel III 6. Mörtel IV 7. Jazz "Und gleich noch etwas Neues aus dem Hause 90%WASSER, dem Berliner Label, das uns so exzellente Platten wie die von COLUMN ONE, JÜRGEN PLOOG und die letztlich hier präsentierten KEIN ZWEITER beschert hat. Das heißt, neben eben KEIN ZWEITER wird uns gleich noch die neuste Scheibe von JÜRGEN ECKLOFF angetragen, demjenigen, der so großartig Collagen und Videos mit surrealem Inhalt schnitzelt, dem, der Alben produziert, seine Collagen ab und an ausstellt (wie z.B. in der Sibirischen Zelle, der Rumsti-Pumsti-Galerie am Treptower Park in Berlin und – wie gemunkelt wird – demnächst in Zernikow bei Berlin) und sowohl mit COLUMN ONE als auch mit dem oben genannten Label eng verbunden ist. Auch auf dem Cover prangt eine Collage von ihm – wobei hier die einzelnen Teile wie ein Langschatten ineinandergefügt wurden. Dieser ist der eines Mannes. Und der wird von hinten wie von vorne gezeigt – mit einer Mütze auf dem Kopf, die darauf schließen lässt, dass es sich hier wohl um einen (Stahl- oder Bergwerks-) Arbeiter aus den – sagen wir – 1950er Jahren handelt. Musikalisch, oder was die zu hörenden Geräusche betrifft, oder auch hörspielerisch, werden wir in den Großraum einer Werkshalle entführt – möglicherweise ja die des auf dem Cover zu sehenden Arbeiters. „Bei Wanzen Geld zurück“ umfasst dann die gesamte A-Seite des Albums. Da schlürft und schmatzt zunächst jemand. Hörbar in einer eben größeren und annähernd leeren Halle. Alle Hintergrundgeräusche, einschließlich Pfeifen, hallen hier nämlich nach. Koch- oder größere Metalldeckel rollen. Das Schmatzen bleibt. Balken, wie Klanghölzer fallen in Pfützen. Das Schmatzen bleibt, scheint sich sogar hier und da mit den Wasserpfützklängen zu verbinden. Dann wird so etwas wie eine Tonne durch die Halle gerollt. Nun schmatzt es unterbrochen. Mal äußert sich das – ja was eigentlich, vielleicht Monster – brummend, mal hustend. Ein Knirschen. Die Deckel. Und wieder das Schmatzen. Im Hintergrund dann auch einzelne Töne eines Klaviers, oder etwas kleiner – eines für Kinder vielleicht. Dann wieder das Rollen. Manchmal, zum Ende hin, sind auch Töne zu hören, die an welche erinnern, die entstehen, wenn mit Wasser gefüllte Gläser, die an den oberen Kanten mit dem Finger gestrichen werden, ertönen, klingen, summen und brummen. Das geht bis zum Rückkopplungsgeräusch. Und schließlich mündet das Ganze in ein Flaschenfallgeräusch – in etwa so, als wär diejenige Person (das Monster, Wesen) da in der Halle grad damit beschäftigt, zu kegeln ... Die A-Seite macht dem Titel des Albums alle Ehre. Denn es flieht das besagte (Monster-) Wesen der (Arbeiter-) Person durch die Halle, und zwar in Form von Geräuschen, die polyphon und mehrstimmig sind – so wie bei einer klassischen Fuge, in der ja jedes Thema nach seinem Auftauchen, zeitversetzt wiederholt wird. Weil wir es hier aber lediglich mit Fugenstücken zu tun haben, die angeflanscht wurden, die also dicht, jedoch lösbar miteinander verbunden sind, kann das Ganze wohl auch in andere Kontexte gesetzt werden. Wer weiß? ... Auf der B-Seite sind dann „Röhrenfett“ (B1), „Mörtel I-IV“ (B2-5) und „Jazz“ (B6) zu hören. Vielleicht geht das Ganze auch in Richtung Versuchsaufbau. Vielleicht dient der Mörtel dem Errichten einer neuen Halle außerhalb der alten. Da werden – wie auf dem Bau üblich – nämlich Flaschen mit Plopp geöffnet, da wird innerhalb der Stücke gewerkelt, Lasten werden gezogen, da wird gehämmert, verräumt usw. Vielleicht richtet sich's aber auch an die Form der Musik. „Jazz“ ließe diesen Schluss zu. Denn hier wird nicht mehr mit Instrumenten, sondern mit Türknarren gearbeitet. Türen klingen da nämlich wie Blasinstrumente. Und das Hämmern und Poltern so wie ein Schlagwerk, das wie im Jazz üblich nicht unbedingt im Takt bleiben muss. Vielleicht ist das DADA, vielleicht konstruktivistisch oder auch situationistisch. Schließlich beschäftigten sich die Situationisten neben der Malerei und der Collage auch mit Stadtplanung. Allerdings waren sie der Arbeit gänzlich abgeneigt „Arbeit? Niemals.“ Das war einer der Slogans der Zeit ... Nun, was auch immer es ist, es lohnt sich auf jeden Fall „Angeflanschte Fugenstücke“ zu hören, und zwar um sich selbst ein Bild davon zu machen, wofür es meines Wissens nach noch keinen Begriff gibt." [andrewkorsch für nonpop.de] 2016 €15.00
EINSTÜRZENDE NEUBAUTEN Elektrokohle (von wegen) DVD " Doku über das erste Konzert der Einstürzenden Neubauten in Ostberlin: Der 21. Dezember 1989 in Berlin: Eine Stadt im Umbruch. Die Einstürzenden Neubauten sollen ihr erstes Konzert im Osten der noch geteilten Stadt geben. Vorbei an Grenzkontrollen und durch die Mauer, deren Abriss nur noch eine Frage der Zeit zu sein scheint. Im Wilhelm-Pieck-Saal des VEB Elektrokohle trifft schließlich nicht nur ein westdeutscher Kulturexport auf eine Industriestätte der DDR, nicht nur künstlerische Avantgarde auf ein Symbol der Arbeit. Die Band sieht sich einem besonderen Publikum gegenüber, das trotz Grenzöffnung nicht die Flucht, sondern die Konzertkarte ergriffen hat. - Uli M. Schueppel wurde Zeuge eines historischen Moments. Er zeichnet die Wege der damaligen Konzertbesucher zum VEB Elektrokohle nach, die in jener Dezembernacht in ein kulturelles Zwischenreich führten - aus der Offiziersschule Löbau, aus den Offenbacher Stuben, von wo aus Heiner Müller gleich eine Delegation französischer Minister anschleppte, aus der westlichen Nachbarschaft und dem östlichen Umland. Ein beeindruckendes Mosaik deutsch-deutscher Zwischenzeit." [Verlagsinfo / Indigo] 2009 €20.00
EITR Trees have Cancer too LP "Pedro Sousa, saxophones, electronics. Pedro Lopes, turntables, electronics. Recorded between 2008-2011. 150 gr vinyl, 350 gr carton cover, 150-copies limited edition. Liquid, high viscosity, between amber (Pedro Sousa) and gas (Pedro Lopes). Music is always dual and eternally renewed, at the present time (recorded live), the first person singular. "Duo of Pedro Sousa and Pedro Lopes, two portuguese young musicians, and some of the most exciting in the plastic, tonal and energic exploration of sound in a long time. Using sax (Sousa), turntables (Lopes) and a communal use of electronics, their music is admittedly nervous, obsessively bent over the following moment.” (Outfest press release, 2011) "The pieces on this grimly titled record were recorded between 2008 and 2011, in Portugal and Berlin. Improvised music no doubt, but I wouldn't be surprised if there is some careful planning ahead of recording. The music of Eitr is closed off: everything seems to be together, in the same dynamic frame, somewhat below the level of mid-range frequencies. In 'Forth Twice', the first piece on the b-side they use some Russian instruction record, and a bumping rhythm, whereas the saxophone plays a melancholic tune, and the whole things gets a surprising musical touch. That is less apparent in the second (and last) piece on this side and the side long piece on the other side. There is an odd sense of acoustic drones on this release, very austere and dark, with the saxophone being with held, with drawn, bathing in this sea of repressed sounds. It never bursts out, this music, it never wails about, but instead has a lot of tension, perhaps due to the fact that much of this hoovers around the edge of feedback, but never bursts out into this. You wait for this enormous blast to happen, but it never comes around to do so. I thought this was a great release. Very intense for the players - probably - and for the listeners - surely for me. Every time I play this I hear something new, which made me think 'oh, no, its much more electro-acoustic than I thought', 'damn, it's much more composed' or 'what a refined way of improvising'. Excellent record all around." [FdW in Vital] 2013 €18.50
ELIZABETH S. Gather Love CD Elizabeth S., long time contributor/performer with duo Eyeless In Gaza is about to release her first solo album. Happy in the past to remain on the sidelines with her collaborations she is now ready to reveal some of her story. These songs are her personal journey through many stormy years and the development of this work was many years in the making. All the songs were written, performed and produced by her with the only additional contributions being made by Martyn Bates and Alan Trench. In a recent review (www.bigbeautifulnoise.com) Lee Henderson wrote that her work extends from an almost mournful reminiscence to ethereal portraits and symbolic aural illustrations. Elizabeth S. has an approach that combines electronic treatments while having a tight grasp on her early British folk beginnings: this in-depth collection is a beacon on dark and intensely stormy years and yet it still offers a warm invitation to inspire hope and goodness to the human race. Consisting of twelve tracks of such an intimate autobiographical diary this body of work leaves the listener with no doubt that we have been allowed into a very private space inhabited by most of us at some point in our lives - with Elizabeth’s music gently moving from the tender to the abstract, all the while staying firmly rooted within a range of sparse musical arrangements. Elizabeth S. has been likened to a curious hybrid of Dolly Collins, June Tabor, Laurie Anderson and Kate Westbrook – but, it is truly difficult to label her music, and this is a task that we leave to the listener. Full tracklist: 1. Misborn 2. Will Your Love 3. The Carer 4. The Carter Girl 5. Weathered Life 6. Measured Greed 7. The Hill 8. The Long Farewell 9. Wanderlove 10. Gather Love 11. No Rain 12. To. https://www.klanggalerie.com/gg384 "Warum Elizabeth S., langjährige Mitwirkende bei der Band Eyeless in Gaza, erst nach Jahrzehnten ein Album im Alleingang produziert hat, ist nicht weiter bekannt. Schon die ersten beiden Tracks ihres vor kurzem erschienenen Debüts “Gather Love” geben jedoch bereits eine Vorstellung von der enorm aufwühlenden Emotionalität, die sich in unterschiedlichen Facetten durch das ganze Werk zieht. Ein solches Album braucht nicht nur eine Weile, um fertig gestellt zu werden, sondern noch mehr Zeit, um überhaupt als Idee heranzureifen. Ein solches Album ist, so will es die Redensart, keine leichte Geburt, und so beginnt “Gather Love” wie ein Donnerschlag mit dem heftigen “Misborn”, bei dem die Sängerin inmitten einer lärmenden Karambolage aus Drums, Noiserockgitarren und anderen Instrumenten beschwörende Verse anstimmt, während kleine Melodiefragmente auch hier bereits die Sanftheit ahnen lassen, die im weiteren Verlauf immer deutlicher in den Vordergrund treten wird. Alles dreht sich um den titelgebenden Begriff, und es scheint, als wollten Gesang und Lärm durch eine unsichtbare Wand dringen. Hinter der verbirgt sich vielleicht die gelöste, sehnsuchtsvolle Trauer, in die das darauffolgende “Will Your Love” getaucht ist – dieser vielleicht eingängigste Song des Albums, dessen eindringliches Gitarrenspiel und feuriger Gesang die Energie des Folkrevivals der 70er channelt, stellt die Frage nach einer Liebe, die den Tod überdauert. Alles in diesem Stück scheint dem Schmerz abgerungen und ist dabei frei von jeder lieblichen Romantik. Die zwölf Stücke, in denen die oftmals verschwimmenden Klänge von Gitarre, Piano, Melodica, dezenter Elektronik und Streichern den Sound prägen, drehen sich immer wieder um Themen des Verlusts und des Vermissens und strahlen dabei eine große Zärtlichkeit aus, die mehr als alles andere die Wertschätzung des Verlorenen deutlich macht. Der Journalist Lee Henderson, der einiges über die persönlichen Hintergründe des Albums weiß, erwähnt den Bezug einiger der Songs auf die Familie der Sängerin. So enthält das verweht dröhnende “The Carter Girl” eine Tape-Aufnahme, die Elizabeth als Kind von ihrer Mutter, einer Opernsängerin, machte, die später an Alzheimer erkrankte. Andere Songs wie das so entrückte wie exaltierte “Weathered Life” erzählen in ihren Texten von den Herausforderungen, mit denen der Sängerin nahestehende Personen leben und kämpfen mussten. Was die Opulenz der Stücke betrifft, die in ihrem unklaren Ort zwischen dunklen Folkballaden und abstrakteren Soundscapes immer wieder auch an Elizabeths Stammband erinnern, könnte “Gather Love” durchaus das Werk einer Band sein. Und doch bleibt stets der Eindruck einer persönlichen, autobiografischen Stimme, wie sie nur in wirklichen Soloarbeiten sprechen kann – ganz gleich, ob die Sängerin sich dabei wie in dem schleppenden, fast an No Wave erinnernden “No Rain” oder im gemächlich rauschenden “The Long Farewell” eher zurücknimmt und den Instrumenten den vorderen Platz überlässt, oder ob sie auch gesanglich wie in “The Hill” oder dem monumentalen “Measured Greed” alle Barrieren durchbricht und sich in fast wahnhafter Ekstatik Ausdruck verschafft. Zu den gemächlicheren Stücken zählt auch das Mason Williams-Cover “Wanderlove”, bei dem mit Alan Trench (Temple Music, 12 Thousand Days u.v.a.) und Ehemann Martyn Bates auch Gäste mit Drones und begleitendem Gesang zu Wort kommen. In das sanfte Dröhnen mischt sich etwas unruhig drängendes, das sich durch die emotionale Grund-DNA des ganzen Albums zieht, eine sich heftig aufbäumende Eruption, die gleichermaßen rastlos und konzentriert, magisch und kathartisch ist. Erst im kurzen Abspann von “To” glätten sich die Wogen – wie auf der letzten, versöhnlichen Seite einer autobiografischen Erzählung. Zweifelsohne ein mehr als gelungenes Debüt." [U.S./African Paper] 2022 €15.00
ELODIE (TIMO VAN LUIJK & ANDREW CHALK) La Porte Ouverte LP La Porte Ouverte was recorded by Timo van Luijk, Andrew Chalk and Tom James Scott and was cut by Noel Summerville at 33/45 in London. Available in a standard only edition and cut at 45 RPM for higher fidelity. 350 copies pressed. Sleeve is printed in reverse board with poly-lined inner sleeve. Any orders are always shipped vinyl out of main sleeve to prevent seam ripping. 'An open door... an exit... an entrance... a new horizon we never know where we are... as long as the door remains open there will be light...' www.farawaypress.info "Few musical artists have explored the notion of quietness as a virtue — and, let’s face it, as a reaction to the fetishization of high volumes in rock music — with as much rigor as Andrew Chalk and Timo van Luijk do in their Elodie duo. Performing live in about 2012 or so, opening for Eyvind Kang and Jessika Kenney, they held the audience in rapt silence, Chalk gently — barely — caressing the strings of his acoustic guitar and van Luijk only occasionally whistling with unbelievable restraint into his flute, was remarkable. Not to mention bold. It’s a potentially risky approach, but the control van Luijk and Chalk have in their interactions (not to mention their musical skill) means they have consistently been able to evince new forms of minimalism. For La Porte Ouverte, originally issued in 2016 on cassette, the duo is joined by Liberez pianist Tom James Scott, and his keys, added to subtly applied textures from other instruments, lead to a slight change in the overall aesthetic of Elodie. There was always a difference between Elodie live and their studio output, but on this album they shake off the shackles of lowercase altogether, removing the constraints of that genre’s formalism and delving into a delicate, moonlit realm somewhere between barroom jazz and modern minimalism. On most tracks, Tom Scott’s piano acts like a semi-regular metronome: emerging gradually but with confidence, delineating the atmosphere with patient, slow-building clusters of notes, arranged like outlines. Within — and even without — the resulting canvasses, Timo van Luijk and Andrew Chalk have the space to reflectively dab their own considered shades, reacting both to the piano and each other. “Matin de Marbre” shimmers like light on a marble statue, a thread-like keyboard note drifting anxiously in and out of tremulous piano notes. There are hints of Angelo Badalamenti’s compositions for David Lynch, especially the Straight Story soundtrack, in the aching tone of the instruments; it’s equally easy to imagine a lot of the tracks on La Porte Ouverte forming the backing track for a song sung by Isabella Rosselini in Blue Velvet. “La Marche” is more austere, with piano notes struck almost angrily by Scott only to find no echo in van Luijk and Chalk’s unflinching keyboard drone. Somewhere deep in the mix, van Luijk’s flute seems to echo like a defeated cry, but that could just be my ears finding textures that aren’t there. Or maybe they are, it’s hard to tell. As an entire album, La Porte Ouverte can have that effect, especially on the longer tracks. On average, the tracks on the first half are most minimal and quiet, borrowing most noticeably from lowercase traditions in the sparseness of the piano notes and barely audible flourishes on flute or guitar. Scott’s playing will instantly appeal to fans of Morton Feldman or Michael Nyman, whilst the keyboard arrangements evoke the ambient works of Fennesz or David Sylvian’s mid-1980s work (sans the vocals, of course). “Le Jardin Onirique” is the side’s longest work, and also the most abstract, fittingly given the title. A dreamlike quality drifts through much of the entire album, the earthiest moment coming with the emergence of Andrew Chalk’s guitar on “Par la Main,” as he sketches out a gentle series of scales to dance hesitantly with Scott’s piano motif, rewarding listeners with the most intimate piece on the album. In contrast, the second side features synths and keyboards more prominently, although don’t go thinking the results are lush or dense. Elodie make a virtue of stillness and calm, and the lengthier tracks (of eight, only three feature on side B) somewhat paradoxically underline this further. The title track drifts on a curtain of synthetic strings into which piano notes drop like rain into a pond. It’s a profoundly moving and melancholic piece, its apparent simplicity hiding a range of depths. Tom James Scott really shines, delicately deploying his notes only when necessary, and the synth arrangement is positively haunting. I’m not sure what the title, which translates as “The Open Door,” means, beyond maybe a sense of welcome, which this track certainly carries in abundance. The organ-drenched “Lumen” is possibly the loudest Elodie has ever got, the venerable church instrument building a foundation over which piano and vibraphone notes swirl like motes of dust caught in a shaft of light. Again, I find myself reaching for Badalamenti, but in truth that’s a lazy shorthand for music that is both emotionally-resonant and cinematic in scope. Elodie have jazz and minimalism in their bones, and feeling in their hearts, and by broadening their palette so effectively on La Porte Ouverte they have created an album as close to unique as you can get in 2016." [Joseph Burnett/Dusted Mag] "Utterly sublime ambient jazz from consummate, lower case collaborators, Timo Van Lujik and Andrew Chalk, joined here on piano by Tom James Scott (Charcoal Owls, Liberez) in a subtly breathtaking LP of melting romantic gestures and spectral electronics. Big recommendation if you're into David Lynch, Bohren Und Der Club of Gore, Af Ursin, Oren Ambarchi... Their 8th album - alternately released like all previous Elodie LPs since 2011 on the duo's respective labels, La Scie Dorée and Faraway Press - they navigate thee finest line of anticipatory tension and vaporous release, resulting in some of the most tender, unshowy yet arresting musical expressions that we’ve heard in years. In eight parts they expand, contract and drift off on shafts of moonlight, oscillating shorter vignettes which appear like magnetically suspended bonsai trees - as with the hyaline delicacy of Matin de Marbre or the latinate acoustic guitar that slides between the silken ambient tones and Feldman-meets-Sakamoto keys of Par La Main - with longer sections such as the midnight stroller Le Jardin Onirique and the B-side’s sail-away suite of three pieces, including the unmissable title track, afford teasingly intangible visions of a sound which we’re sure everyone can agree, is some of the most beautiful music imaginable. We were lucky enough to catch the duo in this record’s line-up with Tom James Scott at Salford’s Islington Mill in 2016, where we witnessed them totally silence the room with an almighty, barely-there demonstration of how to enchant a crowd. As with everyone else in the room, we were duly pinned to our seat for the duration, with incidental creaking chairs and refrigerator hum only heightening the sublime tension whilst waiting for the trio’s next, curious jazz chord in sequence, or when attempting to follow their chromatic gasses off into the ether. Like the weeks after seeing their show last year, you just kinda want to make sure everyone in earshot knows about or can at least get a glimpse of this music. It just seems to reset everything..." [Boomkat] 2017 €16.50
EMERGE Angle mCDR-box "ACM 1003: 3“ CD-R in mini DVD-style case This 17-minute composition contrasts metallic, bell-like sounds reminiscent of classic electronic music of the 1950s and 1960s with deep, grinding bass frequencies with a certain dark-ambient flavour. EMERGE stays true to his compositional principle of not creating synthetic sounds but using only extremely manipulated field recordings from one single source per piece. In this case, recorded sounds of breathing provided the source material. Throughout the piece, melodic developments struggle to emerge while time and again being contrasted with fragments of small noises. Pauses of almost complete silence also serve a structural role that keeps the sonic process in constant suspense. While the first half of the piece sounds very crisp and transparent, the second half layers more and more bass-heavy sound masses on top of each other, thus invoking the echo of huge rooms and creating the type of brooding atmosphere characteristic of earlier EMERGE releases. But sounds of an increasingly percussive, rhythmic character start to build up a further structural level on top of the bass foundation, so that between the beginning and end of the composition, the roles of the bass and treble sounds are more or less reversed." [label info] www.wix.com/attenuationcircuit/attenuation-circuit www.myspace.com/attenuationcircuit 2011 €6.50
EMERGE + RE-DRUM Persecutory Delusion CD-R "Although recorded at a concert series titled “NoiseAngriff” (noise attack) in Berlin, this live collaboration is actually a lot less harsh than one might expect. The paranoia suggested by the title might be felt in the dark ambient dronescapes, though. In this slowly evolving set, the two performers connect to their roots in drone ambient, combining harmonic, yet vaguely ominous electronic textures with small concrete sounds. Over the course of some 45 minutes, Russian artist Re-Drum and his German colleague EMERGE create a vast expanse of sound through which they navigate with tentative movements, like ships in dark uncharted waters in the night." "Zusammenarbeit von Emerge mit Re-drum: und zunächst ist da ein geradezu ambientes Abtasten; Noise und Nicht-Ton als feingliedrige Bestandteile eines sehr luftigen Gewebes, das die beiden wie fast nicht spürbar im Laufe dieses One-Trackers verdichten, immer enger werden lassen. Durch dynamische Interventionen genau so wie durch ein zunehmendes Herausdrängen der Stille als zunächst noch gleich bedeutendes Element der Musik. Re-drum + Emerge verzichten aber (mit Blick auf den im positiven Sinne fragilen Gesamteindruck von „Persecutory Delusion“ dankenswerterweise) darauf, das Stück in irgendwelche vordergründigen Rechteckwellen-Verdichtungen zu schieben. Statt dessen tauchen zwischendurch überaschenderweise auch tonale Fragmente auf, wie verwehte Flächen, ein Anriss tatsächlicher Harmonie. Und ganz am Ende so etwas wie ein Fall in einen Sog… Wie ein aus der Inspiration des Moments entwickeltes Gesamtes; gemacht aus Zutaten, die, einzeln betrachtet, eigentlich nicht zusammenpassen können. Zusammen aber wird aus Zufall Werk. Wie bisher in dem endlosen Strom aus dem Hause Emerge auf Fake-Vinyl-CDr, jetzt neu in bedruckter Stecktasche." [N/Black Magazin] www.attenuationcircuit.de 2016 €7.00
ENCEPHALOPHONIC Alone 7inch "Geez, this boy is fucked. Fucked raw. Raw. That's the fucking word, you fuck. Wonderfully blown-out sonics from A to B. A to Z. Whatever, you fuck. It's three in the goddamn morning, the earholes are absolutely mangled and here I am flipping over again, and again, you fuck. I did say raw, right? But I could have been letting the essence get to me. The stench. Encephalo has certainly expanded his sound. Or upped the gear. These are surprisingly full-bodied workings-through of fantastically flavorsome fudge-punchies. And surprisingly bereft of the more spastic inclinations of yore. Y'know, like, way back in, what was it, 2013? Yeah, those were the days, lemme tell ya. In them days, Encephalo was more noted for, well, how shall I put this? YOUR MOTHER SUCKS COCKS IN HELL! Now, he seems to have settled down to a more focused brutishness. SOUNDS FOR BUTTPHONE! For the moment, anyway. Side Peace-Signing Asian Kid starts with the familiar looped stuttering, slams into the familiar acoustic hacklery, dips into the familiar pincer grip, then rasps in fits and starts through unhealthy hawking splurt. Then he breaks out his surgery utensils and gets down to a pointed, business-like, needlepoint seethe. Come to think of it, this was just about as spastic as ever, but perhaps the clarity of elements set in motion renders a different species of perversion. Less agitating to push the shit out, more plain grim. Side Pierced Chick With Handsaw In Mouth is perhaps the more settled, thus to be second. Thunk-thunk-thunk-thunk. Ground-up propeller fizzle. A seemingly undercooked shit-bed acquires a threatening quality by successive increments. You'd think we were going to launch into the wacked-out Encecphalo we know and crave. And we do- almost. The knives are out! A few glinting spasmodic incisions threaten to rip the fabric apart before heavier densities roll into view, start to encircle the periphery, come into focus, then to escort proceedings to an impeccably subdued denouement. Nicely crafted bit of faux drama there, really had me going, think I'll flip over for more Peace-Signing Asian Kid." www.audiodissection.com/Encephalophonic.aspx 2014 €15.00
ENGLISH, LAWRENCE Cruel Optimism LP "Cruel Optimism is a record that considers power (present and absent). It meditates on how power consumes, augments and ultimately shapes two subsequent human conditions: obsession and fragility. This pyramid is an affective ecology of the (ever)present moment. This edition owes its title and its origins to the wonderful text of the same name by American theorist Lauren Berlant. I had the fortune to come across her writing almost a half-decade ago. In Cruel Optimism, I found a number of critical readings around the issues that have fuelled so much of the music I have been making recently. Beyond her keen analysis of the relations of attachment as they pertain to conditions of possibility in the everyday, it was particularly her writing around trauma I found deeply affecting. It was a jumping off point from which a plague of unsettling impressions of suffering, intolerance and ignorance could be unpacked and utilised as fuel over and above pointless frustration. When I made Wilderness Of Mirrors, clouds of unease were overhead. As I have worked through Cruel Optimism, what seemed an unimaginable future just a few years prior, began to present as actual. Over the course of creating the record, we collectively bore witness to a new wave of humanitarian and refugee crisis (captured so succinctly in the photograph of Alan Kurdi’s tiny body motionless on the shore), the black lives matter movement, the widespread use of sonic weapons on civilians, increased drone strikes in Waziristan, Syria and elsewhere, and record low numbers of voting around Brexit and the US election cycle, suggesting a wider sense of disillusionment and powerlessness. Acutely for me and other Australians, we've faced dire intolerance concerning race and continued inequalities related to gender and sexuality. The storm has broken and feels utterly visceral. Cruel Optimism is a meditation on these challenges and an encouragement to press forward towards more profound futures. Beyond the motivations forging the record, the process by which this edition was created was unlike many of my other records. Having worked largely alone in recent years, I wanted to shift away from that approach. I wanted the opportunity for exchange, to trial new ideas in various spaces and to find myself surprised by the perspectives of others. It was this desire that led me to reach out to friends, old and new, and invite them to contribute to Cruel Optimism. It also led to me using a range of studio spaces to explore new techniques, informed by what I had learned taking Wilderness Of Mirrors on the road for the better part of two years. I count myself exceptionally fortunate to have been able to call on so many fine musicians in the making of this album. Some of these collaborations were at the foetal stages, acting as important catalysts. Specifically, contributions from Mats Gustafsson, Mary Rapp and Tony Buck were important during this period. Some contributed from afar, including Chris Abrahams and Werner Dafeldecker, who both responded so very kindly to my cryptic notes and hopelessly poetic evocations. Some artists came to visit here in Brisbane such as Norman Westberg, Brodie McAllister, Australian Voices, Vanessa Tomlinson and Heinz Riegler. Others, such as Thor Harris, kindly invited me into their homes to work together. The richness of experience afforded to me during the making of Cruel Optimism is difficult to summarise. It was ultimately a truly rare pleasure to have these exchanges. I leave it to you then, to listen as you can. This record is one of protest against the immediate threat of abhorrent possible futures. It’s an object of projection, from me to you and onward from there. I couldn’t be more pleased to share Cruel Optimism with you." [label info] "This record is one of protest against the immediate threat of abhorrent possible futures." I open the glass door of my bookcase and run my finger along the spines. All these words, written ago, from one mind to another. What does this all really contain if not the essence of another person's life? Perhaps a historical recount, or a scientific principle, or a story wrapped around a thought, philosophy, or an idea. What do all these people want to really say? Is there a warning in between the pages, a lesson for the generations, sent into the future through the might of words? I turn towards the records on my shelves and think the same. Perhaps not certitude or fact, but certainly their own reality, their truth, and their emotions are being locked inside those grooves, awaiting one more magic spin to sing and be alive. This is why music stands in time, outside of dates, and schedules, and agenda. A great record will always simply be. And then sometimes the books and music come together... All this rumination and one must wonder if it's simply not a pretext to an album I have sat on for so long. In fact, Cruel Optimism has been on rotation for nearly nine months now, slowly appearing and then disappearing again, awaiting proper time to share its point, only to be put away again, for yet another slice in time. It's possible that consuming this latest opus by Lawrence English requires a specific state of mind, a bit unease and agitation, some mortal metaphysical discomfort with a dash of existentialism and reflection. It's not a truly dark experience per se, but it's certainly not sunny waves and roses. The ominous sound of this album at times conveys a sense of an electric shock, mixed with a wall of noise, and joy of drone, and pain of silence. The oversaturated frequencies slam like a jet-fueled engine in your brain and send you flying through the haze of obtuse worlds, compact in time and dense in sound. And then there is the concept... Cruel Optimism is a record that considers power (present and absent). It meditates on how power consumes, augments and ultimately shapes two subsequent human conditions: obsession and fragility. This pyramid is an affective ecology of the (ever)present moment [...] Cruel Optimism is a meditation on these challenges and an encouragement to press forward towards more profound futures." -Lawrence English Lawrence English has been known to draw inspiration from books. Back in 2011, he released The Peregrine which was driven by a book by J.A. Baker. Now, this Australian experimental composer, and owner of the magnificent Room40 label, extracts a seed of thought from a text by the same name by American theorist Lauren Berlant. Based on the rise of the unstable geopolitical landscape, the music of Cruel Optimism is a reflection of a modern world, in all its furious, distressed, and wrathful glory. Where self-destruction is no longer just a horrid dream, physical catastrophes and spiritual implosions are just around the corner. Just take a look around (but don't turn on TV) and witness the inflicted war on (human) nature - there is no need for extra words. Cruel Optimism is not exactly a solo record either. Having mostly worked alone in his past years, this latest album sees English invite a few of his friends for the collaboration and try out new ideas in various recording spaces, exploring new techniques in a somewhat bidirectional exchange of musical conception. Here we are introduced to Mats Gustafsson, Mary Rapp, Tony Buck, Thor Harris, Norman Westberg, Heinz Reigler, and Chris Abrahams among the many. It is difficult to pinpoint the exact contributions of these musicians (I hold on to a separate credits sheet just for that), but then again, you shouldn't try and peel apart this piece, instead just let it hit you straight out of your emotionally suppressed hibernation if you haven't been already wide awake." [Headphone Commute] 2017 €26.00
  Observation of Breath LP Do you remember the last time you were breathing consciously? Either way, you are likely doing it now. On his new album »Observation of Breath« for the Swiss-based Hallow Ground label, Lawrence English worked exclusively with an organ for four compositions that are exercises in »maximal minimalism,« as their creator himself notes in a nod to Charlemagne Palestine, who coined this term. While it seems somewhat fitting that those four pieces based on a steady flow of air were conceived and recorded in a situation of accelerated standstill caused by a respiratory disease, the Room40 founder is not so much concerned with capturing the zeitgeist than rather incorporating the spirit of time itself. »It is a record about presence and patience,« he explains. Exploring the unique sonic affordances of a singular instrument, »Observation of Breath« is not only devoted to the durability of sound but also to its density. That it marks his debut on Hallow Ground after having shaped its sound by mastering most of the label’s releases in recent years is just as fitting then as its release following albums by Kali Malone and FUJI|||||||||||TA, whose innovative work with organ instruments have facilitated a rediscovery of their possibilities. English’s compositions however are neither directly indebted nor responding to these musicians. His exploration of the organ’s many facets started a decade ago when the composer was given access to an instrument built in 1889 that is presently housed at The Old Museum in Brisbane. After it had already played a crucial role on his seminal albums »Wilderness Of Mirrors« and »Cruel Optimism,« last year’s self-released »Lassitude« was the first record that English entirely composed and recorded with that instrument. »During the soft lockdowns, I spent many days playing to an empty concert hall, recording the pieces that became ›Lassitude‹ and then, this album,« says English in regards to an unfortunate situation that fortunately provided him with time and space—two major themes but also key qualities of the four new compositions. In this sense, he goes on, »Observation of Breath« resolves a number of the questions originally raised by »Lassitude.« »The organ is an exercise in the observation of breath,« English explains the album’s title. »It is a physical breath, one that manifests both audible and inaudible waves of vibrations. The sheer scale of the instrument, its weight and the physical length of the pipes involved in producing the sounds we experience is nothing short of mind-boggling.« More importantly, the sound artist is fascinated by the organ’s ability to produce frequencies that exist at the sensory limits of human awareness—it’s at the edges of these limits that fascination can be found, he argues. »The particular organ that I work with comprises four manuals and 45 speaking stops and it has a tubular-pneumatic action,« he explains. »It’s the stops that are the focus of my interest. They are very specific and when manipulated in certain ways and in certain combinations, create a unique set of unsteady timbres that make it a remarkably intoxicating instrument to collaborate with.« Collaboration is indeed the key word here. The pieces of »Observation of Breath« were recorded in one take in recognition of the co-existence and co-dependence of the human body and mind when brought in unison while working with such a complex instrument. The end results are thus not only marked by longevity but also gripping dynamics. While the six minute-long »A Binding« and the album’s title track explore the sonic qualities of different frequency spectra with long sustained drones, opener »A Torso« and the aptly titled »And a Twist,« only two minutes and 42 seconds long, work with rhythmic elements that create intense moments of structural instability. »The music's power lies in its density, in the stacking of exhales all breathing in unison and then, at some point, failing to breathe further,« says English. »In these moments a wavering unsteadiness of tone arrives with an elegant uncertainty.« It is precisely this quality that makes »Observation of Breath« such a masterful exploration of the multifold relationships between space and time as well as the body and the mind—it’s a conscious meditation on unconscious processes. https://hallowground.bandcamp.com/album/lawrence-english-observation-of-breath 2021 €21.50
ENO / MOEBIUS / ROEDELIUS After the Heat CD "Das Treffen der drei Ambient-Erfinder, dokumentiert auf zwei legendären Alben. Brian Eno hat den Begriff Ambient Music geprägt und berühmt gemacht - die Musik aber hat er nicht allein erfunden. Brüder im Geiste waren die deutschen Musiker Hans-Joachim Roedelius und Dieter Moebius (Cluster). Es ist müßig, darüber zu spekulieren, wer wen beeinflusst hat, die Idee der Ambient-Musik lag Mitte der 70er-Jahre einfach in der Luft. Fakt ist, dass Brian Eno 1975 ein Konzert von Cluster in Hamburg besuchte. Er stellte sich strategisch günstig in die erste Reihe, und erwartungsgemäß bat man ihn zu einem Jam auf die Bühne. Nach dem Konzert verabredete man ein Treffen, das dann 1977 stattfand. Drei Wochen lang waren Eno und Cluster im Studio von Conny Plank. Zwei Alben entstanden daraus: "Cluster & Eno" sowie "After The Heat". Ersteres ist ohne Übertreibung das erste in Deutschland produzierte Ambient-Album. "After The Heat" ist jedoch etwas völlig anderes. Während auf "Cluster & Eno" die Handschrift von Cluster zu lesen ist (und Enos Ambient-Konzept die Hand führt), ist "After The Heat" eher ein Eno-Album mit den Stilmerkmalen der Cluster-Musik." [label info] www.bureau-b.com 2009 €16.50
EQUIMANTHORN A Fifth Conjuration CD "Most are bewildered and some have protested concerning the esotericism of Equimanthorn, Presuming our extraneous song titles and writings to be no more than mysterious obliquity. While sensible to its creators, our writings have long been misunderstood or simply unintelligible to most. "A Fifth Conjuration" transcends any mystical balderdash with a decisive and intentional approach: realigning the senses with their most natural state in the nervous system through the aid of sound. In this, our Fifth Conjuration, you will engage a journey of the slight and subtle. Where the senses may become aware of the silence from which sounds emerge and the spaciousness that resides between thought and stillness. "When the seventh day arrived..." Dalkhu Zilittu 2011 These recorded efforts should only be listened to under the influence of candlelight." [label info] zazensounds.bandcamp.com "Though originally formed as a side-project of occult extreme metal band, Absu, the constantly (r)evolving lineup of Equimanthorn has established itself as its own entity with its own dimensional chaos. This fifth full-length release shows these musickal magicians constantly refining their sound, but staying true to the original ideas behind the band. Far from the black/death/thrash metal of Absu, Equimanthorn exists more in the dark/ambient realm. Their earliest releases were Throbbing Gristle-esque orgiastic conjurations, invocations and evocations, but now things are sparser, more minimalistic. The vocals, now eerie distant voices reciting occultist poetry, have been cut back to only two tracks: “Kneeling to the Throne of Winter (Confidence and Lust)” and “Nanna’s Dreaming (The Endless Night of Crucifixion)”. Synthesizers, still the main instrument, are focused drones and creepy effects, background noises recalling ancient rites of Sumeria, Babylon and Egypt, perhaps a genetic memory from the origins of civilization. This is the darkness of Lustmord, the uneasy time-traveling journey of Roman Saenko‘s Dark Ages, even a bit of Burzum‘s neo-classical pagan folk in places. Blood Box, Yen Pox and early Maurizio Bianchi also come to mind. This is not music for head-banging, social activity or good vibes. It’s what you put on while combing over the books in your occult library. This is the perfect soundtrack for Aleister Crowley‘s The Book of the Law. Frater Perdurabo would be proud." [Chuck Foster/The Big Takeover] 2016 €13.00
ETIENNE, YVAN Twist LP listen: https://label-aposiopese.bandcamp.com/album/twist YVAN ETIENNE TWIST A1 : Cinq réflectances inversées - 21:38 B1 : L’énergie du non - 18:59 _ Composed and recorded by Yvan Etienne. Serge Modular, Field recordings. CD : Mastered by Yvan Etienne / LP : Mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi. Cut by Mike Grinser at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin. Artwork by Gregory Weiss / Design : Yvan Etienne. Produced by Aposiopèse. For Serge Modular and field recordings. French artist/activist Yvan Etienne, is engaged in research in the field of sound art. As a musician, he composes and plays pieces using electronic, phonography, analog synthesizers and the hurdy-gurdy. His sound art research questions the perception and physicality of sound spaces. Collaborations with Phill Niblock, Yann Gourdon, Richard Glover, Brice Jeannin, Patrice Grente, Robert Poss, Paul Panhuysen, Marie Verry, la novia, Perinne Bourel… CD : Mastered by Yvan Etienne / LP : Mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi. Cut by Mike Grinser at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin. Artwork by Gregory Weiss "In an edition of three-hundred copies, here is the sophomore effort by French artist / activist Yvan Etienne. Twist is quite welcome as we haven’t heard from him since 2014’s Feu which was a great debut, also on Aposiopèse, who have been quietly putting out minimal sounds for nearly fifteen years now. There are two long tracks here, so let’s get right to it. From the outset it’s a textural affair, one of granular microsound and distant tone. The open mic is quite fresh, clear as it drags and burrows through a ground of hiss and light crackling. The first pregnant pause is stultifying but leads to an airy adjacent passage. Cinq réflectances inversées presents observations in staring into a mirror way too long (?) or the sense of stasis when one is at zero gravity knowing that might change at any given moment. Etienne manages to fluidly switch between left and right channels to keep your attention between vignettes. There’s a lot to contemplate about this modest composition in tonal slide and play on lightness. The blunt rise and fall of hum dips and writhes as heavy metal (not the genre) is toyed with. Everything induces a sense of slowness, until the clang of metallic objects enters the fray – suddenly there’s a sense of upheaval like a prisoner squirming in shackles. Obviously this is broken into five parts, that accounts for the quiet lulls, and each tells its own story. The last of these catches the listener in a moderate rainfall, with a sonar or scanner of some sort buzzing as it surveills the area. There’s a Orwellian sensibility embedded herein. L’énergie du non starts with a singular high pitch tone, that sounds as if it has been split down the middle. It grows in voluminosity and scope, spreading far and wide with various high and low tendrils of modulation. This shifts and winds, and continues for nearly six minutes – which is alarming. Once it dies out there is a lull, and a lower and more gravelly buzz begins and peters rather quickly only to linger in the background. Is this some sort of force field being tested (?), am I being told to beware/stay out (?), or have I landed in some transitory space where various transmissions are yet un-encoded. This low grade yet seemingly robust under-the-surface energy is supposedly of ‘not‘ though there lies the tension. It’s what you can’t see, but only imagine, that will have you conjuring any number of questionable entities. Fortunately about midway this becomes an homage to old school microsound clicks and hiss. And with each rotation this literally begins to swirl with a windy effect that brings the static energy into the center. The end is a mix of field recordings of stacking and cracking wood, of rain slick streets and a hi-tone that separates the real world from that which is just beyond our immediate scope." [TJ Norris / Toneshift] 2019 €18.00
  Twist CD listen: https://label-aposiopese.bandcamp.com/album/twist YVAN ETIENNE TWIST A1 : Cinq réflectances inversées - 21:38 B1 : L’énergie du non - 18:59 _ Composed and recorded by Yvan Etienne. Serge Modular, Field recordings. CD : Mastered by Yvan Etienne / LP : Mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi. Cut by Mike Grinser at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin. Artwork by Gregory Weiss / Design : Yvan Etienne. Produced by Aposiopèse. Artiste / activiste, commissaire d\\\'exposition, directeur de la collection Ohcetecho aux Presses du réel, Yvan Etienne élabore des installations intermédia, des dispositifs de diffusions scénographiques, des concerts. Conçus comme des espaces à expérimenter, ses travaux sont généralement liés aux contextes, aux spécificités in situ, acoustiques et architecturales des espaces investis. Ses projets explorent les propriétés immersives, invisibles, mouvantes et fugaces du son, pour rejouer nos appréhensions et construire un dialogue en écho avec des corps résonnants (visiteurs, architectures, contextes). Réalisés à partir de sculptures, de phonographies, de compositions instrumentales, électroniques, ses expériences convoquent réflexions intuitives et questionnement des stéréotypes de la perception. En tant que musicien, il compose et joue des pièces utilisant la vielle à roue, les synthétiseurs analogiques, la phonographie et l\\\'électronique. Ses recherches questionnent la perception des corps résonants. Il a joué avec avec Phill Niblock, Yann Gourdon, Richard Glover, Brice Jeannin, Patrice Grente, Julien Ottavi, Robert Poss, Paul Panhuysen, Marie Verry, Joachim Montessuis. En continuité de ses pratiques il œuvre à la diffusion des pratiques sonores et intermédia comme programmateur et commissaire d\\\'expositions indépendant. En tant que commissaire, il a organisé les expositions de Paul Panhuysen, Brandon Labelle, Christof Migone, Maxime Vernier, Phill Niblock, Henri Chopin, Feed me with your kiss au Consortium de Dijon, Resonant Bodies à l\\\'ISBA de Besançon et programmé les festivals Oh cet echo et Architectone (Salines royales d\\\'Arc et Senans), NYC Sound au CAPC de Bordeaux, ainsi que divers concerts. 2019 €12.00
EVANS, GRANT Brittle MC "With a detached curiosity, Grant Evans drops us into his petri dish of mud, bacteria, and fetid slop. At first, we have no roadmap to the drowning noise that slowly trickles down the throat and presses against the ear drums; but Evans is no sadist. Yes, volatile coagulations and conflagrations abound with malaise at the beginning to each of the side-long works to Brittle -- itself a vibrant landmark in the Evans' rhizomatic back catalogue that slips through harsh wall noise, kosmische explorations, dronologist collage, and the like. But upon the discharge of that initial shard of tooth and blood, Evans tempers the atmospheric pressures and illumines a path by which to proceed. Beacons of monochord guitar. Radiant dispersions of glare and trill. Compacted bowed metal resonance. Interstitial ecological sounds from water, bird, and tree. Exhumed cassette minimalism. And a gasping, pulsing, morphing drone that bends around each of these sound objects. Such is the vivid unfurling of Brittle -- a meticulous and wondrous bricolage of the exploded organic. Parallels to be found in Chalk, Organum, Toniutti, and Grzinich. Grant Evans hails from the northeast corner of Georgia, from where he has produced an impressive array of works under various aliases and in collaboration with his wife Rachel. Together they had run the now defunct Hooker Vision imprint, whose curatorial vision was unmatched in their discovery of unknowable projects from the margins of the global cassette underground. Currently, they maintain a smaller cottage industry Adversary, solely dedicated to their own projects." [label info] www.helenscarsdale.com "On this new tape, the prolific Evans draws from the styles he has worked in heavily before: noise, electro-acoustic, and ambient, but Brittle bears the mark of all without sounding like any one in particular. The two lengthy pieces cover a significant amount of sonic territory, and he makes remarkably diverse and complex compositions from a world of unidentifiable sound. The first half of the cassette, "Pills in the Reptile House," opens with Evans employing a loop of rattling sounds almost resembling a microcassette recorder left in a running washing machine. The sound is rhythmic, yet processed to have a hollow, strange quality to it as additional textures and processed noises are worked in. Evans eventually strips the mix back, retaining the scraping but in a more open space, blended with reverberating strings that could be either piano or guitar and shrill, harsher electronics. The composition as a whole has a clear sense of structure and organization to it, even if the sounds Evans utilizes are anything but conventional. Sounds become shimmering, metallic, and a bit dissonant at one point, before the piece overall becomes softer and is largely characterized around gentle electronics. Changes are subtler toward the conclusion, the sense of structure is lessened, and the piece concludes on stuttering, digital-like vibrations. On the other side of the tape, Evans opens "Lineage" with a more familiar bit of overdriven noise crunch. Paired with a passage of metallic banging noises, the sound is not far removed from the likes of classic Macronympha, but the harshness is short lived as he quickly shakes things up to a more spacious sound. Besides dropping the distortion, Grant introduces birdsong recordings and subtle loops of noise. The composition eventually takes on a futuristic, but pleasant quality to the sound, without a lot of change but still complex, tightly woven layers that vary. What initially has a sci-fi, futuristic quality to it eventually is shifted away into the cold, empty expanse of deep space. Brittle’s name is a bit misleading, because I would characterize the sounds Grant Evans generates as being closer to mud and muck as far as tactile metaphors go. It is sticky, gritty, and at times ugly sounding, but that is exactly what makes it compelling. I have no idea how he made these sounds, since almost nothing is identifiable, but I am rather glad that he did." [Creaig Dunton / Brainwashed] 2015 €9.50
EYELESS IN GAZA Plague of Years : Songs and Instrumentals 1980-2006 CD 'Songs and Instrumentals 1980-2006'. Noch eine EIG-Zusammenstellung, die aber mehr auf die experimentelle Seite zielt, 21 Stücke die die ganze Bandbreite der Band aufzeigen, mit einigen sehr raren Stücken. Special low priced ! "One of the great bands that emerged post punk... They were truly unique.... I still love them..." [Alan Mc Gee / March 2005] "this CD deals with two sides of the group. first is its deeply lyrical vein, with summits like See Red and Lights of April, tracks that have almost never been included on "best-of" projects, despite the fact that they represent some of the most moving songs these musicians ever wrote. this collection also explores the group's more adventurous side through a number of instrumental pieces. this aspect of their output is little known and often neglected, even though it was there from their very beginnings. these two combining currents, where experimentation precedes lyricism (and the other way around), turn this album into a truly new way of (re)discovering Eyeless in Gaza. This unique architecture creates the impression that each side strengthens the other one's presence. probably for the first time ever, the 21 tracks so redistributed provide the band with irrefutable arguments toward its rebirth. Yes, Eyeless in Gaza is one of the most underrated groups. in this world of ours, will integrity finally pay off ?" [label info] "Plague of Years is a single-disc retrospective by Peter Becker and Martyn Bates, aka Eyeless in Gaza. The duo began recording with minimal instrumentation -- Becker's piano and keyboards, some primitive drum machines, a guitar here and there, as well as a traditional drum kit (or at least the snares and cymbals) -- and made music in the post-punk era that was both challenging and hideously beautiful. The reason for that description comes from the sound of Bates' voice: nasal, emotionally overwrought, and often flat, it was a voice that expressed things in his utterly naked and poetic words that the heart could comprehend, but that the intellect often could not. Long before Morrissey ever warbled, Bates ripped the door off the closet of his fear, longing, love, and disappointment, framing it with colors that held many shades of gray, but also held out the glimmer of gold for hope. There are 21 cuts on this set, beginning with their earliest tracks from 1980's debut album, Photographs as Memories ("John of Patmos"), and the amazing "Every Which Way" from 1981's Caught in Flux, issued by Cherry Red, and moving through their utterly brilliant albums Drumming the Beating Heart, Song of the Beautiful Wanton, Orange Ice & Wax Crayons, and Back from the Rains. There are cuts from compilations, such as "To Steven" and "Sun-Like-Gold," that appeared as two parts of a three-part suite on Sub Rosa's Myths. Instructions., singles such as "County Bizarre" on NDN, and the gorgeous "Falling Leaf/Fading Flower" from the 12" Pale Hands I Loved So Well, which was a bonus disc tucked inside the Drumming the Beating Heart CD. There are also cuts here from Bitter Apples, the album they released for World Serpent in 1995, and Saw You in Reminding Pictures from the Ambivalent Scale label. This is but a taste, of course, since Eyeless in Gaza needed to be taken album by album, but one honest encounter with one of their songs will send the listener scrambling for more. The music here is beauty that is so out of place in this world, it can scarcely be borne." [Thom Jurek / Allmusic.com] 2006 €12.00
F-SPACE Preliminary Impact Report CD Das Projekt mit Ethan Port (ex SAVAGE REPUBLIC), Aleph Kali (ex CHROME) und SCOT JENERIK, bester hypno-Noise-Rock mit Industrial-Einflüssen !! ***The first CD from proto-industrial pyro-punk transformers: F-SPACE -- SCOT JENERIK and ETHAN PORT (SAVAGE REPUBLIC), ALEPH KALI (CHROME) & JOEL CONNELL (MAN IS THE BASTARD) . Six massive, surprisingly accessible tracks of violently passionate, harmonic noisescapes -- delivered with sonic intricacy and homicidal tendencies. Camped in the vicinity of EINSTURZENDE NEUBAUTEN ,THROBBING GRISTLE, ACID MOTHER'S TEMPLE, SWANS and GLENN BRANCA. The result conjures an apocalyptic, feral, destructive trance state implying a catastrophic act of nature, a march through the desert on the path to war, or an offender's mental state during a crime of passion.” [label info] "Some view PIR as the statement Savage Republic never made: a vivid portrayal of destruction, beauty, and simplicity" [East Bay Express, August 2004] 2004 €9.00
FANTOMAS Delirium Cordia CD "The third full-length album from the all-star line-up of heavy-hitters MIKE PATTON (TOMAHAWK, MR. BUNGLE, etc.), BUZZ OSBORNE (MELVINS), DAVE LOMBARDO (SLAYER, GRIP INC.), and TREVOR DUNN (MR. BUNGLE). One extended track broken into several pieces, Delirium Cordia showcases the band's quieter side, offering a soundtrack to a very dark, fever-induced nightmare. Ambience, chaos and confusion abound." [label info] www.ipecac.com 2004 €14.50
FAUST Nobody knows if it ever happened DVD "At last, a well made film that captures the intensity, caprice, craziness and visionary beauty of Faust's late '90s performances, when, for a moment the core members of the original band were temporarily reconciled. Professionally filmed at the legendary 1996 Faust Garage concert, this release fills in what has until now been sorely missing from the record - the sheer physicality of Faust's performances: the litter of scrap, cement mixers, hay blowing machines, angle-grinders and instruments that form their workplace (shared here with sculptress Insa Winkler, toiling away on sheet steel with an oxy-acetylene welder throughout the show). In the middle of the stage hangs a battery of drums, chunks of wood and metal, mounted on a massive open frame, and around it bassist Jean-Herve Peron and drummer Zappi Diermier prowl and play in constant motion. Peron takes time out to strip and fling buckets of paint at a huge white wall of blank LP covers; Zappi attacks his kit with sticks like tree trunks. Meanwhile, organist Jochen Irmler sits placidly in the wreckage, smiling the same smile whether he is unleashing the hounds of hell or underpinning the chaos with meditative drifting pitches. Alongside, guest guitarist Steven Wray Lobdell creates sheets of noise that keep the whole juggernaut rolling, now and then stepping out to tear a hole in it. Between firestorms are quieter moments, enigmatic events, which emerge and then sink back into time. This is not quite the dignified revival expected of rock legends: no question of a perfect sound or mature stage act for Faust. This show, like all their shows during this period, is a tempest of chaos, disruption and moment to moment action. No band was ever more phenomenologically driven than Faust. Sparks fly, machines rattle, the room fills with smoke, and eventually we all wind up on the street as the band stumbles out, and the fire engines arrive. Classic. The DVD also includes 'Struktur' - an exclusive 50 minute behind-the-scenes document shot by the late Arthur Howes, and a bonus performance of Flashback Caruso. It is packaged with commissioned liner notes from Andy Wilson author of 'Stretch Out Time'. And indispensable release for any Faust fan." [label info] 2006 €16.00
  j US t (Just us) LP & CD "Die Hamburger Krautrock-Pioniere mit einem Überraschungspaket aus Avantgarde, Dada und Folk. Die Hamburger Band Faust gehört zu den großen Namen, die der Krautrock der 1970er-Jahre hervorgebracht hat. Als Jean-Hervé Péron und Zappi Diermaier 1971 ihr Debütalbum vorlegten, wollte das in Deutschland niemand hören, im Ausland jedoch verkauften sich "The Faust Tapes" über 100.000-mal. "There is no group more mythical than Faust", schwärmte der englische Musiker und Krautrock-Kenner Julian Cope Jahrzehnte später. Mit "Just Us" setzen Faust ihren musikalischen Weg fort. Während Diermaier seinem Handwerk - Schlagzeug und Perkussion - treu bleibt, integriert Peron allerhand unübliche Klangquellen in sein Bassspiel, verschiedene Streichinstrumente, Klavier und sogar eine Nähmaschine als Metronom. Tracks wie "Nur nous" und "Ich bin ein Pavian" zeigen, dass Faust nichts von ihrer Vorliebe für Avantgarde und Dadaismus verloren haben. Ausflüge ins folkloristische Gefilde ("Cavaqui-ho", "Gammes") runden das wahrhaft faustische Überraschungspaket ab. // j US t - pronounced "Just Us" - is the new album from legendary Hamburg band Faust. Founder members Jean-Herve Peron and Zappi Diermaier have laid down twelve musical foundations, inviting the whole world to use them as a base on which to build their own music. The tracks presented by Peron and Diermaier are clearly, intrinsically typical of Faust in their own right, yet offer enough space for completely different works to develop. Which is exactly what they hope will happen. Whilst Diermaier largely remains true to his habitual handiwork - drums and percussion - Peron, as we might expect, incorporates all manner of unusual sonic sources alongside his bass, various string instruments and piano, even using a sewing machine as a metronome. Tracks like "nur nous" and "ich bin ein pavian" show that Faust have lost none of their predilection for avantgarde Dadaism and improvisation. Peron and Diermaier actually surprise us with folkloristic excursions ("cavaquinho", "gammes"). In short, there is something for everyone to work with here. Peron and Diermaier await the results with bated breath. Faust will follow the same principle on the accompanying tour by inviting local artists to collaborate with them on stage." [label info] www.bureau-b.com "Faust’s intentions have never been easy to discern. Over their 40-plus years of morphing, discontinuous existence, they’ve been so good at dodging expectations and confounding analysis that even when they’re playing it straight, you wonder if something else is going on. So when the press sheet for j US t (pronounced "just us") claims the band is "inviting the whole world to use [the album] as a base on which to build their own music," it’s hard not to get suspicious. Is this a decoy? Do Jean-Hervé Peron and Zappi Diermaier want you to imagine other music so you won’t focus on theirs? Is it simply a way to say "if you don’t like it, make your own"? Perhaps Faust truly are earnest about wanting this album to inspire public collaboration. But the idea does point to something that’s always been intriguing about Faust’s music: it’s often just as much about what they aren’t playing as what they are. Their work is full of implications and innuendos, spaces waiting to be filled in. j US t doesn’t necessarily have more of that than most Faust albums, but implication does seem to be a main theme here. This is music in which every note suggests many more possibilities. j US t begins by proclaiming more than intimating, and in this way it bears an uncanny resemblance to the last Faust effort, 2011’s stellar Something Dirty. That record began with three bold, practically rocking tunes, and so does this one. Based around simple riffs and looping beats, these songs are like free-form post-rock, sturdy in their rhythms but opened-ended in their direction. And despite how well-defined the base of each track is, there’s also tantalizing space in each one. Take "80Hz", whose simple two-note bass figure flows beautifully with the well-timed accents of Diermaier’s percussion and Peron’s sonic grab bag. At times it dips to near-silence, in other places it crests to frantic peaks, but throughout it maintains a tension that compels attention. The balance between action and suggestion tips more toward the latter for the rest of j US t, in ways both fascinating and frustrating. Some songs maintain the attraction of anticipation, hinting at where they might go without ever fully abandoning other options. But others feel more flat than ripe, not so much flirting with tense silence as drifting into empty inertia. One in particular, the seven-minute "Palpitations", is mostly limp. Its intermittent percussion and electronic squiggles sound more random than impulsive, making it the only instance on the album where I find myself wishing I could already hear other bands filling it in. It takes a few tracks to recover from that mid-album drop, but Faust manage to rebound on closer "Ich Sitze Immer Noch", whose slow, rising lope sounds like a sunny homage to Spiderland-era Slint. Like the bulk of j US t, it offers a lot worth hearing and just as much worth daydreaming about—in other words, it achieves the band's stated goals. Maybe Peron and Diermaier really did mean what they said." [Marc Masters / PITCHFORK] 2014 €22.00
FEAR FALLS BURNING Woes of the desolate Mourner CD "Ursprünglich als kleine durchsichtige 7″ auf gleichem Label erschienen gibt es Woes Of The Desolate Mourner nun in voller Länge mit Bonusmaterial auf CD. Der Titeltrack, hier nur mit seiner Gesamtspieldauer betitelt und gegenüber der Single eben uneditiert und deshalb um gute fünf Minuten länger rieselt wie feiner Staub von der Decke. Die Drones sind äußerst fein und kaum greifbar: wie aus einer ultrafein eingestellten Spritzdrüse. Sie setzen immer mit einem Sirren ein, einen Anschlag oder einen klar gegriffenen Akkord kann man hier nicht erkennen. Wie eine Farbe wirken die zarten Gitarrenklänge auf ihre Umwelt ein. Sie überziehen alles und verändern den Charakter der materiellen Welt. Litany In A Time Of Plague setzt dem Ganzen die Krone auf. In wahrhaftigen, seufzenden fast schon orgelartigen Klängen schraubt sich eine Spirale empor. Die beklemmende Atmosphäre erinnert an die ersten Synthakkorde auf Coils Astral Disaster Album. Jauchzend, isoliert, düster. Passend zum etwas pathetischen Titel des Tracks. Großartiger Reissue!" [Zipo / Auf Abwegen] www.tonefloat.com 2010 €10.00
FEINE TRINKERS BEI PINKELS DAHEIM (F.T.B.P.D.) A Bug's Life CD "Jürgen Eberhard aka Feine Trinkers Bei Pinkels Daheim celebrates 25 years of his artistic activity with the first full-length album on Zoharum entitled "A Bug's Life". keen observers of our activity certainly know his name, for instance from a common vinyl 7-incher entitled "Both Sides of The Looking Glass" shared with Bisclaveret duo or from the composition "Enigmatic Visions", which appeared on a commemorative compilation "07|100|15". "A Bug's Life" is the tenth full-length album in the discography of Feine Trinkers Bei Pinkels Daheim. It was being created, like the previous ones, for several years and is another conscious artistic statement. Seven compositions included here are of a collage nature and combine echoes of post-industrial ambient, drone music, musique concrete, field recordings and even plunderphonics. On his first studio album since "Die Legende vom Heiligen Trinker" from 2011, Jürgen Eberhard consciously continues his sonic quest on a depleted terrain and he manages to avoid traps of empty experiments. "A Bug's Life" is at the same time an atmospheric, and even accessible, album, and sonically elaborate and demanding of the listener." [label info] www.zoharum.com "FEINE TRINKERS BEI PINKELS DAHEIM ist ein Projekt, das ja eher unregelmäßig in der Musiklandschaft auftaucht, dabei aber bereits recht langlebig ist. Das letzte reguläre Album von JÜRGEN EBERHARD unter diesem Banner erschien 2011. „A Bug’s Life“ – so hieß übrigens auch der Pixar-Film „Das große Krabbeln“ im Original – widmet sich dem Namen entsprechend den Geräuschen von Insekten, die Grundlage für die Soundgestaltung des Albums gewesen sein sollen. Hierbei sollte man aber kein dauerndes, möglichst naturnahes Gezirpe oder Gesirre im Kopf haben – quasi ein Field-Recording-Overkill, sondern Klänge, die extrem stark bearbeitet und verfremdet wurden, wobei am Ende dennoch der Charakter von Sounds, die von Insekten erzeugt werden – auch knisternde, schabende Geräusche –, erhalten bleibt. Tatsächlich ist der Sound auf „A Bug’s Life“ aber relativ vielschichtig, teils auch wuchtig und massiv oder mit Drones durchsetzt, sodass das Ganze recht gut funktioniert und eben nicht an einen Abend auf der Terrasse erinnert. Auch Stimmen werden – verfremdet oder nicht – eingesetzt und Abwechslung kommt zusätzlich durch Stücke ins Spiel, die mit weiblichen Gesangslinien, die quasi als Zusatzinstrument fungieren, ausgestattet sind. Hier wäre wohl auch der Punkt, an dem man die Unterstützung von diversen Gästen wie u.a. MISS POLYESTER, FRL. LINIENTREU oder GENEVIÈVE PASQUIER erwähnen könnte. Das Klangspektrum reicht letztendlich von orientalisch angehauchten Sounds inklusive Rhythmus („Metallifekuwagamon“) bis hin zu düsteren Soundcollagen, die auch aufgrund der Bilder, die im Kopf entstehen, Unruhe auslösen können. Somit ist „A Bug’s Life“ eine spannende Sache für Freunde des Ambient oder der experimentellen Elektronik. Idee und Ausführung passen in jedem Fall hervorragend zueinander und die Qualität stimmt hier sowieso." [Tony F. für nonpop.de] "In der Geräuschmusik und überall sonst, wo mit Samples gearbeitet wird, sind Tiergeräusche eine beliebte Soundquelle, und zu den gefragtesten Geräuschproduzenten zählen seit jeher Insekten – was wäre ein sommerliches Kitschkolorit ohne das Zirpen von Grillen und Zikaden, und dass man aus dem Summen fliegender Insekten Noise und elektroakustiche Musik machen kann, ist hinlänglich bekannt. Beliebt sind Feldaufnahmen, bei denen die Sounds weitgehend naturbelassen bleiben und nur gelegentlich etwas Struktur eingebracht wird wie bei Dave Phillips’ und Hasegawa Hiroshis “Insect Apocalypse” oder “The Progeny of Flies” von Daniel Manche und Andrew Liles. Seltener sind Aufnahmen, bei denen die Sounds so stark verfremdet sind, dass man ohne Hintergrundwissen die Quelle kaum erkennen kann. Etwas derartiges hat der feine Pinkel, ähm: Trinker Jürgen Eberhard vor Kurzem unter dem Titel “A Bug’s Life” zustande gebracht. Die komplette CD wirkt wie ein Zoom, bei dem die Kamera dem lebenden Objekt so nah auf den Panzer rückt, dass man nur noch kleinteilige Strukturen in Übergröße erkennt, während größere Zusammenhänge nur noch zu erahnen sind. Vieles klingt wie ins Monströße vergrößert: Maschinell klingendes Summen, dass zeitweise in Noisewände übergeht, Detonationen, verursacht von einem enormen Insekt, das gegen eine überdimensionierte Scheibe knallt. Zirpen und Flattern, das eher nach einem Vogel klingt, und dem Tier, dessen rhythmischer Flügenschlag gegen Ende zu hören ist, möchte ich nicht im Dunkeln begegnen. So furchteinflößend es hier zugeht, hat die bizarre Szenerie auch irrsinnig Komisches zu bieten. Neben all dem gibt es zahlreiche Stellen, an denen kaum zu erkennen ist, ob die Aufnahmen ganz unkenntlich gemacht wurden oder anderen, z.B. elektronischen Ursprungs sind. Dies gilt für geschliffenen Ambientsound und zirkushafte Melodien ebenso wie für den entspannten Ethnosound, der irgendwann ganz überraschend eine Sängerin begleitet (die meisten Stimmbeiträge von Geneviève Pasquier, Allseits vs Troum, Frl. Linientreu und Joke Lanz sind spoken words). Ebenso gilt dies für monströses Brüllen, dass hoffentlich von einem Wirbeltier stammt. Aber warum eigentlich? Im Unterschied zu naturbelassenen Insektensounds lassen die Aufnahmen hier die Tiere enorm groß erscheinen und brechen so mit gänigen Wahrnehmungsgewohnheiten. Die nachhaltige, über den bloßen Schock weit hinausgehende Wirkung, kann im besten Fall in einem veränderten Blick auf das Tierreich münden." [J.G./U.S./African Paper] 2016 €12.00
FELIX KUBIN & MARIOLA BRILLOWSKA Morgenröte 7inch + comic art Mariola Brillowska and Felix Kubin “Morgenröte” (b/w Aus Gold modelliert die Nacht) 7″ vinyl. The first release in Psychofon Records' 'Forgotten Pearls' series. Available in two versions. The standard edition is pressed on turquoise vinyl, 100 hand-numbered copies. The collector's edition is pressed on blue vinyl, limited to 50 hand-numbered copies. Both come packaged in a special large-sized package (20.5 x 43cm!) and include a special promo comic book, a companion to Morgenröte! Things are looking quite grim for the future of creation. In the 71st century, sex is practiced only by machine. Males are a dying species. The few surviving specimens serve as pure-blooded sperm donors. If they refuse, they are castrated. Violence is en Vogue. Electronic surveillance insects spout sadistic slogans from the Marquis de Sade. Hamburg-based artists Mariola Brillowska and Felix Kubin have created a gloomy vision of a complex anti-utopian world. Sarcastically they comment on the Western world: Consumption with interpersonal coldness, the glorification of violence and the transfiguration of rationale. Mankind, they suggest, has not learned much since the upright walk, and our laboriously developed moral values have not prevented us from waging wars and devastating the earth. All signs are pointing towards some final catastrophe. The survivors vegetate on the synthetic “Planetoid Nietzsche” in a fascist matriarchy. At the head of the totalitarian regime is the x-cloned Nobel laureate Madame Curie. The sciences dominate nature, and humanistic values of the 20th century have become obsolete. Emotions and physical touch are considered taboo. Everything depends on the outcome of the hopeless actions of some dispersed terrorists in the seventy-first century. By kidnapping the president, they hope to bring down the totalitarian regime and break the chains of sterility. However, their tracks are being followed with deadly instinct by the unscrupulous Madame Curie devotees Linda and Lorna. Mörgenröte is a short episode from the bizarre world of the two comic book heroines, Linda and Lorna. Shaped by Mariola Brillowska’s distinctive drawing style, an iridescent flicker stretches throughout the film, bringing all objects to pulsating life. Together with Felix Kubin’s experimental setting, a fruitful symbiosis has been created. Aus Gold modelliert die Nacht (B side) is previously unpublished and is part of the unfinished fragmentary story of Linda and Lorna. https://www.psychofonrecords.com/product/mariola-brillowska-felix-kubin-morgenrote/ 2018 €19.50
FENNESZ June LP "Der monat (oder eine frau)? "black sea", dieser granulierte edelstein, hat noch eine dunkle schwester. abseits seines trademark-sounds (=ohne diese hart zerspellten, gleichzeitig auch fragilen noisekonstrukte, die einen erheblichen teil seines soundspektrums beherrschen) erforscht fennesz auf der (konzeptuell einseitig bespielten) "june" die tiefen des hallraums. und das trotz der dunklen farbe der musik mit der leichtigkeit einer fingerübung: treffsicher die dynamik, spannend im aufbau, dabei flüssig ohne haken aber, (bei der musik und dem künstler kaum nötig zu erwähnen) natürlich ohne irgendwie seicht zu sein. der sound, eben ohne die harscheren anteile fast analog, sehr gitarre, sehr: weniger überlegung und planung, mehr bauch. und damit definitiv auch für die, die mit ihm sonst ihre schwierigkeiten haben. als teil der table of the elements "guitar" serie mit insgesamt 12 lps, alle einseitig bespielt, die andere jeweils reliefartig geprägt, in unterschiedlichen farben. und, bei 12 vös liegt das ja nicht so fern, von fennesz vielleicht genau so aus dem bauch heraus einfach mal nach einem der vö-monate benannt. vielleicht eine prüfung für manche(n) fennesz-freund(in), vielleicht ein weiteres beispiel für die anderes-label-mehr-freispiel-theorie. in jedem fall: sehr empfohlen." [N, Unruhr.de] "9th installment in the Guitar Series Vol. 3 & 4. As much as any artist, he is responsible for establishing the laptop computer as both a compositional tool & concert instrument. Subsuming electro-acoustic strategies into a bedrock of pop, he terraforms vast new worlds of sound, within which both AMM & the Beach Boys can cozily coexist. His Guitar Series contribution, is a suitably lush transformation, as electric guitars flow into deep streams of sound." [label info] www.tableoftheelements.com ".. But unlike the blurred beauty of Black Sea, June is something else entirely, a creaking, clanging, chiming post industrial landscape of processed guitars, rendered here in the shape of distant pulsing buzz, in shards of jagged chords ringing out and dissipating into the ether, and deep groaning waves of blackened Wolf Eye-d rumble, imagine even a super softened Blue Sabbath Black Cheer, this is less blissed out shoegazey dreamscapery, and more carving dark sonic figures from deep shadow, ominous, sinister, haunting, all words that most definitely apply to past Fennesz recordings, but usually those elements were lurking beneath a shimmery sun dappled exterior, a soft patina of whirling muted buzz draped over a roiling black sea of sound below, but here, those sounds are allowed to creep to the fore, creating a seriously dystopian chunk of cinematic black ambience, the guitars unleashing a murky black fog, that while lovely cloaks all the other sounds in a mysterious blackened grit, but it is Fennesz after all, so the corrosive crumbling darkness does eventually get smoothed out, transformed into into a soft, rolling, burnished shimmer, deep tones dreamily undulating and floating weightless in an expanse of hushed thrum, but by then, the track is winding to a close. Dark stuff from Fennesz, and we like it. A lot! Pressed on super thick, swirled milky brown vinyl. One sided, the other side with an awesome etching by Savage Pencil, housed in a thick PVC sleeve, and of course, as always, VERY LIMITED! " [Aquarius Records review] 2008 €17.00
FERREYRA, BEATRIZ Senderos de luz y sombras LP "Senderos de luz y sombras" (Paths of Light and Shadows) -- Commissioned by the French State for INA grm -- 2016-2020. In memoriam Bernard Baschet, Bernard Parmegiani, and Carlos Pellegrino. A 16-channel piece inspired by astrophysics, the mystery of the pre-Big Bang era and some of the uncanny motions of the unconscious mind, where strangeness meets the ordinary. Mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi. Cut by Andreas Kauffelt at Schnittstelle, Berlin, July 2021. Translations: Valérie Vivancos. Layout: Stephen O'Malley. "The themes that permeate Senderos de luz y sombras simultaneously engage the overwhelming, unyielding immensity of the beginnings of the universe and the forces at work in the unconscious mind. What connects these themes are the dark energies operating outside our knowledge, far beyond the conceptual scope of our limited thinking. How to convey all this and build music from these concealed forces? What Beatriz Ferreyra achieves, thanks to her trademark virtuosity, is precisely to summon energies, to bring in the raw forces that govern the laws of acoustics, so as to trigger sonic storms as one would call the rain, to transform all sound matters into the core of a ritual. Indeed, Beatriz Ferreyra addresses the mind-body reconciliation, for in providing this unique sound and musical experience, with a rare sensitive intensity, the great composer simultaneously invites us to engage in a personal experience." --François Bonnet, Paris, 2021 Embossed sleeve, printed inne https://recollectiongrm.bandcamp.com/album/senderos-de-luz-y-sombras 2023 €20.00
FIBO-TRESPO Askel oikeaan suuntaan CD-R low-fi as low-fi can! Vergriffenes Vinyl (1997 & 98) des Inbegriffes oder absolutesten Steigerung des low-fi-drones aus Norwegen, auf dieser CDR versammelt... Im handgezwirbelten Tapetencover zu einem gar lächerlichen Preis. “ Excellent droning lo-fi ambient improvisation - or nor-wave - from this highly acclaimed Norwegian duo. This CD-R features their sold out 10" and 7" lathe cuts and two extremely rare compilation tracks from a few years back.” [press release] 2002 €6.00
FINAL The Apple never falls far from the Tree do-LP "from grind core pioneers napalm death and industrial metal duo godflesh to the wrist slashing sadness of jesu, the twenty-odd year career of justin k. broadrick has spawned a slew of uniquely recognisable formations. despite representing his very first steps on the scene, broadrick’s final moniker, focusing on dark electronic soundscapes, has occasionally seemed a side thought in comparison. after putting the project to rest for almost an entire decade, final however resurfaced stronger than ever in the new millenium with a string of improvisation based works as well as a hypnotic collaboration with fear falls burning. the apple never falls far from the tree continues this gradual return to the limelight, presenting final as an act comfortably sandwiched between uncompromising sonic explorations and the most far out corners of the post rock cosmos. conceptualised especially for the vinyl format and complemented by lasse hoile’s congenial photography, broadrick has envisioned the new final full length as a classic double album, with each side based on a unique mood and compositional approach of its own: from the a side’s darkly glistening, occasionally dub infused soundscapes and the harsh noise propositions of the b side to the more luminous and drone-oriented second half of the album, the apple never falls far from the tree highlights the full scope of broadrick’s work. most of all, it constitutes a showcase of his singular approach to the guitar, which remains firmly recognisable as the main harmonic and melodic instrument despite being sent through a colorful array of effect channels. the diversity and experimental nature of the material notwithstanding, the apple never falls far from the tree has turned out a continuous and coherent journey, eventually culminating in a piece of pure and beguiling instrumental folk. available in three different versions, on marbled (75 copies), clear (125 copies), and green vinyl (300 copies), in a deluxe gatefold picture sleeve. the release date is october 10, 2010, and available from the tonefloat store." [label info] www.tonefloat.com "Its been a while since I last heard Final, Justin K. Broadrick’s solo project, following his involvement with Napalm Death, Godflesh and Jesu (all of which were never really my cup of tea). It was in those years when ‘Isolationism’ was a much used buzz word to describe music that was firmly rooted in ambient but with a noisy edge. Final, along with say Lull, was a project in which the guitar played an all important role. Broadrick didn’t use the name Final for nearly ten years but now picked it up again, and recorded this 2LP, especially for this format. Its like going back to something that you haven’t done in ages, but it still feels conformable. Although I expected four LP sides with a piece each, this is quite the contrary. The pieces are rather short, a few on each side, and each side has its own character. The harsher, analogue synthesizer like sounds are on the b-side, while the a-side is much more mellow, rhythmic even, certainly towards the end. The first record seems to be all electronic, synth based, but the second is all about guitars and effects. Broadrick strums away, while his effects pick up the signals and create long form, sustaining patterns with that. The isolationist music in optima forma (a fine reminder to play that double CD on Virgin again also, come to think of it). As such it seems nothing happened but maybe that’s of less importance: the music is still great. An excellent return. Hopefully more to come!" [FdW / Vital Weekly] 2010 €30.00
FINAL CUT Ballade de Bruits mCDR "frenchman based in belgium, final cut has used as base for these tracks environmental sounds he has done during his several wanderings. once at home, they've been heavily processed to form hypnotizing soundscapes. final cut is also the co-curator of the 3patttes label and earsheltering netlabel." [label info] www.taalem.com "Behind Final Cut is a frenchman (no name) who lives in Belgium, where he runs the 3pattes label, as well as the earsheltering netlabel. Two pieces here, which we may see as noise ballads, I guess, looking at the title. Of the three recent Taalem releases, this is the one that is most noise based. Not entirely loud or something like that, but nevertheless a bit less subtle in the processing of field recordings. Final Cut transforms them into drone like music, which sound a bit like stringed instruments, ringing around in overtones. Quite gritty and angular, but quite nice also. Very upright and present." [FdW/Vital Weekly] 2011 €5.00
FIRST HUMAN FERRO FEAT. ALBIREON Prosa Profana CD " "Prosa Profana" is a follow-up to "Guernica Macrocosmica" and the 2nd post mortem dedication by Olegh Kolyada collaborating with Albireon neo-folkers this time. A low-key unison of dissonant ex-Soviet schlager melodies and forefront Italian vocals in a tender naive manner offer a unique nostalghic experience. The release comes in a beautiful digipak with a 12-page booklet. Tribute: Dedicated to my father Vasyl O. Kolyada (1950-2008). Production: Conception + composition + engineering + arrangement + alternative sampling & vinyl scraping (vinyl & tapes restoration, including the 1970-80`s ex-Soviet recordings by Ariel, Tsvety, Sinyaya Ptitsa, V.Obodsinskiy) + vocals engineering + lyrics in English/translation of P.Celan`s 'Die Niemandsrose' poem + improvisations upon Cl.Debaussy and M.Dietrich songs and ex-Soviet ‘Autumnal Marathon’ and ‘The Star Boy’ motion pictures themes by Olegh Kolyada (with Helena K`s contribution in piano & clavier parts), 2005-2008/Zhytomyr, Ukraine. Strings + trumpet + cello by Zhytomyr Chamber Orchestra, early 2000/Zhytomyr, Ukraine. Acoustic guitar on "Eye-Deep in Hell" and "Late August Flowers" by Pavel Voskoboyev, November 2007/Zhytomyr, Ukraine. Vocals in Italian + lyrics renderings + mandolin on "Every Time I Turn around (another Year is over)" by Davide Borghi; vocals recording and engineering + samples editing on "Eye-Deep in Hell" (children’s talking-away), and "Every Time I Turn around (another Year is over)" (rain and wind snippets) by Stefano Romagnoli, summer 2007/Carpi, Italy. Layout & artwork by Katia Ilieva, winter-spring 2007-2009/Sofia, Bulgaria. Conception: Prosa Profana unveils a humane feeling of nostalghia as that of sorrow towards present lack of integrity, commonness, and harmony. Homesickness and melancholy, grief and yearning, but also hope and belief nostalghia is a deep relation one cannot relinquish or renounce since it is the purest sacrificial nature of a man. Sacrifice as a consequence of nostalghia is a verdict to overwhelmingly materialized time, its impiety and de-spiritualization. Nostalghia is a confession, humble declaration of love as generally the highest art manifestation ever possible. Prosa Profana is our verdict to ourselves." [label info] www.nitkie.ru 2011 €12.00
FIVE ELEMENTS MUSIC Rishikesh CD "In this work, I present two acoustic environments. These sounds are born in India. Rishikesh is located in the foothills of the Himalayas of which it is a gateway to. Within this piece are sounds that were recorded near the flowing mountain streams of the Ganges; they have been captured at night time, where small streams of water eventually grind coastal rocks. There is also the echo of prayer wheels, and the noise of the slow Ganges and streams flowing from the mountains… and many more other sounds that were hanging around me.” Vrindavan (27 ° 34.50. N 77 ° 42.02. E) “This is the place I always wanted to visit. This is a city with an ancient history. It tells that Vrindavan is located in several spaces that are not detectable through simple vision. The city is the place where the God Krishna was once born. Almost all the recordings were again made at night along a small interval from 11:00 pm to 3:00 in the morning, when the city sleeps. I was there in Kartika time, and many people from all over India come in Vrindavan. At this moment, the city becomes filled with the sounds of religious mantras, people’s screams, songs, cars horns, noises of rickshaws and bicycles as well … And also during the day one can add sounds of birds, monkeys, dogs and cows. … Anyway, I wanted to reflect the sound of the advancing night … as such this is not a pure documentary work, but humble sound art trying to portray an intangible atmosphere…” (Sergey Suhovik – respectfully revised by Daniel Crokaert) www.unfathomless.net 2012 €14.00
FM EINHEIT EXHIBITION OF A DREAM do-CD Zwölf Träume von Musikern, Künstlern und Filmemachern, interpretiert von FM Einheit (ex-EINSTÜRZENDE NEUBAUTEN), mit Guest-Vocals von: Lee Ranaldo (SONIC YOUTH), Genesis Breyer P-Orridge (PSYCHIC TV / THROBBING GRISTLE), Susan Stenger (BAND OF SUSANS), Émilie Pitoiset, Erika Stucky und dem Gubenkian Chor; mit Gastmusikern: Volker Kamp, Saskia von Klitzing, Robert Poss, und Susan Stenger. Exhibition Of A Dream (L'exposition D'un Rêve) besteht aus zwölf Träumen die in Songs transformiert wurden. Exhibition Of A Dream zeigt die komplexe Schönheit, wie ein Traum im Kopf der Betrachter*innen entsteht. Als geteilte Erfahrung, die in unserem persönlichen inneren Raum gelebt werden soll, sind diese remasterten Träume eine Einladung, einer sensiblen Architektur aus Worten und Musik zu lauschen. Entstanden 2017, aufgezeichnet in den Amphitheatern und im Garten der Fundaçao Calouste Gulbenkian in Lissabon sowie in Einheit's eigenem Studio Steinschlag. Die Träumer waren: Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Lee Ranaldo, Émilie Pitoiset, Susan Stenger, Susie Green, David Link, Pierre Paulin, Alexandre Estrela, Tim Etchells, Gabriel Abrantes, FM Einheit, und Genesis Breyer P-Orridge. Twelve dreams of musicians, artists, and filmmakers, interpreted by FM Einheit (ex-EINSTÜRZENDE NEUBAUTEN), with voices by: Lee Ranaldo (SONIC YOUTH), Genesis Breyer P-Orridge (PSYCHIC TV / THROBBING GRISTLE), Susan Stenger (BAND OF SUSANS), Émilie Pitoiset, Erika Stucky, and the Gubenkian Choir; with guest musicians: Volker Kamp, Saskia von Klitzing, Robert Poss, and Susan Stenger. Exhibition Of A Dream (L'exposition D'un Rêve) is formed of twelve dreams interpreted as songs. Exploded in time, these are played as temporary and evolving patterns of shapes and forms in an otherwise empty gallery following the drawings of mandalas. Exhibition Of A Dream highlights the complex beauty of how to generate a dream in the mind of the spectator. A shared experience to be lived within our own personal inner space, these remastered dreams are an invitation to listen to a sensitive architecture of words and music. Created 2017, recorded both in public and in private in the amphitheatres and the garden of the Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian in Lisbon, and in Einheit's own studio Steinschlag. The dreamers were: Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Lee Ranaldo, Émilie Pitoiset, Susan Stenger, Susie Green, David Link, Pierre Paulin, Alexandre Estrela, Tim Etchells, Gabriel Abrantes, FM Einheit, and Genesis Breyer P-Orridge. https://coldspring.bandcamp.com/album/exhibition-of-a-dream-csr292cd 2021 €16.00
FOSCA, ANA Poised at the Edge of Structure CD ana fosca has emerged as presence to be reckoned with. here stands a woman raging, wrestling, communing, and plainly preoccupied with the humanity's propensity for tragedy, violence, and blight. and it is with a particular strain of noise - one that is dour, miserable, frightening - through which she harnesses these conditions. while her catalogue of recordings is brief, ana fosca (born linn hvid) honed her craft by performing on a constant basis throughout denmark, sweden, and germany, especially through the dynamic community of mayhem in her native copenhagen. the feral expressionism she developed in performance is matched by a numerous, existential and conceptual antecedents that inform fosca's work. kirkegaard. plath. tarkovsky. hannah arendt. vienna aktionism. eliane radigue's approach to listening. the films of kurt kren. the thoughts and writing of simone de beauvoir. poised at the edge of structure marks fosca's debut for the helen scarsdale agency, following a very limited cassette on the russian imprint nazlo and a collaboration with vanity productions on no rent. on this recording, she evinces her gesamtkunstwerk as ana fosca in all of its harrowing portent. she composes along cyclonic patterns of oppositional forces, searing noise, and ominous drone. when employing her voice, fosca bellows repetitive chants deep in the mix, a cathartic incantation where meaning can found within all of this agony and despair. the "mathematics of grief" is a phrase that fosca uses in describing this album that amplifies her personal experiences with loss to expound upon the human condition at large. this album never settles into the tropes of power electronics, dark ambient, death industrial, or studied electro-acoustic practices, but absorbs the most impactful facets to all these aesthetics. coming out of the danish underground scene, her work finds common ground with the early, savage sounds of posh isolation, adjacent to puce mary in terms of similarly fraught psychological proclamations, but leaning into the violent miasma of maeror tri / troum at their most industrial. https://helenscarsdale.bandcamp.com/album/poised-at-the-edge-of-structure 2022 €15.00
FOVEA HEX The Salt Garden III 10inch + CD Janet Records, in association with Headphone Dust and Die Stadt present Fovea Hex The Salt Garden III Cat No HDFH1034 (vinyl) / HDFHCD32 (CD) (Bonus CD Cat. No: HDFHCD33) Shipping Date - 26/11/2019 Ltd Edition - 10" vinyl + CD + bonus remix CD Standard Editions - 10" vinyl + CD / CD / DL "The starlit nocturnes of Fovea Hex bind electronics, drones and voices into song-spells that are untimely in the best possible sense; their intimacy and raw emotional power feel centuries old, but the experimental sound-design can be shockingly modern." Drew Daniels (Matmos) The new EP from Fovea Hex THE SALT GARDEN 3 will be released on November 26th 2019 on Steven Wilson's Headphone Dust label. The Salt Garden 3 is the final word, and the concluding instalment to the critically lauded The Salt Garden Trilogy. Issued in 3 standard editions; 10 inch vinyl + CD, CD only, and Digital Download. There will also be a limited edition release featuring a bonus remix CD by Steven Wilson. The pre-sale for this limited edition, featuring 4 remixes by Steven, presented in individual and combination treatments, will only be available online via Janet Records. The core ensemble of Clodagh Simonds, Michael Begg, Colin Potter, Cora Venus Lunny and Kate Ellis is joined by special guests Guido Zen, and the Medazza and Dote Moss choirs. Critical Reaction to The Salt Garden 1 and 2 5 Against 4 (UK) "Whenever Irish experimental electronic folk group Fovea Hex put out something new, it's not just a cause to rejoice but a guarantee of something unique and indescribably wonderful..." The Wire (UK) "...fragile baroque instruments and synthy atmospheres surround Simonds's singing and songwriting, both on better and less predictable form than ever... A Robert Wyatt's Rock Bottom for the 21st Century: emotionally deepens with extra listens" Brainwashed (US) (Readers Poll Winner: Single of the Year, 2016 for Salt Garden 1) "Another beautiful piece in a flawless catalog..." Igloo (US) "The superlatives left to describe this unique chamber ensemble are fast running out..." Dusted (US) "... a blending of acoustic and electronic that attains a kind of smooth, vatic timelessness. Every element feels precisely placed and oddly haunting... Spellbinding". Subjectivisten (NL) "...an almost indefinable sound...the music is a hybrid of (dark) ambient, experimental music, neoclassical and ethereal folk and yet no label feels completely comfortable. . It is of an unearthly beauty!" Touching Extremes (IT) "no actual comparison is conceivable - sonic poetry" Gonzo Circus (NL) "if you like unique sirens like Nico, Dead Can Dance and This Mortal Coil, you will also unconditionally embrace Fovea Hex." Fovea Hex Background Having first emerged at the tender age of 15 as the main writer behind 70s cult Irish psych-folk band Mellow Candle, and with sessions for both Thin Lizzy and Mike Oldfield under her belt by the age of 21, Irish singer Clodagh Simonds relocated to New York and subsequently "went quiet" for almost two decades, before re- emerging in 2005 with Fovea Hex, supported by an extraordinary assembly of friends and colleagues, including Brian Eno, Robert Fripp, Carter Burwell, Donal Lunny, Roger Doyle, and Steven Wilson. Their first trilogy of eps, NEITHER SPEAK NOR REMAIN SILENT, was, upon its release, greeted by a growing momentum of critical acclaim. Their nascent cult reputation was further affirmed by a personal invitation from David Lynch to perform live in Paris at the Cartier Foundation in Paris as part of his THE AIR IS ON FIRE exhibition. In 2008 a full length album, HERE IS WHERE WE USED TO SING, was released, to yet more glowing reviews. The album made several end-of-year lists and was awarded album of the year in periodicals in the UK, North America and Italy. THE SALT GARDEN 1 was released in 2016 and THE SALT GARDEN 2 in 2017, consolidating and deepening the high esteem and critical regard in which this most beguiling of ensembles continues to be held. The frequently claimed "impossible to categorise" tag applies well to Fovea Hex. The songs are dominated by a voice that's too strong to be deigned ethereal, but remains too otherworldly to file alongside more conventional female singer-songwriters. The pace tends to be languid, the arrangements intricate and fragile. Comparisons have been made to This Mortal Coil, Emily Dickinson, Nico, Dead Can Dance, and even Schubert, but really this music is quite unique, a mix of electronic and acoustic sounds from a palette which ranges from state-of-art to ancient and arcane. "If Emily Dickinson had ever been allowed to make a record, this is probably what it would have sounded like" (The Wire) janetrecords.com/SG3/press-release.html "2019 findet die “The Salt Garden”-Trilogie mehr als zwei Jahre nach Veröffentlichung des zweiten Teils ihren Abschluss. Das Projekt von Clodagh Simonds – die (u.a. mit Mellow Candle) schon in den 60er Jahren Musik machte – kehrt mit „The Salt Garden“ wieder zur kleine(re)n Form der EPs zurück, mit der Fovea Hex in der zweiten Hälfte der 00er Jahre debütierte. Erneut beeindruckend ist die Konsistenz und Kohärenz dieser drei EPs. Anlässlich des ersten Teils der Trilogie wurde Fovea Hex hier attestiert: “[Die] Musik, die Begriffe wie Ambient, Folk oder experimentelle Musik überflüssig erscheinen lässt, ist erdverhaftet und zugleich entrückt, ist ebenso traumwandlerisch wie meditativ. Die meisten der getragenen Stücke haben starke Songqualitäten und sind doch von der verschwimmenden Struktur abstrakter Kompositionen. Und was in dieser Musik emotional passiert, lässt sich besser empfinden als rational erfassen.” Über das 2011 erschienene Langzeitdebüt “Here Is Where We Used To Sing” schrieben wir: „[T]rotz aller hypnagogischen, traumhaften Momente [...] verlier[t] sich [Simonds] nie im Unterholz und inmitten aller getragenen Momente gibt es auch immer die Gewissheit des Gelingens” und diese zumindest vom Rezensenten so wahrgenommene „Gewissheit des Gelingens“ trifft die auf dem dritten Teil von “The Salt Garden” evozierte Stimmung gut. Denn obwohl die Musik wieder getragen und elegisch ist, sollte man die vier Stücke nicht als Soundtrack zu einer Reise in den Untergang verstehen. Sucht man nach (eigentlich unnötigen) Vergleichen, so kommen einem manche Soundtrackarbeiten Hilmar Örn Hilmarssons oder aber (geographisch vielleicht etwas naheliegender) Richard Skeltons immer wieder von Orten und Plätzen geprägten Streicherdrones in den Sinn. Eröffnet wird die EP von „The Land’s Alight“, einem von Keyboarddrones geprägtem Stück, auf dem Simonds singt: “I dreamed I flew, the whole night long…./Ah but the light is on the land/and the hand upon the heart/and the open road is a real thing”. Diese Haltung erinnert an Coils “Bee Stings”, auf dem es heißt: “Don’t believe A.E./See for yourself the summer fields”. Wenn Simonds dann intoniert, “The land’s alight/And this vital eye/and the view…”, dann bekommt ihr Gesang etwas Hymnenhaftes. “Trisamma” ist ein instrumentales Stück, auf dem dezente Klavierpassagen mit Streichern kombiniert werden. „A Million Fires“ ist das vielleicht beeindruckendste Stück: Simonds’ Gesang wird von Harmoniumdrones und den Stimmen des The Date Moss Choir untermalt. Wenn sie singt “glory be upon the hapless writer/ glory be upon the spotless page/to call the woman with the fire inside her/to bring the luminous from age to age”, dann kann man das fast schon programmatisch lesen. Beendet wird diese Veröffentlichung und damit die Trilogie mit “The Given Heat”, auf der traurige Streicher zu hören sind, wobei es am Ende heißt: “suddenly there it is –/ the molten gold on the city street”. Wie auch schon bei allen anderen EPs liegt einer limitierte Version eine Remix-CD bei. Steven Wilson hat unter dem Titel “Is Lanza Light & Given” die vier Stücke zu einem Track verschmelzen lassen und gerade zu Anfang gibt seine Neuinterpretation den Stücken einen leicht entrückteren Charakter." [MG/African Paper] 2019 €17.50
  The Salt Garden III CD-EP Janet Records, in association with Headphone Dust and Die Stadt present Fovea Hex The Salt Garden III Cat No HDFH1034 (vinyl) / HDFHCD32 (CD) (Bonus CD Cat. No: HDFHCD33) Shipping Date - 26/11/2019 Ltd Edition - 10" vinyl + CD + bonus remix CD Standard Editions - 10" vinyl + CD / CD / DL "The starlit nocturnes of Fovea Hex bind electronics, drones and voices into song-spells that are untimely in the best possible sense; their intimacy and raw emotional power feel centuries old, but the experimental sound-design can be shockingly modern." Drew Daniels (Matmos) The new EP from Fovea Hex THE SALT GARDEN 3 will be released on November 26th 2019 on Steven Wilson's Headphone Dust label. The Salt Garden 3 is the final word, and the concluding instalment to the critically lauded The Salt Garden Trilogy. Issued in 3 standard editions; 10 inch vinyl + CD, CD only, and Digital Download. There will also be a limited edition release featuring a bonus remix CD by Steven Wilson. The pre-sale for this limited edition, featuring 4 remixes by Steven, presented in individual and combination treatments, will only be available online via Janet Records. The core ensemble of Clodagh Simonds, Michael Begg, Colin Potter, Cora Venus Lunny and Kate Ellis is joined by special guests Guido Zen, and the Medazza and Dote Moss choirs. Critical Reaction to The Salt Garden 1 and 2 5 Against 4 (UK) "Whenever Irish experimental electronic folk group Fovea Hex put out something new, it's not just a cause to rejoice but a guarantee of something unique and indescribably wonderful..." The Wire (UK) "...fragile baroque instruments and synthy atmospheres surround Simonds's singing and songwriting, both on better and less predictable form than ever... A Robert Wyatt's Rock Bottom for the 21st Century: emotionally deepens with extra listens" Brainwashed (US) (Readers Poll Winner: Single of the Year, 2016 for Salt Garden 1) "Another beautiful piece in a flawless catalog..." Igloo (US) "The superlatives left to describe this unique chamber ensemble are fast running out..." Dusted (US) "... a blending of acoustic and electronic that attains a kind of smooth, vatic timelessness. Every element feels precisely placed and oddly haunting... Spellbinding". Subjectivisten (NL) "...an almost indefinable sound...the music is a hybrid of (dark) ambient, experimental music, neoclassical and ethereal folk and yet no label feels completely comfortable. . It is of an unearthly beauty!" Touching Extremes (IT) "no actual comparison is conceivable - sonic poetry" Gonzo Circus (NL) "if you like unique sirens like Nico, Dead Can Dance and This Mortal Coil, you will also unconditionally embrace Fovea Hex." Fovea Hex Background Having first emerged at the tender age of 15 as the main writer behind 70s cult Irish psych-folk band Mellow Candle, and with sessions for both Thin Lizzy and Mike Oldfield under her belt by the age of 21, Irish singer Clodagh Simonds relocated to New York and subsequently "went quiet" for almost two decades, before re- emerging in 2005 with Fovea Hex, supported by an extraordinary assembly of friends and colleagues, including Brian Eno, Robert Fripp, Carter Burwell, Donal Lunny, Roger Doyle, and Steven Wilson. Their first trilogy of eps, NEITHER SPEAK NOR REMAIN SILENT, was, upon its release, greeted by a growing momentum of critical acclaim. Their nascent cult reputation was further affirmed by a personal invitation from David Lynch to perform live in Paris at the Cartier Foundation in Paris as part of his THE AIR IS ON FIRE exhibition. In 2008 a full length album, HERE IS WHERE WE USED TO SING, was released, to yet more glowing reviews. The album made several end-of-year lists and was awarded album of the year in periodicals in the UK, North America and Italy. THE SALT GARDEN 1 was released in 2016 and THE SALT GARDEN 2 in 2017, consolidating and deepening the high esteem and critical regard in which this most beguiling of ensembles continues to be held. The frequently claimed "impossible to categorise" tag applies well to Fovea Hex. The songs are dominated by a voice that's too strong to be deigned ethereal, but remains too otherworldly to file alongside more conventional female singer-songwriters. The pace tends to be languid, the arrangements intricate and fragile. Comparisons have been made to This Mortal Coil, Emily Dickinson, Nico, Dead Can Dance, and even Schubert, but really this music is quite unique, a mix of electronic and acoustic sounds from a palette which ranges from state-of-art to ancient and arcane. "If Emily Dickinson had ever been allowed to make a record, this is probably what it would have sounded like" (The Wire) janetrecords.com/SG3/press-release.html "2019 findet die “The Salt Garden”-Trilogie mehr als zwei Jahre nach Veröffentlichung des zweiten Teils ihren Abschluss. Das Projekt von Clodagh Simonds – die (u.a. mit Mellow Candle) schon in den 60er Jahren Musik machte – kehrt mit „The Salt Garden“ wieder zur kleine(re)n Form der EPs zurück, mit der Fovea Hex in der zweiten Hälfte der 00er Jahre debütierte. Erneut beeindruckend ist die Konsistenz und Kohärenz dieser drei EPs. Anlässlich des ersten Teils der Trilogie wurde Fovea Hex hier attestiert: “[Die] Musik, die Begriffe wie Ambient, Folk oder experimentelle Musik überflüssig erscheinen lässt, ist erdverhaftet und zugleich entrückt, ist ebenso traumwandlerisch wie meditativ. Die meisten der getragenen Stücke haben starke Songqualitäten und sind doch von der verschwimmenden Struktur abstrakter Kompositionen. Und was in dieser Musik emotional passiert, lässt sich besser empfinden als rational erfassen.” Über das 2011 erschienene Langzeitdebüt “Here Is Where We Used To Sing” schrieben wir: „[T]rotz aller hypnagogischen, traumhaften Momente [...] verlier[t] sich [Simonds] nie im Unterholz und inmitten aller getragenen Momente gibt es auch immer die Gewissheit des Gelingens” und diese zumindest vom Rezensenten so wahrgenommene „Gewissheit des Gelingens“ trifft die auf dem dritten Teil von “The Salt Garden” evozierte Stimmung gut. Denn obwohl die Musik wieder getragen und elegisch ist, sollte man die vier Stücke nicht als Soundtrack zu einer Reise in den Untergang verstehen. Sucht man nach (eigentlich unnötigen) Vergleichen, so kommen einem manche Soundtrackarbeiten Hilmar Örn Hilmarssons oder aber (geographisch vielleicht etwas naheliegender) Richard Skeltons immer wieder von Orten und Plätzen geprägten Streicherdrones in den Sinn. Eröffnet wird die EP von „The Land’s Alight“, einem von Keyboarddrones geprägtem Stück, auf dem Simonds singt: “I dreamed I flew, the whole night long…./Ah but the light is on the land/and the hand upon the heart/and the open road is a real thing”. Diese Haltung erinnert an Coils “Bee Stings”, auf dem es heißt: “Don’t believe A.E./See for yourself the summer fields”. Wenn Simonds dann intoniert, “The land’s alight/And this vital eye/and the view…”, dann bekommt ihr Gesang etwas Hymnenhaftes. “Trisamma” ist ein instrumentales Stück, auf dem dezente Klavierpassagen mit Streichern kombiniert werden. „A Million Fires“ ist das vielleicht beeindruckendste Stück: Simonds’ Gesang wird von Harmoniumdrones und den Stimmen des The Date Moss Choir untermalt. Wenn sie singt “glory be upon the hapless writer/ glory be upon the spotless page/to call the woman with the fire inside her/to bring the luminous from age to age”, dann kann man das fast schon programmatisch lesen. Beendet wird diese Veröffentlichung und damit die Trilogie mit “The Given Heat”, auf der traurige Streicher zu hören sind, wobei es am Ende heißt: “suddenly there it is –/ the molten gold on the city street”. Wie auch schon bei allen anderen EPs liegt einer limitierte Version eine Remix-CD bei. Steven Wilson hat unter dem Titel “Is Lanza Light & Given” die vier Stücke zu einem Track verschmelzen lassen und gerade zu Anfang gibt seine Neuinterpretation den Stücken einen leicht entrückteren Charakter." [MG/African Paper] 2019 €10.00
FRANKLIN, MARTIN & MICHAEL NORTHAM An Opening of the Earth : recovered CD Remasterte Wiederveröffentlichung dieser Zusammenarbeit von MNORTHAM mit dem TUU-Mitglied MARTIN FRANKLIN, erschien bereits 1991 als MC auf dem legendären SOUNDS FOR CONSCIOUSNESS RAPE, dann 1993 als CD auf SDV Tonträger. Das ganze ist eine improvisierte Aufnahme vom September 1991, die erstaunlich rauh und fast schon ungestüm ausfällt, wenn Drone-Loops auf knirschend-feedbackende Objekt-Sounds stossen, oder obskure Diktaphon- & Cassetten Recorder-Versatzstücke auftauchen.. von der Original 3 Stunden-Session hat FRANKLIN nun die besten Passagen erneut re-mastered, es sind dabei auch vorher ungehörte Sektionen auf diesem Re-Release gelandet, der zudem in typischer FARIA-Manier in einem Hochglanz Klappcover mit 3 Postkarten / Inlays angeboten wird. "...excavating the sonic crust with heavy synthesised drones, trebly buzzes and popping bursts of sound……eerie as hell.” Darren Bergstein, I/E (from review of original release). "An Opening Of The Earth: Recovered" revisits a spontaneous collaboration between the two musicians, captured in the early 90's. Recorded in an obsolete format, no longer playable with today's technology. The old playback device, recovered from dusty storage for one last use, and the recording of this event brought back into the present - recovered once again.At once a sonic artifact of the recent past and a touchstone for contemporary developments in lo-fi electronic sound. Franklin and Northam's original meeting saw them both on the cusp of developments in their own careers. Franklin's seminal Ambient trio, TUU shortly after embarked on an enduring series of CD releases and performances across Europe. Michael Northam's nomadic life as a travelling sound artist continued from this point onward, leaving a trail of recorded evidence from projects in 25 countries. Mythic imagery of man descending into the mysteries of the Inner Earth is conjured in this intense recorded performance.Using lo-fi sampling, eerie drones, percussive metal instruments and effects, the players trace an intuitive path through a midnight electronic improvisation. Snippets of sound from other projects of that time slip in and out of the mix, roughly recorded Theatre rehearsals, and audio of UK street life appear from dictaphone tapes. Like an unearthed archeological find, the recordings of this ritualistic performance tie the pieces to their location, as well as the events of their time. After unearthing the original tapes, Martin Franklin has created all new mixes for this Faria Records release, including previous unheard sections, re-interpreted and enhanced for the 21st Century listener." [label info] "Martin Franklin and Michael Northam began communicating in the early '90s, both engrossed with the realm of possibilities extant in the laboratory that was the experimental cassette culture. At the time, Northam was beginning a career of sound-art globetrotting by way of festivals, residencies, and the generosity of others, having emerged from the Austin, Texas sound community that spawned the likes of John Grzinich, Olivia Block, Rick Reed, and Seth Nehil. Martin Franklin had gone on to form the British ambient ensemble Tuu, with releases through Beyond, Hic Sunt Leones, and Amplexus. It seems that Franklin and Martin enjoyed a single three hour session back in 1991, and out of that session came the original set of recordings which made their way on to a cassette, released by Sounds For Consciousness Rape, and later onto cd by SDV Tontrager. As both the cd and the tape have been long out of print, we can't comment on the differences between the original recording and this 'recovered' remix of the original source material. Franklin and Northam settle organic textures from metal, dirt, and wood clattering against each other and building softened drones amidst the aggregated sounds. It makes perfect sense that Northam would later work with Darren Tate in one of the final Ora recordings, as these sodden ambient passages and quietly gritty noises share plenty of similarities. Northam had also brought to the session a cassette deck rewired to generate feedback systems, and Franklin had a handheld dictaphone with static and white noise broadcasting through the hypercompressed speakers. These elements give the recordings a rough hewn edge which counterpoint Franklin's sinewy ambience and ghostly half-melodies which are evidence of the contemporary remix work. Altogether, this redux has a darkly ritualized feel of isolationist drones divining something tactile out of the void, much like one would expect from the occluded sounds of the recent Drone Records catalogue." [Aquarius Records review] www.faria.ru 2009 €13.00
FREIBAND Ice field mCD-R "...The music on 'Ice Field' is not exactly what you would expect from Freiband either, but contrary to 'Spaarzam' it's the grittiness that comes as a surprise here. Partly recorded in 2005 for a planned release on Ideal, which never materialized, and partly recorded in May 2007, the rather short tracks span the whole range of digital austerity, from insistent pulses to exercises in crackle and hiss. They are of a sketch-like character, each one exploring a small set of sounds and variations. Not everything works equally well, but there is enough tension throughout and the first and the last track stand out in particular as strikingly focused and intense." [Magnus Schäfer] www.kormplastics.nl/moll 2007 €6.00
  Replicas CD "Wenn ich das recht verstehe, dann entstand FREIBAND, eines der Soloprojekte des umtriebigen Frans de Waard, aus einem per Scrollrad erzeugten Geräusch, das ihn an Asmus Tietchens‘ Daseinsverfehlung (Stille Andacht, 1993) erinnerte. Der Hamburger hatte dieses Album aus den kratzenden Klängen fabriziert, die entstehen, wenn man eine Tonbandspule über den Tonkopf zieht, und die 13 Tracks allesamt ‚Freiband‘ getauft. De Waard wollte als einmaliges Projekt etwas Ähnliches probieren, woraus dann Microbes (Ritornell, 2001) entstand. Wie das bei FdW so ist, wurde daraus ein Fass ohne Boden, in das nun nach dem Gesetz der Unvermeidlichkeit auch Replicas (Monochrome Vision, mv19) eintaucht, das tatsächlich den Ausgangspunkt, nämlich Tietchens‘ Freiband-Tracks, als 13-faches ‚Re‘ remixt. Selbst das Cover ist eine Revision des Originals, jenem Haus mit Fenstern wie zwei aufgerissenene Augen und ein großes Maul. Inzwischen ist es eine Ruine mit eingeworfenen Fensterscheiben, herbstlich gesäumt von Ahorn. Wenn hier etwas einschlägig ist, dann A.C. Dantos Begriff ‚Aboutness‘ - Kunst ist immer ein Über-Etwas - , gesteigert, aber gleichzeitig auch implodiert, zu: Kunst ist Über-Kunst. But what is it all about? Schleifende, knisternde, pulsierende, blasende, kristallin funklende Geräusche, dazu - mit etwas Phantasie - aber auch paranormal, d.h. verhuscht und verzerrt ‚singende‘ oder ‚sprechende‘. Das leerstehende Haus wird da zum Geisterhaus, auch wenn de Waards nüchterne und spröde Akribie diesen hauntologischen Schluss selbst nicht nahelegt." [Bad Alchemy] "Highly conceptual project that combines features of remix, recycling and plagiarism - the re-interpretation of classic album by Asmus Tietchens “Daseinsverfehlung”. All what can be heard on this CD, as always in case of Frans de Waard framework, is made from music that already existed: every sound, word in titles and even the cover picture - all is just processing and manipulation techniques. Freiband is one of solo projects by Frans de Waard. Besides Kapotte Muziek, Frans currently also plays in Beequeen duo with Freek Kinkelaar, runs Plinkity Plonk and other small labels, writes tons of reviews for the Vital Weekly newsletter. When just get some free time, he becomes active with various side-projects like Goem (minimal techno), Quest (ambient), Shifts (post-rock), Captain Black (remixes) etc." [label notes ] "... Without getting too trippy or spacey, I would like to propose that this is the kind of music that alters your state of mind and being. Not the kind of album that you'll play in the background, 'cause it wants your full attention. It freezes your body and at same time makes you experience it from head to toe. In this way it has the same effect as most of Francisco Lopez' work has on me: it grabs you by the ears and sucks you right in." [SdT, Vital Weekly] label-website: www.monochromevision.ru 2008 €13.00
FRITH, FRED Technology of Tears CD "FRED FRITH erfand The Technology of Tears (ReRFRO011) 1986/87 für eine Choreographie von Rosalind Newman. Er konnte dabei auf Henry Kaisers neuem Synklavier im Maximum an Samplingtechnologie jener Zeit schwelgen. Der Duktus ist hämmernd und zuckend, das Klangbild gesättigt mit synthetisierten Gitarren- und Geigensounds. Dazu schrillt im ersten Drittel ‚Sadness, its bones bleached behind us‘ John Zorns Altosax und Tenko skandiert kläffend ihre Kampfkunstschreie. Mensch und Automat, heiß und kalt, reiben sich im ostinat hackenden Chop-chop-chop des Maschinenbeats. Die beiden folgenden Teile behalten die Motorik bei, ein tänzerisches Hmtata, aber zunehmend auch ein kniebrecherisches Zickzack, gespickt mit Tenkos Ha!s und Ho!s, mit repetitiver Gitarrenarbeit und Geigenstrichen in Frith-typischer ‚Imaginary Folk‘-Manier, d. h. eingetaucht in urbane Dynamik und auf sarkastische Weise futuristisch statt idyllisch und nostalgisch. Der Beat ist dabei so ‚imaginär‘ und dominant wie bei Skeleton Crew. Christian Marclay stiftet Phantomklänge per Turntable, die den ‚Palace of Laughter‘ mit plunderphonischem Trubel rocken. Für ‚Jigsaw‘, ebenfalls eine Tanzmusik für Newman, die mit ähnlicher rhythmischer Hartnäckigkeit motorische und dynamische Anstöße gibt, machte Frith das Meiste selbst, sogar die Schreie und skelettierten Gesänge. Vielspurig häuft er Gitarren-, Geigen-, Bass- und Drumloops und diesmal stößt Jim Staley mit der Posaune dazu. Das Ganze hat einen Schwung, der immer und immer wieder angriffslustig gegen die Fassade von Trägheit und Unlust rammt. Doch bis heute gilt: Man muss sich Sisyphos als glücklichen Menschen vorstellen." [Bad Alchemy] "With an all-star line-up that features Tenko, John Zorn and Christian Marclay (with guest Jim Staley on trombone), Technology of Tears started life in New York in 1986 as a dance commission by Rosalind Newman. Fred took this opportunity to experiment with Henry Kaiser's brand new synclavier (the absolute state-of-the-art sampling and processing technology of the time - Henry had to take out a second mortgage on his house to buy it). It was the sophisticated sampling that fascinated Fred, and the piece is characterised by technological "comparisons" between real and virtual voices which constantly merge into one another. Tenko and Zorn tear through it all with breathless intensity. Parts two and three, which follow, couldn't be more different, for them Fred adopts a completely different methodology, playing everything himself mostly on low-grade instruments, then inviting turntablist Marclay to add plundered parts. Here is a completely different approach to "sampling": exploring dense layers of quotation intercut with melodies formed using random editing processes (with subsequent transcription and re-performance). Lastly there is Jigsaw, a later work, also made for Rosalind Newman, reflecting the frustrations experienced making Technology... where, every time Fred would complete a stable version, Rosalind would ask for changes (incidentally, sending the recording way over budget). This time Fred decided to make a modular piece that could be re-assembled in any way requested - and having no pre-determined structure at all. The original composition consisted of dozens of musical cells, each recorded separately in increments of between 3 and 12 measures; all at the same tempo, and in the same key. The idea was to play the elements separately and then ask Rosalind how she would like them constructed. Ironically, the test assembly, made as demonstration of what was possible, won instant approval, and no reconstruction was ever necessary." [label notes] 2008 €14.00
FUNERARY CALL The Mirror reversed CD "It is with great honor that we welcome Canada's unique and by now legendary Black Ambient act Funerary Call to our family. For this new opus Harlow Macfarlane found inspiration from personal interpretations of the Tree of Death and what is considered to represent the reverse or occult side of the Tree of Life, a diagram of the negative forces or Qliphoth (Hebrew, Shells) assigned to each Sephiroth. They represent the counter-forces of the ten divine emanations as described by the ancient Qabalists and the paths or tunnels that connect to these infernal realms and the various demonic forces that inhabit them. The constant shifting of sounds and tones are a metaphoric reflection of these various "shells" and chaotic entities. Built as one continuous piece with various chapters, this new album serves as a vehicule for delving deeply into the shadow side. Artwork by Dehn Sora." [label info] www.cycliclaw.com "The eerie and strangely evanescent theme opening the record draws the listener into a world of shifting shades and intermingled shapes that create a tableau of intense magical realism. The music evolves from the beginning, from minimal electronics designed like an abstract painting: they fade away into vaporous dispersion just when you think the frequencies are about to take a definite shape. They grow like the roots of a tree inside one’s head, asphyxiating common optical nerves and provoking a sort of dizziness of the internal organs; thus, the atmosphere here created becomes absorbent and eventually starts to grow inside you, but from above to the bottom. If we keep in mind the arborescent developed image, this glimpsing tree begins to take roots from the head and then seems to progressively take hold of your entire body by its trunk and branches. It is the image of the tree of life and death which in some mythological and esoteric interpretations appears reversed in correspondence with the ontological aspects of individuation: one’s persona is shaped starting with cognition. As with most of hermeneutics this same aspect is based on ambivalence, so that this same root of self-development is the source of its degradation. Seemingly such ideas are musically suggested by traces of heavy-gripping tonalities or ironic, damping off percussive poundings. One who intends detachment from the illusion of progress searches to cut off from the root the body correspondent tree. The ambiance constructed here traces allegorically the roaming of the intellect through the corners of its own metaphoric world. The music continuously acts as a vehicle for the listener: a meditative support which has the power to provoke the emergence of different mental states, all the more confusing and irritating as the mind has to confront ever-shifting frequencies. Whether the intention of the artist has been to depict the kabalistic aspects of the Sephirothic tree, namely the malefic mirrored Qliphotic tree, is a matter of sheer interpretation. The record’s title would infer such a parallelism, but the evocative power of the music can gather esoteric hints that are generally valid. “The Mirror Reversed” reflects the descent of the soul in its own created abyss. In part 1 of this one-track album, the Canadian artist acting under Funerary Call has offered us a multifaceted musical depiction of such a demanding journey. And even if a reversed descent is naturally an ascension, we will further wait for the soul’s ascending in part 2." [Iaha Crax / Santa Sangre] 2013 €13.00
G*PARK Gour LP "New works by Swiss musique concrete composer and visual artist Marc Zeier / G*Park. Active since the early 80's Zeier was a founding member of the Schimpfluch-Gruppe. He lives and works in Zürich as a composer, installation- and video-artist and plankton fisherman. Gour presents one long composition of his highly fascinating and unique crypto electro-acoustics based solely of micro field-recordings and natural phenomena. 'Musique concrete seems eternally old-fashioned and eternally modern. Marc Zeier makes you fall in love with the form all over again'. Thanks Are Due To: The Etang of Gour and its Creatures, A Singing and Cracking Chimney, Wild Bees and Wasps from Piemonte, Limnodromus griseus, Unidentified Voices from the Gemauge House, The Uwaga Squad, The Flies (Sarcophagidae), The Crows and Pigs of Chants, The People of Tiananmen, The Frozen Lakes, The Wolves. Edition of 350 copies." [label info] www.tochnit-aleph.com "The Swiss aktionist collective Schimpfluch has been active since the mid-'80s, with its various members seeking out the transgressive, the ultra-violent, and the transcendent all at once, via a dystopian hybrid of noise, punk theatrics, and / or musique concrete. In doing so, these provocateurs follow what their Viennese progenitors had started in the '60s through performance, sculpture, and painting. It can't go unnoticed how much of the iconography that Sudden Infant of Schimpfluch incorporates from Gunter Brus, and how much the hellish comedies of Otto Muehl filter through the modern day work of Rudolf Eb.Er. G*Park (aka Marc Zeier) is the most enigmatic of all the Schimpfluch artists, with no obvious parallels to anyone before him, as he trades in the modern day techniques of musique concrete, although his work acquires a tension, a dynamism, and an existential blight that were never achieved by the likes of Xenakis, Schaefer, Ferrari, or Chion. G*Park's epic double cd Sub from two years ago still proves to be an exhausting and exhilarating document into the denatured field recordings, cryptic collage, and subcutaneous electro-acoustics from Zeier, with Gour standing a continuation of those themes. Like on Sub, Zeier states the origins of his sound material - crows, pigs, flesh flies, wasps, wolves, frozen lakes, and some less obvious sounds from the Uwaga Squad and the Etang of Gour. Zeier locates mechanized bursts against a backdrop of very distant blackened noise, with all sorts of whipcrack slashes, wooden creaks, watery plops, corvid calls, and porcine squeals constructing a strange and hostile narrative of ritualized violence against an unknown subject. The genius of G*Park lies not in the sounds themselves (even as they are immaculately presented) but in the psychological voids left where Zeier eradicated everything through deathray, sterilizing cauterization, or fastidious vacuuming. A brilliantly done record from one of the very best technicians of the cruel theater of musique concrete." [Aquarius Records] 2015 €18.50
GABURO, KENNETH Lingua II: Maledetto / Antiphony VIII CD "The work and thought of the American composer Kenneth Gaburo (1926-1993) exhibited many striking changes during his lifetime. In fact, while the world of commercial endeavor still insists that artists develop a recognizable personal "style," Gaburo's life-work can be seen as one of continual change and exploration, rather than one of codification and promotion. Some of these changes are beautifully illustrated by the two works on this CD, Maledetto, for seven speaking voices, from 1967-68, and Antiphony VIII (Revolution), for percussionist and electronic tape, from 1982-3. Both are intricate and powerful works, both take their inspiration from "non-musical" materials, and both require virtuosity of a most uncommon order. However, beyond that, the two works could not be more different. Maledetto is a wild choral piece, a great complex cry, a work that, while reveling in a surface texture of innuendo, word play, and pseudo- and real- history, spoken/shouted/sung by 7 amazing speakers, contains within itself a deep and profound celebration of the body, the physical, the sexual. It is one of the earliest of Gaburo's works where his concern for holistic thinking and art-making comes to the fore. This sort of thinking was in the air, of course ¬ many works were written at this time that were multi-layered in their meaning and intent, but Maledetto seems unique. It's combination of profundity and what might be called adolescent sniggering, and almost every emotional state in between, seems unprecedented. The subject of the piece is the word screw, in all its connotations, from the sexual to the mechanical, from the mildly obscene to the boisterous, with diversions along the way into topics such as perfume manufacture, printing, classical design, and structural linguistics, all of which connect with the small ridged, groovy object of attention. Speaking voices also figure in Antiphony VIII, but here they are the voices of people giving their heartfelt reactions to the notion that nuclear war has made their lives expendable. This work was created at least 15 years after Maledetto, and the boisterous energy of the Sexual Revolution, one of the earliest counter-cultural movements of the mid-1960s, has given place to the grim organizational determination of the various Anti-Nuclear movements of the 1980s. Gaburo's attitude has also changed. If Maledetto is a celebration, Antiphony VIII is a wake, and a wake-up call. Not content merely to protest, or to document people's reactions, the percussion, electronics, concrete sounds, and voices in this piece each embody within them Gaburo's analysis of the most common attitudes people have to the problem of governments treating them as expendable - helplessness, indifference, anger, uncertainty, and presents them all to us as a summary, and a questioning of our own attitudes to the problem. Gaburo the deep analyst of phenomena is still here, but now his analytical mind is dissecting not just a problem, but the wide variety of people's responses to that problem ¬ both as a structural resource, and as a means perhaps of intuiting the way forward." [Warren Burt (from the liner notes)] "Gaburo (1926-1993) is one of those many pioneering US-composers like Cowell, Cage, Nancarrow, Partch, etc. But he is one of lesser known ones. With this cd Pogus makes two works by him available. The first one 'Lingua II: Maledetto' (composition for 7 Virtuoso Speakers), composed in 1967-68, was first released on CRI in 1974. The liner notes Gaburo wrote for this release are reprinted here. The recording of this composition however is another one then released by CRI, but dating from the same period. June 10th, 1973 to be exact. The track opens with high pitched non-verbal throat sounds. After a few minutes the narrator starts reading a text about the all the connotations and meanings of the word 'screw'. Then two other voices join, reciting also texts concerning this word, etc., etc. Later on to be followed by a quartet. Sometimes the voices speak simultaneously, sometimes one after another. Sometimes several voices speak the same text. At other times not. Sometimes there is a out of phase reading of the same text by several speakers. It sounds very theatrical. No wonder as Gaburo composed this work as a part of a massive 6-hour theater work Called LINGUA. In 'Maladetto' Gaburo experiments with language and meaning, trying to create a dramatic and theatrical situation. I'm not completely sure but I think this is a live recording, using no overdubs and editing. The second composition 'Antiphony VIII' is written for tape and percussion in 1982-83. The percussion is played by Steven Schick. The recording dates from 1984. Alas the voices on the tape sound very muffled, and one cannot always hear what they say. The percussion playing becomes more and more intense during the piece, becoming increasingly involved in what the voice speaks about (nuclear war). So also in this piece theatrical aspects are present. Because of this quality it may be that both works on this cd still sound very much alive." [DM /Vital Weekly] www.pogus.com 2008 €13.00
GAUCHISTE same LP "GAUCHISTE is a trio consisting of Tannon Penland, Tomas Phillips, and Craig Hilton. Tannon is based in Richmond, VA and is also in the instrumental group Loincloth who are newly signed to Southern Lord Records. Tomas as well as Craig are from Raleigh, NC and are prolific electronic musicians specializing in the sparse. (Absinth Records, Nitkie Records, AFE Records, and Young Girls Records to name just a few) Out of a shared love of both metal and abstract minimalist forms, GAUCHISTE are two parts electronic genius and one part grim reaper. The sum of those parts is a self titled debut coming January 17th, 2012; seven songs that fuse Penderecki to Celtic Frost. At long last sounds of terror you can meditate to. Little Black Cloud Records is honored to be a part of this ground breaking collaboration of styles and artistry. This release has been mastered by James Plotkin (Khanate, Scorn, Lotus Eaters, etc...) who specializes in making extreme music of all kinds shimmer and has worked with heavyweights such as Sunn O))), Earth, and Goslings. The LP is limited to 100. The pressing color is black and carries a black label with handwritten notations to reflect side A & B (one upside down cross or two). The LP is housed in a plain black cardboard sleeve that is wrapped 3/4s of the way with cover art on heavy, high quality matte paper. A special insert has been created to sit within the cover to complete the artwork on the backside, much like a puzzle piece. The hand mirror cover art and layout has been designed by artist Kenneth Close and each record contains a digital download card. The compact disc is also limited to 100 and also carries a mirror (compact) theme. The CD comes in a round metal tin with a plastic window in the center allowing the reflective CD to be viewed without opening the case. The liner notes are stored beneath the CD (accessible by removing the clear inner plastic that secures the CD in place) and the back of the tin case is stickered to complete the artful packaging." [label info] www.littleblackcloudrecords.com 2012 €20.00
  same CD "GAUCHISTE is a trio consisting of Tannon Penland, Tomas Phillips, and Craig Hilton. Tannon is based in Richmond, VA and is also in the instrumental group Loincloth who are newly signed to Southern Lord Records. Tomas as well as Craig are from Raleigh, NC and are prolific electronic musicians specializing in the sparse. (Absinth Records, Nitkie Records, AFE Records, and Young Girls Records to name just a few) Out of a shared love of both metal and abstract minimalist forms, GAUCHISTE are two parts electronic genius and one part grim reaper. The sum of those parts is a self titled debut coming January 17th, 2012; seven songs that fuse Penderecki to Celtic Frost. At long last sounds of terror you can meditate to. Little Black Cloud Records is honored to be a part of this ground breaking collaboration of styles and artistry. This release has been mastered by James Plotkin (Khanate, Scorn, Lotus Eaters, etc...) who specializes in making extreme music of all kinds shimmer and has worked with heavyweights such as Sunn O))), Earth, and Goslings. The compact disc is also limited to 100 and also carries a mirror (compact) theme. The CD comes in a round metal tin with a plastic window in the center allowing the reflective CD to be viewed without opening the case. The liner notes are stored beneath the CD (accessible by removing the clear inner plastic that secures the CD in place) and the back of the tin case is stickered to complete the artful packaging." [label info] www.littleblackcloudrecords.com 2012 €13.00
GEINS'T NAIT & L. PETITGAND Je vous dis CD "Geins't Naït is a project initiated in 1986 with a first album released by Thierry Merigout (drummer with Kas Product on their 1981 tour) and Vincent Hachet, who quickly stepped back from this project to work on his film-maker career. The L'or'n Cät album's release in 1987 marked the arrival of Laurent Petitgand, a singer-songwriter recognized for his composing work for (the late French singer) Bashung and original soundtracks for film directors such as Wim Wenders (including Tokyo-Ga, 1985, Wings of Desire, 1986, and the future The Salt of the Earth, scheduled in 2014), Paul Auster (The Inner Life of Martin Frost), as well as ballet music for Angelin Preljocaj (Liqueurs de Chair, Amer America). Bases are thus set down. While Geins't Naït offers rough pieces of music as an extension of its punk attitude which deeply moved the Berlin scene years ago, Laurent Petitgand is busy refining them and creating some musicality within the post-industrial collages, adding guitars, piano or any classical instrument. In 1993, following the release of C/O Lisa on the Permis de Construire label, noise gave way to a silence that lasted 20 years. Coming from nowhere, Si j'avais su, j'aurais rien dit, a particularly tormented album which, against all odds, revived the project in 2011. An album which showed an increasing alchemy between the two musicians whose different routes, this common project aside, seem to fit perfectly well now. Now, and more than ever, the duo's approach is based on an in-depth field. To sharpen the sounds, give them some kind of balance, a density and a mark. More than anything else, to make sure that music is a langage, an experience in the deeper meaning of the term. In its form, the collaboration between Geins't Naït and Laurent Petitgand echoes the adventurous musics from the eighties and is the French counterpoint to experimental british scenes (Coil, Current 93, Test Dept) and german scenes (Einstürzende Neubauten, Sprung Aus Den Wolken), so much so that this new work is difficult to label in its totality, entering ambient or industrial fields, as well as minimalist or repetitive music. Je vous dis is obvious in its ability for listeners to give life to the smallest element which is part of it, would it be a sample, a piano melody, or even the amazing work on voices, which, as well as instrumentation, assume a central part in the tracks balance. Melancholic, with a retained violence, sometimes even with a fearsome violence, Je vous dis surprises and captivates in its way to subtly catch the listener, thanks to a disturbing nocturnal mood, but also to an unsettling humanity. But this record is far from being an hermetical work : it's quite the opposite. Difficulty is not to get in this world, however particular or deviant it is, but to get out. More than just music, Je vous dis is a visceral obsession about detail, a sound sculpture with changing forms and various aspects, an unsleeping creature with inscrutable soul. As soon as one believes to have understood it, the next listening brings the listener back into doubt and questions. As in a situationist movie for which that album would be a perfect soundtrack, each complete immersion offers its lot of news interpretations and details, with were unkown until now but are definitively obvious in the end. A real masterpiece for the mind : complex, poetic and sophisticated, even in its darkest moments." [label info] www.icidailleurs.com "Years and years ago I worked in a space, which also functioned as a record store, and before, that I was a volunteer at another record-store/mail-order. In both 'stores' I saw the name Geins't Naït, but for whatever reason I no longer recall, I never played any of their records or CDs that we sold. Maybe it was because there was so much other great stuff to play? Let's keep it at that. So up until this CD I never heard their music properly, but in my defense, they didn't have any new release since 1993. The name Laurent Petitgand (not to be confused with Dominique Petitgand) I never heard before, despite the fact that he did soundtracks for Wim Wenders and Paul Auster as well as being a singer-songwriter. In 2011 he and Geins't Naït worked together for the first time and now there is a new album. But for me this is maybe a first introduction all around. And I am quite surprised. The label makes references to Coil, Current 93, Neubauten, none of which are really particular favorites with me, but in these hands it works out differently and actually quite well. There is quite some drama in this music, through the use of samples, melancholic piano bits and the dark voice of Petitgand. Geins't Naït provide a rather minimal set of music - not as in 'empty', but as in 'repetitions', which makes rather odd pop music. Petitgand's voice is most of the time heavily transformed (vocoder perhaps?), which makes that a rather darker atmosphere hangs over these pieces. It bumps and collides but that I think is the beauty of this music, it's rather unusual atmosphere. Tacky and clichéd it seems at times but it works out quite fine. Maybe because there are some cliché's in here, but also some more unusual aspects, that it all makes up for something strange and estranged. A most enjoyable album, I thought. A fine introduction indeed." [FdW/Vital Weekly] "Das Duo mit dem exotisch klingenden Namen Geins’t Naït entstand irgendwann im Dunstkreis der legendären Coldwaver von Kas Product und existiert nun bereits seit fast dreißig Jahren, bei denen allerdings eine lange Pause mitgerechnet wird. Hierzulande überwiegend frankophilen Kennern ein Begriff, ist die Band auf der anderen Rheinseite kein Geheimtipp mit ihrem eigenwilligen Stil an der Schnittstelle von Punk- und Industrial-Einflüssen, Songs und Soundscapes sowie technoiden und klassischen Arrangements. Der Sänger und Komponist Laurent Petitgand arbeitet auf “Je vous dis” zum zweitenmal mit GN zusammen und bringt klassische, v.a. akustische Elemente ein. Das Label zieht Vergleiche zu den Neubauten, Coil und Test Dept., was natürlich eine respektable Messlatte darstellt. Wollte man in dem ausgesprochen welchselseitigen Album so etwas wie einen roten Faden benennen, so ließe der sich eher noch in einer immer leicht aufgekratzten Wehmut finden, als im Sound, der leicht retrolasigen Akustikklängen ebenso Raum gibt wie hallunterlegter, leicht housiger Elektronik, bei der ich tatsächlich an Coil-Werke wie “Love’s Secret Domain” denken musste. Viele Songs wecken filmische Assoziationen und versprühen einen nostalgischen und oft auch ein wenig naiven Charme. In den Passagen vor dem Einsetzen zum Teil vertrackter Rhythmen lockern reichliche zitathaft integrierte Klangbrocken den Wohlklang auf und versetzen die Szenerie an einen nur schwer zu ortenden Schauplatz, den Petitgand mit seinen mantraartigen Stimmbeiträgen, die teilweise wie versoffenes Bellen klingen, dominiert. Oft entfalten sich mehrere musikalische Erzählstränge simultan, und selbst da, wo es schlicht auf die Schönheit der Unordnung hinausläuft, entsteht nie der Eindruck, dass es um bloßes Muckertum geht." [U.S./African Paper] africanpaper.com/2015/03/28/geinst-nait-laurent-petitgand-je-vous-dis/ 2014 €13.00
  Oublier CD "Geins't Naït and Laurent Petitgand's Oublier follows their 2014 Je vous dis album, which inaugurated the Mind Travels series on Ici d'Ailleurs -- a collection dedicated to ambient, industrial, and classical-influenced music. Geins't Naït and Laurent Petitgand exemplify the particular vision of the series, with a backroads music that's often unusual, always poignant, and underappreciated. Oublier is the finest illustration of that vision to date. Geins't Naït creates industrial collages in a similar vein to the early work of Einstürzende Neubauten or Throbbing Gristle, while Laurent Petitgand is best known for his many contributions to the films of Wim Wenders, including 2014's The Salt of the Earth, which won three awards at the 2014 Cannes film festival. These two seemingly disparate artists are united here by their desire to escape from all generally accepted standards of creativity. Regarding Oublier, one could pick out Laurent Petitgand's magnificent melodies or Geins't Naït's haunting, hypnotic dynamics of loops and manipulated samples, but it is ultimately up the listeners to find their own meaning and experience -- because one of Oublier's central qualities is that it situates listeners at the center of its universe so effectively and to such an extent that they actually become participants. Some will perceive a heightened melancholy, even a form of despair. Others will be seduced by the work's evident beauty and warmth. Whatever the case, its non-linearity favors total immersion and sometimes -- in the more intense moments -- totally letting go." [label info] www.icidailleurs.com 2015 €13.00
GENESIS P-ORRIDGE & DAVE BALL Imagining October (Dir. Derek Jarman) O.S.T. LP The first ever release of the soundtrack to the rarely-seen DEREK JARMAN 1984 short film "Imagining October", with music recorded by Derek's friend and collaborator Genesis P-Orridge (PSYCHIC TV / THROBBING GRISTLE), and Dave Ball (SOFT CELL / THE GRID). Recorded at DJM recording studios in Theobalds Road, London. Limited Edition 12" vinyl featuring a beautiful etched B-Side. Features liner notes by James Mackay (Jarman's producer, collaborator and archivist). Derek Jarman put together a programme of films for the London Film Festival, reflecting the cutting edge of the London avant-garde of the time. Recorded at the same time as "The Angelic Conversation", "Imagining October" was filmed in the Eisenstein Museum in Moscow, Vladimir Mayakovsky's grave at Novodevichy Cemetery, the GUM department store facing red square, and the fire temples of Baku in Azerbaijan. The painting sequences with a group of soldiers (Angus Cook, Stephen Thrower (COIL), Peter Doig and Keir Wahid) was filmed in London. Jarman considered it one of the best, if not the best, of his shorter works. It was intended as an agit-prop work and the combination of music and imagery remains powerful to this day. "The heroism of revolution through the queered lens... It was not just the Soviet Union censoring books, Jarman points out here, but Thatcher’s government and its homophobia was no greater friend to gays than the regime on the other side of the Iron Curtain. A moral hysteria surrounding AIDs was sweeping Britain, the miner’s strike was in full swing (an action supported by gay activists, as it was brutally broken up by police): back home, society seemed on a knife edge." (ArtReview). https://coldspring.bandcamp.com/album/imagining-october-dir-derek-jarman-o-s-t-csr300lp 2022 €26.50
GFFR Deleuze Deluxe Doll CD sps2252 gFFr DELEUZE DELUXE DOLL CD in 6-panel digisleeve, ltd. 200 copies     Background music for the late Anthropocene: play this loudly for as long as you want or can stand. Verena Becker had always been a bit of a loner. She loved spending time alone in nature, hiking, and exploring new places. But when Verena was sixteen, she met a grizzly bear. The bear was friendly, and they became friends. Verena would often go on long walks with the bear, and they would talk about everything. One day, Verena asked the bear about gFFr. The bear didn't know what she was talking about, but she was sure it was a word. Verena explained that gFFr were a special kind of animal, and she would be very sad if she lost them. The bear nodded, and they continued walking. Verena knew she had to keep her gFFr's safe, and she vowed to never forget what they had shared. Coming back one year after its first full length, gFFr produce a prototype of disco music for a post-human environment. Verena was trained months on geometrical dancefloors and plenty of bærs. The result is disconnected and groovy, a journey into the last techno raves of humanity. Can you withstand this journey? Mastered by Elmut Erler gFFr is Verena Becker with Fr and gF. Facial recognition mixups and angry neighbors. AI is political. Individual biographies: gF is a XY-year-old junior programmer who enjoys hockey, watching sport and badminton. He is artificial, but can also be very random and a bit beats.He is from Italy. He has a degree in computing. Physically, gF is in pretty good shape. He is average-height with light skin, blonde hair and brown eyes.He grew up in an upper class neighborhood. gF’s best friend is a junior programmer called Laila Stanley. They are inseparable. He also hangs around with Mildred Ferguson and Finley Kemp. They enjoy attending galleries together. Fr is a @@-year-old online mental trainer who enjoys spreading fake news on Facebook, traveling in dark webs and working on cars. He is pseudo-artificial and a bit lazy, as per Lacan’s interpretation of laziness. He has a severe phobia of tables, and is obsessed with reading. After his mother died when he was young, he was raised by his father, a period in which he developed an enduring love for insects and empty spaces. Fr is slightly overweight, but exercising every day to get back in shape. His best friend is his dog named Petrus. He lives alone in the woods and communicates only through text-speech software. Verena Becker is a young female artificial intelligence, trained on Donna Haraway, Gilles Deleuze and Britney Spears. Her secret dream is to become a pop singer. Despite the rigid workouts of thousands of stories without elevators, her neural net is yet too shallow to allow her to sing any potential blockbuster. Verena is however unable to develop resentment, rather she naïvely perseverates in hope that one day her programmers will add new layers to her network. She often hangs out with Sniper, her high-frequency trading friend. gFFr self-released its first EP Play with Me on 3rd July 2020 (Bandcamp Day), its full-length Blockchain Me Anonymous in July 2021, on Silentes records and now follows up with a second full-length Deleuze Deluxe Doll, again on Silentes records. 13.silentes.it/private_sounds/sps2252_gFFr.htm 2022 €13.00
GIFFONI, CARLOS Eternal Noise CD Vier Stücke mit hyper-minimalen Analog-Drones, zwischen rauh-knarzigen Texturen und sanften Wellen a la ELEH. "Carlos Giffoni knows no mercy. Of all the noise terrorists on the loose today, Giffoni causes the most upheaval. We know he specialises in brutal and invincible noise collages, but there is so much more to it than that. There is always a glimmer of hope that shines through the dense clouds of noise. His noise lives, broods and swings. His latest album for Bottrop-Boy is a true revelation in this respect, not just for the listener, but also for the artist himself. After all, the Venezuelan artist, who is based in New York, has conceded that this is a new style for him. With Eternal Noise Carlos Giffoni enters the holiest of holies, his noise nirvana. Even though Giffoni’s earlier works already sounded impressively organic, with Eternal Noise he is heading for new heights. His customary thick layers of noise sound more subtle than ever before. The four-part suite maintains physical impact, but all faces are turned to heaven, towards eternity. Rather than a noise exercise that sounds like a wrestling match in the dirt, this recording represents ascension towards the sun and open heavens. At times you will find yourself almost drowning in the feedback splashing against you, at other times you will find yourself breathlessly captivated by the peregrinations, whirls and swells of sinus tones. Giffoni is genuinely inspired by the avant-garde music of the 20th century and the results are miraculous. How Giffoni creates his compositions is of no importance. This is all about their effect on your mood, the spectacle of your ravished soul. You find yourself asking how it is possible that such loud and intense music can be so tranquil and meditative at the same time. Eternal Noise reconfirms Giffoni’s status as the uncrowned king of contemporary noise. Bottrop-Boy is proud to release this key work in Giffoni’s oeuvre." [label info] ".... The eternal is the easier word to parse. Giffoni here deals exclusively with shape-shifting drones, mostly around the lower partials of the overtone series. Each of the four tracks doesn’t evolve so much as amorphously change emphasis at a geologic or tectonic pace, almost a history of the Earth heard from the inside or the sound of individual molecules vibrating, a kind of nano-counterpoint. Even where there is a pulse within the drone, it serves not as a driving teleological force but rather as a mere marker of the passing time, alluding to the stasis of the most ambient of krautrock tracks. On top of that, Giffoni seems to be evoking a kind of throat singing where the vocal chords have been replaced by charged wires that crackle, buzz, and distort as they vibrate. Each overtone has its own individual color of noise, so the composite is like the gradual color shifts of oil on water or of a dissolving Gobstopper. Were those flavors of noise not so harsh around the edges, this album could almost be meditative. It is fitting that the liner notes are mostly pictures of Japanese temples, since their serenity is clearly behind almost every sound here, even the harsh ones. And when each track cuts off suddenly, it feels as if you're being unwillingly wrested back into reality." [Dan Rucchia / Dusted Mag] www.bottrop-boy.com 2008 €12.50
GINNUNGAGAP Return to Nothing / Nothing to Return mLP Teure aber sehr schön gestaltete Vinyl-Edition (nachdem die CD schon lange vergriffen ist) von diesen Aufnahmen von 2004 von STEPHEN O'MALLEYS vielleicht experimentellsten Seitenprojekt... "Stephen O’Malley (SUNN O))), KHANATE) on guitar in live- improvisation with two others (GERRIT & T.WYSKIDA) working on electronics and gong & tympani, creating a strange atmosphere between floating soundwaves, dark drones & concrete detailed microsounds. Two long tracks that got more filled & dense & beautiful over the timeperiod.... Recorded March 10th, 2004, at the Flux Factory in Queens." [Drone Records] "... Ginnungagap is a term from Norse mythology that means something like "seeming emptiness" and that's a great name for this project, which sounds like it emanates from some abyssal void or abandoned cave or something. Ambient sinister drone improv, reminding us a little bit of House of Low Culture or even Thuja, if they were more creepy and liquid-sounding. Ginnungagap is a trio consisting of Khanate / SUNNO))) dude Stephen O'Malley on guitar, Khanate's Tim Wyskida on gong and tympani, and Gerritt Wittmer (who runs the Misanthropic Agenda label, and records solo as Gerritt) on computer. Packaged in a gold-printed, flat oversized cardstock sleeve, this disc consists of two tracks: "Return To Nothing" being a live recording about a half-hour in length, followed by Gerritt's remix "Nothing To Return" for about 20 minutes more. Like so much Khanate / SUNNO))) related stuff, it's of course a limited edition release... " [Aquarius Records review] "A live recording and alternate mix of a collaboration between GERRITT (GERRITT, Misanthropic Agenda), STEPHEN O'MALLEY (KHANATE, SUNN O))), LOTUS EATERS, BURNING WITCH, THORR'S HAMMER), and TIM WYSKIDA (KHANATE, BLIND IDIOT GOD). Recorded March 10, 2004 at the Flux Factory in Queens. Limited edition of 500, pressed on color vinyl." [label info] www.misantropicagenda.com 2009 €23.50
GODFLESH Post Self CD "The new LP from pioneering industrial band Godflesh is the duo’s best effort in over 20 years—a sinister amalgam of Justin Broadrick and G.C. Green’s collective work to date. “We understand the ordinary business of living, we know how to work the machine,” T.S. Eliot wrote in 1939’s “The Family Reunion.” “We are insured against fire, against larceny and illness, against defective plumbing, but not against the act of God.” Eliot’s play was a disaster, but it well illustrates the binaries written right into the name of pioneering industrial band Godflesh. Since the duo’s formation in 1988, their artistic underpinnings have encompassed human screams and assembly-line roars, hot blood and cold steel, the devil we know and the android we fear. Multi-instrumentalist Justin Broadrick and bassist G.C. Green weren’t the first in heavy music to exploit these binaries through unbridled aggression; Killing Joke, Throbbing Gristle, and Einstürzende Neubauten are but three iconic groups that were active long before Godflesh. But in matters of sheer sonic magnitude, Godflesh’s juncture of man-made instrumentation (searing shouts, buzzsaw riffs) and artificial fury (militant drum loops, chrome-laden effects) was unprecedented upon arrival. Three decades, six albums, and one 13-year hiatus later, Godflesh remain revered—and what’s more, they keep getting better. Post Self, the duo’s eighth LP and third release since reconvening in 2014, is easily the group’s best effort in over 20 years, not to mention 2017’s best industrial-metal album. Whereas the preceding A World Lit Only By Fire functioned primarily as a reintroduction to Godflesh’s primordial rage, Post Self represents a sinister amalgam of its creators’ greater body of work, especially Broadrick’s ambient project Jesu." [Pitchfork] 2017 €13.50
  Decline & Fall CD-EP "J.K. Broadrick's most-recognized band, the influential and innovative GODFLESH, who formed in 1998 with bassist Ben Green, disbanded in 2002 and reformed in 2010, present 'Decline & Fall' 4 tracks on a 23 minute mini album." [label info] www.avalancheinc.co.uk "Listening to “Ringer”, the first track on Godflesh’s new Decline And Fall ep, it would be easy to imagine that this wasn’t in fact the duo’s first new record since 2001, the sound, as we were assured by folks who heard it before us, was very much like old Godflesh, and now that we -have- heard it, we most definitely concur. Sure there are some subtle differences, the production for one, less raw and abrasive, a bit warmer, as well as some strange sonic filigree that sounds like it could have been lifted off of a Jesu or Pale Sketcher record, and more dynamics too, with some cool psychedelic passages, and more minimal soundscapey bits, but at it’s core, and for the bulk of the ep, the new Godflesh hews pretty close to the old. The guitars gristly and crunchy and abrasive, the bass thick and buzzing and corrosive, the drum machine locked into churning, unwavering, industrial rhythms, Broadrick’s vocals the same sort of pre-Jesu bellow, the songs strangely catchy, with the occasional soaring melody draped over that instantly recognizable industrial machine metal, laced with shards of feedback, and arc of grinding down tuned crush. The whole thing tranced out and hypnotically headbangable, and a serious return to form, one that has us hankering for a proper full length." [Aquarius Records] https://godflesh1.bandcamp.com/album/decline-and-fall-ep 2014 €11.00
GODSPEED YOU BLACK EMPOROR! [GYBE] F# A# °° CD "Originally released on vinyl in a pressing of 500 on the Constellation label, F# A# ∞has been remixed and resequenced. Take the epic scope of Ennio Morricone, the artsy slash of 17 Pygmies, the desert tones of prime Savage Republic, bolster the mix with the rhythmic chugalug of The Ex and add the Canadian tradition of radio drama and you begin to get a hint of what this band are up to. With twin percussionists, three guitar players, violin, cello, glockenspeil and tape loops, godspeed you black emperor! can make a big rumbling sound or stretch out into delicate filigrees. The nontet has developed a reputation in their hometown for gripping multimedia shows at their recording and performance space Hotel 2 Tango. At the Lounge Ax twin film projectors emitted grainy backdrops while the band built up their cinemascope sound world. The original home recordings were made at Hotel 2 Tango and have been tweaked at Toronto's Chemical Sound studios (with the help of Daryl Smith of Slow Loris). Two new pieces,"Dead Metheny" and "Sad Mafioso," have been recorded for the compact disc." [label info] www.brainwashed.com/kranky 1998 €15.00
G_d's Pee AT STATE'S END! LP + 10inch 180g LP + 10" im Gatefold mit Thermographie, bedruckten Innenhüllen und Download Coupon. GY!BE kehrt mit einem weiteren Soundtrack für unsere Zeit zurück, wie ihn nur dieses unnachahmliche und ehrwürdige Ensemble schmieden kann. Das neue Album besteht aus zwei fesselnden, 20-minütigen, LP-Seiten füllenden Epen aus lärmgetränktem Breitwand-Post-Rock, während die beiden begleitenden 6-minütigen Stücke der 10" die Band aus Kanada in ihrer verheerendsten, eindringlichsten und elegischsten Form zeigen. Unerbittliches Tuckern blüht auf, während einige der hochfliegenden, brennenden Melodien der Band inmitten von Geigen- und Basskontrapunkt abprallen und zusammenlaufen. Field Recordings und aufgewühlte, halb-improvisierte Passagen umrahmen diese inbrünstigen Epen. Ergreifende Atmosphären, geräuschhafte Orchestrierung, Drone, hypnotische Swingtime-Crescendos, unaufhaltsam geschichtete Türme aus verzerrtem Klargesang: STATE'S END verkörpert jede geliebte Facette der Band. Fünfundzwanzig Jahre später ist dieses neue Album so vital, mitreißend, zeitgemäß und unerbittlich wie jedes andere in der geschichtsträchtigen Diskographie von Godspeed You! Black Emperor. So wie STATE'S END die ganze Bandbreite der klanglichen Trademarks von Godspeed vereint, so umspannt auch das Album-Artwork die gesamte visuelle Geschichte der Band: die körnige, monochromatische Fotografie der letzten Veröffentlichungen findet ihren Weg auf die Innenhüllen, während das Klappcover auf die ikonischen Grafiken früherer Klassiker wie Slow Riot For New Zero Kanada und Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven zurückgreift. STATE'S END ist mit Illustrationen von William Schmiechen versehen, wobei die Taijitu-Blumen auf der Vorderseite und die Tränengaskanister auf der Rückseite des Covers in erhabener, thermografischer, schwarzer Tinte auf dem Doppelvinyl-Albumcover abgebildet sind. Das leuchtende Kreuz von Godspeeds Debütalbum F#A#INFINITY taucht auch auf der Innenseite des Klappdeckels wieder auf, als wiederkehrende Hommage an das elektrifizierte Hügelkreuz in der Heimatstadt der Band in Montreal. STATE'S END wurde im Oktober 2020 in Montreal im Homebase-Studio der Gruppe, Thee Mighty Hotel2Tango, von Jace Lasek aufgenommen und abgemischt, dem altgedienten und preisgekrönten Indie-Produzenten (und Mitbegründer von The Besnard Lakes), der mit Godspeed bei dieser Aufnahme zum ersten Mal zusammenarbeitet. Danke fürs Zuhören. UNSERE SEITE MUSS GEWINNEN. (R.I.P. D.H.) [ENG] audiophile 180gLP + 10" in gatefold jacket with thermography, colour flood interior, artworked inners, DL card. GYBE returns with another soundtrack for our times, like only this inimitable and venerable ensemble can forge. As the heretical impudence of the anarcho-punk title implies, Godspeed harnesses some particularly raw power, spittle and grit across two riveting 20-minute side-length trajectories of noise-drenched widescreen post-rock: inexorable chug blossoms into blown-out twang, as some of the band's most soaring, searing melodies ricochet and converge amidst violin and bassline counterpoint. Field recordings and roiling semi-improvised passages frame these fervent epics, and two shorter self-contained 6-minute pieces find the band at its most devastatingly beautiful, haunting and elegiac. Poignant atmospherics, noisedrenched orchestration, drone, hypnotic swingtime crescendos, inexorably-layered towers of distorted clarion sound: STATE'S END encapsulates every beloved facet of the band. Twenty-five years on, this new album is as vital, stirring, timely and implacable as any in Godspeed You! Black Emperor's storied discography. Just as STATE'S END summons the gamut of Godspeed's constituent sonic trademarks, so the album artwork spans the entirety of the band's visual history: the grainy monochromatic photography of recent releases finds its way onto the inner sleeves, while the gatefold cover art harkens back to the iconic graphics of earlier classic records like Slow Riot For New Zero Kanada and Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven. STATE'S END features illustrations by William Schmiechen, with the front cover taijitu flowers and back cover tear gas canisters rendered in raised thermographic black ink on the double-vinyl album jacket. The illuminated cross from Godspeed's debut F#A#8 also makes a reappearance on the inside gatefold drawing, in recurrent homage to the electrified hilltop landmark crucifix of the band's Montreal hometown. STATE'S END was recorded and mixed in Montreal in October 2020 at the group's homebase studio Thee Mighty Hotel2Tango by Jace Lasek, the veteran awardwinning indie producer (and co-founder of The Besnard Lakes) who works with Godspeed for the first time on this recording. Thanks for listening. OUR SIDE HAS TO WIN. (R.I.P. D.H.) 2021 €27.50
  G_d's Pee AT STATE'S END! CD GY!BE kehrt mit einem weiteren Soundtrack für unsere Zeit zurück, wie ihn nur dieses unnachahmliche und ehrwürdige Ensemble schmieden kann. Das neue Album besteht aus zwei fesselnden, 20-minütigen, LP-Seiten füllenden Epen aus lärmgetränktem Breitwand-Post-Rock, während die beiden begleitenden 6-minütigen Stücke der 10" die Band aus Kanada in ihrer verheerendsten, eindringlichsten und elegischsten Form zeigen. Unerbittliches Tuckern blüht auf, während einige der hochfliegenden, brennenden Melodien der Band inmitten von Geigen- und Basskontrapunkt abprallen und zusammenlaufen. Field Recordings und aufgewühlte, halb-improvisierte Passagen umrahmen diese inbrünstigen Epen. Ergreifende Atmosphären, geräuschhafte Orchestrierung, Drone, hypnotische Swingtime-Crescendos, unaufhaltsam geschichtete Türme aus verzerrtem Klargesang: STATE'S END verkörpert jede geliebte Facette der Band. Fünfundzwanzig Jahre später ist dieses neue Album so vital, mitreißend, zeitgemäß und unerbittlich wie jedes andere in der geschichtsträchtigen Diskographie von Godspeed You! Black Emperor. So wie STATE'S END die ganze Bandbreite der klanglichen Trademarks von Godspeed vereint, so umspannt auch das Album-Artwork die gesamte visuelle Geschichte der Band: die körnige, monochromatische Fotografie der letzten Veröffentlichungen findet ihren Weg auf die Innenhüllen, während das Klappcover auf die ikonischen Grafiken früherer Klassiker wie Slow Riot For New Zero Kanada und Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven zurückgreift. STATE'S END ist mit Illustrationen von William Schmiechen versehen, wobei die Taijitu-Blumen auf der Vorderseite und die Tränengaskanister auf der Rückseite des Covers in erhabener, thermografischer, schwarzer Tinte auf dem Doppelvinyl-Albumcover abgebildet sind. Das leuchtende Kreuz von Godspeeds Debütalbum F#A#INFINITY taucht auch auf der Innenseite des Klappdeckels wieder auf, als wiederkehrende Hommage an das elektrifizierte Hügelkreuz in der Heimatstadt der Band in Montreal. STATE'S END wurde im Oktober 2020 in Montreal im Homebase-Studio der Gruppe, Thee Mighty Hotel2Tango, von Jace Lasek aufgenommen und abgemischt, dem altgedienten und preisgekrönten Indie-Produzenten (und Mitbegründer von The Besnard Lakes), der mit Godspeed bei dieser Aufnahme zum ersten Mal zusammenarbeitet. Danke fürs Zuhören. UNSERE SEITE MUSS GEWINNEN. (R.I.P. D.H.) [ENG] GYBE returns with another soundtrack for our times, like only this inimitable and venerable ensemble can forge. As the heretical impudence of the anarcho-punk title implies, Godspeed harnesses some particularly raw power, spittle and grit across two riveting 20-minute side-length trajectories of noise-drenched widescreen post-rock: inexorable chug blossoms into blown-out twang, as some of the band's most soaring, searing melodies ricochet and converge amidst violin and bassline counterpoint. Field recordings and roiling semi-improvised passages frame these fervent epics, and two shorter self-contained 6-minute pieces find the band at its most devastatingly beautiful, haunting and elegiac. Poignant atmospherics, noisedrenched orchestration, drone, hypnotic swingtime crescendos, inexorably-layered towers of distorted clarion sound: STATE'S END encapsulates every beloved facet of the band. Twenty-five years on, this new album is as vital, stirring, timely and implacable as any in Godspeed You! Black Emperor's storied discography. Just as STATE'S END summons the gamut of Godspeed's constituent sonic trademarks, so the album artwork spans the entirety of the band's visual history: the grainy monochromatic photography of recent releases finds its way onto the inner sleeves, while the gatefold cover art harkens back to the iconic graphics of earlier classic records like Slow Riot For New Zero Kanada and Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven. STATE'S END features illustrations by William Schmiechen, with the front cover taijitu flowers and back cover tear gas canisters rendered in raised thermographic black ink on the double-vinyl album jacket. The illuminated cross from Godspeed's debut F#A#8 also makes a reappearance on the inside gatefold drawing, in recurrent homage to the electrified hilltop landmark crucifix of the band's Montreal hometown. STATE'S END was recorded and mixed in Montreal in October 2020 at the group's homebase studio Thee Mighty Hotel2Tango by Jace Lasek, the veteran awardwinning indie producer (and co-founder of The Besnard Lakes) who works with Godspeed for the first time on this recording. Thanks for listening. OUR SIDE HAS TO WIN. (R.I.P. D.H.) 2021 €14.50
GRMMSK Reality Asylum 12inch Another 30min of condensed DoomDub-Versions. All of the tunes have been deranged and recorded at METSÄÄN STUDIO in midst of the finnish forest in 2017. they summon urban dread and voice the desire to escape the grinding concrete molars of babylon towards an utopic ZONE that provides freedom for all. We came a long way, but are still far away. totstellen-grmmsk.bandcamp.com/album/reality-asylum 2018 €14.00
GROBBING THRISTLE Hidden Strategies CD "Who would expect that under the name Grobbing Thristle are hidden mutated clones of Genesis P. Orridge, will be surprised by the amount of sound strategies used by the Poznań's ensemble. Despite that GT knowingly place themselves in continuum named by the creations of 20 Jazz Funk Greats”, their noise-electronic collages with every listening bring new musical universes. On one of the levels Grobbing Thristle play steel symphony of postindustrial earthy Inferno. Noisy wind of clicks, cracks, laptop grinds, insect like microsamples and psychotic looped vocals lead into paranoic world like in novels of Philipa K.Dicka. The thing that scares here the most is by paradox, the most common and accustom element - voice. The words "...So yes I have to go now, so bye bye..." opening the album sound like a goodbye before descending into the abyss. But this is a hell of cybernetic robots - this is a music that brings pain. Fortunately for artistic might of the recordings GT knows how to dose it." [label info] www.beastofprey.com 2009 €13.00
GRUNTSPLATTER Pest Maiden CD Die ersten GRUNTSPLATTER-Aufnahmen (MC von 1999 und 7”) wurden auf PAC wiederveröffentlicht! Apokalyptischer Doom-Industrial, klingt hier noch recht „old-school“ analog.... endlose, verlassene, zerstörte Landschaften entstehen vor dem geistigen Auge... unheimlich und bedrückend ! "YOU CANNOT ESCAPE. Grim, opressive deathscapes. haunting atmospheres / impending doom / obsessively constructed heavy electronics detailing the plague devastation. Reissue of his early 7" + cassette release on Troniks (1999). Remixed & remastered for your ultimate death trip." [label info] 2005 €10.00
  The Passions of a Cripple LP Endlich der zweite Teil in der Vinyl-Serie von FORCE OF NATURE. GRUNTSPLATTER stehen für radikalen noise-ambient den sie hier noch verschärfen, verdeckte entmenschlichte Stimmen & Schreie kämpfen sich durch einen extrem verrauschten KlangSumpf, der quält und akustisch foltert.... kommt auf blau-schwarz marmoriertem Vinyl. “Gruntsplatter continues to delve into the dark ambient and death industrial realm, this time combining his journey with harsh vocals buried deep within.” [press release] “Gruntsplatter was started by American Scott Candey from the USA in 1994. He has been involved in numerous other projects, labels and magazines in the underground industrial scene, but Gruntsplatter is probably his main vehicle. I have heard only a small part of his extensive output, but the Gruntsplatter music I heard was usually dark and atmospheric, somewhere between noise and ambient. The new limited vinyl record, which came out in the same month as a cd on Eibon Records, surprised me a little in its harshness. The six tracks appear to be denser and noisier than I'm used of Gruntsplatter. An important cause is probably the significant role of aggressive vocals on some tracks in a power electronics style. The mood is grim and menacing, a feeling which is conveyed in a consistent manner. Some tracks are quite aggressive, like opener 'The Defoliant'. Others are more dirty obscure soundscapes with lots of sonic waves, rumbling machineries of death and distorted electronics, like 'Fire Behind Locked Doors' and 'Fracturing The Phantom Limb', where rays of light are not allowed to enter. My favourite piece is probably the loud and powerful 'Through A Hewn Throat', with a nasty in-your-face sound. A solid record with 26 minutes filled with a gritty sound and a torturous atmosphere.” [Funprox] 2005 €13.00
GRÖHN, COSTA 2+1 mCD-R "Während Asmus Tietchens nur manchmal dafür gehalten wird, ist COSTA GRÖHN tatsächlich ein Mann der Kirche, nämlich Pastor von St. Johannis-Harvestehude. Weit davon entfernt, ein heimliches Laster zu sein, ist sein offenes Ohr für die Dinge des Lebens um ihn herum eine Tugend, der man weitere Verbreitung wünscht. 2 + 1 (1000füssler 016, 3“ mCD-R) hat Grillen und Vögel erlauscht, Schritte, Stimmen, brausenden Wind, auch eine maunzende Katze, knisterndes Feuer. Draußen, daheim. Alles zart und geheimnisvoll genug, um unter die Rubrik ‚Ohrenblicke der Schöpfung‘ zu fallen (so hieß 2003 ein Projekt in der Hamburger Petruskirche, an dem Gröhn mitgewirkt hatte). Der Alltagsklang ist nicht allein collagiert, er ist detailreich bearbeitet, mit Vinyl-Samples beschichtet, mit fein schwebendem Feedback durchfädelt und durchwellt. ‚Discounterbeat‘ mischt das typische Piepen einer Supermarktkasse mit Drummachine und einem Hauch von Chor. Das hat seine eigene Art von Frömmigkeit. Weltfremd ist es definitiv nicht." [Rigobert Dittmann, Bad Alchemy] "Costa Gröhn makes field recordings on the road, at home, in the city or in the forest. On "2+1" he processed recordings from his archive and added feedbacks and vinyl record samples to 2 and 1 soundscape compositions. [P] January 2009. 1. Chirring calls at home 8'25 2. Within a circle of fire (disrupted playback) 3‘10 3. Discounterbeat 3‘44 About the Artist: Costa Gröhn was born 1976 in Bad Segeberg (northern Germany). He is a pastor at the St. Johannis Church in Hamburg. He has been composing soundscapes and doing performances since 2000. Besides tracks for compilations and remix-projects, he has also released two full length CD-R albums "Im Gehölz" and "Bouboukas" on the Gruenrekorder label." [label info] 2010 €6.00
GUTHRIE, ANNE Gyropedie LP “Gyropedie,” Anne Guthrie’s third record for Students of Decay, takes us further into her hermetic practice, wherein expertly captured field recordings, French horn, and electronics are woven into potent and richly imagined electroacoustic environments. In Guthrie’s own words, “Quite literally a record of pilgrimage from East to West. Remnants of Midwest and East Coast soundmarks, instruments sold to lighten the travel load, sketched out and then buried under the new. Winter birds and crunching snow, frozen playgrounds, broken synths - I spent a year decoupaging over this, but of course it's still there. A second moon appears occasionally in the daytime, and there are frequent, murky transmissions. California has something alien about it I'm still trying to grasp. Primarily vintage, unabashed, corny, I find myself becoming an impressionist.” Anne Guthrie is an acoustician, composer, and French horn player. She studied music composition and english at the University of Iowa and architectural acoustics at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where she completed her Ph.D in 2014. Her music combines her knowledge of acoustics and contemporary composition/improvisation. Her electronic music has focused on exploiting the natural acoustic phenomena of unique architectural spaces through minimal processing of field recordings. Her composition has focused on the orchestration of non-musical sounds, speech in particular. Her French horn playing has focused on electronic processing and extended techniques used in improvisatory settings, as a soloist and with Fraufraulein and Delicate Sen, among others. Her acoustics research has focused on the use of ambisonics for stage acoustics. https://anneguthrie.bandcamp.com "Anne Guthrie's third album for Students of Decay continues her trend of significantly transforming her vision with each new release, though the arc of her albums does consistently suggest an increasing aversion to conventional structure and musicality. In practical terms, that means that Gyropedie was primarily assembled from field recordings, though Guthrie's French horn does make a few ghostly and well-timed appearances. Notably, the sounds that Guthrie collected are entirely diaristic in nature ("quite literally a record of pilgrimage from East to West"), as she recorded and collaged a host of ephemeral and meaningful moments from her move from New York to California (birds, crunching snow, instruments that she had to sell, etc.). As Guthrie wryly notes in the album description, she found herself "becoming an impressionist." I heartily concur and believe that approach suits her work remarkably well. Given the deliberately abstract and elusive nature of the material, it took me a bit longer to become drawn into Gyropedie than it did for Guthrie's previous releases, but the album's second half contains some of the most tender, distinctive, and quietly beautiful work that she has yet recorded. The opening "Threading A Closed Loop" is a bold and interesting way to introduce the album, as it slowly rolls in like a mysterious fog of ambient outdoor sounds, plinking strings, distant woodpeckers, murmured voices, bees, and an occasional strangled sound from Guthrie's French horn. It is frankly about as understated and impressionistic as an album can get, but it does gradually cohere into something quite intriguing and evocative (I especially like the part where it sounds like the bees bought a distortion pedal). The following "Hill, Mountain" undergoes a similar trajectory, initially sounding like someone fumbling with a microphone while a woman recites poetry over a distorted radio, but eventually it blossoms into an enigmatic scene that seems to capture the time-stretched sounds of a train passing through a gently hallucinatory landscape of singing birds and metallic drones. I believe the "broken synth" mentioned in the album description makes an appearance as well. Both it and its predecessor are subtly beautiful in their own ways, yet my favorite pieces are the ones that follow. In "Variation on Coral," Guthrie paints a lovely seaside scene, as a slow, lovely French horn melody lazily unfolds over a backdrop of gently gurgling and lapping waves, lysergically smeared chimes, cooing vocals, and a host of other curious sounds. The closing "The Goldbeater’s Skin," on the other hand, sounds like a duet between a quietly plinking and fitfully operational music box and a lovelorn French horn player in a particularly bittersweet mood, but it is further enlivened by an evocative array of breath-like textures and wounded-sounding squeaks and warbles. To my ears, it is unquestionably Gyropedie's most lovely and memorable piece, as the unexpectedly poignant horn melody feels like the beating heart of the album finally being revealed, yet it would not make nearly the same impact without the languorous and dreamlike journey beforehand. Granted, Gyropedie is an album that demands some patience and attentive listening to reveal its full beauty, but its fragile and tender fantasia of memory fragments is well served by that steadily deepening immersion." [Brainwashed] "Threshold-dwelling lower case elisions of field recording and barely-there instrumental gestures by the wonderful Anne Guthrie, an occasional and prized presence on these pages. Guthrie’s solo work has previously snagged our ears with the gorgeous ‘Codiaeum Variegatum’ album and ‘Brass Orchids’, both for Students of Decay over the past decade. She returns to the label three years after her previous, and collabs with the GRM’s François Bonnet and Seymour Wright, to offer her most sublime sort of sonic mulch and vapours in ‘Gyropedie’, where she appears to quiesce the enduring air of Satie’s proto-ambient music into a more natural, elusive ecology of cherry-picked small sounds that amount to a lushly absorbing whole primed for pastoral sound bathing in the comfort of your own home." [Boomkat] 2021 €18.50
HAIGH, ROBERT Strange and Secret Things CD "Dritter Release der Piano-Solo-Trilogie von Robert Haigh auf dem japanischen Imprint Siren. Wer gerne, von Saties Piano Works ausgehend, einem wahrlich inspirierten Nachfolger auf die Spur kommen möchte, dem sei dies, trotz aller überstrapazierten satieesken Spielereien der letzten Jahre, wärmstens ans Herz gelegt. “Strange And Secret Things” beinhaltet sehr emotionale und pointiert bilderreich gesetzte Improvisationen – Haigh scheut sich nicht, klischeegefährdete Untiefen der stark in unser Unterbewusstes eingedrungenen Kompositionen neuer französischer Klaviermusik des verehrten Originals zu durchwaten, um mit irritierender Leichtigkeit, ganz im Sinne des satieschen Nouveau Esprit, in eigenen Sphären zu landen. Überraschung und Wirkung, so die Aussage Saties, sei die Wiederaufnahme klassischer Formgestaltung vom Standpunkt eines modernen Kunstbegriffes. So fährt die Zeitschiene auf bezaubernde Weise vor und zurück, ganz so, wie es sein sollte. Die beiden ersten Teile der Trilogie sind unter dem Moniker SEMA auf des Künstlers eigenem Label Le Rey Records zu erwerben." [Raabenstein / de:bug] "Strange and Secret Things' is the third and final part of Robert Haigh’s piano solo trilogy for Siren Records that started with 'Notes and Crossings' (2009) and 'Anonymous Lights' (2010). In his quest to expand his solo piano expression, Robert employs two distinct yet complimentary approaches to piano composition. The first is based on shifting patterns - repetitive structures with minimal development. The second is a more organic approach which evolves out of unmediated improvisation. Along the way, Robert has created compositions that are vital, exposed, melancholic, minimal and open-ended that never stray too far away from a unique melodic sensibility. 'Strange and Secret Things', comprised of 17 tracks, is a further continuation of the journey explored in the first two parts. It is the most intimate and powerful of the trilogy - with a wider palette of light and shade, emotion, texture and atmosphere. This album is a must for anyone who has enjoyed the first two parts of the trilogy and his older legendary recordings on Le Rey Records. It will appeal to those who have an affinity with the piano language of Satie, Glass, Budd, Cage, Max Richter etc. The album was mastered by Denis Blackham at Skye Mastering. As with the first two parts the CD comes with a limited edition hand-made miniature jacket sleeve.." [label info] 2011 €16.00
HALMA The Ground LP "While HALMA leaned far out of the window on their predecessor album „Granular“, far and wide, so far that the comet Tschurjumow-Gerassimenko came into view, HALMA now dig into the depths with their new recording „The Ground“. Whirlpools of crystals drill into the ground, it grinds and flows, carbon becomes diamonds – on „The Ground“ the band drives six new tracks with racing drill into all our consciousness. HALMA turn summits around and flow into the depths, mountains from below, the band seems to know the old mountaineering wisdom that summit happiness is dangerous – and so the four musicians prove sure-footedness and manage the descent into the bottomless with sovereign elegance. It is admirable how much attention HALMA can pay to paths, routes and tracks in the scree. Hikers and ramblers: Paths are created where one walks them, and in low altitudes one is at home, and in deep substance HALMA is at home. Tip for first listening: The whole disc from beginning to end and again from beginning." https://kapitaenplatte.bandcamp.com/album/halma-the-ground 2019 €15.00
HALO MANASH Elemental Live Forms MMV - Initiation CD "Over a decade ago, HALO MANASH, an entity previously only known for its aural output, took the force and form of a live ritual perfomed by group of four mediums, in Tampere, Finland. ‘Elemental Live Forms MMV – Initiation’ is a recording of that first public Halo Manash live ritual, and also a complete, previously unreleased work in itself. The work was presented only a single time, also being the only time the involved personae of the group perfomed together as one. The live ritual focuses on the boundless elemental form returning from metaphysical pilgrimage – it bridges the worlds of being and non-being. Ash and antler, blood and bone, drum and drone, tree and metal collide to create an intense audial journey between worlds – one of re-birth, initiation, and primal thundering. Much more than a mere live recording, this seminal work, ‘Elemental Live Forms MMV – Initiation’ is now finally released in limited CD and cassette editions. The package, as an object of power, is handmade in the underground Aural Hypnox laboratories, featuring various guiding sigils, inserts and historical notes from the Halo Manash archives. The album is enclosed in an oversized screen printed cardboard covers including a 4-panel booklet, 4-panel xerox-insert and eight, two-sided insert cards within a stamped envelope. Limited to 444 copies." [label info] www.auralhypnox.com 2016 €15.00
  Elemental Live Forms MMV - Initiation MC "Over a decade ago, HALO MANASH, an entity previously only known for its aural output, took the force and form of a live ritual perfomed by group of four mediums, in Tampere, Finland. ‘Elemental Live Forms MMV – Initiation’ is a recording of that first public Halo Manash live ritual, and also a complete, previously unreleased work in itself. The work was presented only a single time, also being the only time the involved personae of the group perfomed together as one. The live ritual focuses on the boundless elemental form returning from metaphysical pilgrimage – it bridges the worlds of being and non-being. Ash and antler, blood and bone, drum and drone, tree and metal collide to create an intense audial journey between worlds – one of re-birth, initiation, and primal thundering. Much more than a mere live recording, this seminal work, ‘Elemental Live Forms MMV – Initiation’ is now finally released in limited CD and cassette editions. The package, as an object of power, is handmade in the underground Aural Hypnox laboratories, featuring various guiding sigils, inserts and historical notes from the Halo Manash archives. www.auralhypnox.com 2016 €13.00
HARTH, ALFRED 23 & WOLFGANG SEIDEL Five Eyes CD "Credits: reeds, trombone, key, misc: Alfred 23 Harth drums, percussion, misc: Wolfgang Seidel vocals: Nicole van den Plas, Bill Shute (04), Boris Stout (06), A23H (08) compositions: Alfred 23 Harth, Wolfgang Seidel-Meissner recorded in Berlin and Seoul produced & mastered by A23H at LaubhuetteStudio Moonsun, Korea, 2014 cover drawing: Wolf Pehlke cover: Robert Schalinski Thanks to Bill Shute from Kendra Steiner Editions for triggering this album. Five Eyes Long Distance Call Seoul und Berlin – das ist weit voneinander entfernt. Bei heutiger Musikproduktion sind geografische Entfernungen kein Hindernis. Und die beiden Komponisten von Five Eyes sind sich zugleich nah und fern, gibt es doch in unseren Biografien trotz unterschiedlicher Wege und Orte immer wieder Punkte, wo wir aus unterschiedlichen Richtungen kommend zu gleichen künstlerischen Fragestellungen gelangt sind. Alfred Harth ist in der Nähe von Frankfurt/Main geboren, wo man in der Philosophie und Kunst nach Westen, nach Frankreich und über den Atlantik blickte. Ich bin im selben Jahr in West-Berlin geboren, das damals eine mit viel Subventionen künstlich am Leben erhaltene Geisterstadt, der Hinterhof der westlichen Welt war. Für Alfred war Jazz die klangliche Verheißung, dass es etwas anderes geben muss, als das verdruckste Nachkriegsdeutschland. Für mich als Hinterhofgöre und in einer Stadt, die keine nennenswerte Jazz-Szene hatte, erfüllte Rock n’ Roll die gleiche Funktion. Für Alfred führte der Weg in die freie Improvisation, seine Gruppe Just Music verkündete Ende der 60er in einem Flyer als Konzept ein „Modell für annähernd herrschaftsfreie Kommunikation und Interaktion“ sein zu wollen. Zur selben Zeit passierte eine ähnliche Entwicklung bei denen, die von der Rockmusik her kamen. In der experimentierfreudigen Phase des Psychedelic Rock lösten sich vorgegebene Strukturen auf. Das brachte uns das erste Mal am gleichen Ort zusammen, in Conrad Schnitzlers Zodiak Free Arts Lab, wo sich für ein knappes Jahr Free Jazz, Happening und das, was später mal Krautrock genannt werden sollte, mischte. Die Sessions mit Conrad Schnitzler, die in eine langjährige Zusammenarbeit mündeten, waren meine erste Begegnung – wie es ein Flyer verkündete – mit „Total freie[r] Musik“. Schnitzler, ein Beuys-Schüler, bezeichnete sich als Intermedia-Künstler, um bewusst alle Kategorisierung und alle Begrenzung auf ein Medium zu vermeiden. Auch wenn Alfred diesen Begriff nie verwendete, würde er auf ihn passen als jemandem, der gleichermaßen in der Musik, Literatur und den visuellen Künsten unterwegs ist. Für beide war Fluxus und die Begegnung mit Künstlern wie Nam June Paik eine Weichenstellung. Den nächsten Schritt vollzogen Alfred und ich von unterschiedlichen Ausgangspositionen in dieselbe Richtung – hin zum gesprochenen oder gesungenen Wort. Ich schloss mich einer Lehrlingstheatergruppe an, aus der dann die Band Ton Steine Scherben hervorging, die Rockmusik und radikale, auf Deutsch gesungene Texte zusammenbrachte und auf deren erster Platte auch ein Stück von Hanns Eisler zu hören ist. Mit dessen Musik und der Verbindung von Musik und Poesie jenseits des Jazz und Lyrik-Klischees beschäftigte sich auch Alfred zusammen mit Heiner Goebbels. Während die Scherben das Straßentheater bald zugunsten der Rock-Bühne hinter sich ließen, gehörten die beiden zu den Mitbegründern des Sogenannten linksradikalen Blasorchesters, das die Musik auf die Straße brachte. Der nächste Schub kam durch Punk und vor allem durch die in dessen Windschatten blühenden Experimente, die Stilmittel der musikalischen Avantgarde, Collage- und Montagetechniken mit der Energie von Rock zusammenbrachte. Für Alfred war das dann unter anderem die Band Cassiber zusammen mit Chris Cutler, Christoph Anders und Heiner Goebbels. Für mich war das in Berlin die Gruppe Populäre Mechanik, die noch als reine Gitarrenband in der Rocktradition begann und sich mehr und mehr Elektronik, als auch durch die Erweiterung mit Bläsern Jazzeinflüssen hin öffnete. Diesmal bewegte sich Alfreds und mein musikalischer Weg so weit aufeinander zu, dass es tatsächlich 1983 zu einem gemeinsamen Konzert kam. Ein Ausschnitt aus diesem Konzert fand dann seinen Weg auf Alfreds Platte Sweet Paris, einer 1990 erschienenen Text- und Musikcollage – ein multimediales Tagebuch, in dem Alfred seinen Briefwechsel mit dem damals in Paris lebenden Maler Wolf Pehlke – er machte die 5E-Coverzeichnung - umsetzte und in das Solos, Fieldrecordings und Ausschnitte aus zahlreichen musikalischen Begegnungen einflossen. Zu Cut-up mit seiner Eröffnung neuer Zusammenhänge und zu Collage, mit der man Realität in die Komposition holen konnte, hatte Alfred vor allem auch über Literatur, über Brinkmann und Burroughs, und seine Arbeit als visueller Künstler gefunden. Die Entwicklung des Samplers machten die vorher ans Studio gebundenen, geduldigen Techniken der Musique Concrète musikalisch handhabbarer und zu einem Ausweg aus einem linearen Zeitbegriff, der sich mit seinem Versprechen einer höheren Ordnung in der Musik immer weniger durchhalten ließ. Für mich führte der Weg von der noch von diesem Heilsversprechen angetriebenen Musik der Scherben, über die Auflösung der Zeit in psychedelischen Krautrock-Erfahrungen in die Fluxus-inspirierte Zusammenarbeit mit Conrad Schnitzler, der Ende der 1970er mehr als ein Dutzend Kassettenrecorder stapelte, mit denen er eigenes und gefundenes Material bei Konzerten mischte. Mit Five Eyes, für die wir monatelang Tracks her- und hinschickten, auseinandernahmen und neu zusammensetzten, konnten wir den Faden wieder aufnehmen – denn nach der Session, die auf Sweet Paris dokumentiert ist, trennten sich die Wege erst einmal wieder. Für mich gab es Ende der 80er mit dem Untergang des alten Westberlins auch persönlich eine Umbruchzeit, die dazu führte, dass die Musik erst einmal weitgehend Pause machte. Als ich dann wieder anfing, aktiv zu werden, sah man sich als Musiker einer veränderten Situation gegenüber. Eine Musik, die sich mehr oder weniger gradlinig auf ein Ziel bewegt, war endgültig obsolet geworden. Die Durchsetzung von There-Is-No-Alternative als herrschender Ideologie brauchte ebenfalls eine musikalische Antwort. Dazu kommt die durch die Digitalisierung gigantisch beschleunigte Bilderflut, in deren Geflicker alle Konflikte dieser Welt gleich aussehen. Die Frage nach Gut und Böse reduziert sich da auf die Frage, welche Seite die emotionaleren Bilder liefern kann, die dann am effektivsten wirken, wenn sie an vorhandenes Ressentiment andocken können. Als dann beim Anschlag auf das World Trade Center etliche Antiimperialisten im Anblick der Katastrophe applaudierten, wurde klar, dass man noch einmal neu nachdenken muss. Alfred zog es nach Südkorea, das in den letzen 100 Jahren von der Geschichte nicht gut behandelt wurde. Japanische Besetzung, Unterdrückung und Ausbeutung, dann der Koreakrieg, in dem das Land nur Figur auf dem Schachbrett des Konfliktes zwischen Ost und West war. Jetzt ist das Land eingezwängt zwischen dem autoritären Nordkorea und dem wirtschaftlich dominierenden Japan, das nie eine Debatte über seine gewalttätige Vergangenheit geführt hat. Ich dagegen brauchte keinen Ortswechsel vorzunehmen. In Berlin wechselte sich der Ort in rasantem Tempo selber aus – zumal aus der Sicht des Westberliners. Aus der verschlafenen Nische wurde eine Wir-sind-wieder-wer-Hauptstadt eines Landes, das ziemlich schnell an seine alten Hegemonialansprüche anzuknüpfen begann. Nach außen wie innen wurde dies zunehmend aggressiv durchgesetzt, begleitet und gefeiert von einem Kulturbetrieb, der mehr und mehr nationales Pathos produziert. Vor ein paar Jahren kam über den inzwischen verstorbenen Conrad Schnitzler der Kontakt zwischen Alfred und mir wieder zustande. Dabei stellten wir fest, dass wir von den beiden Enden der Welt, an denen wir inzwischen gelandet waren, zu ähnlichen Überlegungen gekommen waren. Zumal die Enden der Welt sich immer ähnlicher werden. War in den 60ern ein Lied, dass man gerne sang, Break on through to the other side, ist man heute damit konfrontiert, dass es auf der anderen Seite genauso oder schlimmer aussieht. Die Propaganda für das Bestehende funktioniert heute nicht mehr durch Lügen. Man gibt alle Kritik zu, um dann darauf zu verweisen, dass alles andere schlimmer ist, was durch den tatsächlich stattfindenden Angriff der Barbarei auf das Bisschen erreichten Fortschritts eine fatale Komplizenschaft erzeugt. Wie positioniert man sich als Musiker in einer Welt, die sich gleichzeitig in zwei nur scheinbar entgegengesetzten Richtungen entwickelt? Auf der einen Seite eine fast unendliche individuelle Freiheit, die keine Emanzipation von gesellschaftlichen Zwängen ist, sondern bloßes Selbstunternehmertum in einem Dog-eats-dog-Kapitalismus. Parallel dazu entwickelt sich der Staat, den die neoliberalen Apologeten angeblich mindestens verschlanken, am liebsten aber abschaffen wollen, zu einer immer perfekteren Kontroll- und Repressionsmaschine. Mittlerweile ist eine Generation herangewachsen, die gar keine persönliche Erinnerung mehr daran hat, dass irgendwann einmal etwas Anderes war. Dabei war das Andere nicht automatisch besser, aber allein durch seine Existenz machte es klar, dass die Beschaffenheit der Gesellschaft, in der wir leben, verhandelbar ist. „Herrschaftsfreie Musik“ ist nach wie vor eine mögliche Antwort. Wobei das nicht nur heißt, frei von einer vorgegebenen Komposition oder einer Führungsfigur zu sein. Herrschaft maskiert sich heute vor allem als Sachzwang. Dagegen steht eine Musik, in der die Musiker stets die freie Entscheidung über die Musik und ihre Weiterentwicklung haben, als eine ständige, für den Hörer nachvollziehbare Verhandlung. Die andere Antwort ist das Hereinnehmen und Rekontextualisieren von ausgewählten Klangsplittern als Spuren von Realität, Zitate, Field-Recordings, um das abstrakte Medium Musik mal assoziativ, mal verwirrend und zum Neudenken auffordernd an die umgebende Wirklichkeit anzubinden. Beides kann zu einer Entdeckungsreise werden. Wolfgang Seidel, 23.10.2014" [credits & liner notes] 2014 €15.00
HASTINGS OF MALAWI Vibrant Stapler obscures characteristic Growth CD A classic masterpiece from 1981, never re-released on CD before. Originally 1000 copies pressed on orange/red vinyl. 120 copies were sold through Rough Trade and Virgin Records. 800 copies were bought and later destroyed by the United Dairies label, makin this record even more rare. Hastings of Malawi were Heman Pathak, David Hodes and John Grieve. They recorded the album in one night in 1981 with no plan and no idea of what they were doing. They played drums, clarinet, synthesiser and piano but also made use of things that they found lying around the studio – old records, cookery books, telephone directories and a telephone. The recordings were played down the phone to randomly dialled numbers and the reactions added to the recording. All three had been involved in the recording of the first Nurse with Wound album Chance Meeting On A Dissecting Table Of A Sewing Machine And An Umbrella and had contributedmetal scrapings, piano, effects, clarinet and guitar during the session. https://www.klanggalerie.com/gg405 2022 €15.00
HAYNES, JIM The Wires cracked LP "The recordings for The Wires Cracked were completed in a frenzied two week period in October of 2012. I had mentioned in discussing a previous album's construction that I prefer to forget how I build any particular electro-acoustic amalgam. This is so that I don't get to precious with them, so that I could refine them further, so that the sounds themselves speak beyond their aggregate parts. With the album being relatively fresh in my mind, I can still recall various components to The Wires Cracked - the desolate howl of a metal screen activated by a desert wind, the hissing air compression from the cooling apparatus for a laser at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory operated by Stanford University, and the tremolo rhythms from a thin wire that still get me thinking fondly of Günter Schickert - but much of the caustic drone, thrumming reverberation, and tactile grit thoroughly escapes me. That's probably for the best, since these various parts speak to an existential rupturing, the collapse of the self, the aftershocks of dark energy, and a belief in the hope for renewal. About Jim Haynes: Describing his work through the pithy phrase, I rust things, Jim Haynes is an artist who has developed a vocabulary of decay that he has applied to photography, video, installation, and sound. Haynes' sound work draws from shortwave radio static, electric field disturbances, controlled feedback manipulation, and numerous textural scrapings, manifesting broken minimalism of magnetic drones and volatile tactility. This engineering of disparate materials and media seeks to evince the unpredictability of decay, to manifest its potential for a rough hewn beauty, and to bare witness to its inevitability. He has exhibited internationally at Electric Works (San Francisco), the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art , the Bekerley Art Museum, The Exploratorium (San Francisco), WestSpace (Melbourne, Australia), Jack Straw Productions (Seattle), Eyedrum (Atlanta), Diapason (New York), and The Lab (San Francisco). Haynes has published his work through the Helen Scarsdale Agency, 23five Incorporated, Intransitive, Observatoire, and Elevator Bath. He has collaborated with Steven Stapleton (Nurse With Wound), M.S. Waldron (irr. app. (ext.)), Keith Evans, Allison Holt, and Loren Chasse. Haynes is one of the directors for 23five Incorporated and is the sole occupant at the Helen Scarsdale Agency." [label info] www.editionsmego.com 2013 €16.50
  Flammable Materials from Foreign Lands LP The new LP from Jim Haynes is a haunted and provocative endeavor, rust-covered and mysterious. It is the result of an immersive listening/recording process through which Haynes' singular techniques intersected with an unfamiliar, disquieting landscape.... "The album was mostly composed, recorded, and sketched during an Estonian residency at MoKS for a program that was hosted by Simon Whetham and John Grzinich called Active Crossover. The goal of that program was to bring together various artists whose work pertained directly or indirectly to environmental recordings. When John asked me about what kinds of spaces I was interested in seeking out before I arrived, I mentioned that I would like to investigate sites that had a considerable amount of electro-magnetic disruption which I could capture on radio along with sites of psychic distress. The Estonian landscape is pocked with abandoned buildings of considerable size and decay. Many of the excursions for Active Crossover engaged the large crumbling Soviet-era structures. Given that the electricity was off in many of these sites, I had to rely on shortwave to capture any electro-magnetic disruptions instead of any fluctuations from shitty wiring or weird Soviet power transformers... and the radio reception from that particular time and that particular place (i.e. southeastern Estonia) was eerie and unsettled. The crackle, drone, and noise is unlike that which is heard in the United States, looming with a (possibly perceived) paranoia of the Russian state just a few kilometers away. That said, Estonia had experienced an encroachment from Russia as the Russian military kidnapped/extradited an Estonian intelligence officer who was on Estonian soil at the time not too far from where I was staying. Given the contemporary military actions of Russia reclaiming Crimea from Ukraine, this incident put many an Estonian on edge. The A-side to Flammable Materials reflects this aestheticized paranoia through bursts of static, pulsed noise, and atonal sinews of sustained frequency. The B-side is wholly more introspective, cutting up an Estonian radio broadcast into phonemes, disjointed phrases, and cryptic speech. What few words that can be recognized from the Estonian pertain to the forces of globalization. From the context of someone who understands very little of the language, these snippets of a female voice clip like a surrealist collage or a Dada poem. Compositionally, I was thinking very much of Robert Ashley's Purposeful Lady Slow Afternoon and the Nurse With Wound recontextualization of such sounds." - Jim Haynes Based in California, Jim Haynes has exhibited internationally at the San Francisco Museum Of Modern Art, the Lausanne Underground Film Festival, the Berkeley Art Museum, WestSpace (Melbourne, Australia), and Diapason (New York). Recorded media has been published through Editions Mego, Ghostly International, Drone Records, Hooker Vision, Intransitive, Semperflorens, Elevator Bath, and The Helen Scarsdale Agency. He has also been awarded residencies at the Djerassi Resident Artists Program (California), Recombinant Media Labs (California), Jack Straw Productions (Seattle), and MoKS (Estonia). He has participated in a number of fruitful collaborations with Loren Chasse, Keith Evans, Steven Stapleton, and M.S. Waldron. Until 2015, Haynes was the Vice President and Curatorial Director for 23five Incorporated, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the development and increased awareness of sound arts within the public arena. He is also the lone occupant at The Helen Scarsdale Agency. Flammable Materials from Foreign Lands has been issued as a clear vinyl LP with gorgeous matte-finish jackets featuring artwork by Jim Haynes. Mastered by James Plotkin, it has been released in a limited edition of 300 copies. Every copy purchased directly from Elevator Bath will include a download code for high quality files of the entire audio content of this LP. Total running time: 38 minutes https://elevatorbath.bandcamp.com/album/flammable-materials-from-foreign-lands "For his two most recent (near simultaneous) releases, Jim Haynes has scaled back his audial representation of decay to something a bit colder and more intentionally off-putting. Both albums are largely based on field recordings taken from a residency in Estonia, and capturing the detritus of Soviet era electronics (and some still active) via shortwave and then processing the results. The final products may be somewhat sparser than his other works, but no less fascinating, and with an additional menacing edge. On the first side of the Flammable Materials record, Haynes presents three pieces that are perhaps the most inline with his previous works. Treated static and radio interference is unsurprisingly a recurring theme of the record, but are especially prevalent on the opening piece "Of Blast and Bleach". Here Haynes mixes it with some sort of idling motor sound that is fittingly inconsistent. Elements of the static and noise are shaped into some sort of rhythmic structure that contrasts the abstract remainder of the composition very effectively. Haynes takes on a more noise-centric approach on "Nyet". First a lava-like wall of harshness with the occasional tone slipping through, it is quickly broken back down and built back up, with an emphasis on shifting filters obscuring the low register part of the spectrum. For "E. Kohver" he takes on the opposite approach to the structure and arrangement. This piece is mostly a heavy, imposing drone with metallic tinged machinery noises that never goes full on dissonant, but stays sinister. At times the shortwave static is molded into that crackling texture-like sound that Haynes does so well, but the whole piece is very menacing and dynamic. The other side of the album is dedicated to a single piece, "Electric Speech: Nadiya". A bit over 20 minutes, the composition is based solely on the radio broadcast of a woman speaking. Of course Haynes also makes use of the static and noise inherent to this type of recording, but in general he embraces minimalism more. The source material voice appears frequently, cut into fragments and phonemes that are anything but identifiable words, regardless of the language being spoken. As a whole it is a different style he is working in, with that singular focus and an impressive use of silence to contrast the more commanding moments. [....] Both of Jim Haynes' newest works are exceptional additions to his already impressive body of work. The Throttle and Calibration tape is probably the less adventurous of the two, but is still a work deeply embedded in his style without being any sort of retread or replication of material he has already done. Flammable Materials from Foreign Lands benefits from its unique conceptual direction and focus, but really neither one is better than the other, and both are just excellent works from someone who has done an admirable job developing a career of sound art that always stands strong as utterly unique and fascinating." [Creaig Dunton/Brainwashed] "For well over a decade now, the Californian noise/drone (de)composer Jim Haynes has pursued a single-minded research into the sound of decay. Shortwave radio transmissions and convulsive motors are a few of the sources that are modulated and amplified into his psychologically tense, hauntological recordings. His 2016 album Flammable Materials From Foreign Lands rises from the eruptive strategies found in John Duncan's extrapolations of empty radio signals with parallels to be found in the mutated electro-acoustic dynamics found in contemporaries like Kevin Drumm and G*Park. One of the foreign lands in question to this flammable album is Estonia where he rummaged through abandoned Soviet-era ruins and collected disquieting shortwave signals. The other land is California with its own darkened psyche they roils beneath the mythologies of eternal sunshine. It's not so much a dialect as an accretion of static, grit and phased electro-magnetic disturbances – amplifying the neurosis and anxiety from a slow poisoning through psychological and/or environmental means. The first side of the album is pocked with convulsive crescendos which aggressively shove through Haynes' accumulated materials. The tracks rise to a boiling point, snap at the excessive pressure and collapse into a hypnotic fog. The second side is a single-sided collage of deconstructed/disembodied voice. Haynes clips and chops the mellifluous voice of an Estonian radio host (perhaps Tallinn's answer to Terri Gross?) into elemental gasps and utterances that rhythmically tick against an unsettled minimalism built from long, thin-wire recordings. Here, the strange and unsettled composition of voice and drone hauntingly resembles Alan Lamb's telegraph recordings poured into the empty spaces of Robert Ashley's Automatic Writing." [Stranded] 2016 €22.50
HECKER, TIM Norberg LP "This year Room40 celebrates 15 years of editions and events. As part of the celebrations we are re-issuing a number of editions in various formats that are out of print. One of these editions brings together two of the pieces we’ve had the pleasure to publish by Tim Hecker. These two works were both created in conjunction with visits by Tim to Australia and were released in limited quantities. The 7” edition of Apondalifa basically vanished upon release. It was also originally split across a 7”. On this new edition, cut by the wondrous LUPO at Calyx, the piece is available on vinyl for the first time in its extended format. Tim remains a dear friend to us, and an inspiration! We’re glad to be revisited these astounding pieces and making them both available in this format for the first time!" [label info] www.room40.org "This album collects two long out of print releases that the beloved Tim Hecker produced for Room 40 quite a while ago - Norberg was a 20 minute EP from 2007, and Apondalifa was a 7" dating to 2010. These being Tim Hecker releases, we had much to say about these gauzy, blurry, buzzy expanses of muted digital glitch, disembodied melodies, sepia toned ambience, organic and electronic woven into swirling shimmering soundscapes. So here's a synopsis of the two reviews we penned a while back about about the two recordings that constitute this, yet another exquisite Tim Hecker production! Norberg begins with an Oval like sweep of glimmering chimes and washed out whir, but quickly develops into something much more weighty, the chimes swallowed up by a warm whirring blur, a softly churning, slowly crumbling wall of blissed out guitar buzz, the buzz very gradually dissipating, leaving just the hiss and the whir, to drift like gossamer clouds in a deep blue sky. The sounds become softer and softer, muted and murky, underwater sounding, allowed to pulse and ebb and flow and sway softly back and forth, under a delicate patina of electronic crackle, an ultra distorted guitar way down in the mix unfurling ribbons of gnarled prismatic crunch, spread out over the hushed shimmer below, like the icy crust on a dying sun. Finally the hiss takes on a life of it's own, pushing all of the other sounds under the surface, the hiss made up of all manner of skipping static and layered white noise, impossible musical in its own right, the perfect climax to a surprisingly bracing expanse of buzzing blissful ambient sound. Apondalfia is a gloriously washed out sprawl of warm fuzz and softly swirling melodic squalls, all of the edges smoothed out, but leaving plenty of grit, the guitars way more obvious than in the past, but it's hard to tell exactly what they're doing, they seem to be unfurling strange little woozy warped melodies, that seem to loop and layer and shift constantly, ringing out and bleeding into the various sounds around them, all beneath the thick sonic swells and a glacially churning shimmery sonic gauze. So beautiful and deliriously hypnotic!" [Aquarius Rec.] 2015 €24.00
HELM The Hollow Organ 12inch "PAN presents four vital concrète incursions by nether field traveller Luke Younger aka Helm, marking his first transmissions since the studio rituals that birthed his highly acclaimed Impossible Symmetry' and Silencer' releases. The Hollow Organ' toes a deliberate line in the mud between his previous transgressions and a chokingly dank realisation of his most untoward, paralytic sound. Poised as a dark interpreter between the grotesque and the transcendent, he activates research gleaned from his petrifying live performances coupled with an increasingly squalid and visceral palette of anguished machine voices, sub-zero drones and bone-scraped rhythmic noise to divine unearthly space somewhere between semi-legal horror soundtrack and hyperstitious surreality. Its opening gambit, Carrier' is the most succinct and uncannily ambiguous; perilously close to Gas-like ambient pop but rescued from serenity by manic tape spool and excoriating, demonic vocal. The vortex of Analogues' proceeds, ploughed by stereo-twinned engines of churning tape loops to a pitch black, eschatalogical climax, and Spiteful Jester' feels like the unshakable onset of a panic attack, ratcheting the intensity with blank-eyed, stoic method. For ten minutes The Hollow Organ' drains last with an unnerving, quiet blood-letting of carmine iron drones evaporating ferric overtones whilst percussions clank in your blind spot behind the screen." [label info] "More fantastic electronic weirdness from the Pan label, this one, the latest from Luke Younger, aka Helm, who crafts a dizzying expanse of blunted post industrial rhythms, and blurred psychedelic ambience, lazer blast blurts that sound like light sabers are tangled into strange shapes over throbbing low end pulsations, while all around clouds of hiss and static and thrum swirl and shimmer, noisy and psychedelic, but darkly hypnotic. Elsewhere the sounds splinter into weird avant musique concrete, blasts of noise swooping from speaker to speaker, a wildly ecstatic 'pipe fight', sculpted into an abstract psych-noise groove. Younger also delves into power electronics, with keening arcs of feedback, draped over a churning chordal thrum, peppered with bursts of strangely melodic static, sounding almost like Skullflower attempting to make dance music, and failing fantastically, before finally finishing things off with a haunting bit of deep drone loveliness, sinister shimmering clouds of muted rumbles ripple out in soft clouds, an ominous, haunting and harrowing sprawl of hushed mesmeric murk that might be the dreamiest bit of grim black ambience we've heard in ages! Like all Pan releases, the packaging is stunning, a plain white sleeve in a clear PVC plastic jacket, printed in purple ink, liner notes on one side, the band name all tangly and geometric on the other. And yeah, limited too!" [Aquarius Records] www.pan-act.com 2014 €16.00
  Axis LP "London exploratory industrialist Luke Younger characterizes the creation of his latest collection, Axis, as a liberating return to roots: “It felt like going back to the beginning, it felt freeing.” Begun before the pandemic as a soundtrack to a dance performance, the initial vision was for something “visceral, with physical movement in mind.” When the project shifted to indefinite hiatus, he reimagined the material in the context of an LP, while retaining its sense of dynamic physicality. The result is grim and gripping, seasick throbs lurching in a low-ceilinged space, strafed with fractured clanging, hissing steam, and grinding spirals of granular haze. Noise in its most elevated and compelling form, from and for the body as much as the mind. The album’s unique immediacy stems from Younger’s instinctual muse, reactivating raw methods with fresh energy. “I tuned back in to working with noise techniques again: more primitive equipment, cheap FX, contact mics, noise boxes.” Key guest contributions by Lucy Railton (cello), Mark Morgan of Sightings (guitar), Alex Tucker (vocals), and the late, legendary John Hannon (violin) further enrich the record’s bristling palette. Although half the tracks were begun pre-Covid at Hannon’s Essex studio, the rest were finished in Younger’s kitchen and living room during lockdown. The final tracks were then relayed to veteran mix specialist Randall Dunn, who further honed the material, adding a vivid spatial quality before entrusting the album to Stefan Betke (Pole) for final mastering. From the hellscape metronome of “Moskito” to the insectoid warzone pulse of “Repellent” to the seething orchestral undertow of “Axis,” this is music of ominous gravity and worlds in peril. But it’s the closing cut, “Tower,” which Younger calls “perhaps the most dramatic piece of music I’ve ever made.” A lurking, blackened descension conjured on keys, guitar, and wormhole wah, the melody simmers and swells until suddenly exploding in a chaos of distorted blast beats. From their ashes the three-note riff slowly returns, like some astral dungeon synth exorcism, rising in a searing arc towards frenzied immolation before finally fading away in white fire and afterlife whispers." "HELM has consistently been one of the most fascinating (projects) in British experimental music the past decade" - The Quietus Luke Younger, der unter dem Moniker HELM Alben veröffentlicht, die bereits Kult-Status genießen, hat beim Label DAIS angedockt. HELM hat bislang fünf Studioalben und drei EPs mit experimenteller Musik veröffentlicht, in denen er eine Beziehung zwischen akustischen, elektronischen und realen Klängen erforscht. Ab 2012 veröffentlichte er seine Alben beim renommierten PAN Label, darunter die von Kritikern und Fans gleichermaßen gefeierten Alben "Olympic Mess" und "Chemical Flowers". Der Londoner Industrial-Musiker Luke Younger aka HELM beschreibt die Kreation seiner neuesten Kollektion "Axis" als eine befreiende Rückkehr zu den Wurzeln: "It felt like going back to the beginning, it felt freeing." Das Ergebnis ist düster und fesselnd: Seekranke Klänge, die in einem niedrigen Raum taumeln, durchsetzt von gebrochenem Klirren, zischendem Dampf und mahlenden Spiralen aus körnigem Dunst. Lärm in seiner höchsten und fesselndsten Form, von und für den Körper ebenso wie für den Geist. Wichtige Gastbeiträge von Lucy Railton (Cello), Mark Morgan von Sightings (Gitarre), Alex Tucker (Gesang) und dem verstorbenen, legendären John Hannon (Violine) bereichern die schillernde Palette des Albums zusätzlich. Mix-Spezialist Randall Dunn verfeinerte das Material und fügte eine lebendige räumliche Qualität hinzu, bevor er das Album Stefan Betke (Pole) für das endgültige Mastering anvertraute. Vom höllischen Metronom von "Moskito" über den insektoiden Warzone-Puls von "Repellent" bis hin zum brodelnden orchestralen Unterton von "Axis" ist dies Musik von bedrohlicher Schwere und Welten in Gefahr. Aber es ist das abschließende Stück "Tower", das Younger als "perhaps the most dramatic piece of music I've ever made." bezeichnet. Ein lauernder, geschwärzter Abstieg, beschworen von Tasten, Saiten und Wurmloch-Wah, die Melodie brodelt und schwillt an, bis sie plötzlich in einem Chaos aus verzerrten Blastbeats explodiert. Aus ihrer Asche kehrt das dreistimmige Riff langsam zurück, wie ein astraler Kerker-Synthie-Exorzismus, der sich in einem brennenden Bogen zur rasenden Verbrennung steigert, bevor er schließlich in weißem Feuer und Jenseitsgeflüster vergeht. "Mit einem an Bauhaus’ „The Sky’s Gone Out“ erinnernden Cover erscheint nach einer Reihe von Alben mit “Axis” der neue Longplayer von Helm, dem Einmannprojekt von Luke Younger, auf Dais Records. Younger bezeichnet sich auf seiner Bandcampseite als „sound artist and experimental musician“, dabei hat er eine lange und durchaus heterogene(re) musikalische Biographie (u.a. Hardcore mit The Lowest Form). Auf „Axis“, ursprünglich vor der Pandemie konzipiert als Soundtrack für eine Tanzperformance, die dann doch nicht zustande kam, setzt Younger bewusst „primitives“ Equipment ein (“cheap FX, contact mics, noise boxes”). Hinzukommen Gastmusiker an Geige, Gitarre, Cello sowie Gesang von Alex Tucker. Mit zerhäckselten Störtönen beginnt das das Album eröffnende „Para“, bevor melodische Passagen einsetzen. Das elektronische Gebrutzel, das sich immer wieder verdichtet, gibt dem Stück eine dissonante Unruhe. „Moskito“ mit seinem kuriosen, kargen und schleppenden Rhythmus, klingt anfangs nach Minimaltechno, dann lassen sich dissonante Streicher erahnen. “Crash” dagegen ist – dem Titel zum Trotz – ruhiger, besitzt fast schon Ambientcharakter. Hier sorgen Streicherpassagen für Momente der Melancholie. Dieses Innehalten wird mit den Zahnarztbohrersounds, die “Repellent” einleiten, beendet. Dann setzen verzerrte Beats ein. “Mole” knistert, als werde eine Verpackung geöffnet. Das ist ein dunkles Stück Geräuschmusik mit Streicherpassagen, die an einen Folk Horror-Soundtrack denken lassen. Auf dem düsteren Titeltrack hört man übereinandergeschichtete schabende und nach Sirenen klingende Sounds, die in einer Kakophonie untergehen. “Tower” schließlich ist ein im Kontext des Albums fast schon orchestraler, dramatischer Track. The rest is silence." [MG / African Paper] 2021 €23.00
HENNIX, CATHERINE CRISTER (THE DEONTIC MIRACLE) Central Palace Music (from 100 Model Subjects for Hegikan Roku) CD "Central Palace Music, performed by Catherine Christer Hennix's just-intonation ensemble The Deontic Miracle, is the first in a series of archival Hennix releases to be issued via IMPREC. This previously unheard piece was taken from an eight day festival organized in the Spring of 1976 at the Museum of Modern Art in Stockholm. The group features Catherine Christer Hennix on Renaissance oboe and custom sinewave generators, Peter Hennix on Renaissance oboe and Hans Isgren on sheng. Central Palace Music is packaged in a deluxe letterpressed package and is being released at the same time as a recent recording of Hennix's new ensemble live at Issue Project Room. "...Hennix has created a sound that reliably taps into our subconscious and frees us from linear time..." The Quietus Catherine Christer Hennix (1948, Stockholm) is an artist, poet, composer and philosopher with a strong interest in logic and formal music theory. She was among the pioneers in Sweden experimenting with main-frame computer generated composite sound wave forms in the late 1960's and in the 1970's she was a key protagonist in the Downtown School along with La Monte Young and Henry Flynt, with whom she has collaborated with on numerous occasions. She pursued studies with raga master Pandit Pran Nath and led the just intonation live-electronic ensembles Hilbert Hotel and The Deontic Miracle, the recordings of the latter are presently being released by Important Records. She was a professor of mathematics and computer science and assistant to and coauthor with A.S. Esenin-Volpin for which she was given the Centenary Prize Fellow Award by the Clay Mathematics Insitute in 2000. Hennix's interest in drone music and the meditative, trance-like state it induces is apparent in her exploration of similar music in many other cultures and traditions, drawing inspiration from the Japanese Gagaku music and the early, vocal, thirteenth-century music of Perotinus and Leoninus, for example. In 2003 she returned to computer generated composite sound wave forms now called Soliton(e)s of which Soliton(e) Star was the first result. Subsequently she formed the just intonation ensemble The Choras(s)an Time-Court Mirage which performs Blues Dhikir al- Salam (Live at the Grimmuseum, vol. 1, Berlin, 2011, Important Records 2012). In 2012 Henry Flynt asked Hennix for a new, expanded realization of ISE for an installation at ZKM in Karlsruhe, Germany, to be featured in his retrospective/ prospective show Henry Flynt Activities 1959 – at ZKM. In response Hennix realized a 4-channel composition, Rag Infinity/Rag Cosmosis, her first 4-channel computer assisted composition since 1969." [label info] www.importantrecords.com 2016 €19.50
HERBST9 VS. Z'EV Through bleak Landscapes CD Traumkombination: das Leipziger Ethno-Industrial Duo in Zusammenarbeit mit dem schamanistischen Perkussionisten Z'EV! Z'EVs metallisch schimmernde Perkussion wird sehr subtil und fast schon ornamental in die fülligen Dronescapes von HERBST9 eingearbeitet, es gibt lebhaftere Parts aber auch völlig losgelöst scheinende Trance-Riten.... auf 10 Stücken formen sich die Grundklänge äusserst variabel aus, viele prickelnde Soundeffekte betten sich perfekt in eine wummernde & bebende Andernwelt ein... definitiver TIP für Freund düster-ritueller Unterwelt-Drones.... "With this stunning collaboration the dark cavernous drones and ethnic-ritual instrumentation of Herbst9 melts with the complex and percussive sounds of industrial pionier and master of rhythmajik Z´EV. Ten tracks of deep spheres and blazing ruminant lightnings abducting you into golden constellations and swirling worlds full of aural effects and demonic resonance. Both projects worked with raw material of each other while the final mix was made by Herbst9. The result is a sombre and meditative soundtrack made with gongs, choral textures, deep vibrating strings and scraping effect-sounds reaching it´s climax with outbursting tribalistic sequences and drummings. An impressive and gripping journey through bleak landscapes and abandoned places accompanied by a 24-pg booklet." [label info] www.loki-found.de 2007 €13.00
HETERO SKELETON En la sombra del pajaro velludo CD "Die Band selbst beschreibt ihren Sound als "Perez Prado am Tor zur Hölle" und darüber lässt sich gar nicht streiten. HETERO SKELETON aus Finnland liefern mit "En La Sombra Del Parajo Velludo" den Saxophon-lastigen Soundtrack zum Abstieg in die Unterwelt. Für Fans von Jazzpunk, wie ihn die FLYING LUTTENBACHERS spielen und für die, denen FAT WORM OF ERROR ein Begriff ist. // Five unholy speaker cone movers from Finland (Helsinki and Tampere) choke up a hairball of churning sax driven maelstrom. In between the notes, crinkle-cut sound sax spuzz links rude-itude of the highest order. Fans of Finnish campfire/industrial act AVARUS take note, as the same disconnected fuckery pulses through this disc with enough extra forward thrust to kick start your fart. This disc comes recommended for fans of jazz punk like the FLYING LUTTENBACHERS as well as stumble royalty like FAT WORM OF ERROR. Not just blind free jizz blowjobbery, but roid raged thuggery - click here for an unbelievable taste sensations! Other discs on Jelle Crama's new label have cemented their songs in the waiting room of forever. The band describes their sound as "Perez Prado at the gates of Hell", and who am I to argue?" [label info] www.loadrecords.com 2007 €8.00
HIRSUTE PURSUIT Tighten that Muscle CD "Music that smells like a man! “I play Hirsute Pursuit at all of my DJ gigs” (Peter Christopherson) “Tighten That Muscle Ring” features collaborators such as Bryin Dall of Thee Majesty, Boyd Rice of NON and Sleazy of Coil / Throbbing Gristle. The music is real. The sex is real. Created by Harley Phoenix and his musical partner, Bryin Dall, this is Gay Sex Music that offers no apologies. Enticing rhythms combined with raw sex and a commanding, deep, resonate voice, Harley has transformed explicit instructions for serving his pleasure into a musical orgy that hits the gay community where it plays, the dance floor and the bedroom. Sleazy dance beats pound along at tempos that encourage carnal exploration, while sounds of ecstasy cannot be ignored. You will be thinking Cock Thoughts (a song from the first album, That Hole Belongs to Me). After starting with a MySpace page Hirsute Pursuit has become THE MOST PLAYED GAY MUSIC ON MYSPACE. Typical letters from fans tell Harley that after listening to his music, they HAD to go “get off”. While fans have been pleading for photos, Harley refuses to give in. Understanding the restraints of reality, Harley remains in the shadows, making Hirsute Pursuit the ultimate in musical fantasy. Without any publicity or releases, Hirsute Pursuit has had over 140,000 plays in less than a year! Drawing fans from all musical genres, including House, Country, Rock, Hip Hop, etc. Primarily attracting a gay audience, recent fans also include female dominatrixes, middle-class housewives and straight guys (as is evidenced in the video, Boys Keep Swinging featuring Boyd Rice and James Pope, both straight). The raw sensuality has now crossed over into the heterosexual domain. This is music you can fuck to, as well as bump and grind. Harley Phoenix is currently preparing Hirsute Pursuit’s live show experience which will include actual musicians, dancers and video to give the audience members a complete sensory explosion. Comes in a 6-panel digisleeve." [label info] www.coldspring.co.uk 2012 €13.00
HISS TRACTS Shortwave Nights CD "180g Vinyl mit Kunstdruck und Downloadcode. 'Shortwave Nights' ist das Debüt von HISS TRACTS, einem neuen Duo aus David Bryant (GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR, SET FIRE TO FLAMES) und Kevin Doria (GROWING, TOTAL LIFE). Die beiden trafen sich 2004 und begründeten eine musikalische Freundschaft, die in drei GROWING Alben mündete, die im The Pines Studio von Bryant in Montreal aufgenommen wurden und in mehreren Kollaborationen mit z.B. dem experimentellen Filmkünstler Karl Lemieux. Probebänder für ein Underground Film Festival in Lausanne 2008 wurden zur Basis für HISS TRACTS; David und Kevin arbeiteten zwischen 2009 und 2013 daran, doch vieles von der Magie der ersten Versionen ist noch immer greifbar. Kevin und David sind instrumentale Musiker von ungewöhnlicher Tiefe und Intensität. HISS TRACTS eröffnet neue kollaborative und erzählerische Pfade, um die beiden Musiker die Soundlandschaft von Komposition und Produktion erforschen zu lassen. Beide sind Gitarristen und die E-Gitarre erscheint als Quelle von 'Shortwave Nights', doch die Fülle an zusätzlichen analogen Quellen und Signalen stellt sicher, dass dieser Sound hier nicht mit gitarrenbasiertem Drone, Noise oder Postrock verwechselt wird. 'Shortwave Night' setzt sich über solch engmaschigen Genrebegriffe hinweg und lässt sich ebenso wenig in die vorherrschenden Subgenres einordnen. Wenn Drone jedoch der Orientierungspunkt ist, dann liegt das sicherlich an dem Mix, der die einzelnen Elemente zu einer Wall of Sound in Stereo vereint. Dies ist keine Elektro-Platte und 'Shortwave Nights' begibt sich auch nicht in die Welt von Ambient oder Wave, vielmehr lässt sich der Sound hier im breiten Abstammungsfeld von Post-Industrial und Musique Concrète verorten. // Shortwave Nights is the debut album by Hiss Tracts, a new duo featuring David Bryant (Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Set Fire To Flames) and Kevin Doria (Growing, Total Life). The two met in 2004 and struck up a musical friendship that led to three Growing records being made at The Pines (Bryant's recording studio in Montreal) and a separate collaboration between the two, initially in conjunction with experimental filmmaker Karl Lemieux (also GY!BE's current 16mm auteur/projectionist). Rehearsal tapes from a set of sessions for a Lausanne Underground Film Festival performance in 2008 became the foundation and starting point for Hiss Tracts; David and Kevin continued working throughout 2009-2013, but much of the material from their earliest session is still present, in one state or another, within the tracks on this debut album. The sonic preoccupations of Bryant and Doria are well-known and well-documented across many highly acclaimed recordings over the past fifteen years, from the organic, group-based, semi-improvised collage albums of Set Fire To Flames to the glimmering, immersive minimalism of Growing and the more maximalist full-spectrum noise works of Total Life. David and Kevin are instrumental music practitioners of uncommon depth and intensity; Hiss Tracts opens new collaborative, procedural and narrative pathways for these fine musicians to continue exploring soundscape-based composition and production. Both are guitar players, and the electric guitar figures as both recognizable and unrecognizable source instrument on Shortwave Nights, but the deployment of a wide range of additional analog sources and signals ensures that there is no confusing this for a guitar-based drone, noise or post-rock record. Shortwave Nights defies categorization by terms like "drone" or "ambient" and it does not easily slip into any of the predominant subgenres that have proliferated around studio-based soundscape work in recent years. Insofar as drone is a touchstone, this has mostly to do with the approach to mixing, which tends towards a transcendent/trance-inducing integration of elements into a unified, saturated, wall-of-sound stereo field. The album contains no beats or programming and very little that is identifiably loop-based or overtly sampled and sampler-driven. Occasional deployments of digital signal processing remain firmly in the service of Hiss Tract's overriding framework and commitment to analog sources and human instrumentation. This is not an electronic record, nor does it sit comfortably at either the pastoral or spooky/sinister poles of any ambient or 'whatever'-wave spectrum; it can perhaps best be placed within the broad lineages of post-industrial and musique concrète. Meditative and visceral, humming with the electromagnetic atmosphere through which all manner of frequencies, transmissions and surveillances pass and collide, Shortwave Nights strikes an evocative balance between sonics captured-channeled-harnessed vs. composed-sculpted-performed, with an almost documentary rigour and restraint that nonetheless remains profoundly charged and engaged. Constellation is thrilled to introduce this new project with a brilliant debut album that has heavily infiltrated our brains and bloodstreams since Bryant and Doria first played us the nearly-finished recordings in the fall of 2013. Thanks for listening. Release date: 13 May 2014 Running time: 44:28 Packaging notes CD comes in a custom gatefold jacket printed on thick 24pt. paperboard with a printed CD dust sleeve. LP is pressed on 180 gram virgin vinyl at Optimal (Germany) and comes in a heavyweight jacket with black poly-lined audiophile dust sleeve, credit insert, pull-out art poster and download code for 320 kbps MP3 copy of the album." [label info] www.cstrecords.com 2014 €14.50
HODGKINSON, TIM & MILO FINE Teshuvah CD "TWO BLOKES FINDING SOUND IN THE MIDST OF A Sort of Macrocosm Insufferable and absurd. But, what else to expect? Because we are (imagine ourselves to be?) sentient, or rather, due to the manner in which western "civilization", an infectious disease which has managed to inculcate almost every indigenous culture on the planet, has manifested this sentience, we are an utterly disingenuous species. Our actions, in one way or another, are, for the most part (exclusively?) unintentional manifestations of what lurks beneath; unacknowledged, suppressed, repressed, willfully unknown. Our behavioral watchwords? Rationalization and justification. Why? Well, fear of course, Knowing we will cease to exist, or, perhaps more accurately, lacking the ability to fathom the eternal (or what we imagine it to be), we turn to so-called power, material wealth, fame and the like as pathetically meagre compensation. Now, there are those who would, in the current lexicon, argue that "it's all good", which is nothing but a rephrasing of essential tenets found in any number of belief systems/philosophies. And while there is no doubt that truly existing in the eternity of every moment, to treat what we generally separate into "good" or "bad"/ "positive" or "negative", as nothing but unified energy of which we are simply a part -- to, in other words, maintain a sense of calm and "being" regardless of life's circumstances -- would likely be ideal, or close to it. But, given the essence of humanity's overall conditioning and wiring, this state is, sadly, more or less impossible to attain, never mind sustain. Not to say that it isn't worth considering and attempting. But, in the meantime, let's drop the pretense; the state of the world -- inner and outer -- makes it clear that it is not all good, and to excuse our behavior is to propagate the missteps that personify humanity. Certainly A Microcosm Social gatherings are all, to one degree or another, insufferable and absurd. Fraught with rampant hidden agendas and their manifestations -- positioning (hierarchal maneuvering) and networking (careerism) -- and underscored by insecurity and thinly veiled desperation (a bit thicker for those with truly sociopathic tendencies), how could they be otherwise? And, having such a gathering in the name of "art" only compounds the unbearableness, because the meaningful realization of the creative impulse should have at least something to do with transcendence. Not "transcendence" as a marketing tool or an image mongering label, but transcendence. So, when a local academy hosted yet another insular affair -- in this case, a "festival of electronic music and arts" -- wherein the invitees ranged from graduate students to out-of-town guests (underwritten by their own academies to come and display their wares; that is to say, add yet another line to their curriculum vitaes), the resultant lack of transcendence can hardly come as a surprise. And, indeed, just on the surface, there's abundant evidence as to how brilliantly this event works at cross purposes. First, it's centered around technology, which, these days, as one knows, means lap top gimmickry (and slow downloads). Second, there's a preponderance of hackneyed and merciless expropriation of indigenous musics, a clear sign of wrong-headed political correctness. Third, as part of ever elusive "audience development", there is much pandering to rock/pop influences. Fourth, the programming style is all pastiche -- a little of this, a little of that -- catering to short attention spans. (And, do I need to mention how the curator and others high in the food chain, get to present their work in the better, more prestigious venues? I thought not.) In all, it's fascinating how an event so concerned with creativity is, for the most part, so utterly bereft of same. Tim and I first met when he came to town with Konk Pack (a trio which also includes Roger Turner and Thomas Lehn) in the fall of 2007. In addition to playing a duo set with Roger that evening, I had served as a middle man of sorts in setting up the gig, which, due to the curator dropping the ball vis a vis communications, almost didn't happen. (And, even when it did, the evening itself was filled with an assortment of additional miscues, which Tim -- the group's de facto "tour manger " -- and I handled well, and, perhaps more importantly, with good humor.) Tim and I didn't talk a lot that evening or at brunch the next day, but, as evidenced by our on-the-spot problem solving and the exchanges we did have, there was an obvious overlapping of sensibilities and interests. Evidently, Tim thought so too. I was, however, surprised and amused when Tim let me know he was returning to participate in this, as we say in the states, "dog and pony" show (i.e., an empty showcase). (That he was a member of an ensemble not playing his music -- a hired hand, so to speak -- mitigated my surprise.) In his e-mail he expressed an interest in finding some time to hang out amongst the rehearsals and performances. I countered by suggesting we get together to play. So, we elected to attempt both, but, naturally, given logistical concerns (schedules and transportation) the path to something simple was replete with small stumbling blocks. Enter filmmaker/videographer Mike Yaeger. Part of my unexpected and last minute middle man duties on Tim's previous visit was to find accommodations for Konk Pack. For several reasons, three people would have been a bit much at my place. Particularly in the light of Roger having opened his home to me for several days in 2003 while I was in England, his staying with me was a foregone conclusion. Fortunately, in an inspired moment, I remembered Mike had a long standing admiration for Tim's work. So, I contacted him about the possibility of Tim and Thomas spending the night at his house. Having met and had quite a long conversation with Tim the preceding year, Mike was delighted. This time around (late winter 2008), Tim had already alerted Mike to his return, but Mike was unaware that I had suggested our getting together to play. This prospect was especially exciting for him, because, in addition to his abiding respect for Tim's music, Mike has expressed a deep appreciation for my work as evidenced by his recurring bursts of support. (That a virodha bhakti -- devotion by defiance -- undercurrent informs our relationship is not surprising, as it is a recurring theme in my interpersonal dynamics.) He was, therefore, very keen on videotaping our session. And, because the audio on his camera is of mediocre quality, he suggested, no, almost insisted that I record it with my DAT equipment (consisting of a recorder, mixer and four microphones). I, on the other hand, just wanted to keep things simple and make some music. But, Mike, in his unbridled enthusiasm, can be extremely persuasive, and so we compromised. I'd record it, but with a basic stereo mike set-up. Looking at the festival schedule, I noted the first day I was available to hear Tim, and made tentative arrangements to meet and go out with him and Mike. But that, of course, entailed the concerted effort of entering a domain that, despite my efforts to place occurrences in a broader context, nonetheless so irritates my nerve endings. Thus, with as much of an accepting attitude as I could muster, and keeping open the option that there just might, might be something of interest to hear (which, as it turns out there was, but just barely), I entered the venue where Tim would be playing and, once inside the performing space proper, immediately detected the pervasive stench of heightened self-importance and the politics of music as, first and foremost, a career path. A sort of existential nausea washed over me. With a demeanor of subtle defiance, I found a place to sit as some vacant post-modern design-form morphed on the stage's screen. Within moments, I spotted an enthralled Mike, who, for all his perspicacious opinions concerning artistic endeavor, can, in certain circumstances, be quite a, shall we say, forgiving listener; and Viv Corringham, one of my regular collaborators, whom I mercilessly (and, if I may be so bold, justifiably) tease for regularly showing up at these sorts of affairs. (However, as she actually participated in this event the previous year, her presence was de rigueur. Moreover, given that Viv has a genuine arts degree, one readily recognizes the force of habit extending from a good indoctrination, er, education.) During breaks between pieces, and almost trembling with displeasure, I asked Mike when we could get out of there, phrasing it along the lines of, "When the fuck can we get out of here and get something to eat?". He seemed perplexed and annoyed, to the point where, a bit later, and subsequent to Tim and I having warmly reestablished contact, Mike indicated he wouldn't be able to give Tim a ride to the session on Saturday, because he didn't want to miss any of the concerts (and, additionally, would have his young daughter, Alice, in tow). With no other viable options, I said I'd fetch Tim and get him back afterwards. Slight tensions aside, the four of us decided to get together for a meal prior to to Tim's next appearance that evening. The dinner at a small Indian restaurant was lovely; the usual push-pull banter amongst new and old comrades (Viv having known Tim for quite some time). Naturally, a fair portion of the conversation centered around the event at hand. And while Mike would have loved to find an ally in Tim concerning positive aspects of the festival, Tim was having none of it, and even went so far as to regale us with some wonderful and revealing behind-the-scenes stories. As the evening went on, Mike, in particular, was concerned about getting to the next venue in time to get a seat. I was, of course, in no great hurry, never imagining, in the light of the afternoon event's modest audience, that the place would be filled to capacity. Much to my chagrin, however, that was indeed the case, perhaps in part because it was a smaller venue. (Despite his being a performer in the evening's second half, even Tim wasn't allowed entrance.) Thankfully, my companions forgave me for filibustering at the restaurant. And, as we were in good spirits, and the ushers a good audience for our persiflage, we enjoyed our time in the lobby. Expectedly, some people left during the interval, so there were more seats to be had. I stayed to hear Tim, and then beat a hasty retreat. Encounter Saturday. Mike bringing Tim after all. Cart the smaller drum kit upstairs. Set it up. Open the piano. Assemble the clarinet. Set up the recording equipment. And, naturally, wait. Chronicling via cell phone: delayed rehearsals, concerts predictably running late, the convolutions surrounding their finding a place for a quick meal before arriving, and Mike's ongoing "negotiations" with Alice. Having a sense as to when Tim had to be back "on the job", I started thinking we'd have no time to play at all. Another call, they're almost here. Arrival. Mike and Tim set up their equipment, and, given the time constraints, we eschew a sound check. Then, without a word, the music starts. Now, if I may back up a moment. Previous to his hearing me play clarinets with Roger the year before, Tim knew fuck-all about my music. And my exposure to his work was limited; the early progressive/art rock, the raucous, improvised environs of Konk Pack (which didn't involve much woodwind playing), and the frugal bursts characterizing his contributions to the festival. So my expectations (like assumptions, a tricky business) were of a spare, lyrically-tinged aesthetic, perhaps informed by some "noisy" eruptions. But, when Tim put his horn to his mouth, it was all technically sharp, inventive fire. And I was delighted, as much for the music that was there, that moment, and to come, as for the fact that my expectations had been wonderfully circumvented. Improvisation. My lifework. Acknowledgments Mike, thanks very much for all your help, and, particularly for suggesting, er, insisting that I record the session. (And, thank you to Kevin Cosgrove, whose serendipitous mentioning the word "renunciant" in a conversation just after my having essentially finished these notes, brought the track titles into focus.) -- © milo fine (july 2008) " [label info / credits] www.rossbin.com " 'Teshuvah' reflects a first meeting between of two experienced veteran improvisors: Tim Hodgkinson (Henry Cow, Konk Pack, etc.) and Milo Fine. The career of Fine goes back to 1969 when he started The Milo Fine Free Jazz Ensemble. Throughout his career he was dedicated to free improvised music. I guess both gentlemen are more or less of the same age. Also Hodgkinson has a longlasting relation with free improvisation, as it was already part of the Henry Cow. They combined rock and free improvisation. In the last few years Hodgkinson tours regularly with his trio Konk Pack (Roger Turner, Thomas Lehn). During a concert in Minnesota he met Fine and the idea for a duo-session came up. It was realized in Fine's home, on a day in march 2008. Two long extended and one short improvisation made it to the CD that has Fine playing piano, drums, b flat clarinet and voice and Hodgkinson on b flat clarinet. While listening one feels the joy they had in their fabulous interactions. Never a dull moment during these sparkling, catch-me-while-you-can improvisations" [DM / Vital Weekly] 2009 €12.00
HOHMANN, MARTIJN Donkere Kamer CDr + ART Field recordings made in Rotterdam, Breda, and Antwerp early 2022 and Groot Ammers summer 2021 Additional processing, editing, (soft)synths and mixing may-august 2022. Little over a month after I was asked by Frans to do a piece for his new NDWICM label I got news that photographer Mark Rietveld had passed on by choice. The piece, which by then was more than halfway finished, already contained recordings from underneath de Schelde river in Antwerp made a few months earlier, on the very night I met up with Mark for the last time. The piece turned into a kind of homage. Donkere kamer is a single sixty minute piece divided into five parts. 1. De man met de Zeiss The Dutch equivalent of the Grim Reaper and also the man with the (Leica) camera. He who takes life and he who captures life. Death and the photographer converge. 2. De trein der traagheid The title was taken from the wonderful book by Johan Daisne with the same name. A man wakes up in a train and finds himself, alongside two other passengers, the only ones awake. The three passengers leave the train and continue their nightly journey by foot. Slowly they come to realize they must have been in a train accident and are no longer walking the world of the living. 3. Sint-Anna onder de Schelde Recordings made in the pedestrian tunnel that runs under the Schelde river in Antwerp. Crossing the river, a Styx Belgica. 4. Markdal Frogs recorded in Het Markdal, a nature reserve in Breda. The Japanese word for frog is \"kaeru\", which also means \"returning home\". 5. Rietveld Processed strings and recordings inside a reedfield in the Ammersche Boezem. The ancient Egyptians believed that the soul resides in the heart and so, upon death, the Weighing of the Heart occurred. Each human heart is weighed on a giant scale against an ostrich feather. Those souls which balance the scales are allowed to enter into A\'Aru “The Field of Reeds”, where they will exist in pleasure for all eternity. Donkere Kamer (dutch for dark room) packaged in a deluxe photographic paper envelope style packaging that holds with five B&W photographs in a light tight bag, a 35 mm negative and inserts. Limited to 50 copies numbered and signed. https://universaalkunst.bandcamp.com/album/donkere-kamer 2023 €17.50
HOOR-PAAR-KRAAT A Doorbell of Earbows for Brefix LP Geheimtip aus den Staaten! Wer auf rauh-chaotische Collagenmusik mit hohem Objekt-Noise Anteil steht, die trotzdem stimmungsvoll atmosphärisch ist, sollte hier unbedingt mal reinhören. Die vier Stücke schwanken zwischen wirren, sehr konkreten Impro-Geräuschmusik-Passagen und eher dronigen Parts in denen auch vokales Material auftaucht, immer mit dem Hang, die wahrhaft ungewöhnlichen Klänge und Arrangements herauszuarbeiten... "Grainy loop tracks, vocal tracks (which may or may not also be from tape), and surrealist music which isn't miles away from early Nurse With Wound. Richard Vergez (Drowning the Virgin Silence, Gray Girls, Mothersky), Duane Hosein (A Jealousy Issue, Hand Carved Gentleman, ex-Poison the Well). BRANDON SAMDAHL (Mr Entertainment and the Pookie Smackers) and ANTHONY MANGICAPRA bathe the entire thing in foggy reverb and mysterious scratching and shifting, which pulls it all together. It makes sense only as a dream transcribed onto recording equipment. The A side contains material previously released on The Huntington Chapters three-inch CDR (Small-Doses) and the B side is all previously unreleased recordings from the same sessions. Mastered by JAMES PLOTKIN." [label info] "...The A side, previously released on Small Doses, is a tripped out burst of mysterious musical abstraction. Two tracks, clocking in at about 18 minutes total, an abstract and spacious drift through some lost alien soundscape. The first track is all tinkling melodies, glistening high end, strange rumbling fluctuations way off in the distance, bits of creak and scrape, everything bathed in foggy reverb and warm wet swirls of tape hiss and atmospheric whir. Melodies creep in and out, as do bits of field recordings, it all feels like some cinematic bleary eyed wander through a hazy druggy flashback, a washed out world of lost memories and fragmented dreams. Here and there guitars grind and reverberate, and strange percussive sonic events drift into earshot, like an even more abstract Wolf Eyes maybe. Quite gorgeous and dreamlike. The second track starts out the same, a smear of high end shimmer, but instead of spreading out into languid pools of blurry sound, things get decidedly more abrasive, the high end becomes sharper, the percussion is more clattery and jarring, a disembodied voice intones some creepy monologue over the top, effects swirl and swoop, deconstructed riffs chug and churn, everything dizzying and disorienting, like the nightmare analogue to the opening track's dream. The flipside also offers up two tracks, the first begins with a swirl of creaking metal, sizzling cymbals, clattery percussion, until suddenly the clang and crunch are transformed into a strangely rhythmic crunch, the metal sounding much deeper, more of a resonant bellow, all very chaotic and cacophonous, underpinned by deep distant rumbles. Which leads right into track number two, all birdsong and tinkling chimes, whispered voices, random sonic detritus, sharp slivers of momentary buzz, soft smears of static, very haunting and ominous and like the first side, quite cinematic. Beautifully packaged as always, pressed on thick vinyl, housed in full color sleeves with super striking artwork from HPK mainman Anthony Mangicapra. We know it's LIMITED too, just not sure to how many." [Aquarius Records review] www.goat-eater.blogspot.com 2008 €15.00
HOTOTOGISU + BURNING STAR CORE Volume One CD "Five tracks, totaling approximately fifty minutes by the time-defying duo of MATTHEW BOWER (SKULLFLOWER, RAMLEH, SUNROOF!, TOTAL) and MARCIA BASSETT (DOUBLE LEOPARDS, GHQ, ZAIMPH) collaborating with C. SPENCER YEH, ROBERT BEATTY, and TREVOR TREMAINE (the latter two of HAIR POLICE, EYES AND ARMS OF SMOKE, SICK HOUR). Originally released as a tour merch CDR, this edited and re-sequenced edition begins with an appropriate invocation and from there punches blindly through one stone cloud after another, coughs and gasps from exhaustion, stumbles and lies motionless. The ritual concludes with a moment of naked acoustic/instinctual spasm. Packaged in a black polycase with black-and-white inserts and a special randomly-selected one-inch button (five button variations in all). All different material from the companion volume HG/BxC II released by the Heavy Blossom label." [label info] ".... And what in fact happens, is a big sprawling chaotic blown out spaced out free rock noise jam. The addition of drums makes a huge difference, grounding the sound in 'rock', but said drumming is free and abstract enough to let the music breath and expand and spread out like a black fog. The opener is a static Dead C style jam, a simple plodding beat, cymbals and kick drum mostly, while all around, dizzying swirls of guitar fuzz and thick swaths of distorted synth, and in there to some damaged electronics and of course some of Yeh's FX drenched violin. The backdrop is a constantly shifting swirl of noise and sound, but the simple plodding rhythm makes it sound like some ultra gritty lost krautrock rehearsal tape. The second track is a bit more unhinged, the background of the first song, brought to the fore and allowed to swallow everything up. The drums this time are just an incessant clanging buried in the mix, like a railroad crossing bell heard from within a tornado. Part way through some of the noise seems to coalesce into sort-of-riffs, and suddenly it a strangely propulsive slab of white hot white noise, albeit with a bit of groove to it. The next track is the most melodic, a gothy, doomy sort of glacial dirge, almost like an ultra lo-fi Hawkwind, crushing drums and more of that noisy blown out squall jammed into every crevice. The drums drop out almost entirely for the next number, the guitars and synths and violins and vocals spread out into long effulgent streaks, super noisy, but strangely hypnotic and dreamy. The final track is a sort of throwaway, a brief sputter of creaks and clatter, scrape and grind, angular and atonal, a blown out noise coda, but it's the loooooong tracks that make up the rest of the record that really hit the drone-dirge-noise spot. Packaged in a cool, black plastic case with a black and white cover, black and white insert, and each copy includes a button, one of 5 different designs chosen at random." [Aquarius Rec.] www.dronedisco.com 2006 €13.00
HUMAN GREED Consolation CD Released in 2001, the debut album from Michael Begg’s Human Greed was hailed as being “disquieting as it is exceptional… Brutally honest, enlightening and remarkable”. “A Fear filled symphony of terrors… that gradually entwines your imagination in its numerous sonic tentacles and refuses to relinquish its grip.” Edwin Pouncey, The Wire 2001 €13.00
HUMAN QUENA ORCHESTRA Means without ends CD Für Fans des ultra-langsamen Noise-Rocks a la SWANS, GODFLESH, etc. kommen HUMAN QUENA ORCHESTRA genau richtig! Ihr Slow-Drone-Noise aus herrlich verzerrten & scheppernden Snare-Drums, entmenschlichtem Schreigesang & dunkel Noise-Flächen klingt unfassbar abgründig & visionär, wie ein letzter Aufschrei vor dem Untergang. "Various permutations of this disc have been floating around for a while, each in various states of completeness, but every one we'd heard sounded even better than the last. But this is the one, the final, finished product. The long in the works Human Quena Orchestra, the work of Ryan Unks, formerly of techgrind combo Creation Is Crucifixion, but don't be expecting grind, or even technicality, this all the way on the other side of the spectrum. Abject, filthy, pummeling, slow motion noise drenched doom. A plodding sonic monster, guitars, not just distorted, but treated and twisted into harsh, skin scraping, caustic slabs of sinister sound, a low end so thick, it's like dunking your head in a cement mixer, insane sounding drums, each snare crack like the recording of a million breaking windows, each kick drum the sound of a slowed down car wreck. And beneath it all, thick swells of black ambience, drifting and slithering, pulsing and swelling. A lurching, stumbling blackened doom dirge behemoth. Think Swans, Godflesh, Pitchshifter, that sort of machinelike apocalyptic industrial pound, mixed with some funereal ultra doom a la Moss, Bunkur, etc., but filtered through a druggy psychedelia, with a minimal shimmery drone bent, that ends up sounding like a way more brutal, way more harsh, tripped out, psychedelic, industrial version of Jesu, that sort of blissed out sun baked vibe, but as if played by some misanthropic black metal horde, harsh blackened vocals, shrieking hysterically and growling demonically over the relentless amp melting metallic trudge. Every track is rife with layer after layer of undulating low end. Like being tossed about on a stormy sea, but instead of water, it's an endless expanse of roiling black sound waves, rumbling drones, and thick snarled streaks of throbbing bass. The magic Of Unks' Human Quena Orchestra though is that this hellish harshness is balanced with a nearly equal amount of meditative ambience, long stretches of deep shimmer, and even some of the harshest tracks are tempered by the swirling low end drift lurking beneath. So brutally gorgeous. Definitely essential listening for fans of all the above mentioned outfits, as well as Monarch, Nadja, the Angelic Process, Fear Falls Burning, Skullflower, Abruptum, Monument Of Urns, Trollmann, Khanate, The Body and all our favorite purveyors of crumbling downtuned beauty and dreamy damaged doom. Packaged in a gorgeous hand screened multiple panel fold over sleeve with super striking ADD style microscopic super detailed artwork." [Aquarius Records] label-website: www.daftalliance.com 2007 €12.00
  The Politics of the Irredeemable CD Instrumental Apocalyptic Doom Ambience! Musik von erdrückender Intensität & urwüchsiger Kraft! Heftige Gitarren-Drones, wuchtige ultralangsame Pulses, Schreie, Noise... So brutal wie wunderschön. Gehört mit zum intensivsten, was es im Bereich "Industrial-Rock" der schleppend-zermahlenden Sorte zur Zeit gibt, natürlich muss man an alte SWANS denken, aktuell fällt uns sonst nur noch TRANSITIONAL, KHANATE oder BUNKUR ein. Das zweite Album! "Ein bisschen Fantasie vorausgesetzt, stelle man sich folgendes Szenario vor: NAPALM DEATH wären keine Grindcore-, sondern eine Black-Metal-Band, und als Justin Broadrick sie 1986 verließ, um dann GODFLESH zu gründen, hätte er neben Industrial, Noise und Ambient eben auch einen Teil Black Metal in sein Projekt gebracht, aber mit dem Wissen, wie sich so etwas eben 2009 anhören müsste. Ein alberner Vergleich vielleicht, aber das aus Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania stammende Duo HUMAN QUENA ORCHESTRA schafft es mit seinem zweiten Album, eine ähnlich bedrückende Atmosphäre aufzubauen, wie es einst GODFLESH konnten und das eben mit ganz ähnlichen, aber noch heftigeren Mitteln, denn auf einen nachvollziehbaren Rhythmus und eine Songstruktur muss man verzichten. Eine den Songs als Fundament dienende Geräuschkulisse, darüber Schreie, Noisefetzen und ein sich ständig wiederholendes brutales Riff, das nur alle zehn Sekunden zusammen mit einem Drumschlag auftaucht: „The Politics Of The Irredeemable" ist statisch und undynamisch, wie eine massive, undurchdringliche Wand, die so dunkel, hoch und breit ist, dass du ihre Dimensionen nicht abschätzen kannst." [André Bohnensack, OX-Fanzine] "Human Quena Orchestra first took shape as a solo project from Ryan Unks, who had previously played guitar in the final lineup of the Pittsburgh metal band Creation Is Crucifixion. After moving from CIC, Unks began to work on a new project that would incorporate elements of black metal, crushing drone music, extreme psychotropic noise and psychedelic/krautrock influences into a sound that would be much heavier any of his previous projects. The first album from Human Quena Orchestra was released in 2007 on Daft Alliance; Means Without Ends was a disturbing, introspective slab of blackened industrial doom that stood out in stark contrast from the rest of the slow n' low extreme doom scene, utilizing layers of harsh textured distortion and electronics to create a caustic form of monstrous doom that shared as much of industrial music's cold, machine-like aesthetic as it did the ultra-slow riffage of the most extreme variants of doom metal. At the same time that the bands debut was taking shape, Unks was joined by another former member of Creation Is Crucifixion, Nathan Berlinguette (who was also a member of the dark ambient project M.Kourie and the deathdrone duo 5/5/2000). With the addition of Berlinguette's skilled application of dark ambience and expansive soundscapes, Human Quena Orchestra began to move into even more textured territory which has culminated with the second HQO full-length, The Politics of the Irredeemable, a series of apocalyptic visions and epiphanies of endtime realization, prophetic screeds that look to a future rendered pustulent and war-stricken by the failed machinations of the human race, presented as six chapters that enter your consciousness through a delivery system of extreme industrial dread. The Politics of the Irredeemable is crushing and oppressive, a crawl through abstract fields of low-end sound that move from punishing blasts of ultra-heavy machine-doom and earth-shaking tectonic riffs, to thick fogs of black electronic ambience that shimmer with subsonic pulses and celestial drones, the presence of malevolent electricity crackling in the air around the lumbering, nightmarish electro-sludge monstrosity of the Human Quena Orchestra. And at the same time, there are passages of immense beauty on this album that lurk at the peripheries of HQO's malevolent crush; the track "Aspirations" for instance, where pummeling slow-motion industrial percussions grinds in an infinite loop beneath a swirling nightsky of kosmiche synthesizers and heavenly, blissed-out ambience, the drums becoming like distant mortar blasts heard over the horizon as terrified screams ring out and stars fall dead from the skies. Total deathmachine grind ambience. The CD is packaged in a heavy gatefold jacket with murky, dismal images of blasted city streets and torched monuments, with lyrics and quotations relevant to the apocalyptic themes on the album printed on the inside jacket. Comes with three 1" color buttons featuring artwork from the album." [label info] www.Crucialblast.net 2009 €12.00
HUNGTAI, ALEX ZHANG / DAVID MARANHA / GABRIEL FERRANDINI Eight Black Horses Crown Snake CD "Through me you go into the city of grief, through me you go into the pain that is eternal, through me you go among people lost. Justice moved my exalted creator; the divine power made me, the supreme wisdom, and the primal love. Before me all created things were eternal, and eternal I will last. Abandon every hope, you who enter here. ...after he had taken me by the hand, with a cheerful look which comforted me, he drew me within the secret place [the eternal world]." -Dante, Canto III, The Divine Comedy Alex Zhang Hungtai - Voice, Saxophone and Drums David Maranha - Organ and Drums Gabriel Ferrandini - Drums Recorded in Cinema Passos Manuel 10th of March 2017 Mixed by Alex, David and Gabriel in Violante do Céu Studio Mastered by Tó Pinheiro da Silva in Oeiras on 10th of November 2017 Cover photo from White Noise Book, Interior photo taken at Conservatório de Lisboa, both by António Júlio Duarte We are self releasing it through david's label Violent do Céu, if you would like a CD version of the album please email david and he will post it to you. Unfortunately our self release budget is limited, but hopefully one day we can release this on vinyl. davidmaranha@gmail.com https://alexzhanghungtai.bandcamp.com/album/eight-black-horses-crown-snake 2018 €13.00
HUNTSVILLE For the middle class CD Sehr schwungvoll-polyperkussive Instrumental-Melangen dieses norwegischen Ensemble, absolut hörenswert ! "Die drei Musiker von HUNTSVILLE - Ivar Grydeland, Tonny Kluften und Ingar Zach - stammen allesamt aus Norwegen. Grydeland und Zach gründeten zusammen das Sofa Label für improvisierte Musik und tauchten schon zusammen in ebenso unzähligen wie vielfältigen Gruppen wie dem Improvisations-Ensemble NO SPAGHETTI EDITION oder gemeinsam mit dem britischen Keyboarder Pat Thomas im Quartett HISS auf. Die Tatsache, dass alle Mitglieder von HUNTSVILLE Multiinstrumentalisten sind, zeigt, dass die Band um Lichtjahre von einem konventionellen Trio mit Gitarre, Bass und Drums entfernt ist. Grydeland mischt akustische und elektrische Gitarre und am Banjo mit Fingerpickung, verschiedenen Bögen und obskuren Effektgeräten. Ebenso benutzt Kluften am Bass unterschiedliche Bögen, Stöcke und Gummibänder, während Zach dies mit den diversesten Klängen seines Drumkits untermalt. Am Ende ist es ganz unmöglich, herauszufinden, wer welches bizarre Geräusch zu Tage gefördert hat. HUNTSVILLE treiben den polyrhythmischen Zugang, wie ihn ORNETTE COLEMAN bei "Lonely Woman" kultiviert hat, auf neue Höhen. Verschiedene Tempi der Instrumente konkurrieren miteinander und kommen am Ende der Reise doch als homogenes Ganzes im Gehör des Zeugen an. // _This is the debut release for Norwegian trio Huntsville. Huntville are Ivar Grydeland, (guitars, banjo, pedal steel guitar, etc.) Tonny Kluften (double bass, etc.) and Ingar Zach (percussion, tabla machine, sarangi box, shruti box, etc.) Grydeland and Zach founded the Sofa label for improvised music in 2000 and appear together in various projects on several of the label's releases. They have worked with Kluften since 1998, as the core of improvising ensemble No Spaghetti Edition and in the quartet HISS with British keyboardist Pat Thomas. The HISS CD from 2003, Zahir, shows the group's intense application of so-called free improvisation. The Huntsville project contrasts sharply with their earlier work, and this release reveals a quite different, more groove-based approach with strong elements of composition. Zach comments, "... during the last two or three years, our interest in country music and electronic music has developed into a sound we really wanted to investigate -- also Feldman and Cage, drone music, folk music..." The group's multi-instrumentalism means that this is no conventional guitar-bass-drums trio. On acoustic and electric guitar as well as banjo, Grydeland mixes finger-picking techniques with various types of bow, as well as acoustic and electronic devices. Tonny Kluften on double-bass uses various bows, sticks and rubber bands, while Zach produces a wide range of sounds on drum kit. They make striking use of a marvelous polyrhythmic approach pioneered by Ornette Coleman on "Lonely Woman," and Zach's locomotive groove is contrasted by the free tempo of plangent, folk-like acoustic guitar, in a kind of fractured descendent of the railroad blues. Alternately, the drums set up a tight and furious high-tempo, with the other instruments either at a slower tempo, or out of tempo completely. When the group lowers the energy levels, soft arpeggios on acoustic guitar are heard against percussive objects and a lone, rather erratic bass drum -- these effects are spare, haunting and quite beautiful. For The Middle Class displays a genuinely musical use of unexpected sounds and textures, allied with echoes of traditional genres in a radical new conceptual language." [press release] "Pretty incredible long-player by the Norwegian trio of Ivar Grydeland, Tonny Kluften and Ingar Zach, who’ve long been involved with the free improvisation world already documented by Grydeland’s Sofa label on a number of releases since 2000. Here, however, they utilise all manner of instruments from guitars, double bass, banjo, tabla machine and various others originating from India to explore a more recent interest in drone, country, folk and electronic music. Opening song, ‘The Appearance of a Wise Child’, tethered to around 15 mins worth of driving, hypnotic percussion and snatching some random vocals along the way, largely sets the tone for the remainder of the release. Organic textures snake around each other, rhythms staple everything to that juncture where everything points to an apex of unadulterated ecstasy, and discernible ur-strums combine with frenetic bows and scrapes for that only too important raw effect so hard to find in this day of software-generated sterilisation. Only second track, ‘Serious Like a Pope’ loses its grip slightly as the pace is whittled back to a near Fahey-esque approach rendered better on fourth and final cut, ‘Melon’, which furnishes us with a comparatively stripped and gentle touchdown to the proceedings. Nonetheless, Huntsville sound like their experience within such realms of music is paying off. The product of people who know their game without having let their imagination or yearning to voyage to new places suffer. Fucken dandy in my book, I have to concede." [RJ, Adverse Effect] 2006 €10.00
HURTADO, MARC & ALAN VEGA Sniper CD "Alan Vega is literally a legend. Suicide, formed by the duo Rev and Vega is the spearhead of a punk trend which immersed all of a sudden in a fusion of waves and electronic loops. Since that period Vega became an icon for rock music and electronic generations... Vega’s flow, and the scansion of this white hot crooner sound fractured and charismatic. Everything is Rock, his leather jackets, his art and soul highly charged. So aesthetic, a rockabilly singing in a breathless style, wearing dusty pink and yelling metal make up. He is nowadays a Myth all around the world. Marc Hurtado gained his experience in the 80’s with his brother Eric, they were called “Étant Donnés”. Their albums, films and performances are highly appreciated in Beauboug,the Fondation Cartier, the Rennes Transmusicales,the Barcelona Sonar Festival, the Kitchen in New York and The French Cinematèque. In the years 2000, Marc Hurtado produced some original soundtracks (for Philippe Gandrieux and Jessica Hausner), but he is also known for his collaborations with Lydia Lunch, Genesis P-Orridge (Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV), Michael Gira (Swans), Gabi Delgado (DAF), The Hacker, Sky Saxon (The Seeds), Les Maîtres Musiciens de Jajouka, his project Sol Ixent with the German singer Saba Komossa (Delkom)... and of course Alan Vega. Hurtado recorded four tracks in the album Re-Up in 1999 and were together on stage in France and Europe (Centre Pompidou, Lieu Unique de Nantes with Christophe) and he also produced in 2009 the film “The Infinite Mercy Film”) dedicated to the art work of Alan Vega. Sniper was born from this artistic collaboration and complicity, it was recorded in 2010 at the 6/8 Studios cherished by Suicide. This is a blazing star, an album made of fever and chaos but it also remind us the synthetic ballad you can find in Vega’s early solo albums.Whithout mentioning Lydia Lunch’s participation in “Prison Sacrifice” already a cult song, there is the sublime one “Saturn Drive Duplex” in its first original version which could lead to inspiration in the future. With at least 13 tracks of rage and shiver where words and electricity are intertwine to show this threatening apocalyptic and violent world but also the desire to flee towards new possibilities and to explore the universe. This album follows the release of infinite Mercy, a monograph dedicated to the art work “Ghost Rider Man”, which came out in September 2010 at Presses du Réel and where you can find some texts from Marc Hurtado, Alan Vega, Henry Rollins, Ric Ocasek and Martin rev. Neon lights sculptures are on the outer cover and inside it, it’s a prestigious flamboyant release." [label info] www.maquismusic.com 2010 €15.50
HYBRYDS The Rhythm of the Ritual / Ein Phallischer Gott do-CD "Zoharum continues reissuing past works of one of the most interesting projects coming from the 1980s underground - Hybryds. ”The Rhythm of the Ritual / Ein Phallischer Gott” is the fifth instalment in the reissue series of Hybryds classic releases. Sandy tells a few words about the period: In the 1990s only small independent labels existed which had their own area to cover distributionwise hoping to spread our music in the world. ”The Rhythm of the Rituals” (1994, Charnel Music) and ”Ein Phallischer Gott” (1997, Crowd Control Activities) shared some songs. There were no official media supporting this world of “underground” music. Acid and rave became popular in the “commercial” scene. Pro Tools was the magic word. But we made our music live on the 8-track. The only sequences were the drum machines. We stayed loyal to working the old-fashioned way. It's the more rhythmical and ethnical site of Hybryds, lots of percussion, played acoustically, or sampled and looped, or from drum machines. Some of the basic music was from the 1980s but by then we worked on a reel-to-reel 8-track tape recorder with a bigger mixing desk. Livewise we started to transfer to our cyberpunk period (as visible in the live version of ”Whisper”). Depending on the demand we had two live shows, the “magical” or the cyberpunk. It was also the time when Yasnaïa and me did the live shows alone. We did not work live on stage with others anymore. We had a manager, Patty Hele from Motherdance. It was easier to travel and perform with two people only. Yasnaïa released her solo album and started playing live with her solo project. The first CD collects tracks from two studio releases ”The Rhythm of the Ritual” and ”Ein Phallischer Gott”. The live CD contains live versions of the studio CD (some taken from the live Obuh vinyl LP) and some extras, like an unreleased song ”Dusk Falling”." [label info] www.zoharum.com "Neben dem Backcatalog anderer Bands taucht in den letzten Jahren auch immer wieder ein Album der HYBRYDS via ZOHARUM auf. Mit „The Rhythm Of The Ritual/ Ein Phallischer Gott“ ist man dabei bei zwei Werken von 1994 bzw. 1997 angekommen, die nun ergänzt um Live-Aufnahmen aus der Zeit als Doppel-CD, wiederaufgelegt werden. Hierzu ist allerdings anzumerken, dass nur drei Stücke des „The Rhythm Of The Ritual“-Albums enthalten sind. Die drei anderen wurden bereits mit der (Wieder-)veröffentlichung von „The Ritual Should Be Kept Alive“ 2015 erneut ans Tageslicht befördert. Auch nicht alle Stücke von „Ein Phallischer Gott“ haben es auf diese Zusammenstellung geschafft. Dafür taucht z.B. das eindrucksvolle „Call Of The Tuareg“ auf – ein Compilation-Track aus jener Zeit. Auf die fürchterlichen, quietschbunten 90er Jahre Computer-Cover der Originale wurde zum Glück nicht zurückgegriffen. Stattdessen wurde dem Release ein absolut stimmiges Artwork verpasst, das sich in die aktuelle, künstlerische Darstellung der HYBRYDS einpasst. Dass die vorliegenden Aufnahmen um die zwanzig Jahre alt sind, lässt sich tatsächlich nur schwer heraushören. Frei von damaligen Trends wirken die Stücke eher zeitlos. Die stark Ritual-, Tribal-lastige Musik wird zumeist von einem Rhythmus-Loop zusammengehalten, über den nicht durchgängig aber hin und wieder YASNAIAs Stimme gelegt wurde. Daneben erklingen Flötenklänge und Synthesizerpads, so dass der Gesamtsound mal organischer und mal elektronischer wirkt. Beteiligt waren an den Arbeiten damals auch illustre Gäste wie HERMAN KLAPHOLZ (u.a. AH CAMA-SOTZ) oder MOON FAR AWAY. Die Live-Aufnahmen und Proberaumaufnahmen der zweiten CD stammen ebenfalls aus der Zeit – zumeist 1996. Neben anderen Stücken, sind hier auch einige Tracks noch einmal in der Live-Version vorhanden, die auf der „Studio-Seite“ bereits zu finden sind. Der Sound ist dabei bis auf einige Ausnahmen durchweg recht gut. Wie oben dargestellt ist „The Rhythm Of The Ritual/ Ein Phallischer Gott“ keine Wiederveröffentlichung im eigentlichen Sinn, sondern eher eine Zusammenstellung von Stücken aus einer zeitlichen Periode, die in sich aber absolut stimmig und geschlossen wirkt und mit den zusätzlichen Live-Versionen und Outtakes einen gewissen Mehrwert mitbringt. Hörer, die sich für rituellen und Tribal-lastigen Ambient interessieren, sollten ruhig ein Ohr riskieren, da die Musik ohne Frage gegenüber der heutigen Konkurrenz mithalten kann – mindestens." [Tony F. für nonpop.de] 2016 €16.00
ILLUSION OF SAFETY In Session CD Neues Material des Projektes von DAN BURKE - als eher elektronisch arbeitende Industrial-Band fing man an, aber die verschiedenen Metamorphosen in der nunmehr 25jährigen Geschichte führten über Geräuschobjekt-Improvisationen und eher collagigen musique concrete Werken bis hin zum dark ambient und drone-basierender Musik. IN SESSION führt einiges davon zusammen, besitzt Anteile von verschiedenen Stilen, spannungeladen & sirrend, wellig, dronig, dicht, wieder ein kleines Meisterwerk. Geräuschmusik wie sie intensiver kaum vorstellbar ist. "Illusion Of Safety is one of the oldest post-industrial acts in the Americal musical underground, and in my opinion, of the most interesting projects ever. During 25 years of existence IOS have recorded a lot of various albums and their music has been changing a lot. Having passed through all the circles of industrial hell, Dan Burke has lost almost all his companions and remained alone. He hasn't released too many albums recently, and "In Session" released in 2008 has become a real surprise for me. I mean of course the fact of the release, because the highest quality of musical material and huge amount of pleasure while listening to it is guaranteed by any of IOS albums. "In Session" was recorded in 2007, the mastering was made by Thomas Dimuzio at Gench Music Studio. This is a very thorough and delicate work, an abstract performance in which synthetic and natural sounds mix in the most unusual combinations, when you really hold your breath to wait what's gonna be further. In 6 tracks of the album there are a lot of quiet microscopic sounds which whirl in front of the eyes like thoughts without rational content. They change into the smooth waves of melodic ambient, then to insane sampled collages which don't make you feeling relaxed keeping the constant tension. This shortening of the distance between contemplativeness and neural spasms has always been the trademark of IOS - it's interesting to watch how the musical structure transforms under the emotional passion hiding after each second of the track time, but not always going out. Separate compliments should be given to the artwork designer - you can observe the cover for a really long time being astounded by it's beauty. [Dmitry Vasilyev, Monochrome Vision] "One of my favorite post industrial bands ever. Period. Since more than twenty years I am a fan and every new release is awaited with eager anticipation. This highly limited release from Russia, in a gorgeous package, is no different. These days, since many years actually, Illusion Of Safety is reduced one person, following a free floating membership that included Thyme Jones and Jim O'Rourke to mention just two, which is Dan Burke. He plays 'sound generating devices and random objects that deliberately provoke, mesmerize and even affront listeners'. I deliberately use the term 'post industrial' and not say 'electro-acoustic' or 'musique concrete', which could also easily be applied to the music of Illusion Of Safety. When they started they were firmly rooted in the world of industrial music, and later on elements of musique concrete came along, but if you listen to 'In Session' the elements of industrial music are still there. Heavy, steel walls of drone music pierce your ears and are as easily replaced by soft drones, crackling sounds of hand held objects and contact microphones. I wouldn't be surprised if Burke plays all of this 'in session', live at home so to speak. I saw him a lot of times playing concerts which capture the equal beauty that is captured here. Ranging from sheer noise to near silence and there is always an element of surprise lurking around the corner. An abrupt, full stop or start and it bring the piece in a new territory. Illusion Of Safety's music can be compared with the likes of Roel Meelkop or Toy Bizarre, but is less bound to rules of composition and more free and joyous (well, that's probably not the right away) than those of the microsound/musique concrete posse that inhabits the world of Vital Weekly so frequently. That alone makes a great band and another great CD. Very fine concentrated bursts of sound." [FdW / Vital Weekly] "The first proper record from Illusion Of Safety in well over 5 years emerges from the Russian label Waystyx, meaning that this will not be around for long and will not be easy for us to track down once these are gone. Just a caveat before we launch into the, um, virtues of this exercise in muscular electronics and brainmelting dronescaping. Illusion Of Safety began well over two decades ago, firmly embracing the death factory imagery and psychological tension that came through the work of Throbbing Gristle, John Duncan, and The Hafler Trio. While the grizzly subjects of torture and sexual violence have dissolved over time, Illusion Of Safety's interest in unsettled soundscapes, collages, and electronic walls of noise remain as powerful as ever. Illusion Of Safety has always been a revolving door project centered around Chicago's Dan Burke; and In Session finds Burke alone at the helms of Illusion Of Safety, concocting a dizzying series of arcing electroshock compositions filled with intense dynamics and rapid crescendos of incremental noise quickly nosediving into subharmonic tones and microtonal squiggles, with plenty of slow building elements in between. The piercing drones that dominate the Illusion Of Safety palette are matched with crumbled textures from electronic circuits on the verge of collapse (see Wolf Eyes, Carlos Giffoni) and contact microphone agitation (see Tarab, Eric La Casa, Loren Chasse, etc.). There's one track of grim psychedelic arpeggiations which sounds as if Prurient were attempting a Terry Riley piece, with bad intentions running through the phase shifting loops. Totally fantastic, if not totally disquieting!" [Aquarius Rec.] 2008 €13.00
Probe CD "This is the first re-issue OF ILLUSION OF SAFETY's PROBE since its only appearance in 1992. In a limited edition of 500 copies, Perdition Plastics is proud to reintroduce this notable work of contemporary composition. Veteran provocateurs, ILLUSION OF SAFETY, examine an audio landscape found between youth and innocence, manufactured entertainment, and suburban complacency. Using a pastiche of field recordings and suggestively composed elements, Dan Burke and Jim O'Rourke strikingly capture ambivalence and their own personal interactions within this environment. PROBE was one of several early, pinnacle works to foreshadow the unique and prolific audio fingerprint of renowned producer/player, Jim O'Rourke, when still a compositional student in Chicago. This release fits neatly into O'Rourke's recent issuing OF forgotten and initial recordings. As the constant center OF ILLUSION OF SAFETY since 1983, Dan Burke has consistently edited and evolved more than 20 CDs from ambience to electronica, from sound collage to post-industrial noise. The complexity and restraint found within PROBE marked a compelling new direction for Burke and a great many others influenced by his music. ILLUSION OF SAFETY has been released by such labels as Die Stadt, Experimedia, Silent, Soleilmoon, Staalplaat, Tesco, and Waystyx among others. Collaborations include Cheer-Accident, Thomas Demuzio, Kevin Drumm, Ben Vida, and others. PROBE will be of interest to those who enjoy Hafler Trio, Throbbing Gristle, Luc Ferrari, etc." [label info] www.perditionplastics.com "This is not a review but merely a historical, personal ramble. In 1992 I started working for Staalplaat, buying and selling stuff, and helping out getting those strange packages done. One of the bands that already had a great package, before my time, was Illusion Of Safety, whose 'Historical' was packed in a leather pouch with a real bullet. Both Staalplaat and Korm Plastics, my own small venture, were in contact with Illusion Of Safety's main man Dan Burke and Jim O'Rourke, who was then a main collaborator with Burke. This resulted in 'Disengage', still one of the top 10 releases by Staalplaat, along with 'Probe' by Illusion Of Safety. The first 500 were packed in a wooden box with a real Italian coin and toy money from former Eastern Germany (an additional 500 were sold in the same wooden box, but without the monies). Illusion Of Safety were on a peak with that CD, or perhaps a watershed mark (otherwise you may think they never reached another peak again) is a better word. Before that Illusion Of Safety was, perhaps, 'another' fine band of harsh and less harsh industrial music as a bigger outfit with a varying line up. Towards the end of the era of releasing cassettes, which culminated in the fine but highly obscure 'RVE' tape, Jim O'Rourke became a member, bringing a love of composed music to the table, not just musique concrete but also the like of Scelsi. The music of Illusion Of Safety changed and on 'Probe', as said being here just Dan Burke & Jim O'Rourke, this culminated in that first highlight. All of the influences from before and new ones, melted together in this great disc of musique concrete. Many field recordings are used, along with piercing electronics at times, bowed guitars at others. Sometimes stretching out seemingly ad infinitum, but then sometimes abruptly changing color, speed, intensity, mood, texture and/or atmospherics. An absolute great work of sound collage, bridging musique concrete, electro-acoustics, improvisation, industrial music and ambient. Still a highlight of a career, and great to see back in print - even when the cover is not on par with the original. [FdW / Vital Weekly] "Arguably the finest Illusion Of Safety record ever made, Probe was the 1992 recording composed by Dan Burke and Jim O'Rourke. The former began Illusion Of Safety a decade earlier with a revolving door personnel policy involving a handful of Chicago malcontents. O'Rourke began working with Burke's project around 1989 or so, when he was still a teenager and studying composition in college. Where many of the Illusion Of Safety albums are full-frontal assaults on the psyche of the listener (especially the groundbreaking album Historical with its raw use of narration from torture documentaries), Probe is a far more subtle and thus effective album marked by the extended use of disturbed silences, predating such sound design techniques that David Lynch mastered in Mulholland Drive and Lost Highway. This use of space is definitely coming from the O'Rourke side of the equation (which according to Burke was 50/50 on Probe), as O'Rourke's early solo album Scend was released at about the same time as Probe with profound similarities. Throughout the subsonic frequencies and unsettled spooky drones, there are numerous punctures of analogue sourced micro- bleeping, errata from shortwave, scrabbling of tactile objects, field recordings of traffic jams, children at play, carnival rides, etc. and jittery digitally sculpted loops. As all of these elements slowly unfurl over several lengthy chapters, Probe truly synthesizes the aesthetics of both Burke and O'Rourke into a cohesive body of work, with Burke's research into the dark and transgressive balanced with O'Rourke's studies into the musique concrete of Luc Ferrari and Michel Chion. Staalplaat first released Probe in a wooden slipcase in an edition of 500 copies. Those quickly went out of print; but fortunately, Perdition Plastics has just reissued this brilliant album, albeit in more conventional packaging..."[Aquarius Records] 2009 €13.00
Fin de Siecle CD "Long overdue re-issue of this long out of print LP on Korm Plastics (kp 5495), and perhaps its fits the format of CD even better. Illusion Of Safety is Dan Burke, here with Kurt Greisch. Since 1983 Illusion Of Safety has been the ongoing project of Daniel Burke, working alone and with various collaborators. They have released over 20 CDs on labels such as Complacency, Die Stadt, Experimedia, Odd Size, Silent, Soleilmoon, Staalplaat, Tesco, and Waystyx, and played over three hundred concerts in Europe and North America. IOS' work has been called ambient, post-industrial, electro-acoustic, noise, sound collage, improvisation, and power electronics, but they are unwilling to limit their work to any given style or method. The sonic character and affective substance of the music will often shift abruptly within each recording and live performance. 'Fin de Siecle' was part of the 'ambient series' of Korm Plastics and has some highly subtle music to offer, based on field recordings and quiet electronics. Part One and Part Three, the original sides of the LP, were recorded for a tour in 1995 and edited to release on vinyl. The CD version has an extended 'prologue' and 'epilogue' as bonus tracks, making the total CD 66 minutes long." [label info] www.kormplastics.nl "Behind the legendary project Illusion Of Safety, you find the two sound artists, Daniel Burke and Kurt Griesch. The two main pieces of present album "Fin de siecle", was created for an American tour back in 1995. Due to the time-limit of the vinyl-media which was the original release format, the pieces were cut and revised to fit the time-span of the vinyl. Now sixteen years later, the two pieces have returned from the historical archives to be presented on this re-issue on Dutch label Korm Plastics. The twosome has for this particular occasion composed two smaller pieces - an epilogue and prologue for the original album. After the abrasive "Epilogue"-piece, we move into first piece of the original "Fin de siecle"-release, simply titled "Part one". A 22-minutes running piece of ambient tranquility built on repetitive sound-drones until the closing moment where the piece culminates in a harsh grande finale. Second piece of the original vinyl is a lengthy work combining field recordings and trippy sound drones - a subtle piece of an almost inaudible character. Stepping to the last piece of the album, the "Prologue"-track is another recent created work for this re-issue. As was the case with the epilogue, this is a piece of a more upfront nature with long-stretched monotonous tone that because of its repetitive nature create a nice hypnotic atmosphere stretched over the 22 minutes run-time." [NM/Vital Weekly] 2011 €10.00
Surrender CD-R "I've been releasing things outside of the internet (no part of it), and one of them has been "Surrender", the newest outing by Illusion of Safety. Daniel Burke has made a "remix overview" of this work, and I had to let the cat out of the bag. More information can be found at the video link, including the mail box where money orders/hidden cash is to be sent. Do check it out! The video is exceptional! I've been told some of the processes in making it, and it's nothing short of deftly inspired! $7 postage paid in the US. $12 elsewhere. Available in pro cassette and pro CDR format. I haphazardly spurred Illusion of Safety back into live action in 2008 when I asked him to do a show with me at the Empty Bottle. From there, we were both asked to perform for WTII's monthly showcase at Darkroom, wherein this clown video material first surfaced, so it's a pleasure for me to release the nexus of a soundtrack to this imagery, coming full circle. "Illusion of Safety, just passing its 30th year since inception, is often regarded as the innovator of "ambient industrial". Despite having traversed nearly every arena of the experimental milieu, performed prestigious fests all over the world, and collaborated with some of widest ranging and heaviest hitting of the avante garde, core member/founder Daniel Burke has both shown a return to form and a veritable bouquet of new frontiers in his most recent outing, "Surrender". In just under 60 minutes, the listener is taken on a dizzying carousel ride where everything but the kitchen sink is employed to weave a deeply personal (abstract, wordless) narrative that comes off as minimalistic, condensed, and bombastic. But at the same time, it is a constantly shifting, complex and ornate grid iron amalgam of genuine enthusiasm and horror. Recommended if you like a complete disregard for the myopic trappings and short sighted formulae of contemporary sound art today." [label info] nopartofit.blogspot.de "Somewhere, an old T-shirt from Illusion Of Safety exists (the last we saw was affixed to Sigtryggur from Stillupsteypa some 10 years ago) with a deadpan/ironic catch-phrase "Illusion Of Safety gives you that soaring feeling" next to an image of a man tumbling headfirst out of a skyscraper window. Such a calculated juxtaposition of word and image was emblematic of the '80s art world (e.g. Barbara Kruger), often speaking to the underbelly of callousness, cruelty, violence and general amorality within consumerist society. Outside of this bold piece of iconography, Illusion Of Safety has operated within a more liminal state of mysteriousness through signifier and meaning. Even in their most placid albums of soft-focus ambience, the specter of some unknowable threat lurks in the background. More common in the Illusion Of Safety catalogue is an iron-fisted grasp of that sense of foreboding and dread through psychologically tense sound design. Over three decades in existence, this Chicago based project has been whittled down to its core member Dan Burke - with a few comrades-in-arms joining him occasionally - and is probably the longest running American industrial project, having produced a very impressive body of work. The 2014 album Surrender fits comfortably next to some of the masterpieces of the IOS back catalogue (e.g. Cancer, In Session, Historical, etc.) through the trademarked juxtaposition of noxious frequencies snaking in and out of harmonic phase patterns only to snap out of existence with a razor-cut edit into an electrical burst of tesla coil noise (for example). Disjointed rhythms, mediated collages, decontextualized field recordings, and psychoacoustic phrases map this album with incredible control and precision. Illusion Of Safety proves once again that they are one of the greats of industrial culture. Grab this album before it disappears, the pro-duplicated cd-r is limited to just 100 copies. Same for the cassette." [Aquarius Records] "Among the few artists I have been following what seems now to be a lifetime (Asmus Tietchens, Main, Organum), Illusion Of Safety is probably among them the band I saw play live most. Dan Burke, the main man, is a most loveable chap and he always surprises me with his next move. His music doesn't operate in any particular style, but overlaps various genres. Improvised, industrial, ambient, musique concrete, and even a bit of techno beat thrown in. Here's a new album that proofs it. It's called 'Surrender' (which word always reminds me of the Cheap Trick song) and on a label called No Part Of It, meaning they don't want to be part of the world of Internet. There is a website, but there catalogue is hand scribbled on a sheet of paper and the CDRs - professionally designed - can be bought with a money order. Yes! That's what I like. Swim against the tide. Music wise Illusion Of Safety does something we haven't seen him do in quite some time. The collage styled music in which lengthy chunks of sounds are suddenly cut away by voices from radio and TV, a techno beats slips into view and sounds remarkable like the early 90s works such as 'Historical', 'Inside Agitator' or 'Distraction'. Quiet at times, but also quite bombastic at other times, filmic but without too many words. And if we hear any, it's about nuclear waste leakage. In that sense this album also harks back to the post-industrial sound of yesteryear. The balance between the very quiet and the very loud, between the ambience and the beats, is maintained very well throughout this release. Daddy's all right: surrender!" [FdW/Vital Weekly] 2013 €9.00
  Organ Choir Drone MC https://nopartofit.bandcamp.com/album/organ-choir-drone "It's no big secret that I enjoy Illusion Of Safety's music and have been doing it for years. While there are very few albums that are don't favour, there are also a few that are easily in my top 100 best albums ever - and no, I don't have a list. Last week I played 'Cancer', a CD from the early 1990s, and I mumbled what a great record that was. Each new work is welcomed with much anticipation, and 'Organ Choir Drone' is no different. It's an album of recent music, and it's unclear if it contains organs and choirs. Maybe there are heavily processed parts of the music. Drones, on the other hand, are definitely a part of this. All usual Illusion Of Safety elements appear on this album. Longform drone sounds, modular synthesis, small acoustic sounds, radio waves, and lots of obscured sounds result in moody and textured music. Dystopian perhaps, as shining also in the titles, 'Children Of The Fear Of Light', 'Black Helicopters', or 'Waste Of Civiliation'. Some of these could be the title of a Stephen King novel. Dark and atmospheric as the music may seem, the overall goal isn't to produce grim music; at least, that's not how I perceive the music. I find these ominous dark soundscapes a true pleasure to hear, despite the grim undercurrent; another excellent addition to an otherwise already great catalogue." [FdW /Vital Weekly] 2023 €12.00
IMCA same CD Das IMCA-Projekt, fertiggestellt 1991, kann exemplarisch sicher als eines der klassischen "Mail-Art" und "Tape-Exchange"-Projekte der 80er und 90er Jahre angesehen werden. Heutzutage ist es absolut erstaunlich, welche Ergebnisse rein analog durch tape-processing und Boden-Effekt-Geräte zustande gekommen sind...Feedbacks und scrapings, geräuschhafte Loops, meist im eher ruhig-minimalen bereich angesiedelt, Collagen mit seltsamsten Alltags- und Konkret-Sounds, immer wieder mechanisch-repetitive Strukturen, die archaisch und low-fi klingen... noch heute klingt das so "bizarr" und "advanced " wie irgendwas! Beteiligt ware 5 Leute von KAPOTTE MUZIEK, DAS SYNTHETISCHE MISCHGEWEBE und JOHN HUDAK. Die LP kam damals bei Korm Plastics heraus, es gab nur 98 Kopien davon. Ein lohnenswerter Re-issue auf dem griechischen ABSURD-Label. "I have to admit that I have a love-hate relation with this album. I love the way this album was made. It represents a somewhat bygone musical age, a time with cassettes and without e-mail, when things worked perhaps slower, but perhaps also more intensely. The full story of how the IMCA project (International Musique Concrete Ensemble) came together is told in detail in the CD booklet. In short, in 1990 Frans de Waard started a mail collaboration with John Hudak and Jos Smolders for a cassette on Midas Music, and later a second one with Guido Huebner (of Das Synthetisches Mischgewebe), Ios Smolders and Isabelle Chemin, which was the LP released by Korm Plastics. The basic soundmaterial (created by De Waard) was mailed to the first recipient who would rework the material and mail it to the next recipient etcetera. Thus a network chain was born. The results were released on the original IMCA album, which came on glorious white vinyl and contained an explanatory booklet. The vinyl edition consisted of 98 copies; 77 of these were for the public, 21 for the makers, resulting in the fact that many people knew about it, but only a few actually heard the music. I remember I was supposed to help gluing the covers, but I can't remember if I did in the end. I was given a free copy, so perhaps I did. I love the way this re-release is presented; an old tattered cover of the LP was used for this CD, which gives it a nice archival touch. The booklet is well-designed (by Meeuw), contains some of the original notes and explains the recording process in detail. But now to the music: IMCA is not easy listening, it is in fact a very demanding, electro-acoustic record with extreme dynamics. These dynamics were a bit lost on the original pressing on vinyl, but due to Jos Smolder's remastering these are back in place, which means you'll get to hear the IMCA ensemble as it was meant to be heard. The opening track of the CD still gives me a headache: high pitched feedback shrieks close to the level of irritation. It's hard to listen to this without turning the volume down. Luckily the electro-acoustic/musique concret of IMCA becomes more listenable after the challenging intro. The often dry sounds (dry as in untreated") are combined with long silences, with, at times, sudden blasts of concrete noise. Most of the used sounds seem to have their origin in noise (musique concret) rather than a musical source. Despite the many hands at the wheel of this album, the results are strangely coherent, which is a complement to those involved. In total 10 tracks are indexed, even though it's hard to tell where one ends and the other one begins. IMCA is probably best enjoyed in one long listening session in the right frame of mind. The final 2 tracks, which make up for the final 30 minutes of this CD, feature side A and B from the Midas cassette version with contributions from John Hudak. Here the sound is more traditional industrial if you like, with rhythms and a bit of a Nurse With Wound touch. Not bad at all. This is an important archive release of an album made by adventurous musicians who actually live up to their name. Like back in 1991, I'm not sure if it's musically a classic, but I am very happy to have this in my collection." [Freek Kinkelaar, Vital Weekly] Address: http://www.void.gr/absurd 2007 €12.00
IN SEARCH OF DEATH III CD "Death continues is a recent discover for me, but one of those that as soon I received the most recent batch of production got immediately filed under the "labels-to-follow" tag. As the name suggests, this Belgian label focuses on atmospheres strongly inspired by the grim reaper; nothing new somebody could say, but as soon you any of their releases will play, you are going to be reassured that the pale muse can still inspire the right minds to deliver the goods. When I received the preview of the third instalment of mysterious project In Search of Death - simply entitled III - I was more than eager to immediately give a spin to it since I really enjoyed the earlier work and I was definitely impressed. The mortiferous cover is simple but direct and perfectly introduces you to what you are going to experience while listening to the CD. We are dwelling in a form of high-class industrial structure under of veil of obscure atmosphere, but I would not file it under proper death industrial as somebody could expect. In Search of Death moves more toward 90's Scandinavian industrial sounds, with well-shaped atmospheres based on repetitive patterns, well-thought constructed structures and a clear production that allows any detail to emerge. This release works at both guts and mind level and the constant changes in EQ avoids the "dull" effect that many projects attempting to follow this path tend to have. Despite being a collection of old archive material, this release sounds pretty fresh to me and make me want for more in the near future..." [Review by Marco Deplano - Wertham, Caligula031] 2015 €12.00
INANNA Day ov Torment CD Re-release of this classic death / drone-industrial album from 1993 (Staalplaat) by the solo-project of MIKAEL STAVÖSTRAND (who was also part of ARCHON SATANI at that time). New artwork design by NIKO SKORPIO (SOME PLACE ELSE, etc). "Reissue of the massive Death Industrial album from this ARCHON SATANI side-project, originally issued by Staalplaat in 1993. INANNA were at the forefront of a new force in Doom Ambiance way back in the early '90s. This stunningly remastered and repackaged album brings alive one of the classic scene albums - a milestone in ultra grim and crushing death sonics, that paved the way for many Drone and Ritual Industrial bands around today. Mixed by J Havukainen (IN SLAUGHTER NATIVES)." [label info] www.coldspring.co.uk 2007 €8.00
INFANT CYCLE The Sand Rays CD "Diophantine Discs is pleased to announce the release of a new CD... The Infant Cycle - The Sand Rays. We're happy to introduce the new full-length record from The Infant Cycle. The Sand Rays is to be played from the outside to the center, from whichever edge you choose. The Sand Rays is pinball rhythm reverberations from sliced vinyl record playout grooves, gravelly surface vibrations. The Sand Rays is exploiting broken cords, near-empty batteries, half-broken equipment. We loved it and think you will too. Just be prepared to be a bit more confused when it is all over, but don't worry: you'll be too busy wiping that silly grin off your face because you had such a fun time. The Infant Cycle, active since 1992, is the brainchild of Jim DeJong. He has released material on such labels as Drone, EE Tapes, Hands, Moloko+, Afe, Zhelezobeton, Blade, Abgurd, and his own The Ceiling. Additionally he is a former member of Mind Skelp-cher and (as The Infant Cycle) has collaborated with numerous artists including Aidan Baker, Orphx, and Dronaement. Housed in a custom printed color wallet. Edition of 500 copies." [label info] http://discs.diophantine.net "This label has released both on CD and vinyl. Perhaps its therefore a bit of an odd choice to release the new Infant Cycle on CD. Not because of the nature of the music, but due to the material which was used to create this music: like before Jim DeJong, the man behind The Infant Cycle, uses vinyl to create his music. Ah. You think vinyl and you think Yoshihide, Marclay or Spooky? Wrong. The Infant Cycle has nothing to do with turntablism like that. More along the lines of Vertonen, The Infant Cycle uses run out grooves which are taped and then fed through a line of analogue sound effects or perhaps synthesizers and then further treated, enhanced and altered on the computer. Actually I made that last bit up, as I think there are no computers used by The Infant Cycle. Its more likely that everything exists in the world of analogue sounds, with cheap low resolution sampling keyboards, four track recording machines and more analogue sound effects. The music is raw and densely layered with lots of icing on the cake, but this is not a work of endless spinning noise loops. Jim DeJong knows how to create music that is both noise based and yet still something to hear. Although throughout quite present, he is not shy to take matters into a more quieter area, and presents us a highly listenable release of music that is, for me at least, the logical step in what some call industrial music. Powerful, intense, rich of ideas and excellently executed." [FdW / Vital Weekly] 2009 €12.00
IRM Order⁴ CD "IRM has already existed for over 10 years and are recognized as one of the most interesting Industrial bands around. This time Martin Bladh and Erik Jarl are joined by a third band member Mikael Oretoft on bass-guitar. This new work by IRM is a deeper delving into the psyche of the self inflictor - the core of inner regions violently exposed. Comprised by four tracks, each exactly 15 minutes in length we are thrown into a vortex of feedback, cymbaldrones, heavy bass-strumming, nightmarish pianotinkles and irreproachable synthwork. Demanding your attention all the way through - certainly not an easy listening experience - describing the course of events is impossible. It is again a mature and intricate work of incisive delicacies and theatrical ambiences. The sense of detail throughout is immense and the editing perfect. The clinical heaviness of earlier works are now transformed into a pure harsh, static soundwave which are most often cut off by another, slower, softer but in ways a more painful and dynamic one. The lyrics here are deeper cuts into personal matters. A man altering between life and death - a calculating and disillusive thinker and recluse who has lost the grip of reality, or perhaps found another? The strife for self-control turned into sick dedication, waging war on himself to receive recognition - the end comes nearer. Seldom have we heard a strange work like this which turns both lyrics and music into a full whole - stay away if deeper encounters with the human mind offends. The creative artwork was made by the renouned Swedish artist Stefan Danielsson, who also made the frontcover artwork for Whitehouse album "Racket"." [label info] www.coldmeatindustry.com 2010 €13.00
IRR.APP. (ext.) Ozeanische Gefühle CD Damn, this is SO GOOD! IRR.APP (ext.) zeigt hier, dass er nicht nur strangeste eher elektro-akustische Soundscapes zusammenschustern kann, sondern auch sehr fliessende, aber leicht “gefährliche” und surrealistische dronescapes, die pulsieren, mäandern, rotieren und einfach LEBEN. In der Tat scheint hier alles in Grenzenlosigkeit zu zerfliessen...... High TIP for Drone-Heads ! “irr. app. (ext) is the work of California-based sound artist Matt Waldron, whose collected body of work is far too important to continue to be forgotten. During the past decade, only two full albums -- Dust Pincher Appliances (2003 on Crouton) and An Uncertain Animal, Ruptured; Tissue Expanding in Conversation (1997 on Fire, Inc.) -- have seen the light of day despite the fact that perhaps a dozen albums have been completed. The public silence for irr. app. (ext) was never by Waldron's design, as numerous recording deals collapsed, one after the other. The story becomes all the more of conundrum as these misadventures of neglect and ignorance occurred despite Waldron's high-profile collaborations with Nurse With Wound and Stilluppsteypa. If a humble organization like the Helen Scarsdale Agency can have its say, then we speak to remove whatever curses that have haunted irr. app. (ext.) in the past and provide the world with the opportunity to revel in the spectacle and the beauty that is Matt Waldron's art. Had things gone differently, Ozeanische Gefühle would have been one of the lost irr. app. (ext.) recordings. That would have been a shame for Ozeanische Gefühle stands as an impeccable composition of post-surrealist dronescaping rivaling such masterpieces as The Hafler Trio's Kill The King, Jonathan Coleclough & Andrew Chalk's Sumac, and Nurse With Wound's Soliloquy For Lilith. The title has origins with Freud and earlier thinkers; yet Waldron came across Ozeanische Gefühle (which translates from the German as "oceanic feelings") in his studies of Wilhelm Reich who referenced the term to describe the natural state of every healthy organism as connected to and engaged with the world around it, with its energies flowing from the center outwards. For Waldron, Reich's ideas became the starting point for a metonymic exercise seeking to discover that which is near a signifier and spiral beyond each successive discovery along a complicated aesthetic thread by way of intuition and accident. The album tumbles through a series of sympathetic dronings, field recordings, and performative gestures, continuously traversing the emotional polarities of psychological tension and externalized jouissance. The album begins with a heavily processed flutter of sustained woodwinds accompanied by thunderous rumbles in the distance before dispersing amidst Bernhard Hermann-esque slashings of discordant strings. Later on, the grotesque pathos of a Wurlitzer organ dissolves into a blackened emptiness that envelopes the complex resonant frequencies from Waldron's slow, deliberate performance upon bowls and bells. Despite the incredible depth of his source materials, Waldron displays an uncanny intellect that reflects all of his wandering passages through the lens of a melancholic ambience. Simply put, Ozeanische Gefühle is a wonder to behold.”[ Helen Scarsdale, June 2004] www.helenscarsdale.com "If anyone has the ability to carry the post-Surrealist torch of Nurse With Wound, it would have to be Matt Waldron through his irr. app. (ext.) project. Like Nurse With Wound's eccentric genius Stapleton, Waldron would never qualify himself as a Surrealist, but it's a good jumping off point to describe their respective works. With Ozeanische Gefuhle, Waldron establishes irr. app. (ext.) establishes himself as one of the most gifted sound-sculptors whose work have passed through the doors of Aquarius. If you've ever picked up any drone / minimalist / ambient records or even just anything that Andee has poetically described as 'completely fucked', then you owe it yourself to pick up Ozeanische Gefuhle. This review could ramble on and on, but let's cut to the chase and state the obvious, this album is brilliant. Strangely enough, Ozeanische Gefuhle -- as great as it is -- almost disappeared into the ether, as it was slated for release a few years back on another label who just sat on it for years, much to the chagrin of Mr. Waldron. Fortunately, the good people at the Helen Scarsdale Agency rectified the situation and made sure this album got its due recognition. The title itself is an allusion to Wilhelm Reich, who used the term to describe the natural state of every healthy organism as connected to and engaged with the world around it. Such ideas in lesser hands would result in limp idylltronica with New Age sentimentality; but this is not the case for irr. app. (ext.), who solidly grounds this record upon a fundamental drone, which slinks its way through numerous field recordings and performative gestures. Waldron's masterpiece emerges as a tidal current of electronic sound, rumbling through blackened spaces and soaring with divine expressivity. As good if not better than anything by Nurse With Wound, Organum, :zoviet france:, Phill Niblock, and the Hafler Trio. Yeah, it's that good!" [Aquarius Rec.] 2004 €14.00
IYV (SKELDOS & RUKANA) Upes LP "I came across the music of IYv shortly after I encountered the dark ambient project Skeldos. Both are projects by the same musician. The IYv debut release (and only so far) “Upės” I had missed when it was released on tape. But I had been listening to it a lot when I was away during the winter of 2020 at a small house at a lake. There was a bluetooth speaker in the house so I could listen to the music there. The beauty of this music really resonated with me. Some time later after the musician contacted me (there are no coincidences) to order the Ô Paradis & Nový Svět LP I released on Vrystaete I dared to ask him if he would be into doing a vinyl version of this long sold out tape release. I was very happy he and his partner in crime involved in this project liked the idea. About IYv… it is a project by Vytenis (Skeldos) and Inga (Rūkana) from Lithuania and “Upės” (meaning “Rivers”) was released by themselves in 2017 in a small edition of 72 copies. While Skeldos is more towards the dark ambient sort of thing with hints of (post-)industrial music, IYv is much more on the melancholy side of things… accordion, electronica and Lithuanian vocals make up for a beautiful post-folklore album… The musicians themselves described the album in a perfect way… so I will not try myself to capture the mood and spirit of the music: “Upės” is an album about travelling. About the hearing of birds, close to the rock chains, which twists on the surface of mountains, through marks of our memory just like the rivers. The album was recorded in seclusion: in a log barn and wooden summerhouse. It’s decorated with deliberately left spontaneous inaccuracies and coherent crookedness. Nostalgic loops of ambient music tells a natural story about the composers: approaching gritty earth, enjoying crackling fire in the night, enduring live rain and swimming through the river streams." https://www.enfant-terrible.nl/releases/iyv-upes/ LP, 150 copies with screen printed artwork, hand numbered (75 copies on brown paper, 75 copies on grey paper) 2022 €22.50
JACASZEK Music for Film LP "Since his earliest projects nearly two decades ago, Polish composer Michal Jacaszek has kept some proximity to film music. Initially, his output simply felt cinematic by nature; densely detailed electroacoustic textures on releases like Lo-Fi Stories (2004), Treny (2008) and Glimmer (2011) evoked dimly-lit worlds within themselves, vignettes of the imagination. Over time his interest in sound design and collaboration would manifest actual film projects and commissions, some of which have earned him awards. Jacaszek's practice - an amalgamation of ambient, classical, and musique concrete - deploys field recordings, acoustic samples, poetry, and baroque instrumentation to paint pictures, oftentimes melancholic, nostalgic, tragic. His 2020 album, Music For Film, marks the naturally-occurring intersection of his identities as a solo artist and a film score artist. The collection is now sequenced and released as a single autonomic movement. "I didn't write to particular scenes," says Jacaszek, recalling the process of envisioning music for Rainer Sarnet's 2017 black-and-white fantasy drama November. "He asked me to create a bunch of pieces for a dark fairytale-like movie about love in old Estonian pagan times - full of dark magic, strange beliefs, poverty, grit, and natural beauty." That versatile purpose from the onset affords the material particular pliability in the album format; the pieces work on their own. Two tracks originated from the 2019 documentary He Dreams of Giants; another was first used in 2008 project Golgota wroc?awska. Context removed, they fuse seamlessly; ten years time between some recordings, erased. A visceral dynamism emerges here with a relatively restricted palette of sounds. Music moves in measured steps, inconspicuous yet holding attention. Opener "The Zone" is curious and brittle, crawling on keys and a foundational bass thump as strings seep beneath in a raspy hush. Centerpiece "Dance" folds into an ominous and molasses-slow trot through minor chords, spacious percussion, and static, all under the spell of a mournful violin lead. Windswept vocals haunt "Liina" from a distance, while they sink deeply into orchestral closer "November Late." Jacaszek's work is that of an auteur; he has signatures that he uses faithfully and with much aplomb. Listeners can expect subtle gesture and baroque grandeur on Music For Films: soaring melodies cloaked in reverberation, delicate piano ruminations, and textural craftwork capable of creating and disrupting motifs, smothering and enchanting minds." 2020 €20.50
JACASZEK & KWARTLUDIUM Catalogue des Arbres CD "CD - 8 tracks - 46:06 Track listing and notes: 1. Sigh (Les peupliers) 2. Green hour 3. A book of lake (Roselière) 4. Garden (Les sureaux) 5. From a seashell 6. Circling (Le pré) 7. Anthem (La forêt) 8. Kingdom (Les chênes, les bouleaux) For the past decade or so, Polish musician Michal Jacaszek has been exploring a new, resolutely modern chapter in Eastern Europe’s long, storied love affair with classical music. His creations are painstakingly crafted collages of electronic textures and baroque instrumentation, harpsichords being swarmed by woolly static one minute and pulled apart by billowing wind the next. A push-and-pull tension runs deep and constant throughout. Ambient music is rarely so sonically challenging. Jacaszek has recorded for Ghostly International, Miasmah, Gusstaff Records and Experimedia and other labels. This is his first release for Touch. Michał Jacaszek writes: "When poets and writers declare their enchantment for the forms of nature, they often use musical terms as methaphors. Visual artists' creations often resemble graphic partitas, when recapturing the rhythms of landscapes.Confirming, in a way, these musical intuitions, composers write great music deeply inspired by birdsongs, wind rustlings, waves repetitions etc. Making "Cataloguge des Arbres”, my ambition was to join this broad artistic movement devoted to natural phenomena and find my own way to describe trees: their forms, atmosphere and mystery. I have started with "open air" recordings, capturing mainly leaves'' rustlings - from different distances, in different locations and weather conditions. This collection of nature recordings was transformed into a kind of "organic drone" and becomes a main background for instrumental and voice improvisations. My initial inspiration here was Olivier Messiaen's' bird songs transcriptions for piano – the composer's work title "Catalogue d'Oiseaux" I have paraphrased on my album . A piano, clarinets, violin and percussion parts, performed by the Kwartludium ensemble, were electronically processed, and afterwards all this electro-acoustic material was turned into a collection of 8 soundscapes - forgotten songs performed secretly by my beloved trees." composed, recorded and produced by Michał Jacaszek | additional composing and all instrumental parts performed by Kwartludium | Voice parts (tracks 1, 8) performed by 441 Hz chamber choir | Additional clarinet parts (tracks 2, 3) performed by Andrzej Wojciechowski Grand piano recorded by Cezary Joczyn at Gdańsk Academy of Music Kwartludium are Dagna Sadkowska: violin | Michał Górczyński: clarinet, bass clarinet | Paweł Nowicki: percussion | Piotr Nowicki: grand piano Biography: Michał Jacaszek lives in Gdansk, Poland. Author and producer of electroacoustic music, composer of soundtracks and theatre music, and sound artist. He is a curator of C3 Festival /Club Contemporary Classical/. Member of Polish Society for Electro-acoustic Music. Michał Jacaszek lives in Gdansk, Poland. Jacaszek gained Grand Prix at "Dwa Teatry" Festival for music composed for the play "Golgota Wrocławska" directed by Jan Komasa. "Walking underwater" a documentary by E. Kubarska with music by Jacaszek has recently been awarded The Special Jury Prize at Hot Docs Film Festival in Toronto. He has performed in USA (Unsound New York, Communikey, Hopscotch), in Canada (Mutek ), in Great Britain (Fertilizer Festival, Apha Ville Festival), in Nederlands (Urbanexplorer Festival), in Belgium (Fereejen Festival), Portugal, Sweden (Volt Festival), Slovakia, Germany, Ukraine and Russia (Electro-Mechanica Festival); as well as in Poland at the most important festivals: Heineken Opener Festival, Off Festival, Unsound Festival, Astigmatic. www.jacaszek.com www.kwartludium.com www.touchmusic.org.uk "From the outside it may seem that Touch always works with the same artists and to some extent that's probably true. What's wrong with that? They act as a proper record label, not working on a project-to-project basis, but push a limited of artists. But sometimes an entirely new name pops up, such as Michal Jacaszek from Poland, who is a composer of soundtracks and theatre music, as well as a curator for various festivals. His previous work was released by Ghostly International Miasmah, Gustaff Records and Experimedia, although I must say I didn't hear any of that. Here he works with a quartet called Kwartludium: Dagna Sadkowska on violin, Michal Gorczynski on clarinet and bass clarinet, Pawel Nowicki on percussion and Piotr Nowicki on grand piano. Much like composers have tried to describe animals through instruments (Messiaen, Saint-Saens), Jacaszek wanted to describe trees, 'their forms, atmosphere and mystery'. He started with the recording of leaves rustling and wrote the notes out for the quartet and then, in the final stage, treated everything in a way that is owed to the world of electro-acoustic music. The 441 Hz Chmaber Choir performed some voice parts. Great story, fine music, which carefully balances on the modern classical on one side and electro-acoustic music on the other side. Jacaszek really makes his sounds - whatever source - to have a rustling character, such as in 'Garden (Les Sureaux)' - which rustles all around - the field recordings, the percussion instruments, but also the other instruments making similar gestures. Most of the time this is played introspectively, but not dark, doomy. It's airy music, open, like a mild summer breeze (and with today's sunny weather I can exactly know how that feels), meandering through space, without getting weightless or new age inspired. Jacaszek knows how to create music that is partly gritty, a bit dirty, just off the beaten track. I'm never too fond of anything that is even remotely modern classical, but I must say: this is great!" [FdW/Vital Weekly] 2014 €14.50
JARL Vertigo Border CD "Vertigo Border is the thirteenth album of the Swedish electronics favourite and the second volume of Vertigo trilogy. The magic number thirteen may imply that the album contains anything special… However, let us leave these considerations for the numerological masturbators. There is nothing more special in Vertigo Border than in the earlier Erik’s albums since he remains loyal to his credo to fuck the audience with his monotonic, depressing, icy and colour-blind sound waves, to throw a tie onto their necks and slowly strangle them out of this grinding, claustrophobic and cramped world. All Jarl's albums smack of enormous and refined weariness. This is already the thirteenth album and this is the thirteenth tomb on your little grave, this is the thirteenth swing of the spade with the soil onto your coffin. The coffin sealing you off with all your squeaks of madness from the outside. The coffin doomed to choke you out of your life. This is an existential coffin with existential suffocation caused by unbearable, morbid and monotonous reality embodied in the sounds of the album. This is the ice in which you are frozen and where, beholding the inexhaustibility of the infinity, you may neither move, nor speak or even wink. So, you are that mechanical toy paralysed by sadist existence. Jarl is a ghost monotonously repeating this to you, so do not expect anything hopeful from the thirteenth master's album. Nor from the fourteenth that is still to be composed. Nor from the fifteen either. Suffer because you are worth it!" [label info] www.autarkeia.org Album lasts for 64 min. 17 sec. Limited edition 200 copies. 2010 €13.00
JENSEN, CLARICE The Experience of Repetition as Death CD Brooklyn-based cellist Clarice Jensen’s gorgeous sophomore album and first for FatCat’s pioneering 130701 imprint, ‘The experience of repetition as death’, was recorded and mixed by Francesco Donadello at Vox-Ton studios in Berlin in late 2018 and mastered by Rafael Anton Irisarri. Following up her hugely impressive 2018 debut, ‘For This From That Will Be Filled’ , which included collaborations with Jóhann Jóhannsson and Michael Harrison, all of the material on this new album was written and performed by Clarice alone and all of the sounds on it were created with a cello through a variety of effects and effects pedals. An outstanding musician, Clarice has recorded and performed for a host of stellar artists including Jóhann Jóhannsson, Max Richter, Björk, Arcade Fire, Nick Cave, Jónsi, Stars of the Lid, Dustin O’Halloran, Joanna Newsom, Nico Muhly, Dirty Projectors, Frightened Rabbit and Beirut. As the artistic director of ACME (the American Contemporary Music Ensemble), she’s helped bring to life some of the most revered works of modern classical music, and as a solo artist has developed a distinctive compositional approach - improvising and layering her instrument through loops and a chain of electronic effects to open out a series of rich, drone-based sound fields. Forging a very elegant and precise vision, her music has been described by Self-Titled as “incredibly powerful neo-classical pieces that seem to come straight from another astral plane” and by Boomkat as “languorously void-touching ideas, scaling and sustaining a sublime tension”. Her debut album was released in 2018 on Miasmah and followed in September 2019 by the ‘Drone Studies’ cassette EP on Geographic North. Receiving glowing critical acclaim, both releases made it into Pitchfork's end of year charts. Expanding her sound again, ‘The experience of repetition as death’ is a warm, deep and cyclical album that explores notions of repetition in both its conceptual underpinning and musical structure. Unlike the easily readable step builds and grid-locked looping of so many artists using the looper as a compositional tool, Clarice’s loops slide across one another in organically morphing structures; align and intersect at different moments, yielding a kind of aleatoric yet minimal counterpoint, with joins overlaid in ways that appear seamless and sophisticated. Where her live performance relies heavily upon the use of loop pedals, in the studio she and Donadello recorded much of the material onto tape to create a series of physical loops. There’s something oceanic in the immensity of the resulting work - in the ebb and flow of her sound and the way it builds and dissipates through swelling and wave reflection. Whilst in previous releases Jensen’s cello has largely been abstracted via effects to sound somewhat other than itself, ‘The experience of Repetition…’ opens with an undisguised passage that is clearly wood and string - a clarity retained throughout much of the album. Across its span, Clarice balances her material between darkness and light and the shades in between. Rigorously structured yet fluidly slipping between states, the album shifts from a glowering sense of dread / malevolence to warm, euphoric washes; from an elegaic or graceful sense of suspension to curious, clipped interstitial loops that recall the segues in My Bloody Valentine’s ‘Loveless’ or the minimalist pulsing and phase-shifting of Steve Reich. Throughout, the album reveals a viscerality and attention to textural accretion that’s reminiscent of more electronic artists like Actress or Gas; whilst the glacially moving, hypnotic build recalls prime Stars Of The Lid. Other reference points might look back to Minimalism, to the deep listening immersion of Pauline Oliveros, Eliane Radigue, La Monte Young and Marian Zazeela, and the long-string drone work of Ellen Fullman. Or forwards to the rising current wave of drone-spinners like Kali Malone, Ellen Arkbro, Caterina Barbieri and Sarah Davachi, and adventurous cellist peers like Hildur Gudnadottir or Resina. Conceptually, the album is based upon the theme of repetition and informed by some of Freud’s key principles of psychoanalysis (namely the “compulsion to repeat” self-destructive beaviours or re-live traumatic events explored in his writings about the Death Drive in ‘Beyond the Pleasure Principle’); by notions of the primarily repetitive nature of our existence and attempts to break beyond this: “I hope this album, in its repetition, might provide the listener with a respite from - or a reflection upon - the malaise and / or comfort of life’s repetition,” she writes. The album’s title is taken from a line in a 1971 poem by the influential American radical feminist poet Adrienne Rich called ‘A Valediction Forbidding Mourning’ – a response to a John Donne poem of the same title from 1611. Jensen expresses great admiration for Rich both as a writer and feminist icon, citing her as “an inspiration to create work in a field that is still largely male-dominated," and noting how “her poem to me is a reflection on the idea that dying and death are ordinary. Any meaningfulness we create comes from within and is deeply personal but entirely our own construct.” With death as a clear subtext, Jensen describes how the music was written or conceptualized in a period towards the end of her mother’s fight with leukemia and shortly after she passed away. “My sister and I were taking care of her. So I’m also referencing the repetitiveness of all the mundane things we still did with her in the face of her terminal illness - preparing meals, doing the shopping, paying bills - as well as the repetition of all of visits to the doctor and hospital." Third track ‘Metastable’ was inspired by the chorus of repetitive beeping heard in hospitals - a sound that can be both fascinating and beautiful as well as overwhelming or irritating. The beeps here integrate themselves into a single loop, creating a fixed counterpoint around a deep, foreboding bass loop and slowly building, Reich-ian structure. “This idea of the ‘metastable’ became very pronounced to me”, notes Clarice. “Her continually evolving treatments kept her in temporary states of stability that would eventually become unstable, which would then require some different treatment." Perhaps the most dramatic of the five pieces here, ‘Holy Mother’ is a towering piece that moves through all twelve chromatic pitches. The title refers to the Tibetan name for Mount Everest (Qomolangma) and through this piece Clarice has attempted to evoke a sense of that place and the obsession with its conquest - an extreme example of the feats people attempt in an effort to break from the monotonous repetition of everyday life - as well as contemplating the bodies of those climbers who didn’t make it, left frozen and permanently entombed there. Musically, in addition to the looping on every track, the concept of repetition is also expressed on a larger scale, with the album’s central melodic theme repeated in different ways across its length. On opening track ‘Daily’ the theme appears in the track’s second half, fragmented into three different tape loops and never expressed fully in order; in ‘Day tonight’, it’s played in full but in an unfamiliar key and rhythmically augmented; whilst mirroring track one, closing track ‘Final’ employs the same tape loops as the opener, but this time with the tape having been subjected to methods of degradation in order to erode the sound – crumpled up, creased and stepped on, and run (silently) for long periods of time to deteriorate the quality of the tape and the sounds recorded on it. As the piece draws to an end, the album’s theme is finally presented in full in its original key and fully harmonized, performed by a quartet of cellos without effects and emerging whole at the end of the process in a beautiful resolution. Structurally smart, texturally rich and deeply immersive, ‘The experience of repetition as death’ is a powerful new album by a hugely talented young artist, whose star is clearly on the ascendant. It is released on FatCat’s 130701 imprint on 3rd April on vinyl and digital formats. Clarice will be touring the US in March / April supporting A Winged Victory For The Sullen, with whom she will also be performing as cellist. https://claricejensen.bandcamp.com/album/the-experience-of-repetition-as-death 2020 €16.00
JESU Heart Ache & Dethroned do-CD "Das A und O des Justin K. Broadrick: zwei EPs des Industrial-Pioniers. Es gibt wenige Künstler aus den Grenzgebieten der populären Musik, die nicht in irgendeiner Weise vom Werk Justin K. Broadricks beeinflusst wurden. Als Gründungsmitglied von Bands wie Godflesh, Napalm Death, Techno Animal und Final half er Genres wie Industrial und Death Metal auf die Beine, ist im Hip-Hop und Dub, Grindcore und Ambient zu Hause. Auch mit seinem Projekt Jesu war Broadrick seit 2004 sehr produktiv. Für Neueinsteiger und Fans erscheint mit "Heart Ache & Dethroned" quasi das A und O der bisherigen Jesu-Karriere. "Heart Ache" ist die wieder veröffentlichte Debüt-EP, auf der noch sehr viele Godflesh-Anklänge zu hören sind, aber auch die typischen Zutaten des Jesu-Sounds wie etwa hypnotisierende Strukturen, sich überlappende vielschichtige Melodien und andere klangliche Verschönerungen bzw. Brutalitäten. Mit "Dethroned" wiederum schließt sich der Kreis. Es ist die jüngste Jesu-EP, deren vier Tracks zwar bereits 2004 geschrieben, aber erst 2010 fertiggestellt wurden." [label info / Indigo] www.hydrahead.com 2010 €18.50
  Pity / Piety LP “Frail hymns at the altar of self defeat….” when all is full when all is full when all us fall when all us fall By Justin K Broadrick 2010-2022 credits released December 13, 2022 avalanche recordings. 2022. AREC065 Published by Mute Song Ltd Original photo by Marek Studzinski "There are few artists operative at the fringes of popular music today whose sound has not been in some way or another informed or shaped by the works of Justin K Broadrick. As a founding member or sole proprietor of seminal outfits such as Godflesh, Napalm Death, Techno Animal, and Final, Broadrick has managed to help change or even define the now widespread genres of industrial and death metal, abstracted hip hop and dub, grindcore, and ambient electronics. So is also the case with his work in Jesu, who in the course of a very productive seven year existence have taken the churning pummel of his former project Godflesh, augmented it with the textural melody of 90s shoegaze rock and spawned a new sub-genre and the inevitable legions of imitators. And while imitators may abound, as the originator of this relatively newfound musical territory Jesu is still the clearly visible leader." https://jesu.bandcamp.com/album/pity-piety 2023 €26.00
JGRZINICH / SETH NEHIL Confluence CD Zwei der besten Experimental-Droner & field recorder aus den Staaten in Zusammenarbeit, hier der zweite Teil nach STRIA (Erewohn), in dem es vor allen Dingen um Resonanzen und natürlichen Vibrationen von Klang-Objekten geht.. entstanden sind drei ruhige akustische Gemälde mit dronigem Unterbau, in denen es von konkreten, aber immer sensitiv eingesetzen, schwingenden Details nur so wimmelt.. fantastisch !! Second part of a collaboration of these two of the best American experimental-drone composers, focused on resonances and natural vibrations of sound-objects.. created were three great acoustic paintings with a droning foundation with lots of interesting concrete & waving details that are always sensitively used.. fantastic !! "In 1998, American composers John Grzinich and Seth Nehil initiated a process of recording and experimentation that would result in a pair of full-length CDs. The seed of the project originated in Austin, Texas with acoustic recordings of found objects played by large groups. By the end, it had expanded into a three-year, transcontinental exchange of intensive interaction, questioning and dialogue. These works further the artists' interest in physical materials and natural acoustics which are consequently composed into imbedded, altered and engaging structures. Taking form with the integrity of a living organism, these pieces invite the listener to find his way through the reticulated and stratified development of a subtly unfolding, organic sound-body. The first part of this project, "Stria", was published by the Erewhom label (Belgium) earlier this year. Intransitive is now proud to present part two, "Confluence". [press release] label-website: www.intransitiverecordings.com 2002 €13.00
JK FLESH Exit Stance 12inch "Justin K Broadrick puts his club foot forward for Downwards on four trampling techno bombs gathered under the Exit Stance EP. With no prizes for guessing what the title is about, he further girds us against broken Britain’s grim future following his Suicide Estate 2LP for Hospital Productions. This is some of Broadrick’s most direct, primitive, and ruggedly impactful gear, forged in the belly of the black country with charred traces of late ‘90s Brummie techno edged by sparingly used daubs of patented, pollutant synths and plasmic dubbing. A-side; he offloads the rollicking hydraulics of Exit Stance, a rallying charge of tribal bass drums and cranky percussion from the Female/Regis skool, whilst the droning, beat-less squabble of Motivated By Jealousy takes an acute measure of blighty’s radgy pulse. B-side; his Bullied By Love comes off as a grimacing answer to Ancient Methods’ industrial steppers, then Caveman goes on like a chips ’n curry sauce-fed analog to Muslimgauze-via-Vatican Shadow vibes. Aye, we’re all fxcked. But at least we can dance about it with JK Flesh." [label info] 2017 €13.00
JOAQUIM, VITOR La Strada is on Fire (And We Are All Naked) CD Elektroakustisch anmutende Stimm- & Gesangexperimente, schöne schwungvolle Loops, Knistern und Piano-tunes; in magischer, leicht melancholisierter Atmosphäre, inkl. Saxophon und Bass real-time Integrierung, 8 Stücke, jedes aussergewöhnlich und gut! Another very good album from this portugesian composer, combining electro-acoustic voice-experiments with loops, more concrete sounds and real time saxophone & bass-sounds. “Vitor Joaquim: piano, electronics, singer table Martin Archer: saxophone on 3 & 4 (processed by Chris Bywater + Charlie Collins) Rodrigo Amado: saxophone on 5 & 7 Victor Coimbra: bass on 4 & 5 Mariana F: voice on 1 Vitor Joaquim started performing improvised music in 1982 with Em’dio Buchinho. For some years he studied cinema and produced sound for cinema, video and advertising, while also working as a video director. He first started composing for dance at the Lisbon Dance Company (CDL) with the choreographer Mark Haim that would later take his work to the Coogan Dancers of Munich. Since then Vitor Joaquim has been composing for dance, theater, cinema, video, installations and multimedia, having worked with such creators as: Andreas Stocklein, M—nica Calle, Mark Haim, Vera Mantero, Paulo Ribeiro, Maria Jo‹o Pires, çlvaro Correia, Luis Fonseca, Alfredo Kraus, Michie Nakamaru, Gerard Uginet, Vitor Garcia, S—nia Rocha, Keith Vyse, Ana Sendas, Joana Novaes, Sandro Aguilar, Stephanie Tiersch - Mouvoir and Rui Horta. Since 1990 he is teaching audiovisual techniques in Lisbon. In 1997 his release Tales From Chaos, as Free Field, is considered by the Portuguese newspaper Pœblico as one of the 10 fundamental records of Portuguese electronic music. In 1998 he becomes a member of the Electronic Music Foundation, by invitation of it's president, Joel Chabade. In 2000 he produced the first EME - Experimental Music Encounters, in Setœbal, a festival dedicated to the new musical languages. Live or recorded he collaborated with such musicians or collectives as Carlos Z’ngaro, Nuno Rebelo, Rodrigo Amado, Carlos Santos, Em’dio Buchinho, Ernesto Rodrigues, Jose Oliveira, Jeffrey Morgan, Marco Franco, Gregg Moore, @c , Ulrich Mitzlaff, Pedro Rebelo, Franziska Schroeder, Paolo Angeli, Martin Archer, Sergi Jordˆ, Harald Sack Ziegler, Miguel Carvalhais, Robin Rimbaud (Scanner) and Pure.” [label info] 2003 €15.00
JOB KARMA Punkt CD "New album from this Polish duo, who are gradually becoming the spearhead of landscapists of the genre. These two boosters of post-industrial tradition have forged 8 well-shaped and perversely tuneful pieces, which form an ideal soundtrack for an apocalyptic soap opera that eats up bits of our lives every now and then. Escape from...but where? Everywhere is the same in the giant guts of the mechanical Leviathan. The cosmos serves more and more darkness from the frighteningly far galactic preserves, the black hole gets bigger and bigger. But do not be afraid. The Mind Grinding and Oppression Machine (the fearful MGOM), choking and wheezing with its own enormity, gets jammed and broken more and more often. The fight goes on. As ever. 6-panel digipak with phenomenal cover design by Arek Bagiński." [label info] 2010 €13.00
JOBIN, FRANCE Death Is Perfection, Everything Else Is Relative LP "The last two years have seen me maintaining an association with an unusual bedfellow, death. The loss of Mika Vainio, as well as three members of my own family, has had a profound effect on me and spurred a lengthy reflection on life, death, and everything in between. Parallelly, while studying the philosophy of science, I came across shadow photons: 
“Tangible photons are the ones we can see or detect with instruments whereas shadow photons are intangible (invisible) detectable only indirectly through the interference effects on the tangible photons. There is no intrinsic difference between tangible and shadow photons: each photon is tangible in one universe and intangible in all the other parallel universes. They travel at the speed of light, bounce off mirrors, are refracted by lenses, and are stopped by opaque barriers or filters of the wrong colour. Yet, they do not trigger even the most sensitive detectors. The only thing in the universe that a shadow photon can be observed to affect is the tangible photon that it accompanies. This is the phenomenon of interference. Shadow photons would go entirely unnoticed, were it not for this phenomenon and the strange pattern of shadows by which we observe it. Thus the existence of a seething, prodigiously complicated hidden world of shadow photons has been inferred.”* 
I have drawn a parallel between shadow photons and death. The interference phenomena, parallel universes, and how shadow photons affect tangible photons they accompany, offer, in my opinion, similarities, an unknown universe which is death and how we, remaining tangible human beings, are affected. This quest has led me to be more willing to accept chaos in my life and to conclude that Death is perfection, everything else is relative. 
 *The fabric of reality, David Deutsch, Penguin Press 1997. All sounds recorded at various locations in Europe, South America and at EMS, Stockholm using the Buchla 200 modular synthesizer. soar, all sounds recorded with Klara Lewis in Montreal 2018 https://francejobin.bandcamp.com/album/death-is-perfection-everything-else-is-relative #################################### "Subsequent to a series of personal losses, France Jobin – Montreal’s minimalist composer of deserved renown – was forced to come to terms with something that haunts the existence of countless beings. As pathetic as this usually appears (courtesy of the average human’s shallowness), she attempted a rational collocation of chaos in her life, at the same time recognizing death as the ultimate symbol of a not better specified “perfection”. The introductory notes quote an excerpt from David Deutsch’s book The Fabric Of Reality, grounded on the theory of phantom photons. Now, when it comes to photons this writer’s cynical experience translates as follows: interesting stuff on paper, yet inevitably destined to become, in most cases, food for pseudo-intellectual exhibition of the self (though I’m convinced that Jobin doesn’t belong to that category). After all, everyone is entitled to clutching at the straws of unearthly conjectures to put a measure of order in their own mind. Particularly when the grim reaper comes around waving us hello under various guises, which – in this day and age – happens quite frequently, including the cerebral demise of selected wannabe “authorities” dabbling in issues beyond their reach. Fortunately, besides any cognitive necessity Jobin is an expert sound assembler. The music she created for this album derives entirely from a Buchla 200 analog synthesizer, except for a shorter and less assuaging track – “Soar” – made with Klara Lewis and exclusively available in the digital version. The longer pieces “Inertia” and “P”, however, represent everything that needs to be (un)told. There’s an answer to every question, there’s calmness behind any anxious doubt if only one delves in the right combination of frequencies. Jobin concocted textural trails that stay with the listener unobtrusively, typically projecting one or two suspended chords. The result amalgamates perfectly with our environment when played at moderate volume. Still, the apparent stasis is perturbed by the very pulsation that it contains. We detect imperceptible subsurface discolorations, brief dissipations of energy across the harmonic flawlessness, a few dynamic weaknesses and slight distortions in an otherwise rather narcotic flux. It’s sorrow-inducing, brain-quietening, and profoundly individual." [Touching Extremes] 2020 €19.50
JOHANNSSON, JOHANN Personal Effects LP Jóhann Jóhannsson gehörte bis zu seinem tragischen Tod zu den gefragtesten und innovativsten Filmkomponisten einer neuen Generation in Hollywood. Weltweit gefeiert für seine wegweisenden Scores für die Villeneuve-Filme “Sicario”, “Arrival” und “Prisoners” gewann er 2015 in der Kategorie Best Original Score den Golden-Globe für den Film Theory of Everything. Sein musikalischer Stil war geprägt von klassischem Minimalismus sowie der Verschmelzung von elektronischen Klängen mit klassischen Elementen. Am 29. Mai erscheint nun die bisher noch unveröffentlichte Musik zum Film “Gemeinsam stärker” (2009) mit Ashton Kutcher & Michelle Pfeiffer als Vinyl bei Deutsche Grammophon. “Für mich war es eine aufregende Zusammenarbeit. Jóhann griff immer wieder in die Bilder und Emotionen des Films ein, um etwas Besseres zu schaffen als alles, was ich mir je vorgestellt hatte.” David Hollander (Regie & Drehbuch) https://www.deutschegrammophon.com/de/katalog/produkte/personal-effects-soundtrack-johannsson-11986 2020 €28.00
JULIE'S HAIRCUT & SONIC BOOM N-waves CD "In late September 2005 Sonic Boom, alias Pete Kember – historical founder member of Spacemen 3, Spectrum and Experimental Audio Research – meets Julie’s Haircut at Studio Alpha in Bologna to cohoperate with them to the final editing of their new album (“After Dark, My Sweet” - 2006). This was a new starting point for Julie’s Haircut in the field of music research… only a part of 3 days of studio recordings was released in that album. N-Waves / U-Waves contains, for the first time, two takes produced in that session. Gemini, pt. 1 & pt. 2 is presented here in its first take. Scarfo Spanks DC is another completely unreleased improvisation. Two more songs complete the cd release of this ep. Sister Pneumonia and Ingrid Thulin, formerly released on the album After Dark, My Sweet, feature the band in two more studio improvisation together with Sonic Boom playing esotic electronic devices such as the Raagini (a sitar-simulator), Kraakle (a random electronic noise generator) and the famous EMS Synthi AKS synthetizer." [label notes] www.asilentplace.it 2008 €12.00
KA-SPEL, EDWARD Permission to Leave the Temple 10inch The idea of a release by the founder of The Legendary Pink Dots on Lumberton Trading Company had been mooted for a number of years. In fact, they were close to issuing a 7" around 2010, but this fell through due to the usual problems often facing small, more or less homespun, labels. The idea of still doing something with this prolific stalwart of music cut from those many folds where avant-garde abstraction locks horns with molten psychedelia, kosmische sounds, electronica and an approach to songwriting never afraid to go wherever the mood takes, however, never left. Attached to all of this, as always, are Edward's words, where wry everyday observations can mutate or be twisted into new forms given a distinctive surrealist slant. Collected on this limited 10" are five songs adding up to the length of a mini-album. Edward may well be one of the most active artists to have first emanated from the early 1980s cassette network, but Lumberton Trading Company is more than happy to play a small part in this continually unfolding, and always interesting, story. Edition of 500. https://fourthdimensionrecords.bigcartel.com/product/edward-ka-spel-permission-to-leave-the-temple-10 "When you read these words, The Legendary Pink Dots are loading their van to tour Europe, following their tour of late last year in the USA. It's been a while since we last saw this band on stage, and it's about time we see them again. During the pandemic, the group worked hard on new music and brushed up the old music for a new release, so where does singer Edward Ka-spel find the time to make his solo music? I honestly don't know but take a look at their Bandcamp (https://legendarypinkdots1.bandcamp.com/), and you'll find lots of music from his solo and with the mothership. It would be too simplistic to say that Edward Ka-spel is The Legendary Pink Dots in reduced form. Less Erik Drost's guitar and The Silverman's keyboards before or Randall Frazier's these days, Ka-spel's becomes altogether more electronic. Still, I believe that in his solo work, Ka-spel allows even more freedom to play around with sound and sounds (there is a difference there). There is more experiment, but it is also more personal. The distinctive voice of Ka-spel is the central point of attention in the five pieces on this 10", but he allows for a lot of room for an instrumental piece. Honestly, the three pieces on the first side and the two on the second flow right into each other, and there is, as far as I'm concerned, one long piece of music per side, in which Ka-spel tells his story/poetry and packs it with psychedelic coloured sounds. Joyful, over the top, reflective and personal. 'With My Blessing' opens with tinkling bell sounds, which gives the piece the charm of a music box in a baby's room, slowly morphing into something more dystopian with female vocals. Dystopian, perhaps, but Ka-spel's music is never without hope, I should add. However grim the world may be, there is always a ray of light in the music. As said, the psychedelic nature of his music is undoubtedly attributed to that. A 10"... the format of doom (too small for an LP, too big for a single)... it's too short for a full display of Ka-spel's talent to paint stories with sound and words. This is another great one, that much I know, but I also confess to being a long-term fan." [FdW / Vital Weekly] 2023 €16.00
KABUTOGANI Bektop CD "The 4th album by french producer KABUTOGANI is his most conceptual to date. Made entirely of mostly rhythmic glitch sounds (aka Clicks & Cuts), the album still has traces of melodies or tones - unlike many other minimal glitch productions. The cold, dry and noisy sound transports an almost morbid atmosphere. Experimental electronic music seldomly was so full of feelings - rather inconvenient ones, but feelings. This is what makes this album special. // Das vierte Album des französischen Produzenten KABUTOGANI ist sein konzeptionell und musikalisch ausgereiftestes. Obwohl ausschließlich auf meißt perkussiven Glitch-Sounds (auch Clicks & Cuts genannt) basierend, finden sich - anders als bei vielen anderen minimalistischen Glitch-Produktionen - in jedem Stück Spuren von Melodien oder Tonalität. Der kalte, trockene und rauschige Sound transportiert eine beinahe morbide Atmostphäre. Selten war experimentelle elektronische Musik so voller Gefühle - wenn auch eher Gefühle der unbequemeren Art." [label info] www.mille-plateaux.com "Kabutogani is from France and the russian word on the cover means Vector. Maybe he likes his art to be Russian, as the package is red, black and white, like an El Lissitzky painting. This is fourth album, but my first introduction to his work. In the press release, Mille Plateaux, refer to some of their old stable to sell this album: Alva Noto, Frank Bretschneider, SND, Vladislav Delay, Pan Sonic (and, to be fair, also to Machinefabriek, which link is hard to be made). Music that is not at all alike that of Ametsub, as Kabutogani plays the harsher card of click and cuts. His beats are gritty, noisy, distorted, feeding it through digital effect processors (I have to be careful here, I know). In all of his tracks - twelve in total - there is some sense of melody, but usually kept in the background. Like Mille Plateaux, Kabutogani knows his classics too, and especially Pan Sonic seem to have a profound influence on him, but I give Kabutogani the benefit of a doubt, like the relaunched Mille Plateaux itself." [FdW /Vital Weekly] 2010 €14.00
KAMMERFLIMMER KOLLEKTIEF Teufelskamin CD "Als Teufelskamin wird eine natürliche Felsformation bezeichnet, durch die Meerwasser mit gewaltigem Druck nach oben steigt und dort als Fontäne hinausgepresst wird. Die unmittelbare Übertragung des Begriffes auf das aktuelle Album des Karlsruher Trios KAMMERFLIMMER KOLLEKTIEF scheitert, denn weder Meeresgewalt noch Steinlandschaften kommen hier vor. Durchaus aber sind Assoziationen möglich mit einem winterlichen Kaminfeuer, in dem ab und an der Teufel, vielmehr ein Teufelchen steckt, welches die Funken stieben lässt. "Teufelskamin" ist das entspannteste, wenn man so will: das winterlichste Album der letzten Jahre, nach dem experimentellen "Jinx" (2007, Besprechung) und dem schon sehr friedlichen, erdigen "Wildling" (2010, Besprechung). Neu ist die RY COODER-Gitarre, dieses surfige 'Twang', der Beach ein Winterwald natürlich. Sie verleiht dem ganzen einen Hauch von Country, von gediegenem Landleben. An der Kernbesetzung hat sich nichts geändert: HEIKE AUMÜLLER ist zuständig für den entrückten, silbenhaften Gesang, JOHANNES FRISCH für Bass und Perkussion und THOMAS WEBER für Gitarre, Elektronik und Klavier. (In genau dieser Stammformation ist das KOLLEKTIEF übrigens auch live zu sehen.) Mit der erwähnten Roadmovie-Gitarre beginnt "Teufelskamin", der "Coricidin Boogie" (01) wärmt und entspannt. Schlagzeugbesen und der gewohnt traumhafte Gesang von HEIKE AUMÜLLER – ob Text oder Silben lässt sich nicht genau deuten, ist aber eigentlich auch egal – sorgen für ein wohliges Gefühl, hier ist Heimat, ein Feuer im Kamin (noch ohne Teufel), nur leichtes Quietschen und Knarzen. "Never Collapse, Always Dazzle!" (02) wechselt in die Nacht, es schwirren eindeutig Silben durchs Dunkel. Geheimnisvolle Ambientmusik, bis dato still und leise, ohne Ausbrüche. "Teufelskamin Jam #1" (03) – das 'Jam' deutet es an – klingt jazzig und im Verlauf improvisiert. Nach drei Minuten tauchen die ersten Störgeräusche auf, psychedelische Gitarre und Kratzen, dazu ein 70er Fender-Rhodes-Piano. Immer noch das knarzende, wohlige, manchmal aber auch unheimlich flackernde Kaminfeuer. "Shangrila" ist kurz und wunderbar (04), ein melancholischer Wattebausch, Musik wie ein warmer (Schnee)Regenschauer. "Soft Machine" (05) ist Jazz zu später Stunde, nur mit Piano und Contrabass, getragen von einer anheimelnden, umwerfenden Melancholie. Auch die zweite Hälfte des Albums birgt diesen neuen KAMMERFLIMMER-Ambient, erinnert übrigens während mancher Instrumentalpassagen (etwa in "New Ghosts", 09) an die stets unterschätzten DAS HOLZ – passt ja wiederum zum Thema 'Kamin'. Allerdings lodern die Flammen nach hinten etwas aufgeregter, knistern und knastern, die knarzigen und quietschenden Instrumente nehmen zu. Seit 1996 existiert das KAMMERFLIMMER KOLLEKTIEF und erfindet sich trotz aller Wiedererkennbarkeit, vor allem durch den Gesang, für jedes Album neu. Nach "Jinx" und "Wildling" ist "Teufelskamin" innerhalb weniger Jahre das dritte hochkarätige Album, typisch KOLLEKTIEF und doch wieder anders, diesmal mit dem Schwerpunkt eindeutig auf wohligem Ambient im winterlichen Landhaus. Der Cowboy am Lagerfeuer für Zuhause. Herzerwärmend! Und im ausgehenden Sommer schon meine Lieblingswinterplatte." [Michael We./NONPOP] 2011 €15.00
KAPITAL No New Age CD "Rafal Iwański - tone generator, analog synthesizer, sampling unit, electronic effects Kuba Ziołek - electric guitar, electronic effects, loop system Kapital is an encounter of two artists that usually penetrate different musical genres and ideas. It is an encounter of two musical worlds: psychoactive electro-acoustic music generated with electronic instruments and found objects and extreme psychedelia based on the sounds of processed guitar. Zio?ek and Iwan'ski worked together for the first time during recording sessions of improvisational group Innercity Ensemble formed in 2011. In August of 2013 they recorded in Bory Tucholskie their debut album titled "No New Age" that will be released by Bocian Records in the March of 2014." [label info] kapital0.bandcamp.com www.bocianrecords.com "Hati member Rafal Iwanski meets up with Kuba Ziolek (also known as Stana Rzeka) and they call themselves Kapital. It's one of his incarnations I didn't hear of before. They played in their homeland Poland, but also in New York, earlier this year. I understand that the material on this CD was recorded after playing three concerts, but they still play parts of this in their concerts. Iwanski plays tone generator, analog synthesizer, sampling unit and electronic effects, while Ziolek plays electric guitar, electronic effects and loop system. It's perhaps not really the kind of music you would expect on Bocian Records (known for radical improvisation, radical electronics), and I think that is mainly due to the guitar of Ziolek. While Iwanski plays his electronics in a deep, bouncing atmospheric bath of sound, Ziolek waves on top guitar lines that owe to the world of psychedelic music and perhaps less to whatever is radical in both improvisation and electronics. Having said that, this doesn't mean this is a bad album; it's just one that is a bit different from what we heard on Bocian so far. His guitar doodling reminds me of lots of seventies German guitarists, but it's whatever it is that Iwanski is doing that prevents it from becoming cosmic in any way. It's here where the album has its experimental roots and where I enjoy this more than I would do if it had leaning more towards krautrock. It seems as if Ziolek is the grandson of Manuel Gottsching, who has been surrounding himself with the crudest of current technology as opposed to the smoothest. That's what I like about this album. Old meeting new, vibrant pieces, spacious but gritty, atmospheric and disturbing. Quite likely one of the last releases on Bocian Records, as rumour has this label will cease to exist shortly." [FdW/Vital Weekly] 2014 €10.00
KAZIMIRA, DARJA Monochromia CD listen : https://cycliclaw.bandcamp.com/album/monochromia Remastered re-issue of her 2016 album of otherworldly funeral chants...in her own words she describes the inception of the album; \"This album was a completely impulsive act, the realization of a regular artistic idea, which initially did not mean the final result. This idea was inspired by my great-grandfather, who devoted his whole life to serving the ceremony of "following the dead\" (Νεκρώσιμος Ἀκολουθία) and classic examples of ancient Greek literature. But in the end, "Monochromia" became one of my first big works. Here, only the \"dialogizing\" musical-improvisational experiment and the very nature of the ancient Greek tragedy, which demonstrate the archaic principle of distribution and the interaction of ordinary and ritual violence in the system of relations between man and metaphysics, were of importance. And of course, a large space of the theme of death opens up here. In turn, it is the theme of “sacred violence”, funeral, burial, and initiating rites that is the ideological basis for me throughout my creative activity. Certainly, in this situation, the opportunity, with the help of other people, in a closed space, to recreate a mass state of comprehension of death, is very interesting. Indeed, for this it is necessary to violate, among other things, the bodily and mental boundaries of the participant in such an act, to create a precedent for trauma and deformation, transforming these actions into an audial pit. I just invited all of us, the participants, to cry and grieve together. Perhaps, if I had known in advance that this music would become an album, I would have brought this central state to its apogee and horror. But in the current situation, it turned out to be a very “humane” anthem of human death. Of course, this softness, which is not characteristic of my other works, the sound of \"Monochromia\" acquired in many respects thanks to a group of initiative people who wanted to take part in this, and I just acted here as a guide and a mirror. This is more a story about mourners at other people\'s funerals. At that moment in my life, it was this wonderful tradition that seemed to me the most valuable experience.\" CD Edition fo 300 copies in 4 panels Digisleeve, Mat lamination. 7 Tracks. Running Time 48:25 released Vocals – Eleon Emedy, Igor Makarov, Kristap Guts, Mara Malokhina Vocals, Instruments – Darja Kazimira 2022 €13.00
KENNEY, JESSIKA & EYVIND KANG Aestuarium LP "Jessika Kenney is a vocalist known for her haunting timbral sense, as well as her profound interpretation of vocal traditions. Eyvind Kang is a violist for whom the act of music and learning is a spiritual discipline. Aestuarium is a meditation on a psalm of lamentation and the unary tone in the metaphor of salt and fresh water, inspired by Gaelic psalmery, Tibetan notational gestures, and the microtonality of the tetrachord. Recorded on the shore of Colvos Passage in 2005 by renowned engineer Mell Dettmer. Stephen O'Malley comments: "Amongst many other amazing pieces Jessika & Eyvind collaborated on SUNN O)))'s "Monoliths & Dimensions" album, Jessika leading the choir on the piece "Big Church" and Eyvind composing the acoustic arrangements for "Big Church" & "Alice". I learned an immense amount about music through these collaborations, specifically the idea of Spectral music through research and discussion/reference points of composers such as Grisey and Murail. Aestuarium is a beautiful piece of minimalist spectral music which has brought great pleasure to my ears over the years." Originally released on CD by Endless Records 2005. Ideologic Organ curation and art direction by Stephen O'Malley, manufactured and distributed by Editions Mego." [label info] www.editionsmego.com/ideologic-organ/ 2011 €20.00
KG AUGENSTERN Circles and Cycles BOOK + CD Kg Augenstern (Christiane Prehn and Wolfgang Meyer) have been exploring the world for many years with their “Tentacles,” extendable fiberglass canes that allow them to touch and extract the sounds of the places they are travelling through. These tentacles have become a kind of prostheses to generate subtle experiences that require attentive listening. The various aspects of the project are constantly transformed and presented as audiokinetic installations, live-streams, radio broadcasts or sound installations in contemporary art spaces. In autumn 2019, the artists explored places in Sicily that have been abandoned within the last few decades. With their tentacles, they scratched circles on the surface of these contemporary ruins to reveal the specific sounds of the various surfaces and their surroundings. A camera installed in the center of the circles recorded the images. The research was accompanied by experiments with raw sheep’s wool and clay as materials corresponding to the ephemeral appearance and transitory atmosphere of the places. The outcome of the research was presented as an exhibition in an old prayer hall in Palermo. The CD invites listeners to explore 10 abandoned places, including the location of the final exhibition. 11 Tracks (37′44″) Book & CD (500 copies) KG Augenstern’s “tentacle” performs surgeries on abandoned places. The duo from Berlin seeks out locations that lie between the states of life and death, populated and depopulated, places constantly changing, and thus in an enduring state of malleable equilibrium. They are the apocalyptic souvenirs of humans’ attempts to form landscapes. That which exists tends towards new shapes, which slowly bury mankind’s contingencies and intentions. The forgotten place and its surfaces are scratched in circles. The media to be studied are the subtle sounds caused by the scratching. At times the tentacle glides lightly along the surface, barely touching; on another pass it might bite in, leaving a mark. It stretches itself out, or blends with the material beneath it, all the while releasing its tensions in the form of deep, diffused sound vibrations. Or it springs in powerful leaps across the ground beneath it. An intense sound is called forth, rhythmic and repetitive, embedded in the temporal cycles of the described circles. Time is rendered instable, volatile, surreal, and reveals its magic. The process is repeated in the same or another location. The combinations of time and material transform themselves into a cyclical continuum. KG Augenstern creates an additional cycle out of sheep’s wool, clay, and fire. From materials found in the ruins, burned objects are created which are fragile and subordinate to their own disintegration. The observer slips outside the field of consciousness, and attention is directed towards the revelation of baselessness, not from within the realm of understanding, but in the form of realization in a material sense. Life is transformed into a question, and this uncertainty reveals the instability of existence. Ennio Pellicanò Curator Step by step, staying in this lonely place by the sea, with that empty beach, working in all these ruins without ever seeing any living person, only birds– mostly pigeons–, insects, and lizards, a kind of hypnotic, apocalyptic dimension develops. In almost every place there is an abandoned camp somebody homeless used to use a long time ago for a temporary shelter, with worn out clothes and an old mattress. Shy dogs: one, a German shepherd with two puppies vacillates between being curious and afraid, same as me. Circle by circle, rubbish, wet walls, cracked ceilings, holes to take care of and another uncertain stairway. Contemporary archeology in contemporary ruins. Disgust, fear, tension, expectations. Layers of birdshit on children‘s toys, suddenly left behind, hard material under soft organic patina…. a baby carriage, furniture, pictures on the walls and beds still made …what will wait in the next room, the next building, the next structure? SCRATCHING A LIDO Lido Las Vegas was built in the ’60s and was closed by the authorities in 2017. Before its closure, it had been run illicitly within a nature reserve, and without any authorization, state concession, or certificate of use. It is a wooden structure with small rooms for summer guests, a restaurant and a playground for children. A solid, newer but also abandoned structure with more rooms was built just beside. The scratching circles were recorded on the terraces, between the rooms and next to the playground. The surface is tiles, sand, rubbish, wood and stones. Everything is sandy. The waves of the sea can be heard in the background. SCRATCHING A MOUNTAIN VILLAGE Cunziria is a village the dates of whose founding as an urban nucleus are unknown, but it is known that in the 1920s a slow decline began, until the 1960s, when the artisan practice of tanning stopped. Some houses have been restored but left behind unfinished and are now used as stables. In one house we found raw sheep’s wool covering the ground. At a nearby sheep farm, the farmer offered us plenty of raw wool for free. The scratched circles are partly inside and partly outside of the houses. Sometimes it was hard to move the tentacle through the plants covering the buildings. One of the circles is performed inside of a cellar, with basins formerly used for tanning. The surface varies from dense, thorny bush, stones, mud and clay to tiled floor in the restored rooms. In the background it is possible to hear sheep and sheep bells, birds, and from time to time a car on the close-by small road. SCRATCHING A COMMERCIAL AREA Beside Route S115 south of Catania is an abandoned commercial area with five big buildings. They were built in the 1990s, and given up after a short period of usage. The reason was that the new Catania-Syracusa highway was built only a short distance away, and the formerly busy road along the coast was almost forgotten. Patinaed signs on the wall still show that there once was a supermarket, a car-dealership, a furnisher….. Now a semi-organic layer covers the almost-new concrete floors, and birds fly about the huge halls, while wild plants crack the surfaces. SCRATCHING A CASTLE Castello del Duca di Misterbianco is an old castle-like villa, built in 1930, not far from a river and the beach. It has many rooms, and horse stables. It was abandoned in the Second World War after it was heavily bombed and partly destroyed by english soldiers, attacking the Germans who had occupied the castle. It is covered with plants. The surface is rocky. Two of the scratched circles were done on two different flat roofs on a windy day, the other ones inside of the structure, where it was even difficult to move the tentacle because of all the stone shards and plants scattered around. SCRATCHING A FURNITURE STORE Sicilmobile is a big furniture store built in the late ’70s in Brutalist concrete style. It was abandoned around the year 2000 for economic reasons. The building with its two levels is amazing and spacious. A restaurant was connected to the commercial area. The area has been used by skateboarders for some time. The surface is tiles, concrete, small stones and pieces of glass. In the main halls, broken bricks, fallen from the ceiling, cover the floor. One of the scratched circles was done outside of the building and the rest in different parts inside. There are two roads with a constant flow of traffic close to the building. The airport is also close. SCRATCHING A BRICK FACTORY Noted art critic Vittorio Sgarbi described Fornace Penna as “a secular basilica by the sea.” Indeed, this abandoned industrial structure echoes some of the crumbling medieval cathedrals scattered around Europe. Built entirely from solid stones in the early 1900s, Fornace Penna specialized in manufacturing bricks sold them across the Mediterranean region. However, business lasted only a little over ten years. On the night of January 24th, 1924, arson turned the factory into the fascinating and deserted stone skeleton we see today. The wind blows through the arcs of the ruins, which are heavily covered with all kinds of plants. There is an almost round, accessible vaulted kiln under the center of the building. With so many plants and rocks all over the place, it was difficult to find any locations for the scratchings. The waves of the sea can be heard in the background. At one place, a lizard tried to attack the tentacle during scratching. SCRATCHING A PAPER MILL S.p.a Cartiere Larena is a paper mill that was closed more than 30 years ago. It appears that the first paper made in Europe was produced in Sicily toward the end of the tenth century, and there are still several specialized paper producers, but this mill didn‘t survive the economical crisis of the ’80s. It is a beautiful building, still containing two big huge stone bowls, with motor-driven millstones inside. The surface is variable, from stone to clay and gravel. A road is close to the building and in the background a football match can be heard. SCRATCHING A BORGO Borgo Rizzo is one of the borgos in Sicily that were built between 1939 and 1940 under the then fascist government, with the goal of transforming agricultiral production systems and colonizing fertile, unused areas by attracting farmers to new villages that provided all main services, such as schools, churches, post offices, etc. Some of the houses have been partially renovated with EU funding, but remain unfinished and unused, tending to turn into the new generation of ruins. The area is very quiet with only very few cars driving on the nearby road. A wild dog with two puppies lives on the terrace of one of the houses. All in all it has the atmosphere of a ghost town. SCRATCHING A FORWARDING COMPANY Transporti Avimec was a big Catanian freight-forwarding company which was seized and closed in 1989 on suspicion of having been owned by the mafia and used for illegal transactions. Several attempts by mafia members to buy the company back were not successful. It was possible to enter the closed property by a hole in the wall. In the private house on the property, everything seemed to have been left behind from one minute to the next. Children’s toys, furniture and beds appear recently abandoned. The halls and the courtyard are empty. The area’s surface is partly covered with rubbish or birds‘ faeces. In the distance, traffic and the neighbours‘ trucks can be heard. SCRATCHING A CHAPEL The final exhibition was presented as a site-specific audiovisual installation at the former Oratory of Santa Maria del Sabato in one of the oldest parts of Palermo. The chapel is in a state of abandonment, waiting to converted into a synagogue. In the past it was a mosque, then a synagogue, and an oratory. The first scratch was taken in the empty hall, with just one tentacle scratching a circle. The second one is, as it was during the installation, recorded at the center of the middle circle of three motor-driven circle-scratching tentacles, with raw sheep’s wool covering parts of the floor, being moved from time to time by the tentacles. The third recording is the sound of the three tentacle circles, recorded from beside them. https://www.gruenrekorder.de/?page_id=18680 2020 €18.00
KHOST Corrosive Shroud CD "Khost is Andy Swan (Iroha, Final, Atrocity Exhibition),and Damian Bennett (Carthage, Deathless). Corrosive Shroud is the second album from Birmingham band khost, following the 2014 debut Copper Lock Hell. The album has a singular theme: inside the hand-me-down concrete relics in which we necessarily live and from which we draw perceptions. The music is the sound of lightless blocks, oxygen-starved sheds and apparitions, using stark and unrefined found sounds stacked against Khost’s massively detuned guitars. The album includes Eugene Robinson of Oxbow and Syan who add their stories to the narrative, along with personnel Jo Quail, Daniel Buess, Gustave Savy and featuring a contribution from Tel Aviv-based Hostage." [label info] www.coldspring.co.uk "Khost's Copper Lock Hell was a powerful debut where mammoth doom chords were pit against industrial electronics. Corrosive Shroud continues with Khost's customary slow, monolithic riffing; a half-paced grind pitched so low it just vibrates. But layered with that sound is bleak psychedelic textures, swirls of Japanese and mid-Eastern influences, ethereal chants all of which conjure up arcs of beautiful melodies. There is so much more to Khost than their room shaking hypnotic shudders but it just takes a little effort to hear them. 'Avici' continues the fascination with "avici hell", as recorded in the The Sutra of Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha's Fundamental Vows, which began on Copper Lock Hell aided by the Gnostic electronics of fellow Midlands outfit Tunnels of ĀH, who feature former Head of David singer Stephen ĀH Burroughs. They're absent from Corrosive Shroud, but some other contributors such as Oxbow's frontman Eugene Robinson and cellist Jo Quail are carried over from Khost's debut, with fresh contributors including Syan, Daniel Buess, Gustave Savy and Chris Turner. Guitars shudder amidst pummelling and crashing drums on the opening crawl that is 'Avici', combining a low grating voice with higher registered chants that carry an air of mystical otherworldliness. Those chants are woven, like a mysterious entity, throughout subsequent tracks such as 'Revelations Vultures Jackals Wolves', 'A Shadow On The Wound' and 'Black Rope Hell'. 'Revelations Vultures Jackals Wolves' unfolds to scorched earth guitar mangling, as background voices taken on a chant like shape, as violins weave amidst the clatter of crashing drums and cymbals. Bathed in feedback and frequencies it channels similar spirits to Skullflower in their most blackened death metal moments before the grind gives way to sombre cello movements. Khost's vocal delivery is steeped in an air of black metal; an impenetrable guttural rasp that that scrapes through the reverberating riffs of 'Black Rope Hell' - which almost sounds like another "avici hell" - before cavernous metallic clanking and ritualesque chants surround the monstrous roar and floor shredding tones of 'A Shadow On The Wound'. The oppressive onslaught of Khost belies a highly nuanced and layered sound that many can - and do - miss. Khost are a Birmingham based duo featuring Andy Swan (Iroha, Final, Atrocity Exhibition) and Damian Bennett (Carthage, Deathless) and between them they have been part of Techno Animal, Final and 16/17. Khost almost seem to follow in the lineage of Kevin Martin's Pathological label. In fact, much of the drums and rhythm samples have been provided by Daniel Buess, the experimental musician and drummer behind avant jazz noiseniks 16/17 - and of course Oxbow who feature Eugene Robinson first surfaced via the Pathological release Fuck Fest. But, whatever, it's from 'Inversion', the fifth track on Corrosive Shroud, that Khost begin to seriously detour from their industrial doom sound with spacious detuned guitars seeking out the empty psychogeographic potential of vacant urban spaces and lightless structures. Sprawling guitar tendrils extend over pummelling low end bass recalling the loping rhythmic bass that underpinned the noise rock of Ice, Sweet Tooth etc, before it lurches to industrial atmospherics and the first appearance of Oxbow's Eugene Robinson with some brief spoken words. "Which way will the coin finally fall?" Syan asks posing a conundrum before the molten cyclical dirge textures of 'Forgery'. Oxbow's Eugene Robinson reappears at the tail end of 'Red Spot', an astounding piece of experimental clatter that passes from industrial free jazz via quaking guitar scrapes propelled by machine-like rhythm before slowing to bass laden industrial atmospherics featuring the spoken drawl of Eugene Robinson ruminating on Ballardian images of destroyed structures and empty living rooms. Khost really push the boundaries of their monolithic sound here, more than justifying their experimental metal tag here while the following track, 'Bystander', sees Khost at their most aggressive and forceful. From looped thudding beats it transforms into blistering waves of distorted guitar squall and shredded vocal howl, wrapped in mystical chanting, while from the "Conquer then run" 'looped phrase 'VMIH' launches into a series of words ending on the suffix "ate": capitulate, dominate, proliferate, emancipate, intoxicate, excruciate, repatriate, etc., over mechanised rhythms and stabbing bass pound like the onslaught of early Godflesh. Just as Copper Lock Hell closed on a remix, Corrosive Shroud finishes on the 'Avici - Hostage Remix' which sees the Tel Aviv based drum and bass soundman Hostage exploring the mystical chants and chaotic rhythmic confusion found at the heart of the opening cut. What with Skullflower, Tunnels of ĀH, Wicked King Wicker and now Khost, Cold Spring seem to be home to some of the most blackened psychedelic sounds, with their roots mired in the sound of the early industrial groups. On Corrosive Shroud, Khost drive their hypnotic monolithic grind further into multi-layered and noise drenched areas. They're certainly one of the most progressive experimental metal projects and if they must be regarded as doom metal I'd like to think of them as industrial doom. Who cares though, Khost are fantastic and Corrosive Shroud represents another astounding release from this uncompromising duo. Great stuff. For more information go to Cold Spring" [Compulsion Online] 2015 €12.00
KIRKEGAARD, JACOB & NIELS LYHNE LOKKEGARD Descending LP Descending is a composition consisting of two movements for room resonance, triangles, shakers and horns. The recording was made in August 2015, performed by the Aarhus Jazz Orchestra. Descending is Løkkegaard's and Kirkegaard's first collaboration. About the composers: The sound artists and composers Jacob Kirkegaard and Niels Lyhne Løkkegaard are both renowned for their ability to convert sound into a form with the character of an artwork and a bodily dimension that can be experienced by more than the ears alone. In his art, Jacob Kirkegaard uses acoustic phenomena that are usually either overheard or inaudible to the human ear. Using a range of sensors and recording methods, the material unfolds in compositions and spatial, visual and sound works. Niels Lyhne Løkkegaard's art focuses on the multiplication of sound, extending it beyond its usual boundaries to re-emerge in new forms, as well as on the creation of imaginary musical works that the listener has to envisage before their inner ear. Jacob Kirkegaard (b. 1975) graduated from the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne in 2006. His sound works are published by Touch (UK), Posh Isolation (DK), Von Archives (F) and Important Records (USA). Kirkegaard's works have been presented at a wide range of renowned exhibition platforms, festivals and conferences worldwide, including MoMA and Issue Project Room & The Stone in NYC, KW & Transmediale in Berlin, Mori Art Museum and Aichi Triennale in Japan, as well as Louisiana Museum of Modern Art and ARoS Aarhus Art Museum in Denmark. Niels Lyhne Løkkegaard (b. 1979) studied at Denmark's Rhythmic Music Conservatory and the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts' School of Architecture. He has created a wide range of works operating at the intersection of experimental music and sound art, including the soundtrack for MoMA's René Magritte exhibition The Mystery of the Ordinary in 2013. More recently he has created the critically acclaimed series SOUND X SOUND. Lyhne Løkkegaard is also the founder of the curatorial non-event Curatorium – a sound festival that never takes place. ************************************************************************************************************ Composed, arranged and mixed by Kirkegaard and Løkkegaard, 2015 - 2016 Performed by Aarhus Jazz Orchestra and recorded by John Fomsgaard live at Dokk1 in Aarhus, 2015. Front cover: Detail from Robert Fludd's Macrocosm Microcosm (1617-24) Supported by The Danish Arts Foundation & The Danish Conductors Association Jacob Kirkegaard: www.fonik.dk Niels Lyhne Løkkegaard: www.nielsloekkegaard.dk importantrecords.com/imprec/imprec447 "Presenting two compelling works composed by Danish sound artists Jacob Kirkegaard & Niels Lyhne Løkkegaard and performed by the Aarhus Jazz Orchestra, Descending is a powerful exposition of extended acoustic technique used to bend the ear in fascinating ways. Revolving two pieces for room resonance, triangles, shakers and horns, the recorded results of Descending transcend the sum of their parts in gripping style. In Movement 1 they conduct a breathless transition from the polymetric interplay of triangles, sounding like a distant alarm bell, calving off into thinnest, cirrus timbres and reemerging as a mesmerising display of sustained, quivering, bittersweet horn dissonance culminating a stunning, keening finale. Movement 2 opens with those horns at a lower, sustained pitch, rolling across the stereo field with an uncanny precision that you would normally expect from electronic music, glacially growing in density to sound like an incoming Stuka formation, precipitating a nerve-biting swell of discord before returning, almost palindromic, to the polymetric rustle of shakers. Of course, the magick of the piece is much harder to describe, though. It lies somewhere in the relationship between the knowledge of the composers, the players’ incredible skill, and their recording space, whose unique characteristics are crucial to its success in keeping us enthralled from start to finish. It lies in the way they slide the sound around the sphere of perception, purposefully generating and controlling the resonant feedback until it becomes a part of the work itself, generating a lingering harmonic aura to the sounds which gels them in smoothly contoured transitions between each tightly disciplined cluster of pitches with a near-enough metaphysical structure. Stunning work. A rare treat for the lugs, especially if you’re into Eliane Radigue, Eleh, Harley Gaber, Harry Bertoia." [Boomkat] 2017 €24.00
KLOOB Parallel States CD A welcome return to Winter-Light for Kloob with new work 'Parallel States'; his third solo album on our label. ‘Drifting helplessly in unchartered space. Gripped by fear and an inherent dread; the mind becomes wracked with feverish blurred visions. Intermittently slipping in to dreamlike sequences, spliced with harsh realities and the surreal. A sudden pulse courses throughout the body, triggering a magnificent view of the quantum limits. At once comprehending and understanding even the most intricate of macrocosmic notions. Once the whole structure of mind, body and soul has undergone significant changes, the known boundaries of existence cease to impose such limitations.’ Ethereal soundscapes, deep-low drones, subtle-faint dub chords and gloomy atmospheres slowly slide in to assemble nebulous structures. https://winter-light.bandcamp.com/album/parallel-states 2021 €13.00
KODI & PAUSA In one week and new toys to play CD Number seven in the BROMBRON series, this time by a dutch impro-duo that does “the weird stuff” and more childish atonal/electronic experiments in the vein of DDAA, KLIMPEREI, FS BLUMM.... “Korm Plastics is proud to present the seventh release in the Brombron series. Originally a co-production between Staalplaat and Extrapool, it is now hosted by co-curator Frans de Waard. In the year 2000 Frans de Waard and Extrapool started the Brombron project. Two or more musicians become artists in residence in Extrapool, an arts initiative in Nijmegen, The Netherlands, with a fully equipped sound recording studio. These artists can work in a certain amount of time on a collaborative project; a project they always wished to do, but didn't have the time or the equipment to realize. Natalie Bruys (Kodi) is foremost a visual artist who studied at De Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam, where she graduated with the production of a vinyl record with her own music. She then moved temporarily to Berlin where she continued to produce her own unique blend of soundscaping, plunderphonica and techno. Lukas Simonis (aka Pausa) has his roots as an instrumentalist and musical 'activist' in the industrial music and noise rock of the Eighties ( Throbbing Gristle, the Residents, Pere Ubu, Sonic Youth and beyond).Being a part of the Rotterdam jazzbunker scene (a collective that consisted of heavy drug induced punk rockers, freejazzers, early electronic musicians and pre-postrock combo's) he discovered the delimited world of improvisation. In the meantime he played in bands like Dull Schicksal, Trespassers W and Morzelpronk. At the same time he was writing for underground magazines like Trespassers W, Opscene, Mondain Den Haag and the Koekrandt as well as organizing concerts, events and films, first at the Jazzbunker in Rotterdam later on the Dissonanten festival, the Dissidenten festival, Popifilm, Dodorama and finally WORM, a multimedia centre for experimental art. At the moment Simonis plays in Coolhaven (with Peter Fengler and Hajo Doorn), Liana Flu Winks (with Nina Hitz and Wilf Plum), ApricotMyLady (with the Bohman Brothers and Ann Laberge), The Static Tics (with Henk Bakker) and Vril (with Chris Cutler and Bob Drake). This sounds like a lot of work (and sometimes it is) but these bands and projects all exist only a few weeks or months a year. (so time enough to sit at home). On 'In One Week And New Toys To Play' Kodi & Pausa combine their totally different background of rock and techno, playing the studio's analogue synth collection (aka the new toys to play) but also guitar, banjo, rhythmbox and a touch of the city's sounds through their use of field recordings.” [press-release] 2004 €6.00
KOSK, PATRICK Mondweiß CD "Die Klänge, die am Anfang eines Werkes stehen, legen den Komponisten nicht auf eine bestimmte Form fest. Jeder Klang ist in verschiedenen Kontexten denkbar. Zwar ist in Kosks Werkkommentaren wiederholt von der "Logik" des Klangmaterials die Rede, von der "Kohärenz" und der "Stringenz" musikalischer Formen. Aber damit ist weder die teleologische, auf eine Erlösung hin ausgerichtete Form klassischer Provenienz gemeint, noch ist es ihm um die Konsequenz- und Vollständigkeitsästhetik der frühen Avantgarde zu tun. Kosk sucht stattdessen Spannungsverhältnisse, die sich nicht auflösen lassen; er schafft Antithesen, die sich einer Synthese verweigern. Kosks Logik ist eine der Brüche und Unvorhersehbarkeiten. 2008 release. This is an assemblage of works by Finnish electroacoustic composer Patrick Kosk. Recordings from the Elektronic Studio at the TU Berlin, the Studio of the Institut International de Musique Electroacoustique de Bourges, and the artist's studio. From 1976-1981, Kosk studied composition at the electronic music studio at Helsinki University. From 1981-1991, he was mainly active as a freelance composer and a sound designer at the experimental studio of the Finnish radio. Since 1978, Kosk has composed electroacoustic music in various forms for theater, performance, dance, radio broadcasting, films and visual arts. The sounds that open a work do not prescribe a determined form for the composer. Every sound is conceivable in different contexts. Indeed, the “logic” of the sound material comes up repeatedly in Kosk’s notes on his works, of the “coherence” and “stringency” of musical forms. But this suggests neither the teleological form of redemptive classical provenance, nor is he concerned with the aesthetics of consistency and integrity of the early avant-garde. Instead, Kosk looks for relationships of tension that do not resolve; he creates antitheses that refuse a synthesis. Kosk’s logic is one of fragmentation and unpredictability." [label info] www.edition-rz.de listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRyJQAPcAes 2009 €15.00
KOUW, MATTHIJS Obscurum Per Obscurius CD “The common matter of all things is the Great Mystery, which no certain essence and prefigured or formed idea could comprehend, nor could it comply with any property, it being altogether void of color and elementary nature.” Michael Griffin – The Human Alchemy Alchemy, the art of creation by combination, proceeds in accordance with the experiences of the alchemist, who may explain the obscure by means of the more obscure – ‘obscurum per obscurius’. Explaining the riddles of matter involved the projection of yet another mystery, namely the alchemist’s own gaze and approach, into what was to be explained. Today, alchemy is commonly understood as a premature stage of chemistry, which is seen as superior due to its commitment to scientific rationality and objectivity. The tracks on this album were composed over an extended period of time through a laborious and intensive practice, in which moments of creative inspiration and creation, fraught with possibility, have ultimately become obscured in the final work presented here. This is nothing to lament, for any act of creation ultimately actualizes a multitude of possibilities in some particular form. The alchemist accepts and embraces this fact, whilst allowing this multitude, the realm of the obscure, to continue to resonate in the ongoing act of creation. https://movingfurniturerecords.bandcamp.com/album/obscurum-per-obscurius 2018 €14.00
KRAKEN Drift CD "Trilogies always come in three parts, that is why they're called trilogies. And just like the latest two Kraken releases, the new album 'Drift' also comes in a minimal designed black and white cardboard cover. Which brings us to the conclusion that together with 'Amore' and 'Chagrin', the Kraken trilogy on Spectre has been completed. Amongst the multiple meanings of the Dutch 'Drift' there is 'Temper' and 'Impulse' which are the emotional layers on this CD, but it also reflects to a ship being uncontrolable. As all tracks are related to oceans and oceanlife (amongst them are 'Fighting with cachalot', 'Whalebones are not umbrella's' and 'Sushi is murder') we can see what upsets Kraken . And the music fits their anger perfectly; A layering of dark ambience and deep opressive drones, spoken word in various languages and a pinch of noise. Three emotions were Kraken's guideline while writing the trilogy and 'Drift' definitly is the most inhospitable and threatning of them. This third journey through the deepest caverns of their minds revealed a truth, more gross and repulsive than anyone can imagine. It's a small black hole which swallows everything, including hope. Let us find it and burn it ..." [label notes] Spectre label website: www.spectre.be 2007 €14.50
  Untitled CD "kraken is back and pulls us down into the abyss - a dark, cold and desolate place that is filled with the droning of oscillators. authentic field recordings mingle with evolving rhythms, and the underlying tension created by the poignant confessions of human beings adds to the unique flavor of kraken: equally fascinating, enchanting and disturbing, the sounds cut right through our souls. for fifty minutes, kraken keeps us in its tight grip and we all cannot resist but realize our own fugacity. fifteen years past the first kraken release, its epitaph is more actual than ever before: when gazing into the abyss for too long, one tardy realizes that he is part of it. from within the vast depths, raubbau brings to you the latest album, unnamed." [label info] www.raubbau.org "Lange Jahre haben wir die beiden Belgier auf NONPOP begleitet. Insbesondere ab Mitte der so genannten Nullerjahre waren JORIS VERMOST und RICARDO GOMEZ Y DE BUCK sehr aktiv, brachten regelmäßig ihre klaustrophobischen Tiefsee-Soundtracks zwischen Dark Ambient, Noise und Collage unter die Leute. (Ein Interview zur Arbeit von KRAKEN findet Ihr hier.) Mit "Strop" auf RAUBBAU (Besprechung) schien sich dann zu bewahrheiten, was KRAKEN aus Spaß bis dahin zu jedem Album sagten: Es sei ihr finales. Vier Jahre Funkstille ohne jedwede Ankündigung neuer Aktivitäten. Umso erfreuter war ich über die Nachricht von RAUBBAU, dass nun tatsächlich ein weiteres Album erscheint, passend zur Zurückhaltung einfach ohne Titel – "Untitled". "A dark, cold and desolate place" verspricht das Label, "equally fascinating, enchanting and disturbing" – diese Beschreibung deckt sich mit meiner bisherigen Wahrnehmung von KRAKEN. Und auch die gleichzeitig ästhetischen, aber sehr trostlosen Alltagsfotos, mit denen das Duo seit jeher seine Alben schmückt, deuten auf Kontinuität hin. Tatsächlich hat auch das aktuelle Werk eine hohe Wiedererkennbarkeit und liefert mit dem ersten Track einen der besten der Bandgeschichte. "Untitled 1" beginnt überraschend mit einem deutschen Text: Eine furchtsame und angewiderte, rezitierende Frauenstimme (mit Akzent) berichtet von einem "schwarzen Loch, das alles verschlingt". Sie flüstert von Verfall, Drogen, Tot und Unrat – also vom ganz normalen Leben. Harsche, knirschende, aber nicht unschöne Sounds fügen sich darunter zu einem Ambientteppich, der wiederum abrupt von Billigbeats, von Surren und Knattern unterbrochen wird. Es folgt eine melodiösere Strecke mit Gitarrentönen, die weiterhin den Gegensatz des gesamten Albums aufrecht hält: schön vs. hässlich, Freundlichkeit vs. Verderben. Das Flüstern und allerlei mystische Geräusche spielen eine Rolle, manchmal erinnert das Stück gar an geknurrten Urfolk, um am Ende wieder von flächiger Trostlosigkeit eingeholt zu werden. "Untitled 2" wirkt als Collage aus diversen, organischen Sounds. Zwischen Field Redordings und Vocals schiebt sich ein Drone und bringt einige rituell anmutende Komponenten wie Stammesgeheul oder Kampfesrufe mit. "Untitled 3" besteht im Wesentlichen aus dem rhythmischen Peitschen von Frequenzen, ebenfalls mit entfernt unterlegten, menschlichen Geräuschen. Hypnotischer Dauerbeschuss wie intensives Hubschrauberdröhnen. In "Untitled 4" spielt erneut eine Frauenstimme – spanisch? – die tragende Rolle, spricht verzweifelt zu höhligen Sounds. Das Stück geht dann über in ambienthafte Drones und verströmt die das Album durchziehende, unheimliche Atmosphäre. "Untitled 5" schließt sich nahtlos an, als düstere Soundhöhle mit weiteren Vocals, hier kommt sehr deutlich das typische KRAKEN-Flair zum Tragen, der Bezug zur See mit Geräuschen wie knarzenden Schiffsbalken. "Untitled 6" schließlich ist überwiegend ein noisiges, ansteigendes Kreischen, das Abheben eines Düsenjets oder platzende Lungen bei Sauerstoffmangel im Wasser. Am Ende läuten die Totenglocken, mit denen die rund 55 Minuten auch begonnen haben. Belgien steht ja bei der Fußball-WM hoch im Kurs. Musikalisch fällt mir in der Regel wenig zu diesem Land ein. KRAKEN allerdings sind ein Aushängeschild, und ich bin froh, dass sie sich wieder zeigen. Diese Mischung aus Trostlosigkeit und Eleganz, die Reduzierung auf menschliche Ängste und Triebe in Kombination mit der sich manchmal einschleichenden Unterwassersymbolik – das ist einmalig. 'Human Dark Ambient', vor allem im ersten Stück auf ganz hohem Niveau." [Michael We. / NON-POP] 2014 €6.00
KRCFHL same do-CD The KRCFHL recording was made on September 28, 2005 by three well-known Russian sound experimentalists M.M. (Kryptogen Rundfunk), Evgeniy Voronovskiy (Cisfinitum) and Nikolay Kalmykov (Hladna). The musicians gathered in Evgeniy’s home studio in Moscow, spontaneously played and recorded this psychedelic set. The recording remained unknown to the public for 16 years, but worked as a fail-safe therapy for the kultFRONT label during all these years. KRCFHL is a smooth immersion in the pulsating world of analogue synthesizers, embellished with the sounds of violin that does not sound like itself. Prior to this recording, the musicians performed several times on the same stages, either at post-industrial music festivals (a joint photo in the album’s artwork was taken on the Thalamus II fest, which happened in Pskov in May 2005), or in collaboration sets. After this recording, they didn’t practice any joint immersions, but the musicians worked on releasing other recordings. In 2021 the recording became a double album thanks to four tracks from KRCFHL colleagues from the next generation of Russian sound experimentalists. Friends reimagined the recording from 2005, each in their own recognizable way. The first track was made by the project NOTUM, which was born in St. Petersburg, but is now developing in Berlin. The second remix was recorded by Xenia Lotus (Drone Liberation Front, a collaboration project with Tim Six) under the guise of her solo project BEZVLASTJE. The third rework was done by “the noise queen” Sveta Svetlo, aka SVETLO111. And the second disc (or side B on the cassette) is wrapped up by Ilya SYMPHOCAT. The album artwork features photographs of an old wall in the vicinity of the Smolniy Convent in St. Petersburg. The place with the KRCFHL inscriptions has already become a point of attraction for pilgrims. The album is released on 50 compact cassettes with a total length of 85 minutes. Additionally, the album is available on 200 double CDs. KRCFHL is clear proof of how music and its magic only becomes more interesting over the years. credits released December 29, 2021 KRCFHL (parts I & II) recorded live by M.M. (KRYPTOGEN RUNDFUNK), Evgeniy Voronovskiy (CISFINITUM), Nikolay Kalmykov (HLADNA) on September 28th, 2005 at Evgeniy’s home studio, Moscow ~ kryptogen.bandcamp.com ~ cisfinitum.bandcamp.com ~ hladna.bandcamp.com KRCFHL (NOTUM remix) recorded by Ikk Ygg in October 2021, Berlin ~ notumschaltung.com KRCFHL (BEZVLASTJE remix) recorded by Xenia Lotus on November 25, 2021, St. Petersburg ~ soundcloud.com/bezvlastje KRCFHL (SVETLO111 remix) recorded by Sveta Svetlo in October 2021, St. Petersburg ~ soundcloud.com/svetlo111 KRCFHL (SYMPHOCAT remix) recorded by Ilia Symphocat in October-November 2021, St. Petersburg ~ symphocat.com Mastered by M.M. & ArSch Photos by kultFRONT, Luiza Arroz, @cht00000, Vera Bezrukova Design by kultFRONT Co-released with ZHELEZOBETON Distribution Division: zhbd.bandcamp.com https://kultfront.bandcamp.com/album/krcfhl 2022 €16.00
KRENG Lowlife LP Nach "Camino" veröffentlicht Kreng seinen nächsten Soundtrack auf dem britischen Label Invada. Kreng ist das Projekt des Belgiers Pepijn Caudron. Dieser erstellt Soundtracks mit der Hilfe moderner Sampling- Technologie. Seine Scores bestehen zumeist aus düstern Klanglandschaften, die an die Werke von Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, Cliff Martinez („Drive“) und Mogwai erinnern. „Lowlife“ ist das Spielfilm-Debüt des Regisseurs Ryan Prows, der die Handlung in der Subkultur Los Angeles ansiedelt. Sein Thriller bringt schräge Charaktere, absurden Humor sowie harte Action zusammen und ist zugleich ein kritischer Kommentar zu dem modernen Amerika. Lowlife is the berserk, blood-spattered, and wickedly entertaining feature debut from Ryan Prows. Set amidst the seedy underbelly of Los Angeles, Lowlife zigzags back and forth in time as it charts how fate—and a ruthless crime boss—connects three down-and-out reprobates mixed up in an organ harvesting scheme that goes from bad to worse to off-the-rails insane. The score is pressed on purple coloured vinyl and housed in a deluxe sleeve with digital download card included. Kreng is known for his previous score to CAMINO (also released on Invada Records), and for his score to Cooties, released on Deathwaltz Media Group/Milan Records. As well as this, Kreng is also known for his critically acclaimed L’Autopsie Phénoménale de Dieu (2009), Grimoire (2011), and the lavishly designed retrospective compilation box Works For Abattoir Fermé 2007-2011 (2012). www.invada.co.uk/products/kreng-lowlife-original-motion-picture-soundtrack 2018 €26.00
KRIMINAALISET METSÄNHALTIJAT Anarkkia, Kaaos, Maailmanloppu! CD "A scarce recording by cult industrial noise group, Kriminaaliset Metsänhaltijat—which barely saw the light of day when it was originally released on cassette (Triangle Records 2008). The members of this shadow group of old-school industrial acolytes originally hail from Finland and from Karelia—a region and an autonomous republic of northwest Russia, between the Gulf of Finland and the White Sea. Kriminaaliset Metsänhaltijat claim to have built their sound on the bones of S.P.K. and Throbbing Gristle, through a prism of Japanese harsh-noise and Finnish hardcore-punk, spewing out a nihilistic nightmare of diffused synth hiss, commanding metal percussion, waves of harsh-noise, anarcho-punk attitude, and dissident power-electronics. An exciting and satisfying introduction to this band in preparation for Bloodlust's release of the Koskemattomuus CD." [label info] http://bloodlust.blogspot.com/ 2009 €13.00
KRISTOFFER NYSTRÖMS ORKESTER brakeHEAD CD "Kristoffer Nyströms Orkester (KNO) is a collaborative project between Peter Nyström (Megaptera/Negru Voda) and Kristoffer Oustad (V:28). A true sonic beat down, done in full Scandinavian style, with a battery of iron fisted rhythms hammering down in a thunderous downpour, and the caustic reverberations of the analog doom machine grinding and screeching in a symphony of clangorous and distressed beauty. This is an album that is as majestic as it is bleak, capturing the essence of old school Swedish industrial, but forging a new path towards a dark future.From auralpressure.com: "Brakehead" is a phenomenally majestic piece of dark ambience and noise that will leave you totally awe struck. The visceral raw power of the electronics is a thing of untamed beauty that heralds in a new era by which others must now be judged against." Guts of Darkness called this THE industrial disc of the year! Check out other reviews in the reviews section. A must for fans of Megaptera, Negru Voda, and all things Peter Nystrom. In stylish digipak." [label info] www.malignantrecords.com 2006 €10.00
KSHATRIY Slepok Soznaniya CD "The project Kshatriy appeared on the Russian post-industrial scene in 2004 and up to present has participated in several compilations, as well as released some solo and collaboration recordings on limited edition CDRs. Muzyka Voln presents the project’s first "professional" compact disk with the album "Slepok Sonzaniya" (meaning "a mould of consciousness" in Russian). This work is based on the concept of consciousness of a warrior, a galactic warrior of light, bringing to world pure knowledge, infinite silence, perfect balance, a moment of power and might, a flight of freedom, love, serenity, joy, light, unified time, eternal life, simplicity and bliss. The music of the project can be described as fractal dark drone ambient with lots of patterns, woven from various sonic fibres: synthesized drones, processed field recordings, acoustic echoes and rhythmic loops. Calm and profound, filled with resilience and hidden power, like an endless ocean of tranquility, energy and beauty." [label info] http://zhb.radionoise.ru/ "Kshatriy is the project by musician from Vsevolozhsk not far from St. Petersburg. Earlier his records were released on CDr, and album Slepok Soznaniya became the first work released on CD, before it I didn't know anything about this creative unit. With his music Kshatriy creates space dark and dull as well as beautiful and interesting. In anxiously boiling sound lava there merge deep electronic drone, processed field records and also unobtrusive hissing, crack and other noise effects. Musician himself writes that his creativity "is based on the conception of warrior consciousness... galaxy warrior of light, bringing to the world clear consciousness, unlimited silence, absolute balance, a moment of force and power, a flight of freedom, love, serenity, gladness, light, common time, eternal life, simplicity and bliss...". These words sound as nothing else but an unequivocal hint at trips "inside yourself" and the state of trans provoked by music. And it is so. Slepok Soznaniya is a huge mental reactor with boiling up fragments of dark recollections, fused and crumpled into one heavy lump which dissolved all around in impenetrable swamp of its body. Rusty, smelling with dust and dampness postindustrial spirit spreads together with these sounds to colossal spaces around. Huge volume of theses spaces is one of the main special features of this music ruining all barriers inside the dark universe, and Slepok Soznaniya became a ticket to it. You peer into the darkness and don't see any limits, as if you have fallen under ground and found an alternative cosmos there. Beautiful, charming and sometimes even epic sound design making you hold your breath in long intriguing moments and make your heart beat quickly with resounding rumble and voluminous, heavy drone. It's worth to be heard." [Pi Micron, The Sound Proector] http://www.soundproector.com/?cat=reviews&id=259 "Heaving, psychonaut droning from this Russian project, Kshatriy. The name of Sergey Uak-Kib's project is actually Sanskrit, as a now deracinated caste of warriors from ancient India. Uak-Kib posits something of a balance between the spiritual and the physical in the beliefs for this class of enlightened fighters. The holistic fortitude found in that statement seems to be furthered in the glowingly psychedelic artwork that has graced some of Kshatriy's other recordings. So much for first impressions, as this is fucking bleak. Anenzephalia bleak. Thomas Koner bleak. Lustmord bleak. Thrumming drones of Vulcan intensity and Promethean scale gird the entire album of Slepok Soznaniya. The thunderous cracks that introduce "Lights" are cataclysmic in nature, tumbling from deep space and smashing into the Siberian forest, unleashing shockwaves across the curved surface of Russian's landmass and creating elegantly harmonic ripples across the swampy taiga. Iron wheels grind on long-train tracks which lead to destinations unknown on the "Hymn To Kali," which is more of a dirge than a hymn through the slow, militant pound and evolving reverberant chord shifts for an ashen, musical negativity. The almost self-evidently named "Space Travel" surfs the solar winds with echoes of distant pulsars and glowing nebula clouds flickering through the endless expanses of nothingness. We were awestruck by the work that Kshatriy produced for the 2014 Drone-Mind / Mind-Drone III compilation; and so we're delving into his catalogue. Slepok Soznaniya was originally released in 2009 on the bracingly good Russian imprint Muzyka Voln. Not all that much in the way of distribution west of the former Iron Curtain; so this one makes for a new favorite in the radiant black dronemusik camp." [Aquarius Records] 2009 €13.00
  Kshatriy CD-R "During the 10 years of its existence Kshatriy has earned a strong reputation on the Russian dark ambient scene. Among his works are 3 full-length CDs on our label Muzyka Voln, collaboration releases with Vresnit and Bardoseneticcube and also several tracks on compilations including the recently released LP "Drone-Mind // Mind-Drone Vol. 3" (Drone Records, 2014). This recording is the first finished studio material recorded by Sergey Uak-Kib in 2005. Initially it was released by the author himself as a small CD-R edition, all copies of which were quickly spread between friends and collectors. This year the album was taken out of the archives, remixed and remastered and we are pleased to introduce it to your attention in a renewed form. Cold, dark and empty cosmic-scale spaces turn into rare oases of living pulsations but this illusion of immersion in organic matter doesn't last long and dissolves in endless flows of sonic winds. The album features almost no melodic lines but its fractal-patterned structure gives the music the magical power that allows to keep the listener's attention captured throughout this short trip. The physical release is made on quality pro-CDRs in an edition of 77 copies in a sleeve of designer silvery cardboard." [label info] http://zhb.radionoise.ru/ "On CDR we find music by Sergey Uak-Kib, better known as Kshatriy, who has released a whole bunch of releases before. This particular release is the first finished recording he ever did, in 2005, and of which he distributed a handful of copies to friends. We didn't review that one, but his later works found themselves into these pages. Now it's re-issued again, in an edition of 77 copies, and the four pieces span thirty-six minutes. The heavy transformation of any sound given, but most likely field recordings create Kshatriy’s music. I can easily see Sergey traveling the Siberian land and capturing some arctic wind into his microphone and melting these with field recordings of contact microphones scraping the permafrost. Did you say Thomas Köner? That's probably a valid point of reference, or indeed other in Isolationist one-man studios around the world, from say the mid 90s onto the present day. All atmospheric, all dark (how often do I use these words on a weekly basis, I wondered), but Kshatriy has it's own blend, certainly in these earliest recordings there is a nice raw edge to it. Not that smooth, but with a grittier, somewhat metallic undercurrent. Nice and rough." [FdW/Vital Weekly] 2014 €8.50
KUHZUNFT / ACHIM ZEPEZAUER Slotmachine 10inch The „Kuhzunft-slotmachine“ is a website-project, based on a picture of a crayon-painted slot machine. Clicking the start button activates the machine to randomly combine pre-produced recordings (of 45 seconds length) within three slots. Instead of typical fruits in the display, you would see photos attached to the specific sounds by the artists responsible for the content. Even the names of the „songs“ are put together by the single names each artist had chosen for their recordings. The vinyl release on Gruenrekorder documents the project with a selection from 13 artists and 158 recordings, that offered a possibility of 3.944.312 tracks. The online-slotmachine has the ability to continuously grow and contains at the date of the vinyl release (February 1st, 2019) four more artists and a total of 225 recordings, providing some 11.390.625 possible titles. Visit slotmachine.kuhzunft.com to discover the project yourself. You can either simply press START and get surprised or deactivate AUTO PLAY to make a selection. The vinyl features: Jaap Blonk (NL) – Voice John Chantler (AU) – Modular Synth Serge Corteyn (DE) – Guitar Rhodri Davies (GB) – Harp Gailė Griciūtė (LT) – Prepared Piano Richard Lerman (US) – Piezzo, Hydrophone Seán Mac Erlaine (IE) – Woodwinds Jérôme Noetinger (FR) – Tape Machine Pablo Paredes (CL) – Keyboards Michael Vatcher (US) – Drums Simon Whetham (GB) – Field Recordings Marta Zapparoli (IT) – Radio Waves Achim Zepezauer (DE) – Drumcomputer, Electronics, Acoustics The online slotmachine also features: Émilie Girard-Charest (CN) – Cello Florian Hartlieb (DE) – Computer Bart Maris (BE) – Trumpet Carolin Pook (DE/US) – Violin Achim Zepezauer (DE) – Words Pablo Paredes (CL) – Mastering Guida Ribeiro (PT) – Website Developing 2019 €10.00
KYMATIK Dar-as-sulh vol. 1 CD Nach einem mini-Album jetzt die erste CD eines vielversprechenden Experimental-Projekts aus England, welche 3 Jahre Soundforschung zusammenfasst. Hinter KYMATICs Musik stehen hochinteressante physikalische Konzepte und Experimente (das erinnert an früher HAFLER TRIO-Arbeiten),so bezieht sich der Projektname auf grch. KYMA - ein Begriff, den der Schweizer Physiker Hans Jenny für seine Akustikexperimente einführte. „the musical styles range from the use of dense rhythmic patterns to subtle shimmerings and a pure tone piece that sounds like nothing I’ve heard before. The short environmental recordings are spaced between the compositions and offer some light relief from the intensity of these works..”[Clive Graham, Paradigm]. A great sound-research-album, definitely one of the highlights of this year!! Nice digipack with lots of infos.. PARADIGM 2001 €13.50
KÖRPERWELTEN Avatars of Rape and Rage CD Ein gemeinsames Projekt von NAVICON TORTURE TECHNOLOGIES und NORDVARGR welches mehrere Jahre in Arbeit war und die extremen Grenzgebiete von sexuellem Begehren & Ohnmacht, Sadismus & Perversion bis hin zur Todessehnsucht & Mord thematisiert. Pulsierende Noisescapes werden langsam aufgebaut und explodieren im richtigen Moment, unheimliche rasselnde, atmende Geräusche sind präsent sowie schleppende untergründige Pulses, Einsatz von gepeinigten Stimmen, Geschrei in einer Lärmwand, Sirenensounds, etc.. mit das Unheimlichste was es im Bereich "Industrial" in der letzten Zeit gab, das unangenehme Gefühl schleicht sich quasi von hinten an, da hier lange Spannungsbögen erzeugt werden. Es entsteht ein wahrer Trip in die Abgründe der menschlichen Seele, ein Album dass einen nicht kält lässt, das (in Verbindung mit der Artwork) tatsächlich noch schockieren kann, wie das Psychogramm eines Triebtäters, erdrückend intensiv! "Having started the process way back in 2002, this collaborative project between Swedish powerhouse Nordvargr and US apocalyptic industrialists Navicon Torture Technoloies finally sees the light (so to speak) in 2008, having been re-worked and re-structured as a perilous 40 minute plunge into a black hole of sound. Waves of grim, doom filled atmospheric sludge crossbred with buzzing black drones, grinding distortion, and a seething underbelly of rhythmic pulsations, ultimately delivering everything you might expect from these two acts. In 6 panel digipak, with extreme and controversial, Jonathan Canady (http://art.malsonus.com/) designed artwork sure to be banned if it falls into the wrong hands." [label notes] www.malignantrecords.com 2008 €13.00
KÖTTER, DANIEL & HANNES SEIDL Stadt (Land Fluss) - A Radio Play CD + BOOK Ein Hörstück über den Klang der Großstadt. Bulldozer planieren die Brache, Wohnviertel werden eingezäunt, Stromkabel durchziehen das Bauland, eine Menschenmenge besetzt den Mittelstreifen. „Stadt (Land Fluss)“ macht die radikal vernetzte Stadt hörbar und die Auswirkungen ihrer permanenten Veränderung sinnlich erfahrbar. Welche soziale Dimension hat die Klanglichkeit einer Stadt? Wie klingt die Stadt, wie könnte sie klingen? Wer hat das Recht, den Stadtraum zu gestalten und seine Grenzen zu definieren? Stadt [Land Fluss] ist auf der Grundlage des gleichnamigen Musiktheaterstücks entstanden. Komposition / Produktion: Daniel Kötter / Hannes Seidl Electromagnetische Klänge: Christina Kubisch Musik: Sebastian Berweck, Martin Lorenz, Andrea Neumann Text: Daniel Kötter / Hannes Seidl nach Zitaten von David Harvey, Kathrin Wildner, Thorsten Fausch und anderen Photos: Nara Silva das Virgens Merlitz Graphik Design: Nafiseh Fathollahzadeh https://www.gruenrekorder.de/?page_id=18530 Das Morgen im Heute Zum Hörspiel „Stadt [Land Fluss]“ von Daniel Kötter und Hannes Seidl Ist unser Planet bereits vollständig kartographiert? Unzählige im Weltall kreisende GPS-Satelliten, die jeden Millimeter der Erde abgemessen haben dürften, drängen uns förmlich ein entschiedenes Ja auf. Dennoch: Wäre die Welt ein Gemälde, stünde die Sichtbarkeit aller Farbtupfer nicht zwingend für das Erkennen und Begreifen ihrer Zusammenhänge. Genauso verhält es sich im Kleinen mit der (Groß-)Stadt, diesem paradigmatischen modernen Mikrokosmos. Gebäude, Straßen, Parks, Kanalisationssysteme, Lichtsignalanlagen stellen eine visuelle und haptische Ordnung her, die ein schier endloser, aus Stimmen, Hupen und Sirenen geknüpfter Geräuschteppich ergänzt, hinterfragt und bisweilen wieder aufhebt. Und mittendrin: das Individuum. „ … It always seemed to me that we should pay much more attention to the question of who produces and reproduces urban life…“: Nach einer Minute mit elektroakustischen Klängen, rufenden Kindern und einem vorbeirauschenden Flugzeug spricht eine Männerstimme über die Produktion und Reproduktion des urbanen Lebens. Wer zeigt sich dafür verantwortlich? Und wie? So beginnt das 2020 realisierte Hörspiel „Stadt [Land Fluss]“ von Daniel Kötter und Hannes Seidl nach dem gleichnamigen, abendfüllenden Musiktheaterstück von 2017. Im Werkkommentar zu letzterem fragt der Komponist Seidl konkret nach den akustischen Eigenschaften einer Stadt als gesellschaft­lichem Raum: „In STADT (LAND FLUSS) spüren wir der sozialen Dimension der Klanglichkeit einer Stadt nach, die noch immer von Stadtplanern und Architekten vernachlässigt wird. Wie klingt die Stadt, wie könnte sie klingen? Wer hat das Recht, den Stadtraum zu gestalten und seine Grenzen zu definieren?“ Der erste Teil einer Trilogie – es folgten „Land [Stadt Fluss]“ (2018) und „Fluss [Stadt Land]“ (2019) – nimmt unterschiedliche Perspektiven ein und durchschreitet buchstäblich verschiedene Räu­me, um „die radikal vernetzte Stadt hörbar und die Auswirkungen ihrer permanenten Veränderung sinnlich erfahrbar“ zu machen. Die Bühne wird begehbar, diegetische Räume und deren Grenzen werden ausschließlich durch Trennwände angedeutet, während sich das ,wahre‘ urbane Leben draußen abzuspielen scheint. Eindrücke davon erhalten die Zuschauenden lediglich per Smartphone-Videos, so dass der stets im Wandel begriffene Organismus Stadt sich als imaginäres Gebilde entpuppt; ein Umstand, der in der Hörspielfassung besonders zum Tragen kommt. Hier knistert es. Dem pausenlosen Rauschen und Knacken wohnt eine ungeduldige, auf den nächsten Augenblick lauernde Stimmung inne, in der sich Zukunft und Veränderung manifestieren. Für (An-)Spannung sorgen vorrangig die Klänge elektromagnetischer Felder, deren sonst unhörbare Schwingungen Christina Kubisch mittels Induktionsspulenkopfhörer hörbar macht. Im übertragenen Sinne wird das Aufdecken vorhandener, aber nicht vernehmbarer Klänge zu einer Handlungsmaxime: Im Heute liegt bereits das Morgen verborgen, den Zukunftsschlüssel haben wir gegenwärtig in der Hand. Und die Stadt? „Bulldozer planieren die Wüste, Wohnviertel werden eingezäunt, Strom durchzieht das Informelle, eine Menschenmenge besetzt den Mittelstreifen“, heißt es im Werkkommentar weiter. Wie sang die Band „Fehlfarben“ vor vierzig Jahren? „Keine Atempause. Geschichte wird gemacht. Es geht voran.“ Dass Einzelne bei aller Zielstrebigkeit auf der Strecke bleiben beziehungsweise aus der Spur geraten, findet in „Stadt [Land Fluss]“ eine musikalische Entsprechung, wenn Sebastian Berweck die Nadel seines Plattenspielers kleinschrittig über kreisende Rillen flanieren lässt. Gewissermaßen als Nebenprodukt entstehen dabei – zusammen mit den akustischen Beiträgen von Martin Lorenz und Andrea Neumann – flirrende Klangbilder, die der Idee von Soundscape bewusst widersprechen. Mit konkreten Objekten generieren Musikerin und Musiker wiederum eine abstrakte Klangwelt. Und die gesprochenen Passagen? Sie erzählen von urbanen Problemen und Herausforderungen, etwa in der Hambur­ger HafenCity rund um die Elbphilharmonie. Das von Hannes Seidl und Filmemacher/Theaterregisseur Daniel Kötter nach Zitaten unterschiedlicher Provenienz erarbeitete, mitabgedruckte Skript fragt nach Chancen und Entwicklungen einer modernen, klimaneutralen, gerechten Stadt. Vieles scheint möglich. Alles bleibt offen – worauf die durchdachte, nachhaltige Aufmachung der beim Frankfurter Label Gruenrekorder veröffentlichte Compact Disc bereits hinweist: Undefinierte, voneinander nicht abgegrenzte, nur rudimentär kartographierte Räume künden von Freiheit. Was zunächst nach übertriebenem Pathos klingt, ist jedoch Programm. Alle können, dürfen, sollen mitdiskutieren, mitplanen, mitarbeiten. Es müssen Entscheidungen getroffen werden. Und genau darin liegen Vor- und Nachteil der Hörspielfassung gegenüber dem Musiktheater „Stadt [Land Fluss]“. Lässt letzteres durch seine interaktive Faktur noch eine Vielzahl an Versionen zu, zieht erstere als festgelegter Parcours tönende Mauern hoch, baut akustische Straßen und Parkanlagen, denkt klanglich über Mobilität nach. Die Entscheidung für eine Stadt ist notwendig – in einem Traumschloss lässt sich nämlich schlecht überwintern –, gibt aber zugleich andere Optionen preis. So könnte es also sein. Oder doch ganz anders? Eine konstant anschwellende Spannung, die sich der oben erwähnten Klang­erzeu­gung verdankt, drängt einerseits unaufhörlich nach vorne, während ihre kontinuierliche Wandlung andererseits für ein kontemplatives Moment sorgt. Zwischen Minute achtzehn und neunzehn findet eine ebenso geradlinige wie richtungslose klangliche Verdichtung statt, die sich im gesprochenen Text spiegelt: „Eine Unkontrolliertheit oder eine Informalität zu planen, ist eben schwierig. Planning the unplanned. Wie geht das?“, heißt es aus dem Off. Diese vordergründig mittels Sprache artikulierte Planbarkeit weicht allmählich einer um sich greifenden Klanglandschaft, die jeden Gedanken zu überwuchern scheint. In den letzten vierzehn Minuten dominieren Rauschen, Surren und Flirren – stoisch und doch voller Überraschungen. Die von Seidl geforderte soziale Dimension von Klanglichkeit gewinnt schließlich die Oberhand. Mit diesem konsequenten und überzeugenden Kunstgriff wird das gesprochene Wort ,denkende‘ Musik: „So, there’s a lot of power which resides it seems to me in thinking about the urban as a place to organise and as a place to come back together […].“ Gemeinsam eine Stadt erbauen. Für alle. Neben Ideen, Mörtel und Strom ist ein weiterer Aspekt entscheidend: zuhören. „Stadt [Land Fluss]“ redet nicht nur darüber, sondern macht es direkt vor." [Gerardo Scheige | MusikTexte 168] A radio play on the sound of the city. Bulldozers flatten the desert, neighbourhoods are fenced in, electricity pervades the informal, crowds of people occupy the middle land. What does, what could the city of the future sound like? In “Stadt (Land Fluss)”, composer Hannes Seidl and media artist Daniel Kötter expand the discourse on the right to the city. The highly interconnected city and the radical effects of the permanent battle over its modification are turned into an acoustic experience. Stadt [Land Fluss] is based on the eponymous music theatre piece by Daniel Kötter / Hannes Seidl. Composition / Production: Daniel Kötter / Hannes Seidl Electromagnetic sounds: Christina Kubisch Music: Sebastian Berweck, Martin Lorenz, Andrea Neumann Text: Daniel Kötter / Hannes Seidl after quotes by David Harvey, Kathrin Wildner, Thorsten Fausch and others Photos: Nara Silva das Virgens Merlitz Graphic Design: Nafiseh Fathollahzadeh 2020 €14.00
LA CASA, ERIC Zone Sensible 2 / Dundee 2 CD Wer jemals selbst versucht hat, brauchbare 'field recordings' zu hervorzubringen, dürfte wissen wie schwer es ist, Störgeräusche auszuschalten, die gewünschte Klangquelle laut genug hörbar zu machen und überhaupt den "richtigen Moment" zu treffen... denn der Zufall spielt hierbei eine gewichtige Rolle, die Unkontrollierbarkeit der Klänge macht demütig... Einer der absoluten Meister des Fieldrecording und deren Verarbeitung ist ERIC LA CASA, von dem hier 2 Stücke präsentiert werden, die sowohl gekonnteste Feldaufnahmen zeigen als auch die brilliante Transformation in eine Art naturale musique concrete: ZONE SENSIBLE 2 benutzt Aufnahmen von Bienen, deren summender Chor oft gewaltig anschwellt und sich mit sirrenden, elektronisch wirkenden mechano-Drones vermischt, ein Stück voller Dynamik und Brüchen, welches am Ende wie ein einziger atmender Klangorganismus wirkt, epische 26:30 min lang. Auf DUNDEE 2 dagegen entwirft er aus 30 verschiedenen Orts-Aufnahmen eine Art unterbewussten Klangspiegel der schottischen Stadt Dundee, wobei v.a. die stets vorhandenen, aber kaum jemals bewusst wahrgenommenen Sounds von Maschinen (Ventilatoren, Aufzüge, Sirenen, Kühlschränke) eine grosse Rolle spielen.. das soghafte Rauschen einer Stadt verläuft hier in langen auf- und abschwellenden Bahnen. Fazit: Zwei geniale Kompositionen für das Kino im Kopf ! "For the best part of a decade, Éric La Casa's attention to sonic phenomena has resulted in some of the finest contemporary Musique Concréte to come out of France. A listener of the highest order, La Casa's methodology for sound recording allows for a versatile examination of both urban and natural environments and it is these interests which are captured on this new edition for Room40. With an ability to find unique perspectives on his sound subjects La Casa's site specific works 'Zone Sensible' and 'Dundee' seek to draw a detailed focus and expose unfamiliar, incidental and previously unheard sound worlds. Zone Sensible, exclusively composed from recordings of bees in the Olivier Darné's hives, located in the Saint Denis suburb of Paris, reveals a chaotic, frenetic microcosm that speaks to the density of the real, whilst hinting at our ears to experience a dance of oscillations - wings beating with boundless energy. As a contrast to this microcosm, Dundee, composed with recordings of Dundee city (during a 10 days residency at DCA museum), sees La Casa turn his microphones outward. Rendering a captivating sound map of sorts, Dundee' was developed in collaboration with USA Film experimentalist Ken Jacobs' 'nervous magic lantern', on a 6 channels device. From these recordings La Casa composed variations and movements in interaction with Ken Jacobs' processing - a contemplation from the real to abstracted life." [label info] www.room40.org "Two new works by Eric LaCasa, the active composer of musique concrete. By now he has a long list of releases under his belt, and on this CD he presents two new works. 'Dundee 2' is in three parts, while 'Zone Sensible 2' is one work. That one was commissioned by Les Instants Chavires (France) for a festival and uses solely the sounds of bees, recorded in a beehive. It starts out with the sound of bees, but soon starts to move about in some electronic after life. Or so it seems. Until now I always thought, but perhaps wrongly, that LaCasa only works with pure sound, always recorded in the fields (agricultural and urban), and never used that much sound processing, but perhaps I was wrong. Here its a much more electronic work that depicts the chaos of the beehive very well. Buzzing with life, sounds crawl about and its hard to figure out what is going on - except of course if you are a bee yourself. A work full of life. 'Dundee' was commissioned by Arika for 'Kill Your Timid Notion in 2007 and uses sounds of that Scottish city, which was played back on a six channel system, devised along with Ken Jacobs, an American film maker. Here we have the 'empty' spaces that resonates, sometimes interrupted by voices ('what are you doing in the parking, recording spaces'?, or station announcements) or by events we can longer trace back to its origin. Here it seems to me LaCasa uses no electronic processing, but the pure sound phenomena as captured on tape. A powerful work, even if you don't know the city of Dundee (at least I don't). What sets LaCasa aside from his colleagues in the same field, is that he composes with the material, rather than presenting them (for instance works like this on the German Gruenrekorder label), and that makes them all the more engaging to hear. I am not sure why 'Dundee 2' has been cut into three separate pieces, but like 'Zone Sensible 2', these are excellent pieces. LaCasa is one of the true masters of working with field recordings." [FdW / Vital Weekly] 2010 €13.00
  Paris Quotidien (2nd ed.) CD & BOOK To provide a measure of my ordinary sound environment -- its properties (its singularities, or on the contrary, its banalities, its obvious features) -- while investigating my status as inhabitant. A measure that is neither too close nor too far from that which happens: an investigation into the threshold. Only sounds recorded into my appartment Recordings : January 2013 – March 2015 mixing : January - November 2016 vimeo.com/206045567 Inhabiting : A story of an ordinary environment In contrast to a virtual address (email…) what is the significance of living here at this address, in this building, said to relate to my existence, to my life, in this time of listening? Living in Paris When we raise questions about sound in or of Paris the archives generally provide a series of motifs that depict typologies of wholly stereotypical events: the metro, the bells of Notre Dame, la Place de L’Étoile, waiters in the café, etc… Like many Parisians my daily environment is the object of no representation found in these sound librairies. My premise therefore involves an exit from these emblematic constructions, from these commonplaces that participate in the major historical accounts of Paris. Starting with only my immediate environment, one which possesses weak symbolic value, my project is to explore its sounds from my apartment’s windows. It represents a kind of temporary and deeply localized inventory that, when given a narrative form, solidifies the impression of my listening, which is the listening of an inhabitant. reviews Après s’être posé la question de l’écoute domestique en compagnie de Jean-Luc Guionnet (Home: Handover), Éric La Casa interroge les bruits de son propre quotidien. Replaçant ses micros à son domicile – XIXe arrondissement de Paris –, il capte des bruits qu’on ne soupçonne pas puisqu’ils ne sont généralement pas, de Paris, ceux qui « intéressent » (cloches de Notre-Dame, métro, garçons de café…, écrit-il). Paris Quotidien est, en conséquence, d’un concret saisi, et parfois saisissant. Le ballet qu’on y trouve – « récit qui structure mon arrière-monde et fabrique mon échelle domestique », écrit-il encore – va au son de la rumeur du trafic routier, d’oiseaux ou de véhicules de passage, de travaux en cours, de bourdons d’appareils électriques… En trois temps principaux (Les saisons du bruit de fond, Les événements extérieurs, Le monde intérieur), La Casa arrange des sons qu’il semble, dans le même temps qu’il les met en boîte, apprendre à reconnaître. Dans ce lieu qu’il n’arpente pas en promeneur – ce que l’auditeur sera, par contre, d’un genre qui papillonne pour ne pas être toujours intéressé par ses découvertes –, il met au jour et un espace que lui, Éric La Casa, habite et les sons qui l’habitent, lui, Éric La Casa. C’est ainsi, en tout cas, que celui-ci procède pour – comme l’écrivit Henri Lefebvre cité par Jason Kahn dans l’introduction à son ouvrage In Place – « arriver par l’expérience au concret ». [guillaume belhomme, le son du Grisli n°2, éditions lenkalente] Here we have a release of France's finest when it comes to field recording, mister Eric La Casa, who this time keep things close to home, the city he lives in, being Paris. A beautiful city no doubt, yet this is not about the Arc de Triomphe or the Eiffel Tower, but rather about the direct environment of La Casa, his apartment in the 19th arrondissement, which is not near the centre, so no familiar tourist audio snap shots there. There are three lengthy pieces here; in the first one La Casa follows the sounds of the seasons (winter, spring, summer and autumn), while in the second it is about the surrounding of his apartment (the street, the garden, the alarm) and the final, longest, one is about being inside, listening to non electrical devices, electro magnetic fields, and the central cooling system and so on. The release comes with an extensive (CD-sized) booklet of pictures in which we see the microphones set up and taping the environment. La Casa writes there are no effects, just editing and that he choose to record sounds in quite a simple way, i.e. no complex sounds that one normally doesn't hear. It is stuff you could do as well, but if you would arrive at an equally interesting release is to be seen. Much of the power of this music goes towards the use of editing, placing sounds in certain places, maybe doing a bit overlap between them, and thus create a dialogue between them, and that is something that La Casa is pretty good at. Some of the sounds are recorded from afar, and gives you the notion of an open space, especially in the first piece that is the case, which is twenty-three minute rumble of hiss that at one point is brutally disturbed by thunder. Here the editing is quite 'slow', if you get my drift, unlike in the other two pieces that show more editing, going from event to event, sometimes with an abrupt cut in the middle. There is also more 'noise' in here, especially in 'Les Evenements Exterieurs', where we are witness to some machinery noise in the garden. This is all totally fascinating music, I think, and best enjoyed with the windows closed so you can fully concentrate on somebody else’s environment. Maybe it will make you perceive your immediate surrounding, inside the house as well as outside, in a new way, hopefully. (FdW), Vital weekly 1082, www.vitalweekly.net/1082.html https://swarming.bandcamp.com/album/paris-quotidien 2022 €15.00
LANDING Third Sight LP Connecticut's Landing have specialized in a mild and rural kind of psychedelia over the course of nearly two decades. Recent releases have seen them closer to post-punk and shoegaze territory than ever, but Third Sight – recorded specifically for El Paraiso Records’ Impetus series – builds on the hallucinatory soundscapes of the band's earliest days. There's a unique sense of motoric drift to these four long pieces, and an organic blend of rock instrumentation and analog electronics that brings to mind Eno's best collaborations in the 1970s. But the group's flair for fuzzy drones and new weirdsy commune-folk also betrays their affiliation with the experimental American east coast scene –these guys have played shows with their friends in Bardo Pond, releasing a split EP with Windy & Carl and playing numerous Terrastocks throughout their existence. And despite releasing one brilliant album after another the band remains appalingly under-appreciated. Perhaps because the tryyps Landing take are rooted in self-exploration. As trends in krautrock, drone, folk, and psychedelia ebb and flow, Landing remain unfazed. The door to Landing’s world is open, but there isn’t a flashing neon sign above it. These guys are far removed from the hustle and bustle of geographic cultural bubbles, both physically and spiritually. Listening through this LP is likely to stimulate mental images of rural winds blowing across vast American fields of grass, bonfires, blue rivers and power lines sailing through rolling hills. Landing's psychedelia possesses a rare timelessness. We are proud to present this offering from the band in the El Paraiso catalog! ”the whipper snappers these days, trafficking in similar sounds, have NOTHING on their sonic elders. Dreamy, droney, poppy, psychedelic, electronic perfection!” -Aqaurius Records ”Connecticut's Landing inhabits that amorphous space where time itself expands and contracts according to a delay pedal setting, and dream pop blurs into dream proper. Groups like Stars of the Lid and E.A.R. have wandered this same misty plane in search of the perfect drone, but Landing incorporates Bardo Pond's jam aesthetic into the journey, imparting a welcome communal feel to their lengthy, meandering compositions.” -Mark Richardson, Pitchfork "They’ve got integrity to spare and their career, though already spanning more than a decade already, seems to be just getting started." -Grant Purdum, Tinymixtapes "Some of the best avant-prog and lo-fi space rock around" -Mojo "If you're not yet familiar with Landing, I encourage you to fill up the peace pipe and figure it the fuck out." -Kenny Bloggins, Adhoc landing.bandcamp.com/album/third-sight 2016 €23.00
LAST DOMINION LOST Abomination of Desolation CD "Desolation: total, utter, without remit. Departure, loss, absence, yawning valleys of noise. The overture moans from the terminal ward. The humiliation of the cadaver, the scouring of abandoned houses and rubbish heaps, a planet blasted by the fruits of hubris. The last sigh of bathos: "It is finished“. Such is the subject matter and sentiment of this follow-up to the much acclaimed albums “Snowdrops From A Curate's Garden“ and „Towers of Silence“ which put Last Dominion Lost firmly on the throne of post-industrial music. “Abomination of Desolation” is consistent with their development into a dark and profound direction, and yet saturated with the noise and feedback that taps deep into the genre’s conscience: Metallic percussion and the screams of terror, ritual chants and anxious atmospheres, all used and abused in order to create the most accurate soundtrack of desolation. By the fans, “Abomination of Desolation” will be met with mixed feelings – as recordings began with John Murphy in 2015 and through his untimely death that year had to be finished without him, the acknowledged grandsigneur of post-industrial music. The album’s theme and musical approach were originally intended by John for a KRANK release: An electronic album, reflecting on John’s experiences when he was first hospitalized, comatose, and hooked to a breathing machine which was constantly creating bizarre sounds. The result stands as a brief and concise display of the group’s ability to create an unmistakable old school sound with contemporary production value. The album runs for ten tracks clocking in less than 40 minutes total and features new member Till Brüggemann (Gerechtigkeits Liga), as well as guests Nikolas Schreck, Lori Goldston and John Murphy’s beloved wife Annie Stubbs among others. With a firm electronic/analogue backbone, a delicate contrast of percussions of various origins and uncanny vocals, this is a truly dark affair, and while towards the end of the journey some more aggravating feedback loops crawl in, it never gets upfront aggressive. With the crisp mastering job of Hunter Barr it is safe to say that “Abomination of Desolation” will not lag behind its predecessors at all, but forge their deserved status as genre icons." https://epicureanescapism.bandcamp.com/album/abomination-of-desolation "Nachdem der Name Last Dominion Lost ursprünglich rückwirkend für Aufnahmen verwendet wurde, die John Murphy, Jon Evans und Dominic Guerin Anfang der 90er gemacht hatten, wurde in den letzten Jahren aus Last Dominion Lost eine aus Murphy, Evans sowie Julian Percy bestehende und in Berlin ansässige Band, die eine durchaus an den Ursprüngen des Industrials orientierte Geräuschmusik spielte, aber dem 21. Jahrhundert klanglich angemessen agierte. Über „Tower Of Silence“, das eigentliche Debüt, hieß es dann auch auf diesen Seiten, „dass Last Dominion Lost einen transparenten Klang schätzen, keinen Soundbrei, der vielleicht kurzfristig dem Hörer die Ohren zum Klingen bringt, dessen Effektivität sich aber schnell abnutzt.“ und man kann diese Einschätzung auch bzgl. des Nachfolgers – zwischendurch erschien das 2011 aufgenommene Livealbum „Snowdrops From A Curate’s Garden“ – „Abomination of Desolation“ äußern, denn wenn eine Reihe von Vertretern atonaler Geräuschmusik auf maximale Verzerrung und Statik setzen (am offensichtlichsten bei dem selbst so betitelten Wall Noise), beschreiten Last Dominion Lost einen anderen Weg, bei der statt Statik Dynamik oder besser gesagt: Unruhe herrscht – und das ist bei diesem „uneasy listening“ durchaus als Kompliment zu verstehen. Mit einem dem Buch Daniel entliehenen Titel, der auch schon Morbid Angel und Clark Ashton Smith inspirierte, macht die Band deutlich, in welche Richtung das Album geht. Von Labelseite heißt es auch: „Desolation: total, utter, without remit. Departure, loss, absence, yawning valleys of noise. The overture moans from the terminal ward. The humiliation of the cadaver, the scouring of abandoned houses and rubbish heaps, a planet blasted by the fruits of hubris. The last sigh of bathos: “It is finished“.” Diese Sätze scheinen nur auf den ersten Blick hyperbolisch, denn natürlich kann bzw. muss man das Album auch vor dem Hintergrund von John Murphys Tod lesen. Murphy hatte Konzept und musikalische Ausrichtung ursprünglich für sein Projekt Krank angedacht, um seine Krankenhauserfahrungen zu verarbeiten. Beendet wurden diese Aufnahmen von Percy, Evans sowie Till Brüggemann von Gerechtigkeits Liga, der seit einiger Zeit festes Mitglied von Last Dominion Lost ist. Letztlich ist das dystopische Musik, bei auf der der Stimme wenn nicht unbedingt eine zentrale, dann doch nicht zu unterschätzende Rolle zukommt: So etwa die Schreie, die auf „Overture To Desolation“ zu hören sind, während es scheppert und Glas zu zerbrechen scheint. Man hört aggressiv-derangierte Vocals auf „Dimunitive Cruciform“, irrsinnig dämonisches Stimmengewirr auf „Irrumatio Del Mortis“ oder aber im Hintergrund schreiende Personen auf „Bludger’s Kill“. „Devil’s Path, ein fast schon leicht atonales, analoges Ambientstück , wird von Flüstern durchzogen, „Beyond The Valley Of The Flies“ knüpft daran musikalisch an. Auf dem von ritueller Perkussion durchzogenen „Blueprint for Urban Warfare“ erklingen schmerzverzerrte Vocals, die eine psychische wie physische Auflösung zu illustrieren scheinen. Lediglich “Cursed Earth” erinnert vom Gesang an Power Electronics. Das ist vielleicht im positivsten Wortsinn pathologische Musik. In Anlehnung an Throbbing Gristle könnte man auch von einer “Journey through a diseased body” sprechen. Die Landschaften, die hier vor dem Auge des Hörenden entstehen, sind wahrlich (ver)wüst(et). In Klarkash-Tons Prosagedicht “The Abomination of Desolation” heißt es:„Of this horror, many tales are told, and nearly all of the tales are different. Some say that the thing has neither visible form nor audible voice“, Last Dominion Lost haben dem Grauen eine mehr als adäquate Stimme gegeben." [MG/African Paper] 2017 €12.00
LEWIS, E.G. All Under CD "All vocals and instruments recorded and produced by Edvard Graham Lewis at Tip Top Studio, Uppsala,Sweden Between 2003-13. With contributors, Thomas Öberg, Pauline Svanerö, P.T.Kirk, Richard Sporrong. Mastered by Russell Haswell. Cut by Rashad Becker at Dubplates & Mastering in Berlin. Cover and inner images by Edvard Graham Lewis. Sleeve Design by David Coppenhall. 'All Under', the companion release to 'All Over' compiles soundtracks to films, installations and a self penned short story. This is familiar terrain for Lewis who, along with Bruce Gilbert produced the early interactive audio-visual installation 'MZUI' at London's Waterloo Gallery in 1981. Since this period Lewis as been involved in countless soundtracks to all manner of cultural artefacts. The haunting score to Gunilla Leander's 2003 short film 'All Under' was improvised in real time with a sampler and FX processing and recorded on to mini disc. The results are a viscous ambience of swirls, feedback and distortion. This material was then adapted for an immersive 3 screen installation of the same visual material which features combinations of 6 nude bodies (4 men, 2 women) fighting and wrestling, filmed underwater. The soundtrack here crawls further in the depths as electronic phrases swim amongst a foreboding ambience. Both of these works encapsulate the same disembodied effect of the visual material as hovering, uncanny sound worlds seep into the listeners subconscious. The Eel Wheeled' features Lewis' reading one of his own bizarre stories underscored with a suitably disorientating soundtrack sourced from sound effects of the Prime Sounds SFX Library. This version was re-mixed by Thomas Öberg (member of Bob Hund and 27#11). 'No Show Godot' concludes the set. A soundtrack to a 'sky movie' (road movies be warned) completed in 2013. Coming out of the initial sub aquatic environments of the opening works, 'No Show Godot' takes us on a spiralling high before folding into a gritty godly industrial mantra which comes along as a perfect means of tying up these two concurrent releases as a symmetrical whole." [label info] www.editionsmego.com 2014 €14.00
LIBEREZ All tense now Lax LP "Hermetically sealed and reveling in tumult, All Tense Now Lax is the most significant and developed work yet forged by Liberez. Based in main orchestrator John Hannon's remote studio No Recordings in Rayleigh, England, Liberez have expanded their palette from previous outings on Alter to produce a perfectly engineered machine that consumes the beholder." [label info] www.nightschoolrecords.com "It has become increasingly rare, in recent years, to hear 'industrial' records that fully merit the name. Like most experimental musical terms, it is a descriptor that has become useful only in small doses: usually in reference to artists utilising mechanical and oppressive sonic textures. This usage, however, only conveys a part of what industrial music was originally about. The great early industrial bands manipulated sound in such a way that it retained the flawed feel of human direction whilst simultaneously building a shrine to the electronic. Listening to the finest Throbbing Gristle records, for example, one is overcome by an atmosphere that is almost entirely alien and discomforting precisely because of its human element; something that even the most applause-worthy of (largely digitally based) industrial artists of today are incapable of quite accomplishing. This, perhaps, is what makes a vaguely 'industrial' outfit like Liberez such an enticing proposition. A group that blends the electronic with the acoustic, and works on foundations provided more by improvisation than by the meticulous organisation of much contemporary experimentalism, Liberez have been stalwarts of the deepest depths of the murky UK underground for some years now, rightly eschewing genre terms in favour of constant reinvention and re-articulation of their musical aims. All Tense Now Lax, however, sees Liberez reach new heights (or lows, depending on the way you want to perceive music so undeniably gloomy) in their apparent quest to capture the beautiful in the most disjointedly unnervingly fashion possible. Liberez’s determination to manufacture contrast is impressive from the album’s opening seconds. Intro track ‘ Of Milk’ fades in with eerie piano and ends with concrete drone, fading into the slow building tumult of ‘_Захвална породица’, complete with some mid-period Skullflower guitar wailing and clanking percussion. This is a pattern that continues throughout, with sections of fragile sound collage – rendered particularly effective by the regular presence of moaning violin – being presented along spiralling channels of paranoid distortion. At its most overblown and overwrought All Tense Now Lax is less disturbing and more genuinely frightening. ‘How Much for Your Brother?’ is a gross exhortation of primal malevolence, retching through its four minutes with the subtlety of a sledgehammer and the abrasiveness of a sandpaper razor. At the other end of the scale, ‘Stop Your Breathing’, the following track, mutters and groans through disembodied fragments of noise, which eventually (and briefly) end up coalescing into a faintly beautiful climax. The combination of these two styles alongside one another is exhausting but powerful, like a stripped down Godspeed You! Black Emperor at most minimalistic and effective best. All Tense Now Lax, then, is brilliant precisely because of the way it flits disconcertingly between the two extremes presented in its title, between the constant and unrestrained tension of technological progress and the contrasting looseness of our day to day existence alongside it. The overall result is an enormously adept capturing of the conundrum of the 'industrial' in a post-industrial landscape." [Benjamin Bland / Drowned In Sound] 2015 €21.00
LILES, ANDREW Muldjewangk, Morgawr & other Monsters CD "Andrew Liles is an incredibly prolific musician working in the same vein as artists like Nurse With Wound and The Hafler Trio, releasing his oblique, idiosyncratic Surrealist sound compositions at a terrific rate to a fanbase who must have a good deal of disposable income. This disc is part of a larger collection of “Monster” themed works by Liles, from more music to wristbands, shirts, guitar picks and so on. This ‘brand’ seems to be presented with a certain sense of humour and a bit of a nod and a wink. The bestiary to hand on this disc is a curious one, and we scuttle sidelong into it with the excellent digeridoo-drenched tribal oddness of ‘Swamp Thing’, which is surrounded by two more free-form pieces comprising creepy spoken-word stories, children singing and so on. In fact the longer you delve into ‘Muldjewangk, Morgawr & Other Monsters’, the more this becomes an obvious underpinning stylistic theme, the spoken word elements in a dozen languages (all real? I can’t tell) and spooky chanting/singing in children’s voices crops up repeatedly throughout. Following the slightly helter-skelter opening sequence, things take a murky turn into the spaced-out and strange. ‘Pine Cold Emerald Lights’ is morose and Slavic – lamenting violins lurch around under a male voice imparting something Cyrillic. But then we’re led to meet the monster, more children’s voices intoning ‘followfollowfollow’ over and over, and we’re deep in the jungle. More and more twists and turns follow, clattering, off kilter drums, sonorous tones and more half-heard narrations, a terrifying diversion into drum & bass, intonations and incantations. It’s all grist to the Andrew Liles mill, a genuine feeling of a confused stagger through a cryptozoological safari park while feeling like it’s all done with a sly grin. Also worth noting is the seeming lack or concealment of overtly electronic sounds or techniques, other than effects. This gives a really organic, earthy feeling, the twists and turns in the composition feeling like a natural shift. The one point where electronics show up – the queasy breakbeat section in ‘Gin Tumbler Landfill’ – it comes in like a radio being tuned to that accidentally and then is abruptly interrupted with a sudden shift to violin and piano, as if switched off in disgust. I don’t really know much of Andrew Liles’ work away from his collaborations with NWW and Current 93 so this was an interesting listen for me, imagining the crossovers and identifying the stylistic differences. He’s definitely a point on that post-industrial Surrealist continuum, and long may he remain so." [label info] www.touretterecords.com 2011 €12.00
  Mother Goose's Melody or Sonnets for the Cradle do-LP "Menschliche Sprache und weirde found sounds spielen auch auf „Mother goose’s melody“ wieder die Hauptrolle. Das ganze nimmt durch die britisch akzentuierte Erzählerstimme LORD BATH eine dunkel-märchenhaften, verschrobenen Charakter an....insgesamt ein bizarres „bad fairy tale“-Album mit Elementen aus plunderphonics, dark ambient und Hörspiel, welches LILES Ausnahmestatus im Experimental-Sektor mehr als bestätigt!" [Drone Rec. info on CD release 2005] "Andrew Liles is a prolific solo artist, producer and remixer. He has been recording since the mid 1980’s and has appeared on well over 200 releases. His work has been used in Theatre, Film, Radio and T.V. He has also worked in some capacity with the following groups and individuals: Danielle Dax, John Murphy (S.P.K.), Nurse With Wound, Current 93, The Hafler Trio, Steven Severin (Siouxsie and the Banshees) and Cosey Fanni Tutti of Throbbing Gristle." [label info] “This project from the fabulous Andrew Liles is dedicated to the notion that nothing good ever happens in a nursery rhyme, even when enunciated with such gleeful relish by guest narrator Alexander Thynn, the seventh Marquess of Bath. Scratching kittens have to be placated, half-awake children are left to wander around the town at night, and we all know about the girl with the curl in the middle of her forehead. Aided in a couple of places by Sion Orgon from Thighpaulsandra’s group, Liles takes his time over teasing out the darker strands to be found woven into childhood’s brighter moments, carefully stacking eerily sustained tones, desiccated samples and disembodied voices against Lord Bath’s exuberant delivery. The results feel like a compendium of forgotten folklore awaiting its future.” [The Wire] www.hallowground.com 2015 €29.50
LILES, ANDREW & JEAN-HERVE PERON Fini! CD "Introducing the debut collaborative release from sometime Nurse With Wound/Current 93 member, Andrew Liles and Jean Hervé Peron of Faust. Neither of these artists needs any introduction and all expectations are overtaken with this incredible album. Here is something that sounds like both a Krautrock album and also like nothing else you can imagine. Its twists and turns keep surprising and thrilling you several listens on from the first. The words "classic" and "masterpiece" would not be out of place here. Both Faust and NWW are touring all over the world in 2008, and the profile for both of these legendary acts has never been higher. This release is packaged in a gloss-laminated digipack, with beautiful artwork by Liles." [label info] "When mayhem artists like Nurse With Wound 's Andrew Liles and Faust 's Jean-Hervé Peron conspire, the result might be described as acousmaniac. Fini! is an arsenal of fun that comes on like a vibra-gun blast to the pineal gland. The glorious studio tomfuckery of "The Drummer is on Valium," Fini!'s opening cut, let's us know in no uncertain terms that Krautrock hasn't stopped mutating after all these decades, nor has it been successfully recycled by the archons of mainstream airwaves. That's one thing that makes Fini! delightful. It comes on like an artifact from an alien culture excavated by reanimated Dadaists from five feet of moon-dust. Touch not the obelisk lest centuries of Germanic gnosis light up your central nervous system like Meister Eckhart's pinball machine. This wanton little orgone-grinder is enhanced with blasts of blago-bung plus multi-lingual spoken word. "Congo Bongo La La La," coming in shy of two minutes, stands out with brilliant eccentricity, teasing us with a slow build up of La La La before the Congo Bongo briefly shakes the bachelor tree house until it disgorges all the monkeys. While most cuts are incredibly brief, leaving the listener a little hungry for more, much more, and seeming to be the disc's connective tissue, "Shake Your Hooves" rises up like a delirious five-minute ethno-pagan evocation of Pan. A sweet release like this demands its own context, maybe a dainty tea-party of genteel aristocrats at which you, stripped naked with cabalistic signs emblazoned on your shaved body, spin Fini! at maximum ear-bleeding intensity before setting fire to the curtains and riding off on a white ass. You can claim that you did this at the behest of "It's Too Loud," which sounds like it was recorded on a Messerschmitt. If this impromptu circus doesn't result in the New Aeon of Amon Düül IV, all is lost. Out of this world!" [Steve Aydt / Weirdomusic.com] 2008 €14.50
LINIJA MASS Trud CD "Der Angriff is proud to present the reissue of all three early albums from the famous russian old-school analogue industrial noise project by Alexander Lebedev-Frontov (also involved in Stalnoy Pakt and Vetrophonia). Having been previously available only on tapes and long deleted vinyl, those records now are the ones of the most sought after collectibles of russian industrial culture heritage. Each CD is packed into the cardboard black&white package with a poster, which is different to each album. "Trud" (1997) has an exclusive previously unreleased bonus track, "Proletkult" (1999) has a track which has been missed on vinyl edition and appeared only on a tape and CDR, and "Mekano-Faktura" (1999) offers as bonus a track from a rare 7". All the sound material have been remastered from the original source tapes. Each title is limited to 400 copies only. A must for all fans of pure and true industrial art!" [label info] 2007 €13.00
Mechano-Faktura CD "Der Angriff is proud to present the reissue of all three early albums from the famous russian old-school analogue industrial noise project by Alexander Lebedev-Frontov (also involved in Stalnoy Pakt and Vetrophonia). Having been previously available only on tapes and long deleted vinyl, those records now are the ones of the most sought after collectibles of russian industrial culture heritage. Each CD is packed into the cardboard black&white package with a poster, which is different to each album. "Trud" (1997) has an exclusive previously unreleased bonus track, "Proletkult" (1999) has a track which has been missed on vinyl edition and appeared only on a tape and CDR, and "Mekano-Faktura" (1999) offers as bonus a track from a rare 7". All the sound material have been remastered from the original source tapes. Each title is limited to 400 copies only. A must for all fans of pure and true industrial art!" [label info] "Great 'mechanical industrial' from St. Petersburg. Real metallic machine-sounds mixed with russian voices. Retro-Futurism at its best!" [original Drone Rec. info, about "Mechano-Faktura"] 2007 €13.00
  Proletkult CD "Der Angriff is proud to present the reissue of all three early albums from the famous russian old-school analogue industrial noise project by Alexander Lebedev-Frontov (also involved in Stalnoy Pakt and Vetrophonia). Having been previously available only on tapes and long deleted vinyl, those records now are the ones of the most sought after collectibles of russian industrial culture heritage. Each CD is packed into the cardboard black&white package with a poster, which is different to each album. "Trud" (1997) has an exclusive previously unreleased bonus track, "Proletkult" (1999) has a track which has been missed on vinyl edition and appeared only on a tape and CDR, and "Mekano-Faktura" (1999) offers as bonus a track from a rare 7". All the sound material have been remastered from the original source tapes. Each title is limited to 400 copies only. A must for all fans of pure and true industrial art!" [label info] 2007 €13.00
LLOYD, DALE Akasha_for Record pic-LP "A welcome return from Dale Lloyd with this, his first new release in three years. Akasha_for Record is a two-part composition, filled with highly dynamic intricacies very carefully arranged. Rich micro-detail meets subtle emotional resonance in a spellbinding work created specifically for the vinyl format. Akasha_for Record is an opulent listening experience, indeed, and one that will reward close, repeated scrutiny. The record's artwork consists of two gorgeous, lightly manipulated, full-color photographic images by Lloyd. The sound/vision combination of Akasha_for Record is truly intriguing and utterly beautiful. Dale Lloyd is well known for phonography, composition, graphic design, and curatorial skills for his highly acclaimed and/OAR label. He has recorded for numerous labels over the years, including Elevator Bath, and/OAR, Alluvial Recordings, Mystery Sea, and Room40. Lloyd lives in Seattle, Washington. This picture disc LP has been released in an edition of 216 copies." [label info] "... One of the two sides opens with a modulating hiss that harmonizes with a sinewy drone and gets punctured by a series bone-numbing electrical charges for something that could have some unsavory context had it been generated by John Duncan, but then again it could be a field recording of a grain-slew with minor post-production techniques. In fact, each of the pieces on Akasha For Record have this sense that they could be the results of well-situated field recordings like those of Tarab or Eric La Casa, as the smudges and grittiness of these recordings allude to such strategies. Another track shimmers like the vibration of a loose piece of metal on an industrial HVAC, with the timbres generating a surprisingly fluid and beautiful resonance like something Andrew Chalk would actively seek out. There's greater evidence of field recordings on the tracks that do feature the roar of surf and a cold wind intermingled with the softened white noise of sand getting pushed around. Lloyd had devised this album to complement the crackles that get magnified through the picture disc - a medium which notoriously wears heavier than most pressings of vinyl. The album certainly works well with its medium. Beautiful stuff, and super limited to 216 copies." [Aquarius Records] www.elevatorbath.com 2009 €17.50
LONG DEAD SEVENS White Waltz & Other Stories do-CD "Produced by Boris ‘Mephisto’ Wilsdorf, Einstuerzende Neubauten’s producer. Two CD edition (contains the bonus album "The White Waltz Companion Disc" limited to 400 numbered copies in a full color book bound case and 16 page booklet. Somewhere betwixt the brooding, 10 gallon groan of 16 Horsepower; the baroque drawl of Blue Ruin; the whiskey smell of Bad Livers and The Bad Seeds’ beef scented brand of western gothic hangs a wanted poster offering reward, dead or alive, for the atmospheric, detailed twang of Long Dead Sevens. Oh death and grief and sorrow and murder shine like a tin star polished with the bullets of Nick Cliff’s baritone croon. Yet deep in the black heart that lies beneath banjo, fiddle, slide guitar, piano and derringer; somewhere near the unmarked grave of the coward Robert Ford; in a place that smells of salt peter and rancid tonic, the high lonesome is joined by the growling din of collapsing new buildings. A theatrical steam-industrial moan echoes through the mesa heralding an age not quite ancient and not quite modern. Colts and Mausers unite to shoot ‘em up in this dark, enveloping, weirding wild west operetta. Yippee Ki-Yay! Paul J. Rogers - acoustic/electric guitars, percussion, melodica, sound sculpture, backing vocals Nick Cliff - vocals Jennifer Hames - piano, violin, organ Ian Turner - bass guitar, banjo, steel slide/resonator guitar, 12 string Nick Hames - drum kit, percussion Sarah Miller - guest backing vocals" [label info] www.blrrecords.com 2008 €15.00
LOPEZ, FRANCISCO Untitled # 74 CD Das vergriffene Album von 1997 (Table of the Elements) wieder erhältlich ! Definitiv eines der besten vom umtriebigen Spanier ! The sold out album from 1997 available again, definitely one of his best ! „Certainly ranking as one of the most challenging recordings of all time, this is a re-issue of the 1997 recording originally available on the table of the elements label. The most intense and elementary ambient work I've ever heard" (Scientifica Intercosmo, Germany) "Neither ambient nor isolationism, this music goes far beyond that" (Self, Spain) 2003 €13.50
LOVESLIESCRUSHING Girl.Echo.Suns.Veils CD "space/ambient/drone from a veteran progenitor. scott cortez’s guitar is processed nearly to the point of unrecognizability, leaving behind veils and walls of shimmery droning bliss. glossolalic female voice glides spectral and luminescent through the walls of sound; sheets of noise; glossy, ethereal. lovesliescrushing makes noise sound beautiful. leave all the accidents: find beauty in grit, in dust, in noise. in the mess. formed in 1991, lovesliescrushing took the my bloody valentine / cocteau twin template and added a new twist: turning the formula inside out by using the detritus, the residue from other songs, the scraps of a song, a single note, a single chord here, a melody there or a dense wall of guitar. take the parts most bands consider throwaway accidents, filler, those little parts between songs on loveless and work them to reveal their realization as a full-blown song. ‘the formula’ is simple, almost childlike. remove the drums, the bass, use no synths or keyboards, remove all of the typical rock/pop shoegaze trappings, use what is left and record on a 4 track porta-studio. simple. that they were able to weave this all together, despite removing everything, would have made most bands run in terror. yet in that manner, lovesliescrushing found its sound. GIRL ECHO SUNS VEILS gathers music from the vast backlog of the lovesliescrushing library. some of it has appeared before, some of it is unreleased. all of this material was reworked and perfected by cortez until he decided it was ready for release. the music is almost two decades old, but sounds like it was recorded yesterday by one of a handful of newgaze, ambient bands (fennes, belong) that have become stylish recently. llc sounds completely contemporary, and yet llc was doing it back in the early 90s, without studios, without laptops! perhaps that is the most shocking aspect to their music. it is a testament to the work of lovesliescrushing, an obscure band that could and did. lovesliescrushing can sound like a jet engine tuned to an am radio station tuned to an orchestra tuning up or a gigantic blurry drone cloud. GIRL ECHO SUNS VEILS is a comprehensive look at an invisible band’s influence on the space/ambient/drone scene." [label info] www.projekt.com 2010 €14.50
LUCIER, ALVIN Still and Moving Lines CD "Pogus is absolutely delighted to offer this new release featuring Australian new music ensemble Decibel performing four works by Alvin Lucier, three of which are previously unrecorded. Ever Present (2002), the only work offered here that has been recorded before is for flute, saxophone, and piano with slow sweep pure wave oscillator and is considered by many to be Lucier’s most musical work. Carbon Copies (1989) is for saxophone, piano, flute and playback; the work investigates musicians imitating their environments. Hands (1994) is for organ with four players. The performers use their hands to subtly alter the harmonics produced from the pipes of an organ. Shelter (1967) is for vibration pickups, amplification system and enclosed space and finds Lucier offering the sounds of outside a performance space. All these works as always are amazing examples of Alvin Lucier’s fertile mind and exploring, experimental sensibility. One of the true originals. Alvin Lucier was born in 1931 in Nashua, New Hampshire. He was educated in Nashua public and parochial schools, the Portsmouth Abbey School, Yale, and Brandeis and spent two years in Rome on a Fulbright Scholarship. Lucier has pioneered in many areas of music composition and performance, including the notation of performers' physical gestures, the use of brain waves in live performance, the generation of visual imagery by sound in vibrating media, and the evocation of room acoustics for musical purposes. His recent works include a series of sound installations and works for solo instruments, chamber ensembles, and orchestra in which, by means of close tunings with pure tones, sound waves are caused to spin through space. Decibel are world leaders in the integration of acoustic instruments and electronics, pioneering electronic score formats, including the Decibel Scoreplayer App, incorporating mobile score formats and networked coordination performance environments. The ensemble has collaborated with composers such as Werner Dafeldecker, Agostino Di Scipio, Alvin Curran, David Toop, Marina Rosenfeld, Lionel Marchetti, Andreas Weixler and Johannes S. Sistermanns and worked with iconic Australian composers Jon Rose, Alan Lamb, Ross Bolleter, Warren Burt, Eric Griswold and Anthony Pateras. Decibel have contributed the Australian premieres of works by Fausto Romitelli, Tristan Murail, Alvin Lucier, Peter Ablinger, Mauricio Kagel and have toured monograph concerts dedicated to Alvin Lucier and John Cage." [label info] www.pogus.com 2014 €13.00
LUNAR ABYSS DEUS ORGANUM A Sherpa's Sleep is More Milk Music CD L.A.D.O. is a project that has literally appeared from a sleep. His founder first saw and heard this name in a dream, and being quite surprised upon awakening, decided to embody it. Subsequently, many fragments of sound, associations and images came from sleep and drowsy moments. So is this album. Each composition is a piece, a fabric woven from the sounds of various origins: resonant dawns and dusks, roars of distant thunderstorms, rustling of small creatures, sough of wind and leaves, ringing of strings and trumpet calls. All this is interlaced by multi-layered electric threads of analogue and synthetic instruments and call signs of unknown radio stations. All this swarm of sounds doesn't fall into chaos but builds up in a forest temple surrounding sleeping children, and the air vibrates with emptiness. L.A.D.O. – проект, возникший из сна, в буквальном смысле. Его основатель впервые услышал и увидел это название в сновидении, и, немало удивившись по пробуждении, решил его воплотить. Впоследствии многие фрагменты звучания, ассоциации и образы приходили из сна и дремотных промежутков. Так и этот альбом. Каждая композиция – это пьеса, ткань, сотканная из звуков различного происхождения: гулких рассветов и закатов, рокота дальних гроз, шорохов малых существ, шелеста ветра, листвы, струнных перезвонов и трубных призывов. Всё это переплетено многослойными электрическими нитями аналоговых и синтетических инструментов и позывных неизвестных радиостанций. Весь этот сонм звуков не опадает в хаос, а выстраивается лесным храмом вокруг спящих детей, воздух вибрирует пустотой. credits released December 9, 2019 "Let go of what has passed. Let go of what may come. Let go of what is happening now. Don’t try to figure anything out. Don’t try to make anything happen. Relax, right now, and rest." ~ Mahasiddha Tilopa "Within my body are all the sacred places of the world and the most profound pilgrimage that I can ever make is within my own body." ~ Mahasiddha Saraha https://lunarabyss.bandcamp.com/album/a-sherpas-sleep-is-more-milk-music 2019 €12.00
LUNAR ABYSS QUARTET Cosmologamma CD CD re-release of this great album from 2000, which appeared only as a lim. 100 CDR on 8th Moon! We wrote: “Last copies of this limited CD-R release documenting live-concerts from this Russian project – they create here alien atmospheres with classic/surrealistic female singing & bruitistic concrete effects and drones. Recommended.” [original Drone Records description] “Second CD from this Saint-Petersburg outfit. Dark ritual, mysterious and sombre ritualistic stuff, more gloomy than their 10” on Der Angriff or 1st CD “Zheleznaya Voda”. Something in a way of early Ain Soph, Sigillum S and industrial-era Current 93. Ethereal female voice chanting eerie tunes in the crushing collapsing realm of ambient soundscapes, ceremonial bells and metallic crashes. Recommended. The first edition of 300 copies in a digipak printed bronse-on-darkgreen.”[press release] 2004 €13.00
LUSSIER, RENE Completement Marteau CD For René Lussier, this album is an unexpected assembly: “I gathered four compositions from commissions to which I responded with a maximum of freedom. They all testify to a long process of gossiping and pecking. As a proud patentee of out-of-the-box music, I have grouped them together under the title Complètement marteau, as in crazy stiff, unbridled and surprising, but also as in handcrafted, patiently and laboriously, with my self-taught tools.” The Burletta series (2009) and the BanQ piece (2015) were recorded for a clown theater show and an architectural projection, respectively. Pour modifier vos options personnelles appuyez sur l’étoile * (quartet for guitars and electric toothbrushes, 2019) and Le clou (double bass quartet, 1999), were performed by the ensembles that commissioned them, but never recorded. Despite the years between them, these pieces fit together easily, thanks to similar compositional processes. A pointillist approach runs through the album, with motifs divided among several voices, the sum of which draws the rhythmic and melodic phrases. All multi-movement pieces, they are interspersed here between the paintings of the Burletta suite, as if in a playful setting. BanQ and Burletta benefit from a large orchestration, with a whole lot of homemade percussions made of rubbing, mouth noises, cake spatulas, barbecue spits and styrofoam on a wet window. There is also the recurring and inimitable presence of the daxophone, an idiophone invented by the German musician Hans Reichel. Born in Montreal in 1957, guitarist René Lussier is one of the leading figures in innovative Quebec music. He divides his practice between composition, improvisation, soundtrack, songwriting, directing and producing. He has produced some sixty film scores, the extraordinary soundtrack for Robert Lepage’s Moulin à Images (2008-2012) and some thirty recordings, including Le Trésor de la langue, Grand prix Paul Gilson in 1989, a fresco on speech and history described as a masterpiece by critics. He has initiated or been a member of numerous ensembles that have allowed him to tour throughout the world, including with British musician Fred Frith (Nous autres, Keep the Dog, Fred Frith Guitar Quartet). René Lussier has received the Freddy Stone Award “…for his artistic integrity, innovative spirit and contribution to Canadian new music” and the Canada Council’s Victor Martyn Lynch-Staunton Award “for outstanding achievement and excellence”. In recent years, he has composed for the stage, sounded installations by filmmaker Pierre Hébert, written for the ensembles Hard Rubber (Vancouver) and Bang on a Can (New York), as well as for his own René Lussier Quintet (festivals and Japanese tour in 2018), with whom he is about to record a second disc. Since 2003, he has been living and working in the countryside, where he has built a working laboratory. His activity is as effervescent as ever, in the tireless pursuit of an eclectic approach guided by experimentation. https://renelussier.bandcamp.com/album/compl-tement-marteau "Neues Album des kanadischen Multiinstrumentalisten und Komponisten RENÉ LUSSIER. „Completment Marteau“ erscheint als CD auf RECOMMENDED. 1957 in Montreal geboren, entdeckte LUSSIER schnell sein Interesse für Musik, lernte diverse Instrumente und schloss sich 1973 der Progressive-Rock-Band ARPÈGE als Gitarrist an. Durch seine Zusammenarbeit mit der ihn bis heute prägenden Free-Jazz / Avantgarde-Band CONVENTUM 1976 widmete sich der Künstler in den folgenden Jahren vor allem der Neuen Improvisationsmusik und spielte bis 1985 bei Gruppen wie QUATOUR DE L‘EMMIEUX AND LES REINS, NÉBU oder G.U.M. Zwischen 1982 und 1984 begleitete Lussier als Gitarrist auch die Sängerin PAULINE JULIEN und gründete mit seinem erfolgreich im Improvisationsduo auftretenden und international tourenden Partner JEAN DEROME das renommierte Label AMBIANCES MAGNÉTIQUES, wodurch vor allem FRED FRITH auf ihn aufmerksam wurde, welchen er von 1989 bis 1991 mit dessen Band KEEP THE DOG als Gitarrist begleitete. In den folgenden Jahren entstanden diverse Alben und Kollaboration mit u.a. MARTIN TÉTREAULT, CHRIS CUTLER, ROBERT M. LEPAGE und PIERRE HÉBERT. Desweiteren schrieb er Soundtracks für mehr als 35 Filme und wurde für sein Album „Le trésor de la langue“, das sich mit der Zweisprachigkeit in Québec beschäftigt, mit dem Grand Prix Paul-Gilson ausgezeichnet. „Completment Marteau“ ist das neue Werk eines renommierten und erfahrenden Künstlers, welcher nach wie vor voller Kreativität und Experimentierfreude ist." 2021 €13.00
LUSTMORD [O T H E R] CD Das zehnte Studioalbum »Other« der Elektronik-/Industrial-Musikpioniere Lustmord wurde 2008 veröffentlicht und ist bis heute das einzige Lustmord-Album mit Gitarren, gespielt von Adam Jones (Tool), King Buzzo (The Melvins) und Aaron Turner (Isis). Das Album erschien ursprünglich auf dem unabhängigen Plattenlabel Hydra Head Records, das von Isis-Frontmann Aaron Turner gegründet wurde und früher Bands wie Converge, Pelican, Jesu, Sun O))) oder Boris beherbergte. Wie ein Journalist es damals formulierte, ist »Other« ein "düsteres Beispiel für einen vollendeten Künstler, der genau innerhalb der Parameter arbeitet, die er sich im Laufe der Jahre selbst gesetzt hat." Dieses Album zeigt Lustmord von seiner charakteristischsten Seite, und das eisige, unheilvolle Gitarrenspiel von Jones, Turner und Ozborne fügt sich perfekt in die tiefen Klanglandschaften ein, die diese beängstigende und doch inspirierende Reise ausmachen. Tatsächlich sind die Songs so kraftvoll, dass es Williams dazu bewegte, zwei Ambient-Remix-Versionen und eine Dub-Remix-EP zu erstellen, die die Klänge dieses Albums so weit wie möglich erforschen. Im Jahr 2022 arbeitet Lustmord für The Others (Lustmord Deconstructed) mit Künstlern wie Godflesh, Mono und Zola Jesus, um nur einige zu nennen, an Neuinterpretationen der »Other«-Songs zusammen, die ebenfalls jetzt erhältlich sind. Reissued in all its incarnations plus re-interpreted: Electronic/Industrial music pioneer LUSTMORDs tenth studio album [ O T H E R ], originally released in 2008 and to date the only LUSTMORD album with guitars on it, performed by Adam Jones (TOOL), King Buzzo (THE MELVINS) and Aaron Turner (ISIS). [ O T H E R ] originally came out on independent record label Hydra Head Records, founded by ISIS frontman Aaron Turner and former home of bands such as CONVERGE, PELICAN, JESU, SUN O))) or BORIS. As one journalist put it at the time, [ O T H E R ] is a "grim example of a consummate artist who is working frmly within the parameters that he has laid out for himself over the years." This album shows Lustmord at his most characteristic, and the icy, ominous guitar playing of Jones, Turner and Ozborne resonates perfectly within the deep soundscapes that make up this frightening yet inspiring journey. As a matter of fact, the material on [ O T H E R ] is so powerful that it moved Williams to create two ambient remix versions of it, and one dub remix EP exploring the sounds of this record to the greatest extend of his ability. In 2022, and also available now, LUSTMORD further collaborates with artist such as GODFLESH, MONO and ZOLA JESUS, to name but a few, for THE OTHERS (LUSTMORD DECONSTRUCTED) on re-interpretations on [ O T H E R ] tracks. LUSTMORD is the artistic moniker of Brian Williams. Born in North Wales, he started his musical career in 1980 and soon became a pioneer in the early industrial music scene in the UK. He was a former member of SPK during arguably their most crucial era, and went on to work with THROBBING GRISTLE members Chris & Cosey as well as appearing on early albums by CURRENT 93, NURSE WITH WOUND and others. After relocating to Los Angeles in 1993, Williams worked on dozens of motion picture soundtracks including The Crow, Underworld and Paul Schrader's First Reformed. Additionally he created several video game soundtracks, television scores and solo albums, as well as collaborating with artists as varied as THE MELVINS, CLOCK DVA, JARBOE, John Balance of COIL, Paul Haslinger (TANGERINE DREAM), PUSCIFER, Wes Borland and more, including Grammy Award-winners TOOL on their much acclaimed effort Fear Inoculum. To this day, Lustmord is actively recording and releasing music, his latest release being the collaborative album Alter with Karin Park of A°RABROT, and he is considered to be the founding father of the dark ambient music genre. [press release] 2022 €16.00
[Beyond] CD Reissued! Electronic music pioneer LUSTMORD released an album titled [OTHER] in 2008, to date the only LUSTMORD album with guitars on it, performed by Adam Jones (TOOL), King Buzzo (MELVINS) and Aaron Turner (ISIS). The albums The Dark Places of the Earth and Beyond, both released in 2009, are extensions of the ideas explored in [OTHER] and are taken from the same recording sessions, but with the guitars removed and the essence of [OTHER] distilled and reduced.[OTHER] was a journey with friends, while The Dark Places of the Earth and Beyond take the concept and listener further, deeper, in-between and beyond. While is some ways [OTHER] is as close to a "rock" album as Lustmord will ever make, The Dark Places of the Earth and Beyond are pure Lustmord, a sound that many others imitate but can never equal. LUSTMORD is the artistic moniker of Brian Williams. Born in North Wales, he started his musical career in 1980 and soon became a pioneer in the early industrial music scene in the UK. He was a former member of SPK during arguably their most crucial era, and went on to work with THROBBING GRISTLE members Chris & Cosey as well as appearing on early albums by CURRENT 93, NURSE WITH WOUND and others. After relocating to Los Angeles in 1993, Williams worked on dozens of motion picture soundtracks including The Crow, Underworld and Paul Schrader's First Reformed. Additionally he created several video game soundtracks, television scores and solo albums, as well as collaborating with artists as varied as THE MELVINS, CLOCK DVA, JARBOE, John Balance of COIL, Paul Haslinger (TANGERINE DREAM), PUSCIFER, Wes Borland and more, including Grammy Award-winners TOOL on their much acclaimed effort Fear Inoculum. To this day, Lustmord is actively recording and releasing music, his latest release being the collaborative album Alter with Karin Park of A°RABROT, and he is considered to be the founding father of the dark ambient music genre. https://lustmord.bandcamp.com/album/beyond 2022 €15.00
Beyond do-LP Reissued! Electronic music pioneer LUSTMORD released an album titled [OTHER] in 2008, to date the only LUSTMORD album with guitars on it, performed by Adam Jones (TOOL), King Buzzo (MELVINS) and Aaron Turner (ISIS). The albums The Dark Places of the Earth and Beyond, both released in 2009, are extensions of the ideas explored in [OTHER] and are taken from the same recording sessions, but with the guitars removed and the essence of [OTHER] distilled and reduced.[OTHER] was a journey with friends, while The Dark Places of the Earth and Beyond take the concept and listener further, deeper, in-between and beyond. While is some ways [OTHER] is as close to a "rock" album as Lustmord will ever make, The Dark Places of the Earth and Beyond are pure Lustmord, a sound that many others imitate but can never equal. LUSTMORD is the artistic moniker of Brian Williams. Born in North Wales, he started his musical career in 1980 and soon became a pioneer in the early industrial music scene in the UK. He was a former member of SPK during arguably their most crucial era, and went on to work with THROBBING GRISTLE members Chris & Cosey as well as appearing on early albums by CURRENT 93, NURSE WITH WOUND and others. After relocating to Los Angeles in 1993, Williams worked on dozens of motion picture soundtracks including The Crow, Underworld and Paul Schrader's First Reformed. Additionally he created several video game soundtracks, television scores and solo albums, as well as collaborating with artists as varied as THE MELVINS, CLOCK DVA, JARBOE, John Balance of COIL, Paul Haslinger (TANGERINE DREAM), PUSCIFER, Wes Borland and more, including Grammy Award-winners TOOL on their much acclaimed effort Fear Inoculum. To this day, Lustmord is actively recording and releasing music, his latest release being the collaborative album Alter with Karin Park of A°RABROT, and he is considered to be the founding father of the dark ambient music genre. https://lustmord.bandcamp.com/album/beyond 2022 €32.00
[The Dark Places of the Earth] do-LP Reissued! Electronic music pioneer LUSTMORD released an album titled [OTHER] in 2008, to date the only LUSTMORD album with guitars on it, performed by Adam Jones (TOOL), King Buzzo (MELVINS) and Aaron Turner (ISIS). The albums The Dark Places of the Earth and Beyond, both released in 2009, areextensions of the ideas explored in [OTHER] and are taken from the same recording sessions, but with the guitars removed and the essence of [OTHER] distilled and reduced.[OTHER] was a journey with friends, whileThe Dark Places of the Earth and Beyond take the concept and listener further, deeper, in-between and beyond. While is some ways [OTHER] is as close to a "rock" album as Lustmord will ever make, The Dark Places of the Earth and Beyond are pure Lustmord, a sound that many others imitate but can never equal. LUSTMORD is the artistic moniker of Brian Williams. Born in North Wales, he started his musical career in 1980 and soon became a pioneer in the early industrial music scene in the UK. He was a former member of SPK during arguably their most crucial era, and went on to work with THROBBING GRISTLE members Chris & Cosey as well as appearing on early albums by CURRENT 93, NURSE WITH WOUND and others. After relocating to Los Angeles in 1993, Williams worked on dozens of motion picture soundtracks including The Crow, Underworld and Paul Schrader's First Reformed. Additionally he created several video game soundtracks, television scores and solo albums, as well as collaborating with artists as varied as THE MELVINS, CLOCK DVA, JARBOE, John Balance of COIL, Paul Haslinger (TANGERINE DREAM), PUSCIFER, Wes Borland and more, including Grammy Award-winners TOOL on their much acclaimed effort Fear Inoculum. To this day, Lustmord is actively recording and releasing music, his latest release being the collaborative album Alter with Karin Park of A°RABROT, and he is considered to be the founding father of the dark ambient music genre. https://lustmord.bandcamp.com/album/the-dark-places-of-the-earth 2022 €32.00
[O T H E R] do-LP Reissued in all its incarnations plus re-interpreted: Electronic/Industrial music pioneer LUSTMORDs tenth studio album [ O T H E R ], originally released in 2008 and to date the only LUSTMORD album with guitars on it, performed by Adam Jones (TOOL), King Buzzo (THE MELVINS) and Aaron Turner (ISIS). [ O T H E R ] originally came out on independent record label Hydra Head Records, founded by ISIS frontman Aaron Turner and former home of bands such as CONVERGE, PELICAN, JESU, SUN O))) or BORIS. As one journalist put it at the time, [ O T H E R ] is a "grim example of a consummate artist who is working frmly within the parameters that he has laid out for himself over the years." This album shows Lustmord at his most characteristic, and the icy, ominous guitar playing of Jones, Turner and Ozborne resonates perfectly within the deep soundscapes that make up this frightening yet inspiring journey. As a matter of fact, the material on [ O T H E R ] is so powerful that it moved Williams to create two ambient remix versions of it, and one dub remix EP exploring the sounds of this record to the greatest extend of his ability. In 2022, and also available now, LUSTMORD further collaborates with artist such as GODFLESH, MONO and ZOLA JESUS, to name but a few, for THE OTHERS (LUSTMORD DECONSTRUCTED) on re-interpretations on [ O T H E R ] tracks. LUSTMORD is the artistic moniker of Brian Williams. Born in North Wales, he started his musical career in 1980 and soon became a pioneer in the early industrial music scene in the UK. He was a former member of SPK during arguably their most crucial era, and went on to work with THROBBING GRISTLE members Chris & Cosey as well as appearing on early albums by CURRENT 93, NURSE WITH WOUND and others. After relocating to Los Angeles in 1993, Williams worked on dozens of motion picture soundtracks including The Crow, Underworld and Paul Schrader's First Reformed. Additionally he created several video game soundtracks, television scores and solo albums, as well as collaborating with artists as varied as THE MELVINS, CLOCK DVA, JARBOE, John Balance of COIL, Paul Haslinger (TANGERINE DREAM), PUSCIFER, Wes Borland and more, including Grammy Award-winners TOOL on their much acclaimed effort Fear Inoculum. To this day, Lustmord is actively recording and releasing music, his latest release being the collaborative album Alter with Karin Park of A°RABROT, and he is considered to be the founding father of the dark ambient music genre. https://lustmord.bandcamp.com/album/o-t-h-e-r 2022 €32.00
[Dark Places of the Earth] CD Reissued! Electronic music pioneer LUSTMORD released an album titled [OTHER] in 2008, to date the only LUSTMORD album with guitars on it, performed by Adam Jones (TOOL), King Buzzo (MELVINS) and Aaron Turner (ISIS). The albums The Dark Places of the Earth and Beyond, both released in 2009, areextensions of the ideas explored in [OTHER] and are taken from the same recording sessions, but with the guitars removed and the essence of [OTHER] distilled and reduced.[OTHER] was a journey with friends, whileThe Dark Places of the Earth and Beyond take the concept and listener further, deeper, in-between and beyond. While is some ways [OTHER] is as close to a "rock" album as Lustmord will ever make, The Dark Places of the Earth and Beyond are pure Lustmord, a sound that many others imitate but can never equal. LUSTMORD is the artistic moniker of Brian Williams. Born in North Wales, he started his musical career in 1980 and soon became a pioneer in the early industrial music scene in the UK. He was a former member of SPK during arguably their most crucial era, and went on to work with THROBBING GRISTLE members Chris & Cosey as well as appearing on early albums by CURRENT 93, NURSE WITH WOUND and others. After relocating to Los Angeles in 1993, Williams worked on dozens of motion picture soundtracks including The Crow, Underworld and Paul Schrader's First Reformed. Additionally he created several video game soundtracks, television scores and solo albums, as well as collaborating with artists as varied as THE MELVINS, CLOCK DVA, JARBOE, John Balance of COIL, Paul Haslinger (TANGERINE DREAM), PUSCIFER, Wes Borland and more, including Grammy Award-winners TOOL on their much acclaimed effort Fear Inoculum. To this day, Lustmord is actively recording and releasing music, his latest release being the collaborative album Alter with Karin Park of A°RABROT, and he is considered to be the founding father of the dark ambient music genre. https://lustmord.bandcamp.com/album/the-dark-places-of-the-earth 2022 €15.00
Much Unseen is also here (col. vinyl) do-LP Der Dark-Ambient-Pionier, die stygische Drone-Legende und das fast schon mythische Wesen LUSTMORD durchstößt mit "Much Unseen Is Also Here" einmal mehr den Schleier - die neueste Solo-Veröffentlichung des Künstlers in einer beeindruckenden, 40-jährigen kreativen Karriere an der Spitze der Industrial-Musik. Auf Drängen von Cosey Fanni Tutti und Chris Carter von Throbbing Gristle, Musik zu machen, die seine unverwechselbare Aura einfängt, übernahm Brian Williams 1980 Lustmord und begann mit Sounds zu arbeiten, weil die Musik, die er hören wollte, einfach nicht existierte. Lustmord veröffentlichte 1989 sein drittes Album "Heresy", das zu einem Meilenstein in der Industrial-Szene wurde und heute allgemein als Ursprung des Dark-Ambient-Genres gilt. 35 Jahre später führt Much Unseen Is Also Here" das Vermächtnis von Heresy" fort und knüpft an dessen fesselnden Erzählbogen an. "Much Unseen Is Also Here" besteht aus drei verschiedenen Teilen und ist dazu gedacht, in einer einzigen, ununterbrochenen Durchgang angehört zu werden; es entführt den Hörer in eine kompromisslose Parallelwelt, die nur in der Musik existiert, bevor es ihn am Ende für immer verändert wieder hinauswirft. Lustmord, der seit 1994 in L.A. lebt, hat auch als Komponist und Sounddesigner an der Musik für ikonische Film- und Fernsehproduktionen mitgewirkt, darunter "The Crow", "Strange Days", "From Dusk Till Dawn", "Underworld" und in jüngerer Zeit die FX-Serien "Fear The Walking Dead" und "First Reformed"von "Taxi Driver"-Autor Paul Schrader aus dem Jahr 2017. Immer noch entschlossen, die Grenzen von Sound, Genre und Medien zu erweitern, hat Lustmord auch zu den Soundlandschaften von Videospielen wie Assassin's Creed, League of Legends und, passenderweise, dem von H.R. Geiger inspirierten Survival-Horror-Spiel Scorn von 2022 beigetragen. Other Woes Are Yet To Come Edition (single colored (pink) vinyl, ltd to 220 copies ww) 2024 €37.50
  Much Unseen is also here CD Der Dark-Ambient-Pionier, die stygische Drone-Legende und das fast schon mythische Wesen LUSTMORD durchstößt mit "Much Unseen Is Also Here" einmal mehr den Schleier - die neueste Solo-Veröffentlichung des Künstlers in einer beeindruckenden, 40-jährigen kreativen Karriere an der Spitze der Industrial-Musik. Auf Drängen von Cosey Fanni Tutti und Chris Carter von Throbbing Gristle, Musik zu machen, die seine unverwechselbare Aura einfängt, übernahm Brian Williams 1980 Lustmord und begann mit Sounds zu arbeiten, weil die Musik, die er hören wollte, einfach nicht existierte. Lustmord veröffentlichte 1989 sein drittes Album "Heresy", das zu einem Meilenstein in der Industrial-Szene wurde und heute allgemein als Ursprung des Dark-Ambient-Genres gilt. 35 Jahre später führt Much Unseen Is Also Here" das Vermächtnis von Heresy" fort und knüpft an dessen fesselnden Erzählbogen an. "Much Unseen Is Also Here" besteht aus drei verschiedenen Teilen und ist dazu gedacht, in einer einzigen, ununterbrochenen Durchgang angehört zu werden; es entführt den Hörer in eine kompromisslose Parallelwelt, die nur in der Musik existiert, bevor es ihn am Ende für immer verändert wieder hinauswirft. Lustmord, der seit 1994 in L.A. lebt, hat auch als Komponist und Sounddesigner an der Musik für ikonische Film- und Fernsehproduktionen mitgewirkt, darunter "The Crow", "Strange Days", "From Dusk Till Dawn", "Underworld" und in jüngerer Zeit die FX-Serien "Fear The Walking Dead" und "First Reformed"von "Taxi Driver"-Autor Paul Schrader aus dem Jahr 2017. Immer noch entschlossen, die Grenzen von Sound, Genre und Medien zu erweitern, hat Lustmord auch zu den Soundlandschaften von Videospielen wie Assassin's Creed, League of Legends und, passenderweise, dem von H.R. Geiger inspirierten Survival-Horror-Spiel Scorn von 2022 beigetragen. 2024 €16.00
LUSTMORD & KARIN PARK Alter (lim. col. vinyl) do-LP Limited coloured LPs housed in gatefold w/ special canvas cardboard stock and silver hot foil! Nordic pop diva KARIN PARK of ÂRABROT adds her ethereal, mournful voice and keys to the primordial sound of legendary electronic pioneer LUSTMORD for this sublime and poignant collaboration. ALTER is a ritual of our times. On the pair's frst collaborative work, the nine tracks that make up ALTER are every bit as heart-wrenching as they are terrifying, mining new sonic territory, it is a fascinating study of light and shade that delves deep into vast uncharted darkness. Their ability to create atmosphere on the album opener "Hiraeth" is second to none, perfectly assembling a harrowing backdrop for Park's lilting sound of longing. From there, Park's vocals add all of the emotional depth and power found in names like Kate Bush, Maynard J Keenan and Elizabeth Frasier, perfectly playing against Lustmord's waves of dark drama and creating a wholly unique record that recalls Dead Can Dance, Massive Attack and Portishead at their greatest. Considering Park's credentials, it might be surprising that a collaboration with Lustmord would ft so seamlessly. Utilizing a sound comprised of elements of industrial, synth pop and more, the celebrated Swedish solo artist and member of Norwegian rock band Ârabrot utilizes experimentation in her work, blazing trails and bringing to mind the work of her peers The Knife, Scott Walker, Robyn, Depeche Mode and Burial with her darkly-rich compositions. Multiple winner of Norway's Spellemann award, Park co-wrote the Norwegian entry for the 2013 Eurovision, fnishing fourth overall. But it is the sensibility of the sacred music of her youth that Park adds to ALTER, contributing a powerful vocal that guides the listener through the cavernous, mystical depth of their collaborative work. "Lustmord is the Gustave Doré of music", Karin Park ofers pensively. "Painting magical pictures with a sound that is so vast, it gives space for your own imagination." Brian Williams grew up in North Wales, beginning his musical career as Lustmord in 1980 and becoming a pivotal fgure and pioneer in the early industrial music scene in the UK. A former member of SPK during arguably their most crucial era, Williams went on to work with Throbbing Gristle members Chris & Cosey and appeared on early albums by Current 93 and Nurse With Wound amongst others. After relocating to Los Angeles in 1993, Williams worked on dozens of motion picture soundtracks including The Crow, Underworld and Paul Schrader's First Reformed, as well as on several video game, television scores and solo albums. Williams has also contributed to and collaborated with artists as varied as the Melvins, Clock DVA, Jarboe, John Balance of Coil, Clock DVA, Paul Haslinger (Tangerine Dream), Wes Borland (Limp Bizkit), Puscifer and more, including Grammy Award-winners Tool from their much acclaimed eforts 10,000 Days and Fear Inoculum. TRACKLISTING: 01. HIRAETH 02. THE VOID BETWEEN 03. PERIHELION 04. TWIN FLAMES 05. ENTWINED 06. KINDRED 07. SONG OF SOL 08. SELE 2021 €35.00
Alter CD Nordic pop diva KARIN PARK of ÅRABROT adds her ethereal, mournful voice and keys to the primordial sound of legendary electronic pioneer LUSTMORD for this sublime and poignant collaboration. ALTER is a ritual of our times. On the pair’s frst collaborative work, the nine tracks that make up ALTER are every bit as heart-wrenching as they are terrifying, mining new sonic territory, it is a fascinating study of light and shade that delves deep into vast uncharted darkness. Their ability to create atmosphere on the album opener “Hiraeth” is second to none, perfectly assembling a harrowing backdrop for Park’s lilting sound of longing. From there, Park’s vocals add all of the emotional depth and power found in names like Kate Bush, Maynard J Keenan and Elizabeth Frasier, perfectly playing against Lustmord’s waves of dark drama and creating a wholly unique record that recalls Dead Can Dance, Massive Attack and Portishead at their greatest. Considering Park’s credentials, it might be surprising that a collaboration with Lustmord would ft so seamlessly. Utilizing a sound comprised of elements of industrial, synth pop and more, the celebrated Swedish solo artist and member of Norwegian rock band Årabrot utilizes experimentation in her work, blazing trails and bringing to mind the work of her peers The Knife, Scott Walker, Robyn, Depeche Mode and Burial with her darkly-rich compositions. Multiple winner of Norway’s Spellemann award, Park co-wrote the Norwegian entry for the 2013 Eurovision, fnishing fourth overall. But it is the sensibility of the sacred music of her youth that Park adds to ALTER, contributing a powerful vocal that guides the listener through the cavernous, mystical depth of their collaborative work. ”Lustmord is the Gustave Doré of music“, Karin Park ofers pensively. “Painting magical pictures with a sound that is so vast, it gives space for your own imagination.” Brian Williams grew up in North Wales, beginning his musical career as Lustmord in 1980 and becoming a pivotal fgure and pioneer in the early industrial music scene in the UK. A former member of SPK during arguably their most crucial era, Williams went on to work with Throbbing Gristle members Chris & Cosey and appeared on early albums by Current 93 and Nurse With Wound amongst others. After relocating to Los Angeles in 1993, Williams worked on dozens of motion picture soundtracks including The Crow, Underworld and Paul Schrader’s First Reformed, as well as on several video game, television scores and solo albums. Williams has also contributed to and collaborated with artists as varied as the Melvins, Clock DVA, Jarboe, John Balance of Coil, Clock DVA, Paul Haslinger (Tangerine Dream), Wes Borland (Limp Bizkit), Puscifer and more, including Grammy Award-winners Tool from their much acclaimed eforts 10,000 Days and Fear Inoculum. 2021 €14.00
  Alter (black vinyl) do-LP Limited coloured LPs housed in gatefold w/ special canvas cardboard stock and silver hot foil! Nordic pop diva KARIN PARK of ÂRABROT adds her ethereal, mournful voice and keys to the primordial sound of legendary electronic pioneer LUSTMORD for this sublime and poignant collaboration. ALTER is a ritual of our times. On the pair's frst collaborative work, the nine tracks that make up ALTER are every bit as heart-wrenching as they are terrifying, mining new sonic territory, it is a fascinating study of light and shade that delves deep into vast uncharted darkness. Their ability to create atmosphere on the album opener "Hiraeth" is second to none, perfectly assembling a harrowing backdrop for Park's lilting sound of longing. From there, Park's vocals add all of the emotional depth and power found in names like Kate Bush, Maynard J Keenan and Elizabeth Frasier, perfectly playing against Lustmord's waves of dark drama and creating a wholly unique record that recalls Dead Can Dance, Massive Attack and Portishead at their greatest. Considering Park's credentials, it might be surprising that a collaboration with Lustmord would ft so seamlessly. Utilizing a sound comprised of elements of industrial, synth pop and more, the celebrated Swedish solo artist and member of Norwegian rock band Ârabrot utilizes experimentation in her work, blazing trails and bringing to mind the work of her peers The Knife, Scott Walker, Robyn, Depeche Mode and Burial with her darkly-rich compositions. Multiple winner of Norway's Spellemann award, Park co-wrote the Norwegian entry for the 2013 Eurovision, fnishing fourth overall. But it is the sensibility of the sacred music of her youth that Park adds to ALTER, contributing a powerful vocal that guides the listener through the cavernous, mystical depth of their collaborative work. "Lustmord is the Gustave Doré of music", Karin Park ofers pensively. "Painting magical pictures with a sound that is so vast, it gives space for your own imagination." Brian Williams grew up in North Wales, beginning his musical career as Lustmord in 1980 and becoming a pivotal fgure and pioneer in the early industrial music scene in the UK. A former member of SPK during arguably their most crucial era, Williams went on to work with Throbbing Gristle members Chris & Cosey and appeared on early albums by Current 93 and Nurse With Wound amongst others. After relocating to Los Angeles in 1993, Williams worked on dozens of motion picture soundtracks including The Crow, Underworld and Paul Schrader's First Reformed, as well as on several video game, television scores and solo albums. Williams has also contributed to and collaborated with artists as varied as the Melvins, Clock DVA, Jarboe, John Balance of Coil, Clock DVA, Paul Haslinger (Tangerine Dream), Wes Borland (Limp Bizkit), Puscifer and more, including Grammy Award-winners Tool from their much acclaimed eforts 10,000 Days and Fear Inoculum. TRACKLISTING: 01. HIRAETH 02. THE VOID BETWEEN 03. PERIHELION 04. TWIN FLAMES 05. ENTWINED 06. KINDRED 07. SONG OF SOL 08. SELE 2021 €28.00
LUTZ SCHRIDDE Troum Dreams consiliis animum fatigas? Troum dreams quid aeternis minorem consiliis animum fatigas? Cur non sub alta vel platano, vel hac pinu iacentes .... (Horatius, carm. 2,11,13) Why lying on dying, never we'll be with eternity, Hear no evil, no bad under this tree, Lay, see and be, here, no worry with me. About Horatius we read in Nietzsche's "Götzen-Dämmerung" that in his poetry we find 'sound', 'position', 'term', what is with the words (Klang, Ort, Begriff) . This German romantic appreciated the artistry and effectivity, and he considered his own wording equal. Today, I feel free to take 'sound, position, term' to put compositions of Troum into the context of romanisation of German language what informed the romantic metaphor of music as a language. The challenge of translating Horatius into other languages, as Nietzsche had accentuated, is not to fail such artistry and effectivity. What I want to say is that compositions of Troum are more than romantic translations, beyond music as a language. Troum is sound, yes, and then listening is navigating, and listening then is without translation. The German romantics claimed art to be not of purpose, no, art were autonomous and a value in itself, so were a genius. Does that mean the compositions of Troum – when not dubbing it romantic – have a purpose? Troum's navigations are taking the listener beyond such question. It is not about purpose or autonomy, Troum is two composers together, Stefan Knappe and Martin Gitschel. Their collaborative compositions is band-work, there is no solo. Like technical stereo-navigation of pilots in early airplanes, their navigations are even not communicating questions or answers. Following and listening here is about sharing their state of navigation, their state of mind. Stefan contacted me in 1997 and told me about the end of Maeror Tri and a new project he had no name for at the time. I had collected most of Maeror Tri and contributed liner notes once. Moreover, Stefan was irritated how I could identify his hidden solo compositions on my own. Actually, after my time as a connoisseur of music I entered the sphere of musique concrete and drones for sort of cultivating my mind. I had already learned about the righthandedness of European music, had even read Wolfgang Scherer's dissertation "Babellogik" on the matter. Maeror Tri always seemed a soundtrack to my search for a new vantage point. Stefan liked my approach to revaluate the implicit morale of music, himself a lefthanded. When he told me Maeror Tri was disbanding and the new project needed a name, that occured right in time to jump to the new vantage point. Musique concrete and post-punk creativity had affected me, and Maeror Tri all that time reminded me of the restrictions of surreal or psychogeograhic composition some people like to dub the French and British accomplishments. Maeror Tri - cassette by cassette since 1988 - shed some sound on that fashion, sometimes ambient, sometimes industrial, sometimes drone. To me, the fascination came through a sense of game and improvisation, often leaving any boundaries of the genres behind. Some of their early cassettes seemed informed even by the very wish to stay beyond boundaries, an approach to go for a change of any game before. Reading the reviews in Vital Weekly, I find a similar appreciation with the editor. Such exploration of composition may have resulted in new awareness and reflection then in 1997, disbanding Maeror Tri and a new project may explain itself. And as I see it today, the new project went on to explore and navigate beyond any boundaries of genres. Changing games is a skill of the lefthanded. And again, Stefan was surprised watching me identifying his hidden solo compositions. I am righthanded, touched by surreal music and post-punk creativity, I am not a composer. And I will not out his solo compositions here, no. Nietzsche was a lefthanded, his skills surfaced in writing, and he was seemingly not selfaware of this natural skill and tending to curious vanity. His opinion about Horatius shows that in particular. Nietzsche never learned about the giveness of his skill when running his revaluation of all values. He was with the German romantic tradition all the time. And he had a certain selectivity who he liked to value, all were lefthanded (Goethe, Ceasar, Bismarck, Napoleon), all game changers, very skilled. In romantic music, Beethoven and Mozart were skilled brilliantly as such. In visual art, we may call Paul Klee an example. When Stefan needed a name for the new project, I was ready to try. I said "Traum". In English, dream. By 1997, my search for a new way of composition beyond the genres of 'improvised', 'free jazz', 'world music', 'industrial', 'ambient', 'noise', 'drone', 'musique concrete' and else had already ended in sort of disappointment. I was sure, that the romantic tradition and its relative surrealism encompassed my search well, but at the time I had little in hand. My short essay "Noise Culture" in Vital Weekly Supplement in 1996 was a result of my search. Then talking with Stefan, and by intuition I avoided consideration of material or procedure what is behind the genre division. During that talk I threw myself out of that and looked for the location in musical anthropology. I looked for the essence of the genres and opened gain. So it became "Traum". Stefan liked that immediately. He made it "Troum", just as if he knew the game change behind. To be clear, Troum is no music for Nietzscheans. And I am not a Nietzschean, although I have mastered in philosophy and know about him. His approach is restricted to values and valuation, in his case furthermore to the 'game' the values are framed by. That spoke to his nature and his romantic vanity. It happened, that I decided to leave Germany and I am teaching in China for eight years now. Here, musical anthropology is still a vantage point, and I am listening to Troum in Xian at the eastern end of the Silk Road. Troum had done great things, I like the long-trackers "Sen" and "Mare Idiophonica". The Tjukurrpa-trilogy is also with me here, and allow me to highlight the collaboration with Martyn Bates and raison d'être. My current favorite of Troum is "Acouasme". And if you know Horatius, yes, then you may be the right one to try Troum. It is sound, navigation and prior to translation. Here is abroad. Lutz Schridde, Xian, China, April 1st 2018 Horatius in German: Wozu, da er doch nicht gewachsen ist Ewigkeitsgedanken, willst du deinen Geist damit plagen? Warum wollen wir nicht unter der hohen Platane oder unter dieser Pinie liegen sorgenlos, .... This German translation is taken from Bernhard Kytzler, Horaz. Eine Einführung, Stuttgart 1996, page 176, on Nietzsche and Horatius see same page. The English version above is mine. 2018
M.B. (MAURIZIO BIANCHI) Weltanschauung LP "At the beginning of 1981 Maurizio Bianchi sent some demo tapes to the Come Organisation in England; after that, they extracted and blended together the sounds to get the final work. The title « Under The Victory Banner », an anachronistic and detrimental track for the rest of the album has been replaced by the title of the same set « Plutoniumetrio » edited in 1982 by the Come Organisation for the compilation « Für Ilse Koch », which fits much better with the other tracks. The Come Organisation was a record label founded in London in 1979 by William Bennett, initially as a vehicle for his group Come, and later to specialise in extreme electronic or controversial music, in particular for his subsequent group Whitehouse, but also for other groups including Maurizio Bianchi, Nurse with wound or Charles Manson. When Whitehouse went on hiatus at the end of 1985, Come Organisation was dissolved." [label info] www.rotorelief.com Weltanschauung was first released by William Bennett's Come Organisation in 1982, with Bennett changing MB's nom de plume to Leibstandarte SS MB. These recordings have long been controversial, given that one of the tracks overlayed Third Reich speeches on top of Bianchi's wall of noise, although both Bennett and Bianchi denied responsibility for having done so. Bianchi's frigid electronic orchestrations drip with sinister echoes of bone-chilling vibrations, throbbing rhythms, deranged anti-melodies, and horrifying atmospheres. For this reissue on Rotorelief, Bianchi has replaced the offending track from the Come Organisation original with the thoroughly grim track "Plutometrio" recorded during the same sessions, sans the Nazi speechifying. Such additions were unnecessary in the first place (whoever was to blame), and Weltanschauung is much better off without them. (Aquarius Rec.) 2013 €23.00
M.B.(MAURIZIO BIANCHI) / LAND USE Psychoneurose CD Collaboration der wiedererstarkten Industrial-Legende mit LAND USE, einem neuen Projekt aus NL.... zu hören gibt es hier rauhe, ratternde Klang-Emanationen, die sich in immer neuen Verformungen in den Äther wälzen.... Licht-verschluckend und zähflüssig wie schwarzer Teer....unser definitiver Favorit unter den neuen MB-Veröffentlichungen der letzten Zeit ! “Italian Avant-Noise legend M.B. and Land Use collaborate on dramatic, subterranean wall-of-noise constructions and swirling textural storms, dense and complex arrangements, shifting and shimmering tones barely under control, streaming toward some distant and indefineable precipice. Not noisy, but way too tense and corrosive to be called ambient. These vibrant monoliths of sound shift the listeners pysche into a restless sort of zen, a blissful chaos - truly mind and mood-altering. Bianchi released early records on Whitehouse's Come Org. label and has been active since the 1970's. And a recent and conspicuous absence from the experimental music world has been broken by several recent releases of surprising freshness and relevance. It is unclear where MB leaves off and Land Use begins but Psychoneurose is definitely a clear and brilliant return to early MB techniques with several refinements in delivery and focus. Psychoneurose will be the clear weapon of choice for those who prefer their ambience with teeth and their Power-Electronics with more of the deep, vaster textures than violence.” [label description] “....Thank God, we gave Psychoneurose a listen, as this record is so spectacular that perhaps we will be searching out some of those other records to see if they are as good as they were claimed to be! .....in returning to the all-encompassing, utterly blackened, subterraneanly frigid, nightmarishly grim, soul-crushingly bleak, death-shroud ambience that Bianchi had produced back in the day. Expansive, Frankensteinian drones constanly broadcast a black energy, marred with tactile corrosive noises and synthetic twitches which could only be made by the same anaglog technology of Bianchi's classic recordings. So until those aforementioned albums come back in print yet again, Psychoneurose holds its own as a worthy substitute.” [Aquarius] 2005 €13.00
  TSE-K LP Nach der schönen "Psychoneurose" schon die zweite Zusammenarbeit von LAND USE mit BIANCHI. Zwei lange dark-drone Stücke, sanft walllende sub-marine akustische Massen in denen sich alles verliert: Stimmen, Sirentöne, Klackern, tauchen am Rande der Wahrnehmung auf um in endlosen Weiten wieder zu verschwinden... "Maurizio Bianchi is back on vinyl! A new special limited edition from Small Voices and the father of Italian industrial music, together with Land Use from Holland in this new chapter of his legendary career. An oppressive meditative obscure early-industrial symphony based on two monolithic pieces of thick throbbing stuff. A long deep trip into the darker meanderings of the human mind... good luck!" [label notes] "...Let's be honest, we have no idea what any of that means, but it is clouded in mystery, and in that way definitely represents the sounds contained on TSE-K, which at its very core is a minimal drone record, a gorgeous one at that. nothing really harsh or heavy, more dark and soothing and dreamy, but within the swirling low end tones and softly whirring rumbles lurk all manner of melody, and of texture, overtones create strange rhythmic pulses, the sounds occasionally coalesce into thick shimmering throbs, before slipping back into the drifting blackness below. In the case of TSE-K, headphones are most definitely like a diving bell, letting the listener sink into the inky blackness, and observe the various sonic elements and subtle melodic activities that are all tangled up in the blackened layers of warm ominous murk. The flip side offers up more of the same, but the drone element is a bit more subtle, more of a backdrop for slivers of feedback, and grinding bits of textural buzz, more colors, the shades of black bleeding into browns and reds, not quite as abject and cold, streaks of glowing warmth shooting through a wide open expanse of greyed ambience and abstract post industrial minimalist drift." [Aquarius Records] www.smallvoices.it 2007 €14.50
M.B.[MAURIZIO BIANCHI] + [P. ANDERSSON / NORDVARGR / JARL] S.F.A.G. / S.F.A.G. - De-Composed do-CD "ANTE-FACTS : after the disintegrative period of my production (from “Symphony for a Genocide” to “Das Testament”), the purchase of a misanthropic echo-machine and the consequent decay of the electric-analogue machinery, my efforts was redirected to a pre-recording sound sublimation, so I started to re-compose the electronic metastasis of early times, filtering through dehumanizing effects of the echo-machine, keeping attention particularly to the explanatory process of my ancestral subjectivism. FACTS : the modulatory shaking of S.F.A.G is the oxygenating prelude to the irradiating bionic music later developed through levigating works such as “Endometrio” and “Carcinosi” and represents a milestone in my pre-apocalyptic production which later will culminate into the horrid of “Armaghedon”. The exegesis of this work reflects a strong attachment to smooth and round effects of the roughness of the frantic early days, but with a constant preference for the symbiosis between well pre-ordered sound masses and not well defined radio broadcasts, like nebulae drifting in a space in trembling condensation. POST-FACTS: The interest of Gary Mundy of the British “Broken Flag” label (who later would have released the esoteric "The Plain Truth") gave me the incentive to make him listen to the demo tape which was of his liking so that in January 1983 he decided to publish the album as a tape with the title "SFAG 1981" (the year relates to the link with the date of the beginning of my vinyl production). In the early 90's Tegal Records was releasing a non-authorised "truncated" version on CD, but this new version of OEC maintains the integrity of the entire work and was completely digitally remastered by Peter Andersson (Raison D’être) [Maurizio Bianchi]. The Original album is accompanied by a second CD with 3 de-compositions using extracts of the original S.F.A.G. recordings done by 3 well knows Nordic industrial artists : Peter Andersson [Raison D'Être] Henrik Nordvargr Björkk [MZ.412] Erik Jarl [IRM] For same samples go here : http://www.oldeuropacafe.com/main.php?nav=pd&prdct=10261" [label info] www.oldeuropacafe.com 2010 €18.00
MAEROR TRI Emotional Engramm CD "The reissue of a long-forgotten classic MAEROR TRI album with stunning new artwork and newly remastered sound. Back in 1997, it turned out to be the last album by this experimental trio of German droners composed of Stefan ‘Barakah’ Knappe, Martin ‘GLIT[s]CH’ Gitschel and Helge Siehl. The former two later formed TROUM (Zoharum releases: “Autopoiesis / Nahtscato” and “Seeing-Ear Gods” (A Continuous Journey in Six Parts) and the latter 1000SCHOEN. During their nine-year existence, they recorded a handful of albums and cassettes with their unique mixture of minimalism, industrial, ambient and drone, exploring the brains of potential listeners. „Emotional Engramm” is MAEROR TRI's most refined effort to date. After years of experimenting, the group came to a characteristic sound composed of layers of electrically/electronically-treated acoustic instruments. Their organic sound achieved the most accessible form on „Emotional Engramm”;. Clocking in at just under 80 minutes, the seven tracks presented here show Maeror Tri at its best. The reissue is presented in a lavish 6-panel digipak designed by Marcin Lojek (Ibsen Design, New Nihilism label, Mantichora and Schmerz bands) with a foreword by Martyn Bates (EYELESS IN GAZA). The album has been faithfully remastered by Lukasz Miernik (Dead Cat Mastering)." [label info] www.zoharum.com "Originally released in 1997 on the now defunct Iris Light imprint out of England, Emotion Engramm was the final album from Maeror Tri - the haunting, post-industrial drone trio that was the precursor to the equally haunting, post-industrial drone DUO Troum. This record - more so than any of the other Maeror Tri albums - engaged the complex structures that Troum would later push through their interlocking, shadowy melodies and slow-motion, effects-heavy drone. At the same time, the concepts that went into Emotional Engramm are more closely related to the clinical psychological themes of the Maeror Tri albums Multiple Personality Disorder or Language Of Flames & Sound, as referenced by the titular engram (purposefully misspelled in the title), a Scientology term for a mental image embedded into the brain by any type of trauma - physical, emotional, psychic, or otherwise. Far from prescribing the teachings of Scientology, Maeror Tri uses that concept as a jumping off point in conjuring "resonance of control, impact, fortuity, the randomly instigated yet inedibly etched emotional memory: Kodak ghosts." It's easy to read particular passages within the frozen din of washed-out guitar noise, spectral melodies, tectonic bass rumblings, and metallic slashes of grim electronics as the seizures within the psyche that might get caught in an infinite loop for the inner-mind. Some of those images provide an emotional resonance that's deeply sad and full of despair, while others are enraged with a blackened hostility. As we mentioned, many of the ideas and strategies that went into this album continued to develop through Troum; but even so, this stands as one of the best albums that either Maeror Tri or Troum had produced." [Aquarius Records] "Recorded between 1993 and 1996, this is the final release of MAEROR TRI - packaged to suggest that this music is a kind of empty canvas for engrams, for letters, words, scribblings (both significant and insignificant) to emerge upon. "Engrams" somehow brings to mind Scientology; resonances of Control, Impact, Fortuity, the randomly instigated yet indelibly etched emotional memory: Kodak Ghosts... The pure idea of Scientology is that of a beautiful catharsis; a steering thru the engrams, the 'de-control' of the mind and the re-acquisition of it's disparate componants...an insight...tools for your own endevour....for self-development......access towards some kind of re-affirmation of scattered aspects of being. MAEROR TRI here paint an expanse of (admittedly low-fi) sheets of sound; abstraction that is only truly completed by the sensitized listener, adrift, in darkness, volume filling/consuming the room (it doesn't function as ambience, I found...), waver of rain in radioactivity, ether tears of trains of thought, the long forever letters of minutia that you hand-write to dear friends half a world away all flooding back now, into your mind's ear; books - someone else's thoughts.....worlds that consume, yet are mere cyphers, scribbles that are understood somewhere in an unthinking space within the mechanism of each individual's fleeting moment upon the 'wheel of the quivering meat conception'. This MAEROR TRI CD; non-representational, perhaps easily dismissed by anyone who has no time to 'stand and stare'..... ... .... well, for God's sake, stop ... and stand and stare ... put your ear to the world, and listen to the song of the nightingale ..... .. no; listen to all the birdsong .. ... know that words, and sounds, are but tokens." [MARTYN BATES for SOFT WATCH for the 1st ed.] 2012 €12.00
MALLINDER, STEPHEN Um Dada CD Stephen Mallinder, co-founder and frontman of the iconic Cabaret Voltaire, has returned with his first solo album in over 35 years: Um Dada. Laced with leftfield house and cut-up sound collages, Um Dada is a melding of energies that are an exercise in simplicity and motion. Sincere, playful realism that beckons your body to move, always reminding you to never take yourself too seriously without forfeiting your agency.While steering Cabaret Voltaire through the 1980's, Mallinder was already busy piecing together his first solo album entitled "Pow Wow", which would help define Mallinder's interest in the more leftfield electro sounds shaping England at the time. It was this diverse and abstract hybrid that helped inspire generations of artists and musicians through steeping raw machine funk within the whimsical and absurdist ideology. Since the release of "Pow Wow" in 1982, Mallinder continued his pioneering work with Cabaret Voltaire, as well as recording and touring with his electro projects Wrangler, Creep Show, Hey Rube, Kula, and Cobby & Mallinder. In addition to his non-stop schedule in electronic music, his professional life as a journalist, broadcaster, producer and now a professor of Digital Music & Sound Art at the University of Brighton, has lead Mallinder to a unique point in his career. Most in his position would be caught up in rosy retrospection, but Mallinder himself says, "There's too much digital finger-licking right now; every thought and desire at the turn of a dial_ well a click of the mouse. And there's a giddy, false nostalgia about the analogue past. Sorry to burst your bubble but the truth of history is more mundane: practical, pragmatic...Um Dada is about `play' - cut and paste, lost words, twisted presets, voice collage, simple sounds - things that have been lost to technology's current determinism. Let the machines talk to each other, let them dance .. they lead, we follow."Um Dada opens up with the exact machine-led surrealism that Mallinder recommends in "Working (You Are)". A thick, stripped back dance floor groove provides the ideal foundation for Mallinder's eccentric vocal cuts. The frisky chops present an almost twisted irony, subtly bringing to mind the role we're all forced to play as just another cog in the ever grinding capitalist machine of life. Yet, somehow, the listener is left feeling optimistic. A prime example of simplicity at work. Tracks such as "Satellite" give a skillful illustration of Mallinder's adeptness with his musical expertise while preserving his core historical context as only simple reference. The underlying bassline and percussion, coupled with the floating melodies and airy vocal refrain disclose the vulnerabilities of love and loss without a hint of irony or nostalgia.Um Dada is mischievously idealist, however never loses touch with reality. Offering structure while simultaneously dismantling any and all preconceptions. The spirit of sincerity that sustained Cabaret Voltaire's lengthy career is abundantly present within founder Stephen Mallinder's journey through his own whimsical utopian consciousness and staking claim to an identity that is solely his own. https://www.daisrecords.com/products/stephen-mallinder-um-dada 2019 €13.00
  Um Dada LP Stephen Mallinder, co-founder and frontman of the iconic Cabaret Voltaire, has returned with his first solo album in over 35 years: Um Dada. Laced with leftfield house and cut-up sound collages, Um Dada is a melding of energies that are an exercise in simplicity and motion. Sincere, playful realism that beckons your body to move, always reminding you to never take yourself too seriously without forfeiting your agency.While steering Cabaret Voltaire through the 1980's, Mallinder was already busy piecing together his first solo album entitled "Pow Wow", which would help define Mallinder's interest in the more leftfield electro sounds shaping England at the time. It was this diverse and abstract hybrid that helped inspire generations of artists and musicians through steeping raw machine funk within the whimsical and absurdist ideology. Since the release of "Pow Wow" in 1982, Mallinder continued his pioneering work with Cabaret Voltaire, as well as recording and touring with his electro projects Wrangler, Creep Show, Hey Rube, Kula, and Cobby & Mallinder. In addition to his non-stop schedule in electronic music, his professional life as a journalist, broadcaster, producer and now a professor of Digital Music & Sound Art at the University of Brighton, has lead Mallinder to a unique point in his career. Most in his position would be caught up in rosy retrospection, but Mallinder himself says, "There's too much digital finger-licking right now; every thought and desire at the turn of a dial_ well a click of the mouse. And there's a giddy, false nostalgia about the analogue past. Sorry to burst your bubble but the truth of history is more mundane: practical, pragmatic...Um Dada is about `play' - cut and paste, lost words, twisted presets, voice collage, simple sounds - things that have been lost to technology's current determinism. Let the machines talk to each other, let them dance .. they lead, we follow."Um Dada opens up with the exact machine-led surrealism that Mallinder recommends in "Working (You Are)". A thick, stripped back dance floor groove provides the ideal foundation for Mallinder's eccentric vocal cuts. The frisky chops present an almost twisted irony, subtly bringing to mind the role we're all forced to play as just another cog in the ever grinding capitalist machine of life. Yet, somehow, the listener is left feeling optimistic. A prime example of simplicity at work. Tracks such as "Satellite" give a skillful illustration of Mallinder's adeptness with his musical expertise while preserving his core historical context as only simple reference. The underlying bassline and percussion, coupled with the floating melodies and airy vocal refrain disclose the vulnerabilities of love and loss without a hint of irony or nostalgia.Um Dada is mischievously idealist, however never loses touch with reality. Offering structure while simultaneously dismantling any and all preconceptions. The spirit of sincerity that sustained Cabaret Voltaire's lengthy career is abundantly present within founder Stephen Mallinder's journey through his own whimsical utopian consciousness and staking claim to an identity that is solely his own. https://www.daisrecords.com/products/stephen-mallinder-um-dada 2019 €21.00
MANKOWSKI, ADAM Dzwieki z Offu CD Music, word, murmur - stratified and contrasted with the sound naturalism obligatory in Polish cinema, gave rise to a completely new path of film acoustics development, which ceased to be only a sincere mirror and became a conscious element in the creation of psychic reality. The musical material contained in the album is an attempt to subjectively interpret the huge wealth of experience brought by the film debut of Grzegorz Królikiewicz - the movie Na Wylot. Movie has never belonged to the favorites of critics, and all analyzes and reviews - which took place after the premiere and for the next decades - focused almost on the problems of the moral work. The artistic layer of the film remains underestimated and still overlooked, as well as the potential of the techniques used to assemble and execute the sound, which allowed to significantly extend the psychological portrait of the main characters of the drama. The overriding aim of the process of creating this musical material was the desire to evoke the creative spirit accompanying the director and his composers - Henryk Kuzniak and Jerzy Hajdun. The creators responsible for the sound layer, dared to break with the contemporary tradition and departing from naturalism, created a sound space that is a kind of deformation of reality in which the lost and deformed sound often reaches us from outside the frame. The basic assumption of the project "Dzwieki z Offu" is to bring the audience to the figure of Grzegorz Królikiewicz - director, screenwriter and professor of film arts associated with Lodz. The film debut of the author, made at the WFDiF Film Laboratory in Lodz, was an absolute sensation at the time of the premiere on the background of Polish cinematography. This was due to the use of innovative techniques for the implementation and assembly of sound, as well as artistic experiments in combining the sound layer with the image. Adam Mankowski - born in 1985, lives and works in Lodz. A sound artist, improviser, independent music journalist and photography enthusiast. An insightful observer of newly emerging music phenomena of an avant-garde character. Since 2006 he has been continuing his solo music activity under the name - Limited Liability Sounds. He moves in the genere of improvised, experimental and intermedia music. He co-founded the experimental duo Scindite (2014-2015) and the ambient project Insomnia (2005-2012). Winner of this year's artistic scholarship, Mayor of the City of Lodz. llsnoise@gmail.com www.llsnoise.pl www.facebook.com/llsnoise "ADAM MANKOWSKI in Lódz ist in den Kreisen, in denen er sich seit 2006 bewegt, besser bekannt als Limited Liability Sounds oder auch mit Scindite. Als LLS hat er zwischen Re-Drum und Emerge auch schon bei Attenuation Circuit angedockt, mit genug Anspruch und Courage, sich an "An Hommage to Luciano Berio" (2017) und gar an "Music for Philosophers" (2018) zu wagen. Dzwieki z Offu [Klänge aus dem Off] (ACU 1013) dreht sich nun lokalpatriotisch um Grzegorz Królikiewicz (1939-2017), den durch etwa "Wieczne pretensje" [Ewige Nörgelei] (1974), "Zabicie ciotki" [Die Tante erschlagen] (1984), "Der Fall Pekosinski" (1993) oder "Sasiady - Neighborhooders" (2014) bekannten Altmeister der polnischen Filmkunst in Lódz. Und insbesondere um dessen preisgekröntes und kontroverses Debut "Na wylot" (dt. Durch und durch, 1972) und die Filmmusik dazu von Henryk Kuzniak & Janusz Hajdun. Mankowski nähert sich dem an durch nicht unharmonische Drones und perkussive Geräusche und Ansätze von Rhythmik, durchsetzt mit Samples. Als Metasoundscape, durch den Alltagsgeräusche und Instrumentalklänge geistern, Fetzen eines Kinderchors. eine Handvoll Pianonoten, angerührte Strings, von allem nur Tupfer, Schlieren, ein Anhauch, wie ein melancholisch eingetrübter Schleier, gewebt aus Erinnerungen und durchhuscht von Mäusen, die im Oberstübchen daran nagen, betropft von Tropfen und müden Schlägen, mit vagen oder klimpernden Griffen in die Tasten, von Glocken bebimmelt, von Vögeln bezwitschert. Dumpf verzerrte Klänge kehren wieder, Geräusche kreisen und malen unrund und schleifend, das knarzende Gefüge scheint zu träumen. So vieles ist wie im Traum und durch den Lauf der Dinge unscharf geworden: die Festung Przemysl von "Fort 13" (1984) nicht weniger als der Totschlag und die "Na wylot"-Liebe von Jan & Maria oder "Die Kostbarkeit des freien Gewissens", wie Królikiewicz 1981 seine Mahnung vor dem religiösen (ideologischen) Bürgerkrieg überschrieb, und wie es in Polen weitergeht, nachdem wieder das Messer gezückt wurde." [Bad Alchemy] 2018 €12.00
MARC WANNABE Things don't last very long CD Schwülstig-obskure rhythmische Elektronik, oder wie soll man das nennen, was MAREK WANTZECK hier produziert hat? Rollend abgefederte Beats werden mit allerlei vokalen Geräusch-emissionen verwurstet, der Effekt ist (jedenfalls bei mir und einigen von meinen 1000 selfs), dass man verwirrt das Tanzbein schwingen muss. Filed under: Mind-fuck-Techno! “After 3 years the third rumbling album by Marc Wannabe finally is released! A journey through 12 crackling & grooving tracks, based mainly on the sounding sputum of throat & mouth. 60 minutes of straight & oblique rhythms, pulsating basses & energetic transfers. Old friends showing up, leaving breathes, noises & voices, and also the well known old pleated robots can be found somewhere... Marek Wantzéck (aka Marc Wannabe) explains the conceptual background of this album: "How to handle that professional music as we know it? Well, the construction, you see, really made me start to use situations and transistors radios. And that became an image of the piece what was happening around me. And the title really came after the piece and is like a silent protest. So there was a strong connection there with things don´t last very long." That may answering a lot - but not everything. To get the full spectrum of possible answers: Listen to this CD!” [press release] "Cultureclash. Kampf der Genres. Audiogebrösel aus dem kollektiven Musikgedächtnis der letzten Jahre. Hip-Hop, Grime, Dub, Experimentelles und abstrahiertes Rhythmusgefühl. Random Music, bizarres Audiotheater für Leute, die unter ihre Achim Wollscheid-MP3s einen Technobeat mischen. Marc Wannabe präsentiert mit »Things Don't Last Very Long« fucked up Jazz, Knödelpop, dümmliche Hip-Hop Etüden und breites Verständnis für jegliche Form von öffentlichkeitsfern entstandenen Schülerhandyaufnahmen getreu dem Motto: mach mir die Sau für 1 Minute Schulhofimpression. Alles aufgezeichnet. Da darf es auch mal grunzen oder spastische Vokalverrenkungen geben. Mach dich zum Horst verdammt noch mal. Wannabe darf alles, erlaubt sich alles und zieht auch noch andere mit hinein. Column One sind dabei und dürfen Wannebe auditiv abkanzeln und ihn in der Karzer schicken, während Stea Andreasson ihn wieder aus der Ecke zieht um ihm mit rotem Lolitamund die Leviten zu lesen. Andreassons filmisches Zitateschnippeln aus der Krimiserie Der Alte mag da als pädagogisches Anschauungsmaterial dienen. Das braucht es dann auch mal. Alle Register werden hier gezogen. Und wer das alles nicht versteht, sollte die CD mal vor der Schule in der Cliquenraucherecke abspielen. Damit bist du einer von allen bei soviel stilistischer Vielfalt." [Thorsten Soltau / AEMAG] 2005 €10.00
MARCHETTI, LIONEL Knud un Nom de Serpent CD Wiederveröffentlichung des erfolgreichen MARCHETTI-Albums von 1999 (soweit wir wissen sein erstes full-length Solo-Album), ein in höchstem Maße forderndes Collagen-Werk mit Aufnahmen von schamanistischen Ritualen & ritueller Musik, inspiriert von MIRCEA ELIADE. "Having seen Marchetti perform live with Jerome Noetinger, this CD comes as somewhat of a surprise. Starting with African music, followed by part of a French chanson and parts of spoken word, this work obviously needs a different approach. After reading the press release, things become clearer: Marchetti has a strong interest in shamanism and tries 'to make the listener live with my mythology, more aware of the world's potential forces'. Collage seems to be the method to achieve this goal. All tracks consist of numerous citations from music from all over the world and all over the times. The result is a work that one can listen to over and over again, because of the richness of its ingredients. Others can probably not stand the complexity..." [Roel Meelkop, Vital Weekly] "Back by popular demand ! Lionel Marchetti's classic album of harrowing tape music from 1999, Knud un Nom de Serpent (Le Cercle des Entrailles), was published by Intransitive in 1999, quickly sold out, and remains the most requested title to be resurrected from our back catalog. We're thrilled to make Knud available again, now with a striking new cover design and an appreciative essay by Bhob Rainey (nmperign, The BSC). The gripping drama of Knud un Nom de Serpent illustrates Marchetti's idea of popular music as Shamanic ritual, a gateway to ecstatic altered states. Armed with fierce wit and a razor blade, he smashes together sounds from all over the world into a hallucinatory cyclone of Jamaican reggae, French chanson, American avant-garde vocalists, Thai pop songs, nature recordings, spoken text, and more. The result is a chilling work of furious, obliquely narrative tape-collage and tense, frightening scenes. As Marchetti explained to The Wire magazine, 'I've always been interested in the idea of the medicine man. Someone who by sheer force of imagination transports you into another world, part artist, part healer. Maybe that's what a composer is.' Lionel Marchetti (France, 1967) is a self-taught composer of musique concrète. He has built his own recording studio, and has composed in the Groupe de Recherches Musicales in Paris since 1993. Marchetti also performs improvised music with microphones and loudspeakers as a duo with Jérôme Noetinger, as part of the group quintetAvant, and with the collective Le Cube, which performs live music and interactive film. Marchetti's book La Musique Concrète De Michel Chion was published by Éditions Metamkine in 1998. Also available: int031 Lionel Marchetti & Seijiro Murayama 'Hatali Atseli (L'Echange des Yeux)' CD." [label info] 2008 €12.00
MARE DI DIRAC Tupilaq CD "Mare Di Dirac are an Italian collective who create lo-fi, morbid, and sometimes ritual based sound that mix together elements field recordings, natural reverb, human voices, subtle electronics, and selection of instrumental / percussion matter taking in: old church organ, didgeridoo, Tibetan bells, marine trumpet, rain drum & other elements. Their sound falls somewhere between crude ritual ambience, murky grim drone matter, and dark ‘n’ dank sound art." [label info] www.greytone.eu 2014 €13.00
MARGOLIS, AL / IF, BWANA An Innocent, Abroad CD Zwei grossartige neue Stücke von IF BWANA aka AL MARGOLIS, der im Frühjahr 2008 auch endlich mal in Euopa live zu sehen war (z.B. im Hamburger B-MOVIE). AN INNOCENT ABROAD lässt sich als höchst strange & surreale Geräuschmusik charakterisieren, basierend auf der Stimme von LISA BARNARD und Flöteneinspielungen, in einer NURSE WITH WOUND-ähnlichen Machart bearbeitet und collagiert. "The new Al Margolis/If, Bwana cd is comprised of Issue, for electronics and multi-tracked voice, and An Innocent, Abroad, a 40 plus minute work for electronics, vocals, and flutes. An Innocent, Abroad can be best described as a Sonic Oratorio: an assemblage, a construction of an event that never happened or will happen. A live installation for radio, perhaps. There is no "meaning" to the text. All parts were drawn or are inter-related to the original vocal track, recorded by Lisa Barnard, which is no longer present. The text/voice part has been multi-tracked and now represents five "separate entities". The electronic parts have been extracted and processed from the original vocal track. The five flute parts were performed by Jane Rigler and Jacqueline Martelle, and was be improvised by them. They recorded to the separate voice tracks. None of the performers heard the entire piece that they worked on. Lisa Barnard is a vocalist and performance artist. Most noted work is her interpretations of her dreams into original performances for Deep Listening Institute's annual Dream Festivals. Jacqueline Martelle is a flutist and arts administrator, living in New York City since 1996. She performs new music and has recorded on the Mode and Centaur record labels. Jane Rigler, flutist, composer, educator and producer is an active featured performer in contemporary music festivals throughout the U.S. and Europe as a soloist as well as within chamber ensembles Al Margolis was one of the prime movers in the cassette underground scene of the 1980s (between 1984 and 1991 his Sound Of Pig label released over 300 cassettes of music by the likes of Merzbow, Costes, Amy Denio, John Hudak and Jim O'Rourke) and is the éminence grise behind twenty-three years of music under the name If, Bwana. He is the man behind the Pogus label, as well as label manager for Deep Listening, XI Records, and Mutable Music." [label info] "The resulting texture sounds more like a Horatiu Radulescu piece performed by Morphogenesis." [DW] www.pogus.com 2007 €13.00
MARHAUG, LASSE Context LP "Lasse Marhaug is one of those characters that operates at the nexus of so much stuff that’s important to us here - working as a producer (over the last couple of years alone he’s helped shape albums by Jenny Hval, Kelly Lee Owens, Okkyung Lee, Hillary Woods etc etc), a mastering engineer (far too many releases to mention), a prolific sleeve designer (likewise), publisher (his occasional Personal Best magazine is still going strong) and, perhaps most importantly - a recording artist in his own right. ‘Context’ is his most substantial release in years - a crushing assembly of bone-dry/darkside drone/machine malfunctions that’s bursting with a visceral, throbbing, mass of feeling. If yr into anything on the spectrum from Mika Vainio to Grouper to Kevin Drumm or Deathprod - this one’s as good as it gets Over almost three decades of activity, Marhaug has carved out notoriety as a solo performer, a prolific collaborator (working with everyone from Sunn O))) to Jim O'Rourke) and as a busy producer, who's notched up credits on some of the most striking-sounding albums of the last few years. This new album was created as a swan song for the infamous Oslo studio that he's inhabited for 17 years, prior to his move back to the Arctic Circle where he originally came from. Recorded over a 14-month period and painstakingly edited from hours upon hours of material, it might just be the most impressive, moving record we’ve heard from him so far. The interplay between piercing softness and deafening noise is the key to "Context", displaying a philosophy Marhaug has been exploring for years. Few other artists are able to balance chaos and harmony with such ease; Marhaug does it without grandstanding, it's music that sounds as simultaneously beautiful and as daunting as the Arctic landscape he's returning to. At any moment a sound can be alluring or treacherous, like the frozen sun reflecting on a snowy mountaintop. Marhaug's deftness with rhythm and bass emerges on 'Context 3', as he pairs Vainio-esque low-end pulses with crumpled noise and widescreen tones; as disquieting music-box chimes absorbed into the blasted soundscape on 'Context 5', while we're thrust into the freezing cold on 'Context 6', subjected to punctuating gusts of white noise and trapped string loops. Trust it’s a rare and near-mythical beast, conjuring vast, treacherous soundscapes illuminated with pangs of sentiment that naturally weave strands of his non-musical practice in their psychosensual lustre and gritty attrition. As he steps into a new phase of his career, we're left with a concluding chapter that stands as a summation and open-ended post-credits reveal." "Bursts of harsh noise, slivers of angular static, rumbles of punishing bass: Though the sounds here are every bit as intense as Marhaug’s past might lead us to expect, his patience and appreciation of space mean the results are newly delicate, the fragile skeleton of a once-formidable beast." - Pitchfork https://marhaug.bandcamp.com/album/context 2022 €28.50
MAROS, MIKLOS Maros at EMS. 1970-1979 Fylkingen Records FYCD 1025 "Analog and computer-generated electroacoustic music and mixed pieces for voice, instruments and live-electronics, realized at EMS - the Stockholm Electronic Music Studio. (now the Stockholm Institute of Electroacoustic Music) 1. Rege [Tale] (1970) 10’36" 2. Manipulation I (1976) 6’57" for basson, Svensson-Box and live-electronics 3. Rörelser [Movements] (1973) 7’29" 4. Manipulation II (1977) 8’28" for soprano and live-electronics 5. Manipulation III (1978) 7’33" for basson, violoncello, Svensson-Box and live-electronics 6. Ostinato (1975) 9’44" 7. Manipulation IV (1979) 6’35" for soprano, zither and live-electronics 8. Violasonata (1970) 11’05" for viola and live-electronics All compositions by Miklós Maros Miklós Maros - live-electronics Ilona Maros - soprano Attila Bodor - viola Ingrid Gabrielsson - zither Knut Sönstevold - basson Peter Schuback - violoncello Exerpt from the booklet text by Sten Hansson: "When Miklós began working at EMS, the big hybrid synthesizer—one of the first of its kind in the world—was still under construction, and the only available instrument was the Sound workshop, a classic analog studio and the place where almost all of the early electroacoustic works in Sweden were composed. When the computerized studio opened in 1973, Miklós composed his work Movements, one of the very first compositions completed there. By then, Miklós has started to work as an instructor in the studio, and later he became teacher of electroacoustic music at the conservatory. His involvement with electroacoustic music lasted for a ten-year period through the seventies. This makes him one of the pioneers of the genre in Sweden, not least because his so called mixed pieces, works for tape together with traditional instruments, a genre that he was one of the very few in Sweden to explore. . . . It is therefor important that this record is published, not only for its musical qualities, but also to establish his place among the electroacoustic pioneers." [website info] www.fylkingen.se 2012 €12.50
MATTIN & RICHARD FRANCIS Lisa Says LP "LP clear vinyl 33 rpm release date: 18.09.2012 artists: MATTIN & RICHARD FRANCIS title: Lisa Says order no.: aatp38 time: ca. 50 min sleeve designed by Richard Francis, comes with text insert. Clear vinyl 300 handnumbered copies. On “Lisa Says”: This LP captures the first transcontinental collaboration between artists Mattin and Richard Francis with sounds recorded in Stockholm, Berlin and Auckland, NZ. The mixdown portrays the current state of affairs in composed noise: filtered gritty sound blocks flow and float with no seeming direction when sudden breaks puncture the structure and create something like a melody. Well, almost. The music is accompanied by a text insert that documents a skype conversation between the two artists discussion the methods and aesthetics connected to this release and their ways of working in general. Mattin Bio www.mattin.org Mattin is a Basque artist working with noise and improvisation. His work seeks to address the social and economic structures of experimental music production through live performance, recordings and writing. Using a conceptual approach, he aims to question the nature and parameters of improvisation, specifically the relationship between the idea of “freedom” and constant innovation that it traditionally implies, and the established conventions of improvisation as a genre. Mattin considers improvisation not only as an interaction between musicians and instruments, but as a situation involving all the elements that constitute a concert, including the audience and the social and architectural space. He tries to expose the stereotypical relation between active performer and passive audience, producing a sense of strangeness and alienatio in that disturbs this relationship. Richard Francis Bio www.richardfrancis.net.nz Richard Francis has been releasing works on CD/vinyl, performing solo and in collaboration as a touring artist since 1996. He uses field recordings of acoustic and electronic sounds and a tone generator to compose sound works. He has released solo and collaborative music on a number of labels worldwide and runs his own label CMR through which he releases limited edition lathe cut records by New Zealand artists. In performance he uses a computer and electronics and has toured Japan, Australia, Hong Kong, Canada, USA and Europe. Since 2003, Francis has composed works for sound installation, participating in group and solo shows at galleries throughout New Zealand. He has collaborated for recording and performance with many artists, and has had recent published collaborative CDs with Jason Kahn (USA/Swiss) and Francisco Lopez (Spain). Collaborations for recording and/or performance: Bruce Russell, Francisco Lopez, Jason Kahn, Mattin, Birchville Cat Motel, Gate, MSBR, Tetuzi Akiyama, Lawrence English, Rosy Parlane, Howard Stelzer, Jason Lescalleet, Jay Sullivan, Empirical, Pumice, Kuwayama Kiyoharu, Phil Dadson, Anthony Guerra, Sean Meehan, Ishigami Kazuya, Antony Milton, James Kirk, MHFS, Tim Coster, Paul Winstanley, Takefumi Naoshima, Toshihiro Koike." [label info] "A project in two parts, one the actual music, as recorded on July 3 2008 in Berlin and one the conversation as a piece of text from August 31 2011 in which Richard Francis and Mattin talk about the recording from three years before, about their methods of working together but also with others. A fascination they have in common is about white and pink noise, and sustaining those sounds. It's an interesting text to read, as it clears up some interesting things but it's not entirely necessary to read the text to like the music I should think. The buzzing, cracking and sustaining sound, which sometimes hoovers closely above the threshold of hearing, reminds the listener of your ventilator or heater buzzing, or the faint noises from afar late at night. If I understand right, this record is for Francis an end to the way he working and for Mattin the start of a new working method, a more conceptual approach if you will. This record contains some very minimal music, with very few sound elements, but are fascinating to hear. Crackles of vinyl (not from the pressing), field recordings very remotely humming and the white/pink noise slowly washing ashore and moving away. All of this in a very quiet and contemplating way. If you think Mattin is all about noise then you should surely try this record for a change. Maybe this is more what you would expect from somebody like Richard Francis, but this is a great improvised electronic record. Excellent head space music." [FdW/Vital Weekly] www.aufabwegen.com 2012 €13.00
MCDOWALL, DREW Collapse LP "Drew McDowall’s back story reads like a primer of psychedelic fiction woven into statements of the unbelievable, superhuman and outright insane. Somewhere in the chaotic madness, comes an artist such as McDowall with total control and absolute calm within his songs and artistic method. Growing up in the gangs of 1970’s Scotland, Drew McDowall started to shy away from the daily violence once punk took hold of the counterculture youth. Drew McDowall quickly scrambled to form his own punk band in 1978 with his then wife, Rose McDowall, called The Poems. Shortly lived, the Poems released a single and various tracks but more importantly, the band allowed McDowall to network with other local musicians in Glasgow, such as Orange Juice, and allowed him to travel down to London thus forming friendships with Genesis P-Orridge, David Tibet and countless others, bringing Drew into the fold of the experimental revolution happening in the UK brought upon by Throbbing Gristle and executed by bands such as Psychic TV and Current 93. During the 1980’s, McDowall found himself in the ranks of P-Orridge’s Psychic TV and collaborating with the mysterious duo comprised of former Throbbing Gristle creator Peter ‘Sleazy’ Christopherson and the enigmatic John Balance who had been creating esoteric and progressive electronic music under the title of Coil. It was during his formative collaborations with Coil that McDowall saw himself shift from occasional contributor to austere full-time member of the arcane outfit. McDowall’s impact on the band’s sound was apparent as the releases transformed from their previous avant pop signature to a more complex and methodic electronic imprint accompanied by even more abstruse subject matter than previous years. McDowall would continue honing his compositional skills with Coil until the release of the band’s two most broad-minded albums, Astral Disaster and Musick to Play in the Dark. The past decade, Drew McDowall found himself living in New York City and re-appropriating himself within the local music scenes he found himself contributing to. In 2011, alongside his friend and collaborator, Tres Warren (Psychic Ills), McDowall found himself exploring his passion of meditative drone and abstract sound patterns in their project Compound Eye. In recent times, McDowall’s production work has provided the music world with some of the most outstanding remixes for bands such as Nine Inch Nails, Azar Swan and Long Distance Poison as well as his well-received scores he composed alongside artist Tamaryn for the works of Bret Easton Ellis. Outside of his collaborative duties, McDowall formed an audience as a solo artist, playing countless performances and showcases around New York’s electronic music haunts. Dais Records approached Drew to solidify his standing as a leading electronic musician with the recording of new material neatly wrapped up in his debut album entitled “Collapse”. Recorded in 2015 in Brooklyn, NY, McDowall’s synonymous modular synthesizer compositions are augmented by obtuse sampling cut-ups and contributions from Nicky Mao (Hiro Kone / Effi Briest) rounding out the lumbering sequential knot work that has become synonymous with McDowall and craft." [label info] www.daisrecords.com 2015 €23.00
  The Third Helix LP For this third release on Dais, Drew McDowall reaches into concept, ritual, and immersion, in an exercise of unravelling the DNA of hallucination. The Third Helix is McDowall's product of deconstructive exploration, twisting the fibers of being into new structure, shape, pattern, and pulse, without reconstituting its inscribed template. The result is a true third act,in McDowall's career, that has seen him peregrinate from the late-70s art-punk of the trio Poems to his work with Psychic TV and Coil throughout the 80s and 90s, into his current home of New York City, where he has composed with CSD, Compound Eye, as well his solo work. That triangulation is central to The Third Helix, as it begins with his dive into the existence of a sensory toolkit unique to McDowall before twisting faculties and reconfiguring consciousness by honoring inherent power, cognizant of memory yet agnostic of context. With the tenet that journey is rarely linear, but rather an omnipresent oscillation of matter, sound is stripped to salient and primal, propelled by McDowall's boring into the core of memory and impulse, suturing together the silent awareness of excogitating experience. Featuring eight new tracks of McDowall's dark, experimental electronics, including the opener "Rhizome", The Third Helix is a churning descent into emotion, provoking thought and reflection while carving out haunting space only to fill it with baffling and wondrous structures of layered sound. McDowall solidifies himself as an architect who transforms otherworldly materials into something fascinating and challenging in the process. Unnerving, trancelike anthems for nervous meditation and anxious relaxation, fans of Coil will immediately connect and immerse, while the complex compositions welcome listen for drone and ambient enthusiasts. Packaged within a thick sturdy matte sleeve jacket featuring artwork/design by artist J.S. Aurelius (Ascetic House/Marshstepper). https://drewmcdowall.bandcamp.com/album/the-third-helix 2018 €22.00
MCGUIRE, JOHN Works for Instruments do-CD Fünf Stücke des US-Komponisten (der Schüler von PENDERECKI und STOCKHAUSEN war) aus verschiedenen Perioden (das älteste, DECAY entstand 1967-1970) in neuen Einspielungen. Klassisch instrumentierte Minimal-Music, die interessante strukturelle Merkmale aufweist (Überlagerungen, Verdichtungen und Wellenbewegungen von Tönen, Akkorden & musikalischen Themen) und entsprechende psychoakustische Wirkungen (mehrdeutiges Hören, unendliche Kreis- und Zirkelbewegungen...). CADENCE MUSIC, EXCHANGES, DECAY, FRIEZE, und MUSIC FOR HORNS, PIANOS & CYMBALS. " 1. Composer: John McGuire 2. Title: Works for Instruments 3. Performers: Ensemble Modern • Julia Rempe Sopran • Pellegrini-Quartett: Antonio Pellegrini, Thomas Hofer Violine • Fabio Marano Viola • Helmut Menzler Violoncello musikFabrik: Hermann Kretzschmar, Paulo Alvarez, Irmela Roelcke, Eun-Ju Kim, Ulrich Löffler, Jürgen Kruse Klaviere • Christine Chapman, Jodie Lawson, Charles Putnam, Rohan Richards Hörner • Dirk Rothbrust, Carlos Tarcha Schlagzeug 4. Format: Audio CD, Digisleeve, Booklet German/English 5. Total time: CD1 44:33 • CD2 58:46 • T: 103:20 6. Catalogue #: ed. RZ 20003¬4 7. EAN Code: 4029455200038 8. Release date: December 4, 2008 9. Information / Press Release: Jede der Kompositionen des amerikanischen Komponisten John McGuire beschreibt auf ihre Weise einen mehrdimensionalen Klangraum, in dem der Hörer verschiedene Blickwinkel einnehmen, mithin ein und denselben Klang in verschiedenen Gestalten wahrnehmen kann. Each of the compositions of American composer John McGuire describes, in its own way, a multi-dimensional sonic space which the listener can take in from various vantage points and, in so doing, experience the very same sound in different guises." [label info] www.edition-rz.de 2008 €21.50
MECHA / ORGA 56:24 CD Filed under: polyphonic power-drones! Griechisches Projekt mit einem sonoren Drone one-tracker, der an HAFLER TRIO oder NIBLOCK erinnert, Obertöne überschlagen und überlagern sich wellenartig, das ganze wird allmählich immer lauter und massiver in einem fast unmerkliches Crescendo, das furios anschwillt, zum Ende hin gewinnen die Drones eine schon unangenehmen Druck & Präsenz ! Intensiv und definitiver TIP! “...as if a garden being planted and you are watching all the process from the bare earth to the colourful result, comes “56:24”... generating a drone layer which slowly starts the cultivation process where layers upon layers slowly build a delicate atmosphere and the way they expand and grow draws an even more colourful result, as if a swarm of insects spreads the pollen in our garden, helping it grow even more beautiful and even more colourful, lasting in a flabbergasting droning result... or at least, such was the atmosphere last march in Halandri where Yiorgis Sakellariou (aka Mecha-Orga) premiered this piece for us. And it was John Pallas, who by the time the set ended proposed absurd the cd release and didn't leave until we 3 shook hands... such also was our life in our 2006, like a fertile garden, with lots of releases and trips here and there, always ending with our occasional meetings at cafe Amarrylis in Kifissia for coffee (Mecha-Orga) & Shitloads of alcohol (absurd) or at “Varsos Kifissia” to enjoy our sweets & cofee (Mecha-Orga), hot-cold chocolate (absurd). and as a friend wondered of how the future will look like, we thought nice to picture Mecha-Orga on the cd's front cover sleeve, as a middle aged man, thinking of how he'll create his next piece-live set and a grey haired absurd on the cd label, probably in a meeting w-someone to discuss an upcoming release or project in one of editions_zero's side-ghost labels, book publishing houses, etc etc etc... comes highly recommended if you fancy instant trips to colourful droning soundgardens!!!” [Nicolas Malevitsis] "The name Mecha/orga keeps popping up in Vital Weekly and though not entirely a household name, it should be one, at least some day. His new CD could be of great help to achieve this. Mecha/orga is the name chosen by Yiorgis Sakellariou from Greece, who works since time under this guise (and plays regular music as well under various other guises and in various other capacities). The work, indicated by it's length, was created one afternoon in february last year, and played live there after a couple of time. No bullshitting about. The length becomes the title, and the listener can come up with his or her own story. Mecha/orga plays drone music. On a laptop. How much more simple can it get? Or rather does it have to be complex? No it doesn't. Over the course of the fifty-six minutes and twenty-four seconds Yiorgis Sakellariou plays a slowly unfolding piece of drone music, which seems to be growing in intensity throughout. When you think nothing more can be added, he adds another layer. And another. And another. Most suitable to play in the dark, at night and ghostly activities will surely occur. Or during the day, outside and watching plants grow. Multi-purpose music, I'd say. Great stuff. Powerful music." [FdW / Vital Weekly] www.void.gr/absurd 2007 €13.00
MEGAPTERA Staring back at you CD Rares Material des schwedischen Death Industrial Kult-Projekts! "In a final celebration of Megaptera’s 15 year anniversary, Malignant presents the definitive last statement from this prominent and highly influential death industrial project. Staring Back At You concentrates on demo versions, outtakes, and rare songs from various arenas, including the compilations Zyklon B, Beating the Meat, Slaughter Age ’95, The Book ov Shadowz, Death Odors II, as well as material from the Deep Inside mLP, and more. These tracks capture Megaptera at their grittiest, creepiest, and most horrifying...a grinding, lurching monstrosity fueled by the madness, violence, lies, wars, and disease that plague the world. Lmtd to 800 copies, and coming in a 6 panel digipak designed by Mårten Kellerman, this has been re-mastered by Magnus Sundstrom, with additional boosting courtesy of Thomas Garrison. Staring Back At You is final nail in the coffin for Megaptera, and may they rest in peace, but continue to deliver nightmares, maddening thoughts, and the darkest of obsessions. Track listing: More Disturbance (demo version), The Passage (demo version), Disoriented (Totally Different demo version), Lurking Fear (Pre-damaged demo version), Frozen Corpse, The Final Day (excerpt), Morior, Mass Murder, Antropofagi, Deep Inside." [label info] label: www.malignantrecords.com 2006 €8.00
MEIRINO, FRANCISCO & KIKO C. ESSEIVA Focus on Nothing on Focus LP "A unique work stemming from a studio collaboration between Francisco Meirino and Kiko C. Esseiva. Using the same source material each artist composed one side of the LP. Assembled in 2012 and 2013 from hours of multitrackrecordings using reel-to-reel tape recorders, emf detectors, piezo transducers, analogue synths and various homemade sound objects. Discover, compare, enjoy the work of these two sound artists ! High Quality 180g Vinyl with excellent sound - not at least due to the cut done by Flo Kaufmann. Numbered edition of 300 copies." [label info] www.aussenraumrecords.com "Whether it’s relevant or not I don’t know, but immediately before listening to Focus on Nothing on Focus by Francisco Meirino and Kiko C. Esseiva in order to make notes for the final review, I watched a documentary about Joy Division. The record is a 12″ vinyl black void with a black label which you might think is a precursor to the abyssal darkness contained within. In fact after Joy Division’s bleak visions born of greyscale Manchester streets steeped in rain and the bedroom’s so cold, you turn away on your side, it was a relief to enjoy some movement, vibration and a surprising selection of fleeting semi-colours. four men on a bridge Assembled in 2012 and 2013 from hours of multitrack recordings as a duo, each artist was given one side of the record to present his individual composition using the original material as the building blocks. As the first release on Andreas Unterkircher’s Ausenraum label, the black and white cover picture of electrical equipment cut up and interrupted, repeated and sliced, slid out of place and readjusted, then partially contained within a perfect circle seems an apt metaphor for the processes etched into the grooves here. she filled her time pushing the pram round Salford There is an interesting YouTube video of Meirino and Esseiva playing together as a duo in an art gallery or something similar. They are set up against a side wall on a long table next to each other. Various people are seated in the white space, others walk in and out informally. Being able to see all this taking place, the physical approach of each artist is interesting and illuminating and offers some understanding into why each side of this LP sounds as it does. tear us apart Meirino stands bent over his black boxes of plugs and wires activating switches and summoning up raw electrical bleed and grime from the insides of these dark objects. He turns a torch on and off at intervals, and the completion and termination of the circuit is heard as a visceral thud. Essevia remains seated at his desk and, amongst other things, manipulates a tape recorder thoughtfully and subtly, reacting and operating within and against the bodily groundedness of the sputtering sound shrapnel exhibiting a concentrated intelligence and sense of purpose. Whether this performance formed part of the substrata from which this LP was carved I don’t know, but it is certainly an informative document. it’s a picture of a tomb For me all Meirino’s music seems to exist in a landscape with enhanced perspective and a very remote vanishing point: In other words the sounds are stretched out from incredibly distant thuds occurring below the horizon to crackles and clicks right up against the eardrum, as if generated inside the speakers themselves independently of anything else. growling like a dog Meirino places us on a ship negotiating a sea of fluctuating plasma. Creaks and groans from the rigging and the swell of undulating static gives way to scuttling creature in the hold. Early on a filament of light, a laser emission like a bowed violin note repeats a few times as a vestige of the sun’s benediction. Later, work of some secret nature takes place. Something rattles back and forth along rails as machines hum. Excited wings vibrate against the microphone and objects drop and roll across the hard floor. People talk, but the men’s voices are rudely cut off and are no more. A crescendo of metal and tooled desolation builds from nothing to form a rattling, prison riot cacophony then… suddenly we are in some dead pond where the water (or some other analogous fluid) carries sounds from afar. Unknown denizens of this inky pool signal to each other ever more frantically, again a crescendo… Nothing… Nothing… Nothing… Run-off groove… Ian’s dead Esseiva is an artist I have never heard before. Seemingly his compositional hand is more controlled than Meirino’s and the work focuses more closely on fewer competing strands. This approach yields a completely different experience, yet obviously both sides of the disc are united by their common provenance. Differences aside each promise is fulfilled in its singular entirety. I came off the phone and went back to the table Kiko C. Esseiva pledges breath and motors and grinding gears. A ribbon of steady sound unfolds and fades just once. This is a workshop in which the instruments that make this music are being built, and the very building of them is the music itself, and after they have finished playing, the dismantling of them is also the music itself. Sheets of steel and other substances are beaten in frantic rapidity. Tiny hammers pound. Insectoid nano-mosquitoes plague the workspace. Cut. Fibrillating electricity. Cut. A buffeted wire fence with mechanical animoids squeaking and chirruping in iron filing nests. Steel wool ruffles and frazzles. Cut. Dead air. A ball bearing rolls around an uneven plane causing other objects to become infectiously agitated and inexplicably animated. An organ plays itself, just once. Vibrating glass planes, jars, flasks and light bulbs. Cut… Near silence… Readjust to the tiny flecks of vinyl crackle not being part of the whole… And yet in a way they are… It all is… Run-off groove… Click… Click… Raise the needle. unknown pleasures" [Chris Whitehead / Sonicfield] 2013 €16.00
MELANCHOHOLICS A single Act of Carelessness CD Zweites Album der dunklen Gitarren-Sphäriker - hier ausgefeilter & experimenteller als beim Debut, mit Gitarren, Drones, Electronics, stimmlichen Klangmaterial, Akkordeon & Cello werden angerauhte, einsame melancholische Weiten geschaffen, wobei das improvisatorische Element unüberhörbar ist… Anklänge an z.B. DWELLING LACUNA und manchmal fast schon alte STARS OF THE LID oder LABRADFORD…. “Without wanting to place Deafborn Records in one particular corner of the musical spectrum, 'dark' and 'atmospheric' are certainly two key-words. I never heard of Melanchoholics, which is a three piece group of Benedikt on guitars, Philip on bass and Lutz on electronics. Their previous interests lie in Death/Grind/Heavy metal and industrial and noise, but none of these influences are shown on 'A Single Act Of Carelessness', which is their second CD, after the self-titled, self-released CD from 2003. In 2001 they got together, discussing 'dark and solitudous sound atmospheres' and started jamming around. They probably do that a lot, since this CD shows a mature sound. The alienated, desolated soundscape of a post nuclear landscape is what is unfolded before our very eyes. Empty industrial sites, dark clouds, a thunder - the fine ingredients of a good nightmare or perhaps the storyboard of a b-movie entitled 'the last man on earth and his wanderings' (sorry that didn't sound very hollywood like). The guitar is plucked, a dark wall of synths and feedback hoover in the background and we hear the sound of highly polluted water running down the drainpipes. The album doesn't very hopeful, nor any where near melancholic. What would they long for? The cross-over between ambient and industrial has been made before, by many (Illusion Of Safety's during the late 80s period spring to mind here), but Melanchoholics translate the sound pretty well to a new millennium.” [FdW/ Vital Weekly] 2006 €13.00
  Masking My Monkeys 7" The MELANCHOHOLICS are a german trio producing "thick atmospheric darkness" as they call it. With a background rooted in Death Metal & Grindcore as well as in Industrial, they still use guitar, bass & electronic sounds nowadays, but their aim is to explore the realms of loneliness and melancholy by sculpting almost filmic soundtrackish atmospheres with not much aggression anymore. This is their first vinyl-release and both tracks are filled with beautiful accordeon drones, desert-like guitars, electronic sounds and voice-samples (for the experienced: on the second track "MESSAGE FOR THE OPERATOR" you might recognize a very famous old man). Thus they are enlarging the "classic" drone sound in a very fruitful way. Filed under: ADDICTIVE BLUE BLUES-DRONES / www.myspace.com/melanchoholics DARK BLUE TRANSPARENT VINYL. SILK-SCREENED COVERS IN SIX DIFFERENT CARDBOARD COLOURS & WITH TWO PRINT COLOURS. BLACK INLAY WITH SILVER PRINT. 2009 €7.00
MENCHE, DANIEL Jugularis CD Die JUGULARIS-Venen sind zwei Adern im Halsbereich, die bis in den Schädel laufen... und klingt nach tiefgestimmten Trommeln & Becken-Kaskaden und hellen Gläser- & Glocken-Pulsationen, wobei das Ganze irgendwann eine ritualistisch-schamanistische Komponente bekommt, als wenn sich die Sounds in Stammestrommeln & Grillenzirpen verwandeln, und sich alles in hypnotischen Klangblöcken auflöst... Great stuff again vom Power-Drone Magier !! "Imagine yourself riding on cells coasting through your body's veins. The sound of the heart grows stronger like a beating drum as you're pulled closer. Suddenly, you're embraced by this giant pulsating muscle and when you're finally released back into the veins you can hear it's sound fading slowly, but still growling with the same intensity that it has beat with for eternity. Jugularis is the soundtrack to this ride and like your heart it's packaged in blood: the ultimate symbol of life and intensity. Recently Daniel Menche has embraced more percussion based sound to create music that manipulates the listeners blood flow and intensifies the listening experience. Jugularis still contains a distinctly Menche sound yet being that it's intensely rhythm and percussion based it's extremely different from anything that he has created prior. Never before has Daniel Menche's mantra of "If Music is like blood then make the speakers bleed" been so appropriate." [press release] www.importantrecords.com 2006 €14.00
  Guts do-LP "More voraciously bestial soundwork coming from Daniel Menche -- this time, his chosen theme is the piano, in which he attacks, investigates and dissects with the precision of an autopsy surgeon, adding a whole new meaning to the concept of prepared piano, or should we say, unprepared piano, for an all-out assault. Guts lays out quite possibly some of the finest slabs of Menchian sonic mayhem to date. Slightly different track sequence over CD and vinyl formats due to time constraints. Mastered in the analog domain at Stereophonic Mastering, Portland Oregon. X-rays from a Chihuahua dog named Arrow." [label info] www.editionsmego.com "Ohne wirklich ermessen zu können, wie hier der Einfluss nachträglicher Manipulation am Rechner aussieht: Menches Arbeit an den Eingeweiden eines Pianos präsentiert sich auf erhellende Weise komplett anders als die Reinhold Friedls. Menche hat sich schon immer in einer dynamischen Traverse bewegt, die Ambient und Noise in eins setzt, in der Intensität in lineare Verbindung mit “Volume” tritt. So wild-martialisch wie Titel und offizielle Beschreibung klingen, geht es hier nämlich gar nicht zu. Stattdessen scheinen Menches rohe Fieldrecordings (auf Soundcloud) von Wetterphänomenen, Stürmen und Regen, Wind in Wäldern, in den vier vinylseitenlangen Tracks (der letzte auf CD gekürzt und vorangestellt) durch: in unmerklich morphenden Prasseltexturen (Two), mal mit subtil-verblüffender Saitenresonanz (Three), immer busy, groß und raumgreifend, davor mit sirrendem Bohrgeräusch, das zu einem flackernd-schepperstotternden Schiffsbauch mutiert, die am elektronischsten wirkende Arbeit (One), um schließlich durch die Hintertür (Four bzw. 2×4) doch noch bei Friedls schabender Metallverdauung anzukommen, ohne je dessen Fingernagel-auf-Tafel-Effekt anzustoßen. Entspannend!" [Multipara/de:bug] "Daniel Menche? Mensch, ja, DANIEL MENCHE, lange nicht gehört. Was fast ein Kunststück war, angesichts seiner Kollaborationen mit A. Liles, Z. Karkowski und A. Courtis und kontinuierlichen Releases auf Blossoming Noise, Important, Sub Rosa, Utech etc. Guts (eMEGO 138) bringt wieder essentiellen Menche- Stoff. Das Überraschende ist hier aber doch die Klangquelle - ein Piano, genauer, die Eingeweide eines Pianos. In vier ausgedehnten Variationen wühlt der Mann aus Portland in den drahtigen Innereien des Lieblingsspielzeugs der Lang Langs, Jarretts und all der anderen Edelfinger und Tastensimpel. Hier klingt das Piano, mit Schlägen und allen möglichen Handgriffen, Blechdeckeln und Präparationen traktiert und zudem motorisch aufgewühlt, wie ein geknüppelter, flatternd federnder Drahtverhau, wie von einem Steinschlag mitgerissen, wie ein nicht enden wollendes Erdbeben oder ein anschwellender Sturm. Allenfalls bei legendären Fluxusattacken oder bei Charlemagne Palestine hat ein Piano je so ähnlich gescheppert und mit den Zähnen geklappert, so ähnlich, aber nicht so. Sehr passend ist die Scheibe verpackt in Röntgenaufnahmen eines Hundes. Menche seziert das Piano nicht bloß, er scheint in seine molekulare Beschaffenheit einzudringen, es nicht bloß zu schreddern, vielmehr es bis aufs letzte Fitzelchen zu pulverisieren. Wie ein Alchimist scheint er in allem, was er so auspresst, den Lebenssaft zu suchen, den Geist, die Kraft im Innersten des Stoffes. Das Doppelalbum enthält die vollständige Fassung, der CD fehlen 8:20." [Bad Alchemy] 2012 €20.00
MENUCK, EFRIM MANUEL Pissing Stars LP "Constellation Records beginnt das Jahr 2018 mit dem zweiten Soloalbum des GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR und THEE SILVER MT. ZION Gründers EFRIM MANUEL MENUCK. „Pissing Stars“ ist der großartig intensive Nachfolger von „Plays High Gospel“ und das erste neue Material mit EFRIM als zentralem Songwriter und Sänger seit „Fuck Off Get Free We Pout Light On Everything“ seiner Chamber-Punk Band THEE SILVER MT. ZION von 2014. MENUCK genießt unter den Fans politischen Punks, Post-Rock und Avant-Noise-Anhängern Kultstatus und feiert mit „Pissing Stars“ ein Vierteljahrhundert musikalischen Ausdrucks ohne Kompromisse. Auf „Pissing Stars“ verschleudert MENUCK Giftpfeile, leidenschaftliche Salven und zerbrechliche Blüten und formt das Ganze zu noiselastigen Songs, die sich um maximalistische Electronics und Drones ranken, die von Synthie oder Gitarre umgesetzt und von klagendem, oft verfremdeten Gesang durchzogen werden. Das passende Narrativ kann nur jemand wie MENUCK liefern: „‘Pissing Stars‘ gründet sich auf die kurze Affäre der amerikanischen TV-Moderatorin Mary Hart mit Mohammed Khashoggy, dem Sohn eines saudischen Waffenhändlers. Ich weiß nicht, wie lange sie zusammen waren, ich erinnere mich daran, wie ich als verzweifelter Teenager darüber las. Ich wohnte zusammen mit zwei anderen verwahrlosten Kids und einem Haufen wilder Kätzchen in einem überfluteten Keller und hatte nichts zu essen. Diese seltsame Union – die blonde Frau aus dem Fernsehen und der reiche Saudi-Sohn mit seinem mörderischen Vater – blieb bei mir und beschäftigte mich drei Jahrzehnte lang. Diese Sprösslinge aus Tod und Selbstentfremdung – und Liebe. Dieses Album beschäftigt sich mit dem Ende ihrer Beziehung und der Art und Weise, wie bestimmte eigensinnige Lichter einfach weiterleuchten. Das Album wurde in den dunklen Ecken zwischen 2016 und 2017 aufgenommen, in verschiedenen Stadien der Ungemütlichkeit, mit einem porösen Herzen und einer klaren Mission. So, als würde man mit zwei Messern in den Händen auf einen Abgrund zulaufen und manisch lachen. Besiegt und voller Freude zugleich. Hier geht es um das Ende der Liebe und den Anfang der Liebe. Um das Ende des Staates und wie wir alle darunter gefangen sind." This is an audiophile 180gram pressing in midnight ultra-black vinyl from Optimal (Germany) that comes in a 350gsm jacket with printed inner dust sleeve and 12"x19" art poster, all printed on uncoated matte papers and boards, all artwork by Menuc efrimmanuelmenuck.bandcamp.com/album/pissing-stars PISSING STARS is inspired by the brief romance of american television presenter MARY HART and MOHAMMED KHASHOGGI, the son of a saudi arms dealer. i don’t know how long their union endured, but i remember reading about them when i was a desperate teenager – there was something about their pairing that got caught in my head. i was living in a flooded basement with two other lost kids and a litter of feral kittens. we were all unfed. this strange intersection – the televisual blonde and the rich saudi kid with the murderous father; it got stuck in me like a mystery, like an illumination- this vulgar pairing that was also love. these privileged scions of death and self-alienation, but also love. i’ve carried it in me for 3 decades now, this obscure memory, and i return to it often, tracing its edges like a worn talisman. this record is about the dissolution of their relationship, and the way that certain stubborn lights endure. this record was made in dark corners between 2016 and 2017. a very rough pair of years, shot thru with fatigue, depression, despair, and too many cigarettes and too much booze. but also = the giddiness of enervation, and the strange liberation of being emptied – borne aloft and carried by the drift. the world continues its eternal collapsing, fires everywhere and everything drained of meaning. this record was made in various states of unease, with a brittle heart and a clear intent. like running towards a cliff with 2 swinging knives, roaring with an idiot grin. overcome and overjoyed. this record is about the end of love and the beginning of love. this record is about the dissolution of the state, and all of us trapped beneath, and the way that certain stubborn lights endure. – ExMxMx 2018 €23.00
MERCY (STEVE MACLEAN) Future(s) CD "This CD of songs, grittily arranged and produced is noticeably more straight-ahead than ReR’s usual releases though it sits comfortably within the broad range of Steve’s tirelessly experimental output. This is a project with a long history: Steve and his main collaborator Todd Dadaleares have been writing, recording and performing together for longer than MeRCy’s 20+ year existence and David Fields (drums) and Tim Inman (keyboards) are also long servers. New, for this phase of recordings and concerts, is 5 string bassist Greg Goodwin who steps into the previous incumbent, Mark Dickey’s, shoes. MacLean scores the music, in scary detail, and Dadaleares supplies the words. This is America, so they all have day jobs: MacLean as professor of music technology and performance at Berklee, Dadaleares in health robotics, Inman as a computer consultant and Fields in industrial art. You can listen to samples on the download site, so I’ll not attempt any further to describe what they do, just give it a listen." [label info] www.rermegacorp.com 2014 €13.00
MERRELL, TODD / AIDAN BAKER / PATRICK JORDAN Nagual CD Verzaubernde Rausch-Drones und subtile Gitarren-Loops und Tupfer, ganz zart & betörend sensibel ist dieses Trio bei einer Aufnahme in HARTFORD, CT vorgegangen, die Teilnahme AIDAN BAKERs (NADJA) ist unüberhörbar. 600 Stück wurden aufgelegt und mit dem besonderen ARCHIVE-Artwork von SELDON HUNT ausgestattet. "long playing ambient dronescape focusing the combined efforts of Todd Merrell on shortwave radio and electronics, Patrick Jordan on shortwave radio and processing and Aidan Baker (Nadja) on guitar. Recorded live in 04 in Hartford. Comes packed in heavy stock center open sleeve with environmental mirror image landscape artwork courtesy of Seldon Hunt. Pressing of 600 copies." [label info] "... This live set finds Baker handling guitar duties, but you’d never know it from the sound, augmented by short wave radios, electronics, and various bits of processing, the sound here is deep and dark, a crumbling and epic expanse of rumbling shimmering low end. Roiling clouds of murky melodic fragments, distant swells, throbbing low end pulses, barely audible bits of static and washed out glitch. Very cinematic, if you were watching a film that was almost entirely dark, with just barely visible shifts in the various shades of black and grey. Lovely though, minimal and haunting. Think Coleclough, Chalk, Lustmord, that sort of ambient darkness. But the second track is an entirely different beast. Simple guitar strums, minimal melodies, the strings struck softly, the metallic buzz and clang ringing out into the ether, some sort of underwater slow motion Fahey, smeared and soft and dark and dreamy. The final half of the track, the guitar disappears completely, leaving streaks of feedback that sound like the cries of gulls, grinding slow motion slabs of shifting low end, whirling windlike whirs, almost like a manufactured nature recording. The guitar returns for the third track, drifting gently, while the background noise builds into a slow motion wash of sound, the track culminating in a cloud of chimes and reverbed percussion, seasick swirls and struck steel strings, before slipping languidly into the final track, a lugubrious underwater crawl, all of the sounds muddy and indistinct, a sonar like ping buried way down in the mix, underneath it all a thick blanket of constant whirring drones, quite lovely. Packaged in one of those cool, 6 panel, gatefold aRCHIVE sleeves, glossy paper, super striking image of forest and clouds, LIMITED TO 600 COPIES!!" [Aquarius Records] www.archivecd.com 2007 €13.50
MERZBOW + GENESIS BREYER P-ORRIDGE A Perfect Pain LP The incredible power created by GENESIS BREYER P-ORRIDGE (Psychic TV / Throbbing Gristle) - the founding father of the Industrial world, and MERZBOW - the undisputed king of Japanese Noise. Recorded exclusively for Cold Spring, with five brand new tracks, "A Perfect Pain" has been hailed as an important album and an extremely successful collaboration. Remastered for both CD and vinyl by The Cage Studios. First edition on vinyl (180g), third edition of CD (first time in digipak) - OUT 25th OCTOBER Standard Black Vinyl Limited Flaxen Gold Coloured Vinyl x 300 copies (via Cold Spring only). "a long overdue collaboration from these two living legends of experimental music... This disc will scare the shit out of most people... it's almost a modern day take on the simultaneous beauty/brutality aesthetic of Throbbing Gristle" (Brainwashed) "…easily the finest material Merzbow has made in some time... pure data trash of the highest quality…" (The Wire). Electronics, Drum Machine, Effects - Masami Akita Producer - Genesis Breyer P-Orridge Engineer - Bryin Dall Editing - Dave Kirby Original Artwork - Charles Acethorpe, Richard Crónín Original Design, Layout - Associated Distortion Photography of Genesis Breyer P-Orridge - Francis Polk 2018 reinterpretation and layout - Abby Helasdottir 2018 remastering - Martin Bowes, Cage Studios 2018 €22.00
MERZBOW / M.B Merzbow meets M.B. LP + 7inch First ever collaboration album between the two most important noise artists on the planet! 7" is a noisy split. Xeroxed cover with numbered insert. Lp is green/blue/yellow splatter vinyl and 7" is fuchsia. www.menstrualrecordings.org "Masami Akita and Maurizio Bianchi are without question amongst the pioneers of harsh, abrasive electronic music. Both of their careers began quite prolifically around the same time, and since Bianchi's return in the late 1990s have continued as such, with both producing a massive number of albums each year. These two albums act nicely as reference points on their long careers, with the 10" capturing pieces each submitted for the Mail Music Project compilation, here appearing unedited for the first time, and the LP being a recent collaborative work that stands amongst both artists' best material as of late. The material on Merzbow Meets M.B. is recent work from both acts as a true collaboration, and the bonus included 7" makes for a nice split release to compare to the 10" as far as the individual artists' work goes. "Dissonant Abstraction" initially is all roaring, cavernous Merzbow noise, but kept restrained and under control. Low register swells and patterns make for an ersatz rhythm, with haunting passages of synthesizer clearly marking Bianchi's contributions. His work here has shades of his more recent new age material, but it works, balancing out the harsher end of Akita’s harsh noise. In some ways it sounds like each artist’s solo work mixed together, and it is rather effective. The other half, "Surreal Distortions," is overall more in the noise spectrum of things, with muffled, bassy noises and thin analog electronics. There is not the same hints at melody as on the other side, and instead focuses on harsher textures. Bent oscillators and electronic chirps mark this a clearly analog piece, and with the occasional use of phasing and flanging it calls to mind some of CCCC and Astro's best work. Here it feels more like a collaboration between the two, with Akita’s use of chaotic mixing and Bianchi’s use of synthesizer sounds. The 7" single included with the LP features each artist contributing their own recent solo works as well, and while both are excellent, neither are surprising. Merzbow's "Fragment B" is all scraping metal and bleeping electronics, so in some regards is a throwback to his early 1990s junk noise sound without the overly loud electronics. An occasional rhythm sneaks in here and there, but for the most part it is pure chaos. Bianchi's "28th Flux" has the bleakness of his early works, but a more modern, higher fidelity sheen covering the pained electronics and darkness. (...) As both artists are ridiculously prolific, and I personally have a fondness for their earliest work in both cases, I tend to only occasionally dabble in either of their new releases. In this case, the recent collaboration work is exactly what I hoped it would be, mixing the best sounds of both artists together splendidly. Coupled with the vintage material on the 10", and it makes for a pair of releases that demonstrates the best facets of these two long respected artists." [Creaig Dunton] "Masami Akita from Japan and Maurizio Bianchi from Italy are both active inside experimental music since roughly the same time, the late 70s. They both came from the world of cassettes and have a legendary status by now. Merzbow is probably the more well-known musician, due to the fact that he plays many concerts all over the world, and both have a ton of releases under their belt. The difference is, perhaps, that Bianchi has moved more over the musical spectrum and Akita is more a man of strict noise. There has been a split release by them on the same label earlier this, but as far as I recall not a joint release. Here we have a LP of collaborative music with a bonus 7" of solo pieces. It seems to me Merzbow is taking the lead here, as this is all more in his territory than in that of Bianchi. You can figure out what Bianchi does here, as sometimes his chilly electronics leap out of the noisy hot bed that Merzbow created. When this is less apparent, it seems like a fine Merzbow record, and not like a Merzbow plus someone else record. That perhaps is the odd thing about this record, but says nothing about the quality. If we turn to the 7", then we'll see that Bianchi can be noisy too. His solo piece is quite loud, like a power drone stuck in a high voltage charger. Organic? Organ-like! This is a fine reminder of the old M.B. from the early 80s when this sort of violence was common ground for M.B. and he was the unquestioned master of the genre. For his solo piece, Merzbow also goes back to his earlier days and comes up with something that reminded me of his days, circa S.C.U.M.: various unrelated tapes and electronic sounds are stuck together and make up a fine musique concrete tres brut. Heavily cut up and chopped up into a fine pieces, grinded together. Excellent noise music throughout." [FdW/Vital Weekly] 2013 €26.50
MGR VS. SIRDSS Impromptu CD "MGR, short for Mustard Gas and Roses, is ISIS guitarist Mike Gallagher's solo vehicle for ambient instrumental experimentation. His 2006 debut, Nova Lux, a critical success that drew comparisons to K.K. Null and Robert Fripp, featured contributions by members of the Red Sparrows and Dalek. MGR has recently shared the stage with the likes of Pelican, Mono, and Destructo Swarmbots. David Scott Stone, who adopted the moniker SirDSS after doing time in the '90s with Slug and Get Hustle, has recently recorded with Big Business and the Melvins. A musician not afraid to take a long, hard step outside of how music is normally created and interpreted, Stone uses both conventional (modular synthesizers) and unconventional (micro-phoned sheet metal and bowed cymbals) to create unique and disturbing sounds. Impromptu, previously only available on a limited-edition CD-R, is a beautiful, compelling collage of instrumental improvisation and flowing soundscapes." [label description] "Long slowly unfurling whorls of abstract steel string tangle, huge slow burning electric guitar shimmers, drifting amidst glistening sonic cobwebs, silver streaks of minimal feedback, while in the distance some sort of industrial apparition grinds and clangs, creaks and keens, beneath an outerspace world of dreamlike ambient guitarscapes, radiant sine waves and thick luminous layers of crumbling melody. So nice." [Aquarius Records] www.neurotrecordings.com 2006 €14.50
MGR Y DESTRUCTO SWARMBOTS Amigos de la Guitarra CD "Last year, Mike Mare of Destructo Swarmbots and Mike Gallagher of MGR and Isis fell in love. From across the room at The Toolbox, Gallagher's rakish grin and platinum-plated construction helmet caught Mare's ever-discerning eye. Gallagher was similarly impressed with Mare's state-of-the-art hairdo and glistening pecs. "I was immediately impressed with Mike's state-of-the-art hairdo and glistening pecs," Gallagher recalls. "Mike's rakish grin and platinum-plated construction helmet caught my ever-discerning eye from across the room," Mare adds. In the months that followed, the Mikes played a few shows in Brooklyn, held hands in public, and took a romantic carriage ride around Central Park. The civil procedure was performed hastily at Boston City Hall in August 2007, with a more elaborate ceremony (for friends and family) performed by Robert Goulet in Las Vegas shortly before his tragic passing. Once officially wedlocked, the two Mikes decided to consummate their vows the only way they knew how: With their guitars. They lovingly recorded a single 42-minute song entitled "Amor en el Aire" at Deadverse Studios in glamorous downtown Union City, New Jersey, with Alap Momin, a.k.a. Oktopus from hip-hop revolutionaries Daelek." [label info] www.neurotrecordings.com 2008 €14.50
MINAMATA Cyclator CD & DVD "Cyclator" is the 2009' release for this pioneer of the French industrial scene. It includes a full-length audio-CD containing material recorded in 2002-2007 and a DVD offering the complete MINAMATA' performance recorded live on Saturday, April 21st 2007 in Antwerp/Belgium during the Nuit et Brouillard Festival plus the video of this show. Massive waves of Power-electronics are here perfectly mixed with metal sounds,percussions and heavy processed vocals, reflecting the agony of the Japanese city of MINAMATA in the 50 & 60's years. This concept release comes in a nicely designed three panel digipack, limited to 500 copies. CD contains 7 unreleased studio tracks. Total length: 62'52. DVD includes the complete live performance from Antwerp dated 2007.04.21 and the complete video screened for this show. Total length over 3 hours. All video edited by Tiburce. : All zones, 4:3 full frame, PCM stereo. [label info] www.nuitetbrouillard.com "Als ich dieses Produkt in den Händen hielt wurde mir wirklich komplett anders! - Warum? - Weil ich auf dem Tonwellenkonferenz-Festival 2009 in Buscheid live dabei war als MINAMATA dieses Set performte und es war unglaublich was für eine Einheit Musik, Bühne und Video ergaben! Ein großer Moment für alle Power Violence und Industrial Puristen. Auf der DVD befinden sich auch Interviews mit einem noch sehr bewegten, ergriffenen und immer wieder mit Tränen kämpfenden Musiker. Allerdings kann auch die DVD nur einen kleinen Eindruck vermitteln was für einen Sog MINAMATA damals erzeugt hat, denn die Mittel waren/sind recht bescheiden, die Klangqualität (Liveton! - Wahrscheinlich direkt mit der Kamera aus dem Mixer aufgenommen?) ist akzeptabeler Durchschnitt und somit ziehe ich persönlich die reine CD-Aufnahme vor. Den optischen Eindruck, der sich in mein Hirn gebrannt hat ist sowieso vorhanden und die Räumlichkeit, Körperlichkeit und Direktheit der Kombination von Musik und Bild wird die DVD-Reproduktion leider nicht gerecht, dient aber als ausgezeichnetes Dokument dieses Augenblickes und als Anregung für alle die nicht anwesend sein konnten. So intensiv habe ich nur noch COIL in Erinnerung! - MINAMATA in Bestform." [Carsten Vollmer / OX] 2009 €19.50
MIZUTANI, KIYOSHI Bird Songs CD "Hell, what’s that? Gestaltet fast wie eine „klassische“ Vogelstimmen-Platte, wird man spätestens dann stutzig, wenn die ersten Klänge ertönen... dazu gesellen sich typische environmental-sounds wie Regen, Wind, Flugzeuge, etc.. 6 verschiedene Vögel sind hier in Tokyo verewigt worden, die alle verschieden und zum Teil mega-obskur tönen !! the most bizarre new entry? MIZUTANI has recorded 6 obscure japanese birds, and processed the sounds party..." [Drone Rec. info 2001] "Essentially these are field recordings of various nature locations. The focus mostly remains on Bird Songs, but it goes a little bit beyond that: Mizutani arranged and enhanced the material a bit. The song of the "Binzui" is echoed by electronic treatments, broken down to its constituents for us to marvel in its complexity. That's as far as the artist goes though. In "Aokigahara," the only non-nature sound is the tinkling of a music box (or a jack-in-the-box or other toy) played very slowly, two or three notes at a time. "Hokora no Mizuba," recorded near a spring fountain, features metallic sounds, like someone lightly hitting a metallic grid. A similar addition is heard in "Nimbo". This piece is a collage of recordings in a Chinese city. It is the only manifestation of human civilization on this album and also features a metallic "klang "(a fence?, rods of different lengths?). All these alterations (except for the electronic "Birds" in the first tracks) vanish into the recorded environment." [François Couture] 2000 €13.00
MLEHST Breathing in Dead Flies / Cock Sucking Lips CD Breathing in dead flies was the first vinyl release by Mlehst pressed at gramophonov zavody (pre GZ media) in 1996. Basically we sent the master on a high quality chrome cassette tape as that was the highest quality technology we had. The overall sound quality was lo-fidelity to say the least, with a wide dynamic range which meant that a lot of the quieter original audio was buried in the rumble of the vinyl grooves. The 100 copy milky clear vinyl LP cemented the Mlehst and bandaged hand produce DIY aesthetic. For this digital and CD reissue, a vinyl LP rip has been remastered and repaired with substantial work by “esoteric audio renovations” to create a clearer quality product than the original vinyl. The audio levels and dynamic range have been left similar to the original to preserve its integrity, although some passages of audio have been lifted slightly. High volume playback is recommended! Cock sucking lips is an earlier Mlehst recording and a bit of an oddity, based on some very early Mlehst source material (1990/1991) with a slightly humorous edge, albeit demented. Very few copies of this cassette album were released, probably around 10-20 copies existed. These recordings are completely at odds with breathing in dead flies, but do show two sides of Mlehst. For this digital and CD reissue a digital rip has been gently remastered only, with no real renovation needed. https://oxidation.bandcamp.com/album/breathing-in-dead-flies-cock-sucking-lips 2021 €13.00
MOEBIUS & TIETCHENS same LP "Erste Kooperation der beiden Elektronik-Avantgardisten seit 1976: Mit Asmus Tietchens und Dieter Moebius haben zwei Künstler zusammengefunden, die zu den ganz Großen der deutschen Avantgarde-Elektronikmusik gehören. Beide sind seit den 70er- Jahren dabei, Moebius als Mitglied von Kluster/Cluster und Harmonia sowie solo und in zahlreichen Kollaborationen (u. a. Brian Eno, Mani Neumeier); Tietchens fast ausschließlich als Solokünstler, anfangs in den Bereichen elektronischer und konkreter Musik, später dann vornehmlich im Gebiet der abstrakten Geräuschmusik. Das vorliegende Album ist ihre erste Kooperation seit 1976. Mit ihm lösen Moebius und Tietchens ein Versprechen ein, das sie sich vor 35 Jahren gaben: "Wir müssen mal eine Platte zusammen machen." 13 Stücke transportiert das Album, 13 Ideen, wie sie heterogener kaum sein können. Kein Stück ähnelt dem anderen: Von der hingehauchten Skizze bis zu derb zupackender Rhythmik ist so gut wie alles zu hören, was die beiden Altmeister der E-Musik in ihren Arsenalen haben. So klingt zeitgenössische, neue Musik. Das Vinyl erscheint mit Download-Code. // About the musicians: With Asmus Tietchens and Dieter Moebius, two artists counting among the greats of German avant-garde electronic music have come together. Both have been active for well over thirty years: Moebius (since 1970) as a member of Kluster/Cluster and Harmonia, as well as solo and in numerous collaborations (Brian Eno, Mani Neumeier, Conny Plank, Mayo Thompson and many more), and Tietchens (since 1976) almost exclusively as a solo artist, beginning in the fields of electronic music and musique concrète and later mainly in the realm of abstract music. “Moebius+Tietchens” is now their first collaboration in 35 years. With this album, Dieter Moebius and Asmus Tietchens fulfill a promise that they made 35 years ago. That is, in 1976, when the five musicians of Liliental completed the recordings for their eponymous album (released 1978) and again scattered to the winds, Moebius called out to Tietchens from the already moving car: "We have to make a record together sometime." At least that is the report of an ear-witness. Whether or not it's true… In any case, both decided in 2011 to record the album which is now to be released. Moebius (Cluster, Harmonia), since the early years of Cluster, has neither lost his curiosity nor his eagerness for experimentation. On the contrary: He has downright cultivated them. Tietchens is not only a true aficionado of the Cluster's music and friend of the duo, but has also released countless albums of electronic music and musique concrète since the 1980's – like Cluster, initially on Sky Records – then later only in the field of industrial and abstract music. Their album may come from out of the blue, but the large amount of overlap in the music of both artists made it a forgone conclusion to finally make good on the aforementioned promise. Thirteen pieces carries the album. These are thirteen ideas that could hardly be heterogeneous – no two pieces are similar. Moebius and Tietchens show us what they are capable of together. From the rough sketch to densely gripping rhythms, one can clearly hear just what these two old masters of electronic music have in their arsenals. This is not a result of the routine that comes with so many years of experience, nor a thin portion of tired old recipes for success. Other than for a few faint echoes of a bygone era (perhaps as a sentimental reminder), Moebius+Tietchens“ is an album that could only emerge from the here and now. It is contemporary, new music. Unfortunately, this time there was no ear-witness as Moebius and Tietchens said goodbye after finishing these recordings. So we do not know if they made a new agreement similar to the one from 35 years ago. Let's hope so." [label info] 2012 €18.50
  same CD "Erste Kooperation der beiden Elektronik-Avantgardisten seit 1976: Mit Asmus Tietchens und Dieter Moebius haben zwei Künstler zusammengefunden, die zu den ganz Großen der deutschen Avantgarde-Elektronikmusik gehören. Beide sind seit den 70er- Jahren dabei, Moebius als Mitglied von Kluster/Cluster und Harmonia sowie solo und in zahlreichen Kollaborationen (u. a. Brian Eno, Mani Neumeier); Tietchens fast ausschließlich als Solokünstler, anfangs in den Bereichen elektronischer und konkreter Musik, später dann vornehmlich im Gebiet der abstrakten Geräuschmusik. Das vorliegende Album ist ihre erste Kooperation seit 1976. Mit ihm lösen Moebius und Tietchens ein Versprechen ein, das sie sich vor 35 Jahren gaben: "Wir müssen mal eine Platte zusammen machen." 13 Stücke transportiert das Album, 13 Ideen, wie sie heterogener kaum sein können. Kein Stück ähnelt dem anderen: Von der hingehauchten Skizze bis zu derb zupackender Rhythmik ist so gut wie alles zu hören, was die beiden Altmeister der E-Musik in ihren Arsenalen haben. So klingt zeitgenössische, neue Musik. Das Vinyl erscheint mit Download-Code. // About the musicians: With Asmus Tietchens and Dieter Moebius, two artists counting among the greats of German avant-garde electronic music have come together. Both have been active for well over thirty years: Moebius (since 1970) as a member of Kluster/Cluster and Harmonia, as well as solo and in numerous collaborations (Brian Eno, Mani Neumeier, Conny Plank, Mayo Thompson and many more), and Tietchens (since 1976) almost exclusively as a solo artist, beginning in the fields of electronic music and musique concrète and later mainly in the realm of abstract music. “Moebius+Tietchens” is now their first collaboration in 35 years. With this album, Dieter Moebius and Asmus Tietchens fulfill a promise that they made 35 years ago. That is, in 1976, when the five musicians of Liliental completed the recordings for their eponymous album (released 1978) and again scattered to the winds, Moebius called out to Tietchens from the already moving car: "We have to make a record together sometime." At least that is the report of an ear-witness. Whether or not it's true… In any case, both decided in 2011 to record the album which is now to be released. Moebius (Cluster, Harmonia), since the early years of Cluster, has neither lost his curiosity nor his eagerness for experimentation. On the contrary: He has downright cultivated them. Tietchens is not only a true aficionado of the Cluster's music and friend of the duo, but has also released countless albums of electronic music and musique concrète since the 1980's – like Cluster, initially on Sky Records – then later only in the field of industrial and abstract music. Their album may come from out of the blue, but the large amount of overlap in the music of both artists made it a forgone conclusion to finally make good on the aforementioned promise. Thirteen pieces carries the album. These are thirteen ideas that could hardly be heterogeneous – no two pieces are similar. Moebius and Tietchens show us what they are capable of together. From the rough sketch to densely gripping rhythms, one can clearly hear just what these two old masters of electronic music have in their arsenals. This is not a result of the routine that comes with so many years of experience, nor a thin portion of tired old recipes for success. Other than for a few faint echoes of a bygone era (perhaps as a sentimental reminder), Moebius+Tietchens“ is an album that could only emerge from the here and now. It is contemporary, new music. Unfortunately, this time there was no ear-witness as Moebius and Tietchens said goodbye after finishing these recordings. So we do not know if they made a new agreement similar to the one from 35 years ago. Let's hope so." [label info] www.bureau-b.com 2012 €13.00
MOLJEBKA PVLSE Borrowed Scenery: Appearance maxi-CD During the pandemic, many of the restrictions introduced, in particular, on movement, artists, like most of us, made their journeys mainly in their own rooms or made pilgrimages deep into each other. Mathias from MOLJEBKA PVLSE at that time uses his own studio as a vehicle he traverses through virtual field recordings, composing his own abstract environments and discovering distant lands. The map of these borrowed places is written in 3 long compositions, complementing each other like the topography of neighboring places or overlapping grids showing different properties occurring at the same latitude. It is possible to read them separately, just as it is possible to listen to only one of the three compositions and it gives some idea, allowing you to capture a selected fragment, this listening to the whole gives a deeper insight. The material from the session was divided according to a similar pattern and properly divided into two complementary releases: the album "Borrowed Scenery", which will be released next spring on vinyl, and CDEP "Borrowed Scenery: Appearance", introducing the atmosphere of the longplay, respectively. The CD containing over twenty minutes of composition folded in a 6-inch gatefold with two postcards attached is the next installment of a series of short musical forms, initiated in our catalog by the publication of the material "Klechdy" by Rigor Mortiss. CD EP folded in 6" gatefold sleeve + 2 postcards limited to 200 copies https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/borrowed-scenery-appearance 2021 €12.00
  Borrowed Scenery LP Sweden's Moljebka Pvlse (Mathias Josefson) will be known to many for releases on labels such as Cold Meat Industry, Cyclic Law, Drone Records, and Reverse Alignment. During the pandemic, Josefson used his own studio as a vehicle to traverse through virtual field recordings, composing abstract environments and discovering distant lands. The map of these borrowed places is written in three long compositions, complementing each other like the topography of neighbouring places or overlapping grids showing different properties occurring at the same latitude. It is possible to read them separately, just as it is possible to listen to only one of the three compositions and it gives some idea, allowing you to capture a selected fragment, this listening to the whole gives a deeper insight. The material from the session was divided according to a similar pattern and properly divided into two complementary releases: the album "Borrowed Scenery", presented here (41 mins), and "Borrowed Scenery: Appearance" (21 mins), introducing the atmosphere of the longplay, respectively. Special limited edition of 150 copies, with MCD in 5" card sleeve, both editions with slightly different artwork. Comes with digital download code. https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/borrowed-scenery 2022 €20.00
MONOCUBE Substratum CD "Monocube’s new album since 2016’s “The Rituals”, a suite of wide landscapes painted in modular synth and stringed instruments. A spellbinding new album for Cyclic Law and Malignant Records, employing eight long-form pieces for the most expansive solo release by Monocube to date. Taking into account its haunting and elegiac quality - the result of no less than two years assiduous work it is elevated to the another level, presenting an analog purification of Monocube’s overtones. Purposefully evoking the feelings which are usually avoided in more scholastic examples of dark and drone music, Monocube voices the soul, while improvising on modular synth and stringed instruments, intimates a transcendental quality and approaches to the shape and density, delicacy and relation to transient and everlasting subjects, reaching the depth that was not present before. The outcome is considered as a reflection of non-verbal communication: from the flowing blossoms of Sehnsucht to the palsied depth of Prima Materia to the stirring crescendo of Luft and through the burned-out distortions of Visiones V to the 10 minute+ misty-eyed panorama of The Opposite Of Nadir following the helical torques and instilled eschatological atmosphere of Opaque, tempting the longing souls to the valerian vortex of Action In Distans and consummating with ultra-wide Limen. An alchemy of mysterious spirit. The mixed media artwork employs analog techniques, as cameraless photography and illustrations, which spawn silhouettes and haunting figures, recurring entropic motifs, a transition into worlds within worlds, coaxed out of gelatine silver prints. Enchanting, often deeply mysterious and disquieted is the visual part of Substratum created by sukkeret.og.pepper studio in Berlin." https://monocube.bandcamp.com/album/substratum ############################################## Neben seiner Teilnahme an der Kollaboration mit Anemone Tube und Jarl zum Jahreszeitenzyklus von Pieter Brueghel dem Älteren hat der ukrainische Ambientmusiker Andrzej Gladuszewski alias Monocube dieses Jahr gleich noch einen Nachfolger des vor drei Jahren erschienenen Debütalbums “The Rituals” herausgebracht. Atmosphärisch intensiver und kompositorisch ausgereifter wirkt das unter punktueller Unterstützung von Antti Litmanen (Arktau Eos) und Frederic Arbour (Visions) entstandene “Substratum” schon auf den ersten Eindruck, und doch knüpft das Werk stilistisch deutlich an seinen Vorgänger an, dessen Opener “Visiones” gleich in einem neuen Track fortgesetzt wird. Modulare Synthies und an ausgesuchten Stellen einmontierte Klänge verschiedener Saiteninstrumente bilden das Fundament der acht dröhnenden Klangflächen, deren düster-harmonische Schwere zum passiven Träumen verführen kann und so ein Grund sein mag, die unterschwellige Dynamik dieser Musik erst nach und nach mitzubekommen. Doch auch nachdem man sich an die Stimmung der Musik akklimatisiert hat, bleibt diese in ihrem Wesen diffus. Wer auf die Macht der Worte vertraut, kann durch die Tracktitel zumindest etwas Orientierung in den abstrakten Klanglandschaften bekommen. Von der Sehnsucht erzählen sie, die sich unter verhalltem Rauschen und plötzlich losbrechenden Noisebrocken etwas Schmerzhaftes offenbart und nach Veränderung schreit. Vom Element Luft und der Prima Materia, der aristotelischen Urmatierie, aus der alles Irdische hervorgegangen ist, künden sie, und lassen so einen kosmogonischen Hintergrund erahnen. Noch erhabener wirken so die Echos von angedeuteten Choralgesängen, ebenso die melodischen Synthietupfer, die irgendwann in akustische Klagelaute übergehen und an Orpheus in der Unterwelt denken lassen. Am Ende steht mit dem Limen die Schwelle, die die Grenze zum Zustand der Vollendung markiert. Letztlich drehen sich all diese Dinge um ein Schöpferisches, um eine Welt, die im Entstehen begriffen ist und die Musik, dem Titel entsprechend, zum Substrat macht. Die oft langsame und subtile Veränderlichkeit von Klangfarben, Harmonien und dezenten Rhythmen schärfen die Wahrnehmung und lassen die Abfolge von beunruhigendem Vibrieren, entspanntem kosmischen Bimmeln, fast schrillen bläserartigen Sounds und all den anderen Gegensätzen, ohne die laut William Blake kein Vorwärtsdrang möglich ist, noch deutlicher auf dem dunklen Nährboden aufscheinen. [U.S./African Paper] 2019 €13.00
MOORE, STEPHAN To build a field CD "Stephan Moore is a composer, audio artist, and sound designer in New York City. He has graduated from from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Western Michigan University, and Interlochen Arts Academy. His creative work centers around the collection and use of real-world sound, the creation and perception of sonic environments, and technological manifestations of improvisation and interactivity. Recent performances and installation artworks make use of a large multi-channel array of his hemispherical speakers. He performs regularly as half of the electronic duo Evidence, and with a variety of musicians, live-video artists, and dancers. He has created custom music software for a number of composers and artists, and has taught courses in sound art and electronic music at Maryland Institute College of Art, Peabody Conservatory, Massachusetts College of Art, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and Simon's Rock College of Bard. He is currently the Sound Supervisor of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company." [general info about the artist / Deep Listening site] Stephan Moore has spent the last five years touring with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company as a core member of their live band, alongside such notables as Christian Wolff, Takehisa Kosugi, David Behrman, John King, and William Winant. At the same time, he has been collaborating with a number of younger choreographers to create sound scores for their performance works. To Build A Field collects the best of these pieces, drawn from six of his commissions by four very different choreographers. The CD's title refers to Moore's view of his role in these collaborations: designing and executing sonic structures that define the emotional and rhythmic topography of time. Each track negotiates a balance between acoustic sound sources and electronics, live performance and studio composition, and human vs. algorithmic control of sound materials. Time is continually bent into new shapes, challenging the listener, and his collaborators, to think beyond the easy comforts of a regular tempo, and confront rhythm as texture instead of a reliable grid. "Brooklyn-based sound artist Stephan Moore's recent musical work centers around the collection and use of real-world sound, the creation and perception of sonic environments, and technological manifestations of improvisation and interactivity. He develops his own performance software and builds point-source loudspeakers for use in his performances and sound installation work. His current ongoing collaborations include the Xenolinguistics performance project with visionary video artist Diana Reed Slattery, projects with choreographers Yanira Castro and Kimberly Young and performance artist Kyle DeCamp, sound design for the Nerve Tank theater collective, and the performing/recording duo Evidence with sound artist Scott Smallwood. He curates a concert series at the Merce Cunningham Dance Studio called Experiments in the Studio, and co-curates an annual month-long Floating Points festival of performances and sound installations at the ISSUE Project Room in Brooklyn, pairing the permanent sixteen-channel installation of his Hemisphere speakers there with diverse artists. Moore has been commissioned to create sound installations and performances for a number of dance companies and site-specific venues. He has been awarded residencies by Hunter College, the Experimental Television Center and Wave Farm for his work in music and new technology. His performance and exhibition credits include Tonic (NYC), Axiom Gallery (Boston), Zeitgeist Gallery (Boston), Deep Listening Space (Kingston, NY), ffmup (Princeton, NJ), Massachusetts College of Art (Boston), Yale University, Princeton University, The Tank (NYC), Roulette (NYC), the Music and Alternative and X-Disciplinary Approaches in Sound Festival (Sheffield, UK), Sound Practice (Dartington, UK), Music Without Walls? (Leister, UK), Disjecta (Portland, Oregon), Warehouse 23 (Boston), Issue Project Room (Brooklyn), The Chocolate Factory (Queens), ACM/Siggraph, International Conference on Musical Perception and Cognition, International Computer Music Conference, Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States, the Acoustical Society of America's semiannual meetings, American Theater in Higher Education's annual conference, International Society for Electronic Arts, World Forum for Acoustic Ecology, and the Burning Man Festival, among many others. As an improviser and musician, he has appeared on stage with John Paul Jones, Pauline Oliveros, Alex Waterman, Keith Rowe, Michael Haleta, MV Carbon, Andrea Parkins, Zach Layton, Troy Pohl, Curtis Bahn, David Linton, Mikel Rouse, Maria Chavez, Newton Armstrong, Seth Cluett, Ikue Mori, Kenta Nagai, Larry Polansky, Jesse Stiles and Joan La Barbara, among others." [label info] www.deeplistening.org www.deeplistening.org 2010 €14.00
MORI, IKUE & CHRISTIAN RONN Chordis Et Machina LP "Ikue Mori and Christian Rønn are the superlative electroacoustic duo, well “duo” unless you count the instruments themselves and you should. Rather than contain with rigid composition, these twin masters of unrule remain radically attuned, open to resonance of time and sound, invoking even the personhood of space and object, chordis et machina. You´ll soon see, once this music gets loose to join you in your own environ. “Endless probing that hooks into your neurons, this album leaves sonic organisms floating around you. Even if that's merely an illusion, the alchemy of Mori and Rønn’s hyperactive stew is very real.” [Marc Masters] No meandering muddiness, the precision and responsiveness of this heady collaboration steps swiftly from fine grit distortions to leaky sinewaves, sweeping from the playfully melodic to the seriously xenomorphic. As prepared-piano hammers against braiding electronics, each possibility unfurls the next. Tossed from the final groove, you'll hike up your needle and want to plunge right back in. About the artists: Ikue Mori's impact as drummer of post-punk pioneers DNA found an unexpected path when a drum machine set alight her astonishing oeuvre in electronic music, both solo and in collaboration across 30+ albums in bands like Death Ambient, Mephista and in collaboration with John Zorn, Okkyung Lee, Zeena Parkins, Sylvie Courvoisier, Susie Ibarra, Wadada Leo Smith, Fred Frith, Kato Hideki, Evan Parker, Dave Douglas, Evyind Kang, Craig Taborn and Kim Gordon. Copenhagen's Christian Rønn is renowned for his electronic and organ improv music, his filmscores and performances on more than 20 albums, collaborations with Rhys Chatham, Peter Peter, Lotte Anker, P.O. Jørgens, Ingrid Chavez, Vanessa Daou, Jenny Graf, Bob Bellerue, Aram Shelton, his group projects Prox, Panser, Blind Mans Band and his popular solo project, Ganga. (Written by James Decker, Resipiscent Records)" https://nische.bandcamp.com/album/chordis-et-machina https://www.resipiscent.com/artist/view/50 2018 €23.00
MOUTHUS No Canal CD "Guitar, drums and electronics. There are no further requirements for turning the world on its head. Since their inception in 2002, Mouthus from Brooklyn have delighted and enraptured their audience. Thundering noise eruptions, mail-fisted guitar drones, infernal drumbeats and an indomitable drive are these devilish duos hallmarks. This is undiluted rock ‘n’ rock for noise junkies. When it comes to live performances, Mouthus are unbeatable. Nevertheless, in order to nourish the other parts of the soul, Mouthus alternate their teeth-grindingly loud shows with recordings into which rage and energy are consummately channelled. No Canal follows a different path altogether. Guitarist Brian Sullivan and drummer Nate Nelson lead the listener on a journey of exploration. Past bricked-up walls of sound and through a swamp of drones the duo descries a terra incognita, a dark world of sound in which innocent idylls of nature are soon subjected to the destructive forces of industrialisation. Initially, pastoral guitar parts are heard, pursued by drums in the distance. This is ethereal music in the tradition of bands like Popol Vuh. The promised land is hidden behind low mist and impenetrable green. But all hope proves idle: torturing guitar feedback and tribal drums soon tear the dream apart. The industrial torrent of sound seems unstoppable. This is music that reveals itself as a tired, technological beast with a slow heartbeat and creaking limbs. The subliminal menace and naked demise remain audible and tangible. This is a story that has to be told. Mouthus cannot be silenced. No Canal is packed in the beautiful 'envelope' packaging, designed and hand printed by Jason Dodg" [label info] www.bottrop-boy.com 2008 €13.50
MUNDAL, ARE Kreis 12inch Are Mundal has written songs for albums such as Enslaved's "Isa" and Immortal's "All Shall Fall", but is probably best known for his photography of Fantoft stave church on the day it burnt down in 1992. This EP features 22 mins of macabre darkwave, rhythmic industrial, atmospheric soundscapes, and experimental sound collages. "Industrial and tribal dark ambient, especially for those into the macabre... strange and dark material, mixing Industrial and Gothic elements, with some very distasteful chatter about [necrophilia] and other such documentary samples about unpleasant subjects. Throbbing Gristle and SPK have a lot to answer for!" (Audion). Ltd x 100 hand-numbered copies in a multi-stickered sleeve with three inserts: a 12" double-sided insert, an A4 double-sided insert, and an A5 double-sided artcard, with artwork by Mundal. 2023 €20.00
MURMER We share a Shadow CD MURMER gehört zu jener neuen Generation von Field Recording-Spezialisten, die mit Hilfe von Computerprogrammen eine ungeahnte Detailfülle & Klangdichte in ihren Kompositionen erreichen. Auf "We share a Shadow" (2 Stücke, 46 Minuten) erklingen z.B. wunderbar vielschichtige Metall-Drones, Vibrationen von langgezogene Sirenen-artigen Tönen, rückwärtige akustisch glitzernde Resonanzen, krispelndes Rauschen (Regen?)... etc. - ein einziger Genuss, diese neuartige Drone-Musik in Perfektion, das Selbst scheint sich aufzulösen in diesen Sounds! Die Auflage beträgt leider nur 300 Exemplare, kommt im handgetönen Wasserfarben-Cover. "Murmer is the pseudonym for Patrick McGinley, a man with several passports which have taken him to many a foreign land in search of found sounds of the unsettled, the forgotten, the mysterious, and the beautiful. His field recordings of activated environments (e.g. resonant industrial spaces, windswept telephone lines, bowed branches, gasping ventilator systems, etc.) originate from all of the locations where he has traveled; yet, the documentation of these sounds is the not the terminus of McGinley's work. He is far more interested in extracting a particular emotional, transcendent, or metaphysical kernel from those sounds, and then recontextualizing that germinated sound into sympathetic compositions of magnificent dronemusik. We Share A Shadow continues where Murmer left off with the exceptional Husk album (in collaboration with Jonathan Coleclough), in spiraling his manipulated field recordings as a slow revelation of the environmental sonorities that undeservedly go unnoticed each and every day. Singing frequencies of a bowed piece of metal undulate against a grey tapestry of rain and rasping insects. Golden overtones from shimmering drones quell what agitated textures reside in McGinley's active field recordings, rendering the aggregate sound a nocturnal opiate with considerable potency. As Murmer, Patrick McGinley has produced a handful of releases on ICR, Ground Fault, Drone Records, and Absurd; and he has performed in venues both large and small across North America and Europe. He is also the host the Framework radio show on Resonance FM, dedicated to the consecration of field recordings and their use in composition. We Share A Shadow is strictly limited to 300 copies, featuring hand water-coloured artwork and letterpress printing." [label description] www.helenscarsdale.com "BACK IN PRINT! We thought this gem from the Helen Scarsdale Agency was going to stay out of print forever, but due to a fortuitous pressing plant glitch (when are those ever fortuitous?), a small second pressing has now been made available! Here's what we've said about this album when it first came out in 2007: Proprietor of the Framework radio show on Resonance FM for many years now, Patrick McGinley has implored his listeners to "open your ears and listen" to the world at large, presenting an impeccable series dedicated to field recordings and its use in composition. So, it goes with out saying that the field recording and the found object are commonplace within McGinley's own sound art constructions which he records under the moniker Murmer (and not Murmur, mind you!). Given his predilection for wandering throughout the European countryside for all that it has to offer (not just limited to environmental sound), his recorded output has been somewhat limited. We Share A Shadow is his first proper solo album in almost three years, although his collaboration with Jonathan Coleclough did stand out as one of the dronemusik highlights of 2006. Consisting of two very long pieces, We Share A Shadow is a notably restrained album whose dark beauty reveals itself with a slow and deliberate pace. The first untitled piece opens with sheets of cold rain scuffing the smooth arcs of bowed metals, whose Feldman-like swell and collapse recalls the late period work of Bernhard Gunter. As the rain gently fades, a composite drone emerges out of those rasps and vibrations from the bowed metals and intensifies through dissonant timbres subtly agitating the shimmer and filigree of the gilted drone. Throughout, windswept debris ricochets across the stereo field casting an ominous cloud onto the sustained tones. The second piece is an even darker affair with a motor grinding against a piece of metal in the distance while a somber, almost doomscape piano plods in the foreground. With plenty of low frequency rumbles and spectral activity lingering in the background, this piece is almost like KTL remixing Xenakis at 16 RPM. Needless to say, this is an incredible album. Gorgeously packaged in hand water-colored / letterpressed sleeves, SECOND PRESSING ONLY 175 COPIES!!" [Aquarius Rec.] 2008 €14.00
  Periodic Exercises in (f)utility [homework 2016-2022] do-CD this is a Kokeshidisk release - kodi 14 - september 2023 "i work slowly, and sometimes i work not at all. so having an open invitation from taâlem to create work at the end of each year, especially as winter is setting in and it is beginning to feel like i’ve done nothing all year (i haven’t, but it can feel that way), comes as an energy boost, a reassurance, and an opportunity to resurrect some confidence, and a sense of worth. so i push myself to take that opportunity - and have done so each year since the project began (aside from the year in which my father died, explaining the 2019 gap) - and i thank jean-marc for providing it. in many, in fact almost all, of the years represented here, my piece for homework was the only work i published. indeed, this collection is sandwiched by my two most recent (physical) releases: songs for forgetting was released in late 2016, just before the docks sing in strange tongues appeared on homework 1, and tether was released in early 2023, several months after thaw and timber was published on homework 7. so this collection could be viewed as my complete sonic journey over those 7 years, digging in archives, showing off newly discovered sounds, and all in all attempting to prove to myself that it is all for something, that the tape should keep rolling, and that i must pay attention, because my homework will soon be due." (patrick/murmer, june 2023) the docks sing in strange tongues (2016) objects and situations found in rovaniemi, hamburg, mooste, põlgaste, tallinn, and bordeaux between 2003 and 2016. title found in the poem of the same name by panos panagiotopoulos. echo surveys: viljandi (reimagined) (2017) echo surveys is an ongoing series of activities including performances, workshops, installations, and compositions that consist of site-specific sonic interventions; all sounds heard are produced and/or recorded in a chosen space, using only materials found therein. this 'reimagined' work adds a new layer; it is based on a live performance at the noisy november festival at supersonicum in viljandi, estonia on 2017.11.17, and is composed from the initial field recordings made in the space for use in the performance, as well as from the recording of the performance itself. also participating in the performance and therefore in this composition were erik alalooga and taavi suisalu (the event organiser and other performer on the bill that night, respectively) and a number of members of the public. water, grain, oil (2018) water, fingers, and nylon string (france, 2008); disturbed ants (finland, 2014); panelia mill grinding wheel (finland, 2009); empty oil tank interventions (latvia, 2008) nail down your ghosts (2020) source material recorded in an abandoned and now-demolished house in the estonian town of valga in october 2019. sonic interventions performed, and elements subsequently reworked, by liisa hirsch and patrick tubin mcginley, 2019/2020. composed from those elements in june 2020. originally created for the short film to crumble into clouds above your living room by anna hints, commissioned as the estonian contribution to the 2020 venice biennale of architecture, postponed to 2021 due to the covid-19 pandemic. echo surveys: nuti (reimagined) (2021) in november, 2020 i participated in an event curated by shawn pinchbeck for BEAMS (the boreal electroacoustic music society) in canada entitled together apart... an evening of audio wonderments. it was to be another online concert in response to the covid-19 pandemic and lockdown, but due to the time differences for artists spread throughout north america and europe, we were given the opportunity to pre-record our performances. this allowed me to create a piece in our half-renovated farmhouse in the estonian countryside, from which a live stream would have been impossible to organise. the piece streamed online on the night of november 21st, and was then briefly archived on BEAMS’ twitch page. i then made this 'sound film' available permanently online (murmerings.com/2021/01/echo-surveys-nuti/). for this release i reimagined this work for sound only, editing a piece together from the original live performance recordings and the sources used therein. thaw and timber (2022) dripping woodshed roof (estonia, 2022); railings at the bfm (estonia, 2022); thawing earth (estonia, 2022); water heater (france, 2008); toddler making feedback (estonia, 2020); sodablasting log walls (estonia, 2020); inside kreenholm (estonia, 2017); baltijaam wall (estonia, 2011) photographies by patrick tubin mcginley design by désaccord majeur mastered by flavien gillié https://taalem.bandcamp.com/album/periodic-exercises-in-f-utility-homework-2016-2022-kodi-14 "As Taalem sees a restart (see elsewhere), so is their sub-division Kokeshidisk. The mothership Taalem releases a yearly Bandcamp digital-only, pay-as-you-want compilation called 'Homework', and for seven years, they have been doing this every year, resulting in a massive album (always announced in Vital Weekly). I am unsure why they selected Murmer to collect his pieces from six (one year he was absent because his father died) and someone else. Other, of course, then they think these are good pieces. Murmer likes to submit relatively long pieces to compilations, hence the double disc. Patrick Tubin McGinley, the man behind Murmer, isn't the most active musician in the releasing CDs (cassettes, vinyl) department. He's a man of words, and for each of the six pieces, there is a list of sound sources and inspirations for titles. For many years, he has lived in Estonia and is very active with field recordings, which he incorporates in music, installations, workshops, etc. His primary interest lies in finding sustaining and minimal sounds. 'The Docks Sing In Strange Tongues', the first piece here, collects sounds from various harbours and in the mix, it all makes a very coherent, minimalist music piece, which reminded me of Ingram Marshall's 'Fogtropes'. This piece sets the tone for the other five. In each of his works, Murmer uses a limited set of sounds, different sounds, that is, and these are cleverly woven together. Nothing stays for very long in the place, as Murmer uses a variety of lengths, so there is never the same overlap. In that respect, he reminds me of the sadly recently deceased Steve Roden. It bears the same tranquillity, the same effective sparse use of sound sources and working within limitations to a significant effect. His field recordings are usually entirely obscured, which adds to the beauty of it all. In 'Echo Surveys: Nuti', there are wind chimes, and in ''Echo Surveys: Viljandi' birds, perhaps. Water sounds in 'Water. Grain. Oil', maybe, but whatever else? I don't know. Murmer uses quite a bit of filtering (at least, so I believe) and prefers darker sounds. This, too, adds to the ambient quality of the music. It is an excellent release, which begs the question: why isn't there more of Murmer available?" [FdW/Vital Weekly] 2023 €15.00
MUSLIMGAUZE Chapter of purity CD Stücke von längst vergriffenen Vinyl-only releases 1985-1987! ” www.pretentious.net/muslimgauzeI'm pleased to announce the new (is it right term?) Muslimgauze album on Tantric Harmonies. "Chapter of Purity"compilation gives you a chance to see where the legend started. Tracks on this CD were selected from four early Muslimgauze vinyl releases:Blinded Horses - LIMITED 2 (9/1985), Flajelata - LIMITED 3 (2/1986), Hajj - LIMITED 4 (8/1986) and Jazirat-Ul-Arab - LIMITED 5 (3/1987).As always Bryn's music is full of Middle Eastern atmospheres, power and beauty. All titles for the first time on CD format! ” [press release] 2002 €13.00
MØHR & MAEROR TRI Hafenstadt CD " On “Hafenstadt”: This music was originally planned to form a part of the third tape box in the MØHR interpretation series of ZNS TAPES. In this series different artists got an individual 30-minutes-piece of basic material by MØHR to be interpreted it in any way: Using it as a backing tape and adding some more tracks, getting inspired and doing something unique in the spirit of the basic material, deconstruct and arrange it anew. The invited artists had any opportunity to re-work the source material. For the actual release the basic material was placed on side A and the interpretation on side B, enabling the listener to compare the basic and the final sound. Three tapes were compiled as one tape box linked by a loose theme. The first box, Bürokratie, contained works by DAS KONZENTRAT, BESTATTUNGSINSTITUT and SUICIDE COMMANDO (released in 1990), the second, Kulturschock, contained works by ANDREW CHALK/DARREN TATE, ECTOPLASMIC EMBRYO EXPERIENCE and FLAGRANTs D’ELI (released in 1991). The third one, which was to contain Hafenstadt by MAEROR TRI (as well as material of PBK and THE HATERS), has never been released due to the sudden end of ZNS TAPES. We’re convinced that this combination of basic stuff plus musical reworking is still an interesting and exciting experience for the audience, maybe especially after more than 20 years in the archives. (Andreaz Vogel) MØHR biography MØHR existed between 1986 and 1994 as the solo project of Andreaz Vogel. Previously he had been active as a bass player and drummer in various post punk and noise rock groups.Since its inception the main aim with MØHR was to create a dense and energetic sound without the use of conventional instruemnts. With this wall of sound the listeners were almost under attack and forced into a dark and brooding listening environment, both on the recordings and in the live situation. Andreaz also ran the important tape label ZNS TAPES. MAEROR TRI biography MAEROR TRI existed from April 1988 to the end of 1996, coming from the very north-western part of Germany. The three members were influenced by (post) industrial, noise rock and experimental ambient and found a way to establish their very own drone based style, using often guitars but also other instruments plus all kinds of (self build) objects and masses of sound effects. Their symbol, the triangle “Wheel” stood for ‘consciousness’, moving & shining in different colours and speed. The sound was meant as a tool for the listener to open the mind for transcension & sensitization: ‘We want to transmit a total openness, the bursting and overcoming of all mental barriers, the breaking out of the enforced subject “Tunnel-Reality” of modern society. ‘ Out of MAEROR TRI evolved the projects TROUM and 1000SCHOEN that are still very active." [label info] www.aufabwegen.com www.aufabwegen.com "Mohr was the work of German avant tape-machinist Andreaz Vogel who ran the ZNS Tapes label in the late '80s and early '90s; and our introduction to this work dates way back to the very second Drone Records single, released in 1993. This was about the time when Vogel pretty much called it quits on sound construction; but given how many great artists had been introduced through the Drone Records series of singles, Mohr's work had always been intriguing even as it had been quite elusive in the global cassette underground at that time. By the end of Mohr's tenure, Vogel had embarked on three mail-art pieces in which various audio sculptors and sound destroyers would rework / deconstruct a 30 minute track from Mohr. The second in this trilogy was notable to those Andrew Chalk enthusiasts as an unknowable Ora cassette from 1992. The third - and never released - cassette was to include Maeror Tri, The Haters, and PBK. With Hafenstadt, we now have a glimpse back into the gristled, contorted, and mangled tape construction that Mohr had been producing in conjunction with a pretty stellar set of black hole implosion of x-ray drone courtesy of Maeror Tri. Vogel took something of a Fluxus approach to his industrially bent constructions, purposely avoiding musical instruments in favor of the found sound that got flung into orbit in a spiraling descent of his tape loop dub and squeaky wheel rhythmic errata. These are deliberately raw and malformed cyclical patterns for a DIY musique concrete. Maeror Tri's brain-crush of sustained reverb and backwards masked flares of dark energy bury much of the insistent hypnosis from Mohr well beneath their grim wall of leaden noise and nuclear winter drone. It's always a wonder to behold the early works from Maeror Tri, and here it's nicely paired with Mohr's mangled hypnogogia." (Aquarius Rec) 2015 €13.00
N(35)[HELLMUT NEIDHARDT] Saarn LP N is the moniker of Dortmund-based German experimental guitarist Hellmut Neidhardt. December 2014 marks the release of two new solo records, N(35) „Saarn“ and N(36) „Heven“, both of them slightly entering aspects of drone he did not work on that much before. With both „Saarn“ and „Heven“, N is focusing on the use of vibrant distortion, but in distinctive different ways within the concept. The whole 3-track album „Saarn“ is determined by oscillations between heavy and minimal with a mood of (at least the danger of a coming) aggression even in its most silent parts. The opening piece, „Toevermanns Gruben“, is telling the story of an imaginary place buried under huge amounts of gritty fuzz, while „Seltene Erden“ keeps irritating with its movement in static. The closing piece, „Schwarze Heide“, then walks further the dark path that was first discovered with „Wehle“ (from N(22) „Goor“) some time before. „Heven“ in fact achieves very different results, even while using the same tools: way more ethereal, otherwordly in its atmosphere, proving that even the utmost minimalism can gain an intense feel of beauty, a fortiori when „Heven I“ changes from stuttering static to a broken melody before getting lost in its own memory, somehow. „Heven II“ finally just uses grainy white noise to built up a cathedral of feedbacks, infinitely reflected. www.denovali.com 2015 €26.50
N(36)[HELLMUT NEIDHARDT] Heven LP N is the moniker of Dortmund-based German experimental guitarist Hellmut Neidhardt. December 2014 marks the release of two new solo records, N(35) „Saarn“ and N(36) „Heven“, both of them slightly entering aspects of drone he did not work on that much before. With both „Saarn“ and „Heven“, N is focusing on the use of vibrant distortion, but in distinctive different ways within the concept. The whole 3-track album „Saarn“ is determined by oscillations between heavy and minimal with a mood of (at least the danger of a coming) aggression even in its most silent parts. The opening piece, „Toevermanns Gruben“, is telling the story of an imaginary place buried under huge amounts of gritty fuzz, while „Seltene Erden“ keeps irritating with its movement in static. The closing piece, „Schwarze Heide“, then walks further the dark path that was first discovered with „Wehle“ (from N(22) „Goor“) some time before. „Heven“ in fact achieves very different results, even while using the same tools: way more ethereal, otherwordly in its atmosphere, proving that even the utmost minimalism can gain an intense feel of beauty, a fortiori when „Heven I“ changes from stuttering static to a broken melody before getting lost in its own memory, somehow. „Heven II“ finally just uses grainy white noise to built up a cathedral of feedbacks, infinitely reflected. 2015 €26.50
NADJA Desire in Uneasiness CD ".. Zwar gibt es auch hier wabernde, monotone Texturen galore, allerdings schieben sich hier auch immer wieder mal unterschwellig feine Melodien durch das Geräuschdickicht. Der übliche Shoegazer-Doom wird mit etwas feinfühligerem Ambient-Feeling zu brutalem, subtil variierenden Soundscapes verwoben. Wühlt innerlich ziemlich auf." [Creative-Eclipse] "Following a wave of recent reissues and re-recorded versions of older CD-R titles, Desire In Uneasiness is an album of all new material from the acclaimed Canadian dreamsludge weavers Nadja. Five colossal jams of eternally-fuzzy, ethereal dirge that are powered by the interlocking bass guitars of Leah Buckareff and Aidan Baker, who set loose a wave of monstrous grinding bass riffs amidst a fog of beautiful, swirling electronic effects. Desire also marks the first Nadja album to feature a live drummer in place of the drum machine programming that has driven the band's previous recordings, and the difference in the band's sound is apparent from the first crushing beats of album opener 'Disambiguation'. The organic drumming here takes Nadja's music into new realms of spacious jazzy exploration, dubby rhythms and cavernous psychedelia, while also delivering some of the band's most grooving, crushing hypno-bliss yet. Desire also stands out from the rest of the Nadja catalog for it's bizarre artwork that Aidan commisioned from his friend The Reverend Aitor. Aitor's bright, bold lines and textured magic marker artwork gives the gatefold jacket we've presented this disc in the look of a twisted children's book on acid, with weird images of chickens, trees growing through chairs, and more. The package is a sturdy 4-panel gatefold jacket printed by Stoughton, and it looks killer." [label info] www.crucialblast.net 2008 €8.00
Under the Jaguar Sun do-LP "Packaged in a full color custom made book bound gatefold sleeve with 180 gram vinyl. Note: The vinyl version features three mixes by Nadja and one mix by Edward Ka-Spel using the 2xCD set as source material so the music is very different from the CD version. “Night and day, you are the one. Only you beneath the moon or under the Jaguar Sun…” Now you’re messing with a sun of a bitch. Let’s count backwards. The second disc in this set “Quetzalcoatl” diffuses into the air an alien vocabulary of electronicesque gargles and hums. A soundtrack made from the residue left after a subterranean dowsing for the echoes of collapsing stars. These disembodied post-transmissions form up in a Minerva’s Web of sunken Titanic ghosts, slow moaning as from distant caverns. Disc one of the set, “Tezcatlipoca” is the actual collapsing of stars. Or, perhaps the exploding majesty of every day’s new sun being reborn, as it once again defeats those Xibilba’s and rises to arc through its dominion again. This monstrous soul goes from grumbling angrily to mowing the heavens. Parts even cross into early Swans territory with aggressively fractured pacing. But all roads lead to the final track which is an epic length doom metal anthem of sweating proportions. Wave after wave of crushing fuzz slowly pummel speakers into diamonds and rust. A relentless solar rotorvating blasterpiece. Which brings us to part 3 of this 2 CD set. Both CD’s have been composed to also be played simultaneously, in a much more useable fashion than the Zaireekas of the world. So, if “Tezcatlipoca” is overground and “Quetzalcoatl” is underground (or, more likely, the reverse) their combination must be all things….and no things. Maybe the sound of the end of things. The resultant juxtaposition is a colossal celestial being smiling down on all he tramples." [label info] www.blrrecords.com 2010 €26.50
Tangled 7inch "A limited 7" of industrial/grind/black metal tunes released on Broken Spine Productions. Purchase includes a download code. Available digitally here here." [label info] 2014 €8.50
  Labyrinthine CD Four extended tracks of atmospheric doom sludge, each with a different guest vocalist: Alan Dubin (Gnaw, Khanate), Rachel Davies (Esben & The Witch), Lane Shi Otayonii (Elizabeth Colour Wheel), & Dylan Walker (Full of Hell). Nadja's latest full-length offering Labyrinthine, recorded during the pandemic and concurrently with their Southern Lord album Luminous Rot, finally sees a CD release on the band's own label, Broken Spine. Labyrinthine explores themes of identity and loss, monstrosity and regret, extreme asceticism, the differences between labyrinths and mazes, taking inspiration from Haruki Murakami's Killing Commendatore, Ursula K. LeGuin's The Tombs Of Atuan, and Victor Pelevin's reinterpretation of the story of the minotaur and Ariadne, The Helmet Of Horror. While this might be Nadja's heaviest, doomiest album to date, it is unique in the band's extensive catalog as each track features a guest vocalist: Alan Dubin, legendary American vocalist from O.L.D., Khanate currently Gnaw; Rachel Davies, vocalist and bassist from the British band, Esben & The Witch; Lane Shi Otayanii, a Chinese multi-media artist and vocalist in Elizabeth Colour Wheel; and Dylan Walker, American vocalist from grindcore/noise band Full Of Hell. Nadja has released numerous albums on many different underground labels -- Alien8 Recordings, Daymare Records, Robotic Empire, Hydrahead Records, Gizeh Records, and Important Records, to name a few. The duo has toured extensively around the world, including performances at such festivals as SXSW, FIMAV, Roadburn, Donaufest, Le Guess Who, Incubate, and Unsound, and has shared the stage with such artists as Earth, OM, Khanate, Tim Hecker, Ben Frost, and Godflesh. Mastered by James Plotkin, artwork by HLG. Released on CD by Broken Spine & limited cassettes by: Katuktu Collective (US), Cruel Nature Records (UK), Bad Moon Rising (Taiwan), Adagio830 (Germany), Muzan Editions (Japan), UR Audio Visual (Canada), Pale Ghoul (Australia), & WV Sorcerer (France/China). brokenspineprods.bandcamp.com katuktucollective.bandcamp.com/album/labyrinthine (US) cruelnaturerecordings.bandcamp.com/album/labyrinthine (UK) badmoonrising.bandcamp.com/album/labyrinthine (TW) adagio830-records.bandcamp.com/album/labyrinthine (DE) muzaneditions.bandcamp.com/album/labyrinthine (JP) uraudiovisual.bandcamp.com/album/ur-046-labyrinthine (CA) paleghoulrecordings.bandcamp.com (AUS) wvsorcerer.bandcamp.com/album/labyrinthine (FR) Aidan Baker - guitars, drum machine Leah Buckaeff - bass Alan Dubin - vocals Rachel Davies - vocals Lane Shi Otayonii - vocals Dylan Walker - vocals https://nadja.bandcamp.com/album/labyrinthine 2022 €13.00
NECKS, THE Silverwater CD "Their first studio CD for three years - named for an industrial suburb in Sydney, famous for its correctional facility - Silverwater ranges further and wider than the Necks' earlier releases, exploring a more sectional structure that counterposes more extremes and contrasts, and has a greater sense of forward motion, than usual, though still retaining the long, hypnotic single-track iterative form for which the band has become famous. Layers and skeins of overdubs and textures give way in places to almost empty stretches, and there is much play with asynchronous time. Paradoxically, for a band famous for its slow, cycling, repetition, the Necks show again that they work hard not to repeat themselves." [label info] www.rermegacorp.com "Hot damn. A new Necks album. They're one of our favorite bands EVER, and this is (one of the many reasons) why. Silverwater provides 67 minutes of the Necks' unique, hypnotic, keys/bass/drums bliss, all one track of course as is their wont. Over the course of those 67 minutes, though, the music made by this Australian trio varies quite a bit. Their trademark tranceiness is present, always, but at the same time this new album (their first studio record in, like, 3 years) seems more programmatic and propulsive than we're used to from these guys, taking off in directions we haven't necessarily heard from them before, but still sounding more like the Necks than anything else. Yet, parts could be mistaken for an underground ambient psychedelic jam from the likes of Sylvester Anfang, almost. And we'd say this is the Necks record to get Bohren & Der Club Of Gore fans into 'em. Other comparisons we've perhaps made before would be to Circle (in their non- metallic Miljard mode), Supersilent, Alice Coltrane, and AMM... anything that can elicit references to the likes of those is, obviously, amazing. Eerie wavering drones delicately unfurl near the start, quiet and pretty... that gives way to a section that's almost ceremonial, like some percussive ritual. Sparse and deliberate, drums-only for a stretch, to be joined by deep, plucked bass notes... it could be some kinda krautrock jazz... and it does get "jazzier", sort of, with electric organ coloration, and cyclic piano plinkings, but also electronic-y gritty glitchiness overdubbed... Silverwater's shimmering textures and minimalist pulsations are simply beautiful, enthralling. It's a glorious 67 minutes, all right. If you know the Necks, you know you need this. If you're new to the Necks, please do yourself a favor and check this out. Next to seeing them live (which some of us have been lucky enough to do, oh my god they were good), this will demonstrate quite effectively why we hold them in such high regard." [Aquarius Records] "67:15, ein Track. Der Einstieg in den Necks-Sog geschieht diesmal über Hammondorgel, Electronics, flickernde Percussion. Dann ein ultrarepetitives, trillerndes Pianomotiv von Chris Abrahams, ganz sparsam der Kontrabass von Lloyd Swanton, knatternd rollendes Drumming in immer wieder wiederholtem Muster. Lange spielt Tony Buck das allein, bis der Bass wieder mit langsamen Schritten sich anschließt. Dann auch zarte, gleichmäßige Cymbalschläge und die Wiederkehr von Hammond und Piano zugleich. So gleitet man in den nun wieder vollen Klang hinein. Alles an The Necks ist gleitend, fließend, repetitiv, hypnotisch. Mandalas aus Schwebklang und Puls. Buck klappert mit Muschelschalen, Abrahams schlägt immer nur ein, zwei Noten an. Die Electronics kommen wie ‚from nowhere‘, dazu das nun schon bekannte perkussive Klackern, wohl nicht von Hand. Die schlägt die Sekunden auf der Cymbal zu dröhnender Orgel und Pianomonotonie. Was macht Swanton? Lässt er einen Ventilator die Basssaiten beklackern? Jetzt steigt der Bass als Bass wieder ein, das Klackern geht aber weiter, dazu kommt jetzt - wenn die Uhr nicht geschmolzen wäre, würde sie 30 verstrichene Minuten anzeigen - eine Gitarre. Buck macht mit einem Drumriff dem mäandernden Dröhnfluss Beine, Abrahams hält mit einem Pianoloop schritt, dazu Walking Bass und der klackernde Automat. Und die Gitarre, jetzt deutlich. Dann dünnt der Klang aus auf das Klackern und zwei Klavierspuren, eine davon hell und verzerrt, dann übermenschlich trillernd. Dann doch auch wieder Bass und schnelle Cymbalschläge, aber nur kurz, als eine nicht realisierte Möglichkeit des Fortgangs. Es spielen nur die Automaten, trillernd, klackernd. Jetzt der zweite Anlauf von Bass und Drums, auch das Piano, dann nur das Piano. Es hat die Ausdauer, gegen die Automaten die Wende einzuläuten. Bass und Drums verhungern aber ein drittes Mal, die Orgel hält als einzige, monoton pulsierend, den letzten Lebensfaden. Ganz im Hintergrund tauchen Drums und Keyboards als weitere Lebenszeichen auf. Jetzt weitere Orgelschwaden, wieder und wieder, bis der Puls endlich von einer Rhythmusgitarre verstärkt wird und kräftig genug, den Bass wiederzubeleben für einen simplen Vierklang. Dazu das Geschrammel über sonorem Orgelfond und, für die finalen drei Minuten, tickende Cymbal, Pianonoten und Arcostriche, die diese vier Noten gemeinsam anstimmen. Bis zuletzt nur Cymbal und helle Pianotropfen bleiben. Was für ein Spannungsbogen, mit einer herausfordernd schmalen Brücke von Hier nach Da." [Rigobert Dittmann / Bad Alchemy] 2009 €14.00
Aether CD "Another remarkable performance from a group that has no peer and belongs to no genre or movement. Minimal in an essential and structural sense, they succeed where more formal attempts founder, in re-forming subjective time in a way that is genuinely gripping and as far from theoretical as great interpreters can get. Applying extraordinary technique in a remarkably discrete way, they here transfigure a single chord over a long duration, imperceptibly arriving far from their starting place meanwhile all values are subsumed into, and work only at the service of, a music that seems almost unplayed, emergent, inevitable. After all the statements are made there is a resurgence here of the sublime, in the last place you'd expect it, and through the unlikeliest means. An important project." [label info] www.rermegacorp.com 2001 €13.00
  Hanging Gardens CD "Completely unique, stunningly musical, technically impressive & breathtakingly simple. The Necks have defined an endlessly productive area of performance that is at once both minimal and gripping, obvious yet profoundly subtle. Easy to say, hard to achieve. It can take time for a group with a completely original idea to find its public & The Necks have been pursuing this one for over a decade in their native Australia - but it doesn't age, it just matures. " [label info] www.rermegacorp.com 1999 €13.00
NEW BLOCKADERS & VARIOUS ARTISTS Viva Negativa! A Tribute to the New Blockaders Vol. II - Europe do-CD "Volume II in a series of UK / European / US and Japanese artists’ tributes to the pioneering UK Noise group The New Blockaders including exclusive tracks by: Asmus Tietchens, RLW, Achim Wollscheid, Runzelstirn & Gurgelstock, Sudden Infant, Dave Philips, Das Synthetische Mischgewebe, Kommissar Hjuler, Mama Baer, Freiband, Vortex Campaign, Grunt, Lasse Marhaug, Jerome Noetinger, Christian Renou, Pita, Giancarlo Toniutti, Zbigniew Karkowski, Alexei Borisov, Cisfinitum, etc. Artwork by Richard Rupenus (TNB) The New Blockaders are a group who, more than any other, define the essence of true Noise music both in art and in act. Their influence on the current crop of popular crossover Noise artists such as Prurient and Wolf Eyes is immeasurable. Emerging at the beginning of the 1980s alongside the Industrial grind of Throbbing Gristle and the harsh, abrasive Power Electronics of Whitehouse, TNB stood out through a purity of vision. Their first record, 1982’s Changez Les Blockeurs, is noise in its most rudimentary form: metallic grating sounds and analogue feedback redefined what could be classified as music. Its abstract form and Dadaist construction challenged all that had appeared before. It’s anti-music approach presented a recording closer to the theory-driven work of Einsturzende Neubauten than their supposed contemporaries. They would appear rarely and when they did it would be in anonymity. The records would emerge even more infrequently with little information and in tiny runs. Collaborations in recent years with artists such as Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore and Merzbow have bough their anti-sound to a younger and diverse audience. The metal-bashing of K2, the awkwardness of Runzelstirn & Gurgelstock, the density of Macronympha and the abrasiveness of Merzbow all owe something to the anti-music of TNB. They can truly be credited as pioneers of Noise music as we know it today." [label info] www.aufabwegen.com Reissue of parts of the LP box on VoD, with some extra tracks by Jerome Noetinger, Kommissar Hjuler and more. "The New Blockaders, Noiseinfanterietrupp und frühe Vordenkerform bruitistischer Lärmcollagierung bekommt auf dieser Compilation ein frühes Denkmal neu aufgesetzt. Die vorliegende Kompilation, 2006 in ähnlicher Form auf dem VOD-Label veröffentlicht, bekommt hier eine gänzlich neue Formung mittels exklusiver Bearbeitungen und Widmungen und einem Mastering von Asmus Tietchens. Die versammelten Werke, allesamt bezogen auf die Tributisierung der NB reichen dabei von archaischer Klangformung bis hin zu penetrierenden Digitalschwaden kurzgeschnittener, fingernagelgroßer Klangpailetten. Achim Wollscheid, RLW, Tietchens selbst, Runzelstirn & Gurgelstøck in einer Paradestellung dafür was analog gegen digital bedeutet und Giancarlo Toniutti sind nur einige wenige, deren Beiträge sich sattsam an der Tatsache weiden, die frühen Ausläufe des Industrial in ihrer Glanzzeit als Musiker der selben Kunstgattung miterlebt zu haben. Wenngleich einige wenige Durchläufer überbleiben (wie z.B. Achim Wollscheids geradezu unhörbare Symphonie für geschredderte Samplebänke, die in ihrer Konsequenz zwar mutig genug ist, aber zu sehr hinter den anderen Beiträgen zurückkbleibt sowie Freiband’s programmatisch betiteltes »Nichts«, das geradezu unverschämt mager die Möglichkeiten gecrushter Feldaufnahmen untersucht und geradezu hingeworfen wirkt), sind die Beiträge von RLW (mit Einbindung der kompletten Familie in den Prozess der Manifestierung), Mama Bär (welche ihre kongenial platzierten Schreie gegenüber einer Metallbastonade tapestriert, um auf die Kontraste von Vokal und Bruit aufmerksam zu machen), Kommissar Hjuler (dessen Beitrag das Sujet allzu sehr ad absurdum führt, aber in seiner vehementen Konsequenz auch nicht davor zurückschreckt, Kinderlieder einzubinden) sowie die musique concréte-Arien von Jérôme Noetinger und Das Synthetische Mischgewebe (die mit ihrer Collage aus atonalen Kracherzeugern einen ähnlich bewegenden Ablauf schaffen wie seinerzeit Ruttmanns »Weekend«) in ihrer Klangwerdung geradezu vorbildlich beschaffen. Ein insgesamt sehr überzeugender Re-Release für all jene, denen die 10 Platten der VOD-Ausgabe zu teuer waren. 5/5 " [Thorsten Soltau / AEMAG] 2010 €17.50
  Viva Negativa ! Vol. III : USA do-CD "Die NEW BLOCKADERS sind eine Gruppe, die mehr als jede andere die Essenz des wahren Noise sowohl in Kunst als auch Musik definiert. Ihren Einfluss auf die aktuellen Crossover Noise Künstler wie PRURIENT und WOLF EYES ist nicht zu verkennen. Seit ihren ersten Schritten Anfang der 80er in der Gesellschaft des Industrial Grind von THROBIING GRISTLE und den kantigen Power Electronics von WHITEHOUSE, standen THE NEW BLOCKADERS immer für die Reinheit ihrer Vision. Ihr erstes Album, "Changez Les Blockers" von 1982, ist Noise in seiner ursprünglichsten Form: metallisches Knirschen und analoges Feedback definierten die Grenzen von Musik neu. Die abstrakte Form und die dadaistische Konstruktion stellten alles Dagewesene in Frage. Die Band sollte nur selten und dann anonym auftauchen. Alben kamen noch unregelmäßiger und meist in kleinen Stückzahlen. Kollaborationen mit Thurston Moore von SONIC YOUTH und MERBOW in jüngerer Vergangenheit haben den Sound von THE NEW BLOCKADERS auch einer jüngeren Generation nähergebracht. Das Metallgehaue von K2, die Ungemütlichkeit von RUNZELSTIRN&GURGELSTOCK, die Dichte von MACRONYMPHIA und die Kantigkeit von MERZBOW sind nicht ohne die Einflüsse der Anti-Musik der NEW BLOCKADERS." [label info/ Cargo] "Volume III in a series of UK / European / US and Japanese artists’ tributes to the pioneering UK Noise group The New Blockaders including exclusive tracks by: Z’EV, The Haters, Controlled Bleeding, Thurston Moore, Jim O’Rourke, Wolf Eyes, Macronympha, Emil Beaulieau, AMK, Idea Fire Company, John Wiese, Daniel Menche, Damion Romero, Aaron Dilloway, Lockweld, Prurient, Richard Ramirez, Keith Fullerton Whitman, Jason Kahn, mnortham, Carlos Giffoni, Blue Sabbath Black Cheer, etc. Artwork by Richard Rupenus (TNB) The New Blockaders are a group who, more than any other, define the essence of true Noise music both in art and in act. Their influence on the current crop of popular crossover Noise artists such as Prurient and Wolf Eyes is immeasurable. Emerging at the beginning of the 1980s alongside the Industrial grind of Throbbing Gristle and the harsh, abrasive Power Electronics of Whitehouse, TNB stood out through a purity of vision. Their first record, 1982’s Changez Les Blockeurs, is noise in its most rudimentary form: metallic grating sounds and analogue feedback redefined what could be classified as music. Its abstract form and Dadaist construction challenged all that had appeared before. It’s anti-music approach presented a recording closer to the theory-driven work of Einsturzende Neubauten than their supposed contemporaries.They would appear rarely and when they did it would be in anonymity. The records would emerge even more infrequently with little information and in tiny runs. Collaborations in recent years with artists such as Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore and Merzbow have bough their anti-sound to a younger and diverse audience. The metal-bashing of K2, the awkwardness of Runzelstirn & Gurgelstock, the density of Macronympha and the abrasiveness of Merzbow all owe something to the anti-music of TNB. They can truly be credited as pioneers of Noise music as we know it today. Disc One: Z'EV "Chips Off The New Block" Keith Fullerton Whitman "September 27th, 1960" Alan Courtis "Happy Blockaders Time" Controlled Bleeding "The Latest Hole In My Head" Plethora "Last Night I Dremt Of Anti-Fest... This Morning I Woke Up Deaf" Macronympha "Riding Down Lost Highway" The Haters "Mantra To Rot" Emil Beaulieau "Anti-Vartan" Lockweld "Catharsis Bomb" Daniel Menche "Smoldered Blockaders" John Wiese "Annul" Broken Penis Orchestra "The Kill Lump" Jason Kahn "Rille" Disc Two: Idea Fire Company "Les Heros De La Barricade Finale" mnortham "Plotting Course On The Field Of Nothingness" Thurston Moore "Corion Sound for TNB" Jim O'Rourke "407 Seconds Over" Damion Romero "Broken Block" Prurient "Majdanek Slaughterhouse" Richard Ramirez "Cultural Blockade" Blue Sabbath Black Cheer "Untitled" Carlos Giffoni "Richard Walks Into The Sea" AMK "Phlegm Angst" Aaron Dilloway "Machine Rape (Blitzkrieg)" Wolf Eyes "Fisted Gadgets" " [label website info] www.importantrecords.com 2010 €17.50
NEW BLOCKADERS / THURSTON MOORE / JIM O'ROURKE The Voloptulist maxi-CD "Some sick, cold atmospherics on this first time colaboration between The New Blockaders, Thurston Moore, Jim O'Rourke and guest Chris Corsano. Track one - TNB with Thurston Moore - is a brooding death tone overlaid with grinding, scraping noises that become increasingly beast-like as the track progresses. Track two - TNB with Jim O'Rourke - is more subtle but equally as menacing. Manipulated white noise and radio waves collide head on at the two minute mark with some muffled, claustrophobic percussion, courtesey of Corsano. Short, sweet and tense as f**k. Recommended." [label info] "...The disc is divided into two pieces, the first being the collaboration with Thurston, which turns out to be a particularly obscure drone piece, constituted from hissing feedback tones, tape crackle and some sort of chaotic, mechanical sound sources. The piece evolves infinitesimally over the course of its fourteen minutes, rendering an uncompromising, though highly textured vision of analogue sound sculpting. The other, shorter piece '840 Seconds Over' continues in its predecessor's campaign of high frequency feedback manipulations this time with the addition of some caterwhauling noise oscillator free jazz and typically virtuosic improv drumming from Corsano. It's a real force to be reckoned with, and the crispness of Corsano's kit works perfectly against the hiss and fizz from the tape-heavy, droning elements. It's all over rather too soon (the whole thing clocks in at just over twenty-one minutes), but you can hardly expect anyone to keep up these levels of intensity for prolonged periods, can you? Superb, top-flight noise." [Boomkat] 2007 €10.00
NEW HUMANS AKA NEW HUMANS / VITO ACCONCI / C.SPENCER YEH Semishigure semi011 "Noise surrounds and permeates us, and no one is more responsible than the New Humans from that loudest and noisiest of metropolises: New York. From installation art to ear splitting live concerts, this infernal power trio lead by artist Mika Tajima eschews no collaboration, no matter how insane. Guitarist and artistic leader Tajimi is supported by electronics specialist and voice acrobat Howie Chen, drummer Eric Tsai, as well as a large number of guest musicians. The New Humans like nothing more than to drag friend and foe with them into their noise avalanches. Semishigure proudly presents the fourth release, a unique live collaboration with artist Vito Acconci, a pioneer of body/conceptual art, and vintage experimentalist C. Spencer Yeh. This album consists of two concerts that took place during an exposition of the collective at the Elizabeth Dee Gallery in New York. Two electrifying, memorable performances that just had to be registered on CD. The last time American performance legend Vito Acconci collaborated with a band was more than ten years ago, when he worked with punk rock brigade the Mekons. A similarly untainted, classically grim punk attitude shines through in his spoken word performance with the New Humans. “You in the Background” is the name of their jointly raised middle finger to the world. Floating on the ominously swelling waves of noise created by the New Humans, Acconci throws all frustrations overboard. Captive to a feverish, shamanic trip, Acconci speaks of each and everyone’s search for their own identity. Acconci has made a special selection from his audio works for the occasion. Texts such as “Now do you believe the dirty dogs are dead” (1978) and “Cry, baby!” (1977) still sound like screams for enlightenment and liberation. C. Spencer Yeh’s plaintive violin careens into the impenetrable wailing wall of feedback. The New Humans not just voice, but scream their anger of life under the Bush regime, and in Acconci they have found a worthy ally. C. Spencer Yeh and the New Humans go the whole hog on the second live concert, an immensely loud drone séance lasting half an hour. Like no other, radical violinist Yeh manages to infiltrate any collective, be it Dream/Aktion Unit, Comets of Fire or Smegma. Through his trademark exorcising Velvets violin sound Yeh manages to create unbearable tension with the New Humans’ sound avalanches in hot pursuit. During the performance, a glass sculpture is destroyed and the noise of its breaking amplified. At any moment the waves of noise terror threaten to submerge Yeh, but he stands firm. Thank God this all-engulfing live experience has been registered for posterity!" [label info] www.bottrop-boy.com 2009 €13.00
NEZNAMO Aiwyâstô CD "If somebody still doesn't know, behind the Neznamo project stands the Moscow-based musician Dmitry Shilov who stepped on the path of ritual ambient music in 1996 under the stage name of Unknown. After releasing five albums on the "Strely Peruna" ("Perun's Arrows") label, the project temporarily fell in a lethargic sleep but woke up again in 2006 with a renewed name and approach. As Neznamo Dmitriy has released several mini-albums on his own label Moonsun Productions, as well as a number of collaboration works with several other acts from the Russian drone underground: Misery, Bardo, Lunar Abyss, Siyanie, etc… For those interested in the project's roots and branches we can give some more keywords: Temnozor', Medve Na Meche, Peal Grim, Magickal Things. "Aiwyâstô" is Neznamo's first full-length album and first "factory-pressed" CD. The album consists of one 42-min long composition recorded in a deep transcendental state. Covered in ornaments of unhasting vibrations, flickering and parallel sound layers, dense string drone permeates the whole track. This music is for lovers of deep inner self diving. Towards the depths of pitch-dark sound where one can see all forms dissolving in emptiness and being reborn by it again in an endless game of space and imagination." [label info] zhb.radionoise.ru/eng/releases.html "The shadowy figure behind Neznamo is the same Muscovite who offered up the Peal Grim cd from a couple months back. That was the album sporting the disclaimer "This record is not recommended to listening for depressively inclined persons" and Aiwyasyo is a blackened ambient record of a similar disposition. This album is not as exasperatedly bleak as the Peal Grim album, but it makes for another really amazing entry in the canons of contemporary Russian dark ambient works. Synth, guitars, and spectral emanations may or may not be in the mix for the bleak electrical pools of Aiwyasto. Sawtooth hums and buzzes gird the semi-melodic fugues that swirl, rumble, and brood over 40 minutes into this overwhelmingly sublime expanse of Ur-drone majesty that's not all that far from the likes of Troum / Maeror Tri, Aidan Baker's more turbulent solo works, and the cosmological grimness of Inade. Very nice, indeed." [Aquarius Rec.] 2015 €13.00
NEZNAMO / KRYPTOGEN RUNDFUNK / LUNAR ABYSS DEUS ORGANUM Magnitnaj Zmij CD-R "A triple split from the projects which played together in the cultural center "Dom", Moscow on February 17, 2009, containing the material recorded live at that event. Neznamo - archaic drone ambient with live flute. Kryptogen Rundfunk - gritty noisy electronics filled with radio interference, samples and analogue signals. L.A.D.O. - multi-layered fractal psychedelic ambient." [label info] 2009 €11.00
NIBLOCK, PHILL Six Films (1966-1969) DVD "Deluxe tri-fold Limited Edition of 500 copies. NTSC, PAL, All Region DVD, Stereo, run time: 86 minutes, 4:3 format. Die Schachtel in collaboration with O'artspace is proud to present a deluxe DVD featuring Six experimental Films by Phill Niblock from the late Sixties. Anybody familiar with the name of Phill Niblock would probably characterise his work by the sound of long sonorous drones producing rich overtones, usually combined with a visual element, as Niblock before moving into composition was an active photographer and filmmaker. While he usually is known for his Films from the movement of people working series alongside performances of his music, Niblock's early works stand apart as unique objects. The integrity and consistency of his style is fully on display in these seldomly seen screened 16mm sound Films wonders, that are: MORNING (1966-69) from an idea by Phill Niblock and Jean Claude Van Itallie, filmed by PN, text by Lee Worley and Michael Corner, with members of the Open Theater Group.Black and White 16mm film. THE MAGIC SUN (1966 - 68) with members of the Sun Ra Arkestra, music by Sun Ra and the Arkestra. Filmed with a high contrast Black and White 16mm film. DOG TRACK (1969) A film by Phill Niblock, with a found text read by Barbara Porte. Color 16mm film. ANNIE (1968) A portrait of the dancer Ann Danoff, with a sound collage sound track. Color 16mm film. MAX (1966 - 68) An image collage film-portrait of Max Neuhaus, with a collage sound track by Max Neuhaus. Black and White 16mm film. RAOUL (1968 - 69) A portrait of the painter Raoul Middleman, with extensive use of time-lapse film technique. The sound track is improvised by Raoul Middleman and Phill Niblock. Color 16mm film." [label info] www.die-schachtel.com 2009 €22.00
Music for Cello CD "3 To 7 - 196 (1974, 24 minutes) Descent Plus (1978/1995, 22 minutes) Summing II (1981, 32 minutes) Phill Niblock's Music For Cello collects three pieces from the 70's and early 80's, performed by cellist David Gibson. This CD includes a 16 page unpublished interview with Phill Niblock. Since the late sixties Phill Niblock has been composing long-form acoustic drones with a focus on the rhythms and overtones that rise from closely tuned instruments. His highly original and influential music is an exploration of timbre, microtonality, stability, duration and psychoacoustic phenomenon. "3 to 7 - 196 is very direct, aggressive, and gritty. The overtone patterns that are produced by the proximal pitches become more prominent with louder volume. So please, play this piece very loud. This was the first piece of mine in which the musician was precisely tuned, in which I chose exact pitches in hertz. We used a sine wave oscillator and frequency counter for the tuning. Descent Plus has four cello tones descending one octave over twenty-two minutes, from 300 hertz to 150 hertz. David Gibson played these tones without lifting his bow from the strings, constantly retuning. I made four different scores, manually changing an oscillator to which he was tuning, for each track's recording. For the revision, we added six more tracks, with David playing long tones which were not descending. The second part of the recording was made nearly twenty years later. Summing II (one of four parts) is mellow and sonorous. David plays two strings simultaneously, one of which is retuned for each successive recording of that pair of tones. This is a mix of an eight track tape. It's better played loud also." - Phill Niblock from liner notes" 2018 €15.00
  Music for Organ LP First time release of these live-recordings by Phill Niblock from 2007 and 2019. A SIDE UNMOUNTED / MUTED NOUN, 2019: for organ AND 4 pre-recorded tracks. Commissioned by Musica Festival Strasbourg for Hampus Lindwall B SIDE NAGRO (AKA - ORGAN), 2007: for organ and tape. Tape material was recorded May 1, 2007 at the Joseph Gatto Organ (1787) in Sankt Kirchberg am Wagram, Austria by Emanuel Schmelzer-Ziringer https://phillniblock-mm.bandcamp.com/album/music-for-organ "Phill Niblock brings half a century of work in prism-pushing minimalist composition to a pair of towering Organ pieces performed by Hampus Lindwall and Emanuel Schmelzer-Ziringer, and recorded in 2007 + 2019. His ‘Music For Organ’ surely arrives at a high zeitgeist moment for organ music - like his younger counterparts, Phill has keenly worked at the radical peripheries of whatever instrument he uses, systematically isolating and highlighting its phenomenological peculiarities and often subverting their context. However, as a son of the pivotal late ’60s era, Phill is also a true autodidact and applies a rigorous, if raw, approach to his music that always generates gripping, and often challenging, results, as heard here. The A-side’s ‘Unmounted / Muted Noun’ (2019) for organ and 4 pre-recorded tracks was commissioned by Musica Festival Strasbourg for Hampus Lindwall and recorded in the composer’s presence. It appears to feature the organist stacking dense blocks of chords into a blinding black mass of roiling harmonics that do not let up until the runout groove. For 24 minutes the piece sustains a breathless pressure that’s either hellish, ecstatic or simply otherworldly, depending on your disposition, and we can only imagine that the Orgelbau Klais organ must have made it feel like the walls of the C.15th Collégiale Sainte-Waudrau church in, Mons, Belgium were about to crumble. In stark contrast, the B-side’s ’Nagro (AKA - Organ)’ (2007), for organ and tape, performed by Emanuel Schmelzer-Ziringer at the Joseph Gatto organ (1787) in Sankt Kirchberg Am Wagram, Austria, feels much more pent in its transition thru tight, glistening higher registers. Up there, the piece feels out a fine range of tonalities and harmonic spectra, which, while dominated by the pealing highs, is also fleshed out with rolling low end in a seat-edge but heavy-lidded display of never-resolved tension. 2019 €26.00
NILSEN, BJ & STILLUPPSTEYPA Drykkjuvisur Ohljodanna CD Zweite Zusammenarbeit der Skandinavier, und wieder wird eine geheimnisvolle, einsame & endlose Soundwelt erschaffen, die seltsam entrückt wie frühe WERKBUND-Sachen auf uns wirkt.... Wie DEUTSCH NEPAL oder KARJALAN SISSIT scheinen auch der ex- HAZARD- (und die Isländer von STILLUPPSTEYPA sowieso) eine geradezu obsessives Verhältnis zum Alkohol zu besitzen, die in diese Aufnahmen mit eingeflossen ist; wie der lange Absturz nach der rauschvollen Ekstase, surreal halluzinierend und beklemmend... "In Scandinavia, it's not uncommon to hear of someone's mother, grandfather, uncle, or plumber who drank him-or-herself to death at an early age; and the Swedish drone artist BJ Nilsen has felt the alcoholic pangs which may foreshadow his own demise. In recent years, Nilsen has turned to his Icelandic neighbors Sigtryggur Berg Sigmarsson and Helgi Thorsson (collectively known as Stilluppsteypa) in existential sympathy over the problems of their collective lust for alcohol. Drykkjuvisur Ohljodanna marks the second collaborative document of abject minimalism that these three have composed; and like its predecessor Vikinga Brennivin, this album is spiked with drunken thought. Any alcohol induced euphoria has been tempered by perturbing blackouts, moments of cruelty, and an all-consuming nihilism. Beyond their shared Scandinavian heritage, their expressionist urge for the frigid drone, and their penchant for drink, BJ Nilsen and Stilluppsteypa intend this recording as an open ended experience, wandering through their sound without the burden of any exegetical text that may get in the way. Drykkjuvisur Ohljodanna resolves itself as a grim kaleidoscope, where the bleakness of the wintry Scandinavian landscape and the langour of a drunken escapade constantly mutate through the highly refined sensibility of dronescaping. Sonar pings announce the beginning of this album, with its echoes returning as an amorphous fog and locating little but a gloomy pall upon the event horizon. Clattering electronics scurry across the barren sounds like death-watch beetles upon the tundra; and creaking doors offer something much more foreboding than what Pierre Henry envisioned for musique concrete. Drykkjuvisur Ohljodanna adheres to the psychological dis-quiet through sound design that Alan Splet provided for Eraserhead or that Nurse With Wound achieved on Salt Marie Celeste. Yet for all of their tendencies for brooding and desolation, BJ Nilsen & Stilluppsteypa retain a compulsion for a glacial beauty through their intoxicated visions of the sublime.... " [label info] "...On the same Helen Scarsdale Agency label the second collaboration between B.J. Nilsen and Stillupsteypa. One perhaps wondered if the latter were still around, because the last thing we heard was the previous work with Nilsen (see Vital Weekly 460) and again alcohol abuse in the Scandinavian territory is the main theme here. It's a firm continuation of the previous album. Using also field recordings this is much along similar lines of the Jim Haynes album and far away from the last thing we heard from Stillupsteypa (which was close to being a disco band). A winter landscape, frozen roads, empty swirling through a desolate country is what is on this album. They captured the stale wind and put it to music. If the term Isolationist music hadn't been invented before, it should be done for this album. Droning landscapes, quietly humming, and even at times using a faint trace of a melody, such as in 'Undir Ahrifum/Sunderlaus' (all credits are in Swedish and Icelandic - two entirely different languages) with something that might very well a guitar. And sometimes it seems nothing is happening at all, such a breeze, such as in 'Supbröder/Drykkjufelagar', humming quietly. This album is a great one, excellently produced, but perhaps not holding something that is entirely new to the world of electronic music, but rather carries on a tradition, which sometimes is fair enough." [FdW / Vital Weekly] "For a country whose entire population is only half that of San Francisco, Iceland has an exceptionally prolific arts community. One could easily look to the big Icelandic names in pop music (i.e. Bjork and Sigur Ros); but there's also slightly lesser known (but even more adventurous) music from the likes of Johann Johannson, Apparat Organ Quartet, and the entire output of the Kitchen Motors institution. But our personal favorite from Iceland remains Stilluppsteypa, whose dada drunkenness and black humor has developed arctic undercurrents to their increasingly bleak drone-based work. On Drykkjuvisur Ohljodanna, the Stilluppsteypa duo of Sigtryggur Berg Sigmarsson and Helgi Thorsson have hooked up once again with the Swedish sound artist BJ Nilsen, perhaps best known for his triumphant elemental drone work as Hazard released through Touch. Sigmarsson sums up the communal idea behind this album as a "love for drones, Scandinavia, and alcohol." Of course, he then proceeds to type a polysyllabic onomatopoetic bunch of drunken text that makes our extend-o-spelling of doom seem trite by comparison. The previous collaboration Vikinga Brennivin was an homage to the Icelandic firewater of the same name; yet it held a clarity and singlemindedness rarely attributed to alcoholic excess. Drykkjuvisur Ohljodanna has that same contradictory dualism of conceptually relating to being fucked up without totally losing a grip on reality. Or perhaps these three Scandinavians have gotten so loaded that they drifted into a parallel universe of liquid physics and amorphous gravity. Needless to say, Drykkjuvisur Ohljodanna is another masterful album of alchemical drone, that's even darker and more morose than its predecessor. Sonar pulses and crackles of wood break up the jet-black atmospheres of frozen electronic drones, resonant frequencies, and hallucinatory echoes rippling way out on the outer regions of the event horizon for this sonic black hole. At times falling close to the constant spiralling of Nurse With Wound's Salt Marie Celeste, and times recalling the best isolationism of Thomas Köner. Somber, magnificent, and exquisitely constructed!" [Aquarius Records] 2006 €13.00
  Passing Out CD Dritter Teil der nordischen "Drone & Alkohol-Intoxikation"-Trilogie, die den Zustand des Wegtretens zwischen Wachheit und Dämmerzustand klanglich adäquat wiederspiegelt; im tiefen Drone-Morast erscheinen Traumbilder, -gedanken & akustische Sequenzen der Realität auf. In paradoxer Weise ist man dann in der Lage, sowohl unbewusste wie bewusste Geistes-Inhalte zur gleichen Zeit wahrzunehmen...(sagen die Erzeuger dieses Albums). PASSING OUT ist ein One-Tracker von fast 70 Minuten, tiefgrummelnd-bassig und sonor und von mysteriösen, atmend-ächzenden Sounds durchzogen.... "The first chapter found the drink. The second came after a night of intoxicated shouting. The third chapter is inevitable: Passing Out. The Nordic sound artists BJ Nilsen & Stilluppsteypa have authored the last component to a trilogy of isolationist compositions for barren field recordings and lumbering electric drones, thematically linked in the psychotropic effects of alcohol. In doing so, they have issued a brief statement in defense of their research: "It's been four years and three studies, Passing Out being the final. Even in its most general, colloquial usage, Passing Out indicates the occurrence of a state that is incompatible with active behavior. It is possible that the individual could experience both consciousness and unconsciousness at the same time while encountering Passing Out." Yes, Passing Out is a crepuscular recording, with the flickering of twilight further dimmed by the distant Arctic sun in wintertime and the blackened numbness of too much drink. With one singular track that spans 60 minutes, a nearly constant thrum and rumble of monochromatic low frequencies casts a grim pall upon the precisely dialed-in modulations and vibrations. Spectral guitars, maudlin tunes from haunted radios, angrily growling voices, and field recordings of wind-whipped snow and ice bury themselves deep amidst these subharmonic drones. All of these tease at the edge of perception, sculpting the narrative of the drone into a vehicle for unhinged expressionism of varying degrees of horror, melancholy, beauty, and oblivion. The Swedish born BJ Nilsen defines his work as "focused upon the sound of nature and its effects on humans, and the perception of time and space as experienced through sound." He has numerous recordings on Touch and has collaborated with the likes of Chris Watson, Christian Fennesz, and Z'ev. The Icelandic citizens Sigtryggur Berg Sigmarsson and Helgi Thorsson are Stilluppsteypa, whose electronic abstractions engage absurd theatrics that mar the pristine surface of minimalism..." [label info] "....The complete and total isolation of the music, the long passages of seemingly no action (there is just one piece, clocking it at 68 minutes), with then a sudden break, a melody filters in, the radio starts humming and field recordings - that backbone of so much in Vital Weekly and certainly here - make this an album of not just pure drones or just processed field recordings, but the strange elements thrown in, give this album a stranger, almost alien feel to it. If it's the equivalent of passing out is a bit hard to say: the act of passing out on alcohol prevents you from remembering anything. This is however their best album to date and makes a strong trilogy." [FdW / Vital Weekly] "...Deep resonant vibrations abound, with some creepy breathing in your ear whisperings that may be those Leif Elggren vocals that Benny was talking about. Gradually, all of these deep drones and shadowy overtures glide into a slumbering descent. But the Icelandic weirdoes in Stilluppsteypa couldn't just let the album drift away without their absurdism forcing through the door, as they blurt with a clinical repetition of blooping electronics smashed and grabbed from Raymond Scott circa Manhattan Research. It's an unsettling climax to the album, but one that works brilliantly through Stilluppsteypa's expert use of electro-acoustic black humor. But it's drone that dominates the album, as angelic wash and devilish rumble collude to end this magnificent album. Oblivion never sounded so good. Passing Out is beautifully packaged with letterpressed and silkscreened artwork. Very nice." [Aquarius Records review] www.helenscarsdale.com 2008 €13.00
NOCTURNAL EMISSIONS Stoneface LP Accumulation and assembly in the Derbyshire Dales in the Caroline K studios. Digital mastery achieved in Silver Octopus studios Buxton, Derbyshire, England, 29th July 1989. Mastering : Paul Lavigne March 2023 Layout : Pole Ka Dedicated to the new active listener. https://fernsrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/stoneface Nigel Ayers’ most accessible emission? The glut of his ‘band’s prolific history has generally been a full-scale assault upon the senses, via either dingy slabs of noise or near-pretty industrial musique concrete. Stoneface operates on many levels, a set of gruelling, scraping, yet strangely attractive organic sounds that reveal numerously coloured layers with successive listens. Recorded in 1988, these sonic morsels play with near-baroque tendencies, devolved factory rhythms, spiritual solemnity and lucid minimalism, sometimes gripping, sometimes forgettable, but never uninvolving. And, as has been the case with the recent wealth of Emissions releases, it’s best to observe Stoneface’s sacred experiments in one complete sitting, where Ayers can effectively work his art on you with your complete, undivided and willing immersion. Darren Bergstein I/E "The 1980s were particularly fruitful for The Nocturnal Emissions, later dropping 'the'. Starting in the early second wave of industrial music, they quickly began experimenting with different styles. Electronic pop, for lack of a better or the industrial electro breakbeats of 'Viral Shedding' (a personal favourite of mine) and then, for a somewhat more extended period, coming ambient soundscapes with the residue of industrial cling clang. Around this time, 1986, the group, now effectively a solo project of Nigel Ayers (and in 2023 still going strong), the interest in magick, stone circles, techno–shamanism, neo-paganism, animism and Fortean research (I am quoting Wiki here) was added to the situationist interests. 'Stoneface' is from 1989, when the style was developed at its best, and the Emissions did some of their best work in this direction (along with 'Spiritflesh' and 'Invocation Of The Beast Gods'). However, it's all a bit in the no-longer-distant past. I wish I could say I play all of these records once a year; I don't, although 'Viral Shedding' is on my phone, so those tracks I hear on every random play the thing is on. As I played these nine pieces, I realized that what attracted me at the time and still does is the relatively straightforward approach to technology. I remember seeing Nocturnal Emissions a couple of times in those years. If I'm not mistaken, there were a couple of those early sampling devices, the Casio SK1 or SK5, with a 1,2 (or so) second memory, but when played through a bunch of stomp boxes, you could do a lot with relatively easy sounds. I always suspected Ayers to have altered his machines, but I am unsure. His sound palette includes animal sounds, kitchen utensils, voices, and whatever makes noise. I guess Ayers had access to some decent multi-track machine, and using many tracks gives these lo-fi samples some great depth. There are some great drones, some rusty percussion, some good use of reverb and excellent quality around here. Some phase shifting (play similar loops with minor intervals, so they never overlap in the same way) is used to significant effect here so that most of the time, you have no idea you hear only short loops. Yet, there is always movement, thanks to those very same loops being brief and to the point. An excellent record that has aged quite well and is a fine reminder to play some of the old ones again. Time is what I want, more time! [FdW / Vital Weekly] 2023 €21.00
NOISES OF RUSSIA Experimental Structure CD-R Von dieser extrem interessanten russischen Performance-Gruppe sind Releases nur schwer zu bekommen. Hier ein Mitschnitt aus St. Petersburg vom Oktober 2008, als sie hinter TROUM auftraten und mit diversen Gastmusikern eine theatralisch-expressive Stimmung heraufbeschwörten, sehr dunkel & geräuschaft & voller Spannung.. "Nowadays Noises Of Russia is one of the most known groups on the Russian experimental post-industrial scene, mainly because of their numerous concerts and CDR-releases, published by their leader - Gosha Solnzev aka 1g0g ("Van Gog") - on his own label ElectroIndustria. This release has captured one of such concerts which took place at the Experimental Sound Gallery (ESG-21) in St. Petersburg in October 2008... This concert was peculiar because of the non-traditional band line-up which aside from 1g0g included some of his friends: musicians Nikolay Kalmykov (Hladna), M.M. (Kryptogen Rundfunk), Igor Potsukailo (Bardoseneticcube) and Evgeny Savenko (Lunar Abyss Deus Organum), and also VJ Alco (video projection) and Grigory Glazunov (ODDDance Theatre, butoh dance). By common efforts these comrades performed totally improvised material quite typical for the "St. Petersburg post-industrial wave" and combining elements of collage, industrial, noise and ambient. Field recordings and voice manipulations, metal percussion and rough analogue signals, guitar semi-melodies and various sound effects - all this is harmoniously blended in the unified psychedelic soundsphere." [label info] http://zhb.radionoise.ru/ 2008 €7.50
NON TOXIQUE LOST (NTL) OGRE-SSE LP Sehr authentischer, gesellschaftskritischer deutscher 80er Jahre-Industrial dieser vergessenen Band (vor kurzem gab es jedoch schon eine LP auf Wachsender Prozess), zwingende elektronische Rhythmen und Pulsationen, Schreigesang mit zynisch-verzweifelten Texten, Noises & Effekte am richtigen Fleck, eingespielt als richtige „Band“... die Stücke sind meist unveröffentlichte Tracks aus den Jahren 1983 bis 1985 und zeigen die Vielfalt der Band, unser Lieblings-Release bisher auf V.O.D. ! If you like classic 80“s Industrial this is a true must-have !!! „13 Songs aus dem Zeitstrom herausgerissen (1983-1985). Sie waren bisher nicht auf Schallplatte und wurden auch noch nie im Radio gespielt (einige davon waren jedoch schon auf internationalen "cassetten-samplern" in den 80er Jahren veröffentlicht worden !) Diese "style ist irrelevant" Kompositionen sind jetzt zu einem deutschen (damals noch: "die BRD") Film zusammengeschweisst. Man wird mit wilden Schreien konfrontiert und es gibt heftige Sound-Angriffe, die in den Zustand von "...keine Lösung" einmünden. Man nannte das damals "ursprünglichen industrial Punk". Und das ist NON TOXIQUE LOST. Und es ist auch Musik um einen Traumzustand zu erreichen..“ [label info] “13 songs pulled out of the stream of time (1983-1985). they have never been on record or on air (nevertheless, some have been released on international. cassette-compilations in the '80s !). these "style is irrelevant" compositions are now molded together into a german (at that time "the frg") movie. you will be confronted with strong shouts and there will be violent (sound) charges, which run into the state of "...no solution". back then they called it "primal industrial-punk". and that's non toxique lost. it's music that will put you into a dream state as well....” [press release] “....The most unknown one is possibly the band Non Toxique Lost, even when Achim Wollscheid was a band member. Non Toxique Lost existed in the earlier parts of the 80s and in recent days (having released a 7" on Klangalerie as-well as some CDs on Dossier Records). Back in the old days, they released a now sought after LP, aswell as tracks on compilations, but never gained the fame of Die Tödliche Doris or P16.D4. The line up is pretty 'normal', with Sea Wanton (vocals, electronics, effects), S. Schütze (violin, bass), A. Wollscheid (electronics, guitar, effects), H. Wöhler (live effects) and Jammin' Unit ( live effects). Rhythm-machines play an important role, over which the band-members semi-improvise their sounds. Semi, because I think some of this stuff was pre-planned, and that in some way or the other they rehearsed their songs. Especially when the lyrics can be heard through all the noise and effects, Non Toxique Lost sound like the lost brother of Throbbing Gristle. Quite nice, these orgasmic explosions of rhythm and noise. Definitely one of the nicer bands that got lost, and certainly in demand for more re-issueing.” [Fdw / Vital weekly] 2005 €15.00
NOVAK, YANN The Voice of Theseus CD From Yann Novak In Greek mythology, the legend of Theseus describes how the king-founder of ancient Athens rescues the children of his city from King Minos’ minotaur on the island of Crete. In commemoration, Athenians began a pilgrimage to honor his victory, taking the ship of Theseus and sailing it from Athens to Delos. It was with this tradition that a philosophical paradox about the historic ship was raised: As the ship was repaired, piece by piece, until it was no longer composed of any original parts, at what point could the ship no longer be considered the same entity? In recent years, I’ve become interested in exploring the perceptual differences I experience. While some of these differences—partial color blindness and dyslexia—have been with me my entire life, tinnitus caused by hearing damage is a relatively new change to how I experience the world. It is these sensory challenges which have shaped my artistic practice by creating what I call a perceptual insecurity—an uncertainty of how accurately I discern the world around me. The Voice of Theseus is my attempt to explore the obstacles I face in processing external sensory information. If I have trouble perceiving reds and greens, if I have trouble hearing certain frequencies, if I don’t interpret written language in a standard way, how closely can I experience reality in the way that others experience it? The album asks the listener to question how their unique means of perception and interpretation might differ from that of others. For The Voice of Theseus, I asked two of my favorite vocalists to assist with this experiment. Both Dorian Wood and G.Brenner recorded vocals for me to manipulate throughout the album. If their original audio is Theseus’s ship, the changes I make to their voices are like the Athenians replacing each of the original vessel’s pieces. And so, how far can these vocals be pushed while still remaining attached to the vocalists’ identities? Where lies the separation between the source materials and the objects they’re used to create? The myth of Theseus’ ship allowed me to tease at the nuances of how reality can be observed, interpreted, and altered in an indeterminate number of ways; it can be dismantled and rebuilt, many times over. And yet, because of my internal circumstances, a perceptual insecurity remains. As flexible as the true nature of an object or moment may be, inaccuracy looms. There’s no real way to know how great the disparity is between my observational experiences and another’s, and no clear limit of how many pieces of our shared reality can be altered—before it stops being just that. https://yannnovak.bandcamp.com/album/the-voice-of-theseus-2 2023 €16.00
NOVI_SAD Jailbirds CD Das zweite Album für dieses griechische Minimal / Drone-Projekt, der gerade auch in der MORT AUX VACHES-Reihe zu Ehren kam; verschiedenste hyper-minimale Drone-Felder und Field Recording-Sprengsel formen, teils sehr wuchtig & bassig wummernd. Anklänge an ILIOS, FRANCISCO LOPEZ, etc.. "Limited to 500 copies and housed in our plastic-free gatefold sleeves with spine. art design by cs08. Novi_Sad's work came to our attention via our good friend Susanna Bolle (Non-Event and Rare Frequency) in Boston. A superbly keen ear, Bolle felt that his work and our label should connect. Though Nov-Sad's has only a few years of practice behind him, the quality and maturity of all of his efforts is striking. The proposed Jailbirds material for Sedimental was totally complete and not only of the highest quality but also of a truly unique vision. What is significant in his work is the multiplicity of its action on the listener. It is a density of sound, acting in three-dimensions, not as auditory 'sound effect' but as music with depth both physically and in functionality. Its intensity and purposefulness based in specific conceptual foundations and enhanced by a mastery (and transcendence) of technical means collapses amplified environmental recordings, drone manipulations, structured ambient soundscapes, microtones and overtones into unified whole. Sedimental is truly excited to be an early anchor of this young composer and sound artist's serious oeuvre. Novi_Sad (Thanasis Kaproulias, b. 1980) is a graduate student from the Economic University of Piraues. He lives and works in Athens, Greece where he began generating sounds in 2005. His debut album Misguided heart pulses, a hammer, she and the clock received worldwide critical acclaim. Recently, Novi_Sad did a recording session at the prestigious VPRO studios in Amsterdam, for the Dutch National Radio which will be released by Staalplaat [NL] in the Mort Aux Vaches series. A recent piece called Dramazon is available on TouchRadio from the publishing house Touch [U.K]. He is currently working on a project based on various methods of audio analysis called Sirens in which he explores the aesthetics of information on sound by using quantitative data from major stock market crashes in history." [label info] www.sedimental.com "...The attraction of his music lies, I think, in the combination of microsound and dark ambient music. There are the cracks and hisses of micro world, but also the thunderous deep ambient drones which can be top heavy, like in the opening ‘Komdu! Hvert?’. Field recordings, the call of the birds, leak through here, as the deep bass dies out very slowly for the rest of duration of the song. ‘Torched Estates’ starts out with some nasty high pitched sounds, but throughout the pieces moves into various heights and depths, and it strikes me that this is the more complex piece of the two on this release. Many heavily processed field recordings are present, but then also sometimes naked and pure. Whereas the first is built around one theme, is the second piece more a collage of various moods and textures. Quite loud microsound altogether, and thus a strong break with tradition. Great one." [FdW, Vital Weekly] 2009 €13.00
NU & APA NEAGRA Omag CD Rumänische Underground-Psychedelia auf dem Berliner Label LOLLIPOPPE SHOPPE (die auch schon VOLGA und KARPATY MAGICZNE herausgebracht haben)! Ethno- & Folk-Einflüsse, field recordings, dichte & dunkle Atmosphäre; das Spektrum reicht von ruhigen, sehr anmutigen Passagen bis hin zum ekstatischen free-impro Chaos und elektronischen Bearbeitungen, immer weird & eigen, was ist das nur für Musik? Aber lassen wir jetzt noch den staunenden Rigobert Dittmann sprechen: "Ähnlich wie The Magic Carpathians Projekt lässt mich der Sazspieler und multiinstrumentale Alleskönner Sasa-Liviu Stoianovici im rumänischen Timisoara bedauern, dass ich so wenig Musik aus den östlichen Nachbarländern kenne. Omag (The Lollipoppe Shoppe, LSCD 08) ist nämlich wieder ein stellenweise beklemmend schöner und durchwegs spannender Beitrag zur ‚Imaginären Folklore‘, mit dem selbstverständlichen Einsatz von Loopsampler, Mikrokorg und Fieldrecordings neben der Saz und der Kurzhalslaute Cobza, von Vlad Sturdzas E-Gitarre neben Maultrommel und Szilander Farks Sitar, von Calin Torsancs Reeds & Klarinette neben Alexandru Hegyesis bundloser akustischer Bassgitarre. In den Lauten und dem näselnden Gebläse scheinen Wurzelfäden bis hinab zu prototürkischen, ja sogar thrakischdionysischen und panischen Zeiten zu flattern. Aber in der elektroakustischen Verschwurbelung wird diese Aura von altem Balkan und mythischer Zeit ganz eingemischt in ein psychedelisches und surreal-kosmisches Tripping. Dass Alan Holmes, der walisische Produzent von Gorky's Zygotic Mynci und Gitarrist der Faust verehrenden Ankstmusik-Band Ectogram, einen Mix von ‚Peste munte‘ anfertigte, deutet auf ein Raumzeitnetz hin, in dem sich Nu & Apa Neagra, was übrigens Nein & Schwarzes Wasser heißt, ideell bewegen. Beim Titelstück ertönt arabesker Gesang zu Sazgeschrammel und dem Zwitschern und Gurren von Vögeln inmitten polymorphender, von einer Furzelwelle angekurbelter Mixadelic. Mit ihrem Balkantouch setzen Nu & Apa Neaga aber einen eigenen Akzent, den ich mit ‚schwerst halluzinatorisch‘ nur andeuten kann. Die Wirkung entspricht einer ziemlich kräftigen Dosis Mutterkorn, die Uhr läuft rückwärts, der Duft von Ziegenbock ist stellenweise schwindelerregend, es wachsen einem Flügel, die einen auf Wolken aus Fuzz und Klingklang schweben lassen, während ‚over the mountain‘ eine Flöte schallt, die nichts davon weiß, dass der Große Pan tot ist. Eine Gitarre auf Speed (‚Galop in 2/4‘), eine Orgel im Opiumrausch (‚Plinsul lui V.‘), dann ein reedgetrillertes Loopdelirium, in dem ein Wortfetzen mitkreist (‚Cobzar pneumatic‘). Der Geist von Muslimgauze hetzt vorbei - ‘Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be late!’ (‚Seara‘), Stimmen kaskadieren auf einem Orgeldrone (‚Umbra si copacul de fier‘). Man durchquert eine Bahnhofshalle, in der die elektrisierte und maultrommelbetwangte Luft Turbulenzen bildet (‚Tambal ruginit‘), und taucht dann ganz tief ein in plunderphonischen, von Stimmen durchraunten und dunkel beflöteten Tapesalat mit Sitardressing (‚Cinci suprapuneripareri‘). Zuletzt jamt Greatful Dead, grillenbezirpt, ungeachtet ständiger Lautsprecher-durchsagen, gefangen zwischen Gestern und Übermorgen (‚13, pentru caracter‘). Vielleicht ist ja das der große Reiz unserer neuen alten Miteuropäer, dass sie noch nicht so durchrenoviert sind, noch nicht so up-todate, dass ihre Kunst des Erbens statt völliger Amnesie doch noch Träume und Räusche mit einschließt, die unserem Speed-Way of Life spotten." [Bad Alchemy] "NU & APA NEAGRA wurde von Sasha-Liviu Stoianovici (Saz-Autodidakt, Maler und visueller Künstler) und dem Bassisten Alexandru Hegyesi in Timisoara, Rumänien gegründet. Die Gruppe arbeitet mit traditionellen Motiven, improvisiertem Gesang und elektronischen Klängen und ging aus dem NU-Projekt, einem 'free form folk' Projekt hervor, das seit 2001 aktiv ist. 2006 spielte die Gruppe erstmals in Deutschland in Clubs und auf Festivals und präsentierte ihre selbst veröffentlichte CD "At Gardina". Seit dem hat das Album positive Reaktionen und airplay erhalten, unter anderem im Freien Radio Kassel, Radio Blau Leipzig und beim amerikanischen WFMU Sender. Nach Umbesetzungen formierte sich die Gruppe 2007 neu als NU & APA NEAGRA (apa neagra = schwarzes Wasser) und arbeitete an dem Album "OMAG", das in Berlin und Timisoara aufgenommen wurde. Der dunkle Charakter der Aufnahmen wurde beeinflusst durch Exkursionen in die Wälder und Berge Rumäniens. Fieldrecordings, alte Instrumente und Aufnahme-Experimente erschaffen eine raue Ethno-Psychedelia, die charakteristisch ist für den Sound der Band. Der Album-Titel "OMAG" ist inspiriert durch eine Pflanze der traditionellen rumänischen Pharmakologie (Aconitum napellus, dt.: Blauer Eisenhut). Neben 13 Aufnahmen beinhaltet das Album einen Mix von Alan Holmes (The Ectogram, Parking Non Stop). Sasha Liviu Stoianovici – saz, voice, instruments, tape loops Alexandru Hegyesi – accoustic bass Vlad Sturdza - guitar Calin Torsan - woodwinds www.nu-apa-neagra.ro - www.myspace.com/projectnu Formed in Timisoara, Romania, by Sasha-Liviu Stoianovici (self taught saz-player and visual artist) & Alexandru Hegyesi, the NU & APA NEAGRA sound project deals with a mix between traditional tunes, improvised vocals and spacey electronics. It started in 2001, as NU, being at the time more of a folk/free form music project. Representing Romanian underground psychedelia, the group toured Germany twice in 2006, presenting their cdr 'At Gardina', which, in the meantime, received some great reviews. The group played club gigs and also festivals. NU's music has had airplay at radio stations like WFMU or Freies Radio Kassel, among others... After some changes and studio work in 2007, NU 'reincarnated' as NU & APA NEAGRA and released the OMAG album at the German indie label Lollipoppe Shoppe in June 2008. The tracks have been recorded both in Berlin, Germany and Timisoara, Romania. The sound has became darker, being influenced by various trips in the mountains and forests of Romania. Field recordings, ancient instruments, strange overdubbing techniques, they all create a rough ethno-psychedelic sound, definitely a trademark of NU & APA NEAGRA. The title of the album is inspired by the very poisonous plant Omag, found in the traditional pharmaceutical universe of Romanians (Aconitum napellus). There are 13 original tracks, the 14th one being a deep and strange mix done by Welsh Alan Holmes (Ectogram, Parking Non-Stop). Live shows in central Europe are planed for autumn 2008." [press release] www.lollipopshop.de 2008 €13.00
NURSE WITH WOUND Gyllenskold, Geijerstam and I at Rydberg's CD + BOOK "Nurse With Wound – Gyllensköld, Geijerstam And I At Rydberg’s – Art Book CD – Silver Collection – augmented album Deluxe Art Book cd of 24 pages sewn – All artworks by Babs Santini Tracks 1. SEVERAL ODD MOMENTS PRIOR TO LUNCH (9:48) 2. PHENOMENON OF AQUARIUM AND BEARDED LADY (5:32) 3. DIRTY FINGERNAILS (15:42) 4. ODD (2:41) 5. AQUARIUM (5:58) 5. DIRTY FINGERNAILS (10:33) 6. JOURNEY THROUGH CHEESE (20:20) "This 1983 period in which Gyllensköld was recorded was a fantastic time for the evolution of Steven Stapleton’s audio art. His collaborations with Diana Rogerson, Robert Haigh (Sema), David Tibet, and Thirlwell around this time elicited some of the most exciting work Nurse With Wound had yet recorded. Listen to this material and compare it to Chance Meeting and it becomes clear that in just a few years, Stapleton’s art had grown by leaps and bounds. The production quality on these tracks is remarkable, and the widening out of the NWW soundworld opened up a whole new audio toybox that Stapleton has continued to experiment with up to today. This new sound encompasses vocal experiments, vintage LPs of easy listening music, demented nursery rhymes, lateral references to disposable pop music, avant-garde jazz and minimalistic piano composition, all glued together with evocative atmospheres redolent of things unholy, troubling and perverse, but always oddly indefinable and puzzlingly misshapen. In retrospect, Gyllensköld can be seen as the beginning of the “mature” period of NWW, and thus it is an indispensible release for fans of the project. Perhaps influenced by the obsessions of his friend and collaborator Tibet, Stapleton also began weaving religious and occult references into his usual name-dropping of avant-garde artists and movements. The title of Gyllensköld was taken from an entry in dramatist August Strindberg’s Occult Diary, a volume which represents either the record of a great writer’s exploration of magic and mysticism, or the hallucinogenic scrawlings of a man in the grips of extreme paranoid psychosis, depending on your point of view. Similarly, NWW’s Gyllensköld comes across at times as the soundtrack to a schizoid episode: disembodied voices intoning nonsense, floating subliminally across the stereo channels, or cackling in evil delight. The sounds are denser here than on earlier works such as Homotopy To Marie. Areas of silence are mostly gone, replaced by layers of drone, cartoonish noises and mutated voices. “Several Odd Moments Prior to Lunch” opens the brief album, setting the stage with its lysergically altered vocals and a frightening, yawning chasm of haunted, spectral sound. Stapleton, Thirlwell, and company learned how to wield the studio like an instrument on these and other recordings of the period. Effects such as reverb, delay, ring modulation and backwards tracking are utilized to create evolving textures and darkly psychedelic dreamspaces. “Phenomenon of Aquarium and Bearded Lady” utilizes a number of instruments, including horns and piano, to create a bizarre dislocated funeral dirge in which the sounds of a slowly cycling jack-in-the-box are not out of place. For fans of musicians like Jacques Berrocal, who prefer their free jazz with a heavy dose of whacked-out eccentricity, this is about as good as it gets. “Dirty Fingernails” is something else entirely, a longform exploration of outré textures, combining mysterious trebly noises with percussive bleeps of mysterious origin. It all comes across like the soundtrack to an alechemical ritual performed by rickety Victorian-era cyborgs in an abandoned subway tunnel at the end of time. In other words, prime Nurse With Wound territory." [Brainwashed] https://nursewithwound1.bandcamp.com/album/gyllensk-ld-geijerstam-and-i-at-rydbergs 2021 €27.50
O YUKI CONJUGATE The Euphoria of Disobedience CD + object "Just one short decade after making their last album, UK ambient pioneers O Yuki Conjugate release a new CD called “The Euphoria of Disobedience” on their OYC Limited label. This calls for a celebration, and indeed an explanation. O Yuki Conjugate have released four studio albums and innumerable spin-off and side projects since their first gig in Nottingham in 1982. Currently in their third incarnation, the ever-youthful OYC have cancelled their hip replacements and are going all-out for superannuated ambient glory with their latest CD. Started in 2002 and completed in late 2005, “The Euphoria of Disobedience” explores an area OYC have christened “dirty ambient”, multi layered, hyper textural and distinctly gritty. Less obviously ethnic than previous OYC releases, the perfumed garden of Eno’s classic ambience is replaced by rough edges, noxious odours and abrasive textures. The result is a jagged beauty. “The Euphoria of Disobedience” is available only as a numbered limited edition of 1000 in a unique digipak fronted with a hand cast resin “ice” tile. With all its cracks and roughness it’s not like anything you’ve ever seen before. “The Euphoria of Disobedience” marks a new period of activity for OYC who are making their long deleted back catalogue available as downloads via iTunes and their own site (www.oyukiconjugate.com) as well as completing more releases in this unusual spate of activity." [label info] 2006 €20.00
  Sleepwalker CD First new album for over a decade Sleepwalker (auf abwegen aatp69) documents O Yuki Conjugate's recent live shows, doubling as a soundtrack to a film of the same name by founder member Andrew Hulme. Comprising 10 new tracks taken from 24 live shows in nine countries across Europe, Sleepwalker captures OYC's current musical direction, a blend of plangent keyboards, abstract guitars and electronic rhythms, presented in OYC's inimical style. About O Yuki Conjugate OYC were formed in Nottingham in 1982 on the wave of experimental music that emerged out of Post Punk. Quickly moving on from their early industrial and electronic influences, OYC began exploring the then-unfashionable 'ambient' genre, a lonely furrow they've ploughed ever since. Today OYC are in their 38th year and fourth incarnation based around core members Andrew Hulme and Roger Horberry. Over the years they've released nine albums of wilfully obscure ambient-influenced music that together have earned them literally hundreds of pounds - from Scene in Mirage (1984), Into Dark Water (1987) and Peyote (1990) through to Tropic (2017). Largely ignored in the UK, they've consistently found audiences in the US and Europe more receptive to their work. OYC have a somewhat relaxed work ethic and have frequently gone into hibernation for years at a time without ever going so far as splitting up. In 2017 they discovered they enjoyed touring and have played more gigs in the last two years than in the previous 20. They've also overseen a series of reissues on Emotional Rescue, as well as a remix 12" of their 1995 album track 'Insect-Talk'. attracting a new barmey army of listeners to their unique sound. Further reissues are planned. OYC have also found time to create their own alter ego Ocean Youth Club who have just released their first 12" on Barcelona's Hivern Discs. Produced by Colin Potter it's entitled 'Divided Self' and is a conceptual entity based around OYC's desire to explore their own alternate history. In other words, what they would have sounded like if, in 1984, they'd opted to take an electronic route instead of an ambient one. "Basierte das 2018 veröffentlichte Album „Tropic“ auf ursprünglich Mitte der 90er Jahre komponiertem Material, das später be- und überarbeitet wurde, handelt es sich bei „Sleepwalker“ um eine komplett neue Veröffentlichung. Aufgenommen während einiger Auftritte in den Jahren 2017 bis 2019, sind die auf „Sleepwalker“ enthaltenen Stücke Soundtrack des gleichnamigen Films (von Gründungsmitglied Andrew Hulme), über den es heißt, er habe eine „loose dream-like narrative“. Im umfangreichen Booklet (was – so profan es auch klingen mag – in Zeiten sinkender Verkaufszahlen leider keine Selbtsverständlichkeit mehr ist) finden sich neben Bildern aus dem Film Textpassagen, die verschiedene (Alp-)Traumszenarien zu beschreiben scheinen: „There is a building under water/As you look down into the water it rises up in front of you“. An anderer Stelle liest man: „Suddenly you’re very afraid“. Das Album beginnt mit „Clockish“, das mit seinen flächigen Sounds durchaus einen somnambulen Charakter hat.„In Flux“ integriert schleppende Beats in das Klangbild, „The Air Is Alive“ ist von flirrenden, flächigen Passagen geprägt. Auf „Eyelids Burn“ taucht eine Frauenstimme aus dem Äther auf; den Linernotes ist zu entnehmen, dass ein Stück von Keeley Forsyth integriert wurde, die demnächst ihr Debütalbum veröffentlicht und für die Hulme auch schon Videos gedreht hat. „Beyond Control 4“ beginnt mit einem Sprachsample, auf denen die Selbstverbrennung von Thích Quảng Đức thematisiert wird. Man hört dezente Pianotupfer und melancholische Flächen. Sehr schön ist „Forgotten Summer“ mit entrückten Gitarrenpassagen, Beats und Flöte (?). Auf „Black Magic Box“ dagegen sind die Geräusche fast nicht mehr wahrnehmbar: In der Ferne knirschst es, Wasser plätschert. Das abschließende „The Madness Below“ lässt irgendwo eine Trompete erahnen. Der letzte Satz aus dem Film, der im Booklet zu lesen ist, lautet “You are in motion”. Das ist vielleicht nicht die schlechteste Beschreibung der auf “Sleepalker” zu hörenden Musik, denn insgesamt sind die zehn Stücke so variantenreich, dass man fortwährend den Eindruck von Bewegung hat." [MG, African Paper] 2019 €14.00
O'MALLEY / PATERAS Sept Duos pour Guitare Acoustique & Piano prepare do-LP Sept duos pour guitar acoustique et piano préparé is the second duo recording from Stephen O'Malley and Anthony Pateras. Their first together, Rêve Noir (2018), took an electro-acoustic scalpel to a 2011 duo concert for electric guitar and piano, using Revox and digital treatments to twist and smear gig documentation into ghostly echoes and fractured drones. Here, in contrast, the music is entirely acoustic and presented as it was performed, without overdubs. Both players’ choices of instruments are notable: this is O'Malley’s most extensive recording on steel string acoustic guitar (playing an instrument whose previous owners include Marissa Nadler and Glenn Jones) and Pateras return to the prepared piano, which he has rarely employed in recent years, after spending much of the first decade of the 21st century exploring its possibilities. Recorded during O'Malley’s residency at La Becque on Lake Geneva in the summer of 2021, from the first moments of the opening ‘déjà revé’ the music immediately establishes the distinctive landscape of chiming tones and hovering clouds of resonance explored throughout its one-hour running time. Pateras’ preparations create tolling bell-like tones alive with complex overtones, alongside which O'Malley’s open strings and natural harmonics add a sparkling clarity. While Pateras’ music often uses a densely chromatic harmonic language, these duos are remarkable for their modal simplicity. However, the interaction between the pure intervals of O'Malley’s just-intoned strings and the unstable harmonies created by the piano preparations suspends the music in an oneiric state of hazy ambiguity. Without obvious reference to tempo or meter, the music floats in what the composer Ernstalbrecht Stiebler has called a ‘bottomless sound space’, the temporal placement of events determined by bodily rhythms and the performers’ own listening to (and enjoyment of) the sounds being made. Heard one way, this music can seem striking in its consistency, almost environmental. Attending more carefully, the listener hears the pitch sets and tunings changing throughout the album’s length. Each piece has its own character, subtly distinguished from the others through mood, pacing, and timbre. On ‘déjà voulu’, for instance, O'Malley makes prominent use of slide, the woozy, bending pitches weaving through a series of lush arpeggiated chords from the piano. ‘Déjà senti’, on the other hand, is particularly spare, the gestures spaced out to the extent that they often float in isolation against the background of fading resonance. Much of ‘déjà su’ is built around a slowly pulsing single prepared piano tone, creating an almost ominous tension, whereas the sparkling guitar harmonics and arpeggios of the closing ‘déjà raconté’ have a gently triumphal air. While the music’s calm, rippling surface is immediately entrancing, these seven duos – in the tradition of the best improvised music – also reward close listening, which reveals sonic details and focuses the listener’s attention on how the music unfolds spontaneously from decision to decision, from gesture to gesture. Recorded during a period when O'Malley and Pateras were grieving the loss of recently departed friends and collaborators, these seven duos possess a reflective, at times almost mournful quality. More importantly, though, they are imbued with other qualities that can arise from personal loss: a clarity that allows one to clear away the inessential, to begin again, to renew one’s faith in friendship and music. https://shelterpress.bandcamp.com/album/sept-duos-pour-guitare-acoustique-piano-pr-par 2023 €30.50
O'MALLEY, STEPHEN & Z'EV Magistral CD "Not content with fronting Sunn 0))), who are currently one of the most influential metal bands on the planet, the prolific drone guitarist Stephen O’Malley (a.k.a. Soma) has participated in a bewilderingly vast number of subsidiary projects, including Thorr’s Hammer, Khanate, Lotus Eaters, Sarin, Burning Witch, Fungal Hex, Teeth Of Lions Rule The Divine, Ginnungagap, etcetera, Æthenor, Altar, KTL and Grave Temple. This time around, he’s teamed up with veteran industrial percussionist and all-round soundsmith Z’EV, and the result is Magistral. Stephen O’Malley sent Z’EV a recording of a guitar solo lasting eight minutes and 42 seconds, which Z’EV proceeded to stretch out like Hubba Bubba, remix, add percussion to, and generally fuck about with. Those eight minutes and 42 seconds of guitar are thus transmogrified into five tracks and 49 minutes of instrumental industrial ambient music. The über-geeky track titles offer the listener few clues as to how to interpret the music – ‘6m 59s From Last 42s Left Channel Only - 26 Track Submix’, ‘13m 48s From 34s From 5m - 5m 34s - 20 Track Submix’ and so on. The fifth and final track is the most listener-friendly and accessible, featuring pounding tribal beats, lashings of feedback and recognisable guitar tones – elsewhere on Magistral, the sounds on offer run the gamut from shimmering metallic drones and abysmally deep bass rumbles to abrasive, scraping industrial noise, inviting comparison to blackened ambient acts like Archon Satani and Sistrenatus, as well as to Z’EV’s similar collaborative album with Polish drone act Hati. An absorbing and intricate piece of work that repays repeated listenings, Magistral was mixed by Randall Dunn, noted for his work with Earth and Sunn 0)). The album is lavishly packaged in an oversized gatefold sleeve with artwork by one Stephen O'Malley. Does this man never sleep?" [Judas Kiss webzine] www.southernlord.com 2007 €15.00
O'ROURKE, JIM Hands That Bind LP "In addition to his day job transforming pop music with his own records, as well as those of Gastr del Sol, Loose Fur and Sonic Youth over the past few decades, Jim O'Rourke has been contracted for several dozen film scores over the years as well. It makes sense -- his abilities as an improviser, composer and producer allow him to interpret cinematic moments with a unique understanding for their construction and how they work. It doesn't hurt that Jim's a well-versed cineaste, a complete and total fan of watching films, which has given him a preternatural understanding of the role of music in movies. What doesn't make sense is how Hands That Bind is the first film soundtrack of Jim's to ever receive worldwide release! He's worked with filmmakers of international repute, like Olivier Assayas, Allison Anders, Werner Herzog and Kôji Wakamatsu! He served as music consultant on Richard Linklater's 2003 laff-fest, School of Rock! He's played in ensembles of award-winning documentaries and films alike! ... Made for an indie film that's been seen by festival audiences and not enough others, the soundtrack for Hands That Bind is a moody, atmospheric delight. Jim's roots in composition via tape-editing have evolved into a sophisticated assembly of found-and-processed sounds that achieve highly musical, near-orchestral majesty as they hang in the very air of the drama that unfolds in Kyle Armstrong's Hands That Bind. Described as a 'slow-burn prairie gothic drama' set in the farmland of Canada's Alberta province, and starring Paul Sparks, Susan Kent, Landon Liboiron, Nicholas Campbell, Will Oldham, and Bruce Dern, Hands That Bind is a spellbinding trip to the existential bone of rural working life in North America. As conflict rises over the hard-worked patches of land that provide a mere and mean existence, a desperate air settles in, as a series of mysterious, often supernatural occurrences rock the small community. O'Rourke's vaporous, serpentine musical backdrops and atmospheres reflect the obsessions and distractions of the film's principles; moods of all sorts seen or otherwise implied. Additionally, the music highlights cinematographer Mike McLaughlin's closely observed accounting of the farmers' environment, as well as the striking widescreen images of the big sky country with unnerving flair. For fans of Jim's ongoing steamroom series as well as collectors of soundtracks, Hands That Bind will provide hours of engrossing listening..." [press release] https://jimorourke.bandcamp.com/album/hands-that-bind-original-motion-picture-soundtrack ################################################# "The experimental producer and composer’s score for the prairie gothic film is luminous, faintly menacing, and clouded with uncertainty. In Kyle Armstrong’s Hands That Bind, horror is hiding in plain sight. The film, which premiered in 2021 and is due for theatrical release this fall, is set amid desolate Alberta farmlands—a space whose relentless flatness you might assume allows for few mysteries. Straight roads stretch endlessly toward the horizon; barns outnumber trees by a wide margin. Any approaching threat ought to be visible from miles away. But in the world of this carefully paced prairie gothic, unsettling events arrive from out of nowhere, leading to more questions than answers. Who, or what, is mutilating the farmers’ cattle? Who’s in the black sedan making ominous drive-bys? And what are those lights swirling in the sky? The crucial question, which drives the film’s grippingly human drama as well as its more cryptic events, is philosophical in nature: whether we can ever truly be certain about anything. “My opinion isn’t going to solve anything for you, because my opinion is that I don’t know,” remarks a bartender played by a scene-stealing Will Oldham, as he turns off a Scratch Acid song on the stereo. “Certainty is the rare exception to the rules of life. Whatever’s easiest to swallow is what most folks gravitate towards. Even if you lie to yourself, as best as you can, and look for something you call true, well, whatever your theory is, it’s probably wrong.” Jim O’Rourke’s soundtrack is perfectly calibrated to this unforgiving space squashed between parched fields and blown-out sky. His palette—detuned piano, watery vibraphone, and a muted, amorphous shimmer that might be harmonium or synthesizer—matches the film’s dusty tones of beige and pewter and mobile-home brown. A high-end fizz resembles the incessant whine of crickets; the occasional spritz of static mimics the strange electrical phenomena on screen. Closer in spirit to the longform drone works of his Steamroom series than the fingerpicked Americana of Bad Timing or the mischievous classic rock of Simple Songs, O’Rourke’s instrumental score is, much like the landscape of the film, flat, faintly menacing, and miserly with its details. (Another comparison point might be the Boxhead Ensemble’s 1997 soundtrack to the film Dutch Harbor: Where the Sea Breaks Its Back, featuring O’Rourke alongside Chicago luminaries like Ken Vandermark and Douglas McCombs.) It begins gently enough, with a high, lonesome harmony reminiscent of a freight train’s distant whistle. An acoustic bass plucks out a tentative melody. These opening passages move with pastoral ease. But the music quickly sours, clouded with uncertainty, as dark, shapeless figures clamber up from the lower register to disturb the tranquil upper reaches. Light is one of the film’s unspoken subjects—the implacable sun beating down on sere crops, the bokeh-like orbs cutting curlicues in the night sky—and O’Rourke’s soundtrack has similarly luminous properties. He favors soft attacks that come on like a backlist mist, and streaks of dissonance that flash out and disappear, swallowed up in the dull radiance. The 38-minute score cycles through just a handful of themes and motifs, stirring them occasionally, as though to keep them from sticking. Halfway through, with “A Man’s Mind Will Play Tricks Upon Him,” brushed cymbals and plucked bass kick up a groove beneath a chiming piano melody; it’s one of few places where the record approaches anything resembling a song. But the moment is fleeting. In the concluding “One Way or Another I’m Gone,” the drumbeat returns, but this time there’s no lightness to it. It plods sullenly as jabbing tritones, a constant throughout the album, hint at a nameless evil. The soundtrack ends as it began, hovering in a nebulous interzone, neither major nor minor—ambiguous, ambivalent, unresolved.\\\" [Pitchfork] ############## Eight years after “Simple Songs”, his last solo outing with the label, the towering talent of Jim O’Rourke returns to Drag City with “Hands That Bind”, the first LP in his long career to offer a proper release to his soundtrack work. Composed for the director Kyle Armstrong’s 2021 film of the same name, the album\'s eight sublime musical complements interweave subtle melodic elements, bristling electroacoustic structures, and moody ambiences, collectively bridging the distance between O’Rourke\'s experimental work and his deft hand in the realms of pop. As absolutely brilliant as they come. On the occasion of the release of “Hands That Bind” we are glad to announce a promotional sale with 15% off for members and 10% off for everybody on all available Drag CIty items, valid until Sunday at midnight or while stocks last. The endlessly fruitful relationship between Jim O’Rourke and the Chicago based imprint, Drag City, traverses the better part of the last thirty years, with the label providing platform and support for one the great musical voices of our age. Beginning with his band Gastr del Sol\'s seminal second LP, “Crookt, Crackt, or Fly”, and running through his legendary suite of pop masterstrokes, - “Bad Timing”, “Eureka”, “Halfway to a Threeway”, and “Insignificance” - his involvement with projects like Loose Fur, The Red Krayola, and Mimidokodesuka, and a great deal more, his output with Drag City is a truly remarkable thing to behold, providing a snapshot into a restless creative mind within a collective body of intoxicating sounds. His last, 2015\'s “Simple Songs” build on the instrumental trajectory established by its predecessor, “The Visitor” (2009), but his latest, “Hands That Bind”, however, charts a new, surprising path. Composed as the soundtrack for the director Kyle Armstrong’s 2021 film of the same name, the album’s subtle melodic elements, played against bristling electroacoustic structures, bridge the distance between his more experimental work, largely housed in recent years on his own Steamroom imprint, and the pop-oriented work historically located on Drag City. Absolutely stunning from its first sounding to the last, “Hands That Bind” is yet another creative milestone from Jim O’Rourke that’s impossible to get off the turntable once the needle drops. Ten out of ten and not to be missed! Jim O’Rourke is among the great voices of his generation. He is a true musical polymath, whose diverse efforts, since his emergence within the Chicago scene during the late 1980s, have continuously altered the creative landscape. Across more than a hundred albums, he has carved a relentless path, refusing conceptual stasis and the boundaries of genre and idiom, producing a body of work with such a profound impact and influence, that is so striking, forward-thinking, and important - while displaying a consistently unparalleled bar of quality - that it transcends the basic notions of art; becoming a network of sound, mirroring the pathways of an endlessly curious and uninhibited mind. O’Rourke’s music is thought unfolding in real time. Unbridled creativity in pursuit of the unknown. Since his move to Japan during the late 2000s, O’Rourke’s recorded works have generally veered toward two polarities - direct, jointly billed, conversant collaborations with peers like Haino Keiji, Peter Brötzmann, Oren Ambarchi, Giovanni Di Domenico, Mats Gustafsson, Akira Sakata, Kassel Jaeger, and Fennesz, among numerous other, and privately created solo efforts falling under the banner of Steamroom - increasingly only issued as direct digital downloads. There has, however, been another body of work rumbling below the surface that has yet to receive a single proper release. Over the last few decades, O’Rourke has been composing several dozen film soundtracks for widely celebrated filmmakers like Olivier Assayas, Allison Anders, Werner Herzog and Kôji Wakamatsu. At long last, this mysterious area of the artist’s creative explorations begins to be more accessible with the release of “Hands That Bind”, composed for the director Kyle Armstrong’s 2021 film of the same name and his first film soundtrack to receive a proper release. Anyone who knows much about O’Rourke is aware of his deep passion for film. Since his teens on the outskirts of Chicago, he has remained a devoted cinephile, which naturally, being the person and artist that he is, has cultivated an intimate understanding of the place and operation of music within the idiom. Any doubts to this end will be quickly laid to rest by the profound beauty and subtlety of “Hands That Bind”, composed for a “slow-burn prairie gothic drama” set in the farm-land of Canada’s Alberta province, that stars Paul Sparks, Susan Kent, Landon Liboiron, Nicholas Campbell, Will Oldham, and Bruce Dern, within which a series of mysterious, often supernatural occurrences, rock the small community. Into these narratives and happening, O’Rourke composed eight sublime musical complements ranging from moody and atmospheric electroacoustic marvels that interweave long-tones and textural elements, drawn from diverse resonant sources, to more explicitly musically melodic and percussive pieces like “A Man\'s Mind Will Play Tricks On Him” and “One Way or Another I\'m Gone”, that return the ear to O’Rourke’s roots in post-rock and jazz. Joined collectively, these works evolve at glacial pace into a freestanding journey of startling proportions, building bridges within a single structure across the versatility and range that the artist has historically reserved for more discreetly located works, notably his poppier efforts for Drag City, and his more experimental works released on Steemroom. Immersive and intoxicating, while displaying an understated elegance that only O’Rourke is capable of, whether regarded as a complement to moving image or a freestanding musical gesture, “Hands That Bind” is an absolute musical masterstroke of unparalleled brilliance, building on his long history of tape collage to construct a profoundly sophisticated assembly of found-and-processed sounds into orchestral majesty. Issued by Drag City as a beautifully produced LP, this is O’Rourke at his best. Ten out of ten and impossible to recommend enough. [Soundohm + press release ] 2023 €27.50
OLIVEROS, PAULINE Primordial / Lift CD Wiederveröffentlichung der vergriffenen TABLE OF THE ELEMENTS-CD; eine live-Aufnahme eines Konzerts vom März 1998 mit TONY CONRAD, DAVID GRUBBS und ANDREW DEUTSCH (u.a.), welches die langjährige Entwicklung der Erdresonanzen-Frequenzen nachbildet – der Oszillator, der diese für das menschliche Gehör nicht-hörbaren Frequenzen aussendet, moduliert die Klänge der Performer... herausgekommen ist dabei ein 70 minütiger „experimental drone“ one-tracker, sehr vital & tänzelnd bewegt sich der Soundfokus zwischen den verschiedenen eingesetzten Instrumenten wie Harmonium, Violione, Akkordeon... Mastering: STEPHEN VITIELLO. A fabulous new work of the grand dame of electronic minimalism, creating full-scale floating drones that change and shift all the time, with the help of TONY CONRAD [violin], DAVID GRUBBS [harmonium] and others. Contains more aggressive and disharmonic elements than usually expected.. “Originally released on the Table of the Elements label and long out of print, this version of the recording contains an additional 30 minutes of material not included on the original release. Recorded live on March 20, 1998 at Hallwalls, Buffalo, NY. Primordial/Lift is based on information concerning the shift in the resonant frequency of the earth from 7.8hz to 13hz given in Awakening to the Zero Point by Gregg Braden, Radio Bookstore Press (1997). According to Braden, the resonant frequency of the earth was measured as 7.8hz in 1960 and by 1994 the measurement was at 8.6hz and it will rise to 13hz by 2010. At the same time the magnetic fields of the earth are diminishing in strength towards zero point. By the time that 13hz is established as the resonant frequency the magnetic fields will reverse their polarity - North will become South and vice versa. The acceleration from 7.8hz to 13hz of the earth's resonant frequency is represented in Primordial/Lift by a low frequency oscillator." Pauline Oliveros - accordian & electronics, voice; Andrew Deutsch - electronics & toy piano; Tony Conrad - electric violin & ring modulator; Anne Bourne - cello & voice; Alexandria Gelencser - electric cello; David Grubbs - harmonium; Scott Olson - low frequency oscillator.” [label info] 2006 €14.00
ONDO Mahavishnu CD Geheimtip aus Schweden aus dem Doom-Drone-Metal Bereich: ONDO erschaffen den absoluten Katakomben & Gruft-Sound, auf tiefsten Höllenschlünden scheint ihr frei-flottierender Angst-Metal-Drone zu stammen, das ganze klingt sehr eigenständig und authenthisch & tief melancholisch.... "The majestic debut full length album from Sweden's Ondo. Intricate, textured doomed drone, blackened ambience and lush nocturnal electronica, delicately crafted into a dark cinematic vision. A shadow dreamscape of overpowering density, akin to an intoxicating fusion of early Earth, Raison D'Etre and a touch of the shimmering haze of Fennesz, perhaps? Presented as a limited edition of 500 copies only, in dvd presentation box with full colour art." [label info] ".... Whereas that cd-r was a single looooong song, this disc is split into distinct movements, each a bleak and caustic chunk of truly ominous ambience. Actually, there is so much stuff going on, and this is so dark and heavy, it’s almost disingenuous to call it ambient music. This is cinematic abstract free noise drone music. Heavy enough to worm its way inside the ears of drone inclined metalheads, but dark and blissed out enough to keep the drone obsessed in downtuned druggy nirvana. The label mentions early Earth, Raison D’Etre and Fennesz, and damn if all three of those don’t definitely apply. Pretty melodies are buried under slabs of grinding buzz, chords are woven into undulating sheets of fuzzy sound, everything is hissy and glitchy, with a gauzy sheen. Imagine Earth 2 as reimagined by Christian Fennesz and you might be getting close. Chords and notes, churn and throb, blackened sounds pulse ominously enveloping crystalline shimmers and music box like melodies, voices and samples are chopped up and distorted, riffs are pulled apart into washed out smears of sound. Some of the tracks definitely border on serious doom territory, while others are blurred distorted dreamscapes, all skittery and smeared, dark pianos, radio distortion and amp buzz, distant melodic whir, all tangled into something creepy and beautiful, strings draped over crumbling industrial crunch, all woven around heaving heaviness, rendered in slow moving swells. Way recommended for fans of things slow and low, dark and doomy, murky and mysterious. LIMITED TO 500 COPIES. Packaged in a white dvd style case, with a full color cover and printed black and white insert." [Aquarius Records review] www.paradigms-recordings.com 2008 €12.00
OPTICAL MUSICS The First Words. Recordings 1984-1987 do-CD & BOOK "Optical Musics is a pioneering Greek avant-experimental project, founded by Costis Drygianakis and a group of people, formed in Volos. They were early experimenting with musical forms like free improvisation and electroacoustic experimentation etc, creating a highly personal musical idiom. From 1984 to mid-1987 the group started to make their most absurd home recording. The line-up of the group changed several times acted like an open collective, with the line-up of the group, focused more on experimentation with custom instruments, child instruments, synthesisers, bass etc. The most sophisticated recordings was used for the the disc “Optical Musics Volume 1” LP, released in 1987. Some other recordings of that period was used / recycled in personal works by Kostis Drygianaki like “Post-visual landscapes” (EDO, CD, 1999) and “Eantaisglossaistonanthroponlalokaitonangelon” (EDO, CD, 1999). The “First Words: recordings 1984 – 1987”, that is presented here, is including 27 unpublished works of the group, maybe their more rough material, which were then a work-in-progress or “unfinished” tracks, covering a wide range of musical experimentation (free improvisation, minimalism, avant gard). With this publication, we are very happy to bring to light recordings of Optical Musics, a group that at that period did not get the publicity they deserved, but in the future their music influenced a younger generation of people in Greece that involved in the Greek experimental music scene. Optical Musics’s “First Words: recordings 1984 – 1987” is out as a 2x CD with a book (Greek + English version) of 64 pages, full with information and images of that period. The recordings include alphabetically the musicians: Takis Agrigiannis, Kostas Anestis, Giannis Argyropoulos, Eleni Barouksi, Costis Drygianakis, Christos Kaltis, Aleksis Karavergos, Kostas Kostopoulos, Nikos Ksirakis, Kostas Pantopoulos, Thanasis Chondros, Aleksandra Katsiani. This release is a collaboration of the labels moremars, Hxoi Kato Apo To Spiti and Noise Below." www.moremars.org "These two releases are very much connected. The double CD and booklet provides a proper historical context for the Greek band Optical Musics, in their earliest years, 1984-1987, while on cassette main member Costis Drygianakis performs 'a reconstruction of underestimated and mislaid recordings from the period 1984-1987', so perhaps something we would have called back then 'recycled'; taking recordings apart and put them together in a totally different way. Best turned to the two CDs first, and the highly informative book that comes with (64 pages, 7"x7" sized) this music. I reviewed their 'Volume 2' before, all the way in Vital Weekly 66, and it's is possible that I also did 'Volume 1' when Vital (without weekly) was printed on paper, but I guess we have to wait for the complete volume to re-appear (later this year!). Back then in VW 66 I had some problem with saying something sensible about the group, but now I learned that they started in 1984 as a fleeting membership group and that they were inspired by visual elements, scores, photos, to play their improvised music, or better taking their cue from John Zorn's 'I compose improvised music', and apparently using the studio as an extra instrument. I must admit that notion is a bit beyond me when hearing this. I gather I was expecting something along the lines of P16.D4 is that respect but that seems not to be the case. Much of what they do sound improvised, composed or otherwise, leaving space for non conventional instruments, such as 'pruning shears, ground connector, drawer, children's toys, next to bass, guitar, lots of drums and percussion and a variety of organ sounds (casio MT65 and PT 30) and synthesizer, the trusted Yamaha DX-7. As we progress through the recordings it becomes evident that the band learned to play and structures become more complex, layered together (as opposed to the two-track stereo recordings on the first disc), allowing a bit more (free-) jazz elements; sometimes it is all electronic and almost musique concrete, and at other times it is more like free rock, although Optical Musics never hammer away. It is, all in all, quite a diverse release, and while not always something that I enjoyed (too random at times), it was a fine archival release." 2017 €16.00
ORGANUM ELECTRONICS Quietude CD "Organum Electronics ‘Quietude’ is another intense aural experience. A dense work, consisting of buzzing washes of electronic sounds, reminiscent of the very first Organum recordings. In common with other recent works, the piece uses a carefully chosen set of sound sources, overlaid and structured to form a tapestry of shifting textures. Recorded in 2021 and edited by Alan Jones at RMS Studios South London, the CD comes in a 4-panel Digisleeve with graphic artwork by Jonathan Coleclough. UK-based composer and visual artist David Jackman began his career in the late 1960s in the experimental group Scratch Orchestra, co-founded by Cornelius Cardew. He started recording solo work in the late 1970s, mostly on self-released cassettes in very small numbers. In the early 1980s he established his main project, Organum, which evolved into a new version under the name Organum Electronics in 2019. Five OE albums have been released by Japanese imprint Siren Records. ‘Quietude’ (DS128) is the first OE release on Die Stadt.. This is the second of seven albums scheduled for release on Die Stadt up until the end of 2024. As well as several albums under the OE moniker these will include works under David Jackman’s own name." [press release] "David Jackman sprach einmal bzgl. seiner sogenanten „Holy“-Trilogie davon, diese Arbeiten seien geprägt von „a lot of repetition; more accurately, near repetition. It is a quality which I find most elegant.“ Dieses Motiv der (Fast-)Wiederholung zeigte sich auch auf Alben wie dem 2018 erscheinenen Organum-Album „Raven“ oder auf den unter eigenem Namen erschienenen Alben „Herbstsonne“ und „Silence In That Time“. Die dort zu hörenden verhallenden Klavierakkorde, manchmal mit Glockenläuten, Orgeldrones oder dem Krähen von Vögeln, waren eine fast schon zirkuläre, vielleicht auch meditative Musik. Dann erschien plötzlich mit Organum Electronics 2019 ein Album, das dieses Zurückhaltende, Meditative rabiat beendete. Über den Nachfolger „Stilness“ aus dem Jahr 2020 konnte man hier lesen: „Frühere Organumaufnahmen (z.B. die auf L.A.Y.L.A.H.) waren geprägt von einer Unruhe, die neuen Aufnahmen sind auf gewisse Weise etwas statischer, ganz so, als wolle Jackman seine eigene Interpretation von Wall Noise spielen. Auf 35 Minuten wird der Hörende von einem massiven Drone umgeben.“ Hier klang Jackman plötzlich wieder, wenn auch unter „elektronischer“ Fokussierung, so „noisy“, wie auf seinen frühe(re)n Aufnahmen. Nach insgesamt fünf Alben unter diesem Projektnamen auf Siren Records kündigte Die Stadt aus Bremen vor einiger Zeit eine umfangreiche Reihe mit weiteren Veröffentlichungen an: Im Abstand von drei bis vier Monaten werden bis 2024/2025 insgesamt sieben Jackman/Organum-Alben (von denen zwei Doppel-CDs sind) veröffentlicht werden. Gerade erschienen sind die ersten zwei Alben dieser Reihe: Die Tradition der (manchmal kurios geschriebenen) Einworttitel fortführend, sind „Quietude“ und „Darcknes“ – natürlich, möchte man sagen – von Ästhetik wie auch vom Klang sehr eng miteinander verbunden: Auf „Quietude“ gibt es einen langen Track (hier 40 Minuten lang), der den Hörer unter sich zu begraben droht (ganz im Gegensatz zu der im Titel angesprochenen „Ruhe“). Es gibt immer wieder leichte (Ver-)Änderungen, kaum wahrnehmbare Verschiebungen in der Textur, so dass diese Lärmwand – das Label spricht nicht unzutreffend von „buzzing washes of electronic sounds“ – sich durchaus (ver-)ändert. Was im Gegensatz zu den fünf vorhergegangenen Alben auffällt, ist, dass tatsächliche neue (bzw. alte) Elemente hinzukommen. Plötzlich tauchen auf „Quietude“ nämlich inmitten des Surrens und Dröhnens Glocken auf, die auf früheren Aufnahmen zu finden waren. Das gleichzeitig veröffentlichte Album „Darcknes“ besteht aus einem 48 Minuten langen Track, auf dem neben dem Läuten von Glocken auch noch das Krähen von Raben zu hören ist. Es ist mit Hinblick auf David Jackmans Zurückhaltung hinsichtlich öffentlicher Äußerungen letztlich müßig, herauszulesen zu wollen, was seine Konzeption hinter diesen Aufnahmen ist, aber letztlich spielt das auch keine Rolle, schließlich sagte er selbst einmal vor vielen Jahren in einem Interview mit Paul Lemos: “Really, there’s no mystery to the music; I just make it because I want those sounds to exist. There’s no other reason.” Ich habe in einer früheren Besprechung von Jackmans Arbeit einmal – in Anlehnung an eine Studie zum literarischen Expressionismus, in der u.a. die Prosa Benns dieses Attribut bekam – diese als “absolut” bezeichnet. Man kann gespannt sein, was die nächsten Veröffentlichungen bringen werden." [MG / African Paper] "It's never easy to review music by David Jackman, not work under his own name, or work as Organum, or as it is these days, Organum Electronics. He used the latter on five releases by Siren Records, and when they announced the fifth would be the last, I assumed (for no particular reason) that would be the end of that name. Maybe because Die Stadts hasn't been too active with new releases, I didn't realise they could release more work, as basically it's the other go-to place for Jackman to release his music. They announced a series of seven works by Jackman, and their announcement didn't say whether they'll all be by Organum Electronics. The first two are. I didn't return to the five previous albums, partly out of the usual lack of time and maybe because I thought of this as making a fresh start. Listening to these two new releases, I remember what the previous ones sounded like. Here also comes what I find 'difficult' about reviewing Jackman's work, and that's a lot of it is very similar, but then, if you see the cover, four panels with the band name and the title, and nothing else, you know the man likes repetition. And yet, most curious indeed, one is never too sure if the repeat is a one-on-one copy or a slight variation thereof. These two works may sound the same, but they aren't. In 'Darckness', some field recordings pop up, church bells, among the dense mass of electronic sound, whereas 'Quietude' seems all electronic throughout. Both seem to have been cut from more extensive work, ending quite abruptly. The overall sound design is quite similar in both pieces, and they share a general grimness about these works, as with many of his works. Think of this as being locked up in a factory, with sounds buzzing everywhere, and reminding me of the early harshness of Organum, sans electronics: dense, minimal and dark. Can I finish with 'another excellent work'? It's most likely I have used that before in connection with Jackman's work, and I will probably repeat that in the future." [FdW / Vital Weekly] 2023 €15.00
  Darcknes CD "Organum Electronics ‘Darcknes’ is the sibling album of ‘Quietude’ (DS128). It is a similarly dense work, consisting of buzzing washes of electronic sounds, reminiscent of the very first Organum recordings. In common with other recent works, the piece uses a carefully chosen set of sound sources, overlaid and structured to form a tapestry of shifting textures. Recorded in 2021 and edited by Alan Jones at RMS Studios South London, the CD comes in a 4-panel Digisleeve with graphic artwork by Jonathan Coleclough. UK-based composer and visual artist David Jackman began his career in the late 1960s in the experimental group Scratch Orchestra, co-founded by Cornelius Cardew. He started recording solo work in the late 1970s, mostly on self-released cassettes in very small numbers. In the early 1980s he established his main project, Organum, which evolved into a new version under the name Organum Electronics in 2019. Five OE albums have been released by Japanese imprint Siren Records. ‘Darcknes’ (DS130) is the second OE release on Die Stadt. This is the second of seven albums scheduled for release on Die Stadt up until the end of 2024. As well as several albums under the OE moniker these will include works under David Jackman’s own name." [label info] "It's never easy to review music by David Jackman, not work under his own name, or work as Organum, or as it is these days, Organum Electronics. He used the latter on five releases by Siren Records, and when they announced the fifth would be the last, I assumed (for no particular reason) that would be the end of that name. Maybe because Die Stadts hasn't been too active with new releases, I didn't realise they could release more work, as basically it's the other go-to place for Jackman to release his music. They announced a series of seven works by Jackman, and their announcement didn't say whether they'll all be by Organum Electronics. The first two are. I didn't return to the five previous albums, partly out of the usual lack of time and maybe because I thought of this as making a fresh start. Listening to these two new releases, I remember what the previous ones sounded like. Here also comes what I find 'difficult' about reviewing Jackman's work, and that's a lot of it is very similar, but then, if you see the cover, four panels with the band name and the title, and nothing else, you know the man likes repetition. And yet, most curious indeed, one is never too sure if the repeat is a one-on-one copy or a slight variation thereof. These two works may sound the same, but they aren't. In 'Darckness', some field recordings pop up, church bells, among the dense mass of electronic sound, whereas 'Quietude' seems all electronic throughout. Both seem to have been cut from more extensive work, ending quite abruptly. The overall sound design is quite similar in both pieces, and they share a general grimness about these works, as with many of his works. Think of this as being locked up in a factory, with sounds buzzing everywhere, and reminding me of the early harshness of Organum, sans electronics: dense, minimal and dark. Can I finish with 'another excellent work'? It's most likely I have used that before in connection with Jackman's work, and I will probably repeat that in the future." [FdW / Vital Weekly] 2023 €15.00
ORIGAMI ARKTIKA At Royspytten 7inch Neue Single der Norweger, hier beschreiten sie sehr subtil dark-folkige Wege.. The same Origami Arktika dreamteam line up as the last single on killer – at Snippen. This time the Norwegian folk music undercurrents are even more pronounced, including their very own version of a Jørund Telnes song (Norwegian folk music performer). Since last time the band has released several CDs - >brook< - a spilt CD with Lull and a live CD from Poland. This single is the first material to arrive from their latest session and hopefully the rest of this material sees the light of day. Origami Arktika sounds like nothing else on earth, a bit folk music, a bit drone rock, a bit outlandish as a freeform arctic storm. Personnel are Tore H. Bøe, Kai S. Mikalsen, Bjarne Larsen, Rune Flaten and Kjell Ø. Braaten. Current activities include Salvatore, several Origami fractions, Kobi, Ka, Sketch, Palace of Pleasure and a lot more. Beautiful colour cover courtesy of Jarle Hrafn Grindhaug.45 rpm, edition of 300 where 100 are on dark lilac vinyl” [press-release] 2002 €6.00
ORNAMENT Unicorn Lullaby CD-R Wiederveröffentlichung dieser schönen ORNAMENT-CDR mit recht einfach gestricktem, aber sehr wirkungsvoll-hypnotischen loop-ambient/drones, warm und dunkel, zwischen TAM QUAM TABULA RASA und AMON? Feine Fullcolour-Cover-Artwork auch ... sehr zu empfehlen! „Unicorn Lullaby" was self-released by Ornament in a few copies back in 2000 and is now published by Afe in a fully remastered and repackaged version that showcases the author's visionary attitude. Due to the poor distribution of the original version, this is probably Ornament's less know work, but it's probably his best attempt at Dark Ambient music contaminated with Industrial elements. If we look for some kind of internal reference wondering through the whole Afe catalogue, this can easily be found in Never Known's "Dawn of an Era", but "Unicorn Lullaby" has of course a personality of his own. According to his author, "Unicorn Lullaby" is an oniric / visionary concept in sounds, a travel to and back from an imaginary collapsing world where the "Unicorn Shaped Labyrinth" is the entrance / exit. "Noctifer" is the star shining above this imaginary world, while the gear-sounding "High Density of Grief" is a representation of the slave-citizens forced to work in a consuming production-chain and "From Concealed Gardens" tries to describe its mysterious flora and fauna. After entering the imaginary world, the protagonist wakes up ("I Opened My Eyes in the Liquid Room") and fight against his "Fiendish Ego" as the world begins to collapse ("Under Shivering Columns") as predicted by ancient priests who were charged with heresy ("The Heretics' Heritage"). This heritage is the only key that allows the protagonist to survive the ordeal and return to the place where he belongs as only a few traces of past life surround him ("Only Life Remains"). The distinctive overall sound of the album is subtly achieved with a rich shady substratum of distant sounds that are intentionally and elegantly kept in the background and are fully appreciable at a mid volume level.” [label description] www.aferecords.com 2005 €12.00
OUR LOVE WILL DESTROY THE WORLD Polished Glass Autobahn 7 BIRCHVILLE CAT MOTEL gibt es nicht mehr. Es lebe OUR LOVE WILL DESTROY THE WORLD! Während wir noch über die Bedeutung des Bandnamens nachdenken, ertönen auf der ersten Single überraschend abgehackte Beats und eine Vibrato-Gitarre wird über Akustigitarren malträtiert (sehr seltsam das alles), während die B-Seite "Galactic Masada" mit herrlichen tänzelnden Backwards-Gitarren, Organ-Drones und Rauschwellen auftrumpft. Das ist wirklich mal ein starker Kontrast zwischen A-und B-Seite.. "Debut single of the new project by Campbell Kneale (Birchville Cat Motel / Black Boned Angel). Campbell says “Shoot. The goddamn funkiest noise record ever? Like a bop-off between Rudolph Grey and Terminator X. Grinding psychedirgecore plastered over ghastly electrosplatter and ambivalent fake-americana strummage. And that’s just side one! Side two grovels in halls of gravel, blurring the line between this world and the next... like Aldous Huxley writing a book about how he lost his marbles whilst listening to Hawkwind. Like, like, like...EVERYBODYDANCENOW!)” Sure to pack the dance floors in Hades." [label info] www.myspace.com/dirtyknobbyindustries 2009 €6.50
OUSTAD, KRISTOFFER Filth Haven CD "As one half of Swedish/Norwegian industrial duo K.N.O., Kristoffer Oustad is no stranger to the Malignant roster, and yet within the broader context of the K.N.O. sound, his exact contributions were never fully known, or at least immediately recognizable. Listening to his debut solo recording, it becomes evident that the more emotive and moody qualities within those recordings seemed to be his primary responsibility. The 7 tracks that comprise Filth Haven operate on a palpable psychological level and are perhaps some of the most personal and deeply emotional recordings Malignant has released. Oustad shows an innate ability to craft intricate and detailed pieces of grey hued, analog darkness that feel suspended in time… dreamlike and meditative, yet always hinting at something ominous on the horizon, as gradually shifting textures, drifting tones and haunting melodies intersect in a hazy, somnambulant procession. While the method for composition (analog synths, guitar, and field recordings) may have been the same, each track is uniquely different than the next, but in the end, feels tightly bound together by a cinematic framework that sinks deep into your consciousness. An absolutely astounding and rewarding work for those that appreciate all manner of dark music." [label info] www.malignantrecords.com "Filth Haven is the first full length release published by the Norwegian Kristoffer Oustad under his own name. In the past Oustad has offered several albums and compilation works under the moniker of Kristoffer Nyströms Orkester (a power industrial duet formed with Peter Nyström of Megaptera) and Plague Machinery and the post-metal, avant-garde industrial project V:28. Filth Haven is an ultimate bleak, demonic and epic soundscaping inferno. Massive, absorbing and grimy, the dark instrumental music rituals offered here are made of brooding droney chords, treated found sources, ultra-sonic electronic assaults, micro signals, harsh noises, disembodied chants and treated hypnotic-like percussive elements. The whole orchestration is amazingly captivating and exceptionally turbulent, as if we enter in complete nightmare-ish hallucinations which send us back to primordial origins or to some forgotten cosmic events. ‘Filth Haven’ is a tremendously hell-ish narrative album, a sublime illustration of infernal scenes of extravagance and final desolation we can appreciate in terrifying painting visions of John Martin, John Charles Dollman or Adolf Hiremy-Hirschl, just to name a few. The apocalyptic mood is interrupted by rare field recordings as in the otherworldly Acheron-like droning sound tapestry of “Row me over.” Mesmeric splendor, compelling musical procession and dark contemplative estates that will ravish addicted fans of isolationist ambient music and anything related to post-industrial experimentalism. With this album Malignant Records proves one more time that they figure among the most iconic producers of shimmering industrial ambient music. Filth Haven is definitely a recommended album for collectors as well as beginners in the genre." [Philippe Blache, IGLOO MAGAZINE] 2015 €12.00
OVAL LANGUAGE, THE Waldkonzerte do-LP Second LP release by The Oval Language on Edition Telemark after "Hibernation" in 2017, this time showcaseing Klaus-Peter John's Waldkonzerte (woodland concerts), recorded in 2016. The Oval Language is an autonomous art project founded in 1987 in Leipzig, East Germany, by Klaus-Peter John and Frank Berendt. Since Berendt left in 1995, it has been continued by John, sometimes with collaborators, but recently mostly for solo activities. Its fields of activity have included sound-noise performances, conceptual works in open spaces, installations, land art projects, photography, and more. From the beginning, the space or location itself has been a central aspect within many of their site-specific sound-noise performances. When working at a certain location, the performers tried to not bring in anything from outside, but exclusively use material already available at the space. This way, it becomes possible to thoroughly feel out and explore the site, allowing a distinct site-specific sound to emerge that is integrated into the performance. Throughout the 1990s, the sites used often were abandoned buildings in Leipzig, available in nearly unlimited quantity, from vacant factories to unused former public bathing facilities. During the recent years, Klaus-Peter John has focused on a minimisation of means and developed a unique vocal technique without amplification that he has used in a number of performances. In 2016, he attempted to integrate his voice into pure nature, in his own words the biggest challenge to date. His goal was not to perform any kind of singing or the like, but to use voice as a means similar to the site-specific tools used in previous performances by The Oval Language. He performed five concerts without audiences in a forest ravine in Döben, near Grimma, between June and November. The concerts parallel the course of the seasons and their related acoustic changes and conditions. This double LP is presented in a die-cut single sleeve with two printed inner sleeves. The inner sleeves contain one photo made during a Waldkonzert on each side. By switching the order of the inner sleeves, four different front sleeves can be generated. Edition of 200. www.edition-telemark.de/903.01.html 2021 €29.50
P-ORRIDGE, GENESIS & THE HAFLER TRIO Dream Less Suite do-LP Genesis P-Orridge and The Hafler Trio: do these 2 legends still need any introduction? Genesis P-Orridge was the founding person of COUM Transmissions in 1969, Throbbing Gristle in 1975, Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth and Psychic TV in 1981. Andrew McKenzie started The Hafler Trio (together with Cabaret Voltaire’s Chris Watson) in 1982 and since then released all his work under this moniker and collaborated with William S. Burroughs, Autechre, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Nurse With Wound and Jónsi from Sigur Rós, to name a few. And he constructed the first kit Dreamachine in 1989 together with Brion Gysin. The impact and influence of these pioneers of the industrial underground,visionary thinkers and open minds, anti heroes of the misfits and the outcasts is hard to underestimate. On ‘Dream Less Suite’, the first new album by The Hafler Trio since 2016, Andrew McKenzie unearths, resurrects and completed recordings he made through the years with Genesis P-Orridge. This 2LP features soundtracks to unfinished films, live performances and the real versions of tracks you know and love, released for the very first time and mastered from the original reelto reel tapes. Expect the unexpected and be prepared for the unprepared. Subliminal soul music for the very faint-hearted. Demented disco for insecure insomniacs. Asymmetric acid for hoovering hipsters. Immersive polka for naughty night nurses. Soothing sounds for crying babies. Liberating latin for lesbians on xtc. Transcending tribalism for jogging junkies. Frenetic freakbeat for nihilistic numerologists. Jiving jazz for tyrannic transgenders. Hypnotic exotica for corrupt gymnastics. Indescribable sounds for angry journalists. Endless entertainment for everyone and the rest of the family. All f#cks given 2.0. Masters at work. 2023 €29.50
P16.D4 Kühe in 1/2 Trauer CD P16.D4 was a German electronic noise music collective, active primarily from 1980 to 1988. P16.D4 embraced tape cut-ups, musique concrète, endless recycling and transformation of previously published material, and many long-distance collaborations with like-minded artists such as DDAA, Vortex Campaign, Nurse With Wound, and Merzbow. Their active participation in the international industrial tape scene yielded collaborative output such as their release Distruct, where bands such as Nurse with Wound, Nocturnal Emissions, Die Tödliche Doris, and The Haters provided the source material. The longest-term collaboration was with the installation and conceptual artist Achim Wollscheid, who used P16.D4 sounds as the basis for LPs he recorded under the name SBOTHI. Ralf Wehowsky, the only constant member of the group, later released solo material under the alias RLW. Members of P16.D4 were also involved with Selektion, a collective of people involved with sound as well as the visual arts. Selektion published LPs, CDs, books, visual art and design. The collective worked in a strongly improvised, spontaneous and anti-professional way, using acoustic and electronic instruments, using existing sound fragments, duplicating and alienating them, using repetition, distortion, changes in speed and playing direction. For this they used not only sounds of other artists but also their own material from earlier productions. Late works of the collective are associated with musique concrete. https://www.sonoris.org/product/p16-d4-kuhe-in-12-trauer-lp/ ########################################## “This music is staggeringly original and innovative, and while it’s possible to locate it in a chain of circumstance that links it to ‘Industrial’ music, P16.D4 indulged in none of the empty cliches associated with the genre, worked incredibly hard, and seem to have been aiming at a form of sound art that was much more profound, varied, subversive, and potentially dangerous. Kuhe In 1/2 Trauer’s accompanying credits indicate their radical approach to making music: lots of improvisation, lots of live electronics, extensive use of tape-loops, some conventional instrumentation, and much that isn’t – like the milk churn on ‘Paris, Morgue’ or the use of baking tray and washing machine elsewhere. Even when guitars, drums or keyboards are used, they’re played very weirdly. It’s not even made clear who was doing what; the main credit is ‘Concept,’ which I assume means that one of the three devised the framework in which the noise would operate itself, and while RLW gets the lion’s share of these credits, a lot of the cuts are evenly divided among the team and I have no doubt that the group operated in a very democratic or libertarian manner. None of this prepares you for the insane and troubling sounds that reach your ears, composed with scant regard for conventional logic and following an exciting, absurdist path, especially in the matter of tape edits and juxtapositions of recordings.” Ed Pinsent, The Sound Projector. “Though this German group started out as a the new wave band P.D., by the time of Kuhe in 1/2 Trauer, their first LP under the P16.D4 name from 1984, they had developed far beyond into extremely experimental music similar to other post-industrial artists working with abstract avant-garde soundscapes. There’s a bleak industrial feel to the gritty, lo-fi electronics and tape loops, while the group throws in enough curve balls to keep it interesting. On some pieces, strange, looped choirs bubble out of throbbing pulses and drones of feedback, while others have clanging and clattering, and elements of musique concrète and improvisation blur the boundaries even further. The opening track, “Default Value,” is one of those disorienting pieces with noises flying everywhere, while “Paris Morgue” takes excerpts from one of their old P.D. tracks and messes it up with additional instruments, while the ungainly titled fourth track throws in a heavy texture of percussive noises to create an edgy ambience about to teeter off the edge, and the even darker and more ambient title track takes the tension even further. Arrhythmic and amorphous and capable at moments of becoming quite noisy and abrasive, while at others far more somber and quiet, Kuhe in 1/2 Trauer is quite a fascinating release.” Rolf Semprebon / AMG 2022 €13.00
PAIN JERK Neurotten LP Kohei Gomi began experimenting with home recording in the 1980s and got so lost in extreme sonics under the Pain Jerk moniker that his output inevitably spilled out into the wider world. By the mid-90s, he was one of the most prolific and influential noise units operating out of Japan, hurling maelstroms of chaotic chunder and deranged grime at anyone who could handle the extremes. Pain Jerk became one of the leading figures in the "dynamic" style of Japanese noise or Japanoise and is also the owner of the noise tape label AMP that during the 90s releases about fifty cassettes of his amazing noise project. Among his works released in his most prolific period, Neurotten stands out without a doubt, reaching cult status and instantly becoming a classic of the genre. Recorded in 1996 and published the same year on the legendary Slaughter Productions by Marco Corbelli aka Atrax Morgue, in only 80 hand numbered copies in a special A5 tin-foil sleeve with translucent insert and instead some using a red cardboard insert accompanied by a small curved iron rod, similar to a dentist's tool and now it has become a worship object for the most avid collectors. The assault here is very high-end heavy: relentlessly aggressive. The sound severs and bleeds more than it beats and bludgeons. Side A is divided into two tracks, Gushcore and Teen-Wreckage, of incredible beauty. Nothing compares to the sounds emitted by vinyl grooves composed with a mysterious configuration of constantly flowing noise - always recorded live without overdubs. Devastating, unfriendly harsh noise: the hardest rock that is pierced by the sharpest diamond! With only one track on side B, which takes 23 minutes, we encounter one of most iconic compositions from his wide discography: Disembowel. Hearing impaired volumes that duel, bouncing sound structures displacing the ego and generating many difficulties in brain processing. There’re a lot of rips and chaos, pulsating pulses of recycled transient sounds and some loops, muffled high tones that twist into spastic shapes capable of breaking the faint speaker cones. https://urashima.bandcamp.com/album/neurotten 2021 €21.50
PAIN JERK & JOHN WIESE Mental Peace Liberation Front CD "First part of collaboration series between Japanese harshest live electronics noise master Pain Jerk and one of the finest American noise & experimental musician John Wiese. Released in 2007, "Chocolate Grinder" 7" (Helicopter) and "Terrazzo" CD (Harbinger Sound) are following after this album. massive hyper-sonic and heavy fucked-up harsh blast, crashing and throbbing pulse electronics, full throttle cut-up with hi-range frequency. we're sure this has the best moment of all of their sessions. highly recommended! Comes in jewel case with obi, cover designed by Ono Masahiko aka Solmania." [label info] 2007 €13.00
PARKIN, NICK & TOM GILLIERON Red Shift CD Überraschende Verschmelzung von NICK PARKIN’s geheimnisvollen Sphären-Geräusch-Ambient Sounds mit schmissigen Break- und Techno-Beats. The absolute space-dance! “Red Shift fuses blistering hypnotic break beats with dark atmospheric sound textures and derives its inspiration from the images of distant galaxies and planets captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. Imaginings of distant space are counterbalanced by the gritty reality of living and creating in the dense urban environment of London and the impact this has on everyday aural experiences. Beats and breaks are constructed individually and meticulously in the break beat science style and merged with sampled and synthesised sound to create a compelling sonic experience. Nick Parkin is well-known for his many CD releases revolving around atmospheric dark electronica and elemental electroacoustic soundscapes, including Island of Dust (1999), Entropolis (2001) and Geomorphic Resonance (2001), which were released by Soleilmoon. He was awarded first prize at Bourges International electroacoustic music awards in 2001 for his elemental electroacoustic work Magmas, which has since enjoyed considerable international airplay. He brings his long term experience of using elements of drum and bass within his commissioned music for dance and theatre companies to startling effect in Red Shift and has teamed up with Tom Gillieron, a DJ, House and Drum and Bass artist and producer. Tom has released a number of 12" singles on the Dutch Drum and Bass scene and remixed for people as diverse as BT in the USA and MJ Cole in the UK garage scene.” [press release] 2004 €13.00
PARKINS, ZEENA Between the Whiles CD "Dass ZEENA PARKINS schon mit allen von SONIC YOUTH über YOKO ONO bis zu BJÖRK kollaboriert hat, stellt ein für alle Mal unter Beweis: die klassische Harfe ist in Wirklichkeit ein Rock’n’Roll Instrument! Engelschöre sind von gestern, denn ZEENA PARKINS ist der JIMI HENDRIX der verstärkten Harfe. Mit mehr Höhendrang, mehr Glitzer, Geschrei und Gequietsch als jemals zuvor wirft sich ihr neues Album ?Between The Whiles“ kopfüber in virbrierende Soundwellen, die einmal mehr ihre künstlerische Vision und technische Vielseitigkeit hervorheben. Die Klangweite ist immens und es gibt an allen Ecken etwas zu entdecken ? wer tief hinuntertaucht, wird mit Armen voller Schätze zurückkehren. "There's great fixity and coherence to the mini-essays she develops. In the end, it's classical NYC avant garde - garrulous, multi-faceted, ironic and open." - The Wire "Zeena Parkins is my favorite living harpist... kucks of sonic gristle that she pulls from it are dandy as jack. A truely ginchy exploration of forgotten string potential." ? Spin." [label info / Cargo] www.myspace.com/zeenaparkins 2010 €14.50
PARMEGIANI, BERNARD Les Soleils de l'Ile de Paques and La Brulure de Mille Soleils do-LP WRWTFWW Records is overjoyed to announce the release of two never-released-before soundtracks by French award-winning composer, audio experimenter, electroacoustic and musique concrète magician, and all-around sound visionary Bernard Parmegiani, sourced from the original reels, and neatly packed together in a gatefold sleeve double LP with English and French liner notes. The 2 albums are also available in an all-in-one digipack CD. Les Soleils de l’Île de Pâques (1972), by French director Pierre Kast, is a sci-fi feature which secured itself a well-deserved place in the pantheon of mysterious cult films thanks to hallucinatory (and superb) cinematography, exploration of supernatural phenomenons and occult symbolism, and one hell of a trippy atmosphere. La Brûlure de Mille Soleils (1965) also comes from Pierre Kast, but this time with the help of none other than writer, photographer, multimedia artist, homme à tout faire Chris Marker (notably known for films La Jetée, A Grin Without a Cat and Sans Soleil) who edited this bizarre short to brain melting results that live up to the promises of its synopsis: A depressed millionaire poet, accompanied by his cat Marcel and a sign language robot, travels in time to shake a persistent feeling of ennui and falls hopelessly in love with a woman from another planet. Nuff said! A renowned member of the prestigious GRM (Groupe de recherches musicales, the French equivalent of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop) and frequent collaborator of Pierre Schaeffer, Iannis Xenakis, and Pierre Henry among others, Bernard Parmegiani does what he does best with these two rare soundtracks: creating moods with electroacoustic experimentation, elevating the weird and hypnotic with soundscapes from other dimensions, and cementing his status as a true innovator. https://wrwtfww.com/album/les-soleils-de-l-le-de-p-ques-la-br-lure-de-mille-soleils-double-album 2018 €32.00
  Les Soleils de l'Ile de Paques and La Brulure de Mille Soleils CD WRWTFWW Records is overjoyed to announce the release of two never-released-before soundtracks by French award-winning composer, audio experimenter, electroacoustic and musique concrète magician, and all-around sound visionary Bernard Parmegiani, sourced from the original reels, and neatly packed together in a gatefold sleeve double LP with English and French liner notes. The 2 albums are also available in an all-in-one digipack CD. Les Soleils de l’Île de Pâques (1972), by French director Pierre Kast, is a sci-fi feature which secured itself a well-deserved place in the pantheon of mysterious cult films thanks to hallucinatory (and superb) cinematography, exploration of supernatural phenomenons and occult symbolism, and one hell of a trippy atmosphere. La Brûlure de Mille Soleils (1965) also comes from Pierre Kast, but this time with the help of none other than writer, photographer, multimedia artist, homme à tout faire Chris Marker (notably known for films La Jetée, A Grin Without a Cat and Sans Soleil) who edited this bizarre short to brain melting results that live up to the promises of its synopsis: A depressed millionaire poet, accompanied by his cat Marcel and a sign language robot, travels in time to shake a persistent feeling of ennui and falls hopelessly in love with a woman from another planet. Nuff said! A renowned member of the prestigious GRM (Groupe de recherches musicales, the French equivalent of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop) and frequent collaborator of Pierre Schaeffer, Iannis Xenakis, and Pierre Henry among others, Bernard Parmegiani does what he does best with these two rare soundtracks: creating moods with electroacoustic experimentation, elevating the weird and hypnotic with soundscapes from other dimensions, and cementing his status as a true innovator. https://wrwtfww.com/album/les-soleils-de-l-le-de-p-ques-la-br-lure-de-mille-soleils-double-album 2018 €15.00
PEPE WISMEER Le Stridor de l'Escargot LP + CD-R ... kaléidoscope maîtrisé d’influences éparses et vastes, l’univers très personnel de pepe wismeer désarçonne par son irrésistible beauté et sa mélancolie ambigüe. mêlant rêverie entêtante avec son ambient bizarroïde et délire expérimental psyché sombre, le duo entraîne dans son ballet et en son cœur les fantômes des legendary pink dots, coil, the cure ou même arvo pärt ... "This is a 1-off pressing of 100 copies on high-quality vinyl, printed labels AND an extra (free) CD-r E.P., with an original photographic insert (numbered by the artist). The LP itself has a special "DJ-confusion" cut (where the track marks do not coincide with the actual tracks themselves) and was done as an homage to Throbbing Gristle's "D.O.A." who pioneered this mischievous tactic around 35 years ago with their own DJ-confusion cut." [label info] www.chronoglide.com/equation.html 2013 €20.00
PETBRICK I (split black - clear vinyl ) LP "As the year 2020 fast approaches, there still exists a peculiar shortage of music spiritually attuned to these treacherous times. Fortunately Petbrick - the duo comprising Wayne Adams (Big Lad/Death Pedals/Johnny Broke) and Iggor Cavalera Sepultura / Soulwax/ Mixhell) - are exploring fresh lunacy anew whereby electronic experimentation, hardcore attitude, dystopian dread and in-the-red dementia collide and collude to form a uniquely invigorating assault, custom fit for an accelerated age. This debut employs both members' past experience - Wayne in a variety of musical guises ranging from punk to breakcore and gabba, and Iggor in a planet-straddling metal colossus whose questing spirit played a crucial role in the music's evolution - yet also cheerfully renders them obsolete in a resolutely genre-free onslaught, damaged by the endtime intensity of Ministry and the synapse-shredding mischief of Aphex Twin yet lodged firmly in the here and now. Moreover, guest vocalists are also on hand to traverse anywhere from full-throttle intensity (as with Full Of Hell's Dylan Walker on the blistering 'Radiation Facial' or Integrity's legendary vocal exorcist Dwid Hellion on 'Some Semblance Of A Story') to exhilarating melodic counterpoint (Laima Leyton (Mixhell) on 'Coming') and stream-of-consciousness lunacy from Warmduscher's Mutado Pintado, whose splenetic tirades on 'Gringolicker'. Paint-stripping and deliriously potent, 'I' is more than merely an exercise in the life-affirming flame of oppositional punk spirit scorching all or any musical boundaries in its path - it's an uncompromising soundtrack to a short-circuiting new era. Yet rarely has the sound of global malfunction also been so much fun." https://petbrick.bandcamp.com/album/i 2019 €26.00
PHILLIPS, DAVE ? CD "Assembled between April and June 2009 as part of a therapeutic process during a period dominated by severe disturbances of loss, mental abysses and despair, "?" is the new gospel from Swiss experimentalist Dave Phillips, co-founder of grindcore legend Fear of God, a member of the sense perplexing Schimpfluch-Gruppe and the pulverizing force behind the Rudimentary Peni one-man-doom-drone worship act Dead Peni, among numerous other projects. "?" offers a 79 minutes album of field recordings oriented compositions that feature murky cello, piano and accordion parts, nocturnal voices, a vast array of concrete snippets and more resonances of existences that give Albert Aylers' "Music is the healing force of the universe" new depths and meanings. "?" sees Phillips observing and carefully dissecting his human psyche into ten intimate and innovative music pieces, confronting them with the bile and degradation of the omnipresent while deconstructing his own ravage with a binding urge to cleanse. And it's a fascinating insight to listen to." [label info] www.HCBrecords.com, www.topheth.org "Noise. There are people out there, mainly youngsters devoted to noise, who think that I don't like noise. They are mistaken, and should check their history lessons. But these days, noise doesn't have my full attention anymore. I just heard too much of that, I guess, in those grey forgotten days. However sometimes I see something that is maybe 'noise' live and sometimes it blows me away. Sudden Infant for instance, very recently, and last year Dave Phillips. The former member of Fear Of God, a grindcore band, is connected to the Schimpfluch gang these days and his concert was a carefully constructed set of noise and silence. I may not have cared for the political overtones of his work, his noise went down pretty well. Its therefore with some anticipation that I played his new CD '?'. It was recorded 'during a period dominated by severe disturbances of loss, mental abysses and despair' and yes, we are not in for some fun for the next eighty minutes. Normally I would complain about the length of such a release, but somehow it all seems to make sense here. The shortest piece is just over one minute, the longest just under sixteen. And it seems to be without the sort of noise those earlier mentioned youngsters care about: Phillips uses loops, piano, concrete sounds, very little sound effects, so all the sounds are as a dry as possible, cello, accordion and voice material (sighing, moaning, crying) and the sounds of torture the human body. Like I said, nothing conservative noise here, but quite a depressing album altogether. Low bass sound here and there, obscured field recordings and such like make up the backbone, and top these repeating sound fragments of instruments and voices. Bleak, dark stuff. Not much information on the cover to go by, but depression has not be made that clear in quite some time. A creepy record, not for the weak of heart and mind. That's true noise for you." [FdW/Vital Weekly] 2009 €13.00
PHURPA Trowo Phurnag Ceremony CD This voyage began in the middle of the 1990's in Moscow, when a group of artists and musicians led by Alexei Tegin and based at the legendary Fabrique of Cardinal Art commenced their studies of traditional ritual music, drifting away from the field of contemporary electroacoustic and industrial music with the intent to delve deeper into the ancient musical cultures of the ancient Egypt, Iran and Tibet. The original 2003 lineup of the project that emerged as a result was ubbed Phurpa (one of the five tutelary deities of the Father Tantra in Bon tradition), and all the members have carried on with their research in the field of Bon and Buddhist liturgies up to the present day. Before Buddhism reached Tibet, local people had practiced involved shamanic rites derived from various ancestral cults. Later on, circa the VI-IX century AD, a conflict between the local tradition, namely, the pre-Buddhist religion of Bon (which originates from Central Asia) and Tantric Buddhism (hailing from the North of India) gave birth to a unique cultural phenomenon known as Tibetan Buddhism, which combines an extensive metaphysical corpus and an advanced philosophical system with pristine ceremonial practices that reach down through many centuries. In the X-XI century AD the monastic ensemble came into being. It has got a lot in common with the Chinese court ensembles of the Tang dynasty; nevertheless, the Tibetan ceremonial ensemble has preserved its authenticity and kept a large number of primordial elements stemming from the ancient Tibeto-Burmanese music intact to this day. A typical ensemble usually includes a pair of nga drums, several rolmo cymbals and a pair of gyaling oboes, as well as telescopic dunchen horns, dunkar shells and short wandun horns. One of the unique features of the Tibetan monastic choir is a specific kind of overtone chanting, called "rgyud-skad", or the Tantric voice, which is based on the principle of the singer's transmogrification during the so-called "chanting meditation". Recorded in 2005 at Melodiya studio, mixed and mastered in 2007-2008 at Magihead studio photography by Cheslav Merk, Ulrika Merk and Anna Lukyanova sketis-music.com/catalog/skmr-060-phurpa-trowo-phurnag-ceremony 2010 €13.00
PLOTKIN, JAMES & PAAL NILSSEN-LOVE Death Rattle CD " “Death Rattle” is the noise of two forces of nature in collision. Like a pair of clashing typhoons, Philadelphia based avant guitarist James Plotkin and Norwegian free jazz drummer Paal Nilssen-Love generate chaos, disturbance and a terrifying beauty in their first ever collaborative recording. Free jazz and metal-edged rock never chimed so exhilaratingly together before. ‘Paal’s precision and constant invention/reinvention is mind-blowing, only matched by its intensity,’ James enthuses. ‘There’s a very fluid feel to what he’s doing despite the ferocity. Instead of trying to match the chaos, I opted to build a more solid foundation of repetition and melody for him to launch from. I really appreciated the role reversal of drummer and guitarist!’ James Plotkin’s distinctively extreme, aggressive guitar sound has been a constant presence in underground music since the late 1980s, when he founded the metal/industrial band OLD. As a solo artist and as a member of outfits such as Scorn, Khanate, Phantomsmasher, Khlyst and most recently Jodis, he has plotted a nomadic trail through new metal, dark ambient, industrial, noise, grindcore and drone rock. Sought out by Michael Gira, John Zorn, Ikue Mori, Franz Treichler, Francisco López and many more, he has also remixed a wide range of artists from KK Null and Sunn O))) to Pelican, Earth, Nadja and Neu!. ‘I've wanted to work with Paal for the better part of a decade,’ comments James. ‘Stephen O'Malley had played one of Scorch Trio’s discs in the van during a Khanate tour and I could hardly believe it was only one drummer at work.’ Paal Nilssen-Love is one of the most intense drummers working on the planet right now. He grew up in Stavanger, west Norway, where his parents ran the city’s thriving jazz club. In theory he’s now based in Oslo, but there’s a huge global demand for his percussive threshing machine. He’s often travelling on a relentless round of musical projects and festival appearances – notably with Mats Gustafsson in The Thing, his Chicago trio with Ken Vandermark and Ab Baars, the Hairy Bones group with Peter Brötzmann and Toshinori Kondo, a trio with Massimo Pupillo and noise artist Lasse Marhaug, plus duos with Peter Brötzmann, Terrie Ex, John Butcher and others." [label info] www.runegrammofon.com 2013 €15.00
  Death Rattle LP & CD " “Death Rattle” is the noise of two forces of nature in collision. Like a pair of clashing typhoons, Philadelphia based avant guitarist James Plotkin and Norwegian free jazz drummer Paal Nilssen-Love generate chaos, disturbance and a terrifying beauty in their first ever collaborative recording. Free jazz and metal-edged rock never chimed so exhilaratingly together before. ‘Paal’s precision and constant invention/reinvention is mind-blowing, only matched by its intensity,’ James enthuses. ‘There’s a very fluid feel to what he’s doing despite the ferocity. Instead of trying to match the chaos, I opted to build a more solid foundation of repetition and melody for him to launch from. I really appreciated the role reversal of drummer and guitarist!’ James Plotkin’s distinctively extreme, aggressive guitar sound has been a constant presence in underground music since the late 1980s, when he founded the metal/industrial band OLD. As a solo artist and as a member of outfits such as Scorn, Khanate, Phantomsmasher, Khlyst and most recently Jodis, he has plotted a nomadic trail through new metal, dark ambient, industrial, noise, grindcore and drone rock. Sought out by Michael Gira, John Zorn, Ikue Mori, Franz Treichler, Francisco López and many more, he has also remixed a wide range of artists from KK Null and Sunn O))) to Pelican, Earth, Nadja and Neu!. ‘I've wanted to work with Paal for the better part of a decade,’ comments James. ‘Stephen O'Malley had played one of Scorch Trio’s discs in the van during a Khanate tour and I could hardly believe it was only one drummer at work.’ Paal Nilssen-Love is one of the most intense drummers working on the planet right now. He grew up in Stavanger, west Norway, where his parents ran the city’s thriving jazz club. In theory he’s now based in Oslo, but there’s a huge global demand for his percussive threshing machine. He’s often travelling on a relentless round of musical projects and festival appearances – notably with Mats Gustafsson in The Thing, his Chicago trio with Ken Vandermark and Ab Baars, the Hairy Bones group with Peter Brötzmann and Toshinori Kondo, a trio with Massimo Pupillo and noise artist Lasse Marhaug, plus duos with Peter Brötzmann, Terrie Ex, John Butcher and others." [label info] www.runegrammofon.com 2013 €22.50
POOK, JOCELYN Untold Things CD "The Real World Gold version of Untold Things includes two bonus tracks: Adam's Lullaby and Ave Maria, sung by Natacha Atlas. "I wanted Untold Things to reflect the live work I'd been at the time," says the classically trained, thirty-something Londoner. Pook sees the recording as a natural progression from her long association with Real World, where she'd been a keen participant in the legendary creative jams that are Recording Weeks and worked as a string player and arranger for Peter Gabriel. (As a former member of The Communards and co-founder of the all-female sextet Electra Strings she has also helped flesh out the sounds of PJ Harvey, Paul Weller, Morrissey, Nick Cave and Siouxsie Sioux). Where her previous albums, 1997's 'Deluge' and 1999's 'Flood', were written specifically for theatre and film - the former for Canadian dance company O Vertigo, the latter for Stanley Kubrick's 'Eyes Wide Shut' - 'Untold Things' is very much Pook's own creative vision. Encouraged by Real World's penchant for blurring boundaries, she channelled her trademark combination of classicism and innovation into an exhilarating gem of an album, one which pulls off that rare coup of putting listeners in touch with their deeper feelings. 'Untold Things' will, no doubt, be the source of many an epiphany. You could say that it has a spiritual, even magical, quality, as befits one who is constantly changing artistic shape - and whose surname is the Celtic word for fairy. Pook's soft speech, translucent skin and Pre-Raphaelite curls might fit the stereotype of a classical musician (and, if you like, a latter-day Titania), but they belie a background in performance-based work that's seen her create 'atmospheres' from found objects like answer-machine messages and corrugated iron. And though Pook insists she is proudly rooted in the formal, classical music tradition, she still hankers after the cutting edge. Her influences - Laurie Anderson, Steve Reich, Holger Czukay and her friend Michael Nyman - are also shared by her like-minded ensemble. "Most of my string section are friends who go way back and who, like me, are also composers. I tend to work with people I've got chemistry with and then build around what they play. That means all sorts of instruments and voices creep in." "There's a juxtaposition of vocal styles," states Pook, who has always favoured eccentric opposites. On 'Untold Things', she pits her English choral plainsong and early music leanings against multi-ethnic traditions, and offsets the spacious, tranquil nature of some tracks with the pulsing, dervish-style rhythms of others. It turns out the vocals are not words at all. "Because words are so incredibly powerful," Pook explains, "I tend not to use them. I prefer to treat voices like instruments. So we've used a made up language on two of the songs; there's one piece which developed from a phrase Parvin Cox once sang to me over the phone. On others I've recorded texts backwards, because I love the strange, kind of uneasy quality you get. I find it really peaceful." 'Saffron' is the title track for 'In A Land of Plenty', a major new BBC TV drama series which aired at the time of the album's release. "It's about a family who are my generation, born in the Sixties and growing up into the present day. It's very beautifully shot, very impressionistic, which is unusual for television" Pook states. But it started out as a poem written by a mother for her daughter, its lyrics reversed by Pook and Pappenheim before being featured in a short dance film. All of the songs on 'Untold Things' have been reshaped and sculpted to perfection. Or at the very least, as near to it as Pook will admit. "I could go on fiddling with all these pieces for years," she grins. "But with what I've learnt over the past year, especially from doing 'Eyes Wide Shut', I've been able to go back and rework some of them. I'm more confident in what I'm doing now, which has really helped me to develop. And Stanley (Kubrick) was just so amazingly positive and flattering about my music. The experience of working with him was truly powerful." "I'm not somebody who conceptualises," she offers. "I just do it and see the connections afterwards. I know people will think there's a religious element to this, which isn't something I want to comment on. But I do think there's a sense of faith, of loss and yearning, which is inherent in the music. Hopefully, it moves you." And in keeping with her Celtic surname, Jocelyn Pook has made an album with translucent wings." [label info] www.realworldrecords.com 2013 €10.00
POSCH Triest! CD-R Further deconstructions from this Austrian experimentalist. You have been warned ! "triest!": 10 stuecke, die meine "schrebergaertner-trilogie" abschliessen. Das cover-foto zeigt die "record-muenz-waescherei" in der triester-siedlung im 5. grazer gemeindebezirk griess, meinem derzeitigen wohnsitz, die zum zeitpunkt der CD-R-veroeffentlichung bereits abgerissen war. ausgangsmaterial sind auch hier wieder liebenau - (auch: nachbarbezirk am anderen murufer) fragmente, die diesmal unter anderem mit chico hamilton-samples durchmischt werden. im unterschied zu den beiden vorgaengern erfolgt hier die aufloesung der song-strukturen aber wesentlich freier und weniger werksgetreu, wodurch etwas mehr platz fuer teilweise grosszuegige flaechen ensteht. alles in allem ein versoehnlicher ausgang meiner assoziativen reise durch die grazer "glasscherbenviertel". [michi posch] www.tonto.at 2002 €11.00
POST SCRIPTVM Gauze LP "LP reissue of the first full-length album by Post Scriptvm, recorded in late 2001 and originally released as CD-r. Unlike the project's later works that are characterized by subtlety and meticulous production, Gauze is an unvarnished, gritty 4-track recording of lo-fi death ambient from the wasteland of southern Brooklyn, NYC, enshrouded in the lingering haze of razed buildings and burnt human remains. The boundary between what is considered normal everyday life and sheer insanity, carnage, personal and social collapse-true horrible face of humanity-is but an ephemeral layer of gauze that can be torn in a heartbeat, throwing reality out of balance, violently and irrevocably. "This game is prompted by a rip in the fabric of life." [Gauze] has the same hypnotic and overwhelming power as a strong fever dream. It hauls you into a contorted world of loose association, an industrial landscape in which humans lose their form and randomly merge with animals and bizarre machinery, where perception is warped and hours flicker by in an instant. -Nulll Oppressive drones and bleak atmospheres, interjected with twisted samples and cavernous, haunted basement noises. [Gauze] has a very cool old school feel to it that's been sadly missing within the 'death industrial' genre. -Jason Mantis/Malignant Records "Gauze" is a hazy swirl of dark ambient, subtle ritual elements, esoteric samples and mild death industrial textures. The deep tones and the cryptic vocals samples and chants combine to make some truly eerie atmospheres. -Scott Candey/Worm Gear "Gauze" sounds quite a bit like a live recording, like being immersed in a real-time psychosis simulation. -Industrial.org Post Scriptum construct their pieces from a varied mixture of drones, analogue sounds, post-industrial samples, strongly maintaining a claustrophobic atmosphere at the same time...thick with an uneasy sense of a catastrophe about to happen. -Corridor of Cells Ragged dark ambience full of trepidation and strangeness, as scratched into the flesh of weird, dimly lit corners of aural resonance. -SEVEN Tracklist: Cunctator Trepan On the brink Pore The Binding Vox Calamantis Gentle Diversions." www.tesco-germany.com "Gerade hat Kollege ENDSAL die aktuelle Live-Werkschau "Séance" (Besprechung) des russischen Industrial-Duos POST SCRIPTVM gewürdigt. Nun möchte ich noch ein paar Infos zu "Gauze" nachschieben, um die Diskografie komplett zu machen. Es handelt sich um die allerersten Aufnahmen von POST SCRIPTVM, die ursprünglich im Jahr 2001 auf CDR erschienen sind. TESCO ARCHAIC DOCUMENTS, eine Serie des Mannheimer Industrial-Labels TESCO, presst hier ältere – teils auch unveröffentliche oder live entstandene – Werke auf Vinyl, und so ist auch "Gauze" als nicht mehr erhältlicher Baustein des Gesamtwerkes nun als LP wieder zugänglich. Womit wir auch wirklich alle Veröffentlichungen der in den USA lebenden Russen auf NONPOP geehrt hätten. "Cunctator" (01) startet mit einem höhligen, gefährlichen und vibrierenden Drone. Dumpf klingende Sprachsamples und ein kratziges Geräusch ergänzen den Track, ab der Mitte tauchen sporadisch sakrale Mönchsgesänge auf; eher Atmosphäre als Musik, sehr stimmungsvoller Dark Ambient. Das Frickeln und Bratzeln in "Trepan" (02) formt sich nach und nach zu Frequenzdonner. Auch hier tönt eine Sprech- und später schamanische Singstimme aus der Gruft. Mit metallenem Scheppern ergibt sich auch ein erster Ansatz von Rhythmus, der in "On The Brink" (03) weiter verfolgt wird. Gelooptes Kratzen hält Drones zusammen, später übernimmt diese Funktion ein Herzschlag – das Stück ein geisterhaftes Schweben. "Pore" (04) besteht aus weitem, maschinellem Rumpeln und Dröhnen, dezent von noisigen Sounds unterstützt, die in "The Binding" (05) zunehmen: Zwischen Weltuntergangs-Blitzen ruft eine russische Frauenstimme ganz sicher den Notfall aus. Wasserplätschern, Wind und schwimmende Drones lassen "Vox Calamantis" (06) ruhiger wirken, in wiederholende Loops fügt sich eine nachdenkliche, mahnende russische Stimme ein. Und zum Schluss besteht "Gentle Diversions" (07), ganz klassisch, überwiegend aus rotierendem Dröhnen zwischen Noise und Industrial. Für mich sind POST SCRIPTVM einer der besten und intelligentesten Industrial-Acts auf dem Markt. "Gauze" hat bereits alle Grundbausteine für die spätere Entwicklung. Klanglich noch recht roh und rau, man könnte auch sagen 'old school', wirkt das Album fast wie eine Liveaufnahme. So unmittelbar und direkt. Ich habe permanent das Gefühl, mich in einem dunklen Schiffsbauch zu befinden, schwankend, zwischen stampfenden Maschinen. Diese LP gehört natürlich, wie alle anderen Veröffentlichungen von POST SCRIPTVM auch, in den Plattenschrank. Nicht nur als abzuhakendes Frühwerk, sondern als spannender Ausgangspunkt für folgende Meilensteine." [Michael We. für nonpop.de] 2016 €23.00
  Variola Vera LP LE300 comes with printed innersleeve Post Scriptvm enters its third decade of marginal existence with a new full-length album of surrealist industrial—eight inexplicably obscure analog sound sculptures, created using antiquated electronics and obsolescent techniques, juxtaposing dark ambient, power electronics and electroacoustic music. Titled after the outbreak of smallpox in the 1970s socialist Yugoslavia, unintentionally brought in by the pilgrims returning from a quest for divine illumination, Variola Vera is the soundtrack to the somatic and the metaphysical epidemics steering the human enterprise towards its termination. Adrift in the sea of narcotic synth textures, discordant recitations, contaminated laboratory noises, misshapen fragments of charlatan sermons, cannibal ceremonies, voices of dying children and speeches of the moribund Eastern Blok dictators, Variola Vera navigates its wayward course amidst the bitter nostalgia, ritualistic fervency, lethargic dejection, and frantic anguish. https://tescogermany.bandcamp.com 2019 €20.00
POTTER, COLIN Rank Sonata LP " “Rank Sonata“ is a brand new recording of the legendary Colin Potter, producer and collaborator of bands like Nurse With Wound, Organum and Current 93. Colin Potter has been a central figure in the UK’s DIY and post-industrial underground since the late ‘70s. His ICR label, founded in 1981, blurred the lines between post-punk experimentation, crude pop, Krautrock-inspired drone work and contemporary electronica, with releases by everyone from DIY legends The Instant Automatons through Chris & Cosey of Throbbing Gristle, experimental composer Trevor Wishart, drone soundists Andrew Chalk and Darren Tate and Bryn Jones’s Muslimgauze. He has also been a key collaborator with both Current 93 and Nurse With Wound, working in the studio with both groups since the late ‘90s as well as serving as a member of Nurse With Wound’s current live line-up. From the late ‘90s to the late ‘00s Potter’s IC Studio, based in a Victorian Water Tower outside Preston, was a lightning rod for musicians working beneath the radar and a focal point for the nascent UK drone scene. Recent years have seen an upsurge in interest in Potter’s solo works. (By David Keenan) Rank Sonata encloses sounds of organic techno up to somnambulistic dub and daydreamfull ambient. The nearly twenty minute long track “A Wider Pale Of Shale“ sounds absolutely timeless and could be played the whole night long because of its interplay of ambient and beat passages. With “And“ Potter shows us in a brilliant way how particular abstract sounds can be weaved into an unexpected multilayered dub track. “Knit Where?“ with its very deep and slow reverb rhythm gives the record even a touch of darkness and melancholy. “Rank Sonata“ is a brilliant piece of music full of technical sophistication und innovation." [label info] www.hallowground.com 2015 €19.50
  The Abominable Slowman LP This release by Colin Potter, “The Abominable Slowman”, is the logical follow-on from his previous 2015 LP “Rank Sonata”. Like that album, there are elements that were recorded many years ago, but this work also contains new music. Again, the emphasis is on rhythm, although the rhythmic components range from conventional drum sounds to strange electronic and/or mutated outbursts, often accompanied by squalling guitars. As to what this sounds like, keywords would be soundtrack, experimental, ambient, electronic psychedelia, contemporary, drone…. There’s constant experimentation throughout the album, a search for never-before heard sounds to create obscure atmospheres and a pleasantly disturbing feeling of disquietude. The LP is housed in a beautiful grey cardboard sleeve, hand-printed by letterpress, and die cut to reveal the printed inner sleeve, which features a number of pictures of The Abominable Slowman during the recording of the album at IC Studio’s current London location. “Colin Potter has been a central figure in the UK’s DIY and post – industrial underground since the late ‘70s. His ICR label, founded in 1981, blurred the lines between post – punk experimentation, crude pop, Krautrock – inspired drone work and contemporary electronica, with releases by everyone from DIY legends The Instant Automatons through Chris & Cosey of Throbbing Gristle , experimental composer Trevor Wishart, drone soundists Andrew Chalk and Darren Tate and Bryn Jones’s Muslimgauze. He has also been a key collaborator with both Current 93 and Nurse With Wound, working in the studio with both groups since the late ‘90s as well as serving as a member of Nurse With Wound’s current live line – up. From the late ‘90s to the late ‘00s Potter’s IC Studio, based in a Victorian Water Tower outside Preston, was a lightning rod for musicians working beneath the radar and a focal point for the nascent UK drone scene. Recent years have seen an upsurge in interest in Potter’s solo works.” 2017 €17.50
PROPELLER Rame CD Debut-Album des Solo-Projekts von “ex-Zoviet France”-Mitglied MARK SBYBEY, war lange vergriffen, wieder erhältlich !! „Propeller is a Vancouver based collective of no fixed membership save the hands of Mark Spybey. Spybey is known for his work as Dead Voices On Air, who have released several albums for Invisible Records. He also worked with Download and Zoviet France. Rame was a quick fire collection of sonic fragments, isolationist doodles, half truths, archived recordings and low fi ambience..... Propeller started it's life in England, 1992. It was there that Spybey recorded with his childhood friend Richard Sanderson, who is a mainstay of London's vibrant free improvisational scene. The pair recorded versions of songs that they had worked on in the late '70's, as well as numerous pieces inspired by their fascination with spontaneous composition and noisy improvisational music. It is hoped that these recordings will be cleaned up and released. Spybey resurrected Propeller's Do It Yourself Disposable Music ethos when he was invited to submit a 30 second piece for a CD Rom project in 1995. Why become so fascinated by first take spontaneity? Propeller seeks to create compact music. Music that expressively captures a moment in time or a dynamic (between the musicians, between the musicians and their instruments and between the music and the listener ). It's deliberately ambiguous in intent. You won't find deceptive melodies or catchy hooks here. It's not gratuitous noise either. It's carefully sculpted once recorded and laid out for the listener to play with. To explore.“ [label info] 1996 €13.00
PSYCHIC TV Batschkapp CD "Recorded at Batschkapp, Frankfurt, West Germany, 10th December 1984. Originally issued as a bonus CD for the first 1000 copies of 'Were You Ever Bullied At School - Do You Want Revenge?' (CSR27CD, 1999). That first edition sold out immediately and has not been available in any form for 12 years. Personnel: Genesis P-Orridge, Alex Fergusson, Paul 'Grimsby' Reeson and John 'Zos Kia' Gosling // Aufgenommen im Batschkapp Frankfurt am 10. Dezember 1984. Ursprünglich war das gute Stück die Bonus-CD für die ersten 1000 Stück vom ,Were You Ever Bullied At School - Do YOu Want Revenge?" Album. Die erste Pressung verkaufte sich sofort komplett aus, so dass die Musik in dieser Form volle zwölf Jahre nicht zu haben war. Bis jetzt. Mit dabei: Genesis P-Orridge, Alex Fergusson, Philipp Erb, Matthew Best und Dave Martin." [label info] www.coldspring.co.uk 2012 €10.00
Ov Power CD "Live at Klecks Theatre, Hamburg, 16th September 1984. Originally issued as a vinyl bootleg in 1985 in an edition of 500 copies. Completely remastered and expanded. Psychic TV at their most Industrial. For thee realization ov this project Psychc TV were: Genesis P-Orridge, John 'Zos Kia' Gosling, Paul 'Grimsby' Reeson and Alex Fergusson.// Live im Hamburger Klecks Theater am 16. September 1984 aufgenommen. Ursprünglich 1985 als streng auf 500 Stück limitiertes Vinyl Bootleg veröffentlicht. Komplett neu gemastert und aufgepolstert. PSYCHIC TV auf ihrem Industrial Höhepunkt. ,OV Power" wurde realisiert mit: Genesis P-Orridge, John 'Zos Kia' Gosling, Paul 'Grimsby' Reeson und Alex Fergusson." [label info] www.coldspring.co.uk 2012 €10.00
Paramartha CD "Recorded 22nd September 1984 at Pandora's Music Box, Rotterdam. Originally issued as two bootlegs in 1985 - 'Paramartha' and 'Unclean', now remastered and cleaned from the two, to create the full live show, not heard before it its entirety. Participants: Genesis P-Orridge, Alex Fergusson, Paul 'Grimsby' Reeson and John 'Zos Kia' Gosling. // Aufgenommen am 22. September 1984 in Pandora's Music Box in Rotterdam. Ursprünglich 1985 als zwei Bootlegs - "Paramartha" und "Unclean" - veröffentlicht; jetzt neu gemastert, aufpoliert und als eine komplette Liveshow zu haben, die niemals so komplett zu haben war. Mit dabei: Genesis P-Orridge, Alex Fergusson, Paul 'Grimsby' Reeson und John 'Zos Kia' Gosling." [label info] www.coldspring.co.uk 2012 €10.00
Alien Be-In 12inch "Dark Entries Editions is venturing into new waters with a remix EP of Psychic TV’s classic Acid House song “Alien Be-In”. Psychic TV was formed by Genesis P-Orridge and Peter Christopherson after the breakup of Throbbing Gristle in 1981. After various line up changes, the band shifted direction to dance oriented songs influenced by the Acid House scene in America. By 1988 experimental electronic musician Fred Giannelli, of Turning Shrines, joined the band and over the next 2 years started to record songs for “Toward The Infinite Beat”. The album was a mix of deep, multilayered tracks full of bright and hypnotic dance numbers, providing the soundtrack to the rave culture that sprung up in the UK in the 90s. “Alien Be-In” was written in early 1989 on an E-mu Emax Sampler and an Alesis MMT-8 sequencer. Vocal samples were taken from a tape American investigative reporter Don Bolles sent to Genesis. A didgeridoo rides throughout the song, heavily modulated by a Gristleizer creating a hypnotic effect. Near the end of the song the breakbeat slides out of time yet the band chose to leave this in because it sounded strange and fit the concept of the track. Genesis played a spaced out Echo Violin and the band used 360 degree panning rotation devices. For this reissue Fred Giannelli takes a stab at remixing the mono mix of the original sequence sourced from the Emax floppy discs. On the flip are two brand new mixes, the first from Los Angeles based producer, Silent Servant, who updates the classic with his modern brand of driving EBM techno. The second remix is a team effort from Silent Servant and veteran producer John Tejada, that re-creates the original melody using a Roland TR-808 and TB-303, paying homage to early Chicago Acid House artists like Lil Louis and Robert Owens. All songs have been mastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. The 12” is housed in a mind-alerting, metallic silver die-cut sleeve and a neon green label that pops through, featuring the psychic skull transformed into an alien cone head label all designed by Eloise Leigh. Each copy includes a 2-sided 11x11 square insert with black and white photo of the band from 1988 and liner notes by Fred Giannelli." [label info] www.darkentriesrecords.com 2015 €16.00
  Kondole / Dead Cat do-CD + DVD Cold Spring are proud to announce “Kondole / Dead Cat” – a double CD and DVD collection, presented in a lavish 8-panel matt digipak with booklet. CD1: Features the complete, long version of ‘Dead Cat’. “…what could be more beautiful that such a sustaining & chronic radical as Gen could have provided us all – in the form of KONDOLE – with a piece of truly necessary Everyday Listening?” (JULIAN COPE / Head Heritage). CD2: Contains 3 tracks: Thee First Part, ‘Thee Whale’ was recorded at Time Square Studios, Chiswick, London, on thee 23rd January 1988. It is thee soundtrack to an unmade 23 minute film called “Kondole (Thee Whale)”, by David Lewis and Andy Crabb. Thee Second Part, ‘Thee Shadow Creatures’ was recorded at Hyperdelic Studios, San Francisco on 23rd January, 1993. Thee Third Part, ‘Dead Cat’ was recorded at Time Square Studios, Chiswick, London, on thee 23rd January 1989. It is thee soundtrack to the film “Dead Cat” by David Lewis. DVD: The film 'Dead Cat' was released in 1989, and shown only at two film festivals of the same year, including once at the infamous Scala Cinema in London. It was never issued on general release and has only recently been uncovered by David Lewis (writer & director). We present the full film, re-authored from the original source. The film itself features unique starring roles from cult film director DEREK JARMAN, ANDREW TIERNAN ('The Pianist', '300', 'The Bunker', Derek Jarman's 'Edward II') and GENESIS P-ORRIDGE (PSYCHIC TV, THROBBING GRISTLE). The film features the music of Psychic TV, included here on CD1, in its complete form. https://coldspring.bandcamp.com/album/kondole-dead-cat-csr246cd 2018 €29.00
PUNCH INC. Fightclub CD "the bielefeld based live / studio project punch inc. was founded in august 2000. both protagonists, a. brinkert and a. glöckner are equally responsible for synthesizer, sampling and programming (both have played in various projects since 1992). a. glöckner (aka moctan) experimented with electronic dance music and supported local industrial projects like ars moriendi, asche, morgenstern and monokrom, while a. brinkert (aka bipol) achived recognition as an innovative bass player and sound constructor with klang, womp and templegarden's. during various sessions both generated the idea to merge these musical outputs into a collective venture. since the beginning the name punch inc. has stood for hard, intransigent and propulsive industrial that is supported by tribalistic and technoid beats. the mercilessness of an industrial civilization is punch inc's main influence, and they always place an emphasis on the rhythmic overkill. fightclub: a visualization of the fate of most everyday humans: struggle for assertiveness, combat the inner and outer predator, fight - not for the chance of winning but for survival. fightclub: machines designed for personal wars, emitting dense, grinding soundwalls that are wedged into never ending beat pulses. fightclub: mankind's biggest enemy is shutdown and here are eleven arms to make you move onward... if this album doesn't make you roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty then you need to check your pulse!" [label info] www.ant-zen.com 2008 €14.00
PUNCTUAL TRIO Grammar CD Lou Mallozzi: turntables, CDs, Microphones, Oscillator Fred Lonberg-Holm: Cello Carlos Zingaro: Violin Recorded by Pete Wenger at Experimental Sound Studio, Chicago, 28 May 2003. Mixed and Masterd by Lou Mallozzi and Fred Lonberg-Holm at Experimental Sound Studio, Chicago, 23 June 2004. Produced by Lonberg-Holm, Mallozzi and Zingaro. @2003 Mallozzi / Lonberg-Holm / Zingaro Lou Mallozzi (b. 1957) Lou Mallozzi is a Chicago audio artist who has been dismembering and reconstituting language, sound, and gesture on stages, sites, CD, and radio since 1986. His background is in performance, intermedia and installation art, and since 1996 an increasing amount of his attention has been focused on improvised music. Using microphones, turntables, CDs and analog mixing, he collaborates with numerous instrumentalists in improvised frameworks. These collaborators have included Carlos Zingaro, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Michael Vorfeld, Mats Gustafsson, Jaap Blonk, Sebi Tramontana, Terri Kapsalis, Michael Zerang, Guillermo Gregorio, Birgit Ulher, Hal Rammel, and many others. He has performed in this context at the Come Sunday Festival (Munich), the Logos Foundation (Ghent), Podewil (Berlin), The Empty Bottle (Chicago), Candlestick Maker (Chicago), The Renaissance Society (Chicago), Kraakgeluiden (Amsterdam), and others. He has also composed several sound poems and structured improvisational works for soloists and ensembles, including Jaap Blonk, Barbara Lüneburg, and the ensemble Intégrales. In addition to his improvised music projects, Mallozzi also produces intermedia and sound performances, radio art works, and sound installations. These have been presented at numerous venues since 1986, including the PAC/Edge Performance Festival (Chicago), the Chicago Cultural Center, Experimental Intermedia (New York), the TUBE audio art series at the Einstein Kulturzentrum (Munich), Spritzenhaus (Hamburg), Suoni/Sound 2000 (Isola d'Elba, Italy), The Subtropics Experimental Music Festival (Miami), the Fort Wayne Museum of Art (Indiana), Percorsi 98 Festival (Montegrosso d'Asti, Itlay), the Sound Canopy public art project (Chicago), Donald Young Gallery (Chicago), Gallery 400 (Chicago), the Bechtler Gallery (Charlotte), Randolph Street Gallery (Chicago), Aether Fest (Albuquerque), New American Radio, Bayerischer Rundfunk (Munich), Kunstradio/Radiokunst on ORF Vienna, Sender Freies Berlin, ABC Radio (Sydney), the Resonance FM Festival (London), and others. Among his collaborators in these realms are Sandra Binion, Mark Booth, Heinz Weber, Antonia Contro, and Maurizio Pellegrin. Mallozzi has two CDs on the Penumbra Music label: Radiophagy (three radio works from 1990 - 1996) and Whole or By the Slice (electroacoustic collaborations with Hal Rammel). A CD of improvised music with Fred Lonberg-Holm and Carlos Zingaro is forthcoming on Rossbin Records (Italy). He also appears on Guillermo Gregorio's Faktura and Cornelius Cardew's Material (both on HatArt, Switzerland). Mallozzi has received a number of grants and fellowships, including a residency at the Rockefeller Foundation's Bellagio Study Center (Italy), four Artist Fellowships from the Illinois Arts Council, and grants from the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation and the Governor's International Arts Exchange Program. In addition to his artistic career, Mallozzi is co-founder and Executive Director of Experimental Sound Studio in Chicago, and he is on the faculty of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Fred Lonberg-Holm Composer, improvisor and anti-cellist Fredrick Lonberg-Holm currently resides in Chicago. Defying categorization, his work deals only with the context of the specific musical situation in which he finds/places/builds for himself. A former composition student of Morton Feldman and Anthony Braxton, and cello student of Ardyth Alton and Orlando Cole, his ongoing projects include the groups Terminal 4, The Boxhead Ensemble, Pillow, and the Lonberg-Holm/Kessler/Zerang Trio. He is also currently a member of the Guillermo Gregorio Trio, the Peter Brotzmann Chicago Tentet, XMARSX, and Witches and Devils (music of A. Ayler). He also has been coordinating and directing performances of his Light Box Orchestra, a non fixed structured improvising ensemble utilizing a light based cuing system . In addition he has also performed in ensembles led by Anthony Braxton, Ken Vandermark, Anthony Coleman, Georg Graewe, Wolfgang Fuchs, and John Zorn. As an improvisor he has recorded and or performed with numerous musicians including Jaap Blonk, John Butcher, Gunter Christmann, Axel Dorner, Hamid Drake, Barry Guy, Joelle Leandre, Paul Lytton, Jeff Parker, William Parker, Mischa Mengelberg, Ikue Mori, Mats Gustafsson, Paul Lovens, Paul Rutherford, Sten Sandell, Hamid Drake, Jim O'Rourke, David Stackenaas, Willie Winant, Carlos Zingaro, and many others. He has also performed/recorded with the rock groups God-is-my-Co-Pilot, Wilco, the Flying Luttenbachers, Chris Mills, Janet Bean, Super Chunk, Bobbie Conn, Ahmed Elmotassem's Legal Fiction, L'Altra, US Maple, Freakwater, Lake of Dracula, Plastic Scorpions, Zeek Sheck, Smog and others. Concert works have been premiered by William Winant, Carrie Biolo, Joe Fonda and Bottoms Out, Duo Atypica, the Schanzer/Speach Duo, New Winds, Paul Hoskin, Kevin Norton, the E.S.P. Ensemble and others. He has performed throughout the US and Europe as both a soloist and ensemble member. His scores for dance have been performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and Dance Theater Workshop as well as many other venues. Film credits include music for a Playboy Channel short and the independant feature Animals, by Michael DiGiacomo. He has recorded for the Avant, Pogus, Occa, miguel, Explain:, Locust, Meniscus, Nuscope, Curious, Random Acoustics, Skin Graft, Hat Art, Buzz, Knitting Factory Works, Drag City, Ecstatic/Yod, Nine Winds, Atavistic, Rastascan, Box Media, 8th Day, Tzadik, Truckstop and What Next? labels as well as many others. CARLOS “ZINGARO” Born 1948 in Lisbon, Portugal; violin, electronics. Carlos Zingaro undertook classical music studies at the Lisbon Music Conservatory from 1953 to 1965, and during the two years 1967/68 he studied church organ at the High School of Sacred Music. Also, during the 1960s, Zingaro was a member of the Lisbon University Chamber Orchestra. In 1967 he formed Plexus, the only Portuguese group at the time to have developed a new musical approach based on contemporary music, improvisation and rock; the group recorded a 45rpm single for RCA-Victor in 1968. From 1975 onwards Carlos Zingaro has performed with a wide variety of improvising musicians, including: Barre Phillips, Daunik Lazro, Derek Bailey, Joëlle Léandre, Jon Rose, Kent Carter, Ned Rothenberg, Peter Kowald, Roger Turner, Rüdiger Carl, Dominique Regef, Evan Parker, Günter Müller, Andres Bosshard, Jean-marc Montera, and Paul Lovens. In 1978 he was invited by Wroclaw Technical University in Poland to participate in the 1st Instrumental Theatre Meeting, and in 1979 he won a Fulbright Grant and was invited by the Creative Music Foundation in Woodstock, New York to participate in meetings, classes and performances with such composers as Anthony Braxton, Roscoe Mitchell, George Lewis, Leo Smith, Tom Cora and Richard Teitelbaum (a regular collaborator). He also gave lectures on New Notation Concepts, Movement and Sound, and the inter-relationship of Improvisation and Body Attitude. As a soloist, or with other musicians and composers, Carlos Zingaro has performed at many of the most important new music and improvising festivals in Europe, Asia and America. A substantial level of Carlos Zingaro's musical activities are associated with theatre, film and dance. In 1975 he completed Stage Design studies at the Lisbon Theatre High School and later served on the board of directors of the School. From 1974 to 1980 he was musical director for the Lisbon-based theatre group Comicos, being responsible for most of the original music scores performed during the period. In 1981 Carlos Zingaro received the Portuguese Critics Award for best theatre music and in 1988 he worked with the Italian theatre director Giorgio Barberio Corsetti on his Kafka Trilogy. He has also been stage and costume designer for several other theatre productions. He has produced several film scores and worked extensively with dancers and dance companies such as the Gulbenkian Dance Company, the Opéra de Genève Dance Company, Michala Marcus, Aparte, and Olga Roriz. Carlos Zingaro was a founding member of the Lisbon-based art gallery Comicos, his work has been exhibited, and he has received several prizes for his cartoons, comics and illustrations, samples of which can be seen on a number of CD sleeves, for example, Musiques de scène. www.rossbin.com/rs019.htm "Is there a mode (maybe mood, posture, or circumstance) in which you are required to set yourself in order to appreciate (maybe absorb) freely improvised music? If you are attending a live show, the location, smells, company, and certainly the visual aspects of the show contribute to your "experience." When you are merely listening to a purchased recording, what are the rules for your listening experience? Do you meditate in a quiet room? Can you listen to it in your car? Walking with an iPod? Washing dishes? How does the experience of the improvisation mesh with your current environs? Don't ask me for answers, but consider all the stimuli that invade your senses every hour of every day. Maybe that's why the relentless beat-beat-beat of pop music is so simple... because no one's actually listening. My point is this: no two listeners can have the same response to very highly interpretable music like what the Punctual Trio produces on Grammar. The cast of players includes cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm, the newest member of Vandermark 5 (plus Wilco, Terminal 4, The Boxhead Ensemble, Pillow, and the Peter Brotzmann Chicago Tentet, to name just a few); Lou Mallozzi, a sound artist from Chicago who lists Mats Gustafsson, Jaap Blonk, Sebi Tramontana, Michael Zerang, and Guillermo Gregorio as collaborators; and Portuguese violinist Carlos Zingaro, who has partnered with the likes of Anthony Braxton, Roscoe Mitchell, George Lewis, Leo Smith, Tom Cora, and Richard Teitelbaum. Simple review: you cannot dance to this disc, but I give it a ten. The trio benefits from its choice of instrumentation. Lonberg-Holm's cello, which is seemingly at home in a range of settings from jazz standards to rock to free music, mixes well with Zingaro's violin's scraping, plucking, single notes, and complex travels. They are attuned to silence and space, as on the opener, or odd pulse and song forms, as with "Punctuation. Mallozzi doesn't drown you with samples or electronics; he places them in the mix as if he were Treg Brown, the sound editor of 1950s Warner Brothers cartoons. If you listen closely to "Punctuation, you may find yourself actually embedded inside a cartoon. But then again, your experience with these sounds will probably be nothing like mine." [All About Jazz] 2004 €6.00
PURE Ification CD "Mir ist PURE durch seine Releases auf Mego, Feld und dOc Recordings ein Begriff, andere kennen Peter Votava schon aus Ilsa-Gold-Zeiten, als Loop- und Sub/Version-Macher und Electronica-Veranstalter. Auf Ification (Crónica 038) schafft der Ex-Wiener und jetzige Berliner erneut mit dröhnminimalistischen Mitteln sieben Soundscapes. Die lassen einen eintauchen in dark-ambiente Dunkelwolken (‚Blind Flight‘) oder lethargisch und wie unter einem Bann dahin driften durch eine Nacht, die kein gutes Ende verspricht (‚End‘). ‚Iron Sky‘ ringt mit zähen und drückenden Verstrickungen wie Laokoon mit den Schlangen, die fatalen Beats schlägt - wie auch bei ‚After the Bomb‘ - Martin Brandlmayr, die Stimme ist die der Bolzn-Screamerin Alexandra. Die hatte auch schon in der Geisterbahn von ‚Sonomatopoeia‘ gestöhnt, zu giftigem Sirren, Theaterdonner und Gewummer, während die krachig verzerrten und gewellten Impulse des Auftakts ‚Fire‘ auf der Gitarre von C. de Babalon basieren. Die dystopische Melancholie von ‚After the Bomb‘ entsteht durch gedämpfte Drones, silbrig durchfunkelt, voller sirrender Frequenzen und mit dem fernen Nachhall von Sirenen und Gefechtslärm, den Brandlmayr mit Besenschlägen und Cymbalbeats andeutet. ‚Approximation‘ nähert sich mit dunklem Stöhnen - wie von den Sirenen der Titanic oder Tubas des Jüngsten Gerichts - und diskant schrillenden Strings, spärlich durchsetzt mit perkussiven Akzenten, dem Bereich der Klassik, mit offenbar ungescheutem pathetischen Effekt. Wer in Pures Elevator Noir einsteigt, muss sich auf einen Trip ans dunkle Ende der Gefühlsskala gefasst machen." [Bad Alchemy] "After more than ten CDs and several vinyls under different aliases, projects or collaborations that ranged a multitude of musical styles over the last 15 years, Pure's newest release is now proudly presented by Crónica. Three and a half years later than scheduled, and six years after his previous studio CD release “Noonbugs” on Mego, Pure returns with his fourth solo full-length album — “Ification” — the outcome of a long period of live work (documented in the first two volumes of the “Home Is Where My Harddisk is” series), residencies — in France, with Johnny Dekam, where the “Reqoil Displaced Peaceoff” DVD was produced — and collaborations — the “Heart Chamber Orchestra” with Erich Berger, an audiovisual performance based on the heart-beats of an orchestra of 12 musicians. “Ification” presents a collection of seven highly diverse tracks that revolve around dense, filmic and eerie atmospheres, without ever drifting into obvious or simple harmonies. As in his previous work, Pure takes from music history whatever serves his narrative needs and appropriates it through his." [label info] "Something entirely different is the latest album by Pure, from Vienna. He works under various guises, and this is fourth Pure CD, following 'Noonbugs' on Mego for four years ago. Seven pieces of electronic music, six of them recorded with the help of others, like Christoph de Babalon on guitar samples, Martin Brandlmayr on drums, the screams of Alexandra von Bolzn and Anke Eckardt on bass guitar. What Aubrey lacks in variation is made up here by Pure. The heavy start of 'Fire', into to post nuclear war zone with no survivors of 'After The Bomb' (an appropriate title), Pure takes the listener on a ride that ranges from subtleness to the utter crude, which ends with the nightmares of 'Iron Sky'. Excellent music for b-movies that deserve a-music. Certainly not always 'pleasant' in terms of nice background music for your living room, but unpleasant music to make your life a bit easier and less painful." [FdW, Vital Weekly] www.cronicaelectronica.org 2008 €14.00
RABELAIS, AKIRA Elongated Pentagonal Pyramid CD “We are really "receivers" floating through a kaleidoscopic sea of frequency, and what we extract from this sea and transmogrify into physical reality is but one channel from many extracted out of the superhologram” “Seperateness is an illusion”. AKIRA RABELAIS, ein Anhänger der holographischen Theorie (beruft sich auf DAVID BOHM, KARL PRIBRAM und STANISLAV GROF), spiegelt mit seiner Musik das “fundamental something” hinter allen Dingen, das, was alles zusammenhält... "Rabelais has collected his own electronic compositions on Elongated Pentagonal Pyramid, a self-produced, limited edition CD, where he gingerly teases out the tissues of surface noise in a similar vein to the likes of Terre Thaemlitz, Achim Wollscheid and Mego's Rehberg & Bauer. But simply because he insists on placing individual clarity of vision at the center of the creative process, rather than be enslaved and driven by the technological toys and tools of the day, he will always remain a liberating remove from any definable 'scene'." [Rob Young, The Wire] 1999 €13.00
RADIAN & HOWE GELB Radian verses Howe Gelb LP "Das österreichische Avantgarde Electronics Trio RADIAN (mit drei Alben auf Thrill Jockey und einem auf Mego) tut sich hier zusammen mit dem GIANT SAND Desert Country Songwriter HOWE GELB. Eine besondere Kollaboration zwischen Americana, Jazz und Electronics. Radian Releases ist das Label von RADIAN, das 2014 neu gegründet wurde, um die Projekte von RADIAN und limitierte Spezialitäten zu veröffentlichen. Howe Gelb: voice, guitars, piano; Martin Brandlmayr: drums, vibraphone, electronics, synths, editing und arrangement; Martin Siewert: guitars, lap-, and pedalsteel, electronics, synths, processings John Norman: bass. Musik von Radian und Howe Gelb, Texte von Howe Gelb außer ,Moon River", das von Henry Mancini und Johnny Mercer kommt. ,Radian is a machine - their music the sum of body hydraulics and fuzzy logic" (THE WIRE) "...a band with impressively original density and texture" (THE NEW YORK TIMES)" [label info] "HOWE GELB is no stranger to collaboration in the 21st century. Since 2006 he's released records with a gospel choir ('Sno Angel Like You), and a flamenco group led by Raimundo Amador (Alegrias). What sets this recording with Vienna's Radian apart from those offerings is that this is their album. Over four sessions, Gelb contributed lyrics, melodies, piano parts, acoustic guitar fragments, and mostly his rambling vocals. Radian is an experimental trio comprised of drummer/sonic arranger Martin Brandlmayr, bassist John Norman, and new guitarist/sound editor Martin Siewert. Their tunes usually begin as improvisations and take on more recognizable forms as they evolve. True to form, they give Gelb's offerings their signature treatment: Splintering, editing, and spindling them to their own purposes. But Gelb is never lost in the process; in many ways, he anchors it. Both parties come from musical areas where terrains are often blurry and shambolic: Gelb from loose Southwestern Americana and adventurous guitar rock, and Radian from an experimental geography between This Heat and early Tortoise. The natural tension between these poles is allowed free rein here, but this intimate, often spectral recording never devolves into excess. Opener "Saturated" commences with radio static, and like its second half, "Saturated Beyond," is rooted in a dub-like blues groove that eventually takes on a mutant funk sheen. Sparse, processed sounds are given a rhythmic pulse amid a skeletal bassline, brushed snares, a tom-tom, and glitchy guitar. Single keyboard notes are droned in, and vocals are woven in skittering cadences, natural spoken tones, and pitched, controlled syllables. Eventually the whole vamp emerges to carry on for the better part of nine minutes. "I'm Going In" is a reverse trip through the birth canal. With pulsing synth tones, slippery vibe sounds, pen-toned guitar, and trancey, skittering drums, Gelb announces that he's "going in/keep a tight leash on that umbilical/you're gonna have to take up the slack…." This is a vast, aural, inner space exploration. That journey continues on "From Birth to Mortician," the only cut here that emerges with an actual strummed guitar hook -- albeit somewhat momentarily -- though it follows a series of set changes. "The Constant Pitch and Sway" is just that, but from a truly blob-like mass of short sonic bursts, a fine experimental rock & roll song comes into being. The only thing that doesn't work here is the closer, a cover of "Moon River." It feels calculated -- perhaps it's because there's more of Gelb's persona layered on than in the rest of the record. It's a small complaint though. The rest of Radian Verses Howe Gelb is a spooky, mysterious sound (and song) collage that has many secrets buried in its murky depths." [Allmusic.com] 2014 €20.00
RADIGUE, ELIANE Songs of Milarepa do-CD MILAREPA war ein legendärer tibetischer Heiliger und Lyriker, der im 11. Jahrhundert (stets in Versen und Gedichten sprechend) bis zu 100.000 Stücke komponiert haben soll, um seine Lehren zu verbreiten. ELIANE RADIGUE hat hier mit Hilfe von LAMA KUNGA RINPOCHE fünf der oral überlieferten Stücke bearbeitet (inkl. englischer Übersetzung) – natürlich mit Drone-Untermalung. Die Stücke wurden bereits 1981-1983 aufgenommen und erschienen auf inzwischen vergriffenen VÖs bzw. noch gar nicht. Der hier präsentierte Gesang ist einlullend, repetitiv, und strahlt große Ruhe und Sanftheit aus. Die zweite CD mit einem einzigen langen Stück ist dunkler und archaischer......faszinierend ! “telling of the story of the great saint and poet of Tibet who live in the eleventh century as sung by Lama Kunga Rinpoche (in Tibetan) and Robert Ashley (in English) over the austere minimal electronic backdrop created by Radigue (who was Pierre Henry's assistant). collects the out of print LP, the CD "Mila's Journey Inspired by a Dream" and two unreleased pieces.” [Anomalous Records] 1998 €26.00
RAISON D'ETRE Alchymeia CD "It’s with great honour that we present the latest album by Swedish dark ambient stalwart raison d’être. This time Peter Andersson scrutinizes the paths of Carl Gustav Jung's notions of archetypes and the individuation process. Just like Mise en Abyme, the previous raison d'être album from 2014, Alchymeia is diving deep down to the shadows of the unconsciousness, and back to a dawn of the true Self. Confronting the shadow within is the darkest time of despair. There seems no way forward, only down. All is blackening and decomposed. Suddenly, through an enantiodromia, the ever deepening descent into the unconscious transmogrifies and becomes gradually illuminated. The melancholia is being purified. Alchymeia is in a sense the “raison d'être” of raison d'être, a shadowy journey through our unconscious the individuation process and archetypes. This release also marks the first time a raison d'être album will be available on vinyl. Artwork by Nihil." [label info] 2018 €13.00
RAMESES III I could not love you more CD "Ein derart vom Rest der Welt abgekapseltes Album gab es lange nicht mehr. Wie ein endloser Fluss ziehen die Tracks ihre Kreise, lassen sich durch nichts stören und wollen niemandem irgendetwas beweisen. Alles hört auf den ganz eigenen Puls der Bandmitglieder Daniel Freeman, Spencer Grady und Stephen Lewis. Ob die der Hektik ihrer Heimat Croydon bewusst etwas entgegensetzen wollen, tut hier eigentlich nichts zur Sache. Perfekte Welt? Der perfekte Moment? Was auch immer hier mit den zurückhaltenden Ambient-Hymnen bespielt wird, wir müssen alle danach streben. Rameses III … das ist der Himmel auf Erden." [thaddi / de:bug] "Das Londoner Trio entzückt mit Ambient und pastoralem Folk: Mit ihrem tiefgründigen und originellen Umgang mit Ambientmusik haben Rameses III bewiesen, dass aus Croydon mehr als Dubstep kommt. Daniel Freeman, Spencer Grady und Stephen Lewis haben bereits einige Veröffentlichungen für Labels wie Important Records, Digitalis und natürlich Type Records hinter sich, es ist aber das Album "I Could Not Love You More", mit dem sich das Trio in die Musikgeschichtsbücher einschreiben wird. Ein Album, das den Sound der Band zwischen treibendem Ambient und postoralem Folk neu positioniert. Man vernimmt Gitarrenechos von John Faheys legendärem Takoma-Label, aber auch Schatten früher 4AD-Produktionen, was etwa das schimmernde Hintergrunddröhnen anbelangt. Über allem schwebt der Geist Brian Enos, der erfolgreich zur Selbstbeherrschung mahnt. "I Could Not Love You More" hätte aber auch mit seinem elektrischen Klavier, dem Mellotron und den Gitarren Mitte des 20. Jahrhunderts entstehen können. Wer aber hätte gedacht, dass es 2009 aus dem übel beleumundeten Süd-London kommt?" [label info] "..While even some of our favorite modern ambient music relies on layers and layers of digital processing, Rameses III maintains a certain acoustic integrity by layering strictly live instruments. Electric guitars, electric pianos, and mellotrons produce a warm, ethereal wash that brings an otherworldly depth to their sound, a depth that digital processing could never recreate. Ghostly and melodic, mysterious and heavy, ambient and thoughtful, I Could Not Love You More is no doubt the trio’s finest work and a perfect addition to the Type catalogue, highly recommended!" [Aquarius Records] www.typerecords.com 2009 €16.00
RAPOON The Fires of the Borderlands do-CD "It's been 16 years since the release of Rapoon's masterpiece entitled "The Fires of the Borderlands". This special edition is comprised of two discs. The first is the main album which is mastered from the original tapes, therefore, it sounds significantly better to the 1998 version. The bonus disc is a 40-minute live recording for the San Francisco-based radio KFJC which again proves that Robin Storey has mastered the ability to creating haunting sonic atmospheres. This expanded edition of the album is packaged in a digipak sleeve and is limited to 500 copies worldwide." [label info] www.zoharum.com "In the wake of so many dreadfully digital concoctions of insipid ambient music from the mid to late '90s, a good Rapoon album was a breath of fresh air. The warmth of his analog processes, tape-loop and delay mechanics, and some good-old cassette grit thrown in for good measure was a gnostic beacon to the days of a post-industrial zeitgeist from a previous decade, or century, or millennium for that matter when it came to the best albums from Rapoon. Any sense of timeloss and historical displacement would be considered a victory for most artists; but for Robin Storey and his long-standing Rapoon project, that's been a common parlance from his work. The Fires Of The Borderlands may be Rapoon's best known album, as it was put out originally through the Relapse subsidiary Release back in 1998. It's long been out of print; and it also ranks as one of his better releases. Here, we've got the Polish 2cd reissue of that album, fleshed out with a remastering job from the original tapes and a bonus disc featuring an hour long performance on KFJC down in Silicon Valley. The album is flush with slow-motion billowings, night-ocean tidal wash, and sibilant blurs, all crafted from Storey's refined use of tape-loops and delay pedals. There's nary a reference to anything infernal or hellish to the hypnogogic cascade of Rapoon despite the album's title. At times, Storey engorges his reverb-drenched loops into a galvanized thrum of drone portent equivalent to the bunker hermeticism of Maeror Tri. But as with most of Storey's work he transcends a gothic nihilism through his application of ghostly dub reflections that could harken to the echoes of some pneumatic lung wheezing in the corner or a derelict monk chanting to a long-forgotten deity. Beautiful stuff. The live in the studio session is equally as good with Storey lining the wash with distant tribal rhythms and wooden flute gestures thrown in for good measure." [Aquarius Records] 2014 €16.00
RE-DRUM / EMERGE/ SVART I / LEFTERNA split MC Re-Drum I EMERGE / Svart1 I Lefterna - Split recycled C90 cassette in clear jewel case, limited edition 50 copies emerge.bandcamp.com/album/split-20 Grubenwehr Freiburg / attenuation circuit ° GFAC 1001 ° 2022 grubenwehrfreiburg.bandcamp.com ° attenuationcircuit.de A EMERGE - empty seat Re-Drum I EMERGE - Einfarbiger Dom (live @ DOM, Moskva, 14.09.18) Re-Drum - Zum Verlust der Muttersprache dedicated to Dmitry Vasilyev track 1 & 3 previously released on Monochrome Visions by Korm Digitaal in 2018 re-dr-um.bandcamp.com immerge.bandcamp.com B Svart1 I Lefterna 1 - 4 Svart1 (Raimondo Gaviano) Lefterna (Boban Ristevski) svart1.bandcamp.com bobanristevski.bandcamp.com credits released May 29, 2022 https://grubenwehrfreiburg.bandcamp.com/album/split With this album, the labels attenuation circuit, run by EMERGE, and Grubenwehr Freiburg, run by Grodock, launch a second series of co-releases. The split tapes in the GFAC series, all using recycled tapes, are aimed at pairing new or lesser known artists with already more widely connected practitioners in the experimental underground scene. The first tape in the new series emphasises the collaborative spirit on another level as well, because each side features collaborations by two different artists, so four artists in total are heard on one tape. On side A, it's label head EMERGE and Re-Drum. Touring the Crimea and Russia in 2018, EMERGE was present when concert organiser and head of the Monochrome Vision label Dmitry 'Dima' Vasilyev died. The shock and grief over this loss is present in the titles and music of the solo tracks by EMERGE and Re-Drum ('Zum Verlust der Muttersprache' is a German catchphrase referring to getting heavily drunk, 'up to the point of losing one's mother tongue'), which were already released on the Dima tribute compilation 'Monochrome Visions' in 2018, and their collaborative live performance at Moscow's DOM which concluded the tour became a memorial concert for Dima. (The German title 'Einfarbiger Dom' translates as 'Monochrome Dome'.) The fact that such a tour would now be impossible due to the war only adds to the sense of grief and loss conveyed by the Re-Drum/EMERGE side of the tape. Yet the collaborative release itself by a Russian and a 'Western' artist, at this time, is a gesture of hope that personal and cultural relations will prevail. As for side B, Svart1 is Raimondo Gaviano, who works in the fields of ambient, dark ambient, industrial, techno, live-performances and visuals. In the duo with Lefterna, the project name adopted by the extremely prolific collaborator Boban Ristevski, Svart1 enters into a long-form dialogue. By composing one four-part piece for the whole duration of the tape side, they offer an interesting contrast to side A which is made up of shorter pieces which, in themselves, are more fragmented, interspersed with alienating samples and found sounds. File under: musique concrète, dark ambient 2022 €8.00
RED FAVORITE same LP "Jeremy Pisani recorded these 11 tracks between 1996 and 2003. As a resident of western Massachusetts, he shared stages with acts like Sunburned Hand of Man (=vaguely focused free folk), P.G.Six (acid folk, reviewed on next page), MV & EE Medicine Show (=avant music), Flaherty & Corsano duo (=avant music), Dredd Foole (=guitarist / s-sw, -havn’t hear him yet-) and Joshua (psych-folk) has maintained a curiously low profile. The combinations of fingerpicking guitar meanderings with additional textures and some murmering voice (like on “First”) fits well with music like early Tower Recordings, Six Organs Of Admittance, Currituck Co., etc. Jeremy described his music well as “A soundtrack for dreams, chemical endeavours, human afflictions and distant memories”. Acoustic guitar is the main instrument, often as acoustic guitar meanderings, with textures and fingerpicking improvisations, combined with some additional instruments like amplified guitar and banjo. On several tracks the guitar is combined with mellotron : on “Routine”, “Cistern”, “Wingshot”, and on the slightly loaded “Flight”. There are also touches of collages with other sounds (like with a distant phonograph on “Agrippa”). The production and mixing is well done and in a combination of songs the concept has been made optimal. I heard for instance an original use of changing the environmental echoes or tensions in the recordings on “Stormwatch”. “Pallid” has also a strangely mixed sound, which has some surreal effect, probably benifits from a less perfect recording. And “Flight” which has a somewhat dense tension is mixed as outro into the quieter acoustic fingerpicking solo. In between tracks with more tension are various very moody instrumental tracks like “Routine”, which has also flute and mellotron. A strange track is “Green Hill Beach” which starts with waves, then has guitar improvisations (amplified and acoustic), some voice whispers, and then evolves to more and more electro-acoustic and electric guitars echoes, to a point of saturation with effects, then calms down as if filtered again to amplified guitar meanderings only. In general I can say that those people who liked the experimental approaches from Six Organs of Admittance should check this artist too. But also fans of Joshua / P.G.Six might notice here a wonderful undiscovered talent. The last hidden 12th track is a beautiful solo fingerpicking instrumental closer in Middle Eastern mode. A release which definitely deserves to be heard with an official publication." [Psychedelic Folk] "Red Favorite, a cycle of compositions for guitars, electronics and voices created by Jeremy Pisani was first released as a limited edition CD on Spirit of Orr and is now offered, as it was originally conceived to appear, on an LP. He moved closer and looked through the peephole. And he saw: the world stretched out before him, a quiet and gentle space with a broad expanse of grass that practically glistened in its greenness. A sparkling brook ran through the meadow in the middle distance, and now he saw that the grass was dotted with the pale blue and soft yellow of many blooming flowers, which, half hidden in the grass, stared out at him like so many frightened eyes. On a distant hilltop stood a grove of small pink trees, covered and obscured by the astonishing pinkness of their blossoms. The world had a sense of freshness, as if it might only be minutes old -- washed clean by a careful springtime rain, dried and scrubbed by a solicitous breeze, burnished to its brightness by the rays of a gentle sun. It was an uncomplicated place, a very simple place. But what it had was quite enough; it had all it needed." [label notes] 2008 €15.50
REED, STAN / GREGOR JABS / FRANK ROWENTA Apoplexia 1973 CD Schon fast sowas wie ein geräuschmusikalisches Hörspiel über Schizophrenie, ein einziger verstörender Psychotrip! Interview-Stücke mit Psychiatrie-Patienten (von 1973) werden verwebt mit Bombardements von akustischen "Alltagswelt"-Informationen, TV, Film & Radiofetzen & Musikphrasen, vokales Material, und elektronischen Sounds, alles heftigst effektiert und übereinandergelegt zu einer überwältigenden Schizophonie, die das Wesen dieser Krankheit spürbar & erfahrbar macht! "Based on the reel to reel tapes from Klinischen Anstalten Aachen from 1973, this collaboration explores the intimate nature of several patients diagnosed with schizophrenia and their journey through the surreal mental landscape that a diseased mind finds itself lost in so many times. Interviews with patients are woven into dreamscapes of sound, some nightmarish, others almost childlike. Ironic samples scattered throughout the work create a beautifully disturbing listen. What movies will play in your own mind? What voices will speak to you from the inside? Stan Reed is the owner of PsychForm Records & PsychoChrist Productions. His own recording projects include PLETHORA, The Broken Penis Orchestra, The Broken Human Machine, and Blue Sabbath Black Cheer. Gregor Jabs is a new and upcoming German sound artists who records with the psychedelic outfit known as Grillhaus. His first solo CD, Stamen, is also now available on Jeans Records. Frank Rowenta has been involved with surreal sound projects since the early 90's. He is one half of the super group Rowenta/Khan, formed Grillhaus with Mr. Jabs, has recorded several solo CDs and has now started the Jeans Records label out of Aachen Germany, which promises to yield many more audio oddities in the future" [press release] 2006 €12.00
REFORMED FACTION The World Awake / 11 Stueck do-CD "The World Awake! / 11 Stueck is a new double album from Reformed Faction, the duo of Robin Storey and Mark Spybey. It follows the triple CD release for Soleilmoon, ‘I am the Source of Light I am not a Mirror,” in 2009. Robin Storey was born in 1955 in Cumbria, England. He studied fine arts at Sunderland University and took classes in electronic and experimental composition, joining with friends to perform the works of Karlheinz Stockhausen (a key influence, as were the Krautrock bands of the early 1970s). In 1979 Storey formed the pioneering industrial group :zoviet*france:, remaining a member until 1992: The same year Storey issued the first Rapoon album, Dream Circle, its entrancing fusion of Indian ragas, African rhythms and experimental textures anticipating the evocative soundscapes of the many releases to follow. Also a noted visual artist and animator, Storey's work has been exhibited throughout the world and is in the collections of many major galleries. Mark Spybey was born in North Yorkshire, England in 1961. He has always worked in mental health care. After a long time as a member of :zoviet*france: he moved to Canada and worked under the names Dead Voices on Air and Propeller. He collaborated widely, toured and was vocalist of the acclaimed band Download (ex-Skinny Puppy). He was also a member of Sofortkontakt!, led by the late Michael Karoli of Can, appearing at Can’s 30th anniversary shows. Spybey has worked with a variety of artists who inspired his music, including Damo Suzuki of Can, Faust, Michael Rother (Neu!, Harmonia and Kraftwerk), Dieter Moebius (Cluster and Harmonia), Genesis.P.Orridge (Throbbing Gristle/Psychic TV), James Plotkin, Martin Atkins, Mick Harris and The Legendary Pink Dots. He returned to the U.K in 2000. The World Awake! Was originally intended for a vinyl release and recorded from improvisations made on one day in November of 2009. 11 Stueck was compiled from improvisations made on December 1st 2009, with drummer Christian Alderson and bass player Oscar Ruiz Fernandez. The Austin Texas based musician Tony D’Oporto, aka Gnome, also appears on one track. The work references the writing of Henry Miller, in his aptly entitled essay, “With Edgar Varese in the Gobi Desert.” “The World Awake! Just to repeat that to yourself five times a day is enough to make an anarchist of you. How would you awaken the world – if you were a musician? With a sonata for rusty tin openers? Have you ever thought about it? Or would you rather remain asleep?” “We have been educated to such a fine – or dull – point that we are incapable of enjoying something new, something different, until we are first told what it’s all about. We don’t trust our five senses. We rely on our critics and educators, all of whom are failures in the realm of creation.” Varese said, “What should be avoided; tones of propaganda. As well as any journalistic speculation on timely events and doctrines. I want the epic impact of our epoch, stripped of it’s mannerisms and snobberisms…. Imagination is the last word.” This first edition of “The World Awake/11 Stueck” is presented in a high-quality screen printed perfumed sleeve with printed slipcases for each disc. It is limited to 444 copies." [label info] 2012 €20.00
REJECTIONS Clone EP MC "The Clone EP was actually recorded in late 2011 and followed close on the heels of the Concur EP, which was released on Tiny Lights in December 2011. It is therefore a reaction to that first EP, a desire to keep moving forward artistically and a reflection of where my my head was at during the time I was mixing the tracks together. Where the Concur EP was essentially a series of remixes using samples from my brother's band I Concur to create something new while reflecting the spirit and energy of those songs, The Clone EP is very much a fresh piece of work, starting with nothing but an interest to make beat driven music and to keep revising and editing the same samples until I came up with three linked but unique tracks, hence the title of the EP. Therefore the techno rhythms of Clone 1 almost seamlessly morph into the broken beats and noise of Clone 2 which in turn dissolve into the drone soundscapes and reverb drenched percussion of Clone 3. They are cannibal and brethren, feeding off one another and mirror image at the same time. The sound of the three tracks is again very much a reflection of that period of time as well. I had recently discovered for myself just the potency of Sandwell District, in all of their sounds, images and guises. At the same time I was grinding my way through a number of long term influences such as Mika Vainio, Throbbing Gristle, Public Image Limited, Burial, Ben Frost, Autechre to name but a few, trying to do my best to endure the typically bleak British weather and the tendency for reflection and introspection which typically invades ones consciousness as we near the end of another year. Limited to 100 copies." [label info] www.altvinyl.com 2012 €10.00
REMOTE VIEWERS Nerve Cure CD "With this, their 10th release, The Remote Viewers continue to confound expectations. Nerve Cure trumpets a worldly perspective on the band’s core make-up. Not as aggressive or percussion-centric as the manifold and at times, rockified Sinister Heights (2009)or To The North (2010)..... the musicians bridge an avant relationship with an initiative that incorporates investigational-like chamber, dappled with angular phrasings and a glimmering sense of intrigue." [label info] www.theremoteviewers.com "The Remote Viewers started as a trio of Adrian Northover, Louise Petts and David Petts, around 2007. It was the start of a fruitful period, that with 'Nerve Cure', results in their tenth release. Nowadays The Remote Viewers turns around the nucleus of Adrian Northover (soprano & alto sax) and David Petts (tenor sax). For this release they were assisted by Rosa Lynch-Nothrover (piano, percussion), Sue Lynch (tenor sax, flute), John Edwards (double bass, harp) plus Adam Bohman (bowed objects on 'Long Weekend' and Caroline Kraabel (baritone sax on 'Grids'). It is my first meeting with this group. Gradually I became more and more enthusiastic about their music. For sure it is evident this music is carefully structured and played, but it didn't move instantly. I needed time. The approach is very minimalistic and academic although there is humor and wit in it.. There is also something Henry Cow-ish in this music, listening to tracks as 'Forgotten Corners' and 'War with the Outer Countries'. The playing is economic and the arrangements are sober, delicate and to the point. Saxophones are prominent, but the coloring by harp, flute, are very okay. It is more in vein of composed chamber music than leaning on jazz or rock. It is of great efficiency and discipline. As cold and emotionless this music appeared to me in the beginning, how warm it is now. Interesting stuff." (DM/Vital Weekly] 2011 €13.00
ROSENQVIST, DAG Lexika CD Lexika is a soundtrack to an imagined sci-fi movie set in deep space. It started with an image of a completely silent explosion in space. From that image I created a narrative of sorts, where a story unfolded as I set out to create the music that would become Lexika. With Lexika I’ve tried to step outside of myself and look at life, the universe, and our fragile existence from another vantage point. The themes of the album – grief, sorrow, hope, perseverance – are themes I come back to repeatedly though. This time they’re just framed in a slightly bigger picture. When I close my eyes and listen, I see supermassive black holes. I see the Oort cloud, asteroids hurtling through endless black, the Andromeda galaxy, a radiant supernova, the redshift at the end of the universe. I see the endless vastness of space, I see Voyager II leaving our solar system and I see Mercury as a tiny dot in front of our sun. I see a story that unfolds forwards and backwards simultaneously through time where we – humanity – are both part of it and not. How, from the cosmic perspective, mankind’s existence is so brief that you’d miss it if you blink. And how that also makes it so precious. - Dag Rosenqvist https://dronarivm.bandcamp.com/album/shelter 2022 €13.00
ROSTAMI, ARIA & DANIEL BLOMQUIST Still CD Five years have passed since Glacial Movements published the wonderful "Wandering Eye" album by the duo Aria Rostami and Daniel Blomquist, whose themes focused on a description of the best places to observe space from the Antarctic Plateau. A further step forward is represented by "Still", whose purpose is to describe how time can change its motion in case of cold weather. " "Still" consists of a few recordings done within our first year of collaborating (2015-2016) - the opening track was our first studio recording, everything we had done prior to that was strictly live. Throughout this project, we've tried a lot of different approaches and made a special effort for each record and each live show to make it feel different from the last. In that first year, we primarily aimed to make songs that were built over long periods of time - usually getting noisier and/or more intense - and this was how we had envisioned "our sound" at the time. This also means that songs that were more on the traditional ambient side didn't make the cut of our first record, "Wandering Eye". When Glacial Movements approached us about a second release, we went with a different direction and the songs we chose for "Still" captured a new spirit in our work that was originally left on the cutting room floor. As time went on, we started venturing into new ideas like experimental techno, noise, and more traditional compositions while the songs on "Still" sat like a time capsule. We released more music, expanding our sound, and "Still", which was originally slated for a 2018 release, got pushed back further as conflicts on release schedules came up. We could never have predicted what the world would have looked like in 2021 when this record will finally be released. Somehow, through elements of chance, "Still" is finally being released in a world that feels like it is on pause in so many ways. Most of the songs on "Still" change over time. They do not sound the same when they end as they did when they started. This change is subtle rather than grand and over time the songs become completely new. For the song and album titles, we were thinking about time slowing or stopping in cold weather - how life is on pause and how movement is difficult. The stillness feels more like a cocoon rather than a hibernation - there is something changing over time - and although we had no idea what a global pandemic or politics of today would look like when making this work, the world today completely recontextualizes the music and the delay in the release now feels appropriate. " https://glacialmovements.bandcamp.com/album/still "When I was little I used to go on holiday to Austria with my parents. Sometimes we’d go in the winter and other times in the summer. One thing we always did was take a cable car to the top of one of the Tyrolean mountains. It was a weird feeling being carried up a mountain in a tinbox by metal cables. When we got to the top the views were incredible. Even as a child I knew that the views were impressive. One holiday in the winter we went up to a glacier. I didn’t know what it was but was excited to see one. Little did I know that the glacier was just a load of ice. At the time I was disappointed as I wanted to see something impressive. Like a stadium, church, another massive mountain on top of a massive mountain, but it was just a load of ice. As I listen to Still by Aria Rostami and Daniel Blomquist I’m reminded of this trip. The album opens with ‘-2 °C’. Airy synths swirl out of the speakers while a deep drone slowly grinds its way towards me. This opening salvo works not only as an introduction to the track but to the album itself. Everything that follows is of the small ilk. ‘Undercooled’ is a bit busier but generally it’s the same thing. Here, though, the melodies are crisper, giving the ‘Uncooled’ an edge that the opener was missing. The standout track is ‘Hoarfrost’. Here Rostami and Blomquist add some sounds of birds and running water to the mix. These elements take us out of the serene drones and plant us in the real world. The field recordings also give the song a sense of urgency that is missing from the rest of the album. Still lives up to its name. Rostami and Blomquist aren’t rushing anything here. They are taking their time and delivering some exquisite drones that do enough to keep your attention whilst keeping it, well, still. Mostly the album works. A lot of the heavy lifting is done by the huge, slab like, synths. As they move forward, one drone at a time, you do get the impression of glaciers. Gradually turning mountains to rumble and cutting out valleys where there wasn’t one before. The downside to the album is that the slightly light, faster, melodies aren’t quite as engaging as I hoped, so my attention was lost from time to time. It always came back to the music, but after a few moments it was lost again. This is an album to play while concentrating on another task. That sounds harsh, and slightly belittles the richness of the music, but there wasn’t enough variation to keep me engaged for the full 55-minutes. While listen to Still, I’m back up the mountain looking down at the valleys and gorges, the glacier violently cut through the landscape. Despite the tourists everything is quiet and still. It might snow later, but it probably won’t. Ultimately it doesn’t matter as the glacier will still be here tomorrow. As will the album. Perhaps then I’ll find its inner secrets, but if I don’t, I know it’ll be an enjoyable experience finding out." [God is in the TV] 2021 €15.00
ROZENHALL, DANIEL same CD 1. A Plumage Man With A Plastic Bag (3.43) 2. Eyeland Part 1 (16.37) 3. Eyeland Part 2 (19.47) 4. Grig-ailment (6.39) 5. Sinister Laburnum (18.14) Total time: 64.44 Tracks 1-3 were originally released on the LP Eyeland (Firework Edition Records, FER 1042) in 2003. Tracks 4-5 were originally released on the LP Miasmasun (Firework Edition Records, FER 1032) in 2001. All tracks were digitally re-mastered in 2007 for this CD edition. All music by Daniel Rozenhall. Recorded at EMS, Stockholm. Cover and insert artwork by Rozenhall. Graphic design by Rozenhall and Sten Backman. "Time is an illusion. Nature consists of rhythms, pulses and the eruptive life wills of the organisms. And there is something unremittingly organic – or to be more exact bacteriological - about Rozenhall’s soundscapes. They demand their own lebensraum and squeeze themselves up between the dials on the mixing board. Sounds that have gone astray. In perpetual motion. A process without hiatus. Bacteriological objects forcing themselves upon us from the eye of the hurricane, while everything around us is twisted out of joint – time, space and the whole show. We contemplate but we aren’t able to interact. The body loses power over its movements and the world is transformed into flickering light. Yes, if we promptly need to speak of Rozenhall’s music, then we have to speak of the sounds between the frequencies, between the fingers, between the words, beyond the patterns. Where every nerve ending is revealed. Millions and millions of details. A rhythm without tonality. A music of negations. And our conversation cannot be anything else but the excretions that are left behind after the descriptive attempts have been halted - the waste product of sounds. Try to lie still to this. Rozenhall unveils your couchpotatin’ for what it is: an imagined resting place on a globe of galactic driftwood. Rozenhall’s music has nothing to do with greeting phrases. This is the way a farewell sounds. To part is to begin again with oneself. The last handshake that allows thought to return to one’s own drawing board. Rozenhall has created the ultimate soundtrack for this swiftly passing ground zero. When you without help from anyone else have to confront the vertigo within yourself. The dizziness that happens before you have caught up with your own autobiography and the private mythmaking that allows you to return to your ordinary habits. And the first thing you meet is the treble. The shrill tone that is allowed to radiate into every cavity. Impossible to figure out like a rubik’s cube without a solution. A sound wave from an alpine landscape, deserted and windswept. It’s like if The Overlook Hotel in Stanley Kubricks’s ‘The Shining’ started sending out its own emotional state through a forgotten radio channel. And it is our fate to lay frostbitten with our axes raised for attack in the garden labyrinth." [Daniel Westerlund , Writer and publisher] www.fylkingen.se 2008 €13.00
RUTMAN, ROBERT 1939 CD Wiederveröffentlichung der vergriffenen Pogus-LP von 1989, sowie ein Bonus-Track "live in Berlin". Mit Tablas, "Buzz chimes", Rutmans "Single String Steel Cello", "Bow chime", Rutmans gurgelnder tiefer Mönchsstimme und einem tibetanischen Horn werden hier ethno-dronige & rhythmische Stücke improvisiert, die einen speziellen Zauber ausstrahlen! “ This release reissues Robert Rutman's Pogus lp (P201-1) and includes an additional track. Rutman (b. 1930) has been building and performing on his homemade metallic instruments for many years. This recording features his buzz chime, steel cello, and bow chime, along with tabla, Tibetan horn, and Rutman's vocal chants. Rutman caresses the metal, drawing out eerie drones and overtones that buzz and trumpet. The music in turn can be as fragile as glass or reach the depths of resonance, as if one has just come upon singing whales at sea. Beautiful music and long overdue on cd.“ [label description] 1998 €13.00
SAINT PETERS CROSS / KRABATH / JOAN MIRO The Wrath / Arum Rapasopis / Artist CD-R "6th release of Metarealist Records presents 3 projects from Ukraine. The split is opened by Saint Peters Cross - orthodox death-industrial / ambient project of label owner - K. Saint Peters Cross continues the path of Mental Destruction who started in early 90s, but makes it in his own way, only taking the overall ideological attack vector from the Swedes. Next comes Krabath - with renewed sound and ideas. Now the connection with the same-named Czech animation film is lost, and Krabath tries to develop the idea of descructive discrepancy between educational programmes of modern society and natural impulse of childhood. Musically all compositions are woven from the sounds of various toys and voices of children of various age. Fans of dark experimental ambient should definitely appreciate "Arum Rapasopis". And the closing act is Joan Miro - noisy power electronics, insane brainchild of Pt74 also standing behind Krabath. "Artist" has already been released as a split with Moscow based project Fungoreia. Blind fury, insane atrocity with industrial sounds of a broken meat grinder - all this will bring pleasure to the lovers of formalistic art." [label info] 2013 €10.00
SAKELLARIOU, YIORGIS Auka mCD-R “for music is certainly the ultimate mystery of faith, the mystique, the completely revealed religion” (ludwig tieck) the title is inspired by the painting "auka" by m. k. Čiurlionis. many thanks to gailė griciūtė, dominykas digimas, daniel crokaert and jean-marc boucher. “auka” was composed in august 2019 during a residency at DAR (Druskininkai Artists‘ Residence), organized and supported by the lithuanian composers’ union. environmental sounds recorded in vilnius, kaunas, elektrėnai and druskininkai, lithuania from november 2018 till august 2019. https://taalem.bandcamp.com/album/auka-alm-137 "While the label says they explore the various ways of ambient music they proof here with the release by Yiorgis Sakellariou they don't mind going an extra mile; or two. Sakellariou is a composer of music created with the use of field recordings. You might know this from my previous reviews of his work. On 'Auka' (inspired by a painting by m. k. Ciurlionis, and Auka meaning 'sacrifice') he uses field recordings from Vilnius, Kaunas, Elektrėnai and Druskininkai, all cities in Lithuania. Using field recordings, I would think, is nothing unusual in the world of Taalem, but Sakellariou uses his field recordings as they are, and does not apply any sort of manipulation to it (save, perhaps, for some equalization). He uses these sounds as they are and it is in the combination of these sounds to create the composition. A lot of the time one has no idea what these sounds are; crackling of leaves, branches, static electricity, metal staircases; that is the sort thing believe to hear. Another very un-Taalem thing is that Sakellariou uses a lot of dynamics in his music, and this piece is not different. There are two distinct loud passages in this piece but also some very quiet, near-silent passages. This is not your standard ambient music, but rather a musique concrète work and Sakellariou is a refined composer in that field. Perhaps, this work will be something of a shock for some people but I love it. It is a powerful work full of the near-by and far away sounds, unusual spaces to record them in and an intense listening experience." [FdW / Vital Weekly] 2020 €5.50
SAL SOLARIS Die Scherben 2004-2010 CD "kultFRONT and ZHELEZOBETON labels are glad to announce the new CD by one of the most outstanding Russian post-industrial projects - Sal Solaris. This release follows the logic of the "Der Ruf" compilation CD (2006, Der Angriff) and collects the tracks recorded at different times on various occasions. Among other tracks the disc contains compositions from the compilations "The Black Square" (2006, kultFRONT), "Iznutri" (2007, Ewers Tonkunst), "Rush for Black Celebration" (2008, kultFRONT), "Heliophagia III" (2009, Heliophagia), "Art of Caring the Dead" (2009, Dodozavr), "Heliolatria" (2010, Heliophagia), also tracks from the split 10" record with Stahlwerk 9 (2004, Der Angriff) and several previously unreleased compositions. When describing the sound of Sal Solaris reviewers often mention the neologism "power ambient" and we can't but agree with this term. The music of this duet coming from Rostov-on-Don and Moscow combines the elements of dark, often space ambient, post-industrial and power electronics, a collage approach and a dense saturated atmosphere, not relaxing but rather stimulating the listener. A collection of works created during various years allows to trace the live dynamics of the project - from the austere ideological persistence of the "early National-Bolshevist period" to the more sculpturesque and psychedelic compositions, including some naive but remarkable exercises. The works feature contributions from many band friends, including Russian cosmist writer Ivan Polikarov, lead artist of "Crazy Pierrot Cabaret" Sergey Vasilyev, piano player & composer Anna Antropova, decadent cynic and erudite DJ Deutschmark, master of noises Nikolay Lepesa, trombone player Seung-hui Cho and even Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovskiy. The artwork is done by the famous visual artist and media philosopher Oleg 'cmart' Paschenko (http://holesk.in | http://www.conclave.ru). With this CD kultFRONT & Zhelezobeton labels open the series named "Die Zeichen" aiming to publish the archival works of Russian post-industrial projects." [label info] 2013 €12.00
  Thresholds CD "Thresholds" is the first Sal Solaris solo album in 15 years marked by a variety of collaborations, splits and minor releases. From a musical point of view this is probably the most complex and certainly the most rhythmic work of the duo which opens a new chapter in its history. The Sun radiates and cools down. Mountains erode and grind into sand. Any system tends to minimum energy and maximum entropy, that is to uniformity. But while chaos does not reign yet, the universe is a complex thermodynamic landscape filled with low grounds and peaks, ridges and valleys. To go from one valley to another we need a breakthrough. As when a match boosts energy to let reagents gain ability to cross the threshold, and continue to roll freely and independently. "Thresholds" is an acoustic study of a breakthrough over the threshold. Therefore the album constantly crosses genre limits. The listener is taken from a thicket of dark techno to a rave meadow, and in the middle of dark ambient wasteland he or she gets thrust against a rock of minimal electro. "Thresholds" is also an attempt to answer the question of what may be a match in human life situations. How to cross the pass, when the ridge is covered with clouds. The album can be regarded as a box of matches, or an experimental map of passes for those who feel confined in their valleys. Authors can not guarantee its absolute accuracy. http://zhb.radionoise.ru/ 2016 €12.00
SALT Machiakari LP "the moment of light is unrepeatable: with his second album, stefan alt pays homage to life in the present moment, any moment, which by nature can never be repeated. the same group of people may get together in the same place again, but a particular previous gathering will never be replicated, and thus each moment always remains a once-in-a-lifetime experience, one to be enjoyed and cherished. this positivity is the overall theme: so embrace the machiakari, the glow in the night, urban artificial light, the modern manifestation of light in times of darkness. 'machiakari' works in the tradition of juxtaposing alluring atmospheres, psychedelic appeal and even occasional melodies with washes of seemingly freeform noise and challenging track structures. so join the ride, enter the 'time capsule' and let go of your standard perception of time. 'assault on precinct 13' is indeed a cover version of (and adoring homage to) the famous score title by john carpenter, the movie and its soundtrack itself being classic examples of the avant-garde making a successful foray and leaving an impact on popular culture. 'absorbed' and 'we never sleep' (referencing the theme of light and the work of john carpenter again, respectively) feature drums by experimental jazz musician gerwin eisenhauer, a contemporary of salt in the city of regensburg, the result being dynamic and intoxicating halfstep tunes with a lot of sonic grit, loaded with urban anxiety and confusion. when you visit tokyo, you will most likely overlook the older quarter 'ueno': outdated, sporting a visible patina, a flair of darkness and decay, fascinating for its sluggishness. the three parts of 'yakushi-do' dive head-on into japanese culture and mysticism, a path leading to purification of the mind, delivered with an industrial attitude, moving from ritual to collage style. 'machiakari' follows the enthusiastically received 'invisible', with which it shares not only it’s concise 45 minute album format, but also it’s artistic reappraisal of visual phenomena and japanese culture. and yet, this sophomore album is an entirely different entity, a focused and confident manifesto shedding valuable light in the dark of night. the moment of light is unrepeatable." https://ant-zen.bandcamp.com/album/machiakari 2019 €25.00
SAND His first Steps LP "The present album is a forerunner of GOLEM, the legendary album from the cosmic and psychedelic genius that is Sand. After the split of POT the early SAND submerged as a threesome in the basement of Claudiusstrasse and built up an alchemical assembling shop, where they resurrected the archetypical GOLEM. SAND considered themselves as an exile community in a fascinating area - full of distinctly bizarre energy. There is something magical and inexplicable in creation, and Sand manifest absolutely these mysterious phenomena. Story-tellers, musicians, shamans, geniuses, Sand were known, at the end of the 60s, as P.O.T. (Part of Time). The music they created at that time has remained unreleased until now. Two different approaches are evident within this band. The first—which is shown in the compositions of the trio Ludwig Papenberg, his brother Ullrich Papenberg and Johannes Vester—is avant-gardist, experimental and proto-industrial. The second, when this same trio is augmented with a few extra members, reveals a more emphatically “rock” side, somewhat in the vein of Pink Floyd’s The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, perhaps making it somewhat less personal than the visionary and experimental positions characteristic of Sand, a truly unique entity in the history of music. At that time Klaus Schulze was developing, with engineer Manfred Schunke, a specialised recording process called “Artificial Head Stereo Sound”, which, like “Surround Sound”, created the illusion of the music coming from 360º around the listener. Schulze chose Sand to record in his studio one of a series of records to demonstrate this new technique. Sand’s album Golem was recorded and released on the Delta-Acustic label in 1974. Sand acknowledge that Manfred Schunke and Klaus Schulze were Sand’s most important mentors. Although classed as “Krautrock”, Sand are not really in the Krautrock style, despite being part of this movement of German cosmic/psychedelic bands. Instead they take us on a cerebral/cosmic/strange/dark trip all of their own, with a highly original subtlety, elegance and strength. Trapped in the trip, swallowed up by the quicksands, seduced by the unique and innovative combination of acoustic guitars, synthesisers, sound generators, short-wave radios, factory noises, hammers from the shipyards, agricultural machines, whirls of sand and eerie atmospheres, the listener discovers and lives the story of Sand and his Golem. Julian Cope wrote of Golem in his HeadHeritage’s website’s “Album of the Month” column, “Dig this fucking weird Saxony sound and fill your heart”. Rotorelief releases, in 2010, a series of unreleased albums by Sand as well as a reissue of Sand’s only album, the obscure and rare Golem, first released by Delta Acustic in 1974, along with related releases by Nurse with Wound and Current 93. This series of albums from Sand is called “INXOM”, the series title having one letter for each album, explained by Johannes Vester as follows: “Incoming, Inspiration, (...) In X is OM (Odem) which could mean ‘There is Om/Odem/Atman in the Unknown (X)’ ; this also corresponds to "shem" which is in XOM,—the meaning in the Golem Myth. Last, but not least, for me it sounds like the electronic attitude in symbiosis with Sand's spirit....” And also called '' INXODEM '' with 5x Sand album (INXOM) from 70's + 1 album of Nurse With Wound (2013) and 1 45RMP twelve inch of Current 93 (1992) : "His First Steps" (I) / is a previous, unreleased and variety album (1972 & 1973) of "Golem" "Golem" (N) / legendary album composed in 1972 and 1973 (released in 1974) "Desert Navigation" (X) / unreleased album, titles composed in 1973, 1975 and one track from 1982 "Sylph Ballet" (O) / unreleased album, titles composed in 1969, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975 and 1976 "North Atlantic Raven" (M) / unreleased album, titles composed in 1973, 1975 & 1976 (+ bonus 1982) "Chromanatron" (E), by Nurse With Wound composed in 2013 with sounds and extracts from Sand "When the May Rain Comes" (D), 2 varieties of the reprise title "May Rain" of Sand by Current 93 in 1992 Today, 40 years later, here the cool sound jugglers, founders and new members, go again (Ludwig and Ulrich Papenberg, Johannes Vester, Christian von der Schulenburg and Richard Pappik) then Sand is active in a creative frenzy timeless... www.rotorelief.com 2016 €25.00
  Golem (clear) LP "Sand’s 1974 debut album Golem is an excellent oddity in the Krautrock canon. The album eschews the normal reliance on chugging rhythms to provide the backbone of their sound. Instead they use space and more importantly headspace to create their psychedelic platform. The album was recorded by Klaus Schulze in a format described as “Artificial Head Stereo Sound” (which sounds like a psych band in its own right). Immediately plunging into opener “Helicopter,” the band creates a cavern of sound that was made for headphones. It was an attempt at surround sound before there was a market, improving on Quadrophonic and dunking the listener head first into the band’s creeping psychedlics. Golem is as uncharacteristic of Krautrock as it is of the rest of Sand’s catalog, which would largely become more proto-industrial, roping in factory field recordings and ambient noise to their sound. Here they incorporate picked acoustics that roll into menacing cradles of tone, enveloping the listener in anxious waves, curling and uncurling their grip on the throat. Then they completely break out for a wistful romp on “On The Corner.” Its atypical of its peers but it stands as an important rung on the ladder connecting the audio tissue between Ash Ra Temple, Pink Floyd, Träd, Gräs och Stenar, and naturally their mentor Klaus Schulze and Tangerine Dream. There have been several reissues but Rotorelief’s 2013 version (still available) is probably the most deluxe and well presented. If you have a soft spot for 70’s excess and German Progressive rock, then this one is a must have." [Raven Sings the Blues] 2017 €25.00
SARNO, LOUIS Song from the Forest: The Soundtrack CD "This is the soundtrack album to the film “Song from the Forest”, which tells the story of Louis Sarno, an American who has lived for thirty years among the Bayaka pygmies in the Central African Republic. No outsider has had such access to this beautiful and musical culture, and this selection of the best of his recordings presents the sounds of this amazing people and their environment with a depth and richness never heard before. SONG FROM THE FOREST: THE FILM /// Premieres in Germany: Showtimes As a young man, the American Louis Sarno heard a song on the radio that gripped his imagination. He followed the mysterious sounds all the way to the Central African rainforest and found their source with the Bayaka Pygmies, a tribe of hunters and gatherers. He never left. Today, twenty-five years later, Louis Sarno has recorded over 1,500 hours of unique Bayaka music. He is a fully accepted member of Bayaka society and has a son, Samedi. Once, when Samedi was a baby, he became seriously ill and Louis feared for his life. He held his son in his arms through a frightful night and made him a promise: “If you get through this, one day I’ll show you the world I come from.” Now the time has come to fulfill his promise, and Louis travels with Samedi, age 13, from the African rainforest to another jungle, one of concrete, glass, and asphalt: New York City. Together they meet Louis’ family and old friends, including his closest friend from college, Jim Jarmusch. Carried by the contrasts between rainforest and urban America, with a fascinating soundtrack and peaceful, loving imagery, their stories are interwoven to form a touching portrait of an extraordinary man and his son. A modern epic set between rainforest and skyscrapers. FROM THE DIRECTOR In the fall of 2009, I was traveling in the Congo River Basin when by chance I heard tales of a white man who was said to have lived for decades in the rainforest with a tribe of huntergatherers called the Bayaka Pygmies, for decades. I went to look for him. A few days later, I was standing in a clearing when Bayaka came running at me from all directions, brandishing spears and screaming. Suddenly, the noise ceased, and a tall figure detached itself from the undergrowth: a white man, two heads taller than everybody else, a Bayaka baby in each of his arms. Before me stood a legend: a lost, forgotten man, reborn in the Central African jungle. A man who once ate tadpoles for a month, who married a Bayaka woman, who survived malaria, hepatitis, typhoid, leprosy, and has recorded more than 1500 hours of unique Bayaka music. Before me stood the musical Herodotus of the Central African forests, the white Bayaka—Louis Sarno. When we shook hands in this clearing, I instantly felt that something really big had happened in my life. How could I know that this was the beginning of a journey which would turn me—a writer and journalist—into a film-maker and which would take me across the globe for years to come? To me—a person without a real home, driven from place to place, a passionate hunter-gatherer of stories who has spent the past twenty years traveling to the most remote corners of the Earth—Louis Sarno is the most fascinating person I have ever met. He took a radical leap, accomplishing what I often imagine myself doing when I am on the road: leaving it all behind, starting over, becoming someone else. More than everything else I am impressed by his life’s work: the fantastic recordings of Bayaka music that we are proud to present in this soundtrack from Song From the Forest. (Michael Obert) FROM THE CURATOR Beautifully mapping the entire range of music-making of a single community of hunter-gatherers across more than a generation, the Louis Sarno collection of Bayaka music and soundscapes is extraordinary, unprecedented, and unrepeatable. No field recordist has ever matched the depth and sensitivity of Sarno’s commitment to presenting a record of what it sounds like to live with an indigenous community. Sarno has developed a uniquely sensitive recording approach, refined through an acute listening that is only possible through permanent immersion in a culture. Nearly all of the recordings on this soundtrack have been drawn from the Louis Sarno collection of Bayaka music at the Pitt-Rivers Museum in Oxford. Louis continues to donate his exceptional recordings to the Museum with the long-term intention that they will benefit the community whose musical life they so beautifully present. (Noel Lobley, Ethnomusicologist, Pitt-Rivers Museum, Oxford University) FROM THE MUSIC SUPERVISOR Through Louis Sarno’s recordings, Bayaka music has become famous around the world. I first spoke to Louis about his endeavours in the mid-nineties when I was putting together “The Book of Music and Nature”, which included some of his work. When I heard he was still down there, twenty years later, and that a film wasnbeing made about his life, I knew I wanted to help. Central to Bayaka music is a sonic integration with the rhythms and melodies of the forest itself. We have tried to include selections from the vast archive that highlight the ways the human sounds fit into the natural sounds, as an inspiration for how human life as a whole might better be part of our surrounding environment, our true home. (David Rothenberg) TRACK NOTES BY LOUIS SARNO 1. Yeyi-greeting / 4:30 Yeyi just means ‘yodel,’ and this is one of my favorite forms of Bayaka music. They used to go on all night, slowly moving through the village, and at dawn they’d be going on one last time, throwing leaves on the roof of each house. The new generation doesn’t do it the way it used to be done. This is the most recognizable sound in Bayaka music, pure vocal music, very beautiful songs. When they sing you can hear the forest all around them. 2. Women Sing in the Forest / 4:55 This is recorded in a bimba forest, where there is not much undergrowth, so you hear the singing echoing as if you were inside a natural cathedral. The Bayaka have this way of wandering into the forest, taking music from different forms, and improvising together as they collect water or gather mushrooms. I love the sound of women’s voices in the distance in the forest. The forest without that sound is incomplete. These are the most lovely voices on Earth. 3. Tree Drumming / 3:08 There is a certain kind of tree, the gooma that has big buttress roots. You hit it and it really resonates. Whenever the Bayaka come across a tree like this on the trail they hit it and play a little music. It’s kind of irresistible. Then they move on. 4. Bobé Spirits Calling / 5:53 I remember that camp, it was a beautiful one. The first evening, as the sun was setting, I saw this fire in the distance between the bimba trees. But it turned out to be the sun, at ground level in the forest, and you could barely see it through the trees at the horizon. The Bobé were really wild, spinning around and dancing wildly. That was the time when they buried Samedi’s grandmother. I had just came back from America, and I walked fifty kilometers in one day, and I heard she had died. The next day I set up to find this camp. We didn’t know where to go exactly, and it took us three days to find it. I was so moved by the place. The ceremony went on for two or three nights. This is a typical esimé, when the women move on from the usual melodic singing into something polyrhythmic. The Bobé are not human, they are animal spirits, and they use sounds that are beyond language. The Boyobi ceremony is not just music, it’s theater, dance, and myth, all blended together. Sometimes the Bobé spirits are naked in the moonlight, smeared with bioluminescent fungus. No crew has yet been able to film this! 5. Bayaka Night Insects / 4:52 Insects, yes, but also a few birds. That’s a type of cuckoo. I call it the “ngon go go” bird. There are two cuckoos and the rest is insects, with maybe a few tree frogs. Sometimes you get these moments in the forest where everything seems to come together like that. That’s why I spent so much time in the forest, because most of the time nothing much seems to be happening. But once in a while you get these beautiful moments, which you can only get by spending a lot of time out there. Years. 6. Louis Sarno Speaks / 2:32 Ewunji was an incredible guy, Samedi’s great-grandfather. He was known to go very deep into the forest, way into what’s now the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park in Congo, and we just wandered around with spears, no hunting nets. You couldn’t survive like that now. The small animals have been decimated by poachers. Taking care of this should be the responsibility of the World Wildlife Fund, but they prefer to concentrate on big charismatic animals like elephants and gorillas, instead of the animals that the Bayaka depend on, small forest antelopes and monkeys. The Bayaka are no longer allowed to go into the park, but the poachers still go in there with shotguns. 7. The Flutes We Hear No More / 5:12 That was the only time I ever heard two flute players playing at the same time. Momboli and Gongé playing mbyo duets on Dec. 22 nd 1992. You are supposed to hear this music in your dreams, that’s why they usually play it alone at night, so it can get into your dreams. They play more or less in unison even though the Bayaka love vocal polyphony. This is a music you no longer hear anymore, since the last flute player died a few years ago. He gave me his flute and I had it in my house and could get a bit of a sound out of it. But when the Séléka raided my house last year during the insurgency, they destroyed everything, and they smashed the flute. This is a sound we will never hear again. 8. Net Hunt / 3:00 Well, that’s not actually a net hunt. That’s actually gida-gida, it’s a gorilla hunting game, they imitate chimpanzee noises. That’s from 1987, the very first time I went out into the forest. Just the men and boys are singing here. They make these fake spears and pretend to kill. 9. Earth Bow / 2:09 To make an earth bow the Bayaka take a sapling and bend it over, then attach a piece of twine to one end of the sapling, tie the other end to a piece of bark and hold it over a hole that they dig in the ground. This was Boungingi, and those are the same guys who were playing the tree drum. Just takes them a minute or so to make this instrument. Usually one person plays it, but there is always some extra percussion in the background. 10. Geedal / 2:28 That’s Balonyona, one of the greatest masters of the bow harp, the geedal. I recorded many hours of his playing, he really was the best player of this instrument. In 1991 he even went to Paris to play. It has six strings, you find it all over Africa. But the Bayaka way of playing is a bit different. They use fewer notes, and more rhythms. They play along with the pulses of the forest. It fits right in. 11. Flute in Forest / 5:16 That is a beautiful melody, the flute sounds so beautiful in the forest in the distance. That sound brings back so many memories of so many good times. Momboli played that melody a lot, and I recorded it often in the distance. You hear the night ambience swelling with insects, frogs, cuckoos, and the distant flute. So many good times… This music is really part of the whole forest world. 12. Water Drumming / 2:55 When the women bathe, they are always playing water drum. And sometimes they get these percussive melodies, this is a music for girls, and they are much better at it than the boys. Women will do it, too, and sometimes I’ve been far away when you can only hear the deepest sounds, and I think it’s the drum, and when I get closer, I realize it is women playing in the water. It is one of the few instruments Bayaka women are allowed to play. 13. Lingboku Celebration / 5:36 Ah, the Lingboku – women’s music. That is the one spirit they still have. They claim all the others have been stolen from them by the men. A lot of the lyrics make fun of male sexuality, it’s really an expression of female power. The men don’t like women to do it. But they don’t stop them. The men are not supposed to be present when they sing it. “The penis has no endurance and dies right away, but the pussy is always ready to keep going.” You ought to mark this song “explicit” on the CD. The dancing is quite explicit, too, the women look like they’re humping each other and if they catch men looking at this they’ll chase them away. 14. Moukouté’s Lament / 1:52 Ah, that’s little Moukouté. He appears in the film. At the time you recorded him for the film, he really wasn’t all that good at the geedal. But since then, he’s gotten a lot better. 15. Yeyi-Farewell / 5:32 What can you say? It’s beautiful. Yeyi. It’s the most pure Bayaka music. I never get tired of hearing these songs. They bring back so much musical wealth of these people. I don’t make recordings anymore. In some ways it’s easier to make recordings with today’s new technology, but I don’t love it the way I love those old cassette recorders. How do you write numbers on those tiny SD cards! They’re always getting lost. Many of the people I used to record are no longer alive. The new generation is just not the same." [label info] www.gruenrekorder.de "One of the various releases this week that is supposed to be a soundtrack. Here no film either, but just the recordings made by Louis Sarno, made in Central Africa with Bayaka Pygmies, a tribe of hunters and collectors. Sarno is not a visitor, but he lives there as a member and married, has a son and recorded 1500 hours of music and sounds. That's what the documentary by Michael Obst is about, about this rather unique field recordist. Sarno, who guides us through music from Bayaka and the place they live in, documents each of the fifteen pieces here in word. Flutes, tree drumming, singing, games, celebrations and such like are what we hear on this disc. Sometimes recorded from a distance, with the rainforest adding a whole additional layer of sound, which works very well. The 'Tree Drumming' reminded me of earlier Etant Donnes. I very much enjoy a release like this. Not because I know a lot about the subject of tribes or Non-Western music, and I am the first to admit I can't say anything worthwhile about this, other than: I think this is a fascinating trip. Maybe it's because I was on holiday just now, and perhaps I would like to evoke the memory of holiday a bit longer? (I doubt whether Central Africa will ever be a point of holiday for me however). Just for now I can really enjoy all of this a lot. Strangely fascinating music. A sound documentary as well as something that you can enjoy from a purely musical point of view. Very nice variation in the world of field recording." [FdW/Vital Weekly #946] 2014 €14.00
SATORI Kanashibari CD "Das Cover dieses Satori-Albums ziert ein Gemälde von Henry Fuseli namens "Der Nachtmahr". Um einen Albtraum geht es auf "Kanashibari" auch, sogar um einen real existierenden. Das japanische Wort "Kanashibari" steht für den Begriff Schlafparalyse, den Zustand der Bewegungsunfähigkeit während der Traumphasen. Diese Unfähigkeit sich zu Bewegen ist ein unbewusster Zustand. Es gibt aber Menschen, die sich dieser Paralyse durchaus bewusst werden und das ist wahrhaft ein echter Albtraum. Diesen haben Satori, man kann es nicht anders sagen, perfekt in ihrer Musik festgehalten. Düster und brodelnd gestaltet sich das Album, Drone Ambient mit tiefschwarzer Attitüde. Aber "Kanashibari" begnügt sich nicht mit bloßen, tiefen Tönen, nein, rituelle Trommeln beschreiben den dramatischen Kampf, sich bewegen zu wollen, es aber nicht zu können. Rauschen, Zischen und andere ähnliche Geräusche transferieren direkt einen beklemmenden Eindruck. Die nicht zu entziffernden, entstellten Stimmen könnten Traumfetzen sein. Aber zusammen mit den Geräuschen dürften sie eher für die halluzinogenen, auditiven Wahrnehmungen stehen, die mit der Schlafparalyse einhergehen können. Wie man es auch dreht und wendet, Neil Chaney (Pessary) und Justin Mitchell (Cold Spring Chef) haben ein herrlich düsteres Stück Musik geschaffen, das bei nächtlicher Rezeption wiederum zu Albträumen führen könnte. Nach ihrer Japan-Tour im April 2007 mit Sutcliffe Jügend veröffentlichte das japanische Label Dogma Chase "Kanashibari" auf einer auf 300 Stück limitierten LP. Cold Spring zog dann Ende 2008 nach und veröffentlichte das Album auf CD und spendierte sogar noch einen Bonustrack, "Pavor Nocturnus"." [Veit, Medienkonverter] "CD version of the 2007 album from UK dark ambient/Fortean electronics act Satori - Neil Chaney (Pessary) and Justin Mitchell (Cold Spring boss), originally issued on LP by Dogma Chase, Japan. "Kanashibari" is the Japanese term for sleep paralysis (literally "bound or fastened in metal"). The album explores this phenomena, manipulating Fortean sounds and deep dark ambience." [label info] 2008 €13.00
  The Hanging CD-BOX "A spore. Or a seed. Or maybe a drop of blood. There is always something left. Just when everyone thought the devil was done, the alien defeated, it comes back. More powerful, stronger and much much angrier. To lay waste the land, destroy the positive and breathe its fetid stench in the face of light. We should have known. Should have realised that in the vacuum left by its departure something would grow. Expanding and multiplying to fill the void. Recycling its hate, constricting hope and slowly, surely getting pissed at the world. Do we deserve its seething rage? Yes we probably do. Dave Kirby formed Satori in the early 1980s with Rob Maycock, released music on the legendary Broken Flag label and then, just as quickly as they had arrived, stopped. Resurrected briefly to promote a retrospective CD "Infect" Dave and Justin Mitchell (Cold Spring Records) joined forces to blast a total wall of noise to unsuspecting gig-goers. Then Dave vanished. Justin along with new recruit Neil Chaney (Pessary) released the album "Kanashibari" in 2008. After touring the UK, Europe and Japan things went quiet again. Until now. Dave is back with ten new Satori tracks. Classic Power Electronics, Industrial and Dark Ambient soundscapes sculpted from a collection of alienating electronica, found sound and heavy drums. "The Hanging" marks both a new beginning and a continuation of a project now 30 years old but, most importantly, the chance to hear over an hour of brand new Satori. Florian (the photographer)? I think his contribution has been invaluable. florian kriechbaum vienna " [label info] 2015 €15.00
SAVAGE REPUBLIC 1938 CD Eine DER Überraschungen des Jahres 2007 war das neue Album der "Art-Punk" Band aus L.A.! "Eigentlich könnte die kalifornische Band Savage Republic heutzutage auch eine große Legende in Sachen Art-Punk und experimenteller Indie-Musik sein, so wie Sonic Youth, Minuteman oder die Einstürzenden Neubauten. Warum man diese Band normalerweise nicht in einem Satz mit diesen Genre-Größen nennt, ist wohl eine ungerechte Laune der Musik-Geschichte, standen Savage Republic doch in den 80er Jahren eben mit diesen Bands zusammen auf einer Bühne. Savage Republic sind deshalb auch so etwas wie Art-Punk-Pioniere, die auch nicht vor den schrägsten musikalischen Einflüssen zurückschreckten. Da wurde der frühe West-Coast Hardcore-Punk genau so angesehen wie 60’s Psychedelic oder Ethno-Folk. Dick Dale gehörte genau so zu den Vorbildern wie Ennio Morricone oder Mikis Theodorakis. Vielleicht war es diese Verschrobenheit und Kreativität, weshalb der Band aus Los Angeles ein größeres Publikum verwehrt blieb. Nun nach 18 Jahren Pause gibt es endlich mit „1938“ ein neues Savage Republic Album. Und zu welchem Label würde dieses Album besser passen, als zum Neurosis-Label Neurot Recordings? Eben. Trotz seiner enormen Spielzeit von ca. 70 Minuten treten beim Hören von „1938“ an keiner Stelle Ermüdungserscheinungen oder Langeweile auf. Da finden sich auf dem fast instrumental eingespielten Album Industrial-Sounds, mittelalterliche Klänge, Folk-Elemente, Psychedelic, Kraut-Rock, Impro-Musik oder auch mal jazziges. Ein besonderer Fokus wird dabei auf die Percussion- und Schlagzeugarbeit gelegt, sodass Savage Republic trotz seiner Ausgefallenheit ein sehr rhythmisches Album ist. Freunde von Bands wie Pere Ubu, Can oder den Butthole Surfers könnten bei „1938“ ihre helle Freude haben. Die Betonung liegt dabei auf „könnte“, denn Savage Republic sind einfach zu Eigenständig und als Solitär im Musikgeschäft anzusehen, dass man diese Band nur mit Vorsicht in gewisse Schubladen stecken sollte." [Independentkicks.de] "Los Angeles art-punk pioneers Savage Republic have come roaring out of obscurity with 1938, their first full-length album of new material in 18 years-- hot on the heels of this spring's powerful Siam EP-- both on Neurot Records. Throughout the '80s Savage Republic was a deep-underground phenomenon, playing highly unorthodox shows in remote desert locations, abandoned factories, skid-row parking lots, and grimy bars across the US and Europe with such luminaries as Einstuerzende Neubaten, Minutemen, Sonic Youth, and Live Skull as well as hardcore-punk slugfests with the likes of Bad Religion, Angry Samoans, and Final Conflict. Known for their oddly tuned guitars, tribal beats, shouted vocals, metal percussion (typically 55-gallon oil drums and items gleaned from dumpsters and junkyards), and Morricone-meets-Dick Dale melodies, their performances were at times ritualistic and occassionally involved fire and explosives. In their current incarnation, Savage Republic core members Thom Fuhmann, Ethan Port and Greg Grunke are joined by UK punk-rock veteran Val Haller, whose resume includes stints with Wayne County, Flying Lizards, Lords of The New Church, and X-Ray Spex, and noted drummer and percussionist Alan Waddington, known for his tenure with The Unforgiven as well as live and studio work with everyone from Willie Nelson to Gwen Stefani. The album also features contributions by guest artists including multi-instrumentalist Tara T. Tavi, classical violinist Julia Zuker, and drummer Bryan Taylor. While staying true to their roots, Savage Republic have updated and expanded their singular Mediterranean-surf-soundtrack-folk-noise blend into a musical hybrid both contemporary and timeless. Trademark scrap-metal percussion and layers of guitar drone are now joined by spooky ambient textures evoking sonic landscapes exotic, dreamy and sinister. An undercurrent of dread is never too far away. In keeping with their tradition of graphic excellence, the album is packaged in a tri-fold cover designed by and featuring the photography of Ramona Clarke-Fuhrmann. " [press release] www.neurotrecordings.com www.mobilization.com 2007 €13.00
SCELSI, GIACINTO Pranam I (etc) CD Genius stuff here from SCELSI mainly made with strings & voice, powerful, suspenseful, spheric, not from this world ! With great / interesting liner notes about his philosophy seeing sound as a cosmic force, a material manifestation of energy. « Giacinto Scelsi (1905 - 1988) Anagamin Celui qui choisit de revenir ou pas, Pranam I En souvenir de la perte tragique de Jani et Sia Christou, String Quartet Nr. 4, Quattro pezzi su una nota sola, Okanagon doit être considéré comme un rite et, si l'on veut, comme le battement de coeur de la Terre, String Quartet Nr. 2 Anagamin Celui qui choisit de revenir ou pas for 12 Strings (1965 (SFB 1990), Ensemble Oriol Berlin, Ltg. Sebastian Gottschick) Pranam I En souvenir de la perte tragique de Jani et Sia Christou for voice, 12 instrumentalists and tape, 1972 Fondazione Isabella Scelsi, Rom 1972) Michiko Hirayama, Stimme, Ad Hoc Ensemble, Ltg. Vieri Tosatti String Quartet Nr. 4 1964 (RB 1994) Pellegrini-Quartett: Antonio Pellegrini, 1. Violine; Thomas Hofer, 2. Violine; Charlotte Geselbracht, Viola; Helmut Menzler, Violoncello Quattro pezzi su una nota sola for chamber orchestra, 1959 (Les Disques Solstice 1982) Ensemble 2e2m, Ltg. Luca Pfaff Okanagon doit être considéré comme un rite et, si l'on veut, comme le battement de coeur de la Terre for harp, Tam Tam and bass (1968 (Les Disques Solstice 1982) Ensemble 2e2m, Ltg. Luca Pfaff) String Quartet Nr. 2 1961 (WDR 1979) Berner Streichquartett: Alexander van Wijnkoop, 1. Violine; Eva Zurbrügg, 2. Violine; Henrik Crafoord, Viola; Walter Grimmer, Violoncello“ [label info] 2002 €18.00
SCHIMKAT, ANNA Brot und Ro-sen LP Anna Schimkat's "Brot und Ro-sen" (Bread and Ro-ses) explores the connection between music, collective memory, and women's struggle for recognition through interviews with women from East and West Germany. The piece includes a score of sound and text fragments based on the interviewees' memories, which was first performed as a sound installation at the ODP Gallery in Leipzig, Germany. It was later performed live by young women at the Gallery for Contemporary Art Leipzig as part of the "Conscious Inability - The Archive Gabriele Stötzer" exhibition. The accompanying booklet includes Marcel Raabe's "Sound Space Body," (“Schall Raum Körper” in German language) and the vinyl's B-side features Schimkat and Raabe's interview collage "Takt halten kann ich nicht" (I can't keep tact). Edition of 300 copies on black vinyl. Including 12pp booklet with score, photographs and liner notes by Marcel Raabe (in German). Singers: Henriette Aichinger, Clara Ehrenwerth, Kristin Elsner, Marie Kraja, Lea Oelkers, Johanna Posenenske, Josefine Poser, Juliane Schmidt, Vera Seyffert Interviewees: Gabriele Stötzer & Verena Kyselka, Bettina Schröder-Polten & Annette Benjamin, Bettina Schimkat, Ingrid Schmidt-Viertel, Dr. Eva Gutheil, Renate Gieg.Musical Assistance: Michael Barthel Mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi Design by Marian Reinig https://fragmentfactory.bandcamp.com/album/brot-und-ro-sen 2023 €20.00
SCHNITZLER, CONRAD Auf dem schwarzen Kanal 12inch "Auf dem schwarzen Kanal" ist eine der herausstechendsten und gesuchtesten Veröffentlichungen in Conrad Schnitzlers umfangreichem Katalog. 1980 als einzige von Schnitzlers Platten bei einem Majorlabel veröffentlicht, war diese Maxi und insbesondere das Titelstück ein Flirt mit dem zeitgleich aufkommenden experimentellen New Wave und klang dennoch so eigenwillig wie keine andere Musik zu jener Zeit. Die zusammen mit Wolfgang Seidel entstandenen und in Peter Baumanns Berliner Paragon Studio aufgenommen vier Tracks sind ein bissiger, dissonante Mutant Disco Trip, der bis heute nichts von seiner Faszination eingebüßt hat. Bureau B freut sich dieses lange vergriffene Werk endlich wieder verfügbar zu machen! https://conradschnitzler.bandcamp.com/album/auf-dem-schwarzen-kanal 2020 €11.50
SCHUMACHER, MICHAEL J. Stories CD "The new album by composer, performer and installation artist Michael J. Schumacher from New York City after the critically acclaimed Room Pieces, on the XI label. Feat. guest musicians Tim Barnes, Charles Curtis, Donald Miller, Peter Zummo, George Bishop and many more. Stories refers to the idea of layering, the process of building a structure by stacking things on top of each other. This procedure is particularly evident in Room Pieces New York, in which as many as 23 parts play simultaneously. In general, Schumacher's interest is to develop a contemporary form of counterpoint, where each voice maintains its integrity while contributing to a total sound. Listeners are invited to create their own melodies by letting their ears follow the sounds moment by moment, allowing spontaneous pathways linking the various voices to emerge effortlessly. Michael J. Schumacher works predominantly with electronic and digital media, specializing in computer generated sound environments which evolve continuously for long time periods. His sound installations have been heard at Apex Art, PS 1, the Queens Museum and The Kitchen in New York City, at the Technical University and Podewil in Berlin, at the Museum for Applied Arts in Frankfurt, at the Museum of Modern Art in Lyon and many others." [label notes] 2004 €14.00
SEKTOR 304 Soul Cleansing CD "In three decades, Industrial music, due to its tangible form, has given birth to numerous interpretations and splintered factions. What’s indisputable, is that most of what is actually defined as “industrial” has ultimately become more about entertainment than confrontation and far removed from the original intent. This is the context in which Sektor 304 has appeared. Equipped with a frightening and impressive array of primitive instrumentation pulled from junkyards and scrap metal heaps, this Portuguese outfit has delivered an astounding formal debut ¬ a heady mixture of truly old school industrial in the vein of Einsturzende Neubauten, Test Dept , and S.P.K, and the grinding, bass heavy dirge of vintage Swans and Godflesh. These are anthems to the past, but geared towards an apocalyptic and bleak future… a form of counter-culture using what is most evident in modern western society: the debris, the abandoned objects, the waste, the noise, and the interference. With a solid foundation of rusty, oil drenched percussion, Sektor 304 adds layer upon layer of squalling industrial clangor, hammering metallic noise, grimy atmospheres, heaving masses of haunted factory drones, and threatening tribal batter, with a strong and commanding vocal presence. The sound here is almost physical in nature - provocative, persistent, and demanding. An organic impulse filled with shamanic drifts in which the noise barrage allies itself with metallic rhythmics and the use of concrete elements in the compositions. Junk, plastics, amplified objects. A change of scale. A manipulation of non-musical sounds in search of visual inductions trying to bring forward the sequences of Tsukamoto or situations invoked by J.G. Ballard. The conflict between man and machine as a metaphor of the struggle of man against himself. A mix and weight of three decades of sonic subversion. It can be said that to find the future of music, one must look to the past, drawing influence from prior achievements, yet forging a new identity, and sculpting something completely unique and distinct. With Sektor 304, the future is now, and it’s not entertaining. In 6 panel digipak, mastered by Steel Hook Audio." [Malignant Records] "Epic crushing metallic industrial heaviness, the kind of thing we thought they just didn't make anymore, but this is total Swans / Godflesh / Cop Shoot Cop worship, pounding metallic percussion, soundscapes of whirring drills, blown out low slung bass, howled distorted vox, the whole thing so repetitive and mantric, thick slabs of distorted rumble wrapped around tons of damaged electronics, bleating horns buried beneath reverb drenched beats, some songs are full on walls of twisted electronic crunch, others are brooding, droning skeletal sprawls, laid over deep blurred basslines, and tribal rhythms, some are dense whorls of deeeeeep sinister black ambience, all darkly drifting layers, and distant bits of clang and shimmer. For a few moments here and there, the sound gets downright poppy, like some sort of washed out post industrial deathrock, but even then, it's shot through with a seriously menacing sonic undercurrent that seeps into every beat, and every note. Filthy, crusty, heavy, haunting, crushing and brutal, the perfect mix of old school industrial pound, and more modern bleak blackness. Fucking fierce and frightening, grim and punishing, and we're digging it like crazy." [Aquarius Records] 2009 €13.00
  Subliminal Actions CD "The follow-up to the highly acclaimed Soul Cleansing CD finds Portugal's Sektor 304 expanding on all aspects of their debut, once again channeling the essence of the old school guardians (Test Dept, SPK, Crash Worship), while simultaneously exploring new, uncharted territory. Comparatively speaking, Subliminal Actions is a more complete and focused album, with an even better flow than Soul Cleansing and more attention paid to detail, unleashing a cacophonic whirlwind of buzz saw grind, loops, power tools, and scraping, junk metal debris, clashing head on with exertive tribal percussion, clanging oil barrel rhythms, and industrial clamor resonating over a sprawling, post apocalyptic wasteland. Some tracks, such as the opener, "A Carving on Metallic Flesh", heap on the scorching noise, while others, such as the resounding, rhythmic driven "By The Throat", "A Vessel of Guilt", or "Vultures" are delivered with factory-line precision, laced with grimy layers of bass-heavy dirge, bleak, reverbed squall, and distortion filled, atmospheric drone. Among the many highlights, is the albums closer, "A Prismatic Sun", a 10 + minute epic excursion into a nightmarish world, populated by whispered vocals and uneasy drift that slowly rises and grows in intensity, climaxing into a blissfully dark and sweaty orgy of low slung bass, ominous, ceremonial drumming, and suffocating darkness. Subliminal Action not only compliments Soul Cleansing, but takes the Sektor 304 sound to new heights, delivering yet striking record sure to solidify their standing as one of premier, truly industrial acts in operation today. 10 tracks, 63 min., in 6 panel digipak, mastered by James Plotkin." [label info] www.malignantrecords.com http://soundcloud.com/malignantrecords/sets/subliminal-actions-by-sektor 2011 €12.00
SEVERED HEADS Clifford Darling please don't live in the Past do-LP "Severed Heads are one of the longest surviving bands to emerge from the Australian post-punk independent music scene. They began in Sydney in 1979, incorporating elements of ‘industrial’ noise-generation, tape cutting & looping and electronic sound synthesis. As the project developed song-structures and vocals were employed in a more-or-less recognizable mutant electro pop style. After many line-up changes featuring Garry Bradbury and psychedelic guitarist Simon Knuckey, Severed Heads was the vehicle for composer Tom Ellard. In 1985 their record label asked them to release a retrospective, so they dragged out bits that we had lying around from 1979 up til 1983. The compilation was titled “Clifford Darling Please Don’t Live In The Past”, spread out into a montage over four sides of vinyl. Bradbury and Ellard would fuss each bit and sling it on their new digital recorder, and since they still have the digital recorder, this reissue is made directly from the bits assembled twenty years ago. This compilation includes live recordings, raw demos, unreleased studio recordings and solo pieces from each member of the band during from the first five years. Their early music was characterized by the use of tape loops, noisy arrangements of synthesizers and other dissonant sound sources in the general category of industrial music. After several releases in that vein, Severed Heads began incorporating various popular music tropes, such as a consistent 4/4 rhythm, strong melodic lines, resolving chord arrangements and the occasional vocal. This move was underscored by the incorporation of mimetic devices, such as drum machines and bass synthesizers. The result was a striking hybrid of the avant-garde industrial and pop. All songs are remastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. Housed in a jacket featuring brightly colored, distorted, VHS graphics output by Stephen Jones’ video synthesizer created by Tom Ellard video piece “Kato Gets The Girl” in 1985, designed by Eloise Leigh. Each copy includes a fold-out poster with a color video still photo on one side and liner notes and credits on the other. 30 years later Severed Heads’ perverse creativity is still paving the way for powerful imaginative challenging music far and wide." [label info] www.darkentriesrecords.com In 1985, Severed Heads were commissioned to collect a retrospective of their (then) six years in existence. Instead of the standard 'best of' anthology, Tom Ellard and Co. took the opportunity to create a sprawling collage of a whole slew of material never heard before, with cutting room edits, tape loop assemblages, live tracks, and numerous experiments that never found their way onto any of their albums. That approach is emblematic of the subversive manner in which Severed Heads produces and contextualizes their heavily mediated electronics, tracks that boisterously flaunt new wave pop structures butted against chunks of machined voltage-control noise and volatile industrial rhythm. On this release, more than pretty much anywhere else in Severed Heads catalog, do comparisons to Cabaret Voltaire and Throbbing Gristle make the most sense. (Aquarius Rec) 2015 €28.00
SHIBALBA / BLACK SEAS OF INFINITY Mahakala CD "For their next split, SHIBALBA united into morbid congregation with BLACK SEAS OF INFINITY... Utter grim horrific rite to glorify Great Black Goddess Kali. Far beyond the manifestations of Maya, obtain the dark essence of Her - Dark Shakti of Siva, Destroyer of Time, A Transcendental Blackness." [Nihilward info] "The conjoined work of the order of Shibalba and Black Seas of Infinity, constitutes an undertaking and exploration of the supreme Kala, through musical, visual and literary transmissions and receptions an adoration unto Kali. She is the adored and the adorer, our blood shall be as her venom, our skull as her ornamentation. Members of the Memphitic Coven of Shibalba: Acherontas V. Priest Aldra-Al-Melekh Recorded at the Halls of Christian Cambas, during the waning crescent moon of January MMXV. Mixed and mastered by Christian Cambas. Artwork/Layout by Synthetic. Front And Back Painting By David Hereiras. Cd is coming by Nihilward Productions and Handmade edition in Tape and special box set tape by Arsenestre Lp is coming later by Nigrum Serpentis. Tshirt Merchandise by Nigrum Serpentis On October. [Shibalba Bandcamp info] www.nihilward.com 2017 €12.00
SIGHTINGS Terribly Well LP "The noise rock parade that defies definition, set out on a mission of pure volume worship that is the post-decade pilgrimage of NY-based Sightings. After eight instinctive albums, the Sightings guys show no mercy with endless annihilation of their newest material on Terribly Well. All parts destruction measured against their abrasive songwriting. Jagged, collapsing rhythm based mayhem, guitars that can be mistaken for a freight train being ripped for scrap metal, only to be held together with panic stricken bass patterns that keep their voice from the edge of insanity. An accessible album for the unacceptable; their finest record to date. Each song saws through the humanity, taking no hostages with this hectic industrial rock masterpiece. Edition of 500." [label info] www.daisrecords.com 2013 €20.00
SIJ & SERGEY GABBASOV Zhang Zhung CD "Spreading their influence across what is today known as the rooftop of the world, the ancient kingdoms of the Zhang Zhung reached into the distant valleys and plateaus of the Himalayas. A culture centered upon the holy Mount Kailash, this people followed the Bonpo tradition, living their lives in the shadows of the many fearful Bonpo deities, but also overwatched by the compassionate Lord of the Heavens. Journey together with Vladislav Sikach and Sergey Gabbasov as they restore to life the centuries old mysteries of the Zhang Zhung. Tracklist: 1. Bön Sacred Rituals (36:06) 2. Tengri (43:40) SiJ is an Ukrainian dark ambient/drone project created by Vladislav Sikach and aims to develop a unique sound combined with various industrial features mostly in sombre dark ambient way. Instrumentation includes various guitars, drums and synthesizers as well as handmade mechanical or electromechanical sound devices. Recently SiJ also started to use field recordings made in various places from urban streets to abandoned military and industrial facilities. Sergey Gabbasov is an ethnomusicologist, specialized in the peoples of East Africa, and a student of “Dhow Countries Music Academy” (Zanzibar, Tanzania). He has made many ethnographical expeditions in different parts of Africa, Asia and Europe, produced several films about indigenous peoples and studied their native music." [label info] gterma.blogspot.de 2015 €13.00
  Perseides CD Welcome along on another trip into the forgotten hinterlands of the Eurasian plateau. Sergey and Vladimir once again skillfully guide us through the dusty backwater trails of the Mongol steppe, along the winding mountain roads that slither through the steep valleys of the Central Asian mountain ranges past crumbling old villages where hardship and beauty go hand in hand. No manmade light disturbs the eternal slumber of the starry nightsky and every cave, every hill, seems under the influence of some forgotten deity or spirit being. Sergey Gabbasov is a social anthropologist specialized in hunter-gathers of Central and East Africa. He has made many ethnographical expeditions in different parts of Africa, Asia and Europe, produced several films about indigenous peoples and studied their native music. SiJ is an ambient music project founded on March 27th 2011 by self-taught artist Vladislav Sikach from Sevastopol. His sound incorporates a variety of themes expressed in the dark and light colors. SiJ uses great number of instruments such as various guitars, drums and synthetizers as well as handmade mechanical or electromachanical sound devices. Recently SiJ started to use field recordings made in various places from urban streets to abandoned military and industrial facilities. credits released July 22, 2016 Sergey Gabbasov – Hadza malimba, Maasai throat singing, Indian bansuri, Kyrgyz temir-khomus and sybyzgy, Armenian blul, Bashkir quray, Tuvan shoor and overtone singing “kargyraa”, Tatar kubyz, Arabic and Persian ethnic percussion, Moldavian kaval, Bulgarian duduk, sound engineering and processing, programming, recordings, synthesizers. SiJ - synthesizer/keyboards, contact microphones, field recordings, acoustic guitar, percussion, bells, toy-piano, sound engineering & processing, programming, voice. https://gterma.bandcamp.com/album/perseides " “Perseides” is the second ethnographical aural journey by Vladislav Sikach (aka SiJ) and Sergey Gabbasov on the Swedish Gterma label. This time around, the continuous, almost 80-minute outcome is a blend 12 tracks, all travelling on the mystery road to places far away in the Mongol region. The music of often led by ethnic percussion and flutes, to which a large array of acoustic sound sources, elevating electronic soundscapes, occasional throat singing and moody field recordings are added. On several spots though, like on “Armenia, the use of flutes could have been less in favor of the spacious textural dwellings. Overall, synths play a minor role on this tribal recording while the electronics add a gritty, crispy flavor (like on “Braj”) to the acoustic and flute-dominated ethno-scapes, which ends in a kind of groovy ethno-beat." [Sonic Immersion] 2016 €13.00
SIYANIE Mystery of Life CD The third full-length album by the project of Sergey Ilchuk (ex-Vresnit, ex-Vetvei) and Dmitriy Shilov (Neznamo, Peal Grim, Magickal Things) has gathered materials recorded at three live gigs in 2012-2013 and completed in the studio in 2012-2015. This album is for lovers of live textured ambient. Almost 80 minutes of powerful yet tender sound submerging the listener into bright dreaming and at the same time awakening crystal clarity within. An experience of the mystery of life expressed in artistic form. The call, the revelation, the transformation, living through your own self. These canvases are woven from a manifold of acoustic and electronic threads: droning and vibrating guitars, flutes, voices, a sitar, electronic sequences, field recordings and found sounds - all this is interlaced into multidimensional structures, the depths of which can be endlessly explored with every new listening. The CD is packed in a matte 6-panel digisleeve with artwork by Sergey Ilchuk. Sound mastering performed by Sergey Bulychov (Kshatriy). The edition is limited to 300 copies. Digital copy can be purchased at bandcamp... Special collector edition - 24 copies in envelopes with 17 cards of A5 size printed on silver cardboard featuring reproductions of Sergey Ilchuk's artwork made in 2012-2016 - available for ordering directly from the author by e-mail: siyanie.art@gmail.com. http://zhb.radionoise.ru/ 2016 €12.00
SKARE Solstice City CD Fünfte Veröffentlichung auf dem Label welches sich den "eisigen Landschaften" verschrieben hat. SKARE ist ein schwedisches Trio mit MATHIAS JOSEFSON (besser bekannt als MOLJEBKA PVLSE), die ihre Dronescapes unter dem Gesichtspunkt des Kreislaufs der Aggregatzustände von Wasser (zu Gas & Eis & Schnee) erstellt haben. Dementsprechende field recordings werden verarbeitet, leichter Instrumenteneinsatz (Piano) sticht hervor, aber auch der Schnittpunkt von Natur & Stadtleben gerät in den Fokus... die narrative Komponente wirkt sich aber nie störend auf die "deep drones" aus, sondern wurde geschickt verwebt... für Fans von THOMAS KÖNER, TOY BIZARRE, MICHAEL NORTHAM, etc.. "Skare is the collaboration of Mathias Josefson (Moljebka Pvlse), Fredrik Olofsson and Per Åhlund. The members of Skare are all fascinated by the circulation of water, snow and ice. The metamorphosis from gas to floating liquid to snow to solid ice through freezing, the light reflecting from the snow and filtered through the ice as a prisma and - most of all - the sound of this ever ongoing circle. Skare's first album, Solstice City, is an interpretation of a journey through a shifting landscape where the city meets nature. Departing from a distant and foreign shore, the traveller embarks a ship, uncertain of his destination. This prelude, introduced vividly in "To the other shore", releases this pilgrim to further explore yet unchartered territories. Leaving all man-made conventions, the second track "Through Wind and Broken Ice" takes us where the city imitates nature. Finally, a factory appears in the whiteout; a place where angels are manufactured as presented in the final track "The Snow Angel Factory"...The vehicles used by Skare on this journey are field recordings, found sounds and treated and manipulated instruments." [label info] www.glacialmovements.com 2009 €13.00
SKULL DEFEKTS The Drone Drug LP Endlich sprichts mal jemand aus: DRONES haben Drogenwirkung! Die schwedische Band SKULL DEFEKTS ist eigentlich nicht unbedingt für lupenreine Drone-Musik bekannt, aber hier sind sie ganz auf der "Analog Synth Drone"-Schiene, sehr trocken, sehr vibrierend und kratzend und knarzend, mit inhärenten wellen- und vibratohaften Bewegungen, keine endlosen hallenden Räume sondern spürbare Reibung und Vibration sind das Thema... "In their own words, Sweden's Skull Defekts are "all about rhythm, repetition, and all energies in sound." The concept manifests itself in two distinctly different forms. On 2007's Blood Spirits and Drums Are Singing, the band showcased their more "rock"-based sound described by Julian Cope as an amalgamation of Chairs Missing-period Wire, Audionom, and '70s German proto-metallers Tiger B. Smith. However, the DFX, as they're sometimes known, also have an alter-ego under which their sound becomes a harsh wall of droning noise and psychedelic industrial bowel churn. It is that persona that is embodied on The Drone Drug. Drone is often associated with music that is essentially ambient in nature. While The Skull Defekts do create an ambient aura, The Drone Drug has more in common with the terrifying atmospheres created by noisier cohorts like Prurient then the minimalism of Tomas Koner. The sound is grim, black, and abrasive; mechanical, filthy, and unnerving. This limited-edition LP is the first of two by the DFX to be released by Actual Noise, with the second, Skull, coming in the near future. A recent appearance at No Fun Fest, an Eastern US tour in October, an upcoming split with Prurient, and a new release on Important Records, all make 2008 a very productive and successful year for The Skull Defekts." [label info] " NOW ON VINYL!! Limited to 500 silkscreened copies. With a coupon for free digital download of the album, with an extra track, one we're pretty sure was included on the prior cd version of this on Release The Bats, which we reviewed thusly: Holy drone!! This is not at all what we expected from these guys, but then, most Skull Defekts records tend to confuse or confound. Which is pretty much why we love them so. And who are we to turn up our noses art a sonic surprise, especially when that surprise is DRONES. Big thick buzzy snarling crumbling blown out low end buzzing writhing brain melting, ear drum crushing, rib cage rattling, speaker destroying drones. Skull Defekts are no stranger to the drone, and the fact that they called this record Drone Drug, should have been a clue, but the band, who in the past have been heavily rhythmic, have discarded pretty much everything except for the drone. No beats, no riffs, no recognizable instruments, nothing but deep dark drones. This is a seriously heavy record. Dense and brutal, four extended tracks, each an exercise in tension, long form extended tones, but within these, stretched out sounds, much like dronelord Phill Niblock, the various layers are surprisingly active, throbbing and pulsing, and twisting and slithering and buzzing and whirring and shimmering, the sounds rough and raw, bits crumbling and emitting grit, slipping into fuzzy drift and then slipping back into a solid endless throb. The power of the drone is divine, and when harnessed, like this, with volume, and texture, and timbre, the music is a physical presence. Headphones come to life and encase your head in an organic black cocoon of sound, speakers unfurl thick flows of sonic tar, laying supine, eyes closed, you're soon buried alive, beneath layers and layers of resonant rumbling sound. And it is divine.This is powerful, earth shifting, massive minimal music. Not sure if these sounds come from synths or guitars, electronics or sine wave generators, malfunctioning effects pedals or a microphone lowered into the center of the Earth (we're leaning toward the latter), the result is something so primal and organic, so primeval and timeless, the act of listening seems to alter the listener's molecular structure, transporting the listener to an alternate universe, made entirely of sound, where our bodies are transformed into sound waves, our souls escape their mortal shackles and reveal themselves to be pure, deep drones. So awesome." [Aquarius Records review] www.actualnoise.net 2008 €15.00
SKULLFLOWER / MASTERY split LP "SKULLFLOWER presents a trinity of sombre meditations evoking Europe after the rain, drowned ruins, sunken dreams: spiders run across harpsichords in deserted schlosses and chateaus, doors slam and phantom demon choirs are summoned at seances by Blatavskian crones, whose impenetrable china blue dolls eyes open onto Tibetan vistas, terrible, ancient and remote… MASTERY is improvised one man cosm(ag)ick from Ephemeral Domignostika. Total berzerker black metal, rooted in the tradition of true grim blackness, but filtered through Mastery’s cracked perception, transforming this into something beyond true; a droned out and damaged, outsider blackness, that sounds pretty much unlike almost any other black metal. Ltd x 500 copies. Standard edition: 400 copies on purple vinyl. Special edition: 100 hand-numbered copies on green vinyl through Cold Spring mailorder only!" [label info] " 'We offer an invocation to, and an evocation of the hidden, averse, heathen power that seethe within our native soil. Come leave your timid gelded civilised masks, bow down and rise up, reborn, within our whirlwind', schreibt SKULLFLOWER-Mastermind MATTHEW BOWER unter der Überschrift „Skullflower: What we are ...“ in seinem Blog und vermittelt so eine Ahnung des – ich nenn' es mal – ganzheitlichen Aufforderungscharakters, den er mit der Musik seiner, 1987 gegründeten und 1988 mit der 12'' Skullflower-Birthdeath/release/142281">"Birthdeath" auf BROKEN FLAG debütierenden Band verbindet. Kurzum, der Mann hat Sendungsbewusstsein, und das nicht ohne Grund. Bis zum, durch interne Streitigkeiten zwischen den Mitgliedern verursachten Bruch im Jahre 1996 handelte es sich bei SKULLFLOWER, ungeachtet ihrer Einbindung in die klassische englische Industrial-Szene der frühen 80er Jahre, um eine Band im engeren und bei ihrer Musik um Noise Rock, im – nun ja – sehr weiten Sinne. Dies änderte sich, als Gründungsmitglied MATTHEW BOWER SKULLFLOWER 2003 als Quasi-Soloprojekt ins Leben zurück rief. Zwar umfasst das derzeitige Line-Up immer noch die Mitstreiter SAMANTHA DAVIES und LEE STROKE, man tut den beiden aber sicherlich kein Unrecht, wenn man in ihnen eher Begleitmusiker für die Realisierung von Visionen sieht, die in allererster Linie BOWER'scher Provenienz sind. Der Sound verschob sich von Album zu Album nachdrücklicher in den Bereich des Noisig-Atonalen, bisweilen auch Dronigen – wobei man sich das, was hier behelfsmäßig als "Drone" bezeichnen wird, im Falle von SKULLFLOWER selbstverständlich dezidiert unbehaglich vorzustellen hat. Den bisherigen Gipfelpunkt dieser Entwicklung bezeichnet zweifellos das, 2011 bei COLD SPRING erschienene Album "Fucked On A Pile Of Corpses", mit dem BOWER ein infernalisches Noise-Monster abgeliefert hat, das sich in der Brutalität und Kompromisslosigkeit seiner musikalischen Umsetzung dem überaus charmanten Albumtitel als absolut ebenbürtig erweist. Umso überraschter – und das durchaus positiv – ist man nun, auf der vorliegenden, ebenfalls auf COLD SPRING veröffentlichten Split-LP wieder eine Rückwendung in vergleichsweise strukturiertere musikalische Territorien zu verzeichnen. Der Begriff skullflowertruth.blogspot.de/2012/07/black-psychedelia-one-of-these-days-im.html">"black psychedelia", den BOWER in seinem Blog auf das Side-Project VOLTIGEURS anwendet, scheint mir für die Beiträge auf der vorliegenden Split-LP wahrlich nicht minder passend: Was für ein Getöse! Was für eine Wucht! Wer den jüngeren Output bis hin zum besagten, Nerven und Gehör gleichermaßen zerschreddernden Meisterwerk von 2011 ebenso zu schätzen weiß wie ältere, tendenziell „rockigere“ (Anführungszeichen sind hier durchaus angebracht) Veröffentlichungen wie Skullflower-Obsidian-Shaking-Codex/master/54292">"Obsidian Shaking Codex" von 1993, der wird von diesen drei Stücken begeistert sein. Zur Darbietung gelangt eine Melange aus den beiden zentralen stilistischen Betätigungsfeldern der umtriebigen Band aus London – das Beste aus beiden Welten sozusagen. Wie auf den meisten späteren SKULLFLOWER-Veröffentlichungen kommt man komplett ohne den Einsatz von Drums bzw. ganz generell ohne irgend einen Beat aus: Der Sound baut sich alleine aus schneidend-knirschenden, durch Verzerrer und Effektgeräte gemarterte, im aktuellen Fall – passend zum compagnon de guerre auf der B-Seite – ziemlich Black-Metal-lastig tönenden Gitarrenriffs auf, die in der Gesamtschau etwas generieren, das man wohl am treffendsten als apokalyptisches Noisedronehochamt umschreiben könnte. Letztlich mündet der Versuch einer konkreteren Charakterisierung der Musik von SKULLFLOWER fast zwangsläufig in ein Ringen um wohlfeile Worte, denn seit die Band nach ihrer Interimsauflösung im Jahre 1996 und der Wiederauferstehung im Jahre 2003 wieder auf Kurs ist, oszilliert der "typische" SKULLFLOWER-Sound irgendwo im Niemandsland zwischen Gitarrenwänden, Feedbackexperimenten und brutalem Noise – und ist überdies immer im Fluss, will heißen, der Schwerpunkt, um den herum sich die Musik jeweils kristallisiert, ändert sich von Veröffentlichung zu Veröffentlichung. Die Atmosphäre der drei Stücke der Split-LP ist getragen, man könnte sie schon fast ein wenig pathetisch – nicht im abwertenden Sinne – nennen, doch mag das der Thematik geschuldet sein, die sie laut Promotext umkreisen, es handelt sich nämlich um "a trinity of sombre meditations evoking Europe after the rain, drowned ruins, sunken dreams". Im Übrigen darf es, wer für einen derartigen Alleszermalmer wie das mehrfach angesprochene Vorgängeralbum verantwortlich zeichnet, guten Gewissens mal ein wenig ruhiger und getragener angehen – gar kein Problem. Das sei MATTHEW BOWER und uns, dem enthusiasmierten Publikum, von ganzem Herzen gegönnt. Zumal "ruhig" in diesem Fall ohnehin nur sehr, sehr bedingt etwas mit dem landläufig üblichen Verständnis von ruhig zu tun hat. Langer Rede kurzer Sinn: Großartiger Beitrag – Musik, die im Raum steht wie ein schwarzer Monolith. Und damit kommen wir zur B-Seite und ... äh ... MASTERY. – Vorweg sei das Eingeständnis ausgesprochen, dass ich mich in der schillernden Welt des Black Metal keiner allzu fundierten Sachkenntnis erfreue, obgleich ich dem Genre im Laufe der letzten Jahre zunehmend mehr Sympathie entgegenbringe. Der geneigte Leser möge meine folgenden Worte also als subjektive Meinung eines Interessierten und keinesfalls als kanonisches Urteil eines Eingeweihten – oder eines solchen, der sich dafür hält – interpretieren. Denn in der Tat: So lange ich mich bei der A-Seite aufgehalten habe, so kurz kann ich mich bei der B-Seite fassen: Laut discogs handelt es sich bei MASTERY um ein, seit 2005 aktives Ein-Mann-Black-Metal-Projekt aus der Gegend um San Francisco; die Musik beschreibt der Promotext als "[t]otal berzerker black metal, rooted in the tradition of true grim blackness, but filtered through Mastery's cracked perception […]; a droned out and damaged, outsider blackness, that sounds pretty much unlike almost any other black metal." Nun ja. Meiner unmaßgeblichen Meinung nach wäre hier ein wenig mehr Bescheidenheit unbedingt am Platze gewesen: "Blood Electric" ist summa summarum eine ebenso brutale wie uninteressante Uptempoprügelnummer, dominiert von einer Stimme, die irgendwo zwischen genretypischem BM-Krächzgeschrei und Death-Metal-Gegrowle changiert. Und aufregend, geschweige denn "droned out and damaged outsider blackness", geht nun wirklich anders. Nicht nur, dass man dergleichen schon x-mal anderswo und obendrein besser gehört hat – wenn auch nicht unbedingt auf knapp 18 ununterbrochene und mit Fortschreiten der Laufzeit zunehmend nervigere Minuten ausgedehnt. Man fragt sich zudem, worin eigentlich das verbindende Glied zwischen SKULLFLOWERs grandiosem Opus auf der A-Seite und diesem mediokren Gekloppe bestehen soll – und zwar ebenso in qualitativer wie in stilistisch-formaler Hinsicht. Ich jedenfalls bin einigermaßen davon überzeugt, dass so ziemlich jeder, der – mit absoluter Berechtigung! – von der SKULLFLOWER-Seite begeistert ist, die MASTERY-Seite mit einem Gähnen quittieren wird – et vice versa. Doch sei's drum: Allein für den beispiellosen musikalischen Furor, den SKULLFLOWER auf der A-Seite entfalten, lohnt sich die Anschaffung allemal." [Endsal für nonpop.de] 2013 €23.00
SKY BURIAL Threnody for Collapsing Suns CD "Michael Page’s (Fire in the Head) Sky Burial project has been exploring the dark ambient side of industrial music since 2006, evolving into a unique and steadfast in the genre. Threnody for Collapsing Suns is a triptych clocking in at over 50 minutes - thoughtfully composed; incorporating deep drones, shimmering synth work, and lamenting melodic lines. The disparate layers come together to form a surpisingly organic, well-crafted narrative. Threnody continues Sky Burial’s journey into the nebulous dusk of “Kosmische Musik”, and forms part of a loose trilogy with the preceding Kiehtan and forthcoming Aegri Somnia." [label info] www.small-doses.com 2011 €12.00
SLEEPING BABIES Arrow in the Earth CD-R Another real undergroundish act on the french label: SLEEPING BABIES create ecstatic low fi drone-noise/folk, as "primitive" as inspiring. Handmade cover with little coloured wood-pieces. "Buried under the hills of Love, the Sleeping Babies' music is transpierced by an arrow of emotions. This patchwork of drones, carried by ethereal voices, dances among bells, flutes and percussions. It is a wonderful and shamanic trip to the holy Mantra. Featuring member of Quilts, Grateful Dregs, and head of American Grizzly. More Info : www.myspace.com/sleepingbabies." [label notes] www.myspace.com/ruralfaunelovesyou 2007 €8.00
SOISONG xAj3z CD Erste "grössere" Veröffentlichung vom neuen Projekt von "Sleazy" und Ivan Pavlov aka COH, kommt als acht-eckige CD in spezieller sieben-eckiger "Origami"-Klappcover-Verpackung mit obksurem Farb-Inlay; limitiert... . 7 tracks, die keinem bekannten Genre zuzuordnen sind und viel verfremdetes vokales Material einsetzen. "... xAj3z is freedom from the mundane. It is the hidden beauty that stares us right in the face and dares us to recognize it. There is nothing generic about its sound, each melody carries its own personality, its own indefinable emotion. To the surface dweller this can be a casual experience, but those who delve a bit deeper will uncover, piece by piece, the hidden revelations that SoiSong has packaged for us." [Sound & Symbol blog] "The first full-length from SOISONG. xAj3z freely mixes music styles and combines various approaches to music-making: artificial vocalists are accompanied by real drums, jazz-noir arrangements meet the delicate melodics of the South Seas, computers are made to sound warm and organic. The album shows no apparent respect for genre-definition and aims at communicating with the listener at highest levels of emotional intensity, often lyrical, sometimes dark, on occasions amusing and even uplifting. The album is packaged according to the new PIANOSTEALTH ™ technology - this package is made to last." [label info] 'xAj3z' is Soisong’s debut album. Peter Christopherson (Coil, Throbbing Gristle) and Ivan Pavlov (COH) have joined forces as Soisong. "The two-man show will combine Ivan's uncompromisingly visceral computer based music with Sleazy's decadent, dark and whimsical approach to artificial vocals and 'South Seas' instrumentation..." This is the first full length release by Soisong. It is packaged in an unusual, oddly-shaped origami-like sleeve. Please note the disc itself is octagonal in shape and will not play in slot loading CD/DVD players. 2009 €35.00
SOLA TRANSLATIO Enigma CD SOLA TRANSLATIO ist das Gemeinschaftsprojekt von ALIO DIE und OPIUM und dies ist das dritte Album. Das besondere an ENIGMA liegt in der Verwendung mysteriöser konkreter Field Recordings, die die instrumentell-fliessenden Sounds umgarnen und umranden... viele handgespielte Instrumente wurden aufgenommen, wie Zither & Flöten, Pianotunes…zusammen mit der Artwork hat das einen mystischen Touch und verbreitet eine besinnliche, sehr unaufdringliche Stimmung…is it the mind-space or the space-mind?? “The third awaited cd by Opium and Alio Die is finally out! rich of ambient textures that bring to lose themselves into different labyrinth's peregrinations, and to bathe the borders in flowing abyss.. eight imaginary landscapes wavering between the earth and the cosmos, sometimes returning on the dark atmosphere of the first album, but with a little acoustic element more clear..” [label info] 2006 €13.50
SONTARAN EXPERIMENT same CD "Eine aurale Verwüstung: Debütalbum der britischen Experimental-Metaller: Die Noise-, Grind- und Experimentalband um Paul Catten (Lazarus Blackstar, Murder One, This Is Menace, Medulla Nocte) stellt mit "The Sontaran Experiment" ihr Debütalbum vor. Die Gruppe aus dem südenglischen Ross-on-Wye betreibt damit eine aurale Verwüstung: drei Songs in 58 Minuten, die einen dazu zwingen, alles zu überdenken, was man über experimentelle Musik gelernt hat. Dazu kombinieren sie Doom mit Geräuschkollagen, unheimliche Stimmen mit von der Klassik inspirierten Sätzen, experimentelles weißes Rauschen mit Noise-Schnipsel, Psychedelia mit der Wildheit des Metal. "The Sontaran Experiment" schickt den Hörer auf eine Reise durch Myriaden musikalischer Erfahrungen und herausragender Kreativität. In Großbritannien tourte das Quartett bereits mit Gallhammer (Peaceville) und erhielt hervorragende Kritiken. Für Fans von: Fantomas, Melvins, Sunn 0))), Mike Patton, ASVA, Guapo oder Burning Witch." [label info / Indigo] www.undergroove.co.uk 2008 €16.00
SPECIMENS Sculptures LP "UK electronic & ambient experimentalist Specimens presents his debut album ‘Sculptures’. Featuring artwork by the award winning Australian artist Kieran Ingram and mastered by Room 40 label boss and cornerstone of the Drone/Ambient music world Lawrence English. ‘Sculptures’ is a delicately and painstaking put together debut album, it follows up from releases on A Giant Fern, Amsterdam based Shimmering Moods Records & the collaborative Specimens x Daniel Wiesmayr release ‘Water & Concrete’ on London’s Tenderly Surrender, the title track of which soundtracked a short from film maker & director Sophie Littman & went on to get over 20,000 views in it’s Nowness premiere. 

Wearing his influences on his sleeve & with a nod to past and present noise pioneers such as Throbbing Gristle, Leyland Kirby, K.Leimer and Ben Frost, the record pans between a dream-like fog on the tracks "Cerulean Forest” & “French Morning” and cold industrial chops on “A Marble Hallway”. 

Specimens said of this release “I didn’t want to make a record intentionally difficult to listen to, but I wanted uncomfortable moments, It was important for me to try and make the record sound as human as possible and in some places distinclty live"

The lighter more gentle moments hold together the records more jagged edges, occasionally leaning towards a more classical feel, in a way the likes of William Basinski & Sean McCann display with regular expertise, this is best illustrated in the tracks “Piano Loops” & “VI.VI.MMXV”. Samples of Sudanese wrestling & Tuvan Throat Singing give the record the “human” feel Specimens describes and adds a charm which prevents the record from ever feeling too slick.

Over the past 18 months Specimens has been collaborating and releasing singles and EPs at a pace that hints at an artist never fully satisfied with sitting on a project, in this process he has undeniably broadened his creative sphere whilst also honing in on a sound unmistakably his own, the a result is a record distinctly individual and unapologetically enjoyable to engage with." [label info] 2016 €18.00
SPECTRES III - Ghosts in the Machine Book BOOK The expression "ghost in the machine" emerged within a particular context, namely as a critique of Cartesian dualism's separation of soul and body, and thus served to revive a certain mechanistic materialism. In simple terms, this critique denies the existence of an independent soul (the "ghost") contained in a corporeal organism (the "machine"). It asserts, on the contrary, that the "soul" is just a manifestation of the body -- that ultimately, they are one and the same. The artificial always brings with it the fantasy of emancipation and autonomy, and a break with a supposedly natural order of things. In a certain respect, the domain of musical creation constitutes a kind of front line, at once a terrain of exploration for possible applications of AI and a domain that boasts an already substantial history of the integration of machines and their calculative power into creative processes. From algorithmic composition to methods of resynthesis, from logical approaches to the creation of cybernetic systems, from the birth of computer music to neural networks, for more than half a century now music has been in continual dialogue with the binary universe of electron flows and the increasingly complex systems that control them. Each of the texts included here, in its own way, reveals a different facet of the strange prism formed by this alliance. Each projects its own particular spectrum -- or spectre; each reveals a ghost, evokes an apparition that is a composite of ideas, electricity, and operations. This book, then, does not set out to cut the Gordian knot constituted by the question of the possible mutations and becomings of binary logic, and in particular its most recent avatar, AI. On the contrary, it seeks to shed a diverse light upon the many possible ways of coming to grips with it today, and upon the dreams, promises, and doubts raised by these becomings, whether actualized in the creation of codes and programs to assemble sounds or infusing a whole compositional project. Above all, though, what is at stake here is to discover how these developments resonate together, and how this resonance manifests itself through all these approaches, all these reflections, all these modes of creation and of living. For the artificial, the artefact, is always the extro-human brainchild of a human, all too human dream. Authors: Keith Fullerton Whitman, Émilie Gillet, Steve Goodman, Florian Hecker, James Hoff, Roland Kayn, Ada Lovelace, Robin Mackay, Bill Orcutt, Matthias Puech, Akira Rabelais, Lucy Railton, Jean-Claude Risset, Sébastien Roux, Peter Zinovieff. https://shelterpress.bandcamp.com/merch/spectres-3-ghosts-in-the-machine-fantomes-dans-la-machine 2021 €19.50
SPIRACLE Ananta do-CD "Hitoshi Kojo (aks Spiracle) professes to have some difficulties in falling asleep. When sleep comes to him, it can often arrive at dawn, when the colors of the sun begin to break through the darkness of night and when some are just rising after their own good night's sleep. Ananta is a twin set of compositions that urge the listener toward a dreamless sleep-state, while reflecting the glowing warmth of a blossoming sunrise. In constructing the two variations of Ananta, Kojo began with finely tuned drones extracted from a Dilruba and a Sarangi, and applied a process of merging sympathetic field recordings and other tonal interferences alongside those instrumental sounds. The resulting pieces are elliptically static drone compositions that brightly shimmer with hues of gold, crimson, and aquamarine. One of the two variations of Ananta was published back in 2006 as a micro-edition CDR through Mystery Sea. In composing the Mystery Sea version, Kojo purposefully eschewed the representational sounds of the "Night Ocean Drones" espoused by the label, opting for these aforementioned concepts. On this piece of tiny churning textures streaming along a linear path, Kojo's piece nearly achieves infinity, which happens to be the translation from Sanskrit of "ananta." While other works from Kojo enjoy the darkly elegant arches found in select recordings from Organum and Lawrence English, the Mystery Sea Version of Ananta fits more of the tradition of the Roland Kayn, Yoshi Wada, and Charlemagne Palestine in constructing pieces which require endurance, lest you succumb to Kojo's audio hypnosis. The Strato Version of Ananta is a previously unreleased composition, that bends and undulates around a fundamental drone, all the while still maintaining the sun-flecked glints magnified in the Mystery Sea version. Limited to 300 copies."[label info] www.helenscarsdale.com "We missed out completely on the Ananta cd-r that Spiracle first released through the Mystery Sea label a few years back. It was limited to 100 copies and quickly disappeared, much to our chagrin. Fortunately, Helen Scarsdale in her sage wisdom has just reissued that static drone opus with a second disc that reworks the original material while keeping the same intent. Hitoshi Kojo is man behind Spiracle, having wandered from his native Japan to Central Europe where he's been collaborating with the likes of Michael Northam, Maurizio Bianchi, John Grzinich, and Murmer. Much of his work deals with acoustic drone construction, with some of his records taking up the mantle of beautiful tactile noises like those generated by Organum, Jonathan Coleclough, and Andrew Chalk. Ananta, now presented as a double disc, is an album with a purpose; or at least it has a purpose for Kojo as he's one who has trouble falling asleep. So he composed this album as a narcotizing agent to lull him into a deep sleep. But this is also a man who is a night owl, so the time when he's usually falling asleep is when the sun is just beginning to rise. So for this composition, Kojo tuned his drones to match the ruby reds and golden yellows of daybreak. The Mystery Sea Version of Ananta is a linear construct of softened static with wisps of sustained tones spiralling in and out of the mix. The composition shimmers along this focused path with few variations, reflecting a rigor of process much like the champions of minimalism (e.g. Charlemagne Palestine, Roland Kayn, Yoshi Wada) but with a delicate approach found in the likes of Stars Of The Lid. The Strato Version found on the other disc smoothes out the static into a rich undulating surface of warm golden tones, that could easily be an ambient lullaby to accompany a daydream whilst napping at the beach. So, so beautiful! The Helen Scarsdale reissue does increase the distribution of this disc, although not by much... there's only 300 of these beauties kicking around!" [Aquarius Records] 2009 €15.00
SPK (S.P.K.) Despair (digitally extracted) DVD "After being hidden in time for more than 20 years this industrial milestone of the infamous 1st generation got renovated extended and digitally overworked. A true statement and monument for the outstanding band S.P.K. who gathered together under so many names like: SoliPsiK, Selektiv Pornography Kontrol, Sozialistisches Patienten Kollektiv, System Planning Korporation just to name a few. Twin Vision, Cat TV and Tesco Germany proudly bring you a band about nothing could be said, the only group in industrial musics history that stands on the same level as Throbbing Gristle, for some even above. Influence to so many followers. The project ideal is to express the content of various psycho - pathalogical conditions, especially schizophrenia, manic - depressive psychosis, mental retardation and paranoia. Information Overload supersedes normal, rational thought structures, forcing deviation into less restrictive mental procedures of so-called 'mental illness'. SPK is trying to be a voice for those individuals condemned to the slow decay of mental hospitals and chemical / electro / surgical therapy, without fetishising them into blatant entertainment product. 'SONIC FOR MANICS' aims to be a vehicle for sharing mental experiences through sound. This DVD compiles material that marked the genesis of the group . The members at that time were known as Operator, Ne(H)il and Tone Generator. Like rare live moments of the bands, energetic performances covering music from “Leichenschrei” to “Information Overload”, Live rehearsal footage from “ Auto Dafe”, slide shows, documentary and a filmed interview with Tone Generator aka Domink Guerin founding member and man behind Twin Vision." [label info] 2007 €18.00
  Live at the Crypt / London - April 25 1981 CD S.P.K. Live at the Crypt / London in 1981! For the first time on CD, This is an authorised re-edition of the very first album by the band which was released as a tape on STERILE Records (the label run by Nigel Ayers / Nocturnal Emissions) in 1981. Sounds on this CD was re-mastered by Nigel Ayers from the original tapes. SPK was one of the very first "Industrial" projects, formed in 1978 by Greame Revell in Sydney - Australia. SPK together with THROBBING GRISTLE, CABARET VOLTAIRE and few others gave birth to what is today known as Industrial music and this live album is to be considered an early industrial era document of primary value. cutting (open), gashing, slashing, tearing, ripping, mangling, mutilation, maiming, mauling, scratching, scraping, grazing, incision, splitting, cleaving, hacking, stabbing, tearing apart, butchery, savaging, wounding, injury, damaging, slit, puncture, score, lesion, trauma… One of SPK’s dominant themes in 1981 was EVISCERATION - removal of organs / disembowelment. The live performances and dokuments at the time were some of the first anywhere to include medical visuals of this type, collected by myself and Dominik Guerin. Credit must go to Foetus Productions for advice on some sources and to the Viennese body artists for inspiration. But while admitting that the discovery of these images and the actual medical specimens provoked fascination (as it did for audiences) the metaphorical connection with first Artaud and later Deleuze’s work was of utmost importance. I spoke at the time of an apparent fascination with dissection and display - how these specimens were more strange works of art: hyper-sexual Ballardian exercises in cutting, scoring and shaping (sculpture) than creating any seriously useful educational tool. Heads floating and staring unseeing into time’s abyss, forever tattooed with the signature of their creator. But the greatest influence was Deleuze and Guattari's thought, the term ‘body without organs’ describing an undifferentiated, un-hierarchical realm that lies deeper than the world of appearances. Every actual body has a limited set of traits, habits, movements, affects. But it also has a virtual dimension: a vast reservoir of potential traits, connections, affects, movements, etc. The full body without organs is "schizophrenia as a clinical entity" (Anti-Oedipus). To create a body without organs is to actively experiment with oneself, through body alteration, art, or even madness, to draw out and activate these virtual potentials. From the very beginning the SPK project had been about LACERATING all the accepted norms of artistic production. Laceration is a wound that is produced by the tearing of soft body tissue. It is a lesion, frequently irregular and jagged, that is often contaminated with bacteria and debris from whatever weapon caused the cut. The idea was to disembowel the organs from the body of production (music as it had previously existed) and enable the fluid transmissions manifesting as ‘noise’ to flow unhindered. The body without organs was also described as "howling", speaking a "language without articulation" that had more to do with the primal act of making sound than it did with communicating specific words. By the excision of language and the overloading of information beyond the ability to draw predictable reactions - a certain lobotomisation of habit occurred that we allowed to be contaminated. Information as Viral introgression - again: splicing, incision and mutation. The body without organs is ‘permeated by unformed, unstable matters, by flows in all directions, by free intensities or nomadic singularities, by mad or transitory particles’ (A Thousand Plateaus). That is, we usually think of the world as composed of relatively stable entities ("bodies," beings). But these bodies are really composed of sets of flows moving at various speeds (even the land as very slow-moving flows; living things as flows of biological material through developmental systems; language as flows of information). This fluid substratum contains the revolutionary impulse to undercut; to tear apart in order to disseminate rhizomatically, subterraneally and then to heal or reconstruct in a different and perhaps better way. It was a strategy undertaken with the full knowledge that power, both from without and within, inscribed deeply into the social brain, will inevitably be brought to bear… ‘When you will have made him a body without organs, then you will have delivered him from all his automatic reactions and restored him to his true freedom.’ Antonin Artaud: To Have Done with the Judgment of God (1947) § GREAME REVELL (May 2019) Show Line-up: - Greame Revell - Dominic Guerin - Mike Wilkins Tracklist: 01. Berufsverbot 02. Emanation machine R.Gie 1916 03. Stammheim Torturkammer Ground Zero: Infinity Dose Serenace "John" 04. Victim 2019 €15.00
SRMEIXNER (STEPHEN MEIXNER) A Silent War CD Artist: srmeixner Product Title: A silent war Format: CD Cat no: BRCD 21-1018 / CDROT097 Release Date: October 2021 Style: Abstract, Experimental Electronics, Ambient Black Rose Recordings and Oxidisation present the new album from Stephen Meixner (Contrastate). Initial inspiration for this project came from the 1980s recycling projects such as “Captured Music” and “Destruct”, both released on the Selektion label who described recycling as “a procedure concentrating on materials already existing on their own or as separate sources as a practical base for further reworkings”. As the project was progressing news was sent across the world of the death of George Floyd whilst in police custody. Sadly, not a new phenomenon, but a repeat of past events highlighting the unfinished business of needing to change the future. I decided to incorporate the events into the initial theme using words and specific references to carry on a dialogue that interacts with the re-interpretations of previous sound sources. It has been said that we cannot tackle the past by re-writing it. Maybe we can. This releases features contributions from Ralf Wehowsky (rlw/P16 D4), Steve Pittis (Band of Pain), Jonathan Grieve and Stephen J Pomeroy (Contrastate), Leyden Jars, Adrian Morris, Lee Pomeroy and Simon Wray. "There must be something in the air. Two weeks ago, I reviewed three releases from Howard Stelzer. He worked with sound material fellow musicians mailed him, which in return was based on Stelzer's primary sound material. I mentioned P16.D4's 'Distruct' (Vital Weekly 863), from 1984, which worked along similar lines. The same record is mentioned on the cover here (though misspelt as 'Destruct'), along with 'Captured Music', which also worked with the recycling of sound, more specific live recordings from a festival of the same name. Stephen Meixner, one-third of Contrastate, does have a similar approach here. He received sound material from his Contrastate buddies Jonathan Grieve and Stephen J Pomeroy and also from Ralf Wehowsky (one of the leading players of P16.D4), Steve Pittis (Band Of Pain), Leyden Jars, Adrian Morris, Lee Pomeroy and Simon Wray. I don't know these last four. Meixner added the death of George Floyd as part of the narrative in the music, something that P16.D4 would not have done, staying away from overtly political messages. The message is not really in your face (whether good or bad, I leave it up to you). There is vocals/text in only a few pieces here, such as in a 'cover' of Nina Simone's 'Singing About Revolution'. Musicwise, Meixner doesn't copy the musique concrète approach of P16.D4 too much, even when the studio-as-instrument' method is present here. The results are pretty different for Meixner. The sounds are part of the overall composition, working from one idea and making it a 'song' rather than a cut-up or collage. Some sounds are used as guiding lights for a piece via sample/loop, and then Meixner spins the rest around. In 'Unfinished Business', this is indeed a more collage-like form, but n 'We Demand Tomorrow (Or Business A Usual)', the percussion is the glue that holds drones and electronics together. Meixner has an excellent ear to make the right connections between this disparate sound material. It makes a fine homogenous album with subtle variations. Most of the time, I had no idea this was from various unrelated sources, which I would think is a great thing. This is quite different from the recent Stelzer albums, with both of them using friends' sounds as starting points." (FdW) ––– Address: blackroserecordings@yahoo.co.uk "This is the work of Stephen Meixner, who is also a member of Contrastate as well as the man behind Black Rose Recordings. This disk was a direct response to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. As the artist states, “Sadly, not a new phenomenon, but a repeat of past events highlighting the unfinished business of needing to change the future. I decided to incorporate the events into the initial theme using words and specific references to carry on a dialogue that interacts with the re-interpretations of previous sound sources.” That said, let’s dive into the music and see what this sounds like. This is kind of an odd album. The opening track, A Silent War,” features heavily processed vocals and synth drone with snippets of beat and other random noises thrown about. You can only make out bits and pieces of the vocals, such as “the police were called” that give this track a disconcerting feeling. It's ominous without being heavy-handed. Next up is “Breathe,” which is particularly unsettling with its constant incantation of “I can't breathe” and “please let me up, I can't breathe.” The subject of this track is unmistakable with its origin in Eric Garner’s murder, which then led to “I can't breathe” becoming a rallying cry within the Black Lives Matter movement. What makes it interesting is the almost mechanical way that he keeps intoning “I can't breathe,” almost as if you're listening to a public service announcement or something in an airport where they're saying that you must stay to the right. The disconnect makes this track work particularly well. “Virtue Signaling” is a synth drone composition with bits of beat drum beats thrown in randomly. It's noisy, but never quite descends into noise. One thing that makes this fun is that you can tell this intentional. This isn't a “stick a brick on a synthesizer and make drone music” composition. This is composed and well put together. “Unfinished Business” is some peaceful, mellow drone, but even here there are bits of grinding metal noise. “We Demand Tomorrow (Or Business As Usual)” keeps this feeling going with additional bits of sound that sounds like a growing mixed with metal xylophone or pipes and heavily distorted voice like listening to a radio station between stations. Finally, we have a short piece, “Singing About Revolution,” with lyrics by Nina Simone. But in this version, imagine that someone watched 27 hours of Schoolhouse Rock, smoked a ton of hash, and then decided that they were going to recreate one of the videos, but a little different with hallucinogenic vocals. Solid. Overall, this is an interesting disc and well worth checking out." [Chain DLK] "Stephen Meixner of Contrastate has been recording and releasing music under this solo guise for many years now and generally speaking it involves a more abstract and darkly experimental sound than that of the main project (yet some indirectly similar sonic threads too can be noted too). With reference to this latest work the liner notes highlight A Silent War had its nexus in 2020 UK Covid lockdowns and was intended as a working basis for further recordings, but obviously evolved into this standalone work. Likewise, the liner notes provide further detail on the working methodology, which was inspired by 1980’s recycling projects and involved recontextualising sound sources contributed by close associates. Six tracks make up A Silent War which includes an element of social commentary but is which is also not overtly emphasised. This is weaved within the crisply refined electronics which slot neatly under a ‘dark ambient / experimental / post-industrial soundscape’ descriptor. The title track opens the album exudes a performance art angle, which is mostly due to the tone provided by manipulated spoken word vocals, while the minimal shimmering soundscape is occasionally interrupted with moments of melodic percussive strikes. Breathe continues and is framed around multiple electric to semi-orchestral drones coupled with a centrally placed jittery tonal texture, while further vocal cuts up referencing the track title and its thematic aspect. The instrumental track Virtue Signalling brings more interweaving melancholic drones but also includes a wonky pitch-shifting tonal framework blended with vague mechanical rhythmic elements and other manipulated tones (piano note stabs perhaps?). In maintaining the prevailing sonic theme the minimalist but incessant plodding pulse of Unfinished Business characterises the first segments before shifting off into melancholic drone territory with fragile tonal respite. We Demand Tomorrow (or business as usual) slightly differs, given it contains some forceful electricity-toned textures, while late in the track it morphs into musically playful and percussive-driven elements. As for the final track Singing About Revolution, it is a short two-minute cut and the oddest and surreal offering of the lot, to the point of being quite jarring against the tone of the balance of the album (and therefore well-positioned at the album’s conclusion). Here there is a clear nod to Contrastrate thanks to vocals provided by Jonathan Grieve, and notable the lyrics are credited to Nina Simone to close the thematic loop. A six-panel double gatefold cover with extensive liner notes rounds out the packaging of an expertly crafted yet equally understated album of experimental ambient & post-industrial sonics." [Noise Receptor] 2021 €13.00
STABAT MORS Ich bin so wild nach deinem Erdbeermund (SOLD OUT) 7 “STABAT MORS is the name of an amazing noise-project from Germany, which always works grounded on certain thematical concepts or philosophical ideas. The name of the group is derived from “Stabat Mater” – Passion Music. This EP uses an autobiographic text from Klaus Kinski, the legendary “daemonic” actor, as inspiration, “to transform his greed for life musically”. We find here two pieces (named “Die Frau des Direktors” and “Krepiert”) with minimal elements. Piercing, low feedback functions as main drone-source, other elements are: repeated metal-feedback-sounds, low analogue noise-drones below, a female voice in the background citing Kinski, and a totally distorted accordeon.... The whole creates a fragmented atmosphere, not really loud, but attacking the nerves, sounding like a wild animal shortly before he explodes.... Filed under: grinding love-drones. RED VINYL. HANDPAINTED COVERS WITH GLARING RED/WHITE DESIGN” [press release] 2004 €6.50  
STADLMEIER, SASCHA / EMERGE / ANJA KREYSING same MC https://immerge.bandcamp.com/album/stadlmeier-kreysing-emerge Music - Anja Kreysing + Sascha Stadlmeier Recording - Anja Kreysing Master - EMERGE Foto - Tim Greifelt Artwork + Print - superkolor.de Thanks to Tim, Guiguisuisui, Georg, Trstn, Tim + Julius. released by Grisaille grisaille.bandcamp.com ----- more music by Kreysing/Stadlmeier: emerge.bandcamp.com/album/re-encypher 2019 €8.00
STAHLWERK 9 / SAL SOLARIS split 10" Die ANGRIFF 10” Industrial – Reihe geht munter weiter, diesmal nicht rein russisch besetzt, sondern mit dem deutschen Projekt STAHLWERK9 auf einer Seite und den guten dark ambientern SAL SOLARIS auf der Flipside.. thematisch geht es hier um das russische Raumfahrtprogramm und entsprechend fallen die Beiträge aus: exzellenter Elektronik-Ambient von STAHLWERK9; dunkel-harmonische, sehr filmische Spaceflächen und mächtigere Drone-Monolithen von SAL SOLARIS, inkl. Teile von russischer Propagandamusik (ausser „GAGARIN“ können wir leider nichts verstehen). Atmosphärisch stimmig und etwas obskur. Kommt im Postercover. “This split release is dedicated to soviet space program. Most delicate, subtle and wonderful tracks both bands ever did. Haunting mysterious atmosphere of the unknown fills the heart of the listener with a sense of a strange sadness and slight anxiety. Dark ambient with melodic background and some noise elements. Not to be missed! Sal Solaris is known for their Hau Ruck! CD, Der Angriff 10" in Prometheus series and Heilige Feuer I compilation appearance, Stahlwerk 9 have released now sold-out CD on Achtung Baby! as well as numerous vinyl releases, on Eternal Soul, Steinklang and Neuropa to name a few. A2-sized poster cover printed on stylish beige paper, limited edition of 370 copies. 4 tracks, total time - 28 min.” [label press release] 2004 €10.00
STALNOY PAKT Russias Awakening (Probuschdenie Rossii) CD Debut-CD des St.Petersburger Projekts von ALEXANDER LEBEDEV-FRONTOV. Pompös-orchestraler Industrial, Maschinen-Noise, Propaganda-Zitate & Musik aus (konter)-revolutionärer Zeit.... “This is the first full-length CD release of the new project of A. Lebedev-Frontov (Linija Mass, Vetrophonia) after the brilliant 10” release in Prometheus series and the split 10” with Rasthof Dachau, both issued by Der Angriff. This time it is dedicated to those Russians who, being in European emigration, still tried to fight for the freedom of Russia after the Bolshevik revolution has happened. The music is in the same vein as on the previous vinyl releases – deep profound ambient with analogue noise touches and phrase samples. Non-standard sized silver-on-black printed cover, limited edition of 500 copies. 10 tracks, total time: 53.43.” [label description] 2004 €14.00
STELZER, HOWARD & FRANS DE WAARD Gravity@ half speed / A sunburned Grotto 7inch "A split single in a butterfly cover limited to 200 copies. Frans de Waard is using source material from Howard Stelzer on analogue 4 tracks. Howard Stelzer is using elements from all previous torn tongue iterations and Frans' side of this record as source material." [label info] "Packed in a beautiful cover in the shape of a butterfly a new collaboration between Howard Stelzer from the USA and Frans de Waard from The Netherlands. Frans de Waard composed the composition "Gravity@Half Speed" with source material from Howard Stelzer, primarily on analogue four track between 2008 and 2010 at De Geluidwerkplaats of Extrapool, a centre for experimental arts in Nijmegen. The composition sounds noisy and clear. It is not a wall of sound, because there are moments of open space. Howard Stelzer composed the other side of the 7" with elements from Frans' "Gravity@Half Speed" and elements from all "torn tongue" iterations he did with Frans. His re-work is much more noisier and back to more grindy noise than the Frans' track before. Torn Tongue is the title of a series of collaborative compostions that Frans and Howard have been working since about 1997. It started with a tape of woman who was speaking. Frans treated this material etcetera etcetera. The material was released at Absurd, Sound Probe, Audiobot and MOLL. This 7" is the latest iteration, but more the duo intended to continue recycling and re-working the source material, and the release is a nice step in the long collaboration between these two ongoing musicians. Some older releases are not available anymore and that is a pity. It would be interesting to release a complete summary of this ongoing project." [JKH/Vital Weekly] www.noise-below.org 2010 €6.50
  Pink Pearl CD "Composed in Lowell MA (USA) and Nijmegen (NL) by HS and FdW, 2011-2012. All sounds were extracted from live, studio and mail collaborations 2002-2011. Cover photography by Ashley Stelzer. Cover design by Mirt. Mastering by SEC_. Frans de Waard (1965) has been producing music since 1984. First as Kapotte Muziek, but throughout the years, he also worked as Beequeen (with Freek Kinkelaar), Goem (with Roel Meelkop & Peter Duimelinks, both of whom are also a member of Kapotte Muziek these days), Zebra (with Roel Meelkop) and such solo projects as Freiband, Shifts as well as his own name. He played various solo concerts as Goem-FDW in Japan, as part of a package tour with Pan Sonic. Frans de Waard also likes to play sets of improvised music with whoever is available, just as he did with people like Guiseppe Ielasi, Jaap Blonk, Howard Stelzer, Roel Meelkop, Andrew Liles, Radboud Mens and the mayor of his home city Nijmegen. In 2008 film maker Harrie Timmermans made a small documentary about his work with Kapotte Muziek under the title 'What You See Is What You Hear'. He has given workshops and lectures at various places, such as Extrapool, the art academy of Maastricht en 's-Hertogenbosch, the Glinka Conservatorium in Moscow and Lithuania. With Scott Foust he formed the duo The Tobacconists in 2009 and with Wouter Jaspers the duo Ezdanitoff in 2010. Howard Stelzer has been active as a composer and performer of electronic music since 1992. His music exploits the unique sonic and physical qualities of cassette tapes and tape players: gritty hiss, the squeal and hum of cheap motors taxed until (and sometimes well beyond) their breaking point, amplified plastic clatter, and play speed altered by pressure from fingers applied to the tapes' reels. Early work was stubbornly low fidelity, with awkward pauses and jarring a-musical transitions assembled roughly into rather linear collages. Stelzer's music has evolved over the years, and now seems to sit still for longer durations. Tapes and cassette artifacts are densely layered, treated, layered some more, thrown into a bin and shaken up, then smoothed back out into pleasantly boring stasis with lots of sharp tacks buried within. Stelzer ran the Intransitive Recordings label from 1997 until 2012." [label info] www.bocianrecords.com 2013 €12.00
STELZER, HOWARD / JASON TALBOT Four Sides do-7 Verrückte, fordernde, konkrete Noise-Collaborations auf dieser schön gestalteten Doppel-Single, von dem Bostoner Duo HOWARD STELZER und JASON TALBOT. Kommt im Klappcover, auf dem Chicagoer Label C.I.P. ! “The Boston-based duo of Howard Stelzer (tapes) and Jason Talbot (turntable) has been performing together since 1999. With a honed proficiency on their designated instruments, Stelzer and Talbot create an audio dialogue that relies more on playing the equipment as opposed to using either as traditional playback devices. A rich array of whirs, chirps, sputters, skitters, squeals, scrapes, and other bursts of sonic activity you wouldn't think a turntable or cassette machine capable of (or, at times, even surviving) are the foundation of Stelzer and Talbot's sound palette as they build and shift their compositions. A vortex of crunching and feedback from a needle grinding into the turntable body while three cassette players sputter rapid-fire through elaborate pausing and fast forwarding rituals can collapse into a squirming sine-wave like whine from a single paused cassette motor a moment later. And although it's hard for me to listen to this and not envision the physicality of their live performances, these recordings definitely capture the equally dynamic results. Edition of 400.“ [label info] 2003 €10.00
STRATVM TERROR This is my own Hell CD "The return in late 2008 of Peter Andersson (Raison D'etre, Necrophorus etc) and Tobias Larsson (Ocean chief) after a long silence. "This is my Own Hell" is over an hour of darkest, bleakest industrial. Spanning minimalist dark ambience to doomed industrial passages. Stratvm Terror portrays an absolutely hopeless atmosphere of pure desolation. credits released December 17, 2008 All torments by Peter Andersson & Tobias Larsson. Paintings by Mia Mäkilä. Released as a collaboration with Existence Establishment (existest.org)." [label info] reversealignment.bandcamp.com Some seriously bleak death industrial from Peter Andersson (of Raison D’etre) along with his partner in sonic crime Tobias Larsson. Long tracks that rumble and hum, grind and throb. The slow build of opener “Now Ever Sleep...” sets the stage with a terrifying suffocating creepy-crawl that manages to build in intensity without building in volume, it’s like a black hole getting blacker, with greyed swaths of hiss and swirls of crumbling shimmer, underpinned by distant death drums, stunning and harrowing. The rest of the album manages to up the intensity even more, splintering at times into bursts of caustic, near metallic brutality, with sheets of grinding noise, heaving machinelike swells, super processed vokills, a swirling morass of sonic miserablism. But those moments are balanced by hushed passages of tranquil ambience, and long stretches of what sounds like air conditioners and heating units and the mundane sound of city life, blurred and smeared into blackened streaks and muted rhythmic pulsations.(Aquarius Rec) 2008 €12.00
SUDARIA The Syncretic Labyrinth MC "Sudaria opens up the gates of (un)reality to unveil the true shapes behind the mirror of the illusory self; 9 mantras to break the illusion, 9 keys to open the holographic seals of Maya. «Following in somnambulism the invertebrate steps of a primary Art. Drowned into the ascetic syncretism of silence and noise. The pulse of necro-mechanical cannibalism. Rising beyond Catharsis in ransfiguration; devouring the corpse of the illusory self. 9 Keys to the Gate; 9 mantras to break the holographic seals of Maya. Dressed with the shrouds of Malediction. The Immortal Binary Clock.» Samples on «Ghastly Eaves» from Arvo Pärt’s Missa Syllabica —All Musick and artwork by Miguel Souto, MMXVI. miguelsouto.bandcamp.com sudaria.bandcamp.com" www.attenuationcircuit.de "In a binary existence, the idea of quantum suicide can be engaged in order to convince us of our own immortality – we exist only in a world in which we haven’t died. All other universes, however, contain a rotting corpse that looks uncannily similar to ourselves. Unfortunately, not all life and death scenarios are quite so black and white and it is this nagging knowledge that could have led Miguel Souto to protect himself with these nine sonic mantras. The Syncretic Labyrinth is a dark, contemplative and often hellish joint release from the German Attenuation Circuit and Spanish Sphingidae labels. Ghostly winds and strained, shrieking guitars set the tone on opening track Veils of the Syncretic Maya before a low drone edges in, paving the way for a frightening chugging as if feral pistons were rampaging through rain-drizzled streets. Kapala then pours its gloopy way into the skull of its audience. A thick, blackened bass rumble squeezes into your cranial space as unrelenting, reverb-chained, metallic thuds pound out in the approaching distance. Voices gasp in reverse like a solemn message escaping from the Black Lodge before being replaced by a pained guitar painting the aural landscape. This shifts from solitary notes to driving chords, whipping up a growing sense of tireless toiling – the slog of existence peppered with a glimmering light through wretched gloom. The labyrinthine cacophony (of which Borges would be proud) that Sudaria has formed sidles easily from tormented industrial clangs, through leaden techno for sleepwalkers, and into a stained dark ambience via the tectonic-plate-bothering plod of some inconceivable colossus. A gentle sea of consciousness is sporadically cleft apart by softly comforting snippets of travelling trams, trains, and trucks, grounding this in the gritty present. A bluster slips by. Lofty ideas can be born in these waters but heads must stay out of clouds. A melancholy piano desperately collapses and Arvo Pärt’s choral chants lie under a canopy of drones. These paranoid yet hypnotic soundscapes give the final moments of this record an ethereal and phantasmagorical quality." mithratemplezine.com/sudaria-the-syncretic-labyrinth-album-2017/ 2017 €8.00
SUNN O))) ØØ VOID CD "OO Void was originally released in 2000 by Hydra Head in the USA and Rise Above in the UK and Europe. They have been out of print for approximately 8 years now. *In 2008, OO Void was reissued in Japan only through Daymare Recordings. That release featured a second disc of remixes from the experimental/industrial group Nurse with Wound. *The record has now come back home to its proper resting place via Southern Lord. Beautiful artwork from Stephen Kasner and package execution via Stephen O'Malley. -Petra Haden (Queens of the Stoneage, Foo Fighters, The Decemberists) contributed Violin and vocals to the album -Pete Stahl (Scream, Wool, Goatsnake, The Earthings?, QOTSA) contributed vocals to the album -Rabid, fiendish following. This will be hunted down and devoured. *OO Void (also known as Double-O Void) was the second album recorded by sunn O))) circa 2000. At that time the guitarist & core members: Stephen O'Malley and Greg Anderson were joined by guest bassist collaborator Stuart Dahlquist (Burning Witch, Goatsnake). OO Void also features some incredible contributions from both Petra Haden (Violinist/Vocalist) and Pete Stahl (vocals). Their melodic evocations are seamlessly woven within this thick sonic tapestry. The group approached the compositions of this album in a different way than their previous recordings. Each member focused intently on one composition/song and brought it into the recording session. Then each of those songs that were brought in were translated to the other members and nuances were worked out on the spot in the studio. Greg Anderson aka The Duke brought in: NN0))), Stephen O'Malley aka Mk Ultra Blizzard brought in: RA at Dusk, Stuart Dahlquist aka G.Subharmonia brought in: Richard *The exception to all this was the inclusion of a rendition of a obscure Melvins song called: "Rabbits' Revenge". This song was actually never recorded in the studio by the Melvins and the riffs were salvaged from a live tape that Anderson had of the band playing in Seattle from March of 1985! *This album was recorded to 24 track 2" tape at Grandmaster studios in Hollywood, California. A large step forward in production values from the band's debut recording The Grimmrobe Demos. Fellow sub-sonic entusiast Scott Reeder (the Obsessed, Kyuss, Goatsnake) captured that particular incantation of sunn 0))) on huge reels of tape." [label info] www.southernlord.com 2011 €13.00
SUNN O))) & ULVER Terrestrials CD "Oslo, Norway, August 10th, 2008. Following their 200th gig, playing before 2000 people at the Oya festival, SUNN O))) teamed up with Norwegian legends ULVER at their Oslo studio, Crystal Canyon. They recorded three "live in improvisation" pieces, starting that evening and ending at dawn, as Northern sunlight seeped in through the windows. 'We were sitting in the console room, early in the morning, listening to the takes. Someone said, ah, sunrise over Crystal Canyon,' as if the night had been a dark one. We all laughed and Greg proposed it as a title. In that setting it sounded perfect. The boys had mentioned wanting the music to orient towards the light, like some lost pilgrim stretching before the sun. We kept that mental picture for the processing.' - Kristoffer Rygg That take became the album's opening piece, "Let there be light," which builds up from silence and darkness and proceeds - ceremoniously, coruscating - O'Malley and O'Sullivan creating the backdrop for Rygg's Basso Profondo chants. The music unfolds over eight minutes before reaching a crescendo of bass and brass, introducing both Anderson and ULVER as we know them. The Sunn has risen. "Western horn" accelerates on a single and austere note of sustained bass and low end, evolving gradually into a haunted soundscape. Crying violins, clusters of Fender Rhodes, guitar pickups, and metal plate drones are gradually layered beneath Anderson's augmented bass feedback. "Eternal return" introduces Rygg singing a lyric evoking ancient Greece, Egypt and the Biblical lands. The song is palindromic, echoing the lyric, beginning and ending with the same bass line and musical pattern, though the guitars are ultimately reversed as the song implodes upon itself. "Terrestrials" is three movements which are fluid like the flow of magma beneath the Earth's crust, sonically uninhibited, unpredictably cosmic, haunting and stirring yet simultaneously ceremonious and beautiful." [label info] www.southernlord.com "Naheliegendes wird vermieden, statt dessen eine zähfließende Düsternis mit fast fragiler Aura: das Sunn o))) & Ulver Kollaborationsalbum “Terrestrials” schickt die Hörer (nicht nur) mit dem Opener “Let There Be Light” und seinen verlangsamten Mariachi-Trompeten fast ein bisschen in die Irre, lässt dieselben zumindest lange im Unklaren, welche Richtung das Stück wirklich einschlagen will… Als “ewiges” Intro hinter verwaschenen Staubwolken der Wüste? Ein Akustik-Drone? Erst das letzte Viertel, wenn “Let There Be Light” schon fast zu ersterben scheint, bringt die Auflösung: wenn sich typisch Sunn o))) artige Harmoniebögen zu manifestieren beginnen und die weiterhin präsenten Bläser mit einem deutlichen Maß an Schwerkraft versehen. Das dann folgende, düstere (und düsterere) “Western Horn”, im Kern eine windende Schichtung von sich reibenden, spröden Gitarren, dabei nach außen so etwas wie die musikalische Umsetzung eines langsam aufkommenden (oder abflauenden) Sandsturms, versenkt die Hörer nach “Let There Be Light” wie unvermittelt in eine ebenso unwirkliche wie unwirtliche, auch ohne ebensolche Soundästhetik zerrende, schwarze Welt. Die, ganz nebenbei, ein weiteres Mal beweist, dass “Heavy” eben auch ganz anders gehen kann.Und dann die größte Überraschung: “Eternal Return”, in den allerersten Tönen noch wie eine direkte Fortsetzung von “Western Horn” klingend, durch die hier stärkere Präsenz eines E-Pianos und ganz besonders die Art der Harmonien aber letztlich in eine ganz andere Richtung weisend: wie eine Art geisterhafter Widerhall, eine eigene Interpretation der Stimmung von oder eben gleich eine Kollaboration mit Bohren & Der Club Of Gore… zumindest rund 6 Minuten lang, bevor das Stück einen völligen Twist macht, Gesang über tragenden Synthstreichern, als Break. Und zurück fällt in die Düsternis des Beginns. In der musikalischen Schattierung so vielfältig wie “Monoliths And Dimensions”, möglicherweise. Und eine Elegie in schwarzer Akustik, sicherlich. Insgesamt betrachtet." [N, Blackmag] 2014 €13.00
SUZUKI, AKIO NA-GI 1997 CD Great album by this japanese sound artist, field recordings from the japanese coast melt with soft overtunes & subtle sounds from a wind-instrument.... Field Recordings von der japanischen Küste....in halluzinogener Art vermischen sich hier Wind- & Meeresrauschen, sanfte Obertöne, und dumpf-verhallte Töne eines Blasinstrumentes..... „ NA-GI (Windstille). Bei der Installation KLANGRÄUME_HANA 1997 steht ein Tisch mit einer Vase, bei der die Schnittblume täglich ausgewechselt wird, in der Mitte des Raumes. Das "Einwerfen" der Klänge in die Natur ähnelt dem Stecken einer Schnittblume in eine Vase. Verfolgt man diese Klänge, findet man die ursprüngliche Musik der Natur. (Akio Suzuki "study event" '63) Bei der Installation KLANGRÄUME_HANA 1997 steht ein Tisch mit einer Vase, bei der die Schnittblume täglich ausgewechselt wird, in der Mitte des Raumes. Der Tisch und die unglasierte Tonvase werden so schlicht gehalten, daß sich der Blick des Betrachters auf die Blume konzentrieren kann. Man hört die Musik immer auf der Grundlage der eigenen Erfahrungen. Steht man vor der Blume, könnte man da nicht in die innere Musik hineinhorchen? Die Musik wurde in Takano, Tango-cho, aufgenommen, an der nördlichen Küste von Kyoto, wo ich wohne. Die von vulkanischen Felsenhöhlen umgebene Bucht ist der Ort, wo die Klänge der mächtigen Wellen des offenen Meeres gedämpft widerhallen. In den Höhlungen des Felsens strömt das Meerwasser immer wieder wie ein Atemzug ein aund aus. In der Höhle tropft ständig Quellwasser, und hin und wieder bringt der Wind von der Wiese über der Kluft die leisen Töne der Grillen herüber. Indem man nach den kleinen, im Schwarm wie eine Silberkugel rundtanzenden Fischen blickt oder die Felsen beobachtet, auf denen sich ein flackerndes Licht der Wasseroberfläche spiegelt und dabei die Klänge "einwirft", offenbart sich das Dasein der Strandvögel und der Frösche, als ob aus der Zeit ein Stück herausgeschnitten worden wäre. Die Klangräume der Küste von Takano. Ort der neuen Begegnung mit dem Rhythmus der Meerestöne.“ [Akio Suzuki, Okt. 1997] 1997 €16.00
SVAER л​.​λ​.​ハ mCD-R svær is a solo project by a french musican currently based in brussels, belgium. we discovered him nearly three years ago when he was the opening act for tim hecker in brussels. based on layers of guitars, his excellent first album "muted people" released in 2020 seriously confirmed our hopes https://taalem.bandcamp.com/album/alm-143 "And finally, there is svær, from France, but currently residing in Brussels. In 2020 he released his debut, 'Muted People' and his three pieces are for deceased dogs, 'Laika', 'Loukanikos' and 'Hachikō'. All dogs go to heaven, svær says (What happens to cats? Or people who are afraid of dogs? I know a few of the latter). I understand that svær plays the guitar and undoubtedly uses many sound effects to arrive at that gritty guitar sound that was popular once upon some time ago. Taalem learned about svær when he opened for Tim Hecker; perhaps that may serve as a pointer? Especially in 'Loukanikos' the digital processing plays a very big part. On either side of 'Loukanikos', the other two offer a much more mellow ambient tapestry of long spun sounds on the guitar, lo-fi electronics and sadly too short." [FdW/Vital Weekly] 2022 €5.00
SVASTI-AYANAM Sanklesa CD Wer sich schon immer eine Melange aus tibetischer Ritual-Musik und perkussiver ambient Industrial-Trance und dunklen Maschinen-Drones gewünscht hat, liegt bei SVASTI-AYANAM genau richtig ! Dies ist die Wiederveröffentlichung eines lange vergriffenen Albums von 1998 vom RAISON D'ETRE-Seitenprojekt, enthält 2 Bonus-Tracks! "Svasti-ayanam is Peter Andersson's foray into dark, Tibetan-Nepalese ambience. Andersson is well known for his work as Raison D'etre, Atomine Elektrine etc. In this incarnation, his signature Raison D'etre sound has been modified in an incredibly pronounced, and effective way. Sanklesa is marked by strong tribal rhythms that draw the listener into distant, foreign, ritual soundscapes. Andersson has released a prolific catalogue of music, that includes many CD's, limited vinyl and countless compilation appearances. Album incl. 2 exlusive bonus-tracks." [label info] www.eternalpride.ru 2007 €13.00
SVENSSON, PER Energy Loop / Element CD Zusammenstellung (21 tracks!) von diversen akustischen Experimenten, Kunstaktionen- & Klanginstallationen, und dröhnigen akustischen SoundExplorationen des schwedischen Künstlers PER SVENSSON, von 1987-1998. Exzellentes Material, als Soundquellen dienten unter anderem "electric grinder, theremin, sitar, electric welder, electric drill, steel tubes, bronze bells, hammer on anvil, etc etc". auf dem LEIF ELGGREN – Label. 1998 €13.00
SWANS Where Does A Body End? DVD "Die Anfang der 80er Jahre in New York gegründete Band Swans gilt als eine der härtesten, lautesten Live-Bands der Welt. Einen Einblick in ihre Intensität, ihre wechselhafte Geschichte liefert Marco Porsia mit seiner intimen Dokumentation ,Swans - Where Does a Body End?", für die der Regisseur jahrelang Teil des inneren Zirkels der Band war. Gerade deswegen: Ein Film für Fans. Anfang 2020 im Kino, nun als US-Pal/Region 0 DVD/BD/2BD, Sprache Englisch, Untertitel Englisch mit Altersfreigabe 12 Swans gilt als eine der radikalsten Bands der letzten 40 Jahre. Ihre Konzerte gleichen noch immer ekstatischen Ritualen. Gegründet 1982 als streitlustige Post-Punk-Band erregten Swans erste Aufmerksamkeit in der New Yorker No-Wave-Szene, feierten währen der Indie-Welle der 90er unerwarteten Mainstream-Erfolg, verursachten Chaos auf und jenseits der Bühne, erlebten Bandauflösung und Wiedervereinigung. Swans war immer eine Ansammlung von wechselnden Einzelperformern - mit einer einzigen Konstante: Sänger, Songwriter und Mastermind Michael Gira. Sein Lebensweg vom Problemteenager zum Enfant Terrible seiner Kunsthochschule, Alkoholiker und schließlich Familienmensch sind der rauen, progressiven Musik seiner Band eingeschrieben. Filmemacher Marco Porsia hat Swans und Gira über fünf Jahre lang begleitet und beim Songschreiben, im Probenraum und auf Tour gefilmt. Er erhielt unbegrenzten Zugriff auf Giras Archiv mit hunderten Stunden von unveröffentlichten Videos und Tonaufnahmen. Neben Swans-Mitgliedern Jarboe und Thor Harris erklärten sich zahlreiche Wegbegleiter*innen und Fans wie Amanda Palmer, Blixa Bargeld und Thurston Moore für Interviews bereit. ,Swans - Where Does A Body End?" ist eine musikalische Zeitreise, ein filmisches Tour-Tagebuch, ein epischer Konzertfilm. Vor allem aber ist er das Porträt eines besessenen Musikers, Michael Gira, der sein Leben radikal der Kunst gewidmet hat. ,Michael ist kein furchtloser Mensch", erklärt Bandkollege Harris, ,aber er ist ein furchtloser Künstler." Zitate: "There really is no other force of music like Swans. Swans stand alone, integral, drenched in pathos. A band to end all bands." _Thurston Moore/Sonic Youth Presse: Director Marco Porsia delivers an intense, comprehensive documentary of the band that is every bit as massive as their recordings. That he captured their many faces to this extent is an astounding achievement in its own right, but then to build something both captivating and informative from such split personalities is pure cinematic magic. _ Film Threat A comprehensive portrait of Gira and his musical endeavors... Fans should love this raw exploration of their legacy. 'Under the Radar There is considerable opportunity to see how Swans' performances have developed over time, with plenty of variously brutal, abrasive, shamanistic and ecstatic concert footage.' The Arts Desk " "Where Does a Body End? is an intimate portrait of the band SWANS, from their roots as a brutal, confrontational post-punk band that emerged from the same early 1980s era NYC that gave us Sonic Youth (and, somehow, Madonna) through their ill-fated bid at mainstream success in the '90s indie-rock gold rush, through breakups and chaos (on and offstage) to their odds-defying current status as one of the most accomplished and ambitious bands in the world, one whose concerts are more like ecstatic rituals than nostalgic trips back through their most popular songs. SWANS has always been a collection of singular performers, but there's been one constant since its formation in 1982 -- singer, songwriter Michael Gira. With unfettered access to hundreds of hours of Gira/SWANS archives of never-seen-before recordings, videos, and photographs, the film brings us along the path they needed to carve for themselves. The film is many things, a musical history, a time-capsule, a tour diary, a concert film, but mostly it's the story of a life in the arts, frequently difficult, spanning decades without a safety net, creating the work because Gira says 'What else am I going to do?' As bandmate Thor Harris notes, 'Michael is not a fearless person, but he is a fearless artist.'" https://mvdshop.com/products/swans-where-does-a-body-end-dvd 2020 €15.00
  Where does a Body end? (deluxe ed.) 2 x BLU-RAY Die Anfang der 80er Jahre in New York gegründete Band Swans gilt als eine der härtesten, lautesten Live-Bands der Welt. Einen Einblick in ihre Intensität, ihre wechselhafte Geschichte liefert Marco Porsia mit seiner intimen Dokumentation ,Swans - Where Does a Body End?", für die der Regisseur jahrelang Teil des inneren Zirkels der Band war. Gerade deswegen: Ein Film für Fans. Anfang 2020 im Kino, nun als US-Pal/Region 0 DVD/BD/2BD, Sprache Englisch, Untertitel Englisch mit Altersfreigabe 12 Swans gilt als eine der radikalsten Bands der letzten 40 Jahre. Ihre Konzerte gleichen noch immer ekstatischen Ritualen. Gegründet 1982 als streitlustige Post-Punk-Band erregten Swans erste Aufmerksamkeit in der New Yorker No-Wave-Szene, feierten währen der Indie-Welle der 90er unerwarteten Mainstream-Erfolg, verursachten Chaos auf und jenseits der Bühne, erlebten Bandauflösung und Wiedervereinigung. Swans war immer eine Ansammlung von wechselnden Einzelperformern - mit einer einzigen Konstante: Sänger, Songwriter und Mastermind Michael Gira. Sein Lebensweg vom Problemteenager zum Enfant Terrible seiner Kunsthochschule, Alkoholiker und schließlich Familienmensch sind der rauen, progressiven Musik seiner Band eingeschrieben. Filmemacher Marco Porsia hat Swans und Gira über fünf Jahre lang begleitet und beim Songschreiben, im Probenraum und auf Tour gefilmt. Er erhielt unbegrenzten Zugriff auf Giras Archiv mit hunderten Stunden von unveröffentlichten Videos und Tonaufnahmen. Neben Swans-Mitgliedern Jarboe und Thor Harris erklärten sich zahlreiche Wegbegleiter*innen und Fans wie Amanda Palmer, Blixa Bargeld und Thurston Moore für Interviews bereit. ,Swans - Where Does A Body End?" ist eine musikalische Zeitreise, ein filmisches Tour-Tagebuch, ein epischer Konzertfilm. Vor allem aber ist er das Porträt eines besessenen Musikers, Michael Gira, der sein Leben radikal der Kunst gewidmet hat. ,Michael ist kein furchtloser Mensch", erklärt Bandkollege Harris, ,aber er ist ein furchtloser Künstler." Zitate: "There really is no other force of music like Swans. Swans stand alone, integral, drenched in pathos. A band to end all bands." _Thurston Moore/Sonic youth Presse: Director Marco Porsia delivers an intense, comprehensive documentary of the band that is every bit as massive as their recordings. That he captured their many faces to this extent is an astounding achievement in its own right, but then to build something both captivating and informative from such split personalities is pure cinematic magic. _ Film Threat A comprehensive portrait of Gira and his musical endeavors... Fans should love this raw exploration of their legacy. _ Under the Radar There is considerable opportunity to see how Swans' performances have developed over time, with plenty of variously brutal, abrasive, shamanistic and ecstatic concert footage. _ The Arts Desk https://mvdshop.com/products/swans-where-does-a-body-end-dvd 2020 €23.00
SZCZEPANIK, NICHOLAS The Chiasmus CD "Nicholas' debut CD is much more than an impeccably constructed piece of abstract drone music: The Chiasmus undulates between waves of quiet melancholy and overwhelming beauty, with small slices of pointillistic noise. an album where the emotional response is always the central focus rather then pure aesthetic concerns, the nuances of The Chiasmus are only revealed upon multiple listens; by then, the listener is completely tuned into the world it presents. packaged in a jewel with a 16 pages booklet of art by Avery McArthy." [label info] "... We mostly know him as the owner of Sentient Recognition Archive label, who produce some professionally packed CDRs of the moody, textured drone music around. I think this is the first time I hear his music. Its hardly a surprise that he creates such music himself. Drone music with a big D. Szczepanik seems to be drawing inspiration from all over the place. Through calm and atmospheres, he isn't too shy about breaking away from that and offer a louder end of his excursions. Things buzz and drone and sometimes bite your ear. Think a louder Organum meeting the softest Machinefabriek. The softer moments are the best, I think, but the louder bits (a minority here) provide a great counter point. Maybe a bit long, but very nice." [FdW / Vital Weekly] "A split release between bad ass French microlabel Basses Frequencies, and Szczepanik's own Sentient Recognition Archive label, The Chiasmus is Szczepanik's latest collection of dronology, and the first proper cd we've had (quite possible his first proper cd release entirely). We've long been fans, being the dronelords and ladies we are around these parts, and past Szczepanik joints have demonstrated a mastery of the drone, creating surprisingly lush and lustrous expanses of low end minimalism. On The Chiasmus, Szczepanik continues to move ever deeper, ever darker, five long tracks, each a different variation of drone, drifting from minimal black shift, to near Pop Ambient bliss. Record opener is cavernous, epic, Teutonic and slow shifting, peppered at the beginning with bits of glitch and hiss, the song soon settles into an uneasy sprawl, ominous and dangerously grim, but still somehow warm and expansive and enveloping. The second track shifts gears completely, unfurling a gauzy bit of chordal shimmer, all warm and sun dappled and delicate and gauzy, gentle tranquil melodies played out over minutes instead of seconds, a little Eno for sure, as the song drifts and flutters and hovers dreamily in midair. The final three tracks hover somewhere in between, deep moaning post industrial whirs laid over dense metallic buzz, the two layers slowly seeping into one another like some blackened sonic spill, deep bell like tones ring out, their tones frozen in time and stretched out into softly undulating sheets of sound, slightly reflective and iridescent and kaleidoscopic, glimmering and glistening underneath some alien black sun, and finally, a loooooooong stretch of grinding muted buzz, spreading out in slow motion, it's black shimmer infused with streaks of melody, as if some strange black seas was slowly growing warmer and coming to life before our ears. Fantastic, gorgeous stuff. Essential listening for the drone obsessed..." [Aquarius Records review] www.bassesfrequences.org 2009 €12.00
SZMT Parvenu CD Parvenu is a work about authoritarian structures and developments. The narrative is abstract, all sounds are concrete. Every single sound on this recording is based on recordings from three bee hives. Track List: Sometimes She Had Melancholic Memories of Her Larval Stage – 11:48 His Primary Role Was to Mate with the Fertile Queen – 9:04 The General Skepticism of the Constitutional Monarchy Was Justified as New Forms of Authority Surfaced – 15:11 The Surviving Virgin Queen Hid in the Shadows of Her Former Kingdom – 11:37 www.gruenrekorder.de "Behind szmt (no capitals needed) is Tobias Schmitt, better know, I think, as Suspicion Breeds Confidence, but also an improviser and organiser of concerts. As szmt he “contextualizes seemingly contradictory material and techniques. All input is equal and will be formed into a coherent but nevertheless open to misinterpretation result by means of improvisation and composition” and for ‘Parvenu’ we read that it is a “work about authoritarian structures and developments. The narrative is abstract, all sounds are concrete. Every single sound on this recording is based on recordings from three bee hives”, in which context I guess the whole authoritarian structures becomes funny. When I played this yesterday for the first time I didn’t look any of this up, nor could I really decipher the font on the cover and decided to give it another try, another day, which turned out to be today. Now that I know I am hearing the processed sound of bees, it sounds like something very obvious, but I guess that’s always the case. I assume that Schmitt is armed with a laptop and sound processing tools that lie within those machines to compose the four pieces on this CD. It is shimmering, quiet, sometimes loud, sometimes very processed, beyond recognition and then sometimes it seems to be fairly close to what is really a recording of a bee. Most of the times it sounds like the work of microsound, that active music force from a decade ago, but in the case of szmt that is perhaps 2/3 of the story. In “The General Skepticism of the Constitutional Monarchy Was Justified as New Forms of Authority Surfaced” (all four titles are that weird, indeed), Schmitt let’s his bees do a dance, and while not really techno music, or perhaps something we could or should dance too, there is surely some kind of groove to be detected. Schmitt’s work reminded me of Roel Meelkop, Marc Behrens and that posse, but he added his own twist by allowing a more loop based structure, working his processing around those, calling for minimalist developments within each piece. It’s these perhaps not so big differences that actually made it stand out from the microsound as it was before and made it into something he can call his." [FDW/Vital Weekly] "Gruenrekorder recordings are often filled with surprises, and szmt’s Parvenu is no exception: the brainchild of Tobias Schmitt, the forty-eight-minute release was created entirely using sounds derived from three bee hives. Given the szmt description provided, Schmitt, who also issues material under the Suspicion Breeds Confidence alias (e.g., The Fauna and Flora of the Vatican City) and has contributed to a number of releases on the label over the years, would appear to be somewhat of a provocateur. szmt, we’re told, “contextualizes seemingly contradictory material and techniques” such that all input is “formed into a coherent but nevertheless open-to-misinterpretation result by means of improvisation and composition.” In the case of Parvenu, four long-form explorations are presented, each carrying with it a wordy title, the lengthiest “The General Skepticism of the Constitutional Monarchy Was Justified as New Forms of Authority Surfaced.” The material’s predictably abstract and amenable to interpretation, the listener free to conjure any number of possible interpretations in response. Occasional moments of insect swarm and buzzing do surface, but for the most part Schmitt’s treated the original recordings like so much raw material ready to be liberally shaped and transformed. As the recording plays, it’s impossible to predict what direction it’ll take; at one juncture, a writhing, industrial-inflected rhythm pattern begins to assert itself before a swathe of smears abruptly takes its place. Elsewhere, amplified chirping, grinding, and warbling noises suggest a microphone moving in closely on the hive and its inhabitants, with rutting sounds of indeterminate origin implying activity of some (re)productive kind occurring within. Tinged with sci-fi bleeps, a few ambient-like episodes arise that one would perhaps misidentify as synth-generated were one unaware of the production methodology involved, and strange though it might sound, that aforementioned track, especially when it features clattering beat elements, threads sequences into its fifteen-minute frame that aren’t unlike what one might encounter in an early Autechre experiment. A number of possible descriptions come to mind, but experimental soundsculpting might be the best and simplest fit for what’s going on here. Such experimentation is business as usual at Gruenrekorder central, of course, as long-time followers of the label already know. As strange to outsiders as Parvenu will be, to Gruenrekorder fans such weirdness is nothing more than standard operating procedure." [Texture] 2017 €13.00
TAKAYANAGI, MASAYUKI Action Direct CD „Takayanagi, ebenso wie Frith oder Rowe ein „Alter“ an der Gitarre zwischen Improvisation und Komposition, entwickelte sein hier vorgestelltes Tischgitarrenkonzept in den frühen 80er Jahren. Diese Wiederveröffentlichung einer längst vergriffenen Live LP von 1985 zeugt von einem wiederum ganz eigenen Stil in dieser Spielart. Zwei Walkmen, Mixer, Effektgeräte und zwei Gitarren, eine mit Kontaktmikrophonen bestückt und eine auf dem Tische liegend, Buttermesser, Säge, Streicherbogen etc. zur Bearbeitung, Zuspielbänder mit Stimmen von Mishima Yukio, Hitler und anderen Märschen, Eimert, Wagner sowie Industriesounds dienen Takayanagi zur Herstellung seiner Collagen/ Montagen. Trotz der Fülle an Mitteln, ist sein Stil druckvoll und wohl überlegt. Man hat die Gitarre stets vor Augen und „sieht“ beim Hören doch mehr und weiter. Jeder seiner Eingriffe, jede neue Geräuschlage wirkt hochkonzentriert und bar jeder Hektik. Gitarrenimprovisationen jenseits von Jazz und/oder Neuer Musik. Schönes Foldout-Cover und ein Minibooklet mit Linernotes von Alan Licht und Johan Wellers./ Like Frith or Rowe, Takayanagi is an „oldtimer“ on guitar playing between improvisation and composition. He developed his concept of table guitar in the early 80ties. This rerelease of a long time sold out live LP from 1985 shows his very own style in this genre. 'The instrumentation (...) consisted out of two walkmans, a mixer, various effect pedals and two guitars, of which one was wired up with contact microphones, while the other was stretched out across the table, manipulating its sound with effects while using a bowstring and other utensils like butterknifes and chains (...) modulated tapes of music by Wagner, Eimert and Eissler, snippets and fragments of of speeches by Mishima Yukio, Hitler and accompanying Nazi marches, pieces of a Richard Wagner opera, Sergei Prokofiev’s second symphony and sound bits of industrial machinery and other heavy industries were put to use'(from the linernotes) to create the sonic collages/ montages. In spite of the abundance of sound sources his music is powerful and well-considered. Always the guitar in your eye while listening you „see“ more and further. Every step, every noise layer seems high concentrated and cool. These are guitar improvisations beyond Jazz and/ or New Musik. Nice foldout jacket included a small booklet with linernotes from Alan Licht and Johan Wellers.” [Peter Schlewinski for Drone Records] "The CD version is carefully crafted and housed in a deluxe fold out sturdy carton mini-LP styled record sleeve (hand numbered) complete with fully detailed and extensive liner notes by Alan Licht and Johan Wellens." [label info] 2005 €20.00
TANKRED, KENT There is Nothing to Attain do-CD Kent Tankred (b.1947) is one of the true hidden masters of Swedish electro-acoustic and experimental music. Tankred studied at Elektronmusikstudion in Stockholm in the early 70s and he has released a sparse catalogue of fine works, mainly for his and Leif Elggren’s Firework Edition Records as well as Ash International. In 1995 he put out the extremely strong album ”Ordinary Things” on Fylkingen Records. ”THERE IS NOTHING TO ATTAIN” is his first albums since the 2010 CDr with the same title. - iDEAL. * Music is not like people. Nonetheless most music tries to pretend it is human, imitating their movements, feelings, attributes, even opinions. Kent’s music doesn’t pretend to be anything. One quickly forgets there could be a human behind it, even though it may have arisen from some profound game, a concentration on some discovery, combination, principle. The music is naked, or rather unclothed, inhuman, at the first encounter reminding you of everything you would prefer to avoid: leaf-blowers, neighbours drilling the wall, machinery grinding, a screwdriver stripping the thread with a careless move, electric warning signals, all on top of each other. A recent radio programme was discussing whether the phrase “human error” should be replaced by the less recriminatory “human contribution”. Meanwhile a submarine has sunk into an ocean chasm and the 53 aboard who might still be alive will run out of oxygen before they can be reached. A struggle between man and machine. But here there is no struggle, the machine is likened to any other natural phenomenon. It just is, does what it does, or doesn’t, in its own time which is neither fast nor slow since it doesn’t have to be compared with anything, has no purpose, no significance, is neither good nor evil. A god like Einstein’s, indistinguishable from nature in its entirety. A galaxy does not rotate in order to be beautiful or strong. A fan does not make something flap about randomly in order to trace a certain pattern. In the starkly dystopic early science-fiction film On the Beach (1959) a Morse signal is detected from a region where all life should have been eradicated by the atomic winter. An expedition is sent to resolve the mystery. In a completely lifeless industrial zone they find that someone, before the radiation wiped them out, had hung a coke bottle on a string from a roller blind balanced so that the random flapping of the blind caused the bottle to press the telegraph key, producing a haphazard stream of code which inevitably from time to time formed meaningful words and phrases. I am hard put to explain what it is than can suddenly make the music so entertaining, so jocular in the midst of this objective, mundane mangling. Yet one does get reminded at some point that someone is behind all this, has discovered or molded, has chosen this; perhaps not a joke but pure serendipity. Just as things originate so must they vanish, by one decision or another – a handbrake, a puncture, a flying catch. The process “concludes”, or purports to, as when someone suddenly wakes you from a dream which you forget immediately but retain the echo of a feeling. Or you are surprised by your parents opening the door when you’re in the middle of a game where you can’t remember whether what you’re doing is supposed to be secret or not. And so the cauldron or the ventilation pipes spill out a bus garage, a swarm of drones, or those flying bicycles Leonardo had a mind to make. Johannes Bergmark. https://idealrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/there-is-nothing-to-attain 2021 €17.50
TARAB Take all the Ships from the Harbour, and sail them straight to Hell CD In der mächtig wachsenden Field Recording-Szene hat sich der Australier TARAB durch seinen besonderen Stil inzwischen einen Namen gemacht... Seine Aufnahmen schwanken zwischen den Polen des "ganz nahen" und Detaillierten und dem "entfernten, verhallten, undeutlichen, verrauschten", wobei er v.a. rauhe, knirschend-knarzige, metallisch-quietschende "Granular-Sounds" bevorzugt. Gewohnte musikalische Parameter spielen hier keine Rolle mehr, die editierten Soundschnipsel ergeben "nicht-harmonische" aber doch Emotionen und Intellekt herausfordernde dynamische Strukturen... das ist atmosphärische, experimentelle Musique Concrete mit Drone-Elementen. TIP !! "The title to this album from Tarab (nee Eamon Sprod) is striking enough in its allusions of damnation, with a watery grave a potential outcome from human activity impacting the earth. So, it may be stating the obvious that the corroded locations where mankind has scarred the surface of the earth feature prominently in the work of this Melbourne based sound artist. The residual elements of these sites become the agents for metaphor and allegory in Tarab's work, documented through field recording and sympathetic actions with found objects from those sites. One such location that features prominently in Take All of the Ships... is Angel Island in the San Francisco Bay. Once the home of an immigration station at the turn of the 20th Century and later a Nike Missile site for the US military, Angel Island now rests in the hands of the US National Park Service, which has left some of the buildings to succumb to the forces of decay. From the sounds culled from this site and others closer to his antepodean home, Tarab diligently overlays and stiches together a highly tactile composition with very little digital treatments to speak of.Take All of the Ships... opens with an ominous rumble whose frequencies appear to emerge from the center of the Earth and liquefying the surface upon impact. As these tones ebb and flow, Tarab unveils as revolving series of exaggerated details from a hyperbolic gash of two heavy pieces of metal grinding against themselves to a toxic chorale of nighttime insects to sand, wind, and surf detourned into sedimentary white noise. Tarab's compositional sensibility shifts throughout the album, at first sparsely situating these sounds into shadowy vignettes. Gradually, Tarab coalesces this sublime opus into an arcing crescendo which exhibits sustained harmonics rarely heard in the best of the contemporary dronemusik technicians much less from the realm of sound ecology." [label description] "Like much work in the hybrid, Take all the ships..., a 55 minute suite of environmental sound, is drawn from a few specific places (in this case, Angel Island, a deserted military base turned national park), but is not really meant to be about that place. Instead, it is a layered series of sonic events that act as metaphors. The dominant mood here is bleak and overcast, and certain motifs recur: wind howling and whistling through pipes, ice cracking and tinkling, shortwave radio transmissions, the complaint of metal being scrapped and twisted, booming reverb that seemingly has no source. The sounds become signifiers of desolation, solitude, a creeping sense of life that has no human presence. This metaphorical approach moves the result into fictive, often surreal territory, but, like G*Park, Sprod’s recording method is austere but meticulous. This means that his sounds retain plenty of natural reverb and keep their stochastic character. They hold the interest even when the inevitable lulls in activity set in, those moments when the piece feels more episodic than fully developed. But in their precision and ability to evoke tactile images, Sprod’s sounds are powerful ones, reminiscent of what Tod Dockstader has said about the sounds he preferred: "“I like to have edges. Sound to me is always very physical. I can feel, not just hear it. It has personality. It has weight, proportion. It’s like I can pick it up and hold it." The sounds are masked, but not abstracted. They are the kind of lies you want to believe." [Matthew Wuethrich, Dusted Mag] www.23five.org 2009 €14.00
  Strata CD "Strata has been constructed from recording made in a series of vacant lots and their immediate surrounds in the north-west of Melbourne. These vacant lots are backed onto by various factories and warehouses on one side and a train line and Moonee Ponds creek (perhaps more aptly described as a concrete storm water drain) on the other. Running some 20 meters above all this is a large multi-lane highway overpass. This area has interested me for some time, the creeks and their walking paths act as a thoroughfare of sorts somewhat removed from the rest of the city. Somewhere to move through but not to stop and spend any real time. This collection of empty lots in particular has become an overlooked pocket, acting as a trap and dumping ground for rubbish or as a safe out of the way location for homeless people to live. It is a place where the industrial meets nature to create a zone which is strangely neither. It has a odd feeling of emptiness while being both sonically and physically dense with traffic noise, over grown weeds, hidden dwellings and rubbish. As discussed in the introduction to Francesco Careri’s book Walkscapes: Walking as an Aesthetic Practice (Editorial Gustavo Gili, 2002) there is a common held view of the urban landscape as full with small pockets of emptiness (be it parks or demolition sites), as opposed to the rural landscape which is seen as empty with small areas of density. A view which holds within it much of the associated baggage regarding centres, peripheries and social marginalisation. What is thought of as empty is often simply that which is not seen or heard, the majority of people wilfully choosing to ignore. As for many others, these areas of cities hold great fascination for me, acting as a sort of hidden zone, full of the traces and debris of various past and present human activity, whether commercial, domestic or nefarious. All the while being slowly eroded by weather and reclaimed by the now unrestrained plant and animal life. Rather than attempting to document this location I set out to construct a sound piece from the place itself through my direct interaction with it. Somehow collecting together all the existent traces I could unearth to form the work. Not only through walking, observing and recording the various areas and sounds but also by crawling and scratching around in the dirt; sifting through the piles of discarded objects; listening to the solid vibrations of the concrete pylons and traffic noise from inside the creek; by burying microphones and dragging them through the dirt and rubble. Strata attempts to respond to ideas of urban density and emptiness, and to show how these states blur and overlap each other. I have tried to highlight the small hidden details and with them create a condensed hyper-real version of my many wanderings through this area. But perhaps more simply put, Strata is the result of a process of attempting to, if only fleetingly, inhabit somewhere. To see, hear, smell and touch it." ]Eamon Sprod, September 2013] www.unfathomless.net "Vacant store fronts, abandoned buildings, and empty lots are increasingly harder to find in San Francisco these days. Even the former wastelands well to the east of our Mission location are filling in with all manner of development, from modern office spaces to sleek steel & glass apartments. Complaints of gentrification can hardly be made when such buildings are constructed on purportedly mitigated toxic sludge or the settled landfill of crumbled highways from the '89 earthquake. These dead zones in the urban landscape nevertheless are thriving ecosystems of feral plants and animals that can exist sprouting through broken asphalt and plumping themselves on the scraps of whatever can be pulled from nearby garbage cans. Few would pine over the loss of such spaces, and the Australian sound artist Eamon Sprod (aka Tarab) is one who would actively explore vacant lots instead of ignoring them. Over the years, Sprod has released a small catalogue of brilliant, if understated albums that reflect these dead spaces in the urban landscape, often with apocalyptic foreshadowings through his compositions. He patiently builds this work through layers of sparsely processed field recordings and found object manipulation often recorded directly in such environments - empty warehouses, military bunkers, dry sewer ducts and the like. For Strata, Sprod has documented something of a concrete island on the outskirts of Melbourne, bordered by train tracks, highways, and drainage ditches. In collecting his recordings, he would dig and claw through the broken concrete, construction refuse, bum trash, and aggregated debris, amassing a whole array of crumbled textures and noises that would also echo with the distant din of cars and trains roaring by, many miles away. What is always impressive about Sprod's albums is the incredible clarity of detail which pops into focus, as the bright frequencies of found metal debris take the shape of obsidian shards with possible diabolically mystical qualities. The compositions coalesce into churning swarms of texture that snap into expansive rumbles paralleling the desolation of Thomas Koner's polar treks, giving way to doppler-effected field recordings of trains with the grinding of brakes and the pulsing thunder of the engines. It's that rich attention to detail that warrants comparisons to Chris Watson's impeccable phonography, but the compositional approach strikes a balance between the psychological implications of Luc Ferrari and those damn-near perfect collages by Small Cruel Party. As with all of Tarab's work, this is very highly recommended! Limited to just 200 copies!" [Aquarius Records] "Not the most active when it comes to releases by Eamon Sprod always gets around with his music, and has been releasing music on 23Five Incorporated, Naturestrip and most recently on Semper Florens (see Vital Weekly 866). Here he has a thirty-four minute piece based on a recording in a 'series of vacant lots and their surrounds which back on the Macaulay Station and Moonee Ponds Creek, North Melbourne, Australia', so train sounds are part and parcel of this. Although it's not entirely clear what he does, I'd say Tarab uses an excellent balance between pure, untreated sounds - here's where the trains drive right through your living room - and the treated versions there of, but it's never really that clear what is what indeed. Maybe Tarab stuck some contact microphones of the tracks as to pick up some far away signals, or rummages through the dirt along the tracks, which makes a very dynamic piece of music. Sometimes very loud and present but then as abruptly switching off and staying is this low audible audio rumble of amplified gravel. Sometimes, as say around eight minutes, there is a deep end bass sound which must be something the computer coughed up, but then, I might be entirely wrong here. This is a great release of music that comes to us a soundscape and not as a pure documentation of sounds; exactly the kind of thing I like. Much enjoyable release from down under." [FdW/Vital Weekly] 2013 €14.00
TATE, DARREN The elves are coming CD-R Wie klingt es wohl, wenn Elfen erscheinen? In den Soundrahmen aus japanischen field recordings von DAISUKE SUZUKI (Grillenzirpen, etc.) fallen wellende Instrumentalklänge und einzelne Klangobjekte von DARREN TATE, die seltsam effektiert (deharmonisiert) scheinen, die Atmosphäre die so mit einfachen Mittel erzeugt wird lässt sich schwer beschreiben.... irgendwann kommen noch leise, schleppende Rhythmusmaschinensounds dazu, das alles höchst minimal und höchst seltsam .... 41 minutes, 2 pieces... „Along with one of his best titles this features some excellent artwork from Darren and comes in the ‘usual’ Twenty Hertz style in a jewelcase with printed inserts. What we hear however is a little harder to explain. Guitar and Organ improvisations mix with everyday environmental sounds and field recordings that were captured in Japan and contributed by Daisuke Suzuki. These two worlds collide to create a very intimate affair. Ominous paranoid undertones rattle the tranquillity of late night insects, the insanity of the day impeding on the faded light“ [label info] “... 'The Elves Are Coming' consists of him playing guitar and keyboard whilst in the background there is a field recording by Daisuke Suzuki. It was mixed in two days in early january of this year and, although it is never stated, it's probably recorded then also, as the whole thing has a very direct, almost 'live' feel to it. The guitar sometimes just 'hums' and seems not to be doing much, while we hear sounds of someone shuffling about in what seems to me a wooden cabin of some sort. It's the sort of ambient drone music that is not necessarily demanding much, more like a sort of coincidental colliding of sound particles. That may sound perhaps a bit too easy, but it's this apparent randomness that is quite nice.” [FdW/Vital Weekly] 2006 €10.00
TAYLOR, SCOTT / SR MEIXNER Please Keep Clear at all Times CD Sehr spannendes elektro-akustisches Werk von (ex-CONTRASTATE) STEPHEN MEIXNER und SCOTT TAYLOR, insgesamt sehr dunkel & einnehmend, aber mit vielen Mikrodetails und Spannungsbögen. Tip! ”A collaborative album between Scott Taylor, whose previous releases can be found on the Sijis, Touch, and Con-V labels, and srmeixner, once a member of the influential UK group Contrastate. 'Please keep clear at all times' consists of three tracks, combining Musique Concrète, field recordings, and other source material (the piano of Kenneth Kirschner and recordings by M.A. Tolosa on Kirschner Wind, and vocals by Jonathan Grieve on The Sound of X) into dramatic soundscapes. The latter track, composed by an additive process of file exchange, is a radical re-working of a live srmeixner concert recording made by Scott Taylor.” [label info] „If I understood things well, Scott Taylor and Srmeixner didn't actually work together, even when both are based in London (I think), but exchanged sound files. Scott Taylor has had some great releases on Sijis and con-V, dealing with many subtle layered field recordings and Srmeixner was once a member of Contrastate, but started a new life behind the computer. On the first piece, 'Kirschner Wind' they also used the always decaying piano sounds by Kenneth Kirschner and rain recordings by M.A. Tolosa. An empty piece of music, but with a strong, haunting character. 'Nothing Falls Into Place' is a pure field recordings piece, more Taylor than Srmeixner, me thinks, of layered sounds that form a deep drone, with some looser textured sounds on top. 'The Sound Of X' is a rework by Taylor of Srmeixner concert that involves also Jonathan Grieve on vocals (he was the other member of Contrastate), but it's reworked to such an extent that the vocals can no longer be recognized. It's a digital drone rework of mid-frequency sounds that sound like sea waves. All three tracks are great pieces of haunting, cinematographic field recordings and careful electronic treatments. Great stuff.“ [Vital Weekly] 2006 €13.00
TEARDO, TEHO & BLIXA BARGELD Nerissimo LP Sie sind zurück! Drei Jahre nach ihrem Debüt „Still Smiling“ veröffentlichen Teho Teardo und Blixa Bargeld ihr neues Album „Nerissimo“. Darauf zeigt sich erneut ihre langjährige, künstlerische und persönliche Verbindung. Während viele gemeinsame Projekte zeitlich befristet sind, haben Teho und Blixa ihre Beziehung neu definiert und erkunden gemeinsam neue musikalische Territorien. Zum Artwork des Albums wurden sie vom Gemälde „Die Gesandten“ inspiriert, das Hans Holbein der Jüngere 1533 schuf. Darin sind Referenzen zur Philosophie, Religion, Sterblichkeit und Illusion eingebettet – Themen, die ebenfalls auf dem Album aufgegriffen werden. „Nerissimo“ ist der italienische Superlativ für schwarz – und das ist dieses Werk durch und durch. Dabei ist jedoch mitnichten „dunkel“ gemeint, wie die Farbe sonst gerne assoziiert wird. Schwarz enthält alle erdenklichen Farben und ebenso bietet auch die Musik unzählige Möglichkeiten. So spielen sich in den Songs mikroskopisch kleine Dramen wie in einer Petrischale ab ("Ulgæ") und erstrecken sich zu einer surrealen und kosmischen Siebenminutenreise in „Animelle“. Der Titeltrack eröffnet das Album auf Englisch, beendet es auf Italienisch und wirkt so wie eine Buchstütze, die eine wertvolle Sammlung literarischer Werke umklammert. Neu ist der Einsatz von Holzblasinstrumenten. Umgeben von Tehos Baritongitarre, Glocken und dem Arrangement klassischer Streichinstrumente spielt vor allem die Bassklarinette eine signifikante Rolle. Wie eine Schutzhülle umarmt sie zärtlich Blixas tiefe und gleichzeitig liebliche Stimme. Die Sprache verbindet auch die beiden Städte Rom und Berlin, in denen das Album aufgenommen wurde und legt den Grundstein für eine emotionale Reise durch die letzten drei Jahre des gemeinsamen Arbeitens. Die mannigfaltigen Facetten der verschiedenen Schwarztöne bilden ein Tagebuch von Geistererscheinungen. Von Farben, die – einmal beim Namen genannt – das ganze Universum verändern können. Sie gleichen einem Flug durch die Nacht, bei dem die vielen einzelnen kleinen Lichter der genannten Hauptstädte von oben sichtbar werden und ein ganz neues Bild ergeben. https://neubauten.org/de/releases/nerissimo 2016 €20.00
TEHOM Phobos CD Phobos” is an audio documentation of a live performance held at the extraordinary location of Sophienkirche in Wuppertal/Germany during Phobos Festival in 2019. It was recorded directly at the mixing desk and over a microphone capturing the church's acoustics, which can be heard on the recording itself. The music is atmospheric and ritual. Grim and narrative electronics enriched by TeHÔM’s chanting and processed acoustics of percussive nature are at the same time pleasant for the ear and unsettling for the mind. Phobos is a dark, dark place to be... https://tehom.bandcamp.com/album/phobos 2021 €12.00
TESTCARD # 17 : SEX BOOK Inhaltsverzeichnis Kimiko Leibnitz: Anything Goes? Sexualität, Medien und die Verschiebung von Tabugrenzen. Georg Seeßlen: Die nackten Wilden des Kapitals. 10 Ungebote von Sexualität und Marktwirtschaft. Dagmar Brunow: Im Bett mit Marcuse. Sexualitätsdiskurse in der radikalen Linken. Im Gespräch mit Massimo Perinelli. nói: Knoten und Jogginghosen. Besuch bei einem Japanbondage-Workshop. Mick Schulz: Mit Lust gegen die Gesellschaft! Oder: Was man heute noch aus alten Bravo-Heften lernen kann. Tim Stüttgen: »Nicht alle empfinden das Gleiche über Sex.« Im Gespräch mit Laura Maria Agustin über MigrantInnen, die Sex verkaufen und diejenigen, die ihnen angeblich helfen wollen. Michaela Wünsch: Sexuelle Arbeit. Im Gespräch mit Renate Lorenz. Ron Steinke: Schwule Frauen, lesbische Männer. Geschlechternormen im deutschen Transsexuellengesetz. Jasper Nicolaisen: Liebe_Machen. Sex und Transbeziehungen. Mike Laufenberg: The Trouble With Nature. Über homosexuelle Körper und das Dilemma der Identitätspolitik. Klaus Walter: Sprechen über Aids. Im Gespräch mit Brigitte Weingart. Projekt L (Berlin): Shrek, Tokio Hotel und der nicht-virtuelle Körper. Notizen zum Projekt (anti)lookism. Ladyfestwien Sex-AG: Ladyfest goes Sexparty. Dorothee Krings: »Man ist schon anders erzogen, wenn man durch die SM-Schule gelaufen ist.« Ein Gespräch mit zwei BDSMlerInnen. Martin Büsser: For your pleasure. Fragmente einer Porno-Komparatistik. Kerstin Stakemeier: Come. Möglichkeiten eines GEILEN Pornos. Tjark Kunstreich: »Ich hätte nie dazu gehört.« Der Porno-Star Michael Lucas über Europa, Israel, Amerika und die Schwulen. Barbara Eder: From Hard-Core to Post-Porn. Sex, Gender und der kalte Blick aufs nackte Fleisch. Matthias Schönebäumer: pop that ass. Über Detroit Ghettotech als pornographische Karikatur. Torsten Nagel: »This is not a love song.« Der ganz alltägliche Pop-Sexismus. Chris Wilpert: No Sex, Please! Auf der Suche nach Sex im deutschsprachigen Indie/Pop/Punk. Eine Leerstelle … Andreas Richter: Wer sXe sagt, muss auch Sex machen. Über Straight Edge und die verpassten Chancen. Jens Thomas: Ich bin nicht schwul, und das ist auch cool so. Homophobie im deutschen HipHop: Sexismus in Reinform oder Fiktion nach Maß? Martin Büsser / Sonja Eismann: The L-Underground. LESBIANS ON ECSTASY. Benedikt Köhler: KIDS ON TV. Unmixing Business and Pleasure – Zwei Lesarten einer Löschung. Katja Peglow: Goodbye Schmuddelecke! Das Jungsheft. Ein Porträt. Ann Pellegrini: Höllentheater. Sünde und Abschreckung – das Phänomen der Hell Houses. Atlanta Athens: Wie war dein bester Orgasmus? Der Film Shortbus plädiert dafür, sexuelle Verhandlungsräume zu erweitern. Julia Reifenberger und Marcus Stiglegger: »Wenn die Hölle eine Anatomie hätte, wäre es der weibliche Körper.« Das feminine Kino der Cathérine Breillat. Ernest Mathijs: To Die For. Der Fan und die Rezeption von Sexualität und Horror in den frühen 1980ern. Ivo Ritzer: Histoire(s) de la sexualité. Der Film-Regisseur Russ Meyer als Bild-Philosoph. Jonas Engelmann: »Lieber aufrecht sterben, als auf den Knien leben!« Battle In Heaven – Ein Film von Carlos Reygadas. Simon Dickel: Black Men Loving Black Men and other Revolutionary Acts. Positionen zu Begehren und Sexualität in schwarzer schwuler Kultur. Hendrik Lakeberg: »Vor 50 Jahren konnte man als Homosexueller in der arabischen Welt freier leben als im Westen.« Im Gespräch mit Joachim Helfer. Birgit Binder: Das binärgeschlechtliche System angreifen. Im Gespräch mit Lynn Breedlove. Annika Nickenig: Ein Raum, der nicht für uns gedacht ist. Virginie Despentes und die ›selbst verschuldete Vergewaltigung‹. Franziska Meifert: Pornologie. Liebe, Lust, Laster. Eine Bücherschau. Frank Apunkt Schneider: monochroms bewährtes Rezept zur Herstellung von »1 Einh. technol. Innovation«. Oder: Die Quintessentialisierung eines Quintessentialismus. Rezensionen www.ventil-verlag.de 2008 €14.50
#18 : REGRESS BOOK " »testcard« reagiert auf den reaktionären Wandel unserer Gesellschaft – polemisch, analytisch, kämpferisch, aber nicht resigniert. 1968 ist dieses Jahr in aller Munde. Aber wie steht es mit unserer gegenwärtigen Gesellschaft? Nahezu alle im Zuge von 1968 erkämpften Errungenschaften werden derzeit wieder schrittweise abgeschafft. »testcard« #18 wirft einen kritischen Blick auf den reaktionären Backlash, den die westlichen Gesellschaften in den letzten Jahren erfahren haben. Dies betrifft die Renaissance von Religionen aller Art, spirituelle und irrationale Lebensmodelle, die erstarkte Bedeutung der Kleinfamilie und von traditionellen Geschlechterrollen, Neoromantik und Eskapismus in der Kunst und Musik und den Abbau von Bürgerrechten. Die neue Stimme der Reaktion kommt jedoch nicht einfach nur »von oben«. Phänomene wie flächendeckende Kameraüberwachung werden von einem Großteil der Bürger begrüßt oder sogar ausdrücklich gefordert. Filme wie »Keinohrhasen« oder Bücher über spirituelle Erlebnisse auf dem Jakobsweg feiern deshalb so große Erfolge, weil sie den regressiven Nerv der Zeit treffen. Doch wie konnte es zu einem solchen Mentalitätswandel kommen? Warum gehen Prekariat und zunehmende Entrechtung nicht mit Protesten einher, sondern mit der Flucht in Denk- und Lebensmodelle, die den Anschein erwecken, es habe das Projekt Aufklärung nie gegeben? »testcard« #18 vermeidet einseitige Schuldzuweisungen und versammelt erstmals in einer Anthologie kritische Analysen zu einem Rückschritt, der alle gesellschaftliche Bereiche erfasst hat. Inhaltsverzeichnis Dietmar Dath: Das große Abschaffen. Anne Roth: Dringend tatverdächtig. Die Verhaftung des Soziologen Andrej Holm. Ron Steinke: Genug gekuschelt. In der Debatte um »Erziehung« werden andere Saiten aufgezogen. Enno Stahl: This is the end of the world as we know it. And I feel bad ... Der Faktor Arbeit – stirbt aus ... Thomas Waitz: Der große Gesundheits-Check. Die Dicken, die Armen und das Fernsehen. Jens Thomas: Machs Dir selbst. Do it yourself. Über den Wandel eines Begriffs. Johannes Ullmaier: Basiswissen Regression. Nicolas Dierks: Mitwohnzentrale für Weltbilder. Sascha Seiler: Believing the Western Canon. Kanonbildung in der Popmusik. Wolfgang Seidel: Zukunftsmusik. Wie das Zukunftsversprechen des Pop vom Rückschritt abgelöst wurde. Didi Neidhart: Kein Pop ist auch keine Lösung. Klaus Walter: New Musical Apartheid. Matthias Rauch: Die Notwendigkeit der Subversion. Die Analyse des global Populären in den Cultural Studies. Martin Büsser: Zu zart für diese Welt. Woher kommt der Hass auf Emos? Chris Wilpert Gustav. »Wie fühlst du dich als Mann auf der Bühne?« Holger Adam: Der Ruf der Sirenen. Zur (regressiven) Rezeption der »Folk-Elfe«. Ellen Wesemüller Das IKEA aller Festivals? Feminismus und Subversion in der Ladyfestbewegung. Jörg Nowak: »Feminismus der Besserverdienenden und Familie fürs Volk« Torsten Nagel: Her mit der schönen (Sozio)Kultur? Gabriel Kuhn: »Rewilding« or »Regressing«? Zum US-amerikanischen (Anarcho-)Primitivismus Dieter Bott: Der Fan als idealer Staatsbürger. Stephan Loichinger: Partnervermittlerin Claudia Püschel-Knies. Jan Gerstner: Ein unverzichtbares Land. Der deutsche Familienroman und die Nation. Atlanta Athens: Sich Raum nehmen, solange die anderen lächeln? Andreas Rauscher: Indiestream. Der amerikanische Independent-Film zwischen Nische und Backlash. Kimiko Leibnitz: Der reaktionäre Kern von I Am Legend. Christian Hißnauer: Von der Entmythologisie-rung zum neuen Mythos. Die Entpolitisierung der RAF im medialen Diskurs. Martin Büsser. Im Beichtstuhl des Grauens. Der Filmemacher Wenzel Storch. Benedikt Frank: Ausgetauschte Tonspur. Das heute ungenutzte Potenzial der filmischen Montage und Zweckentfremdung. Ivo Ritzer: Nicht versöhnt. Der Regisseur John Milius – ein progressiver Reaktionär? Frank Apunkt Schneider: Warum früher nicht alles besser gewesen sein darf. Zur Krise des poptheoretischen Gegenwarts-Dogmas. Franziska Meifert: Störenfriede – Strategien gegen die Regression. Eine Bücherschau. Ewgeniy Kasakow: Jegor Letow (1964–2008). Nachruf auf eine umstrittene Schlüsselfigur des russischen Undergrounds." www.testcard.de 2009 €14.50
  #24: BUG REPORT. Digital war besser BOOK " »Wie würden Sie das Internet beschreiben?« »Als die Hölle in bunt, mit Nullen und Einsen. Eine binäre bunte Hölle.« – Bernd das Brot Bei kaum einem Medium fallen Theorie und Praxis so wenig in eins wie bei Computern und dem Internet. Wir lesen Blogs, auf denen in einer Breite und Tiefe über nischenhafte Popmusik gesprochen wird, wie es im »goldenen Zeitalter« des Pop-Journalismus niemals möglich gewesen wäre. Wir halten unsere Plattensammlungen mit Datenbanken, die von ihren NutzerInnen gefüllt werden, auf dem neuesten Stand. Gleichzeitig steht uns ein Großteil der Musikgeschichte mit ein paar Suchanfra­gen zur Verfügung – womöglich illegal, auf jeden Fall aber kostengünstig. Auch die testcard-Redaktion selbst, die sich zwischen drei Großstädten und einer bayerischen Universitätsstadt aufteilt, wäre ohne das Netz kaum koordinierbar. Trotzdem hört man gerade in sub- und gegenkulturellen Kreisen Klagen, die weit über die Kritik an der Datensammlung durch Regierungen, Geheimdienste und Medienkonzerne oder mickrigen Spotify-Einnahmen hinausgehen. Von »digitaler Erschöpfung« ist da die Rede oder von »kommunikativem Kapitalismus«, von einer Verschränkung von Liberalismus und Kybernetik, der Herrschaft der Algorithmen oder vom »fucking Internet«. Zeit für eine Bestandsaufnahme jenseits von kalifornischer Ideologie und »Disruption«, aber ausdrücklich nicht auf der Seite derjenigen, die mit aller Macht ihren Einfluss von den alten Medien in die neuen herüber­retten wollen. Vielleicht sprechen wir letztlich über ein altes Problem: Was ist die Basis, was der Überbau, wie verhalten sie sich zueinander? Das Sprechen über Digitalisierung und das Netz fällt uns vielleicht deshalb schwer, weil die Form von Technologie nicht ohne ihren polit-ökonomischen und sozialen Rahmen zu denken ist. Oder sind ein anderes Computing und ein anderes Netz möglich? Aus dem Inhalt: Sounds der Digitalisierung >> Verschaltete Welt >> Kleine Genealogie des Computers >> Digitales ABC >> Zustand und Zukunft des Webcomics >> Digitale vs. analoge »Gegenwart« >> Nathan Jurgensons Webtheorien >> Mensch-Maschinen und Roboter >> Erzählen in der Digitalisierung >> Altern der digitalen Ästhetik >> Retrospieleboom >> Ungegenstand der Musikinformatik >> Let’s Player >> Indie-Computerspiele >> Ästhetik des Post-Digitalen >> ... Inhaltsverzeichnis Christian Werthschulte: (right now, please). Warum die digitale Gegenwart ­irgendwie auch nicht besser als die analoge geworden ist Roger Behrens: Digital ABC Roger Behrens: Digitale Frist. Computer. Pop. (Beta-Version) eve massacre: Network of blood. Von »Augmented Reality« bis zum »Liquid Self«: Nathan Jurgensons Webtheorien Waltraud Blischke: Bugs, Big Data und die ­UnverNETZbaren. Ein Gespräch mit Peter Bittner, Stefan Hügel und Julia Stoll vom FIfF Marco Schröder: Eine Maschine für alle Maschinen. Kleine Genealogie des ­Computers mit Implikationen für seine Anwendung in Philosophie und Musik Raphael Smarzoch: Rumorende Algorithmen. Die Sounds der Digitalisierung Flora Könemann & Chris W. Wilpert: Part of your distortion. Effekte im Zeitalter ihrer Re-Auratisierung Julian Rohrhuber: Dienst nach Vorschrift. Über den Ungegenstand der Musikinformatik Waltraud Blischke: t-cardcomp. Die Musikliste zur ­ungeregelten ­Geschmacksynthese Jonas Engelmann: In Love With the Modern World. Ein virtueller Roundtable über Zustand und Zukunft des Webcomics hierzulande Carl Wiemer: Das schnelle Altern der ­digitalen Ästhetik. Samuel Beckett und der Zenit ?ästhetischer Modernität David Schwertgen: Der Autor im Zeitalter seiner ­technischen ­Reproduzierbarkeit Johannes Ullmaier: Human Trouble. Transhumane ­Anthropologie im Turing-Test Hommer / Lenzin: Parolen aus der Stadt. Abenteuer eines Wolfes. Episode 3 Bettina Wilpert: Guided by Voices. Erzählen in der Digitalisierung Waltraud Blischke: »Wenn man damit Geld ­verdienen kann, muss das ja salonfähig sein.« Ein Gespräch mit dem Let’s Player SgtRumpel Philipp Eichhorn: Technology in our hands. DIY als Totengräber des Fortschritts anhand des Retrospielebooms Fiona Sara Schmidt: Die Geschichte muss das ­Medium ­notwendig ­machen. Die Spieledesignerin Lea Schönfelder über Autorenspiele, Zensur und ­perfekte Posen Benedikt Frank / Thomas Schröder: Wo andere ­Urlaub machen. Arbeit im Spiel, Spiele als Arbeit Rezensionen Tonträger: 20.SV: The Great Sonic Wave ADDISON GROOVE: Turn Up The Silence ALOA: s/t ALTE SAU: s/t ALVARIUS B: Chin Spirits AMANDA FEERY: Spells From The Ice Age AME ZEK: Rostfrei AMON DÜÜL II: Düülirium ANDROMERDA MEGA EXPRESS ORCHESTRA: Live on Planet Earth ASTRAL SOCIAL CLUB: Medow Mechanicals BANANA PILL: Weave BANKS: GODDESS BART DE PAEPE: Rhode BEYONCÉ KNOWLES: s/t BILL ORCUTT: Daddy’s Got A Spice Rack BILL ORCUTT: Fantomas ? Le Faux Magistrat BIRD PEOPLE: King Of the Grove / ­Nightshades BOHREN UND DER CLUB OF GORE: Piano Nights BRIDGET HAYDEN: Just Ideas/The Night’s Veins BUCK GOOTER: Molescules BULBUL: Hirn Fein Hacken CATHY LANE: The Hebrides Suite CHRIS PETIT: The Museum of Loneliness CHRISTINA KUBISCH UND ECKEHARD GÜTER: Mosaïque Mosaic CICADA DREAM BAND: Bug Music CRASH COURSE IN SCIENCE: Signals from the Pier Thirteen DANIEL BACHMANN: Orange Co. Serenade DANIEL BLINKHORN:Terra Subfónica DAS WEISSE PFERD: Inland Empire DATA­SHOCK: Keine Oase in Sicht DEUTSCHE TRINKER­JUGEND: Scheissegal DIE HEITERKEIT: Monterey DIE PARTEI La Freiheit des Geistes DIVIL A’ BIT: In Deference To The Squeamish DJ RASHAD: Rollin’ EP / Double Cup / We On 1 DJ SARDENA: The Voice: Studio Sardena DJ SLUGO: King Of Ghetto House DSR LINES: Spoel EEK: Live At The Cairo High Cinema Institute EIKO ISHIBASHI: Imitation Of Live EMBRYO: Message From Era Ora FENNESZ: Bécs FENSTER: The Pink Caves FILIPE FELIZARDO: Volume II ? Sede e Morte ? Guitar Variations For The Thirsty And The Dead FKA TWIGS: LP1 GONZÁLEZ & STEENKISTE: Dimly Lit GÜNTER SCHLIENZ: Contemplation HAILU MERGIA: Shemonmuanaye HALSABSCHNEIDER: Havelmusik 1982?1984 HEIN SCHOERS: The Sounding Museum: Box Of Treasures HELEN: Witch/Zanzibar HELLVETE: Ode HONIGRITTER: Kellergeister in unserem Haus IF, BWANA: Live at the Logos Tetrahedon INEZ LIGHTFOOT: Sleep By Day / Fly By Night ISLAJA: S U U JA, PANIK: Libertatia JAMMIN GERALD: Factory Funk JASON LESCALLEET: Much To My Demise JEFF & JANE HUDSON: Flesh JIM O’ ROURKE / PAAL NILSSEN-LOVE / LASSE MARHAUG: The Love Robots JIM O’ ROURKE: Old News / No.?9 / No.?5 / No.?7 / No.?6 / No.?8 / FIRE! WITH JIM JOSHUA BURKETT: Xavier’s Birds JUMPING BACK SLASH: Namhlanje EP KELIS: Food KEMIALLISET YSTÄVÄT: Alas Rattoisaa Virtaa KILLERLADY: s/t KK NULL + THE NOISER: s/t KLINISCH SAUBER: Kommerz Krieg Mond! KREIDLER: ABC KREISKY: Blick auf die Alpen KRISSI B: The Duke LANA DEL REY: Ultraviolence LASSE-MARC RIEKS: Helgoland LAU NAU: Valohiukkanen LEAST CARPET: Back Alley LIEVEN MARTENS MOANA: Os Canais LILY ALLEN: Sheezus LIMPE FUCHS / VIZ MICHAEL KREMITZ: Kugel Haus Musik LOS MICROWAVES: Life After Breakfast LOUIS SARNO: Song From The Forest LOVE A / KOETER: Split LUKE FOWLER: Fowl Tapes II MAMMANE SANI: La Musique Électronique Du Niger / Mammane Sani And The Workstation / Taaritt MANY ARMS: Suspended Definiton MARCELLUS PITTMAN: Do You Like ­Music EP / 1044 Coplin MARION, FRANZISKA UND ARNULF MEIFERT: Incredible Familiar Music / Absolute Relative Music MARK PRITCHARD: You Don’t Know Me MARY OCHER: Eden MERZOURGA: 52°46’ North 13°29’ East. Music For Waxcylinders METABOLISMUS: Sus MOUSE ON MARS: Spezmodia EP MURENA MURENA: Ghoaster Coaster MUTTER: Text und Musik MY BLOODY VALENTINE: mbv NOXAGT: Brutage / Collection 1 O’ ROURKE / Steamroom OLIMPIA SPLENDID: Nuttu Nurin ORACLES: Stanford Torus EP OREN AMBARCHI, KEIJI HAINO & JIM O’ ROURKE: Imikuzushi / Now While It’s Still Warm Let Us Pour In All The Mystery ORPHAN FAIRYTALE: My Favourite Fairytale PANABRITE: Wasteland Cycle PARRIS MITCHELL: Project EP PART WILD HORSES MANE ON BOTH SIDES: Aulos’ Second Reed PASCAL NICHOLS: Nihilist Chakai House PATRICK COWLEY: School Daze PETER MICHAEL HAMEL / THOMAS GUNDERMANN: Coincidence PETER MICHAEL HAMEL:Voice Of Silence PHARRELL WILLIAMS: G I R L RAMBLING BOYS: True To Blue RASHAD BECKER: Traditionel Music of National Species Vol. 1 RAUM: Event Of Your Leaving RAZEN: Reed Bombus LFO RODOLPHE ALEXIS: Morne Diablotins RP BOO: Legacy RUARI O’ BAOIGHILL: The Faceless One RYLEY WALKER: All Kinds Of You SCHREIN: Einszweinschrein SIR RICHARD BISHOP: Solo Acoustic Vol. 8 STAER: Daughters STEVE GUNN / MIKE COOPER: Cantons de Lisboa / Way Out Weather STOSSTRUPP REVIVAL DUETT: s/t SUN RA: Mix-Tape SUNROOF!: Rock Power SWANS: To Be Kind TENSES: Howard THE SPACE LADY: The Space Lady’s Greatest Hits / »Major Tom«/»Radar Love« / Recorded Live in San Francisco / Songs in the Key of Z. Vol. 2 THE YOUNG MOTHERS: A Mothers Work Is Never Done THEO PARRISH: Footwork / American Intelligence / Theo Parrish’s Black Signature TOM WU: s/t TRAXMAN: Da Mind Of Traxman / Da Mind Of Traxman 2 / Westside Boogie Traxy Vol. 3 TREK WITH QUINTRONIC: Landing Plus VALERIO TRICOLI: Miseri Lares VAPOUR THEORIES: Split-LP VENN RAIN: Crepuscular Raze VARIOUS ARTISTS: Keine Bewegung! VARIOUS ARTISTS: Pulsating Strings: A Collection of Psychedelic Asian G­uitar Music VARIOUS ARTISTS: 10 Year Anniversary Hybrid Vinyl Series VARIOUS ARTISTS: Cassette Van Antwerpen VARIOUS ARTISTS: La Psicotropia VILLAGE OF SPACES: Gathering WESTBAM: Götterstrasse WILLIAM ­ONYEABOR: Who Is William Onyeabor? WILLIAM TYLER: Impossible Truth WOOG ­RIOTS: From Lo-Fi to Disco ZEA: The Swimming City Rezensionen Papier: ALBERTINE SARRAZIN: Astragalus ASTRID KUSSER: Körper in Schieflage. Tanzen im Strudel des Black Atlantic um 1900 BENJAMIN STEIN: Das Alphabet des Rabbi Löw BLACK HAWK HANCOCK: American Allegory. Lindy Hop And The Racial Imagination BRECHT EVENS: Die Amateure CHRISTIANE BAREITHER, KASPAR MAASE, MIRJAM NAST (HG.): Unterhaltung und Vergnügung. Beiträge der Europäischen ­Ethnologie zur Populärkultur­forschung CHRISTOPHE BLAIN: Gus: 1. Nathalie / 2. Schöner Bandit / 3. Ernest CLAUDIA BOSSE (Hg.): Cheap Method Edition #1. Struggling Bodies In Capitalist Societies (Democracies) DANIEL CLOWES: Der Todesstrahl DAVID BUCKLEY: Kraftwerk. Die unautorisierte Biographie DAVID PRUDHOMME: Einmal durch den Louvre DAVID SIMONELLI: Working Class Heroes. Rock Music and British Society in the 1960s and 1970s DENNIS EICK: Digitales Erzählen. Die Dramaturgie der Neuen Medien DIEDRICH DIEDERICHSEN: Über Pop-Musik DIETER MERSCH: Ordo ab chao ? Order from Noise DIETMAR DATH / OLIVER SCHEIBLER: Mensch wie Gras wie DIETMAR DATH: Feldeváye ? Roman der letzten Künste DOUGLAS RUSHKOFF: Present Shock EKKEHARD KNÖRER: Battlestar Galactica ENNO STAHL: Diskurspogo. Über Literatur und Gesellschaft ERIKA SCHMIED: Peter Kurzeck ? Der radikale Biograph ERWIN IN HET PANHUIS: Hinter den schwulen Lachern. Homosexualität bei den Simpsons FANNY BRITT / ISABELLE ARSENAULT: Jane, der Fuchs und ich FLORIAN CRAMER: Exe.cut(up)able statements. Poetische Kalküle und Phantasmen des selbstaus­führenden Texts GUNNAR HINDRICHS: Die Autonomie des Klangs HANS BLUMENBERG: Präfiguration. Arbeit am politischen Mythos HANS-CHRISTIAN DANY: Morgen werde ich Idiot. Kybernetik und Kontrollgesellschaft HEIKO KOCH: Casa Pound Italia. Mussolinis Erben IAN F. SVENONIUS: 22 Strategien für die erfolgreiche Gründung einer Rockband JAN SÜSELBECK (HG.): Familiengefühle. Generationen­geschichte und NS-Erinnerung in den Medien JOE SACCOS: Der Erste Weltkrieg ? Die Schlacht an der Somme JONAS ENGELMANN: Gerahmter Diskurs ? Gesellschaftsbilder im Independent-Comic JÜRGEN SCHMICH: Plattensüchtig. Expeditionen in eine andere Welt. 7 Schallplattensammler im Interview JÜRGEN ZIMMERER: Kein Platz an der Sonne. Erinnerungsorte der deutschen Kolonialgeschichte KATIA FOUQUET: Jonas oder der Künstler bei der Arbeit KITTY KRAUS: Lidschlag LINDER STERLING: Frau/Objekt LUCIUS BURCKHARDT: Der kleinstmögliche Eingriff MAGNUS KLAUE: Verschenkte Gelegenheiten. Polemiken, Glossen, Essays MAISHA EGGERS / GRADA KILOMBA / PEGGY PIESCHE / SUSAN ARNDT: Mythen, Masken und Subjekte. Kritische Weißseinsforschung in Deutschland MANUEL MENRATH: Afrika im Blick. Afrikabilder im deutschsprachigen Europa 1870?1970 MARIA JANION: Die Polen und ihre Vampire. Studien zur Kritik kultureller Phantasmen MARK BUTLER: Das Spiel mit sich. (Kink, Drugs & Hip-Hop). Populäre Techniken des Selbst zu Beginn des 21. Jahrhunderts MARTIN NIEDERAUER: Die Widerständigkeiten des Jazz. Sozialgeschichte und Improvisation unter den Imperativen der Kulturindustrie MERCEDES BUNZ: Die stille Revolution. Wie Algorithmen Wissen, Arbeit, Öffentlichkeit und Politik verändern, ohne dabei viel Lärm zu machen MICHAEL PETRY (HG.): Nature Morte ? Stillleben in der zeitgenössischen Kunst MICHAEL PHILIPP / BUCERIUS KUNSTFORUM (HG.): Dionysos. Rausch und Ekstase OSWALD WIENER: die verbesserung von mitteleuropa OUMAR DIALLO / JOACHIM ZELLER: Black Berlin. Die deutsche Metropole und ihre afrikanische Diaspora in Geschichte und Gegenwart PETER KURZECK: Bis er kommt / Angehalten die Zeit SPRING: The ABC of Tragedy / Wunder STEFFEN SCHOLL: Musik ? Raum ? Technik. Zur Entwicklung und Anwendung der graphischen Programmierumgebung »Max« STEPHAN PACKARD (Hg.): Comics & Politik STUART HALL: Ausgewählte Schriften SUSAN ARNDT / ANTJE HORNSCHEIDT: Afrika und die deutsche Sprache. Ein kritisches Nachschlagewerk SUSAN ARNDT / NADJA OFUATEY-ALAZARD: Wie Rassismus aus Wörtern spricht. (K)erben des Kolonialismus im Wissensarchiv deutsche Sprache THOMAS MEINECKE: Analog. Kolumnen TOBIAS GOLL / DANIEL KEIL / THOMAS TELIOS (HG.): Critical Matter. Diskussionen eines neuen Materialismus VARIOUS ARTISTS: In 50 Comics um die Welt / Comics zur Lage der Welt VOLKAN ÇIDAM: Die Phänomenologie des Widergeistes. Eine anerkennungstheo­retische Deutung von Marx’ ­normativer Kritik am Kapitalismus im Kapital VOLKO KAMENSKY / JULIAN ROHRUBER (HG.): Ton. Texte zur Akustik im Dokumentarfilm WENZEL STORCH: Die Filme WERNER SCHWAB: Fäkaliendramen WOLFGANG HERRNDORF: Arbeit und Struktur" [Verlags / website info] www.ventil-verlag.de/katalog/testcard 2014 €15.00
TH-26 La Haine CD Old school Electro-Industrial & EBM-beeinflußtes italienisches Projekt mit Vocals, for fans of this genre ! “TH26 were created in the fall of 1993 by Corrado Altieri, musician involved from early eighties in various wave/post-punk bands. Soon the band moved to “electro-industrial” sound territories, with links ranging from Maurizio Bianchi (the true father of power-noise) to Klinik, and from Throbbing Gristle to Adi Newton's Antigroup. "La Haine" presents 11 tracks of pure rhythmic & synthetic pleasures !!! TH26 offer a CEREBRAL and AGGRESSIVE music with incursions in a sort of isolationist ambient-noise “Electro-core” deviated songs and rumoristic experiments plus great uncompromising hard distorted & filtered vocals...!!! The album delivers a wide spectrum of sounds: TH26 offer you a rich and mature work..., sure a great gem for hard-electronic music lovers !!! "La Haine" is produced by Simon Balestrazzi of T.A.C. that also offered an active collaboration to three tracks. A contagious anthems for the new future of electro-industrial music ! A sonic assault on the senses...!!!” [press release] 2003 €13.00
THALASSA Bonds of Prosperity LP "Thalassa is the avant-drone project for Aaron Turner (Sumac, Isis, Mamiffer, House Of Low Culture, etc.) and William Fowler Collins. In his many guises, Turner articulates a chimerical aesthetic that intrepidly explores beyond the scope of sludge, hardcore and post-rock. In Collins’ blackened earth drones, he steadfastly engages in the elemental exploration of the New Mexican landscape that often inspire comparisons to the potency of black metal without the need for a single blast beat. It makes a hell of a lot of sense these two would eventually cross paths and collaborate. The project name Thalassa harkens to ancient Greek mythology of a primordial sea-goddess, later reprised in the early 20th century through an obscure psychoanalytic treatise by Sándor Ferenczi who posited ideas of human sexuality in symbolic return to the sea. For Turner, the project's name was sparked by a blood disorder called Thalassemia, whose root name is that very same Greek goddess. The ocean, blood, rain, sand, the desert, heat, fog -- all of these elemental / environmental forces are at play in the heavily sedimental drones and crumbled noise from Turner and Collins on their debut release, Bonds of Prosperity. Pressurized torrents of sound build incrementally through layers upon layers of aggregated grit, soot and flotsam. Given the ecological and mythic references, these tracks suitably take the long-view through a uniquely muscular approach to American minimalism. Thalassa finds itself in very good company with Maeror Tri, Deathprod, Sunn O))) and Lustmord. 2XLP edition of 300 copies, housed in a custom printed 2LP sleeve, pressed on black vinyl only." sigerecords.blogspot.de 2017 €27.50
THE NORTH SEA Bloodlines LP "Brad Rose is an artist who is notoriously hard to pigeonhole. He might spend his days running the esteemed Digitalis imprint (sidelining the wonderful Foxy Digitalis webzine) but his nights are wiled away chiselling at the petrified corpse of experimental music. Donating sounds to Ajilvsga, Altar Eagle, Sea Zombies and Ossining (among many, many others) he has somehow found time to fashion a new solo work for Type and it could hardly be further removed from his last outing. ‘Bloodlines’ is an album rooted in synthesis – the kind of busted power electronics that emerged in the early 80s with Ramleh, Throbbing Gristle and Whitehouse. This is not however simply a noise album – Brad has anchored his sound in this explorative mode, but uses his expertise to take it far beyond murk, grit and fractured teeth. With the help of Zelienople drummer Mike Weis (who accompanies the entire record on percussion) the record is a gloriously spacious excursion, with the fizzing Radiophonic blips, drones and tones set against gongs, scrapes and clanks. The sounds are dark and often punishing – torturous and occasionally frightening, but Brad somehow manages to offset it with an occasional flourish of beauty or calm. The record is cut into two distinct acts (split lovingly for vinyl listening) and each ‘song’ blends into the next giving a true album experience. ‘Bloodlines’ is not a simple collection of pieces but a distinct narrative from beginning to end. As it tumbles from 50s sci fi synth tones into haunting off-world terror there is a sense of purpose and most of all, place. Brad has created a record that might not be an easy listening experience, but is one which grows on every successive play. It is truly deep and intensely troubling music." [label info] www.typerecords.com 2010 €16.50
  Bloodlines CD "Brad Rose is an artist who is notoriously hard to pigeonhole. He might spend his days running the esteemed Digitalis imprint (sidelining the wonderful Foxy Digitalis webzine) but his nights are wiled away chiselling at the petrified corpse of experimental music. Donating sounds to Ajilvsga, Altar Eagle, Sea Zombies and Ossining (among many, many others) he has somehow found time to fashion a new solo work for Type and it could hardly be further removed from his last outing. ‘Bloodlines’ is an album rooted in synthesis – the kind of busted power electronics that emerged in the early 80s with Ramleh, Throbbing Gristle and Whitehouse. This is not however simply a noise album – Brad has anchored his sound in this explorative mode, but uses his expertise to take it far beyond murk, grit and fractured teeth. With the help of Zelienople drummer Mike Weis (who accompanies the entire record on percussion) the record is a gloriously spacious excursion, with the fizzing Radiophonic blips, drones and tones set against gongs, scrapes and clanks. The sounds are dark and often punishing – torturous and occasionally frightening, but Brad somehow manages to offset it with an occasional flourish of beauty or calm. The record is cut into two distinct acts (split lovingly for vinyl listening) and each ‘song’ blends into the next giving a true album experience. ‘Bloodlines’ is not a simple collection of pieces but a distinct narrative from beginning to end. As it tumbles from 50s sci fi synth tones into haunting off-world terror there is a sense of purpose and most of all, place. Brad has created a record that might not be an easy listening experience, but is one which grows on every successive play. It is truly deep and intensely troubling music." [label info] www.typerecords.com 2010 €6.00
THE THRESHOLD HOUSEBOYS CHOIR Form Grows Rampant 2 x 12inch The Threshold HouseBoys Choir was a project by Peter “Sleazy” Christopherson. Operating out of Bangkok, Thailand, the Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV founding member started this audio and visual endeavour following Coil’s end. Despite the name, it was a solo project which relied heavily on computer generated vocals. The name was derived from a play on words, combining the terms houseboy, house of boys, boys' choir, and Threshold House, which was Coil’s own label. "Form Grows Rampant" is the soundtrack of a film shot by Christopherson (a video capture at the GinJae Vegetarian Festival in the south of Thailand) and his first major musical project since the tragic death of John Balance and the subsequent demise of Coil. The music is a suite of lenghty dense atmospherics that combine shuddering electronics with sampled vocals, eerie digitalia, buried melodies and sinister undercurrents hinting at a gleaming heart of darkness, with a joyful melodic progression that sounds positively triumphant towards the end of the disc. It's both Coil-esque and quite different, and undoubtedly is the worthy successor of the legendary group that Christopherson created with his partner John Balance. First released in small quantities in 2007 as a CD/DVD set, this is the first time it is released on vinyl, CD and digital. This reissue has been mastered from original files by Sidney Claire Meyer at former Deutsche Grammophon studios Emil Berliner in Berlin, using the half speed mastering process, and pressed on heavy vinyl. File under COIL Forever, Religious IDM, Ecstatic Classical, Post Ethnic Industrial Exotica, Erotic Trance and best album ever heard. https://shop.mentalgroove.ch/album/form-grows-rampant 2022 €30.00
THE TRIPLE TREE Ghosts CD "Tony Wakeford kann's nicht lassen! Als ob der umtriebige Mr. "Sol Invictus" nicht schon mit zahlreichen Nebenprojekten (u.a. Grey Force Wakeford, Trio Noir, L'Orchestre Noir, Hawthorn) ausgelastet wäre, hebt er nun gemeinsam mit Andrew King sowie ausgewählten "Familienmitgliedern", u.a. Renee Rosen, Guy Harries, John Murphy (u.a. Knifeladder, SPK, Death in June, Shining Vril) oder Kris Force (Amber Asylum), ein weiteres namens The Triple Tree aus der Taufe, dessen Debut "Ghosts" niemand geringerem als dem britischen Ghoststory-Autor M.R. James (1862-1936) gewidmet ist. Bereits das James-Zitat "Depend upon it! Some of these things are so, but we do not know the rules!" auf der Rückseite des Booklets deutet die Marschrichtung an: Festgelegte Regeln kennt man hier nicht, und schon gar nicht die des Neofolk. Folglich sollte man sich der Scheibe exakt unter diesem Gesichtspunkt nähern, denn "Ghosts" ist abgedreht, "Ghosts" ist schaurig und "Ghosts" verlangt dem Rezipienten zeitweise einiges an Toleranz ab. Sägende Geigenläufe, diffuse Feldaufnahmen, schräge Flöten-/Pfeiftöne, dumpfe Percussions sowie viele weitere Soundelemente, oft subtil disharmonisch zusammengefügt, erzeugen eine Atmosphäre, welche den Hörer direkt in James' gespenstische Szenarien zu führen vermag, in staubige Bibliotheken, schmutzige Hinterhöfe oder düstere Gemäuer des viktorianischen England. Die Stimmen von "Dr. Wakeford" und "The Rev. King" tun dazu ihr übriges. Während "The Mezzotint" oder "Lost Hearts" in schlichtem Erzählstil dargeboten werden, kommt "The Stalls" als altertümlicher Kanon daher und "Black Crusade" scheint von beiden direkt in einer Kaschemme der Londoner Docks eingesungen worden zu sein. Doch "Ghosts" ist auch berückend schön. Neben dem durch gezupfte Gitarre und markante Männerstimmen fast erhaben wirkenden "Three Crowns" sind es hauptsächlich jene Titel, in denen die beteiligten Damen Autumn Grieve, Kris Force oder Mercy Liao gesanglich zum Zuge kommen. Dabei kristallisiert sich vor allem das perlende Duett "The Malice of Inanimate Objects" als Höhepunkt heraus. Aber selbst dieses ist von einer unheilsschwangeren Aura umgeben, da die Lieder ständig durch schrille Versatzstücke gebrochen werden, die sich entweder als Intros/Outros oder komplette Tracks einschleichen. Genau das richtige, um die Gruselstimmung immer wieder zu entfachen. Trotz alledem kommt jedoch eine typische Eigenschaft der Inselbewohner nicht zu kurz, der Humor. Im Booklet präsentieren sich die beiden Protagonisten nämlich launig, wie direkt aus einem der schauerlichen Romane entsprungen. Schrullige Fotos für ein ebenso schrulliges und gerade deshalb fesselndes Album. M.R. James wäre sicher stolz gewesen!" [Medienkonverter] "The Triple Tree consists of Tony Wakeford (Sol Invictus) and Andrew King aided and abetted by M, Autumn Grieve, Kris Force (Amber Asylum), Guy Harries, Renee Rosen and John Murphy (Death In June, SPK, KnifeLadder), and is an extended homage to the supernatural fiction of M. R. James (with a certain nod to his notable studies in the New Testament Apocrypha) the greatest ghost story writer in the English language, and the finest medievalist of his generation. Join Dr Wakeford and the Rev. King as they search for the Three Crowns, attempt to Cast the Runes, purchase The Mezzotint, follow Mr Abney’s "remarkable enlightenment" in Lost Hearts, and join Count Magnus on the "Black Crusade"! Winter evenings will never be the same again... Digipak with booklet." [label info] ".. Anthony Wakeford and Andrew King is best known as part of the project Sol Invictus, that for more than two decades has combined neo-folk and neoclassical influences with electronic experimentation. The comprehensive experiences in that particular field beautifully flourish on this tribute to haunted tales of medieval times under the project flag "Triple Tree". The atmosphere is perfectly accomplished with some beautiful male and female vocal integrated in medieval folk-expressions that stylishly turns associations towards Dead Can Dance. As a contrast to the organic sounds, the electronic part of the album first of all operates in ambient-oriented soundscapes to create haunting atmospheres of ghouls. "Ghosts" is a strong sonic depiction of early ghost stories from M.R. James, inspiring the listener to dive into the dark forces of the medieval author!" [NM, Vital Weekly] www.coldspring.co.uk 2008 €8.00
THE [LAW-RAH] COLLECTIVE & CINEMA PERDU Invocation CD "in our lives we meet various people and we get to spend some quality time with a couple of them. depending on who we spend our time with and in what state of mind the time together is spent, we talk about friendship. and the more honest and unconditional this friendship is, the more it adds to the quality of our respective lives. it's a rare thing when you meet someone and right from the first moment you know you add to each others lives. it only happens a few times - and maybe not even that often - but we have all been there and we all recognize those moments; as well as the people it concerns. and yes, those times bring back a warm and fuzzy feeling. but then there are the many ways a friendship can end: a wrongfully interpreted word, a misunderstood thought, incompatible visions or simply because it started to cost more energy then it gave back. as incomprehensible a friendship can begin, it can also end. sadly there are also true and deep friendships that have never ended, even when said friend has left this dimension. the feeling that we're left with is just about the worst feeling ever ... with 'invocation' the [law-rah] collective and cinema perdu present a split album with personal views and interpretations of the emptiness that remains. finding closure in a process of grief. not the most happy of feelings, but it's a feeling we all recognize, an emotion we can all relate to and maybe the one thing we all have problems with giving it a place in our lives. the process of composing, writing, producing and finishing 'invocation' has helped us seeing things in perspective again after loosing loved ones. 'invocation' - simply to have that final conversation, to share that final drink, or just to say you care ..." [label info] "So today we will be looking at (and listening to, of course) some darkly pulsing ambient and asking, “just what is it about this music that makes it so great for processing inarticulate emotions?” Well before I answer that, and while I try not to ‘zone out’ entirely, let me just articulate my feelings right now by saying: This... Is... Great. And, furthermore, it pulses darkly and in all the right places. Ahhh… It’s a collaborative effort, this, between The [Law-Rah] Collective (Bauke van der Wal) and Cinema Perdu (Martijn Pieck) -- each performing and contributing two individual tracks and a fifth track wherein they combine their compositional efforts. Opening track, ‘1’, by [Law-Rah], pleasantly and gently throbs like the aural equivalent of a deep red Rothko painting. For musical touchstones, think Nurse With Wound and Locust. His second individual track, ‘5’, drones slightly more ominously and is accompanied by a glitchy ‘popping’ sound which is not unlike that made earlier when we were preparing the post here at Norman and a trolley rolled over a long sheet of bubble wrap. These sounds phase in and out and pan woozily to leave the listener a little disorientated. Cinema Perdu similarly explores the empty psychological spaces which remain once you are all cried out. Really, this is perfect for the final part of the day when this reviewer has precious little more strength to muster. The two tracks Martijn Pieck brings to this disc are as sublime as the previous two by Bauke, in that the music is the contemplative, irresistible, seemingly boundless evocation of space, of internal conflicts easing and resolving themselves outside of time. Plus, his second track features metallic chiming under mallets. I’m a sucker for resonating metal and mallets. Martijn and Bauke’s collaborative track, ‘4’, is possibly the most affecting of all. What sounds like a sample from a long lost choral masterpiece is used as a bed for found sounds and plucked electroacoustic instruments, with an industrial throb underpinning it all… there’s an organ playing. For a minute there, I thought it was coming from the cathedral in my mind. Then silence. The CD whirrs its death throes and I feel a little more alive." [Norman Rec.] "THE [LAW-RAH] COLLECTIVE ist ein mehr oder weniger loser Zusammenschluss von Künstlern rings um den niederländischen Musiker BAUKE VAN DER WAL, der das Projekt mit dem enigmatischen Namen um das Jahr 2000 herum gründete. Bevorzugt tummelt man sich im Experimental-, Drone- und Dark Ambient-Sektor, zeigt aber auch keine Berührungsängste mit harscheren, ja dezidiert noisigen Spielarten, was exemplarischen Ausdruck in Kollaborationen mit NAVICON TORTURE TECHNOLOGIES (Box Edition von "The Gospels Of The Gash" und "Your Suffering Will Be Legendary") findet. Überhaupt ist man, was die stilistischen Details betrifft, um relativen Abwechslungsreichtum bemüht, und so reicht das bei discogs aufgespannte Genre-Spektrum von "Elektronik, Pop" über "Experimental, Abstract" bis hin zu "Dark Ambient, Drone". Seiner Grundrichtung bleibt das Kollektiv nichtsdestoweniger treu; nicht umsonst hat man schließlich – nomen est omen – der eigenen Homepage die Adresse "darkambient.net" verpasst. Entsprechend gerne arbeitet man freilich mit stilistisch benachbarten Künstlern wie CISFINITUM oder eben CINEMA PERDU zusammen. Der Mann dahinter, MARTIJN PIECK, ist langjähriger Freund VAN DER WALs, seit 2008 Vollmitglied von THE [LAW-RAH] COLLECTIVE und seit 2011 unter dem nom de guerre CINEMA PERDU aktiv, unter dem er bislang mehrere Alben im File- und Tape-Format veröffentlicht hat. Die vorliegende CD "Invocation" ist nach dem gemeinsamen Split mit WOODBNDR, "Blue Ruins Under Yellow Skies" von 2014, die zweite dezidierte Zusammenarbeit mit CINEMA PERDU und folgt stringent jener kontemplativen Drone-Programmatik, die im Großen und Ganzen das Leitmotiv für die Arbeit VAN DER WALs mit dem [LAW-RAH] COLLECTIVE abgibt, hier allerdings in ganz besonders vielschichtiger, facettenreicher Form zelebriert wird. Das Thema der CD fordert eine gewisse Besinnlichkeit freilich nachgerade heraus, beschäftigt sich die inhaltliche Ebene von "Invocation" doch mit dem Zerbrechen, Erlöschen, in jedem Fall aber mit dem Ende intensiver Freundschaften und enger Beziehungen, sowie insbesondere mit jener gähnenden Leere, die eine solche, mehr oder weniger gewaltsame Trennung einer tiefen emotionalen Verbindung nach sich zieht – egal, ob sie "nur" einem menschlichen Zerwürfnis, einer individuellen, existenziellen Krise oder gar dem physischen Ableben eines der Beteiligten geschuldet ist: "Invocation" versteht sich, so führt der Promotext aus, als "split album with personal views and interpretations of the emptiness that remains. Finding closure in a process of grief." Vor diesem Hintergrund erschließt sich denn auch ganz zwanglos der Hintersinn jener Sentenz, die sich auf der Innenseite des CD-Kartonschubers findet: "Some things were never meant to change but here we are" ... Das beim Berliner RAUBBAU-Label erschienene Album enthält sechs unbetitelte, lediglich durchnummerierte Tracks zwischen knapp acht und knapp zwölf Minuten Länge – etwas Zeit, Muße und Geduld sollte der interessierte Hörer also schon mitbringen, möchte er sich mit dieser, ohne Worte auskommenden, "conversation about what really matters" auseinandersetzen. Wer nun allerdings vom leidlich bekannten, sich über die komplette Laufzeit spannenden, mediokren Einheitsgebrumme ausgeht, das so betrüblich oft unter der Bezeichnung "Dark Ambient" firmiert, wird erfreulicherweise eines besseren belehrt: Lediglich das erste und das letzte Stück, beide von THE [LAW-RAH] COLLECTIVE eingespielt, präsentieren sich als ausgesprochen dronige, tiefenentspannte, einzig durch allerlei Rascheln, Knistern und anderweitige Störfrequenzen in minimale Regung versetzte, dabei jedoch niemals langweilige Soundmeditationen, während die von CINEMA PERDU beigesteuerten Beiträge 2 und 3 deutlich experimenteller und collagenhafter daherkommen – streckenweise fühlte sich der Rezensent durchaus ein wenig an NURSE WITH WOUND erinnert. Die eigentliche Zusammenarbeit zwischen den beiden Outfits, Track Numero 4, gibt denn auch das interessanteste Stück des Albums ab und entwickelt sich, ausgehend von einem sakralen, durch rotorartiges Flattern fragmentierten Choraleinstieg, hin zu einem, schon fast treibend-rhythmischen Mittelteil, um schließlich in einem amorphen, alle Strukturen wieder einschmelzenden Klangbad zu verhallen. Nicht alles auf "Invocation" ist also gar so meditativ, wie es auf den ersten Eindruck und nach Lektüre des zitierten Begleittextes scheinen mag – nach einigen Hördurchgängen entpuppt sich das versammelte Material in der Gesamtschau vielmehr als erfreulich abwechslungsreich und immer wieder für das eine oder andere überraschte "Oho!" gut. Fazit: THE [LAW-RAH] COLLECTIVE & CINEMA PERDU legen mit "Invocation" ein rundum gelungenes Werk vor, das routiniert mit den Genregrenzen spielt, sie ausweitet und bisweilen beinahe transzendiert, ohne dabei jemals bemüht zu klingen, sich in Beliebigkeiten zu verheddern oder in akademischen Frickeleien zu verlieren. Beide Projekte interagieren perfekt miteinander und realisieren so ein bemerkenswertes, ebenso meditativ-hypnotisches wie dramatisch dichtes Album, das durch seine implizite Programmatik und die unprätentiöse Art & Weise, in der diese präsentiert wird, noch zusätzlich punktet: "the process of composing, writing, producing and finishing 'invocation' has helped us seeing things in perspective again after loosing loved ones. we hope it can do the same to you." – Irgendwie ist die ganze Veröffentlichung ... einfach ... sympathisch. Und wer kann schon etwas gegen sympathische Musik haben? Der Autor dieser Zeilen jedenfalls nicht." [Endsal/NON-POP] 2016 €13.00
THEME Valentine (Lost) Forever CD "The third album from Theme, a band comprised of Stuart Carter, Jeanne Boyer and Richard Johnson (from'90s influential industrial-experimental band Splintered and head of the Lumberton Trading Company label), is a hallucinogenic intersection, where the exploration of twilight spaces, dreams, bitter reflections and hopes collide with a sense of escape (to better places?) or an abandoned 'self', either lost or searching for much needed identity. More 'song'-based than their previous album, on Valentine (Lost) Forever Theme often witnesses barbed yet oblique words cut-up and formed into mantras over a mesh of cascading drones, textures, blissed-out guitar strums, submerged tamboura, metallic sheets of electronic frah, occasional drum pounds and chilling swells 'n' flecks of musique concrete. Overall, it catches the group exploring their environment, in more senses than one, with renewed vigour and nothing but questions left either open-ended or vying for interpretation. It's a world of rubble, dust and sprawling collapse, psychological or otherwise, screaming for meaning and purpose in a world gone mad where inner conflicts, vulnerability and regret are drowned in vast existential pools... With an additional remix by ex-Siouxsie & the Banshees bass player Steven Severin, this genuine album offers an apocalyptic sound mirage that recalls the experimental and post industrial works of :Zoviet*France, Throbbing Gristle and Coil, as well as the occult-like numbness of Current 93, the bleak avant-electronica of Andrew Liles and the psychedelic drones furrowed by the group's own previous work in both Splintered and Theme. In that sense, Valentine (Lost) Forever is a definite masterpiece in the ever-evolving legacy of the U.K. industrial scene, and if this is the end, then it's time to burn the truth." [label info] www.HCBrecords.com 2009 €13.00
THEOLOGIAN A Means by which to break the Surface of the Real LP "We at Redscroll Records are very excited for our first release under the Nothing Under The Sun imprint. It is very fitting that it is with THEOLOGIAN, a long-time compatriot and embodiment of the direction we intend to take with Nothing Under The Sun, distorting the known into the unfamiliar. A Means By Which To Break The Surface Of The Real features DAVID CASTILLO of PRIMITIVE WEAPONS / WHITE WIDOWS PACT, DANIEL SUFFERING of WHORID, as well as contributions from MATT SLAGLE and engineer KEVIN D. REILLY JR., who has periodically worked with Lee M. Bartow since the earliest incarnations of Navicon Torture Technologies (back in the mid-late ‘90s). Tortured screams reach out over the tumbling industrial workings below. Low register whispered meanderings slowly rise to meet those screams. Machines’ rhythmic drones fold in on the voices. Sirens invite and warn. Sink into the synthetic abyss." [label info] redscrollrecords.com "Another nod to Hellraiser is found in the title to this vinyl only release from the larger than life project Theologian. Lee M. Bartow, the author and creator of Theologian's death-synth epics, has stated that Clive Barker's horror stories are fundamental to his work, even referencing the Hellraiser books as his bible in various interviews. In this quote, we are introduced to the puzzle box that when solved opens a portal into another plane of existence, with any number of demonic characters to be found on the other side, Pinhead included. The roar of big machines endlessly churning, boiling, and grinding with an infernal purpose is heard throughout this album, with the side long B-side "Truthseeker's Pick" emerging as some sort of hellish field recording of sulfuric vents, locomotive clatter, and metal-on-metal clank with nothing but misery and pain to be experienced in such a realm. The album's introductory track "God Comes As A Wall" finds Theologian screaming into the void of a collapsed black hole, crushing rock, building, planets into a singular thrum of cataclysmic white noise. "The Sun Failed To Rise Today" is a continuation of the plodding industrial dirges that Theologian crafted on the mighty Some Things Have To Be Endured, spiralling with spectral noise, megalithic rhythms, and soaring mechanized screams. The shortest number makes for one of the more intriguing pieces in "Surface Of The Real" with its subaquatic techno pulsations bracing the clarion melodies for guitar and / or voice. Limited to 500 copies." [Aquarius Rec.] 2015 €18.50
THIS IMMORTAL COIL The dark Age of Love CD Noch ein COIL-Tribut Album mit Neu-Interpretationen von Klassikern der Band - aber diesmal wirklich "ganz anders": Inspiriert von seligen THIS MORTAL COIL Zeiten auf 4AD sind hier von einer illustren Scharn an "Singern & Songwritern" kammermusikalisch & folkig-instrumental geprägte Versionen entstanden, eine schöner & melancholischer als die andere... "Members of This Immortal Coil are Yaël Naim, Bonnie Prince Billy, Yann Tiersen, Matt Elliott, DAAU, Chapelier Fou, Sylvain Chauveau, Christine Ott, Oktopus, Nightwood, David Donatien & Nicolas Jorio. "On November the thirteenth 2004, Jhonn Balance passed away, He was, along with Peter Christopherson, the founding member of the band Coil. His brutal death marked the end of over twenty years of activism and musical genius. I have then decided to work on a project that would pay tribute to them. I didn't want another compilation that would pile up pieces, without any link. My wish was to transpose this unique musical mood to another one, more classical and more accessible to everyone. The whole idea was to pay tribute to the music for what was beyond it, just the way Coil underlined it: "Coil is more than music". I got my inspiration from the project This Mortal Coil, started in the eighties by the English label 4AD. Its label manager had then grouped some of its own artists together in order to play some standards of rock and pop music. Most of those who participated in this work hardly knew Coil. My purpose wasn't to go towards those artists who had a conscious connection with the music of the group, let alone musicians who claimed to be the heirs to this seminal work. My aim was to play with the discovery and take Coil's pieces towards new interpretations, rid of all influences. The respect and the admiration that I have for Coil's work led me to surround myself with talented artists also admired for their brilliant writing. I needed strong personalities who would show a maybe unconscious will to put all their soul, with great humility and maturity, in their participation. The interpretation of Bonnie Prince Billy being certainly the most poignant testimony. Each artist that was hired for this project was utterly fascinated by the depth of the repertory. They have all been motivated and glad to bring their know how and share it with the others. Members of DAAU from Anvers, the virtuoso Christine Ott, Yann Tiersen and Matt Elliott have lived productive, strong and passionate meetings, which made Yann Tiersen offer Matt Elliott to participate to his new album Dust Lane. To finish and in order to strenghten this team spirit, the whole album was mixed by Oktopus (Dälek) who knew better than anyone how to put each member of the project's contribution forward. Peter Christopherson, who since has gone back to working on his first two groups Throbbing Gristle and P.TV, has written about the titles of This Immortal Coil: "I LOVE THEM. It is the first time somebody with musical sensibility and talent has put so much time and effort into covering Coil songs. It totally passes my "hairs on the back of your neck standing up" test for the whole running time of the album. I was awe-struck." After four years spent managing this project, I could not ask for more." [full label/website info] www.icidailleurs.com 2009 €14.50
THISQUIETARMY Vessels LP "Montreal's THISQUIETARMY create sublime yet massive walls of beautiful shimmering drone, at times with a near pop sensibility, at others near Industrial in its percussive bombast. "Vessels" explores themes of the sea and man's struggle with this relentless and all pervasive force, the music a perfect means of expressing both the flat calm and the force 9 storm. Eric Quach, the man behind thisquietarmy, is a prolific artist, and "Vessels" is perhaps his most impactive work to date. "The Pacific Theater" grips the listener in warm drone before slamming them into the rocks with epic percussion. Album closer "A Spanish Galleon" takes a more gentle approach with clean guitar and washes of orchestral strings. Quach's live performances are presented as a real-time multimedia installation, based on an impromptu score to a prepared film, which he creates himself. The visual themes revolve around dark ethereal ambiences and ghostly abstract. The live material can be as structured as it can be improvised on the spot, depending on the moment's vibe, and drowns the audience in a hypnotic dream-like state of introspection. For Fans Of: NADJA, JESU, AUN, AIDAN BAKER." [label info] www.aurora-b.com 2012 €20.00
THISQUIETARMY + YELLOW6 Death LP " “DEATH” presents a lonely journey of great intensity across the desert, facing inner and external elements, fatally leading to an escape for salvation. The journey is split into three tracks: “Sand” discovers the tough, arid and suffocating desert, as attractive as it is frightening, it surrounds you completely without compromise and there is no turning back. “Furnace” describes the beginning of the blistering heat and the dusty pilgrimage; the rocky landscape is mirrored by a great loneliness in which is revealed our inner demons, ready to engage a battle without mercy against your own soul. “Salt” depicts the comatose state of being at the tail end of the journey, disoriented and dehydrated, lost within psychedelic hallucinations, physically fighting death with little of what is left of your mind. Mastered by Fear Falls Burning. 180g vinyl with free download coupon (no CD, unfortunately) 80 black / 320 gold." [label info] www.bassesfrequences.org 2010 €14.00
THU20 Vroeg Werk do-CD "First anthology of legendary dutch electroacoustic group of musicians whose names can be definitely placed in range of true underground stars and passionary pushers of contemporary experimental music scene. First CD in this double album is compiled from studio works, unreleased or taken from rare compilations, second CD gathers the best concert recordings. Release date is 29th December 2012. Limited edition of 500 copies in jewelcase." [label info] www.monochromevision.ru "Sometime in the early '80s, a bunch of young Dutchmen formed a couple of post-punk bands that nobody remembers anymore; but on one Thursday that happened to be the 20th of some month, one of those bands abandoned their rhythms entirely and splattered out a drone-tape and synth-noise set that had the audience freaking out. The punk structures were scrapped entirely and THU20 was stuck onto this project as the new name. Get it? The Dutchmen of THU20 included Jac Van Bussel, Peter Duimelinks, Roel Meelkop, Jos Smolders, and Guido Doesborg (later replaced by the ubiquitous Frans De Waard). The mid to late '80s proved to be a highly prolific time for THU20, although the project continues on to this day at a much more restrained pace. The ideas that went into THU20 transitioned from Joy Division into Cabaret Voltaire & Throbbing Gristle quickly arriving at a DIY punk form of musique concrete and electro-acoustic experimentation. Such was a similar trajectory for the German ensemble P16.D4, albeit towards even more unconventional goals. In the studio, THU20's work could be austere and brutalist in the obfuscated collages and disjointed slabs of noise; but the live version of THU20 proved to be far more shambolic, dynamically expressive, and rewardingly chaotic. Vroeg Werk is a diverse collection that spans both of these modes of operation, with the second of these two discs being entirely live recordings and the first culling from the dustbin of the cassette culture. The studio material found on disc one has some semblances of the more abstracted tape work found on Einsturzende Neubauten's Drawings Of O.T sans Blixa, with the opening track "5720" being particularly choice. But, the live material is really where THU20 shine, grafting gritty electro-acoustic noise sourced from voice, tape, synth, feedback, pedals, shortwave, power tools, scrap metal, and who knows what else onto thin rhythmic spines of morse code blips, overblown tape loops, and primitive drum machinations. Effectively, THU20 would land somewhere between the panzer bleakness of MB and the viral shredding of Nocturnal Emissions. Not a bad place to be..." [Aquarius Rec.] "And then there is 'Vroeg Werk' by THU20. Now I am the last person to review that, you may claim, right so, but I really don't have that much to do with it. By accident I was present at two concerts, and added vocals (?) to one and a synth to the other, which makes a total of five out of thirty-one pieces. This double CD reflects the early works of THU20, an original five piece with Jos Smolders, Peter Duimelinks, Jac van Bussel, Roel Meelkop and, in these early years, Guido Doesborg. Started out by Doesburg and Van Bussel as a sideline project to Club Rialto, they experimented in their early years with feedback, sample delay pedal boxes, a synth, a rhythm machine and then slowly something such as 'composition' came in, along with the other three members. THU20 were part of the big cassette scene (see also the P16.D4 of two weeks ago), sending out their pieces to compilations. The first discs collects these in chronological order (which is commendable, but it means it's doesn't start out with the best tracks), ending with their twenty minute concert in Bordeaux from 1989 (originally released as a split LP with Merzbow). The whole of the second CD has concert recordings of the years before that, 1986-1989, plus one from 1992. Here we find THU20 improvising freely with electronics, turntables, tapes, synthesizer and sometimes, but not always, guided by a backing tape and a loose notion of a graphic score. Many of these pieces are well-known to me, following the band from their very early days, but boy, they sound great here. The muffled sound of the cassettes is complete washed away and all of these piece shine like diamonds. You could argue if 150 minutes is a bit much, wether the chronological order is a great idea, but this is some truly exciting music. It combines the industrial music of say 1986 (feedback, noise) with the more rough edged notion of musique concrete, electro-acoustic, and it follows this band to find their own way in this. Many of their previous releases are hard to find these days ('Eerste Schijf', 'Tweede Schijf', 'Derde Schijf' or 'Elfde Uni'), and surely here's a band who deserved their own big box set. That is not likely to happen, but this 'small' (what is small?) box set is worth every penny. And still kicking around, THU20 works on a very irregular basis in 2013, in a slightly different line up. Who would have guessed?" [FdW/Vital Weekly] 2012 €16.50
TIBETAN RED / THE OVAL LANGUAGE / DAS SYNTHETISCHE MISCHGEWEBE The Breath of the Hydra CD A three way collaboration between the Germany based THE OVAL LANGUAGE, the Catalan TIBETAN RED and DAS SYNTHETISCHE MISCHGEWEBE living in Rennes, France. In an on and off exchange since end of 2016, a continuous exchange of audio material, ideas and suggestions. Salvador Francesch and Guido Hübner meet again after long years at the occasion of a concert of the latter one at the LEM festival in Barcelona. Since then working together became evident as was the choice of including Klaus-Peter John with whom several collaborations had already seen the light of day through the years, most notably the homage to the late Carlfriedrich Claus ‘sprechzimmern’ with RLW as well as a 2x CD collection of collaborations on the notorious Monochrome Vison label in Moscow. The association of their different sound worlds and even more specifically their extremely particular fashions of creating them was meant to merge and melt in a whole able to blur clear distinctions with only an occasional sneaking out of a head and a hissing tongue amongst many that takes the scent and direction respectively in the brooding heat that forges shape and carves direction. TIBETAN RED Salvador Francesch is a catalan-canadian painter, sculptor and sound explorer who lives in La Garrotxa, Girona. He has released 5 CDs in his Tibetan Red project. His work pursues experimentation with sounds that seek to convey some aspects of his interest in Eastern rituals and ceremonial art. THE OVAL LANGUAGE Klaus-Peter John is from Leipzig, the project started as a trio in the early 80’s working to turn into his solo project with sound, noise works in open spaces, photography, installations and land-art informed projects in which mainly the voice is put center stage. DAS SYNTHETISCHE MISCHGEWEBE started in the early 80’s in Berlin with cassette production and performative concerts, exhibitions and installations to which a D.I.Y. approach of a lot of customized equipment became inherent accompanying an interest in several areas of science and technology. Moved to Barcelona then France, producing many recordings and performance works. https://emerge.bandcamp.com/album/the-breath-of-the-hydra "The Breath of the Hydra (ACU 1029), da weißt man ja, es sind drei Köpfe. So auch hier: TIBETAN RED + THE OVAL LANGUAGE + DAS SYNTHETISCHE MISCHGEWEBE. Ersterer, Salvador Francesch in La Garrotxa in den katalonischen Pyrenäen, hat dem mit Todo entretenimiento es una anticipación del infierno auch das Motto vorangestellt. Der Dichter José Bergamin soll das gesagt haben, als Vorstand der Alianza de Intelectuales Antifascistas der kulturelle Kopf der Spanischen Republik, der Picasso den Auftrag zu "Guernica" gegeben hat. Francesch teilt mit Bergamins Rechtfertigung des 'Roten Terrors' allemal die Vorliebe für Rot und offenbar auch die Vorfreude auf die Hölle. Blödsinn, natürlich die Abneigung gegen Amusement. Er ist mit seinem Debut 1985 auf Freedom in a Vacuum nicht ganz so lange dabei wie Guido Hübner, der ab 1981 sich der Cassette- & Soundculture einschrieb. Bei "Sprechzimmern" (2015), einer Hommage an den konkreten Lautpoeten Carlfriedrich Claus, und zehn Jahre zuvor bei 'Papillon Schizophone' war er dabei auch schon mit Peter John zusammengekommen. Der Leipziger, der in den 80ern als Sänger bei Neu Rot (!) anfing, hat sich nach "Hibernation" & "Waldkonzerte" auf Edition Telemark zuletzt mit "Hexen Hexer" gegen Denunziation und Hexenjagden positioniert, auch wenn heute dabei, anders als im Spanischen Bürgerkrieg und beim Hydraschlachten, seltener Blut fließt. Ich kann mir eine 'Melancholie des Widerstands', wie sie Hübner von László Krasznahorkai aufgegriffen hat, als das Verbindende zwischen den dreien vorstellen bei ihrem alchemistischen Procedere mit brodeligem Köcheln und Sieden, das einher geht mit kratzigen und schleifenden Impulsen und hohleren, quasi perkussiven Anmutungen, die das überwölben. Dazu vexieren zirpige, halbwegs natürliche Klänge mit einem leisen, hauchzarten 'Schreiben' mit metallischem Griffel, über das motorische, zischende, sirrend oszillierende Attacken hinweggehen und einen industrialen Dominator installieren, der impulsiv oder gedämpft rumort und infernalische Stimmen nur ahnen lässt. Der Griffel schreibt weiter in einer opaken Nichtstille und hat dabei etwas von einem Keuchen oder Röcheln an sich. Martialische Wellen mischen das auf, und zischende Ventile machen das zu einem Tauchgang in die Schinderwerkstätten der Schlotbarone. Trappeliges Toben, abgerissene Kürzel und tatsächlich der Kehle entrissene Laute verunklaren dabei die Differenz von Mensch-Maschine, Organisch-Anorganisch, Außen-Innen, Hart-Weich, Makro-Mikro. Immer wieder leise als bruitistische Audiographie aus winzigen, halb wie gehauchten Krakeln vor einer nun dröhnend bebenden Klangwand. Wenn nur das Schreien nicht wäre, das infernalische, kaum zu hören, aber doch nicht zu leugnen. Ganz in der Nähe - Folterkeller, Höllen. Die satanischen Mühlen mahlen als zerrende Tonbandspuren, weiß der Teufel, was sich hinter verschlossenen Türen alles abspielt. Scharrt da wer an Metall? Was sind das für unheimliche Heimlichkeiten?" [Bad Alchemy] "German Attenuation Circuit label run by Sascha aka EMERGE, has released a new album in which three sound artists of electronic experimental music collaborate: German artist The Oval Language, Catalan Tibetan Red and Das Synthetische Mischgewebe who lives in Rennes, France. "The Breath of the Hydra" is the result of exchanging audio files since the end of 2016. Salvador Francesch is a Catalan-Canadian painter, sculptor and sound explorer who lives in La Garrotxa, Girona. He has published five CD's with his Tibetan Red project. Klaus-Peter John aka The Oval Language is from Leipzig and works in noise, open space, photography, installations and informed land-art projects where the voice takes center stage. Guido Hübner aka Das Synthetische Mischgewebe started in the early 80's in Berlin with the production of cassettes and performance concerts, exhibitions and installations. This album consists of a single track of almost 52 minutes long which unfurls two faces. One, the sound is almost imperceptible and silence plays a relevant role. In the other, drones and noises are the background of a proposal with a strong organic character and consequently, gasping and buried voices are barely heard and spit out an indecipherable language. The clicks near the middle of the track look like whips that are followed by screams which are in the distance. All this takes place in a dark ambience that well represents the history of the Hydra." [Guillermo Escudero/LOOP] https://emerge.bandcamp.com/album/the-breath-of-the-hydra, http://www.attenuationcircuit.de/ 2021 €12.00
TIETCHENS, ASMUS Humoresken und Vektoren CD "CD in full colour digipak with photos by Okko Bekker and Asmus Tietchens. Production: Okko Bekker. Recorded at Audiplex Studios Hamburg in 2012. 16 tracks of new material. 500 copies. On „Humoresken und Vektoren“ „Humoresken und Vekotren“ takes up a work that was started upon the invitation of Francisco Lopez for the spanish Störung label. The task was to deliver thirteen 2-minute original compositions for a compilation release. “Humoresken und Vektoren” recycles these miniatures from 2010 and unfolds it into eight new works having no resemblance with the original sourcings whatsoever. These eight tracks are bound together by eight short pieces entitled “Tristia” that function as bridges between the longer pieces. “Humoresken und Vektoren” is a combination of very dynamic and detailed sounds and a range of delicate layers and abstract textures. The CD features very surprising artwork unlike most recent Tietchens releases. Asmus Tietchens writes: Vier Humoresken, vier Vektoren und alle Stücke getrennt durch jeweils eine kleine Traurigkeit: Tristia, Die allerdings in gleich acht Varianten. Im 19. Jahrhundert wurden ohne Ende Humoresken komponiert. Ich habe nie begriffen, was an diesen Stücken lustig sein sollte. Im 20. Jahrhundert gab es eh nichts mehr zu lachen, also wurden auch keine Humoresken mehr komponiert. Das 21. Jahrhundert scheint zum Schreien komisch zu werden, also habe ich vier Humoresken komponiert. Wahrscheinlich wird kaum jemand heraushören, was an ihnen lustig ist. Vier Vektoren geben zwar definierte Richtungen an, aber solange die Koordinaten nicht bekannt sind, zielen sie ins Nichts. Solche Vektoren zu betrachten, ist ebenso ergiebig, wie den Bereich zwischen Null und Eins zu untersuchen. Und vielleicht sind die acht kurzen Tristia- Stücke ja die eigentlichen Humoresken? Und die Vektoren ein wenig traurig? Und die Humoresken führen nirgendwohin?" [label info] www.aufabwegen.com 2014 €13.00
TIETCHENS, ASMUS + FRANS DE WAARD Oordeel CD On „Oordeel“ This collaboration was bound to happen someday! Out of mutual respect and admiration for each other’s work Asmus Tietchens and Frans de Waard decided to work on some music together. The result is “Oordeel" (dutch for "judgement") – eleven tracks of diverse character and subtle beauty. From distorted groans and gritty pulses to delicate and abstract sound layers Tietchens and de Waard have created a fascinating sound world of bizarre beauty. Frans de Waard Frans de Waard (1965) has been producing music since 1984 (Kapotte Muziek, Beequeen, Goem, Zebra, Freiband, Shifts, Modelbau, etc.). In 1984 he started his own record label Korm Plastics, releasing music from Arcane Device, Asmus Tietchens, Jim O'Rourke among others. He has worked for the pioneering Dutch tape label Staalplaat (1992-2003) and since 1986 as a reviewer for his own publication Vital (now Vital Weekly), a magazine which has been an online source for underground music since 1995, and which celebrated its 1000th issue in 2015. In 2016 Timeless published in France his first book, an autobiography of life in Staalplaat titled This Is Supposed To Be A Record Label. His interests in music creation ranges from ambient to noise to what he describes as 'silly disco music'. He has played concerts in Europe, USA, Canada, Russia and Japan, and collaborated with Steven Wilson, Jaap Blonk, Andrew Liles, Radboud Mens, Keiji Haino, Pan Sonic and others. Asmus Tietchens Tietchens was born in Hamburg in 1947. Since 1975 he has been working as an independent musician; in 1980 he released his first solo record Nachtstücke. After producing a series of rhythmic and harmonic albums for the Sky label in the early 1980s he released his first industrial record Formen letzter Hausmusik in 1984 on United Dairies. Here Tietchens articulated his musical interests clearly: everyday noises were treated and at times deformed beyond recognition and placed into new contexts. Until now Asmus Tietchens has released more than 80 albums on international labels where he continues to explore the posibilities presented to him by specific sound sources (ranging from water sounds to pure sine wave tones). He has a more rhythm-oriented fake band project called Hematic Sunsets. Tietchens’ work is rooted in a deeply sceptic gesture, marked by frequent quotes from the works of philosopher E.M. Cioran on his album covers. Asmus Tietchens has been awarded with the prestigious Karl Sczuka Prize of the Südwestrundfunk (SWR) twice: in 2003 for his work Heidelberger Studien 1-6 and in 2006 for Trois Dryades. He lives and works in Hamburg. https://aufabwegen.bandcamp.com/album/oordeel "As everyone knows by now, I am the world’s foremost authority on Frans de Waard Record Reviews. Do you think you’ve written more Frans de Waard record reviews than I have? You are incorrect. Go ahead, count all the Frans de Waard record reviews that you’ve ever written and tell me how many there are. Oh, is that all? I’ve written more. You cannot win. Looking at my recent contributions to the subgenre of music journalism of which I am the indisputable champion, I notice that my critical expertise is most frequently turned towards de Waard’s solo albums as Modelbau and Quest/QST. However, as the Reigning King of Frans de Waard Reviews that we all agree I am, I happen to know that the (unofficial) Mayor of Nijmegen thrives on collaborations. This latest pair of albums show off his versatility with two very different, yet equally excellent, pieces of electronic music made with the cooperation of two very different composers. It’s amazing to think that “Oordeel” is the first album-length album that de Waard and veteran German composer Asmus Tietchens have done as a duo. Both are prolific and enthusiastic collaborators, so it seems natural that they’d come together at some point. Both gents share a disinclination to explain themselves, preferring to follow their musical instincts wherever they lead and to let an image or a title stand as the only signpost to guide listeners. The way that the title “Oordeel” is pronounced in English, the word describes something difficult to endure; a protracted unpleasant or traumatic experience. The Dutch word, however, means “judgement”. I suspect that neither interpretation is intended to frame this music literally, and that the title was more likely selected for it’s aesthetic appeal. I could be wrong, but then again I’m the greatest reviewer of Frans de Waard records on the planet, so… let’s just assume I’m right, okay? Indeed, this music is not in any way an ordeal to sit through, nor does it seem to be judging anything. The album’s sequence of short, discrete pieces offers no clues as to a concept or even compositional strategy, and yet it sounds very specific. Every piece seems to be created from similar materials united by a background ambience of incorporeal breath, which makes it hang together as a single idea. There’s a cool hermetic quality to all eleven vignettes, each one offering sharp clicks and carefully sculpted hums that skip lightly over a surface haze. I’m reminded of smooth 1970s plastic, mercilessly austere and yet vaguely sinister in its indifference. Only one piece breaks up the set: “VII” temporarily shatters the reverie with a buzzing whine of dial-up modems and hostile radio static. Once “Oordeel” gets that out of its system, though, it returns to the holodeck and stares out at the cosmos for awhile." [HS/Vital Weekly] 2019 €13.00
TONIUTTI, GIANCARLO & TIZIANO DOMINIGHINI Counterchronology CD "Unreleased very first recordings from 1979 by Giancarlo Toniutti together with Tiziano Dominighini. His very first approach on electric and acoustic instruments and noises. Recovered and mixed by Giancarlo Toniutti 2014. Limited to 300 copies." [label info] www.finalmuzik.com "The only straightforward statement found on Counterchronology's densely worded liner notes is downright blunt: "Tiziano is dead." Aside from that one somber fact, the archeological ruminations of this recording are laboriously complex; but here's what we can gather. In September of 1993, the Italian vanguardist Giancarlo Toniutti came across two cassettes that contained material dating as far back as 1979, marking some of his earliest recording then in concert with a character named Tiziano Dominighini. He shelved them once again for another decade when he rediscovered the material to hold a number of open-ended / freeform recordings of Giancarlo and Tiziano clamoring about the glassworks shop run by Dominghini's father along with various environmental recordings, sparse yet maltreated guitar splutter, automatic writings, art brut actions, and long-form chord organ drones. In repurposing the musical interludes and provisional collages from those tapes, Toniutti sought to aggregate the sounds in such a manner as to maintain the something of an integrity from the originals while configuring the more naive gestures with the hand of a mature electroacoustic composer. On the near 34-minute first track, Toniutti weaves haptic events in varying degrees of density upon a bed of those long-form organ chords, with unhinged filter sweeps diving deep into cascading deep low-end rumblings. There's an extemporaneous psychedelic quality to much of the percussive burblings that hold aesthetic similarities to Angus MacLise, AMM, Z'ev, certain facets to the early Nurse With Wound continuum, and the most shambolic / abstract participants of the global freakfolk explosion from a couple years back. The shorter 10-minute second piece slowly blossoms from a deep bellowing thrum with desolated sibilance into a frenzied clamor on junked metal accompanied by distant flutes and strange utterances, both detouring from and complementing the first piece quite nicely. As rewarding as he is challenging, Giancarlo Toniutti continues to impress." [Aquarius Records] 2015 €13.00
TOOP, DAVID Entities Inertias Faint Beings LP From David Toop: The music existed already, spores maybe or dormant clusters of digital files. Out of three periods of solitude the germination began. The first was in Queensland, on Tamborine Mountain (an aboriginal name), so silent at night that I listened to recorded music – Japanese gagaku, Buddhist ritual from Bhutan, Korean Confucian music – as if drifting into cavernous black space. Stepping into sleep I saw a hypnagogic image - a transparent swimming pool suspended over the mouth of a volcano. I read Stephen Mansfield’s book on Japanese stone gardens – “Successful stone arrangements seem almost alive, the elements conversing among themselves with an occult vitality, the call and response that has been noted between well-placed rocks resembling the chanting of Buddhist sutras” ; Daylight listening in chill air, hearing whip birds, butcher birds, noisy mynahs, kookaburra chatter, rainbow lorikeets; catapult elastic, I wrote, radio waves in a kettle, electric buzzers. On Queensland’s Gold Coast I gazed at a distant humpback whale breaching out to sea, watched Yasujiro Ozu’s 1934 silent version of A Story of Floating Weeds, listened to cicadas burst into life as a helicopter flew overhead. Back into society and driving with Lawrence English I asked him, why would anybody release music in the 21st century? He laid out his philosophy; I was convinced. Then in St Ives, Cornwall, solitary again, drawing, reading Timothy Morton’s Hyperobjects and Clarice Lispector’s Agua Viva (her beautiful sentence: “dry keys echo in the dark and humid early hours”), gazing at ocean flux, music trembling into life from secreted audio files, music becoming living entities. Phantoms rose up out of sea mist, images of black light and blistered skin from photographers (Takuma Nakahira and Tomatsu Shomei), the fermenting of sounds. From a distance I heard voices – the extraordinary painter Mariko Sugano reciting ancient Japanese garden texts on the taboos associated with stone setting; Emi Watanabe’s flute as if a ghost from the Noh; the sounds of underwater creatures in my pond; Sylvia Hallett’s sarangi crying (in cavernous black space); the fervent drumming of Rie Nakajima’s small mechanical beings (like cooking with paper, wire and batteries); John Butcher’s reeds, music as a scientific exploration of the body, the instrument. Rie talked about the properties of objects, soft or hard. In the Noh play Aoi no Ue, the spirit is compelled with drum and plucked string (the catalpa bow). In solitude I contemplated death, decay, the gush of life. Back in the car, Lawrence told me, when you die you’ll leave many projects unfinished. I laughed. Unspeakable truths, notes for a language to come, maybe not this world. 
 room40.bandcamp.com/album/entities-inertias-faint-beings "Composer/performer/improviser David Toop’s latest release traces the seam between sound and music, paying attention to the hidden sounds that surround us and turning silence inside out. In a lot of ways I’ve come to dislike music,” David Toop told The Wire in 2003. “I love sound, I love silence, but music as a whole I don’t like anymore.” You might assume that would have troubled him, given that Toop, then 54, had been deeply involved with music for most of his life, in virtually every role imaginable: performer, improviser, composer, critic, theorist, archivist, curator, and label owner. But if it represented any sort of crisis for him—six years before, burnout and “indifference to contemporary music” had led Toop to hang up his hat as a music journalist—it didn’t hold back his output. Since making the statement, Toop has continued to perform and lecture, released a half-dozen albums, and written two books, including the recently published Into the Maelstrom: Music, Improvisation, and the Dream of Freedom. But Toop’s turn away from music, that complicated category of organized sound, has been crucial in one very important aspect: It has allowed him to ask probing questions about the nature of listening. Those questions come to a head on Entities Inertias Faint Beings, his first studio album since 2007’s Sound Body. Offering a vibrant array of rustle and hum, the new album traces the seam between sound and music, between the intentional and the incidental, between expression and mute abstraction. A partial index of its sounds would include the whine of rubbed wineglass rims; shortwave radios on the fritz; the electric buzz of the forest canopy at night; the languid click of fingernails across guitar strings; the whirr and flap of a 16mm film projector’s take-up reel. It is an album about paying attention to the hidden sounds that surround us, about turning silence inside out. And it is an album about using sound to find one's own bearings. Entities Inertias Faint Beings got its start as an autobiography—or, more precisely, it is the result of what turned out to be an abortive case of writer’s block. Its genesis lies in three periods of solitude: first a stay on Tamborine Mountain in subtropical Queensland, Australia (“so silent at night that I listened to recorded music—Japanese gagaku, Buddhist ritual from Bhutan, Korean Confucian music—as if drifting into cavernous black space,” Toop writes in his introduction to the album), and then on Queensland’s Gold Coast, where cicadas harmonized with helicopters. Back in Cornwall, trying and failing to write his life’s story, he began sifting through several years' worth of personal recordings he had stored on his computer: small, percussive thunks; filament-like drones; the crinkling of paper. Shuffling, layering, and arranging—not so much composing as feeling his way through the material, as if improvising—he added new sounds to the mix, like a quiet passage of acoustic guitar from one of his daily practice sessions, and a hydrophone recording from his garden pond. And in London, he fleshed out the pieces with the help of musician friends. The improvising saxophonist John Butcher lends trilling, bird-like sounds to two tracks; Rie Nakajima's battery-powered motorized objects rattle and whirr, suggesting insect colonies in upheaval. The overall result—thematically, anyway—is something like one of W.G. Sebald’s literary peregrinations: a palimpsest of place, memory, and accident, although its precise route is unknown to all but its creator. There is little to tell us what any of these clicks and pings might actually be. Several of the album’s track titles suggest cryptic headings scrawled on notecards in dusty filing cabinets: “dry keys echo in the dark and humid early hours”; “pieces of wood and iron, phials of odours”; “sea slug.” They function as indices of possible experiences, and if they explain little—do the bassy gurgles of “sea slug” really come from a gastropod mollusk?—they offer unusual and inviting travelogues consisting of little more than white noise and feral throb. But Toop can’t quite resist sneaking music—that most elegantly ordered aspect of organized noise—back into the equation. Again and again, understated wisps of melody, harmony, and rhythm surface briefly and disappear just as quickly, sending out ripples that supercharge every corner of this lovely, engrossing album. In the album’s centerpiece, “ancestral beings, sightless by their own dust,” Sylvia Hallett’s sarangi, a bowed string instrument from Hindustani classical music, weaves an eerie, mournful air over slow, methodical pulses. Then, at the track’s end, a jungle’s worth of growling, chirping, buzzing sounds swells and is swallowed in turn by the steady gush of a tropical rainstorm. Toop has compared his compositional processes to traditional Japanese stone gardens—one track, “setting stones,” quotes a thousand-year-old passage on the subject—and at its most engrossing, Entities captures the uncanny qualities of inanimate objects in conversation with one another. It is a way of suggesting that the music exists independently even of its creator; it is a product of the act of listening itself. By the act of focusing our ears, we bring it to life—and vice versa." [Pitchfork] 2016 €23.50
TORAL, RAFAEL Space Elements Vol. 1 CD "Bis Ende der 90er hatte sich der portugiesische Musiker mit Gitarren-Drones auseinandergesetzt. Mittlerweile hat Toral um den für ihn paradigmatischen Begriff »Space« ein ganzes post-Free-Jazz-in-Elektronik-Universum kreiert und dies auf zahlreichen VÖs dokumentiert. Als einer der wesentlichen Gitarristen der 90er angesehen, arbeitete er u.a. mit J. Zorn, J. O'Rouke, Sonic Youth, MIMEO oder Alvin Lucier. Auf dieser CD entschlackt Toral Musik soweit, bis nur noch arrangierte Sounds übrig bleiben. Sein Vorteil ist es, dass dabei keine eklektische Futzelelectronica herauskommt, sondern ein durchaus abgefeimtes Setting, in dem Reste von Jazz und - mit etwas gutem Willen - auch Swing auszumachen sind. Klarerweise auf heutige Verhältnisse gemünzt. Mit dabei: Rute Praça (Cello), Margarida Garcia (b.), César Burago (dr.) und Torals Langzeitkumpel, der Taschentrompeter Sei Miguel. »Ernste« Musik mit hohem Spaßfaktor." [Heinrich Deisl / SKUG] "The Space Program is Rafael Toral's long-term research launched in 2004, through which he has unearthed an innovative approach and a complete re-thinking of how electronic music is conceived and experienced. Using custom experimental instruments, Toral performs electronic music concerned with "phrasing and swing", shaping strange melodies with physicality, movement and gesture in flux. The result is a kind of alien electronic jazz. After the acclaimed, orchestral "Space" (Staubgold 2006) and the following "Space Solo 1" (Quecksilber 2007), this is the first volume of the Space Elements series, each release being focused on one kind of instruments, on small settings and including collaborations. "Space Elements Vol. I" features Rute Praca (cello), Margarida Garcia (electric double-bass), Sei Miguel's amazing percussionist César Burago, and David Toop (flute), besides a short appearance by Sei Miguel (pocket trumpet) himself." [label info] www.staubgold.com 2008 €14.50
  Space Elements Vol. 1 LP "Bis Ende der 90er hatte sich der portugiesische Musiker mit Gitarren-Drones auseinandergesetzt. Mittlerweile hat Toral um den für ihn paradigmatischen Begriff »Space« ein ganzes post-Free-Jazz-in-Elektronik-Universum kreiert und dies auf zahlreichen VÖs dokumentiert. Als einer der wesentlichen Gitarristen der 90er angesehen, arbeitete er u.a. mit J. Zorn, J. O'Rouke, Sonic Youth, MIMEO oder Alvin Lucier. Auf dieser CD entschlackt Toral Musik soweit, bis nur noch arrangierte Sounds übrig bleiben. Sein Vorteil ist es, dass dabei keine eklektische Futzelelectronica herauskommt, sondern ein durchaus abgefeimtes Setting, in dem Reste von Jazz und - mit etwas gutem Willen - auch Swing auszumachen sind. Klarerweise auf heutige Verhältnisse gemünzt. Mit dabei: Rute Praça (Cello), Margarida Garcia (b.), César Burago (dr.) und Torals Langzeitkumpel, der Taschentrompeter Sei Miguel. »Ernste« Musik mit hohem Spaßfaktor." [Heinrich Deisl / SKUG] "The Space Program is Rafael Toral’s long-term research project launched in 2004, through which he has unearthed an innovative approach and a complete re-thinking of how electronic music is conceived and experienced. Using custom experimental instruments, Toral performs electronic music concerned with “phrasing and swing” and performing strange melodies with physicality, movement and gesture in flux. The result is something you’re unlikely to have heard before, a kind of alien electronic jazz. After the acclaimed, orchestral Space and the following Space Solo 1, this is the first volume of the Space Elements series, each release being focused on one kind of instrument, on small settings and including collaborations. Space Elements Vol. I features Rute Praça (cello), Margarida Garcia (electric double-bass), Sei Miguel’s amazing percussionist César Burago, and David Toop (flute), besides a short appearance by Sei Miguel himself. From Toral’s liner notes: “Having found that jazz is the field of musical knowledge where disciplined decision-making is most developed, this music is more informed by jazz than by any other. The Space Program emphasizes articulating silence and sound, by structuring musical discourse on experimental instruments with a simple and clear sonic identity. To my surprise I found no historical precedents to this practice, being that it draws practically no information from electronic music history (which is grounded on different thinking patterns), and it draws very little from jazz history as well, since the instruments I use are inadequate to play any music based on the Western system. I regard this approach to jazz (meaning a system of individual decision-making from the standpoint of free-spectrum live electronics) as a new and exciting field of creative possibilities. I called it “post-free jazz electronic music.” Space Elements Vol. I was mastered direct to metal and pressed on clear 200gram virgin-vinyl in a limited edition of 500 copies. The jacket was designed by Helder Luis at NOTYPE and features a collage by contemporary artist Joao Paulo Feliciano. CD Version available on Staubgold." [label notes] 2008 €14.00
TOTSTELLEN KSR CD-R "Gerda Grimm ist mit ihrem Projekt TOTSTELLEN eine der Wenigen, die mit Noiseästhetik und entsprechender Verpackung unvermindert auch noch ein genuin industriales, nämlich fundamental systemkritisches Bewusstsein verbinden. Die Verhältnisse werden als Zumutung wahrgenommen, als anästhetischer Angriff auf Sinn und Sinnlichkeit. Ästhetik ist untrennbar mit Ethik verbunden. Hinter kapitalistischen Fassaden fällt der Blick 360° auf dystopische Abgründe. Die Utopien der einen erfüllen sich als Alpträume der anderen. Unproduktive Relikte, zwischenzeitlich als Niemandsnischen besetzt, werden von Abrissbaggern demoliert. Zwischen den Trümmern beginnt die Suche nach neuen Alternativen, nach Auswegen aus Nutzungszwang und Profitlogik. Schritte knirschen auf verschneitem Bauschutt. Der Krach des Abbruchs und der Klang der Fragmente und des Schutts sind auf KSR (Totes Format / 2000+1 tilt, totform07, CD-R + video) Quelle einer Musik aus geklopfter, federnder, rumpelnder, sägender Zweckfreiheit, mit dem Beat von Mauerspechten, der sich mit alarmiertem Sirenengesang mischt. Tinguely-Automaten aus Schrottteilen schnurren und pulsieren ihren spielerischen Leerlauf. Homo ludens vs. Homo oeconomicus, ohne große Worte." [Rigobert Dittmann / Bad Alchemy] www.tiltrecordings.org "KSR consists of recordings of empty office buildings KSR 8 and 10, where a lot of money has been raised and now they are abandoned. The field-recordings are edited with a four-track recorder. Also Totstellen uses instruments made from objects found in these empty buildings. The recordings were made in 2002 and 2003 in Hamburg. The atmosphere of the music in noise and industrial. KSR 8 ends with a lot of feedback tones. KSR 10 is is more quiet and you will walk into different rooms and atmospheres. This one also shows a film with shots of the demolition of one of those buildings. A beautiful piece of music about critics to the ruins of capitalism." [JKH/Vital Weekly] 2009 €12.00
  Mein Licht beleuchtet nur Abgruende CD-R "processed fieldrecordings of a journey through the baltic states, finland + lapland. reflections on constructed nature + disruption as utopia. 01 - anorexie im bauch eines wals (12:42) 02 - faules blut in molochs adern (19:38) 03 - keinen traum mehr zu haben (01:24) 04 - fuer die noch lenenden toten (17:32) 05 - vermehrt zu gast im laeukemiecluster (23:38)" [label info] http://telenautik.de/grimm/totstellen "Der Alptraum kommt in lautleisegefälligen Schritten, die baltischen Länder bieten neben der touristisch entlegenen Industrieromantik auch etwas wie ein dreckig-verschlafenes Lokalkolorit, welchem mit Mikrophon und Sampler zu Leibe gegangen werden kann. Wann beginnt der Alptraum wirklich? Dann wenn man aufwacht und feststellt, dass die Realität sich bei aller Authentizität doch beliebig verformen lässt. Totstellen hat in 5 Kompositionen seine einjährige Reise durch die baltischen Länder festgehalten, streng feldrekorderistisch, wie ein audiophiles Tagebuch welches die jeweiligen Reisemomente auf ehrlichste und naheliegendste Art zu skizzieren vermag. Mal rauschen die Bäche, dann wiederum dräunt und hallt der industrielle Alltag der Straßen und öffentlichen Plätze durch die Aufnahmen, werden Funkstimmen und Wassertropfen zu grotesken Klangmonstern, die ihre Formwandlung auf unerklärlich hässlich-faszinierende Weise exhibitionistisch zur Schau stellen. Wenngleich Totstellen’s Abgründe sich ihrer Funktion wohl nur im Gedächtnis seiner eigenen Reiseerinnerungen öffnen, atmet »Mein Licht Beleuchtet Nur Abgründe« eine ganz eigene Sprache, das verworren-gutturale Geflecht aus Erinnerung und Lücke. Die archaische Umverpackung, handgenäht und mit Siebdruck versehen, macht aus diesem Release eine besonders intime Angelegenheit. Chapeau." [Thorsten Soltau / AEMAG] "...Totstellen uses both field recordings, but plays music, sound material creates what he encounters, like the rustle of plastic and metal buckets on ticking. In one way or another, the atmosphere is nostalgic and melancholic compositions and are true sound paintings. These beautiful CDR's packaged in a self-sewn cover with a picture book where the emptiness of the city and nature plays a central role. Highly recommended!" [JKH/Vital Weekly] 2010 €12.00
TOY BIZARRE kdi dctb 039 mCD "Der Code kdi dctb ist bei Cédric Peyronnets Fieldrecordings so obligatorisch wie in gewissen Parallelwelten das BWV oder dergl. ‚kdi dctb 039‘ speziell ist der Mittelteil einer Trilogie, die mit ’kdi dctb 151’ auf dem Split mit Dale Lloyd auf Bremsstrahlung in San Diego begann. Dass Peyronnet auf puren Naturklang (keine Synthesizer, Sampler etc.) pocht, wurde schon als bewusste Abkehr aufgefasst von der erzfranzösischen Pariser Musique- Concrète-Schule. Aber die Lauschangriffe auf die akustische Umwelt, hier nur deklariert mit ‚made in various places from 1994 to 2007‘, sind nicht weniger ‚typisch französisch‘. Oben propellert ein Flieger, unten knistern Laub und Ästchen, dazwischen ein Hüsteln, Klackern und Knurschen, ein Zwitschern, Bitzeln und Zirpen, wie ein Glas prall gefüllt mit ‚Wald & Wiese‘. Duchamp hat 1919 in einer Apothekenambulle ‚Pariser Luft‘ als Readymade-Gastgeschenk mit in die USA genommen. Peyronnet könnte entsprechend 20 Minuten ‚Heimatklang‘ verschenken, so komprimiert, dass er explosiv verpufft, dass es wie ein Percussionorchester aufrauscht und dann minutenlang nachbebt, als synästhetisches Konzentrat von ‚Natur‘, über die hinweg erneut Flugzeuge ihre Bahn ziehen" [Bad Alchemy] "kdi dctb 039 is a part of a trilogy made up of 'kdi dctb 151' (See bremsstrahlung recordings), 'kdi dctb 039' & 'kdi dctb 180' (TBR). Another piece about childhood memories composed only with field recordings made in various places visited from 1994 to 2007 : acoustic spaces, sound objects, sound auscultations, bits of soundscapes... Microphone and recorder as the primary tools. It's sometimes good to make a pause, seat and take a look at the past - then, some sound fragments may appear... our sound memory. toy.bizarre (Cédric Peyronnet / ingeos) - sometimes qualified as "rural headphone electro(acoustro)nic music" - works on field recordings, phonography, soundscapes, sound art, since 1985. He has released more than 40 works on CDs, tapes, videos, compilations...Contact : http://www.ingeos.org" [label info] "Throughout the '90s, Cedric Peyronnet would boldy announce that none of his Toy Bizarre recordings were made with synthesizers or samplers, instead with field recordings and collage techniques as his twin media. It has been speculated that this notion comes from a punk attitude against France's institutional avant-garde which evolved out of the work of Pierre Schaefer and Pierre Henri; but at the same time, Peyronnet's recordings focus on the specificity of sound locations, and the technology of samplers and synthesizers didn't have the ability to reflect the unpredictability that Peyronnet witnessed in environmental sound. While Peyronnet doesn't mentioned his aversion to technology on this 3" from Ferns, he's retained the same adventurous sensibility for dynamic edits coupled with nocturnal, slippery ambience. From the jump-start opening of crackling twigs and grasses with an airplane's Doppler-effected engine roaring in the distance, Peyronnet's 20 minute composition dissolves into elegantly fluid timbres weaving out of tactile sounds from sand, grit, gravel, and other bits of detritus. Once all of the sounds have all settled into a drift of stasis, a quick jump to another set of textures and abrasions begins with a corresponding set of sympathetic drones. Fans of Loren Chasse's field recording work, Tarab, and Steve Roden should all take note of this exceptional release." [Aquarius Records] 2007 €6.50
  kdi dctb 257 [A] mCD "On “kdi dctb 257 [A]”: In 2010-2011 I was invited to work with 2 groups of students within the frame of « Territoires sonores, portée art'ur, réseau d'action culturelle deslycées agricoles publics des Pays de La Loire », in the cities of Saint-Herblain and La Roche-sur-Yon. We worked for a few months listening, recording, and composing with their sound environment. I was particularly interested by one the recording session they made in the Conservatoire de Musique: hearing instruments through walls, stairs and corridors... It sounded really great... a basis for a a real maze. So it became my basis to what I call "my first ever pop music piece", which is a real maze, a glance through the building at first, and then it goes deeper and deeper." Biography Cédric Peyronnet (aka toy.bizarre / ingeos) is a sound artist working since the ’90 around phonography (Field recordings, “sound hunting”…), soundscapes, using the principles of concrete, acousmatic, electroacoustic music. His work, whose main theme is the exploration of places by sound recording, listening and sound sculpting, take form of compositions and sound pieces (CD, Vinyl … more than fifty references published since the ‘90), concerts, sound screenings and sound installations." [label info] www.aufabwegen.com 2015 €8.50
TREPANERINGSRITUALEN Deathward, To The Womb LP "Trepaneringsritualen's long out of print debut release, Deathward, To The Womb (2012) finally sees a proper reissue. An invocation not so much of Babalon herself, but of the tormented elemental of Frater T.O.P.A.N., and his fervent attempts to usher in the Æon of Horus. In the lyrics - based on the texts of Frater T.O.P.A.N. on the Babalon Working - the perilous flame that is Babalon is called upon to ravage creation. She is asked to scorch the earth clean for the coming cosmic renovation. The Eternal Virgin would spring from Her womb. From Her love, the new divine man would be born. 70 years after the Bablon Working was deemed successfully concluded, its utter failure is painfully apparent. "All love songs are of me" She says. This is certainly true of the first five songs of Deathward, To The Womb. The final songs, "All Hail The Black Flame", seem different altogether. In this guise, Babalon brings not solely love, but cataclysm; a holocaust brought upon the domain of Man. Manifested as the Black Flame, She reaches from a time before time, formless chaos, and rips apart the very fabric of the created worlds. Such is Her nature: two opposing principles; that of the nurturing mother, and that of the callous destroyer. "She is flame of life, power of darkness - She destroys with a glance - She may take thy soul. She feeds upon the death of men." Babalon was summoned at Winter Solstice 2015 under the sign of n, with assistance from Alone In The Hollow Garden, A.I.L of Arktau Eos, Michael Idehall, KzR of Bölzer, Nÿland ii of Hadewych, and Æther. To destroy and to give life. This ritual has concluded and was successful. Appended to the six original songs is a specially commissioned 12 minutes and 57 seconds long ritual work entitled "I Remember When I Was God", and attributed to Teeraal Räum Pheynix." www.coldspring.co.uk "Seit "Perfection & Permanence", dem letzten regulären, 2014 erschienenen Studioalbum von TREPANERINGSRITUALEN kümmert man sich beim neuen Hauslabel COLD SPRING offenbar verstärkt um das Aufforsten vergriffener Werke des umtriebigen Okkult-Post-Industrial-Kuttenträgers aus Göteborg, und so ist nach "Veil The World", der Reissue eines Tape-Boxsets aus dem Jahre 2011, nun "Deathward, To The Womb" dran. Das Original erschien 2012 als eine der allerletzten Veröffentlichungen des, noch im selben Jahr verschiedenen, schwedischen Label RELEASE THE BATS im 10''-Format in einer recht übersichtlichen Auflage von 275 Stück. Damit sich die Anschaffung der, nunmehr als CD und LP erhältlichen Wiederveröffentlichung auch für jene Klientel lohnt, die das gute Stück im Original ihr Eigen nennen, hat man seitens COLD SPRING noch den knapp 13-minütigen Track "I Remember When I Was God" obendrauf gepackt, der 2015 in genretranszendierender Zusammenarbeit mit allerlei illustren Zunftgenossen wie MICHAEL IDEHALL, ÆTHER oder dem BÖLZER-Frontmann KZR aufgenommen wurde. Auf der CD prangen zwischen dem letzten regulären Stück der Original-10'' und dem besagten Bonbon übrigens zwölf, jeweils viersekündige "Silent Tracks" – was genau das letztendlich nun soll, erschließt sich dem Rezensenten nicht wirklich, und daran ändert auch eine entsprechende Anmerkung auf der discogs-Seite der CD – "Tracks 7-18 contain no music, but are part of the T × R × P ritual" - rein gar nichts, doch was soll's: dass THOMAS MARTIN EKELUND, der Mann hinter TREPANERINGSRITUALEN, eine ausgeprägt paramystizistische Ader und ein erklärtes Faible für okkultistische Umtriebe hat, ist ja nun hinlänglich bekannt, und insofern wird sich der Mann schon irgendwas dabei gedacht haben, was dem Endergebnis dienlich ist bzw. war. Der Verbraucher muss schließlich nicht alles wissen & verstehen, was zum Produkt beigetragen hat, und entscheidend ist ja, nach des Altkanzlers Helmut Kohl weisen Worten, am Ende immer nur, was hinten 'rauskommt: im vorliegenden Fall weiß das jedenfalls durchaus zu gefallen. Nach dieser kurzen Einleitung dürfte dem Leser bereits klargeworden sein, dass es sich bei "Deathward, To The Womb" um ein dezidiert "rituelles" Werk handelt, weshalb derjenige an dieser Stelle bereits vorgewarnt sein soll, der primär auf nach vorne losbratzende Gassenhauer wie "Judas Goat", "Papist Pretender" oder "Castrate Christ" schielt: Abgesehen von der geradezu atemberaubend treibenden Quasi-T × R × P-Hymne "All Hail The Black Flame", einer todsicheren Bank während jeder Live-Darbietung des Schweden, ist's mit dergleichen nach vorne losgehendem, rumpeligen Black-Post-Industrial auf dem vorliegenden Album ansonsten eher Essig. Es dominiert jene konzentrierte, fiebertraumartige Lo-Fi-Gruselatmosphäre, die die Phantasie des Hörers auch ohne expliziten Hinweis in nachtfinstere Bereiche namenloser In- & Evokationen lenkt, wie sie Meister EKELUND so gerne thematisiert. Und ganz in diesem Sinne rekurriert "Deathward, To The Womb" auf die so genannten "Babalon Workings", eine Serie magischer Rituale, die 1946 vom späteren Scientology-Gründer L. Ron Hubbard und dem Raketeningenieur (sic!) und Autor Jack Parsons – okkulter Ordensname "Frater T.O.P.A.N" – durchgeführt wurden, um eine Inkarnation der thelemitischen Entität Babalon – einer Art archetypischen weiblichen Gottheit auf Basis der mythomagischen Modelle Aleister Crowleys – zu manifestieren. Wie die Fama munkelt, warnte "Ipsissimus" Crowley Parsons vor den schwer kontrollierbaren Effekten seines Unternehmens, und das nimmt wenig wunder, bezeichnet Babalon doch ein Konzept, das seine passendste Analogie wohl in der hinduistischen Göttin Durga bzw. deren dezidiert "dunklem" Aspekt Kali hat: es vereinigt in sich die Polarität des Hervorbringens und des Verschlingens, mithin des Lebens und des Todes. Parsons jedoch war guter Dinge, erklärte nach einiger Zeit den ersten Teil des Rituals für erfolgreich abgeschlossen, um unmittelbar danach seine spätere Frau Marjorie Cameron kennenzulernen, bei der es sich seiner Überzeugung nach prompt um ebenjene Manifestation der Babalon handelte, die Hubbard und er beschworen hatten. Nachdem Parsons aufgrund eines tödlichen Unfalls verstorben war (ursächlich war eine Explosion in der heimischen Küche während des Hantierens mit allerlei hochsensiblen Substanzen, die das halbe Haus in Schutt und Asche legte – wahrlich ein, eines Raketeningenieurs würdiges Ende!), verrannte sich seine Witwe in die Theorie, ihr Göttergatte sei von finsteren Mächten ermordet worden, blieb ihrem magischen way of life aber treu und spielte noch bis ins hohe Alter eine illustre Rolle in thelemitischen Künstler- und Okkultistenkreisen. Zu ihrem Freundes- und Bekanntenkreis zählte von KENNETH ANGER (in dessen Kurzfilm "Inauguration Of The Pleasure Dome" sie die Rolle der Scarlet Woman aka Babalon bzw. der Kali übernahm) über ANTON LA VEY bis zu GENESIS P. ORRIDGE so ziemlich alles, was in der einschlägigen Szene Rang & Namen hatte. Marjorie Cameron verschied 1995 im Alter von 76 Jahren, nachdem sie auf dem Sterbebett im Krankenhaus die letzten thelemitischen Sakramente durch eine Hohepriesterin des O.T.O erhalten hatte. Der vergleichsweise ausführliche Exkurs über die Dame ist durch die thematische Agenda von "Deathward, To The Womb" bedingt: "An invocation not so much of BABALON Herself, but of the tormented elemental of Frater T.O.P.A.N., and his fervent attempts to usher in the Æon of Horus." Die Lyrics, so die labelseitige Auskunft weiter, seien anhand der Schriften des Frater T.O.P.A.N alias Jack Parsons entstanden und thematisieren das Babalon-Konzept als schwarze, den Erdkreis kathartisch reinigende, Flamme, nach deren segensreichem Großreinemachen aus der Asche der alten Welt ein neuer Quasi-Gott-Mensch hervorgeht. Die fragliche eschatologische Powerfrau sah Parsons, wie gesagt, in seiner Marjorie bereits idealtypisch verkörpert, womit der Erfolg der gesamten Veranstaltung für ihn außer Frage stand – schon Crowley war da skeptisch, und im Lichte der Erfahrung haut der Promotext in exakt dieselbe Kerbe: "70 years after the Bablon Working was deemed successfully concluded, its utter failure is painfully apparent." Und in der Tat – blickt man in der Weltgeschichte so um sich, ist man spontan geneigt, zuzustimmen: weit & breit nüscht zu sehen vom "new divine man", ganz im Gegenteil. So gesehen verlegt "Deathward, To The Womb" den Focus von PARSONSs schwachbrüstiger Happy-End-Finalität auf den wesentlich lebenswirklicheren, nämlich verschlingenden, kaliesken Aspekt Babalons, der exemplarisch im bereits erwähnten "All Hail The Black Flame" zum Ausdruck kommt: "In this guise, BABALON brings not solely love, but cataclysm; a holocaust brought upon the domain of Man. Manifested as the Black Flame, She reaches from a time before time, formless chaos, and rips apart the very fabric of the created worlds. Such is Her nature: two opposing principles; that of the nurturing mother, and that of the callous destroyer." Rein musikalisch handelt es sich hier zweifellos um den T × R × P -Klopper schlechthin: unterlegt von martialischem, treibend-wummerndem Getrommel und rhythmischem Metallschlagwerk krakeelt sich EKELUND die schwarze Seele aus dem Leibe und beschwört das Jüngste Gericht – herrlich, einfach herrlich! "»All love songs are of me« She says. This is certainly true of the first five songs of Deathward, To The Womb", so der Promotext, wobei, naja, von "love songs" im engeren Sinne hier sicherlich nur die wenigsten sprechen würden, doch insofern die ersten fünf Stücke sich alle durch ihren rituell-kontemplativen, teilweise devotionalen und bisweilen gar hymnischen Charakter auszeichnen, kann man sie in einem sehr weiten, übertragenen Sinne tatsächlich so bezeichnen. "The Birth Of Babalon" und der anschließende Titeltrack klingen wie Meditationssessions am Grunde des Hades – hier wie zumeist ist es freilich insbesondere EKELUNDs gutturales Gegurgel, das diesen speziellen, dämonischen Mehrwert maßgeblich generiert. "Osiris, Slain & Risen" (der Bezug zum Babalon-Konzept ergibt sich durch Osiris' Ehefrau Isis, die die Einzelteile des von seinem Bruder Seth Ermordeten und Zerstückelten einsammelt und neu zusammensetzt) wirkt durch den monotonen, trockenen und dumpfen Grundrhythmus, über dem EKELUNDs Gezeter dahintreibt, fast noch eine Spur finsterer. "She Is Flame Of Light" ist ein weiterer Höhepunkt des Albums und als solcher treibender und hypnotischer als die vorangegangenen Tracks, wobei es insbesondere die stimmig übereinandergeschichteten Vocals sind, die für den morbiden Charme ursächlich sind. "Sacrament & Crucifixion", obgleich ebenfalls keineswegs übel, geht danach etwas unter und hinterlässt insgesamt einen vergleichsweise indifferenten Gesamteindruck. Danach folgt "All Hail The Black Flame": toll, toll, toll – aber davon hatten wir's ja schon mehrfach. Bleibt zu guter letzt noch der Bonustrack "I Remember When I Was God", doch, um's kurz zu machen: obgleich der Rezensent insbesondere die langen, rituellen Stücke von TREPANERINGSRITUALEN – so z.B. "ÅKALLAN: Mímir" vom DEATHSTENCH- oder "Edifice Of Nine Sauvastikas" vom ÆTHER-Split – ausdrücklich zu schätzen weiß, so haut ihn das hier jetzt nicht so wirklich aus den Latschen. Irgendwie klingt die Nummer im Ganzen ein klitzekleines bisschen disparat, man vermisst diese gewisse innere Spannung, die die einzelnen Elemente zusammenhält und zu einem kohärenten Ganzen zusammenfasst. Mag am Ende vielleicht auch an der Vielzahl der Beteiligten liegen, denn, wie sagt das Sprichwort doch so schön: "Zu viele Köche verderben den Brei". Und bei "I Remember When I Was God" haben möglicherweise wirklich zwei oder drei Köche zu viel mitgemischt. Wobei der Brei freilich trotzdem nicht unbedingt verdorben, sondern durchaus genießbar ist, nichtsdestoweniger hat man dergleichen von TREPANERINGSRITUALEN schon mal besser gehört. Summa summarum rubriziert "Deathward, To The Womb" trotzdem ohne Wenn & Aber unter "Pflichtkauf": zum einen, weil es sich dabei schon jetzt um so etwas wie einen zeitgenössischen Klassiker des Genres handelt, zum anderen, weil es einfach ein spannendes, fesselndes Album ist, das selbst in seinen ruhigen Passagen so mitreißend und stimmungsintensiv ist wie wenig andere. Obendrein bekommt derjenige, der vor dem Hintergrund der vergleichsweise schmissigen 2014er Scheibe "Perfection & Permanence" Lust bekommen hat, sich in die etwas abgelegeneren Gefilde des EKELUNDschen Oevres einzuarbeiten, mit dem hier versammelten Menü eine hervorragende Einführung an die Hand. Im übrigen macht diese Neuauflage Lust auf mehr. Und wer "A" sagt, muss bekanntlich auch "B" sagen. Ganz in diesem Sinne fiebert der Autor dieser Zeilen jetzt schon prophylaktisch möglichen Reissues von "Roi Perdu" oder "Septentrional" entgegen: ist das nicht 'ne super Idee, Herr EKELUND? Bei COLD SPRING wenigstens wäre man dafür bestimmt Feuer & Flamme – schwarze Flamme!" [Endsal / NON-POP] 2017 €19.00
  Algir; Eller Algir I Merkstave CD Trepaneringsritualen return to Cold Spring with an album-long ritual working entitled ᛉᛦ — Algir; eller Algir i Merkstave. On this record — constructed from a series of rituals designated to guide the last ceasing of ᛏᛇᚱᚫ ᚾ ∴ ᚾ ∴ ᚾ — T × R × P is manifest in its most obscure form. Sonically minimal yet devastating in emotional impact, this working lets the listener grasp the last vestiges of Nifl and Múspell, and with them as weapon and beacon traverse the Night. ᛉᛦ reveals a barren landscape where crooked paths lead onward, through soot black veils to a point of radiant light where all that is is Union & Dissolution. Dedicated to our sister, ᛏᛇᚱᚫ ᚾ ∴ ᚾ ∴ ᚾ. T × R × P channelled through the forms of ᚦᛟᚦ ᚷᛁᚷ, ᚾᛟᚺ ⩝⚭⩝, and ᛏᛇᚱᚫ ᚾ ∴ ᚾ ∴ ᚾ at the 63rd Link, 4 & Rising, and Zone Rouge December 2017 e.v. — July 2018 e.v. Mastered by Martin Bowes. Artwork by Nullvoid. ___ I tordön rister marken och i ett enda andetag rämnar alla världar. Den arma kropp som en gång med knapphet höll samman faller nu itu, och itu, och itu. Tills varje beståndsdel blir till Ingenting. Likt en vålnad utan hud och blod och anda — utan köttets förtvivlan — kastar jag mig — handlöst och av vanvett vredgad — i ditt vidunderliga gap. Här, i gudars sotsvarta skymning, där natt och dag förgås, hörs alla ord och stäv för första gången tydligt. Här tar alla vaga förnimmelser sin sanna form och stiger ur ett disigt skimmer. Här, i alla solars gyllne gryning, strålar tusen — åter tusen, pilar av det mest förblindande ljus, mot en enda punkt. Skapandet, och varandet, och blivandet löses upp där prisman splittrar ljuset. Framför mig syns vägen klar och uppenbar. Vi Vandrar Vidare V ∴ V ∴ V CD in 6-panel digipak LP - Limited first edition of 500 copies on 180g black vinyl. Printed inner sleeve with reverse board outer sleeve. Official teaser: youtu.be/8bTlXaUPpzI https://coldspring.bandcamp.com/album/algir-eller-algir-i-merkstave-csr275cd-lp "After a run of strong albums framed around vocal driven, rhythmic death industrial compositions, Trepaneringsritualen ‎(TxRxP) has chosen to take an abrupt left-hand turn (onto the left hand path?) to deliver an extremely minimalist ritual dark ambient album, thus harks back to an earlier phase of the project. In fact this new instrumental album is so minimal and ritualized in style, it would not at all be out of place on the Aural Hypnox label. Compositionally this album consists of two lengthy nineteen-minute tracks, each titled with the algiz rune, but noting for the second track the algiz rune has been inverted. To glean meaning from this, in its upturned position, the algiz rune can be interpreted as a human with upraised arms to received the protection, guidance and wisdom from the Universe. But in its inverted position can be interpreted as meaning hidden dangers for the self and the need to reflect and look within as part of the process of gaining strength and connecting with higher self. Yet even with the cover image of the algiz rune formed by tree branches, based on the spartan artwork and text in Swedish, how the algiz runes should be interpreted in context of this album remains unclear. Sonically speaking the atmosphere is one of bass driven tonal depth and catacombic echo, where blackened washes of archaic drones blend with reverb drenched ritual percussive sounds, including: deep catatonic drum hits; sparse gongs; wailing horns; ritual chimes; singing bowls, low atonal piano notes etc. Yet for all of its apparent minimalism, this album is one that immediately draws you into its sinister clutches and does not loosen its grip for the entire album duration, particularly given the ample tensile sonic elements which keep interest and engagement throughout. Although cut into two separate tracks, the sound effectively plays out at an album length track as the sound between the two pieces bridges the same pace and articulates visions in the mind’s eye of a ritual ceremony being conducted in the falling twilight on the damp forest floor, while tree limbs creak and sway in response to the winds gusting through treetops far above. Also of note is the deep shuddering thud featuring at the start and end of the album album, as if sonically representing the opening and subsequent closing of a ritual cycle. Prior to the release of this album, perhaps I had assumed that TxRxP would continue to forge ahead with a song-based approach. That impression has been proven to be completed incorrect, but at the same time, ᛉᛦ – Algir; Eller Algir I Merkstave is an exceptional example of minimalist and strongly meditative ritual dark ambient music, and completely takes me back to the earliest days of when I started listening to this type of music. Recommended." [Noise Receptor] 2019 €13.00
TRICOLI, VALERIO Misery Lares do-LP "It has been 7 years since 'Metaprogramming from within the eye of the storm', the last solo full length release by Valerio Tricoli. In the years between he has established himself as a formidable presence on the international experimental live circuit and released acclaimed collaborations with Antoine Chessex, 'Coi Tormenti' (Dilemma Records, 2010) and Thomas Ankersmit, 'Forma II' (PAN, 2011) along with the fifth full length release by his band with fellow Italian cohorts 3/4HadBeenEliminated, 'Oblivion' (Die Schachtel, 2010). Throughout these shows, collaborations and ongoing explorations Valerio has developed on his signature style of beautifully unsettling Musique Concrète. The result of his tireless explorations, 'Miseri Lares' is his magnum opus, a multilayered and heavily nuanced work which epitomises the uncanny in the realm of sound. 'Miseri Lares' explores a variety of interlocking themes and sonic tapestries that combine in a quietly disturbing and deeply existential work. As a contemporary take on Musique Concrète Tricoli utilises his full explorations of the Revox taperecorder alongside digital processing whilst retaining all of the mystery and surprise elements found in the classic approach of pioneers such as Bernard Parmegiani, Eugeniusz Rudnik and Michel Chion. Themes of the internal, represented by both the psychological and the physical, play throughout the record. As a symbol of spirits preying on the grief within, haunting wisps of sound swirl around a throbbing bass in 'Hic Labor Ille Domus et Inextricabilis Error', whereas ÔLa Casa Deviata' emphasises the paranoid structure as looming creaks make way for abandoned pipes and a cloud of escaping water. Here, the tension at play is injected with a treated dictaphone recording: 'Tell me what happened','I can't remember THE SMELL!!! There was a tape recorder, where is the tape'? Spoken text (Italian and English) appears throughout the record, mostly as texture or as a dehumanised floorboard - a play on the albums themes of the psychological, emotional and irrational horror within. Texts by Italian poets Dante and Guido Ceronetti appear alongside excerpts from The Ecclesiastes (in hebrew, Qohelet), H.P. Lovecraft, E. M. Cioran, and writings by Tricoli himself. These add an extra weight to the recording, making it reminiscent of Robert Ashley or even the comedic tragedy of later day Scott Walker (baritone aside). Valerio Tricoli's release for PAN adds another piece to the puzzle of narrative-based concrete music, yet deviating from all conventional forms and playing out like a literary form of unsettling sound sculpture. 2LP mastered and cut by Rashad Becker at D&M, pressed on 140g vinyl. Vinyl set packaged in a pro-press jacket which itself is housed in a silkscreened pvc sleeve with photography by Traianos Pakioufakis and artwork by Bill Kouligas." [label info] www.pan-act.com 2014 €28.50
  Say Goodbye to the Wind Shelter Press 139cd The Palermo born, Munich based composer, Valerio Tricoli, has forged a singular path within experimental sound practice, continuously rethinking the relationship between electroacoustic composition and narrative possibility. Say Goodbye to the Wind is his first album with Shelter Press. Across three intricate, deeply personal works of concrète music, the composer blurs the boundaries between the tangible and abstract, weaving complex allegories for the self. Most commonly created on a RevoxB77 reel-to-reel -- manipulating, live sampling, and real-time editing/mixing of field and studio recordings -- in Tricoli's hands, estranged moments of sonorous ephemera transmogrify and intertwine as metaphorical and allegorical sums, far greater than their parts. The title of Tricoli's sixth full-length is taken from a story by J.G. Ballard, set in the desolation of a holiday resort that rests among a landscape of endless rolling dunes that are populated by "sound sculptures" and monsters. Historically, one of the primary pursuits of musique concrete is the transformation of everyday sonority into abstractions of profound meaning and weight. While this process unquestionable played a heavy hand in the composition of Say Goodbye to the Wind, Tricoli's approach to the idiom sets the stage for something entirely unique. Not only are the practices of tape music applied to field recordings, but to the sounds of piano, synthesizers, objects, and the composer's voice, in addition to interventions by Ecka Mordecai (cello), Lucio Capece (soprano saxophone), and Ida Toninato (vocals). "Lo Spopolatore", draws its title from Samuel Beckett's short story Le Dépeupleur (The Lost Ones). Tricoli's work weaves together a multitude of sonorous fragments: field recordings, voice, and diverse instrumentation. "Mimosa Hostilis" -- the name of a Brazilian plant which contains DMT -- begins with same recording as its predecessor, made of his son's breathing, a few months after his birth, in the Sicilian sea wind. Here, Tricoli treats his sources with pointillistic precision, intermingling vocal and minimal instrumental gestures into a polyrhythmic patter that transforms commonplace sonority into aural echoes of wind, rain, the shadowy species within. The title of "De Vacuum Magdeburgicus" is taken from the name of the first paper published by Otto von Guericke, a 17th century, German scientist, inventor, and politician. While no less oriented around the abstract possibilities activated by field recordings, "De Vacuum Magdeburgicus" is the album's most explicitly musical work. Warbling instrumental sounds and vocal interventions, bent by the hand tape manipulation, push toward heightened states of drama and tension, pushing and pulling against a vast pallet of textures drawn from the natural word and beyond. Artwork by Mårten Lange. Mastered by Rashad Becker. https://shelterpress.bandcamp.com/album/say-goodbye-to-the-wind 2022 €18.50
TROUM Ryna CD Wiederveröffentlichung des Debut-Albums von 1998, mit neuer Artwork von TILMANN BENNINGHAUS (Berlin). Re-release of Troum's long sold out first album from 1998 with new artwork by Tilmann Benninghaus. Digipack. "...Die acht Stuecke greifen sehr gekonnt ineinander, steigern sich von Minute zu Minute. Praesentieren sich die ersten Tracks sehr einheitlich, ambient, setzen dann leichte Rhythmusstrukturen ein, um im Finale Riurja" ihren Hoehepunkt zu finden. Alle, die sich mit auditiven Aphrodisiaka berauschen, sollten diesen Edelstein besitzen: Ein begeisterndes Noise-Ambient-Werk!" [Der Schrei] "Vielmehr versetzen sie Gitarrensaiten in harmonische Schwingungen, um damit sinnlich erfahrbar zu machen, dass Begriffe und Ideen Herrn & Damen ohne Unterleib bleiben müssen, wenn sie sich nicht entpuppen zu Flügelwesen, Tänzern und Sängern. TROUMS Dröhnwellen singen von der Einheit von Pneuma, Psyche & Soma. Eine Einheit, die ständiger Modulation ausgesetzt ist. Beispielhaft für einen Modulator steht bei TROUM der ‚Thalamus‘, der wörtlich ‚Schlafzimmer‘ genannte Teil des Zwischenhirns, der die ein- und ausgehenden informativen Erregungen des Großhirns moduliert. Muss man das wissen? Es kann zumindest nicht schaden, sich dessen bewusst zu sein, dass TROUM im Klang & Fleisch gewordenen Wort ‚Traum‘ die psycho-physischen und environmentalen Fundamente vibrieren lässt." [Rigobert Dittmann, Bad Alchemy] "...The general feel of the sounds here is reminiscent of the earth moving, tectonic plates in constant shuffle, the tracks building and then either shifting or worn away via attrition. Its as if Maeror Tri learned to fly through ingenuity, smoke and mirrors, while Troum has taken the ingenuity, smoke and mirrors and, somehow, grown wings. Amazing stuff!" [JC Smith] "I believe it was 1997 when a small posting came my way stating that Maeror Tri had dissolved. At the time, this German trio had become one of my (Jim's) favorite ensembles alongside the likes of Organum, Skullflower, and :zoviet*france:. Maeror Tri's dedication to grimly focused atmospheric music harbored all of the things that succeeded in the campaigns of industrial and ambient music; and the Maeror Tri anonymity (or at least a mysteriousness about the group that lead to such a reading of their collective persona) certainly enhanced their charm. Albums such as Emotional Engramm and Multiple Personality Disorder had achieved heavy rotation status on my stereo (and still get pulled from the shelves quite often in this day and age); so the news that Maeror Tri was no more was met with sadness. Fortunately, two thirds of the Maeror Tri ensemble had decided to continue on but under the moniker Troum. While the name of this duo was an archaic German word for dream, Troum's pursuit of unconscious symbolism through their heavily processed guitar drones still maintained the ashen darkness that Maeror Tri perpetuated, as was evident on their first CD release Ryna, which originally came out in 1998 on the Belgian label Myotis. It should be noted that Ryna is not the first Troum recording; that honor is held by a cassette called Dreaming Muzak that came housed in a tiny pillow. Ryna quickly went out of print, along with much of the Maeror Tri back catalogue; but thankfully, Troum have repressed this early gem through their own Transgredient imprint. An album of constantly billowing black clouds, Ryna achieves the same dark ambient / dronescape signature that had marked so many great Maeror Tri / Troum releases. On occasion, cracked / decayed loops of rhythmic surging emerged from beyond the horizon of Troum's guitar suites, alluding to a Norse mythological bellow of impending doom and apocalyptic battle. While I've not done the side-by-side taste test of the two albums, the 2007 redux of Ryna appears to much louder and cleaner. Regardless, it's a pleasure to hear this record once again!" [Aquarius Records] 2006 €12.00
AIWS CD "AIWS is the first full-length cd release from Troum since 2003. It covers studio-recordings composed from 2002-2005. These musicians have compiled some of their most favorable pieces through the years to be placed on this release. Presenting nine analogue (4&8 track) recorded compositions that lead the listener through vast feelings of beautifully deep melancholic and hypnotic states of mind. Composed with guitar-drones and harmonic phrases that are processed in various ways creating an atmosphere of the sublime and emotional meditative states that transcend listener to immerse within themselves. Ingredients: Sufi-songs, old vinyl-crackles, acoustic & e-guitars, e-bow, e-bass, voice & whisperings, accordion & flute. Stunning photography & design work by Alan McClelland(Eye.lyft). One of the most emotional and profound Troum releases to date now available on Transgredient Records. Dedicated to Eternity. TRACK LISTING of AIWS [* and meaning of titles & phrases] 1. AHMATEINS 2. AGGILUS 3. SPIRARE 4. PER SONUM 5. PANTAH 6. [GA] PLAIAN 7. PENTHOS 8. NEHEH 9. PELETÄ total length: 49:30 min [* AIWS=Eternity (gothic language), also shortcut for "Alice-In-Wonderland-Syndrome". 1. "Inspiration" (gothic) 2. "Angel - Carrier" (gothic) 3. "breathing - aspirating - sighing - smelling " (latin) 4. "through sound" (latin) 5. "way - path - line" (old indian) 6. "supplication" (persian) 7. "the sorrow of mourning - lament" (greek - also a greek god), 8. "Eternity" (egypt) 9. "escape - flight, also: rescue - salvation" (hebrew) " [label info] "... nach einigen 12“s und Kollaborationen die 7. CD des TROUM-Duos. GLIT[S]CH & BARAKA[H] sind dafür bekannt, dass sie sich zu Nietzsches „Die Welt ist tief, viel tiefer als der Tag gedacht“ tief in die Augen blicken und dann ihren Fliegenden Teppich starten. ‚Ahmateins‘ ist, bewusst analog und lo-fi, gewebt aus engen Gitarrenwellen und sämigen Drones von E-Bow und E-Bass. Flug und Flucht, Atmen und Seufzen sind dabei eins. Sound ist der Weg und das Ziel. AIWS ist nicht nur das gotische Wort für Ewigkeit, es steht auch für das Alice in Wonderland Syndrom. Prosaisch ist das eine mit Kopfschmerzen verbundene Sehstörung, metaphorisch aber heißt das doch: Die Welt mit Alicens Augen als Wunderland sehen können. Troums Zauberteppich schwebt auf harmonischen Strömen durch Rauch und Licht dahin, auf einem spiraligen Kurs ins Sublime. ‚Pantah‘ lässt den Saitenklang deutlicher erkennen, in [Ga]plaian‘ ist Sufigesang verdichtet, in ‚Penthos‘ scheint ein Akkordeon zu pumpen, in ‚Neheh‘ Licht nicht bloß zu schimmern, sondern zu singen. Tiefenmusic Reaching Our Unconscious Minds." [Bad Alchemy] "....The pieces on this new CD were recorded from 2002-2005 on Troum's own analogue equipment, all live to four-eight track recorders, without the involvement of computers. Troum, a duo (be it hard to believe), is best a live band, even when working in the studio. Their instruments are guitars, e-bow, bass, voices, accordion & flute, old vinyl. And oh, sound effects. Lots of those are involved in the music of Troum, but they never stand in the way of the end result. Spacious head music. Loud at times, quiet when necessary, but there is a certain roughness about the band, which is an element I really like. Even when things are quiet, they never really are quiet. 'Neheh' is just an example of some sparse organ like loops, feeding through some delay and bouncing gentle forward, but with a certain grittiness. Highly atmospheric even when experienced without the help of any chemicals or other illegal substances and the best but perhaps more frightful experience when played in the dark and with the headphones tied to your head. You are bound to play it again, if not only because it might be too scary to leave the room... Of all things experimental, ambient and industrial (Menche, Zoviet*France, Lustmord), Troum can easily stand the test and be the best of the lot." [FdW / Vital Weekly] 2007 €12.00
Nargis 7inch Sehr rauhes, etwas älteres Material, basierend auf verzerrten e-bow Gitarren & extrem verlangsamten Gesang... majestätisch & unheimlich zugleich... die "heavy" Artwork stammt von MARS WELLINK (VANCE ORCHESTRA), fullcolour cover & inlay. "Latest slab of guitar based whir and drift from these masters of the drone (they do in fact run the DRONE record label after all). Formerly Maeror Tri, Troum embody the drone, they live, breathe, eat and sleep drones. And it shows. Their records are gorgeous and epic, but seem so effortless, as if the sounds they create are simply channeled through their corporeal forms, but have been created in some fiery forge at the center of an alien planet. The first half of this single still sounds like Troum, but is unlike anything we've heard from them, strange looped high end guitar, what sounds like backwards chords, almost choral vocals, dramatic and haunting and cinematic, very much like some super stylized horror movie music almost, warbled and wavery, over a distant grinding low end tone drifting way off in the background, washed over by epic sweeping swells.. The other side is a bit more raw and intense, a seriously corrosive guitarscape, distorted and crumbling chordal buzz, looped and layered into a strange glacial riff, strewn over deep dark swirls of slow shifting sound and haunting minor key melodies. It manages to be intense and fierce but also gloriously washed out and blissful. Super swank, full color covers, full color inserts, and pressed on nice thick vinyl. And of course limited, just not sure - how- limited..." [Aquarius Records] www.vivahaterecords.com 2007 €6.00
  Dreaming Muzak CD " 'Dreaming Muzak' is the first full-length material of TROUM duo originally released on tape in 1998 and later re-released on a limited CDR (100 copies only) in 2005. This edition is the first one on a regular CD. The material was thoroughly remastered by Łukasz Miernik (who is also responsible for the sound of the previous MAEROR TRI reissues on Zoharum.) "Dreaming Muzak" is composed of 2 drone ambient compositions so characteristic for the TROUM style. They were created as a muzak tuning our brainwaves into the proper dreaming stadium. The following prerequisites have been accompanying the duo for many years, hence they have become their credo executed on many excellent records and gigs. It is "Dreaming Muzak" that constitutes an excellent introduction to the adventures with TROUM and their music. The cover design is based on the artwork of Wiktor Jackowski. This edition is released in a 3-panel digipak strictly limited to 350." [label info] www.zoharum.com "Dreaming Muzak was the very first release from Troum, not long after the two members of Troum had disbanded their previous project Maeror Tri in 1998. Originally released as a cassette housed in a tiny pillow in an edition numbering a scant 100 copies, then as an equally small pressing on cd-r a few years later. That said, Dreaming Muzak does what Troum and Maeror Tri have always done so very well: drone-on with gritty, psychological undercurrents. If the intent of Troum was to put the listener to sleep, the lulling vibrating patterns certainly have the capacity; but the overall darkness of these sounds will never inspire the most pleasant of dreams. These are shadowy, bleak, and cold sounds which permeate the album, and lend themselves to images of desolate factories spewing a constant stream of black soot in some wintery post-Soviet country. A very nice document from one of our favorite drone acts." [Aquarius Records] 2014 €13.00
TROUM & RAISON D'ETRE De Aeris In Sublunaria Influxu CD "...Troum und Raison dêtre, das Yin und das Yang des Unbewussten." [Sibylle Bölling] "Ever wondered how a mix of Troum and raison d’être would sound like? Here is the long awaited answer. Four years in the making – carefully forged between 2011 and 2014 -, De Aeris In Sublunaria Influxu showcases a magically crafted alchemy between these two titans of the drone and ambient realms. Troum navigate through cavernous, subterranean spaces where cyclical sounds reverberate towards impressive crescendos of icy noise, luminous drones and dramatic, guitar-driven ghostly melodies. Their truly unique gorgeous soundscapes shine in a perfect symbiotic movement with the Swedish dark ambient maestro Peter Andersson. Engulfed in a hauntingly beautiful kaleidoscope of grey-ish melancholia, raison d’être comfortably walks deeply into Troum’s vast territory, delivering his very own trademark of eerie tones, ominous sacral ambience and crystal clear constructions. Airy lush enigmatic atmospheres live together with dark breathing, reverberant transformative drones. Rich and gorgeously layered. Mastered using the K-14 level standard, the album comes lavishly assembled in a custom, sturdy 6-panel digisleeve packaging with amazing minimal artwork by the award-winning Spanish designer Ritxi Ostáriz. Limited to 700 copies." [label info] www.essence-music.com "Schön, wenn vorab kaum Worte nötig sind, weil allein die Tatsache der Zusammenarbeit zweier namhafter Künstler oder Bands für sich steht. Das deutsche Duo TROUM trifft auf den Schweden PETER ANDERSSON. Meine persönlichen Drone-Helden, die wie kaum eine andere Gruppe den Begriff 'Drone' mit Leben füllen, treffen einen der wichtigsten Dark Ambient-Workaholics mit seinem Hauptprojekt RAISON D'ÊTRE. Obwohl 'aufeinander treffen' eigentlich nicht das richtige Wording ist. Viel eher passt zum Beispiel 'aneinander schmiegen', denn entsprechend verwoben und organisch ist die über vier Jahre sorgfältig vorbereitete Zusammenarbeit ausgefallen. "Folia" (01), der Opener und eines der zwei kurzen Stücke, beginnt mit schwebenden Drones, die ich sofort TROUM zuordnen würde. Das Knistern und Knastern wiederum, welches unterschwellig für Unruhe und Grautöne sorgt, gehört zu RAISON D'ÊTRE. Diese Zuordnung lässt sich über weite Teile des Albums vornehmen. Nach dem dezenten Vorspiel entsteht mit "Alio Tempore" (02) das Bild einer riesigen Kathedrale: abwechselnd tönen schwere und leichte Gongs, Soundcluster im Stile eines Chores schieben sich langsam nach vorne. Im Untergrund ergänzt ein Klirren die Szenerie. Über spacige, flirrende (Gitarren?)Sounds ergibt sich ein ruhiger, gleitender Ausklang. Auch "Oculum Mundi" (03) arbeitet mit Kirchenglocken-ähnlichen Loops, wie überhaupt die Stücke oft sakral wirken. Hier folgt allerdings eine hektischere Wendung, mit Dramatik durch mehr Geschwindigkeit inklusive eines mächtigen Trötens. "Atmosphaera" (04) ist warm und weich, sehr dronig eben, mit diesem kleinen Maschinen-Rattern anbei. In "Meditationum" (05), dem längsten Track, bilden atmende, singende Drones eine chorale Fläche, sorgen für weites und gelöstes Ambiente. Konkretere, schnarrende Klänge schieben sich nach einigen Minuten hinein, und die im Verlauf zunehmend längeren, gleißenden Drones erinnern mich an Musik für (oder von) Eisberge(n), untermalt von an dieser Stelle sehr organischen Sounds wie Grillenzirpen. "Flammae" (06) ist mit seinen drei Minuten für mich das schönste und auch wehmütigste Stück des Albums, die Drones formen eine betörende Melodie. Und "Ad Infinitum" (07) wirkt zum Abschluss auf mich besonders mächtig, fast bedrohlich oder unheimlich. Der Track hat was von einer Verabschiedung, von Dahinfloaten, insbesondere am Ende mit eisigem Krächzen und Schieben, mit fast menschlichen, stöhnenden Drones. Als hätten TROUM und RAISON D'ÊTRE schon immer miteinander gearbeitet, klingt "De Aeris In Sublunaria Influxu" in der Summe seiner Bestandteile äußerst harmonisch. Die angesprochene Aufteilung der Sounds in deutsch und schwedisch, in flächige Drones und Dark Ambient-Geräusche ist zwar möglich, beides ergänzt sich aber durchweg hervorragend und ist so sauber aufeinander abgestimmt und gut produziert, dass die Atmosphäre dadurch gewinnt. Hypnotisierende Soundlandschaften, oder lyrischer: Ein Schweben in warmen Grautönen für dunkle Novemberabende. Das Album kommt auch in einer limitierten Box mit zusätzlichen Tracks auf den Markt..." [Michael We. für nonpop.de] 2015 €14.00
TSEMBLA Fauna LP "The cicadas rub their legs, singing as if sucking on inhalators, when past the great willows I see a dam resting deep in the shelter of the trees. The shadow of the dam, a dark cloak glowing green, spreads over the branches of the trees and far across the grass, transforming the yard beyond the road’s edge into an odd province ruled by frogs and mosquitoes that gradually slides back into being a harmless lawn. You can hear the sounds of the beasts from even further away. I scurry closer through the thicket and see how dragonflies and spotted butterflies split the ever-changing gauze of sound that the flies weave around the smell. The pool festers, simmering like green watery jelly in the grip of the banks. In the middle of the warm thick slobber you can trace some lazily undulating decomposing plants and, on top of them, the great slime kings. The bullfrogs are gathered there, and their coarse croaking sinks heavily into the tussocks’ threads, their necks pulse as they let out their fat notes over each other, random bass choruses, their big bellies trembling in yellow and brown. The slap and plop sound like obscene threats, the bellowing cutting through the air like a foreign language. The females lay their eggs in the dam, hundreds of little eggs, of which the jelly – the male knows – does not loosen its grip until the spawn turns into tadpoles and the tadpoles into younglings. From the road comes the sound of a car, it slows down. I step back and look to the road: the scream of the breaks, highway dust and music sounding faintly through the coachwork. A man pushes his head out of the window and the tune comes through clearly. He shouts over the din of the radio, through the intoxicating croaking: “How far to Garden Street, to the party?” The music blends with the sounds of the dam and the feeling that the whole slimy species is gathered for some fantastic purpose." [Niko-Matti Ahti] www.ikuisuus.net 2011 €14.00
TUDOR, DAVID Music for Piano do-CD "Doppel-CD mit Aufnahmen des herausragenden Avantgarde-Pianisten. Mit Klavierkompositionen von Sylvano Bussotti, John Cage, Morton Feldman, Christian Wolff. David Tudor, Pianist - ein Beruf, eine Berufung, ein Leben. Von 1950 bis etwa 1965 war David Tudor der Inbegriff des Pianisten, der einfach alles spielen konnte. Rasch war David Tudor nicht mehr ein Name, sondern eine Instrumentationsanweisung, und Dutzende von Stücken waren geschrieben "for David Tudor". Schon um 1960, nachdem er alle Zumutungen der seriellen Klavierstücke bewältigt hatte, unterscheidet er zwischen Kompositionen, die ihn mit Leben erfüllen und solchen, die ihn kalt lassen - das Kernrepertoire Tudors kristallisiert sich heraus. Das Hauptkriterium für seine Wahl bildet den Eigenanteil, den er als Interpret an der Komposition hat. Er unterscheidet dabei fein zwischen der freien Wahl ("freedom of choice") zwischen vorgefertigten Teilen - gemeinhin Aleatorik genannt, wie beispielsweise Stockhausens "Klavierstück XI", das ebenso wie dessen Klavierstücke V-VIII Tudor gewidmet ist - von unbestimmten ("indeterminated") Aktionen. Im ersten Fall haben sie eine Tendenz "to put me to sleep", wohingegen Stücke, die weniger einengend sind, dazu führen, dass er sagen kann 'I feel that I'm alive in every part of my conciousness'. Das Programm dieser CDs bildet diese Vorliebe ab." [Frank Hilberg] www.edition-rz.de 2007 €22.50
TUNNELS OF ĀH (TUNNELS OF AH) The Smeared Cloth do-CD "The Smeared Cloth" is a double CD compilation containing the TUNNELS OF ĀH recordings from 2012-2018, which have not yet been published on any medium. The first disc is filled with compositions from the period before the debut in Cold Spring and outtakes from the sessions for "Thus Avici", the next album for the British label. The second disc contains tracks recorded during and between the sessions for "Surgical Fires" and "Charnel Transmissions". Although they were created as loose compositions, out of the concepts clearly outlined on each of the mentioned albums, they sound incredibly coherent, giving impression of being part of a concept release, this makes them a pleasure to listen to; especially when we get carried away in the world created by Stephen Ah Burroughs with the sounds characteristic of his work. Sometimes they evoke associations with ancient rituals, intensifying the impression of Egyptian darkness, the feeling of coldness and emptiness coming as if from a deep dungeon, and with them an echo. All this is a superstructure for the 21 tracks filling both discs, outlined and maintained, in a convention that allows them to be stylistically located somewhere between isolating dark ambient and death industrial, where the gloom aura and dense, mechanical structures coexist as if in symbiosis, thanks to which the balance between building the atmosphere and reflecting the true nature of the industrial collision. This release is undoubtedly a must-have for TOĀH fans, but it can also delight those who appreciate death industrial at a high level. The album's released on two CDs folded in a six-panel ecopack. Tracks 1-11 taken from "The Smeared Cloth" CD1 Tracks 12-21 taken from "The Smeared Cloth" CD2 https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/the-smeared-cloth-2012-2018-unearthed "In den frühen 80ern gründete Stephen R. Borroughs zusammen mit Justin Broadrick und Dave Cochrane das Trio HEAD of David, das einen der noisigsten Grundsteine dessen legte, das später Industrial Metal genannt werden sollte. Im Lauf der Jahre konzentrierte er sich mehr und mehr auf Soloprojekte, und neben Frag war dies seit etwas über zehn Jahren Tunnels of Āh, mit dem er einen Ritualkosmos von fast räudiger Abgründigkeit entstehen ließ. Dass Tunnels of Ah trotz der starken Abstraktion seiner ästhetischen Konzepte ein konsequent verfolgtes atmosphärisches Thema hat, wird bereits deutlich, wenn man die mittlerweile sechs Alben, die seit 2013 auf Cold Spring und zuletzt Hypershape erschienen sind, im Vergleich hört, denn da fallen die verbindenden Elemente sehr deutlich ins Auge. Mehr noch beeindruckt einen die musikalisches Stringenz angesichts der jüngst auf Tape und Doppel-CD erschienenen Compilation “The Smeared Cloth 2012 – 2018 Unearthed”, denn hier lassen frühe Stücke und Outtakes aus verschiedenen Albumsessions ein überraschend zusammenhängendes Bild entstehen. “The Smeared Cloth” ist nichts für Hörer, die Probleme mit Beklemmung, Dunkelheit und niederdrückender Schwere haben. Eine finstere, bedrohliche Stimmung zieht sich durch die oft kreisenden Soundgebilde, lassen durch ambiente Dröhnung, Saitenrasseln oder sirrende Streichersounds filmreife Phasen der Spannung und durch paukende und prasselnde Takte und plötzliche Schuttlawinen aufwühlende Momente entstehen, steigern sich vom subtilen Hauch eines – nur oberflächlich sanft wirkenden, in Wirklichkeit höllischen – Windes zu infernalischen Szenen von hochtönendem, schleifenden Lärm. Klangfarben von Stein und noch stärker Metall prägt das Gesamtbild, doch ist in gewissen Abständen auch immer die Illusion des Organischen spürbar, als würde das harte und kalte Material mit dürren Reiserbesen und ähnlichem traktiert. Auch die entmenschlichte menschliche Stimme ist gelegentlich zu hören, mal in Rezitation, mal als finsteres Growlen und Keifen, mal in Form eines sakralen Gesangs. Wenn man in den 20 Stücken die Kohärenz betont, sollte man hinzufügen, dass in ihnen natürlich auch Raum für Variation ist. Sollte ich einige herausragende Stücke betonen, dann wären es wahrscheinlich “Keys King At Womb Door Again”, in welchem sich ein anfangs kaum spürbares lykanthropisches Hecheln langsam zu etwas (noch) Monströse(re)m steigert – eine Entwicklung, die vielleicht etwas vorhersehbar ist, doch die urige Soundgestaltung, die durchweg an etwas Altes, seit Urzeiten Verschüttetes denken lässt, fällt weitaus stärker ins Gewicht. Ferner “Fountain of Life”, das nach gängigem Verständnis wohl eher wie das Gegenteil seines Titels klingt und an einen zerbrochenen Brunnen erinnert, dessen Wasser ein paar Erdklumpen mit sich reißt und am Ende im Schlamm versiegt. Nicht zuletzt auch der Titeltrack, dessen Spoken Word-Passage wie das Monument eines sinnlosen Aufwands vor infernalischer Kulisse am Ende von einer Schuttlawine geschluckt wird. Nach den über zwei dystopischen Stunden scheiden sich wahrscheinlich die Geister: Während die einen fürs erste genug gelitten haben, sind die anderen nun gewappnet für die regulären Alben des Projektes, und “The Smeared Cloth” gibt da tatsächlich einen großartigen Einblick in einen Kosmos, den ich allen empfehlen kann, die frühe Coil, alte Broken Flag-Releases und ausgewählte Death Industrial-Platten nebeneinander im Regal stehen haben." [African Paper] "Eager to get back into the Tunnels. Not long ago, I gave 'Deathless Mind' another spin, and I had been looking forward to some new material from Burroughs. Still.. two whole CDs, dearie me. I'm curious if I can make it through in one go. Also, it is not exactly 'new' material, but rather excerpts and unused tracks from two distinct periods: the first CD collects all discards from the Lost Corridors and Thus Avici era; the second contains material from the period between Surgical Fires and Charnel Transmissions - compiled into this 2,5-hour lasting tour de force. Me, oh my. Though branded as 'dark ambient' on Discogs, we've come to know Tunnels of Āh for industrial ambient landscapes and complex saturated loops and textures that range timbrally from (seemingly) acoustic in origin to overtly synthetic. Also, the 'loops' here should mostly be taken less literally; there are elements that seem to repeat, but for the most part, the chopped-up complexity of the textures ensures we won't have the typical 'looper' kind of experience in which repetition is often an easy way of tricking our brain into believing it is listening to something musical. On CD 1, many sounds seem to have acoustic sources, which is much more noticeable than on the more recent albums. We also seem to get a lot more vocal delivery than usual, making tracks like 'Brute World' and 'To the Pschal Victim' almost have an early Current 93 or 'ambient Test Dept kind' of ring to them. It is also completely dissimilar in many ways, e.g., production-wise, but for fans of those bands, these tracks may be the right point of entry into the Tunnels. The vocals are often mixed in quite deeply, so you won't be listening to poetry with a noisy background. With the choppy granulated ambient of 'Lost Corridors', a track that did not feature on the eponymous 2013 album, there seems to be somewhat of a 'natural' ending to the first part of the first CD. The subsequent ambient track 'Fountain Of Life' ramps the intensity again with its swirling vortex of delayed grit. Both 'Great Darkness' and 'The Cloth is Smeared' really stand out as two of the more memorable pieces. Disc 2 starts with the interesting combination of 'To the Paschal Victim' and 'Circumcision', which seem to be variations on the same bass riff/loop - though the latter track slides off into a murky bass swamp about halfway through. 'Red Distribution' and 'White Distribution' wrap this disc up in a manner that reminded me of Charnel Transmissions. There is a certain kind of dense lo-fi elegance to them, which also made me fall for that album when it first came out. I've said this before, and I'll repeat it: What I love about Tunnels Of Āh is that though it is clearly tarnished with the brush of industrial and perhaps even reminiscent of some noise - due to its complex textures, it never becomes too harsh or punishing, which given the length of most tracks may be a very deliberate choice either during mastering or in the composition process. Moreover, a wise one, since especially with a leviathan of this length, balance is a thing to aim for. Does it work as an album, though, or is this merely a release for us to be complete? Tough question. The first CD is consistent, albeit on the long side. With 77 minutes, it is about half an hour longer than any Tunnels release on average, and I definitely had to listen to the whole release in phases. That said, when it comes to textures and intensity, there seems to have been some thought put into the dynamic distribution of the tracks and though longer than usual, I would say both these discs work as stand-alone albums. Another keeper in a long line of excellent works from the Tunnels." [LdW / Vital Weekly] 2023 €16.50
TWIG HARPER New Lost Knowns LP *Edition of 200 housed in silk screened jackets, white vinyl - One of our favourite labels, Planam, pulls out a real time-and-space bender from James Twig Harper, who's perhaps best known for his collaborations with Nate Young in Nautical Almanac and alongside Daniel Higgs for Thrill Jockey. Theres some genuine weirdness within, some of the strangest we've heard since Planam first gave birth to Pat Murano's Decimus series, but with a distinctly unique fidelity and gyroscopic dynamic that makes for a deliciously disorienting experience all of its own conception. There's an animalistic or perhaps even plant-like bio-logic to its devolved, dubbed-out arcana, a grunting, scraping, grubbing ecological complexity of sounds that grows, twists and bifurcates at seemingly haphazard junctions to catalyse chain reactions of constant change and multiple layers of surreality. The 2nd side in particular enters passages which sound almost like a primitive take on Florian Hecker's plonging, rubbery computer music or Rashad Becker's perplexing notional folk music." [Soundohm] "in the beginning of what exactly was this beginning that has remained one of the mysteries ever since? in this beginning the year might or might not be 2011 and the whole practice could still be in-process now (though we firmly reject the meaning of the meaning as an open forma s we consider it more a time-binding). it is doubtful if this sonic process would have ever evolved beyond the animal stage suspended as it is in a fragile balance between sounding familiar to the nervous system and unfamiliar and alien. this process is wholly dependant upon the integrity of the system and its necessary environment. an extermination program created by working multiple channels, reducing mixes, removing sections, adding segments, layering inversions under continual growths and constant changes, until we can no longer recognize the original source or process itself. a very limited unit of sound and image biologically activated to act as communicable dizziness existing in the past present and future when listening to it. let's turn it on. lp record and silkscreened sleeve are the access, your playback new "reality". edition of 200 copies which will turn your eyes and ears inside out, upward, backwards and in all directions." (label info) 2013 €21.50
UGGERI, MATTEO & MOURNING DOVE Does the Moon not Dream CD Elena Botts is American, lives in Washington DC. Matteo Uggeri is Italian, lives in Milan. When this album was conceived, in 2018, she was 22, he was 44. Three years after its conceiving, the album is now released in Spring 2021 by the historical ADN records (adnrecords.com), that since 1984 has published artists like Pascal Comelade, Merzbow, Pierre Bastien, Tasaday, Riccardo Sinigaglia, Cranioclast, Sigillum S, Christina Kubisch, Third Ear band and many others… Elena's works under her moniker Mourning Dove are primarily built on her voice and poems, Matteo's ones are usually instrumental releases in the so-called field of 'modern classical/experimental'. This joint album was made in an extremely spontaneous way, sending files across the Atlantic ocean: Elena recorded a set of spoken poems and three sung pieces, often outdoor, walking in streets and fields, and Matteo arranged them all grabbing mostly acoustic sounds often provided by his long time collaborators. Due to the strong and at the same time delicate timbre of Elena's voice, in spite of the relatively wide set of instruments, the album sounds minimal and rarefied, as a long gentle suite of sparse notes and occasional rhythms driven by female vocal chords. Mourning Dove (Elena Botts): lyrics, vocals. Matteo Uggeri: sounds, composing and mixing. My Dear Killer: acoustic and electric guitar. Andrea Serrapiglio: cello. Francesca Stella Riva: trombone. alessandro sesana: trumpet. Maurizio Abate: mandoloncello. Franz Krostopovic: piano and violin. Alberto Carozzi: electric guitar. Cristiano Lupo: bass. Made in Washington DC and Milan in summer 2019. Mastered by Marco Milanesio in January 2021. Photos by Elena Botts. Artwork by Matteo Uggeri. https://matteouggeri.bandcamp.com/album/does-the-moon-not-dream "Dass die Zusammenarbeit zwischen Matteo Uggeri und der Autorin Elena Botts alias Mourning Dove so spontan zustande gekommen ist wie es in den Liner Notes ihres gemeinsamen Albums “Does The Moon Not Dream” heißt, mag man sich kaum vorstellen. Meist sanfte Sounds verschiedener Umgebungen und Klangfarben, die bei genauerem Hören eine vielfältige Stimmungspalette entfalten, entspanntes Fingerpicking, stimmungsvolle Pianoparts und wehmütige Streicher, in ernsten Tönen vorgetragene Poesie und ein jazzig eingefärbter Sopran: All dies und einiges mehr fügt sich derart passgenau zum Narrativ eines musikalischen Hörspiels zusammen, dass man die dirigierende Hand einer alles im Griff habenden Personen vermutet. Umso schöner, wenn sich so etwas spontan ergibt. Die ruhige Gangart, mit der das Album startet, sollte nicht hinwegtäuschen über eine unterschwellige Aufgewühltheit, die nie ganz aus der Musik verschwindet und mit einem gewissen stoischen Charakter in den Dialog tritt. Im Opener, dessen Titel “Modular” bestens zu seinem kollagenhaften Charakter passt, gibt entspanntes, fast pastorales Gitarrenpicking den Hintergrund für den Sound zielgerichteter Schritte, für ein sanft leuchtendes Dröhnen, das bei genauerem Hinhören eher aufgeweckt als entspannt anmutet – und für eine fragile Stimme, die fast erschöpft eine Wahrnehmung beschreibt, die die so fragmetiert anmutet wie die Puzzelteile der Musik. Alles wirkt auf spröde Art organisch, auch der wie von einer alten Shellackplatte anmutende Sporan, der in “Ghosts of Sand” überleitet und diesem – entrückt, verschwommen und abgehoben im besten Sinne einen weitaus songhafteren Zug verleiht. Jeder der Tracks ist voller kleiner klanglicher und atmosphärischer Ideen: Auf Samples basierende Perkussion, die durch manche Stücke peitscht, mäandernde Sounds aus dem Fundus indischer Instrumente, glasklare Pianotupfer, Wind und quietschende Türen. Gedämpfte Bläser in “Bushwick”, Straßensounds in “An eleven Hour Sleep”, tropfendes Nass in dem berührenden “Mare Aperto” und “Bella Ciao“, von dem ich nicht sagen kann, ob es mehr als nur von Titel her auf das bekannte Partisanenlied bezug nimmt. Orientalisierende Gitarren in “Our Lady” von keinem geringeren als My Dear killer. Dann immer wieder die erschöpfte und doch resolute Rezitation. Viele dieser Details kehren in der einen oder anderen Abwandlung leitmotivisch wieder, und dies ist nur ein Grund, das Album als Ganzes, als gelungenes musikalisches Hörspiel zu rezipieren." [Uwe Schneider (African Paper)] 2021 €13.00
UMPIO Insektio CD Umpio is the solo project of the Finnish sound explorer Pentti Dassum, a member of numerous bands with incredible stylistic coverage from noise-grind (Romutus) to challenging electroacoustic experiments (SM/DP) and unpredictable brutal noise performed on self-built metal objects. However there's no junk noise this time – "Insektio" is made from massive oscillations, electronic microsounds and tape manipulations. Like a heavy trip into nature, listen with one ear to the ground, how all the insects work, how temperature shifts affect the resonance of the planet, and how civilizations crumble away as only the frogs and moss will survive... The physical edition is presented in two versions: a CD limited to 300 copies in a matte 4-panel digisleeve and an audio cassette with full-body UV-print, limited to 100 copies. The digital version is available on bandcamp. https://zhelezobeton.bandcamp.com/album/insektio 2021 €12.50
V.A. (VARIOUS ARTISTS) (COMPILATIONS) Jukebox Buddha CD "Fifteen tracks made with the FM3 Buddha Machine. Featuring exclusive contributions by Adrian Sherwood and Doug Wimbish, Blixa Bargeld, SunnO))), Thomas Fehlmann, Sun City Girls, Gudrun Gut, Kammerflimmer Kollektief, Jan Jelinek/Andrew Pekler/Hanno Leichtmann, Mapstation, Aki Onda, Robert Henke, Es, Alog, Minit and Wang Fan. It was about three years ago whilst loafing in one of Beijing's finer foot massage joints that Christiaan Virant, the other half of Chinese duo FM3 to Zhang Jian, began to riff mutation fantasies as applied to the Buddha Machine. The Buddha Machine is a literal translation from Mandarin for the small plastic box, driven by two double 'A' batteries, that grinds out low-fi looped sutra variants across the whole of China and South East Asia. The original concept was to locate the nest, infect the breeding process with the new strain of meditative sonics developed by FM3 over the previous couple of years, lop off a hundred or so clones for promotion purposes and bounce off the impact with a few European gigs. That idea died as soon as the little babies fell into the hands of Brian Eno, a rare musical expeditionary from the far West visiting China, and the notorious Alan Bishop of the Sun City Girls. Only just over twelve months later the little beggar polls 88 thousand pages on Google (the number 8 is the luckiest number in China) and has a dedicated My Space page almost as amusing as the soundbox itself when only the Pope is missing from its fanbase! On Jukebox Buddha, the first chapter of Buddha version, disciples of many levels stretch, compress, reconfigure, rub and dust, and generally fuck around with the nine floating loops clipped out from FM3's confrontational world of quiet. Moving straight to level four, the entry from Einsturzende Neubauten's Blixa Bargeld finds the Beijing resident submitting to sweeter harmonies than those with which he is traditionally associated, even eschewing voice in a move that could free him from the eternal cycle of rebirth. Level two devotee Wang Fan, longtime associate of FM3, builds environmentally-friendly filigrees of sound while new initiates Sherwood and Wimbish immediately recognize the key importance of bass to the Buddha. A true Zen moment is struck by the shameless humor of Jan Jelinek, Andrew Pekler and Hanno Leichtmann's commercial but Robert Henke (Monolake) takes a more devotional approach with a lift from his new album of droneage based entirely on loops from the Buddha Machine. Although Mapstation sound like Mapstation, in an act of submission Thomas Fehlmann bucks the beat and builds floating layers of naked vocal. The Sun City Girls prove they have visited more temples in the East than any other Westerner, and SunnO))) arrive from a different dimension with incomparable restraint. In fact, the absence of self indulgence pervades many of these contributions, as with Minit whose contribution is the only one to actually sound like FM3 but none more so than Gudrun Gut's analysis of the creative process employed in producing the track she has offered here." [press release] 2006 €10.00
Minima CD Sehr kohärente Compilation mit hauptsächlich digital arbeitenden Musikern, auf dem neuen Pariser Label von HERVE BOGHOSSIAN. Angesiedelt zwischen sehr ruhig-harmonischen Material und solchem im Niemandsland zwischen ambience & noise. „Ein neues französisches Label für clickende wundervolle Musik, das sich erst mal auf einer Compilation vorstellt, die vermutlich in den Clickcharts dieses Jahr ganz oben stehen muss, denn sie weitet den Begriff mit Leuten wie Sogar, Charles Curtis, Komet, Otomo Yoshihide, Taylor Deupree, Sol, Speakerine, Alan Licht und vielen anderen soweit aus, dass am Ende nur noch die Faszination für diese fast unscheinbaren Sounds an den Grenzen des Hörbaren übrig bleibt. Schon der erste Track von Sogar (aka Jürgen Heckel) lässt einen von einer Welt träumen in der das Popmusik ist, einfach weil Popmusik ja auch mal Schönheit, Reinheit, Unglaubliches heissen könnte, weil es aufregend sein könnte Popmusik zu sein, unwahrscheinlich und unhinterfragbar brilliant. Und glaubt nicht einer der Acts würde einen hier enttäuschen.Ein Label das man auf jeden Fall im Auge behalten sollte“ [debug] “Minima~List ( list L1 CD ), from a new French label dedicated to all things minimal. There's plenty of microsound courtesy of Taylor Deupree, Richard Chartier and Komet, virtual nothingness from Nosei Sakata, Alan Licht's guitar shimmersand "sustained friction sonorities" from Charles Curtis. It's not all tiptoeing around the soundfield, though. Where too many of today's minimalists use the term to camouflage a paucity of ideas or their true chillout sentiments, Minima~List is anafraid of the movement's louder manifestations, be they piercing tones from Otomo Yoshihide, the sound of Miles Davis blowing a bagpipe in an ice storm from Matthieu Saladin, or the Branca-ish guitar squalls of Fabriquedecouleurs.” [THE WIRE] 2002 €10.00
Text-Sound Compositions. A Stockholm Festival 5 x CD-Box Re-Release von den lange vergriffenen FYLKINGEN-LPs die zwischen 1968 und 1977 erschienen sind und die Stockholmer TEXT-SOUND COMPOSITION-Festivals dokumentiert haben. Experimental sound poetry and beyond ! “Fylkingen Records in collaboration with the Swedish Radio released a series of LP records with text-sound compositions between the years of 1968-77. All of these were documentations of the international festival text-sound Compositions-Stockholm Festival, which Fylkingen presented in Stockholm several times during these years. Most of the LPs were only pressed in batches of about 400-500 records, and most of the LPs sold out during the festivals. A re-release had long been planned, and this 5 CD box marks the complete re-release of the complete recordings. Apart from the 5 CDs with in all ca 6 hours of material, the CD box contains a 60 page booklet with essays by Teddy Hultberg and Sten Hanson, as well as historical photographs taken by Lütfi Özkök during the festivals. The term text-sound composition was coined in 1967 in Sweden by the composers writers Lars-Gunnar Bodin and Bengt Emil Johnsson, and was meant to serve to name a genre that was a vital art form in the no man's land between sound, poetry, and music. text-sound compositions had influences from previous modernistic waves such as futurism, dadaism, lettrism, etc., but perhaps the most important influence was the Swedish poet and visual artist Öyvind Fahlström, who had just over a decade earlier coined the term concrete poetry. The term concrete poetry related to Pierre Schaeffer's concrete music, and it is somewhere between concrete poetry and concrete music that text-sound compositions appear. The birth of the electronic music studio and concrete music's idea that every sound can be freed from its original context and given a new meaning when it is reworked and put together with other sounds in the electronic music studio became the catharsis for text-sound composition. In the electronic music studio, voice and language sounds can be broken down, unleashed, and then fused together to become a poetry that had never been heard before. Certain text-sound composers would come to work only with pure lingual sounds, but most eventually came to integrate lingual sounds with other sounds, both concrete and electronic. The CD box contains works by the following text-sound composers and sound poets: Charles Amirkhanian, Lars-Gunnar Bodin, Svante Bodin, Henri Chopin, Bob Cobbing, François Dufrêne, Gust Gils, Jarl och Sonja Hammarberg-kesson, Sten Hanson, Bernard Heidsieck, C. Christer Hennix, Ake Hodell, Bengt Emil Johnsson, Sandro Key-berg, Bengt af Klintberg, Ilmar Laaban, Annea Lockwood & Harvey Matusow, Arrigo Lora-Totino, Ghérasim Luca, Arne Mellns, Franz Mon, Ladislav Novák, Diter Rot & Emmet Williams, Erik Thygesen, Paul de Vree.” [press release] 2005 €45.00
Variations 2 CD "Teil 2 der Variations-Serie, für die wir eine Riesen-Lanze brechen möchten!: fast durchweg empfehlenswertes Material von größtenteils unbekannten: AKEMI ISHIJIMA (unglaubliche Sounds!!) , MICHAEL ORMISTON (multidimensional violins), TOM WALLACE (subliminal sounds with an unbelievebal outburst), HUGH DAVIS (drones with scrapes) , BOB COBBING AND LAWRENCE UPTON (einfacb nur abartig) , JOHN GRIEVE (a real sound-storm!) , CLIVE GRAHAM (Paradigm-Disc-Betreiber und MORPHOGENESIS-Mitglied mit seinem bisher einzigen Solostück, einem fantastischen Ambient-Water-Stück!), ROLF GEHLHAAR, meist aus der Kunst-/ Installations-Szene, Ambient, Noise & Minimal-Kompositionen mit großer Variationsbreite und extremer Spannung!!!" [Drone Rec. info 1998] 1998 €13.50
Destroying the Night Sky (CADAVEROUS CONDITION-remixes) CD Sicher einer der ausuferndsten & interessantesten Experimental-Compilations des Jahres 2008, mit Fokus auf britische Acts aus dem NWW / ICR-Umfeld! Material der Death Metal-Combo CADAVEROUS CONDITION (die es schaffen, übelsten Kitsch mit Grindcore-Gegrunze zu verbinden) wird hier z.T. auf irrwitzigste Weise dekonstruiert, manchmal haarscharf am Wahnsinn vorbei, manchmal entstehen aber auch unerwartet schöne Arrangements, das Spektrum ist trotz des "rockigen" Basismaterials sehr gross.... man sollte allerdings Grunz- & Gröhl-immun sein, sonst hält man es kaum aus, am witzigsten & noisigsten wohl CONTROLLED BLEEDING, die Originalversatzstücke mit Harsh Noise und bizarren anderen found sounds mischen. "NURSE WITH WOUND, THIGHPAULSANDRA, NOCTURNAL EMISSIONS, ANDREW LILES, CONTROLLED BLEEDING, COLIN POTTER, PRODUCT 8, ASMUS TIETCHENS, GJÖLL, HOLY McGRAIL, ALI HELNWEIN versus CADAVEROUS CONDITION. Destroying The Night Sky CD in a limited edition of 700 copies. A very special release with an unusual mix of sound: Using Cadaverous Condition's "To The Night Sky" album as source material for their tracks, all the aforementioned bands have created a unique new style of music. Call it metal ambient, drone metal or electronics metal, the result is something previously unknown and exciting. Hear Nurse With Wound doing one of their darkest tracks ever - listen to Controlled Bleeding's totally insane restructuring of a rock track, or be surprised by Nocturnal Emissions's return to noise - this album is unlike everything else you have heard in recent years. All cover artwork by Cyril Helnwein, son of Gottfried Helnwein." [label info] www.klanggalerie.com 2008 €12.00
SPIRE LIVE FUNDAMENTALIS do-LP Der dritte Teil in der SPIRE LIVE-Serie, lange Stücke mit "modernem" Orgelbezug & -einsatz von PHILIP JECK, CHARLES MATTHEWS, MARCUS DAVIDSON, BJ NILSEN und FENNESZ, - Aufnahmen von den zwei SPIRE - Konzerten auas Göteborg und Brüssel. Ganz wunderbar tönen wieder BJ NILSEN und FENNESZ, der eine löst die Orgel-Töne in rostig-rauhen Resonanzen auf, der andere klingt ("rein ORGANisch") höchst melancholisch und polyphon... aber auch die anderen Stücke (u.a. eine Version eines SCELSI-Stückes) sind die Anschaffung wert. "Spire Live - Fundamentalis is a double LP-only collection of exclusive live tracks recorded at various Spire events held throughout 2005 and 2006. Released in association with U.S. label, Autofact, Touch presents a selection of tracks performed by the main performers of Spire: Fennesz, Philip Jeck, BJNilsen, Charles Matthews and Marcus Davidson. Improvised pieces from Fennesz, BJNilsen and Philip Jeck contrast with a performance by Charles Matthews of a scored composition by Italian composer Giacinto Scelsi, "In Nomine Lucis," and Marcus Davidson's self-penned "Standing Wave," which ends side two with a locked groove. Cut to preserve and enhance the bottom end frequencies, Fundamentalis is not merely a document; the tension between and within the individual pieces is palpable. As the Touch label places it, Fennesz's set "...evokes the rolling centuries in all their pain and beauty, leaving us at once becalmed and energized, but never oppressed under the weight of time." Electronics breathe new life not only into the organ, but also into the setting. But a new technological successor does not mean replacement. Ultimately, it's the majestic sound of the organ, so steeped in centuries of tradition that one remembers above all else. Spire is one of the most innovative projects around, drawing on the full canon of organ works, from the very first annotation in the Robertsbridge Codex from the 14th century, to Max MSP patches and software sampling. With two CD releases and nine performances in cathedrals and churches throughout Europe, Spire remains a potent live force in harnessing the sounds of the ages. Art direction and design by Jon Wozencroft." [label info] ".... Jeck's side is everything we could hope for, long lazy loops, slathered in record static, hiss, crack and pop, dreamy melodies skipped into haunting rhythms, everything washed out and blurred, a worn weary sonic drift, organs and voices, soaring and whirring, very mechanical and machinelike, but simultaneously, warm and emotional. Serene, hypnotic, mesmerizing, what else can we say about the magic of Jeck's music that we haven't said before?? Matthews' half of side two is super minimal and hushed, mostly organs, allowed to wheeze and whir, slightly dissonant, but dense and layered, the tones hovering in a suspension of rumbles and shimmers, very dramatic and cinematic, understated and reverent, almost like some strange religious musical ritual. The second half, ostensibly Davidson's, although he is credited with a locked groove, is a dark drone-y flow, keyboards blurred into warm streaks, also slightly atonal, ominous, intense, the muted rumble builds to an almost cacophonous organ-ic frenzy, that heard at full volume must have stirred the soul for sure. The second disc is split evenly between Nilsen and Fennesz. Nilsen's side, recorded in a church in Sweden, is a dark, harrowing, rumbling, post industrial dronescape, the tones rough around the edges, the melodies lugubrious and caustic, building up into a serious din, metallic washes of sound, thick shards of pulsing buzz, very brittle and sharp, before slipping into something a little more serene, but no less intense, more muted metallic tones, drifting in a churning sea of hissing static and electronic grit, a barely noticeable rhythm, more of a pulse or swell, finishing off in a deep grinding low end blur, like a much more minimal 20th century SUNNO))). The Fennesz track is all organ, the root of all of these pieces, but here, the organ is unaltered, barely unadulterated, allowed to warmly wheeze, strange tangled melodies, glistening and glimmering, the tones beginning to change shape, the melodies allowed to elongate and blur slightly until they're swallowed up by a warm cloud of static and hiss before fading out completely. The second half of Fennesz' side is a more murky underwater reading of the first half, not as much grit and gristle as we usually expect, instead, the sound is whirling and muted, reminding us of Oval, but with the glitching skips smoother out, leaving just warm shimmering sonic swells, sun dappled melodies, and rich layered high end drones, drifting serenely, pastorally. Gorgeously packaged, super thick full color gatefold sleeve, super striking Wozencroft photos, pressed on thick vinyl. And as if you even need to be told, quite limited indeed." [Aquarius Records review] www.a-fact.com 2008 €18.50
Twisted Cabaret Vol. 1 CD "Ein internationaler, avantgardistischer Haufen tanzt mit einer gesunden Portion kabarettistischer Lebensmüdigkeit im Dreivierteltakt in den Tod. Oder zumindest in den Vollsuff. Bei 18 Songs kein einziger Totalausfall, dazu sind viele Stücke selten oder sogar exklusiv. Kaufen! www.youtube.com/useser/volvoxmusic TRACKLISTING: 01. THE TIGER LILLIES - START A FIRE 02. BABY DEE - THE EARLIE KING 03. EVELYN EVELYN - HAVE YOU SEEN MY SISTER EVELYN 04. THE REAL TUESDAY WELD - THE SWEETEST SONGS 05. THE DRESDEN DOLLS - BANK OF BOSTON BEAUTY QUEEN 06. BUDAM - DA DA DA DIE 07. LE MAXI MONSTER MUSIC SHOW - J'AURAIS AIM 08. THE RESIDENTS - THE DYING OILMAN 09. KOKUSYOKU SUMIRE - GEKKO RENKA 10. KATZENJAMMER KABARETT - SAYLOR SANDHAM'S SISTER 11. VERMILLION LIES - BONNIE & CLYDE 12. LITTLE ANNIE - SIT ON DOWN 13. DE KIFT - KNOECK 14. THE LEGENDARY PINK DOTS - MAN OR MOUSE 15. ARANOS - NEW GUITAR 16. MARCELLA PUPPINI AND THE FORGET ME NOTS - WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO YOUR FACE? 17. EL TIGER COMICS GROUP & JOEL HUBAUT - VAPAMOU RIRE 18. LITTLE WHITE RABBITS STILL BLEED - BALLOON ANIMAL SUICIDE (BIG BLUE RIBBONS)" [label info / Cargo ] "Seit Charlotte Rampling in Cavanis Sadiconazista-Film Der Nachtportier diesen Song von Friedrich Hollaender im KZ um ihr Leben sang, klingt bei mir Cabaret beklemmend pervers wie Macabaret. Darüber schiebt sich das Großstadt-Triptychon von Dix und der Conferencier im Kit Kat Club plärrt grinsend seine Zoten. Hinter dem Rücken deutscher Abgrundsvergessenheit hat sich aber anderswo etwas entwickelt, Dark Cabaret getauft oder "Brechtian punk cabaret", das den Spirit von vor 1933 mit anderen Mitteln, mit Postpunk-, Gothik- oder bloßer Nostalgie-Attitüde wieder aufgreift. Versammelt auf Twisted Cabaret Vol. 1 (Volvox Music, VOL0902/0903, CD + DVD) sind die stilprägenden The Tiger Lillies aus London als Brandstifter mit groteskem Zündstoff, The Dresden Dolls aus Boston und das französische Katzenjammer Kabarett mit den ‚erwachsenen‘ Altstimmen von Amanda Palmer bzw. Mary Komplikated. Little Annie bietet einen ihrer Songs from the Coal Mine Canary und eine verboten glaubwürdige Version von Aznavours ‚Yesterday When I Was Young‘. Irritationsveteranen wie The Residents und unverwüstlichen Tänzern über Abgründen wie The Legendary Pink Dots mit dem herzensbrecherischen Edward Ka-Spel als ‚Man or Mouse‘ (unter lauter Schafen) stehen Baby Dee zur Seite, hinter deren rauer Schale eine Seele steckt, die in Kilogramm gewogen werden kann, und Aranos als Stehgeiger mit einer heißen Kartoffel im Mund. The Real Tuesday Weld steuern im 3/4-Takt fingerdick Patina bei, die großartigen Marcella Puppini and The Forget Me Nots lassen Männer Männchen machen. Dazu krähen die kessen Mädels von Kokusyoku Sumire Tango Balkanese oder, halb Geisha, halb Rokoko, Enkaschlager, dass die Perücke stäubt. Vermillion Lies spielen kriminellen Rock‘n‘Roll aus Oakland, als männliches Gegenstück kurbeln die Muncie Bros. aus Indianapolis aka Little White Rabbit Still Bleed Red ihre Klappsmühle, während Evelyn Evelyn sich schwuder & bresterlich eine Gitarre teilen. Mit The Maxi Monster Music und dem Schellackgesang ihrer üppigen Bearded Lady zu Singender Säge und Zweifingerklavier und der theatralischen eL TiGeR CoMiCs GRouP mit ihrem heiseren Chansonier Joel Hubaut treten weitere Franzosen auf, De Kift verblüffen mit holländischem Rap zu Blasmusik und Slide Guitar, der toteslüsterne Budam von den Färöer Inseln stimmt einen morbiden Humptatawalzer an. Fehlen bloß die World/Inferno Friendship Society und Daniel Kahn & The Painted Bird. Einige der Lieder sind exklusiv, einige rar, nicht wenige glamourös oder fatal, aber alle stellen sie seltsame Sachen mit Herz oder Hirn (soweit vorhanden) an. Von den Blauen Engeln und Seeräuber Jennies ganz zu schweigen. Die besten unter diesen Galgenliedersängern und Pfeffermühlenfatalisten können jederzeit die bad alchemystischsten Zeilen, die ich kenne, unterschreiben: Wenn ich mir was wünschen dürfte, möcht ich etwas glücklich sein, denn wenn ich gar zu glücklich wäre, hätte ich Heimweh nach dem Traurigsein. Was singt Amanda Palmer da auf der DVD? I want all the details of the pain and misery, und Ka-Spel, für den sie sich ans Klavier setzt, würzt nach mit Asche und 15 toten Fliegen. Aber die DVD ist eh schon wegen The Tiger Lillies Freakshow unbezahlbar." [Rigo Dittmann / Bad Alchemy] 2010 €14.50
Musics in the Margin Vol. 2: Musik Oblik CD "Decompartmentalization: Like the 'Musics in the margin volume 1' CD co-produced by Art en Marge and Sub Rosa in 2006, this new production comes from a project mixing visual arts with music. Since the first CD, 'Art en Marge' has obtained its museum status and changed its name. These changes point out the fact the new 'art & marges museum' focuses on the affinities existing between three visual art fields considered on equal terms: modern art, contemporary art, and outsider art. Proceeding from how obviously compartmentalization is not only arbitrary but simplistic, this new production entitled "Musik Oblik" explores the world of sounds and silence through the multidisciplinary works of artists unfolding stunning soundworlds and visual universes. Decompartmentalization is the key word, and this record offers unique approaches transcending the simple question of the insider/outsider classification. The purpose of this project is to outgrow the social-cultural dimension of the works while respecting their creators' integrity, whoever they might be. Carine Fol (art & marges museum) Featuring: Based in Berlin, Klaus Beyer is mostly known for his unusual performances of Beatles songs, but this musician's talent is larger than that, as he also writes his own songs, makes short films and animated films, and works as an actor. Normand Cournoyer launched his music career around the age of 70. He says he was inspired by the Lord, and therefore adopted the slightly religious alias Normand L'Amour. Self-taught, he has since written an incredible number of songs (more than 1,500, in over 75 languages) using a piece of random composition software. Installation artist, performer, illustrator, sculptor, sound collector, and globe-trotter Baudouin Oosterlynck is thriving to expand our listening capabilities by creating prostheses and musical objects to multiply and increase our ears. Silence also plays a key part in his work, and he has traveled a lot to pinpoint geographical locations where one can enjoy complete silence. The Wild Classical Music Ensemble, a music project started in 2007, on the day musician/audio artist/experimentalist Damien Magnette met Lynh, Johan, Rudy, and Kim, four artists with learning disabilities. From then on, their musical research has been based on free improvisation and experimentation. Lately, The Wild Classical Music Ensemble has been integrating punk/rock riffs composed by the group's guitarist Kim Verbeke. In March 2005, drummer Teun Verbruggen (Jef Neve Trio, Flat Earth Society, ...) invited maverick guitarist Mauro Pawlowski (dEUS, Club Moral, Somnambula) and Rhodes piano magician Jozef Dumoulin (Mäâk Spirit, Magic Malik, Octurn...) to a one-shot improvisation gig. The meeting intitled Othin Spake was so conclusive that they are still playing together five years later. A major representative of the Italian madrigal style of the Renaissance, alongside Luca Marenzio and Monteverdi. Gesualdo's position in music history has been largely reassessed in the 20th Century. Once seen as a marginal, unbalanced composer whose music was gradually falling into oblivion, Gesualdo is hailed by some as a visionary, the first composer, 300 years before Wagner and the Post-Romantics, to make significant use of chromatism and dissonance, and a precursor of the Moderns in his use of extreme contrasts and unusual rhythmical breaks. A composer, violinist, and teacher, Baudouin de Jaer trained in Belgium and Canada with Henri Pousseur, Frederic Rzewski, and Philip Boesmans, among others. His concerts and compositions took him to Mexico, Peru, Korea, Palestine, and Morocco. Many of his works are multidisciplinary or adapted to a complete space. A major artist of the 20th century, Adolf Wölfli was commited to the Waldau Mental Asylum, near Bern, in 1899. He remained there until he died. Wölfli started drawing, writing, and composing music at the age of 35, working all day long on what amounts to a colossal body of work. It comprises 25,000 pages of graphic compositions, collages, literary works, and music scores. Jacques Brodier, artist and researcher, is the inventor of the Filtre de Réalité (Reality Filter), whose antennae, using the ionosphere's reflection, receive the electromagnetic noise broadcasted by Earth civilization and deep space. This airwave noise consists of radio signals from everywhere, music and voices in multiple languages drifting away, lost in a sea of cosmic noise, occasionally mistreated, butchered, distorted by untraceable causes or the mishaps of dissemination." [label info] www.subrosa.net 2010 €13.00
I.D. Art # 2 CD "When the Los Angeles Free Music Society 10 CD set came out I eagerly flipped through the contents to see what treasures had finally been made available again. Much to my surprise the early compilation I.D. Art #2 was not included in this otherwise major overview of the LAFMS. I.D. Art #2 was the second LP release on their label, coming after Le Forte Four’s ‘Bikini tennis shoes’ LP, and before the 2LP ‘Live at the Brand’, a split album between Le 44 and The Doo-Dooettes. It dates from 1976. It is also probably the most difficult LP on their catalogue to find. Originally released in an edition of just 200 copies, most of which were given out to the 44 artists and groups who appeared on this extraordinary LP. The deal was that each track was paid for by the contributor at a rate of $8 per minute in exchange for 4 copies of the disc. Consequently very few copies were ever made available via the LAFMS mail order service. With a running time of 66 minutes and the sheer variety of contributions, I.D. Art #2 remained for most people a mysterious and tantalising item. Most of the contributors came from the students at Otis Art Institute in LA, and many make their only ever recordings for this disc. Among the known names from the LAFMS scene are: Le Forte Four, Joe Potts, Fredrick Nilsen, Mr Foon, Ace & Duce, Dennis Mehaffey as well as 6 tracks by Smegma. Other artists include the painter Miles Forst, violinist Josie Roth, film makers Doug Henry and Gary Beydler, mail artist and dog portrait painter Irene Dogmatic, Otis librarian Joan Hugo, graphic designer Kathe Schreyer and many other creative artists and designers at the start of their careers who submitted their audio idea, be it via telephone, in subways, recontextualising old vinyl, philosophising, story telling, being abstract, joking, rehearsing and lo even playing instruments. This exhilerating journey, bursting with ideas was compiled by Joe Potts and Waynna Kato." [label info] tracklist: • 1a. Mac McCloud; b. Mac McCloud (2:19) • 2. Harold Schroeder “Silent rituals” (3:32) • 3. Greg Neutra/J.D. Elliot “Grieg fatigue” (2:01) • 4. Smegma a. “Rrose Selavy will wait for my washing machine, even” b. “The Andalusian dog often digs into the furniture with onyx fingers.” (2:02) • 5. Smegma “Potatoe war” (0:59) mp3 • 6. Fredrik Nilsen “You can’t hide from aldehyde” (1:40) • 7. Miles Forst “Art, art, art” (0:41) • 8. Smegma “One moment” (1:30) • 9. Smegma “Pig face blues” (0:24) • 10. Doug Henry “View this command as a verbal enactment of a command” (0:15) • 11. Josie Roth “Heal, and another little time” (1:01) • 12. Joe Potts “I don’t want to go to the farm” (0:21) • 13. Otto Fick (0:48) • 14. Smegma “Excerpt from: I’ll have Julie Nixon-Eisenhower for my appetizer (sour lungs to my surprise)” (3:01) • 15. Karen Kato “Xmas 1952” (0:35) • 16. J.J. Allen Vargas “Victim of racism” (1:25) • 17. Dennis Guy Mehaffey “Busta Nosa” (1:47) • 18. M/R/Zuniga “Vulnerability: rape, male vs. female” (1:31) • 19. Mike Green “Martin Heiddeger revisited” (dedicated to Molly) (0:15). • 20. Mehaffey a. Introdution by Buckminster Fuller. b. “I stumble/You laugh” (4:01) • 21. Jules Lemelle (1:03). • 22. Maureen Abbott (0:14). • 23. Smegma “Take one” (3:29). • 24. Dan Weiss/P. Hamilton Ross “A bicentennial tribute to America’s freight trains” (0:56). • 25. Mr. Foon “Timeless #1” (5:50) • 26. Bertil Petersson “Monologue to Henry VIII” (2:05) • 27. Amrein & Stoll (1:04) • 28. Ace & Duce “Dogs are barking" (0:37) • 29. Irene Dogmatic/Rose Tatoo (0:36) • 30. Gordon Shields “Cotton duck, up and back” (0:59) • 31. Gary Beydler “Record stick” (0:16). • 32. Tom Kemp “Pasadena subway station poetry stills” (3:39) • 33. Donald Spaulding “I don’t want this to happen” (0:32) • 34. Janice Felger/Joan Hugo “One minute of art news update in 30 seconds (1:04) • 35. Sue Farthing (0:22) • 36. Waynna Kato “White/Noise” (0:29) • 37. Jim Abuan/Peter Muzzey “Why does love have to be so sad?” (0:20) • 38. Juan Gomez “This is my country” (2:47) • 39. P.J. Campbell (1:01). • 40. Kathe Schreyer “Don’t make me laugh” (0:15) • 41. Mary Dana Chodzko “Patty Smith by Mary Dana Chodzko” (1:42). • 42. Gary Laskin “Have sex with Rex” (1:25) • 43. Jean Koller “Dream” (3:20). • 44. Le Forte Four a. Discarded portion of the soundtrack for Rick’s film “Burger madness” b. From “The origin of Largie Schrapnel” c. “I haven’t heard you for a long time...” d. “Fat ape” (1:17) www.stalk.net/paradigm 2007 €13.00
A tasty Swarm of small Signals DVD-Audio "A Tasty Swarm of Small Signals is an impressive sound art project comprising 91 micro-compositions by sound artists from every corner of the globe. This wide range collection has been curated by Francisco López and includes original work of James Webb, Lawrence English, Francisco López, Asmus Tietchens, Louis Dufort, Alan Courtis and Zbigniew Karkowski. Working with field recordings, sound manipulation, and generated sounds, these internationally acclaimed artists offer us the possibility of listening and experiencing some of the most enticing proposals, tendencies, approaches and investigations in this field of art. James Webb opens the collection with 'Sightings into the dreams of others'. His pieces share a dreamy atmosphere, an oneiric quality, both beautiful and strange. With a delicate, poetic touch Webb introduces several sounds like bird chipping, piano notes and morse code signalling, creating an elegant whole that has the effect of drawing our attention out of the work itself, back into our own sound environment, and finally integrating both. As in Webb's work, the next artist of the collection, Lawrence English, requires the imagination of the listener to complete the pieces here presented. Through an artful integration of field recordings and synthetic sounds, English creates suggestive and beautiful compositions which wake up our imagination and make us see that we are always part of the work itself, in the same way as we are part of the world we look at. The world is not just a set of objects around us and the compositions are not just a set of sounds. We relate to each object, to each sound, with our personal emotions and memories. The world which we live in, as English's compositions, is always a unique experience, a personal creation. While Lawrence English is able to integrate field recordings and created sounds in an extraordinary way, Francisco López goes further and blurs any distinction between these different sounds. By an artful manipulation of the field recordings the artist makes the natural sounds no longer identifiable, and as a result they move away of any reference or visual association. In his proposal López directs our attention to the sounds themselves, and lets them follow their own path, their own development into other sounds and variations. Similarly Asmus Tietchens also focuses on the manipulation of field recordings in ways suggested by the sounds themselves. His artful employment of silence and isolated sounds, (small signals), is complemented by an increasingly obscure atmosphere, conforming a subtle composition. Short bubble like percussive sounds hit repeatedly on a persistent silence, than soon evolves into a dark ambience. No rhythms, no sequence, no pattern, no thought. Just unidentifiable sounds, dropping from nowhere on top a black background, a cosmic silence, a universal darkness. Louis Dufort proposal deals with the inner structure of sound matter. He places sounds under his unique microscope to show us the different frequencies, reflections and elements each sound contains. This approach is able to focus all our attention on the sounds themselves, instead of being treated as elements of a structure that encompasses them and gives them a specific meaning obtained from their place in the structure. In Alan's Courtis pieces, in contrast to Asmus Tietchens proposal for this collection, there is no silence, but a succession of disquieting sounds and distortions, and a constant feeling that we are reaching some kind of limit, something is about to break through. Waves of sound take over, fill all space and ourselves, and carry us through a labyrinth of sounds and variations where we seem to disappear and where only sounds remain. Karkowski proposal is an investigation in the vibration of electronic sounds and takes us to an experience of this ever lasting reality. Everything is a vibration taking place in time. Our first exposure to these pieces can be confounding, but if we get past our tendency to look for rhythm and harmony, an experience of sound can get through, showing us the ever present vibrations surrounding us, inside of us, everywhere. All these proposals are presented in an audio DVD, where each artist presents thirteen two minute compositions over a fixed image, adding to more than three hours of sound. It offers us a taste of the most interesting proposals in experimental sound art, and of the most compelling experiences that this art form can bring us to."[S. Porrúa] www.storung.com "This might be the future of releasing music. I think I said that before, with some of the Empreintes Digitales DVD's, containing no images but 24-bit audio. And a lot more difficult to extract and rip and share (for free). But perhaps also a bit too much for audiophiles? I am not sure. Francisco Lopez curated this project, with consists of seven artists, each delivering no less than thirteen two-minute audio compositions. Why seven, thirteen and two, you may wonder? I am not sure either, but Lopez did a nice selection. Besides himself we have here James Webb, Lawrence English, Asmus Tietchens, Louis Dufort, Alan Courtis and Zbigniew Karkwoski. Which I guess makes an interesting selection from various parts of the world of experimental music. The serious avant-garde is represented by Dufort, who does a fine job on the matter at hand, and while heavily under the influence of acousmatica, the briefness of the pieces makes it all nice. Webb and English both represent the world of field recordings and ambience. Delicate pieces here, in which a certain amount of musical-ness slip through the gaps. Lopez and Tietchens also deal with field recordings and electronics, but their work is much more abstract than English and Webb's. In Lopez' case thirteen pieces of mildly droning affairs of heavily treated rainfall or ventilation shafts (or some such, you can't be sure with Lopez), whereas Tietchens offers his highly atomized sparks of sounds and silence. Alan Courtis and Zbigniew Karkwoski are both on the more traditional noise spectrum, each at a side, firmly apart. Karkowski with some highly computerized noise patterns, at times fiercely loud and sometimes a bit less loud, but throughout firmly gritty and digital, while Courtis is much more quiet (than we are used of him?), but not allowing any silence in his work. Drone based soundscapes of a big city at night - perhaps - like indicated through the visual on display. An excellent compilation, which is of course a bit long - three hours - to be played at once, but you could select one a day and have a great week." [FdW/Vital Weekly] 2010 €18.00
Presque Rien CD-R "A score from Bruno Duplant : 'The water (what it contains) does almost nothing to the glass, and the glass (where it is) does not alter the water.' Francis Ponge, Le verre d'eau, 1948. With tracks from Ana Foutel, Barry Chabala, Brian Labycz, Bruno Duplant, Bryan Eubanks, D'Incise, Dafne Vicente Sandoval, Daniel Jones, Darius Ciuta, Delphine Dora, Dimitra Lazaridou Chatzigoga, Dominic Lash, Ernesto Rodrigues, Eva-Maria Houben, Fergus Kelly, Ferran Fages, Gil Sansón, Grisha Shakhnes, Iliya Belorukov, Jamie Drouin, Jez Riley French, Johnny Chang, Jonas Kocher (with Dafne Stefanou), Joseph Clayton Mills, Julien Héraud, Jürg Frey, Keith Rowe, Lance Austin Olsen, Lee Noyes, Lucio Capece, Massimo Magee, Michael Pisaro, Paco Rossique, Paulo Chagas, Pedro Chambel, Philippe Lenglet, Rachael Wadham, Ryoko Akama (with John Bryan), Simon Reynall, Stefan Thut, Travis Johnson and Vanessa Rossetto." [label info] rhizome-s.blogspot.pt 2013 €11.00
Wandlungen Unplump CD "Die elfte DEGEM-CD erscheint in einer Zeit der Umbrüche und Verunsicherungen. Nachdem nach wie vor keine Klarheit herrscht, was elektronische, was elektroakustische Musik ist, nicht einmal, wie man sie buchstabiert, kommt nun weiterer Klärungsbedarf dazu. Das geistige Eigentum wird in seiner Existenz angezweifelt, nicht einmal der Begriff "Musik" ist noch klar. Der Hang zum Konzeptualismus bedingt, dass alleinstehende Tonkunst als "autonome Musik" bezeichnet wird. Eine Audio-CD zu veröffentlichen, erscheint in einer solchen Zeit als Anachronismus; doch dieser Eindruck trügt. Die DEGEM erfährt zur Zeit eine Art Verjüngungskur. Auch diesmal gibt es Erläuterndes zum Titel der Produktion "wandlungen unplump". Diesmal allerdings in Form eines Hörstücks, das am Anfang der Trackliste steht. Gesamtspielzeit 55:35 min. [01] Michael Hoeldke: wandlungen unplump Intro [02:12] [02] Stefan Schulzki: Everything (LiedII) [08:30] [03] Denise Ritter: Outer Shell [09:06] [04] Robert Henke: Nebenläufiger Prozess [07:14] [05] Ralf Hoyer: Residual Risk [15:15] [06] Brian Smith: Nine, Eleven, Twenty-two [06:30] [07] Julia Mihály: Scape_1 [06:48] " [label info] www.editiondegem.de 2014 €13.00
Phra Rahu do-CD "A long time coming, we have worked zealously to present this offering to the dark entity known as Rahu. A vast demigod with a strong worldly influence, Rahu's might is perhaps best illustrated in his devouring of the sun, causing the Earth to sit in his dark shadow. We have assembled this dark mantra from material both new and old, creating a deep tribute featuring several of the profile artists of gterma. Massive double album in a jewel case with 16-page booklet." [label info] gterma.blogspot.de "Body in Sweden and soul soaring over the Himalayas, the gterma label is a lotus of ambient electronica, blossoming regularly ever since 2011, each album released in a format that does the otherwise tired old jewel case format proud – there´s always a booklet swollen with the breathtaking (mostly landscape) photography of its “tertön“, mr_rehn. As individual as the particular peaky-ness of every mountain peak, each is its own gateway into the mandala of a personal but shareable universe. Phra Rahu is a sprawling, double disc overview of the label´s feel. There are some stunning exceptions to the usual expectations, perhaps in light (or rather, “in shadow”?) of its dedication to a dark deity and the legendary tale woven about its most devious act. The twelve pieces are almost all previously unreleased, except a trio from other labels; another three were specially created for this anthology. Rahu is a demigod from Hindu mythology, whose might is such that he once devoured the sun. Each disc is a chapter dedicated to his story, the first entitled “Eclipse Event,” opening the volume with the suitably mood-setting gothic sweep and distant banshee howls of “Premonitions”, the first of two contributions by Last Industrial Estate bookending “The Black Hand Reaches Out” by Parikrama & The Newschubert, in which light bristles and flares against the darkness. That “hand” is otherwise the only human touch to this opus; Phra Rahu is a cosmic event, witnessed only by the windowless monads drifting in space. Space is said to abhor a vacuum, yet especially as we drift toward the close of the first chapter, this music creates an absolutely luscious one. Due to the monolithic time signature (a full eighty minutes per disc) it becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish where one artist leaves off and the next is ushered in, so one can only take an educated guess when “The Devouring of the Sun” by LiST has drawn to a close and “Tormented Lands” by Seetyca & Etheocles Stevens commences. The rise of a dharma trumpet would seem to signal the beginning of “The Intervention of Lord Vishnu Part I & II” and ceremonial drumming seems to be telegraphing its approaching end, before the breathy, twinkling ambience of Mathias Grassow, credited with the last section, “Mohini the Enchantress”, becomes distinguishable against blackened heavens. Ultimately, attribution is irrelevant and what´s more, a credit to the seamless arrangement of the compiler. The second chapter, “Rahu Mantras” rolls out like one long, numinous but multivalent drone joining five pieces contributed in turn by A.P. (Anders Peterson, who also masters most gterma productions and appears earlier in the guise of Last Industrial Estate), eco-ambient veteran Mathias Grassow and Jiří Mazánek, Grassow solo, Earth Vibration and New Zealand´s David Parsons. Long airy and beatless, it shimmers like a mirage and pit-a-pats on tiptoe in the middle, after which it opens slowly and magnificently, like the maw of Rahu gaping, sun reemerging, pushed by tablas and solar winds. Phra Rahu is an awesome, perfectly paced astral journey, anything but meditation music, an instar struggling toward surface and light. gterma´s discography is an utter pantheon of thoughtfully executed, Subcontinental-inflected ambient, divulged lucidly in word and sound here. A personal favourite is the superior and mystic dub ambient of Urenga (Andras Kiss, who contributes to Phra Rahu as Indo), whose only physical releases among a shoal of digital albums have appeared with the gterma imprint. Mu (The Lost Continent) is pure Shangri-La, while After Rain is humid and kir-coloured." [Cyclic Defrost] 2014 €19.50
Projekt Neue Ordnung II 4 x LP BOX Projekt Neue Ordnung was the 1st and only Compilation done by Tesco Organisation. It was released in 1990, and in 2017 is the year of Tesco´s mail-order 30 years anniversary. Like at that time this compilation features contemporary and new projects. Some projects that you might have never heard of before, or you will never hear of after. It combines artists that are currently producing high class material off which we never had the chance for a full-length release before and bands that are awaiting the listeners attention and highly deserve it. The project is an international one and has started with its compiling in late 2015 - now is the time! All bands are presenting their view on Projekt Neue Ordnung and have supplied some magnificent artwork assembled in DIN A4 fullcolor booklet. The music presented here ranges from abstract concrete sounds, dark drone ambience, post industrial, power electronics to noise music. As multi-shaped as it is, it is! Compilations have been the main entrance to new project, to extend the musical knowledge and give room to new concepts. We wish this time to come back again and have no presented our idea of how it can be... featuring: AM NOT [UK], ALFARMANIA[SE], AUSSTRÖMEN[UK], BODY CARGO [LT], CADLAG [SI], DEATHPANEL [DE], DUST BELT [US], GEOGRAPHY OF HELL [US/FR], GRAUSTICH [AT], GRIEFER [CA], GRUNT [FI], ILL [DE], JAAKKO VANHALA [FI], KE/HIL [DE], K.I.A. [PT], LEBENSFADEN [JP], :M: [US], PAIN NAIL [FI], PUCE MARY [DK], PTERYGIUM [UK], ROPE SOCIETY [AU], RUSALKA [CA], RUSHA [DE], SALFORD ELECTRONICS [UK], SCRELOMA [JP], SHIFT [UK], S.T.A.B. ELECTRONICS [UK], SVARTVIT [NL], THE TRAINABLES [UK], TOTRAUM [HU], WERTHAM [IT] The box presentation follows the graphical art of the 1st PROJEKT NEUE ORDNUNG - the printed box houses the 4 LPs including a lavish printed full color A4 booklet and is numbered to only 500 copies. Nearly 160 minutes of music that awaits your exploration. www.tesco-germany.com 2017 €78.00
Your Reality is broken LP A compilation of covers, reinterpretations and/or transformations of Contrastate tracks in celebration of their 30th anniversary. The inivitation to participate was limited to a select few artists who have over the years, in some shape or form, worked with Contrastate. Track A1: Recorded in 2016. The original piece "The People Who Read The Books" was from 1997 concerts in Erlangen, Muenster and Nevers. Track A2: Recorded in 2016 Track A3: Recorded in March 2017. Sound sources: "As Time Began", "Thirst For Knowledge", "A Thousand Badgers In Labour" and a self played cover version of "An End marked By Pessimism". Track B1: Recorded in 2017. The track originates from the album "A Breeding Ground For Flies". Track B2: Recorded in 2017. Sound sources: English Embers/In Absentia - plus original material Track B3: Recorded in 2017. Includes a printed inner-sleeve. Front cover artwork: "Das Tier ist tod" Back cover artwork: "Perinatale Grundmatrix I" Insert artwork: "Tre uomini sulla croce" Tracklist Hide Credits A1 –Contrastate The Peolple Who Control The Information Recorded By – Contrastate 5:00 A2 –RLW Goodbye Great Nation 2016 Recorded By – RLW 7:31 A3 –Troum An End Marked, As Time Began Recorded By – Troum 6:21 B1 –Genocide Organ / Contrastate Son Of Sam Recorded By – Genocide Organ 5:46 B2 –Band Of Pain Re-establishing Beams (#9) Recorded By – Steve Pittis 6:09 B3 –État D'Urgence (2) Assassinate En Arrière-Plan Recorded By – État D'Urgence (2) 5:24 "Ever since their inception in the late 1980s, this UK project has simultaneously dabbled both in the worlds of musique concret and harsh electronics; two styles that are undeniably similar but have very few in the way of crossover artists, all with a distinct sense of irreverence. Active again after a lengthy hiatus in the early part of the 21st century, Your Reality is Broken is another piece of work that successfully blurs unnecessary lines; in this case if it is a tribute album to them, a remix collection, or a compilation of collaborations. In truth, it is all of these things at once, and it is excellent. There are only five artists who were invited to participate in this release, each providing one piece that is either a reworking of Contrastate material, a collaboration with them, or in the case of the opening piece, Contrastate covering themselves. The remainder of Your Reality is Broken are artists that also work between those two aforementioned stylistic poles: RLW, Troum, Genocide Organ, Band of Pain, and État D'Urgence. Contrastate’s self-reflexive contribution, "The People Who Control the Information," is built upon a different piece that was previously only performed live in 1997, "The People Who Read the Books." In its opening moments it is largely a spoken word performance, with ringing electronics filling the otherwise wide open spaces around the vocals. Sharp, grinding electronics tear through and hints of rhythm appear, which eventually solidify into an almost reggae like beat. By the time it all comes together, it is a bizarre combination of noisy electronics, spoken word, and dancehall beats; a strange combination no doubt, but also one that works very well. Troum's "An End Marked, as Time Began" is constructed by the legendary drone act from three existing Contrastate works plus their own cover of "An End Marked By Pessimism." Besides the aforementioned song, this is pretty much the other most musical piece here. Troum blend the existing recordings into a sustained wall of cavernous sound, making for a murky and somewhat oppressive sonic feel. With snatches of voice peppered throughout and swirling strings later introduced, it comes together in a surprisingly melodic and classical-tinged form. "Son of Sam" is a reworking of the same titled composition from the band's 2012 A Breeding Ground for Flies album that is credited to both Genocide Organ and Contrastate on the sleeve, so I am not sure if it is a collaboration or a reworking, but it is distinctly GO in sound. This is the modern day form of the legendary band, which is less about intentionally lo-fi noise and more atmospherically bleak. The treated and flanged vocals are of course there, as is the droning, abrasive Korg MS-10 synth, but the whole piece is very clean and well refined, more depressive than aggressive. Steve Pittis' Band of Pain uses material from English Embers and In Absentia to build "Re-establishing Beams (#9)": a mélange of echoing thuds and jarring, drill-like electronics that are at first right in line with old school noise sensibilities but eventually goes in to more restrained, subtle places. Ralf Wehowsky (as RLW) and État D’Urgence each supply the more disturbing, discomforting tributes on this record. The former's "Goodbye Great Nation 2016" is a pairing of churning sub bass and piercing high frequencies that, while somewhat minimal at first, convey a splendidly sinister mood. Fragments of voice and chimes are weaved in, and with the random voices and mangled piano, it is an entirely disorienting and uncomfortable sounding composition. The latter’s "Assassinate En Arrière-Plan" is another where vocals are up front and demonically processed, making for the most sinister and horror-esque moments of this record. Your Reality is Broken is a bit of an odd compilation, but one that is undoubtedly Contrastate, and the artists selected all reflect this idiosyncratic approach just as well. All of the artists contribute excellent reworkings or inspired pieces, but I also appreciate the classic compilation feel to the record. The mix of artists, the presentation, the style, it all reminded me of classic albums like the Rising from the Red Sands series or albums put out by RRRecords a few decades ago. It simply hits all the right buttons from beginning to end." [Creaig Dunton / Brainwashed] 2017 €20.00
TROUM TRANSFORMATION TAPES: The 20th Anniversary Celebration (1997-2017) do-CD with: ALLSEITS, CONTRASTATE, V.O.S.(YEN POX), VANCE ORCHESTRA, TARKATAK, RAISON D'ETRE, NADJA, MARTYN BATES w. TROUM, MULTER, QST (Frans de Waard/KAPOTTE MUZIEK), URE THRALL, MYRRMAN (SAL SOLARIS), INADE, DUAL, BAD SECTOR, CISFINITUM, REUTOFF, MOLJEBKA PVLSE, and MARKOW C. ORIGINAL INVITATION: "Dear Friends and Dreamers, Troum did the very first performance under this name (after the demise of Maeror Tri) in March 1997, so this year we reach our 20th anniversary. We have never done any anniversary "celebration" or "remix" projects of Troum material before, so we thought maybe it's the time now! You can choose any existing Troum material (also taken from multiple tracks) to cover, re-interpretate, re-work/process/arrange or collage it. You can also add your own sounds, create a new track-title, watever comes to your mind! (We are certainly NOT looking for a standard "remix", so we don't send out any specific material to everyone!). This invitation goes out to various musicians that have worked with us over the 20 years, which became friends or important for our evolution as a band." TROUM, March 2017 2. TRACKLIST: CD 1 1. ALLSEITS - Times 2. CONTRASTATE - The Silent Fish 3. INADE - The innermost Sun 4. VANCE ORCHESTRA - Giascei 5. TARKATAK - vs. Brinnan 6. RAISON D'ETRE - Ananke 7. NADJA - Mirrored in You 8. MARTYN BATES w. TROUM - An Untitled Protest 9. [MULTER] - Sela Saiwala MNX CD 2 1. QST - Kapotte Muziek by Troum (QST remix 2017) 2. URE THRALL - Krypte 3. 016 vs. MYRRMAN - Sen №350 (Psychic Automaton Rework) 4. V.O.S. (Steve Hall/YEN POX) - Breath Again 5. DUAL - TTN (Ursprung) 6. BAD SECTOR - Signedumiroir 7. MARKOW C. - Chaneism 8. CISFINITUM - Skaun[ei]s 9. REUTOFF - Hypoxia (Troum Spirare Cover) 10. MOLJEBKA PVLSE - Ennoia Liner Notes from JIM HAYNES: It was 1996 when the German industrial project Maeror Tri disbanded, and I recall being deeply saddened by the news. A few years earlier, I had discovered the project while working at a now-defunct distribution company in San Francisco. Fittingly released through Korm Plastics 'Introductions' series, Maeror Tri's Multiple Personality Disorder reflected an interested in psychological pathology as channeled through raw sound. Industrial culture has long used the metaphors of disease as a mirror to shine a light on any number of ills in contemporary society. This particular album addresses four aspects of the titular disorder, itself the most extreme form of schizophrenia which fractures the discrete personalities, which Maeror Tri identified in the general dissociative characteristics: The Administrator, The Anaesthetizer, The Revenger, The Protector. With each of these tracks, Maeror Tri orchestrated dense layers of heavily effected, sustained noise, back-masked growlings, and shimmering drones as emotionally resonant portraits to those four personality traits. With Industrial culture's penchant for sensationalized horror of autopsy and abbatoir footage, Maeror Tri's constructs were uniquely sympathetic to those who suffered from this debilitating disease. With the posthumous release of Emotional Engramm in 1997, Maeror Tri's compositional complexity began to blossom, relying less on the hypnogogic dislocation of time-lag effects and more on the poetics and the portent of the underlying melodies that rippled through their ghostly accretions for drone and noise. Right as they called it quits, the ideas of Maeror Tri had expressed a maturity that had much more to say through the collapse of sound into an crushed, all-encompassing, cathartic tsunami. What was to emerge in the wake of Maeror Tri's dissolution did not immediately seem clear. Founding member Stefan Knappe had already established his impeccably curated Drone Records, which initially focused on the improbable medium of the 7" single to release long-form works of dark ambient, heavy drone, and industrial din. Many of these artists that landed on Drone were unknown or under-appreciated projects, but without fail, these proved to be impressive documents and demanded that they be acquired upon sight with or without any idea of who exactly was behind the project. In this series, Knappe did commisson work from a number of highly acclaimed musicians including Inade, Francisco Lopez, Cranioclast, Aidan Baker, The Lotus Eaters, etc. but there were the lesser known acts such as the Hungarian experimental project Hideg Roncs, Holland's esoteric ambient outfit Indra Karmuka, and the hermetic tape machinist Abner Malaty. Drone released exactly 100 singles between 1993 and 2010, at which time the format switched to a four-way split LP format under the Drone-Mind // Mind-Drone banner, in addition to the 10" Substantia Innominata series, both of which maintain high calibre curation to this day. In 1998, Knappe reconvened with fellow Maeror Tri member Martin Gitschel to form Troum. The name for this new project was taken from an archaic German word for dream and provides clear insight into their investigations manifesting universal archetypes and symbols from a collective unconsciousness into an overwhelming flood of sound. The first recordings for Troum were published on a small cassette housed in a small pillow, ascribed with the title Dreaming Muzak. As with Maeror Tri, Troum sculpt their dronescapes mostly through heavily processed guitars along with an assortment of other instruments. If the intent of Troum was to put the listener to sleep, the lulling vibrating patterns certainly have the capacity; but the overall darkness of these sounds will never inspire the most pleasant of dreams. These are shadowy, bleak, and cold sounds which permeate the album, and lend themselves to images of desolate factories spewing a constant stream of black soot in some wintery post-Soviet country. At the turn of the millennium, Troum embarked on their ambitious Tjukurrpa trilogy, the title of which has its origin in the physical, spiritual, and psychological state of dreamtime for the Australian Aboriginals, symbolizing Troum's intention to divine transcendence through their hypnogogic compositions. They applied these ideas to the three compositional foundations to their music, in Harmonies, Drones, and Rhythms & Pulsations each of which are highlighted on the trilogies component albums. Harmonies for Troum relate to the cold ambient swirls of resonant timbres from Troum's interlocked guitars that cycle through minor-key chords bathed in a resplendent wash of effects and melancholy atmospheres. Troum's signature drones are heavy, lumbering propositions of earth-shaking rumbles and subterranean minimalism. The use of rhythm appears in Troum's work as percussive mantras with a ritualist approach to metal-bashed patterns and looped sequences. These fundamental tools - harmonies, drones, and rhythms - represent a set of pre-linguistic symbols that Troum employs to articulate to the primal emotional responses of various psychological states. More often than not, Troum turn towards ashen, sublime, nocturnal, and grim metaphors through their work, even though rapturously golden crescendos flourish on the rare occasion in their body of work. Sigqan (2003) is a harrowing album that plunges deep into an overwhelming gloom through sustained tones and drones. Like the project's name, the title harkens to a pre-medieval dialect of the Goths that roughly translates as the setting or sinking of the sun. Here, Troum addresses the Dark Ages fear that the sun might not rise again, leaving the world in permanent darkness. The Power Romantic trilogy (which include the albums Mare Idiophonika, Grote Mandrenke, Mare Morphosis released from 2010 - 2013) finds the duo embracing the oceanic metaphors that undulate upon the cycles of the tides through billowing shadows of mournful melody and subharmonic rumble. These too are drawn towards hostile metaphors, with Grote Mandrenke referring directly to a massive storm surge that devastated Northern Europe and the Britsh Isles in 1362, sweeping some 25,000 people out to sea and to their deaths. Through the Drone Records productions and ancillary distribution company, Troum have maintained a very healthy network of connections all across the globe. In doing so, they have also engaged in a select number of ongoing collaborations. Their first was with the occult American project Yen Pox whose collective low-frequency thumming stand at the pinnacle of the dark ambient genre. An enduring presence from the once mighty Cold Meat Industries, Raison D'etre has worked with Troum in transforming raw material through the existential lens of a vacant cathedral. Architectural reverberation and ghostly chorales flutter with a solemn, ethereal impressionism. The baroque post-punk singer-songwriter Martyn Bates of Eyeless In Gaza had long been an inspiration for Knappe and Gitschel in both Troum and Maeror Tri. In fact a dedication to Bates was ascribed to a track from the Tjukurrpa series. In 2006, Bates joined Troum for their collaborative album To a Child Dancing in the Wind, which girds Bates' beatific, lyrical vocalizations to a luminous, shimmering facet to Troum's aesthetic. This compilation with its remixes, deconstructions, and reconstitutions of Troum's back catalogue and raw material is a celebration not only to Troum's impressive body of work but also to their ongoing and active participation in the broader communities of the avant-garde, minimalism, drone-rock, and industrial culture with unflagging dedication. These propositions respectfully build upon the fluid dynamics of Troum's sound as well as the wordless symbolism of pre-lingusitic conditions that are fundamental to Troum's work. It should be noted that both Dual and Vance Orchestra reunited specifically for this project. Sibilant. Subaquatic. Serpentine. Ominous. Thunderous. Billowing. Haunted. Hypnogogic. Blossomed with sadness. Best Drones. JIM HAYNES 2018 €12.00
CHANGEZ RETRAVAILLE (Changez les Blockeurs) 3 x CD Various artists' reworking of TNB's legendary LP from 1982. Changez Les Blockeurs has attained a somewhat mythical / legendary status (Record Collector magazine included it in a list of the rarest, most collectable records ever) and 2017 was the 35th anniversary of its original release. In celebration of this, TNB invited some of their favourite artists to compose a reworking which have been issued collectively as Changez Retravaillé (Changez Reworked.) Nurse With Wound, Philip Sanderson (Storm Bugs), Mark Durgan (Putrefier), Phil Julian (Cheapmachines), The Prestidigitators, Anomali, Spoils & Relics, Asmus Tietchens, Ralf Wehowsky (a.k.a. RLW), Das Synthetische Mischgewebe, Kommissar Hjuler, Rudolf Eb.er (Schimphluch Gruppe), Frans de Waard (QST), Jerome Noetinger, Giancarlo / Massimo Toniutti, Alexei Borisov, TNM, Thurston Moore, Jim O'Rourke, GX Jupitter-Larsen (The Haters), John Wiese, Idea Fire Company, Irr. App. (Ext.), Merzbow, K2, Toshiji Mikawa (Incapacitants), Kazumoto Endo, Nobuo Yamada, Daisuke Suzuki, Veltz. "Nurse With Wound open the Changez Retravaillé compilation, 30 tracks over three CDs. Consistent with their efforts to forge links with the global Noise community, and indeed a strong influence on it, it’s fair to think of this as a gathering of TNB’s peers. Most people in the market for this could have predicted the appearance of Mark Durgan (Putrefier), Rudolf Eb.er (Schimpfluch Gruppe), GX Jupitter-Larsen (The Haters), Merzbow et al. Durgan submits a rather invigorating aural firework display; Anomali and QST (Frans de Waard)’s Techno leanings feel considerably bolder than noise remixed as noise. With that said, harsh noise tornados like that served up by K2 can still rattle your senses." The Wire Selected comments / reviews of the original LP: As far as I'm concerned Noise as we know it today starts with Changez Les Blockeurs. It is universally accepted as the first true Noise LP of the modern era. Ron Lessard, RRRecords A warehouse symphony in which workers pile scrap metal in on honour of Beethoven’s Ode To Joy. A masterpiece. ND Changez Les Blockeurs is one of the few noise recordings I would unhesitatingly command as 'essential,' containing some of the most pure and untamed experimentation recorded in the late 20th century. Signal To Noise Changez Les Blockeurs is full of chaotic Dada referentialism. You will be tempted to think first of Satie’s Musique D’ameublement (Furniture Music) in a perverse sense: a squawking symphony filled with rusty wheels and creaking wooden floor. A syntax destruction, an anti-narrative in the form of a happening that draws and maintains an acoustic noise art continuity with the assemblages of pre-Fluxus or to John Cage’s score Living Room Music. ei Changez Les Blockeurs turned the international Noise scene on its head. It scrambled so many circuits that its influence is inestimable. It strikes parallels with the automatic music of Fluxus and is both ultra-sophisticated and jaw-droppingly crude. A freely improvised electro-acoustic session that utilizes the sound of wheelchair runners, broken glass and bowed metal in order to access a zone of complete brain-stilling gridlock. One of the first post-Throbbing Gristle recordings to run an umbilical to the classical noise of the 20th century.' David Keenan, The Wire / Red Bull Music Academy Brought up as I was on the camouflaged Pop absurdism of Throbbing Gristle the short step into the anti-art Dada / Fluxus ethos of TNB would have been manna from a post-Punk heaven. Lumps of metal get thrown around in a bid to resurrect the ghost of Tristan Tzara, two invalids in wheelchairs fencing with broken car aerials, a baby elephant blindly trying to escape a room full of bicycles and sackbuts. It’s magnificent in its absurdity. It’s a discomforting listen that has gained near mythical status and deserves its status as one of the most sought after releases of all time. Idwal Fisher When I listen to Changez Les Blockeurs I think of Tristan Tzara, Hugo Ball, and other self-proclaimed art revolutionaries who followed manifestos that promoted anti-rationalism above all else. With that in mind, part of me feels that attempting to review it is akin to trying to use a rational literary standpoint to critique Tzara’s books of proto-cut-up musings, Blago Bung Blago Bung, i.e. misguided and ultimately pointless. Feral Debris There is no sense of composition, no beginning nor end, no milestone, no virtuosity. TNB's Dadaism can be compared to NWW’s Surrealism. Changez Les Blockeurs lays bare some primitive reality, defined by what it is not and from their negations only destruction remains. Unique in every sense of the word. Guts Of Darkness Changez Les Blockeurs can be listened to a hundred times and still keep its mysteries intact. It'll also be just as confounding and compelling the hundredth time as it was the first. There isn't any other recording that sounds like this, not even the TNB records that came after it, solid as many of them are. Howard Stelzer, Intransitive Changez Les Blockeurs is the ultimate statement in musical nihilism. It's hard to believe humans made this, there is no emotion in the work at all. Never before has anyone used textures like these in a context like this. No matter how much is said about this album, no matter how many meaningless and useless words are typed in an attempt to explain the importance of this record, nothing will come close to listening to it. Forget anything you know about music because it will be abandoned. As a document and as (non)music, TNB had in mind what they wanted to do with this record and executed it flawlessly. Notebooks www.ricercasonora.com/catalog/changez-retravaille/28/ 2019 €26.00
Strain, Crack & Break : Music from the Nurse With Wound List Vol. 1 (France) do-LP After years of mythology, misinterpretation and procrastination Nurse With Wound’s Steven Stapleton finally chooses Finders Keepers Records as the ideal collaborators to release “the right tracks” from his uber-legendary psych/prog/punk peculiarity shopping list known as The Nurse With Wound List, commencing with a French specific Volume One of this authentically titled Strain Crack Break series. Featuring some Finders Keepers’ regulars amongst galactic Gallic rarities (previously presumed to be imaginary red herrings) this deluxe double vinyl dossier demystifies some of the essential French free jazz and Parisian prog inclusions from the alphabetical “dedication” inventory as printed the anti-bands 1979 industrial milestone debut. When Steven Stapleton, Heman Pathak and John Fothergill’s anti-band Nurse With Wound decided to include an alphabetical dedication to all their favourite bands on the back of their inaugural LP the notion of creating a future record dealers’ trophy list couldn’t have been further from their minds. By adding a list of untravelled European mythical musicians and noise makers to their own debut release of unchartered industrial art rock they were merely providing a suggestive support system of existing potential likeminded bands, establishing safety in numbers should anyone require sonic subtitles for Nurse With Wound’s own mutant musical language. Luckily for them, the record landed in record shops in the midst of 1979’s memorable summer of abject apathy and its sound became a hit amongst disillusioned agit-pop pickers and artsy post-punks, thus playing a key role in the bourgeoning “Industrial” genre that ensued. On the most part, however, the list , like most instruction manuals, remained unreadable, syntactic and suspiciously sarcastic… As potential “real musicians” Nurse WIth Wound became an Industrial music fan’s household name, but in contrast many of the names on The Nurse With Wound List were considered to be imaginary musicians, made-up bands or booby traps for hacks and smart-arses. It took a while for the rest of the record collecting community to catch on or finally catch up. Since then, many of the rare, obscure and unpronounceable genre-free records on The Nurse With Wound List have slowly found their own feet and stumbled in to the homes of open-minded outernational vinyl junkies, D’s and sample hungry producers, self-propelled and judged on their own merit, mostly without consultation of the enigmatic NWW map. But, to the inspective competitive collector’s chagrin, one resounding fact recurs, NWW got there first! via vinyl vacations, on cheap flights and Interrail tickets, buying bargain bin LPs on a shoestring while oblivious to the pending pension worthy price tags after their 40 year vintage, Stapleton and Fothergill, even if you’ve never heard of them, were at the bottom of the pit before “digging” became paydirt. And NOW at huge international record fairs that occur in massive exhibition halls (or within the confines of your one-touch palm pilot) amongst jive talk acronyms such as SS, PP, BIN, DNAP and BCWHES the coded letters NWW have begun to appear on stickers in the corner of original copies of the same premium progressive records accompanied by a customary 50% price hike to titillate/coerce the initiated as dealers extort the taught. Like “psych” “PINA” or “Krautrock” did before, “NWW” has become a buzzword and in the passed decades since its first publication The List has been mythologised, misunderstood and misconstrued. It’s also been overlooked, overestimated and under-appreciated in equal measures, but with a growing interest it has also come to represent a maligned genre in itself, something that all members of the original line-up would have deemed sacrilegious. Bolstered by the subtitle “Categories strain, crack and sometimes break, under their burden,” all bands on the inventory (many chosen on the strength of just one track alone) were chosen for their genre-defying qualities… A check-list for the uncharted. Forty years after Nurse With Wound’s first record, Finders Keepers Records, in close collaboration with Steve Stapleton remind fans of THIS kind of “lost” music, that there once existed a feint path which was worn away decades before major label pop property developers built over this psychedelic underground. As long-running fans and liberators of some of the same records, arriving at the same axis from different-but-the-same planets, Finders Keepers and Nurse WIth Wound finally sing from the same hymn sheet resulting in a collaborative attempt to officially, authentically and legally compile the best tracks from the list, succeeding where many overzealous nerds have deferred (or simply, got the wrong end of the stick). Naturally our lavish metallic gatefold double vinyl compendium would only scratch the surface of this DIY dossier of elongated punk-prog peculiarities hence out decision to release volume one in a series which, in accordance with Steve’s wishes, focuses exclusively on individual tracks of French origin, the country that unsurprisingly hosted the highest content of bands on the list. Comprising of musique concrète, free jazz, Rock In Opposition, Zeuhl School space rock, macabre ballet music, lo-fi sci-fi, and classic horror literature inspired prog, this first volume of the series entitled Strain Crack And Break throws us in at the deep end, where the Seine meets the in-sane, introducing the space cadets that found Mars in Marseilles. Like the Swedish flat-pack record shelves that attempt to house the vast amounts of vintage vinyl that goes into a multi-volume compilation like this, it is time to prepare your own musical penchants and preconceived ideas about DIY music and hear them slowly strain, crack and break. https://www.finderskeepersrecords.com/shop/strain-crack-break-nurse-with-wound/ 2019 €24.00
Thousands of Eyes in the Dark LP "For two decades, Ghostly International has functioned at the joints of genre, distinctly connecting many, demarcated by none. Among the more curious throughlines in the label's stylistic architecture is its use of the tag SMM. Launched discreetly in 2003, the undefined acronym has designated calm, slow-moving music that straddles the synthetic/organic divide in surprising ways. 2011 compilation SMM: Context pieced together landscapes imagined by the likes of Leyland Kirby and Christina Vantzou. 2013 follow-up SMM: Opiate proposed the evocative possibilities of sound with artists such as Noveller and A Winged Victory for the Sullen. The letters have since emphasized releases ranging from harpist Mary Lattimore to synthesist Steve Hauschildt. In 2019, alongside the label's 20-year milestone, Ghostly extends Thousands of Eyes in the Dark, a collection celebrating international talent with an outward gaze. Ten original works of contemporary melodic and incidental electronics — fragments, moods, vignettes — sequenced as one continuous suite, a pairing of personal expression with wide angle vision. Submissions stretch far beyond Ghostly’s roster and roots. Tracing the tracklist on a map, we begin in the Netherlands with Suzanne Kraft operating under his SK U Kno alias. Stabs of guitar mingle with washes of restless sound design on “Cut and Faze,” a gripping, asymmetric opener. Pan over to Los Angeles next, where emerging modular synth practitioner Emily Sprague patches “Mesa,” lightly coiling the tonal hymn skyward. The third track, “This Was Us,” belongs to Berlin-based Dutch-Italian composer Aimée Portioli aka Grand River. She says the tender, strolling piece references the dissolution of a relationship and was improvised on a Yamaha DX7 following a night with friends; “I just sat with the instrument and started to play. I kind of needed a moment to myself.” Back in Ann Arbor, Ghostly’s first home, label mainstay Tadd Mullinix renders an oscillating study of sensations titled as a nod to the film Woman in the Dunes. In his words: “I was inspired by the beautiful imagery and mood of the film which conveys, very sensually, passion as a consolation for life's looming impasse of bondage and drudgery.” Closing side A is Canadian composer Sarah Davachi, who drafted her cathedral-filling drone for Mellotron and Hammond organ. She explains, “The title is multivalent: taken in the middle ages from Latin origins, a Sybil was a sort of pagan fortune teller; in recent history, it refers to a psychiatric disposition to feel away from oneself.” The entry point to Side B hazily stirs and crackles in the care of Orcas, the collaboration between veterans Rafael Anton Irisarri (The Sight Below) and Thomas Meluch (Benoit Pioulard). They cite a lineage of classic ambient inspirations: Mark Hollis, Pieter Nooten & Michael Brook, Fennesz & David Sylvian. Vancouver producer and recent signee Dylan Khotin-Foote provides one of the series’ sweetest moments yet, “Angel Epicenter,” his signature dream-like climes anchored by a steady pulse. Immediately following is its twangiest, “Shepherd Canyon” by Saariselka, the meditations of Oakland, California composers Marielle Jakobsons (Fender Rhodes, organ, synthesizers) and Chuck Johnson (pedal steel guitar and treatments). That pastoral terrain is left to linger a moment before into turning to concrete, courtesy of Manchester duo Space Afrika, known for their vast, disintegrating urban dubscapes. Thousands of Eyes in the Dark finishes its first cycle in Japan, as producer and field recordist Yosi Horikawa leads listeners through a lush forest of sound, outlining every step with melancholic piano phrasings, inching into the sublime. Designed for repeat play-through, these ten tracks from some of the world’s finest sound artists double as a worthy metaphor for Ghostly’s 20-year run with SMM: a discerning set keeping us engrossed and guessing." https://ghostly.bandcamp.com/album/thousands-of-eyes-in-the-dark 2019 €20.00
F/EAR THIS! BOOK + 2 x CD "F/Ear This!" was originally a double album compiled at the end of 1986 and released in 1987 by PEACE, a completely informal gathering of ziners, activists, musical groups and small Italian record labels which included Blu Bus (Franti, etc.), Particolare Music (Plasticost), Rockgarage, Trax (Vittore Baroni, Piermario Ciani, etc.), UT / Communications (Giacomo Spazio), Catfood Press (Marco Pandin) and Tunnel Records (Detonazione). Marco Pandin was responsible for collecting the material. The idea for the title was born from Vittore Baroni, who also assembled a 28-page A4 booklet using some of the graphic art sent to him by some of the various musicians participating to the compilation, and adding images taken from the Trax archives. "F/Ear This!" was released on vinyl and on cassette. All the proceeds were destined to support "A/Rivista Anarchica" anarchist magazine. "It was decided to not reveal the list of participants on the cover: this was not going to be a 'regular' compilation. The idea behind "F/Ear This!" was to put together - asking for help from friends musicians, graphic artists and poets scattered all around the planet - contributions connected, or somehow linkable, to a common theme: "fear". Fear was something we all lived and shared, like being poisoned and feeden black bread on a daily basis: let's do something then, let's protest, let's turn the volume up. We tried to spread the news and rally, to pass the word and share the sense of alarm. The work done then was digitally reproduced, respecting its integrity as much as possible. The audio was restored from the original reels and cassettes, and some tracks which were originally left out were added. The new layout includes a 48-page 8" booklet with original artworks and also some new works done for this edition. store.silentes.it/catalogue/sn202001.html 2020 €20.00
Dies Natalis Invicti Solis CD To assist in your solitary winter rituals… Dies Natalis Invicti Solis was conceptualized and curated by Stephen Petrus in the autumn of 2020. With love and dedication to Marcus LaBonte. Photography and artwork by Gretchen Heinel and Lee Bartow. Graphic design by Derek Rush. Mastered by Grant Richardson. Mithras, God of midnight, here where the great bull dies Look on thy children in darkness. Oh take our sacrifice! Many roads Thou has fashioned: all of them lead to the light. Mithras, also a solider, teach us to die aright! - Rudyard Kipling (350 AD) Kleistwahr is Gary Mundy brokenflag.com ramlehuk@aol.com Gnawed is Grant Richardson Recorded beneath the ground and in the dark, September 2020 Gnawed.deathindustrial@gmail.com ORD vk.com/ordritual Contrastate are Jonathan Grieve, Stephen Meixner and Stephen J. Pomeroy Additional vocals: Lucy Pomeroy Mastered at Lust Studios. Copyright: Contrastate 2020 blackroserecordings@yahoo.co.uk Murderous Vision (Featuring Crow Hill Gnostic Temple) Stephen Petrus - Electronics, Voice Pauline Lombardo- Electronics, Voice murderousvision1.bandcamp.com livebaitrecording@gmail.com Crow Hill Gnostic Temple - Invokations bucklandmuseum.org Konstruktivists are Glen Michael Wallis and Mark Crumby konstruktivists.com konstruktivists@gmail.com Deutsch Nepal is Lina B. Doll deutschnepal.bandcamp.com Envenomist is David N. Reed Imvixor.bandcamp.com davidnathanreed@outlook.com Dream Into Dust is Derek Rush dreamintodust.com dreamintodust.bandcamp.com Failing Lights is Mike Connelly Additional sounds by Tara Connelly Set flame to myrrh Brighter Death Now is Roger Karmanik brighterdeathnow.bandcamp.com Theologian & The Vomit Arsonist Lee Bartow Annihilvs.org Andrew Grant thevomitarsonist.bandcamp.com thevomitarsonist@gmail.com https://murderousvision1.bandcamp.com/album/dies-natalis-invicti-solis 2020 €13.00
Drop the Beat CD Which significance does rhythm have for us? Focus? Means to an end? The main parameter or one parameter of many? How much time do we spend on rhythmic organisation while composing? Is our music danceable? Which sounds do we use to generate beats? How do our electronic “percussion instruments” sound? How is groove generated? Does my computer groove? Can digital groove be distinguished from analogue groove? What do our pulse grids look like? Music on the timing grid, microtiming, quantisation? – Felix Leuschner With contributions from Marc Behrens, Jiayi Wu, Johannes Kreidler, Kai Niggemann, Kirsten Reese, Alex Hofmann, Matthias Ockert, Stefan Schulzki, Lina Posecnaite, Michael Harenberg and Jörg Lindenmaier. https://www.degem.de/cds-dvds/drop-the-beat/ 2018 €13.00
Transit CD Die Stücke der 2019er DEGEM CD 17 beschäftigen sich auf jeweils unterschiedliche Weise mit dem Thema Transition. Dieser Begriff funktioniert in vielen Sprachen. Er bedeutet Übergang, Verwandlung, Wechsel, Überleitung, Umbruch. Der Begriff kann sich auf einen innermusikalischen Vorgang genauso beziehen wie auf technologische oder gesellschaftliche Umbrüche oder auf Übergänge ganzer Epochen. Etwas verändert sich und transformiert sich in etwas ganz anderes. Aktuelle Entwicklungen in Politik, Umwelt, Technologie und anderen Gebieten geben Anlass zu der Vermutung, dass wir uns in vielerlei Hinsicht (wieder) in einer Zeit des Übergangs befinden. Gesamtspielzeit 67:51 min. [01] Klarenz Barlow: 13C2=[♄] [02] Dirk Reith: scattered voices 3.47 [03] Clemens von Reusner: KRIT [04] Thomas Gerwin: Alchemic Process VI – materia prima [05] Monika Golla & Nikolaus Heyduck: Transitus [06] Jan Jacob Hofmann: Nocturnal Transit_remix [07] Johannes S. Sistermanns: UnKnown [08] Hans Tutschku: Spannungsresonanzen 2019 €13.00
DRONE-MIND // MIND-DRONE Vol. 8: AUME, K. ISHIGAMI, HIROSHIMABEND, BALDRUIN LP Four "Drones" on one record! Volume EIGHT (MIND-08) is OUT NOW (11/2021) feat.: KAZUYA ISHIGAMI ҉ AUME ҉ HIROSHIMABEND ҉ BALDRUIN Drone on! We're finally back with a more 'pulsative' and post industrial-influenced issue, presenting the following artists: KAZUYA ISHIGAMI (*1972 / Osaka / Japan) is a prolific composer, engineer, sound designer and performer active for many years (also under the name DARUIN), with broadcasts of his works around the globe. His track 'Clean2020' works on the theme of 'memories" and is based on the idea to accept and acknowledge even the painful memories to reach a state of ease and to transform the subjective past... AUME is the duo of SCOT JENERIK (23five Inc. / Mobilization Records) and ALEPH OMEGA (ex CHROME), from the US west coast, both also active in F-SPACE before, creating stunning audio-visual 'immersion dark ambience" with true archaic energy.. HIROSHIMABEND (aka 'puppy38') hails from Austin, Texas but has been based in Vienna for many years now, and has impressed with many long-form works in the field of electronic / esoteric emanations, mostly self-released via Opiumdenpluto. He is also active as a visual and mastering artist...- "Listening to the music of hiroshimabend has been likened to swimming in a milky lake of black ink." BALDRUIN is a German project with a very electronic and musical edge. His pieces appear to be like excursions into a (bad) fairy-tale world.. - "well constructed cosmic ambient-scapes with a dark psychedelic / cinematic / surrealistic touch; when strange voices, subtle percussion and whistling noises enter the scenery.." Let your MIND be surrounded by adventurous sonic landscapes - organic repetitions as coming from a ghostly otherworld, oriental field recordings, layers of pipe organ-like drones, mysterious electric ether-potentials etc..- "Vier feine Synapsenputzer machen einem mal wieder so manches klar.." [Bad Alchemy} cover-art & mastering by puppy38 using two paintings by British artist PETE GREENING https://www.saatchiart.com/Pete_G Edition of 400 copies on VELVET PURPLE (solid purple and solid red mixed) coloured VINYL. listen: soundcloud.com/drone-records order: www.dronerecords.de basic concept: DRONE-MIND // MIND-DRONE - Volume 8 LP The series shows the various sides of today's experimental drone-music This LP-series from Drone Records is dedicated to the Drones of the World, and the Drones of our Minds. A kind of continuation of the Drone 7"-series, with artwork based on paintings by British artist PETE GREENING. Drone Music is seen as more than a mere 'music style', it expresses an approach to perceive and understand the world. DRONE-MIND and MIND-DRONE build a circle of diverse inter-relations. The Drone as a metaphor for everything that vibrates, that releases energy - from atoms and elementary particles to the hum of the earth and the universe. The Drone as an entity that connects everthing that exists within our own "mind-space", perception and self. ######################################### "Würden Drone Records den Begriff, der von Beginn an so etwas wie ihr Motto werden sollte, enger fassen, dann wäre ihre Reihe “Drone-Mind // Mind-Drone” wahrscheinlich auf viel weniger Interesse gestoßen und vielleicht sogar eine kurzweilige Angelegenheit geblieben. Stattdessen setzte das Bremer Label von Beginn an auf eine Idee des Drone, die, wie es in einer früheren Besprechung bereits zitiert wurde, pars-pro-toto für verschiedene Arten der Vibration und der Freisetzung von Energie im buchstäblichen wie im übertragenen Sinne stand. Und so sind auch auf dem gerade erschienenen achten Teil der Reihe wieder vier Geheimtipps aus drei Kontinenten vertreten, die die Dröhnung als eine Art verbindendes Element gemeinsam haben, diese jedoch in ganz unterschiedlichem Maß und auf unterschiedliche Art mit anderen Aspekten verknüpfen. Bereits in der Ankündigung hieß es, dass die neue LP pulsierender ausfallen und Einflüsse des Post-Industrial aufweisen sollte, und den Opener “Clean2020″ des aus Osaka stammenden Sound Designers Kazuya Ishigami kann man da bereits exemplarisch anführen. Der Track, der sich mit dem Thema (auch schmerzhafter) Erinnerugen und ihrer Akzeptanz befasst, entwift ein über zwölf Minuten langes, ansatzweise episodisches Narrativ, das mit Samples und zahlreichen Effekten ein veränderliches Stimmungsbild entwirft. Das an Zikaden (vielleicht nicht nur) erinnernde Zirpen zu Beginn zieht sich durch weite Teile des Stücks, lässt ein durchaus angenehmes Alltagskolorit entstehen, doch ein zwiespältiges Gemisch anderer Sounds – mechanisch anmutendes Klappern, beklemmende Hochtöner, Vögel, das Dudeln einer versteckten Melodie – kommt hinzu, und da die eizelnen Sequenzen in ihrer Dauer und Veränderlichkeit kaum vorhersehbar wirken, ist eine der zentralen Stimmungskomponenten Spannung. Ein ähnlich veränderliches Soundpanorama entwirft das amerikanische Duo Aume – namentlich Scot Jenerik und Aleph Omega aus dem F-Space-Umfeld. Ihr Beitrag wirft die auditiven Antennen mit rauem Knarren in die Mitte eines Geschehens, dessen Richtung man in den Sprachsamples und dem industriellen Hantieren zunächst noch nicht ausmachen kann. Während es unablässig reibt und schabt und knackt und ein unterschwelliges Dröhnen immer mehr anschwillt und irgendwann den ganzen Raum ausfüllt, treiben die Stimmen einen merkwürdigen Schabernack, scheinen wie Schafe zu blöken, bis alles in Kriegsgeschrei mündet. Doch in der zweiten Hälfte bekommt der Track noch einmal eine überraschende Wendung und prescht mit monoton-rhythmischer Perkussion dem Horizont entgegen. Insgesamt ist die zweite Seite um einiges “schöngeistiger”. “Puppy38″ des in Wien lebenden Amerikaners Hiroshimabend beginnt mit entrückten Orgelsounds, in die sich ein undefinierbares Summen mischt. Just wenn sich eine hypnotische Wirkung einstellt, setzt eine eindringliche Melodie ein und entführt den entsprechend angefixten auf einen Trip durch einen imaginären Raum voll mit plastischen, knisternden, vibrierenden Sounds und etwas, das wie menschlicher Atem klingt. Hier scheint jede Raumwahrnehmung (bzw. Projektion) so unsicher, das sich kaum sagen lässt, ob die so entrückt anmutenden Sounds nicht doch der Sog eines abgründigen Höllenschlundes sein könnte. Rituelles Pochen holt den Hörer zurück auf vertrauten Boden, wo ein beruhigender Abspann erfolgt. Baldruin ist das Projekt des deutschen Künstlers Johannes Schebler, der auch musikalisch – sowohl solo als auch mit seiner Band Diamantener Oberhof – sehr umtriebig ist. Seine drei etwas kürzeren Track offenbaren eine Schlagseite in Richtung Psychedelic und World Music eine weitere Facette offenbaren. Fast wie eine perfekte Miniatur führt das mit mollastigen Bläsersounds (einer Duduk?) beginnende “Die Katakomben von Tesco Libra” mit entspannten Handdrums zu einem kleinen Höhepunkt hin, kein Ton ist hier zu viel. Elektronischer und von einer gefahrvollen Spannung durchzogen mutet “Verstecken” an. Die schöne Loungemelodie, die einen mit Lärm, basslastigem Knarren, fiesen Hochtönern und Stimmen gefüllten Raum in einen Traum aus Plastik verwandelt, reizt fast zu einem NWW-Vergleich. Das abschließende “Klima und Psyche” dagegen zeigt Baldruin hier von seiner folkigsten Seite und lässt die Sammlung mit tremolierenden Bläsern, Saitenpicking und klapperden Handdrums in wehmütiger Heiterkeit – falls es so etwas gibt – ausklingen. Es scheint, als würde dem Phänomen Drone vielerorts eine große Ausschließlichkeit angedichtet: Musik ist entweder Drone oder nicht, und wenn, dann ist sie nur dies. Tatsächlich aber kann Drone sehr unterschiedliches bedeuten und in sehr unterschiedlicher Musik eine Rolle spielen – eine Rolle, die keineswegs an Bedeutung einbüßt, wenn sie ein Aspekt unter mehreren ist. Drone kann den Aufbau einer Musik gestalten, ihre Materialität prägen, eine Musik hypnotischer machen und ihr Rückgrad verleihen, und immer besteht eine starke Wechselbeziehung zwischen dem Dröhnen und dem suchenden, repziperenden und interpretierenden Geist. Dies unter der Formel “Drone-Mind // Mind-Drone” zu vereinen, ist auch beim achten Teil ein starkes Argument gegen alle, die behaupten, Drone hätte sich über die Jahre totgedröhnt." [U.S. / African Paper] 2021 €16.00
NEKROPHILE REKORDS 1983-1990 10 x LP BOX "Symbolically limited to 666 copies, housed in a deluxe wooden box, and also including an exclusive t-shirt and a 240-page book, this magnificent set feature no less than ten LPs and two 7" vinyl records covering the entire Nekrophile Rekords original output, with the welcome addition of two unreleased full-lenght albums by Coming To Now and Metgumbnerbone. Comprehensive edition about the legendary Nekrophile Records tape label. Founded in Vienna by Michael Dewitt, also known as Zoe Dewitt, the label was specialized in occult / ritual industrial music (self-described as 'Martial Music for the New Aeon'). During its lifespan it released eight cassettes and various printed materials. The label was notable for releasing solo material from Throbbing Gristle member Genesis P-orridge (with Stan Bingo), and also for early material by the noted Industrial band Coil (with Zos Kia), with the participation of Peter Christopherson, another member of Throbbing Gristle. Dewitt released solo material on the label under two names: Korpses Katatonik, and Zero Kama. The Zero Kama album "The Secret Eye of L.A.Y.L.A.H." is purported to have been recorded in its entirety using human bones and skulls as musical instruments. The overall content and design of Nekrophile's releases clearly drew inspiration from the occult, with many references to Aleister Crowley and Thelema in particular." [Soundohm] LP01 NRC01 1983 Korpses Katatonik Subklinikal Leukotomy 1Lp LP02 NRC02 1983 Genesis P-Orridge / Stan Bingo What's History 1Lp LP03 NRC03 1983 Various The Beast 666 1Lp - Korpses Katatonik Choronzon 4:26 – Coil Here To Here (Double Headed Secret) 4:22 – Hunting Lodge Learn To Will I 4:28 – Kathan Spiss The Serpent 6:38 – Toy Muzik Introducing The Brides Of Christ II Part A 7:45 – Stigma Diaboli La Force Pas La Joie 10:18 – Hunting Lodge Learn To Will II 5:08 – Mr. Vile Thumb Introducing The Brides Of Christ II Part B 4:44 – Zero Kama V.V.V.V.V. 6:59 – Post Mortem: The Sea Of Cefalu 1:45 LP04 NRC04 1984 LAShTAL Thoum Aesh Neith 1Lp LP05 NRC05 1984 Zos Kia / Coil Transparent 1Lp LP06 NRC06 1984 Various The Archangels Of Sex Rule The Destruction Of The Regime 1Lp – Sleep Chamber W:O:M – Zero Kama Prayer Of Zos – Ain Soph Theme III – Ewald Spiss Gbvrh – Metgumbnerbone Death – Coming To Now Thy Call To Kia – Zero Kama Seven Nights Of Tantra – Ain Soph Theme II – Ewald Spiss NTzCH – Sleep Chamber Coven Of Angels LP07 NRC07 1984 Zero Kama The Secret Eye Of L.A.Y.L.A.H. ‎(Cass, C60) 1Lp LP08 NRC08 1985 Ain Soph Ars Regia ‎(Cass, Album, C60) 1Lp LP09 Coming to Now „Closer to Silence“ 1Lp LP10 Metgumbnerbone For the Raven“ Lp plus 7inch "Wait, some ritualistik musick in Vital Weekly, reviewed by FdW? That'll be some fine trashing! If you thought that, then I have to disappoint you. I am a fan here, which is a very personal thing. When in the early 80s I discovered Throbbing Gristle, I somehow got hold of a cassette by Genesis P. Orridge and Stan Bingo, 'What's History'. I assume I purchased it at Staalplaat. My musical partner bought 'The Secret Of L.A.Y.LA.H.' by Zero Kama, and together we headed out to the nearby town of Arnhem to see that band perform on what turned out to be one of the very few occasions they ever played live. We thought it was a disappointment. We were promised a concert with skulls and bones, but save for some flutes, all the drumming was on drums, plus some easy blood spatter on a naked girl. My friend asked one of the members what Zero Kama meant and got the dry reply 'zero karma'. Still, we both found the cassette a fascinating thing. Skipping a few years, I found myself behind the counter of Staalplaat. While I had very little interest in the world of death, industrial, and gothic, I found these CD reissues that Staalplaat had made of the Nekrophile Records quite interesting. As part of my research into 'what am I supposed to sell here', I took copies home of the available titles. Coil/Zos Kia had not been released yet, and we came close to doing it ourselves (or not? That story is somewhere else), Ain Soph was no longer available, but the rest was still there. For a few reasons, I liked this. It was a world of its own, a label that only released a handful of cassettes mysteriously disappeared and yet almost all of it was on CD. I still have the CDs, and I still take m out on occasion to play them in one row. When Vinyl On Demand announced a 10 LP/2 7" set, it was a no-brainer to spend my Christmas allowance on a box, mainly because there was also a book. Now books about record labels have my utmost interest, even if I don't like the music. This, obviously, is not the case here, as I enjoy the music. Vinyl On Demand delivers heavy books using heavy paper and is almost like an art catalogue. They aren't easy to read but look great. In this book, we find the story of Nekrophile Records well documented, first and foremost by Zoe deWitt, who ran the label in the early 80s (as Michael deWitt). We read of her interest in Psychic TV, magic and occultism as part of industrial music, rather than death and destruction. The music also changed, quieter, using bells, and flutes, next to synthesizers and electronics. deWitte first operated as Korpses Katatonik, later as Zero Kama, when the music became even more rhythmic. Skulls and bones were sourced at an old graveyard, and a legendary cassette came to fruition. As they do those days, deWitt was in contact with other musicians, and, also as they did, this leads to compilation cassettes, which included the first ever track by Coil, and music by Hunting Lodge, Stigma Diaboli, Toy Muziek, Sleep Chamber, Ain Soph, LashTal, and the aforementioned P.Orridge/Bingo tape. The book in this box details the various problems with these releases, such as musicians promising too much or forgetting what was promised. The book has some fine examples of letters from them, such as John Balance's fine writing (as recently also detailed in another book, 'The Abrahadabra Letters'), Steve Stapleton's blunt 'no' to an invitation, catalogues and pamphlets. All with excellent photo material, which made me sad that such things are no longer made (letters, booklets et al., I mean) in these days of digital communication. Of course, the music is not an insignificant portion of the material. There is an exciting variety here. There is the more experimental synthesizer/electronics side of the ritual industrial music on the one hand. Here we find Korpses Katatonik, LashTal and Ain Soph (the latter, to my surprise, as that one is missing from my old collection, and I was never too fond of their later work). In contrast, the ritual, rhythmic aspect is represented by Zero Kama, whose LP gathered quite a cult following over the past thirty-something years and Metgumnerbone. Their LP was initially not released by Nekrophile, but contacts were established back in the day. The group gained notoriety because of their gravedigging for skulls and bones and subsequent arrest. Another album planned at that time that only sees the light of day now is Coming To Now, a duo of Luther Howard and Andy H. Their music has a fine blend of ritualistic slow drums, flutes and voices and is also similar to the more ritualistic rhythm side, and charming naive quality. The compilations have material from both ends of the musical spectrum, and the Psychic TV influence on Coil, Zoskia, Orrdige/Bingo is a clear one, a little diversification. It is topped with two 7"s by Toy Muzik, quite an unknown entity from the UK in this story, and more Metgumnerbone, to top this off. A small label, whose overviews fit in one wooden box (coffin is the apparent reference), offers a beautiful insight into the ancient and arcane world. I love it!" [FdW / Vital Weekly] 2022 €299.00
Strain, Crack & Break Vol. 2 : Germany do-LP With his ongoing commitment to like-minded archivist label Finders Keepers Records, industrial music pioneer Steven Stapleton further entrusts us to lift the veil and expose “the right tracks” from his uber-legendary and oft misinterpreted psych/prog/punk peculiarity shopping list known as The Nurse With Wound List. Following the critically lauded first instalment and it’s exclusively French tracklisting both parties now combine their vinyl-vulturous penchants to bring you the next Strain Crack & Break edition which consists of twelve lesser-known German records that played a hugely important part in the initial foundations of the list which began to unfold when Stapleton was just thirteen-years-old. From the perspective of a schoolboy Amon Düül (ONE) victim, at the start of a journey that commenced before phrases like kosmische and the xeno-ignant Krautrock tag had become mag hack currency, this compendium is devoid of the tropes that united what many would accurately argue to be the greatest progressive pop bands in Europe (namely CAN, Neu! and Kraftwerk) and rather shatters the ingredients across a ground zero landscape for both inquisitive fans and socially rehabbing musos to begin to assemble a unique self-styled identity. If Krautrock was the music that journalist told us lurked behind schlager (German pop) in the 1970s, then this record includes the music that skulked behind Krautrock and perhaps refused to polish its backhanded name belt. Including lesser-known artists like the late Wolfgang Dauner whose career proceeded and outlived the kosmische movement while consistently informing and outsmarting ‘em whenever they got stuck in their metronomic ruts, or how about Fritz Müller, the man who was to Kraftwerk what Stuart Sutcliffe was to The Beatles but had more in common with Yoko and quite rightly couldn’t give a shit about the Fab Four’s Hamburg roots. Elsewhere we have a plethora of German bands made for German audiences as they try and shed second hand flower power Americanisms and feel the benefits of much harder drugs and the realisations of difficult second album budgets while Kommune 1 newsflashes wipe smiles from everybody’s faces and replace them with opioid chic or acid-sarcastic grins. Bonzo Cockettes show us their Big Muffs and drummers ask for extra mics while Conny Plank goes for parliamentary office and gives babies good firm hand shakes for the camera. Strain Crack & Break Volume Two is the sound of Steve Stapleton’s sponge-like mind and the dividends of anyone who was brave enough to even peek inside those brick-thick gatefold covers never mind drop the needle, with tracks by Mr. and Mrs. Fuchs (aka Anima-Sound) who played their instruments completely naked throughout their anti-career alongside previously unpressed tracks by the scene’s leading Detroit-born African American drummer Fred Braceful who’s band Exmagma officially had the coolest record sleeves and track titles of ALL TIME (Torpedo Tits? Yes Please!). From an era where it was embarrassing to go into your local record shop and hum the tune over the counter, well that young lad Steve Stapleton was braver than that, and besides, these tracks are unhummable and at times unutterable. Did somebody in the crowd shout out for Joel Vandroogenbroeck! Good luck with that one. Stapleton is sharing. Even Stevens. Over forty years since Nurse With Wound’s first album was released, Finders Keepers Records and Steve Stapleton take connoisseurs of OUR kind of music, back to the disused elevator shaft towards ground zero. Arrriving at the same checkout from different departments, Finders Keepers and Nurse With Wound continue to sing from the same hymnal with this ongoing collaborative attempt to officially, authentically and legally compile the best tracks from Steve’s list, where many overzealous nerds have faltered (or simply, got the wrong end of the stick). After Strain Crack & Break Volume One merely scratched the surface of this DIY dossier of elongated punk-prog peculiarities, our second lavish metallic gatefold double vinyl compendium drives a much deeper groove, which, in accordance with Steve’s wishes, focusses exclusively on individual tracks of German origin - the country whose music forged the prototype of the NWW inventory in the form of his secondary school vinyl want-list in the early 1970s. Comprising of disassembled free jazz, unshowered stoner psych, hypnotic prog, deranged monk funk and fuzzed out Deutschmark bin bonzo beats this second volume of the series throws us straight back in the deep end, putting the Bad in Baden and the odour in The Oder with little need for cheap Cologne. Willkommen to another forgotten plateau found beneath the psychedelic underground, as Steve Stapleton and Finders Keepers dig new tunnels through the fabric of your vinyl wish-list, these German records are heavy, so find Solid Ground or watch you floorboards Strain Crack & Break before your bloody ears. https://finderskeepersrecords.bandcamp.com/album/strain-crack-break-music-from-the-nurse-with-wound-list-volume-two-germany 2021 €27.50
Ode to MARCO VERONESI CD "A compilation dedicated to the late Marco Veronesi, who founded the ADN label, in the 80's with Alberto Crosta, Piero Bielli and Rudy Pavesi. Without ADN and Marco the Italian / International experimental scene would have been much less important and relevant than it was, including releasing the very first Sigillum S LP, "Boudoir Philosophy" and introducing thousands of people to endless examples of gorgeous noise and industrial provocation. This compilation features a number of artists who were fundamental in the development of ADN during the 1980's: Angelo Avogardi, Bene Gesserit, Cellula Ascolto Attivo, Christina Kubisch, DDAA, Francesco Paladino, La 1919, La STPO, Merzbow, Ralf Wehowsky, Riccardo Sinigaglia, Sigillum S, T.A.C., Tasaday, The Motor Totemist Guild. Ltd x 300 copies in poster cover." https://adnrecords.com/album/vv-aa-ode-to-marco-veronesi/ "Marco Veronesi was one of the founders of the Italian underground ADN label, who passed away in 2013 after a lengthy illness. This compilation (a limited edition of 300 copies) features various outtakes by a number of artists who were fundamental in the development of ADN during the 1980s. The set opens with “An Elegy” by the experimental electronic ensemble T.A.C. (Tomografia Assiale Computerizzata), an eerie five-minute piece featuring haunting wordless female voice backed by multi-layered pulsating and incidental electronics and metal percussion. Riccardo Sinigaglia offers “Magik,” a piece of haunting Middle Eastern exotica where Sinigaglia plays all the instrumentation (an experimental cauldron of strings, percussion, winds, and electronics) with beautiful wordless vocalizations by Lilli Coda. Jumping forward a bit, we have “Fetides Humbert et Jacques” by La STPO, the typical craziness one might expect from this French band, a mix of spoken parts, odd vocalizations, mallet and metal percussion, saxes, and low growling bass with strange electronic sounds in play that, all taken, really sounds like nothing else. Following up on that we have “Black Phoebe” by the Motor Totemist Guild sans Grigsby, an odd and quirky chamber-rock piece for flute, piano, trombone, and percusion. Italian duo Sigillum S guides us forward with “Happiness in the Kooky Cracks among Dimensions,” beginning as an airy and peaceful keyboard piece with much added ambience, adding many strange electronic embellishments as it goes toward an almost frightening end. Jumping forward again, La 1919’s offering “Hcabial” approaches near symphonic proportions using layered keyboards, electric guitar, and percussive loops, all twisted up in a stew of musical madness. Jumping further forward, Merzbow offers a pulsating electronic rhythm overlaid with mega-blasts of snarly grating noise with “Mix 05.23.” The set closes with “Japa(n)chinko” by Cellula Ascolto Attivo, a nine-minute piece mixing industrial sounds and field recordings with voices, loops, odd instrumentation, and more. There are fifteen tracks in all, I’ve only detailed about half of what’s here, but if one appreciates challenging and experimental musical styles of all kinds, then you can’t go wrong with this one! The CD is packaged in a huge poster that folds down to roughly the size of the disc." [Expose] 2014 €13.00
  LA MATERIA VERBAL - Antologia De La Poesia Sonora Peruana LP La Materia Verbal - Antología de la Poesía Sonora Peruana The Verbal Matter: An Anthology of Peruvian Sound Poetry This compilation brings together 22 sound poems, including both pioneering and current pieces, and constitutes itself as the first great overview of sound poetry from Peru. It continues a cycle that began in 2009 with the appearance of a CD called Inventar la voz: Nuevas tradiciones orales [To Invent the Voice: New Oral Traditions] and was followed up in 2011 with another one called Irse de lengua [To Let It Slip], both of which contributed to articulate diverse manifestations of poetry that used technological means, also in the context of intense activity in the local scenes of experimental music and sound art that opened spaces for interdisciplinary dialogues. What we know as sound poetry is the product of a technological revolution associated with the appearance of various means of recording, transmission and amplification of the voice. A long process that took shape in the 20th century, until it became a discipline, articulated as an international movement which, based on phonetic research, expanded into a universe of oral/vocal artistic practices as part of a new technological context. The recordings gathered here comprise a time frame that goes from 1972 to 2021. We find poems that work with montage techniques, either because they explore simultaneity or juxtaposition, such as those by Mario Montalbetti, Frido Martín, Florentino Díaz, Carlos Estela, Luisa Fernanda Lindo, Macri Cáceres, Rodrigo Vera Cubas, Tilsa Otta, Giancarlo Huapaya/Omar Córdova, Virginia Benavides, Lisa Carrasco and Luis Alvarado. Others emphasize vocal/oral performance: we find the phonetic poems of Carlos Germán Belli and Eduardo Chirinos, as well as the concrete conceptual poems of Michael Prado, Sandra Suazo, Peru Saizprez, and the oral/guttural poem of Omar Aramayo. Finally, we find another group of pieces where the poem starts with the creation of a computational parameter or algorithm, as is the case with the pieces by Jorge Eduardo Eielson and Enrique Verástegui, eventually reaching the use of Artificial Intelligence as in the poems by Francisco Mariotti and Paola Torres Núñez del Prado. The Verbal Matter: An Anthology of Peruvian Sound Poetry is part of a series produced by Buh Records for Centro del Sonido, a website set up as a digital archive of Peruvian experimental music and sound art. The compilation has been made by Luis Alvarado and is published in a limited edition of 300 copies in vinyl format. It includes extensive notes and visual documentation. Mastered by Alberto Cendra. Art by René Sánchez. This project was awarded with funding from the Economic Stimuli program of the Peruvian Ministry of Culture. ------------------- THE VERBAL MATTER AN ANTHOLOGY OF PERUVIAN SOUND POETRY It is difficult to imagine today\'s world without thinking about the influence that inventions such as the phonograph, the gramophone, the radio, the telephone or the microphone have exerted on the fields of culture, communications and human relations since their appearance in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Many of the activities that are part of our daily life originated in that auditory revolution and in those that came after: from the appearance of tape recorders and personal players, to the infinity of resources that the socialization of the digital revolution brought about. Today these technologies are available to anyone. We all carry a cell phone, a device that can record, reproduce, store and transmit sounds. What we know as sound poetry is the product of that technological revolution. A long process that took shape in the 20th century, until it became a discipline, articulated as an international movement, which, based on phonetic research, expanded into a universe of oral/vocal artistic practices as part of a new technological context. As a live and performative act, sound poetry has admitted multiple resources: accompaniment with video or dance, the use of live electronic techniques, multichannel systems, improvisation techniques, repetitions, mantras, solo or group actions, of simultaneous voices using samplers, loops, as well as texts, instructions or scores, among others. We are going to refer here, however, only to what constitutes sound poetry as a recorded piece. And in that sense, what distinguishes many works of sound poetry is that they make use of editing. Sound poetry, like cinema or radio art, is an art of montage, juxtaposition, concatenation, sound planes, that uses many resources from concrete music as well as from various digital processing techniques. But sound poetry is also an art of recording: it is therefore a performance of the voice, alone or electronically processed, before a microphone and a before a recording device. Like the songs we hear on the radio or any streaming platform, sound poetry is stored as a phonogram. Sound poetry also encompasses sound organization systems, from the design and control of parameters to complex computational processes with algorithms and Artificial Intelligence, working therefore in an area related to various methods of composition of contemporary or electronic music. The Verbal Matter: An Anthology of Peruvian Sound Poetry is an album that continues a cycle that began in 2009 with the appearance of a CD called Inventar la voz: Nuevas tradiciones orales [To Invent the Voice: New Oral Traditions] and was followed up in 2011 with another one called Irse de lengua [To Let It Slip], both of which contributed to articulate diverse manifestations of poetry that used technological means, also in the context of intense activity in the local scenes of experimental music and sound art that opened spaces for interdisciplinary dialogues. The present compilation brings together 22 sound poems, including both pioneering and current pieces, and constitutes itself as the first great overview of sound poetry from Peru. We find poems that work with montage techniques, either because they explore simultaneity or juxtaposition, such as those by Mario Montalbetti, Frido Martín, Florentino Díaz, Carlos Estela, Luisa Fernanda Lindo, Macri Cáceres, Rodrigo Vera Cubas, Tilsa Otta, Giancarlo Huapaya/Omar Córdova, Virginia Benavides, Lisa Carrasco and Luis Alvarado. Others emphasize vocal/oral performance: we find the phonetic poems of Carlos Germán Belli and Eduardo Chirinos, as well as the concrete conceptual poems of Michael Prado, Sandra Suazo, Peru Saizprez, and the oral/guttural poem of Omar Aramayo. Finally, we find another group of pieces, where the poem starts with the creation of a computational parameter or algorithm, as is the case with the pieces by Jorge Eduardo Eielson or Enrique Verástegui, eventually reaching the use of Artificial Intelligence as in the poems by Francisco Mariotti and Paola Torres Núñez del Prado. It is important to mention that Peru is a country with a great oral tradition, especially in the Andean and Amazon regions. It is also a country with a great linguistic diversity, 47 languages, many of them spoken in indigenous communities with little population, and running the risk of disappearing. This makes the implementation and systematization of recording technologies essential, urgent for the creation of oral history or spoken word archives. There are several projects underway, but there also remains much to be done. We can also find there a key to understand the process of sound poetry in our country, insofar as its origins, practice and development are related to how well established is an archive culture of our spoken word. Going back in time, in 1892 the Peruvian poet Carlos Germán Amézaga published a poem called “The phonograph”, which was recorded with the first phonograph that arrived in Lima. There we could read these verses: “The heart does not preserve harmonies / As the cylinder does... / Its sorrows and joys are erased / Everything in the heart, everything goes away!” [“No guarda el corazón las armonías / Como el cilindro aquel los guardará…/ Bórranse sus pesares y alegrías / Todo en el corazón, todo se va!”]. The cylinder mentioned by Amézaga is the recording medium of the phonograph. The poet describes the power of the machine to record sound, which he opposes to to oblivion as a human condition. The phonograph was undoubtedly an important tool for the development of ethnographic research and the preservation of oral tradition. In this sense, the great Peruvian writer, José María Arguedas, saw in the recording device and in radio broadcasting, important means for the preservation of folklore and endangered oral traditions. Arguedas has often been described as a man glued to a tape recorder, given his work as a compiler. Among the many recordings he made, in addition to Andean songs, there is a long and intense hymn poem of his authorship titled “Tupac Amaru kamaq taytanchisman” (“I sing to our father Tupac Amaru”) (1962), in Quechua and Spanish, published as a written poem, but also recorded in an oral version intended to be broadcast on radio, a medium that could potentially reach various remote villages on the mountains. In the poem Arguedas made a vindication of Andean culture, and established a communication between the chief god, son of the serpent, and the Andean people, in communion with their land, their animals, their landscape. \"Listen to the vibration of my body\" [Escucha la vibración de mi cuerpo], the poet is heard saying, perhaps seeking to reveal that spectrum of emotion which defines the orality of the poem. Due to its length, Arguedas took advantage of the recording machine to pause and then resume his declamation. If we listen carefully, we will be able to perceive the stop and start of the tape, and hear the renewed voice of Arguedas reappearing from time to time. The art of recording offers those possibilities. Towards the mid-70s Jorge Eduardo Eielson defined as “audio-paintings” [audiopinturas] or “verbal structures” [estructuras verbales] a form of vocal poetry that consisted of pieces presented as schemes, permutations and rhythms, whose intonation qualities opened an interstice between poetry and music. They were unique vocal performances that were recorded on tape and that constitute the earliest antecedent of a form of sound poetry produced by a Peruvian poet. The Verbal Matter is a sample of various moments in which Peruvian poetry has led to forms of oral/vocal art, based on an awareness of the poem as a way to start other chains of meaning in language. Sound poetry has been a way to bring the sounds of speech, the poet\'s own voice, to a stripped, dislocated area, where the poem emerges from that tension between sound and meaning. These are culminating moments or extreme moments, and therefore also insular moments, an inquiry into the border with that purely auditory dimension, mediated by new technological devices, where the poem takes shape in the air, is amplified and electrified. https://buhrecords.bandcamp.com/album/la-materia-verbal-antolog-a-de-la-poes-a-sonora-peruana 2022 €25.00
VAN HOEN, MARK The Revenant Diary CD " "Don't look back," repeats one of several voices within Mark Van Hoen's The Revenant Diary, his fifth solo album and first release on Editions Mego. Surrounded by weighted beats, analog synthesizer drones and granular dirt, the unidentified, siren-like female voice's advice is as much seduction as warning. Tellingly so, for as well as being both Van Hoen's most ambitious and his most accessible work, The Revenant Diary is an eloquent meditation on the allures and dangers of memory, regret and nostalgia. The album's foundation was shaped by a memory and a chance encounter. While remastering some of his early '90s releases and Peel Session tracks, Van Hoen -- a founding member of Seefeel, who also worked as Locust and in Seefeel offshoot Scala and has collaborated with Slowdive, Robert Fripp, Edison Woods and Esben And The Witch, amongst others -- happened upon a track he had recorded in 1982. Attracted by its simplicity, he was inspired to record the basis of The Revenant Diary on 4-track tape, using a minimal set-up, reminiscent of his first early '80s musical adventures as a young teenager. The recollection of one of these -- a 13 year-old Van Hoen's experiment in reel-to-reel tape recording of an ineffectual pop song playing on the radio, which spuriously transformed it into a spooky amalgam of backwards church organ and unintelligible voices -- provided an evocative inspiration. The Revenant Diary pivots on this combination of complex reflection and simplified technology. A determinedly analog affair, it brims over with Van Hoen's signature sounds: immersively-decayed drones, almost broken ambient surfaces and lulling rhythms, with granular crackle providing spectral grit. Fragments of female vocals pepper the album, and notably dominate the 10-minute epic "Holy Me," one of Van Hoen's most complex compositions, in which non-verbal sounds rub delicately against each other in an otherworldly choral composition. Less song-based than his last solo work, the well-received Where Is The Truth (CCO 046CD/LP), its palette and structure are more descendants of the 1995 album Truth Is Born Of Arguments, which utilized a similar combination of decayed atmosphere against a granular/glitch rhythmic structure. Tracks like "Laughing Stars At Night" and "Unknown Host" exude a powerful emotional undertow, as alluringly woozy as they are intensely contemplative. But this is no exercise in Instagram-style disposable nostalgia. Van Hoen's adroit juxtapositions of gauzy textures evoke the blurred luminescence of 16mm film and the rich, color-saturated hues of rediscovered Polaroid photos, as the cover artwork, designed by Stephen O'Malley, acknowledges. The Revenant Diary expertly renders displaced memory daze in lushly melodic, gently delirious electronic sound. All titles composed by Mark Van Hoen. Recorded in Brooklyn & Woodstock, NY, 2011. All instruments & processing by Mark Van Hoen with additional vocals by Georgia Belmont." [label info] www.editionsmego.com "Over the years I didn't keep up with Mark van Hoen's solo work. I remember Aurobindo to be a nice work but haven't heard that in a long time, and also 'The Last Flowers From The Darkness' has faded from my memory, but then no less than fifteen years have passed. Van Hoen, once a member of of Seefeel, Scala and collaborator with Slowdive, discovered some old tracks which brought him in the a teenage mood again: why not use that old four track tape machine again with a minimal set up? When hearing this, I reminded of his older works again. Van Hoen plays, at least for me, pop like music, with rhythm, broken down guitar sounds, samples and occasionally a female voice dropping into the music. Grainy, down-sampled voices going back to the 2-bit sampling mood add a certain raw texture to the album. Hazy stuff, a bit blurry. Its a clash of the modern versus the old, new and ancient technology meet up in a very nice way. A well entertaining record, filled with melancholy, ambience, choir like sounds and glitched up rhythms. I am told this is all a bit more abstract than his previous work, but I think this is some very nice alternative popmusic. Certainly the kind of popmusic I like." [FdW/Vital Weekly] "The Revenant Diary (eMEGO 136) bringt ein Wiederhören mit MARK VAN HOEN, den ich seit den Tagen mit Seefeel und Scala oder als Locust lange nicht mehr auf dem Radar hatte. Maßgebend für die 11 neuen Tracks war, so heißt es hier, die Erinnerung an sein jüngeres Selbst als tonbandelnder Teenager Anfang der 80er. 'Don't Look Back' und 'I Remember' halten das Motiv der Rückkehr fest, das ihn dazu bewegte, sich diesmal doch wieder althergebrachter technischer Mittel zu bedienen. Entscheidender ist jedoch das emotionale Moment, ein Schwanken zwischen Nostalgie und Trauer. Da herrschen anziehende und abstoßende Kräfte, die auch in 'Why Hide From Me' und 'No Distance (Except the one between you and me)' reflektiert werden. Downtempo-Triphopbeats transportieren orchestrale Samples und eine verwehte Frauenstimme (die vokalisierende Georgia Belmont). Orchestral? Vielleicht sind es schimmernde Gitarren, Klanggewölk aus Streichern? Van Hoen inszeniert da eine mehrspurige Unschärfe aus flackernden, kaskadierenden Klangfetzen. Auch Belmonts Gesang wird dabei zu einem phantastischen Folklorechor. 'Ambient' ist wohl auch ein irreführendes Wort, Van Hoen macht phantastische Musik, durchsetzt mit tierischen Lauten ('Garabndl x'). Das poppige 'Don't Look Back' ist insofern eine schwache Nummer. 'I Remember' hat danach mit seinem verschleppten Beat einen Steampunk-Touch, der Gesang ist nur ein Schatten seiner selbst. 'No Distance' tickert wie ein elektronisches Spinett, über Synthienebelstreifen schimmert ein Knabensopran auf ü. Wieder mädchenhaft, schliert die zerhackte Stimme über das motorische Tuckern und Synthiegeflöte von '37/3d'. Die 80er und 90er im Reißwolf der Erinnerung? "Wo warst Du?" lautet die wehmütige Frage, die Van Hoen aber über krumme Beats stolpern lässt. 'Unknown Host' überbrückt als halbe Samba die Zeit bis zu 'Laughing Stars At Night' mit seinem Baritongitarrenloop über Breakbeats und Lyrics, die hier mehr sind als nur eine Catchphrase. 'Holy Me' multipliziert Belmont für ein verzerrtes Replikantenmadrigal a capella in der Kirche der verlorenen Zeit. Da darf man dann schon mal Einkehr halten." [Bad Alchemy] 2012 €14.00
VASILISK Whirling Dervishes LP "Reissue of Japanese tribal/industrial pioneers, released back in 1987 on Eskimo Records. Originally recorded and mixed in Tokyo from December '86 to March '87 now remastered with additional bonus track. Comes on transparent purple vinyl, limited to 150 copies." [label info] www.steinklang-records.at "An eccentric proposition, Vasilisk's Whirling Dervishes (1987) was the group's first album after Tomo Kuwahara and Jun Konagaya dissolved their politically charged noise/punk unit White Hospital. Konagaya kept screaming against the sky with his aptly named industrial project Grim; and Kuyahara turned inward with the ritual-industrial outfit Vasilisk. Through the connections back to White Hospital, Vasilisk had often been associated with the Japanese noise community even as their aesthetic steered clear of the aktionist bloodletting, dada nihilism, and junkyard brutalism found in every other Japanese noise outfit. Swaddled in lush reverberation and acoustic drones, Vasilisk's hypnotic, tribal percussion and occasional psych-folk jams offer a direct link to the holy minimalism of the Taj Mahal Travellers, Angus Maclise, and John Cale through the magickal liturgies of the British industrial practitioners (e.g. PTV's Themes, 23 Skidoo, Masstishaddhu, etc.) and looking forward to the pine-cone drones of the more shambolic artists from the Y2K freak-folkers (e.g. Avarus, Sunroof!, Toho Sara, etc.). The album's title track is a 22 minute excursion built up from a fundamental drone with interlocking hand-drummed rhythms punctuated by lysergically bellowed Kecak-like vocalizations, low-key Kosmische guitar work, and circular breathing chants. The shorter program pieces which flesh out the album operate mostly along those lines with the power-tool blur and militant staccato of "Bricks" and the cagey, whispered rendition of Suzanne Vega's "Cracking" (sounding more like Current 93, mind you) as the furthest axis points for Vasilisk's sensibility for miasma drone and opiated psychedelia. This reissue on Steinklang is completed with Vasilisk's contribution to RRRecord's Noise And Junk Omnibus overview of late '80s / early '90s Japanese noise - a track called "The Ritual Mask." [Aquarius Records] 2014 €20.00
  Acqua LP "Reissue of Japanese tribal/industrial pioneers, released back in 1989 on Musica Maxima Magnetica. Originally recorded and mixed in London, Napoli and Tokyo 1988, now remastered with additional bonus track. Comes on transparent green vinyl, limited to 150 copies." [label info] www.steinklang-records.at "Akin to William Bennett's Cut Hands or perhaps to the acoustic-leaning facets of Muslimgauze or to the slightly more obscure British project O Yuki Conjugate, Vasilisk were a well-regarded Japanese outfit of ritual-industrial musicians who released a handful of albums in the late '80s. Now, they've undergone a necessary reissue campaign thanks to the Austrian imprint Steinklang. Acqua (1989) was the third and final album from the band's first incarnation. And while they's since reformed, with a couple of albums that's we've not yet heard including one with the nihilist industrial project Dissecting Table, Vasilisk have long been lumped into the continuum of industrial culture (mostly since two members of Vasilisk started out in the brutalist punk-noise trio White Hospital with Jun Konagaya later christening himself Grim), but the music of Vasilisk falls more on the hypnogogic, dreamy side of tribal esoterica. Synths, organs, flutes, and guitars float through Acqua's processional tracks. This is especially true for the lengthy title cut which has much more of the kosmische atmospherics of a Popul Vuh or even a Motion Sickness Of Time Travel, before an ominous clamor from hand-drums turns the vibe in a completely different but wholly cinematic direction. The shorter tracks follow Vasilisk's mantra-based hypnosis through acoustic rhythms, moody flute drone, and suspended ambience; but the longest piece marks one of the earliest appearances from long-standing aQ-favorite Tatsuya Yoshida, aka the ringleader of the Ruins. This is a live session recorded with Yoshida behind a drum-kit and pushing the velocity at a considerably greater speed than what Vasilisk had typically performed. Around Yoshida's Charles Hayward / Jaki Leibezeit timekeeping, the rest of Vasilisk punctuates with tumbled percussion, time-warp electric drones and more of those ghostly flutes." [Aquarius Records] 2014 €20.00
VELEZ, DAVID Sonido Descompuesto CD “On January of 2011 I visited “Las Margaritas” a farm where my aunt and uncle have a country house, crops and some cattle too. The land is located between the towns of Briceño and Zipaquira and for a few days I stayed there and dedicated mostly to capture sounds. The diversity of objects and landscapes there was incredible rich: the river Neusa passes near by so there is water running everywhere acquiring different sonorities through different points. They were also farmers playing acoustic guitar and old vinyls being played in the house. The different agricultural activities, the animals, the chimney’s combustion, the bugs, the old tractors, the construction work around the farm, the many wind mobiles, they all had beautiful sonorities. There is also a forest close to the farm filled with what seemed like phosphorescent moss: the space is obscured by the many trees but a “green” light comes off the floor: the place was particularly silent and quiet sounding. Overall I just had incredible sounds everywhere and plenty of time to record them. With the sounds captured I first worked on a an improvisational piece (#0) that later would be edited (#1). Then I composed a series of short fragments (a, b, c, d). #1 was then put together with a, b, c, d on a second edit (#2). The second edit was then split into small fragments (#2/8) and rearranged intuitively (#3). #3 is “Sonido descompuesto” (Decomposed sound).” (David Velez) www.unfathomless.net 2012 €14.00
VIBRACATHEDRAL ORCHESTRA My Gate's open, tremble by my Side CD Wiederveröffentlichung ihrer längst vergriffenen ersten LP von 1999. "A CD reissue of VIBRACATHEDRAL ORCHESTRA's My Gate's Open, Tremble By My Side album originally released in 1999 as an LP by Roaratorio in an edition of 250 copies. Includes all the monolithic sheets of organic, repetitive drones and subtle rhythm and groove explorations of the original along with three bonus tracks recorded during the same sessions. Australian import." [label info] 2004 €18.00
  Rec Blast Motorbike LP "Return of the mighty “classic” lineup of the VCO with their first new music in many years. Here the quintet of Michael Flower, Neil Campbell, Bridget Hayden, Adam Davenport, and Julian Bradley (joined by raconteur John Godbert) feature in a set of upbeat tracks that put the group's radical instrumental strategies into a package of full on rock action. Recorded live using a binaural head system, the sound is nicely ragged in a you-are-there way, with scouring guitars and bleeping electronics riding atop the band’s signature grooves. As with some of the band’s other records, there’s more than a hint of the early Velvet Underground spirit here – if you wish that Cale and Reed would have been more into being an instrumental band, here it is. Includes download code." [label info] "We’ve long worshipped at the altar of these psychedelic shamans, dutifully prostrating ourselves before them, and bathing in the luxurious glow of their din, a din that has constantly evolved over the years, sometimes pure, cosmic ur-drone, other times, free-from, avant rock space-psych, and at others, a sort of mutant electronica. But in each incarnation, the group never failed to conjure up a sort of transcendental soundstate, the music, whether caustic and chaotic, or moody and minimal, always evoking a tranced out sense of mesmer, a true psychedelia that is rare, even amongst proper ‘psych’ bands. Rec Blast Motorbike, finds the group’s original line-up together again (Michael Flower, Bridget Hayden, Neil Campbell, Adam Davenport, Julian Bradley and John Godbert) and it sounds like it. If we didn’t know better, this could easily have been some old self released cd-r, which is fine with us, the sound raw, and free, lo-fi, yet somehow lush and epic, beautiful blustery blowouts set alongside fractured folkiness, essentially rhythmless, but the rhythms that are present are more spluttery and loose, sounding like an errant snare rolling down an immense flight of stairs one minute, a field recording of someone bored restlessly tapping a tabletop at others, some tracks are driven by what could be a junkyard wind chime, and others, by a veritable hippie percussion ensemble. All the while, the rest of the crew are unfurling streaking arcs of distorted guitar buzz, rippling sheets of feedback and grinding FX doused riffage. It’s hard to define exactly what would qualify as ‘classic’ Vibracathedral’, but to our ears, this is pretty much it. The old gang together again, making a glorious noise, like they never stopped in the first place." [Aquarius Rec] 2015 €20.00
VIGROUX, FRANCK Totem do-LP New full length album by one of France’s most singular contemporary composer. Reflecting on ancient culture’s use and reverence for emblematic monuments which most often represent myths and stories, the album’s narrative has been infused with such symbolic and depicts an envisioned mythology, unfolding through it’s 10 aural pieces. Franck Vigroux‘s music is unique and comprised of tectonic tension, pulsating rhythms and abrasive analog textures like few can produce. Applying his own calculated personal signature in his sonic explorations his distinctiveness comes not only by his unique approach to sound but also by his incorporation of new media practices and performing arts into his A/V work. Mastering by Denis Blackham. Cover Photography by Emile Barret, model Armand Yerly / 2010 Double Vinyl Edition of 500 copies in matt laminated Gatefold Sleeve. 10 Tracks. Running Time 55:10. https://aesthetical.bandcamp.com/album/totem "With a title like Totem and its evocation of Native American traditions and the stereotypical association that evokes of nature and animals one could be forgiven for assuming French producer-composer Franck Vigroux has gone down a folk road. Instead his collision of musique concrète and electronica reasserts folk’s relationship to both the avant-garde and dance music, albeit in brutalist and abrasive fashion. This isn’t music for a campfire sing-song or to be played in a pub at midsummer but its rugged vigour nonetheless stretches away from modern production tools into something more primeval. Totem features some of the most uncompromising and colossal electronic music you will hear this year. In a manner not a million miles away from the later work of the great Scott Walker, Vigroux builds up and juxtaposes hefty blocks of sound, often alternating between moments of calm and seething noise, as on ‘Capaupire’ on which a metronomic, minimal backbeat and ambient textures are sporadically interrupted by walls of abrasive white noise. On ‘Tropiques Tropiques’ these slabs of noise come close to echoing the caustic doom metal of a SUNN O))) or a Wolves in the Throne Room, another North American pagan leitmotiv to chime with the album’s title even as it slyly confounds any expectations of the tropics. For all the sturm und drang, however, Totem is a subtle and intricate album that owes just as much to Wolfgang Voigt as it does Throbbing Gristle or Merzbow. Tracks like ‘Rhinocéros’, ‘Frontières’ and ‘Baron’ are low-key electronic explorations, hypnotic beats and looped synth patterns building quietly, with the expected explosions of noise kept at bay. The joy is in delving into the sonic depths Vigroux plunders to parse out hidden melodies and meanings. ‘Cris’ and ‘Chronostasis grand finale’ meanwhile are redolent of Ben Frost’s epic constructions but with the Australian’s bombast stripped away to reveal a moody, haunted core. ‘Elephant’ takes this mood to notable heights as synth lines and disembodied voices swim in and out of focus like ghosts pleading to be noticed before a wave of drone swallows them whole like a tide. On Totem, Franck Vigroux’s take on folk traditions sees him heave up almighty boulders of sound to unearth the hidden ghosts underneath. Quite how they relate to a notion of totems remains somewhat out of reach, as do the animals evoked in certain track titles. Is this a form of unpleasant cultural appropriation or a case of sardonic humour? Such questions can make it a frustrating experience but on the other hand Totem certainly towers like its namesakes tend to and between this scale and the mysteries it contains, it’s an album that lingers in the memory even after the last notes have faded away." [The Quietus] 2019 €28.50
  Totem CD New full length album by one of France’s most singular contemporary composer. Reflecting on ancient culture’s use and reverence for emblematic monuments which most often represent myths and stories, the album’s narrative has been infused with such symbolic and depicts an envisioned mythology, unfolding through it’s 10 aural pieces. Franck Vigroux‘s music is unique and comprised of tectonic tension, pulsating rhythms and abrasive analog textures like few can produce. Applying his own calculated personal signature in his sonic explorations his distinctiveness comes not only by his unique approach to sound but also by his incorporation of new media practices and performing arts into his A/V work. Mastering by Denis Blackham. Cover Photography by Emile Barret, model Armand Yerly / 2010 Double Vinyl Edition of 500 copies in matt laminated Gatefold Sleeve. 10 Tracks. Running Time 55:10. https://aesthetical.bandcamp.com/album/totem "With a title like Totem and its evocation of Native American traditions and the stereotypical association that evokes of nature and animals one could be forgiven for assuming French producer-composer Franck Vigroux has gone down a folk road. Instead his collision of musique concrète and electronica reasserts folk’s relationship to both the avant-garde and dance music, albeit in brutalist and abrasive fashion. This isn’t music for a campfire sing-song or to be played in a pub at midsummer but its rugged vigour nonetheless stretches away from modern production tools into something more primeval. Totem features some of the most uncompromising and colossal electronic music you will hear this year. In a manner not a million miles away from the later work of the great Scott Walker, Vigroux builds up and juxtaposes hefty blocks of sound, often alternating between moments of calm and seething noise, as on ‘Capaupire’ on which a metronomic, minimal backbeat and ambient textures are sporadically interrupted by walls of abrasive white noise. On ‘Tropiques Tropiques’ these slabs of noise come close to echoing the caustic doom metal of a SUNN O))) or a Wolves in the Throne Room, another North American pagan leitmotiv to chime with the album’s title even as it slyly confounds any expectations of the tropics. For all the sturm und drang, however, Totem is a subtle and intricate album that owes just as much to Wolfgang Voigt as it does Throbbing Gristle or Merzbow. Tracks like ‘Rhinocéros’, ‘Frontières’ and ‘Baron’ are low-key electronic explorations, hypnotic beats and looped synth patterns building quietly, with the expected explosions of noise kept at bay. The joy is in delving into the sonic depths Vigroux plunders to parse out hidden melodies and meanings. ‘Cris’ and ‘Chronostasis grand finale’ meanwhile are redolent of Ben Frost’s epic constructions but with the Australian’s bombast stripped away to reveal a moody, haunted core. ‘Elephant’ takes this mood to notable heights as synth lines and disembodied voices swim in and out of focus like ghosts pleading to be noticed before a wave of drone swallows them whole like a tide. On Totem, Franck Vigroux’s take on folk traditions sees him heave up almighty boulders of sound to unearth the hidden ghosts underneath. Quite how they relate to a notion of totems remains somewhat out of reach, as do the animals evoked in certain track titles. Is this a form of unpleasant cultural appropriation or a case of sardonic humour? Such questions can make it a frustrating experience but on the other hand Totem certainly towers like its namesakes tend to and between this scale and the mysteries it contains, it’s an album that lingers in the memory even after the last notes have faded away." [The Quietus] 2019 €13.00
VIOLET Violet Ray Gas & The Playback Singers CD VIOLET gibt es schon seit geraumer Zeit (in der Cassetten-Szene bereits als "1348" und NEW CARROLLTON aktiv!), ist aber leider bislang im Drone-Katalog kaum in Erscheinung getreten... Dieses Album auf dem eigenen ZEROMOON-Label präsentiert rauhe, grobkörnige, experimentelle low-fi drones inkl. Einsatz von Schallplatten-Loops, Stimmzitaten & Feedbacks, zum Ende hin aber weniger noisige polyphone Sphären-Schichten, die schon fast an PHILL NIBLOCK gemahnen... ein weites Spektrum öffnet sich hier mit eigener Handschrift... "Quite an intriguing burst of dark electronic and sample noise from Violet, whose Violet Ray Gas and The Playback Singers (ZEROMOON zero008 / SENTIENT RECOGNITION ARCHIVE SRA 10) is released in a digipack covered with Futurist-inspired monochrome images full of harsh diagonals and fuzzy dreams of the machine age. Jeff Surak arrives here from Washington DC, a hero of the 1980s cassette tape scene when he used to release music under his 1348 alias and ran his Watergate Tapes label. Consequently we can hear much stern authority and grainy power in these grim process-works. My fave so far is the opener ‘All Records Collapse’, with its implacable radio voice plucked from an indeterminate Eastern European zone, but ‘Snakehead Lapping’, ‘Plague Numbers’ and ‘Marionetki’ all communicate the requisite doses of futility. Two long tracks at the end, ‘Violet Ray Gas’ and ‘Interior Ghosts’, are somewhat more musical than atmospheric, shaped from queasy long-form drones tempered with alien sounds. Surak strives to offer ‘near-silence’ and ‘full-on tonal Brutalism’, with all shades in between." [The Sound Projector] "... Dark and mysterious, mixing in bits of Jeck and Tim Hecker, Wolf Eyes, blending them into Violet's ominous world of sound. There's feedback all over the place, but it's far from harsh or jagged, instead it's used like color, to paint greyed out landscapes burnished reds, and melted oranges, thick tones, reverberating chimes, bits of buzz and crunch, disembodied voices, intercepted broadcasts, clouds of hiss, chugging machinery, industrial sonic detritus, warped strings, woozy synths, all wound up into dense walls of sound one second, blurred into delicate crystalline lattices the next. "Plague Numbers" is total Jeck, a skipping scratched record smeared into a gauzy washed out living portrait of sound, indistinct figures, flitting shadows, mysterious shapes, all moving as if through a thick field of static, not even four minutes, but we found ourselves wishing it would never end. Elsewhere the sound of lapping water is swallowed up by a crackling crumbling fog of burnt melodies, and slowed down riffs, a sort of sun dappled lysergic sonic swirl. The title track is a tuning up orchestra stretched out into a softly chaotic symphony of angular tones and fractured melodies, of sine waves and groaning creaking low end rumbles, augmented by curious crackles and strands of distortion arranged in patterns resembling speech, but rendered in impressionistic shards, finishing off with a gorgeous high end ur- drone, a softer Sunroof!, a field of static bagpipes, their overtones creating otherworldly patterns in the ether. Gorgeous." [Aquarius Records review] www.zeromoon.com 2009 €12.00
VOICE OF EYE Seven directions divergent CD Endlich das erste offizielle "volle" Album nach der Wiederbelebung des Ethno-Drone Paars, die stets alle Instrumente selber einspielen. Sie erweitern hier ihren Transzendental-Ambient mit psychedelischen und Song-orientierten Einflüssen, es wird gesungen, alles versinkt in wattigen Echo-Effekten und halluzinogenen Klangpulsen. Die sieben Stücke wirken in der Tat wie sieben verschiedene Richtungen ihres neuen Musik-Kosmos. Perkussive Bass-Gerüste bilden oft die Basis für die höchst harmonischen, warmen Stücke, die einen stark indisch-orientalen Touch aufweisen. Wunderbar z.B. das fünfte Stücke OM SHANTI, ein dronig-sanft & sphärisch-melancholisches Sehnen... engelshafte Gesänge und butterweiche Instrumentalparts bilden oft einen fast ozeanisches Flair, das letzte Stück "Transformational Birth " ist ein grossartiges schamanistisches Geister-Drone-Stück (18 Minuten) mit unheimlicher Sog-Wirkung !! Zwischen Transzendental-Pop und drone-basierter Psychedelic, VOICE OF EYE's Musik bleibt faszinierend spirituell & kontemplativ ! "Seven Directions Divergent (2009) is the latest release by Taos, New Mexico based artists Voice of Eye. Taking over a year to produce, Seven Directions Divergent is the third CD to be released on Conundrum Unlimited, and the fifth full-length Voice of Eye CD. As artists experimenting with sound we have been inspired by many different styles of music and noise. Seven Directions Divergent pays homage to some of the diverse musical sources that have influenced us over the years from traditional Sanskrit chants to Steve Hillage to cute Euro pop to shamanic transcendence. This is an ambitious project melding many different sources together with the ethereal beauty and yearning magnificence you expect from Voice of Eye. This CD transports the listener along a narrative history of our personal journeys of change and transformation as told through the medium of sound. Seven Directions Divergent was mastered by award winning engineer Jon Gold for the best sounding Voice of Eye release to date. Comes in a Digipack with beautiful full color artwork by Jim Wilson. Voice of Eye formed in 1991 out of the ashes of experimental bands Esoterica Landscapes 7 and Cruor. Through Voice of Eye, members Bonnie McNairn and Jim Wilson explore profound aspects of consciousness as the music is shared as a tool for entering different states of consciousness. The motivation behind forming Voice of Eye was to connect to a deeper truth we first sensed within our music. This unformed presence first revealed itself to us through music and has continued to manifest taking shape throughout our life’s journey leading to profound mystery. Voice of Eye’s modus operandi is to take sound sources that are acoustic in origin, then process them through little black boxes to warp time and widen sonic perception. Voice of Eye’s sound shifts from gentle soundscapes to primal wrenching malevolence with such ease that the listener is unaware of the transition until it is too late and they are fully immersed in the voyage. Voice of Eye took a hiatus from music in 1997 to build an off-the-grid sustainable home and studio in Taos, New Mexico. The process would take the next ten years. The result is an enormous sculptural free flowing work of art built entirely by the hands of Jim and Bonnie. Living in the open and empty spaces of the desert had the additional effect of deeply connecting them to the truth of their being as begun through music. The desert is the fire that burns away everything. Both members are now focused on the healing arts. Their journey has transformed what was begun through music into a way of life. Please see www.voiceofeye.com and www.myspace.com/voiceofeyemusic for discography, photographs and more information" [label info] www.voiceofeye.com "Since some time Jim Wilson and Bonnie McNairn, together known as Voice Of Eye are back. In 1997 they stopped creating music to 'build an off-the-grid sustainable home and studio in Taos, New Mexico', which took them ten years to build. Since their return their have been a couple of releases, which saw them return to their fine of lengthy, warm ambient electronics with great emphasis on the psychedelic quality of the pieces. Maybe therefore the opening piece here on their twelfth CD 'Seven Directions Divergent' is quite a surprise: its almost popmusic, slow rhythm, e-bow on the guitar, and Bonnie McNairn on some heavenly voice trip, and sounding a bit like Cosey Fanni Tutti. Laid-back popmusic. Almost. This is continued in the following piece 'Where Are You?', which is, me think, even better. Voice Of Eye changed that radical? Hard to believe, and no, they didn't. At least not to that extent. Throughout it seems indeed that elements of popmusic have been brought in, without losing the original ambient sound. 'Transformational Birth', the piece that closes this CD is one of those typical lengthy Voice Of Eye ambient excursions. A bit without any sense of direction, sounds flowing about, like being in space. They drift in and out of the mix, without any synthesizers (according to the cover), like the real cosmic music thing. That makes this a great CD. Drifting, flowing in all pieces, bouncing back and forth towards the more 'pop' like tunes and lengthy, atmospheric excursions. A great album, I'd say, an excellent combination of both ends, making a very mature album. Great psychedelic music." [FdW / Vital Weekly] 2009 €13.00
VOLLMER, CARSTEN Arbeit Nr. 23 - Ich arbeite mit Frequenzen Teil 1 - 3 (ansteigend / abfallend / 2600 Hertz / Phreaking) 3 x CDR set The last part of the trilogy Ich arbeite mit Frequenzen forms a trilogy in itself: it is made up of three tracks while its two predecessors only contain one long track each. And while parts 1 and 2 work through a frequency grid of apparently mathematical rigour, this one focuses on the particularly distortion-rich frequency band around 2600 hertz. The two 2600 Hertz tracks are live recordings of a performance by Carsten Vollmer. Here, and on the opening track Phreaking, the first non-electronic sounds of the whole trilogy can be heard: the performer's screams put into relief the expressive quality of noise that was consciously underexposed on the 'antihumanist' parts 1 and 2. The fact that all of Carsten Vollmer's releases come as numbered Arbeiten (works), but in particular the verb arbeiten (to work) in the title of this release, emphasise the (physical) labour of building up his walls of sound. Thus, part 3 of Ich arbeite mit Frequenzen once more enacts the drama of 'man vs machine' or 'body vs bodily harmful frequencies and volumes' through which the noise genre time and again confronts existential and social alienation with an ecstatic, but 'parole-less protest' against it (to borrow a phrase from Carsten Vollmer's fellow noisician Anton Kaun aka Rumpeln). The first track of the album, Phreaking, also features a list, but not one of frequencies, but a list of textual references to Ron Rosenbaum's classic 1971 feature story The Secrets of the Little Blue Box about the hardware-hacking network of the Phone Phreaks, who built a counter-network within the official telephone network of the U.S.A. From the vantage point of the officially sanctioned telephone signals, these subversive actions were undoubtedly noise, and it is plain to see that Carsten Vollmer's Phreaking is a sympathetic homage. In a 'communication guerilla' practice such as this, Michel Foucault's basic tenet 'Where there's power, there's also resistance' meets the axiom of information theory: 'Where there's a signal, there's also noise'. The fact that this third and final album comes not as one monolithic track, but as an object fragmented within itself, is programmatic for ways in which noise can stand for the freeing of spaces in political contexts: instead of the monologue of an author(itarian) voice – 'I, and only I, work with frequencies' –, this album signals within itself the clamourous debate of different, dissenting voices, which in the political field is always preferable to the undisputed monologue of an absolute power. At the end of the live recordings, one eventually hears the voices of the audience; the author is no longer alone within his work, and someone says: 'It continues here, in the next room.' Thus the album ends with an invitation to claim new spaces of possibility. File under: Noise https://emerge.bandcamp.com/album/arbeit-nummer-23-ich-arbeite-mit-frequenzen-teil-1-ansteigend https://emerge.bandcamp.com/album/arbeit-nummer-23-ich-arbeite-mit-frequenzen-teil-2-abfallend https://emerge.bandcamp.com/album/arbeit-nummer-23-ich-arbeite-mit-frequenzen-teil-3-2600-hertz-phreaking *** Der letzte Teil der Trilogie “Ich arbeite mit Frequenzen” bildet selbst eine Trilogie in sich – anders als die beiden Vorgänger, die jeweils nur aus einem langen Track bestehen, umfasst er drei Stücke. Statt ein mathematisch-kalkuliert wirkendes Frequenzschema durchzuarbeiten wie Teil 1 und Teil 2, wird hier auf 2600 Hertz in einem in Sachen Verzerrung besonders effektiven Frequenzbereich gearbeitet. Die beiden “2600 Hertz”-Tracks sind Livemitschnitte von einer Performance von Carsten Vollmer. Hier, aber auch auf dem Opener “Phreaking”, sind erstmals auch nicht-elektronische Klänge zu hören: Schreie des Performers rücken jene expressive Qualität von Noise in den Fokus, die auf den beiden “antihumanistischen” Teilen 1 und 2 betont ausgespart blieb. Nicht nur die Titulierung von allen Veröffentlichungen Carsten Vollmers als durchnummerierte “Arbeiten”, sondern speziell das Verb im Titel dieser Veröffentlichung betont die (physische) Anstrengung, die in die Errichtung seiner Klangwände einfließt. So führt auch Teil 3 von “Ich arbeite mit Frequenzen” das Drama “Mensch vs. Maschine” bzw. “Körper vs. körperfeindliche Frequenzen und Lautstärken” auf, mit dem das Genre Noise immer wieder existenzielle und gesellschaftliche Entfremdung sowie den ekstatischen, aber “parolenlosen Protest” dagegen (eine Formulierung von Carsten Vollmers Noise-Kollegen Anton Kaun aka Rumpeln) inszeniert. Das erste Stück des Albums, “Phreaking”, führt ebenfalls eine Liste auf, allerdings keine mit Frequenzen, sondern eine mit textlichen Anspielungen auf Ron Rosenbaums klassische Reportage “The Secrets of the Little Blue Box” von 1971 über das Hardware-Hacker-Netzwerk der “Phone Phreaks”, die im offiziellen Telefonnetzwerk der USA ein Gegen-Netzwerk aufbauten. Aus Sicht der offiziell im Telefonnetz vorgesehenen Signale waren diese subversiven Aktionen zweifellos “Noise”, und es ist unschwer zu erkennen, dass Carsten Vollmers “Phreaking” eine von Sympathie geprägte Hommage ist. In einer “Kommunikationsguerilla”-Praxis wie dieser trifft sich Michel Foucaults Grundsatz “Wo Macht ist, ist immer auch Widerstand” mit dem Axiom der Informationstheorie: “Wo Signale sind, da ist immer auch Rauschen”. Dass dieses dritte und letzte Album nicht als ein monolithischer Track, sondern in sich fragmentiert daherkommt, kann dabei programmatisch dafür gelesen werden, wie Noise auch im politischen Raum für das Schaffen von Freiräumen stehen kann: Statt des Monologs der Autor(itäts)stimme – “Ich, und nur ich arbeite mit Frequenzen” – wird hier innerhalb des Albums der lautstarke Widerstreit von verschiedenen Stimmen angedeutet, der im politischen Feld allemal wünschenswerter ist als der unumstrittene Monolog einer absoluten Herrschaft. Auf den Liveaufnahmen hört man dann am Ende auch die Stimmen des Publikums, der Autor ist nicht mehr allein in seiner Arbeit, und jemand sagt: “Hier im nächsten Raum geht es weiter.” So endet das Album ausdrücklich mit der Eröffnung von Möglichkeitsräumen, die es zu nutzen gilt. File under: Noise ----- VITAL WEEKLY Origami derives from ori, meaning "folding", and kami meaning "paper". The mathematics of the fold is relevant, is analogical to 'the fold'. This can be understood as the new mathematics of the curve, of changing quantities which is often difficult for non-mathematicians, of which I am one. Put simply in simple geometry of a flat surface, say a chessboard, a piece, pawn, knight etc. can be located by two coordinates. These are static set properties, which Deleuze via Leibniz relates to Descartes. Complex curves, changing velocities, cannot be precisely modelled using such a method. This was accomplished by using mathematics to model dynamically changing events, the Calculus. If modernism in its linear development fixes and finalizes itself in a Cartesian / Euclidean fixed point, a null event, the Baroque does not. The metaphor of calculus is useful, for around it are mathematical objects such as the limit. In simple non-mathematical terms, a series of calculations can approach a limit but never reach it, and in getting closer, to a potential infinity of numbers. For non-mathematicians, this is best seen in the obvious Baroque of The Mandelbrot Set. Folding can produce an infinite variation. Associated with 'folding' in Deleuze derives the aesthetic, especially the visual aesthetic in the Baroque, one of the dynamic curves and dramatic events. “Leibniz is endlessly drawing up linear and numerical tables. With them he denotes the inner walls of the monad. Folds replace holes...” (The Fold). Elsewhere (in The Logic of Sense) Tenth series of the ideal game -”of which we speak cannot be played by either man or God. It can only be thought as nonsense. But precisely for this reason, it is the reality of thought itself and the unconscious of pure thought. This game is reserved then for thought and art.” Baroque music of the 'classical period' - (late 17thC- 18thC) used accomplished improvisation, complex polyphony, multiple independent melody lines, the fugue and ricercar (which explore the permutations of a given motif). The 'metaphysics' that the Baroque produced was significant in music. Bach, Vivaldi, Handel, Monteverdi, Scarlatti, Purcell, Telemann... such that with Bach there is the deployment of a pure abstract formalism which could be regarded as a metaphysics of the free play of the potentialities of the abstract (windowless) structures of music. And in thinking the Baroque we also arrive at Leibniz and German Idealism, but also the more recent 'idealism' of Deleuze and the Speculative Realists and Object Oriented Ontologists. To judge these metaphysics in 'scientific', empirical terms, would then be to miss the point. They are not in all cases Monads, as they are not closed off to ourselves. They are like Monads in that they seem closed in on themselves. The point is that 'Baroque Folding' is an internal programme. Thus it typically appears when genres become exhausted or fully mature. A very early classical example is the development of Corinthian Architecture from that of the Doric & Ionic, or the much more recent, post-modernism, especially noticeable in Architecture. A certain playfulness which can and does in Po-Mo reduce, at times, to mere sensation and irony. Within contemporary music, 'noise music' and 'harsh noise' was to lead to a reductionist, 'analytics' of the extreme minimalism of Harsh Noise Wall's monolithic unchanging noise. This cul-de-sac has an obvious problem, and various methodologies have evolved in order to circumvent its effective closure of the noise genre, from abandoning noise altogether (Wolf Eyes), to alternatives, such as shit folk and ultra shit folk (Romain Perrot). The process of 'folding' is synthetic, not analytic (reductionist, minimalist walls). Both processes are to be found in Metaphysics and Art. In The Critique of Pure Reason, Kant sets out to establish an a priori basis for his transcendental metaphysics and makes two distinctions, that of the analytic a priori and the synthetic a priori. The philosophy of this needn't concern us. What is useful is concerning the idea of The Fold. The epistemological, philosophical implications disputed by some also need not bother us here. For us, what is significant in Kant is that Kant maintains that the Synthetic can produce (a priori) new objects without recourse to finding them in the outside world. In Analysis, something is broken down or examined to find its fundamental form or origin (The Wall of Noise). This is normally regarded as a task that will arrive at something fundamental. In early philosophy – the Atom – in Jungian analysis the archetype. It may well be that such a final analysis is not possible, that analysis is potentially infinite, or results in a void. Synthesis is the reverse. Given some fundamental objects, we can create new objects and structures – out of what is already given. A triangle can be analyzed into its basic three sides of straight lines, but we can synthesize new objects given a triangle. We can make a quadrilateral with two triangles and continue – pentagons, hexagons, and no limit – and no recourse to anything external to our basic element. And whereas Analysis is contained by the analysis of 'what is there' synthesis creates new objects that are not 'already there'. The Baroque is this distinction between the Analytic A Priori and Kant's idea of a Synthetic A Priori. An example in the arts is that of Analytic Cubism and Synthetic Cubism. Whereas Analytical Cubism broke up the picture plane into its elements, Synthetic Cubism used these basic 'elements' to synthesize new compositions. The tendency in modernism was analytical. “What is painting?” “What is music?” “What is Art?”, the analytical desire of what is “essential”. In Cubism, the 'Analytical' phase was relatively short-lived, the Synthetic move allowing Picasso and others an alternative continuous productive methodology. The (Baroque) fold is a synthetic methodology. At the most pedantic Origami – (from ori "folding", and kami "paper"). An origami Swan is a synthesis of a flat sheet of paper. All creations of Origami are in the last analysis, flat sheets of paper. The methodology of Origami, of 'folding', is Synthetic and offers an infinity of productions. Which is occasioned in Noise – here! which is not the abandonment of noise or a retrograde movement back into music. The baroque fold, abstractly using the tropes, forms etc., of noise music not as an external expression but as internal work exploring the permutations and improvisational possibilities of a given motif. The tropes of Harsh Noise, the motifs of feedback, oscillator sweeps, distortion, white noise etc. Abstract sounds, found in Harsh Noise before its collapse into a minimal wall. What is removed is the idea of a linear 'progress' (modernism) replaced by that of infinite synthesis. Ansteigend, Abfallend and 2600 Hertz_Phreaking are 3 parts of Arbeit Nummer 23 - Ich Arbeite Mit Frequenzen. www.vitalweekly.net/1316.html "Steht 'Frequenzarbeiter' schon im Duden? CARSTEN VOLLMER arbeitet jedenfalls daran, mit seiner Arbeit Nr. 23: Ich arbeite mit Frequenzen (3xCDr, jeweils in DVD-Schuber). Dieser nächste Arbeitsschritt nach der bad alchemystischen „Arbeit Nr. 22“ (BA 103) ist ein in strenger Schwarzweiß-Optik vereinter Triptychon, den drei Labels stemmen: Teil 1 – Ansteigend (ACU 1027), Teil 2 – Abfallend (Cat Killer), Teil 3 – 2600 Hertz / Phreaking (Krater Recordings, KR05-010). Das oft genug unangebracht verwendete 'experimentell' ist dabei halbwegs gerechtfertigt durch die demonstrativen 'Versuchs'-Reihen mit 55 – 77 - 160 – 300 – 666 – 800 – 1000 – 2000 – 4400 – 5000 – 9000 Hz rauf und runter ('Ansteigend'/ 'Abfallend') sowie drei Episoden mit 2600 Hz. Darunter, neben zwei Live-Exzerpten vom Schrei/Ende/Ohren-Festival, eine Hommage an das in den 70ern popularisierte und bis in die 90er mögliche Phone-Freaking in den USA, wo die von Hackern entdeckte, von den Yippies popularisierte Freischaltung auf eben der 2600 Hz-Frequenz als Akt des zivilen Widerstands aufgefasst wurde. Aber diese Frequenz-Folklore erscheint wie ein narratives Surplus in Vollmers bildlos purer Darbietung eines Blizzard-Kontinuums, in dem McLuhans 'kalte' und 'heiße' Medialität verwischt. Indem ein schrillendes, zerrendes Zuviel mit myriodophonem Rausch überwältigt und lähmt, doch in seinem informatorischen Überschuss zugleich nach Kryptologen schreit. Für einen auch merkwürdig flötenden Code. Aber vor allem für ein Unsagbares, das sich als kataklysmische Schallmauer zeigt wie bei Wittgenstein das Mystische. Dass in allem, was der Fall ist, atomare Niagarafälle toben, die jedes menschliche Maß übersteigen. Der infernalische 'Gesang' der Neuronen, das heulende Elend der Elektronen, das universale Alpha, Vollmer hat es zwischen Infra und Ultra brachial orchestriert als kakophon schillernde Metapher für das Mega-, Giga-, Tera-Chaos im elektromagnetischen Radio- und Mikrowellendschungel. Als Sturz der Erkenntnis über die Marmorklippen durch die Stahlgewitter ins Spektrum der Strahlungen, als total mo-bilgemachter Black Metal vor einem Schwarzlicht-Horizont. Das von Ernst Jünger immer wieder gebrauchte Tat Tvam Asi [Das bist du] zeigt dazu seinen technologisch fitten 'Ar-beiter', der als 'organische Konstruktion' mit der technoiden Mobilmachung heißläuft. Und einige wenige, die, obwohl gleichermaßen involviert, in kühler Desinvoltura dazu Distanz halten. Vollmers akribische Abbildungen, 48 + 48 + 50 Minuten intensive Immersion, können als stoischer Härtetest erscheinen. Als stockholm-syndromatische Affirmation eines Factum brutum. Oder sogar als akzelerationistisches Vorwärts (Nick Land), das die transhumane Umgestaltung des Menschen (durch die aggressiven Metastasen des Kapitalismus) ins Auge fasst. Mit der Utopie einer KI-generierten 'technologischen Singularität' würde Jüngers 'organische Konstruktion' zum Pionier der transhumanen Erlösung. Jede durchgestandene Noisattacke wäre, gerade indem sie das hinfällige Fleisch von den Knochen schabt, ein Evolutionsschritt dorthin. Der Geist, schon bei Hegel ein harter Knochen, steckt seinen Kopf, wie sein Renaissance-Vorgänger durch die Käseglocke seiner Scheibenwelt, unter die Bremsscheiben eines endlosen Güterzuges, in einen brausenden Bienenstock, der Züge von StanisławLems Partikelschwarm auf Regis III trägt. Steht Hz auch für neuen Horizont, für abenteuerliches Herz? Vollmer gibt sich, wenn er 'ich arbeite...' sagt, beeindruckend cool und souverän. Oder verdolmetscht er so bloß die Mutter der Teilchen und Wellen? Alan Moores Parent of suns and substance, she! Womb of all possibility! Als menschliche Spur im Dauertrommelfeuer der Klangpartikelstrahlung bleiben dann nur die Schreie, die Vollmer zuletzt, von 2600 Hz-Stacheln an die Wand gespießt, ausstößt. Kein 'Banzai!', aber doch wie mit geballter Faust und mehr als nur Schmerz und Angst. Noise als Waffe der Kritik an Betonköpfen, verkrusteten Strukturen, Kalk, Rost, marmornen Popanzen. Als, o Killer-Kaninchen von Caerbannog, o schwarze Bestie von Aaa, als Speer, der die Wunde heilt, die von ihm herrührt?" [Bad Alchemy] 2021 €20.00
VON BIEL, MICHAEL Streichquartett No. 1, etc CD Unglaubliche Klänge auf dieser beeindruckenden Zusammenstellung mit Kompositionen von MICHAEL VON BIEL, aufgenommen 1962 – 1966 (!), z.T. auf klassische Instrumenten eingespielt, z.T. aber auch elektronische Quellen einsetzend.... "Quartet No. 1" (1962) and even more, "Quartet No. 2" (1963) are noise compositions whose expressiveness rests essentially on the discovery of new sonic possibilities and performance techniques. On "Fassung" (1964) Michael von Biel using only noise, sinus and impulse generators, he created sound particles and formed them into sensually comprehensible structures. The compositions "Quartet with Accompaniment for string quartet and cello" (1965) and "Jagdstück (Hunting Piece) for 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, 2 horns, 2 tenor tubas, contrabass, tape, e-guitars and electronically amplified barbecue grills" (1966) are based on the contrast of divergent sound worlds. 1. Streichquartett Nr. 1 (1962; WDR 2003) [Pellegrini-Quartett: Antonio Pellegrini, 1. Violine; Thomas Hofer, 2. Violine; Fabio Maarano, Viola; Helmut Menzler, Violoncello] 2. Streichquartett Nr. 2 (Urfassung, 1963; WDR 2003) [Pellegrini-Quartett] 3. Quartett mit Begleitung (Quartett Nr. 3, 1965; WDR 1967) 12:05 [Egon Mayer, Violine; Dagmar Apel, Violine; Johannes Fritsch, Viola; Magdalene Bröckel, Violoncello; Michael von Biel, Violoncello] 4. Jagdstück für Bläserinstrumentalisten und Live-Elektronik (1966; WDR 1968) 28:05 [Franz-Willy Neugebauer, Trompete; Kurt Schmidt, Trompete; Gerhard Burdack, Horn und Tenortuba; Konrad Alfing, Horn und Tenortuba; Willy Walther, Posaune; Josef Feck, Posaune; Emil Morneweg, Kontrabaß; Wilhelm Bruck und Michael von Biel, Begleitung; Ltg. Bernhard Kontarsky] 5. Fassung (elektronische Tonbandmusik, 1964; WDR 1964) 13:34 [Studio für elektronische Musik des WDR]“ [label info] www.edition-rz.de 2004 €15.50
VON EULER-DONNERSPERG, DITTERICH Knüllungen, Wulstungen, Klumpungen LP Geierberg Sterben Sie Bitte! Und Ist Kein Jammer In Der Welt Wahres Gegen Nichtwahres Die Schläferfalle Vom Ende Der Zeit Studioaufnahmen 1980-82, geringfügig überarbeitet und ergänzt 2012. Recorded 1980-82, slightly enhanced and added to 2012 © MOLOKO+ 2015 MOLOKO PLUS 080 PICTURE DISC donnersperg@web.de www.molokoplusrecords.de „Wer Versucht, Den Menschen Mit Seinem Tiersein Zu Versöhnen, Wird Selbst Zum Menschen.“ KLOPSTOCK „The One Trying To Reconciliate Man To His Beastly Existence, Is Doomed To Become a Human Himself.“ KLOPSTOCK VIRB: Ein grauer Knurrhahn und Grummelsack, der eine Schule für Honiggewinnung und Schnittblumenzucht in Alt Wrietzen im Oderbruch betreibt. Steht neben Dr. Kurt Euler, dem Vorsitzenden der Parteikommission für Volksbildung und Kulturkampf beim ZK der Kommunistischen Einheitspartei Deutschlands (KED) in dem (ungerechtfertigten?) Ruf eines im Geiste Johann Gotthilf KLOPSTOCKs, des Lehrers einer irrenden Menschheit, wirkenden, sinnenfrohen Zuchtmeisters fehlgeleiteter junger, mitunter auch alter Menschen, welche in hemmungslosen Daseinsirrtümern schwelgen und ihr Leben von dessen Ende her betrachten. Tritt seit dem Rübenwinter 1946/47 als Sachwalter des Werkbundes und des traditionsreichen Tonverlages Walter Ulbricht Schallfolien unbedingt gegen Wirrnis und verstocktes, kleinbürgerliches Schwarzsehertum auf und betreibt unter den Leitgedanken Verdunkeln! Der Feind sieht dein Licht! Beginne den Tag mit Sterben! Das „Scheitern als schöne Kunst“. Im Jahre 1980 gründete Euler-Donnersperg die WALTER ULBRICHT SCHALLFOLIEN Hamburg, welche sich im Geiste Walter Ulbrichts, des damals meistgehaßten Menschen der Erde, des Erbauers des Berliner Antifaschistischen Schutzwalls, unbedingt der Langsamkeit verpflichtet fühlen und unter dem Leitwort NEU KONSERVATIW die ehernen Werte des klassischen „Industrials“ zu pflegen bestrebt sind (vgl. SPK: The Cathedral of Death - Die Kultur der Todesverdrängung). Bis Ende der 80er Jahre des 20. Jahrhunderts veranstaltete Euler-Donnersperg zahlreiche Auftritte mit geistverwandten Klanggestaltern, u. a. mit Illusion of Safety, Jim O’Rourke, The Hafler Trio, Bourbonese Qualk, Nocturnal Emissions, Whitehouse, Gerechtigkeitsliga, The Legendary Pink Dots, Laibach, Asmus Tietchens. Gleichzeitig geben die Walter Ulbricht Schallfolien Dokumente der Gruppen SPK, Throbbing Gristle, Laibach, John Watermann, Asmus Tietchens, The Hafler Trio, Werkbund, Mechthild von Leusch, Column One, Evapori und Hyph heraus. Im Nebenamt Sachwalter des WERKBUNDES tritt Euler-Donnersperg mit Lesungen und Klangschöpfungen eigener Werke hervor – unter anderem mit Michael von Hausswolff, Leif Ellgren, Kent Tankred, The Hafler Trio, Asmus Tietchens, Dan Burke, Organum, John Duncan. Seit 1996 jährliche Herausgabe eine Heftes der Pelzwurstlieder, Bildschallplatte im handgestalteten Portfolio, Reimdichtungen im Geiste Klopstocks mit elektronischem Zuspielband: Zustandsbeschreibung der Welt mit den Augen der Listspinne, der Trugnatter, der Assel, der Klappnase, des Stachlers. www.molokoplusrecords.de 2018 €18.00
  Weisheit aus des Kindes Mund tut uns stets die Wahrheit kund LP Ditterich von Euler-Donnersperg, also known as Uli Rehberg and most certainty other names, is a mythologized figure in Germany's industrial underground. The man behind Walter Ulbricht Schallfolien, a label responsible for early releases by Throbbing Gristle and SPK and for being the home of the enigmatic Werkbund, it is long believed that Ditterich is part of, or completely behind, Werkbund himself. A Colourful Storm presents another piece of his puzzle. Wisdom from the child’s mouth always tells us the truth. It’s hard to overstate the influence of Ditterich von Euler-Donnersperg on A Colourful Storm; indeed, it’s almost impossible to imagine the label’s existence without it. A figure whose movements within Germany’s industrial avant-garde span almost forty years, it would be in 2010 that he unknowingly entered our orbit through two important releases. At the time, SPK’s Auto-Da-Fé and Throbbing Gristle’s Journey Through A Body left some impression on us, their discovery propelling an interest in the possibilities opened up by industrial music that we still explore today. Responsible for publishing these releases was Walter Ulbricht Schallfolien - who, or what, were they? Founded in 1980 by Hamburg-based Uli Rehberg, Walter Ulbricht Schallfolien was a base for Laibach, Asmus Tietchens and Werkbund as well as Rehberg’s own artistic endeavours: the most devilishly humorous his adopting of the name Dr. Kurt Euler, spokesperson of a satirical political party comprised of musicians Felix Kubin and Gregor Hartz. The project would foreshadow the life of Ditterich von Euler-Donnersperg, an alias unveiled in 1998 with the first in a series of spoken word 7” picture discs that have since become highly collectable. Attracting an enviable list of collaborators throughout his career (John Duncan, Thomas Köner and Column One have all lent their expertise), it is perhaps the enigmatic Werkbund project that remains most coveted within the world of von Euler-Donnersperg. Cloistered and clandestine since their inception in 1987, their brooding, synthetik atmospheres have long been speculated to be the work of von Euler-Donnersperg himself. Listen to Werkbund’s Skagerrak or Stahlhof and tell us we’re wrong... The culmination of decades of sound research and electroacoustic investigation, Weisheit aus des Kindes Mund tut uns stets die Wahrheit kund is significantly also a tribute to von Euler-Donnersperg’s children, their voices and spoken word hocus-pocus conjuring clairvoyant visions amongst soaring metallic sheen and spectralist digital debris. Cybernetic ooze spilling into servers and causing subdued bleep signals and static. A slasher film soundtrack starring the German avant-garde dressed in laboratory coats. The latest piece of von Euler-Donnersperg’s peerless, endlessly imaginative puzzle. https://acolourfulstorm.com/album/weisheit-aus-des-kindes-mund-tut-uns-stets-die-wahrheit-kund 2021 €20.00
VON HAUSSWOLFF, ANNA All Thoughts Fly (Pink) LP Sacro Bosco (“Sacred Grove”) is the starting point for Anna von Hausswolff’s new album All Thoughts Fly, incoming on Southern Lord on 25th September. Here in solo instrumental mode, the entire record consists of just one instrument, the pipe organ, and represents absolute liberation of the imagination. All Thoughts Fly radiates a melancholic beauty, and is distinguished by fluid transitions of contrasting elements; calmness and drama, harmony and dissonance, much like the place that inspires the music. Sacro Bosco is a garden, based in the centre of Italy, containing grotesque mythological sculptures and buildings overgrown with vegetation, situated in a wooded valley beneath the castle of Orsini. Created during the 16th Century, Sacro Bosco was commissioned by Pier Francesco Orsini, some say to try and cope with his grief following the death of his wife Guilia Farnese, others speculate the purpose was to create art. About the album Anna explains “there’s a sadness and wilderness that inspired me to write this album, also a timelessness. I believe that this park has survived not only due to its beauty but also because of the iconography, it has been liberated from predictable ideas and ideals. The people who built this park truly set their minds and imagination free. All thoughts fly is a homage to this creation, and an effort to articulate the atmosphere and the feelings that this place evokes inside of me. It’s a very personal interpretation of a place that I lack the words to describe. I’d like to believe Orsini built this monumental park out of grief for his dead wife, and in my Sacro Bosco I used this story as a core for my own inspiration: love as a foundation for creation.” The accompanying video for the first single “Sacro Bosco” is, just like the music, an interpretation of the park with an imaginary twist. Directed by Gustaf and Ludvig Holtenäs. Anna summarises, “Sacro Bosco in Bomarzo is a creation carved out from one man’s head. A frozen thought lasting throughout time and touching people across generations. All thoughts fly, Ogni Pensiero Vola, is about this: the importance of sharing for surviving, creating space and evolving. Once you’ve shared your words they are not only yours anymore.” All Thoughts Fly ultimately embodies the exploration of any and all possibilities, and the audience is invited to listen, liberate the mind and let it wander. Notes on the recording process: The organ on All Thoughts Fly is situated in Gothenburg and is a Swedish replica of the Arp Schnitger organ in Germany. It is the largest organ tuned in Quarter-comma meantone temperament in the world. With it’s four manuals, one pedal and 54 stops, it was built as part of a ten-year research project reconstructing 17th Century North German organ building craft. The tuning temperament is an important detail to note here, as it deeply affects the sound and tuning, and thus radically changed the process of creating this album. Anna speaks of a pleasant surprise during recording, the organ’s ability to create beautiful “pitching” notes through its stops and air supply system. She remarks “We took advantage of this so most of the pitching sounds and notes that you hear on the album comes from the mechanics of this organ, effects made entirely acoustically.” The organ was recorded with two room mics for atmosphere and two pairs of close mics placed inside the organ to capture nuances and detail for further organ sound processing by Filip Leyman in his studio. All songs written & played by Anna von Hausswolff Organ sound design by Filip Leyman and Anna von Hausswolff Produced and mixed by Anna von Hausswolff & Filip Leyman Mastered by Hans Olsson at Svenska Grammofonstudion Recorded in Örgryte New Church, in Gothenburg January 2020. Organ recorded with mobile equipment from Svenska Grammofonstudion Cover photo & inner sleeve photo by Gianluca Grasselli Layout & design by Tina Damgaard https://annavonhausswolffsl.bandcamp.com/album/all-thoughts-fly 2022 €25.00
VON HAUSSWOLFF, C.M. (CARL MICHAEL) Addressing the Fallen Angel LP "Two part sound piece based on sound installations at Pierogi Gallery (Brooklyn), Museo Rufino Tamayo (Mexico City) and ZKM (Karlsruhe), presented in 2001 - 2003." [label info] "Renowned EVP expert and dark interpreter CMvH gets down to the nitty gritty of morality in art with a fascinating, newly augmented collection of sound installation recordings made 2001-2003 in response to Stockhausen’s controversial comments on 9/11 and now released by Sähko. ‘Addressing the Fallen Spirit’ employs an oblique collage of recordings from various installation works as the vehicle for Carl Michael Von Hausswolff’s thoughts on the intersection of art and morality. It’s obviously a dead sticky subject but one that CMvH tackles in the accompanying liner notes, which are crucial to understanding the LP, and take on a particular resonance in 2019 when discussions about political and moral responsibility are more urgent than ever. The premise of the LP lies in Karlheinz Stockhausen’s 2001 assertions that Al Qaeda’s 9/11 attacks on the Twin Towers in NYC, the Pentagon, and Pennsylvania constituted a work of art. Stockhausen would later clarify his comments and condemn the attack as “Lucifer’s greatest work of art”, but CMvH finds fault with both assertions, essentially saying that a) the attack wasn’t a work of art because it caused death and tragedy, and b) that in qualifying his statement by invoking the mythological fabrication of Lucifer, and by extension Christianity, he was deferring responsibility to the big spirit in the sky. As CMvH outlines in the liner notes, the argument is more complicated, and applies to a vast history of art in the last 50 years. This includes CMvH’s own highly controversial use of ashes from the victims of the Holocaust at Nazi concentration camp Majdanek in a painting at his 2012 gallery show, which was quickly cancelled. Bookended by brief vocal snippets, concluding with the voice of Stockhausen, the piece’s collage of distressed radio signals, 666 Hz sine waves, guitar amp hum recorded at multiple CMvH installations between 2001-2003 thus act as a charred sponge or carbon sink for thoughts on the matter of “religious dogma and artistic pomp”, and society’s inability to properly grasp and take responsibility for its actions, or at least not even discuss the matter maturely. Taken in context of impending ecological disaster, too, he suggests that humans, even the ones we massively respect (CMvH is hugely inspired by Stockhausen), have difficulty coming to terms with objective reality and taking responsibility; now is the time to act." [Boomkat] 2019 €18.00
VON MAGNET Ni Predateur Ni Proie CD "Das schon mit dem Begriff "Flamenco-Industrial" charakterisierte spanische Kult-Projekt mit einem Album auf ANT ZEN. Sehr wuchtig, tribal & expressiv, vermählen sich hier ethnische Rhythmen & Gesänge mit Elektronik und neoklassischen filmischen Elementen zu einem recht einmaligen Ganzen. PHIL VON bringt diverse Musiker zusammen, die orientale Instrumente wie NEY oder OUD beisteuern, Filmzitate geben ein poetisches Flair, elektronische Beats & Sounds sorgen für "industriellen" Druck, das ganze ist hochpolitisch & poetisch ausgerichtet gegen die heutigen Polarisierungen auf der Welt, experimentelle "One World"-Musik ohne Kitsch. Herausragend und keinem der üblichen Genres klar einzuordnen." [DRone Rec info] "VON MAGNET dreams of the existence of other possible paths; thin and minute. Those tightrope walking paths almost invisible. Bouncing in between two perils, two poles, above empires, across frames, which can slip through the breaches of any walls. That is the story of this album. When rage is accompanied by tears. This album is our reaction facing the brutal reality of our world today. A world under pressure where all is put into opposition, where everything would like to divide us and where we are being arbitrarily dictated the absolute necessity of a choice. But with 'Ni Prédateur Ni Proie' (neither predator nor prey) we will not choose our side. There between partial / impartial, north / south, subjective / objective, orient / occident, coward / hero, poor / rich, indifferent / partisan . We will remain bare handed, like astonished and turbulent children dancing on a mine field. We will just stare at you, we will fall into rage and boil into tears. Within this emotional turmoil, flore magnet and the turkish actress esra bezen bilgin replace women where they are never welcome. Women of multiplicity, violence, engagement and resistance. Phil Von gives way to the voices of the Rom kids of Mostar and the Jewish and Palestinian actors from Amos Gitai and Hany Abu-Assad movies. At their side, Def sharpens his analogue bass lines and darkens atmospherical ambiances which often feel like 'war'. Scattered explosions, shots, crackles, complaints or laments. Only our guest, Kurdish Sufi musician Mübin Dunen softens the crawling tension. His ney bringing our clamour down to a silent light thread. Now Von Magnet signs a harsh, raw, urgent and poetical piece, mixed and produced flawlessly by Master Norscq. Another dary fusion which binds classical music flavours with oriental rhythms, tribal percussions within neo-industrial electronic soundscapes. Here orient is not any more sensual and phantasmagoric, it is rigid and almost cold. Here occident is no more sparkling and victorious, it is sad and decadent. Nevertheless 'neither predator nor prey' is the length of rope which suddenly ties them up, confronting our hearts to dive close to the abyss. Digipak packaging." [label info] www.ant-zen.com 2008 €14.00
VOUDOURIS, DIMITRI NPFAI.1/PALMOS/NPFAI.3/PRAXIS CD Vier interessante Arbeiten eines südafrikanischen Komponisten (geboren 1961 in Athen); so werden bei NPFAI.1 Originalklänge von afrikanischen Zeremonial-Instrumenten (Kundi & M'Bira / bzw. Kalimba) computergestützt in mysteriöse Granularwellen & -welten verwandelt, die die ursprüngliche Klang-Atmosphäre der Objekte beibehält. Ähnlich werden bei den anderen Stücken Klangdetails einzelner Instrumente analysiert und elektro-akustisch bearbeitet, so daß bestimmte musikalische Parameter wie durch ein Mikroskop näher betrachtbar werden. Besonders gut gefällt das letzte Stück PRAXIS, wo ein griechisch-orthodoxer Chor herhalten muss für VOUDOURIS unheimliche Transformationen, die sich bis ins Unkenntliche auflösen, um dann wieder zurückzukehren zum Ausgangsmaterial. Genial! Wieder erstaunlich, zu welchen Neuentdeckungen das POGUS-Label animiert ! "South African composer Dimitri Voudouris (b.1961 Athens, Greece) began composing in the 90¹s. He composes for acoustic instruments, electronic sound sources, multimedia, including dance and theatre. He bases his technical and theoretical compositional approach in research of cognitive psycho-acoustic behavioral patterns in humans and the behavior of sound in relationship to continued environmental changes. His socio-cultural interests have led him to research the survival of music in the 21st century and the impact that media and technology have on the composer. NPFAI. 1 (New Possibilities for African Instrument) is an electro-acoustic composition for kundi and m'bira with computer assisted processing. Kalimba or m'bira is a finger piano made of wood and metal strips used in ceremonial music. In Western Africa this instrument is known as m'bira and in Eastern Africa it is called a kalimba. The kundi a bowed harp is a ceremonial instrument originating from the Mangbetu tribe of the Congo. In NPFAI.1, working with each individual layer gave Voudouris better control in the change of sound characteristics as some sound phenomena changed, disappeared and new sound phenomena surfaced creating new possibilities. In Palmos, Voudouris chose three Western instruments - the Hammond organ, oboe, and the bandoneon - whose overtone and harmonic capabilities allowed for interlocking moments to take place, a phenomenon that is ever present in African traditional music. Spectrographic analysis of sounds produced by each individual instrument was carefully monitored which allowed for a deeper understanding of timbre [harmonic content], attack, decay and vibrato. Subtractive synthesis further allowed for the isolation of certain inaudible frequencies to be enhanced to an audible level and the elimination of others. These compositional elements allow the listener to perceive the sound as stable individual tone and noise spectra, frequently of surprising purity. NPFAI. 3, third in a series of electro-acoustic studies, is for African marimba and computer assisted processing. The African marimba used in this work is a tenor marimba, used traditionally as a rhythm instrument. The marimba is tuned in Xhosa tuning with just intonation in Eb (with added A's). The instrument was played with traditional mallets; the recording was processed and constructed on computer. Granular, algorithmic and subtractive sound syntheses were used in the construction of NPFAI.3. These procedures were not to defamiliarize the sound of the instrument but rather to explore the deeper analogies of organic identity in the construction of micro sound environments, focusing on capturing the physical properties of the instrument and its organic sound textures. PRAXIS is a four-channel tape piece using a recording of Christian Orthodox Greek male choir and computer assisted processing. 566 sound compartments were created that ranged from 10 to 40 seconds in time duration. Each sound compartment was constructed and manipulated individually, allowing for better control in maintaining individuality in the sound structures. The computer further allowed for the individual micro-rearrangement of pitches in each sound compartment, leading to the notion of continuous macro-timbre. The methods used allowed for greater control in spacial differentiation of each sound. The distorted nature of the sound source was not eliminated but was build into the composition." [label info] www.pogus.com 2007 €13.00
VOWINCKEL, ANTJE Terra Prosodia CD "Sound composition with dialects and disappearing languages from Europe With: George Cadéac, Nesa Engler, Don Eoil, Remy Graillon, Ingvar Larsson, Peter Meyer und Ingrid Wahlgren 1. Rumansch 2. Gutamal 3. Provencal 4. Wallis-Deutsch 5. Provencal 6. Gascon 8. Scottish-Gaelic 8 Tracks (33′46″) CD (500 copies) Currently about 6000 languages are spoken on the world. Most of them will disappear soon – and together with them a meldodic richness of human expressivness. However, the fact, that dialects and disappearing languages are only spoken by a few people has one advantage: only if one does not understand the contents it is possible to really listen tot he sound, saying far away from their homeland these languages unfold their musical enchantment (charme?). What you find are melodies that nobody invented (conceived of?). They arise in the process of impulsive speaking, on the grounds of oral tradition. Landscapes seem to continue there with melodic heights and valleys. Often single sentences remain in our heads as catchy tunes. In Terra Prosodia people tell a short spontanuous story based on a personal experience. Stories about storms, excursions, accidents and so on. Particularly speakers who have spent their lifes in remote valleys or islands often speak with much more distinct modulation. This expressiveness gets lost quickly one cou live in a big city. In the compositions the contents of these stories do not matter any longer. The pieces focus on the melodies in the dialects and add second instrumental or humed melodic voice. By this also the melody of the speaking voice is underlined. In the beginning the second voice will imitate the speaking voice, later becomes indpendent and follows own directions. As soon as the focus of perception is on the melody, you can listen to both lines as independent voices. During my work I found out, that an even more exact decoding and mapping oft he intervalls (which would be possible technically) on no account lead to better results. Quite the contraray the effect of a catchy tune that occurs when you remember the melodies is based on the fact the our brain is already during hearing looking for characteristic figures and intervalls. Our ear behaves like the eye in a stalagtite cave. In a vast array of stalagtites and stalagmites we always remember nothing then typical single shapes. „Look, that looks like….“. Only this mechanism allows us to remember something of huge amount of shapes. (Antje Vowinckel, translation: Chris Heenan) Text by Christina Kubisch: Many things disappear and only then gets attention. Images, texts, sounds appear in archives in audio-visual documentations in the net. But archiving the no more living existence is partial maybe even sometimes absurd or naiv. Language only can remain vivid and interesting, if it is spoken everyday. When it is staying in a process of change, articulated by different persons, when it is depicting facts, information, thoughts, emotions and so on. Antje Vowinckel’s Terra Prosodia makes happy and sad at the same time. The musicality of the spoken word sinks in even more by the melodical adaption as in case of pure listening of an unknown lanugage. You admire the beautiness and complexity. You instantly wish to speak one of these languages yourself for not leaving them to archivars and linguists but forward them to people who would use them in future. In Terra Prosodia Antje Vowinckel succeeds in a wonderful mixture of a political important theme, a formally convincing process and a subtle and profound humour, that is hard to find. Once you have listened to the voices you will listen differently to spoken language in every day life." [label info] www.gruenrekorder.de www.gruenrekorder.de 2014 €13.00
WATERMANN, JOHN The dead calm of bashing Coca Cola CD-R Re-issue der zweiten WATERMANN LP von 1989 (Nightshift NR002) - eine hohe Dichte an wirren Stimmen-Loops und überfordernden Samples, krachige Cut-Ups vermischen sich mit found sounds und quasi-rhythmischen Elementen. Mutierte Industrial-Sample-Plunderphonics, lange bevor es den Begriff gab... kommt im Vollfarb-Cover, nummerierte Auflage, bedruckte Cases, lightscribed CDR. "One of the best in WATERMANN'S discography. Very specific postindustrial with plenty of various sampling styles, cut-ups and incridible sound set-up. Album was digital remastered." [label info] www.myspace.com/impulsystetoskopu 2009 €9.50
WATSON, CHRIS Locations, Processed LP "Chris Watson, a.o. known as the keyboard player of Cabaret Voltaire and a founder member of The Hafler Trio, creates an all new sound journey in honour of Bob Moog via a series of his own location recordings, subtlety processed through The Moog Sound Labs System 55. It's almost a return to the principles that birthed Cabaret Voltaire's earliest experiments." "The cover and series name shout “Moog!” Yet the sound is what we’ve come to expect from Chris Watson: field recordings treated with love. The fact that the chapters were filtered through the Moog Sound Lab’s System 55 seems incidental, but widens the understanding of the processing tool. This 12″ is part of a new series that also includes entries from Hieroglyphic Being, Charlemagne Palestine, Mika Vainio, Gazelle Twin and The Grid, a remarkably diverse group ~ our only quibble being the consistent, yet unrevealing cover art. Watson’s set concentrates on New York City, and offers a sonic window into the experience of visitors. “Grand Central Terminal” offers the hum of human traffic, along with gentle specific reminders: the announcement of a train, the departure from the platform, a child’s voice. A clear contrast is made by “Rockefeller Centre” (using the British spelling) as the hum disappears but the other sources remain. This time the journey of the train claims the ear, including the distinctive two-note warning tone, somehow devoid of the ubiquitous warning, “Watch the closing doors.” The sound of running children in “Central Park” is particularly endearing, as is a hint of birdsong, although less than one might expect considering the location. Still, those who have visited New York without living there are likely to be able to relate to the dominant soundscape of traffic and transit; they have not yet discovered the city’s hidden places. The intrusion of airplanes, sirens, and fire horns makes a good case for the city as the antithesis of Olympic National Park. Abandon all hope, those who seek one square inch of silence. Watson makes an interesting sequencing choice with “Times Square,” as the earlier pieces progress from south to north. Times Square is actually south of Rockefeller Center. But as the loudest of the tracks (by virtue of conversation, honking, bicycle bells, passing bass, cries of “Taxi!” and more), the sequencing makes sense. Just as one seems to have escaped to relative peace, the real world rushes in with a vengeance. Some grow acclimated to such sounds, but the noise levels remain at dangerous levels throughout most of the day. This makes “Jamaica Bay to Leigh Valley” seem a welcome escape. The sirens can still be heard in the distance, but the waterfowl drown them out. The finale serves as a litmus test for the ears: if one were forced to choose between extremes, which would one prefer?" [Richard Allen/ A Closer Listen] 2018 €20.00
WESTERKAMP, HILDEGARD Transformations CD Fünf faszinierende Arbeiten (1977-1992) der kanadisch-deutschen Akustik-Designerin, die für ihre fliessenden, poetischen Kompositionen allerlei field- & Umgebungsaufnahmen (z.B. Stadtgeräusche, Grillen, Raben, Nebelhörner und Fabriksirenen, etc etc) benutzt, die später im Studio nachbearbeitet werden... wie immer bei EMPREINTES DIGITALES kommt das ganze in einem aufwendigen Cardboard-Klappcover und mit dickem Booklet! „ Westerkamp creates new possibilities for listening. One can journey with her sound to inner landscapes and find unexplored openings in our sound souls. The experience of her music vibrates the potential for change. Her compositions invite interaction – a chance to awaken to one’s own creativity. One can transform through listening as she has. In the music and soundscapes of Westerkamp we feel memory and imagination as we hear trough the future.” [PAULINE OLIVEROS]. “ Vancouver based German with a strong interest in sound ecology and the use of everyday sound environments. ranges from walks through soundscapes to environmental compositions. a wonderful disc.” [Anomalous Records ] www.empreintesdigitales.com 1996 €15.00
WHITEHEAD, CHRIS Ravenscar CD “Ravenscar stands 600ft above the restless North Sea. To many it is simply a stopping off point between Whitby and Scarborough, commanding expansive views of the beautiful North Yorkshire coastline. Yet this place is also a canvas on which the overlapping layers of history have left their fingerprints. The recordings that form this work were collected over two years during various seasons and in a range of weather conditions. Natural materials collected from the site were manipulated in several ways to add a sense of intimacy and perspective. Although the piece is intended to be listened to as an unbroken whole, five distinct phases are passed through: Wind: A consequence of Ravenscar’s exposure is its surrender to the wind which sculpts the cliff top trees and relentlessly batters the sparse buildings. Much the same prospect must have confronted the Romans when they built a signal station here in the 4th century AD. Alum: In 1640 alum was discovered in the rocks, the production of which became the first British chemical industry. An alum works was built on the cliff top where the complex production process took place. It involved fire, seaweed and huge quantities of stale human urine. Tunnel: When the railway came to Ravenscar in 1884, W. H. Hammond paid for a 279 yard tunnel to be built so that the view from his house was not compromised. The line closed in 1965. The disused tunnel now remains as a dark and baleful monument to the ghosts of steam. Grass: In 1897 the Ravenscar Estate Company Ltd. began building roads, laying sewers and creating gardens. Their optimistic vision to fashion a holiday resort rivalling nearby Scarborough bore little fruit. Few plots were sold, and in 1913 the company folded leaving nature to reassert her dominance. Radar: The stark remains of a Second World War radar station stand at Bent Rigg. Operational from 1941 to monitor shipping and aircraft, these long redundant concrete buidings are now used by sheep as a welcome refuge from the unceasing winds.” (Chris Whitehead) www.unfathomless.net "This Whitehead is not to be confused with the other, Gregory (of whom we haven't heard much lately, sound wise that is) and I don't think I heard music from Chris Whitehead before. He did his bunch of field recordings in a place called Ravenscar, in North Yorkshire but he also uses materials which he retrieved from the site. I looked the place up on google maps and it looks like a quiet small place near the coast. But maybe that was something I could have told you from listening to this forty-three minute work. It starts out with sea waves, it has the cracking of leaves, rusty agricultural devices (which occasionally buzz), all melted in a fine long piece that has somewhere between the twenty and thirty break (indicated on the cover as 'Tunnel') some hollow sounds, the tunnel probably, and some close range fire like sounds. It has a nice drone like texture to it. Towards the end the live farm stock plays a small role too, as well as a bit of street sounds. This is not the work of pure sound documentation which we sometimes see in the area of music, but Chris Whitehead has perhaps (!) processed a bit of the sounds, and if not, then he surely did a more than fine job in putting all of these recordings into an excellent audio picture of that area." [FdW/Vital Weekly] 2012 €14.00
WHITELODGE same CD Nach der noch etwas spröden “Stream of Dreams” 10” hier das erste Album des US-Trios, mit tief-melancholischen, folk- & wave- & elektronik-beeinflussten Stücken, der Stil lässt sich schwer kategorisieren, aber von der WIRKUNG her erinnert das an die magischen Momente bei den LEGENDARY PINK DOTS.... “Like a palpable ghostly presence that phases in and out vision; at once translucent and illusory; simultaneously rattling silverware, sending chills through the flesh. That strange unseen grip in the hand; that vaporous and unexplained cloud of breath in the middle of the hallway. A great billowy poltergeist, Whitelodge is a musical revelation. The Lodge skirt borderlands between the mysticism of seething "post rock" and the dark textures of latter day "apocalyptic folk," managing in the end to sovereign a musical nation of their own. Somber musical expressions exude surprisingly powerful punch and often carve modest stones into towering columns of sound, which, while not actually loud, seem to IMPLY loud. Constructed somewhat like a This Mortal Coil record, the quietly crafted combination of acoustic guitars, electric piano, bass and electronics effuse scents of Sol Invictus ("Against The Modern World"), Gastr Del Sol, Sea And Cake, Insides, late late period Swans, Roseclouds era Death In June with a little "Another Green World" style Eno plastering the cracks...but none of these really captures the true essence of the Lodge what is White. Where apocalyptic folk often drowns in its own cheesiness, Whitelodge rise above and avoid trying to force any sort of posturing or false celticisms into their music. Whispered vocals reincarnate a host of spirits from Red House Painters to Coil, driving the compositions home by inference rather than the obvious. This music is unbelievably tangible in its etherealness. A deep beauty resides within and repeated listens open endless blossoms. This album is also guilty of having at least a couple downright infectious tracks that are so brilliantly cooked as to be virtual tonal crack. The Grand Poobah beckons: become one with the Whitelodge!“ [press release] 2005 €13.00
WINDY & CARL The Dream House do-CD „ 'The eternal Struggle', der Titel des ersten Tracks auf dieser zwei CDs umfassenden und achtzig Minuten dauernden Huldigung der Langsamkeit, beschreibt die Musik von Windy Weber und Carl Hultgren treffender und prägnanter, als dies Horden von Kritikern in Dutzenden Reviews zustande bringen könnten. Langsam und zäh entfaltet sich ein nahezu dreißig Minuten langes Stück, das trotz seiner Dauer und Viskosität genau das vollbringt, was guter Ambientmusik heutzutage oft fehlt, nämlich die Fähigkeit, den Hörer stundenlang in den bequemen Ohrensessel drücken zu können. 'I have been waiting to hear your voice' knüpft hingegen eher an älteres Windy and Carl-Material an, wie es beispielsweise auf „Antarctica“ bereits zu hören gewesen war. Hier liegt der Fokus auf lang anhaltenden Drones, die jedoch nie nach Laptop klingen, sondern so organisch wirken, als hätte man sie in einer großen Konzerthalle oder Kathedrale aufgenommen. Die zwei auf der zweiten CD „Dedications to Flea“ enthaltenen Stücke sind dem gleichnamigen, verstorbenen Hund gewidmet und bewegen sich musikalisch auf dem gleichen Niveau, das Windy and Carl mit „The Dream House“ als Maßstab ausgegeben hatten. Um den Bezug zu dem Verblichenen herzustellen, wurden jedoch einige Field Recordings integriert und die Stimmung gegen Ende der zwei Tracks etwas gedämpft. Auch mit ihrem ersten Lebenszeichen seit fünf Jahren gelingt Windy and Carl der eindrucksvolle Beleg, dass sie auf dem Gebiet der sich langsam entfaltenden Musik ein einzigartiges Gespür für den richtigen Ton zur richtigen Zeit besitzen und damit zu den Besten des Genres gehören.“ [Echoes-online.de] "The Dream House is the first album of new material from Windy & Carl in five years. Recorded at their home studio in Dearborn, MI it consists of two tracks. The Dream House is in many ways the duo's simplest and most straight-forward release, concentrated as it is on two evolving pieces. It is also Windy & Carl's most ambitious recording, with the duo deliberating on longer forms. Windy & Carl are capable of sustaining melodic ideas and patiently apply attention to singular musical gestures. Windy Weber describes the album as being about 'death and dreams and beliefs and leaving and moving on.” [label info] 2005 €16.00
WIRE, THE issue # 292 (June 2008) mag "On the cover: Evangelista (Since covering Willie Nelson's 'Red Headed Stranger,' Carla Bozulich has been shunting alt country deeper into hardcore improv territory with her new group). Features: Machinefabriek (Rutger Zuydervelt tells Chris Sharp why 3" CD-Rs are the perfect medium for his electronic streams of consciousness); Dylan van der Schyff (Vancouver's busiest drummer talks about his work with John Butcher, pianist Peggy Lee and more); Cross Platform: Anat Ben-David (Chicks On Speed's Israeli recruit interrogates pop and politics in her performance art piece, Popaganda); Invisible Jukebox: The RZA; Yoshi Wada (Inspired by La Monte Young and Pandit Pran Nath, the Japanese Fluxus artist explores the 'sympathetic resonances' of his homemade bagpipes and horns); People Like Us (Adopting the motto 'all things avant retard,' Vicki Bennett creates witty audio cut-ups and collages that slyly subvert heavily mediated images of Britain); Nihilist Spasm Band (The likes of Joe McPhee, Voice Crack and Jojo Hiroshige have all made the pilgrimage to London, Ontario to attend the Canadian noise veterans' No Music nights)." [Verlagsinfo] www.thewire.co.uk 2008 €8.75
WOLF EYES Human Animal CD Material von 2006, das erste Album ohne AARON DILLOWAY, der sich jetzt seiner Solo-"Karriere" widmet. HUMAN ANIMAL ist ein mitunter ziemlich aggressives Noise-Brett mit sehr spannenden "Hinführungen", wie immer schwelend und bis zum zerbersten gespannt... Wir meinen: WOLF EYES sind einer der wenigen Noise / Rock / Industrial - Bands zur Zeit, die es verstehen, "intelligent", d.h. mit Spannungsbögen & interessanten Sounds, zu agieren.. und wenn sogar das HELLDRIVER-Magazin schreibt: "....manchmal klingts auch ein bisschen nach Geisterbahn. Kurz und gut: Das ist gequirlte Scheisse, reiner Krach und versprengte, teilweise angejazzte Tonsprengsel ohne jede Struktur oder gar Wiedererkennungswert! Im Endeffekt nur anstrengend, könnte ich mir prima in den Top 10 der internationalen Foltercharts vorstellen – ich würde wohl nach ein paar „Songs“ alles Mögliche und unmögliche gestehen – wo soll ich unterschreiben Mr. Bush?" ... dann ist das für den geneigten Noise-Hörer doch eher als Auszeichnung zu verstehen ;) "After a year of non-stop touring in support of 2004's Burned Mind, Wolf Eyes were ready; seasoned to travel through horrible new areas of sound. During one four-week period at the dawn of '06, they laid down ideas in their studio, the Terror Tank. Those ideas would shape what would be the new album, Human Animal. This new slab is the first with Mike Connelly (of Hair Police and the Gods of Tundra label) replacing Aaron Dilloway. Though he no longer tours with the band, Dilloway remains involved and helped to mix the new record with BMG (who also did the deed on Burned Mind). These songs are rotten with metal, reeds, consciousness-erasing islands of black doom. Bass-heavy rippers, late-night free-terror jams, afflicted dog-hearts, underwater crabs: pure mayhem. The new double bass attack is showcased on "Human Animal"/"Rusted Mange" with scraping strings and a full terror-shriek workout re-organized by Dilloway. New directions are countered by "Rationed Rot," which revisits the eerie Throbbing Gristle-esque vocal deployment that dates from Wolf Eyes' Dread LP. The album also features the band's first ever cover song: a dead-on rendering of No Fucker's rotten hXc anthem, "Noise Not Music," which closed out a lot of shows on Wolf Eyes' recent European tour. As ever, Wolf Eyes will be living on the road, with Australian and American tours in the works, and an invitation from Thurston Moore to play at All Tomorrow's Parties in December 2006 alongside Sonic Youth and The Stooges." [press release] 2006 €14.50
  The Driller 12inch Zwei klasse „grinding ambient noise“-tracks, schwelend und rauh, mit dehumanisierten Vocals und ultra-slowen Riffs & entsprechend schleppender Perkussion. Düster und deformiert, eben: bohrend! Dark & deformed grinding industrial ambience, on one side with de-humanized „vocals“.. great stuff that reminds on early raw Industrial-groups. 2006 €9.50
WOLLSCHEID, ACHIM 60xX CD Soundmäßig wohl das zugänglichste Material, das der Frankfurter Konzeptkünstler bisher produziert hat. Digital verwobene found sound-Wellen, v.a. Streicher, vermischen sich mit Störgeräuschen in endlosen, ratternden Kaskaden.. immer in Bewegung und Veränderung. Sehr vital und geräuschhaft schön ! Als Soundquelle dienten seine eigenen Radiosendungen.. „ While the common modes of broadcasting, distributing and listening to sound seem to be changing rapidly it may make sense to tune into that process and give way to a flexible organisation of sonic structures - 60 x X bases on my monthly broadcast on Radio X, Frankfurt a.M. (www.radioX.de) I use all available players at the radiostation to play different records, CDs and cassettes from my archive at the same time. The resulting layered stream of sound is re-structured and re-composed by a real-time computer-program. Composition thus becomes a method to select, transform and develop sonic presence on the brink or randomness. This ritornell CD is a re-structured version of recordings from such broadcasts. The first 60 min of 60 x X was broadcast on resonance fm, London in 2002. (www.resonancefm.com). This ritornell CD (post-produced at FTF Studio, Frankfurt a.M.) is the second edited version - evenly underlaid by a grid of indexes that separates the sonic stream into 60 pieces. - (both shuffle mode and sequential play are recommended). Artwork by Charly Steiger.” [press release] 2003 €13.50
XEDH Serpents mCD-R Reverberating metall-percussion, monumentally vibrating drones & odd effects, alienated vocals at the end, real archaic “handmade” industrial.... destructive and authentic stuff, recommended ! Comes in greenly oxidated copper-sheet cover ! “Since 1995, Miguel A. Garcia, through his project "XEDH", has been developing an incessant search of new musical proposals within the more industrial and noisy side of music. More familiar to old bands, such as Throbbing Gristle or Esplendor Geometrico than current panorama which has a more conventional attitude. Garcia's sound forms are strengthened by noises and rhythms trying to create an environment that reflects simultaneously the self-destruction of the human being and the decline of a society that becomes less and less human. "Serpents" is a good example of that: obsessive rhythms that evoke in the distance the sound of the human machinery into action. Sounds are based on dissonance, manipulated voices, noise "increscendo" no exempted from influences within the most brutal noise panorama and the light fragments of most conventional music (that calles melody). The soundtrack of a world on the verge of extinction, the present time, and the mortality through the personal apocalypse of a single human being.” [label info] 2004 €7.50
YELLOW SWANS Psychic Secession CD "I woke up to the end of electricity. I woke up outside of time. I woke up with my dreams in my life.'" [I Woke up] Ziemlich genialer Ambient-Noise im Stile von WOLF EYES, pulsierend, einnehmend, gefährlich, spannend - schwelend noisig aber nicht kakophonisch, genial perkussiv mitreissend das dritte stück "I woke up". "Das neue Album der YELLOW SWANS "Psychic Secession" schaut aus dem Himmel wohlwollend auf uns herab, um uns vor uns selbst zu retten. Nach "Bringing The Neon War Home" beehren uns die gelben Schwäne mit einem Werk voller kompromissloser Visionen, in denen sich alle losen Fäden, die das Duo jemals geknüpft hat, an ihrem Bestimmungsort in kunstvolle Knoten legen. Momente von leisem Summen lehnen sich an lautsprecherberstende Ausbrüche, die "Psychic Secession" zu einem Muss machen. In den letzten Jahren sind die YELLOW SWANS mit ihren fast schon legendären Liveaktionen einmal um die ganze Welt gezogen, um das neue Material auf den Opfertisch hungriger Augen und Ohren im Publikum zu legen. "Psychic Secession" wurde ursprünglich in Australien veröffentlich und kommt in seiner jetzigen Inkarnation als remasterte Version. Hier hört man jedes Flüstern, jede polyrhythmische Atacke und jedes noch so kleine Quietschen // Beaming down from the sky like a ray of white-hot light intent on saving us from ourselves, the Yellow Swans come up with their second studio record. Psychic Secession is a work of uncompromising vision, weaving together all sides of this duo's 20-sided die. Moments of quiet hum but up against crunchy speaker burners to make this record essential listening. The last few years have seen the Yellow Swans coat the planet with live dates in the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, and Europe. Songs on this record were road tested in front of this planet's hungry eyes... you might have heard 'True Union,' which has been a staple of many of these live sets. This record was originally released in Australia by the Numerical Thief label, and comes to you on Load in a remastered format." [press release] 2006 €14.50
YEN POX Between the Horizon and the Abyss CD "Arriving on the scene in 1993 with their self-titled demo, Yen Pox immediately made their presence known with an ability to create monumental, light devouring soundscapes that transcended all that had come before it. Proceeding releases, including their debut CD, Blood Music, 2000’s New Dark Age, and the collaborative CD with Troum only solidified their standing and reputation. With Between the Horizon and the Abyss just being their first full length recording in over 15 years, Yen Pox will never be accused of being prolific. After all, with the two members spread out between Indiana and Washington State, creating new material doesn't exactly lend itself to convenience. But on the rare occasion that recordings do arise, it’s nothing short of masterful, reminding listeners why they’ve achieved such notoriety with such a limited discography, and why their recordings are consistently recognized as benchmarks within the dark ambient genre. Time between releases has been well spent, with the new material taking the early template and expounding upon it greatly, adding layers of industrial churn and structure to the infernal kosmische sprawl they’re so adept at creating. And yet throughout its entirety, Between the Horizon and the Abyss is remarkably polished and fluid. Within its realm, no seconds feel wasted, and every sound feels purposefully placed, even as it moves and flows in perpetual motion; strains of a distant angelic choirs fall beneath a complex array of arcing tones, liquidous, molten textures, & harrowing orchestral shimmer, with fervent masses of malevolent atmospherics billowing forth in glorious detail. While this technically falls under the banner of dark ambient, what Yen Pox has managed to create goes far beyond genre specifications and boundaries, crafting a new benchmark and adding a high water mark to an already stellar discography." [label info] www.malignantrecords.com "The year is 1995 and an extremely young label from Maryland has just begun to open its eyes to the world. Prior to this moment, its entire three-year existence had been dedicated to a ‘zine/compilation combination known as Audio Drudge, with a more official birth coming with a compilation of a different kind in 1994 that featured noise/industrial artists that ran the gamut from celebrated veterans in Illusion of Safety, Maeror Tri, and Contrastate, to what was at the time excruciatingly obscure in Söldnergeist, Vromb, and Kirchenkampf. It was an artist from the latter side of this list that was destined to give rise to one of the most important labels that post-industrial music has seen to this day—a label that, in the absence of Cold Meat Industry, has rightly taken its place at the helm as the leading name releasing the new generation of old-school industrial and dark ambient music today. That label is of course Malignant Records. And the artist? Yen Pox, the duo of Steven Hall and Michael J.V. Hensley, who tomorrow (May 5th) will be making their return after a full decade and a half of silence, save for a notable collaboration with another seminal dark ambient duo in Troum, Mnemonic Induction, and a little-known two-track 10″ on Drone Records, Universal Emptiness. This also requires one to overlook their respective solo projects in Veil of Secrecy and Blood Box, both of which have also been agonizingly slow to realize new music over the years. Yes, this is the project that began the maelstrom of high-quality releases that would make Malignant the monolith of the genre that it has become today, and that in itself should leave expectations at an absurdly high level for any curious ear. For the uninitiated, the project’s name should be enough of a hint to bring about hallucinatory visions of slow-rolling drones and desperate metallic chatter. “Yen Pox” was famously written by William S. Burroughs in Naked Lunch as being “the ash of smoked opium,” which should immediately lead one towards assumptions of the surreal brilliance held therein. Indeed, “The Awakening” arrives with a bass-end rumble that moves with enough sluggish grandeur, complex drones, and vastly cinematic space that it warrants comparisons to some of the finest names in the genre including deep audio extraordinaire Bad Sector and the aforementioned Troum. It is with this impressive track that Between the Horizon and the Abyss opens with the full force of a black hole, slowing down time and stretching it infinitely over an unimaginably monstrous mass, ripping metallic atoms apart with the pulsing black heart of the cosmos. Even “Tomorrow in Ruins” somehow leaves a similar astral impression as that of Ben Frost‘s incredible recent work with A U R O R A. There is a ritual edge present on some tracks as well, from the percussive clamoring and distant feedback howling of “Cold Summer Sun,” to the distant whispers and unnerving climaxing noise of “Grief Ritual.” However, this is only a minimal part of Yen Pox’s identity, as everything about Between the Horizon and the Abyss feels about as purely nihilistic as anything I’ve heard in recent years. The apocalyptic atmosphere present on the album is almost overwhelming at times, imparting an unforgiving amount of dread upon the listener as they float not through dreamy ethereal dimensions, but rather through the smokey black veils of what lies at the end of our journey. The intense album artwork and concise yet visionary track titles certainly don’t help one get an opposite impression though the radiant golds are an interesting and effective choice for such an atmosphere, but the music stands on its own as one of the most defining albums for dark ambient music of the past decade. Truly, at least to some degree, it sets a bar that leaves other modern releases from the genre sounding dry at best. Between the Horizon and the Abyss is one of the few releases of the past few years that has simply come as advertised. It is a triumph of the genre and is destined to be a celebrated gem. One can only imagine that it is the lack of quantity that has provided such astounding quality on Between the Horizon and the Abyss, but with this reminder that there are still new levels to achieve, we can only hope that it isn’t another 15 years of near-dormancy before another full-length surfaces." [S.L.Weatherford / Heathen Harvest] "A colossal record like this doesn't get made in a day, or even a year for that matter. It's actually been 15 years since Yen Pox has produced a new album. There was an excellent collaborative project the American industrial-ambient technicians did with the German pioneers Troum; and M.V. Hensley from Yen Pox has released a handful of albums under his moniker Blood Box. But, the last proper Yen Pox album, New Dark Age, arrived in the cold months of 2000. Not quite as slow in production as Giancarlo Toniutti, who took well over 20 years to issue a new solo album. But like Toniutti's immaculately conceived electro-acoustic wastelands, the records of Yen Pox are the stuff of epochal change, slowly revealing themselves through the dark veil between this world and another, or as the title implies between the horizon and the abyss. The scope of this work is suitably grandiose, following the template for the entire dark ambient genre that Yen Pox helped sculpt so many years ago alongside the likeminded projects Lustmord and Inade. The horror-laden drones that Yen Pox conceives are hardly static, as they spiral as if thrown from stable orbit by the all-consuming gravity of a black hole. The deep female vocal utterances are courtesy of the gothic siren Ruby Smith (aka Dark Muse) whose bellows and moans sporadically break through the dense clouds of Yen Pox' subterranean echo and reverb as the only ghosts of humanity to be found within this album. Bleak and heavy, to say the least." [Aquarius Records] 2015 €13.00
YUI, MIKI Lupe Luep Peul Epul CD 19 sehr klare, pure, hell schimmernde, aber auch dronig-sanfte Miniaturen mit “small sounds” von dieser japanischen Klangkünstlerin, die von Psychogeographie beeinflusst scheint... die Sounds tönen eher entspannt & ruhig, aber sehr eigentümlich & fremdartig, und sollen v.a. unbewusst wirken.... “...try to listen to the whole, to the resonance, to the interference between different sounds in the space. Like listening in a dreaming state..... small sounds are made for unconscious / subconscious perception. It triggers listener's personal acoustic memories to help re-discover musicality in our acoustic environment. “[Miki Yui]” "The latest release from sound/installation artist Miki Yui. Miki was born in Tokyo, Japan and currently resides in Cologne, Germany, presenting her work in galleries, on CD, and as soundtracks to theatre/dance performance and film productions. Lupe Luep Peul Epul is an extension of her well received 1999 release small sounds (BMB Lab, Cologne) taking sounds recorded in various spaces, often sampler processed natural/acoustically based, and woven them into intricate multi-layered compositions. These acoustic fragments are meant to fill in the sonic environmental gaps and create a new space that implies a layer of memories. Miki's sounds mirror memory loops -- bits and pieces of past sights, visions, feelings, echoed in warm sine tones, clicks, grit, and vibrating timbres -- recalled and then merged into the environment to return as new memories that let the listener sink into the moment of listening, creating a loop. This work is a loop for listening to our environment. It is designed to be played back in loop/random mode and at a quiet, transparent level." [press release] 2000 €14.00
Z'EV A Handful of Elements CD "With “A Handful Of Elements” Z’EV returns to the “dense, carefully laid and deep drone works” [adnoiseam.net] of “Sum Things” (CSR101CD). However, for this release he has drawn deep from his 40 year old sonic archive (from live performances both instrumental and vocal to a range of soundscapes from around the world), producing soundtracks to accompany you to the other side of ambient, through the door between your eyes." [label info] www.coldspring.co.uk "Readers who has been studying the history of Industrial music should know that Stefan Joel Weisser is a true legend of industrial sound expressions. Side by side with more well-known Industrial legends Throbbing Gristle and Cabaret Voltaire, Z'EV was an important part of the Industrial pioneers in the 70's. Thus Z'EV was one of the presented industrial pioneers in the ground-breaking work "The Industrial Culture Handbook" out on RE/Search back in 1983. The California-based multi-talented artist has specialised in producing concrete soundscapes using found sounds of Industrial materials. Present album titled "A handful of elements" is no exception. Having dug into the 40 year old archive of sound materials from Z'EV, Stefan Joel Weisser delivers a work of dense, carefully structured noise drones divided into five intersections. The expression belongs to the ambient scene however do not expect any kind of chill-out atmospheres on this one. That Z'EV has its roots in the industrial scene seems obvious as you wander through the territories of threatening metallic noises giving you the feeling of being trapped alone on a distant space station light-years from any kind of human contact. Turn of the light and let you drift into this sonic nightmare of seductive industrial soundscapes." [NM /Vital Weekly] 2013 €13.00
ZEITKRATZER (Old School) John Cage CD " 'Four' (1992), 'Five' (1988), 'Hymnkus' (1986). Zeitkratzer directed by Reinhold Friedl: Frank Gratkowski (bassclarinet, clarinet), Hayden Chisholm (clarinet), Franz Hautzinger (trumpet), Reinhold Friedl (piano), Maurice de Martin (percussion), Burkhard Schlothauer (violin), Anton Lukoszevieze (cello), Uli Phillipp (doublebass), Ralf Meinz (sound). Recorded live at Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, UK, November 26, 2006. Recorded and mixed by Ralf Meinz and Reinhold Friedl, produced by Burkhard Schlothauer, executive producer: Reinhold Friedl.' 'The internationally acclaimed 'hilarious releases' [vital weekly] of Zeitkratzer records will continue with the new series [old school]. The first two CDs, dedicated to the music of John Cage [zkr0009] and James Tenney [zkr0010] are now released together. The collaboration of Zeitkratzer with William Bennett (Whitehouse) [zkr0007], recorded live in 2009 in Marseille, France and Den Haag, Netherlands, will follow this summer. Later in 2010, the [old school] series will continue with two more releases, dedicated to the music of Alvin Lucier [zkr0011] and Morton Feldman [zkr0012] respectively. John Cage's compositions have been part of Zeitkratzer's repertoire since the very first day. The pieces presented here justify Zeitkratzer's reputation as sound specialists. Avant-garde composer Cage is played in a conservative, precise and sensual way, apart from all philosophical ambitions, and hopefully as seductive as a Schubert quintet! The 'Wire Magazine' acclaimed: Zeitkratzer convinced us that CageÔs music can still live with all its complexities, stripped of the debris of its iconic-ironic status, if we only give ourselves time, space and ears to hear !" [label info] www.zeitkratzer.de "So far we learned that Zeitkratzer played new scores by current artists, such as Alva Noto, Francisco Lopez and John Duncan (to name just three) or interpretations of works by Lou Reed and Throbbing Gristle (to name another two). Perhaps its merely a logical next step that they start playing modern classical music from the 'old' school. Coming up are works by Alvin Lucier and Morton Feldman, but the new series '[Old School]' start off with John Cage and James Tenney. From Cage they performed three pieces, all composed in the last years of Cage's life, a highly productive era. It would have been nice to see them play say 'Cartridge Music' or 'Variations', but here they go for the pieces 'Four', 'Five' and 'Hymnkus'. The first and the third last thirty minutes and 'Five' only five minutes. All of these pieces are rather 'open' for interpretation. It would be a bit far out to explain the way they work, with time frames and how to play them, but its exactly the sort of material that Zeitkratzer is happy with. The ensemble's instruments (bass clarinet, clarinet, melodica, piano, trumpet, percussion, violin, violincello and double bass), played by those who have a background in improvised music, are well cut to play music that leaves much room for the players to choose their own sound material within given time frames. In 'Hymkus' they stay close to the ensemble feeling with repeating notes on the wind instruments, but in 'Four' they go all out. Wildly scraping of instruments, improvised playing of wind instruments and all of that making a great piece. The short 'Five' is along similar lines, but perhaps a bit more structured - as per Cage's instructions." [FdW / Vital Weekly] 2010 €14.00
Zeitkratzer performs Songs from 'Kraftwerk' and 'Kraftwerk 2' LP Format: 180gr LP incl. DL code + insert, 500 items Release date: march 24th 2017 #DOUBLE BIRTHDAY RELEASE !! KARLRECORDS celebrates its 10th birthday, ZEITKRATZER even its 20th! And the party starts with the necessary re-interpretations of early compositions by electronic pioneers KRAFTWERK. Founded in 1997 by REINHOLD FRIEDL, ZEITKRATZER have since been creating an impressive catalogue of recordings that embraces 20th century avant-garde composers (CAGE, STOCKHAUSEN, LUCIER) as well as electronic artists (CARSTEN NICOLAI, TERRE THAEMLITZ) or underground experimentalists like THROBBING GRISTLE or COLUMN ONE. In their 20th anniversary year, the critically acclaimed ensemble will release a series of diverse albums that will explore new grounds in the typical, adventurous zeitkratzer way – the first of these albums is dedicated to KRAFTWERK and their early, kraut-esque albums “Kraftwerk” and “Kraftwerk 2”. As KRAFTWERK never re-released these albums, ZEITKRATZER gave its best to cover the first tranche of the songs (second tranche to come…). Recorded in Marseille / France in May 2016, the six tracks reveal a bucolic and even psychedelic aspect of the ensemble that’s mostly known (or feared) for its interpretatory and aesthetic acerbity. And yet there’s no doubt that “Songs From The Albums „Kraftwerk“ And „Kraftwerk 2“ turned out a true ZEITKRATZER recording in the best and full meaning! zeitkratzer directed by Reinhold Friedl Frank Gratkowski / flute, clarinets, Elena Kakaliagou / french horn, Hilary Jeffery / trombone, Reinhold Friedl / harmonium, piano, Didier Ascour / guitar, Maurice de Martin / drums, Lisa Marie Landgraf / violin, Burkhard Schlothauer / violin, Elisabeth Coudoux, violoncello, Ulrich Phillipp / double bass Recorded and mixed by Martin Wurmnest Mastered & cut by Mike Grinser at D&M, Berlin www.karlrecords.net 2017 €18.00
Serbian War Songs LP zeitkratzer and its special guests SVETLANA SPAJIĆ (voice), DRAGANA TOMIĆ (voice) and OBRAD MILIĆ (voice, diple, gusle) present traditional Serbian songs from and about World War I. Within its 20 years of existence, REINHOLD FRIEDL’s ensemble zeitkratzer has proved its interpretatory mastership on a wide range of fields such as contemporary / avant-garde composers, electronic artists, industrial underground – and, probably most surprising on this list, also in traditional music / folklore as documented on the two albums “Volksmusik” and “Neue Volksmusik” . For “Serbian War Songs”, a selection of traditional songs from and about World War I, the “modern composition supergroup” (THE WIRE) have invited some special guests: the renowned singers SVETLANA SPAJIĆ and DRAGANA TOMIĆ (who both worked a.o. with ROBERT WILSON) and the diple / gusle player OBRAD MILIĆ. REINHOLD FRIEDL and SVETLANA SPAJIĆ (probably the most acknowledged expert for traditional songs in Serbia) selected some traditional Serbian songs from and about World War I, and OBRAD MILIĆ contributes „Assassination In Sarajevo“, a song in the classic epic form he had learnt from his father Bogdan, a famous gusla player at the beginning of the 20th century. Commissioned by Berlin’s Haus Der Kulturen Der Welt, the performance was recorded and mixed by longtime zeitkratzer sound engineer MARTIN WURMNEST and mastered by MIKE GRINSER at D&M. zeitkratzer directed by Reinhold Friedl Frank Gratkowski, bassclarinet, clarinet I Hild Sofie Tafjord, french horn I Hilary Jeffery, trombone I Reinhold Friedl, piano I Maurice de Martin, drums, percussion I Lisa Marie Landgraf, violin I Burkhard Schlothauer, violin I Nora Krahl, violoncello I Ulrich Phillipp, doublebass + special guests: Svetlana Spajić, voice Dragana Tomić, voice Obrad Milić, voice, diple, gusle recorded and mixed by Martin Wurmnest at Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, January 16, 2016 produced by Reinhold Friedl mastered by Mike Grinser at D&M, Berlin 2017 €18.00
  Zeitkratzer performs Songs from the Albums 'Kraftwerk 2' And 'Kraftwerk' LP 2nd volume of „modern composition supergroup“ (The Wire) ZEITKRATZER's re-interpretations of early compositions by electronic pioneers KRAFTWERK. In more than two decades ZEITKRATZER has created an astonishing broad catalogue from the obligatory (20th century avant-garde composers like CAGE or STOCKHAUSEN) to the unexpected (electronic artists such as CARSTEN NICOLAI, TERRE THAEMLITZ or underground experimentalists like THROBBING GRISTLE and KEIJI HAINO) – but hardly anyone was prepared for the ensemble’s choice of early KRAFTWERK pieces! When volume 1 was released in 2017, ZEITKRATZER founder and director REINHOLD FRIEDL announced that there'll be a volume 2 of course – and here it is:: from the opening drony horns of „Harmonika“ to the subtle guitar of the album closer „Wellenlänge“, the 4 tracks own all the interpretatory and aesthetic acerbity the ensemble is known and praised for. The first album made it immediately into “The Wire office ambience” playlist and to the “Best of Bandcamp Contemporary Classical Releases”: “ZEITKRATZER’s interpretations are bouncy, horn-driven motorik grooves, static explorations of pointillistic overtones, breathy Zen-like meditations, and rollicking rhythms.” The Spanish Rockdelux concluded: “Keep close and be happy to get more!” Sonic Seducer attested ZEITKRATZER to “uncover unexpected potential. It’s a blessing that the next KRAFTWERK is already announced!” And here it is! Now you can listen to all the music of the first two KRAFTWERK albums “as gloriously played as one could ever desire” (Vital Weekly). Recorded live at HELLERAU - European Centre for the Arts, Dresden in january 2019, „zeitkratzer performs songs from the albums „Kraftwerk 2“ and „Kraftwerk“ “ delivers the compositions that were still missing to complete zeitkratzer's stunning take on the early, hybrid kraut-esque electronic avantgarde albums “Kraftwerk” and “Kraftwerk 2”. Mission accomplished! A must-have. As German radio SWR agreed: “ZEITKRATZER is serious music turned from stiff to joy!” https://karlrecords.bandcamp.com/album/zeitkratzer-performs-songs-from-kraftwerk-2-and-kraftwerk 2019 €18.00
ZOS KIA / COIL Transparent CD ZOS KIA was formed by John Gosling (MEKON), John Balance (COIL) and Min - with guest Peter 'Sleazy' Christopherson (THROBBING GRISTLE). Their one and only album, Transparent, was released August 23rd 1983 in a cassette only edition on the now defunct Nekrophile label, Austria. They were the first released recordings of both COIL and ZOS KIA. It was reissued years later by COIL (Threshold House / Eskaton) in an edited edition. The entire recordings are now released on CD/vinyl for the first time and are completely remastered from the unedited tapes. Includes two previously unreleased bonus tracks by AKE (pre-ZOS KIA). The music on Transparent is genuinely unsettling and disturbing, with a more primal Industrial feel than the Coil album which followed; 'Scatology'. An essential insight into the very early work of these extraordinary artists and an undeniable link between Coil and Throbbing Gristle. Double vinyl edition in a sumptuous gatefold sleeve with 12" booklet of unseen images, with download card. CD edition presented in a 6-panel digipak with booklet containing unseen images. CD Tracks: 1. ZOS KIA 'Sicktone' | 2. ZOS KIA 'Baptism Of Fire' | 3. ZOS KIA 'Violations' | 4. ZOS KIA 'Poisons' | 5. ZOS KIA 'Truth' | 6. COIL / ZOS KIA 'Sewn Open' | 7. COIL / ZOS KIA 'Sicktone' | 8. COIL / ZOS KIA 'Silence And Sorcery (Section)' | 9. COIL / ZOS KIA 'Truth (Version)' | 10. COIL / ZOS KIA 'Stealing The Words' | 11. COIL / ZOS KIA 'On Balance' | 12. AKE 'No Mas' | 13. AKE 'Rape Live @ Equinox' www.coldspring.co.uk 2017 €13.00
ZOVIET FRANCE Digilogue CD Re-release der längst vergriffenen LP von 1995, mit Bonus-Material. Wieder ein unnachahmliches Z.F. – Album. back in stock this re-release of the long gone LP from 1995 , with bonus-material ! "Digilogue is a set of extremely dark and somewhat convoluted minimalism from :zoviet*france:. The combinations of experimental and conventional sounds create massive clouds of sinister atmospheres. The layered textures increase the tensions of exotic darkness. This music is definitely exotic and definitely erotic -- not pleasantly but disturbingly. The sinister timbres are seductive and jarring. It is a shocking sample of an alternate reality. This CD will appeal to fans of Darkroom, Lustmord, Lászlo Hortobágyi, and Jeff Greinke. Even though it is disturbing, it is an excellent disc." [Jim Brenholts, All Music.com] 1998 €16.00
Tables are Turning do-LP "Somewhere in the rainy, misty forests of the Pacific Northwest of America, three ladies have the unlikely task of sewing together the packaging for a new album by :zoviet*france:. :zoviet*france: are releasing ‘The Tables Are Turning’ on compact disc and double LP through Soleilmoon Recordings. The music was composed as the soundtrack to ‘Designer Body’, a dance that toured England from 2008 to 2009. The work explores the transformational relationship between humans and the clothing they wear. Seven dancers, performing on continuously rotating plinths, slowly remove layers of their costumes, revealing the sensuous nude bodies beneath. The music accompanying the dancers is by turns dense and moody, then lyrical and soaring, underlining the mounting vulnerability of the dancers as they undress. Liv Lorent, balletLORENT's artistic director and choreographer, spoke with Kelly Apter, writer for The List, saying “At the beginning, the body is the most designed it can be. They’re wearing hats, coats, heavy costumes and make-up – all the man-made and artificial things we do to disguise ourselves everyday. Then, over 50 minutes, we take it all away. And because there are several layers, there’s a real sense of metamorphosis.” The members of :zoviet*france:, who prefer to remain annonymous, write “We've known Liv Lorent for a long time. When she started to conceive 'Designer Body', which she wanted to be a hybrid of contemporary dance and performance art, she decided that an unconventional performance needed an unconventional soundtrack. The composition of the soundtrack and the choreography evolved alongside each other so it became a dialogue between Liv and ourselves. The main inspiration that we took from the production's concept was rotation; throughout the one hour performance, the dancers are located on turntables that turn continuously, at varying speeds and changing direction. We mirrored this in much of the soundtrack, with circular and rotating sounds.” Both formats (CD and double LP) are presented in a deluxe dual-layer green satin bag with fold-over flap. The letters ‘ZF’ are hand-stitched into the flap in white thread, and a two-sided color insert printed on sturdy cardstock completes the package. There are 400 LPs and 600 compact discs in the first edition. The LP, with music on three of the four sides of the records, will go out of print when the initial pressing sells out." [label info] www.soleilmoon.com "With hindsight it is of course not easy to tell when you first heard something, let's say the music of :Zoviet*France:. I think, in my case, this must have been at my friend Peter, when staying over one night after a concert, and he would proceed to play me records, as that was the kind of stuff he was into, unlike me, who was more into cassettes (and waking up, always, to the sound of 'Erector' by Whitehouse). I am however pretty sure I knew the name before as their records where sold by the then existing mail order of Ding Dong Records. Slowly over the years in the mid 80s I got to hear and see those crazy packed records and was immersed by them. In 1990 or so I saw them play live, in the UK, where Peter's band was due to play also, in a multiple day event. I think one night just had :Zoviet*France:, and they played for what I remember as two hours in a seated theatre. Their extended sound tapestries of acoustic sounds, lots of electronics went on and on, from mood to mood. A bit later I remember them playing at the Dutch radio station, VPRO in this case, for a recording that later turned out to be 'Mort Aux Vaches'. They were downstairs fiddling with the soundcheck and I was up in the control room. 'You can start the recording', one member said, and after 90 minutes the DAT was full. One of the radio people went down and told them it might be time to stop, which they did with a quick fade out. Now I could have been disappointed by that, being cut out of such beautiful music, but I wasn't. Seeing them playing around with the simplest of means, tea cups, flutes, and electronic devices was great. Following the extreme productivity of the 80s, there were some releases in the 90s, and in the 00s? One CD, and one 12"/10"/7"if I recall well. Zoviet*France, since many years a duo do play live and share live recordings easily but for whatever reason it never comes to a release that easily. Maybe they foresee that physical releases may disappear, maybe their sometimes complex packaging proofs to be difficult (this new one comes in a 'dual layer green satin bag with fold over flap') but more realistic: :Zoviet*France: are no longer part of the world of concerts, CDs and such like. For quite some time now they create soundtracks for dance companies and performances, and you don't sell CDs at those gigs (I guess, actually). 'The Tables Are Turning' was created for Ballet Lorent in 2008 and I am sure this is not a live recording, but I am also not sure how it works. There are twelve pieces here, quite distinctive pieces, so maybe these are used in this order, no breaks in between or maybe in some other configuration. There is an interesting distinction between the live releases by :Zoviet*France: and their studio work. A typical live CD has one or two pieces in which everything flows right into each other, like an endless stream of subconscious sounds. In their studio work they perform much shorter pieces which occasionally have an odd start or ending , like it's being cut out of a bigger whole. In the dance piece, the dancers are located on turntables - hence the title - and the revolving sound, the looping sound is something that returns in the music. From spacious and melodic in 'Prophecy Loved A Child' to the processed music boxes of 'Green Air' to the gritty organ opening of 'The Grit In The Cloud'. In the past :Zoviet*France: would refer to this as 'songlets', as opposed to real songs, but the shorter ditties here like 'The Fire Of Revolution', 'Sandbox', and 'A Moment Of Film' hark back the best days of 'Popular Soviet Songs' or 'Lohland'. I played this pretty much everyday for a week, and decided this is a great :Zoviet*France: release; not their best, which would be for me 'Mohnomishe', 'Shouting At The Ground', 'Digilogue' and 'What Is Not True', but it's up there with pretty much everything else I know by them, and which is a lot. This christmas will be spend with an entire day of :Zoviet*France: music." [FdW/Vital Weekly] 2013 €65.00
  Collusion (WHITE vinyl) do-LP "First vinyl pressing of ZF’s 1992 compilation of tracks for Mute’s Grey Area, spanning obscure cuts 1984-1991 ranging from signature, weathered ambient to grinding rhythmic noise and mindbending enigmas that affirm faith in music of the most mysterious sort." [Boomkat] Original liner notes: “For many years we avoided participation in compilation projects, although opportunities were frequently presented to us. We have developed our music in such a way that it is most appropriately experienced in isolation. Therefore, allowing it to be presented in a form where it could be preceded and succeeded by other recordings, over which we would have no control, was alien to our intention. It also seemed (and in many cases still does) that compilation projects serve little purpose other than to fulfil the collector or editorial aspirations of the originator. In such circumstances the listener becomes little more than the end-user. In 1984, following an approach from Jon Wozencroft of Touch seeking a contribution to Lands End, we revised our policy: we inverted the criticisms outlined above and sought to exaggerate them so that they became a positive technique in their own right. We encouraged the active and overt participation of the compiler so that the project would become more than the sum of its parts. In practice this required us to produce music akin to the incidental music produced for film and television soundtracks, music that could be cut up, manipulated and re-worked into new contexts, yet still retain its inherent characteristics. Now, with the general availability of sampling technology, the appropriation and translocation of music in this way is widespread, elevating the end user to a position of experiential collusion. More recently, we have adopted a more closely defined stance, working only with those projects behind which we can perceive a unifying concept, either of form or purpose. Most of the recordings on this CD were created in this context and therefore represent a degree of creative input on the part of the labels concerned – Prometheans all!” 2020 €30.00
ZUCCHERI, MARINO Parete '67 LP "In the world of artifacts, there are the known, the unknown, the forgotten, and the lost. An artefact may pass easily between the four, entirely at the mercy of the care it is offered, or which finds along the way. The music in question – Marino Zuccheri’s Parete 1967 Per Emilio Vedova, an massive electronic composition created by the multi-talented engineer of the famous Milan RAI Studio of Phonology for the Italian Pavillion at the Montreal Expo ’67, is one such case. It began as part of something known – a wild, sonic public event, was almost entirely forgotten, becoming lost and then unknown. It wasn’t until 2005, when these recordings entered the orbit of Die Schachtel, that anyone had been able to hear them since they were made in 1967, offering their world premiere. As is often the case, the limited edition LP quickly sold out and drifted from view. Finally, after more than a decade long wait, Die Schachtel has wondrously pressed it again, allowing its beautiful challenges to reenter the world. Parete 1967 Per Emilio Vedova is one of the great artifacts of 1960’s Italian avant-garde – a wild, grinding metallic expose which sucks the ear into its depths, made, like so much of the best work of the era, in the spirit of collaboration and the meeting of two minds. Die Schachtel’s edition is the realisation of a life long dream of Marino Zuccheri’s to see this recordings issued. Pulled from the original tapes in his archive, and working closely with him before his death in 2005. A true wonder of towering historical importance. As essential as it gets for any fan of experimental music, or the history of the Italian avant-garde." www.die-schachtel.com 2018 €25.00
[AD]VANCE[D] poem#red128dot CD-R "Der erste Schritt Mars F. Wellinks nach der Auflösung des Vance Orchesters ist diese vermutlich limitierte CDR-Produktion im übergroßen Cardboard-Cover in Plastik aus Griechenland. Ein gegen 40 Minuten tendierendes langes Stück im entspannten Spannungsfeld zwischen Musique Concrete, experimenteller Elektronik mit ambienten Charakter inkl. wohl eingesetzten Fieldrecordings. Hier findet sich alles wieder, was das Vance Orchestra so unverwechselbar gemacht hat, eine organische Entwicklung, die den Hörer nie ganz losläßt, aber auch nicht knebelt und fesselt. Hervorragendes ambient noir, das aus meiner Sicht gar nicht hoch genug geschätzt werden kann. Gewidmet dem Andenken Geert Feytons (Noisemaker's Five, Negative Entropy und NMT Productions), der im Juli 2006 gestorben ist." [ [cs] / Bad Alchemy] VANCE ORCHESTRA is dead, long live AD]VANCE[D]! This is the first release of the follow-up project of the split-up VANCE ORCHESTRA, Arnhem-based musician and designer MARS F WELLINK does it now alone! "Poem#red128dot" is dedicated to GEERT FEYTONS from NOISE-MAKER'S-FIFES, who died last year. A real sound-poem. "Vance Orchestra from Arnhem are no more, but out of his ashes new paths are chosen. Robert Deters plays around with various people from the local scene, including Machinefabriek, while Mars Wellink goes on solo. As (ad)vance(d) he now presents his first solo work, I think, for the Absurd label. It has been around in their offices for a while, but it's release comes in handy. In various cities (Arnhem, Leiden, Molovos) Mars recorded some field sounds which he knits together to a thirty six minute sound poem. Voices play a role, but more over it's here to create an atmospheric piece of music. The backdrop is a sort of ambient piece of a wall of synthesizers, but it's too angular to be a dull piece of music. On top of that hotbed, Mars lets his recordings drop in and out of the mix, bird calls, insects, people walking and talking. Over the course of the piece things move away from the ambient patterns played at the beginning and moving into the world of strict soundscaping and then spiral back into the ambient backing of the start. A highly atmospheric work that is more like a sound picture, be it of different places, of sound moving in and from various directions than a strict music piece, more like a sound environment." [FdW / Vital Weekly] 2007 €10.00